---

GAIA AND HOMOSAPIENS

***** The Richard Dimbleby Lecture by HRH Prince Charles, titled “Facing the Future”
St James’s Palace State Apartments, London, 7th July 2009 - An Exceptional In-Depth Holistic Call to Wake Up and Act Before It Is Too Late
- Video ^

***** Video - 43.39 min | A Changing World - The Nature of Things
As the Arctic meltdown continues at an ever accelerating pace, who will protect it?
CBC - December 3, 2009 - Sponsor's ad precedes film.
- FILM ^
Full screen button is located at right under active Disney ad.


Jordan Page Pendulum Music Video
- LINK ^

"Listen" By Jordan Page
- LINK ^

---

Note:The symbol ^ denotes that that article can be read in full at the link. Articles with text in iralics are from last issue.

Imaging Life in the former British Mandate of Palestine

International law is clear: Israeli settlements are illegal
Los Angeles Times - By Iain Scobbie - December 16, 2009
- LINK ^

Since its inception, Israel has never claimed legal title to all of the territory of the former British Mandate of Palestine. On the contrary, it has repeatedly denied such a claim in official statements and acts. On May 22, 1948, soon after Israel's declaration of independence, the country's representative to the U.N. Security Council stated that its territory was "the area outlined in the map appended to the resolution of 29 November 1947, as constituting the area assigned to the Jewish state" -- namely that area accorded to the nascent Israel by the U.N. Partition Plan contained in General Assembly Resolution 181. This did not include the West Bank.

The same view was consistently expressed by Israeli courts. In 1950, Israel's Supreme Court ruled, "The territory of the state of Israel does not coincide with all the territory under the former mandate." Israel thus refused to be seen as the successor state to the Palestinian mandate. Accordingly, it refused to accede to treaties that bound the mandate and refused to pay the public debt that Palestine owed to Britain. How then can there be a right of Israeli settlement in the West Bank, territory to which Israel itself has never made legal claim?

---

Imaging Life - Coping in Copenhagen

Copenhagen climate summit - China holds the world to ransom
Beijing accused of standing in the way of climate change treaty at Copenhagen as US throws down the gauntlet by backing $100bn fund to help poorest countries
The Independent - By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor, in Copenhagen - Friday, 18 December 2009
- LINK ^

China was under intense diplomatic pressure last night to abandon key demands which risk scuppering an international treaty on climate change in Copenhagen.

Today President Barack Obama is due to arrive in the Danish capital after Hillary Clinton electrified the faltering conference by announcing that America would back the setting-up of a climate fund for poor countries which would have $100bn to give away annually by 2020. But at the same time she issued a blunt challenge to China, which has now overtaken the US as the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change, to allow its promised emissions cuts to be internationally verified – something the Chinese have been stubbornly resisting.

U.S., China concessions give climate talks big boost
Los Angeles Times - By Jim Tankersley - December 17, 2009
<http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-an ... climate-talks18-2009dec18,0,5061335.story" target="new"> - LINK ^

The U.S. agrees to join allies in raising $100 billion a year by 2020 to help the poorest nations. In response, China signals it was open to limits on emissions and verification of reductions. Key concessions from the United States and China jolted climate negotiations in Copenhagen on Thursday, providing optimism a day before President Obama joins other world leaders seeking a new international agreement on controlling greenhouse gases.

But success hinged on two issues that have vexed diplomats throughout the two-week summit: an agreement between America and China on how to ensure fast-developing nations follow through with their pledges to limit emissions; and whether poor nations will accept smaller emission cuts than they would like from wealthy countries in exchange for hundreds of billions of dollars in financial assistance.

Negotiators made strides on both fronts Thursday after weeks of classic hardball bargaining that included public barbs and little budging.

Russia to Offer $200M to UN Climate Fund
The Moscow Times - By Irina Filatova - December 18, 2009
- LINK ^

Russia is ready to contribute $200 million to a multibillion-dollar fund to support poor nations, but it won’t sign a successor to the Kyoto Protocol to cut pollution unless other major carbon dioxide emitters also agree to cuts, Kremlin aide Arkady Dvorkovich said Thursday. President Dmitry Medvedev flew to Copenhagen to deliver a short speech Friday at the end of a chaotic two-week United Nations climate change summit, where negotiators were scrambling to write an intelligible draft to present to world leaders. Russia’s contribution to the summit is minimal, with the major problem being a deadlock between United States and China on carbon cuts. But Russia is also the world’s third-largest emitter, after the United States and China.

Editorial | Copenhagen - U.S. initiative, Canadian passivity
The Globe and Mail - Thursday, December 17, 2009
- LINK ^

This item is complete here.
Better news is coming out of Copenhagen as world leaders prepare for the climate change summit's last day. Thanks to American leadership, better news is coming out of Copenhagen as world leaders prepare for the climate change summit's last day.

No thanks, unfortunately, to Canada, which failed to provide any new ideas, and apparently did nothing to help shape an emerging deal, in part because it did not play its traditional role as an honest broker with developing countries.

The Americans helped bridge one gulf between developed and developing countries after a failed first week. The offer of Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, to take part in a $100-billion (U.S.) fund to help developing countries fight climate change and its effects, was a large concession – $10-billion was the amount of start-up funding that developed countries had earlier agreed to. Congress has already complemented these efforts; the Waxman-Markey bill contains a vehicle for the U.S. to invest in emissions reductions more cheaply in other countries.

Countries are also close to finalizing an agreement at Copenhagen that would set better incentives and tighter controls in efforts to reverse carbon emissions by slowing deforestation.

In return, developing countries, especially the largest ones, will have to step up; this cannot be a simple transfer of wealth. They too will need to agree to binding emissions reductions. Kevin Rudd, Australia's Prime Minister, vividly demonstrated the point: “If the developed world became carbon-neutral and the developing world continued to grow on current trends, [by 2050] this would create a temperature rise of between 3.2 degrees and 4 degrees.” China must heed Ms. Clinton's demand that it be transparent about the sources and amounts of its own emissions. Moreover, the fund must have vigorous enforcement and verification mechanisms; previous efforts have been rife with corruption and mismanagement.

On each of these crucial issues, Canada has been a bystander. The government's meek call for a replacement to the Kyoto protocol had no effect. It failed to tap into Canada's forestry expertise or laud its carbon-capturing boreal forests. It made no concrete upfront commitment to the adaptation fund, a move that could have generated enormous goodwill and supplied leverage with developing countries.

Nor did Canada do anything to refute its reputation for being a reluctant player. A leak of cabinet documents suggested the government was not serious about its own target of a 20-per-cent reduction in emissions by 2020. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is attending the meeting, but so far has not even addressed the delegates. Senior oil executives were absent while their industry was being slammed; its good-news story, that it offers a safe, secure supply of energy, and that it is successfully reducing the emissions coming from each barrel of production, went untold.

In short, by failing to put anything substantial – money, ideas or high-level effort – on the table, Canada's reasonable demands were ignored.

The U.S. showed it is possible to engage constructively while driving a hard bargain. Canada touted its attendance at all critical meetings, but saying “present” at the roll call is not enough. A new international regime in which carbon will have a price, and developed and developing countries will co-operate in new ways, is taking shape; it is emerging despite Canada's involvement, not because of it.

---

***** Breaking News

Pakistan | Opposition calls on Zardari to quit
Sl Jazeera - Thursday, December 17, 2009
- LINK ^

Pakistan's main opposition party has called on Asif Ali Zardari, the country's president, to resign after the supreme court declared void an amnesty deal protecting him from corruption charges. Siddiqul Farooq, a spokesman for the party, also called for Zardari to step down, saying the president should "resign on moral grounds" and "not depend upon the crutches of the constitution".Pakistan's constitution guarantees Zardari immunity while in office. But the constitution also states that presidential candidates must be pious, honest and truthful and not have been convicted in a criminal case.

Video | Nigeria's political uncertainty - President Ignores constitution
Calls begin for his resignation as religion complicates the issue.
- LINK ^

US | Millions of Bush administration emails retrieved
- LINK ^

Global Regional

Europe | UK - Witnesses for the prosecution: how Blair is suffering trial by Chilcot
As the Iraq inquiry pauses for the Christmas break, Michael Savage reviews the growing evidence against the former PM
The Independent - Friday, 18 December 2009
- LINK ^

It has made a steady stream of diplomats, army generals and senior mandarins rake over their role in one of the most disputed foreign policy decisions in modern British history, while its proceedings have attracted controversy over soft questioning, misleading witnesses and missing evidence.

Yet, as its first four weeks of public hearings draws to a close, Sir John Chilcot's inquiry into the decision to invade Iraq has already exposed a string of failings within the British Government during the 70 hours of testimony given by the 38 witnesses that have appeared so far. One theme has emerged above all others.

"This time, in contrast to previous inquiries, where it becomes essential, they are prepared to leave Blair in the firing line," said Brian Jones, a former Ministry of Defence intelligence analyst. It is not just disgruntled civil servants or under-resourced military chiefs hitting back, either. Even former advisers have left the inquiry ensuring that Mr Blair has more awkward questions to answer.

Middle East | Iran - Domestic conflict shifts into higher gear
Asia Times - By Farideh Farhi - December 18, 2009
- LINK ^

HONOLULU - Although the tumult that has gripped Iran since the contested June 12 election has never abated, two recent occurrences have highlighted the further sharpening of internal conflict and the government's inability to restore stability in the face of creative ways the opposition has learned to use the symbols of the Islamic Republic to sustain itself.

The uproar over former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's public insistence on the regime's need to respect popular demands and the government-staged outrage over the burning of a picture of the Islamic revolution's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, during University Student Day demonstrations on December 7, have made clear that the political crisis at the heart of theestablishment is intensifying.

Middle East | Yemen | US 'sends special forces to Yemen' amid crisis
- LINK ^

South Asia | Pakistani Army’s Victories Fail to Halt Taliban’s Blows
The New York Timed - By Eric Schmitt and Sslan Masood - December 15, 2009
- LINK ^

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Pakistani military has seized nearly all of the former Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan, but militant leaders who fled are still able to carry out deadly attacks deep inside Pakistan’s heartland from new hide-outs, a United States Embassy official here said Tuesday.

United States Government

Economy | It Seems Like Washington Wants Another Financial Disaster
Are the Dems willing to learn something from the disaster that has overtaken the U.S. economy, and get behind financial reform?
The New York Times - By Paul Krugman, The New York Times - December 16, 2009
- LINK ^

When I first began writing for The Times, I was naïve about many things. But my biggest misconception was this: I actually believed that influential people could be moved by evidence, that they would change their views if events completely refuted their beliefs. And to be fair, it does happen now and then. I’ve been highly critical of Alan Greenspan over the years (since long before it was fashionable), but give the former Fed chairman credit: he has admitted that he was wrong about the ability of financial markets to police themselves.

But he’s a rare case. Just how rare was demonstrated by what happened last Friday in the House of Representatives, when — with the meltdown caused by a runaway financial system still fresh in our minds, and the mass unemployment that meltdown caused still very much in evidence — every single Republican and 27 Democrats voted against a quite modest effort to rein in Wall Street excesses.

Immigration | The Brutal Dark Side of Obama's "Softer" Immigration Enforcement
'Sanctions pretend to punish employers but in reality, they punish workers.'
The Progressive - By David Bacon - December 16, 2009
- LINK ^

Poll: Dissatisfaction could spell trouble for Democrats in 2010
Los Angeles Times - By Mark Silva December 16, 2009
- LINK ^

As President Obama's supporters grow listless and independents grow irritated, Republicans have a greater opportunity to dominate midterm elections, according to findings of the Battleground Poll.

***** Justice | Editorial - Settling Indian Land Trusts
- LINK ^

Congress | Alan Grayson: Afghan War 'Futile'
- LINK ^

---

Topical News

---

Arts and Culture

Climate Change | Audio / Slide Show | Bolivia - A Tale of Climate Change
- LINK ^

Art of Swindle and Other Crimea

Another North American Jewish community rocked by Ponzi scheme
Haaretz - December 17, 2009\
- LINK ^

Members of Toronto's Jewish community have lost more than $27 million in a Ponzi scheme perpetrated by one of its own members, Canada's National Post newspaper reported on Tuesday. The alleged fraud involving 76 high-profile investors came to light after a small printing plant in the Richmond Hill section went bankrupt. The scheme was allegedly run by Tzvi Erez, 42, a prominent community member who owned the small print shop and claimed he was brokering large jobs for blue-chip clients, according to two of his alleged victims who spoke to the National Post.

Economy and Finance

Bloomberg Economic News
- LINK ^

Bloomberg Current Worldwide Financial News
- LINK ^

Commeniary | Why capitalism fails
- LINK ^

Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor
- LINK ^

US | Editorial | The Banks - Even Bigger Than Too Big To FaiL
- LINK ^

Energy

Sustainability - Argentina | Solar Villages Light Up the Andes
- LINK ^

Food and Nutrition

Why Britain faces a bleak future of food shortages
The Observ - By Robin McKie - Sunday, December 13, 2009
- LINK ^
.
Britain faces a 'perfect storm' of water shortage and lack of food, says the government's chief scientist, and climate change and crop and animal diseases will add to future woes. Science is now striving to find solution.
The drought in Australia last year inflated food prices worldwide. A year later and the cost of food today has still to fall to previous levels. More alarmingly, scientists are warning that far worse lies ahead. A "perfect storm" of food shortages and water scarcity now threatens to unleash public unrest and conflict in the next 20 years, the government's chief scientist, Professor John Beddington, has warned.

In Britain, a global food shortage would drive up import costs and make food more expensive, just as the nation's farmers start to feel the impact of disrupted rainfall and rising temperatures caused by climate change. "If we don't address this, we can expect major destabilisation, an increase in rioting and potentially significant problems with international migration, as people move to avoid food and water shortages," he told a conference earlier this year.

Health and Fitness

Genetic map of tumours reveals thousands of mutations
Times Online - By Mark Henderson, Science Editor - December 17, 2009
- LINK ^

Moderate smokers can expect to inflict a new mutation on their DNA every day, the first catalogue of the genetic changes found in lung cancer has suggested. The genetic map of a 55-year-old man’s tumour has revealed 22,910 different mutations, most of which were caused by the carcinogenic agents found in cigarette smoke.

While the patient’s past smoking behaviour was unknown, lung cancer typically develops among those who have smoked an average of 365,000 cigarettes, the equivalent of a pack a day for 50 years.This means that the patient probably acquired a new mutation for every 15 cigarettes he smoked.

Coffee and tea - Good cups, bad cups? - New Studies
- LINK ^
Humor

Between Hanukkah and Christmas
- LINK ^

Legal and Constitutional Issues

Bloomberg Index of Current Legal News
- LINK ^

Natural Resources

Iraq | The Dust Bowl of Babylon: Are Crippling Droughts the Next Great Threat to Iraq?
- LINK ^

Science & Technology

Bloomberg Index of Current Science News
- LINK ^

Social Issues

US | Education | Opinion Put power over California's schools in hands of parents
They should be able to trigger actual reforms at failing schools, a concept that would help the state compete for federal 'Race to the Top' dollars.
Los Angeles Times - By Ben Austin - December, 2009
- LINK ^

US | Poll Reveals Trauma of Joblessness in U.S.
- LINK ^

Podcast | Ideas - Flesh and Stone - Part One
- LINK ^

Podcast | Ideas - Flesh and Stone - Part Two
- LINK ^

---

Sound and Fury

Carrumpah-Lobo - The Homosapiens.ki Blog
- GO

Music Video | Leonard Cohen | "Democracy Is Coming to the USA"
- LINKAbout Homosapiens.ki

---

This website incorporates clips from mainstream and alternative media and, less frequently, blogs, and even obviously biased and counter-point-of-view sources. The clips are taken directly from the websites noted in each source link. Quotation marks are used where they appear in the cited source. All linked articles not noted as "Complete here" are found in their entirety at "LINK".

Convert webpages on this site to PDF, print or e-mail by selecting the associated mini-icon at bottom right of each page.

Homosapiens.ki has been developed on the XOOPS website production program.

Subscribe to a short email notification as each issue of this site is posted. See top, left of any page. This service is without charge.

The editorial offices of Homosapiens.ki are located in New York City and Nelson BC Canada. Website hosting and technical services are provided from Sydney, Australia. The domain name registration ( .ki ) is a service of the Republic of Kiribati ( South Pacific ) domain registrar. Special thanks are due to all those who have assisted in bringing this site to life on the internet.

You may email the editor at
orchill@earthlink.net

In accordancee with TITLE 17 U.S.C. Sectopm 107, this material is distributed free to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes, Homosapiens.ki has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this content nor is Homosapiens.ki endorsed or sponsored by any originator.

Links are provided for access to source articles and for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are sometimes updated by their host sites, a version posted here may not match the version our readers view when clicking the source link on this site.

Privacy - we will not sell, rent, or give your name, address or any other personal information to any entity or person whatsoever at any point in time.

---