What Country Should Crimea Be Part Of? Reflections on Nation Building and US Hypocrisy

What Country Should Crimea Be Part Of? Reflections on Nation Building and US Hypocrisy
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An up or down vote on whether Crimea stays with Ukraine or joins Russia is slated for March 16, just 10 days from now.

Please consider Crimea Votes to Join Russia, Accelerating Ukraine Crisis.

Crimea’s parliament voted to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum on the decision in 10 days’ time in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula.

The vice premier of Crimea, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, said a referendum on the status would take place on March 16. All state property would be “nationalized”, the Russian ruble adopted and Ukrainian troops treated as occupiers and forced to surrender or leave, he said.

Historical Background

Let’s take a look at the historical and political references as noted by the Financial Times.

“Crimea was, is and will be an integral part of Ukraine,” said Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine prime minister. Speaking in Brussels, he said the referendum had “no legal grounds” and urged the Russian government not to support those advocating separatism in Ukraine.

Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukraine’s acting president, said Crimea’s referendum would be banned, its parliament disbanded and snap elections held.

Crimea has been a bone of contention between Moscow and Kiev ever since Nikita Krushchev gave it to Ukraine in February 1954, in a move to mark the 300th anniversary of the 1654 treaty that unified Ukraine and Russia.

In 1992, Crimea’s parliament voted to declare the region independent of Ukraine and scheduled a referendum to confirm the vote. But after pressure from Kiev, lawmakers backtracked, announcing the peninsula was part of Ukraine.

What Country Should Crimea Belong To?

Like it or not, it’s pretty clear that in recent history Crimea was not part of Ukraine. Rather Crimea became part of Ukraine without a vote. In 1992 it almost left Ukraine, but the Crimea parliament was talked out of a vote.

What country should Crimea be part of? Should it be its own country? And should the people decide, or politicians?

U.S. Hypocrisy

Somehow it’s OK for the U.S. to send troops to Iraq and Afghanistan half a world away, supposedly to protect U.S. interests, but it’s not OK for Russia to protect its interests at its own doorstep.

Two wrongs don’t make a right, I simply want to note the hypocritical nature of U.S. statements on the matter.

In general, I don’t condone military actions. Nor do I condone Russia’s military actions now. That said, Russia at least has genuine political interest in its actions.

The U.S. had zero business in Iraq and there is certainly no justification for ongoing U.S. troops in Afghanistan for the last 10 years.

Rule of Votes

Politicians don’t want votes unless the vote is going their way.

That Crimea’s parliament is willing to hold a vote is a strong indication of which way the vote will go.

Reflections on Nation Building

No matter how the Crimea vote goes, there is going to be a significant number of people who will despise the outcome.

This is precisely what is guaranteed to happen when politicians merge regions into countries for political reasons.

Iraq was once three distinct countries. Wikipedia offers these notes on Iraq History.

Following WWI … “Britain imposed a Hāshimite monarchy on Iraq and defined the territorial limits of Iraq without taking into account the politics of the different ethnic and religious groups in the country, in particular those of the Kurds and the Assyrians to the north. During the British occupation, the Shi’ites and Kurds fought for independence.”

Iraq achieved independence in 1932. Then came multiple coups, two US invasions, religious wars, and ethnic battles that continue to this day.

The Kurds want their own country. They once had it. Here is a Map of Kurdistan.

Turkey and Iraq are both involved in the Kurdish mess.  Kurdistan once overlapped part of Turkey and part of Iraq. The Kurds now want their own independent area of Iraq. Turkey does not want that to happen fearing it will unite Kurdish sentiment in Turkey.

Historically speaking, no good ever came from the “nation building” political exercise of forcing together widely different ethnic and religious groups into a single country.

Why should it be any different this time?

So let me ask again: What country should Crimea belong to and who should decide?

Whatever you answer, the U.S. should stay out of this mess. It’s not our battle, and sending missiles to the Czech Republic as part of the solution as McCain proposes is decidedly preposterous.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Mike “Mish” Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

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Freedom tower might not be the nation’s tallest building

The Freedom Tower is at the mercy of a committee of architects who may decide the tower is NOT the nation’s tallest building.

At odds is a design change involving the towers 408 foot needle at the top of the building.

If the change is made the building won’t be listed at 1776 feet, but 1,368 feet.

That would ruin not only the tallest building label but the patriotic tie that comes with the 1776 number.

There is one other thing to note that has some in the process crying foul.

The building that would re-ascend to that tallest spot is the Willis Towers in Chicago (old Sears bldg) and the committee making the decision is based there as well.

One committee member of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat said “most of the time, these decisions are not so controversial.”

The decision is scheduled to be made next week. For more on the discussion and how the experts are looking into things, click here.

Read more at KRMG

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Freedom tower might not be the nation’s tallest building

Latest Business News: Stocks Open Higher as Home Building Advances

Latest Business News: Stocks Open Higher as Home Building Advances
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Facebook Building Walled Corporate City For Employees

Via Valleywag, Silicon Valley workers will have the opportunity to disappear inside Facebook, for good:

If Facebook staffers opt to move in to work, they’ll be getting a very sweet deal out of it: the Anton Menlo project includes all the comforts of suburbia and college combined. What 20-something engineer wouldn’t want to live in a walled compound?

Work is only five minutes away—and thanks to mediocre or non-existent public transit options, no one from The Outside will be able to easily visit. It’ll be like you never existed on Earth before joining Facebook.

To really finesse that You’ve-been-removed-from-the rest of society vibe, a six-foot wall surrounds most of the project.

The post Facebook Building Walled Corporate City For Employees appeared first on disinformation.

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Facebook Building Walled Corporate City For Employees

Empire Building, the Debt Ceiling, the Budget Deficit and the “Samson Solution”

Introduction

            US and world political and economic leaders are faced with what they describe as a ‘systemic catastrophe’:  the inability to pay global creditors, including domestic and foreign banks, investors and governments, who hold $ 16.7 trillion in US Treasury notes.  There is a related crisis: the government cannot secure passage of a budget to finance its military and civilian agencies and activities, including large-scale payments to military contractors, the financing of business, agriculture and banking operations and social programs.  The raising of the debt-ceiling is central to the functioning of the financial ruling class as it extracts hundreds of billions of tax dollars in interest payments from the US Treasury.  Raising the debt ceiling allows the State to keep borrowing and pay its billionaire creditors.  In turn, as long as the US Treasury has liquidity, it remains a ‘safe haven’ for investors thus providing guaranteed profits.  In addition, as long as the dollar remains the principle currency for global transactions, it allows the US Treasury to print money at will and to borrow at a lower cost – at the expense of its competitors and adversaries.

             Financing the budget deficit requires borrowing, which involves the sale hundreds of billions of dollars worth of US government bonds through Wall Street – but at a cost to the taxpayer.  The common denominator is that the entire edifice of finance capital and all of its support structures depend on debt financing by the State.  By borrowing and then taxing its citizens the Treasury extracts wealth from the vast majority of Americans.

            To understand the fight to raise the debt ceiling and to pass a deficit budget it is necessary to analyze the long-term, large-scale sources of State debt.

Imperial Wars, the Ascendancy of Finance Capital and the Debt Crisis

            The ever-increasing debt and the constant raising of the debt ceiling is a result of long-term, large-scale military spending to build the US Empire.  The imperial enterprise has generated a huge deficit:  the cost/benefit ratio has been overwhelmingly negative.  Contrary to militarist propaganda, the empire has not been ‘self-financing’:  Wars and occupation in Iraq , Afghanistan and elsewhere have cost the US taxpayers trillions of dollars, not off-set by incoming imperial plunder or domestic economic expansion.

            Parallel to the cost of wars and occupations, the rise of finance capital has largely resulted from the pillage of the US Treasury.  Huge bailouts, low interest loans, large-scale interest payments on bonds, subsidies and tax exemptions have created a financial ruling class based on maintaining a debt-laden, interest-paying State, which meets its obligations to the creditors while it privatizes (and eliminates) social programs.  The result is a ‘poor indebted State’ and a rich and prosperous Wall Street.  Wall Street stands to gain trillions with the privatization of the multi-billion dollar health (Medicare) and retirement plans (Social Security): this will form an integral component of the “Grand Bargain” to raise the debt ceiling.

Who are the Beneficiaries of Raising the Debt Ceiling?

            The principle and immediate beneficiaries of increasing the debt ceiling are the wealthy, bond-holders and the medium and long-term beneficiaries are the military-intelligence-empire-builders who can continue to secure over $ 700 billion in annual budget allocations.  The principle strategic losers from raising the debt ceiling will be the hundreds of millions of beneficiaries of social programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and their family members.  As part of the ‘Grand Bargain’ struck by the Democratic President and Republican Congress – between $ 1.3 trillion and $ 1.4 trillion in social cuts will take effect over the next ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  The cuts in Social Security will occur by raising the age of eligibility for full benefits to 70 years, resulting in a loss of $ 120 billion, as many older retired workers would be expected to die before drawing a single payment while millions of Americans  will be forced to delay retirement and work an extra five years.

Secondly, the earliest age of eligibility for partial benefits will increase from 62 to 64 years – resulting in an additional loss of $ 144 billion dollars from workers.

Thirdly, the cost of living index would be reduced – a ten- year loss of $ 112 billion dollars.

Fourthly, the calculation for initial benefits would discard the wage-based method for a so-called “price-index”, resulting in American workers losing another $ 137 billion dollars over 10 years.  In sum, workers’ social security benefits would be reduced by more than half a trillion dollars – an enormous transfer of wealth to the billionaire creditors, investors and empire builders – all in the name of ‘debt reduction’.

The cuts in MEDICARE and MEDICAID would result in an even more retrograde class polarization.  The ‘Grand Bargain’ could lead to additional losses of over $ 419 billion dollars.

The biggest cost to the workers will come in the form of an increase in their  monthly premium  for physician services (MEDICARE Part B) from the current 25%  to 35%, resulting in a loss of $ 241 billion dollars.  The second biggest loss to workers will result from raising the age of eligibility for MEDICARE from 65 to 67 years costing workers an additional S125 billion dollars.  The third loss for workers will be a $ 53 billion hit  from restricting the use of MEDIGAP insurance – supplementary policies that cover MEDICARE cost sharing requirements.

Further cuts of $ 187 billion in MEDICAID– the medical plan for the poor and disabled– would result when the federal government shifts its direct funding to block grants to the states that would severely cut services for the poor – a plan first proposed during the Clinton Administration with regard to welfare funding.

Once these reactionary cuts in basic social programs are in place, the beneficiaries, who are able, will be forced to buy alternative supplementary private medical insurance and private retirement plans, while the poor will go without.  The running down of public social services by Wall Street has been a deliberate, cynical strategy to cause popular discontent paving the way for the gradual privatization of services: adding costs, eliminating options and limiting medical treatment, surgery and procedures, especially for the elderly.  The privatization of Social Security, MEDICARE and MEDICAID, will maximize insecurity while minimizing services and lead to untreated and under-treated illness, greater suffering and economic distress.  Bi-partisan Congressional –White House agreements via the “Great Bargain” to raise the debt ceiling will widen and deepen inequalities in the United States .

In sum, “the Grand Bargain” will cause American workers to lose over $ 1.119 trillion dollars over the next 10 years, leading to a sharp decline in life expectancy, access to health care, living standards and quality of life.

The Samson Solution

            Given the harsh terms, which accompany the “Grand Bargain” to raise the debt ceiling, it would be better if no agreement were reached.  The financial elite is counting on the ‘Grand Bargain’ to leverage their debt collection over the lives and welfare of hundreds of millions of Americans.  It would be better to shake the pillars and pull down this Temple of Mammon (the ‘Samson Solution’) making them pay a price!

            The ‘shock and awe’ induced by default would shake the very foundations of the financial pillage of the US Treasury and the taxpayers; default would seriously undermine the financial basis for imperial wars, spying, torture and death squads.  The entire empire building project would crumble.

            True, in the short-run, the workers and middle class would also suffer from a default.  But the discredit of the ruling political parties, the political elite and Wall Street, could lead to a new political alignment, which would fund social programs by, in David Stockman’s phrase, “soaking the rich” – raising corporate taxes by 50%, imposing a financial transaction tax of 5%, uncapping the social security tax and collecting taxes on overseas US multi-nationals’ profits.  Additional billions would be saved by ending imperial wars, closing bases and canceling military contracts.  Tax reform, imperial dismantlement and increased domestic investment in productive activity would generate domestic growth leading to a budget surplus, extending MEDICARE to all Americans, reducing the age of retirement to 62 and providing a living wage for all workers!

Global Research

Empire Building, the Debt Ceiling, the Budget Deficit and the “Samson Solution”

"Flush the TPP!": Protesters Scale Trade Building in Protest of Secretive Deal

Those negotiations, which have been brokered entirely behind closed doors, are certain to put corporate profits ahead of both human rights and environmental concerns, opponents of the pact have argued.

Today’s banner drop comes as part of a series of actions that started with a rally on Fridayoutside of the trade office and will continue throughout the next several days.

Groups involved in the ongoing protests include FlushTheTPP.org, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, Earth First!, Communications Workers of America, Friends of the Earth, Food and Water Watch and Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.

“Regulating Wall Street is what we need. It’s time to flush the TPP,” Melinda St. Louis, international campaigns director for Public Citizen, said to the crowd on Friday as she stood in front of a large cardboard-constructed roll of toilet paper labeled the TPP Death Star.

“Protecting workers is what we need,” she said.

“Americans cannot afford another back-room deal that offshores manufacturing and service jobs, reduces tax revenues and pushes down wages and benefits in the jobs that remain,” Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of Citizens Trade Campaign said Friday. “Unless exposed to the light of day and real public participation, the TPP is poised to enrich corporate interests at the expense of the economy, the environment and public health at home and abroad.”

While the U.S. public and the press have been locked out of TPP meetings, corporate “trade advisers” have participated and been given copies of the agreement.

President Barack Obama announced Thursday he will push fast-track legislation, otherwise known as Trade Promotion Authority, which will allow him to push through trade agreements while taking away congressional powers to amend.

“This is the grand-daddy of trade deals, a very destructive project, and it is happening completely under the radar,” Chris Townsend, political director for United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), told Common Dreams on Friday.

Watch below for an interview with Public Citizen’s Melinda St. Louis at the protest on Friday.

(Photo provided by protest organizers)

BlackListedNews.com

"Flush the TPP!": Protesters Scale Trade Building in Protest of Secretive Deal

Protesters Take Over US Trade Rep Building Expose Secret Negotiations

Washington, DC – This afternoon, September 23rd, protesters concerned about the looming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) covered the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative with banners calling for a democratic process and a release of the treaty’s text. The group, which included members of FlushTheTPP.org, Backbone Campaign, Veterans for Peace, CODEPINK, and Earth First!, say that the TPP will have vast consequences for U.S. laws, workers rights, the environment and many other aspects of life.

Large sign hanging from the top of Office of US Trade Representative by Anne Meador

We decided to expose these secret negotiations by going right to their national office and plastering the Office of the US Trade Representative with messages that let them and the public know what they are doing. We took over their office building today, and plan to continue to escalate tactics in Congress and wherever we see opportunities to expose the TPP, stop the undermining of democracy through Fast Track and have a real debate over whether the US wants rigged trade for big transnational corporations or fair trade that puts people and the planet before profits.

So far, the TPP has been drafted with an unprecedented degree of secrecy. While information has been kept from the public more than 600 corporate advisers have access to the treaty’s text – including companies such as Halliburton, Monsanto, Walmart, and Chevron. The Obama administration has kept the TPP classified, making it the first-ever classification of a trade agreement. In addition to denying public access to its text, the president has urged Congress to use Fast Track to pass the treaty. Fast Track would limit congressional consideration of the text to a quick up or down vote and give President Obama the power to sign and negotiate the treaty. This turns the Constitution on its head as the Commerce Clause authorizes Congress to “regulate commerce among nations” not the president.”

Seven advocates dressed as workers attached four massive banners to the front and side of the US Trade Representative’s office. Banners read “Transparency: Release the Text,” “Democracy, not Corporatocracy,” “Corporate Coup against the People and Planet” and “Flush The TPP.org.”  Other activists at the front of the building held a large 15 foot tall sign that said: “Trading Away People’s Lives and the Planet’s Future.”  They were able to cover the building in banners and hold this un-permitted protest and negotiate doing so without anyone getting arrested, in fact one activist who had been held in handcuffs was even released.

Margaret Flowers, MD and Steve Bray chained together by bike locks on
the balcony of USTR with staff member standing nearby. Photo by Anne Meador

Margaret Flowers, MD, who dressed as a workman to attach a sign to the front of the US Trade Representative said that “the TPP will undermine health care systems, make pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices more expensive and therefore increase pain and suffering and even cost people their lives.” Flowers an advocate for a national health care plan that treats health care as a human right rather than a commodity warned that “The TPP will undermine the excellent single payer health care systems in Japan, Australia and New Zealand and make it more difficult for the United States to put in place a single payer system — which is what most Americans and doctors want to see.”

The protesters join Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-MN), Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), and many others who are opposing Fast Track and calling for the text’s immediate release. Earlier this summer, Rep. Grayson stated that, “this, more than anything, shows the abuse of the classified information system,” calling the treaty an “assault on democratic government.” Sen. Warren noted in her letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, “if transparency would lead to widespread public opposition to a trade agreement then that trade agreement should not be the policy of the United States.”   Groups of Republicans and Democrats are beginning to speak out against Fast Track, the lack of transparency and the TPP.  Just as the war against Syria was stopped by a cross-partisan coalition, such a coalition can stop the TPP. Indeed 14 trade agreements have not become law in the last ten years because of citizen opposition preventing countries from reaching agreement.

Two large banners opposing the TPP hang from the balcony of the USTR. Photo by Anne Meador.

An agreement that will empower corporations to dominate every aspect of our lives — food, water, health care, wages, jobs, Internet and more — should be debated openly and transparently.  The United States is supposed to be a democracy; acting in secret to create the largest trade agreement in history makes a mockery of democracy.  Minimizing the checks and balances between the Congress and president undermines the Constitution.  And, giving away U.S. sovereignty to transnational corporations is the opposite of a country of, by and for the people.

While the full content of the treaty remains unknown, public opposition to what little has been leaked is growing. We are confident the TPP can be stopped, if people know what is in  the agreement. They are keeping this agreement secret because they know its contents are so unpopular. People remember the negative impact of NAFTA, the TPP is NAFTA on steroids and will do great damage to working people all over the world as well as to the environment.

FlushTheTPP.org sign hangs from the top of the Office of the US Trade Representative

A new report from the Center for Economic Policy and Research finds that the TPP will produce small economic growth of only 1/10th of 1 percent per year, but it will hurt working Americans as 90 percent of workers will see their income reduced as a result of the TPP. Unions including the Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO and Teamsters have raised serious concerns about the TPP’s impact on working families, and doctors have also highlighted consequences for access to healthcare and life-saving medicines.

Resistance is not limited to the U.S. alone. Other members of the treaty, including Japan and Malaysia, have seen significant public demonstrations in opposition to the agreement, while the lead negotiator from Chile, Rodrigo Contreras, resigned earlier this year citing concerns that the treaty would restrict Chile’s ability to shape public policies, control financial institutions and address issues of health, education, and development.

One protester from FlushTheTPP.org, who locked himself to Margaret Flowers on top of the building’s scaffolding, has firsthand experience with how transnational corporations control and design free trade agreements like these. Steven Bray decided to quit his job after his former employer, Caterpillar, sent the entire company a link to an automated message in support of the U.S.-Colombian Free Trade Agreement. “When I learned how many of my coworkers responded without actually considering the text and its potential consequences, I couldn’t stand it. This made the voice of one CEO sound like the voice of 10,000.” The Colombia trade agreement has had a serious negative effect on farmers and workers in Colombia and has resulted in massive nationwide protests.

Protesters promised to escalate their tactics if President Obama continues to undermine the Constitution, transparency, and democracy. On Tuesday, the protesters will crash a Fast Track train into Congress after driving it across the city from the US Chamber of Commerce at 11 AM.

Truthout Stories

Protesters Take Over US Trade Rep Building Expose Secret Negotiations

Can a Senator Run Into a Burning Building?

Newark Mayor and U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker speaks to the media after casting his ballot during the Senate primary election in Newark, New Jersey, August 13, 2013.

Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

If Cory Booker is elected to the Senate, what happens to the dog-rescuing, proposal-saving, burning-house-charging mayor who has romanced the nation’s headlines? In Part 3 of his interview, Slate’s Jacob Weisberg predicts that the Senate will put strain on Booker’s famous relationship with his constituents—a sentiment Booker doesn’t share.

Watch Part 1 of Weisberg’s interview about the gay-baiting headlines in Booker’s Senate race, and Part 2, in which Booker points to at least one issue he thinks he can get Democrats and Republicans can work together to fix. On Monday, look for the final installment on Booker’s triumphs and failures as mayor of Newark, N.J.

MySlate is a new tool that lets you track your favorite parts of Slate. You can follow authors and sections, track comment threads you’re interested in, and more.

Slate Articles

Can a Senator Run Into a Burning Building?

SF Bay Area building demolition fuels quake study

Workers walk away from Warren Hall on the California State University, East Bay Hayward Campus Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013, in Hayward, Calif. The 13-story Warren Hall, which opened in 1971, was determined by the California State University Seismic Review Board to be the most vulnerable building in the CSU system, and will be demolished on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Workers walk away from Warren Hall on the California State University, East Bay Hayward Campus Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013, in Hayward, Calif. The 13-story Warren Hall, which opened in 1971, was determined by the California State University Seismic Review Board to be the most vulnerable building in the CSU system, and will be demolished on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) — Every time the ground trembles in the San Francisco Bay Area, people ask themselves: Could this be the big one?

For years now, the region has been bracing for a major earthquake that many worry could level vulnerable schools, hospitals and apartment buildings and unleash near-apocalyptic chaos. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there is a 63 percent chance of a major earthquake in the region within the next three decades.

On Saturday, scientists hope to get one-up on the looming temblor, courtesy of the demolition of a university building.

Workers plan to implode the 13-story Warren Hall, a fixture of the East Bay hillside and of Cal State East Bay, which was built about 2000 feet from what researchers call one of the most dangerous fault lines in the country: the Hayward fault.

The building is expected to crumple into 12,500 tons of concrete and steel, which will slam against the ground sending out shockwaves similar to a magnitude-2.0 earthquake. Scientists have placed more than 600 seismographs in concentric circles within a mile of the building to pick up the vibrations.

USGS scientists hope the unique experiment will help map out where the ground might shake the most when the big one hits.

“We’re just getting an idea of the distribution of the shaking,” said Rufus Catchings, the lead USGS scientist on the project.

Many vividly remember the magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 that killed 63 people, injured almost 3,800, caused up to $ 10 billion damage, including a collapsed freeway that killed dozens of drivers. That quake was centered near Santa Cruz, about 50 miles south of here.

But in the East Bay, the Hayward fault — which runs through East Bay cities and under the University of California, Berkeley’s football stadium — is the most likely to act up and cause a major earthquake in the next few decades, experts say.

The last major temblor on the Hayward fault was in 1868, Catchings said. He said the fault triggers a major earthquake every 140 years on average.

And it’s not just the fault line residents have to worry about. Additional fault lines —called traces — split off from the main fault, and the location of many is unknown. The vibrations set off by Warren Hall’s implosion will help scientists figure out where they are.

“In the event of a large earthquake, oftentimes it’s not just one break in the ground, it’s spread out over some distance,” Catchings said. “You’d kind of like to know where all these things are if you really want to understand the hazard.”

Mark Salinas, Hayward’s mayor pro tem, said knowing where the ground shakes will help the city decide where to put new housing and other buildings. “This data, when it’s available, will inform us on future development,” he said.

The idea to use the building’s demolition came from Luther Strayer, a geology professor at the university who called the USGS to see if they would be interested.

“Anybody in my position who is trained like I am would have recognized the opportunity,” Strayer said. “That’s really the cool part; it was sort of a simple obvious thing to do and it can do so much good for our society and the community.”

Associated Press

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Marine Corps Colonel: Homeland Security Building “Domestic Army”

Fallujah veteran says government is afraid of its own citizens

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
August 15, 2013

A former Marine Corps Colonel who was stationed in Fallujah and trained Iraqi soldiers warns that the Department of Homeland Security is working with law enforcement to build a “domestic army,” because the federal government is afraid of its own citizens.

The comments by the Colonel, whose identity remains unknown, were made during public testimony at a Concord City Council meeting on Tuesday. The meeting concerned a decision on whether to accept a $ 260,000 Homeland Security grant on behalf of the Central New Hampshire Special Operations Unit to purchase a BearCat armored vehicle.

The purchase of the vehicle has been surrounded by controversy after the city’s Police Chief wrote in an application filing to the DHS that the vehicle was needed to deal with the “threat” posed by libertarians, sovereign citizen adherents, and Occupy activists in the region.

Referencing signs in the crowd which read “More Mayberry, Less Fallujah,” the Colonel spoke of how he didn’t even have armored vehicles when he was stationed in Fallujah.

The Colonel’s role as a Ministry of Defense coordinator was to command, train and equip the Iraqi Army, noting that he helped do everything he could “to make it as strong as possible,” but that “Homeland Security would kick their butts in a week.”

Stressing that it was unlawful and unconstitutional to use US troops on American soil, the Colonel warned, “What’s happening here is we’re building a domestic military,” adding that police are now “wearing the exact same combat gear that we had in Iraq, only it was a different color.”

The Colonel warned that the DHS was following military tactics by, “pre-staging gear and equipment” in order to build a “domestic army” while shrinking the US military “because the government is afraid of its own citizens.”

The Colonel slammed the idea of law enforcement purchasing militarized vehicles for domestic security, noting, “The last time more than ten terrorists were in one place at the same time was September 11th and all these vehicles in the world wouldn’t have prevented it nor would it have helped anybody.”

“I don’t know where we’re going to use this many vehicles or this many troops,” he continued, “Concord is just one cog in the wheel – we’re building an army over here and I can’t believe that people aren’t seeing it – is everybody blind?”

In his initial application to the DHS for the grant to purchase the armored vehicle, Police Chief John Duval wrote, “The State of New Hampshire’s experience with terrorism slants primarily towards the domestic type. We are fortunate that our State has not been victimized from a mass casualty event from an international terrorism strike however on the domestic front, the threat is real and here. Groups such as the Sovereign Citizens, Free Staters and Occupy New Hampshire are active and present daily challenges.”

Duval’s characterization of activists from across the political spectrum as terrorists prompted outrage but he refused to apologize, merely clarifying that his application may not have been worded correctly. Following the removal of the terms Sovereign Citizens, Free Staters and Occupy New Hampshire from the application, the DHS made it clear that the grant would be approved.

As the Concord Monitor reports, Tuesday’s public testimony also included a warning from Irena Goddard, who grew up in Czechoslovakia.

“I do not want this deadly intimidation force of a military vehicle to suppress free speech, much like what was done with communist military tanks in Czechoslovakia,” she said.

Resident Jesse Mertz remarked that the militarization of law enforcement signaled that, “The military industrial complex has infiltrated every part of our society to the point where it’s now happening in our hometowns, and we’re seeing stuff occur that people said would never happen in our own country.”

The Concord Council delayed the decision to purchase the vehicle and the matter will be taken up once again at next month’s meeting.

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*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.

This article was posted: Thursday, August 15, 2013 at 6:07 am

Tags: domestic news, government corruption, police state

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Marine Corps Colonel: Homeland Security Building “Domestic Army”

Moscow, Tehran to sign agreement on building new nuclear power plant – Iranian FM

The reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran, 1200 kms south of Tehran. (Reuters/Mehr News Agency/Majid Asgaripour)

Moscow and Tehran will soon sign an agreement on the construction of a new nuclear power plant in the Islamic Republic, Iran’s Foreign Minister announced.

“Iran has held consultations with the Russian side and soon an agreement of mutual understanding will be signed on the construction of a new nuclear power plant,” Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian foreign minister and former nuclear chief, said on Sunday.

He reiterated that Iran’s nuclear program is purely peaceful, as the country needs nuclear power for electricity generation and medicine.

The statement comes ahead of the first meeting between Iran’s newly elected President Hassan Rouhani and Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 13. The talks are part of a Eurasian summit taking place in Kyrgyzstan’s capital of Bishkek, a Russian presidential aide said Friday.

“After Rouhani’s election as president, the Iranian government sent us a proposal to hold a Rouhani-Putin meeting within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek,” Yury Ushakov said.

Last month, Russian business daily Kommersant cited anonymous sources which said that Vladimir Putin may visit Tehran to meet Hassan Rouhani in mid-August.

Rouhani was sworn in on August 4 and replaced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as head of Iranian government.

During his first press conference on Tuesday, Rouhani said that Iran would continue negotiations with Russia on nuclear power development in the country.

“We need to get 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power. We have been negotiating on this. I hope that everything will develop according to schedule, and Iran will be able to continue to build nuclear power plants and continue to cooperate. The Iranian government will continue to negotiate with neighboring countries, one of which is Russia, to develop peaceful nuclear energy,” he said.

Russian parliament speaker Sergey Naryshkin said during his visit to Iran on August 4 that Russia intends to expand cooperation in civilian nuclear power after Iran’s nuclear power plant at Bushehr is fully commissioned in September.

The construction of Bushehr – the first civilian nuclear plant in the Middle East – was started in 1975 by German companies, but the work was stopped in 1979 after the Islamic revolution of Iran. A contract for finishing the plant was signed between Iran and the Russian Ministry for Atomic Energy in 1995.

Bushehr nuclear power plant launched in 2011 has no link to nuclear weapons production and cannot be used to develop such technology.

The US and its allies have long accused Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability – a claim which Tehran has repeatedly denied.

Several rounds of talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have failed to resolve the dispute. Iran’s critics claim the country has used nuclear negotiations as a delaying tactic while continuing to develop nuclear weapons technology behind closed doors. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for entirely peaceful purposes.

Source: RT

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Egypt: Clash At Military Building Leaves Dozens Dead

At least 40 people were killed Monday in clashes outside a military building in Cairo where supporters of the former president were holding a sit-in, an Egyptian health ministry official said.

Ministry spokesman Khaled el-Khatib said initial reports also indicated at least 322 were wounded, although he gave no details on the circumstances of the killings.

Military spokesmen said gunmen opened fire on troops at the building, killing at least five supporters of Mohammed Morsi and one officer.

A spokesman from Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, Mourad Ali, and a witness at the scene however said military forces opened fire at dawn on the protesters outside the Republican Guard building. The different accounts could not be reconciled.

Satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera showed footage from a nearby field hospital of at least six dead bodies laid out on the ground, some with severe wounds. A medic from the area, Hesham Agami, said ambulances were unable to transport more than 200 wounded to hospitals because the military had blocked off the roads.

Al-Shaimaa Younes, who was at the sit-in, said military troops and police forces opened fire on the protesters during early morning prayers. “They opened fire with live ammunition and lobbed tear gas,” she said by telephone. “There was panic and people started running. I saw people fall.”

Women and children had been among the protesters, she said.

Morsi supporters have been holding rallies and a sit-in outside the Republican Guard building since the military deposed Morsi last week during massive protests against him. The military chief replaced Morsi with an interim president, until presidential elections are held. But Morsi’s supporters refuse to recognize the change in leadership and insist Morsi be reinstated. Besides the Republican Guard sit-in, they are also holding thousands-strong daily rallies at a nearby mosque.

Morsi’s opponents are also holding rival rallies. They say the former president lost his legitimacy by mismanaging the country and not ruling democratically, leading to a mass revolt that called on the army to push him from office.

Military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said initial information indicates that gunmen affiliated with the Brotherhood tried to storm the Republican Guard building shortly after dawn, firing live ammunition and throwing firebombs from a nearby mosque and rooftops. One police officer on the scene was killed, he said. Another military spokesman, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said five from the Brotherhood side were killed.

A statement by the armed forces published on the state news agency said “an armed terrorist group” tried to storm the Republican Guard building, killing one officer and seriously injuring six. The statement said the forces arrested 200 attackers, armed with guns and ammunition.

After declaring the ouster of Morsi last Wednesday, the Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi replaced him with Egypt’s chief justice and suspended the constitution until new presidential elections. The transition plan is backed by liberal and secular opponents of Morsi, and had been also supported by the ultraconservative Islamist Al-Nour party and both Muslim and Christian religious leaders.

Soon after the attack report however, Al-Nour party spokesman Nader Bakkar said on his Twitter account his party is withdrawing its support for the transition plan in response to the “massacre.”

News

Egypt: Clash At Military Building Leaves Dozens Dead

Egypt: clash at military building leaves 40 dead

Egyptian army soldiers take their positions on top of their armored vehicle to guard the entrances of Tahrir square, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 8, 2013. Egyptian military officials said gunmen killed at least five supporters of the former president when people tried to storm a military building in Cairo. The official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to brief reporters, also said a group had tried to storm the headquarters of the Republican Guard. He added that those killed had been supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi camped outside the building in protest at his overthrow. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Egyptian army soldiers take their positions on top of their armored vehicle to guard the entrances of Tahrir square, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 8, 2013. Egyptian military officials said gunmen killed at least five supporters of the former president when people tried to storm a military building in Cairo. The official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to brief reporters, also said a group had tried to storm the headquarters of the Republican Guard. He added that those killed had been supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi camped outside the building in protest at his overthrow. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Egyptian army soldiers take their positions near armored vehicles to guard the entrances of Tahrir square, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 8, 2013. Egyptian military officials said gunmen killed at least five supporters of the former president when people tried to storm a military building in Cairo. The official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to brief reporters, also said a group had tried to storm the headquarters of the Republican Guard. He added that those killed had been supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi camped outside the building in protest at his overthrow. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Egyptian army soldiers take their positions near armored vehicles to guard the entrances of Tahrir square, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 8, 2013. Egyptian military officials said gunmen killed at least five supporters of the former president when people tried to storm a military building in Cairo. The official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to brief reporters, also said a group had tried to storm the headquarters of the Republican Guard. He added that those killed had been supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi camped outside the building in protest at his overthrow. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Egyptian army soldiers take their positions near armored vehicles to guard the entrances of Tahrir square, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 8, 2013. Egyptian military officials said gunmen killed at least five supporters of the former president when people tried to storm a military building in Cairo. The official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to brief reporters, also said a group had tried to storm the headquarters of the Republican Guard. He added that those killed had been supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi camped outside the building in protest at his overthrow. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

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CAIRO (AP) — At least 40 people were killed Monday in clashes outside a military building in Cairo where supporters of the former president were holding a sit-in, an Egyptian health ministry official said.

Ministry spokesman Khaled el-Khatib said initial reports also indicated at least 322 were wounded, although he gave no details on the circumstances of the killings.

Military spokesmen said gunmen opened fire on troops at the building, killing at least five supporters of Mohammed Morsi and one officer.

A spokesman from Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, Mourad Ali, and a witness at the scene however said military forces opened fire at dawn on the protesters outside the Republican Guard building. The different accounts could not be reconciled.

Satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera showed footage from a nearby field hospital of at least six dead bodies laid out on the ground, some with severe wounds. A medic from the area, Hesham Agami, said ambulances were unable to transport more than 200 wounded to hospitals because the military had blocked off the roads.

Al-Shaimaa Younes, who was at the sit-in, said military troops and police forces opened fire on the protesters during early morning prayers. “They opened fire with live ammunition and lobbed tear gas,” she said by telephone. “There was panic and people started running. I saw people fall.”

Women and children had been among the protesters, she said.

Morsi supporters have been holding rallies and a sit-in outside the Republican Guard building since the military deposed Morsi last week during massive protests against him. The military chief replaced Morsi with an interim president, until presidential elections are held. But Morsi’s supporters refuse to recognize the change in leadership and insist Morsi be reinstated. Besides the Republican Guard sit-in, they are also holding thousands-strong daily rallies at a nearby mosque.

Morsi’s opponents are also holding rival rallies. They say the former president lost his legitimacy by mismanaging the country and not ruling democratically, leading to a mass revolt that called on the army to push him from office.

Military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said initial information indicates that gunmen affiliated with the Brotherhood tried to storm the Republican Guard building shortly after dawn, firing live ammunition and throwing firebombs from a nearby mosque and rooftops. One police officer on the scene was killed, he said. Another military spokesman, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said five from the Brotherhood side were killed.

A statement by the armed forces published on the state news agency said “an armed terrorist group” tried to storm the Republican Guard building, killing one officer and seriously injuring six. The statement said the forces arrested 200 attackers, armed with guns and ammunition.

After declaring the ouster of Morsi last Wednesday, the Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi replaced him with Egypt’s chief justice and suspended the constitution until new presidential elections. The transition plan is backed by liberal and secular opponents of Morsi, and had been also supported by the ultraconservative Islamist Al-Nour party and both Muslim and Christian religious leaders.

Soon after the attack report however, Al-Nour party spokesman Nader Bakkar said on his Twitter account his party is withdrawing its support for the transition plan in response to the “massacre.”

__________

Associated Press Writer Maggie Michael contributed to this report

Associated Press

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Egypt: clash at military building leaves 40 dead

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Philadelphia mayor seeks measures to prevent building collapses

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter on Friday recommended random drug tests for heavy equipment operators and other safeguards as part of a sweeping set of reforms in the wake of this week’s fatal building collapse.

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Philadelphia mayor seeks measures to prevent building collapses