drudgereport--2019-10-09--Will put medical emergency planning to test...

Health care providers and officials around Northern California said that PG&E’s electrical grid shutdown, expected to trigger blackouts in 34 of 58 counties on Wednesday, will test on a grand scale whether residents and medical care facilities have done enough to planning for medical emergencies.  “Placer County is expected to be impacted by the public safety power shutoff event,” said Michael Romero, a program manager with that county’s Health & Human Services Department. “More than 50,000 meters, which could be up to 150,000 residents, could be impacted. Obviously, we’re very concerned with the impact.”  Romero urged residents to formulate a plan for to ensure their health needs would be met. That ranges from keeping food and water on hand to ensuring ensuring you know how to manually open your garage to ordering an additional oxygen tank for a loved one who’s dependent on the equipment, he said.  “Often, the plan is friends and family who aren’t in the impacted area,” Romero said. “Your best support system is the support system you have on a regular basis – friends and family. We encourage people to have that plan – that friend or family member – outside the impacted area that you might have to stay with a few days.”  Health care providers all around the state have been preparing for the worst-case warnings, that they and local residents may have to go without power for a week.  Early Tuesday morning in Lake County, Ruth Lincoln said that she was feeling as though her staff and clients at Hospice Services of Lake County had gotten some pretty good news. That’s when she got her first look at a map showing local addresses that fell within the blackout zone. While a number of clients would be affected, Lincoln said, the hospice’s central hub wasn’t and would still be able to serve as a backstop.  Then came the afternoon update, she said, and it was a game changer. The hospice’s hub now was in the blackout area, Lincoln said, and she had to schedule a call to regroup with the organization’s health care partners.  Fortunately, she said, the hospice staff had done work over the last few months to help clients and their families update or develop emergency plans for their households. They spent Tuesday ensuring that clients knew whether their homes were within the anticipated blackout zone, triple-checking that they had the medication, equipment and alternate power sources they needed.  “It’s going to be a real test of our emergency operations plan because we are spread through the county, providing services from east to west and north to south all around the perimeter of Clear Lake,” Lincoln said.  Rene Hamlin, the development director at El Dorado County’s Snowline Hospice, said that besides developing emergency plans for clients, hospices also must ensure they know which staff and volunteers will be available to continue offering services because their homes are usually within the same affected area as their clients.  They ensure arrangements are in place for transport, and they just might have to try and get services to new clients despite an emergency. Three new patients contacted Hospice Services of Lake County to start service this week, Lincoln said, and her staff is working to ensure they have what they need amid a blackout that will affect doctor’s offices, pharmacists, medical equipment suppliers and hospitals.  Placer County’s Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital, for instance, is within the potential blackout zone, Romero said.  Sutter Health leaders said in a statement that they are in communication with PG&E regarding public safety power shutoff plans in the communities they serve, and they are putting procedures in place to minimize the impact and leverage the strength of their integrated network.  Sutter Auburn Faith and other hospitals are required by law to have backup generators to ensure they can provide essential services in the event of an outage, said Jan Emerson-Shea, the spokesperson for the California Hospital Association, and they may reschedule or move elective procedures to facilities that are not affected.  “Existing state and federal law requires all hospitals to have 72 hours of backup diesel generation, so when a power outage occurs, the backup generators are supposed to just immediately kick in,” Emerson-Shea said. “If there are any surgical procedures under way, there should be very little impact involved. They’re structured to kick in right away. The challenge with backup generation is that it was never designed to power the whole hospital....The backup generators don’t power the chillers, the air-conditioning units and things.”  They do drills to test that backup generation, she added, because it’s part of overall disaster preparedness.  Nursing homes, now more commonly called skilled nursing facilities, must have a plan to operate for at least 96 hours on backup generators, said Jason Belden, the disaster preparedness manager at the California Association of Health Facilities.  “The generator is required to power emergency plugs throughout the building. It’s also required to power fire protection systems like fire alarms, sprinklers, those kinds of things,” he said. “The only real problem could be keeping the buildings cool if the temperature gets a little hot outside. That is the main source of concern for us.”  Health care officials had a number of recommendations help prevent medical emergencies during power outages:  Have food and water on hand. Freeze containers of water for ice to help keep food cold in the freezer. As they melt they, they could be a source of water.  Freeze refrigerated items such as leftovers, milk and fresh meat and poultry to give them a longer shelf life. Closely pack frozen food, so it can help to keep it at a safe temperature for longer.  Get coolers to keep refrigerated food cold if the power will be out for more than four hours.  If you’re in doubt about whether food is still good to eat, throw it out rather than risk food poisoning.  Make a plan to keep insulin and other refrigerated medication cool.  Know how to manually open garage doors. It can be a physical strain, so have a plan in place if you are not certain you can do it.  Learn how to safely operate electric generators before an emergency. If you aren’t well-versed in operating a generator, you risk being poisoned by carbon monoxide, shocked, electrocuted or burned.  You may need cash to purchase medications or other medical necessities because credit card machines may not work.  Pharmacies in your area may close due to lack of power, so ensure you have at least a week’s supply of medication at home.  Have battery chargers on hand for medical equipment and cell phones.  Keep a battery operated radio and flashlight on hand.  Fuel up your vehicle ahead of any power outage, as pumps may not work, lines may be too long and stations may run out of gas. You may have to drive quite a distance to get to an open pharmacy or emergency medical services. Be sure you have cash on hand for gas, just in case the credit card machine does not work.  If you live in an affected area, ask friends and relatives outside the area whether they can help with refrigerator space or accommodations.


drudgereport--2019-12-04--Trump deploys 'surge' of park rangers to patrol Mexican border...

The Trump administration is sending a new “surge” of rangers from US national parks such as Zion, Yosemite and the National Mall to patrol the southern border for crossings by illegal immigrants.  Continuing a controversial policy initiated in 2018, rangers who work in law enforcement will be dispatched to Organ Pipe Cactus national monument on the Arizona and Mexico border as well as Big Bend national park on the border in south-west Texas.  Donald Trump has been unable to obtain funding for his border emergency plan, which includes an increase in immigration enforcement officials as well as large sums for border wall construction. Diverting rangers from national parks is a way to direct federal resources to the border without the need for congressional approval.  Valerie Naylor, a former National Park Service (NPS) superintendent who worked for the agency for 31 years, said she was troubled by the idea of rangers being tasked with arresting migrants instead of protecting the parks where they work.  “My concern is sending rangers from parks that are already understaffed specifically to work with border patrol in areas that are outside the mission of the National Park Service,” she said. “This potentially puts visitors at risk, certainly resources at risk, in the parks they are leaving.”  Since the fiscal year 2011, the National Park Service has seen an 11% reduction in staff while experiencing a 19% increase in visitation. Trump’s proposed 2020 budget, which includes considerable increases in border security spending, cuts the NPS budget cut by $481m.  “This is coming at a time when national parks are experiencing the most significant staff and funding shortages in American history,” said Laiken Jordahl, borderlands campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity who previously worked for the NPS for two years. “It’s a publicity stunt with genuine consequences.”  The “pilot” program was initially set to last just 90 days but has been extended into the fall of 2020, according to High Country News. Federal officials have been tight-lipped about the number of rangers taking part in three-week rotations at national parks on the border. The NPS declined to provide the number of rangers reassigned to these duties since 2018 to the Guardian..  “The National Park Service continues to support our federal partners by deploying law enforcement personnel to Department of the Interior managed lands along the southern border,” said a spokesperson. “Due to operational security, we will not be disclosing any additional information about our officers assisting in the operations.”  A recent investigation by USA Today found that numerous parks are involved in the program, including the Great Smoky Mountains national park in North Carolina, Wrangell-St Elias national park in Alaska, the National Mall in Washington DC, and Zion national park.  Andrew Fitzgerald, deputy chief ranger at Zion national park, confirmed to the Guardian that they would be sending three rangers to the border by the end of the year for three-week rotations.  Critics have questioned the efficacy of these rotations, because while national park law enforcement rangers are trained to enforce federal laws, they are not necessarily well versed in the complexities of immigration enforcement.  “This new directive rotates rangers from places like the National Mall, Redwood Park and Yosemite,” said Jorhdahl, referring to national parks not located along the border. “They are essentially sending people down there that have no idea how to do the job.”  Naylor said that “rangers are exceptionally well trained”. The problem is of a different kind.  Rangers are commonly redeployed from one park to another to deal with a crisis – a fire, for instance. “Whether sending them [rangers] to the border meets that need, that criterion – well, I would question that,” she said.

disaster, accident and emergency incident


eveningstandard--2019-01-03--Brexit deal latest Backbench threat to stop ministersapos pay if they allow no deal

Brexit deal latest: Backbench threat to stop ministers' pay if they allow no deal

MPs are threatening to block Cabinet ministers’ salaries if the Government ignores the Commons and allows a no-deal Brexit, it was revealed today.  Writing in tonight’s Standard, former minister Chris Leslie says Parliament must “show its teeth” to force ministers to take heed of the majority of MPs opposing a no-deal exit from the EU.  The warning came as dredgers began work in Ramsgate under emergency plans to upgrade the Kent harbour into a freight port if the Prime Minister’s deal fails to get through.  Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay this morning talked up the risk of a no-deal departure, saying it will be “far more likely” if MPs refuse to support Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, which is due to be voted on in the week beginning January 14.  Mr Barclay was due to chair a meeting in Whitehall of junior ministers responsible for emergency planning, and also announced that information packs would start going out shortly to the public on how to cope.  The Prime Minister was back at No 10 this morning after spending her Christmas break phoning EU leaders in the hope of securing a “clarification” to the controversial backstop plan that has provoked a major rebellion by Tory MPs and her DUP allies.  Mrs May spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Christmas Eve, and again yesterday, but sources played down the chances of a breakthrough in time for next week’s debate.  Former attorney general Dominic Grieve warned against any further delay to the vote, saying: “It’s only when we have resolved the acceptability or otherwise of this deal that we can properly decide on other options. There is no evidence that the deal is any different to what the Government put forward in December.”  The idea of postponing the vote was pressed by David Davis, the former Brexit Secretary, who argued in The Daily Telegraph that “the more we prepare to leave the EU without a deal, the more likely a good deal becomes.”  Mr Leslie, a former shadow chancellor, said there would be guerilla warfare in the Commons if Mrs May tried to “play for time” after being defeated and refused to let Parliament explore alternative plans such as a second referendum. “If ministers show contempt for Commons resolutions, MPs should simply refuse to supply the money to pay all ministerial salaries,” he said. “And that would be just the start. It is time for Parliament to show its teeth.”


eveningstandard--2019-01-21--Brexit news Crashing out of the EU with no deal would bring aposabsolute disasterapos to UK bu

Brexit news: Crashing out of the EU with no deal would bring 'absolute disaster' to UK, business minister warns May

A business minister broke ranks today to warn Theresa May that the Government must “do our duty” to stop the “absolute disaster” of Britain crashing out of the European Union with no deal.  In a startling attack on his Tory colleagues, including International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, Richard Harrington slammed the “sham of pretend trade agreements which have not happened yet”.  Rejecting Brexiteers’ claims that no deal would not damage businesses, he said that car plants could close and that the Government’s own analyses of leaving the EU in such a chaotic way “bring more than shivers”.  “I’m not prepared to sell business down the river for other people’s political dogma,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.  Meanwhile business chiefs said Brexit was already costing the UK billions.  They pleaded with the Prime Minister to rule out “no deal” as many firms are now having to escalate emergency plans to cope with a departure from the EU in just weeks.  “Time is running out to avoid a chaotic ‘no deal’ Brexit that would be catastrophic for the economy,” said Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, which represents about 300 firms in the Square Mile.  Insurers have had to move 20 million contracts out of the UK to the EU, as well as setting up 31 subsidiaries on the other side of the Channel or in Ireland, to minimise the Brexit blow.  One insurance firm alone has spent £300 million on Brexit preparations, and the 10 biggest banks are reported to have been left with a £1 billion bill.  Huw Evans, director general of the Association of British Insurers, said: “The cost of Brexit uncertainty is being felt across our world-leading insurance sector.”  Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said only 14 per cent of smaller businesses have planned for a “no deal” scenario.  “Over the past few months, we’ve seen small business confidence plummet to its lowest levels since the wake of the financial crash,” he said.  Allie Renison, head of Europe and trade policy at the Institute of Directors, said: “With no deal still the default option, many firms are forced to invest in costly contingency planning, and the majority of those making plans have ramped them up in response to the failed vote on the Withdrawal Agreement.  “This is particularly an issue for manufacturing and agrifood, as the profit margins are often smaller than financial services, and require more physical changes in terms of moving production or buying up warehousing space for customs purposes.”  Catherine McGuinness, policy chairwoman at the City of London Corporation, said: “Continuing uncertainty about whether a Brexit deal that delivers a transition period will be secured has meant firms across the sector have had to continue planning for a no-deal departure, even if it means racking up large costs that may ultimately be unnecessary.”  Mr Harrington is one of many ministers ready to resign if the Government adopts a “no deal” policy. “Crashing out in my view is an absolute disaster … it’s not a road to a free trade agreement, it’s not a road to anything,” he said.  “It’s supported by a minority of a minority of people. The Prime Minister does not support it.  “She should in my view say ‘we are responsible people. we are going to do our duty to business and we are going to rule out a no-deal because we want a great deal’.”  His greatest fears are not over drug shortages or planes not flying if Britain leaves with no deal, but the impact on thousands of firms with tariffs and other trade barriers.  “I’m afraid of Jaguar closing, Mini closing, the life sciences industry closing … because we would have no agreement that represents the way these businesses are integrated today,” Mr Harrington said.  Cabinet minister Mr Fox admitted at the weekend that many of 40 trade agreements that should be ready on March 29 may not be done in time.  Brexiteers believe that Britain could leave on World Trade Organisation terms, and strike a free trade deal afterwards, but Mr Harrington said: “The WTO is a last-resort position. It’s not for trading between some of the most sophisticated and complex economies in the world.”


eveningstandard--2019-09-04--New Zealand crash Five tourists killed after tour bus crashes on motorway near Rotorua

New Zealand crash: Five tourists killed after tour bus crashes on motorway near Rotorua

Five tourists have been killed after a bus crashed on a motorway in New Zealand.  A coach carrying 27 people rolled over on a motorway on the North Island under rainy skies.  At least five tourists from China died in the tragedy. There are reports the ambassador to New Zealand is heading to the scene of the deaths.  The crash happened just outside Rotorua, a destination popular with visitors for its hot pools and volcanic activity.  Emergency services in New Zealand said the crash happened at around 11.20am local time (12.20 am BST).  Police confirmed five people have died, and that 27 people were on the bus.  St John’s ambulance service said it sent five helicopters to the scene on the State Highway 5.  The Chinese embassy in New Zealand’s capital Wellington confirmed that Chinese nationals were on the crashed bus.  Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that the country's embassy in New Zealand has launched an emergency plan following the crash.  Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick told the Rotorua Daily Post: “At the request of the police, Rotorua Lakes Council is providing any welfare assistance needed for passengers who were not injured.  “That could include anything from providing food and translation services to liaising with accommodation providers and enabling them to contact family.  "This is a police-led operation and council staff, under the direction of civil defence staff, are assisting as required."


eveningstandard--2019-10-31--Evening Standard comment: The scary things that aren't happening today

A lot of things were supposed to happen today. Most of them aren’t. We aren’t leaving the European Union. We aren’t about to suffer no-deal. We aren’t being issued with commemorative devalued 50 pence coins and this morning the M20 through Kent was running smoothly, rather than preparing to become the world’s longest lorry park. Nor are there riots in the streets by people who feel their vote for Brexit has been betrayed, as some claimed there would be. One Cabinet minister warned of a “violent, popular uprising” and there were rumours of an emergency plan to evacuate the Queen. Instead people are more interested in deciding where to watch the rugby on Saturday. And of course the Prime Minister is not dead in a ditch, as he said he would be if Brexit didn’t happen. The closest to serious injury he has come today was on a visit to a hospital in Cambridge.  And then there’s something else that hasn’t happened, as well — the collapse of support for the Conservative Party for failing to do what it promised. Instead, as our poll today shows , it has a 17-point lead over Labour, with the Prime Minister’s personal approval ratings climbing even as respect for Jeremy Corbyn falls further. This may not mean people actually like the Government or the man running it. Only 18 per cent of voters think the Government is doing a good job, including only a third of Conservatives. Most people think the country will get poorer next year. The flight of centre-ground Conservative MPs, including many women, may be followed by the flight of centre-ground voters, especially in London. When Iain Duncan Smith says “we are the Brexit party now because there is no other space for us to occupy”, he thinks it’s good news. Wiser Conservatives might see the peril that lies in narrow isolationism: in 2016 four out of 10 Tory supporters voted Remain, after all.  But for now Mr Johnson will be happy and Mr Corbyn should be scared. Yes, Labour’s poll rating was awful at the start of the 2017 election and it recovered. But he’s even less popular now, the Lib Dems are stronger and he’s not facing Theresa May. It’s his fault. His fault that Jewish voters fear anti-Semitism. His fault that the scandalous MP Keith Vaz is attempting to stand again despite being suspended from the Commons for six months. His fault that Labour is running with a leader many of his MPs privately do not think is fit to be PM.  Meanwhile, one thing definitely is happening today: Halloween. And this election year there really are reasons to be scared.  Gerry’s Pompeii is a one-bedroom apartment in a house in Westbourne Park, where an autodidact Irishman, Gerard Dalton, devoted more than 30 years to creating models of stately homes and castles, and his idiosyncratic clay figures of various notables. Some of them form a startling waterfront feature on the Grand Union Canal. He died this year, and his admirers including artists and museum directors have written to the Genesis/Notting Hill Housing Trust to ask that they allow a grace period of three to six months before disposing of the property. During that time they can decide how to preserve the collection, perhaps — if the needs of the neighbours are met — by buying the apartment and creating a community museum. This is a modest ask, and the Trust should say yes. Creating a fantastical kingdom out of a one-bedroom London flat is a feat that deserves reward.  The report of the Grenfell fire inquiry has exposed stories of mismanagement and also heroics. One of them involves a gas engineer, Jason Allday, who, with his team, fought to cut off the supply, twice entering the building to do so. He is praised for “inspirational leadership”: a hero among the flames.  New: Daily podcast from the Evening Standard  Subscribe to The Leader on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast or your chosen podcast provider. New episodes every weekday from 4pm.


freedombunker--2019-01-22--My Employer Tried to Steal From Me

“My Employer Tried to Steal From Me”

When Derek Sanchez was fired, the company he worked for owed him money.  Derek doesn’t like to go into specifics. But he says the amount was somewhere in the region of $80,000-90,000.  Unfortunately, his former employers, who were notoriously cutthroat, had no intention of paying him what they owed.  When they kicked his butt to the curb, without warning, they tried to force him to accept 20% of the sum owed and sign a contract saying he would not pursue payment any further.  This is a common tactic used by soulless megacorps. They bank on a couple of weeks of unemployment taking the fight out of the employee and forcing them to give in. If Derek couldn’t find a job immediately, he’d have to accept their offer just to keep the wolves from the door.  But Derek was nobody’s fool. He had a plan.  “I hired a lawyer and sued,” says Derek. “And in the meantime, my wife and I lived off our emergency fund. We did that for about two months until I was able to find a new job… it was a better paying job too!”  Derek estimates they only used about 20% of their emergency fund before he got hired again. And 10 months after he was fired, he won his case and received the full payment from his former employers.  “If we didn’t have that emergency fund, we wouldn’t have been able to hold out,” says Derek. “We wouldn’t have been able to hire the lawyer. We would have been screwed. We would have had to take the 20% and it would have been all gone by the time I got back to work.”  As a reader of Money & Crisis, you know the importance of a robust emergency fund. (In fact, it’s step two of our financial emergency plan. You can find step one here.)  This means that more than half the country is woefully unprepared for a personal financial crisis, let alone a total economic collapse.  It also means that if you can hit two simple savings milestones, you will be financially more secure than almost 70% of the country.  If you’re sticking to the 50/30/20 budget plan, this first milestone is easily achievable. You need $1,000–1,200 cash, in twenties, kept in a secure location at your home.  This cash on hand can be a lifesaver. You can save a little more if you wish, but this should be enough to get you through most emergencies in which cash isn’t readily available — for example, if there’s a run on the banks or they are shut down entirely.  Keep the cash hidden in a covert safe, like an electrical panel with a hidden safe or a false vent safe.  Note: As with any on-site valuables or home security features, you should keep this information to yourself. I trust my neighbors but I play my cards close to my chest just the same. You’d be surprised how quickly information can travel in a community.  If you’ve ever lost a job, and had to switch gears from your full earning power to zero in a day, you know just how important this second tier of savings is.  The specific amount required will differ depending on your situation, but generally, I recommend saving the equivalent of six-to-eight months’ income.  Derek had six month’s pay saved away and that allowed him to take his time when looking for a new job and find a better paying position with a reputable company.  And that’s the beauty of a robust emergency fund. It’s versatility.  It can be a cushion when times are tough. It can buy you time to make the right decision. And it’s the perfect buffer for unseen emergency costs like healthcare or auto repairs.  As we head into the choppy waters of 2019, now is the time to make sure you have your fund well-stocked.  All the best,  P.S. Governments around the world are secretly preparing an alternative strategy for the next big crisis: a lockdown.  The global elite has already started making their own preparations, including hoarding cash and hard assets.  It will be the average investor who suffers most — unless you act now.  New York Times bestselling author Jim Rickards pulls back the curtain on this global collusion in his new book The Road to Ruin: The Global Elites’ Secret Plan for the Next Financial Crisis.  And for a limited time, Jim is giving away free copies to readers of Money & Crisis.  In this groundbreaking tell-all, Jim reveals the powerful strategies you can use to protect your money and your family from the coming crisis.  Click here and enter your address to claim your free copy now.  In light of recent events, there isn’t a better time than now to take Jim up on his offer.  The post “My Employer Tried to Steal From Me” appeared first on Laissez Faire.


globalresearch--2019-01-29--The Experimental PolyMet Copper Sulfide Mine in Minnesota the St Louis River Lake Superior and th

The Experimental PolyMet Copper Sulfide Mine in Minnesota, the St Louis River, Lake Superior, and the Recent Brazilian Environmental Catastrophes

“ALL tailings ‘ponds’ are a problem. If they don’t breach and spill massive amounts of toxic sludge into the environment like at Mount Polley, they leach that contamination slowly, poisoning the waters and lands (and aquifers) around them for centuries.” – (Council of Canadians)  The two most recent Brazilian open-pit mine “accidents” that will be discussed in this extended-length Duty to Warn column, will probably require close to a trillion dollar death and disability benefits for just the following two categories:  1) the hundreds of dead and wounded miners (and their grieving families); and  2) the massive amounts of property damaged that was owned by the thousands of government and private owners whose roads, bridges, homes, land, lives and health that were destroyed or damaged after the deluge – all the way to the coast. Carefully study the photos below and visualize the St Louis River.  These realities invite the following questions for families of miners and property-owners downstream from the proposed PolyMet copper/nickel mine tailings lagoon that is supposed to be built at the headwaters of the St Louis River in northern Minnesota:  Question # 1: Did the two Brazilian mining companies Samarco and Vale and the multinational mining corporation BHP Billiton plc have sufficiently large escrow accounts to cover the compensation costs that will be owed to the 200 – 300 families whose head-of-household miners drowned in agony on January 25, 2019?  Question # 2: Is the MN DNR, the MN PCA, the MN Chambers of Commerce and the MN State Government requiring the foreign mining companies PolyMet, Glencore and Antofagasta to put aside sufficient escrow money to cover the hundreds of billions of dollars that would be required to pay for all the costs of similar mining disasters in Minnesota that could very easily  Question # 3: Would a trillion-dollar escrow account even be enough to cover the potential damages from a serious PolyMet dam failure that reaches Lake Superior?  Question # 4: Should Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario have a say in what happens to Lake Superior because of the short-sighted plans of Minnesota’s lawmakers and bureaucrats?  Following are some historical and current event’s lessons for starry-eyed Minnesota politicians, bureaucrats, investors and wannabe copper miners who have been expertly bamboozled by PolyMet and assorted other foreign non-ferrous mining corporations to ignore the huge risks involved in inviting a foreign, penny stock mining corporation to dig an experimental mine in our pristine wilderness for the sake of a few hundred temporary mining jobs.  Read on to better understand the well-concealed risks and recall that corporations only have a fiduciary duty to make as much money as possible for their shareholders. They only consider the long-term environmental damage that they will leave behind if and when there is a significant possibility of serious legal ramifications.  Residents of the dozen or so river towns that are located on or near the banks of northern Minnesota’s reasonably healthy St Louis River need to be aware of the solemn warnings in this column. Those river towns include, in descending order from north to south: Hoyt Lakes, Aurora, Meadowlands, Floodwood, Brookston, Cloquet, Scanlon, Carlton, Thomson, Wrenshall, Duluth and Superior (WI).  I think most residents of and visitors to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario understand the importance of leaving behind to the next generation a healthy, drinkable, fishable and swimmable Lake Superior. Hopefully readers will pay attention to the information presented here, and then do what they can to oppose the dangerous PolyMet project.  Even state-of-the-art mine tailings ponds that use earthen dams like the one proposed for PolyMet’s mine waste lagoon, are subject to liquification, overtopping, rain deluges, earthquakes and therefore sudden dam wall breaches that can destroy for a generation or more every living thing – including fish – in the watershed downstream.  Even tributaries can be both polluted in the sudden sludge surge that can temporarily reverse the flow of a creek or river. If the toxic sludge enters a lake, the bottom will become permanently too toxic for spawning or bottom feeding, and future thermocline changes can renew the poisoning of the lake over and over again.  Multinational mining corporations have poisoned environments – sometimes gradually, sometimes catastrophically – wherever on the planet they have extracted minerals or petroleum– NO EXCEPTIONS. And the worst examples of pollution have happened in water-rich environments like Minnesota.  Giant multinational mining corporations like Vale, BHP Billiton plc and Samarco (each of which have extensive mining operations in Brazil) have again demonstrated to the world that they can’t be trusted; for on January 25, 2019, these conscienceless corporations have perpetrated another environmental catastrophe on Brazil.  This time the company’s miners and mine workers were the ones that suffered the most. Looking at the photos below will make it clear why this one was far more lethal than the Samarco disaster in 2015 that was called the worst environmental catastrophe in the history of Brazil.  Read on and come to the realization that similar disasters could easily happen to whomever and whatever happens to be downstream from the proposed PolyMet/NorthMet/Glencore sulfuric acid-producing copper/nickel mine whose earthen tailings pond is scheduled to rise to an eventually unstable height of 250 feet!!  Important parts of northern Minnesota could easily be poisoned irreparably, despite what the starry-eyed, bamboozled and/or possibly paid off politicians who haven’t thought through all of the long-term consequences of their votes and law-making efforts.  Mining-related industries spend lavish amounts of advertising money for propaganda purposes. PolyMet has also spent a lot of money on advertising in local and regional media outlets, thus creating loyal mouthpieces of those that accept that money. One example is the fact that PolyMet was a major sponsor of the Minnesota state hockey tournament for the last couple of years. A PolyMet employee once held an important position in the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.  Even admired, well-meaning Minnesota legislators like Klobuchar, Smith, Stauber, Nolan and many others, whether GOP or DFL, has experienced some level of corporate influence – including campaign “contributions” from the paymasters of the mining industry.  The high potential for sudden environmental catastrophes similar to Mount Polley (British Columbia 2014), Brazil’s Samarco mine (Brazil 2015), and now the Brumadinho mine (Brazil 2019)) – plus a hundred others since major multinational mining corporations began their global mineral extractions on a mass scale a century ago.  There have been at least four disastrous tailings lagoon failures just in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil over the past 20 years. There are over 750 tailings dams in that province alone, and 40 of them are considered to be at high risk of liquifying and rupturing. Even the so-called “state-of-the-art” mining corporations like Vale and BHP Billiton plc have no reliable method of preventing aging or otherwise endangered earthen dam walls from failing their purpose in holding back toxic liquid mine waste for an eternity.  The photo below is the mouth of the Rio Doce River (as it enters the Atlantic Ocean), photographed a few days after the dam breach killed every fish in the river. The fish died of both asphyxiation and poisoning because of the massive and sudden toxicity of the toxic mine waste from 300 miles upstream on that fateful day on November 5, 2015. The poisoned water rapidly flowed into the ocean and the previously lucrative fishing industry was destroyed. Commercial fishing in the vicinity of the Rio Doce is still forbidden by governmental decree three years later partly because the flesh of the surviving, sickened fish is still poisonous.  It shouldn’t be necessary to point out to intelligent politicians, voters, fishermen and visitors that appreciate a clean St Louis River that something very similar could easily happen to Lake Superior.  Every sovereign state (Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan), every sovereign indigenous nation and every sovereign Canadian province that regards Lake Superior as either sacred or simply a valuable resource needs to demand that Minnesota’s Governor Walz, Wisconsin’s Governor Emmers, the elected representatives in both political parties in both states and particularly the non-elected bureaucrats in the DNR, the PCA, the US Forest Service, the IRRRB and the Chambers of Commerce put an emergency hold on all the permits that have previously granted permission for PolyMet and Glencore to proceed with their dangerous plans.  The mine waste-contaminated mouth of Brazil’s Rio Doce, once a healthy fishery, as it enters the Atlantic Ocean (which remains contaminated after 3 years). (This is what could happen to Lake Superior if the earthen wall of PolyMet’s tailings lagoon suddenly liquifies, over-tops and collapses)  The remainder of the column summarizes early news item from around the world (except in northern Minnesota) reporting on what happened in Brazil’s mine country a few days ago. Some of the reports have helpfully made the connections to the earlier, equally catastrophic – but far less lethal – tailings lagoon collapse three years ago. The Brazilian mining company Vale was the part owner of both mines.  200 of the 300 mining employees that were on-site at the time of the earthen dam collapse are missing (and presumed drowned) after the tailings dam of the Brazilian mining company Vale suddenly dissolved and catastrophically emptied  A demolished home lies in ruins after a dam collapsed near Brumadinho, Brazil the day after the dam failure Officials say some 200 people are missing near the southeast Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte after a tailings dam owned by a mining company (Vale) collapsed Friday, unleashing a torrent of muddy waste and debris. The mayor of Brumadinho, where the dam is located, said seven bodies had already been recovered and that he expects the death toll to rise. The dam is owned by the mining giant Vale, which also operates a nearby iron ore mine. Vale’s CEO, Fábio Schvartsman, said roughly 300 workers were on site at the time of the rupture and that at least two-thirds of them are unaccounted for. Video footage from the site showed a helicopter rescue crew hovering over a wide field of reddish-brown mud, struggling to pull victims free. The river of sludge forced the evacuation of some residents. This local TV footage shows a rescue mission. In a statement, Vale confirmed the dam breach at the Feijão Mine in Minas Gerais state. It’s not clear why the dam ruptured. “The first information indicates that the tailings had reached the companies administrative area and part of the Vila Ferteco community,” it said. Schvartsman has apologized for the disaster, calling it “unacceptable,” according to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo. He said that the dam was stable but in the process of being decommissioned. The company says it has initiated its “emergency plan for dams.” Before and after photos of the area show a wide expanse of trees, fields, roads and buildings leveled by the river of sludge.  Rescuers worked overnight into Saturday searching for around 300 people missing after a dam collapse at a mine in southeast Brazil killed at least nine, but the local governor said “odds are minimal” that the missing 300 would be found alive. What’s left of the Vale mining company’s administrative buildings, a processing plant and assorted missing company buildings, including the company cafeteria and the barracks where hundreds of miners had been housed The tailings dam, owned by Brazilian mining giant Vale, broke apart “very violently, very suddenly,” sending a massive torrent of mud over the complex where 300 mine employees were working. Seven bodies were recovered Friday hours after the disaster, which saw a torrent of mud break through the disused dam at the iron-ore mine close to the city of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerias, around 1:00 pm. (The tailings lagoon had apparently been decommissioned in 2014.) By early Saturday the official death toll had risen to nine, with “nearly 300 people missing,” the local firefighters said, doubling the number of people presumed missing from the previous toll. Up to 150 of those missing worked in the company’s administrative offices which were closest to the dam break, the firefighters said. The mine is owned by Vale, a Brazilian mining giant that was involved in a previous 2015 mine collapse in the same state that claimed 19 lives and is regarded as the country’s worst-ever environmental disaster. Vale shares plummeted on the new accident, losing eight percent in New York trading. Romeu Zema, the governor of Minas Gerais, told reporters that, while all was being done to find survivors, “from now, the odds are minimal and it is most likely we will recover only bodies.” His regional administration said 427 people had been working at the Vale mine at the time of the dam collapse, and 279 were recovered alive. The others were listed as missing. The massive, muddy flow from the collapse barreled towards the nearby town of Brumadinho, population 39,000, but did not hit it directly. Instead, it carved its way across roads, vegetation and farmland, taking down a bridge, and damaging or destroying homes. Emptied-out tailings lagoon (upper left), a still-intact, water/sludge-filled tailings lagoon (lower left) – and the downstream destruction represented in the entire upper half of the photo Television images showed people being pulled out of waist-high mud into rescue helicopters, dozens of which were in use by late Friday because of the cut-off land access. Brazil’s new government, led by President Jair Bolsonaro, reacted to its first big emergency since taking office early this month by launching disaster coordination between the defense, mining and environment ministries and authorities in the affected state of Minas Gerais. Bolsonaro and his defense minister were scheduled to fly over the zone on Saturday. His environment minister raced to the area late Friday. “Where are our relatives?” wailed Raquel Cristina, one of several people demanding information about their missing kin in the mud-hit area. “My five-year-old nephew is asking me if his dad died. What do I tell him?” asked another, Olivia Rios. Officials said they were working through the night, conscious of the precious hours ticking away. Around 100 fire fighters were deployed, some using earth-moving machinery to dig down to engulfed dwellings. Would-be rescue volunteers were warned away because of the slippery, perilous piles of mud. Media were urged not to use drones to avoid collisions with the helicopters. Vale CEO Fabio Schvartsman called the incident a “human tragedy” and was resigned to more deaths being confirmed at his company’s mine. “We’re talking about probably a large number of victims — we don’t know how many, but we know it will be a high number,” he told a media conference in Rio de Janeiro. Schvartsman, who had his two-year term renewed last month by Vale’s board of directors, said it was an “inactive dam” (that was in the process of being decommissioned) that burst apart “very violently, very suddenly.” Its contents — tailings, or mining byproducts mixed with water — cascaded into another dam, which also overflowed, he said. The disaster recalled the 2015 dam break near Mariana, in Minas Gerais. That accident released millions of tons of toxic iron mining waste along hundreds of kilometers. Vale was joint operator of that dam, along with the Anglo-Australian group BHP Billiton. The Brazil office of Greenpeace, the environmental activist group, said Friday’s dam break was “a sad consequence of the lessons not learned by the Brazilian government and the mining companies.” It said the incidents “are not accidents but environmental crimes that must be investigated,punished and repaired.” View of toxic sludge in a large river – showing a tributary to the right where the sludge presumably moved upstream momentarily against the flow (note the fresh blue water – right upper corner of photo) An aerial view shows a destroyed bridge after a dam collapsed in Brumadinho, Brazil No signs of any of the remains of this dam, signifying the power of the deluge Totally washed-out highway that may have once crossed a small river Sludge has obliterated a highway – and much more Searching for bodies downstream from the mine tailings pond breach  Brazilian Mining Company Pays Out $6.2 Billion for 2015 Environmental Disaster (and will be paid out over 15 years)  Satellite image from 12 November 2015, one week after the Samarco mine disaster Part of a destroyed village that was downstream from Brazil’s Samarco Mine in 2015 Samarco delegates signed the agreement in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. The owners and operators of an iron ore mine where a burst dam flattened a village, killed 19 people and caused “the biggest environmental disaster in the history of Brazil,” settled with the government Wednesday for US$6.2 billion a year after the disaster.  The company is co-owned by Brazil’s Vale iron ore giant and the foreign-owned Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company. President Dilma Rousseff said the settlement would help heal “a tragedy without precedent.” The funds, which will go toward social and environmental damages, will be paid out over 15 years. The Nov. 5 accident near Mariana in Minas Gerais state began when a tailings dam at Samarco’s mine failed, unleashing a flood of polluted water and mud into the River Doce, one of the most important rivers in Brazil. A village was destroyed, drinking water supplies for hundreds of thousands of people were interrupted and damage extended to the mouth of the river on the Atlantic coast, with wildlife, tourism businesses and fishing communities all suffering. Seven people have been accused of murder over the catastrophe. Contaminated river in Brazil, 2015 (presumably the Rio Doce) – note the large number of floating uprooted logs from the upstream tailings dam breach The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said last November that the mud spill released from a dam collapse at an iron ore mine in Brazil earlier this month is in fact toxic, debunking claims by the mine’s operator that the mud was “chemically stable.” Before and after satellite photos of the Atlantic Ocean showing toxic sludge from the Samarco dam collapse near the port of Regência – DigitalGlobe/Google Citing “new evidence,” the U.N. human rights agency said in a statement the residue “contained high levels of toxic heavy metals and other toxic chemicals.” “The scale of the environmental damage is the equivalent of 20,000 Olympic swimming pools of toxic mud waste contaminating the soil, rivers and water system of an area covering over 850 kilometers,” the U.N. agency’s special rapporteur John Knox said in the statement. Brazil’s Globo TV reported that a previously unpublished document revealed that Samarco management had known that there were safety risks at the mine since 2013, including knowledge of the danger that the dam could burst. The Samarco mine environmental disaster is being called the worst in Brazil’s history.  Note to readers: please click the share buttons above. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.  Since his retirement from his holistic mental health practice, Dr Kohls has been writing the weekly Duty to Warn column for the Duluth Reader, Minnesota’s premier alternative newsweekly magazine. His columns, which have been re-published all around the world for the last decade, deal with a variety of justice issues, including the dangers of copper/nickel sulfide mining in water-rich northeast Minnesota,  Many of his columns have been archived at a number of websites, including the following four:


globalresearch--2019-03-13--Venezuela Suspend Debt Repayments and Create an Emergency Humanitarian Fund

Venezuela: Suspend Debt Repayments and Create an Emergency Humanitarian Fund

There is no doubt that Donald Trump’s policies, those of the Lima group [1] and the European powers who seek to impose the usurper Juan Guaidó as President of Venezuela and do not hesitate to interfere in order to succeed, must be opposed. As usual, Washington and its allies are announcing a humanitarian crisis as a pretext for the threat of military intervention in a country that has important quantities of natural resources that they seek to grab. The trick is cheap and must be shown up for what it is. All the more so, that the mainstream media are conniving to prepare public opinion for this possibility. The situation is presented in the starkest of terms: a catastrophic dictatorial regime refuses to allow humanitarian aid to reach its needy population; whereas the self-proclaimed new President wants freedom for his people and calls for international help to release the aid that is blocked at the frontier, to the population.  This false and misleading image of the situation must be denounced. The Maduro regime is not a dictatorship: opponents may express themselves and call demonstrations, and President Maduro was elected by direct suffrage against opposing candidates. At the same time it is clear that the level of democracy enjoyed in Venezuela during the period that Hugo Chavez was President has withered: when the Maduro government decided to call an election to create a new constituent assembly, the procedure used by Hugo Chavez was not applied. There was no referendum to decide if a general election in order to elect a new constituent assembly was required; the choice of candidates to the assembly was made under pressure from the party and from Maduro. Over the last few years several popular demonstrations have been repressed.  On the other hand, one must not go to the other extreme and hold that what is happening in Venezuela is solely because of manipulation by foreign enemies of the Bolivarian process. Of course the measures taken by Trump since 2017, and the previous less aggressive measures by Obama, [2] cause great difficulties to the authorities and the economy of the country. There is however a measure of responsibility of the Maduro government and the new Bolivarian bourgeoisie that has emerged and prospered in the wake of the new government and President Maduro’s PSUV party. The root of the problems goes back a long way.  Beyond the discourse of “21st Century Socialism”, no real anti-capitalist measures were ever taken in Venezuela and the government largely allowed the local capitalist class to maintain its control over the industrial, financial and distribution sectors of the economy. A large space was also left open to big foreign capital from the US, Canada, Russia, China and Brazil. The effort to diversify the economy was insufficiently developed, so the country has remained heavily dependent on oil and raw material exports. Public participation in policy making was also insufficient and a new sector of privileged bourgeois parasites has appeared, known as the “Boli-bourgeoisie”. [3]  A previous article published on 28 January 2019, five days after Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself President in place of Maduro, [4] made several criticisms:  These are serious criticisms and they cannot be left unanswered.  At the same time, it is absolutely certain that the proposals made by Juan Guaidó and his supporters are not compatible with the needs of Venezuela and of maintaining its sovereignty. Guiado wants to facilitate the exploitation of the country’s natural resources and manpower by local and foreign corporations. A victory by Guiado would mean Venezuela would sink into the debt system to the advantage of its domestic creditors (the old Establishment and the new Boli-bourgeoisie who purchased Venezuelan debt meaning to profit at the expense of the people) and foreign investors such as big American and European banks and Russian and Chinese corporations, to mention just a few. Guaidó would not end corruption nor the flight of capital or speculation on food and medicine prices. Guaidó represents the traditional idle rich Venezuelan Establishment who have never been interested in developing the Venezuelan economy and whose interests are the opposite to those of the vast majority of the people. An elite who is happy to export the country’s raw materials and import more or less everything else the country needs. An elite that is favourable to paying the foreign and domestic debt, as they are among the holders of the titles.  But beyond all that, another fundamental factor needs to be taken into account: Guaidó’s attempted coup can succeed only if foreign powers intervene directly and succeed in buying off a part of the army (which Trump has made no bones about wanting to do) and fighting the remaining part. If the intervention now being prepared for is not halted, there will be dramatic consequences for the people of Venezuela, for the entire continent and internationally. The Latin American governments who are allied with Washington against Venezuela are ultra-reactionary. The very names of heads of state such as Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Mauricio Macri in Argentina, Iván Duque in Colombia, Jimmy Morales in Guatemala, Martín Vizcarra in Peru, Juan Carlos Varela in Panama and Sebastián Piñera in Chile are synonymous with reactionism. And of course the European powers, in a parade led by France, Germany, the UK and Spain, fearful that they might miss an opportunity to get a piece of Venezuela’s natural wealth, have rushed to get in line behind the United States and recognize Guaidó. The former colonial powers must be denounced for conducting such policies while at the same time not hesitating for a moment to lend their support to true dictatorships like that of Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Egypt, Idriss Déby in Chad, and Mohammed Ben Salman in Saudi Arabia, who is killing the people of Yemen and had an opposition journalist literally butchered in his embassy in Istanbul. The government of the State of Israel, which is responsible for war crimes against the Palestinian people, also supports Guaidó. The dominant media repeat as if by rote that the “international community” supports Guaidó, without mentioning the fact that sixty countries have announced that they continue to recognize the Maduro government. Only fifty support Guaidó. Note that the Centre-Left governments of Mexico and Uruguay refuse to fall in line with the Lima Group countries and have offered to act as mediators – a fact very rarely mentioned in the press.  For all these reasons, working-class political movements must refuse any contact with Guaidó and his backers. Guaidó must be unequivocally denounced and combated as a putschist, a representative of big capital and a traitor to the Venezuelan nation because he has called for armed intervention from Washington and its allies. And, faced with threats of a foreign intervention that is anything but imaginary, there is no other choice than to try to organize as broad a front as possible to oppose it. Of course, to avoid an escalation of the conflict, the two opposing camps must negotiate; but working-class political movements must refuse to meet with Guaidó, since he would only instrumentalize them to cloak himself with legitimacy. They must also maintain their autonomy and their ability to criticize the Maduro government.  Faced with the various forms of aggression adopted by Washington and its allies, and in order to improve living conditions for the people of Venezuela, the Maduro government should apply the proposals made by the Venezuelan economist Simón Andrés Zúñiga in an article entitled “Venezuela: El bloqueo y pirateo de fondos obligan a una moratoria de la deuda” (“The blockade and the theft of government funds demand a debt moratorium” – also available in French.  The author of the article begins by stating:  The article proposes that “…against the Trojan horse of ‘humanitarian aid’ promoted by the US and its allies to justify violating and taking control of Venezuelan territory, while at the same time fraudulently blocking access to Venezuela’s sovereign deposits and assets, the government should organise a mobilisation of the people in solidarity, involving all organisations and communities, in order to meet priority health and nutritional needs as well as organise to resist the criminal siege.  This should be done by means of a broad appeal for participation by all sectors in determining priorities for the use and control of existing resources. It would be an agenda of solidarity and support with broad popular participation, as opposed to the mendacious and cynical ‘humanitarian aid’ agenda.” The proposals contained in the balance of the article, which we can support, can be summed up roughly as follows. We have added certain items while keeping the content of the proposals intact. Obviously applying them would require a change of direction, and depends on the will as well as the ability of the people’s movements to make them their own and insist that they be applied. Unfortunately it seems improbable that they will take concrete form, but they do show that there is a way out of the humanitarian crisis.  1. Faced with the aggressive measures taken by foreign powers who have not hesitated to confiscate assets of the Republic of Venezuela deposited abroad and which are necessary for maintaining commercial exchanges, the government must declare a suspension of repayment of foreign debt.  We would add that international law permits a country facing an emergency situation, for example a humanitarian crisis, to decree a unilateral moratorium on debt repayment (without accumulation of interest or late penalties). And since in addition Venezuela is faced with measures of the type taken unilaterally by Washington without consulting the UN, a unilateral act of suspension of debt repayment is all the more justified.  2. Rather than use its low reserves of hard currencies for repayment of the debt, the government must use them to meet the fundamental needs of the population. As Zúñiga puts it: “The health and nourishment of the people must take priority over repayment of foreign debt.”  3. The moratorium would be accompanied by an open, detailed public audit which, without doubt, would throw light on the numerous manoeuvres and illegal capital flight that have taken place under the protection of the private financial system and of some of the country’s authorities.  4. There are political and economic reasons and legal precedent for supporting a decision of this scope. Unilaterally declaring a moratorium on debt and conducting an audit would be proof of determination to put priorities back in the proper order. The priority use of the nation’s resources must not be to repay debt, but rather to improve the dramatic living conditions being endured by a large part of the population. By suspending repayment, the government of Venezuela would be in a position of strength in its relationship with its creditors.  5. The suspension of debt repayment would apply to all debts issued by the national government and by PDVSA [the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company].  6. The implementation of an emergency plan for acquisition of food and medicines for the benefit of the population is inevitable. Simultaneously, financial resources must be invested in developing production of food and medicine at the national level. Priority must be given to local producers.  7. A solidarity plan for distributing medicines and care for persons suffering from serious diseases such as diabetes, cancer, renal failure, Parkinson’s disease and HIV/AIDS, among others, which require ongoing and stable treatment, must be implemented immediately. The same goes for the basic medicines needed by the population. A special effort must be made for the people of Amazonia, who are living with an epidemic of malaria.  8. The government and a front made up of forces opposed to foreign interference must take on this task massively, including both those affected and popular organisations. This inclusive and unifying strategy requires breaking with the culture of paternalism, mystification, clientelism and electoralism which characterises many countries, Venezuela among them. All forces that oppose foreign interference, without exception, must be called to unite. A popular mobilisation is possible and necessary, and if it is led by a broad front it can obtain immediate and effective results to ease the current health and nutritional emergency and the very real threat of outside intervention.  9. These measures and the necessary mobilization must and can be supported by a programme that will multiply resources in order to denounce the masquerade of the fake “humanitarian-aid” programme, which amounts to a miserable 20 million dollars.  10. In the case of certain medicines, the plan must overcome the dependence on importsand move towards producing basic medicines nationally. In that sector, the accent should be put not only on the finished products, but also on acquisition of the necessary active substances and on domestic production, which would promote the use of nationally-produced medicines instead of imported ones.  11. Eliminate the Ministry of Food and Nutrition, which has become an anarchic tangle of blind importations (and a haemorrhage of foreign currencies) and contributes to the destruction of domestic food production. The idea is to centralise policies for promoting and supporting the agricultural sector, both plant and animal, in one place. This entity must have a coherent, coordinated and complete vision of the agricultural sector.  12. Foreign trade must be publicly controlled and information on all transactions must be made transparent.  13. The Communal Councils [the basic structure of the country since 2006 [5]] must play a predominant role in agricultural production. In fact, certain Councils have brought about major improvements in productivity and political awareness.  In another context, several of the proposals listed above had been put forward by the Venezuela Citizens’ Debt Audit Platform in 2016-2017. The platform proposed suspending repayment of the debt and conducting a public debt audit with citizen participation with the support of the Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt (CADTM) and the participation of social movements and citizen organizations. Paulino Núñez and Oly Millán Campos explain: “The goal is to determine what share of the debt is odious and illegitimate and therefore must be cancelled before any debt restructuring. Rather than giving priority to debt servicing by the government, the many health and nutrition problems the Venezuelan people are experiencing must be addressed.” Venezuela : la dette comme expression d’un modèle d’extraction de capitaux permanente et délictueuse (in French). CADTM members in Venezuela have been campaigning for 20 years for an audit of the debt, and since 2016-2017 have called for suspension of payment in the face of the humanitarian crisis affecting the majority of the country’s population.  Given the seriousness of the situation of Venezuela’s people, there should be no hesitation in adopting the proposed suspension of debt repayment in order to create an emergency fund for purchase of medicines and foodstuffs.  Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.  Translation by Snake Arbusto, Vicki Briault and Mike Krolikowski pour le CADTM where this article was originally published.  Eric Toussaint is a historian and political scientist who completed his Ph.D. at the universities of Paris VIII and Liège, is the spokesperson of the CADTM International, and sits on the Scientific Council of ATTAC France. He is the author of Bankocracy (2015); The Life and Crimes of an Exemplary Man (2014); Glance in the Rear View Mirror. Neoliberal Ideology From its Origins to the Present, Haymarket books, Chicago, 2012 (see here), etc.


globalresearch--2019-08-05--Death and Extinction of the Bees The Role of Monsanto

Death and Extinction of the Bees. The Role of Monsanto?

This article was originally published in March 2014. What has been the role of Monsanto in the loss of of the global honeybee population.  It is only recently that this issue has been the object of mainstream media coverage.  Scientists have recently reported that mass extinctions of marine animals may soon be occurring at alarmingly rapid rates than previously projected due to pollution, rising water temperatures and loss of habitat. Many land species also face a similar fate for the same reasons. But perhaps the biggest foreboding danger of all facing humans is the loss of the global honeybee population. The consequence of a dying bee population impacts man at the highest levels on our food chain, posing an enormously grave threat to human survival. Since no other single animal species plays a more significant role in producing the fruits and vegetables that we humans commonly take for granted yet require near daily to stay alive, the greatest modern scientist Albert Einstein once prophetically remarked, “Mankind will not survive the honeybees’ disappearance for more than five years.”  Since 2006 beekeepers have been noticing their honeybee populations have been dying off at increasingly rapid rates. Subsequently researchers have been scrambling to come up with an accurate explanation and an effective strategy to save the bees and in turn save us homo sapiens from extinction. Recent harsh winters that stay freezing cold well into spring have been instrumental in decimating the honeybee population in Iowa by up to 70% as well as the other historically high yielding honey states – the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota. The northern Plains and Midwestern states that have regionally always produced the nation’s most honey have been severely hurt by the long harsh winters in the last couple years. Florida as the third largest honey producer and especially California always among the top producers have been hit especially hard by decreasing bee colony populations. In 2006 when the problem of bee loss first was noticed, California was right up at the top with North Dakota producing nearly twice as much honey as the next state South Dakota but its bee numbers have incurred such heavy losses that in 2011, though still second, California’s honey production fell by nearly half in just six years. The recent severe drought in California has become an additional factor driving both its honey yield and bee numbers down as less rain means less flowers available to pollinate.  Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) as this loss of bee phenomenon has been called is currently recognized as such an urgent crisis that a month ago Newsweek ran an article outlining the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcement that it will provide a $3 million subsidy in order to help the one animal on the planet that will either make or break food prices. According to the latest USDA industry survey, this emergency plan assistance comes after nearly a third of commercial honeybees died last winter, a whopping increase of 42% from the previous year. The three million dollar giveaway program is designed to entice both Midwest dairy farmers and cattle ranchers to reseed their fields this spring with eco-friendly crops like alfalfa and clover to develop healthier habitats for increasing the national bee population. Farmers and ranchers only had until March 21st, 2014 to sign up and take advantage as eligible seedling recipients.  Last month’s Newsweek reported that honeybees in trucks migrate to various regions of the country to pollinate an estimated $40 billion worth of the nation’s agricultural produce each year. This means that every third bite of food we eat comes as the result of bees and other pollinators. USDA Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stated that more than 130 fruits and vegetables that make up a nutritious diet are cross pollinated by honeybees. Commercial bees raised on farms and then shipped to other farms in the country used for pollination purposes along with wild bees are responsible for pollination of an estimated 80% of all food crops in the United States.  In the last half decade alone 30% of the national bee population has disappeared and nearly a third of all bee colonies in the U.S. have perished. Though the rate of bee depopulation is growing each year, 42% more last year than the year before, even at the current annual rate the estimated monetary loss is a colossal 30 billion dollars a year. With such an enormous loss in revenue, last month’s USDA announcement of just a three million dollar investment in farmer aid in comparison to the formidable challenge seems like a paltry drop in the bucket to making any real dent in the epidemic.  With so much at stake, efforts to investigate and uncover reasons for this sudden global pandemic have been robust. A new government study blames a combination of factors for the mysterious and dramatic loss of honeybees, including increased use of pesticides especially in the US, shrinking habitats, multiple viruses, poor nutrition and genetics, and even cell phone towers. However, according to last year’s joint EPA-USDA study, the biggest cause is the parasite called the Varroa destructor, a type of mite found to be highly resistant to the insecticides that US beekeepers have used in attempts to control the mites from inside the beehives. Moreover, new virus species have been found in the US and several of these have been associated with Colony Collapse Disorder.  In a vicious cycle, since 1987 when the Varroa mite was first discovered in the US, Monsanto, Dow, Bayer and other large chemical manufacturers aggressively glommed onto the bee industry selling genetically modified insecticides and herbicides as the quick and easy fix to remedy the parasitic invasion, only to weaken the bees’ natural genetic defenses to fight off the parasite. In an article from the Guardian earlier this month, Monsanto’s contribution to the vanishing bee population is detailed. From genetically altered corn, Monsanto produced an insecticide called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which once ingested by bees, Bt binds to receptors within the bee’s stomach lining that keeps the bee from eating. Of course this weakens the bee, causing the breakdown of the inner stomach wall, which in turn makes the bee susceptible to spores and bacteria. To further compound the problem, for years the lobbying power of the chemical giant denied causing damage to the bee’s internal immune capacity for resistance to parasites, which of course only continued to kill off the bee population worldwide. Thus, continued chemical use, especially in America, only exacerbates this growing problem.  Also on Greenpeace’s Save the Bees page, a type of insecticide called neonicotinoids, is known to cause acute and chronic poisoning not just of one bee, but the entire colony. Bees take the contaminated nectar and pollen spread through the plant’s DNA back to the hive, creating a highly toxic living environment for all the bees. Toxicity builds up destroying the Central Nervous System, causing further disorientation and bees ultimately can neither fly nor make it back to the nest. Meanwhile, unlike the US, in Europe and Australia where the health of insects and humans is deemed more important than corporate profit, laws banning insecticide use have been passed, which in large part has largely saved the bee populations from being so decimated there.  A study last year found 35 pesticides and fungicides, some at lethal doses, in the pollen collected from bees that were used to pollinate food crops in five U.S. states. In another research study, bees that contacted pollen contaminated with fungicides ended up three times more likely to get infected by a parasite closely associated with Colony Collapse Disorder.  The results of a new study conducted by Mark Brown of Royal Halloway University in London released several weeks ago found that wild bumblebee populations are also disappearing at a similar rate to the domestic honeybee. In its sample one in five wild bees were afflicted by the Deformed Wing Virus believed to be caused by the parasitic Varroa mite. 88% of the honeybees at the 26 field sites were affected by this virus. The research study also concluded that while honeybees are important and obviously responsible for the multimillion dollar global honey industry, wild bees are believed to be just as important in pollination of plants throughout the world.  Another probable factor in America is the widespread use of feeding bee colonies with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) instead of its natural self-made food honey. For maximum profit, industrialized US bee farms utilize maximum honey yields, not leaving any honey for the bees to consume during the long colder winter months. It is speculated that the natural hormonal and enzyme effects interacting with honey’s natural nutritional advantages provided bees with the increased defenses that historically have been effective in fighting off parasitic threats and viruses. In contrast, the artificially processed HFCS is believe to weaken the immune system of the honeybees’ genetic strength to ward off disease.  The largest selling company of honey in the US is the Sioux Honey brand located in Sioux City, Iowa founded in 1921. More than 35 million pounds of honey are processed at the Sioux City and Anaheim, California plants comprised of a cooperative of over 300 beekeepers from the Midwest and Rocky Mountain states. Vice president for research and development Bill Huser interviewed in the local paper last year stated, “One of the wrinkles is a focus on increased diversity in genetics, which the [USDA] report’s authors said could help improve bees’ resistance to disease. Specifically, they said, genetic variation could help keep the bees’ body temperature steady, even if the surrounding environment changes.” This would enhance the bees’ capacity to acclimate to the recent harsher winter conditions in northern climates.  Most commercial beekeepers transport their bee colonies by truck in the winter to farms in Texas and California to pollinate in early spring agricultural fields in the warmer regions of the country. However, these last couple winters with far fewer bees, less pollination occurred during the early spring at the Southern California almond orchards. Moreover, because of poor management in agricultural farming over many geographical areas growing only one cash crop, there are far less variety of plants now to pollinate. Bees will not flourish where there exists less opportunity to work their pollen magic because of a lack of diversity in plant vegetation throughout the year. Thus, the almond fields of California need more types of crops planted that will attract bees year-round. That same problem occurs in states like Iowa and Nebraska, once high producers of honey. But in recent decades the agri-industry choice to maximize profit by planting corn and soybean crops instead of the rich alfalfa and clover fields that previously offered a healthy habitat for bee pollination has caused a steady decline in bee population. Additionally, fewer wildflower fields and other natural land space in America in general limit available healthy bee habitats.  These corrections to introduce a richer diversity that enhances and expands the bee habitat are both very do-able and obviously urgently needed. Per last month’s report, federal and state partners have been encouraged to consider making prudent changes in land management in order to optimize available nutritional forage for promoting bee health and protecting bee colonies by avoiding use of pesticides. Earlier this month Eugene, Oregon became the first municipality to ban insecticides in the nation. A bill in California would push the state’s Department of Pesticide Regulation to make a decision on its reevaluation of neonicotinoids by July. Maine, New Jersey, and Vermont are also considering plans to ban the use of neonicotinoids.      The USDA report strongly recommends increased collaboration and information sharing between crop growers and beekeepers to implement mutually beneficial best known practices. Finally, more research centers designed to learn effective new and innovative methods to facilitate restoration of bee populations throughout the world are sorely needed. Just this month the University of Florida announced the plan to build and develop through research grants a major addition to increase both knowledge and revenue in enhancing the honeybee population.  Another viable solution toward increasing the bee population is implementing programs teaching and training urban residents to become amateur beekeepers. Many cities are now offering startup assistance to a growing number of hobbyists of all ages interested in beekeeping. Plus educating urban populations about plant diversity in municipal gardens will enhance both bee habitats and bee health. With increasing interest and awareness in the profound importance of nurturing a much larger bee population globally, the progress dividends for both humanity and the planet will prove immeasurable.  Joachim Hagopian is a West Point graduate and former Army officer. Having written a manuscript based on his military experience, the link is below:   http://www.redredsea.net/westpointhagopian/. After the military Joachim earned a masters degree in psychology and eventually became a licensed therapist working in the mental health field for more than a quarter century.


globalresearch--2019-08-31--Heroin Addiction in America Spearheaded by US-led War on Afghanistan

…”In 2016, we lost 64,000 Americans to drug overdoses:  174 deaths per day.  Seven per hour.  We must get much tougher on drug dealers and pushers if we are going to succeed in stopping this scourge.  My Administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic and helping get treatment for those in need.  The struggle will be long and difficult — but, as Americans always do, we will prevail.” (Trump State of the Union, emphasis added)  Trump brings to the forefront the story of the Holets family of New Mexico:  “Ryan Holets is 27 years old, and an officer with the Albuquerque Police Department.  He is here tonight with his wife Rebecca.  Last year, Ryan was on duty when he saw a pregnant, homeless woman preparing to inject heroin.  When Ryan told her she was going to harm her unborn child, she began to weep.  She told him she did not know where to turn, but badly wanted a safe home for her baby.  In that moment, Ryan said he felt God speak to him:  “You will do it — because you can.”  He took out a picture of his wife and their four kids.  Then, he went home to tell his wife Rebecca.  In an instant, she agreed to adopt.  The Holets named their new daughter Hope.  Ryan and Rebecca:  You embody the goodness of our Nation.  Thank you, and congratulations.” (Trump State of the Union, emphasis added)  Beautiful narrative. The Nation weeps, Ryan was interviewed on CNN. While he and his family take a courageous stance against heroin addiction, Trump sheds crocodile tears.  While Trump acknowledges that “there’s a drug epidemic the likes of which we have never seen in this country”, his national public health emergency plan fails to address the underlying causes. Getting “tougher on drug dealers and pushers” involved in the retail sale of heroin does not resolve the drug crisis.  The unspoken truth is that the surge in heroin addiction in America has been spearheaded by the US led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001.  Afghanistan under US military occupation produces approximately 90% of the World’s illegal supply of opium which is used to produce heroin. The production of opium in Afghanistan registered a 49 fold increase since 2001. In 2017, the production of opium in Afghanistan under US military occupation reached 9000 metric tons.  Barely acknowledged by the mainstream media, in 2000-2001 the Taliban government –with the support of the United Nations (UNODC) –  implemented a successful ban on poppy cultivation. Opium production which is used to produce grade 4 heroin and its derivatives declined by more than 90 per cent in 2001. The production of opium in 2001 was of the order of a meagre 185 tons.  It is worth noting that the UNODC congratulated the Taliban Government for its successful opium eradication program.  The Taliban government had contributed to literally destabilizing the multibillion dollar Worldwide trade in heroin.  What motivated the US-led war on Afghanistan, which had been planned several months prior to the 9/11 attacks?  Did the US-NATO led War against Afghanistan serve to restore the illicit heroin trade?  Immediately following the invasion (October 7, 2001) and occupation of Afghanistan by US-NATO troops, the production of opium regained its historical levels. (a more than nine fold increase in 2002). Since 2001, according to UNODC, the production of opium has increased 49 fold, reaching 9000 metric tons in 2017. (See Figure 1 below)  Heroin Addiction in the US  There were 189,000 heroin users in the US in 2001, before the US-NATO invasion of Afghanistan. By 2012-13, there were 3.8 million heroin users in the US according to a study by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Extrapolating the 2012-2013 figures (see graph below), one can reasonably confirm that the number of heroin users today (including addicts and casual users) is well in excess of four million.  In 20o1, 1,779 Americans were killed as a result of heroin overdose. By 2016, the number of Americans killed as a result of heroin addiction shot up to 15,446. (see graph below)  “My Administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic” says Donald Trump.  My message to Donald Trump: Those lives would have been saved had the US and its NATO allies NOT invaded and occupied Afghanistan.  Since 2001, the use of heroin in the US has increased more than 20 times.  Is there a correlation between heroin addiction in America and the dramatic increase in opium production which occurred in the immediate wake of the US-NATO October 2001 invasion?  Who is protecting opium exports out of Afghanistan?  Amply documented, the opium economy in Afghanistan was set up by the CIA in 1979.  As revealed in the Iran-Contra and Bank of Commerce and Credit  International (BCCI) scandals, CIA covert operations in support of the Afghan Mujahideen had been funded through the laundering of drug money.  “Dirty money” was recycled –through a number of banking institutions (in the Middle East) as well as through anonymous CIA shell companies–, into  “covert money,” used to finance various insurgent groups during the Soviet-Afghan war, and its aftermath. According to a 1991 Time Magazine report:  Alfred McCoy’s study confirms that within two years of the onslaught of the CIA’s covert operation in Afghanistan in 1979,  While the number of heroin users in America has increased about 20 times (2001-2016), the cultivation and production of opium used to produce heroin increased 41 times (2001-2017): 8000 hectares in 2001 rising to 328,000 hectares in 2017.  In 2017, ironically coinciding with the influx of more US troops into Afghanistan, the areas under opium poppy cultivation according to UNODC increased by 83 percent in a single year, (see Figure 1 above)  While the supply-demand relationship is complex: the dramatic increase in the consumption of heroin would not have been possible without a concurrent increase in the production of opium from 183 metric tons in 2001 to an estimated 9000 metric tons in 2017 (a 49 fold  increase in relation to 2001).  It stands to reason that the increase in heroin usage could not have occurred without a corresponding surge in opium production.  Needless to say, the drug trade is a multibillion dollar operation which has been supported by successive US administrations. The unspoken truth is that US foreign policy is supporting this lucrative trade:  The UNODC confirms in its 2017 Report that: “Only a small share of the revenues generated by the cultivation and trafficking of Afghan opiates reaches Afghan drug trafficking groups. Many more billions of dollars are made from trafficking opiates into major consumer markets, mainly in Europe and Asia.” The earnings generated by 9000 metric tons of opium are colossal, in the hundreds of billions. 9000 tons produces 900 tons of pure heroin.  These global proceeds accrue to business syndicates, intelligence agencies, organized crime, financial institutions, wholesalers, retailers, etc. involved directly or indirectly in the drug trade.  Moreover, a large share of global money laundering as estimated by the IMF is linked to the trade in narcotics.  Drug trafficking constitutes “the third biggest global commodity in cash terms after oil and the arms trade.”  Are US military planes being used to export opioids out of Afghanistan? US occupation forces have been instructed to turn a blind eye? According to Abby Martin,  In the words of researcher Timothy Alexander Guzman: “who owns the planes and the ships that transport 90% percent of the world’s heroin from Afghanistan to the rest of the world in the first place? It sure isn’t the Taliban”.


ipolitics--2019-05-17--Goodale orders outside review of NS RCMP call centre Casey

Goodale orders outside review of NS RCMP call centre: Casey

In this file photo, Liberal MP Bill Casey takes part in a standing committee on Health in Ottawa on Tuesday, September 12, 2017. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood  Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has ordered an outside consultant to conduct a review of the Nova Scotia RCMP’s planned relocation of its emergency call centre from Truro to the Halifax area, heeding a request from Liberal caucus colleague Bill Casey.  The decision was announced in a press released distributed by Casey, who has publicly criticized the planned move as unnecessarily risky. In a statement, the veteran Liberal MP said he thanked the minister for ordering the review and was told by Goodale that ensuring the public safety of Nova Scotians is the priority.  If approved, relocating the call centre from Truro to Dartmouth would place the two largest police emergency communications systems in Nova Scotia within a few blocks of each other. That community is already home to the emergency call centre for the Halifax Regional Police.  Casey, whose riding includes Truro, has said multiple reports from emergency planning bodies warn against closely concentrating sensitive police communication services, with the two centres responsible for fielding 96 per cent of emergency calls in the province. If the communication facilities are brought closer together and simultaneously knocked out, he warned that ambulance, fire and 911 calls, as well as police dispatches, will go quiet for all of Nova Scotia.  “All of the manuals, standards and guidelines used by Canada’s major police forces for emergency measures communication centres require geographic separation of communication centres,” Casey said in a statement.  “This plan for Nova Scotia does the opposite.”  As iPolitics reported in March, Casey sent a letter to Goodale asking for an external risk assessment of the proposed relocation.  The RCMP is planning on closing its operational communication centre in Truro in early 2021 and moving operations to a federal building in Dartmouth. The centre boasts a staff of 55 employees, according to Casey.


labourlist--2019-05-30--Labour Hunger Campaign We must do more to tackle food poverty

Labour Hunger Campaign: We must do more to tackle food poverty

Last week, a teacher came to the food bank where I volunteer. Distressed that she couldn’t feed herself and her disabled child, she broke down sobbing. So many of our clients feel like this. We try to help restore a little of their dignity, but it’s tough when they have been through a welfare system that systematically strips them of their self-worth. Food banks are a last resort for the desperate. In my five years of volunteering, I have never met anyone who wanted to be there.  We are living in extraordinary times. I never expected to spend two hours a week doling out donated tins and packets of food to hungry teachers – or to anyone, in fact. I never expected an undercurrent of destitution to be running through our communities, with stories emerging of people forced to choose between paying the rent and paying for food, and children going to school hungry. But the most extraordinary thing about this epidemic of hunger, in a land with no shortage of food, is that the government pretends it isn’t happening.  When Philip Alston, the UN rapporteur on extreme poverty, produced a [report](https://undocs.org/A/HRC/41/39/Add.1) that accused the government of having “systematically and starkly eroded” the social safety net, a DWP spokesperson rejected it as a “completely inaccurate picture”. British politics, as Leo Varadkar [commented](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/24/eu-leaders- stress-respect-for-may-and-refusal-to-renegotiate-brexit-deal) after Theresa May’s resignation, will be “consumed by Brexit for a very long time”, making it easier for issues that government would prefer not to confront to stay in the dark.  We need to bring the full extent of food poverty into the light, so we can turn to the urgent task of feeding hungry people. At the same time, we must campaign for political change to prevent it ever happening again. That is why I have set up the [Labour Hunger Campaign](http://www.labourhunger.co.uk) with other activists. Although the Labour Party is committed to fighting poverty and inequality, it has fallen short when it comes to specific measures to tackle hunger. There were no pledges on food poverty in its 2015 and 2017 manifestos. Instead, it has used food banks as a proxy for poverty in general. We believe the party can and should do more to stand in solidarity with those experiencing food poverty and the organisations working to put an end to it.  “Food poverty is just poverty,” I have been told repeatedly. “Let’s deal with all types of poverty instead of dividing them up.” Yes, indeed. It’s essential that a Labour government tackle the structural causes of poverty, from rising food prices to the shortage of affordable housing. But this will take time, and people without food cannot wait for long-term political solutions. Once you reach the stage where you cannot feed yourself or your children, you have been through most other manifestations of poverty and are at rock bottom. Food poverty disproportionately affects the most vulnerable – children, the disabled, the long-term sick – and it’s vital that we act fast to protect them. And food poverty is a breach of our human rights, with the right to food protected under the UN’s Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  Labour has rightly committed to repeal the aspects of welfare reform that have contributed so greatly to the rise in food poverty, but it needs to go much further. The Labour Hunger Campaign has produced an ambitious strategy to eliminate food poverty when Labour is next in government. Its [Charter on Hunger](https://labourhunger.wordpress.com/charter-on-hunger) includes:    * The implementation of an emergency plan to provide immediate hunger relief from the first day of a Labour government.   * The appointment of a minister for household food security to ensure that government fulfils the right to food and to coordinate a cross-departmental policy response to food poverty.   * A legal definition of household food insecurity, with government targets to eliminate it.   * Universal free school meals for primary-school children and an increase in the free school meals allowance in secondary schools to at least £4 per day.   * A statutory responsibility for the DWP to prevent destitution, including a duty to seek out those at risk and provide appropriate support.   * A campaign to remove the stigma around claiming benefits – one that promotes a positive vision of the welfare state and the fact that we all benefit from state support, be it parental leave, healthcare, pensions or education.  If you would like Labour to adopt the Charter on Hunger, please [sign our open letter](https://labourhunger.wordpress.com/open-letter) and propose [our model motion](https://labourhunger.wordpress.com/a-labour-charter-on-hunger) at your next CLP meeting. We want a Britain where nobody needs to go hungry. Only the Labour Party can make that happen.  ### Value our free and unique service?  LabourList has more readers than ever before - but we need your support. Our dedicated coverage of Labour's policies and personalities, internal debates, selections and elections relies on donations from our readers.  [Support LabourList](/donate)