2/19/02
9:47:43 AM
The Roy Process
New web site: http://members.cox.net/theroyprocess
Dear Concerned Citizens, Safe and secure burial of high level nuclear waste for 486,000 years, 20 half-lives of plutonium 239, is a scientific impossibility. There is a viable alternative to geologic isolation. High level nuclear waste can be transmuted into non-radioactive elements using existing infrastructure, commercially available machinery and current supporting technology. In addition, as the treated isotope rapidly decays into a non-radioactive element, heat is produced which can power the existing electric generators at each nuclear power plant where nuclear waste is stored in cooling ponds. The late Dr. Roy estimated cost in 1979 at $80 million dollars to construct the Roy Process pilot facility and should take three years to build. There remains about a years work calculating engineering parameters for the pilot plant. Transmuting high level waste would also guarantee international security by eliminating bomb grade elements.
Sincerely Yours, Dennis F. Nester
2/10/02
8:02:05 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Radiation mutations passed to children-study - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14464/story.htm
UPDATE - US says no evidence to support China GMO import rules - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14473/story.htm
US agrees to chop back huge Montana logging plan - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14455/story.htm
US says 3M to pay $15.5 mln for dump site cleanup - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14456/story.htm
US business says patient on China WTO commitments - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14467/story.htm
Nevada leaders press Bush on nuclear waste site - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14460/story.htm
UPDATE - US agencies mull physical upgrades to nuclear plants - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14461/story.htm
UPDATE - US Senate panel planning vote on energy tax breaks - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14462/story.htm
Tanker sails wrong way down Channel - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14476/story.htm
London Electricity buys wind farms from N.Electric - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14465/story.htm
Tropical air thins European ozone layer by 30 pct - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14453/story.htm
Siemens to build 300 MW windpower plant in South Korea - SOUTH KOREA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14459/story.htm
South Africa seeks end to ban on rhino horn trade - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14468/story.htm
Seahorses help usher in Year of Horse in Singapore - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14471/story.htm
Portugal bids to fill Europe's biggest reservoir - PORTUGAL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14469/story.htm
EU energy chief says supply system unsustainable - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14457/story.htm
Japan gradually lifting ban on imported rice - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14475/story.htm
German swine fever case prompts slaughter of pigs - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14470/story.htm
Ally of France's Bove gets jail for GM crop attack - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14466/story.htm
France defends its corner on energy liberalisation - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14463/story.htm
INTERVIEW - Denmark to scrap subsidies for wind power by 2004 - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14458/story.htm
Chile forest fires not seen under control for week - CHILE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14454/story.htm
Austria calls for talks on mega hydro power merger - AUSTRIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14474/story.htm
BHP says completes Ok Tedi mine withdrawal - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14472/story.htm
2/10/02
7:59:04 PM
t r u t h o u t | 02.10
ERNEST F. HOLLINGS | Time for a Special Counsel
http://www.truthout.com/02.10A.EFH.Special.htm
Former Enron Chief Expected to Testify at Senate Panel
http://www.truthout.com/02.10B.Enron.2.Testify.htm
Senator Kent Conrad Delivers the Weekly Democratic Radio Address (Response to Mr. Bush)
http://www.truthout.com/02.10C.Democratic.Response.htm
Byrd vs. O'Neill: Budget Battle Turns Personal
http://www.truthout.com/02.10D.Budget.Battle.htm
Scott Galindez | Yucca Mountain Repository is Not a Gamble Nevadans Wish to Take
http://www.truthout.com/02.10E.SG.Yucca.Mountain.htm
Enron, Preaching Deregulation, Worked the Statehouse Circuit
http://www.truthout.com/02.10F.Enron.Preaching.htm
NY Firefighters Still Burying Their Own
http://www.truthout.com/02.10G.NY.Firefighters.htm
2/10/02
7:53:03 PM
t r u t h o u t
William Rivers Pitt | The Enron Lies are Piling Up
http://www.truthout.com/02.09A.WRP.Enron.htm
Schakowsky: Republicans Practice Enron Economics -- Give to The Rich And Take From the Rest
http://www.truthout.com/02.09B.Schakowsky.Enron.htm
Bob Herbert | A Judge's Past
http://www.truthout.com/02.09C.BH.Judge.htm
Comptroller Seeks Papers From Cheney
http://www.truthout.com/02.09D.Cheney.Papers.htm
Cheney's Ex - Company Settles Fraud Suit
http://www.truthout.com/02.09E.Cheney.Fraud.htm
McCain Seeks to Clarify Guidelines Governing Searches at Airports
http://www.truthout.com/02.09F.Mccain.Searches.htm
32 Women Complain of Groping, Fondling During Airport Body Searches
http://www.truthout.com/02.09G.32.Searches.htm
2/10/02
7:49:52 PM
Multi-Trillion Dollar Financial Scandal - 'This Thing Involves Everybody'
by David Podvin
"Immediately after business slave George W. Bush took power, Corporate America went on a lying spree. Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings appear loath to report that such high profile companies as Viacom, General Electric, and Disney are also engaging in the accounting scheme."
Missing The Overall
A multi-trillion dollar financial scandal is occurring in the United States right now. It threatens to inflict unprecedented carnage upon Corporate America and horrific damage to our national economy. The mainstream media is aware of it, but most Americans are not, because the corporate news outlets refuse to report on it. It is not conspiracy. It is complicity.
The coverage of the Enron situation has primarily focused on the disintegration of a powerful corporation due to the deceit and criminality of those who ran the company. The few reporters who have looked below the surface have proven linkage between Enron's corruption and its political connections to the Bush administration. While the crimes of former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay and the collusion of former Texas governor George W. Bush are significant, the corporate media is selfishly choosing not to focus on the big story.
In February of 2001, Enron stock was trading above $80 per share, which placed a market value of more than $60 billion on the company. Today, the stock no longer trades, rendering Enron virtually worthless. It is crucial to remember that, despite the harrowing decline in its fortunes, the company never reported a bad earnings quarter.
Enron's duplicity is an extreme symptom of a financial cancer that threatens the health of the economy. The disease is a malignant accounting method that has received legal protection from conservative politicians on behalf of their corporate benefactors. It is called 'pro forma'. Originally intended to allow companies to compensate for extraordinary events that distorted their financial reports, the pro forma accounting method has led to the greatest fraud ever perpetrated.
Previously, publicly owned companies had been legally required to provide shareholders with an honest accounting of their earnings. The standard used was GAAP, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Under this method, a company would state its earnings based on the old fashioned equation of income minus expenses. Using pro forma, companies decide which expenses are irrelevant, thereby providing great latitude for creativity.
Freed from concerns about regulatory oversight, this country's biggest companies became dramatically more 'creative' with their earnings reports. Current estimates for S&P 500 corporations are that they have collectively earned about $410 billion in 2001 when using the pro forma accounting method. However, when using GAAP, they have collectively earned about $240 billion.
Those who claim that Enron was an exceptional case are technically correct. While Enron overestimated its earnings by 100%, the average large publicly held American corporation is overestimating its earnings by only 42%.
IBM reports pro forma earnings. So does Intel. And Cisco Systems. And Dell. And Sun Micro. And Motorola. And Microsoft. And... By engaging in such manipulation, with the assent of accountants and governmental oversight agencies, Corporate America has conned the public into investing trillions of dollars based on phony earnings. Cisco, for example, has used its artificially inflated stock price as capital to acquire other companies. Many corporate empires have been built on such accounting legerdemain, including General Electric (NBC), Viacom (CBS), Disney (ABC), AOL/Time Warner (CNN, Time Magazine), News Corporation (Fox), The Washington Post Company (Washington Post, Newsweek), the Tribune Corporation (Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times), and the New York Times Company (New York Times, Boston Globe).
Enron is the tip of an iceberg on which sits the entire mainstream media. A national association of accounting firms has called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to require all publicly held corporations to report real GAAP earnings. The return to ethical accounting standards would mean that, in order to reflect the current valuation of the Dow Industrials, the average would fall to 5825. In order to reach the historical norm based on GAAP, the Dow would decline to 3300.
A major decline in stock prices would erase trillions of dollars of investors' wealth. With the uninformed public currently heavily invested in the market, this would have a crushing impact on the finances of the average American.
In 1995, Senate Republicans and almost half of their Democratic colleagues joined to override President Clinton's veto of legislation providing corporations with protection from shareholder lawsuits. The leader of the effort to dramatically reduce civil liability for companies that report phony earnings was Wall Street lobbyist Harvey Pitt, who has made a career of defending the shady dealings of stock market thieves like Ivan Boesky.
Just as his father hid the magnitude of the savings and loan scandal until after the 1988 election, Bush is desperately trying to obscure the truth about Corporate America's financial sleight of hand in order to defer the tumbling of the house of cards until after the 2004 campaign. He expects to be helped in this effort by the man he appointed to be Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the one who is most responsible for seeing that corporations accurately report their earnings. Harvey Pitt.
The powers that be are pulling out all the stops. What they are fighting is the law of gravity. As the high powered executives at Enron learned, all the political machinations in the world can't prevent a stock from falling when the word gets out that the books have been cooked.
After investors discover they've been scammed, they sell, and the mightiest of companies can be crushed. Less than a year ago, Enron was the seventh largest corporation in America. Today, it is no longer functioning as a business entity. It is, for all intents and purposes, dead.
The greatest legacy of the Enron debacle will be increased public pressure on companies to report their real earnings. If corporations are forced to be honest, then there will be shocking revisions in the financial statements of America's most prominent businesses.
The current situation is a scandal of almost incomprehensible magnitude, but it is not a conspiracy. For years, the disgrace of earnings manipulation has been an open, dirty little secret. Dissidents like the highly respected money managers at Comstock Partners
(http://www.comstockfunds.com/)
and brokerage analyst Alan Newman
(http://www.cross-currents.net/charts.htm)
have been screaming bloody murder about how Corporate America is cheating the public.
Their voices have not been amplified. Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings appear loath to report that such high profile companies as Viacom, General Electric, and Disney are also engaging in the accounting scheme.
The current reported level of corporate earnings is a mirage. The investing public has been taken for a magic carpet ride. The deceit of management, now so evident in the case of Enron, is endemic in corporate boardrooms across America. It is the massive impending economic fallout from that bitter reality which is the looming tragedy in this story.
While the media continues to focus on the microcosm of corruption at Enron, the public at large has yet to be informed of the epidemic of the earnings lies. As Deep Throat told Bob Woodward during the Watergate scandal, when the reporter was focusing on the criminal behavior of Nixon functionary Donald Segretti, "You're missing the big picture. You're missing the overall." "This thing involves everybody."
Sources:
Accounting For Options (item 3), Chetan J. Parikh, Capital Ideas Online, May 31 - June 13, 1999 Issue S&P P/E 37, Carl Swenlin, AegeanCapital Inc., August 3, 2001 Earnings Report Parodies, Comstock Partners, Inc., October 11, 2001 Smoke and Mirrors, Comstock Partners, Inc., August 22, 2001 How we got into this corporate mess, Dan Gillmor, TheDailyCamera.com, December 24, 2001 Spin on tech financial results comes under more scrutiny, Scott Herhold and Mary Anne Ostrom, SiliconValley.com, January 31, 2002 Disney Profit Beats Forecasts, Clouds Remain, Bob Tourtellotte, Reuters, January 31, 2002 Enron: Could your stock be next?, Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney, November 30, 2001
"William Fleckenstein, president of Fleckenstein Capital, a money-management firm in Seattle that engages in short selling, says that General Electric is a company that fits this description. Although Fleckenstein is not shorting GE (GE: down $1.23 to $38.50, Research, Estimates), he says that investors would be wise to stay away from the stock because of all its moving parts -- a mish-mash of different businesses in several countries reporting in a variety of currencies. It's literally impossible to know what's going on there," he says. "In response to this criticism, General Electric spokesman David Frail says, 'GE is no more difficult to understand than AOL Time Warner (the parent of CNN/Money.com) or any other multi-business company." [So true.]
Viacom beats Street, CNNMoney, October 25, 2000
News Corporation Reports Double Digit Film Operating Income Growth in First Quarter, Business Wire, November 7, 2001
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, The Washington Post Company, 2000 Annual Report As predicted, second-quarter results grim for newspapers, Tara McMeekin, Newspapers & Technology, September 2001
Wider loss for AOL Time Warner, Tribune News Services, January 31, 2002
Source: http://www.MakeThemAccountable.com
2/10/02
1:10:59 PM
The Great Deception
by Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.
For the good times come and go, but at least there’s rain; So this won’t be barren ground when September rolls around. So watch the field behind the plow turn to straight dark rows Put another season’s promise in the ground. -- Stan Rogers (American singer and songwriter; 1949–1983. From his song, “The Field Behind the Plow")
Each day, millions of people around the world work hard to make a living. Some work long hours at jobs that require back breaking physical exertion, leaving them little time and energy for personal or family activities. They are trying to earn a living wage as best they can to feed and clothe themselves and their families.
Most of these folks do not get up in the morning with the intention of harming the Earth, making people and animals sick, or taking the future away from our children. Yet that often ends up being the result of their activities as employers and politicians try their best to convince people that their work is helping the economy, providing jobs, or keeping their countries strong. This rhetoric has resulted in making the workers of the world accomplices in what may be the greatest deception of our time.
The reality is that most work being done today by the majority of people involves extracting precious resources from the Earth to make goods that we could easily live without. That work is also generating millions of tons of toxic substances every day that are pouring into our lakes, rivers, oceans, soil, and bodies.
The average woman and man is often well aware of some of the consequences of their actions. But how can they be expected to make informed choices when their bosses tell them everything is fine, their government tells them that regulations keep businesses honest, and doctors keep recommending drugs to solve problems that lifestyle changes could cure?
The plight of the people of New York City is the most recent, pathetic example of this phenomena. In the days following the September 11th tragedies, EPA spokesperson Bonnie Bellows told ABC news that EPA officials "really don't detect any real danger" in air and dust tests and that there were "very low" levels of asbestos.
Non-government scientists knew that this was nonsense and that the air around the ruin of the World Trade Center was filled with millions of pounds of pulverized, toxic materials that were now airborne.
In a "Healing Our World" commentary published in the days after the attacks, I reported that, “Gases and smoke from the fire and explosions are also highly toxic, containing dioxins, PCBs, volatile organic compounds, jet fuel, and many other toxic compounds from the building materials and offices. These irritants can trigger breathing spasms, asthma attacks, and untold future problems for those who inhale them."
"The 2,000 degree fire that resulted when the jets that hit the World Trade Center towers exploded may also have created many combinations of toxic materials of unknown effect.”
All this has been denied by the Bush administration.
Once again, science and technology fail us and common sense is ignored. Rather than issue advisories that people not be outside in the area of the disaster without breathing protection, yet more studies are being undertaken. In the meantime, rescue workers, residents of the area, and folks on the street are at risk.
The “New York Times” summed it up well in their January 11, 2002 article, “Studies Will Take Sept. 11's Measure in Health Effects.” The newspaper said, “The blast of dust and smoke — and the toxic substances, fibers and ash that blew through New York in the days afterward — is without precedent in medical literature, which means that there are no studies to fall back on for guidance on whether to be alarmed or reassured.”
The Associated Press reported a few weeks ago that, “As many as 500 firefighters who worked at the World Trade Center site are on leave for respiratory problems and other rescue-related injuries," and a union leader warned Friday that the ailments could force many of them into retirement.
An independent laboratory found 555 times the safe level of asbestos in the air of one man’s apartment near the area. Samples from his bathroom vent showed dangerous levels of fiberglass.
Many folks who work downtown are reporting very similar symptoms -nosebleeds, a continuous hacking cough, bronchial infections, and sore throats.
Four New York Port Authority police officers were reassigned when elevated levels of mercury were found in their blood. And the list goes on and on.
Even before September 11th, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimated that more than 32 million workers are exposed to harmful substances from more than 3.5 million workplaces every year.
Each day, our jobs wreak havoc throughout our planet. Regular readers of this column will have seen this list before, but it bears repeating.
Each day on this Earth:
180 sq. miles of tropical forests are cleared
73 tons of topsoil are eroded
78 million tons of heat trapping carbon dioxide are added to the atmosphere
1,800 tons of ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons are added to the atmosphere.
And in the United States alone, we:
use 313 million gallons of fuel - enough to drain 26 tractor-trailer trucks every minute
take 18 million tons of raw materials from the Earth
use 6.8 billion gallons of drinking water to flush toilets
throw one million bushels of litter out of car windows
saw up 100 million board feet of wood
use 250,000 tons of steel use 187,000 tons of paper
So, we have to ask ourselves the question, “What are we working for?” The answer must be more than “just for tomorrow.” Given that most of our bosses and political leaders work only to increase their wealth for today, we must conclude that we have to take back our health and our future.
If our work is damaging to our souls and to our planet, then something must change. If you are working in an industry or in a job that is unhealthy for your spirit as well as your Earth, then begin looking for a new job now. If you don’t feel that is possible and you need or want to stay, then organize with other co-workers and decide to make a difference.
It is vitally important that we do our best to align our hearts with our jobs. The old idea that from 9 to 5 you belong to someone else never was workable and is too damaging to even consider. We have all felt the pain and personal damage that comes from working at something we hate or that we know is wrong.
And you know what? When you align your work with what is truly in your heart, you will find that your new choice will benefit the Earth and our children’s future. I don’t fear that any mentally sound person will intentionally choose the accumulation of wealth or to inflict pain as a profession. Those goals cannot truly rest in one’s heart but are distractions and denials that shield us from our true spirit.
As our world fills with toxic pollutants that are being found in the bloodstream of even indigenous people far from civilization and in nearly every woman’s breastmilk, we can no longer wait. We must ignore the rationalizations of our industrial and political leaders whose hearts are blinded by their quest for personal wealth and power at any cost. Let’s take back our world.
The Great Deception that has worked to render us powerless for so long must end. With a shifting of priorities and an unblocked heart and spirit, you and I can end it. Let’s dust off those resumes, fire our bosses, and take back the workplace. The Earth is our home, not a commodity, and our health is not for sale.
RESOURCES
1. See the full “New York Times” article about the pending health studies at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/11/nyregion/11LAB.html
2. A “Washington Post” article detailed some of the health effects of September 11th.
3. Get help looking for a profession that feeds your soul with the help of the book, “Mindfulness and Meaningful Work,” by Matthew Fox. See an excerpt at:
http://www.universalmind.com/matfox.htm
4. Learn about ways to craft a new dream from Island Press. Their website, “Redefining the American Dream,” is at:
http://www.islandpress.com/ecocompass/dream.html
5. Visit the Center for a New American Dream for help at:
6. It may seem strange to consider, but the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui can help. Through techniques that show you how to make your home a representation of your life, you will get help bringing your dreams and aspirations into focus. Feng Shui has methods that can help you bring your dreams to life. For a pretty good explanation, visit:
7. Business and political leaders have banded together to rob the Earth more effectively and to bring the Great Deception to small towns. Read about their efforts and learn how to combat them at:
http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v07n2/wiseuse.html
8. Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-mail them. Tell them that they had better start thinking about our global future – or they are out! If you know your Zip code, you can find them at:
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html
Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. is a writer and teacher in Seattle. He can be found watching his son learn to crawl and thinking about what the boy will do for a living. Please send your thoughts, comments, and visions to him at:
mailto:Jackie@HealingOurWorld.com
http://www.HealingOurWorld.com
2/10/02
12:58:54 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS)
BUSH HEARS ARGUMENTS AGAINST NEVADA NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP
WASHINGTON, DC, February 8, 2002 (ENS) - A bipartisan group of top elected Nevada officials made their case against the Yucca Mountain geologic nuclear waste repository to President George W. Bush in the Oval Office Thursday afternoon.
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-08-02.html
FEATHERED CLUES CLEAR UP MIGRATION MYSTERY
WASHINGTON, DC, February 8, 2002 (ENS) - Using chemical clues extracted from feathers, biologists have tracked down the wintering grounds of tiny songbirds that migrate throughout the Western Hemisphere. The findings will help conservationists identify and protect areas crucial to the survival of migrating warblers, now threatened by deforestation and other habitat changes.
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-08-06.html
EUROPEAN AIRCRAFT NOISE FIGHT REVS UP AGAIN
STRASBOURG, France, February 8, 2002 (ENS) - The European Parliament Environment Committee's rapporteur on airport noise has called for European Union legislative proposals on limiting noise nuisance around airports to be tightened.
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-08-01.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: FEBRUARY 8, 2002
Senate Passes Limits on Farm Subsidies
$30 Million Supports Arctic Climate Research
School Bus Pollution Ranked State by State
Energy Exploration Threatens Utah Desert
Michigan Protects 6,275 Acres with Energy Royalties
Timber Association Vows to End Illegal Logging
Missouri Gets $6 Million for Weatherization
Angelina Jolie Speaks Out at Olympics
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-08-09.html
HEALING OUR WORLD: WEEKLY COMMENT
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.
The Great Deception
Each day, millions of people around the world work hard to make a living. Some work long hours at jobs that require back breaking physical exertion, leaving them little time and energy for personal or family activities. They are trying to earn a living wage as best they can to feed and clothe themselves and their families. Most of these folks do not get up in the morning with the intention of harming the Earth, making people and animals sick, or taking the future away from our children. Yet that often ends up being the result of their activities as employers and politicians try their best to convince people that their work is helping the economy, providing jobs, or keeping their countries strong. This rhetoric has resulted in making the workers of the world accomplices in what may be the greatest deception of our time.
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-08g.html
2/8/02
6:12:06 PM
Public Citizen issued the following two press releases today: Feb. 8, 2002
Citing Extensive Conflicts of Interest, Public Citizen Calls on Florida Governor to Recuse Himself from Pension Fund Investigations
In Letter to Gov. Jeb Bush, Public Citizen Urges Recusal
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Citing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's strong ties to Enron and his extensive entanglements with the company, Public Citizen today called on Bush to recuse himself from all actions relating to investigations into the state pension fund's losses in Enron stocks and bonds. The organization also called on Bush to refrain from taking an active role in any lawsuits against Enron, Arthur Andersen or other entities related to Enron.
In a letter sent to Bush, the consumer advocacy organization urged Bush to disclose all his contacts with Enron executives since he was elected governor and to tell the public whether he knew anything about Enron's shaky financial condition when the pension fund was buying Enron shares last fall that were plummeting in value. Public Citizen also asked Bush to outline what steps he plans to take to shield the pension fund from a similar loss in the future.
"Your longstanding relationship with the company and its executives requires that you step down from any potential involvement in bringing Enron to justice," Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook wrote. "It is a state and national imperative that any wrongdoing be fully investigated and that these investigations avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest."
In the letter, Claybrook noted that other prominent officials have recused themselves from involvement in any investigation or litigation involving Enron. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft did so, as did John Cornyn, attorney general for Texas. Three federal judges have done so, as has the entire U.S. Attorney's office in Houston.
Among the reasons Bush should recuse himself :
§ He has been a business partner with Enron. In 1995, he invested nearly $92,000 in an Enron affiliate, Enron Liquids Pipeline, and sold his interest 10 months later for a $7,100 profit;
§ He appointed Walter Revell, a longtime friend of former Enron CEO Key Lay, to serve as chairman of the Florida 2020 Energy Study Commission. Bush also appointed James Garner III, lobbyist for Enron subsidiary Azurix, to the Governor's Commission for the Everglades. Azurix wanted to obtain water rights in Florida;
§ Enron, its subsidiaries and its employees contributed $420,000 to Florida political campaigns between 1995 and 2001, more than 80 percent of that going to Republicans, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Additionally, Bush accepted nearly $20,000 from Enron, its subsidiaries, and the company's accounting and law firms during his 1998 campaign, including $6,500 directly from Enron executives, according to Florida Department of State records;
§ Enron and its employees contributed $312,500 to President Bush's 1994 and 1998 Texas gubernatorial campaigns, and another $113,800 to his presidential campaign. Enron also gave $10,500 to the Bush-Cheney Recount Fund and $300,000 to the Bush-Cheney 2001 Inaugural Fund, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
§ Former Enron CEO Ken Lay reportedly gave money to the Foundation for Florida's Future, a think tank the governor founded.
§ The deputy executive director of the Board of Administration, which oversees the pension fund, is Coleman Stipanovich, brother of J.M. "Mac" Stipanovich, a Republican political consultant and lobbyist who ran Bush's gubernatorial campaign in 1994;
§ In January, Richard Kinder, former Enron president and large donor to Jeb Bush's brother, President Bush, and the Republican Party, held a fundraising event for Jeb Bush at Kinder's Houston home, which Jeb Bush attended.
"Clearly, Jeb Bush has strong ties to Enron and extensive entanglements that create a number of conflicts," Claybrook said. "For the sake of the people of Florida, he ought to step out of this and let the independent investigators figure out what happened. Any actions he takes will be suspect, given the taint of these ties."
A copy of Public Citizen's letter is available at
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/Enron/articles.cfm?ID=7115 .
xox
Feb. 8, 2002
Court Should Order National Archives to Open Presidential Records to the Public
President Bush's Executive Order Violates Law, Should Not Be Implemented, Public Citizen Says in Court Filing
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal court should order the National Archives to allow public access to presidential records and disregard President Bush's executive order restricting access because the order plainly violates federal law, Public Citizen said in a motion for summary judgment filed in court today. The motion was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia as part of a lawsuit initiated last November on behalf of several organizations and individuals seeking to overturn the executive order.
Public Citizen's motion explains that because Bush's order, issued early last November, violates the 1978 Presidential Records Act and has no constitutional basis, the court should declare that the Archivist of the United States and his agency, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), may not implement the order. Public Citizen's motion also seeks a permanent injunction against the implementation of the order and requiring the prompt release of the Reagan and Bush presidential and vice presidential records.
The 1978 law opens most presidential records to the public 12 years after the president leaves office, but Bush's order jeopardizes public access by providing that whenever a former president asserts a claim of "executive privilege," the Archivist may not open the records, even if the claim is legally invalid. Today's filing argues that because there are no disputed material facts as to the illegality of the order, the Archivist should not be implementing it at all.
Over a year ago, the 12-year restriction period for 68,000 pages of documents from the Reagan administration expired. The current Bush administration delayed their release, then promulgated the executive order, which has further delayed the release of the documents and may permanently bar access to some of them. To date, only 8,000 pages of the documents have been released to the public. The order has also blocked release of vice presidential records of George H.W. Bush at the Bush Presidential Library.
"The administration has stubbornly refused to recognize that the order violates not only the Presidential Records Act, but also clear judicial precedents," said Scott Nelson, the Public Citizen attorney who filed the lawsuit. "The Archivist is obligated to follow the law, not this unauthorized and unlawful executive order."
After the 12-year restriction period under the Presidential Records Act expires, Bush's order grants both the sitting and former president an unlimited amount of time to review documents that the law requires to be released. If the former president objects to the release of any documents, the Archivist must keep those records secret, even if the incumbent president finds "compelling circumstances" that favor disclosure. This gives broad new powers to former presidents to cover up inconvenient documents.
A particularly troubling part of the order is that it creates a new vice presidential privilege that the Archivist is required to honor. This vice presidential power has no basis in constitutional law or practice, and George H.W. Bush will be the first to receive this vice presidential privilege. The order also unlawfully permits "representatives" of the families of former presidents to assert executive privilege long after the former president dies or becomes disabled.
The Presidential Records Act, which was passed in the wake of controversy over control of President Nixon's records, makes records of presidents and vice presidents public property and broadly opens them to the public, making exceptions for classified materials that could damage national security if released. Because presidents have the ability to restrict access to some records for 12 years after they leave office, the act does not threaten the constitutional executive privilege.
"The role of the Archives is to provide citizens with information about their government, not to assist presidents in withholding inconvenient or embarrassing documents," said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. "The right of the public to information about their own government is too important to be compromised."
A copy of today's filing is available on the Web at:
http://www.citizen.org/litigation/briefs/FOIAGovtSec/articles.cfm?ID=7116.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit: http://www.Citizen.org
2/8/02
6:07:04 PM
Everybody Must Get Stoned: A Kinder, Gentler Afghanistan
by Ted Rall
NEW YORK-"In four short months," George W. Bush told us in his State of the Union address, "our nation has comforted the victims; begun to rebuild New York and the Pentagon; rallied a great coalition; captured, arrested, and rid the world of thousands of terrorists; destroyed Afghanistan's terrorist training camps; saved a people from starvation; and freed a country from brutal oppression."
Not quite.
The victims will be mourning and litigating for years to come. Not only is New York not rebuilding, it's watching its corporate tax base scurry off to suburbia as the Bush Administration brazenly welshes on its pledge to help the city with $20 billion. The coalition is a gathering of real evil-doers, like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, that fund and arm anti-American Islamic extremists. The U.S. is no closer to apprehending Osama bin Laden, Mullah Mohammad Omar or their henchmen than we were or it was back in September. ("[Bin Laden] has gone silent," an anonymous Bushie told The New York Times Feb. 4.) And Afghanistan's new interim government isn't even slightly better than the Taliban it replaced.
"The last time we met in this chamber," Bush crowed, "the mothers and daughters of Afghanistan were captives in their own homes, forbidden from working or going to school."
In all the ways that matter, they still are. Afghan women continue to wear the all-encompassing burqa, infamous symbol of Taliban oppression, out of fear of reprisals and terror of being raped by Northern Alliance soldiers. For the same reasons, they rarely go outdoors. Few schools have money to hire teachers. Women may be legally allowed to work, but Afghanistan's male unemployment rate exceeds 95 percent. If and when economic activity resumes, male-run Afghanistan will take care of the guys first.
Nothing has changed in Afghanistan, simply because there has been no meaningful attempt to de-Talibanize. Well-known figures like Mullah Omar may be in hiding, but today's Northern Alliance-dominated regime is almost entirely comprised of Taliban defectors. So while prime minister Hamid Karzai cuts a dashing figure with his green Tajik robe and impeccable English, the heavily-armed men ordinary Afghans come into contact with on the streets are merely gussied-up Talibs. Some liberation.
Nothing symbolized the excesses of Taliban rule more than that government's orgy of Friday-afternoon stonings and amputations. "Our Islam is different," Justice Minister Abdul Rahim Karimi, who took office on Dec. 24, told Agence France Press. Yet the Taliban's Sharia law-a pastiche of Pashtun tribal traditions and fundamentalist interpretations of the Koran that served in place of a modern legal system-remains in full force. "People would not understand if we got rid of it," he said.
Judge Ahamat Ullha Zarif, a leading Northern Alliance jurist, described justice in the kinder, gentler Afghanistan bought and paid for by you, the American taxpayer:
"There will be some changes from the time of the Taliban," Zarif announced. "For example, the Taliban used to hang the victim's body in public for four days. We will only hang the body for a short time, say 15 minutes."
People who have sex outside marriage-this includes unmarried couples-will continue to be stoned. "But we will use only small stones," he noted. Smaller stones offer the condemned, or at least the hardier among them, the chance to escape. "If they are able to run away, they are free."
As in America, this new soft-on-crime approach is contingent on cooperation and remorse. "Those who refuse to confess their wrongdoing and are condemned by a judge will have their hands and feet bound so that they cannot run away," Zarif explained. "They will certainly be stoned to death."
The good news, such as it is, is that Sharia may assume a mellower form in some provinces. As law and order has vanished, a new civil war has fragmented the country into separate fiefdoms controlled by vicious U.S.-armed warlords. At the checkpoint separating the Abdul Hai Neamati and Ismail Khan sectors of Farah province in western Afghanistan, for example, each side flies a different Afghan flag. But both are equally committed to the identical core value-the joy of robbing and raping ordinary people.
Ted Rall's new book, a graphic travelogue about his recent coverage of the Afghan war titled "To Afghanistan and Back," will be published in April.
Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020207/7/12qqs.html
2/8/02
5:56:08 PM
DAILY GRIST <http://www.gristmagazine.com>
WAR AND PEAS
War is hell -- and not just for human beings. A team of researchers from the U.N. Environment Programme is headed to Afghanistan to measure the ecological damage of decades of war, drought, famine, and more war. The study, which is part of a relatively new trend of analyzing the effects of human conflict on the natural world, will be the first environmental assessment of any sort to take place in Afghanistan in 25 years. The UNEP team will tally the damage done to everything from forests to water supplies to endangered species. However, its work will be complicated by the remoteness of the landscape, the country's varying topography (from towering mountains to arid sand dunes), and ongoing safety threats. Environmental scientists anticipate depressing findings: "The groundwork has been laid for an environmental disaster," said wildlife biologist Peter Zahler.
straight to the source: Seattle Times, Associated Press, Joseph B. Verrengia, 07 Feb 2002 <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134401110_ecoafghan07.html>
only in Grist: Afghanistan's environmental crisis -- and other gems from assorted magazines in our Best of the Rest section http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/best/best012202.asp?source=daily#afghan
RHODE ISLAND LEAD
A Superior Court judge in Rhode Island paved the way for a landmark lawsuit earlier this week when he gave state Attorney Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D) permission to sue manufacturers of lead-based paint. The paint industry had attempted to derail the trial by calling for every one of an estimated 300,000 owners of lead-painted homes to be codefendants. In a triumph that was hailed by anti-lead activists around the country, the judge disagreed, and Whitehouse is expected to go to court within six months. Paint companies maintain that they will win the case by showing that childhood lead poisoning is caused not by paint itself but by poor maintenance. Whitehouse responds that if the companies knew that deteriorating pain was a problem, consumers should have been warned. Rhode Island was the first state to sue paint companies for their role in lead poisoning, which causes neurological problems and learning disorders in children.
straight to the source: Providence Journal, Peter B. Lord, 06 Feb 2002 <http://www.projo.com/report/html/06995051.htm>
BIG. YELLOW. DIFFERENT. WORSE.
The wheels on the bus go round and round, and the diesel fumes from the bus go far and wide. That's the bad news from a study released yesterday by the Union of Concerned Scientists analyzing emissions from the nation's 454,000 school buses. Nine out of 10 of those buses are powered by diesel fuel, which can increase risk of cancer and exacerbate or cause asthma. The study also ranked every state by school bus emissions; California and Washington tied for worst, each receiving a "D." On average, every bus in the Golden State emits the same amount of particulates in a year as 170 cars. The report recommended converting buses to run on natural gas in order to reduce emissions and related health threats.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Jane Kay, 08 Feb 2002 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/02/08/MN88887.DTL>
only in Grist: Lovey-dovey scientists -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha092099.stm?source=daily>
KENYA OPENER
Even though Kenya is a major food exporter, it hasn't reaped much benefit from the $20 billion-per-year global market in organic foods. Now some farmers and nonprofits in the African nation are trying to change that. Many Kenyans already grow their crops without chemical inputs, but up till now, not a single one has been certified as an organic farmer -- and without such certification, farmers can't benefit from the lucrative natural foods market. Advocates of organic farming say that although the practice can be labor intensive, it is more sustainable, yields more healthful food, and reduces reliance on expensive imported chemicals. The biotechnology industry, however, dismisses organic food as spoils for the spoiled, and says the future of agriculture in Africa lies with genetically modified crops.
straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Mike Crawley, 07 Feb 2002 <http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0207/p08s01-woaf.html>
BITTER SWEET
Two years of wrangling and two days of intensive, closed-door negotiations ended in compromise yesterday when the U.S. Forest Service and environmentalists agreed to allow limited logging of burned timber in Montana's Bitterroot National Forest. Under the terms of the agreement, the USFS will begin logging about 14,770 burned acres; in exchange, it will not immediately pursue logging on another 29,000 acres and will drop its appeal of a federal court ruling preventing the agency from any logging in the Bitterroot. (That ruling came down after environmentalists sued Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey for bypassing Forest Service procedure and unilaterally approving a logging plan.) In all, the USFS will be able to harvest about 60 million board-feet, or roughly one-third of what it had hoped for. "It's kind of a mixed bag," said Larry Campbell, executive director of the Friends of Bitterroot, "but overall I do feel pretty good."
straight to the source: Billings Gazette, Associated Press, 08 Feb 2002 <http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?section=local&display=content/local/22-logging.inc>
2/8/02
5:44:23 PM
TomPaine.com
BUSH-SPEAK FROM CHURCHILL TO GOLDILOCKS
Using Simplicity As A Smokescreen
by David Kusnet
Behind Bush's simple State of the Union language, there are carefully crafted misrepresentations of his proposals -- populist arguments for elitist economics.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5087
Dispatch: Detroit
WHY WE'RE SUING JOHN ASHCROFT
Detroit's Media Fight Back On The Public's Behalf
by Jeremy Voas
"We don't know whether the government's suspicions about Haddad are justified. But we -- and you -- have a right to find out. And he has a right to a fair and open trial."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5088
THE HIGH PRICE OF CHEAP MEAT
Bargins At The Supermarket Cooler Will Cost Us Dearly Down The Line
by Ken Midkiff
At a slaughterhouse in Milan, Missouri, a sanitation worker fell into a huge sausage blender and was killed. OSHA fined the company $9,450. All the widow received was her husband's mangled body.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5085
LOOKING TO AID IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES
New War, Same Bad Old Strategy
by David Roodman
Propping up Pakistani despots during the Cold War failed miserably. So why is the administration trying it again?
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5054
THE PETER PAN SYNDROME
Infantilized by Instant Gratification
by M. W. Guzy
People no longer "save up" for future purchases but rather have to "cut back" to pay off yesterday. In effect, an entire generation has taken the Peter Pan pledge by refusing to grow up.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5089
Book Excerpt
THE NEXT BIG INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
How To Make The Economy Work For Mother Earth
by Lester Brown
"Those who anticipate the emerging eco-economy and plan for it will be the winners. Those who cling to the past risk becoming part of it."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5026
HEY, BIG SPENDER
Presidential Candidate George W. Bush: "When you total up all the federal spending he [Al Gore] wants to do, it's the largest increase in federal spending in years. And there's just not going to be enough money.... This is a big spender, he is. And he ought to be proud of it. It's part of his record. We just have a different philosophy."
President George W. Bush: "My budget includes the largest increase in defense spending in two decades ... Whatever it costs to defend our country, we will pay ... our budget will run a deficit."
http://www.tompaine.com/check_it_out/
2/8/02
5:40:42 PM
UTNE WEB WATCH
PRISON COFFEE
by Erica C. Barnett, Seattle Weekly
-- A company comes under fire for using inmate labor in Washington state to package Starbucks and Nintendo products for minimum wage.
KREMLIN BAILIFFS PULL THE PLUGS ON LAST INDEPENDENT TELEVISION NETWORK
by Fred Weir, The Independent
-- In an attempt to curb governmental criticism, a Moscow court orders Russia's last independent television network to be shut down.
APPLYING TO COLLEGE: WHO BENEFITS?
by Elizabeth Milne Kahn, WireTap
-- The process of applying to college is nerve-wracking for students, but for standardized testing companies, it is a giant industry.
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
2/8/02
5:36:59 PM
Global Warming Poses Severe Threat To The 'Richest' Natural Areas
WWF Calls on U.S. Congress to Take Responsible Action on Global Warming
WASHINGTON - Global warming threatens even the world's most biologically diverse natural areas, according to a new report, Habitats at Risk: Global Warming and Species Loss in Globally Significant Terrestrial Ecosystems, from WWF. This report is the first to look specifically at how global warming in the coming decades could impact our most treasured natural habitats -outstanding areas still rich in species and biological distinctiveness. It examines 113 land-based regions of significant size and vegetative surface and finds that huge parts of the world, from the tropics to the poles are at risk.
The report also finds that as global warming changes their habitat, many species will be unable to move to new areas fast enough to survive, raising the possibility of a 'catastrophic' loss of species in one-fifth of the world's most vulnerable nature areas.
To address this global threat, WWF today calls on all nations to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol emission targets. Human-induced emissions of CO2 and other gases blanket the earth, trap in heat and cause global warming.
"It is shocking to see that many of our most biologically valuable ecosystems are at special risk from global warming. If we don't do something to reverse this frightening trend, it would mean extinction for thousands of species," said Dr. Jay R. Malcolm, author of the report and a professor at the University of Toronto.
Among the U.S. ecosystems at risk, areas in California, the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Prairie may be hardest hit. Dramatic changes may devastate the shrub and woodland areas that stretch from Southern California to San Francisco, prairies in the northern heart of the United States, Sierra Nevada mountains, Klamath-Siskiyou forest near the California-Oregon border, and the Sonoran-Baja deserts across the southwestern United States.
Worldwide, the areas most vulnerable to devastation from global warming include the Canadian Low Arctic Tundra, the Central Andean Dry Puna of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, the Ural Mountains and the Daurian Steppe of Mongolia and Russia, the Terai-Duar savannah of northeastern India, southwestern Australia and the Fynbos of South Africa.
The release of this report coincides with the start of an international WWF campaign to ensure that countries around the world protect these distinctive ecosystems from global warming by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol this year so it becomes legally binding. WWF also calls on the U.S. Congress and Bush Administration to immediately put in place strong domestic plans to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets.
"The solutions to global warming are at hand and the risks are high. Responsible leaders must act now to help protect America's richest natural treasures for future generations," said Jennifer Morgan, Director of WWF's Climate Change Campaign. "As this new report clearly shows, to delay action on reducing our carbon dioxide emissions puts the survival of many species - plants, animals and people worldwide - at unnecessary risk."
Members of the U.S. Congress can put in place a strong domestic plan by passing legislation to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from power plants; increase the percentage of the nation's power that comes from clean, renewable energy resources; and increase the fuel economy of motor vehicles to 40 miles per gallon. By passing current legislative initiatives such as a Renewable Portfolio Standard and higher Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, the U.S. Congress can help protect America's richest natural treasures for future generations. These same measures will reduce our dependence on foreign oil thereby increasing our national security, and reduce the air pollution that causes acid rain, smog, and respiratory illness.
Contact: Kathleen Sullivan
mailto:kathleen.sullivan@wwfus.org phone: 202 778.9576
Source: http://www.worldwildlife.org/news
2/8/02
5:31:17 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY
WASHINGTON, DC, February 7, 2002 (ENS) - Two new reports by U.S. and international conservation groups detail the extensive threats to wildlife and biodiversity hotspots posed by global warming. Saying the studies provide further evidence that quick action is needed to combat climate change, the groups are calling on U.S. lawmakers to help cut greenhouse gas emissions by enacting higher fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks.
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-07-06.html
BITTERROOT SETTLEMENT SAVES THOUSANDS OF FOREST ACRES
MISSOULA, Montana, February 7, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Forest Service agreed today to remove 27,000 acres of roadless old growth forest and sensitive fish habitat from a planned logging project in the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana. The settlement with several conservation groups ends months of contentious dispute over a massive, 46,000 acre timber sale that environmentalists warned could set a dangerous precedent for Western logging.
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-07-07.html
THE LONG, COLD RECYCLE
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, February 7, 2002 (ENS) - A unique independent project to help clear Antarctica of junk has overcome a final hurdle, with the unloading here of a shipment of 1,000 metric tons of scrap metal.
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-07-03.html
WORST FLOODING IN DECADES INUNDATES INDONESIA
JAKARTA, Indonesia, February 7, 2002 (ENS) - A week of incessant rain and the worst flooding in decades have claimed at least 57 lives in Greater Jakarta, and another 27 people have been killed in other parts of the Indonesian archipelago, according to government officials.
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-07-01.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: FEBRUARY 7, 2002
Nitrate Pollution Plagues U.S., China Groundwater
EPA's Sewage Sludge Research Challenged
El Niņo Predicted for Tropical Pacific
Religious, Senate Leaders Oppose ANWR Drilling
Ocean Vent Creatures Studied in Surface Tanks
International Team Targets Arsenic in Bangladesh
Kraft Targeted by Genetic Engineering Critics
New Photosynthetic Bacteria Found in Oceans
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-07-09.html
2/8/02
5:14:10 PM
EMS Update
GOP Senators Speak Out Against Arctic Drilling
At an EMS press conference today, three Republican Senators spoke out against drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Senators were joined by other prominent Republicans from the Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Rockefeller families.
http://www.ems.org/arctic_nat_wildlife_refuge/zz.ems.02.02.07.html
Arsenic in Wood
Prompted by reports that EPA may give in to industry and soften its stance on arsenic in pressure-treated wood, Beyond Pesticides sent a letter urging EPA to fully protect the public.
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/WOOD/MEDIA/petition_PR_2_7_02.htm
2/8/02
5:11:22 PM
AlterNet Headlines
San Francisco Bay Area Readers -- Save the Date!
You're invited to come meet fiery columnist Jim Hightower and the AlterNet staff to talk about fighting for real democracy in troubled times, and to celebrate our new book, "After 9/11: Solutions for a Saner World." --> Wednesday, Feb. 13, 7 p.m. at San Francisco's New College.
For more info: http://www.newcollege.edu/cesa/caldicott.htm
SLAVERY FREE CHOCOLATE?
Brooke Shelby Biggs, AlterNet
With Valentine's Day coming up, the chocolate industry has agreed to fight child slavery on African cocoa farms. Does it mean business, or is Big Chocolate just sweetening its image?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12373
THE DOMESTICITY WARS
Vivian Dent and Lakshmi Chaudhry, AlterNet
Some say the boredom of domestic life will wreck any good relationship. Others think shacking up is the best way to bliss. Two AlterNet writers go head-to-head in the Domesticity Wars.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12371
ENRON PAID OFF TOP JOURNALISTS IN RETURN FOR ... WHAT?
Richard Blow, TomPaine.com
Enron gave at least four prominent journalists -- all of whom were either writing about Enron or editing magazines that were -- payouts of at least $50,000 each.
* In EnronGate: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=30
HACKTIVISTS STAGE VIRTUAL SIT-IN AT WEF WEB SITE
Noah Shachtman, AlterNet
When the World Economic Forum site collapsed just as its recent meeting began, it seemed a major win for online activists. But organizers of the "virtual sit-in" refuse to take credit.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12374
WHEN THE ARMY OWNS THE WEATHER
Bob Fitrakis, Columbus Alive
Evidence of the Pentagon's interest in manipulating mother nature abounds. How come the public knows nothing about it?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12342
OLYMPICS: GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE -- BUT NOT GREEN
Martin A. Lee, AlterNet
The upcoming Winter Games will wreak ecological havoc in Utah, as pristine wilderness is overwhelmed by development, traffic, waste and energy consumption.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12344
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Michelle Goldberg's "When the Babes Beat Up the Boys" elicits vocal response from both men and women.
http://www.alternet.org/letters_ed.html?BulletinID=10
Robert McChesney, FAIR respond to Don Hazen's "Retro Chomsky?"
http://www.alternet.org/letters_ed.html?BulletinID=9
FUSION BIOPOLITICS
Jeremy Rifkin, The Nation
Conservatives and progressives have found common ground in the movement to ban all forms of cloning -- an alliance that signals the new age of biopolitics.
* In EnviroHealth: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=18
HUTCHINSON: BLACKS STILL LOSING RACE TO CORPORATE TOP
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet
Black employees at many corporations still say they are given the worst assignments, paid less and have fewer chances for promotions than their white counterparts.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12364
BUSH TO FUND COLOMBIA WAR EFFORT
Adam Isacson, AlterNet
Recent Bush administration "policy review" is seriously considering transforming Colombia's war against drugs into a war against terrorism.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12361
JUSTICE AFTER THE SCHIZOID WAR
Tamara Straus, AlterNet
A new documentary film, "Justice and the Generals," looks at the future of international human rights law through the prism of El Salvador's bloody civil war.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12362
2/8/02
5:06:59 PM
t r u t h o u t | 02.08
Ex-Enron CEO: I Knew Nothing
http://www.truthout.com/02.08A.Enron.CEO.htm
Tom Daschle a Letter to George W. Bush on Unemployment Benefits
http://www.truthout.com/02.08B.TD.Letter.htm
Waxman a Letter to the White House | Who Worked for Enron
http://www.truthout.com/02.08C.Waxman.Letter.htm
Hastert Pledges to Fight Campaign Finance Bill
http://www.truthout.com/02.08D.Hassert.Fight.htm
Palestinian Gunman Kills 3 Israelis, Shooting a Mother and Child
http://www.truthout.com/02.08E.Gunman.Kills.htm
NRDC Asks Court To Force Immediate Release Of Secret Cheney Energy Task Force Details
http://www.truthout.com/02.08F.Task.Details.htm
For Enron and the Other Energy Privateers, the Arrival of the Bush Team was Timely Indeed.
http://www.truthout.com/02.08G.Energy.Timely.htm
Buffalo Feild Campaign Update | 02.07.2002
http://www.truthout.com/02.08H.Buffalo.htm
2/8/02
5:05:18 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Biotech firms mull action against China over GMOs - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14441/story.htm
Bush likely to announce Kyoto alternative next week - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14448/story.htm
Soybean group sees China clarifying GMO rules soon - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14443/story.htm
Kraft targeted in anti-biotech food campaign - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14439/story.htm
US agencies warn against PG&E hydropower plan - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14437/story.htm
UPDATE - UN sees Chernobyl area as eco-tourism hot-spot - UNITED NATIONS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14435/story.htm
Salvage planned for gas ship drifting in Thai Gulf - THAILAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14436/story.htm
UPDATE - Two killed by freak Peruvian floods - PERU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14447/story.htm
UPDATE - Jail for France's Bove over McDonald's attack - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14444/story.htm
European Parliament urges quick passage of Kyoto - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14449/story.htm
Carmakers say EU may push up prices - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14445/story.htm
Ecuador oil pipeline seen finished in early 2003 - ECUADOR http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14438/story.htm
Fires threaten Chile's native forests, reserves - CHILE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14440/story.htm
Russia says has ended chemical arms fight with US - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14450/story.htm
UPDATE - Canada wants US greenhouse gas goals to be vigorous - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14442/story.htm
Australia generator signs Vestas wind deal - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14434/story.htm
Australian scientists see likely El Nino in 2002 - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14446/story.htm
2/8/02
5:04:01 PM
Greenpeace True Food Network Newsletter February 2002
2/8/02
5:00:42 PM
Dear WildAlert Subscriber:
It just doesn't end. National Forest Roadless Areas are *again* under attack by the Bush Administration and the U.S. Forest Service. This time, the Forest Service has proposed two new administrative "directives" that eliminate safeguards for roadless areas, allowing more destructive road construction on our national forests. Tell the Forest Service by February 19th that you oppose these directives:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1048
BACKGROUND On December 20, 2001, the Forest Service proposed two new "Interim Directives" covering transportation and roadless area management on our national forests. The Transportation Directive completely removes the roadless area section from the Forest Service Transportation Policy. The Roadless Area Directive consolidates all interim management direction for inventoried roadless areas into the forest planning section of the Forest Service manual.
These directives are the latest in a series of administrative maneuvers that have weakened or removed important roadless area safeguards provided by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and the Transportation Policy.
ELIMINATING PUBLIC REVIEW OF SOME ROAD PROJECTS The proposed Transportation System Analysis Directive effectively would give Forest Service managers added power to decide if certain road-building projects should undergo environmental and public review.
Currently, any new road construction or reconstruction in inventoried roadless areas and contiguous unroaded areas can only occur if the Regional Forester determines a "compelling need." This directive would eliminate that requirement.
As a result, small-scale road projects could be approved *without* an Environmental Impact Statement, (EIS). Further, by removing protection for uninventoried roadless areas, the ecological values of these unroaded areas, including their value as important wildlife corridors, are also threatened.
SECOND DIRECTIVE DOES LITTLE TO PROTECT ROADLESS AREAS The proposed Inventoried Roadless Area Management Directive would do anything but protect roadless areas. It doesn't stop logging or roadbuilding; it simply gives the Chief of the Forest Service responsibility to approve such actions. And it totally exempts the Tongass National Forest in Alaska from *any* protection of its 9.4 million acres of roadless areas!
In fact, this interim directive provides no precautions to ensure that the Regional Foresters and the Chief won't simply rubber-stamp all logging and road-building projects that come across their desks.
In contrast, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule provides permanent protection of all inventoried roadless areas in our National Forests from logging and roadbuilding. However, this rule remains unimplemented due to stalling tactics and lack of defense in court by the Bush Administration.
TAKE ACTION The Forest Service is soliciting comments on these directives, but only through February 19th. We must make the Forest Service and the Bush Administration aware of the American people's absolute abhorrence of their refusal to implement the Roadless Area Conservation Rule nor to defend it in court. Send your comments from
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1048
(When you send your comments from our website, a copy of your email automatically will be forwarded to your congressional representative.)
Or contact the Forest Service directly. Tell them:
- The Forest Service should withdraw the proposed interim directives for roadless areas, and fully implement the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and other policies that protect national forest roadless areas.
- The Forest Service and the Bush Administration should begin to vigorously defend the Roadless Area Conservation Rule against lawsuits challenging the legality of the rule.
- The Forest Service apparently considers hurried logging, drilling and mining in roadless areas to be more important than hearing from the millions of Americans who are resolute in their desire for protection of our last pristine wild forests.
- Until the courts remove the injunction currently barring implementation of the Roadless Rule, administrative direction to protect roadless areas is needed. At a minimum, any interim directive on roadless area management should not allow activities that would be inconsistent with the Roadless Rule.
Send your comments to: USFS CAT, Attention: Road Policy P.O. Box 221150 Salt Lake City, UT 84122 E-mail: roads_id@fs.fed.us Fax: 801-517-1021
2/8/02
4:57:07 PM
The Nation
On January 24, US Special Operations troops attacked two small compounds in Haraz Qadam, a town 100 miles north of Kandahar, Afghanistan. At least eighteen people were killed. Twenty-seven were captured, and the Pentagon announced its prisoners were Taliban and al Qaeda fighters. The daring operation was front-page news. But days later, media reports, based on interviews with local residents, undermined the official account. The townspeople said one of the compounds was being used as a weapons depot for a disarmament drive and that the Afghans killed and snatched were actually troops loyal to the interim government of Kabul. According to local Afghans, the bodies of two individuals were found with their hands tied behind their backs. About a week later, CIA officers were in the field working with tribal leaders to pay $1,000 to the family of each Afghan wrongfully killed.
For the full story, read the latest installment of David Corn's Capital Games, exclusively available at:
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=15
And check out the Capital Games archive for questions that the Senate should ask disgraced Enron CEO Ken Lay when he's finally forced to testify before Congress:
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=11
You can also find a collection of material on the Enron scandal by Corn, Robert Scheer, William Greider, Robert Borosage, Russ Baker and Matt Bivens currently available at:
http://www.thenation.com/special/2002enron.mhtml
And be sure to read John Nichols' related story on Ralph Nader from the February 25, 2002 issue of The Nation, in which Nader calls Enron "the supermarket of corporate crime for our time." This profile/interview/essay is available now at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020225&s=nichols
2/8/02
4:52:59 PM
"CIA" New terror attack on US 'within a year'
by Pamela Hess
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- The director of the CIA warned a Senate panel Wednesday that the al Qaida network would strike again at the United States and that the war on terror is far from over.
"We assess that al Qaida and other terrorist groups will continue to plan to attack this country and interests abroad," CIA Director George Tenet told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. "Al Qaida leaders are still at large and are working to reconstitute the organization and resume its terrorist operations...al Qaida has not yet been destroyed."
Defense Intelligence Agency chief Vice Adm. Thomas Wilson provided more details in written testimony, stating that he is worried a new massive attack against the United States or its interests abroad could occur during the next 12 months and singled out Colombia, the Philippines, or Indonesia as potential centers for planning violence against U.S. citizens or interests.
"We must continue to be vigilant and never assume that we have 'won the war'. We will be most vulnerable when the threat appears to have diminished, security measures are relaxed, and we return to 'normal,'" Wilson wrote.
"Terrorists work on their own timeline and are patient. They are content to wait for the right opportunity -- even if it takes years -- to increase their chances of success."
Tenet defended the CIA against stiff questioning from senators about the agency's performance against terrorism and specifically its failure to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks, when 3,000 people were killed by a series of coordinated suicide hijackings.
The agency, he said, had thwarted several possible attacks on U.S. interests overseas last summer, but had no inkling that al Qaida was plotting the terror attacks on New York and Washington.
"We never had the texture that said this is the date, the time and the place" of the attack, Tenet told the committee. "We welcome the committee's review of our record on terrorism ... We're proud of that record. It is a record of discipline strategy focus and action," Tenet said.
"I have to tell you that when you do this every day the shock was where the attack occurred but not that the attack occurred," he said. "Where did the secret for the planning reside? Probably in the head of three or four people. At the end of the day all you can do is try to steal that secret..."
"Intelligence will never give you 100 percent predictive capability on terrorist threats and terrorist events," Tenet said. "We know that they will hurt us again. We have to minimize their ability to do so, because there is no such thing as perfect security in this business."
Tenet said intelligence alone could not protect the country; security procedures must be in place at airports, embassies and other places to minimize risk.
"When the information isn't available we need to make sure our backside is protected," he said.
"We know they will hurt us again, we have to minimize" their ability to do so, he said, adding that nearly 1,000 members of the al Qaida terrorist organization have been arrested worldwide since Sept. 11.
But despite this, and the additional disruption caused by the four-month war in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden's terror organization remains the major threat to the United States, Wilson said.
"The al Qaida network has not been eliminated and it retains the potential for reconstitution," he said. "Many key officials and operatives remain and new personalities have already begun to emerge. Some operations that were already planned could be easily completed."
But Wilson said the intense attacks on al Qaida training camps had a devastating effect on the organization.
"What was removed in Afghanistan for al Qaida was in essence their Fort Bragg, their Fort Irwin. ... It was truly military-style training that was ongoing ... It is difficult to establish the scale and the complexity of that kind of operation," he said.
"We knew about the training centers for years. The difference now is we did something about it," added Carl Ford, assistant secretary of state for intelligence, who also testified to the committee. "If somebody some place else tries to build a training center, my expectation is they won't be there very long."
Dale Watson, FBI assistant director for counter-terrorism and counterintelligence, told the committee that 13 of the 19 hijackers came into the United States only a few months before the attacks, and none had contacts with anyone on terrorism watch lists.
"We had no information about them, intelligence-wise, through no one's fault, that's how they did it," Watson said.
Tenet would not specify in open session whether he believes Osama bin Laden is dead, but readily offered that he believes Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is alive.
Bin Laden has no identified successor that could rally his forces as effectively if he is killed or captured, Wilson said, but warned that could cause the organization to splinter into different groups with different agendas.
Wilson said for the near-term terrorists will likely favor easily fashioned or bought conventional weapons but said the psychological and economic impact of last fall's anthrax attack has not gone unnoticed.
"More than two dozen states or non-state groups either have or have an interest in acquiring chemical weapons, and there are a dozen countries believed to have biological warfare programs," he said.
Tenet agreed.
"The (biological warfare) piece of this seems to be more advanced than anything else," he said.
Wilson also warned that within a decade U.S. citizens or military personnel may be attacked with "volumetric weapons," a massive, fuel-rich slow burning weapon that creates so much overpressure it does more damage to structures and even dug-in personnel. Less than a year ago, Wilson told the committee in testimony that it would be 15 years before that weapon fell into enemy hands.
"Several countries (are) openly advertising it for sale," he said.
Ford, assistant secretary of state for intelligence, complained that budget cuts have decimated the State Department's ability to collect unclassified intelligence from overseas.
More than money, however, is keeping experienced people to analyze intelligence and spot trends and suspicious activities.
"What I couldn't have gotten by without were my people, my experts people who have been on the job 25, 30 years ... You can't replace them with 10 rookies ... Over the next five to seven years we're losing a good portion of our expertise."
Tenet said within three years 30 percent to 40 percent of the men and women of CIA will have been there five years or less.
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=06022002-044613-4784r
The section that says the IRC is not law. - Bill Thornton
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=18012
Clinton Gets Nailed By Croatian Military Intelligence - NY POST
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=18011
Utah Senate Moves to Silence Dissent
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=17979
Enron a $300-million sweetheart deal on the pipeline project - Ana Simo
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=17974
House Energy & Commerce Subcmte. on Oversight & Investigations - Hearing on the Findings of Enron's Special Investigative Cmte. Former CEO Jeffrey Skilling and former CFO Andrew Fastow testify. LIVE on C-SPAN 3, Thursday February 7 at 10am ET
http://www.cspan.ORG/enron/index.asp
`In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.'
http://www.apfn.org/old/apfncont.htm
2/8/02
4:48:53 PM
Understanding Of Nitrogen Cycle Called Into Question
by David Suzuki
In my writing I have discussed the importance of the nitrogen cycle and the relationship between plant growth and organic and inorganic nitrogen. As it happens, I may have been mistaken — and so might more than a century of biological science.
Nitrogen is an extremely abundant element, and it is essential for all life forms to survive. In fact, it is the primary nutrient for plant life. For the past 150 years, the dominant view in plant nutrition has been that most plants do not readily absorb organic nitrogen, that is, nitrogen which is chemically combined with carbon. Instead, it has been thought that plants need access to inorganic nitrogen, which is bound to oxygen, hydrogen, or a metal.
Certainly in agriculture, over the past decades, the extensive use of inorganic fertilizer has greatly increased crop yields. The invention of the Haber-Bosch process in the early 20th century — which transformed atmospheric nitrogen into inorganic nitrogen (ammonia) that plants can readily absorb — changed agriculture forever. We are now largely dependent on this type of nitrogen to fertilize most of our commercial crops. Worldwide, the Haber-Bosch process produces about 2 million tons of ammonia (the primary ingredient of inorganic fertilizers) every week.
Scientists have long assumed that forests work the same way as agricultural crops — that they were dependent on inorganic nitrogen for growth and that its availability was the primary factor that restricted growth in a forest. And in fact, studies of forests in the Northern Hemisphere have found that most of the dissolved nitrogen in the soil is indeed inorganic.
However, a new study published recently in the journal Nature exposes a big flaw in this conventional thinking. The problem is that our scientific understanding of forests in the Northern Hemisphere is based on studies conducted after industrialization. However, since the industrial revolution, human activities have dramatically altered both the carbon cycle, by adding vast amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, and the nitrogen cycle, by adding vast quantities of nitrogen fertilizers to the soil and nitrogen oxides to the air (by burning fossil fuels). In 200 years we have actually doubled the amount of available nitrogen in the biosphere. Has all this excess inorganic nitrogen skewed our perspective of natural systems?
It has — and perhaps profoundly. The study reported in Nature compared the type of nitrogen found in woodland streams and rivers in North America and Europe with the nitrogen found in 100 relatively pristine South American streams in 26 different regions. Researchers were surprised to find that a whopping 70 percent of the dissolved nitrogen in the South American streams is organic. That's the opposite to what is found in the Northern Hemisphere, where more than 70 percent is inorganic. The researchers surmise that all that inorganic nitrogen may not be critical to forest ecosystems at all but is merely a byproduct of industrial pollution — especially atmospheric pollution from burning fossil fuels.
This finding calls into question our entire understanding of the nitrogen cycle in forests. It also questions our assumptions about how nonagricultural plants in general take up nitrogen. And because the nitrogen cycle is closely linked to the carbon cycle, these new observations have implications for computer models of changing global conditions, like those that predict a forest's ability to absorb increased carbon from the atmosphere.
It may be that inorganic nitrogen did dominate nitrogen cycling in Northern Hemisphere forests even before industrialization. However, examining that possibility could be a difficult and lengthy task. In the meantime we are left with the disturbing possibility that we have altered our world so dramatically that our most basic assumptions of what constitutes "natural" processes are tainted by human influence.
Source: http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2002/02/02072002/s_46269.asp
2/8/02
4:37:13 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
CHANGE THE CHANNEL
Here's how erosion works: A trickle of water carves a tiny channel in, say, a grassless slope. The channel, now a low spot, attracts more water and becomes a deeper groove. Soon enough, water that could run uniformly across an entire hillside becomes funneled into one narrow, destructive gully. Sound familiar? To columnist Elizabeth Sawin, it sounds like Enron -- and, more broadly, like our entire political system, where money and power that could be spread across society become channeled in fewer and fewer hands. We know how to deal with environmental erosion; now, Sawin says, we should apply the same principles to politics. Read about how you can be your own blade of grass, only on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: Taking on the erosive cycle of contemporary politics -- by Elizabeth Sawin <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen020702.asp?source=daily>
IF IT WEREN'T FOR THOSE MEDAL-ING KIDS
The 2002 Winter Olympics open tomorrow in Salt Lake City, and not everybody's thrilled about it. Environmentalists say developers took advantage of the games to permanently damage the pristine Rocky Mountain environment, even though protecting the natural world is now the third precept -- after sports and culture -- of the Olympics. The Salt Lake Olympic Committee set goals of zero waste, zero emissions, and the planting of 18 million trees, but Tom Price, chair of the Olympics environmental advisory committee, thinks the SLOC fell short: Forests have been clear-cut to make way for ski runs, and when it came to eco-friendly transportation to accommodate 70,000 spectators a day, the committee dropped the ball. "Not just dropped it, but kicked it out the window, then burned and buried it," Price said. At least one person, though, has walked away with the gold: Utah oil man R. Earl Holding, who bought tiny Snowbasin Ski Resort in 1984 and, just prior to the Olympics, made a highly controversial land swap with the U.S. Forest Service that will net a pretty penny in the future.
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, 06 Feb 2002 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/694500.asp>
straight to the source: New York Times, Guy Boulton, 05 Feb 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/05/business/05SNOW.html>
only in Grist: A week in the life of Jacqui Hellyer, Sydney Olympics <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/hellyer040300.stm?source=daily>
only in Grist: Flashback to the Sydney Worm Olympics -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha091400.stm?source=daily>
BADA BING!
In a potentially significant breakthrough for the environmental justice movement, New Jersey has become the first state to propose environmental-equity regulations for companies looking to move into minority or low-income communities. The rules, which were drafted by the state Department of Environmental Protection, would feed companies' plans into a computer model comparing census information and pollution data. If the modeling predicted an environmental justice problem, the move could only proceed if the DEP concluded that the company had made a "good faith effort" to include community members in the planning process. Opponents fear a chilling effect on economic development, while some environmental justice advocates are concerned that the rules would not go far enough toward actually preventing polluters from setting up shop in poor or minority communities.
straight to the source: Philadelphia Inquirer, Will Van Sant, 07 Feb 2002 <http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/2622069.htm>
READERS' RARE BITS
Yup, it's that time again: Grist readers, ever a feisty bunch, air their views in our letters section. Grist gets taken to task for denouncing massive corporations while selling books through megastore Amazon.com (never fear, we've mended our way, mostly), and our readers clean up their own caffeinated acts after reading about the virtues of shade-grown organic coffee. Other folks denounce Bjorn Lomborg (again) and defend U.S. EPA Ombudsman Robert Martin and rainforest satire. Check out what your fellow readers have to say, only on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: That's some good coffee -- and more comments from readers -- in our letters section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/letters/letters020402.asp?source=daily>
CANO WORMS
The Bush administration has asked for $98 million to help protect Colombia's Cano Limon oil pipeline from attacks by leftist guerrillas. The pipeline, which is owned by Occidental Petroleum, supplies crude oil to the U.S. and has the capacity to pump 240,000 barrels a day. But constant attacks -- 13 so far this year -- have reduced its flow to a trickle. More than 2.5 million barrels of Cano Limon crude (roughly 10 times the amount spilled by the ExxonValdez) have leaked into Colombia's rivers and onto rangelands in the last 15 years, sickening people and poisoning water sources and animals. If approved by Congress, the pipeline protection would ratchet up U.S. involvement in Colombia's power struggle between Marxist rebels, ultra-right paramilitary groups, and the government. U.S. officials called the request a part of a broad effort to foster democracy nd order in the troubled nation.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Ruth Morris, 06 Feb 2002 <http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-020602colomb.story>
2/7/02
2:51:31 PM
MOJOURNAL
* Davos on the Hudson: Day Five * - The World Economic Forum came to New York as a show of solidarity with an injured US -- only to have European delegates bristle at their hosts' displays of unilateralism.
http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/features/news/wef_day_five.html
* Suing Bin Laden * - Winning civil suits against Osama bin Laden should be easy for the families of Sept. 11 victims. Getting paid is another story.
http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/features/news/suing_osama.html
* Up Close and Personal * - From the Magazine: High-tech identification devices could produce reams of data on law-abiding citizens -- but may be useless in fighting terrorists.
http://www.motherjones.com/magazine/JF02/up_close.html
* News Beat * - Attack of Superweed; Enron at the Plate; Coho in the Crosshairs; more …
http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/features/news/news_beat.html
* Capitol Beat * - Pentagon Priorities; Social Insecurity; Bush Keeps Score; more ...
http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/features/news/capitol_beat.html
2/7/02
2:01:50 PM
Anxieties over toxins rise at Ground Zero Respiratory ailments persist in residents, workers, students since collapse of twin towers
By Charisse Jones USA TODAY
NEW YORK -- In the neighborhoods closest to the site of the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history, a new fear has taken hold. Despite assertions by local and federal officials that the air downtown is safe to breathe, many who live and work there remain concerned about toxins such as lead, PCBs and asbestos that the terrorist attacks may have left behind.
Since the attacks Sept. 11, many recovery workers, residents and students downtown have complained of tightness in their chests, bloody noses, sinus infections and other respiratory ailments.
Roughly one in four firefighters who have been working at Ground Zero have what some are calling ''World Trade Center cough'' or another respiratory complaint, fire department officials say. About 750 have had to take medical leave, according to the firefighters' union.
Tests of eight Port Authority employees working at Ground Zero showed elevated levels of mercury in their blood. Though no one is certain that working at the site caused the problem, subsequent tests found that the mercury levels of six workers returned to normal after they were reassigned.
Now, the Environmental Protection Agency and local health officials are under fire from politicians and others who accuse them of failing to adequately inform the public about potential long-term health risks from asbestos, heavy metals and various chemicals. They say officials downplayed negative test results of such substances as benzene, dioxins and PCBs and have been slow in releasing test findings to the public.
The EPA disputes those criticisms and says the outdoor air downtown poses no long-term health risks.
The interiors of at least a few buildings, however, were coated with enough asbestos to be subject to EPA rules for asbestos cleanup. A private scientific firm hired by elected officials, for example, found high asbestos levels in dust at two apartment buildings near Ground Zero. EPA rules require that any dust or debris containing more than 1% asbestos be handled according to special rules, not just swept up by homeowners.
Though several scientists say it appears that the levels of chemicals were not present in high enough amounts and that exposure was too minimal to cause long-range concerns, many of the toxins can have serious effects.
Long-term exposure to many of these substances can cause major health problems. Asbestos can cause cancer. PCBs from electronic components and benzene from burning jet fuel are also carcinogens. Dioxins, particulates released in a fire, can be carcinogenic and cause reproductive problems. Long-term exposure to lead can cause neurological damage. And PBDEs -- a flame retardant often found in computers, foam padding and plastics -- are likened to PCBs and could also be present.
Critics also say officials have not done sufficient testing inside buildings and have failed to oversee proper cleaning of apartments and businesses. Several community organizations have conducted their own indoor tests and say their findings suggest that the potential health risks are greater than officials have indicated.
Parents and teachers at P.S. 89 went to court to delay last Monday's scheduled reopening of the elementary school in nearby Battery Park City. They were concerned about the air quality and questioned whether the children are ready to return to the area near the Trade Center. School officials are trying to work out a timetable agreeable to the parents.
The EPA's ombudsman is investigating whether the agency has been slow releasing test results and whether it knew its asbestos testing might be flawed. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., has accused the EPA of maintaining a double standard by cleaning its offices six blocks from Ground Zero more thoroughly than it advised others to clean their buildings.
On Monday, Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate clean air subcommittee, will hold a hearing in New York on downtown air quality at the request of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.
''Because there was absolutely no oversight on the city's part, we don't know what lurks in people's apartments or businesses,'' says Madelyn Wils, chairwoman of the community's advisory committee.
Wils lives six blocks from the World Trade Center and suffered a sore throat, laryngitis and a sinus infection for a few months after the attacks. ''If you washed your walls and didn't clean your drapes, could you have asbestos on your drapes?'' she asks. ''If you didn't get rid of your children's toys, and they have stuffed animals, could they have asbestos? Probably.''
In a survey of Lower Manhattan by the city health department and other agencies in October, 34% of the 414 respondents said they did not feel that their homes were safe to live in. In each of three neighborhoods profiled, roughly 80% of those with safety concerns were worried about air quality, and 35% of those surveyed wanted more information about proper cleaning.
Testing outdoors
The EPA says it has been vigilant in sharing information, meeting with various agencies, regularly updating its Web site and even maintaining a lab near Ground Zero. The lab performs daily tests for toxins and gives the results immediately to workers at the site.
''Based on our findings, and now really more than 10,000 samples of a wide range of substances, we have found no significant long-term risk posed by the outdoor air,'' EPA spokeswoman Bonnie Bellow said last week.
Many ailments are likely to clear up and can be attributed to the pulverized concrete and fiberglass that filled the air after the twin towers collapsed, as well as the fires that burned at Ground Zero until late December, medical experts say. Though some of the substances unleashed by the disaster are known to be long-term health hazards, ''for the most part, people didn't get a high enough or long enough exposure for long-term concerns,'' says Paul Lioy, associate director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute in Piscataway, N.J.
''But,'' he adds, ''there's enough anecdotal information out there that some good solid studies need to be done to confirm or deny the effects being observed.''
Several studies are underway. Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City is examining how substances such as heavy metals, PCBs, dioxins and other pollutants might affect pregnant women. City health officials plan to start a registry of those near Ground Zero during the disaster. The Fire Department is monitoring roughly 11,000 firefighters and emergency technicians who spent time at the site for exposure to substances such as heavy metals and mercury. The EPA also is conducting several studies on exposure and toxicity at and near the site.
Ultimately, any potential risk might depend on the level of exposure and for how long. For example, a worker caught in the first toxic plume on Sept. 11 might develop different health problems than a resident who was away but returned days later to an apartment coated with dust. Scientists are trying to figure out these different health risks.
Part of what makes long-term health predictions so difficult is that several calamities occurred at once on Sept. 11. Jet fuel exploded, office equipment melted in the searing fire and two skyscrapers collapsed, releasing an array of substances that might have combined in unusual ways. ''So you have all sorts of things that people never (before) breathed all at the same time, and in quantities that we're just not used to,'' Lioy says.
The EPA has been checking the air, drinking water and river sediments for asbestos, lead, metals, benzene, dioxin and other substances. Both federal and city officials say there were sporadic spikes in asbestos, particularly right after the attacks, but the levels have decreased over time. City health officials say lead levels have not been higher than what is normally seen in New York City dust. The EPA has taken 283 air samples since September for lead and found only five above the federal acceptable standards for adults and children.
Unhealthful levels of dioxins and PCBs measured by the EPA have been concentrated only over Ground Zero, where workers must wear protective equipment while removing debris from the site
Even so, some residents in the area say they believe that officials were premature in declaring it safe to return to Lower Manhattan shortly after the attacks.
''I don't know if they intentionally misled us, but they seem to have given conflicting statements,'' resident Dennis Gault says about the EPA. ''My concern is for the children in the neighborhood. . . . The asbestos, over 20 or 30 years, God knows what will be the effects. And then the PCBs and the heavy metals are also quite frightening.''
Testing indoors
On Sept. 11, Gault's wife called him at work. He rushed to their apartment in Gateway Plaza, about 300 yards from the World Trade Center. He shut the windows, then ''we put the baby in the stroller, and we ran for our lives.''
When Gault returned home a week later, he noticed a dark powder coated the apartment, he recalls. Gault, 36, had to toss away most of the furniture and his 3-year-old daughter's toys. The apartment has been cleaned twice, but a residue remains, he says. ''There was no testing of the air in my apartment that I know of, so I don't know what the levels of asbestos were or the other toxins,'' says Gault, a teacher.
He went back home in December to be closer to his job, while his wife and daughter continue to stay with his in-laws. But he says his family may have to rent another apartment.
''Before they come back, I'd like to have my apartment tested,'' says Gault, who does not have renter's insurance to cover the costs. ''After all the cleaning I've done myself and the cleaning by others, if there's still levels of toxins in