Klimaatverandering 69

'EU to Urge "New Industrial Revolution" in Energy.
By Marcin Grajewski
Reuters

Brussels - The European Commission will call next week for "a new industrial revolution" in the energy sector to boost competition, protect the climate and ensure security of supply, a draft paper from the EU executive showed.
The draft strategy proposals, obtained by Reuters on Thursday before publication on Jan. 10, call for cutting carbon dioxide emissions further, increasing energy from renewable sources and curtailing the powers of large energy companies.
The draft lacks crucial details as the European Union's executive Commission is divided over the scope of liberalisation and where to set various targets, a Commission source said.
The EU's priority should be to combat climate change, promote jobs and economic growth and reduce the bloc's reliance on energy imports, the draft said.
"This means transforming Europe into a highly efficient and low CO2 energy economy by catalysing a new industrial revolution, accelerating the change to low carbon growth and, over the period of years, dramatically increasing the amount of local, low emission energy," it said.
The draft confirmed previous reports that the Commission would propose two options for reducing the might of big European utilities, rather than draw up new legislation.
The more radical option, which sources say is opposed by France and Germany, would break up companies that own power stations and distribution grids such as E.ON or RWE in Germany and France's EDF.
The second option would create "a full Independent System Operator, where the vertically integrated company remains owner of the network assets and receives a regulated return on them, but is not responsible for their operations".
New Emission Targets
Commission sources said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes and Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson had pushed hardest for liberalisation of the sector while Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen and Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot, who are German and French respectively, opposed radical changes.
The draft leaves blank spaces for the targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which are widely blamed for global warming, and for raising renewable energy production.
Senior Commission officials discussed those details on Thursday and are due to meet again on Monday before the full Commission meeting on Jan. 10.'

Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010507EA.shtml Of:
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39698/story.htm

The Empire 118

'2006 Top Green Tech Ideas

By Kelpie Wilson t r u t h o u t Columnist
Friday 05 January 2007

In 2005, Americans woke up to the reality of peak oil, the predicament first described by geologist M.K. Hubbert in which world oil production would reach a peak, followed by an inevitable decline. Three things worked together to set off the alarm.
First was a steep rise in gas prices. Although gas prices had risen before, they had always been followed by a drop as production rose to meet demand. 2005 was different, because respected oil analysts such as Kenneth Deffeyes and Matt Simmons spoke up to tell us that not only were the super giant oil fields of the Middle East slowly petering out, but the pace of new oil discoveries was down as well.
What finally opened many eyes to the likelihood of peak oil was the growing realization that the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with WMDs or the war on terrorism. And if it wasn't about those two things, then why else would oilmen Bush and Cheney have conned us into the Iraq adventure? It had to be because they were desperate to control one of the last places in the world where cheap oil could be had.
With the rise in peak oil awareness came a desperate search for a silver-bullet solution - proponents of nuclear power, ethanol, coal, tar sands and oil shale all argued that these energy sources would fill the gap left by declining oil reserves and keep the American way of life intact. Too many people, deep down, agreed with Dick Cheney's assertion that the American way of life was "not negotiable."
But there is no negotiating with a hurricane, either. Hurricane Katrina, whipped into ferocious strength by a warming ocean, convinced many that the warnings about global climate change were to be taken seriously. And taking climate change seriously means that tar sands, oil shale and coal are off the table as solutions to the energy crisis, because these fuels are all far more carbon-heavy than the crude oil we currently rely on.
So in 2006, we started seeing more attention to the two paths that can lead us forward: energy efficiency and renewable energy. As Democrats take over Congress in 2007, promising action on energy and climate change, it is important to look critically at the available options. The news about climate change looks grimmer every day, alerting us to the fact that we have no time to waste and we can't afford to invest precious resources in false technology promises and energy dead-ends.
Fortunately, a lot of brilliant minds are at work on these problems, and a number of good ideas have surfaced in 2006 that are worth further investigation. Below I list five technologies that seem especially promising. I'll be keeping an eye on these technologies to see where they go in 2007.'

Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010507A.shtml

World Watch Institute

En terwijl miljarden worden gespendeerd aan oorlog en bewapening wordt de wereld geconfronteerd met een klimaatverandering en een groeiende kloof tussen arm en rijk.

Ik kreeg net dit email van het World Watch Institute:

'Happy New Year from the Worldwatch Institute!
Thanks for your support in 2006! We look forward to working together toward a sustainable world in 2007 and beyond.

2007: It's Getting Hotter...Now What?
Looking for something to do now that scientists are predicting that 2007 might be the hottest year ever? Let your friends know about the report, American Energy: The Renewable Path to Energy Security, and visit AmericanEnergyNow.org to learn more about the potential of renewable energy technologies to power the United States, the world's largest guzzler of climate-altering fossil fuels.

Next Week: State of the World 2007 Release and Web Chat
In 2008, half of the Earth's population will live in urban areas, marking the first time in history that humans are an urban species. State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future, released on January 10, will explore the myriad ways urbanization is affecting our lives and the global environment--with a special focus on the ideas that can make our cities more environmentally sustainable, healthy places to live.
Join Project Director Molly O'Meara Sheehan for a Web chat next Thursday, January 11, at 2pm EST to discuss the findings. Submit your questions now!

Worldwatch Institute - 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036 Tel 202.452.1999 - Fax 202.296.7365 - www.worldwatch.org .

Zie ook: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4752

Amerikaanse Oorlogsmisdaden 36

Abbas hopes to expand his forces from 3,700 to 4,700 in 12 to 18 months.

Net al in Irak is de Amerikaanse regering druk doende een burgeroorlog in Palestina te veroorzaken. De Nederlandse regering steunt deze extremistische politiek.

Al Jazeera bericht:

'US funds Fatah force expansion.

The Bush administration will provide $86.4 million to strengthen security forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, as part of a plan to expand US involvement in Abbas's power struggle with Hamas.

Fighting between Abbas's Fatah faction and Hamas, the ruling Islamist group, has surged since talks on forming a unity government collapsed and Abbas called for early parliamentary and presidential elections.
Hamas accuses Abbas of mounting a coup.

A US government document said on Friday: "The US money will be used to "assist the Palestinian Authority presidency in fulfilling its commitments under the road map (peace plan) to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and establish law and order in the West Bank and Gaza."

The document said Lieutenant-General Keith Dayton, the US security co-ordinator between Israel and the Palestinians, would implement the million-dollar programme "to strengthen and reform elements of the Palestinian security sector controlled by the PA presidency".

The US money will provide Abbas's presidential guard with training and non-lethal equipment, including vehicles and uniforms, people familiar with the US security plan said.

Israeli officials said Washington had already helped organise shipments of guns and ammunition to the presidential guard from Egypt and Jordan, and that the latest shipment was made last week. Clashes between armed units loyal to Hamas and Fatah have increased in recent days.

Lees verder: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E35C8A55-7B13-4443-84D3-BD76384CE426.htm

The Empire 117

Degenen met de werkelijke macht in de VS schoven deze B-filmster en reclameman Ronald Reagan als president naar voren. Hoe zijn wereld eruit zag leest u in dit bericht van de New York Daily News. Het toont opnieuw aan dat een rijk nooit democratisch bestuurd kan worden en dat het recht onderworpen is aan de ware macht.

'G-men were used to quell justice's critics.



Buried in the 1,500 pages of FBI files the federal government released last week on former Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist are three astonishing memos.
They have have nothing to do with Rehnquist's personal addiction to prescription drugs - as do most of the files the government released.
Instead, they reveal how top federal officials abused their powers, intimidated critics and hid important information from public view for decades.
The memos involve three separate telephone conversations on the afternoon of July 30, 1986, between FBI agents and key members of the Justice Department.
That same week, the Senate Judiciary Committee had begun hearings on President Ronald Reagan's nomination of Rehnquist as chief justice.
Several people opposed to the nomination were expected to give damaging testimony about Rehnquist in the coming days. All would say that during the 1960s they witnessed Rehnquist, then a young Republican Party lawyer in Arizona and head of the party's "Ballot Security Program," trying to prevent blacks and Hispanics from voting.
Their accusations directly contradicted statements Rehnquist had given the Senate during his first confirmation hearing for the court in 1971.
"In none of those years did I personally engage in challenging the qualifications of any voters," he had said then.
In his 1986 hearing, Rehnquist was more equivocal about his Election Day activities. He had only provided legal advice to Republicans assigned to challenge Arizona voters, he said.
"I don't recall," he said several times when asked if he'd ever challenged any voter himself.
But with several individuals about to step forward to publicly question his truthfulness, top Justice Department officials were worried.
Together with South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, then the Republican chairman of the committee, they wanted the FBI to find out exactly what those witnesses were going to say.
"Thurmond will not let anyone testify without prior interview by the FBI," one memo quotes Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Carvin as telling his FBI counterparts.
But some FBI officials resisted being drafted for partisan detective work.
Carvin then put Assistant Attorney General John Bolton on the phone. Bolton, who recently resigned as UN ambassador, was in charge back then of shepherding Reagan White House appointments through Congress.
He had obtained the list of witnesses from Thurmond and forwarded them to the FBI.
Bolton ordered the agents to go ahead with the interviews and said he "would accept responsibility should concerns be raised about the role of the FBI," according to one memo.
Alexander Charns is the North Carolina lawyer who obtained the Rehnquist files after a long Freedom of Information battle.
"They are heavily censored, and large chunks are not visible," said Charns, who wrote a book, "Cloak and Gavel," about the Supreme Court and the FBI. "And what I received is only a small portion of the entire file."
Only now do the rest of us finally get a glimpse of how the Nixon and Reagan administrations fought to hide the secrets of their man on the Supreme Court.

Originally published on January 5, 2007'

Zie: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/story/485853p-409000c.html

Irak 151

Zou premier Balkenende het ophangen van Saddam Hoessein nog steeds toejuichen? Misschien moet de Nederlandse parlementaire pers dit eens aan hem vragen. Politici die weten waarover ze het hebben zijn intussen 'ontzet' over de beelden.

De Guardian bericht:

'Cairo Dismayed at "Primitive" Saddam Death.

Saddam Hussein was made into "a martyr" by the manner of his execution, the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, warned today, saying he had urged Washington not to hang him during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.
In an interview with an Israeli newspaper, Mr Mubarak said that when it became clear the former Iraqi dictator was about to be hanged he sent a message to president George Bush asking to get it postponed. "Don't do it at this time," Mr Mubarak told the US leader, he recounted in an interview with the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.
"Why is it necessary to hang (him) just at the time when people are saying the holiday prayers?"
Mr Mubarak, who was interviewed at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheik ahead of a meeting there with the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who also condemned the manner in which Saddam was put to death.
Footage shot on a mobile phone camera, which appeared on television and websites just hours after Saddam was hanged on Saturday, showed him facing sectarian taunts from hooded guards before he was placed in the noose.
Mr Mubarak labelled the video footage of Saddam's death as "shocking pictures, primitive pictures," adding, "It was disgraceful and very painful".
"I'm not going to say whether Saddam deserved the death penalty or not," Mr Mubarak said. "I'm also not going to go into the question of whether that court is legal under the occupation.? "When all's said and done, nobody will ever forget the circumstances and the manner in which Saddam was executed. They have made him into a martyr, while the problems within Iraq remain."
Egypt is a key US ally in the Middle East, and has signed a peace deal with Israel. However, it also had friendly relations with Saddam's regime before his invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
The manner of Saddam's execution has been condemned around the world, with Mr Bush admitting he "wished proceedings had gone in a more dignified way".
Tony Blair, who was on holiday when Saddam was hanged, has yet to comment. His deputy, John Prescott, labelled the way it was carried out as "deplorable".'
Lees verder: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1983658,00.html Of:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010507F.shtml

Israelisch Expansionisme 37

Galilee October 1948, Ethnically Cleansed Palestinians on their way to Lebanon.

Electronic Intifada:

'PALESTINE: ROLE OF THE MEDIA:
With the New Year, will Ha'aretz's op-ed page be any
different? By Zachary Wales.

On New Year's Day, notions of resolve, reform, or reflection come as no surprise on newspaper editorial pages. Similarly unsurprising are the op-eders that carry on with business as usual. Things were no different on Ha'aretz's opinion page, which kept an even keel of New Yearisms. Rather untypical, however, was the limited role that honesty played in the mix. The most curious example was the lead editorial, -- often viewed as any paper's mouthpiece -- entitled, "Our obligation to refugees, as refugees." One might guess that it covered the subject of Palestinian refugees, a conundrum that has crippled every "peace process" since Israel's creation in 1948. Subsequent to the expulsion of some 800,000 Palestinians during that period, Israeli perceptions of the refugee problem back then led almost directly to the state's claim as an inclusive democracy now. To prevent the imminent return of refugees, Israel gave the remaining Palestinian population (then about 150,000 and now about 1.4 million) Israeli ID cards, thus creating the minority known as the "Israeli Arabs." A cynical interpretation is that ID cards back then served the purpose that fences and walls serve now: demographic control. More cynical still is the extent to which Israel is an inclusive democracy -- take the state-sanctioned Arab-Jew segregation in public schools, service distribution, housing rights, and just about everything else. Even the country's political establishment left considers "a state for all citizens" treasonous words. But let us not stray too far. "Our obligation to refugees, as refugees" was concerned with the 300 Sudanese refugees who were recently denied amnesty in Israel. For a citizenry that swallows a daily existence as segregated, racialized, discriminatory, administratively unfair, and internationally outlawed, Sudan is a digestible, understandable distraction. It is also a liberal cause, perhaps as much so as Liberia was to all those well-meaning Confederates in 1847. Almost any country, particularly your correspondent's, can ignore its domestic qualms and purport to "do something" about Sudan. The hitch, however, is self-awareness, and this is where Ha'aretz gives its intentions away. The piece tactfully ignores the Palestinian refugee problem while examining how "dulling the senses has overtaken Israeli society," vis-à-vis the Sudanese refugees and the Jewish refugees (later to become colonizers) who fled European anti-Semitism. Influential Israeli scholars have also adopted this tone. "As members of the Jewish people, for whom the memory of the Holocaust burns, we cannot stand by as refugees from the genocide in Darfur hammer on our doors," Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum, told The Christian Science Monitor on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Israeli human rights groups plan demonstrations for next Monday outside of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's residence. It would seem that Ha'aretz, which has repeatedly demonstrated a critical lens on Israel's political ironies, would grant at least a token acknowledgement to this one, especially as it calls on Israel to "open its gates, and also its heart, to the refugees." References to Palestinian refugees, even in the most minimal sense, are nowhere to be found. It is as if for a moment, one of the most salient topics of Israeli politics leaves the editorial conscience. Then readers are asked to remember the Jewish refugee narrative in isolation from that of the Palestinians, although the two are inseparable. One can only ask, is this editorial about Sudanese refugees in the first place? Or is it about overwriting the historical conscience? Such exercises are the things of Israeli "birthright tours," not newspaper editorials.'

Lees verder: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6345.shtml
Zie ook: http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Palestine-Remembered/Story562.html