ACLU Online
http://tinyurl.com/9nwuq

http://www.vol.at/engine.aspx/page/vol-article-detail-page/cn/vol-news-willie-20050527-032059/dc/tp:vol:oesterreich/ag/tp-apa


Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Sperma

Studie

Laut einem Artikel der Kuwait News vom 17. Mai weist eine neue Studie daraufhin, dass zu häufiger Gebrauch von Mobiltelefonen gesundheitliche Probleme im Hinblick auf den Alterungsprozess zur Folge haben könnte. Die Studie, die von Forschern der Kairoer Universität unter Leitung von Professor Dr. Fadhil Mohammad Ali, Professor für Bio- und Radiophysik, durchgeführt wurde, behauptet, unsere heutige Technologie, die Kurz- und Mikrowellen nutzt, stelle eine Gefahr für die menschliche Biologie und die Körperfunktionen dar. Die Studie, die insgesamt über einen Zeitraum von 15 Jahren lief, gliederte sich in drei Phasen und untersuchte elektromagnetische sowie elektrische Felder in gewissen Bereichen wie Wohnungen und Büros in der Nähe von Hochspannungsmasten und Industrieanlagen, in denen starker elektrischer Strom im Einsatz ist.

http://www.kuna.net.kw/


Aus: FGF-Infoline vom 25.05.2005

http://www.uruknet.info/.?p=12069&hd=0&size=1&l=x


Informant: ranger116

PRESIDENT CHIRAC of France is preparing to throw Europe into confusion and put Britain on the spot by backing moves to keep the European constitution alive if it is rejected in Sunday’s referendum.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1629946,00.html

Bush has done his utmost to frustrate talks on the non-proliferation treaty.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1493347,00.html


From Information Clearing House

Americans are trying to figure out how their country went from a democratic republic to a modern-day empire based on a cult of personality and a faith-based rejection of reason.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/052605.html

In an almost unnoticed move, President Bush on Thursday May 19 extended for one year the blanket immunity from legal action conferred on US corporations doing business in Iraq.

http://snipurl.com/f716


From Information Clearing House

Nearly one-fourth of Iraqi children aged between six months and five years are chronically malnourished, meaning they have stunted growth, the report says. Among all Iraqi children, more than one in 10 suffer from general malnutrition, meaning they have a low weight for their age.

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=28665


From Information Clearing House

Syria is in the cross-hairs: It's not about terrorism, it's not about "keeping America safe" -- it's about the brutal expansion of elite power.

http://snipurl.com/f712

--------

5 ships ordered to ''surge'' to support war on terror

The Navy has ordered five ships and 2,800 sailors to deploy on unexpected missions to support anti-terrorism efforts in the Balkans and Middle East. Four of the ships will leave today.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=86917&ran=157050


From Information Clearing House

Bentagon vs. Newsweak

by Ted Lang

The Koran is treated with care, but Iraqis, Afghanis, Muslims and Arabs can be beaten to death, have electric shock treatment administered to their genitals, have their faces smeared with fake menstrual blood, can be made to crawl while naked and chained wearing a dog’s collar and led on a leash by a wimpy female “soldier,” and can be forced into a river by Coalition heroes where non-swimmers are drowned. But this, by no means at all, should lead anyone to the erroneous conclusion that the great United States of America, and its “duty-honor-country” military, would ever condone any display of contempt or disdain for the venerable Holy Koran!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8954.htm

Des Pudels Korn
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20154/1.html

amnesty international erhebt schwere Vorwürfe gegen die USA und befürchtet, dass sich andere Regierungen vom Verhalten der Bush-Regierung inspirieren lassen.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20181/1.html

Governments should arrest any official who enters their territory and begin legal proceedings against them," said William Shulz, executive director of the U.S. branch of the international human rights agency.

By Bob Dart

Amnesty International USA urged foreign governments Wednesday to use international law to investigate Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other alleged American "architects of torture" at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and other prisons where detainees suspected of ties to terrorist groups have been interrogated.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8956.htm

27.05.05

Während der heutigen Abstimmung im Bundesrat haben Mitglieder des globalisierungskritischen Netzwerks Attac in Berlin gegen die EU-Verfassung protestiert. Mit einem großen "Non" vor dem Bundesratsgebäude machten sie zwei Tage vor dem Referendum in Frankreich deutlich, dass das Votum des Bundesrates für die EU-Verfassung nicht repräsentativ für die Meinung der Menschen in Deutschland ist. "Die Landesregierungen haben über die EU-Verfassung abgestimmt, ohne die Menschen vorher über den Inhalt dieses Verfassungsvertrags aufzuklären. Diese EU-Verfassung bedeutet, dass Kriege und Sozialabbau weitergehen", sagte Stephan Lindner, EU-Experte im Attac-Koordinierungskreis.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11154

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-05/nsfc-sfs052405.php


Informant: NHNE

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/26/AR2005052601538.html

by E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post

The evidence confirming Newsweek's Quran reporting shifts the focus to the White House's efforts to undermine independent media.

Source: http://www.tompaine.com/

by Richard Bradley, TomPaine.com

PBS is under attack. Networks bow to political pressure. Are cable channels like Showtime the last bastion of independence?

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050527/the_antibush_channel.php

Lothar Reinhard
Karlsruher Str. 12
45478 Mülheim/Ruhr
Mülheim, den 25.Mai 2005

An den (Noch-)Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schröder

Sehr geehrter Bundeskanzler,

Ihre SPD hat die NRW-Wahl verloren. Na und? Das kam nach 39 Jahren weder überraschend für die Meinungsforscher, noch für die Menschen in NRW und sicherlich auch nicht für Sie.

Die Stimmen waren noch nicht fertig ausgezählt, da ließen Sie Neuwahlen im Bund verkünden. Was soll das? Ihr Mandat geht bis 2006 und mit einer CDU-Bundesratsmehrheit müssen Sie schon länger leben. Das haben die Wähler nicht zufällig so gewollt. Wenn Sie die Neuwahl gewännen, wäre der Bundesrat zudem der gleiche!

Also warum jetzt Neuwahlen?

* Wenn Sie sich als Bundeskanzler überfordert fühlen, müssen Sie zurücktreten, keinesfalls aber zur Neuwahl antreten.

* Wenn Sie die Macht des Bundesrates verringern wollen, dann müssen Sie eine Verfassungsänderung versuchen oder aber Sie könnten dazu in einem Referendum die Bevölkerung befragen. Nur: dann gilt das in jedem Falle auch bei einer zukünftigen SPD-Bundesratsmehrheit und CDU-Regierung!

* Wenn Sie mit Rot-Grün nicht mehr weiterregieren wollen oder können, müssen Sie die Vertrauensfrage stellen, so dass eine neue Regierung gebildet werden kann, z.B. eine große Koalition. Dafür aber erst Neuwahlen zu machen, entspricht auch wegen der Erfahrungen der Weimarer Republik nicht dem Willen unserer Verfassung. Die große Koalition Kiesinger/Brandt wurde in geringerer Not auch ohne gebildet!

* Vor allem aber: Warum wollen Sie als Kanzler vorgezogen vom Wähler bestätigt werden, wenn sich an den Mehrheiten im Bundesrat nichts ändert?

Als Wähler in NRW kann ich nicht einsehen, warum im Herbst erneut gewählt werden soll. Der anstehende Wahlkampf ödet mich jetzt schon an, weil absehbar ist, dass gerade wegen der Kürze der Zeit wenig über Programme und Vorhaben informiert werden wird, sondern vornehmlich über Personen und Platitüden. Der NRW-Wahlkampf war bereits flach genug.

Besonders wir im krisengeschüttelten Ruhrgebiet brauchen alles, nur keinen erneuten Wahlkampf und damit weitere Monate von Versprechungen und Vertröstungen, während die Probleme sich weiter auftürmen!

Es mag sein, dass Sie die Flucht nach vorne antraten, um Konflikte in der SPD nicht hochkommen zu lassen. Doch die werden dann die SPD nach den Neuwahlen doppelt und dreifach einholen. Ich erinnere nur daran, dass die KandidatInnen für die vorgezogene Btw nun nicht im demokratischen Diskurs bestimmt werden können, sondern notgedrungen im Hau-Ruck-Verfahren und nur von oben.

Mit dem "Coup" der Neuwahlen werden Sie der Demokratie, aber auch Ihrer SPD, einen Bärendienst erweisen.

Ich hoffe immer noch, dass dieser Kelch doch noch an uns allen vorübergeht.

In tiefer Sorge um unsere Demokratie

L. Reinhard

SojoMail 05.26.05
http://tinyurl.com/carcr

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2851/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

May 26, 2005

Thank you so much for responding to our urgent call yesterday about Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey's amendment to the Defense Authorization bill asking President Bush for a plan to withdraw from Iraq (click here for the text: http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=323 ).

We're sorry to have contacted you so late, but it was only yesterday that we learned that the House Rules Committee had approved bringing up the amendment for a vote.

Despite the delay, we're making a difference! The amendment was defeated 128 to 300, but given the atmosphere in Congress, that's not bad. Also, let's put it in historical perspective: In the case of Vietnam, while the conflict escalated in 1965, it was not until 1971 that Congress began to vote on ending the war. How did the vote break down? We managed to get 122 Democrats, and 5 brave Republicans to vote "yes", including Rep Walter Jones from North Carolina, who wanted to change the name of french fries to 'freedom' fries! (Click here for details: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050526/woolsey_rocks_the_house.php and here for an article:
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/jeserich.php?articleid=6094 ).

In the coming weeks, there will be new opportunities in both the House and the Senate to push for an exit plan, and you can count on us to be in contact with you, informing you of next steps to peace. T he Woolsey amendment was an important first step in a larger and longer campaign.

Let's celebrate yet another victory! A few hours ago the Democrats forced the Senate to put off the final vote on Bolton's nomination to the UN! The Republicans needed 60 votes to overturn Senator Boxer's " hold ", but the vote was 56 to 42 - 4 shy of that threshold. The final Bolton vote won't take place until the Senate returns after the Memorial Day recess. Click here for breaking news: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=795030 .

Power to the People,
Dana, Farida, Gael, Jodie, Medea, Nancy, Rae, and Tiffany

PS: We continue our work to impeach and indict Bush - click here for the latest news: http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?list=type&type=24 .

http://www.rabble.ca/columnists_full.shtml?x=39478


Informant: mojo_j_2000

Please listen to the audio clips below and, for some - if not many of you - GET READY FOR SOME MAJOR DISCLOSURES!

It is long overdue that these topics become more mainstream. Few may realize, that, in great part, much of the "source" for the secrecy in our government stems from just these subjects.

This post deals with th UFO matters, now referred to as EXOPOLITICS.

Some here may not fully realize it (yet!) but we should thank those who have the courage and have been willing to risk ridicule by placing posts on these subjects.

THANK YOU!

JACK TOPEL


PRE -"X-CONFERENCE INFORMATION
http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=64487&f=DNSMPH&ps=13&p=1 (10 min)

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=64542&f=EJVJAK&ps=13&p=1 (10 min)

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=64546&f=FVEVTY&ps=13&p=1 (4 min)


POST "X-CONFERENCE INFORMATION

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=68188&f=FQSTZG&ps=13&p=1 ( 5 min)

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=68364&f=IRRQZR&ps=13&p=1 10 min)

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=68202&f=TDKFII&ps=13&p=1 10 min)

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=68205&f=ZQZASL&ps=13&p=1 (1 min)


Following are audio clip excerpts from US Army Major Robert Dean, one of two intelligence officers, whom had the highest clearance in existence - that of "Cosmic Top Secret" that have come forward on the military ET disclosure subject. Even US presidents, at one time, did not have such top level clearance.

This is the first of a long series of military and intelligence officers and government and corporate officials whose audio testimony, on military ET disclosures, will be made available to the public, among other vital disclosure issues.

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=64549&f=YICEJB&ps=13&p=1 (10 min)

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=64562&f=NCKOBF&ps=13&p=1 (10min)

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=64574&f=MKOLSQ&ps=13&p= ( 4 min)


The "DISCLOSURE PROJECT"

Here are the audio clips I want to share to start raising our convictions and, below them, are the e-mail exchanges.

First you will hear a brief report on the aftermath of the historic National Press Club News Conference from the Disclosure Project http://www.disclosureproject.org . It will, immediately, follow with excerpts from Dr. Greer's introduction an, following that, I included about 5 short military and intelligence officer's short testimony.

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=71768&f=JHDSVJ&ps=13&p=1 (5 min)

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=71799&f=QZAXCU&ps=13&p=1 (10 min)

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=71789&f=MIHOGH&ps=13&p=1 (6 min)

For good measure here is a very revealing clip from Dr. Greer when he attended an informal gathering in Miami while he was on vacation. Very, very revealing!

http://PlayAudio-123.com/play.asp?m=71790&f=GKYJGY&ps=13&p=1 ( 3 min)

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2852/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/05/26/seawalls.floods.reut/


Informant: NHNE

Exeter Express and Echo
BY CHRIS MILLS

12:00 - 25 May 2005
Mobile phone giants were having talks on controversial plans for more masts in Exeter at a crunch meeting with city planners today. Vodafone and 3G have been invited by the city council to outline their siting proposals for their so-called third generation phone networks.

Both companies claim they need new sites to meet their licence commitment to provide 3G coverage to most of the UK by 2006.

Exeter's head of planning services, Richard Short, and director of economy and development, John Rigby, together with city councillors, were involved in the meeting with representatives of Vodafone and 3G.

Vodafone's plan to put up a new 3G mast on Heavitree Road close to the city's maternity unit and several schools has already run into fierce opposition. More than 700 people have signed an Echo petition calling on the company to look elsewhere.

Today's meeting was expected to concentrate on the companies' plans, the possibility of sharing sites and the role of public consultation.

A council spokesman said: "The two main operators agreed to speak to councillors and will be asked to outline their network plans and justify their proposals."

The council has been involved in mast rows before, blocking several applications citing the health fears of local residents.

However, the authority has also lost appeals before Whitehall inspectors on the grounds that health risk was not a valid reason for objections to be made if the proposed mast emissions were within international guidelines.

Anti-mast campaigners are urging local authorities and the Government to stand up to the mobile phone giants.

Chris Maile, of pressure group Mast Sanity, said: "The planning guidelines are simply not working. We need strong guidelines and stronger controls, too, with the ability to remove inappropriately sited masts already in place."

Both 3G and Vodafone insist that all their new masts will operate well within current international limits.

The Mobile Operators' Association says more sites are needed, particularly in urban areas, to set up the new networks. A spokesman said: "To satisfy increasing customer demand for mobile services or to improve call quality, more base stations have to be built in busy areas.

"Site and mast sharing by operators is and will remain a priority. However, it is not always possible to share masts and there may be good environmental reasons for not doing so."

The Echo's Shock Waves campaign is demanding more research into the health effects of masts, that they should emit at the lowest possible level, and that there should be a full audit of output from all masts.

Renfrewshire

FURY has erupted over plans by a mobile phone company to build a mast at Paisley's biggest and best-known park.

T-Mobile wants to put up the mast with three antennae on Glasgow Road, next to the fence of Barshaw Park.

But Sandra Miller, 47, a resident of nearby Alton Road, is horrified at the prospect of the mast being erected so close to the park and houses, claiming it would mean a loss of amenity and pose a health hazard from radiation.

She said: "To put this mast up right beside a place where children are playing is just ridiculous.

"I'd say it would also be less than 20 metres from my house, which is far too close.

"It would be unsightly and it would be a health hazard.

"I also think it would affect road safety because drivers would be distracted by it."

Mrs Miller has now written a two-page letter to Renfrewshire Council objecting to T-Mobile's plans and outlining her concerns.

In a 'Neighbour Notice" issued to residents, T-Mobile says it wants to erect a 11.7-metre "slimline streetworks monopole", supporting three antennae, and with a "shroud" covering.

This is the type of disguised mast that's similar in looks to a lamppost, and is intended to blend in with existing street furniture.

David Moore, 32, who also lives in the area added: "This is a disgrace. It should not be put up close to a public park."

Local councillor Brian Lawson said: "Irrespective of what it looks like, I still don't think it is an appropriate place to put it.

"It would not be ideal to have this outside your front door."

T-Mobile's application will now go before Renfrewshire Council's planning committee for consideration in the near future.

A spokesman for the mobile phone company said: "T-Mobile understands that there can be concerns within local communities when locating base stations, however with over 60 million mobile phone in the UK there is a need to develop our network to provide quality service to our customers.

"Base stations are low-powered radio transmitters, and it is important to recognise that the radio frequency signal from them represents just one source of radio frequency in everyday lives.

"Other sources in the environment include paging devices and emergency services communication systems.

"The radio waves from nearby base stations are favourably comparable to exposure from distant masts and from TV and FM radio and other transmitters.

"Based on over 40 years of research, T-Mobile is confident that its base stations - operating within strict national and international guidelines recognised by the World Health Organisation - do not present a health risk to any member of the public."

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

The spokesman added: "As people are increasingly using their mobile phones in their homes, this means that we need to position base stations in or closer to residential areas.

"As you will appreciate, the options available to us in such areas are very restricted."

00:00, May 25 2005

By Mandy Little, Greenwich Mercury

A PARTIAL victory is being celebrated by campaigners battling to prevent a mobile phone mast being sited near a school for disabled children.

The National Planning Inspectorate has told Greenwich council it must repeat its notification procedure for four mast applications made by O2 close to Charlton School.

The inspectorate agreed with campaigners that the consultation should be widened to make sure that all concerned parties have their say.

The communications giant appealed after the council turned their application down last October.

Residents opposed to the plans set up an action group, Charlton Residents Against the Mast (CRAM), and penned a 15 page letter to the inspectorate complaining about the consultation process.

Although the council fulfilled its legal obligations it initially only notified 67 houses in Charlton Park Road.

This was due to errors with the original application by 02 which failed to recognise the sensitivity of the siting.

A spokesman for the inspectorate said: "We have told the council that they must re-notify just to be sure that all interested parties have had a proper period of time - four weeks to comment.

"Then the appeal will carry on as normal."

Henry Gilbey from CRAM said: "It's a victory for us but we are not stopping here.

"We are pushing to have a full public hearing for the appeals. The issues need to be aired in public."

A spokesman for the council said that more letters will be sent out to a wider consultation area.

Evening Times Glasgow

THE FIGHT to keep a mobile phone mast away from a hospital and school has reached a stalemate.

Pollok families in Glasgow's south side have picketed the site at the junction of Kempsthorn Road and Crookston Road, and no mast has been built.

Bosses at O2 were given permission for a 56ft mast in March.

Campaigners argued its location near houses, a school and Leverndale Hospital was unsuitable.

The Evening Times reported that as workmen arrived on site, so did the campaigners.

For six weeks, mums, dads, children and even grandparents staged a peaceful protest, supported by local councillor Keith Baldassara. Councillor Baldassara said: "I would assume it's stalemate as they've not come back out. "But as soon as they do we will be there."

O2 are "re-assessing" the situation.

Conservative councillor for Slideslow, Caroline Spencer, has hit out after an inquiry to Bromsgrove District Council by mobile phone firm T-mobile.

The company consulted the council's planning department about building a base station and a 15-metre phone mast on the verge side of New Road, near to the end of Stonehouse Road.

T-mobile would not need planning permission for the development but does need to consult the council about their plans.

Cllr Spencer has already made her feelings clear about the site being earmarked.

She said: "It is next to a busy road and would be a health hazard. There is a footpath past the site that is used regularly by children early in the morning and late afternoon going to and from school.

"I just cannot understand why this location has been earmarked for a mast. It is the most unsuitable site one would look at."

Around 40 homeowners living near the site have also hit out at the plans by completing objection forms. At present 95 per cent of those asked by Cllr Spencer have expressed a total objection.

Bryan Walker, who lives in Stonehouse Road, added: "We don't want this site earmarked now or in the future. There is a very large concern nationally about the health risks."

Dave Hammond, from Bromsgrove District Council's planning department, said: "T-mobile have consulted us and asked for our opinion. We told them they would get opposition from residents and recommended they consider a site nearer Aston Fields Industrial Estate."

A spokesman for T-mobile said: "It is about a balance, we will be listening to residents and the council about their opinions and consulting with them.

"The majority of international research shows there is no link between mobile phone masts and ill health."

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

http://mondediplo.com/2005/05/02empire


Informant: Lew Rockwell

A Petition against more telecommunication equipment being added to the base station at Barry College has been started. The environmental impact and health issues are being cited as the prime causes of concern against the proposals by Vodaphone and O2, and local residents have already collected 450 signatures. They are also due to meet with John Smith MP tomorrow (Friday). A spokeswoman for the group of residents said: “We do not wish to have more equipment added to this eyesore of a mast. “Your home should be your sanctuary and my family have a right to live in a safe and tranquil environment.”

PLANS for mobile phone masts in Menston and Ilkley are being opposed by Ilkley parish council planners.

Ilkley Parish Council's plans committee say they would be against a speculative plan by Hutchison 3G to put up a mast at Ilkley Tennis Club.

And plans by another operator for a mast in a residential area of Menston have been withdrawn following parish councillors' decision to oppose the scheme.

Residents of Menston's Farnley Road protested against mobile phone network T Mobile's plan to put up a mast at the nearby Menston Social Club on Coultas Close.

They argued that the mast would spoil the appearance of the residential area and could lower house prices.

They also feared the unknown long-term effects on health, particularly that of children living nearby.

But T Mobile withdrew the plan on Friday.

Bradford councillor Chris Greaves (Con, Wharfedale) was also against the proposed mast. He said: "They obviously thought it wasn't a good idea and they were not going to get a sympathetic hearing."

He called for any future Menston mast plans by the company to be at a `sensible' site, in an area which would not be too intrusive.

Ilkley Parish Council recently announced its opposition to a number of proposed masts in Menston, including a full planning application 82-foot mast on high ground on the outskirts of the village. Chairman of the plans committee, Councillor Kate Brown, said there had been a lot of letters from residents objecting to the Coultas Close mast.

Meanwhile, the parish council has also learned that another mobile phone company, Hutchison 3G, has moved its attention from Ilkley's Golden Butts Road to Ilkley Tennis Club, on Stourton Road.

And although there is already a mast at the club, parish councillors said they would oppose putting up another mast there. Hutchison, recently highlighted Christopher Binns Funeral Directors on Golden Butts Road as its preferred site for a mast in Ilkley. Residents living nearby protested, and Binns announced it had considered and rejected Hutchison's proposal.

In a consultation letter it sent to homes on Golden Butts Road, Hutchison said it had looked at a number of possible sites for a mast in Ilkley, including several churches, the historic Myddelton Lodge, and Ilkley Tennis Club.

The parish council has now been sent an initial consultation letter from Hutchison, asking for views on the possibility of putting up a new mast at the tennis club.

Councillor Brown said councillors felt the club's green belt surroundings were too sensitive for further masts, and they were worried about encouraging a proliferation of mobile phone masts, when there was already a mast at the club.

l Menston families recently took their campaign against the proposed Coultas Close mast to the streets with a protest banner.

Children worked on the banner, which was put up on Farnley Road in a bid by families to mobilise as many residents as possible against the mast plans. Parents wanted to publicise their campaign, to inform residents who had not received consultation letters, and encourage residents from other streets to join in the protest.

Posted Thursday 26 May 2005

LINDSEY SMITH

Tamworth Herald

10:30 - 26 May 2005

Parents have vowed to fight on in their protest against a mobile phone mast at St Edward's RC Primary School.

Test results released last week proved that the mast's emissions are within recommended government guidelines.

But this appears to have made little difference to the strength of feeling against the Packington Lane mast because protestors believe emission guidelines for this country are already set too high.

"We're not demonstrating, we're not holding placards, but we are taking advice to see what we can do, legally, to get this mast removed," explained one parent, who asked not to be named.

"O2 didn't want us to have the deeds, we suspect there was something in them they didn't want us to see, but we found the deeds on the land registry and due to the Freedom of Information Act they couldn't actually stop us seeing them.

"Years ago people didn't know the dangers of asbestos or coal mining. But you can bet they'll turn around in 50 years and say of masts 'oh yes, that was dangerous, we didn't realise.'

"Well that's not happening to my children. Not if I can prevent it."

Coleshill Cllr Gordon Sherratt said: "I'm not a scientist. I've seen the report but for all I know those levels could still be injurious.

"Not only that, I was up at the cemetery yesterday and the Orange mast at the tennis courts was having 3G capabilities installed, so the workmen said.

"I suppose they think, 'Well who's going to complain? It's a cemetery. Everyone's dead already', but it's within sight of the school mast and we just don't know how far those rays reach or what the effects could be in years to come."

Haverhill today

Protestors in Haverhill have vowed to continue their fight against proposals for a mobile phone mast on the Hazel Stub Roundabout, following an appeal by communications giant Hutchison 3G.

An application to site the mast – which would enable the use of 3G video technology phones – on the roundabout, was turned down by St Edmundsbury Borough Council's development control committee last month, following an outspoken campaign by residents.

People living near the roundabout, and on the nearby Castle Reach development objected to the mast because of fears about the possible consequences to health.

This week campaign leader, Jo Robbins, said: "This was entirely expected and no surprise at all. "This site is totally inappropriate as the council committee unanimously decided last month. You can be sure that the community will fight the appeal with the same zeal as before."

The borough council is contacting those who objected to the application to inform them of the appeal.

Objectors have until June 26 to contact the Planning Inspectorate.

CLIFF MOGG

Surrey Star

TWO Cove schools, which have a special unit for pupils with hearing problems, have suffered a setback in their battle against a proposed mobile phone mast.

Staff at Manor infant and junior schools have protested to Rushmoor Council planners that the Vodafone mast signals could interfere with hearing aids used by nine pupils.

Marilyn Penman, head of the 220-pupil infant school, said on Tuesday: “I’ve recently discovered that this problem arose at another school with hearing impaired children. “The pupils were having trouble with their hearing equipment and it was tracked down to a mast which had been put up nearby.” She hopes to unearth more detailed information before the deadline for objections tomorrow (Friday).

But Chris Jones, Rushmoor Council planning officer, said: “We are powerless to act over signal interference. “Under the terms of the licence, the operator is responsible for ensuring that his equipment does interfere with other systems.” Mr Jones also had bad news for more than 300 residents who have signed a petition objecting to the 10-metre high mast, earmarked for the Fernhill Road-Northcote Road junction, on health grounds. He said that, because it is less than 15 metres high, the council was limited to discussing the siting and design of the mast, and whether the company had looked at the possibility of sharing a mast with other operators.

The only ray of hope for the objectors appears to be the sharing option.

Mr Jones revealed that the council recently turned down an application by T-Mobile in the same area because it had not looked at the possibility of sharing a mast with another operator. “In that case the planning inspectorate upheld the planning committee’s decision,” he said.

The council has until June 28 to decide on the Vodafone application.

BY CHRIS MILLS

This is Exeter

12:00 - 26 May 2005

Cities and nations around the world are banning mobile phone masts or reducing their power near schools - while more go up in Britain. That's the claim of anti-mast campaigners frustrated at what they believe is the industry's failure to adopt the "precautionary approach" recommended in a 2001 report from an independent commission chaired by Sir William Stewart.

Now, Green Euro MP Caroline Jackson is pushing the UK Government to follow the example set by other countries.

Earlier this year, the Express & Echo revealed how the number of masts in Britain had more than doubled to at least 45,000 since 2000. They are allowed on schools, hospitals and other public buildings, as long as they emit at less than limits set out by the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection.

However, as the Echo has discovered, many communities and countries favour a harder line.

Both Australia and New Zealand have outlawed masts from within 500m of state schools and in New South Wales, structures are also banned within 500m of child care centres, hospitals and nursery homes.

Italy, Sweden, Luxembourg and, most recently, the Austrian province of Salzburg have adopted lower output limits - Salzburg's 10,000 times less than that set out by the ICNIRP guidelines followed by Britain.

Salzburg's public health officer for environmental medicine Gerd Oberfeld said: "Greater caution should be taken in siting cell towers near places where children spend considerable amounts of time."

Emissions are also controversial in North America. Authorities in Toronto, Canada, have imposed a limit.

And education chiefs in Vancouver have voted to ban any more transmitters at their hundred-plus schools.

School board officials recommended: "There should be global caution exercised on the effects of electromagnetism, until it is conclusively proven to be harmless."

Although the United States has adopted similar guidelines to those of ICNIRP, its own National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement recommended the maximum permitted personal exposure to electro-magnetic waves be reduced by a factor of 500.

Dr Jackson has been pushing the European Commission to enforce a legally binding framework on emissions.

She said: "Without it, the result has been fear and uncertainty as mobile phone masts have sprung up - often requiring no planning permission or even advance warning - on schools, hospitals and in densely populated areas."

However, mobile phone operators insist there is no scientific basis for lowering the ICNIRP limits or a ban on masts near schools.

A spokeswoman for the Mobile Operators' Association said: "Professor Stewart said there were no scientific grounds for setting guidelines below the levels set by ICNIRP.

"Even the highest radio wave emissions from a base station will always be small fractions of the ICNIRP guidelines. Since 2000, Ofcom has undertaken more than 360 random audits of base stations near schools and hospitals. The measurements from these audits show that emissions levels from base stations are typically small fractions of the ICNIRP international health and safety exposure guidelines."

She said parents should be comforted by a National Radiological Protection Board Report in January, which said measurements showed there was no scientific basis for establishing minimal distances between base stations and areas of public occupancy.

The Echo's Shockwaves campaign is calling for more research into the effects of phone masts.

Littlehampton Today

MOBILE phone masts are being blamed for a spate of mysterious car breakdowns which are turning Beach Road into the Bermuda Triangle of Littlehampton. In just one week, signals from the masts are thought to have jammed the immobiliser systems of at least 10 cars, leaving their drivers stranded.

The problem affects only a short stretch of the road's northern end, and once the cars have been pushed or towed 50 yards away, their central locking and immobiliser systems work perfectly well again.

The nearest mobile phone stations to the affected area are at the police station off East Street, where there are three transmitters.

Michael Blackwood, who works at Arun Security, Beach Road, said that in the last week people had been coming into his shop and asking for help because their cars suddenly wouldn't start.

"The first one was on May 16," he said, "when a lady came in and said that her car had just died on her. People come into us here because we sell keys and car keys.

"It happened twice on the first day and it seemed a bit of a coincidence, then it happened three times the next day.

"We've helped push two cars about 50 yards down the road and then they work again. The RAC have been out to two cars and each time they've towed them just down the road. They seem to know what to do."

Jayne Young works in the Spokes bike shop next to Arun Security and parks her car across the road each day.

She said: "My remote locking only works for the driver's door in Littlehampton, but when I go to Worthing to visit my mum it works fine.

"I got the car in February and when I brought it back here the key wouldn't even open the driver's door sometimes.

"Some days I get so annoyed, I leave the car at home and walk into work."

Paul Hodgson, of the RAC said: "It's an issue which has come up on a national level and it's generally accepted that it is the masts that are causing these problems."

He explained that car locking systems were allocated a frequency of 433.92MHz by the European Radio Committee in 1993 and this became European Law in 1995.

But the same frequency was already allocated to the Ministry of Defence, amateur radio operators and traffic information systems. Some private and public access mobile radio networks also operate close to the 433MHz band and these stronger sources of radio transmission could sometimes block the signal from the radio-activated key.

Simon Bates, spokesman for the Office of Communications (OFCOM) said: "OFCOM is complaints driven so if people who have been affected by this contact us, we will come out and investigate.

"In the past we have found that problems have been caused by interference from a local transmitter but in many cases we have not been able to take action because the transmitter was found to be operating within the terms of its licence.

"In these cases what we have done is recommend that people contact their car manufacturer to see if they can help."

26 May 2005

by Jane Clee

May 26, 2005, 15:06

The Chronicle Great Barr

Oscott councillors have slammed city planning bosses for 'setting a dangerous precedent' and allowing a 12-metre high mobile phone mast to be built despite objections from hundreds of concerned residents.

They have called the decision a 'slap in the face' for the community and say having the phone pole near to homes, a school and a busy shopping area is a bitter blow for campaigners.

Birmingham's Planning Committee have given the go-ahead for the erection of the T-Mobile mast on land adjacent to the Deer's Leap pub, just yards from residents' homes.

At last week's meeting of the planning committee, on Thursday May 19, council chiefs agreed to grant permission for the mast, despite a formal objection from councillors Barbara Dring, John Cotton and Keith Linnecor, backed by a petition signed by hundreds of residents from the Oscott, Sutton Vesey and Pheasey wards.

The team said the decision was a 'slap in the face' for local residents, who have successfully stopped similar planning applications in the past.

Councillor Dring said: "This is a bitter blow to the local community, who have fought hard against this proposal and previous attempts to install these unwanted masts in the Queslett Road area.

"The mast will be within yards of people's homes and is just a stone's throw away from local schools and a busy shopping area. How they can agree to this just beggars belief."

T-Mobile can now put up a 12-metre high phone mast, in a mock telegraph pole design, with two associated equipment cabinets, which would be built at the rear of the pavement.

It would be positioned near a cluster of established trees, the tallest of which is around 11 metres high.

Fellow ward councillor John Cotton said the decision could set a 'dangerous precedent' for the area.

He said: "Up until now, we have been able to hold the mobile companies at bay.

"Walsall Council have already rejected a number of similar applications for the other side of the Queslett Road and I am appalled that Birmingham City Council has not followed their example.

"There is a real danger that this will make attempts to stop any future applications much more difficult."

The team are continuing to battle against a similar application on land almost directly opposite the Deer's Leap, where mobile phone giants O2 are seeking to overturn a Walsall Council ban on putting in a mast close to Doe Bank Lane.

Oscott Councillor Keith Linnecor said: "We are lobbying hard for the Planning Inspectorate to uphold the Walsall Council decision.

'It would be an absolute disaster for this mast to also get the go-ahead following the decision of Birmingham planners to blatantly ignore local residents."

Harborough Today

ANGRY villagers are organising a petition to stop phone masts being put up near their village.

Medbourne Against Masts (MAM) has been formed to fight applications for masts in Drayton Road and Manor Road on the outskirts of the village.

The group, which has already collected a 165 names on their petition, claims the proposals would expose residents to harmful radiation and adversely affect the countryside around Medbourne. Spokesman Nickie Philbin, who lives in Drayton Road, said: "We in the village are totally opposed to these masts. "Five years ago people were only concerned that their views would be spoiled but now they are more worried about the effect on their health. "We would have thought it would be easier to put the masts further into the countryside where there are no homes or people."

MAM organised a meeting with Melton and Rutland MP Alan Duncan, where he pledged to take the campaigners' fight to the relevant authorities.

Mobile phone company Orange has applied to build a 50ft mast at the Drayton Road site, while the Manor Road site would be occupied by a 65ft TETRA, or terrestrial trunked radio, mast which would contain radio equipment for use by Leicestershire Police.

MAM member Paula Parish (42), from Drayton Road, has just recovered from chemotherapy after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She said: "I contracted the illness about 20 years younger than someone could normally expect to be diagnosed, so I think I am in a high-risk group. I also have two young children and I am worried about what the effects could be on them."

Earlier this year, proposals for two masts near Newton Harcourt were thrown out by Harborough District Council.

26 May 2005

The campaign is on fire, and Kimberly-Clark is feeling the heat!

Thousands of you have signed up to this email list because you care about what Kimberly-Clark is doing to ancient forests like the Boreal. Read on to find out how you can take the next step by finding each other and taking action on the ground.
Campaign update

A few weeks ago, we sent you an email asking you to take action by emailing the Board of Directors of Kimberly-Clark. We told you that our goal was to have 5000 people email the Board by the end of the first week. Well, more than 5500 people took action in that first week, and almost 2000 more have done so since – that’s a total of 7500 emails flooding the inboxes of the K-C board. Plus, so many of you helped spread the word to family and friends that over 1250 new people have joined this list since we last emailed you. Great work!

Meanwhile, Richard was in Texas confronting Kimberly-Clark’s Board and execs face to face. Read about his experience at the K-C annual meeting in his blog Sharpshooters, propaganda, and lots of cops: the K-C annual meeting. And, a new campaigner (that’s me!) joined the team to up our capacity to take on Kimberly-Clark and save Canada’s Boreal forest.

New organizing tools!

With so much momentum building, we’re excited to announce the launch of two new tools created specifically to help you organize against Kimberly-Clark: the Kleercut Action Pack and Kleercut Groups.

Kleercut Action Pack: The Kleercut Action Pack is an activist toolkit designed to give you everything you need to organize against Kimberly-Clark in your own community – information, ideas, advice, contacts, and sample materials (including a poster, a flyer, sample letters, media releases and more). Whether you live in a big city or a small town, whether you want to hang a banner or adopt a grocery store or write a story for your local paper, the Kleercut Action Pack will help you make it happen. Get yours now at http://www.kleercut.net/en/actionpack.

Kleercut Groups: Kleercut Groups is an online tool similar to Yahoo Groups designed to help you connect and organize with other activists in your own communities. Using Kleercut Groups, you can find others who are already organizing against Kimberly-Clark in your area, or start up your own local group. Simply subscribe to a local Kleercut Group, then use the e-list and calendar to recruit others and plan and organize events and actions in your own community. Visit the Kleercut Groups organizing centre at http://www.kleercut.net/en/getlocal and sign up or create a local group now.

You know what Kimberly-Clark is doing to ancient forests is wrong. 10,000 year old forests should not be trashed to make products that are used once and then thrown away. It’s up to you to save ancient forests like the Boreal – it’s up to you to stop Kimberly-Clark from flushing forests down the toilet.

Take action this week:

1. Get active: download your Kleercut Action Pack at http://www.kleercut.net/en/actionpack.

2. Get local: join the Kleercut Group closest to you or start a new group at http://www.kleercut.net/en/getlocal.

3. Get busy: put the Action Pack and groups to use by organizing an action against Kimberly-Clark in your area.

Keep on rockin’,

Christy

Christy Ferguson
Greenpeace Forests Campaigner
» K L E E R C U T . N E T
http://kleercut.net/

http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=mj05cavallo


Informant: NHNE

05/26/05

U.S. officials have substantiated five cases in which military guards or interrogators mishandled the Quran of Muslim prisoners at Guantanamo Bay but found 'no credible evidence' to confirm a prisoner's report that a holy book was flushed in a toilet, the prison's commander said Thursday. Brig. Gen. Jay W. Hood, who commands the detention center in Cuba, told a Pentagon news conference that a prisoner who was reported to have complained to an FBI agent in 2002 that a military guard threw a Quran in the toilet has told Hood's investigators that he never witnessed any form of Quran desecration...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7995960/

from MSNBC


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://tinyurl.com/c4lb8


Informant: Sylvie

A coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups announced a campaign today to urge that the U.S. Congress launch a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.

The formal Resolution of Inquiry request, written by Boston constitutional attorney John C. Bonifaz, cites the Downing Street Memo and issues surrounding the planning and execution of the Iraq war. A resolution of inquiry would force relevant House committees to vote on the record as to whether to support an investigation.

Democrats.com, Global Exchange, Code Pink, Gold Star Families for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America, Veterans for Peace, Democracy Rising, Rainbow Push, Velvet Revolution, Justice Through Music, and others have joined the campaign called After Downing Street - the website just launched yesterday, May 26, at http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/

The inquiry has been written... It is now up to US to get the grassroots mobilized and demand an investigation. Regardless of whether or not you think the Republicans will ever impeach this "President", we MUST SPEAK UP! BE THE PEOPLE! Please sign the letter to urge Congress to adopt the Resolution of Inquiry at http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/39 and tell everyone you know!

For more details, visit http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/ and also read the Raw Story article at http://rawstory.com/exclusives/alexandrovna/coalition_inquiry_downing_street_memo_526


“The pioneers of a warless world are the youth that refuse military service.” Albert Einstein


Informant: Lourdes Leger

In skandalöser Weise haben sich die Medien in Frankreich auf die Seite der EU-Verfassungsbefürworter geschlagen: Von Januar bis März entfielen bei Sendungen zur EU-Verfassung 71 Prozent der Sendezeit auf das Ja, 29 Prozent auf das Nein. Gegen diese einseitige Berichterstattung hat eine Gruppe von FernsehjournalistInnen in einem Aufruf protestiert, den mittlerweile mehr als 17.000 Menschen unterzeichnet haben. Bis zum Wochenende wollen die InitiatorInnen auf 20.000 Unterschriften kommen. Wer die Petition unterzeichnen möchte, kann dies online tun unter http://www.attac.de/eu-verfassung/non-zensiert.php

Nach der erfolgreichen bundes- und europaweiten Briefaktion geht das Ringen um die EU-Dienstleistungsrichtlinie nun in die zweite, entscheidende Runde. In diesen Monaten berät der federführende Binnenmarktausschuss des EU-Parlaments intensiv über Änderungsanträge zur Bolkesteinrichtlinie. Im Juli wird im Ausschuss über sie abgestimmt. Daher ist es jetzt besonders wichtig, aktiv zu werden und auf die EU-ParlamentarierInnen einzuwirken.

Per "Mailomat" können im Internet Protestschreiben an alle Mitglieder des federführenden Binnenmarktausschusses gerichtet werden, und zwar unter http://www.attac.de/bolkestein/mailomat/index.php. Es kann entweder eine vorformulierte Mail verschickt werden oder ein selbst formulierter Text. Da viele Abgeordnete die deutsche Sprache nicht verstehen, sollte die Mail aber auf jeden Fall in Englisch formuliert werden.

Da auch durch den von Evelyne Gebhardt am 8. April 2005 vorgelegten Änderungsvorschlag wesentliche Mängel in der EU-Dienstleistungsrichtlinie nach wie vor nicht beseitigt worden sind, ist Attac der Auffassung, dass sie vollständig abgelehnt werden sollte. Zu kritisieren ist weiterhin die mangelnde Folgenabschätzung und unzureichende Berücksichtigung des bestehenden Rechtsrahmens. Zudem dürfen neue Vorschriften zur Regulierung von Dienstleistungen auf nationaler Ebene nach wie vor nur nach Erlaubnis der Europäischen Kommission und der anderen Mitgliedsstaaten eingeführt werden. Um Sozialdumping wirksam zu verhindern, müssen Regulierungen, die Dienstleistungen betreffen, innerhalb der EU auf höchstem Niveau harmonisiert werden.

Helft mit, Bolkesteins Hammer zu stoppen, und beteiligt euch an der Mailomat-Protestaktion!

Am Sonntag: EU-Verfassungs-Referendum in Frankreich!

Noch heute: Mails an französische FreundInnen schicken: Votez NON

Die heutige Zustimmung des deutschen Bundesrats zur EU-Verfassung wird in Frankreich genutzt, um kurz vor dem Verfassungsreferendum an diesem Sonntag den französischen WählerInnen Angst zu machen. Kanzler Schröder wird heute Präsident Chirac bei einer Veranstaltung für das 'Oui' in Toulouse persönlich unterstützen. Bisher liegen die Gegner des neoliberalen Verfassungsentwurfes in Führung. Ein riesiger Erfolg für Attac Frankreich und 950 Bürgerkomittees!

Damit das 'Non' diesen Sonntag wirklich gewinnt, bittet Attac Deutschland alle Mitglieder und UnterstützerInnen, eine E-Mail an ihre französischen Freundinnen und Freunde zu schreiben. Sagen Sie Ihnen, dass wir kein Abstimmungsrecht haben, dass es bei uns keine wirkliche Diskussion gab und die Abgeordneten selbst nicht wissen, was in der Verfassung mit ihren 448 Paragraphen und etlichen Annexen steht (siehe Panorama-Bericht:
http://www.ndrtv.de/panorama/archiv/2005/0512/eu_verfassung.html ).

Bitten Sie Ihre FreundInnen, auch in unserem Namen 'Franchement, NON' zu sagen.

Senden Sie dazu anliegendes Flugblatt in französischer Sprache an Ihre Freundinnen und Freunde, das zumindest neun Personen in Frankreich eine Stimme gibt. Attac Frankreich verbreitet in einer parallelen E-Mail an seine Mitglieder das anliegende Flugblatt ebenfalls.

Weitere Informationen zur internationalen Unterstützung eines pro- europäischen 'Non': http://www.attac.de/faces-du-non und http://www.attac.fr

--------

Attac Deutschland
Pressemitteilung
Berlin, 27. Mai 2005


* Nach Bundesratsvotum zur EU-Verfassung:
* Massenmails nach Frankreich und Aktion in Berlin
* Scharfe Kritik an Zustimmung der Berliner PDS

Während der heutigen Abstimmung im Bundesrat haben Mitglieder des globalisierungskritischen Netzwerks Attac in Berlin gegen die EU-Verfassung protestiert. Mit einem großen "Non" vor dem Bundesratsgebäude machten sie zwei Tage vor dem Referendum in Frankreich deutlich, dass das Votum im Bundesrat nicht repräsentativ für die Meinung der Menschen in Deutschland ist. "Die Landesregierungen haben über die EU-Verfassung abgestimmt, ohne die Menschen vorher über den Inhalt dieses Verfassungsvertrags aufzuklären. Diese EU-Verfassung bedeutet, dass Kriege und Sozialabbau weitergehen", sagte Stephan Lindner, EU-Experte im Attac-Koordinierungskreis. Ein Nein zu diesem Text sei kein Nein zu Europa. "Wer ein soziales, ökologisches, friedliches und demokratisches Europa wünscht, kann diesem Text nicht zustimmen, sondern muss sich für neue Verhandlungen einsetzen."

Als Skandal bezeichnete Lindner die Zustimmung des Landes Berlin. Die Berliner PDS-Senatoren hatten nicht auf einer Enthaltung bestanden, obwohl die Partei die Verfassung öffentlich abgelehnt hat. Das Beispiel Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns zeige, dass es der PDS auch in Berlin möglich gewesen wäre, eine Enthaltung im Bundesrat durchzusetzen.

Um die Kampagne von Attac Frankreich für ein Nein bei dem am Sonntag stattfindenden Referendum weiter zu unterstützen, haben Attac Deutschland und Attac Frankreich heute über 50.000 E-Mails verschickt. Mitglieder und Sympathisanten von Attac in Deutschland wurden aufgefordert, ihre französischen Freunde und Bekannten zu bitten, am Sonntag mit Nein zu stimmen. Seit Wochen besuchen bereits Attac-Aktivisten aus Deutschland Veranstaltungen in Frankreich, um der französischen Öffentlichkeit deutlich zu machen, dass es auch in Deutschland Widerstand gegen diese EU-Verfassung gibt.


Für Rückfragen:
Stephan Lindner, Tel. 0176-2434 2789

Weitere Informationen
und Bilder zur Aktion in Berlin (ab 14 Uhr):
http://www.attac.de


Malte Kreutzfeldt
Pressesprecher Attac Deutschland
Post: Münchener Str. 48, 60329 Frankfurt/M
Tel.: 069/900 281-42, Mobil: 0170-233 4746
Mail: presse@attac.de, Fax: 069/900 281-99

The Corporation: a film by Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott & Joel Bakan

SYNOPSIS: THE CORPORATION explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Footage from pop culture, advertising, TV news, and corporate propaganda, illuminates the corporation's grip on our lives. Taking its legal status as a "person" to its logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?" Provoking, witty, sweepingly informative, The Corporation includes forty interviews with corporate insiders and critics - including Milton Friedman, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3350

Federalist #47, written by James Madison (who would later become President), encouraged ratification of the U.S. Constitution because there would be a separation of powers in the new U.S. government. There would be no single ruler. There would be no tyrant like King George III. Madison wrote, "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." The article below describes the consolidation of power may be one of the reasons our Nation rushed to war against Iraq.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3349

Large corporations are censoring the news and buying legislators: "The treasurer of a political action committee formed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay broke the law by not reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. State District Judge Joe Hart said the money, much of it corporate contributions, should have been reported to the Texas Ethics Commission." The enormous illegal contributions resulted in "Republicans [winning] control of the Texas House for the first time since Reconstruction. The GOP later used its majority to redraw Texas' congressional districts and send more Republicans to Capitol Hill."

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3348

Newspapers and other media are under enormous pressure to report only good news for their large corporate advertisers. This business bias is strong evidence there is longer a "liberal press," but rather a heavily censored press. The article below provides very disturbing information about the heavy hand of huge international corporations on our news.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3347

Take action in honor of memorial day by sending one of these letters to the editor. http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3344

This Memorial Day Weekend, show your support for the servicemen and women by writing a Letter to the Editor to the newspaper of your choice. VCS has prepared template letters addressing four key issues: development of a credible plan for the stabilization of Iraq, women in the armed forces serving in combat roles, international law and prisoner abuse, and energy independence.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3353

More than 85,000 U.S. soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan have sought medical care from the Department of Veterans Affairs after getting back, that department told Congress Thursday. That is an increase of 52,000 GIs since last summer -- last July the VA said 35,000 vets from Iraq and Afghanistan had sought medical treatment from the department.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3346

Detainees told FBI interrogators as early as April 2002 that mistreatment of the Koran was widespread at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and many said they were severely beaten by captors there or in Afghanistan, according to FBI documents released yesterday.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3336

Guantánamo Prisoners Told FBI of Koran Desecration in 2002, New Documents Reveal

The joint VCS-ACLU lawsuit against the federal agencies for the mistreatment of prisoners in Guantánamo Bay opens access to new documents.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3335

Info der Bürgerinitiative „Senderfreies Obermenzing“

Liebe Obermenzinger,
liebe Mitbürgerinnen und Mitbürger,

In der Eglofstr.7 wird eine Mobilfunkantenne errichtet!

Wollen Sie, daß durch Mobilfunksender in unserem Wohngebiet

- Ihre Familien und Ihre Kinder krank werden ?
- Ihre Gesundheit und Arbeitsfähigkeit leidet ?
- Ihre Immobilie an Wert verliert bzw. unverkäuflich wird ?

Dann informieren Sie sich und helfen Sie mit Ihrem Protest gegen die geplanten Mobilfunksender in der Eglofstraße 7 und in der Sedelhofstraße.

Eine Informationsveranstaltung dazu findet am 01.06.2005 um 20 Uhr im Pfarrsaal von Leiden Christi in der Passionistenstraße statt. Eintritt ist frei.

Als Redner sind Dr. med. Scheiner und Ulrich Weiner geladen.

Bitte weiterleiten

Kontaktadresse der BI Obermenzing: Dr. med. Hans- C. und Ana Scheiner Franz-Wüllner-Str. 39, 81247 München, Tel.: 089-885222, Fax: 089-8204228, E-mail: info@drscheiner-muenchen.de, Internet: http://www.drscheiner-muenchen.de


Nachricht von Ulrich Weiner

Memorial Day weekend brings media rituals. Old Glory flutters on television and newsprint. Grave ceremonies and oratory pay homage to the fallen. Many officials and pundits speak of remembering the dead. But for all the talk of war and remembrance, no time is more infused with insidious forgetting than the last days of May.

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_21208.shtml


From Information Clearing House

In a shocking innovation in American nuclear policy, the administration has created and placed on continuous high alert a force whereby the President can launch a pinpoint strike, including a nuclear strike, anywhere on earth with a few hours' notice.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=2837



The U.S. removes the nuclear brakes:

Ever since the terror attack of September 11, 2001, the Bush administration has gradually done away with all the nuclear brakes that characterized American policy during the Cold War. No longer are nuclear bombs considered "the weapon of last resort."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/580533.html


From Information Clearing House

To many Americans, the idea that U. S. leaders could be prosecuted for war crimes comes right out of left field.

http://www.warcrimestrial.us/


From Information Clearing House

http://www.tetrawatch.net/science/research_models.pdf

Andy

From Mast Network

Oppose New Nuclear Weapons Today

The Bush administration has asked for $8.5 million in the 2006 budget for research on a "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator" (RNEP). This new nuclear weapon, also known as the nuclear "bunker buster," is being promoted as a useful tool in attacking deeply buried command centers or underground stores of chemical and biological weapons. But numerous scientific critiques, including one by the National Academy of Science, find that in many cases such a weapon would be ineffective. In addition, the nuclear blast and radioactive fall-out could kill millions of innocent people in surrounding areas. In the coming weeks, both the House and Senate will consider funding for this new nuclear weapon. Please tell your Representative and Senators to reject all funding for the dangerous nuclear "bunker buster".

Read the Letter:

I am greatly opposed to the Administration's proposal to budget $8.5 Million for research on a Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP). I am deeply disturbed by this proposal. This nuclear weapon is not needed, appears to set the U.S. on a new course of developing nuclear war fighting weapons, and sends a counterproductive message to the international community at a time when we are trying to discourage other nations from developing nuclear weapons. I hope that you will deny all funds for the RNEP or nuclear "bunker buster" program.

As you know, the Administration's FY06 budget requests $8.5 million for RNEP, which is intended to destroy deeply buried bunkers and/or underground stores of chemical or biological weapons. However, a recent National Academy of Sciences study http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11282.html?onpi_newsdoc04272005 concludes that the weapon would be of limited use in destroying deep bunkers or underground stores of biological or chemical weapons, and that its use could kill millions of people.

To illustrate the technical realities of the RNEP weapon, the Union of Concerned Scientists has produced an animation that shows both the weapon's technical shortcomings and the consequences of its use. I strongly recommend that you and your staff consider and use this important resource--it can be found at: http://www.ucsusa.org/global_security/nuclear_weapons/page.cfm?pageID=1781

Finally, I believe that Congress needs to match their words with their actions when addressing the cause of nuclear proliferation. If we are calling on other nations to refrain from building nuclear weapons, we should refrain as well. Our focus should be on decreasing our already bloated and unnecessary nuclear stockpile. The international community is currently meeting at the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference at the UN. This is an excellent time for the Congress to defund this program and send a strong nonproliferation message.

I look forward to hearing your position on this important issue and hope that you deny all funding for the RNEP program. Thank you.

I agree, the funding of these studies is huge compared with the potential outcome. Same is true for the MTHR study at King's College. But both are short exposure studies, therefore looking for quite acute and fast responses. I have told them that long term studies in people's home environments, measuring the right things in the right locations, might yield more telling results. I agree with them that measuring biological electrical activity in an electrically isolated environment is not easy, but EEGs, body magnetic field changes, NO levels in the breath or changes in the blood etc., all can and should be done.

I asked James Rubin and Simon Wessely at King's what they would do if their study of phones and EHS yielded a positive response. The answer of course is to do it again. And then, what would it show? The answer is that it would show the people who say their phones hurt them are not lying. How many generations of this kind of study to show that phone radiation damages people? And then, what if you sufficiently prove phone radiation presents a rik to health? The answer is to start negotiating with the industry -- the "low tar" argument, while you do the cost-benefit equation with people's lives. How many years, nay, decades, does that represent?

Andy


The Problem with Laboratory EMF Experiments
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/721570/

http://www.tomflocco.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=110&mode=&order=0&thold=0


Informant: Debi Clark

SIGN-ON TO LETTER TO WOLFOWITZ TO MARK HIS FIRST DAY AS PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BANK

Please support this action as soon as possible by:

1) signing-on to the letter below. Sign-ons should be sent to wolfowitzday@yahoo.com (deadline is 30 May 6 PM EST),
2) circulating the letter and request widely, and
3) posting the letter on your website.

The greater the number of organizational endorsers, the louder our voices.

Peace,
Gael Murphy
Code Pink


Dear Friends,

On June 1, Paul Wolfowitz, the man best-known for planning the invasion and occupation of Iraq and promoting them as U.S. policy, will officially become president of the World Bank Group. Civil society organizations from around the world have been meeting via conference call to plan a response for June 1st. In Washington, activists will gather outside the World Bank headquarters (18th and Pennsylvania) at 9:30 am on June 1. Actions are also being planned in the Philippines, France, and elsewhere. If you are planning or interested in organizing an action/protest, please contact Hope Chu hope@50years.org .

Below is a letter to Wolfowitz which we are circulating it broadly for sign-ons. PLEASE get your organization to sign-on, if they have not already done so. Also, please disseminate and encourage organizations within your networks to sign-on to the letter. The DEADLINE for signatures is Monday, May 30, 6pm Eastern time North America.

We are primarily seeking *organizational* endorsements. Please include the full name of your organization and its location -- city, state (if applicable), and country. SEND YOUR SIGN-ON to wolfowitzday@yahoo.com . The letter, with signers collated, will be made available for use in media work and response by Noon on May 31st.

Thank you

50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice


June 1, 2005

Dear Mr. Wolfowitz:

As you know, civil society organizations around the world reacted to your nomination and confirmation as president of the World Bank Group with alarm. Now, on the occasion of your formal accession to the office, we write you to make clear what we perceive as the major challenges facing the World Bank and the governments that control it. We are writing in the hope that you will address these issues in a satisfactory way.

The process itself that led to your appointment itself demonstrates the first challenge: of democracy and accountability. The 60-year-old unwritten agreement allowing only the president of the United States to choose the head of the World Bank Group is archaic and out of step with standard norms of democratic practice. The World Bank may be multilateral in name, but in practice it has become a tool for imposing a development and economic model that serves the interests of a few governments and corporations while rendering borrowing countries, the majority of its members, all but powerless to shift the Bank, or themselves, away from that model, or even to explore alternatives.

We anticipate that in the next five years the World Bank will set up a committee to examine its voting structure and presidential selection process, and that it may even make reasonable-sounding suggestions. But, given past experiences with such processes at the World Bank, we expect little real change. The secretive and undemocratic day-to-day decision-making processes at the international financial institutions weaken the credibility of the IMF and World Bank even as they profess transparency and accountability, and demand those qualities of borrowing countries.

We anticipate that early in your presidency you will announce your intention to engage in consultation and dialogue with civil society. But given the record of the World Bank over the last 10 years, it is likely that millions of dollars in public funds will be spent on processes, reports, and recommendations that will ultimately be ignored by the World Bank, as was the case with, among others, the World Commission on Dams, the Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative (SAPRI), and the Extractive Industries Review (EIR). The Bank largely disavowed the results of these processes which made explicit recommendations to improve bank procedures, and to make it more transparent and democratic. The Bank’s recent controversial Joint Facilitation Committee neither improved relations with civil society nor made the Bank more responsive to its demands. Instead, it ignored the “voice of the peoples” affected by Bank policies and practices.

We anticipate that the World Bank will continue to devote millions of dollars to its public relations efforts. These efforts have deftly distanced the bank from its most unpopular policies and programs while maintaining the status quo. Over the past decade, the Bank has manipulated the meaning of terms like "poverty reduction," its new name for structural adjustment programs; "good governance," its new rationale for imposing conditions on borrowing governments; and "debt relief", its deceitful euphemism for insuring that governments continue to maintain their place on the borrow-repay-reschedule debt treadmill.

The World Bank’s public relations staff now faces the challenge of convincing people that the new president is independent of the Bush Administration and its controversial policies. We fear that "democracy" will be among the new buzz-words at the Bank, and the basis for a new set of conditionalities, particularly in the Middle East. We fear it will be used not to help create space for people to choose their own economic systems and development models, but as a cover to impose rules prioritizing foreign investment and market liberalization above all else, and to disempower and discredit governments that choose to prioritize the priorities of their citizens over corporate interests.

Nowhere will the public relations staff be more challenged than in dealing with the World Bank's role in Iraq. We anticipate a renewed politicization of the Bank, in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East, in order to increase corporate access to oil and other resources and assets as well as markets and cheap labor. You will be asked to recuse yourself from the World Bank/UN investigation into the U.S. government's distribution of Iraqi development funds to Halliburton, a contract with which you were personally involved; we hope you will do so. Ethical questions on that issue could well be compounded by the World Bank’s determination that Iraq's food subsidies should be eliminated -- in a country where acute malnutrition rates for children have nearly doubled since the invasion of April 2003. You could confound your critics by immediately announcing that the Bank will withdraw its conclusions about Iraqi subsidies.

We anticipate that you will talk about the need for more debt relief in the poorest countries, and perhaps even publicly advocate that President Bush co-operate with other wealthy countries to offer more relief. We believe that such calls would be greatly strengthened if you were to employ the logic you used in advocating for France, Russia, and Germany to cancel the debts they claim of Iraq -- namely that loans contracted by undemocratic regimes which worked to the detriment of the population should be annulled. Many of our organizations have used the same logic with regard to the equally odious debts contracted by the apartheid regime in South Africa, Mobutu in Zaire, Marcos in the Philippines, the military junta in Argentina, and many more. We have never received a sympathetic hearing from the World Bank.

You have announced that you will travel to Africa shortly after taking office. We anticipate that while there you will meet with presidents and prime ministers, and declare the urgency of helping the continent. We fear that access to Africa's oil will take precedence over poverty eradication and sustainable development and that, once again, there will be no material improvement in Africa's outlook resulting from World Bank programs during your tenure. Despite an endless series of Bank anti-poverty initiatives in the region during the last 30 years, African per capita incomes are below their 1975 level. Only by demonstrating respect for the people of Africa, their knowledge and their own particular national priorities will you gain credibility on that continent.

We note that at this historical moment, Latin American countries are disavowing and resisting the imposition of the so-called Washington Consensus, and many Asian nations are increasing their financial independence so as to free themselves from the dictates of the IMF and the Bank.

Whatever stand you ultimately take on these issues, we commit ourselves to monitoring the performance of the World Bank, examining its rhetoric and exposing its deceptions and manipulations. We will invite others to do the same -- governments; NGOs; and the media which have too often paid more attention to words than actions and evidence. The stakes for the Bank are high: its reputation is at an all-time low and its policies continue to be a major source of poverty, violence and injustice. It is in your hands to start the process of reversing this persistent trend. The world is watching.


Signed: (As of May 23, 2005)

Angola
Jubileu 2000 Angola (Luanda)

Bangladesh
Lokoj Institute
CDL (Dhaka)
Organization for Social Development of Unemployed Youth (Dhaka)
BanglaPraxis (Dhaka)
VOICE (Dhaka)
Advancing Public Interest Trust (Dhaka)
Angikar Bangladesh

Basque Country
ESK Trade Union

Belgium
Committee for the Aboliton of Third World Debt (CADTM Belgium)

Cameroon
FOCARFE (Yaoundé)

Canada
MiningWatch (Ottawa, ON)
Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation (Victoria, BC)
Alberta Council for Global Cooperation (Edmonton, AB)
Democracy Watch
One Sky – The Canadian Institute of Sustainable Living (Smithers, BC)
Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation (CIIAN)
Falls Brook Centre

Côte d’Ivoire
ASBL Mieux Vivre Ensemble

East Timor
La'o Hamutuk - East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis (Dili)

France
Agir ici (Paris)
Friends of the Earth France (Paris)
Committee for the Aboliton of Third World Debt (CADTM France)

Greece
Stop the War Coalition Greece
Campaign Genoa 2001-Greece (Athens)

Haiti
PAPDA

India
INSAF (New Delhi)
PEACE (New Delhi)
Delhi Forum (New Delhi)

Indonesia
Yayasan HIMBA Lubuklinggau (Sumatra Selatan)

Nepal
South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE)

Netherlands
ASEED Europe (Amsterdam)

Norway
IGNIS Foundation

Pakistan
Centre for Alternative Media (Islamabad)
WTO Watch Group (Islamabad)

Peru
Ecovida (Cajamarca)
Federación de Trabajadores del Agua Potable del Peru

Philippines
Freedom from Debt Coalition (Quezon City)
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (Quezon City)
Peace Camp (Quezon City)
Bantay ICT (Quezon City)
Integrated Rural Development Foundation of the Philippines (Quezon City)
Philippine Peasant Institute (Quezon City)

Portugal
Ana Isabel Lopes – University of Lisbon*

South Africa
Alternative Information & Development Centre (Cape Town)
Anti-Privatisation Forum

Sri Lanka
Fr. Tissa Balasuriya OMI*

Switzerland
Nord-Sud XXI (Geneva)

Thailand
Focus on the Global South (with offices in Philippines & India as well)

Tunisia
RAID Attac Tunisie (Slimene)

United Kingdom
New Economics Foundation (London)

United States
Sustainable Energy & Economy Network (SEEN)/IPS (Washington, DC)
Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy & Environment Program (Washington, DC)
Africa Action (Washington, DC)
Sisters of the Holy Cross (Notre Dame, IN)
Feminist Aid to Central America and the Caribbean
Gender Action (Washington, DC)
Crude Accountability (Alexandria, VA)
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (Washington, DC)
50 Years Is Enough Network (Washington, DC)
Code Pink:Women for Peace (USA)
Clergy & Laity Concerned About Iraq (New York, NY)
Oakland Institute (Oakland, CA)
Jubilee USA Network (Washington, DC)
Amazon Watch (Washington, DC)
Center for Economic Justice (Albuquerque, NM)
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) (Washington, DC)
Nicaragua Network (Washington, DC)
Nicaragua Center for Community Action (Berkeley, CA)
Chicago Media Watch (Evanston, IL)
Global Exchange (San Francisco, CA)
Global Justice Ecology Project (Hinesburg, VT)
Global Response (Boulder, CO)
Bend-Condega Friendship Project (Bend, OR)
United for Peace and Justice (USA)

Venezuela
Red Venezolana contra la Deuda

Zambia
Kelly Inambao*

Zimbabwe
MDC Action Support Group

Each year 100 million sharks are killed, largely as a result of shark finning. Shark finning is a cruel and remarkably wasteful practice that involves cutting off the dorsal, pectoral and tail fins and dumping the rest of the shark back into the water. Often the mutilated sharks are thrown overboard while still alive, only to die a slow and painful death. This practice has become the method of choice to feed the global demand for shark fin soup, a popular delicacy in Asian cuisine.

Widespread shark finning is decimating the world's shark populations, resulting in declines of 90 percent or more in vast regions of the oceans. Much of this massive shark mortality could be avoided with an international ban on shark finning.

WHAT'S AT STAKE:

Last year, the international community banned shark finning in the Atlantic Ocean, but the practice is still rampant in the Pacific Ocean. Now is the time to ban shark finning in the Pacific as well. This June, governments will vote on a proposal to ban finning in the Pacific at an international fisheries meeting. The U.S. government's position on this issue could help sway the outcome of the meeting and the fate of these remarkable creatures.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Your support is urgently needed to stop the needless slaughter of millions of sharks for their fins. Please visit http://www.savesharks.org and send an e-mail urging the U.S. government to actively promote a ban on shark finning in the Pacific Ocean. With your support, we can secure a brighter future for the lords of the sea.

Defenders of Wildlife is a leading national conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and habitat and known for its effective leadership on saving endangered species such as brown bears and gray wolves. Defenders advocates new approaches to wildlife conservation that protect species before they become endangered. Founded in 1947, Defenders is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with more than 475,000 members and supporters.

http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/takeaction.asp

Save America's Redrock Wilderness
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/1602486/

Zur Information und weiteren Verwendung:

Der Brief an Bundeskanzler Schröder wurde in ähnlicher Form auch an Umweltminister Trittin und Gesundheitsministerin Schmidt verschickt.

Es geht um die Erkenntnisse der Bamberger Ärzteinitiative, dass es ein neues Krankheitsbild gibt, an dem hochgerechnet auf Deutschland mehrere Hunderttausend Menschen leiden. Damit wird die Diskussion, ob die Schädlichkeit von Mobilfunkstrahlung "wissenschaftlich bewiesen" ist, überflüssig - die Menschen werden krank.

Die gesamte Dokumentation wurde an folgende Redaktionen geschickt:

SZ Chefredaktion und Wissenschaftsredaktion
FAZ, Spiegel, Focus, Zeit, Bunte und Stern-Chefredaktionen

Gruß,

Hans Schmidt
Sprecher der Bürgerinitiative Wolfratshausen-Stadtgebiet gegen Elektrosmog


Dr.-Ing. Hans Schmidt
Gebhardtstr. 2d
82515 Wolfratshausen
Tel: 08171/29751
Wolfratshausen, den 25.05.05
Fax: 08171/911035


An die Chefredaktion der ZEIT
20079 Hamburg


Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

ich möchte Sie auf eine neue Entwicklung in der Diskussion um die Gesundheitsgefährdung durch Mobilfunk aufmerksam machen, die der bisher unersprießlichen öffentlichen Debatte eine völlig neue Richtung gibt: Die Ärzte, die bisher von der Diskussion praktisch ausgeschlossen waren (die Grenzwerte orientieren sich nur an der Erwärmung von Körpergewebe, aber nicht an der Gesundheit), haben nun ein neues Krankheitsbild bei erhöhter Belastung durch Hochfrequenzfelder gefunden. Damit wird die ganze Diskussion, ob es nun „wissenschaftlich bewiesen“ ist oder nicht, zweitrangig, denn die Menschen werden krank. Die Wissenschaftler sollen weiter forschen, um die Ursache für dieses Krankheitsbild zu finden, aber die Politik muss nun handeln.

Und Sie, sehr geehrte Chefredaktion, sind als „vierte Gewalt“ in Deutschland aufgefordert, diesem Thema als wichtige Instanz der öffentlichen Meinung und Information Raum zu geben. Die massiven finanziellen Interessen der Mobilfunkindustrie dürfen eine objektive und engagierte Berichterstattung nicht verhindern.

Als Anlage schicke ich Ihnen

§ Das Vorwort zur Broschüre der Bamberger Ärzteinitiative über 356 Krankenfälle im Zusammenhang mit diesem neuen Krankheitsbild, die in einem kleinen Gebiet in Oberfranken gefunden wurden – hochgerechnet auf Deutschland ergeben sich mehrere Hunderttausend Kranke http://tinyurl.com/7umo5

§ Die Broschüre der Bamberger Ärzteinitiative

§ Zur Ergänzung die statistische Auswertung der Krankenfälle durch die Ärzteinitiative http://tinyurl.com/ey6kf

§ Meinen offenen Brief an den Bundeskanzler zu diesem Thema, der in ähnlicher Form auch an den Bundes-Umweltminister, Herrn Trittin, und an die Bundes-Gesundheitsministerin, Frau Schmidt ging http://tinyurl.com/cuo6g

Ich bitte Sie, sich dieses Themas anzunehmen, das wegen der flächendeckenden Mobilfunkbestrahlung alle Menschen in unserem Land betrifft, und darüber zu berichten.


Vielen Dank im Voraus für Ihre Unterstützung,
mit freundlichen Grüßen

Are you aware of this research?
http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~topiolli/ptk/3rdgen/radiation.pdf

--------

WARNING on supposed Finland 3G study

Could you please distribute this to make sure Mast Sanity does not quote it. It may be a trap to discredit!

Regards

Don



To All

The below message, and link, came in this morning and will probably be doing the rounds on Internet as further evidence that cell phones and 3G in particular, are a health hazard.

However the whole paper, supposedly "published" in Nov. of 2002, looks +VERY+ suspect to me for quite a few reasons. Note in the photo how the phone is placed and the test tissue still has a supermarket shrink rap and scanner price sticker attached! It looks more like a joke! From the looks of their test chamber their conclusions seem a bit over rated. I'm thinking this whole thing is either someone's idea of a joke or an after-hours school science project conducted in a tree house. It looks like they essentially just made a crude home-built microwave oven.

Have a look but pleeeease don't quote it as science!

Don Maisch

http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=58

--------

I looked at this study, but it is rubbish as it stands: all they did was to show a temperature rise when a 3G phone is left on inside an aluminium lined box, and reported no biological effects at all.

Roger Coghill
MA (Cantab) C Biol MI Biol MA (Environ Mgt)
Coghill Research Laboratories

--------

Could be fake, check
http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~topiolli/index.php?section=personal
and
http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~topiolli/images/virne.jpg
http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~topiolli/images/virne2.jpg

--------

May 27, 2005

The research paper about the 3G mobile phones at

http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~topiolli/ptk/3rdgen/radiation.pdf

is fake. I have explained to him that it is not funny to make a joke like this. It may even be damaging to people suffering from electrohypersensitivity c.q. microwave sickness. He does not understand. Here are his data:

Topi Mäenpää
Information Processing Lab
Dept. of Electrical and Information Engineering
University of Oulu, Finland
phone ++358 40 7747749
phone ++358 8 5532796
email topiolli@ee.oulu.fi

--------

From Don Maisch - I really hope Dr Tech uses his mobile 6 hours a day ...

Best Yasmin Skelt


'A very Finnish sense of humour'

As for the that Finnish paper on 3G (last message) it turns out to be a Uni prank. The person who earlier sent it to me has since spoken with Topi Menp the "author" (alias Dr. Tech) at Oulu University.

Dr. Tech has left his photo at
http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~topiolli/images/virne.jpg which illustrates who has the last laugh on this one!

Topi's details are at: http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~topiolli/index.php?section=personal

Don Maisch
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=59

Microwave Ovens or using cell phones, causes permanent brain damage by shorting out electrical impulses in the brain.

http://tuberose.com/Microwave_Ovens.html


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=+microwave+ovens

Der Ausgang des Volksentscheids am Sonntag könnte einen Dominoeffekt auslösen, auch die Holländer sind überwiegend gegen die Verfassung.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20175/1.html

by Norman Solomon

The endless show that seems to fill America's every waking moment -- and many of its nightmares -- could be called "Media Jeopardy!" Before proceeding, here's a reminder of the rules: Listen to the answer and then try to come up with the question. Let's get started....

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May05/Solomon0526.htm

by Mike Whitney

The United States military is a fully owned subsidiary of the corporate and financial establishment. It plays no role in defending the American people. The function of today's military is to seize the world's dwindling resources through force of arms and provide a taxpayer-funded security apparatus for multinationals and energy giants. The notion that the $500 billion per year Goliath is designed to protect the American people is sheer lunacy. Its real purpose is to win wars of aggression, siphon off the wealth of foreign nations, and crush the subsequent resistance movements. Anything else is purely public relations pabulum....

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May05/Whitney0526.htm

Rumsfeld Visits Ft. Bragg

by Lou Plummer

Donald Rumsfeld's visit to Ft. Bragg gives the local politicos a chance to bring out their banner proclaiming Bragg's sister community, Fayetteville, as America's Most Patriotic City. Were I a card carrying member of the press rather than just a grass roots activist, I'd like to ask those smarmy small town officials to reflect on patriotism. I know what patriotism means to me and the other military families in this community who are tired of empty slogans and photo ops. It doesn't mean anything any more. I was born in a brick hospital. What if I told you I believe brick hospitals are superior to all other types of hospitals? Would you feel nervous if I told you people born in brick hospitals are unique and special? Would you be uncomfortable if you saw me pray publicly and often for God Almighty to especially bless people born in brick hospitals? Patriotic Americans have that attitude about their birthplace. Through the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune they believe they are lucky enough to have been born into the greatest country ever. These patriots are prepared to defend their country against all detractors. It just doesn't make sense....

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May05/Plummer0526.htm

In der Anlage überlasse ich Euch einen Aufruf von drei ehemaligen Bundestagsabgeordneten der SPD (Manfred Coppik, Karl-Heinz Hansen und Erich Meinicke), der am letzten Sonntag nach dem Bekanntwerdenden des Wahlausgaqnges in NRW veröffentlicht wurde.

Bitte verbreitet diesen Aufruf und unterstützt ihn, damit die Chancen für eine linke Opposition nicht vertan werden und sie nur außerparlamentarisch hörbar wird: http://tinyurl.com/c52od

Mit solidarischen Grüßen

Willi van Ooyen

Bitte senden an: Friedens- und Zukunftswerkstatt e. V., c/o Frankfurter Gewerkschaftshaus, Wilhelm-Leuschner-Str. 69, 60329 Frankfurt am Main, Tel.: 069 - 242499.50, Fax: 069 – 242499.51; E-Mail: Frieden-und-Zukunft@t-online.de

http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=NABU

.... und austreten müssten alle Mitglieder aus dem NABU, der als angeblicher Naturschutzverband mit Vodafone kooperiert.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen vom Uhlenhof
Hans-Udo Weiland


Wer hätte gedacht, dass der NABU so simpel gestrickt ist und ausgerechnet Vodafone auf den Leim geht. Für ein paar lächerliche Silberlinge lässt sich der NABU ein kritisches Eintreten für eine lebenswerte intakte Umwelt abkaufen. Hat denn keiner der Verantwortlichen in dieser angeblichen Umweltschutzorganisation wenn schon nicht an die Menschen, so wenigstens an die betroffenen Tiere gedacht? Wie hoch ist wohl der Beitrag des Elektrosmogs am Artensterben in Deutschland und in der ganzen Welt?! Ist der Schaden, den Vodafone und Co in der Natur anrichten nicht ein Vielfaches größer als der geplante finanzielle Beitrag für den Naturschutz?!

Diese Kooperation mit Vodafone erlaubt dem NABU keine negativen Stellungnahmen oder gar Klagen gegen geplante neue Mobilfunkantennen. Etwas besseres konnte Vodafone beim Ausbau des UMTS-Netzes gar nicht passieren. Jetzt kann Vodafone sogar vor Gericht behaupten, dass der zweitgrößte Umweltverband in Deutschland gegen diese fragwürdige Technologie nichts mehr einzuwenden hat.

Eine solche Organisation, die gegen ihre eigenen satzungsmäßigen Ziele in derart eklatanter Weise vorsätzlich verstößt, hat damit die Gemeinnützigkeit verspielt und verdient keine Unterstützung mehr durch Mitglieder und Spender. Hoffentlich zeigen viele Mitglieder, dass sie mit dieser profitorientierten, die Belange des Umwelt- und Naturschutzes verratenden Vereinspolitik nicht einverstanden sind und treten aus dem NABU aus.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
vom Uhlenhof

Hans-Udo Weiland


-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Holger Kirchmaier
Gesendet: Dienstag, 10. Mai 2005 23:18
An: elektrosmog
Betreff: Nabu und Vodafone kooperieren

Ich kann mich da Ihrer Meinung nur anschließen!

Als nächstes fehlt jetzt nur noch eine Kooperation mit den Ärzten. Auch eine solche Kooperation ließe sich sehr gut darstellen, da beide Seiten hervorragend von einander profitieren könnten.

Viele Grüße
Holger Kirchmaier

-------Originalmeldung-------
Joachim Weise
Datum: 05/10/05 21:56:24
Betreff: Nabu und Vodafone kooperieren

Die ist ein gewaltiger Tiefschlag für Naturschutzfreunde! NABU, der neben dem Bund Naturschutz größte Verband in Deutschland verbündet sich ausgerechnet mit dem aggressivsten Mobilfunkanbieter. Da bleibt mir die Spucke weg.

Lesen Sie selbst den folgenden Artikel:

Berlin/Düsseldorf - (Om) - Heute wurde in der Berliner Konzernrepräsentanz von Vodafone der Kooperationsvertrag zwischen dem Naturschutzbund NABU und Vodafone unterzeichnet. Mit ihrer auf vier Jahre angelegten Partnerschaft wollen sich NABU und Vodafone gemeinsam in konkreten Projekten für die Ziele des Naturschutzes und der nachhaltigen Entwicklung engagieren. Die Einrichtung einer mobilen Natur-Plattform auf dem VodafoneLive! Portal gehört zu den ersten gemeinsamen Projekten. Pünktlich zum Aktionswochenende der "Stunde der Gartenvögel" am 20. Mai wird das Portal live geschaltet.

Neue Techniken helfen, die Natur besser zu schützen. Die Kooperation mit Vodafone öffnet dem NABU den Weg zu rund 27 Millionen Mobilfunkkunden in Deutschland. Dem NABU eröffnet sich die einmalige Chance, seine Ziele im Bereich Nachhaltigkeit und Naturschutz per Handy zeitgemäß zu kommunizieren", sagte NABU-Präsident Olaf Tschimpke. Über die VodafoneLive!-Plattform können ab Juni per Handy Informationen zu weiteren Aktionen des NABU oder auch Standorte von Schutzzentren in der Nähe abgerufen werden. Vodafone wird bundesweite Projekte wie die Stunde der Gartenvögel, die BatNights zur Beobachtung von Fledermäusen und den jährlichen BirdWatch im Oktober unterstützen. Informationen zu diesen Highlights stehen Vodafone Kunden dann aktuell zur Verfügung.

Neben dem langjährigen gesellschaftlichen Engagement von Vodafone soll nun auch der Umweltschutz intensiver bearbeitet werden. "Wir haben mit dem NABU einen Partner gefunden, der mit seinen jahrzehntelangen Erfahrungen auf vielen Gebieten des Umweltschutzes dazu beitragen wird, unser Umweltengagement zu verbessern und unser Unternehmen für die wichtigen Fragen in diesem Bereich zu sensibilisieren", erklärte Maximilian Schoeberl, Vodafone-Direktor für Unternehmenskommunikation und Politik. Expertenworkshops werden die Grundlagen schaffen, um in Bereichen wie Energieeffizienz, Abfallwirtschaft und Recycling ebenso wie bei der Kommunikation zum Thema Mobilfunk und Gesundheit Verbesserungen zu erreichen.


Quelle:
http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/elektrosmog-liste/message/5321

--------

Lobbyarbeit von Vodafone geht weiter

Vor kurzem habe ich hier berichtet, dass der NABU mit Vodafone kooperiert. Hier ist nun ein weiterer Fall, wo Vodafone Einfluss auf Multiplikatoren unserer Gesellschaft nimmt. Dieses Mal wurde eine Fachhochschule mit Geschenken beglückt.

Gruss Joachim Weise


--------- Beginn der Pressemeldung:

Vodafone spendet fünf Messgeräte für die praxisnahe Ausbildung der Studierenden im Fachbereich für Informationstechnik der Fachhochschule Esslingen - Hochschule für Technik

Tektronix Protocol-Analyzer nennen Experten die Spezialmessgeräte, die zur Analyse des so genannten Signalisierungsverkehrs in Telekommunikationsnetzen eingesetzt werden. Die Signalisierung in Mobilfunknetzen überträgt z.B. die Wählinformation der Teilnehmer und reicht die sich bewegenden Teilnehmer von Empfänger zu Empfänger weiter. Die Messgeräte werden den Studierenden helfen, derartige komplexe technische Abläufe innerhalb eines Mobilfunknetzes zu verstehen und zu kennen.

"Die Messgeräte sind sehr willkommen", sagt Professor Dr. Harald Melcher, der Dekan des Fachbereichs Informationstechnik. "Die in der Praxis erworbenen Erfahrungen sind ein elementarer Bestandteil unserer Ausbildung und ergänzen die theoretischen Betrachtungen, die man im weiten Feld der Kommunikationstechnik anstellen kann."

Dank der tatkräftigen Unterstützung der Abteilung Technik von Vodafone Stuttgart kann der Fachbereich die Attraktivität seiner Laborplätze weiter ausbauen und weiterhin höchst aktuelle Themen lehren.

"Wir freuen uns, wenn wir als Unternehmen in der Region etwas für die Ausbildung junger Menschen und die Förderung des technischen Verständnisses komplizierter Abläufe tun können", erklärt Jürgen Hornberger von Vodafone.

Der Fachbereich Informationstechnik wird die Messgeräte bereits im
nächsten Semester zur Ausbildung der Informationstechnik-Studierenden einsetzen.

http://idw-online.de/pages/de/news?print=1&id=115083

---------

Eine Information für alle, die bislang noch den NABU unterstützt haben....

Hier eine Antwort auf meine Anfrage beim NABU "Naturschutz"bund zum Thema Vodafone, der - ach so uneigennützig und umweltfreundlich - Energie sparen hilft bei seinen Mobilfunkantennen......

Sehr geehrter Herr Rengel,

vielen Dank für Ihre Anfrage bezüglich der NABU-Kooperation mit Vodafone.

Der NABU sieht in der Kooperation mit den ökologischen und sozialen Branchenführern eine große Chance, für seine Natur- und Umweltschutzziele zu werben. Vodafone ist weltweit ein solcher Branchenführer. Das Unternehmen arbeitet seit Jahren daran, den Energieverbrauch für den Betrieb von Mobilfunkeinrichtungen zu verringern und beteiligt sich an Forschungsprojekten zum Thema Mobilfunk und Gesundheit.

Für den NABU sind gegenwärtig weder Gründe für die pauschale Verteufelung noch für die Verharmlosung der Mobilfunk-Technologie erkennbar. Bei Handies hält es der NABU für wichtig, Geräte mit einem niedrigen SAR-Wert auszuwählen. Der NABU sieht in der Mobilfunknutzung keine gefährliche Technologie. Insofern gibt es für pauschale Klagen über Mobilfunkmasten oder Handies keinen Anlass. Für den Bereich der Masten setzt sich der NABU für eine Einbeziehung der Kommunen in die Planung ein, um vernünftige Standorte festzulegen. Das vom Bundesumweltministerium gestartete Programm zum Thema Mobilfunk/Gesundheit spielt eine wichtige Rolle bei der Lösung vorhandener Probleme.

Selbstverständlich spart die Koopeation auch kritische Themen nicht aus. So wird es gemeinsame Workshops zu Mobilfunk und Gesundheit sowie Umweltschutz im Unternehmen geben.

Des Weiteren werden Teilbeträge der Kooperation zur Co-Finanzierung der NABU-Aktionen Stunde der Gartenvögel, Batnight und Birdwatch verwendet.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Bettina Lange
Fachassistenz
Naturschutz und Umweltpolitik
Bettina.Lange@nabu.de

NABU Bundesgeschäftsstelle Bonn
53223 Bonn
Telefon: 0228.4036-173
Telefax: 0228.4036-203
NABU@NABU.de

Quelle: elektrosmogliste.baubiologie-regional.de

--------

Wer jetzt noch den NABU unterstützt, fördert damit die menschenverachtende Mobilfunktechnik und verhindert, dass die Netzbetreiber in gesundheitsverträgliche Lösungen investieren. Die Antwort des NABU beweist dessen Unwillen und Unfähigkeit, umweltrelevante Fakten zu erkennen und zu beurteilen. Damit verstößt er gegen §2 seiner eigenen Satzung und verliert die Legitimation als Anwalt für Natur und Umwelt einzutreten.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Hans-Udo Weiland

Quelle:
http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/elektrosmog-liste/message/5376

--------

Guten Tag Herr Breunig,

die e-mail Adresse ist Bettina.Lange@nabu.de .

Meine Anfrage war wie folgt:

Guten Tag,

ich würde gerne wissen, ob die Information stimmt, daß der Nabu mit dem Mobilfunkbetreiber Vodafone zusammenarbeitet, insbesondere ob er von ihm finanziert wird.

Wenn ja, würde mich weiter interessieren, ob der Nabu sich des Gefährdungspotentials durch den Mobilfunk bewußt ist, für den Menschen und für die Vögel, die ihnen ja wohl besonders am Herzen liegen. Weiter würde ich gerne wissen, ob sie zwischen dem Zurückgehen der Vogelarten und dem Mobilfunk einen Zusammenhang sehen, wie es häufig schon beschrieben worden ist.

Wenn die finanzielle Abhängigkeit des Nabu von Vodafone bzw. irgendeine Zusammenarbeit der Tatsache entspricht, kann ich den Nabu nicht mehr länger ignorieren, sondern nur noch als Gegner betrachten und alles in meiner Kraft stehende unternehmen, um in meinem Bekanntenkreis davon abzuraten ihn finanziell oder sonstwie zu unterstützen. Die Problematik und Gefährdung des Mobilfunks müßte eigentlich auch schon bis zum Nabu vorgedrungen sein.

Mit noch freundlichen Grüßen

Reinhard Rengel


Quelle: elektrosmogliste.baubiologie-regional.de

--------

Omega dagegen hebt sich wohltuend der Bund Naturschutz ab:
Mobilfunknetz mehr als ausreichend: Bund Naturschutz gegen weiteren Ausbau des Mobilfunknetzes http://omega.twoday.net/stories/719445/

--------

Invisible Poisons
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/756341/

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0524-04.htm


Informant: Scott Munson

http://208.198.20.182/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=12&aid=51080


Informant: Davey Garland

by John Nichols, The Nation

Bill Moyers' principled journalism is a threat to the White House and the conservative movement. Time to stand firm.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=2711

Source: http://www.tompaine.com/

by Sidney Blumenthal, The Guardian

Bogged down in Baghdad, Bush laid seige to the Congress but was met with mutiny. Now he's plotting revenge.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1492198,00.html

Source: http://www.tompaine.com/

by David Corn, TomPaine.com

While the Bush administration has been busy castigating Newsweek, it's turned a blind eye to torture and terror in Uzbekistan.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050525/uzbushistan.php

According to a new poll just completed by the Democracy Corps with the Campaign for America's Future, the American people feel overwhelmingly that in the Washington of Bush, Frist and DeLay, the right wing that is in control is out of control. [1] Poll results highlight that the right wing is peddling an agenda that the American people just aren't buying. Mugged by reality, Americans are alarmed by the current course and are looking for bold progressive solutions to real problems.

The poll results completely counter the President and right wing's post-election claim of a "mandate" to impose their radical agenda on the American people. In fact, the three signature policies of the so-called conservative revolution -- the war in Iraq, Social Security privatization and economic prosperity through tax cuts for the wealthy -- were all rejected by a majority of Americans.

- 56% oppose Bush's Social Security privatization scheme.

- 57% feel that the Iraq war has not been worth the cost of U.S. lives and dollars.

- 62% feel that our economy is not good for middle and working class people.

Get the complete poll results here:

http://action.ourfuture.org/ctt.asp?u=1742757&l=94649

Beyond merely opposing the right wing's agenda, this poll shows that Americans strongly embrace progressive solutions for the future, and want an active government to work to solve the problems facing our country.

- 83% support a national commitment to energy independence -- such as that outlined by our very own Apollo Initiative -- with investments in alternative energy and energy efficiency.

- 86% agree that the government should "guarantee that every child receives the basics" in education -- a healthy start, good nutrition, quality preschool, small classes and well trained teachers.

- 76% support guaranteeing health care to all through a program similar to Medicare.

- 76% want action to end tax breaks to companies that move jobs abroad and to provide incentives for those who create jobs here and allow unions to organize.

This poll shows that the American people are hungry for bold, progressive leadership. A majority of Americans (55%) would rather see Congressional Democrats stand strong against President Bush and the Republicans to prevent them from pushing their agenda too far -- than work in a bipartisan way to help pass the President's radical agenda. The message to the Democratic and progressive leadership in Congress is clear: Don't cower before the Republicans -- stand up, speak out and fight for progressive values!

In less than one week, over 1000 progressive Americans will gather in Washington, DC at our Take Back America 2005 conference. The failure of the right and the remarkable public rejection of the policies -- and increasingly the philosophy -- of Bush, Frist and DeLay opens the door for a progressive challenge. At Take Back America 2005, progressive leaders thinkers and activists will come together to highlight the new ideas that progressives are putting forth to challenge the right and forge a new progressive majority.

We hope that you'll be able to join us in Washington next week, and we look forward to continuing our work together to build the emerging progressive majority, and take our country back.

All the best,


Robert L. Borosage, Co-Director
Campaign for America's Future

P.S. You can get more information about our Take Back America 2005 conference -- including our latest agenda here:

http://action.ourfuture.org/ctt.asp?u=1742757&l=94644

P.P.S. Please spread the word about our latest poll results and Take Back America 2005. Forward this email to friends. Discuss it on your favorite blog. Let's make sure that more people know about America's emerging progressive majority and add themselves to our growing ranks.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

If This Isn't Evil

By Anwaar Hussain

Bagram is a historic city 60 kilometers northwest of Kabul, in Afghanistan. Located at the crossroads between East and West of the yore, it has witnessed intense cultural exchanges in the past. Before being sacked by the Sassanian emperor in year 241, Bagram was once the summer capital of the great Kushan Empire of India. In the ruins of the central palace building in Bagram, a treasure trove of rich antiques was found. These ranged from ivory-plated stools of Indian origin, lacquered boxes from Han dynasty era, Greco-Roman glasses from Egypt and Syria, Hellenistic statues in the Pompean style to moldings and silverware of Mediterranean origin.

Today Bagram boasts of only one unique feature. It serves as a torture center for the occupying American forces. Innocent Afghans are tormented here to find out the perpetrators of 9/11 crime…some to death. Their bones are the only antiques that can now be dug out from the graves around Bagram, all other relics having long been looted.

Here in December 2002, life was choked out of a frail, shy, young Afghan through brutal tortures amid his cries of Allah, Allah.
http://malakandsky.blogspot.com/2005/05/allah-allah-allah-allah.html

By the time of his last session of pain, Dilawar’s tormentors were convinced of his innocence. They went ahead nevertheless. Major Elizabeth Rouse, the coroner at that time, said: "I've seen similar injuries in an individual run over by a bus.”

Just months afterward, in March 2003, when the spring flower had not yet bloomed on Dilawar’s grave, the supreme commander of the torturers addressed his nation in a State of the Union address. President Bush spoke about the gruesome tortures Saddam Hussein meted out to prisoners in Iraq. He described the use of electric shock, burning with hot irons, acid, and rape. The President concluded: "If this isn't evil, then evil has no meaning."

When the Abu Ghuraib, Guantanamo and Bagram prisoners’ abuse stories exploded in the world media, the President of United States in one of his Global Message radio addresses said;

“The actions depicted in those photographs show the wrongdoing of a few, and do not reflect the character of the more than 200,000 military personnel who have served in Iraq since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

And the First Lady, Mrs. Bush, echoed her illustrious husband’s thoughts in an interview in Egypt by ABC, "Good Morning America" on May 23;

“All of us, everyone -- Americans, Afghanis, Iraqis -- deplore the photographs that we've seen, the reports that we've heard of prisoner abuse. But that is not really what happens all the time and that's not what our troops really do. This is a handful of people, and I think and I believe that many people here understand that.”

That being the official line, General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said;

"Torture is not one of the methods that we're allowed to use and that we use. I mean, it's just not permitted by international law, and we don't use it…..That is not how the American military acts or should act. It's really a shame that just a handful can besmirch maybe the reputations of hundreds of thousands of our soldiers and sailors, airmen and Marines who've been over there."

Rudolf Hoess, the SS commandant and the death-dealer of Auschwitz, too had said;

"This so-called ill treatment and torture in detention centers, stories of which were spread everywhere among the people, and later by the prisoners who were freed, were not, as some assumed, inflicted methodically, but were excesses committed by individual prison guards, their deputies, and men who laid violent hands on the detainees."

Hoess was executed in 1947 for doing what he did despite his assertions to the contrary. Is it that the tally of dead Dilawars has not yet reached Hoess’s score that the Americans keep ignoring the crimes of their leaders?

In 1975 the United Nations (UN) General Assembly unanimously approved the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Member nations agreed to eliminate torture. Article 3 made clear: "No State may permit or tolerate torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

The states assumed active responsibility to eliminate torture. Exceptional events, situations, or factors would not provide an exception to the prohibition against torture. Article 3 continued: "Exceptional circumstances such as a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency may not be invoked as a justification of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Furthermore, a key provision in Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states:

"Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honor, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public curiosity. "

The authoritative commentary to the Fourth Geneva Convention published by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) points out that this article "proclaims the principle of respect for the human person and the inviolable character of the basic rights of individual men and women." It continues:

"The right of respect for the person must be understood in its widest sense: it covers all the rights of the individual, that is, the rights and qualities which are inseparable from the human being by the very fact of his existence and his mental and physical powers; it includes, in particular, the right to physical, moral and intellectual integrity - an essential attribute of the human person."

The law is absolutely clear, categorical and unambiguous.

Enter the American administration’s translation of the law.

Anthony Lewis has a long, devastating article called, "Making Torture Legal”. A passage from it reads;
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17230

“Reading through the memoranda written by Bush administration lawyers on how prisoners of the "war on terror" can be treated is a strange experience. The memos read like the advice of a mob lawyer to a mafia don on how to skirt the law and stay out of prison. Avoiding prosecution is literally a theme of the memoranda. Americans who put physical pressure on captives can escape punishment if they can show that they did not have an "intent" to cause "severe physical or mental pain or suffering." And "a defendant could negate a showing of specific intent...by showing that he had acted in good faith that his conduct would not amount to the acts prohibited by the statute."

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, filed a request on Oct. 7, 2003 under the Freedom of Information Act demanding the release of information about detainees held overseas by the United States.

Released after many delaying tactics, below are documents the government did not want the general public to read, including an FBI memo, stating that Defense Department interrogators impersonated FBI agents and used "torture techniques" against a detainee at Guantanamo. Read on;
http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/FBI_3977.pdf

- FBI documents e-mails of FBI agents witnessing the use of "torture techniques" in Guantanamo (12/20/04);

http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/122004.html

- E-mails of McCraw inquiry into detainee abuse in Guantanamo (1/5/05);

http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/010505.html

A careful reading of these documents makes it abundantly clear that these acts of torture and abuse are not just some off the wall case of rogue or poorly trained soldiers who were going against the rules. These acts are part of a pattern of behavior fully condoned by the Bush administration.

The abuse of POWs in Baghdad and Afghanistan, the no man’s land constructed for the Guantanamo “enemy combatants” is nothing new. American warfare has a history of abuse.

The “Winter Soldier Investigation” conducted by the “Vietnam Veterans Against the War” in Detroit in 1971 suggested that the atrocities committed in My Lai were not the only ones of its kind but part of larger history of atrocities committed by American forces in Vietnam. Among the findings read into the Congressional Record were that “we were murdering prisoners, we were turning prisoners over to somebody else to be tortured.” Moreover, “every law of Land Warfare has been violated.”

Not very long back, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation was carried out by the Toledo Blade into the atrocities committed by the “Tiger Force” of the 101st Airborne division in 1967. It has confirmed this general picture of some U.S. armed forces routinely breaking the rules of civilized warfare.

The real lesson of the current American onslaught on a defenseless, but oil rich, people then is that there is no limit to the horrors that the ruling American class will inflict to stay in power and gobble up the fast dwindling world resources. As long as the American nation continues to tolerate these leaders, who make lies seem true and slaughter respectable, mass carnage will continue to be committed in their name.

Last year, when Bush hastily declared mission accomplished, he stated that "Saddam's torture chambers are closed." He did not tell the world that he had already opened his own…the first one at Bagram.

"If this isn't evil, then evil has no meaning." Tell that to Dilawar’s daughter.

Copyrights : Anwaar Hussain
Email : eagleeye@emirates.net.ae

posted by Anwaar Hussain at 12:01 PM

http://malakandsky.blogspot.com/


Informant: Martin Greenhut

Thanks for your support for the "Save the Dugong in Okinawa" campaign, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has indicated in the Japanese Diet (parliament) that the construction needed to be stopped for a while!

However, the construction is still continuing at the site ignoring the words from the Prime Minister. It has been successfully blocked by the local activists who have been sitting on the scaffolds for 24 hours long every day for more than a month.

The cancellation of the plan is almost there, but local activists are exhausted--cold and windy on the scaffolds. We need your final push to Japanese government to make their decision now. Even if you have participated in the action, please do so one more time!

Take action!
Save the dugongs
http://prefs.greenpeace.org/mail-links/clicks/7273.1599071.5409

Pacific Currents On-Line
Vol. III, No. 8 - May 2005

Published by Pacific Environment, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the living environment of the Pacific Rim.

Defender of the Huai River:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=16905996&url_num=1&url=http://www.pacificenvironment.org/articles/huo_taishan.htm
Huo Taishan wants to change the course of a river. Only ten years ago, China's Huai River had enough clean, fresh water for dozens of villages along its route to thrive, with plenty of fish to support the economies and appetites along its path. However, industrial pollution has turned the river into a black, sudsy, and lethal flow. Alarmed by the rapid degradation of the Huai, Mr. Huo recently quit his job and formed the Huai River Defenders. Read the story of one of China's biggest environmental disasters, and the difference that one person can make, by clicking here.
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=16905996&url_num=1&url=http://www.pacificenvironment.org/articles/huo_taishan.htm

Peace Action

posted 05/19/05

Help make it clear to Congress that we should be getting rid of nuclear weapons, not building new ones.

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=16911448&url_num=74&url=http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/Peaceact/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=740

People For the American Way

Bush Nominee Resource Center: The Most Troubling Nominees

posted 05/24/05

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=16911448&url_num=11&url=http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=14172

updated 05/23/05

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is marking up their draft version of the energy bill. The House voted 249-183 on April 21, 2005 to pass the the House version, the 2005 Energy Policy Act (H.R. 6). Learn more and take action today!
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=16911448&url_num=10&url=http://www.movingideas.org/content/en/on_the_hill/energy_bill_update.htm

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=16911448&url_num=8&url=http://www.movingideas.org/chat/Ethics/Ethics.php
May 25

Panelists from Public Citizen, Public Campaign, Common Cause, and The American Prospect discussed the ethics crisis in Congress, why it matters and what you can do about it. Read the transcript!
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=16911448&url_num=9&url=http://www.movingideas.org/chat/Ethics/Ethics.php

The pastor of a small Baptist church has refused calls to take down a sign posted in front of his church reading "The Koran needs to be flushed," saying Tuesday he has nothing to apologize for.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8944.htm

“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” James Madison, Federalist Paper 47

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8945.htm

Can the government detain an American citizen for six hours without an explanation? 20-year-old Asmaa Elshinawy and other plaintiffs are suing the Department of Homeland Security to find out.

http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/22077/


From Information Clearing House

Video

C.J. Campell C.J. Campell explains it in detail.
http://novakeo.com/?p=154


From Information Clearing House

Mary Tillman said, ''Pat had high ideals about the country. That's why he did what he did. The military let him down. The administration let him down. It was a sign of disrespect. The fact that he was the ultimate team player and he watched his own men kill him is absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. The fact that they lied about it afterward is disgusting."

http://snipurl.com/f5bj


From Information Clearing House

--------

Iraq war: Why Pat Tillman's Parents Are No Longer Silent
http://seattle.indymedia.org/en/2005/05/246349.shtml


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Pat+Tillman

The Republican senator who snubbed the White House by opposing John Bolton's nomination for US ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday took the unusual move of asking his colleagues to vote against Mr Bolton.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=FT&Date=20050524&ID=4841897


From Information Clearing House

So here’s what Richard Perle and AIPAC are not telling you: if Iran is invaded (or simply bombed) it will respond in kind and this will necessitate a more robust military response by the United States, i.e., more bullet-stoppers will need to be thrown into the mix.

http://kurtnimmo.com/blog/index.php?p=676


From Information Clearing House

Perle provoked cheers from the crowd when he favored a military raid on Iran, saying that "if Iran is on the verge of a nuclear weapon, I think we will have no choice but to take decisive action."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8943.htm

In Iraq some of the violence could be blamed on armed groups but the report also blamed US-led coalition forces for "unlawful killings, torture and other violations". "Torture and ill-treatment by US-led forces were widely reported," it added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4578627.stm


From Information Clearing House

A CIA official testified he witnessed the "pummelling" of a detainee at a Navy Seal base in Baghdad in 2003, but a former Seal who beat the prisoner said he was acting on instructions from the CIA.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8946.htm

An unarmed Iraqi cooperated with American troops searching his house and said "USA good" minutes before he was shot to death, a former U.S. soldier testified Wednesday at his one-time squad leader's murder trial.

http://www.gadsdentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050525/APA/505250942&cachetime=5


From Information Clearing House

A House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday approved another $45 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which would bring the costs of the U.S. military operations there to more than $300 billion.

http://snipurl.com/f4t4


From Information Clearing House

The presumed connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism is misleading, and it may spur American policies that are likely to worsen the situation.

http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/05/18/opinion/edpape.php


From Information Clearing House

The message Bush is sending to his shock troops in the gulag is clear: If by some freak chance your torture duties are uncovered, you will be gently removed from the scene with only nominal punishment ­ as long as you don't rat out your superiors, of course.

By Chris Floyd

The young soldier thought she'd been sent to fight for democracy and freedom, but it was a lie. Instead she found herself in Hell, committing crimes, violating her own nature, her sense of duty perverted by leaders who twisted it into a weapon to serve aggressive war.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8947.htm

Congress will soon be asked to renew the Patriot Act with the inclusion of further restrictions on our liberty, restrictions which were originally to be introduced as Patriot Act II.

"Why did the German people not act ?"

Patriot Act vs, German Enabling Act:

The Decrees of 1933

(a) The February 28 Decree. One of the most repressive acts of the new Nazi government, this one allowed for the suspension of civil liberties ....The president was persuaded that the state was in danger and, hence, that the emergency measures embodied in the decree were necessary. Even though under Art. 48 of the constitution, the decree would have been withdrawn once the so-called emergency had passed, any hope of this happening was prevented by the establishment of Hitler's dictatorship following the Enabling Act (see below). It was in fact never withdrawn and remained until the end as an instrument of Nazi terror against ordinary citizens who ran foul of the regime.

ARTICLE 1. In virtue of paragraph 2, article 48,* of the German Constitution, the following is decreed as a defensive measure against communist acts of violence , endangering the state:

Sections 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153 of the Constitution of the German Reich are suspended until further notice. Thus, restrictions on personal liberty [114], on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press [118], on the right of assembly and the right of association [124], and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications [117], and warrants for house-searches [115], orders for confiscation as well as restrictions on property [153], are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.

*Article 48 of the German Constitution of August 11, 1919: If public safety and order in Germany are materially disturbed or endangered, the President may take the necessary measures to restore public safety and order, and, if necessary, to intervene with the help of the armed forces. To this end he may temporarily suspend, in whole or in part, the fundamental rights established in

Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153 ...........

Patriot Act:

3.. Section 218 which amends the "probable cause" requirement before conducting secret searches or surveillance to obtain evidence of a crime;

4.. Sections 215, 218, 358, and 508 which permit law enforcement authorities to have broad access to sensitive mental health, library, business, financial, and educational records despite the existence of previously adopted state and federal laws which were intended to strengthen the protection of these types of records;

5.. Sections 411 and 412 which give the Secretary of State broad powers to designate domestic groups as "terrorist organizations" and the Attorney General power to subject immigrants to indefinite detention or deportation even if no crime has been committed; and

6.. Sections 507 and 508 which impose a mandate on state and local public universities who must collect information on students that may be of interest to the Attorney General.

Please call your Senator and Representative, voice your opposition. For years I have been asked "Why did the German people not act?"

Are you acting ? Please do!


From Information Clearing House

May 25, 2005

CODEPINK seeks the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and the restoration of full Iraqi sovereignty. However, we also believe that supporting efforts such as Representative Lynn Woolsey's amendment (below) moves us closer to the reality of immediate withdrawl.

Woolsey's Amendment:
SEC. 1223. WITHDRAWAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM IRAQ. It is the sense of Congress that the President should -

(1) develop a plan as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act to provide for the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq; and

(2) transmit to the congressional defense committees a report that contains the plan described in11 paragraph (1).

WE HAVE A DEADLINE...MOVE INTO ACTION NOW!! According to Woolsey's office, the amendment will be voted on the House floor this evening during debate of the Defense Authorization Bill. If the Woolsey amendment is adopted, it will open the debate about Iraq and how to move towards total Iraqi sovereignty and U.S. withdrawal. It is urgent that you help move this debate forward by contacting your representative TODAY and urging him or her to vote "YES" on the Woolsey amendment.

Click here to send an e-mail to your representative
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=16952869&url_num=1&url=http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/codepink/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=535
or to find contact info for your representative go to: http://visi.com/juan/congress/

Thank you for taking action TODAY to bring the troops home.
Dana, Gael, Farida, Jodie, Medea, Nancy, Tiffany and Rae

P.S. For your daily dose of reality click here to check out the latest on bushflash.com from Eric B.
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=16952869&url_num=3&url=http://www.ericblumrich.com/14.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/25/AR2005052500367_pf.html


Informant: NHNE

So mobile phones are not marketed at kids? Anyone who has had ITV on recently will have been plagued by the crazy frog ad fro ringtones from jamster. So it says sales only to over 16s? Since when was a phone tagged with the age of its user? And who is it buying all the CDs, so that it runs to the top of the pop charts above real music -- on ringtones?!

Now parents are discovering massive bills on their kids' phones. In some cases the kids innocently download a ringtone, unknowingly "subscribing" to a new ringtone every week, which they don't realise until they see their bill (if they look at it) and do not know how to stop it. One mother said her child learned they had to text "STOP" in capitals back to the vendor, and didn't know how to do capitals, so could not immediately respond anyway. And now the kids are getting porn ads sent to them, because the phone companies "don't know" the age of their subscribers.

This is the truly cynical and manipulative side of the mobiles market, and there should be a massive outcry against this kind of unregulated and unrestricted selling.

Andy

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/052505M.shtml


Informant: Russ Ferriday

Date: May 25, 2004

Let's Keep the Momentum Alive

Call on Congress to Eliminate Federal Timber Sale Program Subsidies

Last week the House of Representatives was about to vote on a bipartisan amendment on this year's Interior Appropriations bill that would have prohibited the Forest Service from spending tax dollars to build new logging roads on Alaska's Tongass National Forest. If the vote would have been allowed to take place, the bipartisan coalition of fiscal conservative and environmentally conscious Members of Congress could have passed this amendment to end these wasteful subsidies for the second year in a row.

But there is another way that this House coalition can stand up against taxpayer waste! They can become an original co-sponsor of the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act (NFPRA) led by Representatives Jim Leach (R-IA) and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY).

The National Forest Protection and Restoration Act would protect and restore national forests by redirecting federal spending of over $1 billion in yearly timber sale subsidies to put rural communities to work restoring the damage to forests. It will save taxpayers money, reduce the deficit, cut corporate welfare and help communities adapt to wildland fire.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and email them and ask that help end taxpayer waste and sign up to be an original cosponsor of the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act today.

To find your Representative go to: http://www.house.gov/

To find out your Representative's email go to:
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml
OR http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Background

Over 130 members of Congress have endorsed the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act in the past, as well as over 220 Ph.D. scientists, including Pulitzer Prize winning author Dr. Edward O. Wilson, 200 conservation organizations, religious groups, businesses, and, according to numerous polls, the majority of the American public. Even large Fortune 500 companies such as Staples Office Supply, Inc. and Lowe's Hardware made specific commitments in support of ending federal subsidies for public lands
logging.

http://www.forestadvocate.org/campaigns/protect&restore/about.htm

For more information go to:
http://www.forestadvocate.org/campaigns/protect&restore/about.htm>http://www.forestadvocate.org/campaigns/protect&restore/about.htm

Talking Points

Preserves America's national forest heritage, protecting and restoring the ecological values of our federal public forests by ending the federal government's timber sale program on National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, BLM Lands, and National Parks.

Saves taxpayers over $300 million annually.

Redirects logging subsidies towards scientifically-based ecological restoration of native biological diversity.

Protects communities by reducing the incidence of severe fire using prescribed burning and manual hazardous fuels treatments.

Immediately protects all roadless areas and old growth forests by canceling logging projects in those areas.

Provides funding for worker retraining; and gives preference to displaced timber workers for jobs in the woods doing ecological restoration.

Provides permanent funding to Counties for schools and roads.

Provides funding for environmentally sensitive non-wood alternative paper and construction materials.


Lisa Dix
National Forest Program Director
American Lands Alliance
ldix@americanlands.org
Ph: 202-547-9105; Fax: 202-547-9213
American Lands Alliance http://americanlands.org


Informant: STRIDER

CALL FOR UNITED MASS ACTION

Issued May 12, 2005

* Please Post Widely * Mark Your Calendar *

Thousands will march on Saturday, September 24 in Washington DC. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition urges the antiwar movement to come together for a united demonstration.

Since the call for United Mass Action on September 24 in Washington DC - with coordinated actions in San Francisco and Los Angeles - was issued by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition on May 12, 2005, over 2,000 endorsers have signed on! Fill out the Endorsement Form (see below) to add your organization/name to this important Call to Action (endorsements from individuals and organizations are welcome).

Mass March on
Saturday, September 24
in Washington D.C.

* STOP THE WAR IN IRAQ
* END COLONIAL OCCUPATION FROM IRAQ TO PALESTINE TO HAITI
* Support the Palestinian People's Right of Return
* Stop the Threats Against Venezuela, Cuba, Iran & North Korea
* U.S. out of the Philippines
* Bring all the troops home now
* Stop the Racist, anti-Immigrant and anti-Labor Offensive at Home, Defend Civil Rights

SEPTEMBER 24 CALL TO ACTION

The anti-war movement must make a precise estimate of the direction of the White House, the Pentagon and Congress as it charts its next steps for mass mobilization.

The people of the United States must mobilize against the global War for Empire that masks itself as the so-called "war on terrorism" and falsely promotes itself as the "march for democracy."

The people of Iraq are insisting that the United States leave their country immediately. As in Vietnam, the people of the United States must demand the immediate end to this war of conquest. As we fight to end the war in Iraq, we recognize that it is not enough to focus on a single front in this War for Empire. We must unite on a principled basis that recognizes the reality of our epoch. How can this war drive come to an end? People in Iraq, in Palestine, in Haiti, in Venezuela, in Cuba are resisting but the people of the United States must become their allies. Their resistance is part of the universal aspiration to live free from foreign domination or threats of a military or economic character.

The war and occupation of Iraq cannot be seen in isolation. The U.S. is actively attempting to destroy every government that resists the Empire. The Iraq war is not an aberration nor is it a "mistake" of conservative politicians. The war in Iraq is a necessary component in the political program and the institutions of global conquest and exploitation. This is what we must be fighting. We don't want the troops to be brought home from Iraq only so that they can be deployed in the next front of imperialism. The people of the United States have every interest in renouncing the War for Empire that is directed by the U.S. plutocracy. The plutocrats have the wealth but the plutocracy is in inherent conflict with genuine democracy and with the needs of the people.

This is not just Bush's war. It is not only a Republican or a neo-conservative campaign. Congress again just rubber-stamped the next $82 billion appropriation to finance the criminal occupation of Iraq. The vote in the Senate was 99-0! The amount spent on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan is now over $350 billion. The occupation of Haiti, carried out by proxy forces, is nonetheless a project of U.S. and French imperialism. The U.S. establishment is preparing to overthrow the government of Venezuela, just as every successive administration has sought, unsuccessfully, to overthrow the Cuban revolution since 1959. While the Pentagon possesses the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet, the White House and Congress and both parties join together with the Corporate-owned media to paint Iran and North Korea as looming nuclear threats. For more than 100 years the people of the Philippines have struggled, and are struggling today, to reclaim authentic sovereign control over their own country, free from endless U.S. interference.

It is time to take to the streets again today, as we have throughout the last few years, to demonstrate the growing opposition inside this country to the War for Empire. Every working person in the United States must know that the corporate, political and military establishment is using our tax dollars, and the lives of our sons and daughters, to wage their global war. It is a war for domination. It is a war for the benefit of U.S. banks, oil monopolies, and transnational corporations. These are the very same corporate entities that are slashing wages, health care coverage, pensions and outsourcing millions of jobs to make super-profits from the super-exploitation of low-wage labor.

The Bush administration cries poverty when it comes to meeting Social Security's obligations as well as the funding for education, health care and housing. There is no poverty claim, however, for the Pentagon and its corporate contractors: the real military spending level for the next year will be over $600 billion.

Instead of paying for endless war, we demand that the resources be used to meet human needs here and around the world. Instead of acting as shock troops for Empire, we demand that the soldiers and sailors in the U.S. military be provided decent paying jobs at union wages, the right to go to college, and an immediate increase in veterans benefits.

On September 24 we will march and rally starting at the White House in Washington D.C. There will be coordinated actions that day in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The U.S. government says it is promoting the march for democracy and freedom abroad. What a sham. They pretend to promote freedom abroad but at the same time fan the flames of racism, anti-immigrant discrimination, sexism, homophobia and bigotry of all forms at home.

There is nothing more urgent than to construct unity in the face of Empire. Real unity cannot be built by sacrificing the rights of some but rather it will be forged by embracing everyone's rights and just struggles for liberation. United we are the majority. United we can fight and win.

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED:

*Endorse:
http://www.pephost.org/SeptEndorse

*Spread the word by forwarding this email or by handing out flyers (see below).

*Download flyers:
http://www.pephost.org/downloads

*List transportation from your city:
http://www.pephost.org/S24TransportationForm

Funds are urgently needed to help build the September 24 mass action. We can't do it without your help. You can make a contribution through a secure server, where you can also find information on how to contribute by check, by clicking here:
http://www.pephost.org/ANSWERdonate

The Call to Action can be accessed directly at:
http://www.pephost.org/Sept24CalltoAction


A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://www.ANSWERcoalition.org
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-533-0417
Los Angeles: 323-464-1636
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
For media inquiries, call 202-544-3389


Informant: idthomp

http://atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/GE26Dj01.html


Informant: Our bill of rights

Why Star Wars Always Beats G.I. Joe
http://www.lewrockwell.com/khan/khan9.html

Pressure Point: Stop the nuclear waste mountain growing

May 26th 2005

Dear Pressure Point activist

The Government must adopt safe measures to deal with nuclear waste and commit to ending UK nuclear power and weapons programmes to stop the mountain of dangerous radioactive waste from growing.

Now is the time to make sure the right decisions are taken. We need your help today to respond to a consultation on the options for managing radioactive wastes.

There is currently no agreed long-term solution as to how to deal with the waste. Please take 2 minutes to respond.

Take action now
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=wcstcibab.0.oc6qlhbab.jzkme7n6.1145&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foe-scotland.org.uk%2Fcyberaction%2Fcyberaction_200503.html

Spread the word
http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1011335179049&a=1100856543318

Once you have taken action, please forward this email on to as many of your friends and colleagues as possible and encourage them to take action too.

Thank you for your support

Sincerely,

Michelle Lowe
Friends of the Earth Scotland
email: pressure@foe-scotland.org.uk
web: http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk

05/25/05

When I was an undergraduate at Southern Illinois University, a couple of born-again Christians passed out pocket-sized Bibles near the entrance of the student center. I took one, and so did a friend of mine, a Christian who apparently had some unresolved issues. He walked over to a nearby garbage can and spiked the Bible into the bin. I didn't like what he did. So I reached into the trash, took out the Bible, cleaned it off, and decided to keep it in my care. It was the first Bible I ever had. To this day, more than 25 years later, I've kept a Bible on my bookshelf. It is both logical and natural for the desecration of scripture to rouse strong reactions, whether it involves the Bible or the Koran, the scripture of my own faith. ... Contempt shown to the Koran, for example, may be viewed as an insult to Islam and Muslims worldwide...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0525/p09s01-coop.html

from Christian Science Monitor, by Ibrahim N. Abusharif


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

05/24/05

Some really scary things are happening around Washington these days. Congress has become a place of great incivility and rancor, which threaten to undermine any hope of legislative remedy to a myriad of problems, from Social Security to soaring health-care costs to immigration to a steadily crumbling manufacturing base once the envy of the world. But perhaps the most frightening prospect for Americans is an unfettered national police force with the sole discretion to determine who can be investigated as a potential terrorist. That's the impact of little-known proposals to greatly expand the powers of the FBI, permitting its agents to seize business records without a warrant and to track the mail of those in terrorist inquiries without regard to Postal Service concerns...

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/editorial/11721829.htm

from South Mississippi Sun Herald, by Dan K. Thomasson -- Hat Tip to Prison Planet


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

05/25/05

The young soldier thought she'd been sent to fight for democracy and freedom, the relative told Hersh, but it was a lie. Instead she found herself in Hell, committing crimes, violating her own nature, her sense of duty perverted by leaders who twisted it into a weapon to serve aggressive war. Since her return, said the relative, the young soldier keeps getting black tattoos, more and more of them, slowly covering her entire body trying literally to change her skin. The fate of this soul-broken, tormented daughter of America embodies the nation itself under the malevolent reign of George W. Bush. The whole country is changing its skin, trying to cloak its shame and complicity by a wilful disfigurement...

http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd05252005.html

from CounterPunch, by Chris Floyd


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

05/25/05

'Lord lady ... you are so far left, you're off the dial,' said a recent email from a person who identified himself only as 'Mattei.' 'Bemoaning the president, day after day,' he wrote. 'Just stand in the corner and stomp your feet, crybaby ... 2008 is going to put you over the edge.' That's what I'm afraid of. We're living in a time of smoke and funhouse mirrors, of prestidigitation, of democracy as three-card monte. Watch the middle card, folks, keep your eyes glued to the middle card. And when they turn it over, it's never really the Queen, is it? Keep your eye on the horrors of gay marriage and you don't see the billion-dollar no-bid contracts going to Halliburton. Be terribly afraid of nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and don't notice that the convicted con man who misled the war-hungry administration now controls all the oil in Iraq...

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0525-29.htm

from Common Dreams, by Joyce Marcel


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

05/25/05

Members of the Republican Party's political action corps pride themselves on discipline and adherence to the line. Most of the time they are very good at this, which explains to a degree their ascendancy of late. All of a sudden, however, that discipline has started to crack, and the outlines of a full-fledged civil war within the ranks of the GOP are beginning to become manifestly clear. ... The lingering election beef. Schiavo. The filibuster deal, which earned the following reaction from the president of the Iowa Christian Coalition: 'We'll educate people in the caucuses, and this is not going to do them a lot of good in terms of their presidential aspirations.' The stem cell fight, the 50 Republican defectors in the House, and the threatened veto. Bolton. The looming brawl over Social Security reform. The once-mighty GOP coalition is fragmenting before our very eyes...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/052505X.shtml

from Truthout, by William Rivers Pitt


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

05/25/05

McClellan, George W's mouthpiece to the media, piled up a mountain of ironies when he lashed out at Newsweek recently for its piece about the desecration of the Quran by US guards at Guantanamo Bay prison. Scottie was outraged, he said, because Newsweek editors initially refused to retract the story after finding a factual flaw in it. Filled with righteous indignation, McClellan lectured reporters about standards of truth, about relying on only one source, and about credibility. Hoo-boy ...where to start? How about with the entire pack of lies that the Bushites used to plunge American troops into the war and ongoing occupation of Iraq? Even though the White House has now been forced to admit that it couldn't find any Weapons of Mass Destruction or a link between Al Qaeda and Saddam -- we still have received no retraction of their story or apology for damaging US credibility all around the world...

http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/22096/

from AlterNet, by Jim Hightower


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

05/26/05

President Bush's drive for absolute power has momentarily stalled. In a single coup, he planned to take over all the institutions of government. By crushing the traditions of the Senate he would pack the courts, especially the Supreme Court, with lock-step ideologues. Sheer force would prevail. But just as his blitzkrieg reached the outskirts of his objective he was struck by a mutiny. Within a span of 24 hours he lost control not only of the Senate but, temporarily, of the House of Representatives, which was supposed to be regimented by unquestioned loyalty. Now he prepares to launch a counterattack -- against the dissident elements of his own party... [subscription or ad view required]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2005/05/26/absolute_power/

from Salon, by Sidney Blumenthal


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

05/26/05

If the administration of President George W. Bush fails to conduct a truly independent investigation of U.S. abuses against detainees in Iraq and elsewhere, foreign governments should investigate and prosecute those senior officials who bear responsibility for them, the head of the U.S. chapter of Amnesty International said Wednesday. Speaking at the release of Amnesty's annual report, William Schulz charged that Washington has become 'a leading purveyor and practitioner' of torture and ill-treatment and that senior officials should face prosecution by other governments for violations of the Geneva Conventions and the UN Convention Against Torture. Among those officials, Schulz named Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director George Tenet, and senior officers at U.S. detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Abu Ghraib, Iraq...

http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=6078

from AntiWar.Com, by Jim Lobe


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

05/25/05

The US Supreme Court ruled, on Monday, May 23rd, 2005, that to compel people to support its propaganda with which they disagree does not violate the First Amendment to the US Constitution, the one about everyone having the right to freedom of speech. Yes, the court acknowledge, no one may be coerced into funding some private party’s advertisements or related speech. But when the government or some part of it decides it will proselytize for something, it can make us all fund it...

http://www.freemarketnews.com/pview/5834/1624/html/index.php

from Free Market News Network, by Tibor R. Machan


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

05/25/05

There are people in this world -- and in galaxies far, far away -- who kill because they want to kill, or because they simply can. But all things considered, those people aren't likely to convince many others to join them in their hobby. The far greater threat comes from people who rationalize murder -- as with war, abortion, capital punishment, or when Darth Vader murders a room full of children training to be Jedis someday. The Dark Side of the Force is not evil for evil's sake. It's evil because it believes the ends always justify the means. ... in the big picture, the Dark Side is a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Not a clinically diagnosed form, mind you. (And before I get emails from OCD readers: Please, I'm just trying to make a point here.) But rather, it represents 'order.' It represents the undying allegiance some leaders have to their vision of how things 'should be...

http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/001082.html

from The Free Liberal, by Jonathan David Morris


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

05/25/05

Terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison told U.S. interrogators as early as April 2002, just three months after the first detainees arrived, that military guards abused them and desecrated the Quran, declassified FBI records say. 'Their behavior is bad,' one detainee is quoted as saying of his guards during an interrogation by an FBI special agent on July 22, 2002. 'About five months ago the guards beat the detainees. They flushed a Quran in the toilet...

http://tinyurl.com/byq8a

from Las Vegas Review-Journal


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=7935&sectionID=15


Informant: NHNE

A newspaper report giving a comment from the company who market this brain-numbing drivel says that they will not reduce the amount of advertising as it is successful! This is despite hundreds of complaints to the ASA - some saying that people are turning their TV's off because they cannot bear to hear the sound of that ad. I think this is proof that minds are being affected and a folk tale springs to mind - The Pied Piper???? Where are our kids being lead?

We really should be calling for a national move to take the phones off our children in view of the chilling scenes recently shown on TV news regarding "happy slapping", and constant reports of muggings and violence surrounding mobile phones.

Sylvia


I have just e-mailed Sir W (copy to Beverley Hughes), calling for urgent action to address the problem of mobile phones and children. A failing in this duty will surely cause the health tsunami we have recently been warned of.

Sylvia

Something is rotten, yet the cowed press ignores it and will continue to do so in light of the thrashing given to Newsweek.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3332

When he talks about it, he uses words like “scary” and “terrified.”
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3327

The parents of a former American football star killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan yesterday accused the Pentagon of propagating a false account of his death to stir up patriotic fervour back home.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3326

So lautet der Titel einer Broschüre von Sarah Bormann, Christina Deckwirth und Saskia Teepe, herausgegeben von ver.di und Weed vom April 2005

Bestellung der 98 Seiten umfassenden Broschüre für 7 € bei WEED, Torstr. 154, 10115 Berlin, Fax: 030/27596928 oder
http://www.weed-online.org/publikationen/bestellung/artikel/u_grenzenlos_billig.html

Hieraus exklusiv im Labournet Germany neben dem Inhaltsverzeichnis und Einleitung:

Arbeitsbedingungen bei den Discountern Aldi, Lidl und Schlecker. Kap. 1.1.6 der Broschüre http://www.labournet.de/branchen/dienstleistung/eh/grenzenlosbillig.html


Aus: LabourNet Nachrichtensammlung, Band 25, Eintrag 15

Attac Deutschland & IG BAU
Gemeinsame Pressemitteilung
Frankfurt, 26. Mai 2005

* Anhörung und Protest gegen EU-Dienstleistungsrichtlinie
* IG BAU und Attac lehnen auch "Bolkestein light" ab

Die Industriegewerkschaft Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt und das globalisierungskritische Netzwerk Attac haben wenige Tage vor einer Anhörung im Bundestagsausschuss für Wirtschaft und Arbeit am 30. Mai in Berlin ihre Kritik an der geplanten Dienstleistungsrichtlinie der EU bekräftigt. "Das generelle Herkunftslandprinzip und die Verlagerung wesentlicher Kontroll- und Sanktionsmöglichkeiten auf das Herkunftsland gehen an der Realität vorbei und schaffen einen rechtsfreien Raum, in dem dubiose Dienstleister und illegale Menschenhändler tätig werden", kritisierte IG BAU-Sprecher Michael Knoche. Das von der Bundesregierung entscheidend verbesserte Entsendegesetz würde nach der Richtlinie teilweise europarechtswidrig. Auch der gerade erst eingerichteten "Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit" würden die Hände gebunden.

In dieser Woche sind zudem die Beratungen im federführenden Binnenmarktausschuss des EU-Parlaments in die entscheidende Phase getreten. Bis zum 11. Juni können dort noch Änderungsanträge eingereicht werden, für Anfang Juli wird die Abstimmung erwartet. Der Entwurf der Berichterstatterin Evelyne Gebhardt entschärfe die Richtlinie zwar an wichtigen Punkten, biete aber keinen Anlass zur Entwarnung, sagte Attac-Sprecher Malte Kreutzfeldt. "Auch dieser Vorschlag führt zur Absenkung von Standards statt zur Harmonisierung auf einem hohen Niveau." Zudem sei nicht zu erwarten, dass dieser Vorschlag angesichts der konservativen Mehrheit im Parlament Bestand habe.

Statt auf "Bolkestein light" zu setzen, solle die nach dem früheren Binnenmarktkommissar Fritz Bolkestein benannte Richtlinie komplett zurückgezogen oder im Parlament abgelehnt werden, forderten Attac und IG BAU. Für eine solche Ablehnung mobilisiert Attac derzeit mit einer Postkarten- und E-Mail-Kampagne. Unter
http://www.attac.de/bolkestein/mailomat können Mails direkt an die Mitglieder des Binnenmarktausschusses geschickt werden, Aufkleber und Postkarten gegen den "Bolkestein-Hammer" gibt es unter http://www.attac.de/bolkestein/material.

Hinweis:

Anhörung zur Dienstleistungsrichtlinie im Bundestagsausschuss für Wirtschaft und Arbeit, u.a. mit Thomas Fritz (Attac) und Frank Schmidt-Hullmann (IG BAU) am Montag, 30. Mai, 12 - 16 Uhr im Reichstagsgebäude, Sitzungssaal der SPD-Fraktion, 3 S 001.


Michael Knoche
Pressesprecher IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt
60423 Frankfurt am Main
Tel.: 069-95 737 135
Mail: Presse@igbau.de, Fax: 069-95 737 138


Malte Kreutzfeldt
Pressesprecher Attac Deutschland
Post: Münchener Str. 48, 60329 Frankfurt/M
Tel.: 069/900 281-42, Mail: presse@attac.de, Fax: 069/900 281-99

From Doug Loranger of SNAFU - San Francisco Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union.

At 01:24 AM 5/26/05, you wrote:

After voting down a motion to recommend that the Board of Supervisors place the San Francisco Public Library's request for an initial $680,000 to fund RFID for the 2005-2006 fiscal year on reserve pending the Library's development of a plan for its implementation, at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25 the Library Citizens Advisory Committee (LCAC) unanimously passed a motion to recommend to the Board of Supervisors that no funding be allocated for RFID this year, an important victory for opponents of RFID at the SF Public Library.

Particular thanks should go out to Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Nancy Evans of the Breast Cancer Fund, a representative from the ACLU, and members of the public, some traveling from as far away as Berkeley, who spoke out forcefully against RFID funding at the meeting. Last but not least, we all owe a debt to Peter Warfield, a member of the LCAC who led the efforts toward this outcome, for his time and effort on this issue over the past 2 years.

We must now ensure that the Board of Supervisors itself follows this advice at its June 23 and June 30 budget hearings on the Library, and that will require the participation of everyone here in San Francisco who receives this message.

Stay tuned. . .


Janet Newton, President
The EMR Policy Institute, P.O. Box 117, Marshfield VT 05658
Tel: (802) 426-3035 FAX: (802) 426-3030
Web Site: http://www.emrpolicy.org

LOKALTEIL PASSAU vom 25.05.2005

BRIEF AN DIE REDAKTION

Klares Votum gegen Mobilfunkanlage

Zum Bericht „Mobilfunkantenne soll auf den Rathausturm“:

„Im Rathausturm soll nun also doch eine Mobilfunkanlage installiert werden. Es ist erwiesen, dass die Strahlen, die von diesen Anlagen ausgehen, für den Menschen schädlich sind. Dazu sagt Dr. med. Hildegard Schreiber, Ärztin für öffentliches Gesundheitswesen in München: ,Das elektromagnetische Feld wird vom elektrischen Strom erzeugt mit den dazu gehörenden schädigenden Wirkungen auf jegliches organisches Leben. Im Umfeld der Sendemasten für Handys ist die Wirkung des fließenden Stromes nahezu katastrophal.’

Wir sind deshalb um die Gesundheit der Bürger der Altstadt, vor allem aber um die der hier lebenden und zur Schule gehenden Kinder sehr besorgt. Betroffen von der Bestrahlung wäre aber nicht nur die Altstadt, sondern auch andere Stadtteile, wie z.B. die Innstadt und Teile des Stadtzentrums. Es besteht auch keine Notwendigkeit, hier in der Altstadt einen Mobilfunkmasten zu installieren, da der Handy-Empfang sowieso sehr gut ist.

Die von uns im Herbst 2003 durchgeführte Unterschriftenaktion gegen die Stationierung von Mobilfunkanlagen im Altstadtbereich war ein überwältigender Erfolg. 524 Bürger haben mit ihrer Unterschrift ein klares Votum gegen diese Mobilfunkanlage abgegeben. Erstaunlich ist, dass etwa die Hälfte davon selbst Handybesitzer sind. Am 31. März 2004 haben wir die Unterlagen der Unterschriftenaktion an Bürgermeisterin Dagmar Plenk übergeben. Oberbürgermeister und Stadträte sind von der Bürgerschaft der Stadt gewählt worden. Sie tragen daher eine besondere Verantwortung gegenüber den Bürgern. Alle ihre Entscheidungen sollten daher getragen sein von dem Bestreben, zum Wohle der Bürger zu wirken. Das kann also nur heißen, die Mobilfunkanlage im Rathausturm abzulehnen und die Altstadt als von Mobilfunkanlagen freies Stadtgebiet zu erhalten.“

Manfred Slama (Sprecher) und die Interessengemeinschaft der Altstadtbewohner

http://www.pnp.de/ngen/such.php?cid=29-8577947&Ressort=asta


Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim

Elektrosmog

Sturm auf die Antennen

Text: Thomas Grether, Christoph Schilling, Bild: Gerry Nitsch

Die Angst vor der Verstrahlung nimmt zu: Überall im Land versuchen Bürgerinnen und Bürger, neue Handyantennen zu verhindern. Meist sind sie machtlos.

Hotel Seedamm Plaza in Pfäffikon SZ, 7. April 2005, nach dem Mittagessen: Gemeinderäte zahlreicher Zürichseegemeinden nippen zusammen mit Swisscom-Vertretern zufrieden an ihrem Kaffee. Man ist unter sich. Swisscom Mobile hat die Gemeinderäte zu einer Informationsveranstaltung eingeladen, die Bevölkerung aber ausgesperrt. Der Mobilfunk-Leader will sich die Politiker vertraulich und ungestört vornehmen. «Wir legen Ihnen die Fakten auf den Tisch», verspricht Swisscom Mobile.

Der Mobilfunkbetreiber will rund um den Zürichsee zügig Handyantennen aufstellen. Die Gemeinderäte sollen dabei helfen. Bedenken, die Strahlung der Anlagen könnte die Gesundheit schädigen, werden bagatellisiert. Ein PR-Mann der Swisscom legt Folien auf, bezeichnet Elektrosensible als «selbstdeklariert» und als «Multiallergiker». Und sagt, Studien würden «eine starke psychische Komponente» belegen.

Jeden Tag zwei neue Handymasten

«Damit stempelt die Swisscom Elektrosensible zu psychisch Kranken, obwohl die Wissenschaft gesundheitliche Schäden längst nachgewiesen hat», empört sich Lothar Geppert vom Verein Diagnose Funk, der für einen strahlungsarmen Mobilfunk kämpft. Die Telekomindustrie veranstalte seit Jahren solche Einseif-Aktionen. «Sechs von acht Referenten sind von der Lobby. Oft reden selbst anwesende Vertreter der Behörden ganz im Sinn der Industrie.»

Ingenieur Geppert unterstützt besorgte Bürger an Einspracheverhandlungen gegen Antennen. Allein im Jahr 2004 wurden in der Schweiz jeden Tag zwei neue Handymasten hochgezogen. An 10000 Masten hängen Antennen der alten GSM-Generation, an weiteren 2100 neuste UMTS-Anlagen, die Fotos übertragen können. Weil ein Mast bis zu sechs Antennen trägt, sind zurzeit insgesamt etwa 35000 in Betrieb. Alle senden gepulste Mikrowellen. Für Geppert ist klar: «Weder Behörden noch Politiker, noch die Telekomindustrie nehmen unsere Sorgen ernst.»

Widerstand gegen den Antennenwildwuchs kommt längst nicht mehr nur aus dem Lager der Umweltfundis, die Handys am liebsten verbieten möchten. Mittlerweile unterschreiben Tausende besorgter Bürgerinnen und Bürger Einsprachen gegen neue Masten. Sie sind nicht gegen Handys, aber dagegen, dass die Sendeanlagen mitten in Wohnzonen gestellt werden. «Es gibt kaum ein Antennenbaugesuch im Kanton Zug, das nicht mit Einsprachen verzögert würde», bestätigt etwa Armin Rutishauser vom kantonalen Amt für Umweltschutz. Selbst in Wohlen AG, dem Wohnort von Swisscom-Chef Jens Alder, kamen 1700 Unterschriften gegen zwei neue Antennen zusammen – der Rechtsstreit dauert an.

Meist bleibt er ohne Erfolg, wie etwa im bernischen Schliern. Dort wehrte sich die Bevölkerung gegen den Aus- und Neubau zweier Antennen von Swisscom und Orange unmittelbar beim Schulhaus. Mitglieder des Umweltforums sammelten Unterschriften, bildeten sich juristisch weiter, lancierten Einsprachen und eine Petition. Sie ließen sogar auf eigene Kosten Expertisen durchführen. «Wir setzten dafür zahllose Wochenenden ein, arbeiteten nächtelang», erinnert sich Hans-Peter Roost, einer der Beteiligten. Um unliebsame Einsprachen wie diese abzuschmettern, beschäftigt allein Orange 30 Angestellte. Dem lokalen Umweltforum fehlte es letztlich – nach drei Jahren Kampf – an Geld, einen telekomfreundlichen Entscheid des Verwaltungsgerichts anzufechten. Swisscom und Orange erreichten ihr Ziel: Heute kreuzen sich in Schliern – genau über dem Blindenmoos-Schulhaus mit über 500 Kindern – die Strahlenkegel zweier Antennen.

«Die verantwortlichen Gemeindebehörden opferten alles den kommerziellen Interessen», ärgert sich Hans-Peter Roost.

Das letzte Mittel: Schlafen im Keller

Kritik an den Gemeindebehörden auch in Thalwil ZH: Dort steht eine Antenne auf dem Bergschulhaus. Die Gemeinde erhält dafür von Sunrise jährlich 2400 Franken. Einige Antennennachbarn schlafen nur noch im Keller. Sie hatten sich erfolglos gegen die Anlage gewehrt. «Die Gemeinderäte unterwarfen sich kampflos der Telekomindustrie», sagt die Zahnärztin Cécile Pajarola resigniert. Wegen schlafloser Nächte, schwerer Sehstörungen und unerträglicher Ohrenschmerzen musste sie die Leitung der Schulzahnklinik aufgeben. Gemeindeschreiber Martin Pallioppi weist die Kritik zurück, man habe sich für die Bevölkerung zu wenig eingesetzt. «Als wir den Vertrag mit Sunrise abschlossen, waren die Gefahren noch nicht so bekannt.» Die Gegenwehr der Bürger bewirkte immerhin, dass Thalwil den Vertrag aufs Jahr 2008 kündigte und künftig auf Gemeindegebiet keine Antennen mehr zulässt.

Andere Gemeindebehörden gehen bis vor Bundesgericht. Doch meist ist es ein Kampf gegen Windmühlen. «Bundesrat und Parlament haben es bei der Neuordnung des Fernmeldewesens 1997 verpasst, im Gesetz einander gegenüberstehende Interessen der Bevölkerung zu definieren und aufeinander abzustimmen», kritisiert Umweltrecht-Spezialist Alain Griffel, Privatdozent für Staats- und Verwaltungsrecht an der Universität Zürich. Auf der einen Seite geht es um den Schutz vor elektromagnetischer Strahlung, auf der andern um den Ausbau des Handynetzes. Griffel: «Der Gesetzgeber hat diese heiße Kartoffel stattdessen den Behörden und Gerichten zugeschoben.» Diesen seien mangels gesetzlicher Regelung die Hände gebunden, Antennen zu verhindern, die auf privatem Grund gebaut werden. Mit andern Worten: Halten Swisscom, Sunrise und Orange die gesetzlichen Grenzwerte ein, und das tun sie in der Regel, ist eine geplante Antenne praktisch nicht zu verhindern. Laut Griffel bleiben mehr als 95 Prozent der Einsprachen erfolglos. «Für die Bevölkerung und die Gemeinden ist das ein ohnmächtiger und teurer Kampf.»

Der Bund verdient am Mobilfunk mit

Für den Widerstand und die Bedenken der Bevölkerung habe man Verständnis, sagt Swisscom-Sprecherin Pia Colombo. «Jede neue Technologie löst eine gewisse Verunsicherung aus.» Deshalb auf Antennenstandorte verzichten? Nein, meint der Sunrise-Sprecher Michael Burkhardt. «Der Wunsch der Kunden nach einer qualitativ hoch stehenden Abdeckung zieht einen Ausbau der Netze nach sich.»


Wenn es um den Standort einer Antenne geht, haben die Gemeinden nichts zu sagen. Auf Privatgelände dürfen die Telekomfirmen bauen, wo sie wollen. Das Gesetz sagt bloß, dass Antennen grundsätzlich innerhalb der Bauzonen – also meist mitten im Siedlungsgebiet – zu erstellen sind. Fälle, bei denen die Bevölkerung mitreden konnte und ein anderer als der geplante Standort gewählt wurde, lassen sich laut Orange-Sprecher Tilman Eberle «an einer Hand abzählen».

Denn die Hürden sind meist hoch. So wollten über 1400 Einwohner von Wettingen AG der Gemeinde mehr Mitsprache bei der Standortwahl verschaffen. Sie forderten in einer Initiative, den Antennenbau in der kommunalen Bau- und Nutzungsordnung zu regeln. Der Einwohnerrat erklärte die Initiative jedoch für ungültig, da sie gegen Bundesrecht verstoße.

Erstaunlich: Keines der Bundesämter in Bern ist zuständig für den Ausgleich der Interessen zwischen der profitorientierten Mobilfunkindustrie und den besorgten Bürgern. Stattdessen fördert der Bund den liberalisierten und privatisierten Telekommarkt. Und verdient kräftig mit – als Mehrheitsaktionär der Swisscom, die allein letztes Jahr einen Reingewinn von 1,5 Milliarden Franken eingestrichen hat.

Wegen Befangenheit hat der Bundesrat die Aufsicht über den Mobilfunkmarkt daher an die außerparlamentarische Kommunikationskommission (ComCom) delegiert. Die ComCom ist die eigentliche Machtzentrale. Sie unterliegt in ihren Entscheiden keinen Weisungen von Bundesrat und Departement. Präsident ist seit Januar Marc Furrer, davor über zehn Jahre lang Direktor des Bundesamts für Kommunikation (Bakom). Er wäre der Mann, der ein Moratorium verhängen könnte (siehe Nebenartikel «Handy-Antennen: Ein Moratorium drängt sich nicht auf»). Doch die Ängste der Bevölkerung haben bei ihm nicht Priorität. Dies zeigt schon die Tatsache, dass im Jahresbericht des Bakom davon überhaupt nicht und im Bericht der ComCom auf über 30 Seiten nur gerade einmal kurz von «Antennenproblematik» die Rede ist.

Strahlung: «Meistens voll am Limit»

Auch juristisch hat die Telekombranche leichtes Spiel. Anwälte von Swisscom, Orange und Sunrise stützen sich seit Jahren genüsslich auf die Rechtsprechung der Bundesrichter. Diese haben mehrmals bekräftigt, dass die Verordnung über den Schutz vor nichtionisierender Strahlung (NISV), welche Grenzwerte festlegt, die Vorsorge abschließend regelt. Gemeinden können eine Antennenbewilligung nicht wegen gesundheitlicher Bedenken verweigern. Bereits vor fünf Jahren entschied das Bundesgericht: «Weitergehende Begrenzungen im Einzelfall sind nicht zulässig.» Swisscom-Sprecherin Pia Colombo sagt denn auch: «Blockiert ist keines unserer Projekte. Dies wäre nach bundesgerichtlicher Rechtsprechung nicht zulässig.»

So stehen bis heute die Grenzwerte der NIS-Verordnung über allem. «Das Bundesgericht hat sie quasi heilig gesprochen», sagt Elektrosmog-Spezialist Josef Peter aus Illnau, der seit Jahren die Strahlung von Mobilfunkantennen misst. Für ihn steht fest: «Das Bundesgericht widerspricht bei seinen Entscheiden dem Umweltschutzgesetz.» Denn dieses verlangt, dass Maßnahmen zur Verminderung von Mobilfunkstrahlung zu treffen sind, sofern dies technisch machbar ist. Die Netzbetreiber kümmere dies wenig. Sie orientierten sich am starren Grenzwert, sagt Peter: «Sie gehen meistens voll ans Limit.»

Swisscom, Sunrise und Orange lassen keine Gelegenheit aus, den Grenzwert als «den strengsten in Europa» zu bezeichnen. Tatsächlich ist er rund zehnmal tiefer als etwa jener in Deutschland. Doch auf fundierten Untersuchungen basiert er nicht. «Man hat ihn pauschal und über den Daumen gepeilt reduziert», kritisiert der Zürcher Umweltjurist Andreas Laki das damalige Vorgehen. Dass es keine wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse gab, habe man dabei nur scheinbar berücksichtigt.

Selbstmord wegen Elektrosmog?

Dies bestätigt Strahlenspezialist Josef Peter, der den Grenzwert heute als «willkürlich» bezeichnet. Er war einer der Experten, die Bundesrat Moritz Leuenberger bei der Festsetzung des Werts berieten. Leuenberger stand unter dem Druck der Industrie. Das Bundesamt für Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft stellte den Schutz der Bevölkerung in den Vordergrund, steckte aber eine Niederlage ein: Es hatte einen viermal strengeren Grenzwert als den heute geltenden vorgeschlagen.

Ginge es nach der Vereinigung der Ärztinnen und Ärzte für Umweltschutz, der 2000 FMH-Mediziner angehören, würden zurzeit keine neuen Antennen gebaut: Sie forderten letztes Jahr ein Moratorium. Eine holländische Studie stellte fest, dass selbst Menschen, die sonst nicht sensibel auf elektromagnetische Felder reagieren, an Schwindel und Kribbeln leiden, wenn sie UMTS-Strahlen ausgesetzt sind. Dies schon bei Belastungen, wie sie in der Schweiz üblich sind. Diese Studie «ist der erste direkte Hinweis, dass UMTS-Strahlung die Gesundheit beeinträchtigt», sagt Mirjana Moser, Strahlenschutzexpertin beim Bundesamt für Gesundheit. «Das kam für die Wissenschaftler unerwartet.»

«Die Wirkung der Antennenstrahlung auf die Gesundheit hätte besser untersucht werden müssen, bevor die Netze aufgebaut wurden», kritisiert Umweltjurist Andreas Laki. «Aufgrund der zahlreichen Hinweise auf negative Auswirkungen sollte man von den Betreibern den Nachweis der Unschädlichkeit verlangen, statt der Forschung den Nachweis der Schädlichkeit aufzubürden.»

An der ETH Zürich wird die Studie zurzeit wiederholt. Doch selbst bei gleichen Ergebnissen wie in Holland wird ComCom-Präsident Furrer keinen Antennenstopp verfügen, wie er im Interview mit dem Beobachter bestätigt.

Für Stefan Zimmermann kämen solche Maßnahmen ohnehin zu spät. Der 18-Jährige schoss sich im September 2002 bei Mellingen AG mit einer Pistole in den Kopf. «Ich habe es satt, sieben Tage in der Woche mit Kopfweh aufzuwachen», schrieb er in seinem Abschiedsbrief. 30 Meter von seinem Elternhaus entfernt steht eine Swisscom-Antenne, seit 1994. Damals begannen auch die Kopfschmerzen. «Wir haben keine Gewissheit, es besteht aber der Verdacht, dass unser Sohn elektrosensibel war», sagt seine Mutter Madlen Zimmermann. Die Einsprache von Stefans Eltern und mehr als 400 anderen Mellinger Einwohnern hatte nichts gebracht.

Das Unternehmen bedaure «die tragischen Umstände» in Mellingen, halte aber am UMTS-Ausbau der Antenne fest, sagt Swisscom-Sprecherin Pia Colombo. Man habe eine Kontrollmessung gemacht. «Dieses besondere Entgegenkommen ist und bleibt aber die Ausnahme.» Der Tod des 18-Jährigen hat immerhin das Aargauer Baudepartement aufgerüttelt. Es sieht sich veranlasst, den gesetzlich zulässigen Vorsorge-Grenzwert der Antenne zu halbieren. Dazu habe man sich «im Lichte des tragischen Vorfalls» entschlossen.

http://www.beobachter.ch/asset_8833.asp?session=DFD53965-1508-4BC5-B58C-BAC5AB2EAD66


Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim