Lefty Blogs
williampfaff ++ ++
Russian News ++
seaton-newslinks. USA expat in Europe ++
bilegrip Asu spleen ++
us-rockstroh a rant, not a blog ++
aboutmyplanet eco ++
sfgate ++
crookedtimber ++
onthecommons ++
sjlendman ++
....
abutamam freeiraq ++
airamericaradio +
amygdalagf +
angryarab ++
annezook +
antiwar ++
norwegianity
terrorism-news
blogspot
ourtomorrow
politickybitch
welcome-to-pottersville
aviraqi
billmon ++ whiskeyB
consortiumnews ++
dahrjamailiraq
dailywarnews ++
drforbush +
english +
fallujahinpictures
freespeechradio
halcyondays ++
healingiraq
hereticalideas ++
icasualties
maru
om
boxspinning boxes

jamaicaobserver newspaper
jameswolcott +
lefarkins +
liberalgirlnextdoor ++
lonehighlander Libya, not lefty
mahablog +++ solid
maruthecrankpot +
indymedia melbourne
messopotamian +7Apr06
monkey ++
motherjones ++
fisk
nocapital +
norightturn +NZ
peakoil ++
pilger +
politicalhumor +
raedinthemiddle
rafahtoday Feb05?
rense w= wacko conspiracies
rigorousintuition x
hegemon ++
ruckus ++
rudepundit ++
satiricalpolitical +
scaramoucheblog ++
secretsinbaghdad ++15Ap06
Energring
aliveinbaghdad ++
riverbendblog ++
sideshow +++
signs-of-the-times +++
slashdot ++techy
talkleft ++
thinkprogress ++
thismodernworld +++
uncapitalist ++
velorution ++ bicycles
org ++Brazil peasants
warandpiece +
warfare.ru +russia military
greenpeace
allhatnocattle
alternet ++
americanpolitics
antiwar
gbruno ++YT
axisoflogic ++
blackcommentator
bobharris +
bradblog +
buckfush +funnies
buggery +
buzzflash ++
changeforamerica
countercurrents
counterpunch +++
crisispapers
crooksandliars ++?
csmonitor
dahrjamailiraqhref="http://www.dailykos.com/
davidcorn
democracynow
democracyuprising
dissidentvoice
earthfirstjournal
earthstation5
empirenotes
foodfirst
fpif
fromthewilderness
geocities
granta
grist ??
gristmagazine
guerrillanews
gulf
hizbollah
huffingtonpost ++
informationclearinghouse
infoshop +
inthesetimes x
iranmania x
ivaw
jihadunspun
juancole ++
kuro5hin ++ notlefty
kurtnimmo ++
lrb ++ Iraqi?
mahablog
lewrockwell ++
marklynas climate change
mnftiu get your war on comics
motherjones
nilemedia
nybooks
occupationwatch
oriononline
palestine
prisonplanet
rall ++ Ted Rall cartonist
ratical
redpepper
rense
robert
rollingstone
scoop
selvesandothers ++
smirkingchimp
snappingturtle
socialistworker
spiked
tblog
theiraqiroulette
theleftcoaster +
thepoorman +
tnr ++ magazine
tompaine ++ mag
traprockpeace ++
truthout +
boondocks ++
crowning3
. . . helix
Base
rain radar
Weather
worldtribunal +
worldwatch ++ $ required
zaman + Turkish news
youcantmakeitup + ?
youngfox ????????????
bareknucklepolitics videos?
popdrain videos??
discovery videos??
cs videos??
aegisIraq video??
mariyaguchi video??
iwilltryit video..
baghdadtreasure
ahram cairo newspaper
felbers
thepartyline
jfaughnan 28/04/2006 10:25AM
shrillblog +
thinkprogress +
marchforjustice + pictures
messopotamian + Iraqi not so radical, but scared (also see IraqTheModel which was a USA front, but is now also scared)
scaramoucheblog +
counterpunch
.............
blogads liberal blogs by CPM $ per view
malakandsky ++ stolid?
republicoft + black gay parent??
dailykos ++
rawstory ++
democraticunderground ++
atrios ++
workingforchange +
leftinthewest +
dembloggers +
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firedoglake ++
vastleft ++
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americablog +
washingtonmonthly ++
mydd +
politics1 +
bartcop ++
politicalwire +
sisterstalk black lesbian?
culturekitchen ++
alternet
wonkette +++
billstclair +
freefreedomtoldhere ++ pipe bomb

......
almuajaha defunct
whynot defunct
winstonsmith defunct
samadams dormant
mquinn02 defunct
iraqblogcount ++14Apr06 suspended
iraqicomments most recent: jan2005
iraqidoctor most recent: Aug2005
georgemustgo + moved?
vialls ++Dormant (joe is dead)
warblogging Defunct
hammeroftruth quiescant?
mediastorm quiescant? +
bushwhackedusa defunct
hamasonline defunct
4Jul06

06 October 2006

Fidel Castro,Opec, Telstra

fidel
Fidel Castro, still convalescing from a surgical operation is the resurrected image of the stoic and long suffering Don Quixote of my childhood readings: the same beard, the same eyes, the same nose. How strange is the destiny of this man, which has allowed him to become the reincarnation of the noblest personage of fictional literature, in practice and in image.

rigzone
OPEC ministers have agreed to cut 1 million barrels a day..h Saudi Arabia cutting 300,000 b/d, effective as soon as possible.. The idea now is to cut 1 million b/d from actual production, implemented as soon as possible." Nine out of 11 .. with the exception of Iraq and Indonesia..
OPEC's output in August was 30 million b/d (IWA).. OPEC > 1/3 world's oil consumption.

6/10/2006 11:40AM
Telstra have a new, pathetic, wireless internet "Next G" "faster than EV-DO - avg 550K - 1.5Mbps,.. peak network 3.6 Mbps. (you wish)

international roaming $16.50/MB + $0.60 Flagfall ..

ridiculously high prices, 5 or 10 times reasonable prices:
$300 for the modem then
$2.50 /hour or $67 /GB

There is a 10 day moneyback guarantee, but thats only if you get Nothing. If you get any connection at all, at any speed, you are locked into the 12 month contract $50/month 20 hours - pathetic..

Aus still lags the OECD in broadband. In cable, which is what counts, Aus falls off the map
- DSL aint really broad
oecd

hat
___________________________________________________________
tux
tux attempts to stop microsoft troops rolling out vista
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nietz
losanjealous The Nietzsche Family Circus
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05 October 2006

John Lennon, Syria, Nietzsche, Bill Frist, Al-Dulaimi, Biofuel,Lyn Margulis

lennon
theusversusjohnlennon
US vs John Lennon, the Movie
_____________________________________________________________
coffeehousestudio
RAW is sick & cant pay his rent
(illuminati anyone?)

ringsurf lefty list

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

motherjones
Bush has cited Syria’s abysmal human rights record as a reason to isolate and possibly attack the country.
The Bush administration is now ensnared in its own web of deceit. On September 19, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales responded to the Canadian findings by claiming that the U.S. acted lawfully in sending Arar to Syria. “Mr. Arar was deported under our immigration laws,” said Gonzales, who insisted that Arar was not the victim of a rendition. It was an absurd claim: why wouldn’t the U.S. deport Arar to Canada, where he is a citizen? The answer is obvious: the Bush administration wanted Arar to be tortured, and could be confident of this outcome if he were handed to the Syrians.
Gonzales tried to hedge, “Even if it were a rendition…we seek to satisfy ourselves that they will not be tortured. …And if in fact he had been rendered to Syria, we would have sought those same kind of assurances.”

[something vaguely Biblical ... render unto Syria....]

Om
Om
Noa Noa
Noa Noa
_________________________________________________________________
Nietzsche
losanjealous The Nietzsche Family Circus
_______________________________________________________________
Tobasco — a rough composite of “Total Debacle Fiasco.”
realclearpolitics
What do our troops in Iraq, who risk their lives every day, think when they read that their commanding general believes, "We've got to get the fuck out of here," and that a victory strategy is "not my job."

France's defeat at Dien Bien Phu in Indochina lead to a second war of national liberation in Algeria, the fall of the Fourth Republic and the call for Gen. de Gaulle to assume power. The general did, and he rang down the curtain on the French Empire.

Are we facing an American Dien Bien Phu?

Patrick Buchanan

timesonline4Oct06
US military announced the death of two soldiers – the latest fatalities in what has been one of the bloodiest spells for American troops this year. One of the soldiers was killed by enemy fire near the northern city of Kirkuk and the other by a sniper in eastern Baghdad, both yesterday.

At least 17 troops have been killed in combat since Saturday, including eight US soldiers who died in gun battles and bomb blasts in Baghdad on Monday -- the worst day for American forces in the capital in a year.


BAGHDAD, Iraq — The government clamped a 24-hour curfew on the capital Saturday shortly after U.S. forces arrested the bodyguard of Adnan al-Dulaimi, one of the main figures in the minority Sunni bloc of Parliament
.. on suspicion of plotting a suicide attack inside ..Green Zone.
..the U.S. Army said the man was part of an al-Qaida cell "in the final stages of launching a series of ... attacks [that would have used several vehicles and possibly suicide vests.]"
..Al-Dulaimi was not under suspicion, the Army said.
[Coup Rumours?]

Whiskey Bar is still open 3/10/2006 11:18AM
billmon
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan guerrilla war can never be won militarily and called for efforts to bring the Taliban and their supporters into the Afghan government. The Tennessee Republican said he had learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated by military means.iht


Biofuel?


allthingsbiodiesel fao
estimates of available land suitable for 'rainfed agriculture'
At present some 11% (1.5 billion ha) of the globe's land surface (13.4 billion ha) is used in crop production (arable land and land under permanent crops). This area represents slightly over a third (36%) of the land estimated to be to some degree suitable for crop production. The fact that there remain some 2.7 billion ha with crop production potential suggests that there is still scope for further expansion of agricultural land
..about 30% of the world's land surface, or 4.2 billion ha, is suitable for rainfed agriculture (Table 4.6). Of this area, the developing countries have some 2.8 billion ha of land of varying qualities that have potential for growing rainfed crops at yields above an«acceptable» minimum level. Of this land, nearly 960 million ha are already in cultivation. The remaining 1.8 billion ha would therefore seem to provide significant scope for further expansion of agriculture in developing countries.
..[this seems to ignore conservation, forests, wildlife biomes, hotspots...]
.. estimated that forests cover at least 45%, protected areas some 12% and human settlements some 3% of the land balance, with wide regional differences. For example, in the land-scarce region of South Asia, some 45% of the land with crop production potential but not yet in agricultural use is estimated to be occupied by human settlements.
So there is something like 55% of 2.7E9 ha around 1.5E9ha land available for 'rainfed' ie possible net energy positive biodiesel.

Jatropha oil yield t/ha and world output
yieldt/haBillion Tons
lowest 0.12 0.18
typical low 1.5 2.25
high 6.0 9
     
oil consumption 2005   3.8

so typical low yield might give us 60% of our current world oil production.Its not clear how much forest would be destroyed, and how many biomes would be disrupted.
The FAO article doesnt discuss 'hot spots' or endangered biomes.

140 billion gallons of gasoline USA/yr
..As we migrate from biomass derived from corn to biomass from .. switchgrass and miscanthus,..biomass yield will reach 20 to 24 tons per acre, a fourfold increase. ..extract more biohols.. potentially to 110 gallons per ton. The result: 2,000 to 2,700 gallons of fuel per acre (cf 400 gallons with today’s technology).
..George Schultz and ex-CIA director R. James Woolsey estimate that 30 million acres can replace half our gasoline. I estimate that 40 million to 60 million acres can replace our gasoline needs. By taking land now used to grow export crops and instead planting energy crops, it's feasible to eliminate our need to import oil for gasoline.
..Cellulosic ethanol technology promises to deliver as much as 2,700 gallons per acre by 2030.
..Greenfuel Technologies is harnessing algae farming for ethanol and biodiesel production. Human genome pioneer J. Craig Venter is busy developing a synthetic chromosome that may be able to produce ethanol. Another Khosla Ventures company called LS9 is applying synthetic biology to produce a new biofuel.
..Kergy ..the first anaerobic thermal conversion machine ..8 feet high..cellulosic ethanol through anaerobic thermal conversion rather than through fermentation or acid hydrolysis. It does not need organisms or enzymes... Biomass is heated in an oxygen-free environment to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen... then reconstituted into various alcohols like ethanol
..Klepper can make ethanol out of cellulose or any form of organic matter. This means the usual suspects such as corn, switchgrass, sugarcane, and miscanthus but also any waste product such as wood chips, paper pulp, cow manure, and even human waste. Municipal sewage has been tested already, as has hog manure


astrobio
Lyn Margulis, still crazy, but shes been right before..
what Mendel showed. In other words, the genetic factors are simply recombined; there's no evolution.

Now Mendel is often touted to be this backwater monk who played with his garden peas. But Mendel was in touch with the pope. He knew damn well what was going on with the concept of evolution and did not like it.

The supporters of neo-Darwinism, which is also called the modern synthesis, wanted to reconcile - they had to reconcile - Darwinian change through time with this brilliant, experimentally proven concept of Gregor Mendel.

This field they invented is called evolutionary biology by a lot of people, or sometimes population genetics. I think the whole thing's corrupt. I think it's repulsively corrupt. Because it has no reference in the real world. It was made from the beginning as a very clever generalization to combine the fact of Darwinian change through time, which seems to be based on fossils and lots of other evidence, with the evident fact that Mendel was right about genetic factors recombining. And so it developed a superstructure, a theory of which only a very small part could be verified by science. And it was called population genetics, because the word evolution, at least in this country, is a dirty word amongst a lot of people.

Earth's biodiversity.
Credit: Alexis Rockman

And as Hutchinson pointed out, symbiosis was considered communist and Russian. The great work had been done in Russia

[the great LM has recently developed some decidedly absolutist talk, - she states that symbiogenesis is the only mechanism of evolution, seems looney to me]

03 October 2006

More gratuitous scarification


_DSC7943, originally uploaded by nygus.

Southern Ethiopia

Moti , Hyperion, Ruddock, Merkava, al-Moqawama

abc
Most inappropriate metaphor of the week:
For some reason the Australian Foreign minister Downer (famous fishnet stocking wearer) is trying to get the Solomon Islands Attorney-General, Julian Moti, extradited from Port Moresby.
The petulant scolding attitude the Aus Govt adopts (as opposed to the smirking of GWB) seems to have annoyed the Solomons PM, and the PNG govt. Aus is throwing its police|military around the near Pacific "failed States" and appears to be getting a reaction to its neo-colonial posturing.
Anyway, Moti's lawyer said the charge against Moti, of rape of a 13 year old girl in Vanuatu in 1997, has been heard in a trial in Vanuatu, and Moti has been found innocent. The lawyer said the Aus Govt is trying to get “a second bite of the cherry for the same offences”

A redwood ..the world’s tallest tree .. Hyperion, 379.1 feet tall,..previous record.. ..370.5-foot-tall Stratosphere ..
abc Ruddock may allow researchers access to banned books

The Hezbollah fighters hit sixty tanks, total destroying twelve and killing about 30 crew members in 34 days of fighting. The Israeli Army is likely reassessing its strategy with the Merkava.
* The anti-tank threat emerged as the most serious challenge to the IDF. Operating Kornet-E and Metis-M anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), Hizbullah successfully destroyed 14 Israeli Merkava Mk 2, 3 and 4 main battle tanks. In response, the Israeli MoD has ordered Rafael Armament Development Authority to accelerate preparations for production of its Trophy active protection system (APS) for future IDF procurement. Israel Military Industries has also been asked to complete development of its APS, dubbed Iron Fist, for IDF evaluation.


[Active defence - anti-missile missiles, thats a 2nd order of difficulty. I'm guessing that most would miss. And could be swamped by batches of cheap,older ATMs fired before new expensive Kornets
.. 'active' may include reactive armour, missiles or some sort of hemispherical shock front, all of which can be depleted.]

In Vietnam the 'tunnels of Cu Chi' were eventually neutralised by saturation bombing from B52s
The VC couldnt build deep because they would get buried as the top layerscollapsed. In Gulf War I the Iraq troops in shallow desert bunkers were simply buried alive with bulldozers.
How HA built survivable bunkers in South Lebanon isnt clear. Reports are they were 40m deep. Perhaps the use of reinforced concrete ensured survivability. Or the extensive artillery bombardment form IDF was not equivalent to B52s?
Gas|blast tight doors surely required. The Vietnamese uses water filled sumps (ugh!) The USA is planning nuclear 'bunker busters' but they would emit large plumes of radiation, not desirable 4km from your own border. Its unclear how long the USA would last if they or their proxy used nukes. Venezuela & Iran would close the taps, and USAnians wouldnt be welcome anywhere outside their borders. China & Russia wold move to sequester the worlds oil. It would be the end of the USA. Which is not to say the Cheney regime will forbear.]
....
Hezbollah's armed wing, al-Moqawama al-Islamia (Islamic Resistance), described Israel's main battle-tank as "a toy for the rockets of the resistance" (al-Manar TV, August 11).