WHAT THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY FEARS
http://www.ghorganics.com/WHAT%20THE%20CHEMICAL%20INDUSTRY%20FEARS.htm
Informant: Deborah Elaine Barrie
Informant: Deborah Elaine Barrie
Starmail - 25. Jun, 22:45
25
Jun
2005
Brzezinski rips Bush Iraq War policy
Starmail - 25. Jun, 22:43
ISN'T IT TIME WE REGULATED CHEMICALS?
RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH NEWS #820
http://www.rachel.org
June 23, 2005
ISN'T IT TIME WE REGULATED CHEMICALS?
By Tim Montague*
If you read almost any newspaper these days, you learn the following kinds of information:
** Many plastic toys contain chemicals that can interfere with the sexual development of laboratory animals and are now thought capable of doing the same in baby boys.[1]
** Most of the rivers and streams in the U.S. are contaminated with low levels of chemicals that can change the sexual orientation of fish and can interfere with reproduction in animals that feed on fish.[2]
** Dozens of toxic chemicals have recently been measured in household dust, indicating that common consumer products are contaminating our homes with toxicants.[3]
You might ask yourself, isn't the government regulating dangerous chemicals? Unfortunately, the answer is No, not in any effective way.
About 1700 new chemicals are put into commercial use each year, almost entirely untested for their effects on humans and the natural world.[4]
After a chemical causes enough harm for someone to take notice, then the government conducts a numerical risk assessment (aka, quantitative risk assessment) on an individual chemical. The point of a numerical risk assessment is to learn how much of a chemical is "safe" to eat, drink, and breathe. Then the government may try to regulate releases of that chemical. But fewer than 1% of all chemicals are currently regulated. (See Rachel's #815.)
A scientist at the University of Oregon has described why numerical risk assessment doesn't work, and has suggested other ways we could control chemical hazards.[5] Dr. Joe Thornton -- a biologist -- explains that numerical risk assessment is a fundamentally inappropriate way to control persistent pollutants (such as heavy metals and chemicals containing chlorine) for two reasons:
1) It assumes that we can learn all the ways that every individual chemical can cause harm in humans and in the natural environment -- but there aren't enough scientists in the world to do this.
2) Many industrial chemicals tend to stick around for a long time and move from place to place in ways that are impossible to predict, so often we don't even know what we're looking for.
Thornton proposes we adopt four new ways of regulating chemicals -- zero discharge, clean production, reverse onus, and phasing out entire classes of persistent chemicals -- because the old way (regulating one chemical at a time at the end of the discharge pipe) simply doesn't work.
Risk assessment assumes that damage is local, short-lived, and predictable. But organisms and the environment are complex, interconnected, and only partly understood (to put it mildly). Therefore, we cannot predict cause-and-effect in any reliable way. In the face of these insurmountable difficulties, we can take a precautionary stance: when we have good reason to suspect harm, yet we have scientific uncertainty, we can err on the side of caution. Faced with choices, we can give the benefit of the doubt to public health and to nature.
Thornton's four principles begin to clarify how the precautionary principal can work in the real world. These principles are:
ZERO DISCHARGE -- Persistent and bioaccumulative toxicants are incompatible with ecological processes, and no amount of their release into the environment is acceptable.[6]
CLEAN PRODUCTION -- We can consider alternative technologies up front and avoid the use of known toxicants in manufacturing. Finding alternatives rather than approving pollutants becomes the focus.[7] For example, in dry cleaning, we can replace perchloroethylene (perc) with CO2 and water-based methods.
REVERSE ONUS -- Apply the same logic used in drug safety: give manufacturers the responsibility to show that a product is reasonably safe for use before it can be released into the environment. This shifts the burden of proof from society to the chemical companies to provide information about their products, to monitor for harmful effects and to come clean about their findings.
EMPHASIS ON LARGE CLASSES OF CHEMICALS -- Faced with the impossibilities of measuring the impacts of individual chemicals, simply phase out entire classes of compounds that are clearly problematic. PCBs, CFCs and lead compounds are all examples of classes of chemicals that have been phased out because of their hazards.[5]
Thornton gives six reasons why the current risk paradigm is so flawed:
1. ACCUMULATION OF PERSISTENT POLLUTANTS
Risk-based approaches assume that nature and living things can absorb and assimilate synthetic chemicals, breaking them down and digesting them. This may be true for sewage, oil, and other naturally occurring substances. But persistent organic pollutants (POPs) like pesticides, solvents, refrigerants, etc. often resist natural breakdown and can persist for years, decades or centuries. (See Rachel's #284, #505, #611.)
Many POPs and metallic pollutants are fat-soluble and thus bioaccumulate as they move up the food chain. Top predators like humans, bears, and big fish can accumulate chemical concentrations that are tens of millions of times greater than typical environmental levels.
Persistence and bioaccumulation mean that even very small discharges of synthetic chemicals can build up to dangerous levels in our bodies over time. The general public's average body burden for some of the best studied pollutants is already at or near the range at which health impacts have been found in laboratory animals.[5] To avoid this problem, we can declare that there is no level of acceptable discharge for chemicals that persist or magnify in the food chain -- in other words, we can adopt a zero-discharge policy.
2. CUMULATIVE GLOBAL POLLUTION
Numerical risk assessment oversimplifies the real world and considers environmental risks to be local in time and space. Once a chemical disperses beyond some horizon, it is assumed to do no further harm. So industry is encouraged to dot the landscape with sources of pollution that collectively begin to overwhelm the biosphere but which are individually within acceptable limits. As a result the entire planet has become polluted.
3. TOXICOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY
The science of numerical risk assessment is based on the premise that we can calculate a chemical's impact on the health of living things. Risk assessors do this by measuring the toxicity of individual chemicals on individual species -- usually rats, mice and other small mammals. There are at least 70,000 synthetic chemicals being used in commerce today (up from 40,000 in 1991). Risk assessment considers the toxicity of an individual pollutant acting alone -- when in reality each chemical is acting in concert with a myriad of other chemicals in the environment.
This poses a huge problem -- studying multiple chemical exposures is very costly and time-consuming. It would require 33 million experiments just to learn something about the effects of 25 different chemicals on a single species over a short period of time (13 weeks). A similar study of just 1% of the 70,000 chemicals in commerce would require 10E210 experiments (that is, 10 with 210 zeroes behind it). Trillions upon trillions upon trillions of experiments -- you can see that science as we know it is not prepared to tackle this problem. On the other hand, the risk-assessment solution is easy: Just ignore multiple chemical exposures.
4. INADEQUATE DATA
Industry's capacity for inventing new chemicals has overwhelmed the regulatory system's ability to study their potential harms. The chemical industry is introducing at least 1700 new chemicals into commerce each year.[4] The U.S. National Toxicology Program conducts assessments on just 10 to 20 substances per year. At this rate we are falling at least 90 years behind in our knowledge each year that passes. A study by the National Research Council in 1997 concluded that we lack even minimal toxicity information for 70% of the most worrisome chemicals -- those that are manufactured in high volume and are already suspected of harming the environment.
The risk-assessment solution: If you don't have data on the toxicity of a substance, assume the risk is ZERO. Just ignore the problem. Here, reverse onus plays an important role in putting the burden of proof on industry to collect and reveal data on new chemicals prior to their general release or manufacture.
5. FORMATION OF CHEMICAL MIXTURES AND BYPRODUCTS
The nature of industrial chemistry is messy. When you mix chemicals under diverse industrial circumstances you inevitably produce new and unexpected byproducts. Joe Thornton gives three examples of how we are flying blind:
a) Paper manufacturing. The effluent from pulp mills contain over 300 organochlorine byproducts; including dioxins, furans, phenols, benzenes, thiophenes, methyl-sulfones, methanes, ethanes, acids and PCBs. We have only identified 3 to 10% of the organically bound chlorine in pulp effluent. In other words, we are 90-97% ignorant of what is coming out of the pipe.
b) Incineration. Incinerator emissions are estimated to contain over 1,000 products of incomplete combustion (complete combustion would reduce the fuel to carbon dioxide and water). Yet we have identified only 40-60% of these chemical effluents.
c) Pesticide manufacture. Byproducts account for almost 20% of DDT manufacture by weight. Many of these byproducts have never even been identified.
We don't know the names, structures or toxicity of many of the chemical byproducts formed in industrial processes. Even though we phased out purposeful manufacture of PCBs they -- and dioxins, an unwanted byproduct -- are still being introduced into the environment as side-effects of chlorine chemistry. To prevent global contamination with dioxin, we would need to phase out the whole class of organochlorines.
6. POLLUTION CONTROL AND DISPOSAL
End-of-pipe pollution control and disposal technologies do little to prevent global environmental contamination. If you manufacture a substance that breaks down slowly and tends to accumulate in living things, it will eventually spread throughout the living world. Scrubbers, filters, precipitators, incinerators, and landfills are all just ways of temporarily moving a substance from one location or form to another (a shell-game). In the end, everything that persists will disperse into the air, water, land and living things and people will be affected. Landfills leak, incinerators generate toxic ash and gas, and even the best pollution controls are never 100% effective.
Thornton helps us realize that we are foolish to try to control chemicals with the end-of-the-pipe risk-assessment approach. Instead, we can use the precautionary principle and acknowledge that:
a) Some chemicals don't belong in the environment (zero discharge) and are best regulated away as entire classes of compounds;
b) With the right combination of carrots and sticks as motivation, industry can find clean technologies (clean production); and
c) The burden of proof (aka "reverse onus") can be placed on the industries that want to introduce new chemicals -- to show that they have done their best to understand the consequences of their actions -- thus motivating them to innovate and develop clean technologies. No data? No market.
* Tim Montague is Associate Director of Environmental Research Foundation. He holds an M.S. degree in ecology from University of Wisconsin-Madison and lives in Chicago.
[1] http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2005/gs050530.4.html
[2] See
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2005/gs050530.7.html and
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2005/gs050420.13.html and
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2003/gs030108.7.html and
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2004/gs040302.13.html
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2002/gs020730.7.html
[3] http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2003/gs030108.7.html
[4] See
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2004/pma/newchemicals.xls
and http://archive.gao.gov/t2pbat3/151661.pdf
[5] Joe Thornton, "Beyond Risk: An Ecological Paradigm to Prevent Global Chemical Pollution" INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Vol. 6 (2000) pgs. 318-330. Available at
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=536 And see Rachel's #704, which reviews Thornton's book, Pandora's Poison.
[6] International Joint Commission. FIFTH BIENNIAL REPORT ON GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY. Windsor, ON, Canada, 1990. Available here: http://www.ijc.org/php/publications/pdf/ID603.pdf
[7] Mary O'Brien, MAKING BETTER ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS; AN ALTERNATIVE TO RISK ASSESSMENT (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000). ISBN: 0262650533
RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH NEWS
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 160
New Brunswick, N.J. 08903
Fax (732) 791-4603; E-mail: erf@rachel.org
http://www.rachel.org
June 23, 2005
ISN'T IT TIME WE REGULATED CHEMICALS?
By Tim Montague*
If you read almost any newspaper these days, you learn the following kinds of information:
** Many plastic toys contain chemicals that can interfere with the sexual development of laboratory animals and are now thought capable of doing the same in baby boys.[1]
** Most of the rivers and streams in the U.S. are contaminated with low levels of chemicals that can change the sexual orientation of fish and can interfere with reproduction in animals that feed on fish.[2]
** Dozens of toxic chemicals have recently been measured in household dust, indicating that common consumer products are contaminating our homes with toxicants.[3]
You might ask yourself, isn't the government regulating dangerous chemicals? Unfortunately, the answer is No, not in any effective way.
About 1700 new chemicals are put into commercial use each year, almost entirely untested for their effects on humans and the natural world.[4]
After a chemical causes enough harm for someone to take notice, then the government conducts a numerical risk assessment (aka, quantitative risk assessment) on an individual chemical. The point of a numerical risk assessment is to learn how much of a chemical is "safe" to eat, drink, and breathe. Then the government may try to regulate releases of that chemical. But fewer than 1% of all chemicals are currently regulated. (See Rachel's #815.)
A scientist at the University of Oregon has described why numerical risk assessment doesn't work, and has suggested other ways we could control chemical hazards.[5] Dr. Joe Thornton -- a biologist -- explains that numerical risk assessment is a fundamentally inappropriate way to control persistent pollutants (such as heavy metals and chemicals containing chlorine) for two reasons:
1) It assumes that we can learn all the ways that every individual chemical can cause harm in humans and in the natural environment -- but there aren't enough scientists in the world to do this.
2) Many industrial chemicals tend to stick around for a long time and move from place to place in ways that are impossible to predict, so often we don't even know what we're looking for.
Thornton proposes we adopt four new ways of regulating chemicals -- zero discharge, clean production, reverse onus, and phasing out entire classes of persistent chemicals -- because the old way (regulating one chemical at a time at the end of the discharge pipe) simply doesn't work.
Risk assessment assumes that damage is local, short-lived, and predictable. But organisms and the environment are complex, interconnected, and only partly understood (to put it mildly). Therefore, we cannot predict cause-and-effect in any reliable way. In the face of these insurmountable difficulties, we can take a precautionary stance: when we have good reason to suspect harm, yet we have scientific uncertainty, we can err on the side of caution. Faced with choices, we can give the benefit of the doubt to public health and to nature.
Thornton's four principles begin to clarify how the precautionary principal can work in the real world. These principles are:
ZERO DISCHARGE -- Persistent and bioaccumulative toxicants are incompatible with ecological processes, and no amount of their release into the environment is acceptable.[6]
CLEAN PRODUCTION -- We can consider alternative technologies up front and avoid the use of known toxicants in manufacturing. Finding alternatives rather than approving pollutants becomes the focus.[7] For example, in dry cleaning, we can replace perchloroethylene (perc) with CO2 and water-based methods.
REVERSE ONUS -- Apply the same logic used in drug safety: give manufacturers the responsibility to show that a product is reasonably safe for use before it can be released into the environment. This shifts the burden of proof from society to the chemical companies to provide information about their products, to monitor for harmful effects and to come clean about their findings.
EMPHASIS ON LARGE CLASSES OF CHEMICALS -- Faced with the impossibilities of measuring the impacts of individual chemicals, simply phase out entire classes of compounds that are clearly problematic. PCBs, CFCs and lead compounds are all examples of classes of chemicals that have been phased out because of their hazards.[5]
Thornton gives six reasons why the current risk paradigm is so flawed:
1. ACCUMULATION OF PERSISTENT POLLUTANTS
Risk-based approaches assume that nature and living things can absorb and assimilate synthetic chemicals, breaking them down and digesting them. This may be true for sewage, oil, and other naturally occurring substances. But persistent organic pollutants (POPs) like pesticides, solvents, refrigerants, etc. often resist natural breakdown and can persist for years, decades or centuries. (See Rachel's #284, #505, #611.)
Many POPs and metallic pollutants are fat-soluble and thus bioaccumulate as they move up the food chain. Top predators like humans, bears, and big fish can accumulate chemical concentrations that are tens of millions of times greater than typical environmental levels.
Persistence and bioaccumulation mean that even very small discharges of synthetic chemicals can build up to dangerous levels in our bodies over time. The general public's average body burden for some of the best studied pollutants is already at or near the range at which health impacts have been found in laboratory animals.[5] To avoid this problem, we can declare that there is no level of acceptable discharge for chemicals that persist or magnify in the food chain -- in other words, we can adopt a zero-discharge policy.
2. CUMULATIVE GLOBAL POLLUTION
Numerical risk assessment oversimplifies the real world and considers environmental risks to be local in time and space. Once a chemical disperses beyond some horizon, it is assumed to do no further harm. So industry is encouraged to dot the landscape with sources of pollution that collectively begin to overwhelm the biosphere but which are individually within acceptable limits. As a result the entire planet has become polluted.
3. TOXICOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY
The science of numerical risk assessment is based on the premise that we can calculate a chemical's impact on the health of living things. Risk assessors do this by measuring the toxicity of individual chemicals on individual species -- usually rats, mice and other small mammals. There are at least 70,000 synthetic chemicals being used in commerce today (up from 40,000 in 1991). Risk assessment considers the toxicity of an individual pollutant acting alone -- when in reality each chemical is acting in concert with a myriad of other chemicals in the environment.
This poses a huge problem -- studying multiple chemical exposures is very costly and time-consuming. It would require 33 million experiments just to learn something about the effects of 25 different chemicals on a single species over a short period of time (13 weeks). A similar study of just 1% of the 70,000 chemicals in commerce would require 10E210 experiments (that is, 10 with 210 zeroes behind it). Trillions upon trillions upon trillions of experiments -- you can see that science as we know it is not prepared to tackle this problem. On the other hand, the risk-assessment solution is easy: Just ignore multiple chemical exposures.
4. INADEQUATE DATA
Industry's capacity for inventing new chemicals has overwhelmed the regulatory system's ability to study their potential harms. The chemical industry is introducing at least 1700 new chemicals into commerce each year.[4] The U.S. National Toxicology Program conducts assessments on just 10 to 20 substances per year. At this rate we are falling at least 90 years behind in our knowledge each year that passes. A study by the National Research Council in 1997 concluded that we lack even minimal toxicity information for 70% of the most worrisome chemicals -- those that are manufactured in high volume and are already suspected of harming the environment.
The risk-assessment solution: If you don't have data on the toxicity of a substance, assume the risk is ZERO. Just ignore the problem. Here, reverse onus plays an important role in putting the burden of proof on industry to collect and reveal data on new chemicals prior to their general release or manufacture.
5. FORMATION OF CHEMICAL MIXTURES AND BYPRODUCTS
The nature of industrial chemistry is messy. When you mix chemicals under diverse industrial circumstances you inevitably produce new and unexpected byproducts. Joe Thornton gives three examples of how we are flying blind:
a) Paper manufacturing. The effluent from pulp mills contain over 300 organochlorine byproducts; including dioxins, furans, phenols, benzenes, thiophenes, methyl-sulfones, methanes, ethanes, acids and PCBs. We have only identified 3 to 10% of the organically bound chlorine in pulp effluent. In other words, we are 90-97% ignorant of what is coming out of the pipe.
b) Incineration. Incinerator emissions are estimated to contain over 1,000 products of incomplete combustion (complete combustion would reduce the fuel to carbon dioxide and water). Yet we have identified only 40-60% of these chemical effluents.
c) Pesticide manufacture. Byproducts account for almost 20% of DDT manufacture by weight. Many of these byproducts have never even been identified.
We don't know the names, structures or toxicity of many of the chemical byproducts formed in industrial processes. Even though we phased out purposeful manufacture of PCBs they -- and dioxins, an unwanted byproduct -- are still being introduced into the environment as side-effects of chlorine chemistry. To prevent global contamination with dioxin, we would need to phase out the whole class of organochlorines.
6. POLLUTION CONTROL AND DISPOSAL
End-of-pipe pollution control and disposal technologies do little to prevent global environmental contamination. If you manufacture a substance that breaks down slowly and tends to accumulate in living things, it will eventually spread throughout the living world. Scrubbers, filters, precipitators, incinerators, and landfills are all just ways of temporarily moving a substance from one location or form to another (a shell-game). In the end, everything that persists will disperse into the air, water, land and living things and people will be affected. Landfills leak, incinerators generate toxic ash and gas, and even the best pollution controls are never 100% effective.
Thornton helps us realize that we are foolish to try to control chemicals with the end-of-the-pipe risk-assessment approach. Instead, we can use the precautionary principle and acknowledge that:
a) Some chemicals don't belong in the environment (zero discharge) and are best regulated away as entire classes of compounds;
b) With the right combination of carrots and sticks as motivation, industry can find clean technologies (clean production); and
c) The burden of proof (aka "reverse onus") can be placed on the industries that want to introduce new chemicals -- to show that they have done their best to understand the consequences of their actions -- thus motivating them to innovate and develop clean technologies. No data? No market.
* Tim Montague is Associate Director of Environmental Research Foundation. He holds an M.S. degree in ecology from University of Wisconsin-Madison and lives in Chicago.
[1] http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2005/gs050530.4.html
[2] See
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2005/gs050530.7.html and
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2005/gs050420.13.html and
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2003/gs030108.7.html and
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2004/gs040302.13.html
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2002/gs020730.7.html
[3] http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2003/gs030108.7.html
[4] See
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2004/pma/newchemicals.xls
and http://archive.gao.gov/t2pbat3/151661.pdf
[5] Joe Thornton, "Beyond Risk: An Ecological Paradigm to Prevent Global Chemical Pollution" INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Vol. 6 (2000) pgs. 318-330. Available at
http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=536 And see Rachel's #704, which reviews Thornton's book, Pandora's Poison.
[6] International Joint Commission. FIFTH BIENNIAL REPORT ON GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY. Windsor, ON, Canada, 1990. Available here: http://www.ijc.org/php/publications/pdf/ID603.pdf
[7] Mary O'Brien, MAKING BETTER ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS; AN ALTERNATIVE TO RISK ASSESSMENT (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000). ISBN: 0262650533
RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH NEWS
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 160
New Brunswick, N.J. 08903
Fax (732) 791-4603; E-mail: erf@rachel.org
Starmail - 25. Jun, 22:39
The Downing Street Fixation
http://www.counterpunch.org/mcgovern06242005.html
Informant: Carol Moore
From: ufpj-news
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo
Informant: Carol Moore
From: ufpj-news
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo
Starmail - 25. Jun, 22:13
World Tribunal on Iraq: 'The Most Cowardly War In History'
Starmail - 25. Jun, 22:09
EU-Umweltminister beharren auf Gentech-Importverboten
Erstmals fand sich eine qualifizierte Mehrheit und lehnte ein Aufweichen nationaler Regelungen durch die EU-Kommission ab.
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20393/1.html
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20393/1.html
Starmail - 25. Jun, 22:05
Omega-News 25. Juni 2005
Schily hat's mal wieder eilig: Deutsche preschen bei Biometrie-Pass vor
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/787698/
Greenpeace: Genmais kann gesundheitsschädlich sein
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/787406/
Deutscher Papiergroßhandel ist mitverantwortlich für Umweltzerstörung
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/789360/
"Wissenschaftlicher" Walfang tötet 8.000 Wale
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/786393/
Unterlagen über Gen-Mais-Fütterungsversuche veröffentlicht
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/786376/
Massive Holzeinschläge in Hessens Wäldern empören Naturschützer
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/780248/
Armut durch Klopapier und "Tempo"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/775883/
Trinkwasser in Gefahr?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/775887/
King George Forever?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/774062/
Pachtland ohne Gentechnik - Den Anbau von Gen-Mais verhindern
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/761577/
Walfang - Proteste in Neuseeland
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/765601/
Was kostet ein Abschied von Rot-Grün?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/757232/
Angela Merkel will die Energiewende bremsen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/757231/
Bei Wahlsieg der Union: Tiefe Einschnitte ins Sozialsystem
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/758095/
Die tödlichen Schwächen des atomar-fosilen Energiesystems
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/757234/
CDU/CSU will auch Agrarwende rückwärts - Schwarze Zeiten für die grüne Landwirtschaft
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/757235/
Organschäden bei Testratten: Untersuchung zu Risiken von Gen-Mais zur Veröffentlichung freigegeben
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/755518/
Papierindustrie soll Menschenrechte achten und Urwälder schützen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/755520/
Die Bush-Regierung ohne Plan für den Irak nach dem Krieg
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/758606/
Auch Bush und Cheney stehen nicht über dem Gesetz
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/755523/
Zerstörung der Unterwasserwelt: Protest gegen Grundschleppfischerei im Atlantik
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/750665/
Walschutz: WWF-Studie ermittelt die am stärksten durch Beifang bedrohten Kleinwale
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/753017/
Alternativen zur zerstörerischen Papierherstellung
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/750655/
Naturraubbau am Amazonas
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/750680/
Die Überwachungsmafia: Wie Kühe mit Ohrmarke in den Überwachungsstaat
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/749254/
Erschreckendes Ausmaß der Umweltzerstörung
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/744817/
Angestellte an der elektronischen Leine
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/747823/
Warnung vor Überwachungswahn
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/747811/
Milliarden Dollar gegen Terror statt gegen Hunger
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/741322/
Klare Botschaft für ein sozialeres Europa
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/741325/
Kahlschlag im Tropenwald
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/741327/
Jede fünfte Vogelart gefährdet
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/741319/
Bundes-Verbraucherschutzverband fordert generelles Verbot von Genmaissorte
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/739327/
Weitere Abu Ghraib-Bilder müssen nach Gerichtsurteil vom Pentagon freigegeben werden
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/742452/
Datenschützer kritisieren Biometrie-Pässe ab November als "Großversuch"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/737247/
Hinter der Theaterbühne
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/731826/
Töpfer: "Ökologische Zerstörung ist ökonomischer Selbstmord"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/725313/
Greenpeace warnt vor Waldsterben
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/726696/
Menschenrechtsverletzungen mit Vorbildcharakter
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/723663/
Für deutsche Bauern gibt es von Züchtern keine Garantie mehr auf gentech-freies Maissaatgut
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/723667/
Die Politik der Bush-Regierung hat für eine Verbreitung von nuklearen Massenvernichtungsmitteln gesorgt
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/716383/
Über Geschichte, Ziele und Kritik der Pentagon-Filmarbeit
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/716401/
100.000 Tote für einen Haufen Lügen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/706761/
136 US-Bürgermeister für Kyoto-Protokoll
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/709474/
Forderungen an Shell und die Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung: "Keine neue Ölbohrinsel vor Sachalin" - "Kein Geld für das Töten von Walen"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/713600/
Artenschützer werfen Walfängern systematische Zahlen-Manipulation vor
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/716277/
UNEP-Bericht: Artenvielfalt schwindet schneller
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/713621/
Genveränderte Maissorte unter Verdacht
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/713522/
China lässt kahl schlagen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/709478/
Ölausbeutung in Sachalin bedroht Grauwale
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/707038/
Kahlschlag in Brasilien: Waldfläche so groß wie die halbe Schweiz wird pro Jahr abgeholzt
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/704241/
EU erlaubt mehr gefährliche Pestizide in Lebensmitteln
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/704246/
Wer plant Gentechnik mit Pockenviren?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/704329/
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/787698/
Greenpeace: Genmais kann gesundheitsschädlich sein
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/787406/
Deutscher Papiergroßhandel ist mitverantwortlich für Umweltzerstörung
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/789360/
"Wissenschaftlicher" Walfang tötet 8.000 Wale
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/786393/
Unterlagen über Gen-Mais-Fütterungsversuche veröffentlicht
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/786376/
Massive Holzeinschläge in Hessens Wäldern empören Naturschützer
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/780248/
Armut durch Klopapier und "Tempo"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/775883/
Trinkwasser in Gefahr?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/775887/
King George Forever?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/774062/
Pachtland ohne Gentechnik - Den Anbau von Gen-Mais verhindern
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/761577/
Walfang - Proteste in Neuseeland
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/765601/
Was kostet ein Abschied von Rot-Grün?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/757232/
Angela Merkel will die Energiewende bremsen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/757231/
Bei Wahlsieg der Union: Tiefe Einschnitte ins Sozialsystem
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/758095/
Die tödlichen Schwächen des atomar-fosilen Energiesystems
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/757234/
CDU/CSU will auch Agrarwende rückwärts - Schwarze Zeiten für die grüne Landwirtschaft
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/757235/
Organschäden bei Testratten: Untersuchung zu Risiken von Gen-Mais zur Veröffentlichung freigegeben
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/755518/
Papierindustrie soll Menschenrechte achten und Urwälder schützen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/755520/
Die Bush-Regierung ohne Plan für den Irak nach dem Krieg
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/758606/
Auch Bush und Cheney stehen nicht über dem Gesetz
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/755523/
Zerstörung der Unterwasserwelt: Protest gegen Grundschleppfischerei im Atlantik
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/750665/
Walschutz: WWF-Studie ermittelt die am stärksten durch Beifang bedrohten Kleinwale
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/753017/
Alternativen zur zerstörerischen Papierherstellung
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/750655/
Naturraubbau am Amazonas
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/750680/
Die Überwachungsmafia: Wie Kühe mit Ohrmarke in den Überwachungsstaat
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/749254/
Erschreckendes Ausmaß der Umweltzerstörung
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/744817/
Angestellte an der elektronischen Leine
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/747823/
Warnung vor Überwachungswahn
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/747811/
Milliarden Dollar gegen Terror statt gegen Hunger
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/741322/
Klare Botschaft für ein sozialeres Europa
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/741325/
Kahlschlag im Tropenwald
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/741327/
Jede fünfte Vogelart gefährdet
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/741319/
Bundes-Verbraucherschutzverband fordert generelles Verbot von Genmaissorte
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/739327/
Weitere Abu Ghraib-Bilder müssen nach Gerichtsurteil vom Pentagon freigegeben werden
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/742452/
Datenschützer kritisieren Biometrie-Pässe ab November als "Großversuch"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/737247/
Hinter der Theaterbühne
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/731826/
Töpfer: "Ökologische Zerstörung ist ökonomischer Selbstmord"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/725313/
Greenpeace warnt vor Waldsterben
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/726696/
Menschenrechtsverletzungen mit Vorbildcharakter
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/723663/
Für deutsche Bauern gibt es von Züchtern keine Garantie mehr auf gentech-freies Maissaatgut
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/723667/
Die Politik der Bush-Regierung hat für eine Verbreitung von nuklearen Massenvernichtungsmitteln gesorgt
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/716383/
Über Geschichte, Ziele und Kritik der Pentagon-Filmarbeit
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/716401/
100.000 Tote für einen Haufen Lügen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/706761/
136 US-Bürgermeister für Kyoto-Protokoll
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/709474/
Forderungen an Shell und die Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung: "Keine neue Ölbohrinsel vor Sachalin" - "Kein Geld für das Töten von Walen"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/713600/
Artenschützer werfen Walfängern systematische Zahlen-Manipulation vor
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/716277/
UNEP-Bericht: Artenvielfalt schwindet schneller
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/713621/
Genveränderte Maissorte unter Verdacht
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/713522/
China lässt kahl schlagen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/709478/
Ölausbeutung in Sachalin bedroht Grauwale
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/707038/
Kahlschlag in Brasilien: Waldfläche so groß wie die halbe Schweiz wird pro Jahr abgeholzt
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/704241/
EU erlaubt mehr gefährliche Pestizide in Lebensmitteln
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/704246/
Wer plant Gentechnik mit Pockenviren?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/704329/
Starmail - 25. Jun, 21:56
KERRY, DEMS DEMAND DOWNING STREET INQUIRY
Salon
June 24, 2005
http://tinyurl.com/chatg
A few weeks ago, John Kerry vowed to make an issue of the Downing Street memo in the U.S. Senate. And then nothing happened -- or so it seemed.
In fact, Kerry has been working behind the scenes to get some of his Democratic colleagues to join him in calling for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to look into Downing Street, and now it's finally happening. Kerry -- joined by Sens. Jon Corzine, Tim Johnson, Ted Kennnedy, Frank Lautenberg, Barbara Boxer, Tom Harkin, Jack Reed, Jeff Bingaman and, yes, Dick Durbin -- has just written a letter to the committee's chairman and vice chairman, arguing that the revelations contained in the Downing Street memo "raise troubling questions about the use of intelligence" in the run up to the Iraq war and provide "renewed urgency" for the committee to complete an investigation that Republicans have said is no longer necessary.
DOWNING STREET UPDATE
by Larisa Alexandrovna
Raw Story
June 24, 2005
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2005/kerry_downing_street_letter_624.htm
Senator Kerry (D - MA) sends letter to Senate Intelligence Committee pressing for answers on the Downing Street Memo and other Downing documents.
The letter leaked to Raw Story, is also signed by Senators Johnson, Corzine, Reed, Lautenberg, Boxer, Kennedy, Harkin, Bingaman, and Durbin. The text of the letter is below.
June 22, 2005
The Honorable Pat Roberts, Chairman
The Honorable John D. Rockefeller, IV, Vice Chairman
United States Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence
SH-211
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Roberts and Senator Rockefeller:
We write concerning your committee's vital examination of pre-war Iraq intelligence failures. In particular, we urge you to accelerate to completion the work of the so-called "Phase II" effort to assess how policy makers used the intelligence they received.
Last year your committee completed the first phase of a two-phased effort to review the pre-war intelligence on Iraq. Phase I-begun in the summer of 2003 and completed in the summer of 2004 -- examined the performance of the American intelligence community in the collection and analysis of intelligence prior to the war, including an examination of the quantity and quality of U.S. intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the intelligence on ties between Saddam Hussein's regime and terrorist groups. At the conclusion of Phase I, your committee issued an unclassified report that made an important contribution to the American public's understanding of the issues involved.
In February 2004 -- well over a year ago -- the committee agreed to expand the scope of inquiry to include a second phase which would examine the use of intelligence by policy makers, the comparison of pre-war assessments and post-war findings, the activities of the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group (PCTEG) and the Office of Special Plans in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and the use of information provided by the Iraqi National Congress.
The committee's efforts have taken on renewed urgency given recent revelations in the United Kingdom regarding the apparent minutes of a July 23, 2002, meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and his senior national security advisors. These minutes -- known as the "Downing Street Memo" -- raise troubling questions about the use of intelligence by American policy makers-questions that your committee is uniquely situated to address.
The memo indicates that in the summer of 2002, at a time the White House was promising Congress and the American people that war would be their last resort, that they believed military action against Iraq was "inevitable."
The minutes reveal that President "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
The American people took the warnings that the administration sounded seriously-warnings that were echoed at the United Nations and here in Congress as we voted to give the president the authority to go to war. For the sake of our democracy and our future national security, the public must know whether such warnings were driven by facts and responsible intelligence, or by political calculation.
These issues need to be addressed with urgency. This remains a dangerous world, with American forces engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other challenges looming in Iran and North Korea. In this environment, the American public should have the highest confidence that policy makers are using intelligence objectively-never manipulating it to justify war, but always to protect the United States. The contents of the Downing Street Memo undermine this faith and only rigorous Congressional oversight can determine the truth.
We urge the committee to complete the second phase of its investigation with the maximum speed and transparency possible, producing, as it did at the end of Phase I, a comprehensive, unclassified report from which the American people can benefit directly.
CHENEY SAYS DOWNING STREET MEMO IS WRONG
The Drudge Report
June 24, 2005
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash2.htm
Vice President Dick Cheney was asked on CNN about the 'Downing Street memo' which said the Bush Administration had decided to go to war with Iraq and the intelligence would be fixed around that policy.
Asked if he disputes the memo's claim, Cheney said, "Of course. The memo was written sometime prior to when we actually got involved in Iraq.
"And remember what happened after the supposed memo was written. We went to the United Nations. We got a unanimous vote out of the Security Council for a resolution calling on Saddam Hussein to come clean and comply with the UN Security Council resolution. We did everything we could to resolve this without having to use military force. We gave him one last chance even, and asked him to step down before we launched military operations.
"The memo is just wrong. In fact, the president of the United States took advantage of every possibility to try to resolve this without having to use military force. It wasn't possible in this case. I am convinced we did absolutely the right thing. I am convinced that history will bear that out."
Informant: NHNE
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo
June 24, 2005
http://tinyurl.com/chatg
A few weeks ago, John Kerry vowed to make an issue of the Downing Street memo in the U.S. Senate. And then nothing happened -- or so it seemed.
In fact, Kerry has been working behind the scenes to get some of his Democratic colleagues to join him in calling for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to look into Downing Street, and now it's finally happening. Kerry -- joined by Sens. Jon Corzine, Tim Johnson, Ted Kennnedy, Frank Lautenberg, Barbara Boxer, Tom Harkin, Jack Reed, Jeff Bingaman and, yes, Dick Durbin -- has just written a letter to the committee's chairman and vice chairman, arguing that the revelations contained in the Downing Street memo "raise troubling questions about the use of intelligence" in the run up to the Iraq war and provide "renewed urgency" for the committee to complete an investigation that Republicans have said is no longer necessary.
DOWNING STREET UPDATE
by Larisa Alexandrovna
Raw Story
June 24, 2005
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2005/kerry_downing_street_letter_624.htm
Senator Kerry (D - MA) sends letter to Senate Intelligence Committee pressing for answers on the Downing Street Memo and other Downing documents.
The letter leaked to Raw Story, is also signed by Senators Johnson, Corzine, Reed, Lautenberg, Boxer, Kennedy, Harkin, Bingaman, and Durbin. The text of the letter is below.
June 22, 2005
The Honorable Pat Roberts, Chairman
The Honorable John D. Rockefeller, IV, Vice Chairman
United States Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence
SH-211
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Roberts and Senator Rockefeller:
We write concerning your committee's vital examination of pre-war Iraq intelligence failures. In particular, we urge you to accelerate to completion the work of the so-called "Phase II" effort to assess how policy makers used the intelligence they received.
Last year your committee completed the first phase of a two-phased effort to review the pre-war intelligence on Iraq. Phase I-begun in the summer of 2003 and completed in the summer of 2004 -- examined the performance of the American intelligence community in the collection and analysis of intelligence prior to the war, including an examination of the quantity and quality of U.S. intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the intelligence on ties between Saddam Hussein's regime and terrorist groups. At the conclusion of Phase I, your committee issued an unclassified report that made an important contribution to the American public's understanding of the issues involved.
In February 2004 -- well over a year ago -- the committee agreed to expand the scope of inquiry to include a second phase which would examine the use of intelligence by policy makers, the comparison of pre-war assessments and post-war findings, the activities of the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group (PCTEG) and the Office of Special Plans in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and the use of information provided by the Iraqi National Congress.
The committee's efforts have taken on renewed urgency given recent revelations in the United Kingdom regarding the apparent minutes of a July 23, 2002, meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and his senior national security advisors. These minutes -- known as the "Downing Street Memo" -- raise troubling questions about the use of intelligence by American policy makers-questions that your committee is uniquely situated to address.
The memo indicates that in the summer of 2002, at a time the White House was promising Congress and the American people that war would be their last resort, that they believed military action against Iraq was "inevitable."
The minutes reveal that President "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
The American people took the warnings that the administration sounded seriously-warnings that were echoed at the United Nations and here in Congress as we voted to give the president the authority to go to war. For the sake of our democracy and our future national security, the public must know whether such warnings were driven by facts and responsible intelligence, or by political calculation.
These issues need to be addressed with urgency. This remains a dangerous world, with American forces engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other challenges looming in Iran and North Korea. In this environment, the American public should have the highest confidence that policy makers are using intelligence objectively-never manipulating it to justify war, but always to protect the United States. The contents of the Downing Street Memo undermine this faith and only rigorous Congressional oversight can determine the truth.
We urge the committee to complete the second phase of its investigation with the maximum speed and transparency possible, producing, as it did at the end of Phase I, a comprehensive, unclassified report from which the American people can benefit directly.
CHENEY SAYS DOWNING STREET MEMO IS WRONG
The Drudge Report
June 24, 2005
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash2.htm
Vice President Dick Cheney was asked on CNN about the 'Downing Street memo' which said the Bush Administration had decided to go to war with Iraq and the intelligence would be fixed around that policy.
Asked if he disputes the memo's claim, Cheney said, "Of course. The memo was written sometime prior to when we actually got involved in Iraq.
"And remember what happened after the supposed memo was written. We went to the United Nations. We got a unanimous vote out of the Security Council for a resolution calling on Saddam Hussein to come clean and comply with the UN Security Council resolution. We did everything we could to resolve this without having to use military force. We gave him one last chance even, and asked him to step down before we launched military operations.
"The memo is just wrong. In fact, the president of the United States took advantage of every possibility to try to resolve this without having to use military force. It wasn't possible in this case. I am convinced we did absolutely the right thing. I am convinced that history will bear that out."
Informant: NHNE
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo
Starmail - 25. Jun, 16:35
America is leading the World to financial Ruin
Starmail - 25. Jun, 16:32
Sprengt die Handymasten!
Ein Kommentar
25. Juni 2005
Was einem Nichthandybesitzer derzeit so durch den Kopf geht
Da ich viel mit öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln unterwegs bin, kenne ich mittlerweile so viele Leute, dass ich das Gefühl habe, Teil einer riesigen, völlig durchgeknallten Familie zu sein. Ich weiß zum Beispiel, wo sich in Schurlis Kühlschrank das Gulasch befindet, ich weiß, welche Farbe das K... hatte, das Gabis Exfreund benutzte, als er mit Birgit v..., und ich weiß auch, dass der Typ, der eine Ausbildung zum Piloten macht, ein A... ist, weil er ständig für irgendwelche Prüfungen lernen muss, anstatt mit Iris auszugehen.
Geschichten, die täglich erzählt werden
Das ist nur ein winziger Bruchteil der Geschichten, die mir täglich erzählt werden. Egal, ob ich sie wissen will oder nicht. Die Leute erzählen und erzählen, und wenn sie nichts mehr zu erzählen haben, werden sie nervös, fummeln an ihren Handys herum, bis sie jemanden gefunden haben, dem sie wieder etwas erzählen können. Und ich bin immer dabei. Tagtäglich. Bis ich sterbe. Außer es werden alle Handymasten in die Luft gesprengt, oder es wird eine Steuer auf Handymasten eingeführt. Und dieser Tag könnte bald kommen - oder auch nicht.
Als hätte man gerade ihr letztes Handy gestohlen
An dem Tag jedenfalls, an dem die niederösterreichische Landesregierung die Handymastensteuer beschloss, habe ich mir die "Zeit im Bild" ohne Ton angesehen, weil ich gerade von meinem Festnetz aus telefonierte. Dabei ließ der Gesichtsausdruck einzelner Politiker zunächst befürchten, dass eine gröbere Katastrophe passiert wäre. Der Vizekanzler verdrehte die Augen, als hätte ihm sein Spezi aus Kärnten soeben mitgeteilt, dass es ab morgen eine neue Parteifarbe gäbe; auf der Stirn des Chefs der Industriellenvereinigung bildeten sich staatsmännische Falten, die an den Grand Canyon erinnerten, und ein paar Herren in fast identen Businessanzügen schnitten Grimassen, als hätte man ihnen gerade ihr letztes Handy gestohlen.
Steuer
Als ich wieder den Ton einschaltete, klärte sich alles auf: Diese Leute regten sich nicht über ein menschenunwürdiges Asylgesetz in Österreich auf, sie empörten sich nicht darüber, dass in diesem Land immer mehr Leute verarmen, sie waren nicht entsetzt über Politiker, die den Holocaust anzweifeln, nein, sie tobten, weil die niederösterreichische Landesregierung eine Steuer auf Handymasten einheben möchte.
In Österreich gibt es 18.000 Handymasten, die nicht nur die Gegend verschandeln, sondern mit an Sicherheit grenzender Wahrscheinlichkeit auch gesundheitsschädigend sind. Kann mir bitte jemand erklären, was dagegen spricht, diese Masten massiv zu besteuern? (Allerdings gebe ich gerne zu: Mit diesem Argument könnte man auch eine Hansi-Hinterseer-Steuer einführen - dazu ein andermal.)
Populismus
Aber diese Debatte zeigt wieder einmal auf eindrucksvolle Weise, wie tief das politische Niveau in diesem Land bereits gesunken ist. Weil sie wissen, dass ihr Populismus in diesem Fall auf fruchtbaren Boden fällt, ziehen bestimmte Politiker sämtliche Register ihres zweifelhaften Könnens und faseln etwas von "gefährdeter Grundversorgung", "eingeschränkter Mobilität" und "Angriff auf die Informationsgesellschaft".
"Geldbeschaffungsaktion"
Sehr oft hört man auch das Wort "Geldbeschaffungsaktion", die es strikte abzulehnen gelte. Wo waren diese Herren in den letzten fünf Jahren, als Dutzende Gesetze beschlossen wurden, die tatsächlich brutale Geldbeschaffungsaktionen waren und die an die Substanz Hunderttausender Österreicherinnen und Österreicher gingen? Wo waren sie, als die Studiengebühren eingeführt wurden? Wo waren sie, als die Pensionen gekürzt wurden?
Richtig, sie gehörten zu denjenigen, die diese Gesetze mitbeschlossen hatten. Und jetzt regen sie sich über ein Gesetz auf, das den multimillionenschweren Handybetreiberfirmen ein paar Millionen Euro pro Jahr kostet! Na und?
Lehrstück
Für alle, die wissen möchten, wie der Kapitalismus unserer Tage funktioniert, der soll sich dieses Spektakel genauer ansehen, das ein Lehrstück für die Mechanismen des Zusammenspiels zwischen Staat und Großkapital ist. Leider ist dieses Stück aber nicht lustig, weil darin ausschließlich Schmierenkomödianten mitspielen.
Und wie es ausgeht, wissen wir auch schon. Am Schluss werden die Zuschauer zur Kasse gebeten.(Der Standard Printausgabe, 25./26. Juni 2005, Kurt Palm)
Kurt Palm lebt als handyloser Autor und Regisseur in Wien. Zuletzt kam sein Film "Der Wadenmesser oder Das wilde Leben des Wolfgang Mozart" in die heimischen Kinos.
http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=2091400
Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim
25. Juni 2005
Was einem Nichthandybesitzer derzeit so durch den Kopf geht
Da ich viel mit öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln unterwegs bin, kenne ich mittlerweile so viele Leute, dass ich das Gefühl habe, Teil einer riesigen, völlig durchgeknallten Familie zu sein. Ich weiß zum Beispiel, wo sich in Schurlis Kühlschrank das Gulasch befindet, ich weiß, welche Farbe das K... hatte, das Gabis Exfreund benutzte, als er mit Birgit v..., und ich weiß auch, dass der Typ, der eine Ausbildung zum Piloten macht, ein A... ist, weil er ständig für irgendwelche Prüfungen lernen muss, anstatt mit Iris auszugehen.
Geschichten, die täglich erzählt werden
Das ist nur ein winziger Bruchteil der Geschichten, die mir täglich erzählt werden. Egal, ob ich sie wissen will oder nicht. Die Leute erzählen und erzählen, und wenn sie nichts mehr zu erzählen haben, werden sie nervös, fummeln an ihren Handys herum, bis sie jemanden gefunden haben, dem sie wieder etwas erzählen können. Und ich bin immer dabei. Tagtäglich. Bis ich sterbe. Außer es werden alle Handymasten in die Luft gesprengt, oder es wird eine Steuer auf Handymasten eingeführt. Und dieser Tag könnte bald kommen - oder auch nicht.
Als hätte man gerade ihr letztes Handy gestohlen
An dem Tag jedenfalls, an dem die niederösterreichische Landesregierung die Handymastensteuer beschloss, habe ich mir die "Zeit im Bild" ohne Ton angesehen, weil ich gerade von meinem Festnetz aus telefonierte. Dabei ließ der Gesichtsausdruck einzelner Politiker zunächst befürchten, dass eine gröbere Katastrophe passiert wäre. Der Vizekanzler verdrehte die Augen, als hätte ihm sein Spezi aus Kärnten soeben mitgeteilt, dass es ab morgen eine neue Parteifarbe gäbe; auf der Stirn des Chefs der Industriellenvereinigung bildeten sich staatsmännische Falten, die an den Grand Canyon erinnerten, und ein paar Herren in fast identen Businessanzügen schnitten Grimassen, als hätte man ihnen gerade ihr letztes Handy gestohlen.
Steuer
Als ich wieder den Ton einschaltete, klärte sich alles auf: Diese Leute regten sich nicht über ein menschenunwürdiges Asylgesetz in Österreich auf, sie empörten sich nicht darüber, dass in diesem Land immer mehr Leute verarmen, sie waren nicht entsetzt über Politiker, die den Holocaust anzweifeln, nein, sie tobten, weil die niederösterreichische Landesregierung eine Steuer auf Handymasten einheben möchte.
In Österreich gibt es 18.000 Handymasten, die nicht nur die Gegend verschandeln, sondern mit an Sicherheit grenzender Wahrscheinlichkeit auch gesundheitsschädigend sind. Kann mir bitte jemand erklären, was dagegen spricht, diese Masten massiv zu besteuern? (Allerdings gebe ich gerne zu: Mit diesem Argument könnte man auch eine Hansi-Hinterseer-Steuer einführen - dazu ein andermal.)
Populismus
Aber diese Debatte zeigt wieder einmal auf eindrucksvolle Weise, wie tief das politische Niveau in diesem Land bereits gesunken ist. Weil sie wissen, dass ihr Populismus in diesem Fall auf fruchtbaren Boden fällt, ziehen bestimmte Politiker sämtliche Register ihres zweifelhaften Könnens und faseln etwas von "gefährdeter Grundversorgung", "eingeschränkter Mobilität" und "Angriff auf die Informationsgesellschaft".
"Geldbeschaffungsaktion"
Sehr oft hört man auch das Wort "Geldbeschaffungsaktion", die es strikte abzulehnen gelte. Wo waren diese Herren in den letzten fünf Jahren, als Dutzende Gesetze beschlossen wurden, die tatsächlich brutale Geldbeschaffungsaktionen waren und die an die Substanz Hunderttausender Österreicherinnen und Österreicher gingen? Wo waren sie, als die Studiengebühren eingeführt wurden? Wo waren sie, als die Pensionen gekürzt wurden?
Richtig, sie gehörten zu denjenigen, die diese Gesetze mitbeschlossen hatten. Und jetzt regen sie sich über ein Gesetz auf, das den multimillionenschweren Handybetreiberfirmen ein paar Millionen Euro pro Jahr kostet! Na und?
Lehrstück
Für alle, die wissen möchten, wie der Kapitalismus unserer Tage funktioniert, der soll sich dieses Spektakel genauer ansehen, das ein Lehrstück für die Mechanismen des Zusammenspiels zwischen Staat und Großkapital ist. Leider ist dieses Stück aber nicht lustig, weil darin ausschließlich Schmierenkomödianten mitspielen.
Und wie es ausgeht, wissen wir auch schon. Am Schluss werden die Zuschauer zur Kasse gebeten.(Der Standard Printausgabe, 25./26. Juni 2005, Kurt Palm)
Kurt Palm lebt als handyloser Autor und Regisseur in Wien. Zuletzt kam sein Film "Der Wadenmesser oder Das wilde Leben des Wolfgang Mozart" in die heimischen Kinos.
http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=2091400
Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim
Starmail - 25. Jun, 15:52
Omega-News Collection 25. June 2005
We are Killing the Planet: That is Not an Exaggeration
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792347/
CLIMATE EXPERT PREDICTS STRONGER, WETTER STORMS
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/781315/
Californians fear 'Big One' after four quakes
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/776404/
Rising temperatures bring threat of new diseases
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/785247/
How Warming Is Changing the Wild Kingdom
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/786899/
US Biotech Firm sees FDA Approving Cloned Meat
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/790091/
Fight looms over state biomonitoring efforts: Industry opposes measuring contaminants in humans
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/782585/
Transgenic Trees Pose Risks for Natural Foresters
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/788078/
Food agency accused of Stalinist tactics over GM maize cover-up
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/780309/
Protect our Marine Mammals: Reject Seismic Testing
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/782070/
STOP JAPAN'S DESPICABLE VOTE BUYING
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/780889/
Stop Japan From Ending the Humpback’s Song Forever: Save Humpback Whales
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/783411/
Staring at Extinction: Mountain Caribou in British Columbia
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792000/
The last of Canada's rainforests are at risk
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792010/
Help save B.C.'s Great Bear Rainforest
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792297/
Vote USA 2004
http://omega.twoday.net/to
Iraq War
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Irak-Krieg/
Is Iran next?
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next
Tsunami
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Tsunami/
RFID
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/RFID/
EMF-Omega-News 25. June 2005
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/793111/
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792347/
CLIMATE EXPERT PREDICTS STRONGER, WETTER STORMS
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/781315/
Californians fear 'Big One' after four quakes
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/776404/
Rising temperatures bring threat of new diseases
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/785247/
How Warming Is Changing the Wild Kingdom
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/786899/
US Biotech Firm sees FDA Approving Cloned Meat
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/790091/
Fight looms over state biomonitoring efforts: Industry opposes measuring contaminants in humans
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/782585/
Transgenic Trees Pose Risks for Natural Foresters
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/788078/
Food agency accused of Stalinist tactics over GM maize cover-up
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/780309/
Protect our Marine Mammals: Reject Seismic Testing
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/782070/
STOP JAPAN'S DESPICABLE VOTE BUYING
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/780889/
Stop Japan From Ending the Humpback’s Song Forever: Save Humpback Whales
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/783411/
Staring at Extinction: Mountain Caribou in British Columbia
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792000/
The last of Canada's rainforests are at risk
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792010/
Help save B.C.'s Great Bear Rainforest
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792297/
Vote USA 2004
http://omega.twoday.net/to
Iraq War
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Irak-Krieg/
Is Iran next?
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next
Tsunami
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Tsunami/
RFID
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/RFID/
EMF-Omega-News 25. June 2005
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/793111/
Starmail - 25. Jun, 14:37
EMF-Omega-News 25. June 2005
Study finds association between benign brain tumor, analog phone use
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792696/
Spanish study and Austrian, no replication but refutation, only ignored
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792859/
Cellphone health lawsuit to go ahead
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/777288/
Mast plan raises child cancer fear
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/779201/
THE CASES OF BURRIANA CANCER HAVE BEEN THE DETONATING OF THIS EFFECT DOMINATED IN CASTELLÓN
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792787/
Coltan Mining: No Blood On My Mobile
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/781281/
ASL: European ENQUIRY - Présentation Enquête Nationale
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/782145/
ASL Infos: Daily report for French people
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/780209/
Phone masts shock for county
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/776613/
Mast protesters seek bats' probe
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/776606/
The ecologists accuse the employer's association to cause a unjustified alarm
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/778420/
County blocks bid to buy phone mast land
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/779182/
Protestors’ delight at mast fight win
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/782079/
Mast protesters win their battle
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/784128/
Masts making us ill
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/784153/
Council will fight phone mast laws
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/784188/
Round two in mast fight to residents
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/784405/
Raising kids with conscience
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/785757/
Stunell continues fight for Mobile Phone Mast Controls
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/787659/
Phone mast site options thrown out
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791604/
TOWN COUNCIL DIVIDED BY PHONE MAST PLANS
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791632/
Call to halt mobile mast plan
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791669/
Don't ignore mast concerns
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791684/
Seeing red over Orange
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791698/
Mast joy soured
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791724/
Endocrine Disruptors & Precautionary Principle - Research Scientists' Statement
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791498/
Qld. Planning & Environmental Court sets 4 mG level
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791615/
Residents want more communication from phone giant
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791873/
Lowhill mast is a high talking point
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791885/
Anger as mast gets green light
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791893/
Mast plans defeated after parents voice safety fears
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791940/
Joy as mast plan is scrapped
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791951/
Colourful opposition to Orange
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791959/
Childhood cancer and powerlines
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792831/
Magenta News from Mast Network
http://tinyurl.com/4pe6m
Omega-News Collection 25. June 2005
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/793113/
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792696/
Spanish study and Austrian, no replication but refutation, only ignored
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792859/
Cellphone health lawsuit to go ahead
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/777288/
Mast plan raises child cancer fear
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/779201/
THE CASES OF BURRIANA CANCER HAVE BEEN THE DETONATING OF THIS EFFECT DOMINATED IN CASTELLÓN
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792787/
Coltan Mining: No Blood On My Mobile
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/781281/
ASL: European ENQUIRY - Présentation Enquête Nationale
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/782145/
ASL Infos: Daily report for French people
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/780209/
Phone masts shock for county
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/776613/
Mast protesters seek bats' probe
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/776606/
The ecologists accuse the employer's association to cause a unjustified alarm
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/778420/
County blocks bid to buy phone mast land
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/779182/
Protestors’ delight at mast fight win
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/782079/
Mast protesters win their battle
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/784128/
Masts making us ill
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/784153/
Council will fight phone mast laws
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/784188/
Round two in mast fight to residents
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/784405/
Raising kids with conscience
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/785757/
Stunell continues fight for Mobile Phone Mast Controls
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/787659/
Phone mast site options thrown out
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791604/
TOWN COUNCIL DIVIDED BY PHONE MAST PLANS
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791632/
Call to halt mobile mast plan
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791669/
Don't ignore mast concerns
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791684/
Seeing red over Orange
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791698/
Mast joy soured
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791724/
Endocrine Disruptors & Precautionary Principle - Research Scientists' Statement
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791498/
Qld. Planning & Environmental Court sets 4 mG level
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791615/
Residents want more communication from phone giant
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791873/
Lowhill mast is a high talking point
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791885/
Anger as mast gets green light
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791893/
Mast plans defeated after parents voice safety fears
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791940/
Joy as mast plan is scrapped
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791951/
Colourful opposition to Orange
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/791959/
Childhood cancer and powerlines
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792831/
Magenta News from Mast Network
http://tinyurl.com/4pe6m
Omega-News Collection 25. June 2005
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/793113/
Starmail - 25. Jun, 14:35
MONDEX: Jeder soll markiert werden
MONDEX= Money on your Hand
http://www.das-gibts-doch-nicht.de/pps/mondex_ge.pps
http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&biw=800&q=VeriChip+&btnG=Suche&meta=
http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&biw=800&q=Mondex-SmartCard&btnG=Suche&meta=
Informant: atlant
http://www.das-gibts-doch-nicht.de/pps/mondex_ge.pps
http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&biw=800&q=VeriChip+&btnG=Suche&meta=
http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&biw=800&q=Mondex-SmartCard&btnG=Suche&meta=
Informant: atlant
Starmail - 25. Jun, 14:18
The Acceptable Risk Calculator - Bush's new pro-America ice age
The Acceptable Risk Calculator
Here is something my son fell over in a Danish newspaper, checked out and mailed to me.
It really is worth checking out.
The YES men http://www.theyesmen.org are 2 guys who have made a documentary-film, where they pretend to represent big heartless corporations at industrial-seminars etc.
And they do a: "Identity correction" which they describe as:
"Honest people impersonate big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them. Targets are leaders and big corporations who put profits ahead of everything else."
They have invented an advanced joke in "the Acceptable Risk Calculator" which can tell corporations and governments if a project can get to be a "golden skeleton in the closet" based on risici involved, how many they expect will be killed and in which area the project will be launced in.
They use a a model the Bhopal catastrofe, but there are many similarities with the mobile communication industry bullies.
Specially read about their hilarious "Acceptable Risk Calculator" præsentation, during which they were applauded by a flock of corporate "yobs": http://www.dowethics.com/risk/launch.html
They have put the whole issue in a nutshell.
Best regards.
Agnes
http://www.mast-victims.org
--------
Agnes is right here, the WHO, not just WTO, weighs cost and benefit of risk, and decides money "benefits" or how many lives.
I'll add this page too as a good example of how desperate achieving common sense has become:
http://www.theyesmen.org/hijinks/iceage/index.shtml
Andy
Here is something my son fell over in a Danish newspaper, checked out and mailed to me.
It really is worth checking out.
The YES men http://www.theyesmen.org are 2 guys who have made a documentary-film, where they pretend to represent big heartless corporations at industrial-seminars etc.
And they do a: "Identity correction" which they describe as:
"Honest people impersonate big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them. Targets are leaders and big corporations who put profits ahead of everything else."
They have invented an advanced joke in "the Acceptable Risk Calculator" which can tell corporations and governments if a project can get to be a "golden skeleton in the closet" based on risici involved, how many they expect will be killed and in which area the project will be launced in.
They use a a model the Bhopal catastrofe, but there are many similarities with the mobile communication industry bullies.
Specially read about their hilarious "Acceptable Risk Calculator" præsentation, during which they were applauded by a flock of corporate "yobs": http://www.dowethics.com/risk/launch.html
They have put the whole issue in a nutshell.
Best regards.
Agnes
http://www.mast-victims.org
--------
Agnes is right here, the WHO, not just WTO, weighs cost and benefit of risk, and decides money "benefits" or how many lives.
I'll add this page too as a good example of how desperate achieving common sense has become:
http://www.theyesmen.org/hijinks/iceage/index.shtml
Andy
Starmail - 25. Jun, 11:51
Rulers, Real Rulers, and War
Starmail - 25. Jun, 11:42
FBI & 9/11
Over four years ago, more than four months prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks, in April 2001, a long-term FBI informant/asset who had been providing the bureau with information since 1990 provided two FBI agents and a translator with specific information regarding a terrorist attack being planned by Osama bin Laden. This asset/informant was previously a high-level intelligence officer in Iran in charge of intelligence from Afghanistan. Through his contacts in Afghanistan, he received information that...
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3714
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3714
Starmail - 25. Jun, 11:19
The War President
America's founders knew all too well how war appeals to the vanity of rulers and their thirst for glory. That's why they took care to deny presidents the kingly privilege of making war at their own discretion. But after 9/11 President Bush, with obvious relish, declared himself a "war president." And he kept the nation focused on martial matters by morphing the pursuit of Al Qaeda into a war against Saddam Hussein.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3707
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3707
Starmail - 25. Jun, 11:17
16 to 25: Pentagon Has Your Number, and More
The Defense Department and a private contractor have been building an extensive database of 30 million 16-to-25-year-olds, combining names with Social Security numbers, grade-point averages, e-mail addresses and phone numbers.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3705
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3705
Starmail - 25. Jun, 11:15
Childhood cancer and powerlines
http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/news/20050622_draper.asp
Informant: NoName
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Draper
Informant: NoName
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Draper
Starmail - 25. Jun, 11:13
THE CASES OF BURRIANA CANCER HAVE BEEN THE DETONATING OF THIS EFFECT DOMINATED IN CASTELLÓN
http://tinyurl.com/atehe
Informant: NoName
Cluster in Spain 2000-2004
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/466717/
Informant: NoName
Cluster in Spain 2000-2004
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/466717/
Starmail - 25. Jun, 10:17
Künstliche Wolken durch Kondensstreifen oder Sprühflüge?
Sonnenlichtvernebelung, Trockenheit, Temperatursenkungen, Stürme und Luftvergiftung durch Sprühflugzeuge?
http://www.chemtrails.at/
Informant: atlant
http://www.chemtrails.at/
Informant: atlant
Starmail - 25. Jun, 10:07
Bush Screwing Public TV & Radio
Starmail - 25. Jun, 08:22
Pass It On!
The Whispering Campaign is your chance to help accelerate the spread of information from the blogosphere to the rest of the country.
http://psstpsstpsst.blogspot.com/
http://psstpsstpsst.blogspot.com/
Starmail - 25. Jun, 07:53
US in dangerous game over India
The Bush Administration is trying to woo New Delhi into a close military and strategic relationship.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10332349
From Information Clearing House
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10332349
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 25. Jun, 07:49
Opposed to Military Draft Hit Record High
Gallup has found that Americans opposed the return of the military draft by overwhleming numbers, with 85% against it, the highest level ever.
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000967815
From Information Clearing House
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000967815
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 25. Jun, 07:47
Stunning list of recruiting abuses
Recruiters Sink to New Lows:
While the stunning list of recruiting abuses has received some needed media attention, it's worth reviewing the extremes to which the military has gone to fill its ranks.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=3705
From Information Clearing House
While the stunning list of recruiting abuses has received some needed media attention, it's worth reviewing the extremes to which the military has gone to fill its ranks.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=3705
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 25. Jun, 07:44
Dead recruit's father wages campaign against 'green card Marines'
Prospect of careers, citizenship not worth the danger, he warns
http://snipurl.com/f2k3
From Information Clearing House
http://snipurl.com/f2k3
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 25. Jun, 07:43
What Do the American People Know and When Did They Know It?
A profound sense of disappointment with the American people greeted me here in Istanbul where the final session of the World Tribunal on Iraq, investigating and documenting war crimes in Iraq, modeled on the Bertrand Russell Vietnam War Tribunal of 1967, is convening.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9268.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9268.htm
Starmail - 25. Jun, 06:54
World Tribunal On Iraq
Opening Speech Arundhati Roy:
Saddam Hussein is being tried as a war criminal even as we speak. But what about those who helped to install him in power, who armed him, who supported him - and who are now setting up a tribunal to try him and absolve themselves completely?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9259.htm
Saddam Hussein is being tried as a war criminal even as we speak. But what about those who helped to install him in power, who armed him, who supported him - and who are now setting up a tribunal to try him and absolve themselves completely?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9259.htm
Starmail - 25. Jun, 06:53
The American government is pressuring foreign countries to censor their news
Censorship:
So the American government is pressuring foreign countries to censor their news. Aside from the fact that this act is the height of arrogance by the United States, it makes it exceedingly clear why so many Americans who rely on the corporate media for their news continue to be so misinformed/un-informed about the goings on in Iraq.
http://snipurl.com/ftbl
From Information Clearing House
So the American government is pressuring foreign countries to censor their news. Aside from the fact that this act is the height of arrogance by the United States, it makes it exceedingly clear why so many Americans who rely on the corporate media for their news continue to be so misinformed/un-informed about the goings on in Iraq.
http://snipurl.com/ftbl
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 25. Jun, 06:51
War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal
International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5259.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5259.htm
Starmail - 25. Jun, 06:50
The echoes of Vietnam are getting louder
Two years on, the echoes of Vietnam are getting louder:
There is no hint of shared purpose, mutual sympathy and respect between the armoured columns rolling along the roads, intermittently belching fire, and the hapless mass of local people, caring only for survival.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1513338,00.html
From Information Clearing House
There is no hint of shared purpose, mutual sympathy and respect between the armoured columns rolling along the roads, intermittently belching fire, and the hapless mass of local people, caring only for survival.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1513338,00.html
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 25. Jun, 06:49
The first, not the last throes
"The insurgency in Iraq is in its last throes." Vice President Dick Cheney, in May: Even the Central Intelligence Agency now admits that Iraq is the new Afghanistan - breeding a new, lethal generation of jihadis. Iraq has also been the new Vietnam since the day the resistance was born, April 18, 2003, in front of the Abu Hanifa mosque in Baghdad.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GF25Ak04.html
From Information Clearing House
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GF25Ak04.html
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 25. Jun, 06:47
Americans go from delusion to denial to depression
The majority of Americans has gone from delusion to denial to the awareness, now just dawning, that they were misled and that the war is a tragic mistake.
http://www.progresoweekly.com/index.php?progreso=Max_Castro&otherweek
From Information Clearing House
http://www.progresoweekly.com/index.php?progreso=Max_Castro&otherweek
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 25. Jun, 06:46
Voluntary Amnesia in the Service of War
Forget it!
by Norman Solomon
While American viewers, listeners and readers are apt to be aware that in 1979 some radical Iranians took American diplomats hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held them for more than a year -- other historical facts tend to be hazy or entirely absent. That suits the White House just fine. From a Machiavellian standpoint, the best remedy for unpleasant historical facts -- distant or recent -- is silence about them.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9257.htm
by Norman Solomon
While American viewers, listeners and readers are apt to be aware that in 1979 some radical Iranians took American diplomats hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held them for more than a year -- other historical facts tend to be hazy or entirely absent. That suits the White House just fine. From a Machiavellian standpoint, the best remedy for unpleasant historical facts -- distant or recent -- is silence about them.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9257.htm
Starmail - 25. Jun, 06:44
The return of '1984'
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/06/24/the_return_of_1984/
Informant: Shanti Renfrew
Informant: Shanti Renfrew
Starmail - 25. Jun, 06:32
HANDYMASTEN-STEUER: Trotz "fataler Signalwirkung" darf Niederösterreich Steuer erheben
HANDYMASTEN-STEUER: Trotz "fataler Signalwirkung" darf Niederösterreich Steuer einheben
Regierung hört nicht auf Handy-Proteste
WIEN. Die niederösterreichische Handymasten-Steuer dürfte von der Bundesregierung nicht gekippt werden. Die Abgabe sei "auf höchster politischer Ebene" akkordiert, hieß es am Rande eines Symposiums.
Bundeskanzler Wolfgang Schüssel hatte sich zuvor als "Föderalist deklariert" und das "Steuererfindungsrecht der Länder unterstrichen". Vizekanzler Hubert Gorbach hatte mehrmals gesagt, er werde sich für einen Einspruch der Bundesregierung einsetzen.
Die Handymasten-Steuer hat nicht nur in Österreich die Gemüter erhitzt, im Ausland löst diese neue Abgabe Verwunderung aus. Die OÖN berichteten.
Inzwischen sehen auch Experten des Infrastrukturministeriums "erhebliche Auswirkungen auf den Marktwert der Unternehmen" und eine "fatale" Signalwirkung.
vom 25.06.2005
http://www.nachrichten.at/wirtschaft/367556?PHPSESSID=36399a2ee6e41680bdb4c01e68db43c6
(Auszug)
Regierung hört nicht auf Handy-Proteste
WIEN. Die niederösterreichische Handymasten-Steuer dürfte von der Bundesregierung nicht gekippt werden. Die Abgabe sei "auf höchster politischer Ebene" akkordiert, hieß es am Rande eines Symposiums.
Bundeskanzler Wolfgang Schüssel hatte sich zuvor als "Föderalist deklariert" und das "Steuererfindungsrecht der Länder unterstrichen". Vizekanzler Hubert Gorbach hatte mehrmals gesagt, er werde sich für einen Einspruch der Bundesregierung einsetzen.
Die Handymasten-Steuer hat nicht nur in Österreich die Gemüter erhitzt, im Ausland löst diese neue Abgabe Verwunderung aus. Die OÖN berichteten.
Inzwischen sehen auch Experten des Infrastrukturministeriums "erhebliche Auswirkungen auf den Marktwert der Unternehmen" und eine "fatale" Signalwirkung.
vom 25.06.2005
http://www.nachrichten.at/wirtschaft/367556?PHPSESSID=36399a2ee6e41680bdb4c01e68db43c6
(Auszug)
Starmail - 25. Jun, 06:25
