Charles Mingus - OxymoricOrBust

Richard Gage, AIA, Architect - "How The Towers Fell" -
Complete 2 Hour Presentation

September 11, 2007
http://www.cathousechat.com/cathouse_chat/history/index.html

YOU won't show the video?! Well, then, I will... (UPDATED)

It's too upsetting? It's too graphic?

You know what, you media cowards?
These barbarians are out to kill us, to take away our God-given rights,
to beat us into submission, to weary us until we give up -
and YOU'RE letting them. YOU'RE aiding them.

Don't EVER forget what happened six years ago:

On September 11, 2001, at Barksdale Air Force Base, President Bush concluded his brief statement with

The resolve of our great nation is being tested. But make no mistake: We will show the world that we
will pass this test. God bless.

Yes. We were and are being tested. President Bush said we would pass this test, and I suppose in some
ways we have - life has gone on, our economy has recovered, elections have been held as usual, our
citizens do not live in terror.

But our resolve - most particularly that of the lunatic left - has faltered and become unfocused.
The Main Stream Media would prefer to support and empathize with terrorists, publish sensitive material
about national security, and excoriate and second-guess our Commander in Chief. Organizations like
Code Pink and MoveOn -dot- org accuse our military leaders of lying for President Bush, yet they claim
that they support our troops. Democratic leaders of Congress claim we have lost the way, that the surge
has failed, and that the war - the one THEY VOTED FOR - is illegal.

Yeah, guys, I question your patriotism. I question your integrity. I question your love for this country.

I despise your weak willed and disruptive waffling (and I am including Republicans in this), and your quest
for power and influence at the expense of securing our borders and truly supporting our military personnel
and their mission. You disgust me, and your actions shame our proud and brave heritage. You are an
embarrassment to the heroes who have sacrificed their lives to defend this country and promote freedom.

Who was it that said, "First, we hang all the lawyers"? He ought to have said "politicians"!

UPDATE: Misha, as always, expresses my sentiments far better and more eloquently than I could here:

Later that evening, as the full realization of what had just happened had finally sunk in, the Empress
and I were holding each other tight and it struck me (she was very very pregnant with the Royal
Heirs back then): “Our children will never know the world we grew up in. To them, the pre-9/11 world
simply won’t exist.”

And I resolved, right then and there, that I would never rest, I would never be satisfied until every last
motherfucking son of a syphilitic Moongod-worshipping goat had been annihilated so that our boys
could live in a world where sick fanatics DIDN’T use civilian airliners as cruise missiles.

And I will stay true to that until I die. This isn’t over until every single Asshole for Allah and everybody
who has ever muttered as much as a sympathetic word about them is dead and rotting, if I have to kill
the swine myself.

There will be no forgetting, there will be no forgiving until they’re dead. All of them. Wipe them out, erase
every single memory of them and make it a capital offense to as much as mention their names without
immediately spitting.

Then wipe out their offspring, their friends, their pets, their cities, their villages, their holy sites,
ANYTHING that might remind people that they ever were.

THEN I will be at peace, not before.

Amen, my brother. Amen, indeed.

And just as a wee small sample of the "character" of our enemies...

(Submitted to the Open Trackback post at Stop the ACLU)

Technorati Tags: 9-11, 9/11, September 11 2001, Twin Towers,
Pentagon, Shanksville PA, terrorism, traitors

Posted by Kat on September 11, 2007 at 12:19 PM in Current Affairs,
History, Islam, Pics and Video, War on Terror Permalink Comments (0)

NEVER forget!

It may have been six years ago, but I will never forget.

I will never forget who was responsible. I will never forget the ideology which
promoted this atrocity. I will never forget the inhumanity of these murders.

I will not forget those who are apologists for Islamic terrorism.

If I did, the ghosts of the 3,000 killed that day and those of our brave soldiers
who gave their all to the fight would rise up and condemn me.

NEVER FORGET!!!

(Thank you, Ward, for reminding me of this video)

Technorati Tags: 9-11, Twin Towers, Islamic terrorism, terrorists, murder

Posted by Kat on September 11, 2007 at 06:50 AM in
Current Affairs, History, Islam, War on Terror Permalink Comments (1)

August 19, 2007

NEVER forget!
http://www.cathousechat.com/cathouse_chat/history/index.html

A GERMAN'S POINT OF VIEW ON ISLAM

A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II owned
a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German
people were true Nazis, the answer he gave should guide our attitude
toward fanaticism.

"Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the
return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was
one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So,
the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we
knew it, they owned us, we had lost control, and the end of the world
had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration
camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

These days, "so-called experts and political talking heads" tell us
repeatedly that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast
majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this
unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is
meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant somehow to
diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the
name of Islam.

The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.
It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one
of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically
slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are
gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is
the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder or honor kill. It is the
fanatics that take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who
zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and
homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful
majority," the "silent majority," is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in
peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of
about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists
managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a
warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way
across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the
systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by
sword, shovel and bayonet.

And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it
not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all
our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated
of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their
silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they do not
speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one
day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world
will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs,
Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and
many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up
until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold; we must
pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who
threaten our way of life.

Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the issue is
serious and just deletes this email without sending it on is
contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand.

So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on. Let us
hope that thousands, world wide, read this - think about it - and
then send it on.

--
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ken Rubin
Garden Wall Graphics
818-508-9028 land
818-631-9028 air
www.gardenwallgraphics.com

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

CHINA SHINING (AND CASTING A SHADOW)

Always read Leah Krauss:

Solar World: China becomes a growing force
Leah Krauss, February 22, 2007 (UPI)
- Two years after China passed a comprehensive renewable energy law, its solar
energy industry is poised to enter the world market in a big way.

- "Thin film will be the future," solar energy markets expert J. Peter Lynch told United Press International, referring to an emerging type of solar
technology that relies on much thinner solar panels than the traditional black panels on many rooftops today. "As more and more Chinese (thin film)
companies (go) public, they will drive prices down and shrink margins."
- …The scarcity of solar-grade refined silicon has driven up traditional photovoltaic prices, and the shortage is not expected to ease until 2008.
- "I would definitely foresee (China taking a bigger role in the world solar market),"
Yong X. Tao, a professor and Undergraduate Program Director
in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Florida International University, wrote…
- "Right now, Suntech is the only significant player from China in the world solar market: its market is outside of China…" Tao said…

- One of the smaller companies has already started making international waves…China's Solarfun
Power Holdings Ltd. "…will sell approximately 140 megawatts of photovoltaic modules to UB Garanty Project S.L. in Spain over the next three years. The contract is expected to have an
estimated value of between $40 million and $50 million in 2007…and we are confident that Solarfun will continue to penetrate high growth (photovoltaic) markets such as Spain, Italy and other emerging markets in Europe…"
- China gets about 7 percent of its energy from renewable sources…The 2005 Renewable Energy Law called for the country to increase its renewable energy consumption to 10 percent of the total by 2020… - "A few wise men in Chinese government listened to the scientists and made right decision to push
the policy. The 2008 Olympics (slated for Beijing) is another reason," Tao said…The government "supports (solar) in many ways," Tao said…

- Not all observers agree with this positive outlook, however: "Manufacturers are expanding their capacity,
but I don't see a major drive to install solar power domestically," Wang Xing, a senior program officer for electricity and renewable energy at the China Sustainable Energy Program, told the news agency AFX earlier this month.
- "Right now there is not a very strong incentive program for solar power…Most domestic manufacturers are gearing production toward the export market…"
- …Tao…says the Chinese solar domestic market, which is mostly focused on solar water heaters, is doing quite well…The 2005 law required all new smaller buildings to install solar water heaters.

Dear activists, colleagues and friends,>From Robert Greenwald,We have been deep in research,
interviews and editing (23 versions!) about Rudy's failure
to fix the radios the firemen used to communicate on 9/11. It is as deeply troubling a
story as we have seen. Rudy is running for office on how he handled 9/11 and here we have
proof positive that firemen were killed because his administration did not fix the long-s
tanding (since 1993!) problems with the radios.Watch the video:
http://TheRealRudy.org/radios?utm_source=rgemailThis BNF investigative report calls attention
to four key questions about Rudy's handling
of the broken radios from firemen's families and experts:Why was nothing done to improve
FDNY radio performance for seven years after a clear need
was demonstrated in the 1993 World Trade Center attack?When new radios were finally ordered,
why did the city block other companies besides
Motorola from bidding on the contract?Once Motorola was given the contract, why did its cost
jump from $1.4 million to $14 million?Why were these new radios never tested?These questions
should and must be investigated. New York City councilman Eric Gioia has the
power to begin an investigation. If we can garner enough attention and signers, we have a
major opportunity to help launch an investigation. Since you live in the NYC area, it is
especially important you sign and get others in New York to sign as well. We want all signers,
of course, but it will be doubly helpful, maybe even triply, if we can get a large number
of New Yorkers to sign the petition.Sign the petition:
http://TheRealRudy.org/radios?utm_source=rgemailPlease take a careful look at your email
address book and see how many people you can send
this onto with a note from you. This is democracy in action and we need each and every one
of you to help.Robert Greenwald, Cliff Schecter, Jason Zaro and everyone at Brave New Films--
Brave New Films is located at 10510 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232 and info@bravenewfilms.org.
To stop receiving new videos from us, click here.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

THE BOTTOM BILLION - % in Africa

globalisation1

The Least Among Us
By NIALL FERGUSON
Skip to next paragraph
THE BOTTOM BILLION
Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It.
By Paul Collier.

205 pp. Oxford University Press. $28.
It is perhaps a sign of how far sub-Saharan Africa still has to go that the most vigorous — and certainly the best publicized — debate about its economic future in recent years has been between two American economists based in New York. On one side of the argument is Jeffrey D. Sachs, the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the author of “The End of Poverty.” On the other is William Easterly of New York University, whose ironically titled “White Man’s Burden” lampoons Sachs as a modern version of a 19th-century utopian.

There is indeed something faintly Victorian about Sachs’s messianic yet parsimonious conviction that Africa can be saved with $75 billion a year in Western aid. Having spent so much of his energies in the 1990s extolling the virtues of the free market to any Eastern European government that would listen, Sachs now argues — with equally unshakable conviction — that the elimination of African poverty can be achieved through state planning. All governments need do is improve agricultural technology, provide antimalaria bed nets, treat diseases like hookworm and distribute antiretroviral treatments to the H.I.V.-infected.

At times, he is rather reminiscent of Dickens’s Mrs. Jellyby in “Bleak House,” “a lady of very remarkable strength of character, who ... has devoted herself to an extensive variety of public subjects, at various times, and is at present (until something else attracts her) devoted to the subject of Africa; with a view to the general cultivation of the coffee berry — and the natives.” In Easterly’s opinion, the present generation of white philanthropists is no more likely than earlier ones to succeed in a self-appointed (and at times unwittingly imperial) mission of enlightening the Dark Continent.

Now comes another white man, ready to shoulder the burden of saving Africa: Paul Collier, the director of the Center for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University. A former World Bank economist like Easterly, Collier shares his onetime colleague’s aversion to what he calls the “headless heart” syndrome — meaning the tendency of people in rich countries to approach Africa’s problems with more emotion than empirical evidence. It was Collier who pointed out that nearly two-fifths of Africa’s private wealth is held abroad, much of it in Swiss bank accounts. It was he who exposed the British charity Christian Aid for commissioning dubious Marxist research on free trade. And it was he who pioneered a new and unsentimental approach to the study of civil wars, demonstrating that most rebels in sub-Saharan Africa are not heroic freedom fighters but self-interested brigands.

Collier is certainly much closer to Easterly on the question of aid. (He cites a recent survey that tracked money released by the Chad Ministry of Finance to help rural health clinics. Less than 1 percent reached the clinics.) Yet “The Bottom Billion” proves to be a far more constructive work than “The White Man’s Burden.” Like Sachs, Collier believes rich countries really can do something for Africa. But it involves more — much more — than handouts.

Collier’s title refers to the 980 million people living in what he calls “trapped countries,” those that are “clearly heading toward what might be described as a black hole.” Not all these people are Africans. Some live in Bolivia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Haiti, Laos, North Korea and Yemen. But 70 percent of the bottom billion live in Africa, and there is good reason to expect that proportion to rise.

The notion of the bottom billion matters because most of today’s development strategies (for example, the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals) focus much less discriminatingly on all developing economies — what used to be called “the third world.” But the world is no longer (as it used to be) one-sixth rich and five-sixths poor. Thanks to explosive growth in Asia, it will soon be more like one-sixth rich, two-thirds O.K. and one-sixth poor. It is this last group, according to Collier, that we need to worry about. Average life expectancy for the bottom billion is just 50 years. Around one in seven children dies before the age of 5.

Collier’s is a better book than either Sachs’s or Easterly’s for two reasons. First, its analysis of the causes of poverty is more convincing. Second, its remedies are more plausible.

There are, he suggests, four traps into which really poor countries tend to fall. The first is civil war. Nearly three-quarters of the people in the bottom billion, Collier points out, have recently been through, or are still in the midst of, a civil war. Such wars usually drag on for years and have economically disastrous consequences. Congo (formerly Zaire, formerly the Belgian Congo) would need 50 years of peace at its present growth rate to get back to the income level it had in 1960. Unfortunately, there is a vicious circle, because the poorer a country becomes, the more likely it is to succumb to civil war (“halve the ... income of the country and you double the risk of civil war” is a characteristic Collier formulation). And once you’ve had one civil war, you’re likely to have more: “Half of all civil wars are postconflict relapses.”

Why, aside from their poverty, have so many sub-Saharan countries become mired in internal conflict? Collier has spent years trying to answer this question, and his conclusions are central to this book. Civil war, it turns out, has nothing much to do with the legacy of colonialism, or income inequality, or the political repression of minorities. Three things turn out to increase the risk of conflict: a relatively high proportion of young, uneducated men; an imbalance between ethnic groups, with one tending to outnumber the rest; and a supply of natural resources like diamonds or oil, which simultaneously encourages and helps to finance rebellion.

It was in fact Collier who first came up with the line “diamonds are a guerrilla’s best friend,” and a substantial part of this book concerns itself with what economists like to call the “resource curse,” his No. 2 trap. As he sees it, the real problem about being a poor country with mineral wealth, like Nigeria, is that “resource rents make democracy malfunction”; they give rise to “a new law of the jungle of electoral competition ... the survival of the fattest.” Resource-rich countries don’t need to levy taxes, so there is little pressure for government accountability, and hence fewer checks and balances.

Countries don’t get to choose their resource endowment, of course; nor do they get to choose their location. Trap No. 3 is that landlocked countries are economically handicapped, because they are dependent on their neighbors’ transportation systems if they want to trade. Yet this is a minor handicap compared with Trap No. 4: bad governance. Collier has no time for those who still seek to blame Africa’s problems on European imperialists. As he puts it bluntly: “President Robert Mugabe must take responsibility for the economic collapse in Zimbabwe since 1998, culminating in inflation of over 1,000 percent a year.”

If these four things are the main causes of extreme poverty in Africa and elsewhere, what can the rich countries do? Clearly we can’t relocate Chad or rid Nigeria of its oil fields. Nor, Collier argues, can we rely on our standard remedies of aid or trade, without significant modifications. As a general rule, aid tends to retard the growth of the labor-intensive export industries that are a poor country’s most effective engine of growth. And much aid gets diverted into military spending. As for emergency relief, all too often it arrives in the wrong quantity at the wrong time, flooding into postconflict zones when no adequate channels exist to allocate it.

Trade, too, is not a sufficient answer. The problem is that Asia has eaten Africa’s lunch when it comes to exploiting low wage costs. Once manufacturing activity started to relocate to Asia, African economies simply got left behind. Now, to stand any chance of survival, African manufacturers need some temporary protection from Asian competition. So long as rich countries retain tariffs to shelter their own manufacturers from cut-price Asian imports, they should exempt products from bottom billion countries.

This, however, is not the most heretical of Collier’s prescriptions. Reflecting on the tendency of postconflict countries to lapse back into civil war, he argues trenchantly for occasional foreign interventions in failed states. What postconflict countries need, he says, is 10 years of peace enforced by an external military force. If that means infringing national sovereignty, so be it.

At a time when the idea of humanitarian intervention is selling at a considerable discount, this is a vital insight. (One recent finding by Collier and his associates, not reproduced here, is that until recently, former French colonies in Africa were less likely than other comparably poor countries to experience civil war. That was because the French effectively gave informal security guarantees to postindependence governments.) Collier concedes that his argument is bound to elicit acc

OxymoricOrBust

Richard Gage, AIA, Architect - "How The Towers Fell" -
Complete 2 Hour Presentation

September 11, 2007
http://www.cathousechat.com/cathouse_chat/history/index.html