3/11/02
1:10:11 PM

My name is Tosha and I'am a student at Burney HighSchool, I have a question for you all what is the difference of the Florida panther and a cugar? I would appreciate it if you could answer my question.

Thank you Tosha

3/3/02
1:16:04 PM

Refer to: BusinessWire 2/25/02 Press Release; Region: California: BW2317 FEB 25,2002 6:13AM PACIFIC 09:13AM EASTERN

Yahoo: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020225/252317_1.html =======================================

For Immediate Release

AUC Announces Publication of An Explosive New Health Study To Help High-Tech Workers Injured By Toxic Chemical Exposure.

To: Business & News Editors/Occupational Health & High-Tech Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California - - March 04, 2002 - - Leading chemical exposure expert, American author Debora Townsend PhD, has written a fascinating new book about her explosive twelve-year study on the deadly devastating health effects of toxic chemical exposure on high-tech employees working in computer semiconductor manufacturing facilities. The author is also a victim of severe chemical exposure and poisoning from the computer manufacturing company at which she previously worked and is seriously ill.

According to Dr. Townsend, this is the first and only book that addresses this very serious community issue. Not much has been known about the subject - until the writing of this riveting book. Published by AUC.

"Deadly Employment: How to Survive Toxic Chemical Exposure & Poisoning…"© focuses on humanely helping the mortally injured who are now faced with a very serious and permanent health crisis. Before this study, there has been no help for the thousands of victims of high-tech toxic chemical exposure over the past three decades whereby thousands have already died from chemical exposure and poisoning. Help is finally available for chemical-injured workers.

"Deadly Employment"© contains groundbreaking life-saving health solutions to help the injured prolong their life. This expert also explains in detail the meaning of all those serious puzzling symptoms the affected-one may be experiencing, i.e. wheezing, nausea, vomiting, red eye, nosebleeds, black gums, skin problems, cysts, diarrhea, miscarriages, joint problems, hair loss and cancer to name a few. All these injuries eventually lead to death. Find out how. This invaluable information is already helping many people get back on the road to enjoying some level of recovered health. Biochemical exposure and anthrax aftercare are also addressed.

The U.S. has the highest number in the world of occupational and environmental health problems from high-tech development - with the San Francisco Bay Area being in the far lead in the country according to the author and an independent source, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition.

Along with its technologies, the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley has also exported to all parts of the world its toxic chemicals and a pandora's box of deadly health hazards. Find out what they are.

"Deadly Employment"© is already being endorsed by injured worker support organizations and health and safety groups throughout the world. The Worker death toll is in the thousands and continues to grow.

For more life-saving information on this explosive new study and to learn what steps you can take to safeguard your health and protect your life, email: deadlyemployment@aol.com .

Note: Author available for interview and to give Expert commentation on the health effects of toxic chemical exposure in chemical and environmental incidents.

- - 30 - -

Contact: Tiffany at AUC, 650.965.1987 PST deadlyemployment@aol.com

copyright 2002 AUC

2/25/02
1:40:41 AM

At first, it all seemed so obvious. It was those Islamic terrorists. Osama bin Laden. Mullah Omar. George W. Bush had nothing to do with it ... did he?

by Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun

"The right wing benefited so much from September 11 that, if I were still a conspiratorialist, I would believe they'd done it."

Norman Mailer

When the paladin of Camelot joined the fray, I knew 9/11 had become the Kennedy Assassination of the 21st century -- a real-life X-Files episode occurring before my eyes. Like those X-Files accounts of aliens living in oil deposits, this was a story with such staggering implications the mainstream media are loath to go near it. The question isn't who killed the president -- it's who piloted the airplanes that slammed into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvanian countryside.

Just as there remains lingering doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald fired a burst of fatally accurate shots from the Texas Book Depository, so there is skepticism that cells of Islamic terrorists secretly coordinated and simultaneously commandeered four commercial jetliners.

The culprit responsible for the Sept. 11 attack is now rumoured to be the same one who lurked behind the grassy knoll: the oil-dependent U.S. military-industrial complex.

Not everyone is ready to accept this -- a substitute teacher in North Vancouver's Sherwood Park elementary school has been called on the mat for suggesting to Grade 5 students the Central Intelligence Agency might have been involved in 9/11.

And at last count, there were a dozen U.S. Congressional Committees investigating the tragedies and how such an intelligence and security breakdown was allowed to occur.

But President George W. Bush and his right-hand man, Vice President Dick Cheney, have taken the unprecedented step of trying to restrict those investigations, pouring fuel on the simmering conspiracy theories being propagated in alternative publications, on wingnut Web sites and among some serious media outlets.

In Germany, a former minister of technology, Andreas von Buelow, made headlines when in an interview he dismissed the U.S. government's explanation that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network is responsible for the attacks. His own explanation implicated the White House.

"I wonder why many questions are not asked," von Buelow said. "For 60 decisive minutes, the military and intelligence agencies let the fighter planes stay on the ground; 48 hours later, however, the FBI presented a list of suicide attackers. Within 10 days, it emerged that seven of them were still alive."

In Britain, a flight engineer has published a detailed paper asserting the U.S. took the joysticks out of the pilots' hands using a method of remote control developed by the American military in the 1970s.

In the U.S. and Canada, independent publisher and editor Mike Ruppert (a former LAPD cop who hates the CIA) has drawn huge crowds to his two-hour lecture in which he states baldly that the U.S. government was complicit in the attacks and had foreknowledge. He opens his documentary presentation with an offer of $1,000 US to anyone who can prove any of his sources were misrepresented or inauthentic.

A former U.S. government agent also has given interviews claiming the CIA has been dealing with Osama bin Laden since 1987.

According to those who do not believe in The Lone Gunman, the truth is as plain as the nose on your face: Sept. 11's terrorist acts were planned and paid for by the CIA to enable the Bush Administration to "legitimately" bomb Afghanistan into submission on behalf of the oil industry.

After all, everyone knows the Bush family has strong and long acknowledged ties to the oil industry, as do other senior members of the administration. Cheney until recently was president of a company servicing the oil patch. National Security adviser Condoleeza Rice was a manager for Chevron. Commerce and Energy Secretaries Donald Evans and Stanley Abraham worked for Tom Brown, another oil giant.

Follow the money, as they say, and you'll find the smoking gun.

Under this scenario, conspiracy theorists say a pliant Afghan regime was essential because of plans to pipe central Asian oil across Afghanistan. And there is a harvest of coincidence and contradiction to feed such imaginings.

Consider first that the intelligence breakdown that led to 9/11 appears to have been a consequence of the Bush Administration telling the Federal Bureau of Investigation to back off on its investigation of Middle Eastern terrorism. A senior FBI investigator resigned from the agency, noisily claiming its main obstacle in the investigation was Big Oil's political influence. In an ironic twist of fate, the agent died in the World Trade Center.

(Fox Mulder, was that you? Is that why they cancelled the series?)

There also are recurring reports the CIA station chief in Dubai met with bin Laden only seven weeks before 9/11 while he was laid up for surgery. (The CIA denies this, but of course you can't believe anything it says.)

Now think about this for a second: The Independent in London questions how Bush could claim in two public appearances to have seen the first plane hit the first tower long before any such TV footage was broadcast. The paper also asks why Dubya continued sitting with elementary school students after the second tower was hit and he'd been told, "America is under attack."

Very mysterious, when standard procedure for such a situation is to whisk the president away to safety. Unless -- and here is the nub -- unless he knew something more than we did that morning. As the Independent asked, "What television station was HE watching?"

This is rich stuff for those who see Them under the bed, especially since the financial miasma melds nicely with the already swirling rumour and insinuation.

In the days before the attacks, there was unusually heavy trading in airline and related stocks using a market tactic called a "put option" that essentially bets that a stock will decline in value. If you were Osama, buying puts would be a great way to boost the value of your investment portfolio.

And sure enough, unusually high numbers of put options were purchased in early September for the stocks of AMR Corp. and UAL Corp., the parents of American and United -- each of which had two planes hijacked. The U.S. government is now investigating suspicious trading in 38 companies directly affected by the events of Sept. 11.

The initial survey of beneficiaries, however, turns out not to include one tall, dark-haired, olive-skinned, Allah-loving, Saudi-born sheik. Mainly the profiteers were blue-chip, establishment, red-white-and-blue Americans, some of whom were tenants in the collapsed twin towers, such as Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Lehman Brothers and the Bank of America, major airlines, cruise companies, General Motors Corp., Raytheon and others. Several insurance companies are also on the 38-name list U.S. and Canadian financial firms were asked to review and compare with their records for any unusual patterns.

(Which may say more about who plays the market than anything else, but why quibble with the quixotic?)

Cynics are also questioning the incredible speed with which evidence in the WTC collapse is being destroyed. Never in the history of fire investigations, they say, has evidence been destroyed before exhaustive investigations are complete.

(Say what? Two skyscrapers' worth of debris should be warehoused?)

And then there were the curious developments swirling around the anthrax public health hysteria triggered shortly after 9/11. Even dullards can appreciate that anthrax sent to a top Democrat and to the U.S. media helped unify the nation behind the war effort while literally shutting down Congress --a remarkably useful outcome for Dubya and his gang.

Indeed, specialists in biological warfare say the anthrax appears to be a U.S. military strain and the culprit a disgruntled American scientist who possesses a rare combination of laboratory skills that make him (they believe it's a man) relatively easy to identify. Hmmm.

And who didn't smell a bad odour two weeks ago when Tennessee driver's licence examiner Katherine Smith died in Memphis under "most unusual and suspicious" circumstances. One day before her arraignment on charges she conspired to provide phoney licences to five Arabs tied by the FBI to the 9/11 attacks, her car crashed into a utility pole. The car was only slightly damaged, the gas tank was full and intact, but the vehicle was immediately engulfed in flames.

As one report pointed out, Smith and the car interior apparently were doused with gasoline, which would certainly qualify in my book as at least "suspicious."

And Memphis ... Memphis? Wasn't that the same place a noted Harvard bio-warfare expert "fell" off a bridge in December?

Scully!

The truth is out there. I know it. You too can help find it.

If you would like an activist kit to get involved in urging a full public investigation of 9/11 and its aftermath, reply to findtruth 40@hotmail.com with "Send kit."

But be warned.

The Pentagon has just established a new Office of Strategic Influence that calls for the planting of false stories in the foreign press, phoney e-mails from disguised addresses and other covert activities to manipulate public opinion.

This could be one of them.

Ian Mulgrew claims to be a Vancouver Sun reporter.

Source: http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=DCC82857-AA3C-41FB-997D-EDA05CC774E3

2/25/02
1:22:02 AM

First Tower To Fall Was Hit At Higher Speed, Study Finds

By Eric Lipton and James Glanz

Researchers trying to explain why the World Trade Center's south tower fell first, though struck second, are focusing on new calculations showing that the passenger jet that hit the south tower had been flying as fast as 586 miles an hour, about 100 miles an hour faster than the other hijacked plane.

The speed of the two planes at impact has been painstakingly estimated using a mix of video, radar and even the recorded sounds of the planes passing overhead.

Two sets of estimates, by government and private scientists, have surfaced, but both show that the plane that hit the south tower at 9:02 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175, approached the trade center at extremely high speed, much faster than American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the north tower at 8:46 a.m.

In fact, the United plane was moving so fast that it was at risk of breaking up in midair as it made a final turn toward the south tower, traveling at a speed far exceeding the 767-200 design limit for that altitude, a Boeing official said.

"These guys exceeded even the emergency dive speed," said Liz Verdier, a Boeing spokeswoman. "It's off the chart."

The speed of the planes is far from the only factor that will be important in explaining why the south tower, which was struck between the 78th and 84th floors, fell within 56 minutes and the north tower, which was hit between the 94th and 99th floors, stood for 102 minutes.

Ultimately, it was the combination of structural damage and the fires, fueled by thousands of gallons of jet fuel, that brought the buildings down. The south tower was also hit at a lower point, meaning there was more weight bearing down on the damaged floors.

But the difference in the towers' survival times, which translated into a difference in the amount of time tenants and rescue personnel had to get out, could be related in part to the planes' speeds, researchers said.

"Clearly one plane came in faster and had more energy," Dr. Jerome Connor, a professor of civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is studying the collapses, said of the new calculations, in which he was not directly involved.

"If one building had more damage, it would take less for the heat to build up enough for it to come down," Dr. Connor said. "That would help explain why the building that was hit second, fell first."

The high speed of United Flight 175 may also have complicated the hijackers' mission, because it would have been more difficult to make accurate adjustments in the plane's direction, several pilots said. Loud and repeated alarms would also have been sounding in the cockpit.

"The faster you go, the less time and room you have for error," said Tim O'Toole, a former 767 pilot and staff engineer in safety department of the Air Line Pilots Association.

The flight data recorders from the two planes have not been found; Boeing officials said these so-called black boxes are not designed to survive the forces they encountered in the collapse.

But a researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by closely studying videos of the attack, has estimated the planes' speeds. The Federal Aviation Administration, in consultation with the National Transportation Safety Board, has come up with its own estimates, based on radar and video.

The M.I.T. analysis, by Eduardo Kausel, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, found that the United plane was traveling an estimated 537 m.p.h., while the American plane, the first to hit, was traveling 429 m.p.h.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said the government's analysis put the speeds at 586 m.p.h. for the United flight and 494 m.p.h. for the American one.

In both cases, the planes were flying much faster than they should have been at that altitude: the aviation agency's limit below 10,000 feet is 287 m.p.h.

Investigators could not say for sure why one plane was traveling faster than the other; it may have been accidental choices of novice pilots, or perhaps the second group of hijackers feared being shot down. But what is clear is that at impact, this difference was important.

The energy of motion carried by any object, called the kinetic energy, varies as the square of its velocity, so even modest differences in speed can translate into large variations in what the building had to absorb.

That means that while the United jet was traveling only about a quarter faster than the American jet, it would have released about 50 percent more energy on impact.

"The difference is enormous," Dr. Kausel said of the energy created by the impact of the planes.

Even at a speed of only about 500 m.p.h., a partly loaded Boeing 767 weighing 132 tons would have created about three billion joules of energy at impact, the equivalent of three- quarters of a ton of T.N.T., according to another team of researchers at M.I.T.

Only about 6 percent of that energy would be used up in cutting more than 30 exterior steel columns, said Dr. Tomasz Wierzbicki, a professor of applied mechanics at M.I.T., who did his research with a student, Liang Xue. But some 25 percent would go into ripping up floor structures and 56 percent in damaging structural columns in the core.

The energy poured into the core at this speed would probably be enough to damage or break about 23 of the 47 columns in the core. At a higher speed, more may have been damaged.

Aviation experts have disagreed over just how difficult the mission was for the hijackers, who had limited flying experience and had probably never operated a real commercial jet. The high speeds added to the complexity of their task.

The typical cruise speed of a Boeing 767-200 at 35,000 feet is 530 m.p.h. The lower the plane goes, however, the thicker the air becomes, so the slower the plane must travel to avoid excessive stress.

Flying a Boeing 767 straight ahead at 1,000 to 1,500 feet would not be too difficult, even at more than 580 m.p.h., and it would most likely not threaten the structural integrity of the plane, a half a dozen pilots and a Boeing spokeswoman said.

But accurately turning the plane at that speed and maintaining the proper pitch, or up and down movement, is difficult, the pilots said, particularly for a novice pilot, and turning at that speed would have put excessive stress on the plane.

An automatic pilot device could have directed the hijacked planes to Manhattan, if the hijackers knew how to enter certain coordinates into the computerized flight management system. But as they approached the city, the hijackers almost certainly had to take manual control of the aircraft, because the automatic pilot in navigation mode is not accurate enough to target the center of building, pilots said.

Video of the approach of United Flight 175 to the south tower shows that it banked westward in the final moments, its right wing going up, its left wing down. That maneuver may have been intended to maximize damage to the building. But it has been interpreted by some pilots as a sign that the hijacker nearly missed the tower.

"It was unfortunate luck," said Richard Fariello, a retired T.W.A. captain who works as a consultant to NASA. "The way he was headed, he could have just clipped it perhaps with one wing. There is a good chance that would have been the case."

Structural engineers cannot yet say how important a role the planes' speed played in how quickly the towers collapsed. Aside from the fact that the second plane hit a lower floor, it also struck more to one side of the tower's face, presumably causing asymmetric damage that could have made it more difficult for the tower to reapportion its loads among surviving structural columns.

But determining the force and energy of impact is the starting point for any effort to understand what failures within the buildings eventually caused collapse, said Dr. Shyam Sunder, chief of the structures division at the building and fire research lab of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

"It's important to have the speed of the plane and the direction that it hit for any analysis that we do relating to aircraft impact on the structure," Dr. Sunder said.

If the plane that hit the south tower had been traveling slower, and the tower perhaps had stood longer, it is still unclear how many more people would have survived. Even though the south tower fell in only 56 minutes, fewer tenants died in it than in the north tower. In large part, that is because many of the people who worked in the upper floors had evacuated during the 16 minutes between the two attacks. But extra time might have meant that those trapped above the impact zone at the south tower would have found the one emergency exit stairwell that was still passable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/23/science/23PLAN.html?ex=1015611236&ei=1&en=f9e891e51ba311c6

2/25/02
12:59:05 AM

t r u t h o u t

North Korea Calls Bush 'Kingpin of Terrorism'

http://www.truthout.com/02.25A.Kingpin.htm

Bush Renews Campaign For Arctic Oil

http://www.truthout.com/02.25B.Artic.Oil.htm

William Rivers Pitt | Redefining the Threat

http://www.truthout.com/02.25C.WRP.Redefining.htm

Monsanto Guilty in Alabama

http://www.truthout.com/02.25D.Monsanto.Guilty.htm

Brazilian Government Evicting Ancient Tribe

http://www.truthout.com/02.25E.Government.Evicting.htm

Helping Colombia Help an Oil Company

http://www.truthout.com/02.25F.Helping.Oil.htm

Holocaust Survivor Gets Paltry Compensation

http://www.truthout.com/02.25G.Paltry.Compensation.htm

Bush Empty-Handed After Jiang Talks

http://www.truthout.com/02.25H.Bush.Empty.htm

2/25/02
12:51:29 AM

Global Sea Levels Likely To Rise Higher In 21st Century Than Previous Predictions

New calculations by a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher indicate global sea levels likely will rise more by the end of this century than predictions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2001.

The projected sea-level rise is due to a revised estimate of the ice melt from glaciers, said geological sciences Emeritus Professor Mark Meier.

Meier and CU-Boulder colleague Mark Dyurgerov have collected new data showing the world’s glaciers and ice caps have exhibited significant ice loss in the 20th century, which has accelerated since 1988. That loss has contributed to at least 20 percent of the observed rise in sea level, said Meier.

"Some glaciers around the world now are smaller than they have been in the last several thousand years," he said.

"The rate of ice loss since 1988 has more than doubled," said Meier, a researcher and former director of CU-Boulder’s Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research. Dyurgerov also is an INSTAAR researcher.

Meier said the IPCC report might have underestimated the wastage of glaciers and ice caps around the word -- excluding Greenland and Antarctica -- for several reasons. The IPPC did not include increases in ice wastage since the late 1980s, an apparent increase in the sensitivity of ice wastage to both temperature and precipitation, and a probable increase in melting from small, cold glaciers surrounding the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, he said.

In addition, new data from colleagues at the University of Alaska show that huge glaciers on the West Coast of Alaska and northern Canada are wasting rapidly, said Meier. The melting of these large glaciers has contributed roughly 0.14 millimeters per year in sea rise over the long-term, according to calculations by Meier and Dyurgerov, jumping to more than 0.32 millimeters per year during the last decade.

The IPCC, which estimated global ice wastage of only 0.3 millimeters per year, probably underestimated the contribution of glacier disintegration to sea-level rise because little data on the large, maritime glaciers in Alaska was available, said Meier. But this region is the largest contributor to sea-level rise, he said.

"The sensitivity of glacier melt to temperature rise depends largely on precipitation, which in some ‘glaciered’ areas like southern coastal Alaska has been greatly under-measured," said Meier. "The large glaciers of Alaska and adjacent Canada currently are contributing about half of the rate of global ice loss, exclusive of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets," said Meier. "But they contain only 17 percent of the glacier ice area."

The new data suggests the IPCC calculation for the 21st century -- a total of 0.16 to 0.36 feet -- was an underestimate, said Meier. He calculated that glacier melting could contribute 0.65 feet or more to sea level this century.

The IPCC estimated that other processes such as ocean warming would cause an additional 0.36 feet to 1.4 feet of sea-level rise by the year 2100, Meier said.

"These estimates in sea-level rise may seem small, but a 1-foot rise in sea level typically will cause a retreat of shoreline of 100 feet or more, which would have substantial social and economic impacts," Meier said.

Meier said that in the United States, some large coastal cities like Houston "are not much above sea level now." He also said island nations such as Seychelles off the West Coast of Africa and Kiribati southwest of Hawaii are within a meter of being inundated by sea rise.

In addition, sea rise of only 1 meter in Bangladesh would put one-half of the nation underwater, displacing more than 100 million people.

Source: http://www.colorado.edu/

2/25/02
12:47:54 AM

A Warmer, Wetter World: Global Warming Effects Will Continue for a Century Even if Emissions Curbed Now

Though significant uncertainty remains regarding the amount of global warming that will occur over the next century or two, scientists agree that the trend will continue for the next hundred years even if fossil fuel consumption is dramatically reduced.

Scientists predict significant increases in global temperature and sea level this century. And related changes in weather patterns are expected to affect agricultural production. Global warming is likely to have the greatest human impact in poor countries unable to adequately respond to the changes.

Professor Robert Dickinson of the Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences presented the evidence behind this assessment at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on Feb. 17 in Boston. Dickinson's presentation, titled "Predicting Climate Change," was part of the symposium "Climate Change: Integrating Science, Economics and Policy."

"Current climate models can indicate the general nature of climate change for the next 100 to 200 years," Dickinson says. "But the effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) that have been released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels last for at least 100 years. That means that any reductions in CO2 that are expected to be possible over this period will not result in a cleaner atmosphere and less global warming than we see today for at least a century."

Climate models indicate temperature increases of 3 to more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit this century and a sea level rise of 6 inches to nearly 3 feet. The burning of fossil fuels emits greenhouse gases, such as CO2, into the atmosphere. These gases contribute to global warming, and the temperature increase expands the oceans and causes ice sheets to melt, in turn increasing sea level.

Despite differences in climate model projections and the limitations of the models themselves, scientists agree that significant consequences from global warming will occur in this century, Dickinson says.

"Given enough time, there may be as many winners as losers. However, many of the losers will be very unhappy, such as people who live on islands that will be put under water," Dickinson says. "It will take a lot of time for humans to adjust their systems to these changes. The biggest problem is the speed at which global warming is occurring.

"If it were happening over 1,000 years, rather than 100 years, it would hardly be noticed. But we're talking about fairly large changes within the next generation. We're talking about people with houses on the beach having to move. The U.S. is fairly resilient, and people can move. But in Bangladesh and other low-elevation areas with few resources, there will be severe difficulties."

The world can also expect large shifts in agricultural productivity, Dickinson says. Some regions will become more productive, and others will become less so because of changing patterns in temperature and rainfall. Overall, there will be more rainfall, but also more evaporation leading to more floods and more droughts.

Climate modelers are fairly certain of these consequences because their models have improved as their understanding has increased of the underlying physical processes of climate change. Dickinson adds, however, that the models still have some limitations. For example, current climate models do not adequately address the issue of natural temperature variability.

The global temperature has increased more rapidly in the past 10 years, but the changes are more dramatic in high latitudes perhaps because of natural variability, Dickinson explains.

"There's a question of how much the natural variability is related to the human-caused global warming," Dickinson says. "The latter could be amplifying some of the patterns of natural variability. It's not necessarily a question of either/or. Both are occurring. In Alaska, for example, warming of several degrees -- rather than just 1 degree -- has occurred over the past 100 years."

Also, some evidence suggests that the coupling of natural temperature variability and human-caused global warming is causing an increase in El Nino weather patterns in the tropics, with consequences elsewhere. For example, Australia and Indonesia may see more droughts, while the West Coast of the United States may see more rainfall.

Climate models are also limited in giving reliable regional details on global warming, Dickinson adds. For example, models cannot distinguish changes between Atlanta and New York City. The models can predict differences between high latitudes and the tropics.

Much research is yet to be done regarding climate change, but Dickinson believes policymakers can already glean some guidance from the evidence he will cite in his presentation at AAAS. That evidence will come from research at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, where Dickinson worked for 21 years, as well as his current research and the 2001 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

For example, enough data exists to develop mitigation and adaptation plans regarding greenhouse gases, Dickinson says. Mitigation involves strategies for reducing greenhouse gases or changing other factors to compensate for them (a fairly new concept). Reductions can involve both consuming lesser amounts of fossil fuels and also finding ways to capture the gases and put them in places other than the atmosphere. The latter approach is called sequestration and is part of a U.S. Department of Energy research initiative.

"The only way to stop the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to reduce CO2 emissions to 20 to 30 percent of today's levels," Dickinson says. "This may require a similar reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels. I believe we will eventually achieve that goal, but it will probably take 100 years. That means reductions in automobile emissions and carbon dioxide released from coal-powered electric power generation and other industrial activities.

"We have to move our energy systems to forms other than fossil fuels. And when I say we, I don't just mean the United States. The U.S. is the biggest user of fossil fuels, but China and India are likely to surpass the U.S. in the next 50 years, and China may surpass the U.S. in the next decade."

Source: http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/WWWorld.html

2/25/02
12:44:33 AM

ScienceDaily.com

GLOBAL WARMING WILL PERSIST AT LEAST A CENTURY EVEN IF EMISSIONS CURBED NOW

Though significant uncertainty remains regarding the amount of global warming that will occur over the next century or two, scientists agree that the trend will continue for the next hundred years even if fossil fuel consumption is dramatically reduced.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020218094427.htm

RESEARCHERS REVEAL MASSIVE REDUCTION IN PRODUCTIVITY OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC

Using innovative techniques for mapping fisheries, scientists released the results of the first ocean-wide synthesis of the status of fisheries in the North Atlantic, showing the cumulative extraction of fishes from the sea.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020218094949.htm

EARLY MALNUTRITION AND PARASITIC INFECTIONS REDUCE COGNITIVE ABILITY LATER IN CHILDHOOD

Stunted growth caused by chronic malnutrition during the first two years of life has an adverse affect on a childs cognitive ability later in childhood, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The researchers also concluded that early infection with the diarrhea-causing parasite, Giardia lambia, might be associated with diminished cognitive function later in childhood. The study, which appears in the February 16 issue of The Lancet, suggests that efforts to improve cognitive function of school children in developing nations should focus on improving the nutrition and well being of children early in life.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020215071338.htm

RESTRICTING R-MOVIES LINKED TO DECREASED TEEN SMOKING, DRINKING

Researchers from the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Dartmouth Medical School and Dartmouth College have identified a new strategy for parents who dont want their children to smoke or drink: dont let them watch R-rated movies. A new paper in the January/February 2002 issue of Effective Clinical Practice states that children who are not restricted from watching R-rated movies are three times more likely to smoke or drink alcohol compared to those who are never allowed to watch them.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020214075731.htm

GLOBAL WARMING LENGTHENS DAY

Global warming caused by increasing manmade carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will lengthen the day, according to a study to be published this month by the journal, Geophysical Research Letters. Researchers at Belgiums Royal Observatory and the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, lead by Olivier de Viron, used computer models to analyze the effect of adding one percent more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year, in order to reach a doubling of the carbon dioxide concentration after 70 years.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020213074646.htm

SCIENTISTS LOOK TO EUROPE AS EVOLUTIONARY SEAT

University of Toronto anthropologist David Begun and his European colleagues are re-writing the book on the history of great apes and humans, arguing that most of their evolutionary development took place in Eurasia, not Africa.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020219075535.htm

STILL WATERS? "CLEAR-CUTTING" ROBS THE DEEP-SEA OF ANCIENT TREASURES

Deep beneath the Earth's oceans, "Ancient groves of invertebrates are being clear-cut by trawling just as quickly and surely as loggers felled groves of giant redwoods," Callum M. Roberts reported Feb. 15 during the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020219080453.htm

DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS MAKE OLD RATS YOUTHFUL, MAY HELP REJUVENATE AGING HUMANS, ACCORDING TO UC BERKELEY STUDY

Two dietary supplements straight off the health food store shelf put the spark back into aging rats, and might do the same for aging baby boomers, according to a study at the University of California, Berkeley, and Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020219075823.htm

SETTING MICRO GEARS IN MOTION

The movement of gears and motors in micromachines just got easier because of the lateral Casimir force. This force acts tangential to two surfaces, resulting in a horizontal sliding motion of one surface against the other.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020219080529.htm

GLOBAL SEA LEVELS LIKELY TO RISE HIGHER IN 21ST CENTURY THAN PREVIOUS PREDICTIONS

New calculations by a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher indicate global sea levels likely will rise more by the end of this century than predictions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2001. The projected sea-level rise is due to a revised estimate of the ice melt from glaciers, said geological sciences Emeritus Professor Mark Meier.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020220075633.htm

BATTLE OF THE SEXES LEADS TO A BIOLOGICAL ARMS RACE

Boxes of chocolate and Valentine cards wont get you far in the animal world, where courting is considerably tougher. New research confirms earlier beliefs: an evolutionary battle of the sexes can lead to a biological arms race between males and females.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020215071247.htm

HUMANS MAY NOT BE AS AGGRESSIVE AND COMPETITIVE AS THOUGHT

Is it human nature to be competitive? Aggressive? Violent? Popular and scientific literature says yes. An anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis who studies primate behavior says no.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020219080248.htm

PINATUBO VOLCANO RESEARCH BOOSTS CASE FOR HUMAN-CAUSED GLOBAL WARMING

Research into the worldwide climatic impact of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption during the 10 years since the eruption has strengthened the case for human causes of global warming, a Rutgers scientist reports in a paper published in the February 14 issue of the international journal, Science.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020220075850.htm

LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY DEVELOPS POWERFUL NEW RECHARGEABLE BATTERY

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed and demonstrated a laboratory prototype miniature thin-film fuel cell power source, which provides portable electrical power for a range of consumer electronics. With the LLNL fuel cell, a typical cell phone battery could be projected to last more than 300 percent longer, extending standby time from four days to two weeks, and talk time from six hours to two days.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020220080325.htm

CYCLED LIGHT PROMOTES GROWTH IN PRE-TERM INFANTS

A Duke University Medical Center study has shown that exposing babies born before 31 weeks of gestation to cycled light helps them grow faster, and the study identifies no short-term advantages to keeping infants in total near darkness -- the standard practice with many infants.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020221072810.htm

ORIGAMI HELPS SCIENTISTS SOLVE PROBLEMS

Fold the paper in half and then fold it in half again and eventually that piece of paper will be transformed into an airplane, a hat, or a peace crane. Origami - the ancient Japanese tradition of paper folding has long been recognized as an art, but now origami is providing the answers to real world problems in mathematics, engineering, and astronomy proving that origami is more than just childs play.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020219080203.htm

A CURRENT CONTROVERSY: IS EUROPE ABOUT TO FREEZE?

One of the odd possibilities that could emerge from global warming is that much of Europe, robbed of the ocean current patterns that help keep it warm, could rather abruptly enter a deep freeze and have a climate that more closely resembles Alaska than the modest temperatures it now enjoys. Researchers from Oregon State University explored this potential phenomenon, and the fluctuations in "thermohaline circulation" that could trigger it.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020221072948.htm

TANGO BETWEEN BLACK HOLE AND STAR REMNANT MAY EXPLAIN COSMIC EXPLOSION, MIT TEAM REPORTS

Gamma-ray bursts, extremely powerful explosions occurring in distant parts of the universe, may be the energetic offspring of a cosmic dance between black holes and their dance-partner stars, said scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tel Aviv University in the Feb. 21 issue of Science. But they show that the bursts are only a small portion of the total energy released during this cosmic tango.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020222073739.htm

WHEAT MAY BE VITAL IN BATTLE AGAINST CANCER AND OTHER DISEASES

A new weapon has been discovered in the battle against disease: whole grain wheat. According to Kansas State University biochemist Dolores Takemoto, new research is showing that wheat contains powerful antioxidants which are key to its ability to prevent colon cancer, and possibly diabetes and heart disease.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020221072854.htm

COMPOUNDS REJUVENATE RATS, MAY AID HUMANS

Researchers in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University and the University of California at Berkeley have identified a combination of dietary supplements that dramatically improves both the activity, energy level and cognitive function of old rats.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020221073701.htm

PLANT STEMS AND LEAVES ARE ALWAYS PROPORTIONAL TO ROOTS, SCIENTISTS FIND

Add this universal truth to biology textbooks: the mass of a plant's leaves and stems is proportionally scaled to that of its roots in a mathematically predictable way, regardless of species or habitat. In other words, biologists can now reasonably estimate how much biomass is underground just by looking at the stems and leaves above ground.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020222073630.htm

NEW SUPERCONDUCTING TRANSFORMER IS LIGHT AND COMPACT

Researchers from the Technology Foundation STW and the University of Twente, in cooperation with Smit Transformatoren and Smit Draad, have developed a prototype coil for a superconducting transformer which is not only light and compact but also energy-efficient. A keen interest has already been expressed by several companies.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020221073146.htm

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY HELPING MAKE TOMORROWS SOLDIERS ALL THEY CAN BE

Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator has nothing over the Objective Force Warrior envisioned by the Army and a team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and organizations throughout the country. The goal is to develop a high-tech soldier with 20 times the capability of todays warrior and to have that soldier commissioned by about 2010. With advanced technologies, the Army plans to create an overmatch and greatly minimize danger to its soldiers.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020222074123.htm

2/25/02
12:27:41 AM

Planet Ark World Environment News

US team to meet with China on GMO policy - Veneman - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14692/story.htm

UPDATE - Last three months warmest on US record books - NOAA - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14682/story.htm

Bush to set out constitutional defense to GAO suit - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14683/story.htm

UPDATE - GAO takes W.House to court over energy task force - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14684/story.htm

Biotech soybeans help soil quality, industry says - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14702/story.htm

UPDATE - Jury decides against Monsanto, Solutia in PCB case - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14691/story.htm

Ofili good dung deal for London Zoo - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14705/story.htm

HSBC to send staff to become eco-warriers - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14701/story.htm

INTERVIEW - Britannia Zinc plans battery recycling trials - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14711/story.htm

Pesticides, asbestos slated for trade controls - SWITZERLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14710/story.htm

WWF calls for saving harbour porpoise in Europe - SWITZERLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14694/story.htm

Salvors remove more logs from ship beached off NZ - NEW ZEALAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14706/story.htm

FEATURE - Mexican butterfly death raises questions on numbers - MEXICO http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14681/story.htm

Kenya bans land grabs, graft-watchers sceptical - KENYA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14709/story.htm

Zoo practises polar bear break-out - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14704/story.htm

Italy suspects could have made lethal gas-experts - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14688/story.htm

INTERVIEW - Germany aims to overtake Japan in solar wafers - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14690/story.htm

German power dips on extra hydro,wind power supply - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14687/story.htm

Brunsbuettel n-plant seen out for several weeks - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14686/story.htm

French Socialists pledge not to boost nuclear power - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14689/story.htm

Unsold coffee piles up in Ivory Coast - COTE D'IVOIRE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14698/story.htm

Calpers' Asia ethics motives right, tactics wrong - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14699/story.htm

Pragmatism rules in Asia's ethical investing debate - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14685/story.htm

Zhu tells Bush China GM rules meet global practice - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14693/story.htm

Chile fires destroy protected forests - CHILE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14697/story.htm

Canada says can overrule provinces and ratify Kyoto - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14708/story.htm

UPDATE - Court ruling keeps Canada seal pups safe from hunt - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14696/story.htm

Rio battles growing dengue epidemic with a samba - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14707/story.htm

Petrobras to appeal $180 mln oil spill ruling - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14703/story.htm

Brazilian scientists start to map coffee genome - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14700/story.htm

Brazil starts mapping medicinal plant potential - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14695/story.htm

2/25/02
12:06:09 AM

t r u t h o u t

Ken Starr Underling to Judge Cheney in GAO Suit

http://www.truthout.com/02.24A.Starr.Underling.htm

Henry A. Waxman | GAO v. Cheney "Everyone in our government--even the Vice President--should be accountable to the American people..."

http://www.truthout.com/02.24B.Waxman.Responds.htm

DynCorp Disgrace | Employees Accused of Sex With Minors

http://www.truthout.com/02.24C.DynCorp.Disgrace.htm

No Child Left Behind? Come to Indian Country

http://www.truthout.com/02.24D.Indian.Education.htm

Congressman Ron Paul, House of Representatives, November 29, 2001

http://www.truthout.com/02.24E.Ron.Paul.htm

As Bush Visits China, He Should Reflect On An Execution Looming At Home

http://www.truthout.com/02.24F.Bush.Execution.htm

A Fragile Land Is Ruined In The Name Of Energy

http://www.truthout.com/02.24G.Fragile.Land.htm

2/24/02
11:46:44 PM

The Pentagon Mindset: Poison Them

by Matthew Rothschild

Deep inside the sixth of eight glowing articles in its series "10 Days in September" about what wonderful crisis managers George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice are, The Washington Post on February 1 buried the following bit of information: The Pentagon was considering poisoning Afghanistan's food supply.

Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld prepared a briefing for Bush on September 17, Bob Woodward and Dan Balz reported.

Rice, head of the National Security Council, "and Frank Miller, the senior NSC staffer for defense, went with the President to the Pentagon. Before the briefing, Miller previewed the classified slide presentation prepared for Bush and got a big surprise," Woodward and Balz reported.

"One slide about special operations in Afghanistan said: Thinking Outside the Box--Poisoning Food Supply. Miller was shocked and showed it to Rice. The United States doesn't know how to do this, Miller reminded her, and we're not allowed. It would effectively be a chemical or biological attack--clearly banned by treaties that the United States had signed, including the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention.

"Rice took the slide to Rumsfeld. 'This slide is not going to be shown to the President of the United States,' she said.

"Rumsfeld agreed. 'You're right,' he said."

Why this wasn't a major story in itself is beyond me: The Secretary of Defense wanted to propose to the President that he poison Afghanistan's food supply!

The Pentagon, unchastened by reports that it had intentionally destroyed Iraq's water supply ten years ago (see "The Secret Behind the Sanctions," by Thomas J. Nagy, The Progressive, September 2001), was still at its old tricks, planning at the highest levels to pull a similarly lethal and illegal stunt in Afghanistan, one that is banned by the Geneva Convention.

I hope at least one courageous member of the House or Senate Armed Services Committee will ask Rumsfeld about this the next time he comes to Capitol Hill.

Source: http://www.progressive.org/webex/wx021802.html

2/24/02
11:39:22 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens-news.com

U.S. REGULATION OF TRANSGENIC PLANTS CALLED INADEQUATE

WASHINGTON, DC, February 22, 2002 (ENS) - Regulations now in place to protect the public and the environment from potential harmful effects of genetically engineered crops are inadequate, concludes a new review by the National Research Council. The report, released Thursday, says the government must do a better job of screening these crops - both before and after they are planted.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-22-06.html

GREENHOUSE GASES LINKED TO STRONGER EL NINO EVENTS

SYDNEY, Australia, February 22, 2002 (ENS) - Rising concentrations of greenhouse gases may have tipped the world into a changed climate pattern, research by two Australian government climate scientists indicates.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-22-01.html

$50 MILLION INVESTED IN NATURE

LONDON, England, February 22, 2002 (ENS) - A US$50 million contribution from financial service's giant HSBC Group will fund a five year partnership to support conservation projects around the world, including several in the United States. The partnership, dubbed Investing in Nature, will augment contributions already made by HSBC Bank USA to various environmental groups for projects in New York State.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-22-07.html

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT RIGHT TO FORBID SEAL PUP KILLING UPHELD

OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada, February 22, 2002 (ENS) - In a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court of Canada today ruled that the federal government has the right to prohibit the commercial killing of newborn harp and hooded seals during Canada's yearly hunt.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-22-04.html

CONSERVING SOUTH AFRICA'S WILDLIFE BRICK BY BRICK

PRETORIA, South Africa, February 22, 2002 (ENS) - One brick at a time, South Africa is building financial support to safeguard its unique wild animals and wild lands.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-22-03.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: FEBRUARY 22, 2002

U.S. Has Warmest November - January Ever

Gulf War Mortality Figures Alarm Veterans

Lawsuit Seeks to Curb Central Valley Water Pollution

$2.22 Million Funds Phytoremediation Studies

Women Play Vital Role in Environmental Planning

Chinese Tallow Trees Take Over Texas Grasslands

Environmental Changes Increase Fish Disease Vulnerability

Sunflowers Could Replace Rubber Trees

Campaign Offers Sea Turtle Information

Idaho Team Helps Set Up Guatemalan Reserve

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-22-09.html

HEALING OUR WORLD: WEEKLY COMMENT

We Are on Our Own - But There is Help

Each day, thousands of toxic substances compromise our health and tens of thousands of people become ill or die every year from a whole host of environmental illnesses, many of which may never be diagnosed properly by a doctor. While these people suffer, committees meet, studies are conducted, rules are debated, and drugs are prescribed. Industries continue to pollute, backed by a U.S. presidential administration committed to improving the life of the rich at the expense of the Earth and everyone else.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-22g.html

2/24/02
11:34:35 PM

ACLU Action Network Members

In response to September 11th, many have started talking about creating a national ID system as a counter-terrorism measure. In fact, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators is already urging the federal government to create a national ID system by linking state drivers licenses and state databases.

Unfortunately, just like the use of Social Security numbers evolved far beyond its original purpose, a national ID card is likely to lead to a surveillance society where our movements are monitored and recorded through the use of "internal passports."

A national ID card would not prevent terrorism, and in fact, would lure us into a false sense of security by enabling individuals with an ID -- who may in fact be terrorists -- to avoid heightened security measures. The creation of a national ID would be a misplaced "quick fix" that would pose serious threats to our freedom and privacy.

Take Action! You can read more and send a FREE FAX to your Members of Congress, urging them to oppose the motor vehicle administrators' proposal from our action alert at:

http://www.aclu.org/action/id107.html

2/24/02
11:25:21 PM

t r u t h o u t

Brisard and Dasquie | Bush, oil and the Taliban

http://www.truthout.com/02.23A.Bush.Oil.htm

Jeb Bush Was in Enron Partnership

http://www.truthout.com/02.23B.Enron.Partnership.htm

Dennis Kucinich | A Prayer for America

http://www.truthout.com/02.23C.Kucinich.Prayer.htm

Cheney Halliburton Supplied Iraq, Circumvented US Law and Policy

http://www.truthout.com/02.23D.Cheney.Circumvented.htm

Ashcroft Invokes Religion In U.S. War on Terrorism

http://www.truthout.com/02.23E.Ashcroft.Religion.htm

Anthrax Expert Stands By Her Claim | Administration Remains Silent on Suspect

http://www.truthout.com/02.23F.Anthrax.Expert.htm

Judge Asks Why Interior Secretary Norton Shouldn't Be Held In Contempt In Indian Royalties Case

http://www.truthout.com/02.23G.Norton.Contempt.htm

DOL vs The Last American Wild Buffalo | Update 02.21.2002

http://www.truthout.com/02.23H.DOL.Buffalo.htm

2/24/02
11:23:06 PM

LOS ANGELES AND BERKELY STUDENTS UNITE IN DEMANDS FOR 25% SOLAR

On Wednesday February 20th, the LA Community College District committee on Accreditation and Planning passed yet another motion supporting green buildings for the $1.2 billion Proposition A construction and renovation projects. Not only is the committee recommending to the full Board to set high LEED "certified" and "silver" green building standards but now all renovated buildings should beat the national building codes by 20% and exceed California's Title 24 standard by 10%. While the district is attempting to green the entire "Proposition A" re-building project for their nine campuses, they still have not set a solar standard. Over the next two months, the committee will be finalizing their decision, so please TAKE ACTION today and urge them to use 25% solar power for all their nice new green buildings.

Los Angeles is not alone in the greening of their campuses. Clean Energy Now! has joined University of California at Berkeley student groups and Professor Dan Kammen to encourage the university administration to complete an environmental audit, reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions, and install solar on all new buildings on the Berkeley campus and at the new UC Campus Merced. This coming Monday, February 25th at 10am in the ASUC Senate Chambers, located on the first floor of Eshlman Hall there will be a press conference. If you are around please join the Berkeley Solar Bears to bring on the sun!

Take action and tell the LA Board of Trustees to go solar:

http://www.cleanenergynow.org/bin/actioncenter.pl

For more information about the UC Berkeley campaign, call Kristin Casper, Clean Energy NOW! Campaigner at (415) 297 5621 mobile or Alisa Arnett, Greenpeace media (415) 407-9293

CALIFORNIANS WANT CLEAN ENERGY NOW!

A recent poll taken by the Energy Foundation reveals that Californians strongly support the doubling of renewable energy supply and reducing greenhouse gases as path to energy security and economic growth, rather than rely on development of oil and natural gas. Seven in ten Californians believe that investments in conservation and energy efficiency programs will help the State's economy and developing renewable energy sources is more important than building more dirty fossil fool plants! In addition, the survey demonstrated that more than 80% of Californians support doubling the State's renewable energy supply from 10% of current energy production to 20% by the year 2010. Will voters endorse Governor Gray Davis in his bid for reelection if he continues to lead the state towards a fossil fuel future? Let's hope not!

To read more about the Energy Foundation's findings, go to:

http://www.ef.org/downloads

LABOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS UNITE CALLLING FOR DRAMATIC ACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING

An unprecedented coalition of the leaders of some of the nation's largest labor unions and environmental groups came together Wednesday calling for dramatic action to combat global warming while protecting economic security for workers and the economy. At a press conference on Wednesday, February 20th in Washington, D.C., the coalition embraced a study released by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for a Sustainable Economy that sets forth a feasible plan to achieve a worker-friendly clean energy plan. The event brought together the United Steelworkers of America, Service Employees International Union, Union of Concerned Scientists, Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), the Sierra Club, and UNITE to release a joint statement pledging to end the alleged conflict between the environment and jobs and will work to develop effective public policy to present to Congress. To read the report, go to:

http://www.sustainableeconomy.org/index.htm

To learn more about approaches to climate protection that benefit working people and their unions, go to:

http://www.bluegreenalliance.net

The "Positive Energy" newsletter and our website,

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.

2/24/02
11:18:57 PM

DAILY GRIST

<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

SCREAM OF THE CROP

Genetically modified crops should be subject to stricter and more public review prior to being approved for use, as well as more careful monitoring in the field afterward, a panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences determined yesterday. The panel said its recommendations were intended to "improve an already functioning system" of monitoring GM crops, but warned that new genetic innovations (for example, plants that produce their own chemical pesticides) will require more rigorous review. Naturally, bioengineering companies interpreted the report as praise for the status quo, while their critics said they hoped it would help encourage stricter regulation on genetic modification of plants.

straight to the source: New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin, 22 Feb 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/22/science/22CROP.html>

straight to the source: Wall Street Journal, Jill Carroll, 21 Feb 2002 (access ain't free) <http://online.wsj.com/article/0,4286,SB1014258907686755440,00.html>

MICKEY MAO'S

It might be the Magic Kingdom, but sometimes it has to face reality: That's the message of an environmental study released today on a future Disney theme park in Hong Kong. Environmentalists have attacked the $1.8 billion project as an ecological nightmare, and now the report seconds the opinion. The park is slated to be built in Penny's Bay, just southwest of the recently decommissioned Cheoy Lee Shipyard, which must be dismantled to make way for the Mouse. Doing so will involve cutting almost 55,000 cubic yards of earth and rock to stabilize the area, and removing around 114,000 cubic yards of polluted soil, which will then be transported to another site for treatment and decontamination. The study warned that the dismantling process could "cause high level impacts on ecological resources," particularly to rice-fish habitats and protected plant species.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 22 Feb 2002 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14664/story.htm>

NOTHING NEW

In what was billed as her first major environmental speech of the year, Interior Secretary Gale Norton called Wednesday for "a new environmentalism" in which local residents and landowners, not just the government, would take responsibility for protecting the Earth. Norton also called for an environmentalism that did not threaten jobs. The Interior secretary said that a number of her pet projects -- such as the $100 million Citizen Conservation Initiative, which will pay landowners to protect the environment -- fall under the rubric of new environmentalism. Environmentalists were both unsurprised and unimpressed, saying there was nothing very new about Norton's new environmentalism: Melanie Griffin, public lands director for the Sierra Club, said "Gale Norton has never favored environmental laws. She seems to prefer voluntary solutions."

straight to the source: Denver Post, Mike Soraghan, 21 Feb 2002 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E415548,00.html>

GONE WITH THE WIND

Enron, the financially (and, some would say, morally) bankrupt energy trading firm, announced this week that it will sell its wind-turbine business to General Electric. If the transaction is approved by bankruptcy court and federal regulators, Enron will use the proceeds -- a rumored $250 million -- to repay creditors, while GE will use the new business as a stepping-stone into the renewable energy sector. The proposed acquisition would mark the energy giant's first investment in wind power, an industry which it expects to grow at an annual rate of some 20 percent. The deal covers Enron's wind turbine manufacturing and marketing operations, but not the wind farms it owns and operates, which are slated to close later this year. The proposed sale to GE comes as a surprise to analysts, who were expecting European companies -- which dominate the sector -- to vie for purchase of the operations.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 22 Feb 2002 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14662/story.htm>

BAY WATCH

If three environmental groups have their way, California's mammoth agriculture industry will be subject to state water-pollution laws for the first time in history. The three groups (San Francisco BayKeeper, DeltaKeeper, and the California Public Interest Research Group) filed suit yesterday against the Central Valley Regional Water Control Board to close a loophole that allows farmers in the Central Valley to discharge pesticide-filled irrigation runoff without a permit. The federal Clean Water Act exempts agricultural runoff, and in California, farmers are not subject to the restrictions imposed on other industries. The result, according to the allegations in the lawsuit, is that every year, millions of gallons of polluted agricultural runoff flow into the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, and from there into the San Francisco Bay, where it kills and injures marine life.

straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Jane Kay, 22 Feb 2002 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/02/22/MN140393.DTL>

2/24/02
10:40:38 PM

The Death Of Empires

by Jon Carroll

HISTORY TEACHES THREE pretty clear messages. One is that all empires die. Second, empires take a long time to die. Finally, the citizens of the empire rarely recognize the warning signs for what they are.

The necessity for change is immutable. Empires by their natures do not change very well. They have had positive feedback for not changing -- usually it's called "standing by our principles" -- for years, even centuries.

Empires think they have beaten the rule of change. They haven't. Empires think size will protect them. It won't. Empires think military might will protect them. It won't. Empires think charismatic leaders will protect them. They won't. Nothing will. The old makes way for the new.

The American empire is beginning to die. We will not see its death, nor will our grandchildren, but it is dying. Its leaders, sensing trouble, are fetishizing the "old ways," the ways that brought us power in a different world, a world in which America was young and the other empires were fading.

They have made denial a national creed. They have made arrogance a national stance. "We do not need the others because we are America," they say. A dying empire is like a dying dinosaur; the only question is how much damage the huge tail will do as it thrashes around.

I have some examples. Our foreign policy is governed by our need for oil, and yet we have no effective formal programs to reduce our need for oil. Instead, we purchase large vehicles that use gasoline with staggering inefficiency. We do it because we can, because God is on our side, and something will happen because something always does.

Dick Cheney is the prophet of this mind-set. Conservation is a hobby; use whatever you want; go to sleep, little citizens, your oil-based politicians will protect you.

WE ARE GRADUALLY killing the earth that gives us succor. We are poisoning the air and the water. We are cutting down the forests that give us life; we are killing the creatures of the ocean that feed us or feed the things we eat and use; we are ignoring the benefits of biodiversity.

Because something will happen. Because God is on our side. Because the scientists are wrong -- indeed, it is important to our whole way of life to marginalize science. Hey, they said we'd all be dead by the year 2000, and here we are. Fools.

We know more about the human body than we ever have. We understand more about nutrition than we ever have. We are a child-centered culture; we worship our little darlings and protect them from all harm. Except that childhood obesity is on the rise. Type 2 diabetes strikes children as young as 10. Only the very rich and very poor are thin.

We know more about the brain than we ever have. We use that knowledge to persuade children to eat food that will make their lives more difficult and place a greater burden on our medical system. This practice exists outside the morality that we are so very proud of.

Inside the morality is discouraging the use of condoms that can stop the spread of disease that also kills children. Death, where is thy sting? We are Americans.

WE ARE PROUD of our fine economic system, and yet our government routinely fails to punish profiteers and cheaters. We are proud of our Constitution, yet our government seeks to suspend parts of it when we enter an armed conflict. We are proud of our military, yet we spend billions on politically mandated weapons systems of no utility.

Maybe this is the way empires die. Maybe they weaken themselves from within.

The structure is so rotten that any young and enthusiastic foe can push it over. I dunno. Heck, I've got mine; why should I care?

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a fine speech.

Source: http://www.SFGate.com

2/24/02
10:33:05 PM

World's 10 Richest Reefs Hammered By Humans

WASHINGTON, DC, February 21, 2002 (ENS) - Fishing with explosives and poison, overfishing, sedimentation and pollution from activities on land are wiping out the world's coral reefs, according to two new reports presented by conservation organizations based in Washington.

Pressure on the reefs is most intense in the coral triangle formed by Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and southern Japan.

The Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International reports that biodiversity is rapidly "bleeding away" in the coral reef hotspots, "10 regions exceptionally rich in marine species found nowhere else and also facing extreme threat."

The reefs of the Philippines are the most endangered of the 10 coral reef hotspots, named for the first time in the study published in the February 15 issue of Science magazine.

These 10 hotspots contain just 24 percent of the world’s coral reefs, or 0.017 percent of the oceans, but are inhabited by 34 percent of the hundreds of thousands of endemic marine species.

The list was prepared by a dozen scientists from Harvard, the UK's York University, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Ocean Voice International of Canada, the Eastern Ontario Biodiversity Museum, the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, and the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

The researchers identified global priority areas for coral reef conservation by mapping the geographic ranges of 1,700 species of reef fish, 804 species of coral, 662 species of snail and 69 species of lobster and comparing them to known threats to coral reefs from human impacts.

They identified the 10 coral reef hotspots, ranked by degree of threat, as:

1.Philippines 2.The islands of Annobon, Bioco, Sao Tome and Principe in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea, 3.Sunda Islands of Indonesia 4.Southern Mascarene Islands, in the Indian Ocean 5.Eastern South Africa 6.Northern Indian Ocean 7.Southern Japan, Taiwan and southern China 8.Cape Verde Islands 9.Western Caribbean 10.Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden

Two of the top three reef hotspots are in Southeast Asia, a result that squares with a separate report from the World Resources Institute issued February 14 that adds to the evidence of damage affecting the coral reefs of Southeast Asia.

"Coral reefs are the cornerstone of the economic and social fabric of Southeast Asia, yet they are the most threatened reefs in the world," said Lauretta Burke, a co-author of "Reefs at Risk in Southeast Asia," published by the World Resources Institute (WRI). The data compiled by 15 scientists presents a "pretty grim," picture, says Burke, but it is intended to provide resource managers and government officials with "the kind of information that they need to effectively manage their coral reefs."

Using sophisticated computer software and a new index of threats, Burke and her co-authors estimate that 88 percent of Southeast Asia's reefs are severely threatened by human activities -overfishing, destructive fishing, and sedimentation and pollution from land based sources.

The WRI report estimates that the sustainable value of Southeast Asia’s coral reef fisheries is US$2.4 billion annually. If ecosystem services like tourism and shoreline protection are included, the value is higher.

Not all Indonesian reefs are destroyed. Relatively pristine reefs ring the island of Hoga in Indonesia's Wakatobi Marine National Park. (Photo courtesy Geography Dept. University of Portsmouth)

The total economic value for Indonesia, with the largest coral reef systems in the region, is estimated at US$1.6 billion annually. The Philippines comes second with an annual estimated value of US$1.1 billion.

The WRI researchers found 64 percent of Southeast Asia’s reefs to be threatened by overfishing. More than 70 percent of the reefs of Cambodia, Japan and the Philippines are overfished.

Just over half the reefs of Southeast Asia are being destroyed by fishing with poison and dynamite. Dynamite is used to stun or kill fish for either food or the tropical fish trade. "The threat is particularly high in the Spratly and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, and in Vietnam. Over two-thirds of the reefs in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan, as well as over 50 percent of those in Indonesia are threatened by destructive fishing," the WRI researchers found.

In addition, sedimentation and pollution associated with coastal development and changes in land use place 37 percent of the region’s reefs at risk.

These findings are confirmed on a regular basis by other coral reef protection organizations. The California based Coral Reef Alliance says the most ecologically important site with soft coral habitats in Thailand's Andaman Sea, Hin Muang Hin Daeng, was damaged in December when dynamite from an illegal and unidentified fishing boat blasted two underwater rocks, each as large as a football field and as tall as a 100 story building.

The Nature Conservancy's Komodo Field Office is part of the group's Indonesia Program. Its personnel patrol Komodo National Park (KNP), located between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores. Established in 1980, the park was declared a Man and Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site in 1986 and has a management unit with 88 staff. But still, its reefs are threatened by destructive fishing methods, including the use of hookah compressors, reef gleaning, fish traps, gillnets and bottom lines.

The organization recommends "banning the use of hookah compressors, which are used in both dynamite and cyanide fishing." But laws already on the books to protect the park are not being enforced partly because the local fisheries service, "feels that the KNP waters are fishing grounds where yields have to be maximiszed." the conservancy says.

Diver photographs corals destroyed by dynamite in American Samoa. (Photo by Nancy Daschbach courtesy NOAA)

All reef protection organizations, including Conservation International and the World Resources Institute, advise that to safeguard coral reefs, protected area networks must be expanded and management improved, requiring political will and financial commitments from governments, private organizations, and the tourism industry.

Development of alternative livelihoods for fishers, and regulation of the $1 billion a year trade in live reef fish will help the reefs survive, the World Resources Institute suggests.

In the Philippines, largest, most species rich, and most endangered of the coral reef hotspots, more than 90 percent of adjacent forests have been logged. Development of many small, community based marine reserves are showing "great promise," but they will need to be larger and have stronger enforcement, says Conservation International.

Source: http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-21-01.html

2/24/02
10:28:14 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens-news.com

SCORECARD SHOWS PARTISAN POLARIZATION IN CONGRESS

WASHINGTON, DC, February 21, 2002 (ENS) - Congress's first year of the Bush administration saw environmental issues dividing Democrats from Republicans more sharply than at any other time in the past two decades, finds the 2001 National Environmental Scorecard. The annual report by the League of Conservation Voters, released Wednesday, details the voting records of every member of Congress over the past year.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-21-06.html

COUNTRIES TO HAVE DISCRETION OVER IMPORT OF MORE CHEMICALS

GENEVA, Switzerland, February 21, 2002 (ENS) - Scientists have recommended adding a pesticide to a list of chemicals earmarked for global trade restrictions under the United Nations Rotterdam Convention. The national experts discussed further possible additions, including more pesticides and five types of asbestos.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-21-10.html

WORLD'S 10 RICHEST REEFS HAMMERED BY HUMANS

WASHINGTON, DC, February 21, 2002 (ENS) - Fishing with explosives and poison, overfishing, sedimentation and pollution from activities on land are wiping out the world's coral reefs, according to two new reports presented this week by conservation organizations based in Washington. Pressure on the reefs is most intense in the coral triangle formed by Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and southern Japan.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-21-01.html

AFRICAN LIONESS ADOPTS ANOTHER ORYX, SEEKS A THIRD

By Jennifer Wanjiru

SAMBURU GAME RESERVE, Kenya, February 21, 2002 (ENS) - The lioness that attracted international attention in January after it adopted an oryx calf in Kenya's Samburu Game Reserve is back in the news. This week the lioness adopted another baby oryx.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-21-02.html

CORPS OPPOSES BREACHING SNAKE RIVER DAMS

WALLA WALLA, Washington, February 21, 2002 (ENS) - As expected, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers final report on improving salmon passage through the lower Snake River dams recommends against dam breaching. Conservation groups warn that leaving the dams intact could lead to the extinction of the Snake River's salmon and steelhead runs.

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-21-07.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: FEBRUARY 21, 2002

East Coast Drought Intensifies

Lieberman Reproaches Bush on Environment

Slowing Ocean Currents Could Freeze Europe

Deep Water Waves Power Ocean Engines

Researchers Map Herbivore Biodiversity

California Utility Submits Historic Clean Energy Plan

Action Mining Funds Runoff Treatment

Removing Dominant Males Can Boost Genetic Diversity

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-21-09.html

2/24/02
10:04:27 PM

Waxman Shows Lieberman Damning Enron Video

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=19026

Georgia: Bill to replace electric chair with guillotine

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=19022

HILLARY CLINTON FREE LEGAL SERVICES IN PRIVATE LAWSUIT - Judicial Watch

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=18996

Information Awareness Office

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=19004

AMERICAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS (MAPS) - Will flat

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=19011

SECRET MILITARY CODES DISCOVERED HIDDEN IN OUR ROAD SIGNS!

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=18951

OR Judge Refuses Constitutional Oath

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=19018

CEO'S & BUSH MEET IN SECRET

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=19006

Corruption and the US ARMY - Randy L. Dixon

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=19016

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HIDING SECRET WEEKLY REPORTS

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=18863

RE: CHANDRA LEVY: UNRAVELING GOVERNMENT COVERUPS?

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=18957

The True Story of Waco

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=18850

`In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.' APFN, PMB 107, 6630 W. CACTUS #B107, GLENDALE, AZ 85304

http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html

2/24/02
10:02:16 PM

AlterNet Headlines

http://www.alternet.org

ARIEL SHARON: BUSH'S ROLE MODEL?

Steven Day, PopPolitics.com

With his mega-hawkish "axis of evil" attitude, George W. Bush seems to be taking a page from Ariel Sharon's playbook -- the page about seizing power by provoking war.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12461

THE ELECTRIC CHRISTIAN RAPTURE TEST

Kate Silver, Las Vegas Weekly

Inventor and Christian evangelist Dennis Lee has gotten thousands of people to buy $10,000 "dealerships" that sell "free electricty machines." Scam artist, cult hero or savior?

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12459

MEGA MEDIA MERGER MANIA

Lakshmi Chaudhry, AlterNet

The age of media mega-mergers just went from bad to worse, as a federal court struck down some of the last safeguards against huge media conglomerates. AOLDisneyNBCViacom, here we come.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12451

WORKING ASSETS RADIO: FRIDAY MEDIA ROUNDTABLE

with host Laura Flanders

What's creepier: the U.S. Office of Strategic Information or the San Francisco dog-mauling defendants? Discuss the week's headlines with journalists John Moyers (TomPaine.com), Evelyn Nieves (New York Times) and Ruth Rosen (SF Chronicle). Tune in online from 10-11amPT/1-2pmET, and call in at 866-798-TALK.

http://www.workingassetsradio.com

I HAVE A PALESTINIAN DREAM

James Zogby, AlterNet

Palestinians desperately need a new strategy to counter the latest Israeli offensive. Perhaps it is time to take a page out of Martin Luther King's book.

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

LETTERS: GLOBALIZE THIS!; THE REACH OF HIP-HOP

Both the global justice movement and Hip-Hop get a boost in our Letters to the Editor section.

http://www.alternet.org/letters_ed.html?BulletinID=12

ENRON AND THE MYTHS OF RUNAWAY CAPITALISM

Marjorie Kelly, Business Ethics

The story of Enron's implosion is not about one diabolical company, nor about a few bad apples, or a few broken rules. It's about the ugly guts of our entire economy.

* In EnronGate: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=30

VOUCHERS AND THE FALSE PROMISE OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Barbara Miner, AlterNet

The U.S. Supreme Court has finally taken up the issue of school vouchers, the most important education case since 1954's Brown v. Board of Education.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12458

ANDRE HAS A POSSE -- HUH?

Nathan Ihara, LA Weekly

Often mistaken as a communist logo, Nazi symbol or banner of some cult, Andre the Giant is the Frankenstein's monster of guerrilla artist-cum-marketing whiz Shepard Fairey.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12450

CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS GO FOR GOLD

Nancy Watzman, OUCH!

The 2002 Olympics will cost American taxpayers some $1.5 billion, and plenty of that will go straight into the pockets of fat cat political contributors.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12449

HEMP IS GOOD FOOD

David Bronner, IMPACT Press

As other countries cash in on hemp, U.S. businesses face new DEA restrictions on products. The president of Doctor Bronner's Magic Soaps explains why activists and companies are fighting back.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12445

HUFFINGTON: THE BUSH OIL-IGARCHY'S OLD FRIEND OXY

Arianna Huffington, AlterNet

With Enron's stench growing more acrid each day, you'd think President Bush would avoid toadying to another deep-pocketed energy giant. Well, you'd be wrong.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12460

TERRORISM AND DRUGS: WHAT'S THE REAL CONNECTION?

Judy Appel and Skyla Olds, Drug Policy Alliance

Equating drug trafficking and use to terrorism will allow the government to extend the drastically expanded police and prosecutorial powers of the war on terrorism into the war on drugs. Here's how it could happen.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12455

HUTCHINSON: VATICAN STILL MUST ANSWER ON HOLOCAUST

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet

Though the Catholic church has taken steps in the last 25 years to apologize for its role in past oppression, silence continues on Pope Pius XII's ties to Nazi Germany.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12448

DURST: OLYMPIC WINNERS AND LOSERS

Will Durst, AlterNet

I am glued to the tube watching the XIX Winter Olympics where we, and yes, I do mean the US of A, are kicking major Russkie and Scandinavian ass.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12446

2/24/02
9:57:06 PM

t r u t h o u t

Waxman Shows Lieberman Damning Enron Video

http://www.truthout.com/02.22A.Enron.Video.htm

Germany and France warn Bush on Iraq

http://www.truthout.com/02.22B.Germany.France.htm

Former Employee Says Enron Manipulated California Power Market

http://www.truthout.com/02.22C.Enron.Manipulated.htm

William Safire | Too Much Surveillance Means Too Little Freedom

http://www.truthout.com/02.22D.WS.Freedom.htm

Democrats Foil House Republicans' Effort To Limit Native American Political Donations

http://www.truthout.com/02.22E.Native.American.htm

Tom Oliphant | 'Education President' Reneges on the Deal

http://www.truthout.com/02.22F.President.Renegs.htm

Enron CEO: Some Could Go to Jail

http://www.truthout.com/02.22G.Enron.Jail.htm

Wind Project On Blackfeet Land Up In The Air

http://www.truthout.com/02.22H.Blackfeet.Land.htm

2/24/02
9:55:15 PM

Public Citizen

NAS Study on Rollover Rating System a Breath of Fresh Air

Statement of Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook

For the countless victims of rollover crashes, today's study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a breath of fresh air. Its findings mirror what we said in testimony more than a year ago -- that the government's star-based system with numerical calculations of vehicle rollover propensity is wholly inadequate and uninformative. Without precise consumer information, auto manufacturers can continue to tell customers that more rollover-prone vehicles are safer than they really are.

The National Research Council report confirms that consumers need more detailed information than the government is now providing. The current rating system, in which vehicles are given between one and five stars, creates categories so broad that two vehicles can receive the same rating but have widely varying rollover risks. That's hardly sufficient, and it's more likely to mislead than inform.

The report also underscores that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) should quickly fulfill its congressional mandate to develop a "dynamic" rollover test on which to base useful consumer information. Such tests, in which vehicles are test-driven, are vastly more effective than "static" tests, those based solely on measuring vehicle track width and center of gravity height.

Certainly, it's good to warn people about how dangerous their vehicle is. But NHTSA does this only by posting the ratings on the Web, not by requiring manufacturers to provide information to consumers when they buy cars. However, it would be much better to design safer vehicles. For that reason, we again call on the government to create an effective rollover standard to ensure that manufacturers build vehicles that are less prone to tipping over.

The NAS rightly calls on the government to stop enabling manufacturers to pussyfoot around the truth about their vehicles. We need to go one step further, though, and require auto makers to give consumers better vehicles in the first place.

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

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

2/24/02
9:53:48 PM

Planet Ark World Environment News

Monsanto aiming for GM wheat introduction in 2005 - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14667/story.htm

Alliant extends Iowa deadline for renewable power - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14661/story.htm

UPDATE - Enron to sell wind power unit to General Electric - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14662/story.htm

EPA close to settlement in diesel engine case-filing - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14656/story.htm

Love-struck toads on road to safety - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14674/story.htm

Global warming not linked to increase in malaria - UGANDA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14659/story.htm

EU says US global warming plan falls short - SPAIN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14673/story.htm

Beached log ship in New Zealand fails to budge - NEW ZEALAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14658/story.htm

ANALYSIS - Emissions trading systems developing as patchwork - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14672/story.htm

Court finds Luxembourg late to enact EU environment law - LUXEMBOURG http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14657/story.htm

Eni Gela refinery halt could be postponed - sources - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14671/story.htm

FEATURE - Asian lake mirrors Kashmir's sorrows - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14666/story.htm

German marks turned to alcohol - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14675/story.htm

Finnish media slams minister for nuke disloyalty - FINLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14676/story.htm

EU proposes curbs on toxic chemicals by 2003 - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14677/story.htm

Greenpeace to push bank on Ecuador pipeline credit - ECUADOR http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14668/story.htm

HK Disney site poses ecological threat - experts - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14664/story.htm

Pragmatism rules in Asia's ethical investing debate - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14660/story.htm

UPDATE - US says soybean row with China unresolved - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14665/story.htm

Canada edges further away from Kyoto ratification - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14670/story.htm

2/24/02
9:52:22 PM

Whispers In The Land

by Kent Southard

Washington Knows That Bush Has Gone Too FarThere are whispers and murmurings abroad in the land, accompanied by strange signs and wonders. Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward appears on CSpan to discuss his 10-part puff piece on Bush at War, and apropos of nothing, says 'In the past, what were considered to be conspiracy theories turned out to be true.' John McCain gives an interview on the Enron scandal, and finishes with the mysterious, 'This could lead to places we wouldn't expect.'Colin Powell chooses to appear on MTV, using that forum to advocate condom use; with the added instruction, 'don't listen to that conservative advice.' His message couldn't have been more explicit, both sexually and politically, and would have gotten him fired from the Clinton administration, much less from the Crisco-smeared foreheads of Bush's minions. George W. Bush inexplicably tries to send his Texas Governor's papers to his father's presidential library, where they would apparently be exempt from Texas' tough freedom of information laws. While the papers sit in legal limbo, not yet safely entombed, a Texas FOI request frees Bush's entire correspondence with Enron - and out pops a letter from Kenny Boy requesting Gov. Bush to please meet with the President of.....Uzbekistan."We are negotiating a $2 Billion venture with Neftegas of Uzbekistan and Gazprom of Russia to develop Uzbekistan's natural gas and transport it to markets in Europe and Kazakhstan and Turkey. This project can bring significant economic opportunities to Texas...."What does it all mean? What are the 'conspiracy theories' currently in circulation? Where could the Enron scandal lead that we wouldn't have expected? Why would Colin Powell seem to be trying to get himself fired? Why would George W. Bush not want us to know he and Enron had interests in Uzbekistan?The 'conspiracy theories' are only theories in this country, it seems, in the rest of the world they're reported as fact. What the rest of the world knows is that Uzbekistan and the rest of the 'Stans' in the Caspian Sea sit atop what may be the largest oil and gas reserves in the world, the oil and gas that will be used primarily in the coming economic growth of the world's two largest countries - China and India. The rest of the world knows that Enron, Halliburton, Unocal, and other American energy concerns wished to build pipelines through neighboring Afghanistan to get that oil and gas to market; knows that the Bush administration was negotiating with the Afghan Taliban to build those pipelines, knows Bush threatened war if the Taliban didn't play along.Hence the whispers and murmurings - what all of Washington knows is that Cheney's Energy Task Force wasn't just about handing the California State surplus over to Enron, that was the least of it; what Cheney was doing was plotting with the largely Texas energy concerns to capture, one way or another, and control the Caspian Sea oil and gas reserves so that they could exercise economic dominance over China and India; displacing Russia from its own backyard in the process. They whisper because of the dark questions that remain unadressed concerning Sept. 11th: the refusal to grant a FISA warrant against Zacarias Moussaoui, even though he had been tagged by French Intelligence as a terrorist, was paying cash for turn-and-bank lessons in jumbo jets, and had been arrested on an expired visa; the hijacked jets wandering around the eastern half of the country for the better part of two hours without Air Force interception, even though it had taken mere minutes for them to reach the stricken jet of golfer Payne Stewart; the concerted efforts of Bush to be physically absent from Washington in the weeks preceding the attacks, the same weeks that followed his threat of war against the Taliban. As an oil industry expert observes, 'The strategic considerations of oil supercede all other values.'They murmur because George W. Bush has gone too far, and rushes heedlessly farther. His Secretary of State has lost the stomach for the crimes envisioned, and is trying to find an honorable escape. The Bush family has stolen the presidency, and doesn't mean to give it back. They're seeking to rule the world by controlling its energy supply, enforced with lawless military supremacy. The whole of Washington apparently now knows this; and the knowledge sits uneasily, because it is the end of the America of the founding fathers. There's the ominous sense that if God has lifted his veil of protection, it is not because of the sins of its citizens, but rather the crimes of its leaders; which crimes compound daily.

2/24/02
9:50:05 PM

DAILY GRIST

<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

JOLTIN' JOE

In the most scathing attack on George W. Bush since the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) blasted the president's environmental record in a speech made yesterday in California. Lieberman, a possible presidential candidate in 2004 and one of 15 senators to be recognized by the League of Conservation Voters for a perfect environmental voting record, was particularly critical of Bush's energy and global warming plans. The senator also took Bush to task for pushing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a proposal Lieberman said he would filibuster "until the caribou come home ... or Vice President [Dick] Cheney releases the energy task force records, whichever comes later." Lieberman announced that the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which he chairs, will begin hearings next month on the administration's environmental record.

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Ronald Brownstein, 21 Feb 2002 <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-000013364feb21.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dscience>

GREEN-CHIP INVESTMENT

One of the world's largest financial organizations, HSBC, has earmarked nearly $50 million to create a five-year environmental program called Investing in Nature. The program will funnel money to three environmental nonprofits organizations -- WWF, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, and Earthwatch -- to support projects that enhance access to safe drinking water and help preserve endangered plants. WWF will use its share of the money to restore almost 5 million acres of river basin habitats along the Amazon, Yangtze, and Rio Grande. BGCI will use the money to help protect 20,000 enda