Friday, July 30, 2010

Ellsberg Supports Wikileaks Afghan Occupation Diaries

ELLSBERG SUPPORTS WIKILEAKS AFGHAN OCCUPATION DIARIES















Daniel Ellsberg. (Photo: jdlasica)

Daniel Ellsberg agrees that The Wikileaks Afghan Occupation Diaries will join the Vietnam Pentagon Papers as a turning point of moral truth in the current Afghanistan stalemate ~ which also cannot answer the two key questions as to why are we there and why are we continuing this expensive exercise in futility: Allen L Roland

The Wikileaks Afghan Occupation Diaries are a shot across the bow of the Obama Administration. On Wednesday, Democratic Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) and Jim Webb (D-Virginia) sent a
letter to the White House asking President Obama to refrain from making any major commitments to Afghanistan without the consent of the Senate "We do not believe that a long-term, open-ended presence of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan serves our national interest," the senators wrote.

As a senator, Obama supported a similar request sent to President Bush in 2007 regarding Iraq ~ but the publication of the Wikileak Dairies appears to be having the same effect as the pentagon papers had with the Vietnam conflict.

Before WikiLeaks, before the Afghanistan war, before the Internet, a defense analyst named Daniel Ellsberg rocked America in 1971 when he leaked to the newspapers of the day a top-secret study of US decisionmaking in Vietnam. The documents came to be known as the 'Pentagon Papers'.
Ellsberg was also castigated by the financial elite as well as various Senators and Congressman but his papers laid bare the truth of a Vietnam quagmire mired in denial and ineptitude.

Recently, the Monitor's Gloria Goodale talked to Mr. Ellsberg, who now lives in California, for his unique perspective on the recently released Wikileaks Afghan Occupation papers ~ which also lay bare the truth of an Afghan quagmire mired in denial and ineptitude.

Excerpt: Why it Is Important That This Kind of Information Gets Out ?

Ellsberg: " One of the most important messages or conclusions to be drawn from the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago is what they didn’t reveal, and that was: In some 7,000 pages of high-level discussions, they didn’t reveal a single compelling or even remotely realistic basis for continuing the war. Nor did they answer the question of: Why are we there? And that’s the conclusion: that there wasn’t an answer to be given. It couldn’t be inferred from a very small release of papers, say 10 pages or 20 pages. You really had to see that, year after year, nobody was coming up with or reporting any kind of success. "

" And the same is true with this six-year ( Afghan ) compilation to show that, year after year, the process really isn’t changing, and that the more we increased our presence in Afghanistan, the stronger the Taliban was growing. I’m sure, by the way, that this is still the case. A leak I would like to see right now is what the change in Taliban strength has been over these past seven months of President Obama’s new strategy. Don’t wait for the administration to release that because I’m sure it would be very embarrassing to the strategy. I’m sure that their official estimates of Taliban strength as of July are greater than the estimate in December when Obama initiated that strategy. " http://www.truth-out.org/wikileaks-qa-with-daniel-ellsberg61831

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Wednesday called for the criminal prosecution of Wikileaks, the website that courageously published classified military documents this week. "I’m willing to prosecute anybody who led to undermining the war effort," Graham proclaimed during an appearance on Fox News.

Excuse me, Senator Graham ~ but this is not a war but an illegal and morally unjust occupation that an increasing amount of Veterans, including myself, are rightfully speaking out against.

Here's one of them, Mike Prysner, proclaiming recently that The Real Terrorist was Himself " Our real enemies are not those living in a distant land whose names or policies we don't understand; The real enemy is a system that wages war when it's profitable, the CEOs who lay us off our jobs when it's profitable, the Insurance Companies who deny us Health care when it's profitable, the Banks who take away our homes when it's profitable. Our enemies are not several hundred thousands away. They are right here in front of us. "
Video & Transcript ( 4 Minutes )
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26047.htm

We came within 31 votes of stopping the recently passed War supplemental bill of over 30 Billion dollars for Afghanistan.This unjust occupation can be stopped ~ but only if we the people let our voices not only be heard but be registered in petitions, letters and votes in November.
Sign our petition to the Democratic and Republican National Committees to tell them you vote, and you demand an end to this occupation

As Arthur Schopenhauer once wrote ~ All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, Second, it is violently opposed and finally it is accepted as being self-evident.
With the publishing of the Wikileaks dairies ~ the sad truth of the Afghanistan Occupation is obviously becoming self evident.

Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/ellsberg-supports-wikileaks-afghan.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations (
allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his
weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

ONLY THE TRUTH IUS REVOLUTIONARY

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

World's Number One Whistleblower / Julian Assange

WORLD'S NUMBER ONE WHISTLEBLOWER / JULIAN ASSANGE














Julian Assange, the elusive founder of WikiLeaks, is dedicated to transparency and truth in a world of deception and lies. His whistleblower platform has already unmasked atrocities in Iraq, Army procurement scandals in Iraq and now atrocities and scandals in Afghanistan. Like a caped Avenger ~ He will soon be zeroing in on several more abuses of power: Allen L Roland

I'm a firm believer that when arrogance, deceit and abuse of power become truly oppressive ~ as they did under the Cheney/Bush administration ~ a door will eventually open and expose this dark world of darkness to the blinding light of the truth.

The stage for that event to happen was when President Obama chose to follow the same deceptive game plan as the Bush administration in Afghanistan. Julian Assange has now opened that door and, in so doing, has set the stage for others to come forth and fully expose this world of deception and lies.

This elusive caped Avenger has become the world's number one whistleblower and his relevations will not only eventually help bring down the Oligarchy but will mark the beginning of a shift in planetary consciousness to a world cemented in truth, transparency and mutual cooperation ~ which are always the first steps towards permenent change.

The Afghan Occupation Diaries are just as important as the Pentagon Papers with this reminder ~ there are 15,000 more revealing papers due if the Obama Administration continues to ignore the vast majority of the American people who want to end this expensive and purposeless adventure in futility.

Julian Assange on the Afghanistan war logs: 'They show the true nature of this war': Video: Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, explains why he decided to publish thousands of secret US military files on the war in Afghanistan. (4 minute Video) http://bit.ly/cvBI06

Download Afghan War Diary, 2004-2010 http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Afghan_War_Diary,_2004-2010

The center of American Progress hits the key aspect of this Afghan Diary ~ REPORT LINKS CIVILIAN DEATHS AND RECRUITMENT FOR INSURGENCY IN AFGHANISTAN: " The WikiLeaks disclosure of thousands of pages of military documents dealing with the war in Afghanistan highlights, among other things, "how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents." This is a particularly important disclosure in light of a report released earlier this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). NBER's report, "The Effect of Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq," concludes that blowback in the population from civilian casualties caused by international forces in Iraq and Afghanistan is a considerable problem the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) faces in Afghanistan. It finds "strong evidence for a revenge effect in that local exposure to ISAF generated civilian casualties drives increased insurgent violence over the long-run." The BBC notes NBER's findings that "in areas where two civilians were killed or injured by Nato...there were on average an extra six violent incidents between insurgents and US-led troops in the following six weeks." NBER observed how, "when Isaf units kill civilians, [it] increases the number of willing combatants, leading to an increase in insurgent attacks," and "local exposure to violence from Isaf appears to be the primary driver of this effect." The report also concludes that Gen. Stanley McChrystal's new rules of engagement imposed upon soldiers under his command in Afghanistan "led to a decline in attacks by insurgent fighters." Gen.l David Petraeus, who has just taken command of American forces in Afghanistan, is currently reviewing McChrystal's rules and is considering altering them.http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2010/07/pr20100727

A recent national Bloomberg poll found that 58% of Americans considered the war effort a "lost cause," while Gallup has indicated a steady increase in the percentage of Americans who believe sending U.S. forces to Afghanistan in 2001 was a mistake ~ from 30% when Obama took office to 38% today.

In a SPIEGEL interview, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, 39, discussed his decision to publish the Afghanistan war logs, the difficult balance between the public interest and the need for state secrets and why he believes people who wage war are more dangerous than him.

SPIEGEL: " During the Vietnam War, US President Richard Nixon once called Daniel Elsberg, the leaker of the Pentagon Papers, the most dangerous man in America. Are you today's most dangerous man or the most endangered? "

ASSANGE: " The most dangerous men are those who are in charge of war. And they need to be stopped. If that makes me dangerous in their eyes, so be it .... I enjoy creating systems on a grand scale, and I enjoy helping people who are vulnerable. And I enjoy crushing bastards. So it is enjoyable work. "
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/26-0

In that regard, it appears that Afghanistan is not only the proven graveyard of Empires but it could well be the graveyard of President Obama ~ if he continues to expedite an obvious lost cause.

Wikileaks has taken a major step towards illuminating this lost cause and Julian Assange is not only a true patriot but, like Daniel Ellsberg, has performed a public service.

Sign our petition to the Democratic and Republican National Committees to tell them you vote, and you demand an end to this occupation.

Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/worlds-number-one-whistleblower-julian.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations (
allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his
weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Monday, July 26, 2010

Toxic Black Rain Falling In The Gulf

TOXIC BLACK RAIN FALLING IN THE GULF















A toxic black rain is now falling in the Gulf and the EPA and BP are doing everything to deny its existence but the truth is slowly emerging as millions of Gulf Coast residents are now becoming sick because of the lethal effects of oil and dispersants: Allen L Roland

It's day 96 of the toxic Gulf deep water oil gusher ( not spill ). The huge toxic slow-moving plumes beneath the surface have finally been confirmed but the toxic air plumes are still being denied by the Government and BP ~ but there is plenty of evidence that they are not only there but causing significant health and environmental damage.

On day 49 ~ the Gates of Hell in the Gulf were obviously opening for this disaster had the potential of effecting the entire planet and here was the latest update, at that time, confirmed by Matt Simmons on MSNBC ~ but note the mention of the gaping hole on the ocean floor several miles away from the televised leak that was never mentioned by BP. (Six minutes / Video)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/37560013#37560013

As to the likelihood of a toxic air plume of Gulf oil and dispersants being breathed by human beings ~ Scientific American explained on July 15, 2010: "Of course, sea spray and evaporating water will carry the oil and any chemical dispersants with them… And this polluted air and water vapor certainly will be carried to the near shore and left as an oily residue on everything from trees to electrical transformers… “If there’s oil in the water, it will be coming along with it to some extent,” says marine physicist Rick Luettich of the University of North Carolina. “I don’t know how significant the impact will be.”
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-will-a-hurricane-affect-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill

And now we have Mark Kaufman, EPA whistleblower being interviewed on July 20th by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now and saying "..we have dolphins that are hemorrhaging. People who work near it are hemorrhaging internally. And that’s what dispersants are supposed to do... many lawmakers and advocacy groups say the Obama administration is not being candid about the lethal effects of dispersants,"
http://www.examiner.com/x-10438-Human-Rights-Examiner~y2010m7d21-Censored-Gulf-news-Whistleblower-EPA-hiding-gassed-people-bleeding-internally

Obviously there appears to be a massive cover up of the toxic air quality in the gulf ~ but here's the visible truth as seen by this Gulf pilot who flew his aircraft over ground zero and then back to the gulf coast and found a sheen of oil over his whole aircraft . He also reports toxic Acid rain reported in Tuscaloosa, Alabama that day ~ which stemmed from clouds over the Gulf the day before. ( Six minute must see video )
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=179134

So there you have it, that toxic orange oil and dispersant film over the leading edge of that aircraft is not only being breathed by millions of Gulf Coast residents but is also falling as a toxic black rain when storm clouds roll in from the Gulf and spread throughout the region and eventually the globe.
Appropriately, here's Black Rain by Mob Rules ~ (5 minute Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkQLJCggRLQ&feature=related

And be aware that Petroleum Inhalation is a cause of "lipoid pneumonia." which is almost always fatal.

Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/toxic-black-rain-falling-in-gulf.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations (
allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his
weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Saturday, July 24, 2010

The Afghan Carousel / No Strategy, No Exit and More Suicides















The Afghanistan Carousel has been turning for well over eight years. Fueled by the Military/Industrial complex and wishful thinking, it has become a senseless bogged down occupation with no clear exit strategy ~ and growing suicides: Allen L Roland

The Afghanistan occupation is an albatross around America's and president Obama's neck and it's getting heavier by the day. But no more heavier than the military pawns that are fighting these senseless holding actions ~ and their suicide rates keep climbing.

Thirty-two soldiers took their own lives last month, the most Army suicides in a single month since the Vietnam era. Eleven of the soldiers were not on active duty. Of the 21 who were, seven were serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said. http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13715

The Army also said the number of U.S. soldiers forced to leave the military because of mental disorders increased by 64 percent from 2005 to 2009, USA Today reported Friday.

The so called Afghanistan War ( Occupation ) has now surpassed the Vietnam War as the longest war in U.S. history and American deaths have been increasing every year since 2007.

Here's the latest casualty count in Afghanistan based on the lowest credible estimates according to Unknown News.
http://www.unknownnews.net/casualties.html

U.S, Troops killed ~ 951
U.S. Troops seriously injured ~ 2853
Afghan civilians killed ~ 8669
Afghan civilians seriously wounded ~ 15,604
Total killed in Afghanistan ( including Afghan troops ( 8587 ), coalition troops ( 666 ) contractors ( 298 ) and journalists ( 11 ) 19,980
Total seriously injured in Afghanistan ( all groups) 48,844

And what about the cost of this exercise in futility ? $ 285 billion and still counting.
http://www.costofwar.com/

So why are we there ?
The plain and simple reason is preemptive Empire building which started with the Cheney/Bush administration and it has been continued in tact by the Obama administration.
Make no mistake about it ~ this is now Obama's Afghan occupation ( or so-called war ) and our eventual humiliating failure will lead to a one term presidency for Obama.

An investigation by the Independent on Sunday, July 11th found that "The strategic plan of creating an Afghan security force to replace U.S. and British troops fighting in Afghanistan is in serious disarray with local forces a fraction of their reported size, infiltrated by the Taliban at senior levels, and plagued by corruption and drug addiction."
http://www.ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/9805/

The only major American mainstream columnist who seems to correctly sense this nightmare in Afghanistan is New York Times Op-ed columnist Bob Herbert who writes in late June ~ " We’ve been in Afghanistan for nearly a decade already. It’s one of the most corrupt places on the planet and the epicenter of global opium production. Our ostensible ally, President Hamid Karzai, is convinced that the U.S. cannot prevail in the war and is in hot pursuit of his own deal with the enemy Taliban. The American public gave up on the war long ago, and it is not at all clear that President Obama’s heart is really in it... For us to even consider several more years of fighting and dying in Afghanistan ~ at a cost of heaven knows how many more billions of American taxpayer dollars ~ is demented."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/opinion/26herbert.html

So why are we really there ?
We are there for political reasons and political reasons alone. President Obama has sold out to the conservative right on Health Care Reform as well as Wall Street Reform and he is not about to bring the troops home from Afghanistan before 2012 and risk being crucified by the Right as a liberal wimp ~ while countless Afghan, Coalition and Americans die on the poppy fields of Afghanistan.

As Herbert rightfully points out ~ " We are sinking more and more deeply into the fetid quagmire of Afghanistan and neither the president nor General Petraeus nor anyone else has the slightest clue about how to get out. The counterinsurgency zealots in the military want more troops sent to Afghanistan, and they want the president to completely scrap his already shaky July 2011 timetable for the beginning of a withdrawal. "

So, the Afghan carousel continues and always to the same out-of-date tune that was played in Vietnam and Iraq and its chorus is still no strategy, no exit and no sense but always to the theme of almost there.

Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/afghan-carousel-no-strategy-no-exit-and.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations (
allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his
weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on http://www.conscioustalk.net/

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A Secret Government / Driven By Fear, Big Brother Is Here

A SECRET GOVERNMENT / DRIVEN BY FEAR, BIG BROTHER IS HERE
















Construction for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in Springfield (Photo by: Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post)

Driven by fear, a top secret Big Brother America has been created in response to the 9/11 attacks. A shadowy out of control counter-intelligence World that has become so large, unwieldy and secretive that no one knows how much money it costs or how many people it employs: Allen L Roland

Dana Priest and William Arkin, Washington Post, have just completed a two year investigation into the top secret Intelligence world the United States created after September 11, 2001 ~ and their devastating findings reveal a hidden and mysterious world that has little oversight and is rapidly growing beyond control.

Excerpts:

* Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States.

* An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances.

* In Washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since September 2001. Together they occupy the equivalent of almost three Pentagons or 22 U.S. Capitol buildings - about 17 million square feet of space.

* Many security and intelligence agencies do the same work, creating redundancy and waste. For example, 51 federal organizations and military commands, operating in 15 U.S. cities, track the flow of money to and from terrorist networks.

Continued reading ~
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/

Here's a classic example ( from this report ) of how this huge unwieldly Intelligence system has become an out of control and terribly expensive information gathering albatross;

" Last fall, U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire at Fort Hood, Tex., killing 13 people and wounding 30. In the days after the shootings, information emerged about Hasan's increasingly strange behavior at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he had trained as a psychiatrist and warned commanders that they should allow Muslims to leave the
Army or risk "adverse events." He had also exchanged e-mails with a well-known radical cleric in Yemen being monitored by U.S. intelligence.... But none of this reached the one organization charged with handling counterintelligence investigations within the Army. Just 25 miles up the road from Walter Reed, the Army's 902nd Military Intelligence Group had been doing little to search the ranks for potential threats. Instead, the 902's commander had decided to turn the unit's attention to assessing general terrorist affiliations in the United States, even though the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI's 106 Joint Terrorism Task Forces were already doing this work in great depth."

Remember, these are our tax dollars at work and here's what it cost. The U.S. intelligence budget is currently at $75 billion, 21/2 times the size it was on Sept. 10, 2001. But that figure doesn't include many military activities or domestic counterterrorism programs .

Former CIA counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer, Philip Giraldi feels Obama is building an Orwellian Ministry of Truth ~ whose ultimate objective is curbing the Internet. The Ministry of Truth was how George Orwell described the mechanism used by government to control information in his seminal novel 1984. Giraldi recently wrote " A recent trip to Europe has convinced me that the governments of the world have been rocked by the power of the internet and are seeking to gain control of it so that they will have a virtual monopoly on information that the public is able to access."

It appears that most of this vast spying operation is aimed toward us, the people, for the financial elite or Oligarchy are deathly afraid of the truth ~ particularly if it becomes available to the people. Think 9/11 ~ if that Pandora's Box of lies, cover-up and deception is opened up, political heads will roll.

And that's also where a huge amount of our stimulus dollars have gone ~ building inefficient monuments to fear, spying and secrecy. As George Orwell prophetically wrote in 1984 ~ War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength and Big Brother is Watching.

Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/secret-government-driven-by-fear-big.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover . a

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his
weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The Big Lie / BP'S Dealings In The Gulf

THE BIG LIE / BP'S DEALINGS IN THE GULF



Never believe anything BP says regarding the capping of its damaged well. BP is all about profit and self protection and has yet to mention the massive gushing hole on the ocean floor a few miles away or provided details on its mysterious $20 billion dollar escrow fund: Allen L Roland

Here are three reasons to mistrust anything BP says about capping its damaged well and halting the current environmental disaster in the Gulf. As Dahr Jamail confirms from the Gulf ~ "Given BP's proven propensity towards lying, skeptics - who are consistently needed to keep BP's rhetoric in check - are also pointing toward other factors that could mean oil is continuing to spew into the Gulf near the well."

1. MSNBC July 15: Matt Simmons says BP is still covering up a MASSIVE HOLE several miles away, which is still actively gushing 120,000 barrels of toxic oil a day into the Gulf. Simmons says the cap test is "absurd" and is mainly a diversionary ploy to ease attention on the Gulf disaster. Two minute Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scl2dgK_-Nw&feature=player_embedded#!

Here's a major problem, Admiral Allen may be in charge, but he's relying on BP to give him information and carry out his orders. As such, Washington has no independent eyes on the scene and that makes no sense in a disaster of this scale.

2. Expert suspects BP has ulterior motive behind oil well cap: Oil industry expert Bob Cavnar isn't buying the official story. He told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on Wednesday that the repeated missteps cast doubt on BP's explanation for why the cap was necessary in the first place. Cavnar believes that BP's true goal is to make it harder to measure the flow of oil from the damaged well, because under the Clean Water Act, it will be liable for civil penalties of up to $4300 for every barrel spilled. http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0715/leak-tests-halted-cover-flow-rates/

3. And what about the mysterious 20 billion dollar escrow fund ? Battleground interviews Environmental lawyer Mike Papantonia, from Pensacola, Florida. Papantonia's firm is leading the class action suit against BP and he is the attorney for the families suing BP.
Watch this must see five minute interview from The Ed Show ( MSNBC ) where Papantonio claims that there is no $20 Billion, but there are two hundred million gallons of oil in the Gulf, as well as two million gallons of toxic dispersals. He also mentions the 27,000 unmonitored wells which could well be leaking time bombs. Video ~
http://vodpod.com/watch/4042743-the-truth-about-bps-escrow-fund?u=ampedstatuscom&c=ampedstatus

The Obama administration is acting like BP is too big to fail but to most Americans ~ BP has already morally failed. The first step towards restitution will be transparency and the truth ~ which, in BP's case, is still no where in sight. What is clearly in sight is a failed U.S. Energy policy !

Allen L Roland http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/big-lie-bps-dealings-in-gulf.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his
weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

Cartoon courtesy of Tom Toles / Washington Post

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY


Friday, July 16, 2010

Wall Street Reform Bill / The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

WALL STREET REFORM BILL / THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY



















The so called Wall Street Reform bill passed but it was actually a victory for the Lobbyists, who literally bought the Senate who defanged the House Bill and left America vulnerable to eventually another financial crisis: Allen L Roland

I guess this was all you could expect from an Obama administration who would much rather deal with the corporate owned old boy network in the Senate than the upstart will of the people in the House so here it is ~ the good, the bad and the ugly. The Bill ( The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, H.R.4173 ) appears to be a feeble attempt to get Wall Street to invest in a productive job-creating economy versus gambling on risky investments ~ by using increased regulation without badly needed incentives.

The Good ~ The bill includes Bernie Sanders' amendment lifting the veil of secrecy at the Federal Reserve.~ in that American people will finally know all of the names of the financial institutions, corporations, and foreign central banks that received over $2 trillion in secret loans and other financial assistance from the Fed ~ but not until after the mid-term elections on December 1st.

The creation of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is good, but it could have been much, much better. Unfortunately, it will be housed at the Fed and it won't be able to regulate interest rates on credit cards. Right now, over 25% of American credit card holders are paying more than 20% interest on their credit cards.

Huffington Post reports that on the very day the Senate passed Wall Street reform and created a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner is urging President Obama NOT to appoint the most credible person as its leader ~ Elizabeth Warren.
Warren's credentials are impeccable. She was the one who came up with the idea for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ~ which is perhaps the best piece of this bill and obviously a threat to the financially elite.


Elizabeth Warren should be Main Street's voice at the Financial table and the financial elite, led by their lackey, Tim Geithner, are terrified of that prospect ~ and well they should be ! Here's a short video clip of Warren in action quizing a visibly nervous and defensive Geithner about Bank accountability ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUZWSi9HL_Y

In short, Warren is perfect for the position and most financial insiders have just assumed she would get it. That's why it's so outrageous that Geithner ~ a longtime Wall Street insider ~ would attempt to sabotage her appointment. Sign our petition to President Obama in support of Elizabeth Warren today. Click here -- then tell your friends.

The Bad ~ The bill does not do enough to stop too big to fail banks from gambling trillions of dollars in risky derivatives and credit default swaps ~ whereas banks will still be able to keep gambling a substantial amount of money in derivatives while having access to the discount window at the Fed as well as deposit insurance protecting them if their risky bets don’t pay off.

The Ugly ~ The bill does not break-up too big to fail banks that nearly drove the entire economy off of a cliff nearly two years ago. Right now, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo are bigger today than they were before the financial crisis. The repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, by the Clinton administration in 1998, effectively removed the separation that previously existed between Wall Street investment banks and depository banks which led to the dangerous financial excesses of the Bush years. That ugly reality still exists and could eventually lead to another financial crisis.

Once again, Americans wanted real change with teeth and got token change with lip service ~ which seems to be the ongoing theme of the Obama administration as well as the President himself.

Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/wall-street-reform-bill-good-bad-and.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations (
allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his
weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

Cartoon courtesy of Tom Toles / Washington Post

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Black Wave Moving Toward East Coast

BLACK WAVE MOVING TOWARD EAST COAST

















A still from the animation showing the projected oil trajectory after 130 days.

It is now almost 90 days since the Gulf oil catastrophe and the Gulf is already in its death throes as the black wave moves toward the Florida Keys with the East Coast soon to follow: Allen L Roland

We've seen this black wave before ~ except it was the Exxon Valdez disaster. The time March 24,1989 and the scene was Prince William Sound, Alaska. A spill that effected the whole Gulf of Alaska, a clean up that lasted three years with over 6500 workers filing upper respiratory medical claims. In 1994, it went to a class action trial and Exxon stonewalled it to the end.

Watch this extremely well done five minute documentary on that event closely and realize that after 20 years ~ we are seeing a re-run except the culprit this time is British Petroleum.
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/895.html

Keep in mind that upwards of 50% of the oil and gas from the Gulf serves to fuel the US and UK war-making machines. As the concerned citizens of Florida rightfully point out ~ " Perhaps the human race will now wake up to the fact that there is a conscious being under their feet. That there are many other living beings who have a right to exactly what human beings have a right to. We hope and pray that the American consciousness expands into an awareness of otherness and respect for all life, especially the human life in other nations that are seemingly foreign to them. The future will not allow anything less if humanity hopes to survive."
http://rense.com/general91/chgn.htm

A detailed computer modeling study recently released indicates that oil from the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico might soon extend along thousands of miles of the Atlantic coast and open ocean as early as this summer. The modeling results are captured in a series of dramatic animations produced by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and collaborators. The full article can be read at ~ http://www2.ucar.edu/news/ocean-currents-likely-to-carry-oil-spill-along-atlantic-coast

Meanwhile, here are pictures and a must see nine minute Video that BP and the Obama administration do not want you to see ~ for it pictures the Gulf in its death Throes.
Click to view
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25926.htm

Here's Dahr Jamail and Erika Blumenfeld, reporting yesterday from the Gulf for Truthout: "My eyes are burning as I type this. We've just returned from spending the day down in Barataria, located about an hour's drive south of New Orleans. The community of fishermen is swimming in oil. Within minutes of arriving, our eyes begin to burn and we begin to feel dizzy from airborne chemicals from the oil and dispersant." http://www.truth-out.org/bad-air-barataria61296

Like 9/11 ~ this crime of treasonous or willful negligence is so horrendous that the truth is still being withheld despite the fact that this catastrophe is still accelerating and moving north toward the East Coast.

Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/black-wave-moving-toward-east-coast.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations (
allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his
weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on http://www.conscioustalk.net/

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY