- Africa

Former World Bank Chief On The West-East Wealth Transfer, And The Africa 'Problem'

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:01:01 -0700

Libya - The Real Reason

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:58:33 -0600

Libya, Now and Then

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:54:18 -0600

I was only able to verify a handful of the points mentioned in this video, so do your own research. What stood out to me were the tree lined streets and the reaction of regular people to their leader, which leads me to ask - would any of 'our' politicians elicit anything near this type of positve response!?

Excellent Analysis Of The Situation In Libya

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:05:50 -0600

The Truth Of The NATO Bombing Of Libya

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 23:23:26 -0600

Famine In The Horn Of Africa

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:52:15 -0600

Weather wars comprise a good deal of what today is considered climate change, the technological tug of war battle for moisture is the hidden element that pursuades markets and alters the course of entire societies. Attached at the hip to this growing turmoil is the economic warfare sphere, which profits and exacerbates the growing food dislocations around the world, primarily felt by its intended targets, the 'infrastructural poor', who have no leverage in the system of global trade, and who rely on seasonal climate cycles which no longer apply, discontinued as they increasingly are by means of technological force, ecological ruination and soil degradation.

Source: Global Research - July 8, 2011

The countries comprising the Horn of Africa face the threat of famine, after a series of failed and poor rainy seasons has created the worst drought in 60 years.

The 2010 late rainy season failed completely in many parts of the area and the April-May rains were very low, with northeast Kenya getting only 10 percent of the usual rainfall. The impact is worst in Somalia and Ethiopia, but Kenya, Djibouti and parts of Uganda are also affected.

The current USAID Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) map of the area, indicating levels of food insecurity, shows large parts of Ethiopia and Somalia classed as in emergency and most of the remaining parts of each country classed as in crisis. Large areas of northeastern Kenya are classed as in crisis. In total, around 10 million people are affected.

...

Sarah Robinson from the Irish humanitarian agency on the ground in Somalia explained, “A combination of hunger and despair means that many people simply go to sleep and do not have the energy to wake up. This has the potential to be as bad as anything since 1991.”

A major famine in 1991 killed around a quarter of a million people and left two million displaced.

In Somalia the drought and threatened famine are compounded by the ongoing civil war and social upheaval. Some people leaving the drought ravaged rural areas have trekked to the capital, Mogadishu, but many more have headed for Ethiopia and Kenya.

Hundreds of thousands of people are on the move, some walking for weeks and covering hundreds of miles in search of relief. One woman, Fatuma, speaking to the Save the Children Fund said she had walked for six weeks with her four children, all under 11, from Somalia to a refugee camp in Kenya.

She explained, “The weather was very harsh. It was so hot, and there was very little shelter. I left my husband in Somalia. I do not know if I will see him again. The war in Somalia is very bad for families. The drought is just too much. We cannot cope. We had 15 goats. But they died one by one because of the drought. We had a well in my village, but it dried up. Then the one in the next village dried up.”

One refugee camp at Dadaab, in the northeastern area of Kenya, was built to hold 90,000 people but is now trying to cope with more than four times that number, with thousands squatting on the perimeter hoping to get in. Dadaab has now become the largest refugee camp in the world.

The Horn of Africa area has been accustomed to scarce water supplies at some times of the year, but the pattern of rainfall does seem to be changing. In much of the area of Ethiopia and Somalia the failure of two successive rainy periods is something that would occur every 10 years or so, but now appears to occur every two years. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesman for the area, Michael Klaus, explained, “We realised these recurrent droughts used to happen every 5-10 years but what we see now is it basically every other year… an indication of climate change conditions.”

According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the rainfall data for 2010-11 for much of Kenya and Ethiopia was the driest or second driest for 60 years. Climate researchers are beginning to attribute extreme weather patterns to climate change. Peter Stott at the Met Office Hadley Centre in Britain recently stated, “We’ve certainly moved beyond the point of saying that we can’t say anything about attributing extreme weather events to climate change.”

Adapting to the harsh conditions of the area, many people live in pastoral communities moving their herds of animals to pasture and water in neighbouring areas to be able to maintain their herds. This way of life had been sustainable and was a big contribution to the GDP of countries in the Horn of Africa. The current drought is killing hundreds of thousands of herd animals, destroying the pastoral people’s livelihoods.

Until recent days there had been little international media coverage of the fast developing potential catastrophe in the Horn of Africa. It has now received some coverage, but there is still a big shortfall in the levels of aid been offered to alleviate the situation.

Aid agencies have appealed for around $530 million in donations for Kenya and the same for Somalia, but so far have received only about half of what is needed. The WFP issued a statement last week saying, “The humanitarian response in Somalia and Ethiopia in particular is hampered by large funding shortfalls. New contributions are urgently needed or suffering will grow.”

The situation is being exacerbated by rising food prices. Kenya is currently experiencing double-digit inflation and, according to a UN IRIN news report, the price of maize, one of the main food staples has risen threefold since January. In Djibouti, wheat flour rose by 17 percent in the course of one month earlier in the year.

A World Development Movement (WDM) report on responses to the recent hike in food prices quoted a Nairobi transport worker saying. “Maybe it’s time we went the way of Egypt.”

A WDM report issued in June warned of a summer of speculation boosting food prices. The report notes, “The price of maize—more of which is grown than any other staple food crop—has increased by 102 percent since April 2010. New research from the World Development Movement reveals that hedge funds, investment banks and others own futures contracts for maize worth $15.7 billion up 127.5 percent from a year ago.”

Depleted Uranium Being Used In Libya

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:48:22 -0600

NATO forces protecting the people of Libya....

Source: Global Research - July 8, 2011

War crimes and crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya by NATO. Amongst these crimes, the Atlantic Alliance has been using depleted uranium against Libya, specifically civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Bombed sites in Libya have been visited by professional scientists working in the Surveying and Collecting Specimens and Laboratory Measuring Group. The scientists and trained experts have conducted field surveys looking for radioactive isotopes (radioisotopes) at bombed sites. The samples from these sites were then scientifically analyzed at the laboratories of the Nuclear Energy Institution of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

Analysis in Libya through inductively coupled plasma has shown that several sites contain even higher than expected doses of uranium. Holes caused by NATO missiles also have high radioactive measurements, as do the fragments of NATO ordinance. Sites analyzed by the teams of scientists include Bab Al-Azizia and Souk Al-Ahad.

Adrien Salbuchi Discusses Nato's Institutional Hypocrisy

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:40:16 -0600

Jim Rogers: Politicians Will Make Things Much Worse

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 22:31:29 -0600

NATO Chief Rasmussen Grilled LIVE On RT

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:54:53 -0600

War is a racket, that's what they say, war is a racket, it's a game they play, pulling the ties of binds of tribes, pulling the veins, and stains of pains, pulling and heaving on the chains of gain, where one eye in is another mans gain.

War is a racket, that's for sure, engorged beyond reason, stuffed full of limb, pigs in a trough, dealing out blows, fancy for power, hungry for more, never believing, in anything more. Shell for the taking, empty and grey, casks left open, for any old play, who happens along, with power to move it, with hunger to do it, and the means to prove it.

They talk without talking, riddled with lies, stormy minds brewing, glittery eyes, jittery knowing, calm outlook, never revealing, the innermost shook. I am a robot, this is a script, stick with the script, always the script, never reveal, my inner rift.

If Yemen Falls, So Does the Dollar Reserve?

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 10:54:24 -0600

Source: Gold Speculator - June 4, 2011

How is it that the world's fortunes hang on the life or death of a murderous thug that the US has been supporting for 30 years? And why, in fact, if Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh is so important, isn't it common knowledge? Saleh was wounded yesterday when opposition forces blew up his palace. But as I'll discuss, below, there's more to the story. (Isn't there always?)

In my opinion, this story is so big it should be on the front pages of the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal: "US dollar hegemony hangs in the balance." Or how's this: "Future of the world's monetary system may be decided in Yemen's Sana’a."

How can one silly, little and desperately poor country full of people in ankle-length white robes be in the position to shake the foundations of the current monetary system of the Anglo-American empire?

First, context. It hasn't been a good year for the West's power elite. Yemen is only one country in tumult. Other countries verging on civil war are Bahrain and Syria. (Libya is already convulsed.) But in fact there are hundreds of places in the Middle East, Africa and Europe now where people are demonstrating and marching – or fighting with various levels of efficiency and organization.

In Afghanistan, the Obama administration is said to be desperately searching for Mullah Omar, the one-eyed leader of the Taliban, now and again reported dead or missing. US officials, in turn, wish to find Omar so that they can work out a deal where the US declares victory and Omar retains the territory. Some victory.

Libya is currently in a stalemate; China is Pakistan's new best friend; Pakistan's generals are again denying what Ms. Hillary Clinton – US Secretary of State – said only a week ago, that the Pakistan army was about to launch a significant attack against the Pashtun/Taliban. It's not true, the generals say.

Meanwhile, Egypt's youths sleep on the streets; Tunisian youth are no happier; Iran is gaining considerable regional influence because of the "color revolutions" that the CIA apparently triggered. Iraq is destabilizing again, and even the Palestinians are resurgent.

The Arab Awakening is truly a regional if not global phenomenon. Of course, we have our own name for it: The Internet Reformation. It's really the same thing. Just as the Gutenberg press spawned the Renaissance and Reformation, so the Internet has now spawned a truly significant social convulsion. The world will never be the same.

America's CIA-sponsored AYM youth movements were behind the initial color revolutions. But notice how the mainstream press has stopped celebrating them. Perhaps they haven't worked out as planned. Either Western elites are encouraging a series of Arab Islamic Republics (so as to buttress what seems to be an essentially phony "war on terror") or they are trying to create controllable regulatory democracies that will likely be run by dependable militaries with a constitutional façade. Neither of these options looks to be feasible in the near term.

Alternatively, the West seeks generalized chaos for some reason – or, more intriguingly, it has simply lost control of the situation. As we've stated before, Yemen is important because it may well indicate how much control the West actually has over the Arab Awakening. So far, what's been most apparent is dithering. The West hasn't shown a firm hand. There are reasons why.

Yemen may be spinning out of Western control. After Saleh was wounded, he was quoted as saying, "I salute our armed forces and the security forces for standing up firmly to confront this challenge by an outlaw gang that has nothing to do with the so-called youth revolution." It's interesting that the words Saleh used were "outlaw gang" as the tribal opposition to his rule denied making the attack. Apparently, it was what one might call "an inside job."

That means that individuals nominally allied with Saleh tried to knock him off. And why not? He is a thoroughly despicable man. He has ruled Yemen for about 30 years through a mixture of truculence and torture; like Gaddaffi, his favorite method of staying in power is one of "divide and conquer" in which he set various tribes against each other.

Yup ... Yemen is another "tribal backwater" like Afghanistan – a place where the Anglo-American elite (exaggeratedly) has no interest. It is like a kid kicking a stone past the house of a pretty girl. He just happened along the way ... and thus the US just "happened' into Afghanistan and Iraq. In fact, the US is intensely interested – mesmerized in a kind of Ted Bundy (bad) way.

How seriously does the Anglo-American empire take Afghanistan (as a speed-bump on the way to world government)? Try, probably, say ... US$2 trillion in expenditures, thousands killed and tens of thousands wounded. True the total all-in cost hasn't been as much as Vietnam (50,000 dead and 500,000 wounded) but there's considerable evidence that the US has been undercounting the dead and wounded through a variety of manipulations.

Yemen has never presented the same kind of problem as Afghanistan. In part that's because Yemen is even more difficult to subdue militarily than the stiff-necked Pashtun Taliban. The West has wanted as little to do with Yemen as possible (outside of controlling the coastline). Here's a description of Yemen by Paul Herman of the New Zealand Post in a recent article entitled "Cry, cry and cry again for my beloved Yemen."

So now my beloved Yemen is on the verge of going up in flames, on the verge of a cataclysmic civil war. I say "my beloved" because I had such an extraordinary time there on an Intrepid Journey a few years back Not a lot of people actually know where Yemen is. I don't think I really did until I checked a map before we went there. It is essentially the bottom left portion of the Arabian Peninsula. And what I certainly didn't realise about the entire Arabian Peninsula is that a massive mountain range runs north to south down its western side, sloping down eventually to the Red Sea.

In fact, the Saudis move their capital up to the mountains, to Taif, during the ferocious Arabian summers. The Yemeni capital Sana'a sits in this same mountain range. The thing about Yemen is the architecture. There is nothing like it in the world. They seem to have engineering in their genes. They built skyscrapers when no one was doing it.

Osama Bin Laden's father, who got rich building roads in Saudi Arabia, was Yemeni. He got so rich he rebuilt the mosque at Mecca with his own money. Old Man bin Laden came from one of the most spectacular parts of the world I have ever seen, the Wadi Hadromaut. It is probably as vast and as breathtaking as the Grand Canyon. And all through this great and ancient valley are villages perched on high, impossible sites, above steep cliffs, and you look at them and marvel because they have been there hundreds and hundreds of years.

How in God's name did they do that, you find yourself asking time and again, round every corner. It's the same through the entire country, especially in that great mountain range, villages with slim, square buildings six or seven storeys on the most unreachable ridges and peaks. And, of course, that was the point. Defensively, they are brilliantly sited. The truth is, neither the Turks - of whom there are still some 10,000 in Yemen - nor the British ever really conquered anywhere but the Yemeni coast. You couldn't get near those mountain villages. The Yemenis simply rolled great rocks down on you.

As Afghanistan is the key to Middle Asia, so Yemen is the key to "Arabia." The tribes of Oman and the Arab Emirates flowed out of Yemen. And today Yemen is no less important than before in terms of the Great Game. It is perched on the edge of one of the most important waterways in the world and fronts the soft underbelly of Saudi Arabia – the part where many of the most profitable oil wells are located.

Yemen is formidable, and strangely important. But because of the mountains, because of the tribes, because of the weaponry (three rifles for every Yemeni), because boys are expected to be proficient with weapons from an early age, Yemen has not been high on the list of the Anglosphere's "civilizing" influences.
Ironically, the Yemenis are very similar culturally to the Somalis – from the same Somalia that Western newscasters like to call a failed state. (A failed state is any country that stands in the way of the West's dash toward One World Government.)

What Western mainstream media isn't bothering to report, however, is that the Anglo-American power elite could already have done away with Saleh if it wanted to. He's their man and has been for all of his violent existence. It is reprehensible that that Western elites would rather let Yemen drift into civil war than cease to support Saleh. There have been no moves made in the UN to put pressure on Saleh, no sanctions – only apparently regular ammo and tear gas refills, which he has used to slaughter hundreds of Yemenis.

The Western elites have not moved to do away with Saleh because they cannot apparently find a thug to put in his place that will garner a modicum of tribal support. The result of all this is growing antipathy. Possibly, because Yemen is another funny "impoverished backwater," the US has handled the Yemen very badly. The whole country is inflamed. Saleh, now wounded, will likely never get his power back and the chances that the CIA will have the opportunity to create a new Saleh are growing slimmer by the minute.

The Saudis worked desperately to move Saleh out of power. It is easy to see why now; that was their leverage. But now the nightmare scenario has occurred: increasingly the Saudis are perceived as propping Saleh up (which they are doing actually by not removing him). Ultimately all this returns to the US and the Pentagon, which in turn does the bidding of the City of London. So, here is the answer to the question asked at the beginning of this article. The answer is ...

SAUDI ARABIA!

The corrupt and vicious Saudi regime lies at the heart of Money Power. Without Saudi willingness to support the continued dollar-oil exchange (forcing the rest of the world to hold dollars) the dollar reserve currency system seriously degrades.

The current system was put in place in the 1940s, but it was elaborated on in 1971, when the US severed the last link between gold and the dollar and substituted oil. How did the Anglosphere elites manage this trick? Using Mao's observation: "power springs from the barrel of a gun."

The Saudis were willing accomplices, but in reality they didn't have a choice. The world's economy, when you come down to it, is a product of American military force. Use the dollar to buy oil or else ... But if the US and Saudi Arabia cannot control the spiraling disaster in Yemen, the next stop on the revolutionary train is Bahrain. And after that ... Saudi Arabia. And THIS time, events may not be easily salvageable. The Internet has educated the Arab world about its history.

If the Anglosphere elites had only used their tremendous industrial and monetary advantages to build a free-market instead of a phony one (disguised as a free one)! But the elites chose to propagate a central banking economy in order to chase after world government, and now they are in danger of an eroding dollar reserve, which could eventually result in the creation of an entirely new (and uncontrollable) currency. Anyway, if Saudi Arabia falls, the dominoes may simply keep tumbling. Who pays any attention to funny little countries like Yemen anyway?

The End Of A Borderless Europe?

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Thu, 05 May 2011 23:59:14 -0600

Source: The Independent - May 5, 2011

The EU looks set to reimpose internal border checks amid fears in key Schengen Zone countries of uncontrolled North African immigration.

The Schengen pact, which came into force in 1995 and allows passport-free travel between 25 European states, has come under severe pressure this year following the large influx of migrants fleeing political turmoil in Tunisia and Libya.

EU leaders yesterday signalled that temporary border controls and stricter checks at Schengen entry points were on the way to placate fears that the zone's porous Mediterranean borders would see a surge of economic migrants wandering around the continent.

Last month Italy sought to rid itself of 20,000 French-speaking Tunisian migrants bygiving them temporary resident permits, knowing most would travel to France.

Paris reacted angrily and the resulting diplomatic spat saw Italy eventually back French calls for Schengen rules to be waived when circumstances called for it.

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said in Brussels yesterday: "To safeguard the stability of the Schengen area, it may be necessary to foresee the temporary reintroduction of limited internal border controls under very exceptional circumstances, such as where a part of the external border comes under heavy, unexpected pressure."

...

The Party of European Socialists said yesterday it "deplores the attempt by conservatives to dismantle the Schengen agreement".

It said changing the accord "would attack the foundation of the European Union itself".

The treaty currently allows a country to restore border controls only in the case of a "grave threat to public order or internal security".

Such measures have seen passport checks restored temporarily to stop travelling football hooligans and summit protesters.

Pressure for changes to Schengen rules was stepped up yesterday as Norway's police association blamed rising crime on a lack of border curbs.

"Open borders in Europe have led to a situation where 80 per cent of crimes committed in Norway and other Nordic states are carried out by criminals who are either from the Baltic states or are strongly linked to organised crime in the Baltic states," said Egil Haaland, president of the Norwegian police association.

The long and porous Greek border is seen as another favourite entry point into Europe for economic migrants, with many taking budget flights to arrive first in neighbouring visa-free Turkey.

U.S. Sen. John McCain Calls For U.S. To Arm Rebels

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:49:52 -0600

Libya is being set up as an arms sales bonanza, another Vietnam for the world, only this time involving an entree of European flavour, making the whole endeavour rather a coming out, or a who's who in the world of global arms trafficking. The UN/NATO military force will wisely direct the war, always insuring a pretty even playing field, heavy losses on both sides, but not so much as to deplete the long term objective too quickly (see Gaddafi's gold horde). Many missiles, and many more lives later the show is rolled up, the invaded country is divided, and that which remains is carved up and taken by those whose power of force allows them to do so. I can only imagine what Russian and Chinese power brokers think about this cascade of audacious maneuvers throughout the Middle Kingdom....

Source: International Business Times - April 22, 2011

Sen. John McCain, who visited the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Friday, called for the United States and every other nation to recognize the rebels fighting against forces led by Col. Muammar Gaddafi and for "responsible" nations to arm them.

McCain is the most senior U.S. official to visit Libya since the conflict began, said Friday's visit was "one of the most exciting and inspiring days of my life" and applauded the rebel leadership for "their remarkable progress in this struggle for liberation."

"First, I would encourage every nation, especially the United States, to recognize the Transitional National Council as the legitimate voice of the Libyan people. They've earned this right, and Gaddafi has forfeited it by waging war on his own people," McCain said in a released statement.

"Second, governments that have frozen assets of the Qaddafi regime should release some of that money to the Transitional National Council so that they can sustain, improve, and expand their capacity to govern justly," he added.

McCain also said NATO - which is in charge of protecting civilians in Libya from Col. Muammar Gaddafi's forces - should "urgently step up" the air campaign, especially in Misurata, the site of intense fighting in recent days.

He said more close air support in the form of A-10 and AC-130 jets were needed. He also applauded the recent use of Predator drone aircraft to help in the effort. U.S. defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that the aircraft would allow for more precise airstrikes from low altitudes in populated areas.

McCain also called for nations to provide help to the TNC through command and control support, battlefield intelligence, training, and weapons.

"I have met with these brave fighters, and they are not Al-Qaeda. To the contrary: They are Libyan patriots who want to liberate their nation. We should help them do it," he said.

Britain, France, and Italy Send Military Advisors To Libya

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:45:26 -0600

Source: The New York Times - April 20, 2011

The French and Italian governments said Wednesday that they would join Britain in sending a small number of military liaison officers to support the ragtag rebel army in Libya, offering a diplomatic boost for the insurgent leader, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, as he met with President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.

After the meeting, The Associated Press reported, Mr. Sarkozy pledged to intensify French airstrikes that started in March.

The announcements came as the international community searched for a means to break a bloody battlefield deadlock that has killed hundreds in the contested cities of Misurata and Ajdabiya and left the rebels in tenuous control of a few major coastal cities in their campaign against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Life of Mammals - Persistence Hunting

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:52:37 -0600