4/21/02
2:06:32 PM
What Is The Real Story Around The Church Of Nativity?
by Ghassan Andoni, a Christian who lives 100 meters from the Church of Nativity, April 20, 2002
It is amazing how Israeli propaganda can twist facts. Even more amazing is how much people can be influenced by twisted facts. Regarding the Church of Nativity, there are two versions of the story.
The Israeli version: A large group of armed “terrorists” entered the Church of Nativity. They took dozens of civilians including Christian priests and monks as hostages and are using them as human shields to launch attacks on the Israeli army, which is surrounding the place. Therefore, Israel is attempting to rescue the hostages and capture the “terrorists.”
The Palestinian version: As the Israeli army invaded Bethlehem and Israeli tanks approached Manger Square, around 240 Palestinians, including some armed Palestinians, entered the Church seeking a safe shelter. Armed Palestinians laid down their light weapons and are seeking the protection of the Christian clergy inside the church.
Who are the people inside the church?
All sources from inside the church including Father Ibrahim Faltas, Christian Lawyer Tony Salman, and the governor of Bethlehem Mohammad Almadani confirmed repeatedly that the vast majority of the people inside are innocent civilians who ran into the church to save their lives. The armed Palestinians who entered the church were mostly members of Palestinian Authority Tourism Police, policemen from the adjacent Palestinian police station, and some Palestinians who decided to defend their city from the Israeli invasion.
The Vatican has repeatedly announced that all people inside the church are non-engaged and only seeking a shelter that the church is willing to provide. The Vatican repeatedly affirmed that there is NO hostage-taking situation.
As the siege of the church continued, Israel employed a continued pressure to force the people inside the church to surrender. The methods being used by the Israeli army include:
- Preventing any supplies of food. Currently people inside the church are starving.
- Preventing evacuation of dead bodies from inside the church. (Two corpses are still inside)
- Preventing any medical help for scores of injured people (nuns are dealing with the situation with primitive first aid means).
- Positioning snipers all over the place and shooting at any moving target. So far two people were killed inside the church and two more wounded, including an Armenian Priest.
- Shooting randomly inside the church. This random shooting resulted in a fire that destroyed three rooms inside the church. A Palestinian was shot dead by a sniper while attempting to extinguish the fire.
- Throwing rounds of sound grenades into and around the church, and transmitting through loudspeakers into the church, sounds that are beyond the threshold of pain. This is going on all day and especially at night, and is resulting in the bleeding of ears.
- Attempted twice to burst into the church from its eastern entrance. In one attempt they destroyed one of the church gates using explosives.
So far, and aside from the suffering of people inside the church, considerable damage has been done to the church itself. With the little protest and concern from the side of the Christians all over the world and from the side of the international community, it is likely that Israel will escalate its assault, inevitably resulting in more damage.
All attempts to negotiate a settlement to this situation have failed. Israel insists on either complete surrender without conditions or a deportation outside the country. They are refusing the involvement of any third party in mediation efforts.
It is extremely worrying that with the increased pressure on Israel to leave the PA areas, Israel might attack the church in an attempt to kill or arrest people inside.
THIS COULD RESULT IN A MASSACRE IN THE CHURCH, AND MAY DESTROY THE CHURCH.
SOMETHING URGENT MUST BE DONE TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING!!
Kindly contact your government officials ASAP and demand that they do what they can to intervene in this dangerous situation! It is EXTREMELY URGENT.
If you are in the US, to find your representatives go to
The Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between People
4/21/02
1:48:46 PM
TWO GENETIC ENGINEERING ACTION ALERTS
(1) BIO GOES TO WASHINGTON: TAKE ACTION TODAY
The Biotech Industry Organization (BIO), composed of Monsanto, Aventis, Dupont, and other biotech corporations, will meet with House and Senate representatives next week in Washington, D.C., to press an agenda of
more genetically engineered crops, no mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food, and government support for opening up foreign markets to these genetic experiments Please urge your Senators and Representative to resist these initiatives. Tell them that you don't want to eat genetically engineered food!
Please take action now. To send an email directly to all your representatives, just visit
http://www.truefoodnow.org/bin/takeaction.fpl?action_id=121
and follow the instructions there. Please be sure to provide your address and zip code so that you can receive a written response to your concerns.
Thank you for your support.
(2) CONTACT KRAFT FOODS TODAY!
Kraft Foods is holding its annual shareholders meeting on Earth Day, Monday, April 22. In concert with that event, thousands of concerned Americans are contacting Kraft Foods to ask the company to remove genetically engineered ingredients from its product line.
Please contact Kraft Foods immediately by telephone or email to support this initiative.
BY PHONE: You can call Kraft at
1-888-560-4625
Simply tell the staff that you would like Kraft Foods to remove genetically engineered ingredients from its product line.
BY EMAIL: You can email Kraft Foods directly by visiting
http://www.thecampaign.org/kraft-earthday.htm
and following the instructions there.
Even if you have previously telephoned or sent an email message to Kraft Foods, please telephone again and/or send another email now. Kraft Foods needs to hear from concerned citizens more than once until the company agrees to remove genetically engineered ingredients from its product line.
Thanks for your timely action.
4/21/02
1:45:00 PM
t r u t h o u t | 04.21
Al Gore | The Selling of an Energy Policy
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.21AA.Al.Gore.htm
Israel Welcomes UN Security Council Fact-Finding Mission to Jenin
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.21A.Israel.UN.htm
Edward Kennedy on Administration's Attempts to Rescind Medical Privacy Protections
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.21B.Medical.Privacy.htm
Palestinian Fighters Were Not Unexpected at Nativity Church
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.21C.Nativity.Church.htm
Kucinich Is the One
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.21D.The.One.htm
Illinois Governor: "Innocent Are on Death Row"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.21E.Innocent.Row.htm
An Assisted-Suicide Verdict
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.21F.Verdict.htm
Posturing on Abortion
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.21G.Posturing.htm
Italian Non-Jewish Survivors Recall Nazi Massacre
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.21H.Survivors.Recall.htm
t r u t h o u t, is a non-profit independent news source.
4/20/02
2:37:13 PM
Families Hear Flight 93's Final Moments
Most Say Cockpit Recording Lifted Their Spirits and Confirmed Victims' Bravery
by David Snyder, Washington Post Staff Writer, April 19, 2002
PRINCETON, N.J., April 18 -- Family members of those who died at the hands of terrorists aboard a hijacked aircraft on Sept. 11 listened to a chilling recording of their loved ones' final 30 minutes today, leaving, for the most part, less devastated than before and in some cases with their spirits lifted.
"These were clearly people who were unafraid of the unthinkable," said Hamilton Peterson, whose father, Donald A. Peterson, died when the plane crashed in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. "They digested it and acted upon it in no time at all."
Some said the cockpit voice recording of United Airlines Flight 93 confirmed their beliefs that many passengers had attacked their hijackers with great force, in an attempt to retake control of the plane.
"A lot of [the tape] was unintelligible, and a lot of it we couldn't follow very easily, so I don't think it gives us resolution," said Tom Burnett, 72. His son, Tom Jr., had intimated in a series of cell phone calls to his wife during the flight that he and fellow passengers were organizing a revolt. "I'm content with what happened [on the plane]. I felt that I learned something, another piece of the puzzle."
The FBI played the cockpit recordings for family members of the crew this morning and separately revealed them to passenger families this afternoon. It was the first time such tapes had been played for families of victims of a U.S. airplane crash.
The decision to play the tape for persons other than investigators prompted some criticism from pilots and aviation experts, who said it could set a dangerous precedent in the use of future recordings.
Flight 93 was headed from Newark to San Francisco when it crashed, killing 40 passengers and crew and four presumed hijackers on board. The passengers and crew have been heralded as heroes ever since for preventing what is believed to have been a fourth suicide terror attack, possibly on Washington.
Only family members and FBI officials were allowed in the Marriott hotel conference room where the tape was played, and no printed transcripts of the tape were distributed. Members of the media were prohibited from entering the hotel.
Four family members per victim were allowed to listen to the tape twice and ask questions of FBI agents who are familiar with its contents. Grief counselors were on hand to help family members.
They listened to the tape on headphones as transcripts were projected onto a screen. They described the room as "somber" and "intense." A few people who came to hear the recording left before they could do so.
The FBI asked the people who listened not to discuss details with the media. As a result, many of the lingering questions, including whether the passengers intent on storming the cockpit retook control of the aircraft, will remain unanswered for now.
Relatives said much of the tape is chaotic, with shouting and clear indications of violence.
"Listening to the last 30 minutes of your loved one's life is emotional," said Mary Jurgens, Tom Burnett Jr.'s sister. "It took a lot of time listening to those 30 minutes. It felt like hours."
For Deena Burnett, the recording offered a chance to hear for herself the final moments of her husband's life. For Kimi Beaven, it was an opportunity to sort fact from conjecture. For others, it was emotional closure, a way both to experience their loved ones' terror and to begin leaving the awful events of Sept. 11 behind.
"It's too important to rely on someone else's translation of what they think happened," Burnett, 38, said before listening to the recording. "This is the only tangible information that we as family members have."
FBI officials initially said they would not permit family members to listen to the tape, but FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III granted them access in March.
Several relatives had been lobbying to hear the tape since shortly after Sept. 11, and in some cases threatened lawsuits. The strong likelihood that the tape will be played publicly during the government's prosecution of alleged hijacking conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui influenced the FBI's changed position, sources said.
Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said today that the Princeton meetings were part of "an unprecedented effort to reach out to and work with the families of victims and surviving victims of September 11 and include them in the process of justice."
In addition to listening to the audiotape, family members in Princeton participated in interviews with federal prosecutors and FBI agents to document the suffering caused by the Sept. 11 attacks.
The U.S. government plans to use family testimonials to argue in favor of the death penalty if Moussaoui is convicted.
Burnett, 38, the mother of three daughters, said she wanted to understand better how the plane went down.
She said her husband, chief operating officer for a medical device company, called her on his cell phone four times during the flight. Each call was progressively more urgent, she said, as she relayed details of other hijackings to him and he intimated to her that he and several other passengers were planning to "do something" to stop the hijackers.
"I know that he was capable of handling the situation," she said. "When that plane crashed, I knew that something had gone wrong" with his plan.
Tom Burnett Jr. and three other passengers -- Todd Beamer, Honor Elizabeth Wainio and Jeremy Glick -- along with two flight attendants, reported in cell phone calls that passengers advanced down the plane's aisle toward the cockpit. In news accounts of the cockpit voice recording and conversations with air traffic controllers, it has remained unclear whether the passengers entered the cockpit.
Other family members said they simply needed to know what the cockpit voice recorder had picked up.
"We didn't want to hear it in the media," said Carole O'Hare, 49, whose mother, Hilda Marcin, died in the crash. "That's how we found out Mom's plane crashed, and I didn't want to hear it that way again."
Beaven, 34, whose husband, Alan, was on the flight, said she came to hear the tapes to "experience just a glimpse of what he went through."
"Every hard time I ever went through, he was with me, so somehow it makes me feel that I can be with him for a short time," she said.
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12262-2002Apr18.html
4/20/02
2:33:19 PM
The Coming Of The Blogs
by Baron Lowery, April 19, 2002
As a marketer I am always looking for ways to better understand consumers and to understand their feelings about a product. What do they love about it? What do they hate about it? Do they find it to be superior to the competition? I want to observe the grassroots-level customer talking in a natural setting--not in a contrived or staged test.
Chat rooms and newsgroups have traditionally been a good tool in this search. While the decline in newsgroup popularity has decreased their usefulness, the recent growth in Web logs provides a way to capture the same kind of analysis, along with some new ways to observe consumer opinions.
There are now hundreds of thousands of Web logs, or blogs, and there are probably just as many definitions of the term "blog." A general definition that most would agree upon would be: a frequently updated Web page or pages with a chronological publication of thoughts and links.
Blogs can be a personal journal or diary, or a group blog maintained by many people with a common interest. Either of these may be interactive, allowing readers to post comments and respond to polls.
The different styles of blogs give different views of consumers. Thousands of personal blogs can be accessed from Blogger.com, while Memepool.com and GameSpot.com provide examples of group blogs that provide content targeted to a specialized community. (CNET Networks, publisher of News.com, also publishes GameSpot.)
Personally-maintained blogs are a good source of attitudinal information from the individual consumer perspective. Group blogs tend to have a theme and provide insight into community perspective of a product. This is a good place to examine a product's reputation, how it is viewed in relation to other products, and how the product is being used. Frequent readers of these group blogs have strong opinions, making them a good place to analyze when developing advocacy-marketing initiatives.
A good place to start your investigation of blogs is with a blog search engine. Blogger.com and Portal.eatonweb.com are two popular choices. Begin by making a list of keywords related to your product or service. As you visit the blogs that your keyword searches link to, keep an eye out for cross-links as the better and more popular blogs are pointed to from many other sites. Most blogs will contain only occasional tidbits of interest; when you find blogs focused on issues of interest, be sure to bookmark them.
Interactive blogs allow the readership to participate by providing content and comment. The usual format of an interactive blog is an excerpt with a link to the full article, followed by reader comments. The readers suggest links to news of interest on external Web sites. These links are published with a brief explanation, and reader comments are gathered and displayed in threaded discussions reminiscent of newsgroups. Slashdot is one of the first and most popular examples of this style.
The discourse that takes place in the threads can provide the marketer with an excellent source of information that highlights the strengths and weaknesses of a product. In addition, a surprising amount of inside information is discussed that can offer a peek at what is going on at the competition.
When participating in an interactive blog, it is unwise to attempt to directly market a product. This will almost certainly result in a very negative response from the readers. On the other hand, acknowledging your connection to the product and making comments that are honest and topical will elicit more favorable treatment. Many readers will appreciate a representative of the company listening to their comments.
After you locate the blogs whose readers you want to market to, there are many ways to present your message. You can allow blog readers to participate in private test groups, provide them with samples for testing, and allow more direct communications. This can drive discussions in blogs and is particularly suited to new products and capturing early adopters.
You should consider encouraging employees to read and participate in blogs by submitting links and comments. Sponsoring and advertising on a blog assures that the offerings are visible to the readership even when the discussion focuses on the competition. Purchasing keywords on blog search engines is another possibility.
Blogs offer the insightful marketer a potent new tool for gathering intelligence. Public awareness of blogs is rapidly growing, making the investment in time needed to get familiar with them well worth the effort.
Baron Lowery is director of technology at RappDigital, the online arm of Rapp Collins Worldwide.
Source: http://news.com.com/2010-1076-886773.html
4/20/02
2:25:43 PM
Jenin Camp 'Horrific Beyond Belief'
by BBC, April 18, 2002
A United Nations envoy has said that the devastation left by Israeli forces in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank is "horrific beyond belief".
Terje Roed-Larsen, who toured the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday, said it was "morally repugnant" that Israel had not allowed emergency workers in for 11 days to provide humanitarian relief.
The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked the Security Council to consider sending an armed multinational force to the region, under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter which authorises military force to impose council decisions.
US President George W Bush said on Thursday that he believed an Israeli withdrawal was under way and that it was going to schedule.
Desribing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as "a man of peace", Mr Bush said Mr Sharon had begun his promised withdrawal and it was being done "quickly".
"He gave me a timetable and he's met the timetable," Mr Bush said.
Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat called Mr Bush's comments "a gift, a reward for Sharon's policy of state terrorism and war crimes".
Israel pulled its forces out of Jenin town and part of the refugee camp before dawn on Thursday.
Officials said they were also withdrawing from Nablus and that over the next three days troops would leave most West Bank areas apart from Ramallah and Bethlehem.
Search and rescue
The BBC's correspondent said Mr Roed-Larsen was highly regarded in the region and his criticism would put more pressure on the Israelis to fully withdraw.
Palestinians claim hundreds of bodies are buried beneath the rubble, but Israel says the numbers of dead are far fewer. An independent forensic expert says evidence suggests that a massacre has taken place.
Mr Roed-Larsen said the top priority was to bring in search-and-rescue teams. The only rescue efforts currently under way are residents digging though the ruins looking for survivors.
"It is totally destroyed, it looks like an earthquake has hit it," he said.
Aid agencies now have access to Jenin
"I am watching two brothers pull their father from the ruins, the stench of death is horrible. We are seeing a 12-year-old boy being dug out, totally burned," he said.
"We have expert people here who have been in war zones and earthquakes and they say they have never seen anything like it," he added.
Mr Roed-Larsen, who is the UN's Special Co-ordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, was visiting the camp with Red Cross and UN workers.
He added: "It is totally unacceptable that the government of Israel for 11 days did not allow search and rescue teams to come."
Kofi Annan made his appeal for armed intervention at a closed session of the Security Council. Israeli spokesmen swiftly rejected it while Mr Erekat said it was the "right way to start fighting Israeli aggression"
Mr Annan said there was a need for a force large enough to take "decisive action" to end the deadly cycle of attacks.
The multinational force should be assembled by countries willing to supply troops and should have "a robust mandate," he said, adding later, "I expect the United States to play an important role."
Israel 'concerned'
Israel invaded the Jenin camp on 3 April, saying it was a hotbed of Palestinian militancy and declaring it a closed military zone.
Palestinian claims of an Israeli massacre in the camp have been denied, although British forensic expert Prof Derrick Pounder has said that the evidence points to large numbers of civilian dead.
Prof Pounder is part of an Amnesty International team granted access to Jenin.
The Israeli forces are pulling back "according to the timetable"
Danny Ayalon, the chief foreign policy adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said that Israel shared the humanitarian concerns and was already allowing some aid teams to operate.
The partial pull-out by Israel came a day after the departure of US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who left the region without achieving a ceasefire or a full withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Israel says troops will continue to surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where a group of armed Palestinians are among more than 200 people who have been holed up for more than two weeks.
Israel launched its assault on Palestinian towns on 29 March after a suicide bomber killed 28 people celebrating the Jewish Passover.
Israel says it will also continue to surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1937000/1937387.stm
4/20/02
2:16:53 PM
Outrage In Canada Over Friendly Fire Deaths
by David Ljunggren, April 18, 2002
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian leaders vowed on Thursday to find out why four of the country's soldiers perished on the ground in Afghanistan from U.S. "friendly fire" as a nation more known for its peacekeeping operations reeled in disbelief.
With flags at half staff across the country, Canadian soldiers, politicians and the public expressed grief over the soldiers who died early on Thursday when a U.S. jet let loose a 500-pound, or 225 kilogram, laser-guided bomb on the men performing in a training exercise.
Parliament held a minute's formal silence for the dead soldiers, who were Canada's first casualties in an offensive operation since the 1950-53 Korean War.
All that is know is that a U.S. F-16 warplane dropped its deadly cargo after believing it was being fired upon, leaving four dead and eight wounded, with two of them in serious but stable condition.
Stressing that reports were "very, very preliminary," one of the officials, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that at least one pilot in a flight of U.S. Air Force F-16s thought the planes had been shot at near Kandahar.
But Canada's top military officer said in Ottawa the troops were in a designated training area conducting live-fire exercises.
"We have so many questions this morning," a visibly shaken Prime Minister Jean Chretien told Parliament. "Extensive training for combat is meant to save lives."
"In this awful case it took so many lives. And I want to assure the families and the people of Canada that these questions will be answered," he said, referring to the attack as "a horrible accident."
With flags flying low amid swirling snow, bunches of tulips and roses were placed at the entrance of the soldiers' garrison in Edmonton, Alberta, the base for the Third Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
"Sure, I was surprised and I was shocked. We all are," said Brig. Gen. Ivan Fenton, his voice sometimes choked with emotion. "But high-tech gives great advantages and it opens some vulnerabilities as well... These things have happened for centuries, things like this, so the technology can't prevent things like this."
President Bush called Prime Minister Jean Chretien to express his condolences and to promise Canada's giant neighbor and ally would do all it could to find out what happened and why.
"Canada's fallen heroes and their families are in our hearts and prayers," Bush said in a written statement.
"We will draw every possible lesson from what happened and do everything we can do protect coalition forces engaged in this vitally important mission."
Canadian defense officials said they were mystified by the attack since the troops were in a recognized training zone near Kandahar and had not been firing into the air.
It was one of the worst "friendly fire" accidents of the war in which U.S. and allied troops are hunting al Qaeda guerrillas and fighters of Afghanistan's deposed Taliban leadership.
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke called the incident a "terrible tragedy" and said the Canadian troops had been "fabulous in their support in the war on terrorism."
The troops were part of an 800-strong contingent serving in southern Afghanistan under U.S. command.
General Ray Henault, the Canadian armed forces' chief of staff, said the nation remained committed to the Afghan mission.
NO QUESTION OF CANADIAN OUTRAGE Three U.S. troops and five Afghan fighters were killed and nearly 40 U.S. and Afghan troops injured on Dec. 5, when B-52 bombers accidentally bombed American special forces and supporting Afghan troops north of Kandahar.
Canadian Defense Minister Art Eggleton -- who was called by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld -- expressed deep shock at the incident and said Canada and the United States would carry out probes into the attack.
"There is no question of outrage on our behalf, it was an accident, but we need to know what happened," he told Reuters.
"We all want to have it done just as quickly as possible. Everybody wants the answers. The government wants the answers, the families want the answers. We want to know soon."
Eggleton spokesman Randy Mylyk said the United States and Canada had each initiated military police investigations and were each also setting up separate boards of inquiry.
"My understanding is that there was no hostile activity in the area that would have created this incident," Henault said. "How this sort of thing could happen is a mystery to us."
Speaking at Bagram Air Base outside Kabul, U.S. military spokesman Major Bryan Hilferty said the pilots were very experienced. "We do risk assessment before any mission, we try to make sure we have all sorts of procedures, tactics and techniques in place to mitigate risk but unfortunately, this is inherently dangerous," he said.
Canadian Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson -- commander in chief and representative of Canada's head of state, Queen Elizabeth -- flew on Thursday from London to the U.S. Ramstein airbase in Germany to salute the fallen and to greet the six injured who are to be treated there.
The six arrived in Ramstein late on Thursday, at least two carried off on stretchers to waiting ambulances. Henault said the remains of the dead would leave Afghanistan on Friday and arrive in Ramstein early Saturday morning.
Two who were slightly injured remained in Kandahar, where the Canadian troops are based.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20020418_692.html
4/20/02
2:13:42 PM
Israel, Opium, & JFK
by Carol A. Valentine
April 18, 2002 -- So what if "they" own our TV stations, our newspapers, our publishing companies, our Congress, our President, our Joint Chiefs of Staff?
We have:
"Opium Lords -- Israel, the Golden Triangle, and the Kennedy Assassination," by Salvador Astucia. It has been published on: http://www.jfkmontreal.com/
Yes, "Opium Lords" is well researched -- but it is more than simply a well-researched book. This book changes your viewpoint, gives you a new perspective from which to view recent history and current events, including the present War of Jewish Supremacy.
For example, there is a high probability that President Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird were Jewish in background. It seems to me that a Jewish background would have made Lyndon sympathetic to Israel, and may have inspired him to commit treason during the USS Liberty episode. A Jewish background would also have made him sympathetic to plans to assassinate JFK, for JFK stood in the way of Israel's expansion.
This book aligns much information that has been "out there" but never aligned before. Read it, or buy a copy.
Here is the author's synopsis:
* After President John F. Kennedy was killed in 1963, America became deeply involved in the Vietnam War. Within a few short years, heroin addiction in America reached epidemic proportions. In the background, Israel expanded its borders by force and became a colonial empire ruling a nation of hostile Palestinian subjects. This book reveals how Israel exploited the Western powers' long history of opium trafficking as a means of toppling the young American president. The following points summarize the information presented:
* Opium was the glue that held together the rivaling factions that conspired to kill JFK.
* The main factions in the conspiracy were Zionist instigators, the American Mafia (headed by Jewish mobster Meyer Lansky and his lieutenant, Santo Trafficante), French-Corsican crime syndicates in Marseilles, France and Southeast Asia, and the US military.
* Heroin smuggling was first introduced in the United States in the 1920s by Jewish gangsters such as Meyer Lansky, "Legs" Diamond, and "Dutch" Schultz.
* One of the reasons President Johnson escalated US involvement in Southeast Asia was because the American Mafia and French-Corsican heroin traffickers needed a new source of opium for their heroin factories. Turkey had been the main source, but its government was about to eradicate opium production.
* Joseph Kennedy, Sr's three sons were viewed as a new American dynasty that threatened Israel's plans to expand its borders. The Kennedy Dynasty would last until 1985 if each son served two terms in the White House. It is widely known that Joseph Kennedy Sr. developed a strong loathing of Jews from his business dealings with them in finance, Hollywood, and politics.
*A decree was issued to kill JFK by Nahum Goldmann, founder of the World Jewish Congress and its president in 1963.
* Louis Bloomfield of Montreal was assigned to set up the coup d'état. He was an influential international lawyer with an extensive espionage background (e.g., British intelligence, Haganah, OSS, CIA).
* Martin Agronsky and other Jewish journalists and media moguls collaborated in the plot by pushing a false cover story that Lee Harvey Oswald alone killed JFK.
* Right-wing extremists joined the coup initially but broke ranks and declared a holy war against Jews immediately after JFK was killed.
* The assassins were the lieutenants of French-Corsican heroin trafficker and convicted Nazi collaborator, Auguste Joseph Ricord. He was living in Argentina at the time of the assassination. Later he moved to Paraguay which became a major hub for smuggling heroin into the United States.
* The assassins were Lucien Sarti, François Chiappe, and Jean-Paul Angeletti-all French-Corsicans.
* Nixon was driven from office because he destroyed Ricord's heroin cartel, established détente with the Soviet Union, withdrew forces from Vietnam, and ended the draft.
* Under Nixon's orders, police in Mexico City tried to arrest Lucien Sarti-the man who fatally shot JFK in the head. When Sarti fled, Mexican police opened fire. He died in a hail of bullets on April 27, 1972.
* JFK made enemies within the military establishment and Israel when he attempted to establish détente with the Soviet Union in the summer of 1963. He also wanted to prevent Israel from acquiring the Bomb.
* JFK was viewed as a threat to Israel because of pro-Hitler statements he wrote in his 1945 diary (later published) and two books: "Why England Slept" and "Profiles in Courage."
* President Johnson aggressively supported Israel because he and his wife were secretly Jewish.
* Texas-a former Spanish colony-became a haven for Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. Jewish migration continued from other countries in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Make sure you read Chapter 13.
Carol A. Valentine
President, Public Action, Inc.
4/20/02
1:57:48 PM
Water Rights War Rages On Faltering Rio Grande
By Jim Yardley
BOCA CHICA, Tex., April 17 — On a desolate stretch of beach on the border with Mexico, Randy Blankinship steps along what should be the edge of the Rio Grande. Except there is only sand. The river that for thousands of years flowed into the Gulf of Mexico now falls almost a hundred yards short.
"That's the mouth of the mighty Rio Grande," said Mr. Blankinship, a state wildlife biologist, with a touch of sarcasm. He knows the joke that the sandbar is the newest international bridge into Mexico. Apparently the Border Patrol is not laughing — an agent is parked nearby.
That the Rio Grande is no longer strong enough to reach the sea is just another example of the crisis that threatens the river and the international region that depends on it. Years of drought have left the area parched. A water war between farmers on both sides of the border has escalated into an international standoff.
Demand for water is increasing in an area that has historically ranked among the poorest in the nation but is now trying to capitalize on growing trade with Mexico. Population is exploding on both sides of the border as new industries have been established in the past decade.
"For the longest period of time, the Rio Grande Valley has had a water policy in which we hope and pray for a moderate-sized hurricane every 8 to 10 years that would bypass the Valley, land in the watershed and dump in the reservoir," said Judge Gilberto Hinojosa of Cameron County, the highest elected official in the county, which includes Brownsville. "That isn't a water policy."
If water shortages are familiar throughout the nation, the problem here is compounded by the complicated codependence of Mexico and the United States. The primary tributary of the Rio Grande is the Rio Conchos, which flows out of the high desert of Mexico and fills the reservoirs that provide water for American farmers. Under a 1944 treaty, Mexico is supposed to send about 350,000 acre-feet water annually into the Rio Grande, or billions of gallons. The United States, in turn, releases 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water to Mexico. (An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons.)
But since 1992, Mexico has fallen more than 1.5 million acre-feet of water in arrears, infuriating Rio Grande Valley farmers. Last month, farmers hoped for a breakthrough when President Bush and President Vicente Fox of Mexico met in Monterrey. American farmers, joined by Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, had held a rally to attract attention to their plight. But the summit came and went without even a news release on the issue.
"Getting Mexico to come to the table to meet is almost impossible," said Tudor Uhlhorn, a third-generation farmer with six farms in Cameron County, voicing a frustration held by many American farmers. "They just delay, delay, delay."
On the American side of the river, farmers have just finished spring planting and, in many cases, either have had to reduce the acreage planted or are simply hoping for rain. In one of Mr. Uhlhorn's sorghum fields, he bent over and dug in the dirt until he found a tiny red seed. Usually, he would irrigate this field and the seed would have already grown into a small plant. But with the local reservoirs at about 30 percent of capacity, there is not enough water for him to fully irrigate.
Mr. Uhlhorn's anger and frustration are pointed directly at Mexico's failure to release the water required by treaty. Suspicions are so great on the American side that officials talk of infrared satellite images showing water in Mexican reservoirs. Other officials who have visited Mexico believe the country is simply hoarding water as it develops its own irrigated farmland in the Rio Conchos valley.
"The drought that we're in, that is causing a shortage of water for irrigated farmers, is an act of man, not an act of God," Mr. Uhlhorn said.
One study by a Texas A&M University agricultural economist placed the economic losses in the Rio Grande Valley at nearly $1 billion since 1992, when Mexico first began failing to deliver the allotted water.
But Alberto Szekely, the Mexican government official handling the water issue, said that Mexico was not releasing water because there was none to release.
"The truth of the matter is that our dams are practically empty," Mr. Szekely said. "We have lost 81 percent of our storage capacity."
Mr. Szekely said that the treaty granted leniency during "extraordinary drought," and that the Mexican government was already moving to modernize and improve infrastructure in the Rio Conchos basin to reduce waste. "No water treaty can demand a country to deliver water that doesn't exist," he said.
Mary Kelly, an environmentalist with the Texas Center for Policy Studies, a group heavily involved in state water issues, has angered many American farmers by agreeing that Mexico is not currently able to repay its debt. The biggest reservoir on the Rio Conchos is only 25 percent full, Ms. Kelly said, while another is at 10 percent.
"There is just no way that they are able to release 1.5 million acre-feet of water," Ms. Kelly said, adding, "The larger issue is that this drought has shown us that we do not have a plan to manage the river in times of drought."
Currently, municipalities in the Rio Grande Valley are not threatened with shortages because their needs are met before those of the farmers. Judge Hinojosa also noted that the area's irrigation system of dirt and concrete canals was wasteful and outdated but that farmers could not afford to update to more modern methods.
"The problem here is money," he said. "You need to have the federal government and the state government step in."
Here at the beach where the Rio Grande once spilled into the sea, Mr. Blankinship said environmental problems were already emerging. By blocking the river from the sea, the sandbar has choked off the estuary that is the breeding grounds for innumerable species. He said early studies showed that populations of white shrimp and striped mullet have been severely affected.
The reduced water flow has also allowed vegetation like water hyacinth and hydrilla to grow exponentially along the Rio Grande. Usually, the current would flush such vegetation away, but now it is clogging some sections of the river.
"This is a big deal, the loss of an estuary like this," Mr. Blankinship said, pointing to the shallow end of the river. "And it is a bad omen for the future of the Rio Grande to see international water policy result in this."
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/national/19RIVE.html
4/20/02
12:25:36 PM
DAILY GRIST <http://www.gristmagazine.com>
SAY WHAT? What's the most outrageous, intriguing, inspiring, or simply off-the-wall thing that was said about the environment in the last week? Check out Grist's quote-of-the-week section -- and send us your ideas for future quotes <http://www.gristmagazine.com/saywhat/default.asp?source=daily>
I SCREAM!
What do ice cream and global climate change have in common? Why do Beltway politicians love Earth Day but do nothing for the environment? What does the true majority of American citizens really want for the future? And finally, how does the average ice-cream-eating citizen make her voice heard on Capitol Hill? Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben & Jerry's, tackles these questions and more, only on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: I'll stop the world from melting with you -- it's time for the U.S. government to get serious about climate change -- by Ben Cohen <http://www.gristmagazine.com/soapbox/cohen041902.asp?source=daily>
MARCH MADNESS
The stats are out on global temperatures for March -- and both the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agree that the month was a scorcher. How hot? The hottest March on the historical record and the 71st month in a row that global temperatures exceeded the 1971-2000 mean. Whew. If the trend continues, 2002 will top 1998 as the hottest year on record; so far, the heat has contributed to severe dust storms in Asia and widespread coral bleaching in the South Pacific. For the grim details, check out How's the Weather?, only on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: How's the Weather? -- taking the Earth's temperature -- by Leonie Haimson in our Heat Beat section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/heatbeat/weather041902.asp?source=daily>
JEANNE GENIE
In the absence of federal leadership on climate change issues, New Hampshire yesterday passed a precedent-setting bill to curb global warming. The measure, which was approved 21-2 by the state Senate, was supported by a broad bipartisan coalition, the state's largest environmental groups, and its largest utility, Public Service Company of New Hampshire. It would require Public Service to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels (about a 3 percent reduction) by 2007, as well as cut sulfur dioxide emissions by 75 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by 70 percent. If the utility failed to meet those targets, it could buy credits from out-of-state utilities that had cleaned up their acts. The company estimates that compliance would cost about $5 million per year and add about 40 cents per month to customers' electric bills. Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D) promised to sign the bill and urged other states -- especially those upwind of New Hampshire -- to pass similar measures.
straight to the source: Concord Monitor, Jim Graham, 19 Apr 2002 <http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/local2002/clean_air_law7466_2002.shtml>
RIO PEQUENO
The Rio Grande no longer reaches the sea. In fact, it falls almost a hundred yards short, a telling illustration of the water crisis that threatens the river and the cross-border region that depends on it for survival. Years of drought and a population explosion on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border have strained limited water supplies, and the region has no real water policy, short of praying for regular hurricanes. Theoretically, Mexico is supposed to send about 350,000 acre-feet of water every year into the Rio Grande from its major tributary, the Rio Conchos, while the U.S. is supposed to release 1.5 million acre-feet of water annually from the Colorado River into the Rio Grande. But Mexico is more than 1.5 million acre-feet in arrears, much to the dismay of U.S. farmers. Some believe Mexico is hoarding the water for its own agriculture industry, but Mexico claims there's simply no leftover water to be had.
straight to the source: New York Times, Jim Yardley, 19 Apr 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/national/19RIVE.html>
PESTS ASIDE
For the first time in a decade, the U.S. EPA will assess the impact of 18 common pesticides on endangered salmon and forest plants, as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by three California environmental groups. The pesticides -- several million pounds of them -- are used every year in the state's fields, forests, and orchards, and along highways and irrigations canals. The EPA agreed to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to study how exposure to the pesticides carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, and diazinon affects seven salmon species and 33 endangered woodland plants. "These species are close to extinction and pesticides continue to pollute their habitat, but the EPA hasn't even begun to take action," said Patty Clary of Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, one of the three groups that sued.
straight to the source: Contra Costa Times, Associated Press, Don Thompson, 19 Apr 2002 <http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/weather/environment/3096027.htm
4/20/02
12:11:44 PM
( Dear Kathleen, perhaps you should read http://www.MyCountryRightOrWrong.net )
Idiotic, Absurd Comments About 9-11
by Kathleen Parker, April 17, 2002
Every time I hear of another Palestinian "suicide bomber," I think: Darwin Awards. You know, the evolutionary awards bestowed each year on those who purify the gene pool by removing themselves from it. Darwin winners are, in the words of awards manager Wendy Northcutt, "too stupid to live."
Likewise, every time I hear Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., speak, I think: There ought to be an award. We could call it The McKinney Award -- for people "too stupid to serve in public office."
For McKinney is hands-down winner for stupidest thing ever said while in public office for her recent assertion that President George W. Bush knew about the 9-11 attacks in advance and did nothing to prevent them. Why? So that all his cronies could get rich on the subsequent military buildup. (Audience, all together now: Ah-haaaa!!!)
"We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11th," said McKinney during a recent interview with a Berkeley, Calif., radio station. "What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of September 11th? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? What do they have to hide?"
Not only is McKinney's comment idiotic, absurd and -- under other circumstances, hilarious, if you like slapstick -- it's dangerous. Would that we could ignore such ignoramuses, but we can't because "they" won't. "They" being terrorists, Islamic extremists, or others on the growing list of crazy people who can't get to those 72 virgins supposedly waiting for them in heaven fast enough. (I'm still confused about what compels young women to blow themselves up. Maybe they promise the ladies an eternity free of Arafat's decaying visage. One could be tempted.)
You have to wonder, is McKinney really that, um, misguided?
Since making her radio comments, McKinney has backtracked a few steps. "I am not aware of any evidence showing that President Bush or members of his administration have personally profited from the attacks of 9-11," she said. "A complete investigation might reveal that to be the case."
"Might" is a mighty big word when you're accusing the president of the United States of being a mass murderer and of otherwise helping kindle World War III. A complete investigation also might prove that McKinney has been dropping acid and living with cross-dressing dental hygienists under the Brooklyn Bridge (not that there's anything wrong with that), but then again, it might not.
McKinney's conspiracy theory apparently evolved from her sense that (follow closely) because former President George H.W. Bush, father of the current president, is an adviser to a Washington-based investment firm, the Carlyle Group -- and because Carlyle Group investors have been enriched by the war on terrorism owing to their partial ownership of a military contractor -- Bingo! Dubya obviously permitted suicidal Islamic fanatics to bring down the World Trade Center towers and part of the Pentagon.
By McKinney's theory, Bush would have to have been disappointed that hijacked Flight 93 went down in a Pennsylvania field instead of hitting its presumed target, the White House. Hey, and Bush was in Florida that day. Hmmmmm.
In reporting McKinney's insatiable appetite for her own boots, The Washington Post noted that McKinney has often "given voice to radical critiques of U.S. policy, especially in the Middle East." Given voice? Radical critiques? Let's call a farm implement a farm implement and translate that for the nice folks back home: "McKinney has made yet another over-the-top publicity grab, not yet grasping that most Americans consider her an imbecile."
Of course, news reporters have to be objective and respectful, even toward loonies like McKinney, which is why God created columnists. Here's the real deal: McKinney is a dangerous fool whose voice needs to be stifled. Not forcefully, of course. But couldn't we get this woman a job at Wal-Mart, greeting the public she so desperately courts? Wishfully thinking, couldn't we just impeach her?
I realize you can't impeach a public official for dragging down the national I.Q., but you can impeach for treason. Once McKinney's hysterical rant is translated into Arabic for a vulnerable, gullible and homicidal public, she's on their team, not ours. As Sen. Zell Miller, another Georgia Democrat, has noted, her statement is "very dangerous and irresponsible."
At the very least, oh, lovely, smart people of Georgia, vote this bad actress out of business. Do it for your country. Do it soon.
Kathleen Parker can be reached at mailto:kparker@orlandosentinel.com
Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/orl-edpparker17041702apr17.column
4/20/02
11:52:52 AM
911- ROAD TO TYRANNY - THE MOVIE - ALEX JONES - http://www.infowars.com 2 HRS AND 21 MINUTES - TAKES A WHILE TO LOAD
http://sf.indymedia.org/uploads/the_road_to_tyranny__34kbps_.rm
Iraq link to OKC, Sept. 11 attacks? - Jon E. Dougherty
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=24112
NO Statutes of Limitations on the Crimes of Genocide!
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=24116
Re: Orlando Sentinel hits McKinney hard (Kathleen Parker) - Kathleen Parker
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=24092
4/20/02
11:50:03 AM
Carole King will perform in "Earth to LA", on May 10th at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles, a benefit for the Natural Resources Defense Council. This special evening of comedy, music, short films and more will also include Louise Goffin, Steve Martin, Larry David, Cameron Diaz, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Short, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Rob Reiner and Debbie Allen's Dance Academy. For more information on the Natural Resources Defense Council go to
4/20/02
11:45:33 AM
EMS Update - April 19, 2002
Great Ways to Protect the Environment on Earth Day and Beyond
Journalists seeking ideas about how their readers can honor the planet on Earth Day 2002 will find tips at EMS.org.
Go to: http://www.ems.org/advisories/earth_day.html
Bonnie Raitt to Join Environmental Leaders at Press Conference
Leaders of the nation's top environmental groups and musician Bonnie Raitt will gather at a press conference on Earth Day, April 22, in Washington, D.C., to call on the Bush administration to halt its campaign against the nation's environmental protections. Bonnie Raitt will discuss her opposition to proposed nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
Media advisory: http://www.ems.org/advisories/april_22_event.html
4/20/02
11:43:03 AM
Brazen Oil Giants To Secretly Remove Top Global Warming Scientist
Greenpeace's Positive Energy Newsletter April 15-21, 2002
April 22, 2002 will mark the 32nd Earth Day. A time to reflect on life on Earth, Time magazine's 1988 Planet of the Year. Happy Earth Day to Everyone!!!
Inside this edition Celebrating Earth Day in California University of California Merced
Earth Day Celebrations
-- The Greenpeace Clean Energy Now! campaign will be in Southern California this weekend to join in on the celebration of our planet.
On Saturday, we will be at the Whole Earth Festival that will take place at Lake Balboa in Van Nuys.
On Sunday, we will be in San Diego for EarthFair that will take place at Balboa Park.
Visit the Greenpeace booth to learn more and to help promote clean energy. Hope to see you there!
For more information on the Whole Earth Festival visit:
Visit EarthFair's website at:
http://www.earthdayweb.org/SDEW_EarthFair.html
-- In San Francisco If you live in San Francisco, take an opportunity to take action on Earth Day. Come join Greenpeace in lobbying the California Public Utilities Commission to ensure that solar energy users don't pay for Governor Gray Davis' dirty and expensive long-term energy contracts with out-of-state natural gas providers. On April 22, PUC commissioners will be considering a ruling that will impose a fee on direct access customers, including residential solar power generators, to pay off the bad deals made by Gov. Davis last year.
To receive more information, please contact J.P. Ross via e-mail at:
mailto:jross@sfo.greenpeace.org or by phone at: (415) 255-9221 x 309.
University of California Merced
In the coming months we will be pushing UC Merced to become a chief exemplar for sustainable development. The UC system is planning to expand its presence with the creation of its 10th campus, the first American research university to be built in this century. UC officials claim that it will be created with the latest sustainable, environmentally sensitive techniques. Greenpeace will be working with students from the University California system to ensure that it becomes a model campus in incorporating solar energy. In addition to our demand that all new buildings generate at least 25% of their energy load through solar cells, we insist that all buildings on campus qualify for the highest "green" building standards - silver LEED standard or better!!!
If you would like to know more or get involved please contact Kristin Casper via e-mail at:
mailto:kristin.casper@sfo.greenpece.org
or by phone at: (415) 255-9221 x 321
The "Positive Energy" newsletter and our web site,
will give you good news about ways to achieve clean air, climate justice, and renewable energy solutions to our ongoing energy crisis.
Want to do more? Become a Greenpeace Member!
https://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/cen.htm
WASHINGTON (April 3, 2002) -- The Bush administration this week moved to oust a top scientific official targeted by ExxonMobil in a confidential memo to the White House. Bold language in the ExxonMobil papers released today by NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) reflects a brazen, behind-the-scenes effort by the oil company and other energy giants to disrupt the principal international science assessment program on global warming.
Dr. Robert Watson, a highly respected atmospheric scientist, has been chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 1996. Operating under United Nations auspices, the 2500-member expert panel provides policymakers around the world with rigorous, consensus-based assessments generally regarded as the most authoritative word on global warming and its causes.
Without formal announcement, the administration has decided to oppose Watson's appointment to a second term as IPCC chair, seriously damaging his prospects when representatives of more than 100 governments meet in Geneva April 17-20 to elect a new IPCC head.
The memorandum, obtained by NRDC from the White House Council on Environmental Quality under the Freedom of Information Act, shows that ExxonMobil began a secret campaign for Dr. Watson's removal in the first weeks of the Bush administration, and reveals ExxonMobil's intention to replace Watson and other key scientists with contrarians known for disagreeing with the prevailing consensus that man-made pollution is causing global warming.
In meetings this week with State Department officials, lobbyists for the coal industry, electric utilities, and automakers joined ExxonMobil's call to replace Watson.
"It's bad enough that ExxonMobil controls White House energy and climate policies," said Daniel Lashof, science director of the NRDC Climate Center. "Now they want to control the science too."
Under Watson's tenure, the IPCC last year produced its third comprehensive assessment of the state of climate science, concluding that "[t]here is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities," and predicting that average global temperatures will rise between 3 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century -- conclusions reaffirmed last spring at White House request by the National Academy of Sciences.
In a letter yesterday to Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky, NRDC's Lashof said: "The industry effort to block the reappointment of Dr. Watson is a thinly veiled attempt to undermine the effectiveness of the IPCC as a body that produces high quality, objective scientific assessments. I urge you to reject this campaign and to give Dr. Watson the United States' strongest possible support."
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 500,000 members nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
4/20/02
11:40:47 AM
Action Alert!
Tell Congress BIO Is Bad News! Take Action Now:
http://www.truefoodnow.org/bin/takeaction.fpl?action_id=121
BIO, the Biotech Industry Organization made up of Monsanto, Aventis, Dupont and other corporate polluters, is hosting their annual visit to Washington next week. They will meet with House and Senate representatives to press their agenda of:
- more genetically engineered crops,
- no mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food, and
- government support for opening up foreign markets to these genetic experiments.
Let *your* Senators and Representative know that you don't want to eat genetically engineered food!!!
Take Action Now:
http://www.truefoodnow.org/bin/takeaction.fpl?action_id=121
Check out the new True Food Now Community Center
http://www.truefoodnow.org/communitycenter/
Want to find out what is happening in your area to stop genetically engineered food?
Or better yet, want to organize a local event and reach like-minded people in your community?
The Greenpeace True Food Network has a new Community Center where you can get information on events near you, or where you can post your own event.
Check it out at:
http://www.truefoodnow.org/communitycenter/
4/20/02
11:38:36 AM
Study Sees 6,000 Deaths From Power Plants
by Katharine Q. Seeye, NY Times, April 18, 2002
WASHINGTON, April 17 -- A study prepared by a private contractor estimates that pollution from more than 80 power plants owned by eight electric utilities will cause nearly 6,000 premature deaths in the year 2007. The number is lower than the estimated number of deaths by pollution now because the air is getting cleaner, but the utility industry still cast doubt on the study's credibility.
The study was conducted by Abt Associates Inc., a technical consulting firm based in Cambridge, Mass. Abt often conducts studies for the Environmental Protection Agency, but this report was prepared for the Rockefeller Family Fund, which among other work supports environmental projects.
It uses epidemiological studies to project the number of pollution-related deaths in 2007, after some important new clean-air regulations will have taken effect and presumably reduced the level of emissions.
The study arrived at its premature death figures by determining the number of deaths among people 30 and older in excess of a region's expected mortality levels.
The analysis estimates that in addition to the 6,000 deaths, pollutants from the eight utilities will lead to 140,000 asthma attacks and 14,000 cases of acute bronchitis in 2007.
The study says that this pollution consists of fine particles of substances like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which can cause respiratory ailments, including lung cancer. The pollution drifts across the country with prevailing winds but falls relatively near home. Thus, plants in Ohio, Kentucky and Georgia, which have traditionally been blamed for acid rain and other pollutants in the Northeast, are also hurting residents in their own states.
"You don't have to go up to New England before you start to see the health damage," said Eric V. Schaeffer, the former chief enforcement officer for the Environmental Protection Agency and now an adviser to the Rockefeller fund.
Quinn Shea, executive director of environment for the Edison Electric Institute, an industry group, questioned the accuracy of the report.
"Regarding adverse health effects, we take that claim very seriously," Mr. Shea said. "But, given our experience with these authors, with their data base, with their modeling methodology, we have strong suspicions that this work is not credible."
The report is the latest piece of evidence to be introduced into the ongoing public debate over clean air regulations under review by the Bush administration. The administration wants to eliminate some programs and replace them with a strategy called Clear Skies, which, officials say, will reduce pollutants more than the current programs. Environmentalists strongly dispute this.
The eight companies in the study were: American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio; Cinergy, in Cincinnati; Duke Power in Charlotte, N.C.; Dynegy, based in Houston; First Energy in Akron, Ohio; Sigeco in Indiana; Southern Company in Atlanta, and the Tennessee Valley Authority in Knoxville, which operate a combined 83 power plants. They account for about 8 percent of the more than 9,350 power plants in the country. All eight companies have been cited by the Justice Department as being in violation of the Clean Air Act and are in various stages of legal action.
The study said the companies that caused the most pollution were, not surprisingly, the biggest -- American Electric Power, with 1,400 projected deaths, and the Southern Company, with 1,200 deaths.
Mike Tyndall, a spokesman for Southern, said the report used selective data that did not provide a complete picture of the situation. "It ignores dozens of other peer-reviewed studies that find no association between sulfates from power plants and health effects," Mr. Tyndall said.
The most deaths, 550, are in Pennsylvania.
"The big loser is Pennsylvania, because they're in the wind path," Mr. Schaeffer said.
New York can expect 340 deaths the report said, New Jersey 180 and Connecticut 54.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/18/national/18POLL.html?todaysheadlines
4/20/02
11:37:42 AM
TomPaine.com!
"Independent, commercial-free, public affairs reporting."
TRADING UNDERSHIRTS FOR PIXELS
Cowboys on the Internet Frontier
by Debra Cash
If we can't own our ideas, who can? And if we can't profit from those ideas what else will we have to sell? And why do the multinational media bullies think that they get to make that decision unilaterally?
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5469
UNDER THE RADAR: SHELVING WORKPLACE CHEMICAL SAFETY RULES The Administration Kills A Decade-Old Effort To Regulate 'Reactive' Toxics
by Steven Rosenfeld
A proposal to regulate some of the most dangerous workplace chemicals floundered under the Clinton administration and dies under Bush.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5466
PIANO TEACHER IN THE CHURCH BASEMENT
A Poem
by Gary Margolis
"...In Mr. Reissen's studio, God's basement, he made every sound soundproof."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5476
SPOILING FOR A FIGHT:
NUTS, NUISANCES AND NONPERSONS
When The Media Dismisses Third-Party Candidates, The Public Looses
by Micah L. Sifry
News sources from The New York Times to The Weekly Standard barely restrain their snickering about third-pary candidates and their everyday American supporters -- when they cover third parties at all.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5485
A DREAM DENIED
Israeli Offensive A Turning Point For Progressive Jews
by Laura Flanders
Not since Sept. 11 has there been such turmoil and soul-searching.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5472
ECCLESIASTICAL TRAGEDIES, MEDIA PREOCCUPATIONS, UGLY EXCESS
Why Bernard Cardinal Law Should Be Wearing An Orange Jumpsuit
by Michael Ryan
Newspapers and networks are devoting far too much time and space to an ecclesiastical scandal that could be solved if the predators and their patrons were simply dismissed, defrocked, and, where appropriate imprisoned.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5475
4/20/02
11:36:44 AM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
SENATE REJECTS ARCTIC DRILLING PROPOSAL
WASHINGTON, DC, April 18, 2002 (ENS) - With a 54-46 vote, the U.S. Senate voted today to reject a proposal to open part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil exploration. Senate Republicans needed 60 votes to break a Democrat led filibuster of an amendment, introduced by Alaska's senators, to the Senate energy bill.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-18-07.html
POWER PLANT EMISSIONS BLAMED FOR PREMATURE DEATHS
WASHINGTON, DC, April 18, 2002 (ENS) - Almost 6,000 premature deaths can be blamed each year on pollution from 80 power plants in the Midwest and Southeast, charges a report released by a consulting firm and a former enforcement officer from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The study looked at the emissions from plants run by eight utility companies cited by the Justice Department in 1999 and 2000 for violating the Clean Air Act.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-18-06.html
GLOBAL WARMING FILLS GLACIAL LAKES TO BURSTING
GENEVA, Switzerland, April 18, 2002 (ENS) - At least 44 glacial lakes high in the Himalayas are filling so rapidly they could burst their banks in as little as five years, an international team of scientists has found.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-18-01.html
OFFSHORE WIND FARM APPROVED FOR WINDIEST COUNTRY IN EUROPE
LONDON, United Kingdom, April 18, 2002 (ENS) - The single largest offshore wind farm in the United Kingdom won approval Wednesday from Minister for Energy, Brian Wilson.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-18-02.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: APRIL 18, 2002
Coastal Development Threatens Ocean Health
Radioactive Particles Found on Nuclear Workers
Jury Labels MTBE Gasoline as Defective Product
Dozens of Wolves Killed for Preying on Livestock
Underground Cleanup Accelerated at INEEL
Hundreds of Sturgeon Returned to Tennessee River System
Effects of Forest Fragmentation on Birds Vary
DC Transit Adds Natural Gas Buses
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-18-09.html
4/20/02
11:34:40 AM
UTNE WEB WATCH
The Best of the Alternative Web
FRESH FIELDS
by Patty Cantrell, Elm Street Writers Group
-- Consumers have indicated an interest in buying from small and organic farms. Now, a bill in Congress offers additional aid to these farmers.
LEAPING THE ABYSS
by Gregory Benford, Reason Online
-- The debilitating effects of Lou Gehrig's disease have done little to mute Stephen Hawking's passionate pursuit of the big questions over the past 20 years. Here is a wide-ranging conversation with the man who gave us A Brief History of Time.
HOPE TAKES FLIGHT IN KOSOVO
by Yael Sachs, Goodthings.com
-- This letter, posted by a transplant to Kosovo, proves the possibility of the region's recovery and a better future--thanks to the work of two of its youths.
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
4/19/02
6:18:27 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
DOE's Abraham urges Congress to back Yucca waste site - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15552/story.htm
NRC probes particles from FirstEnergy Ohio reactor - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15553/story.htm
New York again asked to cut power use in heat wave - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15556/story.htm
Michigan unveils drive to lure fuel cell industry - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15551/story.htm
UPDATE - US Senate kills Bush plan for Alaska drilling - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15550/story.htm
US utility pollution kills 5,900 a year-study - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15549/story.htm
California jury finds companies liable for MTBE pollution - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15548/story.htm
Scientists firm up global climate forecasts - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15546/story.htm
Green lobby loses eco-vote at BP meeting - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15544/story.htm
Singapore's last unique animals face extinction - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15547/story.htm
Fungus threatens to croak New Zealand frogs - NEW ZEALAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15567/story.htm
Japan considers criminalising food mislabelling - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15566/story.htm
Japan coast guard braces for whaling meeting - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15559/story.htm
Worries grow over tankers' vulnerability to attack - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15564/story.htm
INTERVIEW - Indonesia seeks solution on open-pit mining ban - INDONESIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15561/story.htm
Germans optimistic they can stamp out swine fever - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15545/story.htm
Finnish MPs lean towards more nuclear power - poll - FINLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15563/story.htm
Earth Summit 2 in danger from dithering - EU - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15557/story.htm
UPDATE - China issues temporary GMO permits, trade applauds - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15558/story.htm
Canada welcomes demise of Alaska drilling plan - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15555/story.htm
Britain's Prescott dampens environment meet hopes - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15565/story.htm
FEATURE - Famous Australian hatters mad about rabbits - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15562/story.htm
Any Jabiluka development long way off-Rio - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15560/story.htm
South Australia approves Tarong Energy wind farm - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15554/story.htm
4/19/02
6:15:34 PM
Making A Difference
As the old man walked the beach at dawn, he noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Finally catching up to the youth, he asked him why he was doing this. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left until the morning sun. "But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish" said the old man. " How can your efforts make any difference?" The young man looked at the starfish and then threw it to safety in the waves. "It makes a difference to that one," he said.
4/19/02
6:14:21 PM
It's an Inch Long and Wingless, and a Surprise to Insect Experts
By CAROL KAESUK YOON, NY Times
April 18, 2002
In a finding sure to stun the world of entomology, scientists say they have discovered a major new group, or order, of insects, the first to be identified in 88 years.
Their assertion is based on the discovery of previously unrecorded inch-long wingless creatures. The insects, Mantophasmatodea, have features of praying mantises, walking sticks and other phasmids.
The discovery of insect species is not rare. But insect orders are huge groups. One, for example, includes all the butterflies and moths, another comprises all beetles. The last new insect order was discovered in 1914.
"Everybody had said that's it, we have them all, guys," said Dr. Joachim Adis, entomologist at the Max Planck Institute for Limnology in Germany and an author of a report on the find, which he said brought the total number of known insect orders up to 31.
Dr. Terry Erwin, an entomologist at the Smithsonian Institution who has no connection to the new work, said it was "definitely something big."
"It's an entirely new lineage of organisms that's gone undetected," Dr. Erwin said.
Dr. Adis and his colleagues describe the new order in tomorrow's online edition of the journal Science.
Though the insects appear to have been more widespread in the past, scientists have only verified that the creatures are living in the mountains of Namibia. Dr. Adis said that with international collectors eager to buy the newly minted order on the insect black market, the authorities in the area have already begun battling Mantophasmatodea poachers.
Topics Alerts Insects Evolution DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) Create Your Own | Manage Alerts Take a Tour Sign Up for Newsletters Science Times Book of Fossils &Evolution
Buy this book for $20 .
The idea that researchers could discover a new order of insects seemed so outlandish that some scientists who had heard about the discovery earlier this month suspected an April Fool's joke.
Oliver Zompro, a graduate student at the Max Planck institute, who uncovered the new group while studying with Dr. Adis, was similarly flummoxed when he first tried to identify the creature he found in a 45 million-year-old piece of Baltic amber.
"He couldn't place it anywhere," said Dr. Adis, Mr. Zompro's adviser.
By chance, Mr. Zompro was then asked to identify an insect that had been sitting in the British Museum for 16 years and that curators had been unable to place. He realized he had the same thing on his hands, and that because the specimen in the museum was relatively recent the group might still be alive.
The researchers sent e-mail messages to museums asking if anyone had seen similar insects. They received a single reply, from Namibia. Eventually after helicoptering themselves and equipment to remote mountaintops in the southwest African nation, they spent three days with precious live insects in hand, dodging leopards to make their way back down the mountains.
Dr. Adis said researchers were already out, with pictures of the Mantophasmatodea in hand and searching for new species of the group in Brazil.
"No order is restricted to one continent; why should they be?" he said of the newly discovered group.
Most insects cannot be properly identified until they are mature adults, usually the time when insects have developed wings. But since these insects never grow wings, researchers say, it was easy for them to be overlooked.
Researchers at University of Leeds in England and Brigham Young University have already begun DNA studies to try to determine where the new group fits in the insect family tree.
But while most researchers were still trying to wrap their minds around insect order No. 31, Dr. Erwin suggested not getting too comfortable with the latest count.
"As we continue to explore and get back into more and more remote areas, we'll find more," he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/18/science/18BUG.html?todaysheadlines
4/19/02
5:31:10 PM
I noted your address at the a20stopthewar web site and hope you find this note helpful. I feel you could find relevant and useful a web site dealing with a new book of mine being recommended by 3 Nobel Peace Prize-winning groups: If you agree your fellow members would be likely to find the site helpful, I hope you will let them know about it and the book.
http://www.rogerburkholder.com
Roger Burkholder
4/19/02
5:04:27 PM
Fact Sheet: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge And Oil Drilling
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Covering more than 20 million acres, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) includes the largest designated wilderness area (8 million acres) in the National Wildlife Refuge system. In dispute is permission to drill on the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain, the biological heart of the Refuge.
Absent of roads, lodging and campsites, ANWR has been dubbed "America's finest example of an intact, naturally functioning community of Arctic/sub-Arctic ecosystems." Teeming with wildlife (more than 160 bird species, 36 kinds of land mammals, nine marine mammal species and 36 types of fish), the Refuge is a breeding ground and habitat for caribou, polar bears and other animals.
About one in four jobs in Alaska (some 55,000 jobs total, or twice the number of jobs in the petroleum, mining and construction industries) depend on a clean environment. These jobs are in the commercial and sport fishing, tourism and hunting sectors.
Drilling for oil in the Refuge
The United States holds less than 3 percent of the world's proven oil reserves, yet Americans consume 25 percent of the world's produced oil. Opening the Arctic National Refuge would increase world reserves by only 0.3 percent. Even opening all our refuges, parks and coastlines to drilling would not satisfy our current energy demands.
The amount of oil that could be recovered economically from the Arctic Refuge over a 50-year span -- approximately 5.3 billion barrels -- amounts to less than a nine month's supply for the United States.
Drilling in ANWR would provide consumers with little or no price relief, since the amount of oil involved provides no leverage against OPEC market control. For example, when Alaska's Prudhoe Bay increased production in the 1970s, OPEC was still able to double oil prices by curtailing their supply. Various estimates put the amount of economically recoverable oil -- that is, after production costs are balanced against the price of oil -- at less than what could be saved with just a 3 mpg increase in the average fuel economy of American cars and trucks.
Sources: Alaska Conservation Foundation, Energy Information Administration, Environmental Defense, Environmental Media Services, Union of Concerned Scientists, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Wilderness Society
The work of Chief Looking Horse calls for Global Healing in many aspects that encompasses Peace with all Mitakuye Oyasin (all living beings, relations)
Source: http://www.wolakota.org
4/19/02
4:57:39 PM
Eric Schaeffer's resignation letter from EPA
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2002
Here's the full text of EPA Enforcement Chief Schaeffer's resignation letter, delivered to:
Christine Whitman Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004
Dear Ms. Whitman
I resign today from the Environmental Protection Agency after twelve years of service, the last five as Director of the Office of Regulatory Enforcement. I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given, and leave with a deep admiration for the men and women of EPA who dedicate their lives to protecting the environment and the public health.
Their faith in the Agency's mission is an inspiring example to those who still believe that government should stand for the public interest.
But I cannot leave without sharing my frustration about the fate of our enforcement actions against power companies that have violated the Clean Air Act. Between November of 1999 and December of 2000, EPA filed lawsuits against 9 power companies for expanding their plants, without obtaining New Source Review permits and the up to date pollution controls required by law. The companies named in our lawsuits emit an incredible 5.0 million tons of sulfur dioxide every year (a quarter of the emissions in the entire country) as well as 2 million tons of nitrogen oxide.
As the scale of pollution from these coal-fired smokestacks is immense, so is the damage to public health. Data supplied to the Senate Environment Committee by EPA last year estimate the annual health bill from 7 million tons of SO2 and NO2: more than 10,800 premature deaths; at least 5,400 incidents of chronic bronchitis; more than 5,100 hospital emergency visits; and over 1.5 million lost work days. Add to that severe damage to our natural resources, as acid rain attacks soils and plants, and deposits nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay and other critical bodies of water.
Fifteen months ago, it looked as though our lawsuits were going to shrink these dismal statistics, when EPA publicly announced agreements with Cinergy and Vepco to reduce Sox and Nox emissions by a combined 750,000 tons per year. Settlements already lodged with two other companies - TECO and PSE&G - will eventually take another quarter million tons of Nox and Sox out of the air annually. If we get similar results from the 9 companies with filed complaints, we are on track to reduce both pollutants by a combined 4.8 million tons per year. And that does not count the hundreds of thousands of additional tons that can be obtained from other companies with whom we have been negotiating.
Yet today, we seem about the snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We are in the 9th month of a "90 day review" to reexamine the law, and fighting a White House that seems determined to weaken the rules we are trying to enforce. It is hard to know which is worse, the endless delay or the repeated leaks by energy industry lobbyists of draft rule changes that would undermine lawsuits already filed. At their heart, these proposals would turn narrow exemptions into larger loopholes that would allow old "grandfathered" plants to be continually rebuilt (and emissions to increase) without modern pollution controls.
Our negotiating position is weakened further by the Administration's budget proposal to cut the civil enforcement program by more than 200 staff positions below the 2001 level. Already, we are unable to fill key staff positions, not only in air enforcement, but in other critical programs, and the proposed budget cuts would leave us desperately short of the resources needed to deal with the large, sophisticated corporate defendants we face.
And it is completely unrealistic to expect underfunded state environmental programs, facing their own budget cuts, to take up the slack.
It is no longer possible to pretend that the ongoing debate with the White House and Department of Energy is not effecting our ability to negotiate settlements. Cinergy and Vepco have refused to sign the consent decrees they agreed to 15 months ago, hedging their bets while waiting for the Administration's Clean Air Act reform proposals. Other companies with whom we were close to settlement have walked away from the table. The momentum we obtained with agreements announced earlier has stopped, and we have filed no new lawsuits against utility companies since this Administration took office. We obviously cannot settle cases with defendants who think we are still rewriting the law.
The arguments against sustaining our enforcement actions don't hold up to scrutiny.Were the complaints filed by the U.S. government based on conflicting or changing interpretations? The Justice Department doesn't think so. Its review of our enforcement actions found EPA's interpretation of the law to be reasonable and consistent. While the Justice Department has gamely insisted it will continue to prosecute existing cases, the confusion over where EPA is going with New Source Review has made settlement almost impossible, and protracted litigation inevitable.
What about the energy crisis? It stubbornly refuses to materialize, as experts predict a glut of power plants in some areas of the U.S. In any case, our settlements are flexible enough to provide for cleaner air while protecting consumers from rate shock. The relative costs and benefits?
EPA's regulatory impact analyses, reviewed by OMB, quantify health and environmental benefits of $7,300 per ton of SO2 reduced at a cost of less than $1,000 per ton. These cases should be supported by anyone who thinks cost-benefit analysis is a serious tool for decision-making, not a political game.
Is the law too complicated to understand? Most of the projects our cases targeted involved big expansion projects that pushed emission increases many times over the limits allowed by law. Should we try to fix the problem by passing a new law? Assuming the Administration's bill survives a legislative odyssey in today's evenly divided Congress, it will send us right back where we started with new rules to write, which will then be delayed by industry challenges, and with fewer emissions reductions than we can get by enforcing today's law.
I believe you share the concerns I have expressed, and wish you well in your efforts to persuade the Administration to put our enforcement actions back on course. Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican and our greatest environmental President, said, "Compliance with the law is demanded as a right, not asked as a favor." By showing that powerful utility interests are not exempt from that principle, you will prove to EPA's staff that their faith in the Agency's mission is not in vain. And you will leave the American public with an environmental victory that will be felt for generations to come.
Sincerely,
Eric V. Schaeffer, Director Office of Regulatory Enforcement
4/19/02
4:53:50 PM
EPA Official Quits in Frustration
by Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D., April 15, 2002
Hello,
We hear little these days in the mainstream media about the supposed energy crisis. Like their coverage of most issues, they spent a few weeks on the crisis and then moved on to other things. We were left with the assumption that energy is in short supply and that as a result, rates have to rise. This convenient perception is generating billions of dollars for the utility companies while people around the country can't afford to pay heating bills. Environmental rules around the nation have been suspended so that new dirty power plants could be built.
Earlier this year, Eric Schaeffer, the EPA's director of civil enforcement, resigned after 12 years at the agency. In his resignation letter, he complained that the White House "seems determined to weaken the rules we are trying to enforce." He also implied that the often feared energy crisis is a fabrication when he said, "What about the energy crisis? It stubbornly refuses to materialize, as experts predict a glut of power plants in some areas of the U.S."
If any of you had any doubts about the impact of the current presidential administration's environmental policy, Schaeffer's resignation letter will put them to rest. New power plants will fill the owner's pockets with our dollars at the expense of our ecosystems as utility rates continue to rise. Below is the text of that letter.
email your elected representatives and let them know that you won't tolerate this any longer. You can find out who they are at:
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html.
You can review a summary of some energy issues in two Healing Our World commentaries from last year, "Energy Crisis or Greed Crisis," at:
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-09g.html
and a special report,"Energy Crisis or Energy Hoax," at:
http://drjackie.freeservers.com/articles/jagfeb12-2001.html
Thank you for your efforts on behalf of our planet and our future.
Jackie
Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. Author of "Healing Our World" commentaries on the Environment News Service:
Check out Jackie's website with an archive of his over 180 commentaries at:
http://www.healingourworld.com
email; mailto:jackie@deepteaching.com
Jackie's new book, "Healing Our World, A Journey from the Darkness into the Light," is available from XLIBRIS at:
http://www.xlibris.com/HealingOurWorld.html
4/19/02
3:49:32 PM
The Wilderness Society
SENATE VOTES TO PROTECT ARCTIC REFUGE FROM OIL DRILLING By a vote of 54-46, the Senate today rejected an amendment from Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. ***THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR ACTION ON THIS. YOUR CALLS, LETTERS, AND FAXES MADE THE DIFFERENCE.***
DETAILS
Sen. Murkowski introduced his drilling amendment to the Senate Energy (S. 517) bill this past Tuesday. Debate ensued through this morning, and then a vote to limit debate ("invoke cloture") was held. Drilling proponents needed 60 votes to stop debate and proceed to a vote on the amendment. But they could only muster 46 votes, not even a majority of the Senate.
In an earlier vote, an effort by drilling proponents to couple Arctic drilling with relief for ailing steel-industry retirement funds was defeated by an even wider margin, 64-36.
WHAT'S NEXT
At the risk of sounding like Chicken Little, we cannot yet be assured that the Arctic Refuge is out of immediate danger, since the House-passed energy bill contains an Arctic Refuge oil drilling provision. The House and Senate energy bills will have to be "reconciled" in a conference committee (once the Senate passes a bill) and the issue could resurface there. We'll keep you apprised of the situation.
HOW THEY VOTED
A list is at the bottom of this message, or go to
http://www.wilderness.org/arctic/index.htm#arcticvote
ROADLESS AREAS -- NEW REPORT: Our Nation's Wild Forests at Risk
Spurred on by their friends in the timber and oil and gas industries, the Bush administration is currently pursuing controversial logging, road construction and oil and gas drilling projects that threaten environmentally sensitive wildlands on our National Forests from Alaska to Illinois. "Our Nation's Wild Forests at Risk," a report released today by The Wilderness Society, Sierra Club, Earthjustice, and the Heritage Forests Campaign in collaboration with numerous conservation organizations nationwide, features 20 National Forest roadless areas facing impending risks that would not exist if the Roadless Area Conservation Rule were in place.
The Roadless Rule, put in place by the Clinton Administration, protects 58.5 million acres of roadless areas on National Forests and Grasslands from most logging and road construction. Exceptions are made to allow road construction to fight fire, protect property and allow access to state and private lands. The rule was overwhelmingly supported by the American people, with upwards of 95% of the 2.3 million comments supporting the strongest protections possible for these wild forest lands.
Since assuming office, the Bush administration has approached this historically significant, well-balanced, broadly popular yet still unimplemented policy with stall tactics, lack of adequate legal defense and empty promises. More recently they've undertaken a vigorous attack at the rule's basic tenets through an onslaught of obscure bureaucratic maneuvers.
Places at risk include
- Tongass rainforest in Alaska
- Clearwater National Forest in Idaho
- Kootenai National Forest in Montana
- Shawnee National Forest in Illinois
Learn more. Read our report:
http://www.wilderness.org/standbylands/roadless/wildforest/
BUSH CONTINUES TO BUILD RAPSHEET ON THE ENVIRONMENT
When it comes to environmental protection, the Bush administration has failed. On issue after issue, the president and his appointees have created new threats to our air, water, land, and wildlife, siding with those interests eager to make a quick profit. Because so many of the appointees have represented those interests throughout their careers, the prospects for a reversal of this record are slim. It will be up to the American people and their representatives in Congress to turn back the administration's efforts to undermine environmental protection.
- ENERGY -- The White House is championing an energy plan that is a half-century out of date and that bears the fingerprints of the oil, gas, coal, and nuclear power industries. Under this blueprint, our environment would be sacrificed in a host of ways.
- SCIENCE -- The Bush administration has ignored or misstated the findings of the scientific community, from the values of protecting 58.5 million acres of roadless areas within our national forests or wetlands, to the devastating effects of proposed oil development within the Arctic Refuge.
- PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT -- The administration has ignored the public's views, despite the insistence of Secretary Norton and others that paying more attention to these views is at the heart of their approach.
- LIP SERVICE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION -- On occasion, this administration has acted to protect the environment. For example, at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, the Interior Department so far has forcefully backed up the Park Service in its efforts to limit swamp buggy traffic that is degrading the area. A plan to restore and clean up the Great Lakes also has some promise. But most of what the Bush administration takes credit for amounts to nothing more than allowing rules and decisions to stand.
The clean air and water, biological diversity, and inspiration that our national parks, wilderness, and other natural reserves provide are of vital importance. The truly patriotic course of action is not to plunder the most stunning lands we have inherited, but to protect them. Each generation serves as trustee of these natural treasures, and this administration is breaching that trust.
http://www.wilderness.org/eyewash/bush/strikeout/
4/19/02
3:42:29 PM
For A Different Globalization
by Mikhail Gorbachev, New Perspectives Quarterly April 18, 2002
During, and just after, the Earth Summit on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, I could sense an overwhelming air of enthusiasm and hope for the future. It was a time of optimism and, in retrospect, innocence, as everyone celebrated the end of the Cold War.
Ten years later, we are surrounded by a different air -- one of cynicism and, for many, despair. This is hardly surprising, considering that the environment continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate, poverty is deepening in developing and transition countries, human security is diminishing, and violent conflicts and attacks still scar our world.
And this does not even begin to take into account the new realities we face in 2002. Most of these recent developments are tied to the phenomenon of globalization; the fact that we now live in a highly interconnected world where trade, pollution, crime, disease and communication know no borders. Globalization has brought enormous benefits to some, disaster to others, and has completely bypassed many. It has generated even greater gaps between the haves and the have-nots: those who have access to information, technology and natural resources, and those who have no influence at all over the factors that affect their livelihoods.
Double standards and the increasingly unfettered power of large multinational companies have served to exacerbate this trend. Instead of the "sustainable development,'' which the world signed up for in Rio, we see unsustainable consumption gained largely on the backs of the world's poor and disenfranchised, and at the expense of the environment.
What has gone wrong? What is missing?
Even in 1992, many of us realized that all the good will and promises of the Rio Summit would amount to nothing unless accompanied by two things: a serious investigation into the universal values and codes of ethics, and a great deal of money.
With others, I have been part of a global dialogue to create an integrated ethical framework for sustainable development, which resulted in the Earth Charter first released in 2000. With this text, we sought to fill an important gap.
Since the very emergence of human civilization, communities everywhere have developed and put into practice moral codes of conduct to govern the way they treat one another. Violators of these codes are brought to justice and often required to compensate the victims of their actions. After the horrors of the world wars, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was formulated as a means of protecting the people of the world from harm. Now the planet itself is in danger, and many of the basic ethical principles that should protect it are not respected, even though millions of people suffer as a result and violators go unpunished.
Hence, the need for an Earth Charter on behalf of the environment, and for the rights of future generations.
One important area where the world has fallen most sadly short of the Rio promises is freshwater. So simple, so beautiful in its different natural forms and so essential, water is a symbol in many religions and cultures for purification and replenishment, and is regarded as something to rejoice over and cherish.
It should be regarded as a source of universal shame that 3 million children will die, and millions more become blind this year as a result of preventable water-borne diseases; that over 1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water; that almost 3 billion do not have the means for adequate sanitation; and that we thoughtlessly continue to pollute and exploit natural sources of freshwater throughout the world.
Water is the single most important ingredient for development and stability. Without access to basic water supplies, one is left with ill health, poverty, environmental degradation and even conflict -- all of which in turn lead to greater water stress.
Good governance, though essential, is not enough to cope with these issues. The United Nations has made a Millennium Pledge to reduce by half the number of people in the world without access to improved water and sanitation services by 2015; achieving this will take an estimated US$ 23 billion per year. Access to an adequate supply of good water for basic human needs is a universal human right, and it is the responsibility of everyone that this pledge be kept.
This will be difficult, considering that levels of Official Development Assistance (ODA), which helped finance infrastructure projects -- reached a 20-year low point of $53.1 billion last year.
At the Earth Summit, leaders of developed countries vowed to increase their ODA to 0.7 percent of their GNP. Only five nations have made good on that promise (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands and Luxembourg), while the others have either decreased or frozen their contributions. The OECD average is a pitiful 0.39 percent.
The countries of the North should insist that this trend be reversed, and that their nations live up to their global responsibilities. (It is, perhaps, a small but promising sign that U.S. President George Bush just decided, on March 15, to increase the American development aid budget by $5 billion.)
While insisting that developing nations pay their crippling overseas debts, rich nations should not forget the incalculable ecological debts that they are accruing through over-consumption, particularly the already evident climatic changes directly caused by irresponsible energy policies. The U.S. Senate, for example, voted down higher fuel efficiency standards of the gas-guzzling SUVs that clog the roads of American suburbs).
Surely, it is too much to ask that the developing countries not only honor their own debts but also bear the brunt of the over-consumption of the rich.
It would be naive to imagine that our prosperity can continue, or that we can achieve any degree of global security, without meeting these goals. One of the most important lessons of the terrorist attacks of September 11 is that we are all living in one world, and no one can afford to ignore the problems of others, no matter how far away.
Clearly, only globalization that is inclusive and rooted in sustainable development, will work. The current path will only breed resentment, despair and, no doubt, more violence.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Cold War. He is currently president of Green Cross International, a worldwide environmental organization based in Geneva.
Green Cross International: http://www.gci.ch
Source: http://www.digitalnpq.org/home.html
4/19/02
3:33:21 PM
Feds Promote Prison Racial Disparities
by Earl Ofari Hutchinson, April 18, 2002
For decades federal prisons were repositories for a relatively small number of mostly white, white-collar embezzlers, tax cheats, racketeers, and swindlers. But that drastically changed in 1994 when then President Clinton shoved through Congress the most punitive crime bill in American history. The law created a parade of new federal offenses and lengthened prison sentences. This virtually assured a swell in the number of those jailed in federal prisons.
According to a recent Bureau of Justice report, the rate of increase of those that now stuff federal prisons more than doubled the rate of increase of those in state prisons in 2000. The leap in federal incarceration comes at a time when state prison numbers are dropping due to increased emphasis by state lawmakers on drug, and alternative sentencing reforms. The Clinton crime bill further contributed to the federal prison swell by reducing funds for drug rehabilitation and prevention programs, and, worse, keeping intact the racial inequalities in federal drug prosecutions. The Sentencing Project, a Washington D.C. based, criminal justice reform group, confirm that while far more whites use and deal drugs including crack cocaine than blacks, the overwhelming majority of those prosecuted in federal courts for drug possession and sale (mostly small amounts of crack cocaine) and given stiff mandatory sentences are African-American. Attorney General John Ashcroft vehemently defends the feds tough lock-em'-up policy, and insists that most of those whom the feds slap behind bars are not non-violent, drug petty offenders but the big time drug kings. But a recent study of federal drug offenders by Ashcroft's own Justice Department refutes this. Nearly half of those charged in federal courts for drug offenses had no prior convictions.
For a significant number of drug offenders it was their first arrest. Less than one percent of those jailed and prosecuted by the feds fit the profile of drug lords.
Eventually Clinton gave belated and tepid support to eliminating the gaping racial disparities in the drug laws. But when Congress balked at dumping the disparities, Clinton did not fight for the change. His only public protest was a controversial, ill-conceived grant of clemency during his waning days in office in December 2000 to a top drug dealer, Carlos Vignali. The clemency was horribly tainted by charges that Vignali's father used cash and influence peddling to get his release. The clemency and the rotten publicity it got probably hardened public opinion against softening federal policy toward drug offenders.
During the presidential campaign, President Bush vaguely promised that he'd take a hard look at the nation's drug policies. That promise went out the window fast when he picked John Walters as his drug czar. Walters publicly claims that there are no racial disparities in the drug laws enforcement, and that incarceration is still the best way to deal with the drug scourge. The fed policy of putting thousands of black men behind bars for mostly non-violent drug offenses has wreaked massive social and political havoc on families and communities. At present, thirteen states permanently ban ex-felons from voting. More than half of those disenfranchised are black men. Women convicted of felony drug offenses are also barred for life from receiving welfare benefits. This puts thousands of women and their children at dire social risk and increases the likelihood that they will commit more crimes.
The scapegoating of blacks for America's crime and drug problem began in the 1980s. The conservative assault on job, income, and social service programs, a crumbling educational system and industrial shrinkage dumped more blacks on the streets with no where to go. Some chose guns, gangs, crime and drugs. The big cuts in welfare, social services, and skills training programs during the Clinton administration dumped more young black males and women on the streets.
Fortunately, the grudging change in drug policy by some states may save many of them from becoming permanent prison fodder. In California, first time drug offenders now receive treatment and counseling rather than an automatic prison cell. Other states have also modified their tough lock-up approach to the drug plague. But this new enlightenment on drug sentencing has had little affect on federal policy.
A bill introduced by Alabama Democrat Jeff Sessions in December 2001, which takes a stab at reforming federal drug laws, only marginally reduces the disparity in drug sentencing. But it does not eliminate the racial disparity. More states have finally woken up and realized that jailing mostly, poor, and desperate small time black drug offenders squanders billions, deepens the cynicism among many African-Americans about the law, and perpetuates the public delusion that the nation is somehow winning the war against drugs. The pity is the feds won't wake up to that same grim reality.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and columnist. Visit his news and opinion website: www.thehutchinsonreport.com He is the author of The Crisis in Black and Black (Middle Passage Press).
Source: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12902
4/19/02
3:18:58 PM
A Foreign Policy Debacle
by Jim Lobe, April 18, 2002
Foreign policy experts are calling the White House handling of the attempted coup in Venezuela a diplomatic debacle.
Its enthusiastic response to the ouster of Hugo Chavez destroyed years of painstaking effort aimed at restoring the United States’ image as a champion of democracy in Latin America in one fell swoop.
"This badly damaged U.S. credibility on democracy questions and revealed that the U.S. had completely isolated itself on this issue," said Michael Shifter, vice president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. "The Latins will see in this traditional U.S. double standards on democratic governments."
Regional experts blame Iran-Contra veterans Elliott Abrams at the NSC and Otto Reich, the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs for one of the worst fiascos in U.S. Latin American policy in recent years. They say the U.S. government is returning to its "bad old ways."
That scathing assessment was echoed by a number of specialists in the aftermath of the attempted coup, which began last Thursday night and collapsed less than 48 hours later. Since his landslide election in 1998, Chavez has not been popular with Washington. The Bush administration’s long list of complaints include: Chavez's early criticism of the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan; his close ties to Fidel; and his sympathy and alleged support for left-wing guerrillas in neighboring Colombia. All reasons why the White House greeted his ouster with undisguised enthusiasm, steadfastly declining to call it a "coup."
The administration instead parroted the "facts" put out by those who mounted the coup:
-- Chavez supporters fired on tens of thousands of peaceful anti-government demonstrators around the presidential palace.
-- the military refused orders to disperse the crowd.
-- Chavez dismissed the vice president and cabinet before resigning, opening the way to Carmona’s investiture.
But this account soon appeared self-serving at best and possibly deliberately misleading by end of the tumultuous weekend.
The administration now claims that its initial and highly partisan account was based "on the best information available at that time" and was not intended to encourage the coup's success. But analysts point out that not a single senior U.S. official has yet publicly denounced the attempted takeover.
In contrast to the administration's eager response, Latin American leaders --19 of whom were meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica at the time -- immediately condemned Chavez's ouster. They also called for an urgent meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose Inter-American Democracy Charter requires member-states to impose far-reaching diplomatic and economic sanctions against any government that seizes power by unconstitutional means.
By the time the OAS permanent council convened here Saturday night, the coup, which had apparently been taken over by an extreme right-wing faction, was rapidly unraveling. Hundreds of thousands of Chavez supporters were demonstrating in Caracas for the return of their leader. After complaining about Chavez's undemocratic excesses, U.S. Ambassador Roger Noriega finally joined in a resolution condemning "the alteration of constitutional order in Venezuela" under the Charter and authorizing the OAS to send a fact-finding mission to Caracas.
"I am extremely disappointed that, rather than leading the effort to reaffirm the region's commitment to democratic principles outlined in the OAS Charter, only belatedly did the United States join with other OAS members to respond to the Venezuelan crisis," said Christopher Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Western Hemisphere Subcommittee. Dodd called the administration's reaction to Chavez's ouster "deeply troubling" and likely to "have profound implications for hemispheric democracy."
Washington's credibility was further undermined by disclosures this week that senior U.S. officials had met with coup leaders over the past several months. Last December, a senior Pentagon official discussed the possibility of an overthrow with the coup's chief military sponsor, Gen. Lucas Romero Rincon. Carlos Ortega, the leader of the oil workers' union whose strike helped precipitate last week's crisis, was also a frequent visitor to Washington in recent months. Moreover, U.S. "observers" attended planning meetings in Caracas for the big April 11 demonstrations that triggered the coup, according to Jack Sweeney, a well-connected former Latin America analyst for the right-wing Heritage Foundation and currently with Strategic Forecasting LLC. Even as Carmona was moving to dissolve Congress and the Supreme Court, U.S. Ambassador Charles Shapiro met with him at the presidential palace.
Administration officials say that U.S. officials made clear that Washington would oppose any coup d'etat in every one of the above meetings. But few are buying the White House line. "The signals were obviously mixed at best," said Bill Spencer, director of the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group. "And you don't send mixed signals to people who are talking about overthrowing a democratically elected government and then embrace them when they do it."
Critics note that Shapiro's meeting with Carmona -- which a senior State Department official insisted Wednesday was aimed at dissuading the interim president from dissolving Congress and the Court -- was particularly curious. "Here we have a senior U.S. ambassador telling a coup-plotter, who has just overthrown an elected president, not to go too far," said retired Amb. Robert White of the Council on International Policy (CIP). "The role of the State Department is not to counsel coup plotters not to go too far. Its role is to take all possible measures to preserve the constitutional order," said White, who served most of his foreign service career in Latin America.
"My suspicions are that there is more here than meets the eye," he went on, adding that, even if the U.S. did not actively participate or encourage the coup, "we have confirmed the suspicions of many that the United States is not interested in democracy and the rule of law except when the votes go our way."
To Spencer, the administration's response confirms a trend already evident in last year's presidential election campaign in Nicaragua in which senior U.S. officials aggressively attacked Sandinista candidate Daniel Ortega -- openly suggesting that Washington would be hostile towards any Sandinista-led regime.
"After years of trying to be more even-handed in the internal affairs of Latin American countries, the U.S. seems suddenly to have become much more partisan and interventionist," he said. "What will this mean for elections coming up in Colombia, or El Salvador, or Brazil? I think this marks a real setback," Spencer said.
Source: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=31
4/19/02
3:11:10 PM
Is Protest Music Dead?
by Jeff Chang, April 16, 2002
Ever since John Lennon and Yoko Ono led a raucous crowd of flower-toting, peasant-bloused hippies in a pot-hazy chorus of "Give Peace a Chance," it seems to have been a pop axiom: When the United States goes to war, the musicians begin calling for peace.
Opposing war hasn't always been a popular position, but it has created some great music. During the Vietnam era, songs like Edwin Starr's "War," Jimi Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower," Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" and "Wars of Armageddon," Jimmy Cliff's "Vietnam," Country Joe and the Fish's "Fixing to Die Rag," Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" turned defiance into a raging, soaring, brave and melancholic gestures of community.
Even our allegedly apathetic post-Lennonist generation has extended the tradition. When Bush Senior sent troops to Kuwait in 1991, rappers Ice Cube and Paris trained their verbal guns on the White House in "I Wanna Kill Sam" and "Bush Killa," while Bad Religion and Noam Chomsky split a 7-inch into a no-war-for-oil seminar. Antiwar music has become a time-honored balance to "bomb 'em all and let God sort 'em out" fervor. So why, since Sept. 11, have we heard so little new music protesting Bush Junior's war on evil?
Artists who were once outspoken peaceniks seem to have lost their certainty, or even switched their position. For years, U2 led crowds in chants of "No more war!" during their concerts. But during their surrealistic Super Bowl half-time performance this past January, they offered deep ambivalence -- a stark display of the names of Sept. 11 victims set to "Beautiful Day."
Neil Young's "Ohio" memorialized Kent State University's murdered antiwar protesters of 1970; his "Cortez the Killer" condemned imperialism. Now we find him on his post-Sept. 11 cut, "Let's Roll," singing, "Let's roll for freedom; let's roll for love, going after Satan on the wings of a dove."
Young wrote the song to honor the heroes of Flight 93, who subdued their hijackers and paid the ultimate price. But if you believe "Let's Roll" -- with its Bush-reduced ideas of "evil" and "Satan" -- is a cry for peace, you've probably already cleaned out your bomb shelter and reviewed your duck-and-cover manual.
As Leslie Nuchow, a Brooklyn-based folk singer who has been touring the country, says, "Speaking on or singing anything that's critical of this country at this time is more difficult than it was a year ago."
We've seen dozens of acts quietly bury their edgier songs. We've seen radio playlists rewritten so as not to "offend listeners." And we've seen Republican officials and the entertainment industry -- long divided over "traditional values" issues such as violent content and parental advisory stickering -- bury the hatchet. White House Senior Adviser Karl Rove has been meeting regularly with entertainment industry officials to discuss how they can help the war on terrorism.
The result? Not unlike the network news, there's been what a media wonk might call a narrowing of content choice. Think eagle- and flag-adorned anthologies of patriotic music, prefab benefit shows screaming CONSUMER EVENT, Alan Jackson's "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" and Paul McCartney's "Freedom." Perhaps this may all be good for the record business, no small thing for an industry that found itself shrinking by 3 percent -- about $300 million in revenues -- last year. But it's hardly the stuff of great art.
A Twisted Sense Of God
Where are the alternative voices? Let's start with hip-hop, the most socially important music of our time and, until recently, the most successful. Hip-hop's sales led the plunge last year -- by 20 percent, according to Def Jam founder and rap industry leader Russell Simmons.
And so did its vision. While Congress debated the Patriot Act and air strikes left Afghan cities in ruins and untold innocents dead, Jay-Z and Nas declared their own dirty little war for the pockets (if not exactly the minds) of the younger generation.
Jay-Z's dis of Nas, "The Takeover," was based on a sample from the Doors' "Five to One," an anti-Vietnam War song released during 1968's long hot summer whose title supposedly alluded to a demographic menace: five times as many people under the age of 21 as over.
Here's Jim Morrison's original: "The old get old/ And the young get stronger/May take a week/ And it may take longer/ They got the guns/ But we got the numbers/ Gonna win, yeah/ We're taking over!" Here's J-Hova's slice: "Gonna win, yeah!" Released on Sept. 11, his album, The Blueprint, sold 465,000 copies.
Nas came back with Stillmatic, an album seemingly conceived from a marketing blueprint. Over a decade ago, Nas debuted during the height of hip-hop's social consciousness. To appease these aging fans, he included songs on Stillmatic like the decidedly non-flag-waving "My Country" and "Rule," which bravely ask Bush Junior and the secret bunker crew to "call a truce, world peace, stop acting like savages". But kids love that shit-talking, so there's "Ether," dissing "Gay-Z and Cock-a-Fella Records." Guess which of these songs gets the most rewinds?
In fact, many musicians are commenting on the war, they just aren't being heard. On a new album for Fine Arts Militia called We Are Gathered Here ..., Public Enemy's Chuck D has set scathing spoken-word "lectures" to rockish beats by Brian Hardgroove. Chuck takes apart the war-mobilization effort and condemns the arrogance of the president's foreign policy on "A Twisted Sense of God." But while the song will be available as an MP3 on his website -- slamjamz.com -- the album has found no distributor yet.
He says, "You got five corporations that control retail. You got four who are the record labels. Then you got three radio outlets who own all the stations. You got two television networks that will actually let us get some of this across. And you got one video outlet. I call it 5-4-3-2-1. Boom!"
When the World Ends
Message music is being pinched off by an increasingly monopolized media industry suddenly eager to please the White House. At least two of the nation's largest radio networks -- Clear Channel and Citadel Communications -- removed songs from the air in the wake of the attacks. Songs like Drowning Pool's "Bodies" and John Lennon's "Imagine" were confined to MP3 sites and mix tapes. And while pressure to maintain "blacklists" has eased recently, the détente between Capitol Hill, New York and Hollywood --unseen since World War II -- has tangible consequences.
Bay area artist Michael Franti and Spearhead were invited last November to play The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn. Franti obliged with a new song, "Bomb Da World." Yet the song's chorus -- "You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace" -- was apparently too much for the show's producers. Months later, and only after a Billboard magazine article exposed the story, the clip finally aired.
"It's funny," Franti says. "In the past, I'd hear some folksingers singing folksongs or 'Give Peace a Chance' and think, God, this is really corny. But then you realize, in a time of war, it's a really radical message."
Little wonder that artists have quietly censored themselves. The Strokes pulled a song called "New York Cops" from their album, and Dave Matthews decided not to release "When the World Ends" as a single. It's easier to do an industry-sponsored benefit or to simply shut up and go along, than to fight for a message and find it pigeonholed.
As monopolies segment music into narrower and narrower genre markets to be exploited, protest music becomes the square peg. Perhaps the question isn't only whether protest music can survive the war but whether protest music can also survive niche-marketing.
Take KRS-One's new album, Spiritual Minded. In part a reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks, the album reconciles Christian spirituality with a radical notion of diversity -- putting together Bronx beats, Cantopop, biblical chapter and verse, and the words "peace" and "As-Salaam Alaikum" in the same song.
"We live in a Christian nation," he says. "I can only give the public that which it can digest. So I put this album out. The door swings open. Christians are like, 'Yeah, wow, KRS! He finally came over.' Now I'm over. Now let's talk."
But if this is his most subtle effort yet to promote a message of peace and unity, it is still a record that needs to be marketed. So while Spiritual Minded has been a dud in the hip-hop world, it topped the less lucrative Gospel charts earlier this year.
Even indie labels no longer provide an alternative, says Joel Schalit, the Bay Area-based editor of Punk Planet and a member of dub-funk band Elders of Zion. Schalit's new book, Jerusalem Calling (Akashic Books), features a chapter that indicts the indie-punk scene, a movement which began as a highly charged reaction to Reaganism and major labels and ended up a calcifying, apolitical, "petit bourgeois" feeder-system for the same majors.
"I think our generation has started to move in the direction of formulating its own distinct progressive political positions, but in many respects, I think that the trauma that was Sept. 11 has thus far stopped them from doing anything new," he says. "There haven't been people rushing out to print 7-inch singles attacking American foreign policy like there was during the Gulf War."
He adds, "A lot of label owners, especially on the independent level, are very concerned that promoting ideology is not the same as promoting art."
If that sounds reasonable at first glance, consider the question that Bay Area anti-prison activist and Freedom Fighter Music co-producer Ying-Sun Ho asks in reference to rap: "You don't think a song that talks about nothing but how much your jewelry shines has a political content to it?"
Acts like Jay-Z are seen as artists with universal appeal, while niche-marketing lumps together acts that have little in common. The subcategory of "conscious rappers," for instance, has been used to sell Levi's jeans and Gap clothing to college-educated, disposable-income-spending hip-hop fans. In this logic, it's not the rappers' message that brings the audience together, it's what their audience wears that brings the rappers together.
Part of the recent wave of "conscious rap" acts promoted by major labels, Dead Prez disdains the entire category. Positivity isn't politics, rapper M-1 argues. Hip-hop has not yet produced much antiwar music because a lot of "conscious rappers" were never clear about their political positions in the first place, he believes, and Sept. 11 revealed their basic lack of depth.
"There's a lifestyle that goes with not being aligned with the politics of U.S. imperialism. It's not just a one-day protest," he says, while working in Brooklyn on Walk Like a Warrior, the follow-up to Let's Get Free. "We're in a new period. A lot of people are not seeing what has to be and are looking at it from just a red, white and blue angle."
Hard Rain Gonna Fall
But perhaps, in this connected world, we also possess accelerated expectations. History shows that radical ideas don't take hold overnight. World War II's hit parade featured sentimental escapism like Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and sugary patriotism like the Andrews' Sisters "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."
During the '50s, a progressive folk movement emerged, but it wasn't until Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Joan Baez revived folk amid the early-'60s ferment of student organizing that ideas of disarmament and racial justice began to take root.
As Craig Werner, professor of African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race & the Soul of America (Plume, 1999), tells me, "The foundation of the anti-Vietnam War music was in the folk revival. It was almost as if there were an antiwar movement that was in place that was doing the groundwork. They'd been writing those kinds of songs for years when Vietnam came around."
Werner dates the emergence of anti-Vietnam War music to ex-folkie Barry McGuire's 1966 hit "Eve of Destruction," a song that faced widespread censorship. "I was growing up in Colorado Springs, which is a military town. The week that 'Eve of Destruction' came out, it broke onto the Top 20 charts on the local station at No. 1. And then was never heard again."
That moment is not near in these early days of the war on evil. In the long run, Nas' "My Country" and "Rule," with their laser focus on cause and effect, or Outkast's anti-recessionary global humanism on "The Whole World" may prove to be more prophetic.
For now, confusion and flux and omnidirectional rage carry the day. Bay Area rapper Paris recently addressed the second Bush in "What Would You Do," a track on his upcoming Sonic Jihad album "Now ask yourself who's the one with the most to gain/Before 911 motherfuckas couldn't stand his name/Now even niggas waiving flags like they lost they mind/Everybody got opinions but don't know the time." Ghostface Killah seems to have captured the moment on Wu-Tang Clan's "Rules." Addressing Osama bin Laden directly about the attacks on New York, he raps, "No disrespect, that's where I rest my head/ I understand you gotta rest yours, too." But since bin Laden has brought the bombs -- "Nigga, my people's dead!" -- it's officially on: "Mister Bush, sit down! We're in charge of the war."
Healing Force
Still, musicians must do what they do, and the story is not yet over. Folkie Leslie Nuchow believes in music's ability to transform the people who listen to it, and she doesn't waste a lot of time worrying about who will distribute it. Recently, she recorded the mesmerizing "An Eye for an Eye (Will Leave the Whole World Blind)." Accompanied only by piano, she elaborates on Gandhi's famous line mostly in a tortured whisper. It's only available through her website slammusic.com.
Nuchow -- who likes to point out that our national anthem "glorifies war" but has agreed to sing for U.N. troops stationed in Kosovo later this year --believes music is not merely a product, it's a process. After watching the Twin Towers collapse from her Brooklyn building, she spent that evening agonizing over what to do next. "I kept on saying to myself, what could my political action be?" Then she realized, "I'm a musician. Ri-i-i-ight. Let me do music!"
She went to demonstrations and gatherings, and handed out fliers inviting people to come and sing the next morning. About 50 people showed up. They walked through the streets singing "This Little Light of Mine," "America the Beautiful" and "Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace)."
"We walked as close to ground zero as we could get, and we sang for the firefighters," she says. "We sang for the rescue workers and the firefighters. We went up to the hospitals, and we sang for the doctors, and we sang for the volunteers. And then -- this was the hardest -- we went to sing for the families who were trying to find out what happened to their loved ones."
Nuchow recalls that the music did exactly what it was supposed to do. "People wept. Other people came and joined us," she says. "And to me, that's action. That's making a statement through music, using music as a healing force."
And for now, perhaps, that's more than enough.
Jeff Chang writes for numerous publications, including Colorlines, the Source and http://www.Wiretapmag.org
Source: http://www.MetroActive.com
4/19/02
2:55:15 PM
Striking Back At The Empire
by Terra Lawson-Remer, April 17, 2002
Light saber drawn, young Skywalker, a.k.a. George Walker Bush, is leading the Free World into battle against the Evil Empire of global terrorism. His speechwriters cast and recast an interchangeable assortment of villains as Darth Vader -- bin Laden when capture seemed eminent, Saddam Hussein as the old stand-in when the prospect of a climatic light saber mano-a-mano encounter between Bush and bin Laden began to fade.
The story has seduced us because terrorism is truly evil. Acts of violence against non-combatants, designed to sow fear among civilians, are terrible and horrific. But if we truly oppose terrorism -- not just terrorism when it happens to us -- if we truly believe we must "root out and destroy" agents of terror wherever they reside -- we cannot support Bush's war policy. If we want to build a world where all people live in freedom and security, we cannot allow the U.S. government to wage an endless and ever-expanding war in our name. We must stand up, speak out, and expose the Star Wars myth by re-articulating the lines of battle to trace the contours of truth.
This Saturday, April 20, thousands of youth, students, union members, and civil rights activists will demonstrate in D.C. and many cities across the country to oppose the Bush policy of endless war. These protesters are more pro-America than the "patriots" who rally behind Bush as he confronts his imaginary Axis of Evil. Protesters against the War on Terrorism are defending American values under siege from war policies that disregard civil liberties and due process at home and respect for human rights abroad.
The protesters hope to expose the truth behind the Evil Empire paradigm, which has become both a rallying point for a fearful populace and a versatile excuse for miscellaneous military sorties and judicial witch hunts. President Bush seems to believe that basic, inalienable rights apply only to some. He has attacked privacy and due process protections at home, and is pursuing a war strategy that leverages enormous military might to protect U.S. interests, whatever the cost to the rest of humanity.
The War on Terrorism is being used as an excuse to funnel military aid to the Philippines, intensifying a deadly conflict between the government and Muslim separatists. The President has also requested $25 million for anti-kidnapping and operational support for the Columbian military and police and an unspecified amount of additional military aid for counter-terrorism efforts -- all to support an undemocratic government that has been implicated in hundreds of human rights abuses. Every country bordering Afghanistan is scheduled to receive increases in military aid, regardless of their human rights records, some of which are deplorable. Women and children accidentally killed by U.S. dumb-bombs in Afghanistan are accepted as "collateral damage," as if the lives of Afghanis had less intrinsic worth than the lives of Americans.
On the domestic front, immigrants and people of color are the casualties of the battle being promoted as good versus evil. Over 1,200 legal immigrants have been disappeared by the INS and the FBI since September 11. The USA Patriot Act expands police powers to conduct secret searches and wiretaps, detain non-citizens indefinitely on minor visa violations, and conduct large-scale investigations of American citizens for intelligence purposes. A recent Amnesty International report claims the US has denied "the internationally recognized rights of people taken into its custody in Afghanistan and elsewhere," including the 300 detainees in Guantánamo Bay.
When Bush says "Either you're with us, or you're against us" he leaves no room for a loyal opposition. The depiction of a national tragedy as an epic Star Wars saga stifles questioning and critical thinking. The chilling of dissent generated by these government actions is terrifyingly familiar -- innocent young women in Salem and targets of McCarthyism both bore the brunt of similar witchhunts. The Bush administration has effectively employed a Star Wars mentality to obscure the complexities of truth, lulling us into an Orwellian reality where "justice" means revenge, "freedom" requires the sacrifice of fundamental liberties, and "terrorism" refers only to attacks against Americans.
In the Star Wars version of global geo-politics, all opponents of US interests are potential terrorists, while allies around the world who shoot and bomb civilians are merely acting in self-defense. This simplistic, reductionist Hollywood worldview is useless in the real world, where most conflicts are rooted in complex histories of oppression and violence on both sides. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine recently called Bush's approach "simplistic," because his policy "reduces all the problems in the world to the struggle against terrorism."
This epic saga of good and evil might make good cinema, but it effaces the complexities that underlie acts of terrorism. The true enemy is not a person or an army to be vanquished. The enemy is fanaticism -- and the feelings of powerlessness and hatred that breed it. Our challenge is not to defeat a faceless "them" and celebrate our own virtue, but to extend the right of every person to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- regardless of the color of their skin, the country of their birth, or the God they name in prayer. War without end sacrifices the fundamental values that make America worth fighting for in order to protect an America whose value is degraded by actions taken in its own defense. The Bush "War on Terrorism" betrays the very ideals of freedom, justice, and equal opportunity he claims it defends.
War makes it easy to unite a people by externalizing an enemy. If the enemy is a shrouded "other", then evil is personified and excluded. We are then, in contrast, the paragon of virtue. We can attack instead of seeking solutions. We can protect our own innocence from the truth of our complicity.
In the end, Darth Vader is not the enemy. He is, in fact, Luke's father, seduced by the power of the dark side. Our battle, then, is not with a straw-man Darth Vader, but with the socio-political conditions that make the dark side seductive. President Bush should heed the patriotic protesters -- call off this senseless war, and take a stand for freedom and justice, grounded firmly in reality, both at home and abroad.
Terra Lawson-Remer is co-founder of the STARC Alliance: Students Transforming And Resisting Corporations and a member of the A20 United We March Steering Committee.
Source: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12893
4/19/02
2:52:03 PM
Time To Respond To War
by Laura Flanders, April 17, 2002
As Red Crescent medics began retrieving dead bodies from the devastated Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin, as many as 100,000 pro-Israel demonstrators massed at the Capitol in D.C.
The demonstration brought together conservative Jews and radical right-wing Christians, conservative Republicans and Democrats. Among the speakers were Ralph Reed, former director of the Christian Coalition, and Gary Bauer, the Christian Right's last Republican presidential candidate. Israel's former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, New York's former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, holocaust writer Elie Wiesel, House Majority leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) and House Minority leader, Richard A. Gephardt, (D-Missouri) were also on hand.
What brought them together was a war on terrorism, two wars, in fact --George W. Bush's and Ariel Sharon's. Speaker after speaker drew the parallels between the attacks of September 11 and the suicide bomber-attacks in Israel. "Americans know that Arafat is nothing more than Osama bin Laden with good P.R.," said Netanyahu, who knows how to whip up an American crowd for a Middle East war, as he did almost nightly during the Gulf War.
Observers from the left responded with vehemence. "A Jewish Nuremberg rally," professor Norman Finkelstein called it on Pacifica's Democracy Now. Does the metaphor fit? You'll have to take that up with Finkelstein. Does such vilifying language about everyone who chose to show up at Monday's rally help grow a peace and justice movement? No, I suggest not.
Concerned progressives have been rightly raging for weeks over the Israeli assault on Palestine. Collective punishment, extra-judicial execution, lack of food and water, denial of access to humanitarian and medical assistance -- the stories from the re-occupied West Bank horrify and outrage.
The problem, some observers would like to suggest, are the Jews. "At the heart of it, isn't the idea of a "chosen people," what makes all this possible?" one anxious New Yorker -- a Jewish woman -- asked on Working Assets Radio a few weeks ago. You know what? Americans act like chosen people too.
Americans, all of us, appear to believe we're entitled -- to consume two thirds of the world's resources, for one thing, (though we comprise only one 20th of the population) and to live off land that became "ours" through a genocide.
Every year, the majority of our elected representatives roundly reject the suggestion that today's taxpayers should reimburse from our collective coffers, those whose stolen labor and land made possible our national wealth. Segregation, Jim Crow, racist immigration policies and denial of the vote: the United States, over hundreds of years, passed laws to keep those who weren't "special" (which is to say, land-owning, white and male) in their "place."
We Americans know about supremacist thinking, therefore. We know about vilifying the "other" -- the slave, the criminal, the terrorist, the queer, the kook. Belief that we are somehow "special" or better or more deserving, or more hard-working or more godly, makes it easier not to worry about the humanity of those "others." And our government, like the government of the Israelis, does whatever it takes -- up to and including mass slaughter -- to "punish" those who would have it otherwise, and to keep the good things of life for itself.
There is good news. Conservatives are at each other's throats over Israel. When White House hawk, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz deigned to mention the suffering of Palestinians and the "future of Palestine's children," at this week's Israel rally, he was aggressively booed down by the crowd.
William Bennett who just last month launched a whole organization to pursue disloyal Americans who "fail to support or understand" Bush's stand against terror at home and abroad, told the New York Times, that by sending Colin Powell to negotiate with Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, Bush was angering "his entire political base."
While conservatives fight, it's time for progressives to come together, Jew and Gentile, patriots, anti-patriots, believers, devoted agnostics, leftists, liberals, the worried, the angry and the terrified. To varying degrees but without exception, we have a duty to be humble. Outrageous crimes have been and continue to be committed in each one of our names. The fingers we point at our neighbors we would do just as well to direct at ourselves.
On Saturday, April 20, progressive Americans will mass in Washington and around the country to oppose both Bush's and Sharon's wars and call for an end to racism. The April 20th rally won't attract the same support from powerful politicians and media magnates that the rally that claimed to be "for Israel" received (what's good for Ariel Sharon is not necessarily good for Israelis or their state.) But by rights the anti-war, anti-racism rally will attract equal if not greater numbers. In a time of war, people who prioritize peace and justice are special -- and we bear a special responsibility to join together across our differences to make a different world.
Journalist Laura Flanders is the host of Working Assets Radio and author of "Real Majority, Media Minority: The Cost of Sidelining Women in Reporting."
Source: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12892
4/19/02
2:45:18 PM
AlterNet Headlines
WHERE, OH WHERE HAS THE MUCKRAKER GONE?
Michelle Chihara, AlterNet
Greg Palast, the "best investigative journalist you've never heard of," makes headlines in Britain all the time. So why doesn't he get published in the States?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12899
NORML PUTS THE MAYOR OF POT ON THE SPOT
Don Hazen, AlterNet
The NORML campaign featuring NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg has generated lots of publicity, but it may have undermined NORML's objective: to take the heat off city pot smokers.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12900
SELLING MARTIN AND MALCOLM'S PAPERS
Thulani Davis, Village Voice
The strange and twisted saga of both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X's personal papers reveal much about the legacy, players and pitfalls of the civil rights era.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12874
THE TABOOS OF TOUCH
Debbie Nathan, AlterNet
The controversial new book 'Harmful to Minors' has tapped into the nation's anxieties about kids and sex -- and stirred up a hornet's nest of moral conservatives.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12903
WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR HIGH BOOK PRICES?
Dennis Loy Johnson, MobyLives
Why are books are so expensive? And whose fault is it? Chain bookstores are bringing publishers to task.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12860
TIME TO RESPOND TO WAR
Laura Flanders, AlterNet
On Saturday, April 20, Americans of all stripes will mass in Washington and around the country to oppose Bush's war in Afghanistan and Sharon's war in Israel.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12892
STRIKING BACK AT THE EMPIRE
Terra Lawson-Remer, AlterNet An organizer of this week's nationwide Stop The War! demonstration offers her perspective on the ongoing saga called the War on Terror.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12893
IS PROTEST MUSIC DEAD?
Jeff Chang, Metro Silicon Valley
Music used to be the dominant voice against war. Now it's easier to shut up and get paid. What's really going on?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12880
Also on our War in the Middle East page: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=28
- INTERNATIONAL 'OBSERVERS' SHOULD LOOK DEEPER
Samantha M. Shapiro, Seattle Weekly
- I HELPED KILL A PALESTINIAN TODAY
Robert Jensen, AlterNet
A FOREIGN POLICY DEBACLE
Jim Lobe, AlterNet
The White House handling of the coup in Venezuela destroyed U.S. credibility in Latin America -- and left the Administration looking, well, stupid.
* In Global Affairs: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=31
ALL TAXED OUT
Jennifer C. Berkshire, AlterNet
According to a recent report in The New York Times, it is people like me -- freelancers and small sole proprietors earning less than $25,000 -- that the IRS comes after.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12871
HUFFINGTON: The Free Market Shrugged
Arianna Huffington, AlterNet
As part of a plan approved by a bankruptcy judge on Tuesday, Enron intends to fork over $140 million in retention bonuses to "key employees" possessing "unique knowledge, skills and experience."
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12901
HUTCHINSON: Feds Promote Prison Racial Disparities
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet
The fed policy of putting thousands of black men behind bars for mostly non-violent drug offenses has wreaked massive social and political havoc on families and communities.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12902
4/19/02
2:40:19 PM
t r u t h o u t | 04.19
Senate Says No to ANWR; Are the Rockies Next?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.19A.Senate.Says.htm
Rangel : Blasts GOP as House Votes to Make Bush Tax Cuts Permanent
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.19B.Rangel.Blasts.htm
Millions on Strike in Italy
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.19C.Strike.Italy.htm
Democrats' Removal From Pentagon Boards Criticized
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.19D.Removal.htm
Wellstone, Bipartisan Coalition Introduce Bill to Protect Workers from Repetitive Stress Injuries
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.19E.Wellstone.Bill.htm
Federal Government vs The Last American Wild Buffalo Herd | Update | 04.18.2002
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.19F.BFC.Update.htm
Judge Turns Back Ashcroft Bid to Ban Oregon Assisted Suicide Law
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.19G.Suicide.Law.htm
Democrats Say Bush Revisions Ruin Medical Privacy Rules
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.19H.Bush.Ruin.htm
White House Stonewall: Day 55
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.19I.Stonewall.htm
t r u t h o u t, is a non-profit independent news source.
4/19/02
2:38:02 PM
Ferocious Compassion
African Women Storming Bars to Stamp Out Moonshine, Reclaim Sons and Husbands
by Davan Maharaj
Los Angeles Times
Paul Minua, 35, was tending his bar in central Kenya one recent Sunday when about 30 angry women carrying sticks and stones stormed in. They demanded that he stop selling the high-proof alcohol known to leave sons and husbands helpless, violent, even blind or dead. The ringleader was Mary Watiri, a 43-year-old grandmother Minua had known since childhood. Despite his protests, Watiri and her comrades jumped behind the counter, grabbed bottles of the cheaply made moonshine and emptied them on the floor.
Watiri and her neighbors are part of a grass-roots movement sweeping Kenya and other African countries, from Uganda to Swaziland. Fed up with governments' refusal to take action against distillers of dangerous alcoholic concoctions, women from urban slums to rural villages are forming posses and shutting down bars and so-called drinking dens. High-proof alcohol has proliferated in recent years as distillers, bar owners and makers of traditional brews have targeted poor people looking for a cheap high.
4/19/02
2:35:28 PM
Loony Laws Of The U.S.
From the book "Loony Laws" by Robert Pelton...
In Ottumwa, Iowa, "It is unlawful for any male person, within the corporate limits of the (city), to wink at any female person with whom he is unacquainted."
In Los Angeles, you cannot bathe two babies in the same tub at the same time.
In Zion, Ill., it is illegal for anyone to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats, and other domesticated animals kept as pets.
In Carmel, N.Y., a man can't go outside while wearing a jacket and pants that do not match.
In Clawson, Mich., there is a law that makes it LEGAL for a farmer to sleep with his pigs, cows, horses, goats, and chickens.
In Gary, Ind., persons are prohibited from attending a movie house or other theater and from riding a public streetcar within four hours of eating garlic.
In Miami, it's illegal for men to be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown.
In St. Louis, it's illegal to sit on the curb of any city street and drink beer from a bucket.
In Detroit, couples are banned from making love in an automobile unless the act takes place while the vehicle is parked on the couple's own property.
In Hartford, Conn., you aren't allowed to cross a street while walking on your hands.
In Michigan, a woman isn't allowed to cut her own hair without her husband's permission.
In Baltimore, it's illegal to throw bales of hay from a second-story window within the city limits. t's also illegal to take a lion to the movies.
In Oxford, Ohio, it's illegal for a woman to strip off her clothing while standing in front of a man's picture.
In Nicholas County, W. Va., no member of the clergy is allowed to tell jokes or humorous stories from the pulpit during a church service.
In California, animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship.
In Pennsylvania, "any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue."
In Carrizozo, N.M., it's forbidden for a female to appear unshaven in public (includes legs and face).
In Los Angeles, a man is legally entitled to beat his wife with a leather belt or strap, but the belt can't be wider than 2 inches, unless he has his wife's consent to beat her with a wider strap.
In Kentucky, "No female shall appear in a bathing suit on any highway within this state unless she be escorted by at least two officers or unless she be armed with a club."
An amendment to the above legislation: "The provisions of this statute shall not apply to females weighing less than 90 pounds nor exceeding 200 pounds, nor shall it apply to female horses."
In the United States, the federal government forces states to set speed limits of 55 miles per hour or less. This law was later amended to allow travel at 65 miles per hour but only on rural roads.
4/18/02
8:10:48 PM
"In this world, hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only loving-kindness dispels hate.
This is the Dharma, ancient and inexhaustible."
From The Dhammapada, one of the earliest Buddhist texts reporting the actual teachings of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni.
4/18/02
7:26:24 PM
Bari v. FBI Trial Underway
by http://www.sf.indymedia.org
In the historic civil rights lawsuit of two Earth First! organizers against the FBI and Oakland Police Dept., jury selection is complete and the first witnesses began taking the stand on Wednesday, April 10, 2002. Opening remarks were made by the plaintiffs on Tuesday afternoon, with the defense making its opening remarks Wednesday morning. The jury is a diverse group that well represents the mixed culture of the Bay Area. Judi Bari's 21-year-old daughter Lisa Bari, who has been in the courtroom all week, commented, "It seems like they will be fair and impartial. I think we have a good chance for justice."
The trial comes after more than a decade of aggressive defense motions and delay tactics as the stonewalling FBI attempted to gain immunity from prosecution. But the courts have repeatedly upheld the merits of the case and ruled that it could go forward with its charges of false arrest, illegal search and seizure, and violation of First Amendment rights by falsely associating the plaintiffs with terrorism. Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney were victims of a car-bomb attack in 1990 in which the FBI accused them of carrying the bomb. But no charges were ever filed, despite a national smear campaign in the media against the two and their lawful cause. It was a classic frame-up attempt in the long history of COINTELPRO "disrupt and neutralize" tactics. The lawsuit attempts to clear the plaintiffs name and expose FBI actions against lawful political movements. Stay tuned!
Rally Kicks off Trial The long awaited trial for the Bari/Cherney against the FBI/Oakland Police began at 8:30am with jury selection taking place. The trial is taking place at the Oakland Federal Courthouse, 1301 Clay Street(at 12th), from 8:30 to 1:30pm Monday through Thursday, until May 24th.
At noon, April 8th, 2002, Earth First! held a support rally in front of the courthouse. Speakers and performers included acclaimed author and activist Starhawk, Leonard Peltier Defense Committee spokesperson Linda SixFeathers, musician and activist Alice diMicele, and Judi Bari's oldest daughter Lisa Bari, who was nine when her mother was the victim of the motion triggered bomb.
Trial Begins April 8, 2002 On May 24, 1990, Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney, who were in the midst of organizing a massive nonviolent campaign against clearcutting, were nearly killed when a car bomb planted under their front seat exploded as they drove through Oakland. FBI investigators, who had recently completed a course in carbombing held at a Louisiana Pacific lumberyard, arrived on the scene almost immediately; FBI and Oakland Police investigators told the press that they had evidence that Bari and Cherney had themselves planted the car bomb and would thus be facing criminal charges. The campaign to discredit and "neutralize" Earth First! had reached new depths.
The district attorney eventually dropped all charges due to lack of evidence, but the FBI utterly failed to investigate the bombing any further. A year after the bombing, Bari and Cherney filed a civil rights lawsuit against the FBI and Oakland Police; the defendants, however filed appeals and other motions every step of the way, delaying the trial for 10 years. Meanwhile, Bari died from breast cancer in 1997. The trial finally opens on April 8, 2002, before Judge Claudia Wilken at the U.S. District Court in Oakland. It was originally scheduled to begin on October 1, 2001, but was postponed at the request of the plaintiffs – due to the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent pro-FBI public opinion.
The plaintiffs are suing the FBI and Oakland Police under the 1st, 4th, and 5th amendments for conspiracy, false arrest, unlawful search and seizure, interfering with their right to organize politically, and denying equal protection of the law in allowing the real assassins to go free. Evidence suggests that authorities falsified evidence, lied to the media and the courts, conspired to frame and demonize Judi Bari and Earth First! for political reasons, blamed the victims in spite of clear evidence of their innocence, targeted nonviolent environmentalists in a sham investigation of the bombing, ignored evidence pointing to the real bombers, and covered up their own wrongdoing.
Source: http://www.sf.indymedia.org/features/judibari/
4/18/02
7:09:02 PM
The Nation
Two major multinational tobacco companies have been implicated in a multi-billion dollar global smuggling scheme aimed at establishing their brands in new overseas markets, The Nation reveals in the May 6 issue of the magazine.
The Nation also reports that these tobacco companies -- Philip Morris and BAT -- engineered a brazen reshaping of the USA Patriot Act aimed at insulating themselves from charges of smuggling and money laundering leveled in lawsuits filed in US courts.
"Big Tobacco: Uncovering the Industry's Multi-billion Dollar Global Smuggling Network," a six-month investigation by The Nation, PBS's NOW With Bill Moyers and the Center for Investigative Reporting, shows how this illegal smuggling operation worked in Colombia for more than a decade.
Investigative reporter Mark Schapiro traveled to Colombia to interview industry insiders previously unwilling to discuss the companies' role in smuggling cigarettes. In collaboration with NOW co-producer Oriana Zill de Granados, Schapiro spoke with dozens of people-smugglers, Colombian government officials, US law enforcement personnel, members of Congress and others-through the course of this investigation to uncover a complex distribution scheme for the illegal smuggling of cigarettes.
For the full story, read Schapiro's report currently at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020506&s=schapiro
Be sure to watch Bill Moyers' companion broadcast tomorrow night on PBS:
NOW With Bill Moyers -- PBS, April 19, 9:00pm
Check local listings or the NOW website for confirmation of local airtimes:
4/18/02
7:02:27 PM
Mr. Norman Solomon - Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting
Mr. David Corn - The Nation
Via e-mail
Dear Mr. Solomon and Mr. Corn:
PUT ME ON THE AIR ! INTERVIEW ME !
I have watched your recent attacks and criticisms of journalist Mike Ruppert with great concern. Especially in the case of Mr. Solomon I have to say that your behavior is entirely consistent with a government funded or sponsored disinformation program. I have experience in this area.
Mr. Ruppert has written or published four separate articles on my case. He has traveled to Toronto twice and hired Canadian Correspondent Great Knutsen to cover every court proceeding since January. He has met with and extensively interviewed my attorneys, who have given him on-the-record statements as to what has happened in my case, and he has published derogatory information about me and my past. I am advising you that every criticism you have made of either Ruppert's reporting, or my case, is not only meritless and provably inaccurate, it is also a misleading attempt to distract open discussion on the one thing that Mr. Ruppert has most relied upon for his reporting, the court record.
Why are you ignoring the court record? Why are you ignoring first-hand source information?
Lawyers are officers of the court and prohibited from making false statements in or to the press. My attorneys have reviewed Mr. Ruppert's most recent articles and have said that they are accurate and consistent with the court record. The court record affirms that I wrote my warning letter using pens smuggled into my jail cell in a short period of time. The court record and the statements of my attorneys indicate specifically that my warnings related to the attacks which took place on September 11th. Canadian officials know this. I know this. My lawyers know this. And I reaffirm it to you again. I tried for months to make intelligence officials acknowledge my information and the letter was written as a last ditch effort. All of this is documented and has not been disputed in court.
When the letter was opened and read by a Canadian official on September 14th my attorneys immediately moved for the first available court hearing date which was October 7th. On that date the letter was received into evidence. This is what the court record indicates. Yet you, Mr. Corn have the dishonesty to tell the American people on the radio that the letter wasn't written until October 7th. Not even Canadian solicitors who are defending U.S. interests have made the arguments that you two have made because they know there is no foundation for them.
Your deliberate and continued refusal to address any of the court record in my case, when that is in the highest interests of the American people tells me that you both have clearly demonstrated another agenda. Even if you choose to call it a critique or commentary.
I am offering to make a public radio appearance, with either one of you, on any Pacifica radio station or any other station of your choosing, to discuss the actual record and the actual facts of the case. There is evidence, as indicated in Mr. Ruppert's stories that I knew exactly what I was talking about when I wrote the warning and that I was referring to exactly what took place on September 11th. If either of you have any interest in authentic journalism, where you go to the best sources first, where you rely on official records and where you desire to present the most accurate information to the American people, then you should not be afraid of having me on a radio show and demonstrating me to be a liar, a fraud, or a con man, if you can. I may be living in a safe-house under temporary refugee status in Canada, but I am not in hiding.
Either address the facts of the case or stop acting, transparently, as someone who will do anything to keep people from hearing and evaluating the truth. My long career in covert operations suggests to me that this is exactly what you are trying to do.
You may reach me at the above email address or by calling 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Sincerely,
Delmart Mike Vreeland
Michael Ruppert’s Website: http://www.CopvCIA.com
4/18/02
6:16:30 PM
EMS Update - April 18, 2002
Environmental Group CEOs to Discuss Bush Policies at Press Conference
Leaders of the nation's top environmental groups will gather at a press conference on Earth Day, April 22, in Washington, D.C., to call on the Bush administration to halt its campaign against the nation's environmental protections.
Media advisory: http://www.ems.org/advisories/april_22_event.html
Senate Votes Against Oil Drilling in Arctic Refuge
54 U.S. senators voted Thursday to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling, a vote environmentalists say is "a wake-up call for the country's leaders to find creative ways to conserve energy."
WWF release: http://www.worldwildlife.org/news/headline.cfm?newsid=340
Audubon statement: http://www.audubon.org/news/release/index.html
Sierra Club release: http://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0204&L=ce-scnews-releases&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F=&S=&P=2054
Bush "Friends" Called Threat to Forests
A new report released today by leading environmental groups investigates threats to national forest roadless areas posed by the Bush administration's "friends in the timber and oil and gas industries."
Press release: http://www.wilderness.org/newsroom/rls041702.htm
4/18/02
6:06:55 PM
FAIR
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and activism
MEDIA ADVISORY: U.S. Papers Hail Venezuelan Coup as Pro-Democracy Move
April 18, 2002
When elements of the Venezuelan military forced president Hugo Chavez from office last week, the editorial boards of several major U.S. newspapers followed the U.S. government's lead and greeted the news with enthusiasm.
In an April 13 editorial, the New York Times triumphantly declared that Chavez's "resignation" meant that "Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator." Conspicuously avoiding the word "coup," the Times explained that Chavez "stepped down after the military intervened and handed power to a respected business leader."
Calling Chavez "a ruinous demagogue," the Times offered numerous criticisms of his policies and urged speedy new elections, saying "Venezuela urgently needs a leader with a strong democratic mandate." A casual reader might easily have missed the Times' brief acknowledgement that Chavez did actually have a democratic mandate, having been "elected president in 1998."
The paper's one nod to the fact that military takeovers are not generally regarded as democratic was to note hopefully that with "continued civic participation," perhaps "further military involvement" in Venezuelan politics could be kept "to a minimum."
Three days later, Chavez had returned to power and the Times ran a second editorial (4/16/02) half-apologizing for having gotten carried away:
"In his three years in office, Mr. Chavez has been such a divisive and demagogic leader that his forced departure last week drew applause at home and in Washington. That reaction, which we shared, overlooked the undemocratic manner in which he was removed. Forcibly unseating a democratically elected leader, no matter how badly he has performed, is never something to cheer."
The Times stood its ground, however, on the value of a timely military coup for teaching a president a lesson, saying, "We hope Mr. Chavez will act as a more responsible and moderate leader now that he seems to realize the anger he stirred."
The Chicago Tribune's editorial board seemed even more excited by the coup than the New York Times'. An April 14 Tribune editorial called Chavez an "elected strongman" and declared: "It's not every day that a democracy benefits from the military's intervention to force out an elected president."
Hoping that Venezuela could now "move on to better things," the Tribune expressed relief that Venezuela's president was "safely out of power and under arrest." No longer would he be free to pursue his habits of "toasting Fidel Castro, flying to Baghdad to visit Saddam Hussein, or praising Osama bin Laden."
(FAIR called the Tribune to ask when Chavez had "praised" bin Laden. Columnist and editorial board member Steve Chapman, who wrote the editorial, said that in attempting to locate the reference for FAIR, he discovered that he had "misread" his source, a Freedom House report. Chapman said that if the Tribune could find no record of Chavez praising bin Laden, the paper would run a correction.)
The Tribune stuck unapologetically to its pro-coup line even after Chavez had been restored to power. Chavez's return may have come as "good news to Latin American governments that had condemned his removal as just another military coup," wrote the Tribune in an April 16 editorial, "but that doesn't mean it's good news for democracy." The paper seemed to suggest that the coup would have been no bad thing if not for "the heavy-handed bungling of [Chavez's] successors."
Long Island's Newsday, another top-circulation paper, greeted the coup with an April 13 editorial headlined "Chavez's Ouster Is No Great Loss." Newsday offered a number of reasons why the coup wasn't so bad, including Chavez's "confrontational leadership style and left-wing populist rhetoric" and the fact that he "openly flaunted his ideological differences with Washington." The most important reason, however, was Chavez's "incompetence as an executive," specifically, that he was "mismanaging the nation's vast oil wealth."
After the coup failed, Newsday ran a follow-up editorial (4/16/02) which came to the remarkable conclusion that "if there is a winner in all this, it's Latin American democracy, in principle and practice." The incident, according to Newsday, was "an affirmation of the democratic process" because the coup gave "a sobering wake-up call" to Chavez, "who was on a path to subverting the democratic mandate that had put him in power three years ago."
The Los Angeles Times waited until the dust had settled (4/17/02) to run its editorial on "Venezuela's Strange Days." The paper was dismissive of Chavez's status as an elected leader-- saying "it goes against the grain to put the name Hugo Chavez and the word 'democracy' in the same sentence"-- but pointed out that "it's one thing to oppose policies and another to back a coup." The paper stated that by not adequately opposing the coup, "the White House failed to stay on the side of democracy," yet still suggested that in the long run, "Venezuela will benefit" if the coup teaches Chavez to reach out to the opposition "rather than continuing to divide the nation along class lines."
The Washington Post was one of the few major U.S. papers whose initial reaction was to condemn the coup outright. Though heavily critical of Chavez, the paper's April 14 editorial led with an affirmation that "any interruption of democracy in Latin America is wrong, the more so when it involves the military."
Curiously, however, the Washington Post took pains to insist that "there's been no suggestion that the United States had anything to do with this Latin American coup," even though details from Venezuela were still sketchy at that time. The New York Times, too, made a point of saying in its April 13 editorial that Washington's hands were clean, affirming that "rightly, his removal was a purely Venezuelan affair."
Ironically, news articles in both the Washington Post and the New York Times have since raised serious questions about whether the U.S. may in fact have been involved. Neither paper, however, has returned to the question on its editorial page.
Source: http://www.FAIR.org
4/18/02
5:56:32 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
ANWR SEDATE
In a major defeat for President Bush and a hard-won triumph for environmentalists, the Senate this morning effectively killed a proposal to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling advocates fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to end a Democratic filibuster and force passage of the bill. All but five Democrats voted against oil drilling, while all but eight Republicans voted in favor. The defeat was especially crushing for Alaska Republican Sens. Ted Stevens and Frank Murkowski, both of whom had battled hard for its passage, including offering eleventh-hour deal-sweeteners aimed at undecided senators. The fate of a House-approved energy bill, which includes a measure to allow drilling in the refuge, is now uncertain, as the Senate seems unlikely to compromise on the issue.
straight to the source: Washington Post, Helen Dewar, 18 Apr 2002 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8655-2002Apr18.html>
only in Grist: Is that a lawmaker in your pocket, or ... ? -- a breakdown of the Arctic Refuge vote in the Senate -- in our Muckracker section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/muck/muck041802.asp?source=daily>
A ROCKY START
Before you celebrate too much ... The Bush administration has already set its sights on another drilling target: the Rocky Mountains. Dozens of petitions to drill on public lands throughout the Rocky Mountain states have been submitted to the White House, which has established a Task Force on Energy Project Streamlining "to expedite the increased supply and availability of energy to our nation," according to President Bush. That's great news for industry reps, who have long lobbied the government to cut the red tape and ease regulatory hurdles to drilling, but bad tidings for environmentalists, who fear the impact on wildlife and the land. The U.S. Geological Survey says there are roughly 137 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and several billion barrels of oil under public lands in the Rocky Mountains.
straight to the source: Washington Post, Dan Morgan and Ellen Nakashima, 18 Apr 2002 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2799-2002Apr17.html>
PRIVATES EXPOSED
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, is coming under fire from environmentalists after the London Guardian published information from apparently secret E.C. documents describing efforts to liberalize trade by privatizing state-run services in poor nations. The market for such services is estimated at more than $1 trillion per year. Under the auspices of the World Trade Organization, the E.U. is currently engaged in talks about the General Agreement on Trade in Services. Green groups say the E.U. is paving the way for exploitation of developing nations by huge multi-national corporations eager to control critical resources such as water, as well as services such as sewage. One such group, Friends of the Earth, said liberalization of public services would lead to lax environmental regulation.
straight to the source: London Guardian, John Vidal, Charlotte Denny, and Larry Elliot, 17 Apr 2002 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4395615,00.html>
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Patrick Lannin, 18 Apr 2002 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15527/story.htm>
DUNCES WITH WOLVES
The age-old conflict between wolves and livestock owners is erupting again. Last year, at least 40 farm animals in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming were killed by wolves, which were reintroduced to the American West in the mid-1990s. In response, a significant number of the predators have been killed this year as well (including all 10 wolves from the Whitehawk pack). Under a federal compromise negotiated when the wolves were reintroduced, any of the animals that harm livestock can be destroyed. Farmers defend wolf-killing as necessary to protect their livelihoods, but many conservationists believe the step is simply too drastic. (Apparently, their arguments aren't holding water in Idaho, where a law grants ranchers the right to shoot a wolf on private property, whether or not livestock are at risk.) The federal government spent nearly $15,000 to hunt down and kill the Whitehawk wolves, even though the livestock losses amounted to just hundreds of dollars, and the owners were compensated for their losses.
straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Todd Wilkinson, 18 Apr 2002 <http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0418/p02s02-uspo.html>
do good: Protect Rocky Mountain wolves <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/species.asp?source=daily#mtwolf>
DEATH TO COUGHY
Almost 6,000 people will die prematurely from respiratory illness due to emissions from power plants owned by eight utility companies that the Clinton administration sued for violating the Clean Air Act, according to a private report released yesterday. In addition to the deaths, the report predicted that the pollution would lead to 140,000 asthma attacks and 14,000 cases of acute bronchitis. Residents of the Midwest and the South will be hit hardest, and the nation's overall productivity will suffer as well, because Americans will miss an estimated 1.2 million days of work per year due to related health problems. The energy industry pooh-poohed the study, with one spokesperson calling it the "45 millionth" of its kind and questioning the science behind it. The report, which was prepared by Abt Associated and paid for by the Rockefeller Family Fund, comes as the Bush administration is lobbying to change the Clean Air Act in ways that environmentalists say would weaken it.
straight to the source: New York Times, Katharine Q. Seelye, 18 Apr 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/18/national/18POLL.html>
straight to the source: Washington Post, Eric Pianin and Dan Morgan, 18 Apr 2002 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5041-2002Apr17.html>
do good: Preserve the Clean Air Act <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/air.asp?source=daily#grandfather>
7.7 DEGREES OF SEPARATION
Two new studies on global climate change, both appearing in the latest issue of Nature, predict that the Earth will get even hotter by the end of the century than previously estimated by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. One study, from Switzerland, sees a 7.7 degree Fahrenheit increase by 2100; the other, from Great Britain, predicts as much as a 12.4 degree increase. (The IPCC expected a rise of anywhere from 3 to 10.5 degrees; for comparison's sake, the temperature difference between now and the last Ice Age is 9 degrees.) More important, say scientists, the studies show a temperature increase of 0.5 to 2.3 degrees (the British study) or 0.9 to 1.9 degrees (the Swiss study) for the years 2020-2030 -- just two decades from now. And you thought it was bad on the East Coast right now.
straight to the source: CNN.com, 18 Apr 2002 <http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/04/17/climate.change/index.html>
do good: Tell Bush to tackle global warming <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/climate.asp?source=daily#kyoto>
4/18/02
5:53:15 PM
Navy Sonar Controversy Coming to a Head
Thursday, April 18, 2002, Issue 1607
NAVY SONAR CONTROVERSY COMING TO A HEAD:
With the NMFS "on the verge of making a final decision on whether to allow deployment of the new low-frequency sonar" the Navy and environmental groups have "intensified their competing campaigns to have it quickly approved or permanently sidetracked" says the Washington Post 4/15. Marine conservationists maintain the "extremely loud low-frequency pings" of the submarine detection system would "seriously confuse, injure and eventually kill noise-sensitive marine mammals and large whales in particular." For its part, the Navy is pushing proposed legislation to give the military broad exemptions from a variety of environmental laws including the ESA, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act.
FISHERIES MANAGEMENT LACKING:
A federal judge has ruled that the NMFS's management of Pacific coast commercial fishing has "not adequately protected bottom-dwelling rockfish" says the S.F. Chronicle 4/17. Scientists have warned that some 80 species of Pacific rockfish are "declining rapidly" with overfishing and by-catch the inadvertent killing of juvenile fish, protected fish, marine mammals and birds "considered a big part of the problem."
SPERM WHALES MUCH RARER:
A leading expert on whale population biology has determined that "sperm whales are far rarer than had been previously estimated" says the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society 4/17. The new evidence that sperm whales are only at one-third of their historical abundance "casts doubt over the recovery of the sperm whale from centuries of intensive commercial whaling and highlights concerns over this species being taken as part of the Japanese scientific' whaling program." For more information see
GLOBAL OVERFISHING MARINE CRISIS:
Scientists warn that "little is being done" to prevent the world's fishing fleets from decimating ocean ecosystems, marine biodiversity and the fisheries that they are over exploiting says the S.F. Chronicle 4/15. Largely due to government subsidies, the global fishing fleet has "expanded dramatically" in the last two decades resulting in up to 30% of fish populations being "overfished" and another 40% "fully exploited - meaning that additional pressure could result in their collapse." Public broadcasting stations will soon be airing an important documentary on the crisis (see story below).
"EMPTY OCEANS, EMPTY NETS":
On or around Earth Day, April 22, PBS stations around the country will be airing a powerful new documentary that presents a stunning case in support of what fishermen and scientists are reporting the world over; oceans are rapidly being depleted of fish. In fact, entire populations of fish are becoming commercially extinct as marine biodiversity and habitats are pushed to the brink. To find out when the film is airing near you go to
http://www.habitatmedia.org/pbs.html and to learn more about what you can
do see http://www.oceansatrisk.com
(c) Endangered Species Coalition 2002
For more information you can call (202) 772-3231 or
email elytwak@stopextinction.org
4/18/02
5:50:28 PM
Kucinich Walks Out on Ridge Secret Meeting
t r u t h o u t | Statement Kucinich Statement on Ridge Secret Meeting with House Committee April 11, 2002
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), ranking member of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans' Affairs and International Relations today walked out of a Government Reform Committee briefing with Governor Tom Ridge, Director of the Homeland Security Office. Kucinich said Governor Ridge should testify publicly about the office. Kucinich said there was a ruling by the Chair that the meeting was not open because there was no official business being transacted. Kucinich then asked for a ruling from the parliamentarian, but did not receive one. The following is his statement about his departure from the briefing.
This is a very serious matter that a Director who speaks for the President on matters of national security is not accountable to the Congress, not accountable to the press and not accountable to the people. Homeland Security has a $38 billion budget. There's been no public process to review this $38 billion budget. So you have a Director who is not accountable to the Congress, not accountable to the press, and not accountable to the people.
I want to state that a free exchange of ideas behind closed doors may not in reality be free. It may in fact be a direct challenge to the doctrine of separation of powers that is a key and fundamental part of our democracy. And it's a challenge to the position of Congress as a coequal branch of government.
In a democracy, secret government is not an acceptable substitute for self-government. A wink is not an acceptable substitute for an oath.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.17G.Walks.Out.htm
4/18/02
5:45:34 PM
A War Against The Peacemaker
The US wants to depose the diplomat who could take away its pretext for war with Iraq
by George Monbiot, Published in the Guardian, 16th April 2002
On Sunday, the US government will launch an international coup. It has been planned for a month. It will be executed quietly, and most of us won't know what is happening until it's too late. It is seeking to overthrow 60 years of multilateralism, in favour of a global regime built on force.
The coup begins with its attempt, in five days' time, to unseat the man in charge of ridding the world of chemical weapons. If it succeeds, this will be the first time that the head of a multilateral agency will have been deposed in this manner. Every other international body will then become vulnerable to attack. The coup will also shut down the peaceful options for dealing with the chemical weapons Iraq may possess, helping to ensure that war then becomes the only means of destroying them.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) enforces the Chemical Weapons Convention. It inspects labs and factories and arsenals and oversees the destruction of the weapons they contain. Its director-general is a workaholic Brazilian diplomat called Jose Bustani. He has, arguably, done more in the past five years to promote world peace than anyone else on earth. His inspectors have overseen the destruction of two million chemical weapons and two-thirds of the world's chemical weapon facilities. He has so successfully cajoled reluctant nations that the number of signatories has risen from 87 to 145 in the past five years: the fastest growth rate of any multilateral body in recent times.
In May 2000, as a tribute to his extraordinary record, Bustani was re-elected unanimously by the member states for a second five-year term, even though he had yet to complete his first one. Last year Colin Powell wrote to him to thank him for his "very impressive" work. But now everything has changed. The man celebrated for his remarkable achievements has been denounced as an enemy of the people.
In January, with no prior warning or explanation, the US State Department asked the Brazilian government to recall him, on the grounds that it did not like his "management style". This request directly contravenes the Chemical Weapons Convention, which states "the Director-General ... shall not seek or receive instructions from any government." Brazil refused. In March, the US government accused Bustani of "financial mismanagement", "demoralization" of his staff, "bias" and "ill-considered initiatives". It warned that if he wanted to avoid damage to his reputation, he must resign.
Again, the US was trampling the convention, which insists that member states shall "not seek to influence" the staff. He refused to go. On March 19th, the US proposed a vote of no-confidence in Mr Bustani. It lost. So it then did something unprecedented in the history of multilateral diplomacy. It called a "special session" of the member states to oust him. The session begins on Sunday. And this time the US is likely to get what it wants.
Since losing the vote last month, the United States, which is supposed to be the organisation's biggest donor, has been twisting the arms of weaker nations, refusing to pay its dues unless they support it, with the result that the OPCW could go under. Last week Bustani told me, "the Europeans are so afraid that the US will abandon the convention that they are prepared to sacrifice my post to keep it on board." His last hope is that the United Kingdom, whose record of support for the organisation has so far been exemplary, will make a stand. The meeting on Sunday will present Blair's government with one of the clearest choices it has yet faced between multilateralism and the "special relationship".
The US has not sought to substantiate the charges it has made against Bustani. The OPCW is certainly suffering from a financial crisis, but that is largely because the United States first unilaterally capped its budget and then failed to pay what it owed. The organisation's accounts have just been audited and found to be perfectly sound. Staff morale is higher than any organisation as underfunded as the OPCW could reasonably expect. Bustani's real crimes are contained in the last two charges, of "bias" and "ill-considered initiatives".
The charge of bias arises precisely because the OPCW is not biased. It has sought to examine facilities in the United States with the same rigour with which it examines facilities anywhere else. But, just like Iraq, the US has refused to accept weapons inspectors from countries it regards as hostile to its interests, and has told those who have been allowed in which parts of a site they may and may not inspect. It has also passed special legislation permitting the president to block unannounced inspections, and banning inspectors from removing samples of its chemicals.
"Ill-considered initiatives" is code for the attempts Bustani has made, in line with his mandate, to persuade Saddam Hussein to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention. If Iraq agrees, it will then be subject to the same inspections -- both routine and unannounced -- as any other member state (with the exception, of course, of the United States). Bustani has so far been unsuccessful, but only because, he believes, he has not yet received the backing of the UN Security Council, with the result that Saddam knows he would have little to gain from signing.
Bustani has suggested that if the Security Council were to support the OPCW's bid to persuade Iraq to sign, this would provide the US with an alternative to war. It is hard to see why Saddam Hussein would accept weapons inspectors from UNMOVIC -- the organisation backed by the Security Council -- after its predecessor UNSCOM was found to be stuffed with spies planted by the US government. It is much easier to see why he might accept inspectors from an organisation which has remained scrupulously even-handed. Indeed, when UNSCOM was thrown out of Iraq in 1998, the OPCW was allowed in to complete the destruction of the weapons it had found. Bustani has to go because he has proposed the solution to a problem the US does not want solved.
"What the Americans are doing," Bustani says, "is a coup d'etat. They are using brute force to amend the convention and unseat the director-general." As the Chemical Weapons Convention has no provisions permitting these measures, the US is simply ripping up the rules. If it wins, then the OPCW, like UNSCOM, will be fatally compromised. Success for the United States on Sunday would threaten the independence of every multilateral body.
This is, then, one of those rare occasions on which our government could make a massive difference to the way the world is run. It could choose to support its closest ally, wrecking multilateralism and shutting down the alternatives to war. Or it could defy the United States in defence of world peace and international law. It will take that principled stand only if we, the people from whom it draws its power, make so much noise that it must listen. We have five days in which to stop the US from bullying its way to war.
Source: http://www.monbiot.com/
4/18/02
5:43:45 PM
Senate REJECTS Arctic Drilling 54-46
Senate REJECTS ARCTIC DRILLING, 54-46, In Major Environmental Victory!
Today eight Republicans joined with 45 Democrats and one Independent to turn back the latest attempt to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. The win represents the environmental community's biggest political win in years as a majority of Senators opposed Arctic drilling under any condition or scenario, a major defeat for President Bush's oil and gas-focused energy plan. The Senate voted 54-46 to uphold a filibuster by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), well short of the 60 votes necessary to conclude debate on the amendment to give the president authority to allow drilling in the Arctic Refuge, an American natural treasure, for a mere six months of oil that wouldn't be available for a decade. The Senate also turned back, by a vote of 64-36, an attempt by Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R) to link Arctic drilling revenues to benefits for steel workers.
Source: http://www.lcv.org
4/18/02
5:35:11 PM
There Are Three Kinds Of Victories
by Peter Montague
(1) First there are local victories in which citizens tackle some problem, vanquish their adversaries, and thus improve or at least maintain the local environment: a "low level" radioactive waste dump is defeated, a community garden is created, an oil refinery reduces its poisonous emissions. Local victories have other benefits as well -- they give people real experience making democracy work, they create connections between strangers, and they can even plant the idea that the community should be planning ahead to take control of its own destiny.
After a series of local fights has highlighted a problem, government policy becomes ripe for change. The federal "right to know" law is a typical example. Congress did not invent the right to know law. Congress passed right to know only after a dozen locales across the country had passed their own municipal or state-wide right to know laws. So local fights are the basic engine for identifying problems, inventing solutions, and eventually changing government policies. Local fights "trickle up" to higher levels of government where they generate new policies. It has always been so.
(2) The second kind of victory is the policy victory itself, which occurs when government changes its normal way of doing business. Examples: the burning of hazardous waste by ocean-going incinerator ships is banned nationwide, or Congress declares that workers have a basic right to a safe, healthful workplace. Unfortunately, policy victories are rarely permanent and usually must be defended again and again.
Sometimes policies change not because local ideas have "trickled up" but merely because of a lobbying campaign (which I call "whispering in the king's ear"). In those cases, the resulting policies are especially fragile and likely to be short-lived because they can be reversed by someone whispering more loudly in the king's ear (for example, someone with more money). Thus policy victories, especially robust policy victories that have widespread support at the community level, are desirable but even fairly robust policies are not the ultimate goal of advocacy --they are just important steps along the way toward the third kind of victory.
(3) The third kind of victory -- by far the most important kind -- is changing the "climate of opinion." Today slavery is not only illegal, it is unthinkable. The "climate of opinion" would not allow a serious proposal to bring back slavery. Likewise, the "climate of opinion" would not allow a public debate over the proposal, "Women should be prohibited from voting." Once a "climate of opinion" victory has been achieved, it is much more difficult to reverse than a policy victory. The "climate of opinion" determines what kind of behavior is unthinkable. "Climate of opinion" changes are so big that often we aren't even aware of them.
Now let's examine the victories of the environmental justice movement. The movement has had thousands of local victories and dozens of policy victories. A few of these victories have been described in books.[1] But what makes the environmental justice movement truly important is the changes it has begun to make in the "climate of opinion." I can think of two really big ones, so far.
(1) The common definition of "environment" used to be "wild places" NOT including the places where most humans live. I recall that as recently as 1968 the membership of the Sierra Club voted decisively NOT to focus the Club's attention on urban environments, where the majority of U.S. citizens spend their lives. However, during the 1980s, the environmental justice movement succeeded in redefining "environment" from "wild places" to "wild places plus all the places where we live, work, play, and learn." (Sierra Club has slowly accepted the new definition.) This is a sea change and it's unlikely that we will ever go back to the old way of seeing things. Now "environmental" issues affect -- and can appeal to -- huge numbers of people.
(2) The second major "climate of opinion" change created by the environmental justice movement is reflected in its name: environmental JUSTICE. This needs some explanation.
About 1970, the emerging legal/scientific environmental movement lobbied successfully for new national laws intended to curb environmentally damaging behavior, the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, etc.
These laws focus almost exclusively on scientific information, and they require citizens to prove scientifically that harm is occurring to humans and/or to the environment before regulatory action can begin. I call this the "prove harm" system of environmental regulation. Initially corporate polluters complained bitterly that the new system was going to put them out of business, but this turned out to be just another "Brer Rabbit in the Briar Patch" story -- polluters LOVE the "prove harm" regulatory system. They thrive under the system.
With the benefit of 30 years of hindsight, we now know why the system can't protect the environment or humans. Here is a partial list of reasons:
(1) The "prove harm" system of regulation requires that harm must occur before action can be taken. This means that many millions of people had to become sick (with childhood cancers, lymphomas, reproductive cancers [breast, prostate], Parkinson's disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, endometriosis, asthma, and a host of other environment-related diseases) before regulators could pay attention. Thus regulators were put in the futile and frustrating position of trying to close the barn door long after the horse had left.
As a result, the entire planet is now contaminated with potent, long-lived industrial poisons that were released (and, in most cases, are still being released) on the assumption that they are "safe" because no on has proven otherwise. By the time scientific proof of harm accumulates it is too late to prevent harm. Thus true prevention is generally not an option under the "prove harm" system.
(2) Science often cannot define "harm" very clearly, much less prove that it has occurred. Take the case of the toxic metal, lead. In 1975, 39 micrograms of lead in a 10th of a liter of human blood was declared harmless (40 was the "action level"). We now know that 39 can cause severe brain damage in children. As science improved, 29 micrograms was declared harmless, then 14 micrograms, and now 9. Today -- 30 years and tens of millions of brain-damaged children later -- many scientists acknowledge that ANY amount of lead in your blood can damage your central nervous system and reduce your IQ. However scientists hired by the lead industry dispute these conclusions, pointing to uncertainties in some of the data, and so the scientific debate continues while the "safe" level of lead remains at 9 micrograms, which most knowledgable scientists consider damaging to children.[2]
(3) As in the case of harm from lead, there is always some uncertainty in any scientific conclusion. Under the "prove harm" regulatory system, scientific uncertainty provides a green light for business as usual. Under the "prove harm" system, when you're flying blind, it's full speed ahead until science proves harm. If you don't know what you're doing, just do it.
When scientific uncertainty is allowed to create a green light for business as usual, scientists can always be found who will cast doubt on any study, any set of data, thus creating scientific uncertainty for the purpose of allowing their employers to proceed with business as usual. Some members of the oldest profession in the world (male and female) now dress up in white lab coats.
(4) The "prove harm" system focuses its attention on the "most exposed individual" and sets regulations intended to protect that hypothetical person. If "risk assessment" concludes that the "most exposed individual" will probably not be harmed by the industrial discharge of chemical X, Y, or Z, that discharge is approved. What the system fails to take into account -- because science has no means for doing so -- is the cumulative effects of thousands upon thousands of "safe" discharges, which add up to contaminated neighborhoods and a contaminated planet. By focusing on individuals and by requiring science to "prove harm," the system has sacrificed ecosystems and communities.
(5) The "prove harm" system has no way to account for the fact that all people (and these days, all plants and animals as well) are subject to multiple exposures -- from the soot from power plants and garbage incinerators; from pharmaceutical drugs; from diesel exhausts; from excessive ultraviolet light streaming in through the Earth's damaged ozone layer; from pesticides in air, rain, fog, food and water; from industrial poisons discharged into sewage treatment plants and then into rivers; from radioactive fallout left over from the era of A-bomb tests, from artificial growth hormones widely used in agriculture, etc. etc.
Scientists have no agreed-upon methods for evaluating the combined effects of multiple exposures to toxicants, and so they ignore multiple exposures, pretending that the world is much simpler than it really is. As a consequence, none of the regulatory system's "scientific" determinations of "safety" actually have any scientific validity. They represent seat of the pants estimates, gut feelings, best professional judgments, and plain guesses, all laced with a strong measure of hope that everything will turn out OK. Two scientists analyzing the same data can draw vastly different conclusions.
(6) The "prove harm" regulatory system bases its determinations only upon science, thus omitting many essential human values. For example, many people today want to protect the environment simply because it is God's creation. The "prove harm" system provides no place for such unscientific ideas to be expressed, much less acted upon. Many women want their breast milk free of industrial poisons just because their maternal instinct tells them that their babies will be better off. Until science can "prove" that they are right or wrong, their instincts have no place in the scientific debate over industrial discharges. (Indeed, such women are likely to be told that they should go home and leave these matters to the experts.)
Now the environmental justice movement is forcing a change in the climate of opinion, making the "prove harm" system unthinkable. Having confronted the "prove harm" system in thousands of local fights, grass-roots activists have now invented a new approach based on real prevention. Call it "precautionary action." Under the new system, scientific uncertainty creates a yellow light or even a red light -- if you're flying blind, slow down. If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it. Better safe than sorry.
Under "precautionary action" the government has a duty to prevent harm whenever there is credible evidence that harm is occurring or is likely to occur, even when the exact nature and magnitude of the harm is not proven.
Under "precautionary action" manufacturers have a responsibility to show that they are using the least harmful alternative to meet a specific need. With "precautionary action" the potential for harm is thoroughly studied before a new chemical or technology is used, instead of assuming it is harmless until proven otherwise. In addition to using all the available scientific data, precautionary decision-making will also respect and use other kinds of knowledge -- ethics, morals, humility, the human sense of what's right and good and just. This major change in the "climate of opinion" is well along. Thanks to the environmental justice movement, "prove harm" is becoming unthinkable and is slowly being replaced by "precautionary action." This is big. REALLY big.
Source: http://www.Rachel.org
4/18/02
5:32:31 PM
RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH NEWS #746
4/18/02
5:21:22 PM
Public Citizen issued the following two press releases today:
1) Pharmaceutical Industry Ranks As Most Profitable Industry -- Again
2) Radioactive Shipments on Roads, Railways and Waterways Would Threaten Public Health and Safety
April 18, 2002
Pharmaceutical Industry Ranks As Most Profitable Industry -- Again
Drug Companies Top All Three Measures of Profits in New Fortune 500 Report
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Even as many industries suffered last year, the pharmaceutical industry - which continued hiking prices and resisting efforts to control drug prices - once again was the most profitable industry in the annual Fortune 500 list, indicating that the drug industry juggernaut shows no sign of abating, Public Citizen said today.
The pharmaceutical industry topped all three of Fortune magazine's measures of profitability for 2001. It was a year when average prescription prices increased 10 percent, even though the government inflation rate was a mere 1.6 percent. For three decades, the industry has been at or near the top in all three of these measures.
"During a year in which there was much talk of sacrifice in the national interest, drug companies increased their astounding profits by hiking prescription prices, advertising some medicines more than Nike shoes, and successfully lobbying for lucrative monopoly patent extensions," said Frank Clemente, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch. "Sometimes what's best for shareholders and CEOs isn't what's best for all Americans - particularly senior citizens who lack prescription drug insurance."
While the overall profits of Fortune 500 companies declined by 53 percent in 2001, the top 10 U.S. drug makers increased profits by 33 percent last year, from $28 billion to $37 billion, according to Public Citizen's analysis of Fortune 500 data.
Collectively, the 10 drug companies in the Fortune 500 had the greatest return on revenues, reporting a profit of 18.5 cents for every $1 of sales, which was eight times higher than the median for all Fortune 500 industries (2.2 cents). The drug industry also led others by realizing a return on assets of 16.5 percent - almost six times the median (2.5 percent) posted by all industries. Pharmaceutical companies completed the sweep with a return on shareholders' equity (33.2) percent, which was more than three times the median of all Fortune 500 industries (9.8 percent).
Other Public Citizen findings include:
§ The two most profitable drug companies - Pfizer and Merck - owned the most blockbuster drugs, with four each. Pfizer led U.S. pharmaceutical companies with $7.8 billion in profits in 2001, which is more than the profits of all the Fortune 500 companies in the homebuilding, apparel, railroad and publishing industries combined. Merck was the second most profitable pharmaceutical, netting $7.3 billion, which is more than the profits of all the Fortune 500 companies in the semiconductor, pipeline, food production, mining and crude oil production, and hotel, casino and resort industries combined.
§ The drug industry maintains that it needs extraordinary profits to fuel risky R&D into new medicines. But companies plow far more into profits than into R&D. Fortune 500 drug companies channeled 18.5 percent of revenue into profits last year. Yet they spent just 12.5 percent of revenues on R&D.
§ The drug industry's dominance of Fortune 500 profitability measures has been growing in recent decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, profitability of Fortune 500 medicine merchants (measured by return on revenues) was two times greater than the median for all industries in the Fortune 500. In the 1990s, the drug industry's profitability rose to almost four times greater than the median for all industries in the Fortune 500. Last year, it jumped to more than eight times the median for all industries in the Fortune 500.
Other Public Citizen findings unrelated to the Fortune list include:
§ Last year, 29 drugs attained "blockbuster" status (more than $1 billion in sales) - nearly double the 1999 tally of 15 blockbusters. These 29 drugs garnered more than $52 billion in retail sales last year - or 34 percent of the total U.S. pharmaceutical market. That is a dramatic increase over 1999, when blockbusters accounted for 21 percent of the entire U.S. pharmaceutical market.
§ These 29 drugs were far more expensive than most drugs. They had an average prescription price of $97.71 last year - almost double the national average of $49.84 per prescription.
A copy of Public Citizen's report is available at:
http://www.citizen.org/congress/reform/drug_industry/profits/articles.cfm?ID=7416
###
April 18, 2002
Radioactive Shipments on Roads, Railways and Waterways Would Threaten Public Health and Safety
Congress Should Put the Brakes on Nevada Nuclear Dump Plan, Public Citizen President Tells Lawmakers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Shipping tens of thousands of tons of deadly nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain would compromise the health and safety of millions, Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook told lawmakers today. Not only is the chance of a crash high, but the transport casks have not been adequately tested and the shipments would make prime terrorist targets, Claybrook said.
Claybrook testified before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality. It was the first congressional hearing to examine the Yucca Mountain project since President Bush approved it in February.
"Transporting nuclear waste is inherently dangerous because it increases the likelihood of radioactive release and introduces this risk to densely populated areas where the emergency response and public health infrastructure may lack the capacity to respond effectively to a nuclear emergency," Claybrook said.
Following Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's recommendation to go forward with the project, Bush approved the plan to build a permanent repository for 70,000 metric tons of high-level nuclear waste from commercial reactors and Department of Energy (DOE) weapons facilities at Yucca Mountain, 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn vetoed the project April 8, and both houses of Congress will vote this spring whether to support or override his veto.
Transporting waste from current storage sites across the country would entail tens of thousands of shipments on roads, rails and waterways in 44 states and the District of Columbia. As former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Claybrook told lawmakers that the dangers raised by those shipments cannot be justified.
The administration has touted the safety record of nuclear waste transport, but it downplays the fact that there have been incidents in which radiation was released and that waste has never been shipped on such a massive scale. Since 1949, there have been 72 incidents involving nuclear waste shipments, four of which involved radioactive contamination beyond the transport vehicle, according to data compiled by the state of Nevada. General traffic crash rates also indicate the high likelihood of a disaster. In 1999, there were 453,000 crashes involving large trucks - 8,857 of them involving hazardous materials - and 2,768 train crashes.
In spite of the statistical certainty of crashes, the casks that would be used to transport the high- level waste have not been adequately tested. Physical tests were performed in the 1970s on now- obsolete casks, and current computer-model tests dangerously underestimate the conditions casks would need to withstand in a worst-case accident, Claybrook said.
The tests simulated crashes at speeds no higher than 30 miles per hour, submersion under water for only one hour and fires lasting only 30 minutes at 1475 degrees Fahrenheit. But no rules limit the casks to traveling at less than 30 mph, and a crash involving a river would likely mean a cask is submerged for far longer than one hour because of the logistics of pulling it out. Also, Claybrook noted that last summer's fire in Baltimore's Howard Street train tunnel burned more than three days and likely reached temperatures over 1500 degrees.
Claybrook also noted that the Sept. 11 attacks have raised the prospect of terrorist sabotage of nuclear waste shipments. Although Abraham has twice halted nuclear transports due to security concerns, officials have not addressed the security implications of the Yucca Mountain project.
An analysis by the state of Nevada indicated that a successful terrorist attack on a transport cask using a common military device could cause 300 to 1,800 latent cancer fatalities, while a state-of-the- art anti-tank weapon could cause 3,000 to 18,000 latent cancer deaths and cost more than $17 billion to clean up.
Further, the Yucca Mountain site itself is unsuitable, Claybrook said. It sits atop an aquifer and in an earthquake zone, and the site selection process has been rife with conflicts of interest and industry influence, including millions spent on lobbying and campaign contributions to decisionmakers.
The DOE's long history of investing in wasteful ventures, combined with the numerous technical, environmental and policy issues that remain unresolved with the project, suggest that Yucca Mountain is poised to become another contaminated site and taxpayer boondoggle, Claybrook said.
She recommended to the subcommittee that it uphold Guinn's veto, hold hearings in major cities along waste transportation routes and maintain vigorous oversight of any repository proposal or nuclear waste management program.
A copy of the testimony is available at
http://www.citizen.org/documents/yuccatestfinal.PDF.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit http://www.Citizen.org
4/18/02
5:19:28 PM
Imperial State Power In America
by Al Martin
Now even US postage stamps will project the supremacy of American Imperial Power into the world. The new 57-cent stamp shows an eagle, which is an exact copy of the symbol of the Waffen SS, which in turn was taken from the Imperial Praetorian eagle of Ancient Rome. This is one of the first in a new series of postage stamps being released by the US Post Office to commemorate the New Age of State Power.
According to the Moh's color chart, the color of the stamp used to be called Nordic or Aryan Blue -- before the war. After the war, when those words became politically incorrect, the name of the blue was changed to the more neutral-sounding Icelandic Blue.
The stamp portrays an eagle resting on triple-perched pediments. It’s a beautifully executed design, if one wants to portray State Power. This eagle is man’s most ancient and recognizable symbol of State Power. The seven pediments on the eagle’s chevron shaped breastplate represent the seven hills of Rome. The three Ionic columned perch represents Order, Discipline and Obedience, which was the pledge undertaken by the Obsidian Order.
Any philatelist would recognize this eagle and any numismatist, who collects Third Reich or Caesarian coins, would also know it. This iconography is not original with the Third Reich, of course, since they borrowed it from the ancient Romans.
The symbolism is stark. The Germans also duplicated it during the time of the monarchy in the 18th century. During the subsequent reign of the House of Hohenzollern, you’d see many flags with the expression: Ruhe, Ordnung und Sicherheit (Calm, Order and Security).
The eagle then is not only a symbol of imperial power, but of the unity of the State. As long as the State remains unified under the symbol of Imperial State Power, then Calm, Order, Security, Discipline and Obedience will prevail. It took the Romans centuries to squash out dissent. This is a sublime warning for the people to be united under one banner, and that banner is the imperial power of the State. In Ancient Rome, it constituted a warning to any dissidents.
To get back to the design, the eagle is perched on the famed triple Ionic column, which was the symbol of the much feared and dreaded Obsidian Order of the Imperial Praetorian Guard, also called the Black Order. Obsidian is a very hard lustrous black stone that has been used for thousands of years.
In Ancient Rome, the Obsidian Order was the most elite of the elite Praetorian Guard, containing Caesar's assassins. They specialized in liquidating dissidents.
In dress, the only difference between the Obsidian Order and the Praetorian Guard was that their capes, instead of being blue like the Praetorian Guards' capes, were trimmed in black-dyed ermine to symbolize their power.
The Obsidian Order was the group, which quietly liquidated those who dissented and any who threatened to tell the truth.
On the stamp, this exact same eagle used by the Obsidian Order has neo-romanesque column in the background. This is also the same symbol that Mussolini adopted for the Obsidian Order of the Black Shirts. In the Third Reich, you could say that the counterpart was the Waffen SS. This symbol is often found within the imperial military ranks of dictatorships throughout history. Applying the word "Obsidian" to "State Security" or a "State Elite Military Force" is also a very old tradition.
This same Imperial Eagle design on the new US 57-cent State Security stamp will also be used for the triangular arm badges given to those participating in the new Neighborhood Watch program.
The Neighborhood Watch program will be distributing $27 street signs and orange and black knit caps as well as arm badges. A new commercial with Ed McMahon, the new Department of Justice spokesman, is advertising this program on TV. He's the pitchman for the Neighborhood Watch and the Civilian Defense Force in the new so-called "public service" announcements.
The triangular arm badges are red, white, and blue and the words "Homeland Security" are above and the Imperial State Eagle design is in the center. These are the sinister origins of the symbolism of the Neighborhood Watch program.
It's designed to make you react subconsciously. When you look at the stamp close-up, it simply bespeaks of State Power. It says to anyone in the world that whatever country owns this stamp, that this stamp is a symbol of the Power of the State. It is meant to be an internal projection of State power, to serve as a warning to those who would dissent.
The funny thing about the Ed McMahon propaganda commercials for the Department of Justice is that you can tell he's hung-over, like he usually is, recovering from his infamous "white ladies." Those are his vodka martinis. He talks about his "white ladies," which he calls his Achilles heels.
The commercials, narrated by Ed McMahon, suggest that you cooperate with the Neighborhood Watch Association and the Civilian Defense Force. You will be told how to spot "suspicious" characters or even people you might have known all your life, who are suddenly acting "out of character." Then the camera pans down a row of townhouses, and there's an American flag in front of every house. The voice-over says "inform the authorities of anything you see that's suspicious" and then the camera stops at the one house that doesn't have an American flag flying outside -- and then it continues to pan down the way. Then they show a picture of the Neighborhood Crime Watch representative with his orange and black State Security cap and the triangular Homeland Security Imperial State Power badge, holding a clipboard, smiling and asking questions. Then Mrs. Smith answers the door smiling.
But the tenor of this thing - if people can't see through it, there's something wrong with them. They're not just saying this is for anyone "different." They don't even use the term "anyone in the neighborhood you haven't seen before." They even talk about people you've known all your life who are suddenly acting "suspiciously." or "out of character."
Another commercial, which is now in production, will show a quiet peaceful neighborhood with American flags plastered everywhere. And everybody's got a George Bush bumper sticker. Then you'll see a troop of seven or eight year old kids coming home from elementary school marching, with their uniforms of white shirts and blouses and blue pants. They have their child's Civilian Defense Force volunteer armbands on and their Good Citizen badges that the local CDF chapter leader gave them. But they're actually marching down the street with big smiles on their faces. And the kid in the front who's leading them is holding up a little American flag. The child will be talking to the commander of the group, who's telling the child about being obedient to your parents and being obedient to your government. And this is what we're coming to.
When I was on the Dave Ross show in Seattle, every person who called was appalled and said I would never go along with something like this. And half of them didn't believe me. I told them that for every one of you Seattle suburban liberals that are appalled by this, there is an equal number, if not more from East Nowheresville, Nebraska, that can't wait to go along with it.
They're being so blatant about it, the psychology of it. They could never run an ad like this in Western Europe, where you have a more sophisticated citizenry. Here they can literally hit people over the head with it and think that it's sublime propaganda. It's like pounding people on the head with a rubber mallet and saying this is what you have to do with Americans. This is sublime propaganda. If we really wanted to propagandize, we would use a metal hammer.
Now we have the New Obsidian Order. And little Johnny, after informing on ten of his friends, has been given his gold Good Citizen's badge by the county CDF rep.
The camera closes in on the kid and he's asked, "What are you going to do now, Little Johnny?"
And Johnny says, "I'm going to Disney World."
If you don't believe it, look at the new 57-cent postage stamp yourself, and we'll explain to you what it means. Look at the new Ed McMahon commercials for the Department of Justice. Start looking for your new triangular State Security street signs. And the orange knit capped people on your street with clipboards.
Dave Ross said on the air that he didn't believe that the "sane and rational people" of the Neighborhood Watch Associations would go along with that. And I said, if you give the average downtrodden citizen an orange and black cap that says State Security and a clipboard, a whistle and an armband that puts a little sense of power in their bellies, there's going to be a hell of a lot of people, who not only get into it, but get into it in a big way. It'll go to their heads. If you give the little guy a little sense of power, he's going to run with it; and he's not going to want to give it up; and he's going to do what he's told in order to keep it. That's human nature.
Dave said the liberal audience of Seattle would disagree with that. I said all you suburban liberals in Seattle can stick your heads on the sand, until some twelve years old kid dressed up in a uniform and an armband comes along and kicks you in the ass.
It's interesting to note how the Bush Administration and its allies in the Pro-Government Media have carefully choreographed the situation regarding the "war on terrorism," more recently even Senator Daschle's speech on how he intimated that he would run for president in 2004. He laid out the Democratic Party agenda and what the plank will for the presidential election -- a platform of fiscal responsibility. He talked about the enormous amount of money the Bush Administration is currently spending on the war on terrorism and homeland security and asked -- is this enormous expenditure warranted -- given the type of foe that we face? After he gave this speech, Fox News immediately went to their 1-800 citizen call-in lines and asked the question -- do you think Senator Daschle is being unpatriotic in questioning the Bush Administration's aims?
This is the collusion of Pro-Government Media with the Bush Administration. Daschle was put on the spot and forced to say that he didn't mean that he didn't agree with the war on terrorism. What he meant to say was are we spending too much money on it. He then said that the table of organization of our armed forces is still ordered to fighting a large open field conventional enemy against an equal enemy with massive armor and support. In fact, the Bush Administration is still spending money this way, instead of developing a new military, which is highly mobile, with elite forces, which can be inserted quickly. We are still attempting a military posture as if the Cold War still existed.
So there's a discrepancy. When Bush says we're going to spend billions on new high tech weapons and anti-ballistic missile systems, this is not the type of weaponry we need to fight global terrorism. Daschle simply said that spending "fresh," and now "untold," billions on defense is not going to increase our military's capability to fight entrenched insurgent guerilla groups, which after all is what "terrorism" is.
The common misperception that the media is "liberal" is obviously untrue because we are in a new era, and have been for some time, of corporate bottom line journalism, in which the media is corporately owned and thus answerable to its shareholders. There is no more genuine political or investigative news.
The Bushites have squeezed out of the Republican Party: the Eisenhower moderates, the so-called liberal Rockefeller group, the so-called grass roots Buchananites and the populists, and now we have a wholly new Republican Right, which is different than the stereotypical right of the past. It's not even a right. It's a whole separate agenda which doesn't include social security deficits or paying down the national debt and which is prepared to spend endlessly. It is in fact "corporate socialism" with constant subsidies for the large corporations The question to ask is -- has the Republican Right become the new Socialist Welfare State of America?
All industries are being consolidated into tighter oligopolies. Last week the Supreme Court overturned the 30% market restriction law for the media and with the overturning of that law, it is now possible for any media outlet or syndicate to control 100% of print and electronic media market in any given place in the country, which then sanctions and legalizes the monopoly media. This effectively opens the door to a new era of media monopoly, in actuality, a new Pro-Government Media Monopoly. Corporate and government insiders are so intertwined in this that it becomes a New Syndicate of Power.
There are plenty of dark clouds on the horizon, and this new stamp is also highly significant. It should be noted that the three columns on the stamp symbolize Order, Discipline and Obedience. The eagle is an exact duplicate of the flag of the Obsidian Order of the Praetorian Guard of Julius Caesar. It is generally considered to be one of the greatest symbols of Imperial State Power that man has ever devised.
The design was taken from the flag outside the Imperial Roman Senate. In the background of the stamp, you can see the Roman columns. This is the standard that was hung in front of the Imperial Roman Senate, as the American flag would be hung in front of government buildings today.
During Caesar's time, this standard was used extensively. The flag would also be put up in neighborhoods in Rome where there were suspected dissidents. It would be a warning to all citizens that in this block there was a dissident. The Obsidian Order offered a standard reward of thirty Roman silver staters for information about the dissident. And the punishment for Roman citizen dissidents, who were caught criticizing State policy? The Obsidian Order cut their tongues out, so they could not raise their voices against the State again. It should be noted that national identity cards are nothing new either. Roman slaves had identity bracelets called tesserae.
This mechanistic eagle design with its bolted wings was adopted in 1928 by Mussolini and subsequently adopted by the Waffen SS. It is very mechanical looking, and it's meant to be that way because the State created it. It is a creation of State industry. It is a symbol of State Power, an industrial manufactured eagle, which rides above all other powers. This stamp is a statement that the State is more powerful than God.
It could be the creepiest stamp yet -- since the little man with the toothbrush mustache…
***
AL MARTIN is America's foremost whistleblower on government fraud and corruption. A retired US Navy Lt. Commander and former officer in the Office of Naval Intelligence, he has testified before Congress (the Kerry Committee and the Alexander Committee) regarding Iran-Contra. Al Martin is the author of "The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran Contra Insider" (2001, National Liberty Press, $19.95; Toll FREE order line: 1-866-317-1390) He lives at an undisclosed location, since the criminals named in his book have been returned to national power and prominence. His column "Behind the Scenes in the Beltway" is published regularly on Al Martin Raw: Criminal Govt Conspiracy
4/18/02
5:12:49 PM
McKinney Donors Support Terrorists
by Jeff Johnson, CNSNews.com, April 18, 2002
WASHINGTON – The congresswoman who accused the Bush administration of allowing energy and defense industry profits to guide its war policy has accepted campaign contributions from employees of groups that support terrorist organizations, according to Federal Election Commission records. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., received $1,000 from Abdurahman Alamoudi, the founder and former executive director of American Muslim Council.
Alamoudi's contribution is one of 45 McKinney received during the 1999-2000 election cycle that did not list the occupation of the donor as required by the FEC. Those donations totaled $24,000.
"I have been labeled by the media in New York as being a supporter of Hamas. Any supporters of Hamas here?" Alamoudi asked, to cheers from the crowd at an October 2000 White House protest of U.S. policies in the Middle East.
'We Are All Supporters of Hamas'
"Hear that, Bill Clinton? We are all supporters of Hamas ... I wish they added that I am also a supporter of Hezbollah." Hezbollah and Hamas are on the State Department's official list of terrorist organizations.
McKinney received another $1,000 from Aly Abuzaakouk, who listed his employer as American Muslim Council, and $500 from Nihad Hammad, who lists Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) as his workplace.
The data was compiled by Center for Responsive Politics on its Web site www.opensecrets.org.
Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's communications director, would not condemn Osama bin Laden's involvement in the Sept. 11 terrorist assault in an interview with Salon shortly after the attacks.
Other CAIR officials and board members have blamed Israeli and Egyptian intelligence officials for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Federal prosecutor Mary Jo White said in a November 2001 interview with the New Republic that one former CAIR board member was a "possible conspirator" in the 1993 bombing.
'Demand to Know Her Ties'
Phil Kent, president of Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), says McKinney is "completely undermining" the U.S. war against terrorism.
"I think it's incumbent upon all of us to demand to know her ties with people like Alamoudi," Kent said.
"If she had any shred of integrity, which I don't think she has, she'd repudiate these people," he added.
On April 12, Kent wrote Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., chairman of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the committee, requesting formal sanctions against McKinney for her comments during an interview with a radio station in Berkeley, Calif.
"We believe that her statements warrant an investigation by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, specifically, that her statements appear to violate Rule 43 of the Code of Official Conduct, Rules of the House of Representatives, Adopted by 105th Congress, namely, 'a member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives shall conduct himself at all times in a manner which shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives,'" Kent wrote on behalf of SLF.
During the interview, McKinney called for an investigation into whether President Bush and other government officials had advance notice of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11th," McKinney claimed. "What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of September 11th? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? What do they have to hide?
"Persons close to this administration are poised to make huge profits off America's new war," she charged.
After being confronted by the media, McKinney issued a statement "clarifying" her remarks.
'I Am Not Aware'
"I am not aware of any evidence showing that President Bush or members of his administration have personally profited from the attacks of 9-11," she said. "A complete investigation might reveal that to be the case."
SLF called McKinney's comments "shameful ... unethical and dangerous."
"For perceived political gain, McKinney has dishonored the U.S. House and her constituents by alleging high treason, and has undermined the sense of the U.S. House in its clearly stated efforts to support and defend the actions of this government in its prosecution of the war on terrorism," Kent wrote.
Under Investigation for Breaking Election Law
In addition to any action the House might take against her, McKinney is under investigation for at least six counts of alleged election law violations stemming from her purported activities in a voting precinct in DeKalb County, Ga., on Election Day 2000.
An administrative law judge will hear charges that McKinney "invaded" a polling place during polling hours, harassed and intimated poll watchers, and directly solicited votes while there.
The Georgia State Board of Elections has voted unanimously twice to recommend action by the state on all six counts.
Kent doubts McKinney will acknowledge any wrongdoing in accepting donations from supporters of terrorist organizations.
"I'm wondering if she's going to give the money back," he asked rhetorically. "But I know she won't."
McKinney's office did not respond to multiple requests for interviews about the allegations in this story.
Source: http://www.CNSNews.com
4/18/02
5:09:07 PM
Concerns Linger About Electromagnetic Fields
by Becky Gillette, E/The Environmental Magazine, April 18, 2002
"Generating comfort" is the slogan of one of the nation's largest utility companies. But the electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) emitted from power lines and electrical appliances may also generate a host of health problems, including miscarriage, cancer, and Lou Gehrig's disease.
Concern about health effects from EMFs first arose in 1979, when a study found that children who lived in close proximity to certain types of electrical lines had a higher risk of leukemia. However, the electric power industry and some U.S. governmental agencies have claimed that research reveals little reason for concern about EMFs.
So why has there been so much effort to suppress the release of government-funded studies on the subject? Recently a draft of a $7 million report on EMFs from the California Department of Health Services (DHS) was made public only after the California First Amendment Coalition filed a lawsuit seeking release of the information.
The DHS report says it is more than 50 percent possible that EMFs could cause a very small increased lifetime risk of childhood leukemia, adult brain cancer, and Lou Gehrig's disease. The report says it is 10 to 50 percent possible that EMFs could be responsible for a small increased lifetime risk of male breast cancer, childhood brain cancer, suicide, Alzheimer's disease, and sudden cardiac death. The report also says it is more than 50 percent possible that EMFs could cause a 5 to 10 percent added risk of miscarriage.
"If true, this would clearly be of concern to individuals and regulators," says the report. But after evaluating each health problem linked to EMFs, it adds, "There is a chance that EMFs have no effect at all." It is hard to see why it took a First Amendment lawsuit to force release of a report with such wishy-washy conclusions. But there are a lot of details in the 309-page report important to those concerned about EMFs.
LOCATION, LOCATION
Joan Tukey, founder of the California Alliance for Utility Safety and Education, said the report proves that it's foolish to locate high-voltage power lines next to schools. "Lines next to schools are significant because this is an involuntary exposure," said Tukey. "There are other sources of high EMFs, such as your microwave or your electric clock next to your bed. But you don't need to stand in front of the microwave, and you can move the clock to the other side of the room."
Tukey says the California has a plan to bury new power transmission lines and take other steps that can shield people from EMFs, but utilities have consistently weakened implementation. "I think we need to take a hard look at doing statewide mitigation to reduce exposure from power lines," said Tukey.
The DHS report isn't the first time EMF findings were delayed. An even more substantial study conducted by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) in 1995 has not yet been released by mid-2001. Dr. Constantine Maletskos, a consultant for NCRP, said the status of the report is still about the same as in 1995. "There was a big hullabaloo about potential recommendations," said Maletskos. "We want to get the research report published irrespective of recommendations. But it may just die, which is too bad because that report contains more information than has ever been discussed by anyone else."
The NCRP report, written by 11 leading experts and leaked to the public in 1995, says the public health recommendations, if accepted, could force "complex and costly" changes in the electric power industry. The chairman of the study committee, Dr. Ross Adey, a clinical neurophysiologist and professor of physiology at Loma Linda School of Medicine in California, said there is significant scientific evidence that suggests even very low exposure to EMFs has subtle, long-term effects on human health. Adey says the NCRP report, squashed by industry "stakeholders," recommends no new high voltage power lines should be built near existing housing developments or schools. The report also recommends that levels in homes should be less than two milligauss.
Some European government regulatory agencies have concluded that there is an increased risk of childhood leukemia and possibly adult leukemia from exposure to EMFs. That conclusion flies in the face of the latest study released by the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Services (NIEHS), which says evidence of a risk of cancer and other human diseases from EMFs around power lines is "weak." Adey said NIEHS convened an international body of scientists, then rejected its conclusions after it said the risk was real. "The NIEHS falsified that report to say there was no risk," Adey said. "That is one of the most fraudulent things the government has perpetrated on the health of this country."
From his own research, J. Robert Ashley (an electrical engineer experienced in both the academic and industrial sectors) said more work is needed to measure people's exposure to electrical fields. "The electrical field is 10 to 20 times more likely to explain the link between…power lines and childhood cancers than is the magnetic field," Ashley said. He added that many investigators have compromised their studies by not separating the electric and magnetic components of EMFs.
CELLULAR STATIC
Concern is also being expressed about microwave and radio frequency fields from sources such as cellular phones, cellular phone towers, and television stations. Adey said the cell phone industry has tried to suppress any findings that indicate concern for health effects. Adey isn't convinced by studies that find no evidence of adverse health effects from cell phone use. "We and others who have spent 30 years researching the biological spectrum from cells to people have no doubt that there is the possibility of harm from these interactions," said Adey.
Adey said the most recent work done by the Swedish government shows a dose-dependent relationship between cell phone use and cancer. The longer cell phones are used, the greater the risk of cancer. "The results are being squashed by the cell phone industry," Adey said. The safety of cell phone use is being investigated by NIEHS, the same agency charged with fudging the EMF data. "We as scientists do not trust NIEHS to conduct this study of cell phone safety based on its record," said Adey.
KEEP YOUR DISTANCE
Peter Frech, executive director of Citizens Concerned About EMFs, said the strength of EMFs from appliances usually drops rapidly within several feet. Keeping a safe distance (three to five feet) from appliances, computers, and monitors can minimize exposure.
Frech recommends avoiding voluntary exposure to products like electric blankets, waterbed heaters, and alarm clocks. He believes involuntary exposure from overhead power lines, particularly transmission and distribution lines, is of greater concern. He says proximity to overhead power lines should be considered when purchasing a home. In the case of existing homes located close to overhead power lines, Frech said residents should lobby their local government and utility companies to place the lines underground to block a higher level of radiation waves. Ashley suggested that people avoid strong electric fields whenever possible.
Becky Gillette is a Mississippi-based freelance writer.
Source: http://www.eMagazine.com
4/18/02
4:49:19 PM
The Nation
CAPITAL GAMES by DAVID CORN
Taiwangate: A Fallout-Free Scandal
The State Department ducks the slush-fund scandal. But the affair raises questions about State official John Bolton. Why didn't he tell Congress in the mid-90s that he was a paid consultant to Taiwan?
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/
THE ONLINE BEAT by JOHN NICHOLS
It's Time to Turn the Farm Bill Debate Into a Food Fight Americans who have never walked a fence line, planted a seed or milked a cow ought to get engaged with the current farm bill debate because it touches on issues with an impact far beyond the farm gate.
http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/
THE FAILSAFE POINT by MATT BIVENS
Introducing A Bill to Rob the Public, Because We Can It shall be the sense of the Congress to give oil companies huge fat helpings of your money.
http://www.thenation.com/failsafe/
4/18/02
4:41:03 PM
Cynthia McKinney Is An American Hero!
My Opinion On The Way You (In The Media) Are Handling The McKinney Case
by Paul Walker, April 18, 2002
I would appreciate it very much if you would cease the politically-motivated dirt-digging and attacks on Ms McKinney's character and instead do an objective jounalistic investigation into the claims that she has put forward. No matter what her motives may be, the facts are the facts.
Fact: Carlyle Group directly benefits from an eternal Orwellian war against the "Evil Ones".
Fact: The bin Ladins and the Bushes have been in bed finacially raking in hundreds of millions together on big oil, construction and defense contracts for decades.
Fact: The "War on Terrorism" has been planned for several years in the back rooms of the Council on Foreign Relations as a pretext for control of the Caspian Basin oil reserves (see Brzezinski, Grand Chessboard).
Fact: The CIA supervises the Pakistani ISI intelligence who are instrumental in funding and training terrorists all over the Eurasia and the Middle East.
Fact: Clinton had numerous opportunities to nail bin Ladin and refused to do it.
Fact: Bin Ladin was, and still is a CIA-ISI pointman/asset.
Fact: The CIA put the murderous Taliban into power (a specialty of theirs) in 1996 and funded them (and bin Ladin) right up through last summer.
Fact: The CIA met with bin Ladin in July in Dubai (Le Figaro)
Fact: The US government had not only prior knowledge of the attacks of September 11th, but deliberately created all the necessary conditions for it to happen. For historical precedents see, National Security Archives for the Operation Northwoods document and Day of Deceit by Robert Stinnet.
Fact: The media is chockfull of gutless, spineless shills, operative minions, and cheerleeding propagandists who are lying to the people, complicit in the attacks on both the WTC and on our Constitutional rights and couldn't whip up an honest investigative piece to save their souls.
So get your facts straight and start telling the truth if you have any patriotism, humanity, guts or integrity left.
I challenge any of you jounalist shills out there to refute any of the points I have made.
Paul Walker Santa Barbara, CA
Source: http://www.rense.com/general24/cynthiaHero.htm
4/18/02
4:27:28 PM
Bush And Friends Try To Qaush Criticism Of 'War On Terror'
On The Front Lines Of A War On Dissent ... Students Prepare To Protest Anti-Terrorism Agenda
by William Walker, Washington Bureau Toronto Star, April 18, 2002
WASHINGTON - Nineteen-year-old Naureen Shah has been called a "Taliban," a "Nazi" and "un-American."
Three of her classmates at Chicago's Northwestern University have been questioned by the FBI since the enactment of the Patriot Act, the U.S. government's anti-terrorism legislation.
"I've been called all kinds of names," says Shah, a second-year journalism student. "But I think it's the Patriot Act that's un-American. I think broadening the war to a place like North Korea is un-American."
Her experience reflects an anti-dissent environment being fostered by law-enforcement agencies, the Republican administration and its right-wing friends in their robust campaign to quash criticism of the war on terrorism.
Shah will jump on a bus this week and travel with fellow students to Washington for the first major American protest against the war on terrorism and the U.S. role in the Mideast crisis.
Organizers expect "tens of thousands" from across the country to march on the White House Saturday to demonstrate against a wider war on terrorism and what they call the "Bush-Sharon war against the Palestinian people."
Just as a university student-based opposition to the war begins to gel ,Äî more than 150 campuses in 40 states have held rallies urging U.S. military restraint ,Äî it's becoming clear that there's also a war in America against dissent.
And it's being waged not just against students and professors, although universities are where the major skirmishes are taking place. Journalists, business people, even retirees have been targeted for speaking out. Some have been fired from their jobs, received hate mail or been made social outcasts for exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
Consider:
Barry Reingold, a 60-year-old retired telephone company worker in San Francisco, recently had two FBI agents visit his home to question him about criticism of the war on terrorism he voiced while working out at his local health club. The agents filed a report on him.
Journalists Jackie Anderson of the Sun Advocate in Price, Utah; Dan Guthrie of the Grants Pass Daily Courier in Oregon; and Tom Gutting of the Texas City Sun have all been fired for writing columns questioning the war. In Washington, some senior White House and Capitol Hill reporters have been "frozen out" by lawmakers for expressing similar sentiments.
The Houston Art Car Museum had a recent visit from FBI and Secret Service agents who cited "several reports of anti-American activity going on here." The museum was showing Secret Wars, an anti-war exhibit set up before Sept. 11.
A.J. Brown, a freshman at Durham Tech in North Carolina, says two Secret Service agents knocked on her door to question her about "a report that you have un-American material in your apartment." They asked about a poster on her wall opposing the state of Texas' death penalty.
The campaign against dissent is being led by President George W. Bush, who has said repeatedly that "you're either with us, or you're against us." His press secretary, Ari Fleischer, has warned: "Americans need to watch what they say, watch what they do."
Attorney-General John Ashcroft, the FBI's boss, told Congress: "To those ... who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists ,Äî for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies and pause to America's friends. They encourage people of goodwill to remain silent in the face of evil."
More than 90 per cent of Americans support military strikes in Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But a CNN-USA Today Gallup poll found that only a slim majority of Americans ,Äî 52 per cent of those surveyed ,Äî favour broadening the war to Iraq, North Korea or Iran, the nations that make up Bush's "axis of evil." Forty per cent of respondents prefer their government to target specific terrorist groups, rather than entire countries.
Given that Bush has stated his intention to broaden the war ("inaction is not an option" he said in regard to Iraq) and continue it through the remaining 2 1/2 years of his term, his government and its supporters are working hard to avoid a massive build-up of student opposition similar to the anti-Vietnam War movement of the late 1960s and early '70s.
Warned Bill Bennett, head of the right-wing Empower America organization, at a recent Washington news conference: "Professional and amateur critics of America are finding their voices. They're finding their voice on campuses, in salons, in learned societies and in the print media and on television."
Anti-war protests are nothing new in the U.S., which has always had its dissenters. But it wasn't until the Vietnam War that student radicalism in America hit its peak, culminating in the May 4, 1970, riot at Kent State University in which Ohio National Guardsmen shot and killed four student demonstrators.
These days, however, it's unfashionable to be an anti-war crusader on U.S. college campuses. There has been virtual unanimity on the need to eradicate Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist group from Afghanistan, but students are beginning to mobilize against Bush's pledge to fight the war over several more years, in several countries, in the name of stamping out terrorism.
Bennett, a staunch Republican who served as education secretary in the Ronald Reagan administration and "drug czar" under George Bush Sr., has joined former CIA director James Woolsey and Reagan assistant secretary of defence Frank Gaffney in founding Americans For Victory Over Terrorism, a group that intends to visit campuses and conduct pro-war "teach-ins."
Meanwhile, Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice-President Dick Cheney, has helped organize a group called the American Council on Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), which cites a "blame America first" bias among hundreds of professors and is monitoring their anti-war statements.
In what many professors view as a threat to their academic freedoms, ACTA is sending mass mailings to alumni of schools where "offensive" comments have been made, urging donations be cut off and pressuring university trustees to take action. One Florida professor, who didn't have the protection of being tenured, has already been fired.
"It's your constitutional right to criticize," Bennett told educators. "But when you criticize, you take the consequences for your words. Your words may be responded to and your words can be interpreted in such ways that they hurt the national resolve."
Bennett's warning about "consequences" is already painfully clear to University of Texas journalism professor and activist writer Robert Jensen.
Jensen wrote a piece in which he urged Americans to confront some of the "ugly truths" about their country's history of targeting civilians in war as a way to understand why some fundamentalists hate America. After a Texas newspaper published the column, more than 4,000 e-mails flooded in, many demanding he be fired and announcing intentions to stop donations to the school.
University president Larry Faulkner publicly branded Jensen ,Äî who has tenure and thus cannot be fired ,Äî as someone who should be ignored because he's "misguided" and his work contains "a fountain of undiluted foolishness."
In an interview with The Star, Jensen responded, saying: "Do we live in a society where free thought is being marginalized? Yes. Is it being suppressed in a social sense? Yes.
"The president of my university said I was a fool who shouldn't be taken seriously. It sends a signal to the university community that, if you want to get along and get all the perks that come with the job, you'd better keep your comments within acceptable limits."
The American Civil Liberties Union and other national organizations have decried the Bush administration's Patriot Act for giving the FBI vast powers to intercept Americans' conversations, cellphone calls and e-mails, even to eavesdrop on talks between lawyers and their clients.
Of course, the FBI has a long history of pushing the privacy envelope.
In the mid-1950s, the late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover launched COINTELPRO, an enormous domestic surveillance program to monitor the Communist party in the United States. Within a decade, it was expanded to include the Socialist Workers party, the Black Panthers and Nation of Islam groups and eventually most of the community and religious organizations that became known as the New Left.
"Whatever kind of intellectual climate we have is, I think, being slowly starved," says Jensen. "It's like we're saying to people, `You shouldn't think. You should listen to the people in power and, if they say we should go to war, we should go to war.' That's what disturbs me."
Bush, he adds, has "announced an unlimited war against a potentially endless enemy. Do they understand the consequences of a war the secretary of defence has said has no `exit strategies' and will be a `sustained engagement that carries no deadlines?'"
Jensen says Bennett's organization and Lynne Cheney's ACTA seem to believe universities are still run "by leftover hippies, some pot-smoking intellectual commies. But there's nothing further from the truth.
"The sense one had that, in the '60s and '70s, universities were centres of intellectual engagement has largely been lost. I'd call that a threat to democracy.
"All over the world, in Canada and in Europe, people are dealing with these complexities. But here, we're just not."
Back at Northwestern, Shah has high hopes for Saturday's march on the White House.
"This is the first protest that is going to unite several different causes," she says.
"Our opposition to the war is no joke. It's based on facts. We want to draw together concerns about globalization issues, the Middle East and NAFTA, to make the connections to the war on terrorism. We don't feel that's been properly done until now.
"I don't see the possibility of a larger student movement unless we begin to understand how the war affects us all directly. But the basis is there. It might happen yet."
Source: http://www.rense.com/general24/terr.htm
4/18/02
4:23:54 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
PLUTONIUM COULD TRAVEL TO SOUTH CAROLINA NEXT MONTH
By Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON, DC, April 17, 2002 (ENS) - Several tons of plutonium could begin arriving in South Carolina in less than 30 days, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Monday. Abraham notified South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges that he intends to begin shipping the plutonium from the agency's Rocky Flats facility in Colorado, despite the governor's threats to block the shipments.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-17-06.html
ANALYSIS: NEW YORK, GARBAGE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
By Lester R. Brown
NEW YORK, New York, April 17, 2002 (ENS) - The question of what to do with the 11,000 tons of garbage produced each day in New York City has again surfaced, this time with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's budget, which proposes to halt the recycling of metal, glass and plastic to save money. Unfortunately, this would mean more garbage to dispose of when the goal should be less.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-17-02.html
PARK SERVICE BANS JET SKIS IN FIVE PARKS
WASHINGTON, DC, April 17, 2002 (ENS) - The National Park Service has decided to uphold a Clinton administration agreement that will permanently ban personal watercraft, also known as jet skis, from five national parks. To the dismay of some conservation groups, however, the agency also ordered 16 parks to reopen their reviews of the effects of watercraft before barring the vehicles.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-17-07.html
TRANSGENIC CROP SABOTAGE DRAWS FIRE FROM COMMISSIONER
BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 17, 2002 (ENS) - Following the destruction by environmental activists of an experimental field trial with genetically modified oilseed rape in Alost, Belgium, last week, European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin today expressed his "firm disapproval for these acts of violence."
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-17-01.html
NEW ORDER OF INSECTS DISCOVERED IN NAMIBIA
WASHINGTON, DC, April 17, 2002 (ENS) - A new order of insects has been identified in a discovery that researchers say is equivalent to finding a live saber-tooth tiger. This first discovery of a new insect order since 1915 brings the total number of insect orders to 31.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-17-03.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: APRIL 17, 2002
Arctic Drilling Would Not Increase Security
Heat Records Broken Across U.S.
$85.7 Million Supports Species Protection
Agriculture Statistics Challenge Land Use Assumptions
Conservation Groups Seek Ban on Trumpeter Swan Hunt
Automated System Promises Better Ozone Monitoring
Southwest Water Agencies Tackle Perchlorate Problem
Tomato Ripening Gene Could Lead to Tastier Fruit
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-17-09.html
4/18/02
4:11:12 PM
US announces home defence command
The changes come in response to 11 September
The United States Defence Department is to create a new Northern Command aimed at defending America's home soil. Defence officials say it is one of the biggest revamps of military command structures for nearly 40 years.
In remarks quoted by the French news agency AFP on Wednesday, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the development a "historic first".
He said NorthCom's commander would be responsible for land, air and sea defence, leading US defence forces operating within the United States in support of the civil authorities, AFP reported.
The changes are clearly a response to the 11 September terror attacks on New York and Washington, which the US Government blames on Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda militants.
But Pentagon officials in Washington said the restructuring also reflected global changes since the end of the Cold War.
The changes are expected to take effect on 1 October.
New role for army
Mr Rumsfeld said earlier that the new command was aimed at better meeting "the challenges of the 21st century".
Correspondents say the new command signals a recognition that the military would be called to play a decisive internal security role in the event of an attack on the United States involving weapons of mass destruction.
The US military has previously been barred from engaging in domestic law enforcement under the 1878 Military Law, passed in the aftermath of the Civil War.
NorthCom will be responsible for the continental United States and Alaska, as well as Canada, Mexico and portions of the Caribbean, said General Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1934000/1934286.stm
4/18/02
4:02:17 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Oil firms don't need Alaska refuge to drill - Democrats - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15528/story.htm
US Senate set to resume Alaska oil-drilling debate - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15538/story.htm
Honored by UN, Jane Goodall brings her toy chimp - UNITED NATIONS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15539/story.htm
North Ireland offshore wind power plan hits snag - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15524/story.htm
UPDATE - Landmark UK offshore wind farm wins approval - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15525/story.htm
UK Brown's budget placates road lobby and greens - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15529/story.htm
UPDATE - Methane, CHP industry welomes budget tax rejig - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15540/story.htm
Taiwan gets T$61 mln to clean up worst oil spill - TAIWAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15537/story.htm
FEATURE - Planet's health source of much debate - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15535/story.htm
Singapore environment group to shame shark eaters - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15523/story.htm
Norsk Hydro opens aluminium plant in Spain - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15536/story.htm
UPDATE - Chevron signs deal for $1.3 bln Nigeria gas plant - NIGERIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15530/story.htm
German MVV seeks Europe-wide renewables expansion - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15526/story.htm
EU condemns attack on GM rapeseed, backs research - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15531/story.htm
EU plays down "leaked" trade plans, greens angry - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15527/story.htm
INTERVIEW - World needs global green tax - EU agency head - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15532/story.htm
Chinese doctors remove cataract from elderly panda - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15533/story.htm
World not ready for GM wheat - conference - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15534/story.htm
4/18/02
3:59:47 PM
t r u t h o u t | 04.18
Gore in Florida | Video
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.18B.Gore.Video.htm
Daschle Briefing | ANWR - Bush Tax Cuts
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.18A.Bush.Tax.htm
GOP Seeks to Boost Support for Drilling
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.18C.GOP.Seeks.htm
Bush's Response to Coup Criticized
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.18D.Bush.Coup.htm
Civil Rights Lawyers Sue Ashcroft
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.18E.Civil.Rights.htm
Senator Patrick Leahy On The Middle East
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.18F.Middle.East.htm
Nuclear Waste Move Spews Political Fallout in 2 States
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.18G.Nuclear.Fallout.htm
Rangel : Thompson Admits He Has Not Considered Impact of Tax Cuts
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.18H.Tax.Cuts.htm
House Passes Abortion Bill; Senate Block Likely
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.18I.Senate.Block.htm
White House Stonewall: Day 54
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.18J.Stonewall.htm
t r u t h o u t, is a non-profit independent news source.
4/18/02
3:58:23 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
CHESHIRE FAT CAT
Here's a whole new meaning for the phrase "company town": The village of Cheshire, in southeastern Ohio, will be purchased for $20 million by American Electric Power Company. Last year, the town was plagued by clouds of sulfuric acid drifting in from a nearby AEP power plant, Ohio's largest coal-burner. Notwithstanding a recent $175 million investment in pollution controls, chemicals from the plant clouded the city more than a dozen times last summer. The town's 221 residents reported stinging eyes, headaches, sore throats, and burns on their lips, tongues, and the insides of their mouths. AEP agreed to buy the town wholesale on the condition that residents give up their rights to sue over personal and property damage from the emissions. The company is none too sad about the purchase agreement, which will also free up property on which to expand the power plant.
straight to the source: Charlestown Gazette, Associated Press, 17 Apr 2002 <http://wvgazette.com/news/US+%26+World/200204173/>
LET IT ALLARD HANG OUT
The plot thickens in the controversy over the federal government's decision to ship weapons-grade plutonium from Colorado to South Carolina for temporary storage. Arms-control advocates and Democratic politicians in South Carolina allege that the Bush administration is backing a shipment plan in order to improve the re-election prospects of Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.). Allard, who is in a close race against Democrat Tom Strickland, has made getting rid of the plutonium central to his campaign. Jim Hodges, the Democratic governor of South Carolina, opposes the shipment plan and yesterday accused the White House of blatant politicking: "It seems like the concerns of South Carolina voters are somehow secondary to the concerns of Colorado voters. I'll leave it to your imagination as to why that is." We'll spell it out: The administration doesn't want to lose a Republican seat in the Senate.
straight to the source: New York Times, David Firestone, 17 Apr 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/17/national/17NUKE.html>
DO YOU READ ME?
Spring is here, leaves are unfurling, temperatures are rising (skyrocketing, in some parts of the country) -- it's the perfect time to head to a park, lounge under a tree, and catch up on your environmental must-reads. Not sure what those are? Let Grist be your guide. There's the saga of the summer snowmobile enthusiasts (courtesy of the New Yorker); the bildungsroman of #534, a young steer purchased by author Michael Pollan in an attempt to understand the life history of your average hunk of steak (courtesy of the New York Times Magazine); and the ballad of the buffalo soldiers, who are trying to keep bison inside Yellowstone National Park and prevent them from being killed if they wander out (courtesy of Salon). Plenty more where those came from. Check out what else we're reading -- and what you should be -- in Best of the Rest, only on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: Wild reads from the New Yorker, Salon, Atlantic Monthly -- in our Best of the Rest Section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/best/best041602.asp?source=d aily>
SKI-DON'T
There's good news and bad news for environmentalists on the personal-watercraft front. On the up side, the National Park Service announced yesterday that it would permanently close five national parks to personal watercraft. Park officials and much of the general public object to personal watercraft in parks, saying Jet Skis and their ilk disrupt wildlife and are noisy and polluting. In less thrilling news, the Park Service ordered eight other parks to re-open their review processes for banning motorized water scooters, potentially setting the stage for the craft to reappear in those parks in the future. Both decisions came one day before a court hearing in Texas in a potentially precedent-setting lawsuit by the personal-watercraft industry against the government. The suit contends that park administrators imposed bans on motorized water scooters without conducting adequate reviews, and seeks to overturn the prohibitions in virtually all national parks.
straight to the source: New York Times, Katharine Q. Seelye, 17 Apr 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/17/national/17JETS.html>
4/18/02
3:53:14 PM
The Nation
US Secretary of State Colin Powell ended his 10-day Middle East peace mission this morning without clinching a ceasefire or securing an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas.
Speaking after talks in Ramallah with the besieged Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, Powell said a "ceasefire" was "not a relevant term at the moment - it will become relevant when the incursion ends and the withdrawals are completed".
Powell also charged that the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank was proceeding more slowly than he wanted, but that Israel had given him a "timeline" and he had been "assured of results in the next few days".
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that around 30 tanks were seen leaving the West Bank city of Jenin this afternoon, and the devastated nearby refugee camp, scene of the fiercest recent fighting, although it was not clear whether they were pulling out or being redeployed.
Red Cross teams are continuing the search for the bodies of Palestinians killed in heavy fighting there. But the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) accused the Israeli army of blocking rescue workers from the area, where it thought survivors could still be trapped under rubble.
For the latest on developments in Jenin and Bethlehem, check out B'Tselem, IndyMedia-Palestine and The Electronic Intifada. All three sites are available in English, Arabic and Hebrew, and aim to provide regular daily updates on the current carnage in Palestine:
B'Tselem: http://www.btselem.org/
IndyMedia Palestine: http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/
Electronic Intifada: http://electronicIntifada.net/new.html
Just before this latest sharp escalation of violence, a delegation from the International Parliament of Writers visited Israel and Palestine in March to observe the situation and to meet with Palestinians and Israelis, including members of the so-called refusniks, the currently 417 members of the Israeli Defense Force who have publicly declared their refusal to serve in the Occupied Territories.
The Nation recently published essays from three of the members of this delegation. All are currently available:
RUSSELL BANKS: Witness in the Territories (April 29, 2002)
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020429&s=banks
WOLE SOYINKA: The Isle of Polyphemus (April 29, 2002)
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020429&s=soyinka
BREYTEN BREYTENBACH: An Open Letter to General Ariel Sharon
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=breytenbach20020410
You can also find out more about the refusniks from Neve Gordon's editorial in the February 25, 2002 issue of The Nation. A professor of politics at Ben-Gurion University in Tel Aviv, Gordon supplies the historical and political background of this steadily emerging new movement. Read the article now at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020225&s=gordon
And check out the Yesh Guval ("Enough is Enough") site for more info on the refusnik movement, including how you can help support it. Available at:
http://www.seruv.org.il/defaulteng.asp
The Nation has also created a special page of resources on the Middle East. Currently, you can find links to groups offering news and background info, a recommended-reading list for those who want to know more about the conflict, and a complete collection of recent relevant Nation commentary, including essays, reports and editorials from Edward Said, Richard Falk, Jerome Segal, Robert Fisk, Robert Friedman, Meredith Tax and Charmaine Seitz. In the days and weeks ahead, we'll be adding Nation archival material from the past one hundred years along with a host of activist options.
All available at:
http://www.thenation.com/special/2002middleeast.mhtml
And for a particularly bracing lesson on the roots of the already 18-month-long second Intifada, see "The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid," a recent collection edited by Nation copy chief Roane Carey. Published in late 2001, the volume features more than twenty essays which explore the underlying conflicts and frustrations that led to the latest uprising. For information, including how to buy the title, go to:
http://www.versobooks.com/books/cdef/carey_r_new_intifada.shtml
4/18/02
3:45:11 PM
Welfare Reforms Not Ending Poverty
Study of single moms says paychecks don't provide much lift
by Meredith May, Chronicle Staff Writer, April 16, 2002
Most mothers who were on welfare four years ago have found jobs but still live in poverty with their young children, according to a study on families affected by former President Bill Clinton's decree to "end welfare as we know it."
The four-year look at 700 single-mother families in San Jose, San Francisco,
Florida and Connecticut laid out a grim reality: One in six families still relies on food banks, one in five lives in roach-infested apartments and rations meals, and two in five mothers suffer from disabling bouts of depression.
The majority of the 700 women found work, but their paychecks provide little more than what they got from welfare alone -- an average of about $12, 000 a year, the study found. About half of those with jobs have no health-care benefits and supplement their income with welfare, according to the study by researchers at Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, Columbia and Yale. In San Francisco and San Jose, where the cost of living is higher, two-thirds of the working mothers supplement their earnings with welfare.
The findings feed into a current debate among lawmakers over whether the welfare reform's second phase, due to begin this fall, should change its goal of reducing caseloads to the much more costly goal of lifting families out of poverty.
Congress has applauded welfare reform for cutting the nationwide welfare caseload in half, to 2.1 million.
"That's one of the big debates California is dealing with right now, should we treat families coming off welfare differently than the thousands of working poor families already out there and give only one group child care subsidies?" said Peggy O'Brien-Strain, who has written extensively on welfare reform for The SPHERE Institute, a think tank in Burlingame.
California officials already are worried that the state won't be able to afford the cost of President Bush's call to reduce caseloads further.
Yesterday, Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill said it would cost the state $2.8 billion -- about half of that in child-care costs -- to comply with Bush's promise to get 70 percent of welfare families into jobs by 2007. Bush wants mothers of toddlers to double the hours of their workweek to 40.
"Our data raise questions about whether that is really feasible without more funding," said study author Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy at UC Berkeley. "Maternal employment means more income, but alone it doesn't improve the day-to-day lives of children unless we commit to paying $14 or $15 an hour so women can move into better neighborhoods."
In two visits with each family at the beginning and ending the study, researchers noted monthly income rose $135 in Connecticut and $275 in California and Florida. Most of that money was eaten up buying work clothes, bus tickets and sharing the costs of child care with the welfare department, study authors said.
"My life at home really hasn't quite changed because even though I'm making more, I'm trying to save everything so I can move out of here," said Kenyatta Foster, 32 of San Francisco, who dreams of a moving her three children to a bigger home in a safer neighborhood.
"My kids, I don't think they notice a difference," said Foster, who was part of the study.
But the study found that welfare reform's biggest effect on children is that they spend less time with their mothers and watch 22 more minutes of television on average.
The study also found that children who spent their time away from mom in quality child centers were better at writing their name, more familiar with books and could count higher than their peers.
Researchers found that children in quality centers with professional staff were four months developmentally ahead than children placed in home-based care.
"Once I switched my daughter from a home day care to a center she started to learn more, and bring home pictures and little things she did in school," said Foster.
Foster is thankful welfare reform came along to help her pay for child care,
bus fare and food so she could work as an administrative assistant at the University of California at San Francisco.
Although she now earns $32,000 a year and has left the welfare rolls, she says she can't find anything more affordable in San Francisco than her apartment in a San Francisco Housing Authority complex.
She doesn't own a car, and although she is saving, she sees her dream of moving to a safer neighborhood as a long way off.
The average mother in the study reported $400 in savings, but still had debts of about $4,700.
Foster's children still share one bedroom and aren't allowed to play outside where she can't see them from a window. They were upset when she started working.
"It was difficult at first because they weren't sure where I was going, so I brought them to my job to see what I do," she said.
Despite the difficulties, Foster says she is a stronger and more independent person because of welfare reform.
A top welfare official in the Bush administration agreed that the system is not doing much to improve the lives of children.
That is why the administration wants to add improving child well-being to the list of goals when welfare reform is renewed, said Wade Horn, who heads the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Chronicle staff writer Paul Feist and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
email Meredith May at mailto:mmay@sfchronicle.com
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/16/MN8997.DTL
4/18/02
3:39:10 PM
Taxes in the U.S.A.: Who pays what?
Sources of $1 of tax revenue:
Individual income taxes: 53¢ Social-insurance taxes: 35¢ Corporate income taxes: 8¢ Gift, estate, excise: 4¢
Percentage of total tax bill paid by annual income level:
Under $25,000 3.5% $25-50,000 11.5% $50-75,000 13.0% $75-100,000 10.5% $100-200,000 18.5% $200-500,000 14.7% $500K-1m 7.6% $1m + 20.7%
Final stats:
Of households earning less than $50,000, only 37% itemize. Among those earning over $100,000, more than 90% itemize.
4/18/02
3:36:50 PM
Will Bush's ban on cloning be irrelevant?
by Kristen Philipkoski
President Bush is pressuring the Senate to pass a bill that would completely prohibit human cloning. But experts say a ban in the U.S. will not prevent scientists from moving forward with human cloning in other countries. To link to the full feature article, go to:
http://go.hotwired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,51713,00.html/wn_ascii
4/18/02
3:35:21 PM
Soul-Searching In The Corporate World
by David Batstone
I'm just beginning a book on "saving the corporate soul." I've heard encouraging remarks from many of you to my periodic laments on the power of the corporation and its lack of public accountability. Others of you, on the contrary, tell me to give up my notion that the corporation has a soul at all. It's a beast, a machine, beyond redemption. Maybe you critics have goaded me on to write this book even more than the positive nudges.
Now underway, I'm finding no easy answers. Early in the week I interviewed Arthur Brief, a professor of organizational behavior at Tulane University's business school. He's been studying ethics and leadership among corporate workers for nearly three decades. What does he think about the personal values in the corporate environment? "They don't make a damned bit of difference," says Brief succinctly (sorry for the big word...couldn't use "briefly").
In one study, he found that 47% of nearly 400 executives surveyed were willing to commit fraud by understating write-offs that would cut into their companies' profits. Those numbers should not come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the business pages recently: Xerox, GlobalCrossing, Computer Associates (do I even have to note Enron and Arthur Andersen?). Even more disturbing is a trend Professor Brief found about the choices employees make in an effort to please their bosses: "People in subordinate roles will comply with their superiors even when that includes wrongdoing that goes against their individual moral code."
On the other side of the coin, I'm meeting some remarkable people who are putting their consciences ahead of profits. One executive I interviewed resigned his post as president of one of Enron's affiliates in 1995 for all the same reasons that finally undid the company in 2001. He exposed these corrupt conflicts of interest to top Enron executives, including then-chairman Kenneth Lay. Once the executive determined that Enron officers had no desire to change their policies, he quit. Over the next four years he teamed up with a colleague to build one of the most successful energy companies in the U.S., and he built the company on the very principles that he found absent at Enron: transparency and honesty to employees, investors, and customers.
This week I also interviewed a founder of the Odwalla juice company. He told me with great lament how the founders and employees lost majority control of the company after a crisis forced Odwalla into raising money from outside investors. The investors then forced him out as chairman and sold the company to Coca-Cola. Learning from his painful lesson, this creative entrepreneur is now pioneering new cooperative equity structures with a $50 million annual revenue organic food company that will enable suppliers and customers to keep ownership control.
Yes, many corporate workers feel dispirited, crushed by company behavior marked by greed, selfishness, and the quest for profit at any cost. They are looking for a new vision, a path to save the corporate soul. And just maybe their own.
Source: http://www.SoJo.net
4/18/02
3:29:01 PM
"I was elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system."
Mary Robinson, president of Ireland (1990-97)
4/17/02
6:08:03 PM
Where Art Thou, Dems?
So this is what it's like to live in a one-party country
by Molly Ivins, April 12, 2002
AUSTIN, Texas -- Across the length and breadth of this great land of ours, from the mountain to the prairie, from every hill and dale comes the question, "Where are the Democrats?" They're among the missing, along with Judge Crater and Osama bin Laden. The venerable political organization, the party of Jackson and Jefferson, is not to be found in action. OTAM -- out to all meals. So this is what it's like to live in a one-party country.
Is it possible, remotely possible, that Democrats are frightened by the John Ashcroft-Trent Lott school of "patriotism," which holds that questioning our elected (or even not-so-elected) leaders is tantamount to disloyalty if not treason? That expressing concern about our fundamental liberties helps terrorists? For that line of attack to be treated with anything but the contempt it deserves is itself un-American, not a word I use lightly.
As if the argument is not contemptible enough, one has only to look at the performance of these same definers of "patriotism" as blind obedience when Bill Clinton was struggling to fight a war. When the Clinton administration was trying to track and kill Osama bin Laden, Republicans gratuitously dismissed the entire effort as an attempt to change the subject from the all-important Monica Lewinsky.
And there we do come to one real reason the Democrats are so quiet. Political opposition in the Clinton years was so shatteringly nasty, no one wants to be seen anywhere near it now. To be accused of being "partisan" now stands for a level of conduct so degraded and degrading, we have forgotten what principled opposition means.
However, President Bush's sex life has nothing to do with the fact that his foreign policy is so inept that all the Arab countries, including our friends and allies the Saudis and the Egyptians, are now siding with Saddam Hussein rather than the United States. You really have to work at it to produce a result that bad.
We still haven't caught Bin Laden or any of the other leaders of Al-Qaeda, who are presumably regrouping and plotting some fresh horror. We haven't even finished the job in Afghanistan, as we are reminded daily, but the administration seems to have dropped that like a hot rock and gone off to plan invading Iraq -- which has no known connection with Sept. 11 --instead. Already we are abandoning Hamid Karzai by refusing to cooperate with the Brits to maintain order there.
Someone suggested the other day if the Republicans were in the opposition, they'd have an "Osama calendar" updated daily. It's now 254 days since Sept. 11 and still Bin Laden eludes our clueless leaders." But that is precisely the sort of opposition we don't need.
Suggestions for how to fix things are a lot more useful than sitting around complaining about how fouled up things are. How do we get Sharon to accept the idea that the settlers on the West Bank have to go? How about talking the Arab countries into co-funding a Marshall Plan for the West Bank? Why not call in Bruce Urquhart, the U.N. diplomat who settled several wars, as a sort of senior consultant?
And why NOT remind people that Bush was warned over and over that letting the Middle East crisis get worse was folly? Why not point out that suggestions and solutions offered before Sept. 11 were ignored by Bush? Why not explain that the consequences of arrogant unilateralism are simply unacceptable? The old American isolationist tendency is always too ready to conclude, "You just can't deal with Those People." Of course you can. Disaster is not inevitable, but it can sure be encouraged by inaction. And that includes inaction by Democrats.
>From Sept. 12 on, this administration ignored repeated calls for energy conservation. At a time when all Americans were ready to do anything to help, we could have started a "get out of the SUVs, cut the mileage, carpool, take a bus" campaign. To help one's country in a concrete way like saving fuel, and in turn reducing our dependence on unstable allies and freeing up our foreign policy options, was such an obvious step. And the Bush administration should take all the lumps it's got coming for having failed to do so.
So what did the Democrats do? Nineteen Democratic senators recently voted with the Republicans against requiring automakers to increase gas mileage. The Middle East is now so volatile an oil embargo is not that unlikely. We could have bought ourselves quite a bit of insurance by now, had we acted promptly.
Many elected Democrats apparently think this administration is so set in its unilateralist ways, there's no point in trying to move on the Kyoto Treaty, or the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, or the International Criminal Court (which would have been such a useful option for dealing with Bin Laden.) Sen. William Proxmire of Wisconsin delivered, over the years, 3,211 speeches on why we should sign the U.N. Convention Against Genocide. It took 19 years. Let's get started. Why not point out that suggestions and solutions offered before Sept. 11 were ignored by Bush?
Source: http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemId=13137
4/17/02
6:02:24 PM
The Arctic Meltdown Quick Thaw Alarms Natives And Scientists
by Usha Lee McFarling, Seattle Times, April 15, 2002
YANRAKYNNOT, Russia - The native elders have no explanation. Scientists are perplexed as well. The icy realm of the Eskimo - the tundra and ice of Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland - has started to thaw.
Strange portents are everywhere.
Thunder and lightning, once rare, have become commonplace. An eerie warm wind now blows in from the south. Hunters who prided themselves on their ability to read the sky say they no longer can predict the sudden blizzards.
"The Earth," one hunter concluded, "is turning faster."
In recent years, seabirds have washed up dead by the thousands and deformed seal pups have become a common sight. Whales appear sick and undernourished. The walrus, a mainstay of the local diet, is becoming scarce, as are tundra rabbits.
The elders, who keep thousands of years of history and legend without ever writing it down, have long told children this story: If the ice that freezes thick over the sea each winter breaks up before summer, the entire village could perish.
The children always laugh. Here in the Russian Arctic, the ground is frozen nearly year-round. The ice blanketing the winter seas around the Bering Strait is thick enough to support men dragging sleds loaded with whale carcasses.
Even Zoya Telpina, the schoolteacher in this outpost of 350 Chukchi reindeer herders and marine mammal hunters, said a winter sea without ice seemed like "a fairy tale."
But last winter, when Telpina looked from her kitchen window toward the Bering Sea, she saw something she'd never seen in her 38 years: the dark swell of the open ocean, water where there had always been ice.
Telpina's husband, Mikhail, a 38-year-old dog-sled musher, has seen mushrooms on the tundra shrivel and whole herds of reindeer starve. He has cut open the bellies of salmon to find strange insects inside. He has seen willows rise where he has never seen trees before.
The changes are so widespread that they have spawned changes in the Eskimo languages that so precisely describe ice and snow. In Chukotka, where the natives speak Siberian Yupik, they use new words such as misullijuq - rainy snow - and are less likely to use words like umughagek - ice that is safe to walk on. In Nunavut, Canada, the Inuit people say the weather is uggianaqtuq - like a familiar friend acting strangely.
What the residents of the Arctic are reporting fits convincingly with powerful computer models, satellite images and recently declassified ice measurements taken by Russian submarines.
In the last century, parts of the Arctic have warmed by 10 degrees Fahrenheit - 10 times the global average. Sea ice covers 15 percent less of the Arctic Ocean than it did 20 years ago, and that ice has thinned from an average of 10 feet to less than 6.
A group of scientists who spent a year aboard an icebreaker concluded that the year-round sea ice that sustains marine mammals and those who hunt them could vanish altogether in 50 years.
The U.S. Navy, already planning for an ice-free Arctic, is exploring ways to defend the previously ice-clogged Northwest Passage from attack by sea.
Without the stabilizing effect of great land masses, the Earth's watery north is exquisitely sensitive to warming. A few degrees of warmth can mean the difference between ice and water, permafrost or mud, hunger or even starvation for the inhabitants of these remote lands.
Yet, explaining the quick thaw and determining its cause - whether human or natural - has so far eluded the experts.
There are few long-term climate observations from the ArcticWeather stations in the Far North are just 50 years old. And there is almost no data from places like Russia's Chukotka Peninsula, only 55 miles from Alaska.
In their search for information, Western scientists are turning to sources they once disparaged. In a rare convergence of science and folklore, a group of scientists is mining the memories of native elders, counting animal pelts collected by hunters and documenting the collective knowledge of entire villages.
These threads, which stretch back generations, may be the only way to trace the outlines of the half-century of change that has resculpted the Arctic and to figure out its cause.
"We have all these people paying very close attention to the animals they hunt and the sea ice they travel on," said Henry Huntington, a scientific consultant in Alaska. "It's often extremely accurate and far better than anything science has come up with."
Native observations that at first don't seem consistent with the warming -such as snowier winters and colder summers - also fit the scientists' models. Warmer air is expected to usher more storms and precipitation into the Arctic. Melting sea ice in summer can lower the water temperature and lead to cooler temperatures on adjacent land.
Despite parallel observations, Western researchers and Arctic dwellers still look at each other suspiciously across a cultural divide. Many scientists remain uncomfortable with any information not backed by numbers and measurements. Many native elders resent scientists who come ashore with their strange machines thinking they know more about the place than those who live there.
Others mistrust Western scientists who come to gather data and never send back word of their findings. They recall a group of toxicologists who came to remote villages here several years ago to collect women's breast milk to measure pollution levels. The scientists detected organic pollutants such as dioxin and PCBs in the breast milk. But the women say they were never contacted about the results.
For scientists, the facts are mostly a matter of academic, and sometimes political, interest. But for the natives, they may be a matter of life and death.
The subsistence hunters of Chukotka live in small villages without pickup trucks or snowmobiles, without supply ships or supermarkets. They have 19th-century harpoons, small boats and limited fuel for their hunts.
These villagers, who depend almost entirely on the icy sea for their food, may be witnessing the demise of their ancient way of life.
Caleb Pungowiyi, an Eskimo who works with scientists to record the observations of his elders and peers, put it this way"When this Earth starts to be destroyed, we feel it."
Ice is a second home for Gennady Inankeuyas, a 42-year-old hunter considered the best harpooner on the Chukotka Peninsula. For years, Inankeuyas has prowled the ice for seals and walrus, dragging heavy sleds and animal carcasses over the frozen ocean.
This year, Inankeuyas returned to the uncertain ice. He had to. "Of course it's dangerous," he said. "But the village needs the food."
That food is not as easy to come by now that the weather has changed. "The south wind is a bad wind. It moves the walrus to another place," said Igor Macotrik, a 42-year-old Eskimo hunter. "The walrus is hard to find."
Scientists understand such observations. Their data show that the walrus are declining, possibly because they also have to work harder to find food. Walrus mothers nurse their babies on sea-ice floes. As melting ice recedes, the walrus do, too. Far from the coast, the mothers must dive longer and deeper from the ice to the sea floor to find clams.
In recent years, the Eskimo hunters have also noticed that gray whales have become very skinny. The meat of some freshly killed whales smells rancid, "like medicine," said Maxim Agnagisyak, a 28-year-old hunter. The sled dogs won't eat it.
Scientists are beginning to analyze samples of whale blubber from the region to seek an explanation. For several years, record numbers of gray whales have washed up dead and emaciated as they migrate to their winter calving grounds in Baja California.
Land animals are also under stress. Reindeer herds plummeted after the Soviet Union collapsed and the government subsidies that helped sustain the herds were cut off. The animals began starving, and their numbers continue to decline.
Scientists have not studied the reindeer herds of Chukotka, but they have seen similar starvation in Canadian caribou. The grazing animals normally survive the winter by nosing through soft, dry snow to feed on the tundra vegetation insulated below. In recent warm years, winter rains have alternated with snow, leaving an icy crust that is difficult to penetrate and cuts the animals' legs.
Scientists are only beginning to catch up with native observations on many other aspects of the Arctic environment, such as tundra vegetation. They are monitoring a tree line that is advancing north as the Arctic warms. And scientists from Russia, Delaware and Ohio have just started a large-scale project to study the permafrost as it thaws.
It is unclear if the changing climate will let them finish their work. With scientists still debating the trajectory of change in the Arctic, the fate of the Siberian Eskimo remains as uncertain as the Arctic ice in late spring.
Hunters with tiny boats and little fuel must now go much farther out to sea for food. Sometimes they return empty-handed. Sometimes they return with prey unusual for the season, or fish native to warmer waters. Sometimes, when the seas are rough, they do not return at all.
The hunters willingly talk about the many changes they see around them. But they don't spend much time worrying about climate change.
For the moment, they have more pressing concerns gathering enough ammunition for the spring hunt and stretching their supply of stored whale meat.
Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com
4/17/02
5:57:10 PM
A Practical "Stirling" Solution for Onsite Power Production
Why go to Alaska? A solution is at hand for lowering global warming emissions and conserve fuel resources by improving an existing technology that can use sustainable fuels -- cost-effectively -- for onsite power generation.
Industrial companies lose massive amounts of heat energy each year through failure to reuse heat exhausted from industrial processes-glass and ceramic furnaces, metal foundries, and heat treating facilities, for example. While industrial companies purchase $35 billion of fuel each year globally to process heat, between 15-80% of that energy is wasted, because cost-effective technologies have not been developed to recycle the unused heat. One company, Stirling Advantage, Inc. (SAI), of Athol MA, is doing something to solve this problem by developing an improved 200kW Stirling engine technology.
The Stirling cycle was invented by Robert Stirling in 1816, and it is still known to be the highest potential efficiency of any heat engine technology. The Stirling is an external combustion engine and operates by providing heat through a heat exchanger to a pressurized gas (usually helium or hydrogen) in a cylinder; with enough heat, the gas in the cylinder expands, driving a piston and creating work. Because the system is closed, a portion of the heat not converted to work can be retained for reuse on the subsequent cycle.
Stirling engine generators with the output capacity of 25-60kW have been developed over the past 50 years mostly for automotive and submarine applications. This was in part driven by the expanding transportation engine market, yet, indirectly, also by the monopolies of conventional centralized power plant technologies. Yet, the reality was that demand was growing faster than supply in electricity markets, and changes were needed such as deregulation.
Self-generation of power by onsite generation is increasingly the solution for many energy-related problems of industry and for our environment. Prefabricated power units, built around a number of different engine technologies, can fill gaps in coverage for utility grids and help meet growing power needs in manageable increments. Reliability is enhanced by eliminating grid connections. Distributed, rather than centralized power plants, are the most economic way to utilize locally produced waste gas or biomass. Perhaps the greatest value of the Stirling engine is its flexibility of fuel use. Because it operates irrespective of the heat source, the Stirling can be modified to utilize many different energy sources.
Currently, large scale energy projects are being developed in the Southwest that will use solar energy to provide heat to a Stirling engine. In other developments, progress is being made producing fuel from biomass; such a fuel could easily be used in a Stirling engine. Stirling engines will quite possibly become preferred vehicles for converting landfill gas to electricity, since the high sulfur content of this gas easily fouls the operation of internal combustion engines. The same issue applies to municipal waste water treatment; the ability to recover the high-sulfur methane for use in power generation can significantly reduce costs while providing environmental clean-up. Stirling engines can be used to convert waste heat to electricity from industrial furnaces, for example, or as the second cycle in combination with a fuel cell to achieve possible combined efficiencies in excess of 50%. Carbon-free fuels like hydrogen and oxygen may also become feasible.
But even using natural gas at $6.50/MMBTU, for example, the SAI onsite power system can provide clean electricity for about $0.071/kWh, over 15% below the leading competitor, and from 20-40% below the cost of grid power throughout the Northeast and California. Use of waste heat can increase the differential to 50%. Yet, perhaps, the greatest advantage of the Stirling engine is its flexible fuel-use, which can enable most any nation to become energy self-reliant. This could help foster political stability, social, economic, and environmental benefits in all parts of our world. Thus, the Stirling engine is the excellent choice to develop as a transitional energy technology to wean the world from its dependence on fossil fuels, and to replace the dangers of nuclear centralized power.
If the idea of the US indulging in the drilling for oil in one of the last remaining pristine wilderness on our planet is too repulsive to bear, it may be time to support the work of a technological innovative solution, to help supply the world's energy needs and care for the preservation of our natural environment while there is still a beautiful world remaining.
For more information on Stirling Engines see:
For Stirling Advantage, Inc.'s website, see
http://www.stirlingadvantage.com
4/17/02
5:52:24 PM
DAILY GLOBAL MEDIA NEWS
http://www.mediachannel.org/news/today/
EXCLUSIVE: Globalvision News Network's
Daily News And Views-- plus the "News Shadow"
EXCLUSIVE: News Dissector's Daily Weblog
Danny Schechter critiques what's reported - and what's not featuring reader input.
http://www.mediachannel.org/weblog
* NEW FEATURES: APRIL 17, 2002*
VENEZUELA, CHÁVEZ AND THE PRESS
Did the Venezuelan media undermine President Hugo Chávez or is he undermining press freedom? And why did the reporting stop in the midst of the coup/countercoup?
FINDING THE UNHEARD VOICES
A lesson for journalists in how and why to talk to the people who are often overlooked but most affected by the issues.
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#unheard
TERRIBLE TALES: THE MEDIA AND THE MIDEAST
Are the ways most media report and discuss the Israeli-Palestinian war making the crisis worse? Do accusations of media bias push people farther apart? How can news stories help bring about peace? (Ongoing coverage from MediaChannel)
http://www.mediachannel.org/atissue/mideast
NEWS DISSECTOR: THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
When the International Criminal Court treaty was ratified on April 11, much of the world cheered. But the U.S. press barely mentioned it. News Dissector Danny Schechter explains why.
http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/icc.shtml
SURVEY: "GETTING SERIOUS ONLINE"
As Internet use is increasingly woven into the daily lives of users, they are getting more out of it while spending less time online.
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#survey
TV-TURNOFF WEEK: APRIL 22-28
Although some critics insist it's more important to promote good TV, the annual TV-Turnoff Week campaign is inspiring activists worldwide.
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#turnoff
WEB FOR KIDS, BY KIDS
Australian sisters help kids make Websites, Indian kids learn the value of money, and a Swedish village school collaborates with others worldwide in this year's Childnet Award winners.
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#childnet
MEDIACULTURE
A collaboration between MediaChannel and Alternet exploring the currents, crises and cultures of American media.
Featured this week:
* Should This Sex-Assault Photo Be Published?
* Is Protest Music Dead?
* Drug/Terror Ads And Kids Don't Mix .And much more...
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#mediaculture
WHAT YOU'RE SAYING: VOICES FROM OUR FORUM
* "I agree that Goldberg's critique of the media suffers from his own bias, but..."
* "Since I moved to the US, I've encountered the stereotype of Hispanic life...."
.....JOIN THE DISCUSSION!
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#voices
MEDIA READER
MediaChannel's international, biweekly, multimedia magazine
New features include:
* Journalists - Not Spies!
* Multi-Culti In Hollywood And London
* The End Of Indonesia's Free Press? . And much, much more...
http://www.mediachannel.org/news/mediareader
AFRICAN VOICES: A DISCUSSION FORUM
Recent posts include:
* Punitive laws, constricted media space and poor pay prevent effective coverage in Kenya...
* "[Zimbabwe's] journalists are overpaid and promoted to adopt partisan stances..."
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#africa
4/17/02
5:42:28 PM
TomPaine.com!
HAPPY EARTH DAY FROM GEORGE W. BUSH Will He Gut The Clean Water Act?
"Mountaintop removal." The name says it all about this most-destructive method of mining Appalachian coal.
Mining companies blast and level entire peaks to get at deep coal seams. They pile waste rubble into adjacent "valley fills" that can be miles long and hundreds of feet deep. They bury mountain streams forever -- some 800 miles of streams in West Virginia and Kentucky so far. "Obliteration" one federal judge called it.
Now President Bush -- egged on by his King Coal political patrons -- is about to change Clean Water Act rules in an effort to legalize mountaintop mining and valley filling. It's like stopping bank robbers from breaking the law by making bank robbery legal.
READ OUR OP AD IN TODAY'S NEW YORK TIMES or CLICK BELOW TO READ IT ONLINE:
http://www.tompaine.com/op_ads/opad.cfm/ID/5473
AND READ THESE OP-AD FEATURES:
JUST MAKE IT LEGAL
From 'Waste' to 'Fill'
by David Case
Changing the definition of one word in the Clean Water Act makes all the difference to this country's waterways.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5460
GOP GREENS VS. THE WHITE HOUSE
Republicans Urge Bush To Preserve The Clean Water Act
by TomPaine.com Staff
In an open letter to President Bush, twelve Republicans urge Bush to stay the course and leave the restrictions on mountaintop mining.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5470
OBLITERATION BLUES
Activists Speak Out
by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Joe Lovett
The waste from mountaintop removal mines has buried forever many hundreds of miles of the region's streams. Life near these mines becomes unbearable; citizens are forced to abandon their communities.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5462
OOPS! MINE STUDY EXAMINES WRONG COUNTY
When Mountaintop Removal Is A Foregone Conclusion
by Ken Ward Jr.
"The Army Corps of Engineers and their consultant really blundered on this one. Unfortunately, this is the kind of carelessness we've come to expect from the Corps."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5461
A DREAM DENIED
Israeli Offensive A Turning Point For Progressive Jews
by Laura Flanders
Not since Sept. 11 has there been such turmoil and soul-searching.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5472
BROWER YOUTH AWARDS
Honoring Six Young Environmental Leaders
David R. Brower's legacy of bold stands for environmental protection lives on every day in thousands of young people across the country. These awards recognize six who, with few resources but their energy and beliefs, have accomplished great change.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5467
ECONOMICS REPORTING REVIEW
April 8 - April 14
A Weekly Compendium And Commentary
by Dean Baker
Trade Policy and Oxfam ... Oil Drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge ... Terrorism Insurance ... Israel ... The Recovery ... and more.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5474
From Our CHECK IT OUT! Department:
EQUAL PAY DAY
April 16th was Equal Pay Day, a day to reflect on the persistent wage gap between women -- especially women of color -- and men. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average woman earns 73 cents for every dollar a man earns. Black women earn 64 cents on the dollar compared to white men.
The AFL-CIO has created a wage-gap calculator for women on its Web site. Just plug in your income, age and education level and you'll learn how much you stand to loose over your lifetime from the wage gap. For example, a woman of 30 with some college education who currently earns $30,000 a year would loose more than $900,000 over her lifetime relative to her male peers.
Check Out CHECK IT OUT!
http://www.tompaine.com/check_it_out/
4/17/02
5:38:34 PM
Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
On Tuesday, 4/16/02, Alaska Senators Murkowski and Stevens finally offered their amendments to the Energy Bill to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A vote on limiting debate on these amendments will occur on Thursday morning, 4/18! This will be the critical vote!
Please call or email both your Senators and urge them to vote against these two amendments. Specifically ask them to vote against "cloture" (limiting debate) if necessary to keep oil drilling out of the refuge.
This is the conservation vote of the century and we need your support!
You may
Telephone their offices. This link
http://www.americanwilderness.org/feedback/senate_report.htm
will give you the talking points and provide an opportunity for you to report back to us. You may reach your Senators through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or use this link
http://capwiz.com/awc/dbq/officials/
to find their direct phone numbers for both their DC office and offices in your state.
Use our Take Action site,
http://capwiz.com/awc/issues/alert/?alertid=136539
to send him an email or fax
You are receiving this email because you have supported protecting roadless areas on our National Forests in the past. If you do not wish to receive any additional alerts from us about protecting America's remaining wilderness, simply reply to this message with Unsubcribe or Remove in the Subject line.
Thank you,
Melyssa Watson, Chair
American Wilderness Coalition
4/17/02
5:36:51 PM
UTNE WEB WATCH
The Best of the Alternative Web
BALD EAGLE COMEBACK TRAIL LEADS TO WEST COAST
by Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor
-- The money from a company's chemical-dumping settlement goes right back to benefit one of its victims.
ANOTHER YEAR, THE SAME QUESTION: WHY PAY TAXES?
by Geov Parrish, Eat the State!
-- With the government's use of this year's tax dollars for questionable things like the "War on Terrorism," Parrish wonders why tax resistance is not as prevalent as it perhaps should be.
THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA: LIVE FROM PALESTINE
Web site review by Sara Buckwitz
-- Have you been dissatisfied with the coverage of the Middle-Eastern crisis? Here's a site that offers views and stories you won't find in the mainstream press.
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
4/17/02
5:28:10 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
COMMON HERBICIDE LINKED TO SEXUAL SIDE EFFECTS IN FROGS
BERKELEY, California, April 16, 2002 (ENS) - Atrazine, the top selling weed killer in the United States, disrupts the sexual development of frogs at concentrations 30 times lower than levels allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The researchers who uncovered the problem join environmentalists in expressing concern about heavy use of the herbicide on corn, soybeans and other crops in the U.S. Midwest and around the world.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-16-06.html
SCIENTISTS ASK IMMEDIATE END TO LOGGING U.S. NATIONAL FORESTS
WASHINGTON, DC, April 16, 2002 (ENS) - Stop the destructive practice of commercial logging in America's national forests, 221 of the country's most eminent scientists urged President George W. Bush in a letter signed today. The scientists say that without protection from further logging, the country's precious biological diversity will be lost.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-16-02.html
CALIFORNIA CONDORS PRODUCE HISTORIC OFFSPRING
SAN DIEGO, California, April 16, 2002 (ENS) - For the first time in 18 years, a condor egg laid in the wild has been hatched in the wild. The egg hatched last Thursday, in a nest in the rugged back country of the Los Padres National Forest in California's Ventura County. Both parents were reared in captivity, but have been living in the wild since 1995.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-16-07.html
JANE GOODALL APPPOINTED UN MESSENGER OF PEACE
NEW YORK, New York, April 16, 2002 (ENS) - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today named primatologist and environmentalist, Dr. Jane Goodall, a United Nations Messenger of Peace.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-16-03.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: APRIL 16, 2002
Rock Measurements Suggest Warming is Global
Marine Reserves Provide Rapid Rewards
Puffer Fish From Florida Can Kill Diners
Climate, Changing Agricultural Methods Affect Lake Erie's Health
Alaska Representative Supports Native Whaling
Massive Weather Study Will Track Storms
Conservation Measures May Aid Southern Idaho Ground Squirrels
Solar Power Could Come From the Moon
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-16-09.html
4/17/02
5:23:45 PM
CSA Farms Serving The Washington Area
Wednesday, April 3, 2002
More than a dozen farms in the Washington area have Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs. Customers pay an annual membership fee in advance to cover farm production costs. The farmer provides a "share" of the harvest -- a box of seasonal produce -- on a weekly basis for a predetermined number of weeks. On most farms, a full share is enough vegetables to feed a family of four (two adults, two children) or two vegetarians for one week. (Half shares are also available.)
There are variables. Some CSA farms are small family operations, while others are vegetable gardens maintained by private, nonprofit foundations. Crops vary from farm to farm. Some grow corn, some don't. Most are certified organic or use organic farming methods.
Usually vegetables are picked up at the farm or, in some cases, at a delivery site convenient to the member's neighborhood. There are CSA farmers that deliver produce to homes. Prices vary. It's best to shop around for a farm that meets your needs. (We have included farms that are fully subscribed for the 2002 season for those who want to plan for 2003.)
AVIAN MEAD ORGANICS The Riser family of Brookeville, Md., cultivates one acre of vegetables. All shares are sold for the 2002 season. Shares are delivered to homes in Montgomery County. Call 301-924-2960.
BLUE RIDGE CENTER A division of the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, a private foundation that manages a 12,000-acre ecological preserve in Purcellville, Va. Shares are available for the 2002 season. A 20-week full share is $460 at the farm or $490 at possible (depending on the eventual number of participants) delivery sites in Shepherdstown, W.Va.; Frederick, Md.; Cabin John; Bethesda; Silver Spring; Cleveland Park; and Dupont Circle. Call 540-668-7640 or
Web site http://www.brces.org
BULL RUN MOUNTION ORGANIC FARM A private farm in The Plains, Va., owned by the Bates/Hauter family, with a six-year-old CSA program. Shares are available for the 2002 season. A 19-week full share is $600 at the farm or $645 at delivery sites in Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill, East Falls Church and Alexandria. Flower and fruit shares are also available. Call 703-754-4005 or
Web site http://www.bullrunfarm.com
ECOSYSTEM FARM A project of the private, nonprofit Accokeek Foundation, located in Piscataway Park in Accokeek. No shares are available for the 2002 season. Farm pickup only. Call 301-283-2113 or
Web site http://www.accokeek.org
FROM THE GROUND UP A joint program of the Capital Area Food Bank and the Chesapeake Foundation. Vegetables are grown on a 14-acre garden in Upper Marlboro, Md. Shares are available for the 2002 season. A 27-week half share (two person) is $350 at the farm or $375 at delivery sites in Anacostia or Dupont Circle. Call 301-627-4662 or
Web site http://www.clagettfarm.org
GREAT COUNTRY FARMS The Zurschmeide family owns a 186-acre farm near the village of Bluemont, Va. Shares are available for the 2002 season. A 22-week full share, with home delivery to Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria and Loudoun County, is $654. Call 540-554-2073 or
Web site http://www.greatcountryfarms.com
HOUSE IN THE WOODS A privately owned, 25-acre farm near Frederick. All shares are sold for 2002. Farm pickup only. Call 301-607-4048 (or Web site www.houseinthewoods.com).
MOUNTAINS TO BAY A group of 13 small family farms -- members of the Maryland Certified Organic Growers Cooperative. Shares are available for 2002 season. A 20-week full share is $450. Delivery sites in Columbia, Sunderland and Lanham. Call 410-257-0134 (or Web site www. nuventuregardens.org).
POTOMAC VEGETABLE FARMS The owners of these family-owned farms in Vienna and Purcellville have operated a vegetable stand on Leesburg Pike for 41 years and a CSA program for three years. Shares are available for the 2002 season. A 22-week full share is $360. Pick up at the farms or at delivery sites in Arlington and Falls Church. Also: a flower and herb share. Call 703-759-2119.
RED WIGGLER FOUNDATION A nonprofit foundation that operates a 123-acre farm in Clarksburg with a three-acre vegetable garden. A primary mission of the foundation is to employ people with developmental disabilities in a program called Horticultural Therapy. Shares are available for the 2002 season. A 20-week full share is $340 at the farm or $400 at a delivery site in Germantown, Rockville or Frederick. Call 301-916-4133 or
Web site http://www.redwiggler.org
SHAW FARMS A certified-organic family farm in Columbia. Shares are available for the 2002 season. A 24-week full share is $500 at the farm. Call 410-531-9577.
SPIRITUAL FOOD FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM A division of the Shanti Yoga Ashram in Bethesda. Vegetables come from a farm in Pennsylvania. Shares are available for 2002 season. A 26-week full share is $900 and includes fruits, grains and breads from additional farms. The delivery site is in Bethesda. Call 301-654-6759.
WATERPENNY FARM A privately owned vegetable farm, managed by Rachel Bynum and Eric Plaksin, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Sperryville. Shares are available for the 2002 season. A 22-week full share is $390 at the farm or $442 at a delivery site in Arlington. Call 540-987-8567.
For more information on CSA from the Future Harvest, A Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture go to
http://www.futureharvestcasa.org
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51327-2002Apr2.html
4/17/02
5:18:45 PM
Vegetable Futures: Pay The Farmer Now, Reap The Bounty Later
by Walter Nicholls, Washington Post Staff Writer, April 3, 2002
It's only April; not an eggplant has been planted, not a turnip has been pulled, but Maryland farmer Shane LaBrake has already sold his entire 2002 vegetable harvest. In fact, before seedlings went into the ground, all 50 "shares" of Ecosystem Farm, an agricultural program he manages for the Accokeek Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Prince George's County, were spoken for.
From late spring through summer and into fall, families who have made an advance payment of as much as $550 will come once a week for 30 weeks to Ecosystem in Piscataway Park in Accokeek to claim their bounty -- a box of fresh produce, culinary herbs and a bouquet of cut flowers.
In the world of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), the box represents a share of the harvest -- enough vegetables to feed a family of four or two vegetarians for one week.
"We've taken a funky concept and presented it to people. Now, it has become a part of their lives," says LaBrake, who started the Ecosystem Farm CSA enterprise eight years ago.
The "funky" CSA program that LaBrake has embraced traces its roots to Japan. In 1965 a group of Japanese women, concerned about the use of pesticides and the proliferation of processed foods, established a cooperative agreement with farmers to supply vegetables on an annual basis. The concept later sprouted in Massachusetts. In 1986, a group of farmers, organized by Robyn Van En, introduced a project to "share the costs to share the harvest" to the community.
VEGETABLE RETURN
Members from the community pay a fee to the farmer in advance to cover production costs on the farm. From the farmer, members in return receive a bag of vegetables each week during the growing season. Van En's group choose the name -- Community Supported Agriculture. (Van En died in 1997.)
Today, there are more than 1,000 participating farms in the United States with CSA programs. Each is administered in a slightly different fashion, with crops, prices and delivery methods varying (see box at right for area CSA farms). And, apparently, there is more to CSA than vegetables.
At Ecosystem, once they have picked up their allotment of produce, CSA members are free to remove their shoes, if they choose, and wander through radishes and arugula. They can rub rosemary between their fingers. For 30 weeks, this is their farm, located on the banks of the Potomac River, directly across from Mount Vernon --home of the pioneer farmer George Washington. Vegetables from this 4.5-acre garden cost members about $18 per week. But, arguably, this plot is priceless.
A SHARED SYSTEM
From the start, according to LaBrake, the goal of CSA has been to attract "people with the same social and political values. We all share a vision of an alternative food system that is environmentally sound and economically viable."
CSA is quite different than the buying club co-op movement that reached its height of popularity in the mid-1970s. A co-op coordinator works with members to secure food and household products in bulk at wholesale prices for distribution to members. Co-op members are responsible for the overhead of their stores.
Farmers with CSA programs have total control of their land and equipment. They choose the crops that will be planted and the price that they ask for a share of the harvest. Some farmers rely totally on the revenue from subscription shares, while for others it's only part of their operating budget.
Annapolis resident Jennifer Dorion, a stay-at-home mother, picks up her CSA share at a farm in Lanham that belongs to the Mountains to Bay CSA -- a cooperative of 13 small, certified-organic Maryland farms.
"I like the philosophy. By supporting small farms we're keeping sprawl down," says Dorion. "We're eating locally instead of getting our vegetables from Chile. Trucks on the highway create an impact on the environment."
Near Purcellville, Va., this will be the inaugural year for the Blue Ridge Center CSA -- a program sponsored by the Robert and Dee Leggett Foundation, which manages a 1,200-acre preserve in Loudoun County.
On a recent afternoon, a flock of wild turkeys foraged on the outskirts of the land that will become a seven-acre vegetable garden. Allan Balliett is the farm manager.
"It's all about knowing where your food comes from and having a relationship with the farmer," says Balliett, who hopes to sell 100 shares of his 2002 harvest in the next few weeks. The bonus for people who join this CSA farm is access to 900 acres of wetlands, pastures and woodlands with maintained trails at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
HEIRLOOM PLANTS
Balliett has calculated that the sale of Blue Ridge shares will cover the cost of growing the heirloom plants he favors, such as red Russian kale and French breakfast radishes. "My shares will be opulent with bags overflowing with vegetable varieties that people may not have had before," he predicts. Members will pick up their share at the farm or at delivery sites in Maryland and Washington. Volunteers and interns from organizations such as Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) will help maintain the garden and keep costs down.
The hope of a shared bounty comes with very real risks. As with any garden, deer can dine on every last beet top. Cutworms can devastate the cabbage crop. And those wild turkeys enjoy mesclun salad mix.
Balliett's plan is to plant 30 percent more crops than he estimates his shareholders will need as a buffer for animal and insect liability as well as weather damage from hail, drought and floods. Many other CSA farmers take the same precautions. Regardless, it is not unusual for a CSA program to end weeks before its scheduled termination date because of a failed fall planting.
Crop failure was not a problem last summer at Waterpenny Farm in Sperryville, Va. In late August and through September, there were ample piles of ripe melons and heirloom tomatoes inside the small barn where members pick up their shares.
This year Waterpenny farmers Rachel Bynum and Eric Plaksin are increasing the amount of shares they will sell. But this CSA might not be right for everyone.
"We're looking for people who are a good match for our farm and like what we grow," says Bynum. The couple also delivers shares to Arlington and sells vegetables at farmers' markets in Takoma Park and Charlottesville. "It's like a personality match," says Plaksin. "We don't grow corn. It's too hard to grow without pesticides. If you don't like squash, tomatoes, peppers and melons, we're not the CSA for you."
For Ann Tucker, a senior manager with the Public Broadcasting System in Alexandria, CSA "took a bit of getting use to. If you're especially squeamish about bugs or a little dirt, then you might not like it. Sometimes it looks like something has been chewing on the greens," she says.
Tucker buys her share from Bull Run Mountain Organic Farm in The Plains, Va. The owners, the Bates/Hauter family, deliver shares to Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill, Falls Church and Alexandria. She chose the Bull Run CSA "because they have a tremendous variety of what they grow. You get a little bit of everything."
Delivery of her share, to a parking lot near her office, is a highlight of the week.
Says Tucker: "Mothers come pushing strollers, singles and whole families come from all over the Del Ray neighborhoods. At least 50 people from my office are members. They all descend on the truck. You can smell the basil 50 yards away. It's the smell of summertime."
Source: http://www.WashingtonPost.com
4/17/02
5:13:47 PM
Biotech Protesters Mobilize Across North America
Inter Press Service
WASHINGTON, Apr 10, 2002 (Inter Press Service via COMTEX) --Consumer and environmental groups in North America today launched a week of protests against what they call contamination of Mexico's traditional corn by genetically engineered varieties.
From the U.S. embassy in Mexico City to grain commodities exchanges in Chicago and Winnipeg, demonstrations have been planned with the hope of calling attention to a controversial scientific study that reported Mexican native corn had been contaminated by genetically engineered DNA.
The scientific study, published five months ago in the journal Nature, had alarmed environmentalists because the native corn varieties had been collected from a region in Mexico considered to be the world's center of corn diversity.
The study found traces of the cauliflower mosaic virus -- widely used to drive the activity of newly inserted genes -- as well as other samples of genetically modified DNA in ears of corn from two locations around Oaxaca.
Although the source of contamination of native Mexico corn varieties was unknown, activists believed it resulted from corn imports from the United States. About 40 percent of corn planted in the United States is genetically modified.
"The genetic contamination of Mexican native corn varieties threatens not only the genetic integrity of corn, one of the world's most important basic crops, but the food security for millions in the Americas," a coalition of organizations, including the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), Global Exchange, and Genetically Engineered Food Alert, said in a statement.
On Apr. 4, however, Nature made the unusual move of announcing that it should not have published the study. While the conclusion that corn had been contaminated remained unchallenged, the magazine criticised the quality of the study and its suggestion that genetically engineered DNA might behave in unpredictable ways.
The lead author of one critique, Matthew Metz, a scientist at the University of Washington, called the study a "testament to technical incompetence" and "mysticism masquerading as science."
The authors of the study, Ignacio Chapela, a microbial ecologist at the University of California, and one of his graduate assistants, David Quist, remained confident in their findings, although they acknowledged a few technical faults.
In an effort to further prove their conclusion, Chapela and Quist provided new data and pointed out that the Mexican government conducted similar studies in two states that corroborated their data.
"We did the monitoring, we found the transgenes that were not supposed to be there, and then we got viciously attacked by people who didn't like our answers," said Chapela.
Genetically modified corn has not been approved for planting in Mexico but corn that has been altered to produce the insecticide Bt is imported for use in food.
Activists hoped the latest demonstrations would eventually lead to greater protection of traditional corn varieties from contamination by modified genes. Organizers said they expected individual events to draw between dozens and thousands of protesters.
"These unprecedented continent-wide protests mark the beginning of the end of the biotech industry dumping genetically engineered corn on consumers and the environment," said Ronnie Cummins, director of the OCA, an advocacy group based in Minnesota.
Opponents of biotechnology pointed to other examples of how genetically altered food have contaminated traditional crops and food supplies.
Two years ago, a variety of altered corn known as StarLink, which had only been approved for animal consumption for fear of allergic reactions in humans, contaminated the U.S. corn supply and forced a massive recall of 300 popular brand name corn products.
Contamination of traditional crops has also been found in other countries. Hundreds of hectares of genetically modified cotton had been detected in India, although it had not been approved for use there at the time. And in Canada, organic farmers who said their canola crop had been tainted with genetically modified canola blowing in from neighboring fields filed a class action suit.
Arguing that genetically modified crops and food have not been proven to be safe, activists demanded that governments and leading food corporations remove all gene-altered corn products from the market. Genetically Engineered Food Alert, a coalition of environmental and consumer groups, has planned another round of protests for Apr. 17-22 against Kraft Foods Inc., a prominent food company.
The coalition said it commissioned an independent lab to examine a range of Kraft products, and that several -- including Boca Burgers, Post Blueberry Morning cereal, and Stove Top Stuffing -- were found to contain genetically engineered corn and soy.
"There is a strong consensus globally among medical, scientific, and government experts that biotech crops are safe. If we believed these ingredients posed any risk, you can be sure they wouldn't be in our products," Kraft spokesperson Michael Mudd said in February, when the company first confronted the coalition's charges.
Matt Rand, speaking for coalition member the National Environmental Trust, said: "This is a grassroots effort to inform the public that they are consuming genetically engineered foods and to also demand that Kraft remove these ingredients."
4/17/02
5:09:34 PM
Buckley Blasts Sharon's 'Scorched Earth' Response
CNSNews.com 4-16-2
While some conservatives blast President Bush for trying to restrain Israel's response to suicide attacks, another conservative is blasting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for "the stupidest campaign in recent memory."
Columnist William F. Buckley, in a Tuesday op-ed, writes that Sharon's offensive has "solved nothing, increased Israel's problems, intensified Palestinian hatred of Israel, estranged many Europeans and Americans, and fanned Islamic hostility." Buckley says that Sharon, in his effort to destroy the terrorist infrastructure, is conducting a scorched-earth campaign of "wanton damage."
According to Buckley, "What has been done is to enhance and even legitimize Palestinian grievances." Buckley's conclusion: "Mr. Sharon has wounded the state of Israel incalculably, causing ache and pain not only to Palestinians, but to his people and to friends of Israel everywhere."
Source: http://www.rense.com/general24/scor.htm
4/17/02
5:05:24 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
EPA going it alone on utility emission rules - Democrats - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15512/story.htm
Weedkiller makes male frogs into females - study - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15506/story.htm
UPDATE - Senate Republicans unveil Alaska oil drilling plan - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15507/story.htm
Entergy eyes early permit for Mississippi nuclear site - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15508/story.htm
Foes of US nuclear project air first TV ad - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15519/story.htm
Colorado to kill hundreds of deer to stop disease - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15517/story.htm
FACTBOX - Wildlife, jobs part of Alaska drilling debate - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15514/story.htm
Jane Goodall named a UN Messenger of Peace - UNITED NATIONS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15516/story.htm
Poor nations lose out in gene crop trials - UN - SWITZERLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15515/story.htm
Thousands at risk of Himalaya glacier floods - study - NEPAL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15505/story.htm
French union says no strike impact on nuclear output - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15510/story.htm
Vestas loses, Enercon gains in German wind market - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15509/story.htm
GM to rebuild 300 locomotives for CN Rail - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15520/story.htm
Canada delays hearing on Georgia Strait pipeline - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15511/story.htm
Canada takes swipe at EU after Kyoto showdown - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15513/story.htm
El Nino chances increase slightly - Australia - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15518/story.htm
4/17/02
5:03:28 PM
t r u t h o u t | 04.17
Conyers Demands Enron Special Prosecutor | His Letter to DOJ
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.17A.Conyers.Demands.htm
Bush Officials Met With Venezuelans Who Ousted Leader
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.17B.Bush.Ousted.htm
Report From Jenin: Voices Heard Under the Rubble
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.17C.Jenin.Voices.htm
Dutch Government Quits Over Srebrenica
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.17D.Dutch.Quit.htm
William Rivers Pitt | Redemption Songs
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.17E.WRP.Songs.htm
Bernard Weiner | The Intifadeh & Israel for Dummies
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.17F.BW.Dummies.htm
Kucinich Walks Out on Ridge Secret Meeting with House Committee
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.17G.Walks.Out.htm
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. Illinois Can Stop "Doling Out Death"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.17H.Stop.Death.htm
White House Stonewall: Day 53
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.17I.Stonewall.htm
t r u t h o u t, is a non-profit independent news source.
4/17/02
5:00:56 PM
Scientists Seek Logging Ban On U.S.-Owned Land
by Jim Robbins
ELENA, Mont., April 15 — A letter signed by 221 scientists and sent to President Bush today calls for ending all logging on federally owned forests, arguing that the value of the timber produced was minuscule compared with the environmental damage caused by the harvests.
The letter, a project of the Sierra Club and signed by Dr. Edward O. Wilson, Dr. Anne Ehrlich and other prominent scientists, primarily biologists, asserted that the American taxpayer not only subsidizes logging directly, but also indirectly, because logging reduces the economic value of the forest for other uses.
"It is now widely recognized that commercial logging has damaged ecosystem health, clean water, and recreational opportunities," the letter reads. "Annually, timber produces roughly $4 billion per year (from national forests), while recreation, fish and wildlife, clean water and unroaded areas provide a combined total of $224 billion to the American economy each year."
Timber industry officials, however, said that the scientists' argument was wrongheaded. Not only does cutting timber on national forests provide wood products, they said, it also keeps forests healthy.
"All this national forest land the environmentalists want to sit there and burn, which is what it is doing now," said John Mechem, a spokesman for the American Forest and Paper Association. "We've seen fire after fire because environmentalists want to wall off the national forests. There is a scientific argument for active forest management, which includes tree removal."
Dr. David R. Foster, a professor of ecology at Harvard University, said that a ban on public-lands logging would not affect the nation's supply of timber.
Just 4 percent of the nation's timber comes from federal forest land, according to the letter, an amount Dr. Foster said could be made up through more intensive cutting on tree farms and recycling, among other things.
Source: http://www.NYTimes.com/2002/04/16/science/16LOGG.html
4/17/02
4:54:05 PM
Common Weed Killer Atrazine Causes Sexual Abnormalities In Frogs, Study Claims
by Emily Green, L. A. Times Staff Writer
A study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences links atrazine, the most heavily used herbicide in the U.S., to an array of sexual abnormalities in frogs.
The study, from Tyrone B. Hayes, a specialist in the hormone systems of amphibians at UC Berkeley, comes as the Environmental Protection Agency enters the final phase of a "special review" of the chemical, prompted in 1994 by concerns over its prevalence in drinking water.
Hayes' findings provide the latest evidence that commonly used chemicals may alter hormone function in fish, reptiles and amphibians. Since the mid-1990s, researchers in England and Florida have been documenting sex changes in fish downstream from sewage outfalls and alligators exposed to agricultural chemicals. Atrazine has not been shown to be dangerous to humans.
Hayes first found that atrazine was a powerful endocrine disruptor in frogs in a study completed last year. In a follow-up--the study being published today--he found that exposure of tadpoles to water with 0.1 part per billion atrazine, or 30 times less than the amount legally permitted in drinking water, produced frogs with mixes of testes and ovaries. "The atrazine turns on an enzyme called aromatase," he said. "This converts testosterone to estrogen."
Recent studies by the U.S. Geological Survey have detected levels as high as 2,300 parts ppb in water near agricultural areas.
Biologist Darcy Kelly of Columbia University said Monday she isn't sure that the studies make a definitive link between the herbicide, the enzyme and the sex changes, but she said that the study should be taken seriously.
"You take the tadpoles, you give them a little bit of this herbicide and you screw them up rather profoundly," she said. "How it works, whether it has anything to do with human beings, I don't think those are solved, but it's a cautionary note."
Syngenta, the company that manufactures most of the atrazine sold in the U.S. and paid for the first study, has rejected the results of Hayes' research.
Speaking from Washington Monday, Syngenta toxicologist Tim Panoor said other studies commissioned by the firm produced contrary results. "No conclusions can be drawn," he said.
Release of the study comes on the day of a public hearing about the safety of atrazine before the EPA makes a final decision about relicensing the pesticide. The EPA is expected to make its relicensing decision in August.
Atrazine, first synthesized in Switzerland in 1955 by scientists for J.R. Geigy (now part of Syngenta), was first licensed in the U.S. in 1959. Of the 75 million pounds now used in the U.S. every year, most are applied in the Midwest on corn, sorghum and sugar cane crops. Corn growers estimate it saves them $36 an acre by suppressing weeds, reducing labor costs and increasing productivity.
In California, 55,000 pounds are used every year, mainly in agriculture. According to the Department of Pesticide Regulation, only professional applicators are supposed to apply it around parks, schools and home gardens. Syngenta sells it only directly to homeowners as a turf-care product in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia and North Carolina.
Combined use is so heavy that by the mid-1990s, the U.S. Geological Survey found that it was the most frequently detected contaminant in waterways.
Traditionally, toxicity studies for farm chemicals are carried out on lab animals, such as rats. A sudden crash in the global amphibian population in 1989 prompted the U.S. Department of the Interior and a number of federal agencies to set up the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative.
Meanwhile, in Europe, concerns over high levels of atrazine detected in drinking water led to bans in Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Norway, France and, most recently, Belgium.
By the mid-1990s, under pressure from the EPA for new safety data, Syngenta commissioned an estimated 100 new atrazine safety studies in North America, including one from Hayes.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-000027219apr16.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dscience
4/17/02
4:47:27 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
SOUTHERN INHOSPITALITY
U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham informed South Carolina yesterday that the federal government would ship plutonium to the state, over the objections of Gov. Jim Hodges (D). The announcement was the latest in the country's ongoing debate about what to do with its surplus weapons-grade plutonium. The feds want to store some of it in South Carolina on a temporary basis while other sites around the country are being cleaned up, and Abraham said about 76 truckloads of the highly radioactive material could begin arriving as early as May 15. A spokesperson for the governor said the state could use troopers or legal methods to block the shipments. Hodges has said that he is willing to accept the plutonium temporarily, but will not do so until he has a legally enforceable guarantee that the government will not leave the waste in his state permanently.
straight to the source: Columbia State, Sammy Fretwell, 16 Apr 2002 <http://www.thestate.com/mld/state/3073501.htm>
do good: Take action to promote nuclear disarmament <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/toxic.asp?source=daily#blowit>
HOPPING MAD
Atrazine, the most popular herbicide in the U.S., appears to cause a wide range of sexual abnormalities in frogs, according to a study by biologist Tyrone Hayes published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Seventy-five million pounds of atrazine are used in the U.S. every year, and it is the most common contaminant in the nation's waterways. Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Norway, France, and Belgium have all banned atrazine, and Hayes' study suggests why: The chemical, an endocrine disrupter, alters hormone function in amphibians and other critters even when it is present at just 0.1 parts per billion -- 30 times less than the amount legally permitted in drinking water. The result: Frogs with unusual combinations of testes and ovaries. (You'd be jumpy, too.) Syngenta, the company that manufactures most of the atrazine sold in the U.S., rejected the results of Hayes' research, saying, "No conclusions can be drawn."
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Emily Green, 16 Apr 2002 <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-000027219apr16.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dscience>
FREE BIRD
In happier news from the animal kingdom, a California condor hatched in the wild late last week, offering a rare moment of optimism for a species teetering on the edge of extinction. If the chick survives, it will mark the first time in 18 years that adult condors in the wild successfully conceived, hatched, and brooded a baby. So far, so good: The parents defended the egg, helped the chick hatch, and are gamely feeding it -- despite having been fed themselves not by parents but by scientists wielding condor hand puppets. With a wingspan of more than nine feet, California condors are the largest birds in North America. In 1984, when condor numbers had dwindled to a mere eight wild birds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife began an intensive captive-breeding program. There are now 63 condors in the wild, 18 in field pens ready for release, and 104 in captivity.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Jane Kay, 16 Apr 2002 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/16/MN170447.DTL>
THE LETTER OF THE LOG
More than 220 prominent scientists sent a letter to President Bush today calling for an end to logging on federally owned lands. The scientists, including E.O. Wilson, argued that the economic value of timber from public lands was insignificant compared to the environmental damage from logging, and that taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize timber harvests. The letter, a project of the Sierra Club, read in part, "Timber [from national forests] produces roughly $4 billion per year, while recreation, fish and wildlife, clean water, and unroaded areas provide a combined total of $224 billion to the American economy each year." Timber industry officials countered that logging keeps forests healthy and supplies the market for wood products.
straight to the source: New York Times, Jim Robbins, 16 Apr 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/16/science/16LOGG.html>
only in Grist: E.O. Wilson takes on Bjorn Lomborg, the Skeptical Environmentalist <http://www.gristmagazine.com/books/wilson121201.asp?source=daily>
do good: Take action to stop commercial logging in national forests <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/forests.asp?source=daily#logging>
BEEN CAUGHT STEELING
In an effort to rustle up enough votes to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling, outspoken drilling advocate Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) tried to sweeten the deal by offering to add a bailout for steelworkers to the energy bill. But the move appears to have backfired, with Rust-Belt Democrats supporting steelworkers but saying Arctic Refuge drilling should be judged on its own merits, and conservative Republicans rejecting the proposal as an example of just the sort of costly government relief program they love to hate. The steel industry wants as much as $12 billion over 10 years to cover pension and health-care benefits to retirees; Murkowski suggested that the industry could get a cut of government proceeds from exploration leases. Despite its drill-at-all-costs policy, the White House has declined to weigh in on the steel-for-refuge wheeling and dealing. But the signs aren't good for the proposal; Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), the deputy for Republican Leader Trent Lott (Miss.), warned that Murkowski could lose more votes than he will gain.
straight to the source: Wall Street Journal, Shailagh Murray and John J. Fialka, 16 Apr 2002 (access ain't free) <http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1018820721912908960-anwr,00.html>
do good: Take action to save the Arctic Refuge <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/mining.asp?source=daily#arctic>
4/17/02
4:44:52 PM
US Military Fuels Up Mideast Bases
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE USA: April 15, 2002
NEW YORK - The U.S. Department of Defence says it is seeking an extra 1.4 million barrels of marine diesel fuel for bases in the Middle East, continuing a rate of military fuel purchases for the region not seen since the Persian Gulf war.
The supplemental tender for F76 grade marine diesel fuel calls for the barrels to be delivered to the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, Star Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates, and Guam in the Western Pacific between July 1 and Dec 31.
The solicitation last week comes after the Pentagon already purchased 7.4 million barrels of fuel above and beyond normal contracts for its Mideast bases over the past four months, according to the Defence Energy Support Center, the DOD's fuel buying wing.
This rate of fuel buying from the world's largest single purchaser of petroleum mimics emergency buys made after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and dwarfs supplemental purchases during the NATO air war against Serbia in 1999.
The U.S. military's big appetite for oil, which has underpinned strong petroleum prices in recent weeks, has intensified speculation that the United States may broaden its fight against terrorism beyond Afghanistan, possibly to Iraq, as tensions continue to boil in the region.
The U.S. military typically buys between 100 million and 180 million barrels of petroleum each year, including jet fuel, gasoline, and diesel, and spends between $3 and $4.5 billion, depending on market prices, according to DESC records between 1990 and 2000.
4/17/02
4:41:06 PM
The truth is out there ... right? At first, it all seemed so obvious. It was those Islamic terrorists. Osama bin Laden. Mullah Omar. George W. Bush had nothing to do with it ... did he?
Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun, February 23, 2002
AP Files / President George W. Bush continued speaking to kids after the attack ... hmm.
Reuter Files / The World Trade Center towers explode and burn after being hit by planes Sept. 11.
"The right wing benefited so much from September 11 that, if I were still a conspiratorialist, I would believe they'd done it."
Norman Mailer
When the paladin of Camelot joined the fray, I knew 9/11 had become the Kennedy Assassination of the 21st century -- a real-life X-Files episode occurring before my eyes. Like those X-Files accounts of aliens living in oil deposits, this was a story with such staggering implications the mainstream media are loath to go near it. The question isn't who killed the president -- it's who piloted the airplanes that slammed into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvanian countryside.
Just as there remains lingering doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald fired a burst of fatally accurate shots from the Texas Book Depository, so there is skepticism that cells of Islamic terrorists secretly coordinated and simultaneously commandeered four commercial jetliners.
The culprit responsible for the Sept. 11 attack is now rumoured to be the same one who lurked behind the grassy knoll: the oil-dependent U.S. military-industrial complex.
Not everyone is ready to accept this -- a substitute teacher in North Vancouver's Sherwood Park elementary school has been called on the mat for suggesting to Grade 5 students the Central Intelligence Agency might have been involved in 9/11.
And at last count, there were a dozen U.S. Congressional Committees investigating the tragedies and how such an intelligence and security breakdown was allowed to occur.
But President George W. Bush and his right-hand man, Vice President Dick Cheney, have taken the unprecedented step of trying to restrict those investigations, pouring fuel on the simmering conspiracy theories being propagated in alternative publications, on wingnut Web sites and among some serious media outlets.
In Germany, a former minister of technology, Andreas von Buelow, made headlines when in an interview he dismissed the U.S. government's explanation that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network is responsible for the attacks. His own explanation implicated the White House.
"I wonder why many questions are not asked," von Buelow said. "For 60 decisive minutes, the military and intelligence agencies let the fighter planes stay on the ground; 48 hours later, however, the FBI presented a list of suicide attackers. Within 10 days, it emerged that seven of them were still alive."
In Britain, a flight engineer has published a detailed paper asserting the U.S. took the joysticks out of the pilots' hands using a method of remote control developed by the American military in the 1970s.
In the U.S. and Canada, independent publisher and editor Mike Ruppert (a former LAPD cop who hates the CIA) has drawn huge crowds to his two-hour lecture in which he states baldly that the U.S. government was complicit in the attacks and had foreknowledge. He opens his documentary presentation with an offer of $1,000 US to anyone who can prove any of his sources were misrepresented or inauthentic.
A former U.S. government agent also has given interviews claiming the CIA has been dealing with Osama bin Laden since 1987.
According to those who do not believe in The Lone Gunman, the truth is as plain as the nose on your face: Sept. 11's terrorist acts were planned and paid for by the CIA to enable the Bush Administration to "legitimately" bomb Afghanistan into submission on behalf of the oil industry.
After all, everyone knows the Bush family has strong and long acknowledged ties to the oil industry, as do other senior members of the administration. Cheney until recently was president of a company servicing the oil patch. National Security adviser Condoleeza Rice was a manager for Chevron. Commerce and Energy Secretaries Donald Evans and Stanley Abraham worked for Tom Brown, another oil giant.
Follow the money, as they say, and you'll find the smoking gun.
Under this scenario, conspiracy theorists say a pliant Afghan regime was essential because of plans to pipe central Asian oil across Afghanistan. And there is a harvest of coincidence and contradiction to feed such imaginings.
Consider first that the intelligence breakdown that led to 9/11 appears to have been a consequence of the Bush Administration telling the Federal Bureau of Investigation to back off on its investigation of Middle Eastern terrorism. A senior FBI investigator resigned from the agency, noisily claiming its main obstacle in the investigation was Big Oil's political influence. In an ironic twist of fate, the agent died in the World Trade Center.
(Fox Mulder, was that you? Is that why they cancelled the series?)
There also are recurring reports the CIA station chief in Dubai met with bin Laden only seven weeks before 9/11 while he was laid up for surgery. (The CIA denies this, but of course you can't believe anything it says.)
Now think about this for a second: The Independent in London questions how Bush could claim in two public appearances to have seen the first plane hit the first tower long before any such TV footage was broadcast. The paper also asks why Dubya continued sitting with elementary school students after the second tower was hit and he'd been told, "America is under attack."
Very mysterious, when standard procedure for such a situation is to whisk the president away to safety. Unless -- and here is the nub -- unless he knew something more than we did that morning. As the Independent asked, "What television station was HE watching?"
This is rich stuff for those who see Them under the bed, especially since the financial miasma melds nicely with the already swirling rumour and insinuation.
In the days before the attacks, there was unusually heavy trading in airline and related stocks using a market tactic called a "put option" that essentially bets that a stock will decline in value. If you were Osama, buying puts would be a great way to boost the value of your investment portfolio.
And sure enough, unusually high numbers of put options were purchased in early September for the stocks of AMR Corp. and UAL Corp., the parents of American and United -- each of which had two planes hijacked. The U.S. government is now investigating suspicious trading in 38 companies directly affected by the events of Sept. 11.
The initial survey of beneficiaries, however, turns out not to include one tall, dark-haired, olive-skinned, Allah-loving, Saudi-born sheik. Mainly the profiteers were blue-chip, establishment, red-white-and-blue Americans, some of whom were tenants in the collapsed twin towers, such as Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Lehman Brothers and the Bank of America, major airlines, cruise companies, General Motors Corp., Raytheon and others. Several insurance companies are also on the 38-name list U.S. and Canadian financial firms were asked to review and compare with their records for any unusual patterns.
(Which may say more about who plays the market than anything else, but why quibble with the quixotic?)
Cynics are also questioning the incredible speed with which evidence in the WTC collapse is being destroyed. Never in the history of fire investigations, they say, has evidence been destroyed before exhaustive investigations are complete.
(Say what? Two skyscrapers' worth of debris should be warehoused?)
And then there were the curious developments swirling around the anthrax public health hysteria triggered shortly after 9/11. Even dullards can appreciate that anthrax sent to a top Democrat and to the U.S. media helped unify the nation behind the war effort while literally shutting down Congress -- a remarkably useful outcome for Dubya and his gang.
Indeed, specialists in biological warfare say the anthrax appears to be a U.S. military strain and the culprit a disgruntled American scientist who possesses a rare combination of laboratory skills that make him (they believe it's a man) relatively easy to identify. Hmmm.
And who didn't smell a bad odour two weeks ago when Tennessee driver's licence examiner Katherine Smith died in Memphis under "most unusual and suspicious" circumstances. One day before her arraignment on charges she conspired to provide phoney licences to five Arabs tied by the FBI to the 9/11 attacks, her car crashed into a utility pole. The car was only slightly damaged, the gas tank was full and intact, but the vehicle was immediately engulfed in flames.
As one report pointed out, Smith and the car interior apparently were doused with gasoline, which would certainly qualify in my book as at least "suspicious."
And Memphis ... Memphis? Wasn't that the same place a noted Harvard bio-warfare expert "fell" off a bridge in December?
Scully!
The truth is out there. I know it. You too can help find it.
If you would like an activist kit to get involved in urging a full public investigation of 9/11 and its aftermath, reply to findtruth@hotmail.com with "Send kit."
But be warned.
The Pentagon has just established a new Office of Strategic Influence that calls for the planting of false stories in the foreign press, phoney e-mails from disguised addresses and other covert activities to manipulate public opinion.
This could be one of them.
Ian Mulgrew claims to be a Vancouver Sun reporter.
Source: http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=140623
---
Canadian Television: 9-11 Overview by Vision TV, Bush / CIA Complicity in 9-11:
http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/mayday/mediafile.ram
"SMOKING GUN" D.o.D. VISUAL EVIDENCE
http://www.thepowerhour.com/pentgallery/FrameSet.htm
Go to 47th picture:pentani.ipg
51st picture labeled pentvid1
BOSANKOE ENLARGEMENT:
http://www.bosankoe.btinternet.co.uk/pentagon.gif
SERENDIPITY EXPOSE ON 9-11
http://serendipity.magnet.ch/wtc.html#other_docs
"NO-PLANE" (FRENCH) THESIS IS "FALSE-TRAIL" DISINFO -- IT WAS A "SMALL PLANE" (F-16)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/apfn/message/25013
BEST 911 Investigation sites:
http://www.attackonamerica.net
http://www.mycountryrightorwrong.net
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/wtc.htm
http://www.bighula.com/copvcia/ (mirror of above)
http://www.skolnicksreport.com
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/
http://www.bosankoe.btinternet.co.uk
http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/tradecencrimes/
http://www.infowars.com/resources.html
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/
http://www.humanunderground.com
4/17/02
4:34:00 PM
We Bought and Paid For Carnage Of Palestinians
by Robert Jensen, Houston Chronicle, April 9, 2002
I helped kill a Palestinian today.
If you pay taxes to the U.S. government, so did you.
And unless the policies of the U.S. government change, tomorrow will be no different.
It is easy for Americans to decry the "cycle of violence" in Palestine, but until we acknowledge our own part in that violence, there is little hope for a just peace in Palestine or the Middle East.
The first step is to abandon the mythology that the United States is a "neutral broker for peace" in the conflict. A new report by the Institute for Southern Studies shows that in the one-year period after the Sharm el-Sheikh peace agreement in September 1999, the U.S. government pumped $3.6 billion worth of arms into Israel -- an odd policy for a country playing a supposedly neutral role.
So, when we hear on the news that Israeli tanks are rolling through the cities and refugee camps of the West Bank, we should remember those tanks were made in the United States and purchased by Israel with U.S. aid. The Israeli jets and helicopters used in the assault are American F-16s, Blackhawks and Apaches. Machine guns, grenade launchers, missiles and bombs -- made in the USA, paid for with our tax dollars -- are being used to crush the Palestinian people. That means we must face two realities:
First, the current Israeli attack on West Bank towns is not a war on terrorism, but part of a long and brutal war against the Palestinian people for land and resources. If Israel is serious about ending terrorism, it would end its 35-year illegal military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Until it demonstrates a willingness to do that, Israeli calls for peace ring hollow and its attempts to achieve security through force will only make it less secure.
Second, Israel's war against the Palestinians would not be possible without U.S. military and economic support -- $3 billion a year in direct aid. While the whole world stands against Israel's occupation, our government provides the political and diplomatic cover that allows Israel to flout international law. Specific Israeli policies sometimes draw mild criticisms from U.S. leaders, and those criticisms have grown stronger in recent days as Israel has ignored calls for a pullback of forces. But Israel can continue to ignore the international consensus -- and the U.N. Security Council resolutions calling on it to end the occupation -- because of U.S. support.
U.S. officials recently have distanced themselves from the extreme violence of the Sharon government and the Likud Party, but it is folly to think all would be fine if only a Labor Party government were in power. The differences between the two major parties in Israel are more of style than substance. Take the question of settlements in the occupied territories.
We are told repeatedly that Israel desperately wants peace. If that is true, why has the number of Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and Gaza almost doubled since the Oslo peace process began nearly a decade ago? Given that those settlements are one of the most serious obstacles to a peaceful solution, why would the Israeli governments -- Labor and Likud alike -- expand settlements in territory it illegally occupies during a so-called peace process?
The ultimate solution to the conflict in the Middle East is a regional peace conference under an international banner that takes seriously international law. There must be regional arms control, which should be part of a movement to reduce the insane levels of armaments globally (of which the United States is the leading salesperson). The most important contribution the United States could make is to stop blocking that process.
But right now, the United States can help defuse the immediate crisis by using the leverage its aid to Israel provides. We the American people should pressure our government to make a clear statement: Israel must not only end its current brutal offensive but also must take meaningful steps to end the occupation, and the United States must withdraw support from Israel until it agrees to do so.
If we fail to do that, then we cannot escape the knowledge that Americans are partly responsible for the next missile fired into a Palestinian town, the next shell lobbed into a Palestinian home, the next Israeli bullet that cuts down an innocent Palestinian.
Robert Jensen is a professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, a member of the Nowar Collective, and author of the book Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream. His pamphlet, "Citizens of the Empire," is available at
http://www.nowarcollective.com/citizensoftheempire.pdf
Other writings are available online at
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/freelance/freelance.htm
He can be reached at mailto:rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu
4/17/02
4:09:12 PM
A Way Out
April 1, 2002
Every foreign military invasion has a pre-defined end called withdrawal. The hideous Israeli incursion of internationally recognized Palestinian territories is no exception. Every military operation has a defined political goal, yet Sharon seems to be keeping this a secret from his cabinet, the Israeli people, indeed, the world.
Tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, Israel will need to decide to which border they will withdraw their troops. Israel can choose to move back to one of the hundreds of its self-defined 'security' borders, or they can, once and for all, choose to end the never-ending spiral of violence by finally implementing UN resolutions and withdrawing back to the June 4, 1967 borders, thus closing one chapter of its senseless military occupation.
The infamous Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, knows this very well and he also knows that his time is limited in rampaging Palestinian cities, institutions and lives. The fact of the matter is that US-armed Israel can occupy, and re-occupy Palestinian lands over and over, and under any media slogan that fits the times, but will never rid itself of the legitimate Palestinian resistance to end the illegal Israeli occupation that has haunted it and the world for 37 years now.
Palestinians went to Madrid, Oslo, Camp David and Taba and extended the greatest concession ever voluntarily made by an indigenous people -- to relinquish 78% of their ancestral homeland so Jews around the world could fulfill their own dream of a homeland. In return, the world community expected the Israeli occupiers to dismantle its illegal occupation on the 22% of Palestinian lands that remained, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. What Palestinians received instead was a package of Israeli aggression like never before.
Israeli policy makers have become blinded by the suicide bombings to the point that they cannot comprehend that their own, home-made, military occupation of Palestinian lands is generating, not only suicide bombers, but a united community that is increasingly feeling that any future co-existence may be impossible given the deafening silence of the Israeli public-opinion toward the continuing occupation. Suicide bombings are totally immoral and serve no strategic goal, but have been totally successful in feeding into the political plans of maniac military professionals like Ariel Sharon and Shimon Peres.
Well-oiled public relation campaigns are emanating from Washington and Tel Aviv to portray the Palestinian victim as the rapist and the Israeli rapist as a poor soul with a dire need for a security fix. In spite of this, Palestinians are going out of their way to facilitate the entry of Israel into the Middle East as an equal, legitimate entity and a partner for the future. Now with the Arab League offer for normalization with Israel if UN resolutions are implemented, the Arab World too, as a whole, is giving Israel a respectable way out as well. Unfortunately, Sharon and Peres are missing this once in a lifetime opportunity and would rather turn every single Palestinian citizens life upside down hoping for mass submission, which will never come.
History will judge the Palestinian leadership on its political wisdom, but Israel cannot wait for history. Israel must choose today between peace on internationally recognized terms with the dispossessed indigenous people of their State or face another half-century of isolation with the backdrop of a rapidly encroaching demographics dilemma.
For our part, we as two citizens of this troubled region, offer President Bush and his Administration, a history book of Palestine and the Palestinians. For the Palestinian and Israeli leaderships, their part starts with an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders and a Palestinian commitment to remain committed -- which Mr. Arafat amazingly still is even under gunfire -- to resolving the remaining issues of refugees, settlements, and security in a new and improved peace process.
Today, we write not as colleagues, but as a Palestinian living under Israeli attack, a few hundred meters from Arafat's compound, and an Israeli, living a few hundred meters from one of the latest suicide bombings.
There is a way out.
Source: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12746
4/17/02
4:06:49 PM
Cynthia McKinney accuses Bush on 9-11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34565-2002Apr11.html
AUSTRALIAN MAINSTREAM PRESS BREAKS 9-11 FRAUD STORY:
http://smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/08/1017206313833.html
A CALL TO ACTION TO PREVENT THE WEAPONIZATION OF SPACE Get the whole Call from "Doreen Agostino" <dagostino@rogers.com>
See also http://www.peaceinspace.com
APFN - OPERATION 911 COUP AND COVERUP UPDATE
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=23058
The Propaganda Matrix - Exposing the New World Order and the Illuminati
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/thepropagandamatrix.html
THE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVES (Astoundingly comprehensive!)
http://www.geocities.com/anitaalittle/archiveprior_knowledge.html
9-11: What Did They Know and When Did They Know It?
http://makethemaccountable.com/whatwhen/index.htm
FDA approves implantable microchips for ID purposes (April 4)
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,51575,00.html
"Privacy advocates are also concerned about the chip's involuntary implantation or the possibility of using the technology to track government dissidents in the future."
See John Rappoport's Perspective on 9-11 and Sharon's war
http://www.nomorefakenews.com - Search with MONDAY, APRIL 8
To the courageous soldiers who say NO!
The Courage to Refuse
http://www.couragetorefuse.org
World court now a reality
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=23498
Sneak preview of world court
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=23495
ANIMATION WITH GRAPHIC PICTURES ILLUSTRATING THE POP QUIZ ON THE MIDDLE EAST
http://humanityonhold.com/intifada.html
Global Eye -- Mud Pack (Feb 15)
"Bush is a war profiteer on a vast, historic scale, a man with only one animating principle: the aggrandizement of his own pampered self and his elitist clique. This greed compromises every action taken by his regime -- because they all result in profits for his gang. Another example: Bush puts U.S. bases in Central Asia; Dick Cheney's Halliburton gets the construction contracts; Daddy's Carlyle Group supplies the weaponry; Dub's buds in the oil bidness get protection for their new pipelines."
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/02/15/120.html
4/17/02
4:03:12 PM
BRAIN CENTER SEARCHES FOR PATTERNS
Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered the brain region that automatically watches for patterns in sequences of events, even when the pattern emerges by random happenstance
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020408075734.htm
CHIP DESIGN HAS POTENTIAL AS ARTIFICIAL RETINA
A new type of analog processor that is compact while offering extremely fast computations for image processing could possibly lead to the creation of an artificial eye that has the potential to replace damaged human retinas, offering sight to the blind if the chip works as planned.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020408075854.htm
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI CHEMIST'S "LIGHT TOUCH" IS HEAVY DUTY HELP
UC chemist William Connick has found a way to get a single particle of light - one photon - to do twice the expected amount of work.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020402073922.htm
IMMUNE SYSTEM TURNED OFF DURING HIBERNATION IN SQUIRRELS
The immune system of ground squirrels essentially shuts down when the animals go into hibernation each winter, according to a new study. When scientists injected hibernating squirrels with a pseudo-bacteria that would normally provoke an immune response, they were surprised what they found: the squirrels didn't react at all.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020402074547.htm
RADAR PUSHES LIMITS OF ASTEROID IMPACT PREDICTION
Applying unprecedented refinements to the analysis of celestial hazards, NASA astronomers have identified a potential close encounter with Earth more than eight centuries in the future by an asteroid two-thirds of a mile (one kilometer) wide.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020408075130.htm
POLYPHENOLS IN TEA MAY REDUCE RISK OF STOMACH, ESOPHAGUS CANCERS
People who drink tea may be doing more than soothing a weary stomachthey might be preventing cancer, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and colleagues.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020409073717.htm
SCRIPPS SCIENTISTS FIND "IGNORED" SPECIES PLAY KEY ROLE IN ECOSYSTEM INTERACTIONS
New research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, has shown that in nature, size may not necessarily matter as much as we think. Scripps scientists Enric Sala and Michael Graham have produced a new study showing that so-called "intermediate" players in natural communities can often have as much and greater impacts than larger species.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020409074427.htm
OPTICAL SCIENTIST CREATES INKJET PRINTED LIGHT-EMITTING DEVICES
University of Arizona scientists are developing a new inkjet printing process that produces such light-emitting devices as pictures and such photovoltaic devices as solar cells from digitized images on a computer.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020402080207.htm
ASYMMETRICAL BIRDS MAY SOON BE AT-RISK
If conservationists could foretell the future, they'd want to know which animal populations are about to decline. New research shows that monitoring for subtle asymmetries -- such as differences in bone length in the right and left feet -- may do the trick in birds.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020402072927.htm
IMPACT EVENTS' KINETIC ENERGY MAY BE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE SEVERITY OF MASS EXTINCTIONS
The kinetic energy created by asteroid and comet impacts with the Earth may be key to linking some impacts with mass extinction events. Michael Lucas, a geology student at Florida Gulf Coast University, believes that the severity of four extinction events during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic can be correlated with the total kinetic energy released by impacts that occur during the geologic age of the mass extinction
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020409074322.htm
THINNER MATERIALS IMPROVE FLEXIBLE SOLAR CELLS, FLAT PANEL DISPLAYS
Virginia Tech researchers' ability to create films in one-nanometer-thick layers is bringing flexible solar cells closer to reality, and has resulted in a thin film that can be changed from transparent to deep violet and back as rapidly as 20 times per second.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020410075934.htm
MEXICAN RESERVES FAIL TO PROTECT MONARCH BUTTERFLIES
Despite decades of legal protection, the billion or so monarch butterflies that overwinter in Mexico are losing the cloudbelt forests they depend on. New research shows that logging in these forests has actually increased and, if unchecked, will destroy most of the monarch's overwintering habitat within decades.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020402072832.htm
HONEY THE DARKER THE BETTER HAS POTENTIAL AS DIETARY ANTIOXIDANT
Two new University of Illinois studies are sweet news to honey lovers. One shows that honeys antioxidant qualities preserve meat without compromising taste. A just-published study says that honey at least based on work done on human blood in the lab slows the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), a process that leads to atherosclerotic plaque deposition.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020409073427.htm
HYDROGEN-FED BACTERIA MAY EXIST BEYOND EARTH
Primitive bacteria exist in huge numbers deep in the Earth, living on hydrogen gas produced in rocks, a NASA scientist reports in the spring issue of the journal Astrobiology.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020411071455.htm
STANFORD RESEARCHER'S UNCOMMON APPROACH TO COMMON COLD FIGHTS CANCER
Researchers at Stanford University Medical Center have been spreading colds to cancer patients, all in the hope of curing a deadly disease. In the unusual technique, doctors inject a modified cold virus into the liver as a way to kill cancerous cells.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020410080154.htm
TROPICAL STREAMS, RIVERS "EXHALING" MILLIONS OF TONS MORE CO2 THAN THOUGHT
U.S. and Brazilian researchers say the amount of carbon dioxide coming off streams, rivers and flooded areas of the worlds tropical forests is triple that of some currently accepted estimates, meaning such forests arent the carbon sponges some scientists believe.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020411072057.htm
PRESCRIPTION DRUG POLLUTION MAY HARM HUMANS, AQUATIC LIFE
The millions of doses of prescription drugs that Americans swallow annually to combat cancer, pain, depression and other ailments do not disappear harmlessly into their digestive systems, researchers have determined, but instead make their way back into the environment where they may contaminate drinking water and pose a threat to aquatic wildlife.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020411072306.htm
NASA'S MARSHALL CENTER TESTS NEW BREED OF AUXILIARY PROPULSION FOR SPACE LAUNCH INITIATIVE
Engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., have begun a series of engine tests on a new breed of space propulsion: a Reaction Control Engine developed for the Space Launch Initiative (SLI) a technology development effort to establish reliable, affordable space access.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020403030320.htm
COLLEGE DRINKING PROBLEMS AND RESEARCH SOLUTIONS
The consequences of college drinking are larger and more destructive than commonly realized, according to a new study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020411072522.htm
ULTRASOUND CLEANS CERAMIC FILTERS: COULD AID WATER TREATMENT
Engineers at Ohio State University have discovered how to clean high-tech ceramic water filters at low cost with ultrasound. Though early in its development, this technology may one day enable water treatment plants to purify water with ceramic membrane filters instead of harsh chemicals.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020411071737.htm
CATERPILLAR SALIVA BEATS PLANT DEFENSES
A common substance produced by fungi and other organisms has been found in the saliva of caterpillars and helps to suppress the toxins that plants produce when chewed on by insects, according to a team of entomologists.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020411071949.htm
RESEARCHERS UNCOVER BRAIN PATTERNS THAT DIFFERENTIATE HUMANS FROM CHIMPANZEES
A team of international researchers from Germany, the Netherlands and San Diego may have shed light on why chimps and humans are so genetically similar (nearly 99 percent of shared DNA sequences), and yet so mentally different.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020412080048.htm
RADAR REVEALS FIVE DOUBLE ASTEROID SYSTEMS ORBITING EACH OTHER NEAR EARTH, LIKELY FORMED IN CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH PLANET
Binary asteroids -- two rocky objects orbiting about one another -- appear to be common in Earth-crossing orbits, astronomers using the world's two most powerful astronomical radar telescopes report. And it is probable, they say, that these double asteroid systems have been formed as a result of gravitational effects during close encounters with at least two of the inner planets, including Earth.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020412075804.htm
CHEMISTS DISCOVER MOLECULE CONSIDERED TOO UNSTABLE TO EXIST
Organic chemistry textbooks will need to be revised to recognize a chemical species that chemists have discovered at Northwestern University. The species pentamethylcyclopentadienyl cation was thought not to exist for long because theory said it was unstable.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020412074739.htm
FATTY ACID FROM FISH OIL FIGHTS ARRHYTHMIAS, SUDDEN DEATH
Daily supplements of a fatty acid found in fish oil halves the risk of sudden death in heart attack survivors, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020412081202.htm
MAGNETIC FLUIDS OFFER HOPE FOR DAMAGED RETINAS
Researchers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg are developing injectable magnetic fluids to repair torn or detached retinas a technique they believe could help prevent blindness in thousands.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020412080321.htm
RESEARCHERS PROJECT FUTURE SHRINKING BIODIVERSITY OF MEXICAN SPECIES
The effect of Earth's changing climate -- due to warming from so-called greenhouse gases and other factors -- on natural ecosystems may be felt by species most at risk for reduced range or even extinction. A team of researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with the University of Kansas Natural History Museum and other institutions has reported on the first analysis of the potential impacts of climate change on species in an entire country, Mexico.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020412075359.htm
RICE RESEARCH YIELDS "DESIGNER" CARBON NANOTUBESL ADDITION OF FLUORINE OPENS DOOR TO HUNDREDS OF NANOTUBE DERIVATIVES
Researchers at Rice University say fluorine -- the most reactive element in nature -- could prove to be a key in unlocking the potential of carbon nanotubes and other carbon nanostructures.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020412081030.htm
4/16/02
10:37:20 PM
Bush Officials Met With Venezuelans Who Ousted Leader
by Christopher Marquis, The New York Times, April 16, 2002
WASHINGTON, April 15 — Senior members of the Bush administration met several times in recent months with leaders of a coalition that ousted the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, for two days last weekend, and agreed with them that he should be removed from office, administration officials said today.
But administration officials gave conflicting accounts of what the United States told those opponents of Mr. Chávez about acceptable ways of ousting him.
One senior official involved in the discussions insisted that the Venezuelans use constitutional means, like a referendum, to effect an overthrow.
"They came here to complain," the official said, referring to the anti-Chávez group. "Our message was very clear: there are constitutional processes. We did not even wink at anyone."
But a Defense Department official who is involved in the development of policy toward Venezuela said the administration's message was less categorical.
"We were not discouraging people," the official said. "We were sending informal, subtle signals that we don't like this guy. We didn't say, `No, don't you dare,' and we weren't advocates saying, `Here's some arms; we'll help you overthrow this guy.' We were not doing that."
The disclosures come as rights advocates, Latin American diplomats and others accuse the administration of having turned a blind eye to coup plotting activities, or even encouraged the people who temporarily removed Mr. Chávez. Such actions would place the United States at odds with its fellow members of the Organization of American States, whose charter condemns the overthrow of democratically elected governments.
In the immediate aftermath of the ouster, the White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer (news - web sites), suggested that the administration was pleased that Mr. Chávez was gone. "The government suppressed what was a peaceful demonstration of the people," Mr. Fleischer said, which "led very quickly to a combustible situation in which Chávez resigned."
That statement contrasted with a clear stand by other nations in the hemisphere, which all condemned the removal of a democratically elected leader.
Mr. Chávez has made himself very unpopular with the Bush administration with his pro-Cuban stance and mouthing of revolutionary slogans — and, most recently, by threatening the independence of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, the third-largest foreign supplier of American oil.
Whether or not the administration knew about the pending action against Mr. Chávez, critics note that it was slow to condemn the overthrow and that it still refuses to acknowledge that a coup even took place.
One result, according to the critics, is that in its zeal to rid itself of Mr. Chávez, the administration has damaged its credibility as a chief defender of democratically elected governments. And even though they deny having encouraged Mr. Chávez's ouster, administration officials did not hide their dismay at his restora tion.
Asked whether the administration now recognizes Mr. Chávez as Venezuela's legitimate president, one administration official replied, "He was democratically elected," then added, "Legitimacy is something that is conferred not just by a majority of the voters, however."
A senior administration official said today that the anti-Chávez group had not asked for American backing and that none had been offered. Still, one American diplomat said, Mr. Chávez was so distressed by his opponents' lobbying in Washington that he sent officials from his government to plead his case there.
Mr. Chávez returned to power on Sunday, after two days. The Bush administration swiftly laid the blame for the episode on him, pointing out that troops loyal to him had fired on unarmed civilians and wounded more than 100 demonstrators.
Mr. Fleischer, the White House spokesman, stuck to that approach today, saying Mr. Chávez should heed the message of his opponents and reach out to "all the democratic forces in Venezuela."
"The people of Venezuela have sent a clear message to President Chávez that they want both democracy and reform," he said. "The Chávez administration has an opportunity to respond to this message by correcting its course and governing in a fully democratic manner."
On Sunday, President Bush (news - web sites)'s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites), expressed hopes that Mr. Chávez would deal with his opponents in a less "highhanded fashion."
But to some critics, it was the Bush administration that had displayed arrogance in initially bucking the tide of international condemnation of the action against Mr. Chavez, who was democratically elected in 1998.
Arturo Valenzuela, the Latin America national security aide in the Clinton administration, accused the Bush administration of running roughshod over more than a decade of treaties and agreements for the collective defense of democracy. Since 1990, the United States has repeatedly invoked those agreements at the Organization of American States to help restore democratic rule in such countries as Haiti, Guatemala and Peru.
Mr. Valenzuela, who now heads the Latin American studies department at Georgetown University here, warned that the nations in the region might view the administration's tepid support of Venezuelan democracy as a green light to return to 1960's and 1970's, when power was transferred from coup to coup.
"I think it's a very negative development for the principle of constitutional government in Latin America," Mr. Valenzuela said. "I think it's going to come back and haunt all of us."
Administration officials insist that they are firmly behind efforts at the Organization of American States to determine what happened in Venezuela and restore democratic rule. The secretary general of the O.A.S., César Gaviria, left today for Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, and the organization is scheduled to meet in Washington on Thursday.
Still, critics say, there were several signs that the administration was too quick to rally around the businessman Pedro Carmona Estanga as Mr. Chávez's successor.
One Democratic foreign policy aide complained that the administration, in phone calls to Congress on Friday, reported that Mr. Chávez had resigned, even though officials now concede that they had no evidence of that.
And on Saturday, the administration supported an O.A.S. resolution condemning "the alteration of constitutional order in Venezuela" only after learning that Mr. Chávez had regained control, Latin American diplomats said.
One official said political hard-liners in the administration might have "gone overboard" in proclaiming Mr. Chávez's ouster before the dust settled.
The official said there were competing impulses within the administration, signaling a disagreement on the extent of trouble posed by Mr. Chávez, who has thumbed his nose at American officials by maintaining ties with Cuba, Libya and Iraq.
Source: http://www.NYTimes.com
4/16/02
10:31:41 PM
US Denies Backing Chavez Plotters
Chavez has again locked horns with the US The Bush administration has denied encouraging the ousting of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The statement follows reports in the American press indicating that US officials had met opponents of Mr Chavez.
A White House spokesman said on Tuesday that officials had met Venezuelan opposition leaders but had told them they would not support a coup.
Mr Chavez was reinstated on Sunday amid big street protests by his supporters against the military coup which removed him from power last week.
The US State Department has now told the BBC that they are withdrawing all non-essential diplomats and their dependents from the country, as well as warning Americans to avoid travelling there.
The spokeswoman said the order was a precautionary move, amid fears of renewed political violence.
The warning says Venezuela is currently a "volatile and unpredictable" country for Americans to visit.
The United States has withheld support for Mr Chavez, saying his return to power does not amount to a full restoration of Venezuelan democracy.
'Keep it constitutional'
Controversy surrounds the meetings held between the Bush administration and opposition leaders in Venezuela.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "Our message has been consistent. The political situation in Venezuela is one for the Venezuelans to resolve peacefully, democratically and constitutionally."
One unidentified senior official quoted by the New York Times said that members of the Bush administration had met an anti-Chavez group several times in recent months, but the US had insisted the Venezuelans use constitutional means to remove Mr Chavez.
"They came here to complain," the official said.
"Our message was very clear: there are constitutional processes. We did not even wink at anyone."
But a Defense Department official said the administration's message was less categorical.
"We were not discouraging people," the official said. "We were sending informal, subtle signals that we don't like this guy. We didn't say, 'No, don't you dare,' and we weren't advocates saying, 'Here's some arms; we'll help you overthrow this guy.' We were not doing that."
US Plane Probe
Mr Chavez has called for national unity and on Monday announced talks on the way forward with state governors and local mayors, including those from the opposition.
The planned meeting will name a reconciliation committee to give voice to opposition concerns.
However, there appears to be no sign of reconciliation with the US on the part of Mr Chavez.
He says a plane with US registration numbers was at an army airstrip on Venezuela's Orchila Island, one of five places he was held in captivity during his brief removal from power.
Mr Chavez has also upset the Bush administration by announcing that Venezuela -the world's fourth largest oil producer - will continue supplying oil to Cuba.
The interim government which briefly replaced Mr Chavez had decided to suspend the exports.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1933000/1933526.stm
4/16/02
10:27:00 PM
After The coup, Venezuelan President Ponders Mystery Of American Plane
Reuters in Caracas Tuesday April 16, 2002 The Guardian
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said yesterday he would investigate the mysterious presence of a US plane at the island prison where he was briefly detained during last week's abortive military coup.
The military high command took Mr Chavez and demanded his resignation last Friday, blaming him for the deaths of at least 11 unarmed protesters killed during a massive anti-government demonstration on Thursday.
But power slipped from the inexperienced grasp of a newly appointed civilian government over the weekend as Chavez supporters demanded his return and army units came out in favour of the colourful president.
Mr Chavez said he was fascinated by the presence of a plane with US markings on the Venezuelan Caribbean island of Orchila where he was held after Friday's coup. At the time the military were trying to persuade him to resign and fly into foreign exile.
"I saw the plane. It bore the markings of a private plane from the United States, not an official plane. This is being investigated. What was it doing there?" Mr Chavez asked at a news conference.
But Mr Chavez, who was democratically elected in 1998, said he was prepared to give Washington the benefit of the doubt over its ambiguous statements appearing to welcome his shortlived downfall.
"I think they were victims of misinformation," he said, adding that he guaranteed no interruption of Venezuelan oil supplies to the US.
American officials made it known they were not unhappy to see the back of Mr Chavez, a close friend of Cuba's Fidel Castro who is fond of anti-American rhetoric. They greeted his swift return to the helm of the world's fourth-largest oil exporter with reservation.
A US state department spokesman, Philip Reeker, said yesterday: "We want to see a return to democracy."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,685189,00.html
4/16/02
7:23:40 PM
TV news biased against Palestinians, says study
Matt Wells, media correspondent Tuesday April 16, 2002 The Guardian
British television news is routinely biased towards the Israeli view of the conflict, according to academic research.
As a result of lobbying by the Israeli government's public relations machine and the difficulties of explaining a complex story in ratings-driven bulletins, few people can understand the roots of the story, the Glasgow Media Group suggest.
Young people in particular are unaware of key elements of the conflict. In a sample of 300 questioned by the researchers, only 9% knew that Israel was the occupying force.
When the intifada began in 2000, a team led by Professor Greg Philo of Glasgow University examined 3,536 lines of text transcribed from 89 news bulletins. Only 17 lines were devoted to the conflict's history.
Consequently, he said, the Israeli side was favoured, because attacks were portrayed as responses to Palestinian acts.
Writing in today's Guardian, he adds: "A news journalism which seeks neutrality should not endorse any point of view, but there were many departures from this principle."
The broadcasters deny bias. Roger Mosey, BBC head of television news, said: "I don't believe there's any institutional bias towards one side or other in the Middle East conflict."
ITN said: "We've been covering this conflict fairly and impartially for more than half a century. We are not in the business of providing a daily history lesson."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,685042,00.html
4/16/02
7:22:03 PM
Public Citizen
Opponents of Yucca Mountain Nuclear Dump Rally in Washington
Representatives of More Than 100 State-Based Organizations Join Lawmakers, National Organizations Urging Congress to Sustain Nevada "Veto"
WASHINGTON, D.C. - More than 100 representatives of state-based environmental, disarmament and public interest groups joined members of Congress, national organizations and District of Columbia residents at a rally on Capitol Hill today, urging Congress to reject the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear dump.
"This proposal threatens the health, safety and environment of Americans nationwide, not just in Nevada," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. "We urge Congress to stand up for public health and the environment by voting 'no' on this dangerous plan."
Speakers raised concerns about the safety of nuclear waste transportation. Tens of thousands of deadly nuclear shipments would travel on the roads, rails and waterways of 44 states and the District of Columbia en route to Yucca Mountain if dump program moves forward.
"This risky transportation scheme cannot be justified," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. "Nuclear waste transportation casks have not been properly tested to ensure they won't release radiation in a crash. A serious accident or terrorist attack could be catastrophic."
Behind the crowd at today's event loomed a full-sized inflatable model of a nuclear waste transportation canister. Participants held signs that read "Stop Yucca Trucks" and depicted highway signs of routes identified by the Department of Energy (DOE) as likely nuclear waste shipment thoroughfares.
In February, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recommended that 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste from commercial nuclear power plants and U.S. Department of Energy weapons facilities be buried at Yucca Mountain, about 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nev. Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn issued a Notice of Disapproval on April 9, effectively vetoing the plan. Congress could override Nevada's veto with a majority vote in both Houses. A vote is expected in the coming months.
Anna Aurilio, legislative director for U.S. Public Interest Research Group, announced the release of a new television advertisement opposing Yucca Mountain nuclear shipments, which will begin running today in Vermont.
Other speakers at today's event included U.S. Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.); U.S. Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) and Jim Gibbons (R-Nev); Martin Butcher, director of Physicians for Social Responsibility's Security and Nuclear Program; Chris Townsend, political action director for United Electrical Workers; Gerald Pollet, director of Heart of America Northwest (Seattle, Wash.); and Chris Williams, executive director of Citizen Action Coalition of Indiana.
Participants were to meet with senators and Senate staffers today.
April 16, 2002
Congress Should Block Nuclear Industry, Stop Yucca Mountain Nuclear Dump Plan
Statement of Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook
We are here today because of the efforts of one very powerful and wealthy special interest lobby - the nuclear industry. Its drive to push this ill-conceived and potentially catastrophic plan through the government as quickly as possible is based on an old premise that highway builders and other government contractors often rely on. That premise is that once a project as enormous as this gets going, it's hard to stop. But Congress should stop the Yucca Mountain plan, and stop it now, before more investments are made.
The idea to put a nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain is phenomenally irresponsible. Yucca Mountain is located in a seismically active area. It lies atop a drinking water aquifer. Government scientists admit they cannot say whether or how nuclear waste would be safely contained. Nor can they guarantee that this waste could be transported safely. There are a host of unanswered questions, yet still, the industry is pressing ahead, and federal agencies are compliantly going along.
The Yucca Mountain plan calls for highly radioactive waste now stored at nuclear plants and government weapons facilities to be shipped by truck or train through 44 states and the District of Columbia. We're talking about 100,000 shipments, possibly going through a neighborhood near you. What many lawmakers ignore is that no one is adequately prepared to deal with an accident or terrorist attack involving this deadly waste. Not police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians or communities. And certainly not the public.
The Department of Energy has a long record of investing in wasteful ventures that cost taxpayers billions. Yucca Mountain, if approved, would be another costly disaster to add to the list. It is time for Congress to put public safety over politics and pull the plug on Yucca Mountain. The nuclear industry should not be permitted to use campaign contributions and lobbying clout to buy disastrous public policy.
A vote by any member of Congress for the Yucca Mountain dump would be a vote for the reckless disregard of the public. Congress must decisively reject this foolhardy plan and start talking about real solutions to our nuclear waste problem.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit http://www.citizen.org
4/16/02
7:20:00 PM
Israel Under hack attack
Cyber-war mirrors conflicts in the offline world Israel has been suffering a barrage of hack attacks since the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000.
According to security firm mi2g, the Israeli domain .il has been the biggest victim of web defacements over the past three years, suffering 548 of the 1,295 attacks in the Middle East.
As violence escalates in the region, cyber attacks on Israel are also on the rise.
In the past 14 days, Israel has suffered about two-thirds of the significant web defacements in the Middle East.
Online threats
The most active anti-Israeli hacker group claims to be Egyptian and started its activities just weeks after 11 September.
Cyber warfare can be used as a barometer for political tensions around the world, said mi2g Chief Executive, DK Matai.
"The tense situation in the Middle East is reflected in both covert and overt hack attacks," he said.
Israel is vulnerable not just because of its action against the Palestinian Authority, but also because it has the largest number of internet connections in the Middle East.
Israel has 2.4 million net connections, more than any of the 22 Arab countries.
Attacks on infrastructure?
So far hacktivism has been limited to web defacements and denial of service attacks. This is where a web server is bombarded with messages causing it to fall over.
It is possible for the political hackers to intensify their campaign, said Peter Sommer, senior fellow at the Computer Security Research Centre at the London School of Economics.
"It is entirely feasible to mount an attack on critical national infrastructure," he said.
"From a pro-Arab point of view it would be far more effective than sending in a suicide bomber."
Cyber-politics
Hacktivism is a growing problem on the internet as activists utilise the web to get across their political messages.
One of the most prolific hacktivists is a group of Pakistani hackers calling themselves GForce Pakistan.
Soon after the 11 September, the group defaced a server belonging to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency.
It also threatened to target US and British military sites unless the US withdrew from Saudi Arabia and ended its bombing campaign in Afghanistan.
Similar attacks were seen during the Serbian conflict, the US-China spy plane incident in April 2001 and the China-Taiwan standoff in August 1999.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1932000/1932750.stm
4/16/02
7:15:57 PM
McKinney Mouths Off
by Gabrielle Banks, AlterNet, April 15, 2002
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney seems to have triggered a raw nerve among lawmakers with her recent suggestion on a Berkeley radio station that Congress should investigate whether the Bush Administration had prior knowledge of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. McKinney (D-Georgia) alleged that President Bush might have been protecting the interests of the Carlyle Group, an investment firm where George Bush, Sr., is a board member.
"Instead of congress investigating what went wrong, President Bush placed a phone call to Majority leader Tom Daschle asking him not to investigate the events of Sept 11th. And hot on the heels of the president's phone call was another phone call from the vice president asking that Tom Daschle not investigate," McKinney told Flashpoints host Dennis Bernstein. "My question is what do they have to hide?"
McKinney quoted a Los Angeles Times report that on a single day in 2001 the Carlyle group had earned $237 million selling shares in United Defense Industries, the Army's fifth largest contractor. Bush's admonition to Daschle is all the more suspicious, she went on to say, because "The Carlyle officials say they decided to take the company public only after the September 11th attacks."
From the uproar provoked by McKinney's remarks, you might think conspiracy theory had made a madcap escape from the dark corners of the Internet into hallowed halls of congress. McKinney's allegation drew fierce criticism and outright mockery from the media and several prominent national figures. The Washington Post quoted Carlyle Group spokesman Chris Ullman, "Did she say these things while standing on a grassy knoll in Rosewell, New Mexico?" White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher also cast McKinney upon the proverbial green mound of Kennedy conspiracy legend. "All I can tell you is the congresswoman must be running for the hall of fame of the Grassy Knoll Society."
Senator Zell Miller, a fellow Georgia Democrat, issued a scathing response to McKinney's remarks. Apparently Miller felt his reputation as a Democrat, perhaps even as an American, was on the line. "It would be easy to pass this off as just another loony statement. But at second glance, it is more than that. It is very dangerous and irresponsible."
But McKinney's statement has struck a welcome chord with the man on the street-or some of them anyway. While lawmakers pushed their way to the podium to submit indictments of the congresswoman, aides at McKinney's office said they've entertained a barrage of calls from enthusiastic constituents. On Friday, McKinney issued a response to critics and supporters clarifying that she has no knowledge of any impropriety on the part of the Bush Administration and arguing, in essence, that there is nothing so radical about requesting an investigation.
"We hold thorough public inquiries into rail disasters, plane crashes, and even natural disasters in order to understand what happened and to prevent them from happening again or minimizing the tragic effects when they do. Why then does the Administration remain steadfast in its opposition to an investigation into the biggest terrorism attack upon our nation?"
Whether or not there are sufficient grounds to warrant an investigation into negligence or wrongdoing among White House staffers, post-September 11th congressional culture clearly offers no room for deviation from the pack. Congresswoman McKinney's initial remarks on Flashpoints indicate she is still mourning the theft of the 2001 presidential election in Florida, a sentiment that is no longer tolerable these days. In the aftermath of the Trade Center tragedy, any criticism of the Bush Administration is frowned upon. You're for the war or you're un-American. You support racial profiling or you support the terrorists. And somehow, after all those troublesome Supreme Court squabbles, the flag no longer has anything to do with free speech.
Perhaps she aimed a bit far with her accusations. Perhaps she her suspicions are unfounded. But the impulse to question is quintessentially American. We're all innocent until proven guilty. There's no harm in questioning our leaders. After all, we elected them. Didn't we?
Gabrielle Banks is a senior editor at http://www.AlterNet.org
4/16/02
7:11:23 PM
More than a decade after the United States and Russia saw the Cold War come to an end, tens of thousands of nuclear weapons and hundreds of tons of nuclear material still exist in the former Soviet Union. Today, the greatest threat to American security is not a nuclear war between super powers but a surprise nuclear attack by terrorists using nuclear materials, weapons or expertise stolen from Russia.
In the next few weeks, a House-Senate conference committee will take up the Debt Reduction for Non-Proliferation Act as part of the Security Assistance Act of 2001 (S.1803). Sponsored by Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), this program would forgive a portion of Russia's debt to the United States if Moscow will secure, account for, and neutralize its excess nuclear weapons and fissile materials, and find peaceful employment for former weapons scientists.
If implemented, the "debt for security" provisions of S. 1803 would help ensure that dangerous weapons, materials, and expertise do not fall into the hands of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, or states like Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
Your help is needed to ensure that this important measure is enacted into law! Send a fax to your Members of Congress about supporting the Debt-Reduction-for-Non-Proliferation Act of 2001 by clicking on the button/link below or visiting
4/16/02
7:09:03 PM
TomPaine.com!
"Independent, commercial-free, public affairs reporting."
ANOTHER TOOL AGAINST TERRORISM: FAMILY PLANNING
The Connection Between High Birth Rates And Violence
by Malcolm Potts
The societies most likely to spawn terrorism have this in common: high birth rates, few opportunities for youths and women, and poor access to contraceptives and family planning.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5458
CULTURE WATCH: REALITY T.V. YOU CAN LIVE WITH
Definitely NOT The Partridge Family
by Jill Rachel Jacobs
MTV triumphs where networks fail. Presenting real-life teenagers, strange (but famous) parents and problems that can't get swept under the rug.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5456
ATTENTION! RIGHT FACE, MARCH!
Who's Behind The President's Foriegn Policy?
by Tom Barry & Jim Lobe
The White House has shifted its foreign policy hard right. The right-wing Project for the New American Century (PNAC), for example, has played a key role in championing an agenda based on U.S. hegemony. But will public support extend to counterinsurgency in Colombia, war against Iraq, and ideological battles asserting American supremacy?
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5455
AMERICAN SOUL VERSUS AMERICAN EMPIRE
Thinking In A New Way About America
by Shepherd Bliss
Great nations come and go. Jacob Needleman's new book calls on Americans to recover "the inner meaning of democracy."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5457
4/16/02
7:06:23 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
WHALE MEAT TOXICS IGNORED IN PUSH FOR COMMERCIAL WHALING
CANBERRA, Australia, April 15, 2002 (ENS) - The latest scientific research has cast "a disturbing light" on the Japanese Whaling Association's push to encourage young people to eat more whale meat, says Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for the Antarctic, Dr. Sharman Stone.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-15-02.html
G-8 ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS SPLIT OVER GLOBAL WARMING
BANFF, Alberta, Canada, April 15, 2002 (ENS) - "The state of the environment worldwide continues to degrade," environment ministers from the G-8 industrial countries concluded after their annual meeting which wound up here on Sunday. In their two day closed door meeting, the ministers wrestled with the increasingly complex and urgent problem of global warming and the Kyoto climate protocol.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-15-03.html
CHILDREN THE CENTERPIECE OF EUROPE'S GREEN WEEK
BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 15, 2002 (ENS) - Impacts of environmental degradation and children's health were the focal point of discussions as the European Commission's latest annual Green Week of environmental meetings and exhibitions got underway today.
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-15-04.html
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