7/28/02
9:37:39 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Senator blocks US 'triple subsidy' for ethanol - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17054/story.htm
FEATURE - West Nile virus spreads across United States - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17065/story.htm
FEATURE - Much-transformed Alaska marks pipeline's 25th year - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17064/story.htm
Science panel urges review of Army Corps projects - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17059/story.htm
Republicans back sham trade ban in US energy bill - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17057/story.htm
Bush admin backs bill for offshore energy projects - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17055/story.htm
Pregnant women should limit tuna intake - US panel - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17044/story.htm
Shell establishes "green growth" study center - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17047/story.htm
US senate bill would protect 60 mln forest acres - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17045/story.htm
Woman makes court appearance in California wildfire - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17049/story.htm
California wildfire spreads, but bypasses giant sequoias - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17056/story.htm
European trade in ultra-clean diesel takes off - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17063/story.htm
Greenpeace fails in British mahogany appeal - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17060/story.htm
Death toll more than 40 in Turkish floods - TURKEY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17062/story.htm
Starving Africa should accept GMO food, US says - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17051/story.htm
NZ's Infratil buys 10 pct of renewable energy firm - NEW ZEALAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17048/story.htm
Toyota to double hybrid vehicle lineup by 03 - paper - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17050/story.htm
Rome debates mystery of dead fish in mighty Tiber - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17061/story.htm
FEATURE - Drought-hit Sicily is running out of hope - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17052/story.htm
Beijing plans crackdown on car fumes before Olympics - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17053/story.htm
Canada giving tax breaks to boost renewable energy - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17046/story.htm
Thailand's tuktuks take to Bangladesh streets - BANGLADESH http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17066/story.htm
FEATURE - "Eco-tourists" attracted by Argentina's weak economy - ARGENTINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17058/story.htm
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURES:
SOUTH KOREA: Sand Tiger Shark Devours Leopard Shark in Seoul Aquarium http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17069
USA: Thousands of Jumbo Squid Wash up on La Jolla Beach Near San Diego http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17067
SINGAPORE: Singapore Fishmonger Displays a Snakehead Fish http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17068
7/28/02
9:27:50 PM
t r u t h o u t | 07.29
Bush and Blair Agree Terms for Iraq Attack
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.29A.blair.bush.htm
Jennifer Van Bergen | Seven Points
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.29B.jvb.7pts.htm
Senators Grill Ashcroft on Tactics of War on Terrorism
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.29C.sena.ashcroft.htm
Rash of Wife Killings Stuns Ft. Bragg
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.29D.kill.bragg.htm
Bipartisan Action in Senate Would Protect America's Wild Forests
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.29E.sierra.sena.htm
Tom Piazza | Bob Dylan's Unswerving Road Back to Newport
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.29F.piazza.dylan.htm
7/28/02
9:22:50 PM
Fort Bragg killings Raise Alarm About Stress
No connection established to assailants' Afghanistan duty
by Barbara Starr, CNN Washington Bureau, July 27, 2002
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The killings of four military wives in the past six weeks -- allegedly by their husbands who are based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina -- have led commanders to take a new look at whether combat deployments may be causing undue stress.
Sources at Fort Bragg, home to the Army Special Operations Command, say there's no common thread among the cases, and suggest it may simply be an "anomaly" that so many incidents have occurred so close together.
Officials acknowledge that three of the men had recently served in Afghanistan, and at least one of them had been brought home early to deal with unspecified family problems. But authorities have not established any connection between their service in Afghanistan and the incidents.
Military and local authorities say two of the Special Operations soldiers committed suicide after their wives were killed.
Two of the women were fatally shot, one was strangled, and one was stabbed to death. All four killings took place off the base.
In one incident, the man is suspected of setting the couple's house afire after his wife was killed.
The Fort Bragg garrison commander, Army Col. Tad Davis, is reviewing counseling and stress-management programs available at the base.
A spokesman said the Army wants to see if there is something it could do better. But one military official who had previously served at Fort Bragg pointed out that Special Operations soldiers may be reluctant to seek help.
Benjamin Abel, an Army Special Operations Command spokesmen, gave these details on the four incidents:
On June 11, Sgt. 1st Class Rigoberto Nieves, 32, and his wife, Teresa, were found shot to death at their residence in a suspected murder-suicide. Nieves was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group. He was deployed to Afghanistan in early January and returned in mid-March.
On June 29, Jennifer Wright, the wife of Master Sgt. William Wright, 36, was found strangled. Wright was charged with first degree murder. He was assigned to the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion. He was deployed to Afghanistan in mid-March and returned in mid-May.
On July 9, Marilyn Griffin, wife of Sgt. Cedric Griffin, 28, was stabbed to death. Griffin is charged with first degree murder. He was assigned to the 37th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade. He had not been deployed to Afghanistan and no such deployment was planned.
On July 19, Sgt. 1st Class Brandon S. Floyd, 30, and his wife, Andrea, were shot at their home in an apparent murder-suicide. Floyd was assigned to Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Special Operations Command. He was deployed to Afghanistan in November and returned in January.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/07/26/army.wives/index.html
7/28/02
9:14:20 PM
F-16s Pursue Unknown Craft Over Region
by Steve Vogel, The Washington Post, July 27, 2002; Page B02
For Renny Rogers, it was strange enough that military jets were flying low over his home in Waldorf in the middle of the night. It was what he thinks he saw when he headed outside to look early yesterday that floored him.
"It was this object, this light-blue object, traveling at a phenomenal rate of speed," Rogers said. "This Air Force jet was right behind it, chasing it, but the object was just leaving him in the dust. I told my neighbor, 'I think those jets are chasing a UFO.' "
Military officials confirm that two F-16 jets from Andrews Air Force Base were scrambled early yesterday after radar detected an unknown aircraft in area airspace. But they scoff at the idea that the jets were chasing a strange and speedy, blue unidentified flying object.
"We had a track of interest, so we sent up some aircraft," said Maj. Douglas Martin, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado, which has responsibility for defending U.S. airspace. "Everything was fine in the sky, so they returned home."
At the same time, military officials say they do not know just what the jets were chasing, because whatever it was disappeared. "There are any number of scenarios, but we don't know what it was," said Maj. Barry Venable, another spokesman for NORAD.
Radar detected a low, slow-flying aircraft about 1 a.m. yesterday, according to a military official. Controllers were unable to establish radio communication with the unidentified aircraft, and NORAD was notified. When the F-16s carrying air-to-air missiles were launched from Andrews, the unidentified aircraft's track faded from the radar, the military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Pilots with the D.C. Air National Guard's 113th Air Wing, which flew the F-16s from Andrews, reported nothing out of the ordinary, NORAD officials said.
"It was a routine launch," said Lt. Col. Steve Chase, a senior officer with the wing, which keeps pilots and armed jets on 24-hour alert at Andrews to respond to incidents as part of an air defense system protecting Washington after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Rogers remains convinced that what he saw was not routine. "It looked like a shooting star with no trailing mist," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8131-2002Jul26.html
7/28/02
9:09:25 PM
Army Wives' Slayings Spurs Review
by Estes Thompson, Associated Press Writer, July 27, 2002
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - The slayings of four Army wives at fort Bragg in the past six weeks, all allegedly by their husbands, has prompted the Army to re-evaluate the base's family counseling program.
"We're going to evaluate everything we do," Col. Jerome Haberek, chaplain for the Special Operations units at Fort Bragg, said Friday.
Three of the men were special operations soldiers who had just returned from Afghanistan; the fourth was from an airborne unit and had not been sent into action. The slayings included two apparent murder-suicides.
"It's mind-boggling," said Henry Berry, manager of family advocacy programs at Fort Bragg. "To be absolutely honest, I was completely caught off guard. We're going to look at these cases to prevent them from happening in the future."
Counselors are available in the field for Special Operations troops, and soldiers are counseled before they leave on assignment and before they return home, Haberek said.
Until the recent murders, base officials said no domestic abuse deaths involving base personnel had occurred in the past two years.
The string of family deaths, which all occurred off the base, started June 11 when Sgt. 1st Class Rigoberto Nieves fatally shot his wife, Teresa, and himself in their Fayetteville bedroom. Nieves, who had been back from Afghanistan ( news - web sites) just two days, had recently requested leave to resolve personal problems, officials said.
Sheriff's investigators said Jennifer Wright was strangled June 29. Her husband, Master Sgt. William Wright, reported her missing two days later. On July 19, he led investigators to her body, buried in a shallow grave in a field near Fayetteville, and was charged with murder.
Wright, who had been back from Afghanistan for about a month, had recently moved out of the family's house and was living in the barracks.
"He was like my own child," Jennifer Wright's mother, Wilma Watson, said from her home in Mason, Ohio. "Until he came back from Afghanistan, I didn't worry about violence. He was getting these attacks of rage. She was afraid of him. I begged her to come home. She still loved him."
On the same day that Wright was arrested, Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Floyd shot his wife, Andrea, then killed himself in their Stedman home.
The Fayetteville Observer reported that Floyd was a member of Delta Force, the secretive anti-terrorism unit based at Fort Bragg. He returned from Afghanistan in January.
"I truly in my heart believe that his training was such that if you can't control it, you kill it," Penny Flitcraft, Andrea Floyd's mother, told The Review of Alliance, Ohio.
In the fourth case, Sgt. Cedric Ramon Griffin was charged with stabbing his estranged wife, Marilyn, at least 50 times and setting her home on fire July 9. Griffin was in an engineering battalion.
Fort Bragg is the Army's headquarters for Special Forces and Special Operations soldiers. It has sent hundreds of soldiers into the fight against terrorism, though Haberek said he does not believe Special Operations troops are under any more stress than anyone else.
Maj. Gary Kolb, a spokesman for the Army Special Operations Command, said it would be a reach to link the family killings to Afghanistan.
Yvonne Qualantone, president of the 3rd Special Forces Group's Family Readiness Group, said more families than usual have called the counseling group since the killings.
Some women who have had problems with their husbands have called, asking about someone to talk to before things get worse, she said.
7/28/02
9:03:03 PM
For Immediate Release Jul 26, 2002 Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172
BUSH-CHENEY WHITE HOUSE OBSTRUCTS HALLIBURTON LAWSUIT
Process Server Threatened With Jail By White House Security
White House Refuses to Allow Complaint to be Lawfully Served On Vice President Cheney
(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes public corruption, today reported that security staff at The White House threatened a process server with arrest over his attempt to serve Vice President Cheney with a complaint filed against him by Judicial Watch on behalf of shareholders of Halliburton. It is a crime to interfere with service of process.
According to an affidavit of due diligence filed in the case, the process server attempted to serve the complaint on the Vice President at The White House and was told by a security officer that he would not accept the “papers” for the Vice President. According to the process server’s sworn statement, the security officer said that “if I dropped them [the federal court summons and complaint], he would arrest me.” The attempted service was made on July 22, 2002.
No lawyer for Vice President Cheney has contacted Judicial Watch to accept service on the Vice President’s behalf.
“We have served many a lawsuit on Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton when they were in The White House. The Clinton White House accepted the papers. Never before have our process servers been threatened with arrest. If this Bush-Cheney White House is serious about corporate corruption and responsibility, it would not allow the Vice President to improperly hide behind White House security to evade service of process in the Halliburton securities fraud litigation, and it would not threaten the process server with arrest,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.
Judicial Watch will continue to attempt service on the Vice President and will move for appropriate sanctions if Vice President Cheney continues to obstruct court process. Mr. Cheney is not above the law.
View the Affidavit of Due Diligence:
http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/92/service.gif
http://www.judicialwatch.org/2221.shtml
7/28/02
8:57:44 PM
t r u t h o u t | 07.28
Florida: Bush Outspent Gore 4 to 1 on Recount
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.28A.bush.gore.4.2.1.htm
House, Much Divided, Approves Homeland Security Agency
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.28B.hs.house.vote.htm
Bush Wins Victory as House Passes Trade Legislation
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.28C.house.trade.htm
Paul Krugman | The Private Interest
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.28D.krug.private.htm
Bush's Niece Among Targets of Alleged Snooping by Princeton, Newspaper Reports
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.28E.prince.yale.htm
7/27/02
9:48:01 PM
Greetings. I'm Mike Ellis. Some other people and I are about to conviene an online conference for the creation of a unitedearth constitution. Anyone who reads this and anyone whom they know are invited. The date for this conference has not been set but should be soon. Email me at uniderth@hotmail.com if you are interested. If you email me I can keep you updated.
7/27/02
4:46:15 PM
Foundations Are In Place For Martial Law In The United States
by Ritt Goldstein, July 27 2002
Recent pronouncements from the Bush Administration and national security initiatives put in place in the Reagan era could see internment camps and martial law in the United States.
When president Ronald Reagan was considering invading Nicaragua he issued a series of executive orders that provided the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with broad powers in the event of a "crisis" such as "violent and widespread internal dissent or national opposition against a US military invasion abroad". They were never used.
But with the looming possibility of a US invasion of Iraq, recent pronouncements by President George Bush's domestic security chief, Tom Ridge, and an official with the US Civil Rights Commission should fire concerns that these powers could be employed or a de facto drift into their deployment could occur.
On July 20 the Detroit Free Press ran a story entitled "Arabs in US could be held, official warns". The story referred to a member of the US Civil Rights Commission who foresaw the possibility of internment camps for Arab Americans. FEMA has practised for such an occasion.
FEMA, whose main role is disaster response, is also responsible for handling US domestic unrest.
From 1982-84 Colonel Oliver North assisted FEMA in drafting its civil defence preparations. Details of these plans emerged during the 1987 Iran-Contra scandal.
They included executive orders providing for suspension of the constitution, the imposition of martial law, internment camps, and the turning over of government to the president and FEMA.
A Miami Herald article on July 5, 1987, reported that the former FEMA director Louis Guiffrida's deputy, John Brinkerhoff, handled the martial law portion of the planning. The plan was said to be similar to one Mr Giuffrida had developed earlier to combat "a national uprising by black militants". It provided for the detention "of at least 21million American Negroes"' in "assembly centres or relocation camps".
Today Mr Brinkerhoff is with the highly influential Anser Institute for Homeland Security. Following a request by the Pentagon in January that the US military be allowed the option of deploying troops on American streets, the institute in February published a paper by Mr Brinkerhoff arguing the legality of this.
He alleged that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which has long been accepted as prohibiting such deployments, had simply been misunderstood and misapplied.
The preface to the article also provided the revelation that the national plan he had worked on, under Mr Giuffrida, was "approved by Reagan, and actions were taken to implement it".
By April, the US military had created a Northern Command to aid Homeland defence. Reuters reported that the command is "mainly expected to play a supporting role to local authorities".
However, Mr Ridge, the Director of Homeland Security, has just advocated a review of US law regarding the use of the military for law enforcement duties.
Disturbingly, the full facts and final contents of Mr Reagan's national plan remain uncertain. This is in part because President Bush took the unusual step of sealing the Reagan presidential papers last November. However, many of the key figures of the Reagan era are part of the present administration, including John Poindexter, to whom Oliver North later reported.
At the time of the Reagan initiatives, the then attorney-general, William French Smith, wrote to the national security adviser, Robert McFarlane: "I believe that the role assigned to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the revised Executive Order exceeds its proper function as a co-ordinating agency for emergency preparedness ... this department and others have repeatedly raised serious policy and legal objections to an 'emergency czar' role for FEMA."
Criticism of the Bush Administration's response to September11 echoes Mr Smith's warning. On June 7 the former presidential counsel John Dean spoke of America's sliding into a "constitutional dictatorship" and martial law.
Ritt Goldstein is an investigative journalist and a former leader in the movement for US law enforcement accountability. He revealed exclusively in the Herald last week the Bush Administration's plans for a domestic spying system more pervasive than the Stasi network in East Germany.
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/27/1027497418339.html
7/27/02
4:34:55 PM
As Ex-Security Chief Testifies He Was Tortured To Lie
Milosevic Trial Blows Up In Hague Prosecutor's Face
by Jared Israel and Nico Varkevisser at The Hague
Today, as we prepared to post an article about the utter hypocrisy of The Hague "tribunal's" concern for Slobodan Milosevic's health, this "trial of the century" exploded and died.
Now the question is, will it linger in death?
The "tribunal" passed away during the testimony of Rade Markovic, former head of the Department of State Security of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (the Serbian Secret Service). Markovic (pronounced MARK-oh-vich) was cross-examined today, 26 July, by Slobodan Milosevic.
Mind you, the prosecution called Mr. Markovic to testify. He was "their" witness. That is, for some reason they expected him to testify in their favor. And yet, he testified against them...
1) Mr. Markovic testified that the Milosevic government did *not* try to drive ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo during the NATO bombing. Quite the contrary:
"'I told (local officials) that presidential orders are that the flow of refugees must be stopped,' Markovic said during cross-examination by Milosevic..." (AP, 26 July 2002)
2) Mr. Markovic testified that Milosevic came down hard on anti-Albanian hate crime:
"'More than 200 criminal charges were filed against members of the police, and I think a similar figure stands for the army,' said Markovic..." (AP, Ibid)
Some news wire services reported the above points while trying to downplay their significance.
Earlier, Mr. Markovic had testified that starting in 1997 Mr. Milosevic did not exercise direct, daily control of security police. This testimony was misreported in the press. We shall clarify that when we publish the transcripts of Mr. Markovic's testimony, which will be soon.
But no wire service reported the most shocking revelation.
Prior to being brought to The Hague, Rade Markovic was held in a Belgrade jail for the past 17 months.
Today at The Hague, Mr. Markovic testified that he was tortured in that jail to force him to agree to give false testimony against Slobodan Milosevic.
He also testified that the current Belgrade security police, who work in closest cooperation with "tribunal" prosecutors, offered him and his family a change of identity and a comfortable new life in a foreign land if he would lie against Slobodan Milosevic.
Mr. Markovic said that, at one point, pro-NATO Serbian Interior Minister Mihailovic and his Secret Police chief, Goran Petrovic, showed up at the jail with a squad of secret police. Mr. Markovic said they removed him from the facility - itself a violation of Serbian law - and took him to a private dinner where they made him the offer of a new identity with a luxury life -and no more torture - in exchange for false testimony.
The torture and the bribes would explain why the Prosecution had reason to believe Mr. Markovic was "their" witness.
Stunned to see Markovic defy him, Prosecutor Jeffrey Nice (sic!) asked so-called judge Richard May to do something to stop it. And May did try, interrupting the cross-examination to argue that since "We are talking about Kosovo," the issue of Markovic being tortured to give false testimony (about Milosevic's role in Kosovo) was irrelevant.
As of this writing, not one English-language wire service has reported Markovic's shattering accusations or the amazing response of "judge" May.
Why not?
Could it be because there is no way for them to spin these charges in favor of the "tribunal" ...And thus the charges can't be mentioned.
Doesn't this support our own charge, that the Western media has been the agent of a massive anti-Yugoslav disinformation campaign? Is there any other way to explain their not mentioning that the head of Milosevic's secret service was called to testify against Milosevic and instead testified that he had been tortured to lie?
WHO IS CREDIBLE AND WHO IS NOT
What we find in the wire services is negative spin about Markovic, a blackout regarding his torture, and lies.
Dick Dicker from Human Rights Watch - which, from our direct observation at The Hague, virtually runs the "tribunal" - told Agence France Presse that Markovic's testimony "lacked credibility."
Ahh, is that so, Mr. Dicker?
If Rade Markovic so lacks credibility, why did your "tribunal" call him as a prosecution witness? Indeed, why did they call him as the last prosecution witness before the summer break?
Didn't your side call him because they thought he was theirs? Now, why would they think such a thing, Mr. Dicker?
Rade Markovic was never Slobodan Milosevic's political opponent.
So why was your "tribunal" so confident? Why was Mr. Nice so surprised?
Doesn't it make sense that the "court" expected Rade Markovic to cooperate because, "It is understood that he has had certain experiences in jail and he knows what is in store for him - for the rest of his life - if he defies us." Perhaps the flunkies in Belgrade exaggerated the extent of their success persuading Markovic to cooperate. Flunkies will do that to impress the home office.
Is that why your associates trusted him to cooperate? And is that why you and they were stunned when he didn't, so now you must sputter about Markovic not being credible - and him your own witness!
Speaking of credibility, why wasn't Rade Markovic's stunning charge broadcast on TV in the West?
Why doesn't the media report that Rade Markovic named the two US/West European agents - Mihailovic and Petrovic - who oversaw his torture?
Why doesn't the media broadcast the news - the scoop! - that instead of ordering an immediate investigation and putting Mr. Markovic under protection, instead of taking these minimal steps in accord with most basic justice, instead "judge" May told Markovic to stop wasting time with irrelevancies?
Doesn't "judge" May's reaction testify eloquently to the credibility of what Rade Markovic said?
And as for your own credibility, Mr. Dicker, why don't you demand an investigation of this charge of torture in this "trial of the century"? Aren't you Human *Rights* Watch? And if you don't demand an investigation because you *know* he's lying, why don't you share with the rest of us how it is that you know?
In the same dispatch as Dicker's "non-credible" remark, Agence France Presse reported that:
"Markovic has been temporarily released from prison in Serbia in order to testify at the trial." (AFP, 16 July 2002)
This is called lying by half-truth. AFP left out the fact that Mr. Markovic is now being held in Scheveningen, where the Nazis tortured leading members of the Dutch Resistance during World War Two.
So tonight Rade Markovic is at the mercy of those whom he defied.
As we shall document in a forthcoming article about the unbelievable "suicide" of Slavko Dokmanovic, Serbian leaders have died under suspicious circumstances while incarcerated at The Hague. In giving this testimony, Rade Markovic has risked torture and death.
And what did he gain? A nice job with Milosevic? Good treatment for his family in a Belgrade now controlled by NATO and the Western secret services? Rade Markovic had nothing whatsoever to gain in making these charges and he had everything to lose.
His action today went beyond mere credibility. It was magnificent.
GANGSTERISM
But what of the New World Order?
On 28 June 2001, Slobodan Milosevic was kidnapped from Belgrade.
The Yugoslav Constitutional Court had forbidden his extradition: it would violate the Yugoslav constitution. Nevertheless the "tribunal" and its Belgrade stooges kidnapped him. National constitutions don't count under the New Order. (1)
Mr. Milosevic has been abused in the former Nazi jail at Scheveningen. At times he has been tortured with lights on him, 24 hours a day. He has been denied the basic right to meet advisers of his choice.
One of the authors of this article, Nico Varkevisser, was denied permission to see President Milosevic just this month, despite being the Dutch coordinator for Mr. Milosevic's defense.
Chris Black, head of Milosevic's legal defense group, was banned from visiting Mr. Milosevic by the "tribunal", one of whose officials suggested at a press conference last year that the criterion for deciding whether a lawyer could see Mr. Milosevic was whether the "tribunal" believed he or she would have a "good effect" on the prisoner.
President Milosevic is forbidden access to the Internet or a library. His research tool is a pay telephone near his cell.
For five months we have seen an endless parade of blatantly disreputable "witnesses." Some are officials of NATO governments or organizations associated with NATO. It was NATO that bombed Yugoslavia including Kosovo. And NATO spokesperson, Jamie Shea, once boasted that NATO runs the "tribunal." (2)
Other "witnesses" have been Kosovo Liberation Army terrorists, or members of their front groups. That's whom the Milosevic government was fighting on the ground while NATO bombed from the air...
And now we have this case, the abuse of Rade Markovic.
Really, is there a greater disgrace, morally or professionally, than to be part of this "tribunal" or to defend it in the media or through some phony human rights group that fawns and scurries to serve the gangster bullies?
Slobodan Milosevic and Rade Markovic are imprisoned in Scheveningen. On a stone in that former Nazi prison a member of the Dutch Resistance engraved the following words:
"In deze bajes zit geen gajes, maar Hollands glorie, potjandorie."
which means:
"In this prison there are no criminals, but only the glory of Holland."
Let the NATO masters be careful how they treat Slobodan Milosevic and Rade Markovic.
- Jared Israel & Nico Varkevisser are Vice Chairpersons, International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic (ICDSM)
More Reading:
1) The kidnapping of Mr. Milosevic: http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/treas.htm
2) For the press conference in which Jamie Shea indicated that NATO controls the "tribunal," see "Official Statements Prove Hague 'Tribunal' Belongs to NATO" at:
http://www.icdsm.org/more/belongs.htm
Source: http://emperors-clothes.com/milo/rade.htm
7/27/02
4:28:09 PM
Dear All,
Please be advised that August 2002 letters have been posted on our website,
http://www.earthactionnetwork.org
We appreciate each and every one of you for your participation and your dedication to making our world a better place. Although sometimes the effort may seem daunting, we owe it to ourselves, our children, and to all those whose voices may not be heard, to keep at it!
It is important for your U.S. elected representatives to hear from you...otherwise they would mostly be listening to the corporate media and their large campaign contributors!
James Shvarts
webmaster, Earth Action Network
7/27/02
4:26:29 PM
Trouble Tree
I hired a plumber to help me restore an old farmhouse. He had a rough first day on the job: a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric drill quit, and his ancient one-ton truck refused to start.
While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.
When he opened his door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles, and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterward, he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and our children."
"So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home, and I ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning, I pick them up again.
"Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."
7/27/02
4:22:14 PM
Information Resilience And Homeland Security
Freedom of information may be a double-edged sword, but restricting information has only one edge - and it cuts off the lifeblood of a healthy democracy.
by Richard Forno, May 09, 2002
In the current security-conscious environment, many people seem willing to sacrifice their most fundamental democratic rights to support anything that is promoted as good for homeland security. In many cases, an unwillingness to do so is perceived as being ‘unpatriotic’. However, as has been pointed out in this column many times since September 11, we must make sure that we are not throwing out the baby with the bathwater. More to the point, while fulfilling reasonable patriotic duty, we must be sure that we continue to hold our government and corporations accountable for their actions, despite the fact that current challenges may appear to demand unflappable unity in the face of external attack.
Post September 11, there has been a strong push by government security and law enforcement agencies to restrict or withhold any sort of information that could possibly used to engage in or further terrorist activities. Of course, in a society whose primary political and legal principle is supposed to be freedom of speech, this can quickly become problematic.
Particularly problematic is the fact that much of the contentious information is available on the Web sites of some of the large corporations that operate America’s critical infrastructures. Why is this a concern? Because the government is currently proposing laws that will give such companies exemption from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for certain information. In other words, the government is proposing protecting certain corporate information from prying eyes, including yours and mine. The public has a right to know information that may directly affect their lives. Sound far-fetched? Remember the weeks after 9/11 when news reports surfaced that the US government was asking libraries to destroy CDs and databases that contained information about various critical infrastructures in America. How about when the Bush Administration asked federal agencies to review and remove potentially damaging information from their Web sites? Or when the government asked watchdog groups like the Federation of American Scientists to remove sensitive information from their sites.
For example, chemical plants and nuclear power facilities removed ‘sensitive’ reports and documentation about public health, environmental safety, and facility security from their websites, allegedly to preclude a terrorist from obtaining information for malicious purposes. Absent many such reports, how will the public, watchdog groups, or regulatory or enforcement agencies be able to monitor for potential problems that affect the public? The fear here is that, under the guise of ‘national security’ the government is actually allowing corporations to avoid scrutiny by and accountability to the taxpaying public that is, in effect, paying for the critical infrastructures. Come to think of it, perhaps Enron was getting a head start by shredding documents in the name of homeland security to avoid anyone discovering how it really operated large parts of America’s critical energy infrastructures?
The attempt to provide national security by obscuring corporate information has resonance in the information security world. It brings to mind the full disclosure debate, which pits the security community’s need to know about problems as quickly as possible against corporations’ interests in maintaining positive public perception and market share. Without the real-time information-sharing ventures that full disclosure enables, system administrators are placed in a ‘holding pattern’, and are kept in the dark until (umm, errr, if…) a vendor decides to acknowledge and address a reported problem.
Both the attempt to circumvent the FOIA and to muzzle full disclosure sound very effective at thwarting evil, but in reality neither effectively enhances public security. The community in general – be it computer users or society at large – must be able to obtain raw information about issues that potentially affect their well-being, whether that means chemical spills or the latest Windows exploits. The general public cannot be solely dependent on any one entity for information. Going down that path creates an environment of security through ignorance.
Despite the sensational management hype calling for this approach, it rarely works in reality. People quickly forget that anything that a person can use (from a knife to airplanes to automobiles and knowledge) can be used to endanger others, provided malicious intent is present. However, dealing with the tiny number of people capable of such malice should not mean forcing the remaining majority into a society in which information of public interest is withheld out of fear. Law abiding citizens in a healthy democracy should not be destined to live in ignorance that is encouraged by corporations and enforced by governments.
In the United States, and elsewhere in the world, the public has a right to know information that may directly affect their lives. If a GAO report says airport security is bad, travelers should know about it. If a safety report says that it’s too easy for someone to break into a chemical plant and cause an accident, the local residents should know about it. If a dangerous vulnerability is discovered in a widely utilized operating system, systems administrators should know about it. The list goes on. The right to self-protection is fundamental to the right to self-determination. By allowing corporations to withhold crucial infrastructure information, the government may be complicitous in depriving its citizenry of its most fundamental right. Indeed, as Paul McMasters wrote in a Freedom Forum article, denial of access shushes the democratic dialogue that is part of what makes America so attractive to its citizens and those wishing to come here.
Terrorism, by its very definition, is unconventional. Contrary to popular belief, there’s no way to guard against every single form of attack. Nor is it possible, or desirable, to withhold from public view all knowledge that could be used for malfeasance. Information - like knowledge - is a double-edged sword. The vast majority of those interested in information regarding America’s critical infrastructures are not terrorists. They should not be branded as potential terrorists or evildoers by government actions that restrict their ability to access such materials. It may be trite to say it at this point in time, nearly eight months after the September attacks, but it is true nevertheless: if we use the events of September 11 to deny the basics rights and freedoms of a healthy democracy, the terrorists will have won.
7/27/02
4:16:45 PM
Bush Would Allow Businesses To Withhold Health, Safety Data
by Paul McMasters
At a time when the public and elected officials alike are clamoring for more disclosure and accountability in the corporate world, a little-noted provision in legislation establishing a Department of Homeland Security could make corporate dealings even more obscure and less accountable.
Despite criticism from members of Congress and public-interest and press groups, the administration is insisting on "information-sharing" language for the legislation that would allow the new department to exempt businesses from the legal requirements of the Freedom of Information Act when voluntarily submitting "critical infrastructure information" to the department.
The FOIA exemption, pushed by the technology industry, utilities, financial services firms, manufacturers and others, also would free businesses from the disclosure requirements of local and state laws — and grant them immunity from civil liability for violations of securities, tax, civil rights, environmental, labor, consumer protection, health and safety laws that might be revealed in the information they provide.
More importantly, it would deny to the public crucial information about hazardous materials, chemical releases, toxic spills and other threats to health and safety — as well as vulnerabilities to terrorism and sabotage. There would be a real risk that critical infrastructure vulnerabilities would be worse if the public can't access information about how private businesses are running nuclear and chemical plants, refineries, water systems and other facilities located in thousands of neighborhoods across the land.
In other words, this exemption would not be your ordinary loophole but rather a standing invitation for companies with something to hide to label incriminating material as "critical infrastructure information" and put it beyond the reach of the public, the press, the Congress and the courts.
In a letter to members of Congress, 10 press organizations warned that such an exemption "is ripe for misuse and abuse" and that "the public's interest is hardly served by such secrecy."
There is a long list of reasons why writing this exemption into the homeland security legislation is no way for the government to do business.
First among them is the fact that such an exemption is unnecessary, as administration officials have conceded. The FOIA already exempts from disclosure real national security information as well as trade secrets and confidential business information. Further, the courts are consistently deferential to such claims.
Massive amounts of government information already have been withdrawn from the public and press in the last few months. Proposals for even more denial of access, especially if the rationale advanced is for national security, should be looked at closely. For example, the current proposal is very similar to legislation to exempt critical infrastructure information introduced in Congress long before Sept. 11 and the war on terrorism.
The federal government has been granted expanded authority to wiretap telephones, eavesdrop on e-mail traffic, monitor Web site visits, mine private databases and check up on the reading habits of American citizens. In addition, the Justice Department has proposed a citizen informant project in which a million letter carriers, meter readers, cable installers and others who routinely enter our homes would be trained to spot and report "suspicious" activity.
Ironically, while private citizens are being told to be content with less privacy and access, private businesses are being offered greater privacy and less accountability. This generous gesture toward the private sector comes in the wake of a series of unsettling revelations about corporate abuses that have cost the economy and millions of Americans dearly. Granting private businesses more secrecy and immunity could cost our security dearly.
Certainly, there are secrets that must be kept — information that would indeed harm the U.S. and help its enemies if disclosed. But truly dangerous information already is protected from disclosure.
Without access to the kind of information that would be exempted in this proposal, there is no accountability for mistakes and misdeeds, no public pressure to address critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, and no informed discourse on policies that impact dramatically on public life.
That means that critical vulnerabilities would not be identified, the solutions proposed would not be known, and any efforts to fix them would go unchecked.
If Congress approves this exemption, it will have abdicated its oversight responsibilities and embraced the idea that the private sector must be given a pass on compliance with access laws to encourage it do its part in the war on terrorism. More importantly, it will have diminished the role of American citizens as full partners in the democratic process.
Paul McMasters is the First Amendment Ombudsman at the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center
Source: http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/opinion/3698314.htm
7/27/02
4:04:19 PM
"People talk peace. But men give their life's work to war. It won't stop 'til there is as much brains and scientific study put to aid peace as there is to promote war."
Will Rogers
7/27/02
4:02:26 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
"We Cover the Earth For You"
CANADA CLAIMS SOFTWOOD LUMBER WIN
OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada, July 26, 2002 (ENS) - The United States effort to put import duties on Canadian softwood lumber appears to have been dealt a blow today by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-26-02.asp
REPORT: CORPS PROJECTS NEED EXTERNAL REVIEW
WASHINGTON, DC, July 26, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should seek external scientific reviews of its most costly, complex and controversial planning studies, concludes a new report from the National Research Council. The reviews should be made public, and the Corps should respond in writing to each key element, added the committee that wrote the report.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-26-06.asp
FLOODS DISPLACE THOUSANDS OF VENEZUELANS
CARACAS, Venezuela, July 26, 2002 (ENS) - More than 20,000 additional residents have been displaced from continued flooding in southwest Venezuela, bringing the total to 50,000 people affected by the floods. The hardest hit region remains Apure State, where five people have been killed.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-26-03.asp
VOLCANO ERUPTS ON GOMA'S DOORSTEP AGAIN
NAIROBI, Kenya, July 26, 2002 (ENS) - United Nations officials are monitoring an active volcano that began erupting Thursday night near the eastern Congolese city of Goma, which was largely destroyed by another volcano earlier this year.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-26-04.asp
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JULY 26, 2002
CHEMICAL, NUCLEAR SECURITY BILLS PASS COMMITTEE
SPIKED PLUTONIUM MIMICS AGING WEAPONS
FEDS CALL MANATEE SETTLEMENT ILLEGAL
NATION'S OLDEST CATTLE RANCH PROTECTS FORESTS
PANEL URGES PUBLIC WARNINGS ABOUT MERCURY IN TUNA
RADIOS LEAD RESEARCHERS TO MURRELET NESTS
ILLEGAL FISH IMPORTS BRING INDICTMENT
FISH IN LEWIS AND CLAR'S FOOTSTEPS
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-26-09.asp
7/27/02
4:00:32 PM
Dr. Helen Caldicott and the Nuclear Policy Research Institute continue to work hard to get the word about the nuclear weapons and nuclear energy industries into the mainstream media.
Although there is so much more to do, we're especially excited to announce that Dr. Caldicott has made headway into the mass media. The response has already been overwhelming and gratifying, even though even bigger appearances are yet to come. Dr. Caldicott's speech before a rapt audience at the University of Vermont has already been played twice by C-Span, and we've been flooded with emails from people wanting to help or donate following those broadcasts.
In the following few weeks, Dr. Caldicott will be making two major national media appearances to talk about NPRI and the state of nuclear issues:
*LARRY KING LIVE: On Saturday, July 27, Dr. Caldicott will be Larry King's guest. You can tune in to CNN at 6:00 and 9:00 pm, and 12:00 a.m PST to see her talk with Larry about NPRI, her new book "The New Nuclear Danger." Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy will share this time with Dr. Caldicott as an opposing view.
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/
*DONAHUE: On Tuesday, August 6, Dr. Caldicott will tape the Donahue show. After a hiatus from television, Donahue is back and enabling the world to hear from voices too often ignored by conservative media outlets. His show airs weeknights at 8pm on MSNBC. We're pleased that Dr. Caldicott will be on his show when it is only a month old. As of this mailing the airning date is not known please, check the website for the airing time.
We invite you to tune into these and tell us and the broadcast stations what you think! These appearances will be great opportunities for the general public to become reacquainted with Dr. Caldicott, but they are only a start. She, and others, need to make many more appearances before the major media so that forgotten nuclear dangers once again become part of the public consciousness. To that end, NPRI is still in a fundraising stage, and we invite you to make a tax-deductible donation of whatever amount you can afford to NPRI at www.nuclearpolicy.org. Just as importantly, tell your friends about Dr. Caldicott's mission and NPRI's work, and ask them to tune in to shows like Larry King Live and Donahue.
Mark your calendar for Sept. 11, 2002. - Leadership & Hope in the Age of Terrorism: An Evening with Dr. Helen Caldicott. Dr. Caldicott will be speaking at the Herbst Theater, San Francisco, CA, 7:30pm. Call 415-392-4400 for tickets.
7/27/02
3:56:22 PM
Investment Espionage And The White House
Bush Administration Links To Pre-9/11 Insider Trading
by Tom Flocco, July 16, 2002
There is growing evidence that the FBI and other government intelligence entities are more closely linked to the documented accumulation of pre-9/11 insider trading profits than was originally thought. But thus far the Joint Congressional Intelligence Committee has not publicly referred to prior knowledge of the attacks as it relates to stock transaction profits, while also failing after nine months to publicize the critical Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “control list” report tracing what in effect were stock trading profits of death.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) spokesman Tom Crispell denied that the CIA was monitoring “real-time,” pre-September 11 stock trading activity within U.S. borders using such software as the Prosecutor’s Management Information System (PROMIS) or the Echelon satellite monitoring system. However, when asked whether the CIA had been scrutinizing world financial markets for national security purposes, Crispell replied, “I have no way of knowing what operations are [being affected by our assets] outside the country.” Given 3,000 deaths, victim family lawyers may want to know.
CIA AND 9/11 INVESTMENT ESPIONAGE?
A January 23, 2002 Houston Chronicle report revealed that Enron Corporation’s top security team, including four former CIA officers and an ex-FBI agent left the company to form a private firm, Secure Solutions International (SSI), while continuing with Enron via a consulting contract. John W. Presley, the FBI agent now heading SSI could not be reached for comment. But the team probed a “variety of allegations of fraud and other kinds of rule-breaking by Enron workers,” according to the Chronicle.
Team member and former CIA agent David M. Cromley’s business biography at Enron listed him as Enron’s director of business analysis, the Chronicle reported, adding that Cromley gave Enron executives “detailed and unique information” allowing them to make “investments, sales of assets, joint ventures and [financial] products.”
But no public information has been forthcoming as to whether such “detailed and unique information” or sensitive CIA software was used in conjunction with Enron’s controversial off-shore investment products, or whether their missing assets may have been employed in what former German Minister of Technology, Andreas von Bulow, estimated at $15 billion in insider trading profits. (Tagesspiegel, Berlin, 1-13-2002) Von Bulow then buttressed his astounding charges: “26 intelligence services in the U.S. with a budget of $30 billion....For 60 decisive minutes, the military and intelligence let fighter jets stay on the ground....48 hours later, however, the FBI presented a list of suicide hijackers. But within ten days, it emerged that seven of them were still alive.”
An examination of SSI’s website reveals that its corporate members have “managed cutting-edge counterterrorism and counterproliferation operations for the CIA, implemented advanced technical information and security programs for the CIA, and conducted a wide range of investigations for the FBI,” while also “overseeing all security arrangements for several large gas pipeline companies.”
It is yet to be determined if Congress will publicly question CIA Director George Tenent as to whether CIA and FBI employees were "loaned" to Enron's corporate espionage program, involved in personal pre-9/11 insider trading, or merely relaying sensitive insider political information to others involved in prior knowledge of the attacks. However, victim family lawyers will likely be forced to subpoena government documents and officials to effectively prosecute any negligence claims against government entities.
The fraud-racked Enron Corporation has had at least 20 CIA agents on the payroll in the last eight years. But while the Houston Chronicle reported the operatives as “former” CIA, a February 26, 2002 National Enquirer story quoted a top Washington insider familiar with several secret investigations into Enron, as reporting that they were given “leaves of absence without pay and put on the Enron payroll.”
The source added that Enron’s CIA members used “info gleaned from a satellite project called ‘Echelon,’ which intercepted emails, phone calls and faxes with detailed business information,” adding that “pure and simple, [taxpayer-funded] U.S. intelligence agents were involved in corporate espionage.” Another Enquirer source with ties to the CIA revealed that "the cozy deal between Enron and the CIA allowed the 'on-loan' undercover operatives to return to the Agency's payroll before Enron's collapse."
Known CIA links traverse a curious variety of unexamined threads in the U.S. financial community. Online Journal’s Larry Chin (2-1-2002), reminded that [mega-money conglomerate] “Citigroup has repeatedly been charged with money laundering. This, as it’s Board of Directors includes John Deutch, former CIA Director, Robert Rubin, former Treasury Secretary and intimate friend of Enron’s Ken Lay, but also former CIA Executive Director Nora Slatkin.”
Even Congress has a close CIA link. Senate Joint Intelligence Co-Chairman Bob Graham and his House Intelligence Co-Chairman and former CIA operative Porter Goss were meeting with the Chief of the Pakistani Intelligence Service on the morning of the Sept.11 attacks, according to published reports. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that room.
SENATE AND HOUSE LINKS TO TERRORISTS
Worrisome reports link two intelligence leaders in the Senate and House directly to the leader of Pakistan's intelligence arm, The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and indirectly to the leader of the 9/11 Hijackers.
A Times of India (10-12-2001) story by Manoj Joshi revealed that Pakistani ISA Director-General Lt. General Mahmud Ahmad sought retirement after the U.S. attacks -- confirmed by top sources in India, because of evidence produced by India showing his links to Mohammed Atta, the terrorist hijacking leader.
The Times said that "U.S. authorities sought his [Ahmad's] removal after confirming the fact that $100,000 was wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh on the instructions of ISI Lt. General Ahmad." Senior [U.S.] government sources "have confirmed that India contributed significantly to establishing the link between the money transfer and the role played by the dismissed ISI chief."
The Times added that "while they did not provide details, they said that Indian inputs, including Sheikh's mobile phone number, helped the FBI in tracing and establishing the link."
Serious questions remain, however, as Senate Joint Intelligence Co-Chairman Bob Graham (D-FL) and his House Intelligence Co-Chairman and former CIA operative Porter Goss (R-FL) were meeting with ISI Chief, Lt. General Mahmud Ahmad, on the very morning of the September 11 attacks, according to published reports. (New York Times, 2-17-2002 & MSNBC-TV, 10-7-2001).
Since Graham and Goss are Co-Chairmen of the Joint-Intelligence Committee investigating the 9/11 attacks, difficulties could arise when the Congressional Open Intelligence Hearings commence in mid-September, and whether other Members will have the courage to seek testimony from the Chairmen of their own Committee, regarding their questionable links to the U.S. terrorism.
Thus far, Graham and Goss will have been able to postpone open hearings for over one year, as they are currently scheduled to start near the end of September. Moreover, devastated and grieving 9/11 victim families have been unable to hold Congress accountable to seek justice, while hearings have continued behind closed doors in a sound-proof room at the Capitol.
Other members of the Joint Intelligence Committee could be placed in the uncomfortable position of having to call Graham and Goss to testify as to why they were meeting -- on the morning of the attacks -- with the Pakistani ISI Chief, who was having money wired into the United States to support the efforts of the leader of the terrorist hijackers while the attacks were in progress!
Other Committee Members would likely be interested in what was said at the meeting with Lt. Gen. Ahmad, and more about his relationship with Graham and Goss, given Ahmad's links to Mohammed Atta.
These and other growing connections indicating prior knowledge of the attacks also make a case for how the profits of death were accumulated by insider trading via the United States Stock Market. This, while the SEC will not release its "Control List" of suspicious stock trades involving companies and airlines directly related to the attacks.
FBI AGENTS INDICTED IN 9/11-LINKED STOCK SCHEME
On the heels of alleged CIA involvement in public stock trading and use of sensitive prior knowledge of last fall’s attacks, 13 days ago on May 22, FBI agents Jeffrey A. Royer and Lynn Wingate were charged with racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Royer was also charged with extortion, according to an examination of an unsealed federal indictment: United States vs. Elgindy, Royer, Wingate, Cleveland, and Peters, filed in New York District Court by Alan Vinegard, United States Attorney -- all of which clouds either open or secret congressional probes of pre-attack insider trading profits.
Vinegard’s news release said “the allegations reveal a shocking partnership between an experienced stock manipulator and law enforcement agents, undertaken for their illicit personal financial gain.” Moreover, Royer and Wingate allegedly used the FBI’s Automated Case Support database to actually monitor the investigation, passing confidential information about the investigations of companies to participants in a stock manipulation scheme, according to the Washington Post. (5-23-2002)
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Breen said stock advisor Amr Ibrahim Elgindy, charged in the indictment, called his Salomon Smith Barney broker, trying to sell $300,000 in stock from his children’s trust funds on the afternoon of Sept.10. During the conversation, Elgindy “predicted that the Dow Jones industrial average, which at the time stood at about 9,600, would soon crash to below 3,000,” according to the New York Times, (5-25-2002), thus begging the question whether Congress will publicly disclose other indications of alleged CIA or FBI complicity in prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks.
NSA DESTROYING 9/11 DATA ON AMERICANS AND U.S. COMPANIES
Two individuals with close intelligence ties told the Boston Globe (10-27-2001) that since September 11, the super secret National Security Agency (NSA), acting on the advice of their lawyers, have been destroying data collected on American citizens and corporations, angering other intelligence agencies seeking leads in the anti-terrorist probe. Two calls by American Free Press to Joint-Congressional Intelligence Committee Ranking Member, Senator Richard Shelby, to confirm details revealed by the sources were unreturned.
Since the October Globe report, no other media outlet has examined the heated discussions with the CIA and intelligence committee staff members, as NSA lawyers turned down requests to preserve the intelligence because regulations prohibit data collecting on Americans, inviting lawsuits, according to the two former senior U.S. officials. However, Vincent Cannistraro, former CIA Director of Counter-terrorism, told Scoop Media that “the law allows [intelligence officials] exceptions in certain circumstances.” Both the CIA and FBI had declined comment.
Cannistraro added that “If American citizens are believed to be involved in some way in a foreign intelligence operation that could lead to terrorism against this country, I believe the NSA is required to save or maintain the information.” When asked about the NSA and the 9/11 attacks, the former CIA official told Scoop. “In this case, I believe they should have saved the surveillance data.” Congress has been tight-lipped, and government investigators are extremely frustrated that many possible leads stemming from the Sept.11 attack were not being followed because of the NSA position.
RELEASING THE SEC "CONTROL" LIST
According to the San Francisco Chronicle (10-19-01), the SEC privately asked North American securities firms to participate in an information-sharing system to trace “large numbers of trades in securities of companies [directly] affected by the attacks. Curiously, however, the SEC asked companies “to designate senior personnel who appreciate ‘the sensitive nature’ of the case [pre-attack insider trading], and can be relied upon to ‘exercise appropriate discretion,’ as ‘point’ people linking government investigators and the [securities] industry.” Then the SEC asked for the names, titles, phone numbers and e-mail of the designated senior personnel, according to reporter Scott Winokur.
On October 2, 2001, Canadian securities officials confirmed that the SEC had asked firms to review records for 38 companies, suggesting that some buyers and sellers might have had advance knowledge of the attacks, according to Winokur. A Scoop examination of the Center for Public Integrity’s financial records of the top 100 Bush Administration officials reveals ownership of millions of dollars in these 38 stocks which would not be different from any other wealthy American.
However, Congress has thus far refused to make public what the Chronicle reported as an SEC “control list” containing confidential information about transactions, individuals, relationships, and entities identified by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in the probe. The existence of the SEC list would still be a secret if not for an accidental leak via the Canadian securities officials.
There is as yet no reporting regarding whether the “entities” were SPE’s linked to Enron. The SEC added, “Because the control list contains confidential information, we ask that you disseminate it within your institution only on a need-to-know basis.” But Congress or the Courts may ultimately decide whether the families of Sept.11 also need to know the identities of individuals with prior knowledge -- allegedly involved in the profits of death.
The Wall Street Journal (10-2-2002) reported that the Secret Service was also probing an unusually high volume of five-year U.S. Treasury note purchases made prior to the attacks -- one purchase included a single $5 billion trade. The Journal called Treasury notes among the best investments in the event of a world crisis, with their value having risen substantially since September 11. Moreover, the Associated Press reported that a German Central Bank study strongly pointed to “terrorism insider trading” not only in airline and insurance companies but also in gold and oil futures. Will Congress chalk it up to coincidence?
DEUTSCHEBANK & MAYER, BROWN & PLATT
The evidence linking Deutschebank to the terrorists and insider trading is clearly quite extraordinary: 1) The lead hijacker pilot and two accomplices had bank accounts at its Hamburg branch, 2) One of its unnamed private investors never claimed $2.5 million in United Airlines put option contract profits following the attacks, 3) Its global “private banking” chief Mayo Shattuck III, resigned the day following the attacks in the middle of a three-year $40 million contract, 4) It hired away SEC enforcement and investigation chief Richard Walker just 20 days after the attacks, 5) Its recent senior investment banker Kevin Ingram pled guilty to money laundering involving Stinger missiles and multiple varieties of arms sales to Pakistani and Egyptian citizens just 14 days prior to Sept.11, and 6) Deutschebank was heavily involved in the 9/11 insider trading but Congress has not questioned former Alex (A.B.) Brown division head A. B. “Buzzy” Krongard -- appointed by George Bush as Executive Director (number three) of the CIA -- regarding intelligence and “real-time” stock trade monitoring. [note: all evidence in the above paragraph is sourced in the "Profits of Death" series on pre-9/11 criminal insider trading, Parts I, II, III, at www.copvcia.com -- Sept. 11 Section]
European reporters found that most of the suspicious pre-attack trades passed through Deutschebank and especially via CIA Executive Director A.B. Krongard’s former Alex Brown investment division by means of a procedure called portage, which assures the anonymity of individuals making the transactions. But Congress has not publicly revealed whether they will call Krongard and other Alex Brown traders to testify in open hearings, or whether they will subpoena the pre-attack documents in question.
CFO.com, an online site for corporate executives, revealed on 1-28-2002 that Deutschebank was a limited partner in either the controversial Enron special purpose entities (SPEs), LJM or Chewco -- those off balance sheets and off-shore products heavily involved in Enron’s demise, and run by Enron CFO Andrew Fastow. This begs the question as to whether Congress or the Courts will determine whether missing funds from Enron were possibly part of a scheme to develop funds to profit from the air attacks -- given the many interwoven ties between Enron and Deutschebank.
CFO.com also revealed that a former Enron employee prepared an SEC filing, having deleted Deutschebank’s name from LJM version sent to the SEC. But curiously, “that deletion was made at the behest of William McLucas, former SEC enforcement director, hired by Enron after the attacks on October 31. The former employee also claims to have received instructions to destroy the draft of the SEC filing. But not a public word from Congress.
IS JOHN P. SCHMITZ A KEY PLAYER?
John P. Schmitz, George H.W. Bush’s former Deputy Counsel during the Elder’s Vice-Presidency and Presidency, will likely be a key player if Americans force Congress to become serious about its 9/11 probe. Some may remember Schmitz from the Iran/contra investigation, when the Office of the Independent Counsel (OIC) reported that each witness interviewed regarding document production complied except for Schmitz, who asserted that his documents were privileged work product.
Schmitz, fluent in German and a Partner in global-law firm Mayer, Brown & Platt, has clients that include Bayer AG (German maker of the antibiotic Cipro which fights Anthrax, about which Larry Klayman and Judicial Watch (JW) will have keen interest. Recently, JW filed suit seeking the Administration’s anthrax documents to ascertain why the White House starting taking heavy doses of Cipro the day of the attacks -- nearly a month before anthrax was even discovered on Capitol Hill, and while postal workers continued to sort mail in contaminated offices -- some dying in the process.
But John Schmitz’s Mayer-Brown profile also reveals that he represents Enron, adding that “we were active in Germany [with Enron] until the end....It [bankruptcy] surprised me as well as anyone else,” according to Reuters (1-4-2002). Moreover, Mayer-Brown also represents Deutschebank on a regular basis regarding its electronic commerce activities; and curiously, Schmitz’s law firm maintains an office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan along with Enron -- if only to make sure oil is well in the Caspian Sea basin.
Even many 9/11 victim families will even come to recognize Mayer-Brown; for conveniently, the firm also happens to represent United Airlines against 9/11 family lawyers Mary Schiavo and Donald Nolan. And given partner John P. Schmitz’s close former relationships with the Bush family, Mayer-Brown’s many water coolers may become intriguing conduits when Miss Schiavo and Mr. Nolan begin their respective legal discovery initiatives regarding who will be subpoenaed or deposed and what evidence is or is not revealed.
SOFT OR AGGRESSIVE INVESTIGATION?
In an interview with Scoop Media, former Washington, DC United States Attorney Joseph de Genova took a hard line, saying “If the Congress does not want to get answers to these critical questions regarding who profited [from prior knowledge of the attacks], then it needs to be litigated.” And asked whether Americans have a right to know who sold large blocks of stock shares in companies and airlines directly affected by the attacks or purchased billions in ultra-safe Treasury notes directly prior to 9/11, de Genova added, “I believe someone will litigate the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) issue related to the Ashcroft memo, if government agencies keep obstructing the media -- the sooner, the better.”
While thousands of American families, victimized by terrorism, still remain numb with grief, information is being advanced daily regarding what could be described by some as casual, if not negligent, long-term slipshod governmental responsiveness to fundamental internal national security and safety questions -- or worse. But even if they come out of their secret, sound-proof Capitol bunker into the light of open hearings, questions still remain as to whether they have the courage to forcefully seek answers to the real unanswered questions.
Yes, we’ve come a long way from those pre-attack United and American Airline put and call ratio arguments about “lucky bets”-- for the evidence regarding profits of death is intriguing. This is real serious stuff. But curiously, both the President and Vice-President have lobbied mightily for only one joint investigative committee instead of multiple and bicameral, Enron-style hearings. Maybe we’ll get a stacked-deck, wink-and-a-nod, “blue ribbon” panel. Only time will tell. But as the First Lady always reminds us: “Don’t worry. Just tell your children they’re safe.”
Tom Flocco is an independent investigative journalist.
Contact him via email at: mailto:TomFlocco@cs.com
Kyle F. Hence contributed additional research.
Unanswered Questions: http://www.unansweredquestions.org
7/27/02
3:49:17 PM
TomPaine.com
Check out the new design in the interior pages! Like it? Hate it? Let us know at editor@tompaine.com!
CONGRESS, CAMPAIGN CASH, AND CORPORATE REFORM
Can Congress Serve Two Masters?
by Steven Rosenfeld
Just when the public might expect Congress to protect their retirement savings and shore up the economy, top lawmakers are privately raising money from the very business interests they're denouncing in public.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6067
A DEMOCRATIC SWEEP IN NOVEMBER? FORGET IT
Not Even FDR Would Recognize Today's Democrats
by Richard Blow
Democratic leaders say they'll win big this fall. Here's why the party's candidates lack credibility on key populist issues.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6065
IT'S TIME TO FEDERALIZE CORPORATE CHARTERS
Delaware And Other States Aren't Tough Enough
by Kent Greenfield
If Bush and Congress are serious about reforming corporate behavior and protecting the public interest, they cannot leave corporate chartering in state hands.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6081
BUSH ADOPTS HYPOCRISY
If Adoption Is So Important, Why Not Invite A Foster Child To The White House?
by David Corn
Bush recently garnered warm and fuzzy PR by hyping his pro-adoption Web site. But if he truly cared about the plight of orphans and foster children, he'd send the $34 million we owe to the United Nations Population Fund.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6087
WHY UNILATERALISM WILL ERODE AMERICA'S INFLUENCE
What Happens When The Big Cheese Stands Alone?
by Jim Lobe
The more Washington indulges its unilateralist and military instincts, the faster its hyperpower status will erode.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6071
CAPITALISM WITHOUT CONSCIENCE
It's Time For American Business To Clean Up Its Act by Arianna Huffington
There has got to be a very special place in hell for corporations willing to sacrifice the health of their customers on the altar of increased profits.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6062
WHOOPS! HOW THE NEW YORK MEDIA GOT THE STORY WRONG
In Defense Of Rich White Kids
by Michael Ryan
"He fit the profile: fancy home, expensive boat, nice clothes. The fact that he was guilty of none of the things he was accused of did not stop the media from blackening his name, perhaps forever."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6063
REDISCOVERY OF THE COMMONS
by David Bollier
The commons movement is about re-conceptualizing what should be public and shared and what limits should constrain the expansion of markets.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6016
7/27/02
3:45:03 PM
Warmest Seas On Record Stress Great Barrier Reef
Australia researching if reef can survive ‘bleaching’
MSNBC Staff And Wire Reports, July 25, 2002
Sydney, Australia — Sea temperatures around Australia’s Great Barrier Reef early this year were the warmest on record, scientists reported Thursday, and a developing El Nino weather system poses a further threat to the reef’s temperature-sensitive coral. Government scientists said warmer temperatures stressed 60 percent of the coral on the reef, the world’s largest living organism at 133,300 square miles.
The coral becomes stressed, or bleached, when warmer temperatures break down the symbiotic relationship between coral and algae living inside. During bleaching, the algae leaves the coral, disrupting the growth as well as color of the coral, leaving it white. In severe cases the coral will die. The report comes from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, which just completed an atlas of sea temperatures over the past decade and amalgamated it with historical data to show 2002 was the warmest year for water temperatures off northeast Australia since 1870. “Unless the corals can adapt and become acclimatized, then obviously the long-term future for the coral is at risk,” said Craig Steinberg, an oceanographer at AIMS, an Australian government agency. “The outlook isn’t good. If coral can’t adapt then they’re going to bleach and you get mass mortality.” The sea temperature over the last century has risen by just half a degree Celsius. But corals tend to live within 1 to 2 degrees of their maximum temperature threshold, and a tiny increase is therefore enough to ensure a major impact.
WORSE THAN 1998?
Bleaching in early 2002 covered 60 percent of the reef, even more than the 1998 event that made headlines worldwide. “Until now, the coral bleaching episode in 1998 was the worst on record,” researcher Ray Berkelmans, who headed an aerial survey of the reef, reported in May. “But the 2002 event was probably worse because more reef area was affected. The most severe bleaching occurred on reefs close to shore in both bleaching events, but the 2002 event has affected a greater area of reefs further offshore.” On the positive side, it appeared likely that most reefs would recover with only a minor number of coral deaths. The 1998 bleaching was tied to an El Nino, which warms the waters of the Pacific. The onset of another El Nino this year, albeit one that U.S. experts say is likely to be mild, has increased the chances of another southern hemisphere summer of high sea water temperatures at the start of 2003.
GLOBAL WARMING
The bleaching in early 2002 was not during an El Nino year, making the high temperatures even more unusual. AIMS climate expert Janice Lough said that points to another possible culprit: global warming. “Reef managers can do all they can to reduce all the other threats to coral reefs but they can’t solve individually the global problem (of climate change),” said Lough. Whether warming is part of a natural climate shift, or due to human emissions of certain gases like carbon dioxide, is still being debated. “We still do not know the relationship between global warming and natural variability,” said Penehuro Lefale, a researcher with New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. “So it’s a bit too early to look at that.” Speaking to reporters at a conference hosted by SeaWeb, a marine science advocacy group, Lefale appealed to South Pacific governments to resist financial pressure to remove long-standing weather stations, arguing that they will provide the historical data needed to study the climate change connection.
ADAPTABILITY RESEARCH
Coral can recover after mild bleaching but researchers fear that its ability to overcome heat stress may be weakened if high temperatures become more common. This image taken last February shows Great Barrier Reef coral that has bleached due to warmer temperatures. AIMS researchers are trying to establish whether coral has the ability to adapt quickly to changing temperatures. There is evidence that they can over long periods of time, but so far no indication of any short-term ability to acclimatize. Long-term adaptation could see some types of coral die-off and be replaced by more resilient coral. “It’s not so much that the reef will die, it’s that the reef will change,” Lough said. “If you sort of knock out certain of the corals then other organisms might take their place.” Terry Done, AIMS’ lead researcher on bleaching, called for more research but wasn’t hopeful about the reef’s future. “We may be witnessing the beginning of a slow-motion degradation of the reef system that will only get worse in coming decades,” he said last May.
REEFS ELSEWHERE
Straddling the equator, reefs are found around the globe and what’s happened at the Great Barrier Reef has happened elsewhere as well. One approach to protecting reefs is to find out which ones have proven resilient to bleaching and then ensure that they get protection against other threats, such as the trade in coral for aquariums and fishing that destroys reef to get to the fish. “If we find an area with resistant corals they should get protection,” Andrew Smith, a scientist with The Nature Conservancy, told the SeaWeb conference. “We can’t stop coral bleaching but hopefully we can maximize corals’ ability to recover.” The Nature Conservancy is funding a pilot project in Palau, a South Pacific island nation, where some protected marine reserves will be redrawn to incorporate resilient reefs. The group and others are also drafting guidelines to present to the World Parks Congress in 2003. Additional information about bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, as well as AIMS’ new atlas, are online at http://www.aims.gov.au.
MSNBC.com’s Miguel Llanos as well as Reuters contributed to this story.
Source: http://www.msnbc.com/news/785357.asp
7/27/02
3:37:44 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
GREAT BURIAL REEF
It's not a great time to be the Great Barrier Reef. When sea temperatures around the famed Australian landmark hit record highs early this year, 60 percent of the coral on the reef suffered from heat-related bleaching, according to marine scientists. Warm water temperatures caused the algae that live on the reef to leave, disrupting the symbiotic relationship between coral and algae and sometimes resulting in the death of the coral. Janice Lough of the Australian Institute of Marine Science pointed to global warming as a possible cause of the bleaching. Meanwhile, the reef is facing another threat: shipping accidents. In November 2000, a 21,000-ton freighter loaded with fuel and other hazardous cargo ran aground on part of the reef; three coral areas had to be destroyed to free it. Now the Australian government is planning to implement 41 measures to protect the reef from shipping disasters, including using local pilots in the more difficult passages. Such measures could go a ways toward protecting the reef, but, as Lough said, "Reef managers can do all they can to reduce all the other threats to coral reefs, but they can't solve individually the global problem [of climate change]."
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, 25 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=300>
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 26 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=301>
only in Grist: Coral-ations -- fun facts about coral reefs -- in our Counter Culture section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/counter/counter061802.asp?source=daily>
do good: Take action to save the Great Barrier Reef <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/oceans.asp?source=daily#reef>
RADAR STRANGE
Ever since Sept. 11, sophisticated surveillance systems have been the talk of the town, and fans have proposed installing them in all sorts of places -- airports, subway systems, sports stadiums. But rainforests? Yep. Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso flew to the jungle city of Manaus yesterday to inaugurate the Amazon Surveillance System, a $1.4 billion network of radar stations and high-tech equipment. The system, built by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, will track everything from aircraft to climate conditions to soil composition. Its primary mission: to protect the Amazon from illegal miners, loggers, and drug runners, while unlocking the jungle's economic potential. Environmentalists question whether those goals can go hand in hand, and say the main focus of the surveillance system is national security, not environmental protection.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Michael Astor, 25 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=302>
only in Grist: Take the mahogany and run -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha052802.asp?source=daily>
PUT A TIBER IN YOUR TANK
In the last two weeks, tons of dead fish have floated to the surface of the Tiber, the famed Italian river that was once one of the lifelines of the Roman Empire. According to environmentalists, two-thirds of the fauna in a three-mile stretch of the river have been wiped out since July 15; even eels, the hardiest residents of the Tiber, have leapt onto the river's banks to escape the water. City magistrates in Rome investigating the problem say it was caused by heavy rains earlier this month that flushed sewage, nitrates, and other pollutants down the Tiber. These pollutants led to a sudden boom in the algae population, which, the theory goes, sap oxygen from the water and cause the fish to choke to death. The magistrates claim there are no poisons, pesticides, or other toxic substances present in the river, but other city officials and environmentalists disagree and believe that the source of the problem is the Aniene, a badly polluted tributary of the Tiber.
straight to the source: ABC News.com, Reuters, Luke Baker, 25 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=303>
I'M A MODELER, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN
Ah, the life of a model. What could be more glamorous? Stand around all day being admired, help determine environmental policy for years to come ... Yeah, that's right, we're talking about environmental models, and this week, Grist's diary features one of the people behind them: Jonathan Clough, Environmental Modeler Extraordinaire. A consultant to the U.S. EPA, Clough works with people from all over the country and Canada (from the comfort of his Vermont home, accompanied by two loyal office dogs) to synthesize scientific studies into the kind of information that public policymakers can use. Technology, the natural world, politics, power, high-stakes lawsuits -- we told you, glamour all over the place. Come bask in the glow, only on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: Model citizen -- a week in the life of Jonathan Clough, environmental modeler <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dearme/clough072202.asp?source=daily>
FOOL STANDARDS
Automakers are gearing up to take California's landmark new vehicle-emissions law to court, even though they could face a public opinion backlash by doing so. Industry reps say they are "very confident" that the courts will agree with their argument that California is encroaching on federal jurisdiction by trying to set its own fuel-economy standards. The law, signed by Gov. Gray Davis (D) on Monday, does not specifically call for better fuel efficiency -- just for reduced carbon dioxide emissions -- but automakers say it would leave them no other choice than to boost the efficiency of vehicles. "The only way to produce less carbon dioxide is to combust less fuel," said Eron Shosteck, spokesperson for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the main industry trade group. Honda, which just won preliminary state and federal approval to sell fuel-cell vehicles in California, is the only major manufacturer not in the alliance and has not yet decided whether to join the lawsuit.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Terril Yue Jones, 26 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=304>
do good: Take action to pledge to buy an eco-friendly car <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/autos.asp?source=daily#pledge>
7/27/02
3:32:14 PM
Genetically Modified Genes Found In Human Gut
by John Vidal Wednesday, The Guardian, July 17, 2002
British scientific researchers have demonstrated for the first time that genetically modified DNA material from crops is finding its way into human gut bacteria, raising potentially serious health questions.
Although the genetically modified material in most GM foods poses no health problems, many of the controversial crops have antibiotic-resistant marker genes inserted into them at an early stage in development.
If genetic material from these marker genes can also find its way into the human stomach, as experiments at Newcastle university suggest is likely, then people's resistance to widely used antibiotics could be compromised.
The research, commissioned by the food standards agency, is the world's first known trial of GM foods on human volunteers. It was last night described as "insignificant" by the agency but as "dynamite" by Friends of the Earth.
The scientists took seven human volunteers who had their lower intestine removed in the past and now use colostomy bags. After being fed a meal of a burger containing GM soya and a milkshake, the researchers compared their stools with 12 people with normal stomachs. They found "to their surprise" that "a relatively large proportion of genetically modified DNA survived the passage through the small bowel". None was found in people who had complete stomachs.
But to see if GM DNA might be transferred via bacteria to the intestine, they also took bacteria from stools in the colostomy bags and cultivated them. In three of the seven samples they found bacteria had taken up the herbicide-resistant gene from the GM food at a very low level.
The report added "that transgenes, although surviving passage through the small intestine, appear to be completely degraded in the human colon".
Michael Antonio, a senior lecturer in molecular genetics at King's College Medical School, London, last night said that the work was significant. "To my knowledge they have demonstrated clearly that you can get GM plant DNA in the gut bacteria. Everyone used to deny that this was possible."
He said there were "lots of inadequacies" in the research but that did not take away the importance of the main findings. "It suggests that you can get antibiotic marker genes spreading around the stomach which would compromise antibiotic resistance. They have shown that this can happen even at very low levels after just one meal."
Marker genes are inserted into GM plants to allow identification of GM cells or tissue during development. The House of Lords has called for them to be phased out as swiftly as possible.
Last night Friends of the Earth called for an immediate halt to the use of marker genes in GM crops. "Industry, science and government advisers have always played down the risk of this happening and here, at the very first attempt by scientists to look for it, they find it," said Adrian Bebb, GM foods campaigner.
The FSA said the research "showed in real-life conditions with human volunteers, no GM material survived the passage through the entire human digestive tract... the research concluded that the likelihood of functioning DNA being taken up by bacteria in the human or animal gut is extremely low".
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,756666,00.html
7/27/02
3:29:00 PM
Wiscasset Newspaper
Wiscasset, Maine July 18, 2002:
Low Flying Aircraft Spotted at Maine Yankee
by Charlotte Boynton
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will not be looking into an incident that occurred at Maine Yankee July 11 when a low flying aircraft flew within 20 feet of the Maine Yankee dome, because it is not against FAA regulations to do so.
According to a report given by Katherine Ferdinand, a spokesperson for Maine Yankee, plant security officials spotted the plane, which flew over the dome twice and headed for the Wiscasset Airport.
Security officials called the Wiscasset Police Department with a description of the plane, asking them to see if it landed at the airport. According to a police report on the incident, it did not land.
However, according to Arlene Salac at the FAA office in Washington D.C., and Mike Muchmore, the airport's fixed based operator, the plane did, in fact, land at the airport.
According to Salac and Muchmore, the plane was going to land on runway seven but because of a tail wind during his first approach the pilot did not think he could make a safe landing. The pilot flew over the Maine Yankee dome and turned around, landing on runway 25.
Air space over the closed nuclear power plant is not restricted, according to the FAA, but regulations do restrict planes from "loitering" over nuclear power plants.
David Lackey of Senator Olympia Snowe's office, who was also checking out the incident, said that there is an Airman's Advisory that "strongly suggests avoiding air space over nuclear plants."
xoxox
Aircraft Flying Low Over Maine Yankee Raises Alarm
by Greg Foster,Lincoln County News, Damariscotta, Maine, July 26, 2002
A private plane flying low over Maine Yankee in Wiscasset on July 9 has prompted an investigation of safety procedures in place to track, communicate with and investigate aircraft that breach airspace over nuclear power facilities. U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe is leading the charge for answers the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
"In order to provide effective security for small and rural communities, a comprehensive strategy much include the assessments of the threat to nuclear plants posed by light aircraft navigation," Snowe said this week following information about the incident.
A security guard spotted the low-flying plane and immediately reported it. The company immediately informed the FAA, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Wiscasset police, company spokesman Eric Howes said. Air traffic controller at Brunswick Naval Air Station ultimately identified the plane by its tail number, according to Snowe.
After investigating the violation of an FAA advisory against low flights over nuclear plants, the FAA determined it was an inadvertent flight, Snowe said. The pilot of the plane was reportedly attempting to avoid a collision with another incoming small plane landing at Wiscasset Municipal Airport by circling once and twice coming in the vicinity of the plant.
Maine Yankee currently does not have a no-fly zone but does have the advisory for which the company has a particular security protocol, company spokesman Eric Howes said. The FAA's Notice to Airmen Advisory warns pilots that flights near nuclear facilities may be reported and investigated.
"Small and rural communities must have confidence that the Administration is working to safeguard the local airspace around these facilities," Snowe said.
To that end, Snowe announced this week that she has requested a thorough security briefing and feedback on way to prevent violations of airspace over nuclear facilities by light aircraft. She wants the FAA and TSA to provide information on the types of actions that need to be taken to quickly assess and respond to such potential threats to security.
"While the incursion into Maine Yankee airspace did not materialize into a threat, it highlights the need for continued security awareness," Snowe said.
Snowe, who serves on Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation whose task is to oversee aviation safety, considers it imperative that air traffic controllers, local police, and nuclear safety personnel have the ability to communicate and determine whether actions by aircraft present a security threat to a nuclear facility and surrounding community, including decommissioning plants like Maine Yankee.
"Importantly, these officials must be given clear procedural and safety guidelines to promptly respond to potential threats from non-commercial aircraft," Snowe said.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 during periods of the high threat to homeland security, the NRC and FAA have taken steps to close airspace over nuclear facilities, but currently that is not the case for Maine Yankee, which is no longer operating. With the present medium level of threat, the FAA has reopened airspace around nuclear facilities.
xoxox
Times Record
Brunswick, Maine - July 23, 2002
Plane's flight near Yankee spurs inquiry Bob_Kalish@TimesRecord.Com 07/23/2002 WISCASSET - Following a low-fly incident near the closed Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, asked two federal agencies to review safety procedures designed to protect nuclear power facilities.
Snowe made the request to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration.
"In order to provide effective security for small and rural communities, a comprehensive strategy must include the assessments of the threat to nuclear plants posed by light aircraft navigation," Snowe said. "I am requesting that the FAA and TSA provide information on the types of actions that need to be taken to quickly assess and respond to these threats. Small and rural communities must have confidence that the administration is working to safeguard the local airspace around these facilities."
Snowe is a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which oversees aviation safety.
According to Maine Yankee spokesman Eric Howes, the incident occurred on July 9 when a light plane was spotted by the plant's security at low altitude over the plant, which has been in the process of being decommissioned since 1997.
"Our security did just what it is supposed to do," Howes said. "It notified the FAA, the FBI, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Wiscasset Police."
Air traffic controllers at Brunswick Naval Air Station eventually identified the aircraft by its tail numbers and the FAA determined that the flyover was "inadvertent," caused when a plane approaching the Wiscasset Airport circled to avoid another approaching plane.
Following the Sept. 11 attacks, the FAA issued a "Notice to Airmen Advisory" warning pilots that flights near nuclear facilities may be reported and investigated. The Wiscasset Airport changed its procedure so that planes landing there approach the airport from the other side so they don't fly over Maine Yankee airspace.
"Since the FAA advisory last fall," Howes said, "we're seeing very few planes."
But Snowe, upon learning of the incident, requested a security briefing and feedback on ways to prevent violations of nuclear airspace by light aircraft. She also is seeking an explanation of safety procedures in place to track, communicate with and investigate aircraft that breach the airspace of the nation's active nuclear facilities as well as those being decommissioned, according to a statement released by her office.
Dave Lackey, Snowe's spokesman, this morning said the senator wanted to be sure the incident didn't highlight a problem.
"A light aircraft wouldn't pose a threat to Maine Yankee," Lackey said. "But the senator wanted to make sure authorities have the proper information to respond."
Lincoln County News, July 25, 2002 article by Greg Foster, Aircraft Flying Low Over Maine Yankee Raises Alarm, at:
http://www.mainelincolncountynews.com/index.cfm?ID=1384
7/27/02
3:25:11 PM
The Nation
Key members of Congress reached an agreement late last night to give President Bush Fast Track authority to secretly negotiate a sweeping Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement. The deal was necessary because, earlier this year, the House and Senate passed competing Fast Track resolutions. Last night, representatives of the two chambers cobbled together a "compromise" plan that now faces final votes in the House and Senate.
If the legislation passes, Fast Track authority will be granted to Bush and a new era of trade liberalization will open the door to a dramatic expansion of corporate power in the US and abroad.
For more, read the latest installment of John Nichols' Online Beat, exclusively at:
http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=85
Corporate lobbyists are swarming Capitol Hill in anticipation of a quick Fast Track vote. Citizens can counter the corporate campaign with telephone calls to their House and Senate representatives. The AFL-CIO is providing a toll-free number for people to tell Congress to reject trade legislation that puts the interests of corporations ahead of those of workers, farmers, consumers and the environment.
The number is 1-877-611-0063.
You can also see the Public Citizen Global Trade Watch site for background info on Fast Track:
http://www.publiccitizen.org/trade/
And don't forget to check out these other new Nation web features:
Cultural Treason by David Corn, July 24, 2002
The latest victim of the red-white-and-blue lynch mob is musician Steve Earle, whose offense is writing and recording a song titled "John Walker's Blues."
http://www.thenation.com//capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=84
A 12-Step Program for Media Democracy by Jeffrey Chester and Gary O. Larson, July 23, 2002
These days, it's the media conglomerates who are drunk with power--demanding a larger share of the nation's airwaves and threatening to turn the World Wide Web into an electronic theme park--and we're the ones with a twelve-step program.
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=olson20020722
Reproductive Freedom by Hillary Frey, July 24, 2002
Dr. James Scott Pendergraft is now back at work in his Florida abortion clinics after successfully appealing a trumped-up charge of attempted extortion.
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=frey20020724
Also, if you haven't yet taken the EmailNation survey, this is your very
last chance: http://www.thenation.com/surv/emn_survey/
7/27/02
3:18:51 PM
t r u t h o u t | 07.27
A Nation of Spies?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.27A.nation.spies.htm
Letter | Leahy-Hatch Express Deep Concerns Over Homeland Security Plan
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.27D.leahy-hatch.htm
White House Threatens Homeland Security Veto
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.27C.WH.HS.Veto.htm
Rumsfeld May Quit Pentagon to Take on Top Homeland Role
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.27B.rums.may.Q.htm
Bill Would Let Entertainment Industry Disrupt Internet Music Downloads
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.27E.hwd.hackers.htm
Bush Goes to Bat For the HMO's
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.27F.bush.hmos.htm
Arianna Huffington | How Can This Be Legal?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.27G.aria.legal.htm
7/27/02
3:16:21 PM
U.S. Plan Would Cut Farm Product Trade Barriers
Washington D.C., July 25, 2002 (ENS) - The United States is proposing to make global trade in agricultural goods freer by cutting tariffs and eliminating trade distorting subsidies, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said today. The plan is supposed to benefit U.S. farmers and consumers, the world's poorest nations and, eventually, the global economy. During a news briefing today in Washington, Zoellick said the U.S. proposal will be tabled at the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Geneva the week of July 28.
"If other countries agree with us that agricultural tariffs and subsidies are too high then we urge them to join us at the negotiating table," Zoellick said. "We are ready to cut if others step up to the plate too."
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman will present the proposal to her counterparts from Australia, Canada, the European Union and Japan this weekend at a meeting of agriculture ministers in Japan.
"Reform in global agriculture," Zoellick said, "is a key to world economic strength and recovery. Across all markets free trade has spurred global prosperity for the past five decades, but high barriers in farm products have prevented agriculture from being a full participant in this growth. And this has hurt America's farmers and farmers around the world."
One in three acres in America is planted for export. For American farmers, the plan proposes to limit use of trade distorting supports such as price supports and input subsidies to five percent of country's agricultural production value.
The comprehensive package, Zoellick said, is based on the objective of leveling the playing field for all countries, working towards the eventual elimination of all barriers to agricultural trade and growing the markets for world agricultural trade.
Next, Zoellick addressed the impact of agriculture trade distortions on the world's poorest nations. "The United States has heard their calls in these negotiations. Their farmers have been hit particularly hard. Agricultural products are the primary export for many developing nations. They cannot afford to subsidize their farmers, and they're hugely disadvantaged by an average world agricultural tariff of over 62 percent."
"As I have traveled throughout Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, I have seen, with my own eyes, the harmful impact of closed markets," Zoellick said.
The U.S. proposal is a two phase process for trade reform. The first phase eliminates export subsidies and reduces worldwide tariffs and trade distorting domestic support over a five year period. This would be accomplished by substantially reducing very high tariffs and levels of trade distorting domestic support than what is currently allowed under the Uruguay Round.
The second phase is the eventual elimination of all tariffs and trade distorting support by a date to be established in these negotiations.
California producer Michael Rue, incoming chairman of the USA Rice Council and a member of the Grains, Feed and Oilseeds Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee, said the proposal is good for rice growers.
"The U.S. proposal will benefit the U.S. rice industry because tariff cuts will be focused on countries with very high duties like Japan and the EU rather than simply making the same percentage cut for all countries," Rue said.
"It's critical that U.S. rice farmers, millers and exporters achieve real progress in opening up foreign markets and lowering the very high tariffs overseas as part of any overall ageement that reduces trade distorting domestic supports," said David Van Oss, chairman of USA Rice.
Outlining the U.S. plan in more detail, Allen Johnson, chief negotiator in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said the U.S. proposal builds on the momentum created at the November WTO ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar.
Johnson said that it calls for ending special rights or privileges in export sales for state trading enterprises such as the Canadian Wheat Board, prohibiting export taxes on agricultural products, and strengthening disciplines on export credits.
Johnson noted a wide disparity in the use of export subsidies between the European Union, which accounts for almost 90 percent of these supports used worldwide, and the rest of the world.
In the market access area, Johnson said, the proposal urges the reduction of all agricultural tariffs through a formula that will cut higher tariffs more than lower tariffs, and calls for capping all tariffs at 25 percent at the end of a five year period.
The proposal, if adopted, would result in the average U.S. tariff on farm products falling from 12 percent to five percent, he said.
Zoellick said he believes that the United States can count on the support of the Cairns Group and developing countries for this proposal.
He said he expects African as well as other poor countries to be pleased with the U.S. proposal because in the current system they cannot afford to subsidize their farmers and overcome the high tariffs of other countries. But he added they also are disadvantaged by their own high tariffs on imports from within the developing world.
The Cairns Group of agriculture exporting countries includes Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Fiji, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and Uruguay.
In Japan, European Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler addressed the trade distortion issue in his speech to the Japanese Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives, journalists and agri-business representatives in Tokyo.
"Together," said the commissioner, "we must ensure that the rules that will emerge from the new Round will permit us to pursue our legitimate policies to support farmers while avoiding to the greatest extent possible, trade distortion."
"We are determined to give an example that it is possible to support farmers while limiting the effects on international trade. We [EU and Japan] both believe in a fair and sustainable trading system, that all countries should profit from more open trade, and that more open trade means more wealth for all countries."
However, liberalization does certainly not mean that we abandon our farmers. There are many good reasons to support our farmers: they maintain our landscape, they keep the countryside dynamic, they take care of the environment. But protecting our farmers need not mean protecting our markets. We believe that preserving our agricultural system can be done without trade barriers," Fischler said.
http://www.naturalist.com/newsletter/naturalist_daily/index.cfm?p=display&id=6684
7/27/02
2:58:14 PM
Greenpeace's Positive Energy July 22 - July 29, 2002
Time for Greenpeace's CLEAN ENERGY NOW! campaign's weekly good news update!!!
Inside this edition:
- Walking the Talk: L.A. Community College Installs Solar Array
- Solar Industry Urges Federal RPS Energy Bill
- Wind Powerhouse in UK
Walking the Talk: L.A. Community College Installs Solar Array
The passing of Proposition A in the Los Angeles Community College District, allocating $1.2 billion dollars for renewable energy and green buildings is reaping its first rewards.
Pierce College has announced the installation of a 159 KW solar array on two gym roofs and $2 million in grants/rebates secured with the Department of Water and Power and the State of California!
We would like to congratulate the Board of Trustees, staff and students at LACC.
Stay tuned for updates.
Solar Industry Urges Federal RPS Energy Bill
The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIS) is urging the federal House and Senate to support an energy bill that includes a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The RPS would require utilities to expand their renewable energy sources over time. Nevada and Arizona have already implemented state RPSs, which include a standardized percentage of solar energy sources.
To read more about the federal RPS, go to: http://solaraccess.com/
Wind Powerhouse in UK
The Sea Wind East report released today by AEA Technology, announced that the UK has the potential to be a wind energy powerhouse.
According to their studies, the coast of East Anglia can provide the UK with 25% of its energy needs. By building industrial wind farms in East Anglia, the region could be known as the world center for renewable energy.
Greenpeace is beginning a tour around the region, visiting sixteen towns in three weeks, promoting this break-through report.
To find out more about the Sea Wind East report, go to:
The "Positive Energy" newsletter and our web site,
will give you good news about ways to achieve clean air, climate justice, and renewable energy solutions to our ongoing energy crisis.
Want to do more? Become a Greenpeace member today!
To give online, go to:
https://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/cen.htm
7/27/02
2:52:43 PM
House Amendment Passes Calling for Independent Commission on 9-11
Amendments Introduced by Tim Roemer (D), and Christopher Smith (R) Now Call for Inclusion of Victim Families
Senate Action Pending The Two Ends Don’t Meet
by Michael C. Ruppert
July 25, 2002, 8 PM, PDT (FTW) In a session lasting until 2 A.M., the House of Representatives today passed an amendment to the 2002 Intelligence Authorization Bill (HR 2883) that would require the establishment of a "blue ribbon" independent commission to investigate the attacks of last September 11th. The amendment, introduced by Indiana Democrat Tim Roemer, passed by a vote of 219 to 188. 25 of those voting in favor were Republicans.
But the passage of this amendment is a far cry from seeing the commission signed into existence. A separate Senate bill (S 1867) sponsored by Arizona Senator John McCain (R) and Joe Lieberman (D) has been voted out of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee as a separate piece of legislation but has not been voted on by the full Senate.
There are differences between the two measures but the House version has the best chance of being acted on by Congress in the near future. Before an intelligence-funding bill goes to President Bush for signature, the Senate and House versions must be reconciled in the Conference Committee and there the Senate will either accept or reject the Roemer/Smith amendments.
Of the two versions, the House amendment offers some protection against political cover-up because of an amendment offered by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) that would require inclusion of victim family members on the commission.
Historically, independent commissions looking into events from the JFK Assassination, to the Iran-Contra scandal, to the crash of TWA 800 have failed to publicly acknowledge facts that were later disclosed and or admitted to in government documents. With the legitimacy of the Bush Administration, and perhaps the entire government, at stake - expectations of miraculous revelations from such a commission are likely overoptimistic. In her book "Kiss The Boys Goodbye" (Penguin, 1990), former 60 MINUTES producer Monika Jensen-Stevenson documented the heartbreaking infiltration of the Vietnam POW movement by government and intelligence operatives to cover-up evidence that large numbers of U.S. POWs and MIAs had been abandoned in Southeast Asia. What began as a unified and committed movement ultimately disintegrated into splintered and disorganized factions that often fought each other harder than they fought the government. Though we know they were left behind, no POWs were ever re-patriated.
The stakes with 9/11 are much higher and the administration knows this.
Sources tell FTW that the most effective way to ensure passage of the House version of the intelligence bill is for activists to contact members of the United States Senate and encourage them to adopt the Roemer and Smith amendments. Additional contacts can be made directly to House-Senate conference committee members from the U.S. Senate. A Senate vote on the intelligence appropriations act is unlikely before Summer recess which starts next Monday. The Congress will reconvene on Tuesday, September 3rd and action on the bill is expected shortly thereafter.
If the Senate adopts the two amendments and sends the bill to the White House, there is still the possibility that President Bush will veto it. Both he and Vice President Cheney are on record as having asked Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D) to curtail and limit any investigations of the attacks.
Source: From The Wilderness Publications, http://www.CopvCIA.com
U.S. Senate Conferees:
Kennedy (D-MA) 617/565-3170 Boston
Dodd (D-CT) 860/258-6940 Wethersfield
Harkin (D-IA) 515/284-4574 Des Moines
Mikulski (D-MD) 410/962-4510 Baltimore
Jeffords (I-VT) 802/223-5273 Montpelier
Bingaman (D-NM) 505/988-6647 Santa Fe; 505/346-6601 Albuquerque
Wellstone (D-MN) 651/645-0323 St. Paul
Murray (D-WA) 206/553-5545 Seattle; 509/624-9515 Spokane
Reed (D-RI) 401/943-3100 Cranston
Edwards (D-NC) 919/856-4245 Raleigh
Clinton (D-NY) 518/431-0120 Albany
Lieberman (D-CT) 860/549-8463 Hartford
Bayh (D-IN) 317/554-0750 Indianapolis
Gregg (R-NH) 603/225-7115 Concord
Frist (R-TN) 615/352-9411 Nashville; 901/683-191 Memphis
Enzi (R-WY) 307/772-2477 Cheyenne; 307/739-9507 Jackson
Hutchinson (R-AR) 501/324-6336 Little Rock
Warner (R-VA) 804/771-2579 Richmond
Bond (R-MO) 314/725-4484 St. Louis
Roberts (R-KS) 785/295-2745 Topeka
Collins (R-ME) 207/622-8414 Augusta
Sessions (R-AL) 205/731-1500 Birmingham; 334/265-9507 Montgomery
DeWine (R-OH) 614/469-5186 Columbus
Allard (R-CO) 719/643-6071 Colorado Springs
Ensign (R-WY) 775/686-5770 Reno
7/27/02
2:48:59 PM
Our Gluttony Fuels Anger
by Clay Evans, October 28, 2001, The Boulder Daily Camera
A friend recently went to a movie at the Westminster Enormo-Plex on a cool night. While she stood in line, glowing heaters cascaded warmth over the heads of waiting patrons. How much energy do those things use, she wondered. More than the meager flames used to heat an entire Afghan village for a night? This is a good time to start examining our propensity, not just for consumption, but for resource gluttony. My line-drying, small-car-driving friend wishes everyone could cut consumption by half. Me, too. But it's complicated. If they did, the economy would collapse as dramatically as did the World Trade Center towers. This isn't World War II, when Americans sacrificed, because a "war economy" - i.e. shipbuilding - took up the slack. Now we're inseparable from our consumption. Maybe it's time to question whether our "American way of life" is a just a goad to poor people around the world, maybe even immoral.
How can we justify movie-line heaters or lighting up empty skyscrapers at 3 a.m. when some people burn camel dung for warmth? We panic when a few Americans are tragically infected with anthrax but couldn't care less about millions of Africans dying from AIDS. We know nothing about Islam, and too much about Mariah Carey and Gary Condit. But raise such questions, and some people scream that you are "unpatriotic." Just the opposite, if you ask me. Jeff Milchen is a Boulder organizer who works in the democracy (not anti-globalization) movement, and he thinks about this stuff. He knows how deeply enmeshed we are in a growth-consumption-profits economic model.
It's not true, Milchen argues, that capitalism doesn't work unless profits grow continually. He believes a market economy is the best model we have, but also that only publicly held companies in thrall to the shareholders (who provide only a fraction of capital compared to most companies' sales of products and services) must perpetually grow. Even Adam Smith, father of capitalism, believed that the system would work only when businesses were small, accountable and invested in communities (i.e. not Wal-Mart). "We have a fundamentally broken system," Milchen says. We must radically reform or abolish the publicly held corporation, so companies stop abusing workers, Third World nations and the environment just to keep a few elite shareholders in cigars. We also need radical electoral reform to reduce the influence of money.
The media, Milchen believes, is armpit-deep in perpetuating myths of corporatism. Why, for example, has the mainstream media ignored such galling stories as the attempt by the Bechtel Corp. to privatize water in Bolivia? Some portray capitalist reformers like Milchen as idiots in search of a protest, and they don't even want you to even consider whether our gross consumptionism is a fair, responsible global model. Before buying their lines, take time to read the thinking of people like former Harvard Business School faculty member David C. Korten ("When Corporations Rule the World"), to see if Wall Street's buy-buy propaganda is so great. We may well choose, by default, to continue our blind stumble into the morass of privileged consumerism. But with each step, more of "them" - not the Taliban, but the world's poor and disenfranchised - will hate us ... even more.
7/27/02
2:43:30 PM
EUROPE: Is It A Breeze?
European countries are increasingly turning to wind power as an alternative source of energy, but questions remain about its cost and sustainability
By Charles P. Wallace, July 15, 2002
At a breezy stretch of the North Sea 14 km off the west coast of Denmark, the world's largest offshore wind farm is under construction. When the installation at Horns Rev is completed later this year, it will have 80 towering windmills, each producing about 2 megawatts of electricity. That's enough to power 133,000 households. More important, the addition of Horns Rev and a second offshore wind farm will boost Denmark's output of wind-powered energy next year to 21% of the country's total electricity production, the highest in the world. "Wind power has finally entered the mainstream," says Arthouros Zervos, president of the European Wind Energy Association. "Last year there was nearly twice as much wind power installed as nuclear power."
Because it has been promoting wind energy since the 1970s, tiny Denmark has become the world leader in production of wind technology. Last year Danish companies controlled more than 50% of the worldwide market for wind-energy technology. "Our overall goal is to make Denmark into the Silicon Valley of wind turbines," says Peter Hjuler Jensen, head of the wind program at the Risø National Laboratory outside Copenhagen.
Denmark is not the only European country to have bet heavily on the breeze. Germany now has the world's largest installed base of wind turbines, totaling 8,734 megawatts, which reflects average growth of 45% a year over the past three years. Ironically, Germany has some of the worst wind resources in Europe. But what's made the difference is a government commitment to expanding renewable energy by offering substantial subsidies for wind power. At the moment windmill owners are paid j.009 per kilowatt hour, compared with a market price closer to j.002. "It's a real success story in Germany," says Jens-Peter Molly, executive director of the German Wind Energy Institute. "It's a success in all countries where there is a fixed-price system that gives developers security for their investments."
Wind power is also booming in Spain, which adopted a fixed-price system offering producers a long-term subsidy over the market costs of electricity production. Spain is now the second-largest market for wind power within Europe after Germany, having grown an average of 59% a year over the past three years. Spain has enticed big developers with generous offers of financial support in return for agreeing to open factories for wind turbines, creating thousands of new jobs.
In all, Europe accounts for 70% of the world's wind-power installations. Interestingly, Britain and France have the highest level of wind resources in Europe, but their pro-grams are still in the fledgling stages. Britain's policy of awarding competitive contracts, which tends to drive prices down, as well as opposition to wind farms on planning grounds, has left the U.K. with only 525 megawatts of installed capacity, one-fifth the level in Denmark. France, which has traditionally relied on nuclear plants, has only recently set up a fixed-price system for renewable energy.
Driving the growth of wind power in Europe is the pollution-control requirements set forth in the Kyoto Protocol, which called for a 5.2% reduction in greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. To meet the demands of Kyoto, the European Union adopted a target of producing 22% of electricity from renewable resources-hydro power and biomass in addition to wind power-by 2010. Merrill Lynch, the investment firm, said in a recent report that it expects wind power to grow 15-fold over the next 20 years, raising its market share to 6% in Europe and 5% in the U.S.
Another factor in the popularity of wind power is that the technology is steadily improving. The market is analogous to computer chips, with performance vastly increasing while price is coming down. Back in the 1970s, when Denmark started experimenting with wind power, windmills were about 20 m high, with blades 10 m in diameter and an output of 55 kilowatts. Today's windmills stand 100 m off the ground, have blades that span 75 m and are capable of producing 2-2.5 megawatts. The U.S. firm GE Wind Energy recently announced new turbines capable of producing 3.5 megawatts offshore.
The technological improvements have lowered the production cost of wind power to about one-fifth what it was 20 years ago-a level that promoters say is broadly competitive with newly constructed coal- or even gas-fired plants, the cheapest source. Because of its high initial investment costs, wind power is still not economical without some form of subsidy. Wind's advocates call subsidies a necessary anti-pollution tradeoff. "If you decide to pay only the market price for coal- and gas-fired plants, it's not possible to make clean electricity," says Birger T. Madsen, who runs a wind consultancy in Copenhagen. Denmark offers a good example. Thanks to tax incentives and subsidized prices, the country now has 6,500 windmills. But since the government decided that wind power should be priced according to the market two years ago, construction of new turbines has fallen sharply.
One of the beneficiaries of Denmark's early move into wind power is Vestas Wind Systems, based on the North Sea coast in Ringkobing. Originally a maker of farm equipment, Vestas began manufacturing windmills as a sideline and sold them to farmers. The company, which now makes only wind turbines, is the largest manufacturer of them in the world, claiming a 24% market share. Starting with 60 employees after a bankruptcy filing in 1986, the company now employs 5,000 people, had 2001 revenues of $1.1 billion and a profit of $112 million. "Once considered an alternative energy, today wind power is a mainstream, environmentally friendly supplement to other sources of energy," says Svend Sigaard, managing director of Vestas.
Sigaard says the future is likely to see more offshore wind farms like the one his company is building at Horns Rev. With its high population density Denmark is running out of room on land. Plus, offshore farms have the advantage of being out of sight. The only new sales onshore, Sigaard says, are likely to be to farmers who put up windmills in the early days and now want to upgrade them to newer, more efficient models. "Size is no longer a problem," he says. But as Denmark illustrates, for wind power to keep expanding, governments have to continue supports that pay windmill owners a premium over the market price of electricity. Only then will wind power be as sustainable as it is clean.
Source: http://www.timecanada.com
7/27/02
2:38:10 PM
Finally - Proof That Disconnection Harms
This study proves quite conclusively that ignoring the web of life and natural human development can kill.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-19g.asp
Bush Slashing Aid for E.P.A. Cleanup at 33 Toxic Sites
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.02C.bush.cut.epa.htm
19 Million Pounds Of Beef Recalled
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=30720
GM Crops Threat to Organic Farming
Organic farming will be forced out of production in Britain and across Europe if GM crops are grown commercially, a startling new EU report concludes. The report -- which is so controversial that top EC officials tried to stop it being made public -- shows that organic farms will become so contaminated by genes from the new crops that they can no longer be licensed or will have to spend so much money trying to protect themselves that they will become uneconomic. Conventional non-GM farms will also be seriously affected. Drawn up as a result of two years of studies in Britain, France, Italy and Germany, it provides the most damning confirmation to date of the arguments, long advanced by environmentalists, that it is not possible for GM and organic farming to coexist and that, as a result, shoppers will be denied a choice of what to buy. The conclusion is politically explosive because the demand for organic produce is increasing rapidly across Europe, while consumer resistance to GM food has forced supermarkets not to stock it. CLIP
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0527-04.htm
When a Crop Becomes King (July 19) A MUST READ!
These days the nation's nearly 80 million-acre field of corn rolls across the countryside like a second great lawn, but this wholesome, all-American image obscures a decidedly more dubious reality.
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0719-01.htm
Simple Shift in Bush Aid Budget Would Leverage Nearly $700 Million for Health, Environment Problems in Poorest Countries - At No Extra Cost to U.S.
Leading Groups Call for Technical Change to Unlock 4-to-1 International Funding Match
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.22D.nrdc.700M.htm
7/27/02
2:35:12 PM
SciTech Daily Review
Prawn but not forgotten: on the Mexican coast, little shrimp are causing big trouble
http://www.gristmagazine.com/maindish/nijhuis071802.asp
Claims that bench-top fusion could take place inside tiny imploding bubbles of acetone have been dealt a deflating blow
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992584
Diet, exercise and other environmental influences appear to be linked to the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/hi/english/health/newsid_2140000/2140529.stm
The mystery of Delhi's iron pillar has finally been solved. How has the six tonne iron monument resisted the elements for the last 1,600 years?
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=12824
Eluding the Google grasp: Some people are trying to reduce their electronic presence, and discovering that doing so is not as simple as it would seem
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/25/technology/circuits/25GOOG.html
Cellphones may be the key to cleaner air in the Philippines, as the country that used mobile texting to overthrow a corrupt president mobilises to combat a different kind of enemy
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0719/p07s02-woap.html
New Zealand's reputation is green and clean -- and now it's the battleground for the world's first GM election
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,759655,00.html
Life's grand design: A new breed of anti-evolutionists credits it to an unnamed intelligence -- and they're gaining ground
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/020729/misc/29design.htm
Alien armada! 50 years ago, the US capitol was seized by UFO-mania. Were the infamous sightings just hot air?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31625-2002Jul19.html
7/27/02
2:32:27 PM
UTNE WEB WATCH
The Best of the Alternative Web
GUERRILLA OF THE WEEK: DIANE WILSON
by Anna Lappe, Guerrilla News Network
-- Diane Wilson is on a hunger strike to force Dow Chemical to finally admit liability for a major toxic disaster in Bhopal, India, 18 years ago.
STEPHEN CARTER ON WRITING
by Robert Birnbaum, Identity Theory
-- Law professor and public-policy writer Stephen Carter describes his excursion into fiction writing.
WILL AFGHANISTAN BE ABANDONED YET AGAIN?
by Matthew Riemer, YellowTimes.org
-- Only time will tell if Afghanistan's interim president, Hamid Karzai, will be the one to establish the country's peace and prosperity once and for all.
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
7/27/02
2:30:11 PM
BLAME THE MILITIA
"The Clinton administration "de-emphasized" fighting Arab international terrorism to focus on domestic terrorism - namely, white "right-wing" militia groups - which led to the FBI ignoring Arab nationals flocking to U.S. flight schools, veteran FBI agents told WorldNetDaily."
Yessiree, you read that correctly. WorldNetDaily published that article by reporter Paul Sperry today, July 25, 2002.
Why FBI missed Islamic threat Agents: - Paul Sperry
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31125
What that article didn't mention is that to date, not a single act of terror has ever been carried out by a person known to be a member of a citizens' militia group. There are still people out there who are so badly misinformed that they still believe Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were militia members. They weren't: They were tied to a racist and anti-Semitic group located in "Elohim City", a group which preached hatred for Jews and people of color, while claiming a relationship with Christ through a bizarre and utterly false belief system known as "Christian Identity". Put simply, they were cult members, and had no ties to any citizens' militia group whatsoever.
Without question, there have been numerous arrests of known militia members nationwide for hording illegal weapons and explosives, and for conspiracy to use them, but no acts of terror were ever carried out. The FBI always hailed those arrests as being "just in time" to stop something terrible from happening. It was horse manure, all of it.
In every case, those arrests were made after agents of the FBI and BATF infiltrated and entrapped not-so-bright militia members and offered to sell them illegal weapons and explosives. If the idiot militia member happened to voice his wishful thinking about the use of those illegal weapons and explosives, the federal prosecutor threw in a charge of conspiracy. That's how the whole thing went down, and because the entire American jury pool had been so bludgeoned by negative media portrayal of the Militia Movement in general, getting convictions of anyone associated with the term "militia" were a given.
Just to demonstrate the difference between true terrorists and the those who make up the American Militia Movement, we need look no further than the Irish Republican Army and its efforts to free Ireland from British rule. You will recall that there were numerous bombings, assassinations and other acts of terror carried out by the IRA, followed by a few arrests of IRA members here and there when the cops got lucky. Here, we saw exactly the opposite: No militia acts of terror were ever carried out, but there were numerous arrests of militia members for possession and conspiracy. If you have a discerning eye, that tells you everything.
Where the American Militia Movement is concerned, history will eventually prove that the true terrorists were the federal agents of the FBI and BATF, who conspired to criminalize and arrest any American militia members they could entrap. According to our Constitution, we Americans have the right to peaceably assemble, voice our gripes and to keep and bear arms. Too bad the Founding Fathers didn't prohibit citizen criminal entrapment by a federal government police force, but then you must remember: The Founding Fathers never intended for the federal government to have a police force in the first place.
Much of the blame for this FBI misplacement of resources lies directly at the feet of the Southern Poverty Law Center, headed up by consummate con man Morris Dees. Dees saw the American Militia Movement as an opportunity to make a bundle through the public dissemination of unwarranted fear, and indeed he did. Last time I checked, the SPLC had a war chest estimated to exceed $100,000,000.00 and growing.
Dees did this by falsely claiming to have many informants placed within the American Militia Movement, and he released numerous reports through a willing media that portrayed the citizens in the militias as racists, anti-Semitic, anti-government, ignorant, violence-prone and a foreboding and imminent threat to the American way of life. The bucks just poured into the Southern Poverty Law Center's coffers from an understandably alarmed and trusting public, but the threat was never really there at all, and I hope I live to see the day when Morris Dees is finally unmasked as the pathological liar he is.
Not only did Dees con the public; he also conned then President Clinton, who responded by immediately diverting valuable FBI and BATF assets to the front of a domestic war that really didn't exist. Dees also knew the citizens making up the American Militia would be denied the same public media voice to defend themselves. No respectable news outlet would allow a bunch rabid, anti-Semitic racists to soil their print and airwaves, so the truth about the American Militia Movement remains perverted in the minds of most Americans to this day.
When I look back on it, it was a brilliant plan to make millions for Dees, even if a few good American's lives were ruined, but hey; the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, isn't it?
So now you know the rest of the story.
Carl F. Worden - wolfeyes@cdsnet.net
9/11? BLAME THE MILITIA! - Carl F. Worden
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31142
The entire 911 Road to Tyranny video can be seen for free!
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31121
Why FBI missed Islamic threat Agents: - Paul Sperry
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31125
Without Justice, there is JUST_US! "The Law"!
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/thelaw.htm
Known CIA fronts (200+ listed here)
http://www.fas.org/irp/contract/front.htm
WHAT CAN WE DO TO GET YOU ALL INVOLVED? - Jeffrey Chelton
If we cannot get a lot more people involved in this fight, aligned with us, we intend to close our sites, and let our futures be left up to the EVIL MASTERS in charge now.
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31132
BORDER PATROL OPERATIONS - July 25, 2002
I am a United States Border Patrol and I am writing this to tell you that you have been lied to and deceived. You have been lied to concerning the operations of the Border Patrol and have been deceived into thinking that they are effective. Well, they aren't.
More: http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31119
Local governments can inspect inside your private home
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31144
The Depraved Spies and Moguls of the CIA's Operation MOCKINGBIRD Who Controls the Media?
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=30985
7/27/02
2:27:06 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
"We Cover the Earth For You"
U.S. PLAN WOULD CUT FARM PRODUCT TRADE BARRIERS
WASHINGTON, DC, July 25, 2002 (ENS) - The United States is proposing to make global trade in agricultural goods freer by cutting tariffs and eliminating trade distorting subsidies, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said today. The plan is supposed to benefit U.S. farmers and consumers, the world's poorest nations and, eventually, the global economy.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-25-01.asp
NEPAL'S NEW WEAPON AGAINST ILLICT WILDLIFE TRADE
By Deepak Gajurel
KATHMANDU, Nepal, July 25, 2002 (ENS) - Many species of endangered birds are for sale in the open markets of Kathmandu. Street vendors can be seen carrying cages displaying their rare birds. Of small or medium size, brightly colored, they are fascinating, and the traders do a brisk business.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-25-02.asp
REPORTS OF BEACH POLLUTION ON THE RISE
WASHINGTON, DC, July 25, 2002 (ENS) - Beach closures and water quality advisories increased by 19 percent in 2001 over the previous year, finds an annual beach report from the Natural Resources Defense Council. The conservation group says some city and regional authorities are trying to stem the flow of pollution to beaches, but more needs to be done locally and nationally to address the pollution problem.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-25-06.asp
WATER RUNNING TO WASTE DOWN UNDER
SYDNEY, Australia, July 25, 2002 (ENS) - Australia, the world's driest continent, currently wastes 92 percent of its city runoff and 86 percent of its effluent water. a prominent water scientist has warned. It is time to develop a national approach to re-use of water, says Dr. Peter Dillon, from the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), a government agency.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-25-03.asp
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JULY 25, 2002
ROADLESS ACT INTRODUCED IN THE SENATE
EVERGLADES DRAFT IMPROVED, STILL FLAWED
BROWNFIELDS GRANTS SUPPORT SMART GROWTH
ENERGY DEPARTMENT FUNDS BIOTECH RESEARCH
FEDERAL PROGRAMS ADDRESS FIRE, DROUGHT DAMAGE
FARMWORKERS ARRESTED FOR POISONING BIRDS
UNDERWATER RESEARCH TARGETS DEEP SEA CORAL REEFS
INVASIVE WEED IS A REAL IRRITANT
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-25-09.asp
7/27/02
2:20:48 PM
UN Torture Prevention Plan Adopted Despite US Opposition
by Agence France Presse, July 25, 2002
UNITED NATIONS -- A new UN protocol on torture prevention was adopted, despite stiff United States opposition to allowing outside inspection of individual countries' prisons and terrorist detention centers.
The "optional protocol" to the Convention against Torture was adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) by 35 votes to eight with 10 abstentions and will now go to the UN General Assembly for approval.
The United States, which has been criticized for its treatment of hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees at its Marine base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had tabled an amendment seeking further debate on the text of the treaty, saying it was flawed and lacked consensus.
However, the amendment was roundly defeated by 29 votes to 15, with the protocol's supporters accusing the United States of seeking to permanently derail the treaty.
It was the second time in two weeks that the United States has found itself outnumbered at the United Nations.
On July 12, it was forced to compromise on its demands that US peacekeepers be permanently excluded from prosecution by the International Criminal Court.
The torture protocol, which has been under negotiation for more than 10 years, seeks to establish an international system of inspection visits to places of detention, such as police stations and prisons.
The experts making the visits would then be able to make recommendations on practical measures to prevent torture.
Pushing for its adoption, the protocol's chief sponsor Cost Rica said it would provide a "crucial verification machinery" to ensure that signatories to the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture fulfil their obligations.
The Cost Rican representative pointed out that despite the best efforts of the United Nations and other groups, the regular use of torture remained widespread in many countries.
The United States, however, warned that any human rights instrument that could not be adopted unanimously would be unenforceable and therefore more discussion was essential to reach a consensus.
It also argued that external inspections would be contrary to the US constitution because they would intrude on the federal rights of individual states.
The US amendment drew the support of some uncomfortable allies for Washington, including China, Cuba, Iran and Libya, which have been widely accused of condoning and practicing torture.
The eventual adoption of the protocol was welcomed by human rights groups who had condemned the United States for trying to lay the "kiss of death" on the treaty.
"We are delighted," said Joanna Weschler," the Human Rights Watch observer representative to the United Nations.
"This protocol is a very important instrument with the rare potential to actually prevent torture rather than just penalize it," Weschler said.
"It seems most governments saw through what was another attempt by the United States to try and use the issue of consensus as a sort of veto."
The UN Convention Against Torture was adopted by the General Assembly in 1984 and came into force four years later.
The treaty has been ratified by 130 countries, including the United States in 1994.
http://commondreams.org/headlines02/0725-01.htm
Source: http://www.afp.com
7/27/02
1:58:19 PM
True Wisdom From Bumper Stickers
1) I don't suffer from insanity, In fact, I enjoy every minute of it.
2) I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
3) Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
4) Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
5) MOP AND GLOW: Floor wax used by the Three Mile Island cleanup team.
6) Frankly, Scallop, I Don't Give a Clam. (seen on Cape Cod)
7) Procrastinate Now!
8) Anarchists Unite!
9) Rehab Is for Quitters!
10) My Dog Can Lick Anyone.
11) I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts. Do You Want Fries With That?
12) A hangover is the wrath of grapes
13) STUPIDITY IS NOT A HANDICAP. Park elsewhere!
14) Time's fun when you're having flies. -- Kermit the Frog
15) Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
16) HAM AND EGGS A day's work for a chicken. A lifetime commitment for a pig.
17) A day without sunshine is like, night.
18) On the other hand, you have five fingers.
19) 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
20) 99 percent of lawyers give the rest of them a bad name.
21) I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
22) Honk if you love peace and quiet.
23) Remember, half the people you know are above average.
24) He who laughs last thinks slowest.
25) Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
26) Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
27) A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
28) Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
29) How many of you believe in telekinesis? Raise my hand....
30) OK, so what's the speed of dark?
31) How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
32) If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
33) When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
34) Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
35) Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.
36) Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
37) What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
38) I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.
39) They couldn't repair my brakes, so they made my horn louder.
40) Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
41) Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the heck happened.
42) If you think nobody cares, just try skipping a couple of car payments.
43) If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
44) If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
45) Don't squat with your spurs on.
46) The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
47) Timing has an awful lot to do with the outcome of a raindance.
48) A closed mouth gathers no foot.
49) Duct tape is like the force. It has a Light side and a Dark side and it holds the universe together.
50) Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
51) Experience is something you generally don't get until just after you need it.
7/27/02
1:55:25 PM
AlterNet Headlines
THE POST BUBBLE ECONOMY: A BETTER WORLD
Mark Weisbrot, AlterNet
The eroding value of the stock market signals a change for the better. Realistic prices will usher a return to economic and social progress.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13670
20/20 HINDSIGHT
Tucker Ellis, AlterNet
What if media consolidation continues to its logical end? A report from a possible future from our prescient special correspondent.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13671
RAVING MAD
Mike Connor, AlterNet
New anti-rave bills working their way through Congress are meant to stick it to the makers of illegal drugs, but music promoters say they'll be a nightmare for civil rights.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13682
CALLING ALL SHOPPERS ON GROCERY STORE LOYALTY CARDS
Deborah Pierce, Seattle Press
Besides increasing their bottom line -- and you thought you were saving some bucks -- grocery store companies are also taking a privileged peek at your personal information.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13684
SEX AID: PORN TO SAVE THE THIRD WORLD
Steve Almond, Nerve.com
Phil Harvey built a porn empire to save the Third World.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13650
STOP THE CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF OUR WATER
Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown
Corporations are determined to turn our most essential resource into another commodity for traders and speculators.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13664
LIBRARIANS UNDER SIEGE
Laura Flanders, The Nation
Thanks to the Patriot Act, federal agents are pressuring libraries across the nation to turn over reading records.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13676
BUSH STOMPS ON REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Jim Lobe, AlterNet
The White House decision to cut off all aid for the United Nations Population Fund is aimed at pleasing the Christian right.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13656
THE POWER OF PEACEFUL PROTEST
Ruth Rosen, San Francisco Chronicle
The victory of 600 Nigerian women against ChevronTexaco is a testament to the power of non-violent protest.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13677
ABOUT ALTERNET
AlterNet depends on word-of-mouth to publicize our site. If you found the AlterNet Headlines useful, interesting or entertaining, we hope you'll email them to a friend and suggest they sign up.
http://lists.alternet.org/headlines
AN APPEAL TO SUPPORT INDY JOURNALISM
Help AlterNet continue to promote independent news and information. Make a donation to our parent organization, the Independent Media Institute, at:
http://www.alternet.org/donate.html
7/27/02
1:51:42 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
California fire threatens world's largest, oldest trees - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17033/story.htm
Wisconsin to test 50,000 deer for brain disease - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17024/story.htm
New centipede species found in NY's Central Park - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17039/story.htm
Green groups seek to block Powder Basin gas leases - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17026/story.htm
White House Undermining Environment Summit - Senator - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17036/story.htm
TXU, Cielo to build 240 MW Texas wind power plant - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17035/story.htm
US dirty beach report cites Florida, others - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17035/story.htm
Lyondell settles Tahoe water contamination suit - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17034/story.htm
Depleted uranium may pose risk to children - study - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17041/story.htm
UK govt urged to cut animal experiments - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17032/story.htm
EU could miss its green energy goals - study - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17022/story.htm
Greens defy oil giant ExxonMobil by moving website - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17030/story.htm
UK energy sector improves green performance - agency - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17029/story.htm
Dutch farm sector hit as more tainted pig feed found - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17040/story.htm
Honda likely to sell fuel-cell cars this year - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17027/story.htm
Giant spy eye opens on world's biggest rainforest - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17038/story.htm
Brazil cracks down on Dutch primate scholar - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17025/story.htm
EU vets back EU steps to halt food hormone crisis - BELGIUM http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17042/story.htm
Austria wants new Alpine trucking permits blocked - AUSTRIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17037/story.htm
Record sea temperatures threaten Great Barrier Reef - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17023/story.htm
Australia wants safer shipping in Barrier Reef - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17031/story.htm
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURE:
INDIA:-Indian Villagers From Bormukuli Kuligaon Escape Flooding http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17043
This service is brought to you thanks to sponsorship from Reuters - check them out at www.reuters.com
7/27/02
1:50:06 PM
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not;
A sense of humor to console him for what he is."
Sir Francis Bacon
7/27/02
1:48:35 PM
Public Citizen issued the following releases today:
1) Watchdog Groups Call for Congressional Investigation Into ConAgra Meat Recall and USDA Food Safety Policies; E-mails Show That USDA Had Been Warned of E. Coli at Plant
2) Corporate Crime Bill a Good Start, But Congress Must Pass McCain-Levin Stock Options Requirement; Statement by Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook
3) Bush Administration Grandstanding on Medical Malpractice, Failing Patients in Need of Better Medical Care
July 25, 2002
Watchdog Groups Call for Congressional Investigation Into ConAgra Meat Recall and USDA Food Safety Policies
E-mails Show That USDA Had Been Warned of E. Coli at Plant
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Public Citizen and the Government Accountability Project today called for a congressional investigation into the events that led to the recall of 19 million pounds of meat processed by ConAgra at its Greeley, Colo., plant and into the manner in which the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has implemented a new meat inspection program.
The groups cited extensive e-mail evidence showing that top USDA officials were told in February that E. coli-contaminated meat was being produced at the ConAgra plant, but those officials chose to ignore the warnings. The USDA and ConAgra negotiated a voluntary recall on June 30 and another, much larger recall last week. The groups called for the investigation in letters to the chairs of the House and Senate Agriculture committees and the House Government Reform and Senate Government Affairs committees. The letter went to Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), and Reps. Larry Combest (R-Texas) and Dan Burton (R-Ind.).
"It's time for the Congress to take a good, hard look into USDA food safety policies and how they are implemented," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "The ConAgra recall is not an aberration. It is another example of a food safety system that is teetering on the brink of collapse."
The groups criticized the way the USDA is implementing its Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) program, in which meat plants are responsible for the inspection process and for determining where in their production system hazards are most likely to occur and controlling them. Government inspectors have little authority to require corrective action when they see a problem.
The e-mail evidence shows that earlier this year, USDA inspectors determined through documentation and microbial testing that the Greeley plant was the likely source of contamination found at a much smaller meat processing plant. USDA's top brass not only ignored the inspectors' recommendations that the agency take action, but also chastised them for documenting their conclusions.
"Unfortunately, it's a complaint we have heard all too often from our whistleblowers," said Felicia Nestor, food safety project director for the Government Accountability Project. "Like a collective recurring nightmare, the inspectors find problems, call Washington for help and then must stand silently by as administrators allow problem plants to operate without interruption. Commenters who blame the inspectors for inaction are really missing the mark on who really wields the authority at USDA."
The two groups stated in their letter that they were supporters of the HACCP when first introduced because it was designed to add scientific testing to the food safety inspection system. In practice, both internal and external examinations of the implementation of HAACP by USDA have discovered major flaws.
An investigation conducted in 2000 by the USDA's inspector general concluded that the public's health was being jeopardized by the manner in which HAACP was being implemented. Just recently, a draft report by Congress' own investigative arm, the General Accounting Office, severely criticized the USDA for its implementation of HAACP.
In addition, GAP and Public Citizen have found that the USDA is not enforcing its own pathogen performance standards for the meat industry and is permitting meat processors who continually fail those performance standards to continue to operate. The findings were detailed in a report issued in May called Hamburger Hell: The Flip Side of USDA's Salmonella Testing Program
Available at: http://www.citizen.org/cmep/
"It's not good enough to say that your food safety system is based on science when you don't use it," said Hauter.
A copy of the letter is available at
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/meat/articles.cfm?ID=8061
To read the e-mail evidence, go to
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/meat/articles.cfm?ID=8062.
xoxox
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. GAP is a nonprofit organization that assists whistleblowers. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org and www.whistleblower.org.
July 25, 2002
Corporate Crime Bill a Good Start, But Congress Must Pass McCain-Levin Stock Options Requirement
Statement by Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook
The conference committee bill passing the House and Senate today is a good start to counteract this corporate crime wave, which was enabled by the broad corporate campaign to deregulate business. It will toughen the standards for accounting, change the rules to deter fraud against investors, authorize criminal penalties for top executives and put more federal cops on the regulatory beat. Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.) deserves enormous credit for developing this legislation land persisting in overcoming a huge corporate lobbying campaign to prevent its passage.
But the measure omits an essential ingredient that would eliminate a prime incentive for executives to cook up phony numbers intended to scam investors - and that is a requirement that companies treat stock options as a business expense that drains profits and reduces shareholder equity. Unless Congress does that before it adjourns, corporations will be free to continue lying to investors about their profits. Investors deserve better.
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) were promised a vote on their amendment to require this commonsense accounting change. This promise must be honored. The senators must be allowed to offer their amendment on "must-pass" legislation this session.
Finally, the bill does little to help investors recover losses experienced because of corporate fraud. The Congress must pass legislation authorizing investors to sue those aiding and abetting fraud, such as accountants, lawyers and bankers, and cutting back on 1995 legislation limiting investors' rights to recourse.
xoxox
July 25, 2002
Bush Administration Grandstanding on Medical Malpractice, Failing Patients in Need of Better Medical Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Bush's call to undercut medical malpractice litigation is misguided, misinformed and contrary to findings of his own administration's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a Public Citizen briefing paper released today.
"The Bush administration's political appointees at HHS have produced a clip-job medical malpractice 'report' filled with anecdote and innuendo that, not surprisingly, concludes the problem with medical malpractice is not patients' death or injuries but too many lawsuits," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. "But the health care professionals at HHS and other independent scientific bodies have a different story to tell."
Bush administration claims that spikes in medical malpractice insurance premiums are due to "excessive lawsuits" are rebutted in the briefing paper. The report documents that medical malpractice claims have been flat in recent years, payments have not skyrocketed but instead have kept pace with health care cost inflation, and the cost of medical malpractice insurance premiums has not gobbled up an ever-increasing share of national health spending.
The briefing paper also shows that insurance rates are rising significantly in other insurance products: Auto insurance rates are projected to climb by 23 percent from 2000 to 2003 and homeowners insurance is projected to climb by 21 percent over the same period.
"Medical malpractice insurance rate increases - like increases in other insurance products - are primarily due to the declining stock market and bad investment decisions by insurers rather than increased litigation," said Frank Clemente, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch. "President Bush should work harder to fix the economy rather than point figures at lawyers to please the insurance and doctors' lobbies."
Among the chief points made in the Public Citizen critique of the Bush administration's initiative are the following:
· The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) at HHS found that the number of adverse effects from medical treatment has more than doubled in recent years, rising from 302,118 in 1993 to 710,000 in 2000.
· AHRQ also found that adverse effects of medical drugs have increased more than 44 percent in recent years, rising from 656,912 in 1993 to 991,749 in 2000.
· The Centers for Disease Control has found that 90,000 deaths per year are linked to hospital infections and represent the fourth leading cause of mortality among Americans, behind heart disease, cancer and strokes. These infections also kill more people each year than car accidents, fires and drowning combined. The Chicago Tribune recently found that nearly three-quarters of these deadly hospital infections - or about 75,000 deaths - were preventable.
· The Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences found that at least 44,000 and perhaps as many as 98,000 Americans die in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors - more than die from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer or AIDS.
"Given the dangerously uneven quality of state medical board regulation of doctors, it is extremely important that patients be able to 'regulate' the quality of doctor care by holding them accountable in court," said Sidney Wolfe, M.D., director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group.
Claybrook added that Bush's call is similar to his comments during the California energy crisis, in which Bush claimed there was a shortage of power plants - which we now know is untrue. This, too, is a manufactured crisis, she said.
A copy of the paper is available at
http://www.citizen.org/congress/civjus/patients/medmal/articles.cfm?ID=8068
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit http://www.citizen.org
7/27/02
1:43:53 PM
The Nation
Where is the most important election of 2002 taking place?
It's Brazil.
Yes, the US Senate races this November are far from unimportant. Hands down, though, the most important election this fall for those who worry about the growing divide between rich and poor, for those who oppose unfettered corporate trade, is the October 6 presidential election in Brazil.
Currently, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the presidential contender from the Workers' Party, better known simply as Lula, holds a commanding lead over Jose Serra, the ruling Social Democratic party candidate. The possibility that Lula, a former metalworker, will become leader of Latin America's most important economy has got the markets - which consider him a leftwing firebrand - rattled.
Lula has run for president three times before; he has even been ahead in the polls before; but each time, he was defeated by the opposition's money, personal smears, scare tactics and the open blackmail of international banking, which, in effect, says to Brazil, If you elect Lula, we'll pull your loans, downgrade your credit ratings and throw your economy into turmoil.
As progressive political analyst Steve Cobble insists in a special Nation web report, this makes the role of US progressives even more critical in investigating and calling out the potential subversion of Brazilian democracy by interested outside intervention.
For the full story, check out Cobble's report today:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=cobble20020718
The so-called National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is one of the central vehicles for US manipulation of the South American political process, having most recently involved itself -- to disastrous effect -- in the aborted coup against President Hugo Chavez in Venezula.
Created by President Ronald Reagan and Congress in 1983, the NED was designed to run a parallel foreign policy for the United States, backing and assisting entities that Washington might not be able to officially endorse. For months before the April 12 coup in Venezula, Americans--including US government officials and officials of NED and its core grantees--were in contact with Venezuelans and political parties that became involved or possibly involved with the coup.
For more on this story, read Nation Washington Editor David Corn's investigation from the August 5/12 issue of The Nation, currently available at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020805&s=corn
And don't miss these other new editorials, columns and articles from the August 5/12, 2002 double-issue of The Nation:
WILLIAM GREIDER: Is This America's Top Corporate Crime Fighter?
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020805&s=greider
TOM HAYDEN & DICK FLACKS: Port Huron at 40
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020805&s=hayden
KATE DOYLE: Mexico Opens the Files
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020805&s=doyle
JULIAN EPSTEIN: Doublespeak on Guns
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020805&s=epstein
ERIC ALTERMAN: Farewell, My Cokie
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020805&s=alterman
SCOTT KLINGER & HOLLY SKLAR: Titans of the Enron Economy
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020805&s=klinger
7/25/02
6:42:00 PM
Senator Clinton: Supreme Court 'Installed' Bush
by The Associated Press and The New York Times, July 23, 2002
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush v. Gore presidential election case is an example of a hypocritical Supreme Court majority that broadens the rights of states only when it serves conservative ends, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday.
Clinton, D-N.Y., criticized the court's recent trend of 5-4 cases that have favored state power over federal control. The case that ended Florida ballot recounts in the disputed 2000 presidential election was also a 5-4 vote, but it stripped a state of power to administer its own laws, the former first lady said.
``Perhaps even more disturbing than the court's impulse to defend state and local prerogatives is the selectivity of that impulse,'' Clinton told an audience of law students, lawyers and judges at the liberal American Constitution Society.
States win the power struggle when they want to claim immunity from civil rights lawsuits or get tough on criminals, but not when they want to limit cigarette ads, help fund legal help for poor people, or ``follow their own election laws,'' Clinton said.
The Bush v. Gore case centered on whether a fair recount could be done under Florida election law and still give the state time to have its electors included in the Electoral College.
Clinton called the court led by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist ``one of the most activist, if not the most activist, Supreme Court ever in American history.''
Conservatives, including President Bush, have criticized ``judicial activism,'' or the substitution of a judge's own views for established law. Conservatives have pointed to the civil rights-era decisions of the court under Chief Justice Warren Burger as examples of such activism.
Critics on the left have countered, as Clinton did Tuesday, that activism is often in the eye of the beholder.
While the court has the power to strike down federal laws, it has been historically reluctant to do so, Clinton noted.
The Warren court struck down federal laws in about 20 cases over 16 years, she said. The Rehnquist court, in the last eight terms alone, has done so in 32 cases. Eleven of those were states' rights cases in which the state prevailed, and many of those involved states trying to avoid ``enforcement of civil rights guaranteed by federal law,'' Clinton said.
``In addition to installing an American president, the current Supreme Court has invalidated federal laws at the most astounding rate in our nation's history,'' Clinton said to applause and laughter.
American Constitution Society: http://www.AmericanConstitutionSociety.org
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Clinton-Supreme-Court.html
7/25/02
6:26:22 PM
Fuel Cell Car Gets Environmental OKs
Honda Expects It On The Road By Year's End
by John Koopman, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer, July 25, 2002
Before the year is over, someone somewhere in California will be driving a vehicle powered by hydrogen.
That was the forecast delivered by Honda on Wednesday, when it announced that the state and federal governments had certified its new fuel cell cars.
Honda's FCX is the first fuel cell car to be certified by the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board as a low-emissions vehicle.
The car is awaiting safety and occupant protection certification from the federal government. Art Garner, a spokesman for Honda, said certification was forthcoming and that at least one fuel cell car would be on the road by the end of the year.
"This certification is a first step, but an important step, in the development of the fuel cell car," Garner said.
Fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity and power the drive train of the vehicle.
Honda is negotiating a lease that would put one of the vehicles on the street. Garner would not say whom the company was talking to. The lessee probably will be a municipality or other government agency that has a fleet of cars and access to a hydrogen pumping station, he added.
The pumping station is the big issue, because the stations are rare. They are being installed near Los Angeles for a bus fleet that will be experimenting with fuel cell vehicles and also at the California Fuel Cell Partnership in Davis. AC Transit is planning to install one in or near Oakland for its own fuel cell project.
"This is an important milestone for the automobile industry that holds the promise of cleaner air for all Americans," said Jeff Holmstead, assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation.
Honda hopes to have about 30 vehicles operating in California and Tokyo -- one other spot where hydrogen pumping stations are available -- in the next two to three years.
Honda plans to collect data on how well its fuel cell car holds up. Garner said the company would prefer to lease vehicles to an agency that would use them every day, in real-world environments, and put them through their paces.
The cars seat four people and have a range of about 220 miles and a maximum speed of 93 mph.
While the new technology is promising, it is still in its infancy and no one knows whether it will be the next big thing in transportation.
Fuel-cell vehicles are an improvement over electric cars, because their power supply can be taken on board, and they are cleaner than hybrid cars, which use both electric and internal combustion engines.
The downsides are their cost, which are thousands of dollars higher than standard autos, and the difficulty in developing a wide array of hydrogen pumping stations.
Some automakers have been experimenting with a process in which hydrogen is created through a chemical process involving ethanol or another petroleum- based product. That would make it easier to switch gas stations over to a different fuel type, but it also increases the cost of the individual vehicles and involves some pollution.
The Honda FCX uses compressed hydrogen as it currently works.
The fuel cell engine requires a great deal of platinum, which is expensive, said Csaba Csere, editor of Car and Driver magazine. Until engineers find a different material to use, the cars will remain expensive. Even mass production won't help much, he said.
Similarly, refitting gas stations to provide hydrogen is a huge project, and producing hydrogen causes pollution because it uses electricity or other energy sources.
It will take many more years, perhaps decades, to determine whether fuel cell cars are the wave of the future, Csere said.
"The thing you have to remember is that there is no consumer demand," he said. "Polls show most people favor doing something about global warming, and then they go down to their dealership and buy a Ford Explorer."
Robert Moore, director of the Center for Fuel Cell Studies at UC Davis, said we'd know more by 2010. In that time, he said, engineers will work and rework the fuel cell technology and vehicle drive trains, and others will look for ways to deliver the hydrogen to cars in great quantities across the land.
"Really, no one can say whether this will take off," Moore said. "If I knew that, I wouldn't be sitting here talking about it. I'd be out buying stock."
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
Expanded single fuel cell hown:
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.
Sources: Ballard Power Systems, Fuel Cells 2000, http://www.HowStuffWorks.com
email John Koopman: mailto:jkoopman@sfchronicle.com
Source: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/07/25/MN13709.DTL
7/25/02
6:17:04 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
BETTER, BY DESIGN
The idea that growth can be good is anathema to most environmentalists. Yet that's exactly the argument made by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their new book "Cradle to Cradle." Take a look at nature, they say, and you'll see that growth is not only good, but necessary; that nature's very abundance is what we depend on and celebrate. The key is pursuing the right kind of growth -- and the key to that is better design. The authors argue that companies ought to design products with an eye toward their entire life cycles, and the book itself lives up to those standards by being supremely recyclable. But is it a good read? Get reviewer Hal Clifford's opinion, only on the Grist Magazine website.
only in Grist: A review of "Cradle to Cradle" by William McDonough and Michael Braungart -- in our Books Unbound section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/books/books072502.asp?source=daily>
BEACHED WAILS
You might want to think twice before you head out with your sunscreen and towel this weekend. The number of sewage-tainted beaches is on the rise, jumping 19 percent between 2000 to 2001, according to a report released yesterday by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The group said that 13,410 beach closings and water advisories were issued by government agencies in 2001, compared to 11,270 in 2000. The culprit? High levels of bacteria associated with fecal contamination, in 87 percent of the cases. That type of pollution most often comes from sewage discharges or street runoff, but the NRDC said local authorities couldn't identify the exact source of contamination in 54 percent of the cases. But before you wax nostalgic for the pollution-free beaches of yore, the group had this to say: Much of the rise in beach warnings resulted from increased monitoring and better testing standards for bacteria.
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Miguel Llanos, 24 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=295>
do good: Take action to warn swimmers about sewage in public waters <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/air.asp?source=daily#seasewage>
BORN TO BE WILD
In a blow to property-rights advocates, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service said yesterday that wild salmon should continue to be protected under the Endangered Species Act even though hatchery-born salmon are thriving. Last year, in a lawsuit brought by opponents of salmon protection, a federal judge told the agency to go back to the drawing board because its salmon protection plan focused on dwindling wild salmon populations and didn't take hatchery fish fully into account. The NMFS issued draft rules yesterday, finding salmon protections ought not be lifted until the fish are naturally self-sustaining. NMFS spokesperson Brian Gorman said, "Clearly, a hatchery population is not self-sustaining."
straight to the source: Portland Oregonian, Jonathan Brinckman, 25 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=296>
straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Robert McClure, 25 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=297>
only in Grist: Run, salmon, run! -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha070599.stm?source=daily>
do good: Take action to stand up for endangered species protections <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/species.asp?source=daily#esa>
UNSETTLING
The Bush administration is asking a federal judge to put the kibosh on a settlement that it reached 19 months ago with environmental groups to protect endangered manatees off the coast of Florida. The feds last year agreed to tighten procedures for issuing permits for waterfront development plans that might affect manatee habitat; they also said they would create manatee refuges where boating would be limited or prohibited. Enviros, in turn, agreed to stop pushing for a moratorium on all waterfront development in 32 Florida counties. Now, the feds say they goofed, failing to go through the proper regulatory hoops and acting too hastily in signing the agreement. Eric Glitzenstein, an attorney for the environmental groups involved, criticized the Bush administration move as "ridiculous."
straight to the source: St. Petersburg Times, Craig Pittman, 25 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=298>
HONDA PRELUDE
Honda predicted yesterday that one of its hydrogen-powered fuel-cell cars could hit the road in California by the end of the year. The forecast came after the auto manufacturer's FCX became the first fuel-cell car to be certified by the U.S. EPA and the California Air Resources Board as a low-emissions vehicle. Honda hopes to have 30 of the four-seaters operating in California and Tokyo within three years. One drawback of the car: It can travel only 220 miles before refueling, and hydrogen pumping stations are extremely rare. Therefore, the first drivers of the vehicles will likely be the lucky few with access to such stations -- employees of municipalities and government agencies.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, John Koopman, 25 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=299>
do good: Take action to pledge to buy an eco-friendly car <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/autos.asp?source=daily#pledge>
7/25/02
6:13:03 PM
t r u t h o u t | 07.27
Sen. Clinton: Supreme Court 'Installed' Bush
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.26A.clinton.sc.htm
James Ridgeway | Are we headed toward martial law?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.26B.martial.law.htm
AT&T: $12.7 Billion Loss After Charges
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.26C.ATT.12.7.B.htm
Dow Shrugs Off Weeks of Losses to Gain 6.4% (488 pts.) in Rally
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.26D.dow.up.488.htm
Senate Investigates Investment Banks' Role in Enron
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.26E.banks.enron.htm
Federal Tipster Plan Gets Green Light Despite Opposition
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.26F.tips.closer.htm
Bush Clears Way for Nevada Nuclear Waste Dump
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.26G.bush.yucca.htm
7/25/02
5:08:22 PM
The Importance of Surprises--Part 2
Waste Management Forever
by Peter Montague
Here we continue examining the three kinds of surprises that have made nuclear technology one of the world's most difficult and dangerous problems, and one that grows worse each passing year. The three kinds of surprises result from (1) technical ignorance of the chemistry, physics or biology involved, (2) management lapses (failure to anticipate human errors and subsequent inability, or refusal, to confront mistakes and take corrective action), and (3) political winds (shifting political and economic realities that render government controls ineffective, including commercial competition).
Our purpose in examining these nuclear surprises is first to make the point that nuclear technology has apparently exceeded the human capacity for controlling complex machines and processes, and, secondly, to ask whether it makes sense to press ahead with the deployment of new technologies that are more powerful than nuclear, less understandable, and therefore less controllable, namely biotech and nanotech.[1]
Where do we find evidence that nuclear is beyond human control? In the newspapers every week.
All nuclear operations generate radioactive wastes. The U.S. now holds an estimated 42,500 metric tons of intensely radioactive spent reactor fuel, and 100 million gallons of highly radioactive liquids and sludges in temporary storage. These wastes are dangerous by themselves, but some of them could also be used to make terrifying weapons. This week we look briefly at local hazards from radioactive wastes.
** As we saw in REHN #747, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeastern Washington state, DuPont and other private firms manufactured plutonium for weapons from 1943 to 1987 under close government supervision. In the process they created 54 million gallons of radioactive liquids, sludges and salts, about a million gallons of which have already leaked into the ground and are now measurable in the Columbia River -- an event considered impossible until it happened. (Technical surprise.)
In addition to the 54 million gallons held in tanks, substantial additional quantities of radioactive wastes lie buried in shallow pits at Hanford. As a consequence, tumbleweeds (Russian thistles) growing on some parts of the Hanford site absorb radioactivity through their roots. (Technical surprise.) To prevent this mobile vegetation from releasing radioactivity by blowing off-site, or burning up in a fire, the government continually collects them and solves the problem by burying them in the ground. [NY TIMES Sep. 12, 2000, pg. D3.] The "hot tumbleweed" problem will solve itself through natural radioactive decay after 240,000 years have passed. To help get this problem into perspective, Homo sapiens (modern humans) have roamed the earth for about 100,000 years.
** Hanford is not alone. In October, 2000, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that its previous estimate of plutonium buried in shallow pits and trenches had increased ten-fold. (Management surprise.) These are bomb-making residues buried between 1943 and 1987 at Hanford, Washington; Los Alamos, New Mexico; the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho; the Oak Ridge National Laboratory near Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and the Savannah River complex near Aiken, S.C.
Unfortunately little is known about the chemical characteristics, or exact locations, of many of these wastes, which often were mixed with toxic chemicals and explosives at the time of burial. "There is little or no information on volumes of soil potentially contaminated by leaching of buried solid wastes, nor is there information on hazardous waste components known to have been commingled with the radioactive components," said Carolyn Huntoon, assistant secretary for environmental management with the Department of Energy. (Management surprise.) [NY TIMES Oct. 21, 2000, pg. A13.]
In announcing the 10-fold increase in its estimate, the DOE acknowledged that cleanup of buried radioactive wastes is extremely difficult, and that little progress has been made on them. (Technical surprise.)
For example, in 1994 the DOE tried to dig up a 25-year-old one-acre pit at the Idaho laboratory, to demonstrate retrieval. Four years later DOE fired the contractor in a dispute over costs and methods. During the year 2000, DOE spent $6 million in legal costs in the dispute over the Idaho pit, and another $2.5 million on further work, but during the six-year effort no waste was retrieved. [NY TIMES Oct. 21, 2000, pg. A13.] (Technical and management surprises.)
** At West Valley, New York, 30 miles south of Buffalo, the Davison Chemical Company processed spent nuclear fuel from power plants for six years from 1966 to 1972, producing 660,000 gallons of highly radioactive wastes, plus other assorted radioactive debris, which were pumped into an underground storage tank or buried in large shallow pits.[2] In 1976, Davison Chemical decided the nuclear business wasn't sufficiently profitable and walked away from the West Valley site, leaving New York State holding 30 million Curies of radioactivity in the ground and in contaminated buildings and equipment. (Political surprise.) (A Curie is the amount of radioactivity in a gram of radium. For comparison, the accident at Three Mile Island in 1979 released about 50 Curies into the air.)
New York state and the federal government now employ nearly 1000 scientists and engineers working full-time to clean up the West Valley site. So far they have spent more than $1.5 billion and the end is nowhere in sight. At some point a couple of decades ago, acid ate through a concrete and steel foundation, releasing about 200 Curies of highly-radioactive Strontium-90 into the groundwater beneath the West Valley site. (Technical surprise.) The plume of strontium-90 flowed beneath the site for more than a decade before it was discovered in 1993 (management surprise); since then the plume has continued to spread out and move toward Lake Erie and has even shown up on the surface of the land downhill from the old factory. (Technical surprise, management surprise.)
Several years ago a government contractor began drilling wells and pumping groundwater through filters to try to retrieve the plume of strontium-90, but the filters themselves became a new source of radioactive waste and were expensive ($400,000 per year). Now the contractor has buried a large quantity of kitty litter (zeolite) in the ground, trying to create one huge filter to capture the deadly strontium. Even if this works, eventually someone will have to re-bury the radioactive zeolite in the ground somewhere else. [NY TIMES Feb. 24, 2000, pg. A23.]
** At the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, Connecticut, corporate managers can't locate two highly-radioactive spent fuel rods that are supposed to reside in a 40-foot deep pool of special boron-treated water to shield their intense radioactivity and prevent them from overheating. The company lost track of the two 12-foot-long rods in 1980 and, prodded by alert federal overseers, began searching for them 21 years later. The fuel rods are not in the spent fuel pool where they were last seen in 1980, and no one knows what happened to them. Company officials speculate that the fuel rods were mistakenly broken up, shipped to a "low level" radioactive waste dump, and buried in a shallow pit in the ground. (Management surprise.) [NY TIMES Jan. 8, 2001, pg. A17.] \tab
Coincidentally, Millstone officials admitted that they had falsified environmental records and had deliberately promoted unqualified plant operators during the period 1994 to 1996. Six Millstone control-room operators flunked the licensing exam but still received federal operators' licenses because Millstone managers falsified their exam scores. (Management surprise.)
Millstone's owner, Northeast Nuclear Energy Company, pleaded guilty to 23 federal felonies and was fined $10 million. Federal officials said "economic pressure brought on by the deregulation of the nuclear industry had contributed to the violations." In other words, the Millstone managers were driven to crime by competitive pressure: "The shortcut was taken so there was some economic saving," said assistant U.S. attorney Joseph C. Hutchison. (Political surprise.) [NY TIMES Sep. 28, 1999, pg. A23.]
** At the Nevada Test Site, covering 1593 square miles in south-central Nevada, the government exploded 828 nuclear bombs underground between 1956 and 1992. Government scientists always assumed the resulting radioactivity would be sealed into cavities by the blasts, or else absorbed by soil and rocks. They also believed the groundwater beneath the site moved very slowly.
Unfortunately, they were wrong on all counts. Now new scientific studies have shown that some radioactive metals, particularly plutonium, can move readily with groundwater. (Technical surprise.) Furthermore, the groundwater beneath the site is now known to be moving much more rapidly than previously assumed. (Technical surprise.)
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey now say that a dangerous brew of radioactive wastes could take as little as 10 years to reach water wells in the town of Beatty, Nevada in the Oasis Valley. Eventually groundwater flowing beneath the bomb test site is expected to reach Death Valley National Park. A University of Nevada physicist and groundwater researcher, Dr. Dennis Weber, said there were other problems besides plutonium at the site. Huge quantities of tritium -- which is radioactive hydrogen that can be incorporated directly into any water that it contacts -- lie buried at the site.
Dr. Weber criticized the government's attempt to understand the exact nature of the contaminated groundwater problem beneath the site, which is larger than Rhode Island. "They haven't drilled wells with the intention of finding the plumes," he said. "They didn't want to know." (Management surprise.) [NY TIMES March 21, 2000, pg. D2.]
** In 1997, the Department of Energy announced plans to privatize 6000 tons of surplus radioactive nickel from a stockpile at the Oak Ridge, Tennessee weapons factory, by selling it to scrap dealers. Another 10,000 tons would be sold later. The government has set no standards for radioactive metals, so the proposed sale was legal. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission refused to regulate the radioactive nickel because the radioactivity had not been intentionally added for "beneficial effect." This left the decision up to the Tennessee Division of Radiological Health, which approved the sale. (Management surprises.)
Congressional critics pointed out that the radioactive metal could end up in stainless steel tableware or in braces on children's teeth. The propose sale "horrified scrap dealers and steel industry leaders, who feared having to explain to their customers that their product was even mildly radioactive." (Political surprise.) They opposed the sale, and so it was postponed. [NY TIMES Jan. 12, 2000, pg. A17.]
** In 1996, a truck carrying nuclear warheads skidded off an icy road and crashed in Nebraska. For half a day no one in government -- including the President and his cabinet -- knew the level of danger or whether any radioactivity had escaped from the truck because radiation monitors on the government's fleet of weapons trucks had been removed after drivers complained that the monitors showed they were being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. (Management surprise.)
Robert Alvarez, who was a senior policy advisor within the Department of Energy from 1993 to 1999, reported these facts in April, 2000, saying they were "emblematic of the [Department of Energy's] inept and often arrogant management culture." He went on, "The mind-set has become so backward, that the [U.S. weapons] complex is now basically a ticking time bomb waiting to go off in a serious accident or an inadvertent nuclear blast." [NY TIMES April 30, 2000, pg. 23.]
To be continued.
[1] http://www.rafi.org/text/txt_search.asp?type=communique
[2] http://www.wv.doe.gov/LinkingPages/sitehistory.htm
Source: http://www.Rachel.org
7/25/02
4:58:28 PM
Iraq War Phase One Is Under Way, Sources Say
MOSCOW, Jul 24, 2002 -- Pravda.Ru sources in the Gulf have confirmed that the military build-up by the US Forces has begun, with "tent cities" being built in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, while in Washington military sources have confirmed that operations have started.
The new French Foreign Minister, Dominique Villepin, told French diplomats that she expected the military action from the USA against Iraq to come "soon" after a meeting with US National Security Advisor, Condoleeza Rice. Military strategists in Washington have leaked to the press reports that the first strike would be with special forces, possibly Delta Force and CIA operationals, together with British SAS and SBS, setting up blockades along Iraq's road arteries, while aircraft carried out punitive missions and advanced bases were set up in Mosul, in the north and Basra in the south. This, according to Major Charles Heyman, spokesperson for Jane's Information Group, could take place "much sooner than expected", in August or September. These bases would be used in a second phase next Spring with a large invading force of some 250,000 troops liaising with Kurdish and Shi'ite guerrillas. A legitimate basis for such an attack has not yet been declared.
Source: http://www.pravda.ru
7/25/02
4:54:37 PM
The Coming October War in Iraq
By William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t, July 24, 2002
Room 295 of the Suffolk Law School building in downtown Boston was filled to capacity on July 23rd with peace activists, aging Cambridge hippies and assorted freaks. One of the organizers for the gathering, United For Justice With Peace Coalition, handed out green pieces of paper that read, "We will not support war, no matter what reason or rhetoric is offered by politicians or the media. War in our time and in this context is indiscriminate, a war against innocents and against children." Judging from the crowd, and the buzz in the room, that pretty much summed things up.
The contrast presented when Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, entered the room, could not have been more disparate. There at the lectern stood this tall lantern-jawed man, every inch the twelve-year Marine Corps veteran he was, who looked and spoke just exactly like a bulldogging high school football coach. A whistle on a string around his neck would have perfected the image.
"I need to say right out front," he said minutes into his speech, "I'm a card-carrying Republican in the conservative-moderate range who voted for George W. Bush for President. I'm not here with a political agenda. I'm not here to slam Republicans. I am one."
Yet this was a lie - Scott Ritter had come to Boston with a political agenda, one that impacts every single American citizen. Ritter was in the room that night to denounce, with roaring voice and burning eyes, the coming American war in Iraq. According to Ritter, this coming war is about nothing more or less than domestic American politics, based upon speculation and rhetoric entirely divorced from fact. According to Ritter, that war is just over the horizon..
.."If I were an American, uninformed on Iraq as we all are," said Ritter, "I would be concerned." Furthermore, continued Ritter, if an unquestionable case could be made that such weapons and terrorist connections existed, he would be all for a war in Iraq. It would be just, smart, and in the interest of national defense.
Therein lies the rub: According to Scott Ritter, who spent seven years in Iraq with the UNSCOM weapons inspection teams performing acidly detailed investigations into Iraq's weapons program, no such capability exists. Iraq simply does not have weapons of mass destruction, and does not have threatening ties to international terrorism. Therefore, no premise for a war in Iraq exists. Considering the American military lives and the Iraqi civilian lives that will be spent in such an endeavor, not to mention the deadly regional destabilization that will ensue, such a baseless war must be avoided at all costs.
"The Bush administration has provided the American public with little more than rhetorically laced speculation," said Ritter. "There has been nothing in the way of substantive fact presented that makes the case that Iraq possesses these weapons or has links to international terror, that Iraq poses a threat to the United States of America worthy of war."
Ritter regaled the crowd with stories of his time in Iraq with UNSCOM. The basis for the coming October war is the continued existence of a weapons program that threatens America. Ritter noted explicitly that Iraq, of course, had these weapons at one time - he spent seven years there tracking them down. At the outset, said Ritter, they lied about it. They failed to declare the existence of their biological and nuclear programs after the Gulf War, and declared less than 50% of their chemical and missile stockpiles. They hid everything they could, as cleverly as they could. After the first lie, Ritter and his team refused to believe anything else they said. For the next seven years, the meticulously tracked down every bomb, every missile, every factory designed to produce chemical, biological and nuclear weaponry. They went to Europe and found the manufacturers who sold them the equipment. They got the invoices and shoved them into the faces of Iraqi officials. They tracked the shipping of these materials and cross-referenced this data against the invoices. They lifted the foundations of buildings destroyed in the Gulf War to find wrecked research and development labs, at great risk to their lives, and used the reams of paperwork there to cross-reference what they had already cross-referenced.
Everything they found was later destroyed in place...Along with the other mitigating factors described above, it seems clear that 100% compliance under the UNSCOM rules was impossible to achieve. 90-95%, however, is an impressive record.
The fact that chemical and biological weapons ever existed in the first place demands action, according to the Bush administration. After all, they could have managed to hide vast amounts of the stuff from Ritter's investigators. Iraq manufactured three kinds of these nerve agents: VX, Sarin and Tabou. Some alarmists who want war with Iraq describe 20,000 munitions filled with Sarin and Tabou nerve agents that could be used against Americans.
The facts, however, allay the fears. Sarin and Tabou have a shelf life of five years. Even if Iraq had somehow managed to hide this vast number of weapons from Ritter's people, what they are now storing is nothing more than useless and completely harmless goo.
"The research and development factory is destroyed," said Ritter. "The product of that factory is destroyed. The weapons they loaded up have been destroyed. More importantly, the equipment procured from Europe that was going to be used for their large-scale VX nerve agent factory was identified by the special commission - still packed in its crates in 1997 - and destroyed. Is there a VX nerve agent factory in Iraq today? Not on your life."
This is, in and of itself, a bold statement. Ritter himself and no weapons inspection team has set foot in Iraq since 1998. Ritter believed Iraq technically capable of restarting its weapons manufacturing capabilities within six months of his departure. That leaves some three and one half years to manufacture and weaponize all the horrors that has purportedly motivated the Bush administration to attack.
"Technically capable," however, is the important phrase here. If no one were watching, Iraq could do this. But they would have to start completely from scratch, having been deprived of all equipment, facilities and research because of Ritter's work. They would have to procure the complicated tools and technology required through front companies, which would be detected. The manufacture of chemical and biological weapons emits vented gasses that would have been detected by now if they existed. The manufacture of nuclear weapons emits gamma rays that would have been detected by now if they existed. We have been watching, via satellite and other means, and we have seen none of this.
"If Iraq was producing weapons today, we would have definitive proof," said Ritter, "plain and simple.."
..The removal of Saddam Hussein became a plank in the GOP's race for the Presidency in 2000. After gaining office, George W. Bush was confronted with the reality that he and many within his administration had spent a great amount of political capital promising that removal. Once in power, however, he came to realize what his father and Clinton already knew -talking tough was easy, and instigating pinprick military confrontations was easy, but removing Hussein from power was not easy at all. His own rhetoric was all around him, however, pushing him into that corner which had only one exit. Still, like the two Presidents before him, he treaded water..
..It is of a certainty that few in the Muslim world support another American war with Iraq. Osama bin Laden used the civilian suffering in Iraq under the sanctions to demonstrate to his followers the evils of America and the West. Another war would exacerbate those already-raw emotions. After 9/11, much of the Islamic world repudiated bin Laden and his actions. Another Iraq war would go a long way to proving, in the minds of many Muslims, that bin Laden was right all along. The fires of terrorism that would follow this are unimaginable.
Scott Ritter wants to be present as a witness on Monday when the Foreign Relations Committee convenes its hearing, a hearing that will decide whether or not America goes to war in Iraq. He wants to share the information he delivered in that Boston classroom with Senators who have spent too many years listening to, or propounding, rhetorical and speculative fearmongering about an Iraqi threat to America that does not exist. Instead, he wants the inspectors back in Iraq, doing their jobs. He wants to try and keep American and Iraqi blood from being spilled in a military exercise promulgated by right-wing ideologues that may serve no purpose beyond affecting the outcome of the midterm Congressional elections in November 2002.
"This is not theory," said Ritter in Boston as he closed his comments. "This is real. And the only way this war is going to be stopped is if Congress stops this war."
Take Action!!!! On the web:
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
http://foreign.senate.gov/committee/
Source: http://www.TruthOut.org
7/25/02
4:47:11 PM
Could Hollywood Hack Your PC?
By Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com, July 23, 2002
update WASHINGTON--Congress is about to consider an entertainment industry proposal that would authorize copyright holders to disable PCs used for illicit file trading.
A draft bill seen by CNET News.com marks the boldest political effort to date by record labels and movie studios to disrupt peer-to-peer networks that they view as an increasingly dire threat to their bottom line.
Sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard Coble, R-N.C., the measure would permit copyright holders to perform nearly unchecked electronic hacking if they have a "reasonable basis" to believe that piracy is taking place. Berman and Coble plan to introduce the 10-page bill this week.
The legislation would immunize groups such as the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America from all state and federal laws if they disable, block or otherwise impair a "publicly accessible peer-to-peer network."
Anyone whose computer was damaged in the process must receive the permission of the U.S. attorney general before filing a lawsuit, and a suit could be filed only if the actual monetary loss was more than $250.
According to the draft, the attorney general must be given complete details about the "specific technologies the copyright holder intends to use to impair" the normal operation of the peer-to-peer network. Those details would remain secret and would not be divulged to the public.
The draft bill doesn't specify what techniques, such as viruses, worms, denial-of-service attacks, or domain name hijacking, would be permissible. It does say that a copyright-hacker should not delete files, but it limits the right of anyone subject to an intrusion to sue if files are accidentally erased.
Because Congress only has about five work weeks left before it is scheduled to adjourn for the year, the outlook for the draft bill is uncertain.
But because its sponsors include top Republican and Democratic committee chairmen, it could receive a warm welcome in the House of Representatives at a hearing tentatively scheduled for this fall. Coble is the chairman of the House subcommittee on intellectual property, and Berman is the top Democrat on the panel.
Berman wrote in an opinion article this month that "currently, copyright owners are unable to use some useful technological tools to deal with P2P piracy because they face potential, if unintended, liability under a variety of state and federal laws."
"It's a good bill," Gene Smith, a spokeswoman for Berman, said on Monday. "It's always hard to defend theft and piracy--this bill just puts into the hands of the copyright owners technologies that are already being used by the pirates."
Smith said the purpose of the draft bill was to "fight fire with fire, fight technology with technology."
Jessica Litman, a professor at Wayne State University who specializes in copyright law, said the draft bill improperly encourages "vigilante justice."
"I think it's wildly overreaching," Litman said. "Copyright owners are in essence asking Congress to say that peer-to-peer file trading is such a scourge, is so bad, that stopping it is more important than enforcing any other laws that federal or state governments may have passed on computer security, privacy, fraud and so forth."
Litman said that even if a copyright holder accidentally deleted a home video titled "Snow White," the owner of that PC could be out of luck. "Unless I can show economic harm, I can't even be compensated," Litman said. "Even if I want to be compensated, I have to jump through procedural hoops."
The film and music industries already are developing tools to use against rogue file swapping, though they've remained mum on the details. The RIAA says its members have the right to use any "lawful and appropriate self-help measure."
Fritz Attaway, the MPAA's senior vice president for government relations, endorsed Berman's approach on Monday, stressing that law-abiding Internet users should not be concerned.
"No one in the motion picture industry has any interest in invading your computer or doing anything malicious with your files," Attaway said. "The idea is to make unauthorized file sharing sufficiently inconvenient or at least unsuccessful."
The MPAA and RIAA did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation condemned the draft bill as a sop to Hollywood and the recording industry.
Digital lockdown? "This is part of a greater strategy that's being implemented by the entertainment industry to lock up and control digital information in general," said Robin Gross, an EFF staff attorney. "The rights that we've enjoyed in the analog space are now being taken away from us because we're entering a digital realm"
Gross said she was concerned by the broad grant of immunity to copyright holders who become computer intruders. "When they screw up, they don't want you to be able to get some sort of retribution from them," she said.
Other sponsors listed on the draft bill include key legislators such as Reps. John Conyers of Michigan, the top Democrat on the full Judiciary committee, Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the chairman of a crime subcommittee, and Robert Wexler, D-Fla. Currently there is no companion legislation in the Senate.
The next step for the draft bill is the House Judiciary subcommittee on intellectual property. A representative for Coble said earlier this month to expect a hearing starting in September, when Congress returns from its August recess.
Berman announced plans for the legislation during a speech to a Washington trade association last month. He represents California's San Fernando Valley, adjacent to Los Angeles and Hollywood's cluster of entertainment companies.
Coble and Berman have jointly written a second draft bill that could sharply limit Americans' rights relating to copying music, taping TV shows, or transferring files through the Internet. But they have said they do not necessarily endorse the plan's details.
7/25/02
4:45:32 PM
SciTech Daily Review
The South Korean government has started an investigation into a company which claims to have made a woman pregnant with a cloned human embryo
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2148864.stm
Scientists have discovered a new kind of New Yorker: one with 82 legs, and its very own genus
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/24/science/24BUGS.html
Dozens of babies and infants around the world have been given the drug Viagra to try to save them from life-threatening lung conditions, though clinical trials for this use have not yet taken place
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992578
Botanists in Wales are applying 21st-century research to the extensive 13th-century medical folklore contained in the Red Book of Hergest
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020715/020715-15.html
Buying trouble: Could the items on your grocery list make US authorities see you as a potential terrorist? A report on algorithms, racial profiling, and the perils of shopping
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0230/baard.php
Take a moment to consider the exciting career of the "human guinea pig." In what other vocational field might you find yourself advancing modern medicine by being strapped to electrodes or injected with a mystery drug? (
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0207230014jul23.story?coll=chi%2Dtechnology%2Dhed
7/25/02
4:43:35 PM
MoJournal
Free thinking, non-conforming, investigative reporting
Within days of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, civil libertarians began warning that the all-encompassing war on terror would evolve into a dangerous offensive to undermine Americans' constitutional rights. George Sanchez reports how a vague and largely ignored plan included in President Bush's sweeping Citizen Corps initiative has those same civil libertarians up in arms -- and how that outrage has forced the administration to backtrack from its controversial TIPS proposal.
http://click.topica.com/maaashSaaSVeCa4pkFbb/
Will Tacy Editor, MotherJones.com
WEB EXCLUSIVES
News - An academic disagreement over a research team's report has exploded into a proxy fight over the benefits of biotechnology.
http://click.topica.com/maaashSaaSVeEa4pkFbb/
Cartoon - Hamid Karzai has been confirmed as Afghanistan's new leader, but can he guide his country out of the shadow of the powerful warlords?
http://click.topica.com/maaashSaaSVeFa4pkFbb/
Updates - A Toxic Burden; 7-Up No Longer Laughing; Breaking Up the Bakassi Boys
http://click.topica.com/maaashSaaSVeGa4pkFbb/
Daily Briefing - 'Regime Change' Redux?; A Mess in Manila; Diverting the Yangtze; More Money Politics; Bush Family Legacies; Traficant's Travails
http://click.topica.com/maaashSaaSVeHa4pkFbb/
FROM THE MAGAZINE
A Thirst for Justice - Plenty of activists have protested US Border Patrol tactics which force undocumented migrants to consider crossing remote, arid areas along the Mexican border. Reverend Robin Hoover has actually done something about it.
http://click.topica.com/maaashSaaSVeIa4pkFbb/
7/25/02
4:40:58 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS)
BILL WOULD RESTORE PROTECTION TO ISOLATED WETLANDS
WASHINGTON, DC, July 24, 2002 (ENS) - Legislation introduced in Congress today would restore federal protection for millions of acres of wetlands that provide habitat for birds and other wildlife. Supporters of the legislation say it will restore the original intent of the Clean Water Act of 1972 by overriding a Supreme Court decision that removed federal protection for isolated wetlands.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-24-07.asp
KABUL HEALTH WORKERS BATTLE DEATH HOUSE TO HOUSE
KABUL, Afghanistan, July 24, 2002 (ENS) - Afghan Red Crescent volunteers are taking key health messages to the streets in an attempt to prevent more deaths and illness as an outbreak of intestinal ailments sweeps Kabul. Three people have died in the current outbreak.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-24-01.asp
NEW PROJECT WILL TACKLE WHALE ENTANGLEMENT
BOSTON, Massachusetts, July 24, 2002 (ENS) - Almost 60,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises are killed each year worldwide by entanglement with fishing nets, a coalition of the world's leading cetacean scientists reported Tuesday. The scientists have agreed to form a global response team, the Cetacean Bycatch Action Network, to assist governments and fishers in finding solutions to the problem.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-24-06.asp
INDIA GIVES COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT A TRY
By Kalyani
NEW DELHI, India, July 24, 2002 (ENS) - The World Bank has launched a program that seeks to put villagers in some of the poorest areas of southern India in charge of tropical forests where they forage for fuel and food.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-24-02.asp
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JULY 24, 2002
BUSH SIGNS YUCCA MOUNTAIN RESOLUTION
PEW REPORT OFFERS CONTROVERSIAL CLIMATE POLICY
ILLEGAL CROPS THREATEN BIRDS IN COLOMBIA
LAND NEAR YELLOWSTONE ADDED TO NATIONAL FOREST
CLAM DIE-OFF CUTS WASHINGTON TRIBAL HARVEST
BRAYTON POINT POWER PLANT TO STOP HARMFUL WATER USE
GEORGIA COUNTY BUYS LAND TO PROTECT DRINKING WATER
ONE GULF CAMPAIGN UNITES FIVE GULF OF MEXICO STATES
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-24-09.asp
7/25/02
4:33:00 PM
U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer NEWS RELEASE
Third Congressional District, Indiana 2352 Rayburn Building Washington,D.C. 20515 202-225-3915 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Rusty Silverstein July 25, 2002 107-202
9/11 BLUE-RIBBON PANEL PROPOSAL PASSES HOUSE Roemer Amendment Receives Broad Bipartisan Support
Washington - Late last night, a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives voted to approve a proposal introduced by U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer (D-IN) to establish an independent, blue-ribbon commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks. By a vote of 219 to 188, the House approved the measure as an amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Bill.
"Last night, the House of Representatives voted to take the first step toward restoring accountability and the American people's faith in our nation's ability to protect its citizens," said Roemer. "Support for an expert, independent investigation into the September 11 attacks expresses a strong vote of confidence in the American government's ability to fully understand what happened and make needed reforms."
The Roemer amendment, supported by 193 Democratic, 1 Independent, and 25 Republican members, calls for an investigation by a panel of independent experts in counter-terrorism and homeland security issues into the activities of the intelligence agencies prior to the September 11 attacks. In addition, a secondary amendment offered by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) to the Roemer amendment last night would require the inclusion of family members of victims of September 11 on the commission.
The Roemer amendment was strongly supported by a coalition of these family members representing 1,200 people in 40 states.
"Over recent months, the families of those lost on September 11 channeled their grief into active and principled support for this appropriate and necessary step to ensure that others will not have to suffer as they have," continued Roemer. "Their support was crucial in convincing the Congress to live up to its historic responsibility and support a blue-ribbon 9/11 commission."
The blue-ribbon panel will report its findings with recommendations for needed reforms to Congress and the President. Roemer expressed his hope that the scope of the commission's inquiry would eventually be expanded to include the many other government agencies responsible for defending the nation against terrorism.
"On September 11, the snakes slithered through the cracks in our intelligence, immigration, border control, aviation security, and law enforcement agencies and succeeded in their deadly mission," said Roemer. "To seal those cracks, we need a comprehensive investigation into all aspects of our government responsible for protecting Americans."
Source: http://www.house.gov/roemer/107-202.html
7/25/02
4:21:51 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Zimbabwe faces famine if food aid stalled - agency - ZIMBABWE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17009/story.htm
US says snakehead fish like a "bad horror movie" - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17017/story.htm
Wildfire blazes near ancient California sequoia groves - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17013/story.htm
New research to find environment-cleansing bugs - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17010/story.htm
Californian law may indirectly benefit aluminum makers - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17007/story.htm
US mining firms seek relief from cleanup bonds - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17006/story.htm
Green issues could hurt energy firm stocks - report - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17005/story.htm
Bush clears way for Nevada nuclear waste dump - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17000/story.htm
Another key EPA enforcement official set to retire - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17008/story.htm
British record on animal experiments a "disgrace" - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17003/story.htm
Conviction for UK oil tanker spill sets precedent - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16998/story.htm
High costs cap China's nuclear power programme - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17001/story.htm
Illegal log trade threatens Russian tigers, ecology - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17014/story.htm
Environmentalists urge Iceland to scrap Alcoa plan - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16999/story.htm
Italy maintains Dutch pork ban ahead of meeting - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17019/story.htm
EU Commission only green in patches - report - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17018/story.htm
Group presses Ecuador, US Congress over Galapagos - ECUADOR http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17016/story.htm
EU drafts law on combined heat/power generation - BELGIUM http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17002/story.htm
EU charges 10 states with breaking rules on waste - BELGIUM http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17012/story.htm
Australia farmers want postponement of GM canola - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17004/story.htm
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURES:
INDONESIA: An Indonesian Scavenger Collects Plastic Goods Amidst a Pile of Garbage on a River in Jakarta http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17021
UK: Tamil Tiger Rebel Removes Landmine in Northern Sri Lanka http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/17020
7/25/02
4:17:40 PM
Blurbs on Redesigning Humans:
http://research.mednet.ucla.edu/pmts/redesign.htm
Homepage: http://research.mednet.ucla.edu/pmts/Stock.htm
Program website: http://research.mednet.ucla.edu/pmts
7/25/02
4:15:26 PM
Peaceforce Poised To Intercede
by Eric Black, Star Tribune, July 14, 2002
When he was assassinated in 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was working on the idea of an unarmed army for peace.
Now, with Gandhi, Martin Luther King and the Dalai Lama beaming down from posters in a low-rent St. Paul office, a small band of activists, with supporters as nearby as Duluth and as far away as Japan, are trying to revive Gandhi's idea.
But Mel Duncan, project director of the Nonviolent Peaceforce, is careful not to overpromise.
"We're not presenting this as something that's going to replace armies and end war once and for all," Duncan acknowledged. But he does say that the organization he helped found can put an unarmed peace force into the field for a demonstration project as soon as next summer.
If humanity can be saved one life at a time, the Minnesota supporters of Peaceforce feel good about their recent participation in an urgent and unscheduled demonstration of peacemaking techniques. Three Minnesotans just completed a stressful accompaniment of a Guatemalan human rights activist and Peaceforce leader who was in danger from local death squads. One of the Minnesotans, Donna Howard of Duluth, says that she came face-to-face with a potential assassin and stared him down. Their Guatemalan colleague is still alive.
What's the big idea?
The big idea is this:
• To recruit civilians from many nations, with a goal of creating a peace force of about 2,000 by 2010.
• To train them in the most successful nonviolent strategies and techniques. "It's not enough to parachute people in with rucksacks full of good intentions and expect peace to break out," Duncan said.
The tactics Peaceforce envisions using have all been successful in small doses and ad hoc situations. "Now it's time to try them on a larger scale," Duncan said.
They've identified four primary techniques: presence, interpositioning, international monitoring and accompaniment. Presence is simply maintaining a peacemaking presence in areas of violence. In interpositioning, unarmed civilians place themselves between two warring parties. International monitors use digital video to broadcast on the Internet what is happening in a trouble spot, in the belief that many acts of violence will not occur under that level of international scrutiny. Accompaniment consists of volunteers going everywhere with a potential assassination target in the belief that death squads are less willing to kill in front of witnesses from the developed world.
• To send peacekeepers into areas of conflict at the invitation of local organizations. Duncan said the idea is not to take sides between warring parties but to take the side of all groups that are seeking a peaceful outcome.
• To try to keep peacekeepers alive. It is inherent in the nature of the mission that volunteers must be willing to die, Duncan said, "but we're not doing this to create a bunch of martyrs."
Duncan acknowledges that there may be wars in which none of these techniques will be effective. But after more than a year of research and visits to trouble spots around the world, he also says that the tactics can have a beneficial effect in some conflicts, as Peaceforce hopes to demonstrate next year.
The location and strategy of the demonstration project will be decided at a conference in New Delhi this fall. The plan is to send about 150 volunteers to Sri Lanka, Colombia, the occupied territories of the Mideast or another conflict that might arise in the meantime.
Duncan, 52, a father of eight adopted children and a veteran of various left-leaning causes, said he hasn't decided whether he might volunteer for that first mission. But for now, while his title is project director, he describes himself as "one of the holders of the focus."
In danger
While Duncan was holding focus on the New Delhi conference and the pilot project, a small but intensely felt emergency caused the St. Paul office to jump the -- well, you don't want to say "the gun," but you get the idea -- and perform a small, short-term demonstration project of its own. It arose this way:
Claudia Samayoa is a Guatemalan who documents human rights violations from the Guatemalan civil war that reached its bloody height in the 1980s. She works through the Rigoberto Menchu Foundation, named for one of the seven Nobel Peace Prize laureates who have endorsed the Peaceforce.
One of her colleagues, Guillermo Ovalle, was shot in May while lunching at a restaurant. Guatemalan police say Ovalle was the unintended victim of men robbing the restaurant. But he was the only one killed and moments after the killing, someone called the foundation and played funeral music, an intimidation tactic commonly used by death squads.
Samayoa also started getting such calls and noticed men outside her office making notations or cell phone calls whenever she went out. Her St. Paul associates became convinced that she was in danger.
The Minnesota-based Peaceforce workers arranged for Samayoa to have a Minnesotan accompany her round-the-clock for 52 days.
First, Jack Rossbach of St. Paul, a retired state worker who is a full-time unpaid jack of all trades at the Peaceforce office, flew to Guatemala and accompanied Samayoa from May 9 through May 17. He slept in the living room of the Samayoa home and went with her from meeting to meeting during the days.
Then, Donna Howard of Duluth relieved Rossbach. Howard, 56, is a veteran peace activist who served a three-year sentence for destroying Navy property in a 1996 anti-nuclear protest in Wisconsin.
She said that while accompanying Samayoa, she passed within about two feet of one of the men whom she believed was stalking Samayoa.
"I just leveled my gaze right at him," she said. "He did the same back at me. I'm thinking, 'So you're a vigilante.' He's thinking, 'So you're one of these meddling North Americans.' I wanted her to be safe. He wanted her to know that she wasn't safe." The moment passed. But the funeral-music phone calls stopped after the accompaniment began.
On June 8, Sister Rita Steinhagen, 74, of Minneapolis and of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, replaced Howard and accompanied Samayoa until June 30, when Samayoa convinced the Minnesotans that the threat had abated.
Peaceforce's roots
The Peaceforce idea grew, in part, from a Bush Community Leadership Grant that Duncan had in 1997-98 that he used to pursue the relationships among peace, justice and spirituality. His pilgrimage took him from St. Paul to Oakland, Calif., to an island off the Scottish coast that was a center of Celtic Christianity during the Middle Ages, to Plum Village, a Buddhist monastery in southern France.
The inspiration for the Peaceforce came to Duncan as he was heading home, broke, from Plum Village at the end of his fellowship.
In May 1999, he attended the Hague Appeal for Peace in the Netherlands, where 9,000 peace activists assembled. There, he heard a fellow American, David Hartsough, describe an idea for a large-scale, nonviolent, permanent force of peacemakers. The idea had come to Hartsough while training students in Kosovo for nonviolent action.
Duncan recalled: "I ran over, grabbed his arm and said if you're serious, let's go out in the hall and figure out how to do this." They did.
Hartsough, based in San Francisco, is now the executive director of Nonviolent Peaceforce. In addition to St. Paul and San Francisco, they have operations in Washington, Hamburg, Ottawa, London, Brussels, New Delhi and Sapporo, Japan. They have a few paid staff members and far more volunteers. They get funds from foundations, religious organizations, individuals and some governments, including one grant that comes indirectly from the U.S. government. This year's budget of $700,000 is twice what they had last year but not nearly enough for the year ahead, which will include the recruitment and training of the first peace force and, if all goes well, the deployment next July of the force to demonstrate what it can do.
Duncan estimates they'll need $5.2 million to do all that, but expresses confidence that they can find it.
A sign on the door of the men's room at the St. Paul office expresses the opposite sentiment, although clearly in jest. It reads: "Due to the current financial restraints, the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off until further notice."
Nonviolent Peaceforce: http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org
email Eric Black: mailto:eblack@startribune.com
Source: http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3058029.html
7/25/02
4:05:30 PM
When he was assassinated in 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was working on the idea of an unarmed army for peace.
Now, with Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Dalai Lama beaming down from posters in a low-rent St. Paul office, a small band of activists, with supporters as nearby as Duluth and as far away as Japan, are trying to revive Gandhi's idea.
But Mel Duncan, project director of the Nonviolent Peaceforce, is careful not to overpromise. "We're not presenting this as something that's going to replace armies and end war once and for all," Duncan acknowledged. But he does say that the organization he helped found can put an unarmed peace force into the field for a demonstration project as soon as next summer.
Read the entire feature at:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3058029.html
7/25/02
4:04:03 PM
Live longer: Join a religious order
by Roger Dobson
Taking up holy orders may not guarantee life after death, but it does ensure a longer one on earth. New research shows that ministers, priests, vicars, nuns, and monks live much longer, and healthier, than their flocks.
Researchers who looked at the mortality rate data for religious professionals in the UK, Europe, and America found that in all cases, the rates were lower than those of the average population.
In some clergy - Benedictine monks, Baptist ministers, Lutheran ministers, Episcopal priests, Presbyterian ministers, and catholic nuns - the mortality rate was at least 25% lower than the general population.
Benedictine monks, the least likely to prematurely succumb to earthly disease, have a mortality rate almost half that of mere civilians. To read more, go to:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=305798
7/25/02
4:03:02 PM
World's poor miss out on ethical investment boom
by Oliver Bullough
Ethical investment funds have largely steered clear of the developing world, where working conditions are often poor and economic growth needed most.
Fund managers say that although they would like to invest in poor nations and force change for the better, companies are too opaque to even allow them to get started.
Ethical investment funds' criteria vary but many only invest in companies with a clear commitment to beneficial environmental and social policies. Read more at:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16383/story.htm
7/25/02
4:01:44 PM
HIV/AIDS cases worldwide
Adults and children living with HIV/AIDS around the world as of 2001:
Sub-Saharan Africa 28,500,000
South and Southeast Asia 5,600,000
Latin America 1,500,000
Eastern Europe and Central Asia 1,000,000
East Asia and Pacific 1,000,000
North America 950,000
Western Europe 550,000
North Africa and Middle East 500,000
Caribbean 420,000
Australia and New Zealand 15,000
Source: UNAIDS
7/25/02
3:59:42 PM
Those who are more adapted to the active life can prepare themselves for contemplation in the practice of the active life, while those who are more adapted to the contemplative life can take upon themselves the works of the active life so as to become yet more apt for contemplation.
Thomas Aquinas
7/25/02
3:58:10 PM
This November, All Roads Lead to DC
Bob Schulz Traveling Across US To Save The Constitution Freedom Drive 2002:
http://www.givemeliberty.org/mailroom/2002-07-23.htm
7/25/02
3:55:31 PM
t r u t h o u t | 07.25
William Rivers Pitt | The Coming October War in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.25A.wrp.iraq.htm
Former Adelphia Executives Arrested for Fraud
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.25B.adelphia.fraud.htm
Ashcroft's Terrorism Policies Dismay Some Conservatives
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.25C.con.ashcroft.htm
Jury Says Salvadoran Generals Liable for Torture
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.25D.salv.tort.htm
Senate Battle Over Prescription Drug Costs, Classic Confrontation Between Consumer and Industry
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.25E.sen.drugs.htm
Bush Clears Way for Nevada Nuclear Waste Dump
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.25F.bush.nev.htm
San Francisco Puts Growing Medicinal Marijuana on the Ballot
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.25H.sf.pot.htm
7/25/02
3:54:17 PM
Public Citizen
July 24, 2002
Investors Need Clear Picture of Profits: Corporations Must Be Required to Count Cost of Stock Options as Expenses
Statement of Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook
The conferees to the corporate accountability legislation should not meet in private on an issue that intimately affects the lives of so many Americans. The public is outraged about the current corporate crime wave and will be suspicious of any deals cut behind closed doors. A closed conference gives lobbyists the power to secretly and anonymously water down the reforms that are so badly needed. To root out corporate crime, we need sunshine in politics as well as in the boardrooms.
To restore investor confidence, the conferees must strengthen this legislation by slicing away the biggest incentive for corporate officials to cook the books. That incentive is stock options, the favorite vehicle for insiders to loot corporations and rob shareholders of their equity while hiding behind phony profit numbers. If the Congress is serious about cleaning up the systemic corruption infecting the body of Corporate America, stock options must be addressed. The McCain amendment forces companies to count stock options as the drain on corporate profits and shareholder equity that they really are. It should be adopted so that consumers can get an accurate reading of profits and so executives will no longer be rewarded with millions of dollars for creating bogus profits that drive short-term stock prices upward.
Exorbitant stock option packages are the common thread running through all of the corporate scandals that grace the headlines. Enron executives cashed in hundreds of millions before the company collapsed. Other companies, including many that have not been implicated in accounting scams, use these options to award obscene compensation to executives. Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, for example, exercised stock options for a $700 million gain in 2001 - a year in which his company's stock fell by 52 percent. Try explaining that to the investing public. In the telecom industry, reported profits in 2001 would have been 23 percent lower if corporations had told the truth about stock options. That is a fraud on the public and it must be stopped.
Congress should take the lead on stock options. SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt said recently that it is no longer a matter of whether stock options should be expensed, but when and how. Just a week ago, the International Accounting Standards Board decided unanimously to require such treatment for stock options and it will be required by 2005 in the European Union and Australia. Some large U.S. companies also have decided on their own to make this change. But it should be done across the board so that investors can accurately compare profits from one company to the next.
The American people are closely watching the congressional poker game. These conferees hold the cards in their hands. It's time for some honest dealing for a change.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit: http://www.Citizen.org
7/25/02
3:48:25 PM
Vitamin Giants: The Sequel
Price-fixing fines behind them, the firms are close to achieving a monopoly.
by Jock Ferguson, The Nation, July 3, 2002
For years in Madera County in the valley north of Fresno, John Peters turned vitamins and minerals into formulas that farmers blended into feed grain and fed to their chickens, hogs and cattle. Such nutritional additives mean quicker-growing animals and more profits for farmers. While it used to take chickens nine weeks to reach broiler size, now they gorge themselves on vitamin-enriched feed and in just six weeks are ready to leap onto global dinner plates.
But Peters said that his vitamin premix business is now in trouble. The chicken side is being gobbled up by vitamin makers Hoffmann-La Roche of Switzerland and BASF of Germany, and he expects that the rest of his premix business will soon follow. Last summer, Peters said, Roche refused to sell him a key feed ingredient because he would not buy all his vitamins from it, and then proceeded to underbid him with longtime customers. In Texas, Missouri and Minnesota, other small-animal nutritional businesses are facing a similar death squeeze at the hands of Roche and BASF, industry sources said.
Yes, these are the same two global giants that masterminded the most rapacious price-fixing cartel in modern business history during the 1990s and got nailed with the largest criminal fines ever levied. Roche paid $954 million and BASF more than $500 million after entering guilty pleas with the US Department of Justice, Canada, Australia and the European Union.
When the cartel was exposed in 1999, Roche, BASF and Rhône-Poulenc (now Aventis) -- which escaped charges because it was the first cartel member to cooperate with the Department of Justice -- controlled about 75 percent of the $6-billion-a-year global vitamin business.
They had used their industry dominance to pressure at least twelve smaller vitamin makers in Europe and Asia into an arrangement that top executives had taken to calling "Vitamins Inc." But now, three years after the cartel was exposed, instead of having been reined in, Roche, BASF and Aventis/CVC (in November Aventis sold its vitamin business to CVC Capital Partners of London for an undisclosed sum) are close to grabbing a near-monopoly in the global production and distribution of vitamins, having increased their dominance to at least 85 percent of the global market.
There is no current evidence that the vitamin makers -- who also supply vitamin additives for food products made by companies such as Kraft, Coca-Cola, Kellogg and Nestlé, as well as alphabet vitamins purchased directly by consumers -- have resumed meeting in secret to fix prices.
But a Nation investigation shows how their recent moves illustrate the decline of traditional competition in global sectors dominated by just a few companies, and how those companies can use their market power to exploit customers. Moreover, it reveals the increasingly limited power of governments to protect national economies, consumers and farmers.
Vitamin industry sources across North America and in China said that Roche and BASF appear to operate in unison, using identical strategies to squeeze smaller industry players out of the vitamin business.
There Doesn't Appear To Be Any Sign Of Real Competition Between Them In analyzing the recent moves, Gene Reed, an Arkansas animal-feed broker who was a key government witness against the vitamin cartel, said: "It may take them five years to get prices back up to where they were before the cartel was exposed, but they are going to win this one, and there's nothing that the DOJ can do to stop it."
The latest schemes began as vitamin prices tanked by almost 50 percent following the guilty pleas in 1999. Roche and BASF decided they needed to substantially lower production costs to protect their market shares, so they embarked on an expensive program to build larger plants equipped with the latest production technology and to close older plants.
Over time, they believed, this would allow them to defeat their Chinese competitors as well as other, smaller European and Asian competitors and to raise prices again; it would also make it unlikely that new investors would be tempted into the vitamin world.
Horst Kramer, a spokesman for Roche in Basel, confirmed that it is Roche's goal to reduce production costs by 50 percent over the coming decade while increasing its profits. Roche is spending more than $500 million to build new plants and upgrade existing plants, concentrating the production of each vitamin in a single plant. BASF has articulated a similar plan and will spend close to $600 million to upgrade its production technology.
"We want to achieve profitable growth and further extend our market position," said BASF spokesman Dr. Hartmut Unger. By far the biggest expansion BASF has made has been the July 2000 takeover of Takeda Chemical Industries of Japan-a marriage of the second- and fourth-largest firms in the industry-which was rubber-stamped by all North American and European governments.
When the current plant expansion is completed, Roche and BASF will have centralized much of their production in Europe, and in Asia to a lesser extent. Today they are the only producers of all thirteen vitamins, as most others make only one or two vitamins.
Meanwhile, for more than a decade Roche and BASF have deployed a vertical integration strategy to increase control over the distribution of animal vitamins. They began building their own vitamin premix plants to supply custom-tailored blends for use in animal, poultry, fish and household pet feeds.
Roche now has four large animal-vitamin premix plants from Georgia to California as well as two in Canada and one in Mexico. BASF has a similar North American premix distribution system. When it embarked on its vertical integration strategy, there were more than fifty makers of custom-made mixtures of vitamins in the United States who would buy bulk vitamins from Roche, BASF and others, and then blend them with minerals and other additives and sell them to feed makers.
In just over a decade Roche and BASF have driven most independents out of business and now control about 90 percent of the vitamin premix business in North America, industry sources said. An executive at one surviving independent premixer said a BASF sales manager told him, "I'm going to put you out of business. Your accounts are mine."
The Department of Justice, in negotiating guilty pleas with the cartel players in early 1999, levied hefty fines but left the vertically integrated industry structure intact. The same decision was adopted in Canada, Europe and Australia. "We urged the DOJ to split off vitamin production from the wholesale premix business to protect farmers," but it just didn't have the political appetite for it, said Steve Blum, a key whistleblower who previously worked for Lonza of Switzerland.
Said a former BASF executive, "The Justice Department got its five minutes of TV time touting the record price-fixing fines, but now it has let the two big guys run everybody out of the animal premix business. They make the vitamins and then they sell them; there is no way anybody else can come into the animal feed market, so they'll make back in a few years' time all they lost in fines and settlements."
"Denied access marketing" is another weapon being used by Roche and BASF to drive the few remaining vitamin premixers out of business, sources said. Independents said that if they bought bulk vitamins from Chinese vitamin makers they sometimes had difficulty getting delivery of other vitamins from Roche and BASF. Four sources cited the recent example of biotin (vitamin H) -- which helps broiler chickens and hogs absorb key nutrients from feed and consequently speeds up growth.
An ongoing supposed shortage of biotin resulted in a price jump from $950 per kilogram in 2000 to over $6,500 per kilogram recently, said a source with strong connections to Chinese companies. Roche, which is now believed to control more than 70 percent of the biotin market, then used the shortages as a reason to deny biotin to independent premixers who buy some of their vitamins from Chinese companies.
Two California animal premix blenders said they were told point blank during the biotin supply squeeze that unless they agreed to buy all their vitamins from Roche, they would get no biotin. They also said that Roche listed its biotin at $7 per gram but agreed to give it to them for $2.50 per gram if they bought the rest of their vitamins from them. "Roche has used biotin to leverage all broiler premix business in California away from us," said Peters, the California premix blender. Roche spokesman Kramer denied that the company engaged in any such efforts.
Reduced prices have also been used in other ways to advance the companies' goals. Roche and BASF have on occasion charged artificially low prices in order to make it difficult for the Chinese or anyone else to take business away from their established customers in North America and Europe, industry sources said. For example, the synthetic version of vitamin E, which cost about $17 per kilogram during the cartel days -- when prices were inflated -- today costs around $6.30 in the United States and Europe. It costs the Chinese about $5.35 per kilogram to make synthetic vitamin E, plus shipping, making it almost impossible for them to make a profit.
A similar situation obtains with regard to vitamin A, industry sources said. "When I go to market material I can get from China, Roche drops the price below Chinese costs and keeps it there until the Chinese drop out," said one industry source.
The two companies use predatory pricing with impunity because they know the DOJ will not prosecute them for it; US judges have refused, in decisions over the past decade, to see predatory pricing as an anticompetitive tactic.
Kramer said Roche is keen to improve its profit margins and so is unlikely to engage in tactics that will further depress prices. BASF would not discuss current claims of market manipulation on its part because of an ongoing civil damages claim filed in Washington by large vitamin users.
One of the biggest new areas for vitamin makers is in the production of healthier "functional foods" for the blimped-up planet. Giants such as Philip Morris, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Heinz, Pillsbury and PepsiCo realize there is now good money to be made from the very people they've helped fatten up with foods emptied of nutrients during processing.
In this world Roche and BASF have a lock on blending vitamin premixes for large food processors, said a consultant for Chinese vitamin makers. They offer attractive rebate programs to the processors so that the more vitamins they buy, the lower the price. In addition, the Chinese are finding large North American and European food and supplement companies reluctant to deal with them for fear of being denied key vitamins obtainable only from the two giants.
The lack of government interest in the increased dominance of Roche and BASF does not bode well for consumers and farmers. Most vitamin prices have now stabilized and several are already rising -- earlier this year prices for B2 and C rose more than 5 percent, Roche spokesman Kramer said.
He said anticipated increased sales from new production facilities will have to come at the expense of other vitamin makers. An early victim was Japanese vitamin E producer Eisai USA, which abruptly shut its three-year-old, $35 million Bayport, Texas, plant at the end of August 2001. Industry sources said artificially low vitamin E prices made the plant uneconomic.
There are also concerns emerging that some Chinese vitamin makers may be tiring of their uphill struggle for market share with the three giants, a problem exacerbated by the withdrawal of Chinese government financial support as it prepared to join the World Trade Organization. Some Chinese companies are known to be chatting with the giants over the possibility of becoming contract suppliers with guaranteed annual volumes in exchange for abandoning aggressive export sales in North America and Europe.
Meanwhile, the fallout from the vitamin cartel prosecutions continues. Many large cartel victims are still in court in Washington, seeking more than $1 billion in damages from cartel members, who could walk away with close to $5 billion in profits from the global price-fixing scam after paying all fines and damages.
But as often happens in global business, plaintiffs are stuck buying their vitamins from the defendants because there are no alternate suppliers. "The vitamins case appears to be one in which crime did pay," said Purdue University professor John Connor in his new book Global Price Fixing. So where will this all lead? The DOJ has convened more than thirty grand juries across America to probe other global business sectors -- primarily in food, agriculture and pharmaceuticals -- for price-fixing offenses.
Attempts over the past decade to address the widespread global corporate cartel culture by creating an international antitrust enforcement agency as an offshoot of the World Trade Organization have been defeated by pressure from the corporate sector in North America and Europe. It will likely take the exposure of several more damaging global cartels before the political climate will change and tough new regulations-like those now possible in the accounting world-will be implemented to protect national economies, farmers and consumers.
Jock Ferguson has been an investigative journalist for thirty years. Research support was provided by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute.
Source: http://www.TheNation.com
7/25/02
3:36:32 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
THE BYCATCHER IN THE RYE
"Save the whales!" "Save the dolphins!" Those were rallying cries of the environmental movement in the 1980s and '90s, and they culminated in a successful campaign for "dolphin-safe" tuna -- that is, tuna-fishing practices in the Pacific Ocean that wouldn't harm marine mammals. Unfortunately, scientists now say that commercial fishing in the Atlantic and elsewhere is still killing dolphins and whales, including the endangered Northern Atlantic right whale. In what is apparently the first worldwide assessment of the scope of the problem, scientists at Duke University concluded that 60,000 dolphins, porpoises, and whales die every year from encounters with fishing equipment, making bycatch the leading cause of death among those mammals. In response to the findings, the World Wildlife Fund announced the formation of a committee to reduce bycatch by helping to teach fisheries outside the U.S. how to keep marine mammals away from boats and nets.
straight to the source: New York Times, Julie Flaherty, 24 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=290>
only in Grist: The customer-is-always-right whale -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha031901.stm?source=daily>
only in Grist: Victory at sea -- David Brower leaves a legacy for dolphins -- by Mark Palmer in our opinions section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/imho/palmer011102.asp?source=daily>
CATERPILLAR METAMORPHOSES INTO BEAUTIFUL LOBBYIST
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and a coalition of Republican colleagues, manufacturers, and trucking industry reps are pressuring the Bush administration to postpone a strict new anti-pollution standard for diesel trucks. Why? Because Illinois-based Caterpillar, Inc., one of the leading manufacturers of 18-wheel diesel tractor-trailers and a significant Republican campaign contributor, could face millions of dollars in fines for failing to meet the upcoming Oct. 1 deadline to comply with the standard. The anti-pollution measure calls for dramatically reduced nitrogen oxide emissions, which cause acid rain and respiratory problems, but the industry contends that it hasn't been given enough time to test new engines and that the cost of developing them would be prohibitive. The U.S. EPA and the Justice Department have already turned down a request for postponement by Caterpillar and the American Trucking Associations. Officials at the agencies defend the rule as an important public health measure and say the industry is exaggerating the economic obstacles.
straight to the source: Washington Post, Eric Pianin and Juliet Eilperin, 24 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=294>
LOOK FOR THE ONION LABEL?
It's not quite like a pie in the face or mashed potatoes on the cafeteria ceiling, but Oregonians can still expect a food fight come November. The state seems poised to be the first in the nation to vote on a labeling law for genetically modified foods, now that the backers of the initiative, Oregon Concerned Citizens for Safe Foods, have turned in enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot. If the measure is approved by voters, few food growers and makers would be left unaffected. The group says the initiative is a consumer-rights measure. Opponents, including the Grocery Manufacturers of America, the Oregon Grocery Industry Association, Associated Oregon Industries, and the farm lobby, say it is an anti-agriculture bill that would jack up prices, put Oregon at a competitive disadvantage, and hurt consumers and businesses alike.
straight to the source: Salem Statesman Journal, Michael Rose, 24 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=292>
only in Grist: Pinocchi-oh-no! -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha071299.stm?source=daily>
do good: Take action to label genetically modified foods <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/food.asp?source=daily#label>
KENNY GET YOUR GUINN
President Bush signed into law yesterday the measure approving Nevada's Yucca Mountain as the nation's nuclear-waste burial ground, which was approved two weeks ago by Congress. The signing, closed to journalists and attended by only a handful of allies who were instrumental in brokering the bill's passage, marks the official end of Nevada's legislative fight to keep the highly radioactive waste out of the state. But in a statement issued after the signing, Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn (R) said the battle would merely change venues, moving from Capitol Hill to the courts: "I have always believed that our best chance in defeating Yucca Mountain is in the federal courts, where impartial judges will hear the factual and scientific arguments as to why Yucca Mountain is not a safe place to store this nation's high-level nuclear waste."
straight to the source: Las Vegas Review Journal, Tony Batt, 24 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=291>
do good: Take action to block the nuke waste plan for Yucca Mountain <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/toxic.asp?source=daily#yuccatrain>
FLOW-RIDA
The Bush administration yesterday revised its proposed rules for the $7.8 billion renovation of the Florida Everglades, with environmentalists greeting the changes as imperfect but undeniably better than the last draft. Under the new rules, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District would still lead the restoration effort, but with more input from the Interior Department -- a key demand of environmentalists. The new draft also earned points from environmentalists by redefining restoration to include better water quality and a healthier ecosystem, not just restored water flow. Enviros had criticized the earlier draft as a water-supply and flood-control plan masquerading as a rescue mission for alligators, panthers, otters, birds, and other flora and fauna of the Everglades. April Gromnicki of Audubon of Florida, said the new draft is "much better," but added that, "It couldn't have gotten any worse."
straight to the source: Washington Post, Michael Grunwald, 24 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=293>
do good: Take action to stick up for the Everglades <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/forests.asp?source=daily#everglades>
7/25/02
3:34:19 PM
TomPaine.com
Read our latest Op Ad on the op-ed page of today's New York Times or on line at
http://www.tompaine.com/op_ads/opad.cfm/ID/6044
CAN LIBERALS SAVE CAPITALISM (AGAIN)?
Laissez-Faire Itself Is The Ultimate Corporate Fraud
Yesterday's conservative clichés are today's political embarrassments. Americans are getting a vivid if painful education about the limits of the marketplace and the salutary role of government. It will be a very long time before anyone can say with a straight face that markets always work better than governments.
** Adapted from Robert Kuttner's cover story in the current issue of
THE AMERICAN PROSPECT: http://www.PROSPECT.org
Read Kuttner's full essay:
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6057
HOW THE '90s BOOM WAS AND WASN'T COVERED
Liberal Media Or Liberal Public?
by Michael Dolny
The glaring bias in news, especially on economic issues, is a conservative one that allowed the current financial crisis to simmer below the surface until it boiled over into its current chaos.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6043
COOKING THE BOOKS AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE
Disappearing Millions In Government Agencies
by Ji H. Chong
President Bush and members of Congress may have come out strongly against corporations that mislead the public with creative accounting methods, but their silence on the same type of misbehavior going on at government agencies is deafening.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6025
'POP' CULTURE
An Economist's View Of Stock Market Abuse
by Mark Weisbrot
The corporate scandals are just one way of discovering what happened during the wild, unsustainable run-up of stock prices in the roaring '90s.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6023
Q&A
BOOSTERISM CEDES TO SKEPTICISM ON THE BUSINESS PAGES
An Interview With Author Jack Beatty
by Steven Rosenfeld "The scales have fallen from people's eyes, even reporters, who sort of went along with the cultural view that we don't need to be regulated," says the author of "Colossus: How The Corporation Changed America."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6036
7/25/02
1:44:36 PM
Cameraman Records the Slaughter of Bicycling Children
by Stephen Farrell in Jenin for the Times of London, July 8, 2002
THE tank pulls into view, its barrel pointing straight down Jasmine Street towards the children cycling back from the shops after buying a chocolate bar.
On a nearby rooftop an amateur cameraman stops panning across the Jenin skyline and films the group of stick figures moving quickly away from the Israeli war machine. Suddenly a plume of orange erupts from the barrel and the cameraman dives for cover as shrapnel slams into the second-story wall just below him.
A hundred yards away teenagers sheltering behind walls look at the shell bouncing down the street, slamming first into the tarmac then into a low wall, where it explodes, blowing 11-year-old Tariq Abu Aziz off his bicycle and ripping apart his two brothers.
This is the first filmed record of the incident in which, Palestinians say, Israeli forces opened fire on civilians who ventured out into a quiet middle-class neighborhood of Jenin on June 21, mistakenly believing that the curfew had been lifted.
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the Israeli Defense Minister, has apologized and the Israeli Army has announced an inquiry, conceding that initial inquiries suggested that its forces erred by firing two tank shells to disperse curfew-breaking Palestinians while its troops searched for a bomb factory near by.
Limping past the blood spattered wall where his brothers Jamil, 13, and Ahmed, six, were killed, Tariq winces in pain after three operations to repair his punctured stomach, kidneys and spleen.
We heard the earlier gunfire and we were running away. Some hid behind buildings and I was cycling in front, with Ahmed in the middle and Jamil at the back, he said, pointing to the spot in the dusty road. The first sign of trouble, he said, was a white car that turned into the street moments earlier, its horn blaring.
Suddenly there was an explosion and a cloud of black smoke. I was knocked off my bike. I was dizzy, but I got up and walked towards my house. I knew my brothers were injured, but I didnt know how badly.
Jamil, witnesses said, lay dying in the street calling: Dad, Dad. Ahmed was killed instantly, both his legs, an arm and his intestines strewn across Jasmine Street. It was only two weeks later, just before his discharge from hospital, that Tariq found out that his brothers were dead, although he had long suspected, after listening to indiscreet nurses pointing to the brother of the two martyrs. In the corner of the family courtyard lie three bicycles, Jamils orange mountain bike barely scratched, Tariqs red machine with its saddle punctured and Ahmeds tiny purple minibike, its handlebar snapped off. He was buried with his chocolate bar in his hand.
The boys father, Yousef, and mother, Hamda, can scarcely bear to watch the video, now worn out with constant playing for relatives.
This is a catastrophe, says Yousef, who adds that the Israeli authorities have not contacted him once. Two of my children killed and a third on the verge of dying. Why?
7/25/02
1:42:22 PM
We Really Do Have A Lot To Thank Ariel Sharon For
Name Witheld 7-6-2
Jeff - We really do have a LOT to thank Ariel Sharon for, when you think about it.
I am thinking of writing a personal thank-you letter to Ariel, I would thank him for helping us average Americans understand where billions of our hard-earned tax dollars have been going to support his genocidal war machine: now we can make specific demands on our elected representatives to cut off this obscene subsidy.
I would thank him for showing us once and for all what Zionist Israel is all about, and revealing his demented plan for a 'Greater Israel' ... so that we can protest the use of our fighting men and women to promote Israel's agenda for world domination through its own brand of terrorism and nuclear blackmail.
I would thank him for playing out the absolute bankruptcy of his brand of Judaism, and creating a situation in which one can better understand what Hitler was warning about.
I would thank him for creating a situation in which "The Holocaust Industry" can now be openly analyzed and discussed for what it has been -the emotional blackmail of America and Europe to extract funds to support Zionist Israel's dark and devious agenda for lo these many decades.
I would thank him for providing what may well be the definitive wake-up call to Americans to take back our country from the hands of the Mossad, Zionist extremists, and the Christian far right.
I would thank him for setting the stage in which America's first "court-appointed President" may well be forced from office for selling out our country to promote hidden economic agendas and insider profiteering from our national "partnership" with Israel.
I would thank him for rekindling "anti-Semitism" worldwide, so that we can all understand what it means to be against the brand of ruthless, materialistic, self-serving, power-greedy, deceptive, atheistic and criminal mind-set which has come to characterize Zionism and militant 'Jewish' nationalism.
I would thank him for behaving in such reprehensible ways that loving and decent Jews of conscience are stepping forward to protest having their "national home" and religion dragged through the blood of his continuing war crimes.
I would thank him for provoking what will hopefully become a sweeping house-cleaning of the "amen corner" boys and girls out of our Administration and Legislature: when Press Pipsqueak Ari Fleisher tells Colin Powell that he "doesn't know what he is talking about," it is clear that forces unfriendly, indeed hostile to the highest US interests, are running the show.
I would thank him, finally, for bringing the key survival issues for America to the forefront, and helping average Americans understand the folly of our current alleged "foreign policy" and the absolute wasteland of the Bush Family legacy.
As the Paul Simon song says "Every generation throws a hero up on the pop charts." Anyone who truly cares about the future of our country should be thanking Sharon for showing us how we have been sold out by those who would put Israeli interests over and above our own.
I would certainly want to register my total appreciation to Mr. Sharon before he is voted out of office by those within his own ranks who see that he is sending Israel into the garbage heap of history, and at the rate he is going, providing decades of cannon fodder for anti-Semites worldwide to remind us all of what has to rank as one of the most ignominous and destructive movements in modern times: may it never rise again.
Source: http://www.rense.com/general26/thanks.htm
7/25/02
1:40:36 PM
US Air Force Says Israel Has 400 Atomic And Hydrogen Bombs
WorldTribune.com 7-4-2
A United States Air Force report asserts that Israel is building a nuclear naval force meant to respond to any nuclear strike by such countries as Iran or Iraq.
It is the first time a U.S. military institution has stated that Israel has produced a hydrogen bomb. The number of purported Israeli nuclear weapons cited in the report is double that of previous assessments.
The report, sponsored by the air force's Counterproliferation Center, asserts that the navy can deploy any of what it asserts is Israel's 400 atomic and hydrogen weapons, Middle East Newsline reported. The center is located in the Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
In a report entitled "The Third Temple's Holy of Holies: Israel's Nuclear Weapons," U.S. Army Col. Warner Farr said Israel's nuclear arsenal has grown from an estimated 13 nuclear bombs in 1967 to 400 nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. Farr said Israel's navy could deploy nuclear weapons on the fleet of three German-built Dolphin-class diesel submarines.
"Israel will then have a second strike capability with nuclear cruise missiles, and this capability could well change the nuclear arms race in the Middle East," the report, which Farr said is based on unclassified sources, read. "Israeli rhetoric on the new submarines labels them 'national deterrent' assets."
The report said these nuclear missiles could have a range of 350 kilometers. Israel would try to base its nuclear naval force near Oman, with which Israel has informal relations, the September 1999 report, which was recently published by the center, said.
"The first basing options for the new second-strike force of nuclear missile capable submarines include Oman, an Arab nation with unofficial Israeli relations, located strategically near Iran," the report said.
The U.S. Air Force Counterproliferation Center was established in 1998. The center is meant to help prepare air force commanders counter the threat from weapons of mass destruction. The report did not deem Israel's purported nuclear arsenal as a direct threat to the United States.
The report said Israel's Defense Ministry has requested from the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon authorization for a retaliatory nuclear strike. Israel could also use Jordanian air space for a nuclear strike on Iran, which the report said could produce a nuclear warhead as early as 2004.
http://www.rense.com/general26/bombs.htm
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_9.html
7/25/02
1:39:17 PM
Israel Achieves ICBM Nuclear Capability
Satellite Launch Shows Capacity To Send Payload To Any Location On Earth Geostrategy-Direct Intelligence Brief
WorldNetDaily.com 7-7-2
Israel has achieved the ability to produce intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Israeli officials and experts said the nation's ICBM capability was demonstrated by its launch in May of the Ofeq-5 satellite into space orbit. The satellite was carried by a Shavit-class booster. The Shavit booster was launched westward against the earth's orbit, officials said. The direction was decided to prevent the Ofeq from falling into enemy hands if it failed in an eastward launch.
"The minute Israel can launch a satellite into orbit around the earth to an altitude of hundreds of kilometers, it established the capability to launch, by means of a missile, a payload to any location on earth," Moshe Gelman, a leading Israeli space expert at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, said on Wednesday. "We are talking about the laws of physics."
Gelman said the path of a satellite booster is the same as that of a ballistic missile. The difference is the target - with a booster requiring greater energy to ensure that it does not fall to earth with the satellite.
In 1998, Israel failed to place its Ofeq-4 satellite into orbit. The failure was attributed to the Shavit launcher.
Officials said the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, which builds the Shavit, introduced changes in the booster for the latest launch. They said the changes were said to have focused on the rocket engines meant for the first two stages of the Shavit. The engines are produced by the state-owned Israel Military Industries. Israel's ICBM capabilities were first said to have been demonstrated in 1988 when the Ofeq-1 was shot into orbit. Ofeq-1 had a payload of about 180 kilograms (400 pounds). The Ofek 5 weighs about 300 kilograms (660 pounds).
The Shavit is said to be a derivative of the Jericho surface-to-surface missile. The Jericho is believed to have been last tested in the Mediterranean two years ago.
U.S. officials have determined that the Shavit has a range of 7,200 kilometers (4,464 miles), the Israeli Ha'aretz daily said. The newspaper quoted Professor Steve Fetter, a physicist at the University of Maryland, that the Shavit could deliver a 775 kilogram warhead a distance of 4,000 kilometers (2,480 miles).
Israel's Jericho missile silo is said to be located outside Bet Shemesh, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) southwest of Jerusalem. The London-based Foreign Report asserted that a six-man Palestinian insurgency cell captured on Monday had attempted to blow up the missile facility.
http://www.rense.com/general26/iscap.htm
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28169
7/25/02
1:37:07 PM
Sharon Threatens Global Nuclear War
by Jeffrey Steinberg, Executive Intelligence Review, June 28, 2002
If there is one nation on this planet that deserves to be described and dealt with as a rogue state, armed with weapons of mass destruction and intent on using them, it is Israel, under the terror reign of war criminal Ariel Sharon.
If this was a matter of assertion or conjecture in the past, statements coming out of top Israeli officials in the past days have eliminated any cause for hesitation.
On June 26, the Israeli newspaper of record, Ha'aretz, cited two top Israeli space scientists, who declared that Israel now has the capacity to fire missiles at targets anywhere on earth. Prof. Moshe Gelman, head of the Asher Institute at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, boasted to Ha'aretz that "From the moment the State of Israel has the capability to launch a satellite into orbit around the earth at a height of hundreds of kilometers, it established [its] capability to launch, by means of a missile, a payload to any location on the face of the earth."
Dr. Gelman's words were seconded by Avi Har-Even, the director-general of the Israeli Space Agency (ISA), which recently launched the Ofek 5 satellite, who told Ha'aretz's Amnon Barzilai that the Ofek 5 launch had two strategic objectives: providing Israel with an independent spy satellite capability to monitor military activities in targeted countries throughout the entire Near East. "The second involves Israel's launch capabilities."
Democratic Party Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche reacted strongly to the Israeli announcement about an ICBM capability. He characterized it as a direct threat by Ariel Sharon against any nation that attempts to interfere with Israel's mad drive for its "Greater Israel" permanent annexation of the West Bank and Gaza and the mass expulsion of the 3.5 million Palestinians living in those territories.
"Israel is threatening global thermonuclear war," LaRouche warned, and this is unacceptable. He called upon the international community to immediately make the entire Mideast a "denuclearized zone," by forcing Israel to dismantle its nuclear weapons arsenal. LaRouche characterized the announcement of the Israeli ICBM capability as a "phase-change" in a global strategic situation, already driven to the brink of war by the onrushing financial collapse and the June 25 speech by President George W. Bush, which gave Sharon a defacto American "green light" to take any action against the Palestinians which he deems necessary.
NATO Officially Warned
The Israeli intent to use nuclear weapons was a topic of, at minimum, implicit discussion, at a June 26 Brussels behind-closed-doors meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council, which was addressed by the current head of the Israeli Mossad, Ephraim Halevy. According to the June 27 Ha'aretz, Halevy reported to the NATO officials that Mossad is convinced that Iran is developing intermediate and long range missiles, and "weapons-grade nuclear capabilities," as well as VX gas and biological weapons. As Ha'aretz's Amir Oren reported, Halevy asserted that "Israel cannot spare any effort to foil, prevent or delay the attainment of weapons of mass destruction by countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria and Libya."
Pushing A New Regional War
According to Israeli military historian Martin Van Creveld, who wrote that "Sharon's Plan Is to Drive Palestinians Across the Jordan," the intent of the present Israeli government is to seize upon either a U.S. military attack on Iraq, aimed at overthrowing Saddam Hussein, or a serious terrorist incident inside Israel to launch a "mass transfer" of more than two million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, across the river into Jordan.
"Should such circumstances arise," Van Creveld wrote in the April 28, 2002 issue of Conrad Black's Sunday Telegraph, "then Israel would mobilise with lightening speed--even now, much of its male population is on standby."
He spelled out a precise order of battle for the "mass transfer," although he wrote of his own personal opposition to the Sharon scheme:
"First, the country's three ultra-modern submarines would take up firing positions out at sea. Borders would be closed, a news blackout imposed, and all foreign journalists rounded up and confined to a hotel as guests of the Government."
He continued, "A force of 12 divisions, 11 of them armoured, plus various territorial units suitable for occupation duties, would be deployed: five against Egypt, three against Syria, and one opposite Lebanon. This would leave three to face east as well as enough forces to put a tank inside every Arab-Israeli village just in case their populations get any funny ideas.
"The expulsion of the Palestinians would require only a few brigades. They would not drag people out of their houses but use heavy artillery to drive them out; the damage caused to Jenin would look like a pinprick in comparison."
Van Creveld estimated that none of the Arab states would respond militarily to the Israeli move, adding, "Should Saddam be mad enough to resort to weapons of mass destruction, then Israel's response would be so `awesome and terrible' (as Yitzhak Shamir, the former prime minister once said) as to defy the imagination." There is no question that this was a direct reference to an Israeli use of nuclear weapons against Iraq.
He added, "Israeli military experts estimate that such a war could be over in just eight days."
Van Creveld concluded that only the United States could stop such an Israeli doomsday scenario from playing out, and right now, chances are slim to nil that America will step in to stop Israel, which is seen by Bush as a major ally in the "war on terrorism." After Bush's June 25 speech, copies of Van Creveld's article were taken from the files and studied, intensively, by many Arab military and intelligence commanders, according to a well-informed Egyptian source.
Deadly Arsenal
The scale of the Israeli nuclear weapons program is vast, and has now been qualitatively transformed, by Israel's acquisition of three German-made diesel powered submarines, which, according to a recent study by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, are armed with nuclear warheads on Cruise missiles. Carnegie published a report early in June 2002, detailing the Israeli nuclear weapons program. That booklength report on global nuclear weapons proliferation, Deadly Arsenals--Tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction, included an entire chapter on Israel's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons program.
The authors wrote, "Probably the most important nuclear-related development in Israel is the formation of its sea-based nuclear arm. By July 2000 Israel completed taking delivery of all three of the Dolphin-class submarines it had ordered at the Thyssen-Nordseewerke shipyard in Kiel, Germany. In doing so, it is widely believed, Israel moved significantly toward acquiring a survivable second-strike nuclear capability. All indications are that Israel is on the way to finalizing a restructuring of its nuclear forces into a triad, like the United States.
"Since the early 1980s (and probably even earlier) the Israeli navy (jointly with other governmental agencies) lobbied hard for the notion that Israel should build a small fleet of modern diesel submarines for `strategic purposes,' an Israeli euphemism for a sea-launched nuclear capability... It is also believed (but not confirmed) that the most sensitive aspect of the project, the cruise-missile technology that renders the diesel submarines nuclear-capable launching platforms, was developed and built in Israel... According to one report in the London Sunday Times, by early 2000 Israel had carried out the first launching tests of its cruise missiles."
The Carnegie study concluded, "A fleet of three submarines is believed to be the minimum that Israel needs to have a deployment at sea of one nuclear-armed submarine at all times."
The fact that Israel has achieved a deployable nuclear triad was advertised in a June 15 report in the Washington Post, under the headline, "Israel Has Submarine-Based Atomic Arms Capability."
(The preceding will appear on July 1, in Electronic Intelligence Weekly, the online of EIR. For more information, call, toll-free, 1-888-347-3258)
http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw
Source: http://www.rense.com/general26/sharonthreat.htm
7/25/02
1:11:20 PM
Press release, Tuesday July 23
Sharon answers cease-fire offer with carnage Rabin-Pelosof resigns from the government
Less than twenty-four hours ago, the Hamas leader Sheikh Ahamad Yassin made an unprecedented public call for a cease-fire with Israel. That call was the culmination of long, patient negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas leadership, aimed at achieving a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israel, putting an end to suicide bombings and paving the way to a resumption of some kind of political process Saudi Arabia, too, is known to have made direct approaches to the Hamas leaders in order to achieve the same result. A government of Israel caring even a little bit for the well-being of its own citizens would have welcomed the opening. Not so the Sharon Government, whose response was to send an F-16 fighter plane on a bombing spree in Gaza. The effect of attempting to assassinate a senior Hamas leader was a carnage whose victims included many women and children. Now, instead of offers of ceasefire the Hamas leadership is coming out with calls for revenge, which seems to suit Sharon much better. It is the PM, with his endless string of provocations, who bears the responsibility for this missed opportunity of ending the cycle of bloodshed.
Deputy Defence Minister Dalia Rabin-Pelosof resigned this evening, charging the Sharon government with destroying the life work of the late Yitzchak Rabin, her father.
For more information: Adam Keller, Gush Shalom spokesperson +972-3-5565804 / +972-56-709603 / +972-56-709604
[We just received the following from George Rishmawi who lives under curfew in Beit Sahour]
Forwarded message follows
From: "abunimir" <abunimir@yahoo.com>
Date sent: Mon, 22 Jul 2002
Subject: Israeli terrorist airstrike kills 12 in Gaza
[Gaza, on Tuesday July 23, 2002]
Israeli F-16 fighters attacked a residential area to the east of the Al Yarmouk area in Gaza a couple of hours ago killing 12 Palestinian civilians and injuring more than 130, children, women, and old people among them. Israeli newspaper Haaretz says that Sheikh Salah Shehadeh (one of Hamas leaders) has been killed in the attack. Al Jazeera TV said that Shehadeh's wife and three of his children have also been killed in the same attack among the 12 dead.
This terrorist attack comes hours after Hamas's leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin's declaration about the intention of Hamas to stop its military attacks in Israel if Israel withdraws from the Palestinian areas. (Some Palestinian sources say that Sheikh Salah Shehadeh is still alive.)
Israeli and Palestinian officials met and there was a talk about withdrawing from two re-occupied cities if things will be quiet in the coming 24 hours or so. Now Israel assasinates a Hamas leader and Hamas is threatening to revenge. Thus, there will be no 24 hours of no attacks. This means that there will be no withdrawal from the cities.
I think the message is clear by now. Israel wants to keep provoking the Palestinians so they keep their occupation alive in the midst of an American blessing for every Israeli crime against the Palestinians under the excuse of fighting terrorism.
If what Palestinians are doing is terrorism, then Israel has to be blamed for creating it. The occupation is the maker of its and our suffering, therefore Occupation has to stop so that both peoples can live in peace.
Full transcript of the war crimes panel available on the Gush site
For Hebrew http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum.html
For English http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum_eng.html
Palestinian life under occupation, reports and letters at:
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html
Why are the volunteer international observers important? Because the United Nations didn't send its protection force. Information about the International Solidarity Movement - and how to support it in different ways - at
If you want to support Gush Shalom's activities you can send a cheque or cash, wrapped well in an extra piece of paper, to:
Gush Shalom pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033
or ask us for charities in your country which receive donations on behalf of Gush Shalom
(Please, add your email address where to send our confirmation of receipt. More official receipts at request only.)
For more about Gush Shalom you are invited to visit our renewed website:
7/25/02
1:09:04 PM
A Hamas Chieftain, and Many Civilians Die When Israelis Attack His Home
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.24B.hamas.chief.htm
Israel's Nuclear Weapons Program
http://nuketesting.enviroweb.org/hew/Israel/
History Of Nuclear Weapons - Israel
http://www.rense.com/general26/historw.htm
Renegade Rattles Israeli Nuke Program
http://www.rense.com/general26/rattles.htm
In Europe U.S. Plan To Invade Iraq Raises Alarms
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.24A.us.pln.iraq.htm
Anti-nuclear activists in sea protest
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_2142000/2142390.stm
Two environmental activists jump into the sea in front of armed cargo vessels carrying nuclear waste to Britain from Japan. (...) Greenpeace claims the ships are carrying enough plutonium waste to make 50 nuclear bombs, which make them a potential target for terrorists. --- Along their entire route the ships will face opposition by ordinary citizens in small boats and governments terrified at the prospect of an accident or deliberate attack. The deadly freighters, Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, are facing opposition by a citizen's flotilla of small ships in the Tasman Sea. You can get your own virtual ship and join the Greenpeace virtual flotilla by participating in this cyberaction to send a letter to the Japanese foreign minister by going at
http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=vf1&s=vf
7/25/02
1:00:25 PM
Security Bill Loses ID Card, TIPS
By Ellen Sorokin, The Washingto Times, Jul;y 19, 2002
House Majority Leader Dick Armey, in his markup of legislation to create a Homeland Security Department, yesterday rejected a national identification card and scrapped a program that would use volunteers in domestic surveillance. Mr. Armey, chairman of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, included language in his markup of the legislation to prohibit the Justice Department from initiating the Terrorism Information and Prevention System, also called Operation TIPS.
Mr. Armey's bill also would create a "privacy officer" in the Homeland Security Department, which he said was the first ever established by law in a Cabinet agency. Mr. Armey said this person would "ensure technology research and new regulations from the department respect the civil liberties our citizens enjoy."
The TIPS program would have allowed volunteers, including letter carriers and utility workers whose routines make them well-positioned to recognize suspect activities, to report suspect behavior to the Justice Department. It was scheduled to begin next month in 10 cities, with 1 million informants initially participating in the program. "Mr. Armey believes there are other and better ways to involve citizens in the protection of the homeland," said Richard Diamond, the congressman's press secretary. "There are traditional ways of pitching in, helping out, like becoming a volunteer firefighter."
The 216-page bill, sponsored by Mr. Armey, Texas Republican, also bars the creation of national identification cards, despite President Bush's support for them. "Authority to design and issue these cards shall remain with the states," Mr. Armey said.
In addition, the bill would indefinitely postpone a Dec. 31 deadline for airports to screen checked bags for explosives and would give immunity from lawsuits to some technology companies involved in national security.
Since the announcement earlier this week of its creation, Operation TIPS has attracted criticism from across the political spectrum.
Supporters argued that the program is aimed at encouraging people with certain jobs — those that take them into neighborhoods — to watch for suspect activity.
Attorney General John Ashcroft's spokeswoman, Barbara Comstock, said the agency had no intention for people to enter or have access to people's homes. The idea is to organize information from people whose jobs take them through neighborhoods, Ms. Comstock said.
Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge also defended the program. "The last thing we want is Americans spying on Americans," he said. "That's just not what the president is all about, and not what the TIPS program is all about." But civil rights groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the conservative Rutherford Institute, said Operation TIPS could turn ordinary citizens into "government-sanctioned peeping Toms." The U.S. Postal Service also said this week that it would not allow letter carriers to be involved with the program.
Yesterday, the groups praised Mr. Armey's decision. "Majority Leader Armey has taken a courageous step in insisting that we protect our privacy in the fight against terror," said Rachel King, an ACLU legislative counsel. "There is no place in America for either an internal passport or for utility workers and cable technicians to become government-sanctioned peeping Toms."
Democrats also applauded the move. "I think they did a good job on the privacy issues," said House Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi of California, who also is a member of the select committee.
The House Select Committee on Homeland Security is likely to alter the measure when it is considered today, as is the full House when it reaches the floor next week. Overall, the bill would give Mr. Bush much of the huge new Cabinet agency he requested to safeguard Americans from terrorism at home.
The Senate has finished hearings on the new department but is not expected to take up the issue for a few weeks. The proposal to delay indefinitely the Dec. 31 deadline for all checked airline bags to be screened for explosives drew immediate fire from Rep. James L. Oberstar, Minnesota Democrat and ranking member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
In a letter to colleagues, Mr. Oberstar said the new Transportation Security Administration, which would become part of the Homeland Security Department under Mr. Armey's bill, repeatedly has assured Congress that it can meet the deadline.
"Although this deadline is demanding, it is not impossible," Mr. Oberstar wrote, noting that the law allows each airport to set a new, unlimited deadline if the Dec. 31 date cannot be met.
Republican leaders and Democrats also continued to negotiate whether to give Mr. Bush flexibility in making personnel decisions, which the president said he needs to respond quickly to terrorist threats. Opponents say it could wreck civil service workers' protections and undermine unions collective bargaining.
Key lawmakers also reached an agreement with the White House to give Mr. Bush some authority to transfer up to 2 percent of the money in the Homeland Security Department budget for two years, with some strings attached, instead of the 5 percent discretionary power he had sought.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020719-90562710.htm
7/25/02
12:55:59 PM
UTNE WEB WATCH
The Best of the Alternative Web
SECURITY BILL LOSES ID CARD, TIPS
by Ellen Sorokin, The Washington Times
-- Dick Armey rejected the Terrorism Information and Prevention System (Operation TIPS,) relieving the fears of many civil liberties groups.
THE 10 TEACHINGS SHARED BY ALL RELIGIONS
by Gary L. Beckwith, About.com Forums
-- Though religious differences have sparked untold episodes of war and violence, many religions are rooted in remarkably similar beliefs.
MAYO CLINICS
Sam Graceffo, M.D., Syracuse New Times
-- After triple-bypass surgery, patients need not go far for a post-surgery Big Mac and fries: fast-food chains are now conveniently located right inside our nation's top medical centers.
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
7/25/02
12:53:41 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
GRIZZLY TEAM SHOWS VALUE OF SPECIES PROTECTION LAW
WASHINGTON, DC, July 23, 2002 (ENS) - Protection under federal and state law is critical to conserving grizzly bears in the lower 48 states, a new report concludes. The study could offer support for legislation aimed at strengthening the federal Endangered Species Act, and counter arguments for weakening protections for grizzly bears in the contiguous United States.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-23-06.asp
FORGET SHARKS, WATCH OUT FOR STINGRAYS, JELLIES
LONG BEACH, California, July 23, 2002 (ENS) - The greatest threats to California beachgoers in these warm months are jellyfish and stingrays. Sharks are a distant third, says Christopher Lowe, assistant professor of biological sciences at California State University, Long Beach.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-23-01.asp
ICELAND CHOOSES SMELTER, HYDRO PROJECT OVER PARK
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, July 23, 2002 (ENS) - The world's largest aluminum company, Alcoa Inc., the government of Iceland, and Landsvirkjun, Iceland's national power company have signed a deal to build a large aluminium smelter and hydropower development in eastern Iceland. The pact, signed Friday, drew immediate condemation from WWF, the conservation organization.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-23-03.asp
HOW GREEN IS THE PRODI COMMISSION?
BRUSSELS, Belgium, July 23, 2002 (ENS) - Twenty commissioners under the leadership of President Romano Prodi of Italy make up the executive branch of the European Union government - the European Commission. Today, major European environmental organizations grouped under the Green 8 umbrella issued a joint review of the Prodi Commission's environmental policies for the first half of its mandate.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-23-02.asp
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JULY 23, 2002
U.S. DENIES FUNDING FOR FAMILY PLANNING
HOUSE SUPPORTS CONTROVERSIAL FIREMANAGEMENT PLAN
SPRAWL MAY THREATEN WILDLIFE IN RESERVES
63 DAMS SLATED FOR REMOVAL IN 2002
COURT ORDERS BAY AREA TRANSIT TO BOOST RIDERSHIP
SHARK FIN TEST CAN IDENTIFY SPECIES
SNAKEHEAD FISH COULD BE BANNED
ELECTRIC BARRIER MAY BLOCK INVASIVE ASIAN CARP
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-23-09.asp
7/25/02
12:51:08 PM
THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, July 24, 2002
sponsored by PR WATCH: http://www.prwatch.org
The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to further information about current public relations campaigns. It is emailed free each Wednesday to subscribers. Feel free to forward this message to others.
THIS WEEK'S NEWS
1. Social Responsibility and the Mechanical Bull
2. Philip Morris Offers Advice on Corporate Responsibility
3. How to Blow the Whistle
4. Ethics on the Corporate Payroll
5. Forget the Whales, Save My Stock Options, Or Else!
6. The Nine Lives of Ousted Corporate Fat Cats
7. Creative Accounting in Medialand
1. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE MECHANICAL BULL
http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2002Q3/index.html
As events build toward the UN's upcoming environmental summit in Johannesburg, the PR industry is busily promoting "corporate social responsibility" (CSR) as the solution to the world's problems. As our 3rd Quarter issue of PR Watch observes, however, current rhetoric about CSR is occurring in the wake of the worst orgy of corporate irresponsibility in decades. Stories featured in this issue include:
* Rio+10, Environment Zero
* Ketchum (the UN's PR Firm) Tackles Corporate Responsibility
* Corporate Social Responsibility and the Crisis of Globalization
* The International Chamber of Commerce and the Mechanical Bull
More web links related to this story are available at:
http://www.prwatch.org/spin/July_2002.html#1027483201
2. PHILIP MORRIS OFFERS ADVICE ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/204/economy/Philip_Morris_exec_offers_advi:.shtml
"Even the executive from Philip Morris Companies Inc., the parent company of the largest cigarette maker in the United States, couldn't ignore the irony that he had been scheduled to speak about corporate responsibility," writes Marc Levy in an Associated Press report on a speech delivered on Monday by PM vice president David Greenberg. Levy notes that Greenberg's speech is part of an ongoing effort by Philip Morris to remold its image: "For three years, the company has rolled out its executives to speaking engagements, part of an effort to improve the company's image and offer itself up as an example of a corporate citizen that found ethics and responsibility." Greenberg's speech, delivered at a luncheon of the Pennsylvania Press Club, offered familiar platitudes. "The corporate community really needs to step up to whatever it takes to restore the public trust," he told reporters. "Business ethics must come from the top."
SOURCE: Associated Press, July 23, 2002
3. HOW TO BLOW THE WHISTLE
http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2002/jul/prof1_020722.html
Whistleblowers play a vital role in stopping government misconduct, but they often pay a heavy price. "Retaliation can include marginalization, firings, loss of promotions, and even death threats," writes Katherine Uraneck. Thomas Devine of the Government Accountability Project says whistleblowers should expect some retaliation. "Before sticking their necks out, whistleblowers should carefully plan a survival strategy," he advises. Experts advise potential whistleblowers to research their situation carefully, understand how the system works, and seek legal counsel.
SOURCE: The Scientist, July 22, 2002
More web links related to this story are available at:
http://www.prwatch.org/spin/July_2002.html#1027310401
4. ETHICS ON THE CORPORATE PAYROLL
http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2002/jul/prof3_020722.html
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is calling for bioethics institutions and journals to disclose their financial relationships with the biotech industry. So far, the request has mostly fallen on deaf ears. "The industry's increasing recruitment of bioethicists has been widely debated, as has the scope of the contributions," notes Hal Cohen. "Most bioethics institutions don't publish such statistics, leaving the public to draw its own conclusions about conflicts of interest. Industry, on the other hand, trumpets the presence of bioethicists on the corporate payroll." According to CSPI's Virginia Sharpe, ethicists on the payroll are "extremely useful to the companies," enabling them to "reassure the public that the company is consulting with ethics advisers"--even though the advisors aren't necessarily consulted regarding important decisions. "Companies can't always afford to tell the ethicists what they are doing," explains Glenn McGee, professor of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania. "One PR misstep and many small biotechs are out of business."
SOURCE: The Scientist, July 22, 2002
More web links related to this story are available at:
http://www.prwatch.org/spin/July_2002.html#1027310400
5. FORGET THE WHALES, SAVE MY STOCK OPTIONS, OR ELSE!
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/20/business/20LOBB.html
"For all the talk of corporate scandal, one leading proposal for change -- tightening the rules on stock options -- was brushed aside in Congress this week, thanks in part to a powerful business lobbying coalition that has long fought to protect these rich pay packages. ... [L]ast September, an umbrella group calling itself the Stock Option Coalition was formed from high-technology companies, executives of Fortune 500 companies, venture capitalists, biotechnology companies and the Nasdaq market -- all sending out platoons of lobbyists, conducting sophisticated e-mail campaigns and reminding Congress of their hefty campaign contributions. ... These companies are also enlisting rank-and-file employees in a Web-based grass-roots effort, as well. ...an employee can simply put his or her e-mail address on the TechNet Web site and a 'Dear Lawmaker' letter will automatically be sent to Congress in less than a minute. 'If my company does well, I hope one day to use my stock options to buy a home or put my children through college,' reads the form letter." Competitive Enterprise Institute and the powerful Business Roundtable are also lobbying hard to save stock options
SOURCE: New York Times, Saturday, July 20, 2002
More web links related to this story are available at:
http://www.prwatch.org/spin/July_2002.html#1027137600
6. THE NINE LIVES OF OUSTED CORPORATE FAT CATS
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020718/4285061s.htm
"Investors who have watched their nest eggs melt away would be shocked to know that former executives of companies involved in some of the USA's largest cases of corporate malfeasance -- Xerox, Waste Management and Sunbeam -- still serve as senior executives and directors at public companies," writes Matt Krantz. "Some even sit on audit committees, acting as watchdogs against accounting deceit. In one case, an ex-president's involvement with alleged fraud isn't even disclosed in his current employer's regulatory filings."
SOURCE: USA Today, July 18, 2002
7. CREATIVE ACCOUNTING IN MEDIALAND
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22440-2002Jul17.html
The news media have criticized the tangled finances of companies like Enron and Worldcom, but Howard Kurtz notes that many of them are engaged in similar deals themselves. For example:
* The New York Times struck a "newsprint swap agreement" with Enron -- a financial deal in which no physical assets changed hands. The deal was disclosed in the fine print of the newspaper's SEC filings but not in editorials that slammed Enron for "accounting shenanigans."
* The Chicago Tribune and Washington Post have editorialized against companies for not counting executive stock options as expenses, even though they did the same thing themselves last year, to the tune of millions of dollars. So did AOL Time Warner, the Gannett publishing chain, Knight Ridder, Dow Jones (the publisher of the Wall Street Journal), and the parent companies of ABC, NBC and CBS.
SOURCE: Washington Post, July 18, 2002
7/25/02
12:35:42 PM
It's A Conspiracy!
The Rumor Mill Continues to Grind Out 9-11 Tales, Some Nutty and Some With a Grain of Truth
by Harvey Wasserman, Columbus Alive, July 11, 2002
September 11 has spawned reams of conspiracy theories. Many are ridiculous. But far more ridiculous -- if that's the word -- are the uses to which the Bush Administration has been putting last fall's terrorist attacks. It doesn't take a conspiracy nut to see the Shrub/Cheney cabal using 9-11 precisely as if they had done the deed.
Thus, the destruction of the Bill of Rights (except for the Second Amendment). A mushrooming police state apparatus. Huge boosts in military spending, virtually none of which has anything to do with actually fighting terrorism. Rampant corporate theft involving scores of Bush operatives and family members. Utter contempt for global treaties. Rollback of environmental protection. Assaults on women's and minority rights. And no attempt to shut the nuclear power plants that remain our most vulnerable and potentially horrific targets.
In short, it's been a field day for the authoritarian and mean of spirit, a conservative feeding frenzy for an inept, unelected crew that, before September 11, was all but written off. The far right has ridden the bin Laden horse so far and so fast it's sometimes hard to believe they didn't hire him in the first place. (Come to think of it, they did -- though that was to fight the Soviets.)
But the conspiracy theories? The most twisted seems to be a book now sweeping France that says the Pentagon launched missiles on the World Trade Center and itself. Ignoring a virtually infinite number of photographs and eye-witness accounts, the Gallic screed has sold some 200,000 copies asserting that the whole thing was executed by the American armed forces to enhance the power of its most cynical advocate, George W. Bush.
Then there's the stuff on the Internet. Long, detailed examinations of how and why the Bush family's long-standing ties to the bin Laden family and the Saudi Arabia they largely own prove they set the whole thing up. Sketchy CIA meetings with Osama here and there. Complex money trails. The usual.
Much of it is utterly absurd. Some makes pretty good sense.
But none is undercut by the fact that the U.S. military did, in fact, train bin Laden in all the basic skills he might have needed to pull off this attack. It's common knowledge that our men in khaki also trained Saddam Hussein, Manuel Noriega and a host of other vile thugs behind "blowback" attacks on us. And that the real seat of oil-based terror is Saudi Arabia, to which the Bushies pander and plead on an hourly basis.
Then there's the fact that the U.S. military has leveled Afghanistan, Grenada-style, while the U.S. government has yet to begin a single credible criminal prosecution over what Bush brands the most heinous attack on the U.S. ever.
Nor are the new 9-11 theories soiled by the reality, as documented by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, that the administration seems in no hurry to find whoever sent anthrax through the U.S. mail, terrorizing Congress and the Postal Service. In fact, conspiracy buffs are heartened by the fact that the anthrax was military grade, and went to Senate liberals who questioned the post-September 11 Patriot Act and its destruction of our basic freedoms.
All this adds up to a sad reality: Sometimes the conspiracies are real, and then time passes and it no longer matters. For example:
- In 1898, did the Spaniards blow up the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor? The answer is almost certainly no. But the belief they did -- manufactured by the cynical newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst -- led the U.S. into a bloody imperial war and the conquest of Cuba, the Philippines and Puerto Rico, which is still a U.S. territory.
- Was the passenger ship Lusitania illegally carrying weapons to Britain when it was sunk by the Germans in 1915, leading the U.S. into World War I? Definitely. But we weren't sure Woodrow Wilson's denials were a lie until 70 years later, when a new high-tech submarine examined the ship at the ocean's bottom.
- Did Franklin Roosevelt conspire with the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor, leading the U.S. into World War II? No, but he may have indirectly encouraged it to happen.
- Did South Korea goad the North Koreans to attack, leading the U.S. into a war there that eventually involved China? Probably.
- Was John F. Kennedy killed by a conspiracy that may have involved the CIA? Still the debate of the last century.
- Was Martin Luther King killed by a conspiracy that may have involved at least tacit complicity from the FBI? Increasingly, the answer seems to be yes.
- Were the killings of Kennedy and King used to make America more violent, more twisted and less just? Like 9-11, it's hard to argue otherwise.
- Did the U.S. invent a non-attack at the Tonkin Gulf in 1964, leading to the Vietnam War? Definitely.
- Did Richard Nixon sabotage Vietnam peace talks during the 1968 campaign, leading to his election? Definitely.
- Did Ronald Reagan sabotage Iranian hostage negotiations during the 1980 campaign, leading to his election? Highly likely, but still hotly debated.
- Did Enron deliberately create and manipulate the California "energy crisis" of 2001, giving the oil industry an excuse to draft the Bush Energy Plan? Definitely.
- Did George W. Bush violate the law when he failed to report that he made $848,000 by selling his shares in a money-losing company called Harken Energy, of which he was a director. Definitely, according to a memo from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Did Dick Cheney engage in illegal activities at the Halliburton Oil Company? Highly likely, though not yet proven, and the Department of Justice does not seem anxious to find out.
- Did Bush and Cheney conspire to have jets crash into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania on September 11? Not likely.
But if they keep shredding the Constitution while feeding our billions to their corporate buddies, it'll be hard to argue otherwise, at least in those countries where historians still have the right to say such things.
Maybe it would help if Bush, Cheney and their known co-conspirators were actually indicted for what they did at Harken, Halliburton and Enron. But that seems about as likely as a conspiracy to re-float the Lusitania.
Source: http://www.columbusalive.com/2002/20020711
7/25/02
12:27:27 PM
Scientists estimate 30 billion earth-like planets within our own Milky Way galaxy If they're right, it is very likely our civilization is not the only one in the universe.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2078000/2078507.stm
ASSUMPTION THAT ETs ARE VISITING US
http://www.filersfiles.com/news/printable.php?id=66&image=on
On the Edge of a Precipice
The US Stock Market Collapse Could Trigger the Biggest Global Recession Since the 1930s
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4462175,00.html
Will WorldCom Take the Internet Down? 22-Jul-2002
(...) Wall Street is taking a hard look at communication companies such as Verizon and SBC. Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, thinks the industry is in a state of "utter crisis" and expects more bad news. This has prompted a sense of imminent disaster at companies that rely on Internet or cellphone connections.
http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1765
It's time for special K factor ( Crashing share prices, global financial instability, deflation lurking in the background: this is a world made for Keynes. For all those who kept the sacred flame flickering during the long, dark night of laissez-faire...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4466125,00.html
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast - A book review by Julian Creme
Investigative reporter Palast reveals how Republicans stole the 2000 US Presidential race in Florida, World Bank and IMF manipulations to ensure debt payments, corporate fraud and more.
http://simedia.org/new/jc_best-democracy.html
A Liability on the GOP Balance Sheet?
Halliburton Probe Is Growing Worry for Bush, Hill Republicans - "Cheney's silence is deafening," a senior House Republican aide said. "If there's been one thing that should have been learned from the Clinton era, it was that these things have to be dealt with immediately, forthrightly and completely, and failure to do so gives the appearance that there really is something there."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34818-2002Jul19.html
Files: Bush Knew Firm's Plight Before Stock Sale
As a businessman in 1990, George W. Bush was deluged with confidential information about the financial plight of a Texas oil company before he sold the majority of his holdings and triggered a federal investigation, according to Securities and Exchange Commission records. President Bush has refused to authorize the SEC to open the full file on his investigation, but selected documents have been released under the Freedom of Information Act. The president's business dealings have come under more scrutiny as he tries to restore confidence in markets hurt by business scandals. Nearly half of 1,004 respondents in a Newsweek poll released yesterday said they thought Bush took advantage of the system for personal gain with the 1990 stock sale. CLIP
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0721-02.htm
Simple Shift in Bush Aid Budget Would Leverage Nearly $700 Million for Health, Environment Problems in Poorest Countries - At No Extra Cost to U.S.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.22D.nrdc.700M.htm
Alaska Glaciers Melting More Rapidly
"The change we are seeing is more rapid than any climate change that has happened in the last 10 to 20 centuries," said Keith A. Echelmeyer, one of the five researchers who prepared the study. (...) As the state's pervasive permafrost begins to thaw, the consequences are dramatic and alarming: sagging roads, crumbling villages, sinking pipelines, the proliferation of insects that are destroying spruce forests and the possible disruption of marine wildlife.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/782653.asp
Anti-nuclear activists in sea protest
Two environmental activists jump into the sea in front of armed cargo vessels carrying nuclear waste to Britain from Japan. (...) Greenpeace claims the ships are carrying enough plutonium waste to make 50 nuclear bombs, which make them a potential target for terrorists.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_2142000/2142390.stm
'Corporate Socialism' by Ralph Nader
The relentless expansion of corporate control over our political economy has proven nearly immune to daily reporting by the mainstream media. Corporate crime, fraud and abuse have become like the weather; everyone is talking about the storm but no one seems able to do anything about it. This is largely because expected accountability mechanisms -- including boards of directors, outside accounting and law firms, bankers and brokers, state and federal regulatory agencies and legislatures -- are inert or complicit. CLIP
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0718-02.htm
7/24/02
5:43:15 PM
SciTech Daily Review
Forget sacrifical goats. Mayans and their ancestors had the right idea 2,600 years ago when they began chocolate libations
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/07/0717_020717_TVchocolate.html
The US government is set to release standards and a software program to help computer users configure their systems for maximum security against hackers and thieves
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-020717safeguards.story
A gene that plays a key role in the first stage of embryonic life could hold the key to new male contraceptives -- and help some couples who have been unable to have children
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_2134000/2134624.stm
It's never too late to blog -- and for Alzheimer's sufferers, keeping a Web log can even help make sense of their daily lives
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,53815,00.html
Making the web accessible by disabled people doesn't necessarily make it usable
http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006D991.htm
The claim by search engine Fast that it is now bigger than Google has rekindled a fierce online debate: does size matter?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4463217,00.html
7/24/02
5:40:49 PM
"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is limited.
Imagination encircles the world."
Albert Einstein
7/24/02
5:39:44 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Four dead, thousands homeless in Venezuela floods - VENEZUELA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16996/story.htm
UPDATE - Californian governor signs landmark auto emissions law - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16984/story.htm
Colorado county rejects coalbed methane test wells - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16987/story.htm
Snakehead fish in 7 states, US to ban them - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16988/story.htm
Britain falls behind green energy targets - report - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16989/story.htm
NZ's Genesis says gets okay to expand wind farm - NEW ZEALAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16991/story.htm
World's oldest panther, 25, dies in Indian zoo - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16995/story.htm
Germany denies it plans to halt Dutch pork imports - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16985/story.htm
EU demands proof states are protecting ozone layer - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16986/story.htm
Disillusioned Bulgarians envy bears' necessities - BULGARIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16993/story.htm
Australia, Mexico agree to energy partnership - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16990/story.htm
Australia wasting A$1bln on greenhouse efforts - report - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16992/story.htm
Australia government rules out buying cotton farm for water - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16994/story.htm
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICTURES:
UAE: New Born Arabian Leopard Cub Pictured at the Desert Park Sharjah http://www.planetark.org/envpicstory.cfm/newsid/16997
7/24/02
5:31:52 PM
t r u t h o u t | 07.24
In Europe U.S. Plan To Invade Iraq Raises Alarms
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.24A.us.pln.iraq.htm
A Hamas Chieftain, and Many Civilians Die When Israelis Attack His Home
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.24B.hamas.chief.htm
Leahy-Pelosi Take a Stand Against White House Family Planning Decision
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.24C.leahy-pelosi.htm
Bush Disapproval at Pre-Attack Level
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.24D.bush.disapproval.htm
Paul Krugman | Living With Bears
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.24E.krug.bears.htm
Senate Panel Says Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase Complicit in Enron Sham
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.24F.wall.st.enron.htm
Arianna Huffington | Capitalism Without Conscience
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.24G.aria.conscience.htm
7/24/02
5:30:41 PM
Public Citizens
July 23, 2002
Energy Bill Contradicts Push to Corporate Reform
Congress Rails Against Corporate Crime One Minute, Deregulates Corporations the Next
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Even as Congress is cracking down on corporate wrongdoing in the accounting realm, it is moving to gut pro-consumer regulations for some of the nation's largest and most powerful corporations and give them more latitude to embark on questionable deals, Public Citizen said today.
As part of the ongoing conference over House and Senate energy legislation, conferees are discussing the Senate version's electricity title, which includes language that will repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA). If lawmakers repeal this key consumer protection law, they will further deregulate the energy industry and allow more Enron-like manipulations.
Enacted decades ago to protect consumers from rapacious electric companies, PUHCA is one of the few remaining federal laws regulating the nation's giant power corporations. Repealing the law will allow those companies to embark on another frenzy of mergers and acquisitions and encourage corporate financial escapades in far-flung, risky ventures that have nothing to do with providing reliable and affordable electricity service to consumers - an essential commodity.
"Members of Congress are touting themselves as reformers while simultaneously giving in to yet more corporate demands for less regulation and less accountability," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "The nauseating political enthusiasm for deregulating corporate America and acceding to corporate demands is what got us into this mess in the first place. By blasting corporate crime one minute and deregulating energy companies the next, Congress is putting its hypocrisy and disregard for public interest on blazing display."
PUHCA prohibits utility holding companies from investing ratepayers' money in areas that will not directly contribute to low bills and reliable service, such as out-of-region power plants or non-electricity industries.
Both the Senate and House versions of energy legislation were heavily influenced by the Bush administration's energy agenda, an agenda developed in secret between Vice President Dick Cheney and some of the nation's most powerful energy executives.
Identical or similar portions of the House and Senate energy bills mirror Bush-Cheney energy proposals on several industry giveaways, including hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies for the nuclear and fossil fuel industries. Neither bill takes serious steps to increase automobile fuel economy. The Senate measure requires utilities to obtain a portion of their power from renewable energy sources, but the renewable standard was severely watered down prior to passage. And the conference will consider the Senate's renewal of the taxpayer-backed insurance scheme for the nuclear power industry, an industry that still can't get insurance coverage in the private market and so must rely on government financial protection for its very existence.
Instead of lifting regulations on the energy industry, Public Citizen urges the conference committee to:
· Mandate strict enforcement of PUHCA and close loopholes that allowed Enron and other traders to obtain market power over consumers;
· Reject taxpayer-backed subsidies and lavish tax breaks for the energy industry;
· Revoke market-based rates (which have become virtual monopoly rates) and order cost-based pricing in all wholesale electricity markets;
· Re-regulate wholesale power marketers to require disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission;
· Grant federal and state regulators the authority to order holding companies to divest assets, expand anti-trust investigations and enforcement, and create non-profit, consumer-owned regional transmission councils;
· Allow the government's insurance scheme for the nuclear power industry to expire as scheduled Aug. 1. Existing reactors would still be covered. But if the insurance industry won't cover the risks of new power plants, taxpayers shouldn't either.
"Enron, WorldCom, Global Horizon and the rest have reminded everyone yet again that corporations serve society only if they are properly monitored and regulated," Hauter said. "Members of Congress are scouring Washington right now for television cameras, so they can look into them and profess their passionate commitment to reforms that will protect the public from greedy, dishonest corporations. Those lawmakers who sit on the energy bill conference committee have an excellent opportunity to put their words into action."
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit http://www.Citizen.org
7/23/02
5:36:14 PM
Sonic Bullets - Acoustic Weapon Of The Future
ABCNews.com, July 16, 2002
Anyone who has seen Tom Cruise fire his state-of-the- art sound wave gun at his pursuers in Minority Report no doubt assumes it is a weapon from the arsenal of science fiction. But such a weapon, or at least a less-glamorous version, is scientific fact.
Woody Norris, the CEO of American Technology Corporation and a pioneer in ultrasound technology, has developed a non-lethal acoustic weapon that stops people in their tracks.
"[For] most people," said Norris, "even if they plug their ears, it will produce the equivalent of an instant migraine. Some people, it will knock them on their knees."
The device emits so-called "sonic bullets" along a narrow, intense beam up to 145 decibels, 50 times the human threshold of pain. It usually doesn't take that much to stop someone, as we learned in a demonstration in the company parking lot. The acoustic "weapon," in the demonstration model, looks like a huge stereo speaker, except this one sports urban camouflage.
The operator chooses one of many annoying sounds in the computer " in this case, the high pitched wail of a baby, played backwards " and aims it at us. At 110 decibels, we were forced to walk out of the beam's path, our ears ringing. Had we stayed longer, Norris said our skulls would literally start to vibrate.
Police departments and the Pentagon are flocking to Norris' headquarters in San Diego to see this revolutionary technology for themselves. The problem with past attempts to make an acoustic weapon is that sound traveled in every direction, affecting the operator, as well. Norris' narrow ultrasound beam takes care of that problem, meaning police could use it to subdue suspects or quell riots, without hurting bystanders or the operator, because the sound is directional.
"Tear gas lingers long after you've fired off the canisters," said Norris. "This, you switch it off and it's gone. And the damage is only temporary."
Army to Use as Sonic Cannons
The U.S. Army has already ordered its own prototype of the non- lethal acoustic weapon. It will be packaged in a camouflaged cylinder and either be handheld or mounted on an armored car. Two security experts who were at the company on behalf of the Defense Department said it would be terrific for repelling suicide bombers and for rousting terrorists from their hideouts. Because the sound ricochets in tight, enclosed areas, said retired Marine Col. Peter Dotto, it would make it very uncomfortable for al Qaeda terrorists to stay in Afghan caves.
"They would have to come out," said Dotto, "and they probably would come out with their hands over their ears so they would be very easy to subdue at that point."
Practical Uses, Too
Not all the applications of this new technology are pain-inducing. Norris has invented a related acoustic device called the Hypersonic Sound System. Only when he turns the speaker in your direction, do you hear the message. For instance, liquid being poured over ice was the sound requested by a soda company to inspire people within earshot of a vending machine to quench their thirst.
Norris tried out the acoustic beam at a mall near his office and passers-by all stopped to listen when the sound was aimed at them. "That is absolutely amazing," said one woman, "it sounds like the sound is inside your head."
There are dozens of potential commercial uses, from shooing away pesky birds (geese off of golf courses, for example) to directing television sound so it doesn't disturb a sleeping spouse.
Whether friend or "friendly fire," this new technology is likely to affect almost every aspect of our lives, in ways we can only begin to imagine.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/sonic_bullet020716.html
7/23/02
5:28:35 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
I WISH THEY ALL COULD BE CALIFORNIA GOVERNORS
California Gov. Gray Davis (D) signed trailblazing legislation yesterday that will require automobile manufacturers to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions coming from the tailpipes of passenger vehicles in the state. Under the terms of the new law, the California Air Resources Board has until 2005 to set "maximum" but "economically feasible" emissions standards for gases that contribute to climate change; new automobiles sold in the state must meet those standards by 2009. In signing the law, Davis said, "I would prefer to have Washington take the lead, but in the absence of that we have no choice but to do our part. ... It is my hope that other states will do the same thing." In fact, the law is likely to have nationwide ramifications, because California accounts for 10 percent of the national car market. The industry opposes the new law, and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers has announced plans to take California to court.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Gary Polakovic and Miguel Bustillo, 23 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=283>
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Robert Jablon, 23 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=284>
do good: Take action to tell Bush to tackle global warming <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/climate.asp?source=daily#kyoto>
ZEALANDER
New Zealand is one of the last countries in the world to have a food-production system entirely free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). But that could change when nearly 4 million voters go to the polls this Saturday to decide whether to lift a moratorium on the use of GMOs next year. In fact, the vote will decide more than that; it will also shape national politics in the country for years to come. The debate has split the ruling leftist coalition, with the Labor Party in favor of lifting the moratorium and the Green Party bitterly opposed. The divisions run deep, sometimes even dividing husbands and wives; the nation's Federated Farmers support GMOs, while the Rural Women's Association does not. This issue is particularly fraught because agriculture accounts for 50 percent of the country's economic activity.
straight to the source: London Guardian, Jonathan Watts, 22 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=285>
do good: Take action to fight Frankenfoods <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/food.asp?source=daily#frankenfood>
JOHNNY PANIC-GRASS SEED
As New Zealand wrestles with the fate of very new crops, a seed bank in the U.S. Southwest is wrestling with the fate of very old ones. Based in Tucson, Ariz., Native Seeds/SEARCH preserves and passes on rare seeds planted by Native Americans. Although the growing conditions in much of the Southwest are harsh -- think high elevations and even higher temperatures -- Native American farmers have cultivated crops there for centuries. But in recent decades, cultural changes, the loss of land, and environmental destruction have dramatically reduced the number of farms and gardens in the region. And it's not just the farms that are becoming scarcer; so too are the ancient traditions and good nutrition associated with them (not to mention the seeds themselves). To reverse that trend, Native Seeds/SEARCH has gathered 2,000 seed collections representing 99 species of crops from 17 tribal groups. At least one species that was once thought to be extinct -- Sonoran panic grass -- is now available at the seed bank. The bank also runs a "Conservation Farm" to demonstrate ecologically safe, sustainable agriculture.
straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Carole McCray, 17 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=286>
only in Grist: Assault on peppers -- a week in the life of Suzanne Nelson, Native Seeds/SEARCH <http://www.gristmagazine.com/week/nelson080999.stm?source=daily>
CONDOM-NATION
The Bush administration said yesterday that it would withdraw $34 million in international family planning funds from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), arguing that the organization supports programs in China that force women to have abortions, in direct violation of U.S. law. U.N. officials denied promoting abortions in China (or anywhere else, for that matter), saying that on the contrary, their work has reduced the number of abortions in the country by providing education and health services to poor woman. "Women and children will die because of this decision," said Thoraya Obaid, executive director of UNFPA. In May, a White House fact-finding team agreed with UNFPA's assessment of its work, finding "no evidence" that the organization promoted forced abortions or sterilizations. But now the administration has reversed course, drawing praise from abortion opponents and raising the ire of family planning advocates.
straight to the source: Washington Post, Juliet Eilperin, 23 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=287>
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Sonni Efron, 23 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=289>
do good: Take action to stand up for international family planning <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/population.asp?source=daily#unfpa>
FLAMING-GOES
They're thriving as campy lawn statues across America, but in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, the Caribbean flamingo is flirting with extinction -- again. In the 1950s, the region's flamingo population, Mesoamerica's lone flamingo colony, dwindled to a mere 5,000 birds. But the population recovered in the sanctuary of the 200-square-mile Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, increasing to more than 30,000 birds. Now, though, the flamingos are facing new threats, as hotels and businesses in Ria Lagartos rob them of habitat, and salt factories alter the salinity of the water in the estuary. The birds have concentrated their nests on a small island that offers refuge from developers and predators alike. But erosion is wreaking havoc on the island; last year, drenching rains led to the loss of all but 186 of many thousands of eggs, and this year, all eggs were lost. Scientists studying the region have proposed a $100,000 project to protect the island from erosion.
straight to the source: New York Times, Anahad O'Connor, 23 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=288>
7/23/02
5:24:18 PM
California Law Will Limit CO2 Emissions From Cars
by Cat Lazaroff
SACRAMENTO, California, July 22, 2002 (ENS) - California today became the first state in the nation to regulate emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from motor vehicles. Governor Gray Davis signed legislation ordering the state's air quality board to develop statewide standards for tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide, beginning in model year 2009.
The new law is aimed at reducing the global warming impacts of carbon emissions from cars, light trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and could prompt similar legislation in other states across the nation.
"This is the first law in America to substantively address the greatest environmental challenge of the 21st century," Governor Davis said. "In time, every state - and hopefully every country - will act to protect future generations from the threat of global warming. For California, that time is now."
Assembly Bill 1493, authored by state assembly member Fran Pavley, a Democrat, requires the California Air Resources Board to develop carbon dioxide (CO2) standards for vehicles in model year 2009 and beyond. The standards will apply to automakers' fleet averages, rather than each individual vehicle, and carmakers will be able to partially achieve the standards by reducing pollution from non-vehicle sources, including automobile factories.
"Today is another giant step toward cleaner air for all Californians and serves as a model for our country to follow," said Pavley.
Automakers have warned that the law could force them to produce smaller, less safe cars, or could force a statewide ban on large, gas guzzling vehicles such as SUVs. But Davis said Californians will continue to be able to choose from the same wide variety of vehicles.
"The technology is available. It's affordable. And it's widely utilized in other countries," Davis explained. "We're merely asking business to do what business does best: innovate, compete, find solutions to problems and do it in a way that strengthens the economy."
"Opponents of this bill say the sky is falling," Davis explained. "But they said it about unleaded gasoline. They said it about catalytic converters. They said it about seat belts and air bags. But the sky is not falling. It's just getting a whole lot cleaner."
Vehicle emissions account for about 40 percent of the greenhouse gas pollution emitted in California. (Photo courtesy National Renewable Energy Laboratory) California ranks second in the nation - behind Texas - in overall emissions of CO2, the most common greenhouse gas. Most of California's emissions of CO2 comes from transportation and almost 40 percent is from passenger vehicles. In June, researchers from several California universities released a new study documenting that global warming could reduce the state's supplies of fresh drinking water, and make remaining supplies less predictable. Other experts warn of increased wildfire risk, added strain on the electric grid, and deterioration in air quality from the changing climate.
"You don't have to look far to see where California could be affected by global warming," Davis said. "From our seaside communities to our low lying agricultural land to the Tracy pumps that send fresh water south, we could be affected by a relatively small rise in sea level. The Department of Water Resources tells me that California's snowpack, our state's greatest natural reservoir, is already less reliable than it was just a few decades ago. We know the costs if we don't act."
"This legislation is based four-square on sound science," he added. "Global warming is no longer a theory. It's an urgent reality."
The bill won wide support from conservation groups and many of the state's business leaders. In June, a poll conducted by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California found that more than 80 percent of state residents support setting limits on CO2 pollution from vehicles.
"California business is happy to see AB 1493 signed," said Bob Epstein, co-founder of Sybase and the business group Environmental Entrepreneurs. "We believe that a healthy environment and a stable climate is in the best interest of all California businesses."
"Today California is leading the nation and the world and showing that we can address our environmental problems and keep our economy strong," added Sierra Club president Carl Pope. "We can and we must do this."
The bill had an uphill battle to overcome a well funded campaign by automakers who warned that enforcing the new law could require new vehicle or gasoline taxes, slower speed limits or restrictions on the number of miles consumers would be allowed to drive. The bill passed the state legislature by a single vote earlier this month after supporters presented evidence that most of those steps are beyond the power of the Air Resources Board (ARB) to enact, and none of the steps would be necessary to reduce CO2 emissions.
Governor Davis echoed those arguments today when signing the bill.
"Some of the technology to reduce carbon pollution is already in use today on vehicles you can buy from your local dealership," Davis said. "These technologies are as simple as smoother rolling tires and wheels, some as innovative as advanced transmissions or hybrid drives. The bill I've signed directs the ARB to consider the overall costs of these technologies. In any case, the ARB will be setting the standards, but the carmakers will decide what specific technologies to use."
Because California set its own limits on air pollution before the enactment of the federal Clean Air Act, the state is the only one in the nation to be allowed to set pollution rules overriding the federal law. California has the strictest air quality standards in the nation, and requires cleaner fuel than any other state.
Under a special provision of the Clean Air Act, any state is free to adopt California's strict emissions standards in place of weaker federal rules, and a number of states, including New York, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont, have followed in California's footsteps. These states, representing some of the nation's largest automobile markets, could force the auto industry to make nationwide changes in tailpipe emissions standards.
Even other nations took note of California's new law.
"This is a dramatic breakthrough," said Gerry Scott, director of the climate change campaign at Canada's Davis Suzuki Foundation. "This is the single biggest initiative on global warming ever taken in North America. And if California can do it, so can Canada."
Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler have already announced plans to produce low CO2 emissions, fuel efficient hybrid SUVs within the next few years. But a number of automakers have threatened to sue to block new mandatory CO2 emissions standards in California.
Speaking to the automakers who opposed California's newest emissions law, Davis said, "We Californians love our cars. "Don't change our cars. Just change the amount of harmful emissions that come from our cars."
Source: http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-22-06.asp
xoxox
Automakers say they will sue to block California bill restricting carbon dioxide emissions
July 23, 2002
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ U.S. automakers say they will sue California to block an anti-global warming law that restricts carbon dioxide emissions from cars.
California Gov. Gray Davis signed the measure Monday after it squeaked by the state Legislature despite a multimillion-dollar opposition campaign by carmakers and auto workers.
California already has the United States' most stringent standards for other vehicle pollutants. The new law sets emission standards for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that would apply to new passenger cars and light trucks beginning in 2009.
Before signing the measure on a hot, smoggy day along a park trail, Davis said the bill is the first in the United States designed to combat global warming. He said he believed other states and the federal government eventually would follow.
``We are going to set an example for the country,'' he said.
More than 2 million cars were sold in California last year, making it the United States' biggest auto market, so the law's effect on the auto industry was expected to be enormous.
The legislation does not affect large polluters like big tractor trailers or other commercial vehicles.
Opponents said the measure would increase the price of vehicles and reduce greenhouse gases globally by less than 1 percent.
The bill ``will reduce the freedom of choice'' by pricing sport utility vehicles, minivans and other models out of some consumers' range, said a statement from the American Highway Users Alliance, a Washington-based nonprofit group.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said it would challenge the law in federal court.
Supporters of the bill maintain that passenger cars and light trucks are responsible for 40 percent of California's carbon dioxide emissions. The gases form a heat-trapping blanket in the atmosphere that scientists fear could cause disruptions in farming and the snowpack that provides much of Southern California's water.
``This bill is an earthshaking event. This is going to start us on the fight against global warming,'' said David G. Hawkins of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
On the Net:
The bill can be read by typing in AB1493 at the Assembly Web site
Automakers' opposition arguments
California Air Resources Board
Source: http://www.planetsave.com/ViewStory.asp?ID=2798
7/23/02
5:16:09 PM
U T N E B U Z Z
News from Utne Reader, Utne Reader Online, and Cafe Utne
"If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. Interbeing is a word that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix inter with the verb to be, we have a new verb, inter-be."
Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk and author, Peace Is Every Step (Bantam Books, 1992)
FEATURED ARTICLE: Wind-Up Wonder
"In the Western world, we're so wired to cell phones, laptops, and disk players that the electronic din drowns out just about everything else," writes Andy Steiner.
In some parts of the world, a transistor radio can save lives. Steiner points out that rural Africans could get vital information on AIDS prevention from a radio report, but many have no access to electricity.
"A simple but effective answer to this problem is self-powered technology: flashlights, radios, cell phones, and even computers that use muscle and mechanical power instead of electrical input," she writes. "Thanks to recent advances in this technology, people the world over may soon be turning on even when they can't plug in."
Source: http://www.utne.com
7/23/02
5:13:56 PM
EPA says 28 percent of U.S. lakes have contaminated fish
Wednesday, June 28, 2002 By Reuters
WASHINGTON - More than one-fourth of the nation's lakes have advisories warning consumers that fresh-caught fish may be contaminated with mercury, dioxins, or other chemicals, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday.
The EPA said state regulators issued 2,618 fishing advisories or bans in 2001 because of contaminants.
Eating fish that contain high concentrations of mercury, dioxins, PCBs, and other industrial chemicals can be especially harmful to pregnant women and children, according to the EPA.
In 2001, the state advisories covered 28 percent of the nation's total lake acreage, up from 26 percent in 2000, the EPA said. Some 14 percent of U.S. rivers were covered by advisories in 2001, up from 10.5 percent in the previous year.
States that had the most fishing advisories include Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Nebraska, and New Jersey.
Some of the affected waterways include Lake Champlain, Florida's Sarasota Bay, Washington's Puget Sound, and the Potomac River which feeds into Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, the EPA said.
State regulators have several options when contaminated fish are found in a waterway or lake, depending on the chemical and amount. The states can ban eating all fish from a certain area, advise pregnant women to avoid eating a specific kind of fish, or urge consumers to eat smaller amounts of fish caught in a particular section of a waterway.
Details about state fishing advisories were posted by the EPA on its Internet site.
Source: http://www.OrganicConsumers.org/toxic/lakefish070502.cfm
7/23/02
5:11:26 PM
Even Pigs Can't Survive on GM Corn
June 27, 2002
Pig farmers are having major breeding problems from feeding their animals genetically-engineered corn. Despite 30 years of experience farming in Shelby County, Iowa, Jerry Rosman couldn't figure out why the birthrates of piglets fell 80 percent. He tested for diseases and made sure artificial insemination was working right, but he couldn't find the cause.
Then he found out that 4 other nearby farmers were having the same problem. These farmers had different kinds of pigs and used different breeding methods. But they all had one thing in common: They all fed their pigs the same GM corn.
Laboratory tests revealed the corn contained high levels of Fusarium mold. One farmer switched one of his groups of swine back to regular, non-GM corn, and those pigs no longer had a breeding problem. And the problem wasn't confined to that area. As soon as the news about his genetically-engineered corn problems got out, Rosman was swamped with phone calls from other desperate farmers. He says, "It hadn't even hit the mailboxes and the phone started ringing."
Norm Smith, who has a farm in Winterset, Iowa, says he experienced the same problem within a few weeks of feeding his pigs the new corn hybrids that he planted for the first time last spring. "I started feeding Bt corn in late September, and within 30 days I wasn't getting anything bred," Smith says.
Farmers are concerned that GM crops are being rushed to the market without proper testing. The EPA, which regulates Bt corn, requires no tests to determine how the crop affects the reproductive systems of the animals that eat it.
It's not that genetically-engineered food is necessarily bad. It's just that we may not find out the problems associated with it until it's taken over and contaminated or replaced "natural" crops. And by that time, it may be too late.
Find out what we can do to protect ourselves from the problems of GM food by reading "Eating in the Dark: America's Experiment with Genetically-Engineered Food" by Kathleen Hart, go at
http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1689
http://www.unknowncountry.com/store/?fid=7
Bt Corn Causes Breeding Problem in Pigs
http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/riddleonhogs.cfm
EXCELLENT ANTI-GMO RESOURCES AT
http://www.organicconsumers.org/log.html
See also:
Pesticide Giants Vow to Smash Quebec Ban on Toxics
http://www.OrganicConsumers.org/school/news/PesticideGiants.cfm
7/23/02
5:09:24 PM
DNA from Gene-Modified Crops Found in Human Gut
July 17, 2002
LONDON (Reuters) - Research commissioned by Britain's Food Standards Agency has shown that DNA material from genetically modified (GM) crops can find its way into human gut bacteria.
Researchers at the University of Newcastle in the north of England said in a report on Wednesday they gave seven volunteers, who had had their lower bowel removed, a single meal of a burger and milkshake containing gene-spliced soya.
Samples of intestinal bacteria were taken and for three of the seven, a herbicide-resistance gene from the GM soya was detected at a very low level.
Genetically modified material in most GM foods poses no risk to human health, but many GM crops have antibiotic-resistant marker genes inserted in them, raising concerns that the ability to fight infection could be compromised if such material passes to humans.
The researchers also cultured bacteria from samples taken before the GM meal was eaten, which also had low levels of the herbicide resistant gene.
They noted that it was "surprising" that so much of the GM soya DNA was present after the food passed through in the small intestine, given the digestive processes that occur in the stomach.
The researchers also fed the same meal to 12 other human volunteers whose stomachs were intact, but no GM material or bacteria containing herbicide-resistance genes were detected in their feces.
An FSA spokeswoman dismissed fears that human resistance to illness could be harmed.
"Because we're talking about such low levels of DNA, there's no evidence that this would affect antibiotic resistance, which is why the researchers concluded that the likelihood of DNA being taken up by bacteria in the human gut is extremely low," she said.
Environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth said the report's findings raised serious questions about the safety of GM crops.
"This report should set alarm bells ringing. Industry scientists and Government advisors have always played down the risk of this ever happening, but when scientists looked for it they found it," a spokesman for the group said.
"GM food should be withdrawn from the market and further research must be commissioned as a matter of urgency," it added.
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=healthnews&StoryID=1214957
Related stories at: http://www.rebfile.com/8%20archives.htm#health
WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW:
1. Tell the U.S. Congress to support labeling of genetically modified food:
http://www.truefoodnow.org/bin/takeaction.fpl?action_id=128
2. Write directly to your Senators and demand labeling of genetically modified food:
http://www.rebfile.com/senators
See also:
Powerful Insecticide From GM Corn Released into Soil http://www.rense.com/general27/powerfulinsecticide.htm
GM Crops May Contaminate Food Supply (16-Jul-2002)
http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1747
A group of consumer and environmental groups in the U.S. is asking the USDA to prohibit a new kind of GM crop that could contaminate our food supply. These are crops that are engineered to contain prescription drugs or industrial chemicals. The news crops are already planted in over 300 fields in secret locations throughout the U.S. They include plants that produce a chemical that can cause abortions, growth hormones, a chemical that induces blood clots and an enzyme that causes allergies in most people. The watchdog group, Genetically Engineered Food Alert, says, "Just one mistake by a biotech company and we'll be eating other people's prescription drugs in our corn flakes." Larry Bohlen, of Friends of the Earth, says, "The USDA should prohibit the planting of food crops engineered with drugs and chemicals to protect the food supply from contamination." USDA keeps all drug and chemical crop sites secret from the public and neighboring farmers and allows companies to plant the crops without identification or security measures. CLIP
To learn about Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), at
For more information, go at http://www.gefoodalert.org
Related Stories:
New Report Finds Genetically Engineered "Biopharming" Poses New Threats
http://www.gefoodalert.org/pages/home.cfm
Genetically Modified DNA Absorbed by our Bodies
http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1762
Stricter GM Food Labeling in Europe, But None Here
http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1759
What Makes GM Crops Dangerous?
http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1693
Many more GMOs articles at http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1747
7/23/02
5:06:34 PM
Will WorldCom Take The Internet Down?
July 22, 2002
Bankrupt WorldCom may take the internet down with it. The auction site eBay is already busy making contingency plans. "If the service ain't there, it ain't there. That's the bottom line," says eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove. "It doesn't matter why or how it happened. We just need contingency plans to take care of customers."
In case of a WorldCom crash, eBay has spread out its e-mails on different servers, and found backup providers for critical jobs. And it's not the only one: Around the world, companies are interviewing backup vendors and adding emergency clauses to business contracts. WorldCom owns MCI, the second largest long distance provider and UUNet, which carries most of the traffic on the internet.
"Although we do not expect any immediate cessation of WorldCom services, its financial straits along with the pending layoff of 28 percent of its work force will result in diminished service levels," says a recent report from the research firm Meta Group.
Wall Street is taking a hard look at communication companies such as Verizon and SBC. Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, thinks the industry is in a state of "utter crisis" and expects more bad news. This has prompted a sense of imminent disaster at companies that rely on Internet or cellphone connections.
"We know that the small providers are in trouble, but how much better off are the Sprints, Qwests and AT&Ts?" says Tom Jenkins, vice president of TeleChoice. "It's not a matter of switching from one to the other; it's a matter of protecting yourself from everyone. You can't predict anything anymore."
Things are bad in Europe as well. KPNQwest, a joint venture between Dutch carrier KPN and Denver-based Qwest, declared bankruptcy in May. The network once covered 18 countries, from Finland to Portugal. Bankruptcy court trustees have only a short time to find a buyer for the company, which carries one-fourth of its region's internet data. But most potential bidders, including AT&T, have backed out. KPNQwest international customers include Nokia, Dell Computer and National Semiconductor. Eric Paulak of Gartner Research says the fate of WorldCom customers is "not as dire [as KPNQwest]--yet."
According to estimates, E-commerce companies could lose from $1 million per hour to $1 million per minute if the net goes down. When Amazon.com suffered a series of disruptions during the Thanksgiving weekend in 2000, it's estimated that one 20-minute outage deleted 20,000 product orders and $500,000 in revenue. "Ask yourself, what are the consequences of being down for one hour, one day, one week?" says Janis L. Gogan, who teaches computer information services at Bentley College. "There really aren't many large companies in this country that would be OK if they were without internet access for a week."
Gogan thinks U.S. firms should copy the disaster plans devised in India, where there is an unreliable power grid. "If you don't already have a contingency plan, you should find one immediately," Gogan says. "It might help to get creative in where you look at how you pull it together."
Last week, a bulletin appeared on the KPNQwest site saying, "During this week you can already expect outages to happen that we cannot solve any more. At the end of this week we expect that larger parts of the network will be down." Will U.S. internet users see similar messages on their computer screens soon?
Source: http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1765
7/23/02
5:00:17 PM
Corporate Socialism
by Ralph Nader, Published on Thursday, July 18, 2002 in The Washington Post
The relentless expansion of corporate control over our political economy has proven nearly immune to daily reporting by the mainstream media. Corporate crime, fraud and abuse have become like the weather; everyone is talking about the storm but no one seems able to do anything about it. This is largely because expected accountability mechanisms --including boards of directors, outside accounting and law firms, bankers and brokers, state and federal regulatory agencies and legislatures -- are inert or complicit.
When, year after year, the established corporate watchdogs receive their profits or compensation directly or indirectly from the companies they are supposed to be watching, independent judgment fails, corruption increases and conflicts of interest grow among major CEOs and their cliques. Over time, these institutions, unwilling to reform themselves, strive to transfer the costs of their misdeeds and recklessness onto the larger citizenry. In so doing, big business is in the process of destroying the very capitalism that has provided it with a formidable ideological cover.
Consider the following assumptions of a capitalistic system:
1) Owners are supposed to control what they own. For a century, big business has split ownership (shareholders) from control, which is in the hands of the officers of the corporation and its rubber-stamp board of directors. Investors have been disenfranchised and told to sell their shares if they don't like the way management is running their business. Nowadays, with crooked accounting, inflated profits and self-dealing, it has proven difficult for even large investors to know the truth about their officious managers.
2) Under capitalism, businesses are supposed to sink or swim, which is still very true for small business. But larger industries and companies often have become "too big to fail" and demand that Uncle Sam serve as their all-purpose protector, providing a variety of public guarantees and emergency bailouts. Yes, some wildly looted companies that are expendable, such as Enron, cannot avail themselves of governmental salvation and do go bankrupt or are bought. By and large, however, in industry after industry where two or three companies dominate or presage a domino effect, Washington becomes their backstop.
3) Capitalism is supposed to exhibit a consensual freedom of contract -- a distinct advance over a feudal society. Yet the great majority of contracts for credit, insurance, software, housing, health, employment, products, repairs and other services are standard-form, printed contracts, presented on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Going across the proverbial street to a competitor gets you the same contract. Every decade, these "contracts of adhesion," as the lawyers call them, become more intrusive and more insistent on taking away the buyers' constitutional rights to access to courts in favor of binding arbitration or stipulate outright surrender of basic rights and remedies. The courts are of little help in invalidating these impositions by what are essentially private corporate legislatures regulating millions of Americans.
4) Capitalism requires a framework of law and order: The rules of the economic game are to be conceived and enforced on the merits against mayhem, fraud, deception and predatory practices. Easily the most powerful influence over most government departments and agencies are the industries that receive the privileges and immunities, regulatory passes, exemptions, deductions and varied escapes from responsibility that regularly fill the business pages. Only those caught in positions of extreme dereliction ever have reason to expect more than a slap on the wrist for violating legal mandates.
5) Capitalist enterprises are expected to compete on an even playing field. Corporate lobbyists, starting with their abundant cash for political campaigns, have developed a "corporate state" where government lavishes subsidies, inflated contracts, guarantees and research and development and natural resources giveaways on big business -- while denying comparable benefits to individuals and family businesses. We have a government of big business, by big business and for big business, even if more of these businesses are nominally moving their state charters to Bermuda-like tax escapes.
"Corporate socialism" -- the privatization of profit and the socialization of risks and misconduct -- is displacing capitalist canons. This condition prevents an adaptable capitalism, served by equal justice under law, from delivering higher standards of living and enlarging its absorptive capacity for broader community and environmental values. Civic and political movements must call for a decent separation of corporation and state.
In 1938, in the midst of the Great Depression, Congress created the Temporary National Economic Committee to hold hearings around the country, recommend ways to deal with the concentration of economic power and promote a more just economy. World War II stopped this corporate reform momentum. We should not have to wait for a further deterioration from today's gross inequalities of wealth and income to launch a similar commission on the rampant corporatization of our country. At stake is whether civic values of our democratic society will prevail over invasive commercial values.
Ralph Nader is the founder of Public Citizen, Citizen Works, Essential.org and many other consumer organizations.
http://www.PublicCitizen.org http://www.CitizenWorks.org http://www.Essential.org
7/23/02
4:50:50 PM
Bankruptcy at WorldCom Is the Largest in U.S. History
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.23B.world.largest.htm
Cheerleader ot the Free World - funny new animation with sound
http://www.toostupidtobepresident.com
A Liability on the GOP Balance Sheet?
Halliburton Probe Is Growing Worry for Bush, Hill Republicans - "Cheney's silence is deafening," a senior House Republican aide said. "If there's been one thing that should have been learned from the Clinton era, it was that these things have to be dealt with immediately, forthrightly and completely, and failure to do so gives the appearance that there really is something there. It only intensifies the political agony for all of us."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.22C.halli.probe.htm
'Corporate Socialism' by Ralph Nader
The relentless expansion of corporate control over our political economy has proven nearly immune to daily reporting by the mainstream media. Corporate crime, fraud and abuse have become like the weather; everyone is talking about the storm but no one seems able to do anything about it. This is largely because expected accountability mechanisms -- including boards of directors, outside accounting and law firms, bankers and brokers, state and federal regulatory agencies and legislatures -- are inert or complicit. CLIP
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0718-02.htm
On the Edge of a Precipice
The US Stock Market Collapse Could Trigger the Biggest Global Recession Since the 1930s
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4462175,00.html
WHO IS DICK CHENEY?
In-depth look at Dick Cheney - Since he and Bush arrived at the White House, Cheney has managed to accomplish quite a bit. He's met with the heads of oil, gas, and nuclear power companies, assembled their "wish lists," and turned them into a new national Energy Plan. Cheney's close relations with folks like Ken Lay of Enron have made this one of the most corporation-friendly administrations in history. READ THIS LENGHTY AND EXCELLENT REPORT AT THE URL ABOVE.
http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin/bulletin1.html
Cheney's Mess Worth a Close Look
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0610-03.htm
Video: Cheney Sings the Praises of Anderson
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.13B.cheney.ander.vid.htm
Secrecy Surrounds Bush Stock Deal
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.13C.bush.stock.htm
Bush has not "ever done an honest day's work in his life"
http://www.nypress.com/15/29/news&columns/beans.cfm
David Corn | Bush and the Billionaire: How Insider Capitalism Benefited W.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.20E.corn.insider.htm
Undercover Brothers: The Anti-Reformers Blend In
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.13F.arianna.blend.htm
SEND THE BASTARDS TO JAIL!
Arianna Huffington, AlterNet
Unlike the majority of nonviolent drug cases, corporate wrongdoers rarely do any time behind bars.
*In DrugReporter: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=17
Corporate scandals: Latest news and analysis
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/business/2002/scandals/
Files: Bush Knew Firm's Plight Before Stock Sale (July 21)
As a businessman in 1990, George W. Bush was deluged with confidential information about the financial plight of a Texas oil company before he sold the majority of his holdings and triggered a federal investigation, according to Securities and Exchange Commission records. President Bush has refused to authorize the SEC to open the full file on his investigation, but selected documents have been released under the Freedom of Information Act. The president's business dealings have come under more scrutiny as he tries to restore confidence in markets hurt by business scandals. Nearly half of 1,004 respondents in a Newsweek poll released yesterday said they thought Bush took advantage of the system for personal gain with the 1990 stock sale. CLIP
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0721-02.htm
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast - A book review by Julian Creme
Investigative reporter Palast reveals how Republicans stole the 2000 US Presidential race in Florida, World Bank and IMF manipulations to ensure debt payments, corporate fraud and more.
http://simedia.org/new/jc_best-democracy.html
Renaissance of the Brandt Reports
Twenty years ago the Brandt Commission, headed by former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, proposed measures to reduce the vast economic disparity between the developed and developing worlds. Those recommendations, published as North-South: A Program for Survival, were never implemented, and now the majority of the world's economies are in "critical condition". Daily existence for vast numbers of the world's citizens is intolerable and growing worse. The resulting chaos has fueled age-old tensions, inspired virulent acts of terrorism, and ignited new wars around the globe. Because it is even more urgently needed now than it was 20 years ago, Brandt's economic plan has been updated, and is being re-introduced by James Bernard Quilligan, former head of Brandt Commission Research, Inc. His report, 'The Brandt Equation: 21st Century Blueprint for the New Global Economy' may be read and downloaded in its entirety at
7/23/02
4:46:41 PM
SciTech Daily Review
Apollo 11's one small step was a long time ago, but we may be walking on the Moon again in the not-too-distant future
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/moonbase_return_020718.html
A rash of kisses: In some people with food allergies, a smooch can trigger hives and more
http://www.sciencenews.org/20020720/bob9.asp
Corsican chicks grow up in bug-repellant nests scented with lavender, yarrow and mint -- and adult birds can even smell when it's time for a change of greenery
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020715/020715-14.html
Our first steps into the global village came 150 years ago, in the first efforts to draw A Thread Across the Ocean
http://www.americanheritage.com/AMHER/2002/03/business.shtml
There is a lot to consider if we are to tread the line between ecotourism and exploitation of remote regions
http://www.ourplanet.com/imgversn/131/lama.html
The aquaculture industry is serving up farmed salmon in huge numbers. Unfortunately, this cultivated catch lacks the nutritional value of wild salmon, and fish farming is an ecological nightmare
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13646
7/23/02
4:44:05 PM
"Before you can do something that you've never done, you have to be able to imagine it is possible."
Jean Shinoda Bolen
7/23/02
4:42:40 PM
Bush-Hitler Parallels
1) The republican party and Bush almost mirror the propaganda methods used by Hitler in old nazi germany. The republicans are calling this fight against terrorism a war, this is propaganda. It is not a war, congress has to declare war and they have not done that. It is propaganda to call a fight against terrorism a war. Hitler on Propaganda - From chapter 6 of Mein Kampf: The function of propaganda does not lie in the scientific training of the individual, but in calling the masses' attention to certain facts, processes, necessities, etc., whose significance is thus for the first time placed within their field of vision. All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be. But if, as in propaganda for sticking out a war, the aim is to influence a whole people, we must avoid excessive intellectual demands on our public, and too much caution cannot be extended in this direction.
http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/document/DocPropa.htm
2) Hitler was born in Austria, he called it "the homeland" and Bush calls america the homeland, Bush uses the term "homeland" quite a bit and named the new security agency "The department of homeland security" frankly it makes me cringe when I hear homeland instead of american or country. I would prefer "The department of american security" and Bush could say "the country" instead of the homeland. My 78 year old father fought hitler and the nazis, he even stole a nazi flag from hitlers house. He hates the term "homeland" when referring to anything american. Bush Administration's Homeland Security Freudian Slip If the President's newly created Office of Homeland Security sounds to you a bit reminiscent of propaganda from Nazi Germany, you're not alone in that suspicion. According to the Washington Times (one of President Bush's strongest defenders among U.S. newspapers), Texas Homeland Security chief David Dewhurst claims it was an error when an ad he commissioned in support of the Office of Homeland Security featured a Luftwaffe officer.
http://www.baltech.org/lederman/bush-homeland-security-10-30-01.html
3) Hitler created a police force to control the people, it was called the "Gestapo." Bush wants to implement the TIPS program that would be similar to the "Gestapo." He wants a million americans to sign up to spy on other americans. We can't process the intelligence we get now let alone process the reports from a million american spies who have no training in spying on people. HOMELAND SECURITY...HOMEGROWN NAZIS In the late 1930's, cognizant of the treachery that had ensconced him in power, Hitler decided he needed a police force to keep a watchful eye on the citizenry. He named this group the "Geheime Staatspolezei." The literal translation is "Home Nation Police." A near approximation would be "Office of Homeland Security." But the group is known throughout the world by its more sinister appellation: "Gestapo."...Was that a knock on the door?
http://www.geocities.com/northstarzone/HSECURITY.html
4) Hitler used the military against the citizens and Bush wants to do it to. The Bush administration has directed lawyers in the Departments of Justice and Defense to review the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 and any other laws that sharply restrict the military's ability to participate in domestic law enforcement. Military leaders oppose Bush and support the restrictions because their troops were not specifically trained in those roles, and they worried that domestic tasks could lead to serious political problems. This is really scary, the military is trained to kill people not be policeman. More Here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/21/politics/21PENT.html
5) Bush said he would like to be a dictator because it would sure make things easier. Hitler said about the same thing, then he became a dictator. Since the sole difference between a dictatorship and a democracy is that the leaders are popularly elected by the masses of people rather than by seizing office by force, being appointed by an elite or by assuming power via a fixed election there can be no other way to describe the Bush administration than as a dictatorship. GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I told all four that there were going to be some times where we don't agree with each other. But that's OK. If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator.
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0012/18/nd.01.html
6) Bush and asskkkroft have suspended the constitution here in america. Hitler did the same thing in 1933 when he brought the nazi party to power. We have an american citizen in jail right now who has been refused his due process and not allowed to see an attorney. He is called an enemy combantant to get around the constitution even though we are not at war. Adolf Hitler - 1889-1945 - German Dictator In 1932 Hitler was unsuccessful in the presidential elections against Hindenburg, but Hitler became chancellor in 1933. He then suspended the constitution and brought his Nazi Party to power.
http://www.absolutefacts.com/data/hitler.htm
7) Bush's family has ties to nazi germany. It all started with Prescott Bush, George W. Bush's grandfather. In 1918 it is said that he robbed the grave and stole the skull of the Native American warrior Geronimo as part of an initiation into Yale's Skull and Bones Society. The Skull and Bones society has been important to the Bush Family. George Bush Sr. and George W. Bush were also members of this secret society. Prescott Bush got into a little bit of trouble back in the 1940s. While American soldiers were fighting the Nazis in WWII, three of Prescott Bush's companies were seized under the Trading with the Enemy Act because they were selling fuel to and laundering money for the Nazis.
http://www.hereinreality.com/familyvalues.html
8) According to former U.S. Justice Dept. Nazi War Crimes Prosecutor John Loftus — who is today the director of the Florida Holocaust Museum — "The Bush family fortune came from the Third Reich,"according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Along with the Rockefellers, DuPonts, General Motors and Henry Ford, banks and shipping companies operated by the Bush family were crucial players in setting up the industrial power behind the Third Reich. These companies poured hundreds of millions of dollars into IG Farben and provided it with technology for tactically essential synthetic materials — while withholding the same materials and patents from the U.S. government. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, IG Farben built and operated more than 40 concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe, including Auschwitz. At their slave labor/factory/death camps chemicals, weapons, drugs, synthetic fuels and other materials vital to the Nazi war effort were manufactured. That the Bush wealth and prominence in American politics is derived from Prescott Bush and George Herbert Walker’s support of Hitler is a historical fact. To offset their reputation as WWII traitors former President Bush joined the US airforce after the US Congress seized his father's banking assets in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act.
http://www.citypaper.net/articles/011801/sl.slant.shtml
9) What conservatives don't yet fully realize is that the Bush family - including GW - are neither genuine Republicans nor are they genuine conservatives. What they are is genuine corporate-fascists. The minimally qualified GW Bush is a man whose entire career is based solely on his father being George Bush and all the helping hands that connection brought into play. The four US Supreme Court justices who gave Bush the presidency were either appointed by his father, had sons working for law firms representing GW in the contested election lawsuits or had publicly stated that they had a strong personal commitment to making sure Gore never became President. Justice Scalia said he'd resign if Gore became President. Justice O'Conner said she could not retire if Gore became President because a liberal Justice would replace her. Both Justices Rhenquist and Scalia have sons working for Bush law firms involved in the election. Justice Thomas' wife works for both the far right Heritage Foundation and the Bush transition team. These Justice's flawed and highly partisan ruling trashed the entire idea of States rights - the very same conservative ideology they have so vigorously defended-not to mention the rule of law, equal protection and the idea of judicial impartiality and restraint. All hail our new American Furhrer, GW Bush and the real President of the United States, Mr. Dick Cheney. They are the best fascists money can buy.
More Here: http://www.konformist.com/2000/bush-dictator.htm
http://www.konformist.com/2000/bush-dictator.htm
"If the American people knew what we did, they would chase us down the street and lynch us." --George Herbert Walker Bush, 1992
"I am NOT a Crook!" --George W. Bush, 2002
7/23/02
4:31:47 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
CALIFORNIA LAW WILL LIMIT CO2 EMISSIONS FROM CARS
SACRAMENTO, California, July 22, 2002 (ENS) - California today became the first state in the nation to regulate emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from motor vehicles. Governor Gray Davis signed legislation ordering the state's air quality board to develop statewide standards for tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide, beginning in model year 2009.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-22-06.asp
REFINERY RULING = LESS DIOXIN IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY
SAN FRANCISCO, California, July 22, 2002 (ENS) - A decision that is expected to result in stricter discharge limits for dioxins and other pollutants that impair many California waterways was handed down by the San Francisco Superior Court on Friday.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-22-02.asp
ORGANIC FOODS IGNORED, EUROPEAN CONSUMERS FUME
BRUSSELS, Belgium, July 22, 2002 (ENS) - The Association of European Consumers wants more organic food on the government's plate, but apparently the European Commission is not hearing the call to dinner.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-22-01.asp
TASMANIAN LOGGING YIELDS WORLD RECORD GREEN VOTE
By Bob Burton
CANBERRA, Australia, July 22, 2002 (ENS) - Environmentalists are celebrating the election of four members of the Tasmanian Greens to state parliament in the election held on Saturday. They view the victory as an important milestone in the campaign to protect old growth and wilderness forests.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-22-03.asp
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JULY 22, 2002
DUCKS UNLIMITED CORPS AGREE TO CONSERVE HABITAT
NEW JERSEY WETLANDS GET WIDER BUFFERS
PETITION OPPOSES LANDFILLING OF ARSENIC TREATED WOOD
FEDERAL AGENCIES TO FUND FOREST RESTORATION
OIL SPILL FUNDS PROTECT OREGON MARINE WILDLIFE
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH HELPS PREDICT CLIMATE CHANGE
HIGHWAY PROJECT COULD HARM GREAT SMOKIES
BLANK FOUNDATION SUPPORTS ATLANTA GREENPEACE
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-22-09.asp
7/22/02
9:56:29 PM
AlterNet Headlines
FISH FUTURES
Bud Hazelkorn, East Bay Monthly
The multibillion-dollar aquaculture industry is serving up farmed salmon in huge numbers. The bad news is that this cultivated catch lacks the nutritional value of wild salmon, and fish farming poses an ecological nightmare to the oceans.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13646
HOW TO WIN THE WAR ON TERRORISM
Ted Rall, AlterNet
Islamists don't want to impose Islam on America; they want to make Muslim countries more radically Muslim. They also want us to stop messing with them.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13638
PHIL DONAHUE'S LIBERAL OASIS
Eric Boehlert, Salon
The talk show pioneer's new MSNBC show brings a little decency and tolerance into the rabidly right-wing jungle of cable TV.
*In MediaCulture: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=19
THE VIRTUES OF PROMISCUITY
Sally Lehrman, AlterNet
The latest anthropological research shows that female infidelity is good for the family, the community, and even the gene pool.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13648
IF SNUFFLEUPAGUS HAD HIV
Genevieve Roja, AlterNet
Sesame Street is trying hard to teach kids another valuable lesson, by taking the radical step of introducing an HIV-positive Muppet to "Takalani Sesame," the South African version of the American television program.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13637
SEND THE BASTARDS TO JAIL!
Arianna Huffington, AlterNet
Unlike the majority of nonviolent drug cases, corporate wrongdoers rarely do any time behind bars.
*In DrugReporter: http://www.alternet.org/?IssueAreaID=17
JUST ONE FEMALE NBA REFEREE LEFT
Russell Menyhart, AlterNet
Dee Kantner's firing from the NBA is a prime example of how technical hiring changes are not sufficient to overcome decades of misogyny in sports.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13647
CLINTON: PARDON ME, AFRICA
David Corn, AlterNet
Clinton wonders why the West stood by and did little as the AIDS crisis in Africa exploded. He could start by answering why his administration didn't respond in the first place.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13632
HOLLYWOOD VS. THE INTERNET
Mike Godwin, Reason
If you have a fast computer and a fast Internet connection, you make Hollywood nervous. They're afraid you'll bypass the box office, leaving them empty handed.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13651
7/22/02
9:52:46 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Californian emissions bill - a new global warming fight - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16967/story.htm
UK faces battle to meet 2010 CO2 emissions cut - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16966/story.htm
British oak trees could face plague - paper - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16974/story.htm
FEATURE - Is a "sixth" extinction looming? - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16971/story.htm
Philippine police detain five Greenpeace activists - PHILIPPINES http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16969/story.htm
Belgium eyes slaughter of pigs due hormone scare - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16972/story.htm
Earth Summit failure could imperil trade talks - EU - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16970/story.htm
EU to strive to make Earth Summit a success - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16973/story.htm
Giant hailstones kill 15 in central China - TV - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16975/story.htm
China migrants held for Three Gorges protest - group - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16979/story.htm
"Mad" Brazilian coffee farmer has last laugh - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16978/story.htm
Greenpeace protests nuclear ships off Australia - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16968/story.htm
Giant squid washes up on Australian beach - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16976/story.htm
Australian farmers look to dry skies as crops die - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16977/story.htm
7/22/02
9:50:39 PM
The Other Shoe
by Stephanie Donald
Many have stood in wonderment of unfolding debacle the United States has turned into. In the 1960's everyone yelled loudly at the infractions of Constitutional law heaped upon the protesting masses by our government. At the time everyone thought these were enormous fauxpaus and yelled even louder. The heinous crimes of J. Edgar Hoover and Nixon are now small potatoes.
This nation has reached a new low in Constitutional Rights as we all sit in amazement that so many people could be cheering the death of what was once the greatest nation on earth. Once this nation stood for justice, compassion and freedom. Now it stands for paranoia, greed and avarice. Our national monument of free election is stolen from everyone and the average man says, "Get over it". Our President provokes a foreign power into attacking this nation, gets forewarning that the death toll will be high and does nothing. The people yell, "That's impossible!" All because it's unthinkable that anyone would allow that to happen, therefore it can't be true.
The President installs a man as Attorney General who is so misogynistic that he can't stand to view the site of a statue of the mighty female, Justice, and covers it with a curtain of black all because one of her breasts is exposed to convey that Justice is vulnerable. How much more metaphoric can it get before even the common stupid man in the street wakes up and says, "Gee, Justice is whatever they say it is. Not what we say it is." So much for "We. the People..."
This same Attorney General institutes a program that will turn father against son, mother against daughter and neighbor against neighbor. A program so heinously un-Constitutional that even the Conservative politicians in our Congress gasp at the revelation of dying freedom. The average man cheers and lusts after it to substitute for the sexuality that makes them so uncomfortable in the midst of the human race.
During the darkest days of Nazi Germany a small band of people with common sense formed an underground network known as The German Resistance. They new that Germany was headed down an evil road that would surely tear it apart in the end. In order to combat this resistance Hitler turned to the best bet he had for loyalty; the youth of Germany. The Hitler Youth were pounded every minute with loyalty to "The Fatherland" and told that anyone who did or said anything contrary to Hitler's vision of what Germany should be was a traitor and should be turned into the Gestapo for punishment. Even when the Gestapo performed instant executions the Hitler Youth cheered and so did everyone else unless they tempted fate. At it's peak, 68% of the population were Nazi Party members and loyal to the cause of Hitler and Germany.
In the U.S. today, 67% of Americans are Republicans and claim a conservative bent, swearing their loyalties to the political party that puts corporations ahead of people and war ahead of peace for the good of the economy. These people also proclaim that anyone who disagrees with the President is being treasonous and deserves punishment.
Over 600 immigrants who came to this country searching for the nation that would keep them as one of their own have been jailed since September 11, 2001 without charges being filed, without benefit of legal counsel, without hearing by a legal court. They remain imprisoned without just cause. One of the founding fathers of this once great nation, Benjamin Franklin, said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Never truer or more pertinent words have been spoken since. So profound are these words that they are inscribed on a plaque at The Statue of Liberty.
Another plaque also stands at the statue. Words uttered by one of the great statesmen of this nation, Abraham Lincoln. His words ring like the Liberty Bell when he said, "Our defense is in the spirit which prized liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism at your own doors."
Never has this nation seen the likes of despotism...until now.
7/22/02
9:39:47 PM
t r u t h o u t | 07.23
William Rivers Pitt | The Lady and the Snake
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.23A.wrp.lady.htm
Bankruptcy at WorldCom Is the Largest in U.S. History
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.23B.world.largest.htm
Bush Administration to Withhold $34M in UN Family Planning Funds
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.23C.bush.pln.fnd.htm
President Doesn't Have Absolute Military Authority Over Americans
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.23D.mil.auth.htm
Calif. Gov. Davis to Sign Law On Pollution That May Affect All U.S. Drivers
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.23E.davis.sign.htm
Iran Blew Up Jewish Center in Argentina, Defector Says
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.23F.iran.argen.htm
Greenpeace in High - Sea Protest Against Nuclear Ship
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/07.23G.grnP.hi.sea.htm
7/22/02
9:37:21 PM
Public Citize
July 22, 2002
Government Agencies Withheld Relevant Research >From Congress During Farm Bill Debate
Research Confirms That Consumers Reject "Pasteurization" Label for Irradiated Food
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The two federal agencies responsible for food regulation may have intentionally withheld from lawmakers critical consumer research that is compellingly contrary to several provisions in the recently passed farm bill about the labeling of irradiated food, Public Citizen has learned.
On May 8, Congress passed the farm bill, which included several industry provisions that weakened the labeling of irradiated food and opened the door for manufacturers to mislabel it as "pasteurized." Yet research commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - and withheld from lawmakers while they were crafting the bill - shows that consumers do not want irradiated food termed "pasteurized."
"It is outrageous that government agencies responsible for public health and the safety of the food supply would withhold information so relevant to a law before it was passed," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "This is a glaring omission at best and deceptive at worse. We suspect that the agencies held onto the research because they didn't like the results. The lawmakers may not have put these harmful provisions in the law had they seen this research."
The provisions were slipped into the bill as a "technical amendment" late in the process by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who took $192,138 in agribusiness PAC contributions in the last two election cycles (1999-2000 and 2001-2002).
Since 2001, the USDA and the FDA have each commissioned research into consumers' opinions on labeling. In the FY 2002 Agriculture-FDA Appropriations bill, Congress instructed the FDA to report by Feb. 1, 2002, the findings from its consumer focus groups and how the agency planned to implement the findings. Although the FDA conducted the research in 2001, it didn't provide Congress with the information until last Thursday, July 18, more than five months after the original deadline.
The FDA research involved six focus groups composed of seven to 10 consumers each. They unanimously rejected "pasteurization" as a replacement for "irradiation," using phrases such as "sneaky," "deceptive," and "trying to fool us" to describe such an attempt to change terminology. "Most of the participants viewed alternate terms such as 'cold pasteurization' and 'electronic pasteurization' as misleading," the report said. "Everyone agreed that irradiated foods should be labeled honestly. They indicated that the current FDA-required statement is a straightforward way for labeling irradiated foods."
Additionally, Public Citizen recently obtained portions of the USDA's report on consumer attitudes on labeling, after requesting information about the focus group results under the Freedom of Information Act in early April. The report, which was compiled by an outside consulting firm, is dated March 22, 2002, yet the USDA apparently has never released the report to the public or lawmakers (a congressional source involved in the writing of the farm bill said she never knew of it). The report found that consumers "consider it misleading to label irradiated meat and poultry products as 'pasteurized.' "
The focus groups rejected the euphemism because they "consider irradiation and pasteurization to be two different processes," the report said. The USDA consumer research was conducted in six focus group sessions, composed of household grocery shoppers and "food preparers." Between the FDA and USDA focus groups, consumers were queried in six different cities representing all regions of the country.
"When you are creating rules that directly affect consumers, it's vital that consumers be heard," said Hauter. "We find it hard to believe that USDA didn't know Congress was debating the very issue their new report addressed - it was even in The New York Times. Why would these agencies bother to ask consumers what they think if they aren't going to inform decision-makers about the results?"
"When government agencies consistently find that consumers reject the use of 'pasteurization' to describe irradiation, government policies should reflect that," said Tony Corbo, legislative representative for Public Citizen. "Consumers have repeatedly denounced this terminology, and for the government to ignore its own research is utter hypocrisy.
"What's even more alarming about USDA's failure to publicize this research is how far they've gone to keep it from getting out," Corbo added. "At a June 5 meeting of the USDA's Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection, Undersecretary for Food Safety Elsa Murano denied that this research had ever been conducted. Meanwhile the report had been done since March."
Irradiation uses gamma rays, X-rays or accelerated electrons that alter the molecular structure of food in an attempt to kill pathogens and insects. The process destroys nutrients, may change the taste, smell and appearance of food, and produces new chemical compounds, some of which have been found to promote cancer and cause genetic and cellular damage in rats and human cells. Irradiation is a distinct process that is very different from pasteurization, which uses rapid heating and cooling to partially sterilize liquid products, namely milk.
Public Citizen is a national consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit: http://www.Citizen.org
7/22/02
9:35:10 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
THE RAINLESS MAKER
From 1970 to 1985, a wide swath of Africa lay under the siege of a brutal drought that ultimately left 1.2 million dead. Now, a group of scientists from Australia and Canada says the deadly drought may have been caused in part by pollution from factories and power plants in North America, Europe, and Asia. In a process known as teleconnection, tiny aerosols -- in this case, particles of sulfur dioxide -- from those sources altered the formation of clouds and reduced rainfall in Africa by as much as 50 percent, the scientists say. Although environmental regulation of aerosols became much stricter in the 1990s, teleconnection continues today, and some suggest it might account for the drought currently gripping much of the United States. The African drought has also been attributed to other factors ranging from El Nino to overgrazing, and the authors of the current study acknowledge that teleconnection was probably just one of a combination of factors leading to the lack of rain.
straight to the source: Seattle Times, Associated Press, Joseph B. Verrengia, 22 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=278>
do good: Take action to pass the Clean Power Act in the U.S. <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/climate.asp?source=daily#power>
BIRD SLAW
Compared to traditional energy sources (coal, oil, natural gas), wind energy seems like an environmentalist's dream come true: It doesn't pollute the air, land, or water, and it's infinitely renewable. Indeed, wind energy has a reputation as being one of the greenest energy sources out there. So why are environmentalists trying to put a stop to the construction of 47 giant windmills in Pennsylvania's Moosic Mountain Ridge? First, because wind farms take up a lot of space and often are located in otherwise unspoiled natural areas, and second, because the wind turbines themselves have a reputation for being avian Cuisinarts. The environmental organization R.E.S.C.U.E. is challenging the state-issued permit for the wind farms, and Sierra Club members are urging caution about the project. But other environmentalists think the resistance is just an example of "Not In My Backyard" thinking, and support the clean energy source. Such tension could become more common in Pennsylvania and other mid-Atlantic states, which used to be seen as insufficiently windy for wind farms. As windmill technology improves, however, and as people become more concerned about air quality, wind power is making inroads into new territory.
straight to the source: Philadelphia Inquirer, Tom Avril, 19 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=279>
only in Grist: There's something in the wind -- farmers are reaping rewards from wind energy -- by Lester Brown in our opinions column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/imho/imho082100.stm?source=daily>
only in Grist: Birds of a feather don't always stick together --wind power is dividing enviros and spurring some odd alliances -- in our Main Dish section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/maindish/asmus011000.stm?source=daily>
EX-SITING
The U.S. EPA has restored Superfund monies to clean up 11 toxic sites, despite having told local officials at the sites that they would not receive any money this year. But only four of the sites will get the full amount requested by the officials. Last month, a report by the agency's inspector general listed 33 sites in 18 states that would not receive requested funds; with the recent shift, that number has dropped to 22. Of the remaining sites, the agency said five do not need funding this year and a handful of other sites might receive money this summer, while many others most likely will not. The announcement of the restored monies comes at a time when the EPA is under fire for making cuts to the Superfund program. (Last week, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman defended the management of the program in an op-ed in the New York Times.) Congress is still trying to decide how much money to allocate for Superfund next year, and whether to reinstate a tax on industry to provide more steady funding for the cleanups.
straight to the source: New York Times, John H. Cushman, Jr., 22 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=280>
only in Grist: The fund formerly known as the Superfund -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha071502.asp?source=daily>
do good: Take action to stand up for Superfund <http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/toxic.asp?source=daily#superfund>
JEAN NE SAIS QUOI
For months, Canada has been a question mark on the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, half-inclined to follow the cue of its stubborn southern neighbor and ignore the treaty, half-inclined to jump on board with the other industrialized nations of the world. Now, it appears that Prime Minister Jean Chretien is prepared to push forward with ratification -- but with a critical caveat, according to a senior Cabinet minister. Chretien wants Canada to be able to count sales of natural gas and hydro-electricity to the U.S. as part of its emissions reduction effort, effectively cutting the nation's reduction burden by as much as 30 percent. The Cabinet minister acknowledged, however, that Europeans are likely to resist efforts to revise Kyoto this late in the game. Chretien, who generally favors the treaty, has faced heavy resistance from industry.
straight to the source: Toronto National Post, Robert Fife, 22 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=281>
only in Grist: This just in -- the latest climate change news -- in our Heat Beat section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/heatbeat/thisjustin071802.asp?source=daily>
THINKING INSIDE THE BOX
Packaging for food products is a $12 billion industry dominated by variations on paper and plastic foam products. For 10 years, the company EarthShell has been trying to green the industry and get a lucrative piece of the pie. In place of Styrofoam containers or cardboard egg cartons, EarthShell sells products made of a mixture of limestone, sand, and starch from plants like corn and potatoes. The products decompose in a matter of weeks and take up negligible space in landfills. Enviros love the idea and the company has even designed packaging for McDonald's, but EarthShell is facing an uphill battle. "Efforts to distinguish products by environmental packaging have been kind of a bust," said J. Winston Porter, president of the Waste Policy Center, an environmental management research center, who noted that consumers generally care far more about what's in a package than about the package itself. So far, the company has sunk $270 million and more than a decade of work into trying to carve its own niche, but things continue to look bleak in the green-packaging industry.
straight to the source: New York Times, Barnaby J. Feder, 21 Jul 2002 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=282>
7/22/02
9:20:21 PM
BIDEN BACKS LETTING SOLDIERS ARREST CIVILIANS
by Joyce Howard Price THE WASHINGTON TIMES July 22, 2002
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat, yesterday strongly endorsed giving soldiers the power to arrest American civilians.
Interviewed yesterday on "Fox News Sunday," Mr. Biden, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prevents the military from exercising police powers in this country, should be re-examined and "has to be amended."
Such a change will happen soon, he said.
However, Tom Ridge, director of the Office of Homeland Security, said in several appearances on political talk shows yesterday that the Biden proposal should be considered but that he thinks it's "very unlikely" such a change will be made.
The Biden proposal and the Ridge "knockdown" ó not necessarily a "knockout" ó may have been coordinated and calculated to measure public reaction. Mr. Ridge grew more emphatic later in the day in his view that military authorities should not have such powers of arrest over civilians.
Mr. Biden said that "we're not talking about general police power, changing the idea that you would have your local National Guard with arrest power like your local policeman."
But "it's not very realistic" that, under the current law, soldiers with knowledge of weapons of mass destruction, who might be checking out the discovery of a terrorist weapon in the United States, would "not be able to exercise the same power a police officer would in dealing with that situation."
"Right now, when you call in the military, the military would not be able to shoot to kill, if they were approaching the weapon," nor could they arrest any suspects. Mr. Biden is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Air Force Gen. Ralph E. Eberhardt, President Bush's choice to lead the military's new Northern Command, told the New York Times that he favors changes in existing law to give increased domestic powers to the military to protect the nation against terrorist attacks.
"We should always be reviewing things like Posse Comitatus and other laws if we think it ties our hands in protecting the American people," said Gen. Eberhardt, whose command's primary goal is domestic security, in a dispatch published yesterday in the newspaper.
The New York Times reported that the general's opinion is shared by other senior military officials and represents a "shift in thinking" at the Pentagon, which historically has resisted involvement in domestic law enforcement.
The White House has instructed lawyers at the departments of Defense and Justice to analyze federal laws on the books that restrict the military's role in law enforcement on U.S. shores, the paper reported.
Congress assigned to federal troops a large role in law enforcement in the 11 Confederate states after the Civil War, tasks such as guarding election polling places, arresting members of the Ku Klux Klan, and halting the production of illegal moonshine and the fomenting of labor strife. The Posse Comitatus Act was enacted in 1878 to eliminate military enforcement of the civil law, effectively ending Reconstruction.
Mr. Biden recalled that in 1995 he and Sen. Sam Nunn, Georgia Democrat, after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, introduced legislation that would have "moderately altered" the Posse Comitatus Act, enabling the military to intervene in incidents involving weapons of mass destruction.
Mr. Biden said some lawmakers are likely to be more receptive to repealing the 1878 act now than they were before September 11.
On Fox, Mr. Ridge called Gen. Eberhardt's remarks about the need for such a review "very appropriate."
"We need to be talking about military assets in anticipation of a crisis event. And, clearly, if you're talking abut using the military, then you should have a discussion about Posse Comitatus. It's not out of the question [that there could someday be a situation] when, in support of civilian authorities, we would give the National Guard or troops arrest ability" in a crisis situation