12
Mai
2005

Let's Hit the "Paper Trail"

Let's Hit the "Paper Trail" on June 9

Are you passionate about the need for laws requiring voting machines to produce a voter verified paper ballot?

Here's an opportunity to make a real difference.
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68816236459860614607365

As of today, 20 states have passed "paper trail" laws - a tremendous achievement. (Two of these bills await the governor's signature to become law.) However, these laws are not equally effective; while some are terrific, others are weak. Some have a long waiting period before they go into effect.

There is a better way. As you know, Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Harry Reid (D-NV) have introduced bills in the House and the Senate respectively - H.R. 550
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68816246459860614607365 and S. 330 http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68816256459860614607365
- that would make voter verified paper ballots mandatory across the country. Unfortunately, both bills are stuck in committee.

So let's get them moving! Come to Washington, DC, on June 9 and 10 to talk directly with members of Congress. With enough co-signers onboard, we can get this legislation to the floor for a vote.
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68817336459860614607365

Sign up to reserve your spot for our national paper trail lobby days by going directly to:
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68816266459860614607365

http://www.commoncause.org/RSVPforPaperTrailLobbyDays

Our coalition of organizations includes Electronic Frontier Foundation, Rock the Vote, Verified Voting, VotersUnite, VoteTrustUSA, and Working Assets. Join us and our coalition partners for Capitol Hill Lobby Days on June 9 and 10 to talk to our federal lawmakers in person and advocate for the passage of these crucial election reform bills:

http://www.commoncause.org/RSVPforPaperTrailLobbyDays

If you have never lobbied before, have no worries. It's fun! Besides, we're planning a training session on the morning of June 9, where you'll get all the information you'll need to feel like an old pro. We will also help you find lodging for your visit and there's a Capitol Hill party planned for Thursday night, too, with special guests.

It's even more fun if you come with a friend, so spread the word.
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68816296459860614607365

For more information about what Common Cause is doing to reform our broken election system, visit our Action For Elections center.
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68816306459860614607365
If you have not done so, don't forget to sign our Save Our Elections petition.
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68816316459860614607365

We hope you can come to the Capitol Hill Lobby Days on June 9 & 10 - we'd love to meet you in person. In the meantime, thanks for your passion and commitment to election reform.
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68817346459860614607365

Sincerely,

The Election Reform Team
Barbara Burt
Election Reform Team Leader
http://www.commoncause.org/Elections

Alex, DJ, Ed, Jenny, Lisa, Mary, Mike, Murshed, Rachel, and Susannah

Citizen Group Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Order the FCC to Study Health Effects of Cell Tower Emissions

http://www.emrpolicy.org/news/press/10may05_sc_letterhead.pdf

Supreme Court Petition filed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Janet Newton - The EMR Policy Institute
Tel: (802) 426-3035
Email: JNewton@emrpolicy.org

CITIZEN GROUP ASKS U.S. SUPREME COURT TO ORDER THE FCC TO STUDY HEALTH EFFECTS OF BROADCAST TV, RADIO AND CELL TOWERS EMISSIONS

Washington, D.C., May 10, 2005 -- EMR Network, a nationwide advocacy group of citizens and professionals concerned with the environmental impact of radiofrequency (RF) radiation, today filed a petition in the United States Supreme Court asking the Court to order the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to research the impact on human health of continuous low-power ultra-high frequency wireless transmissions.

The group’s petition for certiorari asks the high court to overturn an FCC order and Court of Appeals decision refusing to gather information and thoroughly investigate the consequences of 24/7 exposure to signals from TV/Radio broadcast facilities and cell towers that power 180 million mobile phones across the country.

Current FCC RF exposure limits make no distinction between children, the elderly, or the ailing among the general population.

Whitney North Seymour, Jr. is providing legal counsel for this appeal pro bono. His legal career has included private practice, a term as federal prosecutor for New York, and public interest work with a particular interest in environmental law, having co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council in 1969. He also served as a senator in the New York State Assembly. The EMR Policy Institute assisted in preparing the petition.

Background information and the Petition for Writ of Certiorari are found at: http://www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/index.htm


Janet Newton, President
The EMR Policy Institute, P.O. Box 117, Marshfield VT 05658
Tel: (802) 426-3035 FAX: (802) 426-3030
Web Site: http://www.emrpolicy.org

An Attack on Liberty, 100-0

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/smith-h1.html

Desperately Seeking Virtue in the Bush Administration

http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski110.html

Prophetic Noahs and Paul Reveres sound alarms

05/11/05

The prophet Noah talked to people about changing their ways. They ignored him. Noah built an ark, gathered his family and hosted animals to join them. They survived and rebuilt civilization after the flood. Those who ignored Noah's warning and continued their destruction perished. We live in mythic times. 'The British are coming!' Paul Revere broadcast, awakening the slumbering colonists. Now some 230 years later, perhaps the appropriate warning would be something like, 'The Americans are creating a global catastrophe!' A civilization-destroying flood or the British Empire no longer threaten us, but other dangers abound. According to four recent books, America and those on its industrial highway may be heading into contraction, turbulence, chaos, or even collapse...

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0511-20.htm

from Common Dreams, by Shepherd Bliss


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Attac-Aktion vor dem Bundestag: Nein zu dieser EU-Verfassung

Attac Deutschland
Pressemitteilung
Berlin, 12. Mai 2005

* Attac-Aktion vor dem Reichstagsgebäude (Fotos online):
* "Nein zu dieser EU-Verfassung" / Botschaft nach Frankreich

Mit einer symbolischen Aktion haben Mitglieder des globalisierungskritischen Netzwerks Attac parallel zur Bundestagsentscheidung gegen die EU-Verfassung protestiert. "Für ein soziales, friedliches, ökologisches Europa - darum: Nein zu dieser EU-Verfassung" stand auf einem zehn Meter großen Transparent, das quer vor dem Besuchereingang des Reichstagsgebäudes aufgespannt wurde. "Entgegen aller Schönrederei im Bundestag schreibt diese Verfassung eine neoliberale und militaristische Politik dauerhaft fest", sagte Stephan Lindner von der Attac-EU-AG.

Im Vorfeld des französischen Referendums schickten die Attac-Mitglieder, die von Aktivisten von 'solid und der Friedensbewegung aktiv unterstützt wurden, mit ihrer Aktion auch eine Botschaft nach Frankreich: Mit der Parole, "Amis francais, dites NON au nom des Allemands" baten sie die Franzosen, auch in ihrem Namen mit Nein zu stimmen. Zudem bildeten sie aus ihren Körpern ein "NON" in den Farben der Trikolore. "Die breite Mehrheit im Bundestag ist nicht repräsentativ, denn in Deutschland gab es kaum Informationen, keine Debatte und keine Mitbestimmungsmöglichkeit für die Menschen", kritisierte Peter Wahl vom Attac-Koordinierungskreis. "Jetzt ruhen die Hoffnungen auf Frankreich, Belgien und Dänemark. Mit einem Nein zu dieser Verfassung können sie die Voraussetzung für ein demokratischeres, sozialeres und friedlicheres Europa schaffen."

Die Attac-Kritik am Verfassungsentwurf hatten zuletzt 188 Intellektuelle und politisch Aktive in einem öffentlichen Aufruf unterstützt, der Belege für den neoliberalen Charakter der Verfassung und die weiterhin bestehenden Demokratiedefizite liefert (siehe http://www.attac.de/eu-verfassung/anzeige/ ).

Fotos von der Aktion in druckfähiger Auflösung:
* online unter http://www.attac.de/eu-verfassung/non

Für Rückfragen:
* Stephan Lindner, Tel. (0176) 2434 2789
* Peter Wahl, Tel. (0160) 823 4377
* Tobias Pflüger, MdE, Tel. (0174) 765 0483


------------------------------------------------
Malte Kreutzfeldt
Pressesprecher Attac Deutschland
------------------------------------------------
Post: Münchener Str. 48, 60329 Frankfurt/M
Tel.: 069/900 281-42, Mobil: 0170-233 4746
Mail: presse@attac.de, Fax: 069/900 281-99
-------------------------------------------------

Aus: Attac-eu-info

Update from the Field 5/12/05

Buffalo Field Campaign
Update from the Field
May 12, 2005

------------------------------
New to the Issue? Check here for background:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/issueinbrief.html
------------------------------
* Update from the Field
* Call Montana's Governor
* Prayer Ceremony for the Buffalo this Saturday
* BFC Volunteer Takes the Buffalo's Story Home
* Tonight @ 7:30: Montana PBS Documentary on Buffalo
* Last Words (by Japhy Ryder Sanchez)

------------------------------
* Update from the Field

As the Spring tide flows and the sun waxes high, the landscape dons a greener mantle, giggling pink, purple, yellow and white flower-shaped secrets. Red and yellow buds burst from the stalks of willows, aspens finally begin to show signs of red life. All the ice is gone, driven away by rain. These past few days have been very wet, cool and windy and today on this mid-May morning, we awoke to a surprising light cover of wet snow. It is still falling as I write.
Out on Horse Butte where the vernal dance comes alive from beneath and between the quartz and lava rock, brand new baby buffalo take their first steps. These are the last wild buffalo's chosen calving grounds. Perhaps there are certain plants to aid childbirth that only grow there, that only buffalo-wisdom can pick out to ease labor or offer succulent nutrition. Perhaps it is simply the huge south-facing slope, the first to be touched by the sun. As water falls from the sky, we wonder to each other if the grass tastes sweeter all wet with rain. Some try it and say "yes." All around us, buffalo grunt and breathe, munching the sweet grass, while tiny red buffalo suckle their mothers, dance around and get to know their new legs, each other and their amazing surroundings. It is good to be alive! Even better to be a wild buffalo on Horse Butte in the height of Spring!

But, after yesterday's nefarious government activities, nearly all the buffalo are gone. The Butte is sadly empty. Haunted, too, are the surrounding forests and willows that lead to this sacred site. The landscape holds large and tiny footprints, fertilizing droppings, some hairs caught on branches, but nothing else. The buffalo are gone. Mothers, babies, and bulls--all run off of their chosen land. Their absence is heavily felt. They have been pushed back. Forced away. Hazed. Chased. Hounded to exhaustion. Walked and run and kicked off their ancestral landscape in sad humiliation and with utter disrespect. Helicopter, horses, ATVs, and trucks roared through here and created a sick void where once the gentle, shaggy giants and the little red babies played. Slightly to the north and east lay the empty spaces of Fir Ridge, Duck Creek, and Cougar Creek. Favorite haunts of gigantic bull buffalo, magnificent in their masculinity. Accompanying crazy young bulls seem to make a dangerous game of crossing the road and challenging semis, giving BFC volunteers who warn motorists of their crossings anxiety attacks. Unpredictable in their awesome wildness, we catch our breath as they graze and then dance across the road that bisects the land, back and forth and back again. They were making their way toŠ to wherever it is they would go if they were simply allowed to be buffalo.

In Montana, however, it is a crime to be a buffalo. The penalties are harsh and severe. It doesn't matter if you are weeks old, pregnant, in labor, unable to transmit cattle diseases, and never have anyway. Being a wild buffalo in Montana is against the law. And it doesn't even matter that there are no cattle around. No matter that this is native buffalo habitat. The empty landscape cries out loud in it's need for wild buffalo. Everywhere we feel their absence and wish to catch a glimpse of their dark, mountainous shapes. The buffalo's rightful landscape has been stolen for (invisible) European cows.

Instead of celebrating the magical, sacred, native buffalo, the livestock industry of Montana lashes out in fear and takes a violent, offensive position. They say they fear the transmission of a disease called brucellosis; a disease given to native wildlife by European cattle. A disease buffalo have developed immunities to. The buffalo are the targets of a centuries-old range war that manifests itself in the form of disease eradication. Intolerance. Control. Greed. Fear. DOL agents mock cowboys and with the financial and active support of the United States Government, drive the native buffalo off of their habitat, which consists primarily of National Forest lands. They sent out a helicopter again yesterday to scare up moms, babies, and bulls. It chased them down like a monster, blades cut the air, terrorizing the ecosystem and surrounding neighborhoods. DOL agents dress to the nine in cowboy attire, mount their horses, and smile as they forcefully drive the country's last wild buffalo across state lines, federal lines, pushing them into an arbitrary man-made box: Yellowstone National Park. Take out a map of the country. The buffalo once roamed nearly the entire space of it. Now take a look at Yellowstone National Park. Comparatively, it's a small dot on the map. This is currently the only place where state and federal officials will let wild buffalo be. When wild buffalo migrate, when they choose to cross these invisible lines, they are hazed, captured, quarantined, or slaughtered. They "threaten" macho livestock interests with a disease domestic cattle gave them, one that wild buffalo have never spread. Native buffalo have been displaced by European cattle, and if they dare set foot onto the lands they lost, wellŠ there's hell to pay.

This is the way it is, but it doesn't have to remain so. There are solutions. Cattle can be contained, public lands grazing allotments can be relocated off of wild buffalo habitat, stronger fences can be built for cattle on private lands, better vaccines can be developed and administered to cattle. Let us protect migratory corridors that allow buffalo to be buffalo and reclaim their native lands and restore the prairies. Let the Department of Livestock hold authority over cattle. Let the wolves manage the wild buffalo. Let Montana celebrate the buffalo as a valued and respected native wildlife species. Let the state's wildlife agency - not livestock interests - resume management authority. The cattle industry in Montana boasts $1 billion annually; the tourism industry boasts over $3 billion. Tourists come to see the wilds of Montana, not it's cattle. Cattle are everywhere in America. The last wild buffalo are now only here. Let them roam! Restore the grasses. End public lands cattle grazing! Bring the landscape back to life. Bring back the wild buffalo! Visualize it. Demand it. Speak up. Take action. It will happen if you want it to.

For the Last Wild Buffalo,
~Stephany
-----------------------------
* Call Montana's Governor

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has the power to get the ball rolling for wild buffalo in Montana. He has the power to remove management authority from the Department of Livestock. He has the power to secure critical habitat for wild buffalo in the state. He has the power to respect buffalo as a valued, native wildlife species. He has the power, but he will only act on it if he hears from you. A great friend of wildlife, Brock Evans, says "endless pressure, endlessly applied" is what it will take. So be it. For the last wild buffalo, please call Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer today!

406-444-3111
-----------------------------
* Prayer Ceremony for the Buffalo This Saturday, May 14
This Saturday, May 14, we will gather here in West Yellowstone and throughout the world in prayer for the Yellowstone buffalo. Clem, a dedicated supporter of the buffalo, has generously arranged to pay for flights for he and Keith, a Dakota Sioux and Ojibway medicine man who will lead our volunteers in ceremony for the buffalo. We have been busy gathering the items necessary for the ceremony and are looking forward to the weekend.

If you live in the area and would like to join us, please contact us for more information. If you live afar and would like to gather with friends and others who care about the buffalo, please join us in prayer late Saturday afternoon.

Please write to dan@wildrockies.org with any questions.

-----------------------------
* BFC Volunteer Takes the Buffalo's Story Home

Stuart Tedrick, BFC coordinator and volunteer extraordinaire recently returned home to Maine for a spell. While he was there he was busy spreading the word in his hometown community about the country's last wild buffalo. Here's a news article that his former school ran:

http://www.kentshill.org/common/inc_detail.asp?newsid=171810&L1=5&L2=1

Nice work, Stu! Thanks for your hard work and dedication all in the name of the last wild buffalo!

-----------------------------
*Tonight @ 7:30: Montana PBS Documentary on Buffalo

Montanans, if you have television, consider watching this PBS documentary, "Bison of Yellowstone: Managing an American Icon." Airing at 7:30 pm Thursday, then again at 11:00 on Monday morning, the documentary aims to demonstrate that the buffalo's story is a conservation success, and that the American bison now flourishes. However, with all due respect, we beg to differ. It is true that there are approximately 500,000 buffalo in the country, yet the vast majority of these have been domesticated as livestock and polluted with cattle genes. The Yellowstone herd is the only continuously wild and genetically pure herd left in the country, and their nubers have been diminished from 60 million to a mere 4,200. If they leave Yellowstone and enter Montana, they are systematically hazed, captured, quarantined and slaughtered by state and federal agencies. They are treated by Montana as an animal "in need of disease control" and are not allowed to migrate, as is the buffalo's nature. They are not respected as wildlife, even though they are a native wildlife species and an integral part of the country's grassland ecosystems. The last wild buffalo are radio-collared, tagged, shaved, and striped with black dye, vaccinated with an ineffective livestock vaccine, and females are being fitted with invasive vaginal transmitters. They are repeatedly run off of their native habitat, and prevented from their instinctual migration. Their story can hardly be considered a conservation success. We have a long way to go. Please consider watching the program, and based on the information given and what you know, write to PBS and thank them for running a story about buffalo. If it's not covered, let them know the truth about what is happening to the country's last wild buffalo and urge them to do a story that tells it from the buffalo's perspective.

For more information on the program, visit http://www.montanapbs.org/Terra/episode102/ .
To contact PBS, call or email them at (800) 426-8243 or feedback@montanapbs.org.

P.S. We don't have TV here. If you can record it, would you send us a copy? Thanks!

-----------------------------
* Last Words

Why the Buffalo are Important

The buffalo are important to me because at one point they gave their lives to the people. The people loved the buffalo and the buffalo loved the people. The people used every part of the buffalo; hides for tipis, hooves for glue, bladder for water skins, food from its body, tools from its bones, cups from the horns, rope from its hair, even sleds from its ribs. The people needed the buffalo and the buffalo needed the people. Now, 200 years later, the buffalo are being killed off by the hundreds by the thousands. Right now the buffalo are important to me because they're gentle creatures and they wouldn't hurt a fly. Unless of course they had to protect themselves. They're beautiful creatures. All they ask for is their freedom. What else would you ask for if you were being hazed, harassed, penned up in cages, being poked and prodded and shot?

Think about that.

I want to see the buffalo roam free. I want to see the babies play peacefully in the sage. And I want to see mother buffalo being able to calve on their traditional calving grounds.

By Japhy Ryder Sanchez
Age 8 (okay, he's almost 9)

------------------------------

Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

BFC is the only group working in the field every day
to defend the last wild herd of buffalo in America.

Stay informed! Get our weekly email Updates from the Field:
Send your email address to Stop-the-Slaughter-on@vortex.wildrockies.org

Speak Out! Contact politicians and involved agencies today!
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/politicians.html

Write a Letter to the Editor of key newspapers!
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/lte.html

Help the buffalo by recycling your used printer cartridges! It's free and easy.
Visit http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/support/recycleprint.html.

WEEKLY WATCH 123

from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor

Yet again, inspiring news comes from India, this time in the form of a public interest lawsuit to stop the release of GMOs (ASIA).

We have an update on the catalogue of failure, death and illness that is MEDICAL BIOTECH. And a revealing report from America that completely squashes the old biotech claim that growing pharma drugs in open fields of food crops is cheaper than producing them in the traditional way, in contained conditions (THE AMERICAS).

Claire claire@gmwatch.org
http://www.gmwatch.org / http://www.lobbywatch.org


CONTENTS
LOBBYWATCH

ASIA
THE AMERICAS
EUROPE
MEDICAL BIOTECH
QUOTE OF THE WEEK


LOBBYWATCH

+ GM CROP USE "LIMITED" IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES - UN REPORT
In contrast with the usual industry hype, the use of GM crops by developing nations is very problematic and has been limited, says a recent UN report. The US accounted for a hefty 59 percent of of GM agriculture in 2004. Only 16 other countries grew GM crops, led by Argentina (20 percent of the total area), Canada and Brazil (6 percent each), China (5 percent), Paraguay (2 percent), and India and South Africa (a mere 1 percent each), according to the report.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5227

+ DISPELLING MYTHS?
In 2003, the American Soybean Association (ASA) published "Correcting the Myths" to counter the "misunderstandings, half-truths and sometimes blatant falsehoods" spread by the critics of "ag biotech".

Two years later, according to ASA's Technical Issues Director, Kimball Nill, "we realise our document needs to be updated - because the facts just got better." The result is a new ASA report, "Dispelling the myths".

According to Nill, "We wanted to add the rational, independent farmers' voice to the world's biotech debate."

Independent? Prior to joining the ASA, Nill served "in several positions supporting Monsanto Company's venture capital and biotechnology R&D efforts". His current employer, ASA, has also enjoyed a close relationship with Monsanto, receiving a significant part of its multi-million dollar budget from the likes of Monsanto, Pioneer Hi-Bred, BASF, and others.

Nill also works for the Agriculture Commodity Coalition which is funded by the biotech-industry backed Council for Biotech Information (CBI) to run a coordinated pro-GM public information campaign under the slogan "Farmers for the benefits of Biotechnology".

Part of Nill's ASA role is to "proactively" deal with "threats & opportunities" arising from "emerging international technology related issues that could impact U.S. soybean exports".

Being backed by the biotechs to protect American farm exports gives a whole new meaning to adding the "independent farmers' voice to the world's biotech debate"!
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5231

Meanwhile the American Corn Growers Association is reporting how biotech arrogance is losing U.S. farmers important exports. (see THE AMERICAS)

+ BLAIR APPOINTS BIOTECH LOBBYIST TO GOVT
British prime minister Tony Blair has just placed in the Ministry of Defence the man who has been tipped to be Lord Sainsbury's successor as science minister - Lord Drayson, the former head of the BioIndustry Association - motto: 'Promoting UK Biotechnology'. Like Sainsbury, Drayson is a major donor to the Labour Party and has been given a peerage by Blair in highly controversial circumstances.

Drayson made a substantial donation to Labour while the Ministry of Defence was deciding who should be awarded a smallpox vaccine contract. Drayson gave a further donation of half a million pounds to Labour just six weeks after the PM made him Lord Drayson. The Blair government awarded Drayson's company the GBP32million smallpox vaccine contract without any competition.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5220

The Guardian comments on the Drayson appointment: "... one's eye is caught by the appointment of Lord Smallpox, aka Paul Drayson, whose enoblement last year was swiftly followed by a cheque to party funds of half a million pounds. The noble lord is now a minister at the Ministry of Defence. It may be unkind to Lord Drayson to suggest that he effectively purchased a seat in parliament, but if the same thing happened in an African kleptocracy we might find it altogether less amusing."
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5224

+ GM PHARM FIRM CLAIMS GREENPEACE SUPPORT
Eric Murphy, chief scientist with Agragen, a North-Dakota based company that wants to genetically engineer flax, has been claiming that Greenpeace favours GM plant-made pharmaceutical production of a form of omega-3 fatty acid. It's not the first time that desperate GM companies have made spurious claims about Greenpeace support. False stories have been circulated by the biotech lobby that Greenpeace dropped its opposition to GM crops in the case of Golden Rice. Murphy also claims that the European public is becoming more relaxed about pharma plant production!
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5215

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASIA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ IMPORTANT LEGAL CHALLENGE LAUNCHED IN INDIA
A new legal challenge to the release of GMOs was launched in India on 12 May with a press conference attended by three TV channels and other media organisations. The challenge calls for a moratorium on the release of all GMOs into the Indian environment and for biosafety testing.

The legal action looks set to throw up some extremely interesting material and issues that are as important to the rest of the world as they are to India.

EXCERPT from the press release:
Dr Arpad Pusztai... in a prepared statement to the Supreme Court says: "No comprehensive health and environmental risk assessment has been carried out with Bt cotton and even less published in peer-reviewed science journals. With a potentially toxic crop [which goes into the food chain via animal feed] whose anti-nutrients, (toxins such as gossypol, cyclopropenoid fatty acids or the potent carcinogenic aflatoxins, are well-known to accumulate in the subcutaneous fatty tissues of consumers... In the absence of conclusive evidence for the lack of toxicity, responsible GM regulatory authorities must prevent the cultivation, commercialisation and food use of GM cotton and its products".
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5230

+ SEIZE ILLEGAL GM COTTON SEEDS - NGOs
Farmers' organisations and NGOs have urged India's regulatory body to direct state governments to seize stocks of illegal and unapproved varieties of Bt cotton seeds before the sowing season.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5217

+ WHY SEEDS BILL IS DISASTER FOR INDIA'S FARMERS
Critics say that India's proposed Seeds Bill will destroy farmers' livelihoods. "It is a Bill drafted under pressure from seed manufacturing MNCs like Monsanto. It has the potential to spell doom for Indian agriculture. Most of the seed varieties used in Indian agriculture today are farmer-produced. If farmers are not allowed to save and sell their own seeds, there can't be any agriculture here. The only aim of this Bill is to force the farmer to buy seeds from the market," says Vandana Shiva of Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5214

+ URGENT RETHINK NEEDED OVER GOLDEN RICE
Dr Md Shahjahan Ali, Professor in the Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Bangladesh Agricultural University, has warned that the experimental cultivation of golden rice in Bangldesh "may cause deformity of other varieties of rice. It is a matter of great concern to us that if this variety starts polluting the environment it would be very difficult to take remedial measures".
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5214

+ INDIA'S NATIONAL BIOTECH DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY NEEDS RADICAL OVERHAUL
In a powerful critique, Dr Suman Sahai says the draft report lays out a biotech policy tfor India that "will be more lax and negligent than almost any other in the world. This is even more frightening when one thinks that this is being proposed in a country where agriculture and food are sensitive issues, where small farmers are vulnerable and where the agricultural research system and the regulatory systems have large question marks hanging over their performance."
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5214

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE AMERICAS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ HEALTH CANADA WHISTLEBLOWERS WIN REVIEW
Three Health Canada scientists who say they were fired for raising questions about the way that the agency approves veterinary drugs have won another round in their years-long battle in their campaign for reinstatement.

The Federal Court quietly released a decision on April 29 ordering the public service integrity office (PSIO) to reconsider complaints from Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon, and Gerard Lambert that they, and the late Cris Bassude, had been pressured - and then sacked - for speaking out about the dangers of mad cow disease and about the use of Monsanto's GM growth hormones and antibiotics in the food supply. The PSIO had decided in 2003 that the allegations submitted by the applicants were unfounded.

The PSIO has no idea when the review will take place. "They are trying to starve us out," one of the fired scientists, Shiv Chopra, said. "But if that's what they think, they are wrong." Chopra, who is now 70, has no income and is trying to sell his house. "What are they going to do? They've fired me once, they can't fire me again." Chopra is using his time to finish a book he's calling Corrupt to the Core - Memoirs of a Whistleblower, which he expects to finish this summer.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5213

+ U.S. DERAILS GM LABELLING
The international Codex Committee on Food Labelling on 11 May deferred a decision on the mandatory labelling of GM food after the US and four other countries tried to derail global support for an international standard for labelling of GMOs from European, African and Asian countries.

Forty countries have mandatory labelling of GM and this accounts for one third of the world's population. Despite this, a handful of countries tried to terminate discussions on the GM labelling guidelines at Codex, namely the US, Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Philippines.

In two cases - Australia and Thailand, governments of countries that already have labelling sought to help the US block labelling spreading!http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5228
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5232

Report by US Public Interest Research Group on the US's role in stalling the 12-year-old effort to achieve labelling:
http://pirg.org/ge/GE.asp?id2=7253&id3=ge&

+ BIOTECH ARROGANCE IS LOSING U.S. EXPORTS - AMERICAN CORN GROWERS
The American Corn Growers Foundation (ACGF) and the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) are warning US corn farmers that key US corn gluten exports are being lost due to unapproved GMO varieties that are unacceptable in various markets.

"Blundering biotech companies and their arrogance toward world buyers and consumers cost the US the valuable, cash paying European Union (EU-25) corn market since 1996, and caused substantial corn export reductions to Japan. Now, adding insult to economic injury, some biotech companies and their carelessness is putting the EU-25 import market for US corn gluten feed and meal in serious jeopardy, with the EU-25 now testing every cargo," says Dan McGuire, CEO of ACGF.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5222

+ VENTRIA'S GM PHARMING NO CHEAPER THAN CONTAINED PRODUCTION
The lure of GM pharma plants is supposed to be that you can manufacture expensive pharmaceuticals more cheaply in plants. But it now seems that the human proteins which the California based bio-pharma firm, Ventria Bioscience, is wanting to grow in rice, can be produced just as cheaply in contained conditions!

Indeed, according to an article at
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5218
another firm is already doing just that. "Our actual costs," says Rick Barsky, chief executive officer of Agennix Inc, "are comparable to [Ventria's] best guess of their projected costs."

+ MOMMY, IS AUNT SALLY IN THE RICE PUFFS?
A very readable article with the above title on the craziness of Ventria Bioscience's plan to put human DNA into rice is at
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5221

EXCERPTS:
Pharmaceutical rice could be spread by cross-pollination, floods, rice-eating birds, rice grains in farm equipment, or human error in distribution. Risks from pharmed rice include allergic reactions, aggravation of bacterial infections, and autoimmune disorders.

Farmers might be less nervous if Ventria had liability insurance. But instead of purchasing enough insurance, Ventria has its public relations artists spin the yarn that dangers are too little to worry about. "It can't happen here" is the essence of its message. But it has happened. The StarLink corn incident of 2000 led to a $1 billion recall...

... When Grandpa is spliced into a pollinating plant, he just keeps blowin' in the wind forever. His DNA becomes part of the diet of all who eat the plant. Unlike exploding gas tanks, Grandpa's genes can't be recalled.

+ BIOLOGY PROF RESIGNED OVER GOVT USE OF GM RESEARCH
Dr Martha Crouch, a former biology professor at the University of Indiana, ran a lab dedicated to plant research but decided to end her career when she found that biotech companies were co-opting her research for profit. See interview at:
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5209

EXCERPT:
Dr Crouch: This was 15 years ago, about 1990, and it was at the very beginning of genetic engineering in agriculture... I could see the writing on the wall, from the consulting that I was doing that genetic engineering was going to promote industrial agriculture. And I feel industrial agriculture is one of the major reasons that the environment is in the sad shape it is today. So, I couldn't, in good conscience, continue that kind of research.

...I was doing work on canola... We didn't have any particular application in mind, but we were doing some consulting with Unilever in Great Britain, and they were using oil palm plantations around the world to make edible oil. They used some of our research to make the trees more genetically uniform so that they could grow larger plantations, and in the process, they cut down a lot of rain forests, kicked Indians off their land, polluted the rivers with the waste products of the processing of the oil. I was horrified by that because my own allegiance is with the small farmers and with the rain forests, and the idea that the kind of knowledge we were generating about how genes work was primarily being used to promote that kind of destruction, really sent me back to the basics of why research is funded... I shut down my lab.

+ ALASKA: BILL REQUIRES LABELLING OF GM FISH
In an important setback for the biotech industry, GM fish will need to be labelled as such when sold in Alaska. The Alaska House approved the measure unanimously.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5223

+ NEW CAMPAIGN: STOP FEEDING KIDS GMOs!
The Sierra Club has announced the release of its new campaign to Stop Feeding Kids GMOs! The campaign aims to get GMOs out of school meals and replace them with safe food. The Club is offering school meal campaigners a packet of materials, which includes the video, Hidden Dangers in Kids' Meals, and a CD titled, You're Eating WHAT? produced by Jeffrey Smith, director of the Institute for Responsible Technology.
www.sierraclub.org/biotech
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5223

+ DEMAND FOR ORGANICS SOARING
In the US, the market for organic foods has soared from $3.57 billion in 1997 to $10.38 billion in 2003, according to Organic Trade Association.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5223

+ U.S. GOVT MUST COME CLEAN ON SECRET DEALINGS WITH SYNGENTA
Environmental and food safety groups have demanded in a letter to the heads of three US regulatory agencies that the government remove unapproved GM corn from the nation's food and seed supply pending a thorough risk assessment. The groups also called for the public release of details surrounding the government's secret dealings with the crop's developer, Sygnenta.

Several hundred tons of the unapproved Bt10 corn, enough to plant 37,000 acres, were mistakenly sold to US farmers under the name of an approved variety from 2001 to 2004. The resultant harvest of an estimated 165,000 tons have been sold as food or feed in the US and abroad.

Syngenta first informed the US government of the mix-up in December 2004, but federal regulatory officials did not inform the US public that they were eating the untested corn until the story leaked four months later. US trading partners were also kept in the dark about possible importation of the corn.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5229

+ "FATHER OF GENE THERAPY" STILL FACING SEX ABUSE CHARGES
A judge has dismissed two of six sex abuse charges against William French Anderson, because they fell outside the six-year statute of limitations. Anderson still faces one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under age 14 and three counts of committing a lewd act upon a child.

Considered the "father of gene therapy," Anderson has been placed on administrative leave as director of the Gene Therapies Laboratories at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine. He was Time magazine's runner-up for man of the year in 1995.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5219

Quote from French Anderson on gene therapy: "...we realised that, that we just didn't know enough about what was going on, that the body had reactions, had defences that we didn't really understand, and it really required going back and really rethinking everything we were doing."
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5226

Biotech and porn:
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=155
http://ngin.tripod.com/071101b.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
EUROPE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ "SECRET" DEALS SPLIT BEE ASSOCIATION
A bitter dispute is tearing the British beekeeping world in two. There has been dark talk of secret deals with big business, pickets of meetings, open rebellions by infuriated bee- keepers and now a plot to form a breakaway association. The controversy centres on a series of deals agreed behind closed doors between the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA), and four of the world's largest agro-chemicals companies.

To the dismay of many beekeepers, the BBKA has agreed to sponsor several pesticides that can be lethal to bees. Firms such as Syngenta, FMC, Bayer and BASF now boast they are endorsed as "bee friendly" by the BBKA. In return, the association has earned tens of thousands of pounds, funding a Syngenta-sponsored beekeeping book for schools, a beekeeping display, and roof repairs to the BBKA's Warwickshire headquarters.

According to the rebels, these are deals with the devil. Furious at the association's decision to make them without consulting its members, they allege these pesticides are to blame for wiping out hives. The Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), the official government agency, recorded 372 suspicious poisonings of honey bees, some involving entire hives of thousands, between 1994 and 2003, with pesticides to blame in more than 120 cases.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5212

For more on the privileged role played in the BBKA by scientists from institutions (like Rothamsted Research) with strong links to agrochem companies:
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=188

For how agrochem company Zeneca (now part of Syngenta) established links with the Medical Toxicology Unit, London which deals with cases of human pesticide poisoning:
http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/pn50/pn50p3.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEDICAL BIOTECH
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ GRIM TALLY OF GENE THERAPY
An article in The Scientist says investors are still interested in gene therapy, in spite of its appalling record.

EXCERPT:
The tally is grim: three high-profile cancer cases, including one death, in French boys who underwent pioneering gene therapy for X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID). Yet Edward Lanphier is upbeat about the future of gene therapy.

"It's a very, very broad field," says Lanphier, CEO of Sangamo BioSciences, a Richmond, Calif., biotechnology company focused on gene regulation. "It's sort of like saying there's been an awful auto accident, is there a future for the transportation industry? Is there a future for gene therapy? Categorically yes. Will companies pursue this from a commercial perspective? Categorically yes. And the outcomes in France in some of the SCID trials, as tragic as they are, are extremely informative."

PROF JOE CUMMINS COMMENTS:
Comparing gene therapy to the transportation industry is very nutty. In spite of the billions poured into the industry it has never produced anything that works! Biotech is rather like the invention of a square wheel, it really does not work!

There seems to be a sickening philosophy among the gene therapy researchers that the death of a few children and injury of others is a small price to pay for large grants and high salaries among the elite researchers.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5226

+ DEATHS, ILLNESS, UNEXPLAINED SIDE-EFFECTS: GM INSULIN
An excellent article from the Daily Mail (2002) on the disaster that is GM insulin is at
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5225

EXCERPTS:
Tony Blair, for one, has hailed human insulin as a shining example of the benefits of GM technology.

Since its introduction 20 years ago this summer, genetically engineered insulin has been linked not only to an increasing number of unexplained deaths but to a range of side-effects that some patients say have destroyed their lives. These range from unexpected hypos to massive weight gain, violent mood swings, memory loss, joint pains, mental confusion and crippling exhaustion.

SEE ALSO QUOTE OF THE WEEK BELOW.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It ticks you off. You begin to have serious doubts. You say to yourself, 'Maybe I should chuck this and go buy a gas station.'"
- Former Seattle medical biotech researcher Bob Schroff, on wasting 12 years of his life working on one failed GM drug after another
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5216

Störung des natürlichen Gleichgewichts des Universums

Eine russische Astrologin klagt gegen das Nasa-Projekt "Deep Impact", bei dem ein Projektil einen Krater auf den Kometen Tempel 1 schlagen soll.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20080/1.html

Kein Zweck heiligt die Mittel: Amnesty betont ausdrückliches Folterverbot auch in Zeiten von Krieg und Notstand

12.05.05

"Nein zur Folter. Ja zum Rechtsstaat." Unter diesem Titel veröffentlicht amnesty international (ai) am Donnerstag einen Aufruf, den 182 Persönlichkeiten und Organisationen des öffentlichen Lebens unterzeichnet haben. Die Menschenrechtsorganisation versucht damit nach eigenen Angaben zu verhindern, dass in Rechtsstaaten wie Deutschland das absolute Folterverbot aufgeweicht wird. Weite Teile der Bevölkerung wie auch hochrangige Politiker und Juristen wollten Folter in für sie "begründeten Einzelfällen" zulassen, heißt es in dem Aufruf.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11048


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Nein+zur+Folter%2C+Ja+zum+Rechtsstaat

"Tiefpunkt an politischer Ehrlichkeit und Transparenz": EU-Verfassung nur von "Repräsentanten" ratifiziert

12.05.05

Die Debatte um die EU-Verfassung war laut Bundesausschuss Friedensratschlag "ein Tiefpunkt an politischer Ehrlichkeit und Transparenz". Dieses Fazit zog ein Sprecher der Friedensgesellschaft im Anschluss an die Abstimmung im Bundestag, die ein überwältigendes Ergebnis für die Ratifizierung des Verfassungstextes erbrachte. In der Bundestagsdebatte hätten die kritischen Einwände von globalisierungskritischer Seite oder von Seiten der Friedensbewegung so gut wie keine Rolle gespielt. Es sei "beschämend für die höchste demokratische Instanz der Bundesrepublik, wenn die EU-Verfassung nur in ihren Schönwetterpassagen" zitiert werde, so die Friedensgesellschaft.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11049

Corporations and governments

05/11/05

The idea that big corporations are untamed beasts that wreak havoc upon civilized society is immensely popular throughout the academy everywhere in the world, including the United States of America. Most professors in the humanities and social sciences, a great many writers, journalists, artist, and entertainers -- centered mainly in New York City and Hollywood -- cling firmly to their view that corporations are a threat to the well being of nearly everyone in society and that those who do not share this belief are deluded, period. It is not only Ralph Nader who embraces this idea and the only reason Nader hasn’t reached national political office is that he is viewed as a naïve idealist who wants to take on forces that must be appeased, not fought...

http://www.freemarketnews.com/pview/5834/1536/html/index.php

from Free Market News Network, by Tibor R. Machan


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

National Insecurity Cards

05/11/05

The potential privacy encroachments of an ID card system are far from minor. And the interruptions and delays caused by incessant ID checks could easily proliferate into a persistent traffic jam in office lobbies and airports and hospital waiting rooms and shopping malls. But my primary objection isn't the totalitarian potential of national IDs, nor the likelihood that they'll create a whole immense new class of social and economic dislocations. Nor is it the opportunities they will create for colossal boondoggles by government contractors. My objection to the national ID card, at least for the purposes of this essay, is much simpler. It won't work. It won't make us more secure. In fact, everything I've learned about security over the last 20 years tells me that once it is put in place, a national ID card program will actually make us less secure...

http://www.alternet.org/rights/21977/

from AlterNet, by Bruce Schneier


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

An army of robots that reproduce

05/12/05

It has been the dream -- and nightmare -- of science fiction writers for decades. Now a team of engineers has conjured up a robot that can reproduce itself. The robot can self-replicate in much the same way that some living organisms are able to reproduce by cloning themselves. Although the machine in question serves no useful purpose other than to make copies of itself, scientists believe it has set a precedent for a future in which robots will proliferate on their own. In the long term, the scientists envisage a day when armies of self-replicating robots will be able mend themselves when broken, expand their population, explore space and even establish self-sustaining colonies on other planets...

http://tinyurl.com/cjteu

from Independent [UK]


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Save Our Waters from Sewage

http://action.lcv.org/campaign/sewage01/s57wi7415jwbtt


Informant: Lori R. Price

An Open Letter to the American People

by Elouise Cobell
http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1372&issue_id=112


Long Standing Indian Trust Abuses by Interior

Over the past 100 years, according to accounts from whistle blowers, money belonging to individual Indians and tribes was pilfered, skimmed, redirected, or thrown in with general government funds by the U.S. Department of the Interior or its appointed representatives. Yet, the Interior Department has not identified or repaid any known thefts and losses of trust resources, proceeds, or royalties. After struggling for decades to receive a hearing, American Indian families went to federal court to plead their case.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a class-action suit in favor of half a million Native Americans whose funds have been handled ineptly and unethically. The court stated, "The underlying lawsuit is both an Indian case and a trust case in which the trustees have egregiously breached their fiduciary duties." Yet, the U.S. government has continued to appeal these court rulings and tried to avoid responsibility. Now the Congress may intervene to help address the issue.

Native people know this is an historic moment when finally the federal government may be obliged to correct a hard-hearted and flawed system and pay redress for a century of negligence. They are keenly aware that this is a one-time opportunity to receive financial justice and to reform a totally broken trust management system. They also know Congress and the White House could support or undercut this break-through.

Background

What is all of this about? Parade magazine (September 9, 2001) put it this way, "When the U.S. government took control of Native Americans’ property rights in 1887, the Indians were assured they would receive the income from their land. They never did–and now they’re fighting for it." Indians have received checks from the Bureau of Indian Affairs but they are irregular and smaller than they should be in far too many instances. A Los Angeles Times Magazine (July 7, 2002) story gives the example of Josephine Wild Gun who receives less than $1,000 a year even though 7,000 acres of family land were leased out for grazing, oil, minerals and timber.

The federal government has collected $13 billion in land-use money that belongs to Indian land owners but cannot show how much money it paid out. It threw out, lost, or never kept records. Withholding money from Indian families--or "losing" their money-- is part of a shameful pattern.

Why should we care?

Although successive administrations have denied the facts affirmed by the courts, the federal government owes a huge amount of money to Native Americans-- money that was in earmarked trust funds, money that was theirs. This is not only wrong but is a troubling precedent that should gravely concern the public.


All trust funds, including Social Security, depend on a system of honesty, integrity, and accountability. This is essential to maintaining the public trust. In the private sector, trustees are jailed, fined, and otherwise punished for taking or not returning other people’s money. This is true for bankers, lawyers, accountants, and individuals who manage accounts for the disabled or elderly. The Bush administration stresses that good government involves transparency, effectiveness, and accountability in government. The government must practice what it preaches.

The native plaintiffs in this court case (Cobell v. Norton) are quite close to getting redress in the court, but will Congress do the right thing? . The plaintiffs need our support. With our advocacy help, American Indian families can get back their own money, money that could bring thousands of families out of stark poverty. You can help.

1. Ask your senators and representatives to find out more about this issue. You can write them a letter on FCNL’s web site: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/

2. Sign up to receive the FCNL Native American Legislative updates by email twice a month. Go to http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=ls and check the box to sign up for the Native American Legislative Update.

3. Support FCNL’s Native American Program work: http://www.fcnl.org/support.htm

Additional Information

An Open Letter to the American People, by Eloise Cobell: http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1372&issue_id=112

Trust Fund Responsibilities Unmet: The Story of the Cobell v. Norton Case: http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1266&issue_id=112

Cobell: Native Americans Trying to Recover Funds: http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1222&issue_id=112

Stop New Nuclear Weapons! Find out how, http://www.fcnl.org/nuclear

The Next Step for Iraq: Join FCNL's Iraq Campaign, http://www.fcnl.org/iraq/index.htm

Contact Congress and the Administration: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/


Informant: Martin Greenhut

Bush's Black Hole

http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=htw7sgbab.4l8gm9n6.vuc6sgbab.tiniiyn6.80374&p=http%3A%2F%2Ftompaine.com%2Funcommonsense%2Findex.php%234875

God's Own Party

by Jim Wallis, TomPaine.com

The latest news from North Carolina is the logical, inevitable result of the road taken by the religious right and some Republicans.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050512/gods_own_party.php

Bolton's Yellowcake

by Ray McGovern, TomPaine.com

John Bolton deliberately used discredited intelligence to support the president's case for war.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050511/boltons_yellowcake.php

Two Amigos And Their Gulag Archipelago

by Lou Dubose, TomPaine.com

The sordid tale of how Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff greased the wheels to keep a for-profit American labor gulag humming.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050512/two_amigos_and_their_gulag_archipelago.php

BKA-Chef Ziercke: Kontrolle im Internet muss gestärkt werden

http://www.tecchannel.de/news/internet/20789/

Grundeinkommen statt Grundsicherung

„Viele Menschen wünschen sich, in ihrem Leben grundlegend abgesichert zu sein gegen die existenziellen sozialen Risiken und Bedrohungen. Jede und jeder stellt sich allerdings unter einer solchen Absicherung etwas ganz anderes vor. Entsprechend unterschiedlich sind die Konzepte, Begriffe, Begründungen und Argumente für das, was jeweils unter sozialer Absicherung verstanden wird. Im Folgenden stellt Anne Allex das Konzept eines garantierten, bedingungslosen und ausreichenden Grundeinkommens, das ältere Modelle zu einem Existenzgeld in sich aufnimmt, vor, grenzt es zugleich gegen real existierende »Grundsicherungen« unter Hartz IV sowie mögliche Einwände ab und diskutiert den Zusammenhang mit der Forderung nach Mindestlöhnen und Arbeitszeitverkürzung…“ Artikel von Anne Allex. Der Beitrag wurde auf der 2. Berliner DGB-Arbeitslosenkonferenz am 12. Februar d.J. gehalten und für den express überarbeitet.

http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/existenz/allex.html


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 25, Eintrag 7


Der fünfte Newsletter des Netzwerks Grundeinkommen vom April 2005 (pdf)
http://www.grundeinkommen.info/fileadmin/Text-Depot/Newsletter5.pdf


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 25, Eintrag 10

Blackmail Globalisierung: Anmerkungen zur »Rolle der Gewerkschaften in einer globalen Ökonomie«

„Das A und O einer erfolgreichen Erpressung ist, dass irgendjemand die angekündigte Bedrohung für bedrohlich und für wahr, d.h. realisierbar hält. Genau darüber streiten sich nicht nur die Geisterseher im Falle der »Globalisierung«: Während wohl kaum jemand offene Grenzen ablehnen würde, wenn es die weltbürgerlichen Freuden der Globalisierung, z.B. um’s touristische Vergnügen im Welterlebnispark geht, werden die Grenzen mitunter ganz schnell dicht gemacht, geht es um die Migration des Kapitals bzw. der von ihm abhängigen ArbeitnehmerInnen. Denn an der Frage, wie real die Drohungen mit einer Produktionsverlagerung ins Ausland oder einer Substitution inländischer Arbeitskräfte durch billigere Arbeitskräfte aus dem Ausland im Rahmen globalisierter Konkurrenz sind, hängt vieles und hängen viele - nicht zuletzt die materiellen Grundlagen für die Teilhabe an den Versprechungen offener Märkte und Grenzen….“ Artikel von Werner Sauerborn

http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/wipo/glob/sauerborn.html


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 25, Eintrag 7

Prekarisierung: Kein Ort – Nirgends? Viele Orte – überall?

Eine Veranstaltung der Workers Center-Gruppe Rhein-Main

„Ein großes Wort, doch mit oft entweder diffuser oder vorschnell vereinheitlichender Bedeutung: Prekarisierung. Noch schwerer wird es entsprechend, wenn es um Antworten auf den so genannten Prekarisierungsprozess geht. Ein Blick über die Grenzen kann hier erhellend sein: Er zeigt, dass MigrantInnen und prekär Beschäftigte schon seit den 80er Jahren angefangen haben, eigenständige Strategien zu entwickeln, wo traditionelle Formen gewerkschaftlicher Interessenvertretungspolitik an ihre Grenzen stoßen oder gar nicht erst greifen - weil wechselseitige Vorbehalte bestehen, weil Kapazitäten oder Interessen fehlen oder weil »der Betrieb« nicht mehr als sozialer Ort und Anlass für die Bildung von Gemeinsamkeiten funktioniert und »Orte der Begegnung« fehlen. Workers Center sind ein solcher Versuch, lokale Treffpunkte außerhalb des Betriebs zu bilden. Inwieweit dies ein fruchtbarer Ansatzpunkt unter hiesigen Bedingungen sein könnte, damit beschäftigte sich eine Veranstaltung der Workers Center-Gruppe Rhein-Main, über die Nadja Rakowitz berichtet…“

http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/prekaer/wcgrm.html


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 25, Eintrag 7

Warum ich gegen Mobilfunk bin (so, wie er zur Zeit ist)

http://mitglied.lycos.de/newsomega/news/warum_ich_gegen_mobilfunk_bin.doc

Quellen:
http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/elektrosmog-liste/message/5289
http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/elektrosmog-liste/message/5286


Nachrichten von Eckardt Giese

Es geht um Ihre Gesundheit: Handy-Nutzung und Funkantennen sind gefährlich

Es geht um Ihre Gesundheit: Bitte Lesen !!

KEIN SCHERZ: Handy-Nutzung und Funkantennen sind gefährlich!

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=26535&item=7155414196&rd=1
http://mitglied.lycos.de/newsomega/news/handyzertruemmerung_verkaufsteam.htm

National ID Card Draws Fire

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,67490,00.html


Informant: NHNE

Egypt Conducting Torture for US

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051105Y.shtml

States May Disobey New Drivers License Rules

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051105M.shtml

Political Bluster and the Filibuster

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051105F.shtml

Bipartisan Opposition to Patriot Act Grows

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051105B.shtml

NO A CHANCE to filibuster Judicial nominations

There is NOT A CHANCE to filibuster Judicial nominations...learn why.

I was fortunate to be convalescing a bout of food poisoning that kept me home from work and which gave me a rare chance to listen to C-Span, live, this morning.

Professor Smith below, explains the procedural Senate rule that will allow the Republicans to circumvent any attempts by Democrats to filibuster Federal or Supreme court nominations.

I know it and Democrats know it. All we'll be seeing is an elaborate production with judicial nominations sparring.

Below is a link to the video clip of this presentation on C-Span. The segment I point to starts at about the 22 1/2 min mark. In case you want a quicker reference to the 2 minute segment, below is an audio clip excerpt I prepared:

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=175879&f=NIAWIQ&ps=13&p=1 (2 minutes)


Steven Smith, Co-Author of "Politics or Principle? Filibustering in the U.S. Senate" and Political Science Professor at Washington University in Stl Louis, discusses the history of U.S. Senate filibusters.

5/11/2005: WASHINGTON, DC: 45 min.

Or, if the link does not work, go to:
http://www.c-span.org/videoarchives.asp?CatCodePairs=,&ArchiveDays=100


Informant: Jack Topel

Pentagon Is Asking Congress to Loosen Environmental Laws

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/051105EB.shtml

"STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND" DAY: No Gas on May 19th

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/05/288695.shtml

IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN THE UNITED STATES DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF GASOLINE FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.

AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OF OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL COMPANIES.

THEREFORE MAY 19TH HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND" DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF GASOLINE THAT DAY.

THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT.

WAITING ON THIS ADMIN STRATION TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND CONTROL IN PRICES THAT THE ARAB NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO?

REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF GASOLINE GOING UP BUT AT THE SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH EFFECTS PRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING MATERIALS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END? WE DO!

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.

SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE MAY 19TH A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH".


Informant: arrarita7

John Bolton's Nuclear Blunder?

In the neo-con's quest for ever more power, they place our Nation in danger. "Since last fall John Bolton, President George Bush’s embattled nominee to be America’s ambassador to the United Nations, has aggressively lobbied for a senior job in the second Bush administration. During that time, Bolton did almost no diplomatic groundwork for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference, these officials say." Not mentioned in the article below, Bolton tried unsuccessfully to use dubious claims about weapons of mass destruction in Cuba, and Bolton was involved in preventing the counting of citizens' votes in Florida in 2000.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3210

Iraqi police vent anger at US after car bombings

Iraqi police hurled insults at US soldiers after two suicide car bomb blasts in Baghdad killed at least seven people and left 19 wounded, including policemen. "It's all because you're here," a policeman shouted in Arabic at a group of US soldiers after the latest in a bloody wave of attacks that have rocked Baghdad this month.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3207

Whale activists in danger - please help

We urgently need your help to protect our activists in Korea and stop a whale meat factory from being built.

Click here to take action now!
http://prefs.greenpeace.org/mail-links/clicks/6937.1584613.5409

As many of you know, we recently uncovered plans by the city of Ulsan in South Korea to build a factory for butchering whales. We immediately set up a camp near the site to expose the plan and oppose it with our presence: we called it our Whale Embassy.

The city council is highly embarrassed by our presence, and has tried every way they can to shut us down and shut us up. Yesterday they gave us an official eviction notice with a DEADLINE OF THIS MONDAY, MAY 16TH to take down our geodesic dome tent, remove our educational exhibits about whales, and get out of the way.

We've said we'll be happy to leave -- just as soon as the city cancels the plans for the whale factory.

Click here to take action now!
http://prefs.greenpeace.org/mail-links/clicks/6938.1584613.5409

Whale campaigner Jim Wickens says: "It is quite clear that they want to stifle any criticism of their plans to build the factory... We have told them that any attempts to evict us forcibly will reflect very badly on their international image."

There have already been several attempts at intimidation, official and unofficial. According to Wickens: "Last night at four in the morning four local fishermen turned up looking for trouble, luckily there were others awake to come and help. We have been tipped off that in Korea in sensitive political protests, the authorities sometimes hire thugs to do the dirty work. There is a distinct possibility that they may do this in the form of fake fishermen coming to beat us up, or even inflaming local fishermen to actually do it for them."

The factory Jim and his fellow activists are opposing will be used to process whales which have been "accidentally" killed by entanglement in fishing nets. In reality, there's nothing accidental about these killings. Fishing fleets around the world report annually how many whales they kill by accidentally nettings, and this usually amounts to one or two whales for an entire nation's fleet. In Korea, which allows the sale of meat from accidental kills and where a whale carcass can be worth $100,000, the annual kill rate can be up to a 100 times that.

The picture at left is of an "accidentally" caught juvenile minke whale, which we witnessed butchered and sold for $30,000.

The man with the power to protect our activists AND stop the whale factory is the town's mayor, Mr. Park Maeng-woo. Unfortunately, the mayor is being pressured by fisherman and local businessmen, like the deputy vice president of Hyundai corporation, who strongly support building the factory. If Mr. Park Maeng-woo is to make a balanced decision, he needs all the facts. He needs to know that the world is watching, and that people who don't want to see whales killed for commerce are paying attention to what he does about our activists and the factory.

Please, time is very short: send a message right now to Mr. Park Maeng-woo and let him know we want our activists protected and we want the whale factory stopped.

Click here to take action now!
http://prefs.greenpeace.org/mail-links/clicks/6939.1584613.5409

Horror of USA's Depleted Uranium in Iraq Threatens World

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051105K.shtml


Informant: JHW369

Journalist urges Americans to search for truth, freedom

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=83552;show_parent=1

Iraqi Children Paying High Price for Freedom: Thousands are Dying, Thousands are Dead

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=83550;show_parent=1

Judge who exonerated Cheney is on the payroll of Exxon

CLG Exclusive --Research, commentary by Mary Titus, CLG Contributing Writer. Additional input, Lori Price, CLG Gen. Mgr.

This comes on the heels of the headlines Tuesday about an appeals court dismissing the Cheney energy task force case.

See the article at Citizens for Legitimate Government:
http://tinyurl.com/ccn4l


© Virginia Metze

Powell Aide Says Armitage, Bolton Clashed

Apparent Supporter of U.N. Nominee Said to Have Questioned HisDiplomatic Tone

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 10, 2005; Page A02

Former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage, who last week appeared to endorse John R. Bolton's nomination as U.N. ambassador, had frequent battles with Bolton over his diplomatic tone, a top aide to former secretary of state Colin L. Powell said in an interview released yesterday by Senate investigators. [...] Read the rest at the Washington Post: http://tinyurl.com/8e8oz


© Virginia Metze

Democrats open fire, citing numerous GOP senators who have blocked nominees

Some senators filibustered more than 10

Article originally published May 9, 2005.

RAW STORY

One thing is for certain: On the filibuster, Democrats aren't taking it lying down.

As Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) works to negotiate with Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Democrats circulated a document Monday detailing each of the Republican senators who had ever filibustered or blocked a nominee. [...] Read the rest at: http://tinyurl.com/b97pk


© Virginia Metze

Sen. Harry Reid Reveals Sharp Tongue

by LAURIE KELLMAN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 10, 2005; 1:55 AM

WASHINGTON -- In an institution that prides itself as a last bastion of civility, the Senate's new Democratic leader has on occasion turned to playground taunts and name-calling in his four-month tenure.

After accusing President Bush of lying about his role in a fight over judicial filibusters, Sen. Harry Reid last week called the president a "loser." And Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan? He's a "political hack," according to the formerly soft-spoken Nevada Democrat. [...] Read the rest at: http://tinyurl.com/dwp7r


© Virginia Metze

Stranger Than Fiction

by BOB HERBERT
Op-Ed Columnist
The New York Times
Published: May 9, 2005ay 9, 2005

When Bob Woodward asked President Bush if he had consulted with his father about the decision to go to war in Iraq, the president famously replied, "There is a higher father that I appeal to."

It might have been better if Mr. Bush had stayed in closer touch with his earthly father. From the very beginning the war in Iraq has been an exercise in extreme madness, an absurd venture that would have been rich in comic possibilities except for the fact that many thousands of men, women and children have died, and tens of thousands have been crippled, burned or otherwise maimed.

The world now knows that the weapons of mass destruction were a convenient fiction. Less well known is that bumbling administration officials eagerly embraced the ravings of a foreign intelligence source known, believe it or not, as "Curveball." He helped promote the fantasy that Iraq had mobile laboratories for the manufacture of biological weapons. [...] Read the rest at the New York Times: http://tinyurl.com/a6gog Crusaders trying to make the country realize the dangers of our using depleted uranium in weapons were overjoyed to see this article in the Lone Star Iconoclast , in Bush's home town of Crawford, Texas: http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/News/19news02.htm While on the Iconoclast web site (see above) I found this article announcing that Karl Schwarz, formerly a Republican, is running for president and initiating an Independent movement in the country. http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/News/19news01.htm


© Virginia Metze

US real wages fall at fastest rate in 14 years

by Christopher Swann in Washington
Published: May 10 2005 17:59 | Last updated: May 11 2005 15:20
Financial Times ft.com

Real wages in the US are falling at their fastest rate in 14 years, according to data surveyed by the Financial Times.

Inflation rose 3.1 per cent in the year to March but salaries climbed just 2.4 per cent, according to the Employment Cost Index. In the final three months of 2004, real wages fell by 0.9 per cent.

The last time salaries fell this steeply was at the start of 1991, when real wages declined by 1.1 per cent. [...] Read the rest at the Financial Times web page: http://tinyurl.com/9hxfv


© Virginia Metze

1 June 2005: Remove George Bush Day - WORLDWIDE MOVEMENT TO REMOVE BUSH

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=83577;show_parent=1
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=83580;show_parent=1
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=83583;show_parent=1

Be part of a coordinated effort to remove Bush. Hit the media and politicians hard. Try it !

Join possibly the biggest rally against Bush that the world will ever see. The aim is for all of us to speak against Bush with `ONE VERY LOUD VOICE' via millions of emails to all American media news desks and politicians on Wed 1 June 2005. I've already contacted hundreds of activist organisations across the world but also need your help NOW.

1. Email everyone you know asking them to email everyone they know (blind copy them if you like).

2. Your email tells everyone to contact media news desks and politicians on Wed 1 June 2005 requesting that Bush

(a) Face charges of war crimes,

(b) Be thoroughly investigated for conflict of interest and abuse of position with personal financial interests in Middle East pipelines and military equipment manufacturers.

3. For Wed 1 June 2005, email addresses of hundreds of American media news desks and politicians are listed at
http://MediaNewsDesks.blogspot.com or
http://www.rumormillnews.com/MEDIA_EMAIL_ADDRESSES.htm

4. Write the date on your calendar !

5. You can also sign an on-line petition to impeach George Bush at
http://www.votetoimpeach.org or
http://votenader.org/get_involved/impeach.php

You have support: In a poll of 22,000 people across 21 countries, 58% expected Bush to have a negative impact on peace and security, only 26% considered him a positive force, and dislike of Bush is translating into dislike of Americans in general.


Informant: abolishbush

-------

From: Never Surrender and JHW369
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 6:46 AM

WORLDWIDE MOVEMENT TO REMOVE BUSH

PLEASE PARTICIPATE AND RE-DISTRIBUTE

June 1, 2005 -- World's biggest protest against Bush!

Be part of a coordinated effort to remove Bush. Hit the media and politicians hard. Try it !

This will be the world's biggest protest against Bush.

All of us will speak with "ONE VERY LOUD VOICE" via millions of emails to all American media news desks and politicians on Wednesday, June 1, 2005.

I've already contacted hundreds of activist organizations across the world but need your help NOW!!!

1. Email everyone you know asking them to email everyone they know (blind copy them if you like and aim for local and overseas people).

2. Your email tells everyone to contact media and politicians on Wed 1 June 2005 requesting that Bush

(a) Face charges of war crimes,
(b) Be thoroughly investigated for conflict of interest and abuse of position with personal financial interests in Middle East pipelines and military equipment manufacturers.

3. For Wed 1 June 2005, email addresses of hundreds of American media news desks and politicians are listed at

http://MediaNewsDesks.blogspot.com or
http://www.rumormillnews.com/MEDIA_EMAIL_ADDRESSES.htm

4. Write the date on your calendar!

5. You can also sign an on-line petition to impeach George Bush at http://www.votetoimpeach.org

You have support: In a poll of 22,000 people across 21 countries, 58% expected Bush to have a negative impact on peace and security, only 26% considered him a positive force, and dislike of Bush is translating into dislike of Americans in general.

The Precautionary Principle and Regulation of Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields

http://www.terra.es/personal/kirke1/noti65/hrbc.htm

Basic Considerations

ICEMS (International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety)

Regulation and limitation of exposure to nonionizing radiation was introduced for some occupations and military applications in the 1950s, but exposure standards for the general public and broader occupational categories were not established until the 1980s. At that time distinctly different approaches to standardsetting were applied in the Western World as compared to the Soviet Union, Eastern European countries and China. Efforts of WHO to reconcile the different approaches have not been successful. While the two approaches have some similarities, still there are considerable discrepancies in procedure and resultant guideline levels of most Western countries as compared to Russia, China and Eastern European countries. Furthermore, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and regional authorities of other countries apply guideline and limit values that are based on still other procedures and considerations.

There is considerable public concern in many countries, especially about possible long-term effects of EMFs, that is at least partially due to these discrepancies and the legitimate scientific controversy surrounding them.

Basis for Limiting Exposure to EMFs

A fundamental error of reasoning can be demonstrated in numerous statements of international and national EMF standard-setting organizations and committees. Its essence is the assumption that science-based, ‘objective’ guidelines have to rely on ‘established’ evidence only. It is significant that none of these documents that abundantly make use of the term ‘established’ make any effort to define it.

Furthermore, this ‘scientific’ and ‘objective’ method is often contrasted to the falsely labeled ‘political’, ‘subjective’ and ‘ultimately arbitrary’ one that is related to the precautionary principle.

For two reasons this line of argument is faulty.

First, any effort to define how results become ‘established’ must acknowledge that the process includes an arbitrary aspect of subjective acceptance. Second, the derivation of an exposure guideline itself can never be based solely on science, i.e. on empirical data and a sound theory that has withstood serious tests to refute it. Guideline decisions are made that contain subjective elements of values or policy.

An illustrative example is the application of safety factors to adjust for variations in environmental conditions and susceptibility in the population that should be protected. These factors are rarely based on evidence and rather introduced by convention or even economical considerations and technical feasibility. In risk assessment all the evidence pertaining to the scientific issues has to be considered and nothing makes it ever ‘established’ except an ultimately subjective decision.

More- or less-standardized procedures for deriving national and international exposure guidelines for issues other than EMF have been developed in the past decades for environmental and occupational factors that are typically based on evidence from epidemiological studies, experimental investigations in animals and humans, in vitro studies and theoretical considerations about the mechanism of action.

Although weight and/or strength of evidence is thoroughly considered, a decisive element of these procedures is their precautionary approach. Because it is recognized that derivation of guidelines is conjectural and open to scientific controversy and discussion, the precautionary approach demands in case of uncertainty the evidence should be weighted to err in the direction that leads to the higher margin of safety. Examples of this procedure can be found in the Air Quality Guidelines for Europe by WHO.

Concerning EMFs, differences in exposure standards are mainly due to different answers to the following questions: What evidence should be used as the basis for the derivation? How should the broad spectrum of EMFs be subdivided? Which aspects of the multidimensional exposure situation must be considered? What are the relevant dosimetric quantities? Which safety factors should be introduced and what values should they take on?

In the face of such complexity, there is a great temptation to take the short cut for answering these questions. In fact, the procedure used by ICNIRP, IEEE, and other national and international standard-setting organizations reduces the problem to answering only the last of the questions stated above. These organizations maintain that the only evidence to start from are immediate short-term effects such as nerve excitations due to induced currents or temperature increase from absorption of...

Read the rest under: http://uh22.umwelt.univie.ac.at/icems/Pp150203.pdf


Informant: Sylvie

Torture Inc. Americas Brutal Prisons

Savaged by dogs, Electrocuted With Cattle Prods, Burned By Toxic Chemicals, Does such barbaric abuse inside U.S. jails explain the horrors that were committed in Iraq?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8451.htm

Nuclear Fundamentalism and the Iran Story

Years from now, when historians look back at agenda-building for a missile attack on Iran, they should closely examine a story that took up the USA's most coveted space for media spin -- the upper right corner of the New York Times front page -- on the first day of May 2005.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0505-20.htm


From Information Clearing House

Guantanamo abuses show U.S. needs a dose of truth

Saar's account illustrates the long road that many Americans must travel to accept truths about how far our nation's military has fallen during this global war on terror from the ideals we thought defined our nation.

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/index.php?ntid=39475&ntpid=12


From Information Clearing House

U.S. "Sent Detainees To Egypt"

A new report by a leading human rights group says the United States and other countries have secretly sent dozens of Islamist detainees to Egypt, where they have most likely been tortured, in the past decade.

http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=111425&region=6


From Information Clearing House

Neocon Zalmay Khalilzad, Signed Infamous PNAC Letter That Called For Iraq Invasion

http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm


From Information Clearing House

Ridge reveals clashes on alerts

The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8813.htm

Neocons Fight Back

Not by actually fighting, mind you
http://villagevoice.com/blogs/bushbeat/archive/000922.php


From Information Clearing House

"Confronting the Architects Of Torture"

by Sister Dianna Ortiz, OSU

Sister Ortiz relates her personal experiences and tell us that U.S. personnel were present in interrogation and torture rooms,” in Guatemala in 1989 when she was kidnapped, taken to a secret prison and repeatedly raped and tortured by troops commanded by General Hector Gramajo (a CIA asset and graduate of the U.S. Army School of the Americas).

Watch it here
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8807.htm

Saudi Oil Infrastructure Rigged For Catastrophic Self Destruction

by Huffington Post

According to a new book exclusively obtained by the Huffington Post, Saudi Arabia has crafted a plan to protect itself from a possible invasion or internal attack. It includes the use of a series of explosives, including radioactive “dirty bombs,” that would cripple Saudi Arabian oil production and distribution systems for decades.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8802.htm

Lies Run Big, Facts Small in U.S. Media

by Ted Rall

We shouldn't blame the White House for producing lies; that's what politicians do. But we expect better from the media who disseminate them.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8811.htm

Terror Alerts Were Used As Electoral Weapons

Combined with what Ridge has said, and the chart linked above, can there be any doubt that the Bush administration was frequently raising the terror alerts to help his election chances and increase his political capital rather than to signal actual threats?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8814.htm

The last of Canada's rainforests are at risk: Its time to protect them

http://www.canadianrainforests.org/


Informant: Deane
logo

Omega-News

User Status

Du bist nicht angemeldet.

Suche

 

Archiv

Mai 2005
Mo
Di
Mi
Do
Fr
Sa
So
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Aktuelle Beiträge

Wenn das Telefon krank...
http://groups.google.com/g roup/mobilfunk_newsletter/ t/6f73cb93cafc5207   htt p://omega.twoday.net/searc h?q=elektromagnetische+Str ahlen http://omega.twoday. net/search?q=Strahlenschut z https://omega.twoday.net/ search?q=elektrosensibel h ttp://omega.twoday.net/sea rch?q=Funkloch https://omeg a.twoday.net/search?q=Alzh eimer http://freepage.twod ay.net/search?q=Alzheimer https://omega.twoday.net/se arch?q=Joachim+Mutter
Starmail - 8. Apr, 08:39
Familie Lange aus Bonn...
http://twitter.com/WILABon n/status/97313783480574361 6
Starmail - 15. Mär, 14:10
Dänische Studie findet...
https://omega.twoday.net/st ories/3035537/ -------- HLV...
Starmail - 12. Mär, 22:48
Schwere Menschenrechtsverletzungen ...
Bitte schenken Sie uns Beachtung: Interessengemeinschaft...
Starmail - 12. Mär, 22:01
Effects of cellular phone...
http://www.buergerwelle.de /pdf/effects_of_cellular_p hone_emissions_on_sperm_mo tility_in_rats.htm [...
Starmail - 27. Nov, 11:08

Status

Online seit 7585 Tagen
Zuletzt aktualisiert: 8. Apr, 08:39

Credits