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GAIA AND HOMOSAPIENS

***** The Richard Dimbleby Lecture by HRH Prince Charles, titled “Facing the Future”
- Video ^

***** Documentary - 43.39 min | Ihe Arctic - The Nature of Things and the Changing World
CBC - December 3, 2009 - Short sponsor's ad precedes film.
- FILM ^

Jordan Page Pendulum Music Video
- LINK ^

"Listen" By Jordan Page
- LINK ^

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NoteThe symbol ^ denotes that that article can be read in full at the link. Articles with text in italics are from last issue.

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Imaging Life

'The US military is exhausted'
The US army is overstretched and exhausted, says peace campaigner Sarah Lazare
Deja vu in US in Vietnam snd Russia's 10 year war in Afghanistan - View the following two videos for the parallels.
Al Jazeera / APF - By Sarah Lazare - December 26, 2009
- LINK ^

It is also a harsh blow to the US soldiers facing imminent deployment.The call for over 30,000 more troops to be sent to Afghanistan is a travesty for the people of that country who have already suffered eight brutal years of occupation.

As Barack Obama, the US president, gears up for a further escalation that will bring the total number of troops in Afghanistan to over 100,000, he faces a military force that has been exhausted and overextended by fighting two wars. Many from within the ranks are openly declaring that they have had enough, allying with anti-war veterans and activists in calling for an end to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with some active duty soldiers publicly refusing to deploy.

This growing movement of military refusers is a voice of sanity in a country slipping deeper into unending war.

Relsted | Video - Veterans - The Soviets in Afghanistan - Part One
Al Jazeera - March 31. 2008
- LINK ^

Relsted | Video - Veterans - The Soviets in Afghanistan - Part Two
Al Jazeera - March 31. 2008
- LINK ^

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***** Breaking News


Strict new rules in place for U.S.-bound air traveller
The Globe and Mail - December 26, 2009
- LINK ^
Passengers going to U.S. will be searched twice and must remain seated during final hour of flight in wake of attempted attack on Northwest plane.

Global Regiona

Middle East | Pakistan, and beyond
Asia Times - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - December 24, 2009
- LINK ^

ISLAMABAD - While the surge of 30,000 United States troops in Afghanistan can only lead to an escalation of fighting, a major problem looms across the border, where al-Qaeda plans a new front against the Pakistan army - a move that will further dry up Islamabad's vital support for the war in Afghanistan.

At the same time, the American-supported coalition government of liberal and secular parties in Pakistan faces a serious political and constitutional crisis, while the armed forces are stalled in their campaign against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the tribal areas. Simultaneously, al-Qaeda sources have told Asia Times Online, al-Qaeda has re-established itself in Somalia and Yemen. From

Somalia, the sources say, al-Qaeda plans to further disrupt trade routes around the Horn of Africa, while from Yemen, al-Qaeda aims to make a comeback in Iraq and in Saudi Arabia and beyond. The overall goal is to take control of all Muslim resistance movements in the region, very much on the lines of al-Qaeda's South Asian pattern.

In South Asia, al-Qaeda's chief of the Lashkar al-Zil (Shadow Army), Ilyas Kashmiri, sits in Afghanistan orchestrating targets, including in India. (Lashkar al-Zil is an alliance of several Pakistani, Afghan, Uzbek, Iraqi and al-Qaeda groups that carry out operations under the al-Qaeda banner.)

United States Government

Commentary | Life and premature death of Pax Obamicana
Asia Times - By Spengler - December 24, 2009
- LINK ^

History speaks of a Pax Romana, a Pax Britannica, and a Pax Americana - but no other namable eras of sustained peace, for the simple reason cited by Henry Kissinger: nothing maintains peace except hegemony and the balance of power. The balancing act always fails, though, as it did in Europe in 1914, and as it will in Central and South Asia precisely a century later. The result will be suppurating instability in the region during the next two years and a slow but deadly drift toward great-power animosity. Those who wanted an end to US hegemony will get what they wished for. But they won't like it.

"No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation," US President Barack Obama told the United Nations on September 23. "No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold." Having renounced hegemony as well as the balance of power, Obama by year-end chose to prop up the power balance in the region with additional American and allied soldiers in Afghanistan. Obama chose the least popular as well as the least effective alternative. The US president's apparent fecklessness reflects the gravity of the strategic problems in the region.

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Topical News

The Anti-war movement raises the challenge to Obama
Apologies - This link was misplaced.
Crawford, and Camp Casey became a national story that breathed new life into the antiwar movement. In March of 2010, Cindy Sheehan and other activists from a group calling itself "Peace of the Action" will be converging on Washington, DC, to set up a camp on the National Mall.

Economy and Finance

Bloomberg Economic News
- LINK ^

Bloomberg Current Worldwide Financial News
- LINK ^

Legal and Constitutional Issues

Bloomberg Index of Current Legal News
- LINK ^

Religion and Philosophies

Book Review | Tips from grannies, other great thinkers
Boston Globe - By Caroline Leavitt - December 27, 2009
- LINK ^

Self-help always becomes even more fascinating when it’s backed by a little scholarship. In “How Philosophy Can Save Your Life: 10 Ideas That Matter Most,’’ Marietta McCarty, assistant professor of philosophy at Piedmont Virginia Community College and best-selling author of “Little Big Minds: Sharing Philosophy With Kids,’’ reveals how studying the greatest thinkers of our time can change your life for the better.

McCarty divides her book into 10 chapters, each dealing with one of the big ideas she feels are necessary for a good life: simplicity, communication, perspective, flexibility, empathy, individuality, belonging, serenity, possibility, and joy. Full of personal anecdotes, each chapter explores the topic at hand with the help of two or more philosophers.

Science & Technology

Bloomberg Index of Current Science News
- LINK ^

center>Science & Technology

Bloomberg Index of Current Science News
- LINK ^

Violence - Civil
Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse
UNICEF
- LINK ^

An estimated 158 million children aged 5-14 are engaged in child labour - one in six children in the world. Millions of children are engaged in hazardous situations or conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations.

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Sound and Fury

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Carrumpah-Lobo - The Homosapiens.ki Blog
- Check in.

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CBC Hourly News
- LINK ^

Music Video | Leonard Cohen | "Democracy Is Coming to the USA"
- LINK

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