THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA

The media are tremendously important not only as informative but also as formative. In that sense, they can raise awareness to the masses, build trust, and especially serve as a bridge between government and citizens. Sadly, the media many times are manipulated and thwarted.

In countries where the media and government, without ever having a perfect relationship, have more independence from each other; work much better because they have understood they are a decisive factor in the development of their nations.

The media can play a crucial role being the eyes of countries on their long-term strategy. Without the pressure made ​​by the media, there is no development. Democracies depend on what media say and teach citizens, but when they lie, all democracies are affected cause they touch our sentiments and drives us as they want. Sensational and superficial are the two main descriptions we can give today's media.

The media sometimes represent large corporations which of course have a direct profit motive. They have the basic function of social communication but when that basic function battles with the private purpose that those corporations have, a great conflict comes out and in most cases, the prevailing desire for profit wins.


Journalists who accurately report what their sources say can effectively remove responsibility for their stories onto their sources. The ideal of objectivity therefore encourages uncritical reporting of official statements and those of authority figures. In this way the biases of individual journalists are avoided but institutional biases are reinforced (Ryan 1991: 10,176). ‘Professional codes ensure that what is considered important is that which is said and done by important people. And important people are people in power. Television news thus privileges holders of power’ (Kellner 1990: 113-4).

Many magazines and newspapers are mouthpiece of some political parties, doing the task of informing with objectivity very difficult. So, people have to judge on their own by looking different channels for the same news and just then form a conclusion.

Many people do not trust the media. Or it is that maybe they all accept the self-contradictory definition: "Media: 99,99% of what happens is not on the news"

The information we all get from the media, is indispensable for the growing of democracies for three main reasons:

1.- Information provided by the media help to see if governments popularly elected are doing everything they promised in campaign.

2.- Every country that wish to become a very strong democracy must have strong and empowered citizens who are willing to participate actively in political discussions, and to meet in all their civic obligations.

3.- The media can guide and empower citizens to take action as they are a very powerful weapon used to target not few but large masses. The media can also help build peace and social consensus.

The media are sometimes called the fourth branch of government, just after the executive, legislative and judicial power. Basically, we can assume the media have four main roles to play: inform, enlighten, entertain, and educate.

It is fundamental that media are the guardian of countries cause its participation in the development process can decide many things such as establishing objectives, in reflecting public opinion, and in building a decent environment of criticism because constructive criticism is always appreciated, specially for the role it has in helping governments to rethink their decisions when they are not the best for the future of their countries.

The media as a whole have to operate under precisely the same rules without preferential treatment in the licensing process. The influence of the media are enormous as never before in the history of our planet, but if that influence is not used correctly; we could have irreversible consequences.

In words of James Wolfensohn, ex-president of the World Bank, “Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are surely essential elements in the development process.”

Contradiction?

No wonder that the media are campaigning one day quite "aggressive"against cigarette consumption and its terrible consequences, and another day are broadcasting commercials of different brands of cigarettes. This is where many of us wonder, are there contradictions in the current model of communication?

The media should be giving us fair analysis and factual information and not as happens most of the time, where the media have their own agenda which is to avoid people knowing the truth. Needless to say, they do not always represent the interests of citizens. The media tend to represent groups of powerful spokespersons. That's why people say that they are a key to changing consumer habits of a society.

Environmental problems are poorly reported in the media because of the need to provide entertainment rather than political awareness, to attract audiences for advertisers, even in news and current affairs programs. This occasionally affects a specific item of news but more generally affects the sorts of stories that are covered and the way they are covered. News editors are reluctant to deal with controversial political and social issues that might alienate potential consumers. As a result news has become bland and neutral and ignores issues that concern large portions of the population who are not considered to have or exercise much buying power (Bagdikian 1983: 180-1, 201-2).

The great dilemma of the developing and poor countries is that people do not know that their basic rights are and if they know, they don't know about where to go and what to do. They don't know what their collective strength is because they tend to act separately. Even they don't know how to protest and what the importance of protests is.

What is fundamental in every country is that we all, with the pluralism that surrounds all nations; can bring together the forces for being used in favor of our countries and not against it. When the media start doing their homework in the right way; we will start looking at them as a real watchdog with a very high credibility among the public.


References:

Bagdikian, B.H. 1983, The Media Monopoly. Boston: Beacon Press.

Kellner, D. 1990, Television and the Crisis of Democracy. Boulder CO: Westview Press.

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SLAVERY BACK IN EUROPE

While the tourist are laying on the beautiful beaches of the Costa del Sol, the European journalists are showing us a totally different image of it. Just a few kilometres behind the beautiful beaches and tourists resort, you will find a world of plastic. 

On the picture above you can see how the plastic greenhouses, even visible from space, fill the landscape of in this case Campo Dalias. These greenhouses supply vegetables to mainly Great Brittan, Germany and The Netherlands. Now all these greenhouses could have a negative effect on the climate or be disastrous for the cultural heritage but that is not the most repulsive fact of this all.

In the greenhouses work illegal immigrants from mainly Africa. Due to the fact they are illegal, they don’t have any rights at all and the Spanish farmer are abusing that fact. The immigrants are living in inhuman conditions and are underpaid, besides all of that they don’t have any rights at all to change it.

Many of the immigrants came to Europe for a better future but ended up worse than in their homeland. Many of them work for just a couple Euros a day, if they find any work at all. 

The huge number of immigrants live between the plastic greenhouses, in sheds made of pieces of wood and plastic, sleeping in a bed shared by five immigrants.

For many people the question, why nothing get done to change it, must rise now. There are rules by the Spanish government which forbid to use illegal immigrants as workers in the greenhouses, the fines can go up to thousands of euros but somehow the farmers still use a huge number of illegal workers in their greenhouses, so we can conclude that the rule doesn’t seem to have any effect at all .

According to farmers they can’t pay those fines and therefore they don’t use illegal workers but the proof given by various media tell otherwise. And if the media shows us that the situation in the greenhouses and surroundings are critical, why doesn’t the Spanish police does. Maybe the Spanish police tolerates the situation in order to protect the farmers and eventually the Spanish economy, which is already extremely damaged by the economical crisis and can’t have any other failures in the markets.

But not only the farmers tolerates the problem, also their clients, mainly supermarkets, tolerate it in order to keep low prices. But by doing that they deceive their clients. An example is the Supermarket Lidle, a German supermarket located in whole Europe, which tells on their site that it wants to improve fair trade and support manufacturers  in improving their working and living conditions.

But how is it possible that they buy from suppliers who abuse illegal immigrants en let them live in inhuman conditions? Some informants claim it’s a consequence of the Western consumers, who want good products for little money but ignore the fact that good products, where there are good conditions for the workers, cost a lot of money, which in the end needs to be paid by the consumers is impossible.

So should we just accept the fact that if we don’t want to pay much money for our product, that illegal immigrants are used as modern slaves. Is it really our fault or are the supermarkets hunting huge profits to blame. Blaming the consumer could just be another strategy to clean their own image. One supermarket chain in The Netherlands alone had in 2009 a profit of 27.9 billion euro, so whether the consumer is the one who isn’t paying enough seems like a joke.

It’s time for the European parliament to step up and say it’s enough with exploiting illegal immigrants. They need to not only punish the farmers but also the companies who but their products and offer a lower price then acceptable. The supermarkets chains make billions of profit, while only a couple thousand kilometers away people are living in inhuman condition and are abused day after day. It’s a shame that everybody is accepting the ridiculous behavior currently happening in the European Union.

Watch the report The Guardian made on this topic here

Source:  Picture 2  Picture 3

The Guardian
KRO Reporter

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THE BEST AND MOST INTELLIGENT

Yesterday, because of a lack of time and space, I did not write one word about Barack Obama’s speech on the Libyan war that he gave on Monday, March 28. I had a copy of the official version that the US administration had provided to the press. I underlined some of his statements. I went through it again and concluded that it was not worth wasting too much paper on.

I recalled what Carter had told me about the US forestry industry when he visited Cuba in 2002, since he owns a family-run tree farm in Georgia. During his recent visit I asked him about his farm and once again he explained how he plants 3 pine trees per every 2 meters, equaling 1,700 trees per hectare that are harvested 25 years later.

Many years ago, I read in a Sunday issue of The New York Times that this publication used the equivalent of 40 hectares of forest to produce its printed edition. So, this explains my concern about saving paper.

Of course, Obama is an expert articulator of words and phrases. He could make a living out of writing children’s short stories. I am familiar with his style because, long before he took office, I read and underlined his book entitled Dreams from My Father, which was the first thing I read of his. I did so with respect and recognized that the author knew how to select the precise words and correct phrases to win over the readers’ sympathies.

I confess that I did not like the way he used suspense, concealing his political ideas until the end. I made a special effort not to jump to the last chapter to read his opinions on various issues that, in my opinion, were crucial at this stage of human history. I was sure that the severe economic crisis, the colossal military expenditures, and the young blood that was shed during the times of his republican predecessor would help him defeat his electoral adversary, despite the enormous racial prejudices of US society. He was aware about the risk of being physically eliminated.

For obvious reasons of traditional politicking, prior to the elections, he went after the votes of the Miami-based anti-Cuban factions, most of them led by reactionary people who had supported Batista. These people turned the United States into a banana republic, where electoral fraud decided no less than Bush W’s electoral victory in 2000, throwing a future Nobel laureate into the garbage: Al Gore, vice-president under Clinton and a presidential candidate.

A basic sense of justice would have led President Obama to rectify the outcome of the infamous trial that led to the inhumane, cruel and particularly unfair imprisonment of five Cuban patriots.

His Union Addresses; his speeches in Brazil, Chile and El Salvador; and his address on NATO´s war on Libya forced me to underline the aforementioned speech more than his own autobiography.

What are the worst parts of his statement and how can one explain the approximately 2,500 words in the official version?

From a domestic standpoint, the speech’s complete lack of realism places its happy author in the hands of his worst adversaries, those who want to humiliate him and take revenge for his November 2008 electoral victory. The beating they gave him in late 2010 is still not enough for them.

From an external standpoint, the world gained more awareness of what the UN Security Council, NATO and Yankee Imperialism really represents to many nations.



To be as brief as I have promised, I’ll tell you that Obama began his speech by saying that he has played his role in “stopping the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan, and going after al Qaeda all across the globe.”

He immediately added that: “For generations, the United States of America has played a unique role as an anchor of global security and as an advocate for human freedom.”

This is something that —as our readers know— Cubans, Latin Americans, Vietnamese and many others, can bear witness to.

After this solemn declaration of faith, Obama invested a lot of time to speaking about Qaddafi, about his horrors and the reasons for which the United States and their closest allies: “—United Kingdom, France, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey— all of whom have fought by our sides for decades […] have chosen to meet their responsibilities to defend the Libyan people.”

Further on he added: “…NATO, has taken command of the enforcement of the arms embargo and the no-fly zone.”

He confirmed the objectives of this decision “Because of this transition to a broader, NATO-based coalition, the risk and cost of this operation —to our military and to American taxpayers— will be reduced significantly.”

“So for those who doubted our capacity to carry out this operation, I want to be clear: The United States of America has done what we said we would do.”

He then went back to obsessing on Qaddafi and to the contradictions that assail his mind: “Qaddafi has not yet stepped down from power, and until he does, Libya will remain dangerous.”

“It’s true that America cannot use our military wherever repression occurs. And given the costs and risks of intervention, we must always measure our interests against the need for action.”

“The task that I assigned our forces —to protect the Libyan people […] — carries with it a UN mandate and international support.”

He returned to his obsessions over and over again: “If we tried to overthrow Qaddafi by force, our coalition would splinter. We would […] have to put US troops on the ground to accomplish that mission, or risk killing many civilians from the air.”

“…we are hopeful about Iraq’s future. But regime change there took eight years, thousands of American and Iraqi lives, and nearly a trillion dollars.”

A few days after the NATO bombings began, a few reports started to appear about a US fighter-bomber that had been shot down. A source later confirmed the reports. Upon seeing a falling parachutist, some of the country folk did what people traditionally do in Latin America: they went to go see, and if someone needed it, they would provide help. No one can know what they were thinking. They were most definitely Muslims working the earth who would not be in favor of the bombings. A helicopter, which suddenly arrived on the scene to rescue the pilot, opened fire against the rural farmers, seriously injuring one of them. It was a miracle that they didn’t kill them all. As the world knows, Arabs are traditionally hospitable towards their enemies, they invite them to stay in their own houses and turn their back to not see which way they take. Even a coward or a traitor could never represent the spirit of a social class.

The strange theory, that he included in his speech, could only occur to Obama, as shown in the following passage:

“There will be times, though, when our safety is not directly threatened, but our interests and our values are. [...] And in these circumstances, we know that the United States, as the world’s most powerful nation, will often be called upon to help.”

“In such cases, we should not be afraid to act -– but the burden of action should not be America’s alone. As we have in Libya, our task is instead to mobilize the international community for collective action.”

“That’s the kind of leadership we’ve shown in Libya. Of course, even when we act as part of a coalition, the risks of any military action will be high. Those risks were realized when one of our planes malfunctioned over Libya. Yet when one of our airmen parachuted to the ground, in a country whose leader has so often demonized the United States –- in a region that has such a difficult history with our country –- this American did not find enemies. Instead, he was met by people who embraced him. One young Libyan who came to his aid said, “We are your friends. We are so grateful to those men who are protecting the skies.”

“This voice is just one of many in a region where a new generation is refusing to be denied their rights and opportunities any longer.”

“Yes, this change will make the world more complicated for a time. Progress will be uneven, and change will come differently to different countries. There are places, like Egypt, where this change will inspire us and raise our hopes.”

Everyone knows that Mubarak was an ally of the U.S., and when Obama visited the University of Cairo, in June 2009, he could not ignore the tens of billions of dollars stolen by him in Egypt.

He continued with the emotional story:

“…we welcome the fact that history is on the move in the Middle East and North Africa, and that young people are leading the way. Because wherever people long to be free, they will find a friend in the United States. Ultimately, it is that faith — those ideals — that are the true measure of American leadership.”

“…our strength abroad is anchored in our strength here at home. That must always be our North Star — the ability of our people to reach their potential, to make wise choices with our resources, to enlarge the prosperity that serves as a wellspring for our power, and to live the values that we hold so dear.”

“And let us look to the future with confidence and hope not only for our own country, but for all those yearning for freedom around the world.”

The spectacular story reminded me of the Tea Party, Senator Bob Menendez and the illustrious Ileana Ros, the fierce wolf that defied the law to keep the Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez kidnapped. She is now nothing less than Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States.

Gaddafi never tires of repeating that Al-Qaeda is making the war on him and sends fighters against the government of Libya, because he supported Bush’s war on terror.

That organization once had excellent relations with the American intelligence services in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and has plenty of experience on the working methods of the CIA.

What if the allegations of Gaddafi were true? How would Obama explain to the American people that part of those ground combat weapons fell into the hands of the men of Bin Laden?

Would it not have been better and and more intelligent to have struggled to promote peace and not war in Libya?

Fidel Castro Ruz
March 31, 2011
7:58 p.m.


Source: http://www.cubadebate.cu/

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MY SHOES ARE TOO TIGHT

While the damaged reactors spew radioactive smoke over Japan and monstrous-looking planes and nuclear submarines launch deadly charges tele-directed onto Libya, a North African Third World country with barely six million inhabitants, Barack Obama was spinning a tale for the Chileans that sounded like one I used to hear when I was 4 years old: “My shoes are too tight, my socks are too warm; and I carry in my heart the little kiss you gave me”.

Some of his audience was taken aback in that Cultural Centre in Santiago de Chile.

When the president looked anxiously over his audience after mentioning perfidious Cuba, expecting an explosion of applause, there was icy silence. Behind him, oh, yes! felicitous coincidence! among all the other Latin American flags, there precisely was Cuba’s.

If he were to turn for a second, over his right shoulder he would have seen, like a shadow, the symbol of the Revolution on the rebel Island that his mighty country wanted to destroy, but could not.

Anybody would be, without a doubt, extraordinarily optimistic if they were expecting the peoples of Our America to applaud the 50th anniversary of the mercenary Bay of Pigs invasion, 50 years of cruel economic blockade of a sister country, 50 years of threats and terrorist attacks that cost thousands of lives, 50 years of plans to assassinate the leaders of the historic process.

I heard myself being mentioned in his words.

In truth, I gave my services to the Revolution for a long time, but I never eluded risks nor violated constitutional, ideological or ethical principles; I regret not having better health so that I could carry on serving the Revolution.

I resigned, without hesitation, all my state and political positions, including that of First Secretary of the Party, when I became ill and I never tried to exercise them after the Proclamation of July 31, 2006, even when I partially recovered my health more than a year later, although everyone continued to affectionately address me in that manner.

But I am and shall continue to be as I promised: a soldier of ideas, as long as I can think or breathe.

When they asked Obama about the coup against heroic President Salvador Allende, promoted as many others by the United States, and about the mysterious death of Eduardo Frei Montalva, murdered by agents of DINA, a creation of the American government, he lost his composure and began to stammer.

The commentary on Chilean television at the end of his speech was, without a doubt, accurate when it stated that Obama had nothing to offer the Hemisphere.

As for me, I don’t want to give the impression that I felt any hatred for his person, much less for the people of the United States; I acknowledge the contributions many of its sons and daughters have made to culture and science.

Obama now has before him a trip to El Salvador tomorrow, on Tuesday. There he is going to have to be quite inventive because, in that sister nation in Central America, the weapons and training received from the governments of his country spilt much blood.

I wish him bon voyage and a bit more good sense.

Fidel Castro Ruz
March 21, 2011
9:32 p.m.


Source: http://www.cubadebate.cu/

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PARTNERSHIP OF EQUALS

Saturday evening, the 19th, after a sumptuous banquet, NATO leaders ordered the attack on Libya.

Of course, nothing could occur without the United States claiming its irrefutable role as supreme leader. From its command post of that institution in Europe, a senior official declared that “Odyssey Dawn” was about to begin.

World public opinion was deeply touched by the tragedy in Japan. The number of victims of the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear accident has kept on growing. By now there are thousands of dead, missing and radiation contaminated. Resistance to the use of nuclear energy will also grow considerably.

The world is suffering, at the same time, the consequences of climatic changes; shortages and prices of foods, military spending and the squandering of natural and human resources are increasing. War was the timeliest event that could happen at this time.



Obama’s trip through Latin America moved into the background, people were hardly paying any attention to it. In Brazil, the contradictory interests between the United States and this sister nation have become evident.

We cannot forget that Rio de Janeiro competed with Chicago to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

Obama wanted to win over the South American giant. He spoke of the “extraordinary rise of Brazil” that has impressed the international scene and he praised its economy as one of the economies with the fastest growth rate in the world, but he showed not even the least commitment in supporting Brazil as a permanent member of the privileged Security Council.

The Brazilian president did not hesitate in expressing her disagreement with the protectionist measures the US is applying on Brazil with the tariffs and subsidies that have constituted a mighty obstacle for the economy of that country.

Argentine writer Atilio Boron states that “ […] what interests [Obama] most as administrator of the empire is advancing control of Amazonia. The main requisite of this plan is to slow down, since it is something he cannot stop, the growing political and economic coordination and integration that is happening in the region: this had been very important in sinking ALCA in 2005 and frustrating the secessionist conspiracy and coups in Bolivia in 2008 and Ecuador in 2010. He also has to try to sow the seeds of discord between the most radical governments in the region (Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador) and the “progressive” governments, mainly Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay…”

“For the boldest US strategists, the Amazon river basin, just as the Antarctic, is a free-access area where national sovereignties are not recognized…”

Tomorrow Obama moves over to Chile. His arrival is preceded by an interview he gave to the newspaper El Mercurio that was printed today, on Sunday, in which he confesses that the “Debate in the Americas”, as he calls it, is based on a “partnership of equals” with Latin America that practically leaves us breathless as we recall the Alliance for Progress that preceded the mercenary Bay of Pigs expedition.

Obama literally confesses that the US vision for the hemisphere […] is based on the concept of a partnership of equals that he has pursued ever since becoming President of the United States.

Obama stated that he shall also focus on specific areas where they can work together, such as economic growth, energy, security and human rights’…

That vision, he emphasized, has the aim of ‘improving common security, expanding economic opportunities, ensuring a clean energy future and supporting the democratic values we share’.

…promoting a safe, stable and prosperous Hemisphere where the United States and their partners share responsibilities on key regional and global issues…

As we can see, everything is marvellously beautiful, worthy of being buried just like Reagan’s secrets, to be published within 200 years.

The problem is, as informed by the DPA Agency, according to a survey carried out by the newspaper La Tercera, “…in 2006, 43 percent of the Chilean population was rejecting nuclear plants”.

“Two years later the rejection rate rose to 52 percent and in 2010 is reached 74 percent.” Today, after what happened in Japan it has reached “…86 percent of Chileans…”

We only have to ask Obama one question. Taking into account that one of his illustrious predecessors, Richard Nixon promoted the coup and the heroic death of Salvador Allende, the torture and murder of thousands of persons, would Mr. Obama be asking forgiveness of the Chilean people?

Fidel Castro Ruz
March 20, 2011
8:14 p.m.


Source: http://www.cubadebate.cu/

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THE DISASTERS THREATENING THE WORLD

If the speed of light would not exist; if the star closest to our sun would not be four light years from the Earth, the only inhabited planet in our system; if ETs really existed; the imaginary visitors to the planet would continue their voyage without understanding all that our humankind is suffering.

Just a few centuries ago in the millennial history of Man, nobody knew what was happening on the other side of the globe. Today, we can find out what’s happening right away and sometimes they are hugely transcendental events that affect all the peoples of the world.

Without more preamble, I shall limit myself to the most important news during the last two days.

“TeleSUR, March13, 2011: Volcano eruption in Japan triggers new alarm

“The Japanese Meteorological Agency informs that the volcano Shimoedake, located on the island of Kyushu to the south-east of Japan, spewed ash and stones this Sunday to a height of four thousand metres, after two week of relative calm and two days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that lashed the country.”

“…it became active last January for the first time in 52 years…”

“According to a BBC report, buildings in a radius of 4 kilometres were damaged and hundreds of persons fled from the vicinity, panic-stricken.”

“The […] seismic movement with a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter Scale, according to the Meteorological Agency of Japan, has already had repercussions on other volcanoes…”

“Japan crushed by the quake, tsunami and explosions at nuclear plants

“SENDAI, Japan, Mar.14, 2011 (AFP) – A double explosion on Monday in Reactor No. 3 at the Fukushima 1 nuclear plant fed the rumour of an atomic disaster in Japan, a country already overwhelmed by a quake and a tsunami that may have left more than 10,000 dead.

“Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), operator of Fukushima 1 (250 km to the north-east of Tokyo), also admitted the possibility that the fuel of Reactor 2 had entered into fusion because of damage to the cooling circuit. The government, for its part, minimized the possibility that an important explosion should be produced in that reactor.

“Rescue teams found approximately 2,000 corpses on the coast of Miyagi Prefecture (north-east), while millions of Japanese were attempting to survive without water, electricity, fuel or sufficient food and hundreds of thousands were forced to take shelter at emergency centres because of the tsunami that destroyed their homes.”

Aid workers from around the world arrived in the archipelago to collaborate with more than 100,000 soldiers that are trying to give aid in a country that continues to be shaken by earthquake after-shocks and lives in permanent fear of false alarms about new tsunamis.”

“Fear of a nuclear disaster was being added to the agony caused by the devastation. The quake, the tsunami and the explosions at the plants place the country into its “most serious crisis (…) since the end of WW II”, stated Prime Minister Naoto Kan.”

“An explosion had occurred on Saturday in Reactor No. 1, taking the life of one technician and injuring eleven.

“Fusion is produced on account of the reheating of the bars of fuel that start to melt just like candles.”

“Authorities declared a state of emergency at a second nuclear plant, the Onagawa Plant in the north-east…”

“Another nuclear plant, Tokai, suffered damages to its cooling system…”

“An 8.9-magnitude earthquake, and the following tsunami with a height of 10 metres, ripped through the north-eastern coast of the Japanese archipelago on Friday.”

“More than 10,000 persons may have lost their lives in the coastal prefecture of Miyagi (north-eastern Japan)…”

“At least 5.6 million homes are still without electrical power…”

“DATA- What’s happening in the Japanese nuclear reactors?

“March 14 (Reuters) – A second explosion shook the Japanese nuclear plant damaged by an earthquake, where authorities are working desperately to prevent nuclear fusion in the reactors.”

“The nucleus of a reactor consists of a series of tubes or metal zircon bars that contain pellets of uranium fuel stored in what the engineers call the fuel equipment.”

“Back-up refrigeration had problems several times during the last three days in Reactors 1, 2 and 3 at the Fukushima plant.”

“However, natural degradation of radioactive materials in the reactor’s nucleus continues to produce heat, called residual heat, falling to a quarter of its original level during the first hour and then disappearing more slowly.”

“Usually that heat is eliminated by refrigeration pumps that, in the Fukushima Plant, lost its emergency energy supply due to the earthquake, tsunami or both.”

“It was that hydrogen gas that caused the two explosions in the Fukushima Plant, in Unit 1 on Saturday and in Reactor 3 on Monday, according to experts and officials.”

“If a steel dome should break inside a reactor, the radiation levels will rise. But at this point now the heat is not enough to destroy them, experts say.”

“The risk is still there that the nucleus could melt and that could make removal of the fuel really difficult, or even impossible; that’s what happened on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979.”


“EFE March 14th: “US moves its vessels further from the Japanese coast after detecting radioactivity in 17 soldiers”

“The Pentagon informed today that 17 soldiers who are participating in assistance work in Japan registered “low levels” of radioactivity and it ordered its Seventh Fleet vessels based in the Japanese city of Yokosuka to be temporarily repositioned.”

“The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier was 160 kilometres to the north-east of the plant at the time of the escape after the tsunami following the quake with a magnitude of nine points on the Richter Scale that shook Japan.”

“Fighting to cool down Fukushima Reactors 2 and 3 and number of dead grows”

“International News, Mar 14 (EFE).- Those in charge of Reactor 2 at the Fukushima Plant in Japan are trying to cool it down, after it may have suffered partial fusion as a result of over-heating; they are also cooling down Reactor 3 where there was an explosion that did not cause any radioactivity to escape.”

“While authorities struggle to control the nuclear risk, the number of dead increases as a result of the earthquake that has caused the worst tragedy in Japan since WW II.”

“The tremor could be felt powerfully in Tokyo, the largest city in the world with more than 30 million inhabitants, where the mood is one of sadness and citizens are using alternate transportation such as bicycles in the face of fuel shortages.”

“The country’s Meteorological Agency has warned the Japanese about a week of after-shocks and of a 70 percent possibility of a 7-point earthquake in Japan by this Wednesday.”

“Germany cancels plans for nuclear extension for three months”

“Berlin, Mar 14 (dpa)”

“The accident recorded this weekend at the Japanese Fukushima Plant as a result of the earthquake and later tsunami that devastated the Asian country on Friday ‘has completely changed the global situation’, Merkel stated.”

“‘Accidents in Japan show that what we thought impossible is possible and the risks we thought were improbable are not so improbable’, she went on to specify…”

“AFP. Yemen: Three demonstrators dead, among them a 12-year-old boy”

03/12/11

“SANAH (AFP) – Three demonstrators died, among them a 12-year-old boy and hundreds were injured on Saturday in Yemen where the protesters accused the police of having used toxic gases to disperse them.”

“A demonstrator died and approximately 300 were injured or intoxicated by the gases…”

“According to the UN, 37 demonstrators and at least six police died since the unrest began in Yemen.”

“ABU DHABI, March 14 (Reuters)”

“The price increase for crude and the recent and sudden reduction of the existence of cereals in the world could indicate a supply crisis, FAO Director Jacques Diouf told Reuters…”.

“‘The high prices are worrying and we have a huge decrease in their existence’…”.

“LONDON (AP) — British-based defense contractor BAE Systems PLC bribed Saudi officials in return for lucrative arms deals in Saudi Arabia, according to a newly released secret U.S. diplomatic cable.”

“…BAE, Europe’s largest defense contractor, paid more than 70 million pounds ($113 million) to a Saudi prince.”

“EFE. Ashton does not dismiss the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya

“In Cairo today, Catherine Ashton, in charge of EU Foreign Policy, does not dismiss the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya after meeting with Arab League Secretary General Amro Musa.”

“TRIPOLI, 14 (ANSA) – The forces of Muammar Kadafi today attacked Ajdabiya, in eastern Libya, and Zuwarah in the north-east, while the opposition National Council assured it would recover positions and said that it has international commitment to establish a no-fly zone.”

“The Council assured today that it obtained the commitment of the United States, Great Britain and France to set up a no-fly zone.”

“General Abd al Fattah Yunis, member of the rebel military council, assured that they would recover positions on the coast and in the country’s Eastern region…”

“‘We shall recover those cities and you will soon hear that our army advances towards Sidra and Tripoli’.”

“100 THOUSAND VOLUNTEERS HAVE JOINED GADDAFI FORCES

“TRIPOLI, 14 (ANSA) – Some 100 thousand volunteers have joined Libyan armed forces since the start of combat between troops backing Muammar Gaddafi and the rebel groups, government sources stated today.”

“Bahrain: opposition denounces “occupation” after the arrival of Saudi soldiers.



“MANAMA, March 14, 2011 (AFP)”

“‘The people of Bahrain is facing a real danger: that of a war against the citizens of Bahrain with no declaration of war’, seven opposition members emphasized, including Wefaq chiita, in a report.

“‘We consider the entry of any soldier, any military vehicle, into the land, air or sea space of the Kingdom of Bahrain to be a flagrant occupation of the unarmed people of Bahrain and a violation of international treaties and agreements’, the opposition added.”

“MORE PROTESTS YEMEN, BAHRAIN AND MOROCCO

“MANAMA and ADEN, 13 (ANSA) – Protest demonstrations continue today in Yemen, where three people died, and in Bahrain and Morocco, against the governments of those countries, local sources informed today.”

“…in Saudi Arabia, dozens of persons met today in the vicinity of the Ministry of the Interior headquarters in Riyadh to demand the liberation of a group of activists being held by police.”

“MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Tens of thousands of Bahraini protesters encircled one of the royal family’s palaces Saturday, shouting calls for political freedom and the king’s ouster a day after a similar march triggered a violent response from security forces.”

“Protests in Bahrain modeled on the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.”

“Bahrain holds particular importance to Washington as the host of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet…”

“United Arab Emirates to send troops to Bahrain

“DUBAI, March 14 2011 (AFP) – The United Arab Emirates announced on Monday they are going to send troops to Bahrain to contribute to “preserve order and stability” in that neighbouring country where the Saudis have already arrived with the same military purpose.”

“MANAMA, March 14 2011 (AFP) – The opposition in Bahrain stated on Monday that ‘any foreign military presence’ shall be considered to be ‘an occupation’, in their reaction to the arrival of Saudi troops in the Kingdom.”

“More than a thousand Saudi soldiers, part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) common forces, arrived in Bahrain, swept by a wave of demonstrations, according to statements to AFP by a Saudi in charge.”

“MEXICO (AFP) – The so-called US ‘Operation Fast and Furious’ that presumably allowed the deliberate entry into Mexico of almost 2,000 weapons, placed relations between the two countries into a delicate position, according to experts, and caused the unanimous irritation of Mexican legislators.”

“‘If the US acted without including any Mexican authority, we are dealing with totally unacceptable interference and a clear show of non-confidence’ by Washington in the Mexican police, former Ambassador to the US Jorge Montaño commented to AFP.”

“Mexico is facing unprecedented spiralling violence that has left almost 35,000 dead since December of 2006 in confrontations between drug traffickers and anti-drug police, as well as around a hundred victims caught in the cross-fire.”

“The Mexican senate described ‘Fast and Furious’ as an ‘aggressive and unilateral’ operation and an ‘insult to the sovereignty’ of Mexico.”

“IPS March 14 15:04”

“Tonight we were informed that Reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima 1 Plant was melting after emergency cooling systems failed, and this aggravated fears of radioactive contamination. On Saturday and this Monday there were explosions in Reactors 1 and 3.”

“Reactor No. 2 is functioning with a fuel known as Oxide Mix (MOX fuel) that contains plutonium, a particularly harmful substance for health.”

“ROME, 14 (ANSA) – There is a total of 442 active nuclear reactors in the world, concentrated in 29 countries and constructed by no more than ten companies.

“Europe, […] where governments today began to review their policy in the sector, has 148 active reactors in 16 countries.

“To those […] already active, we can add 65 that are under construction…”

“The world record for the number of functioning nuclear reactors is held by the United States with 104, followed by France with 58, Japan with 54…”

Last minute news just heard in Cuba informs that there was a third explosion at Fukushima:

“EFE March 15 20:13: There is fear of radioactive leaks due to the nuclear fusion of a reactor at Fukushima

“Tokyo, March 15 (EFE).- The company operating the Fukushima Nuclear Plant (north-eastern Japan) today acknowledged that it fears radioactive leaks due to a possible fusion in the nucleus of Reactor No. 2 which this morning suffered an explosion.

“Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) admitted that radiation may have been released after the structure enclosing Reactor No. 2 was damaged while radioactive levels in the area registered 8.217 microsieverts per hour, as opposed to the allowed 500.”

We can observe the complex situation prevailing in the Arab world where a revolutionary wave has been unleashed by its peoples.

The Saudi King supports the NATO war in Libya; while in Bahrain, NATO supports the Saudi invasion. The blood of the Arab peoples will be spilt to benefit the great trans-nationals of the United States while oil prices reach unpredictable heights as wars are unleashed in the areas producing the most oil and nuclear disasters in Japan multiply the resistance of peoples to the proliferation of nuclear plants.

Wastage and the capitalist consumer societies in their neo-liberal and imperialist phase are taking the world into a blind alley, where climatic change and the growing cost of foods lead billions of people towards more acute poverty levels.

Fidel Castro Ruz
March 14, 2011
9:35 p.m.


Source: http://www.cubadebate.cu/

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TWO EARTHQUAKES

A strong 8.9 on the scale earthquake shook Japan today. The most worrying is that early news reports were talking about thousands dead and missing, figures really unheard of in a developed country where all constructions are quake-proof. They were even talking about a nuclear reactor that was out of control. Hours later, it was informed that four nuclear plants close to the most affected area were under control. There was also information about a tsunami 10 metres high that had the entire Pacific area on tidal wave alert.

The earthquake originated at a depth of 24.4 kilometres and 100 kilometres from the coast. Had it happened at a lesser depth and distance, the consequences would have been more serious.

There was a shift in the earth’s axis. It was the third phenomenon of great intensity occurring in less than two years: Haiti, Chile and Japan. Man cannot be blamed for such tragedies. Every country, surely, will do everything it can to help the hard-working people who were the first to suffer an unnecessary and inhuman nuclear attack.

According to Spain’s Official College of Geologists, the energy released by the earthquake is equivalent to 200 million tons of dynamite.

The most recent information, from AFP, states that the Japanese electric Company, Tokyo Electric Power, informed that according to government instructions, they had released some of the vapour containing radioactive substances…

“We are following the situation. Until the present there is no problem…”

“They also indicated that there were breakdowns related to the cooling of three reactors in a second nearby plant, Fukushima 2.

“The government ordered the evacuation of surrounding areas for a radius of 10 km in the case of the first plant and 3 km in the case of the second one.”

Another earthquake, a political one and potentially more serious, is the one taking place around Libya, and it affects every country, one way or the other.

The drama that country is living through is in full swing and its outcome is still uncertain.

A great hubbub broke out yesterday in the US Senate when James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, stated before the Armed Services Committee that he didn’t believe Gaddafi had any intention of leaving; because of evidence at their disposal, it seems that he is “in this for the long haul”.

He added that Gaddafi has two brigades that “are very loyal”.

He pointed out that the air attacks carried out by the army loyal to Gaddafi “mainly” caused damages on buildings and infrastructure rather than civilian casualties.

Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, at the same hearing before the Senate, said that it seemed Gaddafi had staying power unless some other dynamic changes at this time.

“The opportunity the rebels had at the start of the popular uprising has ‘begun to change’, he assured.

I have no doubt whatsoever that Gaddafi and the Libyan leaders committed an error in trusting Bush and NATO, as it can be inferred from what I wrote in my Reflection on the 9th.

Nor do I doubt the intentions of the United States and NATO to intervene militarily in Libya and abort the revolutionary wave shaking the Arab world.

Countries that are opposing NATO intervention and defending the idea of a political solution without foreign intervention harbour the conviction that the Libyan patriots shall defend their Homeland until their dying breath.

Fidel Castro Ruz
March 11, 2011
10:12 p.m.


Source: http://www.cubadebate.cu/

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THE SUPERWOMEN OF IRAN

Let me introduce you to One Million Signature Campaign. This initiative is taken by Women's Rights in Iran activists to improve the situation of women in Iran, has captured attention of people all over the world. Their their perseverance and bravery seems to have no limit and can simply be called extraordinary.

The aim of the campaign is to collect one million signatures in support to change the laws that discriminate the women of Iran. It started straight after the peaceful protest on the 12^th of 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran, but officially launched in august 2006 at the seminar called The Impact of Laws on Women’s Lives.

                      
                     

With this campaign the organizers try to demonstrate the decision makers that the desire to change the law isn’t support by only a small part of society but by away bigger amount of citizens of Iran.

Besides collecting one million signature the organizers want to achieve the following points:

• Promotion of Collaboration and Cooperation for Social Change
• Identification of Women’s Needs and Priorities
• Amplifying Women’s Voices
• Increasing Knowledge, Promoting Democratic Action
• Paying our Dues
• The Power of Numbers
• Power in Plurality

  

For a brief explanation on the points above, click here.

The campaign that seeks equal right marriage and inheritance, an end to polygamy, and stricter punishments for honour killings and other forms of violence, celebrated its 4 years anniversary last year on the 27^th of August. It will not stop collecting signatures until the number of one million is achieved, despite many members are arrested, threatened to be so. 

I could write an article of a million words but it would still not do justice to the campaign. Therefore I attached an article of one of the members of the campaign. 
 

Is Change Possible?

By: Raheleh Asgarizadeh
Monday 18 February 2008
Translated by: Sussan Tahmasebi

Note: This article was written by Raheleh Asgarizadeh, about her experience of engaging in face-to-face discussions and collecting signatures in support of the Campaign’s petition, which asks the Iranian Parliament to reform laws which are discriminatory against women. Raheleh was arrested along with Nasim Khosravi while collecting signatures in support of this same petition, on Thursday February 14, 2007, in Park Daneshjoo, following a street theater performance, as part of the International Fajr Festival, on the subject of women’s rights. Raheleh and Nasim are currently being held in Evin’s Public Ward 3, in relation to their peaceful activities in support of women’s rights.

Tired from a long day at work, I was standing on the bus, when a young woman’s voice caught my attention. She was speaking to a little girl and was trying to convince the girl to give her a kiss. "You seem to love children so…." the girl’s mother said.

The young woman let out a heavy sigh. "I have a girl, who is about the same age as your daughter. It’s been 2 years since I’ve seen her." Everyone was starring at her in disbelief, as she continued: "I got an uncontested and mutually agreed upon divorce from my husband, but he took my two year old daughter and left the country, taking her to a place where I would never be able to see her again…"

— "You didn’t want custody…," I asked.

— "Yes, but I didn’t have anyone who could help me, no connections…," she replied.

I took one of the legal pamphlets out of my purse and asked if she had heard of the One Million Signatures Campaign. She took the booklet and said that she had not heard of the Campaign. A middle aged woman, wearing a chador, asked if she could have a booklet, to take home and read, as well. Pleased with the request, I gave her one. The women on the bus slowly started to talk, and even the ones who had remained silent at first, began to tell the tales of their domestic problems and pains.

"I have a relative who is very rich, but he is unwilling to even buy clothes for his wife and children. Lately, it seems that he has taken on a temporary wife (Sigheh) who has 2 children of her own. He is more than willing to spend money on this new wife. The first wife, despite repeated pleas and attempts at ending her husband’s relationship with this new woman, has finally come to realize that her husband has no intention of ending his temporary marriage to his second wife. So the first wife has just resigned herself to her fate and no longer objects….," explained a middle aged woman on the bus.

"It is stories like this that give women a bad name. If you could only understand how terribly they view a divorced woman. It is horrific…poverty and moral corruption, have destroyed the lives of many," explained a young woman on the bus.

"After years of disagreements and fighting because of her husband’s cheating, one of my relatives recently got a divorce, but what a divorce. After years of building a life together, she has gotten a divorce, but she has been awarded no money or financial support. No money, no resources, and 3 young children, she has been left alone in this big city," explained another woman.

The first young woman turned to me and asked: "if I sign this petition, do you think that someday we will be able to change things? I want to collect signatures in support of the petition as well. I have endured and experienced the pain that exists in our society, and I believe that this will turn out to be a positive development in my life. I miss my child so much…

The woman in the chador took the petition and signed it. "I wish that god gives you much success. You are doing something very important." She then turns her sympathetic gaze onto the young woman who is bewitched by the little girl on the bus…

Source: http://www.we-change.org/english/ 

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THE DENVER AIRPORT CONSPIRACY

The Denver International Airport, better known as DIA, is located in Denver, Colorado. It is the largest international airport in the United States in terms of land mass, and the third largest international airport in the world only after King Fahd International Airport (Saudi Arabia) and Montréal-Mirabel International Airport (Canada).

The Denver International Airport opened its doors to the public on February 28, 1995. It is the only major airport to be built in the United States in the last 25 years. The current facility can accommodate 50 million passengers a year without any additional construction.

The airport was built in 1995 on about 34,000 hectares. Its initial cost was $ 1.7 million, but then increased by 3.1 million over budget. Its final cost was 4.8 million.




Facts about the Denver Airport:

• The Jeppesen Terminal roof is made of a Teflon-coated fiberglass material that is as thin as a credit card.
• The four busiest airports in the United States - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles International, and Dallas Fort Worth - could all fit into DIA’s 53-square miles of land.
• Denver International Airport is one of the world’s greenest airports. We also have the largest solar farm at a commercial airport in the United States.
• The airport contributes over 22 billion dollars a year to Colorado’s economy.
• Denver International Airport was one of the first airports in the United States to integrate art into public spaces. During construction, artists worked with architects to integrate art into the airport.
• Denver International Airport has the only passenger bridge in the United States where you can watch an airplane taxi beneath you.
• Some people think there’s a conspiracy making our airport the center of a New World Order. Rest assured the story is definitely a myth.
• DIA's 327-foot FAA control tower is one of the tallest in North America. There are 548 stairs from ground level to the top and the average walking time is 20 minutes. The tower is engineered to sway only one-half inch in an 86-mile-per-hour wind.
• The airport site, though relatively flat, was lowered in some areas and raised in others, requiring the moving of 110 million cubic yards of earth. 110 million cubic yards is approximately one-third the amount of dirt moved during the Panama Canal project. This amount of earth, if dumped into a single pile, would cover 32 city blocks to a depth of one-quarter mile.
• The fueling system at DIA is capable of pumping 1,000 gallons of jet fuel per minute through a 28-mile network of pipes. Each of the six fuel farm tanks holds 65,000 barrels (2.73 million gallons) of jet fuel.
• Granite imported from all over the world.

Fact Source: http://flydenver.com/doyouknowdia


Some unofficial stories about Denver Airport are:

• Denver Airport is scheduled to be the Western headquarters of the US New World Order.
• Denver Airport has connection with a future holocaust and the end of the world.
• Denver Airport has links to a potential 2012 disaster.
• The Denver Airport has a hidden underground city.
• Denver Airport was funded by a secret society.
• The author of Defrauding of America, Rodney Stitch, claims to have a copy of a tape of a CIA agent paying off ($1.5 million) the mayor of Denver to get the airport built.
• The artist who painted the murals in Denver Airport has been interviewed and once he claimed that guidelines were provided for their work.
• In some sensitive areas of the airport's underground facilities, several German nationals have been seen along Americans.
• One of the murals shows 3 coffins containing dead people, each person representing people who the elites may want dead: a black woman, a Jewish woman, and an American Indian woman.
• The capstone of the Denver Airport is a Masonic symbol.
• Denver International Airport is one of the main U.S. Underground Military Facilities.

Horse of the Apocalypse

Outside the airport, 10 meters from entrance, stands a 32 ft tall fiberglass statue of a blue Mustang (called popularly "wild" horse) with very noticeable veins in its body.



This horse has alternately been referred to as “Bluecifer,” “Satan’s Steed” and “Blue Devil Horse.” For many, the statue represents the fourth horse in the book of Revelation of the Bible. The horse named Death. That horse certainly brought misery, death and terror.

"And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and he who sits upon it, his name is Death; and Hades followed with him. And authority was given to them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword and with famine and with death and by the beasts of the earth."
Revelation 6:7-8

Denver International Airport concerns the brass plaque at the end of an artistic curved pedestal above the time capsule. Many people say that the plaque contains a Mason symbol. A large portion of the Denver Aiport is called the "Great Hall", and is named after a room found in Freemason lodges.


The New World Airport Commission mentioned on the capstone existed, contrary to what conspiracy fanatics claim, that there is no record of any such organization. The New World Airport Commission was a group of Denver business and civic leaders who sponsored and organized some events at the airport's opening. The idea was making of Denver a new world-class city.

Murals painted inside the Denver Airport have been claimed to contain themes associating to the New World Order.



The man behind the murals

Leo Tanguma is a Chicano (a person of Mexican descent) artist-activist who has created murals throughout the country, generally with the help of local students and volunteers. His innate social consciousness characterizes his vision as a human being and guides him as an artist.

Tanguma has his own quote: "My mission is to emphasize human dignity in all people, preserve the heritage of Chicanos, and most importantly, to stress the ideals of love, respect and justice".

I believe that Tanguma is highly misunderstood. I really think he wanted to show us the suffering of war, the war ending, and the birth of a new of commitment of peace in the world.

It is not rare that most of people only see the bad side of things. We live in world full of pessimism where the moments of happiness are very sporadic.

A Hopeful Future in which Humanity Rehabilitates the Environment

On this mural, I depict humanity, represented by children of the world arrayed in national or folkloric costumes. They move from both ends towards the center, and are shown smiling optimistically as they strive to rehabilitate our natural environment. On the background to this jubilant procession, are depicted various temperate zones of our planet beginning, on the extreme left with the ocean, temperate forests, frigid, tropical rainforest, and desert.
These “zones” are pictorially described with relevant geographical features, as well as wildlife indigenous to those regions. For example, the Quetzal bird signifies tropical rain or cloud forests, while the Snow Leopard is representative of frigid mountainous environments. Moreover, these different zones are shown as robust and healthy, as are the various wildlife species depicted. This portrayal is confluent with the ideal of a rehabilitated natural environment resplendent in all its beauty.


Tanguma said that the mural is nothing to be frightened of. The first part of the environmental mural is about the ways that humans destroy nature and themselves through destruction and genocide. The second part is about humanity coming together to rehabilitate nature and revive their own compassion."

The Torch of Quetzalcoatl

It was my intention to create a sculptural mural, which would be instructive about Mexican-Americans and our struggle for social justice and cultural self-identity. This design was inspired by our ancient Mexican deity, Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent.

Photos Source: http://leotanguma.com


Conspiracy or coincidence?

1. - Horse of the Apocalypse

For many, the big blue Mustang is demonic.

The artist who made the Mustang, Luis Jimenez was killed in 2006 when a section of the 9,000-pound fiberglass statue fell on him during its construction. Jimenez was a widely honored American artist known for melding Chicano themes and Western history in exuberant sculptures.

Accidents happen, and more when one is making big sculptures as Mustang of Denver Airport.

After reading several articles, only one said that the Mustang of Denver Airport represented the American football team of the city.

The Denver Broncos are a famous professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. The Mustang has been the symbol of the Broncos for many years. So, why to think that the Mustang represents one of the horses of apocalypse and not the emblematic American football team.


2. - Underground constructions

Denver International Airport is listed as one of the main U.S. Underground Military Facilities.

Function: Military research, construction, detainment camp facilities
Levels: 7 reported
Tunnels to: Denver proper, Colorado and Rocky Mountain "safe housing", Colorado Springs, Colorado (Cheyenne Mtn.), Riverton, Wyoming Notes: Constructed in 1995, the government and politicians were hell bent on building this airport in spite of it ending up vastly over budget. Charges of corruption, constant construction company changes, and mass firings of teams once they had built a section of their work was reported so that no "one" group had any idea what the blueprint of the airport was. Not only did locals not want this airport built nor was it needed, but everything was done to make sure it was, period. Masonic symbols and bizarre artwork of dead babies, burning cities and women in coffins comprise an extensive mural as well as a time capsule - none of which is featured in the airport's web site section detailing the unique artwork throughout the building.

DIA is reported to serve as a cover for the vast underground facilities that were built there. There are reports of electronic/magnetic vibrations which make some people sick and cause headaches in others. There are acres of fenced-in areas which have barbed wire pointing into the area as if to keep things in, and small concrete stacks that resemble mini-cooling towers rise out of the acres of nowhere to apparently vent underground levels.

It is normal that the underground constructions are for the underground train system that connects all the terminals, including additional tunneling built to accommodate future expansion.
But, why too big? Well, if Denver wants to become a world-class city, one of the essential things to attract tourists, is to have a world-class airport that provides all facilities to travelers.

Other underground systems were built for Denver's state of the art automated baggage handling system. In 2005, it was retired completely because it was not working well; why to maintain anything that does not represent any kind of help?

Nowadays the underground tunnels are used for conventional baggage handling. Many workers enter and leave of there every day, and nobody has ever reported seeing anything rare.

Denver has a privileged geographical location as it lies near the mountainous rocks. It has helped each year mining and energy companies to emerge.


3. - Murals

Some people can say murals contain subliminal messages and that promote paganism and a New World Order. Others can say they are just art. We have to see both sides of the coin, and above all, try to awaken in people the goodness that rarely see nowadays.

In the first mural we could see a German boy that has a huge iron first and is pounding all the weapons into plowshares on an anvil. Why not to think that the mural where we see children of different races symbolize the unity, brotherhood and multiculturalism of our planet. We have to remember that the mural was painted by an American artist and that in the United States there are people from all latitudes of our planet. Then, why to think that the mural contains satanic messages? The point is that there is so much to interpret in the murals. Each one has its own opinion and that is a thing we have to accept.

A black woman inside a tomb can have many interpretations. Maybe it represents the genocide, but also can be seen as the thousands of victims that ridiculous wars have left over the years.

It is important to mention that the man who coined the name of the New World Airport Commission listed on the Masonic capstone in DIA’s great hall, Charles Ansbacher, died on September 12, 2010 as a result of an incurable tumour. He was vital in creating the airport’s enormous art program, which commissioned works such as the Tanguma murals and the Mustang. Ansbacher was also the founder of Boston Landmarks Orchestra.

For the ex Major of Denver, John Hickenlooper, all that is just the largest, most comprehensive public art project of any airport on earth.

We should not be so radical and demonize everything we see. Of course, there are many uncertainties, mysteries, enigmas that need to be clarified. There are things that can be explained scientifically but also there are things that can't be explained.

Leo Tanguma always says that the murals are about environmentalism and preservation of Earth. He says that as a Christian, he sees the murals as his sermons.

It is necessary to show the sad and harsh reality in which we, humans, live. Real life is not like fairy tales where the prince and princess marry and live happily forever. We must keep our feet firmly on the ground and see that each day is unique and different.


Believe it or not?

Honestly, I'm perplexed by the numerous conspiracy theories of Denver Airport. We have to comprehend the difference between fact and fantasy.

"Conspiracy fanatics" believes what they believe because they want to believe it. No amount of facts proving their wrong hypothesis. Of course, there are also people who spend their time, money, resources looking for authentic evidences that can prove their statements.

For me the big blue Mustang is art. I think it's a great sculpture. Maybe people who don't like that sculpture are not horse lovers. Really good artwork has multiple levels of meaning. Art definitely varies from people to people, so I can't expect anyone to agree.

If there is something strange in the Denver airport, sooner or later be discovered because nothing is eternal in the world.

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THE FRENCH POLITICAL SPOIL: FLORENCE CASSEZ

The Mexican and French media were very attentive to the case of Florence Cassez. In March 2009, French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, officially visited Mexico.

Pressures to Sarkozy to take the beautiful Florence back to France, were tremendous. He requested that Cassez could be transferred to a French prison, something she may be entitled to under the 1983 Strasbourg Convention on the transfer of sentenced people, signed by both France and Mexico.


Who is Florence Cassez?

Florence Cassez is a 36-year-old French woman convicted in Mexico of belonging to the kidnapping gang "The Zodiacs". She is currently serving a 60-year sentence. In April 2006, Florence Cassez was sentenced to 96 years in jail, but after a legal dispute the sentence was reduced to 60 years.

Florence was a sociable teenager. She continued until high school to first class, and then chose different direction to join: a year of commercial training before entering the workforce.

She had many friends, some of whom still remember her perfectly. Cassez also took some dance lessons. Later she took art classes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts.




A journey starts

In 2003, Cassez was responsible for a large store of a regional teaching French. She always waited up, did more and did better. Florence Cassez's brother, an entrepreneur in Mexico for 6 years, offered her coming work with him. She accepted the idea and went to Mexico. Cassez learned the Spanish language in 6 months. Months later, she met Israel Vallarta, a Mexican man, who became his boyfriend.

She spent several months with him before returning to France. In 2005 Cassez was in France but Vallarta called her and as her new job did not satisfy her, she took the decision to come back Mexico to live with his boyfriend in his ranch. After some months, Cassez found a job in a hotel. She had already decided to rent an apartment to live alone.


Mexican-French Cooperation

Mexico bilateral cooperation, France stands out in the aircraft industry, agribusiness and infrastructure. Both countries have a long tradition of cooperation.

The French multinational food, DANONE, owner of the world-famous water brand, Evian, plans to build a mega farm with capacity for more than 10.000 cows, working in conjunction with small producers. In the aerospace sector, cooperation is based on the transfer of skills and technology.

Mexico hosts 300 French companies that employ about 80 thousand people, making France one of the largest foreign investors in Mexico, behind only the United States and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, France has in Mexico its second investment destination in Latin America, after Brazil. Mexico is the main Latin American investor in France.

Mexico is not the United States

The refusal of a country to extradite suspects or criminals to another could affect international relations a lot. It is coomon that the country to which extradition is refused will incriminate the other country of refusing extradition for political reasons, even if those reasons are not justified.

In 1997 special attention had the case of Ira Einhorn, in which some US commentators pressured the ex french President Jacques Chirac not to intervene in legal cases, to permit extradition when the case was held up due to differences between French and American human rights law.

Ira Einhorn, better known as "The Unicorn Killer", is a convicted murderer, and former American activist of the 1960s and 1970s. He is now serving a life sentence for the 1977 murder of Holly Maddux.

In 1997, Einhorn was located and arrested in Champagne-Mouton, France where he had been living under the name "Eugene Mallon". His extradition to the United States, however, was much more complicated than many policymakers believed have been putting in evidence the different interpretations that had France and the U.S. about the "right to a fair trial." The agreements with both countries, they may refuse extradition if it considers that the accused can't get a fair trial.

Finally, American pressure was much stronger than the French government's position and on July 20, 2001, Einhorn was extradited to the United States.

I wonder... if Florence Cassez had been arrested in the United States, France was pressing so severely?

A great controversy

Is it authentic and worthy the French government's position to what happened to one of its citizens, Florence Cassez? If you have to wait for a response from the country in which you were born, obviously France should and must demand that Florence Cassez's human rights are respected.

The low popularity of President Sarkozy and President Calderon has created a climate of hostility and doubts about the statements and actions of both leaders.

The controversy started when the Mexican television presented a report that recreated the events of how Florence Cassez and his accomplices were arrested. Cassez was actually captured on December 8, 2005 and not on December 9, 2005 as believed. The authorities stated that this was done with the aim of recreating the facts as Cassez was arrested.

Perhaps many of us have in our minds the idea that a kidnapper to give her no compassion, because she had no compassion for their victims, and that must be tough against the hijackers and more in Mexico where its citizens live in constant tension because of the criminal organizations that exist.


Foreign Affairs Secretariat

Press Release 047
Foreign Affairs Secretariat
Mexico City

The Foreign Affairs Secretariat confirmed that French National Florence Cassez may not be transferred to fulfill her sentence in France under the Strasbourg Convention.

Yesterday, spokesman for the French government François Baroin asked Mexico to, “Respect the international agreements it had signed, particularly those concerning the transfer to their country of origin of persons condemned abroad.”

The Secretariat of Foreign Affairs said that the Strasbourg Agreement on the Transfer of Condemned Persons establishes clearly and unequivocally that consent is required from the sentencing state and the executing state in order to implement these provisions. In other words, permitting the transfer is a decision that must be taken by the country where the party to be transferred resides.

With regard to the Florence Cassez case and in response to a letter from President Nicolás Sarkozy, President Felipe Calderón declared, on 6 February 2009, that only after a condemnatory sentence had been established, “Would it be possible to explore the applicability of the Agreement on the Transfer of Condemned Persons adopted in Strasburg, France on 21 March 1983.”

Contrary to what anonymous sources have declared, at no time did the Mexican head of state pledge to carry out the transfer requested.

As the text of the letter shows, the commitment was restricted to “exploring the applicability” of the Strasburg Agreement.

In order to examine this possibility, in March 2009, Presidents Calderón and Sarkozy established a bi-national commission of jurists to conduct a detailed examination of the Strasbourg Convention.

In June 2009, after the bi-national commission had met for three months, the Mexican government concluded that there was an absence of conditions allowing it to consent to Florence Cassez's transfer to France.

President Felipe Calderón confirmed this decision in a letter to President Nicolás Sarkozy dated 22 July 2009, stating that, “The differences between the legal systems of Mexico and France prevent my government from allowing Ms. Cassez to be transferred to France to complete the sentence passed by Mexican courts.

In the same letter, President Calderón added that: “This decision, which is fully based on the Strasbourg Agreement, includes prior consent from the state where the person to be transferred resides among its requirements.”

It is therefore incorrect to say that a statement was issued that Florence Cassez would be transferred in the event that her sentence was definitive.

The Mexican government’s position is based on the following considerations:

1. There are substantial differences between the Mexican and French legal systems preventing Florence Cassez from fulfilling the sentence passed by the Mexican courts entirely in France.
2. France’s statements regarding its interpretation of the Strasbourg Convention constitute an impediment to guaranteeing that Florence Cassez will be able to fulfill the whole of her sentence in French territory.
3. These declarations state that, in the event that Florence Cassez was transferred to her country of origin, her sentence would be subject to the decisions of the French legal authorities regarding the modalities of their execution, including its suspension or reduction.
4. For Mexico, fulfilling the full 60 year sentence is an essential condition, since in the case of serious crimes such as abduction; the law does not contemplate early release or the reduction of sentences.

The Mexican government fulfils its international obligations unquestionably and in good faith. In this case, it has done so by exploring the possibility of applying the Strasbourg Convention in the case of Florence Cassez, as it pledged to do.

A detailed review of this case lead to an irrefutable conclusion: agreeing to her transfer would mean authorizing another state to permit the unjustified reduction or even elimination of the sentence warranted by the crimes committed by Florence Cassez in Mexico.

In Mexico, the crime of abduction is punished by the maximum sentence. It is a severe legal order that expresses Mexican society's condemnation of this crime and its determination to eliminate it.

This is the punishment given to anyone in Mexico sentenced for this serious crime, whether Mexican or foreign.

Contrary to what anonymous sources have declared, at no time did the Mexican head of state pledge to carry out the transfer requested.

The former cultural counselor of the French Embassy in Washington and Rome, Patrick Talbot, refused to receive the Legion of Honor by the French government's decision to devote the year of Mexico in France to Florence Cassez.

He is also former director of the prestigious Arles photo, this year planned to hold a photo exhibition in Mexico. Talbot sent a letter to Sarkozy where criticizes in harsh terms his decision.

Talbo said that it is unfair to mix culture, justice, diplomacy and politics.

Sarkozy, also received strong criticism in parliament of his country, both from the left and right, for deteriorating relations with Mexico, following the case Cassez. The conservative lawmaker, Chantal Brunel, said in her speech that being French abroad does not mean to be innocent, referring to Cassez. The lawmaker Francois Bayrou, branded as brutal the foreign policy of Sarkozy.


What to expect?

Sarkozy's decision to dedicate Cassez the Year of Mexico in France has damaged bilateral relations a lot. He did it just days after the ex French Foreign Minister, Michele Alliot Marie, called the decision of the Mexican federal court "unjust" and "deplorable". That was the main reason that made Mexico cancels "The Year of Mexico in France", which consists in diverse events, films, and conferences.

In 2012, it will be Mexico's turn to assume the presidency of the G-20. France would present the Cassez's case next year. Maybe the case reaches the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and it will make that many doubts are cleared.

If Cassez's lawyers have the evidences that prove their client's innocence, then they have to show justice those evidences.

Sarkozy has to know that he is not defending Joan of Arc. Evidences show that Cassez effectively was a member of a dangerous gang. Both, victims and their accomplices have openly declared that she participated in some kidnappings. So, Sarkozy should be more cautious in his declarations against Mexico. Nationality does not play in this case.

We hope that soon that impasse, which must be treated as something purely legal, is resolved and that prevail mainly the relationship of friendship and brotherhood that both nations have had for a long time.

Source 1: http://sre.gob.mx/english/
Source 2: http://liberezflorencecassez.com/

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