11/17/00
6:37:46 PM
I host an online radio program and constantly talk about the environment, the rainforests.net site, hunger site, and much more. Check it out and pass it around www.NetRadioLive.com/Meria.html Appreciate any updates on environment for my Monday shows. Email me at Meria@MeriaHeller.com All shows are archived for listening to anytime, anyplace. We can make the 1% needed to save it all. Godspeed to all of you and us.
11/17/00
11:24:54 AM
EcoNet Alerts: November 17, 2000
Take Action to Help Stop Global Warming
U.S. negotiators continue to push for loopholes in the treaty that would allow the U.S. to avoid making significant domestic cuts in industrial sources of global warming pollution. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/974433959/index_html
People's Caravan 2000 on the Move
On November 13, 2000, the People's Caravan--"Citizens on the Move for Land and Food Without Poisons!"--began the long march from India to Bangladesh and the Philippines. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/974434209/index_html
Climate Summit Coverage from Corporate Watch
Corporate Watch is co-sponsoring the first ever Climate Justice Summit, timed to coincide with the high level climate talks underway. This summit puts a human face on global warming by providing the means for people impacted by the oil industry to call for the changes necessary to preserve both their communities and the entire Earth's ecological stability. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/974434394/index_html
EcoNet Headlines: November 17, 2000
U.S. Position Threatens to Derail Climate Change Negotiations
The United States has taken a tough stance regarding the compromises it is willing to make in this week's international climate change negotiations in the Netherlands. The U.S. position threatens to alienate the support of some environmental groups, which could be crucial to the successful implementation of the agreement. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974434891/index_html
Arctic Thunderstorms Are the Latest Signal of Changes in Climate
Electric storms in the high Arctic are among evidence of climate change being reported in a study by the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974435107/index_html
Climate Protection Policies Could Benefit U.S. Farmers
Despite warnings that curbing heat- trapping greenhouse gases would spell doom for US farmers, a new study released here Monday says there are several domestic proposals that could benefit both the climate and farmers. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974435250/index_html
Denmark's Heavy Metals Ban a World First
Denmark today announced that it is to become the first country in the world to impose a wide ranging ban on the heavy metal lead. The move is in defiance of opposition from a majority of European Union's 15 member states and a negative opinion from the European Commission's chief scientific committee. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974435340/index_html
Wild Atlantic Salmon Listed As Endangered
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service announced today that the wild Atlantic salmon in the state of Maine has been listed as endangered. Wild Atlantic salmon in Maine rivers are at an all time low and face a number of threats that could drive them to extinction. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974435497/index_html
Arctic's Small Whale Species Hunted in Record Numbers
The removal of hunting limits on narwhal has led to Canada's northern Inuit catching an unprecedented number of the animal. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974435692/index_html
Pressure Mounts on Japan to End Whaling Program
US President Bill Clinton, who is expected to meet with the Japanese Prime Minister later this week, is being urged to impose sanctions on Japan to stop its whale hunting. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974435829/index_html
Narmada Dam Protesters Battle Police to Meet World Bank Chief
Over a thousand environmental protesters today stormed police barricades in New Delhi, and marched up to the offices of the World Bank, demanding they be allowed to meet with visiting Bank president James Wolfensohn. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974436002/index_html
Mandela Spells Out Pros and Cons of Dams
The World Commission on Dams finally issued its ruling on Thursday - and it did not rule against dams. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974436161/index_html
Environmental Coalition Appeals Flagstaff Forest Restoration Model
An administrative appeal of the Fort Valley project - the forest thinning project that has become nationally known as the "Flagstaff Model" - was filed Nov 3 by the Southwest Forest Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity and the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974436347/index_html
As Others Debate and Hesitate, China Embraces GM Crops
"Gene-modified crops are not terrifying" read a recent headline in the state-run 'Guangming Daily', China's newspaper that focuses on science, technology and education. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974436465/index_html
Radio Waves Pose Invisible Danger
The growing global concern over the effects of wireless technology on human health is reflected by tougher exposure standards. However, in the United States the telecommunications industry continues to deny that there is cause for concern. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974436631/index_html
Shrimp Farming Does Not Reduce Rural Poverty
Myths abound about how the farmed-shrimp industry can alleviate rural povety, as the case of Thailand shows. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/974436755/index_html
11/17/00
11:18:43 AM
FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports
ACTION ALERT: Crucial Media Role in Recount Debate
November 16, 2000
Rarely have the U.S. media had a more important role to play in the nation's democratic process.
The election of the nation's next president appears to hang on the outcome in the single state of Florida. The Florida vote, in turn, may well hinge on whether or not hand recounts are conducted in some or all of the state's counties.
Essentially, this confusing election boils down to one issue: whether or not hand recounts will provide a more accurate count of the people's votes in Florida. Everyone agrees that the most accurate vote possible is necessary. But the two leading candidates make sharply different claims about how to achieve this.
According to Vice President Al Gore, "Machines can sometimes misread of fail to detect the way ballots are cast. And when there are serious doubts, checking the machine count with a careful hand count is accepted far and wide as the best way to know the true intentions of the voters."
Governor George W. Bush asserts the opposite: "Manual counting, with individuals making subjective decisions about voter intent, introduces human error and politics into the vote-counting process. Each time these voting cards are handled, the potential for errors multiplies. Additional manual recounts of votes that have been counted and recounted will make the process less accurate, not more so."
This issue, upon which the fate of the election hangs, is too important to be reported in terms of partisan charges and counter-charges. Yet this is how the issue has been covered in the media, particularly on the network newscasts. Despite pledges to "cut through all the smoke and spin" (CBS Evening News, 11/14/00), television coverage has not done so thus far. There has been very little discussion of the core issue-- whether hand counts or machine counts are the most accurate method of gauging the will of the electorate. Coverage that relies on language like "score one for the Democrats" (ABC World News Tonight, 11/15/00) does a disservice to viewers.
This is a question that calls for careful and independent reporting on the part of all media outlets. The findings of such investigations should be reported at least as prominently as the latest claims being made by the candidates' camps.
This is a critical moment for American democracy. The question of which candidate wins the state of Florida--and the White House-- may well depend on how well the media do their job. On November 15, ABC's Peter Jennings summed up the state of affairs this way: "It may be a civics lesson, but it's also a circus." Responsible media coverage could clarify the issue.
ACTION: Please contact network news outlets and ask them to independently investigate whether a manual recount is more or less likely to produce an accurate count of people's votes. Ask them to report the results of this investigation prominently.
CONTACT: NBC Nightly News Phone: 212-664-4971 or 202-885-4259 Fax: 202-362-2009 mailto:Nightly@nbc.com
ABC World News Tonight Phone: 212-456-4040 Fax: 212-456-2795 mailto:netaudr@abc.com
CBS Evening News Phone: 212-975-3691, 202-457-4385 Fax: 212-975-1893 mailto:audsvcs@cbs.com
11/17/00
10:23:06 AM
Please pressure the White House, call: 202-456-1111 to register no nuclear power "solution" for global warming. Visit http://environet.policy.net/grassroots to send a FREE fax to President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore encouraging them to promote a strong and meaningful treaty!
http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2000/11/11152000/reu_npow_40206.asp
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 16:26:38 EST From: magnu96196@aol.com Subject: Gore lines up against nuclear power
Source: <A HREF="http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2000/11/11152000/reu_npow_40206.asp
">http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2000/11/11152000/reu_npow_40206.asp</A>
Gore lines up against nuclear power
November 15, 2000
The nuclear power industry's hopes for a major new role in combating global warming were shaken Tuesday by the distribution of comments by Vice President Al Gore that he opposed such a move.
In a letter dated Nov. 3 Gore, who is still awaiting the result of the Nov. 7 presidential election that could put him in the White House, said nuclear should not be used as a means of cutting "greenhouse gases."
"I have disagreed with those who would classify nuclear energy as clean or renewable," Gore said in a letter to Harvey Wasserman of the Ohio-based Nuclear Information and Resources Center.
Gore said proposed U.S. legislation on restructuring the electricity sector excluded nuclear and large scale hydro electricity. "It is my view that climate change policies should do the same," he added.
The comments will be warmly welcomed by environmentalists who fear world governments meeting at a "climate summit" during the next two weeks might allow nuclear power to be promoted in developing countries as a way of combating global warming, because it does not emit the carbon dioxide which comes from fossil fuels.
Canada and Japan are pushing for such a policy.
The leader of the U.S. delegation at the talks, David Sandalow, told a news briefing: "The United States is open to discussion on this issue.
"We have expressed concerns. We have noted the challenges of cost, public acceptance, non-proliferation, waste and safety," he said.
Some 180 countries are meeting in The Hague to finalize the rules on implementing a 1997 U.N. agreement on cutting six gases believed to contribute to global warming.
http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/globalwarming2.html
Why Nuclear Power is Not the Solution to Global Warming
The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), Worldwatch Institute, and Sen. George Mitchell in his book, World on Fire have all spoken to the potential scale and cost of Carbon Dioxide offset through the use of nuclear.
"Slowing Global Warming: A Worldwide Strategy" by Christopher Flavin, World Watch Paper # 91 published by the Worldwatch Institute, October 1989
". …for nuclear power to offset even 5 percent of global carbon emissions would require that worldwide nuclear capacity be nearly doubled from today’s level. That means that nuclear is simply not a medium term option for slowing global warming."
World on Fire by Senator George Mitchell 1991
"…If nuclear plants replaced all coal-fired plants in the world, global warming could be cut by 20 to 30 percent by the middle of the next century (2050). But it would require bringing a nuclear power plant on line somewhere in the world every one to three days for the next forty years. The cost would be $9 trillion; the pace of construction would be ten times larger (greater?) than any the world has ever seen. Both figures are unthinkable. A totally safe reactor, a totally safe place to dispose of its deadly wastes, and a totally safe way to keep the wrong kind of nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands none of these things have been resolved. By the time they are resolved, if they ever can be, it will be too late. The projected global warming will be full upon us."
Greenhouse Warming: Comparative Analysis of Nuclear and Efficiency Abatement Strategies by Bill Keepin and Gregory Katz, Energy Policy, December 1988
The authors posit a conservative scenario in which one-half of non-fossil energy is supplied by nuclear power with a construction program beginning in 1988.
"…This results in a total nuclear installed capacity of 8,180 GW by the year 2025, equivalent to some 8000 large nuclear power plants. This represents a 20-fold increase in world nuclear capacity, requiring that nuclear plants be built at an average rate of one new 1000 MW plant every 1.61 days for the next 37 years. At an assumed cost of $1.0 billion/1000MW installed, this results in a total capitol cost of 8.39 trillion (1987) dollars, an average of $227 billion each year for 37 years to build the required nuclear plants. Total electricity generation cost is $31.48 trillion, or an average of $787 billion/year. The required capitol investment is economically infeasible for the developing world…"
The authors point out that even with a massive nuclear construction program, the use of fossil fuels will continue to grow.
" Thus, in this scenario, even bringing a new nuclear plant on line every day and a half for nearly four decades does not prevent annual CO2 emissions from steadily increasing to a value 60% greater than they are today."
11/17/00
10:18:18 AM
Here are the Reuters 'World Environment News' headlines for today and yesterday, proudly brought to you by Planet Ark.
Doing environmental research? Search our news archives at: http://www.planetark.org/searchhome.cfm
Captive baby dolphin better, "not out of the woods" - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8969
PG&E to purchase 44-MW Calif. wind power project - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8965
Green group criticises UK agency over gene ruling - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8967
Sweden awash, told to prepare for climate change - SWEDEN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8970
INTERVIEW - Shell says worried by growing theft of Nigerian crude - NIGERIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8976
EU gives surprise welcome to US proposal on climate - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8960
World religions pledge to conserve environment - NEPAL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8961
Leak at Japan nuclear plant said not radioactive - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8966
Japan consumers protest against US biotech corn - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8968
More heavy rains hammer north Italy, outlook poor - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8972
French power law unlikely to bring competition - IEA - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8973
UPDATE - Byrne rules out EU meat/ bone meal ban for now - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8975
Finnish Green minister questions new nuke funding - FINLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8964
EU to curb North Sea fishing as cod stocks dwindle - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8959
Czech EU talks put off over Temelin nuclear plant - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8963
EC backs fuel tax breaks for truckers with limits - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8971
China threatens to shut polluting firms by year-end - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8962
Australian salinity crisis threatens farms - audit - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8974
FEATURE - Arctic refuge fate may hinge on presidential result - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8988
UPDATE - Virginia Power agrees to cut plant emissions - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8998
Chiquita signs on to eco-friendly banana project - WSJ - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8981
Physicians, biologists on EPA panel analyzing bio-corn - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8982
USDA launches StarLink testing of corn exports - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8996
US report offers steps to fight global warming - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8995
IFAW urges US to take tough line on Japan whaling - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8990
UPDATE - EBRD chief backs Chernobyl replacement loan - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8978
Report criticises dams for human, environmental cost - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8980
Most top UK firms doing nothing on global warming - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8991
McDonald's asks suppliers to stop using GM feeds - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8986
Slovak govt approves EU-required law on waste - SLOVAKIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8977
Spain farm group would accept meat/bone meal ban - PORTUGAL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8987
EU blasts US climate plan as "free gift" - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8985
Akzo to cut chlorine transport if govt pays - report - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8997
Climate row - Amazon "sink" or lungs of the planet? - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8979
Japan detects StarLink in imported corn for feed - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8984
Animal rights group threatens to cow Indian state - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8989
France to store banned animal feed at army sites - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8999
ANALYSIS - Finland heads for heated nuclear power debate - FINLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8983
Canadian Scientists warn of risks as Arctic warms up - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8994
Clinton tells Japan's Mori to restrain whaling - BRUNEI http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8992
Australian state curbs wild horse shooting - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8993
11/16/00
8:06:20 PM
A BRIGHT NEW AGE ?
We awake in the world of tomorrow. The bright blue sky forever gone, Now a dreary, smog gray. It’s all a thing of the past. Pond and lakes, All filled in, paved over. Peaceful forests, vibrant wildlife. No place to live, they are gone forever. Where the moon once silhouetted the trees, Is yet another city skyline. Technology and mankind will never cease. Growing, expanding, Destroying all in their path. The ocean is now our dumping ground, No longer teeming with life. Graceful whales, sleek dolphins; Now only pictures in long, forgotten books. Supple tigers, powerful lions, brilliant tropical birds, The majestic mountain gorilla; The rainforest, their only home, Completely gone. All have traveled the way of the dinosaur, Never to return. The soil of the earth, Dead and polluted, No longer able to support life. The farms have all disappeared, Can’t harvest what won’t grow. When will mankind realize That money cannot be eaten?
This is one poem that I wrote on my opinion of today's so-called "wonderful" technology. The way I see, the more technology mankind creates, the deeper the grave they are digging for all of us.
-Rachel Gross Kittanning, Pa
11/16/00
7:58:31 PM
Cannot finish project so "www.MuhammadAli.TV" is available for sale. Will consider all offers. colin-w@colinsmail.com
Thank you colin
11/16/00
5:16:57 PM
FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports
MEDIA ADVISORY: Media Vs. Democracy
November 16, 2000
With the outcome of the U.S. presidential election still unclear, mainstream media are emphasizing electoral "closure" over the question of who actually won the election.
Almost immediately after the vote, calls for Al Gore to either proceed slowly or to concede with dignity-- even before final vote tallies were in-- began to appear. Some pundits even argued that calls for a more accurate count of the Florida vote were somehow undemocratic: "The nation's stability is more important than whichever side falls upon the spoils of office," wrote David Nyhan (Boston Globe, 11/10/00). "The country should not be put through the wringer. The system is more important than either man or either party."
After Gore withdrew his concession, Fox News Sunday's Tony Snow commented (11/12/00) that "his decision made the poisonous political atmosphere in Washington even more toxic. Gore has established a precedent for turning elections into legal circuses and giving the final word not to voters but to squadrons of lawyers."
On MSNBC (11/8/00), Mike Barnicle of the New York Daily News thought an early concession might actually be to Gore's advantage: "This could be Al Gore's moment. It could be the moment where he finally gets the chance to live up to his great father's ideals and have the courage to step aside."
For some, a Gore concession has a noble historical parallel: Richard Nixon's decision to bow out in 1960 instead of contesting the perceived voting irregularities. Liberal columnist David Nyhan (11/10/00) recalled it as Nixon's "most magnaminous act," while the New York Times (11/9/00) and U.S. News and World Report (11/20/00) referred to Nixon's own memoirs to prove the claim that Nixon bowed out to avoid being labeled a "sore loser." Liberal columnist Richard Reeves said of Nixon on the op-ed page of the New York Times (11/13/00): "He understood what recounts, lawsuits and depositions carried out over months-- even years-- would do to the nation."
These comments appear to make the unwise move of taking Nixon's memoirs at face value. As an essay by David Greenberg in Slate (10/16/00) points out, legal challenges in 1960 were actually widespread: Greenberg notes that Republicans "succeeded in obtaining recounts, empanelling grand juries, and involving U.S. attorneys and the FBI," with the outcome in 11 states coming under scrutiny from Nixon aides.
In the name of stability and keeping up international appearances, many national media outlets declared the unclear election results a "crisis," calling for a quick resolution. NBC's Tim Russert (Nightly News, 11/8/00) warned that Gore "can't extend it to too long, nor can he become a whiner about Florida at some point," and offered this advice, particularly to Gore and his advisors:
"If they continue then to file lawsuits and begin to contest various areas of the state, then people will begin to suggest, 'uh-oh, this is not magnanimous. This is being a sore loser.' I think the vice president understands that as well.... If it starts dragging into petty politics and we get to Thanksgiving and we still don't know who our president is, I think the public will not have much patience with the candidate they believe is dragging it out."
In fact, most public opinion polls suggest that citizens are taking a much more reasonable approach to the situation than some of the elite media, supporting a process that emphasizes fairness rather than speed. A Newsweek poll found that 75 percent of respondents "preferred removing 'all reasonable doubt' about the Florida voting rather than 'getting matters resolved as soon as possible.'" An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll (11/13/00) found that 55 percent of respondents favored the idea of recounting ballots, even if the process takes several weeks.
CNN's Larry King, though, seemed to have trouble reading these results. "The public, though, polls show they want it finished," he commented to a guest (11/13/00). "The public at least thus far does want it finished. Does that surprise you?" In a November 13 editorial, the New York Times insisted that there is "mounting public impatience with the delay in determining the outcome of the presidential election."
One reason media might perceive a "crisis" is that much of the discussion, particularly on television, has relied on partisan debate, with representatives of the Bush and Gore camps squaring off on any number of issues. In such an environment, the issues that need serious investigation-- stories of voter manipulation, the refusal to allow legitimate voters their right to vote-- are not pursued, while some of the more dubious arguments about the vote circulate over and over again.
Nightline's November 9 broadcast was one of the worst examples in this category, as Ted Koppel chose to only interview three senior Bush aides about ballot irregularities. Not surprisingly, they were not impressed with the complaints from citizens that their ballots were unclear or confusing; Koppel did not subject his guests to tough questioning.
Conservative media even charged Al Gore with trying to steal the election: Columnist George Will (Washington Post, 11/12/00) wrote that "all that remains to complete the squalor of Gore's attempted coup d'etat is some improvisation by Janet Reno, whose last Florida intervention involved a lawless SWAT team seizing a 6-year-old. She says there is no federal role, but watch for a 'civil rights' claim on behalf of some protected minority or some other conjured pretext."
The comment about a "protected minority" seems to be a reference to the complaints of voter fraud and intimidation coming from African-American communities in Florida. Despite the almost around-the-clock media attention given the election story, few media outlets have pursued these stories-- for example, the charge that perhaps thousands of mostly black Gore supporters were given ballots that had already been marked (Times of London, 11/13/00). The NAACP has been taking testimony from voters who charge they were intimidated and harassed at various polling places. The Congressional Black Caucus has also called for further investigation into these allegations.
Investigative coverage of the democratic process may be too much to ask of some media heavyweights. As Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly explained (Washington Post, 11/11/00): "You're trapped in a box full of numbers. With Monica Lewinsky, you could say, 'She's a tramp,' 'She's not a tramp'; you could do psychoanalysis. This is a one-dimensional story. You have to keep looking for new angles."
In a situation that goes to the heart of the American democratic process, it's unfortunate that some in the media seem to have trouble finding "new angles."
11/16/00
2:54:56 PM
Due to work constraints I cannot finish project, so "www.MuhammadAli.tv" is for sale. Email colin-w@colinsmail.com with offers-all will be considered as I wish to sell within 7 days. thanks colin
11/16/00
1:37:52 PM
From: "Dave Hartley" <ashevillecomputer@home.com> Subject: Cannabis decriminalization in UK? Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000
You can think of this as a rumor if you like - I am constrained from revealing sources or naming names.
Very highly placed leader in UK's New Labour government believes criminalization of pot to be wrong. 130 MP's (member of parliament) are in favor of medicinal cannabis, and 30 MP's are in favor of Holland-style "coffee shops" (smoke shops.)
Decriminalization in the UK would be a great move in the right direction. "Drugwar" and the prohibition which empowers the huge $corruption of DrugProfits and drives the prison/industrial/military complex and facist-style militarization of civilian police should be winding down as decriminalization gathers strength.
Dave Hartley, Senior VP http://www.earthcomp.com
AND PALDEN JENKINS REPLIED:
From: Palden Jenkins <palden@globalnet.co.uk> Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 Subject: Re: Cannabis decriminalization in UK ?
Dear Dave
Truth is, as from a few weeks ago, Cannabis was unofficially decriminalised in UK, in de facto practice. It is the police and public opinion who have decided this. Politicians have thus become a tad more isolated than before, holding to the obsolete de jure position which has lasted for thirty years. We've moved closer to the great exposure time when it is revealed that few members of our government have not smoked cannabis, and many of them still do so today. Add in younger royalty and many other 'scions of society' too. The law, in a real sense of its de facto applicability, has already changed, and the rest is just delayed formality. The key issue here, politically, is the alleged 'special relationship' between UK and USA, which is weakening annually as our interests separate: it is only USA which really drives the global 'war against drugs', and to some extent it is one of America's wars against the world - another major issue heading soon for major exposure.
You might be interested to know that I shall soon be publishing a new free online book called 'The Longest War - the sad story of the War against Drugs' at http://www.isleofavalon.co.uk/longestwar.html , written by a top British high court barrister and member of the California Bar - but it won't be online until around 1st December.
Wishing well
Palden Glastonbury, England webmaster http://www.isleofavalon.co.uk
FOR MORE ON THE DRUG WAR IN THE US, CHECK THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE EXCELLENT PBS FRONTLINE "Drug Wars: Part Two" WHICH WAS AIRED LAST October 10, 1000 AT:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/etc/transcript2.html
11/16/00
1:35:29 PM
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 From: Ellen Thomas <prop1@prop1.org> Subject: Votescam: the Stealing of America
On 11/9/2000, you wrote:
"It is getting more and more clear that a major electoral fraud has been happening in Florida"
Victoria Collier, the daughter of jouranlist Jim Collier who, with his brother Ken, wrote the book "Votescam: the Stealing of America," is on radio talk shows all over the country in the wake of the Florida fiasco. The Collier brothers unearthed rampant vote fraud in some of the very same counties in Florida involved in this election. You might want to visit http://www.votescam.com and you'll surely find the book interesting.
Ellen Thomas Proposition One Committee PO Box 27217, Washington DC 20038 202-462-0757 -- fax 202-265-5389 prop1@prop1.org -- http://prop1.org
HERE IS WHAT I FOUND AT THIS WEBSITE:
The Stealing of America
This book is the culmination of a twenty five year investigation into computer vote fraud. Journalists James and Kenneth Collier answer the question."Why can't we vote the bastards out?" And the answer is, "Because we didn't even vote the bastards in!"
"Votescam" will fill in the blanks for anyone who senses their vote is worthless, but doesn't know why. It tracks down, confronts, and calls the names of Establishment thieves who elegantly steal the American vote for their own profit. It comes face to face with the Supreme Court Justice who buried the vote fraud evidence; the most powerful female publisher in America, who won't permit her newspapers and television stations to expose vote rigging; the Attorney General who jailed Collier rather than expose the truth; and a cast of weak-kneed and corruptible politicians, lawyers, and newspeople who are entangled in this massive crime and are yet to be held accountable. The Colliers's wish was that this book be used as evidence in a Congressional hearing.
First published in 1992, immediately banned in major chain bookstores, "Votescam" has sold over 30,000 copies by word of mouth.
AND YOU WILL ALSO FIND:
Do The Math: Election Returns Don't Add Up By James Collier, Media Bypass Magazine at http://www.votescam.com/new.html
The seeds for the rigging of 1996 primaries were planted in 1964 when, within months of the JFK assassination, a power frenzy was unleashed in Washington. The CIA, FBI and the nation's most powerful media heads met in secret. The media agreed not to challenge the Warren Commission's preposterous conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman. In return, the media gained the right to be the official vote-counting apparatus for presidential elections. This incident was documented in reports from the Air Force Staff College and American University.
The deal was struck and News Election Services (NES) was founded. Today, that network pool of NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, AP, the New York Times, Washington Post and others has a tote-board at 225 W. 34th St. in New York City. When Brokaw, Jennings, Rather and CNN tell the public on election night, at 7:01 pm EST, "We are the first with the most," they all lie. Just like Pravda, they get the same numbers from the NES board.
The networks also own the exit-polling unit, Voter Research and Survey (VRS). That allows them to announce who won the presidency at 7:01 p.m., before a single vote is counted. The numbers do not change, and are always 100 percent correct. NES merged with VRS and is now known as Voter News Service (VNS).
CLIP
Also from http://www.votescam.com/new.html
The Greates Cover-Up Of All: Vote Fraud In America By James J. Condit, Jr.
CLIP Despite the brutal cover up that has been conducted for going on date decades by the newsmedia and the major parties to prevent you from hearing about this issue, some major media news items have appeared. In a rare but superb news story on the eve of the 1988 Presidential election, Dan Rather (CBS Evening News) engaged in this exchange with computer expert Howard J. Strauss of Princeton University:
Rather: "Realistically, could the fix be put on in a national election?"
Strauss: "Get me a job with the company that writes the software for this program. (ed- Strauss was referring to the most common computer program in use) Then I'd have access to one third of the votes. Is that enough to fix a general election?"
"A House Without Doors"
In an earlier clip during this CBS interview, Howard J. Strauss dropped ft bombshell: "When it comes to computerized elections, there are no safeguards. It's not a door without locks, it's a house without doors."
WHO COUNTS THE AMERICAN VOTE?
Despite the wide-spread, and perfectly reasonable belief that the government counts the national vote on election night, the reality is entirely different: The vote is counted by a little-known private corporation named Voter News Services (VNS) located in New York City. VNS is a major media conglomerate comprised of all the major networks, including Fox and CNN, and also the wire services, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. All of the vote results tabulated in each county, mainly by computer, are transferred to VNS where they are tabulated in secret and disseminated to the public, who accepts them without question. The computer tabulated votes at the county level leave no paper trail. Only the corporations who program the software to count votes in each state know for sure if the results are fair, or if fraud has indeed been been committed. There are no checks and balances. The software is not open to public scrutiny. Neither is VNS.
Created in 1970 as News Election Services (NES), VNS has existed in near total secrecy for thirty years and may well be the most powerful corporation in the world. Most people who know of their existence incorrectly believe they are little more than a polling organization. The fact is that they have co-opted the vote count in America, despite their claims that the results they disseminate are "unofficial." These results are accepted across the board on election night by Americans and election officials. VNS is very well aware of this uncontested power. They know that very few Americans have the time or inclination to challenge the vote count. They also know that when they are challenged, they have little to fear. Understandably, they have responded to accusations of vote fraud with the arrogance befitting the power of a private and unaccountable media corporation.
On May 18th, E. Baylis, a reporter for the Asheville Global Report called VNS and requested information about their organization. Ms. Baylis spoke with Lee C. Shapiro, the press secretary for VNS. The simple conversation was quickly aborted when Baylis asked if a citizen watchdog group existed to oversee the function of VNS on election night. Shapiro replied that she was "not going to get into this with you," and insisted she had a meeting to attend.
11/16/00
1:24:40 PM
From: CINDIPACHA@aol.com Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 Subject: Imagine
Hi Folks... I got this in the email and thought it quite thought provoking...would love any feedback you have for or against...
Cindi Fisher
"A history professor from uppsala universitet in Sweden, called to tell me about an article she had read in which a Zimbabwe politician was quoted as saying that children should study this event closely for it shows that election fraud is not only a third world phenomena.
1. Imagine that we read of an election occuring anywhere in the third world in which the self-declared winner was the son of the former prime minister and that former prime minister was himself the former head of that nation's secret police (CIA).
2. Imagine that the self-declared winner lost the popular vote but won based on some old colonial holdover (electoral college) from the nation's pre-democracy past.
3. Imagine that the self-declared winner's 'victory' turned on disputed votes cast in a province governed by his brother!
4. Imagine that the poorly drafted ballots of one district, a district heavily favoring the self-declared winner's opponent, led thousands of voters to vote for the wrong candidate.
5. Imagine that that members of that nation's most despised caste, fearing for their lives/livelihoods, turned out in record numbers to vote in near-universal opposition to the self-declared winner's candidacy.
6. Imagine that hundreds of members of that most-despised caste were intercepted on their way to the polls by state police operating under the authority of the self-declared winner's brother.
7. Imagine that six million people voted in the disputed province and that the self-declared winner's 'lead' was only 327 votes. Fewer, certainly, than the vote counting machines' margin of error.
8. Imagine that the self-declared winner and his political party opposed a more careful by-hand inspection and re-counting of the ballots in the disputed province or in its most hotly disputed district.
9. Imagine that the self-declared winner, himself a governor of a major province, had the worst human rights record of any province in his nation and actually led the nation in executions.
10. Imagine that a major campaign promise of the self-declared winner was to appoint like-minded human rights violators to lifetime positions on the high court of that nation.
None of us would deem such an election to be representative of anything other than the self-declared winner's will-to-power. All of us, I imagine, would wearily turn the page thinking that it was another sad tale of pitiful pre- or anti-democracy peoples in some strange elsewhere."
11/16/00
1:15:18 PM
Scientist casts doubt on Yucca
Today: November 15, 2000 at 11:19:51 PST
Fault deposits suggest flooding could occur
BY MARY MANNING LAS VEGAS SUN
RENO--A Nuclear Regulatory Commission consultant cast doubt Tuesday on the geologic safety of a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
Mary Beth Gray, an independent scientist from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., said she has discovered evidence in one of four types of earthquake faults at Yucca Mountain in which minerals were deposited by a significant amount of water.
The finding could contradict federal claims that any ground water in Yucca Mountain within the past million years was deposited by rain and not hot water rising from deep beneath the mountain.
Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site being studied for a repository for 77,000 tons of spent fuel from nuclear power plants and defense waste. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission would have the final say on whether a repository would be allowed to open.
Gray's work is important in the decision to license Yucca Mountain, NRC geologist Bret Leslie said.
If flooding of the repository by hot ground water occurred in the past 10,000 years, that raises the possibility that the site could flood again during the lifetime of the repository, he said. Such a flood could corrode the casks holding waste and release dangerous levels of radiation into the environment.
Gray's research keeps the question of possible flooding open, Leslie said, despite a report released earlier Tuesday by a UNLV scientific team led by Jean Cline and Nicholas Wilson that found the mountain is dry enough for a repository.
Cline and Wilson's work, which centered on dating samples to determine how long ago water invaded the mountain, showed that no water from deep within the earth had entered the repository area in more than 2 million years.
Gray looked at four types of faults and found one type that had not been studied by federal scientists. That type, called a Type B fault, contained calcite deposits that could have been left by hot underground water.
"The features in the faults don't support a trickle," Gray said after her presentation Tuesday afternoon at the Geological Society of America meeting this week.
Gray said she had not dated the mineral, so it could have been deposited yesterday or millions of years ago.
Gray urged the Department of Energy, which would build the world's first high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain by 2010 if it is approved, to conduct further research on the calcite found in the faults.
The DOE has not addressed the mineral found in the complex faults, Gray said.
A Russian scientist working for the state of Nevada also reported evidence Tuesday that calls into question the suitability of a repository at Yucca Mountain and questioned Cline's findings in the UNLV study.
Yuri Dublyansky of the Russian Academy of Sciences said he found evidence that hot, deep water had invaded the repository site, 1, 000 feet beneath Yucca's surface, in recent geological history.
Dublyansky, who now works for the state Nuclear Projects Office, said he found the mineral fluorite within calcite mineral layers that are only thousands of years old. Such deposits would indicate that water has invaded the site from below within the past hundreds of thousands of years, he said.
A congressional mandate in 1987 required scientists to determine whether geothermal water had entered the area in the past 1.5 million years.
During a lengthy debate with USGS and other scientists, Dublyansky said he had not followed the strict requirements set by the DOE for collecting his 40 mineral samples and had not recorded temperatures at his collection sites.
The USGS, like UNLV, has not found any indication that fluorite from deep water entered the repository in 9 million years, USGS scientist James Paces said.
UNLV, USGS and the state teamed up more than a year ago to study the 1983 theory of former DOE geologist Jerry Szymanski, who said that hot, deep water rises into the repository periodically.
The UNLV team collected 155 samples of Yucca's minerals throughout the 5-mile-long tunnel dug by the DOE to explore the mountain. Those samples were carefully cut, prepared and shared with the USGS and the state scientists.
UNLV's Wilson said he had found no evidence, even under the most sensitive microscopic probe provided by $1.4 million in DOE funds, that fluorite existed in Yucca's younger layers of rock.
Szymanski's theory was rejected by most scientists until Dublyansky presented new evidence in the mid-1990s that prompted the DOE to commission the UNLV study.
11/16/00
1:09:28 PM
a lovewave message
hello everybody ! Please take a few moments of your time and read this mail. And if you are fascinated by the idea and you think that the lovewave idea is supportable - copy the text in a new mail and let every possible people know about. As also the people who do not have access to the internet would perhaps like to join the idea, it would be very good, if you could tell it to you friends and relatives ... and also to people you do not ( yet ) know. If you are gifted in languages, kindly improve the translations that are already included or translate the text into other languages in order to be attached. Send also a copy to lovewave@lovexchange.com for the extension of the lovewave website. wave of love 010101 The feeling, with which you start something, is likely to acompany you the following time ... wouldn't it be beautiful to start the new year 2001, the new millennium with the strongest feeling in the world, namely the love ? Of course you know what 100 000s of people can experience watching a sport game or listening to a concert --- the same enthusiastic feeling at the same time --- we all 6 billion humans can experience that great common energy, when we think, feel, say or express otherwise the same feeling at the same time, for example the words "i love you" / "i love the world" / "i love to live" in any language --- "i love you" to the people we know, people we do not know, to both our friends and enemies, "i love you" to mother earth, to all beings --- let us do this wave of love for the first time at new year's eve 2001 ... to welcome a new age at 010101 --- as one nation, one race, one unity of love
in order to find a kind of plan, there are three possibilities to join the first wave of love as far as time is concerned: 1: within the 48 hours from the beginning of 31.12.2000 till the end of 01.01.2001 i think, feel, say or express otherwise " i love you " 2: within 31.12.2000 23.45 pm and 0.15 am of 01.01.2001 of my local time i think, feel, say or express otherwise " i love you " 3: within 31.12.2000 23.45 pm and 01.01.2001 0.15 am greenwich main time (gmt ) i think, feel, say or express otherwise " i love you " these three possibilities allow people all over the world at one side to freely chose the moment to participate in the global lovewave and on the other side the greatest focussing of attention will be at possibility three you can visit a website of the lovewave at http://www.8ung.at/abc/lovewave.html and see the global ongoing actions connected to this idea and you can also interact there in a messageboard ( forum )
11/16/00
1:07:15 PM
Nov. 16, 2000
Seattle Coalition Targets U.S., European Corporate Chiefs' Globalization Conference in Cincinnati
Citizen Summit at the Meeting of the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) Spotlights Risks to Democracy, Environment, Labor and Human Rights
CINCINNATI -- A coalition of U.S. and European CEOs meeting in private with government officials to obtain special interest policy changes is threatening domestic laws that protect consumers, workers and the environment, representatives of key consumer and environmental groups said today.
Meanwhile, the U.S. public remains largely unaware of this backdoor attack on food safety and other public interest safeguards, the representatives said. Over the past several years, the coalition, called the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), has seen half of its hundred-plus globalization policy demands become law in the U.S. and European governments.
Public Citizen, Coalition for a Humane Economy, Buckeye Forest Council, Farm Labor Organizing Committee and other groups are holding a teach-in, a rally and other events to spotlight the TABD, which is holding three days of closed-door meetings between CEOs and high-level U.S. and European Union (EU) officials in Cincinnati on Nov. 16-18. The protests aim to raise public awareness about the powerful TABD, which to date has operated with impunity.
"The era of backroom deal-making on corporate managed trade and the resulting corporate-led globalization is over," says Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. "As we near the anniversary of the Seattle victory halting WTO expansion, the message is clear: From Seattle to D.C., from Perth to Prague, and now in Cincinnati, regular folks say 'enough' to anti-democratic corporate globalization and are demanding better."
The TABD is a coalition of U.S. and European CEOs mainly from large multinational corporations. The TABD started in 1995 at the suggestion of then-Commerce Secretary Ron Brown to allow special direct corporate access to U.S. and EU governments. The TABD agenda calls for dismantling domestic safety, environmental and human rights policies, which it dubs to be "the new obstacles to trade " in its 2000 mid-year report. TABD has also led the push to expand the WTO.
"Corporate America is buying influence and access to government officials and citizens have no say in the matter," says Susan Heitker of the Buckeye Forest Council. "With workers, consumers, environmentalists and others locked out, important public health, worker safety and environmental protections are vulnerable to being traded away."
A local Ohio coalition of fair trade activists, environmentalists and faith-based groups have planned a variety of activities to protest the TABD presence in Cincinnati.
"Ohioans believe in fair trade and fair play," says Sister Alice Geredman, spokesperson for the Coalition for Humane Economy, "We don't like the idea of transnational companies like Chiquita and Proctor and Gamble meeting behind closed doors with governments to set the trade agenda for all of us. Only when ordinary citizens, environmental, consumer and labor groups have the same access to international government officials can we ensure deals are not being cut that trade away our most treasured protections."
11/15/00
7:49:58 PM
when the world is full of arseholes-you've gotta expect shit
11/15/00
5:25:22 PM
U.S. Now a 'Threat' in China's Eyes By John Pomfret Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, November 15, 2000; Page A01
BEIJING -- In 1998, when China issued its second white paper on national defense, representing the consensus view of the government, the document mentioned the United States 10 times, each time positively. Last month, China's third white paper mentioned the United States 13 times. All but two of the references were negative.
The numbers underscore an important shift that will likely vex the next U.S. administration. Faced with what it feels is a shaky security environment and a strong and sometimes arrogant America, Beijing has increasingly viewed the United States as an obstacle to its rise as an Asian power.
In government pronouncements, stories in the state-run press, books and interviews, the United States is now routinely portrayed as Enemy No. 1. Strategists writing in the pages of China Military Science, the military's preeminent open-source publication, are grappling publicly with the possibility that the United States and China could go to war, specifically over Taiwan.
"A new arms race has started to develop," wrote Liu Jiangjia, an officer in the People's Liberation Army, in a piece in the magazine. "War is not far from us now."
The new calculus is rooted in a belief that the United States does not want to see China strong and powerful--a belief that has united officials of many political persuasions. Even moderate academics express the fear that the two countries, despite $95 billion in trade last year, are somehow headed for a showdown in Asia in the next 10 years.
"China's public view of the United States has changed quite seriously since 1998," said Shen Dingli, a prominent arms control expert at Fudan University in Shanghai. "The U.S. has been painted as a threat to Asian-Pacific security. We've never said it so bluntly before. . . . I think China is more clearly preparing for a major clash with the United States."
While few in China, except for some strategists in the army, seem to think war is inevitable, the fact that conflict with the United States is openly discussed is a significant development in China's security thinking and in its relations with the United States.
The United States is now perceived as opposing Beijing's two premier goals in the region: unification with Taiwan, thereby ending what the Communist Party has called 150 years of humiliation at the hands of foreigners; and gaining control over the strategic shipping lanes in the South China Sea, through which the bulk of Asia's oil passes.
But while China is increasingly united in its view of the United States as a possible adversary, the leadership does not appear united on how to deal with the challenge. Beijing's current policy is a modification of the policy pursued by dictator Mao Zedong in the 1950s. The country supports many policies that the United States opposes--regarding Iraq, Iran and former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic--and questions some key policies that the United States supports--such as humanitarian intervention in other countries and nonproliferation of missiles.
In some ways the tussles over how to handle Washington mirror those in the United States regarding China. Americans argue about engaging or containing Beijing; Chinese argue about engaging or confronting the United States. The United States has its "Blue Team," a group of politicians, academics and political aides who are concerned with the China threat.
"And we have our 'Red Team,' " said Li Dongsi, a political scientist at People's University, referring to a vocal group of anti-American nationalists in research organizations, the military and security services.
"There is no clear sense of direction," said Shi Yinhong, an international relations specialist. "Positing the U.S. as a threat is too simple. It gives us no answers on how we are going to deal with continued U.S. dominance, how we are to deal with the worldwide trend in democratization, how we are to deal with globalization and with the loss of sovereignty implied by our accession into the WTO," the World Trade Organization.
China's views on the United States have always been contradictory; one term for the United States translates as "beautiful imperialist." But in the last two years, a cascade of bad news has increased China's misgivings about Washington.
Beijing's view of America has been soured by a combination of events: NATO's expansion; the strengthening of U.S.-Japan defense guidelines regarding joint action in the areas surrounding Japan; a congressional report alleging two decades of Chinese espionage in the United States; Premier Zhu Rongji's tough visit to the United States in April 1999 when he failed to secure an agreement on Chinese membership in the WTO.
In addition, China has been disturbed by talk in Washington of a national missile defense system and talk that such a system might be sold to Taiwan. The May 1999 allied bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade during NATO's air war against Yugoslavia, which killed three Chinese journalists, outraged China, which declined to accept Washington's explanation that it was an accident.
"No fundamental change has been made in the old, unfair and irrational international political and economic order," last month's defense white paper said. "Certain big powers [the United States] are pursuing 'neo-interventionism,' 'neo-gunboat policy' and neo-economic colonialism, which are seriously damaging the sovereignty, independence, and development interests of many countries, and threatening world peace and security."
Central to this premise is Washington's relationship with Taiwan, an island of 23 million people that China generally views as a renegade province. The white paper said Washington's continued arms sales to Taiwan were stymieing its attempts to unite with the island. In September, the Pentagon approved the sale of $1.3 billion in arms, including $150 million worth of the AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM.
These events prompted a profound debate over the past year in China about whether "peace and development are the dominant trend of the times." That formulation, by the late leader Deng Xiaoping, is the fundamental underpinning of China's economic reform program, which placed economic development on the top of its four modernizations and national defense on the bottom.
While "peace and development" won out in the end, Chinese and American analysts, such as Evan Medeiros at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, believe that China's leadership is now paying more attention to military modernization--mainly as a result of troubled ties with the United States and problems with Taiwan.
Domestic political currents have also played a role. Beijing's political masters are replacing communism with nationalism as a new state ideology, creating an atmosphere that is not conducive to close ties with Washington.
Indeed, Chinese officials say that these days China's version of political correctness demands a tough stance against the United States.
"We have a saying," said Yuan Ming, a professor of international relations at Beijing University: "It's better to be 'left' than 'right.' "
One official who appears to have learned this lesson is the president, Jiang Zemin. "Jiang staked a lot of his credibility on improving ties with the U.S., but after the summit [with President Clinton] in 1998 he had no successes, so he was weakened," said Shen of Fudan University. "The leadership tried their best and their face was slapped by America. They must listen to the military now."
The modernization program pursued by the Chinese military is concentrating on missiles, warhead delivery systems and their accuracy, Western military experts say. China is also upgrading and expanding its nuclear forces; it possesses several dozen delivery systems, compared with thousands in the United States.
On Oct. 31, China launched its first homemade navigation positioning satellite, which could improve the accuracy of its missiles. That project, according to one Chinese arms control expert, has been a key task of the army's general staff department for 10 years. China's air force and navy are also being upgraded. China has purchased Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets from Russia and is starting to produce the Su-27. It has taken delivery of one Russian Sovremenny-class destroyer equipped with supersonic anti-ship missiles; it will receive another one shortly and, according to a Western military attache in Beijing, is prepared to buy two more. It has purchased two Russian-made Kilo-class submarines and is believed to be buying one more.
Still, China's resources remain limited and military training is relatively primitive. China's defense spending is a fraction of America's and the secondary tasks the army is responsible for, such as combating floods and separatist movements in Tibet and the region of Xinjiang, can only hinder its modernization drive.
A Chinese research institute run by the Ministry of State Security forecast last year that the gap between China and the United States in key indicators of comprehensive national power would continue to widen for the next 35 years, according to a Western security expert familiar with the report.
China's leaders, in addition, have cautioned the military in recent weeks not to stray from the party line that economic development is still the country's top priority. Jiang criticized the military in a semi-public forum recently for increasing China's sense of crisis in order to justify bigger defense expenditures, a source close to the military said. Premier Zhu announced last month that China would do all in its power to settle the Taiwan issue peacefully.
Shi, the international affairs expert, said he believes that the next U.S. administration's dealings with China will have a great effect on China's behavior. "The U.S. must neither be too fearful nor too nervous," he said. "In the end, the United States has a much bigger influence on China than China on the United States."
11/15/00
5:13:46 PM
Here are today's Reuters 'World Environment News' headlines, proudly brought to you by Planet Ark.
Doing environmental research? Search our news archives at: http://www.planetark.org/searchhome.cfm
Atlantic salmon on US endangered species list - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8926
US EPA seeks $303,064 penalty from Eastman Kodak - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8937
US oil industry seeks access to public lands - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8928
Britons waking up to global warming risk - survey - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8916
No bow damage seen yet on lost tanker Ievoli Sun - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8935
Ballard CEO "excited" by 2nd generation F-cell car - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8920
Britain seeks US commitment on gas emissions - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8933
UK list plan for co getting green from greenhouse - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8929
South Africa draws new vaccination zone for foot-and-mouth disease - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8917
UPDATE - South African Noah's Ark brings animals home - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8931
Sweden warns EU hopefuls on seeking exemptions - POLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8938
Floods bring cheap power to Scandinavians - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8930
UPDATE - Climate experts seek to check global warming - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8927
Islands say face ruin unless global warming checked - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8915
Hague talks make-or-break for Kyoto climate goal - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8918
Germany seeks law limiting nuclear energy imports - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8919
Germany approves nuke waste shipment from France - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8936
WRAPUP - France plans drastic mad cow feeds ban - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8922
APEC ministers back moves for oil market stability - BRUNEI http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8924
Brazil coffee producers eye organic market warily - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8923
Pacific Hydro proposes 150 MW wind farm - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8921
Australian reef ship salvage plan risks pollution - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8934
CORRECTED - Salinity-Biblical wrath unleashed on modern crops" - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8925
11/15/00
5:10:28 PM
Print This Flyer and Post It
Please print this flyer and get permission to post it in your school, or church, or library, or wherever you can
Help Save the Children’s Forest www.innerexplorations.com/forest.htm
Does it make sense for the Oregon Department of Forestry to cut down some of our last and best big trees and claim they have to do it so our children can go to school?
This is what they plan to do in a place we call the Children’s Forest and they call the Siderod timber sale which covers 552 acres in the Sun Pass State Forest in Klamath County, Oregon, near Crater Lake National Park.
And when they discovered the nest of the Northern Goshawk - which is very much in the news these days because of court cases over its status as a threatened species - they made only the most minimal provisions for it.
Welcome to the world of State Forestry where there is no provision to keep our giant trees, outside of their few forest connectivity areas, and where there is no data available on the amount of old growth trees that the Oregon Department of Forestry and others have cut in the past all around the Children’s Forest and elsewhere. And where they talk of maximizing revenue and the need to keep on cutting the big trees so our children can go to school.
Do we really need to cut down the giant trees so our children can go to school? Here are some financial facts to ponder:
1. The Oregon Department of Forestry estimates that it can sell the right to cut trees in the Children’s forest for $1,680,000. It will keep about $500,000 of that amount for itself. In fact, about 31 percent of the Oregon Department of Forestry budget comes from cutting trees.
2. The Common School Fund gets the balance of the money, but the fund now has more than $800,000,000 in it and forecast it will soon have $1,000,000,000.
It estimates that for its current two year budget it will earn $87,000,000 from its investments and give the counties $71,000,000.
Take a virtual tour of the Children’s Forest and the issues surrounding it at: www.innerexplorations.com/forest.htm
For more information visit our web site or call (541)850-0129 or write The Children’s Forest, LLC. P.O. Box 520, Chiloquin, Oregon 97624
Help us save the Children’s Forest. Contact:
Governor John Kitzhaber 254 State Capitol Salem, Oregon 97310 Tel. (503)378-3100 To e-mail the Governor go to: www.governor.state.or.us
11/15/00
5:07:47 PM
Nov. 15, 2000
Government, Industry Panel Approves High-Dose Radiation 'Treatment' of Global Food Supply
Dose Limit Is Removed Without Studying New Chemicals Formed in Food
Government officials and corporate executives from around the world have decided that the planet's food supply can safely be "treated" with any dose of radiation, a conclusion reached without studying whether new chemicals formed by high-dose irradiation are harmful to humans. In response, Public Citizen is urging that these new chemicals be studied to avoid harm to the public.
During a three-day meeting that was closed to the public earlier this month at the WHO, the International Consultative Group on Food Irradiation (ICGFI) decided that the maximum radiation dose for food could be eliminated without posing additional hazards to people. The current international radiation limit is 10 kiloGray - the equivalent of 330 million chest X-rays, or 2,000 times the fatal radiation dose for humans. The ICGFI reasoned that some food has to be irradiated at high levels to kill certain microorganisms, but it ignored evidence that food irradiated at high doses is nutritionally deficient and may be harmful.
In reaching the decision, the ICGFI also ignored its own 1994 recommendation to study whether the new chemicals created by high-dose irradiation can cause cancer, mutations, immune system disorders, reproductive malfunctions or other health problems in people. Public Citizen has requested that this recommendation be followed. The request was made to the three international agencies that oversee the ICGFI: the WHO, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
"The events in Geneva are doubly disturbing," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "Democracy and science were both thrown out the window, and the population of the entire world could suffer as a result. At a time when the need for thoughtful, transparent decision-making has never been greater, the outrageousness of this action cannot be overstated."
The ICGFI, which met Nov. 1-3, effectively barred a Public Citizen staff person from entering the meeting room. U.S. government officials invited the staff person to join their delegation, but under ICGFI's rules, doing so would have made the organization a de facto supporter of U.S. food irradiation policies. Therefore, Public Citizen declined the invitation.
Meanwhile, allowed in the meeting room were representatives from several irradiation companies and food industry trade groups, including Titan of San Diego, Isomedix/STERIS of New Jersey, the Grocery Manufacturers of America, and the Association of International Industrial Irradiation. In fact, some of the corporate executives are government-appointed delegates to the ICGFI.
"This is a classic example of how corporations are granted special rights to shape public policy to their liking," Hauter said. "It shows how citizens are left out in the cold."
Public Citizen is formally challenging several recent decisions by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including this year's rulings to legalize the irradiation of eggs and sprouting seeds. In both rulings, FDA staffers relied on research they admitted was inadequate, requested no scientific data from corporate applicants, and made false statements in the Federal Register (the official record of federal agencies), a recent report co-authored by Public Citizen reveals.
For nearly two decades, the FDA has relied on admittedly flawed scientific research, failed to follow its own safety rules, misled members of Congress, and ignored evidence suggesting that irradiated food may be harmful to people who eat it, according to the report, A Broken Record. Because of the report's findings, Public Citizen is requesting investigations into the FDA's handling of food irradiation by the Health and Human Services Department's Inspector General and appropriate congressional committees.
11/15/00
4:49:53 PM
Here are today's Reuters 'World Environment News' headlines, proudly brought to you by Planet Ark.
Doing environmental research? Search our news archives at: http://www.planetark.org/searchhome.cfm
FEATURE - Agent Orange seen a threat to US-Vietnam harmony -VIETNAM http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8958
UPDATE - EPA says unconvinced on StarLink bio-corn safety - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8957
USDA biotech panel to discuss StarLink this month - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8953
UPDATE - US plans to ban roads from one-third of forest land - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8952
Clinton signs bills to protect sea life - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8950
US action in Japan whale dispute appears on hold - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8951
Total of flooded houses in UK reaches 6,000 - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8940
UPDATE - Noisy Scots fuel protest falls on deaf ears - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8944
INTERVIEW - Foot-and-mouth threatens South Africa wildlife - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8949
UPDATE - Climate experts ponder how to cut greenhouse gases - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8941
US concerns on nuclear power's role in climate - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8942
US - EU standoff hardens at Hague climate talks - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8945
UPDATE - US climate plan threatens to deepen summit rift - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8946
Japan whaling fleet readies for another hunt - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8947
Controversial Japanese nuclear plant to reopen - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8943
France faces mountain of animal waste after ban - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8955
ANALYSIS - French mad cow moves mean more soybean imports - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8948
Denmark moves to cut lead consumption by one-third - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8956
Tiny Thermal Energy breaks into US market - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8954
Tugs pull Malaysian ship from Australian reef - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8939
11/14/00
6:00:50 PM
From: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001113/sc/environment_climate_dc_3.html
Climate Experts Seek to Check Global Warming (Reuters - Nov 13) Cracks emerged between the United States and Europe on Monday over how to check global warming, threatening U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at implementing a 1997 deal to cut emissions of greenhouse gases.
From: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20001113/wl/climate_conference_3.html
U.S. Accused at Climate Meeting (Associated Press - Nov 13) Environmental groups accused the United States on Monday of seeking loopholes to avoid cutting pollution, as a U.N. conference opened to set rules for reducing harmful gases released into the atmosphere.
IN DEPTH COVERAGE ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING AT: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/World/Global_Warming/
CHECK ALSO
From: http://www.panda.org/climate/index.cfm WWF Climate Change Campaign - dedicated to raising public concern about the need to cut emissions
From: http://www.corpwatch.org/climate/ Climate Justice on Corporate Watch - argues that global companies play a role in local pollution and global warming, and that social justice is central to any solution to climate change.
From: http://www.edf.org/pubs/Brochures/GlobalWarming/ Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast - award-winning exhibition on the greenhouse effect developed by the Environmental Defense Fund and the American Museum of Natural History.
From: http://www.corpwatch.org/trac/headlines/2000/379.html
UN: Report Reveals Dire Global Warming Projections (October 31, 2000)
A new report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reveals new evidence that man-made pollution has "contributed substantially" to global warming and that the planet is likely to get hotter than previously predicted, the Associated Press reports. The findings are expected to carry great weight in the climate debate over the next decade.
11/13/00
8:14:18 PM
EcoNet Headlines: November 13, 2000
UK Government in Chaos over GM Seeds
Government GM policy was in chaos today when Ministers requested that a public hearing into GM crops be postponed indefinitely. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/973813256/index_html
New GE Crops Tested in California Threaten Key Export Markets
California's agricultural export market may be undermined by the biotechnology industry's pursuit of new genetically engineered (GE) varieties of the state's top export fruits and vegetables, according to a new Greenpeace report. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/973813523/index_html
Greenpeace Sees Wind Power as Viable for North Sea Countries
Offshore wind power could generate three times the electricity consumed by five North Sea countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) each year and help them meet global targets to reduce "greenhouse gases", according to a report released Monday. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/973813795/index_html
Global Environment Facility Approves Grants
The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the multilateral agency which provides grants to poor countries to address cross-border environmental problems, announced that it has approved almost 154 million dollars for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governments involved in 14 new projects. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/973814000/index_html
China Agrees to International Resolution to Protect Asia's Rivers
A resolution to protect Asia's major river systems was adopted at the 2nd World Conservation Congress by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) held in Amman, Jordan, October 4 - 11th. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/973814194/index_html
RACHEL: Review of The Cultural Creatives
A brand new book titled THE CULTURAL CREATIVES offers important insights into U.S. culture and how we might organize to change our future. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/973814557/index_html
11/13/00
8:13:31 PM
EcoNet Alerts: November 13, 2000
Goldman Prize Winners Tortured in Prison
Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera are the two founding members of the Organisation of Campesino Environmentalists in Mexico, who have been campaigning against excessive logging in Guerrero state. In May 1999 they were arrested and detained, and while in prison awaiting trial they were tortured in order to make them sign self-incriminating statements. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/973811547/index_html
Don't Let the WTO Get Hold of Our Water
The goal of bringing services into the WTO is to pursue "progressive liberalization." This means moving toward privatization of all services, including public services. It also means deregulation of services at the local, state and national levels and subjecting them to the WTO's global rules for the benefit of transnational corporations (TNCs). Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/973811788/index_html
Don't Let Chuck Hurwitz off the S&L Hook
House Resources Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK) has created a committee task force in an attempt to interfere with the FDIC's and Office of Thrift Supervision's litigation efforts to recover over $810 million owed to American taxpayers from the $1.6 billion failure of the United Savings Association of Texas (USAT), the fifth largest total loss associated with the Savings and Loan crisis. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/973812132/index_html
Protect High Sierra Wilderness Areas!
The Forest Service has issued a proposed management plan describing how it would manage the Ansel Adams, John Muir, Dinkey Lakes, and Monarch Wilderness areas in the Inyo, Sierra, and Sequoia national forests. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/973812513/index_html
Demand Wilderness Protection for Alaska's Chugach NF
Despite the fact that Alaska's Chugach National Forest is the 2nd largest national forest in the United States, 98% of its area is in a roadless condition, and it is one of the World's most significant remaining intact temperate rainforests; there is no legally protected wilderness designated in these forests. Failure to secure wilderness status dooms most of these priceless cathedrals to evolutionary brilliance to eventual commercial logging. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/973812797/index_html
11/13/00
11:39:30 AM
Radioactive Baby Teeth Flag Cancer Rate
Scientists find breast cancer rates elevated in areas with high exposure
Tom Spears The Ottawa Citizen
Baby teeth collected from children in the United States show an unsettling pattern: Children whose teeth contain a lot of radioactive material live in areas with high breast cancer rates.
And the radioactive levels are rising. Teeth of children born since 1990 show some of the highest levels of radioactive materials since the early 1960s, when superpowers tested atomic bombs in the atmosphere.
Leaders of the Tooth Fairy Project, which asks parents to mail in their children's teeth after they fall out, will present detailed results in Ottawa at this week's World Conference on Breast Cancer.
The likeliest cause of the rising radioactive levels in teeth, they say, is leaks from nuclear power plants.
And they're hoping to collect teeth from Canadian children next. It's the easiest way of testing what's in children's bodies.
The U.S. and Soviet Union agreed to ban atomic bomb tests in the atmosphere in 1963. A crucial argument at the time was that baby teeth from U.S. children showed a buildup of strontium-90, a radioactive element.
Now the strontium is coming back.
"The data will be released at the meeting," said Dr. Janet Sherman, a speaker at this week's conference, which begins tomorrow. "But in general we are finding that strontium-90 levels in baby teeth of children born since 1990 are reaching the levels that were in existence during the above-ground bomb-testing years, which is very scary.
"Where's it coming from? Well, we're not doing above-ground testing of bombs, so there's only one place it could be coming from. And that is normally acting nuclear reactors.
"This should be a bombshell, if you'll pardon the expression," Dr. Sherman said.
She said the group has found strontium in about 300 teeth from children living on Long Island, near New York City.
"Long Island has one of the highest breast cancer rates in the United States. We're finding that the area where the high breast cancer and childhood cancer rates (are found) is exactly where the plumes cross from two very big nuclear power reactors."
The two plants are the Millstone plant in Connecticut, just north of Long Island, and Oyster Creek in New Jersey.
People living in the paths of those "plumes" of radiation, downwind of reactors, have more radioactive material in their teeth, the project found.
"We ultimately will want to collect some (teeth) from Canadians both upwind and downwind" from nuclear reactors here, Dr. Sherman said.
She said children with high levels of radioactive material also show a higher-than-normal rate of rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
Dr. Sherman is an internal medicine specialist and toxicologist in Virginia. She has a regular medical practice but volunteers on the side for the Tooth Fairy Project. She is the author of two books: Chemical Exposure and Disease, and Life's Delicate Balance: A Guide to Causes and Prevention of Breast Cancer.
Jay Gould, director of the Tooth Fairy Project, said the project has already collected teeth from a few Canadian children, but not enough to see a pattern.
Coincidentally, the project already sends all the teeth it collects to Canada for analysis at the University of Waterloo.
The nuclear industry in Canada and the United States closely follows the health of nuclear workers, and says these people are, if anything, healthier than the general population.
But Dr. Sherman says children are vulnerable in a way that adults are not.
Radioactive material from the air, either from bombs or nuclear plant emissions, gets into vegetation, including grass and vegetables. If cows eat tainted grass, their milk picks up the radioactive material, which stays active for years.
"The mother eats milk and vegetables and cheese and the strontium 90 goes up the food chain. The biggest thing is pre-natal exposure," Dr. Sherman said. "These kids are getting it in utero (in the womb).
"So if you're talking about the healthy (nuclear) workers, these are men who may not drink much milk. And they are already developed."
In Ontario, fish near the Pickering and Bruce nuclear plants on Lake Ontario and Lake Huron, respectively, pick up low levels of radioactivity. Tonnes of mildly radioactive waste water from the plants are routinely flushed into the lakes.
Last year, a farmer near the Bruce plant learned from Ontario Hydro that his apples and onions were up to 100 times more radioactive than normal "background" levels, though still within official safe limits.
Federal Environment Minister Christine Stewart has just given the Bruce plant permission to build more than 1,200 new silos above ground to store high-level radioactive waste for an estimated 30 to 50 years. There was no environmental assessment.
Dr. Sherman's group asks anyone interested in sending baby teeth to the Tooth Fairy Project to check instructions on the group's Web site at www.radiation.org.
11/13/00
11:20:42 AM
Regulations Violated at Nuclear Reactors Across Country
Public Citizen Study Finds Government's Failure to Enforce Regulations Undermines Safety
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Safety has been compromised at nuclear reactors throughout the United States, with more than 90 percent of the country's reactors run in violation of government safety regulations over the last three years, a Public Citizen study has found. Rather than holding nuclear utilities accountable for violating these regulations, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has established an amnesty program that will last until March 30, 2001. This amnesty means that the NRC only holds utilities accountable for the most egregious rule violations.
The study, Amnesty Irrational, found that between October 1996 and May 1999, 102 of the country’s 111 reactors were operated outside the safety parameters established in their licenses. When a nuclear reactor is operated outside these safety parameters it is called operating "outside design basis." During the three years analyzed, utilities operated their nuclear reactors "outside design basis" more than 500 times, the study found.
Utilities have failed to follow rules pertaining to such key safety systems as the emergency core cooling system and the electrical cables that control the nuclear reactor, the records revealed. Additionally, in some instances, a single event could have prevented the functioning of safety systems needed to do such things as shut down the reactor, cool the radioactive fuel in the reactor’s core and prevent the release of radiation into the environment.
"Safety has been compromised at nuclear reactors across the United States," said James Riccio, staff attorney for Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy Project. "In some cases, safety margins were significantly reduced, if not eliminated."
When a nuclear utility operates its reactor "outside design basis," it is impossible for the NRC or the utility to determine whether the reactor poses an undue risk to public health and safety. The more often a nuclear reactor is operated "outside design basis," the less certain that the reactor and its safety systems will operate as designed.
The NRC has long known that design basis problems were undermining the safety of nuclear reactors it was supposed to regulate. However, due to the potential financial impact on the nuclear industry, the NRC has obfuscated the issue and delayed taking action, the report says.
"The NRC has ignored these important safety issues for decades," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy Project. "If these nuclear reactors don’t meet safety requirements, they should be shut down until they do."
Design basis issues already have contributed to the closure of three nuclear reactors: Haddam Neck, and Millstone Unit 1 in Connecticut, and Maine Yankee in Maine. However, the design basis issues that resulted in these shutdowns were not identified by the utilities. These problems came to light only because of events or whistleblower allegations that prompted NRC inspections. Futhermore, Public Citizen has found that the same design basis problems that resulted in these shutdowns exist at other reactors throughout the U.S.
"The NRC’s amnesty program is an irrational move by an ineffective regulator and will not address the significant design basis issues that still exist at nuclear reactors across the United States," Riccio said.
11/13/00
11:17:30 AM
Here are today's Reuters 'World Environment News' headlines, proudly brought to you by Planet Ark.
Doing environmental research? Search our news archives at: http://www.planetark.org/searchhome.cfm
UPDATE - Texas pipeline bans gasoline additive MTBE - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8869
Hunger in third millennium intolerable scandal - Pope - VATICAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8914
Protected status proposed for Aleutian sea otters - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8897
US heads to climate talks, despite election mess - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8905
South Korea's StarLink recall said "unnecessary" - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8912
Clinton - climate change threat demands action now - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8910
Scientific debate on global warming heats up - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8895
Anti-nuke rallies back Taiwan's embattled leader - TAIWAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8900
S.Africa, neighbours sign cross-border park pact - SOUTH AFRICA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8896
Portugal eyes meat/bone meal ban for all EU animals - PORTUGAL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8906
Greenpeace blocks coal import in Rotterdam harbour - NETHERLANDS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8901
Mexico expands monarch butterfly habitat - MEXICO http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8898
Court defines criteria for protected lands - LUXEMBOURG http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8894
StarLink - Japan buying of US corn slows sharply - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8907
Japan power firms plan own MOX processing by 2009 - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8902
Fortum sells CO2 emission credits to Canadian firm - FINLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8911
EU asks Britain for information on damaged sub - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8913
Nuclear hopes for boost from Hague climate talks - BELGIUM http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8904
Belarus says world ignores its Chernobyl suffering - BELARUS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8903
Coral blast needed to refloat Australian reef ship - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8909
Aust Plantation, IBJ in carbon credit plan - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8908
11/11/00
1:10:17 PM
This is an interesting day to be an American. Our vaunted political system has been rather creaky of late, and we will have to wait another day to see who won the presidential election. I voted for Clinton in 1992, for no other reason than doing my part to make sure that George Bush, Invader of Panama and Destroyer of Iraq, among other titles, did not get re-elected. I was not voting for anybody, but against somebody. That is known as realpolitik, and I was not too proud of my pragmatism, but I preferred the devil I did not know to the one I did, and even though I was a business executive, I was raised in a family of Democrats. To my surprise, Clinton has actually been worse for the world at large than George the First was, as Clinton's reign has seen, among other outrages, over a million Iraqi citizens (most of them children) die due to our genocidal sanctions, where the Iraqi people have been systematically denied food, medicine, clean water and the like. I do not plan on ever voting against somebody again. I did not really like the feeling then, and the succeeding years have made it into almost a shame that I voted for Clinton.
I voted for Nader yesterday, with the cleanest conscience, although I, like many others, were bombarded with emails and media accounts of how voting for the movement that Nader is leading was a vote for Bush, and other "get in line with the herd" tactics. Our electoral system has largely degenerated into voting for one of two prostitutes who work for the same masters (the rich). In logic classes, it is called a false dichotomy. The Gore/Bush "choice" was not much of a choice, and if I had not voted for Nader, I would not have voted for president. Real voting takes place with each moment of our lives, as we buy our groceries, put gas in our cars, buy our clothes, etc. Voting for tweedledum or tweedleidiot every four years is not much of a political process, and as Nader said many years ago, it is pretty much a meaningless ritual. But that is the way the controllers want it, and public apathy is what they are depending on, where the "freest" nation on earth has the lowest voter turnout among the "free."
I have fielded numerous attempts to get me to fall in line and vote for Gore, and I not would do that. I learned my lesson. Appeals were made on behalf of the environment (I had first-hand involvement with Gore's true environmental commitment, or lack thereof, partly documented at http://www.halcyon.com./wfrazier/medicine.htm ), on behalf of women's rights, and the underprivileged. The abortion angle had little merit, as the two most "anti-choice" Supreme Court justices have been Scalia and Thomas, both approved by Democratic-controlled legislatures. Nixon's appointee, Blackmun, was the author of Roe Vs. Wade. Scalia paraded his ideological leanings, and was unanimously approved in the Senate, including the approval of Senator Al Gore from Tennessee. Clarence Thomas was the most obvious "token" nomination in history (to replace Marshall, while Bush somehow kept a straight face while saying that nominating Thomas had nothing to do with his race), who was also approved by the Democrat-controlled legislature, even after all the sexist scandal came up during Thomas' confirmation hearings (where it came to light that he boasted to the ladies that he was bigger than Long Dong Silver, among other enlightened acts). Ironically, the biggest blow to women of this past generation was the "Welfare Reform" that Clinton/Gore pushed through, and Gore even was proud of his involvement, which has meant financial devastation to millions of single mothers across America, a burden which has fallen heavily on their children. Arab-Americans were particularly afraid of Gore's candidacy, especially with his running mate who is a virtual mouthpiece of the Israeli lobby. As I am writing this, the Israelis are in the midst of barbarities that make Milosevic's crimes appear tame, as they are literally using their military prowess to shoot Palestinian women and children in the eyes, knees and other vulnerable places, so they are merely maiming Palestinians and not killing them, as several thousand Palestinian corpses would arouse too much world opinion that even the U.S. might have to acknowledge. So instead, they are shooting to maim, while Clinton makes half-hearted appeals to the Israelis, and Gore is silent. On this and many other issues, little about Gore's candidacy appealed to me. Oh yes, Bush would want to strip mine paradise if there was a buck to be made, but in the larger dynamics of global environmental devastation, Gore was even worse than Bush in significant ways.
To raise the specter of another Bush in the White House to scare people who wanted to vote for Nader will be a subject for books and articles in the future. In 1948, a progressive third party movement, led by a man named Henry Wallace, got about 15% of American voters excited of voting for it, which may have taken away Truman's chance of victory. Similar herd management tactics were trotted out then, with Truman co-opting parts of Wallace's platform, and doing red-baiting, and they worked, like the scaring of Nader-leaning voters did. Wallace got only 2% of the vote come Election Day, the movement was crushed, and we then had the Cold War, McCarthyism and a host of wonders. Short term "gain" nearly led to the annihilation of the human race. I never got on the case of those who wanted me to vote for Gore. I told them to vote for who their heart told them to. Bush rightly scared millions of people, and I would not hold it against anybody for voting for a Democrat, if they were so afraid of Bush. I did the same thing eight years ago. Heck, nearly fifty million Americans voted for Bush, and I will not get on their case, however dismayed I am. I will break no laws, and even though Gore and Bush supported a novel idea of democracy when Nader was forcibly ejected from even being on the premises as a spectator and news commentator for "debates" two and three, I will still play by the rules, however rigged and unfair they may be. They have not yet outlawed elections. I do not and will never advocate violence or anything resembling the ends justifying the means, because I believe that the means become the ends.
Gore gives me nothing to cheer about, however....
It is increasingly looking like there have been, to put it charitably, "voting irregularities" in Florida. The South has long been the place where the black people have had a rough ride. From slavery to lynchings to poll taxes, it has been a very hard journey for people of African descent in America. In Florida, over 90% of the black voters voted for Gore, and already there are stories coming from Florida that blacks were prevented from voting in Florida on a variety of pretenses, like their face and I.D. did not match, the ballots were broken, the polling location was "out of ballots" (wink, nudge) and the like. Florida is deep in what was known as Jim Crow country, and racism is still very alive and well in America. In Dade County, Florida, a lawsuit was filed today on the issue of a confusing ballot, where apparently abo