Armchair Revolutionaries

Hi to everybody...I'm often saying on my blog that we have very few honey bees last year and this year...here's the reason why...and we should listen to the bee...think it's trying to tell us something very important...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jzjys

Hi to everybody...the Radio 4 programme on Lockerbie is ready on Listen again...
here's where you can listen to it over the next seven days...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00760w8

Hi to everybody...I don't know whether anybody here has listened to 'Lockerbie on Trial' on Radio 4 this afternoon where Abdel Basset Ali Al Megrahi was found guilty and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah was released, but it was absolutely clear that the CIA wanted Libya connected to the bombing of this Pan Am plane and were determined by foul means to implicate it in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103...the Palestinian connection was rejected while there was ample evidence that a group in Germany might well have been responsible had the investigation gone in that direction...How Al Magrehi was found guilty with the evidence brought before the judges is a mystery to me...no wonder so many people doubt that he is responsible for it...hmmm...
This programme will be repeated for the next seven days and as soon as it becomes available on Listen Again, I will put it up here...it is well worth listening too and while quite long, is never dull...

Hi to everybody...here's the second episode of the Cell if anybody missed it and wants to see it...well worth seeing if only for the meteor part and the end... Blade Runner or rather Philip K Dick foresaw this possibility... Should make believers in a deity food for thought...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mbvfh/The_Cell_The_Spark_of_Life/

Hi to everybody...last week I put up episode one of The Future of Food...here is the second part, and very interesting it is too...a real eye opener.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mffbk/Future_of_Food_Episode_2/

Hi to everybody...I came across this article today written in 2001!! Very interesting on Afghanistan...puts into question all the hype about fighting terrorism and the opium trade...

Route to riches

Afghanistan has huge strategic importance for the west as a corridor to the untapped fuel reserves in central Asia, reports Andy Rowell
* The Guardian, Wednesday 24 October 2001
* Article history

As the war in Afghanistan unfolds, there is frantic diplomatic activity to ensure that any post-Taliban government will be both democratic and pro-west. Hidden in this explosive geo-political equation is the sensitive issue of securing control and export of the region's vast oil and gas reserves.

The Soviets estimated Afghanistan's proven and probable natural gas reserves at 5 trillion cubic feet - enough for the UK's requirement for two years - but this remains largely untapped because of the country's civil war and poor pipeline infrastructure.

More importantly, according to the US government, "Afghanistan's significance from an energy standpoint stems from its geographical position as a potential transit route for oil and natural gas exports from central Asia to the Arabian Sea".

To the north of Afghanistan lies the Caspian and central Asian region, one of the world's last great frontiers for the oil industry due to its tremendous untapped reserves. The US government believes that total oil reserves could be 270bn barrels. Total gas reserves could be 576 trillion cubic feet. These dwarf the UK's proven reserves of 5bn barrels of oil and 27 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The reason oil is so attractive to the US - which imports half of its oil - and the west, is for three reasons. "Firstly it is non-Opec oil," says James Marriott, an oil expert from Platform, an environmental NGO. "Opec has been the bête-noire of the west since its inception in 1960. Secondly, these states are not within the Arab world and thirdly, although they are Muslim, they are heavily secularised."

The presence of these oil reserves and the possibility of their export raises new strategic concerns for the US and other western industrial powers. "As oil companies build oil pipelines from the Caucasus and central Asia to supply Japan and the west, these strategic concerns gain military implications,"argued an article in the Military Review, the Journal of the US army, earlier in the year.

Despite this, host governments and western oil companies have been rushing to get in on the act. Kazakhstan, it is believed, could earn $700bn (£486bn) from offshore oil and gas fields over the next 40 years. Both American and British oil companies have struck black gold. In April 1993, Chevron concluded a $20bn joint venture to develop the Tengiz oil field, with 6-9bn barrels of estimated oil reserves in Kazakhstan alone. The following year, in what was described as "the deal of the century", AIOC, an international consortium of companies led by BP, signed an $8bn deal to exploit reserves estimated at 3-5bn barrels in Azerbaijan.

The oil industry has long been trying to find a way to bring the oil and gas to market. This frustration was evident in the submission by oil company Unocal's vice-president John Maresca, before the US House of Representatives in 1998. "Central Asia is isolated. Their natural resources are landlocked, both geographically and politically. Each of the countries in the Caucasus and central Asia faces difficult political challenges. Some have unsettled wars or latent conflicts."

The industry has been looking at different routes. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) route is 1,000 miles west from Tengiz in Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk and came on stream last week. Oil will go by tanker through the Bosporus to the Mediterranean. Another route being considered by AIOC goes from Baku through Tbilisi in Georgia to Ceyhan in Turkey. However, parts of the route are seen as politically unstable as it goes through the Kurdistan region of Turkey and its $3bn price tag is prohibitively expensive.

But even if these pipelines are built, they would not be enough to exploit the region's vast oil and gas reserves. Nor crucially would they have the capacity to move oil to where it is really needed, the growing markets of Asia. Other export pipelines must therefore be built. One option is to go east across China, but at 3,000km it is seen as too long. Another option is through Iran, but US companies are banned due to American sanctions. The only other possible route is through Afghanistan to Pakistan. This is seen as being advantageous as it is close to the Asian markets.

Unocal, the US company with a controversial history of investment in Burma, has been trying to secure the Afghan route. To be viable Unocal has made it clear that "construction of the pipeline cannot begin until a recognised government is in place in Kabul that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and our company."

This, it can be argued, is precisely what Washington is now trying to do. "Washington's attitude towards the Taliban has been, in large part, a function of oil," argues Steve Kretzmann, from the Institute for Policy Studies in the US. "Before 1997, Washington refused to criticise and isolate the Taliban because Kabul seemed to favour Unocal, to build a proposed natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to the Pakistan coast."

In 1997, the Taliban signed an agreement that would allow a proposed 890-mile, $2bn natural gas pipeline project called Centgas led by Unocal to proceed. However by December 1998, Unocal had pulled out citing turmoil in Afghanistan making the project too risky.

To secure stability for the Afghan pipeline route, the US State Department and Pakistan's intelligence service funnelled arms to the Taliban, argues Ahmed Rashid in his book: Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, the book Tony Blair has been reportedly reading since the conflict started. Rashid called the struggle for control of post-Soviet central Asia "the new Great Game".

Critics of the industry argue that so long as this game is dependent on fossil fuels the region will remain impoverished due to the effects of the oil industry, which is, says Kretzmann, "essentially a neo-colonial set-up that extracts wealth from a region. The industry is sowing the seeds of poverty and terrorism. True security, for all of us, can only be achieved by reducing our dependence on oil."

Hi to everybody...have put this quote that Freeasthewind put on her blog for your perusal and comment...think it does sum up what quite a few people feel here I think...what do you think?
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - Australia
Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.
Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians'.

'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom'. 'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society .. Learn the language!'

'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.'

'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.'

'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.'

'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'
Maybe if we circulate this , American AND British citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the same truths.

Hi to everybody...some of you might be interested in signing this petition...Ray and I have because we think an apology is long overdue...
http://www.jgc.org/blog/2009/08/my-alan-turing-petition.html

Hi to everybody...something very strange is going in the case of Aung San Suu Kyi...here is the outline of events that have seen her removed from partaking in next year's elections...
On May 3, 2009, an American man, identified as John William Yettaw, swam across Inya Lake to her house uninvited and was arrested when he made his return trip three days later.[57] He had attempted to make a similar trip two years earlier, but for unknown reasons was turned away.[58] It is unknown what his motives were. On May 13, Suu Kyi was arrested for violating the terms of her house arrest because the swimmer, who pleaded exhaustion, was allowed to stay in her house for two days before he attempted the swim back. Suu Kyi was later taken to Insein Prison, where she could face up to five years confinement for the intrusion.[59] The trial of Suu Kyi and her two maids began on May 18 and a small number of protesters gathered outside.[60][61] Diplomats and journalists are barred from attending the trial; however, on one occasion, several diplomats from Russia, Thailand and Singapore and journalists were allowed to meet Suu Kyi.[62] The prosecution had originally planned to call 22 witnesses.[63] It also accused John Yettaw of embarrassing the country.[64] During the ongoing defence case, Suu Kyi said she was innocent. The defence was only allowed to call one witness (out of four), while the prosecution has been permitted to call 14 witnesses. The court rejected two character witnesses, NLD members Tin Oo and Win Tin and only permitted the defense to call a legal expert.[65] According to one unconfirmed report, the junta is planning to, once again, place her in detention, this time in a military base outside the city.[66] In a separate trial, Yettaw said he swam to Suu Kyi's house to warn her that her life was "in danger".[67] The national police chief later confirmed that Yettaw was the "main culprit" in the case filed against Suu Kyi.[68] According to aides, Suu Kyi spent her 64th birthday in jail sharing biryani rice and chocolate cake with her guards.[69]

Her arrest and subsequent trial received worldwide condemnation by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Security Council,[70] Western governments,[71] South Africa,[72] Japan[73] and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member.[74] The Burmese government strongly condemned the statement, as it created an "unsound tradition"[75] and criticised Thailand for meddling in its internal affairs.[76] The Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win was quoted in the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar as saying that the incident "was trumped up to intensify international pressure on Burma by internal and external anti-government elements who do not wish to see the positive changes in those countries' policies toward Burma".[64] Ban responded to an international campaign[77] by flying to Burma to negotiate, but Than Shwe rejected all of his requests.[78]

On August 11, 2009 the trial concluded with Suu Kyi being sentenced to imprisonment for three years with hard labour. This sentence was commuted by the military rulers to further house arrest of eighteen months.[79] On August 14, U.S. Senator Jim Webb visited Burma, visiting with junta leader Gen. Than Shwe and later with Suu Kyi. During the visit, Webb negotiated Yettaw's release and deportation from Burma.(From Wikipedia)

The fact that Yettaw has been released raises suspicions in my mind that something else is going on underneath the surface between the USA and Burma. Have they got an arms deal with the Burmese military rulers that would be endangered if Aung San Suu Kyi gained power? Why did they not make sure this man, Yettaw, didn't make a second attempt to reach her? Surely, they could have taken steps to discourage him or even forbid him to try to contact her this way, because the risk of her breaking her restrictions on visitors was obvious. Somewhere along the line, I fear there is some dirty politics taking place here and Aung San Suu Kyi is the victim.

Here is an interesting article on the Burmese Generals and their arms' spending spree..
http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=309&Itemid=31
Somebody doesn't want Aung San Suu Kyi to win the next election I believe because of this...
the USA may not be selling arms but the several other major powers certainly are...

I see that Brian Haw's protest in front of Parliament will have notched up 3000 days by tomorrow.

That's a long time.

Hi to everybody...for anybody who would like to watch this very interesting series, here it is...I've just sat and watched it and there's some real opening facts revealed in the cost of food production...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00m9xk9/Future_of_Food_Episode_1/

Hi to everybody...to everybody who isn't watching 'Wallender' tonight on BBC4, there's a new series starting on BBC2 called 'The Future of Food' with George Alagiah at 9 o'clock...I'm recording it, but thought some of you might be interested...

Last week BBC Radio 4 's Book of the Week was ' Blue Stockings ' I hope that I got the title right and I say at once that I maybe didn't hear everyone of the 5 readings.

It brought home to me how hard it was for British women to get into University and to obtain a recognised degree. The arguments against the education of women were laughable like arguing that the female brain is 5 1/2 ounces less than that of men and that over taxing their brains would atrophy the uterus. It was only around 1930 when most Universities began to issue degree certificates to women.

Why do I mention this wretchedly bad treatment of women today ?
The British Military are in Afghanistan attempting to make a medieval country into a 21 st Century Democracy. Soldiers are dying trying to do the impossible. It isn't a hundred years since women in the UK had access to education and men realised women were not domestic cleaners and baby sitters. Fighting in Afghanistan is not going to change the way Afghan men think and evidence of this is the burning down of newly built schools.

I strongly oppose Gordon Brown's assertion that the fighting is to stop terrorism here; it is far more likely to generate terrorists.
Any opinions here on this topic ?

Hi to everybody...if you missed it, this is a very interesting programme called The Cell shown tonight on BBC4...the first of three...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m425d

Determinism is the philosophical position that every event, including all human thoughts and actions, are causally determined by previous events.

Most philosophers take the position that free will and determinism are logically incompatible, but some disagree. They are called compatibilists, and in order to take that position they need to restrict the meaning of free will, often by saying that a free act is one that involves no compulsion by others. Yet if a choice is predetermined, is it really a choice? The compatibilist view does show that something is compatible with determinism, but that something isn't free will.

Modern physics since the advent of quantum mechanics sees the universe as indeterministic. Even with perfect information you still can't predict exactly what will happen in a given situation because of chance and randomness at the sub-atomic level. Thus, determinism is false.

This still does not prove that we have free will. But think of the alternative:

In a deterministic universe without free will, humans are pre-programmed robots unable to make choices, machines performing predetermined acts. Like a machine, a human without free will can have no purpose, and life is necessarily pointless, worthless and without hope. There can be no morality, so this is a nihilistic position. The implications for crime and punishment are immense.

So, which is more likely: free will or no free will?

Tom.

This is the real news. While Michael Jackson's death was and is a tragic
loss, the death of this hero and others like him is never given proper
respect or recognition.

We don't honor the REAL heroes enough!

Ed Freeman

You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle
in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam. Your infantry unit
is outnumbered 8-1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards
away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac helicopters
to stop coming in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're
not getting out. Your family is half way around the world - 12,000 miles
away - and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and
out, you know this is the day.

Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of helicopter,
and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because
no Medi-Vac markings are on it.

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but
he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs
were ordered not to come.

He's coming anyway.

And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2
or 3 of you on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the doctors and nurses.

And, he kept coming back - 13 more times - and took about 30 of you and your
buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died last Wednesday, at the age of 80,
in Boise, ID. May God rest his soul.

Medal of Honor Winner
Ed Freeman!

Since the Media didn't give him the coverage of Michael Jackson, send this
to every red blooded American you know. THANKS AGAIN, ED, FOR WHAT YOU DID
FOR OUR COUNTRY. RIP.

Hi to everybody...watched the Edge channel last night as I said in my last post...
here is the web site for the Matrix New Network where I heard some pretty interesting interviews...
http://matrixnewsnetwork.com/

It's a long one I'm afraid. I was aiming for a 500 word piece but ended up double that. Yes, it's 02.10 and yes, I have work in 7 hours but who cares? I was in the zone.

It is all about the theory of internet censorship and our own moderator tendencies. Enjoy!

http://haughtybiscuit.blog.co.uk/

Hi to everybody...I heard an interesting discussion tonight on eco-imperialism with Paul K. Driessen - http://www.eco-imperialism.com/content/conts_excer.php3 ...you can find some of his articles here...
Also, and this is hard to believe but, apparently, true... The USA has a huge archive of footage from presidential footage to major events to Bonanza and the Twilight Zone but it doesn't have a copy of the Moon Landing!! It appears NASA went over the 45 copies it had of it in 1970 because...get this...it needed the tapes for other things! So, the most important event in the 20th century when man walked on the moon was taped over, not by accident, but deliberately by NASA...
Now, a film company is putting together a new film of it with more details using a borrowed copy from Russia...there was one other copy in Iraq, but the USA bombed the museum holding it and it was destroyed along with most of its other treasures...I can't wait to see what they've done with this new film...HLOL...hmmm...

Another crazy decision. This government in a funk wants to make it possible for parents to take a school to court if they are not satisfied with the education provided. Another part of the myth that parents can choose the school for their child. No! The school chooses the pupils it wants. This myth was propagated in the days of Margaret Thatcher. It wasn't true then and it isn't true now. Most parents want their local school to be a good school. True the government has put a lot of taxpayers money into education and more children than ever before are going to university. A little noted fact about comprehensive schools is the great success they have had in teaching girls. More than half the doctors and lawyers in training are now young women. It is not so very long ago that scientists pronounced that women's brains could not cope with higher learning and the effort of trying to study would make them unfit for marriage and motherhood. " You can not be serious ".
All our children deserve a good education. It is disgraceful so many children leave school barely able to read , write and understand basic maths. Government policy makers should look at what good schools are achieving and allow teachers to teach.