Category: crooks and liars

all who usurp and abuse authority

90% of captured Taliban were civilians


 Ninety Percent of Petraeus’s Captured “Taliban” Were Civilians
By Gareth Porter*

WASHINGTON, Jun 12, 2011 (IPS) – During his intensive initial round of media interviews as commander in Afghanistan in August 2010, Gen. David Petraeus released figures to the news media that claimed spectacular success for raids by Special Operations Force. Only now it  emerges that over 90% of those arrested were later found to be innocent.

The deceptive nature of those statistics, as now revealed by U.S. military data, raises anew the question of whether the statistics released by Petraeus on killing of alleged Taliban were similarly skewed.

Continue reading here   http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56038

Comment…”These are the heroes of the computer games, and everything was done to create a false macho mystique around the falsified reports. Logically we can extrapolate that 90% of the over 2000 people announced killed by the wonderful Special Operations Forces in the period were also innocent! The true story of the horrors of these boys rampaging with impunity, against the equally brutal Taliban,  has yet to be told”  The Free

Most Brazilians reject Forest Destruction Law

”The surprise passing of the new Forest Law in the lower house of the Brazilian congress is due to a campaign by multinational  agribusiness and the big landlords who still own most of the country. The proposed amnesty for forest crimes has caused a 6 fold increase in deforestation already. The huge majority in favour can be traced to generalized corruption of politicians, this week Lula’s right hand man, Antonio Palocci  was politely pushed aside after blatantly stealing $12.5 million. The landowners and agribusiness BOUGHT THE PARLIAMENT to cash in on ripping out the rainforest! This scandal is linked to the murders of pro Amazon activists, the going ahead contracts for Belo Monte, and the signing to BP rights to extract deep sea oil in Rio.” The Free

Majority of Brazilians reject changes in Amazon Forest Code Rhett Butler, mongabay.comJune 11, 2011

Poll takes temperature on Brazilian’s support for a bill that environmentalists say would weaken the Forest Code, which stipulates protection for forest areas on private lands in the ThAmazon. It finds 79% of Brazilian support presidential veto of Amazon Forest Code revision and raises questions on public support for politicians who support the proposed revision,

The vast majority of Brazilians reject a bill that would weaken Brazil’s Forest Code, according to a new poll commissioned by green groups.

The national poll asked 1286 Brazilians across a wide range of socioeconomic classes about their opinions on a Forest Code reform bill that passed Brazil’s lower house month. Environmentalists say the bill—in its present form—would grant amnesty to those who illegally cleared rainforest and would absolve them from taking reforesting lands as required under current Brazilian law. It would also reduce requirements for protecting forest on hillsides, along waterways, and on hilltops. The bill next heads to the Senate. If it passes, it would then most on to President Dilma Rousseff for final approval.

The survey found 79 percent in favor an eventual veto from Rousseff should the current bill pass the Senate. 84 percent agreed they would not vote for representatives or senators who had voted in favor of “pardoning illegal deforestation”.

The telephone survey was conducted by Datafolha at the request of Brazilian environmental groups Amigos da Terra – Amazônia Brasileira (Friends of the Earth – Brazilian Amazon), IMAFLORA, IMAZON, Instituto Socioambiental (the Socio-environmental Institute), SOS Atlantic Forest and WWF-Brazil. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percent.

Surprisingly most Brazilians indicated a preference for forest conservation over commodity production. Given a choice between giving priority to forest protection that may eventually limit agricultural and livestock production or giving priority to production at the expense of some forest protection, 85 percent of respondents chose protection.

The findings are in sharp contrast to the broad support for the bill in Brazil’s lower house of Congress, where it passed easily. The bill has been championed by Aldo Rebelo, the head of Brazil’s Communist Party, with support from industrial agribusiness interests, including the National Agriculture Confederation and companies like Bunge, a U.S.-based commodities giant. But the bill has generally been opposed by small farmer groups and the rural poor.

Speculation over passage of the bill — and potential amnesty for deforestation beyond what is allowed under the current Forest Code — is thought to be a contributing factor to the surge in deforestation this year. Data release last month by Brazil’s National Space Research Agency (INPE) revealed that 593 square kilometers of forest was cleared between March and April 2011, an area of rainforest 10 times the size of Manhattan and a 473 percent increase over the 103.5 square kilometers chopped down from March-April 2010. The increase reversed the downward trend in deforestation since 2004

   READ FULL STORY HERE:::http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0611-amazon_code_poll.html

Rash of murders threatens to silence environmental and social activism in Brazil

(06/10/2011) Authorities in Brazil have sent an elite police force consisting of 60 officers to offer protection to environmental activists in the Amazon after a series of killings, reports the Associated Press. The move comes 10 days after Brazil’s Vice President Michel Temer announced the creation of a working group on Amazon violence following the assassinations of three activists in the region in late May. The Brazilian Amazon is no stranger to systemic violence against environmental activists, yet the response from the federal government in the past two weeks is the most significant to date.

Assassinations of environmentalists continue in Brazil’s Amazon, deforestation rises

(05/28/2011) A community leader in the Brazilian Amazon was slain Friday just three days after two environmentalists were killed in a neighboring state, reports Reuters. Adelino “Dinho” Ramos, the president of the Movimento Camponeses Corumbiara e da Associação dos Camponeses do Amazonas, a small farmers association, was gunned down front of his family Friday morning in Rondônia. Brazil’s Special Secretariat for Human Rights, an office of the president, said it was unclear who killed Ramos, who had received death threats from loggers.

Amnesty for illegal rainforest loggers moves forward in Brazil

(05/25/2011) A controversial bill environmentalists say could increase deforestation in the Amazon rainforest moved a step forward to becoming law in Brazil after winning approval in Brazil’s lower house of Congress. The measure, which has been hotly debated for months, next goes to the Senate where it is expected to pass, before heading to President Dilma Rousseff, who has vowed to veto any bill that grants amnesty for illegal deforestation. The bill includes such a measure, although it could be subject to change before a final decision by the president. The bill aims to reform Brazil’s Forest Code, which requires landowners in the Amazon rainforest to maintain 80 percent of their holdings as forest.

Brazil confirms big jump in Amazon deforestation

(05/18/2011) New data from the Brazilian government seems to confirm environmentalists’ fears that farmers and ranchers are clearing rainforest in anticipation of a weakening of the country’s rules governing forest protection. Wednesday, Brazil’s National Space Research Agency (INPE) announced a sharp rise in deforestation in March and April relative to the same period last year. INPE’s rapid deforestation detection system (DETER) recorded 593 square kilometers of forest clearing during the past two months, a 473 percent increase over the 103.5 sq km chopped down from March-April 2010

Millions will be Fleeing Floodwaters

(  ”Governments worldwide are laying plans for millions of deaths as Capitalism goes for broke, wilfully ignoring the Science that points to runaway climate change and a finally a planet only inhabited by rich dictators in bunkers. The war against the people and all the species of the world has already begun. It would only be logical self defense to start shooting extreme Climate Criminals tomorrow.” The Free   )

OSLO, Jun 9, 2011 (IPS) – Mass migration will inevitably be part of human adaptation to climate change, experts agree, since parts of the world will become uninhabitable in the coming decades.

Last year, 38 million people were displaced by climate-related disasters such as the flooding in Pakistan and China.

“Human displacement due to climate change is happening now. There is no need to debate it,” Jonas Gahr Støre, Norway’s minister of foreign affairs, told over 200 delegates attending the Nansen Conference on Climate Change and Displacement in the 21st Century in Oslo Jun. 6-7.

Governments and the humanitarian community need to understand this fact – and that it will get much worse in the coming decades, Støre said.

Without major emissions reductions, climate change could get far worse than anyone is prepared to think about.

“It may be more realistic to consider four degrees C of warming rather than two degrees C,” suggested Harald Dovland, former head of the Norwegian Delegation to the United Nations climate change negotiations.

The world has already warmed 0.8C and will rise to least 1.6 C even if all emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases ended today, James Hansen, head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told the conference.

A four-degree C warmer world is a very different planet and risks runaway climate change. Even two degrees C is not safe, Hansen said.

“The last time the planet was two degrees C warmer was during the Pliocene (five to 2.4 million years ago) and sea levels were 25 metres higher,” he said. “If we burn all the fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) we’re creating conditions that future generations will be unable to cope with.”

Even though a four-degree C warmer world “is choosing the suicidal path”, experts must avoid fuelling xenophobia with predictions of mass migrations and conflicts, says Francois Gemenne, research fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations in Paris.

“This also feeds into a security agenda of panic and paranoia,” Gemenne said.

continued..http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56007

#spanishrevolution..ofensiva policial…

La Policía reprime a manifestantes del 15-M en el Ayuntamiento de Madrid
by La Hainehttp://www.lahaine.org/index.php?p=54318 11 Jun 2011

Protestaban durante la investidura de Gallardón, al menos 3 heridos. En Valladolid, tres heridos. Detenciones en Burgos y Palma y más cargas en Tenerife

La Policía ha dispersado con violencia esta mañana a los manifestantes concentrados en las inmediaciones de la plaza de la Villa de Madrid. Allí se ubica el antiguo Ayuntamiento, donde se celebraba la sesión de investidura del alcalde de Madrid, el derechista Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón. Los agentes han dispersado con violencia (a patadas, puñetazos y empujones) a los manifestantes que protestaban con una cacerolada desde antes del inicio del pleno. La policía había bloqueado todos los accesos a la Plaza de la Villa, pero no la parte trasera en la que se sitúa la entrada del aparcamiento.

Heridos en Valladolid

En Valladolid, tres jóvenes indignados han resultado heridos esta madrugada, después de que un grupo ajeno al colectivo haya golpeado a varios manifestantes. Fuentes de la Policía Nacional han asegurado que se trataba de dos personas “pasadas de copas” que han entrado en el campamento y se han enzarzado en una pelea con los manifestantes, por lo que han sido identificadas, aunque no detenidas dada la “levedad” de los hechos. Otras fuentes hablan de elementos fascistas.

Detenciones en Burgos

También se han producido detenciones. Dos personas fueron detenidas este mediodía en la protesta a las puertas del Ayuntamiento de Burgos. Fuentes de la Policía Nacional aseguran que uno de ellos propinó un golpe en la espalda a uno de los agentes, mientras que otro fue detenido por sacar fotografías a los policías, según testigos presenciales.

Palma de Mallorca

Tres “indignados” del Movimiento 15-M han sido detenidos hoy por la Policía Local por trepar hasta el balcón del Ayuntamiento de Palma después del acto de constitución del consistorio celebrado esta mañana, han informado fuentes policiales.

Desalojo en Alicante

En Alicante se ha producido el desalojo sin mayores incidentes. Frente al Ayuntamiento alicantino una treintena de indignados que pasaban la noche para protestar contra la corrupción y manifestar contra la investidura de la alcaldesa entrante, la derechista Sonia Castedo, fueron obligados a abandonar la plaza a las 7.30 de la mañana.

Cargas en Tenerife

Efectivos del Cuerpo Nacional de Policía han efectuado varias cargas a lo largo de la tarde contra los ciudadanos que se manifestaban en los exteriores del Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, mayoritariamente miembros del Movimiento 15-M y de la Plataforma contra el Plan General.

Más de un centenar de ciudadanos se manifestaron durante toda la mañana en el exterior de la Casa de los Dragos mientras que en su interior, José Manuel Bermudez, era elegido alcalde de Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Zamora

Según ha relatado la Cadena Ser de Zamora los incidentes han sido muy duros, con intervenciones policiales desde el primer momento que se han concluido con fuertes cargas y algunos heridos. No hemos dado con ninguna información actualizada pues los hechos son relativamente recientes. (Fuente valladolorentodaspartes.blogspot.com)

http://www.lahaine.org/index.php?p=54318

Danny Chivers on climate change denial

This is an episode in the Radio NI podcast series, which features regular interviews with contributors to New Internationalist’s magazine and books. You can subscribe to this podcast for free in iTunes, or via the RSS feed, or by visiting the Radio NI blog to check for new interviews. To listen, click the play symbol below, or download the MP3:Mag

Play:Download: Click here to download the MP3, or right click and choose to save it

Danny Chivers is the author of The No-Nonsense Guide to Climate Change: The Science, The Solutions, The Way Forward, recently published by New Internationalist. He is also the author of a guide to debunking the myths of climate change deniers, the keynote article in our May issue, the main feature of which covers this issue. Here, he discusses climate change’s connection to other problems, what a zero carbon future would look like, and more.

Chivers on climate change denial — New Internationalist.

take the streets.Athens. General Strike

#611 | Athens sees its biggest gathering in years, more than 150,000 at Syntagma square as the build-up for the General Strike of June 15th begins

A crowd whose size is difficult to even estimate gathered in central Athens to protest against the crisis and the Memorandum tonight. The call to a pan-european call of action saw more than 100,000 (some estimates give much higher numbers) flooding Syntagma square and many central nearby avenues. In contrast to previous gatherings, police presence was much higher, with fencing erected around the parliament building and double, or triple rows of riot police around it.

The city is now building up for the General Strike of June 15th, which is also the next date of action announced at Syntagma square.

Both mobilisations are aimed against the new agreement between the government and the troika (IMF/EU/ECB) which is planned to be voted at parliament on the morning of the 15th.

The general assembly of Syntagma square has already called for a blocking of the parliament from the night of the 14th. In addition to the fencing installed around the parliament (see below), a police water canon has also appeared nearby.

Similar demonstrations took place in Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Larisa, Volos and many other Greek cities. In the Cretan city of Chania, fascists bearing arms appeared in the gathering, in a failed attempt to provoke the gathered crowd.

http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/423422/index.php

See also:
http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/

Amazonia: Dinho, Claudio and Maria murdered!.Forest criminals to be amnestied!

SLAUGHTERING THE AMAZON.. With the new Forest Law and amnesty for Forest crimes the ranchers and loggers are taking their opportunity by terrorist murders. Their business is the destruction of the Amazon, now with more impunity, to satisfy the demands of criminal capitalist transnationals like Burger King and MacDonalds.
Adelino  Ramos was killed for openly confronting the beef and timber mafia. Shot to death by cowardly bastards at his street stall while selling his forest produce.

He was a famous ex leader of the  Movimiento Campesino Corumbiara and had survived a fascist massacre a decade ago. Un motociclista lo mató a tiros en Rondonia, norte del país.

Just 3 days before they got José Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo da Silva, shooting her first and cutting off her ears. Claudio and Maria were outspoken forest defenders and cultivated Amazon produce.

At the time of murder Adelino, or ‘Dinho’,  was busy setting up a camp for people displaced by the wholesale massacre of the forest. He had been repeatedly threatened and recently denounced the escalating forest destruction in Acre, Amazonas y Rondonia states.

El debate sobre la explotación del Amazonas ha tomado gran vuelo en Brasil después de que en una semana se siguieran dos noticias contradictorias: la publicación de un alarmante aumento de los niveles de deforestación, y la aprobación en la noche del martes, por aplastante mayoría en el parlamento, de una reforma del Código Forestal brasileño que establece una amnistía general para todos aquellos que incurrieron en delitos contra la vegetación hasta 2008.

In just a few days we have the news of a seven fold increase in deforestation, the disgraceful passing of the new Forest Law (see other posts) by fascist landlords allied with greedy corrupt politicians, companies, and media, the go ahead and 1st contracts for the Belo Monte dam, and the signing of deals to let BP, of all companies, exploit the ultra deep oil bonanza near Rio.

International resistance has failed miserably despite the best efforts of Avaaz and Greenpeace. Resistance needs to be informed and intelligent, or it plays into the hands of nationalists who argue that ‘rich parasitic 1st Worlders have no right to lecture us after decimating their own forests, etc’.


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