Iraq: Starving children pay the price of disorder:

Acute malnutrition among young children in Iraq has nearly doubled since the United States led the invasion of the country 20 months ago. - Iraq's child malnutrition rate now roughly equals that of Burundi, a central African nation torn by more than a decade of war. It is far worse than rates in Uganda and Haiti.

http://207.44.245.159/article7340.htm

http://www.drugawareness.org/Archives/Survivors/record0081.html

Death From Ritalin
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/409851/


Informant: Andrea Ball

The Truth Behind ADHD
http://www.ritalindeath.com/drugchildrentodeath.htm

Horror story of forced drugging
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/409854/


Informant: Andrea Ball

http://www.WantToKnow.info/censored2004


Informant: Fred Burks

New York Times

November 18, 2004

Republicans Outnumbered in Academia, Studies Find

by JOHN TIERNEY

BERKELEY, Calif. - At the birthplace of the free speech movement, campus radicals have a new target: the faculty that came of age in the 60's. They say their professors have been preaching multiculturalism and diversity while creating a political monoculture on campus.

Conservatism is becoming more visible at the University of California here, where students put out a feisty magazine called The California Patriot and have made the Berkeley Republicans one of the largest groups on campus. But here, as at schools nationwide, the professors seem to be moving in the other direction, as evidenced by their campaign contributions and two studies being published on Nov. 18.

One of the studies, a national survey of more than 1,000 academics, shows that Democratic professors outnumber Republicans by at least seven to one in the humanities and social sciences. That ratio is more than twice as lopsided as it was three decades ago, and it seems quite likely to keep increasing, because the younger faculty members are more consistently Democratic than the ones nearing retirement, said Daniel Klein, an associate professor of economics at Santa Clara University and a co-author of the study.

In a separate study of voter registration records, Professor Klein found a nine-to-one ratio of Democrats to Republicans on the faculties of Berkeley and Stanford. That study, which included professors from the hard sciences, engineering and professional schools as well as the humanities and social sciences, also found the ratio especially lopsided among the younger professors of assistant or associate rank: 183 Democrats versus 6 Republicans.

The political imbalance on faculties has inspired a campaign to have state legislatures and Congress approve an "academic bill of rights" protecting students and faculty members from discrimination for their political beliefs. The campaign is being led by Students for Academic Freedom, a group with chapters at Berkeley and more than 135 other campuses. It was founded last year by the leftist-turned-conservative David Horowitz, who helped start the 1960's antiwar movement while a graduate student at Berkeley.

"Our goal is not to have the government dictate who's hired but to take politics out of the hiring process and the classroom," said Mr. Horowitz, who called the new studies the most compelling evidence yet of hiring bias. "Right now, conservative students are discouraged from pursuing scholarly careers, because they see very clearly that their professors consider Republicans to be the enemy."

Academic leaders have resisted his group's legislative proposal, saying that discrimination is rare and already forbidden, and they dispute the accusations of faculty bias. Robert J. Birgeneau, the chancellor of Berkeley, said that he was not sure if the new study of his faculty accurately reflected the professors' political leanings, and that these leanings were irrelevant anyway.

"The essence of a great university is developing and sharing new knowledge as well as questioning old dogma," Dr. Birgeneau said. "We do this in an environment which prizes academic freedom and freedom of expression. These principles are respected by all of our faculty at U.C. Berkeley, no matter what their personal politics are."

Professors at Berkeley and other universities provided unprecedented financial support for the Democratic Party this election. For the first time, universities were at the top of the list of organizations ranked by their employees' contributions to a presidential candidate, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group.

In first and second place, ahead of Time Warner, Goldman Sachs and Microsoft, were the University of California system and Harvard, whose employees contributed $602,000 and $340,000, respectively, to Senator John Kerry. At both universities, employees gave about $19 to the Kerry campaign for every dollar for the Bush campaign.

One theory for the scarcity of Republican professors is that conservatives are simply not that interested in academic careers. A Democrat on the Berkeley faculty, George P. Lakoff, who teaches linguistics and is the author of "Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think," said that liberals choose academic fields that fit their world views. "Unlike conservatives," he said, "they believe in working for the public good and social justice, as well as knowledge and art for their own sake, which are what the humanities and social sciences are about."

Some non-Democrats prefer to attribute the imbalance to the structure of academia, which allows hiring decisions and research agendas to be determined by small, independent groups of scholars. These fiefs, the critics say, suffer from a problem described in The Federalist Papers: an autonomous "small republic" is prone to be dominated by a cohesive faction that uses majority voting to "outnumber and oppress the rest," in Madison's words.

"Our colleges have become less marketplaces of ideas than churches in which you have to be a true believer to get a seat in the pews," said Stephen H. Balch, a Republican and the president of the National Association of Scholars. "We've drifted to a secular version of 19th-century denominational colleges, in which the university's mission is to crusade against sin and make the country a morally better place."

Dr. Balch's organization of what he calls traditional scholars is publishing the two new faculty studies in its journal, Academic Questions (online at www.nas.org). In one study, Professor Klein and Charlotta Stern, a sociologist at the Institute for Social Research in Sweden, asked the members of scholars' professional associations which party's candidates they had mostly voted for over the previous decade.

The ratio of Democratic to Republican professors ranged from 3 to 1 among economists to 30 to 1 among anthropologists. The researchers found a much higher share of Republicans among the nonacademic members of the scholars' associations, which Professor Klein said belied the notion that nonleftists were uninterested in scholarly careers.

"Screened out, expelled or self-sorted, they tend to land outside of academia because the crucial decisions - awarding tenure and promotions, choosing which papers get published - are made by colleagues hostile to their political views," said Professor Klein, who classifies himself as a libertarian.

Martin Trow, an emeritus professor of public policy at Berkeley who was chairman of the faculty senate and director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education, said that professors tried not to discriminate in hiring based on politics, but that their perspective could be warped because so many colleagues shared their ideology.

"Their view comes to be seen not as a political preference but what decent, intelligent human beings believe," said Dr. Trow, who calls himself a conservative. "Debate is stifled, and conservatives either go in the closet or get to be seen as slightly kooky. So if a committee is trying to decide between three well-qualified candidates, it may exclude the conservative because he seems like someone who has poor judgment."

The students' magazine, The California Patriot, has frequently criticized Berkeley for the paucity of conservative views and for cases of what it has called discrimination against conservative students.

"I'm glad to get the liberal perspective, but it would be nice to get the other side, too," said Kelly Coyne, the editor of the magazine and a senior majoring in political science. "I'm really having a hard time finding courses my last year. I don't want to spend another semester listening to lectures about victims of American oppression."

My comment: Gee whiz! My heart goes out to you, Kelly, but just maybe you wouldn't be hearing so many lectures about victims of American oppression if our foreign policy, especially since Reagan, has been a hot spot in a general history of Western oppression of any part of the world they could find a way to suppress for profit. Get over it kid, and start working on ways to redress the grievances and undo the damage. South Africa had internal Truth and Reconciliation Commissions. Perhaps the U.S.A. could spearhead a worldwide U.S.A./European version. Denial will eat you up. Just a thought.


Informant: Eric R. Stietzel

Schongauer Nachrichten vom 13./14. 11. 2004:

HANS SCHÜTZ WEITER ZUGPFERD DER BÜRGER
VON UIP OFFIZIELL ZUM VERTRETER ERKOREN

Peiting – Die Mobilfunkbetreiber, die in Peiting weitere Standorte für Sendemasten suchen, müssen sich wohl auch künftig mit Hans Schütz auseinandersetzen. Bei der Veranstaltung der Umweltinitiative Pfaffenwinkel zum Thema Mobilfunkanlagen wurde er offiziell zum Bürgervertreter gekürt. Besonders groß war das Bürgerinteresse an der Veranstaltung allerdings nicht. Nur 15 Teilnehmer hatten sich eingefunden.

Das große Ziel

Ziel der Umweltinitiative ist es in erster Linie, einen neuen Arbeitskreis Mobilfunk zu errichten. Zum zweiten soll ein Mobilfunk-Netzwerk Pfaffenwinkel ins Leben gerufen werden, in dem die etwa zwanzig Bürgerinitiativen der Region vertreten sind. „Ich denke es, ist wichtig, etwas zu unternehmen, ich habe viele Patienten, die Beschwerden haben, seit der Sendemast steht“, so Heilpraktikerin Marlies Erhard-Grzesiak, die zudem Peitinger Berufskollegen zu dem Treffen geladen hatte.

--------

MOBILFUNKABEND: KEIN KNEIFEN BEI DEN BETREIBERN

Zusage liegt der Gemeinde vor

von Barbara Schlotterer

Peiting – Noch interessanter als erwartet dürfte der Mobilfunkabend werden, zu dem die Gemeinde Peiting für Dienstag, 30. November einlädt (wir berichteten). Denn neben Dr. Raithel vom Umweltinstitut München hat Bürgermeister Michael Asam jetzt auch noch überraschenderweise ein positives Feedback von den Mobilfunkbetreibern bekommen. Nach monatelangen Querelen über mögliche Standorte für neue Masten haben die Firmen sich jetzt bereit erklärt, selbst an dem Abend teilzunehmen.

Erst gestern ging bei Bürgermeister Michael Asam die letzte Zusage ein. „E-Plus kommt und vertritt gleichzeitig auch T-Mobile, Vodafone kommt auch“, zählt er auf. Die Überraschung zwischen Hoffen und Ungläubigkeit ist den Betreibern gelungen – erst recht nachdem diese einen für den Sommer anberaumten „Runden Tisch“ hatten platzen lassen. „Ganz ehrlich habe ich für den Infoabend nicht mit einer Zusage gerechnet“, räumt auch Gemeindechef Asam ein. Allerdings hätte er aufgrund aktueller Ereignisse gehofft. „Ich habe den Betreibern geschrieben, dass wir momentan alle vorgeschlagenen Standorte ablehnen“, schildert Asam. Er denkt, dass diese massive Ablehnung den Anstoß für die Zusage gegeben hat. Von dem Abend selbst erhofft sich Michael Asam zumindest so viel: „Wenn der Experte vom Umweltinstitut andere Standorte als geeigneter bewertet, müssen die Betreiber zumindest Stellung zu ihren Vorschlägen beziehen.“

Eine große Resonanz auf den Abend erwartet auch Alfred Grundner. Der Peitinger, der die Mobilfunk-Unterschriften-Aktion im Sommer ins Leben gerufen hatte – so konnte der Standort Freibad letztlich verhindert werden – macht sich allerdings nicht viel Hoffnung: „Im Prinzip sind wir eh machtlos, weil die Gesetzeslage nicht unbedingt zu unseren Gunsten ausgelegt ist“ So hätte der Staat nun mal die teuren Lizenzen verkauft – als Zuckerl brauchten die Mobilfunkbetreiber keine Baugenehmigung für die neuen UMTS-Standorte.“

Auf der Suche

„Allerdings brauchen die dann immer noch jemand, der sich eine Antenne aufs Dach machen lässt“, gibt er zu bedenken. Seit Monaten, so ist es hinlänglich bekannt, sind die Betreiber deshalb jetzt schon in der Marktgemeinde unterwegs, um Bürger für das Vorhaben Antenne zu gewinnen – bislang erfolglos. „Die Privatleute waren so vernünftig und haben das immer abgelehnt, obwohl sie dafür viel Geld bekommen“, sagt Alfred Grundner. Bliebe lediglich zu hoffen, dass das so bleibt., meint der Peitinger. Ebenso bleibt zu hoffen, dass es auch bei der Zusage der Mobilfunkbetreiber für den Infoabend bleibt.



Veranstaltungshinweis

Wie geht es weiter mit dem Mobilfunk in Peiting?

Podiumsdiskussion im Sparkassensaal Peiting am Dienstag, den 30. November um 19 Uhr.

Veranstalter: Marktgemeinde Peiting/Bürgermeister Michael Asam

Podium: Hans Ulrich Raithel (Umweltinstitut München e. V.)
Hans Schütz (Umweltinitiative Pfaffenwinkel e. V.)
Christoph Puschner (Vodafone)
Harald Klussmann (E-Plus)

Greenspan’s comments on Friday will probably be a watershed event which will probably rank higher in historical importance than his "irrational exuberance" comment. The following statement from his speech is very revealing:

"rising interest rates have been advertised for so long and in so many places that anyone who has not appropriately hedged this position by now is obviously desirous of losing money."

He also said:

"Given the size of the U.S. current account deficit, a diminished appetite for adding to dollar balances must occur at some point …But when, through what channels, and from what level of the dollar? Regrettably, no answer to those questions is convincing."

He is trying to pretend that what is coming has been envisaged by all the smart people…for "people who are desirous of losing money" read "ignorant and stupid". But wait a minute! Did anyone notice the US Treasury re-instate the 30 year bond? No, of course you didn’t because it wasn’t re-instated. If the much higher interest rates were so clearly signaled then why is the US Government borrowing on a short term basis and not locking in low rates for 30 years?…especially when he cites the massive US debt burden as the reason that the system will come unglued in the first place.
In March, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said that ``the odds are favorable that current account imbalances will be defused with little disruption''. That can hardly be claimed as a "hey, we told you so. Get hedged against sudden adjustments or else!".

But on October 7 we had the following not widely reported comments from Robert McTeer

Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The record U.S. current account deficit will lead to an inevitable decline in the value of the dollar, a drop that might be rapid and provoke a financial crisis, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert McTeer said.

In a New York speech, McTeer said a precipitous drop in the U.S. currency would lead to a big jump in interest rates. He offered no easy policy solution, saying he `` feels foolish warning about it'' because ``nothing bad has happened so far.''

The current account deficit, which reached $166.2 billion in the second quarter, ``is going to cause problems, but we just don't know when,'' McTeer said at a New York event hosted by Market News International.

At some point, foreigners will slow their investments in the U.S., meaning capital ``flows will turn against us, and there will be crisis that will result in rapidly rising interest rates and a rapidly depreciating dollar that will be very disruptive,'' he said. ``But I don't know what to do about it.''
[Emphasis added]

So McTeer knew that the US economy is at 30,000 feet and the plane just ran out of fuel and he doesn’t know what to do. Greenspan, who could see no problems in March, now says the smart passengers should have brought parachutes with them!

Greenspan said on Friday that forecasting exchange rates "has a success rate no better than that of forecasting the outcome of a coin toss." Greenspan is now on the record as not being able to recognize asset bubbles and not being able to forecast the direction of exchange rates. By his own admission he is clueless. Perhaps he should subscribe to LeMetropoleCafe because we have a 100% success rate on both counts!

It looks to me that something big has happened behind the scenes. Has China or Japan privately said they will not support the dollar anymore? We already know that Russia has stopped weakening the Ruble. Whatever it is, it is clearly a very big deal and unpreventable.

Greenspan is rarely as lucid as in this speech. It looks as if they have come to the end of the road. Following the Greenspan "put" has been very profitable for those who have blindly accepted the infallible "wisdom" of the Wizard of OZ. The man behind the curtain is now clearly visible. As the words of the "Maestro" are contemplated by his flock this weekend it must be surely comforting for them to know that EVERY short future gold position held by anyone is underwater and that EVERY long future gold position is in the money. The Gold Cartel and Gold Cartel roadies need to workout if Greenspan is just kidding or if they have just been double-crossed. (I’ll give them a hint: Greenspan is not kidding).

The next few days or weeks will be very revealing.

Message from CHEROKEE

http://www.madcowprod.com/mc6912004.html


Informant: Laurel

http://omega.twoday.net/stories/403999/


„Spaß mit Mikrowellen“

* Kinder zwischen 4 bis 18 Jahre

* 46,4 % Konzentrationsprobleme

* 27,6 % Verwirrtheit /Zerstreutheit

* 4,9 % Denken über Freitod nach

* 10,0 % ständige Kopfschmerzen

* 5,4 % Ständige Müdigkeit

* 19,7 % Allergien


* Hamburger Gesundheitsstudie im Auftrag des Stern


Quelle: http://www.notiz.ch/wissenschaft-unzensiert/elektrosmog/2001/juli/stern2.html


Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Caused by EMF?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/450192/

http://capwiz.com/pc/utr/2/?a=6674526&i=56497971


Informant: Lowell Byrd

News Updates from Citizens for Legitimate Government

November 20, 2004

http://www.legitgov.org/
http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

Ohio Presidential Results to be Challenged (freepress.org) Ohio's 2004 presidential vote will be challenged as soon as next week in the state Supreme Court, a coalition of public-interest lawyers announced Friday. The lawyers have taken sworn testimony from hundreds of people in hearings in Columbus and Cincinnati, and will use excerpts as well as documents obtained from county election officials and Election Day exit polls to make a case that thousands of votes were incorrectly counted or not counted on Election Day.

More Ohio voter suppression testimony prompts upcoming legal filing for statewide recount (freepress.org). As transcribed testimony from citizens denied their right to vote November 2 has become public, a coalition of public interest lawyers says it will initiate a legal filing demanding a statewide recount.

Democrat picks up seat in recount (NH) A Nashua Republican state representative still lost his seat after a recount of ballots in his race Friday, but a Francestown Democrat picked up a seat when a recount in her district changed the result.


Informant: ranger116


http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1120-25.htm

MIT Scientist Backs Berkeley Voting Report
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/112104E.shtml

http://www.sfbayview.com/110304/ucregents110304.shtml


Informant: CHEROKEE

http://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/Story.asp?ID=4688


Informant: NHNE

Liebe Mitstreiter,

im Dezember 2002 hat der Arbeitskreis Mobilfunk im Landkreis FFB eine Eingabe an den Bayerischen Landtag eingereicht zum Thema:

Handyfreie Zonen in Nahverkehrszügen

Diese Eingabe ist nun am Donnerstag, den 25.11.04 zur Behandlung im Bayerischen Landtag vorgesehen! Die Sitzung findet im Maximilianeum, Saal 1 statt und beginnt um 9.15 Uhr. Näheres hier:

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/arbeitskreis_mobilfunk_ffb_an_landtag_petition_handyfreie_abteile.pdf
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/landtag_zu_handyfreien_nahverkehrszuegen.jpeg

Es wäre schön, wenn Ihr/Sie Zeit hättet/hätten, zu kommen.

Für den Arbeitskreis Mobilfunk im Landkreis FFB
Lilli Kammerl und Paul Hornyak


Liebe Mitstreiter,

im Dezember 2002 hat der Arbeitskreis Mobilfunk im Landkreis FFB eine Eingabe an den Bayerischen Landtag eingereicht zum Thema: Handyfreie Zonen in Nahverkehrszügen

Wegen Todesfalles wurde der Termin der Eingabe kurzfristig vom 25.11. auf den 2. Dezember verschoben. Neuer Termin also am Donnerstag, den 2. Dezember auf der TO des Wirtschaftausschusses, ab 9.00 Uhr in Saal 1. Die Eingabe steht an Platz 5.

Es wäre schön, wenn Ihr/Sie Zeit hättet/hätten, zu kommen.

Für den Arbeitskreis Mobilfunk im Landkreis FFB
Lilli Kammerl und Paul Hornyak

Die immer breiter werdende Front von Bürgern gegen den Wildwuchs im Bereich der Telekommunikation zeigt Wirkung. Die entgeltliche Sonderbeilage (Mobilfunk & Gesellschaft, 6. November) ist für einen noch kritisch denkenden Menschen ein sichtbarer bzw. lesbarer Beweis dafür. In der 150-prozentigen Beruhigungstherapie steht u. a. in einem Text: ". . . die Wirkung der Handystrahlung auf das menschliche Gehirn schließt sogar positive Effekte nicht aus." Für wie dumm wird die Bevölkerung unseres Landes eigentlich gehalten?

Man darf wohl davon ausgehen, dass nicht das Infrastrukturministerium aus Steuermitteln eine Werbekampagne für die vom Bund an private Betreiber übertragene Versorgungsverpflichtung in Form einer bezahlten Anzeige von vier Seiten trägt. So bleibt die Frage, wer die nicht unbeträchtlichen Kosten dafür und ein Gutachterteam von sicher nicht unentgeltlich arbeitenden Universitätsprofessoren aufbringt. Warum richtet in einer so sensiblen Frage der Gesundheitsvorsorge akkurat jene Dienststelle, die selbst für die flächendeckende Versorgung des Landes mit modernen Telekommunikationsmitteln zuständig ist, den Fachbeirat ein? Wo bleiben Verantwortung und Kompetenz eines Gesundheits-, Umwelt- und Wissenschaftsministeriums in einem so komplexen Problembereich mit äußerst differenzierten Sichtweisen?

Fachlich muss den ehrenwerten wissenschaftlichen Mitgliedern des Fachbeirates der erläuternde Bericht zur Verordnung über den Schutz von nicht-ionisierender Strahlung des Schweizer Bundesamtes für Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft vom 23. Dezember 1999 entgegen gehalten werden. Dort heißt es: "Nicht-ionisierende Strahlung ist in der heutigen Umwelt nachgewiesen, bei niedriger Intensität bestehen begründete Hinweise auf schädliche Wirkungen." Im Kapitel 23 zum Aspekt der Wirkung auf den Menschen steht u. a.: "Auch wenn von wissenschaftlicher Seite keine weiteren Bestätigungen verlangt werden, sind die festgehaltenen Auswirkungen bereits heute in die vorsorglichen Schutzüberlegungen mit einzubeziehen."

Diese Schwarz-Weiß-Malerei fördert Verunsicherung in der Bevölkerung, vor allem aber leidet das Ansehen und die Glaubwürdigkeit der Wissenschaft durch derartig einseitige PR-Darstellungen. Die Politik wäre daher dringend aufgefordert, in einer koordinierten und konzentrierten Weise auf Bundes- und Landesebene entsprechende glaubwürdige Schritt zu setzen.

Mag. Manfred Mohr
Der Autor war Kulturdirektor des Landes Oberösterreich

Quelle:
http://www.diepresse.com/Artikel.aspx?channel=m&ressort=q&id=451766


Nachricht aus Elektrosmognews vom 21.11.2004



Forscher und Forschungsergebnisse von der Industrie bezahlt
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/forscher_und_forschungsergebnisse_von_der_industrie_bezahlt.htm

Parteipolitik und Lobbyismus behindern Umweltschutz
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/459492/

ForumMobil diffamiert Schwedischen Top-Wissenschafter
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/509687/

Elektrosmognews vom 21.11.2004

Eine kanadische Studie hat jetzt bewiesen, das starke elektromagnetische Felder die Milchleistung von Kühen reduzieren. Wissenschaftler des "Instituts für Tierwissenschaften" der McGill Universität in Quebec setzten 16 Kühe einem vertikalen elektrischen Feld von 10 Kilovolt/Meter und einem horizontalen 60 Herz-Magnetfeld von 30 Mikrotesla aus. Die Tiere wurden in zwei Gruppen eingeteilt. Sie wurden in unterschiedlicher Reihenfolge entweder für 25 Tage dem elektromagnetischen Feld ausgesetzt oder scheinexponiert. Während der Zeit mit EMF-Exposition nahm die Milchmenge um durchschnittlich 5 % ab, der Milchfettgehalt war um 16% vermindert.

Übersandt von Waltraud S.

Chris, who has just joined us, gave me permission to post this so that others can identify, or look out for tetra, in view of the current haste to roll out more tetra and 3G masts across the UK.

Sandi


I was looking at the excellent TETRAWATCH site again today and came across the following:

(O2) Employ agents to find mast sites around the country where landowners are dysfunctional, anti-social, selfish, bull-headed and influenced by money, drink or the need for solitude and remote from social contact. These are the best option because they will not be influenced by local opinion.

This EXACTLY describes the situation in Kentmere, Cumbria. The landowner, or rather barn owner since 'our' TETRA antenna is on a grade II listed barn, is a farmer, living on the 'edge' who is a loner and has little or nothing to do with local residents. Airwave mmO2 told him the installation would be safe and, presumably, paid him the money. He and his partner have an eight month old baby girl - the TETRA antenna is some 15 metres from their house.

They claim they have taken "a business decision". They claim to have no concerns at all about the 'health' aspects because Airwave told them it was safe. They say that local residents are in "a stew' about nothing because Airwave says it is safe. They refuse to talk to locals about the TETRA installation, they refuse to come to local meetings, and they tell local residents who stop on the public footpath that runs past the 'mast' to "move on". They carry on as if everything is fine. Meanwhile residents are suffering 'health' problems, are writing to their MP, are compiling a 'complaint' to the local planning authority, are concerned about their holiday businesses, the values of their properties, and their long term health.

What can you do in a situation like this - it seems so unfair that we can't use half our house (we can easily detect microwave hotspots in our sitting room and bedroom, and feel nauseous after about 30 minutes in these rooms) when the landowner next door is totally unconcerned about all the stress and concern he is causing us and the local community. Indeed HE has made the decision regarding 'health' for the rest of us.

Have there been any situations where TETRA sufferers around the UK have written to identified landowners explaining about TETRA in their own way and expressing their concerns, etc. I know that if I were asked then I certainly would!?

Incidentally, I can add to the list of Airwave mmO2's misleading practices, e.g.

Have a PR meeting, including a police spokesman, about a submitted planning application for a 'collinear antenna', never mention TETRA or 'health' or alternative sites then claim it was a pre-application meeting in which alternative sites were fully discussed.

Chris


Have you told the landowner you hope he has insurance to the tune of £56000000. I believe that is what barry trower said landowners will need for future claims against devaluement of houses near to masts and health problems if it is proved masts cause health problems.

sue g

p.s. On 'look east' news this morning a piece about masts going up near houses in Felixstowe, Suffolk and I believe they are saying compensation will have to be paid if it goes up in this particular place for houses that are devalued. Unfortunatley my husband sneezed at a crucial moment in the broadcast so missed a bit of it.


I am asking a couple of business / psychologist friends of mine to help on this. Masties can do psychological profiling too! I think the answer below is the right way forward but in case we are missing a trick lets see what the "professionals" would say about a nasty landowner (Type 2 Retentive Sociopath???). No point masties wasting time trying to appeal to better nature. But interesting that telling "normal landowners2 about the health and business risks does work and makes them refuse permission - hence O2 seeking out nasty landowners who will not listen to reason.

Best Yasmin


I wouldn't mind putting a few of them through an EPQ (make 'em listen to Hans Eysenck while they're at it, that should finish them off!). According to some social psychologists (Brown, Allport and that lot), when you know that something is bad, like fags or mobiles, but you still 'have to' have them, the arising internal conflict causes cognitive dissonance, which affects subsequent attitudes and values etc.

To achieve consonance and avoid going completely mad, you have to either give up smoking or the convenience of your mobile, or convince yourself completely that what you know is wrong, ie, there are no harmful effects!

So you see, as the greedy, grabbing ignorant landlords and operators will not relinquish the revenue from masts, they refute the facts more vehemently than ever, to the point where they begin to actually believe themselves, even when they are presented with concrete evidence.

And that, my friends, is how they sleep at night!

Amanda


Informant: Mast Network



CAMPAIGN URGES LOCAL COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY TELECOMMUNICATION MASTS TO IMPLEMENT THEIR RIGHT TO PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/403052/

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/11/304020.shtml


Informant: billder

It is happening in my own back yard now.

Jenny


HOUSTON SCHOOLKIDS TAGGED AND TRACKED LIKE INVENTORY

by Katherine Albrecht, CASPIAN Director

Why do creepy RFID initiatives seem to gravitate to Texas, even though Texans are among the most privacy and freedom-loving people in the nation? The latest assault involves the children of the Spring Independent School District, just north of Houston, where 28,000 students will soon be issued RFID badges that will track them as they get on and off school buses.

Apparently, RFID reader devices in the buses scan the kids and send their data across town to police and school officials. (Excuse me, did read that right? Police?!?) Of course, since the kids could lose or trade their cards, some bright bulbs are already considering RFID implants as a more secure alternative.

Despite the fact that no child has ever been lost or abducted in the Spring district, students are being RFID tagged "just in case" (and at a considerable cost, too).

This program, if allowed to continue, would mark a disastrous turn for privacy and civil liberties in this country and set a terrible precedent. The tracking of school children is especially loathsome, since not only are kids a captive audience (in this regard, public school students are second only to prisoners and the military), but they are not old enough to vote out the perpetrators -- or even to take their grievances against them to a court of law.

The program's impact on kids is summed up in the words of a 15-year-old, quoted as saying the program "makes me feel kind of like an animal." Is this how we, as a society, actually plan to treat the next generation of Americans? Are we really so intent on numbering, watching, and dehumanizing kids that we will ignore the impact of our technology on their independence and psychological wellbeing?

Kids must rely on adults to let them know what is and isn't appropriate in a free society. We adults, who are older and wiser and know the historical dangers of unchecked government power, have an obligation to look out for their interests. We must take a stand to protect our kids -- and indeed, ourselves -- from the busybodies who would have us all under lock and key (for our own safety, of course) the moment we let our guard down.

CASPIAN has many committed, freedom-loving members in the Houston area. If you wonderful folks want to plan a time and a date to rally to these kids' defense, CASPIAN will get the word out to the media and spread the message around the world not to mess with Texas. (And especially not its kids!)

Write us at Houston@nocards.org if you want to take a stand.
Source: New York Times via CNET, November 17, 2004
http://news.com.com/In+Texas,+28,000+students+test+an+electronic+eye/2100-1039_3-5456061.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/6etrq

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63731-2004Nov19_2.html


Informant: userde6253

http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2589794&nav=168XTKsN


Informant: NHNE

. . . such as Gulf War II, and, see below, Election 2004.

plion


September 16, 2001's L.A. Times had a characteristically surprising article by Kevin Phillips, a nominally Republican analyst-journalist who is neverheless independent and almost ideology-free. The entire article is compelling; the concluding paragraphs, below, are especially arresting.

September 16, 2001

COMMENTARY

Can the Economy Survive the Attacks?

by KEVIN PHILLIPS,

His most recent book [at that time] is "The Cousins Wars: Religion, Politics and the Triumph of Anglo-America"

Since the 1600s, each of America's three predecessors as leading world economic power found itself bled—economically, politically and militarily—by a new sort of war that forced it to fight on the wrong battlefields in precarious circumstances at too late a stage in the trajectory of its world leadership. Spain was crippled by the bloody and grotesque Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. The next power to rise up, the maritime empire of the Dutch, suffered a mortal economic and commercial wound in the quarter-century of war that wracked Europe from 1690 to 1713.

Great Britain paid the same price for World War I and II. Within only three decades of its peak economic and imperial splendors of 1910-14, the British empire of 1947, besides undergoing food and clothing rationing in peacetime, was forced to depend on financial loans and hand-outs from the United States. [This helps explain Blair's fawning on Clinton and Bush.--PL]

If terrorists in dingy conference rooms in Tripoli, Damascus, Baghdad, Tehran or Kabul have concluded that the United States cannot maintain its present economic strength through 10 to 15 years of terrorism, attrition, computer-hack attacks, eroding markets and oil and currency crises, they may be wrong—but they may also be correct. Even in 1991, the United States had to pass the hat among other coalition members to finance the Gulf War.

Moreover, just as Britain no longer possessed the cutting-edge technologies in metallurgy, chemicals, armaments production and electrical engineering to effectively fight the First World War—imports from the U.S., Sweden and elsewhere become crucial-—the United States is increasingly at risk in Internet and computer-age technologies. Recent reports have made it clear, for example, that as commercial relationships between Taiwan and mainland China accelerate, some of America's dependence on Taiwan for critical computer parts threatens to pass to China.

None of this is to say that the U.S. should not try to eliminate its terrorist attackers. To maintain domestic and international credibility, it has to. But the three-dimensional game of strategic chess now facing Washington is quite different from the ones American leaders have played before.


[Phillips stops short of asking how the Bush Jr.-fronted administration---determined as it is to resuscitate a more ruthless version of a retro Reagan-Bush Sr. world---will survive this nexorable future-without-precedents.]

Breaking News: Lawsuit Challenges Ohio Presidential Results

Ohio’s 2004 presidential vote will be challenged as soon as next week in the state Supreme Court, a coalition of public-interest lawyers announced Friday. The lawyers have taken sworn testimony from hundreds of people in hearings in Columbus and Cincinnati, and will use excerpts as well as documents obtained from county election officials and Election Day exit polls to make a case that thousands of votes were incorrectly counted or not counted on Election Day.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2422

Propaganda Clashes with Reality: U.S. Deaths in Iraq War Hit 100 this Month

The U.S. Department of Defense feeds the press and public a daily diet of propaganda claiming the "insurgency is broken" in Iraq, as shown by the MSNBC article below. A second article posted below claims the backbone of the Iraqi insurgency was "broken" -- ten months ago. Meanwhile, the facts on the ground in Iraq contradict the propaganda, as the number of U.S. casualties escalates. As of November 20, 2004, the U.S. military confirmed 100 U.S. soldiers killed in combat for this month, an average of 5 Americans killed per day, a sharp increase since the election.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2421

A major red flag was raised yesterday indicating a flood of very seriously wounded U.S. soldiers from the Iraq War as the nationalist uprising opposing the U.S. occupation continues. According to the article below, "Yesterday, Walter Reed [Army Medical Center in Washington, DC] stopped accepting some ambulance patients at the emergency room because the hospital was nearly full, said Col. James Gilman, who runs the hospital."

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2420

According to the article below, more than 300 flights have been made on behalf of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to facilitate the movement of enemy prisoners of war so they can be tortured in other countries.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2419

U.S. ELECTION: Democracy in Question

John Zogby, president of the polling firm Zogby International, told IPS he has been calling it "the Armageddon election" for about a year. Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader believes the Republican Party was able to "steal it before election day."

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2418

Televangelical tentacles: Who influences the U.S. Government

The impact of extreme religious views in America impact both foreign and domestic policies. If people want to know what's going to happen next in the globe, such as a crusade against what American extremists call a goodless North Korea or Islamic Iran, then watch the "700 Club." In the past few months, it has been U.S. courts that have checked the torture policies of the U.S. administration. In the column below, Philip James claims, "TV evangelist Pat Robertson is threatening to mobilise millions of his Christian viewers and "de-liberalise" the US judiciary.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2417

According to the news show 60 Minutes, "Soldiers injured in Iraq, even if in a hostile war zone, are not included in the casualty counts unless their injuries are the direct cause of combat." The program airs Sunday, November 21, 2004. Check your local listing for details.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2416

Mehrere amerikanische Bundesstaaten wollen demnächst das Kyoto-Protokoll anwenden. Damit erhöht sich der Druck auf die Regierung Bush, ebenfalls nachzugeben.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/fp/archiv/Akt-News/5612.php

Das Welt-Klima wird immer heißer, aber in den USA wird genau deshalb das Klima zwischen der Bush-Regierung und der Wissenschaft immer kühler.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/fp/archiv/Akt-News/5630.php

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Media Contact: Tim Carpenter 877-368-9221

Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party Announces First Policy Statement and Ongoing Mission

Organization Pledges to hold Democrats and Republicans Responsible to 57 Million Voters

Washington, DC — Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) announced its first policy initiative today in its drive to influence the platform and agenda of the national Democratic Party. Citing the slim 2.6% majority vote achieved in the recent election, the new statement released by PDA asserts, “We do not believe that the November election was a mandate to destroy Iraq while saving it nor an endorsement of the President’s management of the conflict.” (See full statement below.)

“Our objective is to demonstrate that the progressive movement is alive and growing both inside and outside the Party,” said PDA director, Tim Carpenter. PDA was established as a counterbalance to the Democratic Leadership Council. Many rank-and-file Party members feel the DLC appeased conservatives and allowed a policy shift to the political right.

High profile thought leaders like writer and journalist Tom Hayden, have endorsed the PDA position statement. “It is George Bush’s mistake now,” said Hayden, “The role of all Democrats and concerned Americans is to make him end his denial, accept responsibility and take significant steps to end the American occupation and leave Iraq to the Iraqis.”

PDA currently has 11 state caucuses with 15,000 registered members. The group has begun to work with its 22 other allied progressive organizations to launch a grassroots effort to influence the Democrats and put pressure on the current administration. In the wake of the November general election, this effort indicates the resilience of the grassroots movement established during the 2003-2004 Democratic Primary is still alive and represents the heartbeat of the Democratic Party. For more information go to http://www.PDAmerica.org.

The new PDA policy statement on Iraq reads as follows:

A Time To Break the Democrats’ Silence on Falluja and the Escalation of the War in Iraq

As Progressive Democrats we call on our Democratic Party leadership to break the public silence on the bloodbath in Falluja. Sixteen hundred Iraqi insurgents are said to have been killed and countless others maimed, crippled or injured in a single week. Over thirty American soldiers are dead and several hundred are wounded. Over eighty major attacks have been launched on American positions in several other uprisings from Mosul to Baghdad. Despite military and administration public relations, the US-trained Iraqi forces cannot or will not stand on their own.

America is creating a slaughterhouse in the name of democratic elections. As foreigners, we are dividing Sunni from Shiite and Kurd in the name of a fragmented Iraqi unity. We are ominously alone, abandoned by fifteen of our Coalition allies - so far - and by the United Nations.

This military strike was timed to occur after the American presidential election. While the main responsibility lies with President Bush, the national Democratic Party leadership has supported and encouraged the military offensive in Falluja as well. Both parties have bloody hands.

It is time for the bipartisan collusion in this war to end. It is time for the Democratic Party to become faithful to its faithful rank-and-file through becoming the party of opposition. It is time to declare clearly that this war is a mistake. The conduct of the war is a mistake. America is squandering the lives of its soldiers, the revenues of its taxpayers, and the trust of its people for a mistake.

When will our party leaders join in asking who will be the last American to die for this mistake?

Progressive Democrats will neither wait nor be silent. We will organize locally as voices and voters for peace. We will hold our Congressional representatives accountable if they support a $75 billion blood-stained check for the Iraq war. We will point out the daily cost of the war to our deficits, our cities, health care, housing and anti-poverty programs. We will demand greater candor and respect for our combat soldiers while also honoring those troops and their families who choose to oppose the war in the tradition of the young John Kerry.

During the presidential campaign, we gave one hundred percent for a Democratic ticket that felt compelled to defend a mistake. We do not believe that the November election was a mandate to destroy Iraq while saving it nor an endorsement of the President’s management of the conflict. It is George Bush’s mistake now, and the role of all Democrats and concerned Americans is to make him end his denial, accept responsibility and take significant steps to end the American occupation and leave Iraq to the Iraqis.

"By-laws aren't political. They're how you run your group. Anything else is a result of who you elect or put in charge." -- Lila Hummel- Parlimentarian (Los Angeles KFPK LAB meeting 8-23-03)


Informant: Heidi Chesney

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup


Informant: Friends

http://www.redefeatbush.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=219


Informant: Diana Davies

Voter Reform Begins in Madison County, Alabama:

This story appeared in my local newspaper today:

The story details the steps that Madison County commission members want to accomplish to make voting easier...CLOSE SCHOOLS ON ELECTION DAY, USE SPECIFIED POLLING PLACES IN ALL ELECTIONS, AND EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF POLL WORKERS.

Huntsville Times
Saturday, November 20th, 2004

COUNTY PANEL EYES ELECTION REFORM
Easier absentee voting, relocated polls considered

By David Holden
Times Staff Writer

Relaxing absentee voting rules and moving polling places from churches to public schools were among the ideas discussed Friday at the first meeting of the Madison County Election Reform Commission.

The commission was created earlier this month by the Madison County Commission to address problems voters experience in some precincts on Nov. 2.

Most of the problems were encountered in Madison, where some voters stood in line for hours only to be told they had waited at the wrong polling place. Precincts in other areas experienced long lines requiring voters to wait up to an hour before getting a chance to cast their ballots.

County Commissioner Faye Dyer, who represents the Madison area, said the reform commission might ask the Legislature to change the absentee voting law to allow more early voting, cutting down on some of the long lines at the polls.

"Why can't people cast an absentee without stating that they have to go out of town?" Dyer said. "Why do you have to state a reason at all? Its not of the government's business why you want to vote absentee."

The commission consists of all six members of the county commission, the canvassing board, the board of registrarts, the mayors of Madison and Huntsville, and county chairmen of the Republican and Democratic parties.

County Commissioner Bob Harrison proposed that the membership of the Election Reform Commission include representatives of the Alabama Democratic Conference, the New South Coalition and other political-activist groups. The commission approved the proposal.

To study election issues and address problems encountered during the election, the commission formed four subcommittees Friday:

***PRECINCTS: County Commissioner Morris "Mo" Brooks, who is chairman of the Election Reform Commission, will chair this subcommittee. It will determine how many voters should be assigned to each precinct and conduct a "flow study" to determine how efficiently precincts are working and how many poll workers are needed.

***SCHOOLS: Dyer will chair this subcommittee, which will study whether moving voting precincts into schools is feasible. The panel will discuss with the three school boards in Madison County whether it would be feasible to close schools on election day. Dyer said issues have continued to crop up over using churches as polling places. Some people complain that it violates the separation of church and state, she said. "In my 16 years on the commission, that has been the most-cited objection I've heard," she said.

***MADISON: Mayor Sandy Kirkindall will head this subcommittee. It will determine how many additional precincts will needed in Madison to efficently handle the flow of voters. That group will also identify where the new precincts should be located. The goal is to make sure the established voting places are used for all elections in Madison.

***ELECTION PROCESSES: Harrison will chair this subcommittee, which will study how precincts work on Election Day. The panel will look at everything from how much poll workers and inspectors are paid to ways to assist handicapped voters and mothers pushing strollers. Poll workers are paid $70 to $80 a day and poll inspectors $100 to $110, said County Attorney Julian Butler.

The Election Reform Committee will meet again in February. It will amake its recommendations to the county commission next spring, Brooks said.


Informant: emcain79

Researchers: Florida Vote Fishy
http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65757,00.html


Informant: Diana Davies