Map of Resource Thefts

€1,600 billion. That is the figure for Irish Oil & Gas reserves already licensed revealed last Tuesday morning (Sept 11th) in a detailed report from Shell to Sea using the energy corporations own reports and estimates. People in Ireland will see almost no benefits from this incredible wealth because the Irish state gives these reserves to the corporations at the cheapest terms in the world.

In these links, some from ShellToSea and some from Indymedia, one can get an idea of the scale of scandal that lies before us, the deep level of corruption, consequences and how we are all suffering now from the financial crisis -caused by a slightly different form of corruption from much the same layer in Irish society and yet we are being robbed not just of our resources, but the very fabric of our society is being torn apart (health, educational, social & civic) , national sovereignty given away, and our taxes increase to pay for the gambles and speculation of the bankers, developers and bondholders -i.e the elite.
Related Links: ShellToSea First find the oil, and then raise the taxes | Our oil and gas might as well be off the coast of Brazil for all the good it will do us | News release: Devastating report exposes State's mismanagement of oil & gas resources | News release: New evidence of Shell's covert surveillance emerges | News Release: Rabbitte's betrayal further exposed by Providence's 1.6 bn barrel oil find | Drillers to earn €53bn from Irish oil find | Norwegian Fisherman warns of destruction of seismic survey
Indymedia: Resource Wars: a feature of the 21st century? -shows how the resource theft is a global phenomena | One Gas Well to Secure Ireland's Energy Supply!!! | Business as usual for Gardaí – trying to smear women in ‘rape tape’ controversy - perfect illustration of how the corruption from the whole resource issue permeates into human rights abuses. | Review of the Corrib Gas Project Oral Hearing | Farmers group wants Ireland to follow Iceland and burn the bondholders | Mandate To Default On The Unjust Bank Debt That Is Sinking Our Economy - just like the resource theft, we've been fooled again by being landed with the banking bailout bill | Press Statement: “Wealthy Elite will still have political power after election,” says 1% Network -demonstrates nothing changes. | Shell to Sea distribute 1000's of 540 billion notes | The Unfolding Crisis and Ireland's Economic Ruin -Our descent into the financial black hole. | Students Occupy Department Of Finance -See how the govt brutally attacks our young people because they have to make cuts to save the bankers & speculators losses.
Fracking is the next diaster! Poland and Fracking - Lessons to be Learned - Ban Fracking In EU | Fracking in the Lough Allen & Clare Basins | Renowned Investigative Journalist Greg Palast Talks about Fracking in Enniskillen, Carrick on Shannon and Dublin -link to video of full talk.

Tables summarising key information about licensed areas, including company estimates. 0.5 Mb Sources Spreadsheet: contains extensive background information about the 69 areas shown on the map and lists sources. 0.14 Mb

Launch of new Shell to Sea report- Liquid Assets

Automatic facial recognition in action

Things on the global Police State front get more frightening and ominous by the day. This latest announcement serves to underline that. The FBI has officially started rolling out a state-of-the-art face recognition project that will assist in their effort to accumulate and archive information about each and every American at a cost of a billion dollars. It is known as the Next Generation Identification (NGI) program. This report comes from Russia Today (rt.com) and quotes an article in New Scientist magazine. The project itself was announced back in 2005 and was part of a project to upgrade the existing Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) that keeps track of citizens with criminal records across America.

Related Feature on TrapWire: Stratfor Hacked Emails Reveal the TrapWire System run by Private Corporations run by ex-CIA/NSA people

Related Links: TrapWire tied to White House, Scotland Yard, MI5 and others, claims hacked Stratfor email | ‘Total Information Awareness’ surveillance program returns, bigger than ever Freedom Not Fear: CCTV Surveillance Cameras In Focus US National Security Agency (NSA) related: NSA Watch | See Scandal | Echelon FAQ | Echelon Docs -These are a bit dated (circa 2000) so the system would be vastly more powerful now. | Intercept Capabilities -written 1999. | Ireland Joins Echelon - the US/UK Global Spy Network | Thousands of military drones to be deployed over US mainland | EU / Ireland / Indymedia Related: EU agrees rules for remote computer access by police forces - but fails, as usual, to mention the security and intelligence agencies, by Tony Bunyan | Spooky Tales From Rossport and MI5 | Search Engines Should Become Government Spies Says EU Parliament | EU Agree Plan for Police Forces to place radicals & protestors under Surveillance New Pan-European Intelligence Gathering Scheme Highlighted – RNU Internet Freedom Fighters Build a Shadow Web | Pirate Party Speaks Out Against Government Filtering Plans | Are government representatives and gardai poring over your private emails and texts without you even knowing? | Some observations on state repression | How are we to handle police intelligence with care? Swedish government adopts invasive wire-tapping measures -law allows govt to monitor all e-mail and telephone communications that enter, leave or even pass through Sweden.

Surveillance cameras everywhere now

A series of reports from Russia Today (rt.com) and other sites have explained how activists reading through last year's hack by Anonymous of the Strategic Forecasting Intelligence agency (Stratfor) have revealed a little known system already in place and run by the Abraxas corporation although hints of the system were known years earlier. The email have since been released on WikiLeaks. Global Intelligence Files

Related Feature on TrapWire: FBI begins installation of $1 billion face recognition system across America When you read this other story, it is evident that the capability has rapidly come together in the last few years for computer systems to now store billions of photographs and run continual analysis on them and other related data such as location info (GPS from your phone), phone call history, credit card & bank transactions, vehicle registration recognition and tracking by motorway + street overhead cameras etc

Related Links: Abraxas and Trapwire: the technology and personnel revealed | Trapwire Article on Cryptogon | (Guradian) Trapwire surveillance system exposed in document leak | (ACLU) What to make of the Trapwire Story | Leaked Microsoft intelligence document: Here's what Microsoft will reveal to police about you

The TBM comes a cropper at the crossroads

Shell has been trying to get a tunnel boring machine into place in Rossport. This feature will serve as a jump off point for information on the progress of the operation and the efforts of Shell to sea protesters. It will be updated with links to new posts on the subject as they come in. Please make your way down to rossport if you can.
UPDATED 12 OCTOBER!

Related Links (most recent first )
Shell's Tunnel Boring Machine parts delayed by lock-on | August 2012: a week of blocking shell | Shell To Sea Dublin demo , Monday 6th August @ 1pm | 150 Gardai to move TBM 5km; Mayo County Council begin cover-up | Shell and Gardaí invade to rescue TBM | Day Three in the TBM House | Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) update - you couldnt make it up... | Shell humbled as protestors disrupt arrival of the Tunnel Boring Machine | Tunnel Boring Machine arrived at Dublin docks, travelling to Rossport soon | No To Foreshore Licence In Mayo | Shell to sea website

Gene Sharp, harmless old man or cynical CIA asset?

Abstract: For most progressive activists, it is a given that the military-industrial complex is a clear and highly visible barrier to progressive social change. So it is particularly interesting to note that a number of groups involved in progressive activist education – which are held in high regard by activists – maintain strong links to military and political elites. One of the best known of these organisations is the US-based Albert Einstein Institution. This paper will provide a systematic analysis of the history of this Institution, and the key people associated with it, and demonstrate how their work is intimately linked to the international democracy-manipulating community – whose work is exemplified by the US-based National Endowment for Democracy, a group which is well-known for its support of the failed 2002 coup in Venezuela. This analysis will expose the crucial role such activist educators play in catalysing revolutions in countries deemed appropriative for regime change by transnational elites. In the light of the dubious nature of these educational activities, this paper will conclude by offering a number of suggestions for how concerned citizens and educators may counter the cynical (ab)use of activist education by political elites as a new and powerful tool of imperialism.

Related Links:
Thierry Meyssan on AEI / Gene Sharp | Sharp attack unwarranted - defence of Gene Sharp in FPIF by Stephen Zunes | Sharp reflection warranted - a robust response by Michael Barker | How to start a wall street backed revolution | How to start a revolution (propaganda film teaser) | Sourcewatch AEI page | NED website | Gene Sharp (wikipedia) | Tony Cartalucci's "landdestroyer" blog