http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/messages.cfm/forumid:5/threadid:18556#172076


Informant: Di

(please pass this on)

01-Sep-2005

We recently wrote about how National Guard troops needed for disaster relief in New Orleans have been diverted to the Iraq war. Now it turns out that Federal money earmarked to repair the levee system has been diverted to Iraq as well. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $27 million to pay for hurricane protection projects around Lake Pontchartrain. The Bush administration offered them less than $4 million, and Congress eventually gave them $5.7 million. The corps requested $18 million specifically to repair and strengthen New Orleans levees. Instead, their annual budget was reduced 20% because the money was needed for the war in Iraq. The corps had to delay seven projects that would have enlarged the levees. Most of the destruction in New Orleans caused by hurricane Katrina happened because breaches in these levees allowed water from Lake Pontchartrain to pour into the city until 80% of New Orleans was under water. In 2002, Bush fired Army Corps chief Michael Parker after Parker tried to push through a number of flood control projects, including a proposal to spend $188 million to build a flood control pump in the Mississippi river. Parker, who is a Republican, says, "I'm not saying [New Olreans] wouldn't still be flooded, but I do feel that if it had been totally funded, there would be less flooding than you have."

http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=4819


This message was sent by Care2 Connect member: Jacki Hi

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090305X.shtml



Cindy Sheehan
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Sheehan

03.09.05

Die Österreichische Ärztekammer (ÖÄK) weist darauf hin, dass die weite Verbreitung von Technologien zur mobilen Kommunikation nicht nur Vorteile, sondern auch eine Reihe von Nachteilen mit sich bringt. Diese seien nach Ansicht der ÖÄK in Anbetracht der Tragweite für die Gesundheit des Einzelnen und der Gesellschaft noch viel zu wenig beachtet.

Die bisher vorliegenden wissenschaftlichen Daten und Beobachtungen zahlreicher medizinischer Experten zeigen auf allen naturwissenschaftlichen Nachweisebenen Schädigungen der Erbsubstanz bzw. ein erhöhtes Risiko für gewisse Tumore nach langjähriger Verwendung von analogen und digitalen Handys sowie von Schnurlostelefonen. Erstmals wurde dies auch in breit angelegten epidemiologischen Untersuchungen am Menschen und nicht nur in Zell- und Tierversuchen nachgewiesen.

Ferner zeigen erste Ergebnisse epidemiologischer Untersuchungen zu den Auswirkungen bei Handymasten und den Basisstationen von DECT-Schnurlostelefonen zum Teil deutliche Auswirkungen auf Wohlbefinden und Gesundheit. Anwohner von Handymasten leiden unter anderem vermehrt unter Schlafstörungen, Konzentrationsproblemen, Energielosigkeit und Depressionen.

Die ÖÄK rate daher für Telefonate zu Hause Schnurtelefone zu verwenden und bei Kindern grundsätzlich auf Funktelefone zu verzichten. Besonders wichtig ist daher „die Frage eines effektiven vorbeugenden Gesundheitsschutzes bei Handymasten und anderen Dauersendern. Es kann nicht sein, dass alle paar Jahre weitere Funksysteme wie GSM, DECT, UMTS, WLAN, WIMAX etc. eingeführt werden und parallel dazu Vorsorgemaßnahmen und notwendige Forschungsanstrengungen unterbleiben.“, sorgt sich der Referent für Umweltmedizin der Österreichischen Ärztekammer, Dr. Gerd Oberfeld. (iw)

http://www.tariftip.de/news/18856/archiv/Handy-Schnurlos-Co-Aerzte-warnen-vor-Langzeitfolgen.htm

--------

6-09-2005

HNA online 5-09-05

Die Österreichische Ärztekammer lässt sich von den Betreibern nicht einschüchtern und hat die obige neue Stellungnahme publiziert. Ich würde mir wünschen die Deutsche Ärzteschaft hätte auch diesen Mut. Aber das Abtauchen hat ja in Deutschland leider eine lange Tradition !

Dr. Claus Scheingraber 5-09-05

http://tinyurl.com/9kgnm


Informant: NHNE

http://tinyurl.com/csh5s


Informant: NHNE

http://tinyurl.com/9eb8g


Informant: NHNE

http://rs.net-hh.de/links.php?lid=22594

(SZ) Ein Artikel der Süddeutschen Zeitung nimmt den Hinweis von Greg Palast zum Zerfall der amerikanischen Zivilgesellschaft und seine historischen Parallellen auf: wer reich ist und die richtige Hautfarbe hat, überlebt; die anderen bleiben auf der Strecke.

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/artikel/888/59829/

http://www.opendiary.com/entryview.asp?authorcode=A553678&entry=20223&mode=


From Be Kind Whenever Possible

Mayor tells it like it is!
http://godlikeproductions.com/sounds/mayornagin.mp3


From Be Kind Whenever Possible

Posted By: mook
Date: Thursday, 1 September 2005, 6:18 p.m.

SPLOID EXCLUSIVE: FEMA is directing Katrina donations to none other than the Rev. Pat Robertson …

Millions of Americans and people around the world have rushed to donate money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which is shaping up to be one of the worst U.S. disasters in history, if not the worst.

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the lead federal agency in the rescue & recovery operation at work in New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast.

FEMA has released to the media and on its Web site a list of suggested charities to help the storm’s hundreds of thousands of victims. The Red Cross is first on the list.

The Rev. Pat Robertson’s “Operation Blessing” is next on the list.

“It’s an outrage,” said privacy watchdog Bill Scannell, who alerted Sploid to the FEMA / Robertson scam. “Operation f**cking Blessing? And it’s right underneath the Red Cross link!”


From Be Kind Whenever Possible

NKNews

Crude oil pipeline out of Southern Louisiana which runs through parts of Mississippi; Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia and through Charlotte, North Carolina, has been out of operation since the weekend due to power outages and storm damage. Not expected to be back into operation for possibly several weeks. This accounts for the fuel outage all along this pipeline route.

SOMETHING YOU WILL NOT SEE ON CBS EVENING NEWS...........or TV

Nadir ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 4:35 AM Subject: NKNews: Katrina - disaster


Hi All:

Listening to Alex Jones show. He is now only allowing callers in from Louisiana. Looks like a major meltdown is beginning.

Caller-in has brother who is part of rescue team - his brother is quitting - he says the governor has no idea what he is doing. One report has sherrifs locking themselves into their offices for protection. Shooters shooting at rescue helicopters.

Scott Stevens came onto Jones show and said NO DOUBT that this hurricane was engineered. He has cloud pattern evidence to prove it. Jones is now changing his mind from yesterday and now thinks it may have been "managed" too.

Inside the stadium, according to some, total mayhem, many dying, rapes, etc.

There is concern the entire state will go into chaos. Mississippi river is now closed to some extent - main supply artery for everything.

Here is the email from a friend in North Carolina:

Just thought you might want to know that my area as of late Tuesday afternoon has NO GAS. Luckily I managed to listen to Guidance to go tank up + was one of the last people in my town to be fortunate enough to do so?!

The word is that there isn't any gas available for a radius of hundreds of miles from Asheville/out/ Greenville, South Carolina/out/ ALL reserve storage tanks/empty--Also, there is a rumor that there won't be any for TWO WEEKS!?

Next I expect a "run" on the banks + grocery stores-

And this:
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index813.htm

Being kept from these American people also by their Military Rulers have been the uncounted offers of assistance from Nations all around the world, including: Venezuela has offered their Medical Airlift Command for the evacuation of peoples trapped in these devastated regions; Holland has offered the resources of their Public Works Ministry (and who are the acknowledged World Experts for below sea level water evacuation procedures); Russia has offered over 100,000 temporary living structures, along with Military Personal to assist their American counterparts; Iran has offered 1 Billion US Dollars in immediate assistance and guaranteed 5,000,000 barrels of oil at $35.00 US Dollars; China has offered their Military Rescue Forces (who are acknowledged as one of the best in the world for rescuing peoples in flood ravaged areas.)

All of these offers, and more, the Military Leaders of the United States have declined, and for the their previously stated reason: "The United States Government and its People Respectfully Decline your offer of assistance and refer you to our previous State Department Bulletin (NCO:13788) in which we had stated that this remains an internal action."

I'm sure you're all prepared by now should something like this happen to us. Many now watching small quakes in Southern Cal.


Neal


From Be Kind Whenever Possible

Lee S, Johnson D, Dunbar K, Dong H, Ge X, Kim YC, Wing C, Jayathilaka N, Emmanuel N, Zhou CQ, Gerber HL, Tseng CC, Wang SM.

Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

The biological effect of radiofrequency (RF) fields remains controversial. We address this issue by examining whether RF fields can cause changes in gene expression. We used the pulsed RF fields at a frequency of 2.45GHz that is commonly used in telecommunication to expose cultured human HL-60 cells. We used the serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) method to measure the RF effect on gene expression at the genome level. We observed that 221 genes altered their expression after a 2-h exposure. The number of affected genes increased to 759 after a 6-h exposure. Functional classification of the affected genes reveals that apoptosis-related genes were among the upregulated ones and the cell cycle genes among the downregulated ones. We observed no significant increase in the expression of heat shock genes. These results indicate that the RF fields at 2.45GHz can alter gene expression in cultured human cells through non-thermal mechanism.

PMID: 16107253 [PubMed - in process]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=16107253&dopt=Citation


From FGF-Infoline 02.09.2005

Study

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells were used as an experimental model to study the effects of intermittent EMF exposures (5min on/30 minutes off). ELF-EMF exposure (2mT 50Hz with worst-case distortions for supply) to ES-derived neural cells significantly affected transcript levels of the apoptosis-related bcl-2, bax, and cell cycle regulatory "growth arrest DNA damage inducible" GADD45 genes, whereas mRNA levels of neural-specific genes were not affected. RF-EMF exposure (GSM-1800 simulated exposure at time-averaged SAR of 1.5 W/kg) of neural progenitor cells resulted in down-regulation of neural-specific Nurr1 and in up-regulation of bax and GADD45 mRNA levels. Short-term RF-EMF exposure for 6 h, but not for 48 h, resulted in a low and transient increase of DNA double-strand breaks.

Bibliographic information: Teodora Nikolova, Jaroslaw Czyz, Alexandra Rolletschek, Przemyslaw Blyszczuk, Jörg Fuchs, Gabriele Jovtchev, Jürgen Schuderer, Niels Kuster, and Anna M. Wobus, in The FASEB Journal, fj.04-3549fje, published online 22 August, 2005

http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/abstract/04-3549fjev1
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16116041&query_hl=2


From FGF-Infoline 02.09.2005

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2005/septiembre/vier2/37katcris-i.html


Informant: Carlos Rovira

From ufpj-news

The Deepening Climate Crisis
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/938144/

Storm Turns Focus to Global Warming
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/941142/

Katrina's Real Name real name is global warming
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/939369/

2005 Set to be Historic Year for Hurricanes
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/942979/

DIRECT ACTION FLOODS ICELAND
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/937558/

Profits increased by allowing mercury pollution to continue
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/931180/

EPA Unions Call for Nationwide Moratorium on Fluoridation
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/931982/

Petition to US Congress: RE-EXAMINING FLUORIDATION
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/938218/

Help protect the Great Bear Rainforest from logging
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/948051/

Pesticide study makes life-threatening conclusions
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/933519/

Argentinean Ancient Forests Trashed for GE SoyaPlantations
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/938260/

Hybrid Seed
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/946381/

WTO HANDS OFF OUR FOOD
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/934355/

Independent Scientists Object to Monsanto-Sponsored Documentary
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/943973/

Support BioDemocracy in California
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/941135/

Tons of Toxics
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/939154/

Cruelty to bears petition
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/942643/

Vote USA 2004
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Vote+USA+2004/

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 3. September 2005
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/948236/

Long-Term Mobile Phone Use and Brain Tumor Risk
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/940552/

Questioning the authority of scientific journals
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/940688/

Is the brain influenced by a phone call?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/931090/

Secret Report On Cell Phone Dangers And Tetra
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/931779/

Impact of Electromagnetic Field Exposure Limits in Europe Is the Future of Interventional MRI Safe?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/931100/

The case for phone masts
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/931644/

The case against phone masts
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/931751/

Phone company in mast u-turn
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/931654/

MY SAFETY FEARS OVER PHONE MAST SITES
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/936086/

New Orange slogan
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/936674/

It must be awful to live under such conditions
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/938523/

PHONE FIRM VICTORY ON MAST APPEAL
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/938537/

GO-AHEAD FOR PHONE MAST DESPITE PROTEST
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/938550/

Before the launching of next-up organisation - Avant le lancement de next-up organisation
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/939213/

Fury over mobile phone mast
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/940863/

Meet Kevin Hull of 02 telecommunications
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/940876/

O2 mobile phones
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/940900/

Out to stop mast plans: TEENAGER is calling on residents to oppose an upgrade to a phone mast
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/940916/

Village fights mast at goat farm
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/940933/

Battle lines drawn over mobile mast
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/941352/

PHONE GIANT APPEALS AGAINST MAST REFUSAL
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/941367/

O2 appeals rejection
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/941375/

COUNCILLORS TO RULE ON MARKINCH MAST PLAN
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/941380/

Comparing Japan and America
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/946375/

ANGRY Airedale residents will be meeting mobile phone bosses later this month in a bid to stop plans
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/947543/

BLOCKING OF PHONE MAST OVERTURNED
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/947558/

Our health is threatened - Alertes santé, experts et citoyens face aux intérêts privés
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/947618/

Have you noticed what a publicity coup this is going to be?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/947697/

Caution and preparedness required
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/947738/

News from Mast Sanity
http://tinyurl.com/aotw3

Omega-News Collection 3. September 2005
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/948240/

Left Behind to Drown
http://www.counterpunch.com/sustar09012005.html


From Information Clearing House

"We are out here like pure animals. We don't have help,'' the Rev. Issac Clark, 68, said outside the New Orleans Convention Center, where corpses lay in the open and evacuees complained that they were dropped off and given nothing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5248786,00.html


From Information Clearing House

A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands. Human activities along the Mississippi River have dramatically increased the risk, and now only massive reengineering of southeastern Louisiana can save the city.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10058.htm

It will take just a couple more days of almost 100 degree weather to really bring this New Orleans stew to an incomprehensible completion with the bloated corpses of pets, animals and yes, people. As morbid as it is, it soon will be all too easy to find the missing.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10052.htm

Katrina and her aftermath are 100% disaster and only very slightly natural.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10055.htm

As always with a devastating event like Hurricane Katrina, voices are raised claiming that nothing could have been done to prevent the catastrophe. Such declarations are thoroughly false.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10056.htm

The president's 35-minute Air Force One flyover of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama was the perfect metaphor for his entire presidency: detached, disconnected, and disengaged. Preferring to take in America's suffering -- whether caused by the war in Iraq or Hurricane Katrina -- from a distance. In this case, 2,500 feet.

http://snipurl.com/hdkd


From Information Clearing House

The Sun Herald of Biloxi, Miss., in an editorial today, criticized the relief effort in its ravaged area so far, and told officials and the nation-at-large: "South Mississippi needs your help."

http://snipurl.com/hdk0


From Information Clearing House

- WARNING- This video contains images and audio, which is only suitable for a mature audience.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10064.htm

The former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke stepped up his challenge for the Conservative leadership today by launching a blistering attack on Prime Minister Tony Blair's role in the Iraq war.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article309553.ece


From Information Clearing House

This morning, we've launched an emergency national housing drive to connect your empty beds with hurricane victims who desperately need a place to wait out the storm. You can post your offer of housing (a spare room, extra bed, even a decent couch) and search for available housing online.

http://snipurl.com/hdjp


From Information Clearing House

By Carolyn Baker

The inmates are in charge of the asylum, and they are hellbent on conquest of the last remaining drops of oil on the planet—hellbent on maintaining their power and that of the corporations who gave it to them, and they will do whatever is required to dominate the earth, including annihilating it.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10053.htm

The cuts mean major hurricane and flood protection projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved.

http://snipurl.com/hdjk


From Information Clearing House

It's a matter of when, not if. Eventually a major hurricane will hit New Orleans head on, instead of being just a close call. It's happened before and it'll happen again.

http://www.nola.com/hurricane/?/washingaway/


From Information Clearing House

Welcome to Bush's America; where the uber-rich can expect lavish tax cuts and the huddled masses get a 3 day lock-up at the Superdome; where the government redirects desperately-needed resources to the oil wars in Mesopatamia and entire regions disappear beneath the flood-waters at home.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10065.htm

Subject: Emergency Housing drive at
http://www.hurricanehousing.org PASS IT ON !!

Please promote far and wide!

Noah T. Winer, MoveOn.org Civic Action [mailto:moveon-help@list.moveon.org] Thursday, September 01, 2005 11:39 AM

Emergency housing drive at http://www.hurricanehousing.org. Pass it on.

Do you have a spare room, bed or couch to offer a family fleeing hurricane Katrina?

Please forward this message to anyone in the Southeast who can help.

Hurricane Katrina's toll on communities, homes and lives has devastated the nation. Now victims must face the daunting question of where to go next—and we can help. Tens of thousands of newly homeless families are being bused to a stadium in Houston, where they may wait for weeks or months. At least 80,000 are competing for area shelters, and countless more are in motels, cars, or wherever they can stay out of the elements. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross are scrambling to find shelter for the displaced. This morning, we've launched an emergency national housing drive to connect your empty beds with hurricane victims who desperately need a place to wait out the storm. You can post your offer of housing (a spare room, extra bed, even a decent couch) and search for available housing online at: http://www.hurricanehousing.org Housing is most urgently needed within reasonable driving distance (about 300 miles) of the affected areas in the Southeast, especially New Orleans. Please forward this message to anyone you know in the region who might be able to help. But no matter where you live, your housing could still make a world of difference to a person or family in need, so please offer what you can. The process is simple: You can sign up to become a host by posting a description of whatever housing you have available, along with contact information. You can change or remove your offer at any time.

Hurricane victims, local and national relief organizations, friends and relatives can search the site for housing. We'll do everything we can to get your offers where they are needed most. Many shelters actually already have Internet access, but folks without 'net access can still make use of the site through case workers and family members.

Hurricane victims or relief agencies will contact hosts and together decide if it's a good match and make the necessary travel arrangements. The host's address is not released until a particular match is agreed on.

If hosting doesn't work for you, please consider donating to the Red Cross to help with the enormous tasks of rescue and recovery. You can give online at: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=859 As progressives, we share a core belief that we are all in this together, and today is an important chance to put that idea to work. There are thousands of families who have just lost everything and need a place to stay dry. Let's do what we can to help. http://www.hurricanehousing.org Thanks for being there when it matters most. —Noah Winer and the whole MoveOn.org Civic Action Team Thursday, September 1st, 2005


Informant: Be Kind Whenever Possible

In spite of all the questions in the United States today about the "liberating" character of the war in Iraq, Japan after the defeat remains George Bush's precedent for the dawn of a democracy under the leadership of the American occupier.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090105H.shtml

Dan Simpson discusses what he calls "two more ill-conceived arguments for what the United States is doing in Iraq" put forth by President Bush in his recent efforts to shore up the levees intended to protect his administration from being washed away by the flood of American anti-war sentiment.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090105E.shtml

http://tinyurl.com/7bzbb

From ufpj-news

There are increasing indications that the situation in New Orleans may be worse than Americans are being told. TV outlets abroad are reportedly showing video of large numbers of floating bodies, and just as the US media did not show people jumping from windows in the World Trade Center on 911, it may be that we're being spared the worst.

Russian intelligence analysts are calling New Orleans a "dead city." Some foreign reports estimate that as many as 50,000 people may be dead. It may be impossible to get an accurate count of the dead because alligators are devouring the corpses. One problem is that looters have broken into gun shops, so now criminals are roaming the streets armed with guns.

A Wal-Mart was completely cleaned out of all the guns in the store. One policeman was shot in the head in a confrontation with looters. Rescuers have been withdrawn from areas of the city where chaos and danger are simply too extreme. Most tourists in New Orleans visit for the French Quarter, which, since it was built on higher ground than the rest of the city, has been spared the worst flooding.

However, its stores and boutiques have seen the worst looting. Some of the goods being stolen in the city are necessities, like food, water and diapers. However, many looters are taking this opportunity to steal luxury goods, such as antiques, electronics and jewellery. There is concern that armed gangs of criminals may soon move into highly populated areas and start breaking into homes and holding up citizens. An ambulance carrying a police officer was shot at. One man was sitting on his porch when a gang armed with a knife insisted he hand over his electric generator, a prized possession in a city without power. The homeowner took out his own gun and fired over their heads, causing them to run away.

http://www.unknowncountry.com


Informant: DI

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/3358/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

I brought the issue DU to the attention of Atty. General Hatch of MN. I informed him that the local political officers and executives of energy companies had colluded with munitions manufacturers to dispose of nuclear waste by supplying it for free to create the DU munitions; it is financially expedient and convenient to blow up overseas what you cannot dispose of legally domestically. I pointed out the prerequisites for prosecution under RICO.

Atty General Hatch's response leads me to believe he is complicit; he stated that his job is to defend the industrialists of the state of MN. He did not recognize my request for prosecution under RICO of the perpetrators of the crime. He suggested writing my Representatives to urge proper disposal of nuclear waste: thus partaking in the conspiracy by advocating forcing the hand of energy executives to supply the material with which peoples have been slated for extermination through radiation sickness.

Most DU is from MN.

David Diggins DFL Constitution Committee Secretary and Delegate


On Behalf Of Tom Cahill
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 4:22 PM

Uranium Munitions

Rep. Duncan Hunter, Chair House Armed Services Committee
2120 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC, 20515

Sept. 1, 2005

Rep Hunter:

"INCOMING," as you should know, is military jargon for the warning infantrymen shout when an artillery shell is about to explode nearby.

Because you head a committee that is supposed to be the public's watchdog over the Department of Defense, I think it only fair to give you a heads-up on an issue that could soon explode on the American public despite continuing attempts at a cover-up by the Pentagon and corporate media. At the very least, your political career is in jeopardy.

Mere exposure to the public of the truth about so-called "depleted uranium" used by the US military for more than a decade could have incredibly serious consequences for the entire country and quite possibly the world. On the other hand, exposure to munitions and armor containing uranium is a death sentence or worse for every member of the armed forces abroad or even at home.

Misprison of Felony is the legal term for "the offense of concealing knowledge of a felony or treason by one who has not participated in it." You may be held accountable for uranium munitions.

In your own best interest, you need to see the film "Beyond Treason" being distributed by the American Gulf War Veterans Association. Enclosed is a review of this well-documented documentary that includes information how to send for a DVD copy. If ever a film could change a nation, this one just might. Read the review, view the film and see if I am exaggerating.

Most sincerely,

Tom Cahill
PO Box 632 Fort Bragg, CA 95437
707/964-0820
tcahill@mcn.org

Member: Veterans For Peace and other progressive organizations.


Informant: David Diggins

The Register-Guard says that the United States has bet its economic future on the ability of market forces to take care of energy supply problems. But the invisible hand of the market promises to slap Americans in the face before it puts cheap gas in their tanks. The United States' near-exclusive reliance on the free market to solve the world's energy problems threatens to leave the country unprotected against severe blows to its economy, security and way of life.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/090105EC.shtml

Ivins says that this is a column for everyone who ever said, "I'm sorry, I'm just not interested in politics," or, "There's nothing I can do about it." She makes a point that needs to be hammered home again and again, and that is that government policies have real consequences in people's lives. Katrina illustrates this very point.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090105Q.shtml

Check it out:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/index.jsp

Richard

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/01/levee_funding/index_np.html

Bush: Krieg statt Katastrophenschutz

(salon.com) Wie die US-Regierung die Mittel des Katastrophenschutzes umschichtete für den Irakkrieg beschreibt eine Artikel des amerikanischen Magazins Salon.com

http://rs.net-hh.de/links.php?lid=22581

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12342


Informant: David Diggins

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/printer_090105EB.shtml


Informant: STRIDER

1) The Hurricane and Bush’s Criminal Negligence: Bush Slashed Flood Protection * Bush sent emergency personnel and equipment to Iraq* Bush’s role in global warming * Oil Profiteering * Bush failed to develop an evacuation plan * No emergency relief program, even now

2) Emergency September 10 Strategy Meeting in NYC - organized by the Troops Out Now Coalition We need a mass movement to demand money for people’s needs in the Gulf States, not for war and occupation

Statement from the International Action Center

With every hour that passes, we see and hear new stories of the horror and devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. What makes these images more shocking is the realization that much of the death and destruction could have been prevented.

Almost all of the death and destruction arising from the hurricane is the direct result of criminal neglect by the Bush Administration. This crisis was predicted in numerous reports and news articles and little, if anything, was done.

While natural disasters are beyond our control, the preparation for expected and predicted disasters is something that we can control. Natural disasters do not have to be catastrophes if plans are made in advance to protect people and their homes, but these plans were not made.

We cannot discuss the effects of this catastrophe without noting that those who have suffered most are people of color. Seventy percent of New Orleans’ residents are Black, as are a major part of the population of the surrounding area affected by the hurricane. The fact that absolutely no preparations were made for their evacuation, that no thought was given to meeting their basic emergency needs in the wake of the storm, and that even now they have been abandoned and ignored by the government, lays bare the racism at the core of U.S. society and at the heart of the policies of George W. Bush.

The criminal negligence displayed by all levels of government preceding and during this crisis sends a clear message that, to those in power, the lives of poor people, especially poor Black people, are of absolutely no concern.

President Bush has diverted funds that were needed to prepare for this type of natural disaster to fund a war of conquest in Iraq. He did this despite being warned of the potential for danger by FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) as early as 2001. The Houston Chronicle reported on Dec. 1, 2001: “ New Orleans is sinking. And its main buffer from a hurricane, the protective Mississippi River delta, is quickly eroding away, leaving the historic city perilously close to disaster. ...So vulnerable, in fact, that earlier this year the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked the potential damage to New Orleans as among the three likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country.”

The Bush Administration knew of the danger and they knew how to prepare for it. But they chose to do little or nothing – they actually slashed funding for preventative and emergency measures, leaving the people of the region helpless to deal with the inevitable disaster. Now, with the destruction of New Orleans and numerous surrounding communities, tens of thousands of people are without food, water, or electricity. Thousands of homes are destroyed and the death toll continues to climb.

This is a disaster of unprecedented proportion. It is poor and working people, particularly people of color, who are suffering the most from this disaster.

No preparation

It was clear from watching the disaster unfold that no real plans had been made for evacuating the region, even though everyone, including Federal authorities and meteorologists, knew that a hurricane of enormous magnitude was descending on the area.

For the elderly, the handicapped, the poor, there was no provision for evacuation or shelter. It was “everyone for themselves,” and those who didn’t have the ability to flee or the means to finance their own evacuation were left to perish. There were no arrangements for more than 100,000 people in New Orleans - 20 % of the population and overwhelmingly the poorest part of the population. Those with out cars, credit cards, and hotel reservations had few alternatives but to stay home and face the coming deluge. The death toll continues to mount, and it becomes more and more apparent how little the government is concerned for human life, particularly the lives of poor and working people.

There were many obvious things that could have and should have been done if the government were concerned about the lives of the people. Trains, airlines, buses, and other transportation could have been put to use evacuating people. Convention centers, hotels, and college dormitories throughout the region could have been used for shelter. The government uses eminent domain to take working people’s property for the benefit of corporate developers; this would have been an excellent opportunity to use eminent domain in a way that actually benefits people.

Because there was no plan for evacuation, more than 20,000 people were herded into the Superdome without adequate food, shelter, water, or medical care for days. The New York Times said, “By Wednesday, the stench was staggering. Heaps of rotting garbage in bulging white plastic bags baked under a blazing Louisiana sun on the main entry plaza, choking new arrivals as they made their way into the stadium after being plucked off rooftops and balconies. The odor billowing from toilets was even fouler. Trash spilled across corridors and aisles, slippery with smelly mud and scraps of food.”

Videos of the situation (see below) show just how desperate the situation is—people are without food, water, and medicine. Bodies are piling up on the streets. The people have been absolutely abandoned by the government.

Only massive immediate Federal intervention can relieve the situation. The government has access to stockpiles of food and medicines and it has cargo planes and helicopters to deliver them. Yet the Administration has chosen not to act while people are dying.

Slashing emergency preparations to fund war and tax cuts for the wealthy

Knowing that a hurricane of this strength was eventually inevitable, the Bush Administration slashed the budget of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the area by $71.2 million. This cut eliminated hurricane and flood protection projects as well as a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane. This cut was part of the Bush policy of slashing essential programs to pay for a tax cut for the wealthy and for the occupation of Iraq .

Comparing the cuts of more than $71 million for flood protection to the $1.7 billion taken from the people of Louisiana for the war in Iraq yields one more example of how the Bush policy of endless war endangers the population here.

The Aug. 30 Editor and Publisher revealed that $250 million in crucial projects planned by the Army Corps of Engineers in the delta for shoring up levees and building pumping stations could not be carried out. “The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq , as well as homeland security—coming at the same time as federal tax cuts—was the reason for the strain.

“The 2004 hurricane season was the worst in decades. In spite of that, the federal government came back this spring with the steepest reduction in hurricane and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history.”

Emergency Specialists and Equipment sent to Iraq

The National Guard, who would normally be deployed to aid in evacuation and disaster relief, is unable to respond adequately because 40% of the Mississippi National Guard 35% of the Louisiana National Guard is in Iraq. So is much of their equipment, including dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators that are essential to dealing with this type of emergency.

According to the Washington Post, "With thousands of their citizen-soldiers away fighting in Iraq, states hit hard by Hurricane Katrina scrambled to muster forces for rescue and security missions yesterday -- calling up Army bands and water-purification teams, among other units, and requesting help from distant states and the active-duty military."

Many of the members of the National Guard are also emergency medical technicians and firefighters. They should be at home helping their neighbors recover from this disaster, not in Iraq maintaining an illegal occupation.

Contempt for Environment exacerbates disaster

The flooding is exacerbated by the elimination of wetlands, which provide a natural buffer. The Bush Administration has removed Federal protection from as much as 20 million acres of wetlands.

The Bush Administration has demonstrated utter disregard for human life and contempt for international law by refusing to abide by the 1997 Kyoto accord, a treaty signed by the United States and 54 other nations. The agreement is designed to limit emissions that cause global warming.

Sir David King, the British Government's chief scientific adviser, says that global warming may be responsible for the devastation reaped by Hurricane Katrina. "The increased intensity of hurricanes is associated with global warming. We have known since 1987 the intensity of hurricanes is related to surface sea temperature and we know that, over the last 15 to 20 years, surface sea temperatures in these regions have increased by half a degree centigrade. So it is easy to conclude that the increased intensity of hurricanes is associated with global warming."

Loss of life is avoidable – Cuba a U.N. model

The massive loss of life in Louisiana and Mississippi was avoidable, if those making decisions were interested in funding emergency measures rather than spending money on war and occupation. Cuba lies directly in the path of many hurricanes, and yet the loss of life is usually minimal, because the government has systems in place to aid orderly evacuations, provide emergency shelter, and look after the elderly, the handicapped, and the poor.

In 2001, when Hurricane Michelle, a level-4 storm, hit with sustained 125-mile-per-hour winds and widespread floods, more than 700,000 people were evacuated. Only five Cubans lost their lives in the storm.

In September 2004, Cuba endured Ivan, the fifth-largest hurricane ever to hit the Caribbean, with sustained winds of 124 miles per hour. Cuba evacuated almost 2 million people--more than 15 percent of the total population. One hundred thousand people were evacuated within the first three hours. An incredible 78 percent of those evacuated were welcomed into other people's homes. Children at boarding schools were moved. Animals and birds were moved. No one was killed. The UN declared this to be a model of disaster preparation.

Cuba, a country blockaded and isolated by the U.S. for 45 years has been able to evacuate millions of people in an orderly fashion without loss of life. Natural disasters do not have to be catastrophes.

Oil profiteering

Beyond the horrific loss of life and homes in the region, working people everywhere will suffer as the pay more than $3.00 per gallon for gas, as oil companies rake in record profits. In some places, gas has reached as much as $5.00 per gallon.

Releasing oil from the Strategic Oil Reserves could easily offset the loss of oil refineries in the region. Nearly 700 million barrels of oil are stored in underground salt caverns along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. This reserve was established to cushion oil markets during energy disruptions or other emergencies, and sitting on the oil rather than releasing it only keeps the price of gas high and ensures greater profits for the oil companies.

While George W. Bush and his friends at the Big Oil companies are growing rich from escalating oil prices, while working people, who are already suffering from the economic policies of the Bush Administration, have to spend more of their shrinking paychecks to pay for gas to get to work and school.

Venezuela offers to help while Washington refuses to act

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has demonstrated more concern for working and poor people in the U.S. than George Bush has. Chavez has announced that Venezuela will be offering poor people discounted gas through its Citgo chain.

He has also offered to send more than $1 million in oil, food, and and equipment to the region. In addition, the Venezuelan government is offering two mobile hospital units, each capable of assisting 150 people, 120 specialists in rescue operations, 10 water purifying plants, 18 electricity generators of 850 KW each, 20 tons of bottled water, and 50 tons of canned food.

A senior U.S. State Department official said he was not aware of the Venezuelan offer, and then dismissed it as "counterproductive."

The real looting: Bush Administration steals from working people to fund war and corporate greed

Rather than focusing on criminal neglect by the Federal and State governments, the corporate media is reporting that the real danger is looting. In an attempt to shift blame from the policies of the Bush Administration, the news networks are demonizing the victims. In a blatant appeal to racism, those being portrayed as “looters” on the news are without exception black males.

Tens of thousands of poor people have been stranded by a policy of neglect. Many are without food, fresh water, baby formula, and medicine, and the government has refused to provide even basic relief.

The real looters are not the hungry people taking what they need from an abandoned corporate superstore. The real crime is that they were left in this situation by a government that puts war and corporate profits ahead of human needs.

The Bush regime has looted billions of dollars of the people’s money, slashing programs that provide basic necessities and robbing from agencies that are tasked with preparing for natural disasters in order to fund a war of conquest against the people of Iraq. There are dangerous looters, but they are Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld, not the poor people of New Orleans trying to feed their families. It is clear that the Bush Administration is increasingly putting the entire population of the country in growing danger by relentlessly slashing every social program, infrastructure maintenance program, and environmental protection program.

Money for Human Needs not War!

It is the Bush Administration, and the Big Corporations it serves, who are directly responsible for the disaster, and they, not the working people of the region, should be responsible for rebuilding and providing relief.

In a speech on Wednesday, President Bush said, “our hearts and prayers are with our fellow citizens along the Gulf Coast who have suffered so much from Hurricane Katrina.” But the people of the region need food, clothing, shelter, and jobs, not hearts and prayers.

He grinned as he said, “Recovery will take years,” but offered no plan to assist in that rebuilding. The people of the area need, and are entitled to, more than empty rhetoric and vacant smiles. The crisis demands a massive national mobilization to meet emergency needs and facilitate rebuilding efforts. The disaster is beyond the scope of local authorities or private charities to handle; the Federal government must devote its ample resources, which are now being used to wage war, to provide immediate and long-term relief.

We call on the Bush Administration to:

* Stop funding war and occupation. Use the money instead to fund emergency relief and rebuilding.

* Erase the debts incurred by working people who had to pay for gas and emergency shelter because of the government’s refusal to plan for evacuation.

* Provide emergency unemployment relief to the tens of thousands who have lost their jobs because of the devastation.

* Immediately exercise eminent domain to use all available space to provide emergency and long-term shelter to those left homeless.

* Provide a massive jobs program at union wages for rebuilding. Millions of unemployed workers could be hired to help construct housing, schools, and other public facilities.

* Food, water, clothing, medical supplies, and other necessities should be immediately commandeered for the emergency from agribusiness, supermarket chains, and pharmaceutical companies. Government food storage supplies in warehouses throughout the country should be made available immediately.

Watch a video from the Convention Center in New Orleans: "Desperate Struggle" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9156612 click on “Launch” under Free Video

September 10 Emergency Strategy Meeting organized by the Troops Out Now Coalition

Lang Center at the New School University
55 W. 13th St. in Manhattan
(between 5th & 6th Ave. )
1:30 - 6:00 pm

Now, more than ever, it is clear that we need a massive people's movement to stop the Bush agenda of endless war and cuts in vital services. Join us on September 10, from 1:30 to 6:00 pm for a National Strategy Meeting to help build a movement to Bring the Troops Home Now and demand "Money for the Gulf States , not for War!"

Topics will include:

* Hurricane Katrina : A campaign for emergency action. Help plan national actions to demand Money for Hurricane Relief, Not for War!
* Mobilizing for the September 24 National March on Washington DC
* Counter-Recruiting Campaign
* The Millions More Movement
* Dec. 1-3 National Boycott to Shut Down the War

http://www.tagesschau.de/aktuell/meldungen/0,1185,OID4692830,00.html

(ARD) Ein ARD-Bericht beschreibt u.a. die Qualität der von Bush inszenierten "Hilfsaktionen" in denen Bulldozer an den Ort seiner Besuche transportiert werden - für Fotos und Fernsehbilder, nicht jedoch für den realen Einsatz, wie eine geschockte ARD-Journalistin bemerkte.

http://rs.net-hh.de/links.php?lid=22588

Please help protect the Great Bear Rainforest from logging by signing this petition. This is a time-sensitive petition, with the target date set for the end of September.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/462802826

If you have already signed, thank-you. Please pass this on to members of your network or those who you feel would be interested.

Sincerely;

Sharon Flathen


This message was sent by Care2 Connect member: Sharon F.

Many African-American leaders note that the victims in New Orleans were largely black and poor, those who toiled in the background of the tourist havens, living in tumbledown neighborhoods that were long known to be vulnerable to disaster if the levees failed. Without so much as a car or bus fare to escape ahead of time, they found themselves left behind by a failure to plan.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090205J.shtml

Every catastrophe operates as an instantaneous revelation of the society it strikes, and Katrina is no exception to this rule. And what it shows in the mirror does not gladden the heart.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090205H.shtml

Under Bush, the National Guard has been spying on peace groups. The FBI is infiltrating campus anti-war groups, knocking on dorm room doors to ask questions and interrogating college students.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090205F.shtml

The Bush administration is making no secret of its determination to punish whistle-blowers and other federal workers who object to the doctoring of facts that clash with policy and spin.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090205E.shtml

While hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the images that have filled the television screens have been mainly of black Americans...there was no escaping that race had become a subtext to the unfolding drama of the hurricane's aftermath.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090205D.shtml

Ever stopped to wonder how many conflicts in the world would stop if multinationals stopped their ruthless clammer for the worlds resources?

Ever wondered how much environmental destruction would be prevented if the same multinationals were to embrace their social and moral responsibilities instead of seeing this as a marketting exercise?

It you've ever wondered this, and done a little research, your answer must be - a hell of a lot!

There is one brand of corporation that perhaps is the most ruthless, the mining companies. Do a quick search on organisations such as Rio Tinto or Anglo American Plc and you will quickly uncover a catalogue of environmental destruction and human rights abuses that is on a global scale.

These companies do not do what is right, they do what they can get away with, and spend vast amounts on "greenwash" PR that claims they are angels.

I've set up a new group - Against Mining - http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/AgainstMines that aims to highlight the natural, environmental and human devastation that is often a direct result of the actions of these international mining corporations.

It is time we realised that until we tackle this problem, all the aid and poverty relief in the world is simply window dressing.

If you care about the world, you will care about the actions of mining companies and you will be welcome at Against Mining.


George


This message was sent by Care2 Connect member: George Chaplin

http://www.petitiononline.com/migrants/petition.html

Late on Sunday August 21, 2005 a violent riot erupted by more than 1,600 ethnic, migrant workers building a mass transit railway project in Kaohsiung Taiwan. Workers set fire to their dormitory in southern Taiwan, burnt cars and hurled rocks at police after some were apprehended. There are estimated between 300,000 to 500,000 migrant workers on Taiwan many of whom are tricked into working on Taiwan with offers of lucrative jobs only to find themselves as slaves to "contractors" and "agents" on Taiwan.

Below is a petition the the Director General Juan Somaviaf of the International Labour Organization to immediately take appropriate actions to investigate the ongoing atrocities being perpetrated by the Taiwanese against ethnic minority workers on Taiwan.

http://www.petitiononline.com/migrants/petition.html


"To: The Honorable, Director General Juan Somaviaf of the International Labour Organization

We, the undersigned organizations, institutions, churches and individuals appeal to the Director General Juan Somaviaf of the International Labour Organization to immediately take appropriate actions to investigate the cause of the most recent violent riot by ethnic, migrant workers that erupted late on Sunday August 21, 2005 by more than 1,600 migrant workers building a mass transit railway project in Kaohsiung Taiwan. We demand that Council of Labor Affairs Chairwoman Chen Chu (ÄĵÆ) be removed and expelled from that position for her gross dereliction of her duties. Specifically to timely investigate and provide appropriate assistance to the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers currently in the Taiwan area. We are appealing to the Director General Juan Somaviaf of the International Labour Organization to investigate the current maltreatment of migrant workers in the Taiwan area and to refer said findings to the International Court of Justice. We call for the formation of an independent oversight institution composed of migrant workers in the Taiwan area to take positive actions to prevent further violence as well as extend free, timely, appropriate and full assistance to all distressed migrant workers. Labor standards for migrant workers in the Taiwan area fall below the minimum standards of basic labor rights in terms of freedom of association, the right to organize, collective bargaining, equality of opportunity and treatment, housing, facilities for recreation, cultural expression and other standards regulating conditions across the entire spectrum of work related issues. We seek the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights for all migrants in the Taiwan area. The decision to migrate, in the same way as the decision to authorize or not to authorize migration for employment is an rational decision, based on knowledge of the conditions of work and life in the areas of employment and is needed to remedy general or sectoral labor shortages. Provisions for the protection of migrant workers do, themselves, have effects on the protection of the entire workforce that in protecting migrant workers against exploitation and stipulating first and foremost the principle of equality of treatment, followed by equality of opportunity and treatment with non migrant workers. The powers that be, in the Taiwan area fail to implement instruments and fulfill their obligation to apply, without discrimination in respect of nationality, race, religion or sex, to immigrants lawfully within Taiwan area. We demand the protection of human rights for all migrant workers and an end to state sponsored discrimination, contemporary forms of slavery, indentured servitude and forced labor in the Taiwan area. Director General, the time to act is now. Migrants' rights are human rights!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned "

http://www.petitiononline.com/migrants/petition.html


Links:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/08/22/taiwan.thaiworkers.reut/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/taiwanteacher2002/index.html

United for Peace and Justice

ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545 |

THE GULF WARS

Statement from United for Peace and Justice

Sept. 2, 2005

http://www.unitedforpeace.org

The effects of Katrina are tragic, causing death, the disruption of lives, and the loss of property on an unimaginable scale. Although Katrina was a natural catastrophe, its effects were largely avoidable and parallel another tragedy unfolding daily near another Gulf, 7000 miles away. Both disasters flow from the criminal behavior of the Bush administration and are closely related. Much can be said about how long-term policies -- from denying the existence of global warming to permitting greedy developers to destroy protective offshore islands and wetlands -- may have contributed to the severity of Katrina. But now there are more immediate concerns.

FEMA and President Bush have failed to provide timely aid for the poorest people of New Orleans. They had no way to escape. They have been virtually abandoned for days in waist-deep polluted water, the Convention Center, or the Superdome, sharing space with the already dead, surrounded by stinking garbage and human waste, without potable water, food, or medical care.

This reminds us of Iraq, where the infrastructure has been destroyed by blockade and war causing people to endure sweltering heat, without electricity, medical care and jobs. Both disasters were predicted. Numerous studies anticipated that a major hurricane could flood New Orleans, while many predicted that the invasion of Iraq would punish millions of innocents, bringing resistance and possibly civil war. However, these studies were ignored by federal administrations, hell-bent on domination and profit.

In both the Persian and American gulfs, the poorest people suffer most. In both places, people of color are neglected and brutalized by racist policies. This ugliness is reflected in graphic images of neglect that come bursting daily from the TV screens. People desperate for necessities are now criminalized as looters. The New Orleans police were ordered to stop rescue efforts and instead protect property, and the National Guard has been given "shoot to kill" orders.

The war in the Persian Gulf impacts directly on the unfolding catastrophe in our Southern states. Budgets for flood control, strengthening the levees, evacuation, and relief have been inadequate and have actually been reduced. Last year $71 million was cut from the budget for flood control in New Orleans alone. Meanwhile more than $200 billion has been squandered in Iraq. Where are the giant helicopters that could rescue stranded people? Where are the giant air conditioned tents and the ready-to-eat meals that could house and feed refugees -- the same tents and meals that Halliburton provides so expensively in Iraq? Why are 35-40% of the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guards in Iraq, on missions of death, instead of back home where they are so desperately needed?

Disruption of Middle East oil production (by the Iraq War) and refining capabilities on the Gulf coast (by Katrina) are forcing gas prices to spiral upward. These shortages are already being used by the big oil, pipeline and refining companies as pretexts to extort ever greater profits from the working people of the U.S. Because of this exploitation, the economy will be globally affected, potentially bringing inflation together with joblessness, a re-enactment of the "stagflation" that punished us during the Vietnam War.

Now, more than ever, our voices must be heard. Call the White House to demand immediate and effective relief efforts in New Orleans, along the Gulf coast and wherever the refugees are being taken. The White House phone number is 202-456-1111. And make our own contribution through either of these two special hurricane relief funds:

AFL-CIO – http://www.aflcio.org/

NAACP - https://www.naacp.org/disaster/contribute.php


END THE WAR ON IRAQ! BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

3 Days of Peace & Justice Actions in Washington, D.C.

September 24-26, 2005

Visit our website today to download leaflets, endorse the mobilization, and learn more about the plans for this powerful weekend of action.

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/septmobe


Informant: Martin Greenhut

-------Original Message-------

This from a friend. Her friend is a physician who was attending a conference in New Orleans.

Aug. 31, 2005

Thanks to all of you who have sent your notes of concern and your prayers. I am writing this note on Tuesday at 2 p.m.. I wanted to update all of you as to the situation here. I don't know how much information you are getting but I am certain it is more than we are getting. Be advised that almost everything I am telling you is from direct observation or rumor from reasonable sources. They are allowing limited internet access, so I hope to send this dispatch today.

Personally, my family and I are fine. My family is safe in Jackson, Miss., and I am now a temporary resident of the Ritz Carleton Hotel in New Orleans. I figured if it was my time to go, I wanted to go in a place with a good wine list. In addition, this hotel is in a very old building on Canal Street that could and did sustain little damage. Many of the other hotels sustained significant loss of windows, and we expect that many of the guests may be evacuated here.

Things were obviously bad yesterday, but they are much worse today. Overnight the water arrived. Now Canal Street (true to its origins) is indeed a canal. The first floor of all downtown buildings is underwater. I have heard that Charity Hospital and Tulane are limited in their ability to care for patients because of water. Ochsner is the only hospital that remains fully functional. However, I spoke with them today and they too are on generator and losing food and water fast.

The city now has no clean water, no sewerage system, no electricity, and no real communications. Bodies are still being recovered floating in the floods We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective communications. We have a group of armed police here with us at the hotel that is admirably trying to exert some local law enforcement. This is tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting These are poor and desperate people with no housing and no medical care and no food or water trying to take care of themselves and their families. Unfortunately, the people are armed and dangerous. We hear gunshots frequently. Most of Canal street is occupied by armed looters who have a low threshold for discharging their weapons. We hear gunshots frequently. The looters are using makeshift boats made of pieces of styrofoam to access. We are still waiting for a significant national guard presence.

The health care situation here has dramatically worsened overnight. Many people in the hotel are elderly and small children. Many other guests have unusual diseases. ... There are (Infectious Disease) physicians in at this hotel attending an HIV confection. We have commandeered the world famous French Quarter Bar to turn into an makeshift clinic. There is a team of about seven doctors and PAs and pharmacists. We anticipate that this will be the major medical facility in the central business district and French Quarter.

Our biggest adventure today was raiding the Walgreen's on Canal under police escort. The pharmacy was dark and full of water. We basically scooped the entire drug sets into garbage bags and removed them. All under police escort The looters had to be held back at gunpoint. After a dose of prophylactic Cipro I hope to be fine.

In all we are faring well. We have set up a hospital in the the French Quarter bar in the hotel, and will start admitting patients today. Many will be from the hotel, but many will not. We are anticipating dealing with multiple medical problems, medications and and acute injuries. Infection and perhaps even cholera are anticipated major problems. Food and water shortages are imminent.

The biggest question to all of us is where is the National Guard. We hear jet fighters and helicopters, but no real armed presence, and hence the rampant looting. There is no Red Cross and no Salvation Army.

In a sort of clicho?= way, this is an edifying experience. One is rapidly focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of life It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care physician. We are under martial law so return to our homes is impossible. I don't know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear. Despite it all, this is a soul-edifying experience. The greatest pain is to think about the loss. And how long the rebuild will take. And the horror of so many dead people .

PLEASE SEND THIS DISPATCH TO ALL YOU THING MAY BE INTERESTED IN A DISPATCH from the front. I will send more according to your interest. Hopefully their collective prayers will be answered. By the way, suture packs, sterile gloves and stethoscopes will be needed as the Ritz turns into a MASH.


Informant: Martin Greenhut

NATIONAL DAY OF EMERGENCY ACTION

Save the People of New Orleans Jobs/Income & Housing for All Displaced Families Real Relief – Yes! Racism – No!

Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005 Los Angeles Protest: 6 pm, Westwood Federal Building 11000 Wilshire Blvd (corner of Wilshire & Veteran)

What is taking place today in Louisiana and Mississippi is a crisis rarely seen in this country. It has provoked an outpouring of concern for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Millions of people across the United States and around the world are watching in horror at both the scale of suffering and the lack of response by the U.S. government. Thousands are dead or missing; millions have been displaced or lost their jobs and homes.

The African American community in New Orleans has been especially hard hit, and on top of massive suffering has suffered vicious racist scapegoating at the hands of government officials and the corporate media. The real "looters" are the big oil companies that are making super-profits by jacking up the price of gas and oil.

It is becoming clearer every day that this crisis goes far beyond a "natural disaster." The danger that a hurricane posed for New Orleans and the region had been known and discussed for years—with no significant preparations taken. The U.S. government and all its agencies are guilty of criminal neglect. The Senate relief bill of $10.5 billion—which equals just 7 weeks of the cost of war in Iraq— is completely inadequate.

Working people in the United States need to stand with the victims of this crisis and demand that the government take immediate and long-term action to give real assistance to those who have lost everything.

Join the protest on Wednesday, September 7 in Los Angeles and demand real relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina!

Stop Racist Scapegoating of the Victims! Jail the Real "Looters" – The Oil Company Executives! Money for People's Needs, Not for War!

National Protests Scheduled: Los Angeles: 6 pm, Westwood Federal Building,11000 Wilshire Blvd (corner of Veteran & Wilshire) Washington, DC: 5 pm, White House San Francisco: 5 pm, Powell & Market Sts.

For more info call 323-464-1636 or e-mail answerla@answerla.org.

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition-LA Act Now to Stop War and End Racism
323-464-1636 http://www.answerla.org answerla@answerla.org
1800 Argyle Ave, #410 Los Angeles , CA 90028 Join us each Tues at 7 pm for A.N.S.W.E.R. Activists Meetings.


Informant: idthomp

This is from Meria Heller....

A good one.

Annie


KATRINA, CAUSE AND EFECT - By Meria Heller
http://www.Meria.net
9/2/05

Hurricane Katrina roared through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and touched a few other states this week. The devastation is total. Many lives were lost; property damage in the billions and a toxic wasteland will be left in its wake.

Government response was shamefully poor, and the agencies that are overpaid to over plan for such disasters were rendered impotent. Although other countries offered to help, the President of the United States refused it.

People now talk about rebuilding the cities discounting the toxicity of the air, water, buildings and land. Chemical plants, oil refineries, dead bodies, sewerage, dead animals are only the tip of the toxic iceberg.

For the past thirty years or so there has been a strong environment movement and education taking place in the United States. There has also been a new spiritual movement incorporating respect and understanding of the planet, Gaia - Earth. Many people, politicians, religions have chosen to ignore the work of Nobel prize winning scientists on runaway global warming and destruction. Humankind has chosen to ignore common sense when building on or over nature.

If your house is made of sand, don't be surprised when the ocean takes it way. If you build your house near a volcano, don't be surprised when the lava flows. If you trust your body and soul to a politician or religious figure, don't be surprised when your soul is lost. If you're waiting for someone else to run your life, you'll lose it.

Centuries ago, humanity knew how to live with and respect nature. There were many rituals and offerings to spirit keepers of all forms for all the beauty and life given by Planet Earth. People knew how to share the bounty of Earth with each other, and money did not exist. Ownership of the land did not exist. To take something from nature without an offering in return was unheard of. To see your brother or sister (two legged, four legged, crawling, swimming) in need and not help was unheard of.

We are taught in school about cause and effect. We are taught that for every action there is an equal reaction. When the Earth is invaded through mines, bombs, etc., she may release certain gases, dis-eases to protect herself from further invasion. If "shock and awe" goes off in the Middle East, "shock and awe" will come back at us. This is common sense and common science.

When man thinks he can manipulate nature and the weather, nature and weather will manipulate man. There has never been an instance where man can beat nature, yet for his stupidity and rigidity he continues to try. How much manipulation of the Earth, the weather, the resources has man been guilty of? Well, for every action there is an equal reaction.

I myself have been an environmentalist for the past 30 years. I co-host twice a month a show called "The Earth News Hour". I walk my talk, drive my talk, write my talk, and then wait on the events based on common sense to unfold.

We are now in the age of the superstorms. We will NEVER have "normal" weather again. Global warming is out of control, greedy Corporations run and ruin the planet and the time is way past due to develop alternate lifestyles that compliment the Earth.

People ask me "where can I move?" " what should I store?" and similar questions. The answer is simple (corny but simple) "wherever you go, there you are". There is NOWHERE to move. The One World Order minions, greedy corporations, pollution is everywhere. What should you store? Look at Louisiana for that answer. It's all been swept away.

The best place to move is inside yourself. Live about 10 inches from your head inside your heart. The best things to store up is your spiritual wardrobe. Who are you? What do you stand for? Are you brave enough to stand up for the Planet and the people? What are you driving? Eating? Buying? Sharing?

We are living in very exciting, interesting times. Many prophecies have been written about these times. Knowledge and respect for the planet will tell you all you need to know in times of uncertainty. Surely the animals know how to get out of harm's way and survive without jobs. Are we any less? We live in the days of all the "isms" falling. Catholicism, Capitalism, Communism, etc.

Perhaps the reaction from Katrina will be the realization that we don't need a Federal Government. We don't need wars. We don't need to be a nation of consumers. What we do need is love for each other. Friendship with the whole world. Technology and dollars spent to clean up the mess we've made of our home - Earth. The message of the medicine wheel is the same now as it's always been "live in a sacred manner or die". Imagine a huge medicine wheel filled with love encircling the planet. Pray for peace. Send your love out worldwide! Perhaps Katrina will have saved the planet by the time all is said and done. Pray for all living things,

Meria

"THE MERIA HELLER SHOW "- Now in it's 6th Year On The Net- #1 on Net! http://www.Meria.net

"Meria is the best weapon of Mass instruction we have" - Greg Palast

My book "Reinventing The Wheel, The Universal Wheel: Tool of Global Unity" is now available exclusively through the website ! Order your copy today! Solutions!! Peace!! Unity!!

(CNN) Der Chef der amerikanischen Zivilschutz-Behörde FEMA Michael Brown erklärte drei Tage nach dem Durchzug des Hurrican Katrina, dass die Opfer für ihr Schicksal selbst verantwortlich seien. Sie hätten die Aufforderung zur Evakuierung befolgen sollen. Er ging nicht darauf ein, wie die Mittellosen, Alten und Kranken dies hätten realisieren sollen.

http://links.net-hh.de?lid=22586
http://tinyurl.com/78u49

At a meeting 11 days ago in Chicago, representatives from 900 unions worldwide coalesced around a common idea: Turn up the pressure on Wal-Mart globally to boost pay and benefits.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/090205LA.shtml

Organizers are planning what they say will be the largest anti-war demonstration in the nation's capital since the Iraq war began in March 2003.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090205S.shtml

In a statement issued Friday September 2nd, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) lambasted the Administration's slow response and lack of action to help the Gulf Coast communities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090205Q.shtml

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

1 Sept. 2005 WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- The US Navy asked Halliburton to repair naval facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the Houston Chronicle reported today. The work was assigned to Halliburton's KBR subsidiary under the Navy's $500 million CONCAP contract awarded to KBR in 2001 and renewed in 2004. The repairs will take place in Louisiana and Mississippi.

KBR has not been asked to repair the levees destroyed in New Orleans which became the primary cause of most of the damage.

Since 1989, governments worldwide have awarded $3 billion in contracts to KBR's Government and Infrastructure Division to clean up damage caused by natural and man-made disasters.

Earlier this year, the Navy awarded $350 million in contracts to KBR and three other companies to repair naval facilities in northwest Florida damaged by Hurricane Ivan, which struck in September 2004. The ongoing repair work involves aircraft support facilities, medium industrial buildings, marine construction, mechanical and electrical improvements, civil construction, and family housing renovation.

In March, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is tasked with responding to hurricane disasters, became a lobbyist for KBR. Joe Allbaugh was director of FEMA during the first two years of the Bush administration.

Today, FEMA is widely criticized for its slow response to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Allbaugh managed Bush's campaign for Texas governor in 1994, served as Gov. Bush's chief of staff and was the national campaign manager for the Bush campaign in 2000. Along with Karen Hughes and Karl Rove, Allbaugh was one of Bush's closest advisers.

"This is a perfect example of someone cashing in on a cozy political relationship," said Scott Amey, general counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington watchdog group. "Allbaugh's former placement as a senior government official and his new lobbying position with KBR strengthens the company's already tight ties to the administration, and I hope that contractor accountability is not lost as a result."


Informant: Milo

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10343799


Informant: Milo

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090205R.shtml


Informant: Anna Webb

**** Personal Call for Action **** This is Not a Press Release or Related to any Voting Issues **** Strictly Personal Letter

Please flood the Whitehouse and former Utah Governor Leavitt with requests to send the buses to evacuate New Orleans and act like the Christians they claim to be. Lines of buses are sitting outside New Orleans while people die!! Take the people anywhere where there is running water and dirt to dig an outhouse and let other people bring them tents and food!! (or drop the New Orleans refugees off at truck stops - anywhere with water and sanitation where volunteers can reach them.)

Whitehouse emails are:

comments@whitehouse.gov and vice_president@whitehouse.gov

Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

Why we have not evacuated the stranded in New Orleans, is more than I can comprehend! Nor did I understand why buses were not sent in to evacuate the vehicle-less indigent BEFORE the hurricane hit when everyone knew that New Orleans would be flooded.

Do we have to drive to New Orleans ourselves to pick up those people or is the President going to order the buses in to pick them up?

At least someone should have TOLD us that the authorities would not even allow the buses to evacuate all the people, so that real Christians and other spiritually mature folks in America could have driven there ourselves to rescue people from death!!

I am outraged!

Do I have to drive to New Orleans myself to help evacuate the rest of the people there?

Why are they rescuing them out of flooded homes, only to let them die on the pavement inside the city?

What is the matter with this Whitehouse and our former Governor Leavitt that they let people die needlessly rather than evacuate New Orleans immediately?

Do they not understand that bringing more people into a city without water or sanitation is illogical, unintelligent, and will only cause more deaths? New Orleans needs to be evacuated for many months - or perhaps for good - at least until it is habitable!

Why are they keeping people in New Orleans who want to leave? This is America. We are not supposed to enslave Black people to let them die on slave ships any more. These people want to leave New Orleans. Get them OUT of New Orleans now before more of them die!

To keep these victims in New Orleans any longer is the height of moral bankruptcy!

Yet I hear Mike Leavitt, former Utah Governor and Director of Human Health now, talking as though he plans to keep those people in New Orleans indefinately - even though they want to leave. That is called slavery! And it is even worse because it is obvious that they will die if left in the unsanitary conditions in New Orleans now.

Am I wrong? If so, please explain it to me?

Any open pasture or forest land with a clean stream running through it, or a well, would be more survivable than New Orleans is now. Let those people go!


Kathy Dopp
http://electionarchive.org

Reasonable robustness, and phrased their statements a little more carefully:

Anti-Phone Tower Leaflet Criticised
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13942.php

Advertising standards matters when you're posting stuff around.

Andy

Monday, September 05, 2005 8:51 PM

Subject: Obviously people have huge concerns about mobile phones.

Here is another wireless gimmick that people are sure to trust??? I wonder who calibrates this monitoring equipement?? It would be nice if someone in the area were able to check the radiation densities with a properely calibrated spectrum analyzer. We already know that the WHO maximumums are too high and killing us, so what else is new??

Regards Robert

"We thought if people could check themselves - on a weekly basis if necessary - the actual levels against the World Health Organisation maximums then that could provide some reassurance."

I ask -WHAT DO THEY DO ABOUT THE HEADACHE ??

Oh I forgot, there are drugs for that!! -- RER Residents check phone mast levels Residents worried about mobile phones can now use the internet to keep track of the level of emissions from masts.

The joint project between Vodafone and Oxford City Council - named Cassiopea - will record emission levels in the Cowley area of the city.

This data will then be made available as a graph on the council's website, compared to the recommended maximum.

Authorities say the small mobile unit - which is solar-powered - will be moved to other areas of Oxford in the future.

'Huge concerns'

The machine will detect Electro-Magnetic Fields (EMFs) from all sources, not only mobile phones but also origins as diverse as taxi firms and baby listening devices.

Jane Frapwell, who is running the project for Vodafone, told the BBC News website the company had provided training and information to the council but was taking a back seat.

"We've consciously decided to do that, so people can be reassured it's independent," she said .

"Obviously people have huge concerns about mobile phones.

"We thought if people could check themselves - on a weekly basis if necessary - the actual levels against the World Health Organisation maximums then that could provide some reassurance."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4202798.stm
Published: 2005/08/31 18:24:40 GMT

© BBC MMV http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4202798.stm

--------

THE HEADACHE ?? It's just in people mind: It is a problem of public perception ! The WHO published a booklet on how to deal with public perception on EMF, so here is one of the fruits of the hard work. Put an "independent" monitoring equipment to make sure that the headaches stand in the ICNIRP standard. The population is in a very well controlled study, everything is under control, no need to worry. We will have to wait with the headaches for the conclusive proof.

Iris Atzmon.

--------

Check online to see how masts affect you
http://new.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/News/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=News&tBrand=enonline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED31%20Aug%202005%2013%3A48%3A53%3A493

Residents check phone mast levels
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4202798.stm

Now think what it actually means.

Vodaphone will prove to the world, to everyone concerned, to every campaigner, to every Council and planner, that their masts will not make people warm, because they comply hugely with the guidelines on acute exposure.

How many of these people will be reminded that there are no guidelines on chronic low-level exposure to comply with, and that this is where all the real worries lie?

Andy

Red Cross cannot enter New Orleans - National Guard orders
Posted by Beam Me Up
Added to homepage Sat Sep 03rd 2005, 01:03 AM ET

Red Cross

* Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.

* The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html#4524

Discuss this topic (43 responses)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4598834

http://www.democraticunderground.com/


Informant: sash

http://www.lesverts.fr/article.php3?id_article=1256

Our health is threatened. Experts have been launching the alarm, but their voice is choked and their works are ignored. The stakes are however big: how to avoid the announced development of true epidemics not only of cancer, asthma, autoimmune or neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer), but also of new pathologies? It is known, the carcinogenic character of asbestos was proven since 1950. However, asbestos was only forbidden in France in 1997! This scandal should not be reproduced. It is thus essential to listen to the "launchers of alarm". Who are they? What new medical dangers do they highlight? How do lobbies act when they face them?

This book brushes an interesting panorama of the great public health stories and the research now in progress. The authors also bring answers, with precise proposals for a recasting of our system of medical safety, in order to guarantee the freedom of the people who research and the listening of the civil society to the service of a true precaution and prevention policy. André Cicolella is a researcher in environmental health, specialized in the evaluation of the medical risks for an establishment of public research. Launcher of alarm himself, he is at the origin of the awakening related to glycol ethers, chemicals very largely used. This situation resulted in the first decisions of the Court of cassation on the protection of the launchers of alarm. President of the Fondation Sciences citoyennes since its creation in 2002, in charge for the Commission health of the Greens, it is also at the origin of the creation of the French Agency of medical safety of environment (AFSSE) with the deputy André Aschieri. Dorothée Benoit Browaeys is a scientific journalist. She is co-founded the electronic review http://www.vivantinfo.com and VivAgora association for the public discussion on the scientific and technical choices.

--------

Alertes santé, experts et citoyens face aux intérêts privés, André Cicolella et Dorothée Benoit Browaeys, Fayard, 2005, 432 p., 22 €

Notre santé est menacée. Des experts lancent l’alerte, mais leur voix est étouffée et leurs travaux sont ignorés. Les enjeux sont pourtant immenses : comment éviter le développement annoncé de véritables épidémies non seulement de cancer, d’asthme, de maladies auto-immunes ou neurodégénératives (Alzheimer), mais aussi de nouvelles pathologies ? On le sait, le caractère cancérigène de l’amiante a été prouvé dès 1950. Pourtant, l’amiante n’a été interdit en France qu’en 1997 ! Ce scandale ne doit pas se reproduire. Il est donc essentiel d’être à l’écoute des « lanceurs d’alerte ». Qui sont-ils ? Quels nouveaux dangers sanitaires mettent-ils en évidence ? Comment agissent les lobbies auxquels ils font face ? Ce livre brosse un panorama passionnant des grandes affaires de santé publique et des recherches en cours. Les auteurs apportent également des réponses, avec des propositions précises de refonte de notre système de sécurité sanitaire, afin de garantir la liberté du chercheur et l’écoute de la société civile au service d’une vraie politique de prévention et de précaution. André Cicolella est chercheur en santé environnementale, spécialiste de l’évaluation des risques sanitaires dans un établissement de recherche publique. Lanceur d’alerte lui-même, il est à l’origine de la prise de conscience liée aux éthers de glycol, produits chimiques très largement utilisés. Cette affaire s’est traduite par la première jurisprudence de la Cour de cassation sur la protection des lanceurs d’alerte. Président de la fondation Sciences citoyennes depuis sa création en 2002, responsable de la Commission santé des Verts, il est également à l’origine de la création de l’Agence française de sécurité sanitaire de l’environnement (AFSSE) avec le député André Aschieri. Dorothée Benoit Browaeys est journaliste scientifique. Elle est cofondatrice de la revue électronique www.vivantinfo.com et de l’association VivAgora pour le débat public sur les choix scientifiques et techniques.


Informant: NO LOGO

Owning the Weather in 2025
http://tinyurl.com/2dvj6t


Informant: Amy Sasser

From ufpj-news


--------

Weather Modification Operations and Research Act '05
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=90418;show_parent=1
http://www.apfn.net/MESSAGEBOARD/06-07-05/discussion.cgi.12.html

--------

In 2025, US aerospace forces can "own the weather"

EXCELLENT!! Thank You very much...I'll pass it on.

Annie


In a message dated 9/2/2005 5:47:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time, smilingmoon14 writes:

Specific information on weather modification by the government

The one piece of definitive weather manipulation from the past is in my copy of the April 1982, Volume 14, Number 1, issue of THE JOURNAL OF WEATHER MODIFICATION. It carries an article on Project Popeye entitled "Weather Modification in Southeast Asia, 1966-1972." As the abstract says "An inter-service rain-increasing program was introduced into the Vietnam conflict specifically to impede North Vietnamese infiltration through the Laotian panhandle..." These events are far enough behind us that you can look up something on the historical record. For more recent events, although I have a lot of suspicions about specific cases, the actual evidence doesn't go beyond proof of a theoretical capability. The copy that I have of the 1995 Air Force report, WEATHER AS A FORCE MULTIPLIER: OWNING THE WEATHER IN 2025, makes grandiose claims about how 'In 2025, US aerospace forces can "own the weather" by capitalizing on emerging technologies and focusing development of those technologies to war-fighting applications.' So I guess we're one-third of the way there (2025 - 1995 = 30; 2005 -1995 = 10; 3*10 = 30).

Patrick

The degree of the disaster unfolding in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama after Hurricane Katrina is unnecessary. This is a social catastrophe due to the disregard for human life by state and federal authorities. The impact of Katrina stands in sharp contrast to the result of a similar hurricane in July that hit Cuba-an island nation near the U.S. Gulf Coast, with much less wealth, but with a revolutionary government of workers and farmers.

When Louisiana authorities ordered the evacuation of New Orleans, the population of half a million was left to fend for itself. Those relying on public transportation were stranded. The federal government did not organize to fly people out in the 24 hours prior to the storm hitting land when evacuation by air was still possible. In the rush out of the city, those with access to resources faired far better than working people, as is always the case in a capitalist country divided into social classes.

The women, men, and children who waited for hours to find shelter in New Orleans' Superdome were subjected to humiliating searches as rains began to drench them. Razor blades, nail clippers, and other items used for basic hygiene were taken from them by National Guard troops. This affront to human dignity goes hand in hand with the treatment by state governments and their troops of desperate people seeking water, soda, or food as criminal "looters."

In Mississippi, where the eye of the storm hit, there was even less of an organized evacuation attempt than Louisiana. Tens of thousands of structures were flattened and the death toll is rising. While every layer of the population was affected, the impact is crushing for workers and small farmers in one of the country's poorest states.

The response by the revolutionary government of Cuba has been starkly different. Evacuations of more than 1.5 million people were organized there in July during Hurricane Dennis and a year ago during Hurricane Ivan. The government and mass organizations-from the Federation of Cuban Women to trade unions and the Union of Young Communists-worked together to make such massive movements of people possible and effective. Collective action and human solidarity were aimed above all at protecting the health and welfare of all people first, and then safeguarding vital equipment and farm machinery. This included ensuring that everyone had water, food, and medical care. As a result, the human toll was minimal: zero last year after Ivan, and 16 in July after Dennis. After each storm the government helped mobilize people to repair the damage and rebuild rapidly.

Natural disasters can't be stopped. But what happens before, during, and after them is not inevitable. It wasn't foreordained that thousands would die in Katrina's path. Cuba shows what's possible when working people hold state power with a revolutionary leadership.

In the U.S. now, the labor movement should demand massive and immediate government relief, an end to the treatment of human beings in need as criminals, a moratorium on farm foreclosures in all affected areas, and a federally funded public works program to rebuild the destroyed housing and infrastructure quickly.

http://www.themilitant.com/2005/6935/693502.html

Vol. 69/No. 35 September 19, 2005 U.S. Gulf Coast: social disaster unfolds in wake of hurricane (front page) BY BRIAN WILLIAMS

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama August 29, a social disaster is unfolding in the region. The catastrophe is of massive proportions in New Orleans, a city of half a million people, and surrounding areas. According to news reports, thousands of people may be dead, and the toll is rising. Up to a million people have been left homeless.

Signaling disregard for the plight facing working people trapped in New Orleans, government authorities declared a state of emergency to deploy additional cops and an armed personnel carrier to stop "looters." These are largely working people deprived of food and drinking water who are seeking basic goods to survive in the absence of timely government aid.

Prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, government authorities urged a major evacuation, which they later said was mandatory. Those relying on public transportation were largely stranded, with more than 20,000 taking shelter in the Superdome football stadium and thousands of others remaining trapped in their homes.

Those with cars who could afford the gas prices left the city-some 80 percent of New Orleans residents. But they were on their own to figure out where to go or stay overnight, with many unable to find hotel rooms or running out of funds.

"There's nowhere, nowhere to go. There's nowhere to eat, get gas or stay," truck driver Robert Smith told a Miami Herald reporter. Smith, who left New Orleans with his family of six, ended up stranded on Interstate 10 near Gulfport, Mississippi.

According to Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco, who was interviewed on the August 30 CNN television program "Larry King Live," commercial airlines stopped flying into New Orleans a day before Katrina hit because they would lose money without any passengers coming in, even though the airline companies could have sent planes to evacuate people for another 24 hours. Neither the state nor the federal governments took steps to ensure the commercial flights continued or to use military aircraft in their place.

The biggest direct impact of the hurricane was on working-class areas in eastern New Orleans. An estimated 40,000 homes were flooded in St. Bernard Parish in that part of the city. As water levels rose individuals were forced to take refuge in attics and on their roofs.

In Mississippi, the town of Gulfport is virtually gone and Biloxi has been severely damaged. More than 100 are reported dead in these two areas. The death toll, however, is expected to be much higher once bodies buried by debris or under water are discovered.

The day after Katrina hit two levees burst in New Orleans, submerging 80 percent of the city in a swamp of dirty water, as deep as 20 feet in some areas, according to New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. On August 31 he estimated thousands have likely died in the city. These levees were not built strong enough to withstand the impact of a major hurricane.

Across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama more than 1 million people are without electricity. Power companies predict it could be up to two months before service is fully restored. In New Orleans residents have been told not to drink the water. The water flooding the streets there includes chemical and natural gas leaks, animal carcasses, and human corpses.

Some 3,000 people have been rescued by boat and air lifts as of August 31, reported Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitchell Landrieu. The rising death toll in the city is still unknown as boats were bypassing the floating dead bodies to reach the thousands still stranded in flooded homes, attics, and rooftops. "Officials said it could be weeks, if not months, before most evacuees will be able to return," reported the Washington Post.

Those who took shelter in the Superdome have faced unhealthy, sweltering conditions, with holes in the roof, no electricity or air conditioning, and inadequate toilet facilities. On August 31 Louisiana governor Blanco ordered the evacuation of the Superdome within two days. The dome is now surrounded by three feet of water. The Houston Chronicle reported that a plan has been worked out to ship the 23,000 people confined there to the Astrodome in Houston.

A good part of the government's response has been aimed at minimizing "looting." On August 30, the Pentagon ordered five Navy ships and eight maritime rescue teams to the Gulf Coast. The amphibious assault ship the Bataan with six Sea Stallion and Sea hawk helicopters is en route from Texas. A special command center has been set up at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, to coordinate the Pentagon's rescue and "law and order" operations in the area. Some 4,000 Army and Air Force National Guard personnel have been sent to Louisiana.

In Mississippi, 1,600 members of the state National Guard unit have been deployed. "I have instructed the Highway Patrol and the National Guard to treat looters ruthlessly," said Mississippi governor Haley Barbour.

The employers and the government are using the catastrophe to push for acceptance of even higher fuel prices. Oil prices shot up above $70 a barrel at the end of August, with gas prices at the pump hitting $3 a gallon. The hurricane shut down most of the oil and gas operations in the Gulf region, which account for nearly a third of domestic oil production and a fifth of natural gas output. According to Bloomberg News, this includes at least eight U.S. refineries with the capacity to produce about 1.8 million barrels of oil per day, more than 10 percent of the nation's total.

The response to Katrina by U.S. state and federal authorities contrasts sharply with that of the government of Cuba, which has been far more successful in organizing mass evacuations and minimizing the human toll during similar hurricanes and other natural disasters. In preparation for Hurricane Ivan, which hit the Caribbean island in September 2004, the Cuban government evacuated and organized lodging for nearly 1.9 million people. Many were evacuated along with their household possessions. As a result, no one died when Ivan hit Cuba.

Hurricane Dennis-a category IV storm like Katrina when it made landfall in Louisiana-slammed into Cuba in July. At that point, 1.5 million people were evacuated to safer ground. Sixteen individuals died from the impact of that storm.


Vol. 69/No. 35 September 19, 2005
(editorial) http://www.themilitant.com/2005/6935/693520.html
THE MILITANT

[Reprinted from post on soc.culture.cuba Google UseNet group. Presumably, an 'Amen!!' at the end of the message didn't get transmitted.]


---<thepen_ab@y...> wrote:

IS IT TIME TO BRING THE NATIONAL GUARD HOME FROM IRAQ?

After 5 years of laughing off or suppressing sound policy advice, the criminal neglect of our REAL homeland security by the Bush administration has now resulted in the total loss of a major American city. And where is our National Guard and all their equipment that are supposed to be here to protect and save us? They are being ground up in the sand half a planet away for absolutely nothing but the arrogant, uncaring and obstinate pride of our chief executive, who is mentally incapable of admitting or correcting any mistake ever. We must DEMAND that our National Guard come home now.

http://www.usalone.net/nationalguard.htm

The form above will send your personal message to all your members of Congress, and now you can send a letter also to the editor of your nearest daily newspaper at the SAME time, all with one click. Our troops in Iraq need to come home immediately. Not a year from now, not a month from now, NOW now. Is there not a SINGLE politician with the courage to stand up and speak the truth. When enough of US speak up it will happen. We must take PERSONAL responsibility for our government and what it does. Why are you not clicking on the action form below right now?

http://www.usalone.net/nationalguard.htm

Is it the destiny of our country to be utterly destroyed in pursuit of vain foreign conquests, as was Rome so many centuries ago, to where they could no longer protect their own homeland? Is that what is meant by the words "finish the job"? What insanity misled us to this terrible PREVENTABLE tragedy, where pleas for critically needed levee repairs were ignored to finance war profits and tax cuts for this administration's personal cronies. They can't even recruit for the National Guard anymore because it's nothing but a ticket straight to a desert hellhole. Bring the guard home now.

http://www.usalone.net/nationalguard.htm

Please take action NOW! Forward this email to everyone you know, and encourage its posting on blogs and websites.

Originally posted by The Pen to change-links


Informant: Barry Schier

{Comment on article below}

Of course, knowing the potentially disastrous effects of the predicted scenario, Washington did act: It CUT BACK funding for reinforcing the levees that kept much of New Orleans literally and figurately above water. -- Barry Schier

{Article}

Models predicted New Orleans disaster, experts say

By Alan Elsner Fri Sep 2,11:54 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Virtually everything that has happened in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina struck was predicted by experts and in computer models, so emergency management specialists wonder why authorities were so unprepared.

"The scenario of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans was well anticipated, predicted and drilled around," said Clare Rubin, an emergency management consultant who also teaches at the Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management at George Washington University.

Computer models developed at Louisiana State University and other institutions made detailed projections of what would happen if water flowed over the levees protecting the city or if they failed.

In July 2004, more than 40 federal, state, local and volunteer organizations practiced this very scenario in a five-day simulation code-named "Hurricane Pam," where they had to deal with an imaginary storm that destroyed over half a million buildings in New Orleans and forced the evacuation of a million residents.

At the end of the exercise Ron Castleman, regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared: "We made great progress this week in our preparedness efforts.

"Disaster response teams developed action plans in critical areas such as search and rescue, medical care, sheltering, temporary housing, school restoration and debris management. These plans are essential for quick response to a hurricane but will also help in other emergencies," he said.

In light of that, said disaster expert Bill Waugh of Georgia State University, "It's inexplicable how unprepared for the flooding they were." He said a slow decline over several years in funding for emergency management was partly to blame.

In comments on Thursday, President George W. Bush said, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

But Louisiana State University engineer Joseph Suhayda and others have warned for years that defenses could fail. In 2002, the New Orleans Times Picayune published a five-part series on "The Big One" examining what might happen if they did.

SCENARIO LAID OUT

It predicted that 200,000 people or more would be unwilling or unable to heed evacuation orders and thousands would die, that people would be housed in the Superdome, that aid workers would find it difficult to gain access to the city as roads became impassable, as well as many other of the consequences that actually unfolded after Katrina hit this week.

Craig Marks who runs Blue Horizons Consulting, an emergency management training company in North Carolina, said the authorities had mishandled the evacuation, neglecting to help those without transportation to leave the city.

"They could have packed people on trains or buses and gotten them out before the hurricane struck. They had enough time and access to federal funds. And now, we find we do not have a proper emergency communications infrastructure so aid workers get out into the field and they can't talk to one another," he said.

Most of those trapped by the floods in the city of some 500,000 people are the poor who had little chance to leave.

Ernest Sternberg, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Buffalo, said law enforcement agencies were often more eager to invest in high tech "toys" than basic communications.

"It's well known that communications go down in disasters but people on the frontlines still don't invest in them. A lot of the investments that have been made in homeland security have been misspent," he said.

Several experts also believe the decision to make FEMA a part of the Department of Homeland Security, created after the September 11, 2001 attacks, was a major mistake. Rubin said FEMA functioned well in the 1990s as a small, independent agency.

"Under DHS, it was downgraded, buried in a couple of layers of bureaucracy, and terrorism prevention got all the attention and most of the funds," she said.

Former FEMA director James Lee Witt testified to Congress in March 2004: "I am extremely concerned that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters has been sharply eroded.

"I hear from emergency managers, local and state leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew and worked well with has now disappeared. In fact one state emergency manager told me, 'It is like a stake has been driven into the heart of emergency management,"' he said.

Underlying the situation has been the general reluctance of government at any level to invest in infrastructure or emergency management, said David McEntire, who teaches emergency management at the University of North Texas.

"No-one cares about disasters until they happen. That is a political fact of life," he said.

"Emergency management is woefully underfunded in this nation. That covers not only first responders but also warning, evacuation, damage assessment, volunteer management, donation management and recovery and mitigation issues," he said.

{Preface}

For those who complain that police aren't doing anything in response to the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, in the interest of equal time, I reprint an article to show that police are doing something -- shooting to kill or wound "looters" and "fir[ing] warning shots at tourists trying to escape New Orleans." -- Barry Schier

{Article}

Police fire warning shots at tourists trying to escape New Orleans

Fri Sep 2, 2:24 AM ET

NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) - Frightened Japanese, European and American tourists told how police fired over their heads to end their attempt to leave New Orleans.

Stranded since Hurricane Katrina hit the city on Monday, the 200 tourists were thrown out of their hotel on Thursday morning and said they were confronted by police as they attempted to get to buses to take them to safety.

Turned back to the centre of New Orleans, where looters were still roaming the lawless streets, the tourists huddled together on their suitcases under a pavilion next to the Mississippi River.

The hotel in the French Quarter told the tourists to leave saying their safety could no longer be guaranteed.

They said police gave them conflicting information. At one stage they were told to head to the Superdome arena or the city's convention center where deadly shootings and rapes have been reported among the thousands of refugees.

Later, the tourists were told to make their way to a highway overpass where buses would take them to safety.

The tourists dragged their suitcases through a notoriously dangerous inner city neighborhood, got drenched in a thunderstorm and were then turned back.

"All of a sudden, police cruisers rushed in with sirens blaring," said Patty Murphy, a 57-year-old saleswoman from Massachussetts. "They were shooting over our heads telling us to go back."

The tourists, one walking on crutches, then trekked back to the relative safety of the Canal Street ferry terminal which faces the police command centre.

It has been a desperate four days for the visitors who had no power or water in the hotel. At one stage they chartered buses to get them out of town only to be told the vehicles had been commandeeered by the National Guard.

"We are lost," said Ryo Gotanda from Chiba, Japan as she ate a military ration pack handed out by police.

"We are tourists we don't know how to get around how to protect ourselves, it is like being in a jungle," said Gotanda, who studies in New York.

The worst part, she said, was walking through the tough inner-city neighborhood. "People were staring at us, waving clubs. I was scared, for the first time in my life I thought I would die," said Gotanda.

Many tourists said they felt tremendous sympathy for the people who had lost everything in the disaster. But they also questioned the lack of organisation by authorities.

"It is incredible that a country as powerful as the United states with its huge military cannot do better than this," said 18-year-old Aitor Fuste from Barcelona.

The tourists spent the night under the concrete pavilion hoping they would be safe and trying their best to comfort each other.

"We are obviously very happy to be alive," said Genie Whitfield, from Leitrin, Ireland, who was on her honeymoon in New Orleans.

She and her husband had tried to get out before the hurricane but all the flights were booked.

"It has been quite an experience but if we have kids ... we definitely won't call them Katrina," she said.

A 94-year-old local woman, Alicia Schultz, joined the group. She was carted around on a hotel trolley by her son Wenteslaus who told of an action packed four days.

"She had to walk about a quarter of a mile from her home, then she was put in a boat. She was supposed to get on a chopper but it never came."

"We eventually made our way to the convention center where my mum got knocked out during a fight," he said.

"She has been out in the sun and the rain for 72 hours. She's a little disoriented," said Schultz, while his mother chatted happily with tourists and other residents waiting under the pavilion.

Help the victims of huricane Katrina with a free click of the mouse:
http://conservebirdhabitat.com/katrina.htm


This message was sent by Care2 Connect member: Chris Otahal

Exeter Express and Echo

12:00 - 02 September 2005

Exeter City Council has lost another planning appeal to phone giant Vodafone after turning down a bid to put up a new mobile mast. Last week, the Echo revealed how Vodafone had appealed successfully against a decision by the city planners to refuse permission for a mast at the junction of Sweetbrier Lane and Honiton Road in Heavitree.

Now another mast proposal - also rejected by the council on the grounds that it would "clutter" the landscape - has gone Vodafone's way on appeal.

The company applied last October to erect a 12-metre, third generation network mast, with three antennas and equipment cabinets, in the centre of the Magdalen Street roundabout, close to the Southgate Hotel.

Some nearby householders objected, citing possible health risks, and the plans were blocked by councillors. Now, though, a Whitehall planning inspector has allowed the application.

Exeter's head of planning services, Richard Short, said: "The main issue was considered to be whether the need for 3G coverage was outweighed by any harmful effect on the area's character.

"The inspector thought it unlikely that there were other practicable alternatives to the proposed site that would provide the required coverage. He saw that there were a number of tall lighting columns, a CCTV mast and numerous traffic signs on and around the roundabout.

"He thought the proposed equipment cabinets would be relatively small and unnoticeable."

The inspector also said the mast would have no effect on health.

Omega this is not true. See under:
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Cancer+Cluster
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

Terry Foster, who lives near the roundabout, said: "I can't understand why there's a mast going up when everybody can get a signal on their mobiles."

Vodafone said it had considered other sites further from homes but none matched its needs.

Mast row

Pontefract and Castle ford Express

ANGRY Airedale residents will be meeting mobile phone bosses later this month in a bid to stop plans for a 28ft mast in the middle of their estate. More than 500 objectors – backed by MP Yvette Cooper – signed a petition against the mast to be built on a patch of grassland in Elizabeth Drive.

Bosses from Vodafone have now agreed to meet residents at a special drop-in session at Castleford Civic Centre on Wednesday September 21 from 4-7pm. Petition organiser James Dakin, who lives on Elizabeth Drive, said: "A drop-in session suggests Vodafone wants to deal with residents individually instead of as a whole group. It could split people's opinions and we want to tackle the company together. "This is typical of what's happening across the country with these masts. Mobile phone companies and councils just railroad them through despite the potential health risks. I would have expected the council to at least allow us to put in our objections first." Ms Cooper said she had written to Vodafone three times to ask them to consult residents. She added: "I am appalled that Vodafone didn't meet residents before putting their planning application forward, despite having assured me three times that they would. "I am now urging them to conduct a proper consultation before anything goes ahead and that means listening to what residents have to say and not simply coming to talk to them."

A Wakefield Council spokesman said: "Planning permission for the mast was given to Vodafone on August 10. It was a delegated decision so it didn't need to go to full committee."

01 September 2005

--------

I will be sending this article to Prof Allmendinger who is in charge of the Arup study commissioned by the Government on whether the operators are adhering to the 10 commitments and their other obligations. Sian

http://www.wired.com/news/hurricane/0,2904,68743,00.html


Informant: NHNE

http://www.wired.com/news/planet/0,2782,68720,00.html


Informant: NHNE

http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts120.html
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=91340;show_parent=1



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

I am posting this to show you all that although life isn't great here, we have much to be thankful for. My spiritual sister, Spirit, is full Cherokee and works for the emergency services in Florida on the phone lines. She is pretty strong and always copes well. I am very close to her and knew there was trouble coming somewhere, which is why I phoned her. We firmly believe that what we are seeing and hearing around the world is the product of Man's abuse of our planet. In our own ways we are all campaigning against some of this abuse, so we need to be strong and united and move forward in a peaceful and productive way. If you pray, now is the time to add your voices to the world-wide prayers of many nations and beliefs.

Sandi



hi Sandi- i don't know how i made it until Friday but thank goodness- it has been a most heartbreaking week-those poor people in new orleans and mississippi - there is no bellsouth left down there so our office is taking most of the calls and it is so sad i have to unplug once in a while and cry. people call and tell me they can't find their families and it goes on and on. those people don't even have police protection so we have to take 911 calls and we can't do a thing for them. the police can't get to them anyway. they have been busing people to houston and dallas texas, and we have camps here in panama city for the evacuees. some other counties are setting up camps as well. we have all been working overtime and they asked us to work all weekend as well. but i don't think i can handle it. i am having nightmares and can't sleep from this. so this week i have come home and gone to bed. the scary thing is that if that storm had moved 100 miles east, it would be us instead of them. and the storm came 100 miles inland still the category 4-it would have wiped us out clear past the alabama border. i am only 30 miles from alabama. only 35 miles from the main bay, and 25 miles from an arm of the bay. i am really having a hard time with it. i really enjoyed talking to you the other night-i am sorry i couldn't hear you well. i was in a fog i think too! yasmin wrote an email and said her necklace is here in the title, but i cant open the email to read it-darn AOL! i hope you are fine-and i hope they get this noisy phone line cleared up soon-it's really a bother. but since the storm hit, it might not happen for awhile. i am going to try and send this-aol keeps kicking me off- love and hugs to you Sis. Spirit


From Mast Sanity

I had a long conversation with a pal of mine last night about why exactly, the US seems unconcerned about global warming and what, in all likelihood is the imminent climate catastrophe, which I think is worth sharing with readers.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10078.htm

It appears we lack the expertise and leadership to prevent or deal with a major national crisis. Why aren't these convoys and helicopters dropping in water, food, and medicine to these trapped individuals?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10071.htm

"Many of them were people without automobiles," - They were "people who couldn't afford a hotel room, who may have had no choice but to remain. And that means that the people who remain in New Orleans are disproportionately poor people, disproportionately African-American."

http://snipurl.com/hefk


From Information Clearing House

As Cindy Sheehan has so eloquently pointed out, using our children as "human cluster-bombs" to kill other children in never-ending wars is not a family value, it is the callous betrayal of our youth and the wanton destruction of our future.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10070.htm

By The Daily Mail

Here is a superpower that can crush at will a tinpot dictatorship - but then becomes so bogged down in the grisly aftermath of war that it finds itself unable to respond anything like adequately to the plight of tens of thousands of its own citizens engulfed by a natural calamity.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10074.htm

NOAA
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0901-04.htm

Disaster Experts Say
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0901-01.htm