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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
January 6, 2013
via truthdig:
John Kiriakou Becomes First CIA Officer to Face Prison for Classified Leak
Posted on Jan 5, 2013
The former CIA officer who blew the whistle on waterboarding is preparing to serve a 30-month prison sentence for disclosing to a reporter the name of a covert agent previously involved in the government’s torture program.
John Kiriakou claims he did not realize Deuce Martinez was still undercover when he gave his name to Matthew A. Cole, a freelancer then working on a book about a CIA rendition case in Italy that went wrong. The FBI discovered emails Kiriakou sent to Cole while conducting a warranted search of his personal accounts.
Bruce Riedel, a retired veteran CIA officer who led an Afghan war review and turned down an offer to be considered for the position of CIA director in 2009, said that Kiriakou, who worked for him in the 1990s, was “an exceptionally good intelligence officer” who didn’t deserve the prison term.
“To me the irony of this whole thing is, very simply, that he’s going to be the only CIA officer to go to jail over torture,” even though he publicly denounced torture, Riedel said. “It’s deeply ironic under the Democratic president who ended torture.” ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/john_kiriakou_becomes_first_to_face_prison_for_a_classified_leak_20130105/
John Kiriakou Becomes First CIA Officer to Face Prison for Classified Leak
via truthdig:
John Kiriakou Becomes First CIA Officer to Face Prison for Classified Leak
Posted on Jan 5, 2013
The former CIA officer who blew the whistle on waterboarding is preparing to serve a 30-month prison sentence for disclosing to a reporter the name of a covert agent previously involved in the government’s torture program.
John Kiriakou claims he did not realize Deuce Martinez was still undercover when he gave his name to Matthew A. Cole, a freelancer then working on a book about a CIA rendition case in Italy that went wrong. The FBI discovered emails Kiriakou sent to Cole while conducting a warranted search of his personal accounts.
Bruce Riedel, a retired veteran CIA officer who led an Afghan war review and turned down an offer to be considered for the position of CIA director in 2009, said that Kiriakou, who worked for him in the 1990s, was “an exceptionally good intelligence officer” who didn’t deserve the prison term.
“To me the irony of this whole thing is, very simply, that he’s going to be the only CIA officer to go to jail over torture,” even though he publicly denounced torture, Riedel said. “It’s deeply ironic under the Democratic president who ended torture.” ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/john_kiriakou_becomes_first_to_face_prison_for_a_classified_leak_20130105/
January 6, 2013
By: Pete Thomas, GrindTV.com
The number of shark fins set out to dry like the morning laundry on a Hong Kong factory building rooftop is staggering. To look at the accompanying images and video, revealing perhaps 10,000 fins, and to grasp that sharks are being slaughtered at a furious pace so their fins can be used to make soup, one cannot help but wonder how many years will pass before at least some shark species are banished to extinction.
Shark conservation movements are growing, especially regarding the cruel practice of finning, but the striking imagery supplied by photojournalist Alex Hofford illustrates that conservation efforts, while they have made progress, have a long away to go toward stemming the killing of sharks for their fins.
Hofford states on his blog that traders have taken to using rooftops instead of ground-level markets to dry their fins out of public view: "I'm now of the opinion that this place has been operating for a very long time, and it's only in the last three days that their activities have come to light."
China is the world's largest shark fin market and Hong Kong is a hub through which many fins pass. Hofford focused his camera on a specific location: Kwong Ga Factory Building, 64 Victoria Rd., Kennedy Town. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/50552/alarming+sight+thousands+of+shark+fins+drying+on+hong+kong+rooftop/
Alarming sight: thousands of shark fins drying on Hong Kong rooftop
Alarming sight: thousands of shark fins drying on Hong Kong rooftopBy: Pete Thomas, GrindTV.com
The number of shark fins set out to dry like the morning laundry on a Hong Kong factory building rooftop is staggering. To look at the accompanying images and video, revealing perhaps 10,000 fins, and to grasp that sharks are being slaughtered at a furious pace so their fins can be used to make soup, one cannot help but wonder how many years will pass before at least some shark species are banished to extinction.
Shark conservation movements are growing, especially regarding the cruel practice of finning, but the striking imagery supplied by photojournalist Alex Hofford illustrates that conservation efforts, while they have made progress, have a long away to go toward stemming the killing of sharks for their fins.
Hofford states on his blog that traders have taken to using rooftops instead of ground-level markets to dry their fins out of public view: "I'm now of the opinion that this place has been operating for a very long time, and it's only in the last three days that their activities have come to light."
China is the world's largest shark fin market and Hong Kong is a hub through which many fins pass. Hofford focused his camera on a specific location: Kwong Ga Factory Building, 64 Victoria Rd., Kennedy Town. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/50552/alarming+sight+thousands+of+shark+fins+drying+on+hong+kong+rooftop/
January 6, 2013
Cat caught smuggling phone into Brazilian jail
All detainees considered suspects after guards halt feline courier carrying mobile phone, saw and drills through gates
Conal Urquhart and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 5 January 2013
Prison guards caught a cat carrying a mobile phone and a saw trying to walk through prison gates in north-east Brazil, it has emerged.
The guards saw the white cat walking towards them with tape wrapped around its back and stomach. When they looked closer they saw the cat was also carrying drills, an earphone, a memory card, batteries and a phone charger.
All 263 detainees in the prison of Arapiraca, a city of 215,000 people in the state of Alagoas, are considered suspects in the plot, which is being investigated by local police. ...........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/05/cat-smuggling-phone-brazilian-jail
Cat caught smuggling phone, saw and drills into Brazilian jail
Cat caught smuggling phone into Brazilian jail
All detainees considered suspects after guards halt feline courier carrying mobile phone, saw and drills through gates
Conal Urquhart and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 5 January 2013
Prison guards caught a cat carrying a mobile phone and a saw trying to walk through prison gates in north-east Brazil, it has emerged.
The guards saw the white cat walking towards them with tape wrapped around its back and stomach. When they looked closer they saw the cat was also carrying drills, an earphone, a memory card, batteries and a phone charger.
All 263 detainees in the prison of Arapiraca, a city of 215,000 people in the state of Alagoas, are considered suspects in the plot, which is being investigated by local police. ...........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/05/cat-smuggling-phone-brazilian-jail
January 5, 2013
from Dissent magazine:
Unemployment Numbers: The Long View
By Colin Gordon - January 4, 2013
The December U.S. jobs report offered little to cheer about. The country counted 155,000 new non-farm jobs in the last month of 2012, a rate of growth that echoed the average monthly job gain for the last year (about 153,000). Much of the early coverage was tinged with a sense of relief. The fiscal cliff noise did not deter hiring. The post-Sandy devastation in New York and New Jersey did not drag down the national numbers. The economy was finally showing “steady” growth.
But one step back from the monthly scoreboard-watching, the picture is not nearly as reassuring.
Measured against the trajectory of all other postwar recessions (see graphic below), the current downturn is deeper and longer—by an impressive margin—than any that preceded it. Before 1980, the job market never took longer than two years to return to its pre-recession levels. The recession of 1981 and 1990 pushed this out into the thirty month range. It took four years to struggle back to the surface after the 2001 recession. The current recession is over five years old and counting. If we continue to add jobs at the 2012 monthly rate, we will be underwater for about twenty-six more months.
.......(snip).......
Finally, the raw jobs numbers are silent as to the quality of the jobs being added. We continue to lose public sector jobs, and while private sector wages inched up in December, that increase still lagged behind the inflation rate. “Recovery” job growth is concentrated in sectors marked by low wages and meager job-based benefits. The job numbers may be “steady,” but the recession is still very much with us. The jobs deficit is substantial. And the goods jobs deficit is even worse. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/unemployment-numbers-the-long-view
Unemployment Numbers: The Long View
from Dissent magazine:
Unemployment Numbers: The Long View
By Colin Gordon - January 4, 2013
The December U.S. jobs report offered little to cheer about. The country counted 155,000 new non-farm jobs in the last month of 2012, a rate of growth that echoed the average monthly job gain for the last year (about 153,000). Much of the early coverage was tinged with a sense of relief. The fiscal cliff noise did not deter hiring. The post-Sandy devastation in New York and New Jersey did not drag down the national numbers. The economy was finally showing “steady” growth.
But one step back from the monthly scoreboard-watching, the picture is not nearly as reassuring.
Measured against the trajectory of all other postwar recessions (see graphic below), the current downturn is deeper and longer—by an impressive margin—than any that preceded it. Before 1980, the job market never took longer than two years to return to its pre-recession levels. The recession of 1981 and 1990 pushed this out into the thirty month range. It took four years to struggle back to the surface after the 2001 recession. The current recession is over five years old and counting. If we continue to add jobs at the 2012 monthly rate, we will be underwater for about twenty-six more months.
.......(snip).......
Finally, the raw jobs numbers are silent as to the quality of the jobs being added. We continue to lose public sector jobs, and while private sector wages inched up in December, that increase still lagged behind the inflation rate. “Recovery” job growth is concentrated in sectors marked by low wages and meager job-based benefits. The job numbers may be “steady,” but the recession is still very much with us. The jobs deficit is substantial. And the goods jobs deficit is even worse. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/unemployment-numbers-the-long-view
January 5, 2013
http://vimeo.com/56742221
Bill Moyers Essay: The Gun Lobby’s Firepower
January 4, 2013
Even as sadness turns to outrage over the Newtown tragedy, and powerful coalitions of leaders and celebrities speak out, those who produce, push, and promote guns continue unfazed and unabated. In this broadcast essay, Bill reports on how the NRA and gun merchants continue to strong-arm Congress and state legislatures into keeping any and all discussion of sensible gun control off the table.
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-the-gun-lobbys-firepower/
Bill Moyers Essay: The Gun Lobby’s Firepower
http://vimeo.com/56742221
Bill Moyers Essay: The Gun Lobby’s Firepower
January 4, 2013
Even as sadness turns to outrage over the Newtown tragedy, and powerful coalitions of leaders and celebrities speak out, those who produce, push, and promote guns continue unfazed and unabated. In this broadcast essay, Bill reports on how the NRA and gun merchants continue to strong-arm Congress and state legislatures into keeping any and all discussion of sensible gun control off the table.
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-the-gun-lobbys-firepower/
January 5, 2013
AlterNet / By Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky: The Gravest Threat to World Peace
Americans are kept in the dark about consequences of a possible nuclear-armed Mideast, and the US's potential role.
January 4, 2013 |
Reporting on the final U.S. presidential campaign debate, on foreign policy, The Wall Street Journal observed that "the only country mentioned more (than Israel) was Iran, which is seen by most nations in the Middle East as the gravest security threat to the region."
The two candidates agreed that a nuclear Iran is the gravest threat to the region, if not the world, as Romney explicitly maintained, reiterating a conventional view.
On Israel, the candidates vied in declaring their devotion to it, but Israeli officials were nevertheless unsatisfied. They had "hoped for more 'aggressive' language from Mr. Romney," according to the reporters. It was not enough that Romney demanded that Iran not be permitted to "reach a point of nuclear capability."
Arabs were dissatisfied too, because Arab fears about Iran were "debated through the lens of Israeli security instead of the region's," while Arab concerns were largely ignored – again the conventional treatment. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/world/noam-chomsky-gravest-threat-world-peace
Noam Chomsky on The Gravest Threat to World Peace
AlterNet / By Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky: The Gravest Threat to World Peace
Americans are kept in the dark about consequences of a possible nuclear-armed Mideast, and the US's potential role.
January 4, 2013 |
Reporting on the final U.S. presidential campaign debate, on foreign policy, The Wall Street Journal observed that "the only country mentioned more (than Israel) was Iran, which is seen by most nations in the Middle East as the gravest security threat to the region."
The two candidates agreed that a nuclear Iran is the gravest threat to the region, if not the world, as Romney explicitly maintained, reiterating a conventional view.
On Israel, the candidates vied in declaring their devotion to it, but Israeli officials were nevertheless unsatisfied. They had "hoped for more 'aggressive' language from Mr. Romney," according to the reporters. It was not enough that Romney demanded that Iran not be permitted to "reach a point of nuclear capability."
Arabs were dissatisfied too, because Arab fears about Iran were "debated through the lens of Israeli security instead of the region's," while Arab concerns were largely ignored – again the conventional treatment. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/world/noam-chomsky-gravest-threat-world-peace
January 5, 2013
from Grist:
Climate change may ruin Lake Tahoe’s beautiful blueness
By Philip Bump
Lake Tahoe is pretty. The water is clear; the mountains surrounding it are beautiful. For half a century, the environmental group Keep Tahoe Blue has fought to preserve the region’s environmental sanctity, primarily by putting bumper stickers on Volvos, as far as I can tell.
Turns out that those Volvos are doing more harm than good. From the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
Without that mixture, oxygen doesn’t penetrate the lake, changing its chemistry. So long clarity. So long blue. ......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://grist.org/news/climate-change-may-ruin-lake-tahoes-beautiful-blueness/
Climate change may ruin Lake Tahoe’s beautiful blueness
from Grist:
Climate change may ruin Lake Tahoe’s beautiful blueness
By Philip Bump
Lake Tahoe is pretty. The water is clear; the mountains surrounding it are beautiful. For half a century, the environmental group Keep Tahoe Blue has fought to preserve the region’s environmental sanctity, primarily by putting bumper stickers on Volvos, as far as I can tell.
Turns out that those Volvos are doing more harm than good. From the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
Climate change could profoundly affect the Tahoe area, scientists say, taking the snow out of the mountains and the blue out of the water. …
New climate models show that in a worst-case scenario average temperatures in the Tahoe area could rise as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. That’s equivalent to moving Lake Tahoe from its current elevation of 6,200 feet above sea level to 3,700 feet, climate scientists report in a special January issue of the journal Climatic Change. That’s as high as the peak of Contra Costa County’s Mount Diablo, which gets only an inch of snow a year. …
It’s not just the mountains that would look different in a warmer climate, according to Climatic Change. The worst-case scenarios also predict a devastating ecological collapse of the lake and loss of its signature clarity and blue color.
Many lakes undergo a process every year, or every few years, that keeps the lake water well-mixed. As water temperature changes through the seasons, it creates circulation in the lake. The warm water on top of the lake in summer cools off in the fall and sinks, mixing with cold deep water. In a warmer climate, the surface water won’t cool off enough to mix with deeper water.
Without that mixture, oxygen doesn’t penetrate the lake, changing its chemistry. So long clarity. So long blue. ......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://grist.org/news/climate-change-may-ruin-lake-tahoes-beautiful-blueness/
January 5, 2013
from truthdig:
The Natural Gas Bubble
Posted on Jan 4, 2013
By Thomas Hedges
The natural gas industry is waging an aggressive public relations campaign to bolster investor confidence, despite evidence showing that shale gas is an unreliable resource and that the production process releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Although hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) is in the media’s hot seat, the prospect of a drilling bubble coupled with the underreported problem of methane leakage may be the most destructive qualities of natural gas in the United States.
From commissioning false field reports to flooding television with commercials, natural gas companies are convincing Americans that gas will save the U.S. market; it will not.
The public relations push is an effort to revive a campaign that started in 2006 and was subsequently killed when the economic crisis hit two years later. Natural gas companies tripled the number of existing wells in those two years, hoping that a glut would attract a large consumer base before raising the prices back up again. Financial companies pumped billions of dollars into the industry, only to see it crumble.
As time passes, data on natural gas production, which goes back only a few years, indicate that shale gas is an unreliable energy source. Reserves are declining up to 70 percent per year. Where corporate reports show that decline leveling off through the use of theoretical models, figures point to an unrelenting decline that predicts the reserves will dry up in a few years. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_natural_gas_bubble_20130104/
The Natural Gas Bubble
from truthdig:
The Natural Gas Bubble
Posted on Jan 4, 2013
By Thomas Hedges
The natural gas industry is waging an aggressive public relations campaign to bolster investor confidence, despite evidence showing that shale gas is an unreliable resource and that the production process releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Although hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) is in the media’s hot seat, the prospect of a drilling bubble coupled with the underreported problem of methane leakage may be the most destructive qualities of natural gas in the United States.
From commissioning false field reports to flooding television with commercials, natural gas companies are convincing Americans that gas will save the U.S. market; it will not.
The public relations push is an effort to revive a campaign that started in 2006 and was subsequently killed when the economic crisis hit two years later. Natural gas companies tripled the number of existing wells in those two years, hoping that a glut would attract a large consumer base before raising the prices back up again. Financial companies pumped billions of dollars into the industry, only to see it crumble.
As time passes, data on natural gas production, which goes back only a few years, indicate that shale gas is an unreliable energy source. Reserves are declining up to 70 percent per year. Where corporate reports show that decline leveling off through the use of theoretical models, figures point to an unrelenting decline that predicts the reserves will dry up in a few years. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_natural_gas_bubble_20130104/
January 5, 2013
The Bible and Torah have long been used at swearing-in ceremonies for members of Congress and have been joined by the Quran in more recent years, but this week marked the first time the Bhagavad Gita was used.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to join either chamber of Congress, used the sacred text from her faith in a ceremonial swearing-in conducted by Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio).
"I chose to take the oath of office with my personal copy of the Bhagavad-Gita because its teachings have inspired me to strive to be a servant-leader, dedicating my life in the service of others and to my country," said Gabbard, who served in the Iraq War, after the swearing-in. "My Gita has been a tremendous source of inner peace and strength through many tough challenges in life, including being in the midst of death and turmoil while serving our country in the Middle East."
While no religious ceremony is legally required for those elected to Congress and the Senate, many choose to take oaths of office over Christian and Jewish texts, and Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim, took his oath over a Quran. But Gabbard's choice of text is symbolic of growing religious diversity of Congress. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/04/tulsi-gabbard-hindu-bhagavad-gita-swearing-in_n_2410078.html
Tulsi Gabbard, First Hindu In Congress, Uses Bhagavad Gita At Swearing-In
The Bible and Torah have long been used at swearing-in ceremonies for members of Congress and have been joined by the Quran in more recent years, but this week marked the first time the Bhagavad Gita was used.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to join either chamber of Congress, used the sacred text from her faith in a ceremonial swearing-in conducted by Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio).
"I chose to take the oath of office with my personal copy of the Bhagavad-Gita because its teachings have inspired me to strive to be a servant-leader, dedicating my life in the service of others and to my country," said Gabbard, who served in the Iraq War, after the swearing-in. "My Gita has been a tremendous source of inner peace and strength through many tough challenges in life, including being in the midst of death and turmoil while serving our country in the Middle East."
While no religious ceremony is legally required for those elected to Congress and the Senate, many choose to take oaths of office over Christian and Jewish texts, and Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim, took his oath over a Quran. But Gabbard's choice of text is symbolic of growing religious diversity of Congress. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/04/tulsi-gabbard-hindu-bhagavad-gita-swearing-in_n_2410078.html
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Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,077