I haven’t written anything for quite some time on this blog. This is partially due to my preparing a migration to a (shared) hosted solution. This is now done, and I have started writing posts (in English) at http://en.zeropointfield.ch.

This blog, zeropointfield.wordpress.com, will not see any new posts, but I’ll leave the old posts in place and may or may not migrate them to the new site.

Best Regards

Parvaneh

Thanks for your comprehension.

San'a View of the City

If you’ve followed the story of the bombs sent in packages from Yemen to the United States, you can’t help but wonder about a few things.

David Cameron says according to the BBC:

Here’s an excerpt of the Al Jazeera piece, which is highly recommended reading:

Two-year-old Gavin Tillman of Pass Christian, Mississippi, has been diagnosed with severe upper respiratory, sinus, and viral infections. His temperature has reached more than 39 degrees since September 15, yet his sicknesses continue to worsen.

His parents, some doctors, and environmental consultants believe the child’s ailments are linked to exposure to chemicals spilt by BP during its Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

Gavin’s father, mother, and cousin, Shayleigh, are also facing serious health problems. Their symptoms are being experienced by many others living along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

Widely banned toxic dispersants

Injected with at least 4.9 million barrels of oil during the BP oil disaster of last summer, the Gulf has suffered the largest accidental marine oil spill in history. Compounding the problem, BP has admitted to using at least 1.9 million gallons of widely banned toxic dispersants (one that has been banned in the UK), which according to chemist Bob Naman, create an even more toxic substance when mixed with crude oil. And dispersed, weathered oil continues to flow ashore daily.

Naman, who works at the Analytical Chemical Testing Lab in Mobile, Alabama, has been carrying out studies to search for the chemical markers of the dispersants BP used to both sink and break up its oil.

According to Naman, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from this toxic mix are making people sick. PAHs contain compounds that have been identified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic.

Fisherman across the four states most heavily affected by the oil disaster – Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida – have reported seeing BP spray dispersants from aircraft and boats offshore.

“The dispersants are being added to the water and are causing chemical compounds to become water soluble, which is then given off into the air, so it is coming down as rain, in addition to being in the water and beaches of these areas of the Gulf,” Naman added.

“I’m scared of what I’m finding. These cyclic compounds intermingle with the Corexit [dispersants] and generate other cyclic compounds that aren’t good. Many have double bonds, and many are on the EPA’s danger list. This is an unprecedented environmental catastrophe.”

Commercial fisherman Donny Matsler also lives in Alabama.

“I was with my friend Albert, and we were both slammed with exposure,” Matsler explained of his experience on August 5, referring to toxic chemicals he inhaled that he believes are associated with BP’s dispersants. “We both saw the clumps of white bubbles on the surface that we know come from the dispersed oil.”

It looks like what has been widely feared and predicted – outside the mainstream media, that is – is now materialising, as Rawstory wrote back in September 2010:

A major potential long-term health concern left in the wake of BP’s catastrophic oil spill is the nearly two million gallons of dispersant sprayed over and pumped into the Gulf, scientists say. Much of it was injected into the sea beneath its surface, which made both the amount used, and its use, unprecedented.

In interviews, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and FDA officials repeatedly told Raw Story that dispersant “does not bioaccumulate” in seafood and therefore is not toxic to humans. The two dispersants used during the oil spill, Corexit 9527 and Corexit 9500, contain many ingredients “found in common household products.” And even though there is still no chemical test to detect dispersant in Gulf seafood – though officials said one is coming very soon – sensory tests are effective down to one part per million.

The article goes on to point out that the officials later on admitted that their optimism wasn’t founded on scientifically proven knowledge at all, but never mind, everything is okay. While the concern about the food chain have been around for some time, there seems to be a more direct threat. I’ll repeat part of the paragraph from the Al Jazeera article cited above:

“The dispersants are being added to the water and are causing chemical compounds to become water soluble, which is then given off into the air, so it is coming down as rain, in addition to being in the water and beaches of these areas of the Gulf,” Naman added.

“I’m scared of what I’m finding. These cyclic compounds intermingle with the Corexit [dispersants] and generate other cyclic compounds that aren’t good. Many have double bonds, and many are on the EPA’s danger list. This is an unprecedented environmental catastrophe.”

Oil slick map

So, the toxic stuff will be in the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. However, according to government, everything is okay. Nothing to see here, move on. I wonder if the prediction scientists made about the oil slick moving with the ocean currents also applies to this oil/water/dispersant mix?

Belarus Coat of Arms

The Belarussian parliament back in September had set the date for the presidential elections. As RIA Novosti communicated at the time:

The Parliament of Belarus on Tuesday set the presidential election in the country for December 19, 2010, reports RIA Novosti.

This decision was taken unanimously by parliamentarians.

Incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko had made it clear earlier that he would participate in the election, but this was not officially announced.

Now to participate in this election, potential candidates need to come up with at least 100’000 valid signatures supporting their candidature. Apparently, eleven candidates have achieved this, again as per RIA Novosti:

MINSK, 20 March, 2006 – The Belarusian presidential election on 19 March failed to meet OSCE commitments for democratic elections, despite the fact that voters were offered the potential for a genuine choice between four candidates.

Arbitrary use of state power and widespread detentions showed a disregard for the basic rights of freedom of assembly, association and expression, and raise doubts regarding the authorities’ willingness to tolerate political competition, concludes the OSCE Election Observation Mission in a statement issued today.

Over 500 international observers from 38 countries observed the voting and counting on behalf of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, PA.

“The Belarusian people deserve better. The courageous efforts of the opposition candidates to offer voters a genuine choice for president were obstructed by actions by state authorities,” said OSCE PA president Alcee Hastings, appointed by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office as the Special Co-ordinator for the short-term observers.

Well, let’s see how it goes this time. The Belarussian president, by the way has a 5 year term.

Message of the 33 - Source: Wikipedia

Apparently, the message with which the 33 miners in Chile signalled to the world that they are alive was written on a piece of paper and read “Estamos Bien En El Réfugio Los 33″ (The 33 are safe in the sanctuary) has been patented. Writes the Argentinian newspaper Los Andes:

The famous phrase “estamos bien en el refugio los 33″, written by one of the miners trapped in the mine San José as a signal of life 17 days after the collapse that trapped them, was entered into the registry of intellectual property of Chile to protect the author’s intellectual rights.

The little paper, written in block-letters with a red pen was exhibited these days by the President Sebastián Piñera, who since then has guarded it like an amulet.

The patent has been entered on the name of the miner who wrote the message, José Ojeda by Chilean writer and sociologist Pablo Huneeus who has done so on request of the former. “My motivation to register the phrase was to see that the president of the Republic not pocket the creation of a worker”, said Huneeus. He further thinks that the president needs to return the paper to the author, since right now he was utilising a stolen property. The president seems to have the view that this creation belongs to all Chileans.

It seems that text and its appearance are now patented. This means no commercialising on T-shirts, mugs, towels or the like without permission of the patent holder.

The discussions served as an opportunity to take stock of bilateral relations between the two countries, which have been enhanced in the
economic field following the entry into force in July 2009 of the free trade agreement between Canada and EFTA. The subjects of international
governance and new rules and standards for finance and trade were also raised. Canada currently chairs the G8 and in June hosted the G20 Summit
in Toronto. Both countries work closely with the International Organisation of La Francophonie; the visit took place on the eve of the
opening of its XIII summit at which Canada will hand over the chair to Switzerland. The partners also discussed regional issues and reform of
the United Nations.

The official discussions concluded with the signing of a protocol amending the double taxation agreement by Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf
Merz and Josée Verner, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, President of the Queen’s Privy Council and Minister for La Francophonie. The
amended agreement is expected to come into effect in 2012.

President Doris Leuthard and Prime Minister Stephen Harper also announced the conclusion of negotiations on updating and expanding the
1975 bilateral aviation agreement between Switzerland and Canada. The main effects of the revised agreement will be to liberalise tariffs and
introduce traffic rights for stopovers and destinations via the two countries. The amendments will benefit passengers, airports, airlines
and freight carriers, as well as general economic relations between Switzerland and Canada.

Details about the double taxation agreement can be found here, and the press release of the Canadian government is here.

The 23rd Sommet de la francophonie takes places from Friday, October 22 to Sunday, October 24 in Montreux, which is on lakefront of Lac Léman.

According to opensecrets.org there are 130 foreign enterprises who patronise PACs (Political Action Committees) through their branches located in the US and financing the numerous campaigns in the 2010 electoral cycle. Together they have donated more than 12,6 million dollars to political campaigns through numerous PAC.

Yes, maybe Cuba can finance some PACs too, or would that be considered illegal because Cuba is supposedly socialist and does not support the corporatist agenda like the multinational do? In principle, if the American Chamber of Commerce can with Bahraini money support its activities in the US elections, why can’t Cuba support a Socialist agenda by supporting an appropriate PAC? The corporation needed for that can swiftly be founded in Delaware – oh, wait: the sanctions!

The first cars were indeed shipped in September 2010 and it will be interesting to see the end-of-year balance sheet of the company.

The newest about the elusive Osama bin Laden, who like Emanuel Goldstein from Orwell’s 1984 is said to exist, but nobody has seen him for so time, is said to live comfortably in north-west Pakistan, close to al-Zawahiri and being protected by locals and some ISI members.

“Nobody in al-Qaeda is living in a cave,” the unnamed senior Nato official reportedly told the network [CNN].

Of course, said “senior Nato official” cannot be named lest the free world’s war on terror fall apart completely. However, we are told this one really, really does exist.

The Turkish intelligence services will be humbled to hear this, as they, not so long ago, claimed that Osama bin Laden had died December 13, 2007 of kidney failure not far from Tora Bora, where the vast bunker complex in the mountains failed to materialise as well.

So does this mean that Iran can wait and Pakistan will be invaded first? I am sure they will let us know in a timely manner, since the public needs to be brainwashed prepared for this news.