Yvonand Beach

i bring up this link because to my opinion it is of importance to mention that the bahraini newspaper does not mention the origin of the dead. where they iraqis or insurgents, it would be mentionned.
objections may say, it is because it is not possible to recognise them.
i think it relates to what i talk about in my blog about what does not get printed.

it seems clear that the us have created hell and it now propagates...
british troops have had to add 5000 fresh targets to their rank to address the escalation of violence in afghanistan.

us and british troops in afghanistan have lately had to fight against IEDs build from techniques imported from iraq.

so unlike what one is asked to believe, there were no real schools of terrorism back then, not in afghanistan, nor in iraq. now there are. with techniques coming from iraq's experience, afghans learn insurgency.

thanks guys. good job ! full story

FT.com, Middle East & Africa, Iran - 57% Americans support military action in Iran

the ACLU's once again at the forefront in defense of civil rights.

they denounce the amazing tactics of the "most powerful" army in the world to target innocent women and children to fight the popular uprising in iraq.

we should be sorry for those victims of course. but i cannot take myself off the ironny: thinking of us GI ants sent in to capture kid and wives...
the us guys are really hopeless it seems.

spielberg should take it up and make a movie.

this a good one, it could actually snowball.
A italian atheist accuses the church of abuse of popular beliefs.
to my opinion, he has a good point.
one could add "unfair advertising" to the charges. read full story below:

January 27, 2006 7:50 PM

Jesus goes 'on trial' in Italian court

By Phil Stewart

VITERBO, Italy (Reuters) - Vowing to strike Jesus from history, an Italian atheist took his legal crusade against the Church to court on Friday asking a judge to open a formal trial over whether Christ existed.

"Jesus is fiction," said Luigi Cascioli. "The Church is fooling the people -- and must be held responsible."

Cascioli invoked a law known in Italian as "Abuso di Credulita Popolare" (Abuse of Popular Belief) to accuse a Catholic priest of conning citizens.

He targeted a former schoolmate during his brief stint at seminary school, some 60 years ago.

While Cascioli went on to become a vocal atheist, his friend, Enrico Righi, became a priest writing for the local religious newspaper.

He says Righi, in a 2002 edition in which he wrote about Jesus as a "man", broke the Italian law and accused him of having no evidence to prove Jesus existed as a historic figure.

After Friday's preliminary hearing, the judge has to decide if the case can go forward, which many feel is unlikely in Roman Catholic Italy.

Looking the part of a scholar, with his brown-rimmed glasses hanging on a cord around his neck, Cascioli waved his book "The Fable of Christ" before a swarm of reporters at the courthouse.

"I show in my book that Christ did not exist," he said. "They have nothing. No proof that he did exist."

He says the Church built the character of Jesus upon the personality of John of Gamala -- a 1st century Jew who fought against the Romans.

Righi, who is just days away from retirement, stayed away from the court on Friday, sending his lawyer.

"He's very sad. Very sad," said his brother, Luigi Righi. "Not just because of the case, but because he and Cascioli were friends."

Righi and Cascioli are both from the small town of Bagnoregio, just outside of Viterbo, north of Rome.

Righi's lawyer, Bruno Severo, said he believed the case would be dismissed. "But maybe Cascioli will sell more copies of his book," he said.


Reuters

a swiss citizen, tariq ramadan, banned from entry in the us, rises against rice and deposited a federal call for case. the call for case is formulated by the ACLU and a heterogeneous group of intellectuals and university professors.

here translation in english of source


the swiss muslim intellectual Tariq Ramadan is at the center of a legal action against the Patriot Act. The Union for Civil Liberties in America (UCLA) has deposited a federal call for case vs the Patriot Act based on the denial of entry visa to tariq ramadan from the us authorities.

several organisations, intellectuals and university professors have joined the call deposited wednesday against secretary of state condoleezzza rice. tariq ramadan figures on the list of plaintifs.

the investigators think a clause of the Patriot Act, cited in 2004 for backing the denial of visa delivery to tariq ramadan, is inconstitutional. this clause authorises american authorities to deny delivery of visa to persons which have "embraced the terrorist cause (transaltion from french...)" or "are promoting their cause".

the swiss intellectual has never backed terrorism, says ACLU (i confirm, he is originaly a school professor in geneva), denouncing an "ideological exclusion" in a press release. "to exclude people of the country because of their ideas biases and impoverishes the political debate in the us" explains a lawyer of the association, Jameel Jaffer.

the ACLU further claims the decision of the us authorities contradicts the 1st amendment of the us constitution. this decision violates the right of intellectuals to meet and share ideas and listen to a sommity of the muslim world (there is a biase I think here :-), whereas tariq is more the emminent muslim of the western world, he is hardly known in the muslim world, to my opinion)

us press relating the news thursday noted he had received 40 invitations to lectures in the us during 2005 alone.

us doors closed in july 2004. the intellectual wanted to take a professor position in indiana in Notre Dame University. however after waiting 5 months for his visa, he had to resign from the position.

tariq ramadan actually lives in londan, where he delivers lectures at the Oxford University. he is also involved, on behalf of the Prime Minister Blair, in a thinktank about violent muslim extremism.

new study published in the lancet medical journal claims 250 000 civilians dead since us led invasion in 2003.
the report in the british journal is based on the work of teams from the johns hopkins university, columbia university in the U.S., and the al-mustansiriya university in baghdad.


here an extract of original :

"The figure of 100,000 had been based on somewhat "conservative assumptions", notes Les Roberts at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, U.S., who led the study.

That estimate excludes Falluja, a hotspot for violence. If the data from this town is included, the compiled studies point to about 250,000 excess deaths since the outbreak of the U.S.-led war."

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now, here in switzerland, by all metrics, we call that a genocide...
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full story from theinformationclearinghouse.info

here full story in text :

U.S. invasion responsible deaths of over 250,000 civilians in Iraq

Original address agoracosmopolitan.com
by John Stokes


New studies make the Bush administration's "liberation" argument for a 'pre-emptive' war against Iraq seem questionable.

The invasion of Iraq in March 2003 by U.S.-led coalition forces has been responsible for the death of at least 150,000 civilians (not including certain of Iraq), reveals a compilitation of scientific studies and corroborated eyewitness testimonies.

The majority of these deaths, which are in addition those normally expected from natural causes, illness and accidents, have been among women and children, documents a well-researched study, that had been released by The Lancet Medical Journal.

The report in the British journal is based on the work of teams from the Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University in the U.S., and the Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad.

A similar methodology was used in the late 1990's to calculate the number of deaths from the war in Kosovo, put at 10,000.

The information was obtained as Iraqi interviewers surveyed 808 families, consisting of 7,868 people, in 33 different "clusters" or neighbourhoods spread across the country.

In each case, they asked how many births and deaths there had been in the home since January 2002.


That information was then compared with the death rates in each neighbourhood in the 15 months before the invasion that toppled president Saddam Hussein, adjusted for the different time frames, and extrapolated to cover the entire 24.4 million population of Iraq.

The most common cause of death is as a direct result of a worsening 'culture of violence', mostly caused by indiscriminate U.S. co-ordinated air strikes, and related military interventions, reveals the study of almost 1000 households scattered across Iraq. And the risk of violent death just after the invasion was 58 times greater than before the war. The overall risk of death was 1.5 times more after the invasion than before.

The on-going American Occupation has also created worsened civil strife as well as mass environmental destructions and related public health problems that is associated with American bomb-related released radioactive and other life-threatening pollutions. The American Occupation has also prevailed over the neglect to the repairing of vital public services-related infrastructure, which include U.S.-led destructions of water systems.

The figure of 100,000 had been based on somewhat "conservative assumptions", notes Les Roberts at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, U.S., who led the study.

That estimate excludes Falluja, a hotspot for violence. If the data from this town is included, the compiled studies point to about 250,000 excess deaths since the outbreak of the U.S.-led war.

Many Americans have complained that more than $200 billion U.S. tax dollars have been diverted from vitally needed public services in the United States, into apparently reckless activities. These activities are resulting in inflicted mass-casualities against totally innocent civilians, which have worsened conditions for political extremism, and ensuing "terrorism".

It is well documented that such activities are being viewed by many Iraqis, and other peoples internationally, to undermine a popular feeling of international security in general. Indeed, polls suggest that Americans felt much more secure under the former political ledership of U.S. President Bill Clinton, as compared to the militaristic strategies which are being pursued by the George W. Bush administration.

a serious (sorry guys :-) website clearly states the IOB as the event to watch out for in 2006.

HedgeFund.net, owned by Channel Capital Group Inc., is a leading source for hedge fund news and performance data on the Web. Investors who meet HedgeFund.net's accreditation standards are eligible for access to the site's database of information on more than 5,000 hedge funds, funds-of-funds and commodity products. HedgeFund.net is used by thousands of accredited investors to keep abreast of industry news, monitor existing hedge fund investments, and review fund information in anticipation of making allocations to the asset class.

They publish a market outlook report (pdf) for 2006 that you can access here which includes a paragraph on : 2005 review continued and outlook for 2006.

a very interesting article indeed that makes our point:

I cc here the main parts for our point (the rest is very technical), the IOB and the threat it represents:


Snapshot of December

As of January 14th, with 2083 individual funds having reported
December performance, the HFN Hedge Fund Aggregate Average
outperformed the S&P 500 gaining +1.43% vs -0.10%. For the
year, the Hedge Fund Aggregate was +8.62% while the S&P was
+3.00%.

Japanese equities were once again one the most influential asset
classes driving returns in December. The HFN Asia Average was
+4.98%, again almost double return of the HFN Europe Average
of +2.99%. Combined with strong returns from Russia and India,
the HFN Country Specific Average was the leading single strategy
average, +7.94%.

A rebound in oil prices above $60 was a catalyst for another
impressive month for funds in the HFN Energy Sector Average,
+4.28%. Causes for the rise were supply shocks which included a
pipeline fire in Nigeria, ongoing tensions in Eastern Europe over
dependance on Russia as the regions main supplier, and concerns
with Iran's path of nuclear development.

Major Events and Topics of 2005 and a Look Forward

Energy/Oil

Energy was the number one story for the majority of the year and
the HFN Energy Sector Average ended 2005 +24.87%. One very
important factor about the energy industry which became
increasingly visible is the fragility of the supply side of the
equation for both oil and natural gas. Additionally, the US
dependence on importation will have significant economic
implications for 2006.

Iran, with it's oil and gas capacity, poses a large threat to the
economic stability of the US. Currently Iran has the third largest
oil reserves behind Saudi Arabia and Canada (although Canada's
reserves are largely in the difficult and expensive to extract form
of oil sands) and second largest natural gas reserves behind
Russia. The threat is in the form of the Iranian Oil Bourse (IOB) which is Iran's attempt to have its energy related commodities traded with the Euro as the base currency. Currently the US dollar is the currency in which oil is bought and sold in world markets.

Should there be a shift towards a "petroEuro" for this process, the result could be a global decrease in demand for the dollar and result in less demand for dollar denominated assets. The IOB is currently expected to go online in March 2006.

The question mark is how does the US prepare for, or prevent this situation.

Currently, there are a lot of major news stories focusing on the Iranian nuclear strategy. An action against nuclear development is a lot easier to swallow than action to protect a delicate currency/economy. Should events escalate with Iran we could easily see another supply shock driven spike in energy prices similar to the early fall of 2005. Compound this with the facts that the US infrastructure is still not fully functional in the Gulf and the possibility of another volatile hurricane season and some industry predictions of oil averaging in the low $50's for 2006 could be quite low.

Should this scenario occur, the HFN Energy Sector Average could have another year like 2005 and funds with significant assets outside the US like those in the HFN Europe and Asia Averages would outperform as well.

All year there had been talk about the US treasury yield curve inverting. Finally in December the 2year yield rose above the 10year. Accompanying this process has been talk of how such an inversion has historically been followed by a US
recession. One major difference in why this crossing may not necessarily be the harbinger it has been is that there are significantly more assets suppressing the 10 year yield now than in the past. One reason for this is the lack of an on-therun
30year bond combined with the size of the mortgage backed security (MBS) market.

In times when mortgage refiancing is high, as it was in 2005, payment streams of MBS are effectively shortened and the response from MBS managers is to purchase longer term securities, treasuries, in order to increase the duration of their
portfolios.

In late February the treasury will be reintroducing the 30 year bond which possibly can help steepen the curve and reduce refinancing. HFN Averages whose funds benefit from a more normalized curve environment should do well if this occurs including the HFN Finance Sector, and Capital Structure Arbitrage Averages. Granted, with a new Federeal Reserve governor soon to take control and speculation as to when short term rate increases will actually cease, there should be plenty of volatility in the early first half of the year.... " and the report goes on...


© 2005 Channel Capital Group Inc

The awards, which run parallel to the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, single out companies for "outstanding social and ecological irresponsibility". (swissinfo)


---------------------


"The Public Eye Awards 2006" go to Chevron, Disney and Citigroup

On opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF), The Berne Declaration and Pro Natura have for the second year selected the most irresponsible corporations. This year's award recipients are Chevron Corp., The Walt Disney Company and Citigroup Inc. The first-ever "Positive Award" goes to the Mexican labor union SNRTE and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Germanwatch and FIAN.

Over 20 domestic and foreign corporations made up the short list for the "Public Eye Awards 2006". In addition, 10 NGOs from five continents applied for the first-ever "Positive Award." (All nominations are available in english at www.publiceye.ch/nominierungen.) From these nominees, the "Public Eye" organizers chose four prize winners. Three of them are prime examples of corporations that demonstrate the shady side of purely profit-oriented globalization by their socially and environmentally irresponsible behavior. In contrast, the "Positive Award" honors a highly-effective NGO campaign against corporate delinquents guilty of environmental, social or tax transgressions.

The "Public Eye Award" in the category Environment goes to Chevron Corp. The U.S. oil concern, nominated by Amazon Watch, contaminated large areas of pristine rain forest in northern Ecuador for nearly 30 years (under its former name Texaco). To this day, it refuses to carry out a comprehensive cleanup of this Amazon region.

The winner in the category Social Rights is The Walt Disney Company. Southern Chinese suppliers to the entertainment giant are guilty of serious labor and human rights violations, thus tarnishing Disney's family-friendly image. The California-based media and toy manufacturer was nominated by Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), located in Hong Kong.

Citigroup Inc., nominated by the Tax Justice Network, is the winner in the category Taxes. Its subsidiary Citibank, one of the world's largest non-Swiss private bank, abets tax evasion by helping millionaires, potentates and corporations place their capital in tax havens and offshore firms, beyond the reach of national tax authorities.

The "Public Eye" organizers bestowed the first-ever "Positive Award" on SNRTE, Germanwatch and FIAN (Food First Information & Action Network). Working closely with the Mexican labor union SNRTE, the two German NGOs protested the unlawful closure of the Euzkadi factory of tire multinational Continental, located in El Salto, Mexico. Due to efficient NGO cooperation, professional lobbying and dialog with Continental, the campaign brought about the tire factory's reopening in February 2005. Since then, the workers are joint owners of the factory.

With the "Public Eye," now in its seventh year, The Berne Declaration and Pro Natura have established a counter discourse to the WEF. Both organizations are convinced that critical discussion and direct pressure are necessary to bring corporations to treat people and nature with respect. Specifically, they demand legally-binding international regulations for corporate accountability.

Further information:
Oliver Classen, The Berne Declaration, Tel. +41 (0)76 334 25 42
Sonja Ribi, Pro Natura, Tel. +41 (0)79 216 02 06

george:
hey dickie, it's official, and legal now... as they become a treat to us security, bring them under and do the paperwork...

dick:
hmmm...

george:
i see where you are going, now ok, the fact that it is not them but their status as prisoner that's the threat to our security...

dick:
no, not that. what I mean is...

george:
well anyway. get rid of them, bury them, wherever they are, Angola, Morroco, Mauritania, Ouganda, Iraq, Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Guantanamo, Uzbekisthan, Timor, Philippines, wherever ...

then, do the paperwork and the security threat disappears. that's that simple dickie, no need to move them around and leave behind ambuiguous flight plans.
just do the paperwork...

BTW, it is more convenient and less expensive.
do the paperwork and then we can switch the yellow bulb back on again !

dick:
that's ok with me, georgie, really. I build this plan...
what i mean is, what do we do with those we ghosted ?

george:
yeah right, those we ghosted?
hum, let me think a sec. i would say... nay. well, why not ? yeeah.
let's ghost them for good, no paperwork to do here

dick:
that's a great idea, thanks georgie

george:
thanks dickie. i know. that's why I am the President... and you're the vice



more about cia prisons and dick marti report

EU inspector dick marti denounces today the hyprocrisy of european governments on cia prisons. he claims they must have known all for several months now, same for switzerland.

he calls for the european public opinion to raise up and request action from governments. He points out that the very day he started communicating on the investigations, the European prisons were evacuated. Meaning pressure works.

he also points on the particular responsibility of Switzerland to denounce these crimes and to ask for accountability. Red cross, un etc are on Swiss ground.

therefore :-) if you want to do your good act of the day, pressure Swiss politicians to take a clear stand on the us crimes worldwide and for Switzerland to condemn us crimes at the UN assembly. Kofi annan will be first supporter.

here the mail listing:

pals, put them on Bcc only, put yourself on the to address field :

info@geroldbuehrer.ch; info@chevrier.ch; info@yveschristen.ch; info@daguet.ch; info@hildegard-faessler.ch; info@charlesfavre.ch; info@auns.ch; info@chantal-gallade.ch; info@giezi-rothrist.ch; info@jeanpaulglasson.ch; info@mayagraf.ch; info@felix-gutzwiller.ch; info@wirtschaftskammer.org; info@hegetschweiler.ch; info@bernhard-hess.ch; info@svv.ch; info@urs-hofmann.ch; info@ruth-humbel.ch; info@otto-ineichen.ch; info@robert-keller.ch; info@pierrekohler.ch; info@uelileuenberger.ch; info@doris-leuthard.ch; info@geri-mueller.ch; info@roger-nordmann.ch; info@pedrina.ch; info@rechsteiner-basel.ch; info@rennwald.ch; info@schluer.ch; info@juergstahl.ch; info@hansstoeckli.ch; info@sgv-usam.ch; info@gabyvermot.ch; info@wandfluh.com; info@weigelt.ch; info@zisyadis.com; info@simonepiney.ch; info@fetz.ch; info@erika-forster.ch; info@brunofrick.ch; info@urs-schwaller.ch; info@rolf-schweiger.ch; info@agfm.ch; info@sommaruga.ch

here my proposed text:

to the Swiss representatives of the people. about CIA prisons

Do not forget your mission and whom you serve.
do not let Swiss people be deceived by the us policy of torture and crime against humanity around the world and in europe now. denounce today us crimes at the UN and bring swiss secret services to publish all the news about illegal crimes perpetrated by other nations. as host for red cross and UN and HCR it is our duty as swiss people and government to follow strict guidelines concerning human rights and not tolerate any abuse and denounce each abuse known, as is.

Thanks. BTW, i welcome all comments for adding addresses or changing text

dixit reuters

Rice said the time for talking was over and European discussions had come to a "dead end" because of Iran's actions. "I don't see much room for further discussion in any format," said Rice.


maybe Rice should wait for security council first. she may be surprised.

Journalist deaths hit record in 2005 - IFJ

By Sebastian Alison

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A record number of media workers died last year while doing their job, amid a growing trend towards the targeted killing of journalists, the International Federation of Journalists said on Monday.

At least 89 journalists were murdered because of their professional work, the IFJ said, out of a total of 150 media deaths in 2005.

"The numbers are staggering," IFJ general secretary Aidan White said in an annual report entitled "Targeting and tragedy - journalists and media staff killed in 2005".

"It was an unprecedented year ... the IFJ has counted 89 who were killed in the line of duty, singled out for their professional work. In 2005 the trend towards targeted assassination of editorial staff has intensified."

The largest number of deliberate killings, 38, was recorded in the Middle East, all but three of them in Iraq, making the region "by far the world's most deadly beat for reporters in the field," the report said.

"Most of those who died were local, many of them working for international media outlets in Iraq where the streets are too dangerous for foreigners to tread."

On top of the 35 targeted killings in Iraq, the report noted that another five journalists were killed there by U.S. troops, including Reuters soundman Waleed Khaled, shot in the face and chest by U.S. military forces on August 28.

This brought to 18 the number of reporters and media staff killed "at the hands of occupation forces since 2003 and reinforcing calls led by the IFJ for independent investigations into these deaths to eliminate suspicions of targeting," the report said.

AMBIGUOUS RELATIONSHIP

White blamed governments, not only authoritarian regimes interested in silencing journalists, but also in democratic countries where politicians had what he called an ambiguous relationship with the press, for failing to take the problem seriously.

"There is still absolute inertia ... more than 90 percent of every killing that we record will not be properly investigated," he told a news conference after the report's publication.

"If we were nurses, if we were nuns, if we were ... doctors working out in the field there would be immediate political concern. But because we are journalists and because our role is ambiguous as far as politicians are concerned, there is a tendency to ignore or downplay the crisis."

In the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines was the most dangerous country for journalists, with 10 killed, almost all deliberately. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 12 were killed in Colombia, Haiti, Mexico and Brazil.

At least 61 deaths of media workers in 2005 resulted from accidents, the report said, of which by far the worst was the December 6 crash of a military aircraft in Tehran in which 48 journalists and media staff died.


Reuters

the observer, on petroeuro:
When will we buy oil in euros? Sunday February 23, 2003, The Observer

dubya files:
Petroeuro Futures, Article In-Depth, Special to The Dubya Report, October 25, 2003

center for contemporary conflict, us mil, 2003:
From Petrodollars to Petroeuros: Are the Dollar's Days as an International Reserve Currency Drawing to an End? Strategic Insights, Volume II, Issue 11 (November 2003) by Robert Looney

iran daily:
Oil a Security Link for ME, 20 Oct. 2004

feasta:
Petrodollar or Petroeuro? A new source of global conflict Cóilín Nunan. November 2004.

iran mania:
Oil bourse closer to reality , Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - ©2004 IranMania.com

iran oil and gas:
search results 2004

energy bulletin:
Published on 3 Aug 2005 by Media Monitors Network. Archived on 9 Aug 2005. Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil Bourse by William Clark

asia times:
Aug 26, 2005, SPEAKING FREELY, Killing the dollar in Iran, By Toni Straka

the trumpet:
Will the Iranian Oil Bourse Threaten the Dollar? , Tuesday, September 13, 2005

al jazeera:
Iran - a threat to the petrodollar? By Emilie Rutledge, Thursday 03 November 2005

wikipedia:
petroeuro, summary and links

nogw:
OIL & EMPIRES. links