Category: Columns

The John James Newsletter 49
7 March 2015

YOU MAY NEED TO CUT AND PASTE THESE LINKS

The Great Transition: Shifting from fossil fuels to solar and wind energy by Lester R. Brown
The link is to Chapter One. “While France is completing construction of its last nuclear plant, it is in the process of developing 25,000 megawatts of wind generating capacity, of which 8,300 megawatts were already online in 2013. It is aiming to drop its nuclear share of power to 50 percent by 2025. China, which has 16,000 megawatts of nuclear generating capacity, has developed a world-leading 91,000 megawatts of wind generating capacity.”
www.earth-policy.org/images/uploads/book_images/EPI_TGT-ch01.pdf

Climate Change Hastened Syria’s Civil War
Drought in Syria, exacerbated to record levels by global warming, pushed social unrest into an open uprising in 2011. The conflict has since become a major civil war with international involvement. Drought from 2006 to 2011 forced many farmers into the cities. The influx added to social stresses already created by refugees from the war in Iraq.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-hastened-the-syrian-war/

Australian science research facilities prepare for shutdown as government refuses to secure funding
Some of the facility’s 94 staff – all but three of them researchers or technicians – will take jobs overseas, and one has already left for Canada  The uncertainty means the facility has not entered into any commercial contracts past the end of June, meaning revenue will likely fall even if the government money comes through.
www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/04/research-facilities-prepare-shutdown-government-refuses-secure-funding?CMP=ema_632

A Mediterranean diet is ‘better than exercise’ and can halve the risk of heart disease
Those who stuck to the diet, consisting of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, olive oil, fish and even a glass of red wine were 47 per cent less likely to develop heart disease over a 10 year period.
http//;www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2979508/A-Mediterranean-diet-better-exercise-halve-risk-heart-disease.html

Wind Power Beats Nuclear in China
http//:www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2015/highlights50

Delhi Gang-Rape Convict Blames Victim
“When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape,” Mr. Singh says in the BBC film. “If she hadn’t resisted, the rapists would have dropped her off after ‘doing her,’”.
blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/03/02/delhi-gang-rape-convict-blames-victim-for-the-attack-bbc/?

Intergenerational Report fails at first hurdle – ignores climate change
Peter Costello introduced Intergenerational reports to assess the economy over the next forty years. Climate change is mentioned just 12 times – and only in passing – in the 175 page report. This is a massive oversight because the environment is the very foundation stone of Australians’ livelihoods and way of life
reneweconomy.com.au/2015/intergenerational-report-fails-at-first-hurdle-ignores-climate-change-51863

Russia ready to repel any nuke strike, retaliate
Nationwide war games of Strategic Nuclear Missile Forces were conducted in February, with 30 missile regiments training in 12 regions of Russia. Missilemen performed ultimate combat operational readiness, counteraction to subversive groups and perfected defences against airborne precision weapons
rt.com/news/236573-russia-repel-nuclear-strike/

U.S. Strategy in Iraq Increasingly Relies on Iran
“The only way in which the Obama administration can credibly stick with its strategy is by implicitly assuming that the Iranians will carry most of the weight and win the battles on the ground,”
www.nytimes.com/2015/03/06/world/middleeast/us-strategy-in-iraq-increasingly-relies-on-iran.html

Police investigate Save the Children whistleblowers over Nauru abuse report
staff had anonymously written a submission outlining cases of sexual and physical abuse of children, and acts of self-harm. “We believe that the children have been subjected to multiple violations of their human rights and wrongdoing from multiple parties.“
http;//www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/04/police-investigate-save-the-children-whistleblowers-over-nauru-abuse-report?CMP=ema_632

New Silk Roads and the Chinese Vision of a Brave New (Trade) World
The Beijing leadership vision of a potentially mind-boggling infrastructure, much of it from scratch, that will connect China to Central Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe. Such a development will include projects that range from upgrading the ancient silk road via Central Asia to developing a Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor; a China-Pakistan corridor through Kashmir; and a new maritime silk road that will extend from southern China all the way to Venice. Don’t think of this as the twenty-first-century Chinese equivalent of America’s post-World War II Marshall Plan for Europe, but as something far more ambitious and potentially with a far vaster reach.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175959/tomgram:_pepe_escobar,_inside_china%27s_%22new_normal%22/#more

New Study Shows California Droughts Driven by Climate Change and Here to Stay
The increasingly frequent and severe droughts that have punished California over the past two decades are primarily the result of human-caused climate change and will likely grow even worse. This new research analyzes historical records and computer simulations of global warming, to investigate the role of changing temperatures.
www.commondreams.org/news/2015/03/03/new-study-shows-california-droughts-driven-climate-change-and-here-stay

Carbon crash, solar dawn: Deutsche Bank on why solar has already won
Their report suggests solar will become the dominant electricity source around the world as it beats conventional fuels, generates $5 trillion in revenue over the next 15 years, and displaces large amounts of fossil fuels. But by 2030, the solar market will increase 10-fold, as more than 100 million customers are added, and solar’s share of the electricity market jumps to 10 per cent. By 2050 solar’s share will be 30 per cent of the market.
reneweconomy.com.au/2015/carbon-crash-solar-dawn-deutsche-bank-on-why-solar-has-already-won-51105
and
Energy storage to reach cost ‘holy grail’, mass adoption in 5 years
reneweconomy.com.au/2015/energy-storage-to-reach-cost-holy-grail-mass-adoption-in-5-years-18383

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The John James Newsletter 50
14 March 2015

YOU MAY NEED TO CUT AND PASTE THESE LINKS

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect
Mark Twain

The Arctic Ocean is coming close to complete summer meltdown
The apparent ‘pause’ in global warming has been no such thing. Instead the surplus heat – two Hiroshima bombs-worth a second – has been ‘buried’ deep in the Pacific Ocean. That’s because of two important climate cycles, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, has masked the warming. But soon they will tip the other way and the ‘Big Heat’ is set to begin – a five to ten year burst of rapid warming that will be most severe in the Arctic. “Nothing has been said by the IPCC. Nothing has been said in the mainstream media. Nothing has been said by the scientific community. This is a terrible omission.”
arctic-news.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/save-the-arctic-sea-ice-while-we-still-can.html

March 4 Arctic Sea Ice Extent Hits Record Low
There is little scope for Arctic sea ice extent to grow over the next few weeks, since the only areas where it could possibly expand would be the Pacific and the North Atlantic, the very areas that are under pressure from ocean heat and high surface temperatures. In other words, the situation looks set to deteriorate further.
arctic-news.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/march-4-2015-arctic-sea-ice-extent-hits-record-low.html

How is it happening?
What is the mechanism behind accelerated warming of the Arctic Ocean, huge abrupt methane eruptions from the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean and skyrocketing temperatures?
http://news.euoa.net/category/natalia-shakhova

Naomi Klein: This changes everything
I denied climate change for longer than I care to admit. I knew it was happening, but stayed pretty hazy on the details and only skimmed most of the news stories, especially the really scary ones. I told myself the science was too complicated and that the environmentalists were dealing with it. And I continued to behave as if there was nothing wrong with the shiny card in my wallet attesting to my “elite” frequent flyer status.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/06/dont-look-away-now-the-climate-crisis-needs-you?CMP=ema_565

Byron shire aims to lead Australia on zero emissions plan
“All revolutions start from the bottom up, and what is required is a revolution. Politicians will follow what action happens in the communities.” This had been the case in Europe, particularly Germany and Denmark, where “people power” had driven the major uptake of renewable energy. The plan is to incorporate land use, retrofitting of buildings, waste and transport – including electric vehicles – into the plan.
reneweconomy.com.au/2015/byron-shire-aims-to-lead-australia-on-zero-emissions-community-plan-90958

Nuclear arsenals of the world – the GOOD NEWS
Rising, then pulling back from a Peak in the late 1980s, the number of nuclear warheads has dropped significantly, though more countries now possess them.
thebulletin.org/nuclear-notebook-multimedia

UN: Impact on Africa if we keep to 2 degrees
The latest science suggests climate change adaptation measures could cost Africa $50 billion per year by the mid-century, and put up to 50 per cent of the continent’s population is at risk of undernourishment, even if efforts to prevent a 2°C temperature increase are successful. African nations do not have the domestic resources to head off this crippling economic cost.
https://newmatilda.com/2015/03/08/un-report-predicts-african-disaster-even-if-we-keep-global-warming-2-degrees

Aleppo: Notes from the Dark
With bombs exploding and under sniper fire, this film shows the life of Aleppo from the perspective of seven of its residents, struggling with the hardships of war: A social journalist, a street vendor, a cleric, an entrepreneur, a doctor from a field hospital, a shopkeeper – ordinary people with hopes and dreams.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2014/08/aleppo-notes-from-dark-20148412419590705.html

Boko Haram Turns Robin Hood’s Strategy on Its Head
Boko Haram is now raising money by ignoring the rich and targeting the poor, an unusually cruel tactic that takes struggling innocents and pushes them over the financial cliff.
foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/05/boko-haram-turns-robin-hoods-strategy-on-its-head-nigeria-niger/

Health costs of hormone disrupting chemicals
Lower IQ, adult obesity and 5% of autism cases are all linked to exposure to endocrine disruptors found in food containers, plastics, furniture, toys, carpeting and cosmetics. “The shocking thing is that the major component of that cost is related to the loss of brain function in the next generation,”
www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/06/health-costs-hormone-disrupting-chemicals-150bn-a-year-europe-says-study?CMP=EMCENVEML1631

Business Is Booming at Abu Dhabi’s Great Arms Bazaar
With conflicts raging from Ukraine to Syria to Yemen, there’s something for everyone at the world’s most important gun show. Business is booming. Defence spending grew 12.1 percent in the Middle East last year.

Business Is Booming at Abu Dhabi’s Great Arms Bazaar

Under the Dome: Trying To Save This Whole System We Call Home
My son lives in Shanghai and has an apartment on the 37th floor that should have a wonderful view over the city and far beyond. Unfortunately, you can barely see a couple of hundred meters and even that is murky. Some days you can barely make out buildings over the river. Whenever I visit I’m given a face-mask. Once in the car, I’m forbidden to open the windows. Every couple of hours we check the weather apps on our phone what is the pollution like and if it’s bad we get inside.
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2015/03/05/under-dome-trying-save-whole-system-we-call-home

and
Only 1% of China’s 560 million urban residents breathe air that is safe by EU standards
www.china-mike.com/facts-about-china/facts-pollution-environment-energy/

The Staggering Cost of Israel to Americans
It seems that the US is paying Israel to buy its own Congress- some deal ??
Israel is among the world’s most affluent nations, with a per capita income similar to that of the European Union. Israel’s unemployment rate of 5.8% is better than America’s 7.3%, and Israel’s net trade, earnings, and payments is ranked 30th in the world while the US sits in last place at a dismal 193rd. Yet, Israel receives more aid  than all the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean combined—which have a total population of over a billion people. And foreign aid is just one component of the staggering cost of US alliance with Israel.
www.ifamericansknew.org/stat/cost.html

Four charts about mental illness
For years doctors have complained about the serious underfunding of mental health services. Most people think performing more surgeries and cutting waiting times in emergency departments wins elections, while making sure someone with schizophrenia is properly supported and medicated doesn’t.
www.smh.com.au/nsw/the-four-charts-that-will-terrify-you-if-you-or-anyone-you-love-has-a-mental-illness-20150309-13yswk.html

The John James Newsletter 51
21 March 2015

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner.
James Bovard

Solar and wind power have halted the rise in global emissions   !!!!!!!!!!

The IEA has hailed a “surprising” and “unprecedented” halt in the rise of global CO2 emissions as directly credited to the growth in solar and wind power, increased hydro, and the decline in coal-fired generation. Global emissions stood at 32.3 billion tonnes in 2014, unchanged from the preceding year, despite a 3% increase in global economic growth. This is the first time in 40 years that a halt in emissions was not part of an economic downturn.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/solar-wind-power-aid-unprecedented-halt-in-global-emissions-75353

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/16/8224915/economic-growth-carbon-emissions

Because this is now the trend everywhere !
Under the sun: Australia’s largest solar farm set to sprout in a Queensland field
A sea of glass panels may soon be sprawling across a paddock in Queensland’s Darling Downs cranking out two gigawatts of energy – 100 times more than the largest solar farm in Australia today – and a former top flight barrister is the unusual shining light behind its development. That is equivalent to one fifth of the current total renewable energy target for the entire country in a single power station. It is also more power than any coal fired station in Queensland can currently muster.
\http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/02/under-the-sun-australias-largest-solar-farm-set-to-sprout-in-a-queensland-field?CMP=ema_632
and
Texas city to go 100% solar, wind – because it’s cheaper, more reliable
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/texas-city-to-go-100-solar-wind-because-its-cheaper-more-reliable-75098
and
Costa Rica powered by 100% renewables for first 75 days of 2015
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/costa-rica-powered-100-by-renewables-for-first-75-days-of-2015

Australia top tan climate polluters
While most of the top 10 polluters publicly accept climate change and their responsibilities to reduce pollution, some have opposed important mechanisms such as the carbon price and the RET. All are Australian owned except for the worst which is owned by the Chinese.
https://www.acfonline.org.au/sites/default/files/resources/ACF_Biggest_Polluters_Report_FINAL_V1.2.pdf

How plants FEEL when insects eat them
A cabbage knows what creature is attacking it by the way it chews. Caterpillars produce more drool when eating a plant leaf so  it responded to caterpillars differently. The plant could tell various caterpillars apart, and can identify nearby sounds of eating
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2988798/How-plants-FEEL-insects-eating-alive-cabbage-knows-creature-attacking-way-chews-claims-study.html

Kurds of Syria, Turkey and Iraq unite to build Kurdistan
Is this possible when these three states would have to give up territory to achieve it? And when you read how this wrong was inflicted after WWI.
‘A consolidated Kurdistan is an impossibility. There is no reason why the distribution of the Kurds should dictate frontiers or why Kurds should be regarded as a people who require consolidation.’ – Lt Col Sir Mark Sykes, March 15, 1915
‘Major Noel . . . considered that British policy demanded the setting-up of a Kurdish buffer state which could be used to counterbalance any strong anti-British movement which might occur in Mesopotamia.” – minutes of Cairo Conference, March 15, 1921. Meeting chaired by Winston Churchill.
‘We demand that independence which is our birthright, and which alone will permit us to fight our way along the road of progress and civilisation, to turn to account the resources of our country and to live in peace with our neighbours.’ – General Sherif Pasha, president of the Kurdish delegation to the Peace Conference in Paris, March 22, 1919.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/kurds-of-syria-turkey-and-iraqi-unite-to-build-kurdistan–an-alternative-state-and-direct-challenge-to-islamic-states-caliphate-20150314-141xwp.html

After four years of conflict, Syria is ‘entering the dark ages’
83% of the country’s lights have gone out since its conflict began and life expectancy has dropped by 20 years, As the conflict enters its fifth year this month, the death toll stands at more than 200,000, Nearly 11 million have been forced to flee their homes, including hundreds of thousands trapped in combat zones with little access to food, shelter or medical care. More than 3 million have sought shelter in neighbouring countries, whose governments say they are struggling to cope. Syria is entering the dark ages, literally and metaphorically,
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-lights-20150312-story.html

Moscow Launches Ruble-Renminbi Futures To “Facilitate Trade Between China And Russia”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-17/moscow-launches-ruble-renminbi-futures-facilitate-trade-between-china-and-russia
After the UK announced it will join the new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member, Germany, France and Italy decided to follow Britain’s lead and join as well (AND possibly Australia too!). Is this the end of the US dollar’s dominance? Is one reason that the total net assets of the US — every acre of land, every tank, every drone, every drop of oil in the strategic reserve – leave the US government owning MINUS $60 trillion.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china/
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australia-ready-to-join-us100-billion-china-bank-20150319-1m33pa.html

Poor Farmers Bear The Brunt Natural Disasters In Developing Countries
Twenty-two percent of all damages inflicted by natural hazards such as drought, floods storms or tsunamis are registered within the agriculture sector, most often incurred by poor rural and semi-rural communities without insurance and lacking the financial resources needed to regain lost livelihoods. Yet only 4.5 percent of post-disaster humanitarian aid in the 2003-2013 period targeted agriculture.
http://www.countercurrents.org/cc170315.htm

Watch how 7-12 metre waves battered the Arctic ice between March 13-20
http://arctic-news.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/strong-winds-and-waves-batter-arctic-sea-ice.html

The latest sea ice thickness measurement (9th March 2015) for the US Navy submarines shows that the thick and rigid multiyear sea ice congestion has cleared from the Fram Strait between Greenland and the Svalbard Archipelago. The wave penetration is stronger within soft and highly fragmented seasonal ice packs, and so, the sea ice is now primed for faster transport out of the Arctic Ocean.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153101217844449&set=p.10153101217844449&type=1

German Officials: Claims of Russian Invasion of Ukraine Are American Propaganda
US officials regularly claim ceasefire violations in Ukraine, and Russian “invasions” that no one questions. The German government is increasingly annoyed over “dangerous propaganda” meant to sabotage the ceasefire, saying that the US claims are wildly inaccurate or unconfirmed.

German Officials: Claims of Russian Invasion of Ukraine Are American Propaganda

Putin in film on Crimea: US masterminds behind Ukraine coup, helped train radicals
“The Ukrainian armed coup was organised from Washington. The Americans tried to hide behind the Europeans, but we saw through it. The trick was to get the [Ukrainian] opposition supported by the Europeans whereas we knew for sure that the real masterminds were our American friends. They helped train the nationalists and facilitated the armed coup.
http://rt.com/news/240921-us-masterminds-ukraine-putin/

What They’re Not Telling You About Monsanto’s Role in Ukraine
In the guise of ‘aid,’ a claim has been made on Ukraine’s vast agricultural riches. It is the world’s third largest exporter of corn and fifth largest exporter of wheat. Ukraine has deep, rich, black soil that can grow almost anything, and its ability to produce high volumes of GM grain is what made biotech come rushing to take it over.
http://naturalsociety.com/theyre-not-telling-monsantos-role-ukraine/

Terrorists: The US Creates Them, Turkey Trains Them, Qatar Finances Them
Few are aware that Turkey is ruled by a Muslim Brotherhood government. As a NATO member, Turkey has long provided recruitment, intelligence, training and armaments (including a daily flow of ammunition and spare parts) on behalf of US interests. With Qatari financing, American equipment and Turkish training, it was like a marriage made in heaven. Although the Syrian army and security forces were exhausted they were not defeated. But the problems in this clever scheme came when IS started beheading Westerners and using the universal reach of social media to ensure that the whole world would see it.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41244.htm

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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