Category: Columns

The John James Newsletter 28
10 November 2014.

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? — Abraham Lincoln

Ring The Bell: This Is Our Future – John James
I have been asked to describe the world under 2,3 or 4 degrees and what it would be like in our lifetimes and those of our children? This is my answer, based on what most of us are likely to experience during the next few decades……. unless!
http://www.countercurrents.org/james071114.htm

Methane Erupting From East Siberian Arctic Shelf
Nations are ignoring this growing danger. As the oceans keep warming, the Gulf Stream will keep moving ocean heat into the Arctic, triggering increased methane eruptions from the seafloor that threatens to further accelerate warming in the Arctic, resulting in ever more methane being released .. ad infinitum.
http://arctic-news.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/methane-erupting-from-east-siberian-arctic-shelf.html

California County Makes History By Passing Self-Governance Law
Over the past century, both corporations and state governments have restricted the authority of municipal corporations so the people have very few rights. Your right to govern your own county has been canceled out by the “rights” of corporations, and the authority of the State to preempt your lawmaking. This measure, though “illegal”, is about changing the law by challenging the law. Openly, frontally, and directly. The current system of law does not allow you to say “no” to fracking within the County. You therefore have a choice – you can either accept that current status of the law, or you can challenge what the law “is” and adopt a new system of law which enables you to control what happens in the County.
http://www.zengardner.com/california-county-makes-history-passes-self-governance-law/

Sao Paulo running out of water as rain-making Amazon vanishes
São Paulo with 20 million people is suffering its worst drought in at least 80 years, with key reservoirs that supply the city dried up. Humidity from the Amazon has dropped dramatically, are all because of deforestation. That is altering the climate in the region by drastically reducing the release of billions of liters of water by rainforest trees. It is a collapse like we have never seen before. The severity of the situation in recent weeks has led government leaders to finally admit Brazil’s financial powerhouse is on the brink of a catastrophe.
http://www.trust.org/item/20141024121030-es9ea/?source=hpMostPopular

The collapse of the Amazon is one of the anticipated tipping points. Its massive rain forests have been soaking up enormous quantities of carbon, as well as keeping the planet’s weather equitable. Neither of these benign effects can be expected in the future. John

Abdul Kareem: a seed sent from heaven.
Almost 40 years ago, Abdul Kareem bought five acres of land in what was then a sparsely inhabited area in northern Kerala. Shortly after, he bought some more land, and in just a few years, his 32 acres were transformed into a thick, vibrant forest, making Abdul Kareem one of the few people in India to have actually created a forest—and that too almost single-handedly.
http://www.goodnewsindia.com/Pages/content/inspirational/abdulKareem.html

The John James Newsletter 29
14 November 2014.

Putin, Xi Jinping sign mega gas deal on second gas supply route:
This agreement would make China the biggest consumer of Russian gas, and will exceed the volume exported to Europe.
http://rt.com/business/203679-china-russia-gas-deal/

Canada just became North America’s first offshore renminbi hub
With increasing speed and frequency, the People’s Bank of China and the Canadian Prime Minister’s office issued a statement on Saturday stating that Canada will establish North America’s first offshore renminbi trading center in Toronto.
http://www.sovereignman.com/offshore-banking-2/still-happening-canada-just-became-north-americas-first-offshore-renminbi-hub-15541/?

Alison Weir: “Against Our Better Judgement” – well worth a careful watch.
This presentation at the National Press Club was a disturbing and impressive work. It details the history of Zionism in the US and the bizarre symbiosis of US and Israel policies.

Map of the countries that recognize Palestine as a state
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/11/07/map-the-countries-that-recognize-palestine-as-a-state/

Awesome Flash Mob Reward For Woman Recycling Bottle

Awesome Flash Mob Reward For Woman Recycling Bottle

Lagging Behind: Australia and the Global Response to Climate Change
This report compares Australia’s action on climate change to the rest of the world in regard to reducing emissions and renewable energy, including the actions taken by some of the world’s largest economies such as China, the US and EU.
http://www.climatecouncil.org.au/globalresponsereport?utm_source=supporter%20email%20global%20report&utm_medium=EDM&utm_campaign=global%20report
Here is a list of projects at risk from the government’s campaign against renewables.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/the-wind-and-solar-projects-that-would-disappear-along-with-ret-24255

Switzerland arming in preparation for European meltdown?
Bern’s biggest fear is the disorganization of neighboring nations’ armies that would follow general instability. The eurozone crisis and the severe austerity measures in the EU are forcing member-states to significantly slash their military budgets as protest continues to spread across Europe
http://rt.com/news/switzerland-prepares-europe-unrest-263/

Russia’s deployed nuclear capacity overtakes US for first time since 2000
Russia has 1,643 nuclear missiles ready to launch – one more than the US – according to an official State Department report. Both countries have been upgrading their active nuclear arsenals since the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict. These numbers are in violation of the New START treaty, which prescribe a limit of 1,550 deployed warheads.
http://rt.com/news/193604-russia-nuclear-capacity-start/

Close military encounters between Russia and the west ‘at cold war levels’
Report lists 40 cases of ‘brinkmanship’ in past eight months, including near-collision between Russian spy plane and passenger jet
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/10/close-military-encounters-russia-west-cold-war?CMP=ema_565

Russian planes to patrol in Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico
Russia had wound down such long-range missions after the end of the Cold War. Amid renewed tensions over Ukraine Russia has been returning to methods once used to test Nato defences.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30028371

The John James Newsletter 30 – Games of War
16 November 2014.

By removing Assad, Obama may be declaring war on China
Should Obama attempt to remove Assad and pave the way for an anti-Chinese Islamist regime that supports extremist groups to attack Chinese territory, coupled with the People’s Liberation Army perception that US would arm terrorists in Xinjiang to destabilize China, Washington should not be surprised if this becomes a “tipping point” for China to attack in the west, joined by Russia and Iran.
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/by-removing-assad-obama-may-be-declaring-war-on-china/
and
http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2014-02/deterring-dragon-under-sea

Kissinger warns of West’s ‘fatal mistake’ that may lead to new Cold War
If the West wants to be “honest,” it should recognize, that it made a “mistake,” in the course of action the US and the EU adopted in the Ukrainian conflict. Europe and the US did not understand the “significance of events” that started with the Ukraine-EU economic negotiations that initially brought about the demonstrations in Kiev last year. Those tensions should have served as a starting point to include Russia in the discussion, not antagonise her.
http://rt.com/news/203795-kissinger-warns-cold-war/

What Frightened the USS Donald Cook In The Black Sea?
The US spy ship was in the Black Sea. An unamed Russian jet flew over and disabled all radars, control circuits, systems, information transmission, etc. The all-powerful Aegis system, now about to be hooked up with the defense systems installed on NATO’s most modern ships, was shut down. The Russian Su-24 then simulated a missile attack against the US ship, which was left literally deaf and blind. As if carrying out a training exercise, the Russian aircraft – unarmed – repeated the same maneuver 12 times before flying away. After that the demoralised crew immediately set sail towards a port in Romania.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40222.htm

Ukrainian Neo-Nazi Commander “The US is Training and Funding Us”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40212.htm

With Iran, China and Russia forming a solid trading block, US sanctions will be less threatening
Putin states that trade in rubles & yuan will weaken dollar’s influence, and Russia plans to expand its cooperation with Asia-Pacific region countries through increased trade and investment incentives. “We are not going to increase our sovereign debt. We plan to keep this debt at the safe and controllable level of less than 15 percent of GDP.”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40201.htm
and

Petrodollar Panic? China Signs Currency Swap Deal With Qatar and Canada

and
http://www.infowars.com/russia-iran-to-boycott-us-dollar-in-bilateral-trade/

China – Russia Sidestep Neocons
Mr. Putin said that as a result of these deals, Russian trade with China and the rest of Asia is going to increase from 25 percent to 40 percent of Russia’s GDP. This leaves Europe out in the cold. The coming together between China and Russia has been the opposite of what American foreign policy has been trying for since the 1980s. The sanctions that the US and NATO have insisted that it impose on Russia have led to Russian counter-sanctions against French and Baltic and European exports. French farmers are already demonstrating, and Marine Le Pen’s nationalists are likely to win the next election. The Baltic States are also screaming from losing their farm exports. France, Latvia, and even Germany had been looking to Russia as a growing market the last few years. Yet their leaders obeyed US demands not to deal with the Russian market. This leaves Europe in a position of economic stagnation.

China – Russia sidestep neocons

Lame duck out of the Silk Road caravan
The multiple New Silk Roads is the most spectacular, ambitious and wide-ranging pluri-national infrastructure offensive ever attempted. It is a complex network of high-speed rail, pipelines, ports, fiber optic cables and state of the art telecom that China is already building through the Central Asian linked to Russia, Iran, Turkey and the Indian Ocean, and branching out to Europe all the way to Venice and Berlin. Take a very good look at the official photo.
http://rt.com/op-edge/204323-china-russia-partnership-apec-usa/

India’s plan to stop importing coal deals another blow to Australia
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ambitious target that could see India cease thermal coal imports within two to three years. Far from being the saviour of the world’s billion tonnes per annum seaborne thermal coal industry, India could follow China, America, Japan and the EU through strategies that limit India’s reliance on imported fossil fuels.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/indias-plan-stop-importing-coal-deals-another-blow-australia-68894

US wealth inequality – top 0.1% worth as much as the bottom 90%
Not since the Great Depression has wealth inequality in the US been so acute, new in-depth study finds
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/13/us-wealth-inequality-top-01-worth-as-much-as-the-bottom-90?CMP=ema_565

The John James Newsletter 31
23 November 2014.

“Happy Talk” About the Climate
The non-binding deal which the US and China just signed will still allow the Earth’s atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to rise to 500ppm by the end of the century, far past the current concentration of 400ppm. This deal does nothing to forestall a complete, total, unmitigated disaster that is likely to spell the end of agriculture, urbanized civilization, and may doom humans, along with most other large vertebrate species, to extinction.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40273.htm

There’s growing evidence that global warming is driving crazy winters
Watch the video – most interesting.

Ocean Dead Zones Are Getting Worse Due to Climate Change
Researchers have known that low-oxygen, or hypoxic, areas have doubled every 10 years since the 1960s, largely due to increases in nutrient-filled runoff. But warming and other aspects of climate change will worsen the ability of the oceans to feed a growing planet. The map shows the existing dead zones.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ocean-dead-zones-are-getting-worse-globally-due-climate-change-180953282/?no-ist
null

Two successes for AVAAZ and for the rest of us
After a nerve-wracking battle culminating in the delivery of the AVAAZ 1.1 million-strong petition, and hundreds of thousands of emails and calls to key MEPs, the EU Parliament voted for strong Net Neutrality rules. This stops a two-tiered Internet and ensures that all data traffic is treated equally.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/internet_apocalypse_loc/
President Obama has created the world’s largest marine reserve in the Pacific Ocean though he has been under enormous pressure from a powerful fishing lobby to water down the plan.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/ocean_of_hope_loc/

Dependence On Government handouts Is Out Of Control In America
In 1968, there were 51 full-time workers for every American on disability.  Today, there are just 13 full-time workers for every one on disability. This whole piece is well worth reading!
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/21-facts-that-prove-that-dependence-on-the-government-is-out-of-control-in-america
cbo1

The Insatiable God
For the first time in 170 years, the UK parliament will debate the creation of money. Few people know that 97% of our money supply is created not by the government (or the central bank), but by commercial banks throughthe loans they issue. At no point was a democratic decision made to allow banks to do this. So why do we let it happen? This,is the source of much of the instability of our economies.
http://www.monbiot.com/2014/11/18/the-insatiable-god/

What happened to 20.8 tons of gold?
In an interview on Ukraine TV, the head of the Ukraine Central Bank made the stunning admission that “in the vaults of the central bank there is almost no gold left.”. There was  a strange incident that took place just after the Ukraine presidential coup when “in a mysterious operation under the cover of night, Ukraine’s gold reserves were loaded onboard an unmarked plane, which took the gold to the US.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-18/ukraine-admits-its-gold-gone

The John James Newsletter 32
27 November 2014.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”  Margaret Mead

10 Signs That Russia Is Preparing To Fight (And Win) A Nuclear War With The  United States.
A must-read analysis that suggests this may be why the war-party in the US are pushing for confrontation sooner rather than later.
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/10-signs-that-russia-is-preparing-to-fight-and-win-a-nuclear-war-with-the-united-states?

NATO Jets Surrounding Russia
Map of NATO planes near the Russian border before the Ukraine crisis and now. What would the US response be if Russia were to park a few squadrons of Mig-35s in Cuba, Canada and Mexico.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-23/nato-jets-surrounding-russia-and-after

China building South China Sea island big enough for airstrip: report
Satellite images show China is building an island on a reef in the disputed Spratly Islands large enough to accommodate what could be its first offshore airstrip in the South China Sea. The construction has stoked concern that China may be converting disputed territory in the mineral-rich archipelago into military installations, in waters also claimed by Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/21/us-china-southchinasea-airstrip-idUSKCN0J526B20141121

British elite unit in Iraq, kills hundreds of ISIS militants:
British SAS troops have been conducting secret missions using quad bikes and 4×4’s in Iraq, they have been seeking out enemy forces usually at night, killing up to eight terrorists a day.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2845668/SAS-quad-bike-squads-kill-8-jihadis-day-allies-prepare-wipe-map-Daring-raids-UK-Special-Forces-leave-200-enemy-dead-just-four-weeks.html

Edward Snowden awarded Stuttgart Peace Prize
Snowden sent a message via video: “If we are to live in a liberal society, we must stand and defend liberal values”.
https://newhub.shafaqna.com/EN/PK/7631901

Planet Already On ‘Unavoidable Course To Warming’: World Bank Report
With a 2°C rise—which the planet is on track to hit by mid-century—the greenhouse gas emissions already released into the atmosphere mean that “for next twenty years, the die has been cast.” Because of this, “the investment in resilience and adaptation are fundamental”.
http://www.countercurrents.org/germanos251114.htm

Russia puts losses from sanctions, cheaper oil at $140 billion per year
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/24/us-russia-siluanov-idUSKCN0J80GC20141124

Swiss Gold Referendum: What It Really Means
A gold backed Swiss franc would be more valuable for wage earners as it would increase purchasing power and reduce living costs. For the wealthy stock owners a stronger franc would reduce Swiss exports and thus affect stock prices. The vote is between the rich and the poor. The Swiss establishment opposes the gold-backed franc, as does Washington.
http://wwww.informationclearinghouse.info/article40320.htm

Hagel Didn’t Start the Fire
The decisions which has put the US into the incredible debacle that we’re in today throughout the world.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40318.htm

The John James Newsletter 34
8 December 2014.

Guy McPherson on a faith that I share
“I want to remind us all that we are mortal. That we don’t have long on this planet even if we live to be 100, so we should pursue what we love instead of pursuing the next dollar…. if you love having children, have children and love them, and no matter how long their lives are, make them be years of joy. And that goes for all of us. If that means you want to bring children into the world, who am I to stop you from pursuing what you love? …. Our social responsibility is to live here, here now, and contribute to the happiness of those around us. We are in a hospice where we are serving as witnesses to our own demise, as well as to the demise of all the other species who dying with us. So let’s embrace our joy and love for this living planet, even as we cause it to become a lot less lovely. And bring joy to all those around us.”

News is what people want to keep hidden; everything else is publicity.  – Bill Moyers

Australian girl inspires the religious leaders
of the world to pledge to eradicate slavery by 2020

http://www.smh.com.au/world/australian-girl-grace-forrest-inspires-pope-francis-and-other-world-religious-leaders-to-sign-pledge-to-eradicate-slavery-by-2020-20141202-11ytpw.html

IS Supply Lines Originate in NATO’s Turkey
Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle published a video of immense implications – possibly the first national broadcaster in the West to admit that the ISIS is supplied not by “black market oil” or “hostage ransoms” but by billions of dollars worth of supplies carried into Syria across NATO member Turkey’s borders via hundreds of trucks a day. The report confirms what has been reported since 2011 – that Turkey has allowed a torrent in supplies, fighters, and weapons to cross its borders unopposed to resupply ISIS positions inside of Syria.
http://freewestradio.com/2014/11/breaking-germanys-dw-reports-isis-supply-lines-originate-in-natos-turkey/

Civil Liberties in Peril Down Under
Australia has passed sweeping secrecy laws, while police officers in New Zealand recently raided the home of a reporter who had published information regarding a government scandal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/opinion/civil-liberties-in-peril-down-under.html

How the IPCC has consistently underestimated climate change.
As a result we really haven’t explored a world in which the emissions growth rate is as rapid as we have actually seen happen.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-ipcc-underestimated-climate-change/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/330589D6-1811-4401-B7C56CB18A966EDA_article.jpg?55204

The Permian mass extinction 250 million years ago, also known as “The Great Dying,” was triggered by a massive lava flow in Siberia that led to 6 degrees Celsius. That caused the melting of frozen methane deposits that caused temperatures to skyrocket further. This caused the extinction of 95 percent of all species on the planet were wiped out. Today’s scientific evidence strongly suggests we are in the midst of the same process – only this time it is anthropogenic, and happening exponentially faster than in the Permian.

In 1981 the US had accumulated what was then an astounding $1 TRILLION in debt.
This had taken more than 205 years to accumulate. It would take less than five years to accumulate its second trillion. And as the US government just hit $18 trillion in debt on Friday afternoon, it has taken a measly 403 days to accumulate the most recent.
http://www.sovereignman.com/trends/five-complete-lies-about-americas-new-18-trillion-debt-level-15661/

Dealing with despair means dealing with our own grief – it is OUR issue
In my personal experience this is the Way to overcome despair. As Guy set out earlier, to bring Joy to our friends we need to deal with our own grief and defences. This is the Way to Resilience with the capacity to Love.

CEFC turns focus to commercial-ready bioenergy for Australia
The $10 billion clean energy investment vehicle set up by the Labor Gillard government – and since targeted for the scrap heap by the Abbott government – has so far contracted investments of over $900 million in projects with a total value of over $3 billion. Of this, bioenergy investments make up about 10 per cent or nearly $100 million of the total portfolio, and have been focused on waste-to-energy and biogas.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/cefc-turns-focus-commercial-ready-bioenergy-australia-99980

Russia’s Patience Is Wearing Thin
With the western propaganda flying thick and heavy, it’s more important than ever to cut through the chaff and learn what we can about the most important geopolitical realignment (and renewed tensions) in recent memory.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40353.htm
and
Erdogan hosts Putin to tighten Turkey-Russia alliance
Talks were expected to focus on energy cooperation and to discuss how to triple bilateral trade to a target of $100 billion in the next years from $32.7 billion in 2013, a goal some analysts see as wildly over-ambitious. His visit came just over a week after talks between U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and key NATO ally Turkey failed to reach a breakthrough on cooperating over Syria.
http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Dec-01/279493-erdogan-hosts-putin-to-tighten-turkey-russia-alliance.ashx#sthash.nsKt9B3n.dpuf
and another report, in video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te289Iel73Q
and
On the geo-political implications of cancelling the Southern Gas Route.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40381.htm
Russia has recently sealed a key deal with Iran to swap Iranian oil for Russian industrial goods. Russia has also agreed to invest heavily in the Iranian nuclear industry. If and when sanctions on Iran are lifted the Europeans will find the Russians already there. Russia has just agreed a massive deal to supply gas to Turkey. Overshadowing these deals are the two huge deals Russia has made to supply gas to China. These show that Russia had made a strategic decision to redirect its energy flow away from Europe. Though it will take time for the full effect to become clear, the consequences for Europe are grim. Europe is looking at a serious energy shortfall, which it will only be able to make up by buying energy at a much higher price.
So far from Russia being dependent on Europe as its energy customer, it is Europe which has antagonised, probably irreparably, its key economic partner and energy supplier. Through the arrangements with China, Turkey and Iran, Russia has dealt a devastating blow to the energy future of the EU. In a few years the Europeans will discover that moralising and bluff comes with a price. By cancelling South Stream, Russia has imposed upon Europe the most effective of all the sanctions we have seen this year.

The map shows how the Ukraine unrest has limited the winter gas supplies for Europe, and how Bulgaria’s blockage is affecting the alternative route across the Black Sea. Agreement with Turkey could keep Europe warm if built in time.

Australia will disgrace itself in Lima, just as it did in Kyoto
In the 1990s, Australia joined with Saudi Arabia in throwing road blocks to the Kyoto Protocol. Australia’s recalcitrance was “rewarded” then because the world was keen to get any sort of treaty, and thus it gave Australia the so called “Australia clause” — which allowed it to increase emissions rather than cut them. So when the Abbott government crows about Australia being one of the few countries that actually met its Kyoto targets, it means nothing. And even less on the international stage.
Now, as talks resume in Lima with the best chance of an agreement in a generation Australia is once again an outlier. And it can expect further “bollockings” in the months to come, particularly as the moves to seal a deal in Paris intensify. The Chinese were reportedly stunned that Australia did not want the environment and environmental goods  included in the free trade agreement just negotiated. No other country has insisted on that.

Australia will disgrace itself in Lima, just as it did in Kyoto

At Home and Abroad, UN Report Details Abysmal US Record of Abuse
An official report by the United Nations Committee Against Torture found that the US has a long way to go if it wants to earn its claimed position as a leader in human rights.The committee slammed the US for its domestic policies such as prolonged solitary confinement; botched state executions; heavy-handed and discriminatory policing practices in the nation’s cities; the treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice system; and serious problems with its immigration enforcement policies.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/11/29/home-and-abroad-un-report-details-abysmal-us-record-abuse

Saudis risk playing with fire in shale-price showdown as crude crashes
Saudi Arabia and the core Opec states are taking an immense political gamble by letting crude oil prices crash to $66 a barrel, if their aim is to shake out the weakest shale producers in the US. A deep slump in prices might equally heighten geostrategic turmoil across the broader Middle East and boomerang against the Gulf’s petro-sheikhdoms before it inflicts a knock-out blow on US rivals.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/oilprices/11263851/Saudis-risk-playing-with-fire-in-shale-price-showdown-as-crude-crashes.html
and
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-12-01/can-the-us-fracking-boom-survive-with-oil-65-per-barrel

MH17 Witnesses Tell BBC They Saw Ukrainian Jet.
Shortly after the tragedy, a BBC Russian correspondent interviewed numerous eyewitnesses who described seeing a second aircraft in the sky moments before MH17’s fatal crash. The BBC pulled the report. Why?
http://russia-insider.com/en/military_media_watch/2014/11/12/11-48-09am/mh17_witnesses_tell_bbc_they_saw_ukrainian_jet_bbc

In Canada, More Jobs in Green Energy than Tar Sands
A 37 percent employment increase and a cumulative investment of $25 billion in the green energy sector over the past five years has expanded the energy-generating capacity of Canada’s wind, solar, run-of-river hydropower and biomass plants by 93 percent since 2009. The sale of electric vehicle has doubled between 2012 and 2013. The global clean energy revolution isn’t a future scenario. It is underway right now,
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/12/02/canada-more-jobs-green-energy-tar-sands