If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
America In Distress
Take America Back
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Today Bush said that action needs to be taken against the biggest greenhouse emitter…….hmmmm that would be us. I smell a rat. Bush doesn’t give in so let’s follow the path.
Bush announcement today:
The US would also cut tariff barriers to sharing environmental technology, Mr Bush said. The president was speaking in Washington ahead of next week’s G8 summit in Germany, where climate change will be a major issue.
The US strategy calls for a consensus on long-term goals for reducing the greenhouse gases that lie behind global warming, but not before the end of 2008, the White House said.
“So my proposal is this: By the end of next year, America and other nations will set a long-term global goal for reducing greenhouse gases.”
TonyBlair immediately hailed Mr. Bush’s announcement as “a huge step forward”.
Of course Tony was thrilled; he has been hammering Bush on global warming for years. Bush even acknowledged their climate change discussion during their Rose Garden press conference on May17, 2007.
And we talked, of course, about climate change. We spent a lot of time on climate change. And I agree with the Prime Minister, as I have stated publicly, this is a serious issue, and the United States takes it seriously, just like we take energy security seriously.
We talked about the upcoming G8, and I assured the Prime Minister we want to be a part of a solution, that we want to work constructively together. He’s got some really good ideas on how to advance the technologies that are going to be necessary to help solve this problem. And I told him I’ve got some good ideas as how to convince China and India to be a part of a global solution. We have a lot of common ground that we’ve been discussing today.
But wait, while Bush is again misleading with one hand the other hand is doing this:
“Thetreatment of climate change runs counter to our overall position and crosses multiple ‘red lines’ in terms of what we simply cannot agree to,” the U.S. comments continued.
“Wehave tried to ‘tread lightly’ but there is only so far we can go given our fundamental opposition to the German position.”
GermanChancellor Angela Merkel, supported by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, wants agreement to curb the rise in average temperatures this century to 2°C, to cut global emissions by 50% below 1990 levels by 2050 and to raise energy efficiency in power and transport by 20% by 2020.
So which is it? Bush is going along or Bush is stamping his foot to get his way? I choose the latter. The change in Bush’s attitude is a mere distraction to the progress the other countries are making on climate change. Bush has no intention of making any commitments on global warming under his watch.
I tend to agree with John Coequyt:
ButJohn Coequyt, energy policy specialist for the advocacy group Greenpeace, said the administration is undermining progress on climate change by opposing Germany’s proposed declaration.
“The Bush administration is clearly ignoring the global scientific consensus as well the groundswell of concern about climate change in the United States,” Coequyt said. “The administration’s attempts to hold up any meaningful agreement at the G-8 summit in June are criminal, but not unexpected.”
According to CNN, Mr. TB is Andrew Speaker a 31 year old attorney, whose father-in-law works for the CDC on TB research.
The man has been identified by multiple medical and law enforcement sources as Andrew Speaker, 31, a lawyer from Atlanta, Georgia. Hospital officials have not disclosed his name.
Speaker’sfather-in-law works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, an agency spokesman said Thursday.
The father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, is a microbiologist who has conducted research on tuberculosis for the National Center for Infectious Diseases, according to a CDC biography posted on the agency’s Web site.
Mr. Speaker was put on a no fly order list, but he still managed to fly to Europe. How is it that you get on a list but you can cross the border and fly out? Now because of the complete incompetence of Homeland Security and the CDC there is a world wide alert.
When Mr. Speaker arrived at the U.S. Canadian border, Homeland Security employees checked his passport and let him into the U.S. even though alarms went off regarding his condition. Obviously Homeland Security employees are allowed to make judgment calls instead of procedural requirements.
TheCDC had alerted Customs and Border Protection authorities about the man on May 22, noting that they anticipated he might board his scheduled June 5 flight into Atlanta, the official said. Instead, Speaker took a Czech Air flight from Prague to Montreal, along with 199 other passengers and crew members, and then drove into the United States.
Butthe CBP also put the information out to all ports of entry, which is “routine practice,” according to the official.
Speaker’s passport was checked at the Champlain, New York, border crossing, and although it triggered an alert on the Customs and Border Protection computer system, he was still allowed in the country, a Homeland Security official told CNN.
The CBP agent who processed his entry on May 24 has been placed on administrative duties while the investigation is continuing, the official said.
Obviously Homeland Security is not any more prepared then they were for Katrina. How can we trust them to protect us from germ warfare or another attack if their employees are allowed to make judgment calls on an individual? While Bush and the GOP are so concerned that the enemy will follow us home, the events of Mr. Speaker shows everyone that our security is poor, subjective and porous. Heck of a job Chertoff.
While we go around the globe, telling everyone what a peaceful nation we are, it appears that our perception is a wee bit off. Out of the 121 countries on the list, the U.S. has the honor of ranking 96 one above Iran’s 97.
The United States earned a ranking of 96th in a “Global Peace Index” released on Wednesday, just beating out Iran. Compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the project studied 121 countries, ranking nations according to their peacefulness and the drivers that create and sustain their peace.
“The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go beyond a crude measure of wars by systematically exploring the texture of peace,” explained Global Peace Index President, Mr. Clyde McConaghy, speaking in Washington. “The Index provides a quantitative measure of peacefulness that is comparable over time, and we hope it will inspire and influence world leaders and governments to further action.”
They found that peaceful countries often shared high levels of democracy and transparency of government, education and material well-being. While the U.S. possesses many of these characteristics, its ranking was brought down by its engagement in warfare and external conflict, as well as high levels of incarceration and homicide.
Democracy, transparency of government, I believe those items would be pre Bush & Co. luxuries.
The United States suffers because it is the world’s policeman, with high levels of militarization,” Andrew Williamson, the director for economic research, said in an interview with the Associated Press.
I’m sure Bush will say that he finds the report very interested, but he doesn’t agree with its findings.
XDR TB was recently defined as a subtype of multiple-drug resistant tuberculosis. It often proves fatal.
The man’s tuberculosis had been diagnosed before his departure, but he disregarded his doctors’ recommendation that he not travel, she said. “The patient had compelling reasons for traveling and made the decision to go ahead and meet those personal responsibilities,” she said, adding that federal authorities did not know until he had left the country that he had the rare form of the disease. The man himself may not have known either, she said.
“During these two long flights, the patient may have been a source of infection to the passengers,” Gerberding told reporters.
I don’t know which is worse, the doctor who was too ineffective to convince his patient or the patient who was too selfish to consider the hazard he posed to fellow travelers.
For years, books, news stories, documentaries and even movies have alerted the public to travelers spreading deadly virus, bacteria and communicable diseases. Obviously no one takes this information seriously. Where is the CDC & WHO & Homeland Security in this story? Quote this administration, “Homeland Security is prepared”. Oh yeah? Is this infected person al Qaeda or just a selfish dumb ass? Who is taking responsibility? What are the consequences?
Why worry about al Qaeda bombing the USA when all they have to do is infect ONE stupid air traveller?
Monday May 28, 2007 9:31 PM, By STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press
BAGHDAD (AP) – The United States and Iran broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze Monday with a four-hour meeting about Iraqi security. The American envoy said there was broad policy agreement, but that Iran must stop arming and financing militants who are attacking U.S. and Iraqi forces.
This same headline is on every front page of every news source I check. This could be a wonderful thing – keep your fingers crossed. I am holding my breath. Obviously there are several details to be addressed before this is finalized.
Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi told The Associated Press that the two sides would meet again in less than a month. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said Washington would decide only after the Iraqi government issued an invitation.
Kazemi said U.S. efforts to rebuild those forces were inadequate to handle the chaos in Iraq, for which he said Washington bore sole responsibility. He said he also offered to provide what assistance Iran could in rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure, which he said had been “demolished by the American invaders.”
This event will be watched closely by the whole world. Our future and the world’s future are linked to the success of what could be a reconciliation!
Thursday, May. 24, 2007 By ROBERT BAER,a former CIA field officer assigned to the Middle East, Times Magazine
This week the White House made a big show of declassifying intelligence alleging that in 2005 al-Qaeda considered using Iraq as a base to launch terrorist attacks on the United States . . . the Administration is still trying to manipulate intelligence . . . Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams is behind the covert action against Iran, which reportedly stems from a “nonlethal presidential finding” signed by Bush to launch a plan that “includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran’s currency and international financial transactions.”
Oh no! Not Again …
Abrams was a key player in the Iran-contra fiasco, which was rooted in lousy intelligence. In case you have forgotten, a handful of confidence men convinced the Reagan NSC, along with Abrams, that they were talking to moderate Iranians, who, properly nurtured, would supposedly change the character of the Iranian regime. It was a lie; the NSC was dealing with the most radical, hostile faction in Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the same group holding our hostages in Lebanon.
We still go along with all this … WHAT! Are we THAT lazy?
… the intelligence on al-Qaeda and Iraq, it’s even flimsier … Confused? Well, that’s just the way the White House likes it. If the Bush Administration continues to feed the American people the same dog’s breakfast of bad intelligence, we’ll be in Iraq until Bush leaves office. And while we’re at it, just maybe in a war with Iran.
The American public is SO gullible that ANY politician can make up stories and, of course, we will believe it. We hear what we want to as long as it fits our Pre-conceived opinions. Denial is a drug that America is addicted to, along with Viagra. What is the big deal about marijuana and cigarettes? They only kill you a little at a time – this administration is leading this nation back to the stone age with BIG killing machines that can take out cities, states and countries. Mother nature comes in a poor second behind the GOP killing machines. Stock up on you emergency kits now, include the bullets and Viagra. Make sure they will sustain you for at least a year … by the way, may as well learn how to make your own candles and kill your own chickens.
Countries of Concern identified by the Foreign Office for human rights abuses = 20
Number of these Countries of Concern to which the UK still exports arms = 19
The Foreign Office list of human rights abusers includes China, Cuba, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Iran, Myanmar, DR Congo, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkmenistan (see the official FCO report). Not entirely unexpected – except for the fact that we still sell them arms. Private Eye’s scary stats have spurred me to doing a bit of number crunching of my own. Bit geeky perhaps, and i’m certainly not claiming any authority in commenting on the full significance of it all (most of it is gleaned from Wiki and the CIA World Fact Book – so who knows how reliable it all is).
The lily white USA looks pretty bloody when you see the numbers. Please check Quaerentia’s entire article.
I believe I have found the 28% of the public who continues to support Bush. This clip is very telling about the American people and why we are headed back to the caves.
It’s worht the full view. Personally my favor Q&A is
London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Dr Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council [SNSC] of Iran and the official in charge of nuclear program, has tendered his resignation for the fifth time in recent months to Supreme Leader [of the Islamic Revolution] Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian sources have said that the resignation is in protest against what he described in his resignation letter as irresponsible behavior and statements by the president of the republic and his colleagues, which have obstructed the course of the negotiations with the European Union and current steps to ward off threats against Iran and its strategic interests.
Iranians seem to be suffering from the same ailment that Americans have. Leadership of the insane! The leaders of the World seems to be suffering from Theocratic Megalomania. Except of course Russia, which is silently sliding back into a dictatorship of the Mafia kind instead of the Communist kind. C’mon folks, don’t we outnumber these guys? America’s 2008 votes will determine whether we slide into their twisted version of Armageddon.