Earths.net

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-25-06.html

U.S. ECOSYSTEMS ALTERED BY NITROGEN POLLUTION

WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2002 (ENS) - Much of the nitrogen in ecosystems throughout the United States comes not, as previously believed, from natural sources, but from acid rain and agricultural fertilizers. A study of ancient and unpolluted South American forests promises to upend longstanding beliefs about ecosystems and the effects of pollution in the Northern Hemisphere.

TOXIC WASTE LANDFILLS POSE BIRTH DEFECT RISKS

LONDON, United Kingdom, January 25, 2002 (ENS) - Women living within three kilometers (two miles) of a hazardous waste landfill site have a 40 percent greater risk of conceiving a child with a chromosomal birth defect, such as Down's syndrome, concludes a new study published today in the medical journal "The Lancet."

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-25-03.html

SIBERIAN SNOWS MAY STARVE ENDANGERED LEOPARDS, TIGERS

GLAND, Switzerland, January 25, 2002 (ENS) - This winter's heavy snowfalls in the Primorskii Region of Russia's Far East are likely to reduce the numbers of ungulates such as deer and boar, WWF, the conservation organization, said today at its headquarters here.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-25-01.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JANUARY 25, 2002

Enviros Pelt Energy Task Force With Lawsuits

2001 Voters Approved $1.7 Billion in Open Space Funds

Gephardt Calls for Energy Independence Within 10 Years

Hawaii County Opposes Experimental Sonar

Waterbirds Need Distance From Watercraft

$8 Million in Weatherization Funds for Texas, Oklahoma

Jaguars Need Range Wide Protection

Piping Plover Populations Fluctuating

Potato Sterilizers Could Combat Anthrax

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-25-09.html

1/27/02
5:38:28 PM

t r u t h o u t

t r u t h o u t Interview | Senator Harry Reid Should Yucca Mountain Be a Nuclear Waste Dump

http://www.truthout.com/01.26A.TO.Int.Reid.htm

Police Say Former Enron Executive Committed Suicide

http://www.truthout.com/01.26B.Baxter.Suicide.htm

Enron Hearings Open, Focusing on Destroyed Papers

http://www.truthout.com/01.26C.Enron.Docs.htm

Investors Lured to Enron Deals by Inside Data

http://www.truthout.com/01.26D.Investors.Lured.htm

India Successfully Tests Missile

http://www.truthout.com/01.26E.India.Tests.htm

McKinney | Human Rights Under Siege Since 9/11

http://www.truthout.com/01.26F.McKinney.911.htm

A Key Legal Issue How Redistricting Affects Indians

http://www.truthout.com/01.26G.NM.Redistricting.htm

A Trillion Here, a Trillion There

http://www.truthout.com/01.26H.Trillions.htm

1/27/02
5:32:15 PM

Siberian Snows May Starve Endangered Tigers, Leopards

This winter's heavy snowfalls in the Primorskii Region of Russia's Far East are likely to reduce the numbers of ungulates such as deer and boar, WWF, the conservation organization, said today at its headquarters here.

This lack of ungulates in turn threatens the survival of their predators, the Far Eastern leopard and the Amur tiger, species which are themselves critically endangered.

Reports from WWF workers in Far Eastern Russia indicate that ungulates such as Sika deer, Roe deer and wild boars "will likely die en masse from starvation in the coming two months."

"For a long time WWF has been offering to develop an Ungulates Recovery Programme as the basis for long term conservation of the Amur tiger and Far Eastern leopard," says Dr. Yuri Darman, director of WWF's operations in Far Eastern Russia.

"Unfortunately this is still not in place. For the time being, we are taking emergency measures in cooperation with the Wildlife and Game Service to save the ungulates," Darman said.

WWF workers are clearing roads, cutting low hanging tree branches for grazing, and bringing in additional forage. The conservation group estimates $US40,000 dollars will be needed to support these emergency measures to preserve the remaining tigers and leopards.

Snowfalls over the past weeks in the Primorskii Region's southwestern districts have far exceeded the average. The snow is currently up to 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) deep, when for the majority of ungulates living in the area, 0.4 metres (1.3 feet) of snow limits their ability to find food in the forest.

In deer breeding farms, Sika deer are dying from starvation at a rate of up to eight animals a day. Without additional forage, as many as 80 to 90 percent of the wild ungulates living in southwestern Primorskii may die, according to WWF.

The IUCN-World Conservation Union Red Data Book of 2000 lists both the Russian leopard and the Amur, or Siberian, tiger as critically endangered, which means they are facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future.

These big cats inhabit coniferous and temperate broadleaf forests in far eastern Russia, China and North Korea. Primary threats to their survival are habitat destruction for timber and other forest commodities and poaching for traditional medicine.

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring programme of WWF and IUCN, reports that Russia has become one of the biggest suppliers to the traditional Chinese medicine trade. Exports, mainly to East Asia, include tiger skins and bones. Investigators also found tiger products on sale in Russia's domestic markets.

1/27/02
5:29:31 PM

U.S. Ecosystems Altered by Nitrogen Pollution

Much of the nitrogen in ecosystems throughout the United States comes not, as previously believed, from natural sources, but from acid rain and agricultural fertilizers. A study of ancient and unpolluted South American forests promises to upend longstanding beliefs about ecosystems and the effects of pollution in the Northern Hemisphere.

Ecologists previously thought that nitrogen containing minerals, referred to collectively as inorganic nitrogen, have always been the dominant nutrient in forests worldwide. The study of South American forests, however, showed a sharply different picture: complex, organic compounds are the main form of nitrogen in unpolluted ecosystems.

"It's one of those things where everybody's intuition that they've gotten from studying the world is wrong," said Stephen Pacala, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University. "It's still not clear what the consequences are, but as a pattern it's completely different. You know there have to be lots of implications."

The study, published in the January 24 issue of the journal "Nature," focused on nitrogen, a plant nutrient that plays a critical role in maintaining everything from the health of local waterways to the global climate.

The authors argue that the ecosystems of South America, with their preponderance of organic nitrogen, are a window into the past, showing that U.S. ecosystems were very different before the industrial revolution.

"We traveled in time by traveling to South America," said Lars Hedin, a coauthor of the study and a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University.

Conditions in North America are different from those in South America for two reasons, the researchers said. First, burning fossil fuels produces great quantities of nitrogen and oxygen compounds, which wash out of the air as acid rain.

Second, during World War I the chemist Fritz Haber invented a process for extracting nitrogen from the atmosphere for use in making explosives. The Haber process allowed the mass production of fertilizers, which has fueled a boom in agricultural productivity.

In the remote areas of Chile and Argentina that the researchers studied, there is no fertilizer use and almost no influx of fossil fuel emissions.

The information they uncovered could have far reaching impacts in many areas of ecology, from predicting the pace of global climate change to understanding the consequences of acid rain and agricultural runoff.

"I think it is potentially very important research," said Nico van Breemen of the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands. "It raises points that are fundamental for our understanding of very big global environmental issues."

The findings raise questions about science's understanding of global warming, which is partly caused by fossil fuel burning and increasing levels of heat trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When trees grow and mature they remove carbon dioxide from the air. The ability of trees to grow and absorb more carbon is intimately related to the availability of nitrogen.

"Nitrogen is a sort of master variable," said Steve Perakis, the paper's lead author and a research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey. "If we don't get the fundamental elements of the nitrogen cycle right, we can't answer many other ecological questions."

The scientists spent five years preparing experiments in remote Chilean temperate forests and another five years conducting detailed analyses of water in those forests. They also conducted one time tests in a dozen other remote areas in Chile and Argentina to prove that the preponderance of organic nitrogen they observed was not unique to the site they were studying.

At the same time, they repeated their measurements in three U.S. virgin forests, two in the Smokey Mountains and one in Pennsylvania. All of the areas studied contained unlogged primary forests, in ecosystems that have developed in place for 4,000 years to over 20,000 years.

The results suggest that in North America the impact of nitrogen pollution from acid rain and agriculture may be more dramatic in years to come than previously thought.

North American forests are mostly young, recovering from past logging and agricultural clearcutting. Young trees use nitrogen from the soil for growth, serving as a buffer that lessens the impact of nitrogen pollution.

As trees mature, they sequester less nitrogen from the environment. When that happens, more inorganic nitrogen will be available to run off into rivers and groundwater, changing conditions even more from their natural state.

Another interesting finding, said Perakis, was that the nitrogen cycle - the way nitrogen compounds are exchanged between plants, soil, waterways and the atmosphere - in South America is more uniform than it is in the United States.

"We found that even though there were some noticeable variations in South America, they were pretty small compared to the variations caused by air pollution," Perakis explained. "We live in a transient world, a world that's changing because of many human activities, so many systems are responding in unique ways."

1/27/02
5:24:21 PM

Oppose a new energy legislation that would increase smog, global warming, etc.

Here's some information on how to contact senators regarding a bill that is being passed that will not help (and indeed harm) the environment! Please read it and consider writing at least an email to your senator, if not a hand written letter which tends to be more potent.

Thanks, friends and fam!

Ari

From: Kate Abend <sperez@pirg.org>

Hi,

As you may know, some industries and their allies in the Senate are trying to pass energy legislation that would increase smog, global warming, oil spills and radioactive waste production, while rolling back environmental and public health protections.

America deserves a safe, clean, affordable energy future. That's why we're urging the Senate to reject this dirty energy plan and use America's technological know-how to make our cars, homes and appliances more energy efficient.

Follow the link below to a web page where you can e-mail your senators and ask them to support a 40 mpg fuel economy standard for cars and light trucks.

BACKGROUND

We cannot end our reliance on unstable oil sources by drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other special places. OPEC holds 77% of the world's oil reserves; the U.S. holds only 3%. To reduce our reliance on foreign oil, we must cut our oil consumption overall. Since transportation accounts for two-thirds of all petroleum use, the best way to reduce our dependence on oil is to make vehicles go farther on a gallon of gas. Miles-per-gallon standards enacted in 1975 doubled the fuel economy of American passenger cars and save the U.S. 2.8 million barrels of oil per day. Unfortunately, fuel economy has dropped 7% since 1987 as more Americans buy SUVs and other light trucks, which are allowed to meet lower miles-per-gallon standards than cars.

According to an analysis by the National Academy of Sciences, America has the technology right now to meet a fleet wide fuel economy standard of 40 mpg. Cars, SUVs and other light trucks now consume 8 million barrels of oil every day. Raising fuel economy standards for new cars, SUVs, and other light trucks to an average of 40 miles per gallon over the next 10 years would save nearly 2 million barrels of oil every day by 2012 and 4 million barrels every day by 2020. Four million barrels is more than current Persian Gulf imports and the projected yield from the Arctic Refuge combined. By 2012, the 40 mpg standard would also save consumers $16 billion at the gas pump, create more than 40,000 jobs in the auto industry, and cut global warming pollution from passenger vehicles by 20%.

Unfortunately, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a sham provision that amounts to only a 1 mpg increase in light truck fuel economy. In the next few weeks, the Senate will craft a fuel economy provision for their version of the energy bill. Please help us achieve a smarter, cleaner energy future for America by asking your senators to support a fleet wide auto fuel economy standard of 40 mpg.

Follow the link below to a web page where you can e-mail your senators.

http://www.NewEnergyFuture.com

Sincerely,

Kate Abend State PIRGs Global Warming Associate

1/27/02
5:21:29 PM

Wendy Gramm and Bush officials to Enron fiasco, Calif crisis

What did the President know, and when did he know it?

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=16285

Wendy Gramm and Bush officials to Enron fiasco, Calif crisis

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=16294

Wendy Gramm and Bush officials to Enron fiasco, California crisis

http://www.citizen.org/hot_issues/issue.cfm?ID=194

After Enron Corp. used its vast web of political connections to win December 2000 passage of commodities trading legislation that helped the company shield its energy trading activities from government scrutiny, California's energy crisis suddenly took a dramatic turn for the worse as artificial supply shortages led to frequent rolling blackouts, according to a new Public Citizen report released Friday.

The legislation reducing government oversight of energy trading was muscled through Congress - without a Senate committee hearing - with the aid of U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas. Gramm was chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over the legislation he co-sponsored, but he chose to bypass his committee, and the bill was quietly tacked onto a "must-pass" appropriations bill late in the session. Gramm's wife, Wendy Gramm, also aided Enron's rise to power. As chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, she pushed through a key regulatory exemption on Jan. 14, 1993, just as she was about to leave office. Five weeks later, she joined Enron's board of directors, where she served on the board's audit committee and had access to key financial information about the company.

To read the entire press release, go at

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=983

1/27/02
5:18:57 PM

When War Doesn't End

by Tamara Straus, AlterNet

There are several disturbing lessons in "Bombies," the forthcoming PBS documentary on cluster bombs in the U.S. covert war in Laos. The first is that the wounds of war don't end with peace treaties in the modern era; they continue in the form of undetonated bombs that cover the former killing fields of the world and, in the case of Laos, have taken the lives of 12,000 civilians in the past three decades.

The second is that military technology which initially appears "smart" often proves to be abysmally stupid. Cluster bombs, developed during the Vietnam War and hailed for their ability to effectively disperse submunitions (surface-delivered "grenades" or air-delivered "bomblets"), may indeed increase the radius of destruction over a target. But they also have a high failure rate and hideous post-war repercussions. Twenty to 30 percent of the 90 million cluster bombs dropped on Laos between 1964 and 1973 failed to explode on impact and now lay dormant, waiting for a child's hand or a farmer's hoe to set them off. The Laotian moniker for these tennis ball-sized destroyers -- "bombies" -- may sound sweet to the American ear, but the weapons are nothing if not proof of man's capacity to do evil.

"Bombies may be the preeminent symbol of humans inhumanity to other humans," says Fred Branfman, a former U.S. government worker in Laos-turned-political activist who appears in Jack Silberman's documentary. "They were designed to destroy not tanks or trucks but to kill people ... and largely civilians."

War is cruel. Untimely death is tragic. When enemy forces face each other on the battlefield or in the skies above, it is difficult to determine which actions are just or lawful. But in the case of the U.S.'s "secret" war in the mist-shrouded mountains and jungles of Laos -- a neutral country according to the U.S.-signed 1962 Geneva Accords -- it is unquestionable that America waged a highly murderous and mostly ineffectual military campaign.

During the nine years that the U.S. attempted to staunch the flow of North Vietnamese people and supplies moving along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and rid the countryside of Communists, American planes dropped more than 500,000 loads of bombs -- the equivalent of a B-52 planeload of bombs every eight minutes. More bombs descended on Laos than on Germany and Japan combined during World War II, making it the most bombed country in history. At least80 percent of those killed were civilian farmers and villagers. And the U.S. government did this illegally and secretly.

"Everyone talked about Vietnam. Cambodia came under the spotlight. But Laos, it was like it never existed," says Rae McGrath, a bomb demolition expert with the British Army, who received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize and serves as a key talking head in "Bombies."

"I never saw what the target was. Most of the bombs were just a dump," says Lee Thorn, a former Navy operative who loaded cluster bombs on U.S. planes destined for missions over Laos and, in the film, returns to Laos to deliver medical supplies.

"Bombies" is not soft entertainment. It shows interviews with angry, impoverished Laotian villagers. It follows a seemingly endless trail of brightly-colored unexploded bombs -- a kind of perverse Easter egg hunt -- in bamboo trees, school playgrounds, rice paddies, under houses, everywhere. The film makes clear that ridding Laos of cluster bombs is a Sisyphean task. Even with the help of the Mennonites, who have been working to clear bombs since 1975, and agencies like McGrath's Mines Advisory Group, which helps remove more than 100,000 unexploded ordnances every year, Laos will never be a cluster bomb-free country.

One of the most remarkable images in the documentary is of school children, sitting in rows of little wooden chairs, obediently singing the "bombie song," which has lyrics like "Do not touch them. They are not toys." Of the 500 Laotians killed or maimed each year, 43 percent of those who die and 44 percent of those maimed are children. Another unforgettable image is of villagers eating from pots and using spoons made from scraps of bombies, which are the main source of metal in Laos.

Though "Bombies" boldly illustrates the murderous effects of cluster bombs, and focuses on the difficulty of removing them from Laos, the documentary only tepidly addresses the subject of U.S. responsibility, probably because indictments of American foreign policy pretty much guarantee a no-show on PBS. "Bombies" also fails to mention the two treaties -- the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons -- that could force the U.S. from further production and use of cluster bombs. (The U.S. has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty, which does not cover cluster bombs, but it is a signatory to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, which could be interpreted to cover them.)

What the film does effectively address on the U.S. side, though, is the outing of the war before Congress. We see footage of a very young, fairly sober-looking Ted Kennedy, testifying that the bombing created a half million refugees in Laos. Also shown are rousing speeches by Senator George McGovern and Fred Branfman, the young American who documented the effects of bombing and brought them to the public's attention in 1971.

There is a final message in "Bombies" too, however subtlely put across. It is that the story of cluster bombs in Laos has been replicated across the globe. A new generation of bombies has been used in Kuwait, Iraq, the Falklands, Ethiopia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Chechnya and Kosovo.

Today, the United States is also using them in Afghanistan, which even before the Oct. 7 military campaign ranked as one of the world's most heavily mined countries. A recent ABC investigation has found that a significant proportion of cluster bombs falling on Afghanistan to not detonate on impact or miss their targets, and that its manufacturers are well aware of this.

"I think one of the lessons from the [Laotian] war," says Dr. Timothy Castle of the U.S. War College in the film, "is that if you try to use bombing, you probably should think about the long-term consequences, because, particularly with bombies, they are physically going to be there long after the war is over."

Based on the U.S.'s unwillingness to sign international weapons treaties or come up with "smarter" technology, it looks like those long-term consequences will forge a black spot of death and destruction well into the 21st century.

For more information on the use of cluster bombs in Afghanistan and elsewhere, go to this backgrounder from Human Rights Watch at

http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/arms/cluster-bck1031.htm

To express your disapproval of the use of cluster bombs and other land mines, go to the Web site of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines at

http://www.icbl.org

For showtimes of "Bombies," check listings for your local PBS station.

---

To order the video of the movie Bombies go at

http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/bombie.html

Bombies: The terrible aftermath of dropping cluster bombs during the secret air war in Laos and the international campaign to ban them.

57 minutes - US Release Date: 2002

Between 1964 and 1973 the United States conducted a secret air war, dropping over 2 million tons of bombs and making tiny Laos the most heavily bombed country in history. Millions of these 'cluster bombs' did not explode when dropped, leaving the country massively contaminated with 'bombies' as dangerous now as when they fell a quarter century ago.

Bombies examines the problem of unexploded cluster bombs through the personal experiences of a group of Laotians and foreigners and argues for their elimination as a weapon of war. Unfortunately they are still a standard part of the US arsenal and were dropped both in Kosovo and now Afghanistan.

"The United States' insistence on the use of cluster bombs, designed to kill or maim humans, is condemned almost universally and brings discredit on our nation. Even for the world's only superpower, the ends don't always justify the means."

- Former President Jimmy Carter

"The most appalling episode of lawless cruelty in American history is the bombing of Laos."

- Anthony Lewis, The New York Times

Source: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12165

1/27/02
5:15:15 PM

THE MOKHIBER-WEISSMAN COLUMN ON CORPORATE POWER

The multinational corporation is the most powerful institution of our time, dominating not only global economics, but politics and culture as well. The enormous influence of the corporation notwithstanding, the mechanisms of corporate control and the details of corporate abuses remain largely hidden from public perception. The purpose of the column "Focus on the Corporation" is be to rectify this informational shortcoming, to report and comment critically on corporate actions and plans, from particularized abuses to broad trends. Written with a sharp edge and occasional irreverency, the Mokhiber-Weissman column covers:

The double standards which excuse corporations for behavior (e.g., causing injury, accepting welfare) widely considered criminal or shameful when done by individuals;

Globalization and corporate power;

Trends in corporate economic blackmail, political influence and workplace organization;

Industry-wide efforts to escape regulation, silence critics, employ new technologies or consolidate business among a few companies;

Specific, extreme examples of corporate abuses: destruction of communities, trampling of democracy, poisoning of air and water;

Particular issues, such as tort reform, of across-the-board interest to business; and

The corporatization of our culture.

Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman are uniquely well positioned to author such a column. Mokhiber, one of the nation's leading authorities on corporate crime, is the editor of the Corporate Crime Reporter, a legal weekly, and the author of Corporate Crime and Violence: Big Business Power and the Abuse of the Public Trust. Weissman is the editor of Multinational Monitor, the leading source of critical reporting on corporate power. Mokhiber and Weissman have published articles on corporate power in numerous newspapers, magazines, journals and books.

Find out more at: http://www.corporatepredators.org/

1/27/02
5:12:41 PM

Recuse Me! Congress Bought Off by Enron

As Congress begins to investigate the Enron calamity, you don't have to be Ralph Nader to ask: Who in Congress should disqualify themselves from the hearings? *Plus: "Enron-omics at a Glance."

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12282

CHEMTRAILS - Covert Climate Control? by Will Thomas (Nexus Magazine: Oct-Nov 2001)

For nearly three years, chemtrail observers have hoped an official would step forward to explain the origin and purpose of broad white plumes criss-crossing the skies above a dozen allied nations. Their wait is over...

http://www.nexusmagazine.com/chemtrails.html

1/27/02
5:07:31 PM

Campaign Finance Reform Gets 218 Signatures And Will Go The The Floor Of The House

STATEMENT BY MARTY MEEHAN ON GARNERING 218 SIGNATURES ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM DISCHARGE PETITION

WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, January 24, 2002, 218 signatures were secured on a discharge petition to force a fair debate and vote on campaign finance reform. Congressman Meehan made the following statement:

"The Speaker laid down a challenge for us last July. The challenge was to get 218 signatures on a discharge petition to bring campaign finance reform back to the House floor under a fair rule. We have met that challenge today.

As the Enron storm clouds roll in, the public's tolerance for this soft money system is growing increasingly thin. With each revelation, and with each additional soft money dollar that pours in, it is becoming all the more difficult to defend our current campaign finance system - or stand behind supposed fixes that do nothing or tinker around the edges.

We met the Speaker's challenge; and now, we expect that campaign finance reform will come to the floor quickly under a fair rule like ours. But as we celebrate today, we understand that we're moving to a new phase of what will be a long fight.

We do not underestimate the strength of our opposition. When we get to the House floor, there will be poison pill amendments and sham alternatives to grapple with. That's where we left off in July - and the battle to hold our team together needs to be rejoined.

But I'm more optimistic than I've ever been. Check out today's Enron hearings. The evidence is very much on our side. This soft money system needs to be banished - fast."

xox

Thursday, January 24, 2002

McCain Encouraged by 218 Signatures on House Discharge Petition for Campaign Finance Reform

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator John McCain today applauded 218 Members of the House of Representatives for signing the discharge petition to bring campaign finance legislation to the House floor:

"I'm very encouraged that 218 Members of the House took the courageous and principled action of signing the discharge petition bringing Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform legislation to the House floor for fair and open debate. While I'm cautiously optimistic about the prospects for success, I don't underestimate the determination of opponents of reform. I fully realize we're trying to break both parties' addiction to soft money and it will be a very difficult habit to kick.

"But as the Enron scandal has shown again, until we clean up the way we finance our campaigns and reduce the overwhelming influence of soft money donors, all of us will continue to work under a cloud of suspicion, where the public always assumes that we serve our own interests before the country's."

xox

STATEMENT OF REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS (R-CT) ON THE SUCCESSFUL DISCHARGE PETITION FOR THE BIPARTISAN CAMPAIGN REFORM ACT

WASHINGTON - 01.24.02 | "Today, we garnered the 218 signatures needed to bring the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act to the floor of the House. These final signatures put us within arm's reach of enacting the most comprehensive campaign finance reforms in a quarter century.

"I'm thrilled by today's developments. We believe it shows a majority of the House is aware of the corrupting influence of big money in politics. The growing Enron scandal, and the enormous sums of money the company contributed to gain influence, underscores this point.

"Campaign finance reform will finally get a fair vote in the House, where bipartisan majorities have twice approved this legislation. We have our work cut out for us, but I'm confident this legislation will be headed to the President's desk later this year, and I believe the President will sign it into law.

"It's been against the law since 1907 for corporate treasury money and since 1947 for union dues money to be used in campaigns. But both make their way into campaign coffers through gaping loopholes called soft money and sham 'issue ads.'

"Our legislation bans soft money and insists that sham 'issue ads' are covered under campaign law.

xox

HOUSE DEMOCRATIC WHIP NANCY PELOSI WASHINGTON - 01.24.02 | PELOSI STATEMENT ON SUCCESSFUL DISCHARGE PETITION FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

"Today is a cause for celebration. Finally, after so many years of struggle, we will be able to have a fair vote in the House on meaningful campaign finance reform. I applaud Marty Meehan and Chris Shays, as well as Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt, for their tireless efforts. Without them, this never would have been possible.

"The collapse of Enron, which has been so catastrophic to so many people who have lost their hard-earned pensions, has demonstrated clearly to the American people the real need for campaign finance reform.

"As the new House Democratic Whip, I am pleased that 94 percent of the Democratic Caucus signed the discharge petition to bring the Shays-Meehan bill to the House floor. I will convene a Whip task force next week to fight any poison pill amendments designed to break apart the bipartisan coalition we have built.

"A vote on the Shays-Meehan bill will give us the opportunity to truly limit money in politics, reduce the influence of special interests, and empower grassroots get-out-the-vote efforts that are the engines of our democracy. We have an opportunity to clean up our act. And indeed we have a responsibility to do so."

xox

WASHINGTON - 01.24.02 | Gephardt Statement on the Campaign Finance Reform Discharge Petition

"This is an important day for American democracy and the American people. The bipartisan House coalition got 218 signatures on the discharge petition to consider meaningful legislation to curb the influence of special interests in Washington. A bipartisan majority in the House has spoken. The will of the House has been heard. It's time for a fair vote on real, bipartisan, campaign finance reform.

"We have worked hard to get to this day. For the past three sessions, the House Republican leadership has refused to consider this legislation, forcing the bipartisan coalition to use the discharge petition to take action on this issue. Now, for the first time in a long time, because the Senate passed legislation last year, we have a golden opportunity to make Shays-Meehan the law of the United States. I applaud Marty Meehan, Chris Shays, John McCain and Russ Feingold for their terrific leadership; we would not have gotten to this point if it weren't for them. Jim Turner led a magnificent effort within our Caucus on this petition as well.

"The House Republican leadership needs to heed the will of the House and the American people. It needs to allow a fair up or down vote on real, meaningful campaign finance reform. The Enron debacle, if nothing else, shows the urgency of making this reform a law. If Enron isn't a case for campaign finance reform, then I don't know what is."

xox

DASCHLE HAILS HOUSE REFORMERS FOR OVERCOMING REPUBLICAN LEADERS' OPPOSITION TO CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

Thursday, January 24, 2002

Following is Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's response to House reformers' success today in collecting enough signatures on a discharge petition to overcome House Republican leaders' opposition and allow a vote on the bipartisan Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill. The Senate has already passed a nearly identical bill:

"Thank goodness for the persistence of House reformers. It's regrettable that it took two extraordinary events -- a discharge petition and the Enron scandal -- to clear the way for a vote in the House on campaign finance reform. I hope House Republican leaders will accept the will of the American people and refrain from any further efforts to block campaign finance reform. The days of delay are over."

Source: http://www.truthout.com/01.25A.Cam.F.htm

1/27/02
5:01:03 PM

t r u t h o u t

Campaign Finance Will Go to the Floor of the House Statements : Meehan, McCain, Shays, Pelosi, Gephardt, Daschle

http://www.truthout.com/01.25A.Cam.F.htm

Wide Effort Seen in Shredding Data on Enron's Audits

http://www.truthout.com/01.25B.Enron.Shreadding.htm

Henry A. Waxman | All Enron Cards on the Table

http://www.truthout.com/01.25C.Waxman.Table.htm

Bush Violated Security Laws Four Times, SEC Report Says

http://www.truthout.com/01.25D.Bush.SEC.htm

Democrats Press for Enron Meeting Details

http://www.truthout.com/01.25E.Dems.Meetings.htm

Bernard Weiner | George W. and "The Vision Thing"

http://www.truthout.com/01.25F.Weiner.Vision.htm

Guantanamo Interrogations Begin

http://www.truthout.com/01.25G.Cuba.Begin.htm

1/27/02
4:27:10 PM

Good News Agency

Weekly - Year III, number 2 – 28 January 2002

Managing Editor: Sergio Tripi, Ph. D.

Rome Law-court registration no. 265 dated 20 June 2000

http://www.GoodNewsAgency.org

1/27/02
3:59:30 PM

Bush Administration Rolls Back Clinton Rules For Wetlands

By Christopher Marquis

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 The Bush administration announced today that it would ease some Clinton administration regulations covering wetlands and streams, saying the changes would reduce unnecessary paperwork.

John Studt, chief of the regulatory branch of the Army Corps of Engineers, said the revisions "will do a better job of protecting aquatic ecosystems while simplifying some administrative burdens for the regulated public."

The steps outlined today by the Army Corps angered environmental advocates, who accused the administration of capitulating to the interests of developers and miners and jeopardizing ecologically sensitive areas.

The new rules would streamline the approval of certain development projects by giving more of them a green light under a general nationwide permit. That permit authorizes a developer to proceed < and avoid levels of scrutiny by the public and federal agencies responsible for resource management < if the project is said to have minimal impact on the environment.

Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman, said the Army Corps, which is completing a five-year updating of its permit criteria, continues to embrace a policy that requires developers to replace or set aside wetlands to offset their projects. The policy that there should be "no net loss" of wetlands was enunciated in 1989 by President George Bush and has been embraced by his son.

"The president is fully committed to the `no net loss of wetlands' policy that was reaffirmed today by the Army Corps of Engineers," Mr. McClellan said.

He noted that last week Mr. Bush committed the federal government to co-finance an $8 billion plan to restore the Florida Everglades.

Under the changes announced today, developers will not be required to provide a one-for-one replacement for the acreage affected by individual wetlands projects, as long as that goal is met in the broader region.

Under the Clean Water Act, the Army Corps is responsible for granting permits to anyone who seeks to drain or fill wetlands or streams. Wetlands are viewed as an important filter to the water supply, a rich habitat for plants and animals and a valuable release site for flood waters.

In March 2000, the Clinton administration increased restrictions under the general permit program affecting wetlands, limiting the amount of stream bed that may be disrupted without closer review and demanding closer scrutiny of activities in flood plains.

Those revisions are rolled back under the new approach. The Army Corps makes a new distinction between perennial and intermittent streams and relaxes rules on filling streams that do not flow year-round. It eliminates some restrictions on flood-plain development and gives local officials greater authority to approve surface mining projects.

Environmental groups said the administration, under pressure from home builders and coal miners, was reducing its oversight role in the name of slashing bureaucracy.

"It seems like the folks who are dredging and filling in the wetlands have more friends than they used to," said Howard Fox, the managing attorney of Earthfirst, an environmental law firm.

Julie Sibbing, the wetlands lobbyist for the National Wildlife Federation, said the Army Corps had forsaken the goal of achieving no net loss of wetlands.

"This arrogant move demonstrates the Corps' complete lack of respect for our country's natural resources and is another example of how this administration is turning its back on protecting our nation's wetlands," Ms. Sibbing said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/15/politics/15WETL.html?todaysheadlines

1/27/02
3:08:52 PM

Running On Vapor

Fuel Cell Future Shines Bright As Hopes For Battery-Powered Electric Car Dim

Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer

They're hyped as a long-term savior of the Earth's atmosphere, a technological godsend that will create pollution-free cars and liberate Americans from importing petroleum from unstable countries.

Way down the road, some predict, this energy source could become so compact that a family could power its home by hooking it up to a car sitting in the driveway.

Yet for now, the commercialization of fuel cell engines remains a hydrogen- filled dream, possible only with major government subsidies to pay for an expensive new energy infrastructure. Some wonder if fuel cell technology -- which mixes hydrogen and oxygen to generate pollution-free electricity -- can ever be mass-produced in a vehicle.

Still, its potential is so enchanting that it has inspired automakers, oil companies and the federal government to invest billions into an engine that is 50 percent more efficient than the gasoline-powered internal combustion model it is hoping to replace.

In California, these sometimes competing players have agreed to share their research in a West Sacramento demonstration project. The 2-year-old California Fuel Cell Partnership unites 29 energy providers, automakers and government agencies in a collaborative quest for the magic fuel cell bullet.

Although dozens of fuel cell vehicles are being road-tested, California requires that 10 percent of all model-year 2003 passenger vehicles qualify as zero-emission or nearly nonpolluting. Two percent of those vehicles -- or roughly 40,000 cars -- must be fuel cell, battery-powered electric or other zero-emission rides.

"There's not going to be 40,000 fuel cell cars out there next year because they're too expensive to build now," said Joe Irvin, spokesman for the California Fuel Cell Partnership. "The automakers will find other ways to meet those goals."

NO IMMEDIATE MASS MARKET

In fact, automakers don't expect a decent selection of fuel cell-powered vehicles in showrooms for at least 10 years. By the end of 2003, experts expect owners of large fleets -- such as delivery firms and utilities -- to begin using fuel cell vehicles.

"I think (mass market commercialization) will happen no sooner than 2010," said Toyota managing director Hiroyuki Watanabe.

Privately, others worry that all the rosy futurism about fuel cells sounds eerily familiar. Many of the same predictions were made about battery-powered electric vehicles -- and not many of those rolled into driveways.

But fuel cell cars don't need to be recharged, a chore that helped to sink the battery-powered electrics. Fuel cell cars would be refueled with either a liquid or gaseous form of hydrogen instead.

Automakers have virtually stopped making the electrics for the mass market because they were too expensive to build, didn't have much range and consumers weren't buying them. In their place, hybrid cars -- which combine a gasoline engine and an electric motor -- have emerged as a low-emission alternative until fuel cell technology is ready for the mass market.

FUEL CELL HYPE QUESTIONED

Yet the comparison nagged experts at a recent Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas conference in Sacramento: What makes the hype surrounding fuel cells any different from the predictions about electric cars?

"It may not be that different," said John Wallace, executive director of Ford Motor Co.'s electric-powered Th!NK cars and a fuel cell proponent. "It's not a done deal yet. There is nothing inevitable about fuel cells."

Wallace wasn't being pessimistic, merely realistic.

Experts are still trying to get a consensus on how to fuel the vehicles. Although hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, scientists are trying to determine the best -- and safest -- way to capture and store it.

One option is to pump a gaseous form of the element directly into the vehicle from a pumping station. This would allow the vehicle to be truly emission-free, because, other than water, there would be no waste products created while hydrogen is converted into electricity on board.

The next problem is how to supply hydrogen. At this point, researchers haven't figured out how to transform the gasoline pumps at the corner Chevron into hydrogen refueling stations.

COSTLY REFUELING STATIONS

Hydrogen refueling stations would cost about $470,000 each for the 500 needed to satisfy the first phase of commercialization in California, according to a recent study for the independent California Fuel Cell Partnership.

Some experts say a better option is to create hydrogen on board by extracting it from either methanol, ethanol or a sulfur-free gasoline known as clean hydrocarbon fuel.

The upside to this technology is that it would cost about $70,000 to modify a medium-size gas station into one that could deliver these fuels, according to the Fuel Cell Partnership's consultant. On their own, automakers are testing vehicles that use methanol, petroleum, ethanol and other mixtures to produce hydrogen.

The downside is that this type of fuel would require cars to have an onboard reformer to transform the fuel into hydrogen -- which may add a $5,000 premium to each car, although that cost will decrease as the technology improves.

'CRITICAL DECISIONS'

"If fuel cells are going to happen, then a lot of critical decisions must be made in California over the next few years if these cars are going to come to the showrooms by 2010," said Roland Hwang, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

In October, the partnership decided to use hydrogen created from natural gas as the first fuel source to be tested in its demonstration vehicles. The partnership plans to erect four hydrogen refueling stations around the state by the end of 2003. Honda has already built a solar-powered hydrogen filling station on its Torrance (Los Angeles County) campus.

Slowly but surely, progress is being made. The groundbreaking collaborative effort at the Fuel Cell Partnership -- its roster includes oil companies such as British Petroleum and Air Resources Board officials -- plans to demonstrate and test 70 fuel cell vehicles by 2003.

Yet automakers say they need government subsidies and tax incentives to help commercialize fuel cell engines.

"If society benefits from a technology, then society has to be ready to help support it," said Ford's Wallace. "The public sector needs to support research that is too financially risky for private industry to develop on their own."

BIGGER BUDGET NEEDED

Tom Gross, a deputy assistant secretary with the U.S. Energy Department, acknowledges the need. Gross hopes next year's budget will contain a substantial increase over the $40 million that his department spent on fuel cell research this year. Gross said the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 made the search for alternative fuels more intense.

Not everybody is going full throttle in the drive toward commercialization. In February, General Motors sued the California Air Resources Board over rules that require automakers to produce pollution-free cars by 2003. The automaker said it couldn't meet the requirement without producing dangerously small battery-powered cars.

Moves like that cause some industry observers to wonder if fuel cells are driving down the same dead-end road as battery-powered electric cars did.

"No, this is different from electric cars," said Kateri Callahan. As executive director of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas, she witnessed the rise and plateau of interest in electric vehicles.

"This time, there is a lot more excitement from the automakers on a corporate level with fuel cells," Callahan said. "Plus, this time the oil companies are involved. Before, they didn't want anything to do with electric cars."

FUEL CELLS: ELECTRIC POWER FROM HYDROGEN FUEL

Fuel cells create electricity through an electrochemical process that combines hydrogen and oxygen. Vehicles running on fuel cells would need to be supplied with gaseous hydrogen extracted from a hydrocarbon fuel. This fuel could be natural gas, methanol or even gasoline, depending on the various systems under development. .

-- How fuel cells work

1. Hydrogen fuel is fed into the anode of the fuel cell. Helped by a catalyst, hydrogen atoms are split into electrons and protons. 2. Electrons are channeled through a circuit to produce electricity.

3. Protons pass through the polymer electrolyte membrane.

4. Oxygen (from the air) enters the cathode and combines with the electrons and protons to form water.

5. Water vapor and heat are released as byproducts of the reaction. .

-- Fuel cell stack

The reaction in a single fuel cell produces a very low voltage, so many cells are combined into a stack to produce the desired level of electrical power.

-- Fuel cell car

Reformer Extracts hydrogen from fuel, delivers it to fuel cell stack.

Ballard Power Systems, Fuel Cells 2000, http://www.HowStuffWorks.com

email Joe Garofoli mailto:jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/01/07/MN62748.DTL

1/27/02
2:53:28 PM

Legal System Leaves Bush Unaccountable, Environmentalists Charge

by Stephen R. Miller, Friday, January 25, 2002

With President Bush's first year in office complete, many environmentalists are troubled by the administration's use of the legal system, instead of the legislature, to resolve environmental debates.

Environmentalists charge that the year's most high profile environmental issues reveal that industry lawsuits, closed-door settlement agreements, and bureaucratic wrangling are among the controversial tactics used by the administration to avoid political accountability while rolling back environmental standards.

Earlier this month, a judge ruled that the Bush administration could not open the Bitterroot National Forest for logging without public comment. The administration has appealed the judge's decision.

Industry lawsuits, environmentalists charge, have proven to be a powerful force shaping environmental policy under the Bush administration. "Bush is looking for a way to advance his energy plan in a subtle manner without accountability," charged Earthjustice attorney Abigail Dillen, "and the courts are a way to do that."

Dillen points to a series of lawsuits filed last year that would effectively eliminate the Roadless Rule. The Roadless Rule, issued in the final days of the Clinton presidency, protected nearly 60 million acres of public national forests from commercial logging and road construction. On his first day in office, Bush froze action on this rule, postponing it for further review.

"Let's bag it. Let's go back to the drawing board," said Idaho Attorney General Al Lance earlier this year, expressing the sentiment of many western states and timber companies. Nine lawsuits were soon filed asking the courts to do just that.

Environmentalists accuse the administration of joining the effort to kill the Roadless Rule by failing to put up a strong defense of the rule in court.

In April, a federal district court in Idaho upheld a challenge to the Roadless Rule by Boise Cascade, a large timber company that contributed nearly $30,000 to the Republican party in the 2000 elections. The company's lawyers argued that the legislation was rushed through with little time for review.

The rule was three years in the making, involving 600 public hearings and 1.6 million public comments.

The court agreed with Boise Cascade and ordered the Forest Service to prepare an additional environmental impact statement (EIS) and also issued a temporary injunction blocking implementation of the Roadless Rule.

"The Bush administration planned to implement the Roadless Rule in full in May," said Heidi Valetkevitch, a spokesperson for the Forest Service, "but the administration was prevented from doing so by the judge's temporary injunction."

But this, charges Dillen, was exactly the game plan. "Industry brings a lawsuit, the feds offer a feeble defense, and when the judge rules for industry, the administration says it was the judge that allowed this to happen," she said.

Earthjustice immediately appealed the case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a decision is still pending.

Valetkevitch notes that the Justice Department, which represents the Forest Service in lawsuits, intended to proceed with the Idaho case since the judge only ordered a temporary injunction and the case was not finished. The Idaho court, however, decided to postpone hearings until the appeals court has made a ruling.

The Justice Department has since asked that all related lawsuits be postponed until after the Idaho case is decided by the appeals court. Until that time, Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth is in charge of all decisions regarding logging and road activities. "To date, no requests have come in for approval," said Valetkevitch.

Environmentalists also charge that secret settlements are undermining the public's ability to participate in the decision-making process. They point to the prominent settlement between the administration and industry to postpone the ban on snowmobiling in Yellowstone. The EPA smog rating for winter air in West Yellowstone — where most snowmobiles are rented — is the same as for downtown Los Angeles. A partial ban was to start this winter, with a complete ban imposed in winter 2004. That was overturned when a snowmobile lobbying group started negotiating with the Bush administration.

This spring, the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA) filed a lawsuit challenging the findings of an EIS that was the basis for banning snowmobiles in Yellowstone.

"The ISMA thought we didn't have enough information from industry," said Martha Karle, a spokesperson for the National Parks Service. From 1997 to 2001, scientists studied the impact of snowmobiles on America's first national park, and they concluded that snowmobiles were irrevocably harming the land. During that time, the ISMA registered no statement with the National Parks, even though the process was open to all industry and individuals for comment. "The ISMA was welcome to participate in the decision-making process, but they did not do so," said Karle. Despite its years of silence during the first EIS, the ISMA has since called that work "junk science."

The ISMA hired powerhouse lawyer William Horn to represent and lobby for them. Horn was Gale Norton's boss at the Interior Department in the Reagan administration. Now, with Gale Norton as Secretary of the Interior in the Bush administration, Horn secured closed-door settlement negotiations for ISMA. The result: The snowmobile ban was postponed indefinitely, and the National Parks Service was told to conduct additional studies before the ban could be reconsidered. ISMA contributed $10,000 to the Republican party in the 2000 elections.

The additional EIS, due to be released in February, contains four alternatives, ranging from a complete ban to an option that would allow limited, guided snowmobile access to the park. A decision is due by next winter.

Equally disturbing to environmentalists is the apparent willingness of the Bush administration to manipulate bureaucratic divisions to achieve its objectives.

Earlier this month, a judge in Montana halted the proposed logging of more than 40,000 acres in the Bitterroot National Forest. The administration had tried to exempt the sale from public comment — which is required by an act of Congress — arguing that Mark Rey, the Department of Agriculture's undersecretary, had approved the deal. The logic was that since Rey doesn't work for the Forest Service — technically, he works for the Interior Department, which oversees the Forest Service — the sale doesn't have to follow the laws that govern that agency.

In the ruling that halted the sale, Judge Donald Molloy noted, "The government concedes that under this logic the Forest Service could completely circumvent the appeals process simply by having the undersecretary or secretary sign any or all controversial decisions. The notion that a signature by the undersecretary transforms the action from a Forest Service business to the business of some other agency is mystical legal prestidigitation [sleight of hand]."

After two weeks of silence, the administration decided to appeal the decision earlier this week.

"This appeal illustrates that the whole Bitterroot controversy has become a pawn in a larger political agenda by the Bush administration to reduce public involvement in these decisions and weaken our environmental laws," Bob Ekey, northern Rockies representative for the Wilderness Society, told reporters Tuesday.

Environmental groups also charge that the Justice Department is abusing the increased security of Sept. 11 provisions to stonewall Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and, in turn, prevent them from playing an active role in environmental decision making.

In October, Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a memo that tightened the policy under which the government releases information. Under Attorney General Janet Reno, the policy was to promote disclosure of documents unless it was "reasonably foreseeable that disclosure would be harmful." Ashcroft, in the wake of September's tragedies, changed the policy to one that withholds information whenever there is a "sound legal basis" for doing so. This does not seem like the kind of ruling that could affect environmental policy, but it has.

Last June, Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt gave notice of intent to sue for 10,000 rights of way across federal lands in the state, using an obscure 1866 law to claim that tracks and trails throughout the state should be officially designated as roads. Local environmentalists contend that Leavitt is inflating the extent and importance of these "roads" to disqualify large tracts of federal land from being protected as wilderness. They see it as part of an effort to open wildlands to off-road vehicles and mining.

In June Leavitt began negotiations with Gale Norton about which paths would receive a designation as a road. "What we want to do is resolve the issues without litigation," Norton said while visiting Utah over the summer.

"That means they want to resolve it secretly," said Erich Huber, an attorney who represents environmental groups opposed to the road designations.

"It's a red flag any time the government deals secretly with special interests," the Wilderness Society's Pam Eaton told reporters. "And, in this case, the government's negotiations could easily set a precedent that will turn over control of the public lands to off-road vehicles and extractive industry."

Since June, Huber has filed a number of FOIA requests for information so that environmental groups could know what is being discussed. All requests were flatly rejected. "They refused to give us a single document," Huber said. "The notice of intent to sue had 29 maps attached to it, and they wouldn't even give us those."

By strictly enforcing the FOIA regulations, "They are only allowing the public to participate after the fact," Huber said. He claims this move effectively removes the environmental groups from the negotiations.

Any one of these situations would be enough to rally environmental groups, but they are alarmed that for each prominent example of rolling back policies through the legal system, there are a number of smaller incidences that point toward patterns followed by the Bush administration. For instance:

o In September, citing discrepancies in the treatment of hatchery-born and wild fish, a federal judge removed Oregon coastal coho salmon from the endangered species list. The National Marine Fisheries Service did not appeal the ruling. The endangered species status of the coho salmon was eventually restored by a defense from nonprofit environmental law firms.

o Since winning a reprieve for snowmobiles in Yellowstone, William Horn has also approached Norton to open Big Cypress National Park in Florida to off-road vehicles.

o Last week, the Bush administration announced that it would ease regulations governing wetlands and streams to "do a better job of protecting aquatic ecosystems while simplifying some administrative burdens for the regulated public," according to John Studt, who oversees regulations for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Environmentalists say this is doublespeak for rolling back limits on how much of a stream bed can be disrupted without requiring an additional review. They say the "administrative burdens" to be eliminated are the additional reviews previously required for large stream bed disruptions.

These patterns point toward a decision by the Bush administration to pursue environmental policy through the legal system, which is not politically accountable to the public. "Under this administration," said Buck Parker, executive director of Earthjustice, "the courts have become the forum of choice for rolling back environmental protections."

Before Sept. 11, Bush's record on the environment was a major political weakness, especially for a president who, at the time, was being judged by his domestic policy. Last week, for the first time since Sept. 11, Americans did not name terrorism as their primary policy concern. If this trend continues, domestic issues and the environment could once again become Bush's Achilles' heel. This fall's mid-term elections will be the first test of whether these tactics will continue to receive little notice, or if the public will hold the administration accountable for rollbacks of popular environmental laws pushed through the legal system.

Source: http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2002/01/01252002/s_46235.asp

1/26/02
1:15:10 AM

Star Wars Protecting Globalization From Above

by Karl Grossman

Marketing Missile Defense

The United States is moving full-speed ahead on a missile defense program with events of September 11th giving a big boost to the scheme. Missile defense, or "Star Wars," advocates maintain the terrorist attack demonstrated the kind of future assault -- the next time around with missiles -- that the U.S. must seek to offset. They also point to the need to protect "US interests and investments" around the globe. Opponents argue the most likely threat to the U.S. continues to be relatively low-tech terrorist attacks, not sophisticated missiles. Star Wars supporters are now riding high.

Meanwhile the troubled aerospace industry is hoping to be shored up by big-ticket defense contracts.

Some $95 billion has been spent on missile defense since Ronald Reagan first advanced the program in 1983, according to the Center for Defense Information (CDI) in Washington. Despite the billions the program has never produced a successful missile system. Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and TRW have been the "Big Four" among aerospace corporations receiving program monies. Many billions more will be spent in coming years. All four companies aggressively lobby Capitol Hill on defense spending.

These companies have close ties to the Bush administration, as they did to the Democratic administration that proceeded it. The military machine is alive and well more than a decade after the end of the cold war. This time globalization is the rationale for arms build up -- and some of the same corporations that promoted and profited from the cold war are behind it.

The Star Wars Debate Revived

President George W. Bush cleared a legal path for a renewed missile defense program in December when he advised Russia that the U.S. is withdrawing from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. September 11th was part of his message as he warned that the threat to both countries came from terrorists and "rogue states".

"We know that the terrorists, and some of those who support them, seek the ability to deliver death and destruction to our doorstep via missile. And we must have the freedom and the flexibility to develop effective defenses against those attacks," Bush said.

On the other side of the debate, Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power In Space, held that "September 11th ultimately is irrelevant" because missile defense is a Trojan horse for the "real objectives" of the U.S. space military program.

"It's never been about defense. It's always been about controlling space, dominating space, denying other countries access to space and the U.S. being the master of space," said Gagnon. "And that isn't a defensive posture."

But others reached a different conclusion.

By September 17th , O'Dwyer's PR Daily was reporting that President George Bush's full $8.3 billion request for missile defense in 2002 "has now gotten new life in the aftermath of the terror attacks."

In the days following the attacks Senate Democrats backed away from a pre-September 11th pledge to cut the amount by $1.3 million and agreed to remove a provision requiring the administration to seek Congressional approval to spend money on activities that would violate the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

Media commentators widely interpreted the move as an effort to avoid a partisan debate in the middle of a national crisis. And the White House made it clear that opposition to its legislative agenda, on a variety of fronts, would be branded unpatriotic.

Militarizing the Heavens to Enforce Globalization

While the push for a Star Wars program was buoyed by the September 11th attacks, plans for the administration's space military program were well underway when Bush took office.

Prior to being appointed U.S. defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld chaired the Commission to Assess U.S. National Security Space Management and Organization -- known as the "Space Commission." Just days before Rumsfeld was named Pentagon chief, the Space Commission issued a report championing Star Wars.

Before there was a director of "homeland defense," this report spoke about "homeland defense" -- against missiles -- urging an array of military hardware, including space-based weapons systems, to "destroy a missile shortly after launch, before either warhead or countermeasures are released."

The 13-member Space Commission advocated elevating the U.S. Space Command, established by the Pentagon in 1985 to "coordinate" U.S. space military operations, to a "Space Corps" like the Marine Corps, to then possibly to become a "Space Department" at the same level as the Departments of Army, Navy and Air Force.

General Richard B. Myers, current chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, headed up Space Command before being tapped by the Bush Administration for his current post a year ago.

The January 2001 Space Commission report was proceeded by its Long Range Plan, which framed the space missile program in terms of furthering corporate-led globalization and maintaining US economic and political dominance. "The United States will remain a global power and exert global leadership," stated the 1998 plan.

"Widespread communications will highlight disparities in resources and quality of life -- contributing to unrest in developing countries. The global economy will continue to become more interdependent. Economic alliances, as well as the growth and influence of multinational corporations, will blur security agreements. The gap between 'have' and 'have-not' nations will widen, creating regional unrest" the Long Range Plan continued. This worldwide gap between rich and poor, the Space Commission reasoned, would lead to conflicts threatening US dominance.

The Long Range Plan opens by declaring that it has "U.S. Space Command's #1 priority investing nearly 20 man-years to make it a reality. The development and production process, by design, involved hundreds of people including about 75 corporations."

And it subsequently lists these 75 corporations-beginning with Aerojet, Aerospace Corp., BD Systems and Boeing, to Lockheed Martin, Rand Corp., Raytheon, Spaceport Systems International, Sparta Corp., Stella Solutions, TRW Space and Vista Technologies.

Bush Administration Ties to the Aerospace Industry

The Bush administration is intimately linked with the corporate interests behind the missile defense program. Vice President Cheney is a former member of the board of TRW. His wife, Lynn Cheney, was a longtime member of the Lockheed Martin board stepping down only as her husband prepared to take office.

"I wrote the Republican Party's foreign policy platform," Bruce Jackson, vice president of corporate strategy and development of Lockheed Martin, flatly told this reporter in an interview last year, referring to his role as chair of the Foreign Policy Platform Committee at the Republican National Convention where he was a delegate.

Bush's appointee as deputy director of the National Security Council --whom he has also assigned to travel the world to promote the U.S. missile defense program -- is Stephen J. Hadley, previously a partner in Shea & Gardner, the Washington law firm of Lockheed Martin.

"Space is going to be important. It has a great feature in the military," Hadley, speaking as "an advisor" to Bush, told the Air Force Association in a speech during the Bush campaign.

Other Bush administration officials drawn from the aerospace industry include Albert Smith, a Lockheed Martin vice president, appointed undersecretary of the Air Force; Gordon England, vice president of General Dynamics, named Navy secretary; and James G. Roche, retired president of a Northrop-Grumman division, appointed as Air Force secretary.

Campaign Contributions.

Then there are political contributions.

William D. Hartung and Michelle Ciarrocca of the Arms Trade Resource Center have tracked these contributions focusing on what they term the "Big Four" of missile defense -- Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and TRW. These four corporations, which have been receiving 60 percent of government missile defense contracts, have been "making a major political investment," they say.

Their report, Tangled WebThe Marketing of Missile Defense, lists millions of dollars in "soft money donations" and "PAC contributions" to members of Congress in the last several years. The preference has been for money to Republicans, they say. But "the bottom line" is that "both major parties have been bought off."

As a result, "under the leadership of Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and the Democratic Leadership Council, the Democratic Party [was] almost as pro-military as the Republicans throwing billions at missile defense. The answer is to get special interest money out of politics by supporting full public financing of presidential and congressional races."

Other Star Wars critics see the space missile program as a government bail out for the ailing aerospace industry. Missile defense is especially important to Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon "as a medium-to-long term source of revenue and profits to help them recover from recent management and technical problems that have slashed their stock prices in half and reduced their profit margins," according to the Arms Trade Resource Center.

"Our government is being bribed by these corporations pushing for Star Wars," charges Alice Slater, president of the New York-based Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE). "They have absolutely no regard for the safety and well-being of the world. This is almost a cliche about corporate greed--at a grand scale."

On the other side, aerospace corporations say that they are working to protect the U.S. -- more necessary now than ever after September 11th, they stress.

"This notion that space is going to remain a peaceful area in the future is absolutely putting our heads in the sand. It is just a fact of life," emphasized retired U.S. Space Command commander-in-chief, General Howell Estes, to the Colorado Springs Independent in December. "The fact of the matter is man is a warlike being. That's the nature of the beast, and we just can't be naive about it."

Gagnon of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power In Space sees the Bush Administration's massive military build up in direct competition with funding for social programs.

"Spending hundreds of billions of dollars on Star Wars will take money away from education, programs for women and children, and health care," said Gagnon. "There is a direct link between promoting weapons for space and the destabilization of our communities. People must connect these struggles."

http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=1333

Karl Grossman is professor of journalism at the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury. He is the author of Weapons in Space from Seven Stories Press and narrator of the TV documentary Star Wars Returns, from EnviroVideo .

1/26/02
1:12:44 AM

DAILY GRIST

BROWN IS GREEN

It's a tough life being the environmental coordinator at Brown University in Providence, R.I. First, you have to make sure your socks match, at least during the work day. Then, you have to learn the native language to be able to oversee ECMs with NECo's DSM program. On top of that, whether you're proposing eco-friendly construction for new buildings, more-efficient lighting systems, or a better campus-wide recycling system, you have to dodge complaints that being green isn't practical or won't work. Ah, but the job can be a heck of a lot of fun, writes Kurt Teichert, Brown's green champ, only on the Grist Magazine website.

only in Grist: A week in the life of Kurt Teichert, Brown University environmental coordinator <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/teichert012202.asp?source=daily>

HONDA OF THE BASKERVILLES

Disagreeing with American automakers, Japanese manufacturer Honda told the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee yesterday that raising fuel-efficiency standards for SUVs and other light trucks would not pose a safety threat. The split in the auto industry came to light as the committee discussed whether increasing the standards would make vehicles unsafe by causing automakers to build lighter trucks. Also at the hearing, a representative for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (which doesn't include Honda) raised the ire of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) by saying he couldn't assess whether automakers could raise the fuel efficiency of vehicles by even a single mile per gallon over 10 years. Kerry's response: "Don't you think that renders you sort of silly?"

straight the source: Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Ball, 25 Jan 2002 <http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB1011914427358886640.htm>

do good: Take action and pledge to buy an eco-friendly car <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/autos.asp?source=daily#pledge>

HOT OFF THE PRESSES

In case you snoozed there for a while, Grist is coming to the rescue by summing up the top climate change stories from last year. For starters, and most important, the world is proceeding with the Kyoto Protocol, despite the Bush administration's decision not to participate. Second of all, the paradigm of global climate change to which we've all resigned ourselves (slow and gradual) was challenged by evidence of sudden and radical climate shifts in the past, with temperatures swinging by many degrees in just a handful of years. Finally, and perhaps most remarkably, China started going green. Wanna know more? Get the skinny from Heat Beat columnist Leonie Haimson, only on the Grist Magazine website.

only in Grist: This just in -- the year 2001 in sum -- in our Heat Beat section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/heatbeat/thisjustin012402.asp?source=daily>

FISSION ADVISORY?

Native Americans who fished in the Columbia River may have been exposed to much more radiation from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation than previously thought, according to a draft report prepared for the federal government. Earlier research estimating the exposure rates for people living downwind of Hanford assumed that people ate about 90 pounds of fish per year during the 1940s and '50s when radioactive iodine contaminated fish. But the new research suggests that members of tribes along the Columbia may have been eating more than 500 pounds of fish per year.

straight to the source: Seattle Times, Dave Birkland, 25 Jan 2002 <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134395478_hanford25m.html>

do good: Take action to promote nuclear disarmament <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/toxic.asp?source=daily#blowit>

THIS OLD COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT

Even as the Bush administration works to relax clean-air regulations on coal-fired power plants, New Jersey's biggest energy supplier agreed yesterday to spend $337 million over the next 10 years to cut emissions from two plants. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said the settlement between PSEG Power showed a "continuing commitment to enforce vigorously the Clean Air Act." The Clinton administration sued PSEG Power and several other utilities for violating new source review regulations that require owners of older power plants to update pollution-control systems when making other significant improvements to their plants.

straight to the source: Newark Star-Ledger, Tom Johnson, 25 Jan 2002 <http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/jersey/ledger/15ace92.html>

straight to the source: Wall Street Journal, John J. Fialka, 25 Jan 2002 <http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB101191365763900560.htm>

1/26/02
1:08:13 AM

MAKING "Gosford Park" in England seems to have turned Robert Altman against the United States. "When I see an American flag flying, it's a joke," he fumed to the Times of London yesterday. "This present government in America I just find disgusting, the idea that George Bush could run a baseball team successfully - he can't even speak! I just find him an embarrassment." Altman's feeling is so strong, he's thinking of moving to London for good. "I'd be very happy to stay here," he tells the paper. "There's nothing in America that I would miss at all."

Source: Page 6 NY Post

1/26/02
1:06:34 AM

Oppose a new energy legislation that would increase smog, global warming, etc.

Thanks, friends and fam!

Ari

From: Kate Abend <sperez@pirg.org>

Hi,

Follow the link below to a web page where you can e-mail your senators and ask them to support a 40 mpg fuel economy standard for cars and light trucks.

BACKGROUND

Follow the link below to a web page where you can e-mail your senators.

http://www.NewEnergyFuture.com

Sincerely,

Kate Abend

State PIRGs Global Warming Associate

1/26/02
1:03:54 AM

Wendy Gramm and Bush officials to Enron fiasco, California crisis

http://www.citizen.org/hot_issues/issue.cfm?ID=194

To read the entire press release, go at

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=983

1/26/02
1:00:56 AM

THE MOKHIBER-WEISSMAN COLUMN ON CORPORATE POWER

The double standards which excuse corporations for behavior (e.g., causing injury, accepting welfare) widely considered criminal or shameful when done by individuals;

Globalization and corporate power;

Trends in corporate economic blackmail, political influence and workplace organization;

Industry-wide efforts to escape regulation, silence critics, employ new technologies or consolidate business among a few companies;

Specific, extreme examples of corporate abuses: destruction of communities, trampling of democracy, poisoning of air and water;

Particular issues, such as tort reform, of across-the-board interest to business; and

The corporatization of our culture.

Find out more at: http://www.corporatepredators.org

1/26/02
12:55:52 AM

EMS.org Update - Jan. 25, 2002

Cheney Energy Secrets Subject of Lawsuits Friday, the Sierra Club became the third public interest group to file suit in an effort to uncover secrets about Cheney's Energy Task Force. Separate suits were filed in 2001 by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Judicial Watch. The White House officially responded to the NRDC suit this week, denying each of NRDC's contentions.

Thursday, based on comments made by Republican lawmakers, the Washington Post reported that Vice President Cheney may soon yield to pressure from Congress and environmental groups to provide information about who he met with when forming his energy plan. However, according to Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, "There has been no change in the White House position at all."

EMS.org has assembled links to official correspondence, press releases, news and op-eds about the controversy over Cheney's Energy Task Force:

http://www.ems.org/energy_policy/cheney_energy_task_force.html

West Virginians Sue U.S. EPA A Bush-approved anti-degradation plan for West Virginia's rivers does not meet the standards of the Clean Water Act and puts the state's high-quality waters in jeopardy, according to river groups suing the U.S. EPA.

Press release:

http://www.tlpj.org/tlpjf/pressreleases/National_AD_Press_Release.htm

The anti-degradation provision of the Clean Water Act is intended to allow states to protect unpolluted waters. Find out more: http://www.wvecouncil.org/issues/clean_water.html

http://www.ohvec.org/streams10.htm

EMS Updates provide news tips and resources for journalists from Environmental Media Services. You received this email because you signed up for EMS Updates at our website,

http://www.ems.org.

1/26/02
12:53:08 AM

RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH NEWS #742

HEADLINES: WHAT'S IMPORTANT?

http://www.Rachel.org .

1/25/02
11:02:52 PM

New at TomPaine.com

http://www.TomPaine.com

MISSING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES

Campaign Finance Should Be The Trunk Of Reports on Enron Debacle

by Adam Lioz

"The biggest scandal here is not personal corruption -- it's systemic corruption. It's how the very wealthy decide who gets to run for office in the first place -- and then who wins."

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm?ID=5048

DOWN ON THE FARM:

MODERN DAY SHARECROPPERS

The Dismal Future Of Farming

by Karen Charman

How aggressive agri-giants are turning poultry farmers into bird babysitters and are shaping the future of agriculture in America.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm?ID=5036

BOTH SIDES NOW

U.S. And Afghan Families Meet

by Laura Flanders

The stories of Afghani families who lost loved ones in the U.S.-led anti-terror campaign didn't show up in the U.S.'s 'paper of record' until Americans who also lost family members went to Afghanistan to meet them.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm?ID=5049

THREE FISH, TWO FISH, ONE FISH, NO FISH

An Elegy For The Extinct Topeka Shiner

by Ken Midkiff

"We humans have manipulated and changed the waters which were home to this species. In degrading the streams of the Topeka Shiner we have degraded our landscape, our planet, and ourselves."

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm?ID=5043

Book Excerpt

RETHINKING ECONOMIC PROGRESS

The Dow may be up over the past decade, but cod, acquifers, topsoil, fisheries, forests and coral reefs are down

by Lester Brown

In their struggle to understand the world, economists have created a system that is out of sync with the ecosystem that markets depend on.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm?ID=5023

FEEL NO REMORSE

The Corporate Creed

by M. W. Guzy

Remember The Terminator? It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And that, in brief, describes the modern corporation.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm?ID=5044

1/25/02
10:58:29 PM

UTNE WEB WATCH

The Best of the Alternative Web

OLD MASTERS: OVERLOOKED WOMEN ARTISTS

by Joan Altabe, Gadfly Online

-- Male artists have dominated history's view of centuries past, yet women have long struggled to produce their own artistic work in the face of persecution, and have too long been ignored.

ANTI-CAPITALIST CONVERGENCE IN NEW YORK CITY: JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 4, 2002

from freezerbox.com and abolishthebank.org

-- Government and corporation leaders are holding this year's World Economic Forum meeting in New York City after being chased out of Switzerland by protesters, but will New Yorkers stand for it?

REALITY VS. HEROISM

by Alexander Cockburn, WorkingforChange.com

-- The violent details of the massacre of civilians in Somalia by U.S. troops have been glossed over for the new movie "Black Hawk Down," and portray the incident as heroic instead of barbaric.

Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch

1/25/02
10:56:13 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-24-06.html

$337 MILLION CLEANS UP TWO POWER PLANTS

WASHINGTON, DC, January 24, 2002 (ENS) - PSEG Power, one of the nation's largest independent power producers, has agreed to spend more than $337 million to install state of the art pollution controls on two of its New Jersey power plants. The agreement settles allegations that the utility company expanded the capacity of the two coal fired power plants without upgrading their emissions control equipment.

EUROPE REVERSES POSITION TO SUPPORT GENETIC ENGINEERING

BRUSSELS, Belgium, January 24, 2002 (ENS) - A manifesto in favor of biotechnology in the European Union issued Wednesday by its executive branch, the European Commission, calls for stronger backing for a sector seen as critical to future competitiveness. The communication proposes adopting "the highest standards of governance" to win over a sceptical public.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-24-01.html

JAMAICA IMPOSES RECORD FINES ON TURTLE POACHERS

KINGSTON, Jamaica, January 24, 2002 (ENS) - Her Honour Joyce Bennett today handed down the highest fines ever imposed in Jamaica for an environmental crime when she sentenced the captain and chief mate of the vessel Thunder Ridge for poaching conch and endangered sea turtles. The men were charged under the Wildlife Protection Act, the Aquaculture Act and the Fishing Industry Act.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-24-03.html

MURPHY OIL REFINERY MUST CUT SULFUR EMISSIONS

MADISON, Wisconsin, January 24, 2002 (ENS) - Murphy Oil USA "withheld information knowingly and intentionally" from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources when it applied for a permit to modify its refinery at Superior, Wisconsin, and that omission will cost the company at least $12 million, state and federal agencies said Wednesday.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-24-02.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JANUARY 24, 2002

Labor Leaders Divided on ANWR Drilling

Bush Promotes Coal in West Virginia

Century of Human Impact Warms Earth's Surface

Unlikely Events Left Out of Yucca Mountain Analysis

U.S., International Team Promotes Conservation In Bhutan

After Extreme Droughts, Wading Birds Flourish

Conservation Groups Support New York Power Plant

Yelm, Washington Reclaims All Its Wastewater

Earth Charter Displayed at United Nations

Apple a Day Could Keep Cancer Away

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-24-09.html

1/25/02
10:49:41 PM

World Religious Leaders Join Pope In Peace Bid

January 24, 2002

ASSISI, Italy (Reuters) - Pope John Paul and religious leaders including Muslims and Jews, Buddhists and Hindus, committed themselves on Thursday to work for peace and shun violence.

Christian monks in brown woolen habits, saffron-robed Buddhists, black-cloaked Muslims, Sikhs wearing turbans, white-bearded Orthodox patriarchs and rabbis traveled together on a peace train to pray near the tomb of St. Francis.

"Violence never again! War never again! Terrorism never again! In the name of God, may every religion bring upon the earth justice and peace, forgiveness and life. Love," the Pope said.

He spoke at the end of an emotional day in which some 200 religious leaders representing a dozen faiths made pledges in the city of the 13th-century saint most associated with peace.

Wearing his traditional white robe, the Roman Catholic leader sat on a red stage flanked by religious figures as they each addressed a crowd of 3,000 people in a white tent.

Solemn commitments to work for peace were read in 11 languages including Hebrew, Arabic, Farsi and Punjabi.

"We commit ourselves to proclaiming our firm conviction that violence and terrorism are incompatible with the authentic spirit of religion," said one read by Konrad Raiser, secretary-general of the World Council of Churches.

The Pope, who lit peace lamps with other participants, said they all wanted to "do our part in fending off the dark clouds of terrorism, hatred, armed conflict, which in these last few months have grown particularly ominous on humanity's horizon."

The Middle East crisis came to the fore when Rabbi Israel Singer of the World Jewish Congress departed from his prepared address and alluded to the conflict with Palestinians.

"You should tell your people, and we should tell ours, all of us, all of us, to question whether land or places are more important than people's lives. And until we learn to do that there will be no peace," Singer said, raising his voice.

A message read out on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar mosque, spoke of "restoring the legitimate proprietors to their rights," an apparent reference to Palestinian lands occupied by Israel.

BUDDHIST CHANT, CHRISTIAN CITY

Assisi, a medieval city accustomed to Western choirs and Gregorian chants, was treated to something different as religious pluralism ruled.

Geshe Tashi Tsering, wearing a crimson and saffron robe, began his time on the center stage with a Buddhist chant.

Chief Amadou Gasseto, of the traditional Vodou animist religion of the West African nation of Benin, said the occasion taught "the art of knowing how to respect one's adversary, of tolerating differences and understanding others' convictions."

It was the third such day of peace led by the Pope, who has said he hopes the meeting will promote relations with Muslims in the wake of the September 11 suicide plane attacks on the United States and the war in Afghanistan.

After a morning session, the religious groups went off to pray in various rooms before sharing a vegetarian lunch and returning to the tent for the final pledges.

Rabbi Ron Kronish of Israel told reporters aboard the peace train returning to the Vatican that he would return to Jerusalem feeling "spiritually empowered" to work for peace.

"Does it resolve anything tomorrow? No. Will it have an impact in the long-run? I hope so," he said.

But outside Assisi, not everyone was happy with the events.

"To pray with heretics, schismatics, rabbis, mullahs, witch doctors and various idolaters creates confusion among Catholic believers," Federico Bricolo and Massimo Polledri, members of an Italian government coalition party, said in a statement.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-pope-peace.html

1/25/02
9:14:24 PM

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I still have a dream. It is deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.'"

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

1/25/02
9:00:53 PM

t r u t h o u t

Campaign Finance Will Go to the Floor of the House Statements : Meehan, McCain, Shays, Pelosi, Gephardt, Daschle

http://www.truthout.com/01.25A.Cam.F.htm

Wide Effort Seen in Shredding Data on Enron's Audits

http://www.truthout.com/01.25B.Enron.Shreadding.htm

Henry A. Waxman | All Enron Cards on the Table http://www.truthout.com/01.25C.Waxman.Table.htm

Bush Violated Security Laws Four Times, SEC Report Says

http://www.truthout.com/01.25D.Bush.SEC.htm

Democrats Press for Enron Meeting Details

http://www.truthout.com/01.25E.Dems.Meetings.htm

Bernard Weiner | George W. and "The Vision Thing"

http://www.truthout.com/01.25F.Weiner.Vision.htm

Guantanamo Interrogations Begin

http://www.truthout.com/01.25G.Cuba.Begin.htm

t r u t h o u t, is a non-profit independent news source.

http://www.truthout.com

1/25/02
8:52:30 PM

AlterNet Headlines

http://www.alternet.org

DIGITAL PIRATES AND THE "WAREZ" WARS

Omar J. Pahati, AlterNet

On Jan. 23, the Feds slapped criminal charges on two hackers from the software piracy gang DrinkOrDie, escalating the underground war between thrill-seeking "warez" gangs and government agents.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12283

LIFE AND DEBT

Tamara Straus, AlterNet

A new film hitting theaters all over the country is earning raves from critics because it does the impossible: turns the stale subject of "free trade" into a riveting narrative.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12285

THE POSTER BOY OF GUERILLA MEDIA

Michelle Chihara, AlterNet

What does email, viral marketing, nailing Nike on sweatshop labor and a Web site for romantic rejections have in common? Jonah Peretti, who talks here about why the Internet is still a subversive medium.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12276

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

Bill Berkowitz, WorkingForChange.com

Since late October, Marc Herold has been spending close to 12 hours a day tracking reports of civilian casualties caused by the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12278

RURAL COW MUTILATIONS BAFFLE AUTHORITIES

Kate Silver, Las Vegas Weekly

After the mutilation of 12 to 15 (depending on who you talk to) cows and steer in about seven months, folks in sleepy Pondera County are baffled.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12280

RECUSE ME! CONGRESS BOUGHT OFF BY ENRON

John Moyers, TomPaine.com

As Congress begins to investigate the Enron calamity, you don't have to be Ralph Nader to ask: Who in Congress should disqualify themselves from the hearings? * Plus: "Enron-omics at a Glance."

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12282

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Enron makes me (vote) Green ... Offshore banks are legitimate institutions, not criminal havens! AlterNet readers respond to recent stories.

http://www.alternet.org/letters_ed.html?BulletinID=6

TECHSPLOITATION: PLUG AND PLAY PEOPLE

Annalee Newitz, AlterNet

What we want out of people these days is the same thing we want from our computer accessories: no installation required, no introductions or context necessary to interact with them.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12267

DURST: POOR LITTLE KENNETH

Will Durst, AlterNet

Poor Kenneth Lay. Just this time last year he was riding higher than bacteria on a gnat inside the ear of a giraffe with a hyperactive pituitary.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12266

HUFFINGTON: THE EVIL ONES HERE AT HOME

Arianna Huffington, AlterNet

There must be a special Circle of Hell reserved for the perpetrators of the deliberate deception we now know Ken Lay and his cronies foisted on those who trusted them.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12279

SOLOMON: ASHCROFT'S MEDIA SCAM

Norman Solomon, AlterNet

Even by Washington's standards, the ability of John Ashcroft to reinvent himself has been a wonder to behold.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12288

1/25/02
8:44:02 PM

On Friday January 25, the Worldwatch Institute will present the second in a series of eight online discussions with the authors of State of the World 2002. Each week through March 8 from 12:00-13:00 EST (17:00-18:00 GMT), one chapter author will be available to talk with you and answer your questions. (See schedule below).

This week's guest is Seth Dunn, co-author of Chapter 2, "Moving the Climate Change Agenda." The world has not stood still in the decade since the signature and ratification of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. Rather, the science, economics, business, and politics of the climate issue have evolved. This chapter looks back on the climate treaty's first decade, examines its growing pains under the Kyoto Protocol, and explores the potential obstacles to its further development.

To join the discussion, just point your browser to

http://www.worldwatch.org/live.

You will not need any special software or hardware to participate. The format is question-and-answer. You submit your question by typing in the "Question" box, and your question goes into a queue. As the session gets underway, you will see the first question and an answer from Gary on the page. These questions and answers will scroll automatically, so you do NOT have to keep refreshing the page in order to keep up with the discussion.

The page will be officially "open" at 11 AM EST (16:00 GMT) so that you can submit questions in advance. You will not see any text on your discussion pages until the discussion starts at 12:00 noon EST (17:00 GMT). The discussion will run for one hour.

To read more about State of the World 2002 or to hear the SOW2002 press conference, go to

http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/sow/2002/.

You can download State of the World 2002 today as two large PDF files for US$7 each. For more information, go to

http://secure.worldwatch.org/cgi-bin/wwinst/BSW02P

and click on the PDF button. You can also order a printed copy from this same page.

1/25/02
8:42:29 PM

To join the discussion, just point your browser to

http://www.worldwatch.org/live.

To read more about State of the World 2002 or to hear the SOW2002 press conference, go to

http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/sow/2002/.

You can download State of the World 2002 today as two large PDF files for US$7 each. For more information, go to

http://secure.worldwatch.org/cgi-bin/wwinst/BSW02P

and click on the PDF button. You can also order a printed copy from this same page.

1/25/02
8:38:44 PM

Planet Ark World Environment News

US to use weapons plutonium as nuclear plant fuel - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14191/story.htm

Gephardt says US should seek energy independence - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14187/story.htm

Cheney again refuses to give energy policy details - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14188/story.htm

UPDATE - US nuclear insurance law faces Senate fight - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14189/story.htm

NRC seeks revised standards for US nuke waste site - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14190/story.htm

UPDATE - USDA to seek more humane treatment in meat plants - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14197/story.htm

UPDATE - British Energy restarts Dungeness nuclear reactor - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14186/story.htm

Russia scientists count dwindling Siberian tigers - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14200/story.htm

Irish green energy firm in Scottish Energy deal - REPUBLIC OF IRELAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14185/story.htm

Italy says countryside, consumers key in CAP reform - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14199/story.htm

Hungary gears up to fight Italian bird poachers - HUNGARY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14195/story.htm

EU liability plans too weak on GMOs - Greenpeace - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14184/story.htm

Dane wind shares down on doubt over offshore plans - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14194/story.htm

China's GMO rules to take effect on schedule - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14198/story.htm

Bulgarian PM sows confusion over N-plant - BULGARIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14192/story.htm

PNG oil cos merger tipped to refuel exploration - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14196/story.htm

Landmine clearers welcome focus of Afghan aid - AFGHANISTAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14193/story.htm

1/25/02
8:29:58 PM

Public Citizen issued the following two press releases this afternoon:

Public Citizen Attorneys Vindicate Congressional Right of Access To Executive Branch Information

Judge Orders Commerce Department to Release Adjusted Census Data

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a lawsuit brought by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and 15 other members of the House Committee on Government Reform, a federal district judge in Los Angeles has ordered the U.S. Commerce Department to release statistically adjusted census data compiled in the course of the 2000 Census. The statistically adjusted data more accurately reflects the actual population by including millions of Americans left out of the official census. Public Citizen represented the lawmakers in the suit.

Although the Census Bureau, a part of the Commerce Department, performed the statistical calculations necessary to arrive at a more accurate count, the Commerce Department refused to make the adjusted census data public for political reasons. Waxman and his 15 colleagues sued to compel release of the information under the "Rule of Seven," a federal law that requires federal agencies to provide information upon the request of any seven members of the Committee on Government Reform or its counterpart committee in the U.S. Senate.

The government resisted the lawsuit, arguing that the "Rule of Seven" statute does not mean what it says and that even if it does, the court has discretion to ignore it. In a 21-page opinion, Judge Lourdes Baird of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Los Angeles rejected the government's position. Baird concluded that under the plain language of the statute, "the 'Seven Member Rule' requires an executive agency to submit all information requested of it by the Committee relating to all matters within the Committee's jurisdiction upon the Committee's request."

Baird refused to accept the government's argument that the court had discretion to ignore the law, and held that doing so "would constitute 'meddling with the internal decisionmaking processes of one of the political branches' by nullifying congressional intent."

Baird is the second federal judge to order the Commerce Department to release the adjusted census data. Earlier, a November 2001 district court in Oregon ruled that the data is also available under the Freedom of Information Act. The government is withholding the data while it decides whether to appeal that ruling.

"Now that two courts have ruled that the information must be made public under two different federal laws, we're hoping that the administration will finally see fit to provide this information to the public," said Scott Nelson, an attorney with the Public Citizen Litigation Group. "Even if the data isn't included in the official Census, the people are entitled to know how many of us the government really thinks there are."

A copy of the ruling is available at http://www.house.gov/reform/min/inves_other/other_census.htm

Campaign Finance Reform Back on House Agenda

Statement by Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook

The success today of the House of Representatives' discharge petition for campaign finance reform is a magnificent protest against the Enronization of American politics. On a bipartisan basis, the members of the House have reflected public disgust with an undemocratic campaign finance system that privileges the few at the expense of the majority.

With its 218th signature, the discharge petition has now been approved by the majority of the House. This should ensure expeditious consideration of this important legislation.

The bill has passed the House twice and is very likely to prevail again. Then it will go to the Senate (which has already decisively passed the companion McCain-Feingold measure) for final passage and then to President Bush.

A special note of thanks to Reps. Charles Bass (R.-N.H.) And Tom Petri (R-Wis.), who today joined 18 other Republicans in signing, to Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Corrine Brown (D- Fla.), who provided the 217th and 218th signatures, and to House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) for his persuasive efforts with fellow Democrats.

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

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

1/25/02
8:27:37 PM

DAILY GRIST

http://www.citizen.org/publications/release.cfm?ID=7144

DUCK, DUCK, GROSS

More than a dozen years after an Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil, nearly 10,000 gallons of the oil remain buried under the shoreline. The lingering oil was documented during a three-month field study last summer; the study's results were presented this week during the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council's annual workshop. The study found that the oil is still harming wildlife: Sea otters are suffering liver damage, harlequin ducks have hydrocarbons in their guts, and overall numbers of both populations are in decline. Species that forage on the nearby sea floor also show evidence of harm. An ExxonMobil spokesperson, however, denied that the spill is continuing to damage wildlife in the area.

straight to the source: Anchorage Daily News, Doug O'harra, 23 Jan 2002 <http://www.adn.com/front/story/753604p-803633c.html>

GREAT BITTEN?

Large parts of England and Wales are at risk of becoming breeding grounds for malaria as global warming heats up local temperatures, according to a study by Durham University scientists commissioned by the Brits' Department of Health. Increased temperatures encourage mosquitoes to breed and feed more rapidly, and they speed up the maturation of the malaria parasite. At present, no British mosquitoes are known to carry malaria, but one local species is capable of transmitting the disease. Malaria was once common in much of the U.K., contributing to large numbers of deaths in the 16th through the 19th centuries. Using a mathematical model, the researchers predicted that if global warming continued at its current rate, the disease could become a major threat again within 50 years, and could plague the U.K. for up to four months a year by the end of the century.

straight to the source: BBC News, 22 Jan 2002 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1775000/1775427.stm>

TOMS OF PAIN

One chapter in the long saga of the Toms River pollution case came to a close recently when companies accused of polluting the water in the New Jersey town agreed to compensate children who were stricken with cancer and siblings who suffered emotional distress. The details of the financial arrangement, which were released yesterday, show that Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Union Carbide, and the United Water Resources (the local water utility) will pay 69 families a total of at least $13.27 million. While those families settled out of court through a mediation process, another 600 plaintiffs filed suit against the companies and are seeking class-action status and compensation for damages stemming from exposure to Toms River air and water.

straight to the source: Philadelphia Inquirer, Tom Avril, 23 Jan 2002 <http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2002/01/23/front_page/TOMSRIVER23.htm>

do good: Take action to find the polluters in your neighborhood <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/toxic.asp?source=daily#scorecard>

A FINGER IN THE DIKE

In what appears to be the first deal struck under the Kyoto treaty's Clean Development Mechanism, the Netherlands has signed a contract with the World Bank providing $40 million for clean energy projects in developing countries in exchange for carbon dioxide reduction credits. The Kyoto treaty sets target limits on the emission of the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming, and the Clean Development Mechanism allows states to buy credits toward their own targets by helping fund clean energy programs elsewhere. The three-year contract between the Dutch government and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation will give the Netherlands 10 megatons of credit towards its emissions limit of 250 megatons; the IFC, meanwhile, will identify which clean energy projects to fund in developing nations.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Matt Daily, 21 Jan 2002 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14110/story.htm>

do good: Take action and tell Bush not to abandon Kyoto <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/climate.asp?source=daily#kyoto

1/25/02
8:24:50 PM

Public Citizen issued the following two press releases this morning:

Documents Raise Questions About the Safety of Nation's Blood Supply; Public Citizen Calls for Congressional Inquiry

FDA Officials Made Declarations About Red Cross in Court Filings

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Public Citizen is calling on Congress to launch an inquiry after obtaining court documents raising serious questions about the safety of the nation's blood supply, most of which is collected and distributed by the American Red Cross.

In a letter sent today to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D- Mass.), Public Citizen asks lawmakers to force the Red Cross to improve its "public health-threatening record."

In one document, the director of blood and blood products for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that the Red Cross has operated with "an attitude of disregard for the public's interest." The official also was critical of the Red Cross' assertion that because there has been no documentation of transfusion-associated infections from tainted blood, the blood supply is safe. Calling this a "notoriously dangerous assumption," he noted that transfusion-transmitted infections may not always be recognized and attributed to unsuitable blood. This is because some infections can remain dormant for long periods of time and because doctors aren't required to report such incidents.

Another court document showed a dramatic increase in the number of unsuitable blood products released by the Red Cross over the years. There were 36 recalls of unsuitable blood products in fiscal year 1988 and 641 in fiscal year 2000, an 18-fold increase.

The documents were filed in December 2001 as part of an ongoing court case. In December, the FDA asked that the Red Cross be held in contempt of court for violating a 1993 consent decree because of longstanding and dangerous practices.

A copy of the letter is available at

xox

Boosting Fuel Efficiency Can Increase Highway Safety; Public Citizen Debunks Auto Industry Safety Canard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Contrary to assertions by auto manufacturers, boosting fuel economy standards will not lessen highway safety and likely would save lives, Public Citizen told congressional lawmakers today.

Vehicle size and crash protection design are the key factors in safety, Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook said in testimony presented to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Claybrook was the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1977 to 1981.

Although the auto industry has promoted a myth that heavier vehicles are always safer, they are not, Claybrook said. In fact, some lighter cars have a lower driver death rate than some heavy vehicles. For example, the GM Suburban four-wheel drive has a higher death rate than the Honda Civic. The key issue is vehicle crashworthiness, she said.

Not only do sport utility vehicles (SUVs) have high rollover rates, more handling problems and are often less crashworthy, but they cause more damage to smaller vehicles in crashes. Nor do fuel economy standards cause increased fatalities. Fuel economy is achieved primarily by technological improvements and to a small extent by weight reduction, which occurs only in heavy vehicles (it is not cost efficient to reduce the weights of light cars). Thus, new fuel economy standards would create a fleet of vehicles with fewer disparities in weight, which is safer for everyone on the road.

"The auto industry has argued, time and again, that raising fuel economy standards will adversely impact safety by causing the increased production of smaller vehicles or by reducing vehicle weight," Claybrook said. "In fact, there is no evidence that establishes [this]. . . . The use of the timeworn safety canard by the industry is a cynical attempt to frighten consumers and Congress to deflect new fuel economy requirements, and appears most appallingly hypocritical when we consider that the industry itself has acted to obstruct safety improvements over the last 35 years."

Claybrook noted that over the years, the industry has fought mandatory air bag laws on cost grounds and fought side impact and fuel system standards. It is now battling to prevent effective dynamic rollover tests, an improved roof crush standard and requirements for a tire pressure monitoring system, which would save fuel economy and improve safety.

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, instituted in 1975, raised average fuel economy performance in the United Sates by 82 percent between 1978 and 1985. Their primary feature is a 27.5 miles per gallon (mpg) statutory standard for passenger automobiles, with a regulatory minimum standard for light trucks - a category that includes minivans, pickups and SUVs - of 20.7 mpg. CAFE saves 118 million gallons of gasoline daily and 913 million barrels of oil each year, or about the total imported annually from the Persian Gulf.

CAFE standards have not been updated above the 1985 requirement, despite better technology and the increasing dominance of SUVs on the highways. One major deficiency in the current CAFE program is that it holds light trucks to a lower fuel economy standard than passenger cars. While this distinction may have been valid in 1975, when light trucks were not widely used as passenger vehicles, it is now badly outdated, Claybrook said.

The Union of Concerned Scientists last year released a report showing that technologies exist to make today's vehicles far more fuel efficient while keeping vehicle manufacturing cost effective and having no negative impact on safety. These technologies include changing tire tread designs, increasing the use of aluminum and plastics, and allowing engines to turn off rather than idle.

Claybrook called for the following actions by Congress, which she said are necessary because the auto industry will not boost fuel efficiency or act to improve safety on its own:

· Require NHTSA to set new safety standards for rollover crashworthiness protection and limits on aggressivity, which could prevents thousands of deaths and injuries. The rollover protections should include a dynamic roof crush standard, roof energy absorbing protection to reduce injuries from contact with the roof, safety belt pretensioners that are triggered in a rollover crash, improved seat structure to keep occupants in position during a roll, side impact protection air bags that are triggered in a rollover crash;

· Close the light truck loophole in the CAFE standards. Fuel economy standards should be raised to 40 mpg for cars and light trucks over 10 years, starting with the model year 2005;

· Increase the accuracy of testing procedures used to predict fuel economy performance;

· End the dual-credit program, in which manufacturers are rewarded for building vehicles that can theoretically run on alternative fuels. In reality, only one percent of the miles driven in these vehicles are ever powered by alternative fuels;

· Eliminate CAFE's "carryback" provision, which allows a manufacturer that fails to meet its CAFE requirement to submit a plan for improving vehicle fleet efficiency in three future years. This invites abuse and dishonesty by the manufacturers by effectively delaying the deadline by which manufacturers must meet their fuel economy targets;

· Clarify a provision that precludes state-run "feebate" programs, in which manufacturers and consumers are rewarded for selling cars that are more fuel efficient than required; and

· Immediately appropriate $5 million for fuel economy.

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

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

1/25/02
8:22:45 PM

MOTHERJONES.COM

* No Assurances * - Web Exclusive: Are California authorities giving a free pass to a former Michael Milken crony who helped to gut an insurance company, leaving thousands of policyholders to pick up the pieces?

http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/features/news/insurance.html

* Faster Than a Speeding Bankruptcy * - Web Exclusive: Cartoon -- When danger or SEC regulators threaten, mild-mannered Enron executive Ken Lay becomes ...

http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/commentary/humor/kenny.html

* News Beat * - Web Exclusive: Phillippine face-off; nail the SLA; eating the sun; more ...

http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/features/news/news_beat.html

* Capitol Beat * - Web Exclusive: The phantom $4 trillion; leader of the pack; the Fleischer watch; more ...

http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/features/news/capitol_beat.html

1/25/02
8:20:02 PM

Slavery and the eight veils

Over the last several years I have evolved and discarded several theories in an attempt to explain why it is that most people cannot see truth -- even when it smacks them in the face. Those of us who can see "the conspiracy" have participated in countless conversations amongst ourselves that address the frustration of most peoples' inability to comprehend the extremely well-documented arguments which we use to describe the process of our collective enslavement and exploitation. The most common explanation to be arrived at is that most people just "don't want to see" what is really going on.

Extremely evil men and women who make up the world's power-elite have cleverly cultivated a virtual pasture so grass green that few people seldom, if ever, bother to look up from where they are grazing long enough to notice the brightly colored tags stapled to their ears.

The same people who cannot see their enslavement for the pasture grass have a tendency to view as insane "conspiracy theorists" those of us who can see the past the farm and into the parlor of his feudal lordship's castle.

Finally, I understand why.

It's not that those who don't see that their freedom is vanishing under the leadership of the power-elite "don't want to see it" -- they simply can't see what is happening to them because of the unpierced veils that block their view.

http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20011212.htm

1/25/02
8:17:05 PM

The world was horrified by the events of 9/11 when nearly 3000 innocent people were killed, and rightly so. However, these figures pale in deference to the millions, yes millions, of people killed directly and indirectly by western medicine, yet hardly a word has been uttered by our so-called watch-dog free press, why?

The following statement came from an emailed response to the British Medical Journal (BMJ), by Ron Law, Executive Director of the NNFA, in New Zealand and member of the New Zealand Ministry of Health Working Group that refers to Australian statistics:

"If deaths from properly researched, properly registered, properly prescribed and properly used drugs were added along with preventable deaths due to private practice it comes to a staggering 19%, which is almost 1 of every 5 deaths."

Full details can be found in the following webpage:

http://www.mercola.com/2000/dec/10/medical_error.htm

This is just one of many such reports from other western countries. For more details visit the following sites:

Blunders By Doctors Kill 40,000 people a Year In Britain

http://www.mercola.com/1999/dec/26/doctor_error_mistake_kills_patients.htm

Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US

http://www.mercola.com/2000/jul/30/doctors_death.htm

Medical Mistakes Kill 100,000 Americans A Year

http://www.mercola.com/1999/dec/5/medical_mistakes.html

Prescription Errors Common In Outpatient Setting

http://www.mercola.com/2000/may/14/prescription_errors.htm

Why Doctors Are 9,000 Times More Likely to Accidentally Kill You Than Gun Owners

http://www.mercola.com/2000/may/14/doctor_accidents.htm

If you feel, as I do that these statistics should be more widely known please pass this information on. But, more importantly, if you have any suggestions how these statistics could be reduced I would like to hear from you at wharmony@iinet.net.au

Love & blessings

Trevor

My hope is to become the kind of person my dog thinks I am!

1/25/02
8:12:19 PM

Bill To Reinstate Draft Is Before Congress

Bill introduced that would reinstate draft in the US and US territories.

In an act virtually ignored by the mainstream media, Republicans Nick Smith of Michigan and Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania have introduced a bill intending to reinstate the draft. The bill, HR 3598, the Universal Military Training and Service Act of 2001, was introduced on December 20th. As of January 19th, it appears that the only media sources to report on this have been Independent Media Centers, the anarchist site Infoshop, the Hawaiian newspaper, Ka Leo O and the technology and culture website kuro5hin.

HR 3598 is currently before the House Committee of Armed Services. The Chair of the Armed Services Committee is Rep. Bob Stump, R-AZ, and the ranking member is Ike Skelton, D-MO. This bill would require that men in the US (including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam - all territories whose residents do not have voting rights) receive basic military training and education as members of the armed services for a period of not less than six months, but not more than one year, unless exempted. Currently the United States Census lists 9 million males in this age group. The bill would also authorize women in that age group to volunteer to receive basic military training and education.

Young men would be exempt from this service if they have extreme hardships (what exactly this means is not outlined in the bill and is likely defined at the convenience of the board) or physical or mental disability. People already serving in military positions would not be subject to the specifications of this induction. High school students would have their induction postponed until they receive their high school diploma, drop out, are expelled, or turn 20, whichever occurs first.

Men who are conscientious objectors, which requires that they have religious training and belief that prohibits them from military combat (subject to approval by a local board), when inducted, would participate in basic military training and education that does not include any combatant training component. Those whose conscientious objector claims are rejected by a local board would be allowed an appeal to an appeal board.

For the full text of this bill, please visit http://thomas.loc.gov and search for HR3598. In response to expectations that a draft could be enacted, Maine Draft and Military Counselors has set up a website at www.abilitymaine.org to provide information about conscientious objection, the draft, and other military service issues.

http://www.IndyMedia.org

1/25/02
8:09:28 PM

Former German Minister Of Defence Speaks Out On 9-11

The hereon following interview with a former German Minister of Defence, Von Buelow, is very interesting and important, I think, for what he says about "wrong" U.S. policies and actions and about the unanswered questions surrounding the September 11 attacks.

The interview was published in the German daily newspaper Tagesspiegel on January 13. It was forwarded to me by the Schiller Institute in Stockholm, which publishes the Executive Intelligence Review of 2004 presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche (EAP/Schillerinstitutet - si@nysol.se). It is considered not politically correct in the U.S. and Europe to be openly associated with LaRouche, yet I have not seen anything derogatory written about the Executive Intelligence Review, which carries first class, well researched articles on current affairs.

In friendship,

Boudewijn Wegerif

What Matters Programme

Folkhogskola Vardingeby

INTERVIEW WITH Andreas Von Buelow

IN GERMAN DAILY, TAGESSPIEGEL January 13

VON BULOW INTERVIEW - A criticism of authorized King George W version of September 11 story

http://www2.tagesspiegel.de/archiv/2002/01/12/ak-sn-in-558560.html

Source: Tagesspiegel, Jan. 12 - PARTIAL TRANSLATION below

The following interview by Stephan Lebert / Norbert Thomma with Andreas Von Bulow appeared in the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, on Jan. 13, 2002

Q: You seem so angry, really upset.

Von Buelow: I can explain what's bothering me: I see that after the horrifying attacks of Sept. 11, all political public opinion is being forced into a direction that I consider wrong.

Q: What do you mean by that?

Von Buelow: I wonder why many questions are not asked. Normally, with such a terrible thing, various leads and tracks appear that are then commented on, by the investigators, the media, the government: Is there something here or not? Are the explanations plausible? This time, this is not the case at all. It already began just hours after the attacks in New York and Washington and--

Q: In those hours, there was horror, and grief.

Von Buelow: Right, but actually it was astounding: There are 26 intelligence services in the U.S.A. with a budget of $30 billion--

Q: More than the German defense budget.

Von Buelow: --which were not able to prevent the attacks. In fact, they didn't even have an inkling they would happen. For 60 decisive minutes, the military and intelligence agencies let the fighter planes stay on the ground, 48 hours later, however, the FBI presented a list of suicide attackers. Within ten days, it emerged that seven of them were still alive.

Q: What, please?

Von Buelow: Yes, yes. And why did the FBI chief take no position regarding contradictions? Where the list came from, why it was false? If I were the chief investigator (state attorney) in such a case, I would regularly go to the public, and give information on which leads are valid and which not.

Q: The U.S. government talked about an emergency situation after the attacks: They said they were in a war. Is it not understandable that one does not tell the enemy everything one knows about him?

Von Buelow: Naturally. But a government which goes to war, must first establish who the attacker, the enemy, is. It has a duty to provide evidence. According to its own admission, it has not been able to present any evidence that would hold up in court.

Q: Some information on the perpetrators has been proven with documents. The suspected leader, Mohammad Atta, left Portland for Boston on the morning of Sept. 11, in order to board the plane that later hit the World Trade Center.

Von Buelow: If this Atta was the decisive man in the operation, it's really strange that he took such a risk of taking a plane that would reach Boston such a short time before the connecting flight. Had his flight been a few minutes late, he would not have been in the plane that was hijacked. Why should a sophisticated terrorist do this? One can, by the way, read on CNN (Internet) that none of these names were on the official passenger lists. None of them had gone through the check-in procedures. And why did none of the threatened pilots give the agreed-upon code 7700 over the [Steuerknueppel: STEERING NOB?] to the ground station? In addition: The black boxes which are fire and shock proof, as well as the voice recordings, contain no valuable data--

Q: That sounds like--

Von Buelow: --like assailants who, in their preparations, leave tracks behind them like a herd of stampeding elephants? They made payments with credit cards with their own names; they reported to their flight instructors with their own names. They left behind rented cars with flight manuals in Arabic for jumbo jets. They took with them, on their suicide trip, wills and farewell letters, which fall into the hands of the FBI, because they were stored in the wrong place and wrongly addressed. Clues were left behind like in a child's game of hide-and-seek, which were to be followed! There is also the theory of one British flight engineer: According to this, the steering of the planes was perhaps taken out of the pilots' hands, from outside. The Americans had developed a method in the 1970s, whereby they could rescue hijacked planes by intervening into the computer piloting [automatic pilot system]. This theory says, this technique was abused in this case. That's a theory....

Q: Which sounds really adventurous, and was never considered.

Von Buelow: You see! I do not accept this theory, but I find it worth considering. And what about the obscure stock transactions? In the week prior to the attacks, the amount of transactions in stocks in American Airlines, United Airlines, and insurance companies, increased 1,200%. It was for a value of $15 billion. Some people must have known something. Who?

Q: Why don't you speculate on who it might have been.

Von Buelow: With the help of the horrifying attacks, the Western mass democracies were subjected to brainwashing. The enemy image of anti-communism doesn't work any more; it is to be replaced by peoples of Islamic belief. They are accused of having given birth to suicidal terrorism.

Q: Brainwashing? That's a tough term.

Von Buelow: Yes? But the idea of the enemy image doesn't come from me. It comes from Zbigniew Brzezinski and Samuel Huntington, two policy-makers of American intelligence and foreign policy. Already in the middle of he 1990s, Huntingon believed, people in Europe and the U.S. needed someone they could hate--this would strengthen their identification with their own society. And Brzezinski, the mad dog, as adviser to President Jimmy Carter, campaigned for the exclusive right of the U.S. to seize all the raw materials of the world, especially oil and gas.

Q: You mean, the events of Sept. 11--

Von Buelow: --fit perfectly in the concept of the armaments industry, the intelligence agencies, the whole military-industrial-academic complex. This is in fact conspicuous. The huge raw materials reserves of the former Soviet Union are now at their disposal, also the pipeline routes and--

Q: Erich Follach described that at length in {Spiegel}: "It's a matter of military bases, drugs, oil and gas reserves.''...

Von Buelow: I can state: the planning of the attacks was technically and organizationally a master achievement. To hijack four huge airplanes within a few minutes and within one hour, to drive them into their targets, with complicated flight maneuvers! This is unthinkable, without years-long support from secret apparatuses of the state and industry.

Q: You are a conspiracy theorist!

Von Buelow: Yeah, yeah. That's the ridicule heaped [on those raising these questions] by those who would prefer to follow the official, politically correct line. Even investigative journalists are fed propaganda and disinformation. Anyone who doubts that, doesn't have all his marbles! That is your accusation.

Q: Your career actually speaks against the idea that you are not in your right mind. You were already in the 1970s, state secretary in the Defense Ministry; in 1993 you were the SPD [Social Democratic Party] speaker in the Schalk-Golodkowski investigation committee--

Von Buelow: And it all began there! Until that time, I did not have any great knowledge of the work of intelligence agencies. And now we had to take note of a great discrepancy: We shed light on the dealings of the Stasi and other East bloc intelligence agencies in the field of economic criminality, but as soon as we wanted to know something about the activities of the BND [German intelligence] or the CIA, it was mercilessly blocked. No information, no cooperation, nothing! That's when I was first taken aback.

Q: Schalck-Golodkowski mediated, among other things, various business deals abroad. When you looked at his case more closely--

Von Buelow: We found, for example, a clue in Rostock, where Schalck organized his weapons depot. Well, then we happened upon an affiliation of Schalck in Panama, and then we happened upon Manuel Noriega, who was for many years President, drug dealer, and money launderer, all in one, right? And this Noriega was also on the payroll of the CIA, for $200,000 a year. These were things that really made me curious.

Q: You wrote a book on the dealings of the CIA and Co. In the meantime, you have become an expert regarding the strange things related to intelligence services' work.

Von Buelow: "Strange things" is the wrong term. What has gone on, and goes on, in the name of intelligence services, are true crimes.

Q: What would you say determines the work of intelligence services?

Von Buelow: So that we don't have any misunderstandings: I find that it makes sense to have intelligence services....

Q: You don't think much of the earlier proposals by the Greens, who wanted to dismantle these agencies?

Von Buelow: No. It is right to take a look behind the scenes. Getting intelligence about the intentions of an enemy, makes sense. It is important when one tries to put oneself into the mind of the enemy. Whoever wants to understand the CIA's methods, has to deal with its main tasks, {covert operations}: below the level of war, and outside international law, foreign states are to be influenced, by organizing insurrections, terrorist attacks, usually combined with drugs and weapons trade, and money laundering. This is essentially very simple: One arms violent people with weapons. Since, however, it must not under any circumstances come out, that there is an intelligence agency behind it, all traces are erased, with tremendous deployment of resources. I have the impression that this kind of intelligence agency spends 90% of its time this way: creating false leads. So that, if anyone suspects the collaboration of the agencies, he is accused of the sickness of conspiracy madness. The truth often comes out only years later. CIA chief Allen Dulles once said: In case of doubt, I would even lie to the Congress!

Q: The American journalist Seymour M. Hersh, wrote in the {New Yorker,} that even some people in the CIA and government assumed, that certain leads had been laid in order to confuse the investigators. Who, Herr Von Buelow, would have done this?

Von Buelow: I don't know that either. How should I? I simply use my common sense, and--See: The terrorists behaved in such a way to attract attention. And as practicing Muslims, they were in a strip-tease bar, and, drunken, stuck dollar bills into the panty of the dancer.

Q: Things like that also happen.

Von Buelow: It may be. As a lone fighter, I cannot prove anything, that's beyond my capabilities. I have real difficulties, however, to imagine that all this all sprung out of the mind of an evil man in his cave.

Q: Mr.

Von Buelow, you yourself say that you are alone in your criticism. Formerly, you were part of the political establishment, now you are an outsider.

Von Buelow: That is a problem sometimes, but one gets used to it. By the way, I know a lot of people, including very influential ones, who agree with me, but only in whispers, never publicly.

Q: Do you still have contact with old SPD companions, such as Egon Bahr and former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt?

Von Buelow: There are no close contacts any more. I wanted to go to the last SPD party congress, but I was sick.

Q: Can it be, Mr. Von Buelow, that you are a mouthpiece for typical anti-Americanism?

Von Buelow: Nonsense, this has absolutely nothing to do with anti-Americanism. I am a great admirer of this great, open, free society, and always have been. I studied in the U.S.

Q: How did you get the idea that there could be a link between the attacks and the American intelligence agencies?

Von Buelow: Do you remember the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993?

Q: Six people were killed and over a thousand wounded, by a bomb explosion.

Von Buelow: In the middle was the bombmaker, a former Egyptian officer. He had pulled together some Muslims for the attack. They were snuck into the country by the CIA, despite a State Department ban on their entry. At the same time, the leader of the band was an FBI informant. And he made a deal with the authorities: At the last minute, the dangerous explosive material would be replaced by a harmless powder. The FBI did not stick to the deal. The bomb exploded, so to speak, with the knowledge of the FBI. The official story of the crime was quickly found: The criminals were evil Muslims.

Q: At the time Soviet soldiers marched into Afghanistan, you were in the cabinet of Helmut Schmidt. What was it like?

Von Buelow: The Americans pushed for trade sanctions, they demanded the boycott of the Olympic games in Moscow....

Q.... which the German government followed...

Von Buelow: And today we know: It was the strategy of the American security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, to destabilize the Soviet Union from neighboring Muslim countries: They lured the Russians into Afghanistan, and then prepared for them a hell on earth, their Vietnam. With decisive support of the U.S. intelligence agencies, at least 30,000 Muslim fighters were trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a bunch of good-for-nothings and fanatics who were, and still are today, ready for anything. And one of them is Osama bin Laden. I wrote years ago: "It was out of this brood, that the Taliban grew up in Afghanistan, who had been brought up in the Koran schools financed by American and Saudi funds, the Taliban who are now terrorizing the country and destroying it.

Q: Even though you say, for the U.S. it was a matter of raw materials in the region, the starting point for the U.S. aggression, was the terrorist attack which cost thousands of human lives.

Von Buelow: Completely true. One must always keep this gruesome act in mind. Nonetheless, in the analysis of political processes, I am allowed to look and see who has advantages and disadvantages, and what is coincidental. When in doubt, it is always worthwhile to take a look at a map, where are raw materials resources, and the routes to them? Then lay a map of civil wars and conflicts on top of that--they coincide. The same is the case with the third map: nodal points of the drug trade. Where this all comes together, the American intelligence services are not far away. By the way, the Bush family is linked to oil, gas, and weapons trade, through the bin Laden family.

Q: What do you think of the Bin Laden films?

Von Buelow: When one is dealing with intelligence services, one can imagine manipulations of the highest quality. Hollywood could provide these techniques. I consider the videos inappropriate as evidence.

Q: You believe the CIA is capable of anything, [wouldn't stop at anything].

Von Buelow: The CIA, in the state interests of the U.S., does not have to abide by any law in interventions abroad, is not bound by international law; only the President gives orders. And when funds are cut, peace is on the horizon, then a bomb explodes somewhere. Thus it is proven, that you can't do without the intelligence services; and that the critics are {nuts,} as Father Bush called them, Bush who was once CIA head and President. You have to see that the U.S. spends $30 billion on intelligence services, and $13 billion on anti-drug work. And what comes out of it? The chief of a special unit of the strategic anti-drug work declared, in despair, after 30 years of service, that in every big, important drug case, the CIA came in and took it out of my hands.

Q: Do you criticize the German government for its reaction after Sept. 11?

Von Buelow: No. To assume that the government were independent in these questions, would be naive.

Q: Herr Von Buelow, what will you do now?

Von Buelow: Nothing. My task is concluded by saying, it could not have been that way [according to the official story]. Search for the truth!

** The What Matters Programme is an initiative by Boudewijn Wegerif, to spread information about what is happening in the world today, and how things could be, given a schooling at all levels to free the self and the world from debt/guilt oppression and money madness - a schooling for love. The trustees of the What Matters Programme are the collegiate of Folkh-gskola Vardingeby, an adult education residential college south of Stockholm.

You can read WHAT MATTERS E-letters

http://www.whatmatters.nu/wmemails/wmemailsindex.html

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the WHAT MATTERS E-letters:

http://www.whatmatters.nu/contacts.html

1/25/02
7:52:12 PM

March On Washington Against War And Racism

Mass Mobilization: tens of thousands of peace activists, workers, students, labor unionists, and others will converge in Washington, DC for a massive march on the White House to say: MONEY FOR JOBS AND EDUCATION NOT WAR! STOP THE RACIST ATTACKS! DEFEND CIVIL LIBERTIES AND CIVIL RIGHTS!

Source: http://www.InternationAlanswer.org

1/25/02
7:45:50 PM

Saudi denounces US agenda behind bombing campaign

A senior Saudi Arabian former diplomat has charged the United States with seeking to control Afghanistan and contain Pakistan's nuclear program and Iran, as speculation grows that Washington could lose its most vital Arab support base. (...) "If the United States had wanted to arrest bin Laden, they could have done so easily without taking the trouble to launch this fanciful war ... they could have caught him long ago." (...) The response to the September 11 attacks in the United States was intended "to impose [American] hegemony on [Afghanistan] and to set [Americans] up there to achieve their objectives" in Asia.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0201/21/world/world4.html

1/25/02
7:42:21 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-23-06.html

U.S. MOVES CLOSER TO MOX NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

By Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, January 23, 2002 (ENS) - The Department of Energy has decided to dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus, weapons grade plutonium by turning it into fuel for nuclear reactors. The move overturns a decision by the previous administration to use a portion of the plutonium as fuel, while permanently immobilizing the remainder in glass to prevent its potential use in nuclear weapons.

INDONESIAN MAN SHOT AT AUSTRALIAN GOLD MINE

SYDNEY, Australia, January 23, 2002 (ENS) - An Indonesian man has been shot by security police at an Australian gold mine in Indonesian Borneo. At Aurora Gold's Indo Muro Kencana mine on Friday, a BRIMOB security officer shot the local man in the head at close range. The 20 year old victim is in serious condition in hospital.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-23-01.html

ENVIRONMENTALISTS FIND TOXIC SLICK IN ST. LAWRENCE RIVER

MONTREAL, Quebec, Canada, January 23, 2002 (ENS) - A stream of toxic chemicals flowing down the St. Lawrence River "shocked" citizen environmental investigators Sunday morning.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-23-02.html

U.S. NUCLEAR SECURITY FALLS SHORT, CONGRESSMAN CHARGES

WASHINGTON, DC, January 23, 2002 (ENS) - Lax security at the Energy Department's nuclear weapons sites could allow terrorists to detonate bombs at the sites, warned Representative Edward Markey at a press conference today. The Energy Department responded with a strongly worded statement calling Markey's allegations "false and misleading."

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-23-07.html

PLASTIC WASTE DISPOSAL GUIDELINES ACCEPTED

GENEVA, Switzerland, January 23, 2002 (ENS) - Experts from some 100 governments meeting here have adopted a set of technical guidelines for protecting human health and the environment from the improper management and disposal of plastic wastes.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-23-03.html

1/25/02
7:38:47 PM

Bare Witness At The World Economic Forum

From January 31 to February 4, corporate bosses from the world's largest transnationals and political leaders will meet in New York City for their annual World Economic Forum. In past years they met in Davos, Switzerland, but massive demonstrations forced a change in venue. This year they'll be meeting at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in mid-town Manhattan at 49th to 50th Streets from Park to Lexington Avenue. The World Economic Forum will celebrate war in Afghanistan and the Middle East, attacks on civil liberties, and corporate tax cuts.

Source: http://www.InternationalAnswer.org

1/25/02
6:59:09 PM

"Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to choose between alternatives. He is distinguished from animals by his freedom to do evil or to do good and to walk the high road of beauty or tread the low road of ugly degeneracy."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Measures of Man, 1959.

1/25/02
6:39:07 PM

t r u t h o u t

KERRY | 'An Alternative Vision for American Energy'

http://www.truthout.com/01.24A.Kerry.Env.htm

DASCHLE Briefing | Economic Recovery

http://www.truthout.com/01.24B.Daschle.PC.htm

US v. John Philip Walker Lindh – Affidavit

http://www.truthout.com/01.24C.American.Taliban.htm

Fired Enron Auditor Refuses to Testify Without Immunity

http://www.truthout.com/01.24D.Enron.Immunity.htm

For Ridge, Ambition and Realities Clash

http://www.truthout.com/01.24E.Ridge.Clash.htm

White House Predicts $106 Billion Deficit

http://www.truthout.com/01.24F.Deficit.htm

CONGRESSMAN JOHN SPRATT | CBO'S Report

http://www.truthout.com/01.24G.Spratt.CBO.htm

ABCNEWS | Is Enron Still Shredding Documents?

http://www.truthout.com/01.23C.Still.Shredding.htm

1/25/02
6:36:17 PM

Planet Ark World Environment News

NE states to press clean air case with US EPA - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14167/story.htm

UPDATE - US panel okays steep duties on French uranium - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14170/story.htm

UPDATE - Bush energy plan said to help industry, not public - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14171/story.htm

Greens invoke profit motive for annual attack on BP - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14166/story.htm

Shell buys out German solar partners - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14168/story.htm

UK energy minister says nuclear still has a role - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14172/story.htm

Sri Lanka to seek lower sulphur gas oil from February - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14176/story.htm

UPDATE - Storm misses Mauritius, alert called off - MAURITIUS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14180/story.htm

Italy says countryside, consumers key in CAP reform - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14174/story.htm

France rushes help to storm-hit Indian Ocean isle - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14173/story.htm

Polluters to pay under EU green liability plan - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14178/story.htm

Spain notifies EU of controversial water plan - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14179/story.htm

Dane wind shares down on doubt over offshore plans - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14169/story.htm

China's GMO rules to take effect on schedule - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14175/story.htm

USDA releases translation of new China biotech rules - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14177/story.htm

1/25/02
6:35:02 PM

F u n n y B u s i n e s s

Operation mandatory patriotic tattoo

As part of the Office of Homeland Security's broad, discretionary power to enact any and all initiatives that may prove effective in America's ongoing fight against terrorism, Governor Tom Ridge has unilaterally passed into law legislation requiring American citizens to obtain an exciting new breed of tattoo. Go to this link to pick out your tattoo (you have 3 options):

http://www.whitehouse.org/homeland/tattoo.asp

1/25/02
6:27:43 PM

Activists get probation in Calif. missile case

LOS ANGELES - Nine people who were arrested during a protest of a July missile test at a U.S. Air Force base in California were sentenced in Los Angeles federal court last week to a year's probation.

The defendants were among a group of 17 alleged Greenpeace activists who pleaded guilty last week to criminal charges of conspiring to enter a U.S. Coast Guard safety zone in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California aboard inflatable rafts and boats to prevent the Air Force from launching an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The test, in which an unarmed missile was fired over the ocean and then destroyed by another rocket, was delayed while the Air Force cleared the activists out of the restricted area.

"It is not the job of the court to pass judgment on the political views of the defendants or the government," U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Morrow said before imposing the sentences. The judge did not impose fines because Greenpeace USA had already agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit spurred by the protest.

Greenpeace had also agreed to keep its activists away from federal military installations involved in missile testing for the next five years or face a hefty fine of up to $500,000, according to court papers.

The remaining defendants face sentencing April 15.

The protesters, from Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, India, Sweden and the United States, were initially charged with conspiracy and trespassing into restricted space.

Their guilty pleas last week came as prosecutors prepared to go to trial against the defendants, who could have faced 11 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Under terms of a plea deal with prosecutors each defendant could potentially face a maximum of six months in a federal detention center.

Prosecutors said 15 of the defendants appeared to be activists. Two others claimed to be journalists. However, U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said: "It is our position they were not independent and that they were working for Greenpeace at the time of this incident."

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14114/story.htm

1/25/02
6:03:06 PM

Study: California Energy Crisis Was A $71 Billion Hoax

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) issued the first comprehensive review of the California energy crisis today, exactly one year after the first rolling blackouts hit California. Using government and industry data, the 58 page report, entitled "Hoax: How Deregulation Let the Power Industry Steal $71 Billion From California," shows that the California electricity system did not fail according to the laws of supply and demand, as it has been widely portrayed. The California energy crisis, instead, was a hoax - orchestrated by a power industry freed from price regulation - that will cost $2,200 for every Californian.

The report is available at http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/rp/rp002169.pdf

For nearly a year, the energy industry, state officials and President Bush claimed there was a shortage of energy in California. But the crisis suddenly disappeared late last spring after Governor Gray Davis committed the state to spending at least $43 billion for energy over the next twenty years. The report shows that the power industry manufactured blackouts and threatened more of them as tools to gain unprecedented profits and overpriced, long-term contracts during the crisis. The report also warns that unless the state of California regains control of its electricity supply, and makes it publicly accountable, additional artificially-created crises will occur in the immediate future.

"The energy crisis was a hoax, set up by deregulation, to suck billions of dollars out of the state," said Harvey Rosenfield and Doug Heller of FTCR, a non-profit, non-partisan research and advocacy group based in California. "The utilities, energy companies and power traders backed deregulation because they knew it would be a license to steal. Once freed of state scrutiny - once the cop was off the beat - they held the state hostage until we agreed to pay their demands. When they stole as much as they thought they could get away with, the 'crisis' mysteriously disappeared -leaving the people of California stuck with the tab."

"It wasn't a shortage, it was a shakedown," FTCR said.

Among its findings, the report shows that:

* The rolling blackouts, which occurred on generally low-demand days, were not caused by a shortage of power plants, but by energy companies looking to maximize their prices and profits.

* Throughout late 2000 and 2001, when prices skyrocketed, California used less electricity than prior years, in which prices were stable and there were no blackouts.

* Californians overpaid $8.5 billion for electricity between January and October of 2001 alone - and will overpay at least another $20.5 billion over the next decade.

* While the U.S. entered a recession during the first half of 2001, power companies, such as Enron, Duke and Reliant, reaped unprecedented windfalls.

* The crisis suddenly ended - without the predicted summer blackouts - not because of Californians' conservation, mild weather or new power plants, but because the energy industry had achieved its goals, and was facing investigations and legislation that threatened to "kill the goose that laid the golden egg": deregulation.

More Crises Unless Deregulation Ended

The report concludes with a series of policy prescriptions including the development of a long-range plan for a hybrid energy system that is part private and part publicly-owned power, and well regulated. The study also calls for regulatory and statutory changes that will save consumers billions of dollars, such as a retroactive ban on "direct access," a re-allocation of the electricity rate structure and the formation of a Consumer Utility Board.

The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights (FTCR)

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/

1/25/02
5:58:18 PM

MediaChannel.org

ANOTHER MEDIA WORLD IS POSSIBLE

As activists and executives prepare for the World Economic Forum and civil-society advocates head to the World Social Forum, can communications rights become central to their debates?

http://www.mediachannel.org

THE ETHICS OF REPORTING

How conflict is reported can shape the way the world responds. A new book helps reporters face the ethical implications of their work.

http://www.mediachannel.org/news/reports/ethical.shtml

FIJI FICTIONS

How press inexperience, rumor-mongering and participation during Fiji's May 2000 coup affected public opinion and response worldwide.

http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#fiji

SPINNING THE PENTAGON

Why is war coverage so uniform and so misleading? Danny Schechter credits the Information Warriors, Neil Hickey looks at the rules and how the role between media and military has been reversed.

http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#pentagon

CONCENTRATE THIS!

Discussion of media concentration should be about more than economics, It must consider the effect on democracy, culture and politics as well.

http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#own

WHAT YOU'RE SAYING: VOICES FROM THE FORUM

* Advice for media activists from a "media insider"... * What price has our nation paid for the profit margins of news corporations? Join the discussion!

http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#voices

THE PLIGHT OF THE INDONESIAN PRESS

Indonesian media is trying to protect the country's fledgling democracy while also exposing corruption.

http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#indon

GRASSROOTS SYNERGY: INTRODUCING MC-NET

The MediaChannel Networking and Collaboration E-List: Connect to advice, resources and colleagues across the global network.

http://www.mediachannel.org/mc-net

1/25/02
5:54:16 PM

Public Citizen issued the following three press releases today:

Jan. 23, 2002

Outdated Price-Anderson Act Affords Inadequate Coverage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident; Taxpayers Liable for Billions

Senate Committee Considers Act Reauthorization; Would Apply to New Nuclear Plants, But Existing Ones Would Be Still Be Covered

WASHINGTON, D.C. -The Senate should not reauthorize legislation to limit the liability of nuclear operators in the event of an accident, Public Citizen said today following a hearing by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The Price-Anderson Act leaves the public unprotected and the nuclear industry unaccountable in the event of a serious accident.

"Why should the nuclear industry be let off the hook for the risks they impose on the public?" asked Lisa Gue, policy analyst for Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "If the proposed new generation of nuclear power plants cannot be fully insured, they should not be built."

Witnesses at today's hearing included former Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Peter Bradford, attorney Dan Guttman and celebrity activist Christie Brinkley, who raised concerns about Price-Anderson reauthorization.

The Price-Anderson Act was originally passed in 1957 as a temporary measure to help the nascent nuclear power industry get off the ground by providing government-backed indemnification in the event of accidents. By artificially limiting the liability of nuclear operators, the act serves as an unprecedented subsidy to the nuclear industry through foregone insurance premiums.

Under the act, nuclear power plants must buy $200 million worth of primary insurance. A second level of retrospective premiums capped at $88 million per reactor (or approximately $9.4 billion industry-wide) would be assessed in the event of an accident. However, a nuclear accident could cost as much as $500 billion, according to government estimates.

Without congressional action, the Price-Anderson Act will expire on Aug. 1, 2002, although existing nuclear power plants would continue to be covered under a grandfather clause. Led by pro-nuclear members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the House of Representatives passed legislation last November to extend the Price-Anderson Act for another 15 years.

Of particular concern, in light of the recent Enron collapse, is the questionable financial solvency of nuclear operators in the deregulated energy market.

"Not only are the levels of coverage afforded under the Price-Anderson Act grossly inadequate, but it is uncertain whether these limited obligations could be met by nuclear operators in the event of an accident," Gue said. "Congress should allow this outdated legislation to expire."

###

Jan. 23, 2002

Information About Harmful Products Should Be Available to Consumers, Safety Advocates, Media

Public Citizen Urges Assembly to Reject AB 881

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Information about defective products should be widely available to consumers, reporters and safety advocates, as well as regulators, Public Citizen told state lawmakers today.

In testimony presented to the state Assembly's Judiciary Committee, Jane Kelly, director of Public Citizen's California office, urged lawmakers to reject a proposed measure (AB 881) that would severely limit the availability of information to the public about harmful products that is gathered during court cases.

Judges typically seal many documents containing information about defects that are uncovered during litigation. Under the bill, any regulators could get the information, but they would not be permitted to share it with the public or the media unless they were to seek court permission to lift the protective order, which is highly unlikely.

Not only do consumers have a right to know about products that may harm them, but safety advocates and the media play a critical role in prodding government regulators to address dangers, Kelly said.

"Some have suggested that regulatory agencies alone are sufficient to guarantee public safety," Kelly said. "This is not the case. Regulators do not have the resources to investigate every product defect. Moreover, although many businesses are required to report hazard information to regulators, they sometimes fail to do so. . . . often regulatory agencies need to be prodded with publicity before they'll commit the necessary resources to investigate. This bill would assure that key documents remain locked up in regulatory agency files."

Courts can play a critical role in providing early warning of public hazards, but often, courts seal litigation documents that could save lives, and the gag order is never removed, Kelly said. For instance, documents about defects in Firestone tires were buried for years because courts had sealed them. Had they been made public at the time, more than 200 people may have lived and more than 700 could have avoided injuries in crashes involving Firestone tires. In comparison, state attorneys general insisted tobacco company documents be made public in the tobacco settlement, which greatly enhanced public debate about tobacco, Kelly said.

Kelly urged lawmakers to reject the bill and rewrite it. A copy of her testimony is available at http://www.citizen.org/congress/civjus/secrecy/articles.cfm?ID=6668.

###

Jan. 23, 2002

Green Energy Claims Hard to Pin Down; Public Citizen Asks Governor to Investigate

Public Citizen Got the Runaround From Telemarketers, Company Representatives Pitching "Green" Energy for Pepco Energy Services

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Public Citizen is calling on Virginia Governor Mark Warner to investigate questionable telemarketing practices of Pepco Energy Services, which is pitching "green" energy to consumers but was unable to provide information about how the energy is created.

In addition, the public interest organization is asking the governor look into changing the state's electricity deregulation law to address the lack of competition in Virginia. Public Citizen made the requests in a letter sent to the governor today.

"In many markets, power marketers attempt to sell well-meaning customers electricity at a higher price because it is allegedly produced in a more environmentally friendly manner," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "While we are fully in favor of consumers having the option of purchasing renewable energy, we don't want people to be taken advantage of by dishonest marketing practices."

When Hauter heard recently of a friend who got a call from a telemarketer pitching Pepco Energy Services "green" power, she was intrigued. But when Hauter attempted to learn more from the company about its power source, she got the runaround.

She called the company's toll-free customer service line more than a dozen times and was alternatively told that the 'green' power came from the sun, the wind or the water. One customer service manager said the energy came from "wind in California, solar in New York and biomass from somewhere else." He then explained that it "goes to the Pacific grid in the state of Maryland, where different electricity is sectioned off from that grid" and pulled to Virginia.

Virginia law requires a competitive service provider to "provide in any advertisements, solicitations, marketing materials, or customer service contracts, accurate, understandable information, in a manner that is not misleading." But there appear to be no penalties for violating this provision.

One telemarketer told Hauter that the energy came from a biomass plant in Arlington. Hauter called Arlington's county clerk, but the clerk knew of no such plant in the county. Another time, Hauter was told she would have to request the information in writing. Eventually, a vice president of marketing told Hauter that the source of the power was landfill gas, but he couldn't provide any more information because it was proprietary.

"Not only are these practices deceptive, but they likely will make consumers skeptical of renewable energy," Hauter said. "We urge the governor to require Pepco Energy Services to provide truthful information to customers."

Virginia enacted the Virginia Electric Utility Restructuring Act in 1999. It requires a phase-in of deregulation between Jan. 1, 2002, and Jan.1, 2004. On Jan. 1, 2002, statewide phase-in of electric retail deregulation began for all consumers in the following utility service areas: American Electric Power, Allegheny Power (Potomac Edison) and Conectiv (Delmarva Power). For Dominion Virginia Power, the largest utility in the state, phase-in began with residential consumers in Northern Virginia and a third of all non-residential consumers throughout its service territory. Pepco Energy Services is an unregulated subsidiary of Potomac Electric Power Company.

On Sept. 1, 2002, statewide phase-in of electric retail deregulation continues with Dominion Virginia Power's residential customers in Central Virginia and another third of its non-residential consumers from throughout its service territory. On Jan. 1, 2003, statewide phase-in continues with Dominion Virginia Power's residential customers in Tidewater, Va., and the last third of its non-residential consumers. All other consumers are scheduled to phase in on Jan. 1, 2004.

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

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

1/25/02
5:52:05 PM

DAILY GRIST

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/best/best012202.asp?source=daily>

WEST VIRGINIA, MOUNTAIN MAIMER

The environmental movement was dealt a de facto blow yesterday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider a case involving the practice of mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia. As its name suggests, the practice involves leveling hilltops with explosives to expose underlying coal seams. The remains of the mountain -- tons of dirt and rock -- are subsequently dumped into nearby valleys, where they clog rivers and streams. The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and local landowners sued the state's top environmental agency for issuing mountaintop-removal mining permits. A federal judge sided with the conservancy, but last year, an appeals court ruled that such disputes belong in state courts instead. By declining to hear the case, the Supreme Court let that decision stand, a move that some fear will make it harder for citizens to sue on environmental issues.

straight to the source: Charleston Gazette, Ken Ward, Jr., 23 Jan 2002 <http://www.wvgazette.com/news/News/2002012259/>

do good: Take action on mining issues <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/mining.asp?source=daily>

MORE THAN OUR SUNNY SHARE

Even when the sun hasn't put in an appearance for a while (as in, all winter at Grist's Seattle headquarters), it still powers everything on Earth, from trees growing to kids snowboarding. But there's a limited amount of sun-energy captured by plants on the planet (a stat called Net Primary Production), and humans use far more than our fair share of it. At what price, and how can we change our ways? Elizabeth Sawin talks about the latest research on the NPP from the journal Science, only on the Grist Magazine website.

only in Grist: There goes the sun -- humans are gobbling up too much of the sun's energy -- in our "Global Citizen" section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen012202.asp?source=daily>

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATES

And speaking of winter, it's a dandy time to curl up with a magazine and read about the great outdoors from the comfort of the great indoors. From an eccentric scientist and the telling data he's gleaned about climate change by watching over a small bird colony in the Arctic Circle to the world's most dedicated bus commuter, this month's Best of the Rest gives you a chance to read over the Grist team's shoulder. Check out our picks for the best in recent environmental writing, only on the Grist Magazine website.

only in Grist: Wild reads from the Ecologist, the New Scientist, Sierra, and more -- in our Best of the Rest section

THE TRIALS OF HERCULANEUM

Residents of the town of Herculaneum, Mo., are unhappy about an emergency plan to relocate members of at least 92 households while their homes and properties are being stripped of lead contamination. The source of the lead is a 110-year-old smelter owned by the Doe Run Company. Last year, the company agreed to a cleanup mandated by the U.S. EPA and the state Department of Natural Resources, but residents fear it will not protect their health in the long term because the company plans to keep the smelter in operation. They are calling for a permanent buyout of their properties. Herculaneum's streets, soil, homes, and schools have been shown to contain dangerous levels of lead, which can cause diminished intelligence as well as behavioral and developmental problems in children.

straight to the source: New York Times, Jodi Wilgoren, 19 Jan 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/19/national/19LEAD.html>

1/25/02
5:13:37 PM

The Nation

When Portuguese novelist and Nobel Prize winner, Jose Saramago visited Chiapas, Mexico, to meet Subcomandante Marcos, he wrote: "The issue that is being fought out in the mountains of Chiapas extends beyond the frontiers of Mexico. It touches the hearts of all those who have not abandoned their simple demand for equal justice for all."

The Zapatista Reader -- hot off the presses from The Nation Institute's new book imprint Nation Books -- is a journey through an insurgent and magical world of culture and politics, where celebrants and critics debate what Carlos Fuentes has described as the world's first 'post-communist' rebellion.

This collection documents the electrifying impact the movement has had globally, and highlights the remarkable synergy between leading writers, novelists, and journalists and Subcomandante Marcos, the enigmatic, pipe-smoking leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.

The Zapatista Reader includes Saramago's remarkable article on Marcos as well as essays from Paco Taibo II, Octavio Paz, Elena Poniatowska, Ilan Stavans, Carlos Monsivais, Jorge Castenada, Naomi Klein, John Berger, Andrew Kopkind, John Ross, and Eduardo Galeano. It also features an interview with Marcos conducted by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and an introduction by Tom Hayden.

You can buy The Zapatista Reader now at:

http://www.nationbooks.org/zap.shtml#buy

Two related books are also currently available, by John Ross and Bill Weinberg, both of whom contribute to The Zapatista Reader.

The War Against Oblivion: Zapatista Chronicles 1994-2000

By John Ross

Common Courage Press

http://www.commoncouragepress.com/ross_oblivion.html

Homage to Chiapas: The New Indigenous Struggles in Mexico

By Bill Weinberg

http://www.versobooks.com/books/tuvwxyz/weinberg_chiapas.shtml

Find info on more new book releases at the NationBooks website at:

http://www.thenationbooks.org

1/25/02
5:02:31 PM

UTNE WEB WATCH

The Best of the Alternative Web

SOUTH AMERICA'S HOTTEST BORDER AREA

by Kintto Lucas, Inter Press Service

-- Ecuador increases its military presence along its border with Colombia for fear that paramilitary and drug-related violence will spill over into the country.

TERRAIN.ORG: A JOURNAL OF THE BUILT & NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS

Web site review by Kate Garsombke

-- Research on efforts to curb sprawl is one of the focuses of Terrain.org, a journal of built and natural environments that takes a look at the connection between people and place.

HUMBLED BY THE HOBBITS: THIS JUST HAS TO BE KILLING THE MOUSE

by Jim Hill, Orlando Weekly

-- On and off for the last 50 years, Disney has contemplated making Tolkein's story into a movie - oh how they must be kicking themselves now.

Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch

1/25/02
5:00:21 PM

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil -- hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars -- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Strength To Love, 1963

1/25/02
4:57:03 PM

Write to the Top Ten Supermarkets!

Since the November victory in which Trader Joe's agreed to go GMO-free, we have heard from thousands of you with suggestions on what supermarket chain we should focus on next. Your votes are in!

There were so many good suggestions we have decided to post the top 10 choices according to your votes. You can take action on these top supermarket chains today!

Write to the top 10 markets and find out what they have to say about their policy on GE foods.

Go to the list of markets & get a sample letter:

http://www.truefoodnow.org/take_action/supermarket2002.html

1/25/02
4:47:36 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-22-01.html

DONORS GIVE AFGHANISTAN $1.8 BILLION FOR 2002

TOKYO, Japan, January 22, 2002 (ENS) - Demining, security, clean water, sanitation, capacity building, governance, education, health, infrastructure, and the relocation of refugees and displaced persons - the needs of Afghanistan are "immense," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told an international meeting of donors here.

NATIONAL REPORT RECOMMENDS BAN ON HUMAN CLONING

WASHINGTON, DC, January 22, 2002 (ENS) - A new report by the National Academies argues that the United States should ban human reproductive cloning aimed at creating a child, but permit cloning that creates embryonic stem cells for clinical and research purposes. The report is intended to address only the scientific and medical aspects of cloning, plus ethical issues that pertain to research with human subjects.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-22-06.html

CONSERVATION FUNDED FOR AZOV-BLACK SEA FLYWAYS

WASHINGTON, DC, January 22, 2002 (ENS) - Conditions for millions of migratory waterbirds that overwinter in the Azov-Black Sea coastal ecological corridor or fly through the Mediterranean en route to Africa are set to improve. These wetland and marine ecosystems spanning the northwestern shore of the Black Sea are threatened by habitat loss, pollution, and inadequate monitoring and protection.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-22-02.html

PLANS FOR EUROPEAN GREEN ELECTRONICS LAW ROASTED

BRUSSELS, Belgium, January 22, 2002 (ENS) - Deep industry antipathy towards a planned European Union directive to promote greener design of electrical and electronic equipment has been revealed after the European Commission published responses to a public consultation on the law.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-22-03.html

EAGLE SMUGGLER WILL SPEND TWO YEARS ON ICE

WASHINGTON, DC, January 22, 2002 (ENS) - A Canadian man has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for paying people to shoot eagles, and selling eagle parts to Native American tribes.

http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-22-07.html

1/25/02
4:24:20 PM

September 11 Victims Go To Kabul

by Kim Sengupta

London - In a unique, emotional and symbolic journey, a group of Americans who lost members of their family in the September 11 attack were expected to arrive in Kabul today to meet Afghans whose families were killed by US bombing.

The meeting is seen by the grieving Americans as a stepping stone in trying to build something good out of profoundly shattering events.

They also bring with them a deeply political and contentious message about retribution and reconciliation, which has made both the State Department and US diplomats in Afghanistan highly apprehensive.

The four American visitors will spend eight days in the Afghan capital, not just meeting families, but also attempting to learn about the devastation which has befallen this poorest of poor nations, and asking what their government is doing about it.

The visit has been organised by Global Exchange, and the human rights organisation makes no pretense that it will focus on issues which may not be palatable to the American government.

Medea Benjamin, founding director of the organisation, who is traveling with the visitors, said: "The people of the US have shown tremendous compassion for the families of the victims of September 11.

"Shouldn't our hearts and helping hands also go out to those Afghans who are every bit as innocent as the victims of September 11?

"Don't we, as citizens of a wealthy nation that unleashed deadly force against Afghanistan, have a moral responsibility to help the innocent victims?"

The Star Foreign Service, January 15 2002

1/25/02
4:18:39 PM

Family Members Of 9/11 Victims To Lead DC-NYC Peace Walk:

Our Grief Is Not A Cry For War

WASHINGTON - November 24 - Amber Amundson, whose husband Craig was killed in the attack on the Pentagon, wrote shortly after the attack, “I call on our national leaders to find the courage to break the cycle of violence.” Sentiments like these have come from others who lost spouses, children, brothers or sisters. This week some of these mourners are going beyond words, joining a walk that will link the two cities that were struck. Their message to all they meet as they walk or assemble along the way: Our grief is not a cry for war.

The group of survivors and friends will set off at 9 AM Sunday, November 25, from the front gates of Georgetown University in Washington, DC (37th and O Street). They will arrive the next Sunday, December 2, in New York City. In between they will walk some distances and shuttle others, stopping in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Paterson and other locations to take parts in events being organized by local churches and other groups.

Craig Amundson’s brother, Ryan, will also join the walk. He states, “We don’t want to see more widowed mothers like my sister-in-law, more little kids without a dad like my niece and nephew, more moms and dads outliving their son like my parents, or more brothers losing brothers like me. The current reliance on military force does not confront the political, social, and economic foundations of terrorism. By emphasizing a military solution, the United States will not effectively combat terrorism.”

Buddhist and Franciscan monks will join the walk, as will leaders from various faith-based and peacemaking communities. Any persons who support a call for nonviolence are welcome to join in the walk as it moves north. On November 25, walkers will proceed to St. Aloysius Church (19 Eye Street) where they will welcome the public to a 6:30 p.m. gathering at the McKenna Center.

A large decorated school bus will shuttle walkers between cities. Daily itinerary updates available this website. This walk is endorsed by AFSC, FOR, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action USA, Veterans for Peace, War Resister’s League, Voices in the Wilderness, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, among others.

Contact: Voices in the Wilderness Danny Muller 773.447.3964

Source: http://www.commondreams.org/news2001/1124-01.htm

1/25/02
4:11:13 PM

"There is no path to Peace.

Peace is the path."

Mahatma Gandhi

1/25/02
4:04:20 PM

CBS Developing Four-Hour Miniseries About Hitler

By Josef Adalian

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - With the world's attention focused on the search for Osama bin Laden, CBS is developing a four-hour miniseries about another evildoer: Adolf Hitler.

The picture will explore the early life of the man who would be fuehrer, as well as the social and political environment that allowed him to rise to power.

The project's Canadian producer, Alliance Atlantis, has optioned the rights to two tomes by Hitler historian Ian Kershaw and will use Kershaw's best-selling ``Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris'' as the basis for the miniseries. The picture is being developed for the 2002-03 season.

``What we're attempting to do is something pure,'' said Ed Gernon, who will serve as an executive producer. ``We didn't want to go the popular literature route (about Hitler). We want to do a work that is very dangerous and indeed daring. It's an extraordinarily brave take that CBS has allowed us to do.''

Unlike most previous TV movies focusing on Nazi Germany or Hitler's actions, the CBS project will focus on the man himself.

``We are telling the story of an antihero, and he is the main character of the film,'' Gernon said, allowing that the miniseries would also devote a good chunk of time to how society allowed Hitler to come to power, and why it took so long before he was halted.

``Part of the story is a society that conspired to make (Hitler) possible -- and then stood back and did nothing to stop him,'' he said. ``He was a man underestimated by everyone, (particularly) those who tried to use him.''

Gernon said he and CBS are committed to creating a picture that paints a historically accurate, rather than sensationalistic, portrait of Hitler. The use of Kershaw's books will ensure that's the case, he said.

``We wanted to make sure we had the most unimpeachable source material,'' Gernon said. ``It took quite a bit of convincing to get this scholar from England to let an American network use his books to make this.''

While Gernon said he and fellow executive producer Peter Sussman will not go ``out of our way to create a sympathetic character'' of Hitler, the picture will not be heavy-handed in its portrait of his evil.

``We're going to put the story up on its feet and let the audience judge him,'' he said.

Coincidentally another Canadian producer, Lions Gate Films, is shooting a fictional feature about young Hitler's days as a starving artist, starring Noah Taylor (''Vanilla Sky''). The film, called ``Max,'' also stars John Cusack. It is scheduled for release in the fall.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20020122/re/television_hitler_dc_1.html

1/23/02
7:35:39 PM

t r u t h o u t

Tom Daschle Letter to George W. Bush

http://www.truthout.com/01.23A.Daschle.2.Bush.htm

Enron Got Its Money's Worth

http://www.truthout.com/01.23B.Moneys.Worth.htm

ABCNEWS | Is Enron Still Shredding Documents?

http://www.truthout.com/01.23C.Still Shredding.htm

Daniel Pipes | A Deadly Error

http://www.truthout.com/01.23D.Deadly.Error.htm

Civil Rights Group Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Guantanamo Prisoners

http://www.truthout.com/01.23E.Prisoner.Suit.htm

Gunman Wounds 8 in Jerusalem; Israeli Raid Kills 4 Militants

http://www.truthout.com/01.23F.Jerusalem.01.22.htm

Gephardt Suggests Shutting Down Lead Smelter

http://www.truthout.com/01.23G.Gephardt.Lead.htm

1/23/02
7:34:07 PM

Taliban POWs to get blame for Bin Laden's crimes [NativeNews]

From the LA Times, 1/18/02:

Fairness Urged for Detainees in Cuba

Response: Red Cross and U.N. leaders call for Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters held at Guantanamo Bay to be treated as POWs.

By MARJORIE MILLER, Times Staff Writer

LONDON -- As the Red Cross prepared to interview suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters held in Cuba, U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson urged the United States on Thursday to treat the prisoners according to international law and not to "fudge or blur the edges."

"It is extremely important that the legal status of those detained in Guantanamo Bay is clarified," said Robinson, a former president of Ireland.

"They were combatants in an international conflict. It may be that some of them have also been involved in the Al Qaeda conspiracy, that's quite likely, but they are entitled to POW status or, if that is defeated, there is provision in the Geneva Convention that it goes before a tribunal," she said at a conference in Dublin, the Irish capital.

The U.S. government calls the prisoners "unlawful combatants" and says they are not guaranteed rights under the 1949 Geneva Convention covering prisoners of war.

International Committee of the Red Cross officials were expected to hold private interviews with the prisoners today. A spokesman for the Red Cross said the organization also believed the detainees ought to be treated as prisoners of war.

In Britain, America's closest ally in Europe, concern has grown this week over treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has backed the U.S. position, but he is under pressure from members of his party and the opposition to ensure that the Guantanamo prisoners--including three British citizens--are treated humanely.

The Church of England issued a plea Thursday for the United States to treat the prisoners with "humanity and dignity" and to apply "proportionate and measured" justice.

"Every action must be tested against principles of justice," bishops said after a three-day gathering of the House of Bishops in York, England.

"Ends do not justify means. Those who proclaim that their cause is just must act justly."

Rumsfeld Confident on Prisoners' Care

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Wednesday that he does not "feel the slightest concern about [the prisoners'] treatment. They are being treated vastly better than they treated anybody else."

Guardian newspaper columnist Hugo Young responded that there was "a sense of generalized vengeance in what Rumsfeld had to say. Having failed to catch Osama bin Laden, the U.S. is evidently adopting the alternative of netting any number of Taliban and Al Qaeda and sticking them with collective responsibility for the monstrous mass murder at the Pentagon and World Trade Center."

On Wednesday, Blair faced a grilling from members of his own Labor Party and the opposition in Parliament over the prisoners' treatment. Labor's Kevin McNamara warned the prime minister that the West was in "danger of losing the high moral ground."

Blair agreed that prisoners must be treated humanely. He defended U.S. actions, repeating official assertions that the prisoners were being fed properly and allowed exercise and showers, and adding that they were "highly dangerous people."

Liberal Democratic leader Charles Kennedy said the West must seek a better standard of behavior than the Taliban and Al Qaeda. "We must demonstrate that our values remain above those who seek to destroy them," Kennedy said.

1/23/02
7:32:31 PM

Partnership for Civil Justice

Files Lawsuit for

Release of Details About Detainees

The Partnership for Civil Justice, along with nearly twenty other civil rights and public interest organizations, filed a lawsuit in federal court under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking the disclosure of the identities and other information related to the more than 1,000 persons that have been detained and imprisoned by the U.S. Government since September 11.

The detainees are primarily non-citizens, Arabs and Muslims, who have no connection at all to the events of September 11th, but have been racially profiled by the U.S. Government, detained and imprisoned.

We condemn the use of racial and religious profiling, and applaud those in law enforcement who have refused to cooperate with the Department of Justice and FBI's unprecedented roundup and interrogation of Arabs, Muslims and non-citizens.

The groups filing suit together include the Center for National Security Studies, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Amnesty International, the Arab-American Institute, the World Organization Against Torture - USA, the American Civil Liberties Union, and others. Click here to read the complaint .

Proposed U.S. Torture Policy?

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Ashcroft Justice Department are considering using torture as an approved policy of the United States against those in detention who assert their legal rights to remain silent. According to the Washington Post, the U.S. Government is discussing using "pressure tactics, such as those employed occasionally by Israeli interrogators, to extract information" from persons in their custody in the Government's broad reaching "terrorism" investigation.

Demonstrators banned from Lafayette Park, White House sidewalk, Ellipse

The Bush Administration has -- in violation of civil rights laws -- banned demonstrations in proximity to the White House, including in Lafayette Park--the People's Park--located across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House grounds, the site of many historic civil rights and anti-war demonstrations. While the Park remains open, demonstration permits will not be granted. Protesters denounce the barring of political dissent near the seat of executive government as a political effort to insulate President Bush from criticism and dissent. Peace and anti-racism activists are currently planning to mount a legal challenge to this ban with the assistance of attorneys affiliated with PCJ~LDEF.

" We will not walk in fear of one another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were for the moment unpopular."

-- Edward R. Murrow, March 9, 1954

1/23/02
7:30:01 PM

United States Refuses to Abide by Geneva Convention

On January 11, 2002, the United States announced that it was refusing to abide by the 1949 Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war in its treatment and internment of those taken prisoner in Afghanistan or Pakistan by the United States. The Third Geneva Convention, which provides specific guidelines for treatment of prisoner combatants, is a part of the "law of nations" and is a mainstay of international humanitarian law. The United States explained that the prisoners were not actually prisoners of war, but were in fact "unlawful combatants."

The first prisoners arrived in the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on January 11, 2002. According to the Washington Post, prisoners were hooded and shackled during the 27 hour flight. The United States defended these practices as appropriate security measures. Media on site in Cuba reported that the prisoners were fitted with goggles that were blacked out, for "security reasons" necessary to prevent them from using their eyes. In a public letter to Donald Rumsfeld , Amnesty International expressed concern that the prisoners' conditions of transport violated international norms.

The prisoners are being housed in outdoor 6 foot by 8 foot open-air chain link cages, with concrete floors, wooden roofs and containing a mat and a plastic bucket.

The U.S. demanded that media not show photographs of the prisoners in these conditions, explaining that the photos would deprive the prisoners of their rights under the Geneva Convention. According to a Pentagon spokesperson, any photographs of the prisoners in the United States imposed conditions would be "humiliating" and "debasing." Several outlets have not complied with the Pentagon's demand.

The Bush Administration's refusal to abide by the world's humanitarian laws stands in stark contrast to the justifications advanced for U.S. military actions. On September 20, 2001, in a televised speech, George W. Bush justified the waging of war as necessary to defend the values of "civilization" against "evil": "This is not, however, just America's fight. And what is at stake is not just America's freedom. This is the world's fight. This is civilization's fight. " On November 8, 2001, in his prime time speech to the nation, President Bush declared the bombing of Afghanistan to be "a war to save civilization itself."

Article 4 of the convention defines the categories of persons who may be considered as "prisoners of war." According to Article 5 , "should any doubt arise as to whether persons, having committed a belligerent act and having fallen into the hands of the enemy, belong to any of the categories enumerated in Article 4, such persons shall enjoy the protection of the present Convention until such time as their status has been determined by a competent tribunal." No competent tribunal has adjudicated such matter.

Among the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention regarding humane treatment of prisoners of war, that the U.S. is refusing to apply, are:

Article 13: Humane treatment required; No reprisals allowed Article 14: Respect for persons and honour; No gender discrimination Article 16: No discrimination based on race, nationality, religious belief or political opinions Article 17: No physical or mental torture; No coercion to obtain information; Prisoners who decline to provide information may not be threatened, insulted or exposed to unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment Article 18: Clothing, articles of personal use, to remain with prisoners Article 20: Evacuation or transfer to be under same conditions as afforded Detaining Power Article 21: Internment in camp allowed; Close confinement prohibited Article 22: Internment in penitentiaries prohibited; Every guarantee of hygiene and healthfulness required Article 25: Condition of quarters must be as favorable for POWs as for the forces of the Detaining Power; Accommodations for habits and customs of POWs required; Protection from dampness, adequate heat and lighting required Article 26: Food must be in sufficient quantity, quality and variety to maintain good health and weight Article 27: Adequate clothing, underwear and footwear required Article 28: Canteens must be installed; Fairly priced food, soap, tobacco and ordinary items must be stocked Articles 29 - 32: Proper hygiene and medical attention, including monthly health inspections, required Articles 34 - 37: Prisoners must be afforded complete latitude in the exercise of religion, including attendance at services, on condition they comply with disciplinary routine Article 38: Provisions for physical, intellectual and recreational activities Article 70: Prisoners must be allowed to write to family, others

http://www.civil-rights.net/

http://www.escribe.com/culture/native_news/m23929.html

1/23/02
7:27:29 PM

World Environment News - January 23rd, 2002 from Planet Ark

Bush budget to boost funding for wildlife system - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14155/story.htm

ANALYSIS - UK wind power attracts interest but hurdles ahead - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14152/story.htm

World Trade Centre scrap sails for Asia - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14162/story.htm

North Korea says facing serious electricity shortage - SOUTH KOREA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14151/story.htm

Cyclone heads past Mauritius, still on high alert - MAURITIUS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14154/story.htm

UPDATE - Japan toymaker Takara unveils real electric cars - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14153/story.htm

14 whales beached in Japan, several feared dead - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14157/story.htm

Cars banned on alternate days in smoggy Northern Italy - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14150/story.htm

Germany's Fischer named as Greens top candidate - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14156/story.htm

EU passes laws to set up new food safety body - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14161/story.htm

Global Thermoelectric up on fuel-cell initiative - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14160/story.htm

UPDATE - Brazil landless group leader shot in shoulder - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14159/story.htm

Australia NSW plans tougher power greenhouse rules - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14149/story.htm

Australia's ABARE sees strong coal market growth - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14158/story.htm

1/23/02
7:25:23 PM

Divine Humor

Saving Grace

A businessman was in a great deal of trouble. His business was failing, he had put everything he had into the business, he owed everybody-- it was so bad he was even contemplating suicide. As a last resort he went to a priest and poured out his story of tears and woe.

When he had finished, the priest said, "Here's what I want you to do: Put a beach chair and your Bible in your car and drive down to the beach. Take the beach chair and the Bible to the water's edge, sit down in the beach chair, and put the Bible in your lap. Open the Bible; the wind will blow the pages, but finally the open Bible will come to rest on a page. Look down at the page and read the first thing you see. That will be your answer, that will tell you what to do."

A year later the businessman went back to the priest and brought his wife and children with him. The man was in a new custom-tailored suit, his wife in a mink coat, the children shining. The businessman pulled an envelope stuffed with money out of his pocket, gave it to the priest as a donation in thanks for his advice.

The priest recognized the benefactor, and was curious. "You did as I suggested?" he asked.

"Absolutely," replied the businessman.

"You went to the beach?"

"Absolutely."

"You sat in a beach chair with the Bible in your lap?"

"Absolutely."

"You let the wind blow the pages until it stopped?"

"Absolutely."

"And what were the first words you saw?"

"Chapter 11."

1/23/02
7:23:38 PM

The End of Pregnancy

Within a Generation There Will Probably Be Mass Use of Artificial Wombs to Grow Babies

by Jeremy Rifkin

"The womb is a dark and dangerous place,a hazardous environment," wrote the late Joseph Fletcher, professor of medical ethics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. These words have haunted me over the years and have come back to me again in recent weeks, with talk of the imminent prospect of cloning a human being and using embryonic stem cells to create specific body parts to cure diseases.

As shocking as these developments have been, there is still another biological bombshell waiting in the wings - and this one provides the context for all the others and changes forever our concept of human life.

Researchers are working to create a totally artificial womb. Several weeks ago,a team of scientists from Cornell University's Weill Medical College announced that they had succeeded, for the first time, in creating an artificial womb lining. The scientific team,led by Dr. Hung Chiung Liu of the Centre for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility, stimulated cells to grow into uterine lining, using a cocktail of drugs and hormones. The goal of the research is to help infertile couples by creating an entire womb which could be transplanted into a woman.

Yosinori Kuwabara and his colleagues, working in a small research laboratory at Juntendou University in Tokyo,are developing the first operational artificial womb - a clear plastic tank the size of a bread basket, filled with amniotic fluid stabilised at body temperature. For the past several years, Kuwabara and his team have kept goat fetuses alive and growing for up to 10 days by connecting their umbilical cords to two machines that serve as a placenta, pumping in blood, oxygen and nutrients and disposing of waste products. While the plastic womb is still only a prototype, Kuwabara predicts that a fully functioning artificial womb capable of gestating a human fetus may be a reality in less than six years.Others are more skeptical, but say we will probably see the mass use of artificial wombs by the time today's babies become parents.

Artificial wombs will most likely first be used as intensive care units for fetuses in cases where either the mother is ill and can no longer carry the child or where the fetus is ill and needs to be removed from the mother's womb and cared for where it can be easily monitored. We can already keep fetuses alive in incubators during the last three months of gestation. And researchers routinely fertilize eggs and keep embryos alive in vitro for the first three to four days of their existence before implanting them in a womb. Scientists like Kuwabara are attempting to fill in the time between the beginning and end of the gestation process -- the critical period where the fetus develops most of its organs.

Eventually, say many scientists working in the new field of fetal molecular biology, being able to grow a fetus in a totally artificial womb would make it easier to make genetic corrections and modifications -- creating designer babies. The artificial womb may even become the preferred means of producing a child. Women could have their eggs removed and men their sperm taken in their teen years when they are most viable and kept frozen until they are ready to have a child. Mothers could spare themselves the rigors and inconveniences of pregnancy, retain their youthful figures and bring the baby home when "done".

Far fetched? Thousands of surrogate mothers' wombs have already been used to gestate someone else 's fertilized embryos. The artificial womb seems the next logical step in a process that has increasingly removed reproduction from traditional maternity and made of it a laboratory process.

Of course, many women, when asked, say they would prefer to have the experience of being pregnant and having the baby in their own womb. But their expectations might represent the dying sensibilities of the old order. In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, the "normal" people were genetically designed, cloned and gestated in artificial wombs - a biological assembly line process churning out ideal genotypes. Only the savages living in the remote reservations still carried their own babies in their bodies and breast fed them after birth. The practice was considered disgusting and something only animals did.

In the Brave New World, erotic sexual activity is encouraged and freely practiced but completely divorced from the process of reproduction. Huxley wrote his novel in 1932, before the contraceptive pill had arrived. By the 1970s, however, sex and reproduction had branched into two separate realms, thanks, in large part, to the pill. It is also interesting to note that the pill made its debut at about the same time that researchers first began to use artificial insemination on a wide scale. While the pill revolutionized sex, removing it from the process of reproduction, artificial insemination, then later in vitro fertilization, egg donation, surrogacy and, soon, cloning further separate the components of reproduction from the biological act of mating. The artificial womb completes the process.

Yet it raises troubling questions. We know that a fetus responds to the mother's heartbeat, as well as her emotions, moods and movements. A subtle and sophisticated choreographic bond exists between the two and plays a critical role in the development of the fetus. What kind of child will we produce from a liquid medium inside a plastic box? How will gestation in a chamber affect the child 's motor functions and emotional and cognitive development? We know that young infants deprived of human touch and bodily contact often are unable to develop the full range of human emotions and sometimes die soon after birth or become violent, sociopathic or withdrawn later in life.

How will the elimination of pregnancy affect the concept of parental responsibility? Will parents feel less attached to their offspring? Will it undermine the sense of generational continuity that is so essential for reproducing and maintaining historical continuity and civilized life?

How will the end of pregnancy affect the way we think about gender and the role of women? Some feminists argue that it will finally mean liberation. Years ago the feminist writer Shulamith Firestone wrote enthusiastically about the prospect of an artificial womb: "Pregnancy is the temporary deformation of the body of the individual for the sake of the species. Moreover,childbirth hurts and isn't good for you. At the very least, development of an option should make possible an honest examination of the ancient value of motherhood."

Other feminists view the artificial womb as the final marginalisation of women, robbing them of their primary role as progenitor of the species. The artificial womb, they argue, becomes the quintessential expression of male dominance, a way to create a mechanical substitute of the female womb. Armed with the artificial womb, asexual cloning technology and stem cells to produce all the extra body parts they need, men could free themselves, once and for all, from their dependency on women.

The artificial womb represents the completion of an even longer historic process that began nearly 400 years ago at the dawn of the scientific age. It was Francis Bacon, the father of modern science, who referred to nature as "a common harlot". He urged future generations to "tame, squeeze, mould" and "shape" her so that "man could become her master and the undisputed sovereign of the physical world". No doubt some will see the artificial womb as the final triumph of modern science. Others, the ultimate human folly.

Many people will likely say, why worry? Surely the artificial womb is far off on the horizon. Five years ago, we thought the same thing about human cloning and using stem cells to produce body parts.

Jeremy Rifkin is the author of The Biotech Century (Gollancz) and president of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington, DC.

1/23/02
6:55:45 PM

CBS Developing Four-Hour Miniseries About Hitler

By Josef Adalian

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - With the world's attention focused on the search for Osama bin Laden, CBS is developing a four-hour miniseries about another evildoer: Adolf Hitler.

The picture will explore the early life of the man who would be fuehrer, as well as the social and political environment that allowed him to rise to power.

Unlike most previous TV movies focusing on Nazi Germany or Hitler's actions, the CBS project will focus on the man himself.

``We're going to put the story up on its feet and let the audience judge him,'' he said.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20020122/re/television_hitler_dc_1.html

1/23/02
6:53:19 PM

DAILY GRIST

LIVE TREE OR DIE

In what will be one of the largest nonprofit land purchases in New England history, the federal and New Hampshire governments, the Trust for Public Land, and the Nature Conservancy are poised to buy 171,500 acres of land along the New Hampshire-Canada border from the International Paper Company. The estimated $44 million purchase will protect important habitat for coyotes, moose, loons, and bears. The sale represents the latest sally in an ongoing battle between conservationists and developers to determine the fate of the 26 million-acre Great North Woods, the last significant stretch of wilderness in the Northeast. Not all environmentalists are happy about the terms of the deal; only 25,000 acres will be set aside as untouchable wilderness, and some logging and herbicide use will be allowed in other areas.

straight to the source: Washington Post, Michael Powell, 22 Jan 2002 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15936-2002Jan21.html>

THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT

Hundreds of thousands of children are at risk of developing asthma, cancer, learning disorders, and other diseases because they attend schools built on or near toxic waste sites, according to a new study released yesterday by a coalition called the Child Proofing Our Communities Campaign. The study found that most states and public school systems do not have environmental standards for selecting school locations; as a consequence, cash-strapped districts often choose to build schools on cheap land near environmental hazards. In the five states studied, 600,000 students were attending public schools located within a half-mile of Superfund sites or state-identified toxic waste areas. The study correlated that finding with the sharp increase in environmentally linked diseases among school children in the last two decades.

straight to the source: Washington Post, Eric Pianin and Michael A. Fletcher, 21 Jan 2002 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11893-2002Jan20.html>

do good: Take action to stand up for Superfund <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/toxic.asp?source=daily#superfund>

PELI-CAN!

Good news from the Pelican State: Brown pelicans may be removed from the endangered species list in Louisiana following a highly successful reintroduction program. By the middle of the 20th century, the birds had disappeared from their namesake state (and were almost wiped out throughout the nation) due to exposure to the pesticide DDT, which caused them to lay eggs with shells too thin to protect developing embryos. Between 1968 and 1980, Louisiana imported 1,276 fledgling pelicans from Florida, which was home to the only sustainable populations; this spring, more than 16,000 nesting pairs will crowd onto Louisiana's barrier islands. Federal officials are ready to call the pelican resurgence a success story, and are drafting a proposal to take them off the endangered species list in Louisiana and Texas.

straight to the source: Baton Rouge Advocate, Associated Press, Janet McConnaughey, 22 Jan 2002 <http://www.theadvocate.com/news/story.asp?StoryID=27297>

CHAIRWOMAN OF THE BOARDWALK

The U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System could get a $56.5 million budget increase in the next fiscal year, according to an announcement made yesterday by Interior Secretary Gale Norton. The proposed increase would represent an 18 percent budget hike and would be earmarked for maintenance and renovation of such features as boardwalks, trails, and levies. Although it would be the largest budget increase in seven years, critics say it is not sufficient to address the $600 million backlog of maintenance projects at the nation's 538 wildlife refuges. Norton, who has been controversial and unceasing in her efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, emphasized the importance of keeping refuges up-to-date: "You need to have more trails so people won't wander off into the habitat," the secretary said.

straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Jane Kay, 22 Jan 2002 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/01/22/MN76834.DTL>

straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 21 Jan 2002 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/691842.asp>

CAFE NOIR

In the latest sad setback for environmentalists in the battle over corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration decided Friday not to increase fuel-efficiency requirements for 2004-model-year pickup trucks, minivans, and sport-utility vehicles. Last year, Congress voted to lift a six-year-old, industry-backed ban that prevented NHTSA from examining fuel-efficiency standards for the light trucks. The decision not to increase such standards was a blow to environmentalists, who argued that boosting the standards would be critical to protecting natural systems and national security alike. The current standard requires light trucks to average 20.7 miles per gallon. Helping to lead the fight to toughen CAFE standards is Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who wants to tie mpg performance to tax breaks for automakers. Kerry also supports tax credits for consumers who buy hybrid vehicles.

straight to the source: Detroit News, Associated Press, Nedra Pickler, 19 Jan 2002 <http://detnews.com/2002/autosinsider/0201/19/autos-394725.htm>

straight to the source: New York Times, Danny Hakim, 22 Jan 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/22/business/22AUTO.html>

only in Grist: Land of the oil-free? -- redefining the "American way of life" -- by Keith Schneider <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/schneider112001.asp?source=daily>

Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:

Sole food -- a day in the life of Matthew Meyer, Ecosandals.com <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/meyer011802.asp?source=daily>

Alien invasion! -- a review of "Tinkering with Eden" and "Nature Out of Place" -- in our Books Unbound section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/books/books011002.asp?source=daily>

Specious -- on Bjorn Lomborg and species diversity -- by Norman Myers <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/books/myers121201.asp?source=daily>

1/23/02
6:49:56 PM

DAILY GRIST

http://www.healingourworld.com.

LIVE TREE OR DIE

straight to the source: Washington Post, Michael Powell, 22 Jan 2002 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15936-2002Jan21.html>

THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT

straight to the source: Washington Post, Eric Pianin and Michael A. Fletcher, 21 Jan 2002 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11893-2002Jan20.html>

do good: Take action to stand up for Superfund <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/toxic.asp?source=daily#superfund>

PELI-CAN!

straight to the source: Baton Rouge Advocate, Associated Press, Janet McConnaughey, 22 Jan 2002 <http://www.theadvocate.com/news/story.asp?StoryID=27297>

CHAIRWOMAN OF THE BOARDWALK

straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Jane Kay, 22 Jan 2002 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/01/22/MN76834.DTL>

straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 21 Jan 2002 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/691842.asp>

CAFE NOIR

straight to the source: Detroit News, Associated Press, Nedra Pickler, 19 Jan 2002 <http://detnews.com/2002/autosinsider/0201/19/autos-394725.htm>

straight to the source: New York Times, Danny Hakim, 22 Jan 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/22/business/22AUTO.html>

only in Grist: Land of the oil-free? -- redefining the "American way of life" -- by Keith Schneider <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/schneider112001.asp?source=daily>

Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:

Sole food -- a day in the life of Matthew Meyer, Ecosandals.com <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/meyer011802.asp?source=daily>

Alien invasion! -- a review of "Tinkering with Eden" and "Nature Out of Place" -- in our Books Unbound section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/books/books011002.asp?source=daily>

Specious -- on Bjorn Lomborg and species diversity -- by Norman Myers <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/books/myers121201.asp?source=daily>

1/23/02
6:44:55 PM

EMS Update - Jan. 22, 2002

New Report Documents Bush Rollbacks A handful of Bush administration agencies have been quietly carrying out a coordinated attack on important air and water quality protections and other environmental safeguards, according to a new report released Tuesday, Jan. 22, by Natural Resources Defense Council.

Press release: http://www.nrdc.org/media/default.asp#0122rollback

How Green Are American Universities and Colleges? A first-of-its-kind national report card released last week by National Wildlife Federation provides a picture of environmental practices and curricula at American universities and colleges. The report card is based on the aggregate results of a broad national survey of American schools.

Press release: http://www.nwf.org/campusecology/sce_pressrelease.cfm

1/23/02
6:41:17 PM

How to Explain Enron to Your Children:

Feudalism - You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

Fascism - You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.

Communism - You have two cows. Your neighbors help take care of them and you share the milk.

Totalitarianism - You have two cows. The government takes them both and denies they ever existed and drafts you into the army. Milk is banned.

Capitalism - You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

Enron Venture Capitalism - You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.

1/23/02
6:40:13 PM

'Suicide Pretzel' Attacks Bush

by Gene Callahan and Stu Morgenstern

LewRockwell.com has learned, from sources high up in the FBI, that last week's "accident" involving President Bush and a pretzel was very likely no accident at all.

Our source informed us that President Bush's seemingly innocent incident with an errant snack food, where he apparently choked on a "pretzel," may actually have been the latest strike from Osama bin Laden and his Al Queda terrorist network.

After the incident, the pretzel in question was transported to FBI headquarters, where crime lab technicians were able to determine that the pretzel had been baked as a falafel, and had become "twisted" due to Islamo-Fascist influences. In addition, the so-called "pretzel" may have been staying illegally in the United States, on a fake import permit.

After the choking incident, Vice President Cheney was apparently rushed to yet another undisclosed location -- one free of all snack foods.

Meanwhile, Senator Tom Daschle called for a bailout of the ailing snack food industry, saying, "It's not the fault of honest American manufacturers that certain foreign elements have wreaked havoc with American's love of salt and crunchy carbohydrates."

Nevertheless, the assets of the leading pretzel manufacturers have been frozen, and air strikes on America's pretzel capital, Bluffton, Indiana, are in the works.

Gene Callahan has just finished a book, Economics for Real People, to be published this year by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Stu Morgenstern was a frequent contributor to Slick Times, until the presence of his articles drove the magazine out of business.

1/23/02
6:38:28 PM

Environment News Service

Healing Our World: Weekly Comment

By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

Can I Supersize that Heart Attack for You?

No time for your health today; no health for your time tomorrow. -- Irish Proverb

It is not human nature we should accuse but the despicable conventions that pervert it. -- Denis Diderot

Dave Thomas, founder of the Wendy's hamburger fast food chain, died on January 8 at age 69. His death is attributed to liver cancer. He had been undergoing kidney dialysis for a year and had quadruple heart bypass surgery in 1996. My heart goes out to his wife, five children, and 16 grandchildren. By all accounts, he was a kind and generous man who spent much time and money helping orphaned and adopted kids as well as many other causes.

But his death calls attention once again to an industry that is wreaking much harm on people all over the world and creating more environmental degradation than virtually any other business.

Not surprisingly, fast food burger companies refuse to acknowledge the impact that their diet is having on children and adults around the world. That diet is killing us.

Every 33 seconds, an American dies of heart disease. That is more than 954,000 deaths annually, more than 42 percent of all deaths every year. In fact, since 1900 the number one killer in the United States has been cardiovascular disease in every year but 1918.

Counting deaths does not reveal the true severity of the problem. Of the current U.S. population, more than 62 million people have some form of the disease.

The American Heart association, in a recently released report, said that an estimated one in five deaths from cardiovascular diseases is the result of smoking. Most of the rest come from dietary choices.

A heart attack or stroke is caused when your artery walls thicken, reducing blood flow which increases the risk of a blood clot stopping the flow of blood to your heart or your brain. That thickening or atherosclerosis, is caused by overconsumption of LDL cholesterol, making the person more prone to heart attacks and strokes.

While some cholesterol is necessary to the body, excess LDL cholesterol results in atherosclerosis. Seventy percent of the cholesterol we need is manufactured in the liver and the rest is derived from our diet. Plants do not have the capability of manufacturing cholesterol, so all oils and foods of plant origin have no cholesterol.

When too much food of animal origin is consumed, a thickening of the arteries will result.

It has been proven that a high fat diet during childhood and adolescence increases the risk of heart disease. There is no question that promoting burgers and milkshakes as frequent meals for children increases their risk of life threatening illness in later life. By ceasing the intake of animal products and improving lifestyle factors, the degenerative effects of cardiovascular disease can be reversed.

The Surgeon General of the United States recently released a report saying that obesity is of grave concern in the U.S. Yet The National Institutes of Health spends less than one percent of its annual budget on obesity research, according to the American Obesity Association.

The environmental impacts of our meat centered diet are devastating. To raise a pound of wheat takes about 25 gallons of water. To raise a pound of meat takes about 2,500 gallons of water. The groundwater of the central United States, source of most of our underground drinking water supplies, is being depleted at an alarming rate, just to raise cattle.

It takes 20 times as much land to raise cattle as it does to farm vegetables, fruits, and grains.

It takes huge amounts of fossil fuels to raise animals and to turn them into meat. Fortunately, most of the world does not eat a meat centered diet. If everybody did, all the world's known oil reserves would be used up in 13 years. If the world no longer ate meat, those same reserves would last another 260 years.

The economy of the United States is dramatically affected by meat consumption. This heavily subsidized industry must have taxpayer dollars in order to survive. If the water used by meat industry was not subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, hamburger meat would cost $35 pound. A pound of protein derived from wheat costs about $1.50.

Over 260 million acres of U.S. forests are cleared each year to create cropland to produce a meat centered diet.

Every 45 seconds in the United States, a diet related heart attack kills someone, and most of the time, that person is a meat eater. The risk of heart attack by the average American male is 50 percent. The risk from heart attack for a vegetarian male is 15 percent and the risk to a vegan male - one who eats no eggs, dairy, or other animal products - is only four percent.

Your risk of having a heart attack is decreased by 90 percent if you eliminate the consumption of meat, dairy products, and eggs from your diet.

Unfortunately, most doctors will be unable to discuss these issues with you. Out of the 125 medical schools in the United States, only 30 require their medical students to take a course in nutrition. In fact, the average U.S. doctor, during his or her four years of medical school, receives barely 2.5 hours of training in the effects of nutrition on the body.

But if you watch television regularly, you will receive hundreds of hours of propaganda about how great fast foods are for you during those same four years.

More and more, contaminated meat products are resulting in millions of illnesses each year and estimates are that 7,000 to 8,000 people in the U.S. alone die annually from eating contaminated meat. The slaughterhouses in the U.S. are hardly regulated at all, and the meat inspection system, managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is a failure. Only about one chicken per 22,000 and one beef carcass out every 300 each week is tested for the deadly E. coli 015H7 bacteria. Visual inspections are the only line of defense.

Recently, the USDA approved irradiation for meat. The filth gets to stay on the meat, but it is sterilized by radiation.

Evidence abounds that animals are often butchered alive in slaughterhouses. Recent video footage exists that shows fully conscious cows being skinned alive and having their legs cut off while struggling for freedom.

The Associated Press reported in a story covering Dave Thomas death that "Though he was a multimillionaire, Thomas favorite meal never changed: a Wendy's Single with cheese, mustard, pickles and onions; fries, a bowl of chili, a Frosty [milkshake] and a diet Coke.

Thousands of people die each year, many thousands more suffer debilitating illnesses, and the Earth's surface and her animals are ravaged due to meat consumption. Instead of accepting the pressure from a greedy industry representing itself as an American icon, take back your health and your diet from the advertisers.

You can have it your way by passing by those burger stands.

RESOURCES

1. Charities that Dave Thomas supported that his family has requested be given contributions in his honor can be found at

http://www.wendys.com

2. A number of "Healing Our World commentaries have been written about the meat industry. Enter the word "meat into the search engine at:

3. Check out some of the information by those against eating meat at

http://www.meatstinks.com

4. Keep track of these issues with the Organic Consumers Association at:

http://www.purefood.org

5. Read about protein from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine at:

http://www.pcrm.org/health/Info_on_Veg_Diets/protein.html

6. Many people erroneously believe that Kosher slaughter is somehow better. See the Healing Our World commentary called "Vegetarians Beware ... on ENS at and learn otherwise.

http://www.ens.lycos.com/ens/may99/1999L-05-23g.html

7. Explore reducing the meat in your diet with the help of EarthSave at:

http://www.earthsave.org

8. Learn about healthy eating from Dr. John McDougall at

http://www.drmcdougall.com/index.html

{Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. is a writer and teacher in Seattle. He has not eaten meat in 22 years and has had no animal products in his diet for 10 years. Please send your thoughts, comments, and visions to him at jackie@healingourworld.com and visit his website at

http://www.healingourworld.com}

http://www.ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2002/2002L-01-11g.html

1/23/02
6:34:03 PM

World Summit on Sustainable Development: Indigenous People Speak

We came seeking justice on our homelands. We came here to appeal to the world at large to support our efforts to seek equitable solutions to discrimination, exploitation, racism, ethnocide and genocide of Indigenous Nations and Peoples.

We came here to speak on behalf of the natural world being plundered by governments and corporations. We spoke on behalf of rooted trees that could not flee the chainsaw. We spoke on behalf of salmon, herring, tuna and haddock killed in their spawning beds. We had alarming news from the Four Directions about fish, wildlife and birds, contaminated, sick and disappearing. And today we continue to speak on their behalf. Today they are more endangered than ever, and if anything, their conditions are worse.

In these times, humanity must work together, not just for survival, but for quality of life based on universal values that protect the delicate inter-relatedness of life that protects us all. ...Biodiversity is a clinical, technical term for this intricate inter-weaving of life that sustains us. We indigenous peoples say that we are related to this life; thus your "resources" are our relations. It is all in how you look at it

Indigenous Peoples have something to offer in this equation for survival ... We have common goals and responsibilities, and I say, that you, the leaders of this great hope of the world's people, the United Nations, should be working with us and not against us, for peace. We submit to you that as long as you make war against Etenoha (Mother Earth), there can never be peace."

Chief Oren Lyons of the Onandaga Nation and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy

Introduction

This background paper submitted in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) reviews developments in the past ten years since UNCED, to highlight achievements, obstacles, threats and challenges in the implementation of the Rio agreements, focusing on indigenous peoples and sustainable development. The commitments made in Chapter 26 of Agenda 21 "Strengthening the Role of Indigenous People and their Communities", as well as other Rio commitments are the starting point of this assessment, and linkages are also made with the other international processes bearing on this theme.

Contrary to Agenda 21, which states that the lands of indigenous peoples should be protected from activities that are either environmentally unsound or considered by indigenous peoples to be socially and culturally inappropriate, the growth in the global economy has accelerated the intrusion of transnational corporations in ancestral lands and communities. The World Bank and the regional development Banks play a key role in promoting mining and other extractive industries and in promoting the macro-economic fiscal, institutional and legal reforms that facilitate international investment in extractive industries in developing countries.

http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/major_groups/indigenouspeoplefinal.doc

1/23/02
6:30:17 PM

20 Reasons Not To Take The Smallpox Vaccination

By Amy Worthington 1-8-2

1. George W. Bush has said of smallpox vaccination: "One of my concerns if we were to have universal vaccination, some might lose their life." ~The Times (in London), November 09, 2001.

2. For each million people vaccinated with the smallpox vaccine, as many as 250 could die, according to the American Medical Association. Multiply 250 times 285 (millions of Americans) and the possible deaths from universal smallpox vaccination could equal 71,250. ~ Journal of the American Medical Association, June 9, 1999, Vol. 281, No. 22, p. 2132.

3. "The American Medical Association said on Tuesday it was not in favor of an immediate mass U.S.smallpox vaccination program, saying the potential threat of a bioterror attack did not warrant inoculating every American against the disease." ~Reuters, December 12, 2001.

4. "Right now the risk of getting the vaccine is higher than the benefit. You could get a secondary infection, a full-blown systemic infection." ~Marie Rau, Panhandle Health District nurse, quoted by The Spokesman-Review, November 20, 2001.

5. CDC director Jeffrey Koplan has admitted that universal smallpox vaccination could unleash a significant number of side-effects. He said that because many parts of ourpopulation do not have a"robust immune system," a fair number of people could have serious reactions. ~Koplan speaking on the PBS special "Bioterror Propaganda" aired by WETA, November 14, 2001.

6. If the entire nation were to receive a smallpox vaccine, several thousand people would likely develop encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. ~Washington Post, Dec. 26, 2001.

7. Roger J. Pomerantz, chief of the infectious disease department at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, said that doctors have no idea what the smallpox vaccine might do to people at the extremes of life--less than 2 and older than 65. He said that an even greater concern would be its effect on people with weakened immune systems from HIV infection, chemotherapy or transplants. ~Washington Post, Dec. 26, 2001.

8. "Researchers have been reluctant to recommend a new vaccination program which would use the smallpox vaccine for the local population because the vaccine can cause disease and death in persons with inadequate immune systems." ~Science, Vol. 277, July 18, 1997, pp. 312-13.

9. Routine smallpox vaccination in the United States ended in 1972. Officials are hesitant to resume the immunizations because the vaccine is the most reactive of all and has been linked to serious side effects, including death. ~ Reuters, November 29, 2001.

10. Eight printed pages of medical studies documenting the many serious side effects of smallpox vaccination can be obtained at http://www.whale.to/vaccines/smallpox.html. See "smallpox vaccine adverse reactions 66-76." [Note: go to the home page above and put "smallpox vaccine adverse reaction" in the search engine.] Repercussions include serious brain and heart diseases, autism, abnormal chromosomal changes, diabetes, various cancers and leukemias, plus demyelination of nerve tissue years after vaccination.

11. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that vaccination must not be forced on persons whose physical condition would make such vaccination "cruel and inhuman." In other words, the state has no right to command that an individual sacrifice his life in the name of public health. ~Jacobsen V. Massachusettes, 197 U.S. 11 (1905).

12. By the 1920s, several British medical researchers documented that smallpox was not only more common among the VACCINATED, but that the DEATH RATE from smallpox was actually higher among those who had been vaccinated. This indicates that the vaccine was ineffective and predisposed vaccinated persons to more lethal disease. ~Vaccination, Dr. Viera Scheibner, Australia, 1993, pp. 205-220.

13. Getting a vaccination does not guarantee immunity. ~CDC, January 28, 1994.

14. By 1987, scientific evidence indicated that the World Health Organization's 13-year global smallpox vaccination campaign may have awakened dormant HIV infection in many vaccinees. ~Times (in London) May 11, 1987.

15. Vaccines made from animal substrate contain animal viruses that are impossible to filter out. By 1961, scientists discovered that animal viruses in vaccines, including smallpox, could act as a carcinogen when given to mice in combination with cancer-causing chemicals, even in amounts too small to induce tumors alone. They concluded that vaccine viruses function as a catalyst for tumor production. ~Science, December 15, 1961.

16. Some of the new smallpox vaccine doses will be created with animal substrate. Because the vaccine will incorporate vaccinia, the cowpox virus, many wonder about possible mad-cow contamination. Fifty-five million doses of the new vaccine will be created using a cell line dating back to 1966 and cultured from the lung tissues of an aborted human fetus. ~World Net Daily, December 4, 2001.

17. The new smallpox vaccine will be genetically engineered. Many scientists believe that genetically engineered vaccines may be responsible for the global epidemic of auto-immune disease and neurological dysfunction. ~American College of Rheumatology, annual meeting, Nov. 8-12, 1998. Merck's genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine, Recombivax HB, is a classic example. According to Dr. Bonnie Dunbar of Baylor College of Medicine, many thousands of reported adverse reactions to the hepatitis B vaccine include: chronic fatigue, neurological disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and MS-like disease. ~Testimony of Dr. Dunbar to Texas Dept. of Health, March 12, 1999. Over

15,000 French citizens sued the French government to stop mandatory hepatitis B injections for school children because of resulting auto-immune diseases. ~Science, July 31, 1998. Dr. John Classen has published voluminous data showing that the hepatitis B and other vaccines are closely linked to the development of insulin dependent diabetes. ~Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice, October 22, 1997.

18. The British vaccine manufacturer Medeva has a horrendous record of contamination and blunders. In 2000, the FDA found that Medeva was making vaccines in conditions of filth, resulting in contaminated products. Medeva had been illegally using bovine medium to culture its polio vaccines, then lied about it. Medeva also used the blood of a Creutzfeldt-Jakob victim (mad cow) to manufacture 83,000 doses of polio vaccine used for (against?) Irish children. Nevertheless, the FDA allowed the USA to accept Medeva's flu vaccine (Fluvirin) for the year 2000. ~London Observer series: October 20-26, 2000.

19. In 2001, the British socialized health care system was reported to be in a state of collapse, with many hospitals and labs operating in abysmal filth. Five thousand people die each year from infections contracted in British hospitals; 10,000 become deathly ill from such infections. Sterilization procedures are barely adequate and said to be risking the spread of mad cow disease. Government ministers are reportedly trying to hush up the scandal. http://www.itn.co.uk/ Jan 06, 2001; The Sunday Times of London, November 12, 2001.

20. The U.S. government apparently intends to conduct NO double blind studies on the safety and efficacy of the new smallpox vaccine. It has ordered 286 million doses, one for every man, woman and child in America at a cost of $428 million. At least half of this vaccine will be delivered by Acambis PLC of great Britain.

1/23/02
6:26:44 PM

Enron and the Bush administration: kindred spirits in fraud and criminality

The collapse of energy trading giant Enron, with all its legal and economic ramifications, has obviously embroiled the Bush administration in a major scandal. A column in the Los Angeles Times last week referred to the affair as "Teapot Dome, the Sequel" (the Teapot Dome affair essentially brought an end to the Harding administration in the 1920s). It is pointless at the moment to speculate whether or not Enron will prove the present government's undoing. The more critical issue is grasping the extent to which Enron as a criminal and parasitic enterprise expresses the social essence of the Bush administration and the American ruling elite as a whole. To speak of "connections" or "intimate ties" between Enron and the Bush regime nearly misses the point. To a large extent, the present administration is an extension of the Enron board of directors. This government, one might say, is Enron in office, not simply because numerous Bush cabinet members and other appointees (and other leading Republicans) have been employed in one capacity or another by Enron, but more profoundly in the sense that the social types found in Enron's boardroom and in leading government posts in Washington are interchangeable.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jan2002/enro-j18.shtml

Enron - the Cover-up

"I will bet every last dollar I have that Enron was the largest laundromat of stolen and tax evading dollars in American history and that the Department of Justice's primary goal is cover-up --- to make sure that the money trail disappears forever.

http://www.rense.com/general19/recuses.htm

EU Petition 450/2001 for vitamin therapy freedom

290 million letters of protest against a ban on vitamin therapies have been sent so far. Add your support to "No worldwide vitamin therapy ban in furtherance of the pharmaceutical industry's billion-pound business interests." The EU Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy, is now considering this petition and will soon hold a public hearing on this.

http://www.vitamins-for-all.org

Petition Against EU Vitamin Directive - To Be Voted on January 30 by EU

Please go to this site and add your own comments to the EU Commission against the destruction of health freedom in Europe. Recommended by Bill Derau <tanchu@olypen.com> who wrote: "Our friends in England, Holland, Sweden, being set up by the horrible Codex vitamin standard." If the EU pushes this horrible vitamin directive through, it threatens to destroy American dietary supplement laws and those of other countries world wide via the Codex vitamin standard. All of this is spelled out on the IAHF website at http://www.iahf.com/ - The original alert was sent out by John Hammell <jham@iahf.com>

http://www.codexalimentarius.org/read_article2.php?art_no=61

Spectacular Video of Silver-Disk Object!

BUDAPEST, Hungary - A military pilot recorded a spectacular video of a silver disk object on September 29, 2001. The craft was flying to his left side and then moved very fast past him in the clouds as can be seen in the video.

http://www.rense.com/general15/pilotufo.htm

Canada may declare G-8 summit site a militarized zone (12 January)

Canada's Liberal government is considering using new powers it has seized in the name of the war on terrorism to impede and suppress protests against next July's G-8 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. Under Bill C-42, legislation now before Canada's parliament, the Defense Minister will gain the power to proclaim any part of Canada land, water or air space a military security zone. Although Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Justice Minister Anne McClellan have repeatedly insisted that the anti-terrorist legislation the Liberals have introduced since September 11 does not threaten dissent, protests and civil disobedience, Defense Minister Art Eggleton has conceded that the government could place the summit venue and surrounding area under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Armed Forces. The military would then be empowered to remove or prevent anyone from entering the military security zone who did not have state authorization to be there.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jan2002/cana-j12.shtml

It's Time to Appoint a Special Prosecutor (EnronGate!)

http://www.truthout.com/01.14B.Appoint.SP.htm

BUSH FUELS OIL CONSPIRACY THEORY

Some skeptics say that the Afghan war is about oil, not terrorism. By appointing an oil industry insider as "special envoy to Afghanistan," Bush is fueling their theory.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12205

FOR THE RECORD: Taleban in Texas for talks on gas pipeline (December 4, 1997 !!!!)

The 1,300km pipeline will carry gas across Afghanistan's harsh terrain. A senior delegation from the Taleban movement in Afghanistan is in the United States for talks with an international energy company that wants to construct a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan across Afghanistan to Pakistan. (...) Unocal says it has agreements both with Turkmenistan to sell its gas and with Pakistan to buy it.

http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/west_asia/newsid_37000/37021.stm

Israeli Politicians Criticize Demolition of Palestinian Homes in Gaza

http://www.truthout.com/01.14E.Debate.Gaza.htm

Seeds of Fire

The inside story about China that no one can afford to ignore. This best selling author and former intelligence officer reveals China's intentions to use the current crisis to launch itself as a new Super-Power and become America's new major enemy.

http://www.hiddenmysteries.com/redir/index357.html

The Brookhaven Connection

A labyrinth of security and intrigue. The premier nuclear research facility in the world located on Long Island near the old Nazi compound at Yaphank. The Phoenix Project, the Philadelphia Experiment, the Unified Field Theory and secure practical applications of Time Travel.

http://www.hiddenmysteries.com/redir/index380.html

Campaign against the Bush "stimulus" bill/tax breaks to America's biggest corporations, Take action at

http://action.ourfuture.org/index.asp?step=2&item=780

War costs America extra $20bn (January 8) (On top the $330 billions already allocated this year!)

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001570027-2002012247,00.html

MORE THAN $60 BILLION PROVIDED TO COMBAT "TERRORISM"

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/01/07/Worldandnation/Antiterrorism_spendin.shtml

Pat Buchanan's startling interview on the Alex Jones Show - Jan 13

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=16083

1/23/02
6:18:42 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE