8/25/02
1:45:09 PM

Pax Christi Urges Civil Disobedience If Bush Escalates War On Iraq

by Tom Kelly, National Catholic Reporter, August 25, 2002

Pax Christi USA has served notice that escalated war on Iraq by the United States will trigger civil disobedience throughout this country. The international Catholic peace organization's board committed itself to that action at the Pax Christi USA National Assembly held at the University of Detroit-Mercy July 26-28. Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton urged the assembly's 600-plus participants to sign a pledge of resistance against U.S. military action in Iraq.

"The war in the Persian Gulf in 1991 was an unjust war condemned by Pope John Paul II," said Gumbleton, who was founding president of the U.S. branch of the peace organization and headed it from 1972 to 1991. "Any new war against Iraq will be an unjust war. We must say 'No!' "

The civil disobedience pledge was sponsored by eight national peace groups. In addition to Pax Christi USA they include the American Friends Service Committee, Education for Peace in Iraq Center, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Lutheran Peace Fellowship, National Network to End the War against Iraq, and Voices in the Wilderness. The petition, which was circulated for signatures at the assembly, indicates willingness "to join with others to engage in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience at U.S. federal facilities in order to prevent or halt the death and destruction that U.S. military action causes the people of Iraq."

Gumbleton proposed that next year Pax Christi members gather Aug. 6, the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, at a place like Oak Ridge, Tenn., "where they are making the new nuclear weapons that we will be preparing to use. We must have our bodies there, do civil disobedience there, and say no to nuclear weapons in a very dramatic way," he said. He also called for a 22-day fast starting on July 16, anniversary of the first nuclear device explosion in Nevada in 1945.

In his keynote talk, Gumbleton contrasted choices between Pax Americana -- "the peace of America" as represented by Bush administration foreign policy -- and Pax Christi, the peace of Christ. He recalled that when President George Bush announced the war strikes in Afghanistan Oct. 7 he said, "We are a peaceful nation." Gumbleton then listed 19 military conflicts involving "this peaceful nation" since 1945, adding "and now Afghanistan."

The Bush administration's proposed nuclear missile defense is not a defensive strategy, but rather part of a first-strike capability, Gumbleton said. "Pax Americana: bombing, killing, wherever we decide."

Benedictine Sr. Joan Chittister, the assembly's first keynoter, touched on the assembly's theme, "Casting Out Fear, Building on Hope, Living Nonviolence," when she recalled the gospel narrative of the Transfiguration. She noted that Jesus identified himself with Moses, who led people out of oppression, and with Elijah, whom King Ahab called "the troublemaker of Israel," the one who "exposed to the people the underlying causes of their problems, so they could both heal the present and have hope in a better future."

"Our ministry must be not only to comfort but to challenge church, state and community; not just to attend to the pain but to advocate for change; not simply to care for the victims of the world but also to change the institutions that victimize them," Chittister said

At one orientation session, first-time attendees were asked why they were there.

Gloria Dugay of Chicago said she was impressed by the ecumenical participation in a peace march against the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that was held recently in Oak Park, Ill. Dugay said the march motivated her to be an ongoing part of such efforts.

Joe Walker, of East Grand Rapids, Mich., said he has been affiliated with Pax Christi since the Gulf War but hasn't been active beyond sending e-mails. Now, he said, it's really time to educate Catholics that peace and social justice are essential elements of their faith, "because most Catholics I know, they'll tell you about transubstantiation and the Virgin Mary, but they do not want to hear about peace and justice."

Danise Jones Dorsey, a member of the Black Catholics Congress in Baltimore, said she wanted to learn more about Pax Christi's anti-racism strategy because she was concerned about what "seemed to be an epidemic of violence in the African-American community." She said she wonders if the same elements that cause people of different countries to war against each other are taking hold in black America, and whether "the same strategies for conflict resolution would be effective in my community."

The Detroit gathering devoted one plenary session to launching its 20-year anti-racism initiative, "Brothers and Sisters All." David Robinson, Pax Christi USA's national coordinator, said one key focus of the program will be "dealing with the hidden racism within our own movement and developing ways of being accountable to our brothers and sisters in communities of color, especially those who are Catholic."

"We are essentially a liberal white peace movement," Tom Cordaro, a member of Pax Christi's anti-racism team, told NCR. "We're not going to find many people who think of themselves as being racist. But I think for white middle-class people the issue we really have to deal with is white entitlement and white privilege, and how that has guided the way we think about, frame and do our peace work. For a lot of white folks, they're not even aware of that."

The 2002 assembly marked the U.S. peace organization's 30th anniversary by recognizing six "faithful witnesses to the 'Peace of Christ,' " as Pax Christi USA Ambassadors of Peace: Helen Casey, Jesuit Fr. John Dear, Ray LaPort, Colman McCarthy, Megan McKenna and Nancy Small.

The final plenary session ended with participants extending their hands in blessing over a family from Wall, N.J. Tom Mahedy, the husband and father, faces three months in federal prison for crossing the line into the former School of the Americas, now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, in Fort Benning, Ga. Mahedy was one of 43 nonviolent demonstrators who were arrested and sentenced for protesting the human rights abuses in Latin America carried out by graduates of the U.S.-run military training school.

"[Going to prison] is hard as a father," Mahedy told NCR, "but I've come to realize that while love begins at home, it has to flow forth into the world as well."

Tom Kelly is a freelance writer in Toledo, Ohio.

http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives/081602/081602k.htm

8/25/02
1:30:19 PM

Bonfire for the Constitution - part one

http://moxnix2.homestead.com/bfire.html

June 3, 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order #12919 gathering together into a single document all the power and authority of a multitude of Executive Orders issued by preceding presidents from John Kennedy on. Recent examination of this Executive Order has brought to light that the consolidation of previous presidential orders deliver unprecedented authority into the hands of the Chief Executive that exceed those powers granted him under the U.S. Constitution.

Incorporated under the aegis of President Clinton's EO #12919 are powers originally claimed by President Kennedy in a series of Executive Orders signed into "law" in February of 1962 which, if invoked, would virtually suspend the greater portion of liberties guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

Make note of the date Feb 1962 this is when traitors 1st started coming out in the open

In Section 3 of Kennedy's original EO #10995 entitled, "ASSIGNING TELECOMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS" there is the vague statement, "Such authority shall include the power to amend modify, or revoke frequency assignments." Innocuous as this sounds, it embodies the power of the Chief Executive, in time of "national emergency", to seize control of all radio and other telecommunications.

On the same day that President Kennedy signed EO #10995, he also gave birth to four successive Orders that Clinton included in his EO containing provisions to disable constitutional rights. Executive Order #10997 empowers the Secretary of the Interior to seize all energy production facilities--specifically, "electrical power", "petroleum", "gas", "solid fuels", and "minerals". Section 3, subsection (d) of that order, entitled " Claimancy" states:

Prepare plans to claim materials, manpower, equipment, supplies and services needed in support of assigned responsibilities and other essential functions of the Department...to insure availability of such resources in an emergency. [emphasis and supplied]

Note the word "claim" in reference to "materials, manpower, equipment, supplies and services". The legal definition, as supplied by Black's Law Dictionary is, "To demand as one's own or as one's right...means by or through which claimant obtains possession or enjoyment of a privilege or thing. Demand for money or property as of a right...." This means that the government may, upon declaration of a state of local or national emergency, seize any of the above, private or otherwise, including "manpower".

As to what constitutes a national emergency again Black's definition is quite revealing:

"A state of national crisis; a situation demanding immediate and extraordinary national or federal action. Congress has made little or no distinction between a "state of national emergency" and a "state of war." Brown v. Bernstein, D.C.Pa., 49 F.Supp. 728, 732. [emphasis supplied]

EO #10998 places all food resources under authority of the Secretary of Agriculture.

EO #10999 invests the Secretary of Commerce with control over all means of transportation, public and private.

EO #11000 provides for the establishment of manpower resources at the discretion of the Secretary of Labor, with the authority to "claim" services (labor) and involuntary relocation of workers. Collateral authority for this conscription of labor is given in Title 50 app. United States Code, Section 2153 "WAR AND NATIONAL DEFENCE" under the section addressing civilian disposition entitled, "DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT OF 1950" in which is set forth that civilian personnel may be assigned work without regard to payment or reimbursement.

It is important to note that according to the "War and Emergency Powers Act" the United States has legally been under a state of national emergency since its enactment in 1933. It has never been repealed, thus leaving the president with instant powers to suspend the constitution. Most legal scholars and legislators who have studied the matter concur that the War and Emergency Powers Act has, in reality, already suspended the Constitution since the moment the act was signed into law by President Roosevelt. The actual suspension of those consitutional rights awaits only the impetus of a national emergency requiring it.

In 1933 a U.S. Congressman entered the following statement into the Congressional Record:

"I think of all the damnable heresies that have ever been suggested in connection with the Constitution, the doctrine of emergency is the worst. It means that when Congress declares an emergency, there is no Constitution. This means its death. It is the very doctrine that the German chancellor is invoking today in the dying hours of the parliamentary body of the German republic, namely, that because of an emergency, it should grant to the German chancellor absolute power to pass any law, even though the law contradicts the Constitution of the German republic. Chancellor Hitler is at least frank about it. We pay the Constitution lipservice, but the result is the same....the Constitution of the United States, as a restraining influence in keeping the federal government within the carefully prescribed channels of power, is moribund, if not dead."

The introduction to Senate Report 93-549, entered into the Congressional Record forty years later in 1973 states:

"A majority of the people of the United States have lived all their lives under emergency rule....For 40 years, freedoms and governmental procedures guaranteed by the Constitution have, in varying degrees, been abridged by laws brought into force by states of national emergency....And, in the United States, actions taken by the government in times of great crisis have from, at least, the Civil War, in important ways shaped the present phenomenon of a permanent state of national emergency."

Following the introduction the report's opening statement goes on to say:

"Since March the 9th, 1933, the United States has been in a state of declared national emergency....This vast range of powers, taken together, confer enough authority to rule the country without reference to normal constitutional processes. Under the powers delegated by these statutes, the President may: seize property; organize and control the means of production; seize commodities; assign military forces abroad; institute martial law; seize and control all transportation and communication; regulate the operation of private enterprise; restrict travel; and, in a plethora of particular ways, control the lives of all American citizens."

Not overlooked by those drafting the Constitution was the possible need to address national emergencies. The document contains certain provisions indicating that its signatories conceived of the possibility that some guarantees of personal liberties may, in the national interest, require suspension.

Article 1, Section 9 states: "The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion [an internal occurrence] or invasion [external] the public safety require it." This grants the citizen the freedom from imprisonment or detention without due process. The proviso "unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety require it" indicates the necessity to provide for some contingencies that may also carry with them the possibility for abuse. No document of liberty, however, could possibly proscribe all potential for misuse of those liberties without actually eliminating them in the process. It has been said that communism is nothing more than democracy with all potential for abuse legislated out.

As a result of the Executive Orders listed above, in concert with the War and Emergency Powers Act, there exists within the United States a government within a government. It is hidden, semi-covert in nature, and does not recognize the U.S. Constitution or its constraints. It functions autonomously as a form of totalitarian regime in suspended animation, awaiting its time of activation. It is a government driven by presidential Executive Orders to be executed by federal agencies run by non-elected officials.

Executive Orders amount to ready-wired buttons by which the president can suspend constitutional rights at any moment he determines that a "national emergency" exists. The great problem inherent is that no binding legal definition exists as to what constitutes a "national emergency". That definition lies entirely with the Chief Executive. When he declares a state of emergency, the aforementioned documents can be used to activate whatever federal agency is most suited to address the emergency. Those agencies include, but are not limited to, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), the FBI and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA).

Because this nation is under a continual state of emergency due to the War and Emergency Powers Act, and the Constitution granting somewhat elastic powers of emergency in "cases of rebellion or invasion", the president can circumvent such fundamental protections as the Posse Comatatus Act which forbids the use of the military against U.S. citizens.

This slow motion decay of constitutional rights was not unforeseen by the Founding Fathers. In a letter to Thomas Jefferson, James Madison once wrote, "I believe there are more instances of abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations...."

The Constitution of the United States of America, once the hub of American law and freedoms, has been moved to the position of the hub cap. It has become merely an ornamental relic that serves no real function other than that of making the American people feel as if the document still matters to those who govern.

Bonfire for the Constitution - Part two

In the event of a national emergency declared by the President of the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), would be invested with the power to suspend the U.S. Constitution and is positioned to take control of the United States government and its citizens. As discussed in Part I of this report, the authority of eleven preceding Presidential Executive Orders (1939 through 1991) has been consolidated into Order #12919. This concentration of executive authority invests FEMA with absolute power over:

a.. All United States communications facilities (EO 10995)

b.. Electrical power, petroleum, gas, fuels and minerals, public and private (10997)

c.. Food supplies, agricultural lands and facilities (10998)

d.. Transportation of any kind, including private, and control of seaports, waterways and highways (10999)

e.. Civilian labor forces without regard to financial remuneration as authorized under the "DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT OF 1950" (11000)

f.. Health, education and welfare institutions (11001)

g.. All airport and air transportation, public, private and commercial (11003)

h.. Railroads, inland waterways, and public storage facilities (11005)

Additionally, FEMA, under Executive Order #11002, can order the postmaster general to begin a national registration of all residents of the United States for purposes of control of population movement and relocation.

All of the aforementioned powers can be invoked with the stroke of a presidential pen and are free of congressional restrictions or intervention for a period of six months. The practical expression of these powers can be the equivalent of a sentence without trial or jury with no recourse to appeal for at least a half a year. Many legal and paralegal analysts have seen, in the powers delegated to FEMA during any declared national emergency, the authority to forcibly relocate entire families into federal work camps, even as to the dividing of families and of children from parents.

FEMA was created by President Carter under Executive Order #12148. Its legal authorization is Title 2, United States Code 5121 called the "Stafford Act." Within the text of that piece of "legislation" in Subchapter IV, section (B) is contained the wording:

"Measures to be undertaken during a hazard (including the enforcement of passive defense regulations prescribed by duly established military or civil authorities, the evacuation of personnel to shelter areas, the control of traffic and panic, and the control and use of lighting and civil communications)."emphasis supplied

In a telephone interview with FEMA attorneys, The Winds asked the legal definition of "passive defense regulations" as "prescribed by duly established military or civil authorities." Even FEMA's Counsel General, Michael Hirsh, was unable to give us any definition of those terms. The ambiguity of that wording veiled its meaning from even the highest ranking lawyer in the agency.

KEEPING THE LAWS UNCLEAR

http://www.thewinds.org/library/protocols_of_zion.html

In the principle document by which the New World Order is implemented, the ambiguity of legal terms is set forth as a necessary quality by which any interpretation desired may be secured. In the nebulous breadth of those ambiguities lies the latitude of interpretation to make laws and regulations say whatever those in authority want them to say. Concerning those laws they claim "...have twisted their interpretations so as to make them contradict each other. We have succeeded in erecting great and magnificent results by perverting the laws. The first result was that the interpretations of the laws actually masked their true intent. Afterwards, those laws were entirely hid from eyes of the governments because it became impossible to make anything out of the tangled web of legislation." emphasis supplied

The Winds also asked FEMA's public relations office the primary reasons for the forced evacuation of residents during the recent flooding in North Dakota and the orders (not requests) for some residents to remain in their homes following the recent hurricanes in the southeast. FEMA's response, strangely, did not indicate concern for the safety and well-being of the citizens involved, as one might expect of an agency tasked with the oversight of America's domestic security in time of disaster. Rather, their reasons for violating the constitutional rights of those citizens was a hedge against being sued by them or their survivors if they were injured or killed as a result of not being evacuated. Money, not lives, was their expressed justification for removing owners from their homes, in one instance, and commanding them not to leave them, in another.

Executive Order #11051 assigns responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning (later to become FEMA), and authorizes all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis or national emergency. emphasis supplied

Again, the vagueness of the wording leaves wide the door of interpretation. As to what constitutes an "emergency" the Stafford Act defines it as thus:

"Emergency--'Emergency' means any occasion or instance for which, in the determination of the President, Federal assistance is needed to supplement State and local efforts and capabilities to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in any part of the United States." emphasis supplied

KEEPING DISSIDENT GROUPS QUIET

Former Chief of FEMA's Civil Security Division, General Frank Salzedo, once stated that his interpretation of FEMA's role is, among other things, "prevention of dissident groups from gaining access to U.S. opinion, or a global audience in times of crisis." The Constitution, on the other hand, states:

"Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

The question arises as to how General Salzedo's statement could survive being filtered through the First Amendment. What he said amounts to "government-speak" for the potential of creating an American Tienanmen Square. One of the Executive Orders gathered into Clinton's EO #12919 was an Order signed by President Nixon known as the "Omnibus Emergency Preparedness Decree". Howard J. Ruff, economist and publisher of The Ruff Times says "Since the enactment of [that] Order, the only thing standing between us and dictatorship is the good character of the President, and the lack of a crisis severe enough that the public would stand still for it." The former slave and Civil War activist, Fredrick Douglas, once said that the limits of a tyrant's power are set by the willingness of the people to tolerate him.

During activation of these Executive Orders, FEMA answers only to the National Security Council which answers only to the President, and, as mentioned previously, once these powers are invoked even Congress cannot intervene or countermand them for six months.

GUN MOUNTED OVER THE MANTLE

The command and control structure for the oversight and administration of these extra-constitutional powers (the teeth to execute and enforce the above orders) is already in place. FEMA is the administrating agency for several top secret facilities. The most notable is burrowed deep into the bedrock beneath Mount Weather near Berryville, Virginia. Also known as the Western Virginia office of Controlled Conflict Operations, this underground command post was originally constructed for the purpose of housing top officials of the U.S. government during a national emergency such as imminent nuclear war. It is still contained within the "black" budget that does not appear in FEMA's published budgetary documents. Mt. Weather, along with other such secret installations as the one beneath a luxury resort in West Virginia called Greenbrier, officially does not exist.

Wallace Stickney, former FEMA director under George Bush, recalled that even the members of Congress approaching his agency to question some budget expenditures were not allowed access to the knowledge of where the money was directed--and they were the ones responsible for budgetary oversight. Even more astonishing is the fact that Stickney himself was denied such access. He said, "I was aware funding was being passed through but didn't know where it was going--nor did Congress, which demanded to know. Normally, as I understood it, nobody questioned the arithmetic."

If a nuclear attack occurred during Stickney's tenure in office, he was not to be included among those privileged to partake in the safety of the underground complex. He would have been required to remain at his post and, in the parlance of the nuclear disaster planners, be cindered. That insecurity for FEMA's current director, James Lee Witt, ended when President Clinton conferred cabinet status on him in February of 1996.

There is within government a quasi-legal concept called the "Rule of Necessity". Simply put, this doctrine says that whatever is necessary to preserve the nation against its foes, whether external or internal, will be done--apparently without regard to any violence done to the Constitution. It is to address the Rule of Necessity that Executive Orders are created. EOs did not have their beginnings in the desires of American presidents to transform the executive office into a de facto dictatorship. The first Presidential Executive Order was issued by George Washington in 1789, but no numbering system or uniformity was applied until 1907 when the Department of State retroactively designated an EO issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 as Executive Order 1.

What has become of this executive privilege since the Civil War has been rather like an insidiously introduced, systemic infection aimed at the total debilitation of the U.S. Constitution. As to whether these extreme powers of the Executive Branch will actually be implemented--there is an old saying in the theatre that if there is a gun mounted over the fireplace mantle in the first act, it will be used before the end of the final act. It ain't hangin' up there for nothin'

Today many experts claim we are one short step away from World War Three

Knowledge is part of being prepared

http://moxnix2.homestead.com/index2.html

8/25/02
1:15:57 PM

"We Are Not The Enemy!" - The Battle Of Portland

by William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t | Report, August 24, 2002

The image is chilling. A middle-aged woman, plainly dressed, with a puff of auburn hair, is clutched in a hammer-lock by a Portland police officer dressed in full riot gear. His riot baton is jammed high under her chin. Around her, three more armor-clad police officers swarm in, face-masks down. The woman's face is contorted in terror. In her hand is a sign protesting George W. Bush.

This was the scene on the streets of Portland, OR, on the evening of August 22nd as captured by a photographer for the Associated Press. Thousands of peaceful protesters had descended upon the Hilton Hotel where Mr. Bush was attending a political fundraiser for Senator Gordon Smith. They held signs reading, "Drop Bush, not Bombs," and other similar slogans. Among the protesters were pregnant women, parents with infants and small children, elderly citizens, and citizens in wheelchairs

According to a report by CBS News, the protest became unruly when some of the fundraiser attendees were "jostled" as they moved through the crowd towards the entrance to the hotel. At that point, the riot police swarmed in, swinging clubs and dousing the crowd with pepper spray. Rubber bullets were also fired into the crowd, and snipers were seen on the roofs surrounding the scene. The protesters responded by hammering on the hoods of police cars and screaming, "We are not the enemy!"

A man named Randy, who attended the protest, reports the sequence of events as follows:

"I was between 5th and 6th on the sidewalk. Maybe the ones in front were warned to move, but I didn't hear any warning. It had been a peaceful protest. Suddenly the police came forward spraying pepper spray. A man nearby with an infant in a backpack got hit real good. The baby's face was so red I thought it had quit breathing. From the other direction came cop cars through the crowd and rubber bullets were fired at those closest to the cars. I kept retreating but the cops kept spraying. Lots of people were sprayed, including the cameraman from Channel 2 KATU."

Other eyewitness accounts from the streets of Portland similarly describe what appears to have been a terrifyingly violent response from the police to a peaceful protest by assembled American citizens.

This is a profoundly disturbing turn of events. Mr. Bush is protested wherever he goes these days, and the crowds which attend them are growing. These are not black-clad anarchists kicking in windows, however. The woman who was attacked by the police looked as ordinary as any small-town librarian, and anarchists are smart enough to leave their children at home if there is a riot in the offing. The streets of Portland were filled on August 22nd by average American citizens seeking to inform the President of their disfavor regarding the manner in which he is governing their country. They were rewarded with the business end of a billy club, a face-full of pepper spray, and the jarring impact of a rubber bullet.

If America needed one more example of the cancer that has been chewing through the guts of our most basic freedoms since Mr. Bush assumed office, they can look to Portland. The right to freely assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances has been rescinded at the point of a gun.

The imperative is clear. Such violence by the authorities cannot go unchallenged. The next time Mr. Bush appears in public, there must be even more concerned Americans to greet him. They must face the baton and the pepper spray, they must stare into the shielded faces of the police, and they must stand in non-violent disobedience of the idea that they are not allowed to be there. The men and women who faced the brunt of police fury in Portland are to be lauded as American patriots, and their actions must be duplicated by us all. The groups which organized this protest, and the ones to come, deserve our praise.

The media, which spent much of the evening reporting that only a few hundred protesters were in attendance, must be browbeaten into reporting the facts from both sides - from the police, who reportedly detained people like the woman in the picture "for their own safety," and from the protesters who took a savage beating for daring to stand against Mr. Bush. If the battle of Portland is allowed to cast even more fear into the hearts and minds of Americans, we have lost yet another swath of freedoms. Stand and be counted if you can.

The whole world is watching.

William Rivers Pitt is a teacher from Boston, MA. His new book, 'The Greatest Sedition is Silence,' will be published soon by Pluto Press.

mailto:william.pitt@truthout.org

Source: http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.25A.wrp.portland.htm

8/25/02
1:11:35 PM

PLEASE urge EVERYONE you know to begin watching Donahue on MSNBC regularly. He is an oasis in a corporate media wasteland and we need to all do what we can to promote his show and KEEP IT ON THE AIR!! [If you are outside the US urge your TV to carry Donahue.]

mailto:donahueideas@msnbc.com

mailto:donahue@msnbc.com

Tonight he had:

1) Anti-globalization protestor denouncing Bush's pro-bombing mentality (AND she gave indymedia.org's website -- and so did Donahue!!)

2) Hollywood actors supporting farmworkers struggle for worker rights

3) Ben (of Ben n Jerry's icecream) showing our government's obscene glut of money going to military, and how a tiny percent of that shifted to education, health, headstart, and alternative energy, could make our nation fully educated, have complete healthcare, END WORLD HUNGER and be completely energy independent. He also showed that if we did so, our military would still vastly dwarf Russian, Chinese, Iraqi, Iranian, N. Korean, and other rogue states COMBINED.

Where can you get this kind of truth? PLEASE DEDICATE YOURSELF TO URGING ALL YOU CAN TO SUPPORT DONAHUE. HERE'S WAYS TO DO IT:

- Post this appeal on ALL indymedia.org websites on a weekly basis urging all indymedia.org readers to spread it to all they can

- Post weekly at michaelmoore.org site, and all other activist sites

- Write letters to the editor to magazines, and newspapers urging people to watch Donahue to get some REAL news

- Email everyone you can every time you see something of interest coming on Donahue to remind people to tune in.

- EMAIL DONAHUE AND THANK HIM OVER AND OVER AND OVER donahueideas@msnbc.com, donahue@msnbc.com

- Join activist discussion groups and urge all to urge everyone to watch Donahue regularly (Reply to this email with SEND DISC LISTS, and we will send you 800 activist discussion group email contacts you can join to urge them to promote Donahue).

8/25/02
1:08:15 PM

The Climes They Are A-Changin

The Indisputable Science Of Global Warming

by Mike Romoth, Village Voice, July 31 - August 6, 2002

ot to suspect that a dirty little word lies at the center of the controversy spawned by the most recent Bush administration document on climate change. In the June EPA policy paper "Climate Action Report 2002," the government admitted that climate change is not only real but getting worse, that human activities are the most likely cause, and that the negative consequences are real and dangerous, a clear and present threat. This dirty little word may have been the reason conservative leaders have privately pressed to have EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman fired from her position—for producing a document that provides the most realistic, scientifically accurate picture of the problem available from current research. This dirty little word may be the main reason President Bush is eternally trying to distance himself from this itchy environmental problem, this foreign cause touted by Russians, Europeans, and Japanese. The word: liability.

In terms of scale, the climate change issue will make any sort of environmental liability lawsuit filed in national or international courts to date seem like tarts and gingerbread. Human pressures on the global climate—what scientists call anthropogenic forcings—represent a problem orders of magnitude larger than the impacts of even the most notorious environmental catastrophes of modern times—the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, or even the disaster at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, which suffocated 10,000 people in their beds.The Netherlands faces undeniable threats from rising seas, and Bangladesh will not survive. Symptoms are already apparent in the daily headlines—islands in the South Pacific abandoned by their residents as their ground water turns salty; Connecticut-size bergs calving off the antarctic ice mass; record floods in Europe followed by more record floods. Across northern India this year, record-breaking heat storms arrived before the monsoon, raising the temperature to 123 degrees in the shade—so hot that the birds were dropping dead from the trees. Exactly as the scientists have been warning. And much earlier than most had expected, save those branded doomsayers only a few years ago. Considered in this context, the EPA document may represent the most important mea culpa of all time. The line between an "act of God" and an "action of Man" has just become significantly more blurry, with all the associated legal implications.

And then there's that sticky bit. Things are only going to get worse. Expert opinion varies widely on the time frame for the most dramatic impacts. It could be next week—certain important factors may hang on a hair trigger. Record-breaking fires, droughts, and floods have already become annual events around the nation. It could be in a decade. Agreement is nearly universal that current trends will continue to worsen. It probably will occur within the century. This fact is largely accepted as a given even under many of the more benign scenarios for a changing climate. What is abundantly clear in the science of the matter is that we as a society are at the beginning of a long journey.

The science of climate change begins with the geological record of the paleoclimate—records of past sea-level changes, telltale signs of the cycle of glaciation and retreat, firestorm signatures carved into the skin of the earth over tens of thousands of years. Data from Greenland ice cores and sediment samples collected from bogs around the globe. Pollen records maintained over the millennia. Tree rings counting back thousand-year records of rain and drought. Geology, biology, ecology, and chemistry all working together to create a picture of the climatological history of the planet—a turbulent history marked by mass extinctions, sudden and dramatic changes in sea level, large-scale migrations of forests, storms to dwarf any of the minor maelstroms recorded in the human histories.

Today, networks of sampling buoys monitor sea surface temperatures, floating along gridworks mapping the oceans of the world. Satellite eyes peep down on cloud cover, identifying and enumerating the gases in the atmospheric column that runs from outer space to surface Earth. Global maps made to shift with time mark the changes in water resources, rivers running dry before they reach the ocean, the disappearance of the Aral Sea. In nightside snapshots, with each passing year, the ring of Amazon fires eats closer to the heart of darkness—the unconquered lands. Pollutant plumes emitted by each city on Earth stretch for tens of miles, forming confluent rivers of contaminants that flow in the winds, crossing ocean-scale distances to poison the remotest sites on anyone's map.

Over the course of the past decade, many interests have entered the melee of debate on the issue of ongoing anthropogenic climate change. Energy companies arguing that nuclear power is the only acceptable answer. Advocates of wind power, sun power, wave power, volcano power. Oil producers. Automobile manufacturers. Coal men. The stakes involved in the debate over climate change do not come any higher. The largest industries of humankind, energy and transportation, are directly implicated. Virtually every activity in the life of the global, modern-day consumer is involved. Many natural responses to the changes we cause act only to exacerbate the problem—for example, the recent thaw of northern permafrost exposed a new source of greenhouse emissions. In the media, conventional scientific thinking is denounced as extremist, while members of the smoke-'em-if-you-got-'em school of scientific inquiry are awarded the chairmanships of well-heeled think tanks and lobbying empires to quibble, to hem and haw, to delay and filibuster.

However, as the Bush administration discovered, scientific theories have a way of proving themselves, regardless of whether policy makers and corporate heads believe them or not. And the daily news is beginning to heap ample evidence that the unequaled hubris at the core of this ever expanding, all-consuming 21st-century technotopia has stirred forces that are well beyond any sort of normal climatic fluctuation or temporary readjustment of weather patterns. One cannot wish away elementary thermodynamics, basic geophysics, fundamental biology, or essential fluid dynamics.

Already we have seen the unfolding of many of the events described by some of the climate change "extremists"—massive wind storms that pummel Europe, leading to hundreds of deaths, and the destruction of millions of acres of established forest. Unusual winter tornados ripping through the U.S. Latin America struck by storms that killed tens of thousands and destroyed decades of infrastructure over the course of a few days. Entire nations sinking into famine as unprecedented droughts choke crops in the fields. Record-breaking floods becoming annual events in mainland China. The permafrost under northern Europe beginning to melt from under vast regions that have not known a real thaw for tens of thousands of years. These are the milestones many experts consider symptoms of problems that can only grow worse as the Leviathan Climate gains more thermal momentum, growing more turbulent, more unpredictable as established climatic patterns change and shift.

Even some of the largest energy corporations on Earth have begun to accept the science of climate change, quietly withdrawing their support for rabidly anti-climate-change PR campaigns and beginning to trumpet their investment in renewable fuels. The response from the international insurance industry has been as mercenary as would be expected. Many large insurers have begun advising industrial clients with facilities in low-lying coastal regions to begin armoring their plants with systems of protective dikes and coastal constructions. The need for action is no longer questioned by the wise investor.

The uncertainties and confusion over climate change bear comparison to a series of scientific discoveries and theories that culminated in one of the highlights of the end of the 19th century: the discovery of radiation. The scientists who first worked with radioactive materials knew they were onto something, but they were working in the dark—manipulating and adjusting their notions to suit anecdotal evidence. When a researcher suffered burns to his leg from a vial of radium carried in his trouser pocket, scientists discovered that there was some danger involved in handling these new types of materials. Rapid commercialization of the technology led to the development of fluoroscopes, which allowed customers in shoe stores to examine the bones of their feet with live-action viewing devices—subjecting even passersby to massive doses of radiation. Health drinks were concocted that contained uranium, the new wonder of wonders and miracle cure-all. In beauty shops, women with excess facial hair could have their faces bathed in X rays until the hair fell out. Only years later, as the cancers began twisting the jaws of women around the country, did the public become aware of how dangerous radiation could be—and that was years too late for anyone to wish away their troubles.

And despite the occasional media attention to climate change, real responses and actions remain fairly hard to come by even among countries that support the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, aimed at limiting human emissions of greenhouse gases. Most national governments face significant economic obstacles to the implementation of the guidelines, with no nation currently on track to achieve compliance. Continuous growth of national economies is absolutely mandatory for survival in the highly competitive markets evolving under current trends toward globalization. Economic growth is linked directly to energy consumption and higher emissions of greenhouse gases. Emission limits for individual nations under Kyoto are set at 5 percent below those of 1990, but in virtually every country on Earth, economic growth has raised emissions to well above those ancient figures. Compliance with Kyoto would entail substantial shifts in the largest national economies, with the U.S. taking the biggest hit of all as the biggest polluter of all.

As a result, most national governments have failed to establish the aggressive regulations needed to achieve the greenhouse emissions reductions required for real progress. Even in nations that have attempted to take the lead on climate change, enforcement of lofty policy initiatives has proved a nearly impossible task. In the single remaining superpower on Earth and the confirmed largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the sitting administration blindly refuses to have anything to do with climate change. Its recommendation? Pretend the problem does not exist. Act as though the science is not valid. We'll all adapt. You know . . . somehow.

In the long term, the symptoms of the disease will become pronounced enough to convince even the most reluctant Americans that climate change is not some sort of flim-flam invented by a bunch of grant-greedy eco-kooks. Perhaps some sort of limit should be established for the level of destruction we will allow before action is taken on climate change. The destruction of agriculture in California, say, or the permanent loss of New Orleans, Miami, and a few other coastal cities by the year 2050. Of course, by the time these limits have been reached, the time to do anything about the climate problem will have long passed. The Leviathan Climate will have awakened then, and there will be no apologizing to the grandchildren or turning back. No amount of money will prove sufficient. No amount of spin doctoring will be able to stem the mounting losses. Issues of liability will become moot as the planetwide catastrophe gathers steam.

Recent data obtained from the tens of thousands of monitoring buoys networked across the world's oceans have underscored the critical role played by a phenomenon known as the Thermohaline Circulation—a massive conveyor belt of heated water carried from the tropics to the northern latitudes via the currents of the Atlantic Ocean. Some researchers believe that this current system may be the trigger that initiates the cycles of glaciation, the ice age trigger. Certain evidence suggests that this circulation may be extremely sensitive to changes, shutting down in response to minor pressures. Other evidence suggests that the thermohaline may be disrupted by the formation of a large lens of freshwater sitting atop the saline waters of the oceans around Greenland and Iceland. Such a lens is currently forming in the North Atlantic as a result of the melting of glaciers and ice sheets in the north. There is no way of currently knowing or predicting what may come next.

However, given the consensus for action on climate change expressed by the majority of the other industrialized nations, the U.S. will find itself in an increasingly difficult position as the lone holdout against responsible and progressive action on the climate problem. Already, international accord on the Kyoto Protocol in the absence of U.S. support signals a shift in the post-Cold War paradigm that has dominated the international political arena for a decade. The Kyoto agreement was formulated based on a fundamental tenet of democratic public law, the concept of the commons—property belonging in equal measure to all citizens for all time. Leadership on this issue must value the hard commitments required of democratic thinking, and not simply trot out the term to justify the current mania for saber rattling. Perhaps "superpower" status is no longer a given for any individual nation. Radical backlash against U.S. policy, or rather lack of policy, on the climate change problem can only be expected to grow as the symptomatic evidence grows, as the record-breaking storms unleash their fury, as the droughts consume the harvests of dozens of nations, as the rivers either flood beyond all parallel or run dry as a bone, as coastal regions lose their war against the encroaching sea. Not the stuff of science fiction. The stuff of Science.

And as all the proponents of action on these issues agree, the Kyoto Protocol is really nothing more than a symbolic gesture, a nod to the fact that future agreements will be required, that more extensive regulations will be established, and that the problem has only begun to be addressed. Responsible and mature leadership will be required to guide nations around the globe through the admittedly difficult adjustments that will be expected of each and every citizen, every local government office, and all levels of the federal government of each nation on Earth. Unfortunately, for an alarming number of Americans, the "environment" has been reduced to the strip of lawn and the manicured shrubs they pass on the way from the parking lot to their climate-controlled office buildings, or between their climate-controlled automobiles and their climate-controlled homes.

A serious tremor in the accepted order of things would arise from the multinational imposition of economic sanctions against the U.S. for failure to comply with the regulatory regime to be established under Kyoto. The most obvious medicines for the problem, such as aggressive energy conservation and protection of forested regions, are direct threats to the de facto capitalist economic principle of infinite economic growth to meet ever increasing demand in a world of infinite space and resources. Humanity, as a species, has reached a time in its evolution when it must begin to consider its own limits—beyond race, beyond economic politics, beyond any form of enlightened thinking of the past. The Bush administration is right on one thing: Adaptation is the only answer to these new realities. Rigid ways of thinking, old ways of thinking, no longer apply. A new paradigm is needed, at the very root of the culture. Those who fail to bend will be broken. The science of the matter will see to that.

Source: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0231/romoth.php

8/25/02
1:03:56 PM

Petition: NO IRAQ WAR

The Bush White House is aggressively promoting war on Iraq, against the advice of its diplomats, and without strong support from Congress, the American public, or our allies. The organization, MoveOn is launching a petition to oppose a war that would likely undermine both national and world security. Let's show our representatives that they have strong public support to stop this war. If you sign today, your comments will be hand-delivered to your Senators as part of a national day of action next week. They're organizing constituent meetings with Senate offices everywhere.

Sign the petition at: http://www.moveon.org/nowar

8/25/02
1:01:50 PM

Regressive Progressive?

by Katha Pollitt, The Nation, May 27, 2002

As chairman of the fifty-nine-member Congressional Progressive Caucus and potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich has been quite visible lately. At a time when few Democrats are daring to question the war aims of the Bush Administration--or even to ask what they are--Kucinich has spoken eloquently against the Patriot Act, the ongoing military buildup and the vague and apparently horizonless "war on terrorism." From tax cuts for the rich and the death penalty (against) to national health insurance and the environment (for), Kucinich has the right liberal positions. Michael Moore, who likes to rib progressives for favoring white wine and brie over hot dogs and beer, would surely approve of Kucinich's man-of-the-people persona--he's actually a New Age-ish vegan, but his website has a page devoted to "Polka, Bowling and Kielbasa."

One thing you won't find on Kucinich's website, though, is any mention of his opposition to abortion rights. In his two terms in Congress, he has quietly amassed an anti-choice voting record of Henry Hyde-like proportions. He supported Bush's reinstatement of the gag rule for recipients of US family planning funds abroad. He supported the Child Custody Protection Act, which prohibits anyone but a parent from taking a teenage girl across state lines for an abortion. He voted for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which makes it a crime, distinct from assault on a pregnant woman, to cause the injury or death of a fetus. He voted against funding research on RU-486. He voted for a ban on dilation and extraction (so-called partial-birth) abortions without a maternal health exception. He even voted against contraception coverage in health insurance plans for federal workers--a huge work force of some 2.6 million people (and yes, for many of them, Viagra is covered). Where reasonable constitutional objections could be raised--the lack of a health exception in partial-birth bans clearly violates Roe v. Wade, as the Supreme Court ruled in Stenberg v. Carhart--Kucinich did not raise them; where competing principles could be invoked--freedom of speech for foreign health organizations--he did not bring them up. He was a co-sponsor of the House bill outlawing all forms of human cloning, even for research purposes, and he opposes embryonic stem cell research. His anti-choice dedication has earned him a 95 percent position rating from the National Right to Life Committee, versus 10 percent from Planned Parenthood and 0 percent from NARAL.

When I spoke with Kucinich by phone, he seemed to be looking for a way to put some space between himself and his record. "I believe life begins at conception"--Kucinich was raised as a Catholic--"and that it doesn't end at birth." He said he favored neither a Human Life Amendment that would constitutionally protect "life" from the moment of conception, nor the overturning of Roe v. Wade (when asked by Planned Parenthood in 1996 whether he supported the substance of Roe, however, he told them he did not). He spoke of his wish to see abortion made rare by providing women with more social supports and better healthcare, by requiring more responsibility from men and so on. He presented his votes as votes not against abortion per se but against federal funding of the procedure. Unfortunately, his record does not easily lend itself to this reading: He voted specifically against allowing Washington, DC, to fund abortions for poor women with nonfederal dollars and against permitting female soldiers and military dependents to have an abortion in overseas military facilities even if they paid for it themselves. Similarly, although Kucinich told me he was not in favor of "criminalizing" abortion, he voted for a partial-birth-abortion ban that included fines and up to two years in jail for doctors who performed them, except to save the woman's life. What's that, if not criminalization?

"I haven't been a leader on this," Kucinich said. "These are issues I would not have chosen to bring up." But if he plans to run for President, Kucinich will have to change his stance, and prove it, or kiss the votes of pro-choice women and men goodbye. It won't be enough to present himself as low profile or, worse, focused elsewhere (he voted to take away abortion rights inadvertently? in a fog? thinking about something more "important" than whether women should be forced to give birth against their will?). "I can't tell you I don't have anything to learn," Kucinich told me. OK, but shouldn't he have started his education before he cast a vote barring funds for abortions for women in prison? (When I told him the inhumanity of this particular vote made me feel like throwing up--you're not only in jail, you have to have a baby too?--he interjected, "but there's a rape exception!") Kucinich says he wants to "create a dialogue" and "build bridges" between pro-choicers and anti-choicers, but how can he "heal divisions" when he's so far on one side? The funding issue must also be squarely faced: As a progressive, Kucinich has to understand that denying abortion funding to poor women is as much a class issue as denying them any other kind of healthcare.

That a solidly anti-choice politician could become a standard- bearer for progressivism, the subject of hagiographic profiles in The Nation and elsewhere, speaks volumes about the low priority of women's rights to the self-described economic left, forever chasing the white male working-class vote. Supporting an anti-choice Congressman may have seemed pragmatic; trying to make him President would be political suicide. Pregnant prisoners may not vote, but millions of pro-choice women do.

Source: http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020527&s=pollitt

8/25/02
12:43:48 PM

The Soul Of The Worker And The American Restoration

A speech by U.S. Representative Dennis J. Kucinich

Delivered at the Iowa AFL-CIO State Convention on Wednesday August 14, 2001

I was born into the House of Labor. My father was a Teamster who drove a truck for 35 years. He died with his first retirement check in his pocket, uncashed. He and my mother raised seven children, of which I was the oldest. We lived in 21 different places by the time I was 17. Having a job doesn't solve all of a family's problems. One of my first jobs was at the Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland. As a copyboy I joined the American Newspaper Guild. Years later, working at TV 8, I belonged to AFTRA. Today I am a member of the cameraman's union, the IATSE of the AFL-CIO.

This is my membership card. I am of the House of Labor and still building. This is my card of membership in the House of Representatives. This card (House) is where my work is. And this card (IATSE) is where my heart is.

The hopes and dreams of the men and women who sent me to congress are the stars by which I journey. Whenever there is an organizing campaign, a picket line to walk, jobs to save, working conditions to improve, laws to champion, I'm there. This is my purpose: To stand up and to speak out on behalf of those who have built this country and who want to rebuild this country. This is my passion: To raise up the rights of working people. Workers' rights are the key to protecting our democracy.

Workers' rights embody spiritual principles which sustain families, nourish the soul and create peace. Worker's rights are human rights.

Today, let us begin anew to rededicate our efforts to bring economic justice to those who have created the wealth through their work. A re-energized labor movement will reenergize America's politics and create a more just society. Your cause is the cause of our nation. Your dream is the American dream. The cause of union, of brotherhood and sisterhood is felt in the worker's anthem. Solidarity can be the song which echoes across this land. It can be the music which lifts up the hearts of all those who dignify work with their toil.

For decades labor has been telling the nation about the dangers of unchecked corporate power. Organizing campaigns have brought the lessons home:

Employers firing union supporters. Forcing workers to listen to anti-union propaganda from company supervisors. Bringing in outsiders to run well-funded anti-union campaigns. Threatening loss of jobs and even threatening to move out of town.

Often in these struggles labor stands alone. But we need to change this. We need a Democratic Party which will ensure the right to organize by establishing an automatic union once half the workers sign up. You know, sisters and brothers, that when workers can choose a union, free of fear and intimidation, they choose to have the collective voice a union provides. As a member of the Cleveland Jobs With Justice workers rights board I have seen the community help nearly 2,000 workers to join unions. We need a national labor law which provides for democracy in the workplace.

Labor has stood almost alone while corporations have cut wages and benefits, slashed working hours, tried to undermine wage an hour provisions, reneged on contracts, jettisoned retirements through bankruptcy strategies. The current clamor for corporate accountability calls for honesty in stating the numbers, and faithful custody of shareholders money.

Yet there needs to be equal concern for those who created the wealth through their labor. Because the attacks on unions are a means of redistributing the wealth upwards. As union membership has declined, the disparity of wealth has increased. Since 1973 union membership has dropped from 24% to 14%. And the share of aggregate income of the poor, the middle class and the upper middle class has declined.

It's an old saying that the rich get richer. But it's a new convention in the American political economy that a class of working poor has emerged, including the working homeless. More than 1/2 the homeless families in Iowa are headed by someone who is employed. Congress will not pass an increase in the $5.15 minimum wage even though the inflation adjusted minimum wage is 21% lower today than in 1979.

Since 1981 the share of income of the richest 5% of this country has increased more than 40% while that of the lowest fifth has decreased more than 20%. An even starker contrast arises. According to Business Week, the average CEO made 42 times the average workers pay in 1980, 85 times in 1990 and 531 times in 2000. Forbes Magazine points out that the number of billionaires increased from 13 in 1982 to 149 in 1996.

In the past 20 years you sat at the negotiating table, you fought for fair wages and benefits, you were told you were just asking for too much, that your demands would make the company less competitive. And all the while the wealth kept getting accelerated upwards, with the help of NAFTA and other trade agreements which were designed to undermine workers rights and lower wages world wide.

I'd like to read a quote to you. ". . . working men have been surrendered, isolated and helpless, to the hardheartedness of employers and the greed of unchecked competition. . . the hiring of labor and the conduct of trade are concentrated in the hands of comparatively few; so that a small number of very rich men have been able to lay upon the teeming masses of the laboring poor a yoke little better than that of slavery itself." Pope Leo XIII said this 111 years ago in his encyclical On Capital and Labor.

I quote a great spiritual leader because standing behind the daily efforts to lift up the human condition through improving standards of work is a great moral cause. It is about the intrinsic worth of each and every human being. When both work and workers are valued, when all men and women are given a chance to earn their daily bread; when all are paid a living wage, when hands strong and weak can clasp in common enterprise, to seek and to build a newer world, then every day will belong to workers. And every voice will praise the moment when human toil has lifted up the human condition. It is a high cause which brings us together, which causes us to put ourselves on the line.

We need to feel in every cell of our bodies that power which comes from union: the power which confirms our purpose, the power when focused and directed will save our nation by saving the Democratic Party from the clutches of corporate interests. Enlightened self-interest requires labor to make the Democratic Party accountable. Labor must rally the Democrats to the workers' banner. Labor must begin now to build the Democratic Party platform for 2004 to ensure that solid principles of economic justice prevail and to inspire millions of Americans, who would otherwise stay home on Election Day, to vote to save our democracy.

Labor cannot afford to settle for half-hearted nominees or half measures which keep in place a system which is destroying our democracy through trade agreements which transfer sovereign power to the World Trade Organization, undermine our economy and devastate workers' ability to defend themselves. "All that harms labor is treason," said President Lincoln. "If any man tells you that he loves America (but) he hates labor, he is a liar."

Supporters of the decaying system of injustice continue to advance propositions which are an offense to basic fairness and workers' dignity. With the Team Act they attacked the right to organize. With the Rewarding Performance in Compensation Act, they wanted to strip workers of overtime. In the name of workplace flexibility, they wanted to repeal the Fair Labor Standards Act. With the Paycheck Protection Act they attacked union dues as compulsory and political. They wanted workplace safety rules set by corporate consensus and not by OSHA. They would take us back to the days when workers had no protections nor rights. Back to the days of "Sixteen Tons."

"You load 16 tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St.Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go, I owe my soul to the company store."

No more 16 tons in America! The soul of the worker is not for sale. It will not be sacrificed upon the corporate altar, nor annihilated by a hostile or indifferent government. The soul of the worker will be redeemed by the enshrinement in law of workers' rights. If in 2004, Labor goes up to the Mountaintop of our nation's Capitol, it must bring back engraved in stone these rights of working people:

"People have a right to a job. A right to a safe workplace. A right to decent wages and benefits. A right to organize and be represented. A right to grieve about working conditions. A right to strike. A right to fair compensation for injuries on the job. A right to sue if injured by negligent employers. A right to security of pension and retirement benefits. A right to participate in the political process."

These basic rights ought to be inviolate in a democratic society. There can be no true corporate accountability unless corporations are accountable to workers. There can be no accountability to workers unless workers rights are protected. And workers rights cannot be protected unless the Democratic party makes it the centerpiece of its legislative program, and its drive for the White House in 2004. The Democratic Party must be challenged by Labor to truly be the party of all the people.

When the Democratic Party rises it must be with the ranks not from the ranks. "The future of labor is the future of America," said John L. Lewis.

It is the restoration of the rights of workers which will put us at the dawn of a new political age. The rights of workers are core of principles of an American Restoration. These aren't mere political principles. These are timeless moral principles, about fairness, about equality, about justice.

In the 1660s the English Restoration brought back the royal family to power. The American Restoration will be about restoring the American working family to economic power, to ensure that all have jobs, that all have meaningful work and that all make a living wage. "The enthusiasm of falling welfare numbers," said Cardinal Mahoney, "should be tempered by the reality of persistent poverty and wages too meager to provide for a family's needs. Many may be leaving welfare, too few have left poverty." Twenty-five percent of all workers in Iowa earn poverty level hourly wages. Who can live at $5.15 an hour? The campaign for a living wage is fundamental to making certain that people have more than crumbs when they sit down to eat their daily bread.

The restoration of the rights of workers in America and throughout the North American continent will begin when we repeal NAFTA. NAFTA has spurred a $360 billion trade deficit, costing 363,000 high paying jobs, most in manufacturing. This is called free trade. But where is freedom when jobs are lost? Where is freedom when industries threaten to move out of the country unless wages are cut? Where is freedom when the right to bargain collectively is crushed? Where is freedom when a union is broken? Where is freedom when you can't make a mortgage payment? Where is freedom when you can't send your children to college? An economic democracy is a precondition of a political democracy. Where is freedom?

NAFTA has attacked federal laws meant to protect worker rights, human rights and environmental quality principles. It is time to repeal NAFTA. It is time to reclaim state and local sovereignty which NAFTA has usurped. No NAFTA, no Fast Track. No more back track on democracy. No more back track on workers' rights. No more back track n human rights. No back track on the bill of rights.

"The working people know no country. They are citizens of the world," said the founder of the AFL-CIO Samuel Gompers in 1887. It is time to return to bilateral trade agreements, nation to nation. It is time for humane trading partnerships where the living wages, benefits and retirement security of workers of each nation constitute a centerpiece of trade pacts.

The American Restoration will be about restoring the physical health of our people with universal health care. I worked with the SEIU and all of organized labor in Cleveland to save two urban hospitals from closure. A market-based system of health care has brought about closure of hundreds of community hospitals, limited access to health care, denied specialized care, driven up the cost and made health care a bargaining chip in negotiations, forcing trade-offs for wage increases. A universal health care system, with prescription drug coverage will protect quality of life and reflect the improved health of our democracy. Our nation has the money to do this.

The questions are do we have the political freedom, do we have the will, do we have the courage to transform a system where for tens of millions every accident and every illness carries with fear of being unable to afford health.

We must restore the American dream of home ownership through lowering and regulating lending rates, ending predatory lending practices, increasing the percentage of the home mortgage deduction for middle income people, and stopping home insurance redlining.

"The practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion rejected by the minds and hearts of men." said President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his Inaugural Address on March 4, 1933. Under FDR the government took responsibility for the economic vitality of consumers. Today, the government protects credit card companies, banks, and insurance companies.

Our nation will be restored with new manufacturing policy, where the maintenance of our industrial base is understood to be vital to our national economic welfare. We can fuel domestic steel production and consumption by rebuilding our nation's infrastructure with American made steel, utilizing the productive capacity of our mills. We need to spend at least $500 billion to rebuild our schools, roads, bridges, ports, sewer systems, water systems, our government buildings. A highly trained, highly skilled workforce backed by Davis-Bacon guarantees will make it happen. A federal bank of infrastructure modernization can be created to fund this program with zero interest loans to the states.

America needs a great new public works program to restore the dream of a full employment economy, to restore the physical health of ournation. When the American economy faltered, President Franklin Roosevelt created the WPA. Labor, inspired to rally the disaffected, the dispirited, the disenfranchised can provide new hope for our country through bringing forth new leadership responsive in word and deed to the task of rebuilding our nation.

A rebuilt infrastructure will help restore American commerce. America cannot come through crisis of confidence in corporate America simply through improving accounting practices and imprisoning wayward executives. Our country must restore the American economy by restoring competition, by breaking up monopolies, by genuine anti- trust enforcement, re-regulation, by the federal chartering of corporations and by the repeal of Taft-Hartley which deprives the American workplace of a strong, co-equal relationship with labor. "The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit." said FDR.

Anti-trust enforcement is needed in all areas of the economy, especially in agriculture where unfair practices,from seed to retail are driving our family farmers out of business. We must free the family farmer from the market dominance of agribusiness and its predatory policies which set prices so farmers can't survive.

Americans are learning hard lessons about the dangers of monopolies in energy. When Americans learn the difference between the price the producer gets and what the consumer pays for food, when Americans realize the risk of becoming dependent on imports or corporate mega-farms for our national food supply, we will be on the path of reform which will protect independent farmers.

The largest roadblock toward the American Restoration is a corrupt campaign finance system which promotes plutocracy allowing laws, and regulations to be steathily auctioned to the highest bidder. Less than one percent of the US population contributes 80% of the money in federal elections. The top one percent in income also received more than half the tax cuts. Tax policy has become an engine for transferring wealth upward. Enron had been poised to dominate energy markets world wide because it controlled the White House, and gave to 71 senators and 186 house members.

Private control of campaign financing leads to private control of the government itself and schemes like the privatization of social security which would put nearly seven trillion dollars in retirement funds of Main Street workers at the disposal of Wall Street speculators over the next twenty five years. Public control of the political process requires public financing. The restoration of our American Democracy depends upon public financing.

The Supreme Court, equating money with free speech, will not restrict the power of corporate interests to own government. The establishment of our democracy began with the Constitution. Let us renew the Constitution by amending it, requiring public financing to redeem from the perishable fires of corporate control an imperishable government of the people, by the people and for the people."

Today, as we meet in Iowa, riveted upon uplifting the conditions of workers, on a day when IBM will cut another 15,000 jobs, and Ames Department Stores will close, throwing 22,000 out of work, and American Airlines announces they will cut 7,000 jobs, some of our nation's leaders are distracted by a desire to control oil markets and a lust for war. In his farewell address in 1961, President Eisenhower gave this warning: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence . . . by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist," You know and I know that it will be the children of the poor and of working men and women who will become cannon fodder unless we demand our leaders give up the arms build up, end the war talk, stop the saber rattling, and work with our allies to take up the burden of global security.

We need a new vision of America, as a nation among nations, as a strong presence but not as king of a unipolar world dictating policy on behalf of global corporate interests. We need a vision which connects workers and all people in the highest causes of the human spirit: peace and justice. This will be the crowning achievement of an American Restoration, the liberation of people all over the world.

As we face the challenges ahead, let us recall the plea of the Prophet Isaiah. ". to unlock the shackles of injustice? To break every cruel chain? . Then shall your light shine in the darkness. Your people. shall lay the foundations for ages to come. You shall becalled repairer of the breach. Restorer of the streets to dwell in."

You, the men and women of labor. It is your light which will shine in the darkness. It is you who will lay the foundation for ages to come. It is you who will repair the breach. It is you who will lead the American Restoration.

Thank you.

Source: http://www.house.gov/kucinich/press/sp-020814-souloftheworker.htm

8/25/02
12:35:01 PM

Bold Kucinich Leaves Tepid Dems Behind

by John Nichols, Madison Capital Times, August 13, 2002

Dennis Kucinich is using his summer vacation to stir up working people across America. Come fall, he might just find that he is a serious contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004.

Indeed, while every Democrat who is even pondering a presidential run angled for a prime speaking slot at this week's Iowa AFL-CIO dinner - in hopes that the right message will kick-start their campaigns in that state's critical caucuses - Kucinich has been awarded the coveted keynoter spot. [see Flyby link for complete transcript of this speech at end of this article (1)] Later this month, he'll address the conventions of the United Steelworkers and Service Employees unions.

None of this means that the labor movement is ready to throw its considerable weight behind a still relatively obscure congressman from Cleveland. But it does suggest that Kucinich, whose passionate defense of workers' rights, civil liberties and sensible foreign policies recalls William Jennings Bryan more than it does most contemporary politicians, is certainly getting noticed.

Kucinich is in some senses an unlikely Democratic presidential prospect. He has cast votes against abortion rights protections, [(2)], he has an intensely spiritual side and he is entirely unafraid of speaking his mind and standing his ground - even when it costs him politically. The former mayor of Cleveland was forced out of office at the dawn of the 1980s Reagan era when he refused to buckle under pressure from bankers and corporate power brokers who wanted to privatize the city's municipal utilities.

After Kucinich lost he was written off as a political ghost. But in the mid-1990s, he returned to haunt the corporate interests that had driven him from office more than a decade earlier. In 1994, Kucinich won a seat in the Ohio legislature as one of the few Democratic challengers to prevail in that Republican landslide year. Two years later, in 1996, he beat a Republican congressman and headed for Washington.

Unlike most politicians who suffer early in their careers, however, Kucinich did not come back cautious. Rather, the current chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus may well be the boldest member of the current Congress.

His courage was on display earlier this year when, in a speech to the Southern California chapter of Americans for Democratic Action, the congressman delivered the speech heard round the world. At a time when few members of Congress were willing to challenge a president with 90 percent approval ratings in the polls or that president's military adventuring abroad, Kucinich dared to demand that the United States stop and reflect on strategies that had led to the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, inflamed tensions in the Middle East, estranged the United States from European allies and undermined constitutional rights at home.

The talk of a Kucinich presidential run started after that speech, as dissenters from the Bush administration's military and economic policies hailed him as one of the few Democrats who was willing to challenge not just a popular president but the direction in which the nation was headed.

Whether Kucinich actually makes a run, and whether that run draws the support of powerful unions, remains a big "if." But there is no question that the congressman will continue to be the sort of outspoken dissenter from a dreary status quo that his party desperately needs.

"I believe the world is a profoundly creative place where we can turn war into peace, where we can turn famine into plenty, where we can turn fear into hope. But that does require us to speak up," says the Cleveland Democrat. "When we limit ourselves to the fears of the moment, we often miss opportunities to change the whole debate."

Source: http://www.madison.com/captimes

8/25/02
12:29:22 PM

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."

James Madison, while a United States Congressman

8/24/02
12:45:21 PM

Alzheimer's In America: The Aluminum - Phosphate Fertilizer Connection

By Lynn Landes, AlterNet, August 22, 2002

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 18 million people with Alzheimer's. Over 4 1/2 million Americans have the disease. We account for 25 percent of all Alzheimer's cases, even though we represent only 4.6 percent of the world's population. Europe is experiencing half our rate of disease. For Americans over 85 years of age, 50 percent are thought to have Alzheimer's.

The question is, "Why?"

Alzheimer's was first discovered in 1906. It is not a part of normal aging, says the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH contends that the cause of Alzheimer's is "not known." They say, "Prior theories regarding the accumulation of aluminum, lead, mercury, and other substances in the brain have been disproved."

Don't believe that. Federal agencies have a talent for not finding environmental causes for many diseases. They live by the motto, "Do not seek and thou shall not find." Genetic triggers and lifestyle choices get the research dollars for pretty obvious reasons -- their findings don't hurt polluters' profits.

The world's scientists and government researchers have not taken aluminum off the scientific table as a causal factor in Alzheimer's. Research scientists with the International Aluminum Network report, "Aluminum has been implicated ...as a potential factor or cofactor in the Alzheimer's syndrome, as well as in the etiopathogenesis of other neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinsonism, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and other diseases." That's a mouthful, but you get the picture.

Initially, it was thought that aluminum might be the sole cause of Alzheimer's. Persons with Alzheimer's have been found to experience increased absorption of aluminum in the brain, as well as exhibit densities of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. However, there are reports that suggest plaques and tangles do not always signify Alzheimer's, and vice versa.

Further clouding the issue are patients on kidney dialysis machines. They are unable to excrete aluminum, plus they may also be treated with medicines that include aluminum. However, reports say that dialysis patients don't develop Alzheimer's, although they can develop dialysis dementia if the equipment doesn't filter out aluminum. And therein lies a clue.

The process of kidney dialysis requires very purified, non-fluoridated water. What does this mean? Perhaps fluoride is aluminum's partner-in-crime.

In 1998, Julie Varner and two colleagues published research on the effects of aluminum-fluoride and sodium-fluoride on the nervous system of rats. They concluded, "Chronic administration of aluminum-fluoride and sodium-fluoride in the drinking water of rats resulted in distinct morphological alterations of the brain, including the effects on neurons and cerebrovasculature." In layman's terms, it looked like fluoride and aluminum could cause Alzheimer's.

That was not a definitive study, but they may have been onto something. Aluminum is in our drinking water, foods, and many consumer products. Adding fluoride to drinking water in the U.S. started in the 1950s. America's drinking water is now over 60 percent fluoridated. Fluoride appears in many processed foods and beverages made with fluoridated water. Keep in mind, Europe has half our rate of Alzheimer's. They don't fluoridate their water supplies, but they do use fluoride supplements and dental products. Is there a connection?

There are other intriguing issues. Why do people with thyroid disease have an increased risk for Alzheimer's? In the U.S., thyroid disease has reached even greater epidemic levels than Alzheimer's, with as many as 20 million American victims. Besides problems with iodine intake, a common cause of thyroid disease is radiation.

There are also striking similarities between Alzheimer's, Creutzfeldt-Jacob-Disease (CJD), and mad cow disease. Mad cow has been linked to livestock feed and fertilizer.

So, what do radiation, livestock feed, fluoride, and fertilizer have in common which may have led to the emergence of the Alzheimer's epidemic? The phosphate fertilizer industry.

"Fertilizer use was not a common practice in the United States until after 1870, when phosphate and lime were applied to crops like cotton and tobacco. By the end of World War II, an era of intensive agriculture began," says Cargill Fertilizer. "Of the phosphate produced in Florida, about 95 percent is used in agriculture (90 percent goes into fertilizer and 5 percent into livestock feed supplements)." The remaining 5 percent is used in a variety of foods and beverages, plus personal care, consumer and industrial products.

George Glasser writes in the Earth Island Journal, "Radium wastes from filtration systems at phosphate fertilizer facilities are among the most radioactive types of naturally occurring radioactive material wastes ... Uranium and all of its decay-rate products are found in phosphate rock, fluorosilicic acid (fluoride) and phosphate fertilizer."

The Florida Institute of Phosphate Research says, "Removal of uranium as a product is no longer profitable and all of the extraction facilities have been dismantled. The uranium that remains in the phosphoric acid and fertilizer products is at a low enough level that it is safe for use." That's not reassuring. Chronic exposure to low levels of contamination can be as dangerous, or more so, than chronic high levels of exposure or acute occurrences.

Of particular interest is calcium silicate, another byproduct of the phosphate fertilizer industry. One of its uses is as an anti-caking agent in iodized table salt. Is calcium silicate also radioactive? Would that have a significant impact on the thyroid? Given the relationship between Alzheimer's and thyroid disease, Alzheimer's may be destined to increase exponentially.

The phosphate fertilizer industry seems to be the common thread in Alzheimer's -- and maybe also in thyroid and mad cow type diseases. Aluminum by itself may not cause Alzheimer's, but in combination with the radioactive products of the phosphate fertilizer industry, it could be wreaking havoc on our health.

Whatever the cause, we deserve real answers to the Alzheimer's epidemic, not the red herrings of research on genetics and lifestyle. The number of American victims is totally out of proportion to the incidence of Alzheimer's worldwide. Something truly has gone terribly wrong.

Lynn Landes is a freelance journalist specializing in environmental issues. She is the founder of Zero Waste America, a Web-based environmental organization, and posts her work on http://www.EcoTalk.org Source: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13895

8/24/02
12:36:13 PM

Presidential Hubris

by Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive, August 8, 2002

The Bush Administration is a lawless one, and there is no clearer example of this than its approach to the so-called American Taliban.

I'm not talking about John Walker Lindh. He's had his day in court.

I'm talking about Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi, who may never get theirs.

Hell, they can't even get to see a lawyer.

The U.S. military has seized Padilla and Hamdi and slammed them in a military prison, where they are being denied their basic rights as American citizens.

What's more, the Bush Administration says it is above judicial review on this matter. "Courts may not second-guess the military's determination that an individual is an enemy combatant and should be detained as such," it said in a brief in the Hamdi case.

Last week, the Justice Department stiffed U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar, who is presiding over Hamdi's request to obtain legal counsel. Ashcroft's team flat out refused the judge's order to provide additional documents justifying its labeling of Hamdi as an "enemy combatant." This is an extraordinary act of Presidential hubris, and it places the executive branch beyond any check and balance provided for in the Constitution.

And as the Hamdi and Padilla cases demonstrate, the president of the United States is now exercising the power to unilaterally determine whether a U.S. citizen is a military combatant and to throw that person into military detention, without criminal charge and without legal representation.

That's not how our legal system is supposed to work, at least that's not what Mr. Hayes taught me back in high school. None of us is safe if Bush can get away with this.

Padilla and Hamdi are U.S. citizens, and as such, deserve to have their full legal rights, including the right to counsel, the right to be charged if they are detained, and the right to trial in our civilian courts.

Come on! Zacarias Moussaoui, who is not even a U.S. citizen, is being afforded this opportunity.

Why not Padilla and Hamdi?

George Bush the Second is acting more and more like King George the Second. The American people ought to rebel against such authoritarian rule.

Source: http://www.progressive.org/webex/wx081302.html

8/24/02
12:20:01 PM

Scientists Find Signs Big Meteor Hit Earth 3.5 Billion Years Ago

by Kenneth Chang

rom the decay of uranium in tiny ancient crystals, geologists have dated the earliest and probably largest known meteor impact on Earth.

Writing in today's issue of the journal Science, researchers from Louisiana State University, Stanford University and the U.S. Geological Survey report that an asteroid, estimated to be 12 to 30 miles wide, slammed into Earth nearly 3.5 billion years ago.

That asteroid was probably at least twice as wide as the meteor thought to have killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and the impact probably released at least 10 times as much energy, the scientists said.

The heat would have killed all single-cell microbes, the only life on Earth at the time, on land and in the upper ocean, which would have boiled into steam. The impact appears to have sent giant tsunamis coursing around the world's oceans, scouring the early continents.

"The only thing that would have survived would have been bacteria in the deep ocean," said Dr. Gary R. Byerly, a professor of geology at Louisiana State and the lead author of the article.

Because of the scarcity of fossils from the era, scientists cannot say how the cataclysm changed the course of life.

Giant craters on the moon indicate to scientists that even earlier and larger impacts occurred on Earth. A heavy rain of meteors large enough to boil off the oceans would probably have delayed the advent of life until 3.9 billion years ago at the earliest, scientists say. But no rocks that preserve evidence of those early impacts have been found.

No crater from the crash 3.5 billion years ago remains either, but Dr. Byerly and Dr. Donald R. Lowe, a professor of geology at Stanford, found hints of the impact two decades ago: perfectly spherical sand grains about the size of BB pellets in ancient rocks from South Africa and western Australia. The grains probably condensed from the cloud of rock vapor sent up by the impact, the two scientists said.

Later research showed that the layers of rock containing the grains were also rich in iridium, a metal more abundant in asteroids and comets than in rocks on Earth. The layers of debris are 8 to 12 inches thick, compared with less than an inch for the impact that killed the dinosaurs.

Analysis of the minerals from the older impact indicated that the rock was an asteroid that had once orbited between Mars and Jupiter.

Scientists dated the impact by measuring the decay of uranium in zircon crystals in the rock. Zircon is a durable mineral formed from the force of the giant tsunamis crashing ashore.

The crystals in the both Australian and the South African rocks formed about 3.47 billion years ago, give or take a couple of million years, leading the scientists to conclude that they formed from the same impact.

Source: http://www.NYTimes.com

8/24/02
12:16:36 PM

What Makes An Anarchist

by Meria Heller

I read the sad news about the police over-reaction and brutality at a mostly peaceful protest in Oregon this past week. To know that rubber bullets fully capable of making a hole through your body and killing you if you are shot in the head were used on American citizens, young, old and babies sickened me. Pepper spray as well, regardless of the fact that there were women, children and elderly in the crowd. The police are "doing their job", the same as the Nazi's did "their job". The same as Mugabe's henchmen are doing "their job", Musharraf the dictator doing "his job". Their job all seems to be the same to me - global terror on innocent civilians and freedom. When I warned of a police state in the U.S. many thought I was crazy or a conspiracy theorist. Neither. I am well informed with a keen eye to put the "real pieces" of the puzzle together. Today the National Guard was called on in Iowa to come out in the name of National Security. Against who? Us? Peaceful protesters? American citizens exercising what they still believe is their right of free speech, free press, the right to assembly peaceably? News of Ashcroft's citizen camps has made the papers as well.

I began reading a new book sent me by someone I will interview next month. The book's title is "The Hydra of Carnage: Bush's Imperial War-Making and the Rule of Law. An Analysis of the Objectives and Delusions of Empire" by Craig Hulet. He makes a very strong case against Empire, and points to the Empire having been "hit" on September 11th, not the Country of America. The World Trade Center was the symbol of the World Trade Organization itself, the monster that is killing democracy worldwide. It's a very interesting view on the world situation. I am not condoning what happened on that day, just giving another view of it. With the fall of communism, the poor in nations around the world did not benefit at all. They did not and still do not benefit from the U.S. being the one and only "super-power" on the planet. This is part of the reason I feel that people turn to anarchy.

They try getting laws changed and doing things the "legal way" only to find that multi-national corporations run their meetings in secret and NOT for the benefit of humanity. They then try to make changes through peaceful protests. When that doesn't work either, what choice is left them? To continue watching as their rights are taken from them? Their jobs? Their homes? Their children? Sooner of later, when left with nothing they realize they have the upper hand against those who have "plenty to lose". That type of heart and passion could never be defeated. Not by an army, a missile, or a "war on terrorism". The war as I see it is on FREEDOM, as Nafeez Ahmed writes so eloquently in his book "The War on Freedom".

The only way to defeat an anarchist is to take away his gripes by alleviating his suffering. I don't feel that with the "Global One World Order" this will be achieved. When the goals are privitisation of every countries natural resources which should belong to "the people" of that country, how can they expect anything less than anarchy or freedom fighters?

The entire planet did not sign up for One World Order, one world religion, one world culture, and the dismissal of their own sovereignty and culture. It has been the multi-national corporations who have chosen the fate of the entire planet without any debate or discussion. All in the name of the Almighty Dollar. The bottom line. Profit margins and to hell with the lives of millions of people.

I am not encouraging anarchy. I am simply trying to understand it. What makes a person do the things they do? How long before our troops are used against our own people here in America? How long before regular citizens who have a differing opinion than the "administration" end up in the citizen camps of Mr. Ashcroft? We are under a tyranny right here in America and most Americans don't even know it. None of us voted for it. It was forced on us by the Supreme Court in 2000. Forced on us by the Lockheed-Martin Administration running America as Dr. Helen Caldicott points out so well in her book "The New Nuclear Danger, George W. Bush's Military-Industrial Complex". I had a wonderful interview with Dr. Caldicott (in my archives at www.meria.net) that would make the whole world stop and think if they would just listen.

Many people are now gearing up to "sweep them out of office" in the elections of 2002. Who will we sweep out? What will be left after the sweep? How will we sweep them out? How does one erase corruption and greed from the souls of people who have been bought on both sides of the coin? How do you instill love and fairness for all humanity into humans who have proven for decades and decades that the bottom line is their only concern?

How do you even know your vote will be counted? What proof do we have that our votes have been counted since the advent of computer voting? I interviewed a brave young woman on my show - Victoria Collier, daughter of James Collier, co-author of "Votescam". We discussed the fact that although her Dad and uncle had paper proof, video proof and more that our votes have been stolen, discarded, manipulated since 1970, no one has cared to do anything about it. As they say over and over again in their book :"we can't vote the bastards out, because we never voted the bastards in". So what is left to the citizen? How do we effect change? What will we do when we are no longer allowed to peacefully assemble in protest as all signs are pointing to today? Will our own armed forces, and police have to turn on their own brothers and sisters in America? What will happen when the PEOPLE stop paying the salaries and taxes for the armed forces and the police? Will any of them show up for work when they aren't getting paid to "do their job"? I doubt it. It all comes down to the only vote we have. We MUST vote with our money. Stop supporting war without end, stop our taxes from going to support a war-mongering administration. Demand changes and answers from our government or just use our constitutional right to throw them all out of office and start over. Obviously the signers of the Constitution knew this type of tyranny was coming and put into words what we can do when our government gets drunk with power.

As we approach what could be the end of America as we know it, imminent war in Iraq, escalation of war in Israel, droughts, fires, famines, earthquakes, global warming, sinking of land into the sea it couldn't be clearer what "OUR JOB" is. Our job is to make sure life will continue on this planet with a secure future for every living person regardless of where they are. If we don't take the necessary action, putting our bodies on the line if we must, how we will answer the future generations who will be forced to live in a hell worse than any science fiction writer could ever imagine? Are you up for the "job"? All of civilization depends on us qualifying for it.

The Meria Heller Show, now in it's third year, sans any corporate sponsoring or censorship.

Write the author at mailto:Meria@Meria.net

"THE MERIA HELLER SHOW "- Now in Over 60 Countries!

Check it out at : http://www.Meria.net

8/23/02
7:27:02 PM

S.U.V. Haters Pitch A Curbside Battle

By Aaron Donovan

With people crowding the sidewalks and music from clubs and cars in the air, it was the kind of summer night in Greenwich Village when energy seems to emanate from the pavement. Joseph Edmonds, in a dark baseball cap and a white polo shirt, might have been looking for the right nightclub. Instead, he was studying the rows of parked cars.

Halfway down the block from a busy corner, he spotted one that towered above the others, its shiny gray paint reflecting light from the streetlamp overhead. "I'm going to get that Excursion down there," he told Renée Benson, a young woman who was scanning the curbsides with him.

"Please do," she replied.

He walked to the car and, from a stack in his hand, took out a card colored the bright orange of a New York City parking ticket and imprinted with the word "violation." He slipped it under the windshield wiper.

The owner of the car was in for a bout of that stomach-dropping feeling that accompanies the discovery of a ticket. But Mr. Edmonds and Ms. Benson, friends in their 20's, are not with the Police Department. The card was a message from people who hate sport utility vehicles, and the "violation" was owning one.

"Did you get excited when you saw that ad for an S.U.V. in the remote wilderness?" the text on the fake ticket read. "Did you want to sue the manufacturer for false advertising when you started driving it to the shopping center instead?" It went on — at some length — to castigate S.U.V.'s for their gasoholic tendencies and S.U.V. drivers for buying them.

"Think about it!" the flier said. "Why do you need such a HUGE car? This is not a militarized zone!" It accused the driver of "polluting more than your fair share."

Challenging the owners of S.U.V.'s isn't new. In Manhattan, vigilantes have been putting crude fliers trumpeting accusations like "Your car is a killer" on S.U.V.'s for at least two years, and in Brooklyn, a magazine editor organized a protest in which a number of "No S.U.V. Parking" signs were placed on a street last December.

But the phenomenon appears to be growing in size and intensity. Mr. Edmonds and Ms. Benson were working with Earth on Empty, a group concerned about air pollution and global warming that has begun distributing professionally designed and mass-produced ticket look-alikes in a score of states.

Trying a different tactic, two women let the air out of the tires of S.U.V.'s parked at Johnson Ford, a dealership in Kingston, N.Y., last year. This month the were sentenced to 50 hours each of community service.

"There are many of us at the dealership who are environmentally aware," said Vincent Martello, the marketing manager of the Johnson Auto Group, which owns the dealership. "I just think that the strategy that they chose was not an effective one."

Some responses to anti-S.U.V. activism are less restrained. In Greenwich Village, Mr. Edmonds and Ms. Benson didn't wait around to see their victims' reactions, but it's a safe bet they were not warm ones. What the protesters see as activism looks to some on the receiving end like harassment.

"We get really, really nasty e-mails all the time," said John, a founder of Earth on Empty who monitors messages to the group's Web site, www.earthonempty .com. The Web address is printed plainly on the phony tickets.

John, who lives in Cambridge, Mass., would give only his first name because, he said, he has been receiving hostile phone calls from people who have somehow found out about his anti-S.U.V. work. But he did share a sampling of the e-mail messages. In just a dozen of them, S.U.V. proponents called Earth on Empty members tree-huggers, time-wasters, socialists, elitists, litterers, blue-collar workers, freedom-removers, leftists, losers, homosexuals, Democrats and filthy people. And those were the printable epithets.

John himself once met an S.U.V. owner face to face while he was ticketing. The owner and his girlfriend were inside, but not visible from a distance. The owner got out and chased John away from the car, shouting profanities. The group advises its helpers not to give out the tickets before 10 p.m. and not to confront drivers.

The sneak-and-strike policy may be prudent, but it leaves some of the S.U.V. owners incensed. "I don't want to say it's cowardly, but it's leaving something and running," said Darren Thayer, 29, whose Ford Explorer was ticketed in Cape Elizabeth, Me., on Aug. 3.

Christina Allen, 18, who was with her boyfriend when his '88 Jeep Cherokee was ticketed this month in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Eagan, Minn., said they both thought at first that the flier was a real parking ticket. "Once we figured out what it was," she said, "we were really mad."

The thrust of the Earth on Empty message is about fuel economy. But some of the ticketers have other concerns. Candice Manson, 23, another New York activist, hates being trapped behind outsize cars when she's on the road herself. "When you're stuck in traffic behind an S.U.V.," she said, "you don't know why you're stuck in traffic."

John, who runs the Earth on Empty Web site, says the group wants to stigmatize S.U.V. owners the way militant animal lovers have stigmatized women who wear fur coats.

In Greenwich Village, Ms. Benson and Mr. Edmonds cast their net widely; they ticketed a Toyota RAV4, a small S.U.V. that gets 22 to 31 miles per gallon. But Earth on Empty officially advises "Go for the monsters!"

It hands out a guide listing 14 of the "hugest S.U.V.'s": the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Denali, Land Rover Range Rover, Ford Excursion and Expedition, Toyota Land Cruiser and Sequoia, Lincoln Navigator, Mercedes M-Class, Dodge Durango, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, Mercury Mountaineer and Lexus LS 470.

In general, the ticketers are proudest when they snag the big fish. "I like the Excursions because they're so huge for no reason," Mr. Edmonds said. And when Ms. Manson spotted a stretch limousine made from a Navigator, she gave it two tickets.

The stretch may be hard to justify, but many drivers who send e-mail messages to Earth on Empty's Web site are quick to defend their S.U.V.'s.

"We are a family of six with three dogs, often driving eight," one wrote. "What else should we drive? Three cars?"

Another wrote, "We have a home in the country, and the dirt roads can be hard to drive on, especially in the winter and mud season."

One man told a sobering story. "You have no idea why I drive the vehicle I have," his message said. "Maybe, just maybe, it's because my wife and myself have lost a son in an accident and want my family to be safe. Try losing a child."

But in at least one case, an Earth on Empty flier brought about a conversion. Janice Gilmer, 50, a massage therapist from the Upper West Side, said that when she read the fake ticket left on her Nissan Pathfinder, she had a moment of epiphany.

"I never would have bought my S.U.V. if I had any idea about the pollution and the waste of gas and unnecessary size and strength of it," she said. "I've never put it in four-wheel-drive once."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/23/automobiles/23AUTO.html

8/23/02
7:21:41 PM

Secret Court Says F.B.I. Aides Misled Judges In 75 Cases

By Phipip Shenon, The New York Times

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 The nation's secret intelligence court has identified more than 75 cases in which it says it was misled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in documents in which the bureau attempted to justify its need for wiretaps and other electronic surveillance, according to the first of the court's rulings to be released publicly.

The opinion by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which was issued in May but made public today by Congress, is stinging in its criticism of the F.B.I. and the Justice Department ( news - web sites), which the court suggested had tried to defy the will of Congress by allowing intelligence material to be shared freely with criminal investigators.

In its opinion, the court rejected a secret request made by the Justice Department this year to allow broader cooperation and evidence-sharing between counterintelligence investigators and criminal prosecutors. The court found that the request was "not reasonably designed" to safeguard the privacy of Americans. The court generally operates in secret and is responsible for approving warrants to eavesdrop on people suspected of espionage or terrorism.

The opinion may be important in documenting why the F.B.I. was hesitant last summer to seek court authority to search the computer and other belongings of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mr. Moussaoui was arrested in Minnesota last August, and F.B.I. officials have acknowledged that their failure to investigate him more fully was among the mistakes that allowed the Sept. 11 hijackers to operate in the United States undetected in the weeks before the attacks.

Officials have previously acknowledged that at the time of Mr. Moussaoui's arrest, the F.B.I. was wary of making any surveillance requests to the special court after its judges had complained bitterly the year before that they were being seriously misled by the bureau in F.B.I. affidavits requesting surveillance of Hamas, the militant Palestinian group.

As a result of the complaints, the Justice Department opened an internal investigation of the conduct of senior F.B.I. and Justice Department officials. Department officials said the inquiry was still under way and could result in disciplinary action.

Justice Department officials noted that the criticism of the department in the opinion referred mostly to actions by the department and the F.B.I. in the Clinton administration.

The department said today that it intended to appeal the court's decision not to grant its request for broader authority to share intelligence information with criminal investigators, and that secret appeal papers were filed today with a special three-judge panel that oversees the surveillance court.

"We believe this decision unnecessarily narrowed the Patriot Act and limits our ability to fully utilize the authority that Congress provided us," said Barbara Comstock, the Justice Department spokeswoman, referring to the U.S.A. Patriot Act, the broad antiterrorism law that Congress passed after Sept. 11. The act makes it easier for prosecutors to use information gathered from intelligence wiretaps.

At a forum in April at the University of Texas, Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who recently stepped down as the court's presiding judge, praised Attorney General John Ashcroft ( news - web sites) and his staff for ending abuses of the system for requesting wiretap authority. The F.B.I. had no separate comment on the ruling and referred calls to the Justice Department.

In its opinion made public today, the court, which is based in Washington, documented the "alarming number of instances" during the Clinton administration in which the F.B.I. might have acted improperly.

The opinion was part of a package of material presented this week by the court to the Senate Judiciary Committee ( news - web sites), which is reviewing requests by the Justice Department for even broader investigative powers in the aftermath of Sept. 11. The committee released the documents today, along with a statement from the panel's chairman, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, who said, "this ray of sunshine from the judicial branch is a remarkable step forward for constructive oversight."

In weighing eavesdrop requests, the special court, which was created by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and was recently expanded from to 11 members from 7, is responsible for enforcing provisions of the law that limit the sharing of electronic surveillance from intelligence or terrorism cases with criminal investigators; the limitations are intended to uphold the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure.

Because the standards of evidence required for electronic surveillance are much lower in many intelligence investigations than in criminal investigations, the authors of the law wanted to prevent the dissemination of intelligence information to criminal investigators or prosecutors.

But in a number of cases, the court said, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department had made "erroneous statements" in eavesdropping applications about "the separation of the overlapping intelligence and criminal investigators and the unauthorized sharing of FISA information with F.B.I. criminal investigators and assistant U.S. attorneys."

"How these misrepresentations occurred remains unexplained to the court," the opinion said.

In essence, the court said that the F.B.I. and the Justice Department were violating the law by allowing information gathered from intelligence eavesdrops to be used freely in bringing criminal charges, without court review, and that criminal investigators were improperly directing the use of counterintelligence wiretaps.

The opinion said that in September 2000, "the government came forward to confess errors in 75 FISA applications related to major terrorist attacks directed against the United States the errors related to misstatements and omissions of material facts."

In one case, it said, the error appeared in a statement issued by the office of Louis J. Freeh, then the F.B.I. director, in which the bureau said that target of an intelligence eavesdropping request "was not under criminal investigation."

In March of 2001, the court said, "the government reported similar misstatements in another series of FISA applications in which there was supposed to be a `wall' between separate intelligence and criminal squads in F.B.I. field offices to screen FISA intercepts, when in fact all of the F.B.I. agents were on the same squad and all of the screening was done by the one supervisor overseeing both investigations." The location of the squad and the nature of the inquiry were not described.

Gregory T. Nojeim, associate director of the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union ( news - web sites) in Washington, said the opinion was "astounding" in demonstrating that the F.B.I. and the Justice Department have tried an "end run around the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches."

"These disclosures couldn't have come at a worse time for the Department of Justice ( news - web sites)," Mr. Nojeim said. "They've just been given vast new intelligence powers and are seeking more."

Source: http://www.NYTimes.com

8/23/02
7:16:54 PM

Greenpeace's Positive Energy August 19 - August 23, 2002

Time for Greenpeace's CLEAN ENERGY NOW! campaign's weekly

good news update!!!

Inside this edition:

- High Flying Protest in Thailand

- Rolling Sunlight Tour on the Border

- One Last Push for Solar Energy in California

High Flying Protest

Mae Moh, Southeast Asia's largest coal plant, received a visit from Greenpeace earlier this week when a hot air balloon carrying the message "Stop Global Warming" arrived overhead. Part of the Greenpeace Choose Positive Energy tour, the protest highlighted continuing dependence on dirty energy resources, which is in sharp contrast to the renewable energy technology Greenpeace installed in villages across Thailand this year. With the World Summit on Sustainable Development rapidly approaching, Greenpeace is calling on the world's governments to begin implementing measures to advance sustainable energy technology around the globe.

For photos and more information, check out:

http://www.greenpeace.org/press/release?press_id=22699&campaign_id=

Rolling Sunlight Border Tour

Following an appearance at the 2002 SolFest celebration in Hopland, California this weekend (August 24-25), the Rolling Sunlight will be heading South to the U.S.-Mexican border for a series of youth oriented events to promote clean, renewable energy. The Rolling Sunlight, Greenpeace's solar truck, will power events such as the annual Labor Day Pier Swim in San Diego on September 2nd and will be in Tijuana (Rosarito, at the Plaza Rio Aug 28-29), Mexicali (at the Plaza Cachanilla on Aug 31) and Brawley (Sept 1). The tour will take place at the same time as the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Come and help us spread the word about clean energy in the US and Mexico.

For more information about the Rolling Sunlight tour, please contact:

Luis Arturo Moreno via email at:

arturo.moreno@sfo.greenpeace.org

or by phone: at: (619) 995-7609 or

JP Ross via email at: jp.ross@sfo.greenpeace.org or by phone: 510-390-2477

For the WSSD countdown, please visit:

http://archive.greenpeace.org/earthsummit/index.html

One Last Push to Keep The Utilities From Stomping Out Solar in California

Thanks for all the letters and faxes you sent to California legislators last week on AB 58. They made a difference, but the victory is not yet ours! AB 58, the net metering bill that allows large, cost effective, solar systems to plug into the utility grid, still needs to be modified. We need your support for one last push on certain members of the California legislature to keep solar energy alive and kicking in California.

Tell Assemblyman Roderick Wright and Senator Bill Morrow that solar energy is good for California's health, economy and electricity grid, by sending them a fax and an email.

Just go to:

http://www.cleanenergynow.org/bin/takeaction.fpl?action_id=142

The "Positive Energy" newsletter and our web site,

http://www.cleanenergynow.org,

will give you good news about ways to achieve clean air, climate justice, and renewable energy solutions to our ongoing energy crisis.

Help Greenpeace spread the word. Forward this e-mail on to other caring individuals.

Want to do more? Become a Greenpeace member today! To give online, go to:

https://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/cen.htm

8/23/02
7:03:28 PM

Panel Urges Caution in Producing Gene-Altered Animals

By WARREN E. LEARY

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 -- Although there is no evidence that cows, sheep and other animals reproduced through cloning are unsafe to eat, more caution is needed on animals engineered to contain genes from other species, a panel of scientists said today.

The National Research Council committee, asked by the Food and Drug Administration to examine the safety concerns of applying biotechnology to animal products used for food, said it had reservations about food from some gene-altered animals. However, the committee said, there also appear to be many benefits if the technology is applied and regulated carefully.

"We were asked to focus on safety concerns, but we don't want to inhibit the progress of biotechnology, because of its many potential benefits," said Dr. John G. Vandenbergh of North Carolina State University, chairman of the panel. "We are saying, If you use this technology, do it in a safe manner."

The 12-member committee of scientists, doctors and other experts said its biggest concern about the new technology was the potential of certain genetically engineered organisms to escape and reproduce in the natural environment. Modified insects, fish, shellfish and other animals could easily escape and threaten their natural counterparts. For example, the panel said, gene-altered salmon given the ability to grow at an accelerated rate might compete more successfully for food and mates than natural varieties, causing wild salmon to die out.

The food and drug agency asked for the review as it prepared to rule on the safety of selling food products from animals manipulated through biotechnology, particularly cloned cattle. With techniques similar to those used to clone Dolly the sheep, scientists can create almost an identical copy of an adult animal with certain desirable traits. Owners of hundreds of cows cloned this way want to sell milk or meat from them but have been warned to wait for regulatory approval.

The panel said it found no data indicating the products of cloned animals were unsafe, nor did it identify a way something was likely to go wrong to make such cloned animals the source of unsafe food.

But the committee said it had reservations about food from transgenic animals, those that are changed by adding genes of other species or by having existing genes removed or deactivated. Such animals could produce meat with less fat or more protein, eggs with less cholesterol, or milk that contains drugs or vaccines that could fight disease.

One potential risk of food from transgenic animals is that some new proteins produced because of adding genes from other species might prompt hypersensitive or allergic reactions in a few people. The panel said that predicting such allergic potential was hard, and that some adverse reactions might not show up until products were on the market.

Dr. Vandenbergh said in an interview that people accepted a certain level of risk in everyday life, but that risks from foods needed to be kept as low as possible. Between 1 percent and 2 percent of adults, and 5 percent of children, have allergies, he said.

"There are a number of things that have an extremely low probability of risk, but if they occur, the consequences can be serious, as with an allergic reaction," he said.

The committee said that animals engineered to produce nonfood products, like drugs in their milk, should not enter the food supply. However, it said, it is unclear whether adequate controls are in place to ensure that carcasses from such animals do not yield food.

The National Research Council, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, was asked to look only at scientific concerns about biotechnology and food, and not for policy recommendations. But the committee said that regulation of the technology now spanned several federal agencies, and that this arrangement might not be adequate.

The committee said in its report that it had "concern about the legal and technical capacity of the agencies to address potential hazards, particularly in the environmental area."

Michael R. Taylor, a committee member and senior fellow with Resources for the Future, a study group based in Washington, said the panel was not criticizing a particular agency but saying that Congress and other policy makers should give regulators the tools they needed to deal with nontraditional technology that crossed traditional agency lines. "Does the F.D.A., for instance, have adequate authority to deal with issues such as the environmental consequences of a transgenic fish getting out?" Mr. Taylor asked.

Joseph Mendelson, the legal director for the Center for Food Safety, which has criticized genetically modified food, said regulatory uncertainty was enough in itself to keep these foods off the market.

"There are still serious issues concerning safety and regulation that should keep these things from endangering human health and the environment," Mr. Mendelson said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/21/science/21BIOT.html?todaysheadlines

8/23/02
7:02:19 PM

Public Citizen

Aug. 23, 2002

Campaign for Sustainable Development Energy Initiative Launched at World Summit

International Fund Would Promote Energy Conservation, Renewable Energy

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Today marked the launch of a campaign by Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE), in partnership with Public Citizen, to establish an international fund that will support projects promoting energy conservation and sustainable sources of renewable energy.

The International Sustainable Energy Fund (ISEF) would consist of contributions from governments throughout the world of both money and ideas about strategy and technology. They would be used to achieve a sustainable quality of life for all. The idea was unveiled at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).

"With the world's attention focused on the world summit right now, we hope that governments will be open to new ideas that would help realize the promise of the Rio Earth Summit ten years ago," said Alice Slater, president of GRACE. "Creating a unified fund to ensure equitable access of sustainable resources for all is the first step to eradicating poverty, minimizing pollutants, and reducing the risk from global warming and nuclear proliferation, while promoting safe, clean sustainable energy."

GRACE first submitted the ISEF model to the Commission for Sustainable Development in New York City in April 2001. It later was endorsed in concept at the EU/ NA Regional Roundtable in Vail, Colo. According to the plan, the funding for the ISEF would come from money saved from phasing out subsidies by industrialized governments that support unsustainable forms of fossil fuel and nuclear energy.

"This is a work in progress by civil society and we hope WSSD participants view this concept as an opportunity to promote international cooperation for a common goal," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program, which is advocating on behalf of the fund's creation. "Now is the time to push this idea forward and talk about how we can make it real. This is a call to all governments - if you truly want to clean up our planet, here's a way we can do it."

For more information about ISEF, please visit

http://www.gracelinks.org/nuke/sustainable_energy.html.

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

For more information, please visit http://www.citizen.org.

8/23/02
7:00:59 PM

Greenpeace Action Alert

August 23rd, 2002

Tell the White House to Protect Our Food Supply

In early August 2002, the White House released a new proposal to regulate genetically engineered (GE) crops. Under the Bush Administration's corporate-friendly "guidance" (non-binding proposals that even if enacted would be voluntary), the biotech industry will be allowed to push ahead with new GE crops even if the crops have not been safety tested. Tell the White House that you want GE crops kept out of our food supply!

Be sure to take action now as the comment period ends September 30th.

Send an email and fax to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy:

http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/bin/actionframe.pl?action_id=144

8/23/02
6:55:36 PM

DAILY GRIST

<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

TUMUCUMAQUE AND STOMACHACHE

There's good news and bad news from the Amazon. Good news first: The Brazilian government has announced the creation of the world's largest tropical forest reserve -- the 9,562,770-acre Tumucumaque National Park, in the northern Amazonian state of Amapa. The bad news is that even such a large park seems like a Band-Aid effort for Brazil's rainforest, which is disappearing at the rate of more than 6,000 square miles per year -- an area about the size of Connecticut. The loss is likely to increase as the government moves ahead with a $43 billion development project known as Brazil Advances, which will include paving a 1,100-mile highway through the heart of the forest. One of the main (if unlikely) culprits in the deforestation of the Amazon is the soybean -- or, more specifically, skyrocketing demand for it in China. Brazil, which is the second largest soybean exporter after the U.S., is rushing to meet that demand -- and logging and burning its forest for croplands in order to do so.

straight to the source: New York Times, Larry Rohter, 23 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=394>

straight to the source: BBC News, 23 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=395>

WE'VE GOT MAIL

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night can stop the deluge of letters to Grist Magazine. In the latest batch, readers yak back about everything from diapers and T-shirts to wind power and dandelions. And, of course, there's more feedback for the ever-popular Umbra Fisk, advice columnist extraordinaire. Check out what your fellow fans have to say, only on the Grist Magazine website.

only in Grist: Rebirth of the cool -- and other words from readers, in our Letters section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/letters/letters082302.asp?source=daily>

CHINESE CHECKMATE

In a move that could further isolate the United States on environmental issues, China announced yesterday that its State Council is on the verge of approving the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The Chinese parliament would also need to ratify the treaty, but that body generally rubber-stamps decisions made by the State Council, where the real decision-making takes place. Because it is a developing country, China would not be held to First World emissions reductions standards, even though it is the world's second-largest producer of carbon dioxide after the U.S. However, by signing the treaty, China would become eligible to gain revenue from developed countries looking to earn credits toward emissions goals by investing in emissions-reducing projects in developing countries. Premier Zhu Rongji could announce China's backing of the pact during the World Summit on Sustainable Development, opening next week in Johannesburg, South Africa.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Scott Hillis, 23 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=396>

KNOWING THE COST OF EVERY THIN AND THE VALUE OF NOTHING

The plan unveiled by President Bush earlier this week to make it easier to thin forests in the name of fire prevention has touched off a firestorm of its own, enraging environmentalists who see it as a giveaway for the timber industry and a backdoor out of environmental protection measures. Moreover, environmentalists see the Bush plan as a Trojan horse for sneaking a highly controversial timber practice into American forests -- salvage logging, or the selling of trees in fire-damaged forests. Advocates of salvage logging say it is a way for the U.S. Forest Service to make money off of wood that might otherwise simply rot; conservationists compare salvage logging to mugging a fire victim. They say timber companies remove large, fire-resistant trees and fallen logs that help restore ecosystems, and leave precisely the smaller trees and underbrush that pose a fire hazard.

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Geoffrey Mohan, 23 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=397>

A TICKET TO NOT RIDE

Tree-huggers, time-wasters, socialists, elitists, leftists, losers, homosexuals, Democrats -- those are just a few of the more printable epithets that have been directed at the members of Earth on Empty, an environmental organization dedicated to improving air quality and reversing global warming. What has Earth on Empty done to earn such malice? It has launched a campaign to "ticket" SUV owners for violating the environment. Volunteers with the organization distribute faux traffic tickets to parked SUVs; the text on the tickets describes the environmental consequences of owning the gas-guzzling, oversized vehicles. Earth on Empty's campaign is just one part of a grassroots anti-SUV campaign that has included erecting "No SUV parking" signs on New York City streets. Earth on Empty's goal is to make SUV ownership an embarrassing sign of conspicuous consumption, much as animal-rights groups successfully stigmatized the wearing of fur.

straight to the source: New York Times, Aaron Donovan, 23 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=398>

8/23/02
6:07:53 PM

New at TomPaine.com

http://www.TomPaine.com

WAG THE PUPPY

Rumors Of Iraqi War Help White House

by Norman Solomon

The more that Iraq dominates the news, the less room there is for stories about economic insecurity, Wall Street scandals, Bush-Cheney links to malodorous corporations, and other issues the White House would rather not discuss.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6242

THE LOYAL OPPOSITION: MR. THIN STUFF

Rumsfeld's Weak War Logic

by David Corn

Rumsfeld has been out front on Iraq -- pushing the case, without providing evidence, that Saddam Hussein and his brutal cronies are up to their moustaches in terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6245

FROM GROUND ZERO TO SPRAWLMART

A Call For National Development With Heart

by Jane Holtz Kay

The besieged turf of Lower Manhattan is a symbol of less emotionally fraught spaces where advocates have begun to ally and fight for urban and environmental principles.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6186

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

8/23/02
5:52:43 PM

Friday Rally to focus on dissent and Police suppression at yesterday's Bush protest

http://portland.indymedia.org/

8/23/02
5:44:24 PM

EMS Update - August 23, 2002

Analysis of Bush Wildfire Plan

Following the unveiling of Bush's "Healthy Forests Initiative," green groups have released their analyses of the plan and experts are available to comment.

The Wilderness Society analysis:

http://www.wilderness.org/newsroom/factsheet082202.htm

The Sierra Club analysis:

http://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0208&L=ce-scnews-releases&D =1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F=&S=&P=1150

WWF experts available:

http://www.ems.org/wildfires/wwf_advisory.pdf

Duke University release:

http://www.ascribe.org:2201/cgi-bin/spew4th.pl?ascribeid=20020822.072604&tim e=07%2036%20PDT&year=2002&public=1

Wildfires and Climate Change

For links to reports and websites that touch on the relationship between global warming, drought and wildfires, visit a new links page at

http://www.ems.org/wildfires/climate_change.html

World Summit News

For World Summit news, updated daily, visit

http://www.ems.org/world_summit/news.html

8/23/02
5:42:51 PM

Brazil Creates World's Largest Rainforest Park

BRASILIA , Brazil August 22, 2002 (ENS) - Brazil is establishing the largest rainforest national park in the world as the country's contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announced today.

Covering 9.4 million acres of the northern Amazon along Brazil's boundary with French Guyana, the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park shelters rare jaguars, harpy eagles and 12 percent of all primates known to exist in the entire Brazilian Amazon.

"With the creation of Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, we are ensuring the protection of one of the most pristine forests remaining in the world," said President Cardoso. "Plants and animals that may be endangered elsewhere will continue to thrive in our forests forever."

Conservation International (CI) served as a lead nongovernmental advisor for the park's creation, providing technical assistance during the planning phase and collecting information about the region's biological importance.

"Brazil should be congratulated for its long term vision, dedication and leadership on conserving its precious biodiversity," said CI president Russell Mittermeier today at the group's headquarters in Washington, DC.

"Since Tumucumaque is one of the greatest unexplored places on Earth, we can only imagine what undiscovered mysteries will one day be found in the park," said Mittermeier, who serves as chairman of the World Conservation Union's Primate Specialist Group, and has discovered several primates previously unknown to science in the Brazilian Amazon.

Covering 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres), Tumucumaque Mountains National Park will be the world's largest tropical reserve - the same size as Belgium and about 500,000 hectares (1.23 million acres) larger than the state of Rio de Janeiro.

President Cardoso has backed in the project, despite the opposition of mayors in the region and security sectors of the government itself who see risks in the fact that the area is on the Brazilian border with French Guiana. "I believe in persuasion and I have persuasion power, said the President in June when he proposed the park at a Johannesburg preparatory conference. "If I don't have persuasion, I have the power."

President Cardoso wants to arrive in South Africa with victories in the environmental area. Brazil has ratified the Kyoto climate protocol, setting goals for the reduction of greenhouse gases. "As a result, Brazil may arrive in Johannesburg with the required moral strength to state that it is not only preaching, but implementing measures," said the President.

WWF, the conservation organization, has been working with the Brazilian government for several years to bring the park to fruition. WWF will allocate US$1 million to help the Brazilian government implement the park as part of the Amazon Region Protected Areas initiative (ARPA) an unprecedented collaborative effort to help fulfill the Brazilian government's promise to protect the Amazon.

ARPA will be formally initiated by representatives of WWF, the government of Brazil, the World Bank, and the Global Environmental Facility at a ceremony during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

"President Cardoso's announcement of the creation of Tumucumaque National Park is a landmark achievement in global forest conservation and an historic step forward in efforts to protect the Amazon Basin," said Kathryn Fuller, president of WWF-US said today in Washington, DC.

Eight primate species, 350 bird species and 37 lizard species inhabit these forests, researchers have found. An estimated 42 percent of all lizards, and 31 percent of all birds in the Brazilian Amazon live the new park.

Among these are several species with declining populations in other parts of their ranges, says Conservation International, including the jaguar, giant anteater, giant armadillo, harpy eagle, the black spider monkey, the brown-bearded saki monkey and the white-faced saki monkey.

Adjoining several other protected areas, the new park will be part of an immense corridor of biodiversity which contains the headwaters of the state's biggest rivers, the Oiapoque, the Jari and the Araguari.

The interior of Tumucumaque itself is virtually uninhabited, and surveys of the area have concluded that no indigenous settlements exist within the boundaries of the park. Access is limited and area waterways are difficult to navigate for most of the year.

The new park will be administered in collaboration with Amapá State, which has a sustainable development program encompassing both environmental and human needs. The program emphasizes the preservation of natural resources, and combines modern technologies with respect for local cultures and income generation for local communities.

Amapá Governor Dalva Maria de Souza Figueiredo has asked the federal government for funds to compensate the state for "the immobilization of 26 percent of the state territory." In a letter to President Cardoso in June, the governor reaffirms that she is not against the park, but asks for guarantees of compensation.

In the language of the Apalam and Wayana indigenous groups of the northeastern Amazon, Tumucumaque means "the rock on top of the mountain symbolizing a shaman's fight with the spirits," referring to the granite rock formations rising hundreds of feet above the forest.

Amapá already shelters another nine federal conservation units, totaling 21 percent of the state's territory. With aboriginal lands, the areas of Amapá under federal responsibility will now correspond 54.5 percent of the state's territory.

Amapá Environment Secretary Antonio Carlos Da Silva told reporters in June, "We reiterate, that the park is very welcome and are conscious of its importance for the protection of biodiversity, however, we ask for attention to the situation of some cities."

The state officials want improvements in basic sanitation, urban garbage disposal and highway improvements.

Conservation International-Brazil will continue working with Amapá State to support the new park by assisting with mapping, enforcement activities, developing basic infrastructure, inventory of the region's biodiversity and environmental education for communities living in areas adjacent to the park.

"Walking through this park today looks much like it would have hundreds of years ago, since Tumucumaque has not been deforested," said José Maria Cardoso da Silva, director for Amazonia, CI-Brazil. "By creating the largest tropical forest national park in the world, Brazil has once again demonstrated its commitment to protecting some of the most precious biodiversity on Earth."

http://www.naturalist.com/newsletter/naturalist_daily/index.cfm?p=display&id=6752

8/23/02
5:39:47 PM

Police opened fire on Bush protestors with rubber bullets...

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=32278

Police have opened fire on Bush protestors with rubber bullets, pepper spray and gas. The crowds of people are moving around and regrouping.

The crowd was standing at the barricades and the police had called a state of emergency. Pepper spray was used on group early on. Batons were used on some people. Group included babies in strollers and older people, also people in wheelchairs. Those that could get out of the way were cut off surronded by police. There are snipers on the roofs.

All protestors were given a phone number to write on their arm by legal group that would hook them up with legal services if they are arrested. There are also medic's intersperse in the crowd.

The crowd included union people - longshoremen, anti-war people, people who see BBush as a corporate lackey who is stealing our retirement.

add your own comments

http://portland.indymedia.org:8081/comment.php3?publishtype=webcast&top_id=17241

Police reaction to Portland protest

by Lisa Thomas 7:03pm Thu Aug 22 '02

This will backfire. Even our most ostrich-like citizens are not going to stand for rubber bullets being shot in crowds with babies in strollers. This will hopefully wake people up as to what kind of people are running our country and how much closer to a police state we are moving.

I saw it with my own eyes

by Randy 8:00pm Thu Aug 22 '02

I was between 5th and 6th on the sidewalk. Maybe the ones in front were warned to move, but I didn't hear any warning. It had been a peaceful protest. Suddenly the police came forward spraying pepper spray. A man nearby with an infant in a backpack got hit real good. The baby's face was so red I thought it had quit breathing. We pounded on the door at Carl's Jr. asking for water, but they had locked up. From the other direction came cop cars through the crowd and rubber bullets were fired at those closest to the cars. I kept retreating but the cops kept spraying. Lots of people were sprayed including the camera man from Channel 2 KATU. Some of us ended up across the street at Standard Insurance and used the fountain and pool.

GOD BLESS PORTLAND

by On Jacob's Ladder 9:48pm Thu Aug 22 '02

Thank you Portland for sending the message loud and clear! I thought the sheeple of this country too comfortable, too stupid, too crass to really care about what is happening here. We can never again ask "How did the German people let it happen?" Wake up - if we do not take to the streets we are letting it happen here. Even Gore (ol'"I'll fight for you" Al) ran and hid under a rock...Taking it to the streets is the only way - there is no other way - hey, Ostrich, do you think writing your Congressperson is the way to do it? They are owned by someone else, not by thee and me...The few who are not don't last (think Anita McKinney). Do you think the ballot is the way? Have you forgotten Florida? They will only "count" the votes they want to count. The only hope we have is in the streets...In closing, a historical messsage for you: "Why of course the people don't want war ... But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship ... Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger."

-Hermann Goering, Nazi leader, at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II

READ MORE HERE:

http://portland.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=17241&group=webcast

8/23/02
5:27:34 PM

A World Without Water

Advocates Warn of Thirst and Turmoil for a Parched Planet

by Ginger Adams Otis, Village Voice, August 21 - 27, 2002

n 1995 World Bank vice president Ismail Serageldin made a much quoted prediction for the new millennium: "If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water." Serageldin has been proven correct much faster than he or anyone else thought. Two years into the 21st century, the global water wars are upon us.

The very bleak details about water security may finally seep out during the 10-day United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) starting Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa. While heads of state and corporate bigwigs converge in Sandton (rumored to be Africa's wealthiest suburb), thousands of anti-globalization activists and environmentalists will be attending shadow summits just down the street. They'll be trying to call attention to the dangers of privatizing the world's water supplies, and pointing to places like Nelspruit, 125 miles to the north, where residents now buy their drinking water from the Biwater corporation, and are all but dying of dehydration. The problem isn't water flow but cash flow: Poor residents can't pay privatized rates. It's a scenario that's beginning to play out all over South Africa. "That's exactly what's wrong with privatization," says Maude Barlow, chair of the Council of Canadians, Canada's largest public advocacy group. "These companies completely reject the idea that water is a common property belonging to all living creatures. Their only goal is to commodify the earth's most precious resource."

The concept of privatizing water service has been around since Napoléon III, but only 5 percent of the world population currently receives water from corporations. Activists want to stop the process before it goes any further; the world's water lords want rapid expansion. In 1998, when the private sector began angling for the water market in earnest, the World Bank predicted the global trade in water would soon generate revenues of up to $800 billion a year. Two years later, at a World Water Forum in the Hague, a triumvirate of multinational water companies backed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) successfully strong-armed the UN into defining water as a human need (which can be sold for profit by private companies) instead of a human right (which means people are ensured equal access on a nonprofit basis).

Faster than you can say Evian, revenue projections jacked into the multiple trillions. Private companies had a green light to approach cities and states around the globe (usually cash-strapped ones) and offer to lease, buy, or enter into a consortium agreement for the existing municipal water systems. After privatization is complete, the companies make a profit by charging residents every time they turn on a tap or flush a toilet. Some also offer wastewater services, such as sewage disposal, and implement water treatment plants. Many of these companies get profit guarantees written into their contracts. For example, if residents use less water than predicted, companies can raise rates so profits don't fall below a predetermined number. Once in control of a water system, they can also take any surplus and sell it off to the highest bidder, usually a neighboring city that's experiencing an unexpected shortfall. In some parts of the world, reports the trade journal Global Water Intelligence, water commands the same price as oil. No wonder Fortune magazine touted the water market as a "safe harbor in stocks—a place that promises steady consistent returns well into the next century."

The two reigning conglomerates are Vivendi Universal and Suez, both based in France, which have amassed 70 percent of the existing world water market. Together they deliver water services to more than a hundred million people. Suez operates in 130 countries and Vivendi in more than 90. Right behind them are Bouygues-SAUR (French), RWE-Thames (German), and Bechtel-United Utilities (American). These are the biggest multinationals, but there are numerous other companies doing the same thing on a smaller scale.

But what of the world's water crisis? Currently the UN identifies approximately six "hot stains," places where water is so scarce that human life may not be sustainable and conflict over dwindling resources is an ever present threat. Water giants like Vivendi insist privatization and conservation aren't mutually exclusive. They say it can actually improve water service, because for-profit companies are wealthy enough to invest in new technology and infrastructure improvements to aging systems where poor governments are not. Activists like Barlow say for-profit companies are not set up as sustainable enterprises or to conserve resources. The more water sold, the better their bottom line—so why should they try to halt the world's parching?

Here's the really hard news Barlow says the water lords don't want known: Not only is there the same amount of water on the planet as there was at its creation, it is almost all the same water. There is no secret source to replace the vast quantities that modern humankind consumes, and technology hasn't come up with a magic bullet either. Desalination of seawater has proven outrageously expensive and leaves behind brackish water mostly uninhabitable for marine life. According to the latest official calculations, there are only 8.6 million cubic miles of fresh water left on earth, a mere 2.6 percent of the 330 million cubic feet of total water. The UN predicts that two-thirds of the world's population will live in water-scarce regions by 2025, and many of them in regions previously considered water-rich, like the United States.

Environmentalists—and even some heads of state—are frantically trying to undo the damage. Much of the problem can be traced to river damming and the Green Revolution, both of which were embraced by the American government during the last century and exported globally. The Green Revolution was supposed to solve the world's hunger problem by introducing high-yield miracle seeds to developing nations, especially India and China. Instead it created an ongoing irrigation crisis by replacing drought-resistant indigenous crops with water-guzzling varieties. Farmers were forced to forgo traditional and sustainable irrigation methods; deep wells became the norm, pulling precious groundwater out of already water-scarce areas. Then developers began trying to solve the irrigation problem by building big dams. According to Sandra Postel of the Global Water Policy Project, a water conservation advocacy group, there were 5000 large dams (more than 15 meters high) worldwide in 1950. There are now 45,000. On average, there have been two large dams constructed every day for the past 50 years. "They were built with the best of intentions," says Postel, "to supply hydroelectric power, irrigation, and public water, and to control floods. But we didn't understand the full range of ecological consequences that would unfold."

Now four of the world's greatest rivers (the Ganges, Yellow River, Nile, and Colorado) routinely dry up before reaching the ocean, and water that normally would roll through the earth and feed aquifers runs off pavements and rooftops into sewers, eventually ending up (usually carrying pesticides and toxins) in the ocean, but without moisturizing forests and marshlands on the way. Add relentless human consumption, industrial farming, and global warming and you've got the Ogallala Aquifer, which stretches from the Texas Panhandle to South Dakota and is believed to have once contained 4 trillion tons of pristine water. It's now mined continuously by over 200,000 groundwater wells. They pull out 13 million gallons per minute—which is 14 times faster than nature's replenishing rate. Each year since 1991 the aquifer's water table has dropped three feet—a huge amount when multiplied by the area. By some estimates, more than half its water is gone. And that's not America's only problem area: one of the heaviest water-using places on the planet—California—is in serious trouble. The state's Department of Water Resources says that if more supplies aren't found by 2020, residents will face a shortfall of fresh water nearly as great as the amount that all of its towns and cities together are consuming today. And the U.S. is still considered water-rich; countries with less abundance are in even more danger.

That's one note activists will stress at next week's meeting: danger. Since they've had no luck convincing governments to stop making quick profits off "the commons"—essential resources that historically belong to one and all—they're going to invoke public security. "Water scarcity is now a serious source of conflict in many places," says Barlow. "Almost every country in the Middle East is facing a water crisis of historic proportions." Israel has aggressively mined water wherever possible throughout the region, severely taxing water systems in Syria and Jordan (not to mention Palestinian townships). And Turkey has caused serious tension with plans to dam the Euphrates River, thereby diverting much of its life-sustaining flow to Syria and Iraq.

Bangladesh, which depends heavily on rivers that originate in India, is suffering terribly now because India has diverted and dammed so many of its water sources. In Africa, relations between Botswana and Namibia are severely strained by Namibian plans to construct a pipeline to divert water from the shared Okavango River. Ethiopia plans to take more water from the Nile, although Egypt is heavily dependent on those waters for irrigation and power. And as water tables fall steadily in the North China Plain (which yields more than half of China's wheat and nearly a third of its corn) as well as in northwest India's Punjab region, experts are bracing for a highly combustible imbalance between available water supplies and human needs.

Officials attending the upcoming WSSD meeting are certainly aware of these problems. They just can't figure out which way to approach a solution. Most of the northern governments (essentially the U.S., Canada, and the European Union) want the UN to start adopting trade agreements similar to those put forth by the WTO. They're pressuring the UN to solve the world's resource crisis by implementing "voluntary partnerships" with private companies to take over government-run industries devoted to public health, clean air, and water. Representatives from the companies will be on hand to reassure officials that they can privatize and conserve at the same time.

Delegates from poorer nations, with the possible exception of South Africa, aren't buying that idea. They got a taste of WTO justice when northern trade partners wanted to export genetically modified seeds. Several developing countries declined to buy because they don't want modified food in their environments, and they landed in WTO court for trade violations. But under previously signed UN accords, nations do have the right to refuse products they feel are environmentally unsound. One of the questions poorer nations want answered at the WSSD is which entity has ultimate power when agreements conflict. They hope it's the UN—otherwise they can all too easily envision their natural resources being siphoned off to nurture the golf courses and swimming pools of the world's elite.

Realistically and unfortunately, says Barlow, the shadow summits planned for next week probably won't have much of an impact on the final WSSD outcome. The bigger goal, she says, is to flame public outrage and derail the privatization trend at the World Water Forum scheduled for next March in Japan.

But Barlow and crew had better hurry: The water crisis is growing so fast that even developed nations are swigging from each other. Canada's abundant fresh water supply has already whetted the appetite of George Bush. There's been talk from his administration about using the existing oil-pipeline infrastructure in the Northern Provinces to flow Canadian water to the American Midwest, which, under existing the North American Free Trade Agreement, is perfectly legitimate. And once Canada opens the taps, it can't turn them off again without violating NAFTA accords. "Isn't it great," says Barlow, "that while much of the developing world is grappling with extreme water deprivation, the U.S. is making contingency plans to keep desert mirages like Las Vegas up and running?"

Source: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0234/otis.php

8/23/02
5:24:13 PM

SciTech Daily Review

http://SciTechDaily.com

The Summit on Sustainable Development may not make much political progress, but it could mark the start of a transformation in the way scientists deal with sustainability issues

http://www.nature.com/nsu/020819/020819-7.html

Flames do something odd in space: they form tiny almost-invisible balls that might reveal the secrets of combustion here on Earth

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/21aug_flameballs.htm

How (not) to build a dirty bomb: Building your own atomic weapon is easy, they say. Is it really?

http://www.technologyreview.com/offthewire/3001_2082002_4.asp

The developers of a camera-wielding robot called Lewis think it could put wedding photographers out of a job

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2198233.stm

It's been three years since US officials phased out paper-and-pencil exams in favor of the computer-based version of the Graduate Record Exam, but critics give computer-adaptive testing a D-minus

http://go.hotwired.com/news/school/0,1383,54459,00.html/wn_ascii

But enough about you: From Britney Spears to Angelina Jolie to robber CEOs, narcissists are selfish and maddening -- and yet we just can't get enough of them

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2002/07/30/narcissism/index.html

Two years into the 21st century, and the global water wars have begun. Thirsty yet?

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0234/otis.php

Generation IM: For many teenagers, social technology means never having to be alone

http://tlc.discovery.com/convergence/teenspecies/articles/im.html

An ambitious plan to save Venice from has finally been approved. But Project Moses may have a few mountains to climb before parting Venice from the sea

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?articleID=00088E1F-D709-1D5B-90FB809EC5880000

8/23/02
5:21:20 PM

President Introduces Wildfires Plan

By SANDRA SOBIERAJ Aug 22, 2002

RUCH, Ore. (AP) - President Bush, on a mountain peak blighted by wildfire, crumbled the dead black bark of a Douglas fir in his palm and challenged environmentalist critics of his new forest initiatives: "Come and stand where I stand."

The president proposed Thursday to end the government's "hands-off" policy in national forests and make it easier for timber companies to remove wood from 190 million acres of the most highly fire-prone forests.

"We need to understand if you let kindling build up and there's a lightning strike, you're going get yourself a big fire," Bush said.

Directing Air Force One to fly low and give him a view of the 471,000-acre Biscuit fire blazing in southeastern Oregon, Bush began a three-day Western swing to promote his forest plan and collect more than $5 million for Republican candidates in Oregon, California and New Mexico.

He brushed aside any concern about appearances on the eve of his fund raising with California GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon, who hasn't seen Bush since the Simon family's investment firm was dealt a $78 million civil fraud verdict last month.

The president, asked during his forest tour how he reconciles supporting Simon while also calling for zero tolerance of corporate crime, replied that Simon has assured the White House that "when the courts look at this case, he'll be innocent and I take the man for his word."

Environmentalists objected to the president's forestry plan, fearing it would open forests to loggers run amok. Demonstrators along Bush's motorcade route up Squires Mountain greeted him with signs that read: "More forests, less Bush."

But Bush was unwavering as, in cowboy boots, he kicked at the ashen soil of Squires Peak, where fire raged across 2,800 acres less than one month ago.

"What the critics need to do is come and stand where I stand," he said. "We are trying to bring a little common sense to forest policy."

Firefighter Cody Goodnough, who was at work looking for embers, gave his endorsement, telling Bush his approach "will make our job easier."

Only limited forest thinning had been done on Squires because six years of environmental analysis and legal review, 830 pages of documentation, several appeals and two lawsuits tied up all but a fraction of the Bureau of Land Management's proposed work there.

Bush, who wants to limit reviews and appeals, saw for himself the difference thinning made at Squires Peak: On the side BLM could not get to was a blighted moonscape of dead tree trunks that fell away to black dust in his hand; on the other, surviving trees and regrowth already budding in the ash.

"This is the second fire site I've been to this summer and it's the same story," Bush said. "Had we properly managed our forests, the devastation caused would not have been nearly as severe as it has been and it's a crying shame."

"The point is that we can prevent fire by good sound practice."

But Amy Mall, forest policy specialist at The Natural Resources Defense Council, and other environmentalists accused Bush of taking this year's especially bad fire season as an excuse to make more federally grown wood available to timber companies.

With more than a month of fire season yet to go, 6 million acres have burned nationwide, twice as much as in the average summer.

"The president's so-called Healthy Forests initiative exploits the fear of fires in order to gut environmental protections and boost commercial logging," said Mall.

She and others say the environmental rules, project reviews and appeals that Bush wants to streamline are necessary to keep the timber industry in check.

But that argument may have been undercut earlier this year when Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat from South Dakota and potential challenger to Bush in 2004, attached to an emergency bill a measure allowing a Black Hills National Forest thinning program to bypass federal safeguards - a precedent that Bush took advantage of on Thursday.

"My attitude is, if it's good enough for that part of South Dakota, it's good enough for Oregon," he said to applause from an invited audience at the Jackson County Fairgrounds that included several Western governors who have been pushing for just such changes.

Bush continued on to Portland, where he was raising $900,000 for Republican Sen. Gordon Smith and the Oregon GOP over dinner. In three Southern California appearances spread over Friday and Saturday, Bush was giving Simon's campaign a much-needed $3 million boost.

Back in Washington, Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said Bush shows "galling hypocrisy" to be raising money for Simon while also championing corporate responsibility.

Bush nonetheless forged ahead on both fronts, telling his fairgrounds audience, "We're going to find those who cheat and we're going to prosecute them and they're going to find out that instead of easy money, they've got hard time ahead of them."

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20020822/D7LINEG00.html

8/23/02
5:18:39 PM

Planet Ark World Environment News

Environment, social woes risk development - World Bank - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17412/story.htm

US environment groups see threat to green rules - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17421/story.htm

US uranium fuel plants told to beef up security - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17422/story.htm

US adopts defensive strategy for Earth summit - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17413/story.htm

US scientist helps African soil bloom - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17411/story.htm

Long Island utility considers wind farms in ocean - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17410/story.htm

Bush to ease US logging rules, citing fire danger - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17408/story.htm

US asks EU to assure Africans on biotech food - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17414/story.htm

FEATURE - Paradise far from regained since last Earth Summit - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17406/story.htm

WHO sees risk unlikely from gene-altered foods - SWITZERLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17417/story.htm

Earth summit to help recycling - of old promises - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17418/story.htm

Norway scraps experiment to dump CO2 at sea - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17419/story.htm

Residents gasp for air in smoky Indonesian Borneo - INDONESIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17420/story.htm

Thousands leave homes as German floods head north - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17409/story.htm

INTERVIEW - Lomborg urges Earth Summit to focus on poverty - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17415/story.htm

Europe tests Cyprus promise to ban bird trapping - CYPRUS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17416/story.htm

China readying to adopt climate change treaty - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17405/story.htm

8/23/02
5:17:41 PM

AlterNet Headlines

http://www.alternet.org

THE WAR WITHIN WASHINGTON

Jim Lobe, AlterNet

The simmering feud between Republican hawks and moderates over the planned attack on Iraq is finally coming to a boil. Come September, it may turn into a full-blown war.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13913

LOW-FAT CAPITALISM

Barbara Ehrenreich, The Progressive

The decades-old claim that a low fat diet is healthier is not only misleading but also plays into Puritanical notions of self indulgence and deprivation.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13880

THE TIP OF THE NEEDLE

Barbara Ferry, Santa Fe Reporter

New Mexico's progressive drug policy is a model of successful reform. But real political debate is needed to keep the momentum going.

*In DrugReporter: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=17

BITE THE BALLOT

Catherine Danielson, AlterNet

Will we ever have justice in voting in America? The signs to date are mixed, but some beacons of hope are visible, thanks to grassroots efforts in the South.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13890

THE LILLY SUICIDES

Richard DeGrandpre, Adbusters

Recent studies suggest that some anti-depressants may be hazardous to your health. Understandably, the pharmaceutical giants are trying to hush up the news.

*In EnviroHealth: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=18

BURNING QUESTIONS

Sarah Phelan, Metro Santa Cruz

Strip down, dress up or just shave it all off. You can do it all at Burning Man, and here's how.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13889

DOING THE REICH THING

Frederick Clarkson, In These Times

The former labor secretary makes a bid for the Massachusetts governor's mansion in the hopes of reviving the progressive wing of the Democratic party.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13881

WE, THE PEOPLE, CAN STOP A WAR

Medea Benjamin, AlterNet

Most Americans know deep down that this impending war with Iraq makes no sense. Our task is to turn latent misgivings into blatant opposition.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13882

PRISONERS OF THE WAR ON TERROR

Ted Rall, AlterNet

Post-9/11 detainees are in prison not for what they have done, but for whom they know and what they may do in the future.

*In Rights & Liberties: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=33

COURTING AN OLD ENEMY

Behrouz Saba, Pacific News Service

Iran is plunging toward greater domestic instability -- even as the Pentagon secretly seeks its support for U.S. plans to overthrow Saddam.

*In Global Affairs: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=31

BANK ROBBER MEETS CORPORATE CRIMINAL

Joe Loya, Pacific News Service

A former convict wonders: If today's corporate criminal does time, will it be in a prison, or a comfy "Club Fed?"

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13848

Comic Realism

So who's getting it right? The front pages or the funny pages? Tom Tomorrow joins a panel of political cartoonists on Friday's media roundtable. Listen online from 10-11amPT/1-2pmET, or call in: 866-798-TALK.

http://www.workingassetsradio.com

8/23/02
5:13:27 PM

"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security."

Albert Einstein

8/23/02
4:59:47 PM

War on Iraq? Not so fast!

The MoveOn people have started a petition to let our representatives know that millions of us do not want to go to war with Iraq. I urge you to read the information below and to "sign" the petition on their website at:

http://www.moveon.org/nowar/

8/23/02
4:57:15 PM

Cong. Sensenbrenner wants answers on USA PATRIOT Act

He threatens to subpoena Ashcroft to get details on antiterror measure Attorney General Ashcroft has already missed two deadlines.

By STEVE SCHULTZE of the Journal Sentinel staff

U.S. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner said Monday he'll play hardball with Attorney General John Ashcroft over a congressional demand for detailed information about the Patriot Act, the post-Sept. 11 law giving the government broad powers to investigate terrorism.

Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) said he would "start blowing a fuse" unless Ashcroft's Justice Department gives answers by Labor Day week to 50 written questions about the act raised by the House Judiciary Committee in June.

If the committee still doesn't have the answers by then, Sensenbrenner said, he may take the unusual step of issuing a subpoena to Ashcroft to force him to testify before the Judiciary Committee, which Sensenbrenner heads. He noted that the department already has missed two deadlines issued earlier by Congress for answering the questions. "I've never signed a subpoena in my five and a half years as chairman. I guess there's a first time for everything," Sensenbrenner said during a session with Journal Sentinel reporters and editors.

The 50 questions about the Patriot Act from both Republican and Democratic committee members include how many times the Justice Department has obtained wiretaps and other devices that can track a suspect's phone calls and e-mails. Another question asks what protections are in place to ensure that expanded seizure powers don't violate constitutional freedoms.

"I expect to have that done because it is legitimate oversight" by Congress, Sensenbrenner said.

The act, passed overwhelmingly by Congress and signed into law by President Bush on Oct. 26, expands the definition of terrorism, increases penalties for terrorist activities and eases government restrictions on investigation and detention of foreigners suspected of terrorism.

The issue has roused the passions of civil libertarians and lawmakers of both parties, although the general public and his own constituents haven't expressed much interest, Sensenbrenner said.

The subpoena threat isn't the only weapon Sensenbrenner is wielding. Sensenbrenner said he told Ashcroft during a summer social event: "Look, there's a sunset in the Patriot Act. If you want to play 'I've got a secret,' good luck getting the Patriot Act extended. Because if you've got a bipartisan anger in the Congress, the sunset will come and go and the Patriot Act disappears."

The act automatically expires in late 2005 unless Congress votes to extend it.

A Justice Department spokesman could not be reached for comment Monday. Sensenbrenner's tiff with Ashcroft includes an exchange in May in which Sensenbrenner canceled a scheduled Judiciary Committee appearance by Ashcroft when the attorney general failed to follow committee protocol by properly submitting written copies of his planned testimony two days in advance.

Ashcroft did send an e-mail late the night before his scheduled Judiciary Committee appearance, but the message said it wasn't to be shared with committee members, Sensenbrenner said.

"Apparently this is the first time ever that a committee chairman has canceled a hearing with a cabinet officer," Sensenbrenner said. On a related matter, he said he doesn't favor blanket release of the names of the foreign detainees arrested since the act went into effect. A judge should make the decision on a case-by-case basis with the burden on the government to prove secrecy was necessary, Sensenbrenner said. The issue is pending before a federal appeals court.

He said Congress should clarify under what circumstances the president may detain suspected foreign terrorists, another civil liberties issue raised over the al-Qaida detainees being held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"You can't make a blanket statement on this," Sensenbrenner said. "You are dealing with people who slink around in the shadows." He suggested a new law clarifying the president's authority but declined to specify what he thought the law should say.

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Aug. 20, 2002.

8/22/02
7:26:52 PM

Greenpeace Action Alert

August 22nd, 2002

Tell the White House to Protect Our Food Supply

In early August 2002, the White House released a new proposal to regulate genetically engineered (GE) crops. Under the Bush Administration's corporate-friendly "guidance" (non-binding proposals that even if enacted would be voluntary), the biotech industry will be allowed to push ahead with new GE crops even if the crops have not been safety tested. Tell the White House that you want GE crops kept out of our food supply!

Be sure to take action now as the comment period ends September 30th.

Send an email and fax to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy:

http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/bin/actionframe.pl?action_id=144

Check for new online actions and see the results of previous online actions by visiting our online action center at:

http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/takeaction

Help Greenpeace spread the word. Forward this email to other caring individuals.

Want to do more? Become a Greenpeace member today! To give online, go to:

https://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/list.htm

8/22/02
7:19:28 PM

Renewable Energy For The 21st Century

by Christopher Flavin

WASHINGTON, DC August 21, 2002 - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's selection of energy as one of five key themes to be addressed at the World Summit is itself an important indicator of progress over the past decade. At the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, discussion of energy-and particularly the potential of renewable energy-was given short shrift in the Agenda 21 document that emerged from the conference. Energy was indirectly addressed in the Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted in Rio, but renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind power, and bio-energy received little attention.

What a difference a decade can make. Since 1992, renewable energy markets have shifted into a new gear. Wind power generation, for example, has gone from 2,170 megawatts at the beginning of 1992 to 24,800 megawatts at the beginning of 2002-a more than tenfold increase in 10 years. The annual production of solar cells has risen from 55 megawatts in 1991 to 391 megawatts in 2001, a seven-fold increase.

These growth rates-averaging more than 30 percent annually in the last five years—provide early indicators that the world has entered the post-petroleum century—a century in which diminishing oil supplies, a limited capacity of the atmosphere to absorb carbon dioxide, and the burgeoning energy needs of billions of people in the developing world all indicate the need for new sources of energy to complement and replace the past-century's fossil fuels.

The extraordinary growth of renewable energy in the past decade was driven by dynamic markets in a handful of countries. In the case of wind power, three quarters of the global capacity is found in Germany, the United States, Spain, Denmark, and India. In some regions of Denmark, Germany, and Spain, wind power already provides more than 20 percent of the electricity—higher than the hydro or nuclear share of world energy supplies.

The success of these five countries, plus Japan, which has dominated the solar market in recent years, stems from policies they have adopted in the last decade. The challenge for Johannesburg is to extend the success of these five nations to the world as a whole. It is therefore essential that the Johannesburg action plan include a clear recognition of the important role of renewable energy in powering a sustainable world, as well as practical recommendations for what national governments and the international community can do to make this vision a reality.

The renewable energy sources of today represent roughly the same share of the overall energy supply—and the same prospect for future growth—as petroleum did a century ago. In 1902, petroleum accounted for about 2 percent of the total but was already expanding quickly in niche markets. With wind and solar markets now doubling in size every three years, manufacturers are able to scale up production and drive down costs. In order to find growth rates comparable to those of renewables today, you have to look at the recent history of such sectors as cell phones and the Internet. By comparison, the market for oil is now growing at less than 1.5 percent per year.

Put simply, our current energy system is undermining global security, from the dangers of depending on the Middle East for oil to the ecological dangers of continuing to pollute the atmosphere. Reducing world dependence on fossil fuels before a major crisis forces an unplanned transition should be considered a security priority.

Renewable energy has a particularly important role to play in developing countries. Indeed, it is hard to think of a better setting than Johannesburg in which to get serious about renewable energy as a tool for tackling what might be called "energy apartheid." With 4 billion people relying predominantly on unsustainable energy sources, and the remaining 2 billion lacking access to electricity or liquid fuels, the world's energy haves and have-nots are both in unsustainable positions—and could both benefit enormously from the accelerated spread of renewable energy. For developing countries, providing energy is essential to education, health care, and the development of new industries.

The potential for renewable energy is increasingly recognized both in the worlds of government and of business. This is seen in a growing flow of capital into renewables by large oil and power companies, as well as from the venture capital sector. Renewable energy legislation is beginning to proliferate at the national and state levels. Brazil, China, and India are among the countries that have recently strengthened their renewable energy laws, with the aim of accelerating market growth. And in the United States, nearly half the members of Congress belong to the renewable energy caucus.

The G8 club of industrial country leaders set up a special government/industry Task Force on Renewable Energy that issued a report in July 2001, which concluded, " . . . renewable energy resources can now sharply reduce local, regional, and global environmental impacts as well as energy security risks, and they can, in some circumstances lower costs for consumers." The leader of that Task Force, Mark Moody Stuart, the former Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell, has called on governments " to expand renewable energy targets, removing inappropriate subsidies and switching some to renewable energy to provide a level playing field in the energy sector."

The main responsibility for accelerating the use of renewable energy lies with national governments (and in some cases state or provincial governments) that regulate the energy sector, dictate taxes, allocate subsidies, and otherwise influence energy trends. However, the international community can provide assistance in a number of important ways, and the Johannesburg Summit offers important opportunities for progress:

1. Goal Setting

Ambitious, specific goals for increasing the share of renewables in the total energy supply are proven tools for galvanizing government action. The success of renewable energy goals can be seen in Germany, where a national target on renewables passed in 1991 spurred market and policy development, allowing the country to greatly exceed its initial goal. More recently, the European Union has established a goal of doubling the contribution of renewables to its electricity supply renewables by 2010.

In the course of preparations for the World Summit, various renewable energy goals for the world have been proposed. The most widely cited figure is that contained in the "Brazilian Energy Initiative" and adopted at a meeting Environment Ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean, meeting in Sao Paulo in May 3002. It calls for 10 percent of world energy to come from renewables by 2010.

2. Providing Information on Policies that Work

Since it is the policies of just a few countries that have successfully expanded renewable energy markets so dramatically in the past decade, it is important that the policies of these nations be widely introduced to government and industry leaders around the world. Particular focus should be on providing access to the grid under a system of standardized contracts at just and reasonable prices; and on providing limited, cost-effective subsidies at the minimum level needed to spur market development.

There is also a need for a specific institution to serve as a clearinghouse and disseminator of effective new energy policies, and to provide active policy advice and human capacity building for countries around the world, with a particular focus on developing nations.

3. Financing Renewable Energy

International institutions and bilateral government agencies have generously subsidized the export and development of fossil fuel and nuclear technologies over the past five decades. Even today, the bulk of such financing goes to well established and in many cases unsustainable energy sources. Funding agencies such as the Global Environment Facility are devoted to supporting renewables, but at a much lower level.

A shift in energy funding priorities at the international level is essential to accelerating market growth in developing nations. GLOBE, an organization of parliamentarians from around the world has proposed a target of shifting 10 percent of the energy export financing support from industrial country governments to renewable energy by 2010. Organizations such as the World Bank and the regional development banks should also boost their commitment to renewables.

From Rio to Johannesburg:

The Worldwatch Institute is pleased to send you the tenth in our series of World Summit Policy Briefs, "From Rio to Johannesburg: Renewable Energy for the 21st Century," by Worldwatch Institute President, Christopher Flavin. The World Summit Policy Brief series highlights and provides recommendations on key environmental and sustainable development issues that will shape this year’s World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Source: http://www.WorldWatch.org

8/22/02
7:05:06 PM

Public Citizen

Aug. 22, 2002

Protesters: Bush Support for Water Privatization Is Pro-Corporation, Anti-People

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Among the protesters who will be outside President Bush's fundraiser on Friday in Stockton, Calif., will be citizens fighting to protect public drinking water from corporate privatization schemes.

The protesters' presence underscores the Bush administration's preference for corporate profits over strong citizen safeguards. Still reeling from energy market manipulations, Californians are all too familiar with how corporations will prey on consumers when granted too much control of basic services. Now Stockton has become a battleground in the fight over water privatization and is one of several communities nationwide where Public Citizen has joined with citizens and environmental, labor and public interest groups to stave off a corporate push to control and profit from public water systems. Bush will be in Stockton to raise money for the state's Republican gubernatorial candidate.

The Bush administration supports privatization of the nation's - and the world's - water. Domestically, the White House is backing legislation that would force cities and towns to consider privatization before they could receive federal money to help keep drinking water safe. Internationally, the Bush administration backs conditions mandating that poor countries hand water systems over to corporations before receiving loans and other financial aid.

"Bush is fond of saying 'you're either with us or against us,'" said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "When it comes to protecting the public from greedy corporate schemes to control the world's water supply, Bush is with corporations - and against the public."

In cities such as Atlanta and New Orleans, corporate water providers and system operators have charged higher rates, allowed water quality to deteriorate, failed to make promised investments and seized control of one of the citizenry's most precious necessities while sidestepping accountability.

But other cities, including Jacksonville, Fla.; Lexington, Ky.; and Peoria, Ill., have either shed corporate control of water systems or are trying to do so. Meanwhile, citizens in Stockton, Laredo, Texas and other communities are trying to beat back corporate advances on their water systems and expose the empty promises routinely offered up by the American subsidiaries of international conglomerates such as Suez, RWE and the financially embattled Vivendi.

In Stockton, for instance, community groups recently gathered 18,000 signatures from registered voters - enough to place on the ballot an initiative that would prohibit the city from entering into a contract with a private water company unless the voters approve.

"Water is a common resource and a public trust," Hauter said. "Corporations wrongly view water as a growth industry, and they want to turn the public's water into a commodity to be traded by Enron-style speculators. People should be aware that although the Bush administration repeatedly espouses free markets, 85 percent of the population gets water from a publicly owned system."

Providing clean and affordable water to all is a top priority at next week's United Nations-sponsored World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, Hauter added.

"Instead of traveling to California to raise money for a gubernatorial candidate whose company was found guilty of fraud, Bush should be preparing to go to Johannesburg to demand that the summit address the water crisis that seriously affects half the global population and results in the death of 40,000 children every day. Bush should cast off the shackles of his pro-corporate world view and use his office to try to make the world a better place."

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. with an office in Oakland, Calif.

For more information, please visit http://www.citizen.org

8/22/02
7:03:41 PM

DAILY GRIST

<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

GREASE LIGHTNING

Step behind the tailpipe of Charris Ford's 1980 International Scout truck and you won't get a face-full of diesel fumes; you'll get flashbacks to the last time you were in a McDonald's. Ford's truck is powered by biodiesel -- or, to put it less romantically, by grease from the deep-fat fryer of a restaurant near his home in Telluride, Colo. Ford himself is pretty fired up by biodiesel, too; as the self-proclaimed Granola Ayatollah of Canola, Ford preaches the gospel of this low-emissions, eco-friendly alternative to standard fuels. Journalist Hal Clifford takes a ride with Ford, only on the Grist Magazine website.

only in Grist: Better living through french fries -- is biodiesel the fuel of the future? -- in our Main Dish section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/maindish/clifford082202.asp?source=daily>

only in Grist: McTraffic jam -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha100101.asp?source=daily>

HITTING THE SACK

In Ireland, the question "paper or plastic?" has become all but obsolete after the introduction last March of a tax on supermarket bags. Irish Environment Minister Martin Cullen announced this week that the tax has been highly successful, with the amount of plastic bags provided by grocery stores dropping 90 percent after the tax was enacted, from an estimated 1.2 billion bags per year. Moreover, the tax put $3.4 million into national coffers; the money will be spent on protecting the environment. "The reduction has been immediate and the positive visual impact on the environment is plain to see," Cullen said. Inspired by the Irish success, British Environment Minister Michael Meacher hopes to implement a similar plan in Britain.

straight to the source: London Guardian, Julian Glover, 20 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=390>

only in Grist: Paper or plastic? -- astute advice on all things environmental -- in our Ask Umbra column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ask/ask060402.asp?source=daily#paper>

FIN-ISHED

By virtue of its name, the whale shark summons a ferocious mental image, something along the lines of Moby Dick meets Jaws. But in reality, the creature is a gentle, slow-moving fish. Unfortunately for the species, that means whale sharks are easily captured by fishers, who chop off their fins to supply a hungry Asian market for shark-fin soup. The fins are pricey -- in China, a single whale shark fin can fetch more than $10,000 -- but as Asia has become more affluent, the soup has become more popular; consuming it is now a way of demonstrating social status. That's a tragedy for the whale shark, but it's also bad news for ocean ecosystems in general, because changes to any species disrupt the marine food chain. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is calling on nations to adopt shark conservation action plans, but so far, few have obliged.

straight to the source: CNN.com, Gary Strieker, 20 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=391>

SPOILERS-R-US

If there had been any doubt that the U.S. would play the role of pariah at the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development, it was banished yesterday when White House officials announced their goals and strategies for the meeting, which begins next week in Johannesburg, South Africa. The U.S. delegation's plan is, essentially, to stonewall: It will resist any changes to international agreements on trade and development and oppose any new targets or specific aid figures -- and although it is offering an aid package worth nearly $4.5 billion, most of the money is just a reshuffling of preexisting programs. Those positions, coupled with the fact that the delegation will be lead not by President Bush but by Secretary of State Colin Powell, make it unlikely that the U.S. reps will meet another one of their stated goals -- using the summit as a platform to rebut international criticism of Bush's environmental policies and his failure to be a team player in global issues.

straight to the source: MSNBC.com, 21 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=392>

CORN BAWL

In a slap in the face to the bioengineering industry, the government of Zambia has rejected thousands of tons of genetically modified corn offered as food aid to the starving nation. Instead, the country will buy conventional corn from Kenya and Tanzania, according to Zambian Finance Minister Emmanuel Kasonde. Kasonde declined to say how much corn the country plans to buy, or at what price, but he did say the purchase would cover the nation's 630,000-ton corn deficit. Zambia is one of six southern African countries suffering from drastic food shortages and widespread starvation, and one of two --along with Zimbabwe -- to reject genetically modified food aid. As many as 4 million Zambians are starving, but President Levy Mwanawasa has declined to accept GM corn until his government can conduct its own tests to determine whether the food is safe for human consumption.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Shapi Shacinda, 22 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=393>

8/22/02
6:56:16 PM

Sept. 11 Conspiracy Book to Hit Stores Wed Aug 21, 2:28 PM ET

By Mark John

PARIS (Reuters) - French author Thierry Meyssan has news for Americans preparing to commemorate the first anniversary of September 11: the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon ( news - web sites) did not involve hijacked airliners.

"9/11, The Big Lie," the English translation of Meyssan's incendiary French-language book is due to hit U.S. bookstores by the end of this month. The book alleges that the world has been taken for a ride over what really happened on September 11.

The French have already lapped up Meyssan's theory that a military faction in the U.S. government used remote controls to guide two aircraft into the twin towers and that a U.S. missile -- not an American Airlines jet -- smashed into the Pentagon.

"L'Effroyable Imposture" ("The Appalling Fraud") graced French bestseller lists for months despite ridicule from national media. Meyssan hopes for similar success in the United States.

"What I hope is that there will be a debate on what really happened and that opinion in the United States and the rest of the world is alerted," he said in an interview.

"The U.S. government has chosen its scapegoats," he said of the U.S. "war against terrorism" launched in Afghanistan ( news - web sites), whose deposed Taliban rulers were believed to harbor suspected September 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden ( news - web sites).

"But we cannot allow those who are really guilty to go unpunished and the innocent to be bombed," said Meyssan, head of the little-known left-leaning think tank Reseau Voltaire.

Meyssan's book sold little until he was invited onto a television chat show in March. His appearance prompted a rush on bookshops as his theories tapped into a mistrust of all things American among some French, particularly on the left.

QUESTONS UNANSWERED

French media, which had previously ignored the book, poured scorn on his claims in a windfall of press exposure that only served to increase the book's notoriety and help publisher Editions Carnot notch up sales of over 200,000.

Meyssan, 45, claims there have been sightings of some members of bin Laden's al Qaeda network who were named as hijackers of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.

He contends that photographs showed the damage at the Pentagon to be incompatible with a Boeing 757 airliner crash, while both witness accounts and official statements of the crash were contradictory and incomplete.

"One can totally reject the official versions of events," he said, suggesting the likely suspects were U.S. military insiders hoping to reap the rewards of a huge boost in defense spending.

Meyssan concedes he lacks concrete proof of such a plot as well as evidence of what happened to American Airlines Flight 77 and its 64 passengers if it did not crash into the Pentagon.

"There are certain questions to which I cannot give you the answer," he said, maintaining that he not have the resources to investigate and verify his theories.

Meyssan says he is prepared to travel to the United States to defend his book -- but only in French, and only on live programs. He alleges that one media interview he gave on his book was edited to distort his comments.

"I have the sense that some of the U.S. media has made up its mind (on my theory)," he said. "There is suspicion at a foreign author questioning the statements of their government."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020821/ts_nm/attack_plot_book_dc_4

8/22/02
6:51:08 PM

The Great Charade

As the West prepares for an assault on Iraq, John Pilger argues that 'war on terror' is a smokescreen created by the ultimate terrorist ... America itself

Sunday July 14, 2002 The Observer

It is 10 months since 11 September, and still the great charade plays on. Having appropriated our shocked response to that momentous day, the rulers of the world have since ground our language into a paean of cliches and lies about the 'war on terrorism' - when the most enduring menace, and source of terror, is them.

The fanatics who attacked America came from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. No bombs fell on these American protectorates. Instead, more than 5,000 civilians have been bombed to death in stricken Afghanistan, the latest a wedding party of 40 people, mostly women and children. Not a single al-Qaeda leader of importance has been caught.

Following this 'stunning victory', hundreds of prisoners were shipped to an American concentration camp in Cuba, where they have been held against all the conventions of war and international law. No evidence of their alleged crimes has been produced, and the FBI confirms only one is a genuine suspect. In the United States, more than 1,000 people of Muslim background have 'disappeared'; none has been charged. Under the draconian Patriot Act, the FBI's new powers include the authority to go into libraries and ask who is reading what.

Meanwhile, the Blair government has made fools of the British Army by insisting they pursue warring tribesmen: exactly what squaddies in putties and pith helmets did over a century ago when Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, described Afghanistan as one of the 'pieces on a chessboard upon which is being played out a great game for the domination of the world'.

There is no war on terrorism; it is the great game speeded up. The difference is the rampant nature of the superpower, ensuring infinite dangers for us all.

Having swept the Palestinians into the arms of the supreme terrorist Ariel Sharon, the Christian Right fundamentalists running the plutocracy in Washington, now replenish their arsenal in preparation for an attack on the 22 million suffering people of Iraq. Should anyone need reminding, Iraq is a nation held hostage to an American-led embargo every bit as barbaric as the dictatorship over which Iraqis have no control. Contrary to propaganda orchestrated from Washington and London, the coming attack has nothing to do with Saddam Hussein's 'weapons of mass destruction', if these exist at all. The reason is that America wants a more compliant thug to run the world's second greatest source of oil.

The drum-beaters rarely mention this truth, and the people of Iraq. Everyone is Saddam Hussein, the demon of demons. Four years ago, the Pentagon warned President Clinton that an all-out attack on Iraq might kill 'at least' 10,000 civilians: that, too, is unmentionable. In a sustained propaganda campaign to justify this outrage, journalists on both sides of the Atlantic have been used as channels, 'conduits', for a stream of rumours and lies. These have ranged from false claims about an Iraqi connection with the anthrax attacks in America to a discredited link between the leader of the 11 September hijacks and Iraqi intelligence. When the attack comes, these consorting journalists will share responsibility for the crime.

It was Tony Blair who served notice that imperialism's return journey to respectability was under way. Hark, the Christian gentleman-bomber's vision of a better world for 'the starving, the wretched, the dispossessed, the ignorant, those living in want and squalor from the deserts of northern Africa to the slums of Gaza to the mountain ranges of Afghanistan.' Hark, his 'abiding' concern for the 'human rights of the suffering women of Afghanistan' as he colluded with Bush who, as the New York Times reported, 'demanded the elimination of truck convoys that provide much of the food and other supplies to Afghanistan's civilian population'. Hark his compassion for the 'dispossessed' in the 'slums of Gaza', where Israeli gunships, manufactured with vital British parts, fire their missiles into crowded civilian areas.

As Frank Furedi reminds us in The New Ideology of Imperialism, it is not long ago 'that the moral claims of imperialism were seldom questioned in the West. Imperialism and the global expansion of the western powers were represented in unambiguously positive terms as a major contributor to human civilisation.' The quest went wrong when it was clear that fascism was imperialism, too, and the word vanished from academic discourse. In the best Stalinist tradition, imperialism no longer existed. Today, the preferred euphemism is 'civilisation'; or if an adjective is required, 'cultural'.

From Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, an ally of crypto-fascists, to impeccably liberal commentators, the new imperialists share a concept whose true meaning relies on a xenophobic or racist comparison with those who are deemed uncivilised, culturally inferior and might challenge the 'values' of the West. Watch the 'debates' on Newsnight. The question is how best 'we' can deal with the problem of 'them'.

For much of the western media, especially those commentators in thrall to and neutered by the supercult of America, the most salient truths remain taboos. Professor Richard Falk, of Cornell university, put it succinctly some years ago. Western foreign policy, he wrote, is propagated in the media 'through a self righteous, one-way moral/legal screen [with] positive images of western values and innocence portrayed as threatened, validating a campaign of unrestricted violence'.

Perhaps the most important taboo is the longevity of the United States as both a terrorist state and a haven for terrorists. That the US is the only state on record to have been condemned by the World Court for international terrorism (in Nicaragua) and has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling on governments to observe international law, is unmentionable.

'In the war against terrorism,' said Bush from his bunker following 11 September, 'we're going to hunt down these evil-doers wherever they are, no matter how long it takes.'

Strictly speaking, it should not take long, as more terrorists are given training and sanctuary in the United States than anywhere on earth. They include mass murderers, torturers, former and future tyrants and assorted international criminals. This is virtually unknown to the American public, thanks to the freest media on earth.

There is no terrorist sanctuary to compare with Florida, currently governed by the President's brother, Jeb Bush. In his book Rogue State , former senior State Department official Bill Blum describes a typical Florida trial of three anti-Castro terrorists, who hijacked a plane to Miami at knifepoint. 'Even though the kidnapped pilot was brought back from Cuba to testify against the men,' he wrote, 'the defence simply told the jurors the man was lying, and the jury deliberated for less than an hour before acquitting the defendants.'

General Jose Guillermo Garcia has lived comfortably in Florida since the 1990s. He was head of El Salvador's military during the 1980s when death squads with ties to the army murdered thousands of people. General Prosper Avril, the Haitian dictator, liked to display the bloodied victims of his torture on television. When he was overthrown, he was flown to Florida by the US Government. Thiounn Prasith, Pol Pot's henchman and apologist at the United Nations, lives in New York. General Mansour Moharari, who ran the Shah of Iran's notorious prisons, is wanted in Iran, but untroubled in the United States.

Al-Qaeda's training camps in Afghanistan were kindergartens compared with the world's leading university of terrorism at Fort Benning in Georgia. Known until recently as the School of the Americas, it trained tyrants and some 60,000 Latin American special forces, paramilitaries and intelligence agents in the black arts of terrorism.

In 1993, the UN Truth Commission on El Salvador named the army officers who had committed the worst atrocities of the civil war; two-thirds of them had been trained at Fort Benning. In Chile, the school's graduates ran Pinochet's secret police and three principal concentration camps. In 1996, the US government was forced to release copies of the school's training manuals, which recommended blackmail, torture, execution and the arrest of witnesses' relatives.

In recent months, the Bush regime has torn up the Kyoto treaty, which would ease global warming, to which the United States is the greatest contributor. It has threatened the use of nuclear weapons in 'pre-emptive' strikes (a threat echoed by Defence Minister Geoffrey Hoon). It has tried to abort the birth of an international criminal court. It has further undermined the United Nations by blocking a UN investigation of the Israeli assault on a Palestinian refugee camp; and it has ordered the Palestinians to replace their elected leader with an American stooge. At summit conferences in Canada and Indonesia, Bush's people have blocked hundreds of millions of dollars going to the most deprived people on earth, those without clean water and electricity.

These facts will no doubt beckon the inane slur of 'anti-Americanism'. This is the imperial prerogative: the last refuge of those whose contortion of intellect and morality demands a loyalty oath. As Noam Chomsky has pointed out, the Nazis silenced argument and criticism with 'anti German' slurs. Of course, the United States is not Germany; it is the home of some of history's greatest civil rights movements, such as the epic movement in the 1960s and 1970s.

I was in the US last week and glimpsed that other America, the one rarely seen among the media and Hollywood stereotypes, and what was clear was that it was stirring again. The other day, in an open letter to their compatriots and the world, almost 100 of America's most distinguished names in art, literature and education wrote this:

'Let it not be said that people in the United States did nothing when their government declared a war without limit and instituted stark new measures of repression. We believe that questioning, criticism and dissent must be valued and protected. Such rights are always contested and must be fought for. We, too, watched with shock the horrific events of September 11. But the mourning had barely begun when our leaders launched a spirit of revenge. The government now openly prepares to wage war on Iraq - a country that has no connection with September 11.

'We say this to the world. Too many times in history people have waited until it was too late to resist. We draw on the inspiration of those who fought slavery and all those other great causes of freedom that began with dissent. We call on all like-minded people around the world to join us.'

It is time we joined them.

Source: http://www.observer.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,754972,00.html

8/22/02
6:29:28 PM

SciTech Daily Review

http://SciTechDaily.com

Endangered chocolate: As the global craving for the food of the gods grows increasingly insatiable, cacao faces dwindling habitats and the threat of debilitating blights

http://www.discover.com/aug_02/featchocolate.html

M is for Messier. Charles Messier only wanted to find more comets than his rivals -- but his catalogue of the star clusters and nebulae that plagued his research has proven invaluable to astronomers

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/messier_13_020816.html

An interactive sperm called Sammy is the star of an online game with a serious message about prostate cancer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2203030.stm

Some scientists say it is anthropocentric hubris to think people understand Earth well enough to know how to manage it. But that prospect is attracting more than 100 world leaders and thousands of other participants (including dedicated bloggers) to the United Nations' World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (registration required)

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/20/science/earth/20MANA.html

Life is full of decisions to believe or not to believe. And believe it or not, this is the golden age of hoaxes

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/020826/misc/26gotcha.htm

8/22/02
6:26:48 PM

Planet Ark World Environment News

Kenya,Tanzania to sell maize to Zambia - finmin - ZAMBIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17393/story.htm

Firefighters reining in huge Oregon forest blaze - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17398/story.htm

US, Mexico to fund water conservation projects - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17399/story.htm

NY, gives $17 mln to develop five wind farms - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17400/story.htm

UK animal rights activist jailed for threats - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17397/story.htm

Earth summit documents lack bite, experts say - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17391/story.htm

Biodiversity in focus at Earth Summit - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17396/story.htm

Bush scorned for skipping Earth summit - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17403/story.htm

Friends of Earth slam Nutreco for Chile salmon - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17401/story.htm

Malaysia tigers risk bullet as global summit nears - MALAYSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17392/story.htm

Irish tax on shopping bags nets 3.5 million euros - IRELAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17404/story.htm

Fear of disease, chemical leaks as floods recede - CZECH REPUBLIC http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17394/story.htm

Canadian whale family reunion seen as a success - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17402/story.htm

BP produces ethanol/petrol blend in Australia - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17395/story.htm

8/22/02
6:16:05 PM

Feds Withhold Crucial WTC Evidence

by Christopher Bollyn, American Free Press, August 8, 2002

Evidence debunking the official explanation for the collapse of the World Trade Center is being kept secret by the U.S. Dept. of Justice on a flimsy pretext.

The U.S. Dept of Justice has ordered secrecy measures to keep the contents of a 'lost tape' of firefighters' voices at the World Trade Center from being made public. The reason for the secrecy surrounding the 78-minute audiotape is because it evidently debunks the accepted explanation that intense jet fuel fires melted the towersí steel beams and caused the collapses.

The New York Times recently revealed the existence of the tape of radio transmissions between firefighters of the New York Fire Department (NYFD), which proves that ìat least two menî had reached the 78th floor Sky Lobby of the South Tower. The firefighters had reported about the fires and casualties they encountered and begun evacuating the survivors.

The article said that firefighters ìreached the crash zone on the 78th floor, where they went to the aid of grievously injured people trapped in a sprawl of destruction.î While the Times article raises as many questions as it answers, it points to a reason for the secrecy: "Once they got there," the article says, "they had a coherent plan for putting out the fires they could see and helping victims who survived."

The report names two of the firefighters who were at the crash site: Battalion Chief Orio J. Palmer, who was organizing the evacuation of injured people, and Fire Marshal Ronald P. Bucca. Both men died in the collapse. 343 NYFD firefighters perished on 911.

'TWO POCKETS OF FIRE'

The voices of the firefighters "showed no panic, no sense that events were racing beyond their control," the Times wrote. "At that point, the building would be standing for just a few more minutes, as the fire was weakening the structure on the floors above him. Even so, Chief Palmer could see only two pockets of fire, and called for a pair of engine companies to fight them."

"I didn't hear fear, I didn't hear panic," Palmer's widow said. "When the tape is made public to the world, people will hear that they all went about their jobs without fear, and selflessly."

The fact that veteran firefighters had 'a coherent plan for putting out' the 'two pockets of fire' indicates they judged the blazes to be manageable. These reports from the scene of the crash provide crucial evidence debunking the government's unfounded claim that a raging steel-melting inferno led to the tower's collapse. As the FEMA 'Building Performance Assessment' report says, "Temperatures may have been as high as 900 - 1,100 C. (1,700 - 2,000 F.) in some areas."

"If FEMA's temperature estimates are correct, the interiors of the towers were furnaces capable of casting aluminum and glazing pottery," Eric Hufschmid, author of the book 'Time for Painful Questions' writes. Yet the voices on the tape prove that several firefighters were able to work 'without fear' for an extended period at the point of the crash, and that the fires they encountered there were neither intense nor large.

Incredibly, the South Tower literally disintegrated in less than an hour after being hit by a plane, which impacted between its 78th and 84th floors. "Fire has never caused a steel building to collapse," Hufschmid writes, "so, how did a 56-minute fire bring down a steel building as strong as the South Tower?"

Hufschmid's forthcoming book presents compelling evidence that explosives caused the towers to collapse.

Pointing to the Meridian Plaza fire in Philadelphia in 1991, Hufschmid writes, "The Meridian Plaza fire was extreme, but it did not cause the building to collapse. The fire in the South Tower seems insignificant by comparison to both the Meridian Plaza fire and the fire in the North Tower. How could the tiny fire in the South Tower cause the entire structure to shatter into dust after 56 minutes while much more extreme fires did not cause the Meridian Plaza building to even crack into two pieces?"

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PA), the bi-state authority and owner of the World Trade Center, retrieved the 'lost tape'. A spokesman for the authority, Greg Trevor, told AFP that the tape was found in PA police offices at 5 WTC, 'two or three weeks' after 911. The PA police monitored radio transmissions from the WTC.

Because of an unexplained delay in producing the tape it was believed ìfor monthsî that firefighters had gone no higher than about the 50th floor in each tower. The delay, Trevor said, was due to the time required to transfer the voice data to 'encrypted CDs'.

In January or February, the PA offered a copy of the tape to NYFD officials, who reportedly declined the offer because they did not want to sign the confidentiality agreement as demanded by the PA. The Independent (UK) added that the PA 'held back from sharing it with police and only relinquished it on condition that a confidentiality agreement was signed.'

"That's not correct," Trevor told AFP regarding the allegation that the PA had withheld the tape from the police. The PA had only handled the tape "under the instruction of the U.S. Attorney's office," he said.

A spokesman for the NYPD expressed surprise when AFP asked if the police had conducted a criminal investigation into the events at the WTC. Spokesman Bernard Gifford said NYPD had not pursued a criminal investigation of 911 having 'turned it over' to the FBI. Gifford wouldnít say when this occurred, although Joe Valiquette of the New York office of the FBI told AFP that the federal bureau had run the investigation 'from the moment it happened.'

On August 2, the relatives of the 16 firefighters whose voices were identified on the tape were allowed to hear their last words in a New York City hotel. The families were first required to sign a statement prepared by lawyers they would not disclose what was said on the tape.

BECOMING PUBLIC?

Despite the fact that the contents of the tape are being kept secret, the Times article says, "Only now, nearly a year after the attacks, are the efforts of Chief Palmer, Mr. Bucca and others becoming public. City fire officials simply delayed listening to a 78-minute tape that is the only known recording of firefighters inside the towers."

While Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said he had not known the tape existed until 'very recently', both the Times and CNN err in claiming that the NYFD is the agency behind the extreme secrecy. "The Fire Department has forbidden anyone to discuss the contents publicly on the ground that the tape might be evidence in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the man accused of plotting with the hijackers," the Times said.

When AFP asked the NYFD why the only conversations between firefighters engaged at the scene of the crash had to be kept secret because of Zacarias Moussaoui, who was in prison in Minnesota at the time, the spokesman replied, "Take it up with the Dept. of Justice."

WHAT EXPLOSIONS?

Asked about the numerous reports by eyewitnesses, including firefighters, of explosions inside the towers before they collapsed, Mike Logrin, spokesman for the NYFD, said, "We're pretty sure there weren't bombs in the building." Logrin said there was "no evidenceî of explosions, and for ìscientific evidence" about the collapse recommended viewing a television program. "Didn't you see the NOVA [PBS] special on the collapse?" he asked.

On September 1,1 the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) interviewed one of its New York-based reporters, Steve Evans, who was in the second tower when it was hit.

Evans reported: "I was at the base of the 2nd tower, the second tower that was hit. There was an explosion - I didn't think it was an explosion - but the base of the building shook. I felt it shake - then when we were outside, the second explosion happened and then there was a series of explosions. We can only wonder at the kind of damage -- the kind of human damage -- which was caused by those explosions - those series of explosions," he said.

Evans is a professional journalist and although his observations of explosions in the second tower should be taken into account, they are not. Numerous eyewitnesses reported seeing or hearing explosions, but these reports have been avoided by the agencies supposedly leading the investigation.

Valiquette of the FBI told AFP that he had not "heard anything" about reports of explosions in the building and that he had "never heard any discussion of it" in the FBI's New York office.

Source: http://www.rense.com/general28/FEDswithholdcrucial.htm

8/22/02
6:14:23 PM

After Sept. 11, a Legal Battle Over Limits of Civil Liberty

http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07B.nyt.liberty.htm

Unanswered questions: The mystery of Flight 93

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=323958

Officers Say U.S. Aided Iraq in War Despite Use of Gas (August 18)

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/international/middleeast/18CHEM.html

A covert American program during the 1980s provided Iraq with planning assistance at a time when U.S. intelligence agencies knew that Iraq would use chemical weapons.

A Dossier on Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing of Afghanistan:

http://www.cursor.org/stories/civilian_deaths.htm

A Comprehensive Accounting [revised] "What causes the documented high level of civilian casualties -- 3,000 - 3,400 [October 7, 2001 thru March 2002] civilian deaths -- in the U.S. air war upon Afghanistan?"

Top Republicans Break With Bush on Iraq Strategy

http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.17A.gop.no.irq.htm

BOMBS AND SPEED KILL IN AFGHANISTAN

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13791

Biden backs letting soldiers arrest civilians (THE WASHINGTON TIMES - Aug 7)

http://www.americansonsofliberty.com/news%20stories/biden_proposal.htm

Settling Old Scores

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13790

President Bush is intent on avenging his father and saving his poll numbers rather than serving the American people.

Call In the Real Iraq Experts

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13788

Conspicuously absent from last week's Senate hearings on whether the U.S. should go to war in Iraq were the experts with the most vital information.

The Rush to War

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13789

The United States is poised on the slippery precipice of a pre-emptive war without a public debate, much less any real protest.

Facts Are the Best Cure for War Fever -- Simon Tisdall, Guardian (U.K.)

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0807-01.htm

Gulf War fever is sweeping across Britain where normal healthy people are beginning to lapse into inexplicable bouts of bellicose chest-thumping.

Sharon's Plan For Middle East Violence

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13711

The recent bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza did not aim to punish the terrorist group Hamas, but to provoke them.

REFORMING ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13774

Fed up with draconian drug penalties, a coalition led by angry mothers is threatening to overturn some of the country's harshest laws.

Environmental Groups Sue to Stop Global Deployment Of Navy Low Frequency Sonar System (August 7)

http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.10F.nrdc.sonar.htm

Groups Say New Long-Range Sonar System Threatens Whales and other Marine Mammals. "The ocean is a precious resource shared by all the world's peoples," said Cousteau. "The LFA system poses an unacceptable risk to our oceans and our children's heritage."

8/22/02
6:11:46 PM

Planet Ark World Environment News

DIARY - Earth Summit 2002 on sustainable development - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17362/story.htm

UK minister attacks US pressure over GM crops - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17366/story.htm

Monsanto scales down GM food hopes - FT - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17370/story.htm

Thai villagers brace for flash floods - THAILAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17364/story.htm

Business buys into earth summit, but at what price - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17363/story.htm

FEATURE - Canadian cash lures Romanians in gold mining town - ROMANIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17369/story.htm

Lost hippo at Prague Zoo found as floods recede - PRAGUE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17372/story.htm

Sulzer says 400 fuel cell contracts goal reached - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17365/story.htm

Floods roll on as Europe's cities count cost - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17367/story.htm

Victory on the beach for mayor of Paris - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17371/story.htm

China braces for more floods after week of rain - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17368/story.htm

Australia "a renegade" on environment, says report - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17361/story.htm

8/22/02
6:10:39 PM

AlterNet Headlines

http://www.alternet.org

ALL FOR GORE IN 2004

David Corn, AlterNet

We'll take Al Gore's populist schtick again if that will prevent the self-righteous, warmongering Joe Lieberman from running for president in 2004.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13862

DRUG WARRIORS IN A DEAD HEAT

Daniel Forbes, AlterNet The Libertarian Party is pulling out all the stops to ensure that Rep. Bob Barr, the nation's foremost opponent of medical marijuana, doesn't win the Georgia primary on Tuesday.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13865

THE MULTICULTURAL MYSTERIES OF VIN DIESEL

Noy Thrupkaew, AlterNet

This summer's breakout action movie star is being marketed as Hollywood's new superhero -- a self-made man unconfined by racial categories.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13863

WILL THE CORPORATE POWDER KEG IGNITE A POPULIST EXPLOSION?

Arianna Huffington, AlterNet

The scandalous CEOs have pushed us too far, and finally are reaping the whirlwind of public fury.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13870

PLASTIC AND THE PENTAGON

Geoffrey Gray, Village Voice

The Government Travel Card has plunged thousands of ordinary servicemen and servicewomen into debt so deep that the Pentagon is busy garnishing the wages of its own soldiers.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13842

ALWAYS BET ON YELLOW

Todd S. Inoue, Metro Silicon Valley

A new wave of Asian sports heroes is bringing out ethnic loyalties. In fact, international sport may be the one arena where it feels OK for an Asian American to root for his or her country of ancestry.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13874

THE POLITICS OF SOLITARY

Anita Roddick, AlterNet

Americans might be shocked to discover that some of their fellow citizens are spending decades in solitary confinement --right here in the good ol' U.S. of A.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13875

INTO THE GROOVE

Erin Aubry Kaplan, LA Weekly

Without Janet and Madonna, there'd be no Britney, or Christina Aguilera, or any number of aspirants to the dance throne who, interestingly enough, are not black anymore, but black-inflected.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13861

THE TROUBLE WITH BILL O'REILLY

Cathy Young, Reason

Bill O'Reilly has one of the most popular talk shows on television. His populist, no nonsense approach resonates despite a few glaring problems.

*In MediaCulture: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=19

Chain Reaction

Do local businesses still stand a chance? Stacy Mitchell wrote the book on fighting chain retail -- she'll talk with guest host Rose Aguilar on Tuesday's Working Assets Radio. Listen online from 10-11amPT/1-2pmET, or call in: 866-798-TALK.

http://www.workingassetsradio.com

8/22/02
6:06:37 PM

Lifting The Curtain On The Invisible Government

By Henry Makow, Ph.D., NewsWithViews.com, August 2, 2002

In 1913, Congressman Charles Lindbergh said: "When the President signs this bill; the invisible government by the Monetary Power will be legalized.The day of reckoning is only a few years removed."

Prophetic words.

The establishment of the Federal Reserve Bank in 1913 set off a chain of baneful events that blighted the 20th century and darkens our prospects for the 21st. It began with World War One and the Great Depression, and continues with the WTC and the upcoming war on Iraq.

In 1913, America's leaders were bribed and bamboozled by mostly foreign bankers and their US agents. Our leaders committed treason by giving these bankers the power to create money out of thin air backed only by the credit, i.e. taxes, of the American people. The U.S. government now borrows its own money from international bankers and pays them interest to the tune of $360 billion per annum for the privilege.

If you hoodwinked the United States in this fashion, what would you do?

You would either give the magical power back to its rightful owner, the US government.

Or, you would use it to take over the world, to own everything and to control everyone.

Guess which choice the bankers made?

I haven't got all the pieces of the puzzle. But I believe modern history displays a long-term plan by dynastic banking families and their allies to create an Orwellian World dictatorship ("New World Order") in which wealth will be further concentrated, and human life will be further degraded.

Wars and depressions, modern art and culture, new age religion, sexual "liberation" and feminism, are all part of this design. The role of historians and the mass media is to obscure this plan and to beguile the masses into thinking they are free and their leaders represent their interests.

This conviction was reinforced by Col. Curtis Dall's book, "FDR: My Exploited Father-in-Law" (1970). Dall, who was married to Franklin Roosevelt's daughter Anna, spent many nights at the White House and often guided FDR around in his wheelchair. He was also a partner at a Wall Street brokerage.

Dall maintained a family loyalty but could not avoid several disheartening conclusions in his book. He portrays the legendary president not as a leader but as a "quarterback" with little actual power. The "coaching staff" consisted of a coterie of handlers ("advisers" like Louis Howe, Bernard Baruch and Harry Hopkins) who represented the international banking cartel. For Dall, FDR ultimately was a traitor manipulated by "World Money" and motivated by conceit and personal ambition.

FDR's main perfidy was suppressing information about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, at the cost of almost 3,000 lives. He did this because the bankers needed US involvement in WWII, something 85% of Americans opposed. The Japanese had instructions to call off the attack if they lost the element of surprise.

Dall relates a less known but more telling anecdote. In 1956, George Earle, a former governor of Pennsylvania, told him that in 1943 the Nazis tried to surrender. At the time, Earle was Naval Attaché in Istanbul when Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the German Secret Service, approached him personally. Canaris told him that the German generals felt Hitler was leading Germany to destruction. They could not accept Roosevelt's policy of "unconditional surrender," but if FDR would offer "honourable surrender," the army was prepared to stage a coup d'etat. They believed that Russia represented a threat to Western Civilization and they were ready to present a non-Nazi German bulwark against Communist designs in Eastern Europe.

To make a long story short, FDR repeatedly ignored this proposal which could have ended the war in 1943 and saved millions of lives. Canaris and hundreds of other decent German officers were tortured and killed by the Gestapo. The bankers' policy, as exhibited by the fire bombing of German cities, was clearly to 1) prolong the war and inflict maximum damage on Germany, 2) ensure that Soviet Russia occupy Eastern Europe and become a major world power.

This is consistent with Dall's other observations. The banking cartel acted as if Communist Russia was their personal creation, which it was. One of FDR's first acts in office was to recognize the Soviet regime. FDR advisers Henry Morgenthau and Harry Dexter White arranged for U.S. treasury printing plates to be sent to Russia so the Communists could print their own US money. They arranged $8 billion in lend lease aid to Russia after the war was over. Col. Dall personally confronted Louis Howe over Russian agents he saw meeting Howe in the White House.

According to Antony Sutton ("Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution"), the Bolshevik Revolution was funded by international bankers. In 1917, Trotsky and 200 revolutionaries were literally transferred from New York's Lower East Side to St. Petersburg to foment the revolution.

What are we to make of all this?

First, we have to recognize that monopoly capital has an affinity with Communism. Both are enemies of competition and freedom. A Communist government can give the cartels control of raw materials and markets. It can provide huge contracts and take on huge debts. A Communist government can ensure social control in order to protect the concentration of wealth. Each sector of the US economy is now controlled by a handful of cartels. Could we be facing Communism with private instead of public monopoly?

Is it a coincidence that the Communist Party term "politically correct" has entered the American lexicon?

Second, it is no secret (except in the mass media) that the bankers are establishing a "world government" which they control. This requires that national sovereignty and democracy be undermined. In World War One, the bankers destroyed Tsarist Russia and contained Germany's national aspirations; in the Second World War, they finished off Germany and empowered Communist Russia.

What is their goal of the so-called "war on terror"? On one level, it is an oil-motivated imperialist war against Muslim countries that resist the New World Order. Israelis and Americans are being deceived and used to fight and pay for this war. On Monday the bankers conjured up another $76 billion loan which US taxpayers will be repaying for a long time.

But given the previous pattern, I wonder if the goal isn't also to further undermine the independence and national confidence of the United States. This will certainly happen if the war is long, costly, and bloody.

What can we do? I wonder if a tax revolt is an option. After all, the act creating the Federal Reserve Bank is unconstitutional. The IRS is nothing but the FRB collection agency. Our tax dollars go directly to them. The US War of Independence began with a tax revolt. Do Americans have the stomach for one today?

Source: http://www.newswithviews.com/money/money5.htm

8/22/02
6:02:14 PM

Public Citizen

Aug. 19,2002

Public Citizen Intervenes in FERC Complaint, Seeks Return of Nuclear Decommissioning Funds to Ratepayers

WASHINGTON D.C. - A surplus in the fund to be used to decommission the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant should be returned to ratepayers - not given to the nuclear plant's future owner, Public Citizen told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today in a motion to intervene in a complaint.

In the complaint, filed late last month, the New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution and Citizen's Awareness Network asked FERC to rule that surplus decommissioning funds should be returned to ratepayers. Entergy has agreed to purchase the plant on the condition that the company be allowed to pocket portions of the anticipated surplus in the decommissioning trust fund after the plant is decommissioned.

Nuclear operators are required to establish trust funds through fees collected from ratepayers to cover the tremendous costs of decommissioning a nuclear power plant at the end of its operating lifetime.

Under a deal negotiated earlier this summer, Entergy plans to keep 45 percent of the surplus in Vermont Yankee's decommissioning trust fund. Although the Vermont Public Service Board ruled that surplus decommissioning funds should be returned to ratepayers, non-Vermont utilities in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts had a 45 percent interest in the Vermont Yankee plant and are outside the jurisdiction of the Vermont Board's ruling.

"This amounts to corporate banditry," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "The decommissioning funds were collected from ratepayers, and the full amount of any surplus should be returned to ratepayers regardless of which state they live in."

Public Citizen's filing also noted that allowing corporations to profit from a surplus in a decommissioning fund creates a dangerous incentive for nuclear owners to delay and cut corners on clean-up in order to save money.

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

For more information, please visit http://www.citizen.org

8/22/02
6:01:16 PM

Farrakhan: Bush global policies endanger U.S.

By STEVE VISSER Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

The often fiery Louis Farrakhan preached an ecumenical message of love among Christian, Muslim and Jew, but he blasted President Bush as a leader whom the world will fight rather than follow.

"The president of the country seems to be drunk," he said Sunday at the Hillside Chapel & Truth Center on Cascade Road in Atlanta. "He seems to be drunk with the power. This is a greatest country on Earth and the greatest country in the history of the world, but if she is not careful, she will go the way of Rome."

The Nation of Islam leader has virulently criticized American policies in the Islamic world, from the war in Afghanistan to heavy support of Israel. He condemned all violence in both his sermon and an interview with the Journal-Constitution, but he warned that Bush's policies -- especially any war with Iraq -- would alienate the country from the Muslim world and Europe.

Americans should see Palestinians blowing themselves up to kill Israelis as a sign of Israeli oppression, he said, which he characterized as a political, and not religious, issue.

"America is hated now," Farrakhan said. "We need to sit down at the table and dialogue and not slaughter each other."

Farrakhan, who once made headlines for anti-Semitic diatribes, has adopted a more inclusive tone in recent years. His sermon emphasized the common relationship between Christianity, Islam and Judaism and moral issues. He rebuked anti-Islamic comments made by high-profile Christian preachers, alluding to the Rev. Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son, who has called Islam an evil religion.

During his sermon, he barely mentioned the congressional race between U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney and challenger Denise Majette -- a former DeKalb County State Court judge -- despite being in town to support the incumbent.

In the interview, Farrakhan said pro-Israeli forces have recruited Majette to unseat McKinney -- much like Jewish donors got behind Artur Davis, a Harvard-educated lawyer and businessman who in June defeated U.S. Rep. Earl Hilliard in Alabama. Both Hilliard and McKinney have spoken out for Arab causes.

"When one does that, there is a search for a person of good character and good quality," Farrakhan said. "A fine woman, Judge Majette, was found."

Source: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/0802/19farrakhan.html

8/22/02
5:58:36 PM

DAILY GRIST

<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

DOWN UNDERACHIEVERS?

The environmental situation is not looking up in the land down under, according to a new report commissioned by a consortium of conservation organizations. Noting such environmental problems as loss of species and their habitats, degradation of inland waters, and high pollution levels from the burning of fossil fuels, the report calls Australia "a continent in reverse" and says government inaction is to blame. Written by Peter Christoff of Melbourne University, the report is designed to counter one the government will present at the World Summit on Sustainable Development next week in Johannesburg. Christoff said the official report overstates claims of environmental improvement. Meanwhile, the Australian government dismissed Christoff's report -- and, indeed, any suggestion of less-than-stellar environmental politics. Environment Minister David Kemp said, "I totally reject the notion that Australia is not being entirely responsible in an environmental sense."

straight to the source: BBC News, 19 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=376>

ELP, I NEED SOME BUDDIES

Great leaders are made, not born -- and some of them are made (or at least helped along) by the Environmental Leadership Program. ELP brings together emerging environmental leaders from the worlds of nonprofit advocacy, higher education, business, and government to encourage the exchange of energy and ideas. ELP fellows have launched new groups, organized conferences, written books, tested lead levels in children, and published op-ed articles in newspapers and magazines around the country -- but some of their best work happens behind the scenes, through the creation of long-term bonds across diverse communities to make environmentalism a broad-based, sustainable, healthy movement. Last week, all of the ELP fellows gathered in Leavenworth, Wash., for a five-day retreat to do just that. Read about their goings-on, from community-building to contra dancing, in diary entries from ELP founder Paul Sabin, only on the Grist Magazine website.

only in Grist: Take me to your leaders -- a week in the life of Paul Sabin, Environmental Leadership Program -- in our Dear Me section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dearme/sabin081202.asp?source=daily>

SH*TTING BY THE DOCK OF THE BAY

Ten years ago, delegates attending the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro wrinkled their noses upon encountering the putrid smells emanating from the heavily polluted Guanabara Bay. The summit cast a spotlight on the plight of Rio's bay and led to the creation of an internationally funded cleanup project. Now, with the follow-up Earth Summit beginning next week in Johannesburg, South Africa, the bay is as filthy as ever. Despite $800 million from the Inter-American Development Bank and Japan's Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund, some 470 tons of raw sewage are still dumped into the bay every day, along with 10 tons of solid waste, five tons of oil, and an unknown amount of industrial waste. In some parts of the bay, sewage has almost entirely replaced seawater. Environmentalists accuse city officials of mismanaging the money earmarked for the cleanup, saying they have opted to spend it on voter-pleasing measures such as public swimming pools rather than on sewage-treatment plants and other cleanup efforts.

straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Michael Astor, 18 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=377>

SUN WORSHIPPERS

Clean energy is next to godliness -- or at least that's the position of the soon-to-open Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, which has installed a $600,000 solar array that will meet 10 to 15 percent of the cathedral's energy needs. The solar array is one of the largest to be installed as part of the Department of Water and Power's Green L.A. program, and the first of 16 such projects to be piloted at religious institutions through the work of the Los Angeles Interfaith Environmental Council's Green Sanctuaries program. Council Co-Chair Lee Wallach said of the installation, "[W]e are not only sustaining the quality of life and the environment for our children and grandchildren. We are establishing the moral compass for the rest of the country by setting this extraordinary example of environmental stewardship."

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Larry B. Stammer, 16 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=378>

only in Grist: Kyoto, U.S.A. -- tackling climate change at the local level -- by Katherine Ellison <http://www.gristmagazine.com/maindish/ellison073102.asp?source=daily>

only in Grist: The gospel of clean power -- a week in the life of Sally Bingham, The Regeneration Project -- in our Dear Me section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/week/bingham032502.asp?source=daily>

GREEN EYESHADES

Scared off by corporate accounting scandals and a year of bad economic indicators, big investors are starting to keep an eye out for other possible financial red flags -- and the hidden risks associated with global warming are high on their lists. As increasing temperatures trigger environmental changes ranging from drought to rising sea levels, investors are growing wise to the possibility that they could end up footing part of the bill. One large German insurance company has estimated that global warming could cost $300 billion annually by 2050, a toll that would be exacted in weather damage, pollution, industrial and agriculture losses, and other expenses -- including the cost of compliance with future regulations, fines, taxes, and caps on polluting products. The industries likely to take the heaviest hit are oil, gas, and utilities, which will be directly affected by changes in energy policy, and real estate, which stands to suffer the most from coastal flooding and drought.

straight to the source: New York Times, Amy Cortese, 18 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=379>

8/22/02
5:55:59 PM

Planet Ark World Environment News

Zambia to refuse GM food aid, says diplomat - ZAMBIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17351/story.htm

Vietnam floods kill four, 22,000 evacuated - VIETNAM http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17348/story.htm

FEATURE - US snakeheads put small Maryland pond on world map - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17357/story.htm

Los Angeles cathedral to use solar power - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17356/story.htm

USDA extends emergency haying, grazing - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17355/story.htm

Oregon wildfire forces town's evacuation - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17354/story.htm

Water disease could kill 76 mln by 2020 - report - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17352/story.htm

Bush to skip Earth Summit, Powell to lead US team - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17349/story.htm

Reagan aided Iraq despite chemical weapons - report - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17346/story.htm

Birds check out the chicks before moving in - study - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17344/story.htm

Salty sea spray cleanses air, scientists find - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17343/story.htm

Natural gas may help clear Asian traffic pollution - THAILAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17342/story.htm

City built on waste just the spot for Earth Summit - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17358/story.htm

India's ailing sugar units see saviour in ethanol - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17359/story.htm

Thousands evacuated as Germans count cost - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17347/story.htm

Australia gives Pacific climate aid, avoids rebuke - FIJI http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17341/story.htm

Sinking Pacific states slam US over sea levels - FIJI http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17345/story.htm

Dengue reported in Galapagos islands, no epidemic - ECUADOR http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17350/story.htm

China complains over Japan vegetable concerns - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17360/story.htm

Canadian dentist gives eagle new beak, waives bill - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17353/story.htm

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURES:

TAIWAN: A Gibbon Takes Shelter from the Sweltering Heat in Taipei http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17340

URUGUAY: Penguins Covered by Oil are Fed at S.O.S Rescue Marine Environment

http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17338

CZECH REPUBLIC: A Group of Swans in Front of an Flooded Restaurant in Prague

http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17339

8/22/02
5:53:13 PM

Planes Of 911 Exceeded Their Software Limits And 911 'Cell Calls Impossible'

Submitted by: Anonymous Saturday August 17, 2002

Two of the aircraft exceeded their software limits on 911

The Boeing 757 and 767 are equipped with fully autonomous flight capability, they are the only two Boeing commuter aircraft capable of fully autonomous flight. They can be programmed to take off, fly to a destination and land, completely without a pilot at the controls.

They are intelligent planes, and have software limits pre set so that pilot error cannot cause passenger injury. Though they are physically capable of high g maneuvers, the software in their flight control systems prevents high g maneuvers from being performed via the cockpit controls. They are limited to approximately 1.5 g's, I repeat, one and one half g's. This is so that a pilot mistake cannot end up breaking grandma's neck.

No matter what the pilot wants, he cannot override this feature.

The plane that hit the Pentagon approached or reached its actual physical limits, military personnel have calculated that the Pentagon plane pulled between five and seven g's in its final turn.

The same is true for the second aircraft to impact the WTC.

There is only one way this can happen.

As well as fully autonomous flight capability, the 767 and 757 are the ONLY COMMUTER PLANES MADE BY BOEING THAT CAN BE FLOWN VIA REMOTE CONTROL. It is a feature that is standard to all of them, all 757's and 767's can do it. The purpose for this is if there is a problem with the pilots, Norad can fly the planes to safe destinations via remote. Only in this flight mode can those craft exceed their software limits and perform to their actual physical limits because a pre existing emergency situation is assumed if this mode of flight is used.

Terrorists in fact did not fly those planes, it is totally and completely impossible for those planes to have been flown in such a manner from the cockpit. Those are commuter aircraft, not F-16's and their software knows it.

Another piece of critical evidence: the voice recorders came up blank.

The flight recorders that were recovered had tape that was undamaged inside, but it was blank. There is only one way this can happen on a 757 or 767. When the aircraft are commandeered via remote control, the microphones that go to the cockpit voice recorder are re routed to the people doing the remote controlling, so that the recording of what happened in the cockpit gets made in a presumably safer place. But due to a glitch in the system on a 757/767, rather than shutting off when the mic is redirected the voice recorder keeps running. The voice recorders use what is called a continuous loop tape, which automatically re passes itself past the erase and record heads once every half hour, so after a half hour of running with the microphones redirected, the tape will be blank. Just like the recovered tapes were. Yet more proof that no pilot flew those planes in the last half hour.

Eight of the hijackers who were on those planes called up complaining that they were still alive. I'd bet you never heard about our foreign minister flying to Morocco and issuing an official apology to the accused, did you? No, terrorists did not fly those planes, plastic knives and box cutters were in fact too ridiculous to be true. Any of the remaining accused have certainly been sought out and killed by now.

Our information IS controlled

The cell phone calls from the aircraft could not have happened. I am a National Security Agency trained Electronic Warfare specialist, and am qualified to say this. My official title: MOS33Q10, Electronic Warfare Intercept Strategic Signal Processing/Storage Systems Specialist, a highly skilled MOS which requires advanced knowledge of many communications methods and circuits to the most minute level. I am officially qualified to place severe doubt that ordinary cell phone calls were ever made from the aircraft.

It was impossible for that to have happened, especially in a rural area for a number of reasons.

When you make a cell phone call, the first thing that happens is that your cell phone needs to contact a transponder. Your cell phone has a max transmit power of five watts, three watts is actually the norm. If an aircraft is going five hundred miles an hour, your cell phone will not be able to 1. Contact a tower, 2. Tell the tower who you are, and who your provider is, 3. Tell the tower what mode it wants to communicate with, and 4. Establish that it is in a roaming area before it passes out of a five watt range. This procedure, called an electronic handshake, takes approximately 45 seconds for a cell phone to complete upon initial power up in a roaming area because neither the cell phone or cell transponder knows where that phone is and what mode it uses when it is turned on. At 500 miles an hour, the aircraft will travel three times the range of a cell phone's five watt transmitter before this handshaking can occur. Though it is sometimes possible to connect during takeoff and landing, under the situation that was claimed the calls were impossible. The calls from the airplane were faked, no if's or buts.

I hope I made sense, if you have questions I will respond if possible. If I do not respond, please research this out yourself, search the boeing site, search the DARPA site, search were you have not searched before. Some of the information is classified and leaked by individuals, and it is also being scoured from the net. I have all of the original documents on my computer to safeguard against this.

Please do not ignore this, because only Norad has the flight codes for those aircraft, we did 911 to ourselves. Hitler had the Reichstag, we have 911. If 911 proves to not be enough to make the US citizenry set aside its rights for safety, the people who did 911 most certainly have access to nuclear material. 911 must be exposed for what it was before that material is used.

Source: http://www.sianews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=48

8/22/02
5:48:36 PM

SciTech Daily Review

http://SciTechDaily.com

Shots of naked DNA are injecting new life into the promise of gene therapy

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/gvaccines.html

The mummy returns: After 141 years in North America, the 3,000-year-old mummy of Ramses I is being returned to Egypt (registration required)

http://www.forbes.com/2002/08/13/0813hot.html

Overfishing and global warming could be a Good Thing, if you're a squid

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/squid020814.html

Instead of presenting religion apologetically, like so many works, Pascal Boyeri examines its cognitive and behavioural underpinnings to see why we fashion gods and spirits

http://human-nature.com/nibbs/02/boyer.html

Is art sullied by technology? The link between technology and art is regarded in modern times as something shameful, but artists' dependence on machines is not only extensive but centuries old ... [more] And sometimes, an elegant blend of the two can border on bliss

http://escherdroste.math.leidenuniv.nl/

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

Cities die. An intricate digital map could let New York be the first city to clone itself -- but might too precise a blueprint prevent survivors building a place that fits their purposes and their spirit?

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0233/baard.php

Suddenly, crop circles are hot. They're hip. They're not just for New Age neo-Druid saucer freaks anymore

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1177-2002Aug9.html

8/22/02
5:43:23 PM

Officers Say U.S. Aided Iraq In War Despite Use Of Gas

by Patrick E. Tyler, The New York Times, August 17, 2002

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 — A covert American program during the Reagan administration provided Iraq with critical battle planning assistance at a time when American intelligence agencies knew that Iraqi commanders would employ chemical weapons in waging the decisive battles of the Iran-Iraq war, according to senior military officers with direct knowledge of the program.

These officers, most of whom agreed to speak on the condition that they not be named, spoke in response to a reporter's questions about the nature of gas warfare on both sides of the conflict between Iran and Iraq from 1981 to 1988. Iraq's use of gas in that conflict is repeatedly cited by President Bush ( news - web sites) and, this week, by his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice ( news - web sites), as justification for "regime change" in Iraq.

The covert program was carried out at a time when President Reagan's top aides, including Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci and Gen. Colin L. Powell, then the national security adviser, were publicly condemning Iraq for its use of poison gas, especially after Iraq attacked Kurds in Halabja in March 1988.

During the Iran-Iraq war, the United States decided it was imperative that Iran be thwarted, so it could not overrun the important oil-producing states in the Persian Gulf. It has long been known that the United States provided intelligence assistance to Iraq in the form of satellite photography to help the Iraqis understand how Iranian forces were deployed against them. But the full nature of the program, as described by former Defense Intelligence Agency officers, was not previously disclosed.

Secretary of State Powell, through a spokesman, said the officers' description of the program was "dead wrong," but declined to discuss it. His deputy, Richard L. Armitage, a senior defense official at the time, used an expletive relayed through a spokesman to indicate his denial that the United States acquiesced in the use of chemical weapons.

The Defense Intelligence Agency declined to comment, as did Lt. Gen. Leonard Peroots, retired, who supervised the program as the head of the agency. Mr. Carlucci said, "My understanding is that what was provided" to Iraq "was general order of battle information, not operational intelligence."

"I certainly have no knowledge of U.S. participation in preparing battle and strike packages," he said, "and doubt strongly that that occurred."

Later, he added, "I did agree that Iraq should not lose the war, but I certainly had no foreknowledge of their use of chemical weapons."

Though senior officials of the Reagan administration publicly condemned Iraq's employment of mustard gas, sarin, VX and other poisonous agents, the American military officers said President Reagan, Vice President George Bush and senior national security aides never withdrew their support for the highly classified program in which more than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency were secretly providing detailed information on Iranian deployments, tactical planning for battles, plans for airstrikes and bomb-damage assessments for Iraq.

Iraq shared its battle plans with the Americans, without admitting the use of chemical weapons, the military officers said. But Iraq's use of chemical weapons, already established at that point, became more evident in the war's final phase.

Saudi Arabia played a crucial role in pressing the Reagan administration to offer aid to Iraq out of concern that Iranian commanders were sending waves of young volunteers to overrun Iraqi forces. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, then and now, met with President Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites) of Iraq and then told officials of the Central Intelligence Agency ( news - web sites) and the Defense Intelligence Agency that Iraq's military command was ready to accept American aid.

In early 1988, after the Iraqi Army, with American planning assistance, retook the Fao Peninsula in an attack that reopened Iraq's access to the Persian Gulf, a defense intelligence officer, Lt. Col. Rick Francona, now retired, was sent to tour the battlefield with Iraqi officers, the American military officers said.

He reported that Iraq had used chemical weapons to cinch its victory, one former D.I.A. official said. Colonel Francona saw zones marked off for chemical contamination, and containers for the drug atropine scattered around, indicating that Iraqi soldiers had taken injections to protect themselves from the effects of gas that might blow back over their positions. (Colonel Francona could not be reached for comment.)

C.I.A. officials supported the program to assist Iraq, though they were not involved. Separately, the C.I.A. provided Iraq with satellite photography of the war front.

Col. Walter P. Lang, retired, the senior defense intelligence officer at the time, said he would not discuss classified information, but added that both D.I.A. and C.I.A. officials "were desperate to make sure that Iraq did not lose" to Iran.

"The use of gas on the battlefield by the Iraqis was not a matter of deep strategic concern," he said. What Mr. Reagan's aides were concerned about, he said, was that Iran not break through to the Fao Peninsula and spread the Islamic revolution to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Colonel Lang asserted that the Defense Intelligence Agency "would have never accepted the use of chemical weapons against civilians, but the use against military objectives was seen as inevitable in the Iraqi struggle for survival." Senior Reagan administration officials did nothing to interfere with the continuation of the program, a former participant in the program said.

Iraq did turn its chemical weapons against the Kurdish population of northern Iraq, but the intelligence officers say they were not involved in planning any of the military operations in which these assaults occurred. They said the reason was that there were no major Iranian troop concentrations in the north and the major battles where Iraq's military command wanted assistance were on the southern war front.

The Pentagon ( news - web sites)'s battle damage assessments confirmed that Iraqi military commanders had integrated chemical weapons throughout their arsenal and were adding them to strike plans that American advisers either prepared or suggested. Iran claimed it suffered thousands of deaths from chemical weapons.

The American intelligence officers never encouraged or condoned Iraq's use of chemical weapons, but neither did they oppose it because they considered Iraq to be struggling for its survival, people involved at the time said in interviews.

Another former senior D.I.A. official who was an expert on the Iraqi military said the Reagan administration's treatment of the issue — publicly condemning Iraq's use of gas while privately acquiescing in its employment on the battlefield — was an example of the "Realpolitik" of American interests in the war.

The effort on behalf of Iraq "was heavily compartmented," a former D.I.A. official said, using the military jargon for restricting secrets to those who need to know them.

"Having gone through the 440 days of the hostage crisis in Iran," he said, "the period when we were the Great Satan, if Iraq had gone down it would have had a catastrophic effect on Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and the whole region might have gone down — that was the backdrop of the policy."

One officer said, "They had gotten better and better" and after a while chemical weapons "were integrated into their fire plan for any large operation, and it became more and more obvious."

A number of D.I.A. officers who took part in aiding Iraq more than a decade ago when its military was actively using chemical weapons, now say they believe that the United States should overthrow Mr. Hussein at some point. But at the time, they say, they all believed that their covert assistance to Mr. Hussein's military in the mid-1980's was a crucial factor in Iraq's victory in the war and the containment of a far more dangerous threat from Iran.

The Pentagon "wasn't so horrified by Iraq's use of gas," said one veteran of the program. "It was just another way of killing people — whether with a bullet or phosgene, it didn't make any difference," he said.

Former Secretary of State Shultz and Vice President Bush tried to stanch the flow of chemical precursors to Iraq and spoke out against Iraq's use of chemical arms, but Mr. Shultz, in his memoir, also alluded to the struggle in the administration.

"I was stunned to read an intelligence analysis being circulated within the administration that `we have demolished a budding relationship (with Iraq) by taking a tough position in opposition to chemical weapons,' " he wrote.

Mr. Shultz also wrote that he quarreled with William J. Casey, then the director of central intelligence, over whether the United States should press for a new chemical weapons ban at the Geneva Disarmament Conference. Mr. Shultz declined further comment.

Source: http://www.NYTimes.com

8/22/02
5:38:29 PM

Phil Donahue Warns Of Bush Assassination

Anti-war TV talkmeister Phil Donahue warned Friday that President Bush would likely provoke his own assassination if he invades Iraq and attempts to take out Saddam Hussein.

The MSNBC talker offered the incendiary prediction during an interview with WABC Radio's Curtis Sliwa, saying that after a U.S.-backed attempt to "knock off" the Iraqi dictator, it would be hard to "keep our president's head out of the crosshairs of a high-powered rifle."

DONAHUE: Does Curtis Sliwa support the invasion of Iraq for the purpose of knocking off Saddam Hussein?

SLIWA: Oh, absolutely. And you know why, Phil?

DONAHUE: Now maybe you'll make a call to the FBI and the Secret Service and tell them how to keep our president's head out of the crosshairs of a high-powered rifle. You know, we're gonna give ourselves permission to knock off another head of state. This endangers heads of state everywhere. (End of Excerpt)

The liberal talker continued his rant, telling Sliwa:

"What's to prevent somebody from getting a message from God and deciding that he can do the same thing to us. ... We don't have any sense at all about the consequences of our behavior. Saddam is bad - knock him off."

Moments after delivering the assassination warning, Donahue made light of reports that Hussein may soon acquire nuclear weapons.

"He's got a bomb, he's got a bomb, let's go get him," the TV talker said sarcastically. "OK, and we'll go get him and your children's children will be putting on uniforms in an attempt to prevent the chaos that will result.

Source: http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/8/16/104941

8/22/02
5:36:04 PM

The Roadblock

By Carol Schiffler, YellowTimes.org, July 30, 2002

They had stationed themselves just before the on-ramp, and they were seriously impeding the forward progress of about a dozen already harried commuters who were desperately trying to escape the sleepy, cow-town of Lakeland, Florida. Don't get me wrong - Lakeland looks like almost every other mid-sized American city, from its gated communities to its garish strip malls. But it is not so long ago that Lakeland was nothing more than a pasture, and the heart of the city still beats to the lethargic and sultry pace of rural Florida. Even on a good day, driving through Lakeland is an exercise in teeth-gritting self control.

Today was not a good day, and the appearance of flashing lights and orange cones poised at the very mouth of the interstate - so close that you could see that swift-moving river of 70 m.p.h. traffic - did not make it any better. Although I was east-bound, and the roadblock was only stopping west-bound traffic, I winced in sympathy as car after car was pulled over, and I empathized with the those who were already five minutes late, and ten miles from their destination, as their fragile hopes of being on time were dashed by the sudden appearance of an army of orange vests.

What were they up to? Had there been a crime? The young men in the orange vests did not look anxious and did not appear to be armed, but they were surrounded by squad cars. Surely they must be looking for something or someone, yet I had listened to the local news radio station all the way to Lakeland and had heard nothing about escaped convicts or west-bound terrorists. Were there more roadblocks to be encountered, or was that the only one?

My thoughts wandered to the First Amendment business cards in my purse, and to the spiral-bound, eight- pocket, two hundred sheet notebook, (with a durable long-life cover!), that lay on the car seat next to me. Idly I wondered if they could arrest me for writing, "George Bush is a fascist, usurping, dangerously inbred, small-eyed, smirking son of a bitch," as that is the central theme of most of my political commentary.

As it turned out, the roadblock, while decidedly Orwellian, was not erected for the purpose of detaining rogue dissenters - not this time, anyway. It was, as I later discovered, just some off-duty highway patrolmen helping the Department of Transportation do a survey on the proposed high-speed transit system, which is on the ballot for this year's November election. They claim this stuff goes on all the time, all over the country. Really routine, if you get right down to it - or so they say.

Given the fact that this was a week which culminated in the Sydney Morning Herald headline, "Foundations are in place for Martial Law in the U.S.," a little paranoia did not seem out of line. In fact, given the rest of the week's headlines, my tinfoil hat is starting to look downright stylish. Let's review:

* The terminally creepy Attorney General, John Ashcroft, took a break from monitoring pedophiles, (a subject in which we believe he has more than a passing interest), in order to unveil the TIPS program. Congress attempts to block it, but the A.G., who last time I looked was not only not elected by anyone, but who lost a popularity contest to a dead guy, decided that once we all understood the value of providing a substantial portion of the population with an outlet for unrestrained voyeurism, we will be behind him one hundred percent. After all, we have already seen how well this policy has worked for detaining rampaging paraplegics and large-breasted women in airports. * George Bush continues to lay plans for invading Iraq in what appears to be the largest military action ever undertaken against the leader of a foreign power because "he said mean things about my Daddy." * Alabama mobilizes a unit of tanks for no apparent reason, and the military simultaneously announces plans to engage in a gargantuan "experiment in simulated response to the events involving weapons of mass destruction, urban warfare, the United Nations, and humanitarian relief." (Regarding the latter, we can only assume that this means "blocking humanitarian relief," and one wonders why they feel they need more practice after the war in Afghanistan.) * Time Magazine breaks the story that the Pentagon wonks are putting the finishing touches on a whole arsenal of high tech toys designed to nauseate, panic, stupefy, confuse, mangle, and entangle, while avoiding the messy political scandal that always ensues when unarmed civilians bleed all over their white picket fences on Elm Street. (For those of you who voted for the current administration solely because of its stance on gun control, it should now be apparent that the reason that they are allowing you to keep "Old Bessie" is because they know that if push comes to shove, they will not be engaging you in "The Gunfight at the OK Corral." They will be assaulting you with date rape drugs, directed energy beams, hallucinogens, and sonic screeches, and if you somehow manage to get off a round or two, even with all six of your senses scrambled, you stand a better chance of hitting the backyard barbeque grill than an oncoming squadron of peacekeepers.) * Dick Cheney changes Judicial Watch's motto, "Because no one is above the law," to "Because no one is above the law except Dick Cheney who does not have to answer any questions about anything, ever, and he particularly does not have to answer those ugly questions about Halliburton." So much for checks and balances. * George Bush decides that Posse Comitatus is an inconvenient impediment to his plans for global domination and announces that he will "review" the act with an eye toward giving himself some relief from its restrictions. For those who have missed the latest installment of "Global Hegemony: the Mini-series," Posse Comitatus is a law which prevents the military from storming your house, confiscating everything you own, (in simplest terms, you can kiss your riding lawn mower good-bye, if someone in the government decides you were planning to drive it into a national landmark), absconding with your wife, and throwing you in a bad place with barbed wire and no Starbucks. And even though top military brass have publicly stated that they really don't want that kind of power, thank you very much anyway, George is proceeding with the review as if no one of any importance had voiced opposition. * A bill is introduced in Congress which contains a rider making an "attempted" federal crime the equivalent of one that has been committed. The bill was introduced despite stiff opposition from the good folks who would actually be responsible for enforcing it - namely federal defense attorneys and law enforcement officials, including the 30,000 member Fraternal Order of Police. "What's the next step? Mind reading probes?" asks Marcia Shein, a federal criminal defense lawyer. "They're appeasing the public with hysterical reactions." "I don't think this country wants us to move closer to a police state," says Mississippi sheriff Malcolm McMillan, "We need to work harder enforcing the laws we have." * And finally, George W. Bush announces his next "vacation." For those of us who are industriously working on our "Fun with Fascism Dot-to-Dot Activity Book," this just about completes the last arm of the Swastika.

Now if you are one of those unfortunate souls who are still getting the majority of your news from a Clear Channel radio station, let me clarify:

The federal government is out of control. It is careening madly, like Buzz Lightyear gone bad, to Infinite Tyranny and beyond. If you think you still have rights, it is probably because you have not tried to exercise them recently. You have not yet uttered heresies like, "Hey, wouldn't it be swell if Congress actually declared war on Iraq before we invaded it?" or "Hang on just one second there Mister Ashcroft. I live in a sovereign state, remember?" or "Say, shouldn't Dick Cheney be accountable for his actions?"

George Bush now exercises absolute control over every man, woman, and child in this country. Right now; not at some unspecified time in the future when "this thing" happens or "that thing" happens. We hit that point flying when the PATRIOT Act passed.

If you are reading this, it is because you are connected to the internet, one of the last bastions of free speech in this bogus war. But the Iron Fist of repression is about to come down on the 'net as well, and it is not hard to envision the day when the only thing available on any broadcast media is the latest Austin Powers flick. (Why? Because it amuses little Georgie, and nothing is too good for Poppy's little demon seed.)

But not everyone is hard-wired to a Google search engine. Maybe it is time you talked to your neighbors - the guy on the corner guzzling beer and washing his car, the ladies at the laundromat, the kid who delivers your pizza. Maybe it's time to tack copies of the Bill of Rights on every telephone pole in your neighborhood. And if you've been flying that flag from the antenna of your late-model sedan, for God's sake, turn the blasted thing upside down, because if there was ever a time to display a distress signal, the time is now. And maybe - just maybe - it is time to march on your city hall, your governor's mansion, and the offices of your Senators and Representatives, (Lord knows, they aren't getting their mail), and hand-deliver the message that Americans are not willing to sacrifice their freedom on the altar of Homeland Security, and that, despite the Pentagon's best efforts at mind-numbing propaganda, we are not afraid of a cave-dwelling Muslim extremist who implausibly threatens the entire free world even though he must drag his dialysis machine from jihad to jihad.

Maybe it's time, because once the war on Iraq has started, once the Posse Comitatus Act has been lifted, once one out of every four of your neighbors is picking through your trash and scrutinizing your Home Depot receipts, it will be way, way too late.

The roadblock on I-4 in Florida this past week was innocent and manned by polite young men in orange vests who were only asking you for your opinion. The next roadblock you see may be manned by someone else entirely.

Carol Schiffler encourages your comments: mailto:carsch45@yahoo.com

Source: http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=541

8/22/02
5:32:20 PM

Unanswered Questions: The Mystery Of Flight 93

We all know the inspiring story of Flight 93, of the heroic passengers who forced the hijacked plane to the ground, sacrificing themselves to save the lives of others. The only trouble is: it may simply not be true.

by John Carlin from Shanksville, Pennsylvania, August 13, 2002

The fate of United Airlines Flight 93, the last of the four hijacked planes to go down in the United States on 11 September, holds no mystery for Lee Purbaugh. He saw what happened with his own eyes. He was the only person present in the field where, at 10.06am, the aircraft hit the ground.

"There was an incredibly loud rumbling sound and there it was, right there, right above my head - maybe 50ft up," says Purbaugh, who works at a scrapyard overlooking the crash site. "It was only a split second but it looked like it was moving in slow motion, like it took forever. I saw it rock from side to side then, suddenly, it dipped and dived, nose first, with a huge explosion, into the ground. I knew immediately that no one could possibly have survived."

Apart from, here and there, a finger, a toe or a tooth, all that remained of the 44 souls aboard, churned into the soil or hanging from the branches of nearby trees, were small pieces of tissue and bone. The plane was also pulverised, reduced to tiny fragments of metal. Wally Miller, the local coroner in what used to be a forgotten corner of rural Pennsylvania, was the man charged by law with collecting the human remains and establishing the causes of death. "I issued the death certificates," says Miller, who is also the local undertaker. "I put down 'murdered' for the 40 passengers and crew; 'suicide' for the four terrorists."

But Miller, who worked closely with the FBI during the 13 days that they investigated the crash site, admits that, in the end, he cannot prove what happened; he can only infer it. Neither he nor anybody else knows what exactly caused Flight 93 to go down and, as Miller puts it, "bring the world's troubles crashing down on our doorstep". Or, if there are people who do know, they are not telling.

The shortage of available facts did not prevent the creation of an instant legend - a legend that the US government and the US media were pleased to propagate, and that the American public have been eager, for the most part, to accept as fact. The legend goes like this: the passengers on the hijacked United flight, alerted on their mobile phones to the news of the other three hijacked planes, decide that if they are not going to save themselves at least they will do the patriotic thing and spare the lives of those who are the terrorists' intended targets; so they charge down the aisle, storm the cockpit, where a terrorist is at the controls, and, in the ensuing struggle, force the plane down.

President George Bush, Attorney General John Ashcroft, the head of the FBI Robert Mueller, and numerous other senior government officials who have saluted the "heroes" of Flight 93, have consistently, and repeatedly, advanced this version of events. So have the big national newspapers and all the big national television stations. The New York Times, normally a model of legalistic precision, published this extraordinarily woolly sentence on 22 September upon learning, from unnamed "official" sources, that the plane's cockpit voice-recorder had registered "a desperate and wild struggle" aboard. "And while it [the recorder] did not provide a clear or complete picture," The New York Times read, "it seemed certain that there was a chaotic confrontation that apparently led to the crash of the jet."

Vanity Fair magazine, going on little more information than was available to The New York Times, went ahead and published a highly detailed story on Flight 93, which, the magazine said, "may be remembered as one of the greatest tales of heroism ever told". Vanity Fair did recognise, though, that any suggestions as to what actually happened to force the plane down had to be, by necessity, "pure conjecture".

Two months later, Newsweek got hold of what it was told was a partial transcript of the voice-recorder and, upon that basis, narrated the story of "the Heroes of Flight 93" in even more vivid, drum-rolling, Hollywoodesque detail than Vanity Fair had done. The passengers were "citizen soldiers... who rose up, like their forefathers, to defy tyranny", intoned Newsweek. "In daring and dying, the passengers and crew of Flight 93 found victory for us all."

The transcript that Newsweek obtained did indicate that fighting had taken place aboard, curses had been uttered, prayers raised up both to the Muslim and the Christian god. But for all the drama of the story, Newsweek did not draw attention to the fact that, in truth, they were guessing as to how or why the plane had crashed; that they did not know whether the passengers had even made it into the cockpit; that they had no clue what happened during Flight 93's decisive, desperate last eight minutes.

Which is not to assert that the "hero" story is untrue, or even implausible. Maybe the legend does indeed correspond perfectly to the facts. And certainly, based on the records of telephone calls made from the plane, there is no disputing that a number of the passengers did indeed intend to carry out actions of great courage. But what those actions actually turned out to be is not known - or known only to a small group of people with a clear picture of what happened in the skies over Shanksville on the morning of 11 September, people in the US military who tracked the plane's last moments as well as people familiar with, but unwilling to reveal, the full contents of the material gleaned from the cockpit voice- recorder, which was retrieved in perfect working order after the crash.

The absence of official information has led to lively and often well-informed debate in the unofficial medium of the internet (see www.flight93crash.com.) But there are also a number of individuals in the aviation industry convinced that there do exist other plausible interpretations of what actually happened. Because there are, most certainly, a number of important unanswered questions - questions based on evidence, as well as on a manifest absence of candour on the part of the authorities - which the national US media, typically so sceptical and inquisitive, have shown a curious reluctance to ask.

The alternative theories, both of which have been denied by the US military and the FBI, are a) that Flight 93 was brought down by a US government plane; and b) that a bomb went off aboard (passengers had said in phone calls that one of the hijackers had what appeared to be a bomb strapped to him). If doubts remain despite the denials, if conspiracy theories flourish, it is in large part because of the authorities' failure to address head-on questions centring on the following four conundrums.

1. The wide displacement of the plane's debris, one explanation for which might be an explosion of some sort aboard prior to the crash. Letters - Flight 93 was carrying 7,500 pounds of mail to California - and other papers from the plane were found eight miles (13km) away from the scene of the crash. A sector of one engine weighing one ton was found 2,000 yards away. This was the single heaviest piece recovered from the crash, and the biggest, apart from a piece of fuselage the size of a dining-room table. The rest of the plane, consistent with an impact calculated to have occurred at 500mph, disintegrated into pieces no bigger than two inches long. Other remains of the plane were found two miles away near a town called Indian Lake. All of these facts, widely disseminated, were confirmed by the coroner Wally Miller.

2. The location of US Air Force jets, which might or might not have been close enough to fire a missile at the hijacked plane. Live news media reports on the morning of 11 September conflict with a number of official statements issued later. What the government acknowledges is that the first fighters with the mission to intercept took off at 8.52am; that another set of fighters took off from Andrews Air Force base near Washington at 9.35am - precisely the time that Flight 93 turned almost 180 degrees off course towards Washington and the hijacker pilot was heard by air-traffic controllers to say that there was "a bomb aboard". Flight 93, whose menacing trajectory was made known by the broadcast media almost immediately, did not go down for another 31 minutes. Apart from the logical conclusion that at least one Air Force F-16 - 125 miles away in Washington at 9.40am, meaning 10 minutes away from Flight 93 (or less if it flew at supersonic speed) - should have reached the fourth of the "flying bombs" well before 10.06am, there is this evidence from a federal flight controller published a few days later in a newspaper in New Hampshire: that an F-16 had been "in hot pursuit" of the hijacked United jet and "must have seen the whole thing". Also, there was one brief report on CBS television before the crash that two F-16 fighters were tailing Flight 93. Vice-President Dick Cheney acknowledged five days later that President Bush had authorised the Air Force pilots to shoot down hijacked commercial aircraft.

3. One telephone call from the doomed plane whose contents do not entirely tally with the hero legend and which is accordingly omitted in the Independence Day-type dramas favoured by the US media. The Associated Press news service reported on 11 September that eight minutes before the crash, a frantic male passenger called the 911 emergency number. He told the operator, named Glen Cramer, that he had locked himself inside one of the plane's toilets. Cramer told the AP, in a report that was widely broadcast on 11 September, that the passenger had spoken for one minute. "We're being hijacked, we're being hijacked!" the man screamed down his mobile phone. "We confirmed that with him several times," Cramer said, "and we asked him to repeat what he said. He was very distraught. He said he believed the plane was going down. He did hear some sort of an explosion and saw white smoke coming from the plane, but he didn't know where. And then we lost contact with him."

According to the information that has been made known, this was the last of the various phone calls made from the aeroplane. No more calls were received from the plane in the eight minutes that remained after the man in the toilet said that he had heard an explosion.

4. Eyewitness accounts of a "mystery plane" that flew low over the Flight 93 crash site shortly after impact. Lee Purbaugh is one of at least half a dozen named individuals who have reported seeing a second plane flying low and in erratic patterns, not much above treetop level, over the crash site within minutes of the United flight crashing. They describe the plane as a small, white jet with rear engines and no discernible markings. Purbaugh, who served three years in the US Navy, said he did not believe it was a military plane. If it indeed was not, one suggestion made in the internet discussion groups is that US Customs uses planes with these characteristics to interdict aerial drug shipments. Either way, the presence of the mystery jet remains a puzzle.

How has the US government and its various agencies responded to doubts raised by the above questions? In the following ways:

1. The paper debris eight miles away, the FBI says, was wafted away by a 10mph wind; the jet-engine part flew 2,000 yards on account of the savage force of the plane's impact with the ground. The FBI conclusion: "Nothing was found that was inconsistent with the plane going into the ground intact." Aviation experts I have contacted are very doubtful about this. One expert expresses astonishment at the notion that the letters and other papers would have remained airborne for almost one hour before falling to earth.

2. The Air Force jets were on their way but failed to make it on time, according to General Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Fighters did finally approach Flight 93, he acknowledges, "moments" before it crashed, but did not shoot it down. Which begs the question why they were unable to arrive sooner to intercept an aircraft that clearly had terrorists aboard and that was flying straight for Washington more than one hour after another United Airlines plane had crashed into the second World Trade Centre tower. The report in the New Hampshire newspaper, and the one on CBS, have not been explained, and the air-traffic controllers in Cleveland who tracked the last minutes of Flight 93 on radar have been forbidden by the authorities to speak publicly about what they saw on their screens.

3. Neither the FBI nor anyone else in authority has explained the reported 911 phone call from the plane toilet, even though it appears to be the last of the phone calls made from the plane and even though it conveys the far from insignificant claim that there was an explosion on board. The FBI has confiscated the tape of the conversation and the operator Glen Cramer has received orders not to speak to the media any more.

4. The explanation furnished by the FBI for the mystery plane, whose existence it initially denied, serves less to reassure than to reinforce suspicions that a cover-up of sorts is under way, that the government is manipulating the truth in a manner it considers to be palatable to the broader US public. The FBI has said, on the record, that the plane was a civilian business jet, a Falcon, that had been flying within 20 miles of Flight 93 and was asked by the authorities to descend from 37,000ft to 5,000ft to survey and transmit the co-ordinates of the crash site "for responding emergency crews". The reason, as numerous people have observed, why this seems so implausible is that, first, by 10.06am on 11 September, all non-military aircraft in US airspace had received loud and clear orders more than half an hour earlier to land at the nearest airport; second, such was the density of 911 phone calls from people on the ground, in the Shanksville area, as to the location of the crash site that aerial co-ordinates would have been completely unnecessary; and, third, with F-16s supposedly in the vicinity, it seems extraordinarily unlikely that, at a time of tremendous national uncertainty when no one knew for sure whether there might be any more hijacked aircraft still in the sky, the military would ask a civilian aircraft that just happened to be in the area for help.

Most suspicious of all, perhaps, has been the failure of the FBI or anybody else to identify the pilot or the passengers of the purported Falcon, and their own failure to come forward and identify themselves.

There was one other plane, a single-engine Piper, in the air as Flight 93 headed to its doom. The pilot, Bill Wright, said that he was three miles away and so close he could see the United markings on the plane. Suddenly he received orders to get away from the hijacked plane and to land immediately. "That's one of the first things that went through my mind when they told us to get as far away from it as fast as we could," Wright later told a Pittsburgh TV station, "that either they were expecting it to blow up or they were going to shoot it down - but that's pure speculation."

Everything is speculation - that is the problem with the story of Flight 93. And unless the US government reveals more of what it knows, provides a detailed account of the last 10 minutes in the life of Flight 93 and the 44 people who were aboard, there will not only be scope but sound reasons for the conspiracy theorists to continue to speculate as to what really happened in those last few minutes before the plane plunged into the earth; to cast doubts on the soft-focus legend that the traumatised American public has seized upon so gratefully.

Some conspiracy theorists will say that the plane was shot down by a missile, perhaps a heat-seeking missile that honed in on one of the plane's engines - a theory possibly substantiated by the 2,000yd flight of the 1,000lb engine part, but arguably refuted by consistent eye-witness accounts, including Lee Purbaugh's, that when last sighted the plane was not emitting smoke.

Others might say, as they have done about a TWA flight that fell to the sea in 1996 after taking off from New York, that the plane was a victim of electromagnetic interference. In the case of the TWA flight, the argument, put forward in a series of exhaustive articles written in the New York Review of Books by the Harvard academic Elaine Scarry, is that it happened accidentally. However, as Scarry's articles relate, documentation abounds showing that the Air Force and the Pentagon have conducted extensive research on "electronic warfare applications" with the possible capacity intentionally to disrupt the mechanisms of an aeroplane in such a way as to provoke, for example, an uncontrollable dive. Scarry also reports that US Customs aircraft are already equipped with such weaponry; as are some C-130 Air Force transport planes. The FBI has stated that, apart from the enigmatic Falcon business jet, there was a C-130 military cargo plane within 25 miles of the passenger jet when it crashed. According to the Scarry findings, in 1995 the Air Force installed "electronic suites" in at least 28 of its C-130s - capable, among other things, of emitting lethal jamming signals.

In decades to come, film-makers, future Oliver Stones, may come up with theories of their own, and the story of Flight 93 may come to acquire the morbid mystique of the Kennedy assassination.

None of which is to question the bravery of passengers such as Todd Beamer, who left behind a pregnant widow and two children aged two and three; or Tom Burnett, who had three small daughters and told his wife Deena over the phone, in the face of her anguished protests, that he and his fellow-passengers were "going to do something" because if not the terrorists were "going to run this plane into the ground". Evidently, as the Newsweek article relates, there was fighting of some kind, but as to whether the terrorists held off the passengers or the passengers seized control of the plane, and perhaps even made an attempt to fly it themselves (one passenger aboard was a qualified pilot of small planes), nobody knows - or is willing to admit that they know.

If evidence does exist further substantiating the hero narrative, it would be a surprise if the authorities had not released it. Bravery, though, there undoubtedly was. This we do know. As Lee Purbaugh says, and it would be churlish to disagree, "they were heroes on that plane". Such a consensus has been built around this view that the crash site at Shanksville - an anonymous-looking field save for the American flags that flutter all around, the crosses, the pictures of the dead passengers, the messages of goodwill and of good cheer ("Don't mess with the US!") - that it has become a place of pilgrimage, much as has happened with ground zero in New York but on a smaller scale, attracting some 150 visitors from all over the US every day. "In truth," said Wally Miller, who as coroner remains legally in charge of the site, "that field is a cemetery. It should be treated with due respect."

What does Miller think happened? Did he attach any credence to the stories doing the rounds, to those - including a number in Shanksville - who dissent from the official version of events? Miller, who has seen as much evidence as anybody at the scene of the crash, does not dismiss the dissidents out of hand. He keeps an open mind. "The order had been given to bring the airplane down," he said. "I do not rule anything out."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=323958

8/22/02
5:29:17 PM

The Dutch Connection

How A Famous American Family Made Its Fortune From The Nazis

by John Loftus

For the Bush family, it is a lingering nightmare. For their Nazi clients, the Dutch connection was the mother of all money laundering schemes. From 1945 until 1949, one of the lengthiest and, it now appears, most futile interrogations of a Nazi war crimes suspect began in the American Zone of Occupied Germany. Multibillionaire steel magnate Fritz Thyssen-the man whose steel combine was the cold heart of the Nazi war machine-talked and talked and talked to a joint US-UK interrogation team. For four long years, successive teams of inquisitors tried to break Thyssen's simple claim to possess neither foreign bank accounts nor interests in foreign corporations, no assets that might lead to the missing billions in assets of the Third Reich. The inquisitors failed utterly.

Why? Because what the wily Thyssen deposed was, in a sense, true. What the Allied investigators never understood was that they were not asking Thyssen the right question. Thyssen did not need any foreign bank accounts because his family secretly owned an entire chain of banks. He did not have to transfer his Nazi assets at the end of World War II, all he had to do was transfer the ownership documents - stocks, bonds, deeds and trusts--from his bank in Berlin through his bank in Holland to his American friends in New York City: Prescott Bush and Herbert Walker. Thyssen's partners in crime were the father and father-in-law of a future President of the United States.

The allied investigators underestimated Thyssen's reach, his connections, his motives, and his means. The web of financial entities Thyssen helped create in the 1920's remained a mystery for the rest of the twentieth century, an almost perfectly hidden underground sewer pipeline for moving dirty money, money that bankrolled the post-war fortunes not only of the Thyssen industrial empire...but the Bush family as well. It was a secret Fritz Thyssen would take to his grave.

It was a secret that would lead former US intelligence agent William Gowen, now pushing 80, to the very doorstep of the Dutch royal family. The Gowens are no strangers to controversy or nobility. His father was one of President Roosevelt's diplomatic emissaries to Pope Pius XII, leading a futile attempt to persuade the Vatican to denounce Hitler's treatment of Jews. It was his son, William Gowen, who served in Rome after World War II as a Nazi hunter and investigator with the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps. It was Agent Gowen who first discovered the secret Vatican Ratline for smuggling Nazis in 1949. It was also the same William Gowen who began to uncover the secret Dutch pipeline for smuggling Nazi money in 1999.

A half-century earlier, Fritz Thyssen was telling the allied investigators that he had no interest in foreign companies, that Hitler had turned on him and seized most of his property. His remaining assets were mostly in the Russian Occupied Zone of Germany (which he knew were a write-off anyway). His distant (and disliked) relatives in neutral nations like Holland were the actual owners of a substantial percentage of the remaining German industrial base. As innocent victims of the Third Reich, they were lobbying the allied occupation governments in Germany, demanding restitution of the property that had been seized from them by the Nazis.

Under the rules of the Allied occupation of Germany, all property owned by citizens of a neutral nation which had been seized by the Nazis had to be returned to the neutral citizens upon proper presentation of documents showing proof of ownership. Suddenly, all sorts of neutral parties, particularly in Holland, were claiming ownership of various pieces of the Thyssen empire. In his cell, Fritz Thyssen just smiled and waited to be released from prison while members of the Dutch royal family and the Dutch intelligence service reassembled his pre-war holdings for him.

The British and American interrogators may have gravely underestimated Thyssen but they nonetheless knew they were being lied to. Their suspicions focused on one Dutch Bank in particular, the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart, in Rotterdam. This bank did a lot of business with the Thyssens over the years. In 1923, as a favor to him, the Rotterdam bank loaned the money to build the very first Nazi party headquarters in Munich. But somehow the allied investigations kept going nowhere, the intelligence leads all seemed to dry up.

If the investigators realized that the US intelligence chief in postwar Germany, Allen Dulles, was also the Rotterdam bank's lawyer, they might have asked some very interesting questions. They did not know that Thyssen was Dulles' client as well. Nor did they ever realize that it was Allen Dulles's other client, Baron Kurt Von Schroeder who was the Nazi trustee for the Thyssen companies which now claimed to be owned by the Dutch. The Rotterdam Bank was at the heart of Dulles' cloaking scheme, and he guarded its secrets jealously.

Several decades after the war, investigative reporter Paul Manning, Edward R. Murrow's colleague, stumbled across the Thyssen interrogations in the US National Archives. Manning intended to write a book about Nazi money laundering. Manning's manuscript was a dagger at Allen Dulles' throat: his book specifically mentioned the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart by name, albeit in passing. Dulles volunteered to help the unsuspecting Manning with his manuscript, and sent him on a wild goose chase, searching for Martin Bormann in South America.

Without knowing that he had been deliberately sidetracked, Manning wrote a forward to his book personally thanking Allen Dulles for his "assurance that I was "on the right track, and should keep going.'"Dulles sent Manning and his manuscript off into the swamps of obscurity. The same "search for Martin Bormann"scam was also used to successfully discredit Ladislas Farago, another American journalist probing too far into the laundering of Nazi money. American investigators had to be sent anywhere but Holland.

And so the Dutch connection remained unexplored until 1994 when I published the book "The Secret War Against the Jews."As a matter of historical curiosity, I mentioned that Fritz Thyssen (and indirectly, the Nazi Party) had obtained their early financing from Brown Brothers Harriman, and its affiliate, the Union Banking Corporation. Union Bank, in turn, was the Bush family's holding company for a number of other entities, including the "Holland American Trading Company."

It was a matter of public record that the Bush holdings were seized by the US government after the Nazis overran Holland. In 1951, the Bush's reclaimed Union Bank from the US Alien Property Custodian, along with their "neutral" Dutch assets. I did not realize it, but I had stumbled across a very large piece of the missing Dutch connection. Bush's ownership of the Holland-American investment company was the missing link to Manning's earlier research in the Thyssen investigative files. In 1981, Manning had written:

"Thyssen's first step in a long dance of tax and currency frauds began [in the late 1930's] when he disposed of his shares in the Dutch Hollandische-Amerikanische Investment Corporation to be credited to the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart, N.V., Rotterdam, the bank founded in 1916 by August Thyssen Senior."

In this one obscure paragraph, in a little known book, Manning had unwittingly documented two intriguing points: 1) The Bush's Union Bank had apparently bought the same corporate stock that the Thyssens were selling as part of their Nazi money laundering, and 2) the Rotterdam Bank, far from being a neutral Dutch institution, was founded by Fritz Thyssen's father. In hindsight, Manning and I had uncovered different ends of the Dutch connection.

After reading the excerpt in my book about the Bush's ownership of the Holland-American trading Company, retired US intelligence agent William Gowen began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Mr. Gowen knew every c orner of Europe from his days as a diplomat's son, an American intelligence agent, and a newspaperman. William Gowen deserves sole credit for uncovering the mystery of how the Nazi industrialists hid their money from the Allies at the end of World War II.

In 1999, Mr. Gowen traveled to Europe, at his own expense, to meet a former member of Dutch intelligence who had detailed inside information about the Rotterdam bank. The scrupulous Gowen took a written statement and then had his source read and correct it for error. Here, in summary form, is how the Nazis hid their money in America.

After World War I, August Thyssen had been badly burned by the loss of assets under the harsh terms of the Versailles treaty. He was determined that it would never happen again. One of his sons would join the Nazis; the other would be neutral. No matter who won the next war, the Thyssen family would survive with their industrial empire intact. Fritz Thyssen joined the Nazis in 1923; his younger brother married into Hungarian nobility and changed his name to Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza. The Baron later claimed Hungarian as well as Dutch citizenship. In public, he pretended to detest his Nazi brother, but in private they met at secret board meetings in Germany to coordinate their operations. If one brother were threatened with loss of property, he would transfer his holdings to the other.

To aid his sons in their shell game, August Thyssen had established three different banks during the 1920's -- The August Thyssen Bank in Berlin, the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart in Rotterdam, and the Union Banking Corporation in New York City. To protect their corporate holdings, all the brothers had to do was move the corporate paperwork from one bank to the other. This they did with some regularity. When Fritz Thyssen "sold" the Holland-American Trading Company for a tax loss, the Union Banking Corporation in New York bought the stock. Similarly, the Bush family invested the disguised Nazi profits in American steel and manufacturing corporations that became part of the secret Thyssen empire.

When the Nazis invaded Holland in May 1940, they investigated the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart in Rotterdam. Fritz Thyssen was suspected by Hitler's auditors of being a tax fraud and of illegally transferring his wealth outside the Third Reich. The Nazi auditors were right: Thyssen felt that Hitler's economic policies would dilute his wealth through ruinous war inflation. He had been smuggling his war profits out through Holland. But the Rotterdam vaults were empty of clues to where the money had gone. The Nazis did not know that all of the documents evidencing secret Thyssen ownership had been quietly shipped back to the August Thyssen Bank in Berlin, under the friendly supervision of Baron Kurt Von Schroeder. Thyssen spent the rest of the war under VIP house arrest. He had fooled Hitler, hidden his immense profits, and now it was time to fool the Americans with same shell game.

As soon as Berlin fell to the allies, it was time to ship the documents back to Rotterdam so that the "neutral" bank could claim ownership under the friendly supervision of Allen Dulles, who, as the OSS intelligence chief in 1945 Berlin, was well placed to handle any troublesome investigations. Unfortunately, the August Thyssen Bank had been bombed during the war, and the documents were buried in the underground vaults beneath the rubble. Worse, the vaults lay in the Soviet Zone of Berlin.

According to Gowen's source, Prince Bernhard commanded a unit of Dutch intelligence, which dug up the incriminating corporate papers in 1945 and brought them back to the "neutral" bank in Rotterdam. The pretext was that the Nazis had stolen the crown jewels of his wife, Princess Juliana, and the Russians gave the Dutch permission to dig up the vault and retrieve them. Operation Juliana was a Dutch fraud on the Allies who searched high and low for the missing pieces of the Thyssen fortune.

In 1945, the former Dutch manager of the Rotterdam bank resumed control only to discover that he was sitting on a huge pile of hidden Nazi assets. In 1947, the manager threatened to inform Dutch authorities, and was immediately fired by the Thyssens. The somewhat naive bank manager then fled to New York City where he intended to talk to Union Bank director Prescott Bush. As Gowen's Dutch source recalled, the manager intended "to reveal [to Prescott Bush] the truth about Baron Heinrich and the Rotterdam Bank, [in order that] some or all of the Thyssen interests in the Thyssen Group might be seized and confiscated as German enemy property. "The manager's body was found in New York two weeks later.

Similarly, in 1996 a Dutch journalist Eddy Roever went to London to interview the Baron, who was neighbors with Margaret Thatcher. Roever's body was discovered two days later. Perhaps, Gowen remarked dryly, it was only a coincidence that both healthy men had died of heart attacks immediately after trying to uncover the truth about the Thyssens.

Neither Gowen nor his Dutch source knew about the corroborating evidence in the Alien Property Custodian archives or in the OMGUS archives. Together, the two separate sets of US files overlap each other and directly corroborate Gowen's source. The first set of archives confirms absolutely that the Union Banking Corporation in New York was owned by the Rotterdam Bank. The second set (quoted by Manning) confirms that the Rotterdam Bank in turn was owned by the Thyssens.

It is not surprising that these two American agencies never shared their Thyssen files. As the noted historian Burton Hersh documented:

"The Alien Property Custodian, Leo Crowley, was on the payroll of the New York J. Henry Schroeder Bank where Foster and Allen Dulles both sat as board members. Foster arranged an appointment for himself as special legal counsel for the Alien Property Custodian while simultaneously representing [German] interests against the custodian."

No wonder Allen Dulles had sent Paul Manning on a wild goose chase to South America. He was very close to uncovering the fact that the Bush's bank in New York City was secretly owned by the Nazis, before during and after WWII. Once Thyssen ownership of the Union Banking Corporation is proven, it makes out a prima facie case of treason against the Dulles and Bush families for giving aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war.

PART TWO

The first key fact to be proven in any criminal case is that the Thyssen family secretly owned the Bush's Bank. Apart from Gowen's source, and the twin American files, a third set of corroboration comes from the Thyssen family themselves. In 1979, the present Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza (Fritz Thyssen's nephew) prepared a written family history to be shared with his top management. A copy of this thirty-page tome entitled "The History of the Thyssen Family and Their Activities"was provided by Gowen's source. It contains the following Thyssen admissions:

"Thus, at the beginning of World War II the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart had become the holding of my father's companies - a Dutch firm whose only shareholder was a Hungarian citizen..Prior to 1929, it held the shares of .the August Thyssen Bank, and also American subsidiaries and the Union Banking Corporation, New York.The shares of all the affiliates were [in 1945] with the August Thyssen Bank in the East Sector of Berlin, from where I was able to have them transferred into the West at the last moment"

"After the war the Dutch government ordered an investigation into the status of the holding company and, pending the result, appointed a Dutch former general manager of my father who turned against our family.. In that same year, 1947, I returned to Germany for the first time after the war, disguised as a Dutch driver in military uniform, to establish contact with our German directors"

"The situation of the Group gradually began to be resolved but it was not until 1955 that the German companies were freed from Allied control and subsequently disentangled. Fortunately, the companies in the group suffered little from dismantling. At last we were in a position to concentrate on purely economic problems -- the reconstruction and extension of the companies and the expansion of the organization."

"The banking department of the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart, which also functioned as the Group's holding company, merged in 1970 with Nederlandse Credietbank N.V. which increased its capital. The Group received 25 percent.The Chase Manhattan Bank holds 31%. The name Thyssen-Bornemisza Group was selected for the new holding company."

Thus the twin US Archives, Gowen's Dutch source, and the Thyssen family history all independently confirm that President Bush's father and grandfather served on the board of a bank that was secretly owned by the leading Nazi industrialists. The Bush connection to these American institutions is a matter of public record. What no one knew, until Gowen's brilliant research opened the door, was that the Thyssens were the secret employers of the Bush family.

But what did the Bush family know about their Nazi connection and when did they know it? As senior managers of Brown Brothers Harriman, they had to have known that their American clients, such as the Rockefellers, were investing heavily in German corporations, including Thyssen's giant Vereinigte Stahlwerke. As noted historian Christopher Simpson repeatedly documents, it is a matter of public record that Brown Brother's investments in Nazi Germany took place under the Bush family stewardship.

When war broke out was Prescott Bush stricken with a case of Waldheimers disease, a sudden amnesia about his Nazi past? Or did he really believe that our friendly Dutch allies owned the Union Banking Corporation and its parent bank in Rotterdam? It should be recalled that in January 1937, he hired Allen Dulles to "cloak" his accounts. But cloak from whom? Did he expect that happy little Holland was going to declare war on America? The cloaking operation only makes sense in anticipation of a possible war with Nazi Germany. If Union Bank was not the conduit for laundering the Rockefeller's Nazi investments back to America, then how could the Rockefeller-controlled Chase Manhattan Bank end up owning 31% of the Thyssen group after the war?

It should be noted that the Thyssen group (TBG) is now the largest industrial conglomerate in Germany, and with a net worth of more than $50 billion dollars, one of the wealthiest corporations in the world. TBG is so rich it even bought out the Krupp family, famous arms makers for Hitler, leaving the Thyssens as the undisputed champion survivors of the Third Reich. Where did the Thyssens get the start-up money to rebuild their empire with such speed after World War II?

The enormous sums of money deposited into the Union Bank prior to 1942 is the best evidence that Prescott Bush knowingly served as a money launderer for the Nazis. Remember that Union Banks' books and accounts were frozen by the U.S. Alien Property Custodian in 1942 and not released back to the Bush family until 1951. At that time, Union Bank shares representing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of industrial stocks and bonds were unblocked for distribution. Did the Bush family really believe that such enormous sums came from Dutch enterprises? One could sell tulip bulbs and wooden shoes for centuries and not achieve those sums. A fortune this size could only have come from the Thyssen profits made from rearming the Third Reich, and then hidden, first from the Nazi tax auditors, and then from the Allies.

The Bushes knew perfectly well that Brown Brothers was the American money channel into Nazi Germany, and that Union Bank was the secret pipeline to bring the Nazi money back to America from Holland. The Bushes had to have known how the secret money circuit worked because they were on the board of directors in both directions: Brown Brothers out, Union Bank in.

Moreover, the size of their compensation is commensurate with their risk as Nazi money launderers. In 1951, Prescott Bush and his father in law each received one share of Union Bank stock, worth $750,000 each. One and a half million dollars was a lot of money in 1951. But then, from the Thyssen point of view, buying the Bushes was the best bargain of the war.

The bottom line is harsh: It is bad enough that the Bush family helped raise the money for Thyssen to give Hitler his start in the 1920's, but giving aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war is treason. The Bush's bank helped the Thyssens make the Nazi steel that killed allied soldiers. As bad as financing the Nazi war machine may seem, aiding and abetting the Holocaust was worse. Thyssen's coal mines used Jewish slaves as if they were disposable chemicals. There are six million skeletons in the Thyssen family closet, and a myriad of criminal and historical questions to be answered about the Bush family's complicity.

Note: This article's author, John Loftus, is a former U.S. Department of Justice Nazi War Crimes prosecutor, the President of the Florida Holocaust Museum and the highly respected author of numerous books on the CIA-Nazi connection including The Belarus Secret and The Secret War Against the Jews, both of which have extensive material on the Bush-Rockefeller-Nazi connection.

Source: http://www.JohnLoftus.com

8/22/02
5:24:14 PM

HOW TO DEAL WITH THE MEDIA, THE INTERNET AND THE NEW WORLD ORDER

by William Thomas

Step 1:

Stand together. Love and support one another. Calmly and compassionately correct the misinformed privately and personally. Never attack people and organizations working with good hearts and intentions on the worldwide web. Do not forward or contribute to hurtful gossip on Internet chat rooms.

Step 2.

Ignore mass media mesmerizers. Learn to read between the lines of newspapers -- or don't read them at all. Network news is 9/10 disinformation and distraction. Turn it off. Televised negativity sent hypnotically into your central nervous system cannot be "edited" out. It is spiritual and physical poison.

CLIP

Step 3:

Vote with your wallet. Boycott network-advertised products from corporations engaged in war-making, environmental degradation or "food" and drugs that harm human health. Become informed. Search the Web and learn who really owns the companies offering goods and services. When purchasing necessities, buy from local producers whenever possible. Buy used. Recycle. Repair. Swap. Park your car and check out electric-assisted bikes (3,000,000 now in use in Japan). When upgrading computer gear, give away your older, working equipment to activists and community orgs.

Step:4:

Support independent authors, reporters, documentary filmmakers and independent media.

Recent polls show that the majority of Americans with Internet access are ignoring network "managed news" in favor of direct access to firsthand news sources, commentators and analysts on the worldwide web. Cross-check all information with your heart as well as your head. Does it "ring true"? Does it resonate? The most reliable reports include references and sources.

Consider the blinkered, built-in bias of mass media. Understand the symbiotic synergy of an out-of-control Military-Corporate-Entertainment establishment that battens on bloodshed. Since the slaughters in Vietnam, Panama, East Timor, El Salvador, Tibet, Kosovo and the Persian Gulf it is clear that broadcast and newspaper chains have become self-censoring sales arms of nine multinational owners: Time Warner, Disney, News Corp., Viacom, Sony, Seagram, AT&T/Liberty Media, Bertelsmann, GE.

With assets greater than most treasuries of once-sovereign nations, weapons-makers such as General Electric (NBC) must "sell" attacks on former allies and henchmen in order to market, manufacture, deploy and detonate obscenely expensive weaponry. Cheerleading broadcasters (CNN) boost ratings and ad revenues by glorifying weapons and warfare. This self-perpetuating war economy enriches weapons makers, while impoverishing entire nations. Now moving toward the "high ground" of orbital space, a Pentagon monopoly on increasingly destructive and robotic weaponry is intended to keep the world's "have nots" from claiming their share of resources enjoyed by a wealthy minority. This is folly. You cannot eat, inhabit or make something useful out of an ICBM buried in the ground. It is unnecessary. If we are conscientious in our consumption, there is still plenty to go around.

Fear and lies perpetuate this planet-threatening scam. World trekkers who find lodging among local populaces know that most people in all cultures are friendly and warm hearted. Contrary to incessantly negative news reports, travelers like myself have found that random violent death is unknown in most communities, and that almost everyone everywhere wants only to see their children grow and prosper in peace.

Demand new directions in the spending of your tax dollars. The money,talent and resources squandered annually on armaments that failed to protect America from an alleged few fanatics armed with Exacto knives is enough to eliminate the scarcity, female oppression, environmental degradation and illiteracy that drive most conflicts.

Step 5:

Remember who and where you are as a crewmember operating a fragile, bio-connected space colony hurtling through the cold, irradiated vacuum of deep space. Every Trekkie knows it makes sense not to rip apart the solar radiation shielding, pave over water-purifying wetlands, cut down oxygen-replenishing forests, or pour carcinogenic and DNA-altering poisons into fresh water recirculators. There are no lifeboats. Respect your ship. It's the only one you have.

Step. 6:

Long live the 'Net! In the credibility wars currently being waged over the survival of Spaceship Earth, the attacks on Afghanistan to secure oil and heroin routes; efforts to escalate the bombing of Iraq (one million dead so far); the Sept. 11 deception; and ill-advised attempts at "climate control" to maintain petroleum pollution and profits (instead of switching to more efficient and renewable energy) -- are now running head-on into the Internet. And losing.

The world is waiting for goodhearted Americans to wake up to the cynical deceptions practiced on them at Pearl Harbor, the Gulf of Tonkin, the "incubator babies" of Kuwait, 9-11 and the (s)election of a president who immediately proclaimed his preference to be dictator.

The tyranny of an unchecked Superpower presidency backed by a compliant and complacent media will end when the present-day Internet becomes accessible through TV sets in every home. There is major money driving the fiber-optic revolution toward mass Internet access. Watch for it soon.

Protect your cyber freedom now. Beware newly instituted "Cyber Security" offices, and attempts by any government to install Communist China-style official "filters" on all Internet and Email access.

Fortunately, would-be government censors in North America and the European Union know that any attempt to restrict free access to Email traffic and the Internet will instantly impact the digital information and cash-flow on which nearly every business depends. While threats to Internet access remain moderate at this moment, efforts by the Military-Corporate-Entertainment establish-ment to control all public information have gone into hyperdrive since Sept. 11.

Anyone hosting truth-telling websites can consider setting up "mirror sites" on the computers of friends in at least four countries. Each replica site is capable of being activated within minutes if their North American site is "taken down" by government pressure on servers, or a "hack" attack.

If necessary, limited Internet access can be delivered by commercially available Single-Sideband radio. Check the ocean-cruising (sailing) sites for more info.

Step 7:

Vote "yes" for reality. If you like it, celebrate it. If you don't like it, change it. Remember why dope is called "dope". Take yourself and your children off Ritalin, Prozac and Paxil. Keep vaccination needles out of your children's arms, and your own.

As Edward Abbey echoed Walt Whitman: "Resist much. Obey little."

Enjoy and protect your freedoms by exercising them in responsible ways every day. Learn to differentiate chemtrails from contrails. Call local authorities and the media if you spot chemtrails being spread over your community Call them back. Support the revival and immediate implementation of U.S. House Resolution 2977, which calls for a ban on space weapons, electromagnetic warfare, mind control technologies and "chemtrails".

Know that power has nothing to do with megatons or megabucks.

Real power is instantly and only accessible through the truth of an open heart.

Do not fear would-be warmongers and controllers.

Though they can be immensely destructive, evildoers always collapse from their own corruption, conceits and contradictions. This is the law of karma. There are no exceptions.

Step 8:

Express your gratitude aloud at every opportunity. Laugh often. Remember that well-informed ridicule is the surest way to skewer arrogant authorities who overstep legal, ethical or spiritual bounds.

* Be vigilant without becoming paranoid. Authorities caught in their own fearful projections are most likely far too busy to notice you.

Taking sensitive information public is your best defense against those who want to restrict it.

* Be thankful. Always support, encourage and congratulate conscientious officials. Exercise every available democratic process to hold the rest accountable. After all, you are paying government officials, police and military personnel to serve and protect you and your community.

* Be accurate. Help reporters do their jobs. Use proper punctuation and capitalization in news messages. For rapid referencing in clogged "Inboxes", include immediately recognizable descriptions in Email "subject" lines. When posting articles, provide sources -- time/date and name of publication or news broadcast, title and author's Email and URL if available.

* Be careful. Seek second opinions on the most alarming information you receive online. Reflect on hysteria-heightening messages for at least 24 hours before forwarding widely or posting on the Web. Misinformation can be dangerous. Issue full retractions immediately. Remember that information cannot be recalled like faulty tires. No matter how quickly errors are caught and corrected, once posted they can haunt the sender for months. (I know!)

* Be helpful. Accompany all issues of public concern with suggested solutions, including descriptions of working alternatives already in practice. Include access phone numbers, URLs and mail addresses to publications and organizations that address public problems in ways that affirm and protect life.

* Be passionate Show your outrage at injustice in creative, constructive and nonviolent ways. Avoid expressing or supporting hatred, which leads to blind intolerance. Foster and learn from diversity in gender, customs, locale and individual viewpoints. Remember that the most contagious and subversive act is a smile.

Step 9:

Love your home planet. Respect and learn from your elders. Remember that all children are in our care. Honor their trust. Our shared future is either enhanced or encumbered by every choice you make. Thank you for your choices.

Step 10:

We Are All In This Together.

With Love And Respect,

William Thomas

8/22/02
5:21:40 PM

Overnight Guests At Bush White House Include GOP Supporters, Entertainers, Relatives

by Sharon Theimer, Associated Press, August16, 2002

WASHINGTON (AP) Republican fund-raisers, relatives and golfer Ben Crenshaw are among dozens of White House overnight guests President Bush and first lady Laura Bush have played host to since moving in last year.

The issue of White House sleepovers first arose in the Clinton administration when it was learned that the Democratic Party was rewarding big donors with overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom.

The Bushes' roughly 160 guests include at least six of President Bush's biggest fund-raisers and their families. White House spokeswoman Anne Womack said she didn't know whether donors, or any other Bush guests, have slept in the Lincoln Bedroom.

''They sleep in a variety of guest rooms in the White House,'' Womack said. ''The president and Mrs. Bush enjoy spending time with their friends and family and have invited friends and family to stay as guests in the White House.''

A half dozen Bush donors and fund-raisers known as ''pioneers'' are among the guests on a list released late Friday by the White House. Each raised at least $100,000 for Bush's 2000 campaign, helping him take in a record $100 million for the primary.

They include Roland Betts, a Yale classmate of Bush's and a former partner of his in the Texas Rangers baseball team; venture capitalist and Republican National Committee fund-raiser Brad Freeman; Texas rancher and state Sen. Teel Bivins; Boston businessman Joe O'Donnell; and Joe O'Neill of Midland, Texas, an oilman and childhood friend of Bush credited with introducing him to Laura Bush.

Womack said the Bush fund-raisers are also longtime friends of the Bushes.

Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign-finance watchdog group, said whether the Bushes are letting contributors stay in the Lincoln Bedroom ''matters symbolically,'' regardless of whether the donors are also family friends.

''The Republicans made a very big deal about it during the Clinton administration,'' Noble said. ''In this whole business, the whole issue is perception.''

The halting of White House tours for the general public since the Sept. 11 attacks may present a new issue for the Bushes, he said. Only children's groups, veterans and guests of members of Congress are currently allowed on tours.

''The American public's access to the White House has been severely restricted,'' Noble said. ''So you may have an increased perception problem if in fact large contributors are getting access to the White House.''

Bush has said he wouldn't use overnight invitations to the White House in any quid pro quo with donors.

''There's something sacred about the Lincoln Bedroom,'' Bush told The Associated Press in an interview last year.

In contrast to the star-studded guest list Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton compiled from Barbra Streisand to director Steven Spielberg and actors Jane Fonda and Tom Hanks no members of the Hollywood elite have stayed overnight in the Bush White House.

But there are some famous names in the crowd, including Crenshaw, a Bush family friend from Austin, Texas; country music performer Larry Gatlin; and Texas musician and author Kinky Friedman. Interior designer Ken Blasingame, who has decorated the Bushes' private quarters in the Texas governor's mansion and the White House and their ranch in Crawford, Texas, has also been a guest.

Several Bush relatives have also stayed over, including the president's parents, former President Bush and Barbara Bush; presidential siblings Jeb, Neil and Marvin Bush and Doro Koch; and Laura Bush's mother, Jenna Welch.

Republican governors, including Pennsylvania's Tom Ridge, now Bush's chief adviser on domestic security, Jane Hull of Arizona, George Pataki of New York and Michigan's John Engler are also among the guests.

White House Overnight Guest List

Guests who stayed overnight in the White House from Jan. 20, 2001, to May 1, 2002, according to the White House:

Bush Family Members

Former President Bush and Barbara Bush

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Columba Bush and George and Jeb

Marvin and Margaret Bush and Marshall and Walker

Neil and Sharon Bush and Lauren, Pierce and Ashley

Jenna Welch

Mary Welch

Robert Welch

Craig and Dorothy Stapleton and Walker Stapleton

Hap Ellis

John Ellis

Nancy Ellis

William T. Bush and wife

Jonathan Bush and wife

Marvin Bush

Neil Bush

Scott Bush

Herbert Walker and wife

Bobby and Doro Koch and Sam and Ellie LeBlond and Robert and Gigi Koch

Other Guests

Anne Armstrong, former ambassador to Britain, and Tobin Armstrong

Andi Bernstein

Tom Bernstein and wife and Henry, Samuel and Lee Bernstein and Amy Plummer

Roland Betts and wife and Jessica and Margaret Betts

Heather Marcus Bein

Texas state Sen. Teel Bivins

Will Bivins

Ken Blasingame

Susan Block

Mary Brice

Barbara Brock

Jan Bullock

The Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell and wife

Alice Carrington

Dianne Cash

Jane Clarke (spelling uncertain)

Trillon Clarke

Kate Clark

Ben Crenshaw and wife

Lee Cullum

Tiffany Gauthier Divis and Paul Divis

Anne DeBois

Michigan Gov. John Engler and Michelle Engler

Don Etra and wife and Harry, Dorothy, Anna and Jonathan Etra

Former Texas state Sen. Ray Farabee and wife

Suzy Fields

Chandler Ford

Carolyn Franklin

Debbie Francis

Brad Freeman

Kinky Friedman

Billy Gammon and wife

Regan Gammon

Tony Garza

Larry Gatlin and wife

Adelaida Gonzalez

Albert Hausser and wife

Janet Heyne

Arizona Gov. Jane Hull

Katherine Idsal

Sydney Kilgore

Texas House Speaker Pete Laney and Nelda Laney

Sara Lea

Richard and Jane Levin

June McGuire

Karen McClure

Mark McKinnon and wife and family

Richard Manoogian and wife

Muggsie Mallory

Donald Margo and wife

Susan Montgomery

Johnny Morris

Lynn Munn

Tom Zenner and wife

Jennifer Myers

Janet Neath

Bill Nelson and wife

Charlie and Keith Nelson

Joe O'Donnell

Joe O'Neill and wife

Deanna Ortiz

Betty Osborne

New York Gov. George Pataki and Libby Pataki

Marge Petty

James Powell

Tom Perini and wife

Ashley Rankin

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and Michele Ridge and family

Susan Ritchey

Tamara Rogers

Deedie Rose

Connecticut Gov. John Rowland and Patricia Rowland

Penny Royall

Scott Sayers and wife

Tom Schieffer, ambassador to the Czech Republic, and Susanne Schieffer

Jan Schneider

Cathy Schoellkopf

Mary Gay Shipley

Texas state Sen. David Sibley and wife

Eric Steinfeldt and wife

Salle Stemmons

Emily Summers

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and Hope Taft

Kimberly Teague

Margot Thomas

Clara Walmsley

Mike Weiss and wife

Peggy Weiss

Pam Willeford

Jean Works

Dr. Charlie Younger and wife

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov

8/22/02
5:05:27 PM

Overnight Guests At Bush White House Include GOP Supporters, Entertainers, Relatives

by Sharon Theimer, Associated Press, August 16, 2002

WASHINGTON (AP) Republican fund-raisers, relatives and golfer Ben Crenshaw are among dozens of White House overnight guests President Bush and first lady Laura Bush have played host to since moving in last year.

The issue of White House sleepovers first arose in the Clinton administration when it was learned that the Democratic Party was rewarding big donors with overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom.

The Bushes' roughly 160 guests include at least six of President Bush's biggest fund-raisers and their families. White House spokeswoman Anne Womack said she didn't know whether donors, or any other Bush guests, have slept in the Lincoln Bedroom.

''They sleep in a variety of guest rooms in the White House,'' Womack said. ''The president and Mrs. Bush enjoy spending time with their friends and family and have invited friends and family to stay as guests in the White House.''

A half dozen Bush donors and fund-raisers known as ''pioneers'' are among the guests on a list released late Friday by the White House. Each raised at least $100,000 for Bush's 2000 campaign, helping him take in a record $100 million for the primary.

They include Roland Betts, a Yale classmate of Bush's and a former partner of his in the Texas Rangers baseball team; venture capitalist and Republican National Committee fund-raiser Brad Freeman; Texas rancher and state Sen. Teel Bivins; Boston businessman Joe O'Donnell; and Joe O'Neill of Midland, Texas, an oilman and childhood friend of Bush credited with introducing him to Laura Bush.

Womack said the Bush fund-raisers are also longtime friends of the Bushes.

Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign-finance watchdog group, said whether the Bushes are letting contributors stay in the Lincoln Bedroom ''matters symbolically,'' regardless of whether the donors are also family friends.

''The Republicans made a very big deal about it during the Clinton administration,'' Noble said. ''In this whole business, the whole issue is perception.''

The halting of White House tours for the general public since the Sept. 11 attacks may present a new issue for the Bushes, he said. Only children's groups, veterans and guests of members of Congress are currently allowed on tours.

''The American public's access to the White House has been severely restricted,'' Noble said. ''So you may have an increased perception problem if in fact large contributors are getting access to the White House.''

Bush has said he wouldn't use overnight invitations to the White House in any quid pro quo with donors.

''There's something sacred about the Lincoln Bedroom,'' Bush told The Associated Press in an interview last year.

In contrast to the star-studded guest list Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton compiled from Barbra Streisand to director Steven Spielberg and actors Jane Fonda and Tom Hanks no members of the Hollywood elite have stayed overnight in the Bush White House.

But there are some famous names in the crowd, including Crenshaw, a Bush family friend from Austin, Texas; country music performer Larry Gatlin; and Texas musician and author Kinky Friedman. Interior designer Ken Blasingame, who has decorated the Bushes' private quarters in the Texas governor's mansion and the White House and their ranch in Crawford, Texas, has also been a guest.

Several Bush relatives have also stayed over, including the president's parents, former President Bush and Barbara Bush; presidential siblings Jeb, Neil and Marvin Bush and Doro Koch; and Laura Bush's mother, Jenna Welch.

Republican governors, including Pennsylvania's Tom Ridge, now Bush's chief adviser on domestic security, Jane Hull of Arizona, George Pataki of New York and Michigan's John Engler are also among the guests.

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov

8/22/02
4:58:46 PM

Israel Urges U.S. To Attack Iraq

By JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel is urging U.S. officials not to delay a military strike against Iraq's Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites), an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ( news - web sites) said Friday.

Official: Israel Will Defend Itself Against Iraq (AP Video)

Israeli intelligence officials have gathered evidence that Iraq is speeding up efforts to produce biological and chemical weapons, said Sharon aide Ranaan Gissin.

"Any postponement of an attack on Iraq at this stage will serve no purpose," Gissin told The Associated Press. "It will only give him (Saddam) more of an opportunity to accelerate his program of weapons of mass destruction."

The United States has been considering a military campaign against Iraq to remove Saddam from power, listing him as one of the world's main terrorist regimes. However, there is considerable world opposition to a U.S. strike.

As evidence of Iraq's weapons building activities, Israel points to an order Saddam gave to Iraq's Atomic Energy Commission last week to speed up its work, Gissin said.

"Saddam's going to be able to reach a point where these weapons will be operational," he said.

Gissin said Israel was not seeking to dictate the timing of a U.S. military campaign but said that, faced with the threat of one, Saddam was fast developing weapons.

While the Israeli government backs U.S. action against Iraq, there is also concern in Israel that in response, Iraq would launch missile attacks against Tel Aviv and other cities in Israel.

During the 1991 Gulf War ( news - web sites), in which U.S.-led forces pushed back an Iraqi invasion of neighboring Kuwait, Iraq hit Israel with 39 Scud missiles — none of them with chemical or biological warheads — causing few casualties but extensive damage.

In the 1991 conflict, the United States worried it would lose Arab support if Israel retaliated for the strikes, and under heavy pressure Israel reluctantly agreed to hold back. However, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel would defend itself against any new attacks.

In an interview published Friday, Ben-Eliezer told the daily Yediot Ahronot that Israel would surely become a target during such a conflict and would consider retaliation in coordination with U.S. forces.

"We will be one of the main targets," he told the newspaper. "What I told the Americans, and I repeat it: 'Don't expect us to continue to live with the process of restraint. If they hit us, we reserve the right of response.'"

Iraq has few chemical and biological weapons, Ben-Eliezer said. "We are taking this into account and we are prepared. But we are so far away from this right now that all this hysteria is simply unnecessary," he said.

A survey in the daily Maariv newspaper showed 57 percent of Israelis were in support of an American battle to wipe out Saddam's leadership, though about the same percent of people questioned believed Iraq would attack Israel. The survey found that 28 percent of them thought Iraq would use chemical or biological weapons against Israel.

The poll, which surveyed 590 adult Israelis and quoted a 4 percent margin of error, found 23 percent were in favor of using nuclear weapons against Iraq to retaliate for such an attack.

Meanwhile at a demonstration in the southern Gaza Strip ( news - web sites) on Thursday, about 200 Palestinians called on Iraq to strike Israel.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/

8/22/02
1:06:42 AM

The Nation

From the Middle East to South America to Los Angeles to Australia, water is becoming a central political and economic issue. As Fortune magazine recently noted, "water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century: the precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations."

For more on the politics of water, check out:

Who Owns Water? by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke

The Nation, September 2/9, 2002

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020902&s=barlow

And don't miss Jim Hightower's companion piece:

The Water Profiteers by Jim Hightower

The Nation, September 2/9, 2002

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020902&s=hightower

Taking the water profiteers to task, Hightower celebrates "the ordinary folks" who are demonstating great courage and cunning in opposing the Great Corporate Water Rush.

Around the world there is a growing social movement to protect water as a common resource. Because many large corporations have realized that water scarcity and pollution are going to define the next century, a tremendous surge of activity is taking place around the world to commodify and privatize water. Many public interest groups are mobilizing in opposition. One of the most active is Public Citizen, which is campaigning to protect universal access to clean and affordable drinking water by keeping it in public hands.

Check out "Water for All" for how you can help:

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/

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

8/21/02
11:14:01 PM

the Nation

From the Middle East to South America to Los Angeles to Australia, water is becoming a central political and economic issue. As Fortune magazine recently noted, "water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century: the precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations."

For more on the politics of water, check out:

Who Owns Water? by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke

The Nation, September 2/9, 2002

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020902&s=barlow

And don't miss Jim Hightower's companion piece:

The Water Profiteers by Jim Hightower

The Nation, September 2/9, 2002

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020902&s=hightower

Taking the water profiteers to task, Hightower celebrates "the ordinary folks" who are demonstating great courage and cunning in opposing the Great Corporate Water Rush.

Around the world there is a growing social movement to protect water as a common resource. Because many large corporations have realized that water scarcity and pollution are going to define the next century, a tremendous surge of activity is taking place around the world to commodify and privatize water. Many public interest groups are mobilizing in opposition. One of the most active is Public Citizen, which is campaigning to protect universal access to clean and affordable drinking water by keeping it in public hands.

Check out "Water for All" for how you can help:

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/

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

8/21/02
11:12:49 PM

Public Citizen

Aug. 21, 2002

Yucca Mountain Earthquake Analysis on Shaky Ground; Documents Indicate DOE Statement Was Premature

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A statement issued by the Department of Energy (DOE) dismissing the effects of an earthquake near Yucca Mountain, Nev., was premature and lacked conclusive supporting evidence, Public Citizen said in letters sent to Senate and House committees asking them to further investigate the issue.

"The DOE put the cart before the horse in making a public statement before completing the necessary studies and analyses," said Lisa Gue, senior energy analyst with Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "Congress should investigate the extent to which this rush-to-judgment tendency characterizes other aspects of DOE's work on Yucca Mountain."

The June 14 earthquake, measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale, was recorded about 12 miles away from Yucca Mountain, less than a month before the Senate voted to allow the DOE to proceed with plans to establish a high-level nuclear waste dump there. The day of the earthquake, the DOE issued a statement declaring "no damage to any Yucca Mountain Project facilities." Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Public Citizen requested copies of all source material used to make this determination.

The agency provided only one document from June 14 - an e-mail message from a Yucca Mountain Project employee upon which the DOE statement was presumably based - that describes what workers did. The message reports only a visual inspection of aboveground water tanks and the ground, and a walk-through inspection of about the first 500 feet of the Yucca Mountain tunnel. According to other documents, a more thorough visual inspection - in which an inspector from Sandia National Labs examined about a third of the Yucca tunnel - was not conducted until the following day. A required technical evaluation was not completed until July 29.

In letters sent separately today to U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chair of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Water, Public Citizen wrote, "The public cannot be expected to have confidence in - and Congress should not accept - the pronouncements of an agency that appears more committed to dogmatically defending the nuclear industry's repository interests than honestly . . . evaluating the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site."

The letters can be read at

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/nuclear_waste/hi-level/yucca/articles.cfm?ID=8193

and

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/nuclear_waste/hi-level/yucca/articles.cfm?ID=8194.

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.

8/21/02
11:10:19 PM

Special August Edition

New features to tide you over until MediaChannel's Daily Media News and Weekly Updates return in September.

http://www.mediachannel.org

August 21, 2002

THE MEDIA NEWS ROUNDUP

Collections of top news, key articles and links to ongoing coverage of the most pressing media issues including:

-Awaiting War On Iraq

-Media Giants: Trouble In The Boardroom

-Copyrights And Freedom Of Expression

-Antiterrorism, Privacy And Censorship

-Media News from Africa and Latin America

http://www.mediachannel.org/news/today

UPCOMING MEDIA EVENTS

From the Peace and Human Security Media Festival in New York City to the ICANN meetings in Singapore, here's how to:

*Join activists to protest the National Association of Broadcasters

*Support a poor people's conference on media and economics

*Celebrate International Media Democracy Day, October 18

*Discover many more gatherings and meetings worldwide.

http://www.mediachannel.org/getinvolved/events

Send events to be listed to doug@mediachannel.org

*DAILY* THE NEWS DISSECTOR WEBLOG

Check in with News Dissector Danny Schechter every day for the critical angles, the hidden stories, the unsung heroes, questions, debate and analysis on the day's news.

http://www.mediachannel.org/weblog

NEW AFFILIATES

The network keeps growing! MediaChannel welcomes: Institute for Policy Research & Development * MediaJunkie ComunicAcci activistes de la comunicacicio * OneWorld Radio *WorldWire: Global Issues News * ClearChannelSucks.org and many more. Check out the full list:

http://www.mediachannel.org/affiliates/all/

GUIDES, RESOURCES AND DIRECTORIES

We'll be back with another edition in a few weeks. Until then, we hope you enjoy these features and continue to use our Issue Guides, Book Corner, Affiliate Directory and thematic archives of thousands of articles on media issues from our worldwide network.

http://www.mediachannel.org

We want your feedback! Please write to: editor@mediachannel.org

8/21/02
11:08:25 PM

10 reasons not to attack Iraq

by David Cortright

War against Iraq would be monumental folly, for at least 10 reasons:

1. There is no justification for war. Iraq has not attacked or threatened the United States. It has not been implicated in the attacks of Sept. 11.

2. A military campaign against Iraq could kill thousands of innocent victims, inflicting further torment on a civilian population that has already suffered severely from more than 11 years of sanctions.

3. War and its aftermath would cost the United States tens of billions of dollars. The campaign against Afghanistan reportedly cost almost $2 billion a month. An attack against Iraq would be much larger, with proportionately greater costs.

To read the other 7 reasons not to attack Iraq, go to the original feature as it appeared in the July-August issue of Sojourners magazine:

http://www.sojo.net

8/21/02
11:06:54 PM

Where do Worldcom execs go to church?

by Robert Parham

A number of months ago, Jim Wallis, editor in chief of Sojourners magazine, wrote a column asking, "Where do Enron execs go to church?" While Wallis did not specifically answer his rhetorical question, he bluntly connected the violation of biblical ethics within corporate America with the all-too-often pulpit silence about economic sin.

The latest corporate scandal deserves a rephrasing of Wallis' question: "Where do Worldcom execs go to church?" The answer for Worldcom's founder and former CEO, Bernie Ebbers, is Easthaven Baptist Church in Brookhaven, Miss., a church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Worldcom is the nation's second-largest long-distance corporation, which disclosed accounting irregularities of more than $7 billion, claiming a profit when the company was really losing hundreds of millions of dollars and also providing sweetheart deals for Ebbers, such as over $400 million in loans at a most favorable 2.15 percent interest rate.

Worldcom's disclosure of its accounting problems has resulted in a Securities and Exchange Commission fraud lawsuit, congressional hearings, and investor lawsuits. As many as 17,000 employees may lose their jobs. And Worldcom's stock prices have fallen to as low as a nickel per share from a record high of $64.50, costing investors their hard-earned money.

After the Sunday morning worship service two weeks ago, Ebbers told fellow church members, "I just want you to know you aren't going to church with a crook," according to a story in the Wall Street Journal. "I don't know what the situation is with all that has been reported. I don't know what all is going to happen or what mistakes have been made," he said. "No one will find me to have knowingly committed fraud." Church members gave him a standing ovation.

Ebbers is known as a generous man, a church deacon, and a civic leader. He teaches a Sunday School class for young, married couples. He helped Easthaven Baptist Church purchase stock and sell the stock for some $1 million for its building program. A graduate of Mississippi College, a Baptist institution, Ebbers chaired the school's New Dawn Campaign, which had a goal of raising $80 million in five years. After the first year of the fund drive, the school had raised almost $58 million. Ebbers said the board of trustees had "stepped out in faith when it began this campaign, and as a result, the Lord has blessed it." The board increased the campaign's goal to $100 million.

Bendon Ginn, Ebbers' pastor, said, "He's probably the most unassuming member of this congregation," according to the Jackson, Mississipi, Clarion-Ledger. "He comes in quietly, politely, and sits in a place so as not to be easily seen." Ginn claimed that Ebbers had a good heart.

Congressman Billy Tauzin, (R-La.), had a different take on Ebbers and Worldcom. Tauzin, whose committee investigated Worldcom's financial improprieties, said this week, "This was a pure case of theft, of inside stealing, again, from their own investors. This is a company simply determined for several years to misstate its earnings to the American public by hiding its costs as capitalized expenses, doing so in the face of advice from their own officials inside the company that it was improper and illegal to do so," Tauzin said, according to The New York Times.

Another former corporate CEO, Ken Lay, also has been described as a man of integrity, civic involvement, and church leadership, known for singing hymns in church. Lay once said, "I believe in God and I believe in free markets." Raised in the home of a Baptist preacher and now a member of First United Methodist Church in Houston, Lay... certainly appears to have lied to employees, cut deals for himself, and cheated investors.

Both these "godly" men have engaged in ungodly activities and have then attempted to evade their responsibilities by proclaiming their ignorance. So, where do these men go to church? Stated more painfully, does church really make a difference in the personal and public behavior of corporate leaders? Does teaching Sunday School shape the character of the teacher? Does the biblical witness carry any moral weight?

Wallis wrote, "The teaching of both Christian and Jewish faiths would excoriate the greed, selfishness, and cheating of...corporate leaders, and condemn, in the harshest of terms, their callous and cruel treatment of employees.... It's time for the pulpit to speak, to bring the Word of God to bear on the moral issues of the American economy."

Preach, brother, preach.

Robert Parham is BCE's executive director. © 2002 EthicsDaily.com. EthicsDaily.com is an imprint of the Baptist Center for Ethics. Reprinted with permission.

http://www.ethicsdaily.com

8/21/02
11:05:21 PM

DAILY GRIST

<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

THE ORIENTE EXPRESS

Native residents of the rainforests of Ecuador and Peru were dealt a blow late last week when the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied their petition to reopen litigation against the oil giant ChevronTexaco for devastating their environment and exposing them to carcinogenic pollutants. The court upheld an earlier ruling, which found that two class-action lawsuits should be heard in Ecuador, rather than in the U.S. The plaintiffs say that a Texaco subsidiary dumped an estimated 30 billion gallons of toxic waste into rivers, landfills, and roads in the Oriente region of Ecuador between 1964 and 1992; the waste then flowed downstream into parts of Peru as well. They also say that Texaco's Ecuadorian pipeline leaked large amounts of petroleum, causing both human and environmental damage. Texaco denies the allegations. No court has ever assessed the merits of the case, because it has been caught up in venue issues for nine years.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Gail Appleson, 21 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=389>

PUTTING THEIR LIVES ON THE LIME

Hoping to halt a limestone mining plan that would destroy 15,000 acres of wetlands in the Florida Everglades, environmentalists sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers yesterday. The Corps has issued permits to mine 1.7 billion tons of limestone from Everglades wetlands for roads in southern Florida, despite its own findings that the mining would lead to "irreversible significant impact on the environmental resources of this region." Over a 50-year period, the project would destroy more wetlands in the Everglades than the Corps permitted to be destroyed in the entire country last year, and could also lead to collapsing mines and tainted drinking water. The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and National Parks Conservation Association are suing the Corps for violation of the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.

straight to the source: Washington Post, Michael Grunwald, 21 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=385>

BACKDRAFT

Citing the need to reduce fire danger after a season of devastating wildfires, President Bush is planning to propose more extensive thinning of Western forests and support legislation to streamline environmental rules that have slowed down some logging projects in the region. Most Western governors back the plan to thin forests, but environmental groups say the president is simply leveraging fears raised by this season's fires to push through forest management legislation that is favored by the timber industry. Enviros say cutting would most likely target larger trees, which are more commercially valuable, rather than smaller trees, which pose the greatest fire risk. "This administration was pushing logging before these fires, it's pushing logging because of these fires, and it'll be pushing logging after these fires," said Nathaniel Lawrence of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The president is expected to formally unveil the plan tomorrow in Medford, Ore.

straight to the source: Portland Oregonian, Michael Milstein and Jim Barnett, 21 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=387>

only in Grist: In the line of fire -- life in the Stupid Zone -- in our Soapbox section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/soapbox/nijhuis071102.asp?source=daily>

ANIMAL CRACKERS

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the nation's highest scientific authority, has issued a long-awaited report cautioning that genetic manipulation of animals could pose a serious threat to the environment and human health. The report identifies a series of concerns about cloning and other genetic alteration of animals, ranging from fears that such animals could escape into the wild and change or destroy natural gene pools to the possibility that gene-altered meat, milk, or eggs could harm people. The report also cited potential benefits of biotechnology, including cheaper, more healthful food and new medical treatments. Overall, it emphasized the need for better and more coordinated regulation of bioengineering. The report was particularly concerned about genetically altered fish and insects, which are difficult to contain and could drive their wild relatives to extinction.

straight to the source: Washington Post, Justin Gillis, 21 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=386>

UNABLE WAS I, ERE I SAW ELBE

As if being battered by severe storms wasn't enough, Central and Eastern Europe now face another threat: pollution unleashed by heavy flooding. In addition to concerns about contamination and disease from animal carcasses swept along by the floods, fears are now growing that toxic chemicals could be seeping from an inundated Czech chemical plant and washing through Germany in the high waters of the River Elbe. A cloud of deadly chlorine gas was released when the Spolana plant was flooded last week, and now there are allegations that other chemicals in the plant, including dioxins and mercury, might not have been stored correctly and could be leaking into the river. German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin plans to visit the plant next week to try to determine the extent of the possible danger.

straight to the source: BBC News, 20 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=388>

8/21/02
11:02:50 PM

New at TomPaine.com

http://www.TomPaine.com

BUSH'S TRUE STRIPES

Just Like the Exxon Tiger's

by Stephen Kretzmann

According to the State Department, we shouldn't investigate a U.S. corporation accused of complicity in terrorism, because it might get in the way of our war on terror.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6231

ORDERED INTO DEBT

Pentagon Brass Force Credit Debt On Soldiers and Sailors

by Geoffrey Gray

Privatizing government travel has been a boon for Bank of America, but it has burdened U.S. troops with debt and ruined credit ratings.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6227

CAN 'WE THE PEOPLE' STOP A WAR?

A Crucial Test Case For Citizen-Led Democracy

by Medea Benjamin

Right now I am desperately eager to be proven wrong about the lack of democracy in this country. I want us, the people, to stop a war with Iraq. Our task: turn Americans' latent misgivings into blatant opposition.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6229

LESSONS NEVER LEARNED AT FOX NEWS

by Michael Ryan

Unlike Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and Tucker Carlson, Archer Martin took to heart the lesson that Mister Ed tried to teach us all a generation ago: he never spoke unless he had something to say.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6185

GLOBALIZATION MADE THEM DO IT

The Once-Radical ANC Is Now Toeing The Free-Market Line

by Paul Kingsnorth

Globalization -- the process of extending the American version of consumer capitalism to every nation on Earth -- is destroying the lives of South Africa's poorest people as effectively as apartheid ever did.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6113

ECONOMICS REPORTING REVIEW:

August 10 - August 15

A Weekly Compendium And Commentary

by Dean Baker

The Stock Market and the Economy ... The Budget ... European Unemployment ... Health Care ... and more.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6218

8/21/02
11:01:12 PM

EMS Update - August 21, 2002

World Summit News, Story Ideas & Contacts EMS's World Summit web pages are updated daily with news and press releases about the Summit, and include story ideas, contacts and web links for reporters.

Daily news & press releases: http://www.ems.org/world_summit/news.html

World Summit story ideas: http://www.ems.org/world_summit/stories.html

Web links: http://www.ems.org/world_summit/information.html

Contacts & backgrounders: http://www.ems.org/world_summit/background.html

EMS Updates provide news tips and resources for journalists from Environmental Media Services.

You received this email because you signed up for EMS Updates at our

website, http://www.ems.org

8/21/02
10:57:47 PM

Government To Investigate WTC Collapse

by Shannon McCaffrey, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Aug. 21) - Hoping to make skyscrapers stronger, federal officials are embarking on a two-year, $16 million investigation of the World Trade Center collapse on Sept. 11.

The probe by the National Institute of Standards and Technology could be hampered by the Senate's failure to pass legislation giving federal building investigators subpoena power and other tools. The National Construction Safety Act, sponsored by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., passed the House in July but has stalled in the Senate Commerce Committee.

In the aftermath of the trade center collapse, investigators struggled to gain access to the site and to key documents, like blueprints.

The NIST probe set to get under way Wednesday is designed to be broader and more detailed than a study conducted by the American Society of Civil Engineers and funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That study, concluded in May, determined the 110-story twin towers could have survived the impact of the hijacked 767s but fell victim to the ensuing fire that caused the buildings' steel columns to soften and buckle.

NIST Director Arden Bement has said the relationship between fire and structural collapses will be a major focus of the probe and the investigation ''could lead to major changes in both U.S. building and fire codes and in engineering practice.''

Fluffy fireproofing sprayed onto the trade center's steel beams was jarred loose by when the jetliners slammed into the trade center, the FEMA study found. NIST investigators will look at ways to keep the fireproofing intact.

Investigators are also interested in 7 World Trade Center, which is believed to have sustained little structural damage. It collapsed due to fire alone, the first fireproofed steel structure to do so.

NIST will also examine ways to harden exit stairways to make them less vulnerable to severe impact and plans to space those stairways out so one blow might not render them all impassable. Such designs might have allowed occupants to have escaped from the floors above where the planes hit.

Glenn Corbett, assistant professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, called NIST's undertaking ''a landmark event.''

''This is going to be the most extensive building disaster investigation ever performed,'' Corbett said. ''The size of the disaster dictates that it has to be.''

But he said he was worried that without subpoena power the investigation could be limited.

Corbett and others were critical of the ASCE probe, saying it was too narrow in scope. He and others also complained that officials lost a crucial opportunity to examine most of the trade center's steel beams for clues, allowing them instead to be recycled.

Some of the remaining steel beams are already at NIST's Gaithersburg, Md., headquarters to be examined as part of the new probe.

Source: http://www.AP.org

8/21/02
10:55:12 PM

ACLU Action Network Members

In an effort to help women around the world reach full equality with men, nearly 170 countries have ratified the United Nation's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a groundbreaking treaty that outlines a clear definition of discrimination against women and includes specific measures that nations must take to eliminate gender-based bias.

While the United States played an important role in drafting this U.N. treaty, it is in the shameful company of countries like Afghanistan and Iran that refuse to ratify it. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the treaty in 1998 and again a few weeks ago, but a floor vote has never taken place. Ratification of the U.N. treaty would send a clear message that our country is dedicated to women's rights and the elimination of discrimination against them.

Take action! You can learn more about this U.N. treaty and send a FREE FAX to your Senators from our action alert at:

http://www.aclu.org/action/cedaw107.html

8/21/02
10:54:06 PM

SciTech Daily Review

http://SciTechDaily.com

Twenty five years after they were launched the twin Voyager spacecraft are trying to escape the Solar System

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/sci/tech/2203151.stm

A new approach to computer encryption could help protect the files of stolen laptops

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?articleID=000D5C44-6723-1D59-90FB809EC5880000

Hormone pills that tell the brain you're full might help to fight obesity

http://www.nature.com/nsu/020805/020805-8.html

Sometimes a snake orgy is just a snake orgy: A new book examines what we can and can't learn about sex from watching bonobos, birds and earwigs

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2002/07/22/zuk/index.html

Biophilia, humanity's tendency to be drawn toward nature, enfolds biophobia, a fear of being sucked down and overwhelmed by too much nature. In short, writes Natalie Angier, we adore nature until it bites us in the back

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/20/science/earth/20ESSA.html

Do YOU want to be a telephone psychic? Apply now! Don't delay! WARNING! Only authentic psychics need apply! Please don't lie on the "verification form" (they're not psychic)

http://weeklyuniverse.com/2002/phonepsychic.htm

8/21/02
10:51:56 PM

There can be no Security without Peace

There can be no Peace without Freedom

There can be no Freedom without Justice

There can be no Justice without Love

Graffiti from a wall in Thailand

8/21/02
10:50:20 PM

911 - They Let It Happen On Purpose

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0208/S00068.htm

Note: This is a huge and comprehensive article, too large to send out in one, or even several emails. Included here is the beginning. for the whole article, go to the website above.

8/21/02
10:46:03 PM

Planet Ark World Environment News

US drops requirement for some animal tests - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17377/story.htm

Amazon Indians lose appeal of Texaco case ruling - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17378/story.htm

FEATURE - Rain garden a simple answer to polluted runoff - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17373/story.htm

FEATURE - US snakeheads put small Maryland pond on world map - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17387/story.htm

Chinese demand for Asia's ant-eaters surges - THAILAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17390/story.htm

WWF says Africa under threat from carbon pollution - SWITZERLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17389/story.htm

Environmentalists berate Bush for skipping summit - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17381/story.htm

INTERVIEW - UN environment boss sees Earth Summit deal - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17374/story.htm

Greenpeace stirs row over nuclear shipment - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17375/story.htm

Japan hopes spinach row with China won't escalate - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17385/story.htm

Smoke from forest fires shrouds Indonesian Borneo - INDONESIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17384/story.htm

Cash-for-oxygen catching on in polluted Calcutta - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17388/story.htm

German flood fears ebb as Magdeburg spared - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17382/story.htm

Fears of disease as Europe's flood rages north - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17379/story.htm

Flooded Czech plant raises chemical leak concerns - CZECH REPUBLIC http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17383/story.htm

Czech seal dies exhausted after 300-km flood ride - CZECH REPUBLIC http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17380/story.htm

Canada to restrict US potatoes on virus worry - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17376/story.htm

Alaska wildfires exceed 2 million acres - ALASKA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17386/story.htm

8/21/02
10:42:29 PM

The Nation

One of our staffers extracted the following excerpt from a two-part series originaly published in the October 7 and October 14, 1939 issues of The Nation. We thought it was worth sharing:

"Under modern conditions, virtually all major fraud must be predicated upon false and misleading financial statements. No officer of a large corporation could walk away with his company's land, or its buildings, or its inventories. He could not profit by taking its accounts or notes receivable, because he would be unable to collect them. If he tried to pocket its cash or its marketable securities, he would probably be detected immediately, because these items are invariably protected with a complicated system of internal checks, and accepted accounting procedures requires their physical inspection at each audit. But with the advent of the uninformed stock holder, accepted accounting principles permit new types of exploitation on a scale that makes plain stealing look tame."

--What's Wrong with Accounting? by Kenneth MacNeal

The Nation, October 7, 1939

8/21/02
10:36:18 PM

Public Citizen

Aug. 20, 2002

Public Citizen Targets World Conference for Privatization Protest

Outcry Against Corporate Culture to be Heard at World Summit on Sustainable Development

WASHINGTON, D.C. - To protest the increasing worldwide trend toward privatization, Public Citizen will join civil society groups participating in alternative activities during the upcoming world summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Rather than attend the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), from Aug. 26 to Sept. 4, Public Citizen will march, rally, hold teach-ins, conduct research, attend public hearings and go on fact-finding missions outside Johannesburg with international aid and human rights groups. In developing countries, the privatization of public resources, such as water, is leading to illness and a lower quality of life.

Of particular concern is the corporate privatization of water resources and electricity, a practice widely supported by governments of wealthy nations, including the United States. The summit's draft declaration advocates corporate control of water resources and the granting of huge concessions to multinational corporations.

But the privatization of water in developing countries has led to higher pricing, resource depletion and a lack of access to basic services for poor people.

"The draft declaration of the summit paints a grim picture of water availability for the world's neediest people," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "Instead of setting clear goals for the improvement of access to clean and affordable water, the draft focuses on giving more power and money to multinational corporations. Those who need water most are not even represented at the summit."

With the recent release of the United Nations pre-summit Environmental Report, which found that fresh water is becoming scarcer around the globe, more emphasis than ever needs to be placed on access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation for the more than one billion people who currently lack these basic services, Hauter said.

The United States government has opposed previous international agreements that sought to assure environmentally sustainable development and has not even committed to attend this year's WSSD. Although about 100 heads of state are to attend, President Bush has said he will not. Secretary of State Colin Powell has indicated he "may" go.

"Bush is vacationing on the golf course, polishing his putting skills. Meanwhile, there is no confirmation that any U.S. representative will even go to Johannesburg," Hauter said. "On an issue that is a matter of life and death for every poor country in the world, it's appalling that the Bush administration may not even be bothered to show up."

Other groups involved in the protest events are Social Movement Indaba, Global Exchange, Center for Economic Justice, Council of Canadians, Municipal Service Project and the Polaris Institute.

The first world summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, where more than 100 countries attempted to create a sustainable agenda on a global scale.

For more information about Public Citizen's activities at the WSSD, please visit http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/cmep_Water/wssd.

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

For more information, please visit http://www.Citizen.org

8/21/02
10:32:45 PM

DAILY GRIST

<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

SHELL GAME?

In addition to the environmentalists, politicians, and scientists who will gather next week in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, another constituency will be amply represented -- business interests. Many high-profile companies plan to use the summit to burnish their environmental images and make the case that principles and profits can mix. Although some environmentalists believes a number of companies are genuinely committed to cleaning up their acts, others say Big Business is hijacking the summit to push its own agenda: self-regulation and voluntary corporate responsibility over government regulation. Companies like Shell Oil, which is expected to have a large presence at the summit, argue that self-policing ultimately works better than mandatory guidelines, but most enviros disagree. "It needs to be up to much more than the whim of a chief executive as to whether corporations engage in sustainable development," said Matt Phillips of Friends of the Earth International.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Jodie Ginsberg, 20 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=380>

BILLY CLUBBED

Speaking of the whims of a chief executive: Ford Motor Company is currently struggling to strike a balance between the company's financial woes and the eco-friendly inclinations of CEO and Chair William Clay Ford, Jr. So far, the former seem to be winning out: In its latest corporate citizenship report, released this week, the company says it is having trouble meeting its environmental goals and won't launch many new programs to clean up its cars and trucks in the next few years. Ford says it does intend to keep its promises to improve the fuel economy of its sports utility vehicles 25 percent by 2005, to create a hybrid SUV by 2003, and to give a factory near Detroit a green makeover. However, the report warns that the company won't be moving forward -- and indeed, might slip backward -- on greenhouse gas emissions, as it is relying on sales of its popular but gas-guzzling SUVs to salvage a difficult financial situation. The report angered environmentalists and highlighted the need to prove the theory that green policies can also keep businesses in the black.

straight to the source: Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Ball, 20 Aug 2002 (access ain't free) <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=381>

only in Grist: Putt-putting green -- the comic adventures of Zed, last of his species <http://www.gristmagazine.com/zed/zed113001.asp?source=daily>

do good: Take action to buy an eco-friendly car <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/autos.asp?source=daily#pledge>

NEWS FIT TO PRINT

And speaking of the World Summit on Sustainable Development -- in preparation for the commencement of the event, the New York Times devoted today's Science section to coverage of international environmental issues. From the impact of human behavior on the global ecosystem to the economics of renewable energy; from reassessing international population growth to our love-hate relationship with nature (dolphins, yes; scorpions, yikes!); from the environmental argument in favor of logging to the nature of disease in a changing world, this special section on "Managing Planet Earth" covers a wide range of issues.

straight to the source: New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin and others, 20 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=382>

LAUGHY TAFTY

The U.S. EPA has warned Ohio that it could soon be stripped of federal highway funds for failing to enforce national clean air standards. The move would be a major blow to the state, which receives more than $900 million in federal road funds every year. The EPA could also stiffen the pollution levels allowed in clean air permits, halting construction of some major non-government projects in the state. The EPA issued the warning after finding that Ohio illegally exempted 22,000 small-emission units from air-pollution monitoring reports, failed to make major polluters file prompt incident reports, and did not have company executives certify the veracity of monitoring reports. In conjunction with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council, Gov. Bob Taft (R) has challenged the EPA in court in a bid for more flexibility and discretion over regulatory procedures.

straight to the source: Cleveland Plain Dealer, Bill Sloat, 20 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=383>

NATURE NOT NURTURING?

The Nature Conservancy, one of the world's wealthiest environmental organizations, is drawing fire from other enviros for venturing into particularly unlikely territory: oil refining. In 1995, Mobil Oil gave the Conservancy a 2,263-acre Texas oil field that is one of the world's last-known breeding grounds for the highly endangered Attwater's prairie chicken. Rather than shutting off the petroleum spigots, the conservancy drilled new natural gas wells and let cattle continue to graze on the land -- and reaped about $5.2 million in royalties over the last seven years. The Nature Conservancy claims that careful management is allowing it to protect the prairie chicken while working the land to raise money for other conservation efforts. The Texas oilfield isn't an exception; nearly half of all conservancy-owned land is grazed, logged, farmed, drilled, or otherwise worked, although money from these activities amounts to less than 1 percent of the group's annual revenues. Some other environmental groups criticize the conservancy for compromising its mission and being in bed with industry.

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Janet Wilson, 20 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=384>

8/21/02
10:29:14 PM

SciTech Daily Review

http://SciTechDaily.com

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

Welcome to the age of assisted cognition. Researchers hope to support the elderly's failing cognitive abilities with AI. But current models fall short when making specific recommendations for individual patients

http://go.hotwired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,54515,00.html/wn_ascii

Transplant tissue from the testicles of newborn pigs and goats onto the backs of laboratory mice and you get mature, fully functional sperm. Not a horror movie plot, but a possible way of helping infertile folk and endangered animals

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0814_020814_sperm.html

Utopias boring to live in? Boring to read about? That's just a disguised political attack on behalf of the status quo, says Kim Stanley Robinson, fighting criticims that his future visions espouse simple Pollyanna-ish ideals

http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/ksrobinson.html

Desperate Africans are being forced choose between starving and losing their livelihoods through the risk of GE-contaminated emergency food imports from the US

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13853

Have evolutionary explanations gone too far? And what (if anything) has evolutionary psychology taught us about human nature that we might not have already known?

http://www.philosophersnet.com/article.php?id=16

8/21/02
9:55:29 PM

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