http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2894/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

URGENT ACTION!

As you may have heard New Zealand has been obstructing the biosafety negotiations in Montreal.

It may already be too late but PLEASE, PLEASE if you possibly can e-mail the New Zealand delegates and ask them to stop acting as proxies for GM exporters and to start taking a constructive attitude.

There's a sample e-mail to send below.

Please send your comments to:

jane.coombs@mfat.govt.nz

and

sarah.wynn-williams@mfat.govt.nz

For more on what NZ's delegates have been up to in Montreal see:
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5320
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5310

Thank you for your support and please circulate this urgently to all your friends, especially any you have in New Zealand.

Jonathan Matthews
http://www.gmwatch.org


EXAMPLE MESSAGE

Second Conference of the Parties, Montreal, Canada

We ask New Zealand to:

Stop Blocking the Birth of an Effective Biosafety Regime

Please respect the serious, science-based environmental and public-health concerns that motivated the emergence of the Biodiversity Convention and the Biosafety Protocol and stop obstructing this opportunity to take the Protocol forward.

This meeting cost $1 million and, thanks to the current attitude of the New Zealand delegation, nothing of any substance looks likely to be achieved. Such a result will be not just bad for biosafety but will do serious and lasting damage to the good name of New Zealand.

We ask you as New Zealand's delegates to re-think your attitude, to stop blocking the emerging consensus around rules to implement Article 18-2(a) and to rejoin the countries that are working to build an effective biosafety regime.

This change in attitude is needed urgently.

Thank you.

Signed:

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0603-06.htm

Finding Work Hard for GI's Back From War
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0603-04.htm

In the face of seemingly immutable U.S. opposition to proposals for the cancellation of debt and the tripling of aid to the poorest nations, Prime Minister Tony Blair is now considering going ahead without Washington.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=3ef7df884ce35e2c



From Information Clearing House

China is considering the possibility of deploying a military base in Kyrgyzstan, Chinese media reported on May 31.

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/2979.asp



China, Venezuela and the U.S.A – trouble brewing:

While Bush and Cheney asked Congress to increase U.S. indebtedness with its additional $81 billion to maintain forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, China offered more than $50 billion in investment and credits to countries inside the traditional Monroe Doctrine’s shield. In November 2004, Chinese President Hu Jintao signed 39 commercial agreements with five Latin American nations. Chinese investments in Argentina alone totaled some $20 billion.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9024.htm



China and Russia will expand military and strategic presence in Central Asia – will India join?

Central Asia will eventually become flash point between China-India-Russia coalition and the West (NATO). China and Russia plan to start the deployment with Kyrgyzstan.

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/2994.asp



From Information Clearing House

Be mournful, America. We have lost yet another courageous, noble countryman to a senseless, corrupt cause. John McCain eulogized Pat Tillman at his funeral, but now that the world knows the Army lied about the details of Tillman’s death, he remains silent. Where is our Vietnam War hero when we need a champion to challenge the venality and deceit of the Bush administration?

http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/2005/06/fallen-heroes.html


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Pat+Tillman

Memo to Mainstream Media:

I have a three-word response to the media frenzy that followed revelation of the long-secret identity of Deep Throat: Downing Street Memo.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0523/050608_news_geovparrish.php


From Information Clearing House


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach

Video

42-year-old Colonel Tim Collins was Britain's Iraq war poster boy. The adulation suddenly died away when Collins was accused of war crimes. He was totally cleared by a searching investigation. But when he left the army and began to speak his mind about the Iraq war and the wider war on terrorism, many in the British establishment must have wanted to strip him of his OBE.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9029.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9040.htm

Cheney praises Iraq, Afghan wars: Promises "great victories to come
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/739435/

"You will be among those who lead us to victory against freedom's enemies," he said. "And you will play an historic role in the great victories to come."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9032.htm


Not a Pretty Picture
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/739378/

http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Irak-Krieg/
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Falluja/
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Folter-++Torture/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach

It is obvious that the occupation is attempting to build three protectorates so weak and conflicting that Iraqis will not be able to get rid of American military, political and economic control. There is no real political process in Iraq now to build a unified state respected by all Iraqis and by the world.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9033.htm

10 American and Iraqi troops stormed the family's house in Baghdad, put a hood over Mr Jedda and flew him to Shaibah, a British military base outside Basra. Eight months later he has not been charged nor seen a lawyer but he is still interned at Shaibah.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1498391,00.html


From Information Clearing House

The lawyer for nine Iraqi men who claim they were tortured by British soldiers has revealed further allegations of abuse.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9034.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9035.htm


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach

Looking this war in the face proves difficult when the press itself won't even put in an appearance.

Baghdad E.R. doctors examine a child who was fatally wounded in an aerial bombing attack.

Photo: David Leeson/The Dallas Morning News

"History," Hegel said, "is a slaughterhouse." And war is how the slaughter is carried out.

If we believe that the present war in Iraq is just and necessary, why do we shrink from looking at the damage it wreaks? Why does the government that ordered the war and hails it as an instrument of good then ask us to respect those who died in the cause by not describing and depicting how they died? And why, in response, have newspapers gone along with Washington and grown timid about showing photos of the killing and maiming? What kind of honor does this bestow on those who are sent to fight in the nation's name?

The Iraq war inspires these questions.

http://villagevoice.com/news/0520,schanberg,64027,6.html


Informant: Charles Bremer

This is for those of us that were at the NEC meeting with the NRPB, remember how the NRPB held an extraordinary meeting in the corridor, and then made threats to Maureen over her cluster map, telling her she could not show it to anyone.


Best Phil Watts


CAMPAIGNING GRAN'S POWER LINE DEMAND

RICHARD AULT

12:00 - 03 June 2005

A Campaigner who has led a national fight against high voltage power cables is demanding action after a study revealed children born near overhead lines are 70 per cent more likely to get cancer. A long-awaited survey published today in the British Medical Journal (BJM) reveals children born within 200m of power lines run a much higher risk of suffering leukaemia than those who live more than 600m away.

Now campaigner Maureen Asbury, from Trentham, is calling on Prime Minister Tony Blair to introduce new planning guidelines forbidding new homes and schools from being built near to power lines, and the phasing out of existing lines in residential zones.

Mrs Asbury is president of the Trentham Environmental Action Campaign, which has led the national fight against power cables for the past eight-years.

She says she is too frightened to let her two grandchildren, George, aged 10, and Maisie, aged five, stay at her home in Earlsbrook Drive, which is directly beneath a power line.

Mrs Asbury, aged 64, said: "This is just the tip of the iceberg, we could be talking about many more cases. This is what we have been telling the Government for years.

"We conducted our own survey in Trentham with the help of Staffordshire University.

"We found excess depression, headaches, even five suicides which this community has experienced were people living near to power lines.

"The most startling was that we found there had been 11 miscarriages within 25m of the power lines and just one further away than 150m.

"How long is this Government going to bury its head in the sand and pretend there isn't a problem?"

The study by the Oxford-based Childhood Cancer Research Group was originally due to be released last year.

Dr Gerald Draper and his team analysed and compared 33 years of data, which covered 29,000 children with cancer, including 9,700 with leukaemia, who were compared with an individually matched control group.

Mrs Asbury has welcomed the findings, saying they confirm longstanding concerns over high-voltage cables and their possible link to childhood leukaemia.

"The first thing the Government should do is legislate so homes are built well beyond 100 metres from these power lines in future," she said.

"Then they should phase out the existing lines."

The report published in today's BMJ stated: "Children living close to high voltage overhead power lines at birth may be at an increased risk of leukaemia."

It added: "But the authors emphasise that these results may be due to chance and further research is needed to find out whether there really is a link."

The report claimed about five of the 400 to 420 cases of childhood leukaemia that occur annually in England and Wales may be associated with power lines.

No excess risk was found for other childhood cancers.

richard.ault@thesentinel.co.uk

http://www.thisisthesentinel.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=158588&command=displayContent&sourceNode=158336&home=yes&contentPK=12572715#



http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&q=Dr.+Gerald+Draper&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Leukaemia
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Draper

"MON 810": Bundes-Verbraucherschutzverband fordert generelles Verbot von Genmaissorte (03.06.05)

Der Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband begrüßte am Freitag die Entscheidung des Bundessortenamtes, den Anbau von Genmais-Sorten auf Grundlage des Typs MON 810 wegen rechtlicher Bedenken vorerst nicht zuzulassen. Selbst wenn die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen erfüllt wären, "gehören diese Sorten nicht in die Umwelt", sagte Edda Müller, Vorstand des Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverbandes(vzbv). Wegen seiner negativen Auswirkungen auf das Ökosystem stünden Nutzen und Risiken in keinem vertretbaren Verhältnis, so Edda Müller. Der vzbv fordere daher ein generelles Verbot für diese Sorten.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11185

Bundesbeauftragter für Datenschutz wird Beauftragter für Informationsfreiheit (03.06.05)

Der Deutsche Bundestag hat heute das Gesetz zur Regelung des Zugangs zu Informationen des Bundes verabschiedet. Dies meldet am Freitag die Pressestelle des Bundesbeauftragten für den Datenschutz. Mit dem sogenannten Informationsfreiheitsgesetz erhielten die Bürgerinnen und Bürger die Möglichkeit, Akten der Bundesverwaltung einzusehen und bei Bundesbehörden vorliegende Informationen abzufragen. Mit diesem Gesetz werde dem Bundesbeauftragten für den Datenschutz zugleich auch die Aufgabe eines Bundesbeauftragten für die Informationsfreiheit übertragen. Den Bundesbeauftragten könne jeder anrufen, der sein Recht auf Informationszugang nach dem neuen Gesetz verletzt sieht.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11184

Gewaltfrei und ungehorsam: Nur halb so viele Atomtransporte seit 2001 dank Anti-Atom-Bewegung (03.06.05)

267 Castor-Behälter wurden laut Bundesumweltministerium seit dem Atomkonsens 2001 zur Wiederaufbereitung nach Sellafield und La Hague transportiert. 500 Stück hätten jedoch laut der Vereinbarung zwischen der Bundesreregierung und der Atomwirtschaft transportiert werden dürfen. Darauf wies die Anti-Atom-Initiative "X-tausendmal quer" am Freitag hin. Sie schrieb, diese nahezu-Halbierung verbuche die Anti-Atom-Bewegung als ihren Erfolg.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11183

Samstag, 4. Juni 2005

Wirbel um Studie: Hochspannung erhöht Leukämierisiko

London (dpa) - Eine Untersuchung eines möglichen Leukämierisikos für Kinder in der Nähe von Hochspannungsleitungen hat am Freitag für Wirbel in den britischen Medien gesorgt. Forscher um Gerald Draper von der Universität Oxford hatten in Großbritannien 64 Fälle von Leukämie bei Kindern gezählt, die zum Zeitpunkt ihrer Geburt näher als 200 Meter an einer Freileitung gemeldet waren. In einer entsprechenden Kontrollgruppe lebten 39 Kinder innerhalb derselben Distanz zu Hochspannungsleitungen. Die Forscher selbst räumen im Fachblatt «British Medical Journal» (Bd. 330, S. 1290) ein, dass dieser «Überschuss» von Leukämiefällen rein zufälliger Natur sein könnte. Es gebe «keine befriedigende Erklärung für die Ergebnisse im Hinblick auf magnetische Felder als Ursache», und die Befunde würden auch «nicht durch überzeugende Labordaten oder irgendeinen allgemein akzeptierten biologischen Mechanismus gestützt», schreiben sie. Die genauen Auslöser von Leukämien im Kindesalter sind nicht umfassend geklärt. Man sei sich heute jedoch einigermaßen sicher, dass oft Erbgutschäden vor der Geburt beteiligt seien, die wahrscheinlich mit Infektionen, Chemikalien, ionisierender Strahlung oder anderen Umwelteinflüssen zusammenhingen, kommentiert Heather O Dickinson von der Universität Newcastle in dem Fachjournal (S. 1279).

© Copyright 1998-2003 NetDoktor.de - All rights reserved

http://www2.netdoktor.de/nachrichten/index.asp?y=2005&m=6&d=4&id=119259

--------

HLV INFO 83/AT

4-06-2005

Studie: Leukämierisiko unter Hochspannungsleitungen höher
http://www.wissenschaft.de/wissen/news/253826.html

--------

http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Leukaemia
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Draper
http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&q=Dr.+Gerald+Draper&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=

Feeling the hate with the National Religious Broadcasters
Posted on Monday, May 30, 2005.
Originally from May 2005. By Chris Hedges.

Since the reelection of George W. Bush in November, the rhetoric on the Christian right has grown triumphal and proud; rumors of spiritual war are abroad in the heartland, and fervent whispers of revolution echo among the pews and folding chairs of the nation’s megachurches. I have traveled to Anaheim, California, to observe the rising power of the evangelical political movement at first hand. Orange County, along with Colorado Springs, is a center of the new militant Christianity, and it is here, among friends, that the National Religious Broadcasters association—which brings together some 1,600 Christian radio and television broadcasters, who claim to reach up to 141 million listeners and viewers—is holding its annual convention. [...] Read it all at Harpers: http://harpers.org/FeelingTheHate.html


© Virginia Metze

Reid: Bush still a liar
The Raw Story

In an upcoming interview with Rolling Stone, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) re-asserts his reputation as an outspoken critic of the his political rivals.

In the interview, Reid claims that, "The nuclear option is history," whether Democrats filibuster or not. He goes on to explain that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was unable to take part in the compromise because he is, "Driven by ... right wing zealots". [...] Read more at: http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/reid_060105.htm Note: I was unable to find the date on this story but it must be there somewhere!


© Virginia Metze

Its London bureau chief blurts out the political slant that dare not speak its name.

By Timothy Noah
Slate Chatterbox column
Posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005, at 9:40 AM PT

Sound the klaxons! Corporate Message breakdown at Fox News! This is not a drill. Repeat: This is not a drill. Assume battle stations! Fire in the hole! A-woo-ga! A-woo-ga!

The usually disciplined foot soldiers at Fox News have long maintained that their news organization is not biased in favor of conservatism. This charade is so important to Fox News that the company has actually sought to trademark the phrase "fair and balanced" (which is a bit like Richard Nixon trademarking the phrase "not a crook"). No fair-minded person actually believes that Fox News is unbiased, so pretending that it is calls for steely corporate resolve. On occasion, this vigilance pays off. Last year, for example, the Wall Street Journal actually ran a correction after its news pages described Fox News, accurately, as "a network sympathetic to the Bush cause and popular with Republicans." Getting one of this country's most prestigious newspapers to state that up is down and black is white is no small public-relations victory, and if we can't admire Fox News' candor, we can at least marvel at its ability to remain on message. Or rather, we could admire it, before Scott Norvell went and shot his big mouth off.

Norvell is London bureau chief for Fox News, and on May 20 he let the mask slip in, of all places, the Wall Street Journal. So far, the damage has been contained, because Norvell's comments—in an op-ed he wrote decrying left-wing bias at the BBC—appeared only in the Journal's European edition. But Chatterbox's agents are everywhere. [...] Read what Novell said at Slate website Chatterbox column: http://slate.com/id/2119864



Water Remains Wet
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Wednesday 01 June 2005

The sky is up. Water is wet. Fox News is biased towards the Republican party. These are the axioms that define reality in our world. The first two do not get challenged all that much, but the third - the Fox news bias - has been the subject of various and sundry arguments and excuses from those for whom that network happily carries all that wet water.

They are fair and balanced, right? They say so, anyway. Never mind that O'Reilly, Hannity, Gibson and the rest of them expend prodigious amounts of energy and lip-spittle flaying anything and everything that is not marching in lock-step with The Anointed One in the Oval. Sure, they've got Colmes on the Left, who on most days does a fair impersonation of the littlest puppy in the litter, the one who can't quite get to the milk. Aside from him, however, the voices you hear from that network are raised in gravel-voiced unison with whatever happens to be spilling from the White House press office. [...] Read the rest of Pitt's article about the Murdoch empire at Truthout site: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/060105Y.shtml


© Virginia Metze

Flash

By Bernard Weiner and Ernest Partridge
Co-Editors, The Crisis Papers
May 31, 2005

(Associated Press, Nov. 8, 2006) The Democrats didn't waste any time after their landslide victory in Tuesday's midterm election that put them in charge, with huge margins in both the House and Senate.

The incoming Democratic chairs of the various investigatory committees announced that subpoenas would be going out immediately to the White House for all documents relating to when and how the decision to attack Iraq was made; to how far up the chain of command the authorization for torture went; and whether Bush and Cheney and/or their subordinates lied to the Congress and the American People. Congressional committees also will be on the lookout for evidence of Administration involvement in war crimes, bribery and election fraud, Democratic officials said.

It is expected that bills of impeachment will be filed shortly thereafter against both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
If both Bush and Cheney are removed from office, the new Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, would become the President, as stipulated in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947; she would nominate a Vice President for approval by the Senate. [...] Read the whole article in the Crisis Papers, including their little postscript at the end ... http://www.crisispapers.org/essays-w/impeachment.htm


© Virginia Metze

http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2134/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=9816


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.libertyforall.net/2005/june14/NeoCons.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0602-24.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GF03Ak01.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views05/0528-27.htm


Informant: Hopedance


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Galloway

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7460


Informant: Sylvie


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Leukaemia
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Draper

I think it was me who reported on France, glad to hear things haven't changed. We have friends who have settled in Normandy. They say, that although workmen, estate agents etc, will all use mobiles that French culture is still about face-to-face communication and that the French like to mull things over and really talk whereas so often mobile conversations here are the inane and unnecessary. The French are v. high-tech though and I seem to remember seeing some horror story about an English family who moved to France and then had a mobile go up on a nearby water tower and they were given short shrift when they tried to object.

We are having a full-scale battle here in Oxford about a mast on a church tower. Last weekend we got on the local radio and tv stations and even on the national BBC news website. We have collected 600 signatures on a petition and many people have written to the diocese to object. We are now holding our breath to hear the response of the diocesan authorities. If they give the go-ahead some people are muttering about sabotage so there's plenty of will. Our councillors also rejected a T-mobile mast on the basis that the company had changed application details at the last moment and had not given sufficient evidence that they had looked at sharing another nearby mast. At the council meeting the planning officer was waving emissions maps, not something I have heard of before. The councillors rubbished his inability to explain them. I expect this is only a temporary halt to the mast but good news anyway.

Ann

America was often described by former president Ronald Reagan as the "shining city on the hill" and a beacon of hope to the world. Others talked about American "exceptionalism" - that is, the uniqueness of the country for its unfaltering commitment to uphold human dignity worldwide. That shining city and that exceptional force, under the simplistic slogan of the "war on terrorism", have now created their own gulags: Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay prison on the island of Cuba.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3443

The United States, which stood prior to 9/11 as the defender of human rights, is now as guilty of violating human rights as any of the authoritarian regimes it repudiates.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3442

Experts say traumatic brain injury (TBI) has surfaced as the staple injury among American soldiers in the Iraq War. As the U.S. has recently reached the anniversary of its second year engaged in combat, soldiers are increasingly suffering from mild to severe TBI, usually as the result of an explosion and/or a military vehicle accident.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3440

The U.S. military keeps a meticulous tally of its wounded -- 12,762 in Iraq as of Wednesday, along with 1,658 dead. Scenes of soldiers convalescing at well-equipped hospitals such as Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center are familiar symbols of the human cost of the war. But more than two years after the U.S.-led invasion, there is little available data on the far greater number of Iraqi civilians wounded in the invasion and subsequent violence related to the insurgency. And few of the victims' stories have been widely reported.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3436

Rarely in the more than 30 years since the draft was abolished has the Selective Service triggered such angst. Two years into the Iraq war, concern that the draft will be reinstated to supplement an overextended military persists -- no matter how often, or emphatically, President Bush and members of Congress say it won't.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3435

Without significant policy changes made by the Iraqi and U.S. governments, the transition of Iraq to a stable democracy faces increased risk of failure, according to a new report issued by Veterans for Common Sense, a nonpartisan veterans' organization with over 12,000 members who have served in every U.S. conflict since 1941.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3433

Q&A: power lines and cancer
http://society.guardian.co.uk/cancer/story/0,8150,1498797,00.html

Draper study on powerlines and childhood leukaemia now available
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/738903/

Electricity and Leukaemia
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/738893/

Large study links power lines to childhood cancer
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/738984/

Friday June 03rd 2005, 8:17 pm

Filed under: Power line news, Epidemiology, 50/60 Hz

The long awaited UK Draper study has finally been published in the British Medical Journal, confirming, yet again, the connection between environmental level powerline magnetic fields and childhood leukaemia.

How much more evidence do we need to protect public health?

With the current public concerns being expressed in New Zealand and Canada (previous message) over powerlines and health, how will ICNIRP’s BPIEs explain this one away?

I wonder how the current ARPANSA powerline standards working committee will deal with it. As I mentioned previously ARPANSA fully intends to accept as a “health based standard” ICNIRP’s 1000 mG exposure level.

Stay Tuned for more on this one….

Don

As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald:

Power lines and leukemia: study highlights risk to babies

By Julie Robotham, Medical Editor
June 3, 2005 - 10:29AM

Babies who live near high-voltage power lines are almost twice as likely as others to develop leukemia during childhood, according to the largest study ever to be conducted into the long-standing question.

But despite detailed analysis of more then 9000 childhood cases of leukemia over three decades, the Oxford University scientists who led the research say there is still insufficient evidence to establish with any certainty whether the magnetic fields around the cables actually cause some cases of the cancer.

Gerald Draper, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the university’s Childhood Cancer Research Group, identified the birth records of children born between 1962 and 1995 who later developed cancer, and mapped the addresses listed on the children’s birth certificates against the national electricity grid in England and Wales.

The same was done for a control group of children who did not have cancer - each matched to one of the cancer patients for date of birth, sex and birth registration district.

Draper found the 9700 children with leukemia - the most common childhood cancer - were 70 per cent more likely than the others to have lived within 200 metres of a high voltage powerline. The link grew weaker the further away from power lines children lived.

Among the 20,000 children who developed cancers other than leukemia, there was no extra likelihood of having lived near overhead cables.

Despite the findings, Dr Draper was reluctant to suggest power lines might cause leukemia.

Magnetic fields from power lines were “the most obvious explanation”. But at a distance of 200 metres, these forces were typically lower than other sources of magnetism within the home, such as household electrical wiring and applicances, he said.

“We have no satisfactory explanation for our results in terms of causation, and the findings are not supported by convincing laboratory data or any accepted biological mechanism,” Dr Draper wrote in the British Medical Journal.

Brad Page, chief of the Energy Supply Association of Australia, said Australia uses the same 400, 275 and 132 kilovolt transmission cables considered in the UK research, but it was unclear whether similar proportions of Australian children lived near them.

“People should not place themselves in unreasonable proximity to these things,” Mr Page said.
More information: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com

From the British Medical Journal:

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7503/1290?ehom#TBL1

Childhood cancer in relation to distance from high voltage power lines in England and Wales: a case-control study

Gerald Draper, honorary senior research fellow1, Tim Vincent, research officer1, Mary E Kroll, statistician1, John Swanson, scientific adviser2

1 Childhood Cancer Research Group, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6HJ, 2 National Grid Transco plc, London WC2N 5EH

BMJ 2005;330:1290 (4 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7503.1290

Correspondence to: G J Draper gerald.draper@ccrg.ox.ac.uk

Abstract

Objective To determine whether there is an association between distance of home address at birth from high voltage power lines and the incidence of leukaemia and other cancers in children in England and Wales.

Design Case-control study.

Setting Cancer registry and National Grid records.

Subjects Records of 29 081 children with cancer, including 9700 with leukaemia. Children were aged 0-14 years and born in England and Wales, 1962-95. Controls were individually matched for sex, approximate date of birth, and birth registration district. No active participation was required.

Main outcome measures Distance from home address at birth to the nearest high voltage overhead power line in existence at the time.

Results Compared with those who lived > 600 m from a line at birth, children who lived within 200 m had a relative risk of leukaemia of 1.69 (95% confidence interval 1.13 to 2.53); those born between 200 and 600 m had a relative risk of 1.23 (1.02 to 1.49). There was a significant (P < 0.01) trend in risk in relation to the reciprocal of distance from the line. No excess risk in relation to proximity to lines was found for other childhood cancers.

Conclusions There is an association between childhood leukaemia and proximity of home address at birth to high voltage power lines, and the apparent risk extends to a greater distance than would have been expected from previous studies. About 4% of children in England and Wales live within 600 m of high voltage lines at birth. If the association is causal, about 1% of childhood leukaemia in England and Wales would be attributable to these lines, though this estimate has considerable statistical uncertainty. There is no accepted biological mechanism to explain the epidemiological results; indeed, the relation may be due to chance or confounding.

Download the full paper at:

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7503/1290?ehom#TBL1


Source: http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=69

In the light of the Draper report please don't forget to let people know about the excellent Children With Leukemia Conference last year - the website is http://www.leukaemiaconference.org/ . It lists the speakers and Day 3 had lectures on non-ionosing radiation. Also poster presentations. This charity is interested in the causes of leukemia.

Yasmin Skelt, Chorleywood, England


I would like to point out that there were presentations relating to non-ionising radiation every day in some form or another, and that the Friday presentations were relating to the Precautionary Principle (or lack of it), notable speakers Don Maisch and Cindy Sage.

Another snippet I would like everyone to be aware of is the fact that although 02 constantly churn out claptrap about Alan Preece, among others, supporting the view that Masts are not harmful, this is not so.

In fact, Alan Preece was at the Leukemia Conference, and that was where he revealed that he had been involved in a campaign to stop a mast near his grand-daughter's school! It was also Alan Preece who told Eileen O that as far as he was concerned, there is no threshold when it comes to the effect of non-ionising radiation - in other words, it's lethal whatever the dose!

So if anyone receives anything from 02 citing Alan Preece, please be sure to put them right!

Amanda

--------

Mobile phones are emphatically not safe
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/476725/



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=non-ionising
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=electricity
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=precaution
http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&q=Dr.+Gerald+Draper&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=leukemia
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Draper
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Alan+Preece
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Cindy+Sage

Pendle Today

RESIDENTS have accused mobile phone companies of putting profit before health and trying to divide communities on the issue of phone masts.

Pendle Residents against Insensitive Siting of Masts (PRISM) vowed to fight proposals to erect a transmitter on Hibson Road , Nelson, during a public meeting at Nelson Town Hall on Tuesday.
Vodafone has applied for permission to site the unit at the El Tropicano club.

Deputy mayor of Pendle, Coun. George Adam, who chaired the meeting, said: "To apply for this mast to be sited right in the middle of a residential area and very close to local schools is outrageous. But we can stop it, and the fight starts here."

College science lecturer, Mr Gary Bird, who set up PRISM with chairman Colin Hornby, said the main reason for the new mast is to provide a service to users of "third generation technology" (3G).
Mr Bird said the government has given operators until 2007 to roll out 80 per cent of the 3G network, with penalties to be paid if the target is not met.

He said: "This technology is being forced upon us where there is little or no demand for it. Profit is being put before health for the sake of what are basically big boys' toys."

Mr Bird called on the people of Pendle to unite and stand up to big companies.

He said: "This sort of thing divides communities and puts people at odds with eachother. Companies propose a site in one ward, like Vodafone did with Walverden, then move onto the next when it is refused. If it goes ahead in another area then people living nearby will be unhappy with residents in the other wards who fought it off."
The plans, which have been recommended for approval by council planning officers, will be discussed by Pendle Council's Nelson Committee on Monday.

Members of PRISM will collect signatures on a petition outside the schools near the proposed site, and will present it to the committee that evening.

Miss Jackie Nike, who protested over another mast site in Barrowford, said: "I spoke to two headteachers about it. One didn't want to get involved, and the other was horrified but did nothing to stop it. I would urge mums and dads, aunties and uncles to go to schools, let them know you are worried and get them involved."
One local doctor said all humans are susceptible to electro-magnetic fields and pulsed microwave signals used by the units. He said: "They can act as a trigger for people with low immune systems. Children and pregnant women are particularly at risk, and it is ridiculous that companies can even think of putting masts near schools."

Councillors will decide on Monday whether to give the go ahead for the base station to be erected.

Vodafone would have the right to appeal if the committee votes against the officer's recommendation and refuses permission.
david.pollard@eastlancsnews.co.uk

03 June 2005

by John Sorrie - john.sorrie@inverurieherald.com

AN application for the siting of a mobile phone mast at Burghmuir Place, Inverurie by O2 (UK) Ltd was refused by Garioch Councillors at their meeting on Tuesday (May 31).

The application was previously before the Garioch Area Committee on Tuesday, April 19 but a decision was deferred to allow discussion to take place between planners and the applicant to look at an alternative site away from residential areas.

Ten further sites were considered and planners expressed a preference for one of these sites. However, O2 assessed the options and found that none were suitable.

The application submitted was to provide O2 3G mobile phone coverage in the northern part of Inverurie. The proposed mast would have been 17.5 metres high — approximately 52.5 feet — with six antennas and two transmission dishes. Two equipment cabins would have been within the mast site.

A number of objections from members of the public were received mainly focusing on the possible health issues related to mobile phone masts. Many objectors felt that the mast site was too close to residential areas and was also close to a public park. It was also suggested that there are many wide open spaces in the area where the mast could be situated. The proposal also met with opposition from Inverurie Community Council.

In a letter to the committee, one Nether Blackhall resident said: “According to European Legislation of March 10 1999 ‘People should be protected from potentially harmful long term effects of electromagnetic fields generated by these transmitters’.”
Provost Raymond Bisset commented: “This is a very difficult situation — would we, for example, be happy to have a mast on top of Gordon House? It would probably be a very suitable location. I think we need to look to see if there are other masts in the area and if we can combine them in one location.”

On the issue of public health, Newmachar and Fintray councillor Martin Ford commented that the matter before the committee was a planning one and that it was not up to the committee to debate public health.

He referred to the report before the committee which said: “The Scottish Executive has concluded that it is not necessary for planning authorities to treat radio frequency emissions as a material consideration in dealing with planning applications for radio masts.
“National Planning Policy Guidelines emphasise there is no need for planning authorities to consider power outputs [of radio transmitters] in determining planning applications, since it is clearly the responsibility of the Scottish Executive and the UK government to decide on what measures are required to protect public health from potential radiation hazards.”

Inverurie North councillor Michael Raeburn added: “It is my choice to carry a mobile phone. If we allow the mast in this site we have given local residents no choice.”

The application was recommended for approval by planners but the committee went to the vote. The decision was taken to refuse the application on the basis that other alternative sites exist.

Wakefield news

RESIDENTS are kicking up a storm about a football club's plan to site a mobile phone mast close to an infant school.

Anger about the T-Mobile mast proposed by Ossett Albion FC at its Dimplewells Road site is so strong that locals have formed a pressure group to fight the plans.

Ossett Residents Against Mobile Masts hope to present a petition of 500 signatures to the planning department to stop the mast, which, if erected, would be 200 metres from Dimple Well Infant School .

Group member Claire Wilby, of Dimple Gardens , said: “Local residents are not happy about this. We don’t want it so close to a school or to our homes.

“The government doesn’t know if there are risks involved with these masts and if they can’t rule out dangers, how do we know if the children are going to be safe?”

So far, the group has collected around 200 names. Claire said: “We are not going to give up, even if this plan is prevented. The company will just apply somewhere else and no-one should have to live in the shadow of one of these things.”

Stuart Garside, vice chairman of the club, based at Ossett Cricket and Athletic Club, said the safe positioning of the mast had always been a priority.

He said: “T-Mobile wanted to put the mast near the entrance of the cricket club grounds but I said no because I wanted it to be as far away as possible from the school and any houses.

“People who object to the siting of masts will almost certainly have a mobile phone of their own. They would not be able to use them if there were no masts.

“We are not doing this to antagonise people, we are doing it to help keep the club afloat.”

03 June 2005

Tenby Today

Members of Tenby Town Council have deferred making a decision on the proposed siting of a temporary telecommunications mast on Caldey Island . At Tuesday night’s meeting, councillors elected to take into account the views of residents on the island, before giving their recommendation to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority. However, in a twist to the proposed planning application, the applicant for the mast, Airwave O2 Ltd. has revealed that they have already scrapped plans for the mast’s installation on the island, claiming that any application put through must be due to an ‘an administrative error’. According to the National Park planning authority though, Airwave O2 Ltd. has not yet withdrawn the application which as it stands will be considered at the next meeting the development management committee on Wednesday, June 15. The application for the temporary mast on Caldey Island is for installation for a period no greater than 12-months, with a proposed permanent site share intended at the existing NTL telecommunication installation at The Ridgeway. When discussing the application at Tuesday’s meeting, councillors decided to the defer their decision until the residents of Caldey Island had given their views. “I think we should wait until we hear the thoughts of the people of Caldey Island on the application before making a decision, as we are really hear as a council to represent their views on this matter,” said Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas.

Chichester Observer

Plans for a mobile phone mast on the edge of Oaklands Park , Chichester, have run into strong opposition from city councillors, concerned about the impact on the historic city conservation area.

A final decision on the Airwave 02 proposals will be taken by the district council, and the city's planning and conservation committee is calling for them to be thrown out.

The scheme has also already provoked protests from some nearby residents.

Planning permission is being sought to build the 22.5m mast at Chichester Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, in Oaklands Way.

Full report in the June 2 issue of the Chichester Observer

PLANS to erect a 45ft-tall telephone mast at the TA centre in Dedridge, West Lothian , have been thrown out by a council sub-committee.

Councillor Lawrence Fitzpatrick told the committee that emissions from the mast would fall on the grounds of the adjacent James Young High School .

The committee rejected Vodafone's plea that the greatest concentration from the mast would not fall on the school.
Committee convener Alex Davidson said: "A cautionary approach is very important."

California residents, thank Governor Schwarzengger for his support of California's wild legacy.

http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ctt.asp?u=83527&l=95131

Despite WWF activists sending nearly 70,000 messages to the U.S. Congress this year, the risk of oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge increased this spring when Congress passed a budget resolution that calls for generating $2.4 billion in new revenues. The bill gives drilling proponents an opening to propose energy development in the refuge as the way to generate the new money. As a result, key House and Senate committees are expected to approve drilling in this special place. Language specifically authorizing drilling would need to be included in a budget reconciliation bill and approved by Congress, so we'll have another chance later this year to stop development of the refuge when Congress votes on the reconciliation bill. U.S. activists, tell Congress not to allow drilling in the refuge.

http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=24456

Farnham Today 03/06/05

JEREMY Hunt is calling on telephone company Orange to withdraw its proposals for a mast near Bourne Infant School . The MP for South West Surrey met with officials from Orange at the House of Commons on Tuesday to discuss their plans for a mast on Frensham Road . “I don’t like any of the masts they are proposing but the one near the school is a particular cause of concern,” said Mr Hunt. “What we have said to them is we would like them to withdraw their proposal for that particular mast. Their response is that they would give it careful consideration. But they didn’t say they would and that is why I am cautious. I would like to see the colour of their money,” he said. Niki Bradshaw, campaign co-ordinator for the Bourne School masts action group, was also in attendance at the meeting. She said: “I was reasonably happy about the meeting. We were pushing the point that they have to consult with us in the true sense of consultation as opposed to a public relations whitewash.” “The one good thing to come out of the meeting is that they have committed to reassess all of the sites and that they are going to take notice of the sensibilities of the school site,” she added. A spokesman for Orange denied the accusation that they had failed to consult with the local community about their plans for the mast. “It has been mentioned by various campaign groups that Orange has failed to consult with the Bourne School over its plans to erect a mast on the Frensham Road. “I can confirm that should Orange decide to proceed with this proposal we have every intention of consulting fully with the school. “The reason this was not done initially is because these proposals were simply outline plans and no formal plans have been submitted. “The drop in session was a pre-consultation exercise and was designed for us to get some feedback before we began full consultation.”

http://www.rense.com/general65/tech.htm


Informant: Anna Webb

by Jason Leopold

Tuesday's revelation that W. Mark Felt, the former number two man at the FBI, was the anonymous source known as Deep Throat, who helped Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein unravel the Watergate scandal in the pages of the Washington Post 30 years ago, should be seen as an important reminder that even the leader of the free world can be devious, corrupt and dishonest. . . . The sad reality these days, however, is that it takes a scandal such as a president receiving oral sex in the Oval Office by an intern to qualify for above the fold headlines and impeachment. Leading the country into a war under false pretenses? Sorry, not juicy enough. The Downing Street memo that was unearthed by the Times of London last month should have been the smoking gun that finally resulted in Bush being brought up on High Crimes and Misdemeanor charges under the United States Constitution's impeachment clause...

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/June05/Leopold0602.htm

by Evelyn J. Pringle

On Feb 9, 2004, the National Autism Association issued a press release that reported on one of the larger studies under review based on the Center for Disease Control's Vaccine Safety Datalink. The Association reports that independent investigation of CDC data revealed children were 27 times more likely to develop autism after exposure to three thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs), than those who receive thimerosal-free versions. Let that sink in. 27 times more likely to develop autism. Then consider that our government regulatory agencies had this information for years and deliberately kept it hidden from the public. This failure to warn the public was not due to negligence or laziness, it was a deliberate cover-up and it continues today. . . . In order to enroll in public schools and day care, children must comply with mandatory vaccine schedule, which includes vaccines that have not undergone the scientific testing necessary to guarantee their safety, and have the potential to harm millions of children...

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/June05/Pringle0602.htm

Amnesty International Fallout
Reality Check: Who to Believe on the Iraq War and
US Treatment of Prisoners?
by Kevin Zeese

President Bush called a report by Amnesty International “absurd” for its charge that the United States is mistreating terrorist suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying accusations were being made by “people who hate America.” At a Rose Garden press conference on May 31 the president exclaimed: “It's absurd. It's an absurd allegation. We've investigated every single complaint against the detainees. It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of -- and the allegations -- by people who were held in detention, people who hate America...” President Bush's comments were echoed by senior members of the administration who all lined up to blast the report in a thou-doth-protest-too-much coordinated attack on Amnesty. What was the administration so defensive about?

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/June05/Zeese0602.htm

von DIETER WOLF

BRÜHL.„Die Verbrauchzentrale in Brühl muss es weiterhin geben.“ Bürgermeister Michael Kreuzberg bekennt sich zu dem teuren Angebot für die Bürger und gibt trotz der enger werdenden Finanzdecke zu bedenken: „Die Institution hilft, gesellschaftliches Unheil abzuwenden.“ Brühl besitzt eine von 50 Beratungsstellen in NRW.

Auf etwa 200 000 Euro belaufen sich die jährlichen Kosten, die anteilig von Land, Kreis und Stadt getragen werden. Bis 2007 ist die Beratungsstelle sicher, betont Kreuzberg. Gestern übergab Simone Arndt von der Beratungsstelle den Jahresbericht der Einrichtung an den Bürgermeister.

13 000 Gespräche in einem Jahr

Fast 13 000 Gespräche wurden in Brühl im vergangenen Jahr mit hilfesuchenden Bürgern geführt. Bei Mietrechtsfragen, Problemen mit dem Unterlaufen von Produktgarantien bis hin zur Müllvermeidung, immer suchen die Bürger Rat und Hilfe. Geradezu boomend sind Probleme mit Telekommunikation und Unterhaltungselektronik.

Bemerkenswert sind die Kostenfallen bei Handygebühren und PC-Surfing. „Wir hatten hier einen Schalke-04-Fan, der sich etwas Besonders gönnen wollte. Er buchte einen SMS-Service, der ihn über alles Wissenswerte seines Vereins unterrichten sollte. In kürzester Zeit belief sich die Rechnung auf 1500 Euro, weil er pausenlos mit sinnlosen Nachrichten versorgt wurde“, so Simone Arndt.

Besonders Jugendliche müssen den bizarren Vertragsdschungel bei Handy-Klingeltönen ausbaden. Weniger als vier Sekunden wird das „Kleingedruckte“ bei TV-Werbespots eingeblendet. Auch hier weiß die Verbraucherberatung Rat. Für 22 Euro beraten Rechtsanwälte fachkundig. Die gleichermaßen fachkundige Rechtsberatung durch eine Nichtjuristin kostet gar nur sechs Euro. Eine verschwindend geringe Summe gemessen an dem Ärger und den Kosten beispielsweise bei Garantieproblemen.

Simone Arndt bestätigt, dass sich große Elektrokaufhäuser zunehmend aus ihren gesetzlich vorgeschriebenen Garantieverpflichtungen stehlen. Die Unternehmen reklamieren neuerdings Reparaturkosten trotz zweijähriger Garantieverpflichtung oder stellen dem Kunden die bisherige Nutzung des Gerätes in Rechnung. Aber auch hier weiß man Rat. „Wir werden in Kürze einen Musterprozess führen. Dann hat dies hoffentlich ein Ende“, hofft Simone Arndt.

(KR)

http://www.rundschau-online.de/kr/KrCachedContentServer?ksArtikel.id=1117544131310&listID=1038816879920&openMenu=1038942868191&calledPageId=1038816879354


Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim

Mobilfunk: Bürgermeister, FDP, Grüne Seit` an Seit`

VON MAGNUS REITINGER Weilheim-Schongau - Ihnen fehle beim Thema "Mobilfunk" jede Handhabe, klagen viele Kommunen - denn für Sendemasten bis zu zehn Metern Höhe (also innerorts praktisch alle) brauchen die Betreiber in Bayern keine Genehmigung. Geht es nach den Initiatoren des Volksbegehrens "Für Gesundheitsvorsorge beim Mobilfunk", muss das anders werden: Eine Änderung der Bauordnung ist eines der Ziele, für die im Landkreis ein breites Bündnis kämpft.

"Ich hab` ja selber ein Handy - da kann ich das doch nicht unterschreiben . . ." Diese Haltung könnte den Erfolg des Volksbegehrens am ehesten gefährden, meint Agnes Edenhofer, Koordinatorin der Unterstützer im Landkreis. Und stellt klar: Keinesfalls wende sich die von der ödp initiierte Aktion gegen die Nutzung von Handys - "es geht nur darum, diese Technik gesundheitsfreundlich zu gestalten."

Dafür kämpft vor Ort ein breites Bündnis: neben Naturschützern und Agenda-Gruppen unter anderem Die Unabhängigen im Landkreis, Bürgermeister aller Parteien, FDP-Kreisrat Klaus Breil und der Grünen-Kreisverband. Letzterer übrigens im Unterschied zur Landespartei. "Die oben kneifen", sagt Hans Schütz, der als Parteiloser die Grünen im Kreistag vertritt: "Doch immer noch zu glauben, man könnte im Landtag Politik mitgestalten, ist lächerlich; das geht nur über Volksbegehren."

Große Unterstützung

Die Unterstützung an der Basis sei groß, sagte Agnes Edenhofer bei einem Treffen im Naturfreundehaus Weilheim, doch viele Bürgermeister und Gemeinderäte zögerten - aus Sorge, "dass ihnen der Schwarze Peter zugeschoben wird", wenn sie über Standorte von Sendern mitentscheiden können.

Die Stadt Weilheim etwa habe "Angst vor der Haftung", so Dr. Jürgen Seitz ("Bürgerwelle" Seeshaupt); doch juristisch müsse keine Kommune etwas befürchten, "die Haftungsthematik existiert nicht."

Kritisiert wird am Volksbegehren oft, dass wirkliche Änderungen nur auf Bundesebene möglich seien. "Ein Totschlagsargument der Staatsregierung", so Seitz: Durch Änderung des "extrem mobilfunkfreundlichen" Baurechts in Bayern wäre "der schlimmste Wildwuchs" einzudämmen. Auch übe ein erfolgreiches Volksbegehren Druck auf Berlin aus.

Bayernweit muss mindestens jeder zehnte Wahlberechtigte zwischen 5. und 18. Juli unterschreiben, damit es zum Volksentscheid kommt. Dass der Kreis Weilheim-Schongau seine Quote schafft, davon ist das Aktionsteam im Übrigen "fest überzeugt", wie sich bei einem Treffen zeigte.

mm

03.06.2005

http://www.marktplatz-oberbayern.de/regionen/schongau/art1609,281952.html


Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim

WICHTIGE INFORMATION UND AUFRUF ZUR HILFE !

An alle Menschen in Gewerkschaften und Kirchen, in Sozial-, Bildungs- und Jugendarbeit, in Friedens- und Umweltinitiativen, an alle sozial engagierten BürgerInnen !

Vom 21.-24.Juli 2005 findet in Erfurt das 1. Sozialforum in Deutschland statt. Es wird das erste Treffen der sozial kritischen Öffentlichkeit, von Initiativen und Vereinen aus allen Teilen der Bundesrepublik seit vielen Jahren sein. Zu diesem Ereignis werden etwa 5.000 Menschen erwartet. Von Erfurt kann und soll ein Zeichen der Ermutigung für ein soziales und menschenwürdiges Zusammenleben ausgehen!

In den von der Stadt zur Verfügung gestellten öffentlichen Räumen wird sich ein breites Themenspektrum entrollen: von der Friedenserhaltung über die Gestaltung sozialer Alternativen gegen den Neoliberalismus bis hin zum Schutz unserer natürlichen Umwelt. Wir, die ehrenamtliche Vorbereitungsgruppe des Thüringer Sozialforums bitten Euch, zum Gelingen dieses Projektes “Sozialforum 2005 in Erfurt” beizutragen. Laßt uns ein Signal geben, dass engagiertes bürgerschaftliches Engagement lebt, dass es zueinander findet und Alternativen eines sozialen und menschenwürdigen Zusammenlebens einfordert.

Möglichkeiten, die das Sozialforum bietet:

1. Veranstaltungen anmelden und durchführen

Programmdirektoren des Sozialforums sind die Akteure selbst: bis zum 30.Mai noch können Gruppen, Initiativen, Vereine und Einzelpersonen zu ihren Schwerpunkten Veranstaltungen anmelden: sie können Workshops veranstalten und Infostände ausrichten oder kulturelle Angebote vorstellen. Eine ehrenamtliche Programmgruppe wird versuchen, die verschiedenen Ideen zu vernetzen, Räume und Bühnen zu ordnen und ein großes, buntes, aber dennoch übersichtlich gestaltetes Programm zu stricken. Es soll Anfang Juli gedruckt vorliegen.

Räume für Veranstaltungen stehen vor allem in den Schulen zur Verfügung, auf dem Domplatz wird ein großes Festzelt stehen, das den Mittelpunkt für eine Versorgungsmeile und einen Markt der Möglichkeiten bietet (Infostände, internationale und regionale Küche). Wer einen Infostand oder einen Stand für alternative Produkte oder Essen anbieten will, sollte sich mit uns kontaktieren. Die Thüringer Vorbereitungsgruppe kann hierfür außer dem Platz und der Vermittlung von ggf. notwendigen Anschlüssen keine logistische Unterstützung geben.

2. Teilnehmen

Wer am Sozialforum teilnimmt, kann dort entsprechend seiner/ihrer Interessen Vorträge und Debatten zu den zentralen Fragen von Frieden, Zukunft der Sozialsysteme und der Arbeitsgesellschaft hören, darüber hinaus gibt es auch jede Menge Gelegenheiten für Austausch und Kontakte.

Trotz aller Bemühungen, die Kosten zu minimieren, kommt das Sozialforum ohne einen Teilnehmerbeitrag nicht aus. 20 Euro pro geringer ausgestattete Person und 50 Euro pro finanziell potenterer Teilnehmer sollen helfen, Raummieten, Gebühren, Stromkosten, Mindestaufwendungen an Technik und für übergreifende kulturelle Angebote zu tragen. Dafür stehen dem Teilnehmer 3 Übernachtungen (meist Turnhalle) und vier Tage freie Fahrt mit dem ÖNV zur Verfügung. Für interessierte Menschen, denen es absolut unmöglich ist, den Teilnehmerbeitrag zu zahlen, bitten wir Euch, im Vorfeld regionale Sammelaktionen durchzuführen, um auch ihnen die Teilnahme zu ermöglichen.

3. Die Veranstaltung unterstützen

a) Durch ehrenamtliche Mitarbeit in der Organisation

Als selbstorganisiertes Ereignis ist das Sozialforum in Deutschland voll auf das Engagement von Ehrenamtlichen angewiesen.
Die Thüringer Vorbereitungsgruppe hat vier Gruppen gebildet:
1) Anmeldeverfahren, Teilnehmerbeiträge, Übernachtung,
2) Räume, Programm,
3) Stände, Verpflegung, Kultur,
4) Öffentlichkeit, Werbung, Partner.

Hier brauchen wir dringend noch Kräfte. Wer in einer dieser Gruppen mitarbeiten möchte, wendet sich an unser Büro: Thüringer Sozialforum, Schillerstrasse 44, Jugendcafe “Filler” verdi, Erfurt 99096, buero@sozialforum2005.de; Heike Mahnert: 0361/2117241.

b) Durch Verteilung von Werbematerial und Einwerben von Spenden

Aber Ihr könnt auch vor Ort etwas tun: Wir sind für jede Unterstützung dankbar. Auch Verbindungen zu örtlichen Radios und Fernsehkanälen helfen uns weiter.

Das Sozialforum braucht Spenden, um Raummieten, Kulturaufwendungen und nötigste Büro- und Organisationsfragen zu finanzieren. Spendenkonto: Friedens- und Zukunftswerkstatt, Frankfurter Sparkasse, BLZ 500 502 01, Konto Nr. 2000 81 292. Stichwort Sozialforum 2005, falls erwünscht, „Spendenquittung“ vermerken.

Könnt Ihr bei Veranstaltungen das Thüringer Sozialforum Werbematerial verteilen und/oder Werbeartikel vertreiben. Wer hier helfen kann, setze sich bitte mit uns in Verbindung.

Heike Mahnert/Steffen Kachel: 0361/2117241.

c) durch die Gewinnung kultureller Akteure aus Eurem/Ihrem Umfeld

Am Freitag, dem 22.07.2005 soll in der Thüringen-Halle ein regionales Musik- Event stattfinden. Außerdem gibt es zwei kleinere Bühnen auf dem Fischmarkt und auf dem Anger, die auch am Tage für kulturelle Darbietungen (Theater, Pantomime, Musik u.a.) zur Verfügung stehen. Für diese kulturellen Angebote wollen wir Schüler-Bands und lokale kulturelle Initiativen aus ganz Thüringen interessieren. Es steht ein Basisangebot an nutzbarer Technik zur Verfügung. Wer hat Lust, die kulturelle Atmosphäre des Sozialforums mitzugestalten?

Meldet uns bitte mögliche Interessenten, sprecht mit uns die technische Unterstützung ab.

Heike Mahnert/Karin Schrappe: 0361/2117241.

d) durch die Zurverfügungstellung von Übernachtungsmöglichkeiten

Natürlich benötigt ein solches Ereignis entsprechende Übernachtungskapazitäten. Wir hoffen darauf, einen größeren Teil der Menschen, die für die politische und soziale Debatte nach Erfurt kommen, bei hier wohnenden Menschen (etwa Erfurt und Umkreis, Gotha, Weimar, Arnstadt) unterbringen zu können. Wer Quartiere anbieten kann (kostenlos oder gegen eine geringe Entschädigung), wende sich bitte an die Geschäftsstelle der Arbeitsloseninitiative Thüringen, 0361/6442350, Bahnhofstrasse 29/30, 99094 Erfurt.

http://www.epha.org/a/1834


But there are still areas where the EU must deliver more. A new European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) became operational in Stockholm on 28 May 2005 and this is a step. The major burden of ill health and premature death in Europe is strongly linked to consumption patterns of tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy foods. The presence of chemicals in consumer products and other environmental polluntants are an unseen and often unknown risk for health.

Sylvie

Redaktionsleiterin der Financial Times Deutschland

„Hat sie nicht recht? Was machen 8.614 Bedarfsgemeinschaften, was machen 15.000 Alg II-Bezieher, was machen 11.000 Langzeitarbeitslose in Oldenburg? Sie lassen sich in den A... treten und kuschen!...“ Artikel von ERGO? Erwerbslosen-Gewerkschaft-Oldenburg, erschienen in STACHEL, der unabhänigen Stadtzeitung für Oldenburg, Sondernummer zu "100 Tagen Alg II"

http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/aktionen/stachel.html


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 26, Eintrag 3

Oder: Was wir gegen den Umbau des Sozialstaates unternehmen können

„Mit der „Agenda 2010“ nehmen für viele Menschen Armut und Existenzunsicherheit zu, mit ihr werden Menschenrechte gespalten und die Grundlagen einer sozialen Demokratie weiter untergraben…“ Broschüre des Komitees für Grundrechte und Demokratie vom Mai 2005. (pdf)

http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/allg/umbau.pdf

Die Broschüre kann auch in gedruckter Version bestellt werden und kostet pro Exemplar 1 Euro. Für größere Bestellungen gibt es Staffelpreise. Bestellungen an: Komitee für Grundrechte und Demokratie, Aquinostr 7-11, 50670 Köln, Telefon 0221/9726920, Telefax 0221 / 972 69-31, Email: info@grundrechtekomitee.de


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 26, Eintrag 3

La Défense

„Einmal ist keinmal: Unten stehender Artikel, der einen netten (und realistischen) Eindruck auf die soziale Polarisierung im Zusammenhang mit dem französischen Referendum vom vorigen Sonntag vermittelt, stammt aus "Le Monde"….“ Kommentierte Übersetzung von Bernard Schmid des Artikels von Robert Belleret aus "Le Monde" vom 01. 06. 2005

http://www.labournet.de/internationales/fr/lemonde.html


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 26, Eintrag 3

The U.S. government is finding that its own terrorist activities are now getting closer scrutiny. Nothing could be more of an embarrassment than the harboring of Luis Posada Carriles. No one fits the profile of a terrorist more than this man. The failure of Washington to extradite him has touched off huge demonstrations in Cuba and Venezuela, where he is wanted for multiple crimes.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9013.htm

In 1998, the Pentagon acknowledged that “Combat troops or those carrying out support functions generally did not know that DU contaminated equipment such as enemy vehicles struck by DU rounds required special handling. The failure to properly disseminate such information to troops at all levels may have resulted in thousands of unnecessary exposures.”

http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/depleted_uranium_lessons_in_humanitarian_and_other_warfare.htm
http://snipurl.com/fbni


From Information Clearing House

The report concludes by noting that the gravest danger stemming from U.S. weapons sales is the impact on the image, credibility and security of America. Funneling arms to repressive and undemocratic governments, while at the same time championing democracy, causes the credulity of America to be questioned.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9019.htm

Jeremy Scahill reports on how Bush began the Iraq invasion before he went to Congress.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9017.htm

For the Tillmans, as with Pfc. Lynch and the 9/11 widows, the path to true patriotism means confronting your government when it lies.

http://snipurl.com/fbn2


From Information Clearing House

The more horrific crimes and misdemeanors of the current White House have been exposed by insiders and outsiders, but so far the wheels of justice have not started to grind. If Nixon were still with us, he'd be envious.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1497063,00.html


From Information Clearing House

Fifteen photos were distributed worldwide, along with a story, on Dec. 3. The photos appear to show servicemen in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, as well as what look like bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head.

http://cbsnewyork.com/national/SEALsPhotos-Lawsuit-aa/resources_news_html


From Information Clearing House

Last year, Kevin Sites filmed a marine shooting an apparently unarmed insurgent in Falluja. He tells Dan Glaister the truth of what he saw and how what followed changed his life.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9008.htm

by Mike Whitney

The Senate Intelligence Committee is working behind closed doors to expand the powers of the Patriot Act and deliver another withering blow to the 4th amendment. This time the constitutional broadside comes in the form of "administrative subpoenas"; an Orwellian expression which indicates that law enforcement agencies, like the FBI, will be able to circumvent the courts to subpoena records.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9018.htm

Video

“Falluja-The day After” shows the total devastation of the Iraqi town, the corpses of the victims, the mass graves, the exhumation of many corpses by local rescue teams in order to try to recognize some of the victims.

Warning

Video contains images depicting the reality and horror of war and should be viewed by a mature audience.

Click here to watch it online. Windows media
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9010.htm