Wizard of the Crow

This forest was not threatened by charcoal, paper, and timber merchants who cut down trees hundreds of years old. when it came to forest, indeed to any natural resource the Aburirian State and big American, European, and Japanese companies, in alliance with the local African, Indian, and European rich, were all united by one slogan: A loot-a continua. They knew how to take but not how to give back to the soil. The unregulated clearing of forests affected the rhythm of the rains, and a semidesert was beginning to creep from the prairie to the hills'

p.201 (2006) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Wizard of the Crow. Harvill Secker.

A licence to kill and drill

A licence to kill and drill
Sunday 14 June 2009
Greg Palast

From the Morning Star.

There's an easy way to find oil. Go to some remote and gorgeous natural sanctuary, say Alaska or the Amazon, find some Indians, then drill under them.

If the indigenous folk complain, well, just shoo them away. Shooing methods include bulldozers, bullets, crooked politicians and fake land sales.

But be aware. Lately the natives are shooing back. Two weeks ago, indigenous Peruvians seized an oil pumping station, grabbed the nine policemen guarding it and, say reports, executed them. This followed the government's murder of more than a dozen rainforest residents who had protested against the seizure of their property for oil drilling.

Again and again I see it in my line of work of investigating fraud. Here are a few pit-stops on the oily trail of tears.

In the 1980s, Charles Koch was found to have pilfered about $3 (£1.80) worth of crude from Stanlee Ann Mattingly's oil tank in Oklahoma. Here's the weird part. Koch was - and remains - the 14th richest man on the planet, worth about $14 billion (£7.9bn). Mattingly was a dirt-poor Osage Indian.

She wasn't Koch's only victim. According to secret tape recordings of a former top executive of his company Koch Industries, the billionaire demanded that oil tanker drivers secretly siphon a few bucks worth of oil from every tank attached to a stripper well on the Osage Reservation where Koch had a contract to extract crude.

Koch, according to the tape, would "giggle" with joy over the records of the theft. Koch's own younger brother Bill ratted him out, complaining that, in effect, brothers Charles and David cheated him out of his fair share of the looting which totalled over three-quarters of a billion dollars from the Native American lands.

The FBI filmed the siphoning with hidden cameras, but criminal charges were quashed after quiet objections from Republican senators.

Then there are the Chugach Natives of Alaska. The Port of Valdez, Alaska, is arguably one of the most valuable pieces of real estate on Earth - the only earthquake-safe ice-free port in Alaska that could load oil from the giant North Slope field. In 1969, Exxon and British Petroleum companies took the land from the Chugach and paid them one dollar. I kid you not.

Ex-governor of Alaska Wally Hickel dismissed my suggestion that the Chugach deserved a bit more respect - and cash - for their property.

"Land ownership comes in two ways, Mr Palast," explained the governor and pipeline magnate. "Purchase or conquest. The fact that your granddaddy chased a caribou across the land doesn't make it yours." The Chugach had lived there for 3,000 years.

No oil company would dream of digging on the Bush family properties in Midland, Texas, without paying a royalty. Or drilling near Malibu without the latest in environmental protections.

But when Natives are on top of Exxon's or BP's glory hole, the great defenders of private property rights suddenly turn quite Bolshevik - lands can be seized for the public's need for oil.

Some Natives are "relocated" through legal flim-flam, some at gunpoint. The less lucky are left to wallow, literally, in the gunk left by the drilling process.

During an investigation I conducted for BBC, we captured footage in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador showing a stinking, black glop of crude oil residue pulled from an abandoned Chevron-Texaco waste pit. A pipe runs from the toxic pit right into the water supply of Cofan Indians.

Chief Emergildo Criollo told me how oil company executives had been helicoptered into his remote village and, speaking in Spanish - which the Cofan didn't understand - "purchased" drilling rights with trinkets and cheese. The Natives had never seen cheese. "The cheese smelled funny, so we threw it in the jungle," recalled Criollo.

After drilling began, Criollo's son went swimming in his usual watering hole, came up vomiting blood and died.

I asked Chevron about the wave of poisonings and deaths. According to an independent report, 1,401 deaths, mostly children, mostly from cancers, can be traced to Chevron's toxic dumping.

Chevron's lawyer told me: "And it's the only case of cancer in the world? How many cases of children with cancer do you have in the States? They have to prove that it is our crude," which, he noted with glee, "is absolutely impossible."

Big Oil treats indigenous blood like a cheap petrol additive. That's why the Peruvians are up in arms. The Cofan of Ecuador, unlike their brothers in Peru, have taken no hostages. Rather, they have heavily armed themselves with lawyers.

But Chevron and its Big Oil brethren remain dismissive of the law. Last week, Shell Oil paid $15 million to the Ogoni people and the family of Ken Saro-Wiwa to get rid of a nasty PR problem involving the oil giant's alleged role in the killing of Wiwa and his associates - activists who had defended these Nigeria Delta people against drilling contamination.

Shell pocketed $31 billion last year in profits and hopes that the pay-off will clear the way for a drilling partnership with Nigeria's government.

Congratulations, Shell. Fifteen million dollars for a licence to kill and drill. That's a quite a bargain.

Greg Palast is a journalist and writer. His latest book is Armed Madhouse, published by Penguin. You can see footage of his report on Big Oil in the Amazon in the DVD Palast Investigates, available from his website

Jorge Enrique Robledo 'I WILL NOT BE SILENCED!'

I WILL NOT BE SILENCED!



Jorge Enrique Robledo

Senator of the Polo Democrático Alternativo

The Prosecutor General of Colombia, Alejandro Ordóñez, has decided to conduct a preliminary investigation against me "for alleged ties with illegal groups". The reason? His office received a request from the National Police because, according to them, my name appears in the computer of slain guerrilla leader Raul Reyes, a computer that's been in the hands of the government for 15 months!

With a completely clear conscience I will respond to any accusations made against me. At the same time, I emphatically reject, with outrage, what my personal convictions lead me to believe is a sinister conspiracy against me by the government of Alvaro Uribe Velez -- a government in which high-ranking officials in the Executive branch, directors of the Administrative Department of Security and drug traffickers have gone so far as to plot against the Colombian Supreme Court.

My almost three decades as a full time professor at the National University of Colombia and forty years of public service allow anyone who wishes, to verify that I have been absolutely faithful to the principles of MOIR, an organization that has always rejected armed struggle and kidnapping. And it's well known that I would not have joined the Polo Democrático Alternativo if they had not written these principles of nonviolence into their program. Anyone who would say otherwise is a shameless liar.

It's obvious that they are attacking me because of my uncompromising opposition to the economic, political and social policies of the Uribe regime, as well as my criticism of his subservience to the dictates of the White House, of policies that leave Colombians unemployed and hungry, of the surrender of our natural resources and privatizations, of the destruction of our agricultural sector, of the presidential cover up to protect pro-Uribe Congress members and government officials who have ties with the death squads, of the immorality of the Justice Minister, of the shady and illegal business dealings of the president's sons and of his plan to impose a tyranny (by changing the Constitution to allow himself to run for a third term).

It's not a coincidence that this slanderous accusation, aimed at discrediting me, is launched as Alvaro Uribe struggles to get a Free Trade Agreement passed in Canada, a country where a version of my denunciation of the shady business dealings of the president's sons is circulating and in whose parliament I explained a short time ago, to the international trade commission, why the FTA agreement should not be ratified.

How proud I feel for not having supported the appointment of the current Prosecutor General of Colombia.

As the true nature of Uribe's government is increasingly exposed both within Colombia and abroad, Uribe and his supporters are obviously becoming more and more desperate. So it's not surprising that they are stepping up their attacks on the Polo Democrático Alternativo and trying to silence our party's leaders and, along with them, all the other groups and individuals who are resisting.

President Alvaro Uribe Velez should understand one thing: that this senator, who with dedication and integrity is committed to defending our national dignity and true democracy, will not be silenced by the threat of his attacks. And I am convinced that those who, from other political positions, are also opposed to this disgraceful regime, will not be silenced either.

Bogotá, June 11, 2009

Ecological politics starts in the Amazon

well I am just about back from the euro election experience!

I have not really been focussed on Peru.

however dramatic events have been unfolding.

Indigenous people have been taking part during the last month in a huge protest about President Alan Garcias' plans to open up their land in the Amazon.

Serious action on climate change, mostly it is utter bullshit, we need to defend the Amazon as a carbon sink and we need to actually halt the extraction of oil and other fossil fuels.

Even if climate change was not an issue, 'development' needs to be led by local communities. The indigenous fear that their land will be stolen by corporate interests and the forest which is their basis for economic activity will be taken away from them.

Hugo Blanco the Peruvian ecosocialist who edits 'Indigenous Struggle' will be in Britain next year on a speaking tour.

There is an excellent account of the struggle in Green Left Weekly, a weekly newspaper I highly recommend.




Mass protests by indigenous communities continue to spread throughout Peru. This is despite a violent crackdown by police and military forces following President Alan Garcia’s declaration of a 60-day state of emergency in the Cusco, Ucayali, Loreto and Amazonas regions on May 9.

Since April 9, indigenous communities have shut down oil fields and gas pipelines, and blocked roads, rivers, airports and other installations. These actions are in protest at government decrees that open access to indigenous people’s lands to facilitate oil, mining, logging and agricultural companies.

Garcia decreed the laws under special powers awarded to him by Congress to bring Peruvian law into line with a free trade agreement (FTA) signed with the United States in December 2007.

One of the most controversial decrees (Legislative Decree 1090) removes some 45 million hectares, or roughly 60%, of Peru’s jungles from the country’s Forestry Heritage protection system.

Another decree allows companies with concessions to obtain changes in zoning permits directly from the central government, bypassing indigenous consultation processes.

The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Jungle (AIDESEP), which groups 1385 indigenous communities, is calling for the full repeal of the decrees.

AIDESEP said the decrees were deemed unconstitutional, as they violated the right of indigenous peoples to be consulted prior to any project on their land. This is established by International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 169, which has a constitutional character in Peruvian law.

Green Party landslide in elections?

Well I have delivered the last green leafs, talked to over 600 people at public meetings and hustings, blogged and written for the campaign and we are on the last lap.

The expenses scandal will deliver a big Green Party vote...but there is a bigger picture.

1) We have a severe global environmental crisis. Politicians generally ignore this, if elected my priority would be life and supporting the people working to save the planet, indigenous people in Peru are fighting to save their rainforests and stop oil exploration as I blog.

In contrast bankers and airlines are just as busy trying to make a profit out of manipulating emissions trading and other misplaced carbon policies.

2) There is an economic crisis, at present we have recession but down the road, infinite economic growth on a finite planet is not going to work.

3) Political crisis, decisions are globalised, politicians part of an elite, democracy is failed.

For all these reasons I would urge you to vote Green, learn more and where appropriate get involved in direct action...

I am not, I suspect going to get elected tomorrow but the Greens are going to do very well...how well, well we shall see.

Labour and the Tories are going to do badly.

Lib Dems, also tainted by scandal they may dive, I had the pleasure of debating with David Grace a Liberal Democrat on the euro list for the South East who was well informed and radical, other Liberal Dems I debated with in contrast were poorly informed and had little to say of a serious nature on the crises we face.

I am guessing those who do vote Lib Dem will think of Vince Cable and those who don't will be reminded more of Nick Clegg.

UKIP are going to do well, depressing, they have produced Ashley Mote, who at the last election was their 2nd SE MEP, imprisoned for fraud he joined a neo-fascist groups with Mussolini's grand daughter, I at least don't expect Hazel Blears and Jacqui Smith to sup with Hitler's associates when they leave parliament!

UKIP are free market fundamentalist who would privatise the UK, introduce flat tax and they don't believe climate change will occur...the prospect of them winning big would be scary although I suspect they will take a wage, some expenses and do very little (good or bad) at Europe.

Depressingly I belive the BNP will win some seats...so even if you hate my party, make sure you vote for some one other than the racists, a low turn out will put the far right in MEPs positions.

Libertas will bomb...who know what they stand for, outside candidates and election obssessives.

Like wise the Jury Team.

The Socialist Labour Party may pick up a higher score but no MEPs

No2EU is unlikely to return any MEPs but might pick up some votes from people who think it is UKIP but otherwise it has not made a splash...I haven't had leaflets from any parties other than lib dem, con, lab, UKIp, Bnp and my own Green Party.

All will be revealed on sunday when the votes are finally counted...wish me luck!

UKIP?

Excellent article on comment is free on the real thoughts of UKIP, women should stay in the kitchen, climate change isn't happening, etc, etc.

From the ever excellent David Cronin here

If the opinion polls are accurate, a lot of people will be registering a similar disquiet by voting for the UK Independence Party in this Thursday's election. Superficially, the Ukip leader Nigel Farage appears to be offering an alternative to Labour and the Conservatives with his vow to work towards ensuring that Britain's future is determined in Westminster rather than by "faceless, unelected bureaucrats in Brussels."

In reality, however, the performance of Farage and his party's other MEPs proves that they are a reactionary bunch who take more delight in defying common sense than in presenting a cogent critique of the many problems besetting the EU's institutions. The first thing that should be noted is that the party won 12 seats in the 2004 European election but now only has eight MEPs. Two of the original dirty dozen have left of their own accord: former party leader Roger Knapman (who accused Farage of being more interested in obtaining plush offices than in defending core Ukip principles, whatever they may be) and Robert Kilroy-Silk (who left in a fit of pique after he failed to succeed Knapman as leader). Two others – Ashley Mote and Tom Wise – have either been convicted of benefit fraud (Mote) or charged with money-laundering (Wise).

With miscreants such as Mote out of the way, Farage has tried to convey the impression that the party is as smooth and clean as his immaculately pressed pin-striped suits. Yet he has had only limited success in muzzling the party's charlatan-in-chief Godfrey Bloom. In his own words, Bloom is a financial trader with "modest prestige" in the City of London. Spending too long in that male-dominated environment might help explain why he has felt out of place dealing with gender equality legislation as a member of the parliament's women's rights committee. Shortly after being elected he offered this incisive view of the opposite sex: "I just don't think they clean behind the fridge enough."

Any suggestion that Bloom has subsequently matured was disproved in 2007 when he took issue with claims by York archbishop John Sentamu that there are racists within the Church of England. "I would have thought that the fact he was made an archbishop with a face as black as Newgate's knocker would belie that," said Bloom.

Time and again, Ukip has shown that its only response to Europe's economic malaise is to peddle policies that would harm workers and the poor. Its candidates have opposed the minimum wage and limits on working time and have argued for a far-reaching deregulation of the economy (ignoring how deregulation in at least one sector helped land us in our current mess).

One of the few positive observations that can be made about Ukip is that it can be relied on to provide comic relief whenever a debate is in danger of turning turgid. During discussions on climate change, its MEPs have tried to sound authoritative on matters environmental by blaming the phenomenon on the natural warming up of the sun. Never mind that experts the world over agree that man-made activities are imperilling our future, Ukip candidate Gawain Towler is convinced that this consensus represents nothing more than "voodoo science".

It is often forgotten that the correct definition of a sceptic is a seeker of truth. We urgently need genuine Eurosceptics to shake things up in Brussels and Strasbourg but Ukip doesn't fit that bill. Instead of seeking the truth, the best it can give us is a few cheap laughs.

Climate Camp fundraiser on saturday

Hello Everyone.

The London Climate Camp Neighbourhood is having a Fundraiser on Saturday the 6th June. We've got some fantastic acts for you and it should be a damn good shin-dig. We're going to be leaving the Climate alone for an evening and just having a laugh so please feel free to invite all those friends who may scoff at all the meetings!! Details are below:

"The London Climate Camp Neighbourhood invites you to an evening of poetry, comedy, bands and DJs. Have a laugh, have a boogie and find out what’s coming up over the next few months. In the words of activist Emma Goldman: “If I can't dance, it's not my revolution!”

This Saturday 6th June @ The Cross Kings Pub, 126 York Way

Radio Revolucion
http://www.myspace.com/radiorevolucion

Trans-Siberian March Band http://www.myspace.com/transsib

Triple School http://www.myspace.com/tripleschool

The Carbon Town Cryer http://www.myspace.com/carbontowncryer (our very own Mark)

The Tank Engines (improv troupe)

Jeremy McClintock: Skills Guru (character comedy) http://www.jeremymcclintock.com/

Bard Stupid (poet)

& More....

£5 on the door..... if you can't afford this and want to do some flyering/ postering instead beforehand please get in touch.

PLEASE ADD YOURSELVES TO THE FACEBOOK PAGE + INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=79186432707#/event.php?eid=79186432707

Other events we're doing in June are:

Workshop: Stepping into Action - 14th June
2-4pm BASH, 65-71 Scrutton Street, London EC2

If you feel you have read enough doom and gloom and you have changed enough light bulbs, and now you are ready to make your voice heard louder and clearer, then this workshop is for you.

If you don’t yet have experience of direct action, but you might like to try it, then come along to try out some tactics often used, and discuss when and why direct action is used. There will be space to talk about your concerns and questions.

Carbon Trading Workshop - 22 June
BASH, 65-71 Scrutton Street, London EC2