[Marxism-Thaxis] Relations ABUSE forces
As Polar Ice Turns to Water, Dreams of Treasure Abound By CLIFFORD KRAUSS, STEVEN LEE MYERS, ANDREW C. REVKIN and SIMON ROMERO This article is by Clifford Krauss, Steven Lee Myers, Andrew C. Revkin and Simon Romero. CHURCHILL, Manitoba - It seems harsh to say that bad news for polar bears is good for Pat Broe. Mr. Broe, a Denver entrepreneur, is no more to blame than anyone else for a meltdown at the top of the world that threatens Arctic mammals and ancient traditions and lends credibility to dark visions of global warming. Still, the newest study of the Arctic ice cap - finding that it faded this summer to its smallest size ever recorded - is beginning to make Mr. Broe look like a visionary for buying this derelict Hudson Bay port from the Canadian government in 1997. Especially at the price he paid: about $7. By Mr. Broe's calculations, Churchill could bring in as much as $100 million a year as a port on Arctic shipping lanes shorter by thousands of miles than routes to the south, and traffic would only increase as the retreat of ice in the region clears the way for a longer shipping season. With major companies and nations large and small adopting similar logic, the Arctic is undergoing nothing less than a great rush for virgin territory and natural resources worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Even before the polar ice began shrinking more each summer, countries were pushing into the frigid Barents Sea, lured by undersea oil and gas fields and emboldened by advances in technology. But now, as thinning ice stands to simplify construction of drilling rigs, exploration is likely to move even farther north. Last year, scientists found tantalizing hints of oil in seabed samples just 200 miles from the North Pole. All told, one quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas resources lies in the Arctic, according to the United States Geological Survey. The polar thaw is also starting to unlock other treasures: lucrative shipping routes, perhaps even the storied Northwest Passage; new cruise ship destinations; and important commercial fisheries. It's the positive side of global warming, if there is a positive side, said Ron Lemieux, the transportation minister of Manitoba, whose provincial government is investing millions in Churchill. If the melting continues, as many Arctic experts expect, the mass of floating ice that has crowned the planet for millions of years may largely disappear for entire summers this century. Instead of the white wilderness that killed explorers and defeated navigators for centuries, the world would have a blue pole on top, a seasonally open sea nearly five times the size of the Mediterranean. But if the Arctic is no longer a frozen backyard, the fences matter. For now it is not clear where those fences are. Under a treaty called the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, territory is determined by how far a nation's continental shelf extends into the sea. Under the treaty, countries have limited time after ratifying it to map the sea floor and make claims. In 2001, Russia made the first move, staking out virtually half the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole. But after challenges by other nations, including the United States, Russia sought to bolster its claim by sending a research ship north to gather more geographical data. On Aug. 29, it reached the pole without the help of an icebreaker - the first ship ever to do so. The United States, an Arctic nation itself because of Alaska, could also try to expand its territory. But several senators who oppose any possible infringement on American sovereignty have repeatedly blocked ratification of the treaty. Indeed, not everyone agrees that warming of the Arctic merits concern. No one knows what share of the recent thawing can be attributed to natural cycles and how much to heat-trapping pollution linked to recent global warming, and some scientists and government officials, particularly in Russia, are dismissive of assertions that a permanent change is at hand. We are not going to have apple trees growing in Vorkuta, said the mayor of that coal-mining city, Igor L. Shpektor, who is also the president of Russia's union of Arctic cities and towns. But the current thaw is already real enough for the four million people within the Arctic Circle, including about 150,000 Inuit. As long as it's ice, said Sheila Watt-Cloutier, leader of a transnational Inuit group, nobody cares except us, because we hunt and fish and travel on that ice. However, the minute it starts to thaw and becomes water, then the whole world is interested. Increasingly, big corporations, the eight countries with Arctic footholds and other nations farther south are betting on the possibility of a great transformation. Energy-hungry China has set up a research station on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen and twice deployed its icebreaker Snow Dragon, which normally works in
[Marxism-Thaxis] Poor People's Movement initiative
http://www.millionsmoreportal.com/air.html Join Us Saturday, October 15th 2005 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Millions More Movement TM to Mobilize and Empower America's Poor and Disenfranchised at 10th Anniversary Gathering of the Million Man March October 14-16 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. NEW YORK, NY, - The nation's poor and disenfranchised will gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, October 15th to help launch a movement long overdue. The Millions More Movement will focus on mobilizing men, women and youth into an effective national movement with the goal of transforming American society and eliminating poverty and injustice. As was starkly evidenced in the revelations following Hurricane Katrina, our nation's poor are being grossly underserved. As we witnessed, New Orleans' 9th Ward was the invisible ward but a 9th Ward exists in every city in America. From South Central in Los Angeles to Houston's 2nd Ward to North Philadelphia to Southeast Washington D.C. to Miami's Overtown, all of them and more contain people who are drowning in poverty. The power and resources to alleviate the horror of this condition is among us. The Millions More Movement will focus on empowering poor people to help themselves, beginning with the knowledge that in numbers comes strength and a common purpose to effect change. It takes place on the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March, which peacefully mobilized two million Black men in order to help them be better fathers, husbands and sons. The Millions More Movement is being orchestrated by a broad coalition of national organizations including Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, Dr. Dorothy Height and the National Council of Negro Women, Bruce Gordon and the NAACP, Mark Morial and the National Urban League, Russell Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Dr. Charles Steele and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Reverend Jesse Jackson and the National Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network and Congressman Mel Watt and the Congressional Black Caucus, among others. The National Director of the Millions More Movement is Washington, D.C. pastor the Reverend Willie Wilson. The Millions More Movement is challenging all of us to rise above the things that have kept us divided in the past, by focusing us on the agenda of the Millions More Movement to see how all of us, with all of our varied differences, can come together and direct our energy, not at each other, but at the condition of the reality of the suffering of our people, that we might use all of our skills, gifts and talents to create a better world for ourselves, our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, declared Minister Louis Farrakhan. Added Dr. Dorothy Height, The Million Man March ten years ago could not have been successful without the support of women. And we are pleased that women are invited to take part in the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March to launch the Millions More Movement, which encompasses the whole of black families and poor families throughout America. Hip-hop leaders helping to galvanize the movement include Reverend Run, Sean Diddy Combs, Damon Dash, Jermaine Dupri, Kanye West, Ludacris, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Common, Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott, Foxy Brown, David Banner, Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and Jha Jha of the Diplomats, Masta P, Juvenile, Erykah Badu ?Questlove of The Roots, MC Lyte, Fab Five Freddy, Biz Markie, Kid Capri, Cassidy, the Wu Tang Clan, Xzibit, Tony Austin, Humpty Hump, the Ruff Ryders and dead prez, among others. Russell Simmons, Chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, emphasized, The commemoration deserves the respect and support of all people of goodwill who cherish the universal love of humanity. The time has come for the hip-hop community and all of us to come together and participate in a movement which will have a fundamental influence on the lives of this generation and generations to come. Other celebrities endorsing or participating include Harry Belafonte, Cornell West, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Susan Taylor, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Steve Harvey, Tavis Smiley, Tom Joyner, Cathy Hughes and many others. Kanye West, speaking as he accepted the Million Man March Image Award at Mosque Maryam in Chicago, expressed his support for the Millions More Movement. West stated, When your message resonates with the people, then you know your message is from God, and we are building this movement in the interest of all of God's people. Common explains, I always looked at hip-hop as a vehicle to educate, to enlighten, to inspire. If we make money at this music game, we can contribute to our communities, create jobs in our communities and really help make a
