Iroquois lacrosse team misses on first game

NEW YORK, N.Y. - There were cheers and hollers aboard the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team bus on Thursday as the players geared up for a very different encounter than what they had planned for Day 1 of the World Lacrosse Championships in England.

Instead, with the Statue of Liberty in the background, team members got into uniform and filed out of the bus to pose for a gaggle of journalists and repeat their case for a few TV cameras: They should be allowed into England for the games using their Iroquois-issued passports. Why would the British demand they use U.S. and Canadian passports when they don't consider themselves citizens of those nations?

Meanwhile, negotiators for the team continued to pursue diplomatic channels in the hopes of getting the squad to Manchester, England, in time for its second game, scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The team defaulted on its first game, against England, when it didn't arrive in time on Thursday.

In the afternoon, team chairman Oren Lyons sounded a hopeful note.

"There is movement in our discussions with the U.K.," the Onondaga Nation chief said in a statement. "We don't know if we can resolve the issues in time for us to make our next game."

But a spokesman for Britain's Home Office who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with ministry rules said later Thursday in London that its stance has not changed and that a change is highly unlikely overnight.

For the team's 23 players, including several Canadians, it was another day of spending more time on a bus, rather than on the field playing the sport the Iroquois helped invent as much as 1,000 years ago.

As their bus pulled up to the park housing the ferry boarding point for visitors headed to the Statue of Liberty, one player joked he'd found the easiest way to circumvent all the team's difficulties: "We're taking the ferry all the way, boys."

Once out among the tourists, a few passers-by stopped to cheer the group, whose faces have been everywhere except England in the last few days as the dispute over their passports became an international issue.

"They ought to let them go," said Jon Shebar, who described himself as an avid lacrosse fan. What's at stake, he said, is "the dignity of the people and to be recognized as a nation."

Others stepped in to offer their support as well. A lacrosse club on Long Island invited the team for a barbecue and pickup game. The team, ranked No. 4 in the world by the Federation of International Lacrosse, planned to make use of its field for practice Thursday evening.

And film director James Cameron donated US$50,000 to help the players cover the ballooning costs of their stay in New York — already extended four days beyond their original flight.

On Sunday, U.S. authorities refused to accept the passports issued by the Iroquois Confederacy because the documents lack security features required for border crossings in the wake of post-Sept. 11 crackdowns on document fraud and illegal immigration.

After days of negotiation, the U.S. cleared the team Wednesday for travel on a one-time waiver at the behest of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who as New York senator once represented some Iroquois lands.

But hours later, the British government said the team wouldn't be allowed in without U.S. or Canadian passports.

The State Department said Thursday it had failed to persuade the British government to allow the team to travel.

Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said U.S. officials made it clear that the team would be allowed to re-enter the U.S. when its visit to England was completed. Despite those assurances, the British government decided to disallow entry for the team members, Crowley said.

"We did our best from our point of view to satisfy the initial concerns that the U.K. had," he said.

Crowley described the decision as unsurprising, and he said both governments share the view that the Iroquois ultimately must have internationally recognized travel documents.

Tonya Gonnella Frichner, a lawyer for the team, said the Iroquois have almost completed a transition to higher security passports. The process has cost the six-nation confederacy more than $1.5 million, she said.

For the team, the frustrations of the week and any disappointments still to come will serve a purpose, said player Jeremy Thompson, 23.

"We kind of look down seven generations," he said — repeating a phrase he said he has heard often from his parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents. "Whatever precendent we set here is going to help generations down the road."

"For my people, it's an ongoing battle for us," he said. "It's still there. It's always going to be there."

___

Associated Press writers Robert Burns in Washington, Robert Jablon in Los Angeles and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

‘Hope’ Floats: Hey Hollywood, Time to Put Your Money Where Your Morality Is

Nima Shirazi -Wide Asleep in America

A coalition of nearly twenty American human rights and peace groups has joined the global justice community and numerous foreign governments in vowing to send more humanitarian aid ships to break the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza this coming Fall. The coalition, united under the mantle US To Gaza, includes activist organizations such as CodePink, Jews Say No, Veterans For Peace, Voices for Creative Non-Violence, and Jewish Voice For Peace.

In the wake of the deadly Israeli raid on an international flotilla carrying over 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid and hundreds of civilian passengers, during which nine activists were murdered (if not outright executed) by Israeli commandos in international waters, the global call to end the US-backed Israeli siege has grown even more forceful.

Later this year, boats from Europe, Canada, South Africa, India, and the Middle East are expected to set sail for Gaza once again. US To Gaza, which states on its website that “America pays for the blockade with our tax dollars; Americans must join together to end this collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians,” aims to add a vital American element to this new Freedom Flotilla.

The U.S. boat, which will be named The Audacity of Hope (irony intended), is expected to carry an American peace delegation of forty to sixty passengers and will join its international flotilla partners en route. But purchasing a suitable ship, securing a sailing crew, obtaining the needed licenses and registration, gathering tons of humanitarian aid, and sailing for Gaza is a costly endeavor. It is estimated that at least $370,000 needs to be raised from private donors in the next month for the U.S. ship to become, not merely hopeful audacity, but a necessary reality.

All in all, $370,000 isn’t that much money. For instance, South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from individual donors giving less than $200 just because he called Barack Obama a liar. If a jackass like Wilson can raise that kind of money for shouting a disingenuous falsehood, raising funds for a just cause like breaking the illegal Gaza blockade shouldn’t be that hard.

Sure, the fund-raising goal can be hit with 3,700 people each pledging $100 or a mere 370 donations of $1,000 each. But why is the bar for funding justice and fighting illegal collective punishment so low? Where are the big donors who could single-handedly buy a boat and subsidize the entire delegation? Why does it seem like such a stretch for American supporters of human rights and international law to send an armada of siege-breaking ships to Gaza?

Perhaps, in order to open borders and ship a little bit of hope to suffering Palestinians in the Middle East, US to Gaza organizers should be looking for a lot of financial support from open wallets on the West Coast.

Hollywood has no shortage of outspoken Zionists, ethnic cleansing enthusiasts, and racist, right-wing nutjobs. There are those who condemn the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement and promote Israeli hasbaraJerry Seinfeld, Sacha Baron Cohen, Minnie Driver, and Natalie Portman (who was also a proud research assistant of Alan Dershowitz and is thanked in his appalling book The Case for Israel); there are those who oppose resistance to Israeli aggression and expansion and laud Israeli assaults that take the lives of thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians like actors Michael Douglas, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton, Doug Liman, Gary Sinise, Kristen Chenowith, Michael Chiklis, Vivica A. Fox, Nicole Kidman, Pat Sajak, and William Hurt, along with filmmakers like Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, William Friedkin, Richard Donner and Sam Raimi; there are Zionist zealots like John Malkovich and there’s also Jon Voigt.

There are celebrities who advocate for peace, love, and understanding, like Richard Dreyfuss and Josh Molina, yet somehow believe a “Jewish” state isn’t inherently discriminatory. There’s Jason Alexander, who, despite his work with the two-state promoting OneVoice/Imagine Peace project, was an honored guest at last year’s Friends of the IDF Fundraising Gala and shill for Jewish television programming that endorses violent, fanatical Zionist settler ideologies. There are fashion designers like Elie Tahari, who donated a whopping $100,000 at this year’s IDF love-fest in March.

With friends like these, it’s no wonder that the IDF, a foreign military that oppresses and occupies an indigenous population, raised over $20 million in one night at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan. But American donors don’t only fund the Occupation, they also fund illegal Jewish settlements – to the tune of tax-free hundreds of millions over the past decade – that have now aggressively stolen and colonized over 42% of the West Bank.

So where are their anti-occupation, pro-international law counterparts, especially the ones with equally deep pockets? The truth is they’re everywhere.

From Alice Walker to Vanessa Redgrave, Harry Belafonte to Viggo Mortensen, Julie Christie, Wallace Shawn, Alan Rickman, Jonathan Demme, Stephen King, Ralph Fiennes, Bill Irwin, Tilda Swinton, Wim Wenders, Uma Thurman, Debra Winger, Tony Kushner, Roger Ebert, Richard Gere, John Cusack, Sally Kirkland, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, Danny Glover, Oliver Stone, Ed Asner, Sophie Fiennes, Casey Kasem, and Jeremy Pikser,

Actresses Salma Hayek, Halle Berry, Drew Barrymore, Brooke Shields, Andie MacDowell, Lucy Liu, Whitney Houston and Sharon Stone all had their pictures removed from the website of blood diamond dealer Lev Leviev after being alerted to Leviev’s criminal funding of illegal West Bank settlements.

Musicians like Mos Def, Laurie Anderson, Boots Riley, Steve Earle, David Byrne, Neil Young, Santana, and Roger Waters all publicly oppose Israel’s systematic oppression and land theft and Annie Lennox protested against the 2008-9 Israel slaughter of over 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza.

Megastars Dustin Hoffman and Meg Ryan canceled their attendance at this year’s annual Jerusalem Film Festival the day after Israel’s bloody raid on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and recent performances by The Pixies, Elvis Costello, Gorillaz, Devendra Banhart, and Snoop Dogg were also canceled for similar – if not identical – reasons.

All of these well-heeled celebrities should take their courageous boycott of Israeli apartheid and aggression even further by funding more humanitarian aid ships. With their help, supplementing the support of small donors, the illegal blockade can indeed be broken.

The Israeli policy of brutal blockade is clear. In 2006, after Palestinians democratically elected Hamas to the shock and chagrin of both Israel and the US (who had insisted on the elections in the first place), an economic and commercial siege was put into place by Israel as a punishment for Palestinian self-determination. As Dov Weisglass, adviser to then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, jokingly declared, “It’s like an appointment with a dietitian. The Palestinians in Gaza will get a lot thinner, but won’t die.”

Collective punishment, via forced deprivation and near-starvation, is unequivocally illegal. International law is quite clear in this regard. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which has governed Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza since 1967 (and has been repeatedly affirmed by both the UN Security Council and General Assembly), states plainly:
like celebrity support for Palestinian freedom and an end to the Israeli occupation and blockade is widespread in Tinseltown.

“No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”

Furthermore, though the Israeli intention may not have been to kill Palestinians in Gaza via food and medicine shortages, they have more than made up for it with their subsequent use of bombs, missiles, tank shells, bullets, depleted uranium, flechettes, white phosphorous, and DIME weaponry.

Still, Israeli officials such as former-Prime Minster, now Defense Minister, Ehud Barak and Director-General of the Foreign Ministry, Yossi Gal, continue to claim that “there is no shortage in humanitarian aid to Gaza, as food, fuel and supplies are regularly transferred into Gaza by international organizations.”

No mention is made of the fact that all building material, such as cement, plaster and dry wall, is banned from entering Gaza, in addition to the absurd prohibition of so-called “dual use” medicines, rope, wood, razors, light bulbs, textiles and fabrics, sewing and hypodermic needles, sewing machines, candles, matches, mattresses, bedsheets, pillowcases, blankets, cutlery, books, newspapers, coffee, tea, cigarettes, clothing, shoes, pencils and paper, fresh meat, seeds, nuts, cilantro, sage, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger, cumin, vinegar, biscuits, candy, potato chips, jam, chocolate, french fries, canned or dried fruit, notebooks, empty flowerpots, fishing rods or line, livestock, musical instruments, and children’s toys.

Obviously, Israeli officials take no note of the findings of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN which has reported that 61% of Gazans are “food insecure,“ of which “65% are children under 18 years;” the level of anemia in infants is as high as 65.5%, about 70% of Gazans live on less than $1 a day, 75% rely on food aid, and 60% have no daily access to water.

As Rebecca Sargent of the Peace and Collaborative Development Network notes, “Much of the population remains unemployed and thus have no money to buy supplies for themselves. The UN resolution 1860 calls for the unfettered access of aid and commercial goods to Gaza, although it would appear this call has been mostly ignored by the Israeli government’s blockade.”

Also, as of the end of 2009, a U.N. report found that “insufficient food and medicine is reaching Gazans, producing a further deterioration of the mental and physical health of the entire civilian population since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead against the territory,” and also “blamed the blockade for continued breakdowns of the electricity and sanitation systems due to the Israeli refusal to let spare parts needed for repair get through the crossings.” Since June 2007, “the number of Palestine refugees unable to access food and lacking the means to purchase even the most basic items, such as soap, school stationery and safe drinking water, has tripled” and over 80 UN and aid agencies agree that “the formal economy in Gaza has collapsed.”

On May 31, the six-ship Gaza Freedom Flotilla was lethally attacked in international waters (the ships had no intention of sailing through Israeli territory) about 80 miles (130 kilometers) off the Gaza coast in an early morning raid by elite Israeli commandos. The attack was conducted after Israel cut off all communications from the ships and surrounded the flotilla with over 20 naval vessels and warships, along with multiple helicopters. In addition to the 45 highly-trained and heavily-armed commandos who rappelled onto the largest ship, the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, murdering at least 9 civilians and wounding about 60 more, about 650 other Israeli troops, including surveillance and support troops alongside those who actually boarded the ships, took part in the illegal assault on the flotilla.

The Mavi Marmara carried 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid on board including 6,000 tons of cement, more than 2,000 tons of iron, 100 prefabricated houses, 500 wheelchairs, crutches, medical equipment, wood and glass for building, electric generators, water purifiers, a mobile dental care facility, and food and had even been confirmed not to be transporting any weaponry by authorities before its departure.

Another aid ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, carrying 550 tons of cement, 20 tons of paper for printing school books, 25 tons of school supplies, 12 tons of sports equipment and 150 tons of medical supplies, was also illegallyseized by the Israeli Navy a few days later.

On June 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an “easing” of the four-year-long Gaza siege, declaring, “Today, after we lifted the civilian blockade of Gaza there is no reason or justification for further flotillas.”

Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz reports that “The highlight of the new policy is to be the creation and distribution of a detailed ‘black list’ of goods that will not be permitted into the Gaza Strip,” continuing that, now, “Only weapons or ‘dual-use’ materials that could be used to manufacture weapons will be on the list. Any item not on the list will be permitted into Gaza.”

As a result of this new policy, items such as car parts, agricultural and fishing tools, cosmetics, perfumes, soda, juice, jam, spices, shaving cream, potato chips, cookies and candy are now being imported into Gaza.

Nevertheless, the siege has not ended. Even though coriander, chocolate, and Coca-Cola are now allowed through Israel’s military checkpoints, goods such as cement, steel, iron, fertilizers, gas tanks, drilling equipment and water disinfectant are still prohibited. In fact, The Los Angeles Times reveals that “the new list of banned and restricted items, which fills several hundred pages, still includes goods and supplies vital to Gaza’s economic recovery.”

Consequently, Karin Laub of Associated Press reports that “because Israel will continue to ban most travel and exports and restrict the import of desperately needed construction materials, the new rules are unlikely to restore the territory’s devastated economy or allow rebuilding of all that was destroyed in last year’s war [sic].”

In short, Israel’s ongoing crime against humanity in Gaza continues. As long as Israel maintains its military control of Gaza’s economy, land and sea borders, airspace, restricts (or outright denies) the freedom of movement of its 1.5 million imprisoned inhabitants, and continues murdering Palestinians with Apache helicopters, F-15 and F-16 bombers, unmanned drones and remote-controlled machine guns, Gaza will not be free.

If the negative international attention Israel received after the Mavi Marmara massacre led to the so-called “easing“ of the Gaza siege, there’s no telling what a constant barrage of boats might do. Therefore, until this collective punishment of innocent civilians ceases completely and Israel is held accountable for its crimes, more boats must continue to sail to Gaza. Among those boats should be a massive American contingent, funded by bold and steadfast believers in self-determination, human rights, and international law. We have paid for the Israeli oppression of Palestine for so long with our tax dollars, it’s now time to fight for Palestinian freedom with our tax-exempt donations.

And so, to all you stars of summer blockbusters and sold-out stadiums, start giving generously so that a fleet of blockade-busting boats can start their engines.

The author describes himself as, Staunch humanist. Opinionated egoist. Skeptical solipsist. Frustrated optimist. Hobbesian idealist.

To DONATE to US to Gaza, click below:

http://www.wideasleepinamerica.com/

RCMP look for person of interest in search

EDMONTON - The RCMP says it is looking for a "person of interest" in its investigation of the disappearance 13 days ago of an Alberta couple.

Police say they are looking for Travis Edward Vader, 38, who may be armed and is considered dangerous.

"Vader has multiple outstanding warrants on unrelated matters to this and he has been known to be in possession of firearms. He has a history of drug abuse," Assistant Commissioner Peter Hourihan said Friday at a new conference.

"The RCMP is cautioning the public and everyone out there to not approach him, as he could pose a threat to your security."

Hourihan said anyone with information about Vader, who is of no fixed address and is six feet, two inches tall and weighs 220 pounds, should contact police or call Crimestoppers.

Hourihan acknowledged Mounties have made mistakes in their search for Lyle and Marie McCann, and added that one officer has been reassigned. Lyle McCann is 78 years-old and Marie is 77.

Critics say Mounties botched the probe when the couple's burned-up motorhome was found on July 5 and then failed to deal properly with tipsters in Prince George, B.C., who say they saw the couple's missing Hyundai SUV.

The McCanns were last seen filling their motorhome with gas near Edmonton on July 3 while on their way to visit family in B.C.

Nailed, Miliband and six lies on torture

All five candidates for the Labour Party leadership have been scuttling to distance themselves from the record of Gordon Brown in power.

But the odds-on favourite to win the leadership contest, former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, is finding it very hard indeed to disentangle himself from the most sordid and shameful aspect of New Labour rule - British involvement in the torture of numerous terror suspects overseas.

Today, a special Mail investigation can reveal the depths of Miliband's embroilment in the torture scandal - and shows that Labour's latest golden boy is in complete denial about New Labour's record in sanctioning and then covering up British involvement in torture over the past decade.

Indeed, I can reveal that David Miliband uttered no fewer than six massive lies when grilled in an interview with BBC inquisitor Andrew Neil on the subject of torture for the first time since stepping down from office.

The six lies came in the course of a nine-minute interview - that's a phenomenal strike rate of one lie every 90 seconds.

Though outwardly confident and relaxed, Miliband told a series of falsehoods that cast a giant shadow over his personal integrity, and even his fitness to succeed Gordon Brown as Labour leader.

Lie number 1: The first lie was quickly produced when Neil asked whether Miliband believed there was 'any evidence' that British intelligence officials had been complicit in the use of torture on terror suspects when New Labour was in power.

Back came the insouciant reply: an emphatic 'no'.

Yet Miliband's response is bewildering. It suggests that he is completely unaware of the mountain of very troubling testimony which has emerged in recent years suggesting that Britain was 'complicit' in torture (i.e. that we received information from foreign intelligence services, even though we had grounds for suspecting it was supplied under duress: nobody suggests that British agents themselves took part in torture).

The grim truth is that there have been at least 15 cases of British nationals or residents who have claimed over the past two years to have been tortured with the complicity, knowledge and sometimes even in the presence of British intelligence officers.

The combined circumstantial evidence of our complicity with torture is nothing short of overwhelming. It is also a matter of national shame.

Some of the evidence has been provided by groups such as the humanitarian organisation Human Rights watch. Some has emerged in court testimony.

Two parliamentary watchdogs, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights, regard it as troubling and serious.

But not, apparently, our former Foreign Secretary.

Lie number 2: This came when Andrew Neil asked whether Britain has, at any stage, provided questions to be put by foreign intelligence agents to those who were being tortured. Miliband replied: 'we don't have evidence of that.'

Unfortunately for Miliband, there is once again abundant evidence.

Indeed, he himself as Foreign Secretary was obliged to submit documents to court which showed beyond doubt that British intelligence was involved in questioning terror suspects.

This was during the hearing concerning the terror suspect Binyam Mohamed, since cleared on all charges. Miliband was obliged to confess that we were submitting questions for Binyam to answer even when he was being held (and cruelly abused) by the U.S. in a Pakistani prison.

Lie number 3: Miliband's third lie also concerns the Binyam Mohamed case. He told Andrew Neil that not one of the allegations of torture which have so far been taken to court in Britain involved torture carried out by the Americans.

In fact, the courts have indeed found that the U.S. authorities subjected Binyam to 'cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment'.

By this stage of the TV interview, the lies and mis-statements were coming thick and fast.

Lie number 4: The fourth lie came when David Miliband absurdly told Neil that he had not tried to prevent public disclosure of court evidence in the Binyam Mohamed case.

In fact, as Binyam's lawyer Clive Stafford Smith told me last night, Miliband 'fought us tooth and nail' to prevent vital documents being brought into the public domain.

Miliband used every legal ruse - and spent some £213,000 in legal fees - in a battle to keep vital evidence secret from the public.

Lie number 5: This concerns David Miliband's troubled dealings with one of Britain's most senior judges, Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger.

Last year, in an utterly devastating judgment, Lord Neuberger stated that there were grounds for 'distrusting' legal statements made by Miliband based on advice from MI5 personnel about British involvement in torture.

And yet when this was put to him by Andrew Neil, Miliband offered a bland and unruffled denial that such a thing had ever occurred. It is inconceivable that Miliband could have forgotten such a shattering verdict.

Lie number 6: Miliband's final lie came when Neil asked him why, as Foreign Secretary, he did not institute an inquiry to get to the bottom of the mass of evidence that Britain has been complicit in torture.

In response, Miliband claimed that he took 'extensive measures inside the system' to get at the truth.

Yet he once again denied that he had 'fought against an inquiry' - notwithstanding the fact that he faced down a barrage of pressure from newspapers like the Mail, human rights organisations and political parties (such as the Conservatives) for one to be held.

There can be only two explanations for Miliband's set of wildly inaccurate, partial and misleading answers. One is that he is exceptionally stupid and genuinely does not know what he is talking about.

But this does not stand up. David Miliband is a well- trained and competent man who has held high office and aspires to be Prime Minister.

As Foreign Secretary, he was obliged to deal almost daily with allegations about British complicity with torture. He knew the subject matter backwards.

So the only realistic conclusion is that Miliband was knowingly deceiving TV viewers. In other words, he was lying.

How he expected to get away with such a monumental deceit, however, is another matter. The best guess is that Miliband is in denial.

He simply cannot accept that a New Labour government was responsible for what looks like a retreat into barbarism.

To be fair to Miliband, the worst of the abuses would appear to have ended by the time he became Foreign Secretary in the summer of 2007. He was not personally responsible for the abuses - only the subsequent lying and cover-up.

So why didn't Miliband do the decent and sensible thing and order his officials to come clean?

One answer may be a well-meaning, though morally damnable, desire to stick up for the intelligence agencies who mistakenly believed they were serving their country while tolerating the physical abuse of terror suspects.

Another possible answer is that Miliband was simply being loyal to Tony Blair, his political mentor and friend.

For almost every day we are learning new facts about how, under Blair, Britain turned her back on human decency when it came to torture and human rights.

Is Miliband about to throw away his reputation and perhaps his entire career in defence of Tony Blair?

Is Communism the New Capitalism? Six Fortune 500 Companies Move HQ to China

The boat is leaving for China. Disney, Kraft Foods, and four more Fortune 500 companies are on board to move their Headquarters to Shanghai.

The mass exodus of American companies which will surely take thousands of jobs with them, is now commencing with mind-twisting irony. Apparently, America is no longer capitalistic enough to invest in, even for U.S-based companies.

The globalists love to quote free-market capitalistic principles, except when it comes to small things like competition and having your headquarters in a Communist quasi-enemy nation. A CNTV press release and accompanying video gloated:

24 multinational companies, have decided to move their regional headquarters to Shanghai, including 6 Fortune 500 companies such as Vale, Walt Disney and Kraft Foods.

This will push the total number of companies with regional headquarters in Shanghai to nearly 300. Nearly 500 have regional research and development centers there.

Shanghai has been China's top destination, for multinationals. Even during the world economic slump, the city's foreign direct investment still increased. Data shows Shanghai's foreign direct investment has already surpassed more than 5 billion US dollars in the first half of this year.

Presumably, for a truly global economy to transpire, all nations must play on a level playing field. Which would stand to reason that the same standard of living will eventually equalize around the globe. In other words, the U.S. way of life would have to be dramatically reduced to be on the same plane as China’s, India’s, or Central America’s under the globalist agenda.

Granted, the level of India and China is being raised slightly from dirt floors to cell phones and televisions in a single generation. So, no matter how bad things may get in the coming Greatest Depression by design, we can always hope to still have finished flooring and a telescreen, right? Stay Tuned!

Link .... http://tinyurl.com/2cwhszl

BP Has Stopped the Oil From Flowing ... But Is It Only Temporary?

BP has succeeded in capping the well and stopping oil from flowing into the Gulf of Mexico ... at least temporarily.

The official Deepwater Horizon Response Twitter feed noted as of a couple of minutes ago:

Update: NO OIL FLOWING INTO THE GULF

This can be confirmed by looking at the underwater video cams.

As of this writing, Skandi ROV 2's cam is showing the cap (no oil), and Skandi ROV 1's cam is showing sonar of the seafloor:

BP live feed from Skandi ROV 1

BP live feed from Skandi ROV 2

However, numerous industry experts have warned that there is no upside to temporarily capping the well as part of the well integrity test, and that it might actually cause the well to blow out.

Indeed, Don Van Nieuwenhuise - director of geosciences programs at the University of Houston - told CNN today:

We don’t know if there ae significant leaks deep in the well.

There’s a couple of weak points at 9,000 feet, and one at 17,000 feet, that they might be particularly interested in looking and watching in the seismic.

[With seismic testing, you can look beneath the seafloor. Sonar only tests at the seafloor itself].

Admiral Thad Allen previously said that the test will be considered a success if pressure in the well stays at 8,000 psi or higher for 48 hours. So we won't know for a couple of days whether the test has succeeded.

As AP correctly notes:

Now begins a waiting period to see if the cap can hold the oil without blowing a new leak in the well. Engineers will monitor pressure readings incrementally for up to 48 hours before reopening the cap while they decide what to do.

Interestingly, as CNN's Situation Room noted a couple of minutes ago, the cap might soon be re-opened, and closed again only during hurricanes:

Admiral Thad Allen releasing a statement to us just a short while ago…

He cautions “This isn’t over”…

Very interesting here. He talks about the cap as a temporary measure to be used for hurricanes…

“It remains likely that we will return to the containment process… until the relief well is completed”

So it looks like the plan is to go back to releasing the oil and letting it pump up to the surface.

So is the well integrity test a meaningless PR stunt, which is delaying completion of the relief wells, and failing to bring us any closer to permanently killing the oil gusher?

Or is it a valuable tool to see if the well can be protected from further damage during a hurricane?

Only time will tell ...

3-D Hawaii

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