11/10/01
5:11:22 PM
AlterNet Headlines
WHY BUSH NEEDS TO SPIN THE WAR
David Corn, AlterNet
If this War on Terrorism is a "good war," wouldn't that be self-evident, with no media manipulation required? Then why is the Bush administration plowing millions into PR campaigns?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11893
LESSONS FROM THE AL QAEDA CULT HANDBOOK
Paulo Pontoniere, Pacific News Service
Analysis of the Al Qaeda Handbook and newly emerging clues about the group prove that it is less of a militant Islamic action group, and more of a classic cult.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11895
EMBRACING POST TRAUMATIC SEX
Michael Bader, AlterNet
While widely reported, the phenomenon of "terror sex" is poorly understood and often ridiculed. Psychologist Michael Bader uses fascinating examples from his practice to show that sex is a normal, even healthy, reaction to trauma.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11894
BIN LADEN MERCHADISERS CASH
Kate Silver, AlterNet
Bin Laden products, from Al Qaeda condoms to the Osama pinata, are selling like hotcakes. Are the merchants of these terrorist trinkets patriots or profiteers?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11897
HUTCHINSON: OVERPLAYING THE TERROR CARD
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet
Crying wolf once too often smacks of political opportunism, and risks jading the public to future warnings, even one that might be real. That's the ultimate danger in overplaying the terror card.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11896
PROPERTY PRIVILEGES (NOT RIGHTS)
Marjorie Kelly, Business Ethics
As the government's deal with Cipro provider Bayer has demonstrated, the public good as higher law is an idea whose time has come.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11891
RELAX, IT'S ONLY A RECESSION
Lee Drutman, AlterNet
Let's spend less, build less, work less, sleep later and make the world safer for democracy. Besides, a recession is a terrific excuse for not buying Christmas presents.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11890
BLOOMBERG'S VICTORY AND THE TRIUMPH OF BUSINESS NEWS
Norman Solomon, AlterNet
The explosion of business news propelled Michael Bloomberg's march into the elite ranks of billionaires -- and into the New York mayor's office.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11892
11/10/01
5:04:53 PM
When things are investigated, then true knowledge is achieved;
When true knowledge is achieved, then the will becomes sincere;
When the will is sincere, then the heart is set right;
When the heart is set right, then personal life is cultivated;
When the personal life is cultivated, then the family life is regulated;
When the family life is regulated, then the national life is orderly;
And when the national life is orderly, then there is peace in the world.
Confucius
11/10/01
5:02:38 PM
Disturbed by humans and pets, California shorebirds are vanishing
By Environmental News Network
Think of southern California, and images of beach, sun, and surf come to mind, coupled with boundless recreation opportunities for beach goers. But missing from this picture are the shorebirds that once ran along the edge of the waves. Hundreds of disturbances by people and their pets each week are causing shorebirds like the threatened western snowy plover to wing it to more remote locations where less human disturbance occurs, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
"For beach-nesting birds like the snowy plover, such disturbance has made the majority of former breeding sites unsuitable," said Dr. Kevin Lafferty, a marine ecologist with the USGS Western Ecological Research Center in Santa Barbara, Calif.
One solution is the protection of small areas of special habitat, he suggested. These protected habitats can provide sanctuaries for these birds with relatively little impact to the beach-going public, he said.
Lafferty measured rates of disturbance on beaches, providing managers information that they in turn could use to reduce disturbance at Coal Oil Point Reserve, a public beach in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Lafferty then evaluated the success of resulting management actions. This research is the subject of Lafferty's articles in current issues of the journals Biological Conservation, and Biodiversity and Conservation. He will present his findings in person at the Western Society of Naturalists meeting in Ventura, Calif., Nov. 12.
Lafferty found that human activity often displaced shorebirds approached within 20 yards. He discovered that 10 percent of humans and 40 percent of dogs disturbed birds, and more than 70 percent of birds flew away when disturbed. "Most disturbances occurred near the water, but people used so much of the beach that birds were unable to find predictable places without people to rest and feed," said Lafferty.
Western snowy plovers chose to hide from people up on the dry sand instead of moving, said Lafferty. Even with this strategy, each snowy plover was disturbed about 115 times per week, 16 times more than at remote or protected areas where these birds still breed.
Despite these intrusions, Lafferty found that snowy plovers stayed faithful to their preferred habitat around a lagoon mouth, though they were less abundant near beach access points.
A preliminary trial began at the Coal Oil Point Reserve this summer to help buffer a snowy plover chick and its father from disturbance. A rope fence marked the boundaries of the sensitive area. People could walk along the water's edge for a 300 yard stretch but were asked not to enter the adjoining dry sand or the area around the lagoon. Volunteers staffed the area to encourage people to respect the closed area and to comply with the local dog-leash ordinance.
As a result, disturbances to snowy plovers and other birds decreased, helping the plover chick successfully fledge. Lafferty found that snowy plover densities doubled inside the fenced area compared to areas outside the ropes.
In addition, the number of least terns, an endangered species, increased six-fold inside the roped area. In total, the abundance of birds in the protected area increased four fold. Counts of birds outside the fence remained unchanged, indicating that additional birds were entering the protected area.
"Two things appear to be operating," said Lafferty. "Birds can now sit in one spot without being forced away within a few minutes. In addition, other birds flying along the coast notice a lot of birds sitting on the beach, realize the area must be a safe place to rest for a spell, and fly in."
Since most beach users walked along the wet sand, the closure meant that less than five percent of the people using the beach had to choose a different patch of sand to sit on.
Interviews with beach goers found that many people valued the increased opportunity to view wildlife, and even more said they were glad that the minor inconvenience was an alternative to beach closures used elsewhere to protect endangered birds.
Source: http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2001/11/11092001/s_45523.asp
11/10/01
4:59:54 PM
Cultural plus financial support crucial to saving wilderness
By Environmental News Network
Professor Wangari Maathai addresses the World Wilderness Congress.
Conservation efforts will only succeed if there is economic justice, Professor Wangari Maathai of Kenya told delegates to the Seventh World Wilderness Congress meeting this week in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Dried up river beds, the disappearance of vast herds of wildlife, and the deforestation of Mount Kenya are all signs of a community which has lost touch with its traditional wisdom, she said.
Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, which has planted trees and developed tree nurseries across Kenya, is an environmental and political leader not only in her home country, but internationally. She finds inspiration for her environmental and political views from her early cultural experiences growing up as a Kenyan girl. An example of traditional wisdom was the reverence in which the wild fig tree was held by Maathai's mother's generation and those before her.
"As a girl I was taught that when I went out to gather wood, I must never touch the wood from the fig tree. The fig tree was sacred to our people because we used to offer sacrifices under them." As a result the fig trees grew to enormous size. Modern science is only beginning to understand the role these giant trees played in the ecology of the forests, said Maathai.
The roots of the giant fig trees, which stretched deep into the ground, broke up the subterraneous rock and played an important role in freeing up ground water. When the trees were cut, water problems followed. A stream in which Maathai played as a child dried up within 10 years of the trees being cleared for tea plantations. She said, "There is a clear connection between the destruction of the waterways and the fig trees."
Vast areas of Kenya's natural forests have also been cleared for the planting of nonnative exotic trees like pines and wattles, a practice that will lead to further problems, Maathai warned. "We are trying to stop the current government from expanding the plantations. The government sees indigenous forests as useless. However, if the current rate of destruction of the forests of our once-sacred Mount Kenya continues, more than 300 rivers will dry up in Kenya," she said.
"The big problem is that people have lost their cultural values," said Maathai. "People must be given space so that they can reclaim their cultures."
Cultural values must go together with strong financial support to ensure the preservation of Africa's shrinking wilderness.
The 700 delegates from 40 nations attending the World Wilderness Congress have welcomed the announcement of a US$1 million grant from the World Bank's Global Environment Fund to South Africa for the Baviaanskloof (Baboon's Ridge) Wilderness Area and another US$1 million grant to Angola to assist the Kissama Foundation work to rehabilitate Angola's Kissama National Park.
While presenting wilderness conservation in a global context, the delegates are concentrating on African wilderness protection. At the congress, Namibia announced new national wilderness legislation and proposed plans for a new Wilderness National Park. Namibia also proposed a three-nation, transfrontrier, desert wilderness, stretching from the northern Cape of South Africa all the way through Namibia into Southern Angola.
Two fundraising strategies are being created for African wilderness preservation. My Acre of Africa is an Internet-based, public fundraising strategy for southern African parks, protected areas, and local communities.
The African Protected Areas Initiative was announced at the congress. This effort brings together internationals agencies, funders, and NGOs to address the need for more funding for all African protected areas. It will be officially launched at Fifth World Parks Congress in Durban in June 2003.
To ensure wilderness preservation, the renewal of cultural values is essential, Professor Maathai said, but money is equally important. "Sixty-seven percent of people in the rural areas of Kenya earn less than a dollar a day. They are too worried about survival to care about the environment. We simply cannot conserve in an economic system based on exploitation."
Source: http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2001/11/11092001/s_45522.asp
11/10/01
4:55:51 PM
The Nation
Watch Nation Senior Editor Richard Lingeman this Sunday, November 11, on Fox Magazine, on the Fox News Channel at 11 pm, to discuss his book "Don't You Know There's a War On? The American Home Front, 1941-1945" and what it was like for kids in America during WWII.
And don't miss new selections from the November 26, 2001 issue of The Nation currently available at:
11/9/01
4:38:58 PM
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE <http://www.gristmagazine.com>
DOING THE FOX TROT
Two Mexican environmentalists imprisoned on what they and their supporters say were false charges were pardoned yesterday by President Vicente Fox. Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, who have led opposition to commercial logging in southwestern Mexico by Boise Cascade and other companies, had been sentenced to almost seven years and 10 years in jail, respectively, on charges of weapons possession and growing marijuana. Their supporters say they confessed to the charges under torture, and that the arrests were designed to discourage environmental activism. Calls by environmentalists worldwide for the release of Montiel and Cabrera intensified last month, after one of their lawyers, human rights activist Digna Ochoa, was murdered.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Chris Kraul and Rafael Aguirre, 09 Nov 2001 <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-000089694nov09.story?coll=la%2 Dnews%2Dscience>
MARRAKECH EXPRESS
It will be a long night for delegates hammering out details of the Kyoto treaty on climate change in Marrakech, Morocco; talks are scheduled to end today but are likely to drag on to midnight or beyond. Although a compromise has been reached by the majority of participating countries, including the European Union and the G77 group of developing nations, a handful of industrial nations -- Russia, Japan, Canada, and Australia -- continue to stonewall. The unresolved issues include how to report and verify carbon emissions; how to inventory forests and rangeland; and how to set up a system so that countries which fail to meet emissions targets can buy emissions credits from other countries. Meanwhile, Russia, which must ratify the treaty for it to take effect, wants a nearly twofold increase in the number of credits it can claim for its forestry projects. For the inside story on the wheeling and dealing, read the updates by our correspondents in Marrakech, only on the Grist Magazine website.
straight to the source: Las Vegas Sun, Associated Press, 09 Nov 2001 <http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-af/2001/nov/09/110905400.html>
straight to the source: ABCNews.com, Reuters, Gilles Trequesser, 09 Nov 2001 <http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20011109_156.html>
only in Grist: The Marrakech express -- Grist correspondents Jason Anderson and Rob Bradley tell it like it is <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/anderson110901.asp?source=daily>
OIL AND HOLY WATER DON'T MIX
Televangelist Pat Robertson would also like to be an oil mogul, but in this case, the powers that be haven't been on his side. For three years, Robertson has been trying to reopen a dormant oil refinery in Santa Fe Spring, 16 miles outside of Los Angeles, under the auspices of an oil company he founded in 1998. The refinery's nearest neighbors include a hospital, a home for the elderly, and an elementary school -- and the town's residents have vociferously opposed the reopening. Because the neighborhood is 70 percent Latino, some protesters have accused Robertson of environmental racism. Environmentalists won a recent round in the fight, when a federal judge ruled that reopening the plant would violate the Clean Air Act, which requires the installation of advanced pollution controls on new or reopened emissions sources. However, Robertson could have a friend in the Bush administration, which has suggested that it will ease environmental restrictions on refineries and other polluters.
straight to the source: New York Times, Greg Winter, 09 Nov 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/09/national/09REFI.html>
ASHCROFT, ASHCROFT, WE ALL FALL DOWN
A sweeping "wartime reorganization and mobilization" effort announced by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft yesterday sounds like bad news for environmental and social justice issues. Ashcroft indicated that the Justice Department will scale back or abandon many of its current responsibilities, which range from civil rights enforcement to prosecuting environmental polluters, in order to step up anti-terrorism efforts. Details on the restructuring should be available within six months.
straight to the source: Washington Post, Dan Eggen, 09 Nov 2001 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64412-2001Nov8.html>
WOULDN'T BE PRUD-HO-ENT
In a development that casts doubt on repeated claims by the Bush administration that oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would not harm the environment, a new report by the petroleum giant BP details loads of safety and maintenance problems at its oil drilling operation in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Among other findings, the report, which was based on interviews with 300 BP workers and contractors, concluded that "leak-through" of valves meant to shut down or divert oil and gas in the pipeline "is a significant problem and under certain circumstances may pose a potential hazard to workers and equipment." The report also found a "large and growing" maintenance backlog on fire-, gas-, and pressure-safety systems. BP, which runs the Prudhoe Bay operation for a consortium of companies including ExxonMobil and Phillips Petroleum, said it would act quickly on the report's 78 recommendations.
straight to the source: Wall Street Journal, Jim Carlton, 09 Nov 2001 (access ain't free) <http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB1005259383948053000.htm>
11/9/01
2:22:49 PM
"The Worst-Case Scenario"
BY Andrew Petty
Fighting terrorism is changing the face of warfare. But will we still need a multi-billion-dollar missile defense system?
Hatred lurks deepest in the hearts of men who are not simply in a military trained to kill but trained to die in exchange for the deaths of thousands. This determination is new to western minds causing the public to wonder how far they will go, and what they would do if they had a nuclear weapon.
Military officials say in three to five years terrorists could strike our soil with such weapons.
As the military's job is to defend the United States and its allies, the urgent need to test the National Missile Defense System has grown in order to have it online for defense in the next few years.
The NMDS was met with controversy before the Sept. 11 attacks, which slowed down the testing and decreased the funding. Those speed bumps are cleared now, and the military has more support than ever. Congress recently approved an extra $4 billion for funding, almost twice what they had spent before.
Speculation on the possibility of terrorists or any "rogue" nations possessing nuclear missiles is enough for President George W. Bush to give the NMDS the green light. However, opponents of the NMDS are shocked that the U.S. government is continuing to move in this direction and argue that the NMDS is too expensive, it won't work, and will hurt global diplomacy.
Opponents thought their point was proven when New York City was partially destroyed by airplanes-not nuclear weapons. The United States has spent over $5 trillion preparing for a nuclear assault but was caught off guard on Sept. 11 by an operation that Newsweek magazine reports law enforcement estimated the cost as low as $200,000.
For the past two months our minds have followed this logic and some are asking if we should reformat warfare. During modern wars, the public has seen ground troops, aircraft carriers, and other military vessels deploying to the Middle East. Yet, this man-and-gun power will only be a fraction of the effort. Most of the war on terrorism will be "invisible"-intelligence agencies around the world will now investigate phone calls, e-mails, money transfers and stock purchases; covert operations and spy technology will pinpoint the terrorists' locations and target bombing sites. Governments will even offer multi-million dollar rewards for information.
This war is waging from a nationless country-Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda-believed to operate inside 68 different countries. They strike against anyone, even Muslims living in nations that tread on their religious quests. So far they have not resorted to using nuclear weapons, but sought mass destruction by other means such as suicide bombing missions and biological and chemical warfare.
This new warfare is expected to require more funds, more personnel, and more focus from all departments to effectively combat. Civilians will become more aware of their daily surroundings-at airports, commercial, and federal buildings to spot suspicious activity.
These efforts have helped recover information that will assist in predicting further attacks and bringing terrorists to justice. But before Americans and the world adjust to this new style of warfare, the military insists we not abandon the future threats of a nuclear war. America is ready to fight, but can we afford to be over-protective?
Staff writer Andrew Petty covers military issues for the Sun.
He can be reached at mailto:apetty@santamariasun.com.
Source: http://www.santamariasun.com/cover/index.html
11/9/01
2:20:01 PM
Panel Recommends Ending Satellite Plan
by JAMES DAO, New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 - At the urging of its Republican leadership, the House Appropriations Committee is recommending canceling an expensive infrared satellite system that the Pentagon considers vital to missile defense.
The satellites are intended to track ballistic missiles as they soar through the atmosphere, providing data that would help interceptor missiles tell missiles from decoys and home in on and destroy warheads.
The Pentagon had proposed putting two dozen such satellites, at an estimated cost of $11 billion to $20 billion, into low orbits above the earth over the next two decades to provide continuous surveillance against missile attacks. But in a report that has yet to be voted on by the full House, the Appropriations Committee contends that the satellite program is over its budget and behind schedule. It also cites an internal Pentagon study that questions the effectiveness of the satellites in discriminating between warheads and decoys.
Noting that ground-based radar might be a less expensive alternative to the satellites, the committee recommended denying the Bush administration's entire request of $385 million for the satellite program in the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Instead, the committee proposed transferring most of that money to other satellite and radar programs.
"This was not ready to move forward," said Jim Specht, a spokesman for Representative Jerry Lewis, a California Republican who is chairman of the Pentagon subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.
"By taking away the funding, the committee is making clear they need to do more development and testing of this system in order for it to become an integral part of national missile defense," Mr. Specht added.
But Pentagon officials said that canceling or sharply cutting the satellite program would be a major setback to the Bush administration's missile defense plan.
"It would degrade the future capability of the overall missile defense program," said Lt. Col. Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization.
"Ground-based systems are limited by the curvature of the earth," Colonel Lehner added. "They don't have the range of a space-based system, which can cover the whole planet."
Congressional officials said the fate of the satellite program before the full House and in the Senate was unclear. The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to reduce the program by $96.6 million, while the Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to vote on the Pentagon spending bills.
The satellites, known as the space- based infrared system-low, are being developed by two competing teams, one led by TRW and Raytheon, the other by Spectrum Astro and Northrop Grumman.
The system had its roots in the Reagan administration's Strategic Defense Initiative, when it was known as Brilliant Eyes. Using infrared sensors, the satellites are intended to locate warheads when they reach the mid-course of their trajectory, sending back to earth data that would help ground-based radars and interceptor rockets to fix on a threatening warhead.
Proponents contend that the satellites would be valuable not just for tracking long-range nuclear-tipped missiles, but also short-range weapons, known as theater missiles, that could be fired at American troops overseas.
"It's an essential component if ballistic missile defenses are to work effectively," said Representative John Spratt, a South Carolina Democrat who supports the program. "Not just for national missile defense, but also theater missile defense."
Pentagon officials have often cited the infrared satellites in responding to critics who contend that a missile shield would be easily fooled by decoys released alongside warheads in space. By identifying the difference in temperature between a decoy and warhead, the satellites would, in theory, be able to guide an interceptor toward the real target, the Pentagon contends.
Critics of missile defense question whether any system would be effective in picking out decoys. But they concede that a missile defense is likely to be more effective with the infrared satellites than without them.
"The job of the attacker is easier if there is not a S.B.I.R.S.-low system," said Lisbeth Gronlund, senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an arms control group.
But over the years, the satellite program has been repeatedly criticized by Congressional investigators and Pentagon testers.
In a report released in February, the General Accounting Office, Congress's investigative arm, asserted that the satellite program was being rushed and was likely to face technical failures and major cost overruns.
The investigators found, for example, that the Pentagon was proposing to launch the first satellites before critical software had been completed.
"The S.B.I.R.S.-low program is at high risk of not delivering the system on time or at cost or with expected performance," the report concluded.
11/9/01
2:18:04 PM
Putin - Bush Meetings Offer New Opportunity for Ban on Space-Based Weapons
WASHINGTON, D.C. - When President Vladimir Putin and President George W. Bush meet in America during November 13-15, 2001, they will have the unique opportunity to establish "a new framework for security and cooperation" on earth by banning space-based weapons.
An intense search for a new security and cooperation framework has been ongoing during the months of preparations preceding these meetings. In fact, a forthcoming draft World Treaty Banning Space-based Weapons provides this new framework for national and world security, for a stimulated economy and job market, and for a way to cooperatively apply Space Age technology and information services to solve urgent humanitarian and environmental problems. A world space peace-keeping agency charged with monitoring a permanent ban on space-based weapons can be established. This will lead to the verifiable reduction of nuclear arsenals. A permanent ban on space-based weapons is a breakthrough that establishes "the new framework for security and cooperation" that both Russia and America ultimately seek. The world treaty will place a cap on the arms race, and will simultaneously establish the foundation for building a world cooperative civil, military, and commercial space research, testing, development, deployment, and exploration industry that will replace the space-based weapons industry.
Moscow has reportedly reviewed and "digested well" an advance copy of the world treaty. One high ranking Russian source has affirmed to ICIS that, "President Putin absolutely does not want space-based weapons, will not break the ABM Treaty, does not want the U.S. to proceed with missile defense testing, and is ready to sign a treaty that will ban space-based weapons."
Either Russia or the United States - or both - could begin discussions about banning space-based weapons and sign a world treaty at any point prior to, during, or following the Putin-Bush meetings this month. Also, either Russia or the United States or both could reach out to a world coalition of nations to co-sign the world treaty and bring it into effect.
The World Treaty Banning Space-based Weapons is identical in purpose to the little-publicized Space Preservation Act of 2001 introduced into the U.S. Congress by Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Cleveland) on October 2, 2001, "to preserve the cooperative, peaceful uses of space for the benefit of all humankind by permanently prohibiting the basing of weapons in space by the United States, and to require the President to take action to adopt and implement a world treaty banning space-based weapons."
About the Space Preservation Act of 2001, Kucinich says, "We signed the ABM treaty nearly 30 years ago, which requires a reduction in strategic arms, nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. Weaponization of space clearly violates that treaty. My bill [calls] for an immediate and permanent termination of research, testing, manufacturing, production and deployment of all space-based weapons systems and components by any person, agency or contractor of the U.S. government."
On July 26, 2001, the same date that Congressman Dennis Kucinich announced a bill to ban space-based weapons in the United States, the Foreign Minister of Canada, John Manley, announced in Hanoi that "Canada would be very happy.to launch an initiative to see an international convention preventing the weaponization of space." Congressman Kucinich responded to the Canadian initiative stating, "I am pleased with the recent news from our neighbor to the north that Canada is ready to join an international effort to prohibit weapons in space."
The Space Preservation Act of 2001 requires the U.S. President to "direct the United States representatives to the United Nations and other international organizations to immediately work toward negotiating, adopting, and implementing a world agreement banning space-based weapons." An enforceable and verifiable World Treaty Banning Space-based Weapons must include most world nations in order to prevent the weaponization of space.
Plans are underway for a public announcement about the signing of world leaders on to the World Treaty Banning Space-based Weapons.
ICIS (Institute for Cooperation in Space) has learned that there is worldwide support rapidly growing for a World Treaty Banning Space-based Weapons among major space-faring nations and in developing countries. Dr. Carol Rosin, President of ICIS says, "This treaty will allow everyone to continue to provide improved ground forces to protect people on earth, while ending the arms race and stimulating a whole new industry at the same time. It is in the best interest of everyone, even adversaries, to share the Space Age information and technology applications. This presents a whole new paradigm, a new way of thinking and acting, a new space paradigm. This decision to sign this treaty will impact all future generations . ICIS will be monitoring the situation and briefing members of the world media in the days preceding the Putin-Bush meetings."
Documents posted on http://www.peaceinspace.com
*World Treaty Banning Space-Based Weapons
*H.R. 2977 Space Preservation Act of 2001
*Frequently Asked Questions (Re: World Treaty and Space Preservation Act of 2001)
11/9/01
2:05:35 PM
Scientists have reconsidered the chances that the Earth will suffer a catastrophic impact with an asteroid, and have reduced the odds to about one in 5,000 over the next century.
The new prediction stems from data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which found the solar system contains about 700,000 asteroids big enough to destroy civilization. That's about one-third fewer than previous estimates.
"Our estimate for the chance of a big impact contains some of the same uncertainties as previous estimates, but it is clear that we should feel somewhat safer than we did before we had the Sloan survey data," said lead researcher Zeljko Ivezic of Princeton University in the November issue of the Astronomical Journal.
11/9/01
2:01:30 PM
King Sy's Mistakes
What Seymour Hersh got wrong.
by Scott Shuger
In this week's New Yorker,journalist Seymour Hersh questions the apparent success of the United States' first major ground action in the Afghanistan war, a two-pronged "special operations" (that is, commando) attack last month on a Taliban airbase and on a complex of buildings sometimes used by Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Although the Pentagon presented the operation as successful (intelligence was collected at both sites), the sizzle of the Hersh piece is his conclusion that it was a "near-disaster" that left the U.S. military "rethinking" the future of such special operations inside Afghanistan. Because of Hersh's reputation for good sourcing, and because his story has a level of detail not yet found in the Pentagon-approved war reports appearing elsewhere in the media, the piece has had some traction. But does it really hold up?
Hersh's main contentions: 1) Despite Pentagon claims that the raids met no significant Taliban interference, in fact there was a ferocious firefight at Mullah Omar's complex and 12 Delta Force commandos were wounded, three seriously. Delta was forced to abandon one of its planned objectives, inserting an undercover team into the area. 2) The airport assault was "something less than the Pentagon suggested," producing nothing more than exciting TV footage. The Ranger parachutists featured in that footage were not the first U.S. soldiers to hit the field but came in only after a special Army Pathfinder team had been inserted and had confirmed that the field was cleared of Taliban forces. 3) The problems with both raids stem from the inability of military higher-ups to properly understand special ops missions.
Let's have a look at these points.
Regarding 1) The Pentagon says the firefight at Mullah Omar's complex was not major and continues to insist that no U.S. soldiers were hurt or killed by hostile fire in either raid. The Pentagon says that some Ranger parachutists received minor injuries from hard landings at the airfield, and a source told me several raiders at Mullah Omar's complex were injured by debris sent flying by their own grenades. This source adds that there were no "friendly fire" deaths or injuries either, and that as of Nov. 6, all but two raiders were back on full-duty status.
But even if Hersh is right about the number and extent of casualties, the view that they would constitute a near-disaster is wrong. Special operations missions into bad-guy country are extremely dangerous, and their planners and participants expect casualties. Plus, post-9/11, the political tolerance for losses has been raised considerably. (And why is Hersh flogging the old standard?) Therefore, any mission in Afghanistan that didn't result in fatalities could hardly be rated a disaster.
In the absence of official comment, there is, of course, no way to know conclusively whether the raiders succeeded in inserting an undercover team. But if Hersh is suggesting that the United States has, in general, been incapable of such covert insertions, he's almost surely wrong. Many press reports, none denied by the Pentagon, have spoken of small teams of U.S. and British commandos operating inside Afghanistan, and the recently stepped-up U.S. bombing in support of Northern Alliance troops operating along a quickly changing front strongly suggests that U.S. operatives are designating targets from the ground.
Regarding 2) Hersh doesn't seem to understand what the airport assault accomplished. He quotes an officer saying that it could have helped the Rangers "feel good about themselves," but this is unfairly dismissive. The operation allowed a large number of Rangers to take (and survive!) their first ever night combat jump, which helps their morale and combat readiness immeasurably. And it was tactical: The raid gave the United States an airfield to use in case the operation at Omar's complex required bringing in a larger force or a large medical evacuation effort. And, most important, it was strategic: It showed the Taliban that American ground forces can occupy and hold military facilities of their choosing inside Afghanistan. In this respect, the assault was like Jimmy Doolittle's air raid in 1942. It would have been absurd to think that any damage caused by his bombers in their "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" was going to significantly affect the Japanese war machine, but it sent an important message: Your home base is not secure.
Also, it is quite routine, verging on SOP, for a large airdrop of Rangers to be preceded by the insertion of a small unit (maintaining real-time communications with other forces and commanders) that checks out the immediate area. That advance element would not only check for opposing forces but also verify that the runways were serviceable and determine how big a plane they could handle. The Delta raiders at the Omar complex would almost surely have employed an advance party too, although it might have been tiny, and its lead time a matter of only minutes. And it is not at all unusual for Delta to employ Rangers as a protecting force. Hersh seems confused about whether this degree of support is good or bad. He writes that Delta likes to insert a team of four to six men and suggests that the use of 100 Delta raiders and 200 Rangers at Omar's complex as their covering force was a mistake forced on Delta by the theater commander and the Pentagon. But he also claims that, as they left Omar's house, Delta soldiers got into a firefight in which the Taliban had the tactical advantage. Presumably, at that point, the extra U.S. strength came in handy and allowed the raiders to leave without, as even Hersh concedes, taking any fatalities.
And maybe Hersh's reporting on the numbers isn't all that accurate. One former U.S. military man I interviewed this week, who has ample field experience working with Delta Force, estimates that the Omar raid might have involved more on the order of 18 to 25 Delta soldiers. And both he and a currently serving military officer with some knowledge of the Afghan missions flatly reject Hersh's claim that the Omar raid was supported by 16 AC-130 gunships. And, indeed, the U.S. Air Force Web site (which Hersh apparently didn't check) says that there are only 21 such airplanes in the entire U.S. inventory. It's highly unlikely that the Pentagon would assign such a large percentage of a given type of asset to a single mission.
Regarding 3) Special ops folks are famous for not talking to anybody else, including their superiors. (Which is why it's a little hard to believe any of them talked to Hersh—and, indeed, his piece doesn't directly quote any Delta personnel.) Nowadays, there is nobody in the upper military reaches of Operation Enduring Freedom with a special ops background. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was a carrier pilot, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Richard Myers was a fighter pilot who later specialized in outer space systems, and theater commander Gen. Tommy Franks was an artillery officer. So it must be conceded that as the Afghan war goes forward, top-down meddling from commanders who don't understand special ops will be a real concern. But Hersh has failed to show that this was a factor in the war's first special ops mission.
Source: http://www.Slate.com
11/9/01
1:52:11 PM
UTNE WEB WATCH
The Best of the Alternative Web
WTO MEETING UPDATE
-- Anti-globalization activism is more lively than ever, with protests in cities worldwide slated for this weekend as the WTO meets in Doha, Qatar.
STRENGTHENING THE ECONOMY AND SECURING OUR ENERGY FUTURE
Web site review by Kate Garsombke, Redefining Progress -- The progressive think tank Redefining Progress aims to convince businesses of the viability of policies that can reduce pollution while strengthening the economy.
TAKE THE FUNDAMENTALIST QUIZ
by Sarah Ovenall, FunnyStrange.com
-- Take your best shot at matching quotes with their speaker in this quiz on funnystrange.com. Participants must choose either Osama Bin Laden or Jerry Falwell/ Pat Robertson as the fundamentalist responsible for each of 20 quotes. Creator Sarah Ovenall hopes the quiz will help point out some of the "disturbing similarities" in the men's rhetoric. Try it for yourself!
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
11/9/01
12:49:34 PM
Study Casts Doubt On Uses Of Carbon Sinks
by Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON, DC, November 8, 2001 (ENS) - The earth's land based ecosystems absorbed all of the carbon released by deforestation plus another 1.4 billion tons emitted by fossil fuel burning during the 1990s, a new study suggests. But the study also warns that so called carbon sinks cannot be counted on to mop up carbon dioxide emissions indefinitely.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas entering the atmosphere from human activities. Ongoing negotiations regarding international efforts to reduce the impacts of greenhouse gases have included discussions about carbon sinks - natural and manmade areas where plant growth absorbs carbon emitted from human sources.
A study published this week in the journal "Nature" indicates that carbon sinks were able to mop up most of the naturally and artificially emitted carbon dioxide over the past decade. However, with carbon emissions on the rise, and vegetated areas continuing to shrink, that situation is likely to change, the researchers said.
"We could easily see this robust transfer of carbon out of the atmosphere and into land based ecosystems that occurred in the 1990s slow down in the future," said the paper's lead author, David Schimel, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
Fossil fuel burning, cement manufacture, and deforestation gave off about seven billion tons of carbon per year during the 1980s and eight billion tons each year during the 1990s, about half of it ending up in the earth's atmosphere, the study shows.
In the 1980s the amount of carbon released to the atmosphere from deforestation about equaled that taken up by land ecosystems into various sinks. During the 1990s the balance tipped, and 1.4 billion tons more carbon ended up in land based ecosystems than in the atmosphere, despite continuing deforestation.
"Land and ocean processes have, in essence, provided a major, but far from permanent, subsidy to humans, protecting the atmosphere from many of the consequences of deforestation and burning fossil fuels," said co-author professor Chris Field from the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Land use changes in the Northern Hemisphere have been partly responsible for carbon uptake during the 1990s, the researchers found. In the United States, trees and other growth expanded on abandoned agricultural land, while a reduction in fires allowed forests to spread. Increased plant growth spurred by increasing carbon dioxide and nitrogen deposits - a process more noticeable in Europe and Asia - also helped clear the air of CO2 buildup.
"Forests can only replace farms for so long," explained Schimel. "Eventually new trees and grasses reach maturity and soak up less carbon dioxide. Similarly, there's a limit to how much forests can fill in and spread, even with successful fire suppression."
Over time, the effects of climate change on ecosystems will probably reduce sinks globally, write the authors. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide emissions are expected to continue to rise because of human activities.
The results have potential implications for the Kyoto Protocol negotiations now underway in Morocco. Under the Kyoto Protocol, an addition to the United Nations framework climate change treaty, 38 industrialized nations have agreed to cut their emissions of six greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
Recent difficulties in talks over the Protocol have included a lack of scientific knowledge about the strength and distribution of carbon sinks and how they vary from year to year.
The new "Nature" study, produced by a team of 30 leading carbon scientists from around the world, draws on a large body of research to build up a new and comprehensive picture of carbon sinks on land.
"It is a major step forward in understanding where terrestrial carbon sinks actually are, why they are there, and how long they will operate into the future," said Dr Will Steffen, one of the authors and executive director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), which coordinated the production of the paper.
The paper represents a major advance in terms of reconciling two different approaches to measuring the strength of carbon sinks and sources. Historically, researchers have used two types of measurements: 1) direct measurement of CO2 in the atmosphere, and 2) on the ground measurements on the basis of forest growth and soil uptake etc.
Until now, these two techniques have provided inconsistent results. In this study the authors show that, on the broad scale, they are consistent.
The authors point out that there are many regional differences in the strength of terrestrial carbon sinks. Much of Siberia, for example, has been warming at a rate of about 0.5° C per decade since the 1960s and an increase in wild fires and insect damage appears to have converted this region from a sink into a temporary carbon source with considerable year to year variability.
"Although carbon sinks have a role to play in absorbing excess carbon dioxide, it is possible that the net global terrestrial carbon sink may disappear altogether in the future," said lead author Professor David Schimel from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany.
There is also considerable annual variability in sink strength associated with climatic variations such as the El Niņo Southern Oscillation in tropical and nontropical regions. Globally, there appears to be a net release of carbon to the atmosphere during warm, dry years and a net uptake during cooler years.
"This observation gives a hint of how terrestrial sinks may respond to longer term climate changes such as increased temperatures," said Dr Steffen.
Source: http://www.ens-news.com/ens/nov2001/2001L-11-08-07.html
11/9/01
12:44:10 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
GROWING GLOBAL POPULATION TRAMPLES THE PLANET
NEW YORK, New York, November 8, 2001 (ENS) - Human activity is altering the planet on an unprecedented scale, the United Nations agency reponsible for tracking population said Wednesday. Introducing The State of World Population 2001 report, "Footprints and Milestones: Population and Environmental Change," the UN Population Fund said that more people are using more resources with more intensity and leaving a bigger "footprint" on the Earth than ever before.
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/nov2001/2001L-11-08-01.html
APPEALS COURT THROWS OUT EXXON VALDEZ PENALTY
SAN FRANCISCO, California, November 8, 2001 (ENS) - A federal appeals court has overturned a $5.3 billion punitive damages award against Exxon stemming from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The court called the amount, which was determined by a jury in Alaska, excessive, and ordered a judge to set a lower penalty.
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/nov2001/2001L-11-08-06.html
TORTURED MEXICAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS RELEASED
MEXICO CITY, Mexico, November 8, 2001 (ENS) - Mexican President Vincente Fox today ordered the release from prison of two Mexican environmentalists who have been the subject of an intensive international campaign human rights campaign.
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/nov2001/2001L-11-08-03.html
U.S. SAYS CLIMATE CHANGE WARRANTS REAL COMMITMENT
MARRAKECH, Morocco, November 8, 2001 (ENS) - The Bush administration has come a long way from its position upon taking office in January that climate change might not be a serious concern. Yesterday, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky told climate negotiators meeting in Marrakech that global climate change warrants "real commitment."
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/nov2001/2001L-11-08-02.html
STUDY CASTS DOUBT ON USES OF CARBON SINKS
By Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON, DC, November 8, 2001 (ENS) - The earth's land based ecosystems absorbed all of the carbon released by deforestation plus another 1.4 billion tons emitted by fossil fuel burning during the 1990s, a new study suggests. But the study also warns that so called carbon sinks cannot be counted on to mop up carbon dioxide emissions indefinitely.
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/nov2001/2001L-11-08-07.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: NOVEMBER 8, 2001
Interior Bill Includes Environmental Increases
Shorebirds Need Room Too
Better Fertilizer Use Could Protect Mississippi River
National Laboratory Gets Cleanup Program Grant
Showy Stickseed Gets Second Look for Endangered Listing
Colorado Scientists Help Residents of Alaska's North Slope
Scallop Shells Hold Clues to Antarctic Climate Changes
Energy StarŪ Product Expo Brings Efficiency to Market
Black Scoter Graces 2002-2003 Duck Stamp
For full text and graphics visit:
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/nov2001/2001L-11-08-09.html
11/9/01
12:40:29 PM
t r u t h o u t | 11.09
GEPHARDT / WATERS | 2000 Election Report is Released
http://www.truthout.com/4.Election.Report.pdf
11/9/01
12:35:43 PM
FAIR - Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and news reports
ACTION ALERT: Fox: Civilian Casualties Not News
Network news outlets have reported stories about civilian casualties in Afghanistan with caution, often noting that Taliban claims are nearly impossible to verify. But many outlets show no inclination to be equally careful when evaluating the Pentagon's line on casualties.
CNN, for example, has ordered reporters to frame reports of civilian deaths with reminders that "the Pentagon has repeatedly stressed that it is trying to minimize" such casualties, and that "the Taliban regime continues to harbor terrorists who are connected to the September 11 attacks that claimed thousands of innocent lives in the U.S." (See FAIR Action Alert, 11/1/01.)
The host of Fox News Channel's "Special Report with Brit Hume" (11/5/01) recently wondered why journalists should bother covering civilian deaths at all. "The question I have," said Hume, "is civilian casualties are historically, by definition, a part of war, really. Should they be as big news as they've been?"
The idea that civilian casualties have been "big news" in the U.S. is questionable, but the Fox pundits more or less agreed with Hume.
Mara Liasson from National Public Radio was direct: "No. Look, war is about killing people. Civilian casualties are unavoidable." Liasson added that she thought what was missing from television coverage was "a message from the U.S. government that says we are trying to minimize them, but the Taliban isn't, and is putting their tanks in mosques, and themselves among women and children." (Of course, anyone who has watched much TV news knows that this information is included in virtually every report.)
Fox pundit and U.S. News & World Report columnist Michael Barone echoed Hume's earlier remarks: "I think the real problem here is that this is poor news judgment on the part of some of these news organizations. Civilian casualties are not, as Mara says, news. The fact is that they accompany wars."
If journalists shouldn't cover civilian deaths because they are a normal part of war, does that principle apply to all war coverage? Dropping bombs is also standard procedure in a war; will Fox stop reporting airstrikes?
Fox's marketing slogan is "We report, you decide," but these Fox pundits have decided for you that some deaths aren't worth reporting. Then again, being honest journalists might not be the first order of business. As Hume told the New York Times, "Look, neutrality as a general principle is an appropriate concept for journalists who are covering institutions of some comparable quality.... This is a conflict between the United States and murdering barbarians."
With both Fox and CNN crusading against coverage of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, it's little wonder that self-censorship is taking place at smaller outlets. A memo circulated at the Panama City (Fla.) News Herald and leaked to Jim Romenesko's Media News warned editors:
"DO NOT USE photos on Page 1A showing civilian casualties from the U.S. war on Afghanistan. Our sister paper in Fort Walton Beach has done so and received hundreds and hundreds of threatening e-mails and the like.... DO NOT USE wire stories which lead with civilian casualties from the U.S. war on Afghanistan. They should be mentioned further down in the story. If the story needs rewriting to play down the civilian casualties, DO IT. The only exception is if the U.S. hits an orphanage, school or similar facility and kills scores or hundreds of children."
This policy of consistently burying the facts about the impact of the war on Afghanistan must make the pundits at Fox proud. But journalists who care about the principles of the profession should be embarrassed.
ACTION: Please let Fox anchor Brit Hume know that the deaths of civilians in Afghanistan are worth covering-- just like the deaths of civilians in the World Trade Center were worth covering.
CONTACT:
Brit Hume
Managing Editor & Anchor, "Special Report with Brit Hume"
Phone: 1-888-369-4762
As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if you maintain a polite tone.
Please cc mailto:fair@fair.org with your correspondence.
11/9/01
12:22:46 PM
The Long, Strange Road To Irradiating Mail
by Michael Colby
For fifty years the purveyors of irradiation have been looking for a purpose. It all began, of course, in the 1950s under President Eisenhower's Atomic Energy Commission, specifically its "Atoms for Peace" program. The U.S. was awash in nuclear waste materials, particularly Cesium-137, and it was quickly becoming the Achilles heel of the burgeoning nuclear establishment. Eisenhower, therefore, established the Atoms for Peace program with the specific directive to find peaceful uses for this nuclear waste material. But more than simply finding a use for nuclear garbage, the nuclear establishment wanted to eliminate the cloud of war that surrounded all things nuclear and, instead, demonstrate to U.S. citizens that there were peaceful civilian uses for these new "wonder isotopes."
After scrapping ideas such as manufacturing nuclear replacement hearts for cardiac patients, the Atoms for Peace program set its long-term sights on exposing the food supply to radiation. And food irradiation was born.
The reasoning given at the time was "shelf-life." Remember, fifty years ago E.coli, salmonella, and factory farming weren't on the nation's agenda. But we were thinking about how to make food last for long periods of time, especially amidst the Cold War mentality that, interestingly enough, had people building nuclear fall-out shelters. And the first thing on people's minds when they thought of hunkering down in a hole for the duration of a nuclear winter was usually "what in the hell are we going to eat?"
Ta-da: nuclear food for nuclear winters. It was a match made in cesium heaven.
In fact, some of the first scientific promoters of food irradiation used to love to haul out their 30-plus year old cans of "irradiated chicken meat" to flaunt their technological prowess. I remember when Dr. Ed Josephson, a former Army scientist and one of the grandfathers of irradiation, brought his can of the old meat to a congressional hearing in the mid-1980s when the Reagan administration was about to issue its sweeping approvals for food irradiation.
After a mumbling testimony about how safe it was to expose foods to radiation doses equivalent to tens of millions of chest x-rays, the crusty and very unhealthy looking Josephson proudly declared that he'd been "eating it for years" and he was fine. Even the right-wingers sitting in the room could barely contain themselves, each seemingly making a mental note to tell Josephson that there must be a better way for him to testify.
And Josephson went one step further. Reaching into his briefcase he pulled out a can of the irradiated chicken meat, a can opener, a knife, a plate, and a stash of toothpicks. "This has been on my shelf for over 20 years," declared Josephson as he popped the top of the can and began dicing the pale meat into bite sized squares. "And it's still very good."
But, other than Josephson and his colleagues within the irradiation industry, there were no takers. And I will always remember the look on Representative Henry Waxman's face as the plate of pasty meat was thrust in front of him. He wasn't about to partake in this impromptu experiment.
The Reagan administration did eventually grant the first widespread approvals for food irradiation in 1986, when fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, spices, and flavorings were approved. And each subsequent administration has done its share to further the range of approvals, to the point now that practically everything we consume has been approved to be exposed to huge doses of radiation - including meat, poultry and seafood.
But there's always been one big problem with food irradiation: the public doesn't want anything to do with it. And the irradiation corporations have had to change their purpose time and time again to try and find a niche for their unseemly nuclear wares. Gone were the days that irradiation was promoted as a peaceful use for nuclear waste material, or that it was a way to keep bad meat edible for decades. Now we were into the realm of "needing" irradiation to fix all the problems of a filthy meat industrial complex, particularly E.coli and salmonella.
The American public, however, seemed more willing to give up meat than be forced to eat meat that had been exposed to both fecal matter and 75 million chest x-rays. Yum, yum.
But as I've learned in more than 15 years of fighting all forms of irradiation, this industry always seems to pull yet another trick out of its bag no matter how close to death it gets.
Enter anthrax.
I nearly fell out of my chair last week while innocently trying to catch up on the mainstream news and hearing an "anthrax expert" on CNN declare that it was "time for the government to give irradiation a look" as a way to sterilize the mail. Gulp.
And what started as a blip of a mention has now turned into a steady drumbeat of irradiation propaganda that has garnered the attention of the highest government officials, the New York Times editorial writers, and about every media outlet in the nation scrambling to assure the American people that "there IS something that can be done."
Unfortunately, all irradiation propaganda begins the same way: with declarations of just how "easy" and "effective" it is. It's also usually accompanied by the idiotic proclamation that "it's really just like your microwave or the airport luggage scanner." Hogwash. Irradiation is about as similar to a microwave as a chainsaw is to a butter knife.
Interestingly, many of the bigwigs in the field of irradiation are moving cautiously with the news that their technology may "solve" the anthrax in the mail fury currently gripping the nation. The Nordion Corporation, for example, the world's leader in cobalt-60 irradiation, isn't jumping on the simplistic bandwagon that irradiation is "the cure" for mail-based anthrax. In fact, nobody with any scientific merit will be found on that bandwagon, mostly because no one knows if it will work, if it will cause more problems than it will solve, or if it is even possible to set up the kind of nuclear infrastructure that would be required at hundreds - if not thousands - of postal centers throughout the nation.
Let's take them one at a time. First, efficacy: irradiating raw anthrax spores will almost assuredly kill them. But irradiating anthrax spores encased in an envelope that is in turn encased in mail crates may not be as effective, mostly because the ionizing radiation may not penetrate the crates deep enough to deliver a lethal dose. Worse, whatever anthrax may survive the irradiation process may be more harmful than its original version, including the possibility that it may be a new, radiation-resistant strain.
The next bugaboo the U.S. postal service needs to worry about when considering irradiating the mail is how to avoid irradiating products that would be damaged, destroyed, or even made harmful if they were exposed to massive doses of radiation. Take, for example, electronic devices like computers, software, and the like. If they were to enter these proposed mail irradiation chambers they could be rendered useless.
And how about irradiation metal objects? Exposing metal to ionizing radiation can induce radioactivity if enough of it collects on the surfaces. And there's a lot of metal in the mail in the form of binders, paperclips, and pens, not to mention all of the consumer products containing metal that are routinely shipped via the U.S. Postal Service. How, may I ask, are they going to keep all of these products out of the irradiation chambers? And if they do figure out a way to do this, how long will it take the anthrax-toting-terrorists to figure this out?
Then there's the issue of infrastructure. If we're serious about irradiating the nation's mail, it will take years upon years to design and construct these facilities. And if they go with the cheaper alternatives by using cesium or cobalt, we're opening a Pandora's Box of pitfalls that include everything from the dangers of transporting this highly-radioactive material, worker safety within these facilities, and environmental contamination from the kinds of leaks, spills, and mishaps that have frequently occurred at existing irradiation facilities. And let's not forget that cesium and cobalt irradiators have to be routinely replenished with their potent blend of radioactive toxins, and the "spent" fuel has to be shipped and stored in a safe location for many generations to come.
And what happens when the terrorists learn that every little postal office in our nation is equipped with a nuclear mail irradiator? Talk about an easy target. In a time when there's an understandable amount of paranoia about our existing nuclear facilities due to the threat of terrorists attacks, how much sense does it make to spread these nuclear materials around to every postmaster who requests them?
No, irradiating the mail is neither "easy" nor "effective." And the people getting up on their shallow soapboxes ought to be ashamed for promoting it as such. There will be oodles of cash made in the struggling irradiation business in the days, weeks, and months to come. But sooner or later this irradiation bubble will burst, just as it did when it was being proposed to make meat last for decades.
If anything needs to be nuked, it's the idea that irradiation will solve our current anthrax problem.
Write to me at mailto:mcolby@foodandwater.org
Source: http://www.foodandwater.org
11/9/01
12:11:28 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
BP introduces anti-smog gasoline in Washington state - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13204/story.htm
Exxon Valdez appeals ruling stuns Alaskans - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13205/story.htm
FEATURE - Life extended for Cook Inlet oil and gas fields - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13211/story.htm
Guilty plea in Phoenix eco-arsonist case - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13221/story.htm
USTR minimizes Chile trade pact environmental impact - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13222/story.htm
Group says US energy bill won't benefit consumers - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13206/story.htm
FEATURE - Persuading the wary - consumers, GMOs and mistrust - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13220/story.htm
Greens sue Britain over nuclear fuel plant - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13203/story.htm
UK's Recycled Waste to reverse into AIM cash shell - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13215/story.htm
UPDATE - UK SSE in green energy plan as H1 beats forecasts - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13207/story.htm
Britain imposes no-fly zones over nuke plants - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13208/story.htm
FEATURE - GM crop research slow to reach hungry Third World - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13197/story.htm
UPDATE - UK scientists defend animal cull, say saved lives - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13223/story.htm
FEATURE - Down but not out, protesters keep WTO in sights - SWITZERLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13201/story.htm
FEATURE - New strains of rice promise better health, eyesight - PHILIPPINES http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13198/story.htm
UPDATE - About 350 believed dead in Philippine storm - PHILIPPINES http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13217/story.htm
Three die in oil pipeline fire in southeast Nigeria - NIGERIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13218/story.htm
UPDATE - Hard bargaining at UN climate talks in Morocco - MOROCCO http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13209/story.htm
Want to save the planet? Don't fly - MOROCCO http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13200/story.htm
FEATURE - Marine turtles drawn to lay eggs on Mexican beaches - MEXICO http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13216/story.htm
UPDATE - Mexico frees two jailed environmentalists - MEXICO http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13210/story.htm
UN urges WTO talks not to overlook environment - KENYA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13214/story.htm
UPDATE - Germany questions EU biofuel proposals - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13213/story.htm
Germany to amend draft law on CHP power generation - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13202/story.htm
FEATURE - Labelling laws leave EU in GMO quandry - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13212/story.htm
INTERVIEW - China's GMO details still in the works - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13219/story.htm
China says Tibet railway on track despite climate - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13199/story.htm
11/9/01
12:08:53 PM
"DISCOUNTED CASUALTIES - THE HUMAN COST OF DELETED URANIUM" (June 2001)
Foreword I met Akira Tashiro last summer in Hiroshima, when I was invited by Gensuikin to speak about Yucca Mountain and high-level nuclear waste at the Plenary Session of the 2000 World Conference Against Atomic & Hydrogen Bombs. The citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki live with the aftermath of the horrific power and annihilation of nuclear bombs dropped on a civilian population, and the extreme cruelty of the lifelong effects of exposure to flash external gamma rays and internal low-level radiation from fallout. This reality has changed the lives of all those who have visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki and learned not only about the hibakusha (survivors) of Japan, but of those around the world in Kazakhstan, the Pacific Islanders, and the Western United States. Radiation respects no borders. It is a slow, silent, global mutilator of all life. In the 1970's I worked as an earth scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab. There the transuranium elements were discovered for the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, and the use of depleted uranium (DU) on the battlefield was first discussed. Later I worked at the Lawrence Livermore Lab, where the design of nuclear weapons continues. Radiation and nuclear weapons are seldom mentioned in a climate of secrecy and denial. Many scientists work in isolation and are only dimly aware of the larger project. In the moment that I stood in the Hiroshima Peace Museum on the anniversary of the bombing looking up at "Little Boy," I was overwhelmed as a scientist. I realized that engineering and technology had built devices, through the misapplication of science, that could destroy all life on earth. I saw photos of women with vacant stares nursing dead babies. As a mother and giver of life I wondered how, without conscience, man could destroy 4.5 billion years of life evolving on this earth. The unbelievably dangerous powers of nuclear weapons have been developed by divorcing science from ethics, a Western phenomenon. The Chugoku Shimbun, Hiroshima's newspaper, has published two award-winning series on exposure to radiation. The first book, EXPOSURE: Victims of Radiation Speak Out, is a powerful message about the detrimental effects that radioactive substances from nuclear testing and "peaceful uses" of nuclear energy have had on people and the environment. In this second book, Discounted Casualties, personal stories about DU reveal the unbelievable immorality and cruelty of this new radioactive weapon. Radioactive waste from nuclear weapons development, mixed with high-level waste from nuclear reactors, becomes a lethal cocktail in DU ammunition. In recent reports the U.S. Department of Energy has admitted that military reactor waste has been mixed with DU. The waste contains plutonium, uranium-236, neptunium and other isotopes thousands of times more radioactive than DU. Disposing of dangerous waste at a profit benefits U.S. government agencies and the military industrial complex, while passing the liability for disposal and the biological and environmental damage to citizens around the world. Tungsten is a biologically and environmentally safer alternative with greater density and penetrating power. DU bullets are pyrophoric and ignite on impact, producing a smoke that poisons life and travels great distances. The bullet fragments and dust left in the bodies of soldiers cause extended suffering, and cruel and inhumane deaths years after the war has ended. DU is radioactive, it is a toxic metal, and the toxicity is greatly increased when combined with chemicals. It disproportionately affects women and children. DU munitions are illegal under international human rights and humanitarian law. Nevertheless, the US, the self-proclaimed "International Champion of Human Rights," has used this inhumane weapon on the battlefield, exposing its own soldiers, its allies, civilian populations, and future generations. DU testing in the U.S. continues to expose unsuspecting citizens and the environment. Pilots at Fallon Naval Air Station in Nevada trained on nearby bombing and gunnery ranges for the Gulf War. Now, the "don't look, don't find policy" of the military has concealed the cause of a recent leukemia cluster in children in Fallon. Overseas, the use of radioactive trash in weapons has turned Gulf countries, the Balkans, Vieques Island, and Okinawa into dumpsites for the US government and the radiation industry. A single miscroscopic particle can cause a lethal disease. DU will continue to poison life from the dust and soils of the battlefields and testing grounds. In ten half-lives, or 45 billion years, the radioactivity will become an insignificant amount. Which is worse, flash annihilation by nuclear explosions, or slow mutilation from low-level radiation, the result of radioactive contamination of the air, water and earth essential to life? Globally, we have been deceived about the health effects of radiation, by bureaucratized governments informed by the military industrial complex and scientific power. In the past half-century, 1.3 billion people have been killed, maimed, and diseased by nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Millions more will be killed, maimed and diseased unless the citizens of the world demand an end to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, nuclear power, nuclear waste, and the new radiological weapons. As the bell tolls, we must honor and respect the hibakusha around the world, who are living reminders that we are pulling the rope of our own death knell. Let us thank the citizens of Japan, The Chugoku Shimbun, and Akira Tashiro, for making us aware of the most important issue of this century. And thanks to the veterans, whose stories make it clear that democracies as well as living bodies can develop malignancies.
Leuren Moret
Berkeley, California
President, Scientists for Indigenous People June 2001
Past President, Association for Women Geoscientists
11/9/01
12:06:49 PM
The Toxicity Of Weapons And War
To the Mayor and City Council Members of Berkeley,
Margo Shafer is right - the bombing of Afghanistan by US government forces IS our problem. I commend Dona Spring for bringing this forward for debate. It is NOT TRUE that it is happening "over there" so that it DOESN'T AFFECT us "over here". Citizens must be informed with good information in order to make good decisions and participate fully to ensure a democratic government. We are part of a global community, and should be informed and interested in government policy which does not directly affect us in our local community.
The United States has hundreds of thousands of tons of depleted uranium piled in heaps outdoors at DOE facilities. It is 99.5% of what is left when the most fissionable isotope (one of three) is extracted from naturally occurring uranium. The extracted uranium is used in nuclear weapons or nuclear fuel for nuclear reactors. The 99.5% that is discarded cannot be put back into the mines it came out of because, after crushing and processing, the volume is greater than before it was removed from the mines.
The Dept. of Defense got the bright idea of using DU in weapons because (1) it is very dense which gives it greater penetrating power to destroy tanks etc. (2) it is pyrophoric which means upon impact, it explodes into fire and smoke creating submicroscopic radioactive particles which travel great distances and can remain suspended until it is "rained out" of the atmosphere, (3) it is radioactive and will continue acting internally long after the battlefield has been cleared - with delayed effects which continue acting on soldiers and civilians THE REST OF THEIR LIVES (4) it is cheap and passes the responsibility for disposal from DOE on to civilians (that means US) and the environment. The half life of uranium is 4.5 billion years - in ten half lives radioactivity becomes an insignificant amount. In 45 billion years it will no longer be a danger. In other words - it's "fun" for the DOD, it's "cheap" for the arms manufacturers (at good profits), and "good riddance" says DOE.
The US has manufactured, used, tested DU in 39 states. The cleanup bill - just for the DU - at the Jefferson Proving Ground in Indiana would be $7.8 billion... it has not been cleaned up, but DOD has closed it. Communities living near these test ranges will continue to be exposed and suffer health problems. The Sierra Army Depot in California, for 40 years, has burned millions of tons of old munitions -including 20 times more DU than was used in the Gulf War. The radioactive ash full of heavy metals, phosgene gas and dioxins contaminated local communities as well as many Native American communities that were downwind -especially the Pyramid Lake Paiute reservation. The health problems in those communities has been horrendous. The Sierra Army depot burned old munitions in OPEN PITS - and was the single largest contributor to air pollution in California -17-23%. Did anyone in this city know that, or do anything to inform the citizens? I doubt that anyone was aware or informed. Several months ago I made a short presentation to the Peace and Justice Commission, and they were willing to consider the problem in order to take some action. Norman Harry, former Pyramid Lake Tribal Chairman, and Senator Harry Reid worked with others to shut it down. Less than a month ago Lassen County refused to renew the burn permit for the Sierra Army Depot - finally.
The United States has used DU weaponry in the Gulf War, Kosovo, Serbia, Vieques Island, Torishima Island near Okinawa, Japan, and sold it to at least 23 countries. Israel uses it nearly daily on the Palestinians. It is in the arsenal the US is using on Afghanistan.
The DU which contaminates the Gulf States can be detected on gamma meters in Greece and Bulgaria on windy days. It's the weapon that "keeps giving"... and keeps moving.
DU is also used as ballast in commercial and military planes. On Sept. 11, I called a medical doctor who lives 7 miles from the Pentagon and warned her that DU could have burned in the hijacked jets that crashed (up to 3000 pounds were used in 747's). She turned on her gamma meter - radiation levels were 8 times higher than normal inside her house. She informed the National Radiation Information Service in Washington DC, and the EPA, FBI, HazMat and other emergency response agencies went to the Pentagon to investigate. A pile of rubble from the crash was radioactive, but the EPA rep said "oh... it's probably depleted uranium... it's not a health hazard unless you breathe it". Firefighters, Pentagon personel, and communities nearby DID BREATHE IT. There was no followup investigation, and what about the World Trade Center in NY? Radiation almost never gets into mainstream media. It is a taboo subject.
Karen Parker, International Human Rights Attorney, is calling for a UN resulution to ban DU internationally. Marion Fulk, retired Livermore Lab scientist who has worked on the tritium facility issue, and I are writing the science portion of the UN resolution banning DU. This problem is an issue we should all be concerned with: act locally, think globally.
An excellent and new book on DU is online in Hiroshima Japan - in English. I wrote the Foreword and have copies available if anyone would like to read it, or if you would like to invite me as a speaker. You can read, email, download, pass on any of the 40+ interviews and photos in the US, UK, Gulf, Kosovo: http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/uran/index_e.html
The Foreword is below.
The true partiots in this country are two women: Barbara Lee for saying "no" to needless further devastation in an already war torn country, and Dona Spring who brought the issue to the table in Berkeley. I am proud to serve as Dona's representative on the CEAC and to support her important resolution. I hope the information I have provided will add to the discussion. And thank you Margo for bringing up the radioactive weaponry.
Best wishes,
Leuren Moret Commissioner
CEAC President Scientists for Indigenous People
11/9/01
11:57:59 AM
SojoNet News Daily Headlines
Support Deepens For the Taliban, Refugees Report
U.S. military strategists had hoped the air attacks and the resulting destruction would generate public anger at the Taliban, forcing its leaders to surrender bin Laden and members of his al Qaeda network. But Afghan refugees said just the opposite has occurred. "The bombing has not weakened the Taliban where we are," said one refugee. "It has made them stronger."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58791-2001Nov7.html
Global warming to hit key food crops
Harvests of some of the world's key food crops could drop by up to 30 percent in the next 100 years due to global warming, a U.N. agency said.
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13168/story.htm
Kerry sees 'misplaced patriotism' in Bush oil plan
Senator John F. Kerry last night accused the Bush administration taking advantage of the emotional response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to push for oil drilling in Alaska and for passage of an energy plan containing oil and gas subsidies. The Massachusetts Democrat cast fighting for the environment as an expression of true love of country.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/312/nation/Kerry_sees_misplaced_patriotism_in_Bush_oil_plan+.shtml
Bush Plan Would Revise Bill to Aid Charities
President Bush asked the Senate leadership today to pass a slimmed-down version of his plan to give federal money to religious charities, saying all charities were hard-pressed to provide disaster relief for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks while helping the needy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/08/national/08FAIT.html
Voters speak: Tax cuts don't equal victory
In statewide races, where a broader swath of the electorate turned out, voters seemed to turn from Republicans' tax-cutting, smaller-government ideology.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1108/p3s1-uspo.html
Palestinians Shot by Soldiers At Close Range, Witnesses Say
Journalists who asked witnesses to lead them to the scene found skull fragments, brain matter and patches of blood on the ground. That was the spot where medics and a pathologist said three Palestinians had been shot through the head, and, judging from lacerations and burn marks around the wounds, at point-blank range.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58804-2001Nov7.html
U.N. Report: 70 Percent Of World's Population Could Use All-Star Benefit Concert
Whether ravaged by war, disease, natural disaster, or just plain grinding poverty, there are a whole heck of a lot of people out there in desperate need of a star-studded fundraiser at Madison Square Garden.
http://www.theonion.com/onion3740/all-star_benefit_concert.html
11/8/01
5:58:42 PM
Osama's Nuclear Bomb
by David Dolan
Does Osama bin Laden possess the ultimate weapon - a nuclear bomb - in one form or another? Amid the heightened terrorist alert in the United States and elsewhere, examination of this radiating topic reverberates around the halls of Western governments, security services and in the international press.
Meanwhile, I continue to be haunted by the words of an FBI agent, spoken to me when I was visiting Washington, D.C., in 1995. He revealed that federal officials had uncovered "substantial evidence" that bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network had smuggled several Soviet-built nuclear suitcase bombs into the United States. Although the ultimate proof of this contention would be an explosion that no one but America's worst enemies wants to take place, the circumstantial evidence is apparently compelling enough to keep sending Vice President Dick Cheney to his "undisclosed location."
The fact that the Kremlin built such weapons is accepted by most Western spy agencies, even if one of the first persons to publicly reveal it was the controversial Russian General Alexander Lebed. He claimed in 1996 that negligent post-Soviet Russian officials had lost track of an astounding 134 of these deadly mini devices, thought to be capable of completely leveling everything within a couple miles of ground zero - not to mention covering an even wider area with carcinogenic nuclear poisons.
Even if just a few of the suitcase nukes are unaccounted for, it would be a few too many.
Reports continue to circulate that some of these field nuclear devices ended up in the hands of Chechen Muslim groups, who passed them along (for a substantial price) to bin Laden. While this has not been concretely proved as far as I can tell, it is clear to Western security agencies that Chechen rebels have close connections to al-Qaida and its notorious leader. That bin Laden desperately desires to acquire nuclear bombs is also quite evident, given that he has publicly said so.
On top of the strong possibility that the Arabian terrorist leader has gotten his jihad hands on KGB-built portable-luggage bombs, it is clear that he has strong supporters in the Pakistani nuclear scientific community. Pakistan's chief nuclear engineer, Bashiruddin Mahmoud, has not hidden his glowing affection for the turbaned desert warrior. Still, it is thought to be extremely unlikely that he might have been able to arrange a nuclear weapons transfer to al-Qaida operatives. Yet his advice would be invaluable if bin Laden succeeded in getting the material needed to build a nuclear device from elsewhere, as many experts fear he has probably done.
The contention that bin Laden would have no moral qualms about using such a hideous weapon on his perceived infidel enemies, even if most were civilians, is self evident. After all, it was not the recently revealed CIA office near the World Trade Center that was his main target on Sept. 11. The Saudi dissident realized that the twin towers would be full on a Tuesday morning with civilian workers going about their daily jobs. If 5,000 infidel lives are good to take, surely 500,000 are much better.
Chemical strike on New York
Seemingly confirming that mass slaughter is the ultimate goal of some Islamic terrorist militants, I was told by another American security official while visiting the Midwest a few years ago that the original World Trade Center attack in 1993 had a non-conventional chemical component. He further revealed that this fact was concealed from the public on orders of senior officials in the Clinton administration, although he did not impute them with evil motives in doing so. He opined that the administration apparently did not want to "worry" the general public with such frightening details.
According to my source, deadly nerve agents were placed amid the explosives that blew up in the parking garage underneath the WTC. The Arab terrorists - whom he thought were probably linked to Saddam Hussein - apparently hoped that the debilitating chemicals would be widely dispersed by the truck bomb explosion, killing thousands of people in nearby portions of lower Manhattan. In the actual event, the heat of the intense fire that followed the powerful blast quickly destroyed all but a few traces of the chemical agents, said my source.
There is substantial circumstantial evidence that this same "look the other way" attitude carried the day after the TWA Flight 800 explosion in the skies off of Long Island a few years later. After all, why spoil the "feel good" '90s with the reality that despite the collapse of the dreaded Soviet Union, America still had real enemies out there plotting to reduce her to ashes?
Some who see darker motives behind such apparent government complacency might wonder if the secular humanist propensity to totally ignore the Islamic fundamentalist terrorist threat until forced to do otherwise on Sept. 11 does not reveal something far more sinister. Indeed, there is apparent room to wonder if some Western secular-humanist leaders -especially those who openly disdain their fellow humans who choose to look to the heavens for Divine guidance - have not long viewed the growing Islamic terrorist menace as a powerful tool to further their ultimate goal of ushering in a New World Order.
Expert warrior
Although Osama bin Laden and his mainly Middle East henchmen might appear to come from the Middle Ages to most folks in the West, he is clearly a very clever man. This is demonstrated by his carefully crafted video sermons, designed to pull every possible chain to stir up the Muslim masses in support of his self-declared holy war. This guy knows what he is after, and probably has a long-range game plan of how to get there. It may well include a nuclear explosion at an appropriate moment.
If you have been following this potential hair-splitting aspect of the unfolding terrorist story in recent weeks, you might know that many nuclear experts doubt that the alleged missing Soviet devices are still able to perform their intended task. Such scientists assure us that the tritium triggers needed to detonate the portable bombs have undoubtedly decayed by now, rendering the devices useless. However, some note that it is possible to recharge the triggers for someone who knows his way around such technical concerns, which might include the Pakistani scientist Mahmoud.
At any rate, it is relatively easy to produce a so-called "dirty bomb" comprised of regular explosives laced with nuclear waste materials. Although the kill ratio would be relatively modest from such a blast, it would still act as a powerful psychological weapon in a terrorist war currently focused on the threat of more anthrax attacks.
I have not been able to secure any official comment about recent media reports that alert Israeli security forces intercepted a Palestinian terrorist trying to smuggle such a bomb into the Tel Aviv area a couple weeks ago. It seems that government leaders here think that the public is stressed out enough as it is, which is surely the case.
However, such an interception might help explain why Prime Minister Ariel Sharon felt compelled to cancel his important trip to the United States this week for "security reasons." After all, he is no longer too upset with the Bush administration for attempting to force Israeli troops out of Yasser Arafat's towns. Sharon is instead quite pleased that U.S. officials have now officially placed the groups that were the main targets of his recent army incursion - known activists belonging to the Popular Front PLO splinter group, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group - on the administration's official terrorist list. He would be happier still if U.S. officials formally recognized that members of Arafat's own Palestinian Authority have engaged in terror strikes over the past year, but he knows that would be asking way too much.
Why wait?
If Osama and gang have anything nuclear hidden up their flowing sleeves, why haven't they revealed this by launching an attack before now? After all, al-Qaida and Taliban forces are being pummeled by American aircraft in Afghanistan day after day, with no dramatic terrorist response so far in the West other than possibly a few anthrax spores in some mailed envelopes.
The answer could be that recent U.S. government warnings and stepped up security have thwarted such an attack, at least for now. Or perhaps the terrorists have been deliberately giving out false information to wear down weary American security forces and the general public, waiting for a later day to act when the overall guard has dropped a little bit.
My guess is that the wily bin Laden is not suffering all that badly at present, despite the massive American bombing campaign. He knows that support for the counter-terrorism war is already waning in the West, especially in Europe where hand wringing over relatively modest civilian casualties is reaching fever pitch (when will all realize that this is not a game of virtual war?). Meanwhile additional jihad warriors are crossing over porous Afghan borders everyday, some coming from as far away as England and Indonesia.
Without wishing to add to the terrorist problem by further alarming any reader who is already having trouble sleeping at night, I suggest that the Arabian "Robin Hood" may be waiting to unleash his nuclear genii until he can achieve the maximum emotional Islamic response to such a dastardly attack.
As a longtime friend and observer of many Arabs belonging to the growing worldwide population of Mohammad's faithful followers, I would nominate the holy month of Ramadan as the ideal time to strike. It is always a period of heightened religious fervor in the Muslim world, as I have witnessed many times firsthand. This year, Ramadan begins on Nov. 17. Such an audacious terrorist assault would really get Osama's jihad struggle off the ground -off the ground of the new Ground Zero.
A newly revised edition of David Dolan's latest book, "Israel In Crisis: What Lies Ahead," has just been published. Also available is his end-time novel, "The End Of Days," and his first book, an acclaimed history of Israel titled "Israel At The Crossroads." These books may be ordered by phoning 1-888-890-6938 in North America. You may also e-mail your request or visit David's website.
David Dolan is a Jerusalem-based author and journalist who has lived in Israel since 1980. He reported for CBS radio for over 12 years.
11/8/01
5:12:23 PM
Kerry Sees 'Misplaced Patriotism' In Bush Oil Plan
By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 11/8/2001
EW YORK - Senator John F. Kerry last night accused the Bush administration of ''misplaced patriotism,'' saying it is taking advantage of the emotional response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to push for oil drilling in Alaska and for passage of an energy plan containing oil and gas subsidies.
The Massachusetts Democrat and potential 2004 presidential contender cast fighting for the environment as an expression of true love of country.
''I believe that the better definition of patriotism for us here tonight, in this environmental challenge that we face, is clearly to say no, to stand at the breach, and to say that we're not going to be led down the path that falsely provides us with the choice of either growing the economy or protecting the environment when all of us know that we can do both simultaneously,'' said Kerry in the keynote address at the 12th annual New York dinner meeting of the League of Conservation Voters.
A call to the White House seeking comment on his remarks was not returned.
While Kerry did not mention President Bush by name, his target was clear as he blasted administration energy policies and called for a reduction in dependence on foreign oil, a cut in greenhouse gas emissions, and for subjecting sport-utility vehicles to the same fuel efficiency standards imposed on standard automobiles.
He set a goal of having 20 percent of the nation's energy supply by 2020 come exclusively from alternative and renewable sources of energy.
''Twenty-twenty, that's a goal,'' Kerry said.
The speech, before a largely Democratic audience of environmentalists and New York political donors, was part of Kerry's reentry into the national political arena. Like other politicians, he canceled fund-raisers and reelection appearances to allow the country to come to grips with the hijackings.
Among those in the audience of 300 were former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld, a Republican and avid outdoorsman; Clinton administration officials Andrew Cuomo, John Podesta, and Bill Richardson; and actor Robert Redford, who is active in the environmental movement and hailed Kerry's involvement in introducing the senator.
In the 2000 election, Vice President Al Gore carried the party's environmental banner as he challenged George W. Bush for the presidency. While Gore has begun his reemergence into the political arena with visits to Iowa and New Hampshire, Kerry has sought to assert his own credentials.
On the Senate floor, he has declared he will lead a filibuster if the administration forges ahead with efforts to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
The speech at New York's Waldorf-Astoria & Towers echoed similar league addresses by Gore when he was a senator and Bill Bradley and Bill Clinton when they were presidential candidates.
''Let me say to you tonight, in the clearest terms I can, with a sense of conviction that comes from confidence because of the road we have traveled and our sense of ourselves, that we can't honor properly those who died on Sept. 11, and we can't stay true to our own values, unless we are prepared to have political leaders who in their turn are prepared to offer us real choices about the future of this country, and not allow the vibrancy of our democracy to be torn apart by a misplaced patriotism,'' Kerry said.
He labeled the proposal to drill in the Alaska refuge, which the Bush administration argues would help diminish the nation's dependence on foreign oil imports, as ''misplaced patriotism,'' adding: ''That's not a choice; that's a charade, and they know it.''
He added: ''It's also a false definition of patriotism to suggest that when 458,000 people have been thrown out of work in one month - the largest single one-month increase in 21 years in this country - and when we're remembering supposedly properly the acts of those average, everyday Americans who went in that building and ran up 40-some flights with hoses over their backs to rescue people, and police officers who went in to maintain order in our country, there is somehow something grotesquely inappropriate in $20-plus billion of subsidies to oil and gas that are giveaways.''
Glen Johnson can be reached by e-mail at johnson@globe.com.
Source: Kerry sees 'misplaced patriotism' in Bush oil plan
By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 11/8/2001
EW YORK - Senator John F. Kerry last night accused the Bush administration of ''misplaced patriotism,'' saying it is taking advantage of the emotional response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to push for oil drilling in Alaska and for passage of an energy plan containing oil and gas subsidies.
The Massachusetts Democrat and potential 2004 presidential contender cast fighting for the environment as an expression of true love of country.
''I believe that the better definition of patriotism for us here tonight, in this environmental challenge that we face, is clearly to say no, to stand at the breach, and to say that we're not going to be led down the path that falsely provides us with the choice of either growing the economy or protecting the environment when all of us know that we can do both simultaneously,'' said Kerry in the keynote address at the 12th annual New York dinner meeting of the League of Conservation Voters.
A call to the White House seeking comment on his remarks was not returned.
While Kerry did not mention President Bush by name, his target was clear as he blasted administration energy policies and called for a reduction in dependence on foreign oil, a cut in greenhouse gas emissions, and for subjecting sport-utility vehicles to the same fuel efficiency standards imposed on standard automobiles.
He set a goal of having 20 percent of the nation's energy supply by 2020 come exclusively from alternative and renewable sources of energy.
''Twenty-twenty, that's a goal,'' Kerry said.
The speech, before a largely Democratic audience of environmentalists and New York political donors, was part of Kerry's reentry into the national political arena. Like other politicians, he canceled fund-raisers and reelection appearances to allow the country to come to grips with the hijackings.
Among those in the audience of 300 were former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld, a Republican and avid outdoorsman; Clinton administration officials Andrew Cuomo, John Podesta, and Bill Richardson; and actor Robert Redford, who is active in the environmental movement and hailed Kerry's involvement in introducing the senator.
In the 2000 election, Vice President Al Gore carried the party's environmental banner as he challenged George W. Bush for the presidency. While Gore has begun his reemergence into the political arena with visits to Iowa and New Hampshire, Kerry has sought to assert his own credentials.
On the Senate floor, he has declared he will lead a filibuster if the administration forges ahead with efforts to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
The speech at New York's Waldorf-Astoria & Towers echoed similar league addresses by Gore when he was a senator and Bill Bradley and Bill Clinton when they were presidential candidates.
''Let me say to you tonight, in the clearest terms I can, with a sense of conviction that comes from confidence because of the road we have traveled and our sense of ourselves, that we can't honor properly those who died on Sept. 11, and we can't stay true to our own values, unless we are prepared to have political leaders who in their turn are prepared to offer us real choices about the future of this country, and not allow the vibrancy of our democracy to be torn apart by a misplaced patriotism,'' Kerry said.
He labeled the proposal to drill in the Alaska refuge, which the Bush administration argues would help diminish the nation's dependence on foreign oil imports, as ''misplaced patriotism,'' adding: ''That's not a choice; that's a charade, and they know it.''
He added: ''It's also a false definition of patriotism to suggest that when 458,000 people have been thrown out of work in one month - the largest single one-month increase in 21 years in this country - and when we're remembering supposedly properly the acts of those average, everyday Americans who went in that building and ran up 40-some flights with hoses over their backs to rescue people, and police officers who went in to maintain order in our country, there is somehow something grotesquely inappropriate in $20-plus billion of subsidies to oil and gas that are giveaways.''
Glen Johnson can be reached by email at mailto:johnson@globe.com
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/312/nation/Kerry_sees_misplaced_patriotism_in_Bush_oil_plan+.shtml
11/8/01
5:06:25 PM
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
UNAPPEALING
A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that a $5 billion punitive damage award levied against ExxonMobil for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill is excessive. The decision stunned environmentalists and the roughly 10,000 fishers, Alaska Natives, and others who have been awaiting compensation for more than a decade. When a jury handed down the verdict in 1994 for the 11 million-gallon spill in Prince William Sound, it was the largest punitive damage payment awarded in U.S. history. Yesterday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the award far exceeded the standard four-to-one ratio of damages paid to economic harm done to plaintiffs. Bringing the award into line with that ratio could decrease it to as little as $1.2 billion.
straight to the source: Anchorage Daily News, Ben Spiess and Natalie Phillips, 08 Nov 2001 <http://www.adn.com/front/story/734905p-782867c.html>
straight to the source: Anchorage Daily News, Wesley Loy, 08 Nov 2001 <http://www.adn.com/front/story/734904p-782859c.html>
A GROWING PROBLEM
Global warming could lead to a 30 percent decline in the yield of key crops over the next 100 years, according to a report made by the United Nations Environment Programme during ongoing climate change negotiations in Marrakech, Morocco. The report says rising temperatures damage the growing capacity of critical crops such as wheat, rice, and maize, with yields likely to drop as much as 10 percent for every 1 degree Celsius increase in the tropics. Current climate models predict a global warming of 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. The results suggest a potential human disaster in the form of increased world hunger, as well as an environmental disaster, as farmers seek higher, cooler places to cultivate, threatening wildlife and forests in the process. So what are we doing about it? Get the inside scoop from our correspondents in Marrakech, only on the Grist Magazine website.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 08 Nov 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/13168/story.htm>
only in Grist: What's really happening in Marrakech -- Grist correspondents tell it like it is <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/bradley110801.asp?source=daily>
BORDERLINE INANE
Almost every major community on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border suffers from poor air quality, according to a report due to be released shortly by U.S. and Mexican environmental agencies. The poor air is a byproduct of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which led to the construction of 84 assembly plants on the border in Mexico that are not answerable to strict emissions limits. On top of that, some plants on the border in the U.S. are exceeding pollution limits. The findings raise concerns ab