3/26/02
1:31:59 PM
UTNE WEB WATCH
The Best of the Alternative Web
MORE THAN 300,000 PROTEST AGAINST EU SUMMIT
From Common Dreams via the Agence France Presse
Protesters against a summit of the European Union gather in Barcelona for one of the largest and most peaceful marches against globalization.
THE LAST WORDS
by Christopher Orlet, The Vocabula Review
"With few exceptions, the last words of history's great players have been about as interesting and uplifting as a phone book," Christopher Orlet writes in his survey of swan songs.
WRONG TURN
by G.R. Anderson Jr., Minneapolis-St. Paul City Pages
-- Writer G.R. Anderson Jr. learns about the complexities of drunk driving law after he is arrested and charged with a DWI.
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
3/24/02
10:16:29 PM
UC BERKELEY RESEARCHERS DEVELOPING MICROSIZED MICROSCOPE THAT CAN PEEK INSIDE LIVING CELLS
Imagine a future where doctors can view the DNA of tumor cells inside a patient as cancer drugs are delivered, or where anti-terrorism units can identify single molecules of a biowarfare agent on site with a portable detector. With a significant development in miniaturized microscopes at the University of California, Berkeley, scientists are inching closer to such possibilities.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020315072107.htm
RECENT SHIFTS IN PACIFIC WINDS MAY SUPPORT EL NINO FORMATION
Wind data for the Pacific Ocean obtained by NASA's Quick Scatterometer spacecraft-also know as Quikscat-are documenting episodes of reversed trade winds that are responsible for unseasonable cyclone conditions in the northwest and southwest Pacific, and which may be a precursor of a future El Nio.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020315072307.htm
UNDER CONSTRUCTION: INFORMATION SUPER HIGHWAY GETTING WIDER
The information super highway is getting ready for some road work. Just as cars drive on highways made of pavement, packets of information (like news from your favorite website) travel along information highways made of fiber optic cable. At this years Optical Fiber Conference (OFC) March 18-22 in Anaheim, California, researchers will be explaining, for the first time, the new limits to how wide and long the information super highway of the future will be.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020314080144.htm
NEW TECHNIQUE MONITORS CHROMIUM CONTAMINATION IN GROUNDWATER
Widely used in electroplating, hexavalent chromium is a suspected carcinogen and a common contaminant in groundwater. Now, scientists have discovered a simple, but effective, method for monitoring this pollutant.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020315072021.htm
"STAR WARS" LIKE TECHNOLOGY CLOSER THAN GALAXIES FAR AWAY
Technology introduced by members of a galaxy far away, a long time ago, is now one step closer to reality. And, it's with funding from a space medicine research institute that this breakthrough device will one day kill tumors and stop internal bleeding without knives, scalpels or stitches - basically without surgery as we know it.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020312073342.htm
PHYSICISTS IDENTIFY POSSIBLE NEW SUPERCONDUCTOR
A potential new high-temperature superconductor has been identified by physicists at the University of California, Davis. Calculations by Helge Rosner, Alexander Kitaigorodsky and Warren Pickett predict that lithium borocarbide should have essentially no resistance to electrical current at temperatures up to minus 280 F.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020319075236.htm
ANTARCTIC ICE SHELF COLLAPSES IN LARGEST EVENT OF LAST 30 YEARS
Recent satellite imagery analyzed at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder has revealed that the northern section of the Larsen B ice shelf, a large floating ice mass on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula, has shattered and separated from the continent in the largest single event in a 30-year series of ice shelf retreats in the peninsula.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020319075014.htm
MOOD LINKED TO COGNITIVE ABILITIES
In a study of how human emotional states influence higher mental abilities, cognitive neuroscientists at Washington University in St. Louis have shown that watching even just 10 minutes of classic horror films or prime-time television comedies can have a significant short-term influence on areas of the brain critical for reasoning, intelligence, and other types of higher cognition.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020319075159.htm
UC BERKELEY RESEARCHER PROMOTES NEW SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING CROP YIELDS AND ENDING HUNGER IN AFRICA
Trees, shrubs and rocks are helping tens of thousands of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa increase crop yields two- to four-fold, providing strong evidence that innovative soil fertility replenishment programs work and should be expanded, argues a University of California, Berkeley, researcher.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020315071822.htm
YALE STUDY SHOWS 25 PERCENT OF OBESE CHILDREN ARE AT HIGH RISK FOR DEVELOPING DIABETES
Twenty five percent of obese children and 21 percent of obese adolescents tested by Yale researchers were glucose intolerant and at high risk for developing diabetes, according to an article published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020314080503.htm
ADAPTABLE NANOTUBES MAKE WAY FOR CUSTOM-BUILT STRUCTURES, WIRES
Tiny self-assembled tubes, about 1/1,000th the width of a grain of sand, may now be used as a scaffold to custom-build molecular wires and other components for use in nanometer-sized electronic devices, including some that could be inserted into the body.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020312073554.htm
TENT CATERPILLARS AND THEIR PARASITES: MOST ABUNDANT ANIMALS IN THE BOREAL FOREST?
Sustainable Forest Management Network Principal Investigator, Dr. Jens Roland has discovered a correlation between forest tent caterpillar infestations and the amount of forest left standing after an area has been harvested. Says Roland, "In larger forest stands, the mortality factors which cause collapse of the tent caterpillars infestation (parasites and disease) are more effective than they are in small stands." Dr. Roland's work suggests that a forest tent caterpillar outbreak and the rate of collapse is a critical indicator of the overall health of Canada's aspen boreal forest, and provides various new options for forest managers who would like to minimize the effects of forest tent caterpillar outbreaks.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020313074748.htm
DARWIN'S TIME MACHINE: SCIENTISTS BEGIN PREDICTING EVOLUTION'S NEXT STEP
Untangling the branches of evolution's past is a daunting enough task for researchers, but some scientists are now turning their eyes toward the future in a bid to predict evolution's course. Barry G. Hall, professor of biology at the University of Rochester, has shown how a model of evolution developed in the lab accurately reproduces natural evolution. The research, published in the March issue of Genetics, demonstrates how the model is so accurate that it can be used to predict how a strain of bacteria will become resistant to antibiotics-giving researchers a possible tool to create drugs to which bacteria cannot adapt.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020320081607.htm
RESEARCHERS DEVELOP FIRST ORAL DRUG TO TREAT SMALLPOX INFECTION
An oral drug that halts the deadly action of smallpox and related orthopox viruses in lab tissue culture cells and in cowpox-infected mice has been developed by researchers at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, and is being evaluated by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020320081440.htm
SCIENTISTS SAY "GRACE" AS WATER-SENSING SATELLITES LIFT OFF
NASA and the German Center for Air and Space Flight successfully launched the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or "Grace," mission into Earth orbit at 1:21:27 a.m. Pacific time on March 17, 2002 from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The mission, comprised of identical twin satellites, will precisely measure Earth's shifting water masses and map their effects on Earth's gravity field.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020320080813.htm
TRICKING DISEASES INTO SYNTHESIZING THEIR OWN WORST ENEMIES
In a first attempt to test a new general strategy for drug discovery, chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and TSRI's Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology created the most potent blocking agent known against an enzyme implicated in Alzheimer's disease.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020315071155.htm
MAYO CLINIC STUDY EXAMINES FREQUENCY OF ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (AD/HD)
A new Mayo Clinic study shows that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) affects up to 7.5 percent of school-age children. Previous studies had estimated the occurrence of AD/HD to be anywhere between one and 20 percent of school-age children. The Mayo Clinic report, published in the March issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, addresses the confusion about the number of children affected by AD/HD.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020314080350.htm
SEEING THE UNIVERSE IN A BRAND NEW LIGHT
Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a novel device that could lead to an ultraviolet (UV) light detector approximately 10 times more sensitive than the UV detectors now on the Hubble Space Telescope, allowing astronomers to observe important objects throughout the universe for the first time.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020313074605.htm
DISCOVERY SUPPORTS THEORY OF A SINGLE SPECIES OF HUMAN ANCESTOR
The discovery of a million-year-old skull in Ethiopia indicates that a single species of human ancestor, Homo erectus, ranged from Europe to Africa to Asia in the Pleistocene era, according to the cover article in the March 21 issue of the journal Nature.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020321070818.htm
GEOPHYSICISTS SORT OUT WEIRD WAVE BEHAVIOR NEAR EARTH'S CORE
Strange things happen in the lower reaches of our planet's mantle, that plastic-like layer between Earth's crust and core that flows under pressure, lifting or lowering features on the surface. Geologists have been intrigued by observations that some seismic waves travel faster than others in particular patches of the lowermost mantle, but they haven't known exactly why that happens. New work by researchers at the University of Michigan and Yale University, published in the March 21 issue of Nature, helps explain the phenomenon and offers new insights into Earth's inner workings.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020321071206.htm
RESEARCHERS MOVE STEP CLOSER TO PHOTONIC MICROCHIP
Researchers at the University of Toronto have figured out a way to "nudge" nature into making photonic crystals in a specific order and pattern, a critical first step in the development of photonic circuits and microchips.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020320081853.htm
USING "NATURE'S TOOLBOX," A DNA COMPUTER SOLVES A COMPLEX PROBLEM
A DNA-based computer has solved a logic problem that no person could complete by hand, setting a new milestone for this infant technology that could someday surpass the electronic digital computer in certain areas.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020315072402.htm
STUDY TRACKS HEALTH OF RESCUE DOGS, HANDLERS INVOLVED IN SEARCHES AT WORLD TRADE CENTER AND PENTAGON
When the World Trade Center and sections of the Pentagon came crashing down Sept. 11, the rubble left for rescuers was laden with asbestos, diesel fuel, PCBs and countless other toxins. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have now begun a three-year study of the search-and-rescue missions effects on rescue dogs and their handlers.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020321071020.htm
SCIENCE CLOSE TO VIEWING THE BEGINNING OF TIME, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON COSMOLOGIST SAYS
New research tools promise tantalizing glimpses of characteristics in the universe that until now have gone unseen. "We might, in a technical sense, soon observe the beginning of time," University of Washington cosmologist Craig Hogan writes in the March 22 edition of the journal Science.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020322074716.htm
RESEARCHERS DISCOVER NEW MECHANISM THAT TARGETS AND DESTROYS ABNORMAL RNA
Research teams from two Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) laboratories have identified a new mechanism that cells use to recognize and destroy abnormal messenger RNA (mRNA). It is likely that cells employ the new mechanism, called nonstop decay, to target and destroy RNA molecules that contain errors.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020322074154.htm
MOVEMENT WITHOUT SENSES CODED INTO NEURONS, SAYS UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO RESEARCHER
An animal's ability to move - like the kicking of a developing baby or the crawling and walking of insects - is intrinsic, not dependent on sensory stimulation, says a University of Toronto neurobiologist.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020314080425.htm
POLLEN PRODUCTIONAND ALLERGIESMAY RISE SIGNIFICANTLY OVER NEXT 50 YEARS
Rising carbon dioxide levels associated with global warming could lead to an increase in the incidence of allergies to ragweed and other plants by mid-century, according to a report appearing in the March Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology by Harvard University researchers. The study found that ragweed grown in an atmosphere with double the current carbon dioxide levels produced 61 percent more pollen than normal. Such a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide is expected to occur between 2050 and 2100.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020322075343.htm
NASA SELECTS PURDUE TEAM TO HELP DEVELOP LIFE-SUPPORTING ECOSYSTEM IN SPACE
NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research has selected Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, for a five-year grant totaling $10 million to lead a NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) for Advanced Life Support (ALS) that will develop technologies to enable long-duration planetary missions and sustain human space colonies.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020313080723.htm
SCIENTIST PROBES FOSSIL ODDITY: GIANT REDWOODS NEAR NORTH POLE
Once upon a time, Axel Heilberg Island was a very strange place. Located within the Arctic Circle north of mainland Canada, a full 8/9ths of the way from the equator to the North Pole, the uninhabited Canadian island is far enough north to make Iceland look like a great spot for a winter getaway, and today theres not much to it beyond miles of rocks, ice, a few mosses, and many fossils. The fossils tell of a different era, though, an odd time about 45 million years ago when Axel Heilberg, still as close to the North Pole as it is now, was covered in a forest of redwood-like trees known as metasequoias.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020322074547.htm
3/24/02
9:54:51 PM
"If there was only joy in the world,
we would not be able to learn about courage and perseverance."
Helen Keller
3/24/02
9:53:08 PM
t r u t h o u t | 03.25
2 Million Protest in Rome
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.25A.Rome.Protest.htm
Waxman Letter to CEO of Enron | Please Account for Political Cash
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.25B.Please.Account.htm
U.S. Behind Secret Transfer of Terror Suspects
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.25C.Secret.Transfer.htm
Why Republicans Are in Love With the Voting Rights Act
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.25D.Voting.Rights.htm
White Used Military Jet for Colorado Visit
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.25E.Military.Jet.htm
Democrats Assail Bush Trip to Peru
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.25F.Assail.Bush.htm
Bush-Lay Ties Based on Shared Priorities
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.25G.Bush.Lay.htm
A Company's Gain From Energy Report's Recommendation
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.25H.Gain.From.htm
Study Tracks Swiss Role in the Holocaust
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.25I.Swiss.Role.htm
3/24/02
9:43:54 PM
FBI To Let Relatives Hear Sept. 11 Flight Tape
Sun Mar 24, 5:24 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The FBI (news - web sites) will permit family members of passengers who died on United Airlines flight 93 to listen to the cockpit recording of the hijacked jet's final minutes before it crashed in a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The decision to permit one listening session -- tentatively set for April 18 -- follows heavy family lobbying of federal investigators, who had initially refused to release the tape because it is evidence in a criminal investigation.
Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco was one of four jets hijacked on Sept. 11. While two were sent crashing into New York's World Trade Center and a third slammed into the Pentagon (news -web sites), flight 93 crashed in a rural Pennsylvania field, apparently after passengers fought back against the hijackers.
The 44 people aboard the doomed jet have since been hailed as heroes who averted what could have been a far more deadly hijack assault on Washington, or some other more populated area.
Family members told the San Francisco Chronicle on Saturday they were hoping to get a clearer picture of what occurred on the aircraft during its final minutes.
"It will be excruciating," said Alice Hoglan, mother of Mark Bingham, 31, a San Francisco businessman who died in the crash.
"I think (FBI Director Robert) Mueller is correct when he says we won't be consoled by it," said Hoglan, a 52-year-old flight attendant. "It is awful. But it is like something you have to do -- I need to get clarity and perhaps hear my son's voice."
The FBI could not be reached for comment on Sunday. But FBI San Francisco spokesman Andrew Black told the Chronicle the agency was "trying to work with the families to satisfy their needs and interests" while avoiding widespread release of the tape which might jeopardize any future prosecutions in connection with the case.
So far the only charge in the case has been brought against Zacarias Moussaoui, a 33-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan descent, who has been accused of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism in connection with the Sept. 11 hijackings. That case is being prosecuted in Alexandria, Virginia.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020324/ts_nm/attack_tape_dc_1&cid=578
3/24/02
9:38:45 PM
"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."
Daniel Webster
A Less Democratic Nation
by Ruth Rosen, San Francisco Chronicle, Monday, March 18, 2002
SIX MONTHS after 9/11, we experience an eerie sense of normalcy. The Oscars generate their usual hype; friends once again discuss divorce. People return to airplanes; fans eagerly await a new baseball season.
Yet, nothing is normal. Beneath the routine sounds and sights of daily life lurks the stark, unsettling fact that our society is not as democratic as it was last summer.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks created a legitimate need for heightened security, intensified surveillance and enhanced intelligence. Like other Americans, I fully support the Bush administration's effort to protect us from further terrorist attacks. But nothing -- absolutely nothing -- justifies the secrecy that has shrouded the Bush presidency, its gratuitous violation of civil liberties, or its corrosive constraints on our most cherished democratic practices.
Consider what has happened during these past six months. President Bush has repeatedly invoked executive privilege and refused congressional requests for information. He created a shadow government without informing congressional leaders. He overturned the Presidential Records Act of 1978 and gave himself the right to seal past presidential papers since 1980. He deposited his own gubernatorial papers in his father's presidential library where they are inaccessible to the public.
On the defense front, the Bush administration appointed John M. Poindexter -- who, along with Ollie North, masterminded the Iran-Contra arms- for-hostages scam -- to head the Pentagon's new Office of Information Awareness. The president has extended the war on terrorism to Yemen, Georgia and the Philippines without a declaration of war or congressional approval. He even declared a new unilateralist Bush Doctrine: The United States reserves the right to enter any nation to pursue terrorists or destroy weapons of mass destruction, whether or not it is invited by a head of state and without seeking approval from the U.N. Security Council.
Members of Congress are finally resisting this assault on the system of checks and balances that our nation's founders created to protect our democratic government. The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, is suing Vice President Dick Cheney for refusing to hand over records from secretly held energy meetings. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has asked the GAO to investigate the impact of Attorney General John Ashcroft's Oct. 12 memo to all federal agencies, in which he urged them to resist Freedom of Information Act requests.
But Congress must do more to restore its check on an increasingly imperious presidency. The Bush administration is using the threat of terrorism to curtail civil liberties, bully legislators, scatter troops across the world and intimidate Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya and Syria with the threat of pre-emptive tactical nuclear strikes.
George. W. Bush should remember that he lost the popular vote and never received a mandate from the American people for these policies. His current approval ratings, according to many political analysts, rest more on fear than on a national consensus.
He should tread carefully. Americans recognize that patriotism is not only the willingness to fight fascism or terrorism, but also the passion to protect our democratic freedoms right here, at home.
Ruth Rosen is a Chronicle editorial writer.
Source: http://www.SFGate.com
3/24/02
9:34:31 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Handful of US utilities pollute most - study - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15166/story.htm
UPDATE - Senate backs more electricity from renewable sources - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15167/story.htm
Ship officers indicted in Alaska dumping case - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15168/story.htm
US fails to persuade Ukraine to lift poultry ban - UKRAINE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15171/story.htm
Germany seizes Amazonian mahogany shipment - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15173/story.htm
Millions at risk from contaminated water - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15165/story.htm
Aid groups urge action on water-borne diseases - SWITZERLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15172/story.htm
Beijing seen tough on GMOs, particularly on soyoil - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15174/story.htm
Norway to start emissions quota trading in 2005 - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15177/story.htm
UN urges "more crop per drop" as water dwindles - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15169/story.htm
Iraqi vet says depleted uranium killing fish - IRAQ http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15180/story.htm
German parliament ratifies Kyoto protocol - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15178/story.htm
Finland reindeer herders want halt to logging - FINLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15175/story.htm
HK removes more food items on additive worries - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15170/story.htm
Canada minister sees no Kyoto ratification by June - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15176/story.htm
World weather experts set ambitious El Nino agenda - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15179/story.htm
3/24/02
9:33:14 PM
Powerful 'Promises' to Mideast Children
by Helen Schary Motro, Christian Science Monitor, March 21, 2002
TEL AVIV Some films thrust burning issues before the eyes of the world: "On the Beach" about nuclear war, "Silkwood" about cover-up of nuclear contamination, "Dead Man Walking" about capital punishment.
"Promises," the small masterpiece nominated for this year's Academy Award for best documentary, is on that exclusive list.
Behind the bloody headlines in the Middle East, Palestinian and Israeli children are growing up still receptive to reaching out to one another as human beings. "Promises" conveys their story, all the more powerful today as the glimmer of hope it captures has almost been extinguished.
It's fine for Americans to watch heart-tugging "Promises." But it should be mandatory viewing for every Israeli and Palestinian before they aim their loaded guns: The lives of these wonderful kids are in their sights.
The project of filmmakers B.Z. Goldberg and Justine Shapiro, "Promises" has a "cast" of seven young teenagers.
Faraj and Sanabel are from the Palestinian refugee camp Deheishe on the West Bank. Faraj carries the key to his grandparents' house razed after the 1948 war; Sanabel visits her father, held as a security prisoner in an Israeli prison.
The sensitive and vibrant Israeli twins Yarko and Daniel love volleyball and peace, but don't want to live and breathe the region's struggle day in, day out. There's Mahmoud, son of a coffee merchant in Jerusalem's Old City, whose "heart wants to burst" with sorrow as he watches thousands of Jews parading through the city on Jerusalem Day.
Shlomo is a student at an ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem yeshiva who, at 13, wears a black fedora and suit, and talks with a wisdom beyond his years but a twinkle in his eye. Moishe, from a Jewish settlement on the West Bank, dreams of becoming the first religious Army chief of staff.
Mr. Goldberg, who grew up in Jerusalem, speaks fluent Arabic, and now lives in Berkeley, Calif., was the interviewer, friend, and big brother to the children. The youths, who live minutes but also worlds apart became increasingly curious about their counterparts. Some began to toy with the idea of meeting one another as intriguing as playing with matches.
Finally, Faraj phoned the Israeli twins. In broken English, the excited boys broke the ice by talking about their common love of sports. When Faraj invited the brothers to his home in the refugee camp, they accepted. The exuberant twins were not nervous, but their Palestinian hosts were more sagacious, warning, "Don't speak Hebrew here."
Yet all was not laughter and good feeling. Mahmoud declared to Goldberg, "The more Jews we kill, the fewer there will be." His fingers intertwined with the director's, he could not accept his friend's Israeli background. "You are not an authentic Jew," Mahmoud insisted, unable to believe that someone he cared about could be an Israeli Jew.
Moishe, scanning feverishly through a Bible until he locates the spot justifying the Jews' theological claim to Israel, admitted: "If I could decide the future, I would make all the Arabs fly away."
Sanabel, performing a dance of Palestinian liberation, said wistfully she would like to meet more Israeli children: "Not all Israelis are guilty, not even the grown-ups."
But two years after their one and only hopeful meeting, a sober Faraj stared darkly into the camera, concluding: "Life won't let us accomplish our dreams."
When "Promises" was made, the peace process was budding. Now the "Promises" kids live among its shambles. Separated more than ever by bullets and enmity, they have no more contact. Goldberg, who still sees and talks to each one, ticks off the emotions they express in common: fear, anger, sadness.
Now in their midteens, they are becoming polarized like the embattled refugee camps and terror-targeted cities in which they live. Sanabel is still dancing, the twins still playing volleyball. Mahmoud and Moishe, ideological worlds apart, both love the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. But none leads a normal life. When Faraj's brother-in-law was killed this month, he heard about it first on TV.
There is talk about bringing some of the "Promises" kids to California for the Oscars ceremony on Sunday. If so, they will make the obligatory visit to Disneyland. There they can perhaps forget for a while that in real life, promises made to children can be broken.
At the Academy Awards ceremony in 1930, the winner for best picture was a pacifist film condemning the futility of war. At the time, the impact of "All Quiet on the Western Front" was huge, but the world all too quickly forgot its message. Let's hope "Promises" doesn't suffer a similar fate.
Helen Schary Motro is an American lawyer living in Israel who writes a column for The Jerusalem Post.
Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0321/p09s01-coop.html
3/24/02
8:52:39 PM
It is worth remembering what the motto of the Mossad is...
"By way of deception, thou shalt do war."
3/24/02
2:50:59 PM
About Those Polls
by Ernest Partridge
"The people are marching, and I must follow, for I am their leader."
French politician (Unknown)
"It's 9 PM and the phone rings and it's a pollster . . . 'Hi, I'm a polllllsterrrrr . . . Do you approve of our president? Hm?' And the guy on the phone is like, 'Uh, yes, Mr. Pollster! We approve! Everybody approves! The kids approve, the dog approves! Look at the cat! The cat approves. Approve, cat!'" -- Michael Moore, quoted by Michelle Chihara
March 17, 2002 -- Let's face it: George Bush's "approval rating" polls are the 800-pound gorilla in the room. The few remaining media "house liberals," such as Bill Press, Mark Shields or Al Hunt, can scarcely utter more than a few sentences without mentioning Bush's alleged "approval in the polls." Those polls constrain political discourse and intimidate the opposition. If their impact is to be mitigated, they must be addressed directly.
So what are we to make of Bush's alleged 80+ percent "approval rating." Is it fact or fiction? How much credence should we give to the polls. Consider, in turn, the cases for "fact" and then for "fiction."
The Poll Numbers are Fact. "Of course the polls accurately report public opinion regarding Bush's performance. Would Gallup and the other polling organizations dare present us with "made-up" statistics? They have their reputations to protect. If they are caught "cooking" figures for whatever reason, their credibility is toast, and they know it. So face it: four out of five Americans believe that Bush is doing a fine job. Deal with it."
The Poll Numbers are Fiction. "The overriding question is 'qui bono' --who benefits? The obvious answer is Bush and the GOP. Those poll numbers have given them a ticket to ride -- to ride their right-wing agenda through Congress, and over the intimidated Democratic opposition. Just listen to Gore, 'He's my President!' and the congressional Dems, 'While Bush has been a superb wartime leader . . . (etc.) . . . ' and the media comparisons of Bush with FDR and Churchill. It's that 800-pound gorilla again! The media and GOP lied to us about Gore and Bush during the campaign, they lied to us about the Florida Election and the Supreme Court, and they continue to lie today (e.g., about Ken Lay's alleged 'sleepovers' at the Clinton White House). With so much manifest advantage accruing from these poll figures, doesn't it make sense to assume that they are lying to us about Bush's 'approval rating' as well?"
The Poll Numbers are a "Gray Lie." This is my preferred interpretation: the polls convey neither the simple truth nor a damnable lie. Instead, they present us with what I call "a gray lie" -- a literal truth designed to convey a falsehood. Examples abound in political discourse. For example, Bill Clinton, "I did not have sex with that woman." By Clinton's definition (i.e., intercourse), that was literally true. But that was not what he meant for us to believe. Another example: Bush claimed that Ken Lay "supported" Bush's gubernatorial opponent, Ann Richards. If a $12,000 contribution to Richards' campaign constitutes "support," then Bush was strictly correct. But Lay gave five times as much financial support to Bush, and so the "on balance" support was something else. Then there is the case of the November "media consortium" report on the Florida elections. Headlines throughout the country proclaimed that the study "proved" that Bush would have won the election despite the Supreme Court decision. The "gray lie" was that Bush won the election, fair and square. The report below the headlines said quite the contrary.
Finally, from that virtuoso of the "gray lie," the New York Times' Rick Berke: The headline of his front page piece on February 18 read, "Enron Pursued Plan to Forge Close Ties to Gore Campaign." But read on and you will find: "Enron continued to give much more to Governor Bush than to Vice President Gore. In all, it gave Mr.Gore's campaign $13,750 and Mr. Bush's $113,800." The "gray lie?" That both parties were equally corrupted by Enron.
Similarly, I suspect that while the reports of those 80+ percent poll numbers might state superficial truths, they omit, conveniently for the Bushistas, some significant qualifications and elaborations. So we are entitled to ask a few "follow-up" questions: How, exactly, was the question phrased? What was the context, i.e., what questions "led into" the question about "approval"? Was there a semantic "bait and switch" at work here, as expressions of "support" somehow morphed into "approval"? (Who is not inclined to "support" a president during "wartime"?) Is the "approval in general" consistent with the respondents' approval of Bush's position on particular issues? Apparently not, for as pollster Celinda Lake discovered "76 percent of voters thought government should do more to help working families, 84 percent want a higher minimum wage, 87 percent want government help for health insurance to laid-off workers, and 82 percent want extended unemployment benefits." In addition, the Los Angeles Times reports that four out of five Americans disagree with Bush on Social Security and tax cuts. Finally, according to the New York Times, 67 percent of Americans believe that members of the Bush team are "hiding something" or "lying" about Enron, and according to the Zogby Poll, 63 percent are in favor of a rollback of Bush's tax cut if it will improve environmental protection. (See "Atop Mount Gallup" in TomPaine.com)
More questions: What was the sample population? Was it representative of the public at large? Arianna Huffington reports that more than 40 percent of those contacted by the pollsters decline to give an opinion. Is this significant? What proportion of those 80 percent ratings are the result of "herd behavior" -- of the respondents' attitude, "who am I to disagree with all those other people?"
Is it not also possible that polls can be "self-authenticating?" When the opposing party cowers before these imposing numbers (as, manifestly, most Democratic politicians are doing today), the public interprets this reticence as endorsement of "the leader." ("If even Al Gore and Tom Daschle say that Bush is doing such a fine job, I guess that settles it!") In their anxiety not to offend the public in its ringing (80+ percent) endorsement of "our leader," the Democrats have abandoned their progressive platform and principles and have become crypto-Republicans. And as Harry Truman so wisely put it, "when given a choice between Republicans and Republicans, the people will always choose the Republicans."
To put the matter bluntly, the Democrats have been expertly suckered. And unless and until they display some testicular fortitude, they are heading for a fall in the fall.
History offers some grounds for encouragement. First of all, poll numbers are volatile and the public, by and large, suffers from collective amnesia -- just ask Poppy Bush, whose 89 percent approval in February 1991 dropped fifty points in the following year, and thereafter continued to fall to 29 percent.
Bush-II remains a dim bulb who has failed in 55 years to take control of the English language. Devoid of critical skills or intellectual curiosity, Bush is nonetheless called upon to deal with a complex nation and world. His "comic book conservatism" (Larry Martin's phrase), with its infantile slogans ("Axis of Evil") and dichotomies ("either with us or against us"), is ill-suited to the task before him. Those who believe otherwise have allowed their desperate need for a leader and their wishful thinking to triumph over their plain view of the compelling facts. Bush is bound to stumble (as he is even now), and the public must eventually realize that he is not up to the job. Then those formidable poll numbers will vanish like a snowball falling on a hot stove.
The decline and fall of the Bush regime may have started even now, as several noteworthy Republicans are conspicuously abandoning ship -- among them, John Dean, Kevin Phillips, Arianna Huffington, Jonathan Turley, and Jim Jeffords. Expect still more to join them, along with a growing list of journalists.
"What about those polls?"
Our advice to the Democrats and the progressive opposition is this: so long as you are intimidated by the polls, you are playing into the hands of the Bushistas. Instead, assume that Bush's poll numbers are a mile wide and an inch deep. That assumption could turn out to be self-authenticating. Those "approval numbers" are the result of a desperate public need for a leader -- a role for which the Shrub is utterly unqualified. That fact cannot be kept a secret forever. If the Democrats display forceful, confident and articulate leadership, then that public need for leadership will find its proper object. And when that happens, the usurper regime will collapse.
For those imposing poll numbers do not alter by one iota the fact that Bush holds his office illegitimately, through vote manipulation in Florida and the seditious act of five Supreme Court justices. On September 10, 2001, the Usurper's poll numbers stood at 50 percent. Due to the public's clamor for leadership following a national catastrophe, combined with the fawning of a sycophant press, Bush's numbers soared. That bump in the ratings had nothing whatever to do with Bush's qualities as a leader or with the content of his agenda. On the contrary, the political clout of those polls has given Bush's team a license to erode our civil liberties, to lock up public documents, to accelerate the transfer of wealth into the hands of the rich and powerful, and to tear up or ignore numerous international treaties. All the while, the opposition has been muted at home and our national reputation has been tarnished abroad.
Those polls were elevated through a combination of accident and guile. It is past time to deflate them by speaking truth to power -- boldly, persistently and repeatedly.
We owe this to our Constitution, to the rule of law, to ourselves, to our fellow citizens, and to future generations. If we fail to act, then we condemn ourselves as unworthy of the magnificent political traditions that are our legacy.
Ernest Partridge is a consultant, writer and lecturer in the field of Environmental Ethics. He publishes the website "The Online Gadfly"
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/Partridge031702/partridge031702.html
3/24/02
2:47:15 PM
The Nation
After a full day of speeches, music, games, organic food, workshops, talking and general carousing, singer Michelle Shocked strapped on her guitar and took the stage for the performance that would finish the first stop on the Rolling Thunder Down-Home Democracy Tour.
Looking out at the faces of several thousand cheering Texans, the woman who has penned hits such as "Anchorage" broke into a huge grin and told the crowd, "We just didn't know what we were going to find when we showed up this morning. We didn't know if you all were going to show up. But I think it's been an unqualified success."
Shocked got no argument from the crowd, or from organizers of what may well be the most unlikely scheme to stir the nation's populist sentiment since someone suggested pulling together a protest outside the WTO summit in Seattle.
For a full report on yesterday's day of Rolling Thunder in Austin featuring Michael Moore, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Jim Hightower, Molly Ivins, Granny D, and 7,000 energized Texans, read the latest installment of John Nichols' Online Beat.
Currently available at:
Yesterday was just the first stop on a projected 12-city tour across the United States. The idea of Rolling Thunder is to foster connection among the myriad progressive initiatives mobilized across the US every day -- and have some fun in the process.
So check out the Rolling Thunder site for information on future tour stops and how you can get involved:
3/24/02
11:55:25 AM
Panel OKs Attack-Probe Plan
by Amy Fagan, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, March 22, 2002
A Senate committee voted yesterday to establish an independent commission charged with investigating events surrounding the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Authored by Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, Connecticut Democrat, chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, the measure would establish a bipartisan, independent commission to conduct a broad investigation into the attacks. The committee approved the bill by a voice vote.
"It's up to the commission members to investigate what they want to investigate regarding the terrorist attacks," said Mr. Lieberman's spokeswoman, Leslie Phillips.
A White House spokeswoman yesterday declined to endorse the Lieberman proposal. A Republican senator said he was "disinclined" to support the plan, while one Democratic senator said he was "reluctant" to approve an independent probe.
The House and Senate intelligence committees already are conducting a joint investigation focusing on the failures of the U.S. intelligence community before September 11.
Sen. Robert G. Torricelli, New Jersey Democrat who helped craft Mr. Lieberman's bill, said the intelligence committees' joint investigation is narrower in scope than the independent commission's would be. He said the commission would have "a more open mandate."
Miss Phillips also stressed that unlike the joint intelligence probe, the 14-member commission would not consist of any elected officials, but rather would be composed of citizens who have expertise in relevant areas.
The Lieberman bill would authorize the commission to look into intelligence and law enforcment agencies, diplomacy, immigration, non-immigrant visas and border control, the flow of assets to terrorist organizations, commercial aviation other areas of the public and private sectors it deems relevant.
The independent commission would be charged with investigating relevant facts and circumstances relating to the September 11 terrorist attacks, including any relevant legislation, executive order, plan, policy, practice or procedure. It also would also be charged with reviewing lessons learned regarding the government's structure, coordination, management policies and procedures set up to detect, prevent and respond to such terrorist attacks.
Commission members would consist of nongovernmental "prominent U.S. citizens" who have experience in fields like law enforcement, intelligence gathering, public administration, armed services, commerce, aviation and foreign affairs.
The president would appoint four commission members and the rest would be appointed ultimately by House and Senate leadership, based on recommendations made by leaders of key committees of both chambers, including the judiciary, armed services and intelligence panels.
White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said the administration is working closely with the Senate and House intelligence committees' joint investigation.
"We feel it's important for the intelligence committees to be the one to conduct the review," Miss Buchan said. "The commission would run the risk of pulling people off of the front lines who are fighting the war on terror."
Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, said he hasn't examined the Lieberman bill, but would be "disinclined" to support an independent commission. "I would think congressional oversight would be sufficient," he said.
Mr. Specter said the Senate Judiciary Committee has already asked for additional funding to conduct oversight of the FBI, INS and other agencies under its jurisdiction, regarding September 11.
Sen. Pete V. Domenici, New Mexico Republican and Governmental Affairs Committee member, also seemed skeptical. "I'm reluctant to support it, but I'll take a look at it," he said of the Lieberman bill.
The Lieberman bill requests $3 million for the independent commission.
Source: http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020322-120232.htm
3/23/02
8:17:59 PM
"Laurel and Hardy, that's John and Yoko. And we stand a better chance under that guise because all the serious people like Martin Luther King and Kennedy and Gandhi got shot."
"Listen, if anything happens to Yoko and me, it was not an accident."
John Lennon
3/23/02
8:10:30 PM
t r u t h o u t | 03.24
Lieberman's Enron Subpoenas Set Up Confrontation With GOP
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.24A.Enron.GOP.htm
Senate Panel Turns for First Time to White House-Enron Policy Ties
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.24B.Enron.Ties.htm
Edward Kennedy Responds to Bush Decision on Medical Privacy
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.24C.Medical.Privacy.htm
52 Senators; A Letter to George W. Bush on PLO Chairman Arafat
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.24D.Bush.Arafat.htm
Sharon | Once Again, The Gambler Loses
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.24E.Sharon.Gambler.htm
Bush Administration Drafting Plans for Preemptive Nuclear Strikes
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.24F.Nuclear.Arms.htm
The Soul of George W. Bush
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.24G.Bush.Soul.htm
Senate to Upgrade Voting Systems
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.24H.Voting.Systems.htm
Direct U.S. Aid to Colombia Likely
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.24J.Colombia.Aid.htm
Tribunals to Be Like Courts-Martial
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.24I.Courts.Martial.htm
3/23/02
8:08:19 PM
Antibiotic Resistance From Down On The Chicken Farm
by Linda Bren
Chicken wings and turkey drumsticks are almost as ingrained in American culture as apple pie and baseball. But the lip-smackin', finger-lickin' good taste is less palatable when the poultry makes people sick. Even harder to swallow are germs that don't respond to drugs that may be prescribed to fight the sickness.
New evidence that drugs used in poultry can cause antibiotic-resistant infections in consumers spurred the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) to take action. On October 31, CVM proposed to withdraw the approval of an antibacterial, Baytril (enrofloxacin), used to treat disease in chickens and turkeys. CVM approved Baytril in 1996. Made by the Bayer Corporation of Shawnee Mission, Kan., Baytril belongs to a class of antibacterials called fluoroquinolones, which have been used in humans since 1986.
Shortly prior to CVM's announcement, Abbott Laboratories of North Chicago, Ill., requested withdrawal of the approvals for its poultry fluoroquinolone products. This means that Abbott will voluntarily remove these products, trade name SaraFlox, from the market.
The Bayer Corporation has requested a hearing to present safety data to try to keep Baytril on the market. The company must submit all data and analysis to support consideration for a hearing by January 2, 2001.
Poultry growers use fluoroquinolone drugs to keep chickens and turkeys from dying from Escherichia coli (E. coli) infection, a disease that they could pick up from their own droppings. But the size of flocks precludes testing and treating individual chickens --so when a veterinarian diagnoses an infected bird, the farmers treat the whole flock by adding the drug to its drinking water. While the drug may cure the E. coli bacteria in the poultry, another kind of bacteria -- Campylobacter --may build up resistance to these drugs. And that's the root of the problem.
People who consume chicken or turkey contaminated with fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter are at risk of becoming infected with a bacteria that current drugs can't easily kill. Campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause of diarrheal illness in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's estimated to affect over 2 million persons every year, or 1 percent of the population.
Commonly found in chickens, Campylobacter doesn't make the birds sick. But humans who eat the bacteria-contaminated birds may develop fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. In people with weakened immune systems, Campylobacter can be life-threatening. Eating undercooked chicken or turkey, or other food that has been contaminated from contact with raw poultry, is a frequent source of Campylobacter infection. Not washing utensils, countertops, cutting boards, sponges, or hands after coming into contact with raw poultry can also spread the bacteria and cause infection. People infected with Campylobacter may be prescribed a fluoroquinolone --which may or may not work.
But the damage doesn't stop there. "Cross-resistance occurs throughout this class of drugs," says Stephen F. Sundlof, DVM, PhD, director of CVM. "So resistance to one fluoroquinolone can compromise the effectiveness of all fluoroquinolone drugs."
Considered one of the most valuable drug classes available to treat human infections, fluoroquinolones are used to treat a wide range of diseases, including the gastro-intestinal illness caused by Campylobacter infection.
The use of antibiotics in food animals has been a human health concern since the 1970s when FDA first called for restrictions on antibiotics used in animal feed. Prior to 1995, when fluoroquinolones were first approved to treat poultry, very few fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter were found in people with foodborne diseases in the United States. After the approval, however, many more fluoroquinolone-resistant bacteria were found in humans and in poultry from slaughter plants and retail stores.
The data to support these findings came from a study by the Minnesota Department of Health and a computerized system called NARMS--the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System. Created in 1996 as a joint effort by CVM, CDC, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, NARMS monitors human and animal resistance to 17 antimicrobials. Antimicrobials include antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics.
Data provided by NARMS and other sources were used to develop a risk assessment. This assessment, along with other data, supported CVM's decision to propose the withdrawal of approval of Baytril for use in poultry. The risk assessment quantified, for the first time, the magnitude of the dangers to humans eating chicken contaminated with fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter. It showed that the number of people infected with fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter from eating chicken rose from an estimated 8,782 in 1998 to 11,477 in 1999.
The risk assessment, completed in October, is only one action CVM has taken to address the antimicrobial resistance problem over the years, says Sundlof. Another part of CVM's proactive program is its proposal to take a stronger regulatory approach when approving new antimicrobial drugs for use in food animals. A "framework document" lays out a plan for evaluating the safety of these drugs based on their importance to human health. If the plan is implemented, the drugs of highest importance --those used to treat a serious or life-threatening disease in humans for which there is no effective alternative treat-ment -- would be subject to the strictest criteria for approval for animal use. Among the studies that would be required by drug sponsors are tests to show their product's potential to induce antibiotic resistance.
CVM has invited input from outside experts on the principles in the framework document. [Three] public meetings have been held in the past year and a half ... to discuss establishing resistance thresholds in food-producing animals. [...snip...]
"FDA and CVM will continue to work to put in place a regulatory system that addresses the dangers of antimicrobial resistance and offers better protection to public health," says Sundlof. "At the same time, CVM will strive to assure the safe use of antimicrobial drugs in food-producing animals."
U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA Consumer Magazine January-February 2001
3/23/02
5:20:24 PM
North Pole on the Move
By Mr. Newitt's measurements, the north pole had previously been determined to be moving in a generally northwesterly direction at an average speed of 10 km per year. But according to his latest survey from last May, the pole is now moving away at 40 km per year.
"I find it interesting that it's starting to move so darned fast," he says. "This tells us that the Earth's magnetic field is a very dynamic thing."
At its current velocity, Mag North will move out of Canada's waters by 2005, and if it continues on its present path, it will be just off the coast of Siberia in about 50 years. "Of course," Mr. Newitt adds, given the North Magnetic Pole's erratic movements, "there is no reason to expect it will."
For the full article, go to:
http://www.nationalpost.com/tech/story.html?f=/stories/20020316/355629.html
xox
Word Puzzle
There is a common English word that is nine letters long. Each time you remove a letter from it, it still remains an English word -- from nine letters right down to a single letter. What is the original word, and what are the words that it becomes after removing one letter at a time?
Startling - Starting - Staring - String - Sting - Sing - Sin - In – I
xox
Born a Gemini? Watch out on the roads and get insurance.
Better still, have a Capricorn drive your car.
SYDNEY, Feb 11 (Reuters) -
A study released on Monday by Australian financial services group Suncorp Metway Ltd that ranked car accident claimants by star sign found the most accident-prone were Geminis, closely followed by Taureans and then Pisceans.
"Geminis, typically described as restless, easily bored and frustrated by things moving slowly, had more car accidents than any other sign," said Warren Duke, Suncorp's national manager of personal insurance.
Taureans were thought to be obstinate and inflexible, while Pisceans could be risk-takers and dare devils, he said.
Capricorns were the safest behind the wheel due to their patience and careful driving.
The light-hearted study was based on 160,000 car accident insurance claims received over the past three years. Suncorp Metway said it had no intention to alter its premiums according to a person's star sign.
The company listed car accident claims by star sign as follows, with the most accident-prone at the top:
1. Gemini........... May 21 - June 21
2. Taurus............ April 20 - May 20
3. Pisces............. Feb 19 - March 20
4. Virgo.............. Aug 23 - Sept 22
5. Cancer............ June 22 - July 22
6. Aquarius......... Jan 20 - Feb 18
7. Aries............... March 21 - April 19
8. Leo................. July 23 - Aug 22
9. Libra............... Sept 23 - Oct 22
10. Sagittarius..... Nov 22 - Dec 21
11. Scorpio..........Oct 23 - Nov 21
12. Capricorn.......Dec 22 - Jan 19
3/23/02
5:07:19 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS)
UN AGENCY APPEALS FOR FUNDS TO COMBAT NUCLEAR TERRORISM
VIENNA, Austria, March 22, 2002 (ENS) - The United Nations agency responsible for inspections and verifications of nuclear facilities around the world has approved an action plan to upgrade worldwide protection against acts of nuclear terrorism. The International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors is now calling on governments to contribute to funding of the plan "as a matter of urgency."
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2002/2002L-03-22-02.html
SNOWMOBILES TRESPASSING IN YELLOWSTONE WILDERNESS
By Jack Clinton
LARAMIE, Wyoming, March 22, 2002 (ENS) - Hundreds or perhaps thousands of snowmobilers have been trespassing deep in the heart of the Yellowstone National Park's wilderness, rangers there report. Aerial photographs taken by the National Park Service document acres of parkland crisscrossed with hundreds of snowmobile ruts.
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2002/2002L-03-22-07.html
SENATE APPROVES WEAKENED RENEWABLE STANDARD
By Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON, DC, March 22, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to require utilities to generate more of their electricity from renewable sources including wind and solar power. However, the standard adopted by the Senate disappointed many conservation groups, who say the measure excludes so many electricity providers that it will have little or no effect on the nation's use of renewable energy.
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2002/2002L-03-22-06.html
FATHER OF ECO-HYDROLOGY AWARDED STOCKHOLM WATER PRIZE
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 22, 2002 (ENS) - The winner of the 2002 Stockholm Water Prize is Venezuelan hydrologist Professor Ignacio Rodríguez-Iturbe of Princeton University in the United States. Announced today to mark World Water Day, the $150,000 Stockholm Water Prize is presented by the Stockholm Water Foundation for the 12th time.
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2002/2002L-03-22-04.html
WORLD SECURITY DEPENDS ON AVERTING WATER WARS
NEW YORK, New York, March 22, 2002 (ENS) - More than five million people die each year from water related diseases - 10 times the number killed in wars. Today, on World Water Day, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned, "Fierce national competition over water resources has prompted fears that water issues contain the seeds of violent conflict."
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2002/2002L-03-22-01.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: MARCH 22, 2002
One Year Deadline Holds for All Species Listings
Coalition Wants Toxic Wood Preservatives Banned
Underwater Chute Makes Longlines Safer for Birds
Clean Air Rules Proposed for Northwestern Tribes
$5.9 Million Helps New York State Recycle
$1.1 Million Supports Safer New England Beaches
Cleaner Engines Available to Boaters
Humane Society Recommends Nonlethal Wildlife Controls
Spring Cleaning Should Include Invasive Species
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2002/2002L-03-22-09.html
3/23/02
4:46:38 PM
The Nation
Two ex-Enron employees and a giant wood chipper, billed the "world's largest paper shredder and emblazoned with the words "Enron Democracy Shredder" -- helped kick off the Rolling Thunder Down-Home Democracy Tour this afternoon in the parking lot of Austin's local AFL-CIO branch.
The tour is the brainchild of Jim Hightower, whose rabblerousing stint as Texas's elected Commissioner of Agriculture in the 1980s and subsequent radio work identified him in the eyes of many as the nation's most aggressive progressive.
For a full report on this afternoon's proceedings, see the latest installment of John Nichols' Online Beat currently:
Tomorrow, March 23, marks the launch of the RT Tour, a traveling extravaganza of grassroots activism, music, speakers, workshops, exhibitions and food. The daylong event takes place at the Travis County Expo Center in Austin and features an eclectic lineup of speakers including Hightower, Michael Moore, Jesse Jackson Jr., Granny D, Ben Cohen and Molly Ivins. There'll also be musical performances by Michelle Shocked, Marcia Ball and David Garza, among others.
The RT Tour is sponsored by scores of worthy groups, organizations and publications, including The Nation, many of which will be on hand exhibiting their wares and explaining who they are, what they do, and how you can help.
For more info on Austin and other national tour stops, see:
http://www.rollingthundertour.org
And for new reporting on the Enron scandal see Capital Games, David Corn's exclusive Nation online feature. It's regularly updated and always available at:
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames
3/23/02
4:44:44 PM
t r u t h o u t | 03.23
Dorgan, McCain, Hollings Hint of Enron Subpoenas
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.23A.Enron.Subpoenas.htm
Aid for Poor Urged as a Tool to Fight Terror
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.23B.Aid.Tool.htm
Scott Galindez | Dear George, Take the Next Step on Campaign Finance
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.23C.SG.Dear.George.htm
UK Warns Saddam of Nuclear Retaliation
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.23D.Nuclear.Retaliation.htm
White House Moves to Keep Ridge Testimony From Public
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.23E.From.Public.htm
White House Stonewall: Day 28
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.23F.Stonewall.htm
Minorities Get Inferior Care, Even if Insured, Study Finds
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.23G.Inferior.Care.htm
Cobell Plaintiffs Seek Contempt Sanctions For Wholesale Destruction Of Evidence
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.23H.Cobell.Seek.htm
Interior Department Says it Will Protect Sacred Indian Lands, But Tribal Leaders Skeptical
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.23I.Leaders.Skeptical.htm
Muslim Groups Criticize Raids
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.23J.Muslim.Raids.htm
3/23/02
4:41:52 PM
"The important thing is not to think much,
but to love much;
and so,
do that which best stirs you to love."
Saint Teresa of Avila
3/23/02
4:30:24 PM
Senate Strikes a Blow in the Energy Battle Policy: Forcing utilities to move toward renewable sources, such as wind and sun, sends 'a strong message,' scientists say.
by Richard Simon
WASHINGTON -- The Senate moved Thursday to require utilities to generate a larger share of their electricity from sources such as solar and wind power, a potentially significant shift in national energy policy.
The requirement for investor-owned utilities to produce at least 10% of their power from renewable sources by 2020 handed environmentalists their first important victory in the debate about comprehensive energy legislation. An effort to strip the bill of the requirement was defeated by a 58-40 vote.
"It is a strong message from the Senate that the country needs a minimum renewable energy standard," said Alan Nogee, director of the clean energy program for the Union of Concerned Scientists. Gary Skulnik, a spokesman for the environmental group Greenpeace, called the Senate vote a "step that has never been taken before" but said he is disappointed that lawmakers did not go further. A Sierra Club representative was unenthusiastic about the Senate action. "It's a pretty hollow victory," said Debbie Boger, senior Washington representative for the environmental organization. Because of exemptions and other provisions, she asserted that the measure would result in "only 4% to 5% of new renewables" by 2020.
"We might be able to do that without any federal legislation," Boger said.
For years, Congress has provided billions of dollars for tax subsidies and research to promote alternative energy sources, but it has never set such an aggressive goal for generating electricity from renewable sources, which include agricultural waste and geothermal energy.
Government-owned utilities and electric cooperatives, which produce about one-fifth of the nation's electricity, would be exempt from the requirement. The bill would allow investor-owned utilities to count their existing use of non-hydropower renewable sources toward the standard.
Opponents, who include the utility industry, warned that the requirement would drive up electricity costs and threaten power supplies in states that are not blessed with strong wind and bright sunshine.
Southern California Edison Co. said in a statement that the company has the largest portfolio of renewable energy sources, excluding hydropower, of any California utility and "is committed to doing more." But the company said the legislation should include a price cap "to ensure that the large mandated demand for renewables in the face of supply constraints does not cause price spikes."
Investor-owned utilities also objected that municipal-owned utilities, such as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, would be exempt.
Many environmentalists disputed the dire warnings and predicted that the requirement would reduce power plant emissions, including the "greenhouse gases"--primarily carbon dioxide--blamed for global warming. And, they said, it would diversify the nation's energy mix, preventing the kind of price spikes that occurred last year in states that rely on a single source of fuel to generate electricity.
Most of the nation's electricity is generated using coal, nuclear power or natural gas. About 2% comes from renewable sources, excluding hydropower.
Whether the provision ultimately becomes law remains in doubt.
Any energy bill passed by the Democrat-controlled Senate will face difficult negotiations with the Republican-dominated House, which last summer approved a version that did not require the use of alternative sources.
It is uncertain whether the Senate will even be able to pass an energy bill. A week ago, it soundly rejected tougher vehicle fuel economy standards, a priority of most Democrats. And GOP efforts to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, a goal of President Bush, appear doomed.
On Thursday, the Senate continued to work on the legislation at a snail's pace, putting off any further action until after lawmakers return next month from their Easter recess.
A dozen states require a percentage of their electricity to be produced from renewable sources.
In California, Gov. Gray Davis this week endorsed legislation that would require the state's investor-owned utilities to produce 20% of their power from renewable sources by 2010, up from the 12% currently produced.
In an effort to gain broader support for the measure, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) modeled it after a Texas law signed by Bush when he was governor.
But the White House joined the majority of Senate Republicans in opposing the requirement, contending that the decision should be up to individual states.
During the three days of debate, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) branded the requirement a case of "Soviet-style command economy."
"This legislation is costly . . . [and] imposes a massive new regulation of what we can buy in this country. It is anti-American," he said. "Let the free market work."
But Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) responded: "The free market has allowed us to import 57% of our oil supply from overseas."
Without the increased use of alternative sources, Dorgan said, the United States is destined to live with an energy policy of "yesterday forever . . . just dig and drill."
Tom Gray, deputy executive director of the American Wind Energy Assn., said he is optimistic that a renewable portfolio standard--the official name for the requirement--can survive a House-Senate conference.
"It is unlikely that a major energy bill will win approval without some significant provision that is beneficial to the environment," he said. "And the [standard] is the main candidate at this point."
Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-000020912mar22.story
3/23/02
4:28:53 PM
DAILY GRIST
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
QUIT BEING MODEST
Enviros chalked up a small victory yesterday when the U.S. Senate threw its support behind a measure requiring that investor-owned utilities produce at least 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The Senate did so by rejecting, 58 to 40, an attempt by Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.) to remove the requirement from the comprehensive energy bill before the chamber. Some enviros weren't satisfied with yesterday's win. The Sierra Club's Debbie Boger said the country would experience only modest gains in the production of renewable energy because of exemptions and other provisions in the measure. Currently, about 2 percent of the country's electricity is produced from renewables; last week, the Senate voted down a grander proposal that would have boosted that figure to 20 percent by 2020. The House has not approved a renewables measure.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Richard Simon, 22 Mar 2002 <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-000020912mar22.story>
do good: Take action and plead for a world run on renewable energy <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/climate.asp?source=daily#positive>
NO ABSURD HEADLINE NECESSARY
The U.S. Department of Energy is preparing to claim that Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force did all it could to involve environmental groups in planning the Bush administration's energy plan. Last month, a federal court ruled in favor of the Natural Resources Defense Council and ordered the department to release as many as 14,000 documents relating to the task force. As it gets ready to file the documents next Monday, the DOE is spreading the word that it was the greenies, not administration officials, who were uneager to cooperate. "Several did not return our phone calls and messages," one DOE official wrote last August in a document that will be filed. Enviros said the latest administration spin was bosh. Elizabeth Thompson, legislative director of Environmental Defense, seemed to speak for many environmental groups when she said, "My voicemail wasn't full of a lot of requests from the administration."
straight to the source: Washington Post, Mike Allen, 22 Mar 2002 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64826-2002Mar21.html>
only in Grist: Confessions of an Energy Task Force member -- diary of Dick Cheney's secretive group discovered! -- satire in our opinions section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho062901.asp?source=daily>
ON THE WATER FRONT
More than 2.7 billion people will experience severe water shortages by 2025 if the world continues to consume water at the current rate, according to a U.N. report released today, which happens to be World Water Day. The report goes on to say that another 2.5 billion may be living in areas where it will be difficult or near impossible to meet their water needs. (Yep, two out of three people in the world could be up the creek with only a paddle, no water.) Semi-arid regions of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are most at risk. Already, 1.1 billion people in the world have no access to safe drinking water. The causes of the problem? Population growth, changing weather patterns, and mismanagement of existing water resources, the report says.
straight to the source: BBC News, 22 Mar 2002 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/newsid_1887000/1887451.stm>
only in Grist: Watership down -- the world is running low on H20 -- by Lester Brown <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho091900.stm?source=daily>
do good: Take action to give fresh water to those who need it <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/air.asp?source=daily#water>
APPLIANCE OF MY EYE
Meanwhile, drought conditions in parts of the U.S. are driving up sales of water-efficient toilets, faucets, laundry machines, dishwashers, and other appliances. Home Depot and Sears are among the companies benefiting from consumers' itch to shift away from water guzzlers. Sears spokesperson Larry Costello said water- and energy-efficient appliances now represent 17 percent of the company's appliance sales, compared to 10 percent a year ago. Shoppers appear to be motivated by new drought restrictions like those in New Jersey, where residents can be fined up to $5,000 per day for violating water-use limits.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Ellis Mnyandu, 22 Mar 2002 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15155/story.htm>
only in Grist: Wet's the matter -- fun with stats -- in our Counter Culture column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/counter/counter050300.stm?source=daily>
TRACK STARS
U.S. Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and Harry Reid (Nev.) yesterday proposed creating a national tracking system to monitor both chronic diseases and environmental pollution so that any correlations between the two could be more easily identified and studied. Last year, the two senators held hearings in Fallon, Nev., which is home to a cluster of childhood leukemia cases, and Long Island, N.Y., which is home to an above-average rate of breast cancer. Clinton said, "Whether these clusters are actual or perceived, the rates of chronic diseases in our country is, unfortunately, rising. And we don't know why." The findings of the proposed tracking system would be made public through a national environmental health report.
straight to the source: Long Island Newsday, Associated Press, 21 Mar 2002 <http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-cancer0322.story?coll=ny-nynews-reddots-headlines>
3/22/02
5:23:03 PM
EMS Update - March 22, 2002
Which Utilities Pollute the Most?
A report released on Thursday reveals wide disparities in air pollution emissions from the 100 largest electric generating companies. One key finding: among coal-fired plants, some companies had NOx emission rates twice as high as others, while SO2 emissions varied by a factor of four. The worst CO2 emissions rate for coal utilities was 34 percent higher than the best.
NRDC press release: http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/020321.asp
Senate Passes Diluted Green Energy Policy
The Senate on Thursday passed a weak renewable energy measure that will do very little to help America cut its dependence on fossil fuels, according to the Sierra Club.
AP story: http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/316845p-2708551c.html
3/22/02
5:17:11 PM
Report warns of severe water shortages by 2025 if global consumption continues
VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ More than 2.7 billion people will face severe shortages of fresh water by 2025 if the world keeps consuming water at today's rates, the United Nations warned Friday in a new report to mark World Water Day.
Worldwide, about 5 billion people will be living in areas where it will be difficult or impossible to meet all their needs for fresh water, creating ``a looming crisis that overshadows nearly two-thirds of the Earth's population,'' the report said.
It was released in Vienna by the International Atomic Energy Agency, a nuclear watchdog organization leading the United Nations' effort to draw attention to the world's water crisis and urge the launching of a ``blue revolution'' to conserve supplies and develop new ones.
``The simple fact is that there is a limited amount of water on the planet, and we cannot afford to be negligent in its use,'' said the IAEA's director, Mohamed ElBaradei. ``We can't keep treating it as if it will never run out.''
Already, an estimated 1.1 billion people have no access to safe drinking water, 2.5 billion lack proper sanitation and more than 5 million people die from waterborne diseases each year _ 10 times the number of casualties killed in wars around the globe, the report said.
Less than 3 percent of the world's water is fresh, and most of it is trapped in polar ice or buried underground in springs too deep to reach, it said. Freshwater lakes, rivers and reservoirs may seem numerous but provide just a drop in the bucket, the report said.
``Even where supplies are sufficient or plentiful, they are increasingly at risk from pollution and rising demand,'' U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement, warning that ``fierce national competition over water resources has prompted fears that water issues contain the seeds of violent conflict.''
The worst-affected areas are the deserts and semiarid regions of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where fresh drinking water is extremely scarce, in part because of the region's wildly variable climate and unfettered population growth, the World Meteorological Organization said.
Water ministers from 22 African countries have called for a regional and global alliance, backed by international funding, to tackle water and sanitation problems. Among the solutions, they say, are the development of desalination facilities that can turn salt water into drinking water.
Millions of women trudge long distances every day in search of water or send their children to look for it, meaning they miss opportunities to work, grow crops and attend school, the U.N. report said.
``Without adequate clean water, there can be no escape from poverty,'' said Klaus Toepfer, director of the U.N. Environment Program. ``Water is the basis for good health and food production. Mankind is always at its mercy.''
Source: http://www.waterday2002.iaea.org/
3/22/02
4:18:13 PM
Axis Of Evil -- In Washington, D.C.,
by Edward Herman
Coup d'etat president George W. Bush has designated three poor and unconnected states as an "axis of evil," reflecting this great moralist's sensitivity to good and evil. He has been subjected to a certain amount of criticism for this strong language even in the mainstream press, but nobody there has suggested that, as so common in this post-Orwellian world, such language might better fit its author and his associates.
There IS a political axis of evil running strong in the United States that underpins the Bush regime, which includes the oil industry, military-industrial complex (MIC), other transnationals, and the Christian Right, all important contributors to the Bush electoral triumph, and each of which has high level representation in the administration including, besides Bush himself, Cheney, Rumsfeld, O'Neill and Ashcroft.
This REAL axis of evil is using 9/11 and the "war on terrorism" to carry out its foreign and domestic agenda on a truly impressive scale, and so far without much impediment at home or abroad.
What is notable about their agenda is that it flies in the face of all of the requirements for peace, global democracy, economic equity and justice, ecological and environmental protection, and global stability. It represents the choice of an overpowerful country's elite, determined to consolidate their economic and political advantage in the short run, at whatever cost to global society.
They are accelerating all the ugly trends of militarization and globalization that have led to increasing violence, income polarization, and the vigorous protests against the World Trade Organization, IMF and World Bank.
Consider the following:
1. New arms race:
Even before 9/11 the Bush government was pushing for a larger arms budget and that gigantic boondoggle and offensive military threat, the National Missile Defense.
With 9/11 and the collapse of the Democrats, they are allocating many billions to anything the MIC wants, and with their more violent behavior and threats abroad, other countries will have to follow. This takes enormous resources from the civil society, and will exacerbate conflict based on cutbacks and pain for ordinary citizens. The same will be true across the globe.
Thus, the polarization of income effects of corporate globalization will be increased by this diversion of resources to weapons. As Jim Lobe notes, "Whatever hopes existed in the late 1990s for a new era of global cooperation in combating poverty, disease, and threats to the environment seem to have evaporated" (Dawn [Pakistan], Jan. 23, 2002).
The complete irrationality and irresponsibility of this arms budget surge is reflected in the fact that almost none of it has to do with any threat from Bin Laden and his forces. Weapons designed to combat Soviet tanks are going forward, as well as advanced new aircraft and a missile defense system that are hardly answering Bin Laden, but represent instead MIC boondoggles and a rush for complete global "full spectrum" military hegemony.
2. The new violence:
The Washington Axis has found that war and wrapping themselves in the flag is just what was needed to divert the public from bread and butter issues, inducing the public to revel instead in the game of war, rooting for our side while we beat up yet another small adversary, with perhaps others to follow.
As the great political economist Thorstein Veblen wrote with irony almost a century ago, "sensational appeals to patriotic pride and animosity made by victories and defeats...[helps] direct the popular interest to other, nobler, institutionally less hazardous matters than the unequal distribution of wealth or of creature comforts. Warlike and patriotic preoccupations fortify the barbarian virtues of subordination and prescriptive authority...Such is the promise held out by a strenuous national policy" (Theory of Business Enterprise [1904]).
The Bush team is threatening to beat up anybody who "harbors terrorists" or aims to build "weapons of mass destruction" without our approval. Israel is of course exempt from this rule and has been given carte blanche to smash the Palestinian civil society.
Bush and his handlers will decide who are terrorists, who harbors them, and who can build weapons. It is easily predictable that anybody who resists the corporate globalization process and tries to pursue an independent development path, will be found to violate human rights, harbor terrorists, or otherwise threaten U.S. "national security," with dire consequences.
Because the ongoing globalization process is increasing inequality and poverty, protests and insurgencies will continue to arise. The U.S. answer is spelled out clearly in the "war on terrorism" and simultaneous push for "free trade" and cutbacks in spending for the civil society at home and abroad.
The Washington Axis is also pursuing a "war on the poor" that will merge easily into the "war on terrorism," as the poor will be driven to resist and resistance will be interpreted as terrorism.
This is in a great U.S. tradition, brought to a high level in the overthrow of the democratic government of Iran in 1953 and installation of the Shah, the assassination of Guatemalan democracy by Eisenhower and Dulles in 1954, the war against Vietnam, and the U.S.-sponsored displacement of democratic governments by National Security States throughout South America in the 1960s and 1970s. They were wars allegedly against the "Soviet Threat," but really against the poor and the populist threat to "free trade.."
The Bush team obviously threatens even more violence than we witnessed in that earlier era. The military force they control is relatively stronger and without the Soviet constraint. With the help of the more centralized and commercialized media they have worked the populace into a state of war-game fervor.
They have brought back into the government some of the most fervent supporters of terrorism and death squads from the Reagan years in Otto Reich, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, John Negroponte, Elliott Abrams, and Lino Guterriez; men who can now work in a more killer- friendly environment.
3. Escalated support for authoritarian regimes.
The United States actively helped bring to power and supported large numbers of murderous regimes in the years 1945-1990, on the excuse of the Soviet Threat, but really because those regimes were suitably subservient to U.S. interests and willingly provided that crucial "favorable climate of investment" (especially, union-busting). With the Soviet Threat gone, for a while there was a problem finding rationalizations for the long-standing and structurally-rooted anti-populist and anti-democratic bias, but now we have the "war on terrorism," which will do quite nicely.
The Washington Axis has already leapt to the support of the military dictator of Pakistan, the ex-Stalinist boss of Uzbekistan, and it is clear that willingness to serve the "war on terrorism" will override any nasty political leadership qualities.
At the same time, as with Sharon in his escalated crackdown on the Palestinians and Putin in Chechnya, cooperation with the war will mean support for internal violence against dissidents and minorities, forms of state terrorism that will readily be interpreted as part of the "war on terrorism." Just as militarization and war do not conduce to democracy, the effects of mobilization of countries to support the Washington Axis of Evil's war will damage democracy globally.
4. Destabilization effects.
Corporate globalization has had a major destabilizing effect in the global economy, causing increased unemployment, civilian budget cuts, large-scale internal and external migrations, and environmental destruction. The more aggressive penetration of oil interests, in collusion with local governments in Nigeria, Colombia, and now Central Asia, and the new war on terrorism, should intensify destabilization trends.
5. The fight against democracy at home.
At every level the Bush team has fought against the basics of democracy and attempted to concentrate unaccountable governmental authority in its own hands. Militarization itself is anti-democratic, but the team has attempted to loosen constraints on the CIA and police, reduce public access to every kind of information, and constrain free speech.
They have put in place a secret government and are moving the country toward a more openly authoritarian government, and, if they can keep it going, their planned open-ended war on terrorism should serve this end well.
6. The Bush "vision" versus the "End of History."
This process does not comport well with Francis Fukayama's vision of the new peaceful, democratic order that would follow the death of the Soviet Union and triumph of capitalism.
Fukayama missed the boat on three counts. He failed to see that the end of the Soviet Union and termination of a socialist threat would also end the need to accommodate labor with social welfare concessions--in other words, that there could be a return to a pure capitalism such as Karl Marx described in the first volume of Capital.
Second, he failed to see that corporate globalization and greater capital mobility would make for a global "reserve army of labor" and weaken labor's bargaining power and political position.
Finally, he failed to recognize that without the Soviet Union's "containment" the United States would be freer to use force in serving its transnationals, forcing Third World countries to join the "free trade" nexus, and preventing them from serving the needs of their citizens (as opposed to the needs of the transnational corporate community).
As this entire process will involve further polarization and immiseration of large numbers, insurgencies are inevitable, justifying more militarization and an escalated war on "terrorism" in a vicious cycle.
What can be more frightening and dangerous to the world than facing the Washington Axis of Evil as the overwhelmingly dominant holder of "weapons of mass destruction," which it is seeking to improve and make more usable, with the elite's longstanding arrogance and self-righteousness at an all-time high, and with no countervailing force in sight? Bin Laden's threat is nothing by comparison.
What is more, the Bin Laden threat flows from U.S. actions, which played a crucial role in building up the Al-Qaeda network, and policies which have made a hell of the Middle East and polarized incomes and wealth across the globe. The cycle of violence will only be broken if the Washington Axis of Evil is defeated, removed from office, and replaced by a regime that aims to serve a broader constituency than oil, the MIC, the other transnationals, and the Christian Right.
Source: http://www.Zmag.org
3/22/02
4:00:33 PM
What Is Terrorism?
When does naivete segue into intellectual dishonesty? The current "War on Terrorism" - or is it officially "World War IV" as some of the neoconservative war lovers insist? - is providing an opportunity to examine this question. (...) A new Frankenstein monster - fashioned out of the entropic remains of previous and current wars conducted and/or supported by the American empire - was brought to life in the form of "international terrorism." (...) I have long been in favor of ending terrorism in the world, long before it became fashionable to war against only certain factions of it. But let us be more inclusive as to its sources. Let us put an end to terrorism, not with the use of bombs, tanks, nuclear weapons, and secret military trials, but bywithdrawing our support from that which makes terrorism not only possible, but necessary: political systems. Let us expand the front lines to include not simply the terrorist practices disapproved of by states, but the far more destructive, deadly, and dehumanizing practices of statism itself.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/shaffer13.html
WHY BUSH IS ADDICTED TO PERPETUAL WAR
The more we go after Islamist extremists, the more they'll go after us, breeding a perpetual war that Bush hopes will usher him in another term come November 2004. (...) The Bushies have lifted their reelection strategy straight out of Orwell's "1984," and not just by creating ominous-sounding agencies like the Office of Homeland Security, the supposedly-closed Office of Strategic Information, and a "Shadow Government." As in "1984," the Bush regime tolerates zero dissent -- a two-party system in name only has been distilled to one in which only Republicans express acceptable opinions. And an absence of follow-up attacks has been met by endless alerts, advisors and empty hysterics in the name of security, most recently culminating with Tom Ridge's much-mocked color-code warning system.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12654
National Missile Defense: Blowing The Whistle On Bad Science
http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/031402.html
Geov Parrish: It's Our War, Too: America's Role in Israel Seen Abroad But Not at Home
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=12975
3/22/02
3:56:30 PM
TomPaine.com
"Independent, commercial-free, public affairs reporting."
SINS OF THE FATHERS
Cogitations Of A 'Comfortable Catholic'
by M. W. Guzy
Worldly parishioners endorse the spiritual mission of the church while evading particulars they find inconvenient. Over time, this benign neglect of specifics has created a chasm between lay reality and liturgical doctrine.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5284
OPPORTUNITY IN ADVERSITY
Why A Political Consultant Celebrates Campaign Reform
by Kevin Reikes
Campaign finance reform has passed, and this political consultant says to Senator John McCain: "You don't want us to give you guys on Capitol Hill any more big money? We won't. We'll take our craft elsewhere."
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5288
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING AMERICAN
by Richard Blow
Just as the White House wants to expand the war on terrorism, it may be losing the public's attention -- because of it's censorship of combat coverage.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5287
Dispatch: Detroit
A DRIVE TOWARD FUEL EFFICIENCY?
Some Auto-Makers Push Forward Without The Governments Help
by Julie Halpert
Despite the recent defeat in Congress of a measure that would have raised fuel efficiency standards, carmakers feel pressured to design and produce less polluting vehicles. Some observers say what's at stake is nothing less than the future of the automobile.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5292
THE PERFECT STORM
Coming To A Coast Near You
by David Helvarg
Severe coastal storms are on the rise, and more homes than ever are in jeopardy. Will $520 billion in taxpayer-subsidized flood insurance become an unmanageable liability?
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/4068
Dispatch: Missouri
STOP STUDYING AND DO SOMETHING!
Charting A Course For The 'Big Muddy'
by Lester Graham
The government needs to stop studying problems along the Missouri River and do something about them, according to a report issued by the National Academy of Sciences.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5256
And from our CHECK IT OUT! department:
FAILURE, PUNISHMENT AND ANDREA YATES
Danielle Steel, whose 19-year-old son suffered from bipolar disorder and committed suicide, on the Yates trial:
"Every description of Yates' behavior, long before her devastating crime, shouts of deeply psychotic behavior," Steel says. Almost everyone agrees. The jurors showed compassion, and spared her life in a county where they have put the most people to death, in a crime that was as devastating as they come. She was too sick to put to death, but not sick enough to help? In grieving the deaths of five children, have we found solace in punishment (any kind we can bear to carry out), and thus failed justice and Andrea Yates? Why do we choose punishment over treatment? Why do we shout blame and show ignorance before we take responsibility and choose to help?
CHECK IT OUT! http://www.tompaine.com/check_it_out/
3/22/02
3:47:46 PM
Businessmen Make Boo-Boos
By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
Let us now take a walking tour of Washington, D.C., to see whether the Enron scandal has loosened corporate America's grip on our nation's capital. (Okay, the answer is no.)
At the White House yesterday, President Bush announced a 10-point plan that he said will "improve corporate responsibility and help protect America's shareholders."
It will not.
In fact, a quick analysis shows that the federal government already has the authority to implement Bush's proposals. No new laws are needed. It's merely a question of will power.
Even the toughest of the Bush ideas (#5 -- CEOs or other officers who clearly abuse their power should lose their right to serve in any corporate leadership positions) can be executed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today, right now, with no law changes.
But given that the top cop on the securities fraud beat in Washington is the accounting industry's former top lawyer -- that would be current SEC chair Harvey Pitt -- we may conclude this: there is no will, and there is therefore no way this Bush's 10-point proposal will "improve corporate responsibility."
It's all smoke and mirrors.
Let's remember that when Bush's Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill, last month proposed that corporate executives be held liable for their negligent wrongdoing, he was quietly sent packing.
Why?
When asked about why O'Neill's proposal was shot down, a senior administration official told reporters yesterday morning at the White House: "Businessmen can make boo-boos. When you invest in a company in which a businessman makes a mistake, a business judgment mistake, no one wants to have to have anyone be guaranteed for those returns." (Translation: can't hold the executive responsible for mistakes under the "business judgment rule.") "And we're trying to be very careful to steer away from that issue and still leave investors on the hook for the choices businessmen make about business." (No that is not a typo. According to the White House transcript, he said "on the hook.")
Let us now proceed across the street, to the Treasury Department annex, where the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has for years been engaged in a kind of protection racket -- enforcing the law against large corporations for alleged violations of the Trading with the Enemy Act, allowing the companies to settle those cases for a few thousand dollars, and yet never informing the public about those settlements.
Until last week, that is, when as a result of a lawsuit we filed last year, OFAC began releasing the documents detailing about 100 to 150 such cases from 1998 to 2000.
But still, the Treasury Department says it won't inform the public, in a timely manner, about which of our giant corporations are "trading with the enemy."
Let us now proceed cross town to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, where it is the tenth anniversary of the sentencing guidelines for corporate criminals.
These guidelines were drafted in 1991. They created a carrot-and-stick approach. If a corporation had a strong ethics program, an 800-number for whistleblowers, a compliance officer with teeth, but despite all of that, was still convicted of crime, a judge would give that "good" convicted corporation a lighter sentence.
If a corporation didn't have a strong ethics program and wantonly violated the law, the judge, under the sentencing guidelines would give that "bad" corporation a harsher sentence.
The result of the guidelines: there are now 800 corporations with ethics officers. The officers even have their own trade group -- the Ethics Officers Association.
But have the corporate crime sentencing guidelines reduced corporate crime? We doubt it.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission says it wants to know the answer, so it has announced the creation of a 15-member ad hoc panel to study the effect the guidelines have had on corporate crime.
But get this: 12 of the 15 members are corporate white collar criminal defense attorneys or others from the corporate sector. Why no one from the public interest community? Why no lawyers who sue corporations alleging wrongdoing? Why no legal scholars critical of corporate influence over our democracy? (The grip is tight.)
Let us now proceed to Capitol Hill, where Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is introducing legislation that would create a Federal Bureau of Audits.
Today, corporations hire their own auditors. If the auditors find something wrong and try to get it fixed, a corporation can lawfully fire the auditor and hire another more to its liking.
Kucinich's bill would require that publicly held companies go to the Federal Bureau of Audits and be assigned a government auditor.
It's one of the few reforms we've seen floated in recent months that has a chance of preventing future Enrons.
And yet, at the press conference where Kucinich announced his legislation, there were two reporters. And no co-sponsors.
The Democrats, who like the Republicans, are marinated in corporate cash and culture, see Kucinich's bill as too hot to handle.
The reason: accounting firms stand to lose tens of millions of dollars in auditing business to the federal government.
Let us now proceed down Pennsylvania Avenue, to the J. Edgar Hoover building, where the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is about to release it's yearly "Crime in the United States Report."
If history is a guide, the report will document all kinds of street crimes, but not even mention the wave of corporate crime and violence sweeping over our country -- this despite the well documented reality that corporate crime and violence inflicts far more damage on society than all street crime combined.
Let us now proceed uptown, to the K street corridor, where we find thousands of corporate lobbyists