The John James Newsletter 66

27 June 2015 – north of Paris

 

The evils of government are directly proportional to the tolerance of the people

Frank Kent

 

 

Isn’t this where we all should be?

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/vnVuqfXohxc?rel=0&amp%3bshowinfo=0

 

Why Hardly Anyone Dies From a Drug Overdose in Portugal

Portugal decriminalised the use of all drugs in 2001. Weed, cocaine, heroin, you name it — Portugal decided to treat possession and use of small quantities of these drugs as a public health issue, not a criminal one.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42166.htm

 

India Just Upped Its Solar Target Five-Fold, Will Install More Solar This Year Than Germany

With this India will become one of the largest green energy producers in the world, surpassing several developed countries,

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/17/3670558/india-makes-huge-solar-commitment-100-gigawatts/

 

Egypt’s Quiet Social Revolution

The generation that launched the Tahrir Square revolution in 2011 is changing the country again.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/18/egypts-quiet-social-revolution/

 

California Has Never Experienced such a Water Crisis – And The Worst Is Yet To Come 

Not just in California, but all over the world, underground aquifers are being drained rapidly. 21 of the 37 largest aquifers in the world “have passed their sustainability tipping points”.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/california-has-never-experienced-a-water-crisis-of-this-magnitude-and-the-worst-is-yet-to-come

‘Warm Blob’ in Pacific Ocean to Blame

In the fall of 2013 and early 2014, we started to notice a big, almost-circular mass of water that just didn’t cool as much as usual. By spring of 2014, it was warmer than we had ever seen it for that time of year

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blob_(Pacific_Ocean)

 

‘Iraq is no more’: Congress, Pentagon coming to terms with 3-way split

The nation could be split into a Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite territory if Iraq’s central government cannot convince Sunnis and Kurds they will be an inclusive and protected part of a unified Iraq.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/iraq-is-no-more-congress-pentagon-coming-to-terms-with-3-way-split/article/2566481

 

US Strategy In Turkey: Causing The Problem to Provide “The Fix”

Promoting Kurdish independence has become a key piece of US grand strategy for the Middle East. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00158.htm ).

Can Assad’s regime survive the onslaught from Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra? 

The Syrian army, outgunned and at times frighteningly outnumbered by its Islamist enemies, is not about to collapse. But here are a few grim facts.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syrian-civil-war-can-assads-regime-survive-the-onslaught-from-isis-and-jabhat-alnusra-10317350.html

Trapped Between Assad, Israel, and al Qaeda

Syria’s million-strong Druze minority  forced into a no-win choice to secure its survival. The Druze are a secretive Islamic sect that number about 700,000 in Syria, 215,000 in Lebanon, and 140,000 in Israel.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/22/druze-syria-assad-israel-netanyahu/

 

UN Suggests Top Officials Sanctioned Israel’s War Crimes Against Gaza

During a single attack on a residential building, 742 people lost their lives, while “at least 142 families lost three or more members.” During the 51-day war, 6,000 airstrikes and approximately 50,000 tank and artillery shells killed 1,462 Palestinian civilians, one third of them children.

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/06/22/un-suggests-top-officials-sanctioned-israels-war-crimes-against-gaza

 

‘Not Here, Not Now, Not Ever’: Reef Defenders Rise Up in Australia

Dozens walked onto the Abbot Point Coal Terminal lands to protect the Great Barrier Reef. The protest ‘foreshadows a sustained campaign of civil disobedience’ against Abbot Point coal project

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/06/22/not-here-not-now-not-ever-reef-defenders-rise-australia

Adani halts engineering work on controversial Carmichael mine

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/24/adani-halts-engineering-work-on-controversial-carmichael-mine-sources?CMP=ema_632

Galilee Basin – Unburnable Coal 

http://www.climatecouncil.org.au/galilee-basin-unburnable-coal

 

We are sawing off the limb we are sitting on.’

The planet is entering a “sixth great extinction” that even the most conservative estimates show is killing off species at rates 100 times higher than it would have been without impact of human activity.

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/5/e1400253.full

Earth ‘entering new extinction phase’ – US study

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33209548

 

12 Signs That The US And China Are Moving Toward War

The Chinese are working feverishly to develop new offensive weapons systems that would only be used in such a war.  We are moving in that direction.  And this is how wars typically happen as events build up over time.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/

 

The Injustice Handed Out To Julian Assange Must End

The US criminal investigation against him and WikiLeaks — for the “crime” of exercising a right enshrined in the US constitution, to tell unpalatable truths — is “unprecedented in scale and nature”.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42183.htm

 

Russian sanctions threaten 40,000 Swiss jobs

if the sanctions are continued, Germany would lose 465,000 jobs, Italy 215,000 jobs, Spain 160,000 jobs and France 145,000 jobs, and the UK 110,000 jobs.Tit-for-tat retaliations by Russia are another part of the explanation for the negative economic impact.

http://www.thelocal.ch/20150619/russian-crisis-threatens-40000-swiss-jobs

 

Not ‘If’ But ‘How’: New Study Shows Why All Extreme Weather Is Climate Related

The environment in which all weather events occur is not what it used to be. All storms, without exception, are different. Even if most of them look just like the ones we used to have, they are not the same

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/06/23/not-if-how-new-study-shows-why-all-extreme-weather-climate-related

Computer model of what’s really warming the world –  Graphic.

http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-whats-warming-the-world/

 

Near-term “acute disruption to the global food supply.”

The global food system is “under chronic pressure to meet an ever-rising demand, and its vulnerability to acute disruptions is compounded by factors such as climate change, water stress and heightening political instability.”

http://www.lloyds.com/~/media/files/news%20and%20insight/risk%20insight/2015/food%20system%20shock/food%20system%20shock_june%202015.pdf

 

First Five Months of 2015 Hottest on Record; El Nino is Still Ramping Up

These temperatures are 1.05 degrees Celsius above 1880s. They exceed maximum Holocene values making current warming similar to the Eemian of 150,000 years ago. This pace of greenhouse gas accumulation has never been seen in all the Earth’s deep history.

https://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/

What Saudi Arabia’s War in Yemen and Iran’s Regional Strategy Are Really About

Riyadh’s war in Yemen marks a dramatic escalation in its efforts to roll back Iran’s rising influence in the Middle East.  A strategy fuels a new Saudi-Iranian or Sunni’-Shi’a “Cold War” in the Middle East.

http://goingtotehran.com/what-saudi-arabias-war-in-yemen-and-irans-regional-strategy-are-really-about

 

Australia morally bereft – the new world view

Australia’s global reputation has taken another drubbing, with reports far and wide that have highlight ‘bribery’, ‘democracy undermined’, ‘abandonment of good government’ and ‘Australia plumbing new depths’.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/australia-morally-bereft–the-view-worldwide,7847

Coalition details strategy to boost solar at expense of wind

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/coalition-details-strategy-to-boost-solar-at-expense-of-wind-36595

 

The Most Outrageous Responses To The Pope’s Encyclical On Climate Change

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/19/3671144/the-pope-freaks-out-climate-deniers/

 

IS Plans to Blow up Syria’s Ancient City of Palmyra 

The IS militants have planted explosive devices in the most ancient part of Palmyra,

http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/IS-Plans-to-Blow-up-Syrias-Ancient-City-of-Palmyra/2015/06/21/article2879059.ece

ISIS Plans To Launch Terror Attacks Across India:

http://inserbia.info/today/2015/06/isis-plans-to-launch-terror-attacks-across-india/

 

Was Stalin To Blame For World War II?

http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/was-stalin-to-blame-1.228553

A Thoughtful Look at the German-Soviet Clash – Could Hitler Have Won?

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v15/v15n6p38_Bishop.html

 

A generation caught in the attrition trap

Research by the Brotherhood of St Laurence finds those aged 55 and over account for just 8% of the unemployed, whereas those aged under 25 make up more than 40%.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/young-frozen-out-of-the-job-market-when-times-are-tough-20150623-ghv4kb.html

 

The John James Newsletter 65

20 June 2015 – Provence

Nations, like metal, shine only on the surface

Antoine de Riverol

Full text of Pope Francis on Climate Change

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/06/18/read-pope-franciss-full-document-on-climate-change/ 

 US Catholics ready to follow Pope’s ‘marching orders’ on climate change

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/18/pope-encyclical-climate-change-catholics-us-response?CMP=ema_565 

We are in the business of creating a miracle on earth

An Inspiring talk that describes a new approach to money and capitalism

http://sacred-economics.com/ 

Iceland Jailed Bankers and Rejected Austerity—and It’s Been a Success

Instead of imposing devastating austerity measures and bailing out its banks, Iceland let its banks go bust and focused on social welfare policies. It has now repaid 85% of UK claims. When the global economic crisis hit in 2008, Iceland suffered terribly—perhaps more than any other country. The savings of 50,000 people were wiped out, plunging Icelanders into debt and placing 25% of homeowners in mortgage default. Now, less than a decade later, it will become the first European country that faced collapse to beat its pre-crisis peak of economic output. The IMF declared that Iceland had achieved economic recovery ‘without compromising its welfare model’ of universal healthcare and education.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/imf-data-shows-icelands-economy-recovered-after-it-imprisoned-bankers-and-let-banks-go-bust-instead-of-bailing-them-out-31292885.html 

A Psychologist Explains Why People Don’t Give a Shit About Climate Change

The more people start believing we can create a better society with lower emissions, the sooner they can start taking action.

http://www.vice.com/read/a-psychologist-explains-why-people-dont-really-give-a-shit-about-climate-change-608?utm_source=vicefbus  

To get a feel for what is going on

https://www.google.fr/search?q=youth+climate+change+activists&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=7l96VdKjHOSt7gaZpIKoCA

How to  turn young people into climate change activists

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/jul/02/climate-change-campaigns-youth-engagement 

France Removes Roundup from Store Shelves

Monsanto product will no longer be sold in aisles of nurseries frequented by amateur gardeners

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/06/15/offensive-against-monsanto-france-removes-roundup-store-shelves 

German companies have halted sales of Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide.

http://www.countercurrents.org/zuesse120615.htm 

Arctic Sea Ice Area Drops 320,000 Square Kilometers in Just One Day

https://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/ 

http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2012/20121226_GreenlandIceSheetUpdate.pdf

WikiLeaks: Big-Pharma Measures in TPP Will Raise Drug Prices

the TPP would steer member states towards pro-business, anti-consumer healthcare policies.It would crush the public health system of  New Zealand and Australia. It would restrain governments’ abilities to provide healthcare and medicine to citizens.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/WikiLeaks-TPP-to-End-Cheap-Medicine-in-New-Zealand-20150610-0092.html

German Banker: Obama Is Destroying Europe

Because of sanctions against Russia, German exports declined by 18% in 2014, and by 34% in the first two months of 2015. The damage gets worse over time. For example, losing contract for the railway line from Moscow to Beijing.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/06/german-banker-obama-is-destroying-europe.html

South China Sea dispute updates

Planes downed, ships blocked, naval battles, and more, a list of eight incidents that have rattled the South China Sea region.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/south-china-sea-dispute-updates-20150522-gh5kd4 

Beefing up for war?

WikiLeaks cables reveal secret Nato plans to “defend” Baltics from Russia:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/06/wikileaks-cables-nato-russia-baltics 

China tests supersonic nuclear delivery vehicle

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/international/china-confirms-test-of-supersonic-nuclear-delivery-vehicle/article7313032.ece 

China confirms test of new hypersonic strike vehicle ‘Wu-14’

http://rt.com/news/267115-china-tests-hypersonic-missile/

Putin: 40+ ICBMs targeted for 2015 nuclear force boost

http://rt.com/news/267514-putin-ballistic-missiles-army/ 

Pentagon ‘poised to send heavy weapons, troops to Eastern Europe’

http://www.dw.de/pentagon-poised-to-send-heavy-weapons-troops-to-eastern-europe/a-18516115 

Russia readies hybrid amphibious drone for test flight

http://rt.com/news/225591-chirok-uav-amphibious-drone/ 

Senior Iranian commander says Tehran ready for war with US

http://rt.com/news/256773-iran-war-us-nuclear/ 

Russia will take part in multinational navy drills in disputed South China Sea

http://rt.com/news/263533-rusia-multinational-navy-drills/ 

Skills become drudgery 

We know that our conditions of life are deteriorating. Interesting jobs are sliced up, through digital Taylorism, into portions of meaningless drudgery.

http://www.monbiot.com/2015/06/09/work-force/ 

Writing’s On The Wall: Texas Pulls $1 Billion In Gold From NY Fed, Makes It “Non-Confiscatable”

The lack of faith in central bank trustworthiness is spreading. First Germany, then Holland, and Austria, and now Texas.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-13/writings-wall-texas-pulls-1-billion-gold-ny-fed-makes-it-non-confiscatable 

As currency dies, Zimbabweans will get $5 for 175 quadrillion local dollars

Zimbabwean dollar was ruined by hyperinflation, when people had to carry bags of notes to buy bread and milk. Prices were rising at least twice a day.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102752428 

What Musical Taste Tells Us About Social Class

Class informs the way we listen to music. Poorer, less-educated people tended to like country, disco, easy listening, golden oldies, heavy metal and rap. The wealthier and better-educated preferred classical, blues, jazz, opera, choral, pop, reggae, rock, world and musical theatre.

http://phys.org/news/2015-06-musical-social-class.html 

Thinking Like an Elephant

I believe the disappearance of our megafauna impoverishes human life as well as wildlife. We evolved in a wonderful, terrible world, of horns and tusks and fangs and claws, and we carry with us the vestigial psychological equipment – a ghost psyche – required to navigate it.

http://www.monbiot.com/2015/06/15/thinking-like-an-elephant 

The John James Newsletter 59
9 May 2015

Men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things, while men who can manage money manage all
Will Durant

Two degrees of global warming is not ‘safe’: James Hansen
2 degrees is actually a prescription for disaster. That’s well understood by the scientific community. We know that the prior interglacial period about 120,000 years ago – the Eemian – was less than 2C warmer than pre-industrial conditions and sea level was a least 6 to 8 metres higher, so it’s crazy to think that 2 degrees is a safe limit.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/two-degrees-of-global-warming-is-not-safe/6444698

The Case That Blew the Lid Off the World Bank’s Secret Courts
The tobacco giant Phillip Morris demands $2 billion from Uruguay for the sin of strengthening health warnings on cigarette packages. The people of El Salvador face a $300-million case from a Canadian-Australian mining company because El Salvadorans were able to block toxic mining operations. Germany faces a demand of €700 million from a nuclear energy company because, in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, popular movements won a moratorium on new nuclear power plants in the country.
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/30464-the-case-that-blew-the-lid-off-the-world-bank-s-secret-courts

King Canute is alive and well !!
US Senate votes that climate change not caused by humans
The Senate rejected the scientific consensus that humans are causing climate change, days after NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared 2014 the hottest year ever recorded on Earth.

In 50-49 vote, US Senate says climate change not caused by humans

Tesla Battery Will ‘Fundamentally Change the Way the World Uses Energy’
“Our goal is to fundamentally change the way the world uses energy. We’re talking at the terawatt scale. The goal is complete transformation of the entire energy infrastructure of the world.” Tesla hopes that its $5 billion “gigafactory” under construction near Reno, Nevada will drive down the cost of the batteries for both cars and energy-storage products through mass production.
https://ecowatch.com/2015/05/01/elon-musk-tesla-battery/

World’s mountain of electrical waste reaches new peak of 42m tonnes
The biggest per-capita tallies were in countries known for green awareness, such as Norway and Denmark, with Britain fifth and US ninth on the UN report’s list. Last year, 41.8m tonnes of so-called e-waste – mostly fridges, washing machines and other domestic appliances at the end of their life – was dumped.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/19/worlds-mountain-of-electrical-waste-reaches-new-peak-of-42m-tonnes?CMP=ema_565

Arctic Sea Ice At Record Low On April 9 2015
expanded effect of methane hydrate detabilization along the Gakkel Ridge and the high temperatures caused by the onshore methane eruption vents.
http://arctic-news.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/arctic-sea-ice-at-record-low-on-april-9-2015.html
To see the importance of the Gakkel Ridge in perspective read
http://www.planetextinction.com/documents/Methane,%20the%20Gakkel%20Ridge%20and%20human%20survival.pdf
or my talk

and Methane levels as high as 2845ppb on April 25
http://arctic-news.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/methane-levels-as-high-as-2845ppb.html

Thirty years on, scientist who discovered ozone layer hole warns: ‘it will still take years to heal’
One of the three UK scientists who discovered the hole in 1985 warned that the real lessons of the story had not been learned. “Yes, an international treaty was established fairly quickly to deal with the ozone hole, but the main point shows how rapidly we can produce major changes to our atmosphere and how long it takes for nature to recover.”
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/18/scientist-who-discovered-hole-in-ozone-layer-warns?CMP=ema_565

Pope Francis, climate change, and morality
Pope Francis is emerging as one of the world’s foremost campaigners on global warming. Many in the environmental and scientific community think that if he injects himself into international climate politics later this year, the ramifications on the climate debate could be dramatic.

Pope Francis, climate change, and morality

Food, Farming and Climate Change is Bigger than Everything Else
Few are familiar or prepared for “peak coffee.” Farmers and scientists now openly discuss the notion of “endangered crops,” including everything from cocoa and wine grapes to salmon and peanuts. The emergence of super-charged pests related to climate change, like the “La Roya” coffee fungus in Central America, is threatening not only our morning cup of joe, but the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of small-scale farmers.
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/04/13/food-farming-and-climate-change-its-bigger-everything-else

Israeli soldiers cast doubt on legality of Gaza military tactics
Describing the rules that meant life and death in Gaza during the 50-day war – a conflict in which 2,200 Palestinians were killed – the interviews shed light on what individual soldiers were told and on policy.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/04/israeli-soldiers-cast-doubt-on-legality-of-gaza-military-operation?CMP=ema_565

Air pollution costs Europe $1.6tn a year in early deaths and disease
The costs is 600,000 premature deaths each year, and the sickness caused to hundreds of thousands of other people from preventable causes, such as pollution from small particles that come from the exhausts of diesel vehicles, and nitrogen dioxide that can inhibit breathing.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/28/air-pollution-costs-europe-16tn-a-year-in-early-deaths-and-disease-say-who?CMP=share_btn_tw
Photo of the Arc de Triumphe on a bad day.

ISIS-Linked Fighters Tighten Grip in Afghanistan, Outmatch Taliban Brutality
Foreign militants fighting under the black flag of ISIS are conquering territory in northern Afghanistan. The development suggests ISIS is expanding its sphere of influence beyond the Middle East and North Africa, and are moving into areas previously controlled by the Afghan Taliban. Most of the fighters hail from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the Caucuses — and are even more brutal than the Afghan Taliban.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/atmosphere-terror-isis-linked-fighters-tighten-grip-afghanistan-n347801

The Saudi 9/11 Cover-Up
At least 11 members of the Bin Laden Family were spirited out the country in 24 hours after the 9/11 attacks with the assistance of the Bush Administration.  The FBI still denies knowing about the seven airplanes used to move them out when all private, commercial and military air-travel was grounded.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41743.htm

Pushing Back Against a Chinese Lake in the South China Sea
ASEAN condemned China’s efforts to muscle aside neighbours with an aggressive program of island building in the South China Sea, prompted especially by Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. “China is reaping the fruits of this strategy in a reinvigorated US-Japan alliance, a completely transformed US-Vietnam relationship, a closer US-Philippine alliance.”

Pushing Back Against a Chinese Lake in the South China Sea

and

Reefer Madness: Why Is China on a Building Spree in the South China Sea?

and
China fires back at South China Sea claimants with reclamation accusations
http://news.yahoo.com/china-fires-back-south-china-sea-claimants-reclamation-093122224.html

Fossil fuel subsidies to coal miners costing billions
The cost of subsidising the diesel fuel used by five of the nation’s biggest coal companies – Glencore Xstrata, BHP Billiton, Peabody, Rio Tinto and Anglo American – is around $360 million a year.  The Government will spend more on the Fuel Tax Credit Scheme than on overseas aid
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/graph-of-the-day-fossil-fuel-subsidies-to-coal-miners-costing-billions-67876

Did a Chinese-Russian-Iranian Coalition opposing NATO have its debut in Moscow?
Moscow’s delivery of the S-300 package is meant to cement Russo-Iranian military cooperation and to enhance Eurasian cooperation against Washington’s encircling missile shield. It is one step closer to the creation of a Eurasian air defense network against the missile threat posed by the US and NATO.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41749.htm
Russia Invites China to Join in Creating Lunar Station
Russia plans to launch its national orbital station by 2023.
http://sputniknews.com/world/20150428/1021463835.html

The Day After Damascus Falls
The horror that would unfold with either Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front or the Islamic State using Syria as a base for terror attacks on the West and continuing to decapitate infidels would be hard for the world to watch and there would be demands to “do something.” But realistic options would be few, with a shattered and scattered Syrian army no longer a viable force capable of driving the terrorists from power.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41724.htm

Prior to 2001 the US did not recognize any terrorist organizations in sub-Saharan Africa.
The numerous groups that have sprung up in the intervening years have destabilised the countries the US had sought to strengthen.
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/04/15/us-militarys-battlefield-tomorrow

Who is bombing whom in the Middle East?
The Saudis are bombing Yemen because they fear the Shia Houthis are working for the Iranians, and also in Iraq and Syria. So are the United Arab Emirates. The Syrian government is bombing its enemies in Syria and the Iraqi government is also bombing its enemies in Iraq. America, France, Britain, Denmark, Holland, Australia and Canada are bombing Isis in Syria and in Iraq. The Egyptians are bombing parts of Libya, the Iranians have acknowledged bombing in Iraq and of course the Israelis have  bombed Syrian government forces in Syria but not Isis (an interesting choice, we’d all agree).
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/robert-fisk-who-is-bombing-whom-in-the-middle-east-10222938.html
What is the Saudi-led coalition’s end game in Yemen?
The coalition is dropping weapons and arming various factions in a country already awash with guns. With the right spark, the highly volatile environment falls into an explosive domino effect, where the worst is yet to come and we brace for a Syria scenario on steroids.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/saudi-led-coalition-game-yemen-150504124934102.html

Is email killing off the art of conversation?
Most replies contain just five words. Younger people send shorter emails than older users who also spend more time composing their emails.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3037312/Is-email-killing-art-conversation-messages-replies-contain-just-five-words-finds-biggest-study-email.html#ixzz3ZCEwFwxh

Peruvian farmers restoring 7th century canals
Non-governmental agency helping farmers restore ancient system in Andean region and revitalise their water supplies.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/peruvian-farmers-restoring-7th-century-canals-150503084636928.html

What are the most controversial points in climate science?
This promises to be a rewarding and informative discussion

What are the most controversial points in climate science?

States meet on climate, renewables, in effort to lead Australia as feds stall
ACT environment minister Simon Corbell said on Monday that the Capital Territory with its ambitious 90 per cent renewables and 40 per cent emissions targets hoped to lead a state-based climate effort that would more than make up for Australia’s distinct lack of ambition on the federal front.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/states-meet-on-climate-renewables-in-effort-to-lead-australia-as-feds-stall-35220
RET deal struck, but policy bastardry continues
Coalition and Labor agree on a big cut to renewables target, but big coal, as usual, is the biggest winner.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/ret-deal-struck-but-policy-bastardry-continues-55314

The John James Newsletter 60
16 May 2015

(I will be overseas for the next three months, mainly in France with my beloved churches. I will continue to send out Newsletters each Saturday, though they may have a few less goodies.)

In a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, thinking people should not to be on the side of the executioners
Albert Camus

This is a most interesting assessment of US policies. Well worth considering.
Chaos – not Victory – is Empire’s Game
That’s the way (i) to control people, nations and their resources; (ii) to assures the west a continuous need for military; and (iii) to push a country into disarray or chaos so it becomes broke so it needs money – money with hardship conditions attached by the World Bank that equals enslavement.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41771.htm
Clinton made Libya a ‘jihadist wonderland’
“It was a big mistake for us to go in there in the first place, because a lot of the times when we topple secular dictators, we’ve gotten chaos and then we’ve gotten the rise of radical Islam, It made Libya a hotbed for jihadists.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/241555-paul-clinton-made-libya-a-jihadist-wonderland
To protect Washington’s unique power status following the Soviet collapse, Paul Wolfowitz in 1992 penned what is known as The Wolfowitz Doctrine. This is the basis for Washington’s foreign policy.
“Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power.”
In March of this year the Council on Foreign Relations extended this doctrine to China. Washington is now committed to blocking the rise of two large nuclear-armed countries. This commitment is the reason for the crisis that Washington has created in Ukraine and for its use as anti-Russian propaganda. China is now confronted with the Pivot to Asia and the construction of new US naval and air bases to ensure Washington’s control of the South China Sea, which is now defined as an area of American National Interest.
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/05/11/war-threat-rises-economy-declines-paul-craig-roberts/
The Blindness of the European Union in the Face of US Military Strategy
EU officials are completely wrong regarding Islamist attacks in Europe and the migration of people fleeing wars. This is not the accidental consequence of conflict in the broader Middle East and Africa, but a strategic objective of the United States.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article187529.html

Snowden says Australia watching its citizens ‘all the time’
He warned that journalists are at risk of having their contacts exposed by mass surveillance. “Under these mandatory metadata laws you can immediately see who journalists are contacting, from which you can derive their sources.”
http://rt.com/news/257193-snowden-australia-surveillance-metadata/

The Big Business Of Cancer
100 billion dollars was spent on cancer drugs last year. At the beginning of the last century, one person in twenty would get cancer. In the 1940s it was one out of every sixteen people. In the 1970s it was one person out of ten. Today one person out of three gets cancer in the course of their life.We live in a society that is highly toxic, and it is getting worse with each passing day.
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-big-business-of-cancer-100-billion-dollars-was-spent-on-cancer-drugs-last-year-alone

Sea level rising faster in past 20 years than in entire 20th century
Sea levels are predicted to rise by close to a meter in the next 85 years. That would affect more than 150 million people living in low-lying coastal communities.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-12/sea-level-rise-accelerates-faster-in-past-20-years/6461752

The Greek Endgame: Time to Choose between Default and Defeat
A nearly-botched pension payout last week revealed just how critical the government’s fiscal position has become. It’s time to forget about all the friendly rhetoric about Greece reaching a “mutually beneficial” deal with its creditors. The endgame is here. The Eurozone will not back down. Either the Greek government defaults, or it will be defeated. There is no other way.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41816.htm
These are the payments due, including to the IMF, to June 30.
May 12 — 757 million euros to IMF
May 30 — 1.5 billion euros in pensions, salaries
June 5  —  303 million euros to IMF
June 12 — 341 million euros to IMF
June 16 — 568 million euros to IMF
June 19 — 341 million euros to IMF
June 30 — 1.5 billion euros in pensions, salaries
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102667914
Greece Invited to Join New BRICS Development Bank
The BRICS Development Bank is a new initiative that will help member states lessen their dependence on the IMF.
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Greece-Invited-to-Join-New-BRICS-Development-Bank-20150512-0039.html
The IMF’s Struggle for Relevancy
It was created to defend free market economics after the start of the Cold War. It was never meant to help less developing countries but was meant to help steer them away from socialism.
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/The-IMFs-Struggle-for-Relevancy-20150416-0037.html

US “Operation Rooms” Backing Al Qaeda in Syria
US policy think-tank Brookings Institution confirms that contrary to propaganda, US-Saudi “moderates” and Turkey-Qatar “Islamists” have been coordinating all along.

US “Operation Rooms” Backing Al Qaeda in Syria

The Real Lessons of the Tory Victory
We cannot imagine a different world, a different economic system, a different media landscape, because our intellectual horizons have been totally restricted by the media conglomerates that control our newspapers, our TV and radio stations, the films we watch, the video games we play, the music we listen to.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41803.htm

Russia’s Stumbling Pivot to Asia
Moscow and Beijing are trying to cement closer ties, but delays in high-profile energy deals highlight lingering tensions between them.  The reality is that competing interests and clashing visions everywhere from Central Asia to China’s own backyard are keeping Moscow and Beijing from consummating their courtship.

Russia’s Stumbling Pivot to Asia

The Short Life and Speedy Death of Russia’s Silicon Valley
In 2009, Moscow unveiled an ambitious plan to build a world-class technology incubator. Then corruption, brain drain, and Putin killed it.

The Short Life and Speedy Death of Russia’s Silicon Valley

Extreme secrecy eroding support for Obama’s trade pact
Classified briefings and bill-readings in basement rooms are making members queasy. If you want to hear the details of the TPP trade deal, you’ve got to be a member of Congress, and you’ve got to go to classified briefings and leave your staff and cellphone at the door. You are handed one section at a time, watched over as you read, and forced to hand over any notes you make before leaving. And no matter what, you can’t discuss the details of what you’ve read.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/secrecy-eroding-support-for-trade-pact-critics-say-117581.html

Scientists weigh up new evidence on Antarctic ice melt
“Most scientists would be hard-pressed to find mechanisms that do not include human-made climate change.”  Since 2003, ice loss over the whole continent increased at the rate of six billion tons a year. West Antarctica’s melting rate, however, accelerated by 18 billion tons a year during the same timespan.
http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/scientists-weigh-up-new-evidence-on-antarctic-ice-melt/

The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season formed off the South Carolina coast  nearly a month before the season officially begins.
http://abc13.com/weather/first-named-storm-forms-before-atlantic-hurricane-season-begins/704610/

Iran welcomes Saudi Arabia inspection of its aid ship
The Iranian cargo ship carrying 2,500 tons of humanitarian aid including food and medicine left Iran’s southern Bandar Abbas port on May 11 to the Yemeni port of Hodeida. The ship also carries rescue workers from the Iran’s Red Crescent Society as well as some 20 journalists.
http://en.trend.az/iran/politics/2394001.html
Iran Warns of War if Aid Ship to Yemen Attacked
The deputy chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces warned on Tuesday that Iran would retaliate in force against any country, which attacks an Iranian ship with humanitarian aid on board.
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20150513/1022078061.html

Yemen’s War Is Redrawing the Middle East’s Fault Lines
Saudi Arabia’s ongoing war in Yemen does more to highlight the kingdom’s isolation than its power.
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/05/12/yemens-war-redrawing-middle-easts-fault-lines

Turkey’s Gas Game
Europe hoped Turkey could help the continent wean itself off Russian fuel. But Ankara might have other plans. This one pipeline, which could deliver gas as early as next year, could endanger a critical alliance the West has spent decades cultivating, and upend Eurasia’s entire energy and security landscape. Turkey would become a middleman for Europe’s energy buyers, and it would be precisely the linchpin Moscow needs to keep an energy hold on the continent.

Turkey’s Reckless Gas Game

The John James Newsletter 61
23 May 2015- Paros

Israel has for years worked to remove Assad
with US support it has encouraged Assad’s enemies, including IS
now that IS controls Palmyra, the “pearl” of the desert,
the most intact 2,000 years old monument to ancient Rome,
should its imminent destruction be blamed on Israel, on it’s clandestine control over US policy?
Will Israel still prosper with IS in control of Damascus?
Senior Israelis say they would prefer a victory by Al-Qaeda over a victory by Assad.

The Day After Damascus Falls

and
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/05/palmyra-destroyed-syria-isil-150521113045812.html
and
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/16/Syria-s-ancient-city-of-Palmyra-on-brink-of-destruction.html
Syrian War Set to Re-Explode
US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia alliance with Al Qaeda has the potential to engulf the region in violence. Deep Saudi pocketbooks combined with Turkish ground forces are a catastrophe in the making.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41842.htm

Palestine Scores Major Victory With Vatican Recognition of Statehood
With the Israeli-Palestinian peace process all but dead and buried, a growing chorus of countries and international bodies are moving toward recognizing Palestinian sovereignty in an attempt to push the Israeli government to make concessions toward their Palestinian rivals. That effort received a powerful boost when Pope Francis announced that the Vatican has recognised the state of Palestine.

Palestine Scores Major Victory With Vatican Recognition of Statehood

136 Nations Recognise the Palestinian State
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/136-nations-recognize-a-palestinian-state-only-obama-stands-in-the-way-of-full-global-recognition

NATO deliberately destroyed Libya’s water infrastructure
UNICEF reported that the disruption to the GMR had left 4 million Libyans without potable water. The GMR remains disrupted to this day, and Libya’s national water crisis continues to escalate. The deliberate destruction of a nation’s water infrastructure, with the knowledge that doing so would result in massive deaths
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2869234/war_crime_nato_deliberately_destroyed_libyas_water_infrastructure.html

Huge Bee Die-Off
US lost 40% of bees last year. Some pesticides, like neonicotinoids, have long been shown to be major causes of bee decline.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/05/14/years-ago-was-unheard-dire-trend-persists-huge-bee-die

Macedonia – the next hot spot after Ukraine?
A few days ago, Russia stated that the the Turkish Stream gas will go through at the end of 2016. If this happens, the US will lose a trump card to put pressure on Russia and Europe, which may encourage the CIA to repeat its Ukraine strategy in Macedonia.
http://fortruss.blogspot.mx/2015/05/macedonia-next-hot-spot-after-ukraine.html

Super heating of the methane traps of Siberia
No Pause — NASA Shows Human Hothouse Maintaining Record High Temperatures for 2015.Overall, temperatures at +0.99 degrees Celsius above 1880s averages for the first four months of 2015 should be cause for concern. We still have El Nino ramping up in the Pacific could well ramp higher later this year. Looking at the global temperature anomaly map provided by NASA, we can see where much of this extra heat accumulated throughout April:
Global Temps NASA April 2015

https://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/

What can we do about climate change?
How do we have meaning in a world that is going to be so different from the one in which most of our values were created?

What can we do about climate change?

Bibi: The Hidden Consequences of His Victory
The Israeli electorate has given a mandate for policies that preclude any settlement with the Palestinians. The international boycott [against Israel] will intensify. The demand to fully enfranchise the Palestinians will eventually prove irresistible. What happens after that, no one can say.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/apr/23/bibi-hidden-consequences-his-victory/

Yet Another Huge Diplomatic Victory for Russia
Unless you read Russian you might not have noticed that something big just happened in Russia: Kerry, Nuland and a large State Department delegation have met with Foreign Minister Lavrov and then with President Putin.  With the latter they spent over 4 hours.  Not only that, but Kerry said he would strongly caution Poroshenko against renewing military operations. To say that this is a stunning development would be an understatement.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41835.htm
and
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/world/europe/a-diplomatic-victory-and-affirmation-for-putin.html

Leading doctor says mobile phone radiation a hotline to brain cancer
There is a million times more radiation today than there was 50 years ago,” he said. “The World Health Organisation has upgraded cell phone radiation to B2 category, which means possibly –carcinogenic.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/leading-doctor-says-mobile-phone-radiation-a-hotline-to-brain-cancer/story-fni0fiyv-1227349594139
too much electromagnetic radiation is being emitted from them which could be a reason for rising cancer rates and an increase in autism and obesity.Nearly 200 experts are calling on the UN to provide guidelines as they say the radiation is damaging DNA in our cells.
http://www.euronews.com/2015/05/12/scientists-warn-against-mobile-phone-radiation/
for the text
http://www.emfscientist.org/images/docs/International_EMF_Scientist_Appeal_Description.pdf

Why Australia will lead the world in solar + storage
Tesla has changed the conversation around battery storage. Consumers want it, competitors and retailers are going to have to move quickly to meet that demand, and Australia is being regarded as the market where it could all happen. Australia is going to be the testing ground for the world,
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/why-australia-will-lead-the-world-in-solar-storage-78627
Queensland commits to 50% renewable target by 2030
This means that all three Labor states are looking to ambitious renewable energy targets, in contrast with the Federal government which is looking to cut the target for large-scale renewables.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/queensland-commits-to-50-renewable-target-by-2030
States meet on climate, renewables, in effort to lead Australia as feds stall
ACT hoped to lead a state-based climate effort that would more than make up for Australia’s distinct lack of ambition on the federal front.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/states-meet-on-climate-renewables-in-effort-to-lead-australia-as-feds-stall-35220

Climate Denial Takes a Toll on Scientists—and Science
Climate denial campaigns “can absolutely influence what you do and what you write about,” said Trenberth, who was not involved in the study. “Part of the reason they do it is to distract you and get you to waste your time.” Instead of “publishing the good science needed to advance our understanding of climate change,” scientists are left defending their work and debunking false claims
http://insideclimatenews.com/news/11052015/climate-denial-takes-toll-scientists%E2%80%94and-science.

Trident whistleblower: nuclear ‘disaster waiting to happen’
“This is bigger than me, it’s bigger than all of us. We are so close to a nuclear disaster it is shocking, and yet everybody is accepting the risk to the public.” A fascinating bad-time story…..
https://wikileaks.org/trident-safety/
Range of Wikileaks papers:

Who is not bombing in the Middle East?
The Saudis are bombing Yemen because they fear the Shia Houthis are working for the Iranians. The Syrian government is bombing its enemies in Syria and the Iraqi government is bombing its enemies in Iraq. America, France, Britain, Denmark, Holland, Australia and Canada are bombing Isis in Syria and in Iraq. The Egyptians are bombing parts of Libya, the Iranians have acknowledged bombing in Iraq and of course the Israelis have  bombed Syrian government forces in Syria but not Isis (an interesting choice, we’d all agree).
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/robert-fisk-who-is-bombing-whom-in-the-middle-east-10222938.html

Is email killing off the art of conversation?
Most replies contain just five words. Younger people send shorter emails than older users who also spend more time composing their emails.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3037312/Is-email-killing-art-conversation-messages-replies-contain-just-five-words-finds-biggest-study-email.html#ixzz3ZCEwFwxh

Peruvian farmers restoring 7th century canals
Non-governmental agency helping farmers restore ancient system in Andean region and revitalise their water supplies.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/peruvian-farmers-restoring-7th-century-canals-150503084636928.html

A Thoughtful Look at the German-Soviet Clash: Could Hitler Have Won?
What was the real turning point in the war, and why? If Hitler had played his cards a bit differently could he have won the war? German forces came very close to defeating the Soviet Union in 1941. Defeat of Soviet Russia would effectively have resulted in German hegemony over all of Europe – a drastic change in the course of world history.
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v15/v15n6p38_Bishop.html