8/12/02
11:42:25 AM
Planet Ark World Environment News
EU ups food aid to southern Africa, US may follow - ZAMBIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17259/story.htm
Seven die in US West Nile outbreak - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17249/story.htm
Devastating drought brings despair to much of US - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17252/story.htm
EPA official says coal-bed methane should get okay - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17253/story.htm
Denver finally cleans up its polluted air - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17254/story.htm
NRC urges US nuclear plants be checked for leaks - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17255/story.htm
Biggest blaze in US merges with smaller Oregon fire - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17257/story.htm
US seeks court order to block Asarco unit sale - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17261/story.htm
Earth summit must not fail - UN's Toepfer - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17260/story.htm
Floods sweep through Europe, more than 20 dead - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17258/story.htm
Germans discover ancient life, offer climate hope - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17250/story.htm
FEATURE - Polar bear feels the heat as Cairo zoo shapes up - EGYPT http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17256/story.htm
Canada warns it won't make a quick Kyoto decision - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17251/story.htm
Manitoba said to sell $1.7 billion of hydro to US - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17262/story.htm
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURES:
CHINA: Chinese Police Take a Child From a Rescue Boat in Shaoguan http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17265
MEXICO: A Young Woman Takes Part in Circus in Main Square of Mexico City http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17264
EGYPT: Hassona, A 15-Year-Old Polar Bear, Enjoys a Dip in His Cage Pool During One of the Hottest Heat Waves in Cairo http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17263
INDIA: Doctor Provides Treatment to an Ill Cow at Sonapur http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17266
8/12/02
10:58:43 AM
Secret Hearings Hide 911 Terrorist Links To Congress/White House
by Tom Flocco, August 10, 2002
Something strange has been occurring on the fourth floor under the dome of the U.S. Capitol. The security is so strict that even the representatives and senators from the joint-intelligence committee investigating the September 11 attacks must check their cell phones and pagers at the door of the sound-proof room -- a meeting place regularly swept for listening devices.
These and other indications reveal that no chances are being taken which might result in having words spoken in confidence leak out of that room. And there are no reports regarding whether legislators are more worried about U.S. citizens getting wind of the contents of their discussions than the terrorists.
Senator Bob Graham (D-FL), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it was the first time in the history of the Congress that two standing committees have held joint hearings. Moreover, some might question such extreme measures and whether crucial truth is being held in the hands of too few -- given unspoken congressional and administration links to terrorism.
Wide reports last week revealed that an enraged White House had called joint-committee chairmen Graham and Represenative Porter Goss (R-FL) about classified leaks from the members, which resulted in their requesting the FBI to ask members and staff to undergo polygraph tests which clearly intrude upon the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches. This, as the surreptitious hearings have been postponed till late September.
Genesis of a Cover Up
One reason for the furtive activity may have a lot to do with why both the White House and CNN altered the transcript of a 4 pm, May 16, 2002 press conference by National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice in the James Brady Briefing Room.
The machinations had their genesis later in the day that Thursday, after the New York Post hit the streets with its huge "Bush Knew" banner, adding "Prez Was Warned of Possible Hijacking Before Terror Attacks" as a subheading. Shortly thereafter, other papers began to reveal the contents of a Presidential FBI briefing from August 6 -- just 36 days prior to the September 11 attacks.
The top-secret briefing said that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda were going to "bring the fight to America," according to the Toronto Star, for past attacks upon its training camps in Afghanistan. So the wheels of presidential damage control started turning, even as the New York Times was putting finishing touches on an explosive May 19 story for the next day, reporting that President Bush had also been briefed before September 11 regarding:
"A 1999 report for the National Intelligence Council, which oversees government intelligence analysis, saying 'Suicide bomber (s) belonging to Al Qaeda's martyrdom Battalion could crash-land an aircraft packed with high explosives into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the [CIA] or the White House.' "
Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-SD), said he was "gravely concernedabout the information provided us just yesterday that the president received a warning in August about the threat of hijackers...," adding "Why did it take eight months for us to receive this information," -- but failing at the same time to use his senatorial power to subpoena the documents.
Then House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) stepped up to the plate and called for a congressional investigation into "what the president and what the White House knew about the events leading up to 9/11." But Gephardt has also been convinced not to make waves -- grieving victim families who are depending on him to fight for truth notwithstanding.
Sleeping With the Enemy?
While researching various sections of a related story surrounding growing evidence that the FBI and other government entities are more closely linked to pre-9/11 insider trading than previously was thought, it was found that the Secretary of State and two other State Department officials, the Central Intelligence Administration (CIA) Director, three senators, and a congressman actually met with Pakistan's Inter-Services Security Agency (ISI) chief, who had wired $100,000 to fund the operations of terrorist hijacker leader Mohammed Atta just prior to the attacks.
But worse, actual evidence is available that the White House and CNN doctored the transcript of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice's damage control press conference, held at 4 pm that afternoon on May 18, 2001.
In an updated, scholarly, and thorough report ( "Political Deception: The Missing Link Behind 9-11," Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), 6-20-2002 ), by Michel Chossudovsky, University of Ottawa Professor of Economics, these and a number of other critical revelations are brought to the fore while other media have ignored them -- not connecting the dots.
Noticing that a couple words were deleted from the CNN transcript of Dr. Rice's May 16 remarks -- when compared to the transcript from the Federal News Service which had the words "ISI Chief" included in its transcript, we placed a call to the public information office at CNN in Atlanta yesterday. The story was too compelling; it had to find more daylight.
After talking with a woman named Devon, we were told, "After checking the transcript for Dr. Rice's May 16 press conference, you are correct that the words 'ISI Chief ' are missing from our transcript." Devon emailed us a CNN office printout copy, and the word "inaudible" was indeed found in parentheses. Then we printed out the actual White House website transcript of the event; and at that same place in the transcript, we found that "ISI Chief" was also missing:
Q: Dr. Rice? Dr. Rice?
Ms. RICE: Yes?
Q: Are you aware of the reports at the time that ----- was in Washington on September 11th; and on September 10th, $100,000 was wired from Pakistan to these groups in this area? And why was he here? Was he meeting with you or anybody in the administration?
Ms. RICE: I have not seen that report, and he was certainly not meeting with me.
The Washington Post (5-16-2002) reported that "Officials familiar with the White House's strategy [during damage control], said senior aides were anxious to dispel the notion of a cover up and said they wanted to avoid appearing defensive, either in front of cameras or behind the scenes."
Terrorist Hijacker's Financial Benefactor
According to the Times of India (10-9-2001), Mohammed Atta's financial bagman, Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad had been fired as head of Pakistan's ISI, as "U.S. authorities [FBI] sought his removal after confirming that $100,000 had been wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan through Ahmad Sheikh at the instance (sic) of General Mahmoud."
Times of India then reported that "Senior [U.S.] government sources have confirmed that India contributed significantly to establishing the link between the money transfer and the role played by the dismissed ISI chief." But ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross had beaten them on the story, reporting to Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts on September 30, 2001:
"As to September 11, federal authorities have told ABC News they've now tracked more than $100,000 from banks in Pakistan to two banks in Florida to accounts held by suspected hijack ringleader Mohammed Atta. As well this morning [Sunday's "This Week" Show], 'Time' magazine is reporting that some of that money came in the days just before the attack and can be traced directly to people connected to Osama bin Laden."
But Roberts and Donaldson kept adding fuel to the fire, when about one month later, on October 28 during "This Week," Ms. Roberts asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: "You've heard Brian Ross's report, the confirmation that Mohammed Ata met with an Iraqi intelligence official....Do you think it was -- the meeting with Mohammed Atta was significant, in terms of September 11?
Rumsfeld responded cryptically, "We will know that only after the proper law enforcement people investigate that. Clearly, the meeting is not nothing. It is something notable."
Atta's Money-man Meets With 9/11 Investigation Chairmen on Morning of Attacks
Three days after the attacks on September 14, the New York Times reported that important members of the Bush Administration met with the terrorist financier and ISI Chief, General Ahmad: CIA Director George Tenet, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Under-Secretary of State Marc Grossman, and Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) -- Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
However, the Times also revealed that on September 11 -- while the attacks were in progress -- the two current Co-Chairmen of the Joint-Intelligence Committee investigating the 9/11 attacks, Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) and Representative Porter Goss (R-FL), met for breakfast with the ISI Chief who had ordered $100,000 wired from Pakistan to terrorist leader Mohammed Atta in the days immediately preceeding the attacks.
All this, while General Ahmad was in the United States meeting with multiple Bush Administration officials and members of Congress:
"When the news came, the two Florida lawmakers who lead the House and Senate intelligence committees were having breakfast with the head of the Pakistani intelligence service. Rep. Porter Goss, Sen. Bob Graham, and other members of the House Intelligence Committee were talking about terrorism issues with the Pakistani official when a member of Goss' staff handed a note to Goss, who handed it to Graham. 'We were talking about terrorism, specifically terrorism generated from Afghanistan,' Graham said." [presciently]
In a skilled analysis of the neglected yet important story, Professor Chossudovsky literally dug deep to verify the participation of Bush Administration officials in the meetings with the hijacker financier behind the September 11 attacks.
News Pakistan (9-10-2001) reported that ISI Chief Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad arrived in the U.S. on September 4, adding that
"Mahmoud's week-long presence in Washington has triggered speculation about the agenda of his mysterious meeting at the Pentagon and National Security Council....Official sources confirm that he met with [George] Tenet this week. He also held long parleys with unspecified officials at the White House and the Pentagon. But the most important meeting was with Marc Grossman, U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs. One can safely guess that the discussions must have centered around Afghanistan....and Osama bin Laden."
But this news report was written on September 10 -- the day before the attacks.
According to the Miami Herald (9-16-2001), "Graham said the Pakistani intelligence official with whom he met....was forced to stay all week in Washington because of the shutdown of air traffic. 'He was marooned here, and I think that gave Secretary of State Powell and others in the administration a chance to really talk with him.' "
Perhaps Chossudovsky's most telling analysis comes in just one short sentence from congressional intelligence investigation Co-Chairman Porter Goss: "None of this is news, but it's all part of the finger-pointing," Goss declared yesterday in a rare display of pique. "It's foolishness." (Washington Post, 9-18-2002)
Then the Ottawa professor added: "This statement comes from the man who was having breakfast with the alleged 'money-man' behind 9/11 -- on the morning of September 11."
The Post topped off the story, adding that "[General] Ahmad ran a spy agency notoriously close to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban." But Chossudovsky unearthed another telling Goss statement from a White House bulletin: "Chairman Porter Goss said an existing congressional inquiry has so far found 'no smoking gun' that would warrant another inquiry." (5-17-2002)
Moreover, Chossudovsky reminds that CIA Director George Tenet also met with ISI Chief Ahmad just prior to the 9/11 attacks, and that Tenet had regularly met with President Bush nearly every morning at 8 am sharp for about a half hour.
But most curiously, a document known as the President's Daily Briefing, OPDB, "is prepared at Langley by the CIA's analytical directorate, and a draft goes home with Tenet each night. Tenet edits it personally and delivers it orally during his early morning meeting with Bush." (Washington Post, 5-17-2002) But there are no reports as to why the President prefers not to keep written records of important CIA briefings.
The Ottawa professor added that "this practice of 'oral intelligence briefings' is unprecedented. Bush's predecessors at the White House, received a written briefing:"
"With Bush, who liked oral briefings and the CIA director in attendance, a strong relationship had developed. Tenet could be direct, even irreverent and earthy." (Washington Post, 1-29-2002)
Investigating the Investigators?
A critical component of the Joint-Intelligence Committee's investigation is the first part of what Co-Chairman Bob Graham calls "a three-act play." The first act, according to CNN.com "will focus on establishing a factual timeline as it relates to what was known before September 11."
Questions remain whether Graham's timeline document will ultimately become required reading for every member of Congress, along with the early July FBI briefing and the August 6 presidential briefing -- given the above evidence, multiple indications of a cover up, links to Congress and the White House, and additional unanswered questions of 9/11.
Another key Intelligence Committee member, Richard Shelby (R-AL), was widely quoted in reference to Co-Chairman Goss. Chiding his fellow Republican, "You know, [House committee chairman Goss] is a former CIA employee, and I know he's close to a lot of people over there," Shelby told Roll Call (October, 2001). "I don't think we should be too close to anybody we have oversight of because you can't do your job. You become subverted by the process."
As to other investigative options, James Ridgeway added that "[An Independent Commission] could cause a dreadful scene, with senior lawmakers and their staffs in the spotlight along with the intelligence chiefs. After all, what did the members of Congress know before September 11? Might they have forewarned us?" (Orange County Weekly, June 7-13, 2002)
Courageous members of Congress may also have interest in Graham's "notebooks filled with jotted records of every meeting and phone call." (Associated Press, 5-30-2002) And Knight Ridder (6-4-2002) added that the relatively tight time frame [Goss wants the 9/11 investigation report finished by January, 2003] may encourage some [Administration agencies] to "run out the clock" and hold back potentially embarrassing information.
The evidence of White House and media cover up of that important visit just prior to the attacks by the individual supplying the money to finance the terrorists is only made more crucial when one considers that so many high government officials met with this person -- some while the attacks were in progress. However, Americans are being denied an explanation and a carefully thorough public investigation of this evidence.
Further completing the circle, a Times of India report (3-7-2001) reveals that "The CIA worked in tandem with Pakistan to create the 'monster' that is today Afghanistan's ruling Taliban," a leading U.S. expert on South Asia had said months prior to the attacks.
Selig Harrison from the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars added, "The CIA made a historic mistake in encouraging Islamic groups from all over the world to come to Afghanistan." But more importantly, Harrison reveals that "the old associations between the intelligence agencies continue....The CIA still has close links with the ISI."
Americans may now wonder what terrorist money man and ISI Chief Ahmad was discussing with George Tenet, Colin Powell, and members of Congress during those long meetings prior to the worst attacks on American soil in our history.
And after all this, some U.S. citizens may even question whether there is anyone left to depose Bush Administration officials and Members of Congress under oath who would never subpoena themselves to offer explanations for demonstrated conflicts of interest -- or worse.
Contact: mailto:TomFlocco@cs.com
Source: http://www.rense.com/general28/linked.htm
8/12/02
10:43:01 AM
Feds Open 'Total' Tech Spy System On US Citizens From Steve Meyers 8-9-2
Excerpts:
1) "Under the Combating Terrorism Act, prosecutors could authorize surveillance for 48-hour periods *without a judge's approval.*
Warrantless surveillance appears to be limited to:
a) the addresses of websites your visited,
b) the names and addresses of your e-mail correspondents, and so on
The legislation would cover URLs, which include information such as:
c) what Web pages you're visiting and
d) what terms you type in when visiting search engines."
(source article http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,54342,00.html )
2) "Senate OK's FBI Net Spying" 'FBI agents soon may be able to spy on Internet users legally without a court order.'
(source article http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46852,00.html )
3) Constitution of the United States of America - Supreme Law of the Land:
Article [IV.] "The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, **against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated** and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to
be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Conclusion:
1) The present government (Congress, Judiciary, President) is out-of-control....totally. They are violating Law; are ignoring the Law; are violating their Oath of Office, they are committing treason against the American People -The Sovereigns.
2) The intended 'check's and balances' on our system of government are NOT working.
- the three branches of government (blackmailed / bribed)
- the media (corporate owned - disinformation, misinformation, non-information)
- fully informed jury (destroyed; obscured)
- principles and maxims of Common Law ("Show me the damaged party...")
- state (sovereign) Citizenship (destroyed; obscured)
- Right to Privacy (Article 4) - ignored and 'technologically' destroyed; systemic malfeasance
'Malfeasance': 1) Illegal or unethical conduct; wrongdoing beyond simple negligence, especially on the part of governmental officials. 2) Failure to perform, or complete neglect of, a required legal or contractual duty. 3) Negligence, incompetence, or the improper performance of a legal act.
3) There appears to have been a "silent-coup" - from the deliberate set-up, enticement, entrapment and subsequent blackmailing of key US government officials.
(see: Senator John DeCamp's "The Franklin Cover-up" and "Transformation of America")
Franklin Cover-up "...a minefield of information that cannot and must not be ignored."
http://www.geminiwalker-ink.net/HellFranklin.html
also Google search on: "Trance-Formation of America"
4) Our Constitution - the system of checks and balances are being ignored...not only by all branches of the government (individuals who swore an Oath of Office to defend and uphold the Constitution and Rights Of The People) and they have individually and collectively violated that sacred oath. i.e. 'treason'
5) More importantly - the American Public themselves have been traumatized, numbed-out, or dumbed down - (TV/flouride/chemtrails/?) into a state of sheer apathy, powerlessness and/or forgetfullness.
Very dangerous.
How ironic: visit http://www.house.gov/Declaration.html
(Declaration of Independence) at the House of Representatives website - and 'see for yourself.'
How many American Citizen's see...much less care....about what's happening before our eyes? Or what this is leading to for our Children and future generations.
Steve Meyers
8/11/02
12:33:38 PM
Our Nuclear Achilles Heel
by Peter Montague
After 60 years of experience with nuclear power and weapons, it now seems clear that humans are unable to devise controls that work. Nuclear is too complicated and unpredictable for reliable human control. Unlike renewable sources of energy, nuclear is an unforgiving technology because normal human lapses and errors can produce unexpected consequences that are catastrophic and irreversible. Yet as a nation, our tax dollars are still massively subsidizing the expansion of nuclear.[1] Furthermore our taxes are subsidizing the deployment of even newer technologies that are far more complicated than nuclear, less predictable, and therefore likely to plague our children with endless trouble, namely biotech and nanotech.[2]
Here we examine nuclear technology from the viewpoint of rogue weaponry. This is the true Achilles' heel of nuclear technology, a fatal problem for which there is no fix: so long as we are expanding nuclear technology, we are increasing the likelihood that radioactive materials will one day be spread across an American city.[3] When it happens, it seems likely to permanently damage, if not end, our traditions of an open society with democratic checks and balances.
Tom Ridge, the President's director of homeland security, was recently asked what form of terrorism worried him the most: "He cupped his hands prayerfully and pressed his fingertips to his lips. ' Nuclear,' he said simply." [3, pg. 24]
U.S. regulatory officials have consistently failed to acknowledge the dangers posed by nuclear materials as tools for terrorists. For example, on September 12, 2001 -- one day AFTER the World Trade Center atrocities -- the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled that citizen concerns about plutonium fuel processing at Savannah River (in Aiken, S.C.) were not valid because the complaining citizens (Georgians Against Nuclear Energy) had failed to establish that "terrorist acts... fall within the realm of 'reasonably foreseeable' events." [NY TIMES Mar. 25, 2002, pg. A11.]
In 1982, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ruled that owners of nuclear plants do not have to design against such threats as kamikaze airliner crashes because to do so would make nuclear electricity too expensive to be competitive. "Reactors could not be effectively protected against such attacks without turning them into virtually impregnable fortresses at much higher cost," the NRC said.[4]
The U.S. has 103 operating nuclear power plants (plus 7 that are closed), most of which are storing intensely-radioactive spent fuel in 40-foot-deep pools of boron-treated water to shield against radiation and to keep the fuel from heating up, catching fire, and releasing radioactivity. Unlike reactor cores, the spent fuel pools are not covered by a concrete containment dome; they are covered only by a metal building.
If the water were to drain out of a spent fuel pool, the fuel would be exposed to a combination of air and steam, causing the zirconium outer "cladding" of the fuel assemblies to catch fire and burn fiercely.[4] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledges that such a fire could not be extinguished and could burn for days, releasing large amounts of radioactivity.
Water could drain from a spent fuel pool in several ways --leakage, evaporation, siphoning, pumping, earthquake, reactor failure, accidental or intentional drop of a fuel transport cask, explosion inside or outside the pool building, or airplane impact.
The main concern in spent fuel is cesium-137, a highly-radioactive element that enters food chains masquerading as potassium. The spent fuel currently held in the U.S. contains 20 to 50 million Curies of cesium-137. A single spent fuel pool contains more cesium-137 than was released by all the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Northern Hemisphere combined. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledges that as much as 100% of the cesium-137 in spent fuel might be released by a zirconium fire.
A spent fuel pool typically holds 5 to 10 times as much radioactivity as the reactor core, and a zirconium fire would likely release more radioactivity than a core meltdown and would probably be easier for a disciplined group of suicidal terrorists to initiate. Draining the pool is all it takes.
The Indian Point nuclear power plant, 35 miles north of New York City, currently holds 1589 fuel assemblies in its spent fuel pool (compared to 386 fuel assemblies in the cores of its two operating reactors).[5] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1982 estimated that a core meltdown at Indian Point could cause 46,000 fatalities and 141,000 injuries. [NY TIMES April 4, 2002, pg. A23.]
Many spent fuel pools were not designed to hold all the fuel assemblies they presently hold. Spent fuel was supposed to be "reprocessed" at plants like the one that contaminated West Valley, N.Y. (see REHN #748) but the technology failed to materialize. In the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act Congress promised to take all private-sector spent fuel and bury it in the ground somewhere by 1998, but it didn't happen. Current plans call for a spent fuel mausoleum beneath Yucca Mountain, Nevada, but it won't be ready before 2010 at the earliest and it, too, may never materialize.[6; and NY TIMES Feb. 15, 2002, pg. A19.] Meanwhile more spent fuel is being squeezed into existing pools each year. Astonishingly, the nuclear industry is now planning to build 25 to 50 new nuclear power plants in the U.S. and the Bush administration has announced that it will provide millions of tax dollars, plus relaxed regulations, to help them do it.[1]
Nuclear reactors of course are not the only source of material for creating radioactive havoc. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, its nuclear weaponry fell under the control of various smaller governments, the economy of Russia went into a tailspin, and many Russian nuclear scientists and military weaponeers found themselves without jobs and without a way to feed their families. [NY TIMES Nov. 2, 2001, pg. B4.] As Russia lurched into the early phases of a capitalist economy, a black market in nuclear materials and expertise quickly developed. The NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE summarizes it this way: "Russia is a country with sloppy accounting, a disgruntled military, an audacious black market and indigenous terrorists."[3, pg. 26]
Russia has somewhere between 4,000 and 30,000 nuclear weapons --no one is sure of the true number, including the Russians. [3, pg. 27] Some of these weapons have only crude safeguards against detonation: "setting one off would be about as complicated as hot-wiring a car," says the NY TIMES. [3, pg. 28] Furthermore, Russia has an additional 80 metric tonnes of plutonium "stored under less than ideally secure conditions."[NY TIMES Aug. 27, 2001, pg. A20.] Russia's stored plutonium is enough to make 10,000 A-bombs, assuming it takes 17 pounds to make a bomb. Some say it takes only 12.
The simplest raw material for an A-bomb would be about 110 pounds of highly-enriched uranium. [3, pg. 29.] The world's total inventory of weapons-grade uranium is at least 1300 metric tonnes -- enough to make 26,000 small but effective A-bombs. A crude A-bomb could be delivered in a standard "conex" shipping container -- 2000 of which arrive in the U.S. each hour, and only 2% of which are opened for inspection.[7; and 3, pg. 28]
Reflecting on the dangers of a crude "conex A-bomb," Eugene E. Habiger, the four-star general who was in charge of America's nuclear arsenal until 1998 and then ran nuclear anti-terror programs for the Department of Energy, says, "How do you protect against that? You can't.... It's not a matter of IF ; it's a matter of WHEN." [3, pg. 28; emphasis in the original.]
The NEW YORK TIMES reported May 26, 2002, that a very small nuclear bomb (1/15th the size of the Hiroshima weapon), set off in Times Square, would immediately kill 20,000 people and would condemn another 250,000 to a painful death by fire and radiation sickness.[3, pg. 57] It is difficult see how the U.S. could remain an open, democratic society after such an event.
A bi-partisan U.S. commission on rogue weapons reported in 1999 that "Russia has no reliable inventory of its fissile material," meaning plutonium and enriched uranium.[7] The commission said it knew of at least seven instances in which weapons-grade fissile material had been stolen from Russian plants or storage sites between 1992 and 1999.[7; NY TIMES Jul. 9, 1999, pg. A13.]
In 2001 the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that 376 incidents of cross-border radioactive smuggling occurred between 1993 and autumn 2001, including military, industrial and medical materials; 18 of those instances involved plutonium or enriched uranium. [NY TIMES Nov. 2, 2001, pg. B4.] American intelligence officials say the scope of smuggling remains uncertain but they strongly believe that "only a fraction of shipments are intercepted." The TIMES adds, "The worries are heightened by the slackness of border controls and the economic instability that has left customs officials vulnerable to bribes."[NY TIMES Sep. 11, 2001, pgs. A1, A8]
Pakistan -- an impoverished, politically unstable nation -- has assembled about 20 nuclear bombs (NY TIMES Nov. 2, 2001, pg. B4), which were "built almost entirely through black markets and industrial espionage," according to the NY TIMES [3, pg. 26].
North Korea -- another deeply impoversished, unstable nation --is now reported to have manufactured two nuclear bombs and to have acquired enough plutonium to manufacture 10 more, making it the world's 9th known nuclear power. North Korea is one of three countries that Mr. Bush has labeled the "axis of evil." Perhaps hoping to appease the North Koreans, the Bush Administration has begun building a new nuclear power plant in North Korea. [NY TIMES Aug. 8, 2002, pg. A9.]
For terrorists, an easier alternative to an actual A-bomb would be a simple but terrifying "dirty bomb" made by wrapping "high explosive" around some radioactive waste -- thus spreading radioactivity downwind. High explosive is fuel oil and ammonium nitrate fertilizer -- the ingredients Timothy McVeigh used to blow up the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City April 19, 1995. [NY TIMES Dec. 2, 1997, pg. A22.] Even if no one were killed immediately, such a "dirty bomb" detonated in a city could create extraordinary panic and could contaminate a huge area at great cost. According to the Federation of American Scientists, a single foot-long pencil of radioactive cobalt-60 from a food irradiation plant, plus 10 pounds of TNT, detonated in lower Manhattan could contaminate large parts of three states. Most of Manhattan could be as contaminated as the area around the Chernobyl nuclear plant. The economic and psychological damage would be enormous. [3, pg. 51]
What is the answer? We cannot prevent all terrorism (though reducing our military-industrial intrusions into the Middle East to protect "our" oil would help, after we seriously commit to reducing our dependence on oil). More immediately, we could stop promoting and subsidizing unnecessary and uncontrollable nuclear technologies such as nuclear power plants, food irradiators, and nuclear bombs. As it is, the nuclear industry -- with massive subsidies from U.S. taxpayers -- is greasing the skids for the next level of domestic terror -- a Timothy McVeigh-type bomb blasting a spent fuel truck into smithereens in Chicago, or a teacup of cobalt-60 from a food irradiation plant atomized by a few sticks of dynamite in downtown Atlanta or Minneapolis or Washington, D.C.
The looming fight to stop the government-subsidized "renaissance" of nuclear technology[1] will be one of the most important environment-and-health fights of the 21st century. Environmental justice and anti-nuclear activists, unite!
[1] http://www.nei.org/documents/Speech_Abraham_2-14-02.pdf and
http://www.nei.org/documents/Vision2020_Folder.pdf and
[2] http://www.rafi.org/text/txt_search.asp?type=communique; see issue #76.
[3] Bill Keller, "Nuclear Nightmares; Experts on terrorism and proliferation agree on one thing: Sooner or later, an attack will happen here," NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE May 26, 2002, pgs. 22-29, 51-57. Keller is a senior writer for the NY TIMES.
[4] Reported by Robert Alvarez, "What About the Spent Fuel?" BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS Vol. 58, No. 1 (Jan./Feb 2002), pgs. 45-47. Available at:
http://www.thebulletin.org/-issues/-2002/jf02/jf02alvarez.html.
[5] Congressman Edward J. Markey, "Security Gap: A Hard Look at the Soft Spots in Our Civilian Nuclear Reactor Security." Report published March 25, 2002. Available at:
http://www.house.gov/markey/iss_nuclear_rep020325.pdf.
[6] U.S. Government Acounting Office (GAO), NUCLEAR WASTE: TECHNICAL, SCHEDULE AND COST UNCERTAINTIES OF THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN REPOSITORY PROJECT (Washington, D.C.: GAO, Dec., 2001.] GAO-02-191;
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02191.pdf.
[7] http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/deutch/
Source: http://www.Rachel.org
8/11/02
12:26:42 PM
Scientist's Death Haunts Family
by Fredric N. Tulsky, Mercury News, August 8, 2002
The death in 1953 of a government scientist, Frank Olson, in a fall from a New York hotel window, is one of the most notorious cases in CIA history.
Only in 1975 did Olson's family learn that the CIA had slipped LSD into his drink, days before his death. President Ford apologized for an experiment gone awry, and promised that the government would reveal everything about the case.
But newly obtained documents show that the Ford administration continued to conceal information about Olson -- particularly his role in some of the CIA's most controversial research of the Cold War, on anthrax and other biological weapons.
The documents show that two of the key officials involved in the decision to withhold that information were White House aides Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, today the nation's vice president and secretary of defense.
``These documents show the lengths to which the government was trying to cover up the truth,'' said the scientist's son, Eric Olson, who gave them to the Mercury News. ``For 22 years there was a coverup. And then, under the guise of revealing everything, there was a new coverup.''
Rumsfeld's office referred questions about the withholding of information to the CIA, where a media officer, Paul Nowack, said CIA activities related to Frank Olson's death were investigated by the Rockefeller Commission as well as subsequent congressional committees.
``The CIA fully cooperated'' in those investigations, he said, and ``tens of thousands of documents were released.'' If anyone has new information, he said, ``they should contact appropriate authorities.''
Eric Olson has contended for years that his father was murdered to cover up his research for the CIA. At a news conference in Maryland today, he will reveal the results of his long inquiry into his father's death.
The new documents do not prove those allegations. But they do show that the White House officials were concerned about any public revelation of Frank Olson's work.
Contrary to the official explanation that Frank Olson was an Army scientist, Olson worked for the CIA, at the special-operations division at Fort Detrick, the Maryland laboratory where biological weapons were tested.
Classified research
Eric Olson said this week that a former colleague and friend of his father's contacted him last year and described some of the closely guarded work his father conducted.
He said the colleague told him his father was among scientists studying the use of LSD and other drugs to enhance interrogations, as Cold War tensions ran high and Americans feared that captured soldiers had been brainwashed in Korea.
In the months before his death, the colleague said, Frank Olson had gone to Europe, where he observed the interrogation of former Nazis and Soviet citizens at a secret U.S. base. And, the colleague said, Frank Olson had knowledge of the U.S. biological weapons program.
Eric Olson contends that in the final days of his life, his father became morally distraught over his work and decided to quit. Personnel records show that agency officials were concerned that he was a security risk. Eric Olson believes that the thought of Frank Olson quitting was a motive for the government to want him dead.
In 1993, Eric Olson arranged for his father's body to be unearthed and examined by a forensic scientist, James Starrs. Starrs concluded that Frank Olson had probably been struck on the head and then thrown out of the hotel window.
Starrs' conclusion is one of the tantalizing pieces that Eric Olson has gathered to support his belief that his father was murdered. Friday, satisfied that he has accomplished what he could, Olson intends to rebury the remains of his father.
In late November 1953, Frank Olson, then 43, joined a group of government officials at a conference at Deep Creek Lodge in western Maryland. For days afterward, Olson was withdrawn. His son, Eric, says his father told his wife that he intended to quit his job.
But Frank Olson did not quit. And on Nov. 23 he went to New York with another government official, where he twice visited Harold A. Abramson, a doctor who was one of the first researchers to study the effects of LSD.
Olson returned to Washington, then went back to New York on Nov. 28 and checked into the Statler Hotel. He was scheduled to enter a sanitarium the next day.
But early in the morning of Nov. 29, Frank Olson went through the window of the hotel room he was sharing with a colleague, Robert Lashbrook. Lashbrook told police that he was awakened by the sound of breaking glass.
The Olson family knew little else. But in 1975, a commission headed by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller issued a report on CIA abuses, and an account in the Washington Post included a mention of an Army scientist who jumped from a New York hotel room days after being slipped LSD in 1953.
``We realized they were talking about my father,'' Eric Olson recalled. Family members talked to reporters about their outrage and said they would sue the government. Days later, the family was invited to the White House to meet President Ford. He assured them that they would be given all information about what happened to Frank Olson.
Soon after, family members were invited to lunch with CIA Director William Colby, who gave them a file of documents that amounted to the CIA investigation into Olson's death. But the documents left many questions unanswered about both his work and the circumstances of his death.
The family was told that a lawsuit was unlikely to succeed. Instead, the administration promised to support a private bill in Congress, through which the family received $750,000 to resolve its claims.
``The express understanding was that the government had promised to give us all information, which clearly meant information about his work relationship with the CIA,'' the Olsons' attorney, David Rudovsky of Philadelphia, said this week. ``It now appears that was not the case.''
Son finds clues
Over the years Eric Olson turned up many clues, real or coincidental. There was, for example, the assassination manual that the CIA declassified in connection with its Guatemala activities. The manual, created in the early 1950s, identified ``the contrived accident'' as ``the most effective technique'' of secret assassination.
``The most efficient accident, in simple assassination, is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard surface,'' the manual stated.
Only recently Eric Olson obtained files from a University of California-Davis history professor that showed White House officials had intentionally withheld details of Frank Olson's death from the family.
The professor, Kathryn Olmsted, came across the records at the Gerald Ford library. They included a memo from Dick Cheney, a White House assistant at the time, to Donald Rumsfeld, the chief of staff, on July 11, 1975, one day after the Olsons first held a news conference.
The memo warned that a lawsuit could involve ``the possibility that it might be necessary to disclose highly classified national-security information in connection with any court suit or legislative hearings on a private bill.''
The documents also include memos written by White House counsel Roderick Hills to the president that were routed through Cheney and other officials. ``Dr. Olson's job is so sensitive that it is highly unlikely that we would submit relevant evidence'' to a court, Hills wrote, regarding a potential suit by the Olson family.
``If there is a trial, it is apparent that the Olsons' lawyer will seek to explore all of the circumstances of Dr. Olson's employment as well as those concerning his death. Thus, in the trial it may become apparent that we are concealing evidence for national-security reasons and any settlement or judgment reached thereafter could be perceived as money paid to cover up the activities of the CIA.''
As a result, Hills urged settling the case out of court.
Contact Fredric N. Tulsky at: mailto:rtulsky@sjmercury.com or 408 920.5512
Source: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/nation/3822588.htm
8/10/02
1:37:45 PM
MMR has strong association with autism, says US research
by John von Radowitz, August 9, 2002
New evidence suggesting a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism emerged yesterday from the United States.
Scientists at Utah State University found a strong association between the MMR jab and an auto-immune reaction thought to play a role in autism.
The team, led by Dr Vijendra Singh, analysed blood samples from 125 autistic children and 92 children without the developmental disorder. The researchers found a "significant increase" in the level of MMR antibodies in the autistic children. Part of the measles component of the vaccine caused an unusual anti-measles response in 75 of the autistic children, but not in the normal children.
More than 90 per cent of the autistic samples that showed an immune response to MMR were also positive for antibodies thought to be involved in autism. These antibodies attack the brain by targeting the basic building blocks of myelin, the insulating sheath that covers nerve fibres. Dr Singh suggested that auto-immune response might be the root cause of autism.
The US scientists, who report their findings in the Journal of Biomedical Science, concluded: "Stemming from this evidence, we suggest that an inappropriate antibody response to MMR, specifically the measles component thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism."
Dr Singh published previous work indicating a link between MMR and autism, concentrating on the brain's reaction. He has argued for years that autism can be traced to an auto-immune reaction centred on the brain. MMR fears have been blamed for a dip in the number of children being vaccinated between December and March.
The pressure group Jabs (justice, awareness and basic support), which wants parents to have the option of giving their children single injections, said the research strengthened its case.
Jonathan Harris, its West Midlands spokesman, said: "I really feel there's a very, very strong case now for suspending MMR use while further investigations are carried out. At the moment parents only have the choice of MMR or nothing. We think that's irresponsible of the Department of Health."
Source: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health/story.jsp?story=322755
8/10/02
12:55:43 PM
A LOT OF FREEDOM LOVING PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING BACK!
http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html
"Everytime we do something, you tell me America will do this, will do that. I want to tell you something very clear; Don't worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it." - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - October 3, 2001
"Mother of All Wars" isn't going to happen twice. - Carl F. Worden
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31750
A Time for Candor on Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06G.candor.iraq.htm
Poll: Two-Thirds Want Congressional Role in Iraq Decision, Time to Convince Allies
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.10B.poll.iraq.htm
Bernard Weiner | Inside Saddam Hussein's Diary
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06D.bw.saddam.htm"
Rumsfeld Moves to Strengthen His Grip on Military Intelligence
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.05C.rums.grip.htm
Powell Dismisses Iraqi Gesture
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.05D.powell.iraq.htm
E-Bomb May See First Combat Use In Iraq
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31747
D O - N O T - B O M B - I R A Q
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31699
Schroeder Starts Election Campaign With Warning Against Military Action in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08D.schroeder.iraq.htm
Does Ashcroft 'Obey the Rule of Law'?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.10A.ashc.oby.law.htm
WorldCom Finds $3.3 Billion More in Irregularities
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.10C.Wcom3.3.more.htm
Productivity Grows at 1.1 Percent Rate in Second Quarter, Slowest Pace in a Year
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.10D.grow.slow.htm
Paul Krugman | The Lost Continent
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.10E.krug.lost.htm
Environmental Groups Sue to Stop Global Deployment of Navy Low Frequency Sonar System
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.10F.nrdc.sonar.htm
Jennifer Van Bergen | The Courts and the Ruling Class
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.09A.jvb.class.htm
Ex-Executives Say Sham Deal Helped Enron
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.09B.sham.deal.htm
Arianna Huffington | Holding Dick Cheney "Accountable"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.09C.aria.cheney.htm
UK: 'Unpopular Bush' Poll Puts Pressure on Blair
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.09D.uk.poll.htm
Laptops Gone From Afghan War Center
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.09E.laptops.gone.htm
U.S. Government Behaving Badly
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31724
Bob Herbert | Railroaded in Texas
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.09F.herbert.railroad.htm
Hitler, It Seems, Loved Money and Died Rich
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.09G.hitler.rich.htm
Foundations Are In Place For Martial Law In The US
http://www.rense.com/general27/martial.htm
William Rivers Pitt | Lies, Damned Lies, and White House Lies
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08A.wrp.lies.htm
David Ignatius | The Fancy Financial Footwork of George W. Bush
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08B.ignatius.fancy.htm
Pentagon Briefing Depicted Saudis as Enemies, Ultimatum Urged
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08C.saudi.brief.htm
Powell Fears 'Unholy Trinity' Ahead of Earth Summit
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08E.powell.erth.sum.htm
Brazil's Eye on the Amazon
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08F.brazil.amazon.htm
Nat Hentoff | Ashcroft's Master Plan to Spy on Us
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07A.hentoff.spy.htm
After Sept. 11, a Legal Battle Over Limits of Civil Liberty
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07B.nyt.liberty.htm
G.I. Joe a security risk?
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/garyaldrich/printga20020808.shtml
UK Poll: Half of Britons Oppose Iraq Action
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07C.uk.poll.htm
Paul Krugman | The Memory Hole
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07D.krug.hole.htm
Remains May Be Nigeria Activist's
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07E.nigeria.activist.htm
Secretary Norton Flouting Court on Pronghorn Protection
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07F.nrtn.pronghorn.htm
THE STORY OF The Committee of 300 - by Dr. John Coleman
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31719
Michael Elliott | The Secret History
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06A.time.secret.htm
Daschle, Lott Oppose Polygraphs
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06B.daschle.lott.htm
Bush Administration Set to Defy Judge's Order --Won't Name Sept. 11 Detainees
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06C.bush.no.2.jge.htm
Halliburton Subsidiary Overcame Bid Protest, Fraud Investigation to Land Military Contracts
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06E.halli.bid.htm
Army Tightens Travel Bans in West Bank, Isolates Gaza Town in Response to Attacks
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06F.israel.clamp.htm
Al Gore | Broken Promises and Political Deception
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.05A.gore.debate.htm
Judge Allows Cheney Task Force Case to Proceed
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.05B.judge.cheney.htm
GOP Calif. Governor Hopeful Falters
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.05E.ca.simon.htm
Judge Orders Names of Sept. 11 Detainees Released
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.04A.judge.names.htm
Craig Morris | In Defense of the Right of Defense
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.04B.morris.stewart.htm
John W. Dean | Reimbursement for the Clinton's
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.04C.dean.clintons.htm
Chisun Lee | Rounding Up the 'Enemy'
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.04D.lee.roundup.htm
Report of Weak Jobs Growth Puts Strength of Recovery in Question
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.04E.job.report.htm
NRDC | Industry Seeks Secrecy, Not Security
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.04F.nrdc.secrecy.htm
Reader Comments : <mailto: COMMENTS@truthout.com>
A LOT OF FREEDOM LOVING PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING BACK!
http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html
America, Home of the Scared?
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31725
Fox's Bill O'Reilly wants oreilly-sucks.com to cease and desist
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31748
`In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.'
http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html
911: THE ROAD TO TYRANNY -- WATCH THE ENTIRE FILM ONLINE
http://64.245.24.77/Alex/alex_jones.html
Find elected officials, including the president, members of Congress, governors, state legislators, local officials, and more.
http://congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/
If an Agent Knocks
http://www.lizmichael.com/agent.htm
A LOT OF FREEDOM LOVING PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING BACK!
http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html
American Patroit Friends Network - APFN@apfn.org APFN, PMB 107, 6630 W. CACTUS #B107, GLENDALE, AZ 85304
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/kenvardon.htm
"WE ARE APT TO SHUT OUR EYES AGAINST A PAINFUL TRUTH... FOR MY PART, I AM WILLING TO KNOW THE WHOLE TRUTH; TO KNOW THE WORST; AND TO PROVIDE FOR IT."
Patrick Henry
APFN CONTENTS PAGE:
http://www.apfn.org/old/apfncont.htm
8/9/02
5:35:17 PM
Statements By Company CEOs And CFOs To The SEC
http://www.sec.gov/rules/extra/ceocfo.htm
8/9/02
4:42:43 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
CATCH AS QUECHUA CAN
Until recently, there were only two roads out of poverty for Ecuador's Quechua people: cutting down the rainforest (thereby destroying habitat and soil fertility alike) or trading with warring factions in neighboring Colombia (thereby opening the door for that country's violence to spread into Ecuador). Now there is a third, far better option: the Callari project, a marketing cooperative for indigenous Ecuadorians. Since its founding two years ago by Judy Logback, an environmentalist from Kansas, the cooperative has helped 1,000 native people increase their incomes by 30 percent through improving the quality of the cocoa and coffee they grow, relearning indigenous methods for extracting useful items from the jungle, and marketing their products abroad. The editor of Ecuador's national newspaper, Hoy, has hailed the project as a new economic model for the Amazon. Logback hopes to see the project expand: "I figure, if Coca-Cola can spread to the ends of the earth, so can Callari."
straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Arie Farnam, 09 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=350>
READ HANDED
It staves off Alzheimer's, provides you with interesting tidbits to drop at cocktail parties, and makes you attractive to potential mates. We're talking about reading, of course. Check out what we're reading and you ought to. Take a look at the Washington Monthly, where Eric Schaeffer delves into the reasons behind his highly publicized resignation from the U.S. EPA earlier this year. Next, visit the Atlantic, which suggests that Schaeffer's former boss, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, should follow suit and resign to show her commitment to the environment. Meanwhile, Sierra Magazine assembles its own energy task force, Wired looks at General Motors' big fuel-cell gamble, Time takes on vegetarianism, and more. Find out what we're reading, and what you should be, only on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: Wild reads from the Washington Monthly, Time, Wired -- and other assorted gems in our Best of the Rest section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/best/best080902.asp?source=daily>
SIGNS, SEALS NOT DELIVERED
Thirteen years after the Exxon Valdez spill sent 11 million gallons of crude oil pouring into Alaska's Prince William Sound, some species still show no sign of recovery, according to the government panel overseeing the area's restoration. The long-suffering species include herring, ducks, harbor seals, and loons; others, such as some seabird and salmon species, are fully recovered. The Alaska Center for the Environment said the panel was right to conclude that the spill was still negatively impacting many species. ExxonMobil, however, disagreed with the findings, claiming the panel's definition of "recovery" was flawed. The oil giant said the panel erroneously considers animal populations fully recovered only when they have returned to pre-spill numbers, even though other factors, notably climate change, are causing massive changes in Alaska's wildlife. (Um, since when does ExxonMobil profess concern about climate change?) The panel's evaluation could have financial implications for ExxonMobil -- the post-spill settlement allows for up to $100 million to cover additional damages unforeseen in 1991.
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, 08 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=348>
do good: Take action to ask ExxonMobil to contemplate the climate <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/climate.asp?source=daily#exxonmobil>
ROCK ME LIKE A HURRICANE
The healing of the Florida Everglades is the largest environmental restoration project in U.S. history -- and its got some of the nation's highest hopes pinned on it. Some of those hopes involve the Florida Bay, a once-pristine angler's paradise that all but collapsed in the late 1980s, when its clear waters became clouded and 100,000 acres of sea grasses disappeared, as did numerous marine animals. Many had hoped the Everglades restoration project, which will increase the flow of water into the bay, would speed its recovery. But the U.S. National Academy of Sciences warned yesterday that the $7.8 billion project could instead trigger algae blooms and kill more sea grasses in the bay -- news that could lead to a public backlash against the project, especially among anglers. Terrence "Rock" Salt, executive director of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, said he appreciated the NAS report, but he emphasized that the mission of the task force was not to please commercial or recreational fishers, but rather to restore original water flows and let nature take its course.
straight to the source: Washington Post, Michael Grunwald, 09 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=349>
CHOOSY ADMINISTRATIONS CHOOSE GEF
The U.S. and 31 other countries pledged this week to allocate a total of $2.92 billion over four years to support the Global Environmental Facility, an international fund to promote clean and efficient energy, biodiversity protection, and water-restoration efforts in developing nations. The Bush administration contributed $500 million of that total, but is currently about $270 million in debt to the GEF from earlier, unpaid commitments. Although the U.S. donation is $70 million higher than past funding levels, the extra money will only be paid if the GEF meets certain numerical targets, such as reducing greenhouse gases and increasing the amount of protected land. The GEF, which is administered by the World Bank, has allocated $4.2 billion to 1,000 environmental projects in developing countries since its founding in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, 08 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=351>
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 08 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=352>
8/9/02
4:14:42 PM
The following message is from Bonnie Raitt, Robert Redford Graham Nash and David Crosby who are working with our allies in clean energy, Vote Solar.
Dear Friend:
As people who've been active in the environmental movement for a long time, we'd like to tell you about a critical vote the California legislature is about to take that will impact the future of solar energy in America.
Last year, California passed a law, referred to as net metering, that lets large solar energy systems on factories, schools, offices and other big buildings receive credit for the electricity they give back to the electric grid. It has been a huge success, sparking a 1000% increase in the number of large solar energy systems in just one year and creating a model for the country. AB 58 by Assemblyman Fred Keeley (D-Boulder Creek) would extend this law past the end of this year, when it expires.
But California's three big utilities - PG&E, Edison, and Sempra - have launched a stealth campaign to undermine it. They have amended the bill in a way that cuts in half the credit given for solar electricity. If these utilities get their way, many people who would otherwise like to install solar panels will no longer be able to afford to. And California's solar power market, the most vibrant in the nation, will be devastated, with grave consequences for the environment.
There is simply too much at stake for us to lose this fight.
Nuclear power plants leave us radioactive waste that will last for thousands of years. Emissions from power plants that run off coal, oil and gas pollute the air we breathe and are the leading contributor to global warming. The best way to say no to these environmentally harmful sources is to say yes to clean alternatives like solar energy.
The good news is that the price of solar energy has been falling as more people buy it - the cost drops by about 20% every time demand doubles. But since two thirds of America's market for solar panels is in California, our progress will be brought to a standstill if the utilities succeed. Companies that profit from pollution should not call the shots, especially when there is so much on the line. Please join us in speaking out today.
The California Legislature takes up AB 58 on Monday Aug. 12.
There are two things you can do.
First, you can join us in immediately contacting these key elected officials and letting them know that you support strong net metering laws. Tell them this is the time to give more incentives to solar energy, not fewer.
Governor Gray Davis: (916) 445-2841 Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Fred Keeley: (916) 319-2027 Assemblymember Roderick Wright: (916) 319-2048 State Senator Debra Bowen: (916) 445-5953 State Senate President Pro Tem John Burton: (916) 445-1412 Speaker of the Assembly Herb Wesson: (916) 319-2147
You can also email them directly by going to www.votesolar.org.
Second, send this email along to family, friends, and colleagues so they too can send a message to decision makers. Together, we can help California and the rest of the nation plug into the sun.
Thank you,
Bonnie Raitt, Robert Redford, Graham Nash & David Crosby
The "Positive Energy" newsletter and our web site,
will give you good news about ways to achieve clean air, climate justice, and renewable energy solutions to our ongoing energy crisis.
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
8/9/02
4:13:08 PM
Greenpeace's Positive Energy
August 5 - August 11, 2002
Time for Greenpeace's CLEAN ENERGY NOW! campaign's weekly good news update!!!
Inside this edition:
- Don't Let the Utilities Stomp Out Solar
- Philippines Chooses Positive Energy
- Ben & Jerry's Purchase Clean Energy Offsets
Don't Let the Utilities Stomp Out Solar
PG&E and its bedfellows are attempting to rollback a crucial law that promotes the use of solar power to meet the state's power needs.
In the wake of last year's energy crisis, Governor Davis signed a bill that would allow solar systems up to a megawatt in size (about enough electricity for 500 homes) to plug into the grid. Current net metering law allows utility customers to send solar power they don't use back into the grid for the benefit of other consumers. These customers are then entitled to get the power back at a time when their solar panels are not producing electricity.
Assemblyman Fred Keeley (D-Boulder Creek) has written a bill, AB 58, that would support solar by extending the right to net meter large solar systems beyond the time limit set by Governor Davis. The bill would also impose time limits on utilities so that they can't delay hooking solar up to the power grid. However, utility lobbyists have successfully pressured Assemblyman Keeley to change AB 58 to reduce the rates paid to large photovoltaic (solar) generators. If AB 58 is not changed back to pay photovoltaic (solar) generators the full retail rate for electricity produced, we can kiss the growing solar industry in California goodbye because the incentive to install large PV systems will be gone!
Send a fax now to key Assembly Members, State Senators, and California Governor Davis. Express your support for AB 58 and a clean energy future!
http://www.cleanenergynow.org/bin/takeaction.fpl?action_id=142
Also: Watch for an e-mail from Bonnie Raitt, Robert Redford, Graham Nash and David Crosby about this important issue and more ways you can help.
Philippines Chooses Positive Energy
The Philippine government officially abandoned all proposals for a coal-fired power plant in Pulupadan in the province of Negros. The Energy Undersecretary of the Philippine government, Cyril del Callar, announced today that the answer to their power needs is renewable energy! This decision came shortly after a Memorandum of Understanding that addressed the needed financial backing of technical support for renewable energy technologies was issued to the Philippine government. This historic document coincided with the last day of Greenpeace's Choose Positive Energy ship tour in the Philippines.
To read more about the Philippines clean energy solutions, visit:
http://greenpeace.org/news/details?news_id=21547
Ben & Jerry's Purchase Clean Energy Offsets
Ben & Jerry's, the makers of the famous flavors Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey ice cream, are investing in clean energy. The ice cream makers are participating in the NativeEnergy's Wind Builders Program that allows individuals and businesses to invest in long-term renewable energy credits in order to support wind farm projects.
The revenue from Ben & Jerry's investment will help fund the first large-scale wind turbine on a Native American reservation. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota is expecting the turbine to be operational by this November.
To read more about Ben & Jerry's clean energy investments, just go to:
http://www.solaraccess.com/news/story?storyid=2487
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
8/9/02
4:09:25 PM
THE STORY OF The Committee of 300 - by Dr. John Coleman (Full Text on-line)
Stop for a moment and consider how President Bush ordered the brutal slaying of 150,000 Iraqi troops, in a convoy of military vehicles carrying white flags, on their way back to Iraq under Geneva Convention rules of agreed disengagement and withdrawal. Imagine the horror of the Iraqi troops when, in spite of waving their white flags, they were mowed down by American aircraft. In another part of the front, 12,000 Iraqi soldiers were buried alive in trenches they occupied. Is that not MONSTROUS in the truest sense of the word? From where did President Bush get his orders to act in this MONSTROUS fashion? He got them from the Royal Institute for International Affairs (RIIA) who received its mandate from the The Committee of 300, also known as the "Olympians". [snip]
FULL TEXT OF BOOK ON LINE HERE (720K) http://100777.com/The_Committee_of_300.htm
Dr. John Coleman who is a Constitutional scholar, fits that bill perfectly. He has spent many, many years studying the topics he speaks about. He has written a book titled "The Committee of 300", along with others, lectured on South Africa and the Boer War, and the butchery done on those people by England. He has alerted the world through his magazine 'World in Review Magazine' with prophecies he makes about the social issues of the world. Since he began his career in 1972, he has made 650 predictions and of those 97% came true. The other 3% were slightly inaccurate ... not wrong... just slightly inaccurate. That rate of prophecy is better than any psychic I've ever heard of. Dr. Coleman doesn't do channeling. He gathers his information the same way that you and I can, through study, learning who is who and what they are doing and what they have done historically. During his career he has served in 15 different countries, so he is not just blowing smoke.
FULL STORY HERE:
http://www.greatdreams.com/coleman.html
THE ILLUMINATI AND THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/illuminati.htm
THE NEW WORLD ORDER EXPLAINED BY MYRON FAGAN [SNIP] "Incidentally; this same Reverend Harry F. Ward was also one of the founders of the "American Civil Liberties Union;" a notorious pro-Communist organization. He was the actual head of it from 1920 to 1940. He also was a co-founder of the "American League against War and Fascism" which, under Browder, became the "Communist Party of the United States." In short; Ward's entire background reeked of communism and he was identified as a member of the Communist party. He died a vicious traitor to both his church and country and this was the man old John D. Rockefeller picked and financed to destroy America's Christian religion in accordance with the orders given to Schiff by the Rothschilds. [SNIP]
http://www.m2ktalk.com/myron_fagan.htm
8/9/02
4:06:35 PM
SciTech Daily Review
Three Indian computer scientists have solved a longstanding mathematics problem by devising a way for a computer to tell quickly and definitively whether a number is prime
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/08/science/08MATH.html
Thanks to a bit of chemical trickery, drug resistant superbugs could find themselves facing newly potent antibiotics
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020805/020805-4.html
An archaeological team has discovered Egypt's oldest bakery -- complete with baking trays and storage closets
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020728-115753-2198r
A treatment involving bone marrow could help prevent amputations in patients with damaged blood vessels in their legs
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2180883.stm
Len Fisher, the academic who fathomed the physics of biscuit-dunking, tackles more great scientific questions in How to Dunk a Doughnut. What does happen when a cyclist throws a stone straight up?
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=322282
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
http://www.reason.com/0208/cr.cf.traces.shtml
Going once, going twice ... Even the most rational people can go a little crazy when caught up in a bidding war. That's where game theory comes in
http://www.discover.com/aug_02/featmath.html
Scientists and researchers are experimenting with the atmosphere and climate. Do they know what they are doing, or are their ideas potentially dangerous cons?
http://MondeDiplo.com/2002/07/18weather
Two new studies of the Vinland map -- which may chronicle the Vikings' pre-Colombian travels to the New World -- have fanned the 45-year-old debate over its origins
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?articleID=000E9504-1CA8-1D47-90FB809EC5880000
8/9/02
4:04:17 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Hot summer may be behind West Nile outbreak in US - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17239/story.htm
US tests suggest cattle do not catch deer disease - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17247/story.htm
US sees milder hurricane season due to El Nino - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17242/story.htm
Businesses warn New York needs more power plants - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17240/story.htm
Ford says SUV fuel economy goal getting tougher - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17238/story.htm
Seabirds, salmon seen on mend since Valdez spill - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17235/story.htm
Small tanker spills fuel after sinking off Istanbu - TURKEY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17232/story.htm
New head of UN climate body vows independence - SWITZERLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17241/story.htm
Russia says no more concessions in US poultry row - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17245/story.htm
Statoil wins prize for burying CO2 under North Sea - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17243/story.htm
Tomra leaps on German recycling hopes - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17246/story.htm
Italy grid sets green certificates at 0.084 euros - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17236/story.htm
Italian court probes 10 seed companies over GMOs - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17248/story.htm
Four feared dead in Czech floods, 2,000 evacuated - CZECH REPUBLIC http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17237/story.htm
Forest fires rage in northeastern China mountains - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17233/story.htm
First Canadian dies of human mad cow strain - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17244/story.htm
FEATURE - Solar power to challenge dominance of fossil fuels - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17234/story.htm
8/9/02
4:03:12 PM
"In order to change something,
don't struggle to change the existing model.
Create a new model,
and make the old one obsolete."
Buckminster Fuller
8/9/02
3:52:25 PM
AlterNet Headlines
Support Hunger Strike Demanding Justice For Bhopal **** Good neighbors clean up after themselves -- but 18 years after the world's deadliest industrial disaster, which killed nearly 4,000, Dow Chemical/Union Carbide has still not cleaned up its derelict plant in Bhopal, India and survivors have still not been adequately compensated. Now in her fourth week of a fast in front of the gates of Dow Chemical in Seadrift, Texas, activist Diane Wilson is part of a worldwide hunger strike to force the chemical giant to accept its liabilities in Bhopal. You can help! Call Dow headquarters at (800) 232-2436 and demand they clean up their mess in Bhopal. Or take part in the action: details at
http://www.bhopal.net/worldwide-action.
CALL IN THE REAL IRAQ EXPERTS
Sean Gonsalves, AlterNet
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.
*In Global Affairs: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=31
BOMBS AND SPEED KILL IN AFGHANISTAN
Bill Berkowitz, WorkingForChange.com
Are U.S. jet pilots popping amphetamines and misdirecting bombs onto civilian targets?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13791
SUMMER OF LOVE
Judith Levine, Village Voice
The author of "Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children From Sex" recounts a personal romance that a teenage camper could never have today.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13794
UNDERAGE AND UNDER SIEGE
Sharon Lerner, Village Voice
Kid's sexuality finds a champion in Judith Levine, causing conservatives and the mainstream media to attack her and her controversial book.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13523
WHO'S TO BLAME FOR MAD DEER?
Brian McCombie, The Progressive
Chronic Wasting Disease is killing tens of thousands of deer across the Midwest, and is more likely to affect humans than Mad Cow Disease. But tracing the causes is proving very difficult.
*In EnviroHealth: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=18
A MORE HONEST GAMBLE
Marc Cooper, LA Weekly
Why not let the casinos take over Wall Street? Putting money in the stock market is just a big gamble after all.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13773
WE ARE FAMILY
Lee Hubbard, AlterNet
Today the black family is in a crisis. One of the steps that could do some good is the thriving tradition of the black family reunion.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13797
REFORMING ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS
Michelle Goldberg, Salon
Fed up with draconian drug penalties, a coalition led by angry mothers is threatening to overturn some of the country's harshest laws.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13774
BREAKING THROUGH AMERICA'S BERLIN WALL
Joseph Nevins, Pacific News Service
The rising death toll among U.S.-Mexico border crossers is the predictable outcome of disparities in wealth, inhumane border enforcement policies and our hunger for cheap labor.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13772
GALE NORTON VS. THE ENVIRONMENT
Jeff Woods, Defenders of Wildlife
Bush's Secretary of the Interior has proven far more loyal to Big Industry than to the wildlife and public lands she is required to protect.
*In Rights & Liberties: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=33
Friday Media Roundtable
Reporters from Salon, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Center for Investigative Reporting discuss this week's media coverage on Friday's Working Assets Radio with Laura Flanders. Listen online from 10-11amPT/1-2pmET, or call in: 866-798-TALK.
http://www.workingassetsradio.com
8/9/02
3:19:03 PM
The Nation
As you may know, Bill Moyers is currently hosting a terrific weekly program on PBS called "NOW," broadcast each Friday evening at 9:00pm.
Tomorrow night's show will feature a lead segment based on Marc Siegel's Nation editorial, "Fighting the Drug (Ad) Wars," from our June 17, 2002 issue. An author and MD on the faculty in internal medicine at New York University, Siegel argues that, over the last five years, major US drug companies have worked to build name recognition using extensive television and magazine ads with the effect being to raise drug prices and overall costs as patients pressure doctors to prescribe drugs that often aren't needed.
Tune in tomorrow, August 9, to PBS at 9:00pm for the full story. And when Siegel is done, don't touch that channel: Moyers will interview Ralph Nader directly after his discussion with Siegel.
You can also read Siegel's Nation editorial at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020617&s=siegel
And for more on Bill Moyers' NOW check out:
Finally, if you're looking for a good lead-in to Moyers' NOW at 9:00 tomorrow night, watch Phil Donahue's MSNBC show at 8:00. Donahue, recently returned to the airwaves after a six-year break, will interview Nation friend and national treasure Studs Terkel. Every interview with Terkel is memorable so don't miss this chance to see this legendary eighty-nine year old author live.
For more info, check out Donahue's website at:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/DONAHUE_Front.asp
Best Regards,
Peter Rothberg, Associate Publisher
8/9/02
3:14:48 PM
My 10-part, 2-hour video compilation, which has been re-edited and much improved, (for more information go to <A HREF="http://www.addictedtowar.com/">www.addictedtowar.com</A> and click on video)
WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY:
The War Against The Third World
CIA Covert Operations and U.S. Interventions Since World War II What You Didn't Learn in School and Don't Hear on the Mainstream Media
Since September 11th I have sent this video to thousands of professors, high school teachers, students, religious leaders, peace activists, alternative media and interested others throughout this country and Canada. It has been shown at teach-ins all across the United States.
My name is Frank Dorrel. I live in Culver City, California. I consider myself to be a peace activist/educator. I am a Veteran for Peace. I work with the Coalition For World Peace and with many of the other peace organizations here in Los Angeles.
I am willing to mail this tape to you before receiving payment. After you have received and watched my video, you can support this project by sending a contribution that you can afford and feel good about. $10 would cover postage and mailing. All financial assistance will go back into this project.
To order this video send an email to <A HREF="mailto:fdorrel@addictedtowar.com">fdorrel@addictedtowar.com</A> . Please include your mailing address.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY:
The War Against The Third World
A 2-hour video compilation featuring 10 segments which I have edited. They are as follows:
1. Martin Luther King Jr., Civil rights leader who was killed after he spoke out against the U.S. war in Vietnam.
2. John Stockwell, Former CIA Chief of Station in Angola in 1975, working for then CIA Director, George Bush Sr. Stockwell is the highest ranking CIA official to testify to Congress.
3. Bill Moyers' "The Secret Government" Played on PBS-1987. Excellent!
4. Coverup: Behind the Iran-Contra Affair, What we did to Nicaragua. Also feautures a short history of CIA covert operations. Narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery. Produced by the Empowerment Project.
5. School of Assassins with Father Roy Bourgeois on the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. Narrated by Susan Sarandon. Our own school for terrorists, right here in the United States.
6. Genocide by Sanctions, With Ramsey Clark talking to Iraqi doctors about the 5,000 children who die every month due to the sanctions. Made by Gloria La Riva.
7. Amy Goodman, Host of Democracy, FM Radio NY, talking on 2 genocides committed by the Indonesian military. First against it's own people in 1965 and then against the people of East Timor in 1975, both aided by the CIA.
8. The Panama Deception, Won the academy award for best documentary. Shows how the U.S. killed 4,000 innocent civilians in this illegal attack. Narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery, made by The Empowerment Project.
9. Ramsey Clark, Former Attorney General, talking on U.S. militarism. Very powerful!
10. S. Brian Willson, Vietnam Veteran for Peace who lost his legs when he was run over by a naval train carrying weapons headed to kill innocent civilians in Central America. Brian wages Unconditional Peace. His mantra is "We are not worth more, they are not worth less". Brian is introduced by Kris Kristofferson. His web site: <A HREF="http://www.brianwillson.com/">www.brianwillson.com</A>.
For more information go to <A HREF="http://www.addictedtowar.com/">www.addictedtowar.com</A>
This video is an excellent educational tool that reveals the true nature of U.S. foreign policy. It has been seen in college classrooms, at churches and at various political groups. It is very convincing! People such as Howard Zinn, S. Brian Willson, Blase Bonpane, Ed Asner, Amy Goodman, Michael Parenti, Oliver Stone, Father Roy Bourgeois, Ramsey Clark, Casey Kasem, Susan Sarandon, Mike Ruppert, Ralph Nader, Chalmers Johnson, Holly Near, Meria Heller and many others have seen this video and find it very worthwhile, informative and empowering!
If you are interested in getting a copy of this video, email me at fdorrel@yahoo.com. Leave your mailing address and I will send you the video before I receive your contribution. I do this in good faith, as a way to protect you. Your $10 donation helps me to continue this project.
My goal is to provide this information to as many people as possible. This is difficult because the mainstream media is owned by the multi-national corporations and the military-industrial-complex. They do not want to the truth to be known by the masses. This information is not what we learned in school. It is not what we see on TV, hear on the radio, read in the newspapers or experience in our own lives. The people on this video are telling a truth that more Americans need to hear, if we are ever going to put a stop to U.S. imperialism.
We have been lied to by experts in propaganda and misinformation. We live in a state of mass denial, of mass hypnosis. If you really care about having Peace in the world, if you care about Justice and Freedom for all of the people who share the Earth with us, I believe the first step is to educate yourself to the true nature of U.S. foreign policy and then begin to share this information with other people. That is what this tape is about.
And to those of you whose primary concern is the environment, you should be aware that United States militarism is one of the main contributing factors in polluting the Earth.
8/9/02
3:10:42 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT SELFISHLY
Despite widespread concern that the Bush administration has placed all green issues on the back burner, recent documents obtained by Grist suggest that, on the contrary, President Bush is deeply concerned about the likely impact of impending environmental crises on ... his personal lifestyle. Overfishing threatens to put an end to some of the commander-in-chief's favorite meals, and urban sprawl could have serious ramifications for some of his best-loved golf courses. Master of satire Chris Colin gives a sneak preview of the highly secretive "Earth Catastrophe Memos," only on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: Hello, kitties! -- the Bush administration braces for eco-chaos -- satire in our Soapbox section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/soapbox/colin080802.asp?source=daily>
KILLER! WHALE SUITS
'Tis the season to sue over whales. Environmentalists in the Pacific Northwest announced this week that they plan to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service over its decision to deny protected status to orca whales in Puget Sound. In June, the NMFS found that the local orca population, which has declined 20 percent since 1996, does indeed face possible extinction, but nonetheless determined that it did not meet the requirements for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Meanwhile, a coalition of national environmental groups led by the Natural Resources Defense Council has sued the NMFS and the U.S. Navy to block use of a new sonar system it fears could harm whales, dolphins, and other sea creatures that rely on acoustics to find food, mates, and migratory routes. The coalition says approval by the feds of the sonar system violates the species act; the Navy says the sonar is necessary to protect aircraft carriers and other warships from submarine attacks.
straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Lisa Stiffler and Robert McClure, 07 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=342>
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Steve Hymon and Tony Perry, 08 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=343>
only in Grist: Watch 'em blow, see 'em glow -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha051302.asp?source=daily>
do good: Take action to save orca whales <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/species.asp?source=daily#orca>
THAT'S THE WAY THE COOKIE GRUMBLES
As anticipated, the U.S. EPA announced yesterday that it would seek to alter a key Clean Water Act anti-pollution program in order to give states more flexibility in restoring their waterways. Under the revised program, states would develop and implement plans to clean up more than 20,000 dirty rivers, lakes, and estuaries. While the federal government would provide guidelines, oversight, and reviews, the proposed changes are in keeping with EPA Administrator Christie Whitman's preference for "voluntary efforts" over mandatory regulations. Benjamin Grumbles, the EPA's deputy assistant administrator for water, said the new approach would address the concerns of stakeholders, such as farm groups and state and local sewage-treatment agencies. But environmentalists say the changes would weaken an already iffy program that has left 44 percent of the nation's water bodies in poor shape. The new regulations would supplant a July 2000 Clinton administration rule requiring EPA approval of state efforts to restore 300,000 miles of rivers and shorelines and 5 million acres of lakes.
straight to the source: Washington Post, Eric Pianin, 08 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=344>
HAPPY CONTRAILS TO YOU
Tragic as they were, the events of Sept. 11 provided an unexpected boon to climate science: They caused an unprecedented three-day interruption in U.S. air traffic that enabled scientists to assess the impact on the climate of condensation from jet planes. Those streaks of condensation, known as contrails, all but disappeared during the flight hiatus -- and variations in high and low temperatures increased by 2 degrees Fahrenheit each day, according to meteorologists. The research establishes that contrails can affect temperatures, although whether they have a net effect on global warming remains a question. Contrails generally behave similarly to normal clouds, blocking solar energy from above and trapping heat below, thereby reducing the daily temperature range. Because certain species depend on specific daily temperature variations for survival, even slight changes in climate can have substantial, ecosystem-wide effects.
straight to the source: CNN.com, Richard Stenger, 08 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=345>
only in Grist: Are chemtrails the evil sibling to contrails? --astute advice on all things environmental -- in our Ask Umbra column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ask/ask042302.asp?source=daily#chemtrails>
THAT SINKING FEELING
In other scientific news of the day, trees might not be a climate change magic bullet after all, according to a study published in today's edition of Nature. Trees and shrubs have been regarded as an ideal carbon sink (meaning they absorb excess carbon dioxide, reducing the concentration of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere) and therefore an effective means to fend off global warming. President Bush has even proposed tax incentives for farmers who plant trees. But scientists from Duke University found that in wetter areas, trees are less effective carbon sinks than the native grasslands they have replaced throughout much of the Western U.S. The study said that replacing grass with shrubs and trees can actually decrease the amount of carbon stored in organic material in the soil, potentially offsetting gains achieved above ground. Daniel Becker, director of the Sierra Club's global warming and energy program, said the study would help dispel the notion that humans can plant their way out of the climate crisis.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Andrew Bridges, 07 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=346>
NOW THAT CALI TOOK THE T-BIRD AWAY
To the extent that somebody in the auto industry could be the darling of environmentalists, that somebody is William Clay Ford, Jr., chair and CEO of Ford Motor Co. Ford, who has earned kudos in the past for his eco-friendly outlook but has more recently drawn barbed comments from greenies, said yesterday that America's love affair with the automobile could be threatened by the industry's shoddy environmental record. Speaking at an automotive conference in Michigan, Ford also said he wanted to "lower the temperature" of the oft-heated relationship between carmakers and the state of California, which recently passed landmark legislation limiting carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles. "If you remember, in California, people used to write songs about T-Birds and Corvettes," said Ford. "Today, they write regulations." Ford said he wanted the industry to address environmental problems through technology. The speech was the most environmentally minded one Ford has given since taking the helm last fall of the company founded by his great-grandfather.
straight to the source: New York Times, Danny Hakim, 08 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=347>
only in Grist: Teaming up with Bill Ford, Jr. -- the comic adventures of Zed, last of his species <http://www.gristmagazine.com/zed/zed113001.asp?source=daily>
8/9/02
3:04:52 PM
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press contact: Tammy Boyer, Los Angeles (323) 934-6900; Elliott Negin, Washington, D.C. (202) 289-6868; Craig Noble, San Francisco (415) 777-0220
If you are not a member of the press, please write to us at nrdcinfo@nrdc.org or see our contact page.
Environmental Groups Sue to Stop Global Deployment of Navy Low Frequency Sonar System
Groups Say New Long-Range Sonar System Threatens Whales and Other Marine Mammals
SAN FRANCISCO (Wednesday, August 7, 2002) -- A coalition of environmental groups today sued the U.S. Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service to block deployment of a new sonar system that poses a threat to entire populations of whales, dolphins, seals and other marine mammals. The coalition, led by NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), filed the lawsuit in federal district court in San Francisco.
The sonar system, known as Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active sonar (or "SURTASS LFA") relies on extremely loud, low frequency sound to detect submarines at great distances. According to the Navy's own studies, the LFA system generates sounds capable of reaching 140 decibels more than 300 miles away. Scientists claim that, during testing off the California coast, noise from a single LFA system was detected across the breadth of the North Pacific Ocean.
"One of the truly disturbing aspects of this system," said Joel Reynolds, senior attorney and director of NRDC's Marine Mammals Protection Project, "is its unprecedented power and geographic scope. If the Navy deploys LFA, tens of thousands of square miles of ocean habitat would be saturated with extremely loud and dangerous sound. The Navy has illegally been given a blank check to deploy LFA in 75 percent of the world's oceans."
Over the last few years, scientists have been increasingly alarmed about undersea noise pollution from high-intensity sonar systems. There are two types of sonar: passive and active. Passive sonar listens for ambient noises in the water. Active sonar sends out a signal and waits for a response. Scientists are particularly concerned about active sonar, which has the potential to harm and even kill whales and other marine mammals.
The mass stranding of multiple whale species in the Bahamas in March 2000 intensified these concerns. Many of the beached whales died. A federal investigation determined that the strandings were caused by a U.S. Navy mid-frequency active sonar system. Meanwhile, a number of whales that lived in the waters off the Bahama coast disappeared. Scientists believe that they either abandoned their habitat or died at sea.
"From a scientific point of view, there is very little question that, given the right set of circumstances, active sonar can kill marine life," said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Humane Society of the United States, one of the coplaintiffs. "The frightening thing about LFA is that we're flying blind, because the Navy has never seriously applied the lessons from previous strandings to its LFA system."
Today's lawsuit is a response to a decision last month by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with protecting ocean resources, to issue the Navy a permit allowing the global deployment of LFA. Attorneys for the environmentalists said today they would challenge LFA deployment under several federal statutes, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The plaintiffs in the case -- NRDC, the Humane Society, the League for Coastal Protection, the Cetacean Society International, and the Ocean Futures Society and its president, Jean-Michel Cousteau -- will seek a court decision before the Navy deploys the LFA system.
"The decision to authorize and deploy the LFA system cannot be justified under federal law," said Andrew Sabey, a partner with the international firm of Morrison & Foerster, which is representing the plaintiffs. "The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued the Navy a so-called 'small take' permit, which in reality authorizes the Navy to injure, harass and disturb marine mammals on a stunningly large scale throughout the world's oceans."
"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."
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 500,000 members nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Mark J. Palmer / Earth Island Institute
mpalmer@mother.com
Assistant Director, International Marine Mammal Project
Director, Wildlife Alive
8/9/02
2:57:21 PM
THE UNITED NATIONS MUST ACT TO PREVENT AN ATTACK BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST IRAQ
The following letter by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark has been sent to all members of the UN Security Council, with copies to the UN General Assembly and Senator Biden of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Please circulate.
International Action Center http://www.iacenter.org Founded by Ramsey Clark
July 29, 2002
Dear Ambassador,
Any remaining hope the peoples of the United Nations have to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war through the United Nations would be crushed by another United States attack on Iraq. Threats to attack, invade and overthrow the government of Iraq by President George Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, various cabinet officers and Pentagon officials have been routine for a year. The psychological warfare is itself a crime against peace and violates the U.N. Charter. Today's front-page headline story in the New York Times, "U.S. Exploring Baghdad Strike As Iraq Option," is typical of the in terrorem intention of the threats. The danger to civilian life in Baghdad from such a strike would be enormous.
THE UNITED NATIONS MUST ACT TO PREVENT AN ATTACK BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST IRAQ
If the United Nations is unable to restrain the United States, a permanent member of the Security Council, from committing crimes against peace and humanity as well as war crimes against a nation that has already been violated by the U.S. beyond endurance, then what is the United Nations worth? At the very least, opposition to any attack or attempt to overthrow the government of Iraq by force must be publicly expressed by the United Nations.
THE UNITED STATES BOMBED DEFENSELESS IRAQ MERCILESSLY FOR FORTY-TWO DAYS IN 1991
The U.S. led and glorified the massive assault on Iraq in January and February 1991. The Pentagon announced it conducted 110,000 aerial sorties against the defenseless "cradle of civilization," dropping 88,500 tons of bombs. The widespread bombing destroyed the economic viability of the civilian society throughout the nation. It killed tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens and others. A major part of the bombing was directed at civilians and civilian facilities. It was less accurate than the recent indiscriminate attacks in Afghanistan. U.S. bombs destroyed Iraqi water systems, electric power transmission, communications, transportation, manufacturing, commerce, agriculture, poultry and livestock, food storage facilities, markets, fertilizer and insecticide production, business centers, archeological and historical treasures, apartment houses, residential areas, schools, hospitals, mosques, churches and synagogues.
The Pentagon stated its casualties were 156. One third were from "friendly fire"; the rest were accidental. The U.S. had no combat casualties.
THE UNITED STATES FORCED THE IMPOSITION OF GENOCIDAL SANCTIONS ON IRAQ IN 1990
The U.S. crafted economic sanctions against Iraq which the Security Council approved on August 6, 1990, the 45th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. Those sanctions are the direct cause of the very cruel deaths of more than a million people. This is the greatest crime against humanity, in the last decade of the most violent century in history. Each painful death of an individual wasting away--from malnutrition; Kwashiorkor; the rush of dehydration from contaminated water and from diseases was preventable. The sanctions continue to this time to cause hundreds of deaths each day. Every United Nations agency dealing with food, health and children--including FAO, WFP, WHO, UNICEF--has proclaimed the horror, magnitude and responsibility for this human catastrophe.
The great majority of the deaths caused by the sanctions are infants, children, the elderly, the chronically ill and emergency medical cases. These are the people most vulnerable to polluted water, malnutrition, and the lack of medicines and medical equipment and supplies.
U.S. claims that it is the Iraqi government that is responsible for deaths from shortages of food and medicine are false. The U.S. blocked oil sales by Iraq for six years before appearing to yield to humanitarian pleas to permit oil sales to purchase food and medicine. Since 1997, when sales began, it has effectively frustrated and delayed the Oil for Food program, which does not provide sufficient income at the levels approved to stop the daily deterioration of health and growing death rates in Iraq.
Before sanctions there was virtually no malnutrition in Iraq and free hospital, health services and medicines were a model for the region. Its present system of government distribution of available food staples is a model of fairness and efficiency, lacking only in quantity and variety of food.
UNITED STATES MILITARY AIRCRAFT HAVE ATTACKED IRAQ AT WILL FOR ELEVEN YEARS
The U.S. has engaged in air strikes against Iraq at will since March 1991, when the massive attacks averaging one aerial sortie every 30 seconds ended. Without losing a single plane, U.S. attacks have killed: cleaning personnel at the Al Rashid Hotel in Baghdad in a failed attempt to assassinate Saddam Hussein; scores of people each year in attacks on radar stations in or near the U.S.-imposed no-fly zones; all the persons aboard a U.N. helicopter shot down by U.S. aircraft; and civilians from all walks of life, including the internationally famous artist and Director of Iraqis' National Center for Arts, Leila al Attar.
IRAQ IS NOT A THREAT TO THE U.S., COUNTRIES IN THE REGION OR OTHERS
The U.S. has falsely claimed that Iraq is working to develop weapons of mass destruction to attack the U.S., Israel, its neighbors and others. The U.S. claimed its 1991 attacks destroyed 80% of Iraq's military capacity. The U.N. inspection efforts claimed to discover and dismantle 90% of Iraq's post-1991 capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction. Iraq, its peoples and resources are exhausted. It has a "stunted" generation of children under age 10 and a debilitated population at all ages. It is the victim of the worst crime against humanity in recent decades.
THE UNITED STATES IS THE GREATEST PURVEYOR OF VIOLENCE ON EARTH
Two of the highest U.N. officials responsible for U.N. weapons inspection within Iraq and a principle U.S. citizen participating in the inspections have resigned, denounced the sanctions and denied that there is a threat that Iraq will develop weapons of mass destruction.
The U.S. has more nuclear weapons than all other nations combined as well as the most sophisticated and numerous systems for the delivery of nuclear weapons, including the Trident II submarine fleet. It possesses the greatest stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and the most advanced and extensive research in mass destruction weaponry in the world. Military spending by the U.S. exceeds that of the nine next largest budgets for war combined. President Bush has repeatedly declared the right to strike first. The U.S. attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs and continues to justify those acts.
The U.S. has renounced treaties controlling nuclear weapons and their proliferation; voted against the protocol enabling enforcement of the Biological Weapons Conventions; and rejected the treaty banning land mines, the International Criminal Court and virtually every other international effort to control and limit war. The U.S. War Against Terrorism is a declaration of right by the U.S. to attack first--anyone, anywhere, on mere suspicion, or without excuse, unilaterally.
The U.S. wants to overthrow the government of Iraq and many others in violation of law. Unless restrained the chance for peace and global equality of economic, social, cultural and political opportunity among nations will be lost. Which government presents the greater threat to peace globally or for Mesopotamia and its neighbors--the U.S. or Iraq?
AN ATTACK BY THE UNITED STATES ON IRAQ TO OVERTHROW ITS GOVERNMENT WOULD BE A FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF THE U.N. CHARTER, THE NUREMBERG CHARTER AND INTERNATIONAL LAW
If, as promised so many times, the U.S. does attack Iraq to overthrow its government, it will be the most notorious, arrogant and contemptuous violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the Nuremberg Charter and international law yet experienced, or likely hereafter. Only absolute power unrestrained by any rule of law or standard of human decency openly taunts an intended victim as President Bush has taunted Iraq. Because the U.S. has committed historic injustices against Iraq, most during his father's presidency, and still seeks dominion in the region, President Bush, his Vice President and others in his administration hate Iraq and want finally to destroy it.
I am writing this letter to you; to each U.N. Representative of a Security Council Member; the President of the General Assembly; and President Bush. This is one of a series of letters describing and protesting U.S. and UN wrongs against Iraq. The threatened wrong addressed here is the worst. If twelve years after its devastating aerial assault and after twelve years of genocidal sanctions, the omnipresent risk and frequent fact of random attack with the ever present stalking by U.S. aircraft and endless threats against its helpless victim, the U.S. commits its coup d'grace on the people of Iraq to the silence of the U.N. and wealthy nations of the world, human shame and impotence will doom us to ever greater violence.
A U.S. ASSAULT ON IRAQ WILL CAUSE MORE AND GREATER VIOLENCE; URGENT ACTION BY THE UNITED NATIONS TO PREVENT A U.S. ASSAULT OF IRAQ IS REQUIRED
I urge you to immediately activate the United Nations, the General Assembly, the Security Council and all its agencies to denounce the continuing threats by the United States against Iraq, to demand immediate cessation of the threats and to warn the United States that an attack by it on Iraq will violate the Charter of the United Nations, international law and the friendship of all who seek peace and respect the dignity of humanity.
AN ATTACK BY THE U.S. ON IRAQ WOULD VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES REQUIRING IMPEACHMENT, TRIAL BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE AND CRIMINAL CHARGES IN FEDERAL COURTS AGAINST PRESIDENT BUSH AND ALL OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE
An attack on Iraq by the United States would also violate the Constitution and laws of the United States and expose President Bush to impeachment by the House of Representatives under the Constitution of the United States for the highest of crimes, those against peace and humanity, to judgment by the United States Senate and trial in federal court for crimes charged.
Unfortunately in recent years our Constitution has been more honored in the breach than in faithful observance of the rights it is intended to protect for all. But the effort to hold accountable any U.S. authority who participates in an assault against Iraq will be made here by those who love their country and for that reason insist that its acts be just.
Sincerely, Ramsey Clark
Source: http://www.iacenter.org/rc_letter802.htm
8/9/02
2:51:42 PM
Mining Less In A Sustainable World
by Payal Sampat
WASHINGTON, DC August 6, 2002 - Johannesburg, South Africa, developed as a “gold rush” city after home builders quarrying for stones accidentally struck the yellow metal in 1886. Gold lies a mile or more beneath the surface of the city, and is present as an extremely tiny share of ore—far less than one-thousandth of one percent—so miners have to excavate massive amounts of rock in order to get a few fragments of metal. In the decades since that discovery, mining for gold, coal, and other minerals has completely altered the physical landscape of this former farming region, leaving mountains of waste rock and ore in dumps south of the city.
These huge dumps will be starkly apparent to delegates to the World Summit on Sustainable Development as they fly into Johannesburg. Holding the Summit in this scarred mining region highlights the need to reevaluate an industrial activity that today provides less than one percent of the world’s economic product, yet consumes close to 10 percent of world energy, and spews nearly half of all toxic emissions from industry in countries such as the United States.
Mining is one of the planet’s leading polluters. Mines use large quantities of deadly chemicals, including cyanide and mercury, to separate metal from ore. Catastrophic spills of mine wastes in recent years have resulted in enormous fish kills, soil and water pollution, and damage to human health. In 2000, for instance, a tailings dam split open at the Baia Mare mine in Romania. This accident sent some 100,000 tons of wastewater, and 20,000 tons of sludge contaminated with cyanide, copper, and heavy metals, into the Tisza river, and eventually into the Danube, destroying 1,240 tons of fish and polluting the drinking water supplies of 2.5 million people.
Most new mining development is taking place in some of the world’s most ecologically fragile regions, including a titanium mine in a Madagascar forest inhabited by rare lemurs, birds, and indigenous plant species; gold exploration in Peruvian cloudforest; and tantalite mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Okapi Reserve, home to the endangered mountain gorilla. Indigenous peoples have disproportionately borne the costs of mining, and continue to do so: according to one estimate, as much as half of all gold produced between 1995 and 2015 will come from indigenous peoples’ lands.
Mining has not proven beneficial to local communities or national economies over the long term either. Mining-dependent nations typically have slow rates of economic development, and some of the highest poverty rates. Minerals prices are volatile, so mining regions have been subject to unstable “boom-and-bust” economies. Mining companies in Australia, the United States, China, the Philippines, and elsewhere, laid off millions of workers in the 1990s, when minerals prices plummeted. Between 1990 and 2000, South African mines laid off close to 400,000 workers—almost half the workforce.
Despite major strides in improving mine safety, mining remains one of the world’s most hazardous occupations. According to the International Labour Organization, the sector employs less than 1 percent of the global work force but is responsible for 5 percent of all worker deaths on the job.
The short sections devoted to mining in the Draft Plan of Implementation—the document being negotiated at the World Summit by official delegates from around the world—fall far short of advancing a coherent program to address these difficult issues. A more aggressive approach is needed, both at the World Summit as well as in other efforts such as the World Bank’s Extractive Industries Review, which is currently underway. In the months and years that follow, governments, lending agencies, businesses, taxpayers, and local communities will need to ensure that societies can obtain the benefits of minerals without incurring heavy ecological and human costs. A meaningful plan of action would include the following elements:
Level the playing field for recycling and secondary materials.
Phase out subsidies for mining. The United States, Australia, and Canada offer mining rights for absurdly small sums of money—$12 a hectare in the United States, for example. Countries such as Brazil, Ecuador, and Papua New Guinea offer foreign companies incentives such as royalty waivers and the right to expatriate all profits. Eliminating these handouts and charging for mining rights would be not only environmentally beneficial, but would also add income to the public treasury— resources which could be directed toward developing more sustainable materials paths, or to improving social services such as education or healthcare.
Pursue sustainable materials strategies. It takes far less energy to recycle discarded materials than to extract, process, and refine metals from ore. It takes 95 percent less energy to produce aluminum from recycled materials rather than from bauxite ore, for instance. Recycling copper takes seven times less energy than processing ore; recycled steel uses three-and-a-half times less. Despite the obvious gains that might come from picking this low-hanging fruit, just 13 percent of copper consumed worldwide comes from recycled sources. In large part, this inefficiency can be attributed to the distortionary subsidies for virgin minerals extraction, which make it cheaper to dig up new minerals than to reuse above-ground stocks.
Enforce the “polluter pays” principle during mine operation and closure. Taxpayers and governments have been left with hefty tabs for cleaning up abandoned mines, after companies have gone bankrupt or just walked away from uneconomical projects. For instance, since 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has spent millions of dollars to reduce the damage from cyanide spills at the Summitville mine in Colorado, after the company that operated the mine declared bankruptcy. The cost for cleaning up tens of thousands of closed mines in the United States alone is estimated at between $35 and $70 billion—and India, China, South Africa, and countries in Eastern Europe face sizable cleanup tabs as well. Legislators and environmental agencies must ensure that polluters, not taxpayers, foot these bills. Protect ecosystems, communities, and workers.
Keep mines out of protected areas and other fragile ecosystems. Mining moves enormous quantities of earth; altogether, it strips more of the Earth’s surface each year than natural erosion by rivers does. Very little of this material is actually used—for example, on average, some 220 tons of earth are excavated to produce just a ton of copper. Despite the damage to landscapes and ecosystems, mines have been given permits to operate in several national parks and World Heritage sites, including the Kakadu National Reserve in Australia, the Doñana National Park in Spain, and the Sierra Imataca Reserve in Venezuela. In addition to putting a moratorium on new mines in ecologically sensitive areas, authorities must cancel permits already allotted to mines in protected areas.
Protect communities and ecosystems from toxic chemicals. A number of farsighted leaders are taking strong stands against the continued use of cyanide, mercury, and other toxic chemicals currently used in mining. The Baia Mare spill in Romania in 2000 prompted the Czech Senate to ban gold mining using cyanide leaching methods. In 2001, the German Parliament prohibited the use of this technology, and in June 2002, the President of Costa Rica declared a moratorium. Groups in the U.S. states of Colorado and Wisconsin are currently pushing for a ban on cyanide leaching.
Respect decisions made by local residents about whether or not to mine. Local communities must be able to determine whether or not to allow mining or exploration in their backyard—once they have received full information about the proposed project. In June 2002, for example, residents of the Tambogrande region in northern Peru voted overwhelmingly against the continued operation of a Canadian-run open pit gold mine, with 94 percent opposing the project.
Set up post-mining transition plans for workers and communities. With miners losing jobs around the world, governments, firms, and unions have a tremendous opportunity to create safer, more meaningful, and ecologically sustainable employment for these workers and the families they support. Following the enormous layoffs of the 1990s, the South African Employment Bureau and the National Union of Mineworkers developed transition plans to retrain and employ former mineworkers. This transition has helped take the South African economy on a more sustainable track, with some mineworkers finding new jobs in steel and paper recycling, for example.
Worldwatch Institute
email: worldsummit@worldwatch.org
website: http://www.worldwatch.org
8/9/02
2:48:20 PM
Greenpeace True Food Network Newsletter August 2002
Many thanks to all of the True Food Network activists and allied groups that made the first New England True Food Road Show a great success. Read on for more information about the tour and the campaign to get Shaw's to go GE-free.
Inside this Edition:
- True Food Road Show Tours New England. Shaw's Market Feels the Heat!
- Calling All New England Activists: Tell us Your Stories
- First-Ever Labeling Initiative Makes the Ballot!
- Berkeley Mom Organizes Teach-in: Contact Us If You Want to Do the Same.
- Save the Date! Oct. 30th is the next National Day of Action.
--Greenpeace True Food Road Show Tours New England. Shaw's Market Feels the Heat!
Last month, Greenpeace teamed up with activists throughout New England to spread the word to Shaw's Market customers about the supermarket's double standard. Shaw's customers from Maine to Connecticut met with store managers and signed petitions, demanding the supermarket chain remove genetically engineered food from its store brand products, just as its parent company has done in the UK.
The tour was followed by a Greenpeace and Jobs for Justice rally in Boston at the British consulate, and a march to Star Market, a subsidiary of the chain. The rally and march came just days before Shaw's parent company's scheduled annual shareholder meeting in London where Greenpeace sent a representative. And we didn't stop there! The day after the rally, Greenpeace and Clean Water Action activists took action at a Shaw's market.
Check out the pictures from the action by going to:
http://www.truefoodnow.org/inside_scoop/archives/072302_star_protest.html
New England Activists - Keep the Pressure ON
If you live in the New England area and want to get involved in the Shaw's/Star Market campaign, please email us at: boston@wdc.greenpeace.org
If you don't live in New England you can still take action! Call Shaw's today and demand they go GE-Free at: 1-888-431-7429
-- Supermarket Activists - Tell Us Your Stories
Have you hosted a GE-Free BBQ this summer? Met with a store manager? Petitioned? Tell us how your supermarket activism is going. Email us at: geteam@sfo.greenpeace.org
You can also send us your petitions and we'll delive them for you! Just mail them to:
Greenpeace 75 Arkansas St. San Francisco, CA 94107
-- First-Ever Labeling Initiative Makes the Ballot!
On July 5th, Oregon Concerned Citizens for Safe Foods turned in 101,255 signatures to the Secretary of State's office to qualify a voter-initiative to require labeling of genetically engineered food! The Oregon Secretary of State verified that the grassroots campaign gathered enough signatures to qualify for the November Oregon ballot. Oregon will be the first state in the country to vote on our right-to-know about genetically engineered food!
The campaign is truly grassroots and in need of all kinds of support. Want to help out?
Log on to http://www.labelgefoods.org to find out how you can help Oregon pave the way in securing one of our most basic rights - to know what we are feeding our families.
-- Berkeley Mom Organizes Teach-In. You Can Too!
In June, the Greenpeace True Food Network was contacted by one of our loyal Supermarket activists and mother of two, Judith Barish of Berkeley, California who expressed interest in holding a GE food teach-in for parents at her house. She wanted to both increase her own knowledge on the subject of genetically engineered food and to garner more support, understanding, and activists from her community.
"We all were very concerned about the lack of long term testing on GE food and that's what kept us out there in front of the stores," said Barish. "But we all felt that if we really understood the potential health and environmental risks of GE food we would be much more articulate and successful in our outreach to Safeway's customers."
Read more about the teach-in in Berkeley and learn how you can do it too!:
http://www.truefoodnow.org/inside_scoop/archives/08072002.html
Would you like to organize a teach-in? Just contact us at: geteam@sfo.greenpeace.org and we'll provide you with all the information, materials, and tips you'll need to hold a successful and informative GE food teach-in for your community.
-- Save the DATE!
The next National Day of Action for the Supermarket Campaign is October 30, 2002.
We are starting early this time to work with True Food activists on planning local events. Interested in hosting an event in your area?
Let us know: geteam@sfo.greenpeace.org
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/join/tfn.htm
8/9/02
2:46:08 PM
SciTech Daily Review
Something strange is happening right beneath our feet: Earth's gravity field is suddenly changing shape
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/equator_bulge_020801.html
Go east, young pup! Coyotes, long symbolic of the American West, have been steadily expanding across their own last frontier: the sprawling suburbs of the east
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0806_020806_coyote.html
Some memories are best forgotten. Natural chemicals in our brains that are similar to the active ingredient in marijuana may help wipe out traumatic memories
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CBDDE-3C91-1D48-90FB809EC5880000
The case of the missing code: Are al-Qaida terrorists hiding their secrets in eBay photographs?
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/07/17/steganography/index.html
Does the Universe exist if we're not looking? John Wheeler, the elder statesman of modern physics, is preoccupied with the notion that our observations shape not only the present and the future of the cosmos but the past as well
http://www.discover.com/june_02/featuniverse.html
Defining sound science is a lot like defining art. Policy-makers don't know much about it, but they know what they like
http://www.theledger.com/local/florida/21scie.htm
8/9/02
2:41:48 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Australia charges ship owners for damaging reef - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17208
El Nino hits Australia, SE Asia braces for drought - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17221
Bangladesh bans polluting three-wheelers - BANGLADESH http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17194
NAFTA panel says cannot rule on Methanex MTBE case - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17202
Thousands fight forest fires in northern China - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17193
"Free Willy" star Keiko heeds call of the wild - ICELAND http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17224
Italian court probes 10 seed companies over GMOs - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17209
Sharp to charge up solar battery business in US - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17222
FEATURE - Ecojargon the lingua franca at Johannesburg summit -NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17195
UPDATE - North Korea warned as atomic project enters new phase - NORTH KOREA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17201
Flood of jokes greets Singapore water recycling plan - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17225
Singapore water stocks up on self-sufficiency drive - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17210
South Africa's Nedbank launches green unit trust - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17211
Earth Summit numbers unknown but plans on track - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17205
The Earth Summit, officially the United Nations' World Summit - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17214
FEATURE - South Africa leads way in provision of water - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17216
FACTBOX - Water security key issue at UN summit - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17198
Boliden unit to appeal Spain 45mln euro fine - paper - SPAIN http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17199
Jaffna trade fair companies say peace needed first - SRI LANKA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17215
Slithering Singapore snakes glide without wings - UK http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17191
UK supermarkets urged to reduce pesticide residues - UK http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17192
Maryland to poison pond to kill Snakehead fish - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17196
UPDATE - Ford, Ballard unveil hydrogen-fueled generator - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17200
Jitters as US hunting season soon underway - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17223
Latest US sighting of snakefish may be a hoax - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17220
Environmental groups sue over US Navy sonar plans - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17207
Don't tap farm funds for disaster aid - US growers - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17204
McDermott posts loss after asbestos claims at unit - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17217
Alcoa resolves Texas plant emissions allegations - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17206
Oregon town threatened as winds fan forest fire - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17190
US to issue new El Nino, hurricane info on Thursday - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17219
US pledges increased aid for global green fund - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17218
US may set guidelines for biotech-free crops - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17212
Long Island, New York needs no new power plants - study - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17213
Senate farm panel chief objects to USDA appointee - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17203
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURES:
Tokyo turns to rooftop gardens to beat the heat - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17230
Balloons and Smoke Rise Over Future Nuclear Power Plant - NORTH KOREA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17229
Workers Pour Conrete at Construction Site of Future Nuclear Power Plant -NORTH KOREA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17228
Hydrogen Engine Power Generation - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17227
A Bottle Of "Newater", Singapore's Recyled Waste Water - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17226
Women Collects Water from Communal Tap Near Cape Town - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17231
8/8/02
2:09:09 PM
http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=559&mode=thread&order=0
The long term strategy of Israel and how it affects the U.S.
August 03, 2002
By Raff Ellis YellowTimes.org
Guest Columnist (United States)
(YellowTimes.org) - Often times, while reading the headlines or watching the news, one has to ask, "What could the Israelis be thinking?" What could possibly be the point of the seemingly indiscriminate carnage and destruction? Rooting out the terrorists or revenge is often the official explanation. But tiny babies are not terrorists yet they are killed by the dozens. Olive trees are not terrorists yet they are uprooted by the hundreds. Homes are not terrorists but they are destroyed by the thousands. Buildings and factories are labeled bomb factories and are shelled into oblivion. One need only examine these actions to discern the overall strategy of the country that is behind them.
The Israelis have always lusted for land acquisition. For evidence of this you may note that as far back as 1973, Ariel Sharon himself enunciated the settlement policy for the West Bank. He said his aim was to create facts on the ground, facts that would not be able to be undone 25 years hence, and 200,000 odd settlers later this is exactly what has happened.
The initial invasion of U.N. mandated Palestinian areas in 1948, the Sinai invasion in 1956, the 1967 war and the 1983 Lebanese incursion manifest a strategy that is expressly meant to expand Israeli borders and acquire resources. The only time Israelis were forced to give up territory was after the original Sinai invasion in 1956, subsequently reoccupied in 1967, and the 22 yearlong occupation of South Lebanon. It is not in their plans to give up either the Golan Heights or the West Bank, or to settle for just those territories. Their foot-dragging approach to the farcical peace negotiations bears witness to their real objectives.
The current onslaught in the West Bank is meant to do one thing: make life so miserable for the indigenous inhabitants that they will have no choice but to leave. Palestinians are made homeless by the thousands. Curfews restrict movement for even the most basic necessities: work, food and health care. How long can people exist under such conditions, especially given the seeming indifference of the rest of the world?
The controlling Likud Party has announced plans to immigrate one million more Jews, and the consequent need for water resources to support these immigrants has as its sub-mandate the conquest and annexation of additional land. Hence, no matter how many negotiations are started or abandoned, there will be no Palestinian State.
What of the United States' role in all this? An examination of its moves since the infamous September 11th attack shows that George W. and Company are surely making it up as they go along. In the aftermath of the World Trade Center destruction, and after Bush and Cheney emerged from hiding, the president announced that he supported a Palestinian State. This statement was prompted by the initial belief that the lack of progress in Middle East peace talks was the root cause for the attack.
The Israeli lobby saw the WTC incident as an opportunity to justify its strategic designs, and sprang into action launching a frenetic public relations' action. Arafat was labeled Israel's bin Laden, and Palestinian resistance organizations were accused of being in cahoots with al Qaeda and a threat to the U.S. It didn't take long before the administration backpedaled from its initial statements while Israel opted into "the war on terrorism."
The U.S. began smoking out bin Laden and his terrorist band, a notion that appealed to the resurgent patriotic fervor that gripped the nation. The Taliban provided an opportunity for tangible results, something the folks back home could appreciate on the nightly news: you know, precision bombing and all that. The elusive bin Laden was not good sound bite material. Now that the Taliban have been dispatched, a perpetual "war on terrorism" has expanded into the next best thing: Saddam Hussein and Hezbollah. Many experts believe that a dramatic military action will take place before the November elections to keep the war momentum going and the poll numbers high.
A cursory look at the product of Israeli lobbying effort reveals a foreign policy strategy that is designed to isolate the U.S. from all countries in the Middle East. Banging the drum for an Iraqi invasion, resolutions condemning Syria and Iran, labeling Hezbollah as one of the foremost terrorist organizations in the world, the vilification of Arafat and the P.L.O. and the public relations campaign against Saudi Arabia are all examples of furtherance of this long-term strategy.
Controlling oil supplies is of course the linchpin in any U.S. strategy it cobbles together. So, it is not far fetched to see that the long-term contingency plan for Israel, along with the American presence already there, is to invade the Saudi oil fields when the time is ripe. The Saudis control half of the spare production capacity of O.P.E.C., and they've gone on record to say that shutting off oil is not in the cards this time around. The destabilization of their regime would be a prima facie cause for military intervention.
Without the projected oil pipeline through Afghanistan and the continued oil supply from the Arab States, America would have a hard time justifying its adventures in the Middle East. For the Israelis, however, their long-term expansion is driving their strategy and it has co-opted U.S. policy to insure success. As this strategy goes forward, one has to wonder what the economic and political reverberations throughout the rest of the world will be.
Raff Ellis encourages your comments: guestbox102@YellowTimes.org
8/8/02
2:07:31 PM
From: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/TWA800.htm
Official Crash Investigation of TWA Flight 800
Anomalies within the Official Crash Investigation of TWA Flight 800
Flight 800 Independent Researchers Organization
Chair: Thomas F. Stalcup, 1269 E. Orange Ave., Tallahassee FL 32301
stalcupt@yahoo.com
May 3, 1999
Many anomalies and inconsistencies remain within the official investigation into the crash of TWA Flight 800 (F800). The failure of the FBI to identify the closest vehicle (a surface vessel) to the plane at the time of the crash, the questionable conclusions drawn from explosive residues found in the wreckage, and the secrecy of eyewitness testimony are among the items discussed in this report. A pattern of concealment and/or disregard of crucial pieces of evidence not supporting a 'preferred' theory of mechanical malfunction is identified. These anomalies are relevant to the House Subcommittee on Aviation's goal of the NTSB's re-authorization and should prompt an independent investigation into the crash of F800
Ships in the Vicinity
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) radar analysts have identified[1] the tracks of four surface vessels within a six mile radius of F800 at the time of the accident. These tracks, confirmed by the FBI[2] as surface vessels, were detected by the radar site closest to the crash in Islip, NY. The surface vessel nearest to the tragedy maintained a 30 knot heading away from the falling debris and thereby has been named the 30 knot track.
The 30 knot track is a radar tracked surface vessel recorded on the Islip, Long Island radar[3].
1. Confirmed a surface vessel by the FBI[2] and NTSB[4], it was in the area, later designated as the debris field, moments before debris began to fall. It left the scene at ~30 knots (35 mph) rather than assisting with search and rescue.
2. Its position just before F800's breakup is consistent with the origin of a 'flare' type object which rose from the ocean surface, according to eyewitnesses.
3. Its speed (30 knots) and direction (away from the accident scene and land) are inconsistent with the many citizen mariners who sailed to the area to aid in the search and rescue effort This was sufficiently suspicious in itself, but compounded by the fact that the FBI recorded no eyewitness statements that were forthcoming from anyone aboard this vessel.
4. Despite FBI assertions to the contrary, we are not aware of any extensive NTSB or FBI effort to trace this vessel.
5. To date, this vessel has not been identified by the FBI or NTSB as stated in the following letter from Lewis D. Schiliro, Acting Assistant Director in Charge, FBI.
In a July 27, 1998 Letter[2] from Lewis D. Schiliro, Acting Assistant Director in Charge, FBI, responded to an April letter to the FBI from Congressman James A Traficant, (D) Ohio.
"S Question 2: In its analysis of radar tapes, has the FBI been able to positively identify every single aircraft and surface vessel that was in the proximity of TWA Flight 800 at the time of the accident?
FBI Answer: NoSin January, 1997 the FBI first noted the presence of a surface vessel... between 25 and 35 knots... Despite extensive efforts, the FBI has been unable to identify this vessel."
The NTSB allowed the FBI, with little or no experience in airline safety, to independently follow leads and conduct interviews with strained inter-agency relations throughout the investigation. Claiming[5] to have "left no stone unturned..[and]..during the 24-Hour period: 371 vessels identified," the FBI failed to identify the closest surface vessel to the crash. The identities of the remaining three vessels have not been released to the public.
Explosive Evidence in Wreckage
PETN and RDX
The explosives PETN and RDX were detected[6] and confirmed to exist by the FBI between rows 15 and 25. Later, however, the FBI stated[7] that these traces were consistent with explosives allegedly spilled during a canine training exercise a few weeks before the crash.
8/8/02
2:04:47 PM
Congress Smooches The Besmirched Banking Industry
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6094
Less Lovin' For The Little Guy by Arianna Huffington -- Congress is on the verge of passing legislation that will make it harder for people to start afresh after they declare bankruptcy while, not coincidentally, adding billions of dollars to the bottom line of banks and credit-card companies. (...) The victims of corporate pillage, meanwhile, are not having it so easy. Faced with scrambled nest eggs, sinking pension plans, shaky health coverage and a gloomy job market, record numbers of average Americans are taking it on the chin -- and in the wallet. A key indicator of just how bad things have gotten for the little guy is the record number of Americans --1.5 million -- who filed for personal bankruptcy in the year ending March 31st. That's one out of every 69 U.S. households. And since bankruptcies invariably lag behind current economic conditions -- they are the fiscal equivalent of those guys in the circus who follow after the elephants with a shovel, trying to deal with the mess the parade has left behind -- the odds are high that 2002 will be an even better year for bankruptcy attorneys. The first quarter of this year has already seen a record 369,237 filings. And it's important to note that only 3 percent of these filings are by people who abuse the system by living extravagant lifestyles and then leaving their creditors holding the bag. The majority are actually low- to middle-class people who can't pay their bills because they've lost their jobs or been hit with crippling medical bills or been enticed into running up unmanageable credit card balances by easy-credit come-ons and here-today-gone-tomorrow "teaser" interest rates.
8/8/02
2:02:38 PM
Meria With Kristina Borjesson "Into The Buzzsaw
http://audio.netradiolive.com:8080/ramgen/meria/080602.rm
8/6/02 Kristina Borjesson, Editor of "Into The Buzzsaw"
http://www.meriaheller.com/books.html
The book that exposes the myth of a free press joins me for an enlightening interview covering all the topics of today and yesterday. What is the buzzsaw? What restrictions are investigate journalists under and WHO put them there? Kristina ended up in the buzzsaw over her investigation of TWA Flight 800, with over 600 eyewitnesses and yet the spinmeisters sold us a "bill of goods". Was it the same for our stolen election? 9/11? Why haven't we seen any arrests of Enron CEO's? What do we get told about our foreign policy? Are there still POW's in Vietnam? Does the CIA run the biggest drug business in the world? What ARE we doing in Columbia? This book hosts articles by the best, highly celebrated writers on the planet on the REAL news and why we aren't able to hear it or read it. Do Donahue & Bill Moyers have to deal with that "line in the sand" drawn by the powers that pay them? Why is this book banned in the UK? As Gore Vidal writes in the forward of the book "In the hundreds of wars that the United States has fought since the Union was invented, at every time of true crisis a small group can always be counted upon to use the crisis of the day to stifle free speech". Now that we are facing what could be the beginning of WW3, what is the media's responsibility and culpability? Fascinating, fast paced chat between two powerful informed women. Don't miss this one!
READ ALSO:
Interview with KRISTINA BORJESSON: The Myth of a Free Press
http://www.paraview.com/features/free_press.htm
8/8/02
2:00:14 PM
http://www.world-action.co.uk/oil.html
ATTACK ON IRAQ IS FOR OIL
U.K. ITV TELETEXT - 7 AUGUST 2002:
'CRUDE LIES OVER IRAQ: BENN'
Veteran left-winger Tony Benn has accused Britain and America of "utter hypocrisy and crude lies" to justify a war against Iraq. The retired Labour MP said a U.S. threat of war was motivated by its desire to gain control of Iraqi oil rather than concern over weapons or human rights. "We are on the eve of a war of a terrifying kind," he said. Pressure on Tony Blair's government not to join in any U.S. war on Iraq is mounting as more senior military and political figures join the fray. Former MoD chief Sir Michael Quinlan said the justness of any action would be "deeply questionable" and warned it could lead to huge public division. He urged the PM to withhold support for a "unnecessary and precarious" gamble.
THE BIGGEST BUSINESS IN THE WORLD: WAR
http://www.world-action.co.uk/business.html
The title is by World-Action. The following is by Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things, winning the Booker Prize, six million copies sold, translated into forty languages.
When he announced the air strikes, President George Bush said: "We're a peaceful nation."
"This is the calling of the United States of America. The most free nation in the world. A nation built on fundamental values that reject hate, reject violence, rejects murderers and rejects evil. We will not tire."
Here is a list of the countries that America has been atwar with - and bombed - since the second world war:
China (1945-46, 1950-53) Korea (1950-53) Guatemala (1954, 1967-69) Indonesia (1958) Cuba (1959-60) the Belgian Congo (1964) Peru (1965) Laos (1964-73) Vietnam (1961-73) Cambodia (1969-70) Grenada (1983) Libya (1986) El Salvador (1980s) Nicaragua (1980s) Panama (1989) Iraq (1991-99) Bosnia (1995) Sudan (1998)
Yugoslavia (1999)
Certainly it does not tire - this, the most free nation in the world.
See also:
FOR THE SAKE OF LIFE WE MUST COME ALIVE
http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=020807~space.asp
It's really all about oil. It's about control and domination. The New World Order. Corporate globalization. It's about empire.
To watch a fun Flash video about the bankruptcy bill and then tell your senators to oppose this anti-consumer legislation, go at
http://www.actforchange.com/bankruptcy5
To take action directly go at
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?ItemId=13629
Oppose the Anti-Consumer Bankruptcy Bill
8/8/02
1:55:28 PM
Help from the Hill?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13768
As a rule, both the joint Chiefs of Staff and the Central Intelligence Agency's leadership prefer that Congress stay out of their affairs. Indeed, an ideal Congress for many denizens of this realm would be one that simply holds open the cash spigots while Langley and the Pentagon set their own agendas. That makes it particularly alarming to see that as the Bush administration lays its plans for Iraq, career military and intelligence officers are increasingly -- and desperately -- looking to Congress to help stave off what they fear will be a disaster. A number of military and intelligence hands worry that the administration's proactive strategy against Iraq will prove fatally shortsighted. Not only is Congress the body with the constitutional mandate to declare war, say advocates of congressional intervention, but the complexity and volatility of the region fully warrants a serious debate in the Capitol. "Congress ought to be having a wide-ranging policy debate," says one veteran CIA official, "because pretty soon, if [President George W.] Bush takes the preemptive route, this will happen without any debate whatsoever, and all the debate will be post-action -- including debates over events that have potential for disaster in both the short and long term." CLIP
On Ousting Saddam: How Others View It
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6124
Editorialists Across The Globe Frown On Bush War Plans -- Editorialists around the globe oppose a US-led attack on Iraq. But their concerns have little impact at the White House.
Nuke the cows: beef irradiation and its consequences
http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=561&mode=thread&order=0
(...) Irradiation has additional consequences that aren't completely understood. It is axiomatic that any new technology should be considered dangerous until it is thoroughly tested and found to be safe. Irradiation creates substances called free radicals that are thought to kill antioxidants and weaken the immune system. It also can create harmful by-products, such as benzene and formaldehyde. It depletes vitamins A, C, E and B complex. In vegetables, it has the same effect as cooking; that is, it destroys enzymes essential to digestion found only in raw foods. Also, some studies suggest that irradiation may cause long term genetic defects. As with genetically modified foods, little is known about the far-ranging effects of irradiation, and little conclusive research has been done to prove that it is safe. The purpose of the FDA and USDA is to make sure the food that gets to consumers is beyond the experimental phase and generally accepted as safe. If these agencies allow things like irradiation to get to consumers, sometimes unlabeled, then they're not doing their job. Wegmans is telling only one side of the story in promoting irradiation as a scientific miracle. If they genuinely care about food safety, they will let their customers know the risks associated with irradiated beef.
The History of the Development of AIDS - The Evidence of the Laboratory Birth of AIDS
http://www.boydgraves.com/timeline/
8/8/02
1:52:35 PM
Comments Needed on Faulty Tongass Wilderness Plan
As someone who has taken action in the past to protect our public lands we wanted to alert you to a recent decision by the U.S. Forest Service to recommend that no new areas in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, out of a potential 9 million wild roadless acres, receive protection as designated Wilderness. The Tongass is America's largest, wildest, and perhaps most threatened national forest. Wilderness protection is necessary to prevent commercial logging, mining, and road building from destroying this ancient rainforest.
Fortunately, between now and August 16, 2002 citizens have an opportunity to comment on the Forest Service's decision. Please click here.
http://capwiz.com/awc/issues/alert/?alertid=366256
to take one simple action to protect the rich wildlife and wild beauty of the Tongass National Forest, America's rainforest.
You can help protect this priceless wilderness treasure.
Please Take Action today!
Sincerely,
Michael Finkelstein
Campaign Director
Alaska Rainforest Campaign
8/7/02
7:36:03 PM
Health For All Or Riches For Some
Who's responsible?
Can we still rely on the World Health Organisation? It has not openly opposed the greed of the major global pharmaceutical companies and its director-general, Gro Harlem Brundtland, has deferred to them.
by Jean-Loup Motchane, Professor emeritus at Paris-VII university.
"We have to protect patent rights. We need them to ensure the research and development will yield badly needed new tools and technologies. We need mechanisms to prevent re-export of lower priced drugs into richer economies." This ringing endorsement of drug patents was not made by a multinational CEO, but by Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway and WHO director-general, at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) on 29 January 2001.
Dr Brundtland was also full of praise for the pharmaceutical companies: "The industry has made admirable efforts to live up to this obligation through drug donations and limited price reductions." In her view the pharmaceutical industry's efforts were all the more laudable because they were made despite "the concern of companies that lower prices in the developing world not be used as a lever to influence negotiations in countries that can easily afford to pay more." Dr Brundtland made her comments with respect to "multinational morality" just five weeks before 40 pharmaceutical companies brought legal action against the South African government, which they accused of importing generic drugs from other developing countries.
Dr Brundtland took up her post on 13 May 1998 and wasted no time in outlining her strategy to the WHO's member-states at the 51st World Health Assembly, where she insisted that WHO projects must be "open for our partners to co-sponsor." But which partners? Primarily the private sector, which was offered a role, together with the primary multinational organisations, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Dr David Nabarro, executive director at Dr Brundtland's office, justifies the director-general's chosen course of action: "We certainly need private financing. For the past decade governments' financial contributions have dwindled. The main sources of funding are the private sector and the financial markets. And since the American economy is the world's richest, we must make the WHO attractive to the United States and the financial markets".
Presented as a statement of genuine need, the belief that the WHO should submit to the dictates of Washington and global liberalisation while seeking charity from the large institutions is a matter of ideology, since private-sector contributions account for a tiny fraction of the organisation's resources. A diplomat with extensive experience with UN institutions confirms this point: "Dr Brundtland's stance with respect to the pharmaceutical industry stems from her faith in the current globalisation process. Having already established closer ties with the WTO, she is now reiterating the positions of the World Bank, the WHO's main financial sponsor. If the director-general adopted a different position, she would be pitting herself against the US, which has a dominant role".
Policy reversed
The WHO held its fourth Ministerial Conference in November 2001 in Doha (Qatar). Developing countries with pharmaceutical industries won the right to make cheaper copies of patent-protected drugs, but only in the event of public health emergencies; and they are not authorised to re-export these drugs to poor countries unable to produce the drugs themselves. This qualified victory was won without the help of the organisation's top leadership, despite the courageous stand taken by some WHO representatives (1). It had more to do with the weight of public opinion and the educational efforts of various non-governmental organisations (NGOs), not to mention a spectacular policy reversal by the US.
Following the 11 September attacks, the US took on the German company Bayer, which produces Cipro, the anti-anthrax antibiotic. It told Bayer that it would start producing the drug itself if the company failed to offer the US a substantial discount. Resorting to blackmail made it difficult for the US to oppose other countries that advocated the primacy of healthcare rights over patent rights.
Although the WHO hierarchy had little to do with this development, on 17 May 2002 the 55th World Health Assembly unanimously approved - with US support - a resolution regarding access to essential drugs. The resolution called on the WHO director-general to take all steps to promote a worldwide policy of differentiated prices for essential drugs.
As a result of lobbying by numerous delegations - and because the WHO no longer had any reason to fear Washington - Dr Brundtland's organisation has finally taken on an active role with respect to drugs access, in contrast to its earlier perceived spinelessness.
Though such policy flaws predate Dr Brundtland's appointment, they prompted the UN to launch the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS) in 1996 to coordinate the global fight against Aids. The executive director of UNAIDS, Dr Peter Piot, took a very different stance from the WHO. On 29 November 2000, prior to the legal proceedings in South Africa, Dr Piot declared that he fully supported the rights of governments to pursue compulsory licensing (2) and parallel importing, along with competition between generic and patented drugs. He said boldly: "The rules of the liberal economy have become incompatible with the globalisation of the Aids epidemic. We now need a new deal between drug companies and society" (3).
But the rules of the liberal economy govern current WHO policy considerations. In 1980 Halfdan Mahler, then the WHO director-general, made the Health for All initiative part of official development assistance policy. This rallying cry is only occasionally invoked nowadays, since Dr Brundtland - at least in her public statements - sees access to healthcare not as a right but as a means to increase productivity. In a recent speech to a group of business leaders, bankers and heads of state, she stated that "good health is essential - to fuel the engine of development, to unleash the forces of economic development and to permit the reduction of poverty" (4). Seeking to convince her audience of the need for investment in healthcare, she also drew attention to disease's negative effects on economic growth: according to some estimates Aids will reduce annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 1% in the hardest hit regions. Within 30 years the malaria epidemic will have brought about a $100bn drop in productivity in Africa.
One banker offered this reaction to Dr Brundtland's speech: "It is helpful, even crucial, to calculate the cost of disease and the resultant loss of earnings. Health is clearly a factor in development. Bismarck knew that in the late 19th century. He was the first to persuade management to create a mutual health insurance system for workers so the factories could go on running. But it is naïve to think that business people will be persuaded to invest in healthcare in a globalised labour market."
On 17 May 2001 the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, who is also facing re-election, muscled in on Dr Brundtland's turf when he called for the creation of the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria, with an annual budget of $7bn-$10bn. Annan's intervention was made possible by the WHO's failure to obtain convincing results in the fight against infectious diseases. But despite promises by the Group of Eight nations at their conference in Genoa in July 2001 to grant the Global Fund $1.3bn, it has only received $200m to date. This contrasts starkly with the $1.9bn pledged by various donors or the $1.6bn already allocated by other donors to comparable programmes (5).
Conflict of interest
The creation of the Global Fund was originally seen as an important step forward, but its status as an independent foundation governed by private law (6) means that the UN will no longer be responsible for a key component of global health policy. The WHO's role is negligible and, with the creation of UNAIDS, the WHO has been further marginalised in a field that at one time was its raison d'être.
Many people have complained about Dr Brundtland's subservient policies. In an open letter to her (8), Ralph Nader, while recognising her efforts in combating malaria, tuberculosis, smoking and the tobacco industry, said: "Many are concerned that the World Health Organisation has permitted a handful of large pharmaceutical companies to exercise undue influence over its polices and programmes. The WHO … has shrunk from its traditional role in promoting the use of generic drugs in poor countries." Dr Brundtland refuted these charges in her response to Nader's letter, saying she had had worked to strengthen the WHO's international credibility and to put health issues at the top of the agenda of global development policies.
One of Dr Brundtland's colleagues, Daphne A Fresle, recently submitted her resignation from the WHO in a letter that amounted to a scathing indictment of the organisation and its director-general (9). Ms Fresle condemned "the lack of enthusiasm" shown by the current administration in publicly defending the developing nations' vital interests, which should be the organisation's primary consideration. According to Ms Fresle, the WHO has abandoned its traditional goal of Health for All and now serves the interests of the most powerful countries and of the pharmaceutical companies. Owing to their lack of scientific rigour, she says the organisation's latest reports have harmed its credibility and reputation (10), and the WHO's administrative reorganisation has been a failure (11). The WHO's policies over the last three years had had two main consequences: the WHO was facing ethics-related accusations and had squandered its leadership role in the health field as a result of the Global Fund (12).
At the WHO's enormous headquarters in Geneva many people we spoke with discreetly confirmed that they shared these views. One bureaucrat, who is critical of the Global Fund, commented: "In theory - despite its shortcomings -the WHO allowed the 191 member-states to make their voices heard at the World Health Assembly. From now any new steps to fight the three most important infectious diseases will hinge on the virtually secret deliberations of a private foundation, whose executive board has no real accountability to the international community."
For one high-ranking official who has served under several directors-general, the WHO is at a crossroads. In his opinion, the organisation must clearly redefine its mission in the light of globalisation and the competing interests of governments, individuals and the private sector (13). "Countries or regions should call on the WHO to put together global health guidelines, in which all parties concerned may clearly state their expectations with respect to global health policy." It seems that no one any longer knows exactly why the WHO exists. But growing numbers of observers believe that the current trend towards privatisation of the global health system will only serve to exacerbate existing inequalities.
Source: http://MondeDiplo.com/2002/07/17who
8/7/02
7:32:38 PM
Public Citizen issued the following press releases today:
1) Defective Nissan Altima Passenger-Side Air Bags Blind People; 1994, Early 1995 Cars Should Be Recalled
2) Statement of Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, on the Preliminary Decision in the NAFTA Chapter 11 Methanex Case Against California's Ban on MTBE
Aug. 7, 2002
Defective Nissan Altima Passenger-Side Air Bags Blind People; 1994, Early 1995 Cars Should Be Recalled
Approximately 197,500 Vehicles Still on the Road; NHTSA Investigating
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety today called on the federal government to recall 1994 and early 1995 Nissan Altimas because their passenger-side air bags are defective and can cause blindness and permanent eye injuries. They also urged people who ride in those Nissan Altimas not to sit in the front passenger seats of the vehicles.
Records of detailed investigations involving seat-belted passengers show that the air bags have caused severe eye injuries to more than two dozen people. Federal investigators a year ago knew of 32 such cases, and Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety have learned of others since then. The air bags have damaged retinas, caused irises to detach, led to permanently dilated pupils and in one case ruptured an eyeball. The victims have been left with blurred vision, light sensitivity and profound vision loss. Many people were completely blinded for weeks before regaining partial vision. In most cases, the injuries occurred during minor, low-speed crashes in which the driver walked away unscathed.
"Passengers in these vehicles are being maimed for life because Nissan refuses to take responsibility and fix these dangerously defective air bags," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. "People should not lose their vision because a driver hits a curb or has a fender-bender. We call on the government to act now. Nissan must immediately replace the passenger-side air bag before more innocent people are needlessly blinded. Nissan is on a reckless course and is risking the imposition of punitive damages for knowingly and willfully harming its customers. Losing your sight is a terrible experience - emotionally, in terms of lost opportunities and for whole families."
The 1994 and early 1995 Nissan Altima has a serious eye-injury rate for passengers 20 times greater than other models surveyed. Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating since March 2001, when Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety asked the agency to look into the problem, it has taken no final action. It is estimated that about 197,500 1994 and early 1995 Altimas remain on the road of the 249,000 made.
"NHTSA and Nissan are both to blame for the dozens of consumers with permanent eye damage from 1994-early 1995 Nissan Altima passenger air bags," said Clarence Ditlow executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. "Nissan made a bad air bag which NHTSA has helped them conceal from the public by granting repeated requests for confidentiality from Nissan. All too many people have been condemned to lives of darkness because NHTSA and Nissan kept them in the dark about the hazards of passenger air bags in their cars."
Unlike most air bags, the passenger-side air bags in the 1994 and early 1995 Nissan Altimas are still in the process of inflating when they come in contact with the passenger. Rather than protect against injury, they hit the passenger as they are inflating, literally punching people in the eyes. Nissan altered the design of the air bag for subsequent Altimas, beginning with the mid-1995 models. The result? There are no known cases of permanent eye injury since the design change.
Norma Brainerd, a Portland, Ore., mother of two, was completely blinded in her left eye and has problems with vision in her right eye as a result of a 1995 crash. Brainerd was a passenger in her 1994 Nissan Altima, driven by a friend. As they traveled on a coastal highway in Oregon, they hit a curb when they pulled off to admire the view. Both the driver and passenger-side air bags deployed. The driver was uninjured; Brainerd suffered a broken nose, a concussion and complete blindness for six weeks.
"In the years since my accident, numerous other people have been injured by this same air bag," said Brainerd, who spoke at a press conference held today in Washington. "Nissan remains aware of the defective product but has done nothing to recall and replace it. How many defective air bags will unexpectedly take the precious vision of other innocent victims before Nissan recalls this air bag?"
Also speaking was Newport News, Va.,-resident Kevin Nero, whose right eye was severely injured in a 1999 crash in Hampton, Va. Nero was a passenger in a friend's 1995 Nissan Altima when they rear-ended a car in front that had abruptly slammed on the brakes. Both air bags deployed. Nero was knocked unconscious and his right eye was severely damaged. He had eye surgery, but it took five to six months for his face and eye to heal. Nero now has glaucoma and permanent scars in his right eye.
"This air bag system is a real problem," Nero said. "I hate to see these injuries happen to other people if they can be stopped now. I am a 23-year-old male with my whole life ahead of me. And as a result of this air bag defect, I will live it with the painful result of this accident, which has damaged my eye forever."
The two safety groups chided auto manufacturers and the federal government for continuously hiding from the public key information about air bags. While air bags have been credited for saving 9,300 lives, some air bags are better designed than others. Some manufacturers install cheaper systems that can injure drivers and passengers, while other air bags are much safer.
The groups have sought detailed air bag data for years but manufacturers have refused to release it. The information includes such things as how air bags are mounted, the direction of deployment, the inflation speed, the peak pressure, how they are folded and whether they are tethered. In 1997 and 1998, while developing an air bag rule, NHTSA requested and received the information from auto manufacturers but kept much of it confidential at the urging of the automakers. The Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen sued under the Freedom of Information Act, but the District Court of Appeals, which found the information did not constitute confidential trade secrets, nevertheless ruled that the government could hide the information because it was gathered voluntarily from the automakers.
"It's ridiculous that the public isn't given vital information to assess which air bags can blind them and which ones won't," Claybrook said. "We once again call on the government and auto manufacturers - who routinely test and evaluate each other's vehicles - to release air bag performance information for all vehicles so the public can be better protected. The people who are most at risk need this information but can't get it."
###
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.citizen.org. The Center for Auto Safety is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works for safer and more reliable motor vehicles. For more information, visit http://www.autosafety.org/.
###
Aug. 7, 2002
Statement of Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, on the Preliminary Decision in the NAFTA Chapter 11 Methanex Case Against California's Ban on MTBE
(Today, a three-person North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) trade tribunal released its preliminary ruling in a trade investment dispute between the Canadian company Methanex and the state of California. Methanex has filed a NAFTA claim for $1 billion over California's decision to phase out the gasoline additive MTBE, which has contaminated California's ground and surface water. The tribunal refused to make a final determination in the case but instead told Methanex to file additional information so it could make a decision. While the tribunal did not award Methanex the compensation it demanded, it also failed to uphold California's right to safeguard its water.)
We have predicted for a year that the panel would throw the case in the name of political expediency to prevent it from boomeranging back upon NAFTA and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), thus blowing them to smithereens. Yet when the panel had the opportunity, it did not chuck out this whole outrageous claim, but left the door open -- not only in this case but, more important, for other corporations in other cases that could come before a different panel. This case is the very reason why we have fought so hard to rewrite NAFTA's investment privileges for foreign corporations and oppose their expansion to the FTAA. Even if the Methanex panel eventually throws out this claim, until the NAFTA investment rules are changed, the threat of these attacks continue. Indeed, given all the political pressure, the panel sent a bad signal by not throwing out the entire case. (The narrow technical basis for the decision is especially alarming. The claim was not upheld immediately in part because Methanex does not produce MTBE itself, but rather makes one of its major constituent parts, forcing Methanex to show a higher standard of discrimination. The panel's preliminary ruling implies that if Methanex had produced MTBE itself, it already might have won this outrageous case.)
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit http://www.citizen.org
8/7/02
7:30:47 PM
The Nation
Will the Pentagon force Henry Kissinger, Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich to submit to lie detector tests? And will it do the same with all other members of the Defense Policy Board?
It seems that someone connected with this advisory panel--a neoconservative group of prominent ex-government officials chaired by former Reagan Pentagon official Richard Perle--leaked word to The Washington Post of a private briefing in which RAND analyst Laurent Murawiec maintained that Saudi Arabia, due to its support of Islamic terrorists, ought to be considered an adversary of the United States and that Washington should demand that Riyadh cease funding Islamic fundamentalist outlets. If the Saudis do not comply, he argued, its oil fields and overseas financial assets should be "targeted."
After news of this briefing hit the front page, administration officials rushed to put out the firestorm. This was not the message the White House wanted to send to Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations, as the administration was trying to win regional support for an attack on Iraq.
For the full story, read the latest installment of David Corn's exclusive Nation Online feature, currently available at:
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=94
And check out Corn's recent Capital Games articles for a look at George W. Bush's crass visit with the rescued coal miners in Green Tree, Pennsylvania; a review of Bruce Springsteen's new 9/11-oriented album and the story of how musician Steve Earle ran into trouble for a song he wrote about John Walker Lindh.
All this and more at:
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/
8/7/02
7:29:13 PM
Help to invade Iraq before the U.S.
"The plan is to get there when the bombs start falling. Actually, we'd like to get there before the bombs fall, so they don't," says Claire Evans of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).
CPT, an organization committed to reducing violence by getting in the way of aggression, is set to send its first Generations for Peace delegation to Iraq in October. CPT invites applicants 21 and older, and especially encourages seniors to join the multi-generational effort, which includes intensive training in nonviolence. While in Iraq, the delegation will live among the Iraqi people, protect civilians and the infrastructure necessary for their survival, and serve as an alternative voice to the media.
The Generations for Peace effort is co-sponsored by Voices in the Wilderness (VITW), a campaign to end U.S. sanctions and a continuous delegation presence in Iraq since 1996. Generations for Peace is one of several affinity groups supported by VITW's Iraq Peace Team, a well-connected movement with an well-designed Web site currently soliciting applications for a September delegation.
For information on the Generations for Peace movement, contact Christian Peacemaker Teams, (312) 455-1199,
cpt3@igc.org or visit http://www.prairienet.org/cpt.
For more about the Voices in the Wilderness Iraq Peace Team campaign, visit http://www.iraqpeaceteam.org
8/7/02
7:25:49 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
WHY MOSQUITOES BUZZ IN PEOPLE'S FEARS
Despite its foreign-sounding name, the West Nile virus is becoming an undeniably American concern. Eighty-eight new cases were reported in three states last week, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced yesterday that the mosquito-borne virus is here to stay. About one in five people who get the virus develop flu-like symptoms; less than 1 percent face the most serious complication, encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain. The virus is bad, of course -- but what if the cure is worse than the disease? In Louisiana and other places experiencing West Nile outbreaks, mosquito populations are being sprayed with chemical and biological pesticides from trucks and planes, as well as by hand. The pesticides include malathion and naled, both of which can cause health problems ranging from nausea, dizziness, and confusion at low exposures to paralysis, respiratory failure, and death at high exposures. Although the amounts being used are said to pose minimal risks, pregnant women, children, and others sensitive to chemicals are being warned to take shelter when spraying occurs.
straight to the source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, Mark Schleifstein, 07 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=337>
only in Grist: West of Eden -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha010801.stm?source=daily>
WATERED DOWN
Nearly a third of all major industrial facilities and state-operated sewage-treatment plants in the U.S. have significantly violated clean water regulations in the last two years, and one out of four operated on an expired pollution permit last year, according to a recent report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Moreover, relatively few of the noncompliant facilities have faced legal action; the report found that criminal prosecution by the U.S. EPA declined by 53 percent last year (a figure the agency disputes). U.S. PIRG blamed the EPA, state inspectors, and the courts for lax enforcement of the Clean Water Act, paving the way for high levels of illegal dumping of waste and toxic chemicals. The report comes at a time when the Bush administration is considering a plan to reduce federal oversight of a key Clean Water Act anti-pollution program and instead, according to an internal EPA document, "trust states" to clean up their waterways.
straight to the source: Washington Post, Eric Pianin, 07 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=338>
do good: Take action to keep solid waste out of our waters <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/air.asp?source=daily#solidwaste>
GRIM JIM
Six tons of weapons-grade plutonium can continue on its way to South Carolina, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. The decision, which upheld a lower court ruling, was a blow to Gov. Jim Hodges (D), who has vociferously protested storing the waste in his state. Hodges argued that the Department of Energy needed to conduct more thorough environmental studies and consider the long-term risk of the storage before shipping the waste, but the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was satisfied that the DOE had done its homework. The federal government plans to build facilities in South Carolina to convert the plutonium into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors, but Hodges fears those plans won't come to fruition and the waste will remain in his state. He vowed to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
straight to the source: South Carolina State, Chuck Crumbo, 07 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=339>
RUBBER THE RIGHT WAY
In other news from the halls of justice, a different federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the U.S. government must foot the bill for cleaning up hazardous waste stemming from a World War II effort to produce synthetic rubber. During the war, most of the natural-rubber exporters were under Japanese control, so demand was high for synthetics to manufacture tires, life rafts, gas masks, medical supplies, and other military necessities. In the 1940s, Dow Chemical agreed to operate a synthetic rubber plant in California "at the expense and risk" of the federal government. Waste from the plant polluted the ground and water, but the government, although aware of the problem, did not try to stop it. After the factory changed hands and a flurry of lawsuits ensued regarding the contamination, the government tried to pass the buck (or part of it) to Dow. That didn't fly with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the feds "owned the sites, the pits, the plant, and all materials including the wastes, knew just what Dow was doing, had unfettered control over it, [and] approved of it."
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, 06 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=340>
PARADISE WITHOUT THE DASHBOARD LIGHT
The word "Zion" means a peaceful paradise -- and for the past two years, Zion National Park has lived up to its name. Two summers ago, the famed Utah destination became the first national park in the continental U.S. to ban automobiles during peak visitor season. The resulting changes have been dramatic: fresh air, peace and quiet, the sounds of nature, and the return of wildlife. Before the ban, 2,000-odd cars and tour buses competed every day for just 400 parking spaces; now, three dozen eco-friendly propane buses drop off visitors at eight different trailheads in the park. It cost more than $29 million to make the park car-free, but everyone seems to agree the money was worth it. Visitors say it's less hassle, more vacation; local entrepreneurs say shuttle stops in town have boosted business; area residents benefit because they can take the shuttles for free; and the environment benefits from the drastically reduced impact of 2.5 million annual visitors. All these good vibes -- plus visitor numbers to the park have increased by more than 20 percent.
straight to the source: ABC News.com, Bill Redeker, 07 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=341>
8/7/02
7:24:01 PM
t r u t h o u t | 08.08
William Rivers Pitt | Lies, Damned Lies, and White House Lies
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08A.wrp.lies.htm
David Ignatius | The Fancy Financial Footwork of George W. Bush
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08B.ignatius.fancy.htm
Pentagon Briefing Depicted Saudis as Enemies, Ultimatum Urged
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08C.saudi.brief.htm
Schroeder Starts Election Campaign With Warning Against Military Action in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08D.schroeder.iraq.htm
Powell Fears 'Unholy Trinity' Ahead of Earth Summit
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08E.powell.erth.sum.htm
Brazil's Eye on the Amazon
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.08F.brazil.amazon.htm
8/7/02
7:22:49 PM
TomPaine.com
DEMS' FIGHTIN' WORDS
Can Democrats Muster The Courage To Fight?
by Michael Tomasky
Democratic leaders have forgotten: Intelligent, assertive partisanship is a civic virtue. It symbolizes a party's confidence and belief in itself, fires up core constituencies, and it can win over swing voters.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6132
WE NEED A MODERN THOMAS PAINE
U.S. Institutions Are Facing A Crisis Of Legitimacy
by J. William Gibson
With the public's loss of trust in political, economic and religious leaders, an organized opposition is now needed more than ever to preserve our democracy.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6139
THE PRESS AND THE VACATIONING PRESIDENT
A Real Quandry: What Matters Most, Bush's Words Or Actions?
by Jill Rachel Jacobs
The first President Bush directed the Gulf War while fishing off Maine's coast. So why are cable news pundits giving the son such a hard time for saying a few words about world crises during a round of golf?
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6134
DARK HORSE
A Poem
by Gary Margolis, Pulitzer-nominee
"...even when no one knows you yet at Town Meeting the moderator, your neighbor, will ask you to stand up and say your name first..."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6112
Dispatch: San Francisco
TAKING BACK THE 'STICK
City Supervisors Reclaim Naming Rights For Stadium
by Commercial Alert
"This is a victory for the everyday citizen who let us know that some things just aren't for sale," says one supervisor.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6141
8/7/02
7:21:26 PM
EMS Update - August 7, 2002
Report: EPA Failing to Punish Water Polluters
Nearly 30 percent of major industrial facilities and sewage treatment plants have discharged pollution in excess of legal limits in the last two years, but very few law breakers are being prosecuted by the EPA, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).
U.S. PIRG press release:
http://uspirg.org/uspirgnewsroom.asp?id2=7553&id3=USPIRGnewsroom&
Washington Post story:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51396-2002Aug6.html
EMS.org Clean Water Act section:
http://www.ems.org/cleanwater/sub2_cleanwater.html
Stossel Again Accused of Misleading ABC Viewers
In an August 2 segment on ABC's 20/20 news magazine, commentator John Stossel repeated misinformation about government lynx researchers that has been repeatedly debunked by government, media and professional society investigations. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is demanding a retraction and asking that ABC fact check future Stossel segments.
PEER press release: http://www.peer.org/press/257.html
PEER background on lynx studies: http://www.peer.org/Lynx/index.html
EMS.org John Stossel links: http://ems.org/journalism/stossel.html
EMS Updates provide news tips and resources for journalists from Environmental Media Services.
8/7/02
7:19:41 PM
UTNE WEB WATCH
The Best of the Alternative Web
INTO THE WOODS
by Spider Rybaak, Syracuse Times
-- Conservationists race to protect recently discovered old-growth virgin trees in New York.
THE UPSIDE OF THE DOWN MARKET
by P.J. O'Rourke, The Weekly Standard
-- Stop whining about corporate corruption -- and start reaping the benefits.
AXIS OF INFLUENCE: BEHIND THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S MISSILE DEFENSE REVIVAL
by Michelle Ciarrocca and William D. Hartung, World Policy Institute
-- Why Bush's plans for missile defense spending need a critical eye.
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
8/7/02
7:18:05 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS)
NO LINK BETWEEN ORGANOCHLORINES, BREAST CANCER
WASHINGTON, DC, August 6, 2002 (ENS) - A seven year study of breast cancer clusters on Long Island has found no link between the disease and exposure to chemical pollutants known as organochlorine compounds. But a separate study found that high exposure to pollutants called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was linked to a modest increase in risk of developing breast cancer.
http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-06-06.asp
EUROPE CONSIDERS SHARK FINNING BAN
BRUSSELS, Belgium, August 6, 2002 (ENS) - The European Commission proposed today to prohibit shark finning, which involves the removal of fins and the discarding of the remainder of the shark at sea.
http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-06-01.asp
ITALY'S WASTE DEFINITION A GIFT TO ECO-CRIME
ROME, Italy, August 6, 2002 (ENS) - Four of Italy's leading environmental groups have failed in a last minute attempt to block parliamentary approval of a government decree narrowing the country's legal definition of waste.
.asp
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: AUGUST 6, 2002
SHELL WILL PAY $28 MILLION TO CLEAN WELLS OF MTBE
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CALLED SECURITY IMPERATIVE
ABRAHAM BOOSTS NUKE POWER AT INTERNATIONAL MEETING
RHODE ISLAND PLANS FOR GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTIONS
FUEL CELLS COULD REDUCE DIESEL POLLUTION
TURTLE SUPPORTERS WARN OF TOXIC SWORDFISH
COMPLEX ECOSYSTEM TIES LINK MONKEYS, BIRDS
PENNSYLVANIA SPENDS MOST ON FLOOD DAMAGE
http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-06-09.asp
8/7/02
7:16:44 PM
Iraq Invites Congress Visit, Bringing White House Derision
By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Baghdad invited members of the United States Congress and experts of their choosing today to come to Iraq and look for hidden weapons of mass destruction. The invitation was immediately dismissed by the White House and a leading Democratic Senator as hardly worth comment.
The invitation for a three-week visit was extended by Sadoun Hammadi, the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, and followed an invitation last week for the chief United Nations weapons inspector, Hans Blix, to visit Iraq for talks that might lead to a resumption of inspections. The Security Council will consider the matter today and is expected to make a statement this afternoon. Advertisement
The latest invitation was notable for its timing and its recognition of potential political divisions in the United States. It seemed to be an incremental development in the long-running tension with Iraq rather than any breakthrough.
"There's no need for discussion," Sean McCormack, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters in Pittsburgh. "What there is a need for is for the regime in Baghdad to live up to its commitment to disarm."
Senator Joseph R. Biden, the Delaware Democrat who heads the Foreign Relations Committee, had a similar reaction. Mr. Biden issued a statement calling on Iraq to "end its stalling tactics."
"If it has nothing to hide, it should comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions and allow immediate, unfettered access to U.N. weapons inspectors -- which it has refused to do for nearly four years," Mr. Biden said.
President Bush, who has said that he is committed to removal of the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, was in southwest Pennsylvania today for a visit with the nine coal miners rescued last week after a three-day ordeal underground.
Mr. Bush will go next to Crawford, Tex., for a vacation at his ranch. Members of Congress have gone home for their August recess and to get ready for this fall's elections, leaving Washington quiet for the next several weeks.
There has been growing speculation that the Bush administration is seriously considering a military campaign to topple the Iraqi leader. And just before Congress adjourned, there were hearings before Mr. Biden's committee over what to do about Mr. Saddam and how to deal with Iraq if he is deposed.
Mr. Hammadi said, in fact, that his letter of invitation to Congress was prompted at least in part by some lawmakers' comments that they expect to be consulted in advance before any decision to go to war against Iraq. Many members of Congress have also expressed a desire to see Saddam Hussein disappear. But the lawmakers, particularly those old enough to remember the Vietnam era, are also leery of seeing the United States slide into war.
"See the true facts through direct dialogue, and then reach your own conclusions," Mr. Hammadi's letter read in part.
The Associated Press said the Hammadi letter was delivered to Polish diplomats who run the United States interests section in Baghdad, according to the official Iraqi news agency. Iraqi officials distributed an English copy of it to reporters in Baghdad.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/
8/7/02
7:15:02 PM
THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, August 7, 2002
sponsored by PR WATCH http://www.prwatch.org
The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to further information about current public relations campaigns. It is emailed free each Wednesday to subscribers. Feel free to forward this message to others.
THIS WEEK'S NEWS
1. Tobacco Scams the Restaurant Industry
2. Have A Coke And A Pedometer
3. "El Salvador Works"
4. Bush's Conspiracy to Riot
5. Roping Off the Information Commons
6. Brand America -- Now With Extra Hype
7. Adelphia's Makeover
8. Making the World Safe for Obesity
9. Suing the Survivors
1. TOBACCO SCAMS THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY
For years the tobacco industry has been using restaurant trade associations as front groups in its battle to keep Americans puffing. Now this strategy is documented on a new web site hosted by the University of California-San Franciso. "If Big Tobacco can't buy hospitality groups to serve as fronts, it sets up its own," the site states. Examples include the "California Business and Restaurant Alliance" and the ""Beverly Hills Restaurant Association" (created by a Tobacco Institute PR firm). In other cases, the industry uses offers of funding to buy the loyalty of groups like the National Restaurant Association and the American Beverage Institute. Ironically, the victims of this flackery include restaurant owners themselves, who are hoodwinked by bogus research into believing that tobacco restrictions will cost them money -- even though restaurants end up footing the bill for insurance, maintenance and expensive ventilation systems to accommodate smokers.
More web links related to this story are available at:
http://www.prwatch.org/spin/August_2002.html#1028692800
2. HAVE A COKE AND A PEDOMETER
In an effort to "bring additional value to our educational partners," Coca-Cola is launching its "Step With It!" campaign. Coke will promote walking to middle school students in 10 cities. According to PR Week, the campaign will encourage students to walk 10,000 steps a day, giving students pedometers to keep track of their walking. Coke will also promote the campaign to local media. Over the past few years, Coca-Cola has faced criticism from parents and public health advocates for placing vending machines in schools, creating exclusive contracts with school districts in exchange for financial sponsorships, and selling products with no nutritional value. Michael Jacobson, executive director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told PR Week, "The major thrust [of Coke's campaign] is to distract attention from the junkiness of its product."
SOURCE: PR Week, August 5, 2002
3. "EL SALVADOR WORKS"
El Salvador has hired PR giant Fleishman Hillard to promote the country internationally encourage foreign investment reports PR Week. The campaign, "El Salvador Works," seeks to double the rate of foreign capital by 2004. In the past two years, foreign countries have sunk $500 million into El Salvador, with about 60% coming from the US. Fleishman Hillard highlight the country's low interest rate and "open ecomony" as selling points to international investors.
SOURCE: PR Week, August 5, 2002
4. BUSH'S CONSPIRACY TO RIOT
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2002/080502a.html
"On Nov. 22, 2000, the so-called 'Brooks Brothers Riot' of Republican activists helped stop a vote recount in Miami -- and showed how far George W. Bush's supporters were ready to go to put their man in the White House," writes Robert Parry, who cites newly-released documents which "show that at least a half dozen of the publicly identified rioters were paid by Bush's recount committee. The payments to the Republican activists are documented in hundreds of pages of Bush committee records -- released grudgingly to the Internal Revenue Service last month, 19 months after the 36-day recount battle ended. ... The records show that the Bush committee spent a total of $13.8 million to frustrate the recount of Florida's votes and secure the state's crucial electoral votes for Bush. By contrast, the Gore recount operation spent $3.2 million, about one quarter of the Bush total. Bush spent more just on lawyers -- $4.4 million -- than Gore did on his entire effort."
SOURCE: Consortium News, August 5, 2002
5. ROPING OFF THE INFORMATION COMMONS
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6017
Public domain information - including our shared culture of literacy and democratic dialogue, basic drug research and government information resources paid for with public tax dollars -has grown in importance now that the Internet has empowered everyone to become a creator and to readily share information with others. As a result, writes David Bollier, corporate "content aggregators" -- film studios, publishers, record labels -- have "brazenly cast a broad net of claimed ownership rights in the intangibles of our culture. Whether it is an image, a sound riff, a screen persona or an acronym, chances are that some white-shoe attorney in Los Angeles or New York will send a 'nasty-gram' letter claiming that our shared culture -- even silence -- belongs to some mega-corporation. ... One member of a self-appointed committee of copyright lawyers has boasted that they have developed restrictions on every means of transmission of thought except smell, taste and extrasensory perception." Previous generations took for granted that our shared culture was infinite, shared and self-replenishing. As Bollier warns, however, "The public domain cannot last very long if McDonald's threatens food businesses that use 'Mc' in their names and Mattel threatens legal action against art photographers who use images of Barbie dolls to comment on American beauty ideals."
6. BRAND AMERICA -- NOW WITH EXTRA HYPE
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6123
David Corn critiques Congressman Henry Hyde's notion that Hollywood and Madison Avenue can razzle-dazzle those pesky foreigners who don't like America. "This is ridiculous. Hollywood pushes escapist fiction, and advertising firms try to hornswoggle people into believing they can get laid if they purchase the right car, the right toothpaste, the right beer, or the right cigarette," Corn writes. "But the poohbahs of U.S. foreign policy keep wondering why 'they' still don't love us, and that creates a demand for Hyde's simplistic analysis." Ultimately, actions rather than propaganda will determine the world's opinion of America. "The United States is no cereal. A better package with a new-and-improved label isn't the answer," Corn writes. "America's image is not a product that can be pushed with hype and ads. ('America: Just Like Us.') If the Office of Global Communications does not realize this fundamental -- it's the story, not the script, that counts -- it will end up a box-office flop."
7. ADELPHIA'S MAKEOVER
http://www.odwyerpr.com/0801adelphia.htm
Adelphia Communications is using Robinson Lerer & Montgomery for crisis PR in the aftermath of its bankruptcy filing and the arrest last week of several company executives. "RL&M's mission is to reassure cable subscribers that the company has a future once its reorganization is completed," writes O'Dwyer's PR Daily. An ad campaign will urge cable subscribers to "stick with us," characterizing the bankruptcy as "a reorganization effort to rebuild the company and restore its integrity."
SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily, August 1, 2002
8. MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR OBESITY
PR giant Golin/Harris is bragging about its new "Global Obesity Task Force." The Task Force doesn't seek to fight childhood obesity, but to protect the interests and image of the multibillion dollar Obesity Industry. Their press release states: "With consumers becoming increasingly wary of American 'big business,' many companies find themselves under scrutiny. ... The increase in childhood obesity has special interest and government groups seeking to hold someone responsible. And, corporate America is the likely target. Golin/Harris International has created its Global Obesity Task Force with proprietary tools to help companies under fire in the obesity debate... Wide ranges of industries are vulnerable and need to act to protect their brands, businesses and reputations. Quick service restaurant companies, snack makers, beverage producers, the television and video game industries... 'When managed appropriately, companies can withstand issues without public confidence and brand trust eroding,' said Kathy Weber." G/H clients include McDonald's and Tyson Foods.
SOURCE: Golin/Harris News Release, July 29, 2002 Web links related to this story are available at:
http://www.prwatch.org/spin/July_2002.html#1027915200
9. SUING THE SURVIVORS
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/27/nyregion/27HOSP.html
In 1997, the wife of Phillip Bonaffini died from an infection she contracted during cardiac surgery at Bridgeport Hospital. Another patient, Eunice Babcock, was left wheelchair-bound due to a staphylococcus infection that she contracted during surgery at the same hospital. The hospital settled the cases out of court by paying Bonaffini and Babcock an undisclosed sum in exchange for signed confidentiality agreements. Recently, however, Bonaffini made the mistake of talking about his wife's death to The Chicago Tribune, noting that tens of thousands of patients die each year in the United States from infections that are largely preventable. Bridgeport Hospital responded by filing a lawsuit for breach of contract, but dropped the suit two days later. "The quick withdrawal of the suit suggested that legal action intended to relieve a public relations headache had created a public relations nightmare instead," reports the New York Times. "If the goal was to stem negative publicity, suing a man whose wife died and a woman who was left mostly wheelchair-bound, was probably ill-advised."
SOURCE: New York Times, July 27, 2002
8/7/02
7:10:58 PM
SciTech Daily Review
Some people reuse old yogurt containers. Electric vehicle enthusiasts reuse old cars
http://www.gristmagazine.com/dearme/norwick070802.asp
Mothers who have asthma can not pass it to their babies through breast milk, says an Australian study
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2152967.stm
The riddle of the foaming Rhine has been solved: plants, not pollution, are the cause
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020805/020805-3.html
If you have a fast computer and a fast internet connection, you make Hollywood nervous. They're afraid you'll bypass the box office, leaving them empty handed
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13651
Drug tests are often heralded as infallible, and many employers in the US, along with school principals and judges, put their faith in them. But in the real world, jobs and reputations are being shattered by false-positive results
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/020812/misc/12testing.htm
The World Health Organisation has failed to openly oppose the greed of the major global pharmaceutical companies, and its director-general has deferred to them, says Jean-Loup Motchane. Can we still rely on the WHO?
http://MondeDiplo.com/2002/07/17who
8/7/02
7:09:21 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Minnesota Power unit cancels power plant joint venture - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17180/story.htm
Iowa farmer appointed to USDA job despite opposition - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17182/story.htm
World Bank approves $202 million Mexico loan - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17183/story.htm
US court upholds ruling on plutonium shipments - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17185/story.htm
>From stalk to fuel tank, ethanol a net energy gain - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17186/story.htm
Russia may ban poultry imports from Germany - Russia http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17187/story.htm
Fair trade coffee buzz gaining momentum - Peru http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17184/story.htm
Angry fisherman block Mexico Pemex's Oaxaca refinery - Mexico http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17181/story.htm
Tokyo turns to rooftop gardens to beat the heat - Japan http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17178/story.htm
Metals giant bets on future of Brazilian economy - Brazil http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17179/story.htm
Tugs free Greek bulk carrier from Australian reef - Australia http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17177/story.htm
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURES:
Russian Assistant In Flight Helmet Feeds Young Siberian Crane - Russia http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17188
Revolving Gun Turret From Civil War Era Ship Raised From Sea Floor - USA http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17189
8/7/02
7:06:47 PM
One Year On In Afghanistan
by Robert Fisk
President George Bush's "war on terror" reached the desert village of Hajibirgit at midnight on 22 May. Haji Birgit Khan, the bearded, 85-year-old Pushtu village leader and head of 12,000 local tribal families, was lying on a patch of grass outside his home. Faqir Mohamed was sleeping among his sheep and goats in a patch of sand to the south when he heard "big planes moving in the sky". Even at night, it is so hot that many villagers spend the hours of darkness outside their homes, although Mohamedin and his family were in their mud-walled house. There were 105 families in Hajibirgit on 22 May, and all were woken by the thunder of helicopter engines and the thwack of rotor blades and the screaming voices of the Americans.
Haji Birgit Khan was seen running stiffly from his little lawn towards the white-walled village mosque, a rectangular cement building with a single loudspeaker and a few threadbare carpets. Several armed men were seen running after him. Hakim, one of the animal herders, saw the men from the helicopters chase the old man into the mosque and heard a burst of gunfire. "When our people found him, he had been killed with a bullet, in the head," he says, pointing downwards. There is a single bullet hole in the concrete floor of the mosque and a dried bloodstain beside it. "We found bits of his brain on the wall."
Across the village, sharp explosions were detonating in the courtyards and doorways of the little homes. "The Americans were throwing stun grenades at us and smoke grenades," Mohamedin recalls. "They were throwing dozens of them at us and they were shouting and screaming all the time. We didn't understand their language, but there were Afghan gunmen with them, too, Afghans with blackened faces. Several began to tie up our women - our own women - and the Americans were lifting their burqas, their covering, to look at their faces. That's when the little girl was seen running away." Abdul Satar says that she was three years old, that she ran shrieking in fear from her home, that her name was Zarguna, the daughter of a man called Abdul-Shakour - many Afghans have only one name - and that someone saw her topple into the village's 60ft well on the other side of the mosque. During the night, she was to drown there, alone, her back apparently broken by the fall. Other village children would find her body in the morning. The Americans paid no attention. From the description of their clothes given by the villagers, they appeared to include Special Forces and also units of Afghan Special Forces, the brutish and ill-disciplined units run from Kabul's former Khad secret police headquarters. There were also 150 soldiers from the US 101st Airborne, whose home base is at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. But Fort Campbell is a long way from Hajibirgit, which is 50 miles into the desert from the south-western city of Kandahar. And the Americans were obsessed with one idea: that the village contained leaders from the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'ida movement.
A former member of a Special Forces unit from one of America's coalition partners supplied his own explanation for the American behaviour when I met him a few days later. "When we go into a village and see a farmer with a beard, we see an Afghan farmer with a beard," he said. "When the Americans go into a village and see a farmer with a beard, they see Osama bin Laden."
All the women and children were ordered to gather at one end of Hajibirgit. "They were pushing us and shoving us out of our homes," Mohamedin says. "Some of the Afghan gunmen were shouting abuse at us. All the while, they were throwing grenades at our homes." The few villagers who managed to run away collected the stun grenades next day with the help of children. There are dozens of them, small cylindrical green pots with names and codes stamped on the side. One says "7 BANG Delay: 1.5 secs NIC-01/06-07", another "1 BANG, 170 dB Delay: 1.5s." Another cylinder is marked: "DELAY Verzagerung ca. 1,5s." These were the grenades that terrified Zarguna and ultimately caused her death. A regular part of US Special Forces equipment, they are manufactured in Germany by the Hamburg firm of Nico-Pyrotechnik - hence the "NIC" on several of the cylinders. "dB" stands for decibels.
Several date stamps show that the grenades were made as recently as last March. The German company refers to them officially as "40mm by 46mm sound and flash (stun) cartridges". But the Americans were also firing bullets. Several peppered a wrecked car in which another villager, a taxi driver called Abdullah, had been sleeping. He was badly wounded. So was Haji Birgit Khan's son.
A US military spokesman would claim later that US soldiers had "come under fire" in the village and had killed one man and wounded two "suspected Taliban or al-Qa'ida members". The implication - that 85-year-old Haji Birgit Khan was the gunman - is clearly preposterous.
The two wounded were presumably Khan's son and Abdullah, the taxi driver. The US claim that they were Taliban or al-Qa'ida members was a palpable lie - since both of them were subsequently released. "Some of the Afghans whom the Americans brought with them were shouting 'Shut up!' to the children who were crying," Faqir Mohamed remembers.
"They made us lie down and put cuffs on our wrists, sort of plastic cuffs. The more we pulled on them, the tighter they got and the more they hurt. Then they blindfolded us. Then they started pushing us towards the planes, punching us as we tried to walk."
In all, the Americans herded 55 of the village men, blindfolded and with their hands tied, on to their helicopters. Mohamedin was among them. So was Abdul-Shakour, still unaware that his daughter was dying in the well. The 56th Afghan prisoner to be loaded on to a helicopter was already dead: the Americans had decided to take the body of 85-year-old Haji Birgit Khan with them.
When the helicopters landed at Kandahar airport - headquarters to the 101st Airborne - the villagers were, by their own accounts, herded together into a container. Their legs were tied and then their handcuffs and the manacle of one leg of each prisoner were separately attached to stakes driven into the floor of the container. Thick sacks were put over their heads. Abdul Satar was among the first to be taken from this hot little prison. "Two Americans walked in and tore my clothes off," he said. "If the clothes would not tear, they cut them off with scissors. They took me out naked to have my beard shaved and to have my photograph taken. Why did they shave off my beard? I had my beard all my life."
Mohamedin was led naked from his own beard-shaving into an interrogation tent, where his blindfold was removed. "There was an Afghan translator, a Pushtun man with a Kandahar accent in the room, along with American soldiers, both men and women soldiers," he says. "I was standing there naked in front of them with my hands tied. Some of them were standing, some were sitting at desks. They asked me: 'What do you do?' I told them: 'I am a shepherd - why don't you ask your soldiers what I was doing?' They said: 'Tell us yourself.' Then they asked: 'What kind of weapons have you used?' I told them I hadn't used any weapon.
"One of them asked: 'Did you use a weapon during the Russian [occupation] period, the civil war period or the Taliban period?' I told them that for a lot of the time I was a refugee." From the villagers' testimony, it is impossible to identify which American units were engaged in the interrogations. Some US soldiers were wearing berets with yellow or brown badges, others were in civilian clothes but apparently wearing bush hats. The Afghan interpreter was dressed in his traditional salwah khameez. Hakim underwent a slightly longer period of questioning; like Mohamedin, he says he was naked before his interrogators.
"They wanted my age and my job. I said I was 60, that I was a farmer. They asked: 'Are there any Arabs or Talibans or Iranians or foreigners in your village?' I said 'No.' They asked: 'How many rooms are there in your house, and do you have a satellite phone?' I told them: 'I don't have a phone. I don't even have electricity.' They asked: 'Were the Taliban good or bad?' I replied that the Taliban never came to our village so I had no information about them. Then they asked: 'What about Americans? What kind of people are Americans?' I replied: 'We heard that they liberated us with [President Hamid] Karzai and helped us - but we don't know our crime that we should be treated like this.' What was I supposed to say?"
A few hours later, the villagers of Hajibirgit were issued with bright-yellow clothes and taken to a series of wire cages laid out over the sand of the airbase - a miniature version of Guantanamo Bay - where they were given bread, biscuits, rice, beans and bottled water. The younger boys were kept in separate cages from the older men. There was no more questioning, but they were held in the cages for another five days. All the while, the Americans were trying to discover the identity of the 85-year-old man. They did not ask their prisoners - who could have identified him at once - although the US interrogators may not have wished them to know that he was dead. In the end, the Americans gave a photograph of the face of the corpse to the International Red Cross. The organisation was immediately told by Kandahar officials that the elderly man was perhaps the most important tribal leader west of the city.
"When we were eventually taken out of the cages, there were five American advisers waiting to talk to us," Mohamedin says. "They used an interpreter and told us they wanted us to accept their apologies for being mistreated. They said they were sorry. What could we say? We were prisoners. One of the advisers said: 'We will help you.' What does that mean?" A fleet of US helicopters flew the 55 men to the Kandahar football stadium - once the scene of Taliban executions - where all were freed, still dressed in prison clothes and each with a plastic ID bracelet round the wrist bearing a number. "Ident-A-Band Bracelet made by Hollister" was written on each one. Only then did the men learn that old Haji Birgit Khan had been killed during the raid a week earlier. And only then did Abdul-Shakour learn that his daughter Zarguna was dead.
The Pentagon initially said that it found it "difficult to believe" that the village women had their hands tied. But given identical descriptions of the treatment of Afghan women after the US bombing of the Uruzgan wedding party, which followed the Hajibirgit raid, it seems that the Americans - or their Afghan allies - did just that. A US military spokesman claimed that American forces had found "items of intelligence value", weapons and a large amount of cash in the village. What the "items" were was never clarified. The guns were almost certainly for personal protection against robbers. The cash remains a sore point for the villagers. Abdul Satar said that he had 10,000 Pakistani rupees taken from him - about $200 (£130). Hakim says he lost his savings of 150,000 rupees - $3,000 (£1,900). "When they freed us, the Americans gave us 2,000 rupees each," Mohamedin says. "That's just $40 [£25]. We'd like the rest of our money."
But there was a far greater tragedy to confront the men when they reached Hajibirgit. In their absence - without guns to defend the homes, and with the village elder dead and many of the menfolk prisoners of the Americans - thieves had descended on Hajibirgit. A group of men from Helmand province, whose leader is Abdul Rahman Khan - once a brutal and rapacious "mujahid" fighter against the Russians, and now a Karzai government police commander - raided the village once the Americans had taken away so many of the men. Ninety-five of the 105 families had fled into the hills, leaving their mud homes to be pillaged.
The disturbing, frightful questions that creep into the mind of anyone driving across the desert to Hajibirgit today are obvious. Who told the US to raid the village? Who told them that the Taliban leadership and the al-Qa'ida leadership were there? Was it, perhaps, Abdul Rahman Khan, the cruel police chief whose men were so quick to pillage the mud-walled homes once the raid was over? For today, Hajibirgit is a virtual ghost town, its village leader dead, most of its houses abandoned. The US raid was worthless. There are scarcely 40 villagers left. They all gathered at the stone grave of Zarguna some days later, to pay their respects to the memory of the little girl. "We are poor people - what can we do?" Mohamedin asked me. I had no reply. President Bush's "war on terror", his struggle of "good against evil" descended on the innocent village of Hajibirgit.
And now Hajibirgit is dead.
Source: http://www.independent.co.uk
8/7/02
7:03:38 PM
Public Citizen
Aug. 6, 2002
Bush Puts the Nation on a Fast Track Backward
Statement of Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
Anytime you see major legislation railroaded through Congress in the middle of the night and then see President Bush's same corporate buddies, who were allegedly being punished for bad behavior last week, all wildly celebrating this bill's signing this week, you know it's really bad news for most of us.
It is a great irony that Bush's desperation for a political win to get off the defensive about the corporate criminals who are among his big campaign contributors was satisfied today by signing legislation that promotes globally the same extreme deregulation of basic consumer safeguards in accounting, energy services and more that has cost millions of Americans their jobs and retirement savings.
The usual corporate special interests will repeat the tired chant about how Fast Track will be good for us, yet the trade pacts generated under the Fast Track model have resulted in a huge, economy-slowing, job-killing U.S. trade deficit, wages that have not caught up to the 1970s, more unsafe and uninspected imported food and an array of environmental and other important public interest laws being attacked and weakened.
The movement against the corporate globalization Fast Track promotes grows broader every week, with this legislation universally opposed by every U.S. environmental and consumer organization, a wide span of religious denominations, small business groups, the NAACP, the entire U.S. labor movement, the National Organization for Women, and many other groups representing the majority of Americans.
The power of the opposition to the Fast Track agenda and the uncertain fate of future pacts is made clear by the fact that post 9-11, with the public scared and distracted and a huge corporate campaign being waged, it was necessary for a wartime president to come to Capitol Hill to personally troll for votes before a trade bill stalled for two years could be rammed through Congress by a 2-vote margin in the middle of the night.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit http://www.citizen.org
8/7/02
7:02:24 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
PICK YOUR POISON
In the First World, debate over genetically modified (GM) foods is about differing ideologies; in southern Africa, where famine is deepening its grip, it is about life and death. The U.S. has offered to provide emergency food aid in the form of corn to seven stricken African countries, but some of that corn has been genetically modified. That leaves the governments of those nations facing the difficult choice of accepting an unproven and possibly unsafe technology or turning away food that could save lives. Advocates of genetic modification say the technology would not only feed those who are currently starving, but could also help solve world hunger in the long-term by making plants drought- and pest-resistant. Critics, however, say the human health effects are unknown and that GM crops could harm natural varieties, as well as disturb the environment in other ways. Complicating the issue in southern Africa are competing economic concerns: Some say GM crops are necessary to keep African countries competitive in the international market, while others contend that adoption of such crops could drive away European consumers, who are wary of GM foods.
straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Nicole Itano, 06 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=332>
only in Grist: Pinocchi-Oh-No! -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha071299.stm?source=daily>
TO RUSSIA, WITH EMPTY TANKS
As President Bush weighs the pros and cons of waging war on Iraq, the issue of U.S. oil energy security looms large. And although no one would have believed it 50 years ago, the U.S. is increasingly contemplating Russia as a stable and desirable alternative source of oil. The strategic partnership between the Cold War-era enemies would be built on mutual self-interest; the U.S. wants an oil source far from the strife of the Middle East, and Russia wants to rebuild its economy and enhance its importance in global politics. The Middle East, and particularly Saudi Arabia, still dominates the oil market, but Russia is already in second place. One hot spot of Russian energy development: Sakhalin, a verdant island in the far eastern Sea of Okhotsk. The region could yield 3.3 billion barrels of oil and lots of natural gas -- but environmentalists worry that energy exploitation on Sakhalin could harm the area's rare gray whales, one of just two populations left in the world.
straight to the source: New York Times, Patrick E. Tyler, 04 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=333>
straight to the source: New York Times, Sabrina Tavernise, 06 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=334>
only in Grist: The Cold War shifts to the living room -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha071999.stm?source=daily>
SHELLING OUT
The first lawsuit in the U.S. over contamination stemming from the gasoline additive MTBE was settled in California yesterday, when Shell Oil agreed to pay the South Tahoe Public Utility District $28 million to help fund the cleanup of tainted drinking water wells. The district filed the lawsuit in 1998, after MTBE contamination forced the closure of one-third of South Lake Tahoe's drinking wells. In total, the district has received more than $69 million in settlements with oil companies, refineries, MTBE manufacturers, gas stations, and gasoline distributors, including Shell, Exxon, and Chevron. The settlements were prompted by a jury's finding, in April, that MTBE is a defective product, and that some companies were aware of the chemical's dangers but marketed it anyway. The case could set an important precedent for the 16 other states facing MTBE contamination problems. MTBE causes gasoline to burn more cleanly, but it is also a suspected carcinogen.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Kathleen Sullivan, 06 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=335>
BUSTIN' OUT OUR CAN OF WHOOP ASS
You thought it was extinct, but really it was just dormant: Grist is pleased to announce the return of one of our favorite features -- the "Busted!" column, where we expose sneaky advertising tricks, shameless greenwashing, dubious claims, and other questionable tactics of companies or groups that are despoiling the earth. This month's Busted! features everyone's favorite oil giant, ExxonMobil. In an ad that ran in the New York Times, the company boasted of the courage and moral rectitude of energy production interests in China -- which it claimed were bound to improve that country's environmental, labor, human-rights, and financial situations. Skeptical? So were we. Learn how we Busted! them, only on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: Catch a tiger by the toe -- ExxonMobil gets Busted!, by Janet Paskin <http://www.gristmagazine.com/busted/busted080602.asp?source=daily>
WHAT'S A LITTLE NERVE GAS AMONG WILDLIFE? It seems like a wilderness paradise, replete with mule deer, bald eagles, and foxes -- but Colorado's Rocky Mountain Arsenal is also a Cold War relic contaminated by years of chemical weapons production. The 27-square-mile patch of land just 10 miles outside of Denver bears the paradoxical dual designation of National Wildlife Refuge and Superfund site. Cleanup of the area, which once produced and stored mustard gas, sarin, and other deadly chemicals, is expected to cost $2.2 billion; the ultimate goal is the restoration, by 2011, of the high-plains wetland and the construction of an urban wildlife center. As recently as October 2000, crews discovered 10 nerve-gas "bomblets" on the site, each containing liquid sarin and an explosive charge. Public access to the area was immediately restricted, but could open again as early as late summer.
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Reuters, Keith Coffman, 05 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=336>
8/7/02
7:00:32 PM
t r u t h o u t | 08.07
Nat Hentoff | Ashcroft's Master Plan to Spy on Us
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07A.hentoff.spy.htm
After Sept. 11, a Legal Battle Over Limits of Civil Liberty
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07B.nyt.liberty.htm
UK Poll: Half of Britons Oppose Iraq Action
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07C.uk.poll.htm
Paul Krugman | The Memory Hole
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07D.krug.hole.htm
Remains May Be Nigeria Activist's
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07E.nigeria.activist.htm
Secretary Norton Flouting Court on Pronghorn Protection
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.07F.nrtn.pronghorn.htm
8/7/02
6:59:12 PM
TomPaine.com
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MATT DRUDGE AND LUCIANNE GOLDBERG?
by Michael Ryan
Remember those curious characters who crawled out from under a server and named themselves "Internet Journalists"? Why did The New York Times -- and every other paper, network, and magazine -- ever quote them?
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6117
FIGHTING THE MICKEY MOUSE PROTECTION ACT
A Copyright Law That Favors Corporations Over Creativity
by Michael May
When record companies shutdown Napster, they showed that Internet copyright violations would not be tolerated. This was good news for media conglomerates, but bad news for independent artists.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6101
Dispatch: Tucson
'FIGHT LIKE HELL FOR YOUR VALUES'
Granny D's Speech Calling For Corporate Reform
by Doris Haddock
"What do you do with a villain who trashes your world, threatens the peace and happiness of your town and family, and sends your children off to its selfish wars? You put its picture up in the post office."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6120
ECONOMICS REPORTING REVIEW: July 27 - August 2
A Weekly Compendium And Commentary
by Dean Baker
Second Quarter GDP Growth... Corporate Scandals... Welfare Reform... Copyrights... Stock Transfer Taxes... The Strength of the Economy... and more!
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6130
8/7/02
6:57:21 PM
SciTech Daily Review
Mathematicians are trying to figure out how to factor irrational human behaviour into the rational field of game theory
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,54131,00.html
A 27-year-old space shuttle inspector with an eye for detail may have saved the shuttle programme
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts_ap_020801.html
An innovative project in Venezuela to establish an indigenous plant database could lead to the development of new drugs, and also benefit the communities that supplied the original
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/325/7357/183/b
Imagine that the US Postal Service was in charge of e-mail. Absurd, huh? But it almost happened -- and it all started in 1845
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_brotman072902.asp
Stand and Deliver revisited: The untold story behind the famous rise -- and shameful fall -- of Jaime Escalante, America's master math teacher
http://www.reason.com/0207/fe.jj.stand.shtml
Kevin Warwick is the professor who puts microchips in his arm and sees a great future for cyborgs. He's good at getting in the news, but not everyone is impressed
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2163947.stm
8/7/02
6:55:40 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
BRITAIN SETS TOUGH NEW TARGETS FOR CLEANER AIR
LONDON, UK, August 5, 2002 (ENS) - Tougher new targets to cut levels of four key air pollutants in England were announced today by Environment Minister Michael Meacher. Benzene, carbon monoxide, and particles will be controlled to reduce adverse effects on human health. For the first time, a target limit has been set for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-05-02.asp
EPA, ENVIROS DISAGREE ON PESTICIDE REASSESSMENT
By Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON, DC, August 5, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claimed on Friday that it has met a Congressionally mandated deadline to reassess the safety of pesticides. But the Natural Resources Defense Council, which sued the agency over its pesticide reviews and won a settlement setting a new deadline for reevaluating the chemicals, says the EPA has failed to act on the most toxic and highest priority pesticides.
http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-05-06.asp
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS WILDFIRE'S MIXED IMPACTS
TUCSON, Arizona, August 5, 2002 (ENS) - Scientists are presenting a variety of research into the benefits and risks of wildfire at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Tucson this week. The studies show that fire is an integral part of a healthy forest - but it can also help forest enemies like invasive plants and insects.
http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-05-06.asp
STAYING ALIVE IN MOUNTAIN LION COUNTRY
DENVER, Colorado, August 5, 2002 (ENS) - In January 2001, Frances Frost, 30, was killed by a mountain lion in Banff National Park while cross-country skiing alone on the Lake Minnewanka Loop. According to Park Chief Warden Ian Syme, "The cougar leapt on her back, bit her neck and I suspect that she may not even know what hit her." A healthy adult male cougar was later shot by wardens where her body was found.
http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-05-03.asp
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: AUGUST 5, 2002
ECOLOGICAL SCIENCE GROUP SEEKS RESEARCH SYNTHESIS
FISHING THREATENS TOP OF OCEAN FOOD CHAIN
BOUYS COULD PROVIDE EARLY WARNING OF RED TIDES
DROUGHT KILLING ENDANGERED SONORAN PRONGHORN
WILDFIRE KILLS CAPTIVE MEXICAN WOLVES
HOPE FOR RARE SNOWY PLOVERS IN CALIFORNIA
NEW DESKTOP PC CALLED ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-05-09.asp
8/7/02
6:53:11 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Fish killer microbe may not be toxic, after all - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17165/story.htm
UN warns against feasts in midst of famine - UNITED NATIONS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17169/story.htm
Thai zoo asks police to probe death of baby hippo - THAILAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17168/story.htm
INTERVIEW - Johannesburg aims for green Earth Summit - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17171/story.htm
El Nino effect on NZ spring weather uncertain - NEW ZEALAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17174/story.htm
Hail wrecks maize, vines, olives in north Italy - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17172/story.htm
First phase of Ghana cocoa spraying campaign over - GHANA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17170/story.htm
Severe drought hits Cambodia's rice planting - CAMBODIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17167/story.htm
Brazil may earn pollution credits from forestry - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17164/story.htm
EU moves to stop dumping of shark carcasses - BELGIUM http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17166/story.htm
Floods turn Bangladeshi farmers into nomads - BANGLADESH http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17173/story.htm
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURES:
BULGARIA: A Hippopotamus Takes A Dip In A Pool At A Zoo In Sofia http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17175
AUSTRALIA: David Nottage Launches A Weather Balloon On Lord Howe Island http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17176
8/7/02
6:51:34 PM
AlterNet Headlines
GULF WAR LITE
Rahul Mahajan, AlterNet
When all the justifications for making war on Iraq collapse, what is left is the same ugly three-letter word that has always been at the core of U.S. Middle East policy -- oil.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13749
HELP FROM THE HILL?
Jason Vest, American Prospect
While the Bush administration lays its plans for Iraq, military insiders are increasingly -- and desperately -- looking to Congress to help stave off what they fear will be a disaster.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13768
HOLDING DICK CHENEY "ACCOUNTABLE"
Arianna Huffington, AlterNet
The ghosts of Harken and Halliburton -- questionable offshore tax shelters -- are coming back to haunt the Vice President.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13757
TRIALS OF A GAY-SEEMING STRAIGHT MALE
Leif Ueland, Nerve.com
An ambivalent heterosexual comes out in favor of sexual pluralism.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13766
GUILTY OF BEING BROWN
Silja J.A. Talvi, AlterNet
A new national report exposes the dramatically disproportionate numbers of Latino youth caught up in the juvenile justice system.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13769
GEORGE AND DICK'S AMAZING CORPORATE MISADVENTURES
Stephen Pizzo, CorpWatch
A cheat sheet for President Bush and Vice President Cheney's alleged corporate malfeasance, from their days as corporate executives at Harken and Halliburton.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13663
OPERATION STARS AND STRIPES PR
David Corn, AlterNet
Some politicians think the U.S. ought to use the talents of the glitter industry and we-can-sell-anything copywriters to enhance its standing within foreign cultures.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13751
FUNDAMENTALLY UNSOUND
Michelle Goldberg, Salon
Left Behind, the bestselling series of paranoid, pro-Israel end-time thrillers, may sound kooky, but America's right-wing leaders really believe this stuff.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13750
HIP HOP CONFRONTS WAR
Walidah Imarisha, War Times
Underground hip hop artists are banding together to combat corporate media's mindless pro-war propaganda machine. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13752
ECONOMISTS IN DENIAL
Mark Weisbrot, AlterNet
Global economic growth has taken a hit in the last two decades, endangering the lives and health of hundreds of millions of people in developing countries.
*In Global Affairs: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=31
8/7/02
6:46:20 PM
Twenty Things We've Learned Nearly A Year After 911
by Bernard Weiner,August 2, 2002
Dave Letterman and his LIST OF TEN writers would be in awe. The list of ten yields to the list of TWENTY. CURIOUS GEORGE has been BUSY!
As we approach the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it might be useful to see how far an ordinary citizen's knowledge has progressed one year on. So here, in the way of a summing-up, based on journalistic documentation, is a list of things we Americans have learned since last September -- some of which might prove useful in the run-up to the November elections.
1. We've learned that Bush & Co.'s "war on terrorism" has morphed from finding and destroying those responsible for the 9/11 mass-murders (15 SAUDIS) to a worldwide campaign to install a Pax Americana, by force if necessary. In other words, neo-imperialism, reminiscent in many ways of the old Roman Empire or, closer to our own time, the British Empire.
2. We've learned that Bush & Co. has no desire to rethink any of its policies abroad, the same policies that isolate it and that generate hatred, suspicion and terrorism in so many regions of the globe. Rather than reconsider its policies, or try to accomplish its ends through diplomacy and alliances and cultural/economic initiatives, in its arrogance it continues to bully and threaten others, insult its European and other allies, disregard international treaties and courts, engage in unilateral actions without regard to the national interests of others, and, in general, simply throw its massive weight around. The prevailing attitude seems to be: We are the one Superpower, get used to bending to our will.
3. We've learned that Bush's national-security leadership was alerted months ahead of 9/11 (and, it has admitted, no later than August 6) that a major air attack from al-Qaida was in the works, along with the likely targets, but did nothing to try to prevent those attacks or warn anyone about them. Caught in their own lies, they blame "the system," especially elements in the FBI, for "not connecting the dots." More than 3000 Americans died as a result of this malfeasance.
4. We've learned that plans already were in the works prior to 9/11 for the evisceration of Constitutional guarantees of due process of law. The White House hustled the so-called USA PATRIOT Act through a frightened Congress in a patriotic blur, just a few days after the attacks, with few, if any, of the legislators having had time to read the final version.
5. We've learned that prior to September 11, the Bush Administration was negotiating with the Taliban about a pipeline desired by a U.S.-led energy consortium that would cross through Afghanistan. When the Taliban balked, the U.S. negotiators told them they either could accept a "carpet of gold" or face a "carpet of bombs." The Taliban backed away from the deal and refused to hand over Osama bin Laden; shortly after the terror attacks of 9/11, the U.S. began bombing in Afghanistan. The devotion of BUSH to OIL/GAS/ENERGY/ENRON type agendas are not laudible.
6. We've learned that now with the Taliban having been overthrown, and a U.S.-friendly regime installed in Kabul, the pipeline project is back on track, designed to carry energy supplies across Afghanistan from the Caspian Sea area to near India. Hamid Karzai, the new leader of Afghanistan, formerly was a consultant on the payroll of the pipeline folks; likewise, the new U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan.
7. We've learned that Bush & Co.'s Homeland Security Act includes programs that bear an amazing resemblance to totalitarian programs from the fascis/communist end of the spectrum: getting the military (restricted heretofore to activity outside the U.S.) involved in domestic policing, signing up neighborhood and block snoops to work for the central government, investigating what books citizens are checking out and buying, denouncing those deemed insufficiently patriotic or suspicious because of their views, etc. Remind you of Stalin's Russia, Castro's Cuba, Hitler's Third Reich, the Stasi of East Germany? (There also are prototypes of patriotic youth leagues being tried out in cities, which could become a national program.) A kind of martial-law coming to a neighborhood near you. (Not odd as The Gehlen Org spawned Bush way back when, in his early OSS days, that is NAZI spies brought here to work in CIA) Once a Nazi always a Nazi, I guess.
8. We've learned that Ashcroft/Bush are shredding Constitutional due-process guarantees in their move toward total control: already they have compromised attorney-client privilege, removed habeus corpus protections, locked up folks with no charges, secreted citizens at military installations which puts them out of reach of the judicial system, violated privacy in rifling through personal telephone and email communications, etc. etc. When the ambiguously-worded PATRIOT Act was first brought up, Ashcroft and Bush told us not to worry, promising that these rules would affect only non-citizens. Since that time, American citizens have been handled in similar fashion. Coming to a neighborhood near you.
9. We've learned much about the dangers of religious fundamentalism in Islam, but we've also learned about dangers posed by our own religious fundamentalists -- eager for a Christian theocratic society, symbolized most recently by a Secret Service agent scrawling on a Muslim suspect's refrigerator "Islam Is Evil, Christ Is King" -- and the extraordinary power they wield within the Bush Administration, represented most openly by John Ashcroft, who in frame-of-mind resembles a Taliban mullah.
10. We've learned that the FBI, focusing now on foreign terrorists, doesn't seem energized with the same zeal to catch domestic terrorists, such as abortion-clinic arsonists -- and especially the anthrax-dispenser. Though the FBI seems to know that the anthrax villain probably worked at a government bio-lab, nobody has been arrested, or even targeted as a prime suspect. (THEY TELL US that after going thru his trash bin, no powder was found, So all bets AND THE GUY...are off the hook,) It may not be likely, but the unsaid is finally being asked: Could this dangerous terrorist actually be working for the government? HUH? OUR GOV kill a Nat'l Enquirer reporter who'd written up the BUSH gals as doped up trash? NAHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The White house Used as a personal vendetta? C'mon!
11. We've learned that the HardRight of the Republican Party has taken control -- of the House leadership, of the Supreme Court, of the White House, of much of the conglomerate-owned media -- and has demonstrated its willingness to do nearly anything to maintain that power. (Only the courageous defection of Sen. Jim Jeffords from GOP ranks is standing in the way of HardRight total control of all three branches of government.) More and more truly objectionable HardRight judges are being nominated by Bush in an e ffort to stack the judiciary for decades to come. This by a man who lost the election by more than half-a-million votes, coming into his White House residency, with no popular mandate, only because his supporters on the Supreme Court installed him there.
12. We've learned that to break the momentum of the HardRight, all energy for the upcoming November elections (less than 90 days away, let us not forget) must be expended in electing Democrat candidates and defeating Republican ones. The objective conditions are just not ripe yet for anything more than trying to move the country back toward the middle of the political spectrum. We progressives more in tune with the Greens (Green candidates are being supported secretly in many states by the Republicans, to try to defeat Democrats) will have to wait. The difference between Democrats and Republicans may seem small to Greens and others, but, as we've learned in a painful way under Bush&Co., that difference is immense when it comes to foreign and domestic policy and its actual effects on real people, here and abroad.
13. We've learned that Cheney is up to his ears in Halliburton irregularities, and may well be liable for indictment for participating in financial fraud. In addition, we've learned that Cheney, who was the head of the task force that came up with a corporate-friendly rather than a consumer-friendly energy policy, has refused to turn over to Congress the requested documents that will reveal how that policy was arrived at and which industry leaders (other than Enron's Kenny Boy) helped shape it.
14. We've learned that Bush knew in advance, as a member of the Harken Audit Committee, that Harken Oil was going to release negative financial news, and he was a true insider, who knew that his Poppa's war on IRAQ (like the next week), would cancel the Harken Drilling contracts. Curious George and sold his shares before that, reaping a fortune. He may be liable for indictment for insider-trading and other Harken irregularities. (Even if Bush and Cheney are not indicted, they are the last people on earth who should be speaking about corruption in the corporate financial world, as these hypocrites benefitted from that very corrupt system. As did most of Bush's corporate-derived cabinet.)
15. We've learned that Bush & Co. were mightily opposed to any reform of corporate financial reporting, but when more and more companies were caught in such corrupt practices and the mood of the country shifted -- mainly because so many folks, especially seniors, lost huge chunks of their pensions and portfolio holdings when the Stock Market tanked as a result of investors' losing confidence in the numbers provided by corporations -- they jumped on the bandwagon and pretended they were reformers all along. In the background, they are trying to help their corporate supporters water down, and otherwise get around, the new rules. To that end, Bush&Co. have appointed Harvey Pitt and Larry Thompson, two tainted corporate types, to head up the "investigations" of corporate wrongdoing. Break out the whitewash and let the FOXES paint the bloody HENHOUSE!
16. We've learned that Bush & Co., having placed its chips on Ariel Sharon, continues to have no real desire for a just peace in the Middle East. All it wants is for the area to be quiet and controlled (thus giving carte blanche to the Israeli Army's police-state occupation and oppression), so that it can continue its plans for overthrowing Saddam Hussein in Iraq. And, of course, there has been no declaration of a State of War by the Congress, neither against Afghanistan nor against Iraq, and no real debate about the wisdom of a war against Saddam -- even when the top brass at the Pentagon and in Great Britain have expressed their opposition to such military adventurism.
17. We've learned that there will be no peace now in the Middle East because the U.S. is not fully engaged in the peace process, also because neither extreme in the area wants peace: Sharon thrives on war and brutality, Hamas needs Sharon's bloody policies to justify its campaign of terror. There are signs that moderate Palestinians finally are starting to speak out in favor of a peaceful solution, and there are plenty of land-for-peace Israelis (supported by many liberal Jews in the U.S.), so the outlines of a peace are out there. But until the U.S. and U.N. make the commitment to separate the warring extremists and arrange an equitable treaty both Israel and the Palestinians can live with -- secure borders for Israel (and an end to suicide bombing), a viable state for the Palestinians, abandoning of the settlements by Israel, reparations for Palestinians who lost their homes and property -- there will be only more bloodshed. And more fertile ground for new generations of terrorists, in the Middle East and elsewhere in the Islamic world.
18. We've learned that Bush & Co. has been a total disaster for the environment, in every way: from reneging on its campaign promise to cut carbon-dioxide and other greenhouse emissions, to backing away from higher fuel-efficiency in cars (we could cut our dependence on foreign oil 20% just by increasing fuel efficiency by 5%), to giving breaks to corporate polluters all across the country, to permitting increased arsenic levels in the water, thumbing nose at Kyoto conference, etc. etc.
19. We've learned that Secretary of State Colin Powell -- who sees the world in something other than simplistic black-and-white, us-versus-them dichotomies -- is a man imprisoned in the Bush Cabinet, forced to alter his principled opinions in the service of Bush & Co.'s stupidly aggressive and ultimately self-defeating foreign policies. Powell, a moderate conservative, looks like a raving progressive when measured against his masters. He should resign but probably won't. That would take NIXONIAN shame which he has none of, having an IQ of 80
20. We've learned that the tax-cuts provided to the most wealthy are not only payoffs to the corporate sector that provides support for Bush & Co. By locking in those tax cuts for ten years (and with humongous chunks of the budget spent on the "war on terrorism"), Bush & Co. have ensured that innumerable social programs that aid the less well-off will be cut or eliminated. In short, a rollback of New Deal/Great Society programs, so hated by the HardRight. (The HardRight movement to detach prescription drugs for seniors fr om the Medicare program, and, especially, to privatize Social Security -- even in the face of recent stock-market disasters -- is part of this same desire.)
Even after all the above shorthand summaries, no doubt I'm leaving out lots of Bush & Co. dirt, but this list can provide a starting point, and a handy compilation of enough low and high crimes and misdemeanors to warrant their removal from power, either through the ballot box or by resignation or impeachment.
Finally, as we enter August, we know that one of two things will happen in the summer-doldrums, with the Congress on vacation: Either Bush & Co. will start its Iraq war and carry out more under-the-radar attacks on important American social programs, or the media, bereft of their usual Beltway stories, will use the down time to engage in hard-hitting investigative reporting that will reveal in even more stark relief the machinations of Bush & Co. illegalities and other scandalous behavior. But, given the corporate nature of our corporate-owned media, don't count on it. Instead, we'll probably be flooded with this summer's Condit-like sex scandal.
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D., has taught American politics and international relations at Western Washington University and San Diego State University; he was with the San Francisco Chronicle for nearly 20 years.
Source: http://www.Rense.com/general27/911.htm
8/7/02
6:39:30 PM
War And Forgetfulness -- A Bloody Media Game
by Norman Solomon, August 2, 2002
Three and a half years ago, some key information about U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq briefly surfaced on the front pages of American newspapers -- and promptly vanished. Now, with righteous war drums beating loudly in Washington, let's reach deep down into the news media's Orwellian memory hole and retrieve the story.
"U.S. Spied on Iraq Under U.N. Cover, Officials Now Say," a front-page New York Times headline announced on Jan. 7, 1999. The article was unequivocal: "United States officials said today that American spies had worked undercover on teams of United Nations arms inspectors ferreting out secret Iraqi weapons programs.... By being part of the team, the Americans gained a first-hand knowledge of the investigation and a protected presence inside Baghdad."
A day later, a followup Times story pointed out: "Reports that the United States used the United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq as cover for spying on Saddam Hussein are dimming any chances that the inspection system will survive."
With its credibility badly damaged by the spying, the U.N. inspection system did not survive. Another factor in its demise was the U.S. government's declaration that sanctions against Iraq would remain in place whether or not Baghdad fully complied with the inspection regimen.
But such facts don't assist the conditioned media reflex of blaming everything on Saddam Hussein. No matter how hard you search major American media databases of the last couple of years for mention of the spy caper, you'll come up nearly empty. George Orwell would have understood.
Instead of presenting a complete relevant summary of past events, mainstream U.S. journalists and politicians are glad to focus on tactical pros and cons of various aggressive military scenarios. While a few pundits raise cautious warning flags, even the most absurd Swiss-cheese rationales for violently forcing a "regime change" in Baghdad routinely pass without challenge.
In late July, a Wall Street Journal essay by a pair of ex-Justice Department attorneys claimed that the U.S. would be "fully within its rights" to attack Iraq and overthrow the regime -- based on "the customary international law doctrine of anticipatory self-defense." Of course, if we're now supposed to claim that "anticipatory self-defense" is a valid reason for starting a war, then the same excuse could be used by the Iraqi government to justify an attack on the United States (even setting aside the reality that the U.S. has been bombing "no fly zones" inside Iraq for years).
Among the first to testify at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's recent hearing on Iraq was "strategy scholar" Anthony Cordesman, a former Pentagon and State Department official. He participated in the tradition of touting another round of taxpayer-funded carnage as a laudable innovation -- "our first preemptive war."
Speaking alongside Cordesman was Richard Butler, the head of the U.N. weapons inspection program in Iraq at the time that it was spying for Washington. At the Senate hearing, Butler suggested that perhaps the Russian government could be induced to tell Baghdad: "You will do serious arms control or you're toast."
Like countless other officials treated with great deference by the national press corps, Butler strives to seem suave and clever as he talks up the wisdom of launching high-tech attacks certain to incinerate troops and civilians. As a matter of routine, U.S. journalists are too discreet to bring up unpleasant pieces of history that don't fit in with the slanted jigsaw picture of American virtue.
With many foreign-policy issues, major news outlets demonstrate a remarkable ability to downplay or totally jettison facts that Washington policymakers don't want to talk about. The spy story that broke in early 1999 is a case in point. But the brief flurry of critical analysis that occurred at the time should now be revisited.
"That American spies have operations in Iraq should be no surprise," a Hartford Courant editorial said on Jan. 10, 1999. "That the spies are using the United Nations as a cover is deplorable."
While noting "Saddam Hussein's numerous complaints that U.N. inspection teams included American spies were apparently not imaginary," the newspaper mentioned that the espionage operatives "planted eavesdropping devices in hopes of monitoring forces that guarded Mr. Hussein as well as searching for hidden arms stockpiles."
The U.S. news media quickly lost interest in that story. We should ask why.
Source: http://www.fair.org/media-beat/020802.html
8/7/02
6:31:48 PM
Isn't that STRANGE? (But not very funny)
by Mr. Joseph Clifford, The Irish Times, February 10, 2002
The Russians got into their Vietnam right after the USA got out of theirs.
The USA supported Bin Laden and the Taliban for years, and viewed them as freedom fighters against the Russians.
As late as 1998 the US was paying the salary of every single Taliban official in Afghanistan?
Isn't that strange...
There is more oil and gas in the Caspian Sea area than in Saudi Arabia, but you need a pipeline through Afghanistan to get the oil out.
UNOCAL, a giant American Oil conglomerate, wanted to build a 1000 mile long pipeline from the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan to the Arabian Sea.
UNOCAL spent $+/- Billion on geological surveys for pipeline construction, and very nicely courted the Taliban for their support in allowing the construction to begin.
All of the leading Taliban officials were in Texas negotiating with UNOCAL in 1998.
1998-1999 the Taliban changed its mind and threw UNOCAL out of the country and awarded the pipeline project to a company from Argentina.
John Maresca VP of UNOCAL testified before Congress and said no pipeline until the Taliban was gone and a more friendly government was established.
1999-2000 The Taliban became the most evil people in the world.
Isn't that strange...
Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October.
9/11 WTC disaster. Bush goes to war against Afghanistan even though none of the hijackers came from Afghanistan.
Bush blamed Bin Laden but has never offered any proof saying it's a "secret".
Taliban offered to negotiate to turn over Bin Laden if the USA showed them some proof. They refused; they bombed.
We have a new government in Afghanistan. The leader of that government formerly worked for UNOCAL.
Isn't that strange...
Bush appoints a special envoy to represent the US to deal with that new government, who formerly was the "chief consultant to UNOCAL".
The Bush family acquired their wealth through oil.
Bush's Secretary of Interior was the President of an oil company before going to Washington.
George Bush Sr. now works with the "Carlysle Group" specializing in huge oil investments around the world.
Condoleezza Rice worked for Chevron before gong to Washington.
Chevron named one of its newest "supertankers" after Condoleezza.
Dick Cheney worked for the giant oil conglomerate Haliburton before becoming VP.
Haliburton gave Cheney $34,000,000 as a farewell gift when he left Haliburton.
Haliburton is in the pipeline construction business.
Isn't that strange...
There is $6 Trillion dollars worth of oil in the Caspian Sea area.
The US government quietly announces Jan 31, 2002 we will support the construction of the Trans-Afghanistan pipeline
President Musharref (Pakistan), and Karrzai, (Afghanistan - Unocal) announce agreement to build proposed gas pipeline from Central Asia to Pakistan via Afghanistan.
"It's the Oil, Stupid!"
Source: http://www.ireland.com
8/7/02
6:19:31 PM
Slouching to Johannesburg
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13718
In the ten years since the last World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), the U.S. has increased its consumption of energy and resources, and offers less willingness to help reverse the damage.
Speak out for clean energy (July 30)
http://www.greenpeace.org/news/details?news_id=20505
World leaders will meet for the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in less than a month. They will chose to lead us down the path of two possible futures - a world devastated by global warming and nuclear threat, or one powered by the force of the wind. See the future, make a choice.
Grime Pays
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13721
Bush's cuts to the Superfund reward corporate polluters for stonewalling and leave neighbors of toxic sites frustrated and desperate.
Marine mammals unite in beaching against Bush
http://www.greenpeace.org/news/details?news_id=20541
Marine mammals are fed up with Bush's inaction on climate change, and his latest announcement that he will not attend the Earth Summit in Johannesburg has prompted protest on both coasts. (...) One rescue worker overcome with emotion at the sight of the dying whales said it was desperation that drove the whales to beach themselves. "When will Bush see that he is responsible for destroying not just life ON Earth, but under the seas as well?" said the heartbroken rescue worker.
Human impact: how we trigger global warming, and what each individual can do about it.
http://www.enn.com/indepth/warming/overview.asp
Global warming is arguably the biggest environmental problem that we face in the 21st century. (...) The average American is responsible for about 20 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year!
Global Warming: The scientific consensus is that human activity is altering the planet's climate. Reports from the International Panel on Climate Change have made it clear that the warming atmosphere will cause dramatic changes that will affect every corner of the earth.
READ THIS REPORT AT http://www.enn.com/indepth/warming/index.asp
Here is what you'll find in this report:
Signs of Global Warming: Global warming thaws tropical ice caps; Increased shrubbery found in arctic
Clouds' role in global warming studied
Moon sheds light on climate change on Earth
Stormy weather: Amphibian declines linked to climate change
Coral conditions: Marine diseases: symptoms of an unhealthy earth
Global warming triggers public health warning
Rising oceans threaten to destroy ecosystems
Rising seas imperil Pacific island nations
Methods of Prevention: EU pushes U.S. to label products that impact global warming
Biodiversity: a buffer against climate change
A gram of prevention worth tons
Don't forget methane, climate experts say
Don't let your engine idle
Sound science a good basis for political policy
11 AFRICAN COUNTRIES UNITE TO CURB BEACH EROSION
http://ens-newscom/ens/aug2002/2002-08-01-02.asp
PARIS, France, August 1, 2002 (ENS) - Large parts of the African coastline are receding rapidly, according to newly issued reports by 11 African nations. The seafront of Grand-Bassam, the colonial capital of Côte d'Ivoire is in danger of crumbling into the Atlantic Ocean. Sections of the Nigerian coastline are disappearing at the rapid rate of up to 30 metres (97 feet) a year.
Fast Track Bill Headed for Bush's Signature
http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-02-09.asp#anchor2
WASHINGTON, DC, August 2, 2002 (ENS) - The Senate has passed the conference report of a bill giving President George W. Bush the authority to craft international trade bills without Congressional input. (...) Conservation groups say the bill could allow trade agreements that threaten the environment to be pushed through by the executive branch. "Now more than ever, Americans want Congress to hold corporations accountable, not give them more breaks," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. "The House's capitulation to powerful business interests could jeopardize many of the environmental protections Americans take for granted." (...) "Here in California, we fought hard to keep our drinking water safe from dangerous toxic chemicals. But that progress could be undone by NAFTA's corporate friendly provisions," added Pope. "Now thanks to the House vote, many more environmental protections across the country could soon be under attack."
Byrd blasts fast track for homeland security bill (July 31)
http://www.wvgazette.com/display_story.php3?sid=200207316
8/7/02
6:17:11 PM
"They Had A Plan" - 9/11 (TIME 8/4/02)
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31592
"EXECUTIVE BRANCH OVERTHROW OF AMERICA" NSDD-1
http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html
U.S. PATRIOT ACT HR 3162
("We're from the government and we're here to help you!")
http://www.apfn.org/old/apfncont.htm
Politically Correct -
What has the Supreme Court stated in that regard?
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/politically_correct.htm
FEMA's Blueprint for Action: NSDD 47
A CONTINGENCY plan to suspend Constitution and impose martial law in United States in case of nuclear war or national rebellion.
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31590
High Treason in the US Government
It slipped through at the midnight hour under the cover of darkness, voted on by men and women engulfed in a terrifying atmosphere of shock, fear, mass media hysteria, and suspiciously targeted anthrax mailings.
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31444
"TO SEDUCE A NATION" - By Lindsey Williams $4.95 - sales@survivalcenter.com http://survivalcenter.com/lwbook3.gif
"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."
- Thomas Jefferson
http://survivalcenter.com/lw.html
"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
- Albert Einstein
http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html
8/7/02
6:15:04 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
EVERYONE'S GOT SOMETHING TO HIDE EXCEPT ME AND MY TASK FORCE
The Bush administration has 30 days to turn over more documents related to Vice President Dick Cheney's National Energy Policy Development Group, a federal judge ordered late last week. A number of other federal agencies involved in the secretive energy task force have already turned over thousands of pages of related documents, but the Bush administration balked, claiming that executive privilege and the Administrative Procedures Act protected such information from public review. Last week's ruling should put an end to the foot-dragging; it also requires the government to hand in written responses to questions from two interest groups, the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch, which have sued to find out the names and positions of everyone involved in the task force. The interest groups claim that the White House gave energy industry executives an improper degree of control in shaping the nation's energy policies. David Bookbinder, senior attorney for the Sierra Club, marveled at the "administration's arrogance" and said the ruling was a clear victory for environmentalists.
straight to the source: Washington Post, Neely Tucker, 03 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=327>
only in Grist: Confessions of an energy task force member -- diary of Dick Cheney's secretive group discovered! -- satire in our opinions section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/imho/imho062901.asp?source=daily>
AMAZON QUIVERS
Deep in the southeastern jungles of Peru, a stand-off has begun between illegal loggers and some of the world's last wholly isolated indigenous groups. Around 400 native Amazonians, who traditionally have little to no contact with the outside world, have emerged to try to run the illegal loggers off the land. After four of the loggers were reportedly injured with arrows, others called for reinforcements and weapons, prompting the Native Federation of the Madre de Dios River and Tributaries to express fear of a "genocide" if the national government did not intervene soon. Around 8,000 Amazonians live in voluntary isolation in small groups in a national reserve in the Madre de Dios region, where they support themselves by hunting, gathering, and fishing. The reserve, which includes the largest remaining mahogany stand in Peru, is off limits to logging, but that hasn't deterred illegal loggers, who work on commission for big timber companies.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Jude Webber, 05 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=328>
do good: Take action to ask for that new couch in "sustainable" <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/consumption.asp?source=daily#ethanallen>
SUMMER BUGGIN'
Think of it as good news in bad packaging: The swarms of mayflies that are coating Midwestern towns this summer are a sign that the region's waterways -- most notably the Mississippi River -- are healthier than they've been in decades. The flies don't bite or sting; they just mate and die, all in the course of one day, and they do so in such large volumes that they have to be removed with power washers, shovels, and snowplows. Still, their presence is welcome: "They are an indication of the general health of the river," said John Lindell, district manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Marquette, Iowa. As efforts to clean Midwestern waterways of pollution from sewage and farm runoff have paid off, mayfly populations have boomed. This year's swarms are bigger than they've been in a half-century, with some even visible on weather-radar screens.
straight to the source: New York Times, Peter T. Kilborn, 05 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=329>
FINE, CHINA
California is one of the most environmentally minded states in the U.S.; China is one of the most polluted countries in the world. Now, the two have teamed up to clean up: California scientists and entrepreneurs are working with the Chinese government to combat environmental degradation in its myriad forms. The effort is being led by the Energy Foundation of San Francisco, which has spent $5 million per year for the past three years on environmental causes in China. California isn't acting out of pure altruism; "It's in our interest to give the Chinese the benefit of our experience," said Alan Lloyd, chair of the state's Air Resources Board, which is using U.S. federal funds to help China set up an emissions-monitoring system. Wind-blown pollutants such as ozone, pesticides, and dust blow from China to California and the Pacific Northwest, and China's greenhouse gases are expected to rival those of the U.S. by 2020, significantly worsening the global climate problem.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Robert Collier, 04 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=330>
only in Grist: All we have is dust in the wind -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha061002.asp?source=daily>
LAMBS TO THE SLAUGHTER
The wildfires that are raging across the western U.S. this summer aren't just threatening the trophy homes of billionaires; they are also posing a danger to wildlife. Take bighorn sheep, which were reintroduced to the shores of Washington state's Lake Chelan after a century's absence. The sheep were finally gaining a foothold in the area; about 17 lambs were born in the spring, bringing the population to an estimated 70. Now the 36,000-acre Deer Point fire has scorched the animal's entire range, and less than half the animals have been accounted for. The same fire also threatens other species, including the struggling mule deer population as well as the western gray squirrel and the lynx, both of them endangered. The mule deer, which were already suffering from food shortages before the fire, are expected to battle starvation this winter; and the squirrel population, one of just three remaining in the state, was dealt a severe blow when its favored big-leaf maple habitat was destroyed by the blaze as well.
straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Associated Press, 05 Aug 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=331>
8/7/02
6:12:40 PM
t r u t h o u t | 08.06
Michael Elliott | The Secret History
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06A.time.secret.htm
Daschle, Lott Oppose Polygraphs
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06B.daschle.lott.htm
Bush Administration Set to Defy Judge's Order -- Won't Name Sept. 11 Detainees
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06C.bush.no.2.jge.htm
Bernard Weiner | Inside Saddam Hussein's Diary
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06D.bw.saddam.htm
Halliburton Subsidiary Overcame Bid Protest, Fraud Investigation to Land Military Contracts
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06E.halli.bid.htm
Army Tightens Travel Bans in West Bank, Isolates Gaza Town in Response to Attacks
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06F.israel.clamp.htm
A Time for Candor on Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.06G.candor.iraq.htm
8/7/02
6:11:22 PM
UTNE WEB WATCH
The Best of the Alternative Web
HIP-HOP NATION
by Suzy Hansen, Salon
-- Hip-hop activism could be even more powerful than the civil rights movement.
HYDROGEN-POWERED HONDA ARRIVES
The Japan Times
-- Can we finally dump our fossil-fueled cars?
FORGOTTEN NYC
Web site review by Julie Madsen
-- Take a tour through New York's past and overlooked present.
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
8/7/02
6:10:12 PM
SciTech Daily Review
Want fries with that?: The Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a photograph of a strange object nicknamed "Gomez's Hamburger"
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/hubble_hamburger_020801.html
Way back in 1910, Florence Lawrence was the first-ever movie star. She was also the automotive pioneer who introduced turn signals and brake lights
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/trailing0702.asp
Research suggests the chance of catching vCJD from blood transfusions may be higher than previously thought
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2169663.stm
What important -- and not so important -- messages are hiding in your overflowing e-mail inbox? A new software program might help tame occupational spam
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/CuttingEdge/cuttingedge020802.html
Defenders of Earth: Have humans evolved to act as Gaia's immune system?
http://www.reason.com/rb/rb073102.shtml
The meth makers: Making methamphetamine in clandestine kitchen labs is just basic chemistry. But it's also extraordinarily dangerous
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13699
8/7/02
6:07:51 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Bruce Power moves up restart of Ontario nukes - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17153/story.htm
UK town struck by major disease outbreak - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17163/story.htm
Half Europe's seals to die due to virus - scientist - SWEDEN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17151/story.htm
Sasol to raise ammonia imports to 180,000T - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17154/story.htm
Rare beaked whale found on South African beach - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17156/story.htm
Singapore pushes recycled water ahead of talks - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17162/story.htm
US to fund Eastern Siberia oil, gas fields study - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17155/story.htm
'Naked' natives block illegal loggers in Peru - PERU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17158/story.htm
Mitsubishi Heavy plans $84 million capital outlay - Nikkei - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17152/story.htm
Cooler Tokyo summers may be just a pipe dream away - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17160/story.htm
Indonesia seeks up to 100,000 tonnes of US rice - INDONESIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17159/story.htm
Cyprus says huge forest fire contained - CYPRUS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17161/story.htm
Plans underway to free coal ship off Australia - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17157/story.htm
8/7/02
6:05:56 PM
t r u t h o u t | 08.05
Al Gore | Broken Promises and Political Deception
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.05A.gore.debate.htm
Judge Allows Cheney Task Force Case to Proceed
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.05B.judge.cheney.htm
Rumsfeld Moves to Strengthen His Grip on Military Intelligence
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.05C.rums.grip.htm
Powell Dismisses Iraqi Gesture
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.05D.powell.iraq.htm
GOP Calif. Governor Hopeful Falters
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.05E.ca.simon.htm