Earths.net

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-19-06.html

"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:

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

http://www.cepr.net

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

http://www.ecocity.com

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

web: http://www.iacenter.org

http://www.mumia2000.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:

http://www.thenation.com

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.wilderness.org/standbylands/national_monuments_action.htm

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.

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

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

http://www.greatmystery.org

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

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-18-06.html

"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:

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 global politics of climate change. In March, President George Bush abandoned the USA's commitment to the Kyoto climate agreement, attracting worldwide condemnation. Now a new website, set up by UK-based campaign organisation ECRA, seeks to show that by targeting the companies that bankrolled Bush to victory in November, individuals can force his hand at climate talks in Bonn this July. www.boycottbush.net lists the top twenty corporate donors to the Republican Party with consumer brands, while at the same time noting more ethical alternatives. "These companies have bought access at the highest level," says Rob Harrison of ECRA. "Now let them use it to tell Bush he is wrong on this one."

Top twenty Republican donors with global consumer brands

1 Philip Morris - $4,554,732

2 BP (ARCO) - $1,865,458

3 Amway - $1,729,500

4 News Corp - $1,204,950

5 Enron - $1,146,615

6 Citigroup - $1,079,225

7 MCI Worldcom - $1,074,608

8 Federal Express (FDX Corp) - $1,057,550

9 Pfizer - $1,051,225

10 Chevron Texaco - $862,056

11 Bristol-Myers Squibb - $848,556

12 Revlon Group/ MacAndrews & Forbes - $761,000

13 Limited Inc - $750,000

14 Glaxo-Wellcome - $702,795

15 Walt Disney - $663,625

16 Anheuser-Busch - $663,025

17 Archer Daniels Midland - $660,000

18 Microsoft - $644,816

19 Coca Cola - $610,875

20 Schering-Plough - $600,685

http://www.boycottbush.net

fromboycottbush@ethicalconsumer.org

You may also contact Hannah Berry Press Contact Ethical Consumer Research Association 00 44 161 2260751 mail@ethicalconsumer.org

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org

4/19/01
12:03:42 PM

Researchers Fear Navy's Sonar May Harm Whales

By RACHEL X. WEISSMAN

Last spring Kenneth Balcomb, a marine mammalogist, woke to find an unsettling situation outside his Abaco Island home in the Bahamas: a 16-foot Cuvier's beaked whale weighing some two tons stranded in knee-deep water.

With the help of several volunteers, Mr. Balcomb, who heads the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Wash., tried to push the animal out to sea. After the fifth attempt, the disoriented whale stopped turning toward shore and continued into the open ocean. But that was only the start.

Over 15 hours beginning March 15, about 16 whales and a dolphin became stranded on the beach and in shallow waters around the northern Bahama islands. Most were pushed back into the sea by Mr. Balcomb and volunteers, who had gone to the Bahamas to observe the whales as part of a program for the Boston- based Earthwatch Institute, a nonprofit organization that supports scientific field work. Still, the dolphin and six whales died. It was one of the largest strandings of beaked whales on record.

Five days later the United States Marine Fisheries Service, at the request of the Bahamian government, sent biologists to perform necropsies. They found hemorrhaging around the brain and ear bones. On the one-year anniversary of the strandings in March, a task force from the agency and the United States Navy said that it was highly likely that the stranding was caused by sonar transmissions from Navy ships that were performing antisubmarine exercises nearby.

Now some biologists and environmental groups fear that such mass strandings will become more common if the Navy wins approval for a sonar program it wants for detecting submarines. Called the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System, or Surtass, it would consist of four sonar- equipped ships able to sweep 80 percent of the world's oceans.

The Navy, which must have a permit from the marine fisheries service before it can proceed, discounts claims that what happened in the Bahamas could result from Surtass, because the sonar used during last year's strandings operated on a middle frequency and its Surtass program would use a low frequency. Both systems, however, transmit sound waves that bounce off objects and send information back to the listener. In the proposed system, transmissions could be as loud as 230 decibels, roughly the noise of a rocket taking off. The Navy proposes using observers and monitoring instruments to make sure no marine mammals are within a kilometer. Beyond that, the sound would have dissipated to at most 180 decibels, a level at which some scientists believe physiological damage occurs.

The sound would join a chorus of others that contribute to rampant noise pollution in the oceans. Contributors are the babble of engines from industrial vessels, air guns used in oil and gas exploration and sonar impulses used for a variety of purposes. Whales are more susceptible to interference from sound than are many other mammals because of their heavy reliance on it for primary activities like feeding, communication, navigation and nursing.

"Ocean noise pollution is akin to humans living in a world of increasing smog," said Dr. Lindy Weilgart, a bioacoustician who studies whales and sound at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. "The windows of opportunity in which whales can communicate with a specific group member or find prey are increasingly limited because of noise pollution," Dr. Weilgart said. "And most whales are endangered and having a hard time anyway."

The Navy's Surtass plan is opposed by advocacy groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, which pressed the Navy to show how its project would affect the environment. Because of a dearth of data, the Navy began research on low- frequency sonar's effect on large whales, which communicate at that level. The marine fisheries service is using the data in reviewing the Navy's permit request and will accept public comments until May 18.

Dr. Christopher W. Clark, director of bioacoustics research at Cornell and one of the main investigators for the Navy's Surtass research, said that one phase of that program tried to find out the effects of exposure to sonar levels higher than 120 decibels, a level that certain whales have been observed to avoid.

About 200 miles off San Diego, where blue whales and fin whales feed, the Navy tested its sonar in the summer and early fall of 1997 and found that whales showed no reaction at 150 decibels. "That was encouraging and even surprising," Dr. Clark said. "We had all predicted that by 140 for sure you'd see a reaction." Because of bad weather, no higher levels were tested.

But Mr. Balcomb noted that the Navy was proposing using even higher levels around the whales, and he said the Navy had not studied enough species. "They used only low-frequency communicators because that's what they thought would be affected," he said. "My point on resonance is that its effects have nothing to do with hearing."

Dr. Weilgart said that the Navy should instead be looking at data on strandings that correlate with nearby military operations using sonar.

The Navy and regulators from the marine fisheries service who are reviewing the permit proposal say the two sonar systems, low- and mid- level frequency, are so different that it is entirely unfair to link the two.

The midlevel, non-Surtass sonar implicated in the Bahamas strandings can be heard over short distances by many marine mammals, particularly smaller ones. The low- frequency sonar proposed in Surtass, on the other hand, is audible over hundreds of miles to far fewer animals and is emitted at the same frequency used by large whales like the famous singing humpback.

But Mr. Balcomb, in whose back yard this all began, holds fast to his claim that what caused the hemorrhaging in the Bahamas whales was not sound's effect on the whales' hearing but on resonance effects in their air cavities. In a recent letter to the Navy, Mr. Balcomb used calculations by the Navy's own physicists to show that both low and middle frequencies can create resonance effects in whales' air cavities. He surmised that low-frequency sonar could cause the same injuries probably caused by the midlevel sonar during the Bahamas strandings.

Mr. Balcomb also said that the visible damage of last spring was only part of the picture. None of the 50 Cuvier's beaked whales that frequented the Bahamas year round have been seen since the strandings. He presumes that all had died.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/10/science/10WHAL.html

4/19/01
11:59:45 AM

Earth Island Institute

OPERATION MUFFLE THE NAVY

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST LFAS

Earth Island Institute and the Los Angeles-based Eco-Link are planning a peaceful demonstration just before the Los Angeles public hearing on the NMFS permit for the Navy's LFA Sonar program. The demo is scheduled for Thursday, April 26th from 4 PM to 6 PM in front of the Renaissance Hotel, 9620 Airport Boulevard (near LAX) in Los Angeles. (The hearing is in the hotel from 6 PM to 9 PM.)

Please plan to arrive at 4 PM (or whenever you can make it) and help carry signs, banners, and inflatable dolphins (see next item). We have notified the Los Angeles Police Department, and we will need to be orderly (well, reasonably orderly), stay out of the street and on the public sidewalk, and avoid blocking entrances, etc., etc., as we exercise our freedom of speech and assembly.

EARTH ISLAND'S INFLATABLE DOLPHIN WILL BE THERE!

Yes, we plan to bring down Earth Island's 20-foot inflatable blue dolphin for the demo. Should attract some attention.......along with lots of people and signs, of course.

JOIN US IN SAYING "NO NAVY SOUNDBLASTING"!

We have posted our alert for the NMFS hearings and the comment period on Earth Island's website, which you can access, as can the rest of the world, at

http://www.earthisland.org

4/19/01
11:56:11 AM

670 Palestinians have been rendered homeless in 2 weeks

Palestinians need your support Now! On Saturday, April 14, 2001, Israeli occupation forces, reinforced with tanks and bulldozers, invaded the area near Salah El-Din Gate on the border in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Without prior warning, these forces demolished 16 Palestinian-owned houses and their contents, making more than 170 Palestinian civilians homeless. Israeli forces also destroyed 21 Palestinian-owned stores, including their contents, and a Palestinian Military Intelligence Service site. The escalation was accompanied by the firing of artillery shells, heavy caliber bullets, and medium caliber bullets at Palestinian houses in nearby neighborhoods. As a result, more than 40 Palestinian civilians were wounded. This comes only 4 days after a similar devastating attack on Khan Younis Refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/palestine/action041201.html

SEE ALSO: Arabs Inflamed by Israeli Strike on Radar Deep in Lebanon

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/17/world/17MIDE.html

4/19/01
11:54:38 AM

Two new fax actions are now available on the Global Exchange website. Please act today!

1. Biopiracy in Mexico

Fax the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) and the Environmental Commission of the Mexican Senate to call for a moratorium on all bio-prospecting projects.

Biopiracy is the illegal appropriation and patenting of life -- plants, animals, soils, humans -- by transnational corporations, universities and governments using indigenous knowledge to facilitate their research. Biopiracy is an often-overlooked violation of the human rights and the autonomy of indigenous peoples all over the world. As a result, underdeveloped countries with indigenous populations and rich environments are now becoming the laboratories for new drugs, seed varieties, chemicals, and cosmetics.

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/mexico/biopiracyfax.html

4/19/01
11:51:24 AM

Biojustice Action Camp

Biojustice Action Camp will bring together the various arms of the existing movement to ban genetically engineered foods with those concerned over moral, legal, and biological dilemmas resulting from the manipulation and patenting of the very fabric of life. It is Ruckus' role to help bridge the gap between farmers, invigorated grassroots activists, experienced campaigners, scientists and researchers, religious leaders and the incredibly wide range of citizens concerned about the ramifications of biotechnology. This will be an international gathering, with participants coming from Asia, Europe, and South & North America. Ruckus asks a sliding-scale ($100-$500) donation from those attending, though no one is ever turned away for lack of funds. Tasty vegetarian (non GMO) food will be provided.

For more information, go to: http://www.ruckus.org

4/19/01
11:50:43 AM

*STOP THE TOXIC TEXAN FROM POLLUTING THE PLANET!!

Three Greenpeace activists arrested for hanging a banner from a water tower in Bush's hometown of Crawford, Texas.

Read all about it: http://www.greenpeaceusa.org

4/19/01
11:35:45 AM

Planet Ark World Environment News

Doing environmental research? Search our news archives at: http://www.planetark.org/searchhome.cfm

US tells Florida Gov. Bush energy lease plans on - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10551

Pipeline break leaks oil, saltwater on Alaska tundra - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10545

Alaska railroad to pay $537,000 over fuel spills - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10546

UN climate head urges US not to block Kyoto treaty - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10552

Conoco refinery fire led to emission breach - agency - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10557

UPDATE - Imported antelope may have spread mad cow to UK - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10553

UPDATE - Thawing permafrost threatens northern hemisphere - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10547

Russian Duma moves to OK import of nuclear fuel - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10549

Philippines seeks trash-to-cash scheme - PHILIPPINES http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10542

Pakistan considers melting glaciers for water - PAKISTAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10559

UPDATE - Kazakh OKIOC reports minor oil spill in Caspian - KAZAKHSTAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10554

Japan Upper House urges Kyoto pact implementation - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10555

German packaging firms announce recycling plan - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10558

Enbridge, Suncor plan Canadian wind power project - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10548

Ontario home to Canada's worst polluters - study - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10556

EU rejects Australia's call for new greenhouse pact - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10544

Scientists say Great Barrier Reef choking to death - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10543

Japan, Australia, NZ agree to increase tuna catch - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10550

4/19/01
9:57:24 AM

sea breeze heat and energy

4/18/01
6:34:35 PM

ARSENIC FROM YOUR TAP

by Rachel Massey

President Bush has canceled a health regulation that would have reduced allowable levels of arsenic in U.S. drinking water from 50 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), arsenic in drinking water causes cancer of the skin, lungs, bladder and prostate in humans.[1] Arsenic in drinking water is also linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, anemia, and disorders of the immune, nervous and reproductive systems, EPA says.[1] Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that arsenic even at very low levels equivalent to 10 ppb in water interferes with hormones, making it a potent endocrine disrupter. Hormones are chemical messengers that the body produces to regulate critical life processes.[2]

Arsenic appears in two forms, organic and inorganic; in general, the inorganic form is more dangerous. Inorganic arsenic occurs naturally in some locales. In addition, at least six million pounds of arsenic are released into the environment of the U.S. each year by mining, coal burning, copper and lead smelting, wood-preserving treatments, municipal incinerators and the use of certain pesticides.[3,pg. 249] The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the U.S. EPA both agree that arsenic is known to cause cancer in humans.[4] According to EPA, at least 11 million people in the U.S. currently drink water contaminated with arsenic at levels above 10 ppb.[5]

The 10 ppb arsenic standard would have put the U.S. squarely in the mainstream. In 1993, the World Health Organization (WHO) set 10 ppb as the recommended limit for arsenic in drinking water. The 15-nation European Union adopted 10 ppb as a mandatory standard for arsenic in drinking water in 1998.[6] WHO says even this level is not safe; for example, WHO estimates that lifetime exposure to water containing 10 ppb of arsenic will lead to six cases of skin cancer per 10,000 people.[7]

A 1999 study by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recommended that the allowable levels of arsenic in U.S. drinking water should be lowered "as promptly as possible." Taking into consideration all forms of cancer, NAS said the current standard of 50 ppb "could easily result in a combined cancer risk on the order of 1 in 100."[8,pg.301] A one-in-100 risk is 10,000 times as great as the one-in-a-million risk that EPA usually deems "acceptable."

EPA estimated that cutting allowable arsenic from 50 to 10 ppb would prevent 1000 bladder cancers and 2000 to 5000 lung cancers during a human lifetime. EPA did not estimate the reductions in skin or prostate cancers, diabetes, nervous system damage, immune system damage, or cardiovascular disease.[1]

Now a new study suggests that arsenic is a potent hormone disrupter.[9] Working with rat tumor cells, researchers have found that low-level arsenic exposure interferes with the activity of hormones known as glucocorticoids. Glucocorti-coids are involved in most of the human body's basic systems. They help to regulate the immune system, the central nervous system, and changes in blood, bones and kidneys, as well as the body's use of sugars, starches, fats, and proteins. Glucocorticoids affect weight, growth, and development.[10]

Arsenic's hormone-disrupting activity may explain how arsenic promotes cancer. Studies of laboratory animals show that glucocorticoids suppress some tumors. Arsenic may promote cancers by interfering with this tumor-suppressing mechanism.

For President Bush, arsenic poisoning provides an opportunity for humor. At a dinner speech in March the President said, "As you know, we're studying safe levels for arsenic in drinking water. (laughter) To base our decision on sound science, the scientists told us we needed to test the water glasses of about 3,000 people. (laughter) Thank you for participating. (laughter)"[11]

It is not entirely clear why Mr. Bush takes arsenic poisoning so lightly, but it may have something to do with his ties to the coal industry. Burning coal is a major source of arsenic contamination. Many landfills contain arsenic-laden ash produced by coal-burning power plants. Arsenic is likely to leak out of these landfills, contaminating groundwater.[3,pg.250]

Coal companies were major contributors to Mr. Bush's election campaign.Mr.Bush recently announced he was abandoning his campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants,[13] and he has turned his back on the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty to combat global warming. Representative Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) says Mr. Bush's arsenic policy is "another example of a special interest payback to industries that gave millions of dollars in campaign contributions."[5]

The wood products industry, which uses arsenic to pressure-treat lumber, also stands to benefit from unsafe arsenic standards. A representative of the American Wood Preservers Institute said members of his organization were "relieved and delighted" by Mr. Bush's decision.[5]

EPA spent ten years studying the dangers of arsenic in a public process before proposing the 10 ppb standard. The Bush administration now says the science behind the 10 ppb standard is "unclear." Furthermore, the Bush EPA questions whether the Clinton administration "fully understood" the costs of reducing arsenic contamination, even though the Clinton EPA published detailed cost estimates for public review and comment.[14]

In developing the 10 ppb standard, EPA estimated that the total cost of reducing arsenic contamination to 10 ppb nationwide would be around $181 million a year. If this cost were paid entirely by households that use affected water supplies,it would average about 12 dollars per person per year.EPA says the total annual benefits from avoiding unnecessary bladder and lung cancers would range from $140 million to $198 million. In other words, the monetary benefits from reducing these two illnesses alone would match the costs of removing arsenic from drinking water. EPA did not estimate monetary benefits from avoiding other illnesses associated with arsenic exposure, such as skin, prostate, and lung cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and damage to the immune and nervous systems.[15]

NEW YORK TIMES writer Gina Kolata has gone to bat for Mr. Bush on arsenic. By carefully selecting information, Kolata has managed to make the proposed 10 ppb arsenic regulation seem scientifically muddled and ultimately not worth the cost.[16] To begin with, she points out correctly that arsenic is natural: "God put it there," she quotes one scientist as saying, but she does not mention the millions of pounds of arsenic that corporations dump into air and water each year.

Kolata quotes an industry consultant who says he would bet a dollar that the "minuscule" number of lives to be saved by reducing arsenic levels is not statistically different from zero. Given that we know arsenic causes many different human diseases and given that we even know the mechanism by which this seems to occur (hormone disruption), it seems scientifically untenable and ethically bankrupt to assume "zero" effect when exposing tens of millions of people to arsenic in their drinking water.

Kolata cites EPA's estimate of how many bladder and lung cancers could be prevented by adopting the 10 ppb standard, but she does not mention the many other diseases that could be prevented by a safer standard. Kolata points out, correctly, that NAS did not recommend a specific level to which contamination should be reduced. However, she forgets to mention that the NAS urged the U.S. to reduce its arsenic "as promptly as possible," and that the NAS indicates that no level of arsenic exposure is known to be safe.[8,pg.300]

Kolata mentions correctly that the World Health Organization has set 10 ppb as its standard for arsenic in drinking water, but she says, "Most European countries have set their maximum arsenic levels at 20 parts per billion in water..." thus making it seem as if the WHO and the EPA are outside the mainstream. This is incorrect. The 15-nation European Union in 1998 adopted 10 ppb arsenic as a standard for drinking water; EU member nations are specifically prohibited from adopting a standard less stringent than 10 ppb.[6] Thirteen other European nations have applied for membership in the EU; when they achieve it, they too will be bound by the EU's 10 ppb arsenic standard.

Rachel Massey is a consultant to Environmental Research Foundation.

http://www.Rachel.org

4/18/01
6:30:39 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE

http://www.thenation.com/thebeat

1. DUST IN THE WIND Particulate pollution quadrupled across a quarter of the U.S. last weekend because of a dust storm from Mongolia that picked up industrial pollution in China. Some scientists have claimed for years that pollution can spread from China to the U.S., causing air quality to plummet. Russ Schnell of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that as the Chinese economy grows and people there buy more cars and use more electricity, the resulting pollution "will come to skewer or overwhelm our own pollution." Within a decade, he said, some pollution levels in California won't be controllable by the state because of contributions from China.

straight to the source: Denver Post, Ann Schrader , 18 Apr 2001 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E23383,00.html>

catch it only in Grist Magazine: They paved pears and rice and put up a parking lot -- pavement is replacing China's croplands -- by Lester R. Brown <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/brown030101.stm>

2. THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD There's a big pile of bread at the Portland Public Market in southern Maine. We're not talking Wonder. No, these are round loaves with hard crusts -- tan and black, springy and crunchy. There's apple cranberry, roasted red pepper, multigrain, rye, whole wheat. The organic bakery that produces these breads is one of the most successful businesses in Maine. Read more on the Grist Magazine website.

read it only in Grist Magazine: Organic bread: a life -- in our Main Dish section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/foster041601.stm>

3. GREEN DAY Hit hard with criticism about its environmental record, the Bush administration for the second day in a row let stand an environmental rule approved by former President Clinton and upheld a plan affecting industry's lead emissions. The decision, announced yesterday by U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman, means that companies will be required to report emissions of as little as 100 pounds of lead a year compared to the current threshold of 10,000 pounds. In an unusual move, President Bush had Whitman make her the announcement from the White House briefing room and he released a statement of his own in support of the rule. In a not-unusual move, the National Federation of Independent Businesses said it would sue to block enforcement of the rule.

straight to the source: Washington Post, Mike Allen, 18 Apr 2001 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28856-2001Apr17.html>

4. GALLUPING TO THE RESCUE A Gallup poll released yesterday showed that Americans favored environmental protections over energy drilling and economic growth. And it found that the public didn't agree with President Bush's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto treaty on climate change. Almost 60 percent of respondents to a recent CBS News poll opposed Bush's decision "not to reduce carbon dioxide emissions." On the war path, environmental leaders this week have expressed skepticism about recent moves by the Bush administration to burnish its environmental record -- moves that were nothing more than letting Clinton-era plans go forward. About a dozen green groups began a TV ad campaign yesterday in eight states attacking Bush's record.

straight to the source: New York Times, Katharine Q. Seelye, 18 Apr 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/18/politics/18ENVI.html>

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Elizabeth Shogren, 18 Apr 2001 <http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/natpol/20010418/t000032821.html>

5. AUCTIONABLE OFFENSE Interior Secretary Gale Norton has rejected an appeal from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) to immediately cancel plans to auction off 6 million acres of offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Even as his older brother, President Bush, talked up the need to open up areas all over the country to drilling, Jeb Bush wrote a letter in January to the Interior Department asking that it drop the sales off the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Now the department will complete an environmental assessment in June before making a final decision in October on whether drilling will proceed. Florida's tourism industry and environmentalists are in a tizzy about the drilling, and Jeb Bush, who is up for re-election this fall, may vie again to derail the auctions.

straight to the source: USA Today, Jonathan Weisman, 18 Apr 2001 <http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2001-04-17-jebenergy.htm>

catch it only in Grist Magazine: Off-off shore drilling -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha031000.stm>

Leaving on a jet plane -- a day in the life of David Waskow, Friends of the Earth <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/waskow041701.stm>

Carbon copycat -- the latest in the comic adventures of Zed, the last of his species <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/zed/zed041001.stm>

Electric boogie -- really fun facts about electricity -- in our Counter Culture section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/counter/counter031601.stm>

4/18/01
5:52:06 PM

Public Citizen Urges Food Industry to Keep Irradiated Food Out of Stores and Restaurants

Letter Warns 350 of the Largest Corporations of Potential Harm to Customers

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Public Citizen is urging 350 of the largest food companies and industry groups in the United States and throughout the world to refrain from selling irradiated food. In a letter sent last week to the companies and organizations, Public Citizen explained that a vast majority of consumers do not want to eat food that has been exposed to high doses of radiation and that irradiated food could endanger the health of their customers who eat it.

In addition to the letter, Public Citizen sent the largest meatpackers, food processors, retailers, fast-food chains and agribusiness corporations a packet of information explaining the potential hazards of irradiated food. Companies and groups receiving the letter ranged from Burger King, Campbell Soup Company, Wal-Mart and Tyson Foods to the National Chicken Council, the National Restaurant Council and the National Food Processors Association.

"Consumers do not want to eat filth, whether it's been irradiated or not," said the letter, which was signed by Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "Americans demand and deserve fresh, wholesome, safe food that has been grown and processed in clean environments. The bottom line is that irradiation will not make food cleaner. It merely masks unhygienic slaughtering and processing practices, while corrupting nutritional integrity. . . . We urge your company not to sell irradiated food until the many lingering public health questions have been adequately addressed."

Among its many hazards, irradiation can deplete vitamins and nutrients, form new chemicals that have never been studied for toxicity, and corrupt the flavor and odor of food. Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not properly assess the safety of irradiated food before legalizing it for human consumption, research by Public Citizen has found.

To see the letter, visit http://www.citizen.org/cmep/rad-food/Lettermailingtoretailers4-01.htm

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

For more information, please visit www.citizen.org

4/18/01
5:50:43 PM

Joey Ramone: The punk who did not hide his politics

He wrote of the whole labeling controversy, "It’s just a smokescreen for the real problems: the S & L deficit, the homeless, the environment.”

Birth: May 19, 1951 Died: Easter Sunday April 15, 2001

Joey Ramone, the punk pioneer who died from cancer Sunday at age 49, was more than just a groundbreaking rocker. He was, as well, an artist with a conscience, whose forays into political commentary earned praise from Nelson Mandela and ran afoul of Ronald Reagan.

The Ramones defined the punk-rock ethic in the mid-1970s with their high-velocity sound, two-minute songs and sworn-to-fun-loyal-to-none lyrics. But in the 1980s, Joey Ramone -- who grew up Jeffrey Hyman in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills -- surprised casual listeners to the raw and raucous band by evidencing a more serious and decidedly political bent.

Furious after watching a televised report of Ronald Reagan’s May, 1985, visit to the Germany military camp at Bitburg, where the former president laid a wreath at a cemetery containing graves of Nazi soldiers of the Waffen SS, Ramone dashed off a set of lyrics that became the song, "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg." Released as a single, the song featured the sizzling guitars and crashing drums that marked it as a classic Ramones cut, but the lyrics took a savage slash at the "morning-in-America" president: "You’re a politician -- don’t become one of Hitler’s children," went one line.

The song created a major stir, earning play on college radio and gripes from conservatives who objected to the deliberate "confusion" of the nation’s chief executive with the monkey he appeared with during the movie career that preceded his political plunge.

It also marked a political plunge for Ramone, whose lyrics had always been characterized by biting, socially-conscious satire, but who now presented a more overtly activist side of his persona. One of the lines in "Bonzo" went, "If there’s one thing that makes me sick, it’s when someone tries to hide their politics," and, clearly, Ramone was no longer hiding his politics.

In 1985, as well, he joined Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Bobby Womack, the members of Run DMC and four dozen other rock and rap artists in recording "Sun City" -- a seering anti-apartheid song written by Steven Van Zandt, the veteran member of Springsteen’s E Street Band who today is perhaps best known now as one of the stars of "The Sopranos." One of the most well-read and well-thought activist-artists in contemporary music, Van Zandt had traveled to South Africa to research songs for a solo album and came back burning mad at American and European musicians who were appearing at the Sun City resort. in the Bophuthatswana homeland.

The song is best remembered for its "I ain’t gonna play Sun City" chorus. But Van Zandt’s lyrics actually featured a sweeping denunciation of the Reagan administration’s "constructive engagement" policy of supporting South Africa’s National Party government while supposedly prodding it to ease its brutally racist apartheid laws. And sounding the battle cry against Reagan one more was Joey Ramone, who was featured in the section of the song that went, "Our government tells us we’re doing all we can/Constructive engagement is Ronald Reagan’s plan/Meanwhile people are dying and giving up hope/This quiet diplomacy ain’t nothing but a joke."

Ramone snarled the "constructive engagement" line in an award-winning video of what rock critic Dave Marsh in 1996 identified as one of the Top 20 Political Songs of the previous two decades. Marsh, arguably the most politically savvy analyst of contemporary music, singled out Ramone’s involvement in the project for recognition. Another fan of the song was former South African President Nelson Mandela, who hailed it as a vital contribution to the international struggle to free South Africa.

Ramone continued to insert political commentary into his songs as the years went on, focusing in particular on the constraints big business had placed on media and music, and on censorship. On the 1992 album, "Mondo Bizarro," for instance, he attacked Tipper Gore’s music labeling proposals as "un-American policy" and declared, "Hey, hey, all you senator’s wives/Better take a look at your own lives/Before you go preaching at me."

The chorus to Joey Ramone’s anti-censorship tune spoke volumes about the ideological side of a man who may not always have been politically correct, but who always seemed to get to the political point: "Ah, Tipper, come on," he wrote of the whole labeling controversy, "It’s just a smokescreen for the real problems: the S & L deficit, the homeless, the environment.”

4/18/01
4:10:27 PM

The Nation

The untimely death of punk pioneer Joey Ramone from cancer last Sunday has brought close-to-reverent treatment in the mainstream press for this former pariah rocker.

But, absent from most of these eulogies, was the fact that Ramone, lead singer for the mid-1970s group The Ramones, was more than just a groundbreaking rocker. He was also an artist with a conscience, whose forays into political commentary earned praise from Nelson Mandela and ran afoul of Ronald Reagan.

Read John Nichols's appreciation of this aspect of Ramone's life and career in the latest installment of his web-only feature "The Online Beat." Available currently at:

You can also still read recent articles of interest from the pages of The Nation, including William Greider on the FTAA; John Lantigua on electoral irregularities in Florida; Bruce Shapiro on the arrest of James Kopp; Senator Jon Corzine on why he's not joining the DLC; Scott Sherman on Al Sharpton; Naomi Klein on the World Social Forum; Marc Cooper on Plan Columbia and Eric Alterman on commies and the conservatives who love them. All that and more currently available at:

http://www.thenation.com

4/18/01
4:03:29 PM

Public Citizen

New Data Confirm Dangers of Controversial Drug Lotronex

FDA Should Not Put Drug Back on Market; Should Allow Use Only on Experimental, Restricted Basis, Public Citizen Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. - New data obtained by Public Citizen confirm the dangers of the controversial drug Lotronex, indicating that the government would be reckless to consider remarketing the drug, Public Citizen said today in a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Instead, if the government decides to allow patients to take the drug again, it should do so only on an experimental and highly restricted basis. The letter was sent to Bernard Schwetz, the FDA's acting principal deputy commissioner.

Lotronex was used to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) until it was withdrawn from the market last November because of dangerous adverse effects experienced by some patients taking it.

The new data show that through the end of 2000, 63 patients taking Lotronex experienced ischemic colitis (an interruption of the blood supply to the large intestine, which results in severe damage to the intestine) - up from 49 cases reported in mid-November. And 75 patients experienced severe constipation, up from 21 at that time. Most of the patients experiencing these problems required hospitalization. In all, the FDA has on record 141 cases of severe gastrointestinal complications in patients who took the drug - twice as many as in early November, before the drug was withdrawn. (Although the drug was removed from the market, patients could have continued taking it until their supplies ran out or there may have been a delay in reporting the adverse effect.)

Because of pressure from the drug industry and patient groups, the FDA apparently is considering putting Lotronex back on the market. But the drug poses too many dangers to be made widely available, Public Citizen said. Instead, the drug should be given to patients only under several conditions. First, the drug should be limited to patients who have previously used it and have not experienced adverse effects. Second, patients should be given an informed consent sheet explaining the potential dangers of the drug. Finally, a registry of all patients taking the drug and their physicians should be kept so the patients can be monitored.

"If anything other than this approach is used, the toll of needless deaths and serious injuries and the repeat ban that will inevitably occur will be on the hands of those FDA officials responsible for such a reckless remarketing," Public Citizen's letter said.

To view the letter, please visit

http://www.citizen.org/hrg/publications/1566.htm

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

For more information, please visit www.citizen.org

4/18/01
3:48:11 PM

THE QUEBEC WALL:

What lies behind Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)?

by Michel Chossudovsky

Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa [18 April 2001]

The Summit of the Americas will be held inside a four kilometer "bunker" made of concrete and galvanized steel fencing. The 10 feet high "Quebec Wall" encircles part of the historic city center including the parliamentary compound of the National Assembly, hotels and shopping areas. Cars will enter through closely guarded checkpoints; laissez-passers have been issued to official delegations, to the CEOs of major banks and corporations, as well as approved media and "selected invitees." (Click to see map of the "Security Perimeter" at

http://www.securitesommet.ca/pages/p_citoyen/p_cito_pe_f.html

Outside the bunker, more than 6,000 police and security forces are on hand,equipped not only with "pepper spray" but also with "multi-shot" Arwen 37 guns shooting hard-coated plastic bullets. The latter --according to a RCMP spokesperson-- are "... 'meant to crack a rib and put them in a lot of pain', ... Tactical squads are usually required to test such less-lethal weapons --such as Tasers, which deliver electric shocks-- on themselves. But Toronto Police Constable Leighton said it would be 'too dangerous' to do so with the Arwen." 1

With Canadian Armed Forces personnel dispatched to Quebec's capital from military bases in Nova Scotia, the security apparatus in Quebec promises to be "better organized" than at the Seattle WTO Millenium Summit in 1999. In Seattle, the city's riot police was integrated with Gang Squads and SWAT teams of the Tactical Operations Divisions constituting the "more militarized components" of the police force.

By any standard this is the largest police operation in North America directed against ordinary citizens. Rather than "cordoning off" the conference center which is standard practice in international summits-- the Canadian authorities have chosen to "fence in" a large part of the downtown area --not only denying the rights of citizens to protest but also preventing residents from moving around within their own city.

And those who defy the Quebec Wall will be taken to Orsainville penitentiary which has been emptied of its entire prison population (including several members of the Hells Angels) to make room for these more dangerous "troublemakers."

THE QUEBEC WALL IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Barely a week before the Summit, the Canadian and provincial governments, the City of Quebec and Quebec City's Police force were taken to court by a Montreal lawyer and the Vancouver based Canadian Liberty Committee (CLC). In a signed affidavit, the Canadian government representative stated that democracy was not under threat, to ensure: ''freedom of expression ... the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has [sent] invitations to the Summit to approximately 60 representatives of interest groups and lobby groups." 2

Moreover, "alternative protest sites" ("sites alternatifs demanifestation") have been designated --on the other side of the Wall-- so that the rank and file of these same civil society organisations can do their own thing.

The "People's Summit", organized by NGOs and major trade unions-- will receive "financial contributions for the holding of seminars, colloquia and public meetings."3 The federal government has allocated Can$287,000-- a comfortable amount of money, but "peanuts" in comparison to the 46 million dollar budget allocated by Ottawa for the police operation and the erection of the Wall.

WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT

The official list of civil society invitees has not been made public but we have a good idea who the "partner" civil society organizations are. The invitees include leaders of major trade union federations as well as several CEOs of mainstream NGOs. 4

The ritual is broadly similar to that of the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization (WTO) Millenium Summit. Several months ahead of time, the WTO and Western governments had called for a "dialogue" with the leaders of selected civil society organisations. A carefully worded AFL-CIO petition had been drafted urging the WTO Summit to adopt "trade and investment rules [which] protect workers' rights and the environment". In Seattle, Labor's buzzword was to "make the global economy work for working families". 5

Similarly, last January at the global business Summit in Davos --regrouping the World's top corporate execs, heads of State and VIPs, the leaders of some 59 "civil society" organisations --including the CEOs of Greenpeace, Oxfam UK, Amnesty International and Save the Children Alliance-- were also in attendance.

The ploy is to selectively handpick civil society leaders "whom we can trust" and integrate them into a "dialogue", cut them off from their rank and file, make them feel that they are "global citizens" acting on behalf of their fellow workers but make them act in a way which serves the interests of the corporate establishment:

The participation of NGOs in the Annual Meeting in Davos is evidence of the fact that [we] purposely seek to integrate a broad spectrum of the major stakeholders in society in ... defining and advancing the global agenda ... We believe the [Davos] World Economic Forum provides the business community with the ideal framework for engaging in collaborative efforts with the other principal stakeholders [NGOs] of the global economy to "improve the state of the world," which is the Forum's mission.

AFL-CIO's John Sweeney and Canadian Labor Congress (CLC) Ken Georgetti --together with Bill Jordan of the International Confederation of Free trade Unions (ICTFU)-- were also in Davos, mingling in a friendly environment with financier George Soros, Microsoft's Bill Gates and World Bank President James Wolfensohn. Meanwhile the rank and file protesters of these "civil society" organisations were being beaten with clubs and assaulted with water cannons by the Swiss riot police "outside" the Conference venue at the "counter-Davos."

RITUAL OF DISSENT

In the New World Order, the ritual of inviting "civil society" leaders into the inner circles of power - while simultaneously repressing the rank and file-- serves several important functions. First, it says to the World that the critics of globalization "must make concessions" to earn the right to mingle. Second, it conveys the illusion that while the global elites should --under what euphemistically called democracy-- be subject to criticism, they nonetheless rule legitimately. And third, it says "there is no alternative" to globalization: fundamental change is not possible and the most we can hope is to engage with these rulers in an ineffective "give and take".

While the "Globalizers" may adopt a few progressive phrases to demonstrate they have good intentions, their fundamental goals are not challenged. And what this "civil society mingling" does is to reinforce the clutch of the corporate establishment while weakening and dividing the protest movement.

An understanding of this process of co-optation is important, because tens of thousands of the most principled young people in Seattle, Prague and Quebec City are involved in the anti-globalization protests because they reject the notion that money is everything, because they reject the impoverishment of millions and the destruction of fragile Earth so that a few may get richer. This rank and file and some of their leaders as well, are to be applauded. But we need to go further. We need to challenge the right of the "Globalizers" to rule. This requires that we rethink the strategy of protest. Can we move to a higher plane, by launching mass movements in our respective countries, movements that bring the message of what globalization is doing, to ordinary people? For they are the force that must be mobilized to challenge those who would plunder the Globe.

THE FTAA: PRIVATIZATION OF A HEMISPHERE, UNDER U.S. CONTROL

The FTAA is a good deal more than a trade agreement. Throughout the Americas, it would radically transform the social existence of sovereign nations.

Fundamental economic, social and institutional relations would be enshrined into a set of legally binding conditions. All public services that are at least in part subsidized by the State, would be opened up to international tender under the terms of the proposed clauses on "national treatment." If a government finances health or education, this service must be opened to international bidding. And who would bid? The large corporations would take control, all community based facilities would be transformed into profit-making undertakings---schools, sports clubs, day-care centers, everything.

Moreover, the FTAA clauses would literally allow for the privatization of municipalities. Water, sewer systems, roads and municipal services would be owned and operated by private companies (rather than by citizens) much in the same way as the "gated communities" in the US. More generally, the FTAA would destroy local economies, depress wages and impoverish millions of people. The agreement --entrenched in international law-- would annul or invalidate national laws.

The FTAA would also allow for the privatization of water, inter-city highways as well as entire urban areas. The FTAA would also lead to the demise of national, regional and municipal governments.

IMF MEDICINE BECOMES PERMANENT

Moreover, under FTAA rules, the enforcement of the IMF's deadly "economic medicine" --which has served to destroy national economies and impoverish developing countries --would no longer hinge upon cumbersome loan agreements, which for the governments had the advantage that they were not "legally binding" documents.

But under FTAA rules, Latin American governments would have no political leverage whatsoever; they would loose their "right" to even negotiate with their creditors: the "economic medicine" would become permanently entrenched in international law. Countries would not longer be "bonded" by external debt; they would be permanently "enslaved" by their creditors.

CHARTER OF RIGHTS FOR CORPORATIONS

The FTAA would grant a "charter of rights" to corporations, which would not only override national laws but would also enable private companies to sue national governments, demand the annulment of national laws and receive compensation for potential lost profits which result from government regulations.

While some of these broad issues will be debated at the People's Summit, they have not been included in the demands of trade union leaders from the US, Canada and Latin America. Regrouped under the umbrella of the ICFTU, The trade unions have called upon the FTAA Summit to include the usual core labor standards, environmental and human rights clauses in the agreement.

THE AMERICAN EMPIRE

This is not a trade deal; it is the American Empire. Behind the FTAA are the powers of Wall Street and the military-industrial complex. Ironically, while local economies including public services would be deregulated, under the FTAA the production of weapons of mass destruction by America's major defense contractors would remain heavily subsidized...

Although not officially on the FTAA agenda, the militarization of South America under "Plan Colombia", the signing of a "parallel" military cooperation protocol by 27 countries of the Americas (the so-called Declaration of Manaus) is an integral part of the process of hemispheric integration. US strategic interests are at stake.

The imposition of "free" trade by Washington is an instrument of economic conquest which serves US corporate interests as well as those of the military-intelligence-apparatus. Trade Negotiator Richard Zoellnick --who is slated to play a key role in Quebec City-- is part of the Bush National Security Team working closely with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

DOLLARISATION

The deregulation of national banking institutions is part and parcel of the Summit agenda. Supported by the Bush administration, Wall Street wants to extend its control throughout the hemisphere, eventually displacing or taking over existing national financial institutions.

With the help of the IMF, Washington is also bullying Latin American countries into accepting the US dollar as their national currency. The greenback has already been imposed on five Latin American countries including Ecuador, Argentina, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The economic and social consequences of "dollarisation" have been devastating. In these countries, Wall Street and the US Federal Reserve system directly control monetary policy. The entire structure of public expenditure is controlled by US creditors. Real wages have collapsed, social programs have been destroyed, large sectors of the population have been driven into abysmal poverty.

While not officially part of the FTAA Summit agenda, the adoption of the US dollar as the common currency for the Western Hemisphere is being discussed behind closed doors.

Militarisation and "dollarisation" are the essential building blocks of the American Empire.

DISARMING THE NEW WORLD ORDER

With mounting dissent from all sectors of society against the FTAA, the official Summit desperately needs the token participation of "civil society" leaders "on the inside", to give the appearance of being "democratic." The Summit is seeking the endorsement of these organizations in exchange for token modifications of the Agreement, which do not put into doubt the overall legitimacy of the FTAA nor modify substantially the workings of the proposed free trade area.

The hidden agenda is to weaken and divide the protest movement and orient the anti-globalization movement into areas that do not directly threaten the interests of the business establishment and --more importantly-- which do not raise the broader issue of Washington's political hegemony in the Western Hemisphere.

Meanwhile, George W. Bush's trade negotiator Robert Zoellnick is preparing fast-track legislation packaged under the "presidential trade promotion authority", with a view to rushing the FTAA (without amendments) through the US Congress. In other words, instating the American Empire will not be subjected to the uncertainties of parliamentary consent.

In turn, in consultation with the AFL-CIO, the powerful Business Roundtable (BR) and The Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT) --integrated by therepresentatives of America's largest corporations-- are pushing the line of the trade union bosses, they are demanding the Bush administration "to make labor and environmental standards part of future trade talks."6

While most of the protesters who have converged on Quebec City (including Quebec's vibrant student movement) reject the trade deal outright, the leaders of some of the mainstream "civil society" groups want to get their human rights, democracy, labor and environmental clauses embedded into the official texts and then "cry victory," we've done it! 7 However, by doing this they would not only go against their rank and file, they would also provide --without fully realizing the implications-- legitimacy to an all encompassing process which destroys institutions and impoverishes millions of people.

The American Empire cannot be amended; it must be rejected, fought and defeated. The FTAA must be closed down!

ENDNOTES

1. Toronto Star, 22 March 2001.

2. Canada, Province de Quebec, District de Quebec, Cours supérieure, No. 200-05-014848-019, Affidavit de Denis Ricard, Section II, paragragh 16).

3. According to the signed affidavit, Canada, Province de Québec, op cit.

4. CLC K. Georgetti and AFL-CIO J. Sweeney are also on the guest list of the official FTAA Summit in Quebec City. While the Council of Canadians (COC) has stated that it will decline Ottawa's invitation, Matthew Coon Come, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations has accepted. Among union leaders, the President of the Quebec's FTQ Henry Massé has accepted, while making clear that he will also be participating (outside the bunker) in the People's Summit in solidarity with his rank and file.

5. See AFL-CIO, "Make the Global Economy Work for Working Families"

http://www.wslc.org/wto/index.htm

6. See World Economic Forum, Press Release,

http://www.weforum.org/whatwedo.nsf/documents/what+we+do?Open

7. In these Times, 16 April 2001 ....Related texts by Michel Chossudovsky: Seattle and Beyond: Disarming the New World Order, November 1999 at

http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/seattle.htm

Global Poverty in the Late 20th Century, Journal of International Affairs,

Fall 1999 at http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/chossu.htm

CBC "Commentary", on the FTAA and the likely fate of the Canadian Dollar, CBC, 9 April 2001. C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, April 2001. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial community internet sites, provided the essay remains intact and the copyright note is displayed. The text can also be photocopied for non-commercial distribution. To publish this text in printed and/or other forms contact the author at chossudovsky@videotron.ca, fax: 1-514-4256224.

4/18/01
3:31:33 PM

Utne Reader

BIOTECH AND PR: WELCOME TO THE SPIN MACHINE

by Mike Manville, Freezerbox

-- After receiving unsolicited op-ed pieces praising biotechnology from one of the world's largest PR firms, Freezerbox editor Mike Manville writes a scathing attack on the way public relations firms spin stories about biotechnology to manipulate the truth and compromise consumer choice.

PSYCHEDELICS AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

by Alan Watts, California Law Review

-- With his typical pointed eloquence, this 1968 essay by theologian and mystical sage Alan Watts examines the similarities between "religious" or "mystical" experiences and the experience of using psychedelic drugs.

http://www.utne.com/webwatch/archive.tpl?d=04/18/2001

4/18/01
3:22:20 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-17-01.html

"We Cover the Earth For You"

GREEN PARTIES 1ST GLOBAL CONFERENCE BACKS U.S. OIL BOYCOTT

By Bob Burton

CANBERRA, Australia, April 17, 2001 (ENS) - A boycott of U.S. oil companies was endorsed at the first worldwide gathering of Green political parties and movements in Canberra on the weekend. International campaign networks were strengthened with the formal declaration of a Global Greens Network and a Green Shield program to protect Green politicians at risk of their lives.

For full text and graphics visit:

CLINTON ERA LEAD REPORTING RULE CONFIRMED BY BUSH

WASHINGTON, DC, April 17, 2001 (ENS) - A requirement that companies must report their release of as little as 100 pounds of lead a year, proposed 10 days before the end of the Clinton Presidency, will go ahead under the current administration.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-17-02.html

GRIM FUTURE FORECAST FOR WORLD'S COASTAL AREAS

WASHINGTON, DC, April 17, 2001 (ENS) - Human modification and destruction of the planet's coastal zone is endangering marshes, estuaries, coral reefs and mangrove forests that provide a host of ecosystem services to humans, warns a new study released today. These services are vital - flood protection, water filtration, nursery habitat for fish and other species.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-17-06.html

UN: TOO MANY CETACEANS DYING IN EUROPEAN NETS

BONN, Germany, April 17, 2001 (ENS) - Pressure to reduce the number of dolphins and porpoises accidentally killed by fishing nets in the North Sea and adjacent waters off Europe has come from a United Nations agency.

For full text and graphics, visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-17-11.html

UK GARDEN STORE CHAIN TAKES LEAD FOR PEAT'S SAKE

LONDON, United Kingdom, April 17, 2001 (ENS) - The future of some of the UK's finest wildlife sites looks brighter after it was revealed that B&Q, the UK's leading home and garden chain is planning to eliminate peat from its stores.

For full text and graphics, visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-17-10.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: APRIL 17, 2001

U.S. Braces for Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Sawfish Proposed for Endangered Listing

General Electric Dumped PCBs on New York Lands

Citigroup Shareholders Pressured to Be More Eco-Sensitive

Freeman to Head California Energy Conservation Drive

Colorado Mountain Goats, Sheep Killed in Record Numbers

Plastic Coated Fruits Coming to Local Markets Shortly

Public Comment Welcome on Review of Hazwaste Incineration

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-17-09.html

4/18/01
3:02:29 PM

AlterNet Headlines

15 DEAD IN OHIO: CINCINNATI'S BLACK AND BLUE

Tim Wise, AlterNet

When African Americans rioted to protest police violence in Cincinnati, they were called "terrorists." Meanwhile, white college kids "misbehave" after sports events and drunken binges that cause equal destruction.

Earth Day Special: THE BLUE FRONTIER

David Helvarg, AlterNet

America's last frontier, the 3.4 million square nautical miles surrounding our shores, was designated an "Exclusive Economic Zone" by Reagan in '83. A look at what happens when you zone the ocean.

http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/rw.html

AND DON'T MISS...

"Rising Waters: Global Warming and the Fate of the Pacific Islands," a documentary that will leave you far from thirsty, airing Sunday on PBS.

BLACK MUSLIMS: BUSH'S FAITH-BASED ACHILLES HEEL

Kelly Virella, AlterNet

Why does Bush, in his effort to give government contracts to religious social service organizations, refuse to fund one of the most effective groups out there -- the Nation of Islam?

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10723

THE BRITNEY AND BOB CHALLENGE

Lara Riscol, AlterNet

America's teen queen songstress and most geriatric member have teamed up to plug Pepsi -- evidence undeniable that the US is hostage to a schizophrenic approach to sex.

FTAA Alert: SUPPORT THE RIGHT TO PROTEST AT THE FTAA

Canadian authorities have taken drastic steps to stop activists from protesting the Summit of the Americas meeting this weekend in Quebec. Join Naomi Klein, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Atom Egoyan and others by signing this open letter.

http://www.canadians.org/citizen_caged.html

TRADING WITH THE ENEMY

William Greider, The Nation

Why America's major multinationals are love-bombing labor and environmentalists.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10742

THE ANGINA MONOLOGUES

Jennifer C. Berkshire, AlterNet

Red meat is back in the White House, thanks to Dick Cheney's cattle country club set.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10726

BEWARE THE SOFTWARE RATS

Joab Jackson, Baltimore City Paper

Anyone in your office ever copied a software program without properly licensing it? If so, you may be the next victim of a software raid, complete with US Marshalls and steep fines.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10739

MAGNETS UNPLUGGED

Sharon Lerner, Village Voice

The magnet therapy business is booming -- with annual revenues of $4 billion -- but do products like the "depression magnet cap" really work?

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10731

ARE YOU PMDD-ING?

Denise Meringolo, PopPolitics.com

The lastest solution to correcting women's emotions is not just quasi-scientific, it's quasi-linguistic. Welcome to the wishy-washy world of the Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10737

BIG TOBACCO, FREE TRADE

Robert Weissman, Corporate Watch

Tobacco activists are demanding that the Bush administration oppose Philip Morris' efforts to increase overseas sales, and to support -- or at least not undermine -- efforts to negotiate an international tobacco control treaty.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10747

WHEN PAIN TREATMENT COLLIDES WITH THE DRUG WAR

Philip Smith, DRCNet

New pain treatment guidelines are at odds with a government campaign against prescription drug abuse, leaving patients -- and doctors -- in the crossfire.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10745

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, NOT JUST THE LAW OF NATURE

Knute Berger, AlterNet

By giving you up to $1,000 in deductions for adopting a healthier lifestyle, Bush's new surgeon general would literally codify "survival of the fittest."

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10729

JUST A TEST: BUSH'S INADEQUATE EDUCATION PLAN

Arianna Huffington, OverthrowTheGov.com

The president's signature issue is being treated to an 11.5 percent spending increase -- a measly response to the magnitude of the educational crisis.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10746

NO COLD WAR FOR THIS CHINA

Mark Weisbrot, AlterNet

Though American leaders remain wedded to the idea of the US ruling the world, lucrative business deals are much tastier than a new Cold War with China.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10733

4/18/01
2:50:46 PM

Planet Ark World Environment News

Doing environmental research? Search our news archives at: http://www.planetark.org/searchhome.cfm

UPDATE - Bush adopts Clinton disclosure rules on lead - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10532

UPDATE - UN climate leader prods US to keep Kyoto in place - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10533

US groups attack plan for Americas trade pact - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10534

Bush blesses Clinton rule on wetlands - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10535

Washington calls on its cows to ease energy crisis - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10540

UAE deploys hundreds of workers against oil spill - UAE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10538

Sweden says may delay nuclear plant shutdown - SWEDEN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10530

EBRD okays $5.5 mln to clean up Russian toxic waste - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10541

Waste from Norway research nuke spewed into sewer - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10531

World to slow climate work after US move - Norway - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10537

Dutch sign emission trade deal with eastern Europe - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10536

INTERVIEW - Japan minister to take Kyoto case to US public - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10539

4/17/01
8:13:58 PM

The Nation

This weekend the Summit of the Americas convenes in Quebec City with hopes of devising a NAFTA-like free trade agreement that would extend across the 34 national borders that comprise Latin and South America.

With Seattle on their mind, Canadian authorities have taken astonishing steps to keep legal protesters out of sight and earshot of the proceedings, as well as creating obstacles to stem the expected influx of legal protesters from other countries, some of whom have already been turned away at the border. "It's not normal procedure," said Karen Hansen-Kuhn of the Alliance for Responsible Trade from the United States, speaking of her temporary detention by immigration officials as she tried to enter Canada yesterday. "They were trying to find any excuse to keep me out."

Join Naomi Klein, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Atom Egoyan, Sarah Polley, Geddy Lee, Sarah Harmer and thousands of other Canadians by adding your name to a open letter supporting the rights of peaceful protesters and those non-Canadians who are currently being prevented from crossing the border to express their views. The organizers say that a high degree of participation from those in America and elsewhere can make a difference.

So please express your demand that the Canadian security forces at the borders and in Quebec City vigorously defend not only the safety of visiting heads of state, but also the rights of political activists. You can find the letter currently at:

http://www.canadians.org/citizen_caged.html

And read William Greider's recent essay, "Sovereign Corporations," from the April 30 issue of The Nation, for background on NAFTA and the FTAA. Available at:

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010430&s=greider

4/17/01
8:09:47 PM

FDA ISSUING FOR COLLUSION WITH MONSANTO

by Nancy Markle

I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on "ASPARTAME marketed as 'NutraSweet', 'Equal', and 'Spoonful"'.

In the keynote address by the EPA, they announced that there was an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus, and they did not understand what toxin was causing this to be rampant across the United States. I explained that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.

When the temperature of Aspartame exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. (Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants). The methanol toxicity mimics multiple sclerosis; thus people were being diagnosed with having multiple sclerosis in error.

The multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, where methanol toxicity is.

In the case of systemic lupus, we are finding it has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers.

Also, with methanol toxicity, the victims usually drink three to four 12oz. cans of them per day, some even more. In the cases of systemic lupus, which is triggered by ASPARTAME, the victim usually does not know that the aspartame is the culprit. The victim continues its use aggravating the lupus to such a degree, that sometimes it becomes life threatening. When we get people off the aspartame, those with systemic lupus usually become symptomatic.

Unfortunately, we cannot reverse this disease.

On the other hand, in the case of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, (when in reality, the disease is methanol toxicity), most of the symptoms disappear. We have seen cases where their vision has returned and even their hearing has returned. This also applies to cases of tinnitus. During a lecture I said "If you are using ASPARTAME (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc.) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss-you probably have ASPARTAME DISEASE!"

People were jumping up during the lecture saying, "I've got this, is it reversible?" It is rampant. Some of the speakers at my lecture even were suffering from these symptoms. In one lecture attended by the Ambassador of Uganda, he told us that their sugar industry is adding aspartame! He continued by saying that one of the industry leader's son could no longer walk - due in part by product usage! We have a very serious problem. Even a stranger came up to Dr. Espisto (one of my speakers) and myself and said, 'Could you tell me why so many people seem to be coming down with MS? During a visit to a hospice, a nurse said that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence.

Here is the problem. There were Congressional Hearings when aspartame was included in 100 different products. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, but to no avail. Nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Now there are over 5,000 products containing this chemical, and the PATENT HAS EXPIRED!!!!! At the time of this first hearing, people were going blind. The methanol in the aspartame converts to formaldehyde in the retina of the eye. Formaldehyde is grouped in the same class of drugs as cyanide and arsenic - DEADLY POISONS!!! Unfortunately, it just takes longer to quietly kill, but it is killing people and causing all kinds of neurological problems. Aspartame changes the brain's chemistry. It is the reason for severe seizures. This drug changes the dopamine level in the brain. Imagine what this drug does to patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease. This drug also causes Birth Defects. There is absolutely no reason to take this product. It is NOT A DIET PRODUCT!!! The Congressional record said, "It makes you crave carbohydrates and will make you FAT". Dr. Roberts stated that when he got patients off aspartame, their average weight loss was 19 pounds her person. The formaldehyde stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Aspartame is especially deadly for diabetics. All physicians know what wood alcohol will do to a diabetic. We find that physicians believe that they have patients with retinopathy, when in fact, it is caused by the aspartame. The aspartame keeps the blood sugar level out of control, causing many patients to go into a coma. Unfortunately, many have died. People were telling us at the Conference of the American College of Physicians, that they had relatives that switched from saccharin to an aspartame product and how that relative had eventually gone into a coma. Their physicians could not get the blood sugar levels under control. Thus, the patients suffered acute memory loss and eventually coma and death.

Memory loss is due to the fact that aspartic acid and henylalanine are neurotoxic without the other amino acids found in protein. Thus it goes past the blood brain barrier and deteriorates the neurons of the brain.

Dr. Russell Blaylock, neurosurgeon, said, "The ingredients stimulate the neurons of the brain to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. Dr. Blaylock has written a book entitled EXCITOTOXINS: THE TASTE THAT KILLS (Health Press 1-800-643-2665).

Dr. H.J. Roberts, diabetic specialist and world expert on aspartame poisoning, has also written a book entitled DEFENSE AGAINST ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (1-800-814-9800). Dr. Roberts tells how aspartame poisoning is escalating Alzheimer's Disease, and indeed it is. As the hospice nurse told me, women are being admitted at 30 years of age with Alzheimer's Disease. Dr. Blaylock and Dr. Roberts will be writing a position paper with some case histories and will post it on the Internet. According to the Conference of the American College of Physicians, 'We are talking about a plague of neurological diseases caused by this deadly poison".

Dr. Roberts realized what was happening when aspartame was first marketed. He said, "his diabetic patients presented memory loss, confusion, and severe vision loss". At the Conference of the American College of Physicians, doctors admitted that they did not know. They had wondered why seizures were rampant (the phenylalanine in aspartame breaks down the seizure threshold and depletes serotonin, which causes manic depression, panic attacks, rage and violence).

Just before the Conference, I received a FAX from Norway, asking for a possible antidote for this poison because they are experiencing so many problems in their country. This "poison" is now available in 90 PLUS countries worldwide. Fortunately, we had speakers and ambassadors at the Conference from different nations who have pledged their help. We ask that you help too. Print this article out and warn everyone you know. Take anything that contains aspartame back to the store. Take the "NO ASPARTAME TEST" and send us your case history.

I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of aspartame, knows how deadly it is. They fund the American Diabetes Association, American Dietetic Association, Congress, and the Conference of the American College of Physicians. The New York Times, on November 15, 1996, ran an article on how the American Dietetic Association takes money from the food industry to endorse their products.

Therefore, they cannot criticize any additives or tell about their link to MONSANTO. How bad is this? We told a mother who had a child on NutraSweet to get off the product. The child was having grand mal seizures every day. The mother called her physician, who called the ADA, who told the doctor to take the child off the NutraSweet. We are still trying to convince the mother that the aspartame is causing the seizures. Every time we get someone off of aspartame, the seizures stop. If the baby dies, you know whose fault it is, and what we are up against. There are 92 documented symptoms of aspartame, from coma to death. The majority of them are all neurological, because the aspartame destroys the nervous system.

Aspartame Disease is partially the cause to what is behind some of the mystery of the Desert Storm health problems (Gulf War Syndrome). The burnin tongue and other problems discussed in over 60 cases can be directly related to the consumption of an aspartame product. Several thousand pallets of diet drinks were shipped to the Desert Storm troops. (Remember heat can liberate the methanol from the aspartame at 86 degrees F). Diet drinks sat in the 120 degree F. Arabian sun for weeks at a time on pallets. The service men and women drank them all day long. All of their symptoms are identical to aspartame poisoning. Dr. Roberts says "consuming aspartame at the time of conception can cause birth defects".

The phenylalanine concentrates in the placenta, causing mental retardation, according to Dr. Louis Elsas, Pediatrician Professor - Genetics, at Emory University in his testimony before Congress. In the original lab tests, animals developed brain tumors (phenylalanine breaks down into DXP, a brain tumor agent). When Dr. Espisto was lecturing on aspartame, one physician in the audience, a neurosurgeon, said, "when they remove brain tumors, they have found high levels of Aspartame in them".

Stevia, a sweet herb, NOT AN ADDITIVE, which helps in the metabolism of sugar, which would be ideal for diabetics, has now been approved as a dietary supplement by the F.D.A. For years, the FDA has outlawed this sweet food because of their loyalty to MONSANTO.

If it says "SUGAR FREE" on the label-DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!! Senator Howard Hetzenbaum wrote a bill that would have warned all infants, pregnant mothers and children of the dangers of aspartame. The bill would have also instituted independent studies on the problems existing in the population (seizures, changes in brain chemistry, changes in neurological and behavioral symptoms). It was killed by the powerful drug and chemical lobbies, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting public. Since the Conference of the American College of Physicians, we hope to have the help of some world leaders.

Again, please help us too. There are a lot of people out there who must be warned, *please* let them know this information. You might want to print it out and hand it out or fax it to people who are not online.

Young people drink a lot of diet coke.

Susan Turner and Donna Harris l-905-665-7558 l-905-665-7184(fax) 332040500 (ID#) goodhealth@canwetalk.com

Please read and distribute this article far and wide.

Check out this web site for a link www.watercure2.com

4/17/01
8:04:59 PM

UTNE WEB WATCH

The Best of the Alternative Web

http://www.utne.com/webwatch

Remember Fun? Rediscover the lost secrets of play in the new issue of Utne Reader.

http://www.utne.com/subscribe/

TODAY'S PICKS:

http://www.utne.com/webwatch/archive.tpl?d=04/16/2001

CHINA INCIDENT BRINGS OUT SCHIZOPHRENIA IN U.S. RELATIONS by Paolo Pontoniere, New California Media Online -- At nearly one hundred days since President Bush's inauguration, European commentators worry that the administration seems unable to speak with a single voice in the international arena.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN EARTHCRAFT HOUSE INSPECTOR by Mark Newey, Sustainable Business Insider -- Across the country home buyers are looking for certified eco-friendly houses. Though more popular on the coasts, EarthCraft, a green building program that rates homes based on energy and resource efficiency and air quality, has made its way to Atlanta, GA.

RAIN TAXI REVIEW OF BOOKS ONLINE website review by Al Paulson -- Looking for good lit? Check out Rain Taxi, an online feast for the erudite bibliophile or an eclectic sampler for the choosy literati.

Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch

The links are also in our archive at:

http://www.utne.com/webwatch/archive.tpl?d=04/16/2001

4/17/01
8:02:35 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE

http://pacer.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinions/992054.txt

1. NYETSKIS Personal watercraft will be banned in national parks and recreation areas by September 2002 except in special cases where the National Park Service can prove the machines won't harm the environment, according to a court settlement approved by a federal judge last week. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler dismissed a challenge from watercraft manufacturers to a settlement reached last December between the Interior Department and the environmental group Bluewater Network. Last year, the Park Service banned personal watercraft -- gasoline-powered small vessels like jet skis that fit one or two riders -- from two-thirds of national parks. The settlement came about after the enviro group sued to extend the ban to all parks.

straight to the source: Detroit News, Associated Press, John Heilprin, 13 Apr 2001 <http://www.detnews.com/2001/metro/0104/14/-212031.htm>

2. THE HORROR, THE HORROR The civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has devastated wildlife, killing off thousands of elephants, gorillas, and other endangered species, according to a report commissioned by the U.N. Security Council. The report said that soldiers have slaughtered elephants for their meat, as well as their tusks. In Garamba Park in northeastern Congo, nearly 4,000 out of 12,000 elephants were killed between 1995 and 1999. In the Kahuz-Biega zone, just two out of 350 elephant families remained last year. Conservation groups have said that the numbers of lowland gorillas living on the Congo-Rwanda border have dropped sharply since the fighting began.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Irwin Arieff, 17 Apr 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10516>

3. MASSIVE TRANSIT The number of folks riding buses, subways, and trains in the U.S. last year rose to the highest level since 1959, while the number of miles driven on roads remained constant between 1999 and 2000. The American Public Transportation Association said yesterday that riders across the country took 9.4 billion rides on mass transit in 2000, a 3.5 percent jump from the previous year. Highway use, meanwhile, increased only 0.047 percent to 2.7 trillion miles (holy cow), according to the Federal Highway Administration. Roy Kienitz, executive director of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, said, "These figures show that a decades-old trend of declining transit and increased driving has been reversed."

straight to the source: Washington Post, Lyndsey Layton, 17 Apr 2001 <http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24843-2001Apr16.html>

straight to the source: Salt Lake Tribune, Associated Press, 17 Apr 2001 <http://www.sltrib.com:80/04172001/nation_w/89551.htm>

4. SLOPE A DOPE In what may be one of the largest oil spills ever on Alaska's North Slope -- and a poorly timed one for the oil industry -- 92,400 gallons of saltwater and crude oil leaked from a pipeline on the Kuparuk oil field Sunday night. Phillips, which operates the field, said yesterday it had cleaned up most of the spill, which is the fourth major one to occur on the North Slope this winter. While the spill was more than 97 percent saltwater, the accident draws attention to the risks of drilling just as Big Oil and state leaders are trying to make the case that the industry has a positive environmental record and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should therefore be open to drilling.

straight to the source: Anchorage Daily News, Ben Spiess, 17 Apr 2001 <http://www.adn.com/nation/story/0,2360,258384,00.html>

read it only in Grist Magazine: Just say no! -- a review of Arctic Refuge -- in our Books Unbound section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/books/books041101.stm>

5. MARSH MELLOW In a defeat for developers, the Bush administration said yesterday it wouldn't try to weaken a rule approved by former President Clinton to expand protections to tens of thousands of acres of wetlands. The rule requires developers to obtain permits under the Clean Water Act for many basic activities such as digging artificial lakes, constructing drainage ditches, and redirecting streams with human-made channels. After the U.S. EPA announced the decision yesterday, the White House released a statement affirming the move, an unusual step that may have been meant to shore up President Bush's environmental credentials. The National Association of Home Builders has already challenged the rule, and enviros said the real test of the administration's resolve will be whether it mounts a strong defense of the rule in court.

straight to the source: New York Times, Douglas Jehl, 17 Apr 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/17/politics/17WETL.html>

straight to the source: MSNBC.com, 17 Apr 2001 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/560524.asp>

Quebec City, here I come -- a day in the life of David Waskow, Friends of the Earth <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/waskow041601.stm>

You say it's your Earth Day -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha041601.stm>

Agent organochlorine -- one class of chemicals is causing a cacophony of environmental problems -- in our Books Unbound column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/books/books082400.stm>

4/17/01
3:47:57 PM

Public Citizen

Appellate Decision in Bone Screw Class Action Provides Relief to Victims Who Missed Deadline for Benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a major decision benefitting class action members, the U. S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia held this week that victims of defective orthopedic bone screws cannot be denied compensation solely on the grounds that they registered for benefits after the original deadline set by a trial court.

The decision resolves a dispute arising from a $100 million class action settlement between thousands of victims of allegedly defective bone screws and the screw manufacturer, AcroMed Corp. The settlement was to be divided among the patients based on the severity of their injuries. But hundreds of class members did not know about the deadline until much later, and the Philadelphia trial court said it would not excuse late registration and denied all compensation to the "late" filers.

The Public Citizen Litigation Group appealed the trial court's decision on behalf of a class member, Alexander Sambolin, who was not informed about the deadline until months after it passed. The decision of the appeals court will allow Sambolin and other late-filing class members to share in the benefits of the settlement.

"This is a great victory for Mr. Sambolin and other people harmed by AcroMed's bone screws," said Brian Wolfman, the Public Citizen Litigation Group attorney who argued Sambolin's appeal. "In addition, the Third Circuit's decision is a terrific precedent. Courts in class actions and lawyers representing class members will now have to be more diligent in giving people notice when their important rights are at stake."

AcroMed marketed the orthopedic bone screws to alleviate back pain, but thousands of patients claimed that the screws actually exacerbated their pain, often breaking after they were implanted in the patients' spines. As a stipulation of the January 1997 settlement reached between AcroMed and the class, patients were required to register by May 15, 1997, to obtain benefits.

But the court-approved notification of the settlement - which, for those who had not already sued AcroMed, consisted solely of a few small advertisements in national publications - was woefully inadequate. Sambolin, who lives in a small seaside village in Puerto Rico, was notified of the settlement only when a Miami lawyer told him that the class action might provide him some compensation for his debilitating injuries. However, under the original terms of the settlement, he was unable to participate in the class action and collect benefits.

The Public Citizen Litigation Group, which has represented consumers and product victims in more than 30 nationwide class action settlements, argued to the appeals court that the trial judge was wrong not to allow late registration, because the $100 million had yet to be distributed and the notification procedures had been grossly inadequate. The appeals court agreed and ordered that Mr. Sambolin, and class members in similar situations, be allowed to share in the settlement benefits.

"Our justice system should be active in opposing unfair and unlawful class action settlements," Wolfman said. "We must continue to preserve the use of class action lawsuits as an important tool for justice for American consumers."

To read the Third Circuit's decision in the Sambolin appeal, please visit

More information on Public Citizen Litigation Group's class action practice is available at

http://www.citizen.org/litigation

4/17/01
2:46:07 PM

NEWS ADVISORY FROM THE WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE

"FORGIVE AND FORGET" WON'T FIX THIRD WORLD DEBT

When the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings open in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 2001, officials will point proudly to the roughly $20 billion in debt that they have promised to cancel since their heavily-protested meetings last year. These promises take a step in the right direction, concludes a new report from the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington-based research organization. But even full cancellation would only be a Band-Aid for a broken system.

"Before officials congratulate themselves they need to pay attention to a wider problem-how to prevent this debt crisis from happening again," said David Malin Roodman, author of Still Waiting for the Jubilee: Pragmatic Solutions for the Third World Debt Crisis. "Hundreds of billions of dollars in unpayable loans still need to be written off. And creditors have done little to change the lending practices that created the debt problem in the first place."

Roodman calls for major reforms to prevent poorer countries from sinking back into debt. On the borrower side, these include making governments less corrupt and more accountable. On the creditor side, the reforms include:

Giving poor countries greater access to foreign exchange earnings by lowering trade barriers in rich countries to allow more imports from the poorest ones.

Basing government contributions to the IMF and development banks on how well these lenders reform management culture to reward employees for results instead of loan-pushing.

Ensuring that aid agencies, from the Japan International Cooperation Agency to the World Bank, lend less and grant more to the poorest nations.

In preparation for the World Bank/IMF meetings, and to discuss how the Third World debt crisis can be ended once and for all, the Worldwatch Institute has invited experts from the World Bank, Drop the Debt, Environmental Defense, and the U.S. Congress, as well as the Ambassador of Uganda, for a multi-sided debate on this controversial issue that affects hundreds of millions of people.

WHO: David Roodman, Senior Researcher, Worldwatch Institute; Adrian Lovett, Director of Drop the Debt; Axel van Trotsenburg, Director of the HIPC Implementation Unit, World Bank; and Bruce Rich, Director of the International Program, Environmental Defense. Invitations have also been extended to the Ambassador of Uganda, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA).

WHAT: Debate: "What Will Bring the Third World Debt Crisis to a Lasting End?" based on Worldwatch Paper 155: Still Waiting for the Jubilee: Pragmatic Solutions for the Third World Debt Crisis

WHERE: Worldwatch Institute, 1776 Massachusetts Ave. NW, 8th Floor, Washington DC

WHEN: Thursday, April 26, 2001, 11:30-2:00 EDT (lunch 11:30-12:30; debate & discussion 12:30-2:00)

EMBARGO: Thursday, April 26, 2001 2:00 PM EDT

CONTACT: Leanne Mitchell (202) 452-1992 ext. 527 RSVP:

Niki Clark (202) 452-1992 Ext.517

Also visit the Worldwatch website at www.worldwatch.org

4/17/01
2:04:19 PM

THE ROY PROCESS FOR NEUTRALIZING NUCLEAR WASTE

Dear Concerned Citizens,

Regardless of the future of nuclear power worldwide, we must do something now about the nuclear waste disposal problem. The U.S. nuclear industry is pushing hard to open the proposed high level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, Nevada and looking at Skull Valley, Utah as a temporary storage site. Both are on native American land. But studies have shown Yucca Mountain can not pass muster as a stable dump site and it is a scientific impossibility to securely bury high level nuclear waste for 486,000 years, 20 half-lives of plutonium 239. Yet in only the first 55 years of the atomic age, nuclear waste has already leaked out of its containment into our precious ground waters and is irretrievable. Nuclear power was forced on utility companies, federally subsidized, to make electric rate payers, pay for the high cost of plutonium production. Plutonium is the element needed for atom bombs of which we now have more than enough for national security issues. The slogan was 'Nuclear Power...too cheap to meter' in other words free electricity! But it turned out to be the most expensive and dangerous form of electric generation. There is no rational need for nuclear power today and IS NOT the solution for global warming.

http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/globalwarming2.html

Solidifying high level waste, after the plutonium is chemically separated out, is known as vitrification for the proposed 'dry cask' underground storage. Russia was first to try solid medium burial at their Ural Mountain nuclear dump. It exploded in the 1950's heavily contaminating the area. France also found 'dry cask' burial a failed technology and is now trying to ship France's nuclear waste to Germany for burial under massive citizen protests. Dry cask storage is planned for Yucca Mountain.

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/975378903/index_html

In 1979, after the Three Mile Island reactor partial meltdown in Pennsylvania, the late Dr. Radha R. Roy spent the summer school break proving quantum electrodynamic calculations which showed that all nuclear waste can be rendered into non-radioactive elements using existing infrastructure, commercially available machinery and current supporting technology. Dr. Roy released this to the press which became a worldwide news story. See top above web site for the original Arizona Republic newspaper story. Dr. Roy estimated cost then at $80 Million dollars to build the Roy Process pilot treatment facilities and should take about three years to construct. In addition, nuclear waste treated with the Roy Process rapidly decays into a stable element producing heat which can be used to make steam and power the existing electric generators at each nuclear power plant where the waste is now stored in cooling ponds. So moving and burying nuclear waste would be a colossal mistake.

In 1982, the U.S. Congress passed a new nuclear waste policy act making {burial} government policy for nuclear waste disposal, putting viable alternatives in scientific limbo! But burial IS NOT a safe solution for nuclear waste which will threaten the gene pool of thousands of future generations.

Solving the nuclear waste disposal problem DOES NOT make nuclear power a 'clean' technology, far from it. See: www.radiation.org Dr. Jay Gould cites rising breast cancer rates from the first atom bomb atmospheric test in 1945 prior to which breast cancer rates were going down, from his book: THE ENEMY WITHIN. Also rising cancer rates near operating nuclear power plants.

Sincerely Yours,

Dennis F. Nester

Agent for the Roy Process

4510 E. Willow Ave

Phoenix, AZ 85032

(602) 494-9361

theroyprocess@home.com

http://members.home.net/theroyprocess

4/17/01
1:46:51 PM

Joao de Deus

"The Amazing Cures of a Brazilian Miracle Man", the most powerful unconscious medium alive today.

http://www.nexusmagazine.com//miracle.man.html

If anyone out there would like even more information they might like to look at

http://www.soaringspirit.com/Miracle.htm

and then click on "The Mystical Dance of Miracles". Also if anyone wants to make the journey, this may be useful: go to

http://www.luminousjourneys.com

The next journey is from June 18th - 30th 2001.

4/17/01
1:43:27 PM

New Evidence Found to Back Universe "Dark Energy' Theory

By Keay Davidson, San Francisco Chronicle Science Writer

Powerful new evidence was reported yesterday that a ghostly "dark energy" -- its cause and nature almost totally unknown -- pervades the cosmos. Like air rushing into and expanding a child's balloon, the strange energy is somehow forcing the universe to expand faster and faster with time, Berkeley scientists and National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials reported at a press conference in Washington. The new evidence puts to rest astronomers' 70-year-old belief that cosmic expansion slows with time and that the universe might eventually gravitationally collapse like a failed souffle, scientists said. Instead, many experts now expect the universe to expand forever, accelerating faster and faster as eons pass, and to gradually dissipate like late-morning fog in San Francisco. The universe won't disappear, exactly, but galaxies will be so widely dispersed many billions of years from now that they will be effectively invisible to each other. The new evidence is imagery of the most distant known exploding star, Supernova 1997ff, more than 10 billion light years away. Its brightness contradicts explanations made by skeptics to undermine the accelerating-cosmos thesis.

The images were obtained by Hubble Space Telescope observations and high-speed computer modeling at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley. The scientific team analyzing the supernova was led by Adam Riess, until recently of the University of California at Berkeley, now at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.

FASTER AND FASTER

"This is a very significant development in our understanding of the universe. The universe is speeding up, not slowing down as astronomers have thought for 70 years," Professor Mike S. Turner of the University of Chicago declared at the press conference. Turner, who was not a part of the Riess team, is one of the world's leading cosmologists -- a scientist who studies the origin, evolution and fate of the universe. As a result, skeptics have been routed, and scientists can now feel much more confident about the 3-year-old accelerating-universe hypothesis, which Turner called "one of the great scientific discoveries of the last 25 years."

Yesterday's announcement could well make dark energy -- once dismissed as a science-fictionish concept -- an orthodox scientific view. The new evidence "is like somebody dropping a large book on your table and saying, 'Here's the evidence,' and you're stunned. . . . It is really dramatic, " Lawrence Berkeley astrophysicist Peter Nugent said in a telephone interview. It also means scientists must now get serious about figuring out what is fueling cosmic expansion. Many astrophysicists assume the cause is "dark energy," but no one knows what it is.

THE 'REPULSIVE THING'

The Berkeley findings "leave the biggest mystery of all: What is dark energy? What is this repulsive thing?" Riess asked during a phone interview.

Most astrophysicists have accepted the idea that the cosmos was born from a kind of explosion, popularly dubbed the Big Bang. According to traditional theory, after the Big Bang the gravitational pull of matter slowed cosmic expansion. Until recently, this slowing was expected to continue forever.

Decades ago, Albert Einstein had proposed the existence of a type of dark energy that he called the "cosmological constant." He suspected it was a mysterious force that counteracted other forces compelling the universe to expand.

To Einstein's subsequent chagrin, Southern California astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe really is expanding: All around us, galaxies are receding into space. Einstein realized he had missed the chance to predict the discovery of the expanding universe -- one of science's most incredible revelations.

In recent decades, though, scientists began to think the cosmological constant might really exist. Renaming it "dark energy," some suggested the unseen force is generated by the continual creation and destruction of subatomic particles in the void of space. Unfortunately, calculations show that if this were true, then this version of dark energy should be wildly more powerful than suspected, so powerful that the universe would have dissipated long ago. So the question remains: What is dark energy? Most astrophysicists would rather not believe in dark energy, and have been dragged kicking and screaming, so to speak, into the dark energy era.

Riess and Nugent say their new observations show that the newly studied supernova -- technically known as Supernova 1997ff -- is 10 billion to 11 billion light years away. (A light year is almost 6 trillion miles, the distance light travels in one year. For example, the nearest star, besides our sun, is more than four light years away.) The Berkeley astronomers measured the supernovae by analyzing their "red shift." That is, they use spectroscopes, which split light into its spectrum of colors, to identify dark lines in the red part of their spectrum. The exact position of the lines reveals how fast that part of the cosmos is retreating from our part of the universe.

PROOF FOUND IN BERKELEY

By measuring the supernova's red shift, the Berkeley astronomers determined that it is as far away -- and as bright -- as it should be if one assumes that it existed at a time when the cosmos was decelerating under gravitational tug, soon after the Big Bang. (Because light has a finite speed, the farther one looks into space, the deeper one sees into the past. The supernova is more than 10 billion light years away, thus its image is more than 10 billion years old.) Later, for some reason, dark energy switched on and caused cosmic expansion to accelerate, the scientists say. In 1998, Berkeley scientists stunned the world when they reported initial evidence for the accelerating universe. They based the discovery on observations of distant supernovae, specifically a class of exploding stars known as "Type 1A."

The 1998 discovery of the accelerating universe was completely unexpected -- even more unexpected than the discovery of cosmic expansion itself in the 1920s. Back then, cosmic expansion was implied by Einstein's fledgling equations for "general relativity," a theory of gravity based on the notion that space and time are part of a common fabric, "space-time." By contrast, the 1998 discovery of the accelerating universe came totally out of the blue. Whatever dark energy is, and however it drives cosmic acceleration, it is "very weird stuff," Turner said. He added jokingly that to date, "our main achievement in understanding dark energy is to give it a name."

eMail Keay Davidson at kdavidson@sfchronicle.com

4/17/01
1:39:28 PM

World's Largest Fuel Cell Installation Planned

SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. - Six PC25(TM) fuel cell power plants manufactured by International Fuel Cells will power the world's largest fuel cell installation to be built in Connecticut, IFC announced today.

The PC25 units, which each produce 200 kilowatts of electricity and 900,000 Btus of heat, will provide primary power to the Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown, Conn. The heat produced by the fuel cells will be used for heating and cooling the facility.

IFC is working with Select Energy, the competitive energy marketing and services subsidiary of Northeast Utilities, (NYSE: NU - news) and NU affiliate subsidiaries Select-HEC Inc. and Northeast Generation Services Company (NGS) on the project for the Connecticut Department of Public Works.

IFC has manufactured the PC25 power plant since 1991 and delivered 220 units to customers in 15 countries on four continents. Those power plants have together accumulated some 4 million hours of operation. Use of these power plants has already reduced 600 million pounds of CO2 emissions and 11 million pounds of NOx and SOx, compared with typical US combustion-based power plants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized IFC last year with a Climate Protection Award as a result of these accomplishments.

SOURCE: International Fuel Cells, c/o PR Newswire

4/17/01
1:35:34 PM

SONAR OR LATER

It is highly likely that Sonar transmissions from U.S. Navy ships caused an unprecedented number of whales and a dolphin to strand themselves in shallow waters off northern Bahama islands last March, according to a task force from the Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service. But the Navy is still hoping to get a permit from the NMFS for a new sonar system to detect submarines in 80 percent of the world's oceans. The Navy says the system would use low-frequency sonar waves, as opposed to the higher-frequency waves that have been shown to cause a reaction in whales. But the Natural Resources Defense Council says the system still hasn't been adequately tested. Ken Balcomb, a marine mammalogist, says low frequencies can create the same damage in whales' air cavities as higher frequencies, leading to hemorrhaging around the brain and ear bones.

New York Times, Rachel X. Weissman, 10 Apr 2001

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/10/science/10WHAL.html

Take action and stand up for dolphins and whales

http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/species.stm#sonar

The customer-is-always-right whale -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker

http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha031901.stm

4/17/01
1:29:54 PM

LFAS

Bowing to an extraordinary number of requests, both from the public and from members of Congress, the National Marine Fisheries Service has agreed to hold three public hearings on the Navy's Low Frequency Active (LFA) sonar program. Now that we have secured an opportunity to be heard, it is crucial that we all take advantage of it. This email lays out the dates, times, and locations of these hearings and describes how you can participate.

--On *April 26*, there will be a public hearing in *Los Angeles, California*. It will take place from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Renaissance Hotel, 9620 Airport Boulevard (near LAX).

--On *April 28*, there will be a public hearing in *Honolulu, Hawaii*. It will take place from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Marriott Waikiki Beach Hotel, 2552 Kalakaua Avenue.

--On *May 3*, there will be a public hearing in *Silver Spring, Maryland*, just outside of Washington, D.C. It will take place from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon in the Auditorium of Silver Spring Metro Center Building 4, 1301 East-West Highway.

The hearings will begin with a brief presentation from the National Marine Fisheries Service; after this, members of the public will have the opportunity to speak: to raise questions about LFA, to articulate your concerns, and finally to urge the Fisheries Service to withdraw its proposed rule allowing the Navy to harass, injure, or kill marine mammals. (Speakers will probably be limited to 3-5 minutes.) Making a statement is a fine way of participating in the process, but please don't feel you have to speak: what is most essential and meaningful is that you attend. NRDC will provide more information--at least on events in California--as the hearing dates draw near.

I do not need to tell you how important these hearings are. They are our signal opportunity to demonstrate the rising level of public concern about this issue--and to demonstrate this not only to NMFS, which in its initial unwillingness to hold hearings of any kind deeply underestimated the public's interest, but to the press and to our representatives in Congress, whom we have begun to ask for oversight. If you will be in California, Hawaii, or the Washington, D.C. area, I urge you to attend; if you work locally or regionally on environmental issues, please inform your colleagues or constituents as well.

If you have questions, suggestions, or outreach information to pass along, please contact me at the number/address below. And thanks to everyone for getting the word out--

Michael Jasny, Associate

Natural Resources Defense Council

6310 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 250

Los Angeles, CA 90048

tel/fax 323-934-2138

mjasny@ucla.edu

4/17/01
1:22:09 PM

Public Citizen

U.S. Seattle Coalition Gears Up Campaign Against "NAFTA for the Americas / FTAA" on Eve of Quebec Summit

More Than 80 U.S. Grassroots Events Scheduled to Coincide with Quebec FTAA Meetings; Civil Society Leaders Challenge Corporate and Government FTAA Plans

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. consumer, labor, environmental and other civil society groups this week will bring the spirit of the Quebec City protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) to communities throughout the U.S. with 80 rallies, protests and other events. As tens of thousands of protesters converge on Quebec City to confront the hemispheric leaders attending a regional summit there, similar solidarity events will occur throughout the 34 countries targeted for inclusion in a proposed FTAA NAFTA expansion.

"The attempts to fence off the public from the debate in Quebec City only energized opponents of NAFTA expansion to bring the protest to communities throughout the hemisphere," said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. "In the U.S., Congress will decide if the president gets authority to expand NAFTA, and so we are bringing the spirit of the Quebec protests to a congressional district near you."

Added Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, "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. 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."

Analysis of the proposed agreement has been possible because several environmental and labor representatives have been given the security clearance enjoyed by over 500 corporate representatives who are official U.S. corporate trade advisors. The proposed FTAA is based on the NAFTA model, which places new restrictions on governments' abilities to regulate in the public interest while establishing new privileges and powers for investors and corporations.

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

For more information, please visit www.citizen.org

4/17/01
11:47:00 AM

Earth On Edge

Acclaimed journalist Bill Moyers and an award-winning team of producers reveal recent scientific evidence that we are approaching a key environmental threshold. Bill Moyers Reports: Earth on Edge showcases new data depicting the scale of human impact on the planet's life-support systems. The two-hour broadcast explores one of the the most important questions of the new century: What is happening to Earth's capacity to support nature and civilization?

The broadcast coincides with the launch of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, an international effort to gauge the health of the world's forests, grasslands, coastal and freshwater areas. Preliminary findings were featured in the World Resources Institute's World Resources 2000-2001: People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life. The statistics from their preliminary findings are staggering: half the world's wetlands lost in one century, half the world's forests chopped down, 70 percent of the world's major marine fisheries depleted, the world's reefs at risk.

But the broadcast pushes well past the numbers. Moyers and his team also take us on a journey of hope to meet people from the American Midwest to Mongolia who are pioneering sustainable solutions to ecological problems. Each story takes place in one of five major ecosystems: forest, agriculture, coastal, grassland, and fresh water. Reports from Kansas, British Columbia, Brazil, South Africa, and Mongolia illuminate the ways in which human demands over the past century have been wearing holes in the fabric of life. This broadcast profiles individuals who are confronting the challenge head on, people who understand how their lives depend on Earth's ecosystems and how their own energy and dedication might help restore them.

Moyers tells individual stories, in far-flung locations, but in the end it is strikingly clear that the program is about all of us-what we've done to the Earth and what we can still do to turn things around, if we act quickly.

Bill Moyers Reports: Earth on Edge will be augmented by an extensive web site as well as an education and outreach campaign directed by WRI. The site will provide in-depth information about ecosystems as well as updates on their status and information about how you can take action.

WRI is also organizing a series of live events and panel discussions promoting public dialogue around the issues raised by Earth on Edge and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

The aforementioned report by Bill Moyers will be premiering on PBS June 19, 2001 at 8 p.m. EST (check local listings) with a related website launch date of June 1, 2001.

4/17/01
11:42:58 AM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-16-02.html

"We Cover the Earth For You"

BUSH ADMINISTRATION BLOCKS DREDGING DISCHARGES INTO WETLANDS

WASHINGTON, DC, April 16, 2001 (ENS) - The Bush administration has let stand a move made by the Clinton administration to close a loophole in the Clean Water Act that allows discharges of soil into American wetlands.

For full text and graphics visit:

WARMING OCEANS ATTRIBUTED TO GREENHOUSE GASES

WASHINGTON, DC, April 16, 2001 (ENS) - Greenhouse gas emissions have caused the world's oceans to heat up significantly over the last 50 years, show two studies released last week. The studies, focused on warming oceans rather than warming air, provide some of the strongest evidence ever reported that human activities are changing the world's climate.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-16-06.html

ELECTRONICS MAKERS PRESSED TO TAKE BACK DISCARDS

WASHINGTON, DC, April 16, 2001 (ENS) - It takes more than the click of a mouse to make obsolete consumer electronic equipment disappear. Discarded electronic equipment is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the industrialized world, and this week these mountains of junk are the focus of a grassroots campaign and a series of conferences.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-16-01.html

CANADA'S NORTH RESIGNED TO DIRTY DIESEL DEPENDENCE

IQALUIT, Nunavut, Canada, April 16, 2001 (ENS) - Despite high hopes for alternative energy, it may be decades before Canada's newest territory Nunavut shakes its dependence on diesel fuel to generate electrical power.

For full text and graphics, visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-16-10.html

DEAL SEALS CLEANUP OF NOTORIOUS CANADIAN MINE

VICTORIA, British Columbia, Canada, April 16, 2001 (ENS) - Almost 27 years after it shut down, B.C.'s Britannia Mine, source of the worst metals pollution in North America, will be cleaned up in a C$30 million (US$19.2 million) deal announced Friday.

For full text and graphics, visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-16-11.html

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE COULD WIPE OUT U.K. SHEEP BREED

LONDON, United Kingdom, April 16, 2001 (ENS) - Foot and mouth disease threatens to wipe out a breed of sheep unique to the United Kingdom. The hardy Herdwick grazes on the hills and dales of England's Lake District and North Pennines, two of the country's wettest and windiest regions.

For full text and graphics, visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-16-12.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: APRIL 16, 2001

Nitrate in Drinking Water Increases Bladder Cancer Risk

Park Service Bans Jet Skis at Lake Powell, Lake Mead

7,500 Acres Saved for Green Mountain National Forest

Colorado Students, Faculty Exposed to Asbestos

Norton Pans Lawsuits, Praises Private Conservationists

Lawsuit Seeks Ban on Endangered Argali Sheep Trophies

Developer Works Around Bald Eagles

Plant One Million Trees for Earth Day

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-16-09.html

4/17/01
11:36:35 AM

Ten Years of the Chernobyl Era

The environmental and health effects of nuclear power's greatest calamity will last for generations.

by Yuri M.Shcherbak

http://www.sciam.com/0496issue/0496shcherbak.html

4/17/01
11:27:21 AM

Direct Actions

By May 4th, President Bush will determine the fate of America's last pristine National Forests!

Forest Conservation Policy Under Attack!

WHAT'S AT STAKE?

The U.S. Forest Service issued the popular forest conservation plan, known as the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, earlier this year. It was the result of the most extensive public participation in a rulemaking process IN HISTORY, including more than 600 public meetings, 1.6 million public comments, and two years of public debate.

This forest conservation policy would protect the last 58 million acres of unspoiled National Forest lands from logging, mining, and drilling, which are already allowed on most National Forest lands.

Until recently, the U.S. Forest Service had been functioning largely as the servant of the timber industry, carrying out a program of taxpayer-subsidized logging. Protecting the last 30% of our National Forest lands is an enlightened policy that recognizes that our forests have multiple uses, and that we have a responsibility to conserve these precious resources for future generations.

However, the Bush Administration - backed by special interests and large corporate contributors - has repeatedly refused to support this popular forest conservation policy, signaling its intent to allow logging, mining, and drilling in our last majestic untouched forests.

With a White House decision imminent, will you PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE RIGHT NOW to President Bush urging him to protect America's last unspoiled National Forest lands from logging, mining and drilling?

Because once these forests are gone, they're gone forever.

Thank You,

The Heritage Forests Campaign

http://www.OurForests.org

4/17/01
11:20:52 AM

Planet Ark World Environment News

FEATURE - Arctic drilling debate splits Alaska Natives - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10524

US studies attribute ocean warming to human actions - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10513

UPDATE - US must embrace energy efficiency - report - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10523

FEATURE - Environmental battle grips Hudson River towns - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10521

UPDATE - Greenpeace dubs Bush 'Toxic Texan' in hometown - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10520

Congo war devastating endangered wildlife - UN - UNITED NATIONS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10516

Developing nations want US back in climate talks - UNITED NATIONS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10527

Fuel tanker sinks off UAE coast - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10511

UK weather expert criticises govt on global warming - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10526

Japan's Yamanouchi faces UK office protest - paper - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10509

FEATURE - Fuel cells promise clean power for cars, tomorrow - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10512

Nuclear sub in Gibraltar set for departure - SPAIN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10517

Russia to press ahead with Iran nuclear plant - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10518

UPDATE - Malaysia launches palm-fuel burning,seeks more clients - MALAYSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10508

Petronas sees delays in Malaysia-Thai gas project - MALAYSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10507

Japan Cosmo Oil develops butane-based fuel cell - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10515

Sea turtle eggs begin hatching on Indian coast - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10506

Elephants drive Indian villagers into trees - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10528

Germany approves nuclear waste shipments to UK - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10514

Rio's jungle disappearing, beaches polluted - report - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10529

UPDATE - Brazil Petrobras reports new offshore oil spill - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10525

Green groups vow boycott of oil firms over Kyoto - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10519

Australia seizes Togo-flagged ship for poaching - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10522

UPDATE - Australia urges new process on stalled Kyoto pact - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10510

4/17/01
11:14:59 AM

Dear Friend,

As a supporter of International Rivers Network, you understand that free-flowing rivers are essential to the health of the Earth and all living things. Aveda Corporation sees this too, and has joined the movement to protect living rivers and human rights. For Earth Month, Aveda has drafted an online petition calling on the World Bank to halt all dam construction until it has adopted the November 2000 recommendations of the World Commission on Dams, including measures to:

Restore already damaged ecosystems

Offer compensation to communities suffering the impacts of existing large dams

Gain consent of affected peoples prior to construction of new dams

Let the World Bank hear from you!

Please sign the Petition at:

http://www.aveda.com/earthmonth/petition.asp

For more information on the World Commission on Dams, please visit

http://www.irn.org/wcd or the

WCD website at http://www.dams.org

Aveda's mission "is to care for the world we live in, from the products we make to the ways in which we give back to society. At Aveda, we strive to set an example for environmental leadership and responsibility, not just in the world of beauty, but around the world."-Horst Rechelbacher

International Rivers Network has been selected as an Aveda Corporation 2001 Global Earth Month Partner.

To join or renew your IRN Membership, click

http://www.irn.org/sub/member.shtml

INTERNATIONAL RIVERS NETWORK

Linking Human Rights & Environmental Protection

1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94703

tel 510.848.1155 fax 510.848.1008

http://www.irn.org

IRN seeks a world in which rivers and their watersheds are valued as living systems and are protected and nurtured for the benefit of the human and biological communities that depend on them. This vision can be achieved by developing worldwide understanding of the importance of rivers and their essential place in the struggle for environmental integrity, social justice and human rights.

4/17/01
11:06:10 AM

Welcome to Earth Week!

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES UNITE FOR EARTH DAY

Indigenous peoples on five continents have released a joint Earth Day Solidarity Statement that calls for a global transition to clean energy. The statement, which contains a personal account from each of the groups, demands "energy free of blood and environmental destruction."

Read the whole statement at

www.earthday.net/goals/humanrightsindig.stm

The Solidarity Statement will be released this week in New York City at an indigenous forum to be held at the conference of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. In addition, this Earth Day will see a cycling caravan for Mother Earth by the indigenous peoples of the Philippines, traditional gatherings in four cultural regions of Indonesia, exposure of the militarization of oil zones in indigenous territories of Ecuador, and the promotion of solar energy as an alternative to firewood in indigenous forest communities in Nigeria.

MAJOR GLOBAL EVENTS BASED IN USA

Earth Day event exposes human rights tragedy of fossil fuels: Amnesty International, Sierra Club and Earth Day Network will call on the U.S. Bush Administration for an energy policy that is environmentally and socially responsible. The call will be made on 18 April at a Press Conference in Washington DC that will feature Oronto Douglas (Nigeria) and Ka Hsaw Wa (Burma), who are leading the struggle to save their people and their lands from the devastation caused by fossil fuels. Earth Day leader Denis Hayes will also speak at the event. For more information, contact vickery@earthday.net

Small island nations take steps to combat global warming: Demonstrating leadership in the transition to clean energy, a number of small island states will announce their commitments to renewable energy. The exemplary commitments will be announced by St. Lucia, Grenada, Maldives, Kiribati and Cook Islands at an event co-hosted by Earth Day Network and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on 19 April in New York, NY. Speakers will include Denis Hayes, ambassadors and ministers from the countries making commitments and other prominent figures. For more information, contact sjanson@earthday.net

EARTH DAY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD

This week in Bolivia, 700,000 people will attend rallies and protests and then join in a series of marches from one border of the country to the other as part of a massive countrywide crusade for the environment. In Israel, a major eco-fair will feature popular artists and speakers and, in Iran, a one day trip near Damavand mountain will involve conservation training for more than 160 environmentalists.

In France, people in urban and rural areas will adopt and protect trees and, in Togo, local groups will visit 30 schools and rural areas as part of a two day campaign to raise awareness about clean energy. In Thailand, 100,000 monks will gather at Dhammakaya Temple to promote world peace starting with individual peace of mind.

In New Zealand, local community groups will fight to save the flightless kiwi bird and, in Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation has launched an interactive website

www.energyrevolution.net

that lets you tell the Canadian government to take action on climate change and clean energy.

For more details of these and the many other events and actions happening across the planet,

please visit www.earthday.net/dir/event.asp

4/16/01
6:33:56 PM

Public Citzen

Ten Top Reasons For Opposing Food Irradiation

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/rad-food/factsheet10reasons.htm

1. In legalizing food irradiation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not determine a level of radiation to which food can be exposed and still be safe for human consumption, which federal law requires.

2. In legalizing food irradiation, the FDA relied on laboratory research that did not meet modern scientific protocols, which federal law requires.I,

3. Research dating to the 1950s has revealed a wide range of problems in animals that ate irradiated food, including premature death, a rare form of cancer, reproductive dysfunction, chromosomal abnormalities, liver damage, low weight gain and vitamin deficiencies.

4. Irradiation masks and encourages filthy conditions in slaughterhouses and food processing plants.IX, X Irradiation can kill most bacteria in food, but it does nothing to remove the feces, urine, pus and vomit that often contaminates beef, pork, chicken and other meat. Irradiation will not kill the pathogen that causes mad cow disease.

5. Irradiation destroys vitamins, essential fatty acids and other nutrients in food-- sometimes significantly. The process destroys 80 percent of vitamin A in eggs and 48 percent of beta carotene in orange juice, but the FDA nonetheless legalized irradiation of these products.

6. Irradiation can change the flavor, odor and texture of food-- sometimes disgustingly so. Pork can turn red; beef can smell like a wet dog; fruit and vegetables can become mushy; and eggs can lose their color, become runny and ruin recipes.

7. Irradiation disrupts the chemical composition of everything in its path-- not just harmful bacteria, which the food industry often asserts. Scores of new chemicals called "radiolytic products" are formed by irradiation-- chemicals that do not naturally occur in food and that the FDA has never studied for safety.

8. The World Health Organization did not follow its own recommendation to study the toxicity of "radiolytic products" formed in high-dose irradiated food before proposing in November 2000 that the international irradiation dose limit-- equal to 330 million chest x-rays-- be removed.

9. Soon, some irradiation plants may use cesium-137, a highly radioactive waste material left over from the production of nuclear weapons. This material is dangerous and unstable. In 1988, a cesium-137 leak near Atlanta led to a $30 million, taxpayer-funded cleanup.

10. Because it increases the shelf life of food and is used in large, centralized facilities, irradiation encourages globalization and consolidation of the food production, distribution and retailing industries. These trends have already forced multitudes of family farmers and ranchers out of business, reduced the diversity of products in the marketplace, disrupted local economies in developing nations, and put American farmers and ranchers at a great economic disadvantage.

4/16/01
6:31:29 PM

Websites devoted to Positive Planetary Transformation

Conferences April 20-25, 2001 – USA

International Conference on Science and Consciousness http://www.bizspirit.com/science/index.html

Sept. 15-22, 2001 - Canada 2001 Summit On Spirituality & Sustainability

http://www.2001summit.org/summit/page6.html

Nov. 6-10, 2001 - Jerusalem International Light Summit 2001

http://www.n2012.com/lightsummits/2001.htm

Light Sights

Lightworker.com http://www.lightworker.com/

Click Here: Welcome Home Lightworker.com is a place to help you re-member who you really are and why you are here. Here you will find true original spiritual family. Humanity is stepping into its next stage of evolution. Together, by holding hands, we can create Home on this side of the veil. We are now creating Heaven on Earth.......one heart at a time.

Media

HarmonyNet Radio Programs http://www.harmonynetradio.com

Click Here: Harmony Network Radio Programs Listen to online radio interviews with authors such as Jean Houston, Gregg Braden and other other leaders in the fields of human potential, alternative health, and the new age.

Politics & Government

The Center for Visionary Leadership http://www.visionarylead.org

Click Here: The Center for Visionary LeadershipWashington The Center was founded in 1996 as an educational center to help people develop the inner resources to be effective leaders and respond creatively to change. Our approach honors the universal values found in all spiritual traditions and transcends old categories of left and right, creating a new political synthesis. We offer an environment of heartfelt dialogue with an intellectually stimulating community of professionals.

Science & Technology

Institute For New Energy http://www.padrak.com/ine/

Click Here: The Institute For New Energy: Advanced Physics. Created by Dr. Patrick Bailey who has a PhD from MIT in Nuclear Engineering. He has worked at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute, and other places of technical responsibility. He was the Technical Program Chairman for the 1991 Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference (IECEC) in Boston. This conference included over 30 inventors and "weird devices" for scientists and skeptics to examine. All of this has resulted in the Institute for New Energy, and this website.

Youth & Elders

The Global Youth Action Network

http://www.youthlink.org/

The Global Youth ACTION Network is an international collaboration among youth and youth-serving organizations to share information, resources and solutions. Its purpose is to promote greater youth engagement. The GYAN creates the opportunity for every young person to be heard and to impact national and global agendas. It provides tools, recognition and financial support for youth to take positive action to improve our world - community by community.

4/16/01
6:29:06 PM

Japanese Reject Genetically Modified Grain

JAPAN - As worldwide concern continues to mount over genetic engineering and the manipulation of food sources by major corporations, consumers are lobbying their lawmakers for protection. Consequently, Japan and many countries in Europe are now barring such produce.

Recently an entire 55,000 ton shipload of US corn destined for Japan was rejected after testing positive for genetically engineered StarLink, "sending shock waves through importers in Japan as well as other Asian countries such as South Korea and Taiwan." Japan imports about 60 percent of its food, much of it from the United States.

Japanese authorities have warned the United States not to export StarLink genetically engineered corn to Japan. Government officials were embarrassed after a public interest group, the Consumers Union of Japan, announced in Tokyo that it had found traces of StarLink corn in snack foods sold in Japanese stores as well as in imported animal feed. StarLink corn is prohibited in both human and animal feed in Japan.

The Consumers Union of Japan and allied consumer groups in South Korea are calling for a moratorium on the importation of all GE foods into their countries. In a recent pool, 82% of Japanese consumers said they were opposed to genetically engineered food - the highest level of resistance in the world.

Source: Positive News: www.positivenews.org.uk

4/16/01
6:28:36 PM

Flashing For Love Curbs Conflict

USA - As children we were often taught math and spelling with flash cards. "Angel Cards" and similar card sets are often used in alternative circles for guidance. Now there are flash cards for relationships, when words seem to fail you, or at least fail to communicate.

Nancy Dreyfus, a psychotherapist from the USA, discovered the value of flash cards on pure impulse. While sitting through yet another heated argument between a couple who were hurling verbal javelins at each other, she suddenly - on impulse - grabbed a paper and pen, and scribbled a message for the husband to hold: "Talk to me like I'm someone you love". The meltdown was dramatically swift: the behavioral shift surprisingly durable.

Dreyfus knew that she was on to something and soon developed the first home-grown set of 'Flash Cards for Real Life' and started using them with couples in her private practice. The 55 cards, which she uses for conflict intervention, were so successful with clients, colleagues, and friends that she had them printed on glossy stock and began selling them through a local distributor.

According to Dreyfus, written messages seem to accomplish something that mouth-to-mouth combat often can't: "I continue to be struck by the healing effect on intimate combatants when even a little decency is thrown in the face of their usual pattern of defensiveness, withdrawal, and terrible listening," she says.

Though the cards weren't designed for inter-generational use, one mother reported that they quickly defused a row with her 13-year-old, who seized the cards in the middle of a confrontation and flash the message: "Right now I don't need a lecture, I need your love."

'Flash cards for real life are available from Raphael Resources, 1002 Severn Lane, Wynnewood PA 19096, USA.

http://www.globalideasbank.org/

4/16/01
6:27:23 PM

Eccentrics Live Longer, Says Expert

SCOTLAND - Dr David Weeks, with the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, and the author of 'Eccentrics: The Scientific Investigation,' has found that those who march to the beat of a different drummer live five to ten years longer than those who attempt to keep up with the Jones's. And not only this, they are also healthier, happier and more intelligent then the rest of the population. He found, for example, that on the average eccentrics visit a doctor only once every eight years compared to about three times a year for the general public.

In his research Dr. Weeks interviewed over 1,100 eccentrics and found that they shared three primary characteristics: a keen sense of humor, creative imagination and a strong will. He concluded that it was these characteristics which not only set them apart but gave them the health edge. Also, he noted that they shared an over-riding curiosity that drove them forward and often made them oblivious to the small irritations and stresses of daily life that plagued the general population.

In addition he found that they were often single, the oldest or only child and poor spellers. They were generally aware of their differentness from an early age, and happily obsessed by their hobby-horses. They tend to be cheerful, idealistic, and full of projects to improve or save the world. They may tinker with perpetual motion machines, discover how to assemble cars from rubbish, or, in the case of John Chapman (better known as Johnny Appleseed), traverse America planting zillions of apple trees.

'They don't try to keep up with the Jones's, they don't worry about conforming and they usually have a firm belief that they are right and the rest of the world is wrong,' Week says.

'I am already using what I've learned from my study of eccentrics in treating the patients referred to me for depression,' Weeks says, 'and I'm certainly getting better results than I was before. I tell them to loosen up - to use their sense of humor and their imagination. Neurotic patients are over-serious.'

4/16/01
6:24:19 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE