After the shooting of an unarmed man by London’s Metropolitan Police force, in Tottenham, the community organized a peaceful protest, which through a series of events that remains difficult to trace, turned into clashes between police and youths. A rash of riots have now spread across greater London, with arson attacks, looting, and violent clashes between masked youth and armored police.

Prime Minister David Cameron has, after three nights of the worst violence in London since World War II, returned from his family vacation in Tuscany to deal with the crisis. The prime minister, the deputy prime minister, the chancellor of the Exchequer and the Home secretary, were all out of the country, as the violence erupted. Cameron has now called Parliament into special session for hearings on the violence.

More than 500 people have been arrested, and buildings across London have been burned, including furniture company run by the same family for five generations, and a warehouse holding major inventory for independent record labels. Several independent labels may have seen their entire UK inventory destroyed in the fire.

The violence has now spread not only across London, but to other major cities across England, including Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol. In some areas, curfews have been imposed, and cities are mobilizing large numbers of police to secure the streets. Fires have been set, buildings burned to the ground, and there are videos splashed across the Internet showing rioters attacking police lines.

In London, the effort to clean up the damage, after three nights of looting and arson, have brought people together. The hashtags #prayforlondon and #riotcleanup have been top trends on Twitter today, and residents are posting photos that show the solidarity of citizens joining together to counter the violence and erase the scars of the rioting.

Police are now being deployed en masse, with Prime Minister Cameron promising massive numbers of arrests. As many as 16,000 police will be deployed to “flood” the streets of London, in order to prevent a fourth night of arson and looting. On Monday night, police in London used armored vehicles and anti-riot squads to disrupt the violence and clear the streets.

According to the Guardian:

Senior officers say the violence and looting on Monday night was the worst in living memory; eclipsing the 1980s inner city riots in Toxteth, Brixton and Tottenham at the height of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.

Armoured vehicles – known as Jankels – were brought in during the early hours of Tuesday morning in Clapham Junction where much of the worst looting and arson took place. The vehicles were driven on to Lavender Hill to push back a crowd of 150 looters who had smashed up Debenhams and other stores and businesses in the area. Jankels were also out in Hackney.

That the riots are occurring now, under the most extreme austerity measures imposed on public services since the Thatcher premiership, has raised criticisms of the Cameron government, suggesting that his policies have been socially unfair, politically biased and economically ill-conceived. Critics are now expressing concern that the UK is undergoing the beginning phases of the “austerity riots” that are threatening to bring down the Greek economy and government.

In Athens, the rioting has been only one element of the response to austerity measures. The protest movement of the “indignants”—similar to the encampments in cities across Spain—is staging massive, persistent, peaceful demonstrations, and urging the ouster of the government, in favor of a new administration focused on healing economic inequities and fostering generalized prosperity.

According to the Montreal Gazette:

Politicians, including Lammy, have been quick to blame the riots and looting on Saturday night and “copycat” outbreaks of violence elsewhere in London on Sunday and Monday on small groups of criminals.

But locals and commentators warn that high levels of long-term and youth unemployment and cuts in services like youth centres in places like Haringey – the borough where Tottenham sits – are creating a tinder box for unrest.

There are concerns that the dysfunctional and obsessive focus of the American political system on austerity may lead to street violence there as well, and some say recent violent assaults by large “flash mobs” in central Philadelphia are the early example. A report from the credit rating agency Moody’s warns that austerity measures in the US could undermine “social cohesion” and lead to outbreaks of violence. The Telegraph reports:

Zimbabwe’s 5-term president Robert Mugabe, who has governed since liberation from the British nearly 3 decades ago, looks poised to serve a 6th term after holding a “presidential runoff election”, in which his opponent was forced to withdraw due to allegations of constant violence and intimidation from ruling-party supporters and paramilitaries. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had asked his supporters to vote for Mugabe if they felt their safety would otherwise be in jeopardy.

In recent days, reports of severe beatings of anyone suspected of supporting the opposition spread around the world. The New York Times published a front-page photo of an infant racked with tears whose legs had allegedly been shattered by pro-Mugabe paramilitaries hunting for his father, accused of not supporting the ruling party. Anecdotal reports of forced “indoctrination camps” near the capital Harare also reached international radio broadcasts.

US pres. George W. Bush has now called Mugabe’s government “illegitimate” and said the one-party election was a “sham”, demanding severe sanctions, an arms embargo, and a travel ban for regime officials. Pres. Bush said he had directed the secretaries of the departments of State and Treasury to develop a program of economic sanctions that would target Mugabe’s entire regime “and those who support it”.

South African pres. Thabo Mbeki, successor to Nelson Mandela as head of the ANC, had lent Mugabe strong support in the diplomatic arena since the economic crisis erupted in Zimbabwe in 2000. Observers view Mbeki’s position as a sign of his feeling that if Mugabe fell, it could mean a domino effect for other liberation movements across Africa, but he is under increasing pressure to abandon the embattled leader of Zanu-PF.

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Nelson Mandela himself attributed the current political crisis in Zimbabwe to a “tragic failure of leadership” on the part of Mugabe. And now Mbeki’s brother, Moeletsi Mbeki, has said he believes Mugabe should resign, that not only is his leadership compromised, but that Tsvangirai in fact won the first round of voting and should take over as president.

According to SW Radio Africa (London):

Legal opinion in South Africa says by not holding the run-off election 21 days after the first round of elections, Mugabe is no longer the legal President of Zimbabwe and Morgan Tsvangirai should be sworn in as head of state, as he had the most vote in the March 29th poll.

While Mbeki has remained silent on Mugabe’s legitimacy, and pushed for talks as a means of brokering a path toward national unity or some sort of negotiated solution, and SADC (the Southern Africa Development Community) looks unlikely to pressure Mugabe to resign, other regional leaders have voiced serious concern. According to The Times, of London:

What has weakened Mbeki and threatened Mugabe the most, however, is the sharply different line being taken by the new ANC president, Jacob Zuma, and his Communist allies, who are livid over Mugabe’s treatment of Tsvangirai, a fellow trade unionist.

Zuma’s ANC last week spoke forthrightly of “compelling evidence of violence, intimidation and outright terror” by Mugabe. The likelihood that Zuma will become South Africa’s president next April is already casting a long shadow.

The Zimbabwe crisis is now spilling over into regional politics and threatens to intensify as calls mount for UN action against Mugabe. Several nations, including Italy have threatened to recall their ambassadors to Zimbabwe, a warning to Mugabe that they now consider his continuation in office illegitimate. But the defiant leader continues to attempt to fashion public opinion inside and outside Zimbabwe, arresting foreign journalists on charges of not carrying the proper accreditation, presumably in an attempt to call into question the nature of reports about the mounting political violence.

An Angolan official, Jose Marcos Barrica, speaking for a team of observers representing SADC, announced on Zimbabwean state television that Pres. Mugabe is now willing to hold talks on Zimbabwe’s future political course, presumably after being sworn in for his 6th term. SADC member states had warned Mugabe to postpone the balloting due to the unsafe climate for voters and the opposition boycott, but Marcos Barrica’s comments suggest SADC now views post-election negotiations as the most responsible way to find a solution.

It is estimated that 86 people were killed in recent attacks and some 200,000 forced to flee their homes for fear of reprisals for their political views. Thokozani Khupe, VP of the opposition MDC, told reproters in Sharm el-Sheikh, “Zimbabwe at the present moment is burning. It is on fire. What the African Union and the African leaders must do is save Zimbabwe before it is burnt beyond recognition”. African Union foreign ministers are gathering there ahead of this week’s AU summit.

Khupe said the MDC is requesting the African Union send a special envoy to assist Thabo Mbeki in his mediation of the Zimbabwe crisis, on behalf of the SADC states. While military intervention is improbable, calls for more aggressive diplomatic action are mounting, and non-African states may put a resolution before the UN Security Council. AU representatives have hinted at the preferred course being a power-sharing deal between Zanu-PF and MDC, leading eventually to a free and fair election for the next term.

The Zimbabwe opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai, has been meeting with African leaders in an effort to shore up support against the regime of Robert Mugabe, which preliminary vote counts suggest may have lost the recent election, both for parliament and the presidency. Mugabe’s suppoerters have been fighting to keep down opposition support, while Mugabe has refused to allow vote counts to be made public.

The electoral standoff is creating worries of a deepening crisis, expanding on the economic chaos brought on by the Mugabe regime’s policies, which have led to inflation in excess of 100,000%. The Times of London reports:

Levy Mwanawasa, the Zambian President, will host an urgent meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) tomorrow to formulate a regional approach to the worsening situation.

After a meeting with the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, a spokesman for Tsvangirai said he had Mbeki’s assurance the opposition leader would be included in the regional summit, and that his apparent victory in the parliamentary and presidential elections would qualify him as “head of state”. The statement has not been made by Mbeki himself, but the message will clearly put heavy pressure on Mr. Mugabe to recognize and publish the legitimate count of votes.
Disturbing news of regime supporters using violence and state power to intimidate the opposition, continue to emerge:

Unwilling to allow Mr Mugabe to slope off into retirement, those supporting him – including the military – have taken the reigns, unleashing an orchestrated campaign of terror against opposition activists, election observes an ordinary voters in an attempt to secure Mr Mugabe victory in a second-round poll.

White-owned farms were the first targets of the violence that insiders say is being co-ordinated by 200 handpicked military and intelligence officers loyal to the President.

The MDC says the arrest is part of an orchestrated campaign to beat the opposition into submission and stave off pressures from the international community. Reports suggest the Mugabe regime hopes to suppress the release of vote totals, contest a runoff vote, and outlast calls for a peaceful transition of leadership.

Police have also arrested Mr Tsvangirai’s lawyer. Innocent Chagonda, who successfully defended Mr Tsvangirai from treason charges in 2004, was seized on charges related to a helicopter hired for the MDC.

9 April :: Reuters reporting: “The self-described mastermind of the September 11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon [Khalid Sheikh Mohammed] has been assigned a U.S. military lawyer to defend him in the Guantanamo war court, where he could face execution if convicted, The Miami Herald reported”… Famed Harry’s Bar, owned by Cipriani family, in Venice, offers 20% discount to Americans hit by plummeting dollar exchange; bar made famous by Ernest Hemingway, sees significant portion of business from American travelers… Bush admin. urging lenders to erase portion of homeowner debts to avoid swell in foreclosures; borrowers will be permitted to pay off lower total amount, lenders to secure money lost in revaluation by “other arrangements”… Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama now within 6 percentage points of Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, according to latest Quinnipiac University poll; Clinton supporters have said she must win PA handily to stay in race… Protesters gather in San Francisco as Olympic torch set to pass through, IOC says no detour for torch relay; protests in Paris, London marred by aggressive protests, heavy police presence… Fmr. VP Al Gore becomes “green” political commodity for Dem candidates: both Obama, Clinton regularly phone Gore, consult on ecological issues; Gore has yet to endorse either candidate, will cast a “super-delegate” vote at DNC…

Jonathan G. Dorn, EPI :: At its current growth rate, global installed wind power capacity will top 100,000 megawatts in March 2008. In 2007, wind power capacity increased by a record-breaking 20,000 megawatts, bringing the world total to 94,100 megawatts—enough to satisfy the residential electricity needs of 150 million people. Driven by concerns regarding climate change and energy security, one in every three countries now generates a portion of its electricity from wind, with 13 countries each exceeding 1,000 megawatts of installed wind electricity-generating capacity.

In Europe, the 8,660 megawatts of wind power capacity added in 2007 accounted for 40 percent of all new power installations. This marks the first year in history that wind power additions in Europe exceeded the additions of any other power source, including natural gas. Europe’s installed capacity currently totals 57,100 megawatts, and its new installations in 2007 accounted for 43 percent of total global installations. Wind-generated electricity now meets nearly 4 percent of Europe’s electricity demand, enough to supply electricity to 90 million residents.

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Germany is still the frontrunner in total installed wind power capacity, with 22,200 megawatts, but in 2007 it lagged the United States, Spain, China, and India in terms of new capacity added. (See data.) Growth in Germany is slowing because of a saturation of suitable onshore sites and a decrease in the feed-in tariff for wind power. Countrywide, Germany generates more than 7 percent of its electricity from the wind. In the northern states of Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Schleswig-Holstein, wind meets an impressive 30 percent of electricity needs.

Spain proved to be the shocker in the European market in 2007, installing 3,520 megawatts—the highest number ever in Europe in a single year. Spain now ranks third in total installed wind capacity with 15,100 megawatts. And with wind energy supplying 10 percent of the country’s electricity, Spain is second only to Denmark in terms of percentage of electricity generated this way.

France also demonstrated impressive gains in 2007, increasing its total installed wind capacity by 57 percent to 2,450 megawatts. The French government’s goal is to increase installed wind capacity to 25,000 megawatts by 2020.

For the third consecutive year, the United States led the world in new installations, with its 5,240 megawatts accounting for one-quarter of global installations in 2007. Installations in the fourth quarter of 2007 alone exceeded the figure for all of 2006, and the United States is on track to overtake Germany as the leader in installed wind power by the end of 2009. Wind farms are now found in 34 states and total 16,800 megawatts. The electrical output from these farms is equivalent to that from 16 coal-fired power plants and is enough to power 4.5 million U.S. homes. The recent exceptional growth in the United States is largely due to an extension of the wind production tax credit under the 2005 Energy Policy Act.

After passing California to become the leader in installed U.S. wind power capacity in 2006, Texas maintained its lead in 2007 by expanding its total capacity to 4,360 megawatts. Minnesota, Iowa, and Washington round out the top five leading states. Texas is now planning the development of 23,000 megawatts of wind power capacity, enough to satisfy over half the residential electricity demand in the state. Southern California Edison is planning a 4,500-megawatt wind project, and a task force established by Maine’s governor, John Baldacci, is recommending the development of 3,000 megawatts. At the national level, wind farm proposals exceed an astounding 100,000 megawatts, roughly six times the current installed capacity.

India installed 1,730 megawatts of new wind power capacity in 2007. With total installed capacity reaching 8,000 megawatts, India retained its fourth place on the list of top wind power countries. But due to the lack of a national renewable energy law that establishes cohesive goals and provides economic incentives for Indian wind energy projects, China will likely overtake India in total installed wind power capacity in late 2008 or early 2009.

China installed 3,450 megawatts of wind capacity in 2007, a 156-percent increase over 2006. With 6,050 megawatts of total installed capacity at the end of 2007, China has already exceeded its recent 2010 goal of 5,000 megawatts. The more than 40 Chinese turbine manufacturers now operating supply 56 percent of the Chinese market, up from 41 percent in 2006. The Renewable Energy Law (REL), which entered into force on January 1, 2006, is encouraging wind energy growth. The REL was established to help China meet its goal of generating 15 percent of the country’s energy from renewables by 2020. It mandates power producers to increase their ownership of non-hydro renewables to 3 percent by 2010 and 8 percent by 2020. While the government target for 2020 is 30,000 megawatts of wind power capacity, the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association projects that with a feed-in tariff and greater investment in offshore wind farms, wind power installations in China by then could exceed four times that target.

Offshore wind capacity accounts for almost 1,170 megawatts worldwide, roughly 1.2 percent of the 94,100 megawatts of installed capacity at the end of 2007; while this is a small share of the total, it is up from less than 0.3 percent in 2000. Denmark maintained its leadership position, with 426 megawatts of installed offshore wind power capacity, followed by the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Finland. In 2008, the United Kingdom is expected to overtake Denmark for the top spot and Germany is poised to move into the top five. With more than 1,200 megawatts presently under construction worldwide, primarily in Europe, offshore wind capacity is expected to more than double by the end of 2009.

U.K. Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform, John Hutton, is advocating 33,000 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2020, enough to meet the electrical needs of every home in Britain. Helping to achieve this goal will be the 1,000-megawatt London Array in the Thames Estuary, scheduled for completion in 2012. Airtricity, an Irish energy development firm, and ABB, a leader in building energy infrastructure, have proposed a 10,000-megawatt wind farm project in the North Sea. To help offset the high cost of offshore development, some countries such as Germany and Ireland have implemented feed-in tariffs. The Irish tariff guarantees producers a 15-year fixed price of 20¢ per kilowatt-hour for electricity generated from new offshore wind farms.

The cost of onshore wind power has decreased by more than 80 percent since the early 1980s to roughly 7¢ per kilowatt-hour at favorable wind sites. In some markets, wind is now competitive with conventional power generation. In most markets, however, due to subsidies for conventional energy sources, the growth of wind power still depends on economic incentives. For example, the dearth of wind power installations in the United States in 2002 and 2004, when the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind was allowed to lapse, underscores the importance of extending the PTC for wind that is set to expire at the end of 2008. (See data.) If the full cost of carbon emissions were incorporated into the price of natural gas and coal, onshore wind would become the cheapest electricity source.

With mounting concerns over global climate change and energy security, wind energy is rapidly taking center stage in the new energy economy. Unlike conventional energy sources, electricity generation from wind does not release greenhouse gases associated with global warming. Wind also offers long-term energy security, since it is inexhaustible, widely distributed, and free. If the present 27-percent annual growth rate of installed wind power capacity is maintained, total capacity in 2020 will hit 2 million megawatts. With aggressive economic incentives, it could reach 3 million megawatts by that date—which would be 30 times as much as is available today.

ADDITIONAL DATA

• World Cumulative Installed Wind Power Capacity and Net Annual Additions, 1980-2007 (figure and table)
• Cumulative Installed Wind Power Capacity by Selected Country and World, 1980-2007 (figure and table)
• Wind Power Capacity Additions in 2007, Top 10 Countries (table)
• U.S. Cumulative Installed Wind Power Capacity and Net Annual Additions, 1980-2007 (figures and table)
• U.S. Cumulative Installed Wind Power Capacity by State, 2007 (table)
• World Cumulative Installed Offshore Wind Power Capacity and Net Annual Additions, 1991-2007 (figure and table)
• Cumulative Installed Offshore Wind Power Capacity by Country, 2007 (table)
• 2006 Wind Energy Indicator
• 2002 Wind Energy Indicator

To return to the Index of Eco-Economy Indicators, click here.
For more information related to WIND ENERGY from Earth Policy Institute, click here.

Originally Published: March 4, 2008
(http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/Wind/2008.htm)
Reproduced here by Permission of Earth Policy Institute
Copyright © 2008 Earth Policy Institute

HUMAN BEINGS HAVE BECOME SO INFLUENTIAL IN NATURAL PROCESSES THAT SCIENTISTS NOW WORRY NATURE HAS LOST VITAL RESILIENCE MEASURES

TheHotSpring.com :: At a meeting of European scientists, in Stockholm, Sweden, the man who coined the term ‘anthropocene’ to describe the new geological epoch in which human influence dominates natural processes, announced that the term has gained acceptance in a growing number of fields. The real import of the term, and of its increasing relevance to what science is showing about the effects of human civilization on the environment, globally, is that ecological information is increasingly vital to implementing human ambitions in a responsible and sustainable way.

Paul J. Crutzen, of the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, wrote in the year 2000 that:

The name Holocene (“Recent Whole’) for the post-glacial geological epoch of the past ten to twelve thousand years seems to have been proposed for the first time by Sir Charles Lyell in 1833, and adopted by the International Geological Congress in Bologna in 1885 (1). During the Holocene mankind’s activities gradually grew into a significant geological, morphological force, as recognised early on by a number of scientists. Thus, G.P. Marsh already in 1864 published a book with the title ‘Man and Nature’, more recently reprinted as ‘The Earth as Modified by Human Action- (2). Stoppani in 1873 rated mankind’s activities as a ‘new telluric force which in power and universality may be compared to the greater forces of earth” [quoted from Clark (3)]. Stoppani already spoke of the anthropozoic era. Mankind has now inhabited or visited almost all places on Earth; he has even set foot on the moon.

The Financial Times, of London, is reporting “The EuroScience forum in Stockholm heard on Thursday that climate change was the most obvious of a complex range of man-made effects that is rapidly changing the physics, chemistry and biology of the planet.” Other effects will have a lot to do with crop resilience, soil fertility, elasticity of habitats vital for species on which our sustenance environment —the realm of ecosystems and resource production that feeds our species and its habits— depends.

The dawn of the Anthropocene epoch in geological history brings with it numerous challenges and opportunities. In terms of transitioning sweeping economic models and trends to sustainable methods, there is a vast opportunity to expand the potential output of the global economy, but meeting the challenges that create this opportunity will require massive amounts of ingenuity and investment.

A group of 21 leading scientists and researchers has published its study of the geological timescale topic in the GSA Journal, concluding that the fundamental shift to a human-altered geological environment occurred at the beginning of the 19th century. What is now occurring, however, is that awareness of the potentially severe impact of 200 years of rampant industrial expansion, resource exploitation, urban construction and terrain remodeling appears to have reached a tipping point, after which science cannot ignore the human element in the natural world, i.e. ecological impact.

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That study specifically notes that human activity has led to fundamental alterations in sediment layering, soil quality, geological patterning, the biological habitat and its flora and fauna, as well as the obvious impact on the breathable atmosphere. Specifically:

From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to the present day, global human population has climbed rapidly from under a billion to its current 6.5 billion (Fig. 1), and it continues to rise. The exploitation of coal, oil, and gas in particular has enabled planet-wide industrialization, construction, and mass transport, the ensuing changes encompassing a wide variety of phenomena, summarized as follows. [...]

Humans have caused a dramatic increase in erosion and the denudation of the continents, both directly, through agriculture and construction, and indirectly, by damming most major rivers, that now exceeds natural sediment production by an order of magnitude [...]

Carbon dioxide levels (379 ppm in 2005) are over a third higher than in pre-industrial times and at any time in the past 0.9 million years [...]

The projected temperature rise will certainly cause changes in habitat beyond environmental tolerance for many taxa (Thomas et al., 2004). The effects will be more severe than in past glacial-interglacial transitions because, with the anthropogenic fragmentation of natural ecosystems, ‘escape’ routes are fewer.

Resilience mechanisms are eroded, and the natural environment is less able to adapt suitably to changes within its sometimes competing ecosystems. The study also cites evidence of increasing levels of species extinction, and the growing likelihood of a major wave of mass extinction, directly related to human activity.

“Scientists are building computer models that give a view of the whole ‘earth system’ in the Anthropocene era. These are beginning to show the hot spots or Achilles’ heels in Earth’s defenses against catastrophic change, said John Schellnhuber, director of the Tyndall Center for Climate Change at the University of East Anglia”, also according to the Financial Times.

If we are to continue expanding our technological abilities, our industrial production, our standard of living, and the integration of human society across the planet (with the fuel demand and resource-stress this implies), then there will need to be a major change in the way in which policy-makers, private enterprise, consumers and markets generally, conceive of the human effect in the natural environment.

That change in consciousness will allow for a new approach to funding and producing major technological innovations that will make it far easier to gracefully slip away from reliance on carbon-based combustible fuels. That will, however, be only one thread in the fabric of advances needed to help human industrial civilization outpace its own capacity for mass resource depletion.

• Geological Society of America: “Are we now living in the Anthropocene”
• Financial Times / MSNBC: “Scientists warn of a new Anthropocene age”
• About.com Geology: “Introducing the Anthropocene”
• Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie: “Anthropocene” [article that coined the term]
• Resilience 2008: “Resilience, Adaptation & Transformation in Turbulent Times” [Conf., Stockholm 14-17 April]
• Albaeco, Sustainability School: “Masking Environmental Feedbacks”

4 February :: US pres. George W. Bush has presented the nation’s first federal budget exceeding $3 billion in spending; while giving generous expansions to defense spending, the budget seeks to cut $196 billion from healthcare spending, and projects near record budget deficits for at least two years; Bush claims that part of the 6% increase in spending is tied to the planned $145 billion economic stimulus package he’s working with Congress to implement… Fmr. colonial power, ally France stands aside as rebels attack Chad gov’t, though officially it says it supports the elected gov’t, UNSC approves unilateral action by France to protect Déby gov’t, condemns rebels; Sarkozy gov’t says it plans to ensure joint EU “humantarian protection force” for Darfur refugees in eastern Chad (EU’s largest ever common defense deployment) be implemented to protect aid routes… French pres. Sarkozy has lost support rapidly among electorate, his approval dropping 13 points in January alone, to 41%, as economic woes seem by many to go unattended; his wedding Saturday to singer Carla Bruni was unannounced, and did not even include the official presidential photographer… London establishes 610 sq mile low-emissions zone, within which violators who do not meet EU emissions standards for transport vehicles will be charged £200 per day to operate; Mayor Ken Livingstone is quoted as saying “In a modern world city, people should have the opportunity to live and work without fear of being poisoned by the air they breathe”, though the plan is projected only to eliminate 16% of air pollution by 2012… Millions assemble in cities around world in “global rally” against FARC rebels in Colombia, demanding peace, end to bloodshed; Bloomberg reports “Millions of Colombians dressed in white marched throughout the country and in major cities worldwide today to express outrage at 40 years of violence and kidnapping by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia”; over 100,000 people were reported to have registered their participation in the rally on the social networking site Facebook…

SIBEL EDMONDS TELLS SUNDAY TIMES INDIVIDUALS IN HIGH U.S. GOV’T POSITIONS TOOK MONEY IN EXCHANGE FOR NUCLEAR SECRETS

Sibel Edmonds was a translator at the FBI when she overheard, in taped wiretaps, conversations that involved US officials at high levels organizing and taking bribes in exchange for dealing nuclear secrets to the black market. The Sunday Times, a London-based Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper, has now broken the story, after years of Edmonds being turned away by the US press, due to an unprecedented “state secrets privilege” gag order. The world press is taking note, while US media outlets continue to keep quiet or not investigate.

The gag order stems not from American law, but from ancient British monarchical rule, in which the Crown is permitted to impose total secrecy under the severest penalties, essentially to protect the interest of those attempting to exercise absolute power. It was once upheld in a US court, during the McCarthy “red scare” era, when agents in the government believed it was needed to protect the nation against widespread infiltration by communist sleeper cells.

Its application to Sibel Edmonds, who was dismissed after revealing to her superiors the content of the wiretaps she was tasked to translate, may have been specifically designed to prevent a criminal investigation by the FBI into illegal nuclear proliferation and high-level corruption.

The ACLU has looked into the case of Edmonds’ dismissal and her work at the FBI. She was hired in 2001, just after the attacks of 11 September, and the ACLU concludes, “She was fired less than a year later in March 2002 for reporting shoddy work and security breaches to her supervisors that could have prevented those attacks.”

So far, the US media has been disinterested, and has overlooked what is likely the biggest corruption scandal in the history of US government, considering to whom the nuclear secrets may have gone, and obvious potential deadly consequences. As unlikely as the US media’s disinterest in the allegations is the fact that the US government has had the necessary evidence to investigate and to prosecute these crimes since 2001, and has not done so.

Without revealing the target of the wiretaps she was asked to translate, Edmonds told the Sunday Times that she overheard a top State Dept. official discussing an exchange of bribes for passing nuclear secrets to Turkish agents.

This taped conversation was reportedly not an isolated event, but was rather part of a broad network of payoffs, blackmail and black-market dealing that spread to various agencies and departments and helped nuclear technology proliferate to more than one state considered by the US an enemy, and potentially to al-Qaeda or linked groups.

The Sunday Times reported “Among the hours of covert tape recordings, she says she heard evidence that one well-known senior official in the US State Department was being paid by Turkish agents in Washington who were selling the information on to black market buyers, including Pakistan.” The paper went on to say “The name of the official – who has held a series of top government posts – is known to The Sunday Times. He strongly denies the claims.”

Several investigative bloggers —namely Brad Friedman and Luke Ryland— and now allege that the official not named in the Sunday Times piece may well be then number three at State, Marc Grossman, though the charge has not been officially confirmed by those involved in the now stalled investigation. The Sunday Times piece notes that the official in question has emphatically denied any involvement.

The recorded wiretaps in question also allegedly revealed US officials delivering to foreign agents, in exchange for bribes, the names of officials within sensitive US agencies who might be apt targets for blackmail, passing along even the information needed to corner and blackmail them in order to obtain information about the building of nuclear devices.

It is alleged that the ring of black marketeering involved the head of Pakistan’s ISI, its top intelligence service, and that nuclear secrets may have been sold to al-Qaeda. Again, the Sunday Times piece: “The Turks, she says, often acted as a conduit for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s spy agency, because they were less likely to attract suspicion. Venues such as the American Turkish Council in Washington were used to drop off the cash, which was picked up by the official.”

It has been alleged in the past that US intelligence officials uncovered evidence that the head of ISI had “sanctioned” a wire transfer of $100,000 to Mohammed Atta, one of the 19 men said to be suicide agents on the 9/11 flights, and possibly the attack’s organizer.

“Before [Edmonds] left the FBI in 2002 she heard evidence that pointed to money laundering, drug imports and attempts to acquire nuclear and conventional weapons technology”, according to the Sunday Times. She went on to say that “While the FBI was investigating, several arms of the government were shielding what was going on.”

It is not clear when the actual sale of nuclear information took place, if during the 1990s or in 2001, when the tapes were being recorded. But the Sunday Times reports confirming with at least one CIA source that Turkish agents did secure nuclear secrets from US government officials, and that this information was sold to other nations as well.

The reach of Pakistan scientist A.Q. Khan —who came to prominence in Pakistan when he stole nuclear secrets from a Dutch uranium plant, and was made head of Pakistan’s nuclear program by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, father of recently assassinated fmr. PM Benazir Bhutto and founder of her Pakistan People’s Party— seems to touch on the unfolding story, as his network has been shown to have provided nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

At the time that Sibel Edmonds translated the tapes in question, the FBI was investigating senior officials at the Pentagon as well, and was pressing for more information on how US officials might be selling nuclear secrets and spurring worldwide proliferation. To date, no official investigation has been carried out by the Justice Department or by Congress. [s]

• Sunday Times: “For Sale: West’s deadly nuclear secrets”
• Brad Friedman: “SIBEL EDMONDS SPEAKS TO UK SUNDAY TIMES: SAYS U.S. OFFICIALS INVOLVED IN RELEASE OF NUKE SECRETS TO TURKEY, PAKISTAN, IRAN, OTHERS, POSSIBLY EVEN AL-QAEDA”
• ACLU: “Sibel Edmonds: A Patriot Silenced, Unjustly Fired but Fighting Back to Help Keep America Safe”

KEY EVENTS:

• Foreign intelligence agents from Turkey, Israel and Pakistan enlisted the support of high-level US officials in order to acquire a network of moles deep inside of sensitive American military and nuclear agencies, including “PhD students – with security clearance [at] Los Alamos nuclear laboratory in New Mexico, which is responsible for the security of the US nuclear deterrent.”
• Members of the diplomatic community were given lists of potential “moles” at the sensitive installations. Edmonds tells the Times: “the lists contained all their ‘hooking points’, which could be financial or sexual pressure points, their exact job in the Pentagon and what stuff they had access to.”
• Well-known US officials were then bribed by foreign agents to steal US nuclear secrets. One such incident from 2000 involves an agent overheard on a wiretap discussing “nuclear information that had been stolen from an air force base in Alabama,” in which the agent allegedly is heard saying: “We have a package and we’re going to sell it for $250,000.”
• Nuclear secrets were then subsequently sold by foreign agents to America’s enemies, including Iran, North Korea and Libya.
• Elements of the US government have repeatedly shut down investigations into these crimes under the guise of protecting “certain diplomatic relations.”

As the crisis stemming from high-risk sub-prime mortgage lenders’ collapse in the US spreads, the real estate market beyond US borders is being hit by what observers are calling the ‘credit crunch’, taking for granted this will affect all international financial endeavors, such is the situation. The governor of the Bank of England has now warned that the United Kindom is facing what should be its tightest economic year in a decade, warning that the slowdown could last into 2009.

As such, it’s worth rehashing a story published by Sentido.tv in January 2006, on the coming crisis in housing markets, as a result of overpricing and over-exuberant speculation. The Economist magazine had in June 2005 published an article on the unprecedented bubble of the global housing boom. The boom in developed economies amounted to a value increase of 100% of combined GDP, a figure whose trajectory could not be maintained by existing wealth or regular economic growth.

Sentido’s reporting took into account “outlyer” values —cases where cost per property had literally gone of all charts— like the town house renting for £23,000 per week in Knightsbridge, the high-rent corner of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in central London. The mood was that expanding prices were so inherently good, they would somehow generate the wealth necessary to feed the boom.

The problem, obviously, is that this is not how economic growth occurs. Mystical presumptions do not a prolonged expansion make, and at some point the biggest boom markets, like Ireland, Spain and the UK, would have to reach a maximum of capital available, at which point, cost of use could not justify cost of purchase for most properties at then current —or feasible— growth rates.

The Sentido report reads as follows: According to [The Economist's reporting], property values in South Africa increased by 244% between the first quarters of 2004 and 2005. Ireland’s expanded by 192%, Britain by 154% and Spain by 145%. The piece also warned that like Germany, Japan and Hong Kong, some major markets were beginning to “fizzle out” and enter a period of likely decline.

The Economist proposed the possibility that the global economy, not just that of one nation or one region, had become too dependent on the untenable expansion of property values and profit from real estate sales. If the bubble were to burst, it could be the trigger event for the most severe and widespread economic downturn —potentially, a worldwide depression, in technical terms— yet seen in modern times and measured.

It’s a sticky problem, because preventing such an event means first of all identifying the aspects of any given real estate market which contribute to overvaluation and to growth beyond real market potential. Then, it means persuading those with most direct invovlement in that aspect of the market to act to reform their methods or their outlook, to reign in a new kind of “irrational exuberance”.

One worry is that as property values soar, many people will be forced to abandon neighborhoods they have largely built and maintained, possibly stripping the community fabric and undermining the inherent value of a given urban area. That flight would also mean average incomes reach too high a range, and basic services become less widely available and cost of living continues to escalate, further pushing community breakdown and/or flight.

A big part of the secret to the record boom in housing markets was lending practices, which were significantly liberalized to allow ‘new money’ —as if materializing out of nowhere— to flow into the home-buying markets, which in and of itself artificially inflates speculative earning potential for resale over the short term. The added value is ‘artificial’ because this new money depends heavily on the lending practices themselves, and represents theoretical wealth which may not actually be available to flow into those purchases.

Sentido pointed out in January 2006 that “The solution to the problem could be linked to lending; if banks are aware of the bubble risk, then they might take a more thoughtful approach to planning for lending for long-term buys, considering the sustainability of property values or the risks posed by increased volatility from excessive financing of ‘flipping’ schemes.”

They did not. The thinking that prevailed across financial markets tended toward the boom-time logic: there’s money to be made, and the way to make it is to invest in markets ripe for growth. That logic was not in itself inaccurate, but by the nature of the moment, it was applied to situations where the money to be made would stem in many cases from sales which could only occur with the help of risky mortgage schemes.

The lack of proper adjustment to lending policies and lack of assistance to borrowers overburdened by adjustable mortgage rates has led to the failure of many of those mortage accounts and the collapse of many smaller lending institutions. At present, economists predict this crisis is just the beginning of a serious credit shortfall, in which no less than 2.5 million American families may face losing their homes, further affecting equity valuations, lending practices and saleability of properties internationally.

Legislation is pending in the US to ban “predatory lending”, but the nature of such practices is that they are tied to the logic of the demand for low-interest loans, provided with highly adjustable rates whose incremental rise in cost is justified by the notion of further borrowing power (assuming property values continue a steep rise, even where many are tied to risky loans).

Among the side-effects of sub-prime mortgages is the resulting upward price pressure on markets that require sustainable cost-to-funding ratios to be fruitful. Homes are bought for living in, in most cases, and require a sustainable local economic picture to be used as intended.

As overextended buyers find themselves priced out of communities they’ve just moved into, other areas of economic measurement slow accordingly, undercutting the very loans that in theory were to help create new wealth. This is part of the ripple effect now slowing world markets already affected by disappearing credit.

4 November :: Pakistan pres. Gen. Pervez Musharraf declares martial law, suspends constitution, fires chief justice, raising ire of world leaders; opposition politicians, top lawyers, including Chief Jutice Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry’s personal lawyer, were detained in raids across the country… “U.S. officials are considering granting Guantánamo Bay detainees substantially greater rights as part of an effort to close the detention center and possibly move much of its population from Cuba to the United States, according to officials involved in the discussions”, according to the IHT… Google OpenSocial to create community of software developers across Internet, freeing up user information, embedded applications for use across array of social networks; project has won backing of MySpace, the largest social networking site in the world; move could be challenge to prevalence of closed networks like Facebook, which Google says threaten openness of online medium… Press reporting “shoo-in” for Mukasey, despite widespread opposition, after Feinstein cites answers that were “crisp and succinct, and demonstrated a strong, informed and independent mind”, Schumer says he is not “ideal”, but will “clean the stench of politicization” from Justice, is “far better than anyone could expect from this administration”; Pres. Bush meanwhile says no “responsible nominee” could meet the “new standard” of being compelled to qualify cruel treatment as torture and renounce its use, suggests he will use unconfirmed “acting” attorney general through rest of term if Mukasey is opposed by Senate… Man shot by London police in “botched” 2006 raid says he was later cornered in 2nd incident by armed police who threatened his life, used racial slurs; Guardian reports “Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, who was shot in the shoulder during a raid by police on his home in Forest Gate in 2006, says he and his brother Abul Koyair, 20, were stopped by armed police with one officer shouting ‘shoot him, shoot him’”, as allegations of abusive practices dog Met police chief, calls for resignation increase… Scientists at Harvard, MIT have genetically modified mice to release glowing proteins when neurons fire, proteins help map neural fabric as they spread along fibers; researchers aim to use process to trace brain activity, learn about structure of brain…

3 November :: Senate subcommittee approves America’s Climate Security Act, legislation aimed at capping greenhouse gas emissions, now to be voted by full Environment and Public Works committee; bill touted as milestone in US climate policy; Sen. Lieberman has said it is the “Manhattan Project” for climate change that activists have long called for, bill also supported by senators from coal-rich states… London police as a group have been found guilty in the shooting death of innocent Brazilian immigrant on London Tube in 2005; no individuals have been singled out, and punishment beyond fine has been imposed… Antiwar activist faces jury trial for raising hands in “peace sign” during Congressional hearing, in which secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified, was confronted by another activist… Mukasey nomination facing stiff opposition, even as two key Democrats express support; Pres. Bush has defended the retired judge, along with his refusal to qualify simulated drowning as a form of torture… CSM reports 13 majority-Sunni Muslim nations have declared their ambition to gain nuclear energy, just this year, likely as response to Shi’a-dominated Iran’s high-profile nuclear pursuits, which some fear are weapons program in disguise… Minuteman anti-immigrant group, which includes armed militia in border states, spreading to interior states amid lack of legislation to reform immigration process; critics call group dangerous vigilante operation, while Minutemen say they are only trying to ensure that less people “break the law” by entering without papers… Reuters reporting “A federal judge on Friday approved subpoenas for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley in the case of two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of disclosing national defense information”… Habitat for Humanity project in Los Angeles aims to build environmentally-friendly homes, as demand for low-emissions, fuel-efficient housing models on rise…

Sentido.tv :: In the wake of Mozambique’s long civil war, lasting from 1976 to 1992, a group of artists, sponsored by Christian aid, set up the Transforming Arms into Tools (TAE) project in the nation’s capital, Maputo. Sculptors use decomissioned weapons, and parts of weapons to make art, expressing the possibility of finding new ways to secure and advance civil society.

The TAE project encourages people to exchange weapons for useful tools, such as sewing machines, tools for farming and other items that can help sustain a productive, if modest lifestyle. The project is thoroughly humanitarian and aims to educate people, to remind them of the horrors of war, and to show that good will is more powerful than the technology of war.

The “Tree of Life” is one of the most inspired and spectacular results of the project. It was sculpted by Cristovao Canhavato (Kester), Hilario Nhatugueja, Fiel dos Santos and Adelino Serafim Maté, four artists from Mozambique. At 3.5 meters in height, the Tree of Life was installed at the British Museum in London, as part of its year-long feature Africa 2005.

The sculpture and some smaller pieces, which include fascinating renditions of regional African fauna, are touring different sites where they can deliver the message that in Mozambique culture has turned toward an enduring commitment to end armed conflict and build a society structured around creative expression and learning.

Mozambique’s long and arduous civil war, which began in 1976, in the wake of the collapse of Portugal’s dictatorship and the withdrawal of troops from resistant former colonies, lasted for over 16 years. An estimated 1 million people were killed, upwards of 1.7 million fled into neighboring countries, and several million more were internally displaced.

Graça Machel, wife of former South African president and Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela, is quoted as saying: “When you see this Tree, you don’t just see Mozambique, you see the face of Africa. You see in the sculpture all the conflicts which have gone on in the making of it, and that’s why it’s wonderful to see the great space the British Museum has given it…” [Complete Text]

4 September :: Greece political climate soured by nationwide fires; 67% of those polled believe fires started deliberately by arsonist conspiracy, 31% say foreign entities, while 26% suspect property developers; Christian Science Monitor reports "European Commission’s European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) estimates that 469,000 acres burned between Aug. 24 and 28 alone. The financial ministry now estimates the damage to be more than $1.6 billion, or 0.6 percent of Greece’s GDP", while the Greek gov’t is saying the fires appear to be part of an "asymmetric threat" plotted by unnamed conspirators; 6 people have been detained so far on arson-related charges; ecological experts, European officials say fires likely linked to extreme dry conditions, climate anomaly across southern Europe, poor land management tied to agricultural practices, and global warming… A strike by the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) has halted Underground trains across London; authorities said trains were running with severe delays or not at all on all lines except the Northern and Jubilee; RMT says failed maintenance-service managing firm Metronet has not provided unequivocal guarantees not to lay off workers or cut pensions in future; another strike is planned by RMT after the current three-day strike, if Metronet does not provide signed guarantees… One day after North Korea’s state-run news service reported it had been delisted by the US as a state sponsor of terrorism, in exchange for shutting down Yongbyon nuclear facility, US assistant sec. of State Chris Hill says no such thing has occurred, DPRK still listed as terror-backer, that other unnamed steps are required… La Vanguardia newspaper reports US security, biotech/health sectors seeing surge in investment, Washington, DC, locations, due to Iraq war, with gov’t spending soaring, industrial concentration increasing around the funding capital, the Congress, and a massive and growing economic gap between the wealthy interests that rim the city and the inner-city poor that make up a large part of Washington’s hometown population…

LONDON — In the summer of 2005, the Economist magazine led with a story entitled “After the Fall”. The article discussed in detail the problems inherent in what appears to be the most expansive boom real estate has seen since records began, and of all markets studied, only Germany, Japan and Hong Kong were not contributing to the inflation.

According to the report, property values in South Africa increased by 244% between the first quarters of 2004 and 2005. Ireland’s expanded by 192%, Britain by 154% and Spain by 145%. The piece also warned that like Germany, Japan and Hong Kong, some major markets were beginning to “fizzle out” and enter a period of likely decline.

The Economist proposed the possibility that the global economy, not just that of one nation or one region, had become too dependent on the untenable expansion of property values and profit from real estate sales. If the bubble were to burst, it could be the trigger event for the most severe and widespread economic downturn —potentially, a worldwide depression, in technical terms— yet seen in modern times and measured.

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It’s a sticky problem, because preventing such an event means first of all identifying the aspects of any given real estate market which contribute to overvaluation and to growth beyond real market potential. Then, it means persuading those with most direct invovlement in that aspect of the market to act to reform their methods or their outlook, to reign in a new kind of “irrational exuberance”.

One worry is that as property values soar, many people will be forced to abandon neighborhoods they have largely built and maintained, possibly stripping the community fabric and undermining the inherent value of a given urban area. That flight would also mean average incomes reach too high a range, and basic services become less widely available and cost of living continues to escalate, further pushing community breakdown and/or flight.

This in turn creates sprawl and can engulf major urban centers and their peripheral suburbs in a crisis of blight and declining value, which combine to threaten the viability of the property-value expansion in the wealthier or booming areas.

Some simply argue it’s a matter of economic cycles. One city becomes the “it” place to be, everyone hears about the “there” that’s there, and values shoot up, while another city falls into a kind of economic stagnation or decline. Many argue the cycles balance out, and overall economic growth is not threatened.

But what if the cycle is less the routine and more one of “boom and bust”, where the downside means ripple effects that make recovery more difficult? This real estate boom is global; it is happening in almost every major city, and in nations like the US, at most levels of the property ladder.

Skepticism about the boom’s sustainability comes from two main factors: 1) Eventually, there won’t be enough value in actual currency for buyers to sustain the overall value of the property market; 2) Cost of living is escalating so fast, in so many places, that more pressing concerns than upgrading one’s home or property holdings —like food, healthcare and fuel— will likely outpace the potential for continued growth in property pricing.

One of the mechanisms the Economist cited for driving the boom is speculation: traditionally, real estate is a long-term investment, either for personal use, rent, or resale over time, but new trends show that more and more, it is a commodity traded on the speculation that its value will keep rising.

“Flipping” is the term applied to transactions whereby a property buyer quickly resells the property at a profit, often a signficant profit and often before the property is even completed or used. According to the Economist, as many as half of all new buyers in Miami last year quickly resold their apartments in an effort to profit from flipping; this may have the effect of inflating values of properties at the moment they first become available to be inhabited, hinting at greater likelihood of pricing declines.

The Economist writes: “The most compelling evidence that home prices are over-valued in many countries is the diverging relationship between house prices and rents.” Naturally, if the property owner cannot recuperate enough cash by renting a property to fund its purchase, there would appear to be insufficient funds to maintain growth in property values. Incentives for buying or upgrading decline, and sales themselves do less to spur growth.

The solution to the problem could be linked to lending; if banks are aware of the bubble risk, then they might take a more thoughtful approach to planning for lending for long-term buys, considering the sustainability of property values or the risks posed by increased volatility from excessive financing of “flipping” schemes.

But, it’s clear enough that at some point, overall property values will have to stop growing so radically faster than the overall rate of economic growth, if the slowdown in pricing is to be more akin to a soft landing than a crash.

• The Economist: “In Come the Waves: the Global Housing Boom”