http://www.nature.com/uidfinder/10.1038/nature03243


Informant: Anna Webb

http://www.totalitaer.de/Waffen/englelectmagfieldlife.htm


Informant: Susan

Currently the oxygen content in the atmosphere on world average is 20.9%. This is a pet inquiry of mine and a friend who is an environmental technician in the tropics. What we are finding out the oxygen levels are not being published. We will always see the CO2 content but never the oxygen content. Indications from ice boring and is depending on which research; the oxygen content either 100 years ago or 400 years ago was 38%. The percent level where animals begin to degrade is 13% and under 6% we can not live. Oxygen content for many regions vary between 12% to 18%. Certain cities the content levels can be dangerously low. From a very reliable resource two days ago stated, areas in Japan the oxygen level was 6%.

It's difficult to imagine but we're running out of air to breathe. The areas in the world where the oxygen contents are under 13% must be having a severe effect on peoples health and child development.

I believe the hazard guess is probably accurate. But the oceans are dying..... we are seeing more and more dead zones and fish dying off in schools, especially in the tropics.


cobra

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1022596,00.html


Informant: kevcross5

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/video1025.htm


Informant: Ozzy bin Oswald

A Debate on Social Security with Paul Krugman vs. the American Enterprise Institute.

Audio and transcript
http://207.44.245.159/article7962.htm

Apocalypse Soon:

Evangelicals in the US believe there is a biblical basis for opposing the Middle East road map...

http://207.44.245.159/article3716.htm



The end of days: a self-fulfilling prophecy:

The Last Days theme has also become a major motor in US foreign policy. Just as in Reformation Europe, the Christian right believes we need to sort out the world before the Last Days arrive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1401181,00.html


From Information Clearing House

One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the Oval Office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington.

http://207.44.245.159/article7960.htm

Australia, once the land of the "fair go", has collaborated with Guantanamo more closely than any other western government and is guilty of human rights abuses of its own.

http://207.44.245.159/article7964.htm

I wanted to point out some facts, some realities that Bush had better face—for the sake of our country, before he makes even more of a mess of things in the world and at home.

http://www.todaysalternativenews.com/index.php?event=link,150&values[0]=&values[1]=2212
http://tinyurl.com/5gesm


From Information Clearing House

Bush's State of the Union

Billions for Endless War and Empire--
Cuts in Healthcare, Education, and Social Security

George W. Bush's State of the Union Address, masked in talk of "freedom" and "democracy," was an outline of a brutal agenda of endless war, global empire, and the destruction of what remains of basic social services.

The war against working people

Bush said, "First, we must be good stewards of this economy, and renew the great institutions on which millions of our fellow citizens rely." He followed this with his promise to reduce or eliminate "more than 150 government programs."

These cuts are part of the neocon agenda to roll back every gain made by working people in this country. In a period of growing unemployment and rising cost of living, the Bush agenda is to slash spending for education, housing, and healthcare, as it is asking for yet another $80 billion to finance the war against the people of Iraq.

More than $150 billion has been spent on the war; meanwhile hospitals are being shut down, schools are overcrowded, jobs are disappearing and state and local budgets are facing enormous deficits. Under the Bush Administration, there is simply no money available to meet human needs.

These cuts come at a time when working people are watching their loved ones die in Iraq in increasing numbers. The more than 1400 soldiers who have died are not the children of Wall Street executives and neocon warmongers; they are the children of the inner cities and poor communities, forced into military service by the poverty draft.

Bush then outlined his plan to privatize the Social Security System, justifying it with the outright fabrication that the system is facing bankruptcy. The truth is that Social Security is not in deficit, not now and not for at least the next forty years. The trust fund will have a surplus next year of $1.8 trillion. In 2011 when the baby boomer generation will start retiring in large numbers, the surplus will be $3.2 trillion. These surpluses, plus future payroll-tax revenue, are sufficient to maintain the current level of benefits through 2042, according to the Social Security fund's very conservative actuaries.

The hype about Social Security "going broke" is a myth being created by the Wall Street profiteers behind the Bush Administration who want to destroy the public's confidence in Social Security. This is a sales pitch to convince the public to spend over $2 trillion to create a separate system to divert Social Security funds into the stock market--including giving nearly $1 trillion to the Wall Street firms to manage the new individual accounts. This plan, while benefiting private investment firms, would force cuts in benefits and result in raising the retirement age, both of which Bush admitted were "on the table." Furthermore, it would place the retirement benefits of millions of people at risk, subject to the fluctuations of a volatile and uncertain stock market.

Increased Repression

Bush said, "We will pass along to our children all the freedoms we enjoy, and chief among them is freedom from fear." Yet all he is selling is fear and repression.

He promised to fight for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage--part of a fundamentalist hate campaign to deny basic human rights to members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgendered community.

Bush also promised to continue his war against people of color by "taking on gang life," conservative code words for increased racial profiling and police brutality.

In all of his talk of freedom and democracy, he did not once mention the Patriot Act, which undermines every single right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. Nor did he disavow his Administration's policy of illegal detentions and torture.

Iraq: Permanent Occupation

Bush hailed the phony election in Iraq as a triumph for democracy. To put this election, held under occupation, in perspective, it is helpful to remember another election, also held under occupation, 38 years ago:

On September 4, 1967, the New York Times carried the headline, "U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote: Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror."

The article said, "United State officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election...The hope here is that the new government will be able to maneuver with a confidence and legitimacy long lacking in South Vietnamese politics. That hope could have been dashed either by a small turnout, indicating widespread scorn or a lack of interest in constitutional development, or by the Vietcong's disruption of the balloting."

At the time the election took place, the U.S. had hundreds of thousands of troops in Vietnam. The U.S. was carpet bombing, dropping napalm, and assassinating activists as part of its infamous Operation Phoenix. Yet it was able to organize a phony election and convince the media to report that the election was a turning point in the effort to legitimize the war.

This attempt to legitimize the war and occupation of Vietnam was an abject failure. The election was followed by the Tet offensive, a massive popular uprising against occupation forces. The war lasted another 7 ½ years, with most of the 50,000 U.S. casualties coming after the election.

Today, the Bush Administration is bringing "democracy" to Iraq with bombs, bullets, depleted uranium weapons, and the torture chambers of Abu Ghraib. More than 100,000 Iraqis have been killed. Fallujah, a historic city, has been destroyed.

This election will only result in greater frustration and anger from the Iraqi people. Whatever the actual size of the turnout was, the overriding expectation of those who voted was that the election would lead to an end to the occupation of their country. When they realize that the Bush has no plans to end the occupation, this frustration will fuel an already widespread resistance.

But Bush said, "We will not set an artificial timetable for leaving Iraq," because the Administration plans are for permanent occupation. The neocon cabal surrounding Bush has long planned a permanent military occupation of the region, to control the supply of oil and to use as a base to launch offensive operations against other nations, like Syria and Iran. The Pentagon is constructing 14 permanent military bases--Bush will not set a timetable because he has no intention of ending the occupation ever. U.S. corporations like Halliburton and Bechtel, which have already made billions in profits, plan to solidify their grip on the Iraqi economy, particularly its vast oil reserves.

Endless War

In addition to the continued occupation of Iraq, Bush listed new targets for U.S. aggression. Using the now-familiar and discredited accusation of possessing weapons of mass destruction, Bush made it clear that the people of Iran, Syria, and North Korea will suffer the same fate as the people of Iraq if he has his way.

He swore that we must "confront regimes that continue to harbor terrorists and pursue weapons of mass murder." This same justification, proven to be an outright lie, was used for the war against Iraq. In Bush language, this means the intent to attack any country, anywhere, if it serves the interests of U.S. corporate Empire.

The U.S. government, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., is “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” Its death squads are at work in Colombia. The city of Miami is a base for terrorist attacks against the people of Cuba. The U.S. maintains the world’s largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction: illegal chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

March 19: Troops Out Now!

Bush concluded his speech with a quote from Franklin Roosevelt: "Each age is a dream that is dying or one that is coming to birth." In reality, the dream of the Bush Administration is a nightmare for working people everywhere--a dream of global empire, permanent war, and the destruction of all social programs.

Those who have other dreams must continue to mobilize to stop the Bush Administration. On the weekend of March 19, the second anniversary of the beginning of Bush's campaign of shock and awe against the people of Iraq, the global antiwar movement will be in the streets to demand an end to the occupation.

The Troops Out Now Coalition, of which the International Action Center is a member, supports the calls for actions throughout the world. In New York City, tens of thousands will march and converge on Central Park, in a massive, united regional demonstration to demand the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of all occupation troops from Iraq. The anti-war movement will demand money for jobs, education and healthcare, not for war and occupation. Activists are coming from all over the eastern U.S. to march against endless war, repression, and corporate greed.

Bush has outlined a plan of attack against working people everywhere--now is the time for us to respond with a renewed level of commitment and unity. We need your help to make March 19 a success.

How you can help:

1) Endorse the March 19 Demonstration in Central Park
http://troopsoutnow.org/endorse

2) Organize transportation from your area--contact us at
transportation@troopsoutnow.org to post your information on the website.

3) Help get the word out--download leaflets from http://troopsoutnow.org.



March 19
Troops Out Now!
March on Central Park in NYC!
Regional Demonstrations Across the U.S. & Worldwide


The International Action Center
http://www.iacenter.org
mail: iacenter@iacenter.org

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/who_ehs_conference_report.doc


Informant: Marc Martin

Know what the Micro Wave Towers do and citizens can be targeted individually by them.

The seventh day Adventist Church which is located within 500 feet of my property line wanted to add more Sprint antennas to the existing ones. The church is located across from a high school. The neighbours and myself went to City hall and contested and we won. The Church lost $1.200 per month from Sprint Company as rent had the antennas been installed without protest from the neighbourhood.


Romy

Date: February 2, 2005 2:56:58 PM EST
To: no2us_bases-discussion@lists.ilps-news.com, info-bureau@lists.ilps-news.com

In a bid for neo-colonial legitimacy in Vietnam, US imperialism made much of electoral democracy bolstering their puppet Saigon regime in 1967. But their arrogant claims were literally blown away less than 6 months later with the massive Tet Offensive by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLFSVN), sometimes referred to as the VietCong.

If history is a guide, the story of the imperial project in Iraq is not close to victory, but closer to embarrassing and humiliating defeat.


This article from the New York Times in 1967:

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :

Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times
(9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3-- United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.

Pending more detailed reports, neither the State Department nor the White House would comment on the balloting or the victory of the military candidates, Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, who was running for president, and Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, the candidate for vice president.

A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam. The election was the culmination of a constitutional development that began in January, 1966, to which President Johnson gave his personal commitment when he met Premier Ky and General Thieu, the chief of state, in Honolulu in February.

The purpose of the voting was to give legitimacy to the Saigon Government, which has been founded only on coups and power plays since November, 1963, when President Ngo Dinh Deim was overthrown by a military junta.

Few members of that junta are still around, most having been ousted or exiled in subsequent shifts of power.

Significance Not Diminished

The fact that the backing of the electorate has gone to the generals who have been ruling South Vietnam for the last two years does not, in the Administration's view, diminish the significance of the constitutional step that has been taken.

The hope here is that the new government will be able to maneuver with a confidence and legitimacy long lacking in South Vietnamese politics. That hope could have been dashed either by a small turnout, indicating widespread scorn or a lack of interest in constitutional development, or by the Vietcong's disruption of the balloting.

American officials had hoped for an 80 per cent turnout. That was the figure in the election in September for the Constituent Assembly. Seventy-eight per cent of the registered voters went to the polls in elections for local officials last spring.

Before the results of the presidential election started to come in, the American officials warned that the turnout might be less than 80 per cent because the polling place would be open for two or three hours less than in the election a year ago. The turnout of 83 per cent was a welcome surprise. The turnout in the 1964 United States Presidential election was 62 per cent.

Captured documents and interrogations indicated in the last week a serious concern among Vietcong leaders that a major effort would be required to render the election meaningless. This effort has not succeeded, judging from the reports from Saigon.

NYT. 9/4/1967: p. 2.


Informant: Dave Pugh

From ufpj-news

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index676.htm


Informant: CHEROKEE

Signs of the Times #1321
http://www.zetatalk.com/index/z03.htm


During the last week of January [2005], observers all over the world noted a visually obvious wobble in the Earth. [and from another source] El Paso, Jan 22-23 Six hours and a 45 degree shift in the Moon.

Apparently, the wobble is taking place from 22:00 to 24:00. [and from another source] Australia, Jan 23: It looks as if the earths rotation stalled for a while on. Sunday evening whilst Alt continued to decrease. Did it tip at this point whilst being held in position? [and from another source] Mississippi, Jan 25: The moon Friday and Saturday night stood still directly overhead for an hour. Last night (Sunday) it slowed but kept moving. [and from another source] Arkansas, Jan 25-26: On Jan 24, 2005, first light was around 5:30 AM and on Jan 26, 2005 first light was around 6:30 AM. I would say the wobble is getting worse. [and from another source] Australia, Jan 27: This morning Sigma Octantis appeared ten degrees left of a terrestrial target suggesting Earth´s South Pole axis was moved to the right away from the rising Sun. [and from another source] New York, Jan 27: I was staring at the night sky straight at the moon. I could swear that I saw the moon quickly shift to the left and back to its original position. My heart skipped a beat. [and from another source] Italy, Jan 23: I have scientific evidence of the tilt and wobble of the Earth's axis. I cut a slice of one spot in the images of Big Bear each hour. I put them in the exact position and we can see that the line from a spot and next is not linear. As the scope has a linear movement this line is the wobble of the axis. In the other side I take the same spot in different day from SOHO and an Earth observer. We can see that the angle is different by 6 degree. SOHO is correct. [Note: SOHO is not the Earth, and is not wobbling! Earth is wobbling.]


Informant: Anastacia Cook

04.02.05

Zwei Wirbelstürme innerhalb von fünf Tagen haben im Süden Madagaskars riesige Schäden angerichtet. Am 24. Januar fegte "Ernest" mit einer Geschwindigkeit von 100 km pro Stunde und Windstößen von 250 km pro Stunde über die Provinz Toliara im Süden der afrikanischen Insel und sorgte dafür, dass der Niederschlag um über 500 Prozent anstieg. Am 29. Januar führte Wirbelsturm "Felapi" zu dreitätigem Dauerregen und weiteren Überschwemmungen. Nach Angaben der "Madagascar Tribune" sind in der Provinz Toliara mehr als 11 000 Menschen obdachlos, mindestens 17 ums Leben gekommen, 139 gelten als verschwunden. Das Welternährungsprogramm der Vereinten Nationen schätzt, dass 5285 Menschen massiv betroffen sind.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:

http://www.jpberlin.de/www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=10374

by Joshua Holland, Flytrap

It's dangerous when your foreign policymakers believe their own propaganda. Good policy can't flow from shoddy analysis, and that's what we're looking at in Iran.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/but_who_will_stand_with_us.php

by Adrian Hamilton, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A British columnist decries the exploitation of Iraqis' desire for self-determination:
http://tompaine.com/opinion/#003623

by Jack Shafer, Slate

What George W. Bush has learned from Kim Jong-il:
http://tompaine.com/opinion/#003625

An article about the american HAARP project today in La Figaro...
http://www.lefigaro.fr/sciences/20050203.FIG0378.html

I will give more details from the article, because I see it tells of quite an interesting discovery: the discovery was published in the last issue of Nature journal- they created stains of light with radio waves, in the first time. In the past this kind of artificial light was made with chemicals (aluminium, barium, trimethyle) but never with radio waves.

The article explains that it's been known that electrons that are accelerated by earth magnetic fields, provoke aurora borealis when they re-enter in the atmosphere in the polar regions. These electrons hit from time to time the atoms in the atmosphere, excite them and take one or several electrons from them. when they are getting "calm" and return to the state of balance, the atoms emit rays of light - green or more rarely red.

The two discoverers understand that their radio pulses amplified the natural aurora borealis.

The reproduction and the exact study of this phenomenon must help the scientists to understand better the ways of the aurora borealis creation.


Iris Atzmon


Omega see also many articles about HAARP and links under:
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/HAARP/

Freitag,04.02.2005, 18:51 Uhr

Barmstedter Zeitung

Geistergeräusche im Moorweggebiet?

Von Anuschka Unger

Wedel. Es ist kein lauter Ton und doch geht er an die Nerven. Langsam dringt das unaufhörliche dröhnen in den Kopf, anhaltend, irritierend. Heizkörper und Elektrogeräte auszustellen bringt keine Linderung, denn der tiefe Ton hält an. Dauerhaft. Dröhnend. Nervtötend. Was schon in vielen anderen Städten beklagt wurde, scheint nun auch in Wedel Einzug zu halten: „Es brummt“, stellte Ratsmitglied Horst Bastian jüngst während einer Bauausschuss-Sitzung unumwunden fest. „Und keiner weiß, warum.“

Der Christdemokrat lebt mit seiner Frau in der Heinestraße. Seit einigen Monaten leidet das Paar - sowie einige Nachbarn, die in oberen Stockwerken wohnen - unter einem Niedrigfrequenz-Geräusch, dessen Ursprung sie trotz intensiver Nachforschungen nicht lokalisieren können. „Erst hatten wir das Kraftwerk im Verdacht“, erläuterte Bastian im Tageblatt-Gespräch. Schließlich ähnelte das Geräusch vor allem auf Grund seiner Stetigkeit einer Art Generator. Eine scheinbar logische Vermutung, die sich jedoch nicht bestätigte. „Das Seltsamste ist jedoch, dass der Ton während der Weihnachts- und Sylvesterfeiertage weg war“, erklärte Bastian. Und auch in diesen Tagen könnten er und seine Nachbarn sich über ruhige Nächte freuen, eine Brummton-Pause ist eingekehrt. Dass der nervige Ton allerdings wie üblich bald wieder zu hören sein wird, davon ist der Christdemokrat überzeugt.

Allein stehen Bastian und seine Nachbarn mit der Brummton-Belästigung nicht da. Auch aus Haseldorf kamen bereits Beschwerden über unergründliche Geräusche, die an den Nerven zehren. Und nicht nur das: Vor einigen Jahren gründete sich, wie in einigen anderen Ländern auch, eine Interessengemeinschaft zur Aufklärung des Brummtons, die sich für Betroffene einsetzt und über solche und ähnliche Phänomene informiert. Auf einer Brummton-Karte können Interessierte unter anderem auf http://www.brummen.de sehen, welche Gebiete von solchen Nervton-Attacken heimgesucht werden. Berlin, Stuttgart, Hamburg - die Liste der Städte und Gemeinden, in denen Menschen unabhängig von einander über seltsame, nicht zu lokalisierende Geräusche klagen, ist lang.

„Es ist nur gut, dass ich als Politiker das Problem im Ausschuss vortragen und die Verwaltung beauftragen konnte, für Wedel einmal Nachforschungen anzustellen“, betonte Bastian. Eine Aufforderung, der Gerhard Seggelke von der Leitstelle Umweltschutz auch sofort nachging. Klare Ergebnisse konnte er gestern Nachmittag dem Tageblatt zwar nicht verkünden, allerdings habe er mit der Gemeinde Haseldorf, den Geräusch-Betroffenen, dem Städtischen Umweltamt sowie der Verwaltung des Kreises Pinneberg Kontakt aufgenommen.

http://www.barmstedter-zeitung.de/fr_rechts.php?aid=20382&kat=5&dir=/Homepage/news

http://207.44.245.159/article7965.htm


Informant: Friends

Anlässlich des Bush-Besuches in Mainz laden eine Reihe von Veranstaltern aus dem Raum der Evangelischen Kirche zu einem Vortrag von Prof. Geiko Müller-Fahrenholz am *16. Februar um 19.30 Uhr* in die Mainzer ESG ein.

Nur so viel: Geiko Müller-Fahrenholz ist ein ausgezeichneter Kenner der amerikanischen Szene und hat sich intensiv mit dem Zusammenhang von Fundamentalismus und Politik beschäftigt, also mit Sicherheit eine lohnende Veranstaltung.

Pfr. Dr. Thomas Posern
Referent für Ökumenische Sozialethik




Vortrag und Diskussion mit Geiko Müller-Fahrenholz

George W. Bush bezeichnet sich als "wiedergeborener" Christ. Er fühlt sich zu Großem berufen und will die Welt vom Bösen befreien. Woher kommt dieses Sendungsbewusstsein? Wohin führen Bushs Visionen und der vermeintlich göttliche Auftrag?

Geiko Müller-Fahrenholz war Auslandspfarrer in Oxford, Exekutivsekretär beim Ökumenischen Rat der Kirchen in Genf und Hochschullehrer für ökumenische Theologie in Costa Rica. Von 1979 bis 1988 war er Direktor der Nordelbischen Evangelischen Akademie. Seit 1996 lebt er als Publizist in Bremen. 2003 erschien sein Buch In göttlicher Mission. Politik im Namen des Herren – Warum George W. Bush die Welt erlösen will.

Mittwoch, 16. Februar 2005 um 19.30 Uhr
Mainz, Evangelische Studentengemeinde (ESG)
Am Gonsenheimer Spieß 1 (an der Saarstr. gegenüber Uni-Hauptgebäude, neben der KHG-Kirche)
(Bushaltestelle "Universität", Parkplätze am Stadion)

Veranstalter:

Evangelische Studierendengemeinde Mainz (ESG)
Martin-Niemöller-Stiftung e.V.
Pax Christi Mainz
Gossner-Haus Mainz

http://tinyurl.com/43of7

This is a good compilation of global Earth events. I verified the incident in Connecticut with one of the members on another group. It's true. This does not include the anomalous weather in Hawaii with 7 sighted waterspouts - between 4-10 inch record rainfall on Maui and Kauai, and 2 inch rainfall on Oahu. FYI - Anna

Despite internal warnings about “serious hazards” to visitors and staff, Yellowstone National Park is expanding a program using 105 mm artillery rounds to clear a remote mountain road during winter months, according to an agency memo released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

http://www.peer.org/press/563.html

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/05/breaking2453405.0868055555.html


Informant: NHNE

http://www.techcentralstation.com/020205A.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell

Britain implicated in oil-for-food scandal, damning report says
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=607603

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index20.htm


Informant: Valerie Fine

by Robert Kuttner

The American Prospect

02/03/05

The United States has spent nearly $200 billion dollars and lost more than 1,400 American lives so that Iraqis could attempt representative government. If, by some miracle, the result is a democratic and pro-western Iraq, President Bush can claim Mission Accomplished, for real. But a great deal must still break right before that banner can be unfolded. One risk is endless insurgency and prolonged occupation. Another is that Iraqis will indeed elect a popular government, but not one that we like, or that likes us. A recent New Yorker magazine profile of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi referred to him as Saddam Lite. This would not be the first time that the United States installed a friendly strongman with democratic trappings, only to have the enterprise backfire utterly...

http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=9142


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Mike Whitney

CounterPunch

02/03/05

As expected, the peerless leader articulated a wish-list of freebies for big business and 'thin gruel' for the rabble. For every bone tossed to corporate America, there was a belt-tightening program for the masses. And, then, this bombshell: 'Four years of debate is enough! I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy.' What lunacy? Less dependent?!? Didn't we just spend $300 billion invading Iraq? What was that all about? The irony was lost on the doting Congress who rose in a tsunami of praise ... The cameras scanned the exuberant audience; honing in on the bulbous, florid visages of overfed vulgarians cheering away at their political frat-party. Sometimes, it's hard to believe that there's an unbroken chain of succession from Jefferson and Adams to this dismal cast of pedestrians...

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney02032005.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Justin Raimondo

AntiWar.Com

02/03/05

The State of the Union was, in many ways, a reiteration of the president's second inaugural address: the look on that chimpy little face as he repeated 'the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world' was at once self-satisfied and defiant, as if he were telling Peggy Noonan, Mark Helprin, and all the other conservative skeptics to stuff it. Laced with explicit threats, pumped up with hubris, shameless in its exploitation of the American war dead, this speech was a warning to us all -- get ready for more wars, more death, more neocon lies in the service of a foreign policy founded on madness...

http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=4702


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Washington Times

02/03/05

Germany's trade union federation has warned that unemployed people can legally be asked to seek work in brothels under new welfare reforms introduced on Jan. 1 aimed at cutting mass joblessness. The reforms, the toughest package of cuts introduced by any German government since World War II, state that people out of work for more than 12 months must take on any type of work or face cuts in their benefits.

Prostitution is legal in Germany and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's center-left government gave prostitutes employment protection rights in 2002. Prostitutes are now eligible for social welfare benefits...

http://www.washtimes.com/world/20050202-112808-5860r.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

--------

German Government Forces Prostitution!

George Washington gave the timeless warning "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence. It is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and fear[some] master". Opposition to government force is a central and consistent theme of libertarian ideology.

In this link below, see how the German government went from the ridiculous individual-freedom-robbing policy of outlawing prostitution to, in effect, FORCING some women to partcipate in it! You almost have to laugh at the ineptitude and audacity of government bureaucrats!

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42615


Frank Gonzalez
Florida Licensed Mortgage Broker
Miami, FL
cell 786-287-7491
voteliberty@earthlink.net

--------

If you don't take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/504098/

In the end, there weren't enough senators willing to block the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales to become the next Attorney General. However, Veterans for Common Sense applauds the senators who demanded answers about the pro-torture policy of the current administration.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2774

If Gonzales is confirmed, which appears likely, the Bush administration is likely to claim that Congress has given a firm mandate for its interrogation policies, just as President Bush said his re-election victory in November was a new mandate for his policies on Iraq.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2771

Radiowellen des Senders Wachenbrunn in der Umgebung spürbar

Wenn der Backofen plötzlich russisch spricht

http://www.freies-wort.de/nachrichten/archiv/resyart.phtm?id=738769

Nicht nur Herzschrittmacher können von den Sendemasten in Wachenbrunn gestört werden, auch der Tagesablauf von Familien kann durcheinander geraten, wenn der Herd nur dann kochen möchte, wenn der Sender nicht mit voller Leistung strahlt. - FOTO: ari

VON JENS WENZEL

Elektromagnetische Strahlen – so genannter Elektrosmog – sorgen beim geplanten Bau von Handy-Funkmasten für heftige Gegenwehr der Bürger. Doch andere Sender sind schon viel länger aktiv. Bei Familie B.* in Vachdorf (Kreis Schmalkalden-Meiningen) wäre das Weihnachtsessen in diesem Jahr beinahe ausgefallen. Das hochmoderne Kochfeld mit seinen Sensorschaltern verweigerte einfach den Dienst. Kaputt war das Gerät nicht, wie der Monteur bestätigte.

Kochen war noch möglich, aber nur von abends 19 Uhr bis morgens 7 Uhr. „Als hätten wir Gespenster im Haus, einfach unheimlich“, sagt Frau B. ironisch. Der gewitzte Servicetechniker fand schließlich eine provisorische Hilfe: Aluminiumfolie als zusätzliche Ummantelung der Kabel.

Auf die mögliche Ursache der Störung war Familie B. recht schnell gestoßen. Es konnte nur am nahe gelegenen Sender Wachenbrunn (Kreis Hildburghausen) liegen. Schließlich waren bereits die Telefone der Familie vor ein paar Jahren entstört worden, um die russischen Stimmen aus den Gesprächen heraus zu bekommen. In Wachenbrunn wird auf der Frequenz 1323 Kilohertz die „Stimme Russlands“ ausgestrahlt – ein russisches Radioprogramm auf Mittelwelle, das zeitweise auch in deutscher Sprache sendet. Die Programmzeiten – 7 bis 19 Uhr mit voller Sendeleistung, 19 bis 23 Uhr reduziert – passten genau zum aufgetretenen Fehler am Kochfeld.

Was solche technischen Auswirkungen hat, kann für die Gesundheit der Menschen nicht unbedenklich sein, meint Sabine Rodeck von der Bürgerinitiative Wachenbrunn. Gesundheitliche Störungen seien bereits in der Region zu beobachten: Häufige Krebserkrankungen, Konzentrationsschwächen, Schlafstörungen. „In der ersten Zeit nach der Errichtung des Senders waren es nur die technischen Störungen, die wir bemerkt haben. Inzwischen fällt auf, dass viele der damaligen Arbeiter und Angestellten in den Sendeanlagen heute das selbe Schicksal der Wachenbrunner Bürger teilen oder geteilt haben.“

Mit verschiedenen Eingaben und Unterschriftensammlungen hat sich die seit 1998 existierende Bürgerinitiative bereits an Ministerien, Landratsämter und Behörden im Freistaat gewandt. Doch meist lautet die Auskunft von dort nur: „Die Grenzwerte für die Strahlung werden eingehalten.“

Solche Erklärungen seien wenig befriedigend, urteilt auch der Verein „Bürgerwelle“ – der Dachverband von Bürgerinitiativen gegen Elektrosmog. Die Arbeit dieses Verbandes richtet sich zwar in erster Linie gegen die Gefahren aus Mobilfunknetzen – doch die Strahlung eines starken Radiosenders dürfte vergleichbar, wenn nicht sogar gefährlicher sein. Denn Handys senden heutzutage gepulst, geben ihre Strahlung sozusagen portionsweise ab. Radiosender sind dagegen dauernd auf Sendung.

Zwar wird immer wieder betont, dass es keine wissenschaftlichen Beweise für die Schädlichkeit der Handy-Strahlen gebe, doch inzwischen mehren sich die kritischen Stimmen: „Die nüchterne Bewertung des Erkenntnisstandes zeigt, dass wissenschaftliche Hinweise auf mögliche Risiken tatsächlich bestehen. Ein ‚Nicht-Sehen-Wollen‘ beziehungsweise das ‚Wegdiskutieren‘ dieser Erkenntnisse mag kurzfristig vielleicht helfen – langfristig wird es nicht zur Akzeptanz der technischen Infrastruktur beitragen“, warnt kein geringerer als Wolfram König, der Präsident des Bundesamtes für Strahlenschutz.

Omega siehe dazu auch „Wissenschaft und Mobilfunk“ unter:
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/293807/

Radiowellen... (2/3): Wenn der Backofen... weiter unter:
http://www.freies-wort.de/nachrichten/resyart.phtm?id=738803&PHPSESSID=c7d17639f5525796b5088645b1bef281

und

Radiowellen... (3/3): Wenn der Backofen... weiter unter:

http://www.freies-wort.de/nachrichten/resyart.phtm?id=738804&PHPSESSID=c7d17639f5525796b5088645b1bef281


Nachricht vom Landesverband Thüringen “Bürger gegen Elektrosmog“
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Bernd Schreiner

"Gegen den Trend: Perspektiven eines bedingungslosen Grundeinkommens nach Hartz IV"

Text des Vortrags von Katrin Mohr auf dem Workshop "Chancen eines Grundeinkommens nach Hartz IV" beim 2. Treffen des deutschen Netzwerks Grundeinkommen am 11./12.12.2004 in Berlin (pdf):
http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/existenz/mohr.pdf


Grundeinkommen - demokratisches Bürgerrecht für wirkliche Freiheit

Text der Rede von Prof. Dr. Franz Segbers, Diakonie in Hessen und Nassau, Referent für Ethik, gehalten in der Katharinenkirche/Frankfurt am 16.12.2004 (pdf):

http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/existenz/segbers.pdf


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 22, Eintrag 4

Unzitat des Tages:

"Ich käme mit 345 Euro über die Runden"

Klaus Brandner, wirtschafts- und arbeitsmarktpolitischer Sprecher der SPD-Bundestagsfraktion und seit 1988 Geschäftsführer und 1. Bevollmächtigter der IG Metall Gütersloh, im Interview von Ralf Wurzbacher in Junge Welt vom 17.01.2005: "SPD-Politiker findet "Hartz IV" voll in Ordnung. Eventuell kleinere Nachbesserungen - mehr aber nicht. Ein Gespräch mit Klaus Brandner."

http://www.jungewelt.de/2005/01-17/020.php

Schnüffelbogen in NRW. Münster: ALG-II-Antragsteller sollte Zusatzformular zu seinen Wohn- und Lebensverhältnissen ausfüllen. Datenschützer bezweifelt Rechtmäßigkeit des Vordrucks. Artikel von Andreas Grünwald in junge Welt vom 25.01.2005. Darin dokumentiert: Zusätzlicher Fragebogen "Niederschrift zu den Wohn- und Lebensverhältnissen":
http://www.jungewelt.de/2005/01-25/012.php

Aus dem Text: "… So ein Formular hatte er noch nie gesehen. Nirgendwo gab es einen Vermerk, wofür die Angaben nützlich sein könnten, oder einen Hinweis auf Rechtsvorschriften. Die Fragen hingegen sind sehr detailliert: "Können Sie gelegentlich, zum Beispiel wenn Sie Besuch empfangen, auch die Räume Ihres Mitbewohners nutzen?" lautet eine der Fragen. Könnten "gelegentlich" auch Gegenstände des Mitbewohners genutzt werden? Habe man sich "in einer Notlage" schon mal gegenseitig unterstützt?..."


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 22, Eintrag 4

Pressemitteilung des Sozialverband Deutschland e.V. (SoVD) vom 25.1.05 (pdf):

http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/hilfe/sovd58.pdf

"Ins Troisdorfer Frauenhaus flüchten Frauen aus ganz Deutschland vor häuslicher Gewalt. Bislang können sie vor Ort auch Sozialhilfe beantragen. Hartz IV hat solche Fälle allerdings nicht vorgesehen. Wenn Frauen in ein Frauenhaus fliehen, können sie bislang Sozialhilfe beantragen. Wenn am 1. Januar Sozial- und Arbeitslosenhilfe gemäß Hartz IV zum Arbeitslosengeld II zusammengelegt werden, ist mit diesem System Schluss. "Wir sind bei der Hartz-Gesetzgebung schlicht vergessen worden", klagt Monika Engin, Mitgeschäftsführerin im Frauenhaus Troisdorf…." Artikel von Dirk Eckert in der taz Köln vom 1.10.2004:
http://www.taz.de/pt/2004/10/01/a0058.nf/text


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 22, Eintrag 4

Ein Monat Hartz IV - eine erste Bilanz. Erwerbslosenverbände weisen auf gravierende Mängel des neuen Leistungsrechts hin. "Einen Monat nach der Einführung des Arbeitslosengeldes II gibt es keinen Grund zur Schönfärberei. Die Koordinierungsstelle gewerkschaftlicher Arbeitslosengruppen (KOS), die Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Erwerbslosen- und Sozialhilfeinitiativen e.V. (BAG-SHI) und der Erwerbslosen- und Sozialhilfeverein Tacheles e.V. monieren, dass viele Problemlagen von offizieller Seite heruntergespielt werden. Die massiven, gesetzlich vorgegebenen Verschlechterungen für Erwerbslose würden durch zahlreiche Pannen bei der Umsetzung und eine rechtswidrige Leistungsgewährung zusätzlich verschärft. Vielfach seien existenzielle Notlagen für betroffene Erwerbslose die Folge..." Pressemitteilung zur gemeinsamen Bilanz von KOS, BAG-SHI und Tacheles nach einem Monat Hartz IV vom 01.02.2005:
http://www.bag-shi.de/presse/archiv/050201PM-Hartz-Bilanz

siehe dazu:

Anlage zur Pressemitteilung (pdf):
http://www.bag-shi.de/presse/archiv/050201Anlage-Hartz-Bilanz.pdf

sowie

Konkrete Beispiele für die rechtswidrige und fehlerhafte Leistungsgewährung von Tacheles e.V.:
http://www.tacheles-sozialhilfe.de/aktuelles/2005/ALG_II_Bescheidfehler.html


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 22, Eintrag 4

Wansleben oder Sri Lanka. Der Staat liefert die Zwangsarbeiter und erhält im Gegenzug eine Verwaltungsgebühr. Artikel von Hans Thie in Freitag vom 14.01.2005: http://www.freitag.de/2005/02/05020102.php

Und zur Erinnerung in diesen Zusammenhang:

Übereinkommen Nr. 29 der Internationalen Arbeitsorganisation (ILO) vom 28. Juni 1930 über Zwangs- oder Pflichtarbeit vom 1. Juni 1956 (BGBL. II 1956, 640 / in der BRD in Kraft getreten am 5. Juni 1957 (pdf, Auszug):
http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/hilfe/euro_ilo.pdf


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 22, Eintrag 4

Rechtliche Maßstäbe für die Erbringung von Arbeitsgelegenheiten für Arbeitssuchende nach § 16 Abs. 3 SGB II. Artikel von Utz Krahmer und Helga Spindler aus dem Nachrichtendienst 1/2005 des Deutschen Vereins für Öffentliche und Private Fürsorge bei Tacheles:
http://www.tacheles-sozialhilfe.de/aktuelles/2005/Arbeitsgelegenheiten.html

"Ein-Euro-Jobs in Bildungseinrichtungen". Pressemitteilung der GEW Niedersachsen vom 24. 1. 2005 (pdf):
http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/hilfe/euro_gewns.pdf

Aus dem Text: "…Einen Beitrag zum Abbau der Arbeitslosigkeit und zur Schaffung regulärer Beschäftigungsverhältnisse leisten diese Maßnahmen nach Auffassung der GEW nicht. Die GEW Niedersachsen lehnt den Einsatz von Personal an Schulen und anderen Bildungseinrichtungen auf 1-Euro-Job-Basis entschieden ab. (…) Die GEW fordert die Personalräte auf, mit allen ihnen zur Verfügung stehenden rechtlichen Mitteln den Einsatz von Arbeitslosen auf 1-Euro-Job-Basis zu verhindern…."


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 22, Eintrag 4

Ein Job wie jeder andere

Hartz IV macht's möglich: Die Vermittlung von langzeitarbeitslosen Frauen ins Rotlicht-Milieu. Rechtlich gibt es keine Untergrenze der Zumutbarkeit bei der Jobvermittlung. Arbeitsagenturen legen sich - noch - eine Selbstbeschränkung auf. Artikel von Kai von Appen in der taz Hamburg vom 18.12.2004:
http://www.taz.de/pt/2004/12/18/a0077.nf/textdruck

Aus dem Text: "…Seit 2002 ist der Beruf der Prostituierten legalisiert. Die Tätigkeit der Sexarbeiterin ist damit ein Job wie jeder andere. Also bestünde für die Agentur für Arbeit kein Grund, nach der neuen Hartz IV-Gesetzgebung nicht in den Bereich "sexueller Dienstleistungen" zu vermitteln. "Der Beruf gilt gesetzlich nicht mehr als sittenwidrig", erläutert Mechthild Garweg, Fachanwältin für Familien- und Sozialrecht, die in Qualifizierungsgesellschaften Leute auf die Erwerbslosigkeit vorbereitet. "Es gibt juristisch keinen Hinderungsgrund, in diesen Dienstleistungsbereich zu vermitteln."

Wenn eine Muslimin im Schlachthof Schweinefleisch verarbeiten, ein junger Mann sich als Nacktputzer und eine ehemalige Call-Center-Mitarbeiterin sich in der Telefonsexagentur verdingen müsse, "warum soll dann von einer erwachsene Frau nicht verlangt werden, ihr Einkommen durch kommerzielles Vögeln zu erzielen", fügt Garweg provozierend hinzu. "Strafrechtlich gibt es auch keine Barrieren, höchstens kulturelle, gesellschaftliche und moralische Hemmungen." Das muss nach interner Recherche unter Experten auch DGB-Sprecherin Falk eingestehen. "Es gibt tatsächlich keine Untergrenze bei der Zumutbarkeit", bestätigt sie, "da hat es der Gesetzgeber versäumt, Normen zu schaffen." Trotzdem setzt sie auf Einsicht. "Es herrscht hoffentlich Konsens, dass dies nicht durchsetzbar ist." Es gibt auch einen anderen Aspekt. "Bordelle und Prostituierte zahlen Arbeitslosen-, Kranken- und Sozialversicherung, dann haben sie auch ein Recht auf Vermittlung durch das Arbeitsamt", klagt Stephanie Klee vom Bundesverband sexueller Dienstleistungen bisher Versäumtes ein. Alles andere "ist eine Diskriminierung von Prostituierten"…."

Siehe dazu auch:

If you don't take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/504098/


Und im LabourNet bereits vom Juli 2004: Hartz IV heiß auf billigen Sex - Ein Kommentar von Bjørn Jagnow:
http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/hilfe/jagnow.html


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 22, Eintrag 4

Article by Clare Chapman in the Telegraph 30/01/2005):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/30/wgerm30.xml
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=75278;show_parent=1


From: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 22, Eintrag 4



Unemployed could be offered brothel work
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/504317/

Erste Umsetzung bestätigt Kritik an Hartz IV - ver.di fordert, dass die Betroffenen gehört werden. Presseerklärung von ver.di Leipzig-Nordsachsen zu Hartz IV vom 3.2.05:
http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/hilfe/verdileipz.pdf

Aus dem Text: "Der Bezirk Leipzig-Nordsachsen der Gewerkschaft ver.di macht sich für eine eigenständige Bilanz zur Einführung von Hartz IV stark. Die bisher bekannt gewordenen Auswirkungen auf die betroffenen Arbeitslosen bestätigen voll und ganz die Kritik an diesem Gesetzeswerk. Unverständlich ist deshalb die Äußerung des DGB-Vorsitzenden Michael Sommer auf dessen Pressekonferenz vergangene Woche in Berlin, dass sich die gewerkschaftlichen Versuche zur Verhinderung oder Veränderung der Hartz IV-Reform "erledigt" hätten…."


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 22, Eintrag 4

FAZ vom 26.1.2005

Die heimliche und tendenziöse Forschung der Tabakindustrie

Beinahe einer James-Bond-Story gleicht der Bericht englischer und schweizerischer Wissenschaftler, die mit dem Spürsinn von Geheimagenten verdeckten Forschungsaktivitäten des Tabakkonzerns Philip Morris auf die Schliche gekommen sind. Viele Jahre lang haben Vertreter der Tabakindustrie demnach öffentlich behauptet, ihnen seien keine wissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen über die schädlichen Folgen von Zigarettenrauch bekannt. Diese Aussage haben Martin McKee von der London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine und seine beiden Schweizer Kollegen, Pascal Diethelm von OxyRomandie und Jean-Charles Rielle von Cipret-Genève, unlängst in der Zeitschrift „Lancet“ Lügen gestraft. In akribischer Kleinarbeit haben die Autoren alle internen Dokumente und Notizen, die Philip Morris und einige weitere Tabakkonzerne im Zuge eines Schlichtungsverfahrens offenlegen mußten, durchstöbert. Wie ihre Spurensuche ergab, hatte Philip Morris mehr als drei Jahrzehnte lang die gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen von Tabakrauch untersucht, die dabei gewonnenen Erkenntnisse allerdings größtenteils verschwiegen. Nur wenige Eingeweihte wußten von den heimlichen Forschungen des Tabakherstellers. Diese wurden - offenbar aus Sicherheitsgründen - zudem nicht in den Vereinigten Staaten, sondern in Deutschland vorgenommen. Bei der beauftragten Forschungseinrichtung handelte es sich um ein Kölner Unternehmen namens Imbifo (Institut für Industrielle und Biologische Forschung GmbH), das Philip Morris im Jahr 1970 erworben und später einer Schweizer Tochtergesellschaft abgetreten haben soll. Weshalb jedoch soviel Heimlichtuerei? McKee und seine Kollegen sind überzeugt, daß Philip Morris die Erkenntnisse seiner Forschung zu eigenen Zwecken nutzen und nicht Konkurrenten und Gegnern in die Hände spielen wollte. Auch war dem Konzern offenbar daran gelegen, die schädlichen Folgen des Tabakrauchs anderen Einflußfaktoren anzulasten, etwa dem Konsum von grünem Tee. Diesen hätten Wissenschaftler des Kölner Instituts in einer älteren Untersuchung mit der Entstehung von Lungenkrebs in Verbindung gebracht.

Darüber hinaus beschäftigte man sich in Köln intensiv mit den gesundheitlichen Konsequenzen des passiven Rauchens. In den Untersuchungen erwies sich der Qualm, ob aus den Glimmstengeln direkt oder schon ausgeatmet, offenbar durchweg als extrem giftig. Das geht unter anderem aus einem Bericht hervor, den Mitarbeiter des Instituts an Philip Morris gerichtet haben sollen. Darin sei im Detail beschrieben worden, so die Verfasser des kritischen Berichts, welchen Einfluß Tabakrauch auf den Gesundheitszustand von Ratten ausübt. Passivrauchen hatte demzufolge noch schädlichere Folgen als das aktive Rauchen. Jedenfalls führte es zu größeren Schädigungen der Geruchszellen in der Nase. Auch die Organentwicklung, die Atmung und die Nahrungsaufnahme wurden beim Passivrauchen offenbar noch stärker beeinträchtigt. Wie McKee und seine Mitstreiter schreiben, haben die Forscher von Imbifo mehr als 800 wissenschaftliche Arbeiten über die Auswirkungen von passivem Rauchen verfaßt. Ihre einschlägigen Erkenntnisse seien indes nicht oder nur bruchstückhaft veröffentlicht worden. Distanziert mutet vor diesem Hintergrund eine Pressemitteilung von Philip Morris an http://www.pmusa.com/en/ healthissues/secondhand_smoke.asp .

Demnach seien „Gesundheitsbeamte zu dem Schluß gekommen, daß Passivrauchen krank macht“. Die Vorwürfe der LancetAutoren wies die Altria-Gruppe, zur der auch Philip Morris gehört, im übrigen als „verzerrt und irreführend“ zurück.

Auch die Ergebnisse einer weiteren Untersuchung werfen ein schlechtes Licht auf die Tabakindustrie (,‚Lancet“, Online-Ausgabe vom 14. Januar). Wissenschaftler um Asaf Bitton von der Universität in San Francisco sind darin der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit die Hersteller von Tabakwaren die gesundheitlichen Gefahren des Rauchens herunterzuspielen versuchen. Ihr Augenmerk richteten die amerikanischen Forscher dabei auf ein Gen, das in etlichen Untersuchungen mit der Entstehung von Krebs in Verbindung gebracht worden ist. Die Rede ist von dem TumorsuppressorGen p53, einem normalerweise vor Krebs bewahrenden Erbfaktor. Wie ungezählte Studien gezeigt haben, führt Zigarettenrauch zu funktionellen Schäden in dieser schützenden Erbanlage. Solche Mutationen tragen wesentlich dazu bei, daß das Zellwachstum außer Kontrolle gerät und somit bösartige Tumore entstehen können. Für die Tabakindustrie arbeitende Wissenschaftler haben aber offenbar versucht, diesen Zusammenhang zu widerlegen. Das geht jedenfalls aus den Nachforschungen von Bitton und seinen Kollegen hervor. Einige Autoren, die an der Publikation der zweifelhaften Untersuchungsergebnisse beteiligt waren, sollen ihre Verbindungen zur Tabakindustrie zudem verschwiegen haben. Ähnlich bedeckt hielten sich offenbar auch die Herausgeber jener Fachjournale, in denen die fragwürdigen Arbeiten gedruckt wurden. Die neuen Erkenntnisse zeigen einmal mehr, wie wichtig es ist, Interessenkonflikte in der Forschung rigoros offenzulegen.

NICOLA VON LUTTEROTTI


Nachricht von Ulrich Weiner

--------

Apropos Nikotinsucht

Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation WHO hat 50 Jahre gebraucht, um zuzugeben, dass Rauchen gesundheitsschädigend ist. Dieselbe WHO hat nebenher zusätzliche 30 Jahre gebraucht, um zuzugeben, dass Passivrauchen der Gesundheit abträglich ist.

Mit Dutzenden von ihr selbst finanzierten wissenschaftlichen Gutachten hat es die Tabakindustrie verstanden, sich jahrzehntelang vor jeglichen Schadenersatzforderungen zu schützen.

Hier ein Bericht über die Expertenbefragung am letzten grossen Tabakprozess in den USA:

Gunther, der Fachexperte der Tabakkonzerne, war nicht da, um irgend etwas zu beweisen. Seine Aufgabe war es lediglich, den Experten der Anklage dauernd zu widersprechen und so viel Schlamm aufzuwühlen, dass die Geschworenen nicht mehr wussten, wie gefährlich Rauchen nun wirklich war. Er konnte nicht beweisen, dass Rauchen keinen Lungenkrebs verursacht und deshalb argumentierte er, dass sämtliche Untersuchungen keinen Beweis dafür erbracht hätten, dass Rauchen tatsächlich diese Folgen hatte. „Dazu sind weitere Forschungen erforderlich“ sagte er alle 10 Minuten.

Diese Zeilen stammen aus dem Buch „Das Urteil“ von John Crisham über die grossen Sammelklagen gegen die Tabakkonzerne in den USA. Sehr lesenswert und dazu erst noch hochspannende Unterhaltung. Denn genau so wie Crisham die kriminellen Umtriebe der Tabakmafia beschreibt, agieren heute die Mobilfunkbetreiber. Oder kommt etwa jemandem der obige Buchauszug nicht höchst bekannt vor?

Von 1954 bis 1960 durften die Zigarettenhersteller behördlich bewilligt und von der Lehrerschaft geduldet, vor und in allen Schulhäusern der Schweiz massenhaft Gratismuster verteilen, teilweise sogar in den Korridoren und Klassenzimmern der Oberstufen.

Heute werden Gratishandys abgegeben.

http://www.gigaherz.ch/929





Forscher und Forschungsergebnisse von der Industrie bezahlt
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/281056/

I've been trying to sound the alarm on this for ten years now. But forest activists haven't wanted to become climate activists. What's your excuse?

I know the science and politics can be intimidating, but so is it to learn the forest ecology of native forests, or marine biology. But just think about, among other horrors, how many coastal forest ecosystems will just vanish. Unfortunately, too, I know, we don't have the equivalent of clearcuts to show people or to put on video.

So ten years later, there still isn't a climate action protest movement, and no resources have been offered to start it. If you want to help or can offer financial, office, or expertise support, or can get some celebrities or otherwise influential people involved, please drop me a note. I would be thrilled to hear from you.

And the threat is a 20 foot increase, not 16.

Andy Caffrey
Climate Action NOW!

I know I've posted this link/article before, but for those who are new to this list, please check out my Earth island Journal article:

http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/summer98/wr_sum98d.htm



February 2, 2005

Dramatic Change in West Antarctic Ice Could Produce 16ft Rise in
Sea Levels

by Michael McCarthy

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=606845

Tim Hermach
Native Forest Council

PO Box 2190
Eugene, OR 97402
541.688.2600
541.461.2156 fax

web page: http://www.forestcouncil.org

DEFENDING LIFE, LAND & LIBERTY

* Demanding Honest & Fully Costed Accounting,
* Supporting Inspired Voices of Moral Integrity, Hope & Reason
* Providing Uncompromised Public Education, Advocacy & Litigation
* Demanding Total Protection for 650 Million Acres of Federal Lands & Waters

YES, for Survival
YES, for Wild Forest Sanctuary
YES, for Keeping Public Lands Forever Wild & Free, Forever
YES, for Ending our Third World Colony behavior exporting jobs & natural resources

See the photographic evidence for yourself at:
http://forestcouncil.org/learn/aerial/index.html


From EF! Media Center

Tewolde Egziabher
25 September 2003
Source: PANOS Features

Tewolde Egziabher argues that developing nations must put in place biosafety systems based on the precautionary principle, and develop the capacity — no matter how costly — to deal with the risks of genetically modified crops.

The author is director general of Ethiopia's Environmental Protection Authority, and was chief African negotiator at the Cartagena Protocol.

[ADDIS ABABA] As the world's attention was focused firmly on the Cancún World Trade Organisation summit in September, an important international agreement quietly made its entry on the world stage, holding out immense implications for developing countries.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which aims to regulate trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs), came into force on 11
September after five-year-long negotiations over trade advantages and disadvantages – intractable North-South issues that are set to continue to bedevil the Protocol's implementation.

This is highlighted most forcefully by the US move to take the European Union to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism over the European Union's insistence that US exporters clearly label all GM food sold to Europe.

One of its main complaints is that Europe's stand makes Africa reject GM. The elephants that are Europe and the United States thus fight, and the grass that is Africa gets trampled. The WTO Ministerial Meeting in Cancún, Mexico, which would have had direct or indirect implications on the case, collapsed on 14 September 2003, largely because the South, and especially Africa, refused to accommodate the elephants.

Is this a foretaste of the future of the implementation of the Biosafety Protocol as well? Why do I foresee future difficulties? The reasons are many, flowing chiefly from the substantive differences between the developing countries and the United States over GMO regulation.

The United States, which is unlikely to be a party to the Protocol, and the 60 parties to the Protocol start from opposing premises.

The United States starts from the premise of `substantial equivalence', which says GM crops are as safe as non-GM ones unless proved otherwise. The European Union and the developing world support the `precautionary principle' embodied in the Protocol which states that a GM crop is to be considered possibly risky unless proved to be safe.

From these perceived differences flow implications for implementation. The Cartagena Protocol requires a country to allow the importation of a GMO only after it has obtained all the necessary information about it and carried out a risk assessment to evaluate the likelihood of harm to human health, to agricultural systems, to its environment and to its socio-economic conditions.

The country of import is first informed by the exporter or by the country of export of the intention to export the GMO. The country of import, after a risk assessment, then informs the exporter or the country of export in writing whether or not it will allow the import.

In the case of GM commodities intended for food, feed or for processing, the intention to export is notified to all countries in one go through a computerised database system called the clearing- house.

In this procedure, failure to communicate a decision to the country of export or to the clearing-house cannot be taken as an agreement to import. The failure might happen through lack of capacity and the precautionary principle would then imply that no exportation takes place.

There are some exceptions to the procedure. A GMO that is merely transiting through a country is not subjected to the procedure. However, if a country considers any GMO as too dangerous to be allowed even transit, it has the right to register this fact at the clearing-house and prohibit its transiting.

A GMO that is destined for contained use — under conditions from which it cannot escape into the open environment and cannot come into contact with humans or other forms of life — need not go through the procedure before importation. A GMO for use as a pharmaceutical for humans is subjected to the procedure unless there is another international law or a specified international organisation to govern its import and export authorisation.

At the moment, there is no international law other than the Cartagena Protocol to govern the environmental impacts of GMOs. The World Health Organisation is responsible only for the safety to human health of pharmaceuticals — GMOs or otherwise — and not for their environmental impact.

When it comes to implementing and regulating the Protocol, however, developing nations are faced with all kinds of handicaps — for a variety of reasons.

For instance, the Protocol depends on full information for its effective implementation — it requires a labelling and traceability regime to be negotiated once it comes into force. But the United States, the biggest producer of GMOs in the world, refuses to label them, so countries will not necessarily know when an unlabelled US GMO is imported into their territories. In the meantime, safety will be compromised.

The poverty of developing countries, especially the least developed among them, mostly in Africa, remains a crucial handicap: they are simply too poor to allocate adequate resources for biosafety. Even more worrying is the fact that, should a risk occur, these countries will find it hard to muster the financial and technical capacity needed to combat it.

One would have thought that, given this situation, socio-economic considerations would constitute a very important component in decisions over whether to import a GMO. But the relevant provision of the Protocol is very weak. However, neither this weakness nor any other international law prevents a poor country from adhering to the precautionary principle and making a rigorous socio-economic assessment before importing a GMO.

Risk assessment in the South also becomes complicated because of the complex tropical and subtropical environments. A micro-organism under contained use functions optimally at high temperatures. If it escapes into the open environment in the North, it is unlikely to survive the winter cold. But in the hot tropical and subtropical environments of the South, it may survive and flourish indefinitely.

The South should, therefore, put in place biosafety systems that restrict contained use only to laboratory conditions from which escape of GMOs is impossible.

A major problem is related to the rich biodiversity of the South. It is a well-recognised fact that biodiversity increases Equatorwards and decreases Polewards. The environmental risk GMOs pose is one of passing their genes to wild species. The larger the biodiversity, the more complex and uncertain becomes the evaluation of risks posed by GMOs.

And yet, owing to low technical capacity, specific knowledge on the South's biodiversity is very poor. Additionally, most centres of origin of crops are in the South, which makes any mistaken release of a GM crop more devastating in the South. The Protocol's information and risk assessment requirements recognise this fact and include the centres of origin or genetic diversity.

It should thus be, but is not necessarily seen as, in the interests of the North not to push GM crops into the South, and for the South to resort to caution. After all, virtually all crops of importance in the North have their centres of origin or genetic diversity in the South, which means that the North depends on the South for its future breeding programmes and its future food security.

A more intractable issue, of course, is trade and environment. Trade rules favour the North. And the international agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights — or TRIPs — makes GMOs especially problematic for the South.

TRIPs makes the patenting of micro-organisms and microbiological processes compulsory. The North is allowing the patenting of GMOs and their sub-cellular components based on this provision. The cellular parts essential for genetic engineering are already patented. This means that any domestic development and use of GMOs will become internationally bureaucratic (negotiating for the tens of subcellular parts) and expensive (paying royalties on each patent). It also means that GMOs, even when developed in the South, will be controlled by the foreign patent owners of sub-cellular parts.

TRIPs puts the burden of proof of innocence on the person accused of the infringement of a process patent. This could spell trouble when a GMO cross-pollinates with the unmodified crop of a smallholder farmer and his crop becomes contaminated by patented genes.

Absurdly, the farmer is assumed to be a process patent infringer. The culprits — the wind and the insects — cannot be summoned to court as witnesses. A South that wants food sovereignty and its farmers to remain innocent of crime can refuse the planting of genetically modified crops in its territories.

Happily, however, at the insistence of the South, there is now a commitment to negotiate a liability and redress regime under the Protocol in case of damages caused by GMOs. Given these handicaps, is the South going to benefit from genetic engineering? I wonder.

Generally, genetic engineering appeals to the South, which wants to develop fast — the technology promises to put beneficial traits found in living organisms to human use. Conversely, not using this capacity threatens being left even more behind in development.

It has no choice but to stay safe. The South has to put in place biosafety systems firmly based on the precautionary principle and develop the capacity — no matter how expensive — to protect itself.


Informant: joe_cale

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10009238


Informant: NHNE

http://chronicle.com/temp/email.php?id=5olxgmpu8go2b4u9vpdfqg10v0x186aa


Informant: William K. Dobbs

From ufpj-news

Link on water spouts and record rainfall. Anna
http://starbulletin.com/2005/02/03/news/index2.html

On Feb 3, 2005, at 12:13 PM, Anna Webb wrote:

Breaking News (no links yet on the water spouts) Two water spouts off the Island of Oahu - very rare (if ever) in addition to 6 inch "dump" of rain. Also, Mt. Kilauea volcano erupts new lava flow. This comes after a 6 foot dump of snow on one of the big island's dormant volcanoes two weeks ago.

Anna

Lava From Hawaii Volcano Drops Into Ocean

2 hours, 39 minutes ago

VOLCANO, Hawaii - Lava from Kilauea volcano began dropping into the ocean at two new points this week, treating visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to a fiery show.

The lava began flowing into the Pacific on Monday at one spot that is about a mile and a half from a park ranger station. The second spot is on the far side of the park near the former town of Kalapana, which was covered by lava in 1990.

As lava hits the ocean, it can create crowd-pleasing explosions and fantastic views of red-hot flow.

The national park was established in 1916 and includes 13,677-foot high Mauna Loa, the world's largest volcano, and Kilauea, which has been erupting continuously since Jan. 3, 1983.

http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleprint/618/


Informant: Annie

Kongo: Marshall-Plan soll Afrikas Regenwälder retten (03.02.05)

Wenn Rodungen, illegaler Holzeinschlag, Wildtierhandel und -schmuggel sowie der Handel mit Buschfleisch in gleichem Maße weiter betrieben werden wie bisher, werden nach Schätzungen des WWF zwei Drittel der Tropenwälder im zentralafrikanischen Kongobecken innerhalb der nächsten fünfzig Jahre verschwunden sein. Davor warnt die Umweltorganisation zum Auftakt des zweitägigen Waldgipfels für die Kongoregion, der ab Freitag in Brazzaville in der Republik Kongo stattfindet.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:

http://www.jpberlin.de/www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=10364

by Melissa Knific And Erik Johns, Advocate Reporters

2/3/2005

NEWARK -- After reviewing more than 700 voting machines, Domestic Relations Court Judge candidate Paul Harmon has requested a criminal investigation of the Licking County Board of Elections.

read article:
http://nov2truth.org/article.php?story=20050203105309855

I find it unusual to have pollution alerts this time of year. In SW Ohio we are accustomed to these types of alerts in the heat of July and August, but in Winter it's unusual. This would indicate that the atmosphere isn't moving - that the fine particulates and pollution is "trapped".

It's been announced on the Weather Channel over the past 3 days, but there are no articles or detailed information that I can find on a search engine.

Peace - Anna

Your help is needed.

Please use our cyberaction centre to protest against the unjust detention of leader of dam affected communities in Guatemala. For more information and a suggested message visit:
http://www.foei.org/cyberaction/chixoy.php

And support the Buddhist monk on hunger strike to prevent a high speed rail tunnel destroying Mount Cheonseong in Korea.

http://www.foei.org/cyberaction/cheonseong.php

Please forward this message to your friends and colleagues and encourage them to get involved with this action, too.

Thanks for your support. The FoEI Web Team

Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2005

The five components of Western Medicine are guilty, in my opinion, of more crimes against humanity than any other entity in mankind's history.

As we sit here, the very structure of western civilization is at risk because of the sheer murderous greed of the number (1) component of Western Medicine - Big Pharma. Health Care costs in the the US and Europe have gone over the top, just because Big Pharma thinks it's OK to gouge. US Seniors on a limited income have to make choices between food or drugs each month. The Vioxx scandal points out just how murderous Big Pharma executives can become, in the name of profit.

So many drugs are pushed through the average American's body each month that our water supply now contains a plethora of pharmaceuticals, simply because our sewer plant systems are unequipped, and were never designed to filter out any laboratory produced drugs, much less the volume it is faced with.

The number (2) component, the American Hospital System, is the number one killer of Americans, with 783,936 deaths annually. If you have to check a loved one into a hospital, plan on staying with them 24 hours a day - or there's a good chance you'll get them back in a bag.

The number (3) component, the health insurance insurance industry, charges you for a Rolls Royce, but delivers the K-Mart Blue Light special.

The number (4) component, the Regulatory System for health care is completely corrupt. The FDA, and the State Health Practitioner Regulatory Boards, are a waste of time. The FDA, recently, admitted that it can't protect Americans. Medical boards are "Good Ole Boy" clubs designed to protect bad practitioners.

The number (5) component, the "quackbuster" operation, designed, and operated to inflict damage on competitors to components (1) and (2), has never been truly analyzed to determine the damage they've inflicted on North America. But, that's beginning.

These five components of Western Medicine, make up the "Status Quo" in health care.

The "Status Quo, holds in place expensive, but fruitless medical offerings, and prevents any research, findings, paradigms, etc., that compete for health dollars. The same "status Quo" is responsible, by its policies, for the numbers two, three, and four causes of death in America - Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke.

Western medicine is ONLY about drugs, drugs, more drugs, surgery, and radiation. And, it's killing us.

Thank God it's ALL coming down...

The number (1) component of Western Medicine - Big Pharma, is on its way out. They've reached the self destruct mode. Doubt that? Than you're not reading the newspapers, or listening to the financial news..

The number (2) component, the American Hospital System is just beginning the slide down the slippery slope. The days are over when they could slide through the body fluids of their victims heading for the Mercedes Benz parking lot. Just a few days ago, a major Los Angeles hospital lost its accreditation in an inspection. I predict that this will happen a lot more.

The number (3) component, the health insurance insurance industry, is about to lose, due to the new Bush administration "health plan," a fortune in business. All they'll have to offer is "catastrophic" insurance.

The number (4) component, the Regulatory System for health care is completely corrupt. We know that. The FDA, and the State Health Practitioner Regulatory Boards, are a waste of time. We know that. But all that is under pressure - and the change is beginning.

The number (5) component, the "quackbuster" operation, designed, and operated to inflict damage on competitors to components (1) and (2), is falling apart. They're heading for an incinerator.

The future of health care is up for grabs...

So, what will happen? That's the question.

Stay tuned...


Tim Bolen - Consumer Advocate

This "Millions of Health Freedom Fighters - Newsletter" is about the battle between "Health and Medicine" on Planet Earth. Tim Bolen is an op/ed writer with extensive knowledge of the activities of a subversive organization calling itself the "quackbusters," and that organization's attempts to suppress, and discredit, any, and all health modalities that compete with the allopathic (MD) paradigm for consumer health dollars. The focus of the newsletter is on the ongoing activities, battles, politics, and the victories won by members of the "Health Freedom Movement" against the "quackbusters" It details "who the quackbusters are, what they are, where they are operating, when they appear, and how they operate - and how easy it is to beat them..."

For background information on the "Battle between Health and Medicine" go to: http://www.savedrclark.net/by_whom2.htm. A copy of THIS newsletter, and older ones, are viewable at the website http://www.quackpotwatch.org/default.htm.

For EVEN MORE interesting and related articles go to http://www.bolenreport.com

In last night's State of the Union address, President Bush turned up the volume in his effort to sell America his next big scam: Social Security privatization. He tried to dress it up, but here's what it really means: smaller Social Security checks for us, and fatter Wall Street wallets for the President's friends.

Privatization is the President's #1 priority this year. If we are going to stop him, each of us needs to step up and say no. It makes no sense to replace a guaranteed Social Security benefit with a guaranteed Wall Street gamble.

Please do your part to get that message out where you live, and help counter the President's spin. Ask the editor of your local newspaper, radio or TV station cover the facts behind Bush's privatization scheme.

http://action.ourfuture.org/ctt.asp?u=1742757&l=76835

President Bush talks about Social Security as if the sky is falling! But the facts tell a different story. According to the Social Security Administration itself, the system can meet 100% of its obligations for the next 37 years with no changes at all. And beyond that, there are less risky things we can do to shore up Social Security.

Consider that the President himself only pays Social Security taxes on less than a quarter of his income. That's right, the law today exempts every penny of income over $90,000 from Social Security taxes. If we raised that ceiling to the President's salary, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Privatization is the ONLY Social Security crisis. The President's plan would cut benefits and funnel about a third of all Social Security money into Wall Street. Without Social Security, 40 percent of seniors today would live in poverty. The Bush privatization scam would cheat a 20 year old worker out of $152,000 in Social Security checks over his or her retirement.

The media needs to start reporting this truth about privatization right now. Please ask them to do their job.

http://action.ourfuture.org/ctt.asp?u=1742757&l=76835

Over the next two days, the President will travel to five states to try to sell privatization to the American public. Everywhere he goes, the Campaign for America's Future and our allies will greet him with thousands of people at protests and news conferences. But the message needs to be heard nationwide -- this is where you can help.

President Bush has no mandate to privatize our Social Security, but he is being helped by powerful allies. Together, we can stop them. Please contact your local media today.

http://action.ourfuture.org/ctt.asp?u=1742757&l=76835


Sincerely,

Adam Luna, Policy Director
Campaign for America's Future

Nuclear Information and Resource Service

1424 16th Street NW, #404, Washington, DC 20036

202.328.0002, f: 202.462.2183; nirsnet@nirs.org, www.nirs.org

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL MARIOTTE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE

FEBRUARY 3, 2005

ON STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH BY

PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH

In his State of the Union Speech, President George Bush called on Congress to enact legislation to support his energy program, including “safe, clean nuclear power.”

*Where Bush sees “safe, clean nuclear power,” we see construction of new pre-deployed weapons of mass destruction to be used against us.

Every community near a reactor would be at risk.

*Where Bush sees “safe, clean nuclear power,” we see an unsolved legacy of lethal radioactive waste.

This waste will continue to pile up at reactor sites, even if the proposed Yucca Mountain waste site—which does not and cannot meet federal regulations—were to open. Building new reactors would exacerbate the problem, and force the U.S. to find yet another national dumpsite, probably in the Eastern U.S.

*Where Bush sees “safe, clean nuclear power,” we see the proliferation of nuclear weapons-usable technology across the globe.

Bush should have taken the courageous lead of International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammed ElBaradei, who has called for a five-year moratorium on construction of new uranium enrichment facilities to help prevent nuclear proliferation. Instead, the administration supports construction of such plants in New Mexico and Ohio.

*Where Bush sees “safe, clean nuclear power,” we see the diversion of scarce resources from sustainable technologies that should be used to combat the global climate crisis to the most expensive, least effective technology available to address the overriding environmental issue of our times.

*Where Bush sees “safe, clean nuclear power,” we see an industry that spews radiation into the air and water on a daily basis from all of its reactors, mines, processing plants, and other facilities, and poses the constant threat of atomic meltdown.

There is nothing “safe” or “clean” about nuclear power. The first generation of atomic reactors brought us bankrupted utilities, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, the threat of a nuclear waste transport accident—a “Mobile Chernobyl,” and the existing 103 reactors scattered across our nation that can provide nuclear dirty bombs for the enemy.

The Bush Administration’s energy bill has failed for the past four years for good reason. Its support for the polluting nuclear, coal and oil industries offers mid-20th century solutions to 21st century problems. Rather than rewarding the Bush Administration’s energy industry friends with taxpayer dollars, the Congress can, and should develop an energy policy that will lead the world in efficiency and sustainability, provide millions of new jobs in progressive new energy industries, and take effective steps toward ending the global climate crisis.

The Bush Administration’s energy policy can, should and will be rejected by the American people and their elected officials.


Informant: andreixxxx

From ufpj-news

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm?Page=Article&ID=2765


Informant: Shanti Renfrew

by Public Citizen

Don't believe the president's hype! A new report finds no empirical support that tort reform is badly needed...

http://www.tompaine.com/action/#003596

by Robert L. Borosage, TomPaine.com Exclusive

On the lies the president peddles to dismantle Social Security:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/less_perfect_union_shock_jock_president.php

STUDY: CELL PHONE USE UPS ACCIDENT RISK
by Leon D'Souza

Associated Press

February 2, 2005

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050203/ap_on_re_us/cell_phones_young_drivers

SALT LAKE CITY - Talking on a cell phone makes you drive like a retiree -- even if you're only a teen, a new study shows. A report from the University of Utah says when motorists between 18 and 25 talk on cell phones, they drive like elderly people -- moving and reacting more slowly and increasing their risk of accidents.

"If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, his reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver," said David Strayer, a University of Utah psychology professor and principal author of the study. "It's like instant aging."

And it doesn't matter whether the phone is hand-held or handsfree, he said.

Any activity requiring a driver to "actively be part of a conversation" likely will impair driving abilities, Strayer said.

In fact, motorists who talk on cell phones are more impaired than drunken drivers with blood-alcohol levels exceeding 0.08, Strayer and colleague Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology, found during research conducted in 2003.

Their new study appears in this winter's issue of Human Factors, the quarterly journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Strayer said they found that when 18- to-25-year-olds were placed in a driving simulator and talked on a cellular phone, they reacted to brake lights from a car in front of them as slowly as 65- to 74-year-olds who were not using a cell phone.

In the simulator, each participant drove four 10-mile freeway trips lasting about 10 minutes each, talking on a cell phone with a research assistant during half the trip and driving without talking the other half. Only handsfree phones -- considered safer -- were used.

The study found that drivers who talked on cell phones were 18 percent slower in braking and took 17 percent longer to regain the speed they lost when they braked.

The numbers, which come down to milliseconds, might not seem like much, but it could be the difference to stopping in time to avoid hitting a child in the street, Strayer said.

The new research questions the effectiveness of cell phone usage laws in states such as New York and New Jersey, which only ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. It's not so much the handling of a phone, Strayer said, but the fact that having a conversation is a mental process that can drain concentration.

The only silver lining to the new research is that elderly drivers using a cell phone aren't any more of a hazard to themselves and others than young drivers. Previous research suggested older drivers may face what Strayer described as a "triple whammy."

"We thought they would be really messed up because not only are they slower overall due to age, there's also a difficulty dividing attention," Strayer said.

But the study found that more experience and a tendency to take fewer risks helped negate any additional danger.


Human Factors and Ergonomics Society:
http://hfes.org


Informant: NHNE

by Pastor Chuck Baldwin
http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin214.htm

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2196/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

by Rosemarie Jackowski

...and they said that we were there to bring freedom and liberty...it is time to tell the troops the truth.

How did this happen?

While few of us were paying attention, the Coalition Provisional Authority, representing the government of the United States, imposed a set of 100 orders on Iraq.

A careful examination of these orders could lead to the conclusion that the war is being waged to enrich corporations at the expense of the ordinary citizens.

Many of these orders take freedom and liberty away from the people of Iraq.

The orders also have a profound effect on us.

Iraqi Order 81 is of special interest because it goes a long way in affecting every living being on the planet.

This order prohibits Iraqi farmers from using the methods of agriculture that they have used for centuries. The common worldwide practice of saving heirloom seeds from one year to the next is now illegal in Iraq.

Order 81 wages war on Iraqi farmers. They have lost the freedom and liberty to choose their own methods of agriculture.

The food chain has been under worldwide assault by U.S. corporations for some time now.

The Master Race of corporations has seized control of the very essence of life itself. We are now in the age of Genetically Modified Doomsday Seeds.

This is not exactly a new phenomenon. It has been a gradual takeover. Remember Percy Schmeiser, the Canadian farmer, who was sued by Monsanto? Not enough people stood up for Percey, so then they came for otherfarmers. In fact, Monsanto has sued so many farmers that a nationalhotline (1-888-FARMHLP) has now been set up to assist them.

Those who have been pushing for Tort Reform never mention the frivolous, mean-spirited lawsuits brought by Monsanto against U.S. farmers. This is a David and Goliath battle and, as usual, our government is on the side of Goliath.

Order 81 now spreads the assault on farmers to Iraq.

The domino effect is underway. The victim farmers in the U.S.,Iraq, Canada,and all of the other countries who have been under attack by Monsanto need our help. The Tort Reform that is really needed would be reform aimed at compensating victims of corporate intimidation.

The corporations, backed up by the Pentagon, have been jackbooting and goose stepping their way across the planet. Whether you like it or not, you probably will have some franken food on your dinner plate tonight... franken foods, grown from franken seeds, brought to you compliments of the Franken Empire. Our own USDA was complicit in the development of Terminator seeds. Picture Dr. Strangelove on the John Deere.

The existence of Order 81, and the other 99 orders, which limit Iraqi liberty and freedom, creates some interesting questions.

How can Washington even pretend that the election in Iraq is legitimate if U.S. imposed rules are enforced after the election, or are we to believe that the 100 Orders are canceled by the election? I don't think so.

Is it possible that Iraqi farmers think back fondly to the good old days before the Occupation and before Order 81?

Even Saddam Hussein allowed them to save seeds for the next year's crop. Is Monsanto a worse master than Saddam? Imagine what would happen if there was a successful worldwide movement of resistance, an international Save the Seed Campaign.

Farmers and consumers in the U.S. need to stand in solidarity with the farmers and consumers in Iraq. If you have a stamp or coin collection, forget it. Instead, it might be better to start collecting seeds.

Maybe soon, one good old-fashioned seed that was made by Mother Nature will be more precious than your most prized gold coin.

Just one more thing... if you save seeds, keep it a secret. The Seed Police have been on patrol. They are looking for you.

On Town Meeting Day, 2004, in Vermont, the citizens in 79 towns passed resolutions against Genetically Engineered Crops. Then Vermont made history when it became the first state to require the labeling of Genetically Modified seeds.

"The Farmer Protection Act is a pre-emptive strike to stop predatory lawsuits against Vermont's family farmers by biotech companies like Monsanto," said Ben Davis with the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.

Maybe this small, but hard-fought victory, gives reason to hope for a better world.


Rosemarie Jackowski (dissent@sover.net) is a member of Southern Vermont VFP Chapter 88. She was arrested, tried, and convicted for having participated in a peaceful protest against the war. The Conviction is currently under Appeal in the Vermont State Supreme Court.


Informant: Shanti Renfrew


Order 81
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/496503/

The Ultimate War Crime: Breaking the Agricultural Cycle
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/493632/

http://www.schillerinstitute.org/food_for_peace/kiss_nssm_jb_1995.html
http://www.population-security.org/28-APP2.html
http://www.population-security.org/11-CH3.html


Informant: Janissary Joe

--------

Kissinger, Eugenics And Depopulation
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/406362/

Last night, in the State of the Union address, President Bush painted a rosy picture about democracy and freedom in Iraq.

The truth is not so simple.

An estimated 100,000 Iraqis and more than 1400 U.S. soldiers have died in the unnecessary war, and the toll mounts daily. The presence of U.S. occupation forces has been -- and will continue to be -- a flashpoint for violence.

Today, as part of our growing Wage Peace Campaign, AFSC is launching a new movie that tells the truth about the ongoing loss of life in Iraq -- and encourages viewers to sign our petition to bring the troops home.

Click the link below to watch the movie [2 min]:
http://ga3.org/ct/q1A7S5F18m29/wagepeace/

I think you'll be moved... and if you have friends who are on the fence about the war, this is something you will want to share with them.

Please take a few moments to watch the movie, sign the petition, and then please forward the message to ten friends.

This spring is a critical time to demonstrate the breadth and diversity of opposition to the war. Military families, veterans, people of faith, students and many others are now speaking out. The momentum is building.

Together we can end this war.

Peace,
Peter Lems
AFSC Iraq staff

Click the link to view the movie and share it with your friends:
http://ga3.org/ct/q1A7S5F18m29/wagepeace/

Very hopeful information from Ireland - more and more people are now beginning to react. I was there, several years ago, and gave lectures. At that time only some few, open-minded physicians and scientists showed interest.

http://www.ideaireland.org/emr.htm

Olle Johansson, assoc. prof.
The Experimental Dermatology Unit
Department of Neuroscience
Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm
Sweden


The Irish Doctors' Environmental Association believes that a sub-group of the population are particularly sensitive to exposure to different types of electro-magnetic radiation. The safe levels currently advised for exposure to this non-ionising radiation are based solely on its thermal effects. However, it is clear that this radiation also has non-thermal effects, which need to be taken into consideration when setting these safe levels. The electro-sensitivity experienced by some people results in a variety of distressing symptoms which must also be taken into account when setting safe levels for exposure to non-ionising radiation and when planning the siting of masts and transmitters.

1. An increasing number of people in Ireland are complaining of symptoms which, while they may vary in nature, intensity and duration, can be demonstrated to be clearly related to exposure to electro-magnetic radiation (EMR).

2. International studies on animals over the last 30 years have shown the potentially harmful effects of exposure to electro-magnetic radiation. In observational studies, animals have shown consistent distress when exposed to EMR. Experiments on tissue cultures and rats have shown an increase in malignancies when exposed to mobile telephone radiation.

3. Studies on mobile telephone users have shown significant levels of discomfort in certain individuals following extensive use or even, in some cases, following regular short-term use.

4. The current safe levels for exposure to microwave radiation were determined based solely on the thermal effects of this radiation. There is now a large body of evidence that clearly shows that this is not appropriate, as many of the effects of this type of radiation are not related to these thermal effects.

The Irish Doctors' Environmental Association believes that the Irish Government should urgently review the information currently available internationally on the topic of the thermal and non-thermal effects of exposure to electro-magnetic radiation with a view to immediately initiating appropriate research into the adverse health effects of exposure to all forms of non-ionising radiation in this country, and into the forms of treatment available elsewhere. Before the results of this research are available, an epidemiological database should be initiated of individuals suffering from symptoms thought to be related to exposure to non-ionising radiation. Those claiming to be suffering from the effects of exposure to electro-magnetic radiation should have their claims investigated in a sensitive and thorough way, and appropriate treatment provided by the State.

The strictest possible safety regulations should be established for the installation of masts and transmitters, and for the acceptable levels of potential exposure of individuals to electro-magnetic radiation, in line with the standards observed in New Zealand.

--------

Mr Con Colbert

Olle Johansson at the Karolinska Institute sent me your organisations statement on EMFs.

Congratulations on the stand your organisation has taken. In Australia the Australian College of Nutritional & Environmental has taken a similar stand. Their web site is http://www.acnem.org If you go to the journal/author section you will find my papers on this topic (Maisch). Also see my site at: http://www.emfacts.com for more.

Please note that in the final sentence in your statement "in line with the standards observed in New Zealand" is incorrect. New Zealand follows the ICNIRP RF guidelines. Dr. Neil Cherry was unable to change the paradigm unfortunately. You should just delete those nine words from the end as an urgent priority before the Telcos pick up on it.

Sincerely

Don Maisch


Informant: Colette O'Connell

--------

Irland: Studie zu durch Mobilfunk verursachten Krankheiten

Bis zu 5% der Bevölkerung können unter gesundheitlichen Beeinträchtigungen aufgrund der Strahlung von Mobilfunkgeräten oder Masten leiden, behauptet eine Gruppe von irischen Ärzten. Die „Irish Doctors’ Environmental Association IDEA“ drängt die Regierung, bei dieser Technologie das Vorsorgeprinzip anzuwenden.

In einer Studie, die diese Woche veröffentlicht wird, heißt es, dass die Ärzte 16 Personen identifiziert haben, von denen sie glauben, dass diese durch Strahlung beeinträchtigt sind. Symptome sind Erschöpfung, Verwirrtheit, Klingeln im Ohr, Temperaturschwankungen, Schwindel und Schlafschwierigkeiten. In der Studie wird geschätzt, dass zwischen 1 und 5% der Bevölkerung sensibel auf Strahlung reagieren könnten und deshalb krank werden.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
http://www.ideaireland.org/

Quelle: FGF-Infoline vom 03.02.2005

--------

SENSITIVITY TO NON-IONISING RADIATION IN IRELAND
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/518018/

Doctors call for ban on child mobile phone use
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/515097/

Irish mast cum cellphone health issue hots up further
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/495427/

Mobile phones no threat to people's health?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/490768/

Mobile Phones Trigger Symptoms
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/487618/

Public workers 'concerned' by phone mast siting
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/483868/

PROBE INTO MOBILE PHONE DANGERS
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/482922/

100M [EURO] DEAL WILL PUT MOBILE PHONE MASTS ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/458468/

DEMPSEY RULES OUT HEALTH WARNING FOR MOBILE PHONES
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/429584/

Die Zeitung 'Fränkischer Tag' berichtet:

„Eine unterschätzte Gefahr“

1. Mobilfunk-Symposium im Marcushaus: Ärzte warnen vor Elektrosmog

Frei sollen sie uns machen, die Handys, unabhängig und mobil, bei Arbeit, Sport und Spiel. Das verspricht die Werbung. Dass sie dem Körper womöglich immense Schäden zufügen können, sagen Industrie wie Politik nicht. Beim 1. Bamberger Mobilfunk-Symposium äußerten sich dafür Mediziner und Betroffene zu den Gefahren, die von elektromagnetischen Feldern ausgehen können.

Über 40 Mobilfunksender sind allein im Bamberger Stadtgebiet zu finden. Und die Pläne, weitere Antennen aufzustellen, führten im Sommer 2004 bekanntlich zur Gründung des von 130 Ärzten getragenen „Bamberger Mobilfunk-Appells“. Diese Gruppe richtete am Samstag das sehr gut besuchte Symposium im Marcushaus mit Experten und Betroffenen aus der Bundesrepublik und aus Österreich aus. Mit dem Ziel, die Bevölkerung vor der noch nicht überschaubaren Gefahr zu warnen, die vom Mobilfunk ausgeht. Die Warnungen, so hoffen sie, sollen bei Politikern Gehör finden und zu Konsequenzen führen.

Wie der Allgemeinarzt Dr. Helmut Heyn vom „Bamberger Appell“ in einem Pressegespräch sagte, hätten Messungen am Arbeitsplatz und in Wohnungen gezeigt, dass Mobilfunk auch unterhalb der geltenden Grenzwerte die Gesundheit beeinträchtige. Kopfschmerzen, Hörsturz, Schlafstörungen oder gar Malignome seien die Folgen.

Betroffene aber hätten es schwer, ernst genommen zu werden. „Selbst Ärzte werden als Spinner abgetan“, bestätigte Dr. Reinhold Jandrisovits, Allgemeinarzt aus dem österreichischen Müllendorf, der an Tinnitus litt. Seit in seinem Einzugsgebiet Sender aufgestellt wurden, hatte er nach einer Latenzzeit einen „massiven Anstieg“ an Krankheitsfällen beobachten können. Ferner bemängelte Jandrisovits wissenschaftliche Beiräte, die alles Kritische unter den Tisch kehren würden.

Auch Dr. Cornelia Waldmann-Selsam, Mitorganisatorin des Symposiums, sprach von einer „Fehlbesetzung der Strahlenschutzkommission“ und fragte, warum nicht Leute wie Professor Dr. Karl Hecht dort vertreten seien.

Der Berliner Emeritus hat am Samstag in Bamberg seine langjährigen Forschungen zum Einfluss elektromagnetischer Felder auf den Schlaf des Menschen vorgestellt. Im Umweltministerium, so ergänzte Hecht, sei er immer wieder abgeblockt worden. Er betonte, dass neue Medikamente erst auf den Markt dürften, wenn deren Nicht-Schädlichkeit nachgewiesen werde. Bei neuen Techniken, so bemängelte Hecht, sei dies nicht der Fall.

„Du siehst nur, was du weißt“, merkte Martin H. Virnich, Ingenieur für Baubiologie und Umweltmesstechnik aus Mönchengladbach an. Die Risiken des Elektrosmogs, gerade auch für Kinder, müssten den Konsumenten und auch den Ärzten publik gemacht werden. In der Ausbildung von Medizinern gelte es, das „Problem Mobilfunk“ endlich zu verankern.

Und wenn man schon zu Handy oder Schnurlostelefon greifen müsse, so empfahl Helmut Heyn abschließend, dann solle man das „selten, sparsam und gezielt“ tun.

Jürgen Gräßer

http://tinyurl.com/4vln6

Quelle: http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/elektrosmog-liste/message/4910 (Auszug)


Nachricht von Reinhard Rückemann


HLV Kommentar:

Es soll und kann nicht sein, was im Interesse der Mobilfunklobby nicht sein darf!

Wir verweisen in diesem Zusammenhang auf die vielen örtlichen bekannten Gegebenheiten, wo im Umfeld von Sendeanlagen die Erkrankungen zugenommen haben. Außerdem erfolgt in diesem Zusammenhang auch noch einmal der Hinweis auf eine weitere signifikante Erhebung durch den österreichischen Arzt Dr. med. Reinhold Jandrisovits aus Müllendorf, welche ebenfalls in Bamberg auf dem Ärzte – Symposium vorgestellt wurde.

Es ist schlichtweg ein Skandal, wie die Politik praktische Untersuchungsergebnisse der Ärzteschaft ignoriert, diskreditiert und glaubt die Menschen weiterhin verdummen zu können!


Alfred Tittmann


Symposium in Bamberg: Ärzte und Wissenschaftler warnen vor Gesundheitsgefahren
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/496175/

Britische Experten warnen Eltern.

Kinder unter acht Jahren sollten grundsätzlich keine Handys bekommen. Diese Empfehlung haben britische Wissenschaftler vom National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) jetzt speziell an Eltern gerichtet.

Die Forscher die Ergebnisse haben mehrere neuere Studien unter die Lupe genommen. Dabei sind sie zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass vor allem jüngere Kinder gefährdet sein könnten, weil ein größerer Teil ihres Gehirns durch die geringere Größe ihrer Köpfe direkt durch die Handystrahlung beeinflusst wird. Zwar gebe es keine abschließenden Beweise für die Schädlichkeit der Strahlung, aber auch ihre Unschädlichkeit kann bislang nicht nachgewiesen werden.

Weltweit gibt es mittlerweile rund 30000 Untersuchungen, die der Frage nachgehen, ob Elektrosmog und Handystrahlung gefährlich sind. Rund die Hälfte vermeldet biologische Effekte bis hin zur Entstehung von Krebs, die andere Hälfte kann keine Auswirkungen auf die Gesundheit von Menschen oder Versuchstieren feststellen. Weitere Infos unter http://www.nrpb.org oder natur+kosmos, Heft 12/2004.

03.02.2005 - Gesundheit

http://www.natur.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=162783


Quelle: http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/elektrosmog-liste/message/4916


Nachricht von Reinhard Rückemann

by Mark Morford

San Francisco Chronicle

02/02/05

Ah, the violent march of democracy. Beautiful thing, really, seeing repressed and weary Iraqis vote for the first time, and dance in the bloody bombed-out streets, and avoid the suicide bombers and of course not be able to travel between provinces or drive anywhere in their locked-down nation and by the way watch out for the snipers on the roofs. It really is amazing, watching the deeply flawed system of democracy take hold in a raw and decimated nation like a thorny weed cracking through shattered concrete. All people deserve to be free and now Iraqis have a tiny bloody taste of it and this is always, always a good thing. I am not kidding. So, should we be proud? Is Bush's thuggish and illegal pre-emptive attack strategy justified? Are Iraq's first-ever elections a defining moment in American political history?

http://tinyurl.com/3jofo


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by John Cory

TruthOut

02/02/05

A man who sought to define torture and make it acceptable, who advised the President that he could act above and beyond the law, is nominated for Attorney General. Democrats might not oppose Alberto Gonzales, or perhaps they will make a symbolic gesture of opposition, saving the filibuster for more important matters, yet to be determined. But in the meantime, lowly enlisted soldiers go on trial and to jail for implementing the very acts of torture so carefully defined by their leaders. Our moral conscience is soothed by their imprisonment. America has gone to war on false and erroneous and ever shifting pretenses without Congress declaring war, as it has the sole authority to do. Instead, it handed over its power and responsibility to men of weak character and selfish partisan interests. But never fear, amid the death and destruction hammered upon a small sovereign nation, we gave them the vote. All is well...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020205A.shtml


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by David Corn

Tom Paine

02/02/05

The historic election that occurred in Iraq has made it easier for George W. Bush to distance himself from the phony case he presented for war in Iraq. This latest State of the Union address is the president's first since his weapons hunters declared there had been no WMDs and no WMD programs in Iraq before the war. Bush might -- only might -- feel obligated to reference the matter and offer what has become his final and disingenuous fallback position on those (nonexistent) WMDs. But the election has shoved the WMD controversy (or non-controversy) even further to the side. When the CIA issued a classified report this week concluding that Iraq had abandoned its chemical weapons program in 1991, it was not front-page news. So whether the MIA WMDs are State of the Union material or not, allow me to puncture Bush's final WMD myth. He has, of course, promoted a series of WMD fables...

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/dreaming_of_wmds.php


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Kristen Lombardi

Village Voice

02/01/05

Two days before Christmas, Elena Sassower walked out of the Washington, DC, jail where she'd just finished serving a sentence that should frighten anyone inclined to protest in the halls of power. For reading a 24-word request to testify at a judicial appointment hearing on Capitol Hill, an act that qualified as 'disruption of Congress,' Sassower was hit with six months' incarceration -- the maximum allowed by law. Despite the grave constitutional implications of her case, not one of the dozen civil rights organizations she'd asked for help came to her assistance: not the ACLU, not Public Citizen, not People for the American Way, not Common Cause. Her real crime, it seems, was her penchant for being a pest...

http://villagevoice.com/news/0505,lombardi,60660,6.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Kenneth S. Baer

The American Prospect

02/02/05

Democrats need to do more than criticize Bush's foreign policy. They need to develop one of their own. ... The closing 'God bless America, and good night' of George W. Bush's State of the Union address [signals] not just the official ending of his speech but also the end of the debate surrounding Bush's last major pronouncement, his second inaugural address. Before we consign the inaugural address to the anthologies and history books, look back for a moment not at the address itself but at the debate it sparked. Two things become clear: When it comes to foreign policy, the right is divided, and the left is directionless. ... If Democrats ever hope to succeed in their long trek out of the wilderness and back to power, they must get off the sidelines and engage on this issue...

http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=9134


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Jim Lobe

Asia Times

02/02/05

Amid rising concern about the over-extension of US military forces and the growing budget deficit, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a neo-conservative group whose past foreign-policy recommendations have often been followed by President George W Bush, is urging Congress to add 25,000 new soldiers to US ground forces each year over the next several years. The appeal, which comes on the eve of Bush's State of the Union address, is certain to fuel the growing debate over whether Washington can afford the interventionist vision long espoused by PNAC and its highly influential founders -- that of a global 'Pax Americana' in which the US military in effect acts as the guarantor of international peace and security...

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/GB03Aa01.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Michael Tennant

Strike the Root

02/02/05

[T]he overwhelming majority of Americans have been educated in government schools. If you were in charge of shaping the minds of future generations, would you teach them how to defeat you and your grand designs for the future? Well, neither would the government; and since it has a near monopoly on shaping the minds of future generations, it's only natural that most people haven't a clue as to what their constitutional rights are nor how they should be exercised and defended...

http://www.strike-the-root.com/51/tennant/tennant2.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Michael Tanner

Cato Institute

02/03/05

Overall, Social Security's unfunded liabilities total nearly $12 trillion, and the longer we wait, the worse it gets. Estimates suggest that each year that we wait to reform Social Security costs between $150 billion and $600 billion more. That sure looks like a crisis to me. But the larger crisis is not about the system's finances. It is about workers forced to pay 12.4% of their wages into a system that cannot pay them the promised level of benefits. It is about a system where workers have no real ownership of their benefits, and where low- and middle-income workers cannot accumulate wealth that they can use in retirement and pass along to their heirs...

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3663


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Carl F. Worden

Sierra Times

02/02/05

For those of you who think the Iraqi Election on January 30, 2005 was a turning point in the Iraq War, it wasn't. We tried the same thing during the Vietnam War. ... [quotation cited from 1967] ... I will once again repeat that this war in Iraq is unwinnable. ... The huge difference between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War is that Vietnam was a tactical war, whereas the war in Iraq has developed into a strategic one -- and there's a nasty difference between the two. We could declare false victory in Vietnam and walk away without repercussions. Where Iraq is concerned, when we walk out of there in defeat, as we most assuredly will, we will have created a united enemy of many peoples and nations, and we will be left without the future support of most of our most trusted former allies...

http://www.sierratimes.com/05/02/02/worden01022005.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Ward Churchill

Rocky Mountain News

01/31/05

The bottom line of my argument is that the best and perhaps only way to prevent 9-1-1-style attacks on the U.S. is for American citizens to compel their government to comply with the rule of law. The lesson of Nuremberg is that this is not only our right, but our obligation. To the extent we shirk this responsibility, we, like the 'Good Germans' of the 1930s and '40s, are complicit in its actions and have no legitimate basis for complaint when we suffer the consequences. This, of course, includes me, personally, as well as my family, no less than anyone else...

http://tinyurl.com/6gmer


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Thomas L. Knapp

Free Market News Network

02/02/05

'He's Hispanic.' 'He'd be the first.' 'Latino voters are watching.' In all its bare, audacious simplicity, that is the Republican case for anointing Alberto Gonzales as the nation's top law enforcement officer. John Ashcroft might find the case convincing. He's no doubt standing by with a can of shortening at the ready, champing at the bit to get about the anointing part and then on to some hymns and maybe a game of 'pin the sheet on the statue's breast.' .... But for me, for many Americans, and hopefully for the 100 members of the US Senate, the case is even more simplistic: A vote to confirm Gonzales is a vote in favor of the proposition that the United States should endorse and practice torture, reward perjury and endorse the notion of an executive whose activities are not subject to any law which displeases him...

http://www.freemarketnews.com/pview/5837/814/html/index.php

by Jarret Wollstein

International Society for Individual Liberty

02/03/05

In the wake of this unending bloodshed, destruction and death, some soldiers are beginning to question the wisdom of this 'war of liberation' in which entire cities like Fallujah (home to 300,000 people, just a few months ago) are being obliterated. It should therefore come as no surprise that more and more soldiers are returning to the U.S. very angry with the authorities who lied to them about nearly everything, when they sent them to Iraq. Nineteen-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Andres 'Andy' Raya was one of them...

http://www.isil.org/towards-liberty/rambo-comes-home.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Victor Milán

Rational Review

02/03/05

How can the US export freedom to Iraq or anyplace? We don't have any. The Constitution is a dead letter. The US is now ruled by fiat. The average Unitedstatesian 'citizen' subject now enjoys, in real terms, precisely the same 'rights' enjoyed by Gitmo detainees. Far, far sooner than any of us imagine -- even me, I fear -- we will also begin to enjoy the same living standards. Enforced by the wonderful people who brought you Abu Ghraib. Let's presume I'm mistaken in all the above; it's happened before. Let us postulate that the elections in Iraq were entirely fair and free, and that the occupying force will abide scrupulously by the outcome. In which case, congratulations: the US has bought itself a brand-new Iranian Islamic Republic...

http://www.rationalreview.com/guest/vm020305.shtml


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Since December, a 60-slide Power Point presentation on "4th-generation warfare" has been making the rounds of the U.S. military, one of whose slides makes this basic point about modern warfare: "Information is ammunition." -- Karl Rove, GOP warrior, certainly believes this about politics, too. -- So every military and political operation undertaken by this administration includes its Information Operations component. -- Thanks to Mark Nagel for sending this piece. --Mark]

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2198/

News
Nation
Washington

WHITE HOUSE-FRIENDLY REPORTER UNDER SCRUTINY

By Charlie Savage and Alan Wirzbicki

Boston Globe

February 2, 2005

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/02/02/white_house_friendly_reporter_under_scrutiny

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has provided White House media credentials to a man who has virtually no journalistic background, asks softball questions to the president and his spokesman in the midst of contentious news conferences, and routinely reprints long passages verbatim from official press releases as original news articles on his website.

Jeff Gannon calls himself the White House correspondent for TalonNews.com, a website that says it is "committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news coverage to our readers." It is operated by a Texas-based Republican Party delegate and political activist who also runs GOPUSA.com, ( http://www.GOPUSA.com/ ) a website that touts itself as "bringing the conservative message to America."

Called on last week by President Bush at a press conference, Gannon attacked Democratic Senate leaders and called them "divorced from reality." During the presidential campaign, when called on by Press Secretary Scott McClellan, Gannon linked Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, to Jane Fonda and questioned why anyone would dispute Bush's National Guard service.

Now, the question of how Gannon gets into White House press conferences is coming under intense scrutiny from critics who contend that Gannon is not a journalist but rather a White House tool to soften media coverage of Bush. The issue was raised by a media watchdog group and picked up by Internet bloggers, who linked Gannon's presence in White House briefings to recent controversies over whether the administration manipulates the flow of information to the public.

These include the disclosure that the Education Department secretly paid columnist Armstrong Williams to promote its education policy and the administration's practice of sending out video press releases about its policies that purport to be "news stories" by fake journalists.

McClellan said Gannon has not been issued -- nor requested -- a regular "hard pass" to the White House, and instead has come in for the past two years on daily passes. Daily passes, he said, may be issued to anyone who writes for an organization that publishes regularly and who is cleared to enter the building.

He said other reporters and political commentators from lesser-known newsletters and from across the political spectrum also attend briefings, though he could not recall any Internet bloggers. McClellan said it is not the White House's role to decide who is and who is not a real journalist and dismissed any notion of conspiracy.

Nonetheless, transcripts of White House briefings indicate that McClellan often calls on Gannon and that the press secretary -- and the president -- have found relief in a question from Gannon after critical lines of questioning from mainstream news organizations.

When Bush called on Gannon near the end of his nationally televised Jan. 26 news conference, he had just been questioned about Williams and the Education Department funds, an embarrassment to the administration. Gannon's question was different.

"Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the US economy," Gannon said. "[Minority Leader] Harry Reid was talking about soup lines, and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet, in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you said you're going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"

As it turned out, Reid had never talked about soup lines. That was a phrase attributed to him in satire by Rush Limbaugh on his radio show.

Last year, during the presidential campaign, Gannon's comments could be even more pointed. In a Feb. 10, 2004, briefing with McClellan, for example, Gannon rose to deliver the following:

"Since there have been so many questions about what the president was doing over 30 years ago, what is it that he did after his honorable discharge from the National Guard? Did he make speeches alongside Jane Fonda, denouncing America's racist war in Vietnam? Did he testify before Congress that American troops committed war crimes in Vietnam? And did he throw somebody else's medals at the White House to protest a war America was still fighting?"

David Brock, the former investigative journalist who made his name revealing aspects of former President Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs, said he was watching last week's press conference on television and the "soup lines" question sparked his interest because it "struck me as so extremely biased." Brock asked his media watchdog group, Media Matters for America, to look into Talon News.

It quickly discovered two things, he said. First, both Talon and the political organization GOP USA were run by a Texas Republican activist and party delegate named Bobby Eberle. Second, many of the reports Gannon filed for Talon News "appeared to be lifted verbatim from various White House and Republican political committee documents."

Eberle did not return phone calls yesterday, and Gannon declined to comment. He did reply to Brock's group on his personal blog: "In many cases I have liberally used the verbiage provided on key aspects of the issue because it is the precise expression of where the White House stands -- free of any 'spin.' It's the ultimate in journalistic honesty -- unvarnished and unfiltered. If only others would be as forthcoming."

From ufpj-news

US Lies About Iraq

Eliot Weinberger on an astounding list:
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n03/wein01_.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell

Liberation Via Aerial Bombing

Tom Engelhardt and Dahr Jamail on what it's like:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/engelhardt/engelhardt43.html

The Conservative Fixation on Order

It's harmful, at home and abroad, says Robert Murphy:
http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1734


Informant: Lew Rockwell

Murray N. Rothbard on the state-establishment axis for intervention and war:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard66.html

POST-ELECTION BUZZKILL: WHY IRAQ IS STILL A DEBACLE

By Arianna Huffington

Quick, before the conventional wisdom hardens, it needs to be said: The Iraqi elections were not the second coming of the Constitutional Convention.

The media have made it sound like last Sunday was a combination of 1776, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Prague Spring, the Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Filipino "People Power," Tiananmen Square and Super Bowl Sunday -- all rolled into one.

It's impossible not to be moved by the stories coming out of Iraq: voters braving bombings and mortar blasts to cast ballots; multiethnic crowds singing and dancing outside polling places; election workers, undeterred by power outages, counting ballots by the glow of oil lamps; teary-eyed women in traditional Islamic garb proudly holding up their purple ink-stained fingers -- literally giving the finger to butcher knife-wielding murderers.

It was a great moment. A Kodak moment. And unlike the other Kodak moments from this war -- think Saddam's tumbling statue and Jessica Lynch's "rescue" -- this one was not created by the image masters at Karl Rove Productions.

But this Kodak moment, however moving, should not be allowed to erase all that came before it, leaving us unprepared for all that may come after it.

I'm sorry to kill the White House's buzz -- and the press corps' contact high -- but the triumphalist fog rolling across the land has all the makings of another "Mission Accomplished" moment.

Forgive me for trotting out Santayana's shopworn dictum that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it but, for god's sake people, can't we even remember last week?

So amid all the talk of turning points, historic days and defining moments, let us steadfastly refuse to drink from the River Lethe that brought forgetfulness and oblivion to my ancient ancestors.

Let's not forget that for all the president's soaring rhetoric about spreading freedom and democracy, free elections were the administration's fallback position. More Plan D than guiding principle. We were initially going to install Ahmed Chalabi as our man in Baghdad, remember? Then that shifted to the abruptly foreshortened reign of "Bremer of Arabia." The White House only consented to holding open elections after Grand Ayatollah Sistani sent his followers into the streets to demand them -- and even then Bush refused to allow the elections until after our presidential campaign was done, just in case more suicide bombers than voters turned up at Iraqi polling places.

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget that despite the hoopla, this was a legitimate democratic election in name only. Actually, not even in name since most of the candidates on Sunday's ballot had less name recognition than your average candidate for dogcatcher. That's because they were too afraid to hold rallies or give speeches. Too terrorized to engage in debates. In fact, many were so anxious about being killed that they fought to keep their names from being made public. Some didn't even know their names had been placed on the ballot. On top of that, this vote was merely to elect a transitional national assembly that will then draft a new constitution that the people of Iraq will then vote to approve or reject, followed by yet another vote -- this time to elect a permanent national assembly.

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget that many Iraqi voters turned out to send a defiant message not just to the insurgents but to President Bush as well. Many of those purple fingers were raised in our direction. According to a poll taken by our own government, a jaw-dropping 92 percent of Iraqis view the U.S.-led forces in Iraq as "occupiers" while only 2 percent see them as "liberators."

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget that the war in Iraq has made America far less safe than it was before the invasion. According to an exhaustive report released last month by the CIA's National Intelligence Council, Iraq has become a breeding ground for the next generation of "professionalized" Islamic terrorists. Foreign terrorists are now honing their deadly skills against U.S. troops -- skills they will eventually take with them to other countries, including ours. The report also warns that the war in Iraq has deepened solidarity among Muslims worldwide and increased anti-American feelings across the globe. Iraq has also drained tens of billions of dollars in resources that might otherwise have gone to really fighting the war on terror or increasing our preparedness for another terror attack here at home.

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget the woeful lack of progress we've made in the reconstruction of Iraq. The people there still lack such basics as gas and kerosene. Indeed, Iraqis often wait in miles-long lines just to buy gas. The country is producing less electricity than before the war -- roughly half of current demand. There are food shortages, the cost of staple items such as rice and bread is soaring, and the number of Iraqi children suffering from malnutrition has nearly doubled. According to UNICEF, nearly 1 in 10 Iraqi children is suffering the effects of chronic diarrhea caused by unsafe water -- a situation responsible for 70 percent of children's deaths in Iraq.

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget the blistering new report from the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, which finds that the U.S. occupation government that ruled Iraq before last June's transfer of sovereignty has been unable to account for nearly $9 billion, overseeing a reconstruction process "open to fraud, kickbacks and misappropriation of funds."

And the election doesn't change that.

Let's not forget that we still don't have an exit strategy for Iraq. The closest the president has come is saying that we'll be able to bring our troops home when, as he put it on Sunday, "this rising democracy can eventually take responsibility for its own security" -- "eventually" being the operative word. Although the administration claims over 120,000 Iraqi security forces have been trained, other estimates put the number closer to 14,000, with less than 5,000 of them ready for battle. And we keep losing those we've already trained: some 10,000 Iraqi National Guardsmen have quit or been dropped from the rolls in the last six months. Last summer, the White House predicted Iraqi forces would be fully trained by spring 2005; their latest estimate has moved that timetable to summer 2006.

And the election doesn't change that.

And let's never forget this administration's real goal in Iraq, as laid out by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and their fellow neocon members of the Project for the New American Century back in 1998 when they urged President Clinton and members of Congress to take down Saddam "to protect our vital interests in the Gulf." These vital interests were cloaked in mushroom clouds, WMD that turned into "weapons of mass destruction-related program activities," and a Saddam/al-Qaida link that turned into, well, nothing. Long before the Bushies landed on freedom and democracy as their 2005 buzzwords, they already had their eyes on the Iraqi prize: the second-largest oil reserves in the world, and a permanent home for U.S. bases in the Middle East.

This is still the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time. And the election, as heart-warming as it was, doesn't change any of that.

© 2005 ARIANNA HUFFINGTON.
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

I just found this one, a must to read, a good review on Bakan's book

"The Corporation"
http://www.phillarochelle.com/blog/archives/000064.html

I have Bakan's book and read it already for the 2. time. The mess we are in now is thanks to the Corporations....I believe! Or?....please correct me.

Distribute!

Hans Karow


THE CORPORATION
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/252266/

--------

The fact that the Telcos are continuing to target children and teenagers as "consumers" of their products despite the mounting evidence for harm, and Sir Willian Stewart's warnings, is understandable in light of Joel Bakan's book "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power"

I have mentioned this book previously but following is an excellent review supplied by Hans Karow. Needless to say - Highly Recommended reading!

http://www.phillarochelle.com/blog/archives/000064.html

Don Maisch


Drug Company Empire Ready to Fall - Cell phone industry take note
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/464449/

Here is NRDC's account of what the Bush administration has done and is doing on environmental matters in chronological order, 2001-2004.

http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/2004.asp
http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/2003.asp
http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/2002.asp
http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/2001.asp


Informant: ItalysBadBoy

http://www.prwatch.org/node/3220


Informant: Friends

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/kopp/apjemp.html


Informant: The Webfairy

Every parent in America should be made aware of a presidential initiative called the “New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.” This commission issued a report last year calling for the mandatory mental health screening of American schoolchildren...

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul232.html


From Information Clearing House

Tens of thousands of Iraqis – mainly Sunni Arabs – may have been denied their right to vote on Sunday because of insufficient ballots and polling centres, officials have said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B410976F-73A0-496F-A62A-CB01C3FAE6C5.htm
http://tinyurl.com/5nu5m


From Information Clearing House

“I started to think ... what’s it really for? I was willing to die for my country. I thought I was going over there to defend my country. But that’s not what I was doing,” Anderson said by telephone from Toronto on Monday.

http://207.44.245.159/article7946.htm

When a country takes upon itself the task of setting things right in a distant place simply because the ruler there tried to "kill my dad," one of George W. Bush's explanations for invading Iraq, then the blood-soaked aftermath can leave no winners.

http://207.44.245.159/article7944.htm

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the CIA to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and turn over to watchdog groups records concerning the treatment of prisoners in Iraq.

http://207.44.245.159/article7957.htm

What I've just read from the business press the last couple of days probably reflects the thinking in Washington and London: "Uh well, okay, we'll let them have a government, but we're not going to pay any attention to what they say." In fact the Pentagon announced at the same time two days ago: we're keeping 120,000 troops there into at least 2007, even if they call for withdrawal tomorrow.

http://207.44.245.159/article7952.htm

Video

Juan Cole, Professor of Modern Middle East History at the University of Michigan, discusses the Iraqi elections and the participation of the Shiites and other political factions.

http://207.44.245.159/article7949.htm

He writhes in pain, moaning with every other breath. The Iraqi police colonel’s chest is covered in bandages, his legs from the knees down nearly completely hidden from view due to thick bandages holding what is left of his shins together.

http://tinyurl.com/63duy


From Information Clearing House