Friday, July 27, 2012

The truth is Beyond Austerity




Scientists have created the world's lightest material. German scientists have created this material. This is a cubic centimetre of aerographite. It weighs just two ten-thousandths of a gram. This is six times lighter than air and 75 times lighter than Styrofoam. “You can hold it,” Dr. Rainer Adelung told the Star. “Although it has almost no gravity.” Adelung and other scientists at the University of Kiel “never planned to make a record,” said Adelung. “Then we saw we could reach it.” Aerographite is four times Ni microlattices or the previous lightest material in the Earth. Adelung said that the material is quite tough. Aerographite is combination of opaque black carbon tubes that's flexible, waterproof, conducts electricity, and springs back to its original shape after being squashed. Adelung said that this new material can be good for batteries. He has his Institute for Material Science and the Hamburg University of Technology of Polymers and Composites are testing the material as part of super lightweight lithium ion batteries. “Our first experiments with lithium ion batteries show we have been able to send quite high currents through the material,” said Adelung. “This is holy grail that everyone is looking for: a micro battery. This looks very promising.” Cutting the weight of car batteries, for example, would improve their energy efficiency. Other potential uses: wearable computing, filtration and insulation. The German scientists also believe they are close to making something even lighter than aerographite, said Adelung. The new materials under construction in the Hamburg institute “are so lightweight you can’t really weigh them.” If this can be developed into batteries, then this can revolution energy production. It can lowered energy costs and it can help society greatly. Also, many folks have said that Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War. Is this true? According to William Blum, the Soviet totalitarian policies caused the Soviet Union to be doomed. Reagan's policies was an addition to the trend of the Soviet Union ending their empire. Soviet GDP AND military expenditures were both falling BEFORE Reagan took office. Reagan's "surging military budgets" changed nothing in Soviet economic behavior. Also, nonviolent actions in Eastern Europe contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union as well. Many people in those movements were democratic socialists that risked their lives in order for society to end Communism in the Soviet Union. So, the fall of the USSR is complex. The Cold War ended by a collaboration of people, not just the actions of one President (who condemned the policies in Eastern Europe, but he supported dictatorships in Latin America, Turkey back then, and other nations. He also supported Islamic extremists in Afghanistan). .




There are other lies that reactionaries use. One of their biggest lies is that the recession in 1982 was solely Jimmy Carter's fault. Now, the recession came about in the second year of Reagan's term following tax cuts and deregulation. Reagan was in office by January of 1981. He passed a budget that had supply side tax cuts. The budget was enacted in 1982. Reagan imposed a moratorium on all new federal regulation enforcement that moment he took office. The Reagan administration slashed current federal regulations and it cut the Federal Register nearly in half by 1986. 1982 had a -2.2 percent growth. By 1982, there were huge cuts in the capital gains tax. From 1978 to 1982,the top rate on capital gains was cut from 39 to 20 percent. The top rate on unearned income fell from 70 to 50 percent (mirroring a similar rate cut in earned income). Jimmy Carter began deregulation. Carter regulated airlines, trucking, railroads, oil, and interest rates. This continued under Reagan. The recession began was when Chairman Paul Volcker cut the money supply in order to decrease the inflation in the USA. He did this in late 1979. He tightened the money supply again in 1981. This action resulted in the severe 1982 recession. When inflation came down again, Volcker flooded the economy with money and fueled the subsequent recovery. Tax and regulation policies didn't cause the recession, because Carter actually began reigning in the federal government. Reagan accelerated this trend for a year before the recession came about. Also, infrastructure growth by public growth has existed in America for centuries. It was Benjamin Franklin that launched the modern post office. George Washington funded national infrastructure projects. The New Deal, the fruit of mass struggles and the rise of the labor movement, provided a way where the elderly received health care, gave jobs to the jobless, and increased our standard of living for decades. Now, we have a war on terror. Not all human beings live in the same time, with the same opportunities, with the same economic situations, etc. Therefore, intervention is used in order to help those that need assistance legitimately. It isn't about forming dependencies permanently, but justice permanently. There is no need for torture and there is no need for unfettered capitalism either. These reactionaries always want to use God, Jesus, or the Bible as an excuse to advance their lies. The reality is that the concept of Jubilee (which forces people to pay off debts) isn't a representation of free market capitalism at all. The year of Jubilee allowed the land of Israel to be divided equally in perpetual allotments to its citizenry. Each family was to receive the equal share of the land. This occured every fifty years in order for everything to be restored to its original owner. Every man in Israel would return their former possessions to their previous owners. These actions aren't like Bank of America capitalism or even like Wall Street. These acts are a radical departure from Austrian economics. Jesus Christ is rather explicit on riches and the rich. He said that it's very hard for the rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God. James said that the gold and silver will be gone. In fact, Jesus and the apostles were adamant defends of the poor, the oppressed, and the outcasts of the world. The super rich were heavily criticized in both Testaments including other religious texts. Obviously, it is unjust for corporations to promote poisons like GMOs and other deadly chemicals in the world. It is unjust to advocate discriminatory and suppression of human rights against a person because of their background. It is unjust to claim to love peace, but advocate cowardly drone attacks and covert war operations (under the sick, nefarious guise of promoting so-called "democratic values").


Now, we have issues in the world. New facts are coming about. The CCR or the Center for Constitutional Rights and the ACLU charge the United States with violation of international law and its own Constitution with the killing of 3 Americans citizens in Yemen. This transpired last year. “These deaths are connected to a broader program of targeted killing that, in our view, has no lawful basis,” said CCR lawyer Padiss Kebriaei. American-born cleric Anwar Aulaqi, his teenage son and an associate were never formally charged with any crime. This is a blatant war crime that isn't reported by FOX, CNN, ABC, CBS, CNN, and especially MSNBC. Michael Bloomberg never wants to get rid totally of the evil stop and frisk policy. He just want to negoitate reforms to the policy. Carl Dix is the founder of Stop Stop and Frisk. He said that NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to gather up Black politicians and Black ministers to sit down and negotiate reforms to stop and frisk without its total elimination. Dix took part in the final day of a family vigil for Ramarley Graham, the unarmed Black teenager killed by police in his Bronx home in front of his family. Stop and frisk is not only a blatantly violation of the Fourth Amendment. It racial profiling African American citizens. With the evil photo ID laws, at least 500,000 eligible voters can't vote on Election Day. This is because the photo ID laws passed in 10 states will either restrict voters or not have enough time for people to adjust to the new stringent regulations. This number has been deduced from a report from the Brennan Justice Center. Keesha Gaskins is the co-author the report. She said that many of those affected: "...live more than 10 miles from an ID-issuing office” and “lack access to a vehicle.” The Black Belt South and Brown Belt areas bordering Mexico are “really graphic examples of where these problems” arise, said Gaskins..." Now, voting is fine, but it isn't enough. Historically, successful movements have always been a project of mass, grassroots action. The civil rights movement in the 1950's and the 1960's used voting drives, door to door communication, protests, legal fights, educational programs, business programs, boycotts, and a wide spectrum of action in order for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act to be passed inside of America. Fannie Lou Hammer, Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, the males and the females in the Black Panther Party opposed President Johnson's war policies via grassroots efforts beyond just voting. This same action (mixed with our modern technological devices and modern techniques) can cause more changes to fight against poverty, fight against environmental degradation, and promote human rights for all people. Both parties have made parties that have nullified the U.S. Bill of Rights and especially international law with war, torture, drone attacks, and murder of American citizens inside of foreign lands even. The wild thing is that both parties try to justify these actions. Social and economic justice and opposition to U.S. military adventures abroad are concepts that are superior to the status quo. We know that the Republican reactionaries are false. Yet, we need to be careful not to accept the pristine corporate Democrat. This new corporate Democrat in our generation is more business friendly, less race-conscious, and reject political confrontation with evil. There should be self determination and an exposure of the current system in order for real reforms to come about in American society. Even Cynthia McKinney was defeated by the relatively new Democrat Denise Majette. The sister Denise deserves respect, so it's not the sister's fault. It's about a political system that tries to suppress voices from the Sister Cynthia McKinney in order for radical solutions to not come about. Even the pro-Democratic Moveon.org harbor hatred of the former Black Panther Charles Barron. Now, the lesser of two evils is still evil.










Syria is known by many in the world. Russia's Putin doesn't want a war with others, but he wants to be prepared if a huge war develops in Syria. Syria is in a civil war. There is explosive tensions in the Middle East. The West and NATO desire a more confrontation approach with the Syrian leadership. Putin desires a negotiated settlement in order for the Syrian civil war to end. Putin therefore is seeking direct diplomacy with the Syrian government and the so-called opposition Syrian National Council. Turkey's regime is having a refugee issue as well, because many Syrians are coming into Turkey to escape the heinous violence of the civil war. Even Putin is trying to have diplomacy with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, because he believes that if the rebels win in Syria (Syria could be run by pro-Muslim Brotherhood factions that don't like the Israeli government at all). Syria has imperfections, but it is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation. President Bashar Al-Assad is an Alawite Muslim. He married a Sunni wife. The Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam (It doesn't force their women to wear head scarves and are more liberal by Sunni standards). Some Sunni Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia have women forbidden to even a hold a driver's license. Now, Syria has Alawites, Druze, Kurds, Armenian Orthodox Christians and Sunnis. If the rebels win, Syria's power will mostly be controlled by the pro-Sunni Muslim Brotherhood factions. Gajendra Singh is an expert on Middle Eastern politics. He is a retired Indian diplomat and worked in the Middle East for decades. He knows about the ethnic diversity of Syria. He said that if the Alawite power was gone, then a slaughter could thousands of people. Singh estimates, “A defeat of Assad led regime will lead to slaughter of Alawites, Shias, Christians, even Kurds and Druzes. In all, 20 % of a population of 20 Million.” The Muslim Brotherhood dominates the Syrian National Council. The armed opposition Free Syrian Army ahve done war crimes and have terrorists in their ranks. Russia and China don't want a large war. They want to use even ships to guard their port in the Middle East. Many mercenaries travel from Turkey into Syria to participate in the Civil War. So, Putin advances the six point Annan plan. This plan wants all sides to end the fighting and come to a negotiated settlement under the influence of the United Nations. To sort out fact from fiction inside Syria is daunting as media are limited and opposition spokesmen have been repeatedly caught lying about events. In one recent instance, a UK journalist claimed he was deliberately led into a potential death trap by rebel opposition forces to score propaganda against the Damascus regime. The UK Channel 4 News’s chief correspondent, Alex Thomson, told AP that Syrian rebels set him up to die in no man’s land near the Lebanese border, saying they wanted to use his death at the hands of government forces to score propaganda points. And in one brazen example of political manipulation, BBC was recently caught publishing a photograph it claimed was of a massacre at Al-Houla on 25 May 2012, in which 108 persons are known to have died including 49 children. It turned out the picture had been taken by Italian photo journalist, Marco Di Lauro in Iraq in 2003. This plan wants humanitarian aide in the region. It has other common sense reforms that is better than the Western goal for Syria. Putin has some leverage in Turkey since Turkey is the 2nd largest buyer of Russian natural gas and some 80 percent of its natural gas comes from the Russian state controlled Gazprom. Oil flows in Eurasia as well. If NATO attacked Libya, they can attack Syria in an unjust fashion. Imperialists are still among us. Syria is one of their new battlefields. They want to get rid of Assad in order for the elite to bring in a malleable puppet to rle the nation of Syria.


It's a historical fact that radical disarmament against citizens have caused tyranny in society. There is debate on Article 15 of the UN's Arms Trade Treaty. Some folks believe that this provision can allow guns to be potentially confiscated in America. Article 15 of the UN Arms Trade Treaty mentions that if ratified provides for foreign “assistance to implement the Treaty,” and mandates that nations who can provide requested support must do so if requested by member nations. That includes legal, financial, technical as well as “material” assistance to enforce a treaty that declares “recreational, cultural, historical and sporting activities” to be the “exclusively” recognized reasons for lawful private ownership, and which further recognizes the “inherent rights” of the State (i.e. nations under the treaty) to self-defense, but makes no mention of the rights of the individual. In other words, Article 15 gives nations the right to allow other nations to give them assistance in handling arms curtailment. It's a reality that the Second Amendment will not be gone anytime soon, because of many reasons. Yet, militarized drills have occurred all over America. One example is the 2010 Operation Vigilant Guard. This exercise was a joint training exercise in Chicago. U.S. troops drilled with Eastern bloc troops to partner in order to stop terrorism (including the dealing with meth dealers and WMDs plus gun confiscation). Now, there has been similar exercises that have taken place on U.S. soil that related to similar joint operations for a martial law occupation with the participation of foreign troops. Now, it's a historical fact that some American troops were ordered to have door to door gun confiscation sweeps after Hurricane Katrina. Later, at least one unit stood down and refused the order. Other carried out the unconstitutional mission. Other exercises trained American soldiers for gun seizures along with other martial law measures. It's another historical fact that the UN forcibly disarmed a number of African nations via foreign troops. This action contributed to genocides and atrocities. Rwanda's genocide was a product of forcible disarmament and other reasons. The Republic Magazine proved that the mass murder done by the government-aligned Hutu tribal militias were against the Tustsis. The Tustsis were disarmed with the assistance of the UN peacekeeping forces under the supervision of the future UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Disarmament has occurred in Darfur, Sudan and Myanmar (or Burma). Armed troops even burned down homes and killed children in order to use force to evict some 40,000 Ugandans on the basis of conserving lands to fight climate change. Disarmed populations and genocides go hand in hand. According to R.J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii, he estimated that more than 262 million unnatural deaths in the 20th century were done by the government (or democide). Extremists have always stole weapons from innocent people in order to create a dictatorship from Nazi Germany to Stalin's Russia. This transpired in Turkey, Armenia, and all around the world. So, there are alternatives to the UN Arms Trade Treaty.

By Timothy

1 comment:

Andrea Muhrrteyn said...

"The reality is that the concept of Jubilee (which forces people to pay off debts) isn't a representation of free market capitalism at all. The year of Jubilee allowed the land of Israel to be divided equally in perpetual allotments to its citizenry. Each family was to receive the equal share of the land. This occured every fifty years in order for everything to be restored to its original owner."

I never knew that. Most interesting. Very similar to the concept of CommonSism; which I imagine may be more stable than the Jubilee system. For example lets imagine the Jubille occurs and the division of land occurs in AD 20; but family A, simply forcefully steal family B's land, in AD 21, and then family B have to wait until AD 70 to get their land back, and then family A can simply steal it back again. There should -- in my opinion -- be a carrying capacity limit, which should be researched, and agreed upon, and enforced, for the benefit of all. If the land is still being degraded or species extinctions occur, then the carrying capacity is lowered, and so on. What do you think?