http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9853140%255E7583,00.html


From: Greenpeace News-headlines Digest, Vol 14, Issue 11

Evolver-Presseinformation: Neue Kolumne AUSWEISKONTROLLE


http://ecolog.twoday.net/stories/241904/

http://www.alternet.org/story/18954/


Informant: Laurel

Abu Ghraib General Says Told to Treat Prisoners 'Like Dogs'
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0615-03.htm

Mit weiteren Kommentierungen von Rechtsanwalt Dietmar Freund

Der Arbeitskreis Elektrosmog des BUND hatte ein hochkarätig besetztes Mobilfunksymposium organisiert. Sechs Wissenschaftler, zwei Baubiologen, ein Vertreter der Versicherungswirtschaft und der Umweltbeauftragte des Bistums Mainz gaben den über hundert Zuhörern einen Überblick über den aktuellen Stand der Forschung, der Genehmigungspraxis von Anlagen, der Risikoeinschätzung und der individuellen Schutzmöglichkeiten.

Die Stimmung pendelte des öfteren zwischen Frustration und Hoffnungsschimmer hin und her. Auf viele individuelle Fragen aus dem Publikum konnte von den Fachleuten keine befriedigenden Antworten gegeben werden.

Was sind die Ursachen für dieses Unbehagen ?

· Die Mobilfunkkritiker sind in der Minderheit. Die Ausstattungsrate mit Handies beträgt bei Jugendlichen zwischen 16 und 20 Jahren bereits 95%, bei unter 14-jährigen immerhin 50%.

· Die politische Meinung ist zementiert: Das Umweltministerium beruft sich lt. Auskunft vom 19.3.04 immer noch auf die geltenden Grenzwerte der 26.BISchV. Diese beruft sich bekanntlich nur auf thermische Wirkungen, die nicht thermischen Effekte nach wie vor nicht anerkannt.

· 80 % der Forschung auf dem Gebiet der elektromagnetischen Felder (EMF) wird weltweit von der Industrie und der Betreiberseite kontrolliert. Kritische Wissenschaftler werden diffamiert und letztendlich aus ihren Anstellungen geboxt.

Kommentierung Rechtsanwalt Freund:
Prof. Adlkofer äußerte dazu in Mainz am 12.6.04 wörtlich:
"Herr Warnke, Sie haben absolut recht mit Ihrer Kritik an der Wissenschaft. Aber ich möchte betonen, die Wissenschaft, die sich mit elektromagnetischen Feldern beschäftigt, hier handelt es sich um einen Sonderbereich, die meiner Meinung nach weltweit zu 80% von der Industrie kontrolliert wird. Ich selbst habe das mit unseren Daten aus dem REFLEX-Projekt erlebt - Sie werden später verstehen warum (Anm. sein Vortrag folgte noch). Die Reaktion auf solche Ergebnisse ist zuerst: ignorieren. Wenn dann das nicht mehr länger funktioniert, dann geht es um kritisieren - zum Teil mit brauchbaren, zum Teil mit völlig unbrauchbaren Argumenten. Und wenn auch das nicht mehr hilft - und da sind wir im Augenblick angelangt - dann kommt das Diffamieren und das ist das Übelste. Und so geht es all denen mit Ergebnissen, die nicht in die jeweilige Landschaft passen ....... Ich kenne auch die Wissenschaft in anderen Bereichen. Ich möchte wirklich ausschließen, dass dort in der selben Art und Weise vorgegangen wird. Es gibt einen großen Teil der Wissenschaft, der heute genauso denkt, wie er vor 40 oder 30 Jahren, als Sie (Anm. gemeint ist Dr. Warnke) mit Forschung begonnen haben, gedacht hat." Ende der Kommentierung

· Teuere Studien, die schließlich mit Steuergeldern finanziert wurden, bleiben in der Schublade, wenn nicht die „gewünschten“ Resultate erzielt werden. Die Reflexstudie hat immerhin über 3 Mio Euro gekostet. Jetzt bleibt fraglich, ob sie weitergeführt werden kann.

Kommentierung Rechtsanwalt Freund:
Nach Mitteilung von Prof. Adlkofer ebenfalls am 12.6.04 ist dies nach seinem "Rapport" in Brüssel am 12.5.2004 nicht mehr fraglich. Danach werde es keine Fortführung geben! Auf Betreiben der Industrielobby war es zu diesem "Rapport" gekommen, um bei der noch ausstehenden Veröffentlichung der Ergebnisse des REFLEX-Projektes "subjektive" oder gar "emotionale Verfälschungen" zu verhindern. Nicht einmal, dass sich sämtliche Forschungen des Projektes im Bereich unterhalb der Grenzwerte bewegten, dürfe in die Veröffentlichung aufgenommen werden! So wird wohl kaum eine "ausgeglichene wissenschaftliche Sicht der Debatte ermöglicht.", wie dies z.B. etwa in der Dezemberausgabe 2001 des Newsletters der Forschungsgemeinschaft Funk (FGF) auf Seite 28 vorgegeben wurde....

Damals ging es übrigens um Prof. Hyland, der ebenfalls höchst übles Schicksal im Umgang mit der Industrielobby erleiden musste.

Besonders prekär und fatal ist, dass zwar nach den Lippenbekenntnissen auch der Industrieseite einschließlich der FGF weiterer Forschungsbedarf besteht und dafür auch immer wieder Aufträge wie etwa auch beim Deutsches Mobilfunk Forschungsprogramm erteilt werden, aber ein in den vergangenen Jahren wirklich höchst aufwendig begonnenes Projekt, wie das der REFLEX-Gruppe jetzt - nach dem unliebsames zutage trat, sozusagen "abgewürgt" wird, obwohl Prof. Adlkofer deutlich zum Ausdruck brachte, dass etwa die Hypothesen zu HSP 27 (Hitze-Schock-Protein) langfristig gesehen einer wissenschaftlichen Prüfung zugänglich seien und dass sie Forschungsmöglichkeiten aufzeigen, die uns heute unter den Begriffen Genomics und Proteomics zur Verfügung stünden! Ende der Kommentierung

· Die Mobilfunkbetreiber nutzen mit großem Geldaufwand alle Kommunikationskanäle, um die gesundheitlichen Risiken permanent zu verharmlosen und die Informationsmittler, insbesondere Journalisten und Lehrer, systematisch mit unvollständigen Informationen zu versorgen.

· Das Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS) hat zwar auf seiner Webseite kritische Anmerkungen zur Mobilfunkproblematik verfasst, betreibt aber ansonsten keinen großen Aufwand, die Bevölkerung aufzuklären.

· Den Mobilfunkgeschädigten fehlt eine instutionalisierte Lobby, wie es z.B. die Berufsgenossenschaften für die Arbeitnehmer sein könnten. Bürgerinitiativen und Verbraucherverbände versuchen diese Lücke zu schließen. Ein Gegengewicht zu der massiven Pressearbeit der Betreiberseite ist aus finanziellen Möglichkeiten nicht vorhanden.

· Ärzte sind aufgrund der diffusen und multikausalen Krankheitsbilder verunsichert bzw. andererseits nicht ausreichend über das Thema EMF informiert.

· Die baubiologischen Abschirmmöglichkeit sind begrenzt, wenn die Immissionen sehr stark sind bzw. die Strahlungsquelle sogar im eigenen Haus liegt (DECT-Telefone, WLAN-Anwendungen).

Was macht Hoffnung ?

Ein Blick auf die europäischen Nachbarn und auf das EU-Parlament als zentralen Gesetzgeber lässt etwas Optimismus in der tristen Lage der deutschen Mobilfunkgeschädigten aufkommen.

Im Gegensatz zu Deutschland hat Schweden ein über dreißig Jahre lang bestehendes Krebsregister. Dies ist unbedingt notwendig, wenn Aussagen zu Veränderungen der Krebsrate aufgrund von EMF möglich werden sollen. In Spanien wurden Mobilfunksendeanlagen neben einer Schule in Sevilla verboten, da sich eine gehäufte Leukämierate bei Kindern ergeben hat. In Frankreich hat Prof. Santini am 3.12.2001 eine der wenigen epidemiologischen Studien zu Mobilfunkbasisstationen mit einer ausreichend großen Zahl von Probanden vorgelegt.

Eine wichtige gesetzliche Grundlage könnte Artikel 174 des EG-Vertrages, Absatz 2 und 3 sein: „Die Umweltpolitik der Gemeinschaft zielt unter Berücksichtigung der unterschiedlichen Gegebenheiten in den einzelnen Regionen der Gemeinschaft auf ein hohes Schutzniveau ab. Sie beruht auf den Grundsätzen der Vorsorge und Vorbeugung, auf dem Grundsatz, Umweltbeeinträchtigungen mit Vorrang an ihrem Ursprung zu bekämpfen, sowie auf dem Verursacherprinzip". „Bei der Erarbeitung ihrer Umweltpolitik berücksichtigt die Gemeinschaft die verfügbaren wissenschaftlichen und technischen Daten."

Wie ist der Stand der wissenschaftlichen Forschung ?

Die Wissenschaftler des Mainzer Mobilfunksymposiums bestätigten, dass an verschiedenen Schwerpunkten weitergeforscht wird:

· Epidemiologische Studien (Langzeit, Dosis-Wirkung)
· Klinische Experimente am Menschen
· Tierversuche
· Untersuchung von Zellkulturen
· Metastudien

Die Epidemiologie befasst sich mit der regionalen und zeitlichen Verteilung und Verbreitung von Krankheiten in der Bevölkerung und mit denjenigen Faktoren, die diese Verteilung ursächlich beeinflussen. Epidemiologie umfasst somit sowohl die reine Beschreibung von Krankheitsverteilungen (deskriptive Epidemiologie) als auch gezielte Ursachenforschung, meist im Rahmen von Beobachtungsstudien (analytische Epidemiologie).

Privatdozent Dr. Joachim Schüz von der Mainzer Gutenberg-Universität stellte einige epidemiologische Studien zu Krebsrisiken vor. Ein eindeutiger Hinweis konnte nach seiner Darstellung bisher nicht gefunden werden. Lt. Dr. Schütz kann die Latenzperiode bei Krebs zwischen sieben und zehn Jahren liegen. Zu dieser Zeit gab es die gepulste Hochfrequenz noch nicht. Aktuell in Arbeit ist die Interphone-Studie, deren Abschlussbericht gegen Ende des Jahres 2004 erwartet wird.

Kommentierung Rechtsanwalt Freund:
Privatdozent Dr. rer. physiol. Schüz (nicht Schütz) ist Mitglied des Ausschusses "Nichtionisierende Strahlen" der Strahlenschutzkommission und gehört damit zu einem Gremium, dass aufgrund der Anteilseignerschaft des Bundes an der Telekom AG und damit auch ihren MF-Tochtergesellschaften keinesfalls als unabhängig, sondern als befangen bewertet werden muss! Diese Kapitalverflechtung des Bundes mit zumindest einer der Betreiberfirmen ist offenkundig. Da sich die UMTS-Technik nicht so leicht wie erwartet umsetzen lässt, würde die finanzielle Belastung, die eine bundesweite Verschärfung der Grenzwerte durch eine Novellierung der 26. BImSchV für die Mobilfunkbetreiber zur Folge hätte, diese Geschäftspartner des Bundes in größere wirtschaftliche Schwierigkeiten bringen. Aus diesem Grunde war und ist vom Bund keine Initiative zur längst fälligen Korrektur der 26. BImSchV zu erwarten. Ein (fiktiver) Richter wäre wegen Befangenheit abzulehnen, wenn er wesentliche Einnahmen durch einen Prozessbeteiligten erzielen würde.

In einem Verfahren der Bundeslands Hamburg, in dem der 2. Senat des BVerfG am 15. Juli 2003 (2 BvF 6/98) eine Vorschrift des Telekommunikationsgesetzes wegen Eingriffs des Bundes in Länderzuständigkeiten für verfassungswidrig und nichtig erklärt hat, hatte auch das antragstellende Bundesland vorgetragen, dass die Regulierungsbehörde als Behörde des Bundes gegenüber der Deutschen Telekom nicht "unbefangen" sei, denn...
"... Die Deutsche Telekom AG überweise jährlich Millionenbeträge an den Bund;.... Der Bund habe ein erhebliches Interesse an einer möglichst starken Marktposition der Deutschen Telekom AG; hieraus resultierende Vermutung einer "Befangenheit" der Behörden des Bundes". Ende der Kommentierung von Rechtsanwalt Freund.

Omega: die Aussage von Privatdozent Dr. Joachim Schüz stimmt nicht, dass es "Ein eindeutiger Hinweis bisher nicht gefunden werden konnte“. Dies ist die Aussage eines industriefreundlichen, subjektiven Gutachters à la Juri Silny. Es gibt unzählige seriöse Studien aus dem In- und Ausland, die die Schädlichkeit des gepulsten Mobilfunks beweisen. Siehe unter:

http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_wissenschaft.html
http://www.fdp-bundesverband.de/forum/read.php?f=17&i=1197&t=195
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html (in Englisch)

Doz. Dr. Joachim Schüz ist Mitglied im Ausschuss nicht-ionisierender Strahlung der Strahlenschutzkommission (SSK). Joachim Schüz wird als Verharmloser des wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisstandes mit deutlicher Industrienähe beschrieben. Siehe unter:

http://omega.twoday.net/stories/238902/
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/238911/

Epidemiologie benötigt eine unbelastete Kontrollgruppe. Diese ist aufgrund der flächendeckenden Strahlenbelastung praktisch nicht mehr zu finden.

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Warnke, Universität des Saarlandes, wies auf Langzeitstudien hin, die sich mit Krebsfällen in der Umgebung von Radio- und Fernsehsendern beschäftigten:

· Schwedische Studie von Hallberg/Johansson zu Hautkrebs und Hochfrequenz

· Studie zum Schweizer Sender Schwarzenburg (1995) zu von Radio-Kurzwellen ausgelösten Störungen wie Schlafstörungen, Depressionen, Krebs, Diabetes, Müdigkeit, Nervosität, Kopfschmerzen. Die Störungen verringerten sich nach Abschalten des Senders auf ein normales Mass.

· Cherry-Studie (2000): Kausaler Zusammenhang zwischen Tumorfällen und Anzahl der aktiven Sender in Abhängigkeit von der Distanz.

· Radio-Vatikan-Sender-Studie (2001): Kinderleukämie ist um 220% erhöht, ebenfalls Sterblichkeit bei Erwachsenenleukämie in einer 6 km Zone um den Sender.

Eine Studie, die sich aktuell mit klinischen Experimenten am Menschen beschäftigte, ist die niederländische TNO-Studie. Es zeigten sich Befindlichkeitsstörungen wie Kopfschmerzen und Übelkeit unter dem Einfluss von UMTS-Bestrahlung.

Die Salford-Studie aus dem Jahre 2003 fällt unter die Rubrik Tierversuche. In diesem Fall wurden Ratten, die dem menschlichen Teenageralter entsprachen, mit GSM-Frequenzen bestrahlt. Nach einer Exposition von zwei Stunden waren dunkle Neuronen im Gehirn sichtbar (Vortrag Dr. Frentzel-Beyme).

Über die Ergebnisse von Zellversuchen konnte Professor Franz X. Adlkofer aktuell berichten. Der erste Teil der REFLEX-Studie wurde Ende Mai 2004 abgeschlossen. Es wurden Veränderungen von menschlichen Zellen nach einer RF-EMF Exposition mittels Doppelblinduntersuchung erforscht. Die Ergebnisse waren nach Aussage Adlkofers für viele Forscher sehr überraschend:

Aus den in vitro Untersuchungen ergibt sich, das RF-EMF (RF=radio frequency) unterhalb der gültigen Grenzwerte fähig sind

1. in bestimmten, aber keineswegs allen lebenden Zellen DNA-Strangbrüche zu erzeugen und die Anzahl der Mikrokerne und Chromosomenveränderungen zu erhöhen.
2. in verschiedenen Zellsystemen die Gen- und Proteinexpression zu modifizieren. Das Ausmaß der Zellantwort ist offenbar abhängig vom genetischen Hintergrund.

3. direkten Einfluss auf Proliferation, Differenzierung und Apoptose von Zellen zu nehmen.

Folgende ergänzende Anmerkungen sind zu beachten:

· Es ist noch nicht ausreichend erforscht, ob die gentoxischen Wirkungen auch in vivo nachgewiesen werden können.

· Da eine Fehlregulation der Zellproliferation, der Zelldifferenzierung und der Apoptose die pathosphysiologische Grundlage aller chronischen Erkrankungen wie z.B. Krebs und Alzheimer ist und bis jetzt zumindest eine indirekte Einflussnahme durch RF-EMF nicht sicher ausgeschlossen werden kann, muss die Abklärung dieser Fragestellung im Mittelpunkt zukünftiger Forschung stehen.

· Die REFLEX-Daten belegen keinesfalls einen kausalen Zusammenhang zwischen einer RF-EMF Exposition und der Entstehung chronischer Erkrankungen oder auch nur funktioneller Strömungen. Sie erhöhen jedoch die Plausibilität einer solchen Annahme. Der Fortschritt besteht im wesentlichen darin, dass neue Wege aufgezeigt werden, wie die zukünftige Forschung ausgerichtet sein soll.

· Solange die Erkenntnislage unzulänglich bleibt, sprechen die REFLEX-Daten dafür, dass das Vorsorgeprinzip zum Schutze der Bevölkerung von den Entscheidungsträgern in Industrie und Politik anerkannt werden sollte.

Dr. Joachim Schütz berichtete von einer Einrichtung des Landes Rheinland-Pfalz, die ebenfalls geeignet ist, wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zu liefern. Unter www.mainzer-emf-wachhund.de können Mobilfunkgeschädigte ihre Befindlichkeitsstörungen oder Schädigungen in Form eines Fragebogens berichten. Lt. Herrn Dr. Schütz sind bereits 150 Meldungen eingegangen. Im Augenblick wird nach einem geeigneten statistischen Verfahren gesucht, mit dem die Krankheitsberichte ausgewertet werden können. Eine Teilnehmerin aus dem Auditorium wies darauf hin, dass diese Einrichtung bundesweit geführt werden sollte.

Wie ist die Einstellung der Versicherungsbranche zu den Mobilfunkrisiken ?

Christian Schauer, Technikberater einer Rückversicherungsfirma, machte deutlich, dass die Versicherungsbranche keineswegs generell ablehne, Mobilfunkbeteiligte zu versichern, wie die Süddeutsche Zeitung Ende April 2004 berichtete. Jeder Fall würde individuell betrachtet.

Der Mobilfunkbereich ist allerdings für die Versicherungen eine besonders exponierte Branche, da erstens die Anzahl der Nutzer sehr groß ist und zweitens die Risikowahrnehmung zunehmen kann. Man spricht deshalb von „emerging risks", da diese neuartig, nur bedingt erkennbar und monetär bewertbar sind.

Die Rückversicherer versuchen der Herausforderung mit folgendem Maßnahmenpaket zu entgegnen:

· Sensibilisierung und Information der Zedenten (Erstversicherungen) bezüglich der EMF-Problematik.

· Weltweite Beobachtung von Gesetzgebung und Rechtsprechung bezüglich EMF-relevanter Sachverhalte.

· Zeitnahe Beobachtung und Interpretation von Technologien und Forschungsvorhaben im Bereich EMF, d.h. Installation eines Frühwarnsystems.

· Herausarbeitung von Risikoschwerpunkten bei EMF-exponierten Branchen.

Tendenziell neigen viele Versicherungsbranchen im deutschen Markt dazu, Schäden aufgrund von EMF zukünftig nicht mehr vom Versicherungsschutz zu erfassen.

Wie ist die kirchliche Genehmigungspraxis von Mobilfunksendeanlagen ?

Dr. Klaus Lenhard, Umweltbeauftragter für das Bistum Mainz, stellte die neueste Entwicklung vor.

In Hessen und Rheinland-Pfalz und in weiten Teilen Bayerns und Niedersachsens sind in katholischen Bistümern Sendeanlagen nicht zulässig. Im Bistum Magdeburg und Berlin liegt die alleinige Entscheidung bei der Pfarrgemeinde.

Die evangelischen Landeskirchen in Hessen und Nordrhein-Westfalen raten von einer Installation grundsätzlich ab. In anderen Bundesländern entscheidet die Kirchengemeinde zusammen mit der vorgesetzten Dienststelle bzw. liegt die Entscheidung allein bei der Kirchengemeinde.

Der Tagungsband des 3. Rheinland-Pfälzisch-Hessischen Mobilfunksymposium in Mainz kann bestellt werden unter der Telefon-Nummer 06131-231973 oder per Email unter info@bund-rlp.de

Joachim Weise

http://www.baubiologie-regional.de/eine_news.php3?nNewsID=232

Quelle: http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/elektrosmog-liste/message/3955

Omega: es ist schon erstaunlich, wie klare Aussagen zugunsten von Mobilfunkgeschädigten von manchen Fachleuten immer und immer wieder vermieden und relativiert werden. Immer und immer wieder wird auf weitere Forschungsergebnisse gedrängt und auf den letzten, ultimativen Beweis gewartet und gehofft, der aber vermutlich niemals zu finden sein wird, weil er immer und immer wieder zerredet wird. Außerdem ist der Wunsch den ultimativen Beweis zu finden aus monetären Gründen nicht sehr groß. In der Zwischenzeit wird die schädliche Technik immer weiter ausgebaut und viele Menschen und die Natur müssen weiter leiden. Wie lange soll dieses Spiel auf Kosten der Bevölkerung noch weitergehen? Die heute bereits vorliegenden Hinweise und Beweise reichen längst dazu aus, eine politische Entscheidung in Richtung Vorsorge im Interesse des Schutzes der Bevölkerung zu treffen. Wer diese Entscheidung heute nicht trifft, macht sich im Sinne des Völkerrechts schuldig und wird früher oder später zur Verantwortung gezogen werden.

June 16, 2004

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Glen Barry, Ph.D., Forests.org

Humanity's misuse of land is dangerously shortsighted. Nearly everywhere land is becoming dust as overuse turns once verdant landscapes into deserts. Lands the size of Rhode Island are becoming desert wasteland every year, sending millions of ecological refugees fleeing to greener countries - but few remain with land to spare. Nearly as much American land is covered by concrete as is under wilderness designation. In the continental United States an area the size of Ohio (~43,000 square miles) is covered by impervious surfaces - buildings, roads, parking lots - while natural protected lands cover just a bit larger area (~75,000 square miles). And we know the way this is trending. Paved lands are biological wastelands that impact climate, water and land productivity. If determined by the needs for continental ecological sustainability, protected wildlands would cover a much greater area.

Contemporary society has misjudged risk - the third article below points out that as we fight terror the Planet is crumbling. "While we remain virtually hypnotized by terrorism, humanity is quietly destroying the biosphere in which we live, ourselves and our future along with it." Every day many more victims die from air and water pollution, to say nothing of poverty, than died on 9/11. Issues of environmental sustainability are deeply rooted in social inequities and injustices. It is made clear that the Earth is approaching a breaking point in our lifetime. Solutions are straightforward -- stabilize population, reduce consumption and share wealth. Some $40 billion a year -- about what consumers spend on cosmetics -- would provide everyone on Earth with clean water, sanitation, health care, adequate nutrition and education. In a globalized world, there is no refuge from those faced with dire need.

The state of the World's land - and by extension its atmosphere, water and oceans - is perilously grave. The rich want more while the poor work to meet basic human needs - in both cases leading to further overuse of land.

Where is the outrage as entire swathes of the Earth's land are made uninhabitable? Where are the massive citizen movements and governmental programs to address catastrophic land losses? Is there anybody out there that cares? Land is the bedrock of human existence. A mass back to the land movement that seeks to extract land from the global growth machine while nurturing its restoration and stewardship may be our last best hope.

More on this later...

g.b.


RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

ITEM #1

Title: US concrete 'would cover Ohio'

Source: Copyright 2004, BBC

Date: June 15, 2004

Byline: John Heilprin, Associated Press

Excessive concrete cover is not good for the environment If all the concrete structures in America's 48 contiguous states were added up, they would cover a space almost as big as Ohio, researchers say.

Workers from several universities and agencies have put together the first ever map of the US, which shows "impervious surface areas" (ISA). It is important to total up concrete cover because of its harmful effect on the environment, the researchers claim.

The work was led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Giant Jigsaw

If you made a giant jigsaw out of all the highways, streets, buildings, parking lots and other solid structures in the contiguous states, it would cover 112,610 sq km (43,480 sq miles). That is an area nearly the size of Ohio, which is 116,534 sq km (44,994 sq miles).

This is far more than a Christmas cracker statistic, the researchers claim, because concrete cover - or ISA - is not good for the environment.

The replacement of heavily vegetated areas by ISA reduces the depletion of carbon dioxide, which plants absorb from the atmosphere. This can speed up global warming.

ISAs can also alter the water cycle and disrupt aquatic ecosystems.

They do this by changing the shape of stream channels, raising water temperatures and washing pollutants into aquatic environments.

Population growth

The ISA of the contiguous states is already slightly larger than that of its wetlands, which cover 98,460 sq km (38,020 sq miles). The population of the US is increasing by three million a year. Concrete cover is spreading to match.

Every year, one million new family homes are built and 20,000 km (10,000 miles) of roads are laid.

Given these trends, it is likely a lot more will be made of impervious surface areas in the future.

The research was part funded by the US space agency (Nasa).


ITEM #2

Title: U.N. Says Globe Drying Up at Fast
Source: Copyright 2004, Associated Press
Date: June 15, 2004
Byline: CHRIS HAWLEY, Associated Press Writer

http://omega.twoday.net/stories/241750/



ITEM #3

Title: While we're off fighting terror, the planet's crumbling

Source: Copyright 2004, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Date: June 1, 2004

Byline: RICHARD STEINER, PROFESSOR

http://omega.twoday.net/stories/229931/

Networked by Forests.org, Inc., gbarry@forests.org

Forward far and wide to your lists!!!

Deportation Can't Hide Thailand's Treatment of the Akha Hill Tribe

June 15, 2004

Despite the fact that the Thai Government deported me in April of this year, it does little to cover their treatment of the Akha Hill Tribe and illustrates a lack of perception of international publicity. Not that the Akha story wasn't publicized already but the forced and sudden deportation highlights the plight of the Akha to the international community.

As well, it caused a lot of Akha to realize the level of my commitment to improve their situation.

The way forward is an international campaign to increase public awareness of Thailand's disregard for International Human Rights Law and their long term genocidal campaign against the Akha.

These realities were made blatantly clear in the just released Thai Human Rights Journal with two articles about my work with the Akha people, one entitled the "Akha Genocide".

The seizure of the farm lands of Hooh Yoh Akha in Chiangrai Province illustrates this point and galvanizes the resistance against Thai government policy.

As well, in America and other parts of the world, where Thai restaurants are popular, most people are naive about Thailand, have never heard of the Akha Hill Tribe, and are shocked that such an abusive situation has been able to hide in the closet for so long, that American diplomats know of the situation and say nothing.

Read more....?
And of course the initial Thai Government response to a suddenly new form of bad publicity about the "wonderful land of smile" is to promise "dialogue" and then not answer emails!

Not worried, with plenty of time on my hands, my efforts are methodical to inform the world about Thai Government policy and why requirements must be attatched to all agreements, cooperation and aid to the country of Thailand.

Where will people buy their shrimp and rice? Who will fill the flights of Thai Airways?

Burma which does not do near as well as Thailand in covering up its human rights problems, has been radically effected by campaigns against anyone doing business in Burma. Why should not the shoe be on the other foot it fits so well, the country which masters "constructive engagement", Thailand?

Considering that only 20,000 of the 70,000 Akha in Thailand have Thai ID cards, the ease with which Thais can come and live or go to school in the US if they have enough money must be challenged!

When Thailand was recovering from the failure of corrupt banks and the subsequent collapse of the baht, Thai students studying in the US were allowed to get green cards so that they could work in order to compensate for the currency exchange rate differences.

I must ask how Thailand has ever offered such generosity to the Akha, most of whom have no cards of any kind?

In the aftermath of the Drug War rampage of 2003 in which more than 2274 people were ruthlessly murdered by the Thai Government it is little wonder that Thailand no longer sits on the UN Human Rights Commission.

What restrictions will be passed against an Army that uses weapons bought or given from the US, such as M-16's, to bash the faces of hill tribe men? (Please go to http://www.akha.org/content-cat-10.html)

Will Humvees continue to be supplied by the US Government to a country which is using them to run over rice lands stripped from the Akha people such as at Hooh Yoh Akha in Ampur Mae Fah Luang, Chiangrai Province?
( http://www.akha.org/upload/hoohyoh/hoohyoh.htm )

Will millions of American tax payer dollars continue to go to the Thai Government so that they can continue to murder the hill tribe?

Such connections to any other CEO Dictatorship would lead to an outcry in Congress or Parliaments. Yet on the Bush watch an unprecedented human rights disaster has occurred around the world.

The American missionaries who procure, abuse and exploit Akha children will be fought at their base of support, the ax laid to the roots of the tree, exposing their practices and the realities to American Church congregations who support them.

Rather than repent of the abuses of American Indians, the American missionaries have taken their scourge to a similar people in the far away mountains of northern Thailand and Burma, to places from which the flow of heroin, missionaries with/and CIA drug trafficking can not be sorted out, to conduct the busy work of looking like they were spreading the gospel. Considering the gospel is oft referred to as the good news, we wonder just what kind of gospel the missions are preaching?

Will Paul W. Lewis, the infamous Baptist missionary with perhaps more than one job during his time in Burma, ever stand before an Akha court and be asked about his involvement in the heroin trade?

Will the Akha get to send him to prison or take away HIS children?

Will the Akha women every be able to ask him why they were sterilized and then abandoned?

Speak up, demand justice for the Akha people, and ask yourself just what the average Akha person will be eating next time you slow down for that Thai Restaurant!

Matthew McDaniel
USA

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha

PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.

Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter # 124

Artificial colorings and preservatives boost levels of hyperactivity in pre-school children, and urgent consideration should be given to removing them, doctors from the University of Southampton announced May 25.

The researchers had just completed the first major study of the impact of food additives on the behavior of ordinary children. Previous studies had focused on the worsening of symptoms in hyperactive children, on the assumption that they were somehow more sensitive.

According to the study, published in Archives of Child Health, the incidence of high levels of hyperactivity was halved when the additives were removed.

The Southampton University team, led by Professor John Warner, selected 277 children aged three and four on the Isle of Wight and fed them a carefully controlled diet over four weeks. During the first week, they ate a strictly additive-free diet, devoid of colorings such as tartrazine and sunset yellow and the preservative sodium benzoate.

In the second week, half the children were given a daily drink of fruit juice containing colorings and preservatives, while the other half were given the same drink minus the additives. The experiment was repeated in the third and fourth weeks and changes in the behavior of the children were noted by their parents, who did not know which drink their child had been given.

Parents rated their children as significantly less hyperactive when the additives were removed and markedly more so when they were put back in. As a result the proportion with the highest level of hyperactivity fell from 15 per cent to 6 per cent, the authors say.

"These findings suggest that significant changes in children's hyperactive behaviour could be produced by the removal of artificial colourings and sodium benzoate from their diet," Professor Warner said, adding that the doses of additives used in the study were "on the low side of normal," and the effects were observed throughout the group regardless of allergies or chemical sensitivities.

COLORINGS USED IN THE TEST

* Tartrazine (E102): A synthetic yellow azo dye found in sodas, ice cream, sweets, chewing gum, jam and yogurt, commonly used in UK but banned in Norway and Austria.

* Sunset yellow (E110): Also a synthetic yellow azo dye which must be heat-treated. Found in orange jelly, apricot jam, hot chocolate mix, packet soups, canned fish. Banned in Norway and Finland.

* Carmoisine (E122): A synthetic red azo dye which must be heat-treated. Used in jams, sweets, sauce, yogurts, jellies and cheesecake mixes. Banned in Japan, Norway, Sweden and the U.S.

* Ponceau 4R (E124): Also known as Cochineal Red, a synthetic red azo dye used in dessert toppings, jelly, salami, seafood dressings, canned strawberries and fruit pie fillings. Banned in Norway and the U.S.

PRESERVATIVE USED IN THE TEST

* Sodium Benzoate (E211): The sodium salt of benzoic acid used as a food preservative and antiseptic. Found in a wide variety of processed foods including margarine, pineapple juice, prawns, milk products, baked goods, lollipops and soft drinks.

"We were surprised by the results because the effect was not just in one group," Professor Warner said. "We showed there was an effect on perfectly normal children. If that is confirmed by further research then there is a public health issue."

A larger, three-year follow-up study is scheduled for September, funded by the UK's Food Standards Agency.


Informant: Gary Kohls

http://www.climateark.org/articles/print.asp?linkid=32599


Informant: NHNE

Subtitle: Russia's Putin warns U.S. not to try to change any more regimes, as Russia will not allow it! With U.S. Special Forces operating already in Syria, and U.S. forces massing on the Syrian border, is the world about to see a U.S./Russian confrontation?

The New World Order is coming! Are you ready? Once you understand what this New World Order really is, and how it is being gradually implemented, you will be able to see it progressing in your daily news!!

Learn how to protect yourself, your loved ones!

Stand by for insights so startling you will never look at the news the same way again.

YOU ARE NOW ON THE CUTTING EDGE

NEWS BRIEF: "No strike on other countries, Putin warns US", Sify News, April 12, 2003.

"Saint Petersburg -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned the US-led coalition not to attack other countries under the pretext of promoting capitalist and democratic values after having defeated Iraq's dictatorial regime. 'We are not going to export capitalist, democratic revolutions,' the Russian leader told reporters as rumours in Washington allege that some elements of the US administration are mulling launching military operations against other Middle Eastern states. 'If we do, we're going to end up on a slippery slope to non-ending military conflicts. We can't let that happen,' Putin said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac after holding talks with them."

Several very interesting elements present themselves in this story, so let us examine them one by one.

First, Putin did not issue this challenge to the United States until he had his two Russian fleets in exactly the correct place they need to be to prevent the next "regime changes" the U.S. has in mind. The United States is planning to effect "regime changes" through military action in the Persian Gulf region -- Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia -- and on the Korean Peninsula.

Russia has a fleet stationed in these exact two locations, now, even as we speak! [Read NEWS1800 for full details]. Chinese Communist dictator, Mao Tse Tung, was fond of saying: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun". Likewise, Russia's Putin did not issue this warning to President Bush until he had both fleets on station in exactly the right areas the U.S. is planning to effect the next "regime change".

Secondly, even though the leaders of Germany and France attended this news conference, the spokesman was Russia's Putin. This fact speaks loudly to the reality that Russia may be the one superpower that is willing to actually stand up to the United States. Her military preparations speak even more loudly to this reality.

Thirdly, Putin used the descriptive language "slippery slope" to describe America's actions. This term is usually reserved for the very special circumstance in which national actions are seen creating an inevitable slide into all-out war. Thus, the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand started the world down a "slippery slope" to war that proved to be inevitable. It took fully 30 days for the first governments to declare war on each other, but very quickly thereafter, governments lined up on each side, until World War I was launched.

Remember that -- it took 30 days for the event that caused World War I to fully play out into world war.

Now, let us continue to examine this article.

"The Russian leader specifically warned against foreign attempts at regime change in Syria, even as US criticisms against Damascus have steadily increased over the past few days. Answering a reporter's question about a possible military operation against Syria, Putin said: 'Chancellor Schroeder said today that a regime change could only come from the people living under that regime. I totally agree with him'.Following the demise of the Iraqi regime, top US officials have issued a series of warnings to Syria, which now fears it might be next in line for a new US strike in the Middle East." [Ibid.]

Thus, the battle lines seem to be drawn against the two world's military superpowers. Even though Russia has an economy dwarfed by the United States, she now fields the very modern force she began to bring on line in 1998. Further, Russia has EM interferometer scalar weapons that are so superior to anything the United States has, that Russia may really be the only true world's superpower [Read NEWS1776 and NEWS1776b, and NA670 for full details].

How powerful is Russia's scalar weaponry, compared to the many modern weapons we have just deployed? Listen:

"We have ground-based radars, endoatmospheric interceptors, exoatmospheric interceptors, airborne sensors, space-based sensors, chemically propelled interceptors, electromagnetic railguns, particle beam weapons, high energy lasers, all tied together by a massive command and control systems ... Massive systems. Electromagnetic marvels. Nuclear-pumped lasers of staggering power. Perhaps even x-ray and gamma ray lasers. Directed energy RF weapons. Stupendous railguns. Sensors everywhere. Giant webs of communications. Banks of computers and control systems.

"And its totally vulnerable to scalar EM interferometer weapons. Giant scalar EM 'radars' can simply sweep through all that like a scythe through standing hay." [Ibi., p. 331]

And, what about our scalar weaponry? "Our scalar weaponry is not yet ready to deploy effectively". [Ibid.]

If you study scalar weaponry, you will see that it can deliver nuclear-sized explosions that look for all the world like a regular nuclear blast, including the distinctive mushroom cloud, but without the radiation; and, scalar weaponry travels at the speed of light. America risks dramatic military defeat if we cross the "line in the sand" that Russia has drawn.

At the very moment everyone in the Western world is celebrating our total military victory over the Iraqi military, we might suddenly find ourselves in a military battle with Russia, a battle we cannot win if Russia chooses to use her scalar weaponry. And, make no mistake: the U.S. is already in Syria with Special Forces and we are amassing forces on the Syrian border. Let us review these facts now.


Informant: god.guns.guts

U.N. SAYS GLOBE DRYING UP AT FAST PACE

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040615/D837O6TO0.html
http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1640047-6098-0,00.html


Informant: NHNE and from Greenpeace News-headlines Digest, Vol 14, Issue 13

http://control.www1.50megs.com/research/re082400a.html


Informant: kat

World's land turning to desert at an alarming speed, warns United Nations - The world is turning to dust, with land the size of Rhode Island becoming desert wasteland every year and the problem threatening to send millions of people fleeing to greener countries, the United Nations says...

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-16/s_24932.asp

Europäisches Patentamt: Bayer will Monopol auf Gen-Saaten durchsetzen

15.06.04

Die entscheidende Verhandlung über ein Patent der Firma Bayer (EP 275957) findet am Dienstag am Europäischen Patentamt (EPA) in München statt. Das Patent steht beispielhaft für die Praxis des Amtes, das Verbot zur Patentierung von Pflanzensorten zu unterlaufen. Die Ansprüche des Bayer-Patentes umfassen die Nutzung und Verwertung genmanipulierter Pflanzen wie Reis, Raps und Mais. Den Einspruch gegen das Bayer-Patent reichte die Münchner Initiative "Kein Patent auf Leben!" 1993 kurz nach Erteilung des Patents ein. Greenpeace unterstützt den Einspruch durch rechtliche Expertise.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=8675

Your Calls Needed!

The second shoe to drop in this frantic week of legislative activity will hit on Wednesday, June 16, when the U.S. House of Representatives takes up the Interior Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2005. Few things are harder to follow than the serpentine course of appropriations bills through the Congress, but few things are more important to our public lands.

Time is very short -- your calls are needed urgently before Wednesday. Please call your Representative and ask her/him to vote FOR pro-conservation amendments in the FY05 Interior appropriations bill and to OPPOSE cuts in the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Capitol Switchboard, at 202-224-3121, will connect you to your Representative's office. You can look up who your Representative is at:
http://ga1.org/wilderness/leg-lookup/search.tcl?domain=wilderness&preview_p=1

Please use the talking points below in your phone call. If you absolutely can't call your Representative, please click here to send him/her a fax immediately from:
http://ga1.org/campaign/InteriorAppropriations/wd8ks5x4pin5k6

Talking Points
It takes only a few minutes to call your representative's office. It's painless and the message is simple and straightforward. Ask for the staff person who is handling the Interior Appropriations bill. Identify yourself and explain you're calling to urge the representative to oppose draconian cuts in the Land and Water Conservation fund and to vote FOR four amendments to the Fiscal Year 05 Interior Appropriations bill:

- The Holt-Shays Yellowstone Snowmobile Amendment;
- The Chabot-Andrews Tongass Subsidy Amendment;
- The Udall Forest Wildlife Conservation Amendment; and
- The Hinchey-Bass Yellowstone Bison Amendment.

Amendments Aim to Protect Yellowstone, Tongass, Other National Forests

Several members of the House will offer a common sense conservation package of amendments to the FY05 Appropriations bill to protect Yellowstone National Park, end subsidies for logging on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, and block new rules that would gut the National Forest Management Act that protects all our forests and their wildlife. This same Interior Appropriations bill proposes to eliminate funding for almost all new Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) land acquisition.

Conservation Amendments to the Appropriations Bill
Not only funding levels are specified in the annual appropriations measures that must pass the Congress. Those bills also often include specific directions and prohibitions for federal agencies. This year, The Wilderness Society is working hard for passage of four such amendments, a sensible, bipartisan conservation package to protect some of America's best-known lands.

The Yellowstone Snowmobile Amendment
Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Tim Johnson (R-IL) will offer an amendment to protect America's first national park. It would require completion of the timely phase-out of snowmobiles from Yellowstone and nearby Grand Teton National Parks. The National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency have found that a transition from snowmobile to snowcoach access is necessary to protect public health, wildlife and the parks' natural environment.

Americans strongly support this transition to less intrusive, less polluting snowcoaches for the two parks. Under the amendment, the public will continue to enjoy full access to Yellowstone, while snowmobiling use will continue on millions of acres of public lands surrounding Yellowstone.

For more information on Yellowstone snowmobiles go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/Wyoming/orv.cfm

Tongass Subsidy Elimination Amendment
The Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska is America's Rainforest. It's our largest national forest, one of the wildest and among the richest in wildlife with bears, wolves, salmon and bald eagles in abundance. In a policy remarkably like hiring someone to damage your dearest possessions, American taxpayers have lost as much as $35 million in a single year to subsidize logging on the Tongass.

Reps. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Robert Andrews (D-NJ) will offer the Tongass Subsidy Amendment" to prohibit spending of tax dollars to build new roads in the Tongass. If the President and the Congress are serious about cutting government waste, this subsidy to the Alaska timber industry is a perfect place to begin.

In all, we taxpayers have spent nearly a billion dollars since 1982 to subsidize the logging of America's temperate-zone rainforest. The forest deserves better; so do American taxpayers! For more information on the Tongass National Forest go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/Alaska/wilderness.cfm

Forest Wildlife Conservation Amendment
For nearly 30 years, the National Forest Management Act has guided Republican and Democratic administrations in the management of our 191 million acres of national forests. The Act's planning rules, developed under President Reagan, provide common sense standards for sustainable, scientific forest management, including landmark standards that can keep fish and wildlife from extinction.

The fondest wish of the timber industry has been the wholesale revision of these rules. The Administration has obliged by proposing radical new rules that will weaken wildlife protection, undermine public involvement, ignore science and play favorites with special interests.

Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM) will offer the "Forest Wildlife Conservation" amendment to block these disastrous new rules. His amendment will ensure that we continue to strive for sustainable management of our national forests and protection of their wildlife. Over 325 prominent scientists, including E.O. Wilson, have urged the Administration to withdraw this special-interest revision of the rules.

For more information on the National Forest Management Act and the proposed rule changes go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/Forests/index.cfm#regs

The Yellowstone Bison Amendment
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Rep. Charles Bass (R-NY) will offer an amendment to deny funds for the continued slaughter of bison that leave Yellowstone each winter to seek food on adjacent public lands. If passed, the amendment would force the National Park Service to find common-sense solutions to bison herd management. Last year, a similar amendment very nearly succeeded; your representative could make the difference this year.

Over the past two decades, the National Park Service, the same agency that is charged with protecting wildlife and other park resources, has slaughtered over 3,700 Yellowstone bison. This year alone, the agency captured 482 bison inside the park and sent 277 to slaughter. Bison are a national icon and Yellowstone's bison are the only genetic link to the great herds of millions that once ranged over the western plains. This is no way to treat a national symbol!

For more information on the Yellowstone bison slaughter go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/Wyoming/BuffaloPreservationAct.cfm

Land and Water Conservation Fund Attacked
This House is proposing to eliminate funding for almost all new federal land acquisitions through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). LWCF is one of the most popular programs of the federal government. This bipartisan measure has served since 1964 to conserve land, water and open spaces, by buying land from willing sellers.

It works to complete and expand our treasured national parks, forests, refuges, wild lands and recreation areas and to protect watersheds and wildlife habitat and sites of historical and cultural significance. Without it, many of these places will be lost to development. Cutting LWCF funding is desperately shortsighted.

For more information on the Land and Water Conservation Fund, go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/Budget/LWCF-FY05.cfm

Please Take Action Now!

Again, there is very little time: the Interior Appropriations bill will come to the House floor as early as this Wednesday, June 16. Please call today -- 202-224-3121 and asked to be connected to your Representative. If you absolutely can't call, you can send a fax to your representative immediately from
http://ga1.org/campaign/InteriorAppropriations/wd8ks5x4pin5k6

If you'd like to write your own fax, we've included below a sample letter you can draw from. You can find fax numbers and other congressional contact information at
http://ga1.org/wilderness/leg-lookup/search.tcl?domain=wilderness&preview_p=1

Attorney General John Ashcroft should appoint a special counsel to investigate whether Vice President Dick Cheney helped his old firm Halliburton get lucrative deals in Iraq, a senior Democratic senator said Monday...

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-15/s_24879.asp

http://tinyurl.com/2og3e


Informant: Anna Webb

UNITED NATIONS - The number of people vulnerable to floods is expected to double to 2 billion worldwide by 2050 due to global warming, deforestation, rising sea levels and population growth in flood-prone areas, U.N. researchers have warned...

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/25522/story.htm

Forced Injected Microchips For Homeless
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239679/

Atmospheric Science Program (ASP)
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239239/

Cleaning up after HANEs
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239671/

ChemTrail Pictures
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239689/

Vote against any attempt to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239634/

Stop Drilling in the Arctic
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240431/

World faces seeping flood crisis
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239980/

Polluters can be sued, court says in precedent-setting decision
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239703/

U.S. Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez Personally Authorized Torture in Iraq
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239649/

New Pictures of U.S. Torture in Iraq
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239637/

Tortured meanings
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239695/

The torturers
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239891/

General Granted Latitude At Prison
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239796/

Man beaten so long and so severely his kidneys failed
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239944/

A little legal redefinition and torture becomes a necessary abuse to save the US
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239958/

3,000 held in America's global gulag
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239960/

This is Imperial Arrogance
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239976/

Torture Incorporated: Oliver North Joins the Party
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239965/

Jurist Dismayed at US Attempts to Justify Torture
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240438/

US Torture Tactics Date from Vietnam Era
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240440/

Interrogation abuses were 'approved at highest levels'
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240470/

Unit Says It Gave Earlier Warning of Abuse in Iraq
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240471/

’Torture in a good cause’
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240474/

What the World Should Know
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240477/

Intelligence: The Pentagon—Spying in America?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239651/

What will happen before the election?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239798/
http://inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=355

Gambling on Voting
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239861/

Deja Vu all over again?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239881/

US 'meddling in Australian vote'
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239962/

War, War, War
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239869/

Bush's secret army
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239795/

How America armed Iraq
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239938/

Ronnie & Saddam
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239940/

Our First Victory Was Zapatero
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239936/

Bush's Neocons Guilty of 'Unlimited Incompetence'
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240455/

War spending 'has made country more vulnerable':
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240480/

Down with the Presidency
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239896/

Retired Diplomats, Military Leaders Say Bush Must Go
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239240/

CNDP Statement on UN Iraq Resolution
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239684/

Brahimi quits post as UN envoy in Iraq
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239935/

Comprehensive coverage of homeland security spending and policy news
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239813/

The perils of hegemony
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239907/

Control Room
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240466/

Based on Hollywood image, would you trust America?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239911/

Extensive US War Crimes in Iraq
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240446/

Republicans are Behind the Effort to Censor Fahrenheit 9/11
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239970/

Republican Leadership Ready to Attack Our Civil Liberties Again
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239974/

A Special Report on the National Emergency in the United States of America
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239791/

Tomorrow we face today again
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239887/

A Declaration of Financial Transformation
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239804/

European voters batter governing parties
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239876/

Nuclear weapons challenges rise
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/239883/

Fiery Hell on Earth, Part 2
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240467/

Independent inquiry into Gulf war illnesses
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240572/

U.S. Military in Crisis
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/241018/

Can you believe this could happen in the Land of the Free?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/240597/

Gefängnischef Miller: "Gefangene wie Hunde behandeln"

Neue Enthüllungen im Folterskandal um Abu Ghuraib, der in seinen Auswüchsen schon nach bisherigen Informationen kaum zu übertreffen war: Nach Aussage der früheren Direktorin von Abu Ghuraib Janis Karpinsky, war es Generalmajor Geoffrey Miller, der Chef des Lagers in Guantanamo, der die Anweisung ausgegeben habe, Gefangene wie Hunde zu behandeln.

Karpinsky erklärte in einem Interview der BBC, welchen Rat sie von Miller erhalten habe:

"Er sagte, sie seien wie Hunde, und wenn du ihnen zu irgendeinem Zeitpunkt erlaubst zu glauben, dass sie mehr sind als ein Hund, hast du die Kontrolle über sie verloren".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3806713.stm
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,304198,00.html

Geoffrey Miller wurde inzwischen die Aufsicht über alle irakischen Gefängnisse übertragen. Er genießt offensichtlich das Vertrauen der amerikanischen Regierung, einen angemessenen Umgang mit irakischen Gefangenen zu pflegen.


Nachricht von Gerhard Wendebourg

http://www.antiwar.com/paul/?articleid=2818


Informant: kevcross5

http://www.counterpunch.org/cloughley06132004.html


Informant: kevcross5

Quelle: http://ecolog.twoday.net/stories/240796/

How many people rot in jails, prisons for no good reason. If the Justice system can screw up murder cases how much more can they screw up smaller less significant crimes? We need Justice and Prison Reform NOW! ...bdpoe

Published on Monday, June 14, 2004 by CommonDreams.org

Requiems

by Kathy Kelly

I've always liked the restful quiet of an empty classroom. Maybe this is why the large room where we wait to start mealtime duties, here at Pekin Federal Prison, feels comfortably familiar. During breaks, in the dining area, I've spent many hours reading, writing, studying Arabic, and staring out the window.

Today, looking out the window, I watched Kim LaGore crossing the compound, flanked by Ruth and Malika.

Yesterday, when I left the dish room, I sensed something was radically wrong. Clusters of women were gathered, many already puffy-eyed and tearful. "It's Kim," I was told. "Her other son just died."

On March 21st, 2004, Kim Lagore's younger son, Dustin, was killed in Iraq. He was a 19-year-old US soldier who had tried his best to stay out of combat. 72 days later, Sean, Kim's older son, age 29, died from complications following back surgery. Ruth and Malika, who also lost children while in prison, have been like guardian angels for Kim, holding and helping her through this wretched grief.

Every person in the prison camp yearns to spin a protective cocoon around her. The authorities couldn't do much. The system traps their compassion too. They allowed Kim extra phone calls and submitted a furlough request. I feel sure that they each wished for swift procedures to re-sentence Kim to home confinement during the remaining three months of her sentence. Who wouldn't want to respond humanely to a woman who has lost both of her children within three months time while forcibly separated from her relatives and her hometown community? But the system's wheels turn slowly, very slowly.

"I know many of you don't know what to say," Kim wrote on a card posted in the laundry room of our dorm. Thanking us for surrounding her with kindness, she added, "To be honest, I don't know what to say either, except that we'll make it through…"

I remember my first conversation with Kim, about three weeks after Dustin was killed. Having learned that I had been in Iraq many times and lived there during the "Shock and Awe" campaign, she came to me with his picture and an article she'd written reflecting her pain and confusion. She still has not been able to learn any details about Dustin's death other than that, after two weeks in Samarra, a city north of Baghdad, he was killed in a training accident. "I want to go with you to Iraq," said Kim. "I want to tell Iraqi parents that my son Dustin never wanted to hurt anyone. He never wanted to kill."

Kim is here for a "paper crime," - a first time offender, she was convicted of a nonviolent and "victim-less" crime. In her former job as a bail bondswoman, she had been anxious that a particular client might not return for a court date, and she insisted that he pay her in cash if she posted bond for him. A prosecutor then accused her of accepting drug money, and Kim was convicted of money laundering. Kim believed she wasn't responsible to determine how her client had raised the money.

Enron, Halliburton, Boeing and Dow Chemical CEOs adeptly cover and shield themselves from harm when accused of shady dealings. I haven't kept informed about their most recent appearances in courts, but I don't want any of them to go to jail. I do want the court of public opinion to regard peddling weapons, designing massive machines for destruction, ravaging the world's ecosystems, and poisoning our environment as criminal behavior. Would these CEOs ever refuse clients who declare foreign wars to exploit other people's resources? Would they ever insist that their clients stop making war against the biodiversity of Mother Earth? What would their thoughts be if they heard Kim's story?

June 26, 2004 is Prisoner Awareness Day in the US. We've thought of inviting our network of friends, outside the prison to observe the day by making advance agreements to completely suspend all communications with loved ones, friends, and household members for just one day. No phone calls, emails, visits, or conversations. At the end of the day, participants could write about the experience to elected representatives or local media, voicing concern over the isolating and long sentences imposed on US prisoners. The action could give a brief glimpse into the dark frustrations felt by women and men whose contact with loved ones hangs on the slimmest and most fragile of threads. Our society desperately needs the social imagining that could envision alternatives.

But for now, Kim's own words and the wordless comfort brought to her by her fellow "criminals" hold enough for a long lesson. Who are the criminals? What are the most serious crimes? And what happens when compassion dies?

Kathy Kelly, co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness and three-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, began a four-month prison sentence April 7th for her actions of civil disobedience at the School of the Americas/WHISC and an ELF tower in Wisconsin.

Kathy Kelly's Prison Address:
Kathy Kelly #04971-045
FPC Pekin
PO Box 5000
Pekin, IL 61555-5000

http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,11816,1238167,00.html


Informant: Davey Garland