cryptogon.com

8/12/2006

Time Bomb :.

Thriving on nonsense, tastes great, less filling:

Some brief thoughts on the latest mass-induced near-death experience.

The crawl on MSNBC Thursday night read Terror in the Sky: Mass Murder on an Unimaginable Scale! Well, no; and I mean no to everything.

There is no terror in the sky, unless you're Iraqi or Lebanese, or reside in northern Israel or any of the world's other free-fire zones and might expect to see death fall from it. Or unless we can include the sky itself, churning with strange weather and unwholesome artifacts, and a sun that now seems to burn an alien white. Because if we look up, we may just catch our breath.

The mass murder never was, and the unimaginable scale! was imagined more than ten years ago, and given the name Project Bojinka. Substitute the Pacific for the Atlantic, and toss in the assassination of the Pope and the crashing of a plane into CIA headquarters for good measure, and you have a thwarted operation that's earned its exclamation point. But 2006 isn't 1995, and today citizens of the great crusader nations must be reminded, repeatedly and at the pleasure of their minders, just how vulnerable they are, and therefore dependent upon the dark mills of empire that intentionally exacerbate those same vulnerabilities.

posted by Kevin at 7:30 PM

Pacific's 'Dead Zone' Is Larger than First Feared :.

In other news, the oceans are dying:

The oxygen-starved "dead zone" along America's Pacific Coast that is causing widespread crab and fish deaths is worse than first thought, scientists said.

posted by Kevin at 7:03 PM

8/11/2006

UK Terror Bullsh*t :.

The alleged U.K. terror plot has been investigated for months by British intelligence, and the idea that the airliner attacks were planned for today seems to be nothing more than political fabrication and media hysteria.

Tony Blair and George W. Bush even planned the terror freakout in a series of phone calls that began last Friday and continued through the weekend. Blair and Bush put the finishing touches on their diabolical operation in a phone call early Wednesday, the Associated Press revealed today.

That's right: While millions of travelers are going through absolute hell today because of the sudden terror "news," it was last week when the U.S. president and U.K. prime minister began their cold calculations on how to get the maximum political benefit from the months-old investigation.

"U.S. President George W. Bush seized on a foiled London airline bomb plot to hammer unnamed critics he accused of having all but forgotten the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks," AFP noted this afternoon.

posted by Kevin at 10:10 PM

CIFA.mil Officials Resign :.

David A. Burtt II, director of the Counterintelligence Field Activity, the Defense Department's newest intelligence agency whose contracts based on congressional earmarks are under investigation by the Pentagon and federal prosecutors, told his staff yesterday that he and his deputy director will resign at the end of the month.

posted by Kevin at 9:37 PM

UK: Terror 'May Force Freedom Curbs' :.

Hmmmm, how about that Total Surveillance System? Doesn't that sound like a cunning plan?

The UK might have to modify its freedoms in the short term in order to prevent their "misuse and abuse" by terrorists, John Reid has said.

He conceded that was never an easy request, but it was up to everyone to ask: "What price our security, at what cost can we preserve our freedoms?"

The UK faced its "most sustained period of severe threat since the end of World War II", the home secretary warned.

He urged people from all communities to help by being vigilant.

posted by Kevin at 9:15 PM

CNN's Amanpour Links 9/11 Truthers With Sky Terrorists :.

CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour equated yesterday's alleged sky terrorist liquid explosive plotters with the 9/11 truth movement, the latest brazen attempt to vilify anyone who disagrees with the official 9/11 fairytale.

Related: Newt's American Insurgency

posted by Kevin at 9:06 PM

8/10/2006

U.K. Foils Plan to Bomb Planes; Terror Alert Raised :.

Please read these recent posts before you continue on with this one:

Britain's Total Surveillance System

NSA Risking Electrical Overload: "The Terrorists" and Sustainable Fascism

Do you get it yet?

London's anti-terrorist police said they foiled a plot to blow up airliners bound for the U.S. using explosives smuggled in hand luggage, five years after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

U.K. authorities arrested 21 people overnight, Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson said today. The U.K. and the U.S. raised their terror alerts to the highest level. Sky News said six aircraft were targeted. Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, said as many as 440 flights may be canceled.

"This was intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale," Stephenson said in a televised briefing. "We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction."

posted by Kevin at 4:51 AM

U.S. Counterintelligence Field Activity Searches Itself

The CIFA.MIL user (host: CIFAGB01.CIFA.MIL, ip: 214.4.150.228) conducted a Google search for one of their own IP addresses, the same one upon which this session originated: 214.4.150.228

Keeping track of who's keeping track? Who knows...

posted by Kevin at 1:07 AM

8/9/2006

30% of Americans Unsure of 9/11 Year :.

It's Dawn of the Dead:

SOME 30 per cent of Americans cannot say in what year the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York's World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in Washington took place, according to a poll published in the Washington Post newspaper.

While the country is preparing to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attacks that claimed nearly 3000 lives and shocked the world, 95 per cent of Americans questioned in the poll were able to remember the month and the date of the attacks.

But when asked what year, 30 per cent could not give a correct answer.

Of that group, six per cent gave an earlier year, eight per cent gave a later year, and 16 per cent admitted they had no idea whatsoever.

Research Credit: Dan

posted by Kevin at 5:59 PM

BP NEARLY HALVING DIAMETER OF PRUDHOE BAY PIPELINE :.

Well, folks, I'd like to be able to brag about nailing this one to the wall, but it wasn't difficult. See today's update at the bottom of the original story.

posted by Kevin at 4:55 PM

Eat Kiwifruit :.

Organic Kiwifruit, if you can find it:

New research shows kiwifruit could potentially be sold with specific health claims, such as helping to keep some cancers at bay by repairing damaged human DNA.

A pilot study carried out at the AUT University in Auckland has reported that a daily "prescription" of kiwifruit, in addition to dietary advice and improved physical activity, led to a significant increase in repair of damaged DNA.

Kiwifruit are the first specific food which has been found to not only limit the amount of oxidative damage done to the DNA, but to also stimulate cellular repair of damage.

"Prescription of daily kiwifruit may provide a sustainable population intervention that could reduce some of the risk factors associated with cancer," the researchers reported on the Nutrition Research journal.

In a report titled Kiwifruit Consumption reduces DNA Fragility, the university's professor of nutrition, Elaine Rush, said regular kiwifruit consumption led to a significant increase in the ability of leukocytes - white blood cells that make up the immune system - to repair DNA breakage by oxygen-free radicals, charged particles produced by processes in the body.

posted by Kevin at 4:11 AM

8/8/2006

BRITAIN'S TOTAL SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM :.

Just wait for the next MI6/false flag ourtage in London. People will beg for this:

'Sources' close to Chancellor Gordon Brown are floating plans to finish off ID cards entirely in the UK - although that isn't quite how they're putting it. Instead, the advance men for the Prime Minister in waiting are offering a nightmare pitch that harnesses the private sector to implement a total surveillance system while raking in revenue for the Government.

Most of the components of what's being run up the flagpole now have already been suggested by mad wonks, with reference to the Home Office ID project. Future generations of cashpoints and point of sale equipment, they've told us, could cater for biometrics and ID cards, and the widespread use of ID checks in association with financial transactions would combat identity fraud (or credit card theft, as we used to call it before we needed to fiddle the identity fraud figures). People would find themselves (happily, not grudgingly, in this deranged scenario) using their ID card several times a day, and all of those lovely ID checks of the National Identity Register would provide the Government with revenue, and detailed records of everybody's financial transactions and whereabouts.

posted by Kevin at 8:03 PM

Hosting With Blue Host

I've been hosting Cryptogon on Blue Host for just over a year. I've been so impressed with the service that I personally started referring people to them. I know that five of these people went on to sign up for hosting.

Here's the bad news: I missed out on $65 EACH time one of these folks signed up for hosting with Blue Host.

Here's the good news: I'm now an affiliate, so now I will make $65 each time a Cryptogon reader/fan/supporter signs up for hosting with Blue Host.

I searched long and hard for a reliable and reasonably priced host for Cryptogon (after repeated disasters with other hosting companies). Check out Blue Host's features and reputation. You'll see why I went with them.

And I don't need to tell you about their reliability.

How often has Cryptogon been down over the past year? You, the Cryptogon reader, should know.

Exactly! It's never down. (Well, it may have been down once for about two hours, but I don't remember if that was their fault or mine... It was probably mine.)

So, if you're looking for the best hosting possible for a reasonable price AND you want to support Cryptogon, it's simple: Blue Host.

PLEASE NOTE: Sadly, there is some confusion about how I receive Blue Host referral payments.

IN ORDER FOR ME TO RECEIVE CREDIT, YOU MUST CLICK ON ANY OF THE LINKS TO BLUE HOST FROM CRYPTOGON.COM AND SIGN UP FROM THERE. If you just go to Blue Host, without clicking a link from Cryptogon, and sign up, I won't and can't get credit for it after the fact. So far, this has happened twice.

It's my fault for not making this explicitly clear in the first place. Sometimes, computer people, like me, assume things that shouldn't be assumed. This was one of those cases.

posted by Kevin at 2:33 PM

Newt Gingrich: Anti War Americans Are an Insurgency :.

We already know that this 'period' involves concentration camps.

Will the ovens be supersized?

This morning on Fox News, Newt Gingrich claimed there is a "legitimate insurgency in Connecticut, which needs to be met head on," made up of people who say Iraq "is so hard, it is so frightening, it's so painful, can't we come home and hide?" Gingrich said that if the "insurgency" wins, "it will be the beginning of extraordinarily important period in American politics, and in American history."

posted by Kevin at 5:48 AM

Is the BP Prudhoe Bay Shutdown More Serious Than It Appears?

I was pouring over the comments in this Oil Drum story when I found this little nugget of data. The original source is BP PRUDHOE BAY ROYALTY TRUST (BPT) Form: 10-K Filing Date: 3/16/2006:

Production from the Prudhoe Bay field has declined over the past five years. The average well production rate was about 546 barrels of oil per day in 2001, 375 barrels per day in 2002, 350 barrels per day in 2003, 317 barrels per day in 2004 and 293 barrels per day in 2005.

That's a fairly obvious trend.

Keep reading and you find that in 2005 "Oil Net to BP Interests" was 101,500 barrels per day, down from 144,100 in 2001.

Here is a question that I can't answer: What is the minimum operational threshold of the pipeline that BP shutdown?

They have to be able to pump a minimum amount of oil through the thing to make it work. Has the decline in production, documented in their own corporate filings, reached a point where the operation of the pipeline is affected?

Deploy tinfoil hat: Is it too far out to wonder if BP simply had to shut the thing down because they're not extracting enough oil?

Obviously, "rusty pipeline" sounds better than, "not enough oil to fill the pipeline."

UPDATE: BP Neglected Prudhoe Maintenance Because Production Was Declining

G sent in a short email telling me to start Googling Prudhoe Bay whistleblowers, and that BP is running the operation there into the ground (no pun intended!) because the fields are running dry. Why sink more money into a drying up hole?

Or, as recent events may indicate, a dry hole.

This is from an Anchorage Daily News article, Workers Convince BP Valve is Faulty, dated, January 9, 2002:

Some workers believe BP, which runs Prudhoe, is finally replacing the valve only after facing criticism for poorly maintaining the pipes, valves and other machinery that handle more than a half-million barrels of oil a day.

These valves are like the brakes on your car, and the brakes don't work right now, said Marc Kovac, vice chairman of a union that represents about 200 BP workers on the western side of Prudhoe Bay.

...

The matter was dropped until last year, when workers publicly criticized BP for not keeping up with maintenance at Prudhoe as production has fallen. Production at the 24-year-old Prudhoe -- North America's largest oil field -- peaked 13 years ago.

BP has wanted to run the same equipment until the field runs dry, but we need this stuff in top shape for the life of the field. Otherwise, we're going to have problems, Kovac said.

And now, in a research note, AG Edwards analyst, Bruce Lanni, is telling investors to expect up to 10% less output when the pipeline is brought back online:

"We estimate it could take between 2-3 months to get it back on line," Bruce Lanni, an industry analyst with A.G. Edwards, wrote in a research note. "However, there are no assurances that it will return to current capacity, given the complexities and age of the reservoirs. Thus, we would not be surprised to see volume losses in the area of 5 percent to 10 percent."

Hmm. ~~Fix~~ Replace pipeline, get 10% less oil? That makes sense:

If the diameter of the new pipeline is smaller.

And why would it have to be smaller?

You better be making progress with your garden.

UPDATE 8/9/06: BP NEARLY HALVING DIAMETER OF PRUDHOE BAY PIPELINE

Original pipeline diameter 34 inches, replacement pipeline diameter 18 inches.

It's only a conspiracy theory on Cryptogon until it's verified as fact by the mainstream press several days later.

From BP PRUDHOE BAY ROYALTY TRUST (BPT) Form: 10-K Filing Date: 3/16/2006:

Production from the Prudhoe Bay field is carried to Pump Station 1, the starting point for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, through two 34-inch diameter transit lines, one from each half of the Prudhoe Bay field.

The following is from the Associated Press, Oil Field Shutdown Raises More Questions by Allison Linn, 8/9/2006:

BP has approached the Japanese firm JFE Steel Corp. and other steel producers about buying 18-inch pipe to replace the corroded sections at Prudhoe Bay, said David Belvin, senior technology manager of sales and service at JFE's Houston office.

The new pipeline diameter will be nearly half the size of the original. Previous analysis confirmed.

What does this mean, in terms of output?

Reader Ulf notes:

18" pipe is actually only about 28% of the size of a 34" pipe in cross-section. Nearly half-size equals just over a quarter in possible volume to be pumped, greatly reducing actual output!!

Again, Cryptogon leads in free, actionable intelligence and analysis on a critical issue. Why not put my skills to use on your specific project, issue or case?

To All the Big Oil Company Employees Reading This:

If you feel like unburdening your soul, my PGP key is here.

Related: Sludge Buildup

posted by Kevin at 4:19 AM

Hugo Chavez: Israeli Offensive in Lebanon a "Fascist Outrage" :.

Fascist outrage. Yep, that about sums it up:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Thursday he has withdrawn his country's ambassador from Israel to show his "indignation" over the military offensive in Lebanon.

"We have ordered the withdrawal of our ambassador in Israel," Chavez said in a televised speech, calling Israeli attacks in Lebanon "genocide."

The leftist leader has repeatedly criticized Israel's offensive aimed at Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, noting mounting civilian deaths and saying the United Nations should act to halt the violence.

"It really causes indignation to see how the state of Israel continues bombing, killing ... with all of the power they have, with the support of the United States," Chavez said after a military parade in the northwestern state of Falcon.

The Venezuelan leader, a close ally and protege of Cuban President Fidel Castro, spoke after returning from an international tour that included Iran. While there, Chavez called the Israeli offensive in Lebanon a "fascist outrage."

"The Israeli elite repeatedly criticize Hitler's actions against the Jews, and indeed Hitler's actions must be criticized, not just against the Jews but against the world," Chavez said during his visit to Iran, adding: "It's also fascism what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people ... terrorism and fascism."

posted by Kevin at 4:10 AM

Some Israeli Pilots 'Deliberately Miss' Targets :.

At least two Israeli fighter pilots have deliberately missed civilian targets in Lebanon as disquiet grows in the military about flawed intelligence, The Observer has learnt. Sources say the pilots were worried that targets had been wrongly identified as Hizbollah facilities.

...

As international outrage over civilian deaths grows, the spotlight is increasingly turning on Israeli air operations. The Observer has learnt that one senior commander who has been involved in the air attacks in Lebanon has already raised concerns that some of the air force's actions might be considered 'war crimes'.

Yonatan Shapiro, a former Blackhawk helicopter pilot dismissed from reserve duty after signing a 'refusenik' letter in 2004, said he had spoken with Israeli F-16 pilots in recent days and learnt that some had aborted missions because of concerns about the reliability of intelligence information. According to Shapiro, some pilots justified aborting missions out of 'common sense' and in the context of the Israeli Defence Force's moral code of conduct, which says every effort should be made to avoiding harming civilians.

Shapiro said: 'Some pilots told me they have shot at the side of targets because they're afraid people will be there, and they don't trust any more those who give them the coordinates and targets.'

He added: 'One pilot told me he was asked to hit a house on a hill, which was supposed to be a place from where Hizbollah was launching Katyusha missiles. But he was afraid civilians were in the house, so he shot next to the house ...

'Pilots are always being told they will be judged on results, but if the results are hundreds of dead civilians while Hizbollah is still able to fire all these rockets, then something is very wrong.'

posted by Kevin at 4:03 AM

8/7/2006

Golf, Drink, Rape, Kill, BBQ :.

This would be an excellent story to deliver to ALL "christians" who support the U.S. presence in Iraq:

US soldiers, accused of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, drank alcohol and hit golf balls before the attack. One of them grilled chicken wings afterwards, a criminal investigator told a US military hearing yesterday.

posted by Kevin at 9:52 PM

Israel Threatens to Kill UN Engineers Attempting to Rebuild Bridges :.

"International law is that law which the wicked do not obey and the righteous do not enforce."

---Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat and politician

Incredible:

Lebanese officials said there were many reports of other casualties throughout southern Lebanon but rescue workers were not able to reach the sites because of continued Israeli airstrikes. Israel also threatened to attack UN peacekeepers if they attempted to repair bomb-damaged bridges in southern Lebanon. UN officials contacted the Israeli army to inform them that a team of Chinese military engineers attached to the UN force in Lebanon intended to repair the bridge on the Beirut to Tyre road to enable the transport of humanitarian supplies.

According to the UN, Israeli officials said the engineers would become a target if they attempted to repair the bridge.

Senior UN officials reacted angrily to the destruction of a temporary causeway over the Litani river overnight. "We must be able to have movement throughout the country to deliver supplies. At this point we can't do that," said David Shearer, the humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon. "The deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure is a violation of international law."

posted by Kevin at 9:43 PM

U.S. Ready to Tap Strategic Petroleum Reserve :.

The Energy Department is prepared to provide oil from the government's emergency supplies if a refinery requests it because of the disruption of supplies from Alaska, a department spokesman said Monday.

posted by Kevin at 5:52 PM

8/6/2006

NSA Risking Electrical Overload: "The Terrorists" and Sustainable Fascism :.

We've already seen Walmart and McDonald's talking about sustainability; now it's the U.S. National Security Agency.

Sustainability of what?

Fascism, that's what.

Isn't it interesting that a few undefended copper cables are so critical to the operation of the NSA?

What does this tell you about "the terrorists"?

We always hear about how smart, how cunning, "the terrorists" are. After all, according to legend, "the terrorists" are so smart and so cunning that they hijacked aircraft and flew them into buildings, and all the rest of that bullsh*t...

Yet, for some reason, "the terrorists" don't seem interested in attacking the undefended support infrastructure of the U.S. National Security Agency?! "The terrorists" are, likewise, uninterested in taking out the undefended data infrastructures that undergird U.S. mega corporations.

If "the terrorists" hate the U.S. so much, why haven't they attacked the undefended electrical and data infrastructures that animate the Great Satan? Why do "the terrorists" only carry out symbolic pinprick attacks that are MUCH more difficult to execute than strategic, decapitation strikes? Why not deliver a blow to the U.S. that would actually take it down?

A better question is: Who benefits from the Hollywood blockbuster-style fireballs and fetishisation of victims that TV-camera terrorism facilitates?

"The terrorists" are manufactured by the corporate state in order to deliver increasing amounts of power to the psychopaths at the top of the pyramid. Sustainable fascism requires a constant application of psychological terror in order to frighten the populace into a numb state of acquiescence and helplessness. This is accomplished, quite simply, by running eye catching fodder in an endless loop on the PSYOP payload delivery boxes that most people voluntarily watch for several hours per day. This PSYOP payload forms the basis of reality for the victims/consumers of mass media. The elite get an easy to manage prison camp as a result.

"The terrorists" don't want to bite the hand that feeds them, by, say, shutting down all financial transaction clearing in the Western World, or plunging the largest cities in North America into darkness with tools no more complicated than shovels, wrenches, hatchets, bolt cutters and sledgehammers. (Actually, the plunging-into-darkness part is happening without any assistance from "the terrorists".) Sticking hot pokers into the eyes and ears of the corporate state (the NSA) wouldn't be a sustainable practice for fascism either.

No.

Rather than striking at the strategic assets of the corporate state, "the terrorists" are tasked with creating an environment in which fascism can bloom and prosper... Sustainably:

The demand for electricity to operate its expanding intelligence systems has left the high-tech eavesdropping agency on the verge of exceeding its power supply, the lifeblood of its sprawling 350-acre Fort Meade headquarters, according to current and former intelligence officials.

Agency officials anticipated the problem nearly a decade ago as they looked ahead at the technology needs of the agency, sources said, but it was never made a priority, and now the agency's ability to keep its operations going is threatened. The NSA is already unable to install some costly and sophisticated new equipment, including two new supercomputers, for fear of blowing out the electrical infrastructure, they said.

At minimum, the problem could produce disruptions leading to outages and power surges at the Fort Meade headquarters, hampering the work of intelligence analysts and damaging equipment, they said. At worst, it could force a virtual shutdown of the agency, paralyzing the intelligence operation, erasing crucial intelligence data and causing irreparable damage to computer systems -- all detrimental to the fight against terrorism.

...

Agency leaders, meanwhile, are scrambling for stopgap measures to buy time while they develop a sustainable plan. Limitations of the electrical infrastructure in the main NSA complex and the substation serving the agency, along with growing demand in the region, prevent an immediate fix, according to current and former government officials.

posted by Kevin at 9:50 PM

BIGGEST U.S. OIL FIELD SHUTTING DOWN :.

BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - In a sudden blow to the nation's oil supply, half the production on Alaska's North Slope was being shut down Sunday after BP Exploration Alaska, Inc. discovered severe corrosion in a Prudhoe Bay oil transit line.

BP officials said they didn't know how long the Prudhoe Bay field would be off line. "I don't even know how long it's going to take to shut it down," said Tom Williams, BP's senior tax and royalty counsel.

Once the field is shut down, in a process expected to take days, BP said oil production will be reduced by 400,000 barrels a day. That's close to 8 percent of U.S. oil production as of May 2006 or about 2.6 percent of U.S. supply including imports, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The shutdown comes at an already worrisome time for the oil industry, with supply concerns stemming both from the hurricane season and instability in the Middle East.

"We regret that it is necessary to take this action and we apologize to the nation and the State of Alaska for the adverse impacts it will cause," BP America Chairman and President Bob Malone said in a statement.

A 400,000-barrel per day reduction in output would have a major impact on oil prices, said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo.

"Oil prices could increase by as much as $10 per barrel given the current environment," Emori said. "But we can't really say for sure how big an effect this is going to have until we have more exact figures about how much production is going to be reduced."

posted by Kevin at 9:47 PM

China: More Than Two Million People Face Drinking Water Shortage :.

Die off:

Southwest China is experiencing a serious drought, with 2.39 million people facing a shortage of drinking water, state media have said.

The dry spell has descended over Sichuan province, which is located only a few hundred kilometers (miles) from Guizhou region which is currently soaked in torrential rains.

Xinhua news agency said 53 counties were hit by drought in spring, followed by 113 counties during the summer months, affecting not just large numbers of people but also more than three million head of livestock.

By the end of last month, over 60 percent of small-scale irrigation systems in the drought-stricken areas had dried up, resulting in total crop failure on 120,000 hectares (300,000 acres) of farmland, Xinhua said.

posted by Kevin at 9:12 PM

RFID Passports Vulnerable :.

Electronic passports being introduced in the United States and other countries have a major vulnerability that could allow criminals to clone embedded secret code and enter countries illegally, an expert warned.

A demonstration late Friday by German computer security expert Lukas Grunwald showed how personal information stored on the documents could be copied and transferred to another device.

It appeared to contradict assurances by officials in government and private industry that the electronic information stored in passports could not be duplicated.

"If there is an automatic inspection system, I can use this card to enter any country," Grunwald said, holding up a computer chip containing electronic information he had copied from his German passport.

posted by Kevin at 9:09 PM

:. Reading

Fatal Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture by Andrew Kimbrell Readers will come to see that industrial food production is indeed a "fatal harvest" - fatal to consumers, as pesticide residues and new disease vectors such as E. coli and "mad cow disease" find their way into our food supply; fatal to our landscapes, as chemical runoff from factory farms poison our rivers and groundwater; fatal to genetic diversity, as farmers rely increasingly on high-yield monocultures and genetically engineered crops; and fatal to our farm communities, which are wiped out by huge corporate farms.

Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America by Bertram Myron Gross This is a relatively short but extremely cogent and well-argued treatise on the rise of a form of fascistic thought and social politics in late 20th century America. Author Bertram Gross' thesis is quite straightforward; the power elite that comprises the corporate, governmental and military superstructure of the country is increasingly inclined to employ every element in their formidable arsenal of 'friendly persuasion' to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Americans through what Gross refers to as friendly fascism.

The Good Life
by Scott and Helen Nearing Helen and Scott Nearing are the great-grandparents of the back-to-the-land movement, having abandoned the city in 1932 for a rural life based on self-reliance, good health, and a minimum of cash...Fascinating, timely, and wholly useful, a mix of the Nearings' challenging philosophy and expert counsel on practical skills.

Silent Theft: The Private Plunder of Our Common Wealth by David Bollierd In Silent Theft, David Bollier argues that a great untold story of our time is the staggering privatization and abuse of our common wealth. Corporations are engaged in a relentless plunder of dozens of resources that we collectively own—publicly funded medical breakthroughs, software innovation, the airwaves, the public domain of creative works, and even the DNA of plants, animals and humans. Too often, however, our government turns a blind eye—or sometimes helps give away our assets. Amazingly, the silent theft of our shared wealth has gone largely unnoticed because we have lost our ability to see the commons.

The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-To-Basics Guide by John Seymour The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the only book that teaches all the skills needed to live independently in harmony with the land harnessing natural forms of energy, raising crops and keeping livestock, preserving foodstuffs, making beer and wine, basketry, carpentry, weaving, and much more.

When Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten When Corporations Rule the World explains how economic globalization has concentrated the power to govern in global corporations and financial markets and detached them from accountability to the human interest. It documents the devastating human and environmental consequences of the successful efforts of these corporations to reconstruct values and institutions everywhere on the planet to serve their own narrow ends.

The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener This expansion of a now-classic guide originally published in 1989 is intended for the serious gardener or small-scale market farmer. It describes practical and sustainable ways of growing superb organic vegetables, with detailed coverage of scale and capital, marketing, livestock, the winter garden, soil fertility, weeds, and many other topics.

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