8/16/02
4:15:31 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Have you ever tromped up the stairs to your apartment wishing you knew those neighbors who were cooking the yummy-smelling plantains? Or gazed at the empty lot on the corner of your street and fantasized about a community garden? Plenty of people yearn to develop closer relationships with the land and the people around them -- and some of them actually do something about it. In this month's Global Citizen, columnist Elizabeth Sawin describes the six years of planning and dreaming that culminated in her moving, earlier this summer, into Cobb Hill Co-Housing, an intentional community in Vermont. Live communally, vicariously, or be inspired to follow your own dreams, on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: Do your home work -- creating a green community in the Green Mountain State, by Elizabeth Sawin -- in our Global Citizen column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/citizen/citizen081602.asp?source=daily>
NO ISLAND IS AN ISLAND
Climate change was the leading concern at the annual Pacific Island Forum this week, where leaders of small island nations chastised the United States for abandoning the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The islands have an unusually vested interest in the protocol because they face a high risk of being swallowed up by seas swollen from melting ice caps and thermal expansion of ocean waters. The leaders of the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu released a statement at the forum noting their "profound disappointment at the decision of the U.S." The consortium stopped short of chiding Australia, which has also rejected Kyoto on the basis that it would be fatally flawed without U.S. participation. Australia is the biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the South Pacific, but it is also one of the largest aid donors to Pacific islands.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Paul Tait, 16 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=372>
do good: Take action to tell Bush to tackle global warming <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/climate.asp?source=daily#kyoto>
A DRINKING PROBLEM
Preventable water-related illnesses could kill as many as 76 million people by the year 2020 unless nations take action to improve their water-delivery systems, according to a report by a California environmental research institute. Most of the affected people would likely be children in developing countries, who are highly susceptible to such water-borne diseases as diarrhea, worms, dysentery, and cholera. Experts estimate that currently, 2 to 5 million people die every year from water-related illnesses; the new study blames those deaths largely on development efforts that have focused on big, centralized water-delivery systems rather than accessible, affordable, localized methods of providing clean water to impoverished people. Peter Gleick, lead author of the study, called the issue "a hidden tragedy" and "one of the greatest development failures of the 20th century."
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Christopher Heredia, 16 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=373>
PUTTING THE GOLF CART BEFORE THE HORSEPOWER
Seeking to comply with California regulations requiring automakers to reduce their emissions, General Motors has announced plans to give away thousands of electric vehicles over the next three years. The vehicles in question are literally modified golf carts (they have had seat belts, windshield wipers, and other parts added), and are only for use in low-traffic areas; the electric carts will be donated to businesses and charitable organizations, and will help GM earn low-emissions-vehicles credits under the California law. While most of the vehicles will go to California, some are destined for New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts, which have traditionally followed California's environmental lead when it comes to tightening automotive standards. Some environmentalists expressed skepticism at what seemed like a half-measure by GM: "I don't think anyone's clamoring for more golf carts," said Kate Simmons, a member of the Sierra Club's global warming and energy program. "There are real technologies that exist today that GM could put in their vehicles."
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Michael Ellis, 16 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=374>
WALK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG COMPUTER MODEL
Unless you live there, you probably haven't been following the brouhaha in North Dakota. So here's the skinny: The U.S. EPA insists that the state is in violation of air quality standards because of the high concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air at the otherwise-pristine Theodore Roosevelt National Park and a national wildlife refuge. The state, meanwhile, conducted its own computer air quality models and says it is not in violation of the standards. The EPA was unconvinced, and used the same model but different data to prove its point. If the EPA maintains its position, some North Dakota power producers could be required to clean up their act, scrubbing sulfur from unscrubbed power plants. Moreover, the EPA has threatened to take over the state's pollution program.
straight to the source: Bismarck Tribune, Lauren Donovan, 16 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=375>
Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:
Say what? -- baring their chests for environmental justice -- wacky quotes on the environment <http://www.gristmagazine.com/saywhat/saywhat2002.asp?source=daily#chests>
Different shades of green -- a week in the life of Paul Sabin, Environmental Leadership Program <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dearme/sabin081502.asp?source=daily>
Are diesel engines less polluting than gasoline engines? -- astute advice on all things environmental -- in our Ask Umbra column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ask/ask081502.asp?source=daily#diesel>
8/16/02
3:40:25 PM
US Considers Summary Execution Assassination Squads
Pentagon Said To Be Discussing Use Of Units To Work Abroad
by Oliver Burkeman in New York The Guardian - London, August 14, 2002
The US government is considering plans to send elite military units on missions to assassinate al-Qaida leaders in countries around the world, without necessarily informing the governments involved, it was reported yesterday.
The Pentagon is discussing proposals which could see special operations units dispatched to capture or kill terrorists wherever they are be lieved to be hiding, despite a long-standing presidential order forbidding US personnel from carrying out assassinations abroad, the New York Times reported.
Senior army advisers believe they could justify the practice on the grounds that it would constitute "preparation of the battlefield" in a war against terrorism that has no boundaries, because the September 11 terrorist attacks in effect initiated a worldwide state of armed conflict, the newspaper said.
"We're at war with al-Qaida. If we find an enemy combatant, then we should be able to use military force to take military action against them," a senior adviser to the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, was quoted as saying.
The plan was said to be caus ing concerns in other parts of the US government because it might blur the line between army activity and missions usually handled, under strict legal guidelines, by the Central Intelligence Agency.
The president and Congress monitor CIA activities to ensure compliance with a presidential executive order first signed by President Gerald Ford, but regularly renewed since, forbidding government-sponsored assassinations.
The order followed revelations of CIA plans to murder foreign leaders including Fidel Castro and Patrice Lumumba of the Congo.
But Mr Rumsfeld is said to be frustrated by the CIA's activities in Afghanistan, especially when the activities of special forces working with local war lords were slowed down because the Afghans were still waiting for cash payments they were promised for cooperating against the Taliban.
The CIA's director, George Tenet, was understood not to oppose the proposals Mr Rumsfeld is considering, and discussions were under way to negotiate a new relationship between the agency and the army, an official said.
The soldiers who would be used in any such plan are the army's secretive Delta Force and the navy's Seal unit.
"The people in these units are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, anywhere around the world. They are very highly trained, with specialised skills for dealing with close-quarters combat and unique situations posed by weapons of mass destruction," a military officer said.
A senior official in the Bush administration told the New York Times that the US had to adapt its methods to match al-Qaida's for speed and stealth.
"If we find a high-value target somewhere, anywhere in the world, and if we have the forces to get there and get to them, we should get there and get to them," the official said.
"Right now, there are 18 food chains, 20 levels of paperwork and 22 hoops we have to jump through before we can take action. Our enemy moves faster than that."
Shortly after last September's attacks, Dick Cheney, the vice-president, indicated that the administration might review the ban on assassinations, because "to be able to penetrate organisations you need to have on the payroll some very unsavoury characters... It is a mean, nasty, dangerous, dirty business out there, and we have to operate in that arena."
Asked directly if there was a law which would outlaw assassinating Osama bin Laden, he said he did not think so, "but I'd have to check with the lawyers on that".
Presidents since Mr Ford have often been accused of sidestepping the executive order by launching targeted military attacks primarily to kill leaders, such as the 1986 attack on Libya authorised by Ronald Reagan, of which he later commented that he would not have shed tears if it had happened to kill the Libyan leader, Muammar Gadafy.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,773574,00.html
The Summary Execution Issue
From Robert Anderson top_view@planetmail.com Top View News 8-15-2
On Monday morning (August 12) I found a Reuters story on ABC News online news-wire, which stated that the White House had quietly announced summary executions of certain persons designated as "terrorists" by Bush or other high-ranking Bush Cartel members HAD BEEN given the OK. So: ONLY the SAY-SO of Bush gang, in other words, is sufficient to incur the MURDER of whomever is so designated, by OFFICIAL US government policy. No evidence whatsoever need ever be presented to ANYONE, that the person so designated IS in fact a "terrorist" at all. This Reuters article indicated that the directive applied both abroad AND at home in the U.S.
We forwarded the article to our recipient list with the url, but soon began receiving emails saying the link was not working. And true enough, the story WAS gone, and could not be found at the Reuters site either.
We had several people we know (some in the journalism business) contact White House information sources, and we received to clear replies to the effect that the article must have been either in error or a hoax.
THEN, on Tuesday evening associate Mark Jahnsky found an item on the Washington Post website which reported that a CIA spokesperson said the agency HAD been given the "green light" (the Post's words) to carry out summary executions or assassinations of certain persons whom the Bush Mob claimed were "terrorists."
Although THIS article gave no indication that the new directive applied WITHIN the United States as the CIA is specifically FORBIDDEN from conducting operations within the US, apparently by the time the Post article was published, either the Presidential directive had been amended or else the full extent of its intended scope had been COVERED UP.
Nevertheless, and regardless: ONLY the SAY-SO of Bush-Mobsters is sufficient to incur the MURDER of whomever is so designated, by OFFICIAL US government policy! No evidence whatsoever need ever be presented to ANYONE, that the person so designated IS in fact a "terrorist" at all!
And then a funny thing happened. The Washington Post article ALSO disappeared from the face of the Earth. Gone -- zip -- nada.
Nobody know nuttin'.
THEN, by Wednesday evening, a series of communications to TOP_VIEW on the subject from Jeff Rense were massively interfered with, our computer was repeatedly hacked into via our Internet hookup resulting in several crashes, and the Reuters article --which Rense had posted and then removed when it couldn't be confirmed -- mysteriously reappeared at Rense.com attached to an unrelated link, and then disappeared again forever.
Anyway, by Wednesday evening Jeff Rense had discovered an article by The London Guardian, which stated that the Bush Mob was about to give the green light to assassinations or summary executions of certain persons designated as terrorists by top Bush Cartel members!
The Guardian article, however, like the Washington Post article, gave no specific indication that the now-"PLANNED" policy directive would also pertain domestically.
But nevertheless and regardless, ONLY the SAY-SO of the Bush Cartel is sufficient to incur the MURDER of whomever is so designated, by OFFICIAL US government policy. No evidence whatsoever need ever be presented to ANYONE, that the person so designated IS in fact a "terrorist."
So: what IS the real story about the approval of summary executions for certain persons whom Bush and his gang CLAIM are "terrorists?" Exactly what is the scope of this HORRIFIC, newly-implemented or soon-to-be-implemented official US "policy?" Apparently, the truth of the directive's scope is being COVERED UP.
However, no matter whether this deranged, sickening, brutish and MASSIVELY illegal/unconstitutional/unconscionable "policy" is to be applied only outside the United States or whether the United States and its people are to be INCLUDED, the "policy" itself is an absolute and totally intolerable outrage to the civilized world and a profound violation of international AND national law in the highest degree. The mightily perverted, grotesque G. Dubya Shrubya Bush and his band, who've usurped control of this nation and are turning it into a CommuNazi 4th Reich totalitarian NIGHTMARE, are a MASSIVE menace and threat to the entire planet.
The nations, the PEOPLES of the world MUST STAND TOGETHER and shut the Bush-Mob DOWN.
http://www.rense.com/general28/exe.htm
8/16/02
3:31:42 PM
The Nation
For all of you in and around the Seattle-Tacoma, Washington area, next Saturday, August 24, Seattle will host the fourth stop on the nationwide Rolling Thunder Down-Home Democracy Tour, a traveling extravaganza of grassroots political activism, music, speechs, workshops, exhibitions and food.
The daylong event will be held in Petrovitsky Park in Renton with featured speakers including Jim Hightower, Tom Hayden, Granny D and Lori Wallach. There'll also be musical performances from Holly Near, Zap Mama and Fishbone, among many others.
The RT Tour is sponsored by scores of worthy groups, organizations and publications, including The Nation, Greenpeace, ACORN and United Students Against Sweatshops, many of which will be on hand exhibiting their wares.
ROLLING THUNDER DOWN-HOME DEMOCRACY TOUR
Saturday, August 24, 10:00am to 10:00pm
Petrovitsky Park
Renton, WA (20 miles from downtown Seattle)
Tickets: $5 in advance, $10 at the door
http://www.rollingthundertour.org
A brainchild of Texas populist and Nation writer Jim Hightower, the Rolling Thunder Tour is intended as a series of local gatherings with pizzazz and festivity, as well as seriousness of purpose - a sort of travelling democracy festival.
Check out the RT website for more about Seattle:
http://www.rollingthundertour.org
And be sure to check out Jim Hightower's Nation magazine feature --Going Down The Road -- which seeks to chronicle the same activist energy that's fueling the RT Tour.
His most recent installment, from the September 2/9, 2002 issue of The Nation, takes on the water profiteers and celebrates "the ordinary folks" who are demonstating great courage and cunning in opposing the Great Corporate Water Rush.
Read this piece in its entirety currently at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020902&s=hightower
As Hightower writes in the preface to his March 4 debut, there's a "phenomenal energy and rebellious spirit that is steadily spreading across our land, albeit mostly beneath the radar of the cognoscenti holed up in the power centers...These people are lighting prairie fires of rebellion against the way things are."
The animating idea behind the Rolling Thunder Tour is to foster connection among these myriad progressive initiatives mobilized across the US every day.
Hope to see you in Seattle.
Best Regards,
Peter Rothberg
Associate Publisher, The Nation
8/16/02
3:29:11 PM
SciTech Daily Review
What happens if you put a nuclear waste repository on top of a bunch of volcanoes? If you live near Yucca Mountain, you may get the chance to find out
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020812/yucca.html
How do you study a nomadic people when they leave little behind them? A set of slender granite monoliths may hold clues to the lives of the medieval Mongols
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/134512886_nomads13.html
Colombia's unique forests and endangered birds are falling victim to the ongoing conflict over the country's thriving drugs trade
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020729/020729-11.html
The cyborg known as you: Chips under the skin. Wireless sensors in the brain. It's not science fiction: it's your destiny
http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,42091,FF.html
The search for Genghis Khan's tomb is sputtering amidst accusations of desecration
http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/08/14/mongolia.genghiskhan.ap/index.html
The killer algae Pfiesteria may kill fish by nibbling them to death. (Oh good, say the fish. That's so much nicer than being poisoned.)
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020805/020805-2.html
Scattered around our planet are hundreds of creatures that have been to the Moon and back again -- and one man is searching high and low for these lost Moon Trees
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/13aug_moontrees.htm
Japanese citizens are opting out in droves from their new national computerized ID system
http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2002/08/11/idsystem/index.html
You want to grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals? Try reading about Charlotte Uhlenbroek's exploits in Talking with Animals, more than just a companion volume to the BBC series
http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opbooks.jsp?id=ns23563
The bot who loved me: Are those secret-admirer e-mails real -- or just the latest excrescence of an Internet marketing machine grown unfathomably sleazy?
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/08/07/crushmaster/index.html?x
Physicists should humble themselves and turn to biology as the new frontier! Talk about a seismic cultural shift in science
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/225/science/Bio_envy+.shtml
Smokey the Bear got it wrong -- preventing forest fires can cause more harm than good
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6131
8/16/02
3:26:17 PM
Israeli Army accused of using human shields
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31978
By Ross Dunn, Herald Correspondent in Jerusalem and agencies August 16, 2002
A Palestinian teenager died in a hail of bullets after being used as a human shield in an Israeli Army operation to prevent what it described as a "mega" terrorist attack.
The death came despite army assurances that it would stop the controversial practice, condemned by human rights groups, of using residents to protect soldiers carrying out raids inside Palestinian civilian areas.
The soldiers were targeting a senior Hamas militant, Nasr Jarrar, 44, who, the army said, had recruited suicide bombers and was planning to demolish a skyscraper in central Israel. The army said Mr Jarrar was still active despite losing both legs and an arm while trying to plant a bomb last year.
After discovering his hideout in the West Bank town of Tubas, Israeli soldiers surrounded the building and ordered Nidal Abu Muhsein, 19, to knock on the door.
A gunfight followed, during which Mr Muhsein was killed by shots from inside the house, the military said. Mr Jarrar was decapitated when the army demolished the house with a bulldozer.
The Israeli human rights group B'tselem accused the army of using Mr Muhsein as a human shield. The army denied the claim, saying it was trying to prevent civilian deaths by warning anyone in the house with Mr Jarrar to surrender.
---> But the Hebrew daily Ma'ariv yesterday said the practice was aimed at protecting the lives of the Israeli soldiers, not Palestinian civilians.
"The Israel Defence Forces uses the procedure when there is concern that a wanted man, hiding in his house, will open fire on soldiers ...
Over the past two years, use of this procedure has increased, and innocent neighbours have been hurt on more than one occasion," the paper said.
Israeli human rights groups appealed to the Supreme Court to halt the practice and were assured by the Attorney-General that the army would no longer endanger the lives of innocent Palestinian civilians.
The groups are expected to lodge a new legal challenge.
Ma'ariv spoke to several senior Israeli officers who also voiced their opposition. One officer was quoted as saying: "It would be better to endanger soldiers rather than innocent civilians who are caught in combat through no deed of their own and could pay with their lives."
A cabinet minister, Ephraim Sneh, a former military commander, said yesterday that although he was unsure the action would stand up to the test of law, "there is the consideration that we have to prevent a large terror attack, and it's clear which consideration wins in this situation".
In another move the Palestinian Finance Minister, Salam Fayyad, said a holding company had been established to consolidate Palestinian Authority assets under a single umbrella, a reform that meets a key US demand to overhaul Palestinian finances.
Mr Fayyad, a former senior World Bank official, said that the Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, had given formal approval on Wednesday to the creation of the Palestinian Investment Fund, which would be under the finance minister's direct control.
Mr Fayyad said the new holding company would ensure transparency and accountability in Palestinian financial dealings.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/15/1029113984644.html
"Bin Laden, the forbidden truth"
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31967
9/11 Conspiracy: A Summary
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31971
This should be required reading for Congress,
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31968
Condoleezza Rice "This is an evil man..."
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31963
US Government Refuses to Certify Accuracy of Its Financials
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31960
Electronic Mind Control - The Facts, The Proof
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31958
US considers assassination squads;
The US government is considering plans to send elite military units on missions to assassinate al-Qaida leaders in countries around the world, without necessarily informing the governments involved, it was reported yesterday.
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31943
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's announced desire for camps for U.S. citizens he deems to be "enemy combatants" has moved him from merely being a political embarrassment to being a constitutional menace.
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31934
Terrorists are street-killers writ large. Does assuring domestic security mean sacrificing civil liberty? Is that America's hard choice in the War on Terror?
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31945
L I B E R T Y - THE STUDY OF; Study and Learn
" ...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ... That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men" Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson
http://darren.lib.utah.edu/index.htm
Without Justice, there is JUST_US!
American Patriot Friends Network (APFN)
http://www.apfn.org/vardon/contributions.htm
8/16/02
3:23:25 PM
"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend."
Robert Louis Stevenson
8/16/02
3:19:58 PM
Forbidden Truth -- Transcript of Donahue Show
Jean-Charles Brisard, Co-Author of "The Forbidden Truth,"
Interviewed by Donahue on MSNBC Tuesday, August 13, 2002
DONAHUE: Welcome back. In his book, "Forbidden Truth"-"U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and the Failed Hunt for bin Laden" its subtitle-author Jean Charles Brisard makes some disturbing allegations regarding a connection between oil, Saudi Arabia, the Clinton and Bush administrations and al Qaeda.
Well, Mr. Brisard, sir, your book is the talk of Europe. It's a best-seller. Obviously, Europe has grabbed this with both hands. Not so here. We're paying-it's not that you're being ignored, but...
JEAN CHARLES BRISARD, FRENCH INTELLIGENCE INVESTIGATOR: It just arrived.
DONAHUE: Huh?
BRISARD: Just arrived in the U.S.
DONAHUE: It just got here. OK. Well, we'll see what happens. In this book, you make the point that-you seem to say that all the dots connect to Saudi Arabia.
BRISARD: Yes.
DONAHUE: And those dots include George Bush, Sr.-Bush 1 - as well as al Qaeda and the United States government itself. Make your case for us here, sir.
BRISARD: I don't want to talk about politics tonight, OK? So-but the fact is, on the one hand, you have Saudi Arabia, a known-a well-known country for business with the Western countries, and is doing-this country is doing business with the United States and with others.
DONAHUE: Right.
BRISARD: And in that part of the business, you have probably corporate interests, and probably you find in some years George Bush, Sr., and probably George Bush, the actual president. And on the other hand, Saudi Arabia is funding fundamentalism-radical fundamentalism-around the world.
DONAHUE: Yes.
BRISARD: And...
DONAHUE: Right.
BRISARD: ... especially al Qaeda.
DONAHUE: Right.
BRISARD: That's two different points.
DONAHUE: OK. But you are-you are suggesting that because of oil-rich Saudi Arabia and our connection to them, we were less than enthusiastic in pursuing al Qaeda before 9/11. Do I understand that?
BRISARD: Yes.
DONAHUE: The reason we didn't want to pursue al Qaeda and go after these people in Afghanistan-now, this is before 9/11, before the worst attack in our history. The reason we didn't want to do that is because it would roil Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's got to be careful. It is certainly a center of-a significant number of fundamental Islamicists live there. And we didn't want to mess up this relationship with oil-rich Saudi Arabia. Do I understand it?
BRISARD: Yes. Yes, because you cannot at the same time do business with that country, say every day it's an ally of the United States, of the Western countries generally, and at the same time point out the role of that country in the financing and the funding and sponsoring...
DONAHUE: Of terrorism.
BRISARD: ... of terrorism.
DONAHUE: But I don't see how you-you know, Saudi Arabia exiled, expelled Usama bin Laden.
BRISARD: Yes, I know. That's the official story about it.
DONAHUE: Yes.
BRISARD: Yes. "The Forbidden Truth," that's the title of our book, the truth we don't want to see.
DONAHUE: OK. You're-you're not suggesting that it was a ruse to expel him? They didn't-he scared them, didn't he?
BRISARD: Yes, because he was in Saudi Arabia. Yes, in fact. But for years after he was expelled, he was able to do business with companies in Saudi Arabia...
DONAHUE: Right.
BRISARD: ... involving companies based in Saudi Arabia, involving individuals based in Saudi Arabia. So yes, he was expelled. That's all.
DONAHUE: Yeah. Are you suggesting that this interest in not roiling Saudi Arabia or not making trouble in this area was because we wanted to build a pipeline?
BRISARD: No. What happened is that, in fact, we wanted-everybody wanted, especially U.S. corporate oil wanted, a stable regime in Afghanistan...
DONAHUE: Stable?
BRISARD: ... a stable regime, to be able to build that pipeline, a regime that was able to control the entire Afghanistan.
DONAHUE: Right. But we wanted the pipeline, did we not?
BRISARD: Yes. Yes.
DONAHUE: And we wanted to control it.
BRISARD: Yes.
DONAHUE: And we wanted to build it.
BRISARD: Yes.
DONAHUE: And so this interest-you-here's you're suggesting, and I don't know if you're...
BRISARD: OK.
DONAHUE: You're suggesting that the Bush family, with ties to oil and Texas, had an interest in seeing that the construction of this pipeline through Afghanistan continued or moved forward, and that, you're suggesting, slowed us up and reduced our enthusiasm for going after al Qaeda and terrorism.
BRISARD: Again, I'm not going on the book about a specific link with, with...
DONAHUE: OK, but...
BRISARD: ... any of these families...
DONAHUE: You'll agree that this is a suggestion. This is an implication in your book. You may...
BRISARD: What we say in our book is that the-several big U.S. corporations, including Unocal, for instance, wanted to built that pipeline since 1996. And since that date, U.S. governments, whether under Clinton or under Bush, have helped them go through that project. That means negotiate with the Taliban. That means be accommodating with the Taliban. And it's only finally after September 11th that the U.S. government discovered the real nature of the regime.
DONAHUE: OK. I just want to just take these folks to school here. Here's Afghanistan. This is the pipeline we would like to build. This is the Caspian area, very rich oil reserves here.
BRISARD: Yeah.
DONAHUE: Lots and lots of-maybe more than anyplace else on earth. So you go through Afghanistan. No such pipeline exists now. Here are the alternatives. Go through Iran. "No," says the United States. "We don't want to go through Iran. It's too dangerous." Go through Russia? Certainly not. We want to be able to control this. Do I have it here?
BRISARD: Yes. That's it. Yes. Yes. Basically, that's it. That's the cheapest way and the shortest way to go through...
DONAHUE: But you're not here to say that it is in the-it was-it was the enthusiasm for building the pipeline that made the administration be less than aggressive in its-in its treatment of al Qaeda and Usama bin Laden before 9/11.
BRISARD: I'm speaking about the treatment of the Taliban regime. Yes, we were soft with the Taliban regime probably because of that pipeline, that big pipeline. It's an $8 billion project, so...
DONAHUE: OK.
BRISARD: ... it's important.
DONAHUE: What is the nature of the lawsuit to which you will attach your own name, as an attorney at law, that is to be filed in this country this week?
BRISARD: I'm simply part of that effort to bring to justice those who sponsored, financed or give any facility to al Qaeda and to Usama bin Laden during those years for him to be able to carry out such a tragedy as the September 11th attacks.
DONAHUE: This will be filed under the terms what we call tort law.
BRISARD: That's right. That's right.
DONAHUE: Tort law says-tort law is asbestos...
BRISARD: Yeah.
DONAHUE: ... Firestone tires-that if you're responsible...
BRISARD: Yes.
DONAHUE: ... for the injury or the death...
BRISARD: You have to pay for that. You have to pay for that.
DONAHUE: Assuming it could be proved in court that you were negligent...
BRISARD: Yes. Of course. Of course.
DONAHUE: ... and so on.
BRISARD: Of course. Of course. That's the basic principle of the lawsuit, yes. And it's done, of course, on the behalf of the families of the victims because that's the essential. I was meeting last week with a French mother who lost her son. She told me, "The only thing they recovered from my son was a bone." When you hear a mother say that, you say someone has to pay for that. Someone has to be accountable for that. And that's the purpose of the lawsuit.
DONAHUE: You must be somewhat distracted by the fact there has been no real independent investigation of all these events here...
BRISARD: The investigation, at least on the financial side, is under way, is being carried out...
DONAHUE: Yes.
BRISARD: ... to identify those individuals or entities that...
DONAHUE: Right.
BRISARD: ... participated in the financing of al Qaeda.
BRISARD: In fact, it was-you were asked to conduct an investigation regarding the finances of Usama bin Laden.
BRISARD: Yes.
DONAHUE: So you-this is about banks and who's giving the money...
BRISARD: Yeah. Yeah.
DONAHUE: ... and how it gets in, and so on. And this, obviously, would be evidence at the trial. So?
BRISARD: Probably, yes. Yes.
DONAHUE: So in your effort, then, to trace the-to follow the money trail of al Qaeda, you came up with this. You're not saying President Bush 1, the president's father, went to-with the Carlyle group to the Middle East, or to that region, for the purpose of promoting the pipeline?
BRISARD: OK, so let's assume, if we're speaking again about Saudi Arabia, that the U.S. government, whoever it is, has probably a real problem to address the issue of the responsibility of Saudi Arabia in the tragedy of September 11th, OK, for obvious reasons-economic and strategic interests, whether personal or not. But that's precisely the purpose of the lawsuit, what the government cannot do...
DONAHUE: Right.
BRISARD: ... justice can do it.
BRISARD: But you're honest enough to tell us that, as compelling as this book is, absorbing and-you don't have a smoking gun, do you. Do you?
BRISARD: Well, the fact is, again,...
DONAHUE: This is all implication.
BRISARD: Yes.
DONAHUE: It's circumstance...
BRISARD: Yes. That has to be proven, of course.
DONAHUE: So oil interests trumped...
BRISARD: Yes. Yes.
DONAHUE: - going after the terrorists prior to 9/11.
BRISARD: That's what at least told me the former anti-terrorism director of the FBI, John O'Neill, yes.
DONAHUE: Well, let me say that...
(CROSSTALK)
BRISARD: ... don't want to-to run after the Saudis.
DONAHUE: John O'Neill, the former FBI counter-terrorist-head of counterrorism...
BRISARD: Right.
DONAHUE: ... who quit, was the security man for the World Trade Center...
BRISARD: Yes.
DONAHUE: ... when the planes hit, died in the rubble.
BRISARD: Right.
DONAHUE: How ironic is that? And you talked to him.
DONAHUE: Yes.
BRISARD: And he's the one that sent you on this trail in the first place.
BRISARD: Yeah. Right.
DONAHUE: So-wow. Well, Jean Charles Brisard, we'll watch with interest your lawsuit to be filed this week on behalf of loved ones of the victims of 9/11. And I thank you very much for sharing this intriguing story with us.
Source: http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.16B.donahue.brisard.htm
8/16/02
3:14:12 PM
AlterNet Headlines
ONE ELECTION THAT'S NOT A FRAUD
Each year, Working Assets Long Distance customers vote to allocate donations to their favorite nonprofit organizations. This year, AlterNet is thrilled to be on the ballot! Your vote can make a huge difference in the amount we receive (from $30,000 to $150,000!). We aren't afraid to beg either: please consider allocating 100 percent of your votes to AlterNet, so we can continue to provide you with great content. Look for us in the Education and Freedom of Expression category of the ballot. If you're a current WALD customer, take a moment to vote online at
http://www.workingassets.com/voting/.
A FEW GOOD CANDIDATES
John Nichols, In These Times
In upcoming midterm elections, candidates have the potential to shift the discourse dramatically. From likely winners to long shots, here are 10 to watch in 2002.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13857
ALL THE FACTS ABOUT IRAQ
Phyllis Bennis, AlterNet
The author, an esteemed foreign policy expert, wasn't allowed to testify as an expert witness for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- so she submitted this written testimony instead.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13859
Monday on Donahue
On Aug. 19, Phil Donahue devotes his entire show to an interview with Studs Terkel, America's premiere oral historian and 90-year-old self-styled "guerilla journalist." Don't miss it. On MSNBC, 8pm and 11pm EST.
KILL THE CORPORATION
Dennis Fox, AlterNet
Good news! A movement exists to transform corporate culture so completely that the kind of tinkering Washington politicos now debate pales in comparison.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13830
PORTRAIT OF THE ASSIMILARTIST
Chisun Lee, ColorLines
Nikki S. Lee has transformed herself into a black hip-hop groupie, a Latina and a white midwesterner -- but she insists it's not about race.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13858
UNDERWEAR LINKED TO DEATH!
Mark Elliot, Red Flags Weekly
Overwhelming evidence that people who die wear underwear. In other words, it pays to be skeptical when you listen to news reports about the latest threat to your life and your health.
*In EnviroHealth: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=18
AROUND THE WORLD IN A HEADY DAZE
Dan Rubinstein, Vue Weekly
More than a light-hearted and light-headed dope-themed travelogue, Brian Preston's new book is a real look into the science behind marijuana and the politics behind America's War on Drugs.
*In DrugReporter: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=17
BLOWING THE WHISTLE ON WEST NILE
Lynn Landes, AlterNet
Chemical spraying is usually the least effective yet most toxic way to control mosquitoes that may carry the West Nile virus. It's a case of the "cure" being much worse than the disease.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13835
THE SUMMER OF STOLEN CHILDREN
John Powers, LA Weekly
What made the Samantha Runnion case a media event was how neatly its storyline filled the needs of cable-TV news.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13843
CANDIDATE GIVES THUMBS UP FOR GAY MARRIAGE
Mubarak Dahir, AlterNet
Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Robert Reich could upend the status quo and set a new standard for political candidates across the country.
*In Rights & Liberties: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=33
Media Roundtable
Talk with Wall Street Journal's Boomtown columnist Lee Gomes and Oakland Tribune columnist Brenda Payton about the best and worst of the week's coverage on Friday's Working Assets Radio with Laura Flanders. Listen online from 10-11amPT/1-2pmET, or call in: 866-798-TALK.
http://www.workingassetsradio.com
8/16/02
3:11:08 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
GM to give away thousands of electric vehicles - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17318/story.htm
FEATURE - Ten years on, the Rio "circus" heads for South Africa - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17327/story.htm
Drought-hit Sri Lanka looks from hydro to wind power - SRI LANKA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17321/story.htm
Greenpeace ship arrives for Earth Summit campaign - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17323/story.htm
Scientists search for famed antelope in Angola - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17332/story.htm
Slovak capital expects to withstand Danube floods - SLOVAKIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17324/story.htm
Vines spread, choke trees in deepest Amazon jungle - PERU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17319/story.htm
Malaysian state calls for army to kill tigers - MALAYSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17317/story.htm
Sumatra haze over Malaysia, visibility low - MALAYSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17328/story.htm
India to raise ethanol content in blended petrol - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17334/story.htm
Sinking Pacific states slam US over sea levels - FIJI http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17316/story.htm
US wind power demand forecast cut for 2002 - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17322/story.htm
New evacuations in Prague as flood waters rise - CZECH REPUBLIC http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17333/story.htm
Three seals find freedom in Czech flooding - CZECH REPUBLIC http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17331/story.htm
Famished Australian emus invade drought - hit farms - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17330/story.htm
FEATURE - Where's Dean been? Australians turn turtle watchers - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17329/story.htm
Australia says on track to meet Kyoto target - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17325/story.htm
Pacific Hydro shares jump on wind approval - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17320/story.htm
Australian firm develops biopesticide for cotton - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17326/story.htm
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURES:
UK: A Seal Suffering From Phocine Distemper Receives Treatment in the Norfolk Rspca Wildlife Hospital http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17337
MALAYSIA: Malaysia's Landmark Putra Mosque Shrouded in Smog in Putrajaya http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17335
CHINA: Female Dog Sits With Adopted Three-Month Old Lion Cub in Dog House in Beijing http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17336
8/16/02
3:09:48 PM
NEWS FROM THE WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE
CONTENTS
1. Live chat on mining and the environment, August 16, 12:00 EDT
2. Molly Sheehan to speak at National Building Museum, August 20
3. Chat on international environmental crime, August 23
1. Live: Payal Sampat on mining--August 16th, 12:00 EDT
Join us Friday, August 16th to talk with Worldwatch Research Associate Payal Sampat about her research on the need for dramatic changes to reduce the environmental impact of mining. Sampat will be online live on Friday, August 16 from 12:00-13:00 EDT (16:00-17:00 GMT). Mining is one of the planet's leading polluters, and is threatening some of the world's most ecologically fragile regions.
Payal will be online live on Friday, August 16th from 12:00-13:00 EDT (16:00-17:00 GMT). You can post questions in advance, starting at 11:00 EDT. To join the chat, go to
http://www.worldwatch.org/live/
and click on the "Discussion on climate change..." line.
2. Molly Sheehan lecture on sprawl at the National Building Museum
Worldwatch Research Associate Molly Sheehan will be giving a special guest lecture at the National Building Museum (NBM) in Washington, DC on Tuesday, August 20, from 6:30-8:00 pm EDT.
The lecture is entitled, "The Global Dimensions of Sprawl." The NBM describes the talk as follows:
"Cars have stretched cities to unprecedented dimensions, as highways require far more space than other forms of transportation. One light rail corridor, for example, can move eight times more people per hour than a single highway lane. While there is no official measure of car-dependent development, or "sprawl," census and satellite data reveal both its physical magnitude and its threat to the world's health and sustainability. Molly O'Meara Sheehan, research associate at the Worldwatch Institute, will discuss both the national and global impact of sprawl. She will also consider current efforts around the world to rebuild cities to accommodate other transportation modes to combat the automobile's negative impact. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition On Track: Transit and the American City, which will be open for viewing."
If you want to attend, please note that there is a fee, and that registration is required. For more information, please go to:
http://www.nbm.org/Events/Calendar/Lectures_Symposia.html#Global
3. International Environmental Crime chat on August 23rd
Next week, join us on Friday, August 23rd at 12:00 EDT (14:00 GMT) to talk with Worldwatch Research Associate Lisa Mastny about combating international environmental crime. Environmental crimes, from the illegal wildlife trade to CFC smuggling, threaten to undermine international efforts to stem biodiversity loss and protect the planet.
To participate in next week's chat, go to http://www.worldwatch.org/live/ and click on the "Discussion on climate change..." line.
Lisa's previous work on international environmental crime has appeared in: State of the World 2001. Chapter 9: Combating International Environmental Crime.
You can download this chapter as a PDF file (along with 3 other chapters) for $7.00 from the Worldwatch bookstore at:
http://secure.worldwatch.org/cgi-bin/wwinst/BSW01P?V3FY7rjs;;45
8/16/02
2:58:38 PM
Vines Tangle Up Amazon Environment
Researchers Concerned About Greenhouse-Gas Impact
LONDON, Aug. 14 — Jungle vines are spreading faster in South America’s Amazon rainforest than before, choking trees and potentially slowing the forests’ ability to soak up damaging greenhouse gases, scientists say.
THE SPREAD of woody vines — like the ones Tarzan swings from in the movies— is the first change in plant composition that scientists have recorded in the deepest virgin jungle, and suggests human activity is having more impact on delicate ecosystems than previously shown. A team of researchers from Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and the United States, led by Oliver Phillips of Leeds University in Britain, counted and measured the vines, called lianas, in the primary rainforests of the Amazon. They found that the “dominance” of lianas over trees had increased by between 1.7 and 4.6 percent per year over the last two decades of the twentieth century. “It’s the first time that a changing composition has been observed in mature forests,” Phillips told Reuters in a telephone interview. His team’s findings were published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature.
GREENHOUSE GAS EFFECT He said the growth in vines appeared to have been caused by greater concentrations of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that most scientists believe is causing global temperatures to rise as a result of human activity. Plants absorb carbon dioxide in photosynthesis, and scientists have predicted that as humans produce more of the gas, forests would grow to soak some of it up, a phenomenon called “carbon sink,” which could help ease global warming. But Phillips said the additional carbon appears to benefit resource-hungry vines more than slower-growing trees, throwing off the balance in jungle forests. “What we think we were finding is the ecosystem responding, not just in growth but in a change in its composition. If you change an environmental driver like carbon dioxide concentration, some plants will do better than others,” he said. Advertisement
As the vines weigh down trees and kill them, they can reduce the ability of the forest to soak up more carbon, making the problem of global warming even worse.
OTHER EFFECTS Other plant and animal species are also likely to have been affected by the increase in vines relative to trees. Different insects may pollinate vines rather than trees, different birds may eat the insects, and so on. “The ecosystem’s connected. You change one part and other parts are likely to change too,” Phillips said. “It’s a kind of example of how we can’t predict how the world is going to respond to the changes we’re causing.”
Source: http://www.msnbc.com/news/794092.asp?cp1=1
8/16/02
2:54:57 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
DON'T HAVE A CAR, MAN
Think the Car Talk guys are great? In her current column, Umbra Fisk, Grist environmental advisor extraordinaire, beats Click and Clack at their own game by tackling thorny questions about eco-friendly car ownership. If you're cruising down the highway, is it more fuel efficient to turn on the air conditioning or open the windows and create all that drag? Should you buy a diesel engine, which is more fuel-efficient and emits less carbon dioxide, or a gas engine, which spews far fewer nasty particles into the air? Umbra's got the answers -- plus, she takes a reluctant minivan mom car shopping. Get taken for a ride, only on the Grist Magazine website. (Also, some good news for the environmentally eager: The response to Umbra has been so overwhelming that, as of August, Our Lady of the Stacks will appear in the pages of Grist twice monthly.)
only in Grist: Auto pilot -- sage advice on car air conditioners, gas versus diesel, and more -- in Ask Umbra <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ask/ask081502.asp?source=daily>
YOU'VE GOT MALE
Saving endangered species is usually a matter of preserving habitat, fending off threats, and hoping for the best. Now, though, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have found a way to incubate sperm from other animals inside laboratory mice, a process they hope could aid species whose survival is threatened by the lack of sexually mature males. The technique could also be used to produce sperm from valuable farm animals before waiting for them to reach puberty; to help men with testicular problems have children; and to study reproductive cells. Philip Damiani of the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species said the development was an exciting one for species conservationists: "With endangered species, you lose some of the animals before they even reach puberty. Many pandas die right after birth. And if we can get testes material from them that's going to be thrown in the garbage anyway, why not get the material to work with?"
straight to the source: Washington Post, Rick Weiss, 15 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=368>
BURNED
In addition to scorching millions of acres of habitat and killing wildlife, the fires that have raged throughout the western U.S. this summer have taken another toll on the environment -- a financial one. The federal government expects to spend more than $1.5 billion battling wildfires this year, and millions of those dollars will come from sources that would otherwise be used to pay for environmental activities on public lands. Already, field offices of the U.S. Forest Service are suspending road and trail maintenance projects, land purchases, fish and wildlife habitat work, replanting of logged and burned areas, and other projects. Traditionally, Congress has picked up some of the tab for wildfire-fighting, but the Bush administration is opposed to footing the bill for this year's particularly extensive and expensive burns. Earlier this week, President Bush nixed an extra $50 million for firefighting, leaving the USFS to transfer money from other programs to cover fire-related expenses. A new cost projection suggests that this year, the USFS will spend more than a quarter of its entire budget on fighting fires.
straight to the source: Portland Oregonian, Michael Milstein, 15 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=369>
ABSENCE MAKES SOME HEARTS GROW FONDER
By all appearance, President Bush will not be attending the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the end of the month -- much to the delight of his conservative allies. "We applaud your decision not to attend the summit," read a letter signed by more than 30 conservative activists and sent to the president this week. The letter went on to warn that, "Your presence would only help to publicize and make more credible [attendees'] various anti-freedom, anti-people, anti-globalization, and anti-Western agendas." The signers of the letter also called for the president to resist signing new international environmental treaties or creating global environmental organizations at the summit. Ten years ago, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the first President Bush agreed to tackle problems in forestry, biodiversity, and climate change, moves conservatives view as terrible mistakes his son is wise to avoid.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, John Heilprin, 15 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=370>
do good: Take action to send your leader to the World Summit <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/politics.asp?source=daily#summit>
JUNGLE FEVER
Vines are the hallmark of any self-respecting jungle -- picture Tarzan swinging in from offstage -- but the situation is getting a bit out of control in the Amazon rainforest, where vines are growing so quickly they are choking trees and possibly interfering with the ability of forests to soak up greenhouse gases, according to a study published in today's issue of Nature. An international team of scientists found that the dominance of woody vines over trees increased by between 1.7 and 4.6 percent per year in the 1980s and 1990s. The rapid spread of vines, which is the first observed change in plant composition in virgin jungle, might itself stem from the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the Amazon basin. The jungle has been hailed as an efficient absorber of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas, but vines soak up the gas far more quickly than trees, speeding their growth and throwing the jungle eco-system off balance.
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Reuters, 15 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=371>
8/16/02
2:42:01 PM
US Adviser Warns Of Armageddon
Julian Borger and Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, August 16, 2002
One of the Republican party's most respected foreign policy gurus yesterday appealed for President Bush to halt his plans to invade Iraq, warning of "an Armageddon in the Middle East".
The outspoken remarks from Brent Scowcroft, who advised a string of Republican presidents, including Mr Bush's father, represented an embarrassment for the administration on a day it was attempting to rally British public support for an eventual war.
The US national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, yesterday spelled out what she called the "very powerful moral case" for toppling Saddam Hussein. "We certainly do not have the luxury of doing nothing," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. She said the Iraqi leader was "an evil man who, left to his own devices, will wreak havoc again on his own population, his neighbours and, if he gets weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them, all of us".
But while Ms Rice was making the case for a pre-emptive strike, the rumble of anxiety in the US was growing louder. A string of leading Republicans have expressed unease at the administration's determination to take on President Saddam, but the most damning critique of Mr Bush's plans to date came yesterday from Mr Scowcroft.
The retired general, who also advised Presidents Nixon and Ford, predicted that an attack on Iraq could lead to catastrophe.
"Israel would have to expect to be the first casualty, as in 1991 when Saddam sought to bring Israel into the Gulf conflict. This time, using weapons of mass destruction, he might succeed, provoking Israel to respond, perhaps with nuclear weapons, unleashing an Armageddon in the Middle East," Mr Scowcroft wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
The Israeli government has vowed it would not stand by in the face of attacks as it did in 1991, when Iraqi Scud missiles landed on Israeli cities. It claims it has Washington's backing for retaliation.
Mr Scowcroft is the elder statesman of the Republican foreign policy establishment, and his views are widely regarded as reflecting those of the first President Bush. The fierceness of his attack on current administration policy illustrates the gulf between the elder Bush and his son, who has surrounded himself with far more radical ideologues on domestic and foreign policy.
In yesterday's article, Mr Scowcroft argued that by alienating much of the Arab world, an assault on Baghdad, would halt much of the cooperation Washington is receiving in its current battle against the al-Qaida organisation.
"An attack on Iraq at this time would seriously jeopardise, if not destroy, the global counterterrorist campaign we have undertaken," Mr Scowcroft wrote.
Both the American and British governments are expected to time a public relations effort to rebuff the critics and build public support in the immediate run-up to an invasion.
Senior Whitehall figures say that crucial in that effort will be evidence that President Saddam is building up Iraq's chemical biological warfare capability and planning to develop nuclear weapons.
The US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, confirmed yesterday that the Pentagon was considering a change in the status of a navy pilot shot down over Iraq 11 years ago. He is currently classified as "missing in action".
There have been reports that Lieutenant-Commander Michael Speicher was still being held by Iraq.
If he was reclassified as a prisoner of war, it would represent an additional source of conflict between Washington and Baghdad.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,775532,00.html
8/16/02
1:19:30 PM
Donahue Senses Something Sinister In Afghan War
by Jennifer Harper, The Washington Post, August 15, 2002
The thrum of conspiracy buzz has surrounded MSNBC's Phil Donahue.
Whether it proves beneficial buzz remains to be seen, however.
On his talk show Tuesday night, Mr. Donahue featured an interview with Jean Charles Brisard, author of "Forbidden Truth," a contentious book published in France in November and released in the United States two weeks ago.
It promotes the idea that the Bush administration protected its "big oil" interests at all cost, maintaining secret diplomatic links with both Saudi Arabia and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which ultimately caused the September 11 attacks.
"All the dots connect to Saudi Arabia," Mr. Donahue told the author. "And those dots include George Bush, senior Bush, as well as al Qaeda and the U.S. government itself." The Bush family, Mr. Donahue continued, "had an interest in seeing the construction of this pipeline through Afghanistan continued or moved forward, and that, you're suggesting, slowed us up and reduced our enthusiasm for going after al Qaeda and terrorism."
Mr. Donahue's next guest was a September 11 widow who wants an independent investigation of the terrorist attacks. "To have the right to be answered, we have to beg," she said. "And it's disgusting."
The show riled one specific audience yesterday after Rumor Mill News, a California-based alternative news site, urged its readers to support Mr. Donahue and demand the news media "tell the truth" about September 11. The site supplied a sample letter and hundreds of e-mail addresses for print and broadcast journalists, executives and analysts — and even MSNBC brass themselves.
"Thank you, Donahue I can already see a number of prominent news people tinkering with the biggest news story to ever not happen in the history of mankind — and the media wants to expose the truth, but the truth is often the first casualty in war," read one missive.
"From the beginning, Phil Donahue said he wanted to give a voice to those who have not been heard," said MSNBC spokeswoman Cheryl Daly. "That must be what happened last night."
The sudden alliance between Mr. Donahue and the alternative news media may be unpredictable, though. "This idea did not originate with my Web site. And the big media e-mail list didn't start here either," said Michael Rivero of Whatreallyhappened.com, a Web site that featured the Rumor Mill directives.
"I only urge my readers to contact their elected officials, not the media," Mr. Rivero said. "And while I think the intentions behind the e-mail campaign were honorable, this buzz may actually cause more harm than good for MSNBC. Reporters don't like getting bombarded with messages, particularly from alternative sources. This may actually alienate Donahue from the rest of the media."
But buzz is buzz, and Mr. Donahue could use some. When MSNBC debuted its new prime-time lineup July 15, the veteran host had 660,000 nightly viewers. The number fell to 393,000 last week, with CNN rival Connie Chung beating Mr. Donahue by 44 percent. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly gets 1 million viewers a night.
"The mood at MSNBC has turned from hopeful to grim," the New York Daily News observed yesterday, though the network's prime-time chief Phil Griffin dismissed the impact of short-term ratings.
"We're not worried," Mr. Griffin said. "If [Fox News chief] Roger Ailes judged O'Reilly after four weeks, O'Reilly would be selling hot dogs in Times Square."
Source: http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020815-16007337.htm
8/15/02
3:08:53 PM
New at TomPaine.com
SPECIAL NOTICE
GIVE US YOUR BEST 300 WORDS
TP.c Wants YOUR Essay About 9/11 And The Aftermath We're rounding up noted writers and thinkers to contribute -- here's your chance to join them. We'll publish the best essays and use them as inspiration for our New York Times op ads on Sept. 4 and Sept. 11.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6173
HOME ECONOMICS
Summit Spin Aside, Working Families Are Losing Ground
by John J. Sweeney
President Bush convened a "summit" to reassure the country that the fundamentals of our economy are sound. But did it focus on the fundamentals that working families live with every day?
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6181
LAND OF MILK AND HONEY
How Americans Consume Happiness
by M. W. Guzy
No matter how deprived, constipated or depressed the protagonist of a 30-second spot may be at its outset, by ad's end he or she is a happy customer displaying faultless teeth through a contented smile. Life should be perfect and, if yours isn't, just buy something. http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6192
Dispatch: Chicago
Cooling the City with Green Rooftops
by Lester Graham
"Last summer in 2001 on the hottest day, while it was about a hundred degrees on the City Hall side, it was 165 on the opposite end of the building where's there's a blacktop roof."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5811
Dispatch: Rhinelander, Wisconsin
FORESTS IN THE AGE OF GLOBAL WARMING
Testing The Effects Of Climate Change
by Bob Kelleher
More than 50 studies are underway in the USA and Canada to determine the effects of global warming on trees and, by extension, on world food production.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6171
PUBLIC OPINION WATCH
July 29 - August 9, 2002
A Weekly Compendium And Commentary
by Ruy Teixeira
Democratic Leadership Council Roundup: So What's So Bad about Populism Anyway? ... Return of the Office Park Dads! ... Meanwhile, Back in the Real World.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6194
Satire in Song
George Dubya Won't Get Re-Elected
by Peter Kastner
"Son, you won't get re-elected/Unless you kick some a**/That'll make you a true scion of The U.S. ruling class!"
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6170
8/15/02
3:05:51 PM
Conservatives praise Bush for opting out of U.N. Earth Summit
8/15/02
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Conservative activists are praising President Bush's apparent decision to send Secretary of State Colin Powell to a U.N. conference on global ecology rather than attending the once-a-decade summit himself as his father did in 1992.
With the summit little more than two weeks away, there are no plans for Bush to go the conference, which conservatives have taken as a sign he will not attend.
``We applaud your decision not to attend the summit in person,'' said an Aug. 2 letter to Bush from Fred L. Smith Jr., president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and 30 other conservative activists who support Bush.
The letter warns of likely widespread anti-U.S. sentiment among the participants at the World Summit on Sustainable Development being held Aug. 26 through Sept. 4 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Other signers include Paul M. Weyrich of Coalitions for America, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform and David A. Keene of the American Conservative Union.
``Your presence would only help to publicize and make more credible their various anti-freedom, anti-people, anti-globalization and anti-Western agendas,'' they wrote Bush. ``We also strongly support your opposition to signing new international environmental treaties or creating new international environmental organizations at the Johannesburg summit.''
The White House has been silent so far about who will lead the U.S. delegation to the summit. Administration officials say an announcement will come soon, but Powell is expected to attend.
This is the fourth summit in four decades where world leaders and environmentalists have gathered to address the environmental costs of feeding, clothing and housing the Earth's growing population.
For environmentalists, the series of talks reached a height in 1992 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, then the president, was among 110 world leaders who agreed to tackle problems in forestry, biodiversity and climate change.
The conservatives say those talks were a mistake for the elder Bush, one that his son is now wise to avoid.
``Why would you go to a party when they want to throw pies at you?'' Smith said in an interview. ``The fortunate thing is when 40,000 goofies get together, not much happens.''
In 1972 at Stockholm and in 1982 at Nairobi, each of the U.S. delegations was led by the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
The current chairman, James Connaughton, has not said whether he will attend. More than 100 world leaders _ either the head of state or a minister-level representative _ have announced they will be at the summit.
Many among them share a deep concern about the state of the world's ecological systems, and some have said they also worry about a lack of leadership and lackluster U.S. support for global approaches.
Summit leaders say they will try to solidify commitments made over the past year to open markets to developing countries and increase financing to them. They also cite challenges such as 2 billion people living on $2 or less a day, more burning of fossil fuels blamed for climate change and damage to a quarter of the world's coral reefs.
Connaughton said whoever represents the United States will emphasize both the U.S. commitment to creating lasting partnerships and also the idea that each nation bears responsibility for its own development.
``It doesn't mean they go it alone. But each nation has to take that task onto itself to look at sustainability,'' he said recently.
Some environmental leaders view this year's summit as a last, best chance to convert high hopes into deeds.
``There is a real sense of urgency,'' U.N. Undersecretary-General Nitin Desai, who will chair the summit, told reporters this week. ``In many cases we are talking about slipping back.''
In the weeks leading up to the summit, Desai has campaigned to sow seeds of hope while also warning that disappointment will only confirm widespread pessimism about the world's ability to deal with what he says is a growing crisis.
``We will be endangering all of the things we have achieved and we will not have another chance,'' he told summit leaders at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington earlier this month. ``There is no major global event planned beyond Johannesburg which allow us to retrieve lost ground. This is it.''
Gus Speth, dean of Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, said world leaders are running out of time because the world economy is projected to double in size every 25 years.
``We have squandered more than 20 years on these global-scale issues and this period we're in is truly our last chance to get it right,'' Speth said.
The uncertainty about U.S. participation reflects deeper questions in the environmental community about Bush's approach to global challenges in the wake of his rejection last year of the Kyoto climate treaty.
``People around the world are seriously concerned that the Bush administration is undermining the World Summit instead of working with other countries to benefit everyone,'' Sierra Club director Michael Dorsey said.
Source: http://www.planetsave.com/ViewStory.asp?ID=2915
8/15/02
3:03:00 PM
Ground Zero Research
by Steven Milloy, August 09, 2002
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced this week an $11.4 million contract with the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine to determine whether World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers are experiencing related illnesses or injuries.
"We at Mount Sinai are grateful to President Bush, Secretary Thompson and Congress whose efforts have made this possible," said Mt. Sinai Medical Center CEO Dr. Kenneth Berns.
The rest of us should be far less sanguine. This is a waste of money.
Taxpayers will be paying for free clinical examinations of workers in order to identify health problems most likely to occur as a result of work at or near Ground Zero.
A database of findings will be compiled that will allow "researchers to assess potential occupational illness and injury patterns among the workers, and provide data for future studies…" -- i.e., wasteful spending to come.
The collapse of the World Trade Center towers certainly was a unique event in many respects -- but not in terms of the health of rescue and recovery workers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in May that worker exposures to air contaminants at Ground Zero generally did not exceed safety standards.
That study evaluated "general area" and "personal breathing zone" air samples for numerous potential air contaminants, including: asbestos (from insulation and fireproofing materials), crystalline silica (from concrete), carbon monoxide (from fires and engine exhaust), diesel exhaust, mercury (from fluorescent lights), Freon, heavy metals, hydrogen sulfide (from decomposing bodies and food), inorganic acids, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, from fires and engine exhaust).
More than 1,000 air samples were collected from Sept. 18-Oct. 4 and focused on search-and-rescue personnel, heavy equipment operators, workers cutting metal beams and other occupations.
The CDC reported that virtually all sampled exposures, including exposure to asbestos, did not exceed permissible exposure limits set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, whose limits are far more stringent than actual "safe" exposure levels.
Of the 45 air samples analyzed for various metals, one from a personal breathing zone of a torch cutter exceeded the permissible exposure limit for cadmium. One worker was definitely overexposed, and two others were potentially overexposed to carbon monoxide.
While the study doesn't include data about exposures occurring before Sept. 18, this is hardly a reason to spend $11.4 million. The WTC, after all, is not the first fire or building collapse involving rescue workers.
Firefighters are frequently exposed to a variety of "toxic" dusts and chemical fumes. But the largest-ever study of firefighters published in May 2001 by National Cancer Institute researchers indicates firefighters do not have more cancer or worse health than non-firefighters.
The only possible justification for the contract would be if it somehow helped short-circuit personal injury lawyers intent on suing New York City.
Hundreds of firefighters, police and other rescue workers filed notice in February that they may sue New York City for $7.18 billion for failing to provide adequate respiratory protection equipment at Ground Zero. The notices allege fear of cancer and other ailments caused by the smoldering ruins.
One firefighter filed notice of a $10 million claim because he gets winded running up flights of stairs. "What if, five years down the road, we develop lung cancer or something like that?" he told The Associated Press.
It’s possible -- and we can only hope -- that data developed by Mt. Sinai researchers will enable the City to defend itself against such silly claims.
On the other hand, there’s some reason to be skeptical that Mt. Sinai will be an effective tool against the lawyers.
Mt. Sinai's Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine will be leading the examinations.
Irving Selikoff, now deceased, and his fearmongering minions at Mt. Sinai were the researchers who opened the floodgates of the junk science-fueled multi-billion dollar asbestos litigation that plagues us today.
Unfortunately, as every headache and cough is logged into the Mt. Sinai database for researchers-on-the-dole to tally and ponder, the Mt. Sinai contract will make the non-issue of Ground Zero worker health an issue for years to come.
Steven Milloy is the publisher of JunkScience.com , an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and the author of Junk Science Judo: Self-defense Against Health Scares and Scams (Cato Institute, 2001).
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,59967,00.html
8/15/02
2:58:11 PM
SciTech Daily Review
The search for Genghis Khan's tomb is sputtering amidst accusations of desecration
http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/08/14/mongolia.genghiskhan.ap/index.html
The killer algae Pfiesteria may kill fish by nibbling them to death. (Oh good, say the fish. That's so much nicer than being poisoned.)
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020805/020805-2.html
Scattered around our planet are hundreds of creatures that have been to the Moon and back again -- and one man is searching high and low for these lost Moon Trees
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/13aug_moontrees.htm
Chesley Bonestell was an artist who boldly painted what no man had painted before, and convinced a generation that they could see the future
http://www.americanheritage.com/it/2002/01/spaceart.shtml
The Chinese Columbine: How one tragedy ignited the Chinese government's simmering fears of youth culture and the Internet
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_jenkins080202.asp
A firefighter has filed a $10 million claim against New York City because he gets winded running up flights of stairs, blaming contamination from the World Trade Center. It looks like the non-issue of Ground Zero worker health will be an issue for years to come
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,59967,00.html
8/15/02
2:55:47 PM
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY PRO-LOGGING SENATORS USING FIRES TO GUT ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS - YOUR HELP NEEDED August 13, 2002
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org
HOUSE INTRODUCES BILLS TO BAN CITIZEN APPEAL OF LOGGING
SCIENTISTS' REFUTE BOSWORTH'S ATTACK ON POST-FIRE FOREST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE REPORT
NEW FIRE AND LOGGING REPORTS AVAILABLE FROM THE CENTER
PRO-LOGGING SENATORS USING FIRES TO GUT ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS - YOUR HELP NEEDED
In a cynical political move, western pro-timber lawmakers including Senators John Kyl, Pete Domenici, Larry Craig and a few turncoat Democrats including Diane Feinstein and Ron Wyden propose to exempt logging from environmental laws behind a smokescreen of fire protection. They claim this will overcome challenges from environmental groups that stop fire protection for communities. The truth of the matter is that environmentalists don't oppose legitimate fire protection and that these exemptions are really about getting into the backcountry to log the last of our big old trees.
We need to pull out all the stops to head off this attempt to gut our environmental laws. The fire issue is the last credible sounding excuse these pro-timber senators and the Forest Service have to justify more logging. Key lawmakers like Senator Jeff Bingaman (Chairman of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee) need to hear our support for their efforts to maintain and even strengthen our forest laws. Senator's Domenici, Kyl, Craig, Feinstein, and Wyden have earned our outrage over this end run around forest protection. It will be important for these Senators to hear from you at their instate offices while they are on August recess.
Contact Senator Bingaman to thank him for his leadership on forest protection and urge him to defend our forest protection laws.
For more information about the upcoming rider and other fire issues,
contact Todd Schulke, Forest Policy Director, at (505)388-8799 or
tschulke@biologicaldiversity.org
8/15/02
2:42:04 PM
Camps For Citizens: Ashcroft's Hellish Vision Attorney general Shows Himself As A Menace To Liberty.
by Jonathan Turley, August 14, 2002
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's announced desire for camps for U.S. citizens he deems to be "enemy combatants" has moved him from merely being a political embarrassment to being a constitutional menace.
Ashcroft's plan, disclosed last week but little publicized, would allow him to order the indefinite incarceration of U.S. citizens and summarily strip them of their constitutional rights and access to the courts by declaring them enemy combatants.
The proposed camp plan should trigger immediate congressional hearings and reconsideration of Ashcroft's fitness for this important office. Whereas Al Qaeda is a threat to the lives of our citizens, Ashcroft has become a clear and present threat to our liberties.
The camp plan was forged at an optimistic time for Ashcroft's small inner circle, which has been carefully watching two test cases to see whether this vision could become a reality. The cases of Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi will determine whether U.S. citizens can be held without charges and subject to the arbitrary and unchecked authority of the government.
Hamdi has been held without charge even though the facts of his case are virtually identical to those in the case of John Walker Lindh. Both Hamdi and Lindh were captured in Afghanistan as foot soldiers in Taliban units. Yet Lindh was given a lawyer and a trial, while Hamdi rots in a floating Navy brig in Norfolk, Va.
This week, the government refused to comply with a federal judge who ordered that he be given the underlying evidence justifying Hamdi's treatment. The Justice Department has insisted that the judge must simply accept its declaration and cannot interfere with the president's absolute authority in "a time of war."
In Padilla's case, Ashcroft initially claimed that the arrest stopped a plan to detonate a radioactive bomb in New York or Washington, D.C. The administration later issued an embarrassing correction that there was no evidence Padilla was on such a mission. What is clear is that Padilla is an American citizen and was arrested in the United States--two facts that should trigger the full application of constitutional rights.
Ashcroft hopes to use his self-made "enemy combatant" stamp for any citizen whom he deems to be part of a wider terrorist conspiracy.
Perhaps because of his discredited claims of preventing radiological terrorism, aides have indicated that a "high-level committee" will recommend which citizens are to be stripped of their constitutional rights and sent to Ashcroft's new camps.
Few would have imagined any attorney general seeking to reestablish such camps for citizens. Of course, Ashcroft is not considering camps on the order of the internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese American citizens in World War II. But he can be credited only with thinking smaller; we have learned from painful experience that unchecked authority, once tasted, easily becomes insatiable.
We are only now getting a full vision of Ashcroft's America. Some of his predecessors dreamed of creating a great society or a nation unfettered by racism. Ashcroft seems to dream of a country secured from itself, neatly contained and controlled by his judgment of loyalty.
For more than 200 years, security and liberty have been viewed as coexistent values. Ashcroft and his aides appear to view this relationship as lineal, where security must precede liberty.
Since the nation will never be entirely safe from terrorism, liberty has become a mere rhetorical justification for increased security.
Ashcroft is a catalyst for constitutional devolution, encouraging citizens to accept autocratic rule as their only way of avoiding massive terrorist attacks.
His greatest problem has been preserving a level of panic and fear that would induce a free people to surrender the rights so dearly won by their ancestors.
In "A Man for All Seasons," Sir Thomas More was confronted by a young lawyer, Will Roper, who sought his daughter's hand. Roper proclaimed that he would cut down every law in England to get after the devil.
More's response seems almost tailored for Ashcroft: "And when the last law was down and the devil turned round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? ... This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast ... and if you cut them down--and you are just the man to do it--do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?"
Every generation has had Ropers and Ashcrofts who view our laws and traditions as mere obstructions rather than protections in times of peril. But before we allow Ashcroft to denude our own constitutional landscape, we must take a stand and have the courage to say, "Enough."
Every generation has its test of principle in which people of good faith can no longer remain silent in the face of authoritarian ambition. If we cannot join together to fight the abomination of American camps, we have already lost what we are defending.
by Jonathan Turley Jonathan Turley is a professor of constitutional law at George Washington University. Los Angeles Times
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at
http://www.latimes.com/archives
Source: http://www.LATimes.com
8/15/02
2:37:21 PM
STOP PRESS
Boldest Piece of 911 Mainstream Media Reporting So Far in the US Yesterday's Phil Donahue Show
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31937
There is now evidence that even the mood in the US itself is changing and that people want answers to serious questions concerning 911. Here is an excerpt from a trailer to Tuesday night' s Phil Donahue programme on MSNBC:
"In the second half [of the programme], French intelligence analyst Jean Charles Brisard shares his theory of the real story behind 9/11. Brisard's book,
'Bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth,'
http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/FightSmart18-11-2001.htm</A>
made headlines in France, alleging that the Bush and Clinton administrations put oil and politics before security in the months preceding the attacks. Now, in a candid interview, he breaks it down for Phil.
Then, a grieving 9/11 widow demands answers. Kristen Breitweiser lost her husband when the second plane hit the Twin Towers. She spends her private time grieving alone with her 3-year-old daughter and her public time demanding an investigation not only of the CIA and FBI's failure to connect the dots, but also the FAA, INS, and the military's failure on September 11th." Donahue Daily Update Tuesday, August 13th, 2002
Read the complete transcript to Donahue's Tuesday's show including interviews with Brisard, Breitweiser and this year's top selling US author Michael Moore Click Here
<A HREF="http://www.msnbc.com/news/794011.asp?cp1=1"
Donahue BREAKS 9-11 CONSPIRACY STORY!!!
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31921
MSNBC Censoring What Is Seen! Is another boycott
http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html
Don't Take the Bait - Fight Smart ANIMATED PHOTO ESSAY - CLICK HERE Who is the enemy?
http://homepage.mac.com/jschoneb/wtc.html
ATTACK ON AMERICA 9/11/2001 - INFO AND LINKS: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/WTC.htm
8/15/02
2:35:53 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
LIPA urges energy conservation during heat wave - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17304/story.htm
Large US cattle lots threaten water, food - Sierra Club - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17307/story.htm
Entergy plans 2005 upgrade at Arkansas nuke - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17309/story.htm
UK can be proud of green record - Deputy PM - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17300/story.htm
FEATURE - In a world of plenty, how do we fight hunger? - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17311/story.htm
Poachers said pushing Asian rhinos to extinction - SWITZERLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17306/story.htm
Oman plans new facilities in oil dumping crackdown - OMAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17302/story.htm
Indian activists save snakes on Hindu festival day - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17303/story.htm
Floods spill into German election campaign - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17301/story.htm
Brazil nuclear plant decision seen in September - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17308/story.htm
Australian state declares war on mutant seaweed - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17305/story.htm
Australia cotton seen fully GM soon - scientists - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17310/story.htm
FEATURE - Man's environmental mistakes may fuel squid boom - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17312/story.htm
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURES:
SPAIN: A Marineland Worker Tags a Loggerhead Turtle on the Mediterrannean Island of Cabrera http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17315
GERMANY: A Resident Takes a Closer Look at a Street Destroyed by Floods in Glashuette
http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17313
SRI LANKA: Endangered Spot-Billed Pelicans on Beira Lake in Colombo http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17314
8/15/02
2:31:28 PM
BioDemocracy News #40: The Death of Frankenfoods (August 2002)
By: Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association
http://www.OrganicConsumers.org
8/15/02
2:29:59 PM
Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising"
by Mark Taylor
There could hardly be a more interesting moment for a new music release from Bruce Springsteen. His long awaited 15-song album "The Rising" was released July 30 and will be followed by a 46-city barnstorming tour through the U.S. and Europe. Touring will continue into 2003, culminating in multiple-date concerts at select U.S. cities next summer.
Springsteen already served as a kind of priest to grieving citizens when he offered his short song "City of Ruins" as a prayer-like invocation to begin a two-hour televised tribute to the dead that appeared just days after the Sept. 11 attacks. The CD's title track, "The Rising," is narrated by a now-departed rescuer who sings from somewhere beyond death to invite all the living to "come on up for the rising." Another song, "Lonesome Day," has him singing with a soulful chorus "It's alright, it's alright."
Springsteen acknowledges that many of the new songs were born amid America's post-9/11 trauma. Long sheltered from war trauma on their own land, U.S. residents may need this troubadour of song to assuage their grief, fear, and rage. They may need, too, his cautionary wisdom. "Lonesome Day" seems to understand his people's temptation to a "little vengeance," but it also says "You better look before you shoot."
Springsteen has always walked a difficult line between celebrating U.S. nationalism and questioning its excesses. He went with - maybe was co-opted by - the nationalist fervor of the Reagan years, as evident in his unfurling of the U.S. flag from stage during the "Born in the USA" tour, and in the many flag-waving fans at those 1980s shows. Yet, as soon as he saw the hasty patriotism attaching to this tour, he stripped down the centerpiece song "Born in the USA" to a stark acoustic format, making more obvious his critique of a U.S. that can send its citizens off to kill abroad and then abandon them when they return.
It may be truer to say that Springsteen's songs push the whole notion of "America" into a more comprehensive frame of human aspiration and global interdependence, invoking a popular spirit in community that transcends anything containable in a national power like the U.S. In a sense, this more global popular spirit rises from Springsteen's rootedness in a tradition that is broader and more tangled than that signaled by Whitman, Emerson, and Steinbeck. It comes from his belonging to a musical tradition that includes many of America's most excluded groups - groups who brought to prominence jazz, blues, funk, and early rock and roll. All these elements were especially present in the Springsteen band's early years.
When Springsteen barnstorms the country, will only the U.S. flag be waving? It may be more necessary, now, to ride his songs into dealing with U.S. grief, rage, and fear. After Sept. 11, citizen pain was quickly transposed into nationalist fervor and "war on terrorism." Did we miss a chance to enter collectively into the more intricate textures of our grief, rage, and fear? Maybe "The Rising" will be one resource for regaining that chance. In so doing, we might also glimpse the more global popular spirit that Springsteen's art seems to envision. People lifted to that kind of vision in post-9/11 U.S. would be a "rising" worth waiting for, indeed.
Mark Taylor is professor of theology and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey.
Source: http://www.SoJo.net
8/15/02
2:28:37 PM
Smile, you're on in-store camera
by Erik Baard
Thanks to advances in various types of recognition software, you're not even safe from prying eyes - and greedy retailers -when you wander around a department store. To read why, go to:
http://go.hotwired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,54078,00.html/wn_ascii
8/15/02
2:26:24 PM
No Tolerance For Nonviolence In Colombia?
by Janna Bowman
On the evening of Colombian Independence Day, more than 80 people organized by Justapaz and the Conscientious Objection Collective gathered near La Plaza de Bolivar, the seat of the national government in Bogotá. Sympathetic passersby, curious street people, and expressionless armed police peppered the crowd.
With glowing candles, we sang of peace and read litanies until a congressional event concluded and the senators and representatives began to leave. We cleared from the street to allow armored SUVs, filled with soldiers and members of congress, to pass. Some of us continued to sing while others stood in silence, positioning the banners to ensure their view was unobstructed.
However, the police and army were growing weary of our presence. More troops arrived, with heavier armament. About this time I read a greeting from Boston Mennonite Fellowship, the first of the solidarity messages sent to us for this event:
On this Colombian Independence Day, we stand with you in spirit as you remind each other and all who will listen that peace comes through peacemaking, not warmaking. We long with you for the day when you, we, and all people everywhere live together in peace instead of war, with joyful anticipation instead of fear, with bellies satisfied instead of hungry or overstuffed, and nurturing instead of plundering the earth. May you be richly blessed for your creative and courageous efforts toward this peace.
This message was not well received by the state security forces. Not only were we organized and public with our peace stance, we had international support. As the tension mounted, we returned to our song sheet. Then, to my disbelief, I heard the unmistakable roar of a riot tank approaching. We were told they were ready to hose us down. For what - singing prayers of peace? I turned to my friend, who read my question on my face. "This," she said with tears flooding her eyes, "is war, Janna."
With the riot tank came additional reinforcements. One Mennonite pastor called on the riot police not to use their weapons against the peaceful group. Another urged them, and all armed groups, to lay down their guns and relinquish faith in violence, and allow the Prince of Peace to intervene in the Colombian conflict. The microphone was then passed to Peter Stucky, president of the Colombian Mennonite Church, and he began to speak. As he did so, another riot tank arrived, and then another. As this gentle pastor, deeply committed to nonviolence, prayed for food for the hungry, 10 or more police in riot gear marched up to him and created a blockade between him and most of the vigil participants.
Peter looked out at the scene unfolding in front of him and addressed the gathered assembly, including the riot police standing at his chest. Except for the occasional revving of the riot tank engine and subtle street noise, it was quiet as we listened...and waited. He called for justice where injustice reigns, freedom for the oppressed, regard for life over lust for money and power, return of land to landless peasants, safety for Colombia's poor -those most often robbed of life in this senseless violence, wisdom for legislators who have not done justice, loved mercy, or walked humbly. He exhorted the new administration and congress to govern in obedience to Jesus' teachings of reconciliation, nonviolence, and love.
A fourth and final riot tank rolled up the hill and stopped just short of the outermost ring of participants.
We sang another song, (what more could we do?) "Make me an instrument of your peace..." and then Peter invited us to close in prayer. Defying all instructions ever given at nonviolent direct action trainings in the U.S., Leticia, Peter's wife, reached out and placed her hand on the nearest riot policeman as he stood poised. He returned her gesture, whispering, "May God bless you."
We once more plead for an end to the bloodshed, an end to the fear, an end to this war that threatens the freedom and lives of all who stood and shed tears in longing for peace that night.
Janna Bowman is the coordinator for International Solidarity Relationships and Political Advocacy for Justapaz: Christian Center of Justice, Peace, and Nonviolent Action, a Mennonite Peace and Justice organization based in Bogotá. She has worked with Justapaz for one and a half years through a term of service with Mennonite Central Committee. The Conscientious Objection Collective is an organization born of the Mennonite Church that has grown into ecumenical and secular circles.
Source: http://www.SoJo.net
8/15/02
2:20:30 PM
The Nation
Why is the Bush Administration--in a radical break with past practice--not releasing the names of members of an important presidential advisory board that keeps tabs on the intelligence community?
For the full breaking story, check out the latest edition of David Corn's Capital Games, available now at:
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=96
And check out Corn's recent Capital Games articles for a look at an interesting leak from the Defense Policy Board re Saudi Arabia; a review of Bruce Springsteen's new 9/11-oriented album and the story of how musician Steve Earle ran into trouble for a song he wrote about John Walker Lindh.
All this and more at:
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/
Finally, please remember that you can email any article on The Nation website to friends, family and foes using the Email-To-A-Friend feature found by clicking on the "email" link in the box adjoining each published article.
Best Regards, Peter Rothberg, Associate Publisher
Source: http://www.TheNation.net
8/14/02
7:33:38 PM
FAA Offers Insight On September 11
Controllers recall events of the day
by Mac Daniel, Boston Globe Staff, August 13, 2002; Page B1
or 11 terrifying minutes last Sept. 11, New York and Boston air traffic controllers knew the grim future - that United Airlines Flight 175, with 65 passengers and loaded with fuel, had settled into a fast low-altitude approach as it zeroed in on the World Trade Center.
There was little they could do. Just minutes earlier an American Airlines flight out of Boston had crashed into the Trade Center's north tower. The United flight was still in the air and far off course. Other planes spotted it heading for New York, its green radar blip having gone dead, the connection suddenly severed by the actions of someone in the cockpit.
It was an event recalled for the first time yesterday by air traffic managers and controllers with the Federal Aviation Administration. They described their feelings as an intense sense of helplessness.
''Probably one of the most difficult moments in my life was the 11 minutes from the point I watched that aircraft when we first lost communication to the point that aircraft hit the World Trade Center,'' Michael McCormick, the FAA's New York air traffic manager, said in a press conference in which air traffic controllers in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C., made their first extensive public comments since the attacks.
''For those 11 minutes, I knew - we knew - what was going to happen, and that was difficult,'' McCormick said.
Boston air traffic controllers, working out of FAA regional headquarters
in Nashua said they first detected something was amiss when the American flight disappeared from their screens, apparently because of action in the cockpit. In fact, as they soon discovered, it had taken a left turn for New York.
The American flight had left Logan Airport bound for Los Angeles at 8 a.m. and was given permission to climb to 35,000 feet when communications with the Boeing 767 went silent and it disappeared from the radar screen.
When air traffic controllers asked pilots in the area to visually locate the flight, it was United Airlines Flight 175, which had taken off from Boston 14 minutes after the American flight, that radioed a reply. The United crew reported that Flight 11 was still in the air at about 29,000 feet, despite a curious radio silence, they said.
Therefore, ''we considered it at that time to be a possible hijacking,'' air traffic manager Glenn Michael recalled yesterday at Logan.
At 8:40, six minutes before the American flight crashed, the FAA notified the military's Northeast Air Defense Sector that they suspected the flight had been hijacked. Three minutes later, the military was told that FAA controllers believed the United flight had been hijacked as well.
Three minutes after that, the American flight crashed into the north tower.
''Once it became obvious what was actually transpiring, air traffic controllers reacted much like Americans reacted across the entire nation, with shock, with disbelief, with just stunned surprise that such acts could occur,'' said Joseph Davies, air traffic manager at Logan.
From that point on, in an effort to thwart any other possible hijackings, air traffic controllers shut down the nation's airspace in a mere 4 hours and 15 minutes, starting minutes after the second plane smashed into the south tower at 9:03 a.m.
It was an amazing fe