STILL THE UN, CYPRUS STEALING, IRAQ TREASON ANNIVERSARY, WORLDWIDE SNOWSTORM, NAT. SECURITY LETTERS OVERTURNED, BEREZOVSKY DEAD, JURASSIC PARK, KILLER SPECIES

STILL THE UN
4/4/13
The latest manufactured crisis by the despicable new pudgemaster on a permanent bad hair day- Kim Jong Un, has the potential to go critical, since South Korea is fed up with their 60 years of brutal terrorist attacks- the latest ones in 2010, sinking a SK ship with some minisub mine and shelling an island on the border, killed 50 people. S. Korea has been constrained from retaliating because of the 30,000 NK artillery pieces within range of 23 million in Seoul, that could unleash a spectacular barrage- they could be destroyed by counterstrikes, but it would take time (although SK did fire back at the artillery attack).

                                   Taepo-dong 1-
 Several factors make this more dangerous than the 20 previous crises:
0. NK has cancelled the 1953 armistice that was a cease-fire in the Korean War, so literally- they are back at war!
1. New Prez Park Geun-Hye had her mother killed in a 2nd NK assassination attempt on her father in  '74
2. NK has nukes, not missile-launchable yet (we think), but they probably still have tunnels into the South (or by minisub) and could easily smuggle them in.
3. Criticism of the lack of SK reaction after the 2010 killings

4. Young, arrogant, and inexperienced Un's need to show toughness to senior military and leaders.
5. Same situation with Park in male-dominated SK
6. NK shutdown of 3 hotlines designed to prevent catastrophic miscalculation
7. They've shut down the Kaesong Complex for S Korean managers -the manufacturing park on the border that produces millions in desperately needed hard currency by making parts for SK. SK workers are evacuating it.
8. NK has warned foreign embassies that they can't "protect" them. They've moved 2 (1800 mi. range) missiles to mobile launchers on the east coast.
9. They've said they would restart a mothballed plutonium factory.
9. America too, is sick of turning the other cheek to the Jongs' infantile jousts, and has responded with B2 + B52 overflights of SK, stationing F-22's in SK, more anti-missile ships and batteries.

It's time for China to put a stop to this nonsense- a complete embargo till he stands down. Or see how well China's economy does if any kind of shooting war starts. This is a nuclear armed country, with maybe 4-8 weapons, and missiles that can reach the US mainland- such crazy talk is just not acceptable.     North Koreans attend a rally against the U.S. and South Korea in Nampo, North Korea, April 3, 2013 

I thought years ago the US should shoot down Kim's plane over the Pacific on his world tour- the Kim Jongs have been the scourge of their country, refusing aid while 2 million of their 22 million people starved to death 10-13 years ago, banned even from foraging for food. List of NK terrorist attacks
My nuclear articles

CYPRUS STEALING
The 30-60% confiscation of big depositors assets (+100,000 Eu - 37% converted to shares, up to 22% appropriated!) seems to move the bank fraud/theft/gambling epic into totally new territory- now the unsecured depositors (which all regular depositors are) may be raided to pay for the malfeasance, mismanagement, recklesness of their banks or country. Cyprus is a special case, the EU didn't want to spend EU money to save the vast stores of hot Russian money-laundered cash, while Russians didn't want to pay to save the banks of an alien alliance. It seems obvious, though, that this HAS to provoke massive capital flight from banks in troubled countries like Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy by big investors- the RUN that all regulators have been dedicated to preventing since the 30's, especially since the Dutch architect says, "this will be the pattern for the future"! That in turn could cause the collapse of these banks and thus the whole EU monetary zone- it may be that this was the domino of allowing Lehman Bros. to fail and people will look back at the stupidity of it.

Worse, the US is also talking about it, somehow shifting the responsibility for criminal or bad bank decisions to the hapless depositor (middle class) by, of all parties, the FDIC, the people who insure our money!!!! Apparently regular depositors are unsecured, whereas the wildly speculative gambles of credit default swaps ARE secured- they get their money first- like all the gamblers did in the 2008 bailout. The cornerstone of the world monetary system has been that your money is SAFE and SECURE in banks- they have now pried that rock out of the ground and empires could fall because of it.

 Few know or understand the mega-lie at the heart of the US bank bailout. These big bank imbeciles actually kept 30% of the garbage mortgage bonds they hawked around the world, now worthless since they were leveraged 30x (only had 3% of real cash in them). In the monstrous secret bailout by 7 new Fed agencies in Sept-Mar 2008-9, a breathtaking 7.7 trillion of guarantees, loans, and grants were secretly funneled to the bleeding big boys, essentially unknown for 3 years (except by the inimitable Matt Taibbi). They agreed to let them carry trillions of dollars of their worthless Mortgage Backed Securities on their books at 100% value, allowing the illusion of liquidity. But technically, in reality, most big banks in America are bankrupt, and if they ever tried to cash in these guarantees, the system would probably blow up!!

LETS HAVE A TRIAL  FOR THE IRAQ ANNIVERSARY

I think the invasion of Iraq was treason pure and simple- there wasn't a single thing (even oil) the US got or could get (when the inevitable insurrection started) from it. Every reason was a bald-faced lie or corrupt profiteering or Oedipal delusion: 25 year drunk Bush wanted to show up his father for a lifetime of disrespect, Cheney wanted to enrich/save Halliburton and himself, Rummy wanted to test his faster lighter invasion theories, the neocons thought they would demonstrate US hegemony, secure a Middle East base and supply of oil, intimidate the terrorists, and create a Garden of Eden that all Middle Eastern countries would want to emulate. Rather than cause the 2011 Arab Spring, they probably delayed it by 5 years because of the burst of patriotism a 21st century superpower invasion engendered. Sadly the 5 yr statue of limitations for many of Bush's crimes (5500 buggings, which I bring thought would finally bring them down) is running out Jan 2014- Liz Holtzman begs for a Special Prosecutor now (fat chance):

Mother Jones has the absolute blizzard of lies the Bushman told to start, and excuse their foul project in Iraq organized- month by month, day by day. IRAQ LIES TIMELINE

The traitor Dick actually has the gaul to say he would do it again  on TV, would that some vet would debate him with a rifle butt. ("Hit it again, the same way!!" - which movie?) The Hell that Iraq still is is graphically explained here.
- looter breaking into arms depot w live artil-tank shells

I argued against the monstrous stupidity of the invasion 6 months before, on the eve of Invasion (thrashed Patrick Kennedy in 15 min debate), after the insurgency started suggested partition to prevent the civil war - 3 years later, the Senate voted about 90% for that, after Abu Graib, after the Plame affair (questioned Joe Wilson), about "We are fighting them there so they don't come here" reasoning, about the unbelievable incompetence and stupidity of our military allowing the insurgents to loot 250,000 tons of heavy weapons and bombs, etc, etc.

All articles are here: http://tomhammers.tripod.com/menu.htm#iraq

The primary one on the Invasion eve, where I had everything right but the worldwide attacks on US tourists:

http://hammernews.com/firmmind.htm

FIRM of MIND, SOFT on FACTS - 3-18-03 Bush has, with a steady stream of lies, deceptions, and propaganda, has managed to convince half the country that Saddam supports Al Qaida or even was behind 9-11. Iraq invasion historic blunder that may echo through the decades- Liberal Slant, Bartcop

WORLDWIDE SNOWSTORM      Mar 24

Europe is getting hammered by 3 day blizzard that's probably the worst I've ever seen- constant 25-35mh (35-50kph) winds, unbelievable cold for end of March 10F (-12C and that bad till next Fri!!) and maybe 2 ft of snow so far. With the winds the windchill is -5 to -10F (-22C), and I got frostbit on one finger shovelling out the garage and entrance twice. I've lived in Mpls, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Madison, Boston during '78, been to Murmansk twice, Siberia, and never seen such a nasty storm

80 car pile-up in Hungary

It seems it is blizzard snowing across the world: Britain, Scotland, Ireland 6-12", US- Maine to Boston 6-12"; in the last 1-3 weeks: Japan (2M!), Hungary, Siberia in what may be some totally new weather phenomenon, linked to AGW (lot more moisture in air now- see below). This has been the 4th bitter miserable winter in a row, -31C last winter, Russia is having coldest winter in 75 years. NPR just said (Tues) there was snow on the ground in 32 states- a record for this late.

NYT:   From Ireland to Romania, unseasonable snowfalls have caused travel chaos, power outages and serious losses to livestock farmers during the coldest March in almost half a century.
Sun-starved Germans have endured their gloomiest winter in at least 43 years, while northern France is shivering.... 
Scientists have explained that the loss of Arctic sea ice as a result of global warming is disrupting the course and strength of the westerly jet stream, resulting in longer winters in some years. 
It seems the JetStream has been shifted 400 hundred miles northward since 1979, sometimes dragging polar air south. 

NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS OVERTURNED

The evil secret demands for all info that carried Felony penalties for telling anyone (inc. libraries), stemming from the Patriot Act... have been overturned! This is good news, and the Supreme Repubs may even uphold it.

BEREZOVSKY

DEAD IN HIS HOME

I'm speculating, but Boris was perhaps #1 on Putin's hit list for his promotion of the DELETED DUE TO FACT THAT EVERYONE WHO HAS TOUCHED THIS STORY HAS BEEN KILLED. Rivals tried to kill Boris twice in 93-94 while I was there first, beheading his chauffeur with a bomb. Brits first didn't give a cause, but I've long expected his demise- the polonium they used to kill Litvinenko costs $9 million- the stuff is apparently the most valuable and most lethal substance known to man (50 nanograms is lethal)! He was a lowly brilliant mathematician who became a billionaire King in the Wild East. Brits now say it was hanging, with the bathroom door locked from within, but haven't ruled out foul play.

 Boris reelected Yeltsin in '96, and maybe “found” and promoted Putin, who then decided to crush all the oligarchs after DELETED. Berezovsky supposedly was depressed about losing a 6 billion suit against another tycoon Abramovich, paying $100 mil in divorce (welcome to "civilization"), and maybe had money problems. He was pining for Russia and wanted to return, supposedly asking Vlad, giving the Kremlin an opportunity to get close. He was a tough survivor - suicide is difficult to believe, but Russia is a bizarre brutal intoxicating place that some can't live without, yet if a dictator of an empire is sworn to destroy you, one must remain sceptical. His story is amazing.

 War of the Vladimirs.. Return to the Bad Old Days?- Putin Has Taken Control of 2 Other Networks; Strengthened Press Ministry; Prosecuted and Persecuted Gusinsky's (+ Berezovsky's) Media Empire- mediachannel.org

JURASSIC PARK

As we advance mindlessly to a mass human die-off from AGW, scientists have actually genetically sequenced the Neanderthal!!! Far out, except they were adapted for the Ice Ages. We need a Warming Man, who can take 50C heat, live on 30% of current food and water, breed slowly, endure hideous smog, etc.

KILLER SPECIES

Whether humans deserve to survive is another question: huge bands of poachers- 100 at a time with AK47s and RPGs, have slaughtered 62% of all African forest elephants in the last decade. Who is buying- all China, with the aid of their Embassy smuggling the tusks. They will be extinct in 10 years at this rate. Had a ballet GF who identified with them- dancers have poor body images.

As well, 5 Sharks have been listed as endangered, due to the filthy 100 million a year slaughter just to slice off their fins for Japaneses' soup. Humans killed by sharks: 10/year, so don't worry- I've swam with them, petted them, rapped them on the snout- we aren't fatty enough- they spit us out.

WHEREGO HUGO, SEND IN THE DRONES, US #3 BIGGEST + #1 HOTTEST, UNTOUCHABLES, BENGHAZI CONSULATE BURNED (in 1967); ASHLEY SIMPSON FOR SENATE, NEW DNA IN 15 Mil YR OLD LAKE, NEW POPE

WHEREGO HUGO

Hugo finally was dispatched by the Grim Reaper, after surviving coup/assassination attempts; the rage of Oil Cos, Heinz Ketchup, the powerful Venezuelan 1%, George Bush, et. al. His crime, according to Greggy Palast, was

---"Just after Bush's inauguration in 2001, Chavez' congress voted in a new "Law of Hydrocarbons." Henceforth, Exxon, BP, Shell, and Chevron would get to keep only 70 percent of the sales revenues from the crude they sucked out of Venezuela, from 84%. Not bad, considering the price of oil was rising towards $100 a barrel... Worse, Venezuela had been charging a joke of a royalty - just one percent - on "heavy" crude from the Orinoco Basin. Chavez told Exxon and friends they'd now have to pay 16.6 percent.

On April 11, 2002, President Chavez was kidnapped at gunpoint and flown to an island prison in the Caribbean Sea. On April 12, Pedro Carmona, a business partner of the US oil companies and president of the nation's Chamber of Commerce, declared himself President of Venezuela"---

On Point radio show

Greggy is offering his 2008 BBC doc on Chavez for free download on his site. He can be a little sloppy in his journalism- I've caught mistakes- but this is interesting.    pic- Acting Prez Maduro

The extremely strange restoration of Hugo in 2002 came because he had been forewarned a coup was in the works, and had secreted units of commandos in the Prez Palace, who came out and demanded his return at gunpoint. Iran + Libya had then embargoed oil to America and supposedly, GB2 was terrified Venezuela would too. Venez has 5x more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia, though it's heavy tarry oil, expensive to get.

Gotta wonder, though, doesn't the CIA have drugs that can give one.... cancer?? Sadly, leftist populist former Veep replacement Maduro has accused America of just that- poisoning Chavez, not out of the realm of possibility, considering the neocon killers Bush surrounded himself with, but still very stupid, when he should be turning over a new leaf w Obama/Kerry. Probably plays well w his base.

                 Chavez on USS Yorktown --

He has been sworn in as Prez and expected to win the election in a month. Wonder how Kerry (w Heinz wife, whose unused plantations were appropriated by Chavez for the poor) is gonna handle this- he's off to a good start, I think alot better than Rice would have been. Chavez was an important and semi-noble leader, he had some totalitarian impulses, but shattering the dominance of the tiny white "Spanish" overlords who brutally suppressed the Indians and blacks for a half millennium is gonna take some breaking of eggs. Caracas has massive favelas; Venez was perhaps the most unequal country in South America; now there are schools and health clinics in the favelas. He reduced the massive 58% poverty by half and malnutrition by 3/4 by Soviet style food price controls and a chain of highly (up to 50%) discounted supermarkets. He created several S.Am. international agencies (ALBA) like OAS or IMF to lend money. Incredibly, he doled out maybe $15 bil to other newly leftist SA governments (inspired by him, perhaps his lasting legacy) in aid, beating IMF, MF, US significantly; and more in cheap oil (26 cents/gal in Venez). He didn't really turn against the US until after the 2002 coup, likely sponsored by US (the Ambassador rushed to the palace to have pic taken with new Prez), but he said stupid things after 9-11 that earned US ire.

 He first tried a failed military coup in 1992 after creating a secret Army socialist org. as a military instructor, was allowed to go on TV to stop it, and used that to become a hero- served only 2 years in jail. He won his 4 elections 1998, 2000, 2007, 2012 by a massive 60%, so his autocracy was democratically approved all the way. The new 1999 Constitution he pushed through was hailed by international orgs as much better and fairer, though he ignored it at will and ruled by decree.

On flip side, Chavez became a huge friend of Fidel from the beginning, worse a big buddy of Ahmadinejad and every anti-American dictator, and worst directly supported the murderous kidnapping drug-running FARC rebels in Columbia (though the Gov, Army, and Cartels were all murderous vermin there). The only reason US didn't depose him was our distraction with Iraqistan and the WOT, also why the "pink wave" in SA flourished. In his growing autocracy, he crushed much of the free press, jailed opponents, and seized any business he wanted. The economy went downhill under his command- even more dependent (70 to 86%) on oil exports, and crime exploded (murder tripled-quadrupled in Caracas- had most murders in world in 2009). Caracas sits at about 2400-2900ft, so has maybe the most mild temps in the world- they range from 60-80F; record low + high are only 50 and 90F. By his last election, he'd lost most of the middle class, but still got 55%. Course being on USA's sh*t list has a negative affect on all indicators. He was deathly ill for the last 6 months, riddled with cancer, but kept it secret, having treatment in Cuba.  Sorry I didn't interview him- I had a oil rich Venez friend in Maracaibo from college, and friends were encouraging me to check him out.

SEND IN THE DRONES

US marches blithely into a scary non-brave new world with our aerial robot spies/killers. According to this amazing story, 10,000's are already here. On Point radio show

This is terrifying business: Every bit of privacy anywhere, except in off-line phone-less window-less underground rooms... will soon disappear. Wait till LA cops get their hands on these.

Never thought I'd honor anything a Tea Party nut does, but Rand Paul's 13 hour real filibuster against US-citizen-killer drones (+Brennen's nomination) had elements of nobility. I had some Libertarian beliefs, esp about drugs, the War on which is our original sin that has done more to pervert and destroy America than anything else. Someone must question this pushbutton killing of Americans (Anwar AA sure deserved it, but his 16 yo son?)- I more or less trust Obama with it, but another Cheney??!@#$ I actually support drones- I think the collateral deaths are "only" 30-40% of the actual targets- far lower than any method of war ever. Would people really prefer bombing strikes, artillery, naval shelling? These historically killed 2-10 times more innocents. Yes, drones are cowardly and far too easy and enrage tribal people more than anything else, and soon, others will have them... but we still have mortal enemies (shouldn't vermin like the schoolgirl Malala's attempted assassins be exterminated?), and would you rather have US soldiers on the ground?    Amy Goodman's Democracy Now bravo:

WE'RE #3

Quick, what # is US in nation size? I learned #4 in school, after USSR/Russia, Canada, and China, but weany geo-revisionists apparently downgraded China in 1986, lopping off enough territory that every list now has US as #3. In fact Canada, also in a dead heat with US, has 3 times more inland water (lakes)- without them, US is #2!!!!!!!!!! 70% of Canada is uninhabitable arctic wasteland anyway- let's get them "downgraded"- we're number 2!!!! Actually I hate this tinkering with stats- give me back my Pluto as the 9th planet... but it is kinda cool. The main difference (researched it) was removing the Bohai Sea, an enclosed Chesapeake-like bay west of N. Korea that is the monster port of Beijing. And the highest and biggest mtn on Earth is really the Big Island of Hawaii (31,300ft from ocean bottom, 1000 mi. diameter at base, 100 mi at surface). Pics

And in another amazing revision, they downgraded the 90 yr old record high world temp from Libya- 136F, so NOW, America is officially the hottest place in the world - 134F (57C) in Death Valley 100 years ago, which I've seen from the top of Mt. Whitney, but never reached.

 Temps are all taken in the shade- ever wonder what a high sunny temp was? 201F in 1972 in Death Valley's Furnace Creek! Think that would be fatal pretty quickly. The high temps are because of the low altitude (-282 Ft) and  so higher pressure, denser air can transmit temp better by the speedy bouncing gas molecules.

While we play Guiness (beer) stats, which is bigger- Antarctica, Australia, Brazil, or Greenland?  How about Russia and South America*

Biggest Cities in metro pop are 1. Tokyo 36 mil, 2. Jakarta 26 m, 3. Seoul 23m, 4. Delhi 21-2m, 5. tie: NYC, Mexico City, Shanghai, Manila, Sao Paolo, Karachi all ~20 m.    NOTE: big disparities exit in lists, depending on where they end metro area

UNTOUCHABLES

The FRONTLINE doc Jan 22, The Untouchables, that investigated TBTP (to big to prosecute) and had Justice's Lanny Breuer explain how they had to take collateral damage in account, went off like a mortar round- Breuer quit the next day! Taibbi investigates another whistleblower thrown under the bus by Bush judges. Speak of which 4 of 11 slots on the crucial #2 court DC Court of Appeals are empty for years now- the result of Reid's cowardice in not Killing Phil... waiting for a Repub restoration.

Liz Warren, bless her, has been screeching about the HSBC Mafia/terrorist/cartel agent scumbags getting off with a fine (now they do criminal prosecutions of corps and just FINE THEM? - guess they are people).

REPEATING HISTORY

US diplomats under siege by a crazed violent mob, Benghazi Consulate sacked + burned, employees desperately burning classified docs, rescue APC immolated by gasoline. 2012?, no, 1967. The provocation was the start of the 6 Day War, and some BS story that the US was bombing Cairo. Incredibly, despite being on fire, the Embassy peeps held out in what was a bank bldg (w giant vault doors) till rescued by a Brit column without major injuries, but a 5 man Brit APC crew were burned alive first trying.

ASHLEY JUDD FOR KY SENATE

While seriously beautiful, we never were a giant fan of Ashley Judd- there was something creepily Southern controlling in her movie performances (though “Ruby” was good); however, we are wholesale cheering her on in her anticipated run against the detestable mush-mouth Slug of the Senate- Mitch McConnell, who has left a corrupt corporate trail of slime wherever he goes. “He's never done one good thing,” according to my pathologically self-inflating Ky pal Harvey. It would take some star power to dislodge the venal Slug, engorged by decades of suckling on the big tobacco, oil, pharma, et al, tits. UPDATE: Sadly, Ashley has decided not to run, no doubt due to some Rovian reminder of her risque photos and videos- few actresses don't have some of that in their career.

MARS ON EARTH

Russians who have drilled 2 1/2 miles through the Antarctic ice cap at the coldest place on Earth (Vostok- at top of ice plateau -125F) to the geothermally melted L.Ontario-size LakeVostok, sealed off for at least 15 million years!!!! say they have discovered NEW LIFE, bacteria whose DNA is only 86% correspondent to anything known- a huge difference in DNA (over 90% means unknown). Utterly amazing, all life from the simplest virus, to 500 mil old horseshoe crabs, to the billion year old nucleus-less nori seaweed, to the dinosaurs, to blind sulfur-eating thermophilic tube worms, to us, functions with this one miraculous molecule. Wonder how many other living molecules there are splayed across the infinite trillions of planets- now they think most stars have solid planets (they are finding them daily, even Earth-like Goldilocks planets). Maybe 60% of the billions of visible lights in the heavens are galaxies with billions of stars each! We are but a mote in the grand design, and there are endless wonders ahead... but an advanced species, confronted with people like Stalin or Inhofe or Scalia ... might think it better to sterilize the planet, lest the infection spread. No worries- we are on track to catastrophically reducing man's footprint on Earth.

 *  Actually Antarctica is huge, 1/6 smaller than Russia and twice the size of Australia- Greenland is small, smaller than the Congo, Australia is 3.6x bigger- it's the horrible distortion in polar zone maps that makes it look the size of S. America, but Brazil (or US) is bigger than the Australian continent. South America is just a little bigger than Russia, significantly smaller than the old SU.

POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE?

The new Argentinian Pope is about as good as we can hope from the conservative cardinals- a pastoral (grazes on grass?) humble guy concerned with the poor, brutal inequality, and charitable works (the best thing about Catholicism); but he is also pretty conservative, rejecting any liberalization in priestly marriage, sex, or female members; abortion, even contraception (which +90 of all Catholics support and necessary to save the planet). With the exception of Poland + Ireland, Catholicism has become irrelevant in the 1st world because of their intransigence on these issues.. and the enormously evil sex abuse scandals that are a direct result of their antiquated and perverse strictures. He rides buses and lives in a normal aptmt in BA, a good sign, but he is, at 76, an interim Pope and sop to the Americas, who have the majority of Catholics now. Actually though, he looks in very good shape, maybe he'll last a while.

The harsh New World inequality has been a boon to the Church, though, and the almost perverse obsession with the Crucification in Mexico and Central/South America disquieting. From growing up in the most Catholic US state, I've long thought they have a certain vested interest in keeping the masses poor + ignorant - and they were of course, a huge part of the obscenely brutal Spanish colonial power structure that created that condition [When Columbus landed in Haiti/DR, there were maybe 500K Taino Indians (1st "Indians"), after only 14 years of disease, murder, enslavement, torture, there were only 60,000; after another 20 years, they were eradicated.]

There are lingering questions about  Francis's actions during the 1976-83 Dirty War by the Juntu Generals, who murdered thousands of "Leftists", including 2 Bishops + many priests. It was high time to bring the Church into the 20th Century, but maybe he will at least inveigh against the evil bankers that have been looting the world.