Popcorn : Dusk to Dawn Comedy Fest
Starmail - 1. Nov, 23:41
1
Nov
2004
Don't Be Fooled By Bush
Starmail - 1. Nov, 23:30
Election Outrages
Pass It On: Election Outrages
by The Center For American Progress
This election may go down in history for the number of dirty tricks and low-down schemes perpetrated against registered voters.
http://www.tompaine.com/index.php#passiton
by The Center For American Progress
This election may go down in history for the number of dirty tricks and low-down schemes perpetrated against registered voters.
http://www.tompaine.com/index.php#passiton
Starmail - 1. Nov, 23:29
An Election Spoiled Rotten
Starmail - 1. Nov, 23:27
If this Election is Stolen, Will it be by Enough to Stop a Recount?
by Lynn Landes
Most people don't get it. Democrats don't get it. Even former President Jimmy Carter doesn't get it. During a recent National Public Radio interview with Terry Gross, Carter said that voting machines should produce paper ballots, just in case the election is "close" and a recount is needed. Recounts are triggered by close elections. But, stealing elections and avoiding recounts is duck soup for the dishonest among us. Keep in mind that both mechanical and computerized voting machines have a long history of vote fraud and irregularities. However, never before have so few entities dominated the tabulation of the vote. Today, two voting machine companies with strong and well-documented ties to the Republican Party will count 80% of all votes in the upcoming election. These two companies, ES&S and Diebold, manufacture, sell and service both touchscreens and computerized ballot scanners. A foreign-owned company, Sequoia, is the third largest voting machine company. This is not to say that the election will go against Democrat John Kerry. What it does mean is that election officials in America have privatized and outsourced the voting process....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Nov2004/Landes1101.htm
Most people don't get it. Democrats don't get it. Even former President Jimmy Carter doesn't get it. During a recent National Public Radio interview with Terry Gross, Carter said that voting machines should produce paper ballots, just in case the election is "close" and a recount is needed. Recounts are triggered by close elections. But, stealing elections and avoiding recounts is duck soup for the dishonest among us. Keep in mind that both mechanical and computerized voting machines have a long history of vote fraud and irregularities. However, never before have so few entities dominated the tabulation of the vote. Today, two voting machine companies with strong and well-documented ties to the Republican Party will count 80% of all votes in the upcoming election. These two companies, ES&S and Diebold, manufacture, sell and service both touchscreens and computerized ballot scanners. A foreign-owned company, Sequoia, is the third largest voting machine company. This is not to say that the election will go against Democrat John Kerry. What it does mean is that election officials in America have privatized and outsourced the voting process....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Nov2004/Landes1101.htm
Starmail - 1. Nov, 23:25
Secret Trials in GM-Free Australia Raise New Fears of Contamination
Dr. Mae-Wan Ho reports
Julie Newman is a conventional grain and canola farmer with 12 000 hectares in Newdegate, Western Australia; she also owns one of the largest seed grading factories in Western Australia, and has been a contract crop-sprayer for 20 years. Julie is just the sort of big farmers that would embrace GM crops, right? Wrong.
Defenders of the biotech industry in Australia have nicknamed her “the laughing assassin” for good reasons. She strikes terror into their very heart, for being both extremely well informed and articulate; and not afraid to challenge the industry's propaganda at every opportunity. But, she does it ever so pleasantly. “ I don't take the debate personally, I enjoy talking to people on both sides of the debate, and what I am asking for is not unreasonable.” She explains.
Julie is a founding member of the Network of Concerned Farmers, a coalition of both conventional and organic farmers opposed to the introduction of GM crops into Australia, a country that has the strictest control over agricultural imports, as I learned on my recent lecture tour, which took me first to Perth, where I met Julie, and then to Melbourne.
Julie's argument is implacable: not only is there no market for GM crops, the slightest contamination with non-GM seeds or pollen, and that's the end of the farmers' export to Europe. “Farmers do not approve of the existing principle of co-existence of GM and non-GM crops; they want principles that will ensure non-GM farmers are not affected, and are protected by legislation and compensated for economic loss”. She says.
The situation is exactly the same in Europe.
“How many farmers know that the principle of coexistence is that non- GM growers are to avoid GM contamination when it is impossible to do so? How many know that it will be the non- GM growers that will be liable for ‘false and misleading advertising' when we cannot deliver the non-GM product we have guaranteed?” Julie asks. And, it could make farmers liable for infringing the patents of companies like Monsanto as well.
So, when she uncovered secret trials of GM canola in Victoria, a state that has an official moratorium on the crop until 2008, she was on the warpath again.
The way she uncovered those secret trials was ingenious. She had aerial photographs taken of suspected sites, which she posted on the Network's website, asking farmers to come forward to identify the fields and to state whether they were GM trials. T wo GM trial plots were identified in Victoria. “We are still looking for another two .” She tells me.
“Just look at the bags around the canola plants!” She exclaimed when showing me the photograph, “They are supposed to prevent cross-pollination, but you can see that some of the plants are in flower and they have not been bagged.”
She raised an aspect of contamination that's new to me. Canola pollen or seed could contaminate wheat and other seeds harvested in adjacent fields. She would know, as she also operates a big seeds business, and there is no seed sorting in Australia, because that's too expensive.
“The key issue is that since the federal government approved GM crops, it is now up to the farmer to sign to guarantee the GM-free status of their produce and to accept liability if we are wrong in our signed declaration. If we experience economic loss, we are gearing up for a class action against Bayer Cropscience and Monsanto (if Monsanto grow future trials).” She says. “We are doing a letter drop to ensure farmers contact Bayer Cropscience to collect their trespassing plants if trials have caused contamination.”
Australia has remained GM-free despite the approval of GM canola by the federal government, because, contrary to the situation in the European Union, it is possible for state governments to establish GM- free zones . So far, all states have either imposed a ban or a moratorium or are considered unsuited for growing GM canola.
Jim Scott, Member for South Metropolitan Region of Western Australia, played the key role in getting Australia GM-free, by convincing his parliament to impose the first state-wide ban on GM crops. I met Scott for the first time last year when he was on a fact-finding mission in Britain. He wrote a comprehensive report afterwards that triggered the Western Australian ban on GM crops. He is very proud of that report, and is ready to offer it to anyone who asks ( jscott@mp.wa.gov.au ).
This article can be found on the I-SIS website at http://www.i-sis.org.uk/
Julie Newman is a conventional grain and canola farmer with 12 000 hectares in Newdegate, Western Australia; she also owns one of the largest seed grading factories in Western Australia, and has been a contract crop-sprayer for 20 years. Julie is just the sort of big farmers that would embrace GM crops, right? Wrong.
Defenders of the biotech industry in Australia have nicknamed her “the laughing assassin” for good reasons. She strikes terror into their very heart, for being both extremely well informed and articulate; and not afraid to challenge the industry's propaganda at every opportunity. But, she does it ever so pleasantly. “ I don't take the debate personally, I enjoy talking to people on both sides of the debate, and what I am asking for is not unreasonable.” She explains.
Julie is a founding member of the Network of Concerned Farmers, a coalition of both conventional and organic farmers opposed to the introduction of GM crops into Australia, a country that has the strictest control over agricultural imports, as I learned on my recent lecture tour, which took me first to Perth, where I met Julie, and then to Melbourne.
Julie's argument is implacable: not only is there no market for GM crops, the slightest contamination with non-GM seeds or pollen, and that's the end of the farmers' export to Europe. “Farmers do not approve of the existing principle of co-existence of GM and non-GM crops; they want principles that will ensure non-GM farmers are not affected, and are protected by legislation and compensated for economic loss”. She says.
The situation is exactly the same in Europe.
“How many farmers know that the principle of coexistence is that non- GM growers are to avoid GM contamination when it is impossible to do so? How many know that it will be the non- GM growers that will be liable for ‘false and misleading advertising' when we cannot deliver the non-GM product we have guaranteed?” Julie asks. And, it could make farmers liable for infringing the patents of companies like Monsanto as well.
So, when she uncovered secret trials of GM canola in Victoria, a state that has an official moratorium on the crop until 2008, she was on the warpath again.
The way she uncovered those secret trials was ingenious. She had aerial photographs taken of suspected sites, which she posted on the Network's website, asking farmers to come forward to identify the fields and to state whether they were GM trials. T wo GM trial plots were identified in Victoria. “We are still looking for another two .” She tells me.
“Just look at the bags around the canola plants!” She exclaimed when showing me the photograph, “They are supposed to prevent cross-pollination, but you can see that some of the plants are in flower and they have not been bagged.”
She raised an aspect of contamination that's new to me. Canola pollen or seed could contaminate wheat and other seeds harvested in adjacent fields. She would know, as she also operates a big seeds business, and there is no seed sorting in Australia, because that's too expensive.
“The key issue is that since the federal government approved GM crops, it is now up to the farmer to sign to guarantee the GM-free status of their produce and to accept liability if we are wrong in our signed declaration. If we experience economic loss, we are gearing up for a class action against Bayer Cropscience and Monsanto (if Monsanto grow future trials).” She says. “We are doing a letter drop to ensure farmers contact Bayer Cropscience to collect their trespassing plants if trials have caused contamination.”
Australia has remained GM-free despite the approval of GM canola by the federal government, because, contrary to the situation in the European Union, it is possible for state governments to establish GM- free zones . So far, all states have either imposed a ban or a moratorium or are considered unsuited for growing GM canola.
Jim Scott, Member for South Metropolitan Region of Western Australia, played the key role in getting Australia GM-free, by convincing his parliament to impose the first state-wide ban on GM crops. I met Scott for the first time last year when he was on a fact-finding mission in Britain. He wrote a comprehensive report afterwards that triggered the Western Australian ban on GM crops. He is very proud of that report, and is ready to offer it to anyone who asks ( jscott@mp.wa.gov.au ).
This article can be found on the I-SIS website at http://www.i-sis.org.uk/
Starmail - 1. Nov, 23:12
US army official slams Bush over Halliburton Iraq contracts
One of the US Army's top procurement officers yesterday called the Bush administration's grant of multibillion-dollar contracts to oil services giant Halliburton "the worst case of contracting abuse she has ever seen".
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=578210
From Information Clearing House
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=578210
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 1. Nov, 22:49
The war on Iraq has made moral cowards of us all
Scott Ritter: The war on Iraq has made moral cowards of us all
We all are moral cowards when it comes to Iraq. Our collective inability to summon the requisite shame and rage when confronted by an estimate of 100,000 dead Iraqi civilians in the prosecution of an illegal and unjust war not only condemns us, but adds credibility to those who oppose us.
http://207.44.245.159/article7197.htm
We all are moral cowards when it comes to Iraq. Our collective inability to summon the requisite shame and rage when confronted by an estimate of 100,000 dead Iraqi civilians in the prosecution of an illegal and unjust war not only condemns us, but adds credibility to those who oppose us.
http://207.44.245.159/article7197.htm
Starmail - 1. Nov, 22:44
4000 Scientists Confront Bush Administration
Starmail - 1. Nov, 22:28
Bürgerrechtsgruppen und Wahlbeobachter in den USA bereiten sich auf die Präsidentschaftswahl 2004 vor
Starmail - 1. Nov, 22:25
Strenge Haftungsbedingungen für die Gentechnik
Renate Künast setzt das umstrittene Gentechnikgesetz gegen Kritik aus SPD und Wissenschaft durch...
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/deutsch/special/leb/18700/1.html
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/deutsch/special/leb/18700/1.html
Starmail - 1. Nov, 22:23
Wissenschaftler verlassen Leukämie-Kommission wegen "Verschleierungspolitik"
Kinder-Leukämie in AKW-Nähe: Wissenschaftler verlassen Leukämie-Kommission wegen "Verschleierungspolitik" (01.11.04)
Über die Ursachen der Leukämieerkrankungen von Kindern in der Umgebung von Nuklearanlagen in Schleswig-Holstein gibt es neuen Streit. Mehrere Wissenschaftler der mit der Untersuchung beauftragten Fachkommission des Bundeslandes kündigten am Montag in Berlin ihren Rückzug aus dem Gremium an. Sie protestierten damit, wie es hieß, "gegen die Verschleierungspolitik der schleswig-holsteinischen Aufsichtsbehörde". Die Wissenschaftler argumentierten, dass "seit dem sprunghaften Anstieg der Erkrankungsfälle im Jahr 1990" in der betroffenen Region um das Atomkraftwerk Krümmel sowie weiterer Nuklearanlagen bei Geesthacht "die Zahl der Leukämieerkrankungen bis heute dreifach überhöht geblieben" sei. In ihrem Abschlussbericht, der der Nachrichtenagentur ddp vorliegt, sehen die Wissenschaftler "den Verdacht einer unzulässigen radioaktiven Kontamination der Umgebung bestätigt".
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=9637
--------
Hallo zusammen,
2 Artikel aus der Süddeutschen Zeitung.
Herzlichen Gruß
Klaus Böckner
Schleswig-Holstein
Atomperlen aus Geesthacht
Die "Atombombe in der Aktentasche": Forscher glauben, Ursache der Kinder-Tumore in der Gemeinde Geesthacht entdeckt zu haben.
Von Martin Urban
Völlig überraschend hat sich die Experten-Kommission aufgelöst, die seit 1992 die Ursache der häufig auftretenden Leukämie bei Kindern in der Umgebung von Geesthacht (Schleswig-Holstein) erforscht.
Der Vorsitzende Otmar Wassermann und fünf weitere wissenschaftliche Mitglieder der achtköpfigen Kommission erklärten am Montag in Berlin „unter Protest gegen die Verschleierungspolitik der schleswig-holsteinischen Aufsichtsbehörde“ ihren Rücktritt. Die Strahlenforscher glauben jetzt zu wissen, was seinerzeit passiert ist.
Die Suche nach dem Fingerabdruck
Sie haben jahrelang nach dem „Fingerabdruck“ eines mit der Freisetzung von Radioaktivität verbundenen Ereignisses gesucht – und sind auf sensationelle Weise fündig geworden. Sie identifizierten nach eigenen Angaben einen Mix aus Spalt- und Aktivierungsprodukten, Transuranen (Plutonium und Americium) sowie weiteren Kernbrennstoffen (angereichertes Uran und Thoriumderivate).
Die Analyse ergab, dass die Spur nicht nach Tschernobyl führt, wo sich im April 1986 die bisher größte Reaktorkatastrophe ereignet hat. Sie führt auch nicht ins Kernkraftwerk Krümmel, obwohl auch dort allerlei Unregelmäßigkeiten vorgekommen sein sollen. Dagegen wurden die Strahlenforscher bei der gleich nebenan liegenden GKSS fündig.
Art und Aufbau sogenannter Mikrosphären ließen auf die Herkunft „aus einer Hybridanlage, bei der Kernfusion und Kernspaltung vereint zur Energiefreisetzung benutzt werden sollten“, schließen. Im September 1986 sei eine Laboreinrichtung auf dem Gelände abgebrannt. Das Ereignis belege „den zeitlichen Zusammenhang zum Anstieg der Leukämieerkrankungen“.
"Atombombe in der Aktentasche"
Was war passiert? Damals – in Bonn regierte Helmut Kohl, in Schleswig Holstein Uwe Barschel – wurde die Idee einer „Atombombe in der Aktentasche“ diskutiert: Eine millimetergroße Perle aus Plutonium 239 genügt. Im Brennpunkt eines Ellipsoids, einer Eiform aus Keramik, angebracht, kann die Perle mittels eines Laserimpulses so hoch verdichtet werden, dass es zu einer Mini-Atombombenexplosion kommt.
Dabei werden Energien freigesetzt, die 500 bis 1000 Kilogramm TNT-Sprengstoff entsprechen. Solche Experimente, so das Münchner Kommissionsmitglied, der Strahlenmediziner Edmund Lengfelder, sind damals – vermutlich mit Wissen der Amerikaner – in der GKSS gemacht worden. Wenn das zuträfe, wäre es völkerrechtswidrig gewesen, was die Dementis wie die Behinderungen der Kommission durch die staatlichen Stellen erklären würde.
Radioaktive Perlen aus Thorium wurden auch für die Brennelemente des seinerzeit entwickelten Hochtemperaturreaktors benötigt. In Hanau habe man solche Perlen produziert, sagt Lengfelder. Bei einem dieser Experimente, so glaubt die Kommission, muss es im September 1986 zu einem Zwischenfall gekommen sein.
Die jetzt zurückgetretenen Forscher nennen die Erklärungen der Reaktoraufsicht „absurd“ und „aberwitzige Widerlegungsversuche“. Unterlagen, sagt die Feuerwehr heute, seien später bei einem Brand vernichtet worden, der radioaktive Müll soll auf die DDR-Giftmülldeponie Schönberg gekarrt worden sein.
(SZ vom 2.11.2004)
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/deutschland/artikel/177/42135/
Geesthacht
Labor bestreitet verbotene Atom-Experimente
Behörden und Forscher in Schleswig-Holstein haben sich gegen Vorwürfe gewehrt, in den achtziger Jahren durch verbotene Atom-Experimente Menschen in der Elbmarsch verstrahlt zu haben. Auch die Staatsanwaltschaft Lübeck sieht keine Anzeichen für einen Störfall.
Von Christopher Schrader und Martin Urban
Am Montag waren sechs Wissenschaftler aus einer Kommission zurückgetreten, die Leukämiefälle in der Nähe des Kernkraftwerks Krümmel und des GKSS-Forschungszentrums in Geesthacht südöstlich von Hamburg untersuchen sollte.
Die Mitglieder um den ehemaligen Vorsitzenden Otmar Wassermann hatten ihren Ausstieg mit mangelnder Kooperation der Landesregierung in Kiel begründet. Als Ursache der seit 1989 aufgetretenen Häufung von Leukämie bei Kindern identifizierten sie „geheim gehaltene kerntechnische Sonderexperimente auf dem GKSS-Gelände“ und einen vertuschten Störfall im September 1986.
Das wurde von allen beteiligten Stellen energisch dementiert. „Es hat bei uns nie einen derartigen Störfall gegeben“, sagte der GKSS-Sprecher, Hans-Friedrich Christiansen; auch seien nie Experimente gemacht worden, von denen Wassermann gesprochen habe. Die Landesregierung in Kiel wies die Vorwürfe zurück: Sie nehme die Fälle von Leukämie „sehr ernst“, seit Gründung der Kommission 1992 seien 4,5 Millionen Euro in die Ursachenforschung investiert worden.
"Keine herausragenden Schwankungen"
Die Staatsanwaltschaft Lübeck hat keinerlei Anzeichen für einen Zwischenfall bei der GKSS. Sie hatte im Jahr 2001 nach einer Anzeige der Organisation IPPNW (Internationale Ärzte für die Verhütung eines Atomkriegs) ein Ermittlungsverfahren eingeleitet.
Dabei seien die Protokolle der Instrumente geprüft worden, die auf dem Kernkraftwerk Krümmel die Radioaktivität messen, sagte Staatsanwalt Christian Braunwarth der Süddeutschen Zeitung. „Es gab da zwar einen Tag mit erhöhten Werten, aber er war im Verlauf der zeitlichen Schwankungen nicht herausragend.“
Geheime Experimente als Ursache der Leukämiefälle seien aus der Luft gegriffen, sagte Erich Wichmann vom GSF-Forschungszentrum in Neuherberg bei München. Er ist eines der verbliebenen Kommissions-Mitglieder in Schleswig-Holstein und zugleich Vorsitzender des gleichen Gremiums in Niedersachsen. „Die langjährige Arbeit beider Kommissionen hat keinerlei belastbare Hinweise ergeben, die eine solche, rein spekulative Aussage rechtfertigen könnten.“
Demgegenüber beharrte der Münchner Strahlenmediziner Edmund Lengfelder, einer der zurückgetretenen Wissenschaftler gegenüber der SZ auf seiner These: Die Kommission habe in der Umgebung von GKSS und Krümmel millimetergroße Keramikkügelchen gefunden, die Kernbrennstoffe enthielten. Sie könnten dazu verwendet worden sein, miniaturisierte Atombomben herzustellen. Die Kügelchen seien offenbar bei einem Brand 1986 freigesetzt und in der Landschaft verstreut worden.
Kügelchen und ihre Messungen
Handfeste Belege, dass die GKSS wirklich mit solchen Kügelchen experimentiert hat, fehlen Lengfelder jedoch. Zudem hat die offiziell von der Bundesregierung eingesetzte Strahlenschutzkommission schon im Februar 2003 die Messungen an den Kügelchen als „wissenschaftlich nicht nachvollziehbar“ bewertet.
Es gebe keine Hinweise, dass es sich um Kernbrennstoffpartikel handle. Überhaupt sei nicht zu belegen, dass in der Umgebung von GKSS und Krümel eine ungewöhnliche radioaktive Belastung vorliege.
Allerdings bleiben in der Diskussion über die Leukämiefälle viele ungeklärte Details. Das Unbehagen angesichts der fehlenden Erklärung kann Erich Wichmann von GSF-Forschungszentrum verstehen. Abhelfen kann er ihm nicht. Wichmanns niedersächsische Kommission wird in Kürze die Resultate ihrer eigenen Analysen veröffentlichen: Die Wissenschaftler haben keine Erklärung für die Leukämie-Häufung gefunden.
(SZ vom 3.11.2004)
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/deutschland/artikel/259/42217/
--------
Kinder-Leukämie
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/388019/
--------
Childhood leukemia cluster?
I think the German orignial was published in Umwelt, Medizin, Gesellschaft (UMG). Ionising radiation and non-ionising radiation should not always be kept apart because the effect of both is the more or less the same. When I went to Drogheda to a place close to the Northern Irish border and thought there must be either a mobile phone mast or a nuclear power station in the vicinity. I was assured there were none. Only a year later a friend made me aware that that area is just across the Irish Sea from Sellafield, the British nuclear reprocessing plant. Now I know the area is contaiminated by radioactive particles. Drogheda has a large number of children with Down syndrome.
D.
Childhood Leukemia in the Vicinity of the Geesthacht Nuclear Establishments near Hamburg, Germany
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2007/9861/9861.html
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=childhood+leukemia
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Elbmarsch
Über die Ursachen der Leukämieerkrankungen von Kindern in der Umgebung von Nuklearanlagen in Schleswig-Holstein gibt es neuen Streit. Mehrere Wissenschaftler der mit der Untersuchung beauftragten Fachkommission des Bundeslandes kündigten am Montag in Berlin ihren Rückzug aus dem Gremium an. Sie protestierten damit, wie es hieß, "gegen die Verschleierungspolitik der schleswig-holsteinischen Aufsichtsbehörde". Die Wissenschaftler argumentierten, dass "seit dem sprunghaften Anstieg der Erkrankungsfälle im Jahr 1990" in der betroffenen Region um das Atomkraftwerk Krümmel sowie weiterer Nuklearanlagen bei Geesthacht "die Zahl der Leukämieerkrankungen bis heute dreifach überhöht geblieben" sei. In ihrem Abschlussbericht, der der Nachrichtenagentur ddp vorliegt, sehen die Wissenschaftler "den Verdacht einer unzulässigen radioaktiven Kontamination der Umgebung bestätigt".
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=9637
--------
Hallo zusammen,
2 Artikel aus der Süddeutschen Zeitung.
Herzlichen Gruß
Klaus Böckner
Schleswig-Holstein
Atomperlen aus Geesthacht
Die "Atombombe in der Aktentasche": Forscher glauben, Ursache der Kinder-Tumore in der Gemeinde Geesthacht entdeckt zu haben.
Von Martin Urban
Völlig überraschend hat sich die Experten-Kommission aufgelöst, die seit 1992 die Ursache der häufig auftretenden Leukämie bei Kindern in der Umgebung von Geesthacht (Schleswig-Holstein) erforscht.
Der Vorsitzende Otmar Wassermann und fünf weitere wissenschaftliche Mitglieder der achtköpfigen Kommission erklärten am Montag in Berlin „unter Protest gegen die Verschleierungspolitik der schleswig-holsteinischen Aufsichtsbehörde“ ihren Rücktritt. Die Strahlenforscher glauben jetzt zu wissen, was seinerzeit passiert ist.
Die Suche nach dem Fingerabdruck
Sie haben jahrelang nach dem „Fingerabdruck“ eines mit der Freisetzung von Radioaktivität verbundenen Ereignisses gesucht – und sind auf sensationelle Weise fündig geworden. Sie identifizierten nach eigenen Angaben einen Mix aus Spalt- und Aktivierungsprodukten, Transuranen (Plutonium und Americium) sowie weiteren Kernbrennstoffen (angereichertes Uran und Thoriumderivate).
Die Analyse ergab, dass die Spur nicht nach Tschernobyl führt, wo sich im April 1986 die bisher größte Reaktorkatastrophe ereignet hat. Sie führt auch nicht ins Kernkraftwerk Krümmel, obwohl auch dort allerlei Unregelmäßigkeiten vorgekommen sein sollen. Dagegen wurden die Strahlenforscher bei der gleich nebenan liegenden GKSS fündig.
Art und Aufbau sogenannter Mikrosphären ließen auf die Herkunft „aus einer Hybridanlage, bei der Kernfusion und Kernspaltung vereint zur Energiefreisetzung benutzt werden sollten“, schließen. Im September 1986 sei eine Laboreinrichtung auf dem Gelände abgebrannt. Das Ereignis belege „den zeitlichen Zusammenhang zum Anstieg der Leukämieerkrankungen“.
"Atombombe in der Aktentasche"
Was war passiert? Damals – in Bonn regierte Helmut Kohl, in Schleswig Holstein Uwe Barschel – wurde die Idee einer „Atombombe in der Aktentasche“ diskutiert: Eine millimetergroße Perle aus Plutonium 239 genügt. Im Brennpunkt eines Ellipsoids, einer Eiform aus Keramik, angebracht, kann die Perle mittels eines Laserimpulses so hoch verdichtet werden, dass es zu einer Mini-Atombombenexplosion kommt.
Dabei werden Energien freigesetzt, die 500 bis 1000 Kilogramm TNT-Sprengstoff entsprechen. Solche Experimente, so das Münchner Kommissionsmitglied, der Strahlenmediziner Edmund Lengfelder, sind damals – vermutlich mit Wissen der Amerikaner – in der GKSS gemacht worden. Wenn das zuträfe, wäre es völkerrechtswidrig gewesen, was die Dementis wie die Behinderungen der Kommission durch die staatlichen Stellen erklären würde.
Radioaktive Perlen aus Thorium wurden auch für die Brennelemente des seinerzeit entwickelten Hochtemperaturreaktors benötigt. In Hanau habe man solche Perlen produziert, sagt Lengfelder. Bei einem dieser Experimente, so glaubt die Kommission, muss es im September 1986 zu einem Zwischenfall gekommen sein.
Die jetzt zurückgetretenen Forscher nennen die Erklärungen der Reaktoraufsicht „absurd“ und „aberwitzige Widerlegungsversuche“. Unterlagen, sagt die Feuerwehr heute, seien später bei einem Brand vernichtet worden, der radioaktive Müll soll auf die DDR-Giftmülldeponie Schönberg gekarrt worden sein.
(SZ vom 2.11.2004)
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/deutschland/artikel/177/42135/
Geesthacht
Labor bestreitet verbotene Atom-Experimente
Behörden und Forscher in Schleswig-Holstein haben sich gegen Vorwürfe gewehrt, in den achtziger Jahren durch verbotene Atom-Experimente Menschen in der Elbmarsch verstrahlt zu haben. Auch die Staatsanwaltschaft Lübeck sieht keine Anzeichen für einen Störfall.
Von Christopher Schrader und Martin Urban
Am Montag waren sechs Wissenschaftler aus einer Kommission zurückgetreten, die Leukämiefälle in der Nähe des Kernkraftwerks Krümmel und des GKSS-Forschungszentrums in Geesthacht südöstlich von Hamburg untersuchen sollte.
Die Mitglieder um den ehemaligen Vorsitzenden Otmar Wassermann hatten ihren Ausstieg mit mangelnder Kooperation der Landesregierung in Kiel begründet. Als Ursache der seit 1989 aufgetretenen Häufung von Leukämie bei Kindern identifizierten sie „geheim gehaltene kerntechnische Sonderexperimente auf dem GKSS-Gelände“ und einen vertuschten Störfall im September 1986.
Das wurde von allen beteiligten Stellen energisch dementiert. „Es hat bei uns nie einen derartigen Störfall gegeben“, sagte der GKSS-Sprecher, Hans-Friedrich Christiansen; auch seien nie Experimente gemacht worden, von denen Wassermann gesprochen habe. Die Landesregierung in Kiel wies die Vorwürfe zurück: Sie nehme die Fälle von Leukämie „sehr ernst“, seit Gründung der Kommission 1992 seien 4,5 Millionen Euro in die Ursachenforschung investiert worden.
"Keine herausragenden Schwankungen"
Die Staatsanwaltschaft Lübeck hat keinerlei Anzeichen für einen Zwischenfall bei der GKSS. Sie hatte im Jahr 2001 nach einer Anzeige der Organisation IPPNW (Internationale Ärzte für die Verhütung eines Atomkriegs) ein Ermittlungsverfahren eingeleitet.
Dabei seien die Protokolle der Instrumente geprüft worden, die auf dem Kernkraftwerk Krümmel die Radioaktivität messen, sagte Staatsanwalt Christian Braunwarth der Süddeutschen Zeitung. „Es gab da zwar einen Tag mit erhöhten Werten, aber er war im Verlauf der zeitlichen Schwankungen nicht herausragend.“
Geheime Experimente als Ursache der Leukämiefälle seien aus der Luft gegriffen, sagte Erich Wichmann vom GSF-Forschungszentrum in Neuherberg bei München. Er ist eines der verbliebenen Kommissions-Mitglieder in Schleswig-Holstein und zugleich Vorsitzender des gleichen Gremiums in Niedersachsen. „Die langjährige Arbeit beider Kommissionen hat keinerlei belastbare Hinweise ergeben, die eine solche, rein spekulative Aussage rechtfertigen könnten.“
Demgegenüber beharrte der Münchner Strahlenmediziner Edmund Lengfelder, einer der zurückgetretenen Wissenschaftler gegenüber der SZ auf seiner These: Die Kommission habe in der Umgebung von GKSS und Krümmel millimetergroße Keramikkügelchen gefunden, die Kernbrennstoffe enthielten. Sie könnten dazu verwendet worden sein, miniaturisierte Atombomben herzustellen. Die Kügelchen seien offenbar bei einem Brand 1986 freigesetzt und in der Landschaft verstreut worden.
Kügelchen und ihre Messungen
Handfeste Belege, dass die GKSS wirklich mit solchen Kügelchen experimentiert hat, fehlen Lengfelder jedoch. Zudem hat die offiziell von der Bundesregierung eingesetzte Strahlenschutzkommission schon im Februar 2003 die Messungen an den Kügelchen als „wissenschaftlich nicht nachvollziehbar“ bewertet.
Es gebe keine Hinweise, dass es sich um Kernbrennstoffpartikel handle. Überhaupt sei nicht zu belegen, dass in der Umgebung von GKSS und Krümel eine ungewöhnliche radioaktive Belastung vorliege.
Allerdings bleiben in der Diskussion über die Leukämiefälle viele ungeklärte Details. Das Unbehagen angesichts der fehlenden Erklärung kann Erich Wichmann von GSF-Forschungszentrum verstehen. Abhelfen kann er ihm nicht. Wichmanns niedersächsische Kommission wird in Kürze die Resultate ihrer eigenen Analysen veröffentlichen: Die Wissenschaftler haben keine Erklärung für die Leukämie-Häufung gefunden.
(SZ vom 3.11.2004)
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/deutschland/artikel/259/42217/
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Kinder-Leukämie
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/388019/
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Childhood leukemia cluster?
I think the German orignial was published in Umwelt, Medizin, Gesellschaft (UMG). Ionising radiation and non-ionising radiation should not always be kept apart because the effect of both is the more or less the same. When I went to Drogheda to a place close to the Northern Irish border and thought there must be either a mobile phone mast or a nuclear power station in the vicinity. I was assured there were none. Only a year later a friend made me aware that that area is just across the Irish Sea from Sellafield, the British nuclear reprocessing plant. Now I know the area is contaiminated by radioactive particles. Drogheda has a large number of children with Down syndrome.
D.
Childhood Leukemia in the Vicinity of the Geesthacht Nuclear Establishments near Hamburg, Germany
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2007/9861/9861.html
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=childhood+leukemia
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Elbmarsch
Starmail - 1. Nov, 22:14
Jon Wershow : Son Killed in Action during Iraq War
Father Writes Newspaper About Son Killed in Action during Iraq War
Jon Wershow writes, "My son, Jeffrey Mattison Wershow, died in Bagdad, Iraq, on July 6, 2003. He proudly went to Iraq as a member of the Florida National Guard in which he enlisted after a three-year stint with the 82nd Airborne Division.... [However,] My son is dead because our president misled us into a war in the Middle East." The words of a grieving father writing about his son killed in action speaks truth to power.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2335
Jon Wershow writes, "My son, Jeffrey Mattison Wershow, died in Bagdad, Iraq, on July 6, 2003. He proudly went to Iraq as a member of the Florida National Guard in which he enlisted after a three-year stint with the 82nd Airborne Division.... [However,] My son is dead because our president misled us into a war in the Middle East." The words of a grieving father writing about his son killed in action speaks truth to power.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2335
Starmail - 1. Nov, 12:50
Torture Lawsuit : Iraq War Vets and Trauma
VCS Weekly Update: Torture Lawsuit; Iraq War Vets and Trauma
The government responded to a joint ACLU / Veterans for Common
Sense lawsuit this week by releasing 6,000 pages of documents related to prisoner abuse at abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan. The documents were released after a year-long Freedom of Information Request was blocked and denied by government agencies, until the courts ordered them to produce the documents.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2333
The government responded to a joint ACLU / Veterans for Common
Sense lawsuit this week by releasing 6,000 pages of documents related to prisoner abuse at abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan. The documents were released after a year-long Freedom of Information Request was blocked and denied by government agencies, until the courts ordered them to produce the documents.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2333
Starmail - 1. Nov, 12:47
“I’m Labor and I Vote” : American Workers Need a Kerry Victory
by Ghita Schwarz
New York’s voters give Kerry a twenty-point lead over Bush, rendering the state irrelevant to the last days of the presidential campaign. But New York City’s unions are working hard to help nearby swing states give their electoral votes to the Democrat. With nightly phone banks to Maine and Florida and weekly bus caravans to Pennsylvania, New York’s often fractious labor groups have found common cause....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Oct04/Schwarz1031.htm
New York’s voters give Kerry a twenty-point lead over Bush, rendering the state irrelevant to the last days of the presidential campaign. But New York City’s unions are working hard to help nearby swing states give their electoral votes to the Democrat. With nightly phone banks to Maine and Florida and weekly bus caravans to Pennsylvania, New York’s often fractious labor groups have found common cause....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Oct04/Schwarz1031.htm
Starmail - 1. Nov, 11:02
EPA Opens the Door to Testing Bug Killers on People
Starmail - 1. Nov, 10:53
Parents of D.C. Students Without Shots Sent to Court
Starmail - 1. Nov, 10:50
Die alltägliche Käuflichkeit
Starmail - 1. Nov, 10:38
Chipping Away at Privacy Fears - How To Profit from Wireless Barcodes
You see, the chips are for our safety and convenience. And they are completely voluntary, that is, until they become mandatory. And they save you from that evil plague that is just simply everywhere, identiy-theft, so they protect your privacy too, so get chipped today! Yes, the chips are something wonderful, like manna from Heaven. Keep repeating this over and over and over in your mind and you will become a believer too, and all your meaningless little insignificant fears will get "chipped" away, one chip-upgrade at a time.......blah, blah, blah..........
(Where do they get these people? From another planet or is it the pit of Hell?)
Microchipping Agenda Propaganda Update
Chipping Away at Privacy Fears
Technology does not in itself threaten privacy and may, in fact, help to protect it
Implanting a rice-sized VeriChip is a voluntary action, and the product is provided by a private company. As long as government is not forcing anyone to get the chips, claims of privacy violations are about as compelling as arguments that reality TV violates the privacy of its participants. This month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a microchip that can be implanted in humans to provide access to medical records. Privacy regulation advocates were predictably horrified, but the chip does not create the privacy crisis some might imagine. Though RFID technology can save money, time and lives, when it comes to implanting it in grandma's arm to make sure doctors know exactly what to do when she shows up unconscious at the hospital, the "creepy factor" arises. Privacy regulation advocates argue that implanting chips in humans will bring about an Orwellian state, and some apocalyptic types see it as the "mark of the beast." While the issue is a rhetorical magnet, there are reasons why this private use of technology does not in itself threaten privacy and may, in fact, help to protect it in the long run.
First, no one is forcing people to get chipped. Implanting the rice-sized chip is a voluntary action, and the product is provided by a private company. As long as government is not forcing anyone to get the chips, claims of privacy violations are about as compelling as arguments that reality TV violates the privacy of its participants.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Chipping-Away-at-Privacy-Fears-37704.html
--------
HOT TECHNOLOGY GETS UNDER THE SKIN
The Other Side of the FDA VeriChip Approval
While looking around the newest VeriChip scandal – as pointed out by CASPIAN, when the company trumpeted its success with the FDA it somehow forgot to mention the caveats and warnings associated with its approval – I noticed something odd. As investor publications have reported, Digital Angel has sold its share in Applied Digital Solutions. To fit this into perspective, though, you need the relationship between the two companies. Applied Digital Solutions owns the intellectual property associated with the “grain of rice” sized VeriChip, which it would now like to plant under everyone's skin so it can own access to our medical information. Digital Angel has the manufacturing contract. Digital Angel, until recently, owned a sizeable chunk of Applied Digital Solutions. Applied Digital Solutions is the majority owner of Digital Angel. And Digital Angel sold its stake in ADS.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?L2EA315A9
--------
Applied Digital Shares Jump on Chip OK
Shares of Applied Digital Solutions Inc. and Digital Angel Corp. soared Wednesday morning on news the companies' VeriChip implantable radio frequency identification microchip for humans has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for medical use in the United States. Applied Digital shares rose 90 cents, or more than 42 percent, to $3.02 on the Nasdaq, while shares of South St. Paul, Minn.-based Digital Angel Corp. were up 46 cents, or 17 percent, at $3.17 on the American Stock Exchange. The companies' VeriChip is about the size of a grain of rice and implanted under the skin in a brief outpatient procedure. Each chip is programed with a unique 16-digit number which is retrieved by briefly passing a proprietary scanner over the insertion site, and can be linked to a variety of security, financial and emergency health information. Digital Angel is the manufacturer of VeriChip and has licensed the technology to Applied Digital's VeriChip Corp. unit for human applications. The FDA does not regulate VeriChip with regard to its security, financial, personal identification and safety applications.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2004/10/13/ap1588622.html
--------
How To Profit from Wireless Barcodes
With companies of all sizes vying for their share of the rapidly expanding RFID industry, there is currently not a complete dominance by any one company. Companies involved in RFID range from heavily diversified companies such as Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, Texas Instruments and SAP to pure investment opportunities such as Zebra Technologies. Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, has become a popular buzzword in the high tech tracking industry and was recently thrust in the media spotlight with headlines that read: "FDA Approves RFID Microchip for Humans." Despite talk of privacy concerns and abusive government control, pundits appear to be more focused on the potential growth of this technology and the fact that many well known names have embraced this method of increasing profit margins.
Perhaps most notable is Applied Digital Solutions (Nasdaq: ADSX) , a tech play that saw highs of $179 during the bubble only to collapse to sub $2 levels post bubble. It is now waking up from its coma based on this recent news. Obviously it is still on the minds of many investors as indicated by a classic high-volume rally (to the tune of 10 million shares of daily volume).
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/How-To-Profit-from-Wireless-Barcodes-37456.html
--------
Hospital will tag its patients
Their location could then be tracked to within yards
People preparing to undergo surgery may worry about the risk of catching much-publicised infections such as MRSA or fret about medics carrying out the wrong operation. But one Birmingham surgeon - tired of continually chasing an inefficient paper trail of charts, checks and records - has come up with the world's first patient tagging system. David Morgan, a consultant ENT surgeon at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, believes using this tracking system will not only save time but also money, cutting the £350 million paid out in compensation by the NHS. Over the next three months, the plastic hospital wristbands patients wear throughout their stay will be replaced by the new matchbox-sized devices. The patient's location can then be tracked to within yards and their details fed to visual display units in theatres, anaesthetic rooms and waiting areas.
Mr Morgan, who has worked at the hospital since 1990, said: "There's always been concerns about matching the patient with the right treatment, such as people with similar names having the wrong operations.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z10D258A9
--------
Hospital Pioneers Patient Tagging
A British hospital is claiming a world first with the introduction of an electronic tagging system for patients.
People undergoing surgery at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham are piloting the process in which their movements are tracked by a wireless network and their records brought up on screens for use by staff at key points. The developers believe the system reduces the risk of human error and improves medical efficiency. David Morgan, a consultant ENT surgeon at the hospital who helped devise the process, said digital photos were taken of patients, who were tagged on arrival and the information synchronised with their electronic records.
He said their location could then be tracked to within yards and their details fed to visual display units in theatres, anaesthetic rooms and waiting areas.
The surgeon, who has worked at the hospital for 14 years, said he could make changes to the digital operating list while on his rounds using a pocket PC instead of working with typed copies.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3678544
From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - November 1st, 2004
(Where do they get these people? From another planet or is it the pit of Hell?)
Microchipping Agenda Propaganda Update
Chipping Away at Privacy Fears
Technology does not in itself threaten privacy and may, in fact, help to protect it
Implanting a rice-sized VeriChip is a voluntary action, and the product is provided by a private company. As long as government is not forcing anyone to get the chips, claims of privacy violations are about as compelling as arguments that reality TV violates the privacy of its participants. This month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a microchip that can be implanted in humans to provide access to medical records. Privacy regulation advocates were predictably horrified, but the chip does not create the privacy crisis some might imagine. Though RFID technology can save money, time and lives, when it comes to implanting it in grandma's arm to make sure doctors know exactly what to do when she shows up unconscious at the hospital, the "creepy factor" arises. Privacy regulation advocates argue that implanting chips in humans will bring about an Orwellian state, and some apocalyptic types see it as the "mark of the beast." While the issue is a rhetorical magnet, there are reasons why this private use of technology does not in itself threaten privacy and may, in fact, help to protect it in the long run.
First, no one is forcing people to get chipped. Implanting the rice-sized chip is a voluntary action, and the product is provided by a private company. As long as government is not forcing anyone to get the chips, claims of privacy violations are about as compelling as arguments that reality TV violates the privacy of its participants.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Chipping-Away-at-Privacy-Fears-37704.html
--------
HOT TECHNOLOGY GETS UNDER THE SKIN
The Other Side of the FDA VeriChip Approval
While looking around the newest VeriChip scandal – as pointed out by CASPIAN, when the company trumpeted its success with the FDA it somehow forgot to mention the caveats and warnings associated with its approval – I noticed something odd. As investor publications have reported, Digital Angel has sold its share in Applied Digital Solutions. To fit this into perspective, though, you need the relationship between the two companies. Applied Digital Solutions owns the intellectual property associated with the “grain of rice” sized VeriChip, which it would now like to plant under everyone's skin so it can own access to our medical information. Digital Angel has the manufacturing contract. Digital Angel, until recently, owned a sizeable chunk of Applied Digital Solutions. Applied Digital Solutions is the majority owner of Digital Angel. And Digital Angel sold its stake in ADS.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?L2EA315A9
--------
Applied Digital Shares Jump on Chip OK
Shares of Applied Digital Solutions Inc. and Digital Angel Corp. soared Wednesday morning on news the companies' VeriChip implantable radio frequency identification microchip for humans has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for medical use in the United States. Applied Digital shares rose 90 cents, or more than 42 percent, to $3.02 on the Nasdaq, while shares of South St. Paul, Minn.-based Digital Angel Corp. were up 46 cents, or 17 percent, at $3.17 on the American Stock Exchange. The companies' VeriChip is about the size of a grain of rice and implanted under the skin in a brief outpatient procedure. Each chip is programed with a unique 16-digit number which is retrieved by briefly passing a proprietary scanner over the insertion site, and can be linked to a variety of security, financial and emergency health information. Digital Angel is the manufacturer of VeriChip and has licensed the technology to Applied Digital's VeriChip Corp. unit for human applications. The FDA does not regulate VeriChip with regard to its security, financial, personal identification and safety applications.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2004/10/13/ap1588622.html
--------
How To Profit from Wireless Barcodes
With companies of all sizes vying for their share of the rapidly expanding RFID industry, there is currently not a complete dominance by any one company. Companies involved in RFID range from heavily diversified companies such as Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, Texas Instruments and SAP to pure investment opportunities such as Zebra Technologies. Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, has become a popular buzzword in the high tech tracking industry and was recently thrust in the media spotlight with headlines that read: "FDA Approves RFID Microchip for Humans." Despite talk of privacy concerns and abusive government control, pundits appear to be more focused on the potential growth of this technology and the fact that many well known names have embraced this method of increasing profit margins.
Perhaps most notable is Applied Digital Solutions (Nasdaq: ADSX) , a tech play that saw highs of $179 during the bubble only to collapse to sub $2 levels post bubble. It is now waking up from its coma based on this recent news. Obviously it is still on the minds of many investors as indicated by a classic high-volume rally (to the tune of 10 million shares of daily volume).
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/How-To-Profit-from-Wireless-Barcodes-37456.html
--------
Hospital will tag its patients
Their location could then be tracked to within yards
People preparing to undergo surgery may worry about the risk of catching much-publicised infections such as MRSA or fret about medics carrying out the wrong operation. But one Birmingham surgeon - tired of continually chasing an inefficient paper trail of charts, checks and records - has come up with the world's first patient tagging system. David Morgan, a consultant ENT surgeon at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, believes using this tracking system will not only save time but also money, cutting the £350 million paid out in compensation by the NHS. Over the next three months, the plastic hospital wristbands patients wear throughout their stay will be replaced by the new matchbox-sized devices. The patient's location can then be tracked to within yards and their details fed to visual display units in theatres, anaesthetic rooms and waiting areas.
Mr Morgan, who has worked at the hospital since 1990, said: "There's always been concerns about matching the patient with the right treatment, such as people with similar names having the wrong operations.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z10D258A9
--------
Hospital Pioneers Patient Tagging
A British hospital is claiming a world first with the introduction of an electronic tagging system for patients.
People undergoing surgery at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham are piloting the process in which their movements are tracked by a wireless network and their records brought up on screens for use by staff at key points. The developers believe the system reduces the risk of human error and improves medical efficiency. David Morgan, a consultant ENT surgeon at the hospital who helped devise the process, said digital photos were taken of patients, who were tagged on arrival and the information synchronised with their electronic records.
He said their location could then be tracked to within yards and their details fed to visual display units in theatres, anaesthetic rooms and waiting areas.
The surgeon, who has worked at the hospital for 14 years, said he could make changes to the digital operating list while on his rounds using a pocket PC instead of working with typed copies.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3678544
From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - November 1st, 2004
Starmail - 1. Nov, 10:29
Police defend use of non-lethal weapons for crowd control
Police in Connecticut will continue using non-lethal weapons for crowd control, despite last week's death of a Boston college student fatally struck by a pepper spray-filled projectile during a rowdy Red Sox celebration. Since the incident, Boston police have temporarily stopped using the pellet guns and the Seattle Police Department in Washington has also called for a suspension of the weapons. West Hartford Police Chief James J. Strillacci said Thursday that banning non-lethal weapons is a step in the wrong direction. With the proper training, the weapons are designed to control unruly crowds and prevent injuries, he said.
"It sounds like a knee-jerk reaction to me," said Strillacci, president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association. "It's better than shooting somebody. If used properly, these devices can cause little injury to the person."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N34D548A9
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Police wield deadly power
Is a burned car or smashed storefront worth Victoria Snelgrove's life? What would you do, if you found her dead on the ground?
That's the question Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young asked in "Ohio," a song about the killing 34 years ago of four young people by Ohio National Guardsmen at Kent State University. Last week it was another innocent, 21-year-old Emerson College student Victoria Snelgrove, who was dead on the ground. Why? If you're Boston Mayor Tom Menino, you could blame unruly crowds that flowed out of bars and into Kenmore Square after the Red Sox beat the Yankees. Or you could target the bar owners who served too much and too late in the evening. You could blame the hooligans and punks who got the crowd worked up, setting fire to a car and trashing street lights and storefronts. But roll back the tape and be honest. Boston police had their fingers on the triggers of these new high-tech gadgets they bought for the Democratic National Convention in July. Not the crowd, not the hooligans, not the bar owners. Police didn't get to use these new weapons in July, because the anticipated bedlam and huge crowds didn't show up for the Democrats. But last week police turned these lethal weapons on innocent revelers, hitting three in the head and killing one, Victoria Snelgrove, with a pepperball in the eye.
No one would dispute that being a cop trying to control a huge crowd of pumped up -- and in many cases, booze-fueled -- sports fans is stressful, unpredictable and dangerous. But is a burned car or smashed storefront worth Victoria Snelgrove's life?
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=81675
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Group Seeks Ban on 'Less-Lethal' Weapons
Civil rights advocates angry over the death of a student hit by a pepper-spray pellet are seeking at least a temporary ban on the Boston Police Department's use of so-called "less-lethal" weapons to control crowds.
The police commissioner last week created an independent commission to investigate the Oct. 21 death of Victoria Snelgrove and review weapons like the one believed to have caused the 21-year-old's death. Snelgrove was shot in the eye during a massive celebration outside Fenway Park after the Red Sox won the American League pennant. But critics who held a news conference Thursday said Boston police should stop using pepper-ball pellets, bean bag projectiles and rubber bullets until they expand training, ensure accountability and get the weapons independently tested. The belief that such weapons are less dangerous than conventional firearms has led police to use them "as a substitute for negotiation and communication in crowd control," said Gan Golan, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student and member of a nonprofit group called Save Our Civil Liberties. "This has seriously increased the potential for harm to the public, not decreased it," Golan said.
About 1,000 Boston residents so far have signed a petition that is to be presented to city officials on Nov. 15, advocates said. A companion petition has been signed by about 40 faculty from local colleges and universities.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?G165117B9
From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - November 1/7st, 2004
Red Sox Fan Victoria Snelgrove Killed by Policeman's 'Non-Lethal' Weapon
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/377678/
"It sounds like a knee-jerk reaction to me," said Strillacci, president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association. "It's better than shooting somebody. If used properly, these devices can cause little injury to the person."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N34D548A9
--------
Police wield deadly power
Is a burned car or smashed storefront worth Victoria Snelgrove's life? What would you do, if you found her dead on the ground?
That's the question Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young asked in "Ohio," a song about the killing 34 years ago of four young people by Ohio National Guardsmen at Kent State University. Last week it was another innocent, 21-year-old Emerson College student Victoria Snelgrove, who was dead on the ground. Why? If you're Boston Mayor Tom Menino, you could blame unruly crowds that flowed out of bars and into Kenmore Square after the Red Sox beat the Yankees. Or you could target the bar owners who served too much and too late in the evening. You could blame the hooligans and punks who got the crowd worked up, setting fire to a car and trashing street lights and storefronts. But roll back the tape and be honest. Boston police had their fingers on the triggers of these new high-tech gadgets they bought for the Democratic National Convention in July. Not the crowd, not the hooligans, not the bar owners. Police didn't get to use these new weapons in July, because the anticipated bedlam and huge crowds didn't show up for the Democrats. But last week police turned these lethal weapons on innocent revelers, hitting three in the head and killing one, Victoria Snelgrove, with a pepperball in the eye.
No one would dispute that being a cop trying to control a huge crowd of pumped up -- and in many cases, booze-fueled -- sports fans is stressful, unpredictable and dangerous. But is a burned car or smashed storefront worth Victoria Snelgrove's life?
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=81675
--------
Group Seeks Ban on 'Less-Lethal' Weapons
Civil rights advocates angry over the death of a student hit by a pepper-spray pellet are seeking at least a temporary ban on the Boston Police Department's use of so-called "less-lethal" weapons to control crowds.
The police commissioner last week created an independent commission to investigate the Oct. 21 death of Victoria Snelgrove and review weapons like the one believed to have caused the 21-year-old's death. Snelgrove was shot in the eye during a massive celebration outside Fenway Park after the Red Sox won the American League pennant. But critics who held a news conference Thursday said Boston police should stop using pepper-ball pellets, bean bag projectiles and rubber bullets until they expand training, ensure accountability and get the weapons independently tested. The belief that such weapons are less dangerous than conventional firearms has led police to use them "as a substitute for negotiation and communication in crowd control," said Gan Golan, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student and member of a nonprofit group called Save Our Civil Liberties. "This has seriously increased the potential for harm to the public, not decreased it," Golan said.
About 1,000 Boston residents so far have signed a petition that is to be presented to city officials on Nov. 15, advocates said. A companion petition has been signed by about 40 faculty from local colleges and universities.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?G165117B9
From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - November 1/7st, 2004
Red Sox Fan Victoria Snelgrove Killed by Policeman's 'Non-Lethal' Weapon
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/377678/
Starmail - 1. Nov, 10:26
'Big Brother' gets new binoculars
Starmail - 1. Nov, 10:23
The New World Order look for the NYPD
If you think all of this is somehow because of Bush and the Republicans and that the Democrats, the EU and the UN are here to save us, you are seriously out of touch with reality. This is a global totalitarian system, carried out by all collaborating globalist world leaders and their minions on both the Left and the Right. This New World Order was planned and engineered by the Illuminati, based on Hegelian pretexts such as Pearl Harbor and 9/11, which they have devised and carried out over the past hundred years and more. They actually control history and the future, if we let them. Any average person who goes along with the program is a victim of mind-control and needs help to wake up out of it.
The Global Police State agenda has been created using 9/11 as an excuse.
The Multilateral Totalitarian Agenda worldwide
The Totalitarian countries have quietly introduced RFID chips in their paper currencies: Canada's new new $20 bill, the new US $20 bill, and the new Euros all contain RFID chips; if you put them in the microwave for 3 seconds you can see the chips fry! US: Patriot Act, Homeland Security Act and now new totalitarian legislation under the guise of implementing the 9/11 Ommission's recommendations. A de-facto national ID card was passed that may include chips for fingerprint, and biometric data. Proposed measures also include the legalisation of rendering foreigners to be tortured, as was done to Arar Maher. UK: Prevention of Terrorism Acts and now the Civil Contingencies Bill, which contains many of the same provisions as Canada's C-7, including exempting interim orders from the Statutory Instruments Act. The EU has introduced measures for the Compulsory fingerprinting for all passports and UK and Germany want to have a third biometric, "iris scans", in addition to facial scans and fingerprints.
Canada: C-36, C-22, C-35, C-7 - see below.
http://www.911review.org/Wiki/MultilateralTotalitarianAgenda.shtml
From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - November 1st, 2004
The Global Police State agenda has been created using 9/11 as an excuse.
The Multilateral Totalitarian Agenda worldwide
The Totalitarian countries have quietly introduced RFID chips in their paper currencies: Canada's new new $20 bill, the new US $20 bill, and the new Euros all contain RFID chips; if you put them in the microwave for 3 seconds you can see the chips fry! US: Patriot Act, Homeland Security Act and now new totalitarian legislation under the guise of implementing the 9/11 Ommission's recommendations. A de-facto national ID card was passed that may include chips for fingerprint, and biometric data. Proposed measures also include the legalisation of rendering foreigners to be tortured, as was done to Arar Maher. UK: Prevention of Terrorism Acts and now the Civil Contingencies Bill, which contains many of the same provisions as Canada's C-7, including exempting interim orders from the Statutory Instruments Act. The EU has introduced measures for the Compulsory fingerprinting for all passports and UK and Germany want to have a third biometric, "iris scans", in addition to facial scans and fingerprints.
Canada: C-36, C-22, C-35, C-7 - see below.
http://www.911review.org/Wiki/MultilateralTotalitarianAgenda.shtml
From:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - November 1st, 2004
Starmail - 1. Nov, 10:13
ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WORK TO CONTROL YOU
Starmail - 1. Nov, 10:09
NO to the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) MICROCHIP tyranny
http://www.aumshanti.com/Petition/Micropuce.htm
http://www.no2id.net/content/join.html
ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA,SCIENTIFICA E GIURIDICA,
CONTRO GLI ABUSI MENTALI FISICI E TECNOLOGICI
A.I.S.J.C.A-.M.F.T.
http://www.no2id.net/content/join.html
ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA,SCIENTIFICA E GIURIDICA,
CONTRO GLI ABUSI MENTALI FISICI E TECNOLOGICI
A.I.S.J.C.A-.M.F.T.
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:47
Do Gene Specific Bioweapons Exist?
Bio-engineered agents may bring the human herd down to ecologically sustainable levels before the development of "ethnic bombs." Environmental terrorists will use multi-drug resistant pathogens first. Ethnic bombs may be obsolete before deployment if population is brought down to a single digit percent of its current level. Some diversity might be appreciated after Satan's Bugs do their work and bring about a sparsely populated world.
3/04/03
SPECIAL REPORT: UNHOLY GRAIL (Part I): Do Gene Specific Bioweapons Exist?
FTW asked Public Affairs producer and investigative reporter Kellia Ramares to take a hard and thorough look through the scientific community to see if weapons that would harm only organisms possessing a specific gene characteristic actually existed. Since 9-11 the possibility of such weapons as a tool of war or an instrument of population reduction has remained an unspoken major question. What Ramares found will shock you. If they existed, these most devastating weapons would be classified above Top Secret. But what is provable is that there is a list of countries which have been pursuing them and that the technology has been perfected to the point where they are within reach. (Part II will be published on March 11).
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/030403_genetic_p1.html
Read Now
3/11/03
SPECIAL REPORT: UNHOLY GRAIL (Part II): Do Gene Specific Bioweapons Exist?
In the conclusion of this unnerving series, Kellia Ramares reveals that gene-specific bioweapons may have already been used against the easiest targets of all. And she then takes a look at how the scientifc community is avoiding the issue along with the deeper ethical issues these weapons raise for all of mankind.
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/030403_genetic_p1.html
Read Now
Informant: Biophilos
3/04/03
SPECIAL REPORT: UNHOLY GRAIL (Part I): Do Gene Specific Bioweapons Exist?
FTW asked Public Affairs producer and investigative reporter Kellia Ramares to take a hard and thorough look through the scientific community to see if weapons that would harm only organisms possessing a specific gene characteristic actually existed. Since 9-11 the possibility of such weapons as a tool of war or an instrument of population reduction has remained an unspoken major question. What Ramares found will shock you. If they existed, these most devastating weapons would be classified above Top Secret. But what is provable is that there is a list of countries which have been pursuing them and that the technology has been perfected to the point where they are within reach. (Part II will be published on March 11).
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/030403_genetic_p1.html
Read Now
3/11/03
SPECIAL REPORT: UNHOLY GRAIL (Part II): Do Gene Specific Bioweapons Exist?
In the conclusion of this unnerving series, Kellia Ramares reveals that gene-specific bioweapons may have already been used against the easiest targets of all. And she then takes a look at how the scientifc community is avoiding the issue along with the deeper ethical issues these weapons raise for all of mankind.
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/030403_genetic_p1.html
Read Now
Informant: Biophilos
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:43
Taking My Country Back
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:37
Libertarians for Bush are Libertarians against liberty
by George Phillies
Liberty For All
11/01/04
Big wars against small targets: Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, unleashing tanks, bombers, and poison gas against the soldiers of the Emperor Haile Selassie. The Ethiopians fought bravely, but were overwhelmed by modern technology, letting Mussolini parade his victories before the Italian people. Seventy years later, Neoconservatives launched an unprovoked war of aggression against Iraq, whose army fought for a short while, letting Neoconservatives parade 'Mission Accomplished' before the American people...
http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/nov14/Against.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Liberty For All
11/01/04
Big wars against small targets: Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, unleashing tanks, bombers, and poison gas against the soldiers of the Emperor Haile Selassie. The Ethiopians fought bravely, but were overwhelmed by modern technology, letting Mussolini parade his victories before the Italian people. Seventy years later, Neoconservatives launched an unprovoked war of aggression against Iraq, whose army fought for a short while, letting Neoconservatives parade 'Mission Accomplished' before the American people...
http://www.libertyforall.net/2004/nov14/Against.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:23
The nightmare after Halloween
by L. Neil Smith
The Libertarian Enterprise
10/31/04
I vote as an act of self-defense. Collectivist oppression is my lifelong, mortal enemy, and I will fight it any way I can. I never agreed to abide by the outcome of any election (whatever the hell that means -- what does it mean, exactly?), especially when its results turn out to be very much the opposite of what I consider acceptable. I have never acknowledged any such condition on my vote and I never will...
http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2004/tle295-20041031-02.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
The Libertarian Enterprise
10/31/04
I vote as an act of self-defense. Collectivist oppression is my lifelong, mortal enemy, and I will fight it any way I can. I never agreed to abide by the outcome of any election (whatever the hell that means -- what does it mean, exactly?), especially when its results turn out to be very much the opposite of what I consider acceptable. I have never acknowledged any such condition on my vote and I never will...
http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2004/tle295-20041031-02.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:18
Horror upon horror
by Kathryn A. Graham
The Libertarian Enterprise
10/31/04
Nearly ten years ago now, I started work on the first draft of a nightmarish science fiction novel about an America gone stark, raving mad with religious fanaticism. Since then, I have watched with mind-numbing terror -- as my own worst nightmare has become the literal truth. Whatever happens on this coming Tuesday, the outlook for my beloved country is not a happy one...
http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2004/tle295-20041031-04.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
The Libertarian Enterprise
10/31/04
Nearly ten years ago now, I started work on the first draft of a nightmarish science fiction novel about an America gone stark, raving mad with religious fanaticism. Since then, I have watched with mind-numbing terror -- as my own worst nightmare has become the literal truth. Whatever happens on this coming Tuesday, the outlook for my beloved country is not a happy one...
http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2004/tle295-20041031-04.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:15
Get out and vote and scream
by Mark Morford
San Francisco Chronicle
10/29/04
This is where it all comes down to your intuition and your intelligence and a sheer force of will, your ability to overcome the media-induced nausea and deeply inbred American political ennui and hoist yourself out of this election stupor and go to your polling place and punch the little card or push the little button, and then pray you don't live in a state where the GOP has rigged the touch screens or shredded all the Democratic voter registrations as you think, wow, world's foremost democracy and yet why does it feel like I'm voting in, like, Yugoslavia? Why does it feel that this election is so incredibly messy and loaded and rife with snakes and spit and hissing corruption? Weird. Sad. Telling...
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O4DA13AA9
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
San Francisco Chronicle
10/29/04
This is where it all comes down to your intuition and your intelligence and a sheer force of will, your ability to overcome the media-induced nausea and deeply inbred American political ennui and hoist yourself out of this election stupor and go to your polling place and punch the little card or push the little button, and then pray you don't live in a state where the GOP has rigged the touch screens or shredded all the Democratic voter registrations as you think, wow, world's foremost democracy and yet why does it feel like I'm voting in, like, Yugoslavia? Why does it feel that this election is so incredibly messy and loaded and rife with snakes and spit and hissing corruption? Weird. Sad. Telling...
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O4DA13AA9
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:13
God on their side
by Jeannette Batz Cooperman
AlterNet
10/28/04
In a Tower of Babel where everyone speaks a different moral language, one needs vast patience to learn the nuances. It's easier to grab a phrasebook and make big gestures. Reach for people's deepest needs, allay their fears, repeat the same simple phrases so people can nod in eager agreement.It's especially helpful if you can state, categorically, that God is on your side...
http://www.alternet.org/rights/20328/
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
AlterNet
10/28/04
In a Tower of Babel where everyone speaks a different moral language, one needs vast patience to learn the nuances. It's easier to grab a phrasebook and make big gestures. Reach for people's deepest needs, allay their fears, repeat the same simple phrases so people can nod in eager agreement.It's especially helpful if you can state, categorically, that God is on your side...
http://www.alternet.org/rights/20328/
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:12
Call your lawyer
by Paul Jacob
Town Hall
10/31/04
Perhaps, in the throes of this nasty season, we should change our country's slogan from 'The land of the free and the home of the brave' to 'Land of 10,000 lawyers.' But, of course, there are so many more lawyers than that. Don't get me wrong. My beef isn't with attorneys, but with the need to consult attorneys every time an American citizen would like to open his or her mouth to say something political. Or worse, a group of citizens band together to say something more effectively. How did this come about?
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/pauljacob/pj20041031.shtml
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Town Hall
10/31/04
Perhaps, in the throes of this nasty season, we should change our country's slogan from 'The land of the free and the home of the brave' to 'Land of 10,000 lawyers.' But, of course, there are so many more lawyers than that. Don't get me wrong. My beef isn't with attorneys, but with the need to consult attorneys every time an American citizen would like to open his or her mouth to say something political. Or worse, a group of citizens band together to say something more effectively. How did this come about?
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/pauljacob/pj20041031.shtml
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:09
The American People succumbed to Empire with their Eyes wide open
Et tu Pat?
by Matthew Barganier
AntiWar.Com
11/01/04
Perhaps Buchanan and Robert Novak are right, and the president plans a quick withdrawal from Iraq and a major change of course after the election. (More on that in a moment.) Still, the lasting lesson of a Bush victory for politicians and bureaucrats will be this: Not only can they lie the country into wars of aggression -- which they have known for years -- but they don't even have to cover their tracks. The American people succumbed to empire with their eyes wide open...
http://www.antiwar.com/barganier/?articleid=3878
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by Matthew Barganier
AntiWar.Com
11/01/04
Perhaps Buchanan and Robert Novak are right, and the president plans a quick withdrawal from Iraq and a major change of course after the election. (More on that in a moment.) Still, the lasting lesson of a Bush victory for politicians and bureaucrats will be this: Not only can they lie the country into wars of aggression -- which they have known for years -- but they don't even have to cover their tracks. The American people succumbed to empire with their eyes wide open...
http://www.antiwar.com/barganier/?articleid=3878
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:07
Stephen Hawking to lead anti-war protest on election day
Hawking to lead anti-war protest on election day
Independent [UK]
10/31/04
Stephen Hawking, Britain's most eminent scientist, has become the latest prominent opponent of the Iraq war by agreeing to take the lead role in a ceremonial protest to coincide with the United States presidential election. Peace protesters will gather in Trafalgar Square at 5pm on Tuesday, where they will read out the names of 5,000 Iraqi men, women and children known to have died in the conflict. The full death toll was put last week as high as 100,000. ... The oldest protester in Trafalgar Square is likely to be a fellow scientist, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Sir Joseph Rotblat. In the 1940s, he resigned from his job developing the world's first atomic bomb on moral grounds. Sir Joseph, who will be 96 on Thursday, said: 'In this nuclear age, we simply cannot allow others to start military action unless everything else has ... been tried and has failed...
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=577860
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Independent [UK]
10/31/04
Stephen Hawking, Britain's most eminent scientist, has become the latest prominent opponent of the Iraq war by agreeing to take the lead role in a ceremonial protest to coincide with the United States presidential election. Peace protesters will gather in Trafalgar Square at 5pm on Tuesday, where they will read out the names of 5,000 Iraqi men, women and children known to have died in the conflict. The full death toll was put last week as high as 100,000. ... The oldest protester in Trafalgar Square is likely to be a fellow scientist, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Sir Joseph Rotblat. In the 1940s, he resigned from his job developing the world's first atomic bomb on moral grounds. Sir Joseph, who will be 96 on Thursday, said: 'In this nuclear age, we simply cannot allow others to start military action unless everything else has ... been tried and has failed...
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=577860
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 1. Nov, 09:04
THE ELECTION INCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM
Group Assists U.S. Citizens in Voting
October 31, 2004
A coalition of public-interest groups offers websites and a U.S. toll-free telephone hotline to report, track, and respond to U.S. election voting questions and problems. The "Election Incident Reporting System" (EIRS) http://verifiedvoting.org/eirs/ helps citizens to vote and have their votes counted as intended. EIRS and related helpful resources are available now and beyond November 2nd.
Voters can call a U.S. toll-free number 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) to report voting irregularities or problems, request assistance, or ask for information. If needed, "rapid response" teams of trained attorneys and technologists will be dispatched.
There is also a "do-it-yourself" incident reporting form on the Web at http://voteproblem.org . This alternative is for those who want to report a voting issue, but may not want to talk to an operator, or may prefer the convenience of web reporting from anywhere anytime. Although these web reports may not come to the attention of anyone in time to help in this election, they will be included in the EIRS total documentation for the 2004 Elections.
Anyone can view selected details of incidents at
http://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapNation .
Interactive maps show incidents in the country by each state and county by problem type.
In addition to assisting voters in the 2004 elections, the EIRS is collecting data on 2004 election incidents that will be made available for scholars, policymakers, the press, and the public. EIRS founders believe the collected data may also be useful for post-election litigation and legislation. EIRS data is available at http://voteprotect.org now and will continue to be updated.
For reporting election irregularities, use the U.S. toll-free hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683), or the "do-it-yourself" form at http://voteproblem.org . To find and follow the reports use http://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapNation .
EIRS is sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, The Verified Voting Foundation, and the Election Protection Coalition. The Election Protection Coalition represents more than 60 member organizations representing a combined membership of over three million Americans. More information about these organizations can be found at:
http://www.cpsr.org/
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/
http://www.electionprotection2004.org/
Contact:
Erik Nilsson
Chair, Working Group on Voting Technology
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
erikn@cpsr.org
206.979.4832 (cell)
Informant: NHNE
October 31, 2004
A coalition of public-interest groups offers websites and a U.S. toll-free telephone hotline to report, track, and respond to U.S. election voting questions and problems. The "Election Incident Reporting System" (EIRS) http://verifiedvoting.org/eirs/ helps citizens to vote and have their votes counted as intended. EIRS and related helpful resources are available now and beyond November 2nd.
Voters can call a U.S. toll-free number 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) to report voting irregularities or problems, request assistance, or ask for information. If needed, "rapid response" teams of trained attorneys and technologists will be dispatched.
There is also a "do-it-yourself" incident reporting form on the Web at http://voteproblem.org . This alternative is for those who want to report a voting issue, but may not want to talk to an operator, or may prefer the convenience of web reporting from anywhere anytime. Although these web reports may not come to the attention of anyone in time to help in this election, they will be included in the EIRS total documentation for the 2004 Elections.
Anyone can view selected details of incidents at
http://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapNation .
Interactive maps show incidents in the country by each state and county by problem type.
In addition to assisting voters in the 2004 elections, the EIRS is collecting data on 2004 election incidents that will be made available for scholars, policymakers, the press, and the public. EIRS founders believe the collected data may also be useful for post-election litigation and legislation. EIRS data is available at http://voteprotect.org now and will continue to be updated.
For reporting election irregularities, use the U.S. toll-free hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683), or the "do-it-yourself" form at http://voteproblem.org . To find and follow the reports use http://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapNation .
EIRS is sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, The Verified Voting Foundation, and the Election Protection Coalition. The Election Protection Coalition represents more than 60 member organizations representing a combined membership of over three million Americans. More information about these organizations can be found at:
http://www.cpsr.org/
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/
http://www.electionprotection2004.org/
Contact:
Erik Nilsson
Chair, Working Group on Voting Technology
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
erikn@cpsr.org
206.979.4832 (cell)
Informant: NHNE
Starmail - 1. Nov, 08:58
