Coral

Two interesting stories appeared this week on coral. The fact they are endangered and that they have been discovered off the Canadian East Coast.

Corals Added To IUCN Red List Of Threatened Species For First Time

"There is a common misconception that marine species are not as vulnerable to extinction as land-based species," said Roger McManus, CI's vice president for marine programs. "However, we increasingly realize that marine biodiversity is also faced with serious environmental threat, and that there is an urgent need to determine the worldwide extent of these pressures to guide marine conservation practice."

"Marine ecosystems are vulnerable to threats at all scales -- globally through climate change, regionally from El Niño events, and locally when over-fishing removes key ecosystem building blocks," said Jane Smart, head of the IUCN Species Program. "We need more effective solutions to manage marine resources in a more sustainable way in light of these increasing threats."

Scientists find trio of coral 'hot spots' off Canada's East Coast

Scientists have for the first time discovered a string of coral 'hot spots' in waters off Canada's East Coast and will use the surprising finds to press global fishing interests to steer clear of areas they say are vital marine habitats.

Canadian researchers, in a study to be released Tuesday, said they found heavy concentrations of about 30 species of coral along a stretch of the seabed that extends from the Hudson Strait off Labrador to the Grand Banks off southern Newfoundland.

Their 40-page report says three main sites serve as sanctuaries for a variety of marine animals, but are being damaged by intense fishing.

"We're recommending an immediate fisheries closure in those areas where coral concentrations can be identified within those hot spots," said Bob Rangeley of the World Wildlife Fund, which released the study.

While large scale trawler fishing is a problem for coral reefs so is offshore oil and gas exploration in countries like the Philippines.

Gov’t Selling Protected Seas to TNCs – Environmental Groups In line with its thrust of attracting foreign investments, the Arroyo government is now opening up the country’s protected seas to oil and gas exploration by transnational corporations.

In our brave new world of genetic modification coral genes have been added to tropical fish.

GlowFish - freshwater zebra fish native to Asia that have been genetically modified to express fluorescent proteins so they glow red, green or yellow. The genes come from a coral and an anemone.

And ancient coral reefs are being studied because of the impact that volcanic global warming had millions of years ago on the extinction of almost all life on earth.

In 1991, scientists reported that the largest known volcanic event in the past 600 million years occurred at the same time as the end-Permian extinction. Magma extruded through coal-rich regions of the Earth's crust and blanketed a region the size of the continental United States with basalt to a depth of up to 6 kilometers. The eruptions that formed the Siberian Traps not only threw ash, debris and toxic gases into the atmosphere but also may have heated the coal and released vast quantities of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.

Rapid release of these greenhouse gases would have caused the oceans first to become acidic and then to become supersaturated with calcium carbonate. In the July Bulletin, Payne presents evidence that underwater limestone beds around the world eroded at the time of the end-Permian extinction. This finding, coupled with geochemical evidence for changes in the relative abundances of carbon isotopes, strongly suggests an acidic marine environment at the time of the extinction. The rock layers immediately covering this eroded surface include carbonate crystal fans, which indicate oceans supersaturated with calcium carbonate.

More than 90 percent of all marine species disappeared from the Great Bank of Guizhou and other end-Permian fossil formations 250 million years ago. Land plants and animals suffered similar losses. Douglas Erwin, curator of the Paleozoic invertebrates collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, has dubbed this event "the greatest biodiversity crisis in the history of life." An unusually long period of time passed before biological diversity began to reappear.

"This end-Permian extinction is beginning to look a whole lot like the world we live in right now," Payne said. "The good news, if there is good news, is that we have not yet released as much carbon into the atmosphere as would be hypothesized for the end-Permian extinction. Whether or not we get there depends largely on future policy decisions and what happens over the next couple of centuries."

Reef communities are a sort of canary in the mineshaft, Payne explained. Today, coral reef health is considered a measure of environmental stability. When stressed by environmental conditions, the algae that inhabit the reef leave, and the reef loses color-and one reason why algae might leave is temperature. For example, when ocean temperatures rise during El Niño years, corals bleach. This type of immediate response to environmental change is hard to track in the geologic record.

The climate change deniers will probably blame El Nino and El Nina for this.

In mid-2007, scientists announced the results of an examination of the geological record of coral reefs in the Caribbean, dating back over 3,000 years.

Using core samples from the coral, these scientists found that – for thousands of years – reefs grew rapidly. But, since about 1980, reef-building has faltered.

Richard Aronson: The kinds of changes that we’ve seen over the last several decades are unprecedented on a scale of at least several thousand years.

That’s Rich Aronson of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama. He said that reef cover – the percentage of living coral on a reef – has shrunk from covering about 50 % to 10 % of Caribbean reefs since the late 1970s.

Threats to coral come from water pollution – from destructive fishing with dynamite – from carbon-based greenhouse gases, which can acidify the ocean and stunt coral growth and from warmer ocean waters causing coral bleaching.

Another recent study found a nearly identical trend in the much broader Indo-Pacific region, which contains 75% of the world’s coral reefs.

Canada's Coral Museum on Video.ca

Welcome to Canada's Coral Museum which turned out to be the greatest coldwater coral museum in the entire world. Canada had more coral on our East Coast than 11 Great Barrier Reefs but we destroyed it all in our mindless quest for fishsticks while we blamed seals and handliners for the disaster. Too bad nobody helped and I only run the very sucessful museum for a few months.


See:

Strange Sea Creatures

Climate Catastrophe In Ten Years

They Walk Among Us

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Stating The Obvious

Oh dear what are the reactionary right wing climate change deniers going to do now?

The White House has finally admitted the obvious after years of being in denial.

George Bush's top scientific advisor has delivered the strongest statement yet from within the US administration that greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity are to blame for climate change.

Professor John Marburger said it was more than 90 per cent likely that mankind was causing global warming and that the earth may become "unlivable" without reductions in CO2 output.

"I think there is widespread agreement on certain basics, and one of the most important is that we are producing far more CO2 from fossil fuels than we ought to be," he told the BBC.

"And it's going to lead to trouble unless we can begin to reduce the amount of fossil fuels we are burning and using in our economies."

Of course its one thing to admit the obvious and another to do something about it.

The federal office that oversees the nation's research on global warming is inadequate on many levels and some of its tools are falling apart, according to a critique issued yesterday by a committee of the National Research Council.

Lack of new investment would mean that “U.S. capability to monitor trends, document the impacts of future climate change and further improve prediction and assimilation models . . . will decline even as the urgency of addressing climate change increases,” said the report, which focused on the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.

The bleak assessment was led by Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a climate and atmospheric scientist at UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

It is the second major study released in recent days that denounced the U.S. government's handling of global warming. The other, written by the Government Accountability Office, blamed the Bush administration for doing little to address how climate change is altering the nation's lands and waters.

It's unclear whether such criticisms will gain traction at the White House, which has been faulted for years for not making global warming a priority.

SEE:

APEC Is Not Kyoto

No Rush

Michael Crichton Climate Change Denier

Industrial Ecology

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Kraken Good Read

A very interesting post on the Kraken in Pop Matters. While the American author eruditely espouses the role of the giant squid in literature, myth and lore, as well as recent scientific research, he somehow misses any reference to the ultimate giant octopi/squid; Cthulhu and the works of American master of the macabre H.P.Lovecraft.

Especially since he begins his essay referring to the Pirates of the Caribbean. I would have thought this to obvious to miss. Davey Jones is modeled on pop culture versions Lovecraft's Cthulhu.

Along with giant octopi who sleep at the bottom of the sea dreaming eldrich thoughts, Lovecraft had a fascination with giant worms.








See;

sea monsters

There Be Monsters

CUTHULU TWO


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Quake!

More tectonic plate activity in the core of the Ring of Fire; Indonesia. Three days of shock and aftershock as the plates move.

Frightened Indonesians suffer new Sumatra quakes

Strong enough that; East African nations issue tsunami alerts


And the original quake was felt in Thailand

People in tall buildings in Bangkok felt the 8.2 magnitude earthquake that shook southern Sumatra, in Indonesia, almost 2,000 km away, yesterday. Office workers in business areas of Silom, Sathorn and Ratchadaphisek were seen running from highrise buildings when the quake struck shortly after 6pm.

The after shocks hit the Philippines. 5.4 magnitude quake jolts Batanes


Luckily though no Tsunami occurred, Indonesia escapes tsunami again as quake takes toll

The post-2004 warning system did work.

Fortunately, the tidal wave produced by the latest quakes reached a maximum height of just two feet. But unlike 2004, when governments were slow to issue evacuation warnings, officials responded quickly this time.

Unfortunately too well. Tsunami alerts quickly followed Indonesian quake; panic prevailed

Indonesia lifts 7th tsunami warning after 6.9-magnitude earthquake

It just goes to show that along with Bird Flu, Global Warming and the possible impact of an asteroid , we need to be aware of the dangers of the ancient crawl of the earth known as tectonic shift.

Powerful quakes terrorize Indonesia, experts warn of 'big one'

A series of powerful earthquakes has terrorized residents in western Indonesia - including one that triggered a tsunami warning Friday - leaving thousands sleeping on plastic sheets in the hills. Seismologists warn the worst may yet to come.

"No one can say whether it will be in 30 seconds or 30 years," he said. "But what happened the other day, I think is quite possibly a sequence of smaller earthquakes leading up to the bigger one."

An 8.4-magnitude quake that shook Southeast Asia on Wednesday was followed by dozens of strong aftershocks - including one measuring a magnitude of 7.8 and another 7.1 - that killed 13 people, damaged hundreds of houses and spawned a 3-metre-high tsunami.

On Friday, a 6.4-magnitude temblor hit the area again, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, triggering the latest in a string of tsunami warnings that was later lifted.

The fault, which runs the length of the west coast of Sumatra about 200-kilometres offshore, is the meeting point of the Eurasian and Pacific tectonic plates, which have been pushing against each other for millions of years. This can cause huge stresses to build up.

"There is a strong indication this foreshadows the big one," said Danny Hillman, an earthquake specialist at the Indonesian Institute of Science. "We all agree there is an 8.5 or stronger earthquake waiting to happen."

Especially when idiots in the region insist on testing nuclear weapons. Or creating mud volcanoes from petroleum exploration. Thus adding a man made element to the mix.

Geothermal plants would tap 'Ring of Fire'

The Pacific Northwest, which sits on the volcano-laden "Ring of Fire" bordering the Pacific Ocean, would seem an obvious spot to pursue geothermal power.

For Gordon Bloomquist, it has been obvious for nearly 30 years. He and others have estimated that by capturing the Earth's subterranean heat and converting it into electricity, they could generate enough power for 2 million homes.

But, only now, as the Washington State University geochemist prepares to retire and take his talents to work on geothermal projects for the World Bank in Eastern Europe and Africa, does it look as if this region may be pushed to exploit the hot-rock power lurking beneath our feet.

Speaking of geo-thermal energy and climate warming let's not forget that this is the region that produced Krakatoa.

However, Becker said, a leaky tectonic quilt on average would lead to greater volcanic activity, earthquakes and plate movement. This would affect almost every aspect of Earth's geography, from sea level to erosion to climate.

"There's sort of a chain of things that follows from a good mechanical understanding of how plate tectonics works," he said.

Like the proverbial butterfly effect, what happens in the core of the Ring of Fire affects us too.

'Ring of Fire' asserts power with tremor
Times of India, India - 16 Aug 2007

Peru has become the latest country to feel the renewed heat from the ‘Ring of Fire’ that unleashes earthquakes around the Pacific almost every day.

At least 337 people were killed after the 7.9-magnitude quake rattled the country on Wednesday. The Ring of Fire stretches along the western coast of the Americas through the island nations of the South Pacific and on through Southeast Asia. It is a series of fault lines in the hardened upper layers of the Earth’s crust.

These lines of weakness are the meeting points of huge continental plates that make up the crust and which literally float on the molten rock of the Earth's core.

These plates are in constant motion, clashing into each other or moving away from each other, creating stresses and pressure build-ups at their margins.

This stress is released through volcanic eruptions, when the molten rock is ejected as magma through fissures in the crust, or via earthquakes, when the pressure causes the crust to buckle and shift.

Two days ago reports fluctuated as to whether the quake was 8.4 or 7.9
it all depended on where it was registered.

But that should have set off warning bells that apparently there were overlapping quakes leading to the next two days of so called after-shocks which were more like quakes than shocks.

A massive magnitude 8.4 earthquake hit southern Sumatra's Bengkulu province Wednesday at 6:10 pm local time. It was followed by 51 tremors, including one in western Sumatra's Jambi province Thursday morning that was measured at a magnitude of 7.8. The severe quakes rattled buildings in three countries and triggered tsunami warnings across the Indian and Pacific oceans.

The powerful earthquake of 7.9 magnitude that struck off the coast of Indonesia had its epicentre about 100 km southwest of Bengkulu.

According to R.K. Chadha, scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, the fault plane was in a northwest-southeast direction. The focus (where the plate rupture actually takes place inside the earth) was at a depth of about 30 km from the ocean floor.

“The length of the fault plane should not be more than 250 km. Its epicentre is 300-400 km further south of the December 2004 quake,” Dr. Chadha said. The 2004 earthquake caused a rupture 1200 km long and pushed the Burma plate by 15 m for the entire length of the fault.

In 2004, the focus was 10 km, and hence it was a shallow earthquake. Unlike deep quakes, shallow ones cause more damage. A tsunami that results from such quakes can be more powerful and widespread compared to deep-seated earthquakes.

The quake that struck at 6.10 p.m. local time on Wednesday had a magnitude of 7.9-8, while that of the 2004 quake was 9. With magnitude being measured on a logarithmic scale, a magnitude difference of one translates to a quake 10 times more powerful.

Though a tsunami can be generated even by a shallow quake of 6.5 magnitude, maximum tsunami energy will always be focussed in the direction perpendicular to that of the fault plane. With the fault plane of Wednesday’s quake lying in a northwest-southeast direction, the maximum energy dissipation would have been in the same direction.

Unlike in 2004, where the direction of energy dissipation from the fault plane was nearly parallel to the Indian coast, maximum energy dissipation from the current quake would not have been in the direction of the Indian coast but into the open ocean. On the northeast direction, the energy dissipation would have been towards Bengkulu island.

Following the 2004 quake, another earthquake of 8.7 magnitude struck off the coast of Sumatra on March 28, 2005, about 200 km south of the 2004 event. It happened in the same subduction zone. “We call this as loading and unloading of stress,” said Dr. Chadha. “When stress is released at one point, it accumulates at another point. And, we had predicted that another quake would strike further south of the March event.”

The latest quake was in the same subduction zone, and lies further south of the March 2005 event.

SEE:

Earth in Upheaval-Updated




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Alberta KGB

I await the outrage of the Blogging Tories and their right wing ilk, that claim the mantle of the anti-Stalinist right wing.

Those folks who remind us of the horrors of Marxism by referring to the Stalinist USSR as an example of police state socialism.

The example they gave was always about how the State would spy on its citizens.

Suddenly they are sure quiet when the shoe is on the other foot when it applies to their bastion of conservatism in North America; the One Party State of Alberta.

Utility regulator breaches privacy with spies at public hearings

Utilities Board wrong to use private dicks: privacy commissioner

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has determined that the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) contravened the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) when it hired private investigators to monitor proceedings at Rimbey, Alberta.

The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board hired a private investigation company to monitor a public hearing about the North West Upgrader project in May, documents obtained by the CBC show.

This is the second time the board hired the firm of Shepp Johnman to attend one of its public hearings.

The board is already being investigated by the government for hiring Shepp Johnman to monitor landowners at a hearing in Rimbey who were opposed to a proposed powerline between Calgary and Edmonton.

Ironic that the virtuous right wing anti-statists never seem to protest such obvious statism when it is their government in power. Why should they now that they are in power they can abandon their principles as so much shaft in the wind,

EUB Offers No Apologies After Damning Privacy Report

This state sanctioned corporate monopoly applies its own jurisdictional law against the public interest and against small producers. It should be abolished.

Tiny Bearspaw Petroleum alleges persecution from Alta regulator

CALGARY (CP) _ Tiny Bearspaw Petroleum Ltd. says Alberta‘s energy regulator takes a “hypocritical approach‘‘ when it comes to enforcing safety rules. The company lined up against the Alberta Energy and Utilities board today in a third-party inquiry into allegations that the natural gas producer has been unfairly persecuted. Jirka Kaplan, an engineer with Bearspaw, told the inquiry that Leo Touchette, the board‘s Red Deer office team leader, had an “intense dislike‘‘ of the small Calgary-based company and did what it could to find things wrong with its operations. Bearspaw alleges that on one occasion, the regulator gave it a high-risk compliance citation and a potential explosion risk for one missing nut on the cover of a piece of well equipment. Kaplan says he hired an independent company to check out the regulator‘s safety concerns and no potential problems were found. Bearspaw has appealed some of the board‘s actions and challenged the legality of some of its processes. The inquiry, which was initiated by the regulator, is scheduled to run until Thursday, and chairman Bob Clark says he will try to expedite a ruling.

Still waiting to hear the outrage of the neo-con right....waiting....not even a peep out of those who would proclaim themselves libertarian....the silence is deafening.

Opposition politicians called Thursday for firings at Alberta‘s energy and utilities regulator after a report found serious privacy breaches by detectives hired to spy on people opposed to a new power corridor. But Premier Ed Stelmach said he wants to see more evidence about the decision of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board to use private detectives at two hearings since last spring.

“It‘s to ensure that all Albertans have full confidence in the AEUB,‘‘ said Stelmach. “It is an important instrument for Albertans in terms of finding the balance between the production and the development of our resources.‘‘

Alberta's energy regulator says it will give opponents of a proposed new Edmonton-Calgary power line enough time to exhaust all appeals before granting any permits for the project.

Landowners who oppose the massive new transmission line were in Alberta Court of Appeal yesterday trying to get a stay on the Energy and Utility Board's decision on whether the project can proceed.

But board lawyer Rick McKee told the hearing that a stay was not needed as the regulator would give landowners enough time to appeal any decision before construction starts.

The board says a decision on the proposal by AltaLink, Alberta's largest transmission company, might not come until at least November.

Joe Anglin, a spokesman for one of the landowner groups, says he fully expects the board to rule in favour of the new power line but his group wants to make sure its voice is heard before some towers are built and their opposition becomes mute.

The power line is also the subject of various provincial inquiries and legal actions over allegations that the Alberta regulator hired private investigators to spy on opponents of the project.

Waiting, waiting.


SEE:

Transparency Alberta Style

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Mission Accomplished In Anbar

Another mission accomplished for the Bush War in Iraq.

"A year ago the province was assessed 'lost' politically," Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told a congressional hearing Monday. "Today, it is a model of what happens when local leaders and citizens decide to oppose al-Qaida and reject its Taliban-like ideology."

This time in Anbar province.

Bomb kills top Sunni sheik co-operating with US against al-Qaida

Oops.

Bush speech to cover troop reduction, need for more time in Iraq

Guess he will have to change tonights speech. His pal is dead like his surge policy.

His importance to the U.S. was made clear by a Sept. 3 meeting with President Bush. On a surprise visit to Anbar province, Bush posed for photos with Abu Risha, who cut the figure of an Arab prince, with an immaculate gold-rimmed robe and a meticulously groomed goatee and a heavy mustache.

Ten days later, Abu Risha _ in his late 30s _ was killed along with two bodyguards by a roadside bomb near his compound. His death may prove a setback to American success in Anbar, once a stronghold of the Sunni Arab insurgency and now cited as a model for the rest of Iraq.

SEE

• Truth A Casualty of War
• Casualties Of War
• Q and A on Iraq

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Danny Millions State Capitalist

Quick someone tell the Tired Old Tories in Alberta, Oil companies accept state capitalism. That whippersnapper Danny Williams is demanding a stake in oil development, on top of royalties. While in Alberta the same oil companies whine about any increase in their royalty windfall of paying 1% annually for 25 years.

The government of Newfoundland has agreed to buy a 5 percent stake in a planned expansion of Husky Energy Inc's White Rose offshore oil field, Canadian Press reported on Wednesday.

The Canadian province of Newfoundland plans to take a 10 pct stake in new oil and gas projects off its coastline, the province's government said.

The demand was contained in the provinces 35-year energy plan released yesterday by Premier Danny Williams.

The province will take a 10 pct stake in future offshore oilfields if they meet long-term strategic objectives and will pay its share of exploration and development costs, he said.

Newfoundland wants a bigger share in future energy projects, and oil companies say the demand is a reasonable point of negotiation for new projects.

Newfoundland described itself as an "energy warehouse," with natural resources unmatched by most other jurisdictions in North America. Given the possibility of Newfoundland being "a significant player on the international stage," Premier Danny Williams named "control" as one of three main energy goals, planning a provincially owned energy corporation to play a major role in future developments.

Paul Barnes, the St. John's-based spokesman for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said state equity stakes are common throughout the world beyond North America and Europe. He said his members are prepared to negotiate exact figures for specific deals. "It's not overly concerning to our members that equity participation is on the table here because we experience it on worldwide basis."

Except in Alberta where the the Republican Lite Tories bend over for the Oil industry.

They forget that State Capitalism is as Canadian as Saskatoon Berry Pie.


See:

Williams Out Deals Stelmach

Transparency Alberta Style

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Truth A Casualty of War

Could this be the reason

Tuesday also marks the sixth anniversary of the worst terror attacks on U.S soil, giving the administration an opportunity to link present-day al-Qaida extremists in Iraq with Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

For this

The idea that the Bush administration participated in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is not limited to fringe Web sites and conspiracy theorists, according to a poll commissioned by a Web site that promotes alternative explanations for the events of Sept. 11. The poll, conducted by Zogby International for 911Truth.org and released last week, found that 31 percent of Americans do not accept the official explanation for Sept. 11 -- that "19 Arab fundamentalists executed a surprise attack which caught U.S. intelligence and military forces off guard." Among that 31 percent, around 26 percent agreed that the American government "knew the attacks were coming but consciously let them proceed for various political, military, and economic motives." Almost 5 percent believed that U.S. officials "actively planned or assisted some aspects of the attack."

Given the White House lies equating their long planned assault on Iraq as their post 9/11 response, equating Saddam with bin Laden, lies about WMD, etc. etc. Ended up being an excuse to leave their war on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan to head off to Baghdad. The result was that gave Al Qaeda clones another front to fight them on.

Given that why wouldn't you believe in a conspiracy. After all there was one, just not the one that 9/11 Truth would have us believe.

America has a long history of Conspiracy theories in politics.

See:

Ron Paul

Saddam and the CIA

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Casualties Of War

Here is an interesting chart. It shows that the past year NATO and the U.S. had more deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan then at any other previous time in the last 54 months. It was released last week.

9/07/2007 Coalition & NATO casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan; through August 2007, with 6-month moving average. Up significantly over the same period last year. 12 month total = 1,396 (highest so far)

A sobering counter to the cheerful Petraeus report.


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Q and A on Iraq

The surge is a success it's just that the war is a failure.

Republican Sen. John Warner of Virgina -- the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee -- offered a polite but devastating appraisal of strategy in Iraq.

"Are you able to say at this time if we continue what you've laid before the Congress here as a strategy do you feel that is making America safer?" Warner asked.

"Sir, I believe that this is indeed the best course of action to achieve our objectives in Iraq," Petraeus said.

"Does that make America safer?" Warner asked again.

"Sir," Petraeus said, "I don't know actually."

Oops wrong answer. But a truthful one. Finally.

Especially after Monday's White House Whitewash by Petraeus and Crocker, where they said they just provide the facts the White House writes the report.

Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Iraq, did not offer a disclaimer about who wrote his testimony, but its thrust closely tracked the many speeches on the subject by President Bush

Are Iraqi's in Baghdad safe after the surge?

The first chinks in Gen Petraeus's optimism appeared with a seemingly innocent question: can a Sunni Arab travel safely to a Shia neighbourhood in Baghdad without getting kidnapped or killed? He could not hazard a clear answer. He said: "It depends on the neighbourhood, frankly. Travel of Sunni Arabs to a number of Shia neighbourhoods in Baghdad is still hazardous." But he did not actually dare to offer an assurance it would ever be possible for a Sunni to venture outside his enclave.

And how about that Iraqi puppet government the Americans setup how's it doing asks Republican Senator Chuck Hagel.

AMB. CROCKER: Thank you, Senator. I'll just touch very briefly on the key and critical points you raise here.

There is an enormous amount of dysfunctionality in Iraq; that is beyond question. The government, in many respects, is dysfunctional, and members of the government know it.

And being a former ambassador to Pakistan he all but admitted that the War in Iraq was not the real front in the war on terror.

"I could say a few things based on my two and half years in Pakistan, and that is the presence of al-Qaeda in the Pakistan and Afghanistan border area is a major challenge to us," former American Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan Crocker said.

And then he returned to using White House Weasel logic.

Crocker was asked for his views on whether the United States is providing sufficient resources to address the threat posed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb.

Democratic Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin asked Crocker "How concerned are you about al-Qaeda's safe haven in Pakistan?" to which the administration's top diplomat in Iraq replied "... we're all quite concerned."

"Which is more important to defeating al-Qaeda, the situation in Afghanistan or that situation in Iraq, Ambassador?" asked a persistent Senator Feingold.

"The challenges in confronting al-Qaeda in the Pak-Afghan border area are immense, and they're complicated. I did not feel, from my perspective as ambassador to Pakistan, that the focus, the resources, the people needed to deal with that situation, weren't available or weren't there because of Iraq," Crocker responded.

"...in my view, fighting al-Qaeda is what's important; whatever front they're on. Fighting al-Qaeda in Pakistan is critically important to us, fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq is critically important to us," Ambassador Crocker added.

NAME — Ryan Clark Crocker

AGE-BIRTH DATE — 58; June 19, 1949

EXPERIENCE — U.S. ambassador to Iraq March 2007-present; U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, 2004-07; international affairs adviser, National War College, 2003-04; director of governance, Coalition Provisional Authority, 2003; deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, 2001-03; interim envoy to Afghanistan, 2002; U.S. ambassador to Syria, 1998-01; U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, 1994-97; U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, 1990-93; political counselor, American Embassy in Cairo, 1987-90; deputy director State Department Office Israel and Arab-Israeli Affairs 1985-87; chief of political section, American Embassy in Beirut, 1981-84; chief economic/commercial officer, U.S. interests section, American Embassy in Baghdad, 1978-1981; economic/commercial officer, American Embassy in Doha, Qatar, 1974-1976; foreign service officer, US Consulate, Khorramshahr, Iran, 1972-1974.

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Reservists Speak Out On Job Protection

Comments from the Job Protection for Canadian Reservists Petition.

Andrew Siwy
Lost my job after a tour in Kandahar, Afghanistan

sarah cram
as a serving member i think it's about time. i've lost two jobs because of operations i've attended.

Jadzia Karas
I came back from tour to unemplyment although I didn't have a hard time finding a job it was yet another struggle to go through

Shawn Sheehan (PTE Sheehan)
I am affraid to do what I want to do - serve oversea's, for fear of losing my career that I've work so hard to obtain

Andreea Savan
definately agree, i lost my job after just needing 2 weeks off, for my QL5

Mary Musson
I am a Reservist with over 13 years of service and I also work fulltime in the social services. The major barrier I have to serving overseas is the lack of job protection and guarantee that after my workup training and overseas tour, I will have a job to return to. I joined the Reserves because I love my country (not for the paycheque). My mortgage is paid by my civilian job. I need to have a job to return to or I cannot commit to serving overseas.

Alex Vorobej
This is something that is long overdue! I have been willing to deploy in the past, but my employer would not allow a leave of absence. This has to stop! I have knowledge of some employers who terminate staff who ask to be deployed, or even participate in summer training programs.

Pte. Climie KR
Regimental Motto: "Non Nobis Sed Patriae" -(Not for ourselves but for our Country) - That explains why job protection should be a must

Terri-Leigh Saunders
As a Reservist myself, I am fortunate enough to have an employer who supports my efforts every time I leave on a Class B contract (3 so far) I can only wish the same for others!

Howard Torney Murray, C.D,
As a retired reservist... and business owner... I support this fully.

278 signatures in three weeks.

Have you signed?

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Black Bloc Can Vote

Says Elections Canada.

Nothing in law requires visible face, Elections Canada says

After all we are over in Afghanistan fighting for womens rights.....to be veiled.

I don't understand the outcry over this it is a family value after all.

Constitution of Afghanistan 2004

Family is a fundamental unit of society and is supported by the state.

The state adopts necessary measures to ensure physical and psychological well being of family, especially of child and mother, upbringing of children and the elimination of traditions contrary to the principles of sacred religion of Islam.

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black bloc, Muslim, voting, Quebec, elections canada, Burka, Bikini, Damascus, Syria, feminism, Islam, women, liberation, empowerment
Religion, babuskhka,Headscarves, Veils, Hajib, Patriarchy, Women, Muslim, Islam,