Links
Starmail - 22. Mai, 23:39
22
Mai
2004
A Possible Association Between Fetal/neonatal Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation and the Increased Incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Considering that Vodafone UK has entered into a three-year 'cause partnership' with The UK's National Autistic Society (NAS), the following paper should be of some passing interest to the Society members.
Vodafone's charitable support is to "enable the NAS to expand the reach of existing programmes, which raise awareness of autism and support people with autism and their carers". Of course this good deed by Vodafone can make for some good PR and can be written off as "advertising" on the balance sheets.
However this good PR may be somewhat off-set if it is perceived by the public that Vodafone's technology may be a contributing factor for the condition!
Don Maisch
Medical Hypotheses (2004) 62, 195-197
http://intl.elsevierhealth.com/journals/mehy
A Possible Association Between Fetal/neonatal Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation and the Increased Incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Robert C. Kane, Ph.D.
The Associated Bioelectromagnetics Technologists, P.O. Box 133, Blanchardville, Wisconsin 53516-0133USA. FAX: 1 608 523-6500;
E-mail: rkane@tds.net
Key words: autism; radiofrequency; radiation; RF; microwave; fetus; embryo; neo-natal; blood-brain barrier; DNA; cognitive impairment.
Summary Recently disclosed epidemiological data indicate a dramatic increase in the incidence of autism spectrum disorders.
Previously, the incidence of autism has been reported as 4-5 per 10,000 children. The most recent evidence indicates an increased incidence of about 1 per 500 children. However, the etiology of autism is yet to be determined. The recently disclosed data suggest a possible correlation between autism incidence and a previously unconsidered environmental toxin. It is generally accepted in the scientific community that radiofrequency radiation is a biologically active substance. It is also readily acknowledged that human exposures to radiofrequency radiation have become pervasive during the past twenty years, whereas such exposures were uncommon prior to that time. It is suggested that fetal or neo-natal exposures to radiofrequency radiation may be associated with an increased incidence of autism.
© 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Prior to the twentieth century the only sources of radiofrequency (RF) radiation were the hyper-low levels of RF energy originating from our sun and the even lower levels of extra-solar RF noise. It is in this environment of low-level RF radiation that life on earth developed and exists to this day.
During the 1940s, primarily as a result of research and development performed as a part of the war effort, industry and the military establishment were successful in bringing the state of RF energy generation to maturity. From that time onward we have witnessed a broad range of commercial RF energy product applications including, most notably, broadcast FM radio, radar, television, public-service mobile communication transceivers, residential microwave ovens, and the portable cellular telephone.
Initially, the contribution of each radiating device was imperceptible when weighed against the background of incoming solar radiation. However, over the span of decades the number of terrestrial RF radiation sources, now counted in the billions, has increased to the degree that, presently, the base radiation level is many thousands of times higher than from solar RF energy impinging on the earth.
Notwithstanding the proliferation of RF radiation sources during the early decades of the "radiofrequency age", the 1940s through the 1970s, humans were seldom exposed to RF radiation at levels that might cause concern. Since the late 1970s a number of commercial products have become ubiquitous, which provide human exposures to levels of RF radiation that are significantly higher than either of the previous or present background levels. Research reports indicate that RF exposure levels, typically encountered from some commercial products, may induce alterations of biological processes or damage to the genome 1 - 13.
Concurrently the incidence of autism diagnoses demonstrates a pronounced, approximately linear, order of magnitude increase occurring during the last twenty years 14. For several decades prior to 1980 autism incidence remained essentially invariant; reportedly at about one diagnosed case per 2000 children. Byrd has reported a present autism incidence of about one per 700 children.
Hypothesis
RF radiation sources have become commonplace in the personal human environment from approximately 1980 to the present. Operation of an RF radiation source such as a two-way radio, portable telephone, or a cell phone exposes the operator to levels of RF radiation shown to be biologically active. Operation of an RF radiation source also exposes others, in the near proximity, to similarly biologically active levels of electromagnetic field intensities 15. Passive operation, such as from an RF emitting baby monitor, is a widespread postnatal exposure.
Some of the known effects of exposure to RF radiation include cognitive impairment 16, memory deficit 17, EEG modifications 18, DNA damage 3 - 12, chromosome aberrations 6, micronucleus formation 7, 22, fetal malformation 1, 2, increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier 19, 23, altered cellular calcium efflux 20 and altered cell proliferation 21.
RF radiation emissions from residential microwave ovens are, typically, on the order of 1 milli-watt per cm2. RF radiation exposures from cell phones range from about 0.1 to 10.0 milli-watt per cm2. Portable two-way radios provide similar exposure levels. The scientific literature confirms that RF radiation exposures, at levels more than 1,000 times lower than described immediately preceding, or on the order of 1.0 micro-watt per cm2, induce significant changes in biological processes or molecular repair mechanisms 12.
During gestation the possibility of unobservable embryonic and fetal damage is increased as mothers-to-be utilize and are exposed to the emissions from RF radiation devices. Researchers have emphatically reported that an embryo or fetus should not be exposed to radiofrequency radiation such as that emitted by the portable cell phone or portable telephone. One particular reason to avoid RF radiation exposure during pregnancy is that an embryo or fetus may not be fully protected by amniotic fluid for extended periods of time due to the natural movement of the embryo or fetus within the womb.
Secondly, the pelvic structure promotes deep RF radiation penetration and that radiation can be absorbed within the developing embryo or fetus.
Other researchers have postulated that there may exist a previously unidentified environmental toxin associated with the observed increased incidence of autism. For example, the works of Byrd (California - 1999) 14, Bertrand 24, (New Jersey - 2001), Taylor 25, (United Kingdom - 1999), and Chakrabarti & Fombonne 26, (United Kingdom - 2001) clearly support the proposition that the identified increased incidence of autism has an origin at about 1980: an increased incidence that has its origin established at the very time that the personal RF radiation devices came into popular use - about 1980. We propose that RF radiation, a new form of exposure of the human embryo, fetus, and infant, and an acknowledged environmental toxin under many exposure conditions, may be associated with the increased incidence of autism. This proposition is further based on the fact that these radiating products are periodically and typically utilized in the embryonic, fetal and neonatal environment. RF radiation is the only known toxin, exposure to which is wholly correlated with the repeatedly documented increased incidence of autism, which is now reported by at least some researchers as greater than 1 per 100 newborn.
Conclusion
The hypothesis may be tested and further investigated by employing accepted epidemiological techniques including a carefully crafted retrospective questionnaire. In particular, national or regional health registries, such as those available within California, the UK and Denmark (the Danish Health Registry) can provide the requisite study demography and RF radiation exposure scenarios, while also identifying and precluding incorporation of known confounders.
References
1 Berman E, Kinn JB, and Carter HB, Observations of mouse fetuses after irradiation with 2.45 GHz microwaves, Health Physics, 35, pp. 791-801, 1978.
2 Kaplan J, Polson P, Rebert C, Lunan K, and Gage M, Biological and behavioral effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to 2450-MHz electromagnetic radiation in the squirrel monkey, Radio Science, 17(5S), pp. 135S-144S, 1982.
3 Sagripanti JL, and Swicord ML, DNA structural changes caused by microwave radiation, Int J Radiat Biol, 50(1), pp. 47-50, 1986.
4 Leszczynski D, Joenväärä S, Reivinen J, and Kuokka R. Non-thermal activation of the hsp27/p38MAPK stress pathway by mobile phone radiation in human endothelial cells: Molecular mechanism for cancer and blood-brain barrier-related effects, Differentiation, 70, pp. 120 - 129, 2002.
Cell Phones: Non-thermal activation of cancer molecular mechanisms 5 Sagripanti JL, Swicord ML, and Davis CC, Microwave effects on plasmid DNA, Radiation Research 110, pp. 219-231, 1987.
6 Fucic A, Garaj-Vrhovac V, Skara M, and Dimitrovic B, X-rays, microwaves and vinyl chloride monomer: their clastogenic and aneugenic activity, using the micronucleus assay on human lymphocytes, Mutat Res 282(4), pp. 265-271, 1992.
7 Maes A, Verschaeve L, Arroyo A, De Wagter C, and Vercruyssen
L, In vitro cytogenetic effects of 2450 MHz waves on human peripheral blood lymphocytes, Bioelectromagnetics 14(6), pp. 495-501, 1993.
8 Sarkar S, Ali S, and Behari J, Effect of low power microwave on the mouse genome: a direct DNA analysis, Mutat Res 320, (1-2), pp.
141-147, 1994.
9 Lai H, and Singh NP, Acute low-intensity microwave exposure increases DNA single-strand breaks in rat brain cells, Bioelectromagnetics, 16(3), pp. 207-210, 1995.
10 Lai H, and Singh NP, Single- and double-strand DNA breaks in rat brain cells after acute exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation, Int J Radiat Biol, 69(4), pp. 513-521, 1996.
11 Repacholi MH, Basten A, Gebski V, Noonan D, Finnie J, and Harris AW, Lymphomas in E mu-Pim1 transgenic mice exposed to pulsed 900 MHz electromagnetic fields. Radiat Res, 147(5), pp. 631-640, 1997.
12 Phillips JL, Ivaschuk O, Ishida-Jones T, Jones RA, Campbell-Beachler M, and Haggren W, DNA damage in Molt-4 T-lymphoblastoid cells exposed to cellular telephone radiofrequency fields in vitro, Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics, 45, pp. 103-110, 1998.
13 Hardell L, Hansson Mild K, Pahlson A, Hallquist A, Ionizing radiation, cellular telephones and the risk of brain tumours. Europ J
Cancer Prevent 10, pp. 523-529, 2001.
14 Byrd RS, Sigman M. Bono M, et al, Report to the legislature on the principal findings from the epidemiology of autism in California: a comprehensive pilot study, M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California, Davis, 2002
15 Bawin SM, Kaczmarek LK, and Adey WR, Effects of modulated VHF fields on the central nervous system, Ann NY Acad. Sci, 247, pp.
74-81, 1975.
16 Chiang H, Yao GD, Fang QS, Wang KQ, Lu DZ, Zhou YK, Health effects of environmental electromagnetic fields. J. Bioelectricity
8:127-131, 1989.
17 Lai H, Horita A, and Guy AW, Microwave irradiation affects radial-arm maze performance in the rat, Bioelectromagnetics 15(2), pp. 95-104, 1994.
18 von Klitzing L, Low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields influence EEG of man, Phys. Medica, 11, pp. 77-80, 1995.
19 Salford LG, Brun A, Sturesson K, Eberhardt JL, and Persson BR, Permeability of the blood-brain barrier induced by 915 MHz electromagnetic radiation, continuous wave and modulated at 8, 16, 50, and 200 Hz. Microsc Res Tech, 27(6), pp. 535-542, 1994.
20 Paul Raj R, Behari J, and Rao AR, Effect of amplitude modulated RF radiation on calcium ion efflux and ODC activity in chronically exposed rat brain, Indian J Biochem Biophys, 36(5), pp. 337-340, 1999.
21 Cleary SF, Du Z, Cao G, Liu LM, and McCrady C, Effect of isothermal radiofrequency radiation on cytolytic T lymphocytes, FASEB J , 10(8), pp. 913-919, 1996.
22 d'Ambrosio G, Massa R, Scarfi MR, and Zeni O, Cytogenetic damage in human lymphocytes following GMSK phase modulated microwave exposure. Bioelectromagnetics, 23, pp. 7-13, 2002.
23 Persson BR, Salford LG, and Brun A, Blood-brain barrier permeability in rats exposed to electromagnetic fields used in wireless communication, Wireless Network 3, pp. 455-461, 1997.
24 Bertrand J, Mars A, Boyle C, Bove F, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Decoufle P., Prevalence of Autism in a United States Population: The Brick Township, New Jersey Investigation, Pediatrics, 108 (5), pp. 1155-1161, Nov. 2001.
25 Taylor B, Miller E, Farringdon et al, MMR Vaccine and Autism: No Epidemiological Evidence for a Causal Association, Lancet, 353, pp. 2026-2029, 1999.
26 Chakrabarti S, & Fombonne E, Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Preschool Children, JAMA, 285 (24), 2001.
--------
RF theory by Dr. Robert Kane....incl history...mechanisms..thermal issue
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/rf_theory_by_dr_robert_kane.htm
A Possible Association Between Fetal/neonatal Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation and the Increased Incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
http://tinyurl.com/2ves7g
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=hsp27
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=p38MAPK
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=autism
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=autism
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+C.+Kane
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=ASD
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=RF+autism+natal
Vodafone's charitable support is to "enable the NAS to expand the reach of existing programmes, which raise awareness of autism and support people with autism and their carers". Of course this good deed by Vodafone can make for some good PR and can be written off as "advertising" on the balance sheets.
However this good PR may be somewhat off-set if it is perceived by the public that Vodafone's technology may be a contributing factor for the condition!
Don Maisch
Medical Hypotheses (2004) 62, 195-197
http://intl.elsevierhealth.com/journals/mehy
A Possible Association Between Fetal/neonatal Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation and the Increased Incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Robert C. Kane, Ph.D.
The Associated Bioelectromagnetics Technologists, P.O. Box 133, Blanchardville, Wisconsin 53516-0133USA. FAX: 1 608 523-6500;
E-mail: rkane@tds.net
Key words: autism; radiofrequency; radiation; RF; microwave; fetus; embryo; neo-natal; blood-brain barrier; DNA; cognitive impairment.
Summary Recently disclosed epidemiological data indicate a dramatic increase in the incidence of autism spectrum disorders.
Previously, the incidence of autism has been reported as 4-5 per 10,000 children. The most recent evidence indicates an increased incidence of about 1 per 500 children. However, the etiology of autism is yet to be determined. The recently disclosed data suggest a possible correlation between autism incidence and a previously unconsidered environmental toxin. It is generally accepted in the scientific community that radiofrequency radiation is a biologically active substance. It is also readily acknowledged that human exposures to radiofrequency radiation have become pervasive during the past twenty years, whereas such exposures were uncommon prior to that time. It is suggested that fetal or neo-natal exposures to radiofrequency radiation may be associated with an increased incidence of autism.
© 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Prior to the twentieth century the only sources of radiofrequency (RF) radiation were the hyper-low levels of RF energy originating from our sun and the even lower levels of extra-solar RF noise. It is in this environment of low-level RF radiation that life on earth developed and exists to this day.
During the 1940s, primarily as a result of research and development performed as a part of the war effort, industry and the military establishment were successful in bringing the state of RF energy generation to maturity. From that time onward we have witnessed a broad range of commercial RF energy product applications including, most notably, broadcast FM radio, radar, television, public-service mobile communication transceivers, residential microwave ovens, and the portable cellular telephone.
Initially, the contribution of each radiating device was imperceptible when weighed against the background of incoming solar radiation. However, over the span of decades the number of terrestrial RF radiation sources, now counted in the billions, has increased to the degree that, presently, the base radiation level is many thousands of times higher than from solar RF energy impinging on the earth.
Notwithstanding the proliferation of RF radiation sources during the early decades of the "radiofrequency age", the 1940s through the 1970s, humans were seldom exposed to RF radiation at levels that might cause concern. Since the late 1970s a number of commercial products have become ubiquitous, which provide human exposures to levels of RF radiation that are significantly higher than either of the previous or present background levels. Research reports indicate that RF exposure levels, typically encountered from some commercial products, may induce alterations of biological processes or damage to the genome 1 - 13.
Concurrently the incidence of autism diagnoses demonstrates a pronounced, approximately linear, order of magnitude increase occurring during the last twenty years 14. For several decades prior to 1980 autism incidence remained essentially invariant; reportedly at about one diagnosed case per 2000 children. Byrd has reported a present autism incidence of about one per 700 children.
Hypothesis
RF radiation sources have become commonplace in the personal human environment from approximately 1980 to the present. Operation of an RF radiation source such as a two-way radio, portable telephone, or a cell phone exposes the operator to levels of RF radiation shown to be biologically active. Operation of an RF radiation source also exposes others, in the near proximity, to similarly biologically active levels of electromagnetic field intensities 15. Passive operation, such as from an RF emitting baby monitor, is a widespread postnatal exposure.
Some of the known effects of exposure to RF radiation include cognitive impairment 16, memory deficit 17, EEG modifications 18, DNA damage 3 - 12, chromosome aberrations 6, micronucleus formation 7, 22, fetal malformation 1, 2, increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier 19, 23, altered cellular calcium efflux 20 and altered cell proliferation 21.
RF radiation emissions from residential microwave ovens are, typically, on the order of 1 milli-watt per cm2. RF radiation exposures from cell phones range from about 0.1 to 10.0 milli-watt per cm2. Portable two-way radios provide similar exposure levels. The scientific literature confirms that RF radiation exposures, at levels more than 1,000 times lower than described immediately preceding, or on the order of 1.0 micro-watt per cm2, induce significant changes in biological processes or molecular repair mechanisms 12.
During gestation the possibility of unobservable embryonic and fetal damage is increased as mothers-to-be utilize and are exposed to the emissions from RF radiation devices. Researchers have emphatically reported that an embryo or fetus should not be exposed to radiofrequency radiation such as that emitted by the portable cell phone or portable telephone. One particular reason to avoid RF radiation exposure during pregnancy is that an embryo or fetus may not be fully protected by amniotic fluid for extended periods of time due to the natural movement of the embryo or fetus within the womb.
Secondly, the pelvic structure promotes deep RF radiation penetration and that radiation can be absorbed within the developing embryo or fetus.
Other researchers have postulated that there may exist a previously unidentified environmental toxin associated with the observed increased incidence of autism. For example, the works of Byrd (California - 1999) 14, Bertrand 24, (New Jersey - 2001), Taylor 25, (United Kingdom - 1999), and Chakrabarti & Fombonne 26, (United Kingdom - 2001) clearly support the proposition that the identified increased incidence of autism has an origin at about 1980: an increased incidence that has its origin established at the very time that the personal RF radiation devices came into popular use - about 1980. We propose that RF radiation, a new form of exposure of the human embryo, fetus, and infant, and an acknowledged environmental toxin under many exposure conditions, may be associated with the increased incidence of autism. This proposition is further based on the fact that these radiating products are periodically and typically utilized in the embryonic, fetal and neonatal environment. RF radiation is the only known toxin, exposure to which is wholly correlated with the repeatedly documented increased incidence of autism, which is now reported by at least some researchers as greater than 1 per 100 newborn.
Conclusion
The hypothesis may be tested and further investigated by employing accepted epidemiological techniques including a carefully crafted retrospective questionnaire. In particular, national or regional health registries, such as those available within California, the UK and Denmark (the Danish Health Registry) can provide the requisite study demography and RF radiation exposure scenarios, while also identifying and precluding incorporation of known confounders.
References
1 Berman E, Kinn JB, and Carter HB, Observations of mouse fetuses after irradiation with 2.45 GHz microwaves, Health Physics, 35, pp. 791-801, 1978.
2 Kaplan J, Polson P, Rebert C, Lunan K, and Gage M, Biological and behavioral effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to 2450-MHz electromagnetic radiation in the squirrel monkey, Radio Science, 17(5S), pp. 135S-144S, 1982.
3 Sagripanti JL, and Swicord ML, DNA structural changes caused by microwave radiation, Int J Radiat Biol, 50(1), pp. 47-50, 1986.
4 Leszczynski D, Joenväärä S, Reivinen J, and Kuokka R. Non-thermal activation of the hsp27/p38MAPK stress pathway by mobile phone radiation in human endothelial cells: Molecular mechanism for cancer and blood-brain barrier-related effects, Differentiation, 70, pp. 120 - 129, 2002.
Cell Phones: Non-thermal activation of cancer molecular mechanisms 5 Sagripanti JL, Swicord ML, and Davis CC, Microwave effects on plasmid DNA, Radiation Research 110, pp. 219-231, 1987.
6 Fucic A, Garaj-Vrhovac V, Skara M, and Dimitrovic B, X-rays, microwaves and vinyl chloride monomer: their clastogenic and aneugenic activity, using the micronucleus assay on human lymphocytes, Mutat Res 282(4), pp. 265-271, 1992.
7 Maes A, Verschaeve L, Arroyo A, De Wagter C, and Vercruyssen
L, In vitro cytogenetic effects of 2450 MHz waves on human peripheral blood lymphocytes, Bioelectromagnetics 14(6), pp. 495-501, 1993.
8 Sarkar S, Ali S, and Behari J, Effect of low power microwave on the mouse genome: a direct DNA analysis, Mutat Res 320, (1-2), pp.
141-147, 1994.
9 Lai H, and Singh NP, Acute low-intensity microwave exposure increases DNA single-strand breaks in rat brain cells, Bioelectromagnetics, 16(3), pp. 207-210, 1995.
10 Lai H, and Singh NP, Single- and double-strand DNA breaks in rat brain cells after acute exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation, Int J Radiat Biol, 69(4), pp. 513-521, 1996.
11 Repacholi MH, Basten A, Gebski V, Noonan D, Finnie J, and Harris AW, Lymphomas in E mu-Pim1 transgenic mice exposed to pulsed 900 MHz electromagnetic fields. Radiat Res, 147(5), pp. 631-640, 1997.
12 Phillips JL, Ivaschuk O, Ishida-Jones T, Jones RA, Campbell-Beachler M, and Haggren W, DNA damage in Molt-4 T-lymphoblastoid cells exposed to cellular telephone radiofrequency fields in vitro, Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics, 45, pp. 103-110, 1998.
13 Hardell L, Hansson Mild K, Pahlson A, Hallquist A, Ionizing radiation, cellular telephones and the risk of brain tumours. Europ J
Cancer Prevent 10, pp. 523-529, 2001.
14 Byrd RS, Sigman M. Bono M, et al, Report to the legislature on the principal findings from the epidemiology of autism in California: a comprehensive pilot study, M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California, Davis, 2002
15 Bawin SM, Kaczmarek LK, and Adey WR, Effects of modulated VHF fields on the central nervous system, Ann NY Acad. Sci, 247, pp.
74-81, 1975.
16 Chiang H, Yao GD, Fang QS, Wang KQ, Lu DZ, Zhou YK, Health effects of environmental electromagnetic fields. J. Bioelectricity
8:127-131, 1989.
17 Lai H, Horita A, and Guy AW, Microwave irradiation affects radial-arm maze performance in the rat, Bioelectromagnetics 15(2), pp. 95-104, 1994.
18 von Klitzing L, Low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields influence EEG of man, Phys. Medica, 11, pp. 77-80, 1995.
19 Salford LG, Brun A, Sturesson K, Eberhardt JL, and Persson BR, Permeability of the blood-brain barrier induced by 915 MHz electromagnetic radiation, continuous wave and modulated at 8, 16, 50, and 200 Hz. Microsc Res Tech, 27(6), pp. 535-542, 1994.
20 Paul Raj R, Behari J, and Rao AR, Effect of amplitude modulated RF radiation on calcium ion efflux and ODC activity in chronically exposed rat brain, Indian J Biochem Biophys, 36(5), pp. 337-340, 1999.
21 Cleary SF, Du Z, Cao G, Liu LM, and McCrady C, Effect of isothermal radiofrequency radiation on cytolytic T lymphocytes, FASEB J , 10(8), pp. 913-919, 1996.
22 d'Ambrosio G, Massa R, Scarfi MR, and Zeni O, Cytogenetic damage in human lymphocytes following GMSK phase modulated microwave exposure. Bioelectromagnetics, 23, pp. 7-13, 2002.
23 Persson BR, Salford LG, and Brun A, Blood-brain barrier permeability in rats exposed to electromagnetic fields used in wireless communication, Wireless Network 3, pp. 455-461, 1997.
24 Bertrand J, Mars A, Boyle C, Bove F, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Decoufle P., Prevalence of Autism in a United States Population: The Brick Township, New Jersey Investigation, Pediatrics, 108 (5), pp. 1155-1161, Nov. 2001.
25 Taylor B, Miller E, Farringdon et al, MMR Vaccine and Autism: No Epidemiological Evidence for a Causal Association, Lancet, 353, pp. 2026-2029, 1999.
26 Chakrabarti S, & Fombonne E, Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Preschool Children, JAMA, 285 (24), 2001.
--------
RF theory by Dr. Robert Kane....incl history...mechanisms..thermal issue
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/rf_theory_by_dr_robert_kane.htm
A Possible Association Between Fetal/neonatal Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation and the Increased Incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
http://tinyurl.com/2ves7g
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=hsp27
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=p38MAPK
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=autism
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=autism
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+C.+Kane
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=ASD
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=RF+autism+natal
Starmail - 22. Mai, 12:12
DISINFORMATION & Depleted Uranium
DISINFORMATION & Depleted Uranium [DU] - COOP RADIO - Leuren Moret - May 24 - Noon-1 PM PT
LISTEN ONLINE TO COOP RADIO: http://www.coopradio.org/
COOP RADIO – CFRO – 102.7 FM Vancouver, B.C.
Date: Monday, May 24, 2004/ Time: 12 –1pm PT
http://www.coopradio.org/
DISINFORMATION & Depleted Uranium [DU]: "The manipulation of information, the invention of pretexts, the falsification of reality, and turning people against their own interests is itself facilitated by the monopoly control over the media, and the process of neo-liberal globalization." Halifax International Symposium on Media and Disinformation July 1-4, 2004 - Dalhousie University - Halifax, Nova Scotia .
GUEST: Leuren Moret was an Expert Witness at the International Criminal Tribunal For Afghanistan At Tokyo. She is an independent scientist and international expert on radiation and public health issues. She is on the organizing committee of the World Committee on Radiation Risk, an organization of independent radiation specialists, including members of the Radiation Committee in the EU parliament, the European Committee on Radiation Risk. She is an environmental commissioner for the City of Berkeley. Ms. Moret earned her BS in geology at U.C. Davis in 1968 and her MA in Near Eastern studies from U.C. Berkeley in 1978. She has completed all but her dissertation for a PhD in the geosciences at U.C. Davis. She has traveled and conducted scientific research in 42 countries. She wrote a scientific report on depleted uranium for the United Nations sub commission investigating the illegality of depleted uranium munitions. Marian Falk, a former Manhattan Project scientist and retired insider at the Livermore Lab, who is an expert on radioactive fallout and rainout, has trained her on radiation issues.
http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2003/Leuren-Moret-Gen-Groves21feb03.htm
International Criminal Tribunal For Afghanistan At Tokyo: The People Versus George Walker Bush - President Of The United States Of America
Tribunal Verdict:
http://www.traprockpeace.org/tokyo_trial_13march04.doc
HOST: Alfred Webre, JD, MEd
Halifax International Symposium on Media and Disinformation July 1-4, 2004 - Dalhousie University - Halifax, Nova Scotia . This International Symposium aims to deal with one of the most pressing matters facing journalists, media and culture workers, and all sections of the people -- disinformation. The main aim of the Symposium is to empower journalists and collectives of the people by definitively exposing the modus operandi and extent of disinformation, presenting the experience of journalists and activists across Canada and abroad in tackling it, and to consolidate the long-term struggle for its elimination.
That disinformation exists is well established. The international situation has become increasingly dangerous, filled with tension between the peoples and the big powers and amongst the big powers themselves. Disinformation has emerged as one of their most powerful weapons against peace and humanity. The whole world is discussing how the invasion and occupation of Iraq was justified by lies and deceptions. But disinformation extends far beyond isolated examples; whether it is the manipulation of "democracy" or of "human rights" or of "nuclear-non-proliferation" to justify interference in the internal affairs of sovereign nations and even launch pre-emptive aggression, it has become so pervasive that it is the central rule, rather than the exception.
Disinformation -- as distinct from misinformation -- relies on mystifying the basis of change, development and motion in society, and reduces objective reality to a matter of interpretation, debate and discussion. Whether it is the "clash of civilizations" or the thesis of "rogue" or "failed" states, disinformation relies on the ideological content of imperialism.
For example, people simply are not able to understand the Palestinian crisis as anything other that an ethnic clash, because they are not provided with information about the whole reality. They are not provided with the context needed to come to any other conclusion than the pre-determined one: a hopeless cycle of
violence.
The manipulation of information, the invention of pretexts, the falsification of reality, and turning people against their own interests is itself facilitated by the monopoly control over the media, and the process of neo-liberal globalization. The unprecedented concentration of media and power enables a tiny handful of moguls with a preconceived agenda to deploy colossal resources to dictate what is published and what is not, who is hired and who is fired, all with the aim of disorienting people and usurping any healthy discussion. Under the veneer of being "fair and balanced" and even "objective," this media normalizes bias, disregards and changes essential facts, and ignores and suppresses all those voices presenting information and independent views.
Disinformation is not just a matter of a foreign policy adventure of Bush or Blair, but has become a general method for imperial dictate and monopoly right in the overall neo-liberal assault on conscience and enlightenment, and the sovereign and democratic rights of nations and peoples.
The Symposium will feature discussions of disinformation and how it operates at the local, regional, national, and global levels. We invite media workers, scholars, First Nations, labour, fishermen and farmer's organizers, anti-war and environmental activists, publishers and other concerned groups or individuals to present their experience and expertise of disinformation. We are inviting journalists from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Palestine and other countries to share their rich experience in fighting disinformation and interference in their affairs.
Hostility towards the monopoly media is pronounced. Some are concerned about the Americanization, some dislike the sensationalism, some say that coverage is distorted, and others say that reality is ignored altogether. But all express dissatisfaction and outrage. The media, increasing numbers of people are realizing, does not serve them, and even acts as a barrier to dealing with the pressing issues they face.
These concerns have given rise to an explosion of new and independent media on a global scale, as a voice to address peoples' rights and concerns.
Those who are initiating this conference have professional backgrounds in independent journalism and publishing, in radio, print, film, books, and on the Internet. This Symposium is open to everyone who is deeply concerned about disinformation, the mass media and the kind of information and culture they represent. This Symposium has been borne out of this concern. We share the conviction that now is the time to develop our collective capability to influence the course of events. It is the responsibility of those who stand for the truth to thoroughly deal with the question of disinformation. We are building a space where we can deal with the question, and advance the long work of combating disinformation and building an independent media.
Let all those concerned about fighting disinformation converge on Halifax!
Contact:
Telephone: 902.444.4922 (outside North America: 001.902.444.4922) Fax: 001.902.444.7595 E-mail: info@halifaxsymposium.ca Post: Halifax Symposium, PO Box 31377, Halifax, NS, Canada B3K 5Z1 Website: http://www.halifaxsymposium.ca
"WAKE-UP WITH CO-OP" MON.-WED.- FRI. 7-9 AM PT
LISTEN ONLINE: http://www.coopradio.org/
LISTENER-SPONSORED CO-OP RADIO is broadcast across Canada on the Star Choice satellite system on channel 845. Co-op radio, CFRO fm is located in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Its frequency in the Vancouver area is 102.7 MHz and we are also found on various cable frequencies in most major cities throughout British Columbia.
RealAudio and Program information for radio station CFRO can be
found on the internet at http://www.coopradio.org
Listener phone-in: Call Coop Radio on-air with your questions and
comments at (604) 684-7561.
Informant: Alfred Webre
LISTEN ONLINE TO COOP RADIO: http://www.coopradio.org/
COOP RADIO – CFRO – 102.7 FM Vancouver, B.C.
Date: Monday, May 24, 2004/ Time: 12 –1pm PT
http://www.coopradio.org/
DISINFORMATION & Depleted Uranium [DU]: "The manipulation of information, the invention of pretexts, the falsification of reality, and turning people against their own interests is itself facilitated by the monopoly control over the media, and the process of neo-liberal globalization." Halifax International Symposium on Media and Disinformation July 1-4, 2004 - Dalhousie University - Halifax, Nova Scotia .
GUEST: Leuren Moret was an Expert Witness at the International Criminal Tribunal For Afghanistan At Tokyo. She is an independent scientist and international expert on radiation and public health issues. She is on the organizing committee of the World Committee on Radiation Risk, an organization of independent radiation specialists, including members of the Radiation Committee in the EU parliament, the European Committee on Radiation Risk. She is an environmental commissioner for the City of Berkeley. Ms. Moret earned her BS in geology at U.C. Davis in 1968 and her MA in Near Eastern studies from U.C. Berkeley in 1978. She has completed all but her dissertation for a PhD in the geosciences at U.C. Davis. She has traveled and conducted scientific research in 42 countries. She wrote a scientific report on depleted uranium for the United Nations sub commission investigating the illegality of depleted uranium munitions. Marian Falk, a former Manhattan Project scientist and retired insider at the Livermore Lab, who is an expert on radioactive fallout and rainout, has trained her on radiation issues.
http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2003/Leuren-Moret-Gen-Groves21feb03.htm
International Criminal Tribunal For Afghanistan At Tokyo: The People Versus George Walker Bush - President Of The United States Of America
Tribunal Verdict:
http://www.traprockpeace.org/tokyo_trial_13march04.doc
HOST: Alfred Webre, JD, MEd
Halifax International Symposium on Media and Disinformation July 1-4, 2004 - Dalhousie University - Halifax, Nova Scotia . This International Symposium aims to deal with one of the most pressing matters facing journalists, media and culture workers, and all sections of the people -- disinformation. The main aim of the Symposium is to empower journalists and collectives of the people by definitively exposing the modus operandi and extent of disinformation, presenting the experience of journalists and activists across Canada and abroad in tackling it, and to consolidate the long-term struggle for its elimination.
That disinformation exists is well established. The international situation has become increasingly dangerous, filled with tension between the peoples and the big powers and amongst the big powers themselves. Disinformation has emerged as one of their most powerful weapons against peace and humanity. The whole world is discussing how the invasion and occupation of Iraq was justified by lies and deceptions. But disinformation extends far beyond isolated examples; whether it is the manipulation of "democracy" or of "human rights" or of "nuclear-non-proliferation" to justify interference in the internal affairs of sovereign nations and even launch pre-emptive aggression, it has become so pervasive that it is the central rule, rather than the exception.
Disinformation -- as distinct from misinformation -- relies on mystifying the basis of change, development and motion in society, and reduces objective reality to a matter of interpretation, debate and discussion. Whether it is the "clash of civilizations" or the thesis of "rogue" or "failed" states, disinformation relies on the ideological content of imperialism.
For example, people simply are not able to understand the Palestinian crisis as anything other that an ethnic clash, because they are not provided with information about the whole reality. They are not provided with the context needed to come to any other conclusion than the pre-determined one: a hopeless cycle of
violence.
The manipulation of information, the invention of pretexts, the falsification of reality, and turning people against their own interests is itself facilitated by the monopoly control over the media, and the process of neo-liberal globalization. The unprecedented concentration of media and power enables a tiny handful of moguls with a preconceived agenda to deploy colossal resources to dictate what is published and what is not, who is hired and who is fired, all with the aim of disorienting people and usurping any healthy discussion. Under the veneer of being "fair and balanced" and even "objective," this media normalizes bias, disregards and changes essential facts, and ignores and suppresses all those voices presenting information and independent views.
Disinformation is not just a matter of a foreign policy adventure of Bush or Blair, but has become a general method for imperial dictate and monopoly right in the overall neo-liberal assault on conscience and enlightenment, and the sovereign and democratic rights of nations and peoples.
The Symposium will feature discussions of disinformation and how it operates at the local, regional, national, and global levels. We invite media workers, scholars, First Nations, labour, fishermen and farmer's organizers, anti-war and environmental activists, publishers and other concerned groups or individuals to present their experience and expertise of disinformation. We are inviting journalists from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Palestine and other countries to share their rich experience in fighting disinformation and interference in their affairs.
Hostility towards the monopoly media is pronounced. Some are concerned about the Americanization, some dislike the sensationalism, some say that coverage is distorted, and others say that reality is ignored altogether. But all express dissatisfaction and outrage. The media, increasing numbers of people are realizing, does not serve them, and even acts as a barrier to dealing with the pressing issues they face.
These concerns have given rise to an explosion of new and independent media on a global scale, as a voice to address peoples' rights and concerns.
Those who are initiating this conference have professional backgrounds in independent journalism and publishing, in radio, print, film, books, and on the Internet. This Symposium is open to everyone who is deeply concerned about disinformation, the mass media and the kind of information and culture they represent. This Symposium has been borne out of this concern. We share the conviction that now is the time to develop our collective capability to influence the course of events. It is the responsibility of those who stand for the truth to thoroughly deal with the question of disinformation. We are building a space where we can deal with the question, and advance the long work of combating disinformation and building an independent media.
Let all those concerned about fighting disinformation converge on Halifax!
Contact:
Telephone: 902.444.4922 (outside North America: 001.902.444.4922) Fax: 001.902.444.7595 E-mail: info@halifaxsymposium.ca Post: Halifax Symposium, PO Box 31377, Halifax, NS, Canada B3K 5Z1 Website: http://www.halifaxsymposium.ca
"WAKE-UP WITH CO-OP" MON.-WED.- FRI. 7-9 AM PT
LISTEN ONLINE: http://www.coopradio.org/
LISTENER-SPONSORED CO-OP RADIO is broadcast across Canada on the Star Choice satellite system on channel 845. Co-op radio, CFRO fm is located in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Its frequency in the Vancouver area is 102.7 MHz and we are also found on various cable frequencies in most major cities throughout British Columbia.
RealAudio and Program information for radio station CFRO can be
found on the internet at http://www.coopradio.org
Listener phone-in: Call Coop Radio on-air with your questions and
comments at (604) 684-7561.
Informant: Alfred Webre
Starmail - 22. Mai, 09:34
21
Mai
2004
Abu Ghraib Blog
Who is Guilty of Prison Torture?
by
Dale Allen Pfeiffer
Certainly the United States possesses formidable economic and military power. But the rhetoric of "sole surviving superpower" is inflated and a bit desperate. Our military is overextended and poorly run. The hard power of its amazing machinery is used to squander the soft power of our global prestige - we shoot civilians and they hate us. We attack only the most defenseless opponents and have little tolerance for casualties...
read further under:
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/052404_daf_prison.html
--------
Abu Ghraib Means Impunity
http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=171&language_id=1
Informant: tworevs
--------
Continuing the Cover-Up?
Military Takes Action Against Key Witness in Abu Ghraib Abuse Scandal
By Brian Ross and Alexandra Salomon
May 21, 2004 — A witness who told ABCNEWS he believed the military was covering up the extent of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison was today stripped of his security clearance and told he may face prosecution because his comments were "not in the national interest."
Read further under:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Investigation/abu_ghraib_cover_up_040521-1.html
Informant: Michael Novick
--------
What have we done?
The horrific images from Abu Ghraib have come to define the ill-starred occupation of Iraq, but what do they really tell us about America? Are they simply the work of a few rogue soldiers, or the result of the new foreign and domestic policies of the Bush administration, which find ready approval in an increasingly brutalised society? Susan Sontag on the ugly face of the war on terror...read under:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1223344,00.html
Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Reflects America's Hatred
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_1423.shtml
Informant: Walter Lippmann
--------
US Tries to Get Off the Hook on War Crimes
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83714:740526
New Details of Prison Abuse Emerge
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83721:740526
Sworn Statements by Abu Ghraib Detainees
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83716:740526
New Details of Prison Abuse Emerge
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83721:740526
Soldier: Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse "Normal"
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83724:740526
Shocking Details on Abuse of Reuters Staffers in Iraq
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83725:740526
The Religious Warrior of Abu Ghraib
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83726:740526
--------
Those Missing Taguba Pages: More Dirty Tricks on the Road
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May2004/Nimmo0524.htm
Double Standards?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5032094/site/newsweek/
Professor Denounced for POW Memo for Bush
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4121975,00.html
Top General Witnessed Prison Abuse
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6236.htm
New allegations of systematic abuse of Iraqis by British troops
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=524032
Video From Abu Ghraib Prison
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6223.htm
Videos Amplify Picture of Violence
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6224.htm
Photo Gallery
http://tinyurl.com/29sl7
New Details of Prison Abuse Emerge
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43783-2004May20.html
Sworn Statements by Abu Ghraib Detainees
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6229.htm
New front in Iraq detainee abuse scandal?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5024068/
Trail of blood
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6226.htm
Iraqis lose right to sue troops over war crimes
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6238.htm
How fascism starts
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6227.htm
GI: Boy mistreated to get dad to talk
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6222.htm
A world watches our shame
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/world_watches.html
From Information Clearing House
--------
The word you're looking for is "lies"
by Erica Verrillo,
Letter to the editor, The Boston Globe
May 12, 2004
The Bush administration seems to have a serious problem with reality.
The most recent reality challenge is the policy of torture in both Iraq and Afghanistan, which the administration is frantically redefining as "abuse," "excesses," and "humiliation." We even have Secretary Rumsfeld describing footage of several American soldiers "having sex" with a female Iraqi prisoner.
Let's have a little plain English here. "Having sex" with a prisoner is known as "rape." Systematic beatings are called "torture." Excesses that lead to death are called "murder." The hundreds of women and children in mass graves in Fallujah are the product of a "massacre." Taken together, all of these add up to "atrocities."
The dissemination of "incomplete information" from "imperfect intelligence" is called "lies."
The billions of dollars that Halliburton and Bechtel have reaped in profits are called "war profiteering."
The invasion of Iraq is called "illegal."
The destruction of America's international standing is called "permanent."
And Texaco/Phillips's high bid for Iraqi oil is called "why we are in Iraq."
Log of lies from the Bush Administration
http://www.unknownnews.net/logoflies.html#may04
Informant: vInCe-BrAdLeY
--------
More Photos Of US Brutality
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/690595.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/690566.cms
Informant: Harry Mobley
--------
by
Dale Allen Pfeiffer
Certainly the United States possesses formidable economic and military power. But the rhetoric of "sole surviving superpower" is inflated and a bit desperate. Our military is overextended and poorly run. The hard power of its amazing machinery is used to squander the soft power of our global prestige - we shoot civilians and they hate us. We attack only the most defenseless opponents and have little tolerance for casualties...
read further under:
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/052404_daf_prison.html
--------
Abu Ghraib Means Impunity
http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=171&language_id=1
Informant: tworevs
--------
Continuing the Cover-Up?
Military Takes Action Against Key Witness in Abu Ghraib Abuse Scandal
By Brian Ross and Alexandra Salomon
May 21, 2004 — A witness who told ABCNEWS he believed the military was covering up the extent of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison was today stripped of his security clearance and told he may face prosecution because his comments were "not in the national interest."
Read further under:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Investigation/abu_ghraib_cover_up_040521-1.html
Informant: Michael Novick
--------
What have we done?
The horrific images from Abu Ghraib have come to define the ill-starred occupation of Iraq, but what do they really tell us about America? Are they simply the work of a few rogue soldiers, or the result of the new foreign and domestic policies of the Bush administration, which find ready approval in an increasingly brutalised society? Susan Sontag on the ugly face of the war on terror...read under:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1223344,00.html
Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Reflects America's Hatred
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_1423.shtml
Informant: Walter Lippmann
--------
US Tries to Get Off the Hook on War Crimes
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83714:740526
New Details of Prison Abuse Emerge
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83721:740526
Sworn Statements by Abu Ghraib Detainees
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83716:740526
New Details of Prison Abuse Emerge
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83721:740526
Soldier: Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse "Normal"
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83724:740526
Shocking Details on Abuse of Reuters Staffers in Iraq
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83725:740526
The Religious Warrior of Abu Ghraib
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=83726:740526
--------
Those Missing Taguba Pages: More Dirty Tricks on the Road
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May2004/Nimmo0524.htm
Double Standards?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5032094/site/newsweek/
Professor Denounced for POW Memo for Bush
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4121975,00.html
Top General Witnessed Prison Abuse
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6236.htm
New allegations of systematic abuse of Iraqis by British troops
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=524032
Video From Abu Ghraib Prison
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6223.htm
Videos Amplify Picture of Violence
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6224.htm
Photo Gallery
http://tinyurl.com/29sl7
New Details of Prison Abuse Emerge
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43783-2004May20.html
Sworn Statements by Abu Ghraib Detainees
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6229.htm
New front in Iraq detainee abuse scandal?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5024068/
Trail of blood
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6226.htm
Iraqis lose right to sue troops over war crimes
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6238.htm
How fascism starts
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6227.htm
GI: Boy mistreated to get dad to talk
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6222.htm
A world watches our shame
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/world_watches.html
From Information Clearing House
--------
The word you're looking for is "lies"
by Erica Verrillo,
Letter to the editor, The Boston Globe
May 12, 2004
The Bush administration seems to have a serious problem with reality.
The most recent reality challenge is the policy of torture in both Iraq and Afghanistan, which the administration is frantically redefining as "abuse," "excesses," and "humiliation." We even have Secretary Rumsfeld describing footage of several American soldiers "having sex" with a female Iraqi prisoner.
Let's have a little plain English here. "Having sex" with a prisoner is known as "rape." Systematic beatings are called "torture." Excesses that lead to death are called "murder." The hundreds of women and children in mass graves in Fallujah are the product of a "massacre." Taken together, all of these add up to "atrocities."
The dissemination of "incomplete information" from "imperfect intelligence" is called "lies."
The billions of dollars that Halliburton and Bechtel have reaped in profits are called "war profiteering."
The invasion of Iraq is called "illegal."
The destruction of America's international standing is called "permanent."
And Texaco/Phillips's high bid for Iraqi oil is called "why we are in Iraq."
Log of lies from the Bush Administration
http://www.unknownnews.net/logoflies.html#may04
Informant: vInCe-BrAdLeY
--------
More Photos Of US Brutality
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/690595.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/690566.cms
Informant: Harry Mobley
--------
Starmail - 21. Mai, 23:14
Amazonia Deforestation to Escalate Due to Infrastructure Plans
Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org, Inc.
http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Portal
http://www.EnvironmentalSustainability.info/ -- Eco-Portal
http://www.ClimateArk.org/ -- Climate Change Portal
http://www.WaterConserve.info/ -- Water Conservation Portal
May 21, 2004
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Glen Barry, Ph.D., Forests.org
The future of the Amazon rainforest is critically threatened by expanded infrastructure development that dramatically increases physical access to the Amazonian frontier. Rainforest loss and diminishment in the Amazon impacts the well-being and ecological sustainability of local peoples, Brazilians and all citizens of the World. Below is an update from Science magazine regarding the threats posed by new roads and other infrastructure development plans in the heart of the Amazon. Forests.org has been instrumental in bringing these scientific findings to a wider audience, and advocating for cancellation of the ill-conceived development plans.
In 2002 and 2003, the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon climbed to nearly 2.4 million hectares per year, driven by land speculation along the routes of new roads, cattle ranching, and soybean farming. This equals 11 football fields a minute. While the Brazilian government has stepped up satellite monitoring and involved additional ministries to address deforestation, they have steadfastly refused to cancel or significantly revise the large-scale infrastructure development plans predicted to eliminate the Amazon's large, intact and unfragmented rainforest expanses.
All governments have a profound responsibility to protect, conserve and restore natural habitats sufficient to maintain ecosystems and their species. No ecology, no economy or anything else. Given its jurisdiction over the Amazon, the Brazilian government and people are sacredly obligated to safeguard this global ecological engine - stewardship they are failing to provide. I concur with the leading rainforest scientists below, that by failing to "curtail its aggressive plans for infrastructure expansion, Brazil will fail to address one of the most critical root causes of Amazonian deforestation." Loss of the Amazon as an operable, non-fragmented whole will severely biologically impoverish the Earth - and contribute significantly to the possibility of global ecological Armageddon. Brazil and the World need an intact Amazon to live well and prosper. g.b.
Deforestation in Amazonia
Source: Copyright 2004, Science, Vol 304, Issue 5674, 1109-1111 Date: May 21, 2004
In recent years, we and others have identified critical threats posed to the forests of Amazonia by the Brazilian government's plans to
dramatically expand highways and other major infrastructure projects in the region (1-6). Our conclusions have been disputed by elements of the Brazilian government (7-10), which assert that a key assumption of our spatial models--that new roads and highways will continue to promote large-scale Amazonian deforestation, as they have done in the past--no longer applies. This is so, they argue, because of improvements in frontier governance and environmental-law enforcement, as well as changes in Brazilian public attitudes toward forests (7-10). As a consequence, the Brazilian government is proceeding with the largest expansion of highways, roads, power lines, gas lines, hydroelectric reservoirs, railroads, and river-channelization projects in the history of the Amazon (1-6).
In 2002 and 2003, the rate of deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia climbed to nearly 2.4 million hectares per year (see figure)--equivalent to 11 football fields a minute. This increase mostly resulted from rapid destruction of seasonal forest types in the southern and eastern parts of the basin; relative to preceding years (1990-2001), forest loss shot up by 48% in the states of Pará, Rondônia, Mato Grosso, and Acre (11). The increase was evidently driven by rising deforestation and land speculation along new highways and planned highway routes (12), and the dramatic growth of Amazonian cattle ranching (13) and industrial soybean farming (6, 14). Soybean farms promote some forest clearing directly, but have a much greater impact on deforestation by consuming cleared land, savanna, and ecotonal forests, thereby pushing ranchers and slash-and-burn farmers ever deeper into the forest frontier. Equally important, soybean farming provides a key economic and political impetus for massive infrastructure projects, which accelerate deforestation by other actors (6, 14).
Anticipating public alarm about the new deforestation figures, the Brazilian government recently announced new measures designed to slow Amazon forest loss. These measures include increased satellite monitoring of deforestation and the involvement of additional ministries--not just the Ministry of Environment--in efforts to reduce illegal deforestation and forest burning (12). These measures, in concert with the establishment of new protected or multiple-use areas in Amapa, Amazonas, and Acre, are a move in the right direction.
The new measures do not go far enough, however. They fail to address one of the most critical drivers of forest destruction: the rapid proliferation of new highways and other infrastructure, which greatly increases physical access to the Amazonian frontier. The Brazilian government plans to create interministerial working groups to recommend ways to reduce or mitigate project impacts, but is not considering the cancellation or significant delay of any major project. Indeed, just days after announcing the new anti-deforestation package, Brazilian President Lula demanded that his federal ministers find ways to circumvent environmental and other impediments to stalled infrastructure projects throughout the country, including 18 hydroelectric dams and 10,000 km of highways (15).
In the Amazon, new transportation projects frequently lead to a dramatic rise in illegal deforestation, logging, mining, and hunting activities (1-6). If Brazil criss-crosses the basin with thousands of kilometers of such projects, the net result, our models suggest, will be not only further increases in forest destruction, but fragmentation of surviving forests on an unprecedented spatial scale (1, 5). Many of the government's recently announced measures to slow forest loss are positive steps, but if it does not curtail its aggressive plans for infrastructure expansion, Brazil will fail to address one of the most critical root causes of Amazonian deforestation.
William F. Laurance,*
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,
Apartado 2072,
Balboa,
Panama.
Ana K. M. Albernaz,
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi,
Avenida Perimetral 190,
Belém, PA 66077-530,
Brazil.
Philip M. Fearnside,
Departamento de Ecologia,
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia,
C.P. 478,
Manaus,
AM 69011-970,
Brazil.
Heraldo L. Vasconcelos,
Instituto de Biologia,
Universidade Federal de Uberlândia,
C.P. 593, Uberlândia,
MG 38400-902,
Brazil.
Leandro V. Ferreira
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi,
Avenida Perimetral 190,
Belém, PA 66077-530,
Brazil.
*To whom correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail: laurancew@tivoli.si.edu
References and Notes
1. W. F. Laurance et al., Science 291, 438 (2001).
2. W. F. Laurance, A. K. M. Albernaz, C. Da Costa, Environ. Conserv. 28, 305 (2001).
3. G. Carvalho, A. C. Barros, P. Moutinho, D. C. Nepstad, Nature 409, 131(2001).
4. D. C. Nepstad et al., Forest Ecol. Manage. 154, 295 (2001).
5. W. F. Laurance et al., J. Biogeogr. 29, 737 (2002).
6. P. M. Fearnside, Environ. Manage. 30, 748 (2002).
7. D. Weber, "Ministério contesta estudo sobre devastação," O Estado de S. Paulo, 21 January 2001.
8. S. S. do Amaral, "Threat to the Amazon," The Independent, 26 January 2001.
9. R. Goidanich, Science dEbates, 26 January 2001
( http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/eletters/291/5503/438 ).
10. J. P. Silveira et al., Science 292, 1651 (2001).
11. The net deforestation rate in these four states increased from 1.43 million ha year-1 from 1990-2001 to 2.12 million ha year-1 in 2002-2003, based on data from the Brazilian National Space Agency
( http://www.inpe.br ). Deforestation data for 2003 are a preliminary estimate.
12. Grupo Permanente de Trabalho Interministerial para a Redução dos Índices de Desmatamento da Amazônia Legal, Plano de Ação para a Prevenção e Controle do Desmatamento da Amazônia Legal (Presidência da República, Casa Civil, Brasília, 2004).
13. D. Kaimowitz, B. Mertens, S. Wunder, P. Pacheco, Hamburger Connection Fuels Amazon Destruction (Tech. Rep., Center for International Forest Research, Bogor, Indonesia, 2004).
14. P. M. Fearnside, Environ. Conserv. 28, 23 (2001).
15. "Lula quer a retomada de obras paralisadas," Amazonas em Tempo (Manaus, Brazil), 21 March 2004.
http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Portal
http://www.EnvironmentalSustainability.info/ -- Eco-Portal
http://www.ClimateArk.org/ -- Climate Change Portal
http://www.WaterConserve.info/ -- Water Conservation Portal
May 21, 2004
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Glen Barry, Ph.D., Forests.org
The future of the Amazon rainforest is critically threatened by expanded infrastructure development that dramatically increases physical access to the Amazonian frontier. Rainforest loss and diminishment in the Amazon impacts the well-being and ecological sustainability of local peoples, Brazilians and all citizens of the World. Below is an update from Science magazine regarding the threats posed by new roads and other infrastructure development plans in the heart of the Amazon. Forests.org has been instrumental in bringing these scientific findings to a wider audience, and advocating for cancellation of the ill-conceived development plans.
In 2002 and 2003, the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon climbed to nearly 2.4 million hectares per year, driven by land speculation along the routes of new roads, cattle ranching, and soybean farming. This equals 11 football fields a minute. While the Brazilian government has stepped up satellite monitoring and involved additional ministries to address deforestation, they have steadfastly refused to cancel or significantly revise the large-scale infrastructure development plans predicted to eliminate the Amazon's large, intact and unfragmented rainforest expanses.
All governments have a profound responsibility to protect, conserve and restore natural habitats sufficient to maintain ecosystems and their species. No ecology, no economy or anything else. Given its jurisdiction over the Amazon, the Brazilian government and people are sacredly obligated to safeguard this global ecological engine - stewardship they are failing to provide. I concur with the leading rainforest scientists below, that by failing to "curtail its aggressive plans for infrastructure expansion, Brazil will fail to address one of the most critical root causes of Amazonian deforestation." Loss of the Amazon as an operable, non-fragmented whole will severely biologically impoverish the Earth - and contribute significantly to the possibility of global ecological Armageddon. Brazil and the World need an intact Amazon to live well and prosper. g.b.
Deforestation in Amazonia
Source: Copyright 2004, Science, Vol 304, Issue 5674, 1109-1111 Date: May 21, 2004
In recent years, we and others have identified critical threats posed to the forests of Amazonia by the Brazilian government's plans to
dramatically expand highways and other major infrastructure projects in the region (1-6). Our conclusions have been disputed by elements of the Brazilian government (7-10), which assert that a key assumption of our spatial models--that new roads and highways will continue to promote large-scale Amazonian deforestation, as they have done in the past--no longer applies. This is so, they argue, because of improvements in frontier governance and environmental-law enforcement, as well as changes in Brazilian public attitudes toward forests (7-10). As a consequence, the Brazilian government is proceeding with the largest expansion of highways, roads, power lines, gas lines, hydroelectric reservoirs, railroads, and river-channelization projects in the history of the Amazon (1-6).
In 2002 and 2003, the rate of deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia climbed to nearly 2.4 million hectares per year (see figure)--equivalent to 11 football fields a minute. This increase mostly resulted from rapid destruction of seasonal forest types in the southern and eastern parts of the basin; relative to preceding years (1990-2001), forest loss shot up by 48% in the states of Pará, Rondônia, Mato Grosso, and Acre (11). The increase was evidently driven by rising deforestation and land speculation along new highways and planned highway routes (12), and the dramatic growth of Amazonian cattle ranching (13) and industrial soybean farming (6, 14). Soybean farms promote some forest clearing directly, but have a much greater impact on deforestation by consuming cleared land, savanna, and ecotonal forests, thereby pushing ranchers and slash-and-burn farmers ever deeper into the forest frontier. Equally important, soybean farming provides a key economic and political impetus for massive infrastructure projects, which accelerate deforestation by other actors (6, 14).
Anticipating public alarm about the new deforestation figures, the Brazilian government recently announced new measures designed to slow Amazon forest loss. These measures include increased satellite monitoring of deforestation and the involvement of additional ministries--not just the Ministry of Environment--in efforts to reduce illegal deforestation and forest burning (12). These measures, in concert with the establishment of new protected or multiple-use areas in Amapa, Amazonas, and Acre, are a move in the right direction.
The new measures do not go far enough, however. They fail to address one of the most critical drivers of forest destruction: the rapid proliferation of new highways and other infrastructure, which greatly increases physical access to the Amazonian frontier. The Brazilian government plans to create interministerial working groups to recommend ways to reduce or mitigate project impacts, but is not considering the cancellation or significant delay of any major project. Indeed, just days after announcing the new anti-deforestation package, Brazilian President Lula demanded that his federal ministers find ways to circumvent environmental and other impediments to stalled infrastructure projects throughout the country, including 18 hydroelectric dams and 10,000 km of highways (15).
In the Amazon, new transportation projects frequently lead to a dramatic rise in illegal deforestation, logging, mining, and hunting activities (1-6). If Brazil criss-crosses the basin with thousands of kilometers of such projects, the net result, our models suggest, will be not only further increases in forest destruction, but fragmentation of surviving forests on an unprecedented spatial scale (1, 5). Many of the government's recently announced measures to slow forest loss are positive steps, but if it does not curtail its aggressive plans for infrastructure expansion, Brazil will fail to address one of the most critical root causes of Amazonian deforestation.
William F. Laurance,*
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,
Apartado 2072,
Balboa,
Panama.
Ana K. M. Albernaz,
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi,
Avenida Perimetral 190,
Belém, PA 66077-530,
Brazil.
Philip M. Fearnside,
Departamento de Ecologia,
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia,
C.P. 478,
Manaus,
AM 69011-970,
Brazil.
Heraldo L. Vasconcelos,
Instituto de Biologia,
Universidade Federal de Uberlândia,
C.P. 593, Uberlândia,
MG 38400-902,
Brazil.
Leandro V. Ferreira
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi,
Avenida Perimetral 190,
Belém, PA 66077-530,
Brazil.
*To whom correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail: laurancew@tivoli.si.edu
References and Notes
1. W. F. Laurance et al., Science 291, 438 (2001).
2. W. F. Laurance, A. K. M. Albernaz, C. Da Costa, Environ. Conserv. 28, 305 (2001).
3. G. Carvalho, A. C. Barros, P. Moutinho, D. C. Nepstad, Nature 409, 131(2001).
4. D. C. Nepstad et al., Forest Ecol. Manage. 154, 295 (2001).
5. W. F. Laurance et al., J. Biogeogr. 29, 737 (2002).
6. P. M. Fearnside, Environ. Manage. 30, 748 (2002).
7. D. Weber, "Ministério contesta estudo sobre devastação," O Estado de S. Paulo, 21 January 2001.
8. S. S. do Amaral, "Threat to the Amazon," The Independent, 26 January 2001.
9. R. Goidanich, Science dEbates, 26 January 2001
( http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/eletters/291/5503/438 ).
10. J. P. Silveira et al., Science 292, 1651 (2001).
11. The net deforestation rate in these four states increased from 1.43 million ha year-1 from 1990-2001 to 2.12 million ha year-1 in 2002-2003, based on data from the Brazilian National Space Agency
( http://www.inpe.br ). Deforestation data for 2003 are a preliminary estimate.
12. Grupo Permanente de Trabalho Interministerial para a Redução dos Índices de Desmatamento da Amazônia Legal, Plano de Ação para a Prevenção e Controle do Desmatamento da Amazônia Legal (Presidência da República, Casa Civil, Brasília, 2004).
13. D. Kaimowitz, B. Mertens, S. Wunder, P. Pacheco, Hamburger Connection Fuels Amazon Destruction (Tech. Rep., Center for International Forest Research, Bogor, Indonesia, 2004).
14. P. M. Fearnside, Environ. Conserv. 28, 23 (2001).
15. "Lula quer a retomada de obras paralisadas," Amazonas em Tempo (Manaus, Brazil), 21 March 2004.
Starmail - 21. Mai, 21:57
CLIMATE CHANGE WILL HAVE CATASTROPHIC EFFECT ON KEY RIVERS
STUDY
AFP
May 19, 2004
http://tinyurl.com/2ub8g
PARIS - Climate change will have a disastrous effect on the flow of rivers which provide water for most of Earth's cities, it was reported.
Rising levels of carbon dioxide pollution, caused by the unbridled burning of oil, coal and gas, will warm the troposphere, the lowest layer of the world's atmosphere, in addition to the land and seas, New Scientist says.
Warmer air temperatures will affect water vapour, cloud cover, solar
radiation and ozone, which in turn will have an impact on evaporation and rainfall.
In a computer model that factors in these changes, Princeton University researchers found that precipitation over the next three centuries will increase, boosting the discharge of fresh water around the world by nearly 15 percent.
But the regions that will be benefit are those that are already abundant in water or are sparsely populated, such as the tropics, the far north of Canada and northern Russia.
By contrast, there will be lower flows in many mid-latitude rivers which run through heavily populated regions.
"Those that will start to decline include the Mississippi, Mekong and especially the Nile, one of the world's most heavily used and politically contested rivers, where (the) model predicts an 18 percent fall in flow," the report says.
The scenario, which is published in full in the journal Climate Change, is based on the likely effect from a quadrupling of levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide from levels of this greenhouse gas before the Industrial Revolution.
The predictions are based on what would happen over the next 300 years.
However, research published by experts at France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) suggests that rivers have already started to be affected by climate change.
They simulated runoff from 200 of the world's largest rivers since 1875 and found that in the past few decades alone, rivers in North and South America and Asia saw an increase in volume, while runoff in Europe was stable, and the flow of water from African rivers had fallen.
The time scale is significant, because records say that global warming moved up a gear in the 1970s. It was at that time that surface temperatures rose quickly in response to the greenhouse effect, New Scientist says.
Informant: NHNE
AFP
May 19, 2004
http://tinyurl.com/2ub8g
PARIS - Climate change will have a disastrous effect on the flow of rivers which provide water for most of Earth's cities, it was reported.
Rising levels of carbon dioxide pollution, caused by the unbridled burning of oil, coal and gas, will warm the troposphere, the lowest layer of the world's atmosphere, in addition to the land and seas, New Scientist says.
Warmer air temperatures will affect water vapour, cloud cover, solar
radiation and ozone, which in turn will have an impact on evaporation and rainfall.
In a computer model that factors in these changes, Princeton University researchers found that precipitation over the next three centuries will increase, boosting the discharge of fresh water around the world by nearly 15 percent.
But the regions that will be benefit are those that are already abundant in water or are sparsely populated, such as the tropics, the far north of Canada and northern Russia.
By contrast, there will be lower flows in many mid-latitude rivers which run through heavily populated regions.
"Those that will start to decline include the Mississippi, Mekong and especially the Nile, one of the world's most heavily used and politically contested rivers, where (the) model predicts an 18 percent fall in flow," the report says.
The scenario, which is published in full in the journal Climate Change, is based on the likely effect from a quadrupling of levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide from levels of this greenhouse gas before the Industrial Revolution.
The predictions are based on what would happen over the next 300 years.
However, research published by experts at France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) suggests that rivers have already started to be affected by climate change.
They simulated runoff from 200 of the world's largest rivers since 1875 and found that in the past few decades alone, rivers in North and South America and Asia saw an increase in volume, while runoff in Europe was stable, and the flow of water from African rivers had fallen.
The time scale is significant, because records say that global warming moved up a gear in the 1970s. It was at that time that surface temperatures rose quickly in response to the greenhouse effect, New Scientist says.
Informant: NHNE
Starmail - 21. Mai, 19:01
Omega-News Collection 21. May 2004
In some US prisons, echoes of Abu Ghraib
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0520/p02s01-usju.html
Informant: Walter Lippmann
--------
The Abu Ghraib Prison Photos
http://www.antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2444
Informant: Mark Vallen
--------
When Bonesmen Fight: by Tom Hayden
A Reflection on Democracy in America
http://www.thepolitic.org/news/2004/05/08/Opinion/When-Bonesmen.Fight.By.Tom.Hayden-678353.shtml
Informant: David Crockett Williams
--------
OF TAILS AND DOGS - THE SACKING OF PIERS MORGAN
http://www.medialens.org/blog/index.htm
--------
Army, CIA Want Torture Truths Exposed
http://truthout.org/docs_04/051904C.shtml
Informant: NHNE
--------
Where Will You Be Tomorrow?
http://www.rense.com/general53/where.htm
Informant: Planttrees
--------
Donald Rumsfeld in the eye of the storm
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223064/
--------
Hostilities force Bush into deep hole
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1220792,00.html
Informant: kevcross5
--------
Link TV: Mosaic: World News From The Middle East
Quick Time Video Report
http://tinyurl.com/2rtq9
‘US troops allowed to mistreat Afghan POWs’
http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2004-daily/19-05-2004/world/w4.htm
Accused US Army deserter says he saw Iraqi prisoner mistreatment
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040518194613.j301xkje.html
Torture 101
http://www.guerrillanews.com/human_rights/doc4492.html
Torture Photos, Videos a Time-Honored CIA Tradition
http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=05-18-04&storyID=18888
‘Definitely a Cover-Up’
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Investigation/abu_ghraib_cover_up_040518-1.html
Planners And Abusers Should Be Accountable
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6209.htm
Army, CIA want torture truths exposed
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040518-064124-9605r
Abu Ghraib meets Guantanamo Bay
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4962140/
The Stanford Prison Experiment revisited
http://www.radio.cbc.ca/programs/asithappens/STEAM/prison_050702.htm
In Pictures
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/default.stm
Shamed: A Panorama Special reports on the scale of the abuse and torture of prisoners in Iraq and elsewhere.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/3708441.stm
U.S. Faces Growing Fears of Failure
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6212.htm
We must withdraw
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1219937,00.html
Killing people for their own good
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16966
Where Have We Come To?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6215.htm
Powell Distances Himself From President
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/5/17/211348.shtml
U.S. Cardinal Accuses Bush of Moral Failure in Iraq
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=5180232
Fake Iraqi Sovereignty
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6216.htm
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/051804.html
http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news1/salon12.htm
Iraq isn't another Vietnam - it's much worse
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=522568
To the president from a father: Shame on us
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/05/19/to_the_president_from_a_father_shame_on_us/
More Photos Surface
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6217.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4112472,00.html
Shamed
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6218.htm
Brutal interrogation in Iraq
http://tinyurl.com/3afmb
Shocking Details on Abuse of Reuters Staffers in Iraq
http://tinyurl.com/2udz4
Amnesty: International Criminal Court
http://tinyurl.com/34pob
U.S. Charged With War Crimes: The Evidence File
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3450.htm
Sidney Blumenthal: The religious warrior of Abu Ghraib
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6220.htm
Poll: US are occupiers, not liberators
http://tinyurl.com/3gau8
Apocalypse Now in the White House
http://www.juancole.com/2004_05_01_juancole_archive.html#108495214839380743
The diseases of a troubled nation
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/20/1084917702632.html
From: Information Clearing House
--------
Army may call up inactive reservists
http://www.freep.com/news/nw/troops19_20040519.htm
Iraq violence will worsen
http://tinyurl.com/yr89m
The day after Rupert Murdoch takes over America
http://cei.org/gencon/019,04023.cfm
US to fight terror with terror
http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4020&n=1
Doing bad things far away from home
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0420/gup.php
Don't bring slavery back to America
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory11.html
Out of Iraq and Plato's cave
http://www.counterpunch.org/corseri05192004.html
Even the word "democracy" now repels Mideast reformers
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0520/p09s01-coop.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
Zombie RFID tags may never die
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223262/
HAARP: Patent # 4,686,605 - AgriTerrorism, Atmospheric Engineering
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223265/
Omega-Environment Collection 20. May 2004
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223047/
Bush Officials Weaken Organic Food Standards: Public Shut Out
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223667/
Mystery Illness/Parasite Said To Be Afflicting Idahoans Getting Attention
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223040/
Activists and MPs renew call for British hunt ban
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223042/
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0520/p02s01-usju.html
Informant: Walter Lippmann
--------
The Abu Ghraib Prison Photos
http://www.antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2444
Informant: Mark Vallen
--------
When Bonesmen Fight: by Tom Hayden
A Reflection on Democracy in America
http://www.thepolitic.org/news/2004/05/08/Opinion/When-Bonesmen.Fight.By.Tom.Hayden-678353.shtml
Informant: David Crockett Williams
--------
OF TAILS AND DOGS - THE SACKING OF PIERS MORGAN
http://www.medialens.org/blog/index.htm
--------
Army, CIA Want Torture Truths Exposed
http://truthout.org/docs_04/051904C.shtml
Informant: NHNE
--------
Where Will You Be Tomorrow?
http://www.rense.com/general53/where.htm
Informant: Planttrees
--------
Donald Rumsfeld in the eye of the storm
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223064/
--------
Hostilities force Bush into deep hole
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1220792,00.html
Informant: kevcross5
--------
Link TV: Mosaic: World News From The Middle East
Quick Time Video Report
http://tinyurl.com/2rtq9
‘US troops allowed to mistreat Afghan POWs’
http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2004-daily/19-05-2004/world/w4.htm
Accused US Army deserter says he saw Iraqi prisoner mistreatment
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040518194613.j301xkje.html
Torture 101
http://www.guerrillanews.com/human_rights/doc4492.html
Torture Photos, Videos a Time-Honored CIA Tradition
http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=05-18-04&storyID=18888
‘Definitely a Cover-Up’
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Investigation/abu_ghraib_cover_up_040518-1.html
Planners And Abusers Should Be Accountable
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6209.htm
Army, CIA want torture truths exposed
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040518-064124-9605r
Abu Ghraib meets Guantanamo Bay
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4962140/
The Stanford Prison Experiment revisited
http://www.radio.cbc.ca/programs/asithappens/STEAM/prison_050702.htm
In Pictures
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/default.stm
Shamed: A Panorama Special reports on the scale of the abuse and torture of prisoners in Iraq and elsewhere.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/3708441.stm
U.S. Faces Growing Fears of Failure
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6212.htm
We must withdraw
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1219937,00.html
Killing people for their own good
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16966
Where Have We Come To?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6215.htm
Powell Distances Himself From President
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/5/17/211348.shtml
U.S. Cardinal Accuses Bush of Moral Failure in Iraq
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=5180232
Fake Iraqi Sovereignty
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6216.htm
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/051804.html
http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news1/salon12.htm
Iraq isn't another Vietnam - it's much worse
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=522568
To the president from a father: Shame on us
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/05/19/to_the_president_from_a_father_shame_on_us/
More Photos Surface
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6217.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4112472,00.html
Shamed
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6218.htm
Brutal interrogation in Iraq
http://tinyurl.com/3afmb
Shocking Details on Abuse of Reuters Staffers in Iraq
http://tinyurl.com/2udz4
Amnesty: International Criminal Court
http://tinyurl.com/34pob
U.S. Charged With War Crimes: The Evidence File
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3450.htm
Sidney Blumenthal: The religious warrior of Abu Ghraib
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6220.htm
Poll: US are occupiers, not liberators
http://tinyurl.com/3gau8
Apocalypse Now in the White House
http://www.juancole.com/2004_05_01_juancole_archive.html#108495214839380743
The diseases of a troubled nation
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/20/1084917702632.html
From: Information Clearing House
--------
Army may call up inactive reservists
http://www.freep.com/news/nw/troops19_20040519.htm
Iraq violence will worsen
http://tinyurl.com/yr89m
The day after Rupert Murdoch takes over America
http://cei.org/gencon/019,04023.cfm
US to fight terror with terror
http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4020&n=1
Doing bad things far away from home
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0420/gup.php
Don't bring slavery back to America
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory11.html
Out of Iraq and Plato's cave
http://www.counterpunch.org/corseri05192004.html
Even the word "democracy" now repels Mideast reformers
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0520/p09s01-coop.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
Zombie RFID tags may never die
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223262/
HAARP: Patent # 4,686,605 - AgriTerrorism, Atmospheric Engineering
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223265/
Omega-Environment Collection 20. May 2004
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223047/
Bush Officials Weaken Organic Food Standards: Public Shut Out
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223667/
Mystery Illness/Parasite Said To Be Afflicting Idahoans Getting Attention
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223040/
Activists and MPs renew call for British hunt ban
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/223042/
Starmail - 21. Mai, 18:35
Bush Officials Weaken Organic Food Standards: Public Shut Out
May 21, 2004
The Bush Administration is giving Americans new reason to watch what they eat. Over the course of 10 days last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued three "guidances" and one directive -- all legally binding interpretations of law -- that threaten to seriously dilute the meaning of the word organic and discredit the department's National Organic Program.
The changes -- which would allow the use of antibiotics on organic dairy cows, as well as synthetic pesticides on organic farms, and more -- were made with zero input from the public or the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), the advisory group that worked for more than a decade to help craft the first federal organic standards, put in place in October 2002.
The USDA insists the changes are harmless: "The directives have not changed anything. They are just clarifications of what is in the regulations that were written by the National Organic Standards Board," stated USDA spokesperson Joan Shaffer. "They just explain what's enforceable. There is no difference [between the clarifications and the original regulations] -- it's just another way of explaining it."
But Jim Riddle, vice chair of the NOSB and endowed chair in agricultural systems at the University of Minnesota, argues that what the USDA is trying to pass off as a clarification of regulations is in fact a substantial change: "These are the sorts of changes for which the department is supposed to do a formal new rulemaking process, with posting in the federal register, feedback from our advisory board, and a public-comment period. And yet there is no such process denoted anywhere."
Organic activists suspect that industry pressure drove the policy shifts. They point out that the USDA leadership has long-standing industry sympathies: Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman served on the board of directors of a biotech company; both her chief of staff and her director of communications were plucked right out of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
One practice favored by large agribusiness is the use of antibiotics on cows. A USDA guidance issued on April 14 will allow just that on organic dairy farms -- a dramatic reversal of 2002 rules. [1] Under the new guidelines, sickly dairy cows can be treated not just with antibiotics but with numerous others drugs and still have their milk qualify as organic, so long as 12 months pass between the time the treatments are administered and the time the milk is sold.
"This new directive makes a mockery of organic standards," said Richard Wood, a recent member of the FDA's Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee and executive director of Food Animal Concerns Trust.
Another new guidance put out on the same day would allow cattle farmers to feed their heifers non-organic fishmeal that could be riddled with synthetic preservatives, mercury, and PCBs, and still sell their beef as organic.
And the following week, on April 23, the USDA took the startling step of issuing a legal directive that opens the door for use of some synthetic pesticides on organic farms.
Last but certainly not least, another guidance released on April 14 narrows the scope of the federal organic certification program to crops, livestock, and the products derived from them, meaning that national organic standards will not be developed for fish, nutritional supplements, pet food, fertilizers, cosmetics, or personal-care products.
Despite the USDA's demurrals, activists view the department's changes as a serious threat to hard-won standards for organic products. The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture and other groups are investigating possible industry influence into the USDA's process, and some environmental groups are preparing to take legal action.
This story was jointly produced by BushGreenwatch http://www.bushgreenwatch.org and Grist Magazine http://www.gristmagazine.com/. For more on this story, visit Grist Magazine http://www.gristmagazine.com/muck/muck051804.asp.
SOURCES:
[1] Antibiotic Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/AntibioticGuidance041304.pdf
[2] Fishmeal Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/FishmealGuidance041304.pdf
[3] Pesticide Compliance, USDA, Apr. 23, 2004.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Compliance/PesticidesCompliance.pdf
[4] Scope Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/ScopeGuidance041304.pdf
Source: http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/mt_archives/000123.php
The Bush Administration is giving Americans new reason to watch what they eat. Over the course of 10 days last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued three "guidances" and one directive -- all legally binding interpretations of law -- that threaten to seriously dilute the meaning of the word organic and discredit the department's National Organic Program.
The changes -- which would allow the use of antibiotics on organic dairy cows, as well as synthetic pesticides on organic farms, and more -- were made with zero input from the public or the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), the advisory group that worked for more than a decade to help craft the first federal organic standards, put in place in October 2002.
The USDA insists the changes are harmless: "The directives have not changed anything. They are just clarifications of what is in the regulations that were written by the National Organic Standards Board," stated USDA spokesperson Joan Shaffer. "They just explain what's enforceable. There is no difference [between the clarifications and the original regulations] -- it's just another way of explaining it."
But Jim Riddle, vice chair of the NOSB and endowed chair in agricultural systems at the University of Minnesota, argues that what the USDA is trying to pass off as a clarification of regulations is in fact a substantial change: "These are the sorts of changes for which the department is supposed to do a formal new rulemaking process, with posting in the federal register, feedback from our advisory board, and a public-comment period. And yet there is no such process denoted anywhere."
Organic activists suspect that industry pressure drove the policy shifts. They point out that the USDA leadership has long-standing industry sympathies: Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman served on the board of directors of a biotech company; both her chief of staff and her director of communications were plucked right out of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
One practice favored by large agribusiness is the use of antibiotics on cows. A USDA guidance issued on April 14 will allow just that on organic dairy farms -- a dramatic reversal of 2002 rules. [1] Under the new guidelines, sickly dairy cows can be treated not just with antibiotics but with numerous others drugs and still have their milk qualify as organic, so long as 12 months pass between the time the treatments are administered and the time the milk is sold.
"This new directive makes a mockery of organic standards," said Richard Wood, a recent member of the FDA's Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee and executive director of Food Animal Concerns Trust.
Another new guidance put out on the same day would allow cattle farmers to feed their heifers non-organic fishmeal that could be riddled with synthetic preservatives, mercury, and PCBs, and still sell their beef as organic.
And the following week, on April 23, the USDA took the startling step of issuing a legal directive that opens the door for use of some synthetic pesticides on organic farms.
Last but certainly not least, another guidance released on April 14 narrows the scope of the federal organic certification program to crops, livestock, and the products derived from them, meaning that national organic standards will not be developed for fish, nutritional supplements, pet food, fertilizers, cosmetics, or personal-care products.
Despite the USDA's demurrals, activists view the department's changes as a serious threat to hard-won standards for organic products. The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture and other groups are investigating possible industry influence into the USDA's process, and some environmental groups are preparing to take legal action.
This story was jointly produced by BushGreenwatch http://www.bushgreenwatch.org and Grist Magazine http://www.gristmagazine.com/. For more on this story, visit Grist Magazine http://www.gristmagazine.com/muck/muck051804.asp.
SOURCES:
[1] Antibiotic Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/AntibioticGuidance041304.pdf
[2] Fishmeal Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/FishmealGuidance041304.pdf
[3] Pesticide Compliance, USDA, Apr. 23, 2004.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Compliance/PesticidesCompliance.pdf
[4] Scope Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr. 14, 2004.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/ScopeGuidance041304.pdf
Source: http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/mt_archives/000123.php
Starmail - 21. Mai, 18:26
Scharfe Kritik an Zulassung von Gen-Mais durch EU
Weltweite Signalwirkung befürchtet
21.05.04
Die EU-Kommission hat nach sechs Jahren erstmals wieder gentechnisch veränderte Organismen zugelassen. Diese mit Spannung erwartete Entscheidung betrifft den vor allem in den USA kultivierten Süßmais Bt11, der ab sofort in der Europäischen Union verkauft werden kann. Bereits seit 1998 besteht für Bt-11-Mais-Produkte eine Importgenehmigung in die Europäische Union. Ein Anbaugenehmigung für die EU ist mit der Entscheidung vom Mittwoch nicht verbunden. Verschiedene Organisationen kritisierten die Entscheidung scharf.
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=8506
21.05.04
Die EU-Kommission hat nach sechs Jahren erstmals wieder gentechnisch veränderte Organismen zugelassen. Diese mit Spannung erwartete Entscheidung betrifft den vor allem in den USA kultivierten Süßmais Bt11, der ab sofort in der Europäischen Union verkauft werden kann. Bereits seit 1998 besteht für Bt-11-Mais-Produkte eine Importgenehmigung in die Europäische Union. Ein Anbaugenehmigung für die EU ist mit der Entscheidung vom Mittwoch nicht verbunden. Verschiedene Organisationen kritisierten die Entscheidung scharf.
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=8506
Starmail - 21. Mai, 18:20
