3
Aug
2004

Why I Am Scared of George Bush and Why You Should Be, Too

In the past almost four years, I have come to fear almost everything the Bush administration does. In one way or the other, it has harmed, perhaps irreparably, virtually every aspect of American life...

http://www.progressivetrail.org/articles/040802Cassel.shtml


From Information Clearing House

A nation in danger or a president in peril ?

Given that America is in the middle of a closely fought election campaign, there was, perhaps, little surprise that some would accuse the Bush administration of playing politics...

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6612.htm

The War Against Iraqi Children

Unmasked: The War Against Iraqi Children:

People in the West, particularly Americans, have been carefully screened (by Fox News, NBC and the likes) from seeing any sign of vast devastation, suffering and genocides caused by their government wars of aggression and committed in their names. How many more thousands of Iraqi children have to die in order to awake the consciences of Westerners liberals?...

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6616.htm

Iraq Jail Chief Says Prisoner Abuse Covered Up

The U.S. general formerly in charge of Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison said on Tuesday abuse of Iraqi captives was hidden from her in a cover-up that may reach all the way to the Pentagon or White House...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5856840


From Information Clearing House

Child abuse

Abortion 40 million deaths in US
Vaccinations
Cow's milk: http://www.notmilk.com
canola: http://tinyurl.com/7y4v5
sugar: http://tinyurl.com/6bbmu
aspartame: http://www.dorway.com
fluoride: http://tinyurl.com/5ey6m
Miscellaneous: http://www.trufax.org
aluminum
public schools
TV


Informant: Nilbux

Ashcroft Tells Libraries to Destroy Citizen-Friendly Publications

http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/04/08/ale04025.html


Informant: DitziSis

BUSH CRITICISM OF FRIVOLOUS LAWSUITS HYPOCRITICAL

http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1288388&l=48855

We are a nation at danger

Die von der US-.Regierung verkündeten Terrordrohungen, die zu massiven Sicherheitsvorkehrungen und vor allem Schlagzeilen führten, sind mindestens drei Jahre alt - und wahrscheinlich bestenfalls eine "abstrakte" Bedrohung...

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/co/18016/1.html

What if I got Drafted: an American Nightmare

http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/19431/


Informant: kevcross5

Terror Alerts Set Stage For Election Based On Fear

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/aug2004/terr-a03.shtml


Informant: Friends

Omega-News Collection 3. August 2004

Physics and Biology of Mobile Telephony
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291385/

Finance editorial with Michael Pascoe
“Truth is irrelevant, what matters is what sells"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291581/

Superabundant EMF and the Precautionary Principle
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291851/

The Effects of Microwave Apparatus on Food and Humans
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290590/

Do You Microwave Your Food ?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290594/

Pentagon Looks to Directed-Energy Weapons
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291880/

Vaccine Maker Ad Scares Public
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292145/

Human exposure to health-threatening chemicals is not under control
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292892/

Does Teflon Pose Health Hazards?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292921/

Study Connecting Solar Warming with Earthquakes and volcanoes
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292851/

RETREATING GLACIERS SPUR ALASKAN EARTHQUAKES
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292863/

THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S FAILURE TO PROTECT ENDANGERED SPECIES AND THE PUBLIC FROM HARMFUL PESTICIDES
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291722/

Biscuit Fire Recovery Project
Logging is Not Restoration: Forest Battles Escalate in Oregon
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291918/

Let the Colorado Run Again
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292254/

Whale of a victory and a fight ahead
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292913/

Scientific Fraud Condemns Panther to Extinction
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292776/

The Role of Adaptation in the U.S.
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291732/

Dissent is Now Dangerous
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292828/

Government gags experts over nuclear plant risks
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290977/

Just Trust Us
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290544/

Military spying on soldiers
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290561/

GOP apologizes over voting flier; glossy mailer warns against touch-screens
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290557/

Stolen Election 2000
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290596/

How They Could Steal the Election This Time
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290555/

Sen. Robert Byrd on Losing America and Confronting A Reckless & Arrogant Presidency
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292088/

More Republicans turning away from Bush
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292835/

Hope Is Not On the Way, But Hopefully Bush Is On the Way Out
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291908/

Bush never completed five months of National Guard service
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290552/

Hello, Big Brother
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292843/

Congresswoman Brown Speaks Out on the House Floor
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292859/

U.S. Iraq Security Plan A Disaster
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290546/

Business Booming for Soldiers of Fortune
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290554/

A Battle Over Blame
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291091/

Hearing Set for U.S. Soldier in Iraq Abuse Photos
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292084/

Prison Abuse Calls for 9/11-Type Probe
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291232/

An Open Letter to the 9/11 Panel
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291893/

Can't Blair See that this Country is About to Explode? Can't Bush?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291888/

IT'S NOT ABOUT OIL
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292083/

Reshaping the Middle East
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292081/

Officers vetoed inquiries into 23 deaths
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292097/

U.S. changes policy on nuke pact
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290550/

CANCER SPREADS LIKE WILDFIRE IN IRAQ
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290581/

FREE SPEECH ?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290584/

Cyber-Freedom Under Threat
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291072/

What's criminal? Try lack of justice
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292091/

Terror alert intel was old news
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292833/

Coalition forces imprison Iraqi children
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292098/

Iraq's Child Prisoners
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/292252/

Bush to screen population for mental illness
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291298/

Pentagon learns about the Sixth Amendment
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291402/

Poletown overturned
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291408/

Another F.B.I. Employee Blows Whistle on Agency
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291423/

Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2002-2003
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291547/

CIA's new form of spyware
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291926/

BUSH ADMINISTRATION LOWERS PRIORITY FOR WORKER SAFETY, HEALTH
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291709/

Why American Workers Are So Angry
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291913/

BUSH MISLEADS ON THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291929/

Scientist's violent death shocks cold fusion research network
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/291735/

Does Teflon Pose Health Hazards?

Can Non-Stick Make You Sick?
EPA Studying Whether Teflon Poses Health Risks

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/Living/Teflon_investigation_031114-3.html


Informant: Jack Topel

Whale of a victory and a fight ahead

Right now, the whales are singing your praises.

Take a look at just a few of the victories you helped win at last week’s critical International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting:

* Your letters and contributions helped IFAW expose the corruption of Japan’s “aid-for-whaling votes” scandal. The story of Japan using development aid to recruit and influence small nations to vote pro-whaling was widely covered by international press – and hotly debated at the IWC itself.

* Japan’s proposal to abolish the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was defeated by a wide margin. The Southern Ocean Sanctuary provides long-term protection to around three quarters of the world's remaining whales.

* The IWC agreed that the inherent cruelty of whaling is an issue that needs to be addressed. The IWC stated that cruelty from whaling can no longer be tolerated and action should be taken to stop it.

With you leading the way, the push to resume full-scale commercial whaling has failed — for now.

We have won this battle, but not the war. Japan and Norway will continue to push for higher whale catches and the destruction of sanctuaries. The vote buying must end – whales are not for sale. And we must convince countries like Iceland that whales are worth much more alive than dead.

Together as one, we can have more influence than the self interests of a select few. You’ve had a huge impact already, and the more we grow, the more we can ensure a future that benefits both animals and people without sacrificing our natural heritage.

So I want to thank you for all you’ve done … and urge you to continue your support. Last week is a great example of the difference you can make as part of a unified voice against animal cruelty, and I know you’ll be right there with me the rest of the way.


For the Animals,
Fred O’Regan
President and CEO

Take the Oceans Alive Pledge

Help Us Find a Teddy Roosevelt for Our Oceans

Teddy Roosevelt left an enduring legacy in protecting our nations last great places and saving millions of acres of wild land. Today, our oceans are in trouble, with marine life and plants in danger of vanishing forever. We need a champion to commit that same level of action to our oceans. Send a message to President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry urging them to become the Teddy Roosevelt of the oceans and to restore the health of our seas:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/HpaYwHs1rQEr/

*Oceans in Crisis*

Covering more than two-thirds of the Earth's surface, our oceans were once thought to be an inexhaustible resource, too vast to be damaged by the actions of humans. We now know differently. Fisheries are collapsing, runoff is polluting coastal waters and coral reefs are dying. Our coasts are being carved up to make room for housing, hotels, roads and fish farms, and our waterways are dumping grounds for toxins and other waste.

From icy seas to warm tropical waters, more than two-thirds of the world's fisheries have been overfished. Billions of pounds of fish each year are wasted as unwanted "bycatch" (catch tossed overboard, dead or dying, for lack of market). And hundreds of thousands of seabirds, marine mammals, sea turtles and other marine life are killed through destructive fishing practices.

The explosion in fish farming to satisfy our growing appetite for seafood is polluting our coastal waters with fish waste, antibiotics and other pollutants. Runoff from farms, animal feedlots and streets has created huge 'dead zones' in many bays and estuaries, where few life forms survive.

*Oceans Alive Calls For Action*

The recent draft report by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy confirms that our oceans are in trouble, findings that are echoed by the Pew Ocean Commission and many others. Our oceans need help, and with the right tools we can reverse this decline.

The election year offers a historic opportunity for movement on ocean issues. Building on our long commitment to practical solutions, our Oceans Alive campaign is dedicated to protecting and restoring this vital web of life.

*Wanted: The Teddy Roosevelt for Our Oceans*

Why Teddy Roosevelt? During his presidency, Roosevelt championed conservation and saved millions of acres of wild land for the benefit of all Americans. Today, we need a champion to commit that same level of passion and action to our oceans.

TAKE ACTION!

Take the Oceans Alive pledge and call on President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry to restore the health of our seas:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/HpaYwHs1rQEr/

MORE INFORMATION:

Get more information about why oceans are in trouble at Oceans Alive and learn what you can do, online and on your dinner plate:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/FpaYwHs1rQEO/

See our ad in last Friday's New York Times:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/F1aYwHs1rQEg/

Spread the word. Send friends and family an inspiring Oceans Alive postcard (spread the word url) and encourage them to take the pledge:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/GdaYwHs1rQEv/

Human exposure to health-threatening chemicals is not under control

Human exposure to health-threatening chemicals is not under control at 111 Superfund sites. At another 199 Superfund sites, EPA has insufficient data to determine if migration of groundwater pollution is under control...

http://sierraclub.org/toxics/superfund/report04/


Informant: Teresa Binstock

Tausende Unterschriften für einen gezielten Einkauf

Lebensmittelhersteller können vorgeben, wie die Tiere gefüttert werden, deren Produkte wir essen. Doch viele Unternehmen weigern sich immer noch, ohne Gen-Pflanzen füttern zu lassen. Dies zeigt auch der Streit mit Müllermilch.

Dass die Mehrheit der Verbraucher Gentechnik im Tierfutter ablehnt, scheint keine große Rolle zu spielen. Die Verbraucher haben ohnehin keine Wahl - es sei denn, sie haben bei jedem Einkauf unseren Ratgeber zur Hand. Denn Produkte von Tieren, die mit Gen-Pflanzen gefüttert wurden, müssen nicht gekennzeichnet werden.

Damit sich das ändert und wir mit unserem Einkauf Druck ausüben können, starten wir eine Unterschriften-Aktion. Sie richtet sich an die Europäische Union mit der Forderung, diese Gesetzeslücke zu schließen. Wir bitten Sie, zahlreich teilzunehmen. Den Link zur Kopiervorlage finden Sie hier:

http://www.greenpeace.org/multimedia/download/1/534601/0/Unterschriftenliste.pdf

Leider will auch Müller als Marktführer für Molkereiprodukte nicht mit gutem Beispiel vorangehen und veranlasst nach wie vor keine Tierfütterung ohne Gen-Pflanzen.

Wer will noch mal oder hat noch nicht protestiert? Hier geht's zur Cyberaktion gegen Müller:

http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/de?a=1470&s=gen_de

Der neue Rundbrief ist da! Neben unseren neuesten Pestiziduntersuchungen finden Sie darin Hintergrundinformationen zum globalen Anbau von Gen-Pflanzen sowie ein Interview mit einem Vertreter des Milchwirtschaftsverbandes:

http://www.greenpeace.de/ekn-rundbrief

Wie immer viel Spaß beim Lesen und Mitmachen!

Bis bald,

EinkaufsNetz-Team

einkaufsnetz@greenpeace.de
EinkaufsNetz
Greenpeace e.V.
Grosse Elbstrasse 39
22767 Hamburg

http://www.greenpeace.de/einkaufsnetz
Tel. + 49 40 30618-246
Fax + 49 40 30631 111

No to GM Trees

Sam Burcher reports on a global movement to ban GM trees

Some 400 GM birch trees ( Betula pendula ) in a single GM field study situated in Punkaharju, Finland have been either ripped up or cut down by unknown parties at an estimated cost of 1.21 million euros in June 2004.

After the attack, the researchers at the Finnish Forest Research claimed that their purpose was to examine the environmental risks of horizontal gene transfer. When they originally applied for permission for the field trial in 2000, however, it was to study the carbon-nitrogen processes of GM trees.

Protests against GM trees greeted the 4 th UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) in Geneva in May 2004 because of the “Decision” to draft plans for GM tree projects made at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP9) in Milan in December 2003.

GM trees have been included in the Kyoto Protocol as a means of generating carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism. Carbon credits sold in this way are not subject to the traceability legislation that applies to all other GM imports into Europe and therefore countries hosting GM trees will have no way of knowing whether their credits are GM free or not.

The hopes pinned on GM trees include slowing the progress of climate change and ameliorating the effects of mercury vapours in the atmosphere caused by fossil fuels and medical waste burning.

The plan is to “phyto-remediate” plots of land by planting GM trees that take up ionic mercury or organic mercury and convert it to less toxic elemental mercury, which can then be expelled into the atmosphere where it is supposed to become less harmful. But what this will achieve is relocate soil mercury from contaminated soil sites in the south and redistribute the mercury to the north. Also, the mercury expelled to the atmosphere will go back to the land through precipitation, and convert to its original toxic state in the soil. This poses threats to animal and human health as well as problems of cross- contamination of native plants . Prof. Joe Cummins, among others, has warned that populating expansive areas with mercury transgenic trees could cause a global catastrophe (see “GM trees alert”, Science in Society 16, 2002 and http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GMtrees.php )

Trees are also genetically modified to reduce the amount of fibrous lignin that is the substance of the wood of trees, providing strength and resistance to pests and disease. GM trees may contain up to 50% less lignin than their conventional counterparts, which reduces the ability of the plant to reach optimum levels of fitness in the environment. This reduced capacity leads to decreased biomass and degraded biodiversity.

It is thought that reducing lignin in trees will make wood easier and cheaper to pulp and paper, especially soft woods, as well as creating fas ter growing trees. But a forest of slow decaying trees is a major carbon sink whereas fast decaying forests will result in carbon dioxide being returned to the atmosphere too rapidly (see “Low lignin trees an forage crops”, ISIS report 5 June 2004 http://www.i-sis.org.uk/LLGMT.php ; Science in Society 23).

The US Department of Agriculture has issued more that 300 permits for open GM tree trials since 2000 and officials are expected to grant permission to grow GM trees commercially by 2005. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) GM tree trials are also taking place in China and Chile. In New Zealand GM tree trials are underway by Aventis and DuPont who have engineered pine trees ( Pinus radiata ) and Norwegian Spruce ( Picea abies ) to be resistant to their herbicides “Buster” and “Escort”. A second trial involves speeding up the growth of these GM tree species.

The introduction of “novel bio- engineered” trees into stocks of indigenous trees that “out compete” the native populations will have a disrupting effect on ecosystems and poses similar risks as GM crops, on an increased scale. Problems with GM trees in the environment are amplified because trees engineered to contain pesticides have increased ability to harm non-target insects and birds as well as distributing pollen extensively. Tests have shown that pollen from pine trees can travel up to 600 km. Furthermore , trees remain in the environment for a lot longer than seasonal crops like maize.

There is very little evidence as to what GM trees may do to the soil, but there is every possibility that they may absorb more nutrients than traditional trees, which further threatens biodiversity. And it is not yet know whether GM trees can withstand strong winds, a condition of climate change.

A campaign to ban GM trees was launched in January 2004 by Finnish Environmental Groups, The Peoples Biosafety Association and the Union of Ecoforestry. So far they have attracted support from many concerned groups: – The World Rainforest Movement, Friends of the Earth International, ISIS, The Forest Action Network and Scottish Green Party.

At a side event in Geneva under the banner “The Peopl e's Forest Forum” Anne Petermann, co-director of the Stop GE Trees Campaign in the US presented evidence about the hazards of GM trees and the risks of contamination across state borders from even single field trials. She said: “Once the pollen from those trees escape there is no going back.”

An open letter to Governments was circulated on the last day of the UNFF by the Finnish Environmental Groups which stated that there is no control system for GM pollen flowing with the wind or seeds transported by birds , and that this “breaks with the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety”, the first international law to control the transportation of LMOs ( Living Modified Organisms) across national borders.

Mikko Vartiainen, a lawyer specialising in international law on natural resources confirmed that the burden of proof of safety should lie with the proponents of GM trees and that “We should follow a very tight precautionary principle with such risks.” The campaign delegation at Geneva has facilitated dialogue between Government agents and NG Os and hopes to stimulate discussions between GM proponents and concerned scientists. But they argue that the “Decision” made at COP9 regarding GM trees should have been preceded by such dialogue.

American Lands Alliance, WWF and Greenpeace have all called for a moratorium on the release of GM trees. They suggest positive moves be made to “reduce the need” for fast growing trees that increase global demands for virgin wood and paper products along with further research and more regulations in place before GM trees are manufactured in the forests.

Hannu Hyvonen, the co-ordinator of the Union of Ecoforestry and an organic farmer said that planting GM trees was not the answer to Climate Change prevention, “One cannot put out the fire with gasoline,” he said.

Sign onto the petition: Global Ban on GM trees at http://elonmerkki.net/forestforum

This article can be found on the I-SIS website at http://www.i-sis.org.uk/

RETREATING GLACIERS SPUR ALASKAN EARTHQUAKES

Goddard Space Flight Center
August 2, 2004

http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0715glacierquake.html


Informant: NHNE

Congresswoman Brown Speaks Out on the House Floor

http://www.house.gov/corrinebrown/press108/pr040715.htm

VIDEO OF CONGRESSWOMAN BROWN SPEAKING ON HOUSE FLOOR:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/player.aspx?aid=27805&sid=&bw=hi


Informant: NHNE

Study Connecting Solar Warming with Earthquakes and volcanoes

NASA Just Released Study Connecting Solar Warming with Earthquakes (and volcanoes)...08/03/04

by Mitch Battros - ECTV

Although it is not mentioned in yesterdays NASA release, I would add "volcanoes" to the 'cause-effect' scenario. As you witnessed in yesterday's ECTV breaking news release, several volcanoes have escalated to code "yellow" in the last week. All this occurred at the exact same time-linked means to the Sun's sudden and unexpected surge.

Equation:
Sunspots => Solar Flares => Magnetic Field Shift => Shifting Ocean and Jet Stream Currents => Extreme Weather and Human Disruption (mitch battros)

In the article titled "More Than Just Mount Spurr Ready to Rumble
http://www.earthchangestv.com/secure/2004/article_2937.php ", you will see elevated levels of seismicity continue to be recorded at Mount Spurr volcano. Approximately 10-20 earthquakes have been recorded daily beneath the summit of Mount Spurr. This level of activity has remained at a constant rate for the last several weeks.

Spurr volcano is an ice- and snow-covered stratovolcano located on the west side of Cook Inlet. The only historical eruptions in 1953 and 1992 occurred at the Crater Peak flank vent located 3.5 km (2 mi) south of the Spurr summit. These eruptions were explosive, brief in duration, and produced towering columns of ash that rose up to 20 km (65,000 ft) above sea level.

In a new study, NASA and United States Geological Survey (USGS) scientists found that retreating glaciers in southern Alaska may be opening the way for future earthquakes.

The study examined the likelihood of increased earthquake activity in southern Alaska as a result of rapidly melting glaciers. As glaciers melt they lighten the load on the Earth's crust. Tectonic plates, that are mobile pieces of the Earth's crust, can then move more freely. The study appears in the July issue of the Journal of Global and Planetary Change.

Jeanne Sauber of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and Bruce Molnia, a research geologist at USGS, Reston, Va., used NASA satellite and global positioning system receivers, as well as computer models, to study movements of Earth's plates and shrinking glaciers in the area.

"Historically, when big ice masses started to retreat, the number of earthquakes increased," Sauber said. "More than 10,000 years ago, at the end of the great ice age, big earthquakes occurred in Scandinavia as the large glaciers began to melt. In Canada, many more moderate earthquakes occurred as ice sheets melted there," she added.

Southern Alaskan glaciers are very sensitive to climate change, Sauber added. Many glaciers have shrunk or disappeared over the last 100 years. The trend, which appears to be accelerating, seems to be caused by higher temperatures and changes in precipitation. In southern Alaska, a tectonic plate under the Pacific Ocean is pushing into the coast, which creates very steep mountains. The high mountains and heavy precipitation are critical for glacier formation. The colliding plates create a great deal of pressure that builds up, and eventually is relieved by earthquakes.

The weight of a large glacier on top of these active earthquake areas can help keep things stable. But, as the glaciers melt and their load on the plate lessens, there is a greater likelihood of an earthquake happening to relieve the large strain underneath. Even though shrinking glaciers make it easier for earthquakes to occur, the forcing together of tectonic plates is the main reason behind major earthquakes. The researchers believe that a 1979 earthquake in southern Alaska, called the St. Elias earthquake, was promoted by wasting glaciers in the area. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale.

Along the fault zone, in the region of the St. Elias earthquake, pressure from the Pacific plate sliding under the continental plate had built up since 1899 when previous earthquakes occurred. Between 1899 and 1979, many glaciers near the fault zone thinned by hundreds of meters and some completely disappeared. Photographs of these glaciers, many taken by Molnia during the last 30 years, were used to identify details within areas of greatest ice loss.

Field measurements were also used to determine how much the glacier's ice thickness changed since the late 19th century. The researchers estimated the volume of ice that melted and then calculated how much instability the loss of ice may have caused. They found the loss of ice would have been enough to stimulate the 1979 earthquake.

Along with global positioning system measurements made by Sauber and Molnia a number of NASA satellites were used to document glacier variability. Data from Landsat-7 and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) were used to study glacier extent and topography. Currently, NASA's ICESat satellite is being used to measure how the glacier thicknesses are changing.

"In the future, in areas like Alaska where earthquakes occur and glaciers are changing, their relationship must be considered to better assess earthquake hazard, and our satellite assets are allowing us to do this by tracking the changes in extent and volume of the ice, and movement of the Earth," Sauber said.

Hello, Big Brother

AlterNet

by Ian Williams

08/02/04

The one unmitigated triumph of the Bush reign has been a liberal artistic efflorescence. Not only has publishing been rescued from the quasi-literate stranglehold of the Rush Limbaughs and Ann Coulters, with every Bush-bashing book flying off the shelves, but the documentary film as a genre has taken the leap from the higher numbered channels on the cable box to the actual theatre. Fahrenheit 9-11, Outfoxed, Bush's Brain, Control Room and Danny Schechter's WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception) all deal with different facets of our increasingly Orwellian world, and it is no surprise that so many of them draw on the vocabulary of George Orwell's 1984 to describe what is happening...

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/19421/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

More Republicans turning away from Bush

Capitol Hill Blue

08/02/04

Ohio resident Bob Stewart says of President Bush: 'He's been a world-class polarizer. I don't know if I can stomach four more years with him as president. He misled us into the war in Iraq and has mismanaged everything since.' A raging Democrat? No, Stewart is a Republican, one of an increasing number of such voters who plan to back John Kerry, out of despair over the war in Iraq and disappointment over budget deficits and social policies...

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4948.shtml


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Terror alert intel was old news

Officials: Terror alert intel was old news

New York Times

08/03/04

Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terrorist plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way." [Registration
required, or use login "newsdigests/newsdigests"]...

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/politics/03intel.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Dissent is Now Dangerous

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0726-12.htm


Informant: Pam

The Invisible Disease - The Dangers of Environmental Illnesses caused by Electromagnetic Fields and Chemical Emissions

Please note the arrival of Gunni Nordström's latest book:

"The Invisible Disease - The Dangers of Environmental Illnesses caused by Electromagnetic Fields and Chemical Emissions" by Gunni Nordström (O Books, 2004, ISBN 1-903816-71-8).

Best regards

Olle Johansson, assoc. prof.
The Experimental Dermatology Unit
Department of Neuroscience
Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm
Sweden

Erstes Bürgerbegehren gegen Mobilfunksender erfolgreich

Klares Votum gegen Mobilfunksender

Neustädter Bürger wollen keine neue Station im Stadtgebiet - Wahlbeteiligung nur bei 39,8 Prozent

Neustadt am Kulm. (fra) Das Thema weiterer Mobilfunk-Sendeanlagen in Neustadt am Kulm dürfte sich mit dem Abstimmungsergebnis des Bürgerentscheides am gestrigen Sonntag - einem klaren Nein zu weiteren Masten - erledigt haben. Diese Entscheidung bewerteten Bürgermeister Karl Pühl und BIRK-Sprecher Wolfgang Haberberger in ersten Stellungnahmen positiv.

404 von 1015 Wahlberechtigten (39,8 Prozent) besuchten im Laufe des Sonntags das Wahllokal im Rathaus. Die Mehrheit (285 Wähler) entschied sich für ein Ja.

Das bedeutet laut Stimmzettel, dass "die Stadt Neustadt am Kulm alle rechtlich überhaupt vertretbaren Maßnahmen ergreift, um Sendeanlagen im Gemeindegebiet zu unterbinden und mich dadurch vor den möglichen gesundheitlichen Gefahren schützt, sowie das Orts- und Landschaftsbild bewahrt. Auch soll sie alle rechtlichen Möglichkeiten und Verhandlungsspielräume zur Korrektur der Strahlungsleistung (zum Beispiel Sendeleistung bereits bestehender Sendeanlagen) ausschöpfen." 112 Bürger haben sich gegen diesen Wortlaut ausgesprochen und damit ihre Erlaubnis für weitere Mobilfunkstationen gegeben. Drei Stimmzettel waren ungültig. Die 14 Wahlhelfer hatten das Ergebnis in weniger als zehn Minuten ausgezählt. Damit endete das wohl erste Bürgerbegehren gegen Mobilfunksender erfolgreich.

Keine Überraschung

Für Bürgermeister Karl Pühl war das Ergebnis nicht überraschend. Nun sei nach der klaren Abstimmung eindeutig, dass die Mobilfunkunternehmen nicht weiter anzufragen bräuchten. Er geht davon aus, dass es für die derzeit diskutierten Standorte keine offizielle Anfrage seitens der Mobilfunkbetreiber mehr geben wird. BIRK-Sprecher Wolfgang Haberberger freute sich sichtlich über das Abstimmungsverhalten der Neustädter, mit dem er nicht gerechnet hatte. Die Bürger Neustadts hätten eine eindeutige "zukunftsträchtige, nachhaltige Entscheidung getroffen und Weitblick bewiesen", so seine Überzeugung.

Umso mehr, als die Bürgerinitiative keine direkte Unterstützung durch den Stadtrat erhalten habe, sei das Ergebnis und die objektive Arbeit von BIRK als erfreulich zu werten, erklärte Haberberger. Enttäuscht zeigte er sich, dass in den vergangenen Wochen Mitglieder der Bürgerinitiative persönlich angegriffen wurden. Er hofft nun aber auf eine bessere Zusammenarbeit. Die Bürgerinformations-Initiative Rauher Kulm (BIRK), die sich nicht nur Aufklärung zu Mobilfunk-Sendeanlagen auf die Fahnen geschrieben hat, will auch weiterhin über Defizite aufklären, soweit dies von den Bürgern gewünscht wird, verspricht Haberberger.

http://www.zeitung.org/onetz/594390-127,1,0.html


Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim

Scientific Fraud Condemns Panther to Extinction

http://www.peer.org/FWS/panthercampaign.html

Panther Scientist Pressured To Approve Construction Projects
http://peermail.c.topica.com/maacvyPaa8Teea8rxQKcaeQBg1/

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Moves To Fire Scientist Who Reported Fraud
http://peermail.c.topica.com/maacvyPaa8Tepa8rxQKcaeQBg1/

Innovation und Gerechtigkeit

03.08.2004

Kinder haften für ihre Eltern - Hartz IV plündert Zukunftssicherung und kalkuliert Kinderarbeit ein

Zur Anrechnung von "Vermögen" der Kinder auf die Zahlung von Arbeitslosengeld II und zu erwarteten Beiträgen der Kinder zum Familieneinkommen erklärt die stellvertretende Vorsitzende Dagmar Enkelmann:

Je mehr Details von Hartz IV ans Licht kommen, umso mehr fragt man sich, wie weit die Ausforschung und Knebelung der Betroffenen eigentlich noch gehen soll. Mit der Anrechnung von "Vermögen" der Kinder über 750 Euro einschließlich von Ausbildungsversicherungen auf das Arbeitslosengeld II werden die Kinder für ihre Eltern in Haftung genommen. Das ist perfide und zerstört Zukunftsaussichten. Nicht genug, dass die Kinder in die mit Hartz IV verordnete Armut per Gesetz durch die unverschuldete Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit der Eltern geschickt werden. Nun sollen ihnen auch noch die für eine spätere Ausbildung angesparten Mittel genommen werden. Vor dem Hintergrund der aufflammenden Studiengebührendiskussion wird damit die soziale Auslese komplett gemacht. Kindern von Langzeitarbeitslosen bleibt nicht mal die Chancengerechtigkeit, die Rot-Grün als verbales Placebo für ihren Sturmlauf durch die sozialen Sicherungssysteme erfunden hat. Von Verteilungsgerechtigkeit ganz zu schweigen.

Doch die Bundesagentur geht noch weiter. Auf S. 3 des Fragebogens wird erfragt, ob die Mitglieder der Bedarfsgemeinschaft ab dem vollendeten 15. Lebensjahr mindestens drei Stunden täglich einer Erwerbstätigkeit auf dem allgemeinen Arbeitsmarkt nachgehen können. Mit 15 geht die übergroße Mehrzahl der Kinder in Deutschland zur Schule. Sollen sie quasi neben den Unterrichtsverpflichtungen die Haushaltskasse aufbessern und damit den Bundeshaushalt entlasten? Äußerungen in Arbeitsagenturen, Kinder, die zur Schule gehen, könnten ja z.B. Zeitungen austragen, deuten daraufhin, dass Kinderarbeit in der Tat einkalkuliert werden soll. Nimmt man das mit der Plünderung der Zukunftsabsicherung der Kinder zusammen, werden hier wohl Tagelöhnerkarrieren vorbereitet.

Die Bundesregierung ist 2002 mit dem Schlagwort "Innovation und Gerechtigkeit" gewählt worden. Ihre einzige Innovation besteht darin, soziale Gerechtigkeit abzuschaffen. Hartz IV zieht Kinder doppelt und dreifach in den Sog der Armut - das ist unverzeihlich, würdelos und beschämend.

http://sozialisten.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/view_html?zid=22249
Datum: 03.08.2004
http://www.sozialisten.de

Magnetic gun has cure for headaches in its sights

I am sending you along an article from last Sunday's THE SUNDAY TIMES.

The article although devoid of any mention that external interferences from cellphone RF/MWs and other EMR emissions can trigger headaches, the question of such interferences naturally arises from facts presented in the article. After all when research studies suggest that "'headaches and migraines were caused by a wave of electrical activity spreading across the cortex, the outer layer of the brain.. . .'" it's logical to pose the question: and what external stimuli would most likely excite such abnormal brain waves of electrical activity?

Headaches, as we are well aware, are reported very frequently on lists of adverse health effects from mobile phones' electromagnetic radiation. The former director general of the WHO, Dr Gro Bruntland acknowledged that she gets headaches from cellphones' EMR emissions.

Best, Imelda, Cork


Sunday's THE SUNDAY TIMES
From News, page 7. August 1, 2004

"Magnetic gun has cure for headaches in its sights

Michael Fox and Jonathan Leake

SCIENTISTS may have found a painless and drug-free treatment for the common headache — using an electric “gun” to fire magnetic pulses into the brain.

The technique claims to block headaches, migraines and possibly even epileptic fits by soothing the brain cells from which they originate and damping down the surge of nervous impulses that cause pain.

So far the system is experimental but tests on humans have suggested that it can block the onset of even the severest migraines.

The researchers are designing a magnetic device that can be kept at home and then used to fire soothing magnetic rays into the head when sufferers feel a headache developing.

If the device went into widespread use, it could deal a big blow to Britain’s £300m-a-year market for headache pills.

Dr Adrian Upton, head of neurology at McMaster University hospital in Ontario, Canada, is to publish research on the technique in Neurology journal this autumn.

He said he was hopeful that, for many patients, the magnetic gun could mean an end to headaches, migraines and other related conditions.

About 10% of Britons suffer migraines — powerful headaches thought to be caused by disruption of the electrical signalling systems between brain cells.

Many more people suffer regular headaches that are less intense but can heavily impair what they are able to do. Epilepsy, a separate illness but possibly with similar causes, can be even more severe.

The idea that magnetism might help has been around for decades and is widely used in complementary therapies.

Conventional medicine has experimented with magnetism as a cure for depression and epilepsy but such techniques have never gained wide acceptance. However, anecdotal evidence that people who underwent brain scans using magnetic resonance imaging were cured of headaches has prompted renewed interest.

Upton’s studies suggested headaches and migraines were caused by a wave of electrical activity spreading across the cortex, the outer layer of the brain. Studies have shown that after each neuron fires off a signal to its neighbours it undergoes a brief quiet spell.

Upton’s theory was that hitting such cells with a magnetic pulse could prevent them sending more signals and so block the migraine or headache before it spread.

“The best way of thinking about it is like a forest fire,” he said. “By having a controlled burn you remove fuel for the fire. The same thing happens with neurons. Once they are hit with a magnetic pulse they cannot become excited, so the flames die out.”

So far the research has been carried out with laboratory apparatus but Upton has shrunk this into a hand-held device that he plans to market through a company, NeuraLieve, set up for the purpose.

Some experts are sceptical. Dr Peter Goadsby, director of the headache referral unit at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, said the idea was “interesting” but he thought it unlikely such a device could stop the onset of many migraines.

However, Brenda Holt, a high school vice-principal from Ontario who was treated with the device for her severe cluster headaches said she had found the experiment helpful.

“They kept trying me on different medications, none of which worked, but after my first magnetic treatment the headache just went,” she said.

“I went several more months without another, which has never happened before.”

Silencing experts over nuclear health risks

I am sending you along an article from last Sunday's THE SUNDAY TIMES.

The first evidences UK governmental suppression of scientific findings into possible adverse bioeffects from low-level radiation which do not accord with its (the government's) technological ambitions.

Best, Imelda, Cork


From THE SUNDAY TIMES, News page 12, August 1, 2004
"Government gags experts over nuclear plant risks
Mark Gould and Jonathan Leake
see also http://omega.twoday.net/stories/290977/

A BITTER row has broken out inside a government safety committee after two of its experts were barred from voicing fears that radiation from nuclear installations poses a greater threat than previously thought.

Government lawyers have blocked a minority finding written by the two from being included in the committee’s final report — which follows a three-year investigation into the effects of low-level radiation.

Dr Chris Busby and Richard Bramhall, members of the committee examining radiation risks from internal emitters, believe that the risk of cancer from low-level radiation dangers is greater than realised.

They claim that previous methods of calculating the effects of emissions on people living near nuclear installations have underestimated the risk by a factor of up to 300.

If correct, the study could explain the clusters of cancer and leukaemia cases found close to nuclear installations in north Wales and Essex and near Sellafield in Cumbria. But the claims have divided members of the committee, with some supporting the gagging while others have accused civil servants of censorship.

A senior radiation scientist has already resigned in protest and the last meeting of the committee became a shouting match that members feared was going to degenerate into a fist fight.

The committee’s official report — which has majority support — will be published this autumn and says the risk is greater than previously thought, but only by a factor of 10.

Lawyers at Defra, the environment ministry, have sent letters to all 12 members of the committee warning them that they could be sued for defamation if they include Bramhall and Busby’s minority report.

Michael Meacher, who set up the committee while he was environment minister in 2001, is furious that not all the experts’ views will be represented. “I have written to Elliot Morley, the current environment minister, asking for an explanation,” he said.

The committee was created to examine concern that the government’s method of estimating the risk of cancer to people living near nuclear installations was inadequate. Such calculations were based on the radiation doses received by casualties from the Hiroshima bomb used against Japan in 1945.

There have long been doubts about such data, partly because they are so old and partly because Hiroshima victims were exposed to a short and very intensive dose of external radiation. By contrast, people living near nuclear sites tend to experience a different form of radiation — suffering small doses over a long period of time from eating or breathing contaminated particles.

Such radiation is thought to do proportionately more harm because it is inhaled or ingested and so can directly attack the body’s most delicate organs.

Recognising the complexity of the science, Meacher set up the committee with representatives of the nuclear industry, green groups and independent scientists and asked them to include a range of views in their findings, including any minority reports.

Busby and Bramhall say that since Meacher was sacked the committee has been taken over by people with pro-nuclear views who have done their best to suppress opposing opinions.

“The basis of these calculations is completely wrong and as a consequence people living near Sellafield and other installations have been suffering elevated rates of cancers and all sorts of other diseases,” Busby said.

“The other members of the committee and Defra may not agree with our report, but they should still be publishing it.”

Some other committee members disagree. They point out that both men are ardent anti- nuclear campaigners and claim that their report was riddled with inaccuracies.

“The extreme views held by these two meant that the committee became completely polarised with members shouting at each other in anger and exasperation,” one said. “In the end we could not be associated with a minority report that was factually wrong, so it was referred to the lawyers.”

Fears that the committee is being gagged are echoed by Marion Hill, a senior scientist with 30 years’ expertise in radiation safety.

Hill, who emphasises that she is not a member of the green lobby, resigned from the committee in February. In her letter of resignation she accused the committee chairman, Professor Dudley Goodhead, and Ian Fairlie, another member of the secretariat, of biasing the report process so that Busby and Bramhall’s views were
marginalised.

She said yesterday: “It’s a complete failure when you have a scientific committee that is not allowed to write anything about disagreements over science.”

Let the Colorado Run Again

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/080304G.shtml

Iraq's Child Prisoners

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/080304C.shtml
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