Bringing new cases, the age will share the truth & knowledge. Depicting the endless corruption, debt, hate, control and battle that is conditioned into our everyday lives. It will exist for the years 2010 to 2020 (The information age). It will be as even sided & independent as possible as we go through the greatest transition age of power & energy the human race has ever experienced
"The world, nor the universe is a small place, its 1 natural consciousness aware of itself"
Royal dutch Shell or just Shell based in the Hague, Netherland and registered in the City of London is the 5th largest corporation in the world, 2nd largest enrgy corporation according to Forbes magazine. Shell has operations in over 90 countries, produces around 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has 44,000 service stations worldwide. Shell Oil Company, its subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest businesses. Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc board members Jeroen van der Veer and Jorma Ollila, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands – a long term major shareholder in Royal Dutch Shell are all members of the secret group the bilderbergers and all three have attended the infamous secret meetings many times.
There are so many stories of corruption oil spills such as in Nigeria or the North Sea that shell have been to blame for and clearly just got away with and ignored all in the name of profits.
Royal Dutch Shell, six other firms to pay fine http://www.marketwatch.com/story/royal-dutch-shell-six-other-firms-to-pay-fine-2010-11-04
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.
Aristotle described two types of political revolution:
Complete change from one constitution to another Modification of an existing constitution.
Revolutions have occurred through human history and vary widely in terms of methods, duration, and motivating ideology. Their results include major changes in culture, economy, and socio-political institutions. Scholarly debates about what does and does not constitute a revolution center around several issues. Early studies of revolutions primarily analyzed events in European history from a psychological perspective, but more modern examinations include global events and incorporate perspectives from several social sciences, including sociology and political science. Several generations of scholarly thought on revolutions have generated many competing theories and contributed much to the current understanding of this complex phenomenon.
Oher info and posts relevent to this case
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_revolutions_and_rebellions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_revolutions_and_coups CASE 214 - Coups d'état CASE 023 - Protests and demo's are a corrupt business
The Revolution Business - World http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpXbA6yZY-8
NATO vs SCO or you could say the 2nd cold war or even the 3rd world war is a hypothetical war that could become a reality. Above in the image In red is the new Anti-Nato alliance? Russia, China, and four central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) and other countries highlighted in red would probably choose the SCO over NATO or even the PATO. These 6 strong countries formed something called the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2001. Known more commonly as the SCO, it was recently dubbed the anti-Nato alliance by a Russian newspaper. While not a formal military alliance like Nato, it’s certainly getting there. While the SCO is ostensibly concerned with regional security and energy cooperation issues, it is hard not to see it as at least partially a response to American efforts to expand Nato and American influence in central Asia.
And it’s certainly been evolving more in that direction. The SCO called for the US to set a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan over a year ago. They just concluded joint military exercises, dubbed “Peace Mission 2007.” (Yes, our enemies have caught on to that aspect of western civilization, spin is everything. I mean, look at what image loads when the Peace Mission 2007 link is clicked!) It’s also of interest to note that Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia have applied to be members of the SCO, for now they just have observer status. And with Russia resuming long range patrols with nuclear capable bombers, something they suspended over a decade ago, there’s little doubt that the SCO is a growing concern.
What does it all mean? It’s hard to say. Western analysts are downplaying the importance of the SCO, but that doesn’t mean much. “Western analysts” can include anything from actual analysts, to agenda driven think tanks, to stealth propaganda agencies like MEMRI. In fact the silliness I see coming from “experts” on CNN and Fox makes it clear that people need to think these things through themselves, the western mainstream media is worse than useless in making any sort of realistic analysis of foreign affairs.
There is no doubt that the resurgence Russian military power and the SCO is at least on some level a response to American militarism and expansionism. Putin was even explicit that the Russian resumption of bomber flights was in response to “other states” who did not demilitarize after the end of the cold war, an obvious reference to America and its ever expanding military budget and military global presence. Ironically enough, the resurgence of Russian military power is because of the huge increase in the price of oil, which has nearly doubled since American began it’s current round of expanded operations/ambitions in central Asia in 2001.
Personally I think it’s a curious and important alliance. In one stroke Russia and China make regional friends, reduce tensions between each other, inhibit American inroads into central Asia (a region a tremendous significance in terms of resources,) increase economic development in the region, and force the Americans to piss away even more money if they want to continue their strategy of American global military hegemony. All good for Russia and China, all bad for the USA. I find it hard to dismiss something so contrary to American interests as being of little importance.
In other words, I see the SCO as the sort of thing I have been warning about for years when I criticized the American strategy of global military dominance as epitomized by the New American Century plan we have implemented. This strategy is based on the premises that we are the good guys, and that we can reshape the world in our image through military dominance. Yes, America is the most powerful nation the world has ever seen. Yes, there are many things about America and its freedoms to be proud of. However, this doesn’t magically give us either the right or the power to rule the world. (Not to mention the wisdom.) And worse, it’s an easy strategy to counter. The SCO is a slick counter to the expansion of Nato and the New American Century. It will cost the USA a fortune to make serious inroads into the SCO, and we could easily make it stronger through further ill considered adventures in Asia. The SCO is already a very powerful alliance, I mean wake up people, Russia and China are quietly forming a power bloc with more population than the west, vast energy and mineral reserves, and an economy that’s growing at a wild pace. And our friends and enemies are lining up at their door! This isn’t important?
Meanwhile the USA is going to spend even more staggering amounts of money pursuing a strategy that hasn’t even made the road from the airport to the Green Zone in Baghdad safe. While the American economy and infrastructure continues to deteriorate from excessive debt and poor maintenance. I have to wonder if the SCO is the future, and it’s Nato that is rapidly become just a pointless 20th century anachronism.
Previous cases like this one
CASE 234 - NATO VS the Warsaw pact CASE 367 - Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
In a cataclysmic earthquake, Madagascar broke free from Africa about 165 million years ago. She spent the next 45 million years drifting approximately 250 miles to the northeast – her present position.
The animals of Madagascar found plentiful foodstuffs, and an almost total lack of predators. Because evolutionary pressures on Madagascar's early inhabitants were almost nonexistent, the island literally teems with life forms that have changed little in hundreds of thousands, even millions of years. In many ways, Madagascar is literally a land that time forgot. The first humans arrived on Madagascar around 2,000 years ago, most likely using outrigger canoes hailing from India, Africa, and Arabia. The newcomers were greeted by dense rainforests and an abundance of wildlife – strange monkey-like creatures known as lemurs, dwarf hippos, giant tortoises, ten-foot tall elephant birds (their enormous, thousand-year old eggs are still being found to this day), and over 100 other exotic species of animal found nowhere else on earth.
Unfortunately for many of these creatures, the arrival of man represented their first encounter with a predator. It took almost 1,000 years, but skilled human hunters managed to drive almost two dozen of those unique and irreplaceable animal species to extinction. Although they lived in tribes, the African, Indian, and Arabic races managed to avoid segregation. Over many hundreds of years, an incredible synthesis of tradition, religion, language, and genetics took place, creating a society remarkable in its uniformity of language and beliefs, and striking in its physical beauty.
In 1500, Portugese explorers landed on the island of Madagascar, did a little exploration, and returned to Europe. Word of the Portugese "discovery" spread to France and England, and both countries rushed to establish settlements on the island. The local tribes formed loose coalitions to succesfully defend themselves against the invading Europeans again and again. In 1794, King Andrianampoinimerina managed to unite the various tribes of Madagascar, forming a single kingdom. Each of his subjects was given enough land to meet the nutritional needs of his family, and the practice of burning rainforests (to obtain additional land) was banned. By 1817, Andrianampoinimerina's son, King Radama I, formed friendly relationships with the major European powers, and invited British missionaries to his country. Led by David Jones, the missionaries introduced the Roman alphabet and Christianity to Radama's subjects. Immediately after Radama's death in 1828, his widow (Queen Ranavalona) took the throne. Referred to even to this day as the wicked queen, Ranavalona forced the missionaries out of Madagascar, and executed her subjects with a zeal never before seen in this land. Queen Ranavalona died in 1861, turning the reigns of power over to a succession of largely ineffective monarchs. In 1883, the French attacked Madagascar. After almost three years of warfare, Madagascar became a French protectorate, and then, after a massive 1895 invasion by French forces, Madagascar became a full-fledged French colony. The monarchy was abolished, and French became the official language. In 1958, the French elected a new President, Charles De Gaulle. De Gaulle immediately granted Madagascar its independence. The locals renamed their nation the Malagasy Republic, and elected Philibert Tsiranana President. A benign leader, Tsiranana was reviled by radical elements as a puppet of the recently departed French. Tiring of the vociferous protesters, Tsiranana finally stepped down in 1972. He was succeeded by Didier Ratsiraka, a naval officer.
Ratsiraka was re-elected twice, replaced briefly by Dr. Albert Zafy in 1991, and then re-elected a third time to his current title as President of the Malagasy Republic. Madagasca for some 20 years was the poorest country on earth by capita and gdp but has risen up 10 places or so to 178th
More than anything else, the people of Madagascar love oratory. The colorful language, Malagasy, like the people who use it, is a living synthesis of Indonesian, African, and Arabic elements. No conversation is complete without a liberal sprinkling of clever euphemisms and timeworn proverbs.
The British missionaries attempted to codify this lyrical language, using the letters of the English alphabet. The Malagasy alphabet is therefore quite similar to the English alphabet
Koch Industries, Inc, is an American private energy conglomerate based in Wichita, Kansas, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments. Koch also owns Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals and Matador Cattle Company. Koch companies are involved in core industries such as the manufacturing, refining and distribution of petroleum, chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates and polymers, minerals, fertilizers, pulp and paper, chemical technology equipment, ranching, finance, commodities trading, as well as other ventures and investments. The firm employs 50,000 people in the United States and another 20,000 in 59 other countries. In 2008, Forbes called it the second largest privately held company in the United States (after Cargill) with an annual revenue of about $98 billion, down from the largest in 2006. If Koch Industries were a public company in 2007, it would rank about 16 in the Fortune 500.
Fred C. Koch, for whom Koch Industries, Inc. is named, co-founded the company in 1940 and developed an innovative crude oil refining process. His sons, Charles G. Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, and David H. Koch, executive vice president, are principal owners of the company after they bought out their brothers, Frederick and William, for $1.1 billion in 1983. Charles and David H. Koch each own 42% of Koch Industries, and Charles has stated that the company will publicly offer shares "literally over my dead body"
The company was renamed Koch Industries in honor of Fred Koch, the year after his death. At that time, it was primarily an engineering firm with part interest in a Minnesota refinery, a crude oil-gathering system in Oklahoma, and some cattle ranches. In 1968, Charles approached Union Oil of California about buying their interest in Great Northern Oil Company and its Pine Bend Refinery but the discussions quickly stalled after Union asked for a large premium. In 1969, Union Oil began trying to market their interest in Great Northern by telling potential buyers that Koch's controlling interest could be thwarted by currying favor with another owner, J. Howard Marshall II. When Marshall discovered this he threw his lot in with Koch, they together acquired a majority interest in the company and ultimately bought Union's interest. Ownership of Pine Bend refinery led to several new businesses and capabilities, including chemicals, fibers, polymers, asphalt and other commodities such as petroleum coke and sulfur. These were followed by global commodity trading, gas liquids processing, real estate, pulp and paper, risk management and finance. In 1970, Charles was joined at the family firm by his brother David H. Koch. Having started as a technical services manager, David became president of Koch Engineering in 1979.
2011 (MMXI) is the current year, which is a common year that started on a Saturday. In the Gregorian calendar, it is the 2011th year of the Common Era (CE) and the Anno Domini (AD) designation; the 11th year of the 3rd millennium and of the 21st century; and the 2nd of the 2010s decade.
5 richest people of 2011
1. Carlos Slim Helú 2. Bill Gates 3. Warren Edward Buffett 4. Bernard Arnault 5. Lawrence Ellison
1) Japan earthquake - March 11 – A 9.1-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the east of Japan, killing 15,840 and leaving another 3,926 missing. Tsunami warnings are issued in 50 countries and territories. Emergencies are declared at four nuclear power plants affected by the quake. Japan is deeply polluted and has lots of radioactive waste and pollution.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, "In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan." The Japanese National Police Agency confirmed 15,840 deaths, 5,950 injured, and 3,642 people missing across eighteen prefectures, as well as over 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed. The earthquake and tsunami caused extensive and severe structural damage in Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. Around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water. Many electrical generators were taken down, and at least three nuclear reactors suffered explosions due to hydrogen gas that had built up within their outer containment buildings after cooling system failure. Residents within a 20 km (12 mi) radius of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant and a 10 km (6.2 mi) radius of the Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant were evacuated. In addition, the U.S. recommended that its citizens evacuate up to 80 km (50 mi) of the plant
2) Civil war in Libya and gaddafi - March 17 – The United Nations Security Council votes 10-0 to create a no-fly zone over Libya in response to allegations of government aggression against civilians.
March 19 – In light of continuing attacks on Libyan rebels by forces in support of leader Muammar Gaddafi, military intervention authorized under UNSCR 1973 begins as French fighter jets make reconnaissance flights over Libya.
October 20 - Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is killed in Sirte, with National Transitional Council forces taking control of the city, and ending the war.
3) British Royal wedding - April 29 – An estimated two billion people watch the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London.
4) Unproven Death of Osama Bin laden - May 1 – U.S. President Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of the militant group Al-Qaeda, has been killed during an American military operation in Pakistan.
5) Norway killings - July 22 – 76 people are killed in twin terrorist attacks in Norway after a bombing in the Regjeringskvartalet (the government center in Oslo) and a shooting at a political youth camp in the island of Utøya.
The first was a car bomb explosion in Oslo within Regjeringskvartalet, the executive government quarter of Norway, at 15:25:22 (CEST). The car bomb was placed outside the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and other government buildings. The explosion killed eight people and wounded several others, with more than 10 people critically injured.
The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utøya in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. The camp was organized by AUF, the youth division of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party. A gunman dressed in an authentic looking police uniform and showing false identification[9] gained access to the island and subsequently opened fire at the participants, killing 69 attendees, including personal friends of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and the stepbrother of Norway's crown princess Mette-Marit. This makes it the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II.
6) Banking system collapse - October 27 – After an emergency meeting in Brussels, the European Union announced an agreement to tackle the European sovereign debt crisis which includes a writedown of 50% of Greek bonds, a recapitalisation of European banks and an increase of the bailout fund of the European Financial Stability Facility totaling to €1 trillion.
May 16 – The European Union agree to €78 billion rescue deal for Portugal. The bailout loan will be equally split between the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, the European Financial Stability Facility, and the International Monetary Fund
September - Occupy wall street and the world begins, tents, protests, small gatherings and riots happen across the globe, causing desair and panic across Europe and parts of the world
7) Turkey Earthquake - October 23 – A magnitude 7.2 Mw earthquake jolted eastern Turkey near the city of Van, killing over 582 people, and damaging about 2,200 buildings
8) 7 Billion people - October 31 – Date selected by the UN as the symbolic date when global population reaches seven billion.
Generating your own power is not as impossible as it sounds. A large Off grid Solar or Wind installation might cost tens of thousands but for most people this would not be practical anyway. Insulating your home and saving electricity can reduce your bills significantly. To produce the amount that the average household uses is not practical. While fairly large amounts can be produced they could be matched by reducing consumption by the same amount without affecting your lifestyle. Some households could reduce utility bills to almost zero by using all three of these methods:
Use Less: Simple energy saving tips can significantly reduce the amount of waste you produce.
Efficient Use: Insulation is key to efficient use of energy, along with an efficient boiler, and energy efficient appliances. For smaller budgets, radiator reflectors and draught excluders can make some difference, and are usually cost effective. Harvesting: Wind power and Solar panels can be cheaper than you think, Solar Thermal Water Heating and Biodiesel production are also possible on the smallest of scale
http://www.off-grid.net/
Wind
Generating energy from the wind is surprisingly simple, utilising a standard generator with a coil of wire turning around magnets like an electric motor in reverse. Home wind turbines are not as common in urban areas, as the winds speed and stability are compromised by surrounding buildings, but it is estimated that at least 2 out of 5 urban homes have the conditions needed to make home wind generation financially viable. When you consider some of the cheaper alternatives to a commercial installation, this number can increase to almost all, but it can be hard getting neighbours, the local authority or community members to agree on it.
Off grid wind power is quite unpredictable, producing hardly any power in low winds and far too much in strong winds. This makes it more suited to connection to a series of batteries rather than the mains. Grid connection installations are also less cost efficient, as the payback on a system costing thousands is often over 20 years. It is best to have enough battery storage for 2 weeks with no wind, which should be enough to store all the energy a heavy wind might give you.
While wind capturing technology has remained largely unchanged, the evolution of large batteries (mainly for the electric car) is in full operation. Deep-cycle batteries are becoming an increasingly viable alternative to selling excess power back to the grid, as new markets and technological advances bring down the production costs, older batteries can even be obtained for free from certain sources. Payback time on the costs of such a system can be significantly reduced compared to that of an expensive grid installation.
Solar
Generating energy from the wind is surprisingly simple, utilising a standard generator with a coil of wire turning around magnets like an electric motor in reverse. Home wind turbines are not as common in urban areas, as the winds speed and stability are compromised by surrounding buildings, but it is estimated that at least 2 out of 5 urban homes have the conditions needed to make home wind generation financially viable. When you consider some of the cheaper alternatives to a commercial installation, this number can increase to almost all.
While solar is not greatly viable on a commercial scale it can be extremely effective on a small scale, particularly when combined with other methods. Using both off grid solar power and wind power generation combined can offset the limits of each device, so that electricity can be derived from the wind at night and from the sun on less windy days. As with most generation methods the power travels one way (as opposed to our usual power supply which can travel both ways many times a second) so much of the cost of a full system is spent connecting the intake supply to the grid. You can bypass this by connecting the panels to some deep-cycle batteries and running appliances directly from them. This also offsets the major disadvantage of solar that allows you to only derive energy during the day when energy use is low in the average household. Deep cycle batteries can give about 12 hours of continuous power which is perfect for solar collection.
Biodiesel
Biodiesel requires little or no modification to a diesel engine, and even runs more smoothly through your cars fuel system, requiring less servicing than diesel itself. Biodiesel can be bought from a few locations but is taxed in most countries at the same level as fossil fuels. As countries such as the U.K allow some production (2,500 litres) to be tax free it is possible to produce your own bio-diesel for less than half it's retail cost. Whilst some more extreme fuel products exist on the market which can enable you to make fuel cheaply and easily, these have not been officially tested and verified (by a thousand engines running for a thousand hours) to allow commercial sale of the fuel produced.
Biodiesel is extremely cost efficient if you can gain a regular supply of free waste oil. Many restaurants have a contract with the firm who supply their oil to take it away as well, and some use palm or tallow oil which is unsuitable for biodiesel production. Family owned restaurants, pubs and bistro's can be good sources of waste oil, as well as Italian and Chinese takeaways (although some chinese oil can block filters with tiny bits).
While it's entirely possible to build your own reactor for very little cost, there are many other processes (other than the main chemical reaction) that would make it a very involved and time consuming hobby. Biodiesel Processors require more investment initially, but can allow cheap bio-diesel to be made at home within hours, to a very high quality and with little technical knowledge. All biodiesel processors claim to do everything for you, but before purchasing one you should gain some knowledge of the process involved and ensure that your reactor will do all of these things for you:
De-Watering of the Waste vegetable oil. Heating of the vegetable oil. Taking the methoxide (Chemicals) into the process. Reacting the vegetable oil. Seperating the Biodiesel from the Glycerine and waste. Water Washes. Dries and polishes. Filters down to 5 microns, ready for use.
Alternative methods, unproven or supressed
http://free-energy-info.co.uk/
Other cases
CASE 020 - Self sustainability - part 1 (Introduction) CASE 361 - Self sustainability - part 2 (Growing) CASE 056 - Free energy
Ukraine was known as “Kievan Rus” (from which Russia is a derivative) up until the 16th century. In the 9th century, Kiev was the major political and cultural center in eastern Europe. Kievan Rus reached the height of its power in the 10th century and adopted Byzantine Christianity. The Mongol conquest in 1240 ended Kievan power. From the 13th to the 16th century, Kiev was under the influence of Poland and western Europe. The negotiation of the Union of Brest-Litovsk in 1596 divided the Ukrainians into Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic faithful. In 1654, Ukraine asked the czar of Moscovy for protection against Poland, and the Treaty of Pereyasav signed that year recognized the suzerainty of Moscow. The agreement was interpreted by Moscow as an invitation to take over Kiev, and the Ukrainian state was eventually absorbed into the Russian Empire.
After the Russian Revolution, Ukraine declared its independence from Russia on Jan. 28, 1918, and several years of warfare ensued with several groups. The Red Army finally was victorious over Kiev, and in 1920 Ukraine became a Soviet republic. In 1922, Ukraine became one of the founders of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In the 1930s, the Soviet government's enforcement of collectivization met with peasant resistance, which in turn prompted the confiscation of grain from Ukrainian farmers by Soviet authorities; the resulting famine took an estimated 5 million lives. Ukraine was one of the most devastated Soviet republics after World War II. (For details on World War II, see Headline History, World War II.) On April 26, 1986, the nation's nuclear power plant at Chernobyl was the site of the world's worst nuclear accident. On Oct. 29, 1991, the Ukrainian parliament voted to shut down the reactor within two years' time and asked for international assistance in dismantling it.
ocated in southeast Europe, the country consists largely of fertile black soil steppes. Mountainous areas include the Carpathians in the southwest and the Crimean chain in the south. Ukraine is bordered by Belarus on the north, by Russia on the north and east, by the Black Sea on the south, by Moldova and Romania on the southwest, and by Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland on the west.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO, is an intergovernmental mutual-security organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organisation.
Origins
The Shanghai Five grouping was originally created April 26, 1996 with the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in Shanghai by the heads of states of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. April 24, 1997 the same countries signed the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions in a meeting in Moscow.
Former Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Former Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev, and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov, at one time the leaders of the Shanghai Five. Subsequent annual summits of the Shanghai Five group occurred in Almaty (Kazakhstan) in 1998, in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) in 1999, and in Dushanbe (Tajikistan) in 2000. In 2001, the annual summit returned to Shanghai, China. There the five member nations first admitted Uzbekistan in the Shanghai Five mechanism (thus transforming it into the Shanghai Six). Then all six heads of state signed on June 15, 2001, the Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, praising the role played thus far by the Shanghai Five mechanism and aiming to transform it to a higher level of cooperation. In July 2001, Russia and the PRC, the organisation's two leading nations, signed the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation. In June 2002, the heads of the SCO member states met in Saint Petersburg, Russia. There they signed the SCO Charter which expounded on the organisation's purposes, principles, structures and form of operation, and established it officially from the point of view of international law. Its six full members account for 60% of the land mass of Eurasia and its population is a quarter of the world’s. With observer states included, its affiliates account for half of the human race. In June 2005, at its fifth and watershed summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, with representatives of India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan attending an SCO summit for the first time, the president of the host country, Nursultan Nazarbayev, greeted the guests in words that had never before been used in any context: “The leaders of the states sitting at this negotiation table are representatives of half of humanity.” By 2007 the SCO had initiated over twenty large-scale projects related to transportation, energy and telecommunications and held regular meetings of security, military, defence, foreign affairs, economic, cultural, banking and other officials from its member states. The SCO has now established relations with the United Nations, where it is an observer in the General Assembly, the European Union, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Over the past few years, the organisation's activities have expanded to include increased military cooperation, intelligence sharing, and counterterrorism.
There have been a number of SCO joint military exercises. The first of these was held in 2003, with the first phase taking place in Kazakhstan and the second in China. Since then China and Russia have teamed up for large-scale war games in 2005 (Peace Mission 2005), 2007 and 2009, under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. At the joint military exercises in 2007 (known as "Peace Mission 2007") which took place in Chelyabinsk Russia, near the Ural Mountains and close to Central Asia, as was agreed upon in April 2006 at a meeting of SCO Defence Ministers, more than 4,000 Chinese soldiers participated. Air forces and precision-guided weapons were also likely to be used. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said that the exercises would be transparent and open to media and the public. Following the war games' successful completion, Russian officials began speaking of India joining such exercises in the future and the SCO taking on a military role. Peace Mission 2010, conducted September 9–25 at Kazakhstan's Matybulak training area, saw over 5,000 personnel from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan conduct joint planning and operational maneuvers. The SCO has served as a platform for larger military announcements by members. During the 2007 war games in Russia, with leaders of SCO member states in attendance including Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin used the occasion to take advantage of a "captive" audience: Russian strategic bombers, he said, would resume regular long-range patrols for the first time since the Cold War. "Starting today, such tours of duty will be conducted regularly and on the strategic scale," Putin said. "Our pilots have been grounded for too long. They are happy to start a new life." [edit]Economic cooperation All SCO members but China are also members of the Eurasian Economic Community. A Framework Agreement to enhance economic cooperation was signed by the SCO member states on September 23, 2003. At the same meeting the PRC's Premier, Wen Jiabao, proposed a long-term objective to establish a free trade area in the SCO, while other more immediate measures would be taken to improve the flow of goods in the region. A follow up plan with 100 specific actions was signed one year later, on September 23, 2004.
Leaders present at the SCO summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009.
On October 26, 2005, during the Moscow Summit of the SCO, the Secretary General of the Organisation said that the SCO will prioritise joint energy projects; such will include the oil and gas sector, the exploration of new hydrocarbon reserves, and joint use of water resources. The creation of an Inter-bank SCO Council was also agreed upon at that summit in order to fund future joint projects. The first meeting of the SCO Interbank Association was held in Beijing on February 21–22, 2006. On November 30, 2006, at The SCO: Results and Perspectives, an international conference held in Almaty, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia is developing plans for an SCO "Energy Club". The need for this "club" was reiterated by Moscow at an SCO summit in November 2007. Other SCO members, however, have not committed themselves to the idea. However on August 28, 2008 summit it was stated that "Against the backdrop of a slowdown in the growth of world economy pursuing a responsible currency and financial policy, control over the capital flowing, ensuring food and energy security have been gaining special significance." On June 16, 2009, at the Yekaterinburg Summit, China announced plans to provide a US$10 billion loan to SCO member states to shore up the struggling economies of its members amid the global financial crisis. The summit was held together with the first BRIC summit, and the China-Russia joint statement said that they want a bigger quota in the International Monetary Fund.
At the 2007 SCO summit Iranian Vice President Parviz Davudi addressed an initiative that has been garnering greater interest and assuming a heightened sense of urgency when he said, “The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a good venue for designing a new banking system which is independent from international banking systems.” The address by Russia’s Putin also included these comments: “We now clearly see the defectiveness of the monopoly in world finance and the policy of economic selfishness. To solve the current problem Russia will take part in changing the global financial structure so that it will be able to guarantee stability and prosperity in the world and to ensure progress.” “The world is seeing the emergence of a qualitatively different geo-political situation, with the emergence of new centers of economic growth and political influence. “We will witness and take part in the transformation of the global and regional security and development architectures adapted to new realities of the 21st century, when stability and prosperity are becoming inseparable notions.” [edit]Cultural cooperation Cultural cooperation also occurs in the SCO framework. Culture ministers of the SCO met for the first time in Beijing on April 12, 2002, signing a joint statement for continued cooperation. The third meeting of the Culture Ministers took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on April 27–28, 2006.[ An SCO Arts Festival and Exhibition was held for the first time during the Astana Summit in 2005. Kazakhstan has also suggested an SCO folk dance festival to take place in 2008, in Astana.
If sport was a largely informal affair a century ago, it has morphed into a full-fledged industry with merchandise, huge sponsorship and TV deals and huge salaries – total costs, including infrastructure, of the 2006 World Cup in Germany are estimated at upwards of € 6 billion. With such increasingly huge sums in play, whether in terms merchandising, sponsorship, betting or athlete salaries, the seduction of and vulnerability to corrupt behaviour has grown. The sport world has responded slowly and, to date, inadequately. It is as serious a threat as doping; only it has the potential to inflict much greater damage on the sport world and the communities, representing billions of people globally, that support it.
Football scandals in Germany, Brazil, Italy, Belgium and China are evidence that the problem is real and it is global. This means that international sports associations such as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) must lead the way in terms of systematic enforcement of a zero-tolerance policy on corruption.
FIFA is currently trumpeting the introduction of an Ethics Commission as well as the creation of a commercial firm called Early Warning System designed to detect irregularities in game scoring. These are laudable efforts, but the phenomenon runs deeper than match-fixing. There is a need to address the conflicts of interest that are part and parcel of a familial network of athletic officials that spans the globe. While statements have been made and ethical codes adopted, what is missing is rigorous enforcement and follow-through, including the systematic ejection of tainted officials.
The issue of corruption in sport is more visible in Switzerland as it hosts about 30 per cent of international sport associations, including FIFA, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and the IOC. While the problem has many facets, TI Switzerland has chosen to focus its attention on the transfer of players. Based on its findings and on the Independent European Football Review, which defines the parameters of a European Union sport policy, the chapter is organising a roundtable with representatives from FIFA, UEFA, athletic agents, team managers, sport lawyers and players themselves to advance the dialogue on reducing corruption in sport.
Also check out - CASE 144 -The Dark Side of FIFA & The IOC
Massey Energy Company was a coal extractor in the United States with substantial operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. By revenue, it was the fourth largest producer of coal in the United States and the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia. By coal production weight, it was the sixth largest producer of coal in the United States. Massey's mines yielded around 40 million tons annually. The company controled 2.3 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves in Southern West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and Tennessee or about a third of all Central Appalachian reserves.It employed approximately 5,850 people and operated 35 underground mines and 12 surface mines.
It was also one of the most polluting companies of the previous century. In early 2008, the company agreed to a $20 million settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to resolve thousands of violations of the Clean Water Act for routinely polluting waterways in Kentucky and West Virginia with coal slurry and wastewater. Although this was the largest Clean Water Act settlement, the violations were estimated to have fines on the order of $2.4 billion. Over 700 miles of rivers and streams in the coalfields have been buried by the waste rock left over from mountaintop removal, a method of strip mining coal which requires the blowing up of mountain tops, removing from 500 to 800 feet (240 m) of mountaintop in the process. This method of coal mining has created some of the worst environmental disasters in the Mississippi area in regards to the poisoning of waterways, the flooding of local communities, and the destruction of the biodiversity of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
In October 2000, a Massey Energy subsidiary in Martin County, Kentucky accidentally released 306 million gallons of coal slurry waste from an impoundment into two mountain streams, Coldwater Creek and Wolf Creek. The Martin County sludge spill was called the worst ever environmental disaster in the southeastern United States by the EPA. The spill smothered all aquatic life in the streams and left residents with contaminated drinking water. Cleanup costs for the spill were approximately $50 million. In January 2011, it was announced that Massey Energy company would be bought by competitor Alpha Natural Resources for $7.1 billion. More than 99% of Massey shareholders and 98% of Alpha shareholders voted in favor of the acquisition and courts in Delaware and West Virginia refused to block the shareholders' vote. Massey Energy owned and operated Upper Big Branch Mine where 29 miners were killed in April 2010.
Sale of Massey to Alpha
On June 1, shareholders of Alpha Natural Resources agreed to buy Massey Energy for $7.1 billion, making it the nation's largest metallurgical coal company. Some shareholder groups had tried to block the sale claiming that Massey managers had engineered the sale of the company to protect themselves from liabilities and had arranged new management jobs with Alpha.
Location
There are 23 coal mining sites run by Massey Energy. There are sixteen sites located in West Virginia, five in Kentucky, and one in Virginia. Locations in West Virginia: Delbarton, Elk Run, Greun Valley, Guyandotte, Independece, Logan, County, Mammoth, Marfork, Nicholas Energy, Progress Energy, Rawl, Republic Energy, and Stirrat. Locations in Kentucky: Long Fork, Martin County, New Ridge, and Sidney. Locations in Virginia: Knox Creek
Greece (and the Greek Islands) is a country with a particularly rich history and famous personalities. Excavations show that the first settlement dates from the Palaeolithic era (11,000-3,000 BC). During the second millennium BC, Greece gave birth to the great civilization of the Minoans (2600-1500 BC), the Mycenaeans (1500-1150 BC) and the Cycladic civilization.
The Classical Period of the Greek history (6th-4th centuries BC) is the most famous worldwide. The peak of the classical period is the 5th century BC, when the foundations of western civilization were put in Athens. This city-state became the greatest naval power of Greece that time and developed all domains of culture, including philosophy, music, drama, rhetorics and a new regime, democracy.
Then, the history of Greece is a succession of various invasions and dominations. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Persian Empire and his army conquered all the way till India. However, in 323 BC, the great general dies in Babylon and his Macedonian empire is torn apart and governed by his heirs. In 168 BC onwards, the Romans conquer Greece and a new period starts for the Greek history.
In the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire is cut in two pieces, the Eastern and the Western Roman Empire. While the Western Roman Empire was gradually invaded by barbaric North-European tribes, the Eastern Roman Empire with Constantinople as capital developed and became the Byzantine Empire that lasted for about 1,000 years.
In 1453 BC, the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and gradually the rest of Greece, which had already been dominated by the Venetians. The country suffered a lot under the Ottoman occupation and people tried to rebel many times. However, all rebels were suspended, until March 1821 when the Greek War of Independence started. The country finally got its freedom in 1829, when the first independent Greek state was formed and Ioannis Kapodistrias was set as governor.
After Kapodistrias was assassinated in 1831, prince Otto from Bavaria became the first king of Greece, followed by George I from Denmark in 1863. That time, the Ionian islands were given to Greece by Britain and then Thessaly was attached to the Greek state by the Turks. In the early 20th century, Macedonia, Crete and the Eastern Aegean islands were also attached to the Greek state. This was the time when the figure of an important Greek politician raised, Eleftherios Venizelos.
Greece resisted a lot the Axis forces during the Second World War, but it eventually lost the war. Most of the Greek territory was conquered by the Germans and some parts by the Italians. After the Second World War, the Dodecanese islands also became part of the Greek state. Three decades of political turmoil followed, including a military junta from 1967 till 1974. Since 1975, the regime of Greece is Parliamentary Republic.
Post-World War II Greece has seen rapid economic and social change. Major contributors to the economy are tourism and shipping.
The financial crisis of the late 2000s hit Greece particularly hard, as the legacy of high public spending and widespread tax evasion combined with the credit crunch and the resulting recession to leave the country with a crippling debt burden. In the spring of 2010, amid fears of an imminent default on debt payments, Greece's fellow eurozone countries agreed an unprecedented 110bn euro package to rescue its teetering economy. The main condition attached to the loan - drastic cuts in public spending and tax hikes - prompted protracted social unrest and destabilisation of the eurozone.
Parthenon, Athens: Built at the apex of the city-state's power The 2010 rescue package soon proved to be unequal to the task of plugging the hole in Greece's finances, and the following year an even bigger bailout of 130bn euros was required to stave off the imminent danger of the country defaulting on its debts.
The Weaponization of Space is the placement and development of weaponry and military technology in outer space.
Acquisition of high grounds for military advantage has been a perennial feature of military campaigns. For thousands of years, military tacticians have exploited the concept of "capturing" or "keeping" the high ground in military campaigns. Fortifications were built on high points, with walls that enabled archers to rain down deadly volleys. Mobile towers served as siege weapons. Ships were equipped with crow's nests that facilitated long-range reconnaissance. Hot air balloons were lofted by Napoleon, during the American Civil War, and the first World War to observe troop movements. Aircraft were initially seen as useful for high level reconnaissance, which was quickly followed by aerial battles. Aircraft revolutionised warfare during the twentieth century, leading to "command of the air" as a key strategic concept.[citation needed] The U.S. had already begun its Discoverer space program, now known as Corona, when Francis Gary Powers' U-2 aircraft was shot down in the 1960 U-2 incident. The quest for safer observation from space gained momentum. Initial attempts for control of the environment of space were led by both the US and the Soviet Union. They planned for controlling the realm of space with nuclear and conventional devices such as anti-satellite weapons (ASATs).
The militarisation of space began in the 1960s, and has now evolved into a key military capability for space-faring nations, potentially giving decisive military advantage. Militarisation of space is the next step in this quest to gain higher ground. The idea of placing weapons in space can be found first in 20th century science fiction stories. One needs to define "militarisation" of space. Does militarisation mean placing weapons in space, or does it include orbiting capabilities that are used by the military such as GPS navigation, communications, and reconnaissance? If the latter definition applies, then space has been militarised for over 50 years already since the first Discoverer/Corona satellite launched in 1959. While military activities have certainly taken place in space (since the launch of Sputnik by the Russian military), and space is an operating location for many military spacecraft (such as imaging & communications satellites) or a temporary transit medium for weapons (such as ballistic missiles), it must be pointed out that permanent stationing of operational weapons in space has yet never been conducted.
Types of spy satellites
United States Lacrosse/Onyx Misty/Sirconic Samos Quasar Vela
Soviet Union Cosmos Almas (manned) Yantar Senit
United Kingdom Sircon (project cancelled) Skynet
France Helios 1B (destroyed), Helios 2A
Germany SAR-Lupe 1-5
Italy COSMO-SkyMed People's Republic of China Fanhui Shi Weixing
India Technology Experiment Satellite
China ??????
Global Positioning Systems
The second application of space militarisation currently in use is GPS or Global Positioning System. This satellite navigation system is used for determining one's precise location and providing a highly accurate time reference almost anywhere on Earth or in Earth orbit. It uses an intermediate circular orbit (ICO) satellite constellation of at least 24 satellites. The GPS system was designed by and is controlled by the United States Department of Defense and can be used by anyone, free of charge. The cost of maintaining the system is approximately US$400 million per year, including the replacement of aging satellites. The first of 24 satellites that form the current GPS constellation (Block II) was placed into orbit on February 14, 1989. The 52nd GPS satellite since the beginning in 1978 was launched November 6, 2004 aboard a Delta II rocket. The primary military purposes are to allow improved command and control of forces through improved location awareness, and to facilitate accurate targeting of smart bombs, cruise missiles, or other munitions. The satellites also carry nuclear detonation detectors, which form a major portion of the United States Nuclear Detonation Detection System. European concern about the level of control over the GPS network and commercial issues has resulted in the planned Galileo positioning system. Russia already operates an independent system called GLONASS (global navigation system), the system operates with 24 satellites that are deployed in 3 orbital planes as opposed to the 4 GPS is deployed in. The Chinese "Beidou" system provides China a similar regional (not global) navigation capability.
Military communication systems
The third current application of militarization of space can be demonstrated by the emerging military doctrine of network-centric warfare. Network-centric warfare relies heavily on the use of high speed communications which allows all soldiers and branches of the military to view the battlefield in real-time. Real-time technology improves the situational awareness of all of the military’s assets and commanders in a given theatre. For example, a soldier in the battle zone can access satellite imagery of enemy positions two blocks away, and if necessary e-mail the coordinates to a bomber or weapon platform hovering overhead while the commander, hundreds of miles away, watches as the events unfold on a monitor. This high-speed communication is facilitated by a separate internet created by the military for the military.[citation needed] Communication satellites hold this system together by creating an informational grid over the given theatre of operations. The Department of Defense is currently working to establish a Global Information Grid to connect all military units and branches into a computerized network in order to share information and create a more efficient military.
Military spaceplanes
It was revealed that Soviet officials were concerned that the US Space Shuttle program had such military objectives such as to make a sudden dive into the atmosphere to drop bombs on Moscow and these concerns were part of the motivation behind pursuing their own Buran program.
The NASA uncrewed spaceplane project X-37 was transferred to the US Department of Defense in 2004. It is unclear what its military mission would be. The X-37 is akin to a space version of Unmanned aerial vehicle.
Weapons in space
Space weapons are weapons used in space warfare. They include weapons that can attack space systems in orbit (i.e. anti-satellite weapons), attack targets on the earth from space or disable missiles travelling through space. In the course of the militarisation of space, such weapons were developed mainly by the contesting superpowers during the Cold War, and some remain under development today. Space weapons are also a central theme in military science fiction and sci-fi video games.
Space warfare
Main article: Space warfare Space warfare is combat that takes place in outer space, i.e. outside the atmosphere. Technically, as a distinct classification[citation needed], it refers to battles where the targets themselves are in space. Space warfare therefore includes ground-to-space warfare, such as attacking satellites from the Earth, as well as space-to-space warfare, such as satellites attacking satellites.
It does not include the use of satellites for espionage, surveillance, or military communications, however useful those activities might be. It does not technically include space-to-ground warfare, where orbital objects attack ground, sea or air targets directly, but the public and media frequently use the term to include any conflict which includes space as a theater of operations, regardless of the intended target. For example, a rapid delivery system in which troops are deployed from orbit might be described as "space warfare," even though the military uses the term as described above. A film was produced by the U.S. Military in the early 1960s called Space and National Security which depicted space warfare. From 1985 to 2002 there was a United States Space Command, which in 2002 merged with the United States Strategic Command. There is a Russian Space Force, which was established on August 10, 1992, and which became an independent section of the Russian military on June 1, 2001. Only a few incidents of space warfare have occurred in world history, and all were training missions, as opposed to actions against real opposing forces. In the mid-1980s a USAF pilot in an F-15 successfully shot down the P78-1, a communications satellite in a 345-mile (555 km) orbit. In 2007 the People's Republic of China used a missile system to destroy one of its obsolete satellites, and in 2008 the United States similarly destroyed its malfunctioning satellite USA 193. To date, there have been no human casualties resulting from conflict in space, nor has any ground target been successfully neutralised from orbit. International treaties governing space limit or regulate conflicts in space and limit the installation of weapon systems, especially nuclear weapons.
Space treaties
Treaties are agreed to when all parties perceive a benefit from becoming a signatory participant in the treaty. As mutually assured destruction (MAD) became the deterrent strategy between the two superpowers in the Cold War, many countries worked together to avoid extending the threat of nuclear weapons to space based launchers.
Outer Space Treaty
The Outer Space Treaty, considered by the Legal Subcommittee in 1966. Later that year, agreement was reached in the General Assembly. The treaty included the following principles: the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind; outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all States; outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means; States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner; the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes; Astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind; States shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental activities; States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies. In summary, the treaty initiated the banning of signatories' placing of nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth, installing them on the moon or any other celestial body, or to otherwise station them in outer space. The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the treaty and it entered into effect on October 10, 1967. As of January 1, 2005, 98 States have ratified, and an additional 27 have signed the Outer Space Treaty. Note that this treaty does not ban the placement of weapons in space in general, only nuclear weapons and WMD.
Space Preservation Treaty
The Space Preservation Treaty was a proposed 2006 UN General Assembly resolution against all space weapons. Three countries, most notably the United States of America, abstained from voting on most provisions of this treaty [5] because the proposed treaty did not do enough to clearly define what is meant by a "space weapon", and therefore was open to wide interpretation and impossible to verify whether it was being violated.
