Less protection for whistle-blowers

CNN reports:

"A divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that government workers who blow the whistle on alleged illegal conduct do not deserve First Amendment protection that would automatically shield them from discipline from their bosses."

At least we know which way the USA is going... More control of its people and less counter powers to the executive branch.


Posted in: _USA , _Democracy

Can't sue CIA for wrongly kidnapping

German citizen Khaled El-Masri tried to sue the CIA for wrongfully kidnapping and abusing him. But last week, a U.S. District Court dismissed the case on the grounds it would jeopardize state secrets.

This is just beautiful!

Step 1: Inflate an enemy
Step 2: Scare your people
Step 3: Ignore the law and do what you please and enjoy being unaccountable for


Posted in: _HumanRights , _USA , _Democracy

Bush To Bypass Torture Ban

DemocracyNow reports how the Bush administration uses the Statement technique to bypass laws which don't fit them on an unprecedented scale.
And they are doing this among others for the Torture ban just signed into law (I blogged about this when the law was being voted). They are basically signing the law but at the same time saying in a statement "By the way, I'm commander-in-chief, and I don't really have to pay attention to this if I don't want to. If it's the national security is involved, I can do whatever I want."

The worst is that they are doing this all the time! This is a mockery of Democracy really...


Posted in: _Democracy , _USA

Olmert's plan for the West Bank

Here is a report from DemocracyNow about the visit of Israel's new Prime Minister and his plan (supported by Bush) to bring peace to the Middle-East.

Anything short than withdrawing ALL Jewish settlements and going back to pre 1967 borders is a land grab, pure and simple.
This is nonetheless what the Israelis are proposing and this is preposterous!!

Shame on you USA to support this.


Posted in: _Palestine

QOTD

"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."

- George Orwell

Stealing the '08 election

Since I discovered Greg Palast yesterday, I keep finding interesting stuff from him while touring his site and his articles...
This one is telling us the link between NSA wiretapping and how to remove people from the voters' list for the '08 election.
Read the article, this is shocking (especially if the Democrats don't do anything about it like in '04)!


Posted in: _Democracy , _USA

Greg Palast reports

DemocracyNow ran an interview with investigative journalist Greg Palast, where he talks about what is inside his new book.

Greg, a BBC journalist, reports on several interesting subjects like

• Venezuela have the biggest oil reserves on the planet and why Bush will not deal with Chavez (clue: Chavez doesn't want to reinvest the petrodollars in the USA)
• The election system in the USA (millions of votes not counted in 2000 and 2004) and the '08 election
  
• The war in Iraq and the control of its oil

A lot of things to think about after this interview!


Posted in: _Democracy , _Geopolitics , _Economy , _IraqWar , _PeakOil

Venezuela has the biggest oil reserves

Source: BBC.

Analysis by the US Department of Energy (DoE) shows that at $50 a barrel Venezuela - not Saudi Arabia - will have the biggest oil reserves in Opec.

Venezuela has vast deposits of extra-heavy oil in the Orinoco. Traditionally these have not been counted because at $20 a barrel they were too expensive to exploit - but at $50 a barrel melting them into liquid petroleum becomes extremely profitable.

The DoE report shows that at today's prices Venezuela's oil reserves are bigger than those of the entire Middle East - including Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Iran and Iraq.

The DoE estimates that the Venezuelan government controls 1.3 trillion barrels of oil - more than the entire declared oil reserves of the rest of the planet.

Here is the interview of Mr Chavez with the BBC.


Posted in: _Economy , _Geopolitics , _PeakOil

Funny Stuff

Click on the pictures to get the big version :)


Posted in: _Fun

Venezuela to sell Oil in Euros?

So the USD is already falling, and now more and more countries are talking about selling their oil in Euros (Cf link in title).
Looks like more and more are turning their back on Uncle Sam (for political or economical reasons)...

As always, we shall see the effect of this in the long run :)


Posted in: _Economy , _Geopolitics

Run Forest, run

Since the good days are back in Norway (which was not so long ago!), I decided to get in good shape again and do something for my blood circulation: I started running regularly, like 3 times a week! I will try to do that on top of going to the gym (3 times a week too).
This way I have one day a week to rest :)

To give you a bit of background information, I started all this physical activities around 2 years ago when, suffering from RSI (Repetitive Stress Injury) due to extensive computer use, I was told to exercise my upper body so I could withstand a whole day sitting at my computer better (better back support among others...).
So far so good, but I also have very cold hands very often (and no it is not because I live in Norway) which hints me that my blood circulation can't be very good.
So I thought running could help. And in order to get some motivation and some scientific approach, I followed Manu's advice and bought a Polar watch which does some heart rate monitoring. Here is the baby I bought. It is the simplest model but it is more than ok for me :)
According to the litterature I read, my maximum heart rate (HRmax) should be 188 heartbits per minute.

And here are the results of my efforts:

--- Date --- Rounds --- HRidle --- HRavg --- HRmax ----- Time
11/05/06 ........... 3 ........ NA ........ 160 ........ 172 ..... 22'25"
13/05/06 ........... 3 ........ NA ........ 152 ........ 171 ..... 23'17"
17/05/06 ........... 3 ........ NA ........ 155 ........ 176 ..... 23'19"
20/05/06 ........... 3 ........ NA ........ 162 ........ 181 ..... 23'16"
25/05/06 ........... 3 ........ 60 ........ 153 ........ 173 ..... 23'03"
27/05/06 ........... 3 ........ 62 ........ 154 ........ 171 ..... 22'55"
30/05/06 ........... 4 ........ 57 ........ 153 ........ 175 ..... 29'25"
01/06/06 ........... 4 ........ 56 ........ 155 ........ 176 ..... 29'16"
03/06/06 ........... 4 ........ 58 ........ 153 ........ 180 ..... 28'57"
06/06/06 ........... 4 ........ 58 ........ 152 ........ 168 ..... 28'24"
08/06/06 ......... Int ........ 58 ........ 144 ........ 184 ..... 17'00"
10/06/06 ......... Int ........ 57 ........ 136 ........ 186 ..... 24'35"
13/06/06 ........... 4 ........ 56 ........ 154 ........ 172 ..... 29'30"
18/06/06 ......... Int ........ 55 ........ 143 ........ 180 ..... 18'20"
20/06/06 ......... Int ........ 53 ........ 140 ........ 183 ..... 19'00"
24/06/06 ........... 4 ........ 54 ........ 154 ........ 177 ..... 29'06"
29/06/06 ......... Int ........ 53 ........ 145 ........ 186 ..... 19'56"
01/07/06 ......... Int ........ 52 ........ 139 ........ 188 ..... 18'23"
04/07/06 ........... 4 ........ 52 ........ 148 ........ 176 ..... 29'10"
07/07/06 ......... Int ........ 54 ........ 146 ........ 187 ..... 17'14"
12/07/06 ......... Int ........ 52 ........ 148 ........ 188 ..... 17'52"
16/07/06 ........... 4 ........ 50 ........ 149 ........ 176 ..... 29'28"
20/07/06 ......... Int ........ 52 ........ 144 ........ 184 ..... 17'19"
23/07/06 ......... Int ........ 54 ........ 137 ........ 184 ..... 17'31"
25/07/06 ........... 3 ........ 54 ........ 155 ........ 171 ..... 20'31"
31/07/06 ......... Int ........ 54 ........ 139 ........ 183 ..... 17'14"
03/08/06 ......... Int ........ 55 ........ 145 ........ 184 ..... 17'25"
05/08/06 ........... 4 ........ 54 ........ 150 ........ 171 ..... 28'33"
08/08/06 ......... Int ........ 54 ........ 145 ........ 182 ..... 17'41"
13/08/06 ......... Int ........ 55 ........ 141 ........ 187 ..... 17'23"
15/08/06 ........... 4 ........ 55 ........ 157 ........ 177 ..... 27'09"
22/08/06 ......... Int ........ 54 ........ 144 ........ 186 ..... 17'00"
27/08/06 ......... Int ........ 53 ........ 146 ........ 191 ..... 17'47"
31/08/06 ........... 4 ........ 54 ........ 152 ........ 177 ..... 27'41"
07/09/06 ......... Int ........ 55 ........ 143 ........ 187 ..... 17'28"
10/09/06 ......... Int ........ 55 ........ 147 ........ 192 ..... 17'12"
12/09/06 ........... 4 ........ 54 ........ 152 ........ 172 ..... 28'01"
17/09/06 ......... Int ........ 54 ........ 146 ........ 188 ..... 16'48"
24/09/06 ........... 4 ........ 55 ........ 156 ........ 174 ..... 28'51"
30/09/06 ......... Int ........ 55 ........ 148 ........ 190 ..... 18'17"
08/10/06 ......... Int ........ 56 ........ 153 ........ 192 ..... 17'11"
15/10/06 ........... 3 ........ 56 ........ 151 ........ 176 ..... 21'34"
24/10/06 ........... 3 ........ 57 ........ 156 ........ 177 ..... 21'28"
29/10/06 ........... 3 ........ 56 ........ 164 ........ 184 ..... 20'55"
07/11/06 ........... 3 ........ 56 ........ 155 ........ 176 ..... 22'11"
09/11/06 ........... 3 ........ 55 ........ 162 ........ 178 ..... 21'11"
08/01/07 ........... 2 ........ 60 ........ 164 ........ 181 ..... 16'14"
10/03/07 ........... 2 ........ 60 ........ 152 ........ 175 ..... 14'50"
15/03/07 ........... 3 ........ 60 ........ 155 ........ 174 ..... 21'45"
17/03/07 ........... 3 ........ 60 ........ 166 ........ 186 ..... 20'45"
19/03/07 ........... 3 ........ 60 ........ 156 ........ 176 ..... 21'36"
24/03/07 ........... 3 ........ 59 ........ 150 ........ 172 ..... 21'37"
27/03/07 ........... 3 ........ 59 ........ 155 ........ 174 ..... 22'02"
31/03/07 ........... 3 ........ 59 ........ 152 ........ 171 ..... 21'27"


Int stands for Interval Training (which consists of running fast for 3 to 4 min, then slow for 2 to 3 min then fast again and so on).
Otherwise for endurance training I just run at roughly the same pace for several rounds :)
Going to the park is around 500 meters, and 1 round is roughly 1 km.

And a big thanks to Helge for helping training more efficiently!!


Posted in: _General , _Sciences , _Fun

The plunge of the US Dollar

The USD is plunging against not only the Euro plus also against all major currencies. But it seems that there is more to it (cf link in the title) and that the corrections for the US excesses might be painful.
This, together with the high oil price is not good news for the Americain consumers!!

The question is now: how bad will it get and how much it will affect the rest of the world.

As always, time will tell!


Posted in: _USA , _Economy

End of US suburbia?

More and more people in the US are feeling the pain of the high gasoline price. With their big cars, their way of building cities the extended way (i.e. not the elevated way) and their little developed bus and train system, middle-class Americains are feeling the pain so bad that they already started saving money to pay for their gasoline bill.
This is not going to be good for the US economy if it carries on like this...
Unless a solution (any solution) comes along! And some will to adapt from the people.

Read the story from NYT (Cf link in the title).


Posted on: _Economy , _Society , _PeakOil , _USA

Iran's Oil Stock Exchange

So this time it seems serious, the Iran Oil Stock Exchange should start in May (Cf link in title).

And this confirmation is only about this, not about destroying the US economy neither trading in Euros nor anything else.
We shall see how it will affect the world market for oil in the long run :)


Posted in: _Economy , _Geopolitics

Zimbabwe's Prices Rise 900%

Amazing stuff happening in Zimbabwe (cf link in title)!

Prices are increasing ten folds in a year!!!!
$500 is the smallest bill (in Zimbabween dollars of course).
70% of unemployment...
And Mugabe is building a 25 rooms palace for himself.


Posted in: _Economy , _Society

Eat less, Live more

So it looks like what seems to be true for rats has a good chance of being true for humans as well. Indeed, this report (follow link in the title) from The Economist gathers results from several experiments showing that eating less is good for our cells and make them produce molecules that are good for us in the long run...

Interesting no? :)


Posted in: _Sciences

Reefer Madness

Marijuana is medically useful, whether politicians like it or not.

Have a look at this report (link in title) to find out why and what for marijuana is good, and also why the US government is being so stubborn about outlawing it.

P.S: Reefer is a marijuana cigarette.


Posted in: _Sciences , _Society , _USA

Peak Oil: The Optimist view

Here is a special report from The Economist (link in the title) arguing that we are not that close to Peak Oil, and even if we were there are more and more alternatives to oil as oil price carries on rising. We should be able to recover more oil from the existing fields, find new ones, produce petrol from natural gas and from renewable products (like sugar cane) and so on...
Even though I have great faith in the human ability to develop new technologies, I am not sure that all these fancies new ways of producing energy will be enough to cover the rapidly increasing world's needs.
But one thing is for certain: if we all consume energy with conservation in mind, fully understanding that we can not afford wasting it, we will have granted us some extra time to enjoy our lavish (and I might even add pleasant) life style.



Posted in: _PeakOil , _Sciences , _Society

Bush challenges hundreds of laws

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

Welcome to Democracy!


Posted in: _Democracy , _USA

Peak Oil: Getting there?

This is a quite long and complete report on the state of the world concerning Peak Oil (link in the title).
Mike Ruppert is gathering many facts and events which took place during the last 12 months and shows how the world is rearranging itself to face Peak Oil. It looks like the USD is in for a though ride and proxy wars will be all over the place in many oil producing countries as the big powers try to control access to the remaining oil supplies.

Good read even if one might now agree with everything :)


Posted in: _PeakOil , _Geopolitics