Category: John James Newsletter

The John James Newsletter 52
28 March 2015

From a friend:
Another excellent newsletter! Full of good things. You do the best newsletter in Australia, as far as I can see.

“For the first time in my long life the possibility of war with Russia is real,”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWzHhW_qNiM
Talk summarised here
http://www.countercurrents.org/zuesse250315.htm
Washington’s War on Russia
The economic integration of Asia and Europe (including the New Silk Road) offer a clear and present danger for the US whose share of global GDP continues to shrink and whose significance in the world economy continues to decline. To ignore this would present the US with a persistent erosion of power and influence. No one in Washington is prepared to let that happen, which is one reason the US launched its proxy-war in Ukraine.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41274.htm
The big picture:
Nearly every major financial or commodity contract in the world is priced in US dollars. This requires that the entire world not only holds US dollars in order to engage in trade, but to also use the US banking system. This has put the US in a position of unparalleled privilege, and this has afforded the US the opportunity to indebt itself more than any other nation in the history of the world, quintuple its money supply, and wage endless wars overseas with relatively minor consequences.

Monsanto & Dow ‘Probable’ Source of Cancer for Humans
World’s most widely used herbicide ingredient shown to cause a variety of cancers. WHO declares glyphosate should be categorised as a “probable carcinogen”. Report in The Lancet Oncology  after a meeting of 17 oncology experts from 11 countries.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/03/23/glyphosate-favored-chemical-monsanto-dow-declared-probable-source-cancer-humans
A peer-reviewed paper linked glyphosate to a huge increase in 22 chronic diseases across the US, along with a marked decrease in life expectancy. On last decade figures the cost of diabetes and related treatment was $116 billion;  obesity $147 billion; cardiovascular diseases and stroke were $475.3 billion while health care expenditures was $2.2 trillion. Serious illness is appearing in increasingly younger cohorts. The US leads the world in  deaths from neurological diseases. There have been similar findings for asthma, behaviour and learning problems, and chronic disease in children. Type II diabetes in youth is being called an epidemic. The 25% increase of chronic disease is dramatic.
http://www.organic-systems.org/journal/92/JOS_Volume-9_Number-2_Nov_2014-Swanson-et-al.pdf

Lend Lease to pioneer large scale battery storage for new Perth suburb
The pilot project at Alkimos Beach, a sustainable community development north of Perth, will include 1.1MWh of lithium ion battery storage that will service more than 100 homes with rooftop solar panels. The trial will test different tariff options and retail models and services, energy efficiency devices, gas-boosted solar hot water is expected to start in 2016.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/lend-lease-to-pioneer-large-scale-battery-storage-for-new-perth-suburb-17584

Solar plane crosses India
Solar Impulse, the solar-powered plane attempting to fly around the world, has completed the first leg in a two-hop journey from India to Myanmar.on its circumnavigation of the globe.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31924883

If all the ice melted
Explore the world’s new coastlines if sea level rises 216 feet.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/534591418240164965/

5 Surprising Facts About Nigeria’s Economy
After a decade of flat growth, new policies to promote manufacturing have lead to an increase in the last three years. Nigeria’s film industry produces more than 50 movies every week and employs more than a million people, making it the largest single employer in the country after agriculture.
http://www.nigerianext.com/article/5-surprising-facts-about-nigerias-economy/091c495b7af6c0e0199b360fb5804bfc/

Abbott’s breathtaking shift in economic management
Rather than build relationships and find compromises, the Government whinges and complains about the “feral” Senate.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-20/cassidy-abbotts-breathtaking-shift-in-economic-management/6332770

Keep it in the ground
Join more than 140,000 to urge the world’s two biggest charitable funds to move their money out of fossil fuels
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2015/mar/16/keep-it-in-the-ground-guardian-climate-change-campaign?CMP=ema-60

Washington Misses Bigger Picture of New Chinese Investment Bank
Many have decided to join the IB from frustration with Republicans who have refused to ratify a major reform package designed to give developing countries, including China, a little more voting power on the boards of the IMF and the World Bank. The G20 proposed this reform in 2010, and it doesn’t even reduce Washington’s voting power as it retains effective veto. The US is the only G20 member that has failed to ratify the reforms, effectively blocking their implementation. China’s move to create the new development bank is part of the price being paid for that obstruction.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41323.htm
A summary:
Nearly every major financial or commodity contract in the world is priced in US dollars. This requires that the entire world not only holds US dollars in order to engage in trade, but to also use the US banking system. This has put the US in a position of unparalleled privilege, and has afforded the US the opportunity to indebt itself more than any other nation in the history of the world, quintuple its money supply, and wage endless wars overseas with relatively minor consequences.

Numbers Show China’s Coal Appetite Has Peaked
A structural slowdown that began last year when the average coal price received in 2014 dropped almost 10%.
http://ieefa.org/shenhuas-bombshell-numbers-speak-volumes-chinas-coal-appetite-has-peaked/

US Shale Gas Exports Are ‘Dead in the Water’
Reserves of US shale gas have been “vastly overestimated” because an SEC rule enabled companies to expand their definition in order to borrow more money. Considerably money has been borrowed on shales on assets that don’t exist or will never be commercially viable. By comparison, the solar industry is on the rise creating more new jobs than oil and gas combined in the past three years. Solar stocks have been outperforming oil and gas stocks.
http://ieefa.org/energy-finance-2015-conference-u-s-shale-gas-industry-is-dead-in-the-water/

Is Ukraine a proxy First Strike?
Is US fear of projected Russian weaponry the real cause of Ukraine crisis?
Future Russian army could deploy anywhere in the world – in 7 hours
http://rt.com/news/242097-pak-ta-russian-army/
Russia’s new Armata tank on Army 2015 shopping list
http://rt.com/news/234363-armata-tracked-armored-platform/
Russian ‘ABM killer’ intercontinental missile to enter service in 2016
http://rt.com/news/217695-abm-killer-missile-russia/
Russia’s stealth ‘black hole’ submarine prepares for 4,000km deep water trials
http://rt.com/news/220983-russia-submarine-tests-nato/

Russian expert: Saudi Arabia may suffer defeat in Yemen
“The military campaign will be absolutely unsuccessful for the Saudis. The Army of Saudi Arabia is emptiness behind beautiful gear. This army is inferior to the Yemenis in combat readiness, it has never fought anyone in its history.”
http://asia.rbth.com/news/2015/03/26/russian_expert_saudi_arabia_may_suffer_defeat_in_yemen_44764.html
Saudi Arabia’s Big Gamble
With a new king and a young, untested defence minister, at stake is nothing less than the kingdom’s position of leadership in the Arab world. The events in Yemen are not peripheral. They are central to the balance of power within the Arab world, to tensions within Islam, and are at the core of fears in the global oil market.

Saudi Arabia’s Big Gamble​

Pentagon loses track of $500 million in weapons, equipment given to Yemen
With Yemen in turmoil the US is unable to monitor the whereabouts of small arms, ammunition, night-vision goggles, patrol boats, vehicles and other supplies donated by the US.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-loses-sight-of-500-million-in-counterterrorism-aid-given-to-yemen/2015/03/17/f4ca25ce-cbf9-11e4-8a46-b1dc9be5a8ff_story.html

The Strategy Behind Israel’s Attack on Iran and Hizballah
Israel’s claims of an imminent threat of Hizballah attack are not credible, but wants to subdue the Lebanese militia so it has a free hand to manipulate the Syrian battlefield to its advantage
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40782.htm

US Declassifies Document Revealing Israel’s Nuclear Program
For the first time the US has officially confirmed that Israel is a nuclear power.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/193175#.VRT3sWY3G0y
Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and submits to international inspections as the treaty requires. Israel has never signed the NPT and therefore does not submit to inspections.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/201369/what-about-israels-nuclear-bomb#

The melting of Antarctica was already bad. It just got worse
We may have irreversibly destabilized the great Totten Glacier. It is melting fast. As it holds back a vast catchment of ice when it goes and allows the more vulnerable portions to flow into the ocean, it could raise sea levels by more than 11 feet. Northern Hemisphere residents and Americans should take note — when the bottom of the world loses vast amounts of ice, those living closer to its top get more sea level rise than the rest of the planet, thanks to the law of gravity.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/16/the-melting-of-antarctica-was-already-really-bad-it-just-got-worse/

Are superfast trains speeding down the tracks?
In theory running trains through vacuum tubes, and raising them off the tracks using existing maglev technology, drag could be reduced to near zero. These trains could travel at over 1,000mph. Dr Deng Zigang has built such a system as a trial.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31608679

Listening to classical music modulates genes that are responsible for brain functions
New information about the molecular genetic background of music perception and evolution may give insights about the molecular mechanisms underlying music therapy.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-03-classical-music-modulates-genes-responsible.html

In the city of Ferguson, nearly everyone is a wanted criminal.
In a city of 21,000, 16,000 have outstanding arrest warrants, meaning they are actively wanted by the police. Nearly everyone is wanted for something. This refers to individuals, rather than cases, so people with many cases are not counted multiple times. In 2013 there were 1.5 offences for every man, woman and child, meaning the city has more wanted criminals than people.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-robinson/the-shocking-finding-from-the-doj-ferguson_b_6858388.html

NATO Knew Its Intervention In Libya Would Create Chaos And Aid al-Qaeda
At the time, NATO military leader Admiral James Stavridis, denied that opposition to the secular leftist Libyan leader Muamar Gaddafi was dominated by rightwing Islamist theocrats, calling the bulk of the opposition forces “responsible men and women.” But Canadian intelligence was clear-eyed about the nature of the Libyan opposition.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41267.htm

Deadlock over Greek debt crisis could play into Russia’s hands
As Alexis Tsipras courts both Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin, diplomats fear the country’s economic woes are spiralling into a potential geopolitical threat. As speculation over Athens’ ability to remain in the euro grows, there are rising fears that Moscow sees Greece as a potential Trojan horse.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/17/deadlock-over-greek-debt-crisis-could-play-into-russias-hands

Middle Income Nations Home to Half the World’s Hungry
In Bangladesh “reductions in open defecation contributed to large declines in the number of stunted children.Children living in places where open defecation had been reduced were taller than children in neighboring West Bengal, India, where open defecation is still common.”

Middle Income Nations Home to Half the World’s Hungry

Salaries of 13 major world leaders
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/salaries-of-13-major-world-leaders-2015-3

Jerusalem at boiling point of polarisation and violence
The city is more divided than 1967. A leaked report describes the “vicious cycle of violence … increasingly threatening the viability of the two-state solution”, which has been stoked by the continuation of “systematic” settlement building in sensitive areas of Jerusalem, the tension over the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount complex and heavy-handed policing and home demolitions.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/20/jerusalem-at-boiling-point-of-polarisation-and-violence-eu-report?CMP=ema_632

UN Warns World Could have 40% Water Shortfall by 2030
Many underground water reserves are already running low, while rainfall patterns are predicted to become more erratic with climate change. As the world’s population grows to an expected 9 billion by 2050, more groundwater will be needed for farming, industry and for personal consumption.
http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/UN-Warns-World-Could-have-40-Water-Shortfall-by-2030-297000521.html
To Solve California’s Water Crisis, We Must Change the Nation’s Food System
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/headline_to_solve_californias_water_crisis_we_must_transform_20150319

Yellowstone Supervolcano the Most Dangerous In America Is Roaring To Life
In September, 130 earthquakes hit Yellowstone over the course of a single week.  Professor Bob Smith says that he has never seen anything like this in the 53 years that he has been watching Yellowstone
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/yellowstone-supervolcano-alert-the-most-dangerous-volcano-in-america-is-roaring-to-life

Dancing With the Le Pens
According to polls, the Socialists will be lucky to win 20% of the vote on Sunday, with the FN poised to win 31 percent and the UMP about 29 percent. These two parties will face off in the second round a week later after the elimination of the Socialists.

Dancing With the Le Pens

China’s Weapons of Mass Consumption
China is now the world’s third-largest arms exporter, having overtaken France and Germany, which trail behind Russia and the US.

China’s Weapons of Mass Consumption

A map of all the underwater cables that connect the internet
Includes details of the Pacific and Indian Oceans as well.
http://www.vox.com/2015/3/13/8204655/submarine-cables-internet

Please pass this newsletter on to your friends.

The John James Newsletter 53
3 April 2015

Freedom in capitalist society is the same as it was in ancient Greece: Freedom for the slave owners.
Vladimir Ilich Lenin

Almost all other issues are superficial by comparison to soil loss. So why don’t we talk about it?
To keep up with global food demand, the UN estimates, 6 million hectares of new farmland will be needed every year. Instead, 12 million hectares a year are lost through soil degradation. We wreck it, then move on, trashing rainforests and other precious habitats as we go. Soil is an almost magical substance, a living system that transforms the materials it encounters, making them available to plants, so a handful contains more micro-organisms than all the people who have ever lived on Earth. Yet we treat it like dirt. The techniques that were supposed to feed the world threaten us with starvation.
http://www.monbiot.com/2015/03/25/3703/
Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues
Generating three centimeters of top soil takes 1,000 years
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/
Only 100 harvests left in UK farm soils, scientists warn
http://www.fwi.co.uk/news/only-100-harvests-left-in-uk-farm-soils-scientists-warn.htm
Six Million Hectares of Additional Farmland Needed Annually To Meet Global Food Demand
http://liquid-investments.com/six-million-hectares-of-additional-farmland-needed-2/

UN green climate fund can be spent on coal-fired power generation
The green climate fund (GCF) refused an explicit ban on fossil fuel projects at the contentious meeting in Songdo, South Korea, last week. “It’s like a torture convention that doesn’t forbid torture,”
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/29/un-green-climate-fund-can-be-spent-on-coal-fired-power-generation?CMP=ema_565

Focus on Methane
If only a few percent of the massive reserves of methane in the subsea Arctic hydrates are released temperature could jump 10C and produce a “Permian” style major extinction event. The northern hemisphere is now covered by a thickening methane veil that is spreading southwards at about 1 km a day and already envelopes the US. Global warming has heated the Gulf Stream flowing into the Arctic, causing destabilisation of the subsea methane hydrates. A giant hole in the equatorial ozone layer in the west Pacific acts like an elevator transferring methane from lower altitudes to the stratosphere. Methane is raising the temperature of the lower atmosphere many times faster than CO2, one cause of the extreme summer temperatures in Australia.
http://arctic-news.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/focus-on-methane.html
and
http://arctic-news.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/like-a-giant-elevator-to-the-stratosphere.html
Global warming is slowing down the circulation of the oceans — with potentially dire consequences
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/23/global-warming-is-now-slowing-down-the-circulation-of-the-oceans-with-potentially-dire-consequences/?tid=pm_business_pop

NASA: A Year in the Life of Earth’s CO2
Well worth watching! An high-resolution NASA computer model gives a stunning look at how CO2 travels around the globe.

World Christianity Today: By the Numbers
In the last quarter of the twentieth century Catholicism was displaced by Islam as the world’s largest religious community. Over the past century Africa, home to less than 9 million Christians in 1900, has 542 million today, and perhaps 1.2 billion by 2050, when there will be as many African Christians as Latin American and European Christians combined.
http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/02/world-christianity-by-the-numbers

Syria uprising was planned long ago
The motive was to overthrow a regime that Israel regards as hostile.  The former Israeli prime minister told me ‘We’ll try to get on with our neighbouring states, but those who don’t get along, we will take them down’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz-s2AAh06I

Obama Now Sides with EU To End Ukraine’s War
Merkel and Hollande wanted the war to end, but Obama did not; he wanted a third, round. So Merkel and Hollande flew to Moscow to successfully negotiate with Putin, without Obama. He then decided not to send weapons, so as not to antagonize leaders whose cooperation he was seeking on the proposed Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This would grant international corporations effective control over the environmental, labor, and safety regulations of participating countries.
http://www.countercurrents.org/zuesse260315.htm

While love is all around us!

Fateful Steps That Led to the Crisis in Ukraine (Part One)
The crisis that struck Ukraine last year– the overthrow of the elected president, the Russian annexation of Crimea, the rebellion in the Russian speaking eastern provinces– was the result of problems that had been festering along the former frontiers of the USSR since the end of the cold war and the collapse of eastern European socialism.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Fateful-Steps-That-Led-to-by-Thomas-Riggins-Crisis_Frontline_NATO_Putin-150323-832.html

With all the sabre-rattling we have been left in the dark on the growing capabilities of the major protagopnist
The Next-Generation Weapons That Russia Will Use In World War III
The Russian military is in the midst of a sweeping modernization program, and it is developing some incredibly impressive offensive and defensive weapons designed for a future war with the US. Meanwhile, the US is focused on small regional wars.   There has been little modernisation, and many nuclear missile silos are using technology that is outdated. For example eight inch floppy disks are still being used in many of our missile silos.
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-next-generation-weapons-that-russia-will-use-against-the-united-states-in-world-war-iii

Nigeria army captures last stronghold of Boko Haram:
Nigerian army troops on Friday liberated Gwoza, a town that the Boko Haram militant group had used as the headquarters of its self-styled “Islamic caliphate” in northeastern Nigeria.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/484693–nigeria-army-captures-last-stronghold-of-boko-haram

Russia unveils plans for high speed railway and superhighway to connect Europe and America:
Plans for a new high-speed transport corridor that could potentially link London and New York by rail and superhighway.
http://tinyurl.com/nd4s9x9

What Lies Behind the Recent Surge of Amazon Deforestation
The pace of cutting and forest clearing in the Amazon is on the rise again from an improving global economy, rising commodity prices, and recent Brazilian laws that encourage the development of the Amazon.
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/03/27/what-lies-behind-recent-surge-amazon-deforestation

Abbott’s climate policy give the big polluters a free kick
Direct Action will have no requirement for major energy polluters to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The benchmark has been set at the highest level of pollution over the last five years. Some mines will be allowed to go beyond that if they can argue that “historical high point does not fully reflect expected business-as-usual emissions.”
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/abbotts-climate-policy-farce-deepens-as-big-polluters-get-free-kick-37149

The Geopolitics Behind the War in Yemen
A careful report on what may yet become a major conflict involving most countries in the ME. The war is not from a Houthi coup, but because (with Saudi and US support) the President had tried to backtrack on the power sharing agreements he had made.
Doe this not remind you of Bao Dai and the start of the war in Vietnam?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41396.htm
For photos of the extraordinary architecture of Sana’a now under threat
http://www.smh.com.au/world/the-ancient-treasure-of-sanaa-in-yemen-one-of-the-worlds-most-beautiful-cities-is-being-bombed-20150401-1mbnpk.html
Is the Stage Set for the Big War?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41388.htm
Israeli Fighter Jets Join Saudi Arabia in War on Yemen:
“This is not the first time that the Zionists are conducting a joint operation with Arabs”
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940107000322
5 Facts You Need To Know About Yemen And Its Conflicts
One of the poorest and most violent countries in the Middle East, Yemen is of strategic importance for regional players and some of the world’s most dangerous terror groups.
http://rt.com/news/244325-facts-about-yemen-crisis/

Abbott’s divide and conquer rule crucifies renewables industry
The government brought the renewable energy industry to a standstill by doing the bidding of the fossil fuel industry. The renewable energy industry in Australia has three major weaknesses: lack of financial muscle; disparate interests; and  craving for policy certainty.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/abbotts-divide-and-conquer-rule-crucifies-renewables-industry-41873

Photos of the artificial islands that China has built quickly in the South China Sea:
China made careful preparations without alerting opposing claimants or the US and started construction suddenly and carried it out rapidly. The key issue is the exploitation of resources. With those islands as bases, China can exploit the fishing, energy etc while the navy can prevent other countries from exploiting the resources.
https://tiananmenstremendousachievements.wordpress.com/tag/cuarteron-reef/

Facebook tracks all visitors
When a user visits a third-party site that carries one of Facebook’s social plug-ins, it detects and sends the tracking cookies back to Facebook – even if the user does not interact with the Like button, Facebook Login or other extensions.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/31/facebook-tracks-all-visitors-breaching-eu-law-report?CMP=ema_565

Russia Has Constructed Massive Underground Shelters In Anticipation Of Nuclear War
Complex in the Ural mountains has been estimated to be 400 square miles in size. The Russians have never stopped making preparations for nuclear war.
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/russia-has-constructed-massive-underground-shelters-in-anticipation-of-nuclear-war

The United States is losing its edge.
US is surrendering the research and development advantage that has fueled its economy for six decades. China now performs more R&D than the US, and South Korea and Germany have greater annual growth in R&D. China has tripled its number of researchers, and produces more students with science and engineering degrees. It is rapidly racking up patents.
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_27736399/mercury-news-editorial-u-s-needs-increase-r?source=infinite

The Blood Cries Out
In one of Africa’s most densely populated countries, brothers are killing brothers over the right to farm a few acres. There is not enough land to go around in Burundi — and it could push the country into civil war.

The Blood Cries Out: Murder and Malthus in Africa’s Great Lakes

Lest we forget
thttp://csas.ei.columbia.edu/

The John James Newsletter 54
10 April 2015

Power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.
Thomas Jefferson

Is this why our weather in Australia has become so interesting?
The map shows that much of ocean warming in the past decade has occurred in the Southern Hemisphere.
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_long_can_oceans_continue_to_absorb_earths_excess_heat/2860/

Greece draws up drachma plans, prepares to miss IMF payment
‘We are a Left-wing government. If we have to choose between a default to the IMF or a default to our own people, it is a no-brainer.’ Greece is drawing up drastic plans to nationalise the country’s banking system and introduce a parallel currency unless the eurozone takes steps to defuse the simmering crisis and soften its demands.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11513341/Greece-draws-up-drachma-plans-prepares-to-miss-IMF-payment.html

Is The Hidden Hand Behind the Islamic State Militants Saddam Hussein’s?
Theold-regime Iraqi officers are in command: they make the tactics and the battle plans.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41447.htm

Why is Assad Still in Power?
Syria is split along geographic and demographic divides grow ever more intractable. There is no realistic prospect of a military victory for any side. The plight of ordinary Syrians gets more desperate as extremist groups take advantage of the chaos. The only solution is a negotiated political settlement that includes the ruling regime that represents the central state, the Syrian army and a sizable chunk of Syrians. At the end of the day, it is the enemy you negotiate with to end war, not your friends.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41421.htm

What Would Happen If Martial Law Was Declared In America?
A WELL-REFERENCED HISTORY OF A TREND
There is concern that an upcoming eight week military exercise on US soil known as “Jade Helm” is a dress rehearsal for the imposition of martial law when you would have no rights, and the federal government would be able to do just about anything it wanted to do.
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/what-would-happen-if-martial-law-was-declared-in-america
Army Manual Outlines Plan To Kill Rioters and Demonstrators In America
http://www.infowars.com/army-manual-outlines-plan-to-kill-rioters-in-america/

Studies conclude climate change will cause less severe winters in the long term
A cold wave as powerful as the January 7, 2014 event could cease to exist by the end of the century.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/03/31/studies-conclude-climate-change-will-cause-less-severe-winters/?postshare=4571427881186043

North sea cod stocks bounce back, analysis shows
Cod was heavily overfished in the North Sea in the 1980s and 1990s but since 2006, with stringent regulations imposed on the industry, there has been a steady recovery and stocks are approaching the level of maximum sustainable yield, the measurement widely accepted as the gold standard of responsible fishing.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/08/north-sea-cod-stocks-bounce-back-analysis-shows

Soaring dollar puts the world on sale for America
The US currency’s value has surged over the last nine months, reaching levels against some world currencies last seen more than a decade ago. In Europe, it now costs just $1.09 to buy one euro, down from $1.37 a year ago and almost $1.50 four years ago. The rapid devaluation of other currencies against the dollar is being abetted by foreign governments and their central banks.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-king-dollar-20150405-story.html#page=1

Environmental Terrorism Cripples Palestinian Farmers
According to the Palestinian Authority and the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem approximately 800,000 olive trees have been uprooted since Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. Following a farmers’ eviction, Israel settlers can argue that the land has been abandoned and then move in and take it over with Palestinians having little legal recourse. No action will be taken against the settlers by the Israeli police.

Environmental Terrorism Cripples Palestinian Farmers

Palestinian Authority becomes member of international criminal court
This could open the way for Israelis to be prosecuted for war crimes – despite Israel not being a member – and for the prosecution of Palestinian militants such as Hamas. This may bring accountability to years of conflict.
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/apr/01/palestinian-authority-becomes-member-of-international-criminal-court?CMP=ema_565

US Climate Plan ‘Treats the Wound But Does Not Stop the Bleeding’
As the White House unveils blueprint for emission reductions ahead of UN climate talks, groups warn that unless US moves beyond fossil fuels it will not avert climate catastrophe
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/03/31/us-climate-plan-treats-wound-does-not-stop-bleeding

New Report Debunks Myth That GMOs are Key to Feeding the World
Traditional methods ‘shown to actually increase food supplies and reduce the environmental impact of production’
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/04/01/new-report-debunks-myth-gmos-are-key-feeding-world

Assessing The Iranian Framework Deal
The deal is a spectacular victory for all, with tougher arrangements far beyond expectations. The months and year ahead are significantly difficult and all the players have to take a measured approach with careful moves to reach a final agreement.
http://www.countercurrents.org/abbasi050415.htm
Full text on preliminary nuclear accord with Iran
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/02/us-iran-nuclear-text-idUSKBN0MT2CY20150402

The Oil Price War
Oil prices fell more than 50% between June 2014 and March 2015. The fall started when Saudi Arabia oil began to flood the markets. Some analysts believe that it is an attack on the growing shale oil industry in the US, while the US is betting that the low oil prices will destroy the three major oil producers which are not under its political and/or military control: Iran, Venezuela and, of course, Russia.
http://www.countercurrents.org/venturini050415.htm

Fateful Steps That Led to the Crisis in Ukraine (Part Two)
The objective was to humiliate Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population. The radical nationalists of western Ukraine, for whom the rejection of Russia and its culture is an article of faith, intend to force the rest of the country to fit their narrow vision, with its roots in irrationalism, fascism and the anti-Semitism and the ethnic massacres of WWII.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Conclusion-Fateful-Steps-by-Thomas-Riggins-Culture_Democracy_Fascism_Ideology-150402-297.html

US and CIA Interventions Since World War II
If you check out American foreign policy of the past century… invasions … bombings … overthrowing governments … occupations … suppressing movements for social change … assassinating political leaders … perverting elections … manipulating labor unions … manufacturing “news” … death squads … torture … biological warfare … depleted uranium … drug trafficking … mercenaries … It’s not a pretty picture. It’s enough to give imperialism a bad name.
See chapter 40 for Australia – 1973-1975: Another free election bites the dust
http://williamblum.org/books/killing-hope/

Over 200,000 troops during the first Gulf War were exposed to nerve gas
When the Iraqi weapons plants and storage sites were bombed, poisonous plumes floated across the desert to thousands of troops on the Saudi border. Sirens wailed daily, but officers announced that the chemical-detection alarms were faulty. They were not. A Czech detection unit found “trace concentrations of sarin”.
http://www.newsweek.com/how-us-nerve-gassed-its-own-troops-then-covered-it-317250

By 2050, Muslims will make up about 10 per cent of the Europe’s population
The Hindu population is projected to rise by 34% worldwide, from a little over 1 billion to nearly 1.4 billion by 2050. By that time, Hindus will be third, making up 15%, followed by people who do not affiliate with any religion, accounting for 13%. The people with no religious affiliation currently have the third largest share of the world’s total population
http://www.timesofoman.com/News/49804/%E2%80%98India-to-pip-Indonesia-as-country-with-most-Muslims-by-2050%E2%80%99

The John James Newsletter 55
17 April 2015

Information is the currency of democracy
Thomas Jefferson.

The volume of major military deals concluded by the Obama administration in its first FIVE years exceeds the amount approved by the Bush administration in its entire EIGHT years in office by nearly $30 billion.

Open this interactive and be amazed
Keep it in the ground
How much fossil fuel has been extracted since you arrived at this page? Or since you were born? The numbers below highlight the staggering amount of oil, coal and gas we take out of the ground – and how quickly change is needed.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2015/apr/10/how-much-fossil-fuel-are-we-using-right-now?CMP=EMCENVEML1631

City of Vancouver votes to go 100% renewable
Vancouver joins Sydney; San Diego, California; San Francisco, California; Stockholm, Sweden; Munich, Germany; and others set aim on 100% renewables and for 100% of heating + cooling coming from renewable energy sources.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/city-of-vancouver-votes-to-go-100-renewable-35733

Video Message From Gaza: We Are Still Under The Rubble
More than 7 months after the ceasefire announcement in #Gaza, not a single totally destroyed home has been rebuilt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMzCzaQECGE
‘Gaza Is a Tomb’
In the rubble of the Gaza Strip, the militias are once again arming, training and preparing for the inevitable war with Israel. “The war could start any minute,” says Abu Mujahid.

‘Gaza Is a Tomb’

Record sea-surface temperatures in Pacific point to record warmth in 2015 and 2016
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/about/sst_timeseries.shtml
and
A 1,000 Mile Stretch Of The Pacific Ocean Has Heated Up Several Degrees
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/a-1000-mile-stretch-of-the-pacific-ocean-has-heated-up-several-degrees-and-scientists-dont-know-why

Electric Car Batteries Just Hit A Key Price Point
Electric vehicle demand in the past five years has soared worldwide. By the end of 2014, more than 700,000 total plug-in vehicles had been sold (plug-in hybrids and pure battery electrics), up from about 400,000 at the end of 2013. As of 2015, dozens of models of electric cars and vans are available. A major reason is the rapid drop in the cost of their batteries.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/13/3646004/electric-car-batteries-price/

North Siberian Arctic Permafrost Methane Eruption Vents
The world is predicted to produce exactly the same mantle methane release from permafrost eruption vents by the 2050’s as occurred in the Late Permian Extinction Event of 252m years ago: called The Great Dying when over 93% of all species were extinguished. Mankind has released a giant, long dormant methane preserve generated between 100 km and 300 km depth and at temperatures of above 1200°C. This is now a region of massive methane emissions with no easy way to reseal.
http://arctic-news.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/north-siberian-arctic-permafrost-methane-eruption-vents.html

Map shows where the Trapp Volcanics released the gasses that instigated the Great Dying

How to Deal With the Iranian Genii?
What Israel really feared was not Iran’s non-existent nuclear threat but its ongoing support for the Palestinians. US policy has been to keep the infectious, troublesome Iranians isolated and contained. While the reason was Iran’s nuclear threat, the sanctions regime was really aimed at fatally weakening Iran’s economy and provoking the overthrow of the Islamic government and its replacement by tame Iranian exiles.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41521.htm

Iran approved to join China-backed infrastructure bank
More than 50 countries have now applied to join the bank in a diplomatic coup for Beijing after Washington initially opposed its allies becoming members.
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-approved-join-china-backed-infrastructure-bank-103455398.html

All options including military action open on Iran
Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said that all options including military action were on the table in the face of the “threat” of a nuclear-armed Iran.
AND I THOUGHT WE HAD AN AGREEMENT TO END IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM?
HOW SOME PEOPLE WANT WAR, NO MATTER WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES.
http://news.yahoo.com/options-including-military-action-open-iran-israel-105611579.html

The downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 (as observed from Australia)
A multi-part analysis that asks “Is it correct that on 7 August 2014 The New Straits Times lay out evidence that Ukrainian fighter aircraft attacked the jetliner with first a missile, then with bursts of 30-millimetre machine gun fire from both sides, and that the Russian army has already presented detailed radar and satellite data showing a Ukrainian Sukhoi-25 fighter jet tailing MH17 shortly before the jetliner crashed?”
http://theaimn.com/downing-malaysia-airlines-mh17-observed-australia-part-1/

Guatemalans claim they were deliberately infected with STDs sue Johns Hopkins for $1bn
Lawsuit with 800 plaintiffs seeks damages deliberate infection with STDs against Johns Hopkins University over its alleged role in the deliberate infection of hundreds of vulnerable Guatemalans with syphilis and gonorrhoea, during a medical experiment programme in the 1940s and 1950s.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/02/johns-hopkins-lawsuit-deliberate-std-infections-guatemala

At Behest of IMF, Jamaicans Face the Harshest Austerity Policies in World
This poverty- and debt- stricken nation faces budget more severe even than Greece’s. Thanks to policies imposed by the IMF Jamaica has the most severe austerity budget on the planet. The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio stands at nearly 140%, and it has some of the highest interest payments in the world at 8 percent of GDP last year.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/04/07/behest-imf-jamaicans-face-harshest-austerity-policies-world-report

$45 Billion in Tax Dollars Goes Missing in Afghanistan
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/04/01/45-Billion-Tax-Dollars-Goes-Missing-Afghanistan

US secretly tracked billions of calls nearly a decade BEFORE 9/11
Secret records of international telephone calls harvesting billions of calls to as many as 116 countries in a program that provided a blueprint for the far broader NSA surveillance that followed. The data collection began in 1992. It was approved by top Justice Department officials in four presidential administrations with little independent oversight. [Ergo, Bush and his successor Obama had/have been lying to the public for years about the ‘need’ for blanket NSA surveillance to avoid another 9/11–when all the surveillance in the world didn’t prevent the first.]
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/2015/04/07/us-secretly-tracked-billions-of-calls-for-decades/25434673/

China Spoils Washington’s Economic War against Venezuela
In countering US economic aggression against Venezuela, China steps in with a 10 billion dollar loan – China is making a habit of bailing out countries targeted by US sanctions
http://russia-insider.com/en/financial-war-us-china-granted-venezuela-billion-loan/5220

Spain obtained 47% of its electricity from renewables in March
Most of the renewable electricity being generated in Spain comes from wind, which alone provided 22% of the country’s electricity last month.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/spain-got-47-of-its-electricity-from-renewables-in-march-21961

Saudi firm buys Australia big solar projects
A company based in the world’s largest oil exporting nation, Saudi Arabia, has become the new owner of Australia’s second-largest solar plant – the under-construction 72MW Moree PV project.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/opec-nations-turn-to-sun-as-saudi-firm-buys-australia-big-solar-projects-87764

Rwanda revisited
Former President Clinton said he never knew the extent of suffering during Rwanda’s genocide. But America’s diplomats on the ground knew exactly what was happening — and they told Washington.

Exclusive: Rwanda Revisited

Dogs trained to detect prostate cancer with more than 90% accuracy
An Italian team in several studies stretching back decades raises the prospect of canines’ sense of smell helping doctors identify a number of human cancers and infectious diseases. The two female dogs sniffed urine samples from 900 men, 360 with prostate cancer and 540 without. Both animals were right over 90%.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/11/dogs-trained-detect-prostate-cancer-accuracy?CMP=ema_565

China will build a pipeline to bring natural gas from Iran to Pakistan
The pipeline would be an early benefit from the framework agreement reached earlier this month between Tehran and the US to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-to-build-pipeline-from-iran-to-pakistan-1428515277

The US Can Download the Entire Contents of Your Computer at Border Crossings
None of the hundreds of thousands of travellers who cross US borders every day have any right to privacy, Based upon little more than the opinion of a single Customs and Border officer, any device can be searched and its contents read, and even seized and its contents copied.
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/you-have-no-right-to-electronic-privacy-when-you-cross-the-us-border

Defence Housing to create solar suburb in Darwin, ready for electric vehicles
New development to create 337kW solar suburb, producing 600,000kWh of electricity a year and saving Defence members more than $4m in electricity costs.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/defence-housing-to-create-solar-suburb-in-darwin-ready-for-evs-29977

Australia Powered by the People. Help map solar installations around Australia.
The team at the Australian PV Institute have created some amazing maps around solar energy installations.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/australian-solar-map

Russian man to undergo first head-to-body transplant
Doctors seem to be a step closer to performing a breakthrough surgery by transplanting a human head onto another body. A Russian man with a rare genetic muscle-wasting disorder has volunteered to be the first to try the procedure.
http://rt.com/news/248473-transplant-head-body-canavero/

Documents Showing How the Empire Plans to Overthrow Putin
This information was posted on an anonymous blog Drakula’s blog.
http://drakulablog.com/2015/04/01/west-and-ukraine-against-putin-and-his-politicians/.
It looks very credible, so , so take a look here for comparison purposes.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41514.htm

The John James Newsletter 55
17 April 2015

Politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. . . . You have owners.
George Carlin,

Why more immigrants are dying in Mediterranean waters
A careful discussion of the failed state of Libya, the advantages IS is taking of the situation, the fear in Italy which gets most of its oil from Libya and the EU reaction to the deaths that is throwing European well-mannered affairs into disarray.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/why-more-immigrants-are-dying-in-mediterranean-waters-20150421-1mpeqk.html

Ethiopia’s Economic Miracle Is Running Out of Steam
Ethiopia’s state-led development model has run its course and now faces diminishing returns. Many of the abuses associated with that model are galvanizing large segments of the population against the government.

Ethiopia’s Economic Miracle Is Running Out of Steam

Second Sydney airport to eclipse Mascot
Confidential maps reveal Badgerys Creek will rival JFK airport in size. Construction will require moving 100 million cubic metres of earth and could take 80m passengers per year by 2050. Rail costs not included in the estimate
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/badgerys-creek-airport-sydneys-bold-plan-is-taking-wing/story-fni0cx12-1227304121459

Animals on the brink of extinction:
Maps reveal the countries with the most endangered mammals. Despite only occupying 1 per cent of the Earth’s land mass, Indonesia’s rainforests are home to 12% of mammal species. The region tops the list with the most threatened mammals and Madagascar is second, with 114, while Mexico is third with 101.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3037027/Animals-brink-extinction-World-maps-reveal-countries-endangered-mammals.html

How America Became an Oligarchy
Using data from over 1,800 policy initiatives from 1981 to 2002, the rich, well-connected individuals on the political scene now steer the direction of the country, regardless of the will of the majority. America’s political system has transformed to where power is wielded by wealthy elites.

How America Became an Oligarchy

Twitter moves non-US accounts to Ireland away from the NSA
Twitter Inc is governed by US law, it is obliged to comply with NSA-driven court requests for data, so data stored in Ireland is not subject to the same obligation.

Twitter moves non-US accounts to Ireland away from the NSA

Iran Is Winning the War for Dominance of the Middle East
We are witnessing a struggle for regional dominance between two loose and shifting coalitions — one roughly grouped around Saudi Arabia and one around Iran. Despite the sectarian hue of the coalitions, Sunni-Shiite enmity is not the best explanation for today’s regional war. It is a naked struggle for power.

Iran Is Winning the War for Dominance of the Middle East

It is hard to see how a deeply risk-averse China could step into a leadership role in any of the region’s fiery disputes. https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/20/china-middle-east-saudi-arabia-iran-oil-nuclear-deal/

Ruble on the rebound
The Russian ruble is outpacing all other currencies against the dollar. The 20% recovery this month stands in stark contrast to last year, when US officials smugly pointed to Russia’s plummeting currency as proof that Western sanctions against Moscow for meddling in Ukraine were working.

Ruble on the Rebound

The Dow when priced in the average blue-collar wage is now at an all-time high.
This means that it takes the typical worker more hours of sweat and labor to buy the Dow than ever before in at least the last five decades. Investing… saving money and trying to build wealth… is simply out of reach for the average guy.
http://www.sovereignman.com/investing/somebody-show-this-chart-to-jim-cramer-16814/

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad S-300s?
The executive order issued by Putin, which lifts the ban on the export of weapons systems to Iran signals a significant shift in the geopolitics of the region.
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/whos-afraid-of-big-bad-s-300s.html
S-400 missile defence strength doubled in Russia’s far east
http://rt.com/news/251213-russia-kamchatka-s400-deployed/

Russia’s Missile Wall in Iran
There is a risk that should Israel or the US launch an attack on Iran once the S300s are in place and significant numbers of aircraft are lost, not only will the operation fail and an expensive and humiliating blow be dealt to the forces involved, but the veil of invincibility of Western military might, especially its airpower, will be lost forever. Could this trigger a cascade of rebellion the West has created primarily under the threat of military force?
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.mx/
Obama: US could ‘penetrate’ Iran S-300 defense system:
The US could penetrate any air defense system that Iran has.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-us-could-penetrate-iran-s-300-defense-system/

US Intelligence: Houthis Are Not Iran Proxy
Iranian representatives discouraged Houthi rebels from taking the Yemeni capital… the rebels follow a different branch of Shiite Islam than Iran’s leaders and are believed to care more about corruption and the distribution of power than the spread of Shiite influence. “It remains our assessment that Iran does not exert command and control over the Houthis in Yemen, It is wrong to think of the Houthis as a proxy force for Iran,” a US intelligence official.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/04/us-intelligence-houthis-iran-proxy.html

World on Fire: UN Helpless as Crises Rage in 10 Critical Hot Spots
The UN is fighting a losing battle against a rash of humanitarian crises in 10 of the world’s critical “hot spots.” Ban Ki-moon says even the UN’s 193 member states cannot, by themselves, help resolve these widespread conflicts. Last year the number of attacks on aid workers set an record at 460.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/04/21/world-fire-un-helpless-crises-rage-10-critical-hot-spots

Imagine having a net worth of $57 billion.
That sounds like a lot. But not if you’re the US Federal Reserve.
http://www.sovereignman.com/trends/take-a-look-at-what-they-buried-in-this-obscure-report-16809/

Officer Under Saddam Hussein Drew Up Islamic State Master Plan
An ex-intelligence officer under the Saddam Hussein was “the strategic head” behind the IS and drew up the blueprints for the jihadists’ capture of northern Syria.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41613.htm

Deepwater Horizon Disaster: Five Years Later
Despite the dangers of drilling deep underwater, offshore drilling has only increased – there are 37 percent more wells since the spill and the average well is 40 percent deeper now than five years ago.
http://thinkprogress.org/progress-report/deepwater-horizon-disaster-five/

In Landmark Case, Dutch Citizens Sue Their Government Over Failure To Act On Climate Change
Public arguments are scheduled to begin Tuesday as nearly 900 Dutch citizens have filed a lawsuit against their government for failing to effectively cut greenhouse gas emissions and curb climate change. “We feel that there’s a shared responsibility for any country to do what is necessary in its own boundaries to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions as much as is needed.”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/14/3646690/pass-that-dutch-climate-change-action/