4/22/01
6:08:07 PM
The Nation
Today the leaders of the Western hemisphere met in Quebec City for the third straight day to try to hammer out final negotiations over a free trade agreement that would extend across Latin America, just hours after a turbulent night of clashes between police and protesters lead to about 270 arrests.
Tens of thousands of people converged on Quebec from across the hemisphere late last week to protest the Summit of the Americas, where George W. Bush and other leaders are trying to create a NAFTA-like economic zone across the continent known as the Free Trade Area of the Americas. As of this morning, more than 400 people have been arrested by an increasingly violent Canadian police force numbering over 6,000. Yesterday, according to an AP report, police fired rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas at groups of roving activists while most of the nearly 30,000 demonstrators marched peacefully through this picturesque city protesting the proposed free-trade pact.
The Nation is collecting some of the most illuminating reporting coming out of Quebec City this weekend, along with some background information on the FTAA, in a special web section. And we'll be adding frequent updates over the next few days. Currently you can read columns, articles and dispatches by Naomi Klein, William Greider, Sarah Anderson and John Cavanagh, John Nichols, Margaret Wente, Alejandro Bustos and more. Available at:
http://www.thenation.com/special/2001quebec.mhtml
EARTH DAY
George W. Bush's hard line on the environment -- including decisions on arsenic, mining, energy, oil drilling and much more -- is mobilizing the environmental movement more profoundly than has been seen since the first Earth Day thirty-one years ago. To mark this critical moment in the health of the planet we're currently featuring some recent commentary from the pages of The Nation, as well as two web only special reports:
BARBARA KINGSOLVER: Bush Vs. Green, -- WEB ONLY (April 6)
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=kingsolver20010415
TERRY ALLEN: Science Or Politics?, April 7 -- WEB ONLY (April 7)
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=allen20010412
DAVID HELVARG: Bush Unites the Enviros, May 7 Nation
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010507&s=helvarg
ROSS GELBSPAN: Bush's Global Warmers, April 9 Nation
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010409&s=gelbspan
DAVID HELVARG: The Three Horsemen, January 29 Nation
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010129&s=helvarg
DOUG IRELAND: Whitman, A Toxic Choice, January 29 Nation
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010129&s=ireland
JAMES SALZMAN: Earth In The Judicial Balance, October 9, 2000
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20001009&s=salzman
WEB-ONLY ARCHIVE:
You can also find a new archive comprising dozens of special Nation web-only reports from the likes of David Corn, John Nichols, Amy Bach, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Bruce Shapiro, Richard Kim, Mouin Rabbani, Congressman Bob Filner and Ken Silverstein. All available at:
http://www.thenation.com/special/web-onlyindex.mhtml
RECENT NATION ARTICLES
And still available are recent articles of interest from the pages of The Nation, including Bill Moyers on journalism and democracy; John Lantigua and Gregory Palast on the purging of African-American names from the Florida voter rolls and Eric Alterman, Alec Dubro and Peter Kornbluh on tainted Bush appointee Otto Reich. All accessible at:
4/22/01
3:28:48 PM
The 31st annual Earth Day
THE WORLD HOLDS AMERICA ACCOUNTABLE FOR ITS CONTRIBUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING
International Doctors Write Open Letter to Bush: The International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE), Italy is publishing an open letter to U.S. President Bush in honor of Earth Day 2001. The letter, which will be published by Italian media, will express the physicians' serious concern about the impacts on human health of President Bush's decision to abandon the Kyoto treaty on climate change. ISDE is an environmental NGO of over 20,000 physicians worldwide, with National Associations in 37 countries. Contact Roberto Romizi, ISDE Italy, Tel: +39 0575 22256, Email: isde@ats.it
Global Boycott Against US Oil Company: Eight hundred people from 70 countries voted unanimously this week to launch a boycott against U.S.-based oil companies such as ExxonMobil in protest against U.S. President Bush's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto treaty on climate change. The vote was taken at the first international conference of Green Party politicians and supporters, which was held in Canberra, Australia.
An international day of action (IDA), initiated in honor of Earth Day 2001 by the NGO Pressurepoint, will involve people targeting their local ExxonMobil petrol station or oil refinery, sending letters, faxes and emails, doing street theatre, holding public meetings and putting the pressure on the U.S. to return to the Kyoto negotiating process. The IDA, which will be held in the lead up to the next international set of climate change talks in July this year, will be coordinated by Pressurepoint and Friends of the Earth Australia. To take part or learn more, contact Pressurepoint at info@pressurepoint.org
RECORD YOUR PART IN THE GLOBAL EARTH DAY COMMUNITY
Be Part of the Online Earth Day Photo Gallery: Send digital photos of your event to ASAP21 in Japan for publication in their online Earth Day Photo Gallery, which will be a public record of the diverse celebrations of Earth Day 2001 in every region of the world. Send your photos to inquiry@asap.org
Publish your Earth Day Message Online: Green Front of Iran is collecting environmental messages from all over the world and recording them on the "Green Dialogue Among Civilizations" page on its website, at www.greenfront.org. Green Front of Iran invites you to send your messages to int@greenfront.org
For more details of the many Earth Day events and actions happening across the planet, please visit
www.earthday.net/dir/event.asp
4/20/01
11:07:58 PM
Police, Protesters Clash in Quebec
By TOM COHEN, Associated Press Writer
QUEBEC (AP) - Angry protesters hurled bricks and hockey pucks at riot police Friday during a three-hour demonstration against a trade summit that began amid thick clouds of tear gas used to control the unruly crowd.
About 150 police officers, who marched in time to the beat of night sticks on their plastic shields, faced off against more than 1,000 protesters.
The sting of a fresh wave of tear gas was in the air when President Bush (news - web sites) and other leaders from the Western Hemisphere left at the opening ceremony of the Summit of the Americas. The demonstration delayed the ceremony for more than an hour.
Police arrested 25 people. Five police officers were injured, authorities said.
At a second confrontation along a security fence erected around the summit event sites, riot police fired volleys of tear gas to drive back a group of protesters that became larger throughout the evening.
The protesters threw rocks, sticks, bottles, hubcaps, traffic cones and bottles at rows of riot police standing behind the security fence two blocks from the summit site, then repeatedly ran back from tear gas canisters blasted their way.
The violence began earlier Friday when protesters tore down 150 feet of the security fence that they had dubbed the ``Wall of Shame.'' Likening it to the Berlin Wall as a symbol of oppression and division, they said it prevented the public from having a voice in the summit's main topic: Creating a free-trade area from the Arctic to Argentina.
``The provocation started with that darned wall,'' said Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians, a civil action group. ``There's a level of anger out there that responds to that sort of provocation. From where I'm standing, the provocation feels like 99.99 percent on the other side.''
In his opening remarks at the summit, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien blamed the violence on ``a small group of extremists.''
``These individuals, these people do not represent the vast majority of those who have come to Quebec City in order to express peacefully and calmly their legitimate concerns,'' he said.
The protesters represent a diverse range of activists - organized labor, human rights organizations, environmental groups and others who say the talks on creating a Western Hemisphere free-trade zone should be held in public instead of in a locked conference center.
Protesters also attacked journalists covering the violence, breaking cameras and hitting one television journalist with street signs.
One protester, teary-eyed from the tear gas, was arrested and carried away in plastic handcuffs. ``I was just sitting down and they grabbed me and threw me down,'' 24-year-old Daniel Forgues said.
Protester Michael Sacco, 25, a student from Toronto who wore a Canadian flag like a cape, said he had hoped free traders would have gotten that message in December 1999 when 50,000 protesters interrupted the World Trade Organization (news - web sites) meeting in Seattle. Gangs of anarchists smashed windows and vandalized cars in Seattle, and police battled the crowds with tear gas and rubber bullets.
``Free trade means open markets, which means power goes to the powerful and not to the people,'' Sacco said. ``The establishment hasn't learned its lesson. There's been no change. It's like Seattle never happened.''
As protesters faced off with police officers, Bush was beginning a series of meetings with leaders of Andean nations and Central American countries. Some of Bush's schedule of meetings were delayed by the protesters, who tore down more than 150 feet of fence - part of a 2.3-mile security perimeter encircling the summit.
Asked about the protests, Bush said at his meeting with Central American leaders: ``Trade not only helps spread prosperity but trade helps spread freedom. So I would disagree with those who think that somehow trade is going to negatively affect the working people and people for whom hope doesn't exist in some places.''
Host's summit site:
http://www.americascanada.org/menu-E.asp
Summit security site:
http://www.securitesommet.ca/pages/menu-e.html
Anti-free trade activist site:
www.stopftaa.org/
4/20/01
11:00:11 PM
TomPaine.com's Weekend Reader
NO WOMEN'S SEAT AT THE PRESIDENT'S TABLE
by Betsy Myers
George Bush should have continued the progress achieved in providing women a seat at the policy-making table. But he chose to turn off the phones and close down the White House Office of Women's Initiatives and Outreach.
http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/18/index.html
PROTESTING MORE OF THE SAME
by Naomi Klein
Human dignity and environmental sustainability are too important to be patiently prayed for like rain during a drought. They should not be belated side-effects, but the very foundations of our economic policies.
http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/19/index.html
RHETORIC vs REALITY: MEASURING "FREE TRADE"
by Shannon Hall, TomPaine.com Managing Editor
Here's what President Bush, Alan Greenspan, economists and activists have to say about the promises of "free trade."
http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/19/1.html
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
by YOU -- TomPaine.com's loyal readers
This week: The Cheating of America... The Morality of Tax Breaks for the Rich... Allegations of "Partisanship"... and Norm Solomon is "brilliant."
http://www.tompaine.com/news/2001/04/18/index.html
4/20/01
7:50:38 PM
Protests delay start of Americas summit
Images of protesters clashing with police in Quebec City, Canada
QUEBEC CITY, Canada (CNN) -- Anti-globalization protesters clashing with police delayed the beginning of the Summit of the Americas on Friday for one hour.
Hours before the summit was to begin in the historic French-Canadian provincial capital, demonstrators dismantled part of a 2.3-mile concrete and chain-link fence erected to keep them away from dignitaries.
Riot police with helmets, batons and shields stood shoulder-to-shoulder trying to maintain their perimeter while demonstrators lobbed rocks, bottles and parts of the fence at the officers.
Police answered with tear gas. Protesters picked up some of the tear gas canisters and tossed them back at police. The air soon grew hazy with the gas.
At one point, part of the police line slowly edged forward about a block, pushing protesters back. Three protesters were arrested, led away in plastic handcuffs, photographed and loaded into police vans.
A police officer directing traffic was injured and taken to the hospital after a small group of protesters beat him in the head and face, then dispersed into the crowd, the spokeswoman said.
No demonstrators managed to breach the security perimeter, the spokeswoman said. Police had at one point ordered demonstrators to disperse, but they took no direct action to enforce that order.
In a scene reminiscent of the protests against the Vietnam War, one young woman walked down a row of police offering them a flower. None accepted.
The violence delayed from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. opening ceremonies of the three-day summit, which brings together the leaders of 34 Western Hemisphere nations, officials said.
Protesters vehemently oppose a free trade agreement because they believe it would benefit only multinational corporations.
Authorities brought in 6,000 police officers from across Canada because of violence at the 1999 World Trade Organization conference in Seattle, Washington.
Protesters also prepared for violence in Quebec City, bringing their own gas masks, helmets and padded clothing for protection.
"Free trade means open markets, which means power goes to the powerful and not to the people," protester Michael Sacco told The Associated Press. The 25-year-old student from Toronto wore a Canadian flag like a cape.
Sacco said he had hoped free-traders would have gotten that message in Seattle where 50,000 protesters interrupted the WTO meeting. Gangs of anarchists smashed windows and vandalized cars, and police battled the crowds with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The violence delayed the official opening ceremony of the summit by a half an hour officials said.
Earlier, U.S. President George W. Bush met with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, then with leaders from South American countries -- except for those of Bolivia and Brazil, who were unable to attend because of security concerns -- then with leaders from all but five Caribbean countries, and then with leaders from Central American countries.
U.S. President and Mrs. Bush arrive in Quebec City on Friday
"Together, we will put forward an agenda to strengthen our democracies to tackle common challenges, and we will seek to expand our prosperity by expanding our trade," Bush said as he departed from the White House Friday morning. "Our goal in Quebec is to build a hemisphere of liberty."
Bush said the summit "will take the next steps in creating an entire hemisphere that is both prosperous and free," which, speaking in both English and Spanish, he called "a great task and an extraordinary opportunity."
First lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell accompanied the president to the summit.
Bush supports the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which would lift trade barriers from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. But supporters of the FTAA face opposition not only from the protesters but from more directly influential sources as well.
Some of that opposition comes from the U.S. Congress -- which must give Bush approval if he is to negotiate a trade agreement -- and business leaders in other countries who don't want to be in direct competition with U.S. companies.
4/20/01
7:41:42 PM
WILD ALERT
To those of you who responded to our recent action alert on monuments, thank you!
We know you're busy and that's why we try not to come to you more than once a week, but we thought you would be interested in our new report on the nation's "15 Most Endangered Wildlands". Our findings show that the biggest threat to America's public lands is the development-oriented policies of the Bush administration.
In the spirit of Earth Day (Sunday, April 22), please take a few moments to review the report online at:
http://www.wilderness.org/newsroom/15most/2001/index.htm
BACKGROUND
This year, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge tops the list of the most endangered wildlands. Although the Refuge is considered to be one of the most spectacular and pristine wilderness areas in North America, it has been singled out by the Bush administration for oil and gas drilling. Also on our list for 2001:
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (AK)
Copper River Delta, Chugach National Forest (AK)
Denali National Park and Preserve (AK)
Greater Grand Canyon Ecosystem (AZ)
San Joaquin Roadless Area, Inyo National Forest (CA)
Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge (CA & OR)
White River National Forest (CO)
Big Cypress National Preserve (FL)
Badger Two Medicine/Rocky Mountain Front (MT)
Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument (MT)
Greater Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks (MT, WY & ID)
Upper Bald River Roadless Area, Cherokee National Forest (TN)
Utah Wilderness (UT)
Kettle River Range Roadless Areas, Colville National Forest (WA)
Red Desert (WY)
The Wilderness Society compiled this year's list by reviewing dozens of endangered wildlands and evaluating each one for:
* the immediacy of the environmental threat;
* the gravity of the threat and the permanence of damage it causes the wildlands;
* the special significance of the wildland compared with others across the nation; and
* the negative precedent that would be set if the threat goes unchecked.
Of all the environmental hazards now facing America's national parks, national forests, national monuments, and other public lands, the Bush administration's anti-environmental proposals currently pose the greatest threat.
"Sadly, America celebrates the 31st annual Earth Day facing the systematic roll back of critical environmental protections by the Bush administration," said William H. Meadows, president of The Wilderness Society. "The first three months of the new administration has produced a stunning litany of anti-environmental proposals that threaten our health, our communities and our world-famous wild places."
The environmental rollbacks that directly threaten wildlands include:
* failing to support existing protections for national forest roadless areas;
* signaling the intended withdrawal of new reclamation safeguards for "hard rock" mining;
* undermining protections for national parks from damage caused by snowmobiles, swamp buggies and other off-road vehicles; and
* proposing to drill for oil and gas on public lands protected for unique beauty, wildlife and other natural resources.
You can review the "15 Most Endangered Wildlands" online at
http://www.wilderness.org/newsroom/15most/2001/index.htm
4/20/01
5:31:54 PM
More on Bill Moyers' Chemical Industry Muckraking
We hope you managed to catch 'Trade Secrets' on PBS recently, but whether you did or didn't see Bill Moyers satisfying public whipping of the chemical industry, you'll want to check this out. We've collected a host of resources that provide invaluable background to the issues the program discussed and help us all take the next step to a toxin-free world.
In the days leading up to and following Trade Secrets, the recent PBS documentary on the chemical industry and its legacy of toxic cover-ups, a variety of useful web sites have risen to the challenge of providing more information about the issues the program discussed. Here's a gathering of the best for your further edification and enlightenment:
 For more information on program itself, background material, transcripts, video copies, and a look at the American Chemistry Council's counter charges new campaign to discredit the show visit: www.pbs.org/tradesecrets
 Click here to read "In Strictest Confidence", the series of Houston Chronicle articles by reporter Jim Morris that inspired Moyers to create his new documentary.
 To read the once secret industry documents that formed the basis of both the Houston Chronicle articles and Trade Secrets, check out the massive archive now being assembled at: www.ewg.org.
 For an interesting article about a recent meeting of chemical company executives and their PR experts held to deal with the program and its public opinion fallout, click here. To take the next step and keep the momentum going, write letters on the issue to your congressional delegation, find out how to protect yourself and family from toxins, sign up for monthly e-mail updates, and more visit:
www.comeclean.org
4/20/01
5:30:27 PM
Energy & Environmental News Stories:
ENERGY EFFICIENCY GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY SAYS TONY BLAIR
In a recent speech to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said there's money to be made in preventing global warming and that 'countries that invest in (renewable) technologies now will reap a long-term commercial reward.' To push businesses in this right direction, Blair further pledged 100 million pounds of government money for investment in renewable alternatives like wave, solar and wind power. The Prime Minister said that in order for global warming reversal efforts to succeed, 'We make tackling climate change a commercial opportunity.'
CLIMATE PROTEST FLOODS WHITE HOUSE
More than 50,000 angry citizens from all over the world have "flooded" the White House with e-mails, as a part of a Friends of the Earth protest over Bush's climbdown on the UN climate treaty (the Kyoto Protocol). The number of protest mails is now running at over 10,000 a day. Read More...
GLOBAL WARMING TREATY ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT U.S.
A top Australian official said yesterday that no global warming agreement will be complete without the United States and that U.S. leadership is needed to craft a better treaty on the issue. Read More...
RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH TO RECEIVE $18 MILLION IN CALIFORNIA
California will provide up to $18 million for projects that promote multiple renewable energy technologies which contribute to the supply of electricity in the state. Read more...
WORLD'S LARGEST SOLAR PROJECT TO POWER PHILIPPINES
In one of the world's most isolated areas, where power generated by coal, oil or natural gas is not readily available, 150 villages are about to see the light of solar panels as a means of their first electricity. Read more...
More Energy & Environmental News Stories:
OWNERSHIP OF SOLAR FACILITY IS TRANSFERRED
A major solar energy research facility in the United States has been sold for $1. Read more...
NEW YORK BUYS 300 TOYOTA PRIUS HYBRID-ELECTRIC CARS
In the largest fleet transaction yet for its environmentally friendly Prius hybrid-electric car, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., will deliver nearly 300 units to the city and state of New York.
TEXAS TO BUILD ANOTHER MAJOR WIND ENERGY PROJECT
The second largest wind farm in the world will be constructed on King Mountain in Texas. Read More...
U.N. AGENCIES LAUNCH SOLAR VENTURE FUND
A private equity fund of US$30 million will be used to invest in solar photovoltaic and PV-related businesses in developing countries. Read More...
NEW ENERGY STANDARDS APPROVED
New efficiency standards approved by the Bush administration are expected to save billions of dollars in energy costs but significantly increase prices of new washing machines and water heaters. Read more...
NORTON MAY GET SOLE DISCRETION OVER SPECIES PROTECTION
The Bush administration wants to give the Fish and Wildlife Service the power to ignore citizen lawsuits filed under the Endangered Species Act, giving Interior Secretary Gale Norton sole discretion over which species qualify for federal protection. Read more...
CONDEMNATION GREETS RETURN OF JAPANESE WHALERS
Tokyo, Japan, April 12, 2001 (ENS) - In the face of international condemnation, Japanese whalers aboard a factory ship returned home Wednesday with 2,000 tons of whale meat caught in an Antarctic whale sanctuary, 9,700 kilometers (6,000 miles) away. For full text and graphics, visit: Read More...
4/20/01
5:29:17 PM
Global Warming / Kyoto Treaty News
The 15 countries of the European Union will ratify the Kyoto climate protocol by 2002 with or without American participation, Swedish Environment Minister Kjell Larsson said this weekend. "We are going without them if they are backing out," the current president of the European Union Environment Council said during an informal meeting of European environment ministers in the northern Swedish town of Kiruna. "The Kyoto Protocol is still alive - no individual country has the right to declare a multilateral agreement as dead," reads a statement endorsed unanimously by the ministers.
Though lacking formal status, it is the first expression of collective European Union thinking on George Bush's public rejection of the protocol. EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom added her criticisms of Bush during the Kiruna meeting. The United States was wrong to demand immediate emission limitation targets for developing countries, she said. It is "fully expected" that they will take on concrete commitments in later implementation phases, she explained. Delegates at the European Union's informal environment council at Kiruna echoed Pronk's remarks. "There's a sense that Washington doesn't really know what it's doing," one delegate told reporters.
U.S. Climate Stance Triggers Boycott Threats
United Kingdom, April 5, 2001 (ENS) The USA's decision to abandon the Kyoto climate protocol is sparking a wave of calls from European environmentalists and Greens for consumers to take revenge on President George W. Bush by boycotting American firms. "Leading the charge in favor of economic punishment to be meted out to the United States are Europe's Greens, who sparked a vote in the European Parliament on the issue today. "Green Party lawmakers asked fellow Members of the European Parliament to back a resolution calling on European consumers to boycott Exxon, Texaco and Chevron. These three U.S. based oil firms are suspected of having influenced America's policy shift on the Kyoto Protocol from support under former President Bill Clinton to withdrawal under Bush.
Meanwhile, boycott campaigns have been launched by some European environmental groups, such as the UK based Families Against Bush which demonstrated today outside the U.S. Embassy in London. "Families Against Bush advocates a selective boycott of American products and services until the President supports the Kyoto Protocol and agrees to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Greenpeace called on America's largest 100 firms to declare opposition to the Bush administration's position or 'face the consequences from concerned consumers, institutions and organisation from around the world. "We've been deluged with requests for campaign action or a boycott,' said Greenpeace climate campaigner Stephen Sawyer.
4/20/01
5:25:29 PM
Using Toilet Paper from Recycled Paper Saves Energy!
If every household in the United States replaced just one pack of bath tissue made from virgin fiber with Seventh Generation bath tissue (click here to shop) made from recycled fiber (at 4 rolls per pack and an average of 500 sheets per roll), the savings on emissions of CO2 would be the same as:
Not burning 22,747,359 gallons of gas in an average car.
Planting 9,098,943 trees.
The energy saved by installing 1,516,490 low flow shower heads.
The energy saved by 909,894 families doing their laundry twice a week for a year in warm or cold water rather than hot water.
Caulking & weather stripping around the windows & doors in 454,947 average sized homes.
The energy saved by 454,947 families turning their thermostat down 4 degrees for a year.
Replacing the standard 75 watt incandescent bulbs in 227,473 homes with energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
The energy saved by installing 151,649 of the most energy-efficient appliances in place of models that consume an average amount of energy.
Keeping 103,397 new cars off the road.
4/20/01
4:16:19 PM
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE <http://www.gristmagazine.com>
Get a free Earth Day book and help out Grist! <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/signup/book_signup.asp>
1. I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE Taiwan President Chen Shui-ban biked to work today to mark Earth Day on Sunday. Top officials from Taiwain's environment and transportation agencies, among others, peddled with the president in the morning drizzle in Taipei. Chen said, "After this, I hope I can ride to work one day each month." Meanwhile, environment ministers from six countries took a quick bike ride around the U.N. complex yesterday in New York City to call attention to the benefits of bicycles over cars. The ministers from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, South African, and Sweden road shiny red bikes a total of 80 yards.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 20 Apr 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10579>
2. ZED, YOU ARE THE WEAKEST LINK. GOODBYE. Zed's hit show, "Global Warming Survivor," is threatened with cancellation by the White House. Watch Zed, last of his species, blame the show's problems on everything but himself in, "Earth Day, My Ass!"
catch it only in Grist Magazine: The comic adventures of Zed, last of his species <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/zed/zed042001.stm>
catch it only in Grist Magazine: Check out the Zed music video! <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/zed/zed-fun.stm>
3. ADDLED ABABA Ethiopia said yesterday that about 3,000 tons of obsolete pesticides stored at almost 1,000 sites around the country are contaminating the environment and threatening public health. For example, at one location in Addis Ababa, overturned metal drums leaking toxic waste are just 500 yards from a grain silo. A strong smell of chemicals pervades the site, where men without protective clothing are guarding the drums. An expert with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Alemayehu Wodageneh, said, "People are living in a toilet of toxic waste." Ethiopian Deputy Agriculture Minister Belay Ejigu is asking international donors and the chemical industry to help fund a clean-up effort.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, David Brough, 20 Apr 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10580>
4. ARRESTING DEVELOPMENT In a pre-Earth Day demonstration protesting President Bush's environmental policies, 10 environmental activists were arrested yesterday at U.S. EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., after chaining themselves to the building's entrance. Among those arrested were John Passacantando, executive director of Greenpeace USA, and Randy Hayes, president of the Rainforest Action Network. Passacantando said in a statement, "We want this toxic Texan to know that trashing 30 years of environmental gains, then making a few token announcements for Earth Day is an unacceptable environmental agenda."
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Patrick Connole, 20 Apr 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10570>
5. CHRISTIE TOAD WHITMAN The Bush administration has put on its green hat leading up to Earth Day. President Bush has said he would sign a treaty phrasing out a series of nasty chemicals and not roll back a couple of environmental rules approved by former President Clinton. U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman has been making the rounds with reporters, saying things like, "This administration has an extraordinarily good environmental record." Bush allies seemed to understand that the president needed a green sheen this week. Bill Kovacs of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Bush's decisions "were not on issues that we were fighting with Clinton on anyway." So far, the administration has rejected or delayed about four times as many enviro measures as it has approved.
straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Brad Knickerbocker, 20 Apr 2001 <http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/04/20/p1s2.htm>
6. YOU CAN RHONE, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE Many rivers in Europe are in poor health and don't come close to meeting the European Union's environmental standards, the World Wildlife Fund said yesterday. The group found that 50 out of 69 river stretches in 16 countries were in trouble; the worst polluted rivers included the Rhone and Seine in France, the Severn in Britain, and the Danube in Austria. In some cases, rivers in Eastern Europe, a region known for its pollution problems, were cleaner than those in Western Europe. Dams, canals, waste-dumping, and runoff from farming were among the causes of the problems. The environmental group said that all European nations should adopt E.U. rules that call for rivers, marshes, and lakes to be restored to their original state by 2015.
straight to the source: BBC News, Alex Kirby, 20 Apr 2001 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1285000/1285883.stm>
Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:
You say it's your Earth Day -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha041601.stm>
Springing a leak in Quebec City -- a day in the life of David Waskow, Friends of the Earth <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/waskow041901.stm>
Here's the scoop -- Grist reader stops eating Starbucks ice cream! -- and other letters to the editor <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/letters/letters041701.stm>
4/20/01
4:06:45 PM
EcoNet News
This Week's Headlines and Alerts from EcoNet
http://www.igc.org/igc/gateway/enindex.html
EcoNet Alerts: April 20, 2001
Anti-FTAA Rallies This Saturday 4/21 in Oregon and Washington
Please try to attend the demonstration in Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland this Saturday to stop the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), or if you want to go to a bigger demo, drive up to Blaine, Washington on the US/Canada Border for the day. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/987731030/index_html
Write to Protect California Wilderness
Your help is needed immediately to help save the recently approved Forest Service plan for the national forests of the Sierra Nevada region! Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/987731253/index_html
Don't Let the Pesticide Industry Undermine the Food Quality Protection Act
The U.S. Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) is under attack through an attempted rollback of a court settlement that requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fulfill its mandate under the law. Your help is needed to ensure that EPA keeps its promise to protect infants and children from exposure to toxic pesticides. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/987731489/index_html
Uphold the Logging Moratorium in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (PNG) contains the third largest intact tropical rainforest wilderness in the World. In 1999, the PNG government, World Bank and Australian government committed to a moratorium on new logging operations as a requirement for a new loan program.... Please demand that the moratorium on new logging in Papua New Guinea be maintained. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/987731758/index_html
Mattole Defenders Win Continuance in Pacific Lumber Suit
In Eureka today, Judge Dale Reinholtsen in Humboldt Superior court granted a continuance in a "SLAPP suit" case filed against those defending the ancient forests of the Mattole River watershed. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/987731986/index_html
NYC Earth Day Update/Be There!
A festive, celebratory Earth Day march will kick off from Times Square (41st and Broadway) at noon on Sunday, April 22. The march will wend its way to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (1st Avenue and 47th Street) near the United Nations, where a rally will begin at 1 pm featuring numerous leaders of the grassroots environmental/clean energy movement. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/987732179/index_html
EcoNet Headlines: April 20, 2001
New Threats to Eastern Forests of the U.S.
After having been severally depleted, Eastern forests have had several decades - and in some cases over a century - to partially recover. Many forests are now becoming mature and are achieving late-successional characteristics..... However, the marauding and rapacious industrial timber industry is returning to clear out these forests yet again, as supplies from old-growth forests in the US are exhausted. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987732909/index_html
Scots Angry at Pro-GE School Materials Supplied by Biotech Industry
More than 140,000 glossy brochures sponsored by the US corporate giants of genetic modification such as Monsanto are being pushed into Scotland's schools by Scottish Enterprise, with the enthusiastic backing of the schools watchdog HM Inspectorate of Education. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987733112/index_html
Superbug Genes Are Getting into Soil and Water
Farmers should stop using antibiotics as growth promoters, say researchers in the US. They have uncovered evidence of a new route by which dangerous antibiotic resistance genes can spread. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987733283/index_html
With More Clout, Greens Vow to Act Globally
Green political parties from 70 countries meeting in Canberra agreed over the weekend to create a formal global network to increase its electoral impact and coordinate campaigns on issues such as climate change. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987733435/index_html
World's Oceans Mired in a Sea of Troubles
The world's oceans are mired in a sea of troubles - plagued by pollution, over-fishing, piracy, environmental destruction, and maritime border disputes. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987733575/index_html
Pragmatism the Theme of New Mercosur Accord
After nearly a decade of debate involving governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), political realism has predominated over environmental ideals, providing Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay with a Framework Accord on the Environment for Mercosur (Southern Common Market). Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987733782/index_html
Article Considers What Lies Behind the Free Trade Area of the Americas
The FTAA is a good deal more than a trade agreement. Throughout the Americas, it would radically transform the social existence of sovereign nations. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987734183/index_html
Kyoto Still Alive, Insists Climate Chief Negotiator
"As far as I am concerned, Kyoto is alive," declared Jan Pronk, the chairman of UN climate negotiations, here Wednesday shortly after meeting with a senior US State Department official. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987734337/index_html
Front Range Trees Provide Millions in Benefits
Trees in Denver and seven other Northern Front Range cities of Colorado are providing services equivalent to a $44 million stormwater management system and removing 2.2 million pounds of air pollutants (such as particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone) valued at $5.3 million per year. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987734623/index_html
Arsenic from Your Tap
The current U.S. arsenic standard of 50 ppb was adopted in 1942. After a decade of study and public review of scientific evidence, EPA proposed the stricter standard while Bill Clinton was president. Mr. Bush reversed EPA's decision shortly after taking office. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987735324/index_html
New Information on Mercury Amalgam Dental Fillings
A multi-million dollar U.S. Government study conducted between 1988 and 1994 could hold the key to producing epidemiological data linking dental fillings to a myriad of illnesses. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987735550/index_html
Vandana Shiva on Foot and Mouth Disease
FMD is endemic to India, and used to be in Europe. It has been traditionally treated through indigenous veterinary medicine. Vaccines are also available and have been used. Nowhere in the world have entire herds been exterminated. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987735740/index_html
GREEN: Fourth Major Oil Spill Fouls Arctic Tundra
Alaska's fourth major spill this winter sent nearly 100,000 gallons of "salt water and crude oil" onto the North Slope tundra, says the Anchorage Daily News for 4/17. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/987736082/index_html
4/20/01
3:42:03 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
"We Cover the Earth For You"
ARSENIC STANDARD DELAYED BY CALL FOR MORE STUDIES
WASHINGTON, DC, April 19, 2001 (ENS) - Despite the reams of evidence that already support minimizing the risk of arsenic in drinking water, the Bush administration has decided to launch a new round of scientific studies on the acceptable levels of the toxic substance. Environmental groups charge that delaying the new arsenic standard for further study will unnecessarily endanger U.S. citizens.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-19-06.html
UK's FOOT AND MOUTH CULL RAISES TOXIC DILEMMA
LONDON, United Kingdom, April 19, 2001 (ENS) - The foot and mouth outbreak is under control, according to the United Kingdom government's chief scientist, but the logistical challenge of quickly disposing of more than a million slaughtered animals is raising new fears over dioxins and groundwater contamination.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-19-12.html
RENEWABLES KEY TO BRIDGING POVERTY GAP, SAYS UN TEAM
NEW YORK, New York, April 19, 2001 (ENS) - Harnessing the sun's rays to produce renewable energy with little or no pollution sounds good in theory but when a solar panel costs about $700, it can be expensive, particularly for developing countries.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-19-10.html
Uproar Over Forest Destruction in Kenyan Parliament
By Tom Osanjo
NAIROBI, Kenya, April 19, 2001 (ENS) - Proposing radical environmental protection measures, Kenyan members of Parliament Wednesday launched an attack against the government accusing it of systematically destroying forests and taking a casual attitude towards conservation.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-19-02.html
DUTCH CLAIM FIRST FLEXIBLE CLIMATE DEAL UNDER KYOTO PROTOCOL
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, April 19, 2001 (ENS) - The Dutch government has concluded what it says are the first international contracts under the Kyoto Protocol's joint implementation procedure, one of three flexible mechanisms designed to reduce the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-19-03.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: APRIL 19, 2001
Bush Will Sign International POPs Treaty
U.S. Fossil Fuel Dependence Has Global Human Costs
Climate Justice Tour Features Nigerian, Alaskan Speakers
Ceramic Carbon Mops Could Help Combat Climate Change
Foot And Mouth Disease Expected to Hit U.S.
Bush Proclaims National Park Week
Scripps Scientists Develop Screen for Mercury in Fish
Environmental Justice Data Now Online
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-19-09.html
4/20/01
3:27:50 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Doing environmental research? Search our news archives at: http://www.planetark.org/searchhome.cfm
Ten arrested in Washington environmental protest - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10570
EPA's Whitman extends US arsenic review - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10576
Elephants never forget, especially grande dames - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10571
UPDATE - US to sign treaty curbing toxic chemicals - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10568
McCartney brings landmine campaign to Washington - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10566
Environment ministers save energy in UN bike ride - UNITED NATIONS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10579
Britain still optimistic on US Kyoto stance - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10564
GM seeds bring fresh drama to Castle Macbeth - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10567
UPDATE - Green, Tibet activists drive messages home to BP - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10560
UK green power can avoid new energy tax - regulator - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10577
Norway seen unlikely resume whale exports in 2001 - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10569
Green groups seek global warming pact without US - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10561
Mexico cancels hotel project to help turtles - MEXICO http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10578
France makes pledge for Lithuanian nuke closure - LITHUANIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10565
Japan to start mandatory checks for GM feed - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10573
Ethiopia says pesticide dumps are "time bomb" - ETHIOPIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10580
Interfor cuts jobs, shuts sawmill after environmental pact - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10575
Labor, green groups blast FTAA investment provisions - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10572
Pacific environmentalists seek US goods boycott - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10574
Most Australians back Kyoto protocol - poll - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10562
Australia snubs European calls to back Kyoto - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10563
4/20/01
3:20:50 PM
Corporate Globalization in the Americas
Courtesy of the IMF, World Bank and IADB
by Bob Naiman
Center for Economic and Policy Research
The FTAA process is not happening in a vacuum. Many of the policies which would be locked in by an FTAA agreement are already in place in many Latin American countries. These policies have been put in place by a history of foreign interventions which empowered elites friendly to the interests of multinational corporations. If Salvador Allende were still President of Chile, if a Sandanista government led Nicaragua, if Jacabo Arbenz were President of Guatemala, if an FMLN government led El Salvador, if Maurice Bishop were President of Grenada, it is not likely that these governments would be championing a hemispheric "free trade agreement" along the lines of NAFTA.
Moreover, if the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) had not promoted and imposed "structural adjustment" policies in Latin America for the last twenty years, many of the policies of export-orientation, privatization, and openness to multinational corporations which would be codified by the FTAA, would not be in place.
Although pro-corporate policies are in place in many countries, there is tremendous opposition to them, and the signing of an FTAA would reduce the space for that opposition. For example, an uprising in Bolivia has been able, at least for the moment, to reverse the effects of a World Bank-sponsored privatization of a water utility to the Bechtel corporation. Under an FTAA, Bechtel could sue the Bolivian government to recover profits "lost" as a result of not being able to charge impoverished people more money for water.
Please read "Protecting Corporate Profits" as well through the same URL at
4/20/01
3:16:47 PM
TOWARDS A 'FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS'
Chasing the holy grail of free trade
by DORVAL BRUNELLE
At the heart of the free-trade doctrine lies the conviction that exports drive growth. If every country, or group of countries, were to act in accordance with this belief, the contest would in theory become a zero-sum game as long as the players had comparable levels of development. But it is quite another thing when development levels are unequal. Removing trade barriers means that the strong get stronger, and drives weaker countries further into dependence, preventing them from fashioning policies to meet the needs of their populations, especially in agricultural matters. Such is the logic of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, which will be up for discussion at the Quebec summit on 20-22 April. The FTAA proposes to extend throughout the continent the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has already ruined Mexican agriculture. Backed by Washington, the FTAA is so untenable for the other nations of the hemisphere that their parliaments were not even told of its provisions. These countries are now ready to deliver a resounding 'no' to the FTAA.
Read the rest at
http://www.mondediplomatique.fr/en/2001/04/05americassummit
4/20/01
3:14:56 PM
Join IAC 'Mumia Global Resistance Brigades' @ anti-FTAA demos
JOIN THE INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER 'MUMIA GLOBAL RESISTANCE BRIGADES' @ anti-FTAA demonstrations around the country
Look for our flags, banners and contingents at anti-FTAA demonstrations in Quebec City, Buffalo, San Diego/Tijuana and at solidarity actions around the country!
GO TO http://www.mumia2000.org to see our "Free Mumia" flags and to get more information.
Below is a MESSAGE FROM MUMIA ABU-JAMAL to the anti-globalization movement. We will be distributing it widely at these demonstrations.
"I think that we must pay strict attention to the Seattle experience. On the front lines of the popular rebellion against the WTO, this anti- globalist fervor showed the common interests of students, of anti- imperialists, of human rights activists, and labor. What the movement demonstrated is the power of mass mobilization and the ability of the people to derail something that was previously seen and feared as inevitable: the globalist domination of Western capitol.
"What mass humanist movements teach us all is that nothing is inevitable. That the power of the people can indeed build obstacles to the selfish interests of the rich. And that globalism can and indeed must be opposed by forms of globalist resistance. That nationalities are usually false illusions that what we have in common are humanity, crosses national borders.
"Globalism as a form of imperial economic domination knows no borders. When you look at vast multinational corporations, like Mobil or Exxon or General Motors, these aren't American corporations anymore. They are global entities that may have been formed in the U.S. or created or even born, but may have outgrown the cradle and operate in a plethora of languages, using many various currencies, on most continents.
"They fund government repression and environmental degradation and devastation in Nigeria, industrial pollution in Russia and political corruption in Peru. They are masters of governments, not citizens. Let us learn from them and build global networks of resistance - global resistance units - that speak in all tongues, and builds on all fronts.
"For the future of the globe will belong to the people, or will be a lifeless poisoned sponge for the privileged few. There is no other alternative. Let us learn how to grow, how to expand, and then how to win."
On a move, Long Live John Africa Your brother, Mumia
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@iacenter.org
4/20/01
3:06:51 PM
The Nation
There are lots of new articles, columns and editorials available currently on a wide range of subjects at http://www.thenation.com, including:
RALPH NADER: Corporate Welfare Spoils http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010507&s=nader
BILL MOYERS: Journalism & Democracy http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010507&s=moyers
WILLIAM GREIDER: No To Global Sewatshops http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010507&s=greider
MARJORIE HEINS: Sex, Lies and Politics http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010507&s=heins
DAVID HELVARG: Bush Unites the Enviros http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010507&s=helvarg
ERIC ALTERMAN: Lie to the Media, Get a Job http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010507&s=alterman
BARBARA KINGSOLVER: Bush vs. Green -- WEB ONLY http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=kingsolver20010415
ALEC DUBRO: Otto Reich, WRAP Star -- WEB ONLY http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=dubro20010417
WEB-ONLY ARCHIVE:
You can also find a new archive we've just created compromising dozens of special Nation web-only reports from the likes of David Corn, John Nichols, Amy Bach, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Bruce Shapiro, Richard Kim, Mouin Rabbani, Congressman Bob Filner and Ken Silverstein. All available at:
http://www.thenation.com/special/web-onlyindex.mhtml
RECENT NATION ARTICLES
And still available are recent articles of interest from the pages of The Nation, including William Greider on the FTAA; John Lantigua and Gregory Palast on the purging of African-American names from the Florida voter rolls and Naomi Klein on the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. All accessible at:
ACT NOW!
Use an online letter we provide to tell Citigroup, North America's largest bank, to cease funding activities that result in the destruction of rainforests and their inhabitants in Latin America. These endeavors include investments in companies that mine for aluminum in the northeastern Amazon; that turn large portions of temperate Chilean rainforests into wood chips and that drill for oil in the mangrove forests of the Ornioco River Delta in Venezuela, among many other devastating for-profit projects. Go here to find out more and to blast off an informed letter of protest to Sandy Weill, Citigroup's CEO:
http://www.thenation.com/alert/actnow/
4/19/01
7:53:54 PM
Natural Law Party
APRIL 29 NATIONAL CONFERENCE CALL
Please join us on Sunday evening, April 29, for an inspiring Natural Law Party national conference call updating everyone on
o the latest Natural Law Party news and successes from around the nation;
o ongoing progress in building our Natural Law-Independent coalition; and
o Dr. John Hagelin's new, foundational research into the field of human consciousness.
Featured speakers on the call will include
o Dr. John Hagelin, the Natural Law Party's 2000 presidential candidate
o Robert Roth, author of the political bestseller "A Reason to Vote"
o Kingsley Brooks, Natural Law Party Co-Chair
o Judy Barath Black, Chair of the Natural Law Party of California
o Cathy Carter, Chair of the Natural Law Party of North Carolina
TO CONNECT: Dial 512-305-4608 (the cost is the same as a regular long-distance phone call to this number)
DATE: Sunday, April 29
TIME: 8:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m. Eastern time
7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. Central time
6:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. Mountain time
5:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Pacific time
If you have any difficulties connecting, please call 512-404-2300.
Please encourage your family and friends to connect to the call as well. We look forward to sharing an evening of knowledge and inspiration with you!
4/19/01
7:43:52 PM
Public Citizen
Consumer, Labor, Green Groups Throughout Hemisphere Launch Unified Campaign Against "NAFTA for the Americas/FTAA" at Quebec Summit
Grassroots Events in 80 U.S. Cities Scheduled to Coincide With Quebec FTAA Protests
QUEBEC CITY - Consumer, labor, environmental and other international civil society groups are launching a "Ten-Point Plan for the Americas" in opposition to a proposed NAFTA expansion, the groups announced today. Representatives from unions and other civil society groups from throughout the Western Hemisphere joined Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch in unveiling a campaign agenda aimed at halting negotiation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) based on the NAFTA model.
"The Bush agenda boils down to NAFTA on steroids -- spreading to the entire hemisphere the NAFTA model that has caused damage in the U.S., Mexico and Canada," said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. "Expanding NAFTA to 31 more nations is not popular in Congress given NAFTA's seven-year record of corporations using NAFTA to extract compensation for complying with local zoning and health laws and given the public outcry about NAFTA food poisonings, hundreds of thousands of lost manufacturing jobs and now the demand that the U.S. allow unsafe Mexican trucks on U.S. roads."
The proposed NAFTA expansion has spurred opposition in many countries throughout thehemisphere. The NAFTA model covers many issues, such as domestic environmental and health laws and public interest regulations for investors and service providers, that far exceed traditional "trade" matters. FTAA terms would place new restrictions on the ability of governments to regulate in the public interest, even when policies treat domestic and foreign goods and investors the same.
The talks also cover the establishment of controversial new privileges and rights for investors and corporations. One such right is for foreign investors to have access to NAFTA tribunals to demand cash compensation from governments for corporate compliance with many common domestic health, zoning and environmental laws. Also being negotiated are expansive new patent rights on medicines that threaten governments' abilities to combat the AIDS crisis.
Points of the plan unveiled today include protecting the ability of governments to set health, safety and other public interest regulations that cover both domestic and foreign investors and companies; stopping the corporate patent protectionism that is keeping vital AIDS medicines and seeds out of the hands of poor people in the hemisphere; ensuring that services needed for survival, such as health, education, water, energy and other basic social services, are not subject to trade rules; and ensuring that citizens and governments -- not transnational corporations -- have the right to make decisions about the use and protection of natural resources. A copy of the full action plan is available at
www.tradewatch.org
"The broad coalition of corporate globalization critics in the U.S., Canada and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean are mobilized in opposition to this expansion of NAFTA to the entire hemisphere," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. "The day is long gone when people will stand by while the corporations design and implement trade policies that benefit their profits at the expense of working people, the environment and human rights."
U.S. groups working on the unified international campaign have brought the spirit of the Quebec City protests against FTAA to communities throughout the U.S. with rallies, protests and other events being held from April 12 through April 21.
"The Quebec City Summit is not much more than a pep rally for NAFTA expansion," Wallach said. "The U.S. Congress must decide whether it will delegate its constitutional authority to set trade terms to President Bush to expand NAFTA, which is why we are bringing the spirit of the Quebec protests to a congressional district near you."
Since its 1994 launch, the FTAA has been negotiated in secret by the U.S. and the 33 other nations in the Western Hemisphere with the exception of Cuba. Although members of Congress and civil society groups have demanded access to FTAA documents, the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) office has made only its finessed "summaries" of U.S. negotiating positions available. At a recent FTAA ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires, the countries agreed to repeat the practice established in negotiations of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) of releasing a "scrubbed" draft text. This text includes bracketed language but deletes references to national positions and interpretive notes that are necessary for elected officials and the public to participate in informed dialogue.
Analysis of the proposed agreement has been possible because several environmental and labor representatives have been given the security clearance enjoyed by more than 500 corporate representatives who are official U.S. corporate trade advisors.
For a listing of the 80 U.S. grassroots events being held in opposition to the FTAA, please see
www.JWJ.org
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit www.citizen.org
4/19/01
7:36:08 PM
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
Get a free Earth Day book and help out Grist! <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/signup/book_signup.asp>
1. THE APPLES OF OUR EYE Not only are organically grown apples better for the environment than conventionally grown apples, but they also taste yummier and can lead to more profits for farmers, according to a study published today in the journal Nature. The six-year study by researchers at Washington State University is one of the first to give scientific backing to the claim that organic farming is superior to conventional farming. It found that an organic orchard would break even on operating costs after nine years, compared to 15 years for a conventional farm.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Emily Green, 19 Apr 2001 <http://www.latimes.com/news/state/20010419/t000033174.html>
straight to the source: BBC News, Alex Kirby, 18 Apr 2001 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1282000/1282222.stm>
2. QUEBICKER Thirty-four heads of state are gathering tomorrow in Quebec for the Third Summit of the Americans to help write a free trade pact for the Western Hemisphere. Hoards of protesters are on hand, too, concerned that the proposed pact -- the Free Trade Area of the Americas -- will jeopardize workers' rights and environmental protections. Ninety-five nonprofit organizations from Chile to Canada have endorsed a World Wildlife Fund statement asking all nations in the hemisphere to commit to "sustainability assessments" measuring the environmental impact of trade rules. Meanwhile, some residents in Quebec fear that protests this weekend against globalization might become violent.
straight to the source: New York Times, Anthony DePalma, 19 Apr 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/19/business/19TRAD.html>
straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Ruth Walker, 19 Apr 2001 <http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/04/19/fp7s1-csm.shtml>
read it only in Grist Magazine: Live from Quebec -- a day in the life of David Waskow, Friends of the Earth <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/waskow041801.stm>
3. "POP" GOES THE WEASEL With Earth Day on Sunday and his environmental record under attack, President Bush this morning announced that he will sign and ask the Senate to ratify a treaty to ban or reduce the use of 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs), chemicals like PCBs and pesticides that have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and genetic abnormalities in humans and wildlife. The treaty was negotiated for the U.S. by the Clinton administration and will not have much direct impact on the country, where the 12 POPs have mostly been phased out already. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Bush said, "This treaty shows the possibilities for cooperation among all parties to our environmental debates. Developed nations cooperated with less-developed nations, businesses cooperated with environmental groups, and now a Republican administration will continue and complete the work of a Democratic administration."
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, 19 Apr 2001 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/561499.asp>
4. HE BLINDED ME WITH "SOUND SCIENCE" Provoking jeers from environmentalists, the U.S. EPA said yesterday that it would delay until next February a decision on how much arsenic should be allowed in drinking water. A rule approved by former President Clinton would have changed the current standard of 50 parts per billion of arsenic in water, first set in 1942, to 10 ppb, the same level recommended by the World Health Organization. But the Bush administration revoked the rule in March, saying it wasn't based on "sound science." EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman at first said her agency would propose a new standard by this summer, but yesterday said more time was needed to allow the National Academy of Sciences to review the latest studies on arsenic.
straight to the source: New York Times, Douglas Jehl, 19 Apr 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/19/politics/19ARSE.html>
straight to the source: Washington Post, Mike Allen, 19 Apr 2001 <http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33969-2001Apr18.html>
do good: Take action to demand less arsenic in drinking water <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/air.stm#arsenic>
5. COMING OUT OF THEIR SHELLS More than a million Olive Ridley turtles came ashore to nest and lay eggs last month on India's eastern coast and hatchlings are now filling the beaches, providing some hope that the turtles may be back from the brink of extinction. (Sobering stat: Generally, only one out of every 1,000 hatchlings reaches adulthood.) Last year, about 700,000 turtles nested on the beaches. In 1997 and 1998, however, the turtles skipped the return home altogether and no mass nesting occurred. Turtle news is more grim across the world on the Baja peninsula in Mexico, where sea turtle meat is a delicacy and Easter is the biggest turtle-BBQing holiday of the year. Turtle eating remains common in Baja even though it has been illegal in Mexico for a decade.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 17 Apr 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10514>
straight to the source: Newsweek, Alan Zarembo, 23 Apr 2001 issue <http://www.msnbc.com/news/559472.asp>
do good: Take action against a proposed resort in Mexico that would threaten sea turtles <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/oceans.stm#golf>
The best thing since sliced bread -- organic bread: a life -- in our Main Dish section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/foster041601.stm>
Just say no! -- a review of Arctic Refuge -- in our Books Unbound section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/books/books041101.stm>
More Internet smut -- a scientist fights back against exotics -- in our Out on Limb column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/limb/limb041100.stm>
4/19/01
1:18:35 PM
WILD ALERT
National Monuments
The Upper Missouri Breaks, first written about by Lewis and Clark, comprises the last undeveloped portion of the Missouri River. This wild stretch of river meanders through fragrant sagebrush, sandstone castles, and steep, multicolored cliffs.
The Ironwood Forest National Monument presents a quintessential view of the Sonoran Desert with ancient forests of saguaro cactus and ancient ironwood trees, which can live beyond 800 years.
These are just two of nearly two dozen new national monuments that are being scrutinized by Interior Secretary Gale Norton, with an eye toward weakening protections for these national treasures. Your support of protections for these monuments is crucially important.
Take action now by going to our site to send a message to Secretary Norton.
http://www.wilderness.org/standbylands/national_monuments_action.htm
URGENT: If you live in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, or Oregon, and if you have the time, please send a copy of your letter to your governor. Here's how. When you take action from our site, select the box: "carbon copies to: myself via e-mail" Then, once you've received the cc, send it to your governor (email addresses are below).
BACKGROUND
On March 28, Interior Secretary Gale Norton sent a letter to western governors, state and local elected officials, and tribal representatives asking for their ideas on how to unravel the protections afforded 19 new national monuments designated by President Clinton.
According to a DOI news release, Norton said she wanted "to hear local voices and ideas on how best to protect, use and care for these precious national treasures for generations to come." That phrase is omitted, however, from the actual letter Norton sent to governors and local officials. Instead, she asked them to make recommendations on:
--monument boundaries
--existing uses within the monuments that should continue
--vehicle use and rights-of-way
--livestock grazing
--development such as mining and oil and gas drilling
Such an effort to drum up support for utilitarian management of our national monuments is entirely wrong-headed. These are not mere commodities for sale to the highest bidder. Just as the Grand Canyon and Olympic national monuments became national icons, these new monuments are destined to become some of the most beloved places of the new millenium. They need protection, not posturing.
That's why we want the Secretary to hear from you. Your comments are urgently needed to counter the development-prone ideas Secretary Norton will receive from some hostile local elected officials, as well as the off-road vehicle crowd, the oil and gas industry, and others. Take action now by going to our site and sending Secretary Norton a fax, or by taking action below.
TAKE ACTION AT:
http://www.wilderness.org/standbylands/national_monuments_action.htm
OR
Write to Secretary Norton and urge her to make protection of the resources -- not continued local uses -- her first priority.
Send your letter to:
Secretary Gale Norton
c/o Tom Fulton
Office of the Secretary
United States Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240
If you live in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, please also send a copy of your letter to your governor:
http://www.wilderness.org/standbylands/national_monuments.htm
4/19/01
1:09:31 PM
BECOMING WHAT WE ARE
By Robert Anton Wilson
If you stroll through a large art museum, you will notice that Van Gogh does not paint the same world as Rembrandt, Picasso does not see things the way Goya did, Georgia O'Keefe doesn't much resemble Rivera, Salvador Dali looks like nobody but himself, and, in general, no world-class artist became a "classic" by doing what somebody else had already done or even what everybody else in his/her own era did.
And in science, the names of Einstein, Dirac, the Curies, Bohr, Heisenberg, Schroedinger, John Bell etc. live on because none of them took Newton as Holy Gospel: they all made unique and unpredictable innovations in basic theory.
And, in case you think this applies only to "arts and sciences," consider the most successful people in industry. Henry Ford did not get rich copying Fulton's steamboat; he made a car so cheap that anybody could afford one. Howard Hughes produced movies that nobody else would have dared to attempt, and then went on to revolutionize the airline industry. Buckminster Fuller did not copy the cubical form of previous architects, but invented the geodesic dome; at last count, over 3OO,OOO of his buildings existed, making him the most visibly successful architect in history. Steve Wozniak did not copy the computers of his day, but invented one that even an "bloody eejit" [like me] could use [and even enjoy!] Bill Gates created new kinds of software. Etc.
We all need constant reiteration of these truism because we live in a world where a multitude of very powerful forces have worked upon us, from birth through school to work, attempting to suppress our individuality, our creativity and, above all, our curiosity -- in short, to destroy everything that encourages us to think for ourselves.
Our parents wanted us to act like the other children in our neighborhood; they emphatically did not want a boy or girl who seemed "weird or "different" or [Heaven forefend] "too damned clever by far."
Then we enter grade school, a fate worse than Death and Hell combined. Whether we land in a public school or a private religious school, we learn two basic lessons: 1] There exists one correct answer for every question; and 2] education consists of memorizing the one correct answer and regurgitating it on an "examination."
The same tactics continue through high school and, except in a few sciences, even to the university.
All through this "education" we find ourselves bombarded by organized religion. Most religions, in this part of the world, also teach us "one correct answer," which we should accept with blind faith; worse, they attempt to terrorize us with threats of post-mortem roasting, toasting and charbroiling if we ever dare to think at all, at all.
After 18-to-30+ years of all this, we enter the job market, and learn to become, or try to become, almost deaf, dumb and blind. We must always tell our "superiors" what they want to hear, what suits their prejudices and/or their wishful fantasies. If we notice something they don't want to know about, we learn to keep our mouths shut. If we don't -
"One more word, Bumstead, and I'll fire you!"
As my mahatma guru J.R. "Bob" Dobbs says, "You know how dumb the average guy is? Well, mathematically, by definition, half of them are even dumber than that."
"Bob" may have the average confused with the median, but otherwise he hit a bull's eye. Half of the people you meet do indeed seem dumber than a box of rocks; but they did not start out that way. Parents, peers, schools, churches, advertisers and jobs made them that way. Every baby at birth has a relentlessly curious and experimental temperament. It takes the first third of our lives to destroy that curiosity and experimentalism; but in most cases, we become placid parts of a docile herd.
This human herd all started out as potential geniuses, before the tacit conspiracy of social conformity blighted their brains. All of them can redeem that lost freedom, if they work at it hard enough.
I've worked at it for 5O+ years now, and still find parts of me acting like a robot or a zombie on occasion. Learning "how to become what you are" [in Nietzsche's phrase] takes a lifetime, but it still seems the best game in town.
The Prophets Conference ~ New York City, May 18-20, 2001, is a pivotal event bringing together an unprecedented group of today's most remarkable leaders, teachers and authors to explore and bridge science with spirituality. The thematic variation for this New York City gathering is Techniques of Discovery - an investigation of the powerful and profound pre-existent place of deep transcendent and transformative commonality found through shamanic practices, spiritual paths, entheogens, religious trance, out-of-body experiences, mystical movement, prayer and treatment, alien abductions, and other revelatory tools.
Robert Anton Wilson, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, Gregg Braden, Gabrielle Roth, Ralph Metzner, Stanislav Grof, Riane Eisler, Michio Kaku, John Mack, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, and Russell Targ (Peter Gorman will not be presenting) will be looking at, and in some instances, taking us to expanded states of consciousness and the uncommon knowledge and heightened awareness often obtained from them. We will look at the magnitude of the implications fostered by acknowledging this journey as true Gnosis. Together, we will explore the relevance of this experience into every area of our lives. The Prophets Conference also envisions a Deeper Sense of Destiny at what is clearly showing itself to be a highly critical juncture in history and assesses avenues for reconfiguring Reality.
The Conference is being presented at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine - Synod Hall, which is located at 112th Street and Amsterdam.
Early registration discounts end April 23. Partial schlorships are still available in exchange for placing event posters - please contact helene@greatmystery.org if interested.
Conference information, including procedures for obtaining full registration passes and individual presentation ticket may be found at
To receive a brochure call toll-free 1-888-777-5981 or email axiom@greatmystery.org
4/19/01
12:58:27 PM
Israel Hooking Itself To US Star Wars
Karl Grossman
On November 1, 2000, the General Assembly of the United Nations voted on reaffirming the Outer Space Treaty, the fundamental international law setting aside space for "peaceful purposes." The resolution recognized "the common interest of all mankind in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes reaffirming the will of all states that the exploration and use of outer space shall be for peaceful purposes and shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all countries." It also recognized "that prevention of an arms race in outer space would avert a grave danger for international peace and security." Almost every nation in the UN - some 163 - voted for the resolution, entitled "Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space." Three nations did not. The United States, Israel and Micronesia abstained.
The year before, on the same resolution, the vote was 162 with two abstentions -- the US and Israel. (In picking up the vote of Micronesia, a collection of islands in the Pacific, the US got support from a country 100% dependent on US aid.) The reason the US refused to reaffirm the Outer Space Treaty is clear: the United States is developing a program for space warfare -- and it's not just "missile defense."
There are many publicly available US military documents spelling out the plans, including "Vision for 2020" of the US Space Command. (The US Space Command, set up by the Pentagon in 1985, "coordinates the use of Army, Naval and Air Force space forces.") The multi-colored cover of "Vision for 2020" depicts a laser weapon in space zapping a target on Earth below. The report opens with words that crawl down the page in the style of the Star Wars movies: "US Space Command --dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect US interests and investment. Integrating Space Forces into warfighting capabilities across the full spectrum of conflict."
Just as "nations built navies to protect and enhance their commercial interests" by ruling the seas in previous centuries, the pamphlet continues, the US must "control space" and from it "dominate" the Earth below. A key reason: "The globalization of the world economy will continue, with a widening between 'haves' and 'have-nots'" --thus the need for the US, the engine of the global economy, to keep everyone in check.
"Now is the time," says the US Space Command's brochure "Long Range Plan," to "begin developing space capabilities, innovative concepts of operations for warfighting, and organizations that can meet the challenges of the 2lst Century...Space power in the 2lst Century looks similar to previous military revolutions, such as aircraft-carrier warfare and Blitzkrieg."
"The United States won't always be able to forward base its forces...Widespread communications will highlight disparities in resources and quality of life-contributing to unrest in developing countries...The global economy will continue to become more interdependent. Economic alliances, as well as the growth and influence of multi-national corporations, will blur security agreements...The gap between 'have' and 'have-not' nations will widen-creating regional unrest," says the "Long Range Plan." "One of the long acknowledged and commonly understood advantages of space-based platforms is no restriction or country clearances to overfly a nation from space. We expect this advantage to endure...Achieving space superiority during conflicts will be critical to the US success on the battlefield."
The "Long Range Plan" then continues on for more than 100 pages detailing US plans for "Control of Space," "Full Spectrum Dominance," "Full Force Integration," and "Global Engagement."
A US Air Force Space Command publication, "Guardians of the High Frontier," declares: "Space is the ultimate 'high ground,'" and says the Air Force Space Command is committed to "the control and exploitation of space." Proudly displayed in "Guardians of the High Frontier" is a Space Command uniform patch and motto: "Master of Space."
Beyond military documents, there is the recently issued report of the so-called "Space Commission" chaired by now-US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. It is the blueprint for the space military program of the new Bush administration. "In the coming period," states the report, "the US will conduct operations to, from, in and through space in support of its national interests both on the earth and in space." The report of the Rumsfeld "Space Commission," or in its formal name: The Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization, urges the US president to "have the option to deploy weapons in space." It stresses the desirability "to project power through and from space in response to events anywhere in the world."
The report cites a need for a "missile defense," indeed it warns several times of a "Space Pearl Harbor." But it, and the military reports, reflects a far wider US space military program: "national missile defense" to protect the US "homeland," "Theatre Missile Defense" (TMD) to be utilized in and in proximity to areas of conflict, and space-based weaponry. Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Florida-based Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the "missile defense" component as "the foot in the door." Who can be against "defense?" So missile defense has been the spin "to get a deployment OK," says Gagnon, "then to be followed up by the real Reagan Star Wars program that includes space-based weapons."
As retired US Navy Rear Admiral Eugene J. Carroll, Jr., Vice President of the Center for Defense Information in Washington, D.C., says: "You look at the Rumsfeld report and his [Rumsfeld's] statements and the other [military] reports and you have to realize that they are thinking in terms of militarizing space, of space warfare."
And it's not just rhetoric. The US Defense Department gave the go-ahead in December for development of the Space-Based Laser, a joint project of TRW, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The US Army's Redstone Arsenal describes it as having a "lifecycle budget" of $20 to $30 billion. A second space-based laser project underway and in testing is the "Alpha High-Energy Laser." Built by TRW, it conducted its twenty-second successful test firing last year. Unless there is a stop put to it, "We are going into space with lasers," warns Admiral Carroll. "Space is seen as a new place to wage war," says Carroll. "Already, we are underwater, over-water, on-the-land, in-the-air-and now we want to go to another dimension: space."
Moreover, nuclear power may be an important element in the US space military plans. According to "New World Vistas: Air And Space Power For The 2lst Century," a US Air Force board report: "In the next two decades, new technologies will allow the fielding of space-based weapons of devastating effectiveness to be used to deliver energy and mass as force projection in tactical and strategic conflict. These advances will enable lasers with reasonable mass and cost to effect very many kills." But "power limitations impose restrictions" on such-based weapons systems making them "relatively unfeasible...A natural technology to enable high power is nuclear power in space...Setting the emotional issue of nuclear power aside, this technology offers a viable alternative for large amounts of power in space." Thus the stage would be set for orbiting Chernobyls in the sky-nuclear- powered battle platforms over our heads.
US military leaders are as blunt as the US documents about what the country is up to. "Some people don't want to hear this, and it sure isn't in vogue, but -- absolutely -- we're going to fight in space," said General Joseph W. Ashy, former Commander-in-Chief of the US Space Command. "That's why the US has development programs in directed energy and hit-to-kill mechanisms. We will engage terrestrial targets someday -- ships, airplanes, land targets - from space. We will engage targets in space, from space."
Israel's reasons for not voting to reaffirm the Outer Space Treaty - which Israel has ratified -- involve its long security relationship with the US. As a protector of Israel militarily for decades, the US sees Israel as owing it -- and thus, in part, Israel's vote in support of the US position at the UN. Also, the US has sought to have Israeli companies benefit from Star Wars technology. One joint US-Israeli program has been the Arrow project, the development of a missile with the ability to intercept incoming Scuds and similar missiles. The first pair of Arrow batteries are slated to be deployed in Israel this year. Says Lt. Gen. Lester Lyles, Director of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, regarding the US-Israeli Arrow Program: "Once the Foreign Military Sales case is concluded for Israel to purchase a JTIDS 2H terminal...Israel will have the full capability for Arrow to "interoperate" with US TAMD systems. We are continuing our efforts that use both the Israeli Test Bed (ITB) and the Israeli Systems Architecture and Integration (ISA&I) analysis capabilities to assist with the deployment of the Arrow Weapon System. In addition, we are working with Israel in the ITB and ISA&I to refine procedures for combined operations between USEUCOM and the Israeli Air Force, and to examine future missile defense architectures that consider evolving regional threats. Recent contingency operations with Israel have benefited greatly from the work conducted bilaterally in the ITB and ISA&I.
"We continue to reap benefits from our cooperative missile defense programs with Israel. In one specific case, the Arrow seeker technology flown by Israel is the same seeker planned to be flown aboard THAAD. Similarly, the lethality mechanism used in Arrow will greatly assist us as we develop the Navy Area system that also employs a fragmentation warhead. Additionally, the experience gained with the cooperative Arrow flight tests will provide many benefits as we begin a very robust flight test program for our TAMD systems this year."
In January, however, Boeing froze discussions with Israel Aircraft Industries on co-production of Arrow missiles that would be sold to other countries "until technology transfer issues are resolved." Boeing reportedly wants to wait and see how open the Bush administration will be toward transfer of technology to other countries.
Israel clearly has a great interest in the "missile defense" and "theatre defense" components of the US Star Wars program. Gagnon, however, is concerned that "the deployment of theatre missile defense in the Middle East will likely force Arab nations to counter Israel by seeking new systems which will lead to a widening of the arms race. Sad to say, I think the overall plan of the US is to do just that, considering that weapons are the #1 industrial export of the US. The more instability in the region the more money to be made by the weapons industry.
In his first visit to US President Bush at the White House on March 20, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Bush "found a `convergence of interest' in missile defense," reported the New York Times. Further, "The United States was 'very much interested' in furthering the capacity of Israel's theatre missile defense, the official said."
However, the American space military program is far more than that - and Israel, as demonstrated by its support of the US space military program at the UN, is tying itself into something far from defensive. It is an offensive program that stands to destroy a highly successful initiative that has kept space war-free for 35 years: the Outer Space Treaty.
The US was deeply involved in initiating the Outer Space Treaty, according to Craig Eisendrath, a former US State Department Foreign Service officer instrumental in its creation. The Soviet Union had launched its Sputnik satellite in 1957 and "we sought to de-weaponize space before it got weaponized," he explains. A model the State Department used for its draft of the Outer Space Treaty, says Eisendrath, was the Antarctic Treaty which bars military deployments on that continent. The Soviet Union and the United Kingdom joined the US in presenting the treaty which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966. It entered into force in October 1967.
The Outer Space Treaty has now been ratified by 96 nations and signed by 27 others. The intent of the treaty is "to keep war out of space," said Eisendrath, co-author of the forthcoming book, The Phantom Defense: America's Pursuit of the Star Wars Illusion. Eisendrath views as "a violation" of the Outer Space Treaty the deployment in space of weapons such as the lasers that the US military has been and is pursuing. The final wording of the treaty provides for a ban on "nuclear weapons or other kinds of weapons of mass destruction." Endeavoring to clear up any confusion and specifically prohibit all weapons in space in recent years have been both Canada and China. But the US has successfully fought back those efforts. Russia also --indeed most of the nations of the world -- support the effort to prohibit all weapons in space. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his first speech at the UN, last September for the "Millenium Summit," focused on the "militarization of space."
The US is making a tragic miscalculation if it thinks it can "control space" and from it "dominate" the world below. For if the US moves ahead with this scheme, other nations will respond in kind -- China and Russia right off -- and there will be an arms race and inevitably war in space. Kofi Annan, in opening the Third United Nations Conference on Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 1999, declared: "Above all, we must guard against the misuse of outer space. We recognized early on that a legal regime was needed to prevent it from being another arena of military confrontation. The international community has acted jointly, through the United Nations, to ensure that outer space will be developed peacefully.But there is much more to be done. We must not allow this century, so plagued with war and suffering, to pass on its legacy, when the technology at our disposal will be even more awesome. We cannot view the expanse of space as another battleground for our earthly conflicts."
Says Gagnon: "If the US is allowed to move the arms race into space, there will be no return. We have this one chance, this one moment in history, to stop the weaponization of space from happening." We have a narrow window to keep space for peace, to strengthen the Outer Space Treaty and ban all weapons in space. Israel should join with peoples from around the world and stop this move by the United States to turn the heavens into a war zone.
http://www.alternativenews.org/
4/19/01
12:48:14 PM
Bunker-busting US 'mini-nukes' alarm scientists
Special report: George Bush's America
Julian Borger in Washington
The Guardian
The Pentagon is examining the feasibility of producing a low-yield nuclear warhead capable of hitting deep fortified targets such as Saddam Hussein's underground bunkers. But US scientists warned yesterday that "mini-nukes" would lower the threshold of nuclear war.
The Pentagon is due to report to the Senate in July in response to a Republican request to it and the energy department to find a way of destroying "hardened and deeply buried targets". But a Pentagon spokesman insisted yesterday that work on mini-nukes had not yet begun.
"The 2001 defence authorisation bill authorises up to review the requirements for a weapon to use against hardened and deeply buried targets," Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Campbell said.
"There has been no research and development."
A 1994 law prohibits the US developing a nuclear warhead of less than 5 kilotonnes, lest "low-yield nuclear weapons blur the distinction between nuclear and conventional war".
The request by two Republican hawks, Senators John Warner and Wayne Allard, to find a way of destroying targets such as underground bunkers directly challenges that law. Testing a mini-nuke would breach the 1996 comprehensive test ban treaty, too.
There is thought to be support for developing such a weapon in the energy department's nuclear research laboratories and the Pentagon. An adviser to the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, told the Washington Post this week that President Saddam would not be deterred by any of the nuclear warheads in the US arsenal, "because he knows a US president would not drop a 100-kilotonne bomb on Baghdad".
In theory a mini-nuke missile released by a plane would point towards its target and fire its rocket motors, driving it deep underground. The weak nuclear charge would be exploded after a time-delay and the blast, supporters say, would be contained in the hole dug by the missile.
But a report by the Federation of American Scientists argues that the Earth-penetrating bombs now being tested have only penetrated 6 metres (20ft) below the surface. A nuclear blast at that depth, the report says, "will simply blow out a huge crater of radioactive material, creating a lethal gamma-radiation field over a large area".
Robert Sherman, head of the federation's nuclear security project, said: "We have gone 56 years without a nuclear weapon being used anywhere. There is universal recognition that once you use the first nuclear weapon it becomes a great deal easier for someone to use the second. "Its incredibly stupid to think you can use a small nuclear weapon, cross the nuclear firebreak and get away from it.
"Trying to sell it on the rationale that it can be used without collateral damage and that will be the end of it ... is incredibly irresponsible."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,474368,00.html
4/19/01
12:45:38 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
"We Cover the Earth For You"
EQUITY ARGUMENTS ENTANGLE CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATIONS
By Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON, DC, April 18, 2001 (ENS) - Environment ministers, climate change scientists, businesses leaders and activists from around the world met Tuesday to discuss a complicated issue - how can nations ensure that actions taken to combat climate change are fair? Their dialogue raised more questions than it answered, but it also raised hopes that informed debate may yet lead to a successful international climate treaty.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-18-06.html
REPORT NAMES CULPRITS IN CENTRAL AFRICA'S DIRTY WAR
NEW YORK, New York, April 18, 2001 (ENS) - Foreign armies and criminal cartels are finding the phenomenal mineral wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) too hard to resist, said a United Nations report on the war that continues to ravage the central African nation.
And there is no shortage of companies in developed nations willing to turn a blind eye to the source of those minerals and the methods used to extract them.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-18-10.html
TANKER SPILLS IRAQI OIL INTO THE PERSIAN GULF
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 18, 2001 (ENS) - Cleanup crews are working to ensure Dubai's popular tourist beaches are free of oil from a ship which sank off in the Persian Gulf off Jebel Ali four days ago. Fears that the 30-mile oil slick would lead to serious contamination of beaches proved unfounded, UAE officials said today.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-18-04.html
ARMY CORPS POTOMAC RIVER DUMPING CHALLENGED IN COURT
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2001 (ENS) - The National Wilderness Institute, a Washington based conservation organization, applied to a federal court Tuesday to grant an injunction to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from dumping sediment into the Potomac River which runs through the nation's capital.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-18-01.html
JAPANESE LAWMAKERS VOTE TO RATIFY KYOTO PROTOCOL
TOKYO, Japan, April 18, 2001 (ENS) - This morning, the House of Councilors in Japanese Diet unanimously adopted a strong resolution on the Kyoto climate protocol that approves "Japan's early ratification."
The House of Representatives is expected to adopt a similar resolution tomorrow.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-18-02.html
GREENPEACE TEAM CATCHES ILLEGAL LOGGERS IN BRAZILIAN AMAZON
MANAUS, Brazil, April 18, 2001 (ENS) - Acting on information supplied by Greenpeace, the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA) has seized three rafts of illegal logs on the Amazon River and two tugboats used to transport them.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-18-05.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: APRIL 18, 2001
Illegal Drug Crops Cause Massive Environmental Damage
MIT to Pay Fine, Complete Environmental Projects
Public Transportation Ridership on the Rise
Pipeline Spills Saltwater, Oil on Alaska's North Slope
Alaska Railroad Pays Half Million For Oil Spills
Wetter Upper Atmosphere May Delay Ozone Recovery
Automated Floats Monitor Ocean Carbon
Nuclear Power Plant Missing Two Fuel Rods
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-18-09.html
4/19/01
12:33:15 PM
Report on Carcinogens
We are surrounded in our daily lives by thousands of substances and combinations of substances that are affecting the health of nearly every woman, man, and child on Earth. It is a challenge to figure out what substances to be concerned about. Few people know that the U.S. government has been producing a document since 1978 that tells us what substances in the marketplace are known to cause cancer. But the government is only required to publish the information, not to remove any of these deadly substances from the market.
I discuss the contents and implications of the latest Report on Carcinogens in this week's Healing Our World commentary on the Environment News Service. You can see it at
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-13g.html.
It is deeply disturbing that even the Inuit native peoples who live in the extreme Arctic, about as far away from technological civilization as you can get, are at risk from birth defects and other health problems from toxic chemicals in their native foods. These chemicals permeate our planet, yet governments have no interest in stopping their production if it means even one lost dollar for the wealthy.
We have to take matters into our own hands to protect ourselves and our families.
I wish you peace.
Jackie
4/19/01
12:20:39 PM
Ethical Consumer Research Association
New website targets Bush bankrollers
http://www.boycottbush.net has been set up to allow individuals to influence the g