(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)
the UP! //:-) 151 march 26 , 2003
la - la - la - lap-toppling da system!
(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/(\o/)(\o/)
“multi-coloured multi-themed tomes of sanity!" barney green
TEXT JOCKEY // TJ PHRASER (Fraser Clark) & THE MEDIA EVOLUTION MIXING THE TRACTS LIVE ON THE KEYBOARD @ A MEDIA-MEME RATE OF 160 IPP *
* Ideas Per Paragraph
(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)
TO HAVE THE UP! MAILED DIRECTLY TO YOU LIKE 11000 OTHER PEOPLE WRITE “I wanna get UP!” TO people@parallel-youniversity.com
TO REPLY TO FRASER OR RESPOND TO ANY POINTS IN THE UP!, EMAIL fraser@parallel-youniversity.com
(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)
Click Here to read the last UP!!
Click Here to read the next UP!
ConTentS
p.6
SETTING THE PATTERN OF
POLITICS FOR A
GENERATION p.9 50 HIP HOP ANTI-WAR SONGS Call your local radio station and ask how come they ain't bumping these tunes?
p.10 WHOSE LIES ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
TRUTH BEARS LITTLE RESEMBLANCE TO THE WAR THEY’RE SELLING US IN OUR MEDIA!!!!
p.12 OSAMA’S EASY VICTORY!
p.15 demonisation: and how to fight back!!
p.17 Let’s Talk Seriously and Honestly Peace Party-Goer debates War Party-Goer
p.20 No-Nonsense Guide to Climate Change
p.22 THE CANCER CALLED IMPERIALISM
(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)
The UP! (or UP!grademag) is a global edutainment round-up, ‘broadcast’ weekly to =[11,067]= Alternative// Activist// Zippy// Trance// New Age folks who have been recommended to the Parallel YOUniversity//Megatripolis Dance Dept as "showing signs of life". Since many recipients choose to forward it or parts of it to their own lists, we conservatively estimate 30,000+ direct recipients. Further, because of its less 'specialist' content, it's increasingly being posted on a variety of sites worldwide, making an estimated total weekly ‘readership’ of =[275,000+]=
(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)
* * * * * * * * * ASTRO ENERGY ANALYSIS FOR MAR 25-APRIL 1 * * * * *
ABSORB THE MONTH’S LESSONS
This is a week of winding down, letting go, and moving
from gung ho aggression to compassion and caring.
On Tuesday we have a very active
and assertive New Moon in Aries,
and we begin another month of conflict.
What have we learned?
For details see Maya’s Daily Success Guide at
www.daykeeperjournal.com
* * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * *
ABSORB THE MONTH’S LESSONS
This is a week of winding down, letting go, and moving
from gung ho aggression to compassion and caring.
On Tuesday we have a very active
and assertive New Moon in Aries,
and we begin another month of conflict.
What have we learned?
For details see Maya’s Daily Success Guide at
www.daykeeperjournal.com
* * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * *
UP! WAR IS SO 2ND MILLENNIAL!according to Said Aburish’s biography, Saddam Hussein nationalised the nation’s oil and ploughed the profits back into the country. He instigated a massive program to build schools, hospitals and clinics, and established a literacy project that won him a UNESCO award. After bringing electricity to many areas of the country, he set up a huge nationwide distribution of free fridges and television sets. He also elevated the status of women so that by the late ‘70s they were a major part of the workforce. [now see ’Demonisation And How To Fight Back’ on page 16]
and now, as his tiny (trashed) desert nation struggles in its plucky, smart and utterly back-to-the-wall resistance against american/ british occupation, colonisation and horrific tecno-devastation such as humanity has never seen, sane voices around the world (not just arabs and muslims) suddenly glimpse that the Twenty Year War Against Terrorism planned by the also-planned Evil Empire just might be stopped right now, in its tracks, in the pitiless desert. izzit really too much to hope?!
oh please, all-wise and all-loving goddess, this american elite’s public failure in the desert, though terrible for those young american boys, would be by far the least painful path for the maximum of human beings (including all those young american boys who’ll be killed in the 20 Year War). in one Play of Destiny’s Dice, we could cast these Dinosaurs aside forever, and leap into the Community of Peoples whose Spirit can already be glimpsed in the massive Peace Demonstrations which presage its eventual arrival.
alas, it’s almost certainly too much to hope that the strutting billionaire bush, having painted himself into his macho corner, won’t first try to bash his way back to dominance (as dinosaurs have always done) by casting aside the ‘nice blairy words’ and launching All Spectrum Destruction in the Greatest Crime Against Humanity since the Holocaust. already they’ve started referring to Basra as a “military target”.
“TODAY is a day of shame for the British military as it declares the Iraqi city of Basra, with a stricken population of 600,000, a "military target". You will, of course, not read or hear those words in the establishment media.” John Pilger.
IT’S STARTING TO LOOK LIKE THINGS ARE GOING DREADFULLY WRONG WITH AMERIKA’S PREDICTED TURKEY SHOOT
SEVERAL GENERALS PREDICT AMERICA MIGHT LOSE THIS ‘WAR’ OR BE FOUGHT TO A DRAW (or Iraq will be bommed into sand and radioactive rubble)
- ·
- ·
- ·
- ·
- ·
Maj-Gen Julian Thompson, former commander of the Royal Marines Commandos and Parachute Battalions during the Falklands War:
“300 miles is a hell of a long line to maintain and their long lines of communication are vulnerable. If they had more troops this would have been less of a problem. In an ideal world, they would have got the 4th Armoured Division into Iraq through Turkey and attacked from the north.” Maj-Gen Julian Thompson, former commander of the Royal Marines Commandos and Parachute Battalions during the Falklands War.
credit"stefan gosiewski"
WHAT HAS LED TO THIS? ARROGANCE. Believing your own bullshit. Treating the International Community with contempt.300 miles from home, stuck in a blazing desert, depressed by sandstorms and then downpours, utterly exhausted by all the hard travelling, out of gas in every sense, their tanks and other engines shot to hell from their rapid advance and their supply lines under constant harassment by pre-planned, fast-moving, guerrilla style Iraqi units whose morale is high because there have been no “Victorious Liberation” shots from ‘occupied’ towns (they haven’t managed to occupy them)... remember the Seventh Cavalry who are up there at the front? remember Custer’s Last Stand?
“One reason for the trouble is that the US army has become a hostage of its own propaganda. In trying to convince the world, itself, and its troops that the Iraqi people are dreaming of the coalition attacking Iraq, the US has demoralised its own troops.” Colonel General Leonid Ivashov.
"The fact that we were witness to a very strong fight even in the south, where the Shia [Muslim] population is not very loyal to Saddam Hussein, indicates what they can expect as they get closer to Baghdad. They may have to invade every single place in the capital.” Maj-Gen Eitan Ben-Eliahu, chief of the Israeli Air Force from 1996 to 2000
‘Some of the younger marines can’t understand why the Iraqis are fighting. They ask what Saddam has ever done for them. The older, better educated Marines have a stronger grasp of the complexities. “It’s probably a hatred of Americans more than a liking for Saddam” Captain Gordon told one younger Marine. “They think we’re Imperialists.” The Guardian, March 26.
HERE’S LAST WEEK’S UP! ON PREDICTIONS FOR THE FIRST WEEK:
“Within hours, they’ll enter the city of Basra, to be greeted by its Shia Muslim inhabitants as liberators. US and British troops will be given roses and pelted with rice a traditional Arab greeting as they drive "victoriously" through the streets. The first news pictures of the war will warm the hearts of Messrs Bush and Blair.”
oh, oh. now what do dinosaurs do when confronted and stymied? they get very very irritable (as you can see with every american spokesman on tv these days, they just don’t like being interrupted!) already basra is a “military target”. soon they’ll start hitting more and more civilians as they raise the stakes. * if we can’t liberate you we’ll exterminate you, goddamit!”
it’s a terrible irony for iraqis of all ages (but mostly children), and nice, cruelly duped american/british lads out there but, with every extra unnecessary death and maiming, humanity realises more and more deeply that it cannot AFFORD these dinosaurs with their... quaint old-fashioned medieval ways.
"I think the real question is the rules of engagement, whether the administration loses its nerve. To take Nasiriyah you have to go in at night with a lot of violence. It could take 2,000 or 3,000 casualties, to be blunt. So if they are unwilling to face up to that, we may have a difficult time ... taking down Baghdad and Tikrit." General Barry McCaffrey, former assistant to General Colin Powell,
Six Days Of Shame
john pilger
TODAY is a day of shame for the British military as it declares the Iraqi city of Basra, with a stricken population of 600,000, a "military target". You will not read or hear those words in the establishment media, however. But they are true. With Basra, shame is now our signature, forged by Blair and Bush.
Having destroyed its water and power supplies, cut off food supply routes and having failed to crack its human defences, they are now preparing to lay siege to Iraq's second city which is more than 40% children.
Believing their own propaganda, the military brass has been stunned by the Iraqi resistance. The truth is that the Iraqis are fighting like lions to defend not a tyrant but their homeland. It is a truth the overwhelming majority of decent Britons will admire.
UP!
"It’s a sad time for America, the world community, and the people of Iraq. Tonight, I hope and pray for the safe return of our troops and the end to this unjustified war.
"President Bush has launched an unprovoked attack against another country. Iraq does not pose an imminent threat to the United States or any of its neighboring nations. Iraq was not responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11.
“President Bush has sent U.S. forces to war in violation of American traditions of defensive war that have lasted since George Washington. This war is wrong; it violates the Constitution and international law."
Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH)
Please pass these statements on to your friends. Help empower America's leading spokesperson for peaceful resolution of international conflict.
http://www.kucinich.us
UP! WE CAN'T AFFORD TO RULE THE WORLD
“SETTING THE PATTERN OF POLITICS FOR A GENERATION"?
You bet! As multilateral institutions crumble, alliances fall apart, religions clash, and the chilling prospect of a permanent global terrorist threat looms, the long shadow of this ill-judged war will stretch far into the future.
How will Blair's actions be judged in five, 10, 15 years? Is the global order really changing irrevocably? How will we cope tomorrow with the consequences of Blair's actions today?
Let us be under no illusions. Irrespective of the length of the military assault on Iraq, Nato is a busted flush, the UN crippled, the European-US relationship tested to destruction, relations between EU member states seriously damaged, and public opinion deeply perplexed by the high-handed moralism of Bush and Blair. A short war will not repair this political collateral damage overnight. It runs deep. Blair is right - the next generation will have its work cut out.
Blair's place in history is now in Bush's hands. Again and again he’s asserted that his strategy is primarily aimed at binding the US to wider multilateral rules. Bush's 11th hour statement on the Middle East "roadmap" for peace, promises of a rebirth in American commitment to global rules, mixed with old fashioned bashing of the frogs have saved Blair's bacon. This time.
If Bush does indeed force Ariel Sharon's hand in the Middle East, has a change of heart and signs up to the Kyoto protocol on global warming, deigns to join the international family of nations in the international criminal court (where he’ll immediately be charged by someone for war crimes) and re-engages in a web of multilateral agreements from biological weapons to nuclear test bans, Blair's high risk strategy will be vindicated.
But if Bush reneges on his flimsy espousal of a more even handed, less unilateral, foreign policy, the fig leaf dignifying Blair's allegiance to Bush will be removed and he will be finished, seen as a gullible, if sincere, patsy, unwittingly providing support to precisely that which he is striving to avoid: rampant go-it-alone US unilateralism. If the Iraq attack proves the first in a series of unilateral interventions against the "axis of evil", selected and prosecuted by a clique of neo-conservative ideologues in Washington, Blair's judgement will have proved both naive and spectacularly self-defeating. He is entirely hostage to Bush's fortune.
And don't write Europe off. The relish with which the anti-European British press has rushed to proclaim the last rites over the EU's fledgling common foreign security policy is premature. The EU has a habit of rebounding strongly from internal crisis and strife.
Jose Maria Aznar is soon to retire (how did u think Bush bought him?!), and no other Spanish politician thinks Madrid can rely upon London and Washington forever. Italy, despite Silvio Berlusconi's flirtation with Atlanticism, remains fervently euro-integrationist. France and Germany have been driven into each other's embrace. The central and eastern European countries, despite their controversial statements of loyalty to the US, understand the real pecking order in the EU. London is likely to emerge once again isolated.
The facile illusion nurtured by Blair and the Conservatives that the UK can forever straddle the Atlantic, avoiding a choice between America and Europe, will collapse. The French, above all, are now determined to force us to make that choice. Blair is incapable of facing the dilemma because he refuses to acknowledge that you can't be two things at once, a leader on both sides of the pond, a Janus-faced friend to both Europe and America. To use New Labour speak, sometimes you need to take tough choices. Wake up. Grow up. Get real. It's time to decide.
But by then Blair may well be gone, and it'll be for the next generation to sort out, once and for all.
Nick Clegg MEP
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,9321,919111,00.html
UP! DRUNKEN FRAT BOY DRIVES COUNTRY INTO DITCH
fraser i appreciate your hard work & dedication.it's the little things, like your "weasel words to watch for" that truly make the YOUniversity as wonderful as it is...
jeremiah ‘in the breadbasket of amerika”
>>>heh heh, looks like baghdad will soon be the last "pocket of resistance" left, eh?
UP! IF YOU CAN'T PRONOUNCE IT, DON'T BOMB IT
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE ISN’T BRAINWASHING US PROPERLY
"Truth is not the first casualty of war. It’s the second. The first is compassion. As soon as war is declared, positions are polarised. THEY are wrong THEY deserve to die. WE are right. WE are entitled to kill. Such chilling sentiments belong to our primitive past, not our enlightened future.
The current conflict has one blessing. It takes place against a climate of disagreement. The propaganda machine isn’t brainwashing us properly. We can see innocents about to die, and we cannot see how this can be right. Awareness is the first step to change. Change will yet come."
Jonathan Cainer Daily Mirror
UP! 1000 POINTS OF LIGHT AND ONE DIM BULB
HANDY FACTS “OUR BOYS” SHOULD KNOW AS THEY DEFEND DEMOCRACY
What percentage of the world's population does the U.S. have? 6%
What percentage of the world's wealth does the U.S. have? 50%
Which country has the largest oil reserves? Saudi Arabia
Which country has the second largest oil reserves? Iraq
How much is spent annually on military budgets worldwide? $900+ billion
How much of this is spent by the U.S.? 50%
What percent of US military spending would ensure the essentials of life to everyone in the world, according to the UN? 10% (about $40 billion)
[from djmehler]
UP! I ASKED FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY STEALTHBOMBER
u.k.
SAT MARCH 29
12:30 onwards, Assemble Cobden Monument, (opp Camden Palace) Camden High St, nr Mornington Crescent tube, NW1
OVER 50% OPPOSE THE WAR GIVE US 50% OF THE AIR TIME!!
March to BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place. Rally 2pm outside. Organised by Camden Stop the War Coalition 07989 578 840camdenstopthewar@hotmail.com
UP!
50 HIP HOP ANTI-WAR SONGS Call up your local radio station and ask how come they ain't bumping these tunes?
'PEACE NOT WAR' [www.peace-not-war.org] [double cd compilation]
'Reports From the Opposition' WAR TIMES [Bay Area Compilation]
'World Destruction' AFRIKA BAMBAATAA
'George Bush Is A Gangsta' AZEEM
'In A World Gone Mad' BEASTY BOYS
'Twisted Sense of God' CHUCK D & FINE ARTS MILITIA
'Twisted Sense of God pt 2' CHUCK D & FINE ARTS MILITIA
'Hush' [War Times LP] COMPANY OF PROPHETS
'We Gotta Have Peace' CONSOLIDATED
'Hoeing For George' CRACK EMCEE
'Red, White & Blue' CRACK EMCEE
'Know Your Enemy' DEAD PREZ
'Get Up' DEAD PREZ & The COUP
'Revolution' DEAD PREZ
'Time For Peace' DIGITAL UNDERGROUND, PARIS, SWAY & TECH
'War' DILATED PEOPLES
'Occident & Emergency' DJ DISORIENTALIST
'Fly or Burn' DJ SPINNA
'Pacifist' DJ VADIM
'Ghetto Rebel' DJ VADIM
'Protest' FELONIOUS
'Rape [Tactic of War]' FUNDAMENTAL
'Red, White and Blue'[War Times LP] GOAPELE
'Soldierman'[War Times LP] HANNIFAH WALIDAH
'Neva The Same' JAHI
'My People' JAZZY JEFF AND RAHIEM
'Satisfied' J-LIVE
'Freedom' JURASSIC 5
'World So Cold' KNOWN ASSOCIATES
'Heaven Only Knows' KOS
'World Peace' KRS-ONE
'Stop The Violence' KRS-ONE
'World War III' MELE-MEL
'God Bless America' ME'SHELL NDEGEOCELLO
'We Can Bomb The World to Pieces' MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD
'Water Pistol Man' MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD
'Satanic Reverses' MICHAEL FRANTI & DISPOSABLE HEROES
'Home of the Brave' MR LIF
'Peace Not War' MUD FAMILY
'God Bless America' NO THE PIPER
'What Would You Do?' PARIS
'Son of a Bush' PUBLIC ENEMY
'Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos' PUBLIC ENEMY
'The Evil That Men Do' QUEEN LATIFAH
'United We Stand' RED GUARD [War Times LP]
'Not In Our Name' SAUL WILLIAMS
'Anti-War Freestyle' SAUL WILLIAMS
'Masters of War' SAMANTHA LIAPES [War Times LP]
'The Proud' TALIB KWELI
UP! NO GEORGE, I SAID MAC ATTACK
>>>UNSILENCED!!
Dear Fraser,
I write a little worried that the only voice of reason in this madness has been silenced.
I have had a major increased influx of spam / crap/ whatever u wanna call it, and this may have prevented your messages of sanity getting through, but am sorely missing your multi-coloured multi-themed tomes.
Been on both the marches, and it was great to remember that there are a lot of us out there, but when I go back to work and find most of my work colleagues discussing how rough Saddam is looking and how soon we'll be shot of him, I want to scream and shake them. I even asked one colleague if he realised that Bush may one day turn on us; he didn't care.
So please, let me know you are still out there.
Thanx
xxx barneygreen xxx london
>>>UNSILENCED!!
hmm, barney, i wonder if i missed a whole batch of 100 G's because u r the second G to say they never got the last UP! have sent it again.
lotta crap out there on the ewaves, yes. + several new 'radical' spammers who look a bit dodgy and govt approved to moi.
was on last sat's demo. if it was 2 million last time then this was haffa mill i'd say. slightly diff mood but not all that different, considering war had broken out. noticed the emergence of notty words on banners - a new social acceptability? (or desperation if u insist :)
we're winning barney, i've passed my dark night of the soul and see the promising signs everywhere. only question is how long till your work buddies gettit? max a decade i'd say, but wouldn't necessarily bet on it being sooner. is that depressing or izzit the most amazing thing that ever happened? u decide :)
fraser.
UP! BUSH/CHENEY: MALICE IN BLUNDERLAND
Commie bastards, I hope your jailed for treason!
Bob Fetherolf / USA (presumably)
UP!
WHOSE LIES ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
FED UP WITH ‘LAST POCKETS OF RESISTANCE’?
The www.iraqwar.ru analytical center, created recently by a group of journalists and Russian military experts, aims to provides accurate and up-to-date news and analysis of Gulf War II. AND IT BEARS VERY LITTLE RESEMBLANCE TO THE WAR THEY’RE SELLING US IN OUR MEDIA!!!!
MARCH 22, 2002, 1300HRS MSK (GMT +3), MOSCOW - 1300hrs (Moscow time, GMT +3). The US command reports about the supposed surrender of the entire Iraqi 51st Infantry Division turned out to be a complete fabrication. According to our sources the 51st Division continues to fight on the approaches to Basra..... Elements of the US 3rd Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Infantry Division ended up in an exceptionally difficult situation. While attempting to encircle Basra from the north and to block An-Nasiriya elements the 3rd and 1st infantry divisions found themselves wedged between the defending Iraqi forces. The Iraqi command used this situation and delivered a decisive counterattack with up to 80 tanks in the open flank of the US forces, slicing through their combat orders. As the result of this counterattack these US units are now at risk of being separated from the main coalition forces and being surrounded....... By 1100hrs MSK Iraqi units advanced into the US attack front by 10-15 kilometers and Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of the coalition forces, ordered his troops to switch entirely to defensive operations. At the same time he issued orders to the forward-deployed coalition tank units to halt their reconnaissance operations in the directions of Es-Samaba and An-Najaf and to move immediately to support the defending US forces. However, the situation is complicated by the fact that a part of the coalition tanks are currently disabled due to the lack of fuel and are awaiting the arrival of fuel convoys. Thus the tanks are able to gradually rejoin combat only in small numbers as the fuel becomes available...... Currently the US and the Iraqi tank forces are engaged in mobile head-on combat approximately 70-90 kilometers to the south of An-Nasiriya. Orders were issued to all available coalition strike aircraft in Qatar to scramble in support of the defending coalition forces...... Intercepted radio communications indicate that during the morning period of March 22 the US forces lost 10-15 tanks destroyed or disabled and up to 30 other armored vehicles. Medevac helicopters flew more than 30 search-and-rescue missions, which suggests heavy coalition losses..... Our sources report that during the early morning hours in southwestern Iraq in the vicinity of Akashat the Iraqi forces have engaged and surrounded a tactical paratroop unit of the 101st Airborne Division. Some of the surrounded paratroopers were able to break out into the desert, where they requested air support and finally lost their Iraqi pursuers. However, up to 30 US troops were killed or captured in this engagement...... The top US military command is planning to enhance the coalition command. During the Joint Chief of Staff meeting its Chairman Gen. Richard Mayers expressed strong criticism of the actions by the coalition commander Gen. Franks who is required to do everything he can to change the current situation on the front. Analysts believe that, if during the next 3-5 days Gen. Franks fails to achieve any significant results, than it is entirely possible that he will be replaced as the commander of the coalition forces.......
Update: The coalition forces were able to capture a bridge in the suburbs of Nasiriya. Their control of the Basra airport is tentative at best as large numbers of Iraqi forces continue to resist with heavy artillery and machine gun fire. Around Basra the coalition forces have advanced at most by 1.5 kilometers. Gen. Franks has announced a change in plans: the coalition forces are no longer set on capturing Basra so not to "create military confrontations in that city." The coalition forces still do not control Umm Qasr and appear to be losing territory.
March 22, 2003, 0800hrs MSK (GMT +3), Moscow - Information received during the last night is very contradictory. During all day and night fighting continued around Basra, Al-Nasiriya, and on the Faw (Fao) peninsula. Despite numerous reports by the American and British command about the capture of Umm Qasr the coalition forces have so far failed to establish full control over this small borderline town. Exchange of fire in the city is continuing. Elements of the [Iraqi] 45-th Infantry Brigade, which is defending the town, are surrounded but continue to resist and are trying to break out toward Basra. According to intelligence reports, at Umm Qasr American and British forces have sustained 10 killed and around 40 wounded soldiers and officers. Additionally, the Iraqis have destroyed up to 8 British and US armored personnel carriers. "Iraqi resistance turned out to be far more determined than we expected," the British and US commanders are reporting. - "They are surrounded but continue fighting even after losing much of their heavy equipment. Often we could only advance after completely destroying them with artillery and aviation.".... So far there was no success in trying to clarify the reports about the capture or surrender of the 51st Infantry Division. According to intercepted radio communications, this division was fighting as a part of the 3rd Army Corp (Al-Nasiriya)...... Analysis of the video footage of the captured Iraqis, distributed by the coalition press-service, makes it difficult to accept the Iraqi army's "moral breakdown" story advertised by the Americans. Most of the captives retain their dignity and show no fear or ingratiation characteristic of a demoralised enemy. In addition to that, Americans did not come up with a single video recording of destroyed or abandoned combat vehicles or any other equipment...... The US forces have halted their advance into Iraq and are now actively engaged in reconnaissance along the directions of Al-Nasiriya, An-Najaf and Al-Ammara. However, the main efforts of the coalition are being concentrated around the approaches to Basra. It is expected that by tomorrow they will build up a strike force to storm the city. Most major events of the upcoming several days will be unfolding in this region. Radio intercepts show that up to 25,000 British and American troops are already in the Basra region. The city is under a constant artillery and aviation bombardment...... During the past night a fuel supply convoy of the US 3rd Infantry Division was attacked by Iraqi special forces. Up to 7 fuel trucks have been lost. Three US soldiers were killed and nine wounded. Another three US soldiers are considered MIA and are believed to have been captured by the Iraqis..... As was expected, after realizing the failure of the coup against Hussein the US have resorted to intensive bombing of Baghdad beginning on the evening of March 21st. Just during that night Baghdad was attacked with 500 cruise missiles and over 1,000 aviation bombs. The city is engulfed by numerous fires...... Additionally, more than 20 other Iraqi cities were also bombed. More than 1,000 cruise missiles were launched against various targets and
over 3,000 bombs were dropped. At the moment it is difficult to estimate the effectiveness of these strikes. However, judging by the high activity levels of Iraqi radio transmitters, the US was unable to disrupt the control of the Iraqi army...... Russian radio intercept units are certain that at least one coalition combat plane was shot down in these air raids...... A radio intercept made last night at approximately 4:40 am indicated that two British helicopters were shot down by a "Strela" SAM system
after flying into a SAM trap. It is believed that the two SAR helicopters were to retrieve the pilot of the combat plane downed during the earlier air strike. The number of dead and wounded is still being established. So far the coalition command did not report these losses..... The coalition commander Gen. Tommy Franks demanded from the Air Force a maximum possible increase in the close air support of the ground
forces. During a "radio-bridge" with the commanders of all units Gen. Franks expressed his concern with the mounting casualties and the stubborn Iraqi resistance. "We've just spent three days trying to capture one small town, so we can only guess what awaits us in Baghdad!" - angrily said the commander and demanded better aviation
support to soften up the defending Iraqi forces ahead of the advancing coalition units...... For the past day the coalition losses ar up to 30 killed and around 40 wounded. Ten coalition armored vehicles were destroyed my land mines. At least two armored vehicles were destroyed by anti-tank weapons...... Iraqi losses are estimated in the range of 250-300 killed and up to 500 wounded. So far it is not possible to determine the damage from the night bombing raids. However, more than 500 people have been taken to hospitals in Baghdad - all of them were civilians.
UP!
Canada officially has declared that we cannot back the US in this war. The americans are calling us fence sitters, and accusing us of depending on them for protection. How it really is? We don't give a shit about the americans or their war on humanity. Our sons and daughters won't be dying for the US and their dirty corrupt polluted way of life. Dana, Regina, Saskatchewan.
UP!
OSAMA’S EASY VICTORY
Osama bin Laden, in his wildest dreams, could hardly have hoped for this. A mere 18 months after he boosted the US to a peak of worldwide sympathy unprecedented since Pearl Harbor, that international goodwill has been squandered down to ground zero. Bin Laden must be beside himself with glee. And the infidels are now walking right into the Iraq trap.
There was always, you see, a risk for Bin Laden that worldwide sympathy for the US might thwart his long-term aim of holy war against the Great Satan. He needn't have worried. With the Bush junta at the helm, a camel could have foreseen the outcome. And the beauty is that it doesn't matter what happens in the war.
Imagine how it looks from Bin Laden's warped point of view...
If the American victory is swift, Bush will have done our work for us, removing the hated Saddam and opening the way for a decent Islamist government. Even better, in 2004 Bush may actually win an election. Who can guess what that swaggering, strutting little pouter-pigeon will then get up to, and what resentments he will arouse when he finally has something to swagger about? We shall have so many martyrs volunteering we shall run out of targets. And a slow and bloody American victory would be better still.
The claim that this war is about weapons of mass destruction is either dishonest or betrays a lack of foresight verging on negligence. If war is so vitally necessary now, Why did neither Bush nor Blair mention it to their respective electorates in the election campaigns? The only major leader who has an electoral mandate for his war policy is Gerhard Schroeder - and he is against it. Why did Bush suddenly start threatening to invade Iraq when he did, and not before? The answer is embarrassingly simple, and they don't even seem ashamed of it. Illogical and even childish though it is, everything changed on September 11 2001.
Whatever anyone may say about weapons of mass destruction, or about Saddam's savage brutality to his own people, the reason Bush can now get away with his war is that a sufficient number of Americans see it as revenge for 9/11. Worse than bizarre, this is pure racism and/or religious prejudice. Nobody has made even a faintly plausible case that Iraq had anything to do with the atrocity. It was Arabs that hit the World Trade Centre, right? So let's go and kick some Arab ass. Those 9/11 terrorists were Muslims, right? And Eye-raqis are Muslims, right? That does it. We're gonna go in there and show them some hardware. Shock and awe? You bet.
richard dawkins
UP! LET'S BOMB TEXAS, THEY HAVE OIL TOO
Hey Fraser,
Whilst having one of those deep meaningful conversations we ALL seem to be having more & more these days, my 96yr old grandfather asked me if I'd noticed that Bush, Blair & co have NEVER actually had a meeting with Saddam to discuss the situation / possible solutions at any point in the last 12 yrs (& before)!
(Gramps survived an active WW2 where he was a POW escapee - made his way to UK as a refugee, has been here since & so fully understands war in a way most of our generation have not had to)
Perhaps he could be on to something - imagine if they could all just sit round the table (perhaps even the UN table) & talk ....
>>> wasn’t that what it was built for?!
I suppose it all looks simple to us 'evolved' humans - It's just that the dinos in charge have run out of evolving time!
KEEP IT UP!
Rob Lockhart waging a peaceful war of words on war UK
UP! PREEMPTIVE IMPEACHMENT!
NO NATION CAN PRESERVE FREEDOM AMIDST CONTINUAL WARFARE
"Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes. And armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.
“In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended. Its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds are added to those of subduing the force of the people.
"The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war… and in the degeneracy of manners and morals, engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." James Madison, April 20, 1795
UP! BULLSHITLER
MORE HANDY FACTS “OUR BOYS” SHOULD KNOW AS THEY DEFEND DEMOCRACY
How many people have died in wars since World War II? 86 million
How many people did Saddam kill using gas in Halabja in 1988? 5,000
How many western countries condemned this action at the time? 0
How many gallons of agent Orange did America use in Vietnam? 17million
Are any links proven between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorist attack? No
What’s the estimated number of civilian casualties in Gulf War 1? 35,000
How many casualties did Iraq inflict on western forces in Gulf War 1? 0
How many retreating Iraqi soldiers were bombed in the back and/or buried alive by U.S. tanks with ploughs mounted on the front? 6,000
UP! WAR IS NOT A FAMILY VALUE
thank god for this war!
I have never seen so much negativity towards parliament and related institutions by the mainstream, and never so much diversity in that mainstream, with even Clare Short thought not to be radical enough by mainstream people. incredible. this is a great opportunity for the 'alternative movement' to make real progress. forget the issue itself (Iraq etc.) the more important point is that for the first time in modern or maybe any British (or world) political history the majority of people including school kids are totally disenchanted with the normal political process (they regard Blair with the same contempt as they do the Conservatives!!) and this mindset must be approached with great thought by the alternative forces... thank god for this war... the war on terrorism had much more support including by me in part but this ridiculous fiasco has been a godsend (though I hope Saddam and his family are killed). for the unity and mindset it has helped create around the world George and Tony should be elected to the counter culture hall of fame (run by High Times I think)
anyway that's how I am seeing it at moment.. I've been going to various anti-war meetings, but unfortunately they are still full of the same old socialist class war rhetoric(many of them are SWP) which is exactly the thing not to, the way not forward.. new language and new paradigms are needed for the alternative forces now otherwise they will end up like previous alternative movements masturbating on their own rhetoric.
goodjeff / oxford
UP! IMPEACH THE SQUATTERS
Faced with the jingoism or government influenced news stations, rabid right-wing views on talk radio and the hesitancy of the liberal print media to criticise the government, millions of westerners are using the net to tap in to overseas and alternative news sources. Ironic, really, for a medium that was seeded as a Pentagon project around the time the Vietnam War ended. It's a big change from the last Gulf War, when in January and February 1991 CNN was the closest thing to a global information source. Now, the internet provides an unlimited supply of information, updated round the clock.
Larry Pryor, the executive editor of Online Journalism Review, says the internet has also become the essential tool for promoting alternative viewpoints about the war. "The mainstream press is timid and seems to be going along with the [Bush] administration almost as a reflex," he says. "The public want a broad range of views and reflections and are roaming out of the US's boundaries to get them."
Andy Goldberg
UP! MAINSTREAM WHITE GUYS FOR PEACE (held by 3 mainstream-looking white guys)
Bin Laden Babe Loose In London Clubland
‘SMOKING, DRINKING AND WEARING MINISKIRTS'
Osama Bin Laden’s niece has joined London’s party circuit and embraced
Western culture ‘smoking, drinking and wearing miniskirts’.
26 year old Wafah Binladin is also reportedly launching a pop career and is currently working alongside Massive Attack associate Nellee Hooper.
“Anything is possible,” a mystery ‘friend’ told the Sunday Times. “She would love to be a star. She hasn’t got a great voice but it could
sell.”
The shadow of her uncle also loomed over European clubland last summer when mischievous drug dealers distributed superstrong Bin Laden ecstasy pills in Ibiza.
[skrufff.com]
UP! IT'S THE STUPID ECONOMY
DON’T GO THERE IT’S IN THE HANDS OF THEIR LAST “POCKET OF REISTANCE”!!
Thanks for the great UP! Fraser. Glad to have you back.
But one thing: don't send people to www.kucinich.com, it's a right wing bashing of kucinich. Instead go to
www.kucinich.us
Yeah, they should have bought the domain name earlier, but they didn't.
Francis / San Francisco
UP! THERE'S A TERRORIST BEHIND EVERY BUSH
MORE HANDY FACTS “OUR BOYS” SHOULD KNOW AS THEY DEFEND DEMOCRACY
How many tons of depleted uranium did that war leave in Iraq/Kuwait? 40
How much of Iraq's military capacity did the U.S. claim it destroyed? 80%
What was the increase in cancer rates in Iraq between 1991 and 1994? 700%
Does Iraq present more of a threat to world peace now than 10 years ago? No
How many civilian deaths has the Pentagon predicted for an attack on Iraq? 10000
What percentage of these will be children? Over 50%
How many years has the U.S. engaged in air strikes on Iraq? 11
Were the U.S and UK at war with Iraq in those 11 years? No
UP! 9-11-01: 15 SAUDIS, 0 IRAQIS
demonisation: and how to fight back
i think i’ve finally worked out the origins of demonisation (not only in our own culture), why it’s so successful (each time we’re to go to war), a scientific test for whether someone’s swallowed the demonisation process in its entirety, and (most important of all): how to begin to fight back against it!
useful, huh? saves much time (which is running out). for the brute practical fact is that confronting someone who’s swallowed the process whole only makes them more hostile to you!
which, of course, is the purpose of demonisation conditioning in the first place.
origins of demonisation
how would any authoritarian regime, church or state, slowly but inevitably defend itself against criticism of its infallibility? a church would end up creating its own enemy, the Devil. a state claiming infallibility would create the Anarchist / Terrorist.
nor would the process, once begun, end there. it ends by creating a single Individual, the personification of Everything Bad who becomes the Arch Enemy. The Devil. Al Qaeda. Saddam. Milosovich.
obviously churches, lasting much longer than any State, perfected the system furthest, and states learn from their techniques. hence we have Satan. the Arch Demon and seriously committed Enemy of the church.
as for why this happens, there are 2 kinds of answers. that from the Politician/ Priest’s perspective requires a whole study of the Authoritarian Personality which is not our purpose here.
but from the Individual in Society’s perspective... it means that, once a cause has been demonised, nothing positive, not even slightly ameliorating, may be spoken aloud. why not? because anything less than 100% IMPLIES SUPPORT FOR THE ENEMY!
how many times have you tried to slightly disagree with a current Demonisation, as one does in normal conversation on every other subject, and been met with: “why, are you a supporter of Saddam, the Taliban, Ho Chi Minh, gays, drugs, Nasser, Hitler?”
or recognise this? “everyone agrees he’s a monster.” well, of course they do, you’ll be accused of supporting the devil if you say anything even slightly else!
in some way i haven’t yet fathomed, if the enemy is not a 100% demon, then the authority cannot be a saint, cannot be infallible.
scientific test for a believer
to determine if someone’s swallowed demonisation WHOLE, simply introduce any grey into the subject, anything less than the 100% “of course saddam’s a monster,” and they’ll react with something like “do you support the Taliban?” i was accused by several rednecks of being an ‘apologist’ for the Taliban yet i can barely remember how to spell their name now!
how to fight back against demonisation
obviously nothing’s going to change if we refuse to confront it. and yet the programme’s been specifically designed to activate in the presence of any resistance to the official line.
amazingly enough, an answer came to me as i was writing this. that bit about if the enemy’s not a monster the authority can’t be infallible? suppose, instead of saying something positive about ‘the other side,’ we turned the spotlight directly on the authority? say to the demonised one “do you think george bush’s government’s infallible?” that should stop them in their tracks. put them on the defensive. attack the demonisation at its very root the ‘merely humans’ who’re hiding behind the demonisation they’ve created.
and that’s why the UP! will continue to mercilessly scrutinise our own leaders and our own behaviour :)
fraser / andalusia
UP! WHY SHOULD I CARE WHAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THINK? THEY DIDN'T VOTE FOR ME.
What we need is for Saddam to apologize to the poor, dear, innocent civilians whose lives he has brutalized. Don't you understand this? Doesn't anyone in the Peace movement understand that peace is exactly what Saddam has never had in his consciousness? Are you all stupid fools????????????????????????????????????/
Pamela Sund USA (presumably)
UP! 9-11-01: 15 SAUDIS, 0 IRAQIS
Let’s Talk Seriously and Honestly
Peace Party-Goer: Why did you say we are invading Iraq?
War Party-Goer: We are invading Iraq because it is in violation of Security Council resolution 1441. A country cannot be allowed to violate Security Council resolutions.
PP: But I thought many of our allies, including Israel, were in violation of more security council resolutions than Iraq.
WP: It's not just about UN resolutions. The main point is that Iraq could have weapons of mass destruction, and the first sign of a smoking gun could well be a mushroom cloud over New York.
PP: Mushroom cloud? But I thought the weapons inspectors said Iraq had no nuclear weapons.
WP: Yes, but biological and chemical weapons are the issue.
PP: But I thought Iraq did not have any long range missiles for attacking us or our allies with such weapons.
WP: The risk is not Iraq directly attacking us, but rather terrorist networks that Iraq could sell the weapons to.
PP: But couldn't virtually any country sell chemical or biological materials? We sold quite a bit to Iraq in the Eighties ourselves, didn't we?
WP: That's ancient history. Look, Saddam Hussein is an evil man that has an undeniable track record of repressing his own people since the early Eighties. He gasses his enemies. Everyone agrees that he is a power-hungry lunatic murderer.
PP: We sold chemical and biological materials to a power-hungry lunatic murderer?
WP: The issue is not what we sold, but rather what Saddam did. He is the one that launched a pre-emptive first strike on Kuwait.
PP: A pre-emptive first strike does sound bad. But didn't our ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, know about and green-light the invasion of Kuwait?
WP: Let's deal with the present, shall we? As of today, Iraq could sell its biological and chemical weapons to Al Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden himself released an audio tape calling on Iraqis to suicide-attack us, proving a partnership between the two.
PP: Osama Bin Laden? Wasn't the point of invading Afghanistan to kill him?
WP: Actually, it's not 100% certain that it's really Osama Bin Laden on the tapes. But the lesson from the tape is the same: there could easily be a partnership between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein unless we act.
PP: Is this the same audio tape where Osama Bin Laden labels Saddam a secular infidel?
WP: You're missing the point by just focusing on the tape. Powell presented a strong case against Iraq.
PP: He did?
WP: Yes, he showed satellite pictures of an Al Qaeda poison factory in Iraq.
PP: But didn't that turn out to be a harmless shack in the part of Iraq controlled by the Kurdish opposition?
WP: And a British intelligence report...
PP: Didn't that turn out to be copied from an out-of-date graduate student paper?
WP: And reports of mobile weapons labs...
PP: Weren't those just artistic renderings?
WP: And reports of Iraqis scuttling and hiding evidence from inspectors...
PP: Wasn't that evidence contradicted by the chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix?
WP: Yes, but there is plenty of other hard evidence that cannot be revealed because it would compromise our security.
PP: So there is no publicly available evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?
WP: The inspectors are not detectives, it's not their JOB to find evidence. You're missing the point.
PP: So what is the point?
WP: The main point is that we are invading Iraq because Resolution 1441 threatened "severe consequences." If we do not act, the Security Council will become an irrelevant debating society.
PP: So the main point is to uphold the rulings of the Security Council?
WP: Absolutely.... unless it rules against us.
PP: And what if it does rule against us?
WP: In that case, we must lead a coalition of the willing to invade Iraq.
PP: Coalition of the willing? Who's that?
WP: Britain, Turkey, Bulgaria, Spain, and Italy, for starters.
PP: I thought Turkey refused to help us unless we gave them tens of billions of dollars.
WP: Nevertheless, they may now be willing.
PP: I thought public opinion in all those countries was against war.
WP: Current public opinion is irrelevant. The majority expresses its will by electing leaders to make decisions.
PP: So it's the decisions of leaders elected by the majority that is
important?
WP: Yes.
PP: But George Bush wasn't elected by voters. He was selected by the U.S. Supreme C...
WP: I mean, we must support the decisions of our leaders, however they were elected, because they are acting in our best interest. This is about being a patriot. That's the bottom line.
PP: So if we do not support the decisions of the president, we are not patriotic?
WP: I never said that.
PP: So what are you saying? Why are we invading Iraq?
WP: As I said, because there is a chance that they have weapons of mass destruction that threaten us and our allies.
PP: But the inspectors have not been able to find any such weapons.
WP: Iraq is obviously hiding them.
PP: You know this? How?
WP: Because we know they had the weapons ten years ago, and they are still unaccounted for.
PP: The weapons we sold them, you mean?
WP: Precisely.
PP: But I thought those biological and chemical weapons would degrade to an unusable state over ten years.
WP: But there is a chance that some have not degraded.
PP: So as long as there is even a small chance that such weapons exist, we must invade?
WP: Exactly.
PP: But North Korea actually has large amounts of usable chemical, biological, AND nuclear weapons, AND long range missiles that can reach the west coast AND it has expelled nuclear weapons inspectors, AND threatened to turn America into a sea of fire.
WP: That's a diplomatic issue.
PP: So why are we invading Iraq instead of using diplomacy?
WP: Aren't you listening? We are invading Iraq because we cannot allow the inspections to drag on indefinitely. Iraq has been delaying, deceiving, and denying for over ten years, and inspections cost us tens of millions.
PP: But I thought war would cost us tens of billions.
WP: Yes, but this is not about money. This is about security.
PP: But wouldn't a pre-emptive war against Iraq ignite radical Muslim sentiments against us, and decrease our security?
WP: Possibly, but we must not allow the terrorists to change the way we live. Once we do that, the terrorists have already won.
PP: So what is the purpose of the Department of Homeland Security, colour-coded terror alerts, and the Patriot Act? Don't these change the way we live?
WP: I thought you had questions about Iraq.
PP: I do. Why are we invading Iraq?
WP: For the last time, we are invading Iraq because the world has called on Saddam Hussein to disarm, and he has failed to do so. He must now face the consequences.
PP: So, likewise, if the world called on us to do something, such as find a peaceful solution, we would have an obligation to listen?
WP: By "world", I meant the United Nations.
PP: So, we have an obligation to listen to the United Nations?
WP: By "United Nations" I meant the Security Council.
PP: So, we have an obligation to listen to the Security Council?
WP: I meant the majority of the Security Council.
PP: So, we have an obligation to listen to the majority of the Security Council?
WP: Well... there could be an unreasonable veto.
PP: In which case?
WP: In which case, we have an obligation to ignore the veto.
PP: And if the majority of the Security Council does not support us at all?
WP: Then we have an obligation to ignore the Security Council.
PP: That makes no sense.
WP: If you love Iraq so much, you should move there. Or maybe France, with all the other cheese-eating surrender monkeys. It's time to boycott their wine and cheese, no doubt about that.
PP: Here... have a pretzel, instead.
Bill Davidson
UP!
AMERICANS! DEMAND A FREE PRESS OR ELSE!!!!
TELL THE FAT QUISLINGS WHAT YOU THINK!
info@cnbc.com, world@msnbc.com, nightly@nbc.com, today@nbc.com, dateline@nbc.com, letters@latimes.com, nytnews@nytimes.com, editor@usatoday.com, editors@interactive.wsj.com, ombudsman@washpost.com, letters@newsweek.com, letters@time.com, letters@usnews.com, ombudsman@washpost.com, letters@newsweek.com, letters@time.com, letters@usnews.com, feedback@wsj.com, wsj.ltrs@wsj.com,
UP!
THE NO NONSENSE GUIDES
(from the New Internationalist)
Over the past year New Internationalist has been producing a series of ‘NO-NONSENSE GUIDES’ to international issues such as the arms trade, international development, globalisation and democracy. They’ve been lauded by some of the greats of radical journalism, as well as the left-liberal press, and are now 10 in total, each a compact 130 or so pages in pocket-size format.
The UP! continues its reviewingand summarising of each of them. UP! 142- Wayne Ellwood’s ‘No-Nonsense Guide to Globalisation’. UP! 144- Maggie Black’s ‘No-Nonsense Guide to International Development’. UP! 147- David Ransom’s ‘No-Nonsense Guide to Fair Trade’ This time it’s the turn of Dinyar Godrej’s
‘No-Nonsense Guide to Climate Change’
Heatwaves, hurricanes, droughts, floods recent years have seen an increase in record-breaking instances of extreme weather. The seven warmest years on record occurred in the 1990s, with 1998 shooting so high off the scale that it earned the dubious distinction of being the hottest year of the millennium. But all this is just the beginning the changes we are witnessing today are the result of emissions of greenhouse gases primarily carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons (cfcs) - from over half a century ago, when levels were much lower than they are now. There’s much worse to come.
Global warming is the runaway engine of climate instability, and it runs to a large extent on burning fossil fuels that spew out over 20 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on climate change (IPCC) forecasts an increase of up to 5.4ºf (3ºc) by 2100 if nothing is done about greenhouse gas emissions. A fall of just that magnitude brought on the last ice age. The British Meteorological Office forecasts an almost 16" (40 cm) rise in sea waters by 2080 if nothing is done which would mean annual floods that could threaten an estimated 94 million people, up from 13 million at present. What and who will feed all the environmentally dispossessed people, who already outnumber all other refugees put together?
Rising tides, with the consequent loss of coastal wetlands and erosion of land mass are just three of the certain results of the coming global climate catastrophe. Accelerated soil erosion and desertification, increased incidences of crop failure due to extreme weather conditions, massive shrinkage of wildlife habitats and a potentially exponential rise in vegetation dieback are others. A steep increase in the number and range of outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases is high among the predicted human health effects, alongside a greatly increased risk of hunger and starvation due to food shortages. If no changes are made, three billion people will also see a severe increase in water stress, primarily in Northern Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Once again the majority world suffers for the excesses of the richer west.
In May 1990 a hundred scientists of the IPCC gathered in a country house hotel in the UK to sort out the wording of the final draft of their first scientific assessment report. The message was clear. In order to stabilise atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, a 50-70% cut in emissions from human activities was required. To meet such a target an energy revolution would have to come about that would effectively sever humankind’s dependence on fossil fuel energy. Twelve years later, we are no further forwards.
At the Kyoto Climate Convention in 1997, the wealthy countries of the world made a target commitment to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2% below 1990 levels by 2010. In terms of effects on the world’s temperature, this would mean a mere 0.2ºf (0.1ºc) in the projected warming of 2.7ºf (1.5ºc) over the coming 50 years according to the IPCC models. In practice, even these paltry targets are not being met. Indeed, they are being actively resisted by the world’s largest polluter the USA. With just 4% of the world’s population, the US emits 25% of the world’s greenhouse gases, equal to that of the entire majority world, which has 80% of the population.
A solitary light on the horizon is that the profile of the climate change issue is higher in the public perception than ever before. The final chapter of this short book provides some inspiration on lasting solutions to the climate crisis.
penny gray
COMING SOON: THE NO-NONSENSE GUIDE TO DEMOCRACY
UP!
The Cancer Called Imperialism
by Jonah Nadir Omowale
I am deeply saddened that the United States government and its allies have kicked off a new phase in their 12-year war against the people of Iraq. But I am not surprised.
This is merely the growth of the parasitic cancer called Western Imperialism that has been running rampant on this planet for over 600 years.
The four nations who lead this fight - Portugal, Spain, Britain and the United States - are the most successful Imperialist powers of the last millennium. This Transatlantic Alliance, as they have dubbed themselves, were not only key figures in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, but between them they have attempted to colonise nearly every corner of every continent. Indigenous people all over the globe have been at war with these empires off and on for nearly 1000 years.
The Portuguese first made African slavery big business by developing the triangular trade between Europe and their colonial possessions in West Africa and South America (by the way "Africa" is a Portuguese word).
The Spanish slaughtered millions of indigenous people.
British colonialism invented the country of Iraq in 1921.
Who can forget the countless genocides suffered by native peoples from Australia to Zimbabwe? You want chemical warfare? What about the Opium Wars that were waged against the people of China? How about the biological warfare used against the indigenous people of North America? Or the 17 million gallons of Agent Orange dropped on poor little Vietnam? The Brits invented "weapons of mass destruction" even if they had other names back then.
Last but not least, the former British colony called the United States of America has outgrown its parent to become the largest monster of them all. The U.S. has used a combination of economic and military muscle to intimidate its friends and enemies alike, all under the guise of "spreading democracy" all over the world.
"Democratization" is the new term being used to replace the less PC "civilization", because it is no longer acceptable to say that the West will "civilize" the savage inhabitants of a foreign land. Fancy terms like "development" and "Western-style democracy" are now the justification for these military invasions. Just as America "liberated" Afghanistan from the Taliban and replaced it with a neo-colonial puppet regime, the same plans of "liberation" are in place for Iraq.
U.S. military forces have been in armed combat somewhere in the world nearly every year since 1778. Once again young and mostly poor men and women from America will die while fighting an unjust war designed to steal the natural resources and control the people of another land. We must say a prayer for these young people who will put their lives on the line for what they believe is right. Most of them simply wanted money for college so they could have some hope of escaping the economic despair and disparity in this country. Isn't that ironic? Poor young people will die protecting a system that oppresses them and has for over 200 years. This is truly the American Way.
Which brings us to both the final problem and the final solution: The people of the world have always resisted the sword of imperialism. The struggle continues in Cuba, in the Congo, in Venezuela, in Ireland, in Palestine and in Afghanistan. The people of Iraq have vowed to defend their land from those who would replace one dictatorship with another. Now is the time for those of us who have been the beneficiaries (or dupes) of Western imperial greed to stand for justice.
For too long, the people of the West have gotten rich and fat at the expense of others. If you live in North or South America, your home is on Native American land. The Western economic system was built on the backs of African slaves. Your sugar is harvested, your clothes are sewn and your grapes are picked by workers who are economically enslaved if they are not in physical bondage. Your dollars support global imperialism, slave labour, and genocide every single day. It's time for you to do something about it. Anything! Boycott somebody's corporation. Volunteer in poor communities. Tell your children the truth about the world, but do something!
All people who hope for justice in this world must work together to find the cure for this cancer. This is a late diagnosis, but we still have time to root this sickness out before it destroys us all.
"I'll never make peace with this world as long as the enemies of self-determination have the running of things." George Jackson
UP!
FOLLOWING ORDERS IS NO EXCUSE!
I'm being absolutely infuriated by the amount of 'now the war's started we've got to support it' stuff I'm hearing, So forgive me but I need to write a ranty email to stop it rattling around inside my head all day.
Essentially, what's happened is my neighbours have been planning mass murder. They got a bunch of hired killers together who don't care who they kill so long as they get paid. I strongly objected to the plan.
But now they've started actually committing mass murder, I'm supposed to be cheering them on?!
merrick / uk
UP!
QUESTION: Of the countries listed below which have been bombed by the US since the end of World War Two, how many ended up with a democratic government, respectful of human rights?
China 1945-46; Korea 1950-53; China 1950-53; Guatemala 1954; Indonesia 1958; Cuba 1959-60; Guatemala 1960; Congo 1964; Peru 1965; Laos 1964-73; Vietnam 1961-73; Cambodia 1969-70; Guatemala 1967-69; Grenada 1983; Libya 1986; El Salvador 1980s; Nicaragua 1980s; Panama 1989; Iraq 1991-99; Sudan 1998; Afghanistan 1998; Yugoslavia 1999
ANSWER: (a) 0 (b) zero (c) none (d) not a one (e) a whole number between -1 and +1
[Vietnam Veterans Against the War]
U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U UP P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P
· YOUR PLANET NEEDS //YOU! this HipList grows by recommendation.
RECOMMEND SOMEONE 2DAY!!!!!!!!!!
· TO DEBATE ANYTHING in the UP!, visit the GroupMind Debating Board on www.parallel-youniversity.com
· YES, YES, SEND US EDUTAINING NEWS’N VIEWS no need to ask! :-)
· FOR MORE ON RAVE CULTURE & THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT VISIT http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/fraserclark/
TO BE REMOVED, contact removes@parallel-youniversity.com
U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U UP P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P
(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)
SPONSORED LINKS
- Top search engine placement - www.top-search-engine-placement.com
- Spanish Property - www.spanish-property-villas.com
- Dj and Performance Bookings - www.tribal-fusion.biz
If you would like to advertise your link in this section please send the Url and Description of your company website to fraser@parallel-youniversity.com
(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)
Permission is ENTHUSIASTICALLY granted to reproduce articles for personal and edutainment use only. Commercial copying, hiring and lending is prohibited without permission.
Parallel YOUniversity, Box 833, London NW6, UK
fraser@parallel-youniversity.com
www.parallel-youniversity.com
fraser@humanbe-in.com
www.humanbe-in.com
www.parallel-youniversity.com/fraser
IMPORTANT: This email is intended for the use of the individual addressee(s) named above and may contain information that is confidential privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no sense of humour or absurd religious beliefs. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is not authorised (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas. Unless the word absquatulation has been used in its correct context somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or grammatical use and may be ignored. No animals were harmed in the transmission of this email, although the spaniel next door is living on borrowed time, let me tell you. Those of you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is no hidden message revealed by reading this warning backwards, so just ignore that Alert Notice from Microsoft. However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your computer you can ensure that no harm befalls you and your pets. If you have received this email in error, please add nutmeg and flour, lightly sift & mix with 200g margarine and 180g sugar, beat well and place it in a warm oven for 40 minutes.
Let it stand for 2 hours before icing.
fraser@parallel-youniversity.com
www.parallel-youniversity.com
fraser@humanbe-in.com
www.humanbe-in.com
www.parallel-youniversity.com/fraser
IMPORTANT: This email is intended for the use of the individual addressee(s) named above and may contain information that is confidential privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no sense of humour or absurd religious beliefs. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is not authorised (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas. Unless the word absquatulation has been used in its correct context somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or grammatical use and may be ignored. No animals were harmed in the transmission of this email, although the spaniel next door is living on borrowed time, let me tell you. Those of you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is no hidden message revealed by reading this warning backwards, so just ignore that Alert Notice from Microsoft. However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your computer you can ensure that no harm befalls you and your pets. If you have received this email in error, please add nutmeg and flour, lightly sift & mix with 200g margarine and 180g sugar, beat well and place it in a warm oven for 40 minutes.
Let it stand for 2 hours before icing.