http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Eric_Margolis/2004/08/22/596247.html


Informant: kevcross5

Kanada: Monsanto testet heimlich Gen-Weizen weiter

23.08.04

In Kanada gehen die Freilandversuche mit Gen-Weizen, entgegen einer anders lautenden Selbstverpflichtung aus dem Hause Monsanto, nach Angaben von Greenpeace weiter. Greenpeace Kanada war durch ein Schreiben der Lebensmittelaufsichtsbehörde (CFIA) darauf aufmerksam geworden. Erst im Mai hatte der US-amerikanische Gentechnikkonzern öffentlich angekündigt, die kommerzielle Entwicklung des Gen-Weizens auf Eis zu legen. Zuvor hatte es eine erfolgreiche Kampagne von Umweltschützern, Bauernvereinigungen und kanadischen Weizenhändlern gegen das genmanipulierte Getreide gegeben. Die kanadische Lebensmittelaufsicht schrieb Greenpeace jedoch nun, dass in diesem Jahr 16 Freilandversuche mit dem Monsanto-Weizen in dem nordamerikanischen Land stattfinden.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=9141

Deutlicher Zuwachs im Westen: Erneut Montagsdemonstrationen in ganz Deutschland

23.08.04

Die Proteste gegen Hartz IV und die Agenda 2010 weiten sich noch immer aus: An diesem Montag sind nach Information des globalisierungskritischen Netzwerks Attac Demonstrationen in mindestens 140 Städten geplant, wobei gerade im Westen ein deutlicher Zuwachs zu verzeichnen sei. Zudem werden die Proteste von immer mehr Gruppen unterstützt. Während Teile der Gewerkschaftsführung noch zögern, rufen die regionalen Gewerkschschaftgliederungen vielerorts zu den Demonstrationen auf, so auch in Berlin, wo morgen um 18 Uhr eine große Bündnisdemonstration am Platz vor dem Roten Rathaus startet.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=9139

http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qib6c7n6.4l8gm9n6.zadfd7n6.tiniiyn6.80374&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tompaine.com%2Fopinion%2F%23001538
http://www.jimhightower.com/air/read.asp?id=11458

--Please Forward--

Make Your Vote Count with These Urgent Actions--some are brand new, exciting initiatives!

For specific instructions on how to help pass legislation to make sure all our votes count--on both the local and federal level-- as well as what you can do personally before and during the election to protect voting integrity, please click on this link, look it all over and do some actions now and make this page a favorite to do more ASAP!

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=3200#3200


--Please Forward and Link To The Site Listed Below or To Ensurevote.com On Your Website!--

Please click on this updated blog (last updated 9/14) which has a pretty complete list of all that you can do to MAKE SURE ALL OUT VOTES COUNT.

Make this page a "favorite", do some actions now and come back to do more ASAP
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=3200#3200

--This site is national, but if you are a NYer,check out the end of this email for some NY-specific info--

This site has a link to a sample letter to get national verified voting (a paper trail for the new electronic voting machine)-- and other initiatives to make all our votes count-- out of committee--where you can send to all your representatives with one click (action item #1)

Then further down are links to local legislation and other great initiatives like giving "myth breakers" to your local election officials; prewritten letters to decision makers on different aspects of making sure all our votes count; a "Tech Watch" if you are a technology professional concerning the electronic voting machines integrity; Common Cause and Bev Harris both have their own "Election Watch" that you can be part of which includes pressuring election officials in different states to use a paper trail and other security measures for these machines ;and an "Election Protection" coalition which is more concerned about minority harrassment, also an urgent issue.
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=3200#3200

For NYers:

NY'ers can call (202) 225-5265 or fax (202) 225-5910 Representative Thomas M. Reynolds who is on the House Administrations Committee where HR2239 and HR4250 are currently bottled up and urge him to bring this legislation for a vote. You can also ask your own Congressperson to co-sponsor this legislation and for them to lobby Reynolds and Chairman Ney to bring this legislation to a vote.

Also Schumer is on the Rules Committee in the Senate where the Senate verified voting bills are. He should be pressured to get those bills out of committee, which would then put pressure on the House side. You can get complete contact info (including direct links to their emails) for Senators Schumer and Clinton, as well as your Congressperson and more info on what to say to them in Action Item Number One in http://www.democracyforamerica.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=3200#3200

If you have any questions or to get low frequency updates on this issue contact cguttman@yahoo.com


Informant: Cheryl Guttman

A vaccine containing mercury given to babies when they are eight weeks old is to be scrapped amid fears of a link with autism.

The move follows recent research in America that suggests a connection between the mercury used to preserve the whooping cough vaccine, and autism.

The jab, without mercury, will be given as part of a new five-in-one vaccine.

The Department of Health has always maintained there is no evidence of such a link.

Doctors are also being told to switch from the live polio vaccine, currently given by mouth, to a "killed" vaccine injection to avoid rare cases of polio contamination, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

GP Richard Halverson welcomed the "long overdue" changes.

He told BBC News: "I welcome the fact that mercury is being withdrawn because it is toxic and should not be injected into babies full stop.

"Mercury is one of the most toxic elements on this planet. It has no business being ingested in any form by anyone, it serves no useful purpose, it is dangerous."

He also welcomed changes to the polio vaccine, saying it was "disgraceful" that the only cases of paralysis from polio in the UK in the last 15 years had been as a result of the vaccine.

Committee advice

Health Minister John Hutton has confirmed the changes to childhood vaccines.

"Childhood immunisation has been extremely effective in protecting children from serious life-threatening diseases", he said in a statement.

"We are continually looking at ways to improve this programme as new, more effective products become available."

He said the new five-in-one injection, containing vaccinations for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hib and polio, would be introduced later in the year.

The UK's leading autism charity, the National Autistic Society, welcomed the removal of mercury from vaccines.

A spokeswoman said the society had always "supported moves to ensure that mercury is not used within the immunisation programme as a precautionary measure".

What we want to see is more choice, where the vaccines are designed around what is right for the individual child.

Jackie Fletcher
Jabs

But Jackie Fletcher, founder of the parent support group Justice, Awareness and Basic Support, said that, while supporting the removal of mercury, she was "extremely worried" about plans for the replacement five-in-one jab.

She said: "With five-in-one vaccines we would want to know what safety trials have taken place. How did they find out it was safe to do it in this combination?

"We know that for other vaccines the safety trials have been extremely limited."

Increasing the combinations increased the potential for an adverse reaction, she said.

"What we want to see is more choice, where the vaccines are designed around what is right for the individual child."

In June, it was announced that US researchers at Columbia University found autism-like damage in the brains of mice exposed to thiomersal, the preservative used in the whooping cough vaccine.

Despite other US and European studies finding no link between mercury and autism, the Columbia team said they found that mice exposed to thiomersal showed signs of changed behaviour, and brain abnormalities.

The animals had been bred to be vulnerable to developing disorders of the immune system.

The study team argued it was possible that children with similarly-compromised immunity may also be at risk.

[Furthermore, a CDC group found a strong association between thimerosal and adhd, tics, language problems, and autism (Verstraeten et al 2000).

That same group then proceeded to deliberately dilute the data and published the fraudulent version in the journal Pediatrics (Verstraeten et al 2003). The CDC then hired the Institute of Medicine to issue a report that, not coincidentally, endorsed the studies with diluted data.

-Teresa Binstock, Researcher in Developmental & Behavioral Neuroanatomy,
PO Box 1788; 80517]

WATCH AND LISTEN
The BBC's Daniel Boettcher
"The change is part of a move towards a combined five-in-one jab"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39929000/rm/_39929536_vaccine12_boettcher_vi.ram

SEE ALSO:
Mercury 'linked to autism' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3000884.stm
18 Jun 03 | Health
Project to search for autism gene
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3901717.stm
19 Jul 04 | Health
Study to probe causes of autism
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3873261.stm
07 Jul 04 | Health

RELATED BBC LINKS:
Medical notes - Autism
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/medical_notes/a-b/1259961.stm
Ouch - My Family and Autism http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/tvradio/autism/

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/3543900.stm

Published: 2004/08/07 09:59:58 GMT

© BBC MMIV

One of the basic forms of personal identification, the passport, is on the verge of taking on a new, high-tech identity. A number of countries are about to start trials of passports and visas that incorporate biometric information alongside the traditional photo and passport number -- data such as a digital image of the citizen's face that will be compared with a facial scan taken at the airport.

The first country to use the system will probably be Belgium, which plans an e-passport trial later this year. The United Kingdom's passport office said it is looking for volunteers to test the recording and verification of facial recognition, iris and fingerprint biometrics, and New Zealand and Canada are also looking into conducting trials.

The United States and Australia, meanwhile, have issued requests for proposals for trials of their own, and the Netherlands is looking at ways for banks to adopt chip-based documents that would be used to confirm identification.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?V27B26C19


Aftermath News
Top Stories - August 23rd, 2004

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Politics/Vote2004/convention_protests_DNC_040727-1.html

Aftermath News
Top Stories - August 23rd, 2004

http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin195.htm


From Aftermath News
Top Stories - August 23rd, 2004

Niemand könnte überrascht sein, wenn im Nachspann der Nachrichtensendungen von ARD und ZDF eine Einblendung zu lesen wäre: Diese Sendung wurde gestaltet in Kooperation mit CDU/SPD/FDP/Die Grünen. Gerade die Berichterstattung im Zusammenhang mit Hartz IV macht deutlich: Die politische Klasse bedient sich immer dreister der sog. öffentlich-rechtlichen Medien als eines Instruments ihrer Propaganda.

Dies weist auf einen Konstruktionsfehler dieser Einrichtungen hin: Nicht die Medien kontrollieren die Politik, sondern die Politik kontrolliert die Medien. Der ZDF-Fernsehrat z. B. - Vorsitzender ist der ehem. CDU-Generalsekretär Polenz - wird fast durchgängig beherrscht von Parteifunktionären und den üblichen Spesenrittern aus dem Umfeld der Parteien. Gerade das ZDF, dessen Haupt-Nachrichtensendung "Heute" kaum noch an Einseitigkeit zu überbieten ist, ist auch wenn es um Stellenbesetzungen geht, fest in der Hand der Parteien. Parteibuch, Parteinähe und Parteienproporz spielen oftmals eine weit größere Rolle als die journalistische Qualifikation und die persönliche Integrität der BewerberInnen.

Deshalb kann es nur eine Forderung geben: Partei- und Verbandsfunktionäre raus aus den Rundfunk- und Fernsehräten! Wenn die blosse Abgeordnetentätigkeit angeblich bereits 60-80 Wochen-Arbeitsstunden umfasst, erlösen wir die Politiker doch von solchen Nebentätigkeiten. Die GebührenzahlerInnen wollen nicht nur zur Kasse gebeten werden, sondern mitentscheiden und endlich "ihre" Rundfunk- und Fernsehräte selbst wählen. Für Funktionäre der Parteien und ihrer Umfeldorganisationen gilt dann: Wir müssen leider draussen bleiben!

Herzliche Grüße aus dem schönen Nordhessen

Richard Kallok

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/aug2004/iraq-a23.shtml


Informant: B Stanton

Microwaves among new non-lethal weapons
http://mindcontrol.twoday.net/stories/309204/

The Pentagon's people zapper
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309221/

Where are the Electrosensitives?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309820/

TETRA: A Critical Overview into the death of Officer Neil Dring
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308367/

MOBILE PHONE MASTS : Now our police are getting sick
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308847/

California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) TO EXAMINE EMF POLICIES AND RULES
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308348/

Leuren Moret : On Depleted Uranium
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309852/

Weather derivatives and Weather Control
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309116/

NASA Unlocking the Mystery of Aerosols
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309834/

The Chemical Wars
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308835/

TRIANGLE OF LIFE - Earthquake Safety Information
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308957/

Protect Our Nation's Roadless Wildlands
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308452/

Defend Our Endangered National Forests from the Bush Administration
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309334/

Soaring Cancer Rates Blamed On Chemicals
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308110/

Depleted Uranium : Dirty Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309579/

Big Brother's Last Mile
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309094/

We Could Have Stopped Him
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308465/

The War Room
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309110/

Alternatives to mindless slaughter
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309757/

Clerical error puts Senator on "no fly" list
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308089/

Wen Ho Lee reporters held in contempt
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308091/

Abu Ghraib Probe Points to Top Brass
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308468/

Abu Ghraib and the American devolution
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308641/

Abu Ghraib's Dark Legacy for Military Medicine
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309788/

Iraqi Editor's Experience in US Custody
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309802/

UN Inspector Demands Access to Afghan Prisons
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309792/

Australian Federal Government Called Complicit in War Crimes
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309804/

Aussie PM Was Warned that Iraq War Would Increase Terror Threat
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309810/

When the Feds Come Knocking
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309855/

"Above All, a Question of Justice"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308473/

The police state at work and play
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308093/

The Surveillance-Industrial Complex
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308487/

The violence of conservatism
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308640/

Now We Know For Sure
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308494/

Irretrievably, systemically rotten
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308101/

Some Vermonters want to "Live Free or Die"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309716/

Moving to create a truly Free State
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309714/

Necktie party
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309723/

US headed for Chapter 11
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308087/

An Attack on Democracy
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308470/

The myth of the fiscal straitjacket
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309732/

Slow Boat Veterans for Lies
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309735/

Fighting a phony war
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309750/

No One Inside the Ali Mosque Is Armed
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309784/

Egyptian Cleric Warns US of Najaf Fallout
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309800/

Forget "Fahrenheit"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309747/

Weak-kneed colossus
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309739/

Former Bush Voters Advertise Their Disaffection
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/308476/

War Heats Up in the Neoconservative Fold
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309864/

Scandal Of Double Voters
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309772/

No more
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309764/

The Bi-Partisan Origins of the Total War on Drugs
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309106/

Using the Government to Investigate the Drug War
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309108/

Journalists Face Jail for Refusing to Reveal Sources
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309327/

Job Losses Hurt Bush
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/309325/

23. August 2004

11:15

Großer deutscher Lauschangriff geplant

Verband der deutschen Internetwirtschaft eco warnt vor dem gläsernen Telekommunikations-Bürger

Der Verband der deutschen Internetwirtschaft eco-Forum (Electronic Commerce Forum) warnt vor dem geplanten Lauschangriff in Deutschland. Grund ist ein neuer Entwurf der Telekommunikations-Überwachungsverordnung (TKÜV) der staatlichen Stellen Zugang zu sämtlichen Telekommunikations-Kennungen erzwingen will. Laut eco würde die Umsetzung des Entwurfs einen "gläsernen Telekommunikations-Bürger" schaffen, der auf allen technischen Kontaktwegen wie Internet, Handy, Funk oder WLAN abgehört werden kann.

Schnüffeln

Laut eco ist das Ziel des neuen Entwurfs, dass Bürgerinnen und Bürger keinen einzigen technischen Kommunikationsweg mehr finden, der nicht vom Staat abgehört werden kann. Dazu wollen die staatlichen Organe sämtliche Internetanschlüsse (IP-Adressen, Internet-Protokolle) und Gerätekennungen von Handys (IMEI, International Mobile Equipment Identity) sowie von kompletten Funkzellen und allen WLAN-Hotspots personenbezogen erfassen, um im Bedarfsfall Abhörmaßnahmen einleiten zu können.

Transparent

Vor allem die staatliche Überwachung der IP-Adressen der Bevölkerung wird sehr rasch zu einem "durchlöcherten Bürger" führen, warnt eco. Der Grund: Künftig werden immer mehr Geräte mit einem Internetanschluss ausgestattet werden, vom Audio- und Video-Equipment über Waschmaschinen, Kühlschränken bis zum Auto. "Zu einer einzelnen Person könnten künftig über 100 IP-Adressen gehören, von der Kaffeemaschine bis zur Armbanduhr", warnt eco-Vorstand Klaus Landefeld. "Leidtragender wäre dann jeder in Deutschland, der einen Telekommunikationsanschluss besitzt. Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass sich die Menschen gegen so eine Hightech-Überwach zu wehren wissen", so Landefeld. (pte)

© derStandard.at 2004

http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=1769336

http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article3743.html


Informant: civl ecco

Where are the Electrosensitives? A search for electrical sensitivity in Australia

Don Maisch AssocAppSci.
PhD research student, University of Wollongong, Wollongong NSW, Australia.

Representing the Australasian College of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine (ACNEM), Melbourne, Australia.

Research affiliated with the Dept. of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, ACNEM, and the John Strob Cancer Research Fund.

Abstract

The condition known as electrical sensitivity (ES) is still very much an unrecognised environmental illness in Australia with the orthodox medical establishment at a loss on how to treat patients who present with symptoms which they cannot conveniently slot into a disease category. In such cases, people who may be suffering ill health connected with prolonged exposure to electromagnetic fields are generally labelled with the condition called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) - the causes of which are largely unknown. A 1992 Workcare Victoria workers compensation case will be examined as an example.

In addition, the findings of a small-scale pilot study investigating the 50 Hz residential magnetic field exposures of a group of 49 subjects, who were undergoing medical treatment for CFS, are examined. In this study, out of the 49 subjects, 14 had prolonged magnetic field exposures over 2 milliGauss (mG) and 9 over 4 mG. Out of this group, 3 were excluded as they did not meet the study criteria, leaving 11 who were designated as "Group A", with an average prolonged exposure of 7.1 mG. The 'non-exposed' Group B consisted of 34 subjects with an average exposure of 0.67 mG.

The sources of the magnetic field exposures of Group A were determined, reduced or eliminated and the health status of both groups was recorded over a 6-month period. Group A reported a 55%
definite improvement in overall health and Group B reported a 14 % improvement. Major improvements in quality of sleep were predominant, indicating a possible effect of magnetic fields on melatonin secretion, a hormone involved in circadian functioning.

The results of this study indicate that prolonged exposure to residential power frequency magnetic fields may be a contributing factor to symptoms reported in CFS.

Tony Eastley / Radio National

AUSTRALIA (August 23, 2004) -- "A report in today's Fairfax newspapers claims Prime Minister John Howard was repeatedly warned that going to war in Iraq would inflame extremism and increase the risk of terrorist recruitment. Mr Howard was given the warnings verbally and in written reports according to unnamed intelligence sources quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald. The Prime Minister has repeatedly told Australians that the war in Iraq would not increase the threat of terrorism against Australia and in fact would diminish the threat." A transcript of the Monday morning broadcast is available at:

http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=86438:740526
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=86439:740526
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=86440:740526

Dr Gideon Polya

August 17th, 2004 -- A detailed formal complaint sent to Australia's major Federal and State Law Officers accuses the Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes in Iraq. Specifically: (1) illegal invasion of a remote, non-threatening country and (2) horrendous mass mortality in an occupied country -- e.g. current under-5 infant mortality is estimated from UNICEF data to be about 100,000 per year in Iraq (population 24 million) -- while annual per capita medical expenditure is currently $40 in occupied, war-ravaged Iraq as compared to US$1000 in Australia.

http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=86433:740526

Ahmed Janabi / Al Jazeera

August 19, 2004 -- Dr Muthana al-Dhari, editor-in-chief of al-Basaer newspaper and media officer of the Association of Muslim Scholars recounts his abduction by US forces: "They handcuffed us and blindfolded us and put us in a military vehicle. We spent the whole night sitting on a chair. The food was terrible, some cheap soup, a piece of mandarin, and dry biscuits. They asked why we hate them? I told them that we do not hate the American people, they are welcomed as tourists, traders…etc., but not as occupiers…. CIA officers have not a clue about what they are doing. Their questions … indicated serious ignorance of the Iraqi scene. Some of them … are very angry at George Bush. But … some (US soldiers) are just thieves. They stole my agenda and wrist watch in front of my eyes."

http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=86430:740526

Al Jazeera

August 21, 2004 -- A leading Egyptian Islamic leader has warned that a "volcano of anger" could explode in response to US-led military action in Najaf and Falluja. Ali Gumaa, the mufti of Egypt and the country's highest authority on Islamic law, condemned the "continuing aggression by US-led forces on the Imam Ali shrine and Islamic holy places" in Iraq. "After the humiliations and the terrorizing and killing of civilians, the world cannot expect… that a volcano of anger and indignation will not explode," Gumaa said. Gumaa is second in the Islamic hierarchy only to the shaikh of al-Azhar, Cairo's ancient university and institute of religious learning.

http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=86429:740526

Reuters

KABUL (August 22, 2004) -- A UN human rights expert criticized US military authorities in Afghanistan on Saturday for barring him from visiting detention centers, and he described one Kabul prison he did visit as "inhuman." The lack of transparency "raises serious concerns about the legality of detention and conditions of those detainees," M. Cherif Bassiouni said. Former prisoners have said they were tortured and abused while in US custody in Afghanistan.

http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=86422:740526

Steven H. Miles / The Lancet

August 21st, 2004 -- The complicity of US military medical personnel during abuses of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay is of great importance to human rights, medical ethics, and military medicine. Government documents show that the US military medical system failed to protect detainees' human rights, sometimes collaborated with interrogators or abusive guards, and failed to properly report injuries or deaths caused by beatings. An inquiry into the behavior of medical personnel in places such as Abu Ghraib could lead to valuable reforms within military medicine.

http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=86419:740526
or:
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=86420:740526

Phillip Robertson / Islam Online

(August 22, 2004) -- Reporter Phillip Robertson has covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the Salon.com, the BBC, Radio New Zealand, and NPR. During the past three years, he has written more than 50 eyewitness accounts of fighting that did not appear in mainstream Western media. He hosted a global online Q&A session via IslamOnline. Here are some excerpts:

"I lived in the Imam Ali Mosque for three days, taking shelter with Muslims from around Iraq. It is a sacred place, one of the most moving places I have ever been to. I received only kindness and hospitality while I was there and never feared for my safety. It is vital that the war in Najaf end immediately, and that US attacks on the area near the Shrine cease. There are no weapons in the Shrine. It is a place of refuge, not a military encampment. Mehdi Army officials are in the Shrine, but they are unarmed, like everyone else inside. All reporters who have been to the Shrine want to make this clear."

http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=86418:740526

http://www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk/newsletter/


Informant: PeaceNoWar

Exposed: Scandal Of Double Voters

With debate over the 2000 election still raging, thousands of people illegally register in both New York City and Florida, which could swing an election.

Some 46,000 New Yorkers are registered to vote in both the city and Florida, a shocking finding that exposes both states to potential abuses that could alter the outcome of elections, a Daily News investigation shows... Edwin Peterson, 66, a registered Democrat in Palm Coast, Fla., and St. Albans, Queens, attributed his dual vote in the 2000 election to his distrust of the party running the Sunshine State.

"That was a situation where Florida is so messed up with the Republicans, you don't know if your vote is even going to be counted," Peterson said. "It's been like that forever."

Full story:
http://www.nydailynews.com/08-22-2004/front/story/224449p-192807c.html


Informant: Friends

by Wes Alexander

Freely Thinking

08/22/04

Unfortunately, the government goofs above are just the tip of the political iceberg. Both parties participated in the creation and perpetuation of these costly fiascos. There is no logical reason to continue supporting political parties that excel at failure, incompetence and theft. Pay no attention to what politicians say. The truth can be found in their actions; and their actions continue to be a disaster for you and me. Do not waste your votes on Democrats and Republicans. They have earned nothing but scorn...

http://www.freelythinking.com/nomore.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Marc Ash

TruthOut

08/22/04

If an assault is mounted against The Shrine of Ali, that assault will be conducted not by any 'Iraqi army,' but by US forces. The main reason for this is that no one born in Iraq would even dream of attacking The Shrine of Ali -- only Westerners could conceive of such a thing. Such an assault, should it take place, would be bloody -- far bloodier than what we have seen so far -- and it would have the very real potential to incite a region-wide uprising that would dwarf all that has occurred to date. The US decision makers are driven, at least in part, by religious ideology. ... That should not have come as any surprise -- George W. Bush last year actually referred to the US campaign as a 'crusade.' While the significance of that remark was lost on most Americans, it struck like a clarion call to every Muslim in the world...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/082304X.shtml


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Eleanor Clift

Newsweek

08/20/04

Is the real aim of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to divert attention from Iraq? ... Questioning Kerry's heroism fires up the GOP base, but it leaves 'solid undecideds' cold. They're not paying attention. Zogby says among this very narrow 5 percent of the electorate, 16 percent say Bush deserves to be re-elected; 39 percent say it's time for somebody new. 'You can't help but look at those numbers and conclude they've made up their mind about one side,' says Zogby. But Kerry hasn't been able to close the deal. Zogby has him stuck at 47 percent, which isn't good. But Bush is stuck at 43 percent, which is worse. 'It's still the phony war period,' says Zogby. For an incumbent president in as much trouble as Bush, fighting a war that's been over for nearly 30 years takes voters' minds off Iraq...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5772260/site/newsweek/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Noy Thrupkaew

The American Prospect

08/22/04

Film review: "A little advice for the Bush administration: Don't lie to us. That's the one thing, guaranteed, that will bite you in your golf-pants -- and Sansabelt-clad behinds. The American public really hates a prevaricator. ... [T]his messy bird's nest you've woven to justify the war on Iraq -- some nice pieces of tinfoil from Ahmad Chalabi, maybe some baby powder for Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations, some yellowcake crumbs, scraps from the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center, a big old tuft from Osama bin Laden's beard to line the whole thing -- well, that?s just shameless.

Robert Greenwald's latest documentary, Uncovered: The War on Iraq, takes on the administration's pop-eyed rhetoric, intelligence-data manipulation, and low-blow tactics against dissenters...

http://www.prospect.org/web/printfriendly-view.ww?id=8387


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Paul Craig Roberts

Washington Times

08/21/04

Were George Bush and John Kerry aware of the problems that await the next president, they would vie to throw the election, not win it. Job loss at home and failure abroad have already written the script that will sweep away the next administration. Recession could return by the inauguration before the economy regains the jobs lost to the 2001 recession. Second-quarter 2004 economic growth was 20 percent less than expected. The consumer is showing weakness, and crude oil prices have reached record highs. On Aug. 3 the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that seasonally adjusted real per capita incomes declined in June below those reached in April. Total personal real spending declined 0.9 percent in June to that of last February...

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040821-104235-2657r.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Paul Craig Roberts

LewRockwell.Com

08/22/04

Now it is out: 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' is just a political dirty trick operation financed by multimillionaire supporters of President George W. Bush. According to the August 20 New York Times, 'a series of interviews and a review of documents show a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures and President Bush's chief political aide, Karl Rove.'"

http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts64.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Grant M. Nülle

Ludwig von Mises Institute

08/20/04

About 23 years ago, reluctant Republican legislators acquiesced to increasing the statutory ceiling of the federal debt (then $1 trillion) at the behest of President Ronald Reagan, who assured congressmen that the measure would be a one-time event. The pledge has of course been broken repeatedly; America's sovereign debt stood at $6.9 trillion as of January 2004...

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?control=1582


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by L. Neil Smith

The Libertarian Enterprise

08/21/04

Remember, we are not talking about winning elections here, we are talking about achieving a free society. Those are extremely different undertakings. What we have to do is take away enough votes -- we must concentrate on learning to do it to both parties -- that the other side will be forced to adopt at least some of our policies to get them back. At which point we become more radical, so that the process can continue...

http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2004/tle285-20040822-02.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Christian Science Monitor

08/23/04

They may not wear breeches or padded doublets. Nor do they boycott tea. But a group of 21st-century revolutionaries in Vermont say they want nothing short of a tax revolt. Their plan? Secede to New Hampshire as a means to save millions in property taxes they say unfairly penalize resort communities across the state. The push began in Killington, a ski town of 1,000 some 25 miles east of the New Hampshire border, where residents voted last spring to explore the practicalities of becoming Granite Staters. Now there are similar rumblings in Dorset, Manchester and Ludlow...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0823/p03s01-uspo.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Washington Times

08/22/04

Thousands of voters who say the country's two-party system has become too homogenous, bureaucratic and inept have begun a pilgrimage to New England with the dream of starting a new party that will become a national force and unite legions of the equally disenfranchised.'Most elections are like trying to get lunch out of a vending machine,' said Philip Boncer, 41, a biomedical engineer from San Diego. 'You have choices, but they're all bad for you. Democrats are increasing regulations and the strain on business, and Republicans are increasing moral laws...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/specialreport/20040821-115510-9758r.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Englands Konservative haben Pläne für neue Kontrollen bei der Standortsuche für Mobilmasten vorgestellt und so auf Sorgen um deren möglichen Einfluss auf die Umwelt und eine mögliche Verbindung zu Krankheiten reagiert. In ihrem Vorschlag heißt es, dass zukünftig alle Masten (auch kleine Antennen, welche z.B. an Straßenschildern befestigt werden) eine komplette Planungserlaubnis der lokalen Behörden benötigen sollen. Den Behörden würde es so ermöglicht, gesundheitliche Belange zu beachten, bevor sie Masten in der Nähe von Schulen, Krankenhäusern oder Wohngebieten genehmigen. Die Mastenbetreiber sollten nachweisen müssen, dass die Aufstellung optisch nicht störend sei oder keine empfindlichen Aspekte der Umwelt betreffe.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Nachricht aus FGF-Infoline vom 19.08.2004