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Reports

Hold Politicians’ Feet to the Fire

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Posted on Oct 23, 2007

By Amy Goodman

Fires rage through Southern California. Massive rainstorms drench New Orleans. The Southeast U.S., from Tennessee across the Carolinas and into Georgia, is in the midst of what could be the worst drought on record there. Atlanta could run out of water. While the press does an admirable job bringing us live images of extreme weather, it doesn’t explain why these events are happening. What links these crises? Global warming. Two words that have all too often been vacuumed off government Web sites and erased from government scientific studies.

  If the press isn’t making the connection, Bill McKibben is. In 1989, he wrote the book “The End of Nature,” one of the first books to describe global warming as an emerging environmental crisis. Now, almost 20 years later, he is leading a campaign to draft mass grass-roots participation to publicize the potential catastrophe of climate change and to demand federal action to “Step It Up.” The first Step It Up day of action, April 14, 2007, organized in local communities through a central Web site, saw 1,400 coordinated activities pulled together in just three months. The second day of action is planned for Nov. 3, organized through the Web site stepitup2007.org.

  “What’s important to remember and the reason that we spend all our time organizing now, trying to change all this, is that so far human beings have raised the temperature of the planet about one degree Fahrenheit,” says McKibben. “The computer modeling makes it very clear that before the century is out, unless we take very strong action, indeed, we’re going to raise the temperature of the planet another five degrees Fahrenheit. So, take whatever you see now, multiply it by five, and then toss in all those cascading effects that come, as we exceed one threshold after another.”

  The cascade effect is what is so important to understand. How could one degree Fahrenheit make such a big difference? One immediate, measurable impact of that seemingly slight temperature rise, according to University of Arizona scientist Tom Swetnam, is the increase in the frequency and duration of large wildfires in the U.S. West. Swetnam and his team have linked a warming, drying trend since the 1980s to the incidence of fires, like the more than a dozen that are raging out of control in Southern California.

  The predictions are not good. Trees take in carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, releasing oxygen. In his August 2006 Science article, Swetnam reports that western U.S. forests remove 20 percent to 40 percent of the carbon dioxide in the U.S. As forests burn, McKibben notes, carbon is released into the atmosphere. Fewer trees then remain to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, making warmer conditions, supporting more and longer fires, and so on, creating a positive feedback loop. A central warning of the scientific community is this: At some point, if Earth’s temperature rises much more, maybe three degrees, maybe six degrees, an irreversible feedback loop will overwhelm the planet’s climate, with cascading impacts leading to a warmer and warmer planet.

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  Corporate America is feeling the heat. Carbon-emitting industries like the oil companies, chastened by the experience of Big Tobacco and asbestos, see that in the future they might be held accountable—especially since they are funding junk science and “Astroturf” (i.e., fake grass-roots groups) to cast doubt about the effects of global warming. Insurance companies can’t afford to ignore the consequences of global warming, as extreme weather causes billions of dollars in damage.

  McKibben and the Step It Up campaign lay out three basic demands:

  —Green jobs now, for all: 5 million green jobs conserving 20 percent of our energy by 2015. Green jobs are those created by transforming the economy from a coal- and oil-burning one to a sustainable economy built on a new set of energy sources, ensuring that the same people left behind by the last economy are not left behind again.

  —Cut carbon 80 percent by 2050: Freeze climate pollution levels now and cut at least 80 percent by 2050, and 30 percent by 2020.

  —No new coal: a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants.

  McKibben explains: “We need a movement as strong, as willing to sacrifice, as morally urgent, as passionate as the civil rights movement was a generation ago. If we don’t get it soon—and we have a real time limit here—if we don’t get it soon, then we’re not going to be able to force the changes that we need over the power of the very strong vested interests that would like to keep things the way they are, even though it’s now destabilizing the planet in the most powerful and most tragic ways.”

  People are taking action. On Monday, 60 people were arrested in Washington, D.C., as part of the No War, No Warming days of action, linking the war in Iraq, post-Katrina recovery and climate change, and demanding action from Congress, holding elected officials’ feet to the fire. Humans are causing global warming. For a short time, we have a chance to limit the damage. But time is running out. Step it up.

  Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on 500 stations in North America.

  © 2007 Amy Goodman

  Distributed by King Features Syndicate


Elsewhere: .

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By tgambill, October 28, 2007 at 5:50 pm #

Meet the kingdom of the Anti-Christ coming soon….

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1070329053600562261&q;

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By tgambill, October 28, 2007 at 5:03 pm #

AmysDad is exactly right on and understands the situation well.  Unfortunately, the truth will have to become apparent and in our faces before those in the dark will even begin to understand as its happening.  You can only imagine what the French thought when the Nazi’s [who was supported and all but the total responsibility of wall Street for even existing], rode through Paris.  The same surprise, disbelief and shock will be felt nationwide here in the US when our world is shaken by the reality that many of us are trying to pass on…..but few are listening.  There is plenty that can be done to at least slow it down and maybe cause significant delays.  However, if you google or search the “parallels between the planned and orchestrated depression of 1929” with the economic situation with 2007, you WILL find a distinct replay….or as the economist will say, a curious “parallel”.  What many won’t acknowledge is the FACT that it will be planned to become either wholly or part of the next national disaster…leading to martial law that WILL overide the constitution without any congressional overrides.  As a matter of fact the Bush administration per the Bilderbergers and think tanks from the Trilateral commission and CFR have anticipated.  Its’ only a matter of time now.  Blackwater patrolling the borders, people are not to help keep illegals out, but they are there to keep Americans in when martial law is declared and facilitate drug trafficing…..plus the other deals…  Reminder that Blackwater plans on building a 824 Acre training site near San Diego….and Al Qaeda admits to starting fires…...  helloooooo

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By YIKES, October 28, 2007 at 4:26 pm #

Thank you again, Amy.  Once more your well written insights spark some intelligent comments.

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By tgambill, October 26, 2007 at 10:00 am #

Gore gets a cold shoulder
October 14, 2007

One of the world’s foremost meteorologists has called the theory that helped Al Gore share the Nobel Peace Prize “ridiculous” and the product of “people who don’t understand how the atmosphere works”.

Dr William Gray, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts, told a packed lecture hall at the University of North Carolina that humans were not responsible for the warming of the earth.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/gore-gets-a-cold-shoulder/2007/10/13/1191696238792.html

Realizing that the hoax called Global Warming is not working the magic that they desired, they are now shouting Climate change. They can’t make up their minds.  Its almost obvious that its a big lie…..

http://www.physorg.com/news100885146.html

http://www.physorg.com/news112609482.html

Now a little truth in the mix…....Best you heed.

http://www.carnicom.com/contrails.htm

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By amysdad, October 26, 2007 at 1:02 am #

Anyone that talks about a “new set of energy sources” and doesn’t say the word “nuclear” is living in a fantasy land. Oh but then our dear Leftist friends ensured decades ago that we wouldn’t be allowed to produce clean non-polluting energy. But then, back in the 70s we were all being told the world would end from global freezing, not global warming. Ahh, they can never quite settle on the crisis that will kill us all (I’m still waiting for AIDS to “explode into the general population”), they just have to constantly have a new crisis so they can continue to aggrandize their power and take away what little remains of your freedom.

Global warming is a crock. Don’t fall for their silly lies. Read and learn. http://www.worldclimatereport.com/

And Amy is a dangerous psychopath.

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 9:21 pm #

The battle will begin soon, as the forces are forming and taking sides.  Its going to get sticky and the log is right, about us thinking for one minute that we have had a free society and that our wars were for freedom, democracy….etc..we’ve been duped.  I was in the Marines for 12 years and believe this…not now.  I’ve learned the true history and their agenda.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkgGOFXuYPw#

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By Logician, October 25, 2007 at 8:36 pm #

Re#109455,457,462,466,476 by RdV on 10/25 at various times:

We must work different shifts, sorry for the lateness of my reply.  So:

I hide no mythology, I would have thought my rabid ranting would have shown that.  Before I get to how I feel about the “free market”, I am a big advocate of personal responsibility with the provisio of what a person can learn about the choices they have. 

I have no respect nor pity for people who live 12 feet BELOW sea level at THE SEA SHORE and then EXPECT man made devices to protect them from the vagaries of the weather. If you honestly think you should trust man-made government-funded structures to stand up to the power of the weather, well, talk about myths….And as for building a house in a known fire hazard, well, sure, people will build them, but if you haven’t done your homework before YOU buy the house, don’t bitch when it burns.  Please note the time table here, RdV: pre-existing conditions.  I did NOT address the situation of conditions changed after ownership. 

This is speaking at the level of personal responibility.  I see so little of it being accepted I bitch quite loudly about it because I feel it is utterly disingenuous to call for corporate or political people to be held responsible when individuals won’t take it themselves.

As for ‘free market’, if you have a high school education and you believe America has EVER had a true government-free market, it ain’t me who has a mythology…if you are smart enough to own a home and claim ignorance of government manipulation of the market, why, you’re just too stupid to breathe, ya know?  (Not suggesting YOU do, RdV, just the boobies that do…)

So, what about those changed conditions?  Good luck.  The courts are bought and paid for, just like the shit scum politicians.  Depressing, and I’m sorry for you and the millions of others who have been f-d over by Uncle Corporate Sam.  Best bet: band together.  That way you’ll collectively have enough buying power to overpower the buying power of the politician’s owner.  Otherwise, you don’t stand a chance of even getting his attention.

Anyway, my rant was with the the hideous post of Granny Doris, #109157.  There doesn’t seem to be any tragedy these mouth breathers won’t drool is a White, Old, Gray-bearded, Invisible White Guy’s revenge for people not living in the darkness of superstition and fear. 

We need people to learn to take control of their lives, their environments, and stand together to fight the powers that are f-g them over.  We don’t need inbred mouth breathers trying to make us huddle down like ignorant savages and weep that “we’ve been bad, so God/Jehovah/Ganesha/Zues/Cosmic Muffin Man is punishing us.  Let’s go deny gays the right to live, that’ll please Him/Her/Them/It!”

As for how far afield the rest of this post has gone, holy-shamoly!  Call the Lone Gunmen!  What would Frohike say?!  His grizzled visage would be a comfort now…And Byers, with his button-down neatness, I just know HE’D get to the bottom of these nefarious doings, and let’s not forget Langly, whose computer mojo is supreme!  HE’D find the smoking gun! 

Have a good day, RdV, and really, good luck with your troubles.  I’ve tried to get people together to fight being screwed before and nearly got exiled. (I’m not kidding.) I know it ain’t easy.  I ended up losing more for my troubles than what originally went down.  Could be what contributes to my cynicism…naaah.

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 7:36 pm #

“WE DON’T HAVE A TWO PARTY SYSTEM”!!!  In other words, the Counsel on Foreign Relations controls the White House Foreign and Domestic policy and basically tells the president what to do.  This has been going on for decades and decades…....far back than you want to know.  The CFR was founded by Rockefeller in the early 1920’s for this purpose. Rothschild founded the RIIA about the same time.  Before this, the international bankers and industrialist were directing or “ADVISING” the presidents, case in point, “Colonel Mandel House and Woodrow Wilson”.....classic example.  If the president did not cooperate he was either shot or pushed out of office….fact. 

As crazy as this sounds, this is true.  Tight control of the media began between 1915-1917 when J.P. Morgan took 12 men and used them to control the major radio and newspaper of the times…...The Rockefellers even admit the control in June 1991, talking to a Group in a Trilateral commission meeting, mentioning the the control at least for the past 40 years to conceal the plans for the New World Order…...

The fires in San Diego, raging, Poltera country….is the same area that Blackwater plans on building a 824 acre training facility…...

Blackwater USA, the private military contractor that trains mercenaries and is under investigation by Representative Henry Waxman’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform plans to build an 824-acre training facility in Potrero, a small town in southeast San Diego County.


reference the two party system by the speaker in this four minute clip…....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3589824849379942402

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 2:18 pm #

One such example….
END IRS CENSORSHIP OF CHURCHES

It should not be dangerous for your church and your church’s leaders to discuss issues of concern to the public in the elections.  The IRS should not be free to pick and choose which churches are free to speak out and which churches must be silent.  (They’ve routinely challenged conservative churches yet left most liberal churches alone!)  Your pastor should not have to put your church’s tax-exempt status at risk every time he speaks out on abortion or the Fairness Doctrine — or any issue whatsoever.

https://www.aclj.org/donate/Default.aspx?AC=DNE0710019&SC=3295&email=tgambilltom@yahoo.com&guid=F9861B38-1EB1-4D98-B58A-ED1B60095991

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 2:17 pm #

One such recent example…..

“If we don’t get a change in federal law, we will most assuredly see IRS crackdowns on our churches between now and the 2008 election.
The severe reality is that Congress is more hostile than before.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Meehan of Massachusetts, and others are pushing hard to restrict free speech where people disagree with them on critical issues - especially, it seems, on issues of morality and faith.
So, in addition to our work in America’s courts, the ACLJ’s efforts in and around Capitol Hill are vitally important.  We are pushing for passage of the Act to Restore the Free Speech Rights of Churches (H.R. 2275).”

https://www.aclj.org/donate/Default.aspx?AC=DNE0710019&SC=3295&email=tgambilltom@yahoo.com&guid=F9861B38-1EB1-4D98-B58A-ED1B60095991

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 2:13 pm #

One way and this is the title of this article is to hold Politicans feet to the fire.  This is why they make the big bucks..smile  make them earn it.  Ron Paul for example, Presidential candidate seems to be the only one telling the truth, so far.  However, only time will tell. 

Joining groups that can be located…ie…

Balance the Budget groups
Gun owners rights,
Focus on the Family
Family Research Council
Various “Patriot” groups
Pro-Life groups
Home schoolers

or groups already championing specific causes.  I’ll write more later.

I’ll type up additional “recommendations” this PM…..

Tom

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 2:04 pm #

Its been defeated on several occasions by our very own congress in the past.  This mistake has been handled by the trouble shooters by the methods I mentioned earliers or creating events, commitments of troops that basically forced the issues to be passed….etc..long story short. 

First of all the one thing that they are afraid of, is millions of informed, freedom loving Americans armed with the truth and a united plan of action. 
————————————————————————

This is the way China is dealing with it but its not our way…..yet. 

Chinese Secret Society Threatens Illuminati

Benjamin Fulford, 46, is a Tokyo based journalist who appeared on the Jeff Rense Program, July 5th 2007, making some very radical claims. According to Fulford, a Chinese secret society with 6 million members, including 1.8 million Asian gangsters and 100,000 professional assassins, have targeted Illuminati members if they proceed with world depopulation plans. They contacted Fulford after he warned that the Illuminati plan to reduce the Asian population to just 500 million by means of race-specific biological weapons.

http://www.guba.com/watch/3000080913

——————————————————————————

The Iron Mountain Report of 1967 set the stage and the strategy.  Its about 100+ pages, so for brevity sake Section 7 is our biggest interest.  It can be found on the internet. 

http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/ironmtn.html#sec.7

“Substitutes for the Functions of War: Models”

This is something astounding that I learned from my research.  This is their Blueprint that was not supposed to be leaked to the public…classified by LBJ.  They had to conduct damage control when this was released, by claiming it was actually a hoax.  All the models are in play today.

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By voice of truth, October 25, 2007 at 1:36 pm #

So then how do we combat it?

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 1:26 pm #

It is designed to be confusing and boy is it ever.  I’ve worked on two Government contracts and one international contract in the trenches to see its result.  Four years in Saudi, five years living in Kosovo [1999-2004], and one year in the Congo.  I have seen the efforts.

The counsel on Foreign relations [CFR]; controls the government behind the scenes.  The Royal Institute of International Affairs is the equal in England.  The NAU is the North American Union, taking the place of the United States in 2010. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T74VA3xU0EA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mzJro8F44E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4axRYJymHI

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/08/12/ramasastry.ids/index.html

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 1:16 pm #

They have failed to bring this together during several periods of our history.  A very simple example is that describing an iron workers family or any other where the offspring has had great great “relatives” that were also iron workers.  This is just about the same.  The Rothschild are one of the oldest members as The Astors, Bundy, Collins,
DuPont, Freeman, Kennedy, Li, Onassis, Reynolds, Rockefeller, Rothschild, Russell, Van Duyn and Merovingian, European Royal Families.  Others also a part, are the Interconnected families, The Disney Krupp and McDonald Bloodlines.

They are not closer today than have been in the past.  It has been a slow steady and careful process.  Every president that we have had comes under this ruling elite via the Counsel and before it was international bankers. 

JFK knew about it and was going to expose it along with eliminating the hold that the Federal Reserve {private banking organization], splinter the CIA, pull troops out of Vietnam, for starters….Eisenhower also told us about it. 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1710662559138481080&q;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE58Y2LETAs

Rochefeller even admints it on many occasions. The Real ID Act is scheduled to go into effect May 2008, and the North American Union is agreed and planned on by 2010.  In other words, the US as we know it will no longer exist, but the U.S. of North America will.  In May/June 2007 timeframe as summitt was held to discuss the United States of Africa as the EU has already been formed…...it is very very real.

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By voice of truth, October 25, 2007 at 12:24 pm #

I still don’t see it.  My neighbors and I have meetings where we dream up “idiot laws”, which would put a large portion of this nation behind bars.  Are we the new conspiracy theory for taking over the world?

Seems to me that if this Trilateral commission has been working for 40 years, and they aren’t any closer, than they aren’t really a big threat.  Also. I still don’t know what all the acronyms stand for.

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 12:08 pm #

2002: David Rockefeller’s Autobiography “Memoirs”:
“For more than a century, ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with other around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure - one world, if you will. If that is the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.”

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 12:07 pm #

For reference and quick summary, read, research or ignore the following quotes and history…...

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/006/conspiracy1.htm

21 May 1991 - “Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all people of the world will plead with world leaders to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well being granted to them by their world government.” - Henry Kissinger in an address to the Bilderberg meeting at Evian, France,. Transcribed from a tape recording made by one of the Swiss delegates.

June 1991 - “We are grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the work is now much more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries.” David Rockefeller, founder of the Trilateral Commission, in an address to a meeting of The Trilateral Commission, in June, 1991.

September 1993 - [The major goal of the Clinton Administration is] the remaking of the American way of politics, government, indeed, life….Let us be willing to remold society by redefining what it means to be a human being in the 20th Century, moving into the new Millennium. Hillary Clinton [Hillary Clinton in a speech delivered at the University of Texas, Austin quoted in Vanity Fair, September 1993, pp 74-80]

11 March 1993 - “We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans ...” Bill Clinton (USA TODAY, 11 March 1993, page 2A)

22 March 1994 - “When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans… And so a lot of people say there’s too much personal freedom. When personal freedom’s being abused, you have to move to limit it. That’s what we did in the announcement I made last weekend on the public housing projects, about how we’re going to have weapon sweeps and more things like that to try to make people safer in their communities.” President Bill Clinton, 3-22-94, MTV????????

1994 - Clinton proposes National Health Care. National ID card would be required. (Australia has it’s own “Australia card” debarkle)

REFERENCE REAL ID ACT of May 2008 to be implemented and the North American Union by 2010 they have planned since 1980’s…...Helllooooooooooooo

1994 - H.R. 666 passed by congress allowing illegal search and seizure.

1994 - NAFTA implemented allowing US and Asian manufacturers to have plants in Mexico, where wages are controlled at poverty level and environmental requirements are not controlled or monitored.

1994 - GATT agreement signed and implemented.

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By voice of truth, October 25, 2007 at 12:04 pm #

Apologies, but what the heck is the CFR, NIIA and NAU?  And what do they have to do with this?

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By tgambill, October 25, 2007 at 11:57 am #

The major elites are in fact in control of the government through the CFR and in England RIIA.  The one world government singles out those congressmen that get a case of the conscious; pro-American, before the voting of major bills.  However, one exception that I can recall is the Ports and Dubai issue that Bush and his cohorts lost. 

The CFR controls most all of the main media networks.  They put out only what they are told too.  One exception is Lou Dobbs who is the only one reporting the hoax of global warming and the NAU that is agreed upon already to happen in 2010.  The fires have been determined to be a work of arsonist.  Then, the BS hint that it was Al Qaeda was what was released and the biggest lie of many that has been told and will be told in the future.  The purpose of media control is in fact a small part to mislead Americans away from the plans to pull the USA into a one world communist government around 2010 + and beyond.  Fact…....The Republican and Democratic party on a high level are in agreement and are working together with different objectives to accomplish this task.  The illusion is that they are in opposition with each other.  Congressmen that step out of line have been and will be blackmailed, bribed, threatened or set up.  In a few cases depending on their influence, they are murdered….fact.

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By voice of truth, October 25, 2007 at 11:09 am #

“Those who benefit from the free market though, they are never held accountable for their lack of personal responsibility to the common good or public good”

“So where is the personal responsibility to others when development increases the liklihood of natural disaster?”

Are you serious??  Your whole posting is an oxymoron.
One can not have a personal responibility applied to all.  That doesn’t even make sense.  And people need to be held accountable for the common good?  Are you kidding me??

You people make it sound like everyone who is monetarily successful achieved their success solely by downtrodding the “working class”.  That’s is just plain communist manifesto crap.

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By RdV, October 25, 2007 at 10:29 am #

You see, it is like a religion, a illogical, irrational cult that ignores the evidence, the facts, the culpability, the entire framework, and continues babbling the simplistic mantra of the religion of the free market. Those who benefit from the free market though, they are never held accountable for their lack of personal responsibility to the common good or public good if it means it may impose on their liberty to make a buck from exploiting the situation that may increase the chances of putting someone else in harm’s way.
  So where is the personal responsibility to others when development increases the liklihood of natural disaster?

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By voice of truth, October 25, 2007 at 10:14 am #

Developers do not put people into homes in harms way.  People make the choice to buy those homes.  It’s very simple.  A developer would not build there if people wouldn’t buy it.  That is the free market.

And it is about personal responsibility.  If you buy a house in a fire zone (or flood zone), you should expect fire.

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By RdV, October 25, 2007 at 9:18 am #

University of California San Diego professor Steve Erie told the Los Angeles Times that the anti-tax, pro-business policy of local governments in the area had contributed to the disaster. “Developers own most of the city councils,” he said. “In Poway, in Escondido, what they do is put homeowners in harm’s way. They’re able to control zoning processes, and they’re frequently behind initiatives that say no new taxes, no new fire services. It’s insanity.”

  So much for personal responsibility, huh?

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By RdV, October 25, 2007 at 8:52 am #

Always thought of libertarianism like a religious cult with all their free market doctrine in absolute conflict with real world scenarios. And how does this jive with the notion of personal responsibility:

‘And I have ALWAYS taken issue with the filthy, nasty perverts who stand around while others suffer and yell the obscenities of stupidity’

  While others suffer…lets stand around and tell them it is their fault.

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By RdV, October 25, 2007 at 8:39 am #

Also, I neglected to mention, regarding your Katrina example of righteously blaming the victim for lack of personal responsibility—-How about those land developers with their “git big gubbamint offa our back” mantra paving over the wetlands surrounding New Orleans and laughing all the way to the bank? Those wetlands provided the necessary flood control but I don’t hear any accusations of personal responsibility when it comes to free market sucess stories touting there individual liberty. Real logical.

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By RdV, October 25, 2007 at 8:25 am #

Logician (the usual self-appointed title of rational mastery, typically hiding a weak mythology):
Don’t give me that old worn-out libertarian motto of “personal responsibility” as justification for blaming the victim - Like a scolding patriarical godhead preaching to naughty children while not accepting his role in setting up the circumstances. Where is the public responsibility and accountibility for the COMMON GOOD? Ever hear of that? It is actually mentioned in the hallowed constitution as opposed to the Randian blame game. Where is the personal responsibility of those who lied to invade Iraq and are responsible for thousands of deaths? Where is the personal responsibility of politicians who take bribes to de-regulate environmental law that impacts on our safety and survival or allows developers to profit at the public’s expense? Don’t lecture about “personal responsibility” to those who live in an area now at risk due to the lack of personal responsibility of those who caused the risk to begin with. And if misfortune should befall you in your life, well after all, don’t whine, buck up, it is your fault because your excuse of “personal responsibility” covers it all.

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By Logician, October 25, 2007 at 1:09 am #

Re#109402 by cyrena on 10/24 at 6:28 pm:

I have always despised religion, in every form, from the highly structured state tools of white religions to the flakey-assed shit of every other ignorant ranting described as ‘spiritual.’

And I have ALWAYS taken issue with the filthy, nasty perverts who stand around while others suffer and yell the obscenities of stupidity like Grandma Doris. 

It seems there is nothing these hate-filled, disgusting abberations of life will not attach to their filthy religions. There is no perversion these freaks will not employ to hide their own hideousness.

In this time of travail when cool heads and reason are needed, the vile filth of superstition is NOT WELCOME! 

So, no cyrena, no meltdown, just the usual suspects getting their utterly worthless assess toasted on the net…

Please pardon my ignorance, but what do you mean by ‘near ender’?

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By cyrena, October 24, 2007 at 10:28 pm #

#109235 by Logician

Having a major meltdown Logician? Seems to be part of the thing these days, everybody’s just gone nuts.

Or, maybe you’ve always been this way. Are you one of the ‘near enders’?

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By tgambill, October 24, 2007 at 8:37 pm #

FBI: al-Qaeda detainee spoke of fire plot

PHOENIX (AP) — The FBI alerted law enforcement agencies last month that an al-Qaeda terrorist now in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western United States.

Rose Davis, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, told The Associated Press that officials there took note of the warning but didn’t see a need to act further on it.

The contents of the June 25 memo from the FBI’s Denver office were reported Friday by The Arizona Republic. Davis declined to share a copy of the memo and an FBI spokeswoman in Denver didn’t immediately return a telephone call.

The Republic reported that the detainee, who was not identified, said the plan involved three or four people setting wildfires using timed devices in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming that would detonate in forests and grasslands after the operatives had left the country.

The memo noted that investigators couldn’t determine whether the detainee was telling the truth.

The newspaper said many forest law enforcement officers it contacted had no idea the warning had been issued.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-07-11-alqaeda-fire_x.htm

————————————————————————————————————————-

http://www.sdcpj.org/

Blackwater USA, the private military contractor that trains mercenaries and is under investigation by Representative Henry Waxman’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform plans to build an 824-acre training facility in Potrero, a small town in southeast San Diego County.
———————————————————————————————————————————————

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By tgambill, October 24, 2007 at 8:06 pm #

The lastest information is that a police Helo observed one of the arsonist setting the fires, shot him.  Then came the rumor that this was “maybe” Al Qaeda…... IF they stick with this BS story, then there is no question that it was not Al Qaeda, but, another mini-911 event.  Keeping in mind that in that area there were peace rallies…Blackwater is opening up a training facility and HQ there…..

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By tgambill, October 24, 2007 at 7:24 pm #

The Free Health care is coming.  The forming of the North American Union will be subsequent to the Free health care.  The Canadian system doesn’t work.  The reality is that the NWO will use it for control purposes.  People will find this out later when it’s instituted.  It’s all about governmental control.  Google the Free health system under Canada and read the actual comments from users or talk to a Canadian that is not politically correct…..

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By tgambill, October 24, 2007 at 6:17 pm #

A slight hint….Reference the Iron Mountain Report of 1967.  Section 7, “Substitution models for War” lays out the strategy for the next 40+ years that are ongoing today.  It is not a hoax as the government reported for damage control when it was released by one of the members…after LBJ classified it.  This report, covers not only global warming/environmental polution but many other areas of control and strategies to effect control of certainly Americans and other nationalities, long story short.  In essence this report is a blueprint for what we are living with today, with the endgame being a one world government.  NAU is already agreed upon…..not a good thing.

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By voice of truth, October 24, 2007 at 6:02 pm #

Logician, you are wasting your breath (or typing fingers) with that argument.  I have been asking for months on this site, on subjects relating from this to “free” healthcare, about the place in our society for personal responsibility.  I have been called many colorful names, but no one, not one, not ever, has even remotely attempted to answer the question.

Just know that there are still some of us who do believe in it!

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By rodney, October 24, 2007 at 4:21 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Hey George Bush ,The Christan Right Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Colter, Bill O’ Racist, and all of the koolaid drinking moral morons that follow Bush and his policies. Maybe God is trying to tell us something

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By Logician, October 24, 2007 at 4:02 pm #

Re#109311 by RdV on 10/24 at 11:09 am:

With respect, RdV, while I’m in total agreement about the filth masquerading as the MSM, let us not lose sight of that most forbidden of concepts: personal responsibility.

Anyone who started smoking after 1964 and has lung cancer deserves to die.  Harsh?  No.  Since 1964 any but the most stupid and deserving of death could have missed the BILLIONS upon BILLIONS of warnings about how bad smoking is.  Yet, they still whine.  Notice I said after 1964.  Those who started before have some claim for their stupidity because no one held their idiot hand and said, “Do you know why you coughed when you inhaled burning tobacco? Because it’s bad for you, dipshit!” 

Similarly, building in areas like New Orleans (visibly below sea level, even flooded out idiots have publically admitted they knew the risks) or in areas subject to wildfires and blaming ANYONE but one’s self is just disingenuous. 

Yes, greed has destroyed the previous environmental
balance of the entire U.S.  But we are, each and every one of us, responsible for our own lives as much as we can control them.  I choose not to live in L.A. because of the earthquake, fire, flooding, celebrity hazards.  Those who chose to live there and who experience any of the above DESERVE what they get.  No person past a third grade education can claim ignorance of the area in which they live. 

And asking the government to bail their pathetically stupid asses out is insulting to those of us who are intelligent.  Because I am that government.  It is MY tax dollars being spent to bail their ignorant asses out.  I resent the hell out of that, just like I resent the hell out of my tax dollars funding a pointless war, socialized medicine for members of the criminal class we commonly call congress, and failed science students hired by the president’s cabal to discredit real scientist’s work.

We have real and present dangers facing us from a criminally hateful government.  Let us stay focused on what that cabal of criminals is REALLY doing and let those humans still not dealing with the concept that they do not rule reality because they have money, or their moronic religious beliefs tell them they do, flush themselves out of the gene pool and into the graves where they belong.

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By RdV, October 24, 2007 at 3:09 pm #

Actually Logician, most of it can be chalked up to greed in one way or another. Poor land management, lack of environmental regulation—all part and parcel. But those often victimized by practices increasing the risk shouldn’t be blamed for bad policy of government that views the public interest as secondary to that of the ruling class they willing serve.
An example is Hillary Clinton claiming that Murduch is just another constituent whose interests she serves—even if those interests counter the common good or the vast majority of her constituency. Yet, no one challenges her due to the homoginized media speaking with a singular voice.

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By Logician, October 24, 2007 at 2:19 pm #

Re#109273 by RdV on 10/24 at 8:22 am:

Oh yes, RdV, I DO blame the ‘victims’ of these fires and the whiners of New Orleans, oh, yes I do.

Not because I deny global warming, climate change, or whatever the hell the policticos are calling it to confuse the sheeple, but because it has become a panacea for every stupidity of architecture.

Wildfires occured in California long before even the first immigrants crossed the Bering Land Bridge.  The fires are no more fierce nor more mild than in the past.  They just ARE.  Now, to build a house in that area and whine about it getting burnt down is f**king stupid, no matter WHAT your political persuasion, religious belief or scientific understanding.

New Orleans is at least 12 feet below sea level.  At the sea shore.  And it’s sinking more all the time.  While it is necessary to have ports for shipping, we have seen ports come and go as well as move with the effects of sedimentation.  Hurricanes happen.  Again, no more fierce, nor more mild than in the past.  Just becuase a storm of that severity has not been recorded in the very short time of our experience in that area does not mean it is due to anything other than just one hell of a storm.  Again, just for the record, to build in an area subject to hurricanes and catastrophic flooding and then whine about it when it happens is f**king stupid.

Global warming and the attendent catastrophries that will befall mankind due to its arrogance are real.  No question, no denial.  But a good knowledge of climatology and geology will show you that such changes happened hundreds of times in the past.  Arguing over whether mankind has had any effect is stupid and wasteful.  It is stupid because it can never be known and it is wasteful because it takes time and energy from the only important facet of the situation:

What the hell are we going to do about it?

Oh, I know, let’s rebuild New Orleans at an incredible expense of time and money just to watch more destruction and death in the future.  What sport!  Let’s give money back to the moron rich idiots who just HAD to have a beautiful home in the forest and let them spend it on more earth destroying SUVs!  Or better yet, let’s blame the politicians for our own stupidity!  It’s just so much more fun, don’t you think?  And isn’t that just the best damned stewardship of the environment you can think of?

No RdV, I do not deny global warming, for it is real and mankind must adapt or die, but I will not stand by and let it be used to excuse every stupidity mankind can commit. Global warming is not the reason people have lost their possessions in New Orleans or the west coast. They are victims not of global warming but of the greatest of all human failings: hubris.

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By RdV, October 24, 2007 at 12:22 pm #

“Second, the only reason anyone gives a shit is because stupid people built their stupid houses in a dangerous place, like the stupid idiots who live in New Orleans and are whining about ‘all that water.’”

  Blaming the victim mentality is another typical tactic. My house was 300 years old and we lived in it for over 40 years before we had to abandon it due to flooding, but people will blame flood victims for living where there was no flooding in the past. Now that “progress” has paved over the fields with developments and strip malls there is less ground to absorb run-off. One doesn’t need a PHD to see that. The evidence is obvious to the plain eye, especially with more intense hurricanes—it is just enough to tip the balance. But that contributing factor is denied as well, becase it is another inconvenience to the one who wants to line their pockets.
  So the victim is blamed as opposed to bad land management that puts a priority on “developing” every meadow.

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By RdV, October 24, 2007 at 12:04 pm #

I have to wonder why anyone would object to being better stewards of the environment. Unless, say for example, it might, like regulation to protect the public-at-large from the greedy-grab-what-I-can-for-memyself&I;put impositions on the liberty (right to gouge, exploit and trash)of the selfish individual.
 
  Tha banks of the river can’t contain the water anymore, but the idiots new to the area, not familiar with the local climate patterns, blame the reservoirs upstream. So, I ask, were the reservoirs upstream for the past 50 years? Of course they were. So how come it didn’t flood during that time—and why does it always flood (or come real close) every time there is a “rain event”(as opposed to normal rains of the past) now? Do you think they listen? No. It is inconvenient for sure, and they go right on with their “cause” because they are in denial.
  So, those of you in denial, can shove it. I don’t need your “facts” and causes. I have experienced in my own life the devastation of losing my home to repeated flooding due to climate change. I can see the change—I know that it is different than it used to be—at first a gradual shift—and then a sudden new reality. A brand new landscape.

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By voice of truth, October 24, 2007 at 11:51 am #

I do, it’s very similar to a light in the sky with a darkened bat in the middle.

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By mary, October 24, 2007 at 11:37 am #

#109251-voice of truth, so you’re one of those waiting to attack anyone who questions your view.  Tell me, do you get some kind of “alert” .  Me thinks you protest too much…...

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By voice of truth, October 24, 2007 at 11:19 am #

Mary - Have you ever thought that maybe there are people who just don’t buy into this?  Or that an expression of an opposing viewpoint is not “hate”?  Or that if someone does not agree with the lockstep they might not be a “corporate shill” (been called that one), or a “repug shill” (been called that one, too)?

“But, seeing how many haters attacked this article here, and so quickly”

The first posting was entered nearly 20 hours ago.  Is there a set time frame on an article that folks are not supposed to comment on it if they disagree?  Am I supposed to only log in to the site at specific times?

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By mary, October 24, 2007 at 10:58 am #

Although I’m not in a panic over global warming,I have made some important changes in my lifestyle, just in case.  Actually, my concern has been more so based on eliminating our thirst for foriegn oil and lining the deep pockets of Corp. America.  But, seeing how many haters attacked this article here, and so quickly, I’m thinking there could be more to this global warming than I thought.  I wonder if these guys get “alerts” so they can hit the sight fast…..

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By Andrew A., October 24, 2007 at 10:45 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Amy Goodman makes a good point but I’m always disappointed that it’s more about warming than just pollution.

Whether or not humans contribute to rising temperatures is apparently debatable but everyone agrees that pollution destroys the health of people, animals, plants, and the rest of the planet. So concentrate on the risks and costs of polluting and appeal to the rational side of the the non-believers.  Pollution costs money in the long term and all the richers should think twice about what really costs more.

As a prime example, everyone always talks about the 14% growth rate of China and how good there market is and blah, blah, blah. But with the cost of the pollution they don’t take care of is incorporated into the equation it’s more like 7% (my numbers are approximate I read an article on yahoo a while back). So let’s be intellectually honest and put all the cards on the table for everyone to make a well informed decision about the future of our lifestyles.

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By tgambill, October 24, 2007 at 10:32 am #

The global warming is a hoax that was set down as one of the initiatives under the heading of enviromental polution of the Iron Mountain Report, section 7.  The problems we will experience comes from a polar shift, natural issues…

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By voice of truth, October 24, 2007 at 10:32 am #

This is total garbage.  Events like this have happened all throughout history.

As for Atlanta, where I actually live, this has nothing to do with Global Warm..er, climate change.  It has everything to do with the fact the Metro Atlanta area has increased from 3 million to 5 million people in 10 years, and the demand for water far, far exceeds supply.

Added to the local demand is the down stream demands.  Alabama went to court many years ago to make sure the Chattahoochee river would be able to support Alabama barge traffic.  The envirowackos went to court to ensure that mussels in Appalachacola Bay would get enough water to drown in.  That is why Atlanta is in the position it is today.  All this water comes from the same place.

Does the media think we are idiots, or is Global Warming just a great catch all phrase to avoid having to do any actual journalism.?

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By Logician, October 24, 2007 at 10:18 am #

Re#109157 by GRANNY DORIS on 10:23 at 7:57 pm:

Oh, Granny Doris, whatever shall we do?  Wherever shall we go? 

Ah, there’s nothing like the smell of magical thinking in the morning, especially the religidiot kind. 

First of all, GD, (nice initials there, and rather appropriate, don’t you think?) this is not a case of global warming, this area has been burning off and on like this since the land mass known by its occupants as America was formed.  Forest fires are a natural and necessary occurance, not the tragedy all these drooling idiots think it is. 

Second, the only reason anyone gives a shit is because stupid people built their stupid houses in a dangerous place, like the stupid idiots who live in New Orleans and are whining about ‘all that water.’

Thirdly you ignorant troll, why not Zeus?  Why not Ganesha?  Oh, that’s right, you’re an atheist about THOSE gods, but not your own version OF THE VERY SAME MOUTH DROOLING IDIOCY.

As long as mankind has been around, every time an occurance of nature has caused human death, there have been the filthy opportunists like you to prey upon the weak, the stupid, and the gullible.  For that’s all any religion is: the opportunity to use any means necessary to control humans and make a profit for the perverts who create it. 

So go SHOUT your perverted shit elsewhere, go bash some gays (especially after you have sex with them in the airport bathroom), and by all means, please, please, PLEASE DO NOT BREED!

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By Paula, October 24, 2007 at 3:49 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

It is not hard to figure out. It isn’t as complex as global warming. San Diego county gets 9-11 inches of rain in a good, wet year. There are nearly 3 million people living there. Do the math. That’s like 9 drops of water per person per year. The state and country let sprawl go unchecked and too many people are overwhelming the entire ecosystem. Remind me, please, why it is crazy to rebuild New Orleans as the Govenator is already yakking about federal aid and rebuilding these houses?

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By GRANNY DORIS, October 23, 2007 at 11:57 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

JEHOVAH, CREATOR, IS SPEAKING.  HE HAS HIS WAY IN THE WHIRLWIND AND MAKES CLOUDS HIS CHARIOT. 
IF THIS NATION DOES NOT FALL ON ITS KNEES AND PRAY FOR GOD’S MERCY, MORE FEARFUL EVENTS MOST LIKELY WILL COME UPON US.

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By Douglas Chalmers, October 23, 2007 at 11:09 pm #

For sure, the El Nino/La Nina weather cycle in the Pacific looks like it is being upset and becoming unpredictable and global warming may be responsible for that and the drought in Atlanta but not necessarily the fires in Callyfornia.

Its much more a phenomenon related to bad policy and poor management (wrong though and action).  Building in amongst the combustible ‘scenery’ is a foolish idea which the rich are particularly prone to. After all, the insurance companies will always save their investments and who cares if a few poor firefighters get ‘scorched’?!?!

Its about time some of these movie stars and robber barons were held accountable for the real costs of their pathetic stupidity…...

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By driving bear, October 23, 2007 at 8:14 pm #

Face it Amy you are dreaming. The American people know all about Global warming but are unwilling to make the sacrifice to fight it. The American people would be more likely to support the USA bombing other nations coal fired power plants than a ban on new one’s in the USA.

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