http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=6826


From Information Clearing House

Mr Bolton once said it would not make much difference to its operation if 10 floors of the UN's 38-storey New York headquarters were removed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1540492,00.html


From Information Clearing House

The annual death rate of under-5 year old infants is 5.8 per 100 in US-occupied Afghanistan and 2.6 per 100 in US-occupied Iraq due to gross Coalition violation of the Geneva Conventions for protection of civilians.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9633.htm

A US soldier holidaying in Ireland speaks candidly about the war in Iraq and says bases his country are building there are permanent...

http://snipurl.com/gn9d


From Information Clearing House

By Matthew D. LaPlante

He had witnessed a soldier shoot a 14-year-old boy in the back during a raid - as the boy was running away. That matter, he claimed, was never thoroughly investigated.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9629.htm

"The process is perpetrating a fraud on the American people"

Leaked emails from two former prosecutors claim the military commissions set up to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay are rigged, fraudulent, and thin on evidence against the accused.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9628.htm

The same people in and around the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same for Iran.

By Philip Giraldi

The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9639.htm

"He's damaged goods," said Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "This is a person who lacks credibility."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080105Z.shtml

The administration is getting nowhere on its grand policy agenda, writes New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. But the agenda it has always taken with utmost seriousness - consolidating one-party rule, and rewarding its friends - is moving forward quite nicely.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080105O.shtml

US officials who discussed plans to ship terror suspects to foreign nations that practice torture could be prosecuted for conspiring to violate US law, an FBI agent warned superiors in a memo three years ago.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080105M.shtml

--------

Secret Memo—Send to Be Tortured
Newsweek

Aug. 8, 2005 issue - An FBI agent warned superiors in a memo three years ago that U.S. officials who discussed plans to ship terror suspects to foreign nations that practice torture could be prosecuted for conspiring to violate U.S. law, according to a copy of the memo obtained by NEWSWEEK. The strongly worded memo, written by an FBI supervisor then assigned to Guantanamo, is the latest in a series of documents that have recently surfaced reflecting unease among some government lawyers and FBI agents over tactics being used in the war on terror. This memo appears to be the first that directly questions the legal premises of the Bush administration policy of "extraordinary rendition"—a secret program under which terror suspects are transferred to foreign countries that have been widely criticized for practicing torture. [...] Read the rest at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8769416/site/newsweek/

Be sure to keep looking at AfterDowningStreet.org to get the latest news about the effort to get Americans to realize the truth behind the "intelligence" cited to support the Iraq war. There is interesting information on their web site about the problem they had with their email being blocked.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/794#comment-4344


© Virginia Metze

It is difficult to think of anything that might better inform the Senate about Judge John Roberts's attitude and philosophy than those likely to be found in the files of the Solicitor General's office, writes former White House Counsel John W. Dean.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080105K.shtml

A group led by Democratic Senator Carl Levin seeks an amendment calling for an independent commission to investigate the Bush administration's interrogation policies and mistreatment of prisoners, writes TO's Marjorie Cohn.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080105I.shtml

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=9301

Dating Cheney's Nuclear Drumbeat by Jim Lobe, TomDispatch
It was the vice president's interest in Iraq's nuclear program that led Joe Wilson to be dispatched to Niger. http://www.tompaine.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/29/AR2005072901626_pf.html

by Colbert I. King, The Washington Post

Racial and religious profiling does little to identify terrorists and only sows resentment and division.

http://www.tompaine.com/

Harper's has an article and audio forum on Ohio. It's interesting reading. See below.

Those of you who, like me (on the ground in Ohio last October through the election) are concerned about fraud, please contact your local press, Democratic party offices, and Secretary of State to demand that electronic voting be abolished.

--Ari


On July 21, 2005 Harper's Magazine hosted a forum on voter rights as they related to the 2004 federal election. The forum was held at the U.S. Capitol, and was moderated by Harper's Publisher Rick MacArthur. The panelists were John Conyers, Jr., Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Sherrod Brown, Eleanor Clift, and Mark Crispin Miller. Miller's piece "None Dare Call it Stolen" appears in the August 2005 issue of Harper's Magazine.

[Forum] http://harpers.org/WhatWentWrongInOhio.html What Went Wrong in Ohio? Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005. A forum on voting rights in the 2004 federal elections.

About the Forum

The forum was held to discuss a fundamental aspect of the people's business--that of voting rights in the 2004 federal elections and the rather substantial evidence that these Constitutionally guaranteed rights were extensively violated in the state of Ohio--indeed, systematically violated and on a grand enough scale that the election may have been corruptly swung in favor of President Bush and against Senator John Kerry.

Ohio, as things turned out, was the key battleground state. Had Senator Kerry won Ohio he would have won the electoral college and would now be president of the United States. The Secretary of State's office in Ohio initially declared a 118,601 margin of victory for Bush over Kerry; after a county-by-county recount marred by highly inconsistent and evidently illegal procedures, the official victory margin for Bush was reduced by 144 votes. For the record, the Green Party lawsuit challenging the integrity of the recount in federal court has still not been heard--the Greens claim that state's recount was not conducted using random selection of precincts in 86 of the 88 counties, as required by state law.

The principal evidence for voting irregularities in Ohio is contained in the Conyers Report on the 2004 Presidential Election, prepared by the Democratic staff of the House Judiciary Committee, and now published as this book, also entitled What Went Wrong in Ohio. This investigation was initiated and supervised by Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary committee. The Republican majority on the Judiciary Committee declined to participate in the Conyers inquiry, so we do not have the benefit of their insights. This is unfortunate, given that one of the principal subjects of the Conyers investigation is an Ohio Republican, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who was also co-chairman of the Ohio Bush re-election campaign. Nevertheless, even lacking Republican input, the Conyers report is an altogether remarkable document. It is by far the best and most complete dossier on voter disenfranchisement and possible vote fraud in Ohio, and it has more than enough hard information to justify a public conversation.

There's a second question raised by the Conyers Report, albeit implicitly, which I hope we will have time to explore today. For as remarkable as the information in the Conyers report may be, the near total media silence that greeted it when it first appeared--as well as the scant coverage of the formal objection to the Ohio electoral vote count filed by Representative Stephanie Tubb Jones--is, to my mind, just as remarkable. So remarkable, in fact, that Harper's Magazine has devoted its August cover story to summarizing and explicating the Conyers report and to asking why it wasn't considered more newsworthy by the national media. Even though eight months have passed since the election, the material compiled here seems to us fresh and scandalous in large part because it has gone almost entirely unreported in the press. As William Raspberry wrote in the Washington Post, "political reporters, mainstream editors and most of Congress seemed utterly unalarmed" by the reports of election chicanery in Ohio. The Conyers report, orginally titled, "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio," was released on January 5 of this year--and our search on Google and Lexis Nexis turned up very little in the way of coverage.

Given the stakes and given the well-reported disenfranchisement of African-American voters in Florida in the 2000 election, this seems to be a scandal every bit as important as the election irregularities in Ohio.

The Panelists

Rick MacArthur, publisher of Harper's Magazine.

John Conyers, Jr., Democrat of Michigan, is the ranking Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee. Elected to the House in 1964, Representative Conyers is the second most senior member of this body and his personal political parallels the history of the civil rights and voting rights, movements in this country. He was, notably, the driving force behind the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones is a four-term Democratic congresswoman representing the 11th District of Ohio. A lifelong resident of Cleveland, Representative Tubbs Jones was a prosecutor and a judge in Ohio before she came to Washington. She currently sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, the first African American woman to do so. It was Congresswoman Tubbs Jones who, partly on the strength of the Conyers investigation, formally objected to the certification of the Ohio electoral count last January.

Sherrod Brown has represented Ohio's 13th District as a Democrat since 1993 and served as Ohio's Secretary of State for two terms, from 1982 to 1990. He is the author of Myths of Free Trade, Why American Trade Policy has Failed.

Eleanor Clift is a contributing editor for Newsweek Magazine and a familiar face on television public affairs programs. She has covered the White House, presidential campaigns and Congress and is the author, with her late husband Tom Brazaitis, of two books, most recently Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling. She contributed to Newsweek's instant book on the 2004 election, and she has contributed to Harper's Magazine.

Mark Crispin Miller is a professor of media studies at New York University and the author of several books, most recently Cruel and Unusual, Bush/Cheney's New World Order. Professor Miller wrote the cover story for the August issue of Harper's Magazine. This is What Went Wrong in Ohio?, published Monday, July 25, 2005. It is part of Features, which is part of Harpers.org.


Informant: Hopedance

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/3189/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

Now is the Time to Resist By Henry Rosemont, Jr.

In his April 2005 FPIF Discussion Paper “ Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice (RTPV ),” John Humphries describes how a group of clergy and lay people--Christian, Jewish, and Muslim--drafted a Call to Resist the War in Iraq, which committed signers thereof to become actively complicit in differing acts of civil disobedience designed to end the illegal U.S. occupation and warfare in Iraq. Humphries describes the RTPV call as inspired by and modeled after the 1967 Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority, which led to the formation of an organization named RESIST that actively opposed the illegal U.S. war against the South Vietnamese. The model indeed fits, as both calls are grounded in basic ethical principles rather than purely utilitarian concerns: The wars and occupations must be resisted, not because they were and are too costly or might drag on too long but because they were and are morally loathsome.

The author’s account of the RTPV call is excellent overall, but the article may be misleading in one respect because it suggests that the RESIST of 1967 is a thing of the past, which it most assuredly is not. It is the oldest progressive funding organization in the United States today, distributing a third of a million dollars last year to 146 groups actively struggling for peace and social change. It also provides technical assistance to startup groups, publishes both print and electronic newsletters, and participates in organizing demonstrations and supporting like-minded organizations.

Most of the groups that RESIST has funded for the last three decades transcend anti-military organizing. They confront oppressive policies and actions at all levels of government ranging from prison-building to assaults on reproductive rights, from racism and homophobia to police brutality and attacks on immigrants. RESIST broadened its scope beyond the war in Southeast Asia in the belief that the United States cannot contribute to lasting peace abroad unless and until it has achieved social and economic justice at home. Parallels between the war situations in 1967 and today are numerous, and RESIST’s work may thus be of interest to those planning strategies to end Middle Eastern violence.

Henry Rosemont Jr. signed the 1967 call, joined RESIST in 1969, has been a member of its board of directors since 1971 and thus claims only accuracy and not impartiality for the contents of this article. When not engaged in political activity, he studies Chinese philosophy and religion and teaches at Brown University, where he is currently Distinguished Visiting Professor of East Asian Studies.

See new FPIF discussion paper online at: http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/174

With printer-friendly pdf version at:
http://www.fpif.org/pdf/papers/0507resist.pdf

For article referred to above:

Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice By John Humphries (April 5, 2005) http://www.fpif.org/papers/0504rtpv.html


Informant: IRC Communications

From ufpj-news

Derbyshire Telegraph

09:30 - 01 August 2005

New city council leader Chris Williamson has now adopted the most aggressive stance against mobile phone masts yet seen from within our corridors of power.

The Labour chief says he has instructed the authority's legal department to explore what measures are open to residents to fight planning applications from mobile phone companies.

He wants to show protesting residents "that they have the support of the city council" - a remarkable blanket commitment.

It will raise a few eyebrows because, up and down the land, planning officers have been sadly shaking their heads and saying that regulations leave them powerless to oppose plans for masts which are under 15 metres high.

If that is indeed the law of the land, then Mr Williamson may have to restrict his fight to the higher masts.

And, even then, he can expect to be challenged to name the sites within the city which he would deem acceptable as mast sites.

For, however electorally- damaging that would be, these things have to be put up somewhere if millions of people are to enjoy the benefit of their mobile phones.

Of course, if scientists were able to unequivocally answer the question which has been troubling people for years - do masts pose a health risk? - the issue would become more clear-cut.

If the answer is yes, then it is back to the drawing board and people would just have to find some other means of annoying fellow bus and train passengers and dicing with death behind the steering wheels of their cars.

And if they are given a clean bill of health, we'll just have to accept the phone masts as an unsightly but necessary evil.

Unless, that is, Mr Williamson is prepared to risk the wrath of Derby's phone-users and insist he is going to block all plans for masts...

Antennas relay of Orange of CREST historical Drôme Lawsuit of mass against Orange in Summary procedure in the Court of Valence this Wednesday August 3, 2005 at 9h. In public sitting to the attention of Mr Herve MARITON Député-Maire from CREST des Témoignages (basiques) Residents. . . its managed. http://www.sauvonsleon.fr/main.php?param=statscom (put in line in progress)



ASL : Antennes relais d'Orange de CREST Drôme

Procès historique de masse contre Orange en Référé au Tribunal de Valence

Ce Mercredi 3 Août 2005 à 9h. en audience publique

A l'attention de Monsieur Hervé MARITON Député-Maire de CREST des Témoignages (basiques) de Riverains, . . . ses Administrés.

http://www.sauvonsleon.fr/main.php?param=statscom

( mis en ligne en cours )

http://www.omega-news.info/sciences_et_avenir_les_champs_magnetiques.JPG

Medienberichten zufolge hat sich eine Gruppe von Verbraucher- und Kinderanwälten am Dienstag in einem Schreiben an einflussreiche Abgeordnete des amerikanischen Kongresses gewandt. Die Abgeordneten werden aufgefordert, sich mit der an Kinder gerichteten Werbung für drahtlose Telefone zu befassen. Das Schreiben nennt mehrere Gefahren der Handynutzung durch Kinder, unter anderem die Möglichkeit für Kinderschänder, über das Handy Kontakt zu Kindern aufzunehmen, die mangelnde Kontrolle von Eltern über die Ausgaben, sowie Gesundheitsgefahren für Kinder.

http://www.rcrnews.com/
http://www.commercialalert.org/

Aus: FGF-Infoline vom 28.07.2005


Kinder und Mobilfunk
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/311977/

CNN-Fernsehsendung zu Handynutzung und Hirntumorentwicklung

Johnny Cochrane, als Anwalt von O.J. Simpson zu einiger Berühmtheit gelangt, ist vor kurzem an einem Hirntumor gestorben. Dr. Keith Black, ein renommierter Neurochirurg am Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, sieht einen engen Zusammenhang zwischen seiner Erkrankung bzw. seinem Tod und seiner Handynutzung. CNN hat Black zum Thema Hirntumore und Handynutzung interviewt. Das Video ist zu sehen unter:

http://www.cnn.com/

Omega siehe hierzu auch: „Cell Phone Use, Cancer Ties Explored”
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/854989/


Aus: FGF-Infoline vom 28.07.2005

http://www.infowars.com/articles/science/vaccines_schools_lie_to_parents_vaccines_manditory.htm


Informant: JHW369

----- Original Message ----- From: Butler, Kate Kate.Butler@sunday-times.ie
To: oconnell@esatclear.ie
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 5:12 PM Subject: The Sunday Times, Property

Hi Colette, Many thanks for all your help. See below for an electronic version of the article. All the best, Kate The Sunday Times - Property

July 17, 2005

Tough call on phone masts Fears over the effects on health of living near a phone mast invariably drag house prices down but, as KATE BUTLER reports, there could be some masts near your home that you’re unaware of

A country mansion comprising 15 rooms, with bucolic charm and excellent mobile phone reception . . .” Living next door to a mobile phone mast may offer you the best communications, but it’s not exactly a selling point.

One estate agent says he would halve the value of houses if a mast was nearby. The true impact of mobile phone masts on health is still unknown. Controversy was stirred again last month by an Oireachtas committee that called for stricter planning guidelines for masts.

Omega the true impact of mobile phone masts on health is not still unknown. See under:
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

But the debate is already affecting the value of property.“If a mast is near a property, I’d drop the price by half because you eliminate half the customers,” says Pat O’Donovan, of O’Donovan and Associates in Co Limerick.

“A couple of months ago one person actually pulled out of a sale because of an application for the erection of a mast on a site nearby.”

There are now 5,181 mobile phone masts across the republic, a threefold increase since 1999. The Office of Public Works has agreed to allow 32 masts on public buildings.

Yet Ireland only has 94% mobile phone penetration, under the EU average of 98%: there are more masts to come. The public has remained distrustful of phone company and government assurances that masts are safe. Staff at the Department of Social and Family Affairs office in Sligo are opposing the siting of a mast on their building. They say it will affect children attending a creche inside.

Prompted by such fears, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications investigated. It criticised the role of the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) in monitoring masts and recommended strict planning guidelines.

One is that masts should not be erected close to sensitive sites such as schools, health centres and playgrounds. “We have to take a cautionary approach, even though there is no scientific evidence that the masts are injurious to people’s health,” says Noel O’Flynn, the TD and chairman of the Oireachtas committee. “We also recommended that we need a scientific advisory body — we’re not experts.”

Caution is one thing that the government has not yet exercised in relation to masts. Since 2000, masts have been exempt from planning permission if they are erected on a commercial building or on a telephone or flagpole.

In 1999, Karen Heneghan of Griffith Avenue, north Dublin, proved in High Court that the erection of a phone mast next to her property was in breach of planning guidelines and had devalued her property. “People thought I was fighting it on the grounds of health, but I fought it on visual impact and devaluation of property,” she says. “It was a monstrosity.”

Eircom took the mast down, but when the law changed it was able to erect another one on the telecommunications exchange next to her home. Heneghan found the smaller, unobtrusive mast didn’t affect the sale of her house last year.

Don MacAuley, of Mast Action in Meath, believes there is little to prevent phone companies putting up masts wherever they want. Using their own detection equipment, the group has found a mast hidden in a chimney opposite a residential estate.

“Since the exemptions, a mast under 15m doesn’t need planning permission,” he says. “We reckon there are 180-plus — but Meath county council only knows of about 55.”

However, Patrick Tehan, an auctioneer, believes that masts do not always have a negative effect on house sales. “Phone masts are a strange entity. Some people would be annoyed by them, others wouldn’t give a damn,” he says. “When an auctioneer is valuing a property, they might warn the client that this could be a negative factor.”

While it might not prevent a sale, the proximity of a mast will always be a consideration for buyers, according to Karen Mulvaney of the Buyer’s Agent. “So much is unknown about mobile phone masts that it does scare people,” she said.

“I’ve never come across anyone who has said ‘no big deal’. There are two big concerns: health and resale.” There seems to be a relatively simple solution to curbing masts’ proliferation. “We have recommended that mobile virtual operators should be able to access the infrastructure that’s already in place,” says ComReg. “There would be less need for masts.”

But this may be bad news for those already living with masts close to their homes. It means that future masts will be restricted to existing sites.

So far, however, there has been no co-operation between the phone companies. Meanwhile, some are not willing to hang about. “I once spoke to a land registry man in Waterford,” says O’Donovan. “He said whenever he sees an application come in for a mast near his property, the first thing he does is see an estate agent and move out.”

Ein soeben erschienenes Buch von Christoph Butterwegge. Das Buch erklärt die Ursachen und Hintergründe der Krise des Sozialstaats und entwickelt Alternativen zur gegenwärtig in Deutschland betriebenen Sozialpolitik. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. Ca. 318 S. Geb.. EUR 24,90, ISBN 3-8100-4138-6. Siehe hierzu: Verlagsinformationen und Bestellmöglichkeit
http://www.vs-verlag.de/index.php?do=show&sid=7da81b078f4d2d363eb8bf05d6e3f5f8&site=w&book_id=8219

und exklusiv im LabourNet Germany:

Diskussionen über den Wohlfahrtsstaat der Zukunft Kapitel 6 aus: Christoph Butterwegge, Krise und Zukunft des Sozialstaates, Wiesbaden (VS – Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften) 2005, S. 233-265 (pdf). Es behandelt die (sich zuletzt neoliberal wandelnden) Gerechtigkeitsvorstellungen der Parteien, besonders der SPD.

http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/allg/butterwegge.pdf


Aus: LabourNet, 1. August 2005

Protokoll des 7. bundesweiten Treffens der Sozialbündnisse, Organisatoren der Montagsdemonstrationen, Organisationen der sozialen Bewegung, Vertreter der Gewerkschaften am 9. Juli 2005 (pdf)

http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/aktionen/mon_bw7_prot.pdf


Aus: LabourNet, 1. August 2005

„Angesichts der chaotischen Zustände in Arbeitsagenturen und ARGE’n, der belastenden Situation der Hartz IV-Betroffenen und der sich auch aus unserer Sicht insgesamt dramatisch verschärfenden sozialen Lage im Zuge der ‚Agenda 2010’-Politik haben wir den Plan zur Gründung eines lokalen Komitee(s) für Bürgerrechte für Erwerbslose und Sozialgeldempfänger/innen gefasst. Wir - das ist zunächst einmal die in Dortmund ansässige Arbeitsgemeinschaft Verfassungsbeschwerde, die aus Betroffenen und engagierten BürgerInnen besteht. Mit unserem Aufruf zur Gründung eines solchen Komitees möchten wir einen Beitrag zur Ausweitung der kritischen Gegenöffentlichkeit zum unausgesprochenen Konsens gegenüber den neoliberalen 'Sachzwängen’ leisten. Und vielleicht ist unsere Idee auch Anregung für andere. Wir hoffen, dass wir hier in Dortmund ein ermutigendes Echo finden.“ Entwurf des Aufrufs (pdf)

http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/aktionen/komitee_entw.pdf


Aus: LabourNet, 1. August 2005

"Auf einem prekärcamp im August soll es um den solidarisch-politischen Gehalt von Aneignung und Alltagspraxen, von “prekären und normalen” Arbeitsverhältnissen und um soziale Interventionen in hartzigen Zeiten gehen. Eine feine Aktions- und Ideenschmiede, die keine Angst davor hat, das Gestammel der Akteure zum Ausgangspunkt von eigenen und gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen zu nehmen. Das Camp als Ort von Debatten, die den je eigenen Horizont nicht als End-, sondern im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes als Ausgangspunkt nehmen. [...] Ein Zwischenraum im Lattenzaun um durchzuschauen. Die Verhältnisse scheinen festgefügt, die Möglichkeiten gering. Im alltäglichen Leben wirkt manche Widerständigkeit gegen die Einhegungen und Zumutungen ganz banal. Aber wer sagt, dass die Verhältnisse von heute auf morgen einstürzen? Und wer sagt, dass sie das übermorgen nicht tun? Es lohnt sich, für ein ganz anderes, glückliches, schönes und von allen Diskriminierungen freies Leben zu kämpfen - für globale Rechte…" Für mehr Informationen siehe die Camp-Hompepage http://www.prekaer-camp.org/


Aus: LabourNet, 1. August 2005

Folge dem Geist des St.Prekarius! Komm zur Prozession zu Ehren des Schutzheiligen der Entrechteten nach Köln im Rahmen des Weltjugendtages am 19. August 2005! Am 19.August 2005 wird nicht nur Papst Benedikt in Köln zum Weltjugendtag erwartet. Die Anhänger des St. Prekarius werden gemeinsam mit mehr als 800.000 Pilgern ebenfalls zu Gast in Köln sein und rufen zu einer Prozession zu Ehren von Sankt Prekarius, dem Schutzheiligen der Entrechteten auf. Siehe die Aktions-Homepage mit vielen Infis, Links und tollen Plakaten http://www.sanktprekarius.tk/

Aus: LabourNet, 1. August 2005

Bericht von agenturschluss köln vom 28.07.2005 bei indymedia
http://de.indymedia.org/2005/07/123889.shtml


Aus: LabourNet, 1. August 2005

Die maßgebliche Erinnerungskultur ist bis heute atombombenfreundlich.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20614/1.html

This week, the White House blocked a Senate vote on a measure sponsored by a half-dozen Republicans, including Senator John McCain, that would prohibit cruel, degrading or inhumane treatment of prisoners. Besides being outrageous on its face, that action served as a reminder of how the Bush administration ducks for cover behind the men and women in uniform when challenged on military policy, but ignores their advice when it seems inconvenient.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/073105D.shtml

From Pago Pago in American Samoa to Yap in Micronesia, 4,000 miles to the west, Army recruiters are scouring the Pacific, looking for high school graduates to enlist at a time when the Iraq war is turning off many candidates in the States.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/073105A.shtml

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE
Check the blog at http://www.pastorsforpeace.org for updates tomorrow!

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- JULY 31, 2005

CONTACTS: IFCO/PASTORS FOR PEACE HIDALGO,
TX: Ellen Bernstein 646/319-5902, 646/319-5904, 917/623-5873 NEW YORK: Lucia Bruno 212/926-5757 (office)

MAJOR BATTLE FACES PASTORS FOR PEACE CARAVAN ON RETURN FROM CUBA

Participants face US reprisals and possible arrests for challenging ban on travel to Cuba

WHERE: HIDALGO-REYNOSA INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE, TX/MX BORDER WHEN: MONDAY AUGUST 1, STARTING AT 9:30am

130 US residents are bracing themselves to face US enforcement agents - even the possibility of arrests -when they return from Cuba and re-enter the US with the 16th Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan. They will be crossing the International Bridge from Reynosa, Mexico into Hidalgo,Texas and will re-enter the US at about 9:30am on August 1.

"We have heard that an order was given from a very high level of the Bush administration to stop Pastors for Peace this year," said Rev. Lucius Walker, executive director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace, from Hidalgo. "Given the pathological obsession of the Bush administration with anything that has to do with Cuba, and given their over-reaction to our caravan on its way to Cuba, we must expect an even greater challenge from them on the way back."

When last year's caravan came home, there were more federal agents on hand to meet them at the Hidalgo border than there were caravanistas. The enforcement agents were from Immigration, Customs, OFAC [the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department], Border Patrol, and Treasury. They interrogated every caravan participant, searched every single piece of personal luggage, and confiscated such controversial items as a paper flag on a stick, a book of poetry, and a pair of maracas. This year the federal authorities are acting under new orders, so the caravan has to be prepared for an even harder confrontation.

As a matter of moral principle, Pastors for Peace refuses to request or accept a license from the US government to travel to Cuba or to deliver humanitarian aid to that island nation. "Cuba is not our enemy, and Cuba is not a threat. We refuse to be complicit with the aim of the Bush administration to force Cuba into adopting a so-called 'free-market' economy that would be dominated by US interests," said Rev. Walker.

"All of the members of the caravan are committed to challenging the blockade against Cuba, as an act of 'civil obedience,'" said IFCO/Pastors for Peace board member Rev. Luis Barrios. "We are obeying the law that says 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' We are prepared to face reprisals as we stand up for our moral convictions."

The Pastors for Peace caravan is challenging the ban on travel to Cuba in coordination with several other US organizations, including 60 members of the Venceremos Brigade, which are also currently in Cuba and will also be returning to the US (from Canada into Buffalo, NY) on Monday August 1.

The 16th US/Cuba Friendshipment caravan organized by IFCO/Pastors for Peace collected 140 tons of humanitarian aid for Cuba from 130 local communities in the US and Canada. Nearly all of the aid crossed the US border into Mexico just before daybreak on July 22, but US Customs agents, acting on the orders of the US Commerce Department, seized 43 boxes of aid, containing computer accessories such as toner, printers, modems, and cables, and a dozen second-hand computers. Another 75 boxes of computer-related aid that were not allowed to cross the border remain in Hidalgo. Seven members of the caravan have remained in Hidalgo continuing a national campaign to win release of the humanitarian aid seized by the US government more than a week ago.

The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) is a national ecumenical agency based in Harlem, New York City, which was founded in 1967 to work for racial, social, and economic justice. Pastors for Peace is a project of IFCO that was founded in 1988 after IFCO's executive director was wounded in a contra attack in Nicaragua.

More information, including photos and audio clips, is available at http://www.pastorsforpeace.org.


Carlos Rovira - "Carlito"

From ufpj-news

The role of US Supreme Court nominee John Roberts in the 2000 election aftermath in Florida was larger than has been reported. Roberts helped prepare the Supreme Court case.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9618.htm

How did Tony Blair, George Bush and Malcolm Fraser of Australia not understand the primeval wickedness they had let loose in Iraq? The answer was simple.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/125/125_blonds.html


From Information Clearing House

Things are going well in Iraq for the invaders. Well, at least for some people, such as US Vice-President Richard Cheney. He is receiving more than $US1 million ($A1.3 million) a year from Halliburton, the company of which he was CEO from 1995 to 2000, in "deferred remuneration" while he is VP. He is worth every penny.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9614.htm


From Information Clearing House

The issue of permanent bases cuts to the heart of not only how long we intend to stay in Iraq, but why we got there in the first place.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/23755/


From Information Clearing House

Al-Qaeda expert:

"Like Afghanistan produced the last generation of terrorists, Iraq will produce the next generation," he said.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=17213
http://snipurl.com/gmlg


From Information Clearing House

Terrorism is actually a response to military interventions perpetrated by western governments.

By Linda McQuaig

In the official, mainstream view of terrorism — the view trumpeted by western governments, think tanks and media commentators — terrorists are freedom-loathing zealots with an irrational hatred of our western lifestyle and culture.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9623.htm

By Michael Isikoff

This memo appears to be the first that directly questions the legal premises of the Bush administration policy of "extraordinary rendition"—a secret program under which terror suspects are transferred to foreign countries that have been widely criticized for practicing torture.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9620.htm

Beyond Downing Street Town Hall Meeting

Featuring Nafeez M. Ahmed

This presentation by eminent researcher Ahmed was recorded at the American University during the Washington, D.C. Emergency Truth Convergence Saturday, July 23 Real Video.

Click here to watch
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9626.htm

http://www.amconmag.com/2005_08_01/article2.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-1715145,00.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8776578/


Informant: NHNE



As planet warms, storms grow stronger
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0801/p03s01-sten.html


Informant: Craig Gingold

The Libertarian Enterprise
by Glen Litsinger

07/31/05

A 27-year old Brazilian electrician was shot 5 times, 3 times in the head at point blank range, by British homeland security experts last week. His crime? Wearing a heavy, padded coat in balmy 74-degree London, and running when a swarm of heavily-armed public protectors followed him into a subway station and demanded that he lie down and be shot without making a scene...

http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle330-20050731-02.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



New claims emerge over Menezes death:

The young Brazilian shot dead by police on a London tube train in mistake for a suicide bomber had already been overpowered by a surveillance officer before he was killed, according to secret documents revealed last night.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9823.htm



Over Kill: Mistakes led to tube shooting:

ITV News has obtained secret documents and photographs that detail why police shot Jean Charles De Menezes dead on the tube
http://www.itv.com/news/index_1677571.html



Police under pressure over Menezes leak:

"It raises very, very serious questions about the shoot-to-kill policy and shows immediate questions need to be asked about whether this policy should be in operation and how dangerously wrong it can go.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1550815,00.html


From Information Clearing House



Leaked Documents in Shot Brazilian's Death Allege London Police Error

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0817-04.htm



UK police lied over shooting, say lawyers
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/uk/article_1042214.php/UK_police_lied_over_shooting_say_lawyers_-_updated

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...... "They subsequently justified de Menezes’ killing and unconditionally defended the police by endorsing a version of events now exposed as a pack of lies.

They could do so with impunity because they knew that no one within the political establishment or the media would challenge them, particularly under conditions where a concerted campaign was being waged to insist that national unity was the only permitted response in the aftermath of the July 7 bombings."

*Excerpt from below

Britain: Government Lies Exposed Over de Menezes Murder

Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (Britain)
18 August 2005

Documents and photographs leaked to ITV News demonstrate that the entire story used by the police, the media and the government to excuse the killing of the young Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in London was a lie.

On every important detail, what the public were told was a fabrication.

Rather than the accidental victim of an anti-terror operation, de Menezes was the victim of a state execution.

The aim of this operation was to send a message to the British public that democratic rights count for nothing— a message that was made explicit by Prime Minister Tony Blair when he declared that the “rules of the game” have now changed.

In the immediate aftermath of de Menezes’ killing on July 22, media reports, supposedly backed by eyewitnesses, claimed that the young Brazilian had been seen leaving the home of a suspected terrorist wearing a bulky overcoat on a hot day.

When challenged by police at Stockwell subway station, he had attempted to run, jumping a ticket barrier, before being overpowered and shot multiple times in the head in order to prevent the possible detonation of a bomb.

Statements and photographs leaked from the official Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) being held into the shooting show that none of this is true.

De Menezes left his flat and boarded a bus on his way to work, from which point he was placed under surveillance and followed. The only reason given for this by the police is that he had “Mongolian eyes” and looked like a suspect. Also contrary to previous claims, everything that took place at Stockwell station was captured on CCTV.

This footage shows:

* De Menezes was not wearing a belt or jacket that could have concealed weapons—he was wearing a denim jacket.

* At no point was he challenged by the police, all of whom were in plain clothes. This flatly contradicts the statement made by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair that he refused to obey police instructions.

* De Menezes did not leap over the ticket barrier to the underground station where the shooting took place but entered normally. He did not run away from the police, as he was completely unaware he was being followed. Rather, he picked up a free newspaper as he slowly descended the elevator to the platform.

* De Menezes did not trip or stumble as he ran on to the train in an attempt to evade arrest, thus allowing police to “capture” him. Instead he had boarded the train and was seated when he was shot through the head.

At this point accounts in the documents differ slightly as to what happened. One version states that a police officer walked up to de Menezes and, without warning, shot him repeatedly in the head. Another paints a conflicting but equally chilling picture.

A policeman from the surveillance team who was following de Menezes states: “I heard shouting which included the word ‘police’ and turned to face the male in the denim jacket...

“He immediately stood up and advanced towards me and the CO19 [firearms squad] officers.... I grabbed the male in the denim jacket by wrapping both my arms around his torso, pinning his arms to his side. I then pushed him back on to the seat where he had been previously sitting.... I then heard a gun shot very close to my left ear and was dragged away on to the floor of the carriage.”

Even if this version of events is true, there was no reason to shoot de Menezes as he was restrained and could not explode a bomb.

ITV News showed photographs of the dead man lying on the floor inside the train with blood on the seat where he had been sitting. He was not shot five times in the head as the press said at the time.

According to ITV News, he was shot eight times, seven in the head and one in the shoulder, at close range by two firearms officers.

No one has taken responsibility for wrongly identifying de Menezes as a terrorist.

The officer responsible for operating the surveillance cameras targeting the block of flats claims that he was “relieving” himself when de Menezes left home and asked for someone else to check his identity.

However, it is clear that someone at the highest level had taken the decision to implement the shoot-to-kill policy secretly developed more than two years ago— using the pretext provided by the July 7 terror bombings in London. Someone was going to be killed that day and, as it turned out, it did not particularly matter who it was.

The papers state that “gold command made the decision and gave appropriate instructions that de Menezes was to be prevented from entering the tube system. At this stage the operation moved to code red tactic, responsibility was handed over to CO19.”

Gold command, based at Metropolitan Police headquarters, is the secretive body charged with giving the go-ahead for shoot-to-kill operations under what is known as “Operation Kratos.”

The documents quote the commanding officer of CO19 as telling his team “that they may be required to use unusual tactics today because of the environment they were in.”

Asked to clarify, he is reported to have replied: “If we were deployed to intercept a subject and there was an opportunity to challenge, but if the subject was noncompliant, a critical shot may be taken.”

Events demonstrate that de Menezes was never given a chance to comply with the police.

Right up to the moment he was killed, he could have had no idea of what was about to happen to him.

Contrary to stated policy, no attempts were made to stop him when he left his flat and board a bus to the train station, even though he was supposed to be a potential terrorist.

Immediate responsibility for de Menezes’ killing must be laid at the door of the firearms squad and their commanding officers.

But political and moral responsibility for this crime rests squarely with Blair and his government.

Not only did the government covertly establish new guidelines allowing police to act as judge, jury and executioner.

They subsequently justified de Menezes’ killing and unconditionally defended the police by endorsing a version of events now exposed as a pack of lies.

They could do so with impunity because they knew that no one within the political establishment or the media would challenge them, particularly under conditions where a concerted campaign was being waged to insist that national unity was the only permitted response in the aftermath of the July 7 bombings.

Even after the ITV News revelations, not a single Labour or opposition member of parliament was prepared to speak out.

All accepted the official line of the police and the government that any comment would prejudice the Complaints Commission inquiry.

Such claims are cynical in the extreme. All that will emerge from the IPCC is a cover-up.

In the meantime, the silence of the political establishment and the media enables the government to put in place all the elements for a police state.

Working people must draw the most fundamental lessons from the assassination of Jean Charles de Menezes.

An entirely innocent man, whose only crime was to live in the wrong block of flats, was summarily executed with no one held to account.

Moreover, Metropolitan Police Chief Blair has made clear that the same “code red tactic” implemented in the murder of de Menezes was used on seven other occasions in the recent period, and in each case police came close to opening fire.

The abrogation of democratic rights has reached the point where the type of death squads associated with South American dictatorships or with Britain’s occupation of Northern Ireland are being used on the streets of London.

And things will not end there.

Measures announced by Blair on August 5 will be used to criminalise all forms of political dissent.

The government intends to give itself unprecedented powers to deport and exclude any foreign national or naturalised citizen it deems a potential security threat and to extend the use of virtual house arrest against British citizens.

It will be able to ban organisations and publications on the vague pretext that they “condone” terrorism, and close places of worship.

It will respond to any legal challenge to these proposals by abrogating the Human Rights Act.

Those responsible for the de Menezes killing must be brought to account.

But this cannot be accomplished by relying on the IPCC or any other legal body.

The lies employed to justify the state execution of de Menezes are only a link in the chain of lies used by the British and U.S. governments to justify their predatory war in Iraq and ongoing “war against terror.”

Both London and Washington have developed a modus operandi that is not limited by any commitment to traditional democratic norms.

Opposed by a majority of the population, these governments uphold the interests of a tiny financial elite that seek to enrich themselves through rapacious plunder of the world’s resources and the ever more brutal exploitation of the working class.

The imposition of these policies, which are antithetical to the interests of the vast majority of the population, cannot be reconciled with the preservation of democracy.

It demands new forms of rule based in the most profound sense on lawlessness and criminality.

This is what now confronts working people.

Everything depends on the development of an independent political movement of the working class, the axis of which must be opposition to the profit system— that is the source of the drive towards war and the assault on civil liberties.

See Also: Blair lays down framework for police state in Britain [10 August 2005]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/aug2005/lies-a18.shtml


Informant: Friends

--------

London police chief tried to stop shooting inquiry:

Britain's top police officer, the Scotland Yard commissioner Sir Ian Blair, attempted to stop an independent external investigation into the shooting of a young Brazilian mistaken for a suicide bomber, it emerged yesterday.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1551416,00.html


From Information Clearing House

--------

George Galloway: The events at Stockwell tube station :

Those who fed the initial pack of lies to the press must be exposed and sacked. And Ian Blair and the government ministers who were responsible for sanctioning the shoot-to-kill policy which produced the utterly avoidable death of this young man, must resign.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9845.htm



"Shoot to Kill"; Blair's first Trophy

by Mike Whitney

Blair, Bush and Howard have all turned to a model of governance that justifies the absolute, unchecked authority of the state over the rights of the citizen. De Menezes is just the first casualty in this incipient struggle. He won't be the last.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9874.htm



Police who tailed shot Brazilian didn't think he was a threat: report:

Quoting senior police sources, it said three surveillance officers who followed Jean Charles de Menezes into a south London subway station where he died on July 22 did not feel he was armed or about to set off a bomb.

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=66435



'Disgusted' parents reject Met's offer of £15,000 compensation for dead son:

The parents of the Brazilian electrician shot dead by police were offered £15,000 in compensation for the loss of their son, raising allegations that the family were being bought off.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article307384.ece


From Information Clearing House

--------

London police keep shoot to kill policy

Guardian [UK]

08/20/05

London police said Saturday they made only minor changes to their directive on the use of deadly force after killing an innocent man mistaken for a terrorist, and they also denied a published report that they offered $1 million to the victim's family. 'There has been a review. The police have reviewed the strategy and we have made one or two small changes, but the operation remains essentially the same,' said a police spokeswoman who declined to give her name because of police policy. She also would not discuss details of the changes in Operation Kratos, the force's name for what British media call a 'shoot-to-kill' policy. The review followed the July 22 killing of a Brazilian man, Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, who was wrongly suspected of being a suicide terrorist...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5222897,00.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

--------

London Police Facing Pressure over Killing of Brazilian
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/082305Y.shtml

--------

De Menezes Shooting: All the facts point to a cover up
http://infowars.net/Pages/Aug05/260805DeMenezes_cover_up.htm


From ECOTERRA Intl.

--------

http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&q=Jean+Charles+de+Menezes&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Charles_de_Menezes

WorldNetDaily
by Pat Buchanan

08/01/05

Is America preparing to pull out of Iraq without victory? Are we ready to leave that war-ravaged land without any assurance a free, democratic, pro-Western Iraq will survive? Is President Bush willing to settle for less than we all thought? So it would seem. For it is difficult to draw any other conclusion from the just-completed Rumsfeld mission...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45545


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Sierra Times
by Becky Akers

07/29/05

"Picture this: you and your family are vacationing in the Big Apple. You're riding one of those double-decker busses and enjoying the circus that's Broadway. Suddenly, in a scene borrowed from a banana republic, troops waving rifles ambush the vehicle. 'Hands up!' they shout while your family shrieks, your heart thuds, and the other passengers begin screaming. ... Sixty terrorized tourists lived this nightmare near Times Square last Sunday when cops in riot gear invaded their bus. As one of them told the New York Post, 'I thought we were going to die.' It seems that when these folks had embarked on their tour a few hours earlier, five of them aroused suspicion among the bus company's employees [including] the driver, 43-year-old Mohammed Stout of the Bronx. You'd think a man living in the urban jungle wouldn't scare easily, but Mohammed insisted to the Daily News, 'I was definitely frightened from the beginning. That's human nature'...

http://www.sierratimes.com/05/07/29/194_105_124_70_58559.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Salon
by Doug Bandow

08/01/05

In the wake of the London bombings, President Bush continues his attempts to rally public support for his policies in Iraq. Instead, he should apologize to Americans for those policies. Republicans have been demanding a lot of apologies from Democrats recently. On 'Meet the Press' on July 17, Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman said Democrats should apologize to Karl Rove for their 'smear campaign' against him. Republicans also pushed Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., to recant his ill-considered comparison of Guantánamo jailers to Nazis. And the GOP demanded that Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean repent of his virulent attacks on Republicans. But it is the Republican president who has the most to apologize for... [subscription or ad view required]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/08/01/bush_apology/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Tom Paine
by Jonathan Tasini

07/29/05

Enough is enough. The 15 so-called Democrats who voted for the Central American Free Trade Agreement must pay a heavy price for turning their backs on labor: None of them should receive a dime from labor unions and each one should face a labor-backed primary challenger next year. And the recruitment of good candidates should start now. If the CAFTA 15 do not suffer the political consequences for their vote, labor will look weak and the march of so-called 'free trade' will continue. In 1993, after a small group of Democrats defected to support the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), unions threatened to get even. But virtually nothing was done. The message this sent to each elected representative was that labor would make a lot of noise but eventually the waters would grow calm -- and no one suffered for casting a vote that hurt workers here and abroad...

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050729/spanking_the_cafta_15.php


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

LewRockwell.Com
by Butler Shaffer

08/01/05

Ever since our resident emperor announced his 'War on Terror,' I have insisted that this campaign had less to do with confronting 'terror' -- an effort that would have implicated the United States' use of the practice -- than with forcibly resisting the peaceful decentralizing processes that threaten the established institutional order. ... Social systems are moving from vertically-structured to horizontally-networked models, a transformation that bodes ill for the political and economic establishment. Some three years ago I suggested naming this conflict the War for the Preservation of Institutional Hierarchies. If a shorter name is preferred, how about the War for the Status Quo? The Bush administration has finally confirmed my point...

http://www.lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer115.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

08/01/05

The War Party is facing disaster on a number of fronts, both foreign and domestic: in Iraq, the stubborn defiance of the insurgency and squabbling political factions underscores the failure of the occupation and its unraveling into an all-out civil war. Under the guise of 'federalism,' the split-up of Iraq into three separate states -- the Shi'ite south, the Kurdish enclave, and the no-man's-land of the Sunni Triangle -- proceeds apace. Iranian influence is growing, and the government of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari is already calling for an American withdrawal, albeit not a precipitous one. In Europe, the price of our Iraqi 'victory' is being extracted from the English, as evidenced by the London terror bombings, and even former Prime Minister John Major concedes that this is blowback from the Iraq invasion. It is in the United States, however, that the neoconservatives -- the vanguard of the War Party -- have suffered the biggest reverses and are in the greatest danger...

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=6826


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Toronto Sun
by Eric Margolis

07/31/05

Is there light at the end of the Iraq tunnel? This week, U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, told reporters 'fairly substantial' U.S. troop withdrawals could begin next spring. The Bush administration has read America's political tea leaves: It sees mounting domestic opposition to what is increasingly seen as a failed war. Republicans worry the debacle in Iraq and rising U.S. casualties may hurt them severely in the 2008 elections. ... The Pentagon's strategic plan for Iraq calls for four major air bases from which U.S. mobile, rapid-reaction units and air power will permanently control Iraq and the entire oil-rich Mideast. Imperial Britain once followed the same strategy in Iraq. ... Under present circumstances, U.S. efforts to get Iraqis to fight and die to defend the U.S.-run Baghdad regime will be even less successful than was 'Vietnamization' in the 1970s. In fact, Iraqi regime forces appear to be falling apart faster than they can be mobilized. Iraqization shows no sign of working. This means U.S. forces will have to remain indefinitely in Iraq to prop up the isolated, embattled pro-American regime -- just what's happening in that other failed war in Afghanistan...

http://torontosun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Margolis_Eric/2005/07/31/1154103.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle327-20050710-04.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

California: Nurturing giant sequoias

San Francisco Chronicle

07/31/05

Here, in the bastion of the largest trees on Earth, it's easy to understand the meaning of the word 'insignificant': You simply stand at the base of a mature giant sequoia. It is an experience that is simultaneously humbling and transcendent. Wildland managers understand the effect these great trees exert, and agree they must be protected -- but sharply contested differences have emerged about the best way to accomplish that goal. There are about 38,000 acres of giant sequoias, distributed in scattered groves along the western slope of the Sierra. Though not as tall as their cousins, the coast redwoods, giant sequoias are much more massive, sometimes attaining trunk diameters of 30 feet...

http://tinyurl.com/d6alg


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

USA Today

07/31/05

Anticipating President Bush soon will appoint John Bolton as U.N. ambassador, a leading Democrat said Sunday that Bolton would go without the confidence of Congress. 'He's damaged goods. This is a person who lacks credibility,' said Sen. Christopher Dodd, a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said Bush should think again before using a recess appointment to place Bolton at the United Nations while the Senate is on its traditional August break...

http://tinyurl.com/8b5se


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

30.07.2005 05:00

Wer A sagt, muss...

Christian Huemer

Auf den ersten Blick ist der Kampf gegen Sendemasten ein bisschen doppelbödig: Auf der einen Seite werden die Sendeanlagen bekämpft, auf der anderen Seite benützt jeder ein Handy. Auch heftige Kritiker sprechen sich gerne am Handtelefon ab.

Allerdings kann man die Sorge um gesundheitliche Schäden, die unter Umständen erst in den nächsten Generationen auftreten, sehr gut verstehen. Dieses Argument wiegt weit schwerer als der ganze Landschaftsschutz zusammen.

So lange nicht bewiesen ist, dass die Sender unbedenklich sind, haben sie in Wohngebieten nichts verloren. Das wird jedoch ein frommer Wunsch bleiben, wenn alle mit ihrem Handy fröhlich weitertelefonieren. Beim jeweiligen Betreiber wird man vermutlich erst dann umdenken, wenn das Geschäft zurückgeht.

Sie erreichen den Autor unter christian.huemer@kleinezeitung.at

http://www.kleine.at/nachrichten/regionen/steiermark/ennstal/artikel/_714574/index.jsp


Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim

--------

HLV INFO 121/AT
4-08-2005

Zum Artikel: “Wer A sagt, muss.......“


Sehr geehrter Herr Huemer,

vielen Dank für Ihren Hinweis auf unsere Sorge, dass Mobilfunkbelastungen die nächste Generation schädigen kann - dies liegt gerade mir als Mutter wirklich sehr auf dem Herzen!

In der Annahme aber, dass wir Kritiker uns gerne untereinander mit dem Handy absprechen würden - täuschen Sie sich jedoch sehr !

Gerade weil uns alle wissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen vorliegen und wir um die schwere der gesundheitlichen Schädigungen wissen - die zumeist auch noch irreparabel sind - meiden gerade wir Bürgerinitiativen diese gepulste Technik.

Und es gibt da noch einen Punkt in dem ich Ihnen leider widersprechen muss:

Die ersten Schäden durch Mobilfunksender stellte man an Nutztieren fest, die in ländlicher Umgebung gehalten wurden.

Des weiteren kann man erhebliche Waldschäden in Hauptstrahlrichtung von Mobilfunksendeanlagen beobachten.

Können wir es uns daher wirklich leisten nur auf "Wohngebiete" (die es zudem kaum noch gibt) Rücksicht zu nehmen? Oder ist es vielmehr nicht so, dass der Mensch von der Natur lebt und daher der Landschafts- und Naturschutz in unserem eigenen Interesse nicht zur Nebensache werden sollte?

Über Ihre Antwort würde ich mich freuen!

Mit freundlichen Grüßen!

Manuela Knapp

Mutter und (gerade deshalb) Bürgerinitiative für gesundheitsverträglichen Mobilfunk

--------

http://tinyurl.com/cy2h2

Bill in Congress to legalize CHEMTRAILS !! ------------------------->>

("They"'ll stop at NOthing until "they" destroy EVERYthing ! This "bill" simply legitimizes

CHEMtrails once and for all ! Just WATCH ! ...

Now that this bill has passed, "they"'ll start acknowledging Chemtrails existence, whereas before now, "Mum" was the word ! Not only will "they" acknowledge them, "they" will EXTOL them as marvelous "tools" of weather modification technology ! Just WATCH !)

~ Let the GOD Chimes Toll ... Let the GOD Times Roll ~

http://www.theorator.com/bills109/s517.html

109th CONGRESS
1st Session S. 517

To establish the Weather Modification Operations and Research Board, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 3, 2005 Mrs. HUTCHISON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation


A BILL To establish the Weather Modification Operations and Research Board, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the `Weather Modification Research and Technology Transfer Authorization Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE. It is the purpose of this Act to develop and implement a comprehensive and coordinated national weather modification policy and a national cooperative Federal and State program of weather modification research and development.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:

(1) BOARD- The term `Board´ means the Weather Modification Advisory and Research Board.

(2) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR- The term `Executive Director´ means the Executive Director of the Weather Modification Advisory and Research Board.

(3) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT- The term `research and development´ means theoretical analysis, exploration, experimentation, and the extension of investigative findings and theories of scientific or technical nature into practical application for experimental and demonstration purposes, including the experimental production and testing of models, devices, equipment, materials, and processes.

(4) WEATHER MODIFICATION- The term `weather modification´ means changing or controlling, or attempting to change or control, by artificial methods the natural development of atmospheric cloud forms or precipitation forms which occur in the troposphere.

SEC. 4. WEATHER MODIFICATION ADVISORY AND RESEARCH BOARD ESTABLISHED.

(a) IN GENERAL- There is established in the Department of Commerce the Weather Modification Advisory and Research Board.

(b) MEMBERSHIP-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Board shall consist of 11 members appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, of whom--
(A) at least 1 shall be a representative of the American Meteorological Society;
(B) at least 1 shall be a representative of the American Society of Civil Engineers;
(C) at least 1 shall be a representative of the National Academy of Sciences;
(D) at least 1 shall be a representative of the National Center for Atmospheric Research of the National Science Foundation;
(E) at least 2 shall be representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce;
(F) at least 1 shall be a representative of institutions of higher education or research institutes; and
(G) at least 1 shall be a representative of a State that is currently supporting operational weather modification projects.
(2) TENURE- A member of the Board serves at the pleasure of the Secretary of Commerce.

(3) VACANCIES- Any vacancy on the Board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
(b) ADVISORY COMMITTEES- The Board may establish advisory committees to advise the Board and to make recommendations to the Board concerning legislation, policies, administration, research, and other matters.
(c) INITIAL MEETING- Not later than 30 days after the date on which all members of the Board have been appointed, the Board shall hold its first meeting.
(d) MEETINGS- The Board shall meet at the call of the Chair.
(e) QUORUM- A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may hold hearings.

(f) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR- The Board shall select a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE BOARD.
(a) PROMOTION OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT- In order to assist in expanding the theoretical and practical knowledge of weather modification, the Board shall promote and fund research and development, studies, and investigations with respect to--
(1) improved forecast and decision-making technologies for weather modification operations, including tailored computer workstations and software and new observation systems with remote sensors; and
(2) assessments and evaluations of the efficacy of weather modification, both purposeful (including cloud-seeding operations) and inadvertent
(including downwind effects and anthropogenic effects).

(b) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE- Unless the use of the money is restricted or subject to any limitations provided by law, the Board shall use amounts in the Weather Modification Research and Development Fund--
(1) to pay its expenses in the administration of this Act, and
(2) to provide for research and development with respect to weather modifications by grants to, or contracts or cooperative arrangements, with public or private agencies.
(c) REPORT- The Board shall submit to the Secretary biennially a report on its findings and research results. SEC. 6. POWERS OF THE BOARD.
(a) STUDIES, INVESTIGATIONS, AND HEARINGS- The Board may make any studies or investigations, obtain any information, and hold any hearings necessary or proper to administer or enforce this Act or any rules or orders issued under this Act.
(b) PERSONNEL- The Board may employ, as provided for in appropriations Acts, an Executive Director and other support staff necessary to perform duties and functions under this Act.
(c) COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES- The Board may cooperate with public or private agencies to promote the purposes of this Act.
(d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS- The Board may enter into cooperative agreements with the head of any department or agency of the United States, an appropriate official of any State or political subdivision of a State, or an appropriate official of any private or public agency or organization for conducting weather modification activities or cloud-seeding operations.
(e) CONDUCT AND CONTRACTS FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT- The Executive Director, with the approval of the Board, may conduct and may contract for research and development activities relating to the purposes of this section. SEC. 7. COOPERATION WITH THE WEATHER MODIFICATION OPERATIONS AND RESEARCH BOARD. The heads of the departments and agencies of the United States and the heads of any other public or private agencies and institutions that receive research funds from the United States shall, to the extent possible, give full support and cooperation to the Board and to initiate independent research and development programs that address weather modifications. SEC. 8. FUNDING.
(a) IN GENERAL- There is established within the Treasury of the United States the Weather Modification Research and Development Fund, which shall consist of amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (b) or received by the Board under subsection (c).
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There is authorized to be appropriated to the Board for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Act $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2014. Any sums appropriated under this subsection shall remain available, without fiscal year limitation, until expended.
(c) GIFTS- The Board may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act shall take effect on October 1, 2005. END


Informant: ranger116

http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/news/20050729_repacholi.asp


Informant: Avoiding Ridicule



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

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200507/s1426521.htm


Informant: Avoiding Ridicule

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/911TruthAction/message/13807


Informant: Deborah Reid

Grundrechte in Gefahr
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/860572/

US-Regierung blockiert die gerichtlich angeordnete Herausgabe weiterer Abu Ghraib-Bilder
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/859538/

"Eine unsicher vorgetragene Rechtfertigung für etwas, das keine Rechtfertigung verdient"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/853547/

War on Terror
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/856499/

Hungersnöte durch Klimawandel
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/856502/

Höllenglut im Urlaubsparadies
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/856509/

Munition aus abgereichertem Uran verseucht Böden in Krisengebieten
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/855012/

US-Klimaforscher unter politischem Druck
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/850364/

World Vision verlangt Friedensförderung statt Waffen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/847770/

Der Irak hat den Terrorismus gestärkt
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/845207/

CDU will zurück ins Atomzeitalter
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/841816/

FDP will Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz abschaffen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/841814/

Resistente Bakterien vom Bauernhof
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/841811/

Dramatische Zunahme umweltbedingter Erkrankungen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/832237/

Klimaforscher: Es wird noch viel wärmer
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/827217/

Der Ozean wird saurer
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/827223/

Asiatischer Dämpfer für grüne Gentechnologen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/827892/

Politiker fordern mehr Überwachung zur Verhinderung von Terror
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/830119/

Politik und Medien gehen dem Terror wieder einmal in die Falle
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/827883/

CDU auf dem Weg zurück ins Atomzeitalter
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/830265/

Genetischer Fingerabdruck soll per Gesetz ermittelt und gespeichert werden
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/830268/

Brandenburger Standortregister für Genfelder enthält falsche Angaben
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/830273/

E-Pässe kommen ab November: Schily setzt sich trotz massiver Bedenken durch
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/825403/

Europäisches Patentamt lässt Menschenzüchtung zu
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/822700/

Islands Walfangschiffe starten in die neue Jagdsaison
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/822692/

Im Namen des Geldes
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/820126/

REACH: Umwelt- und Verbraucherschützer sehen Großangriff auf EU-Chemikalienreform
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/817519/

Wasserprivatisierung in Entwicklungsländern
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/815853/

Regionalwährungen ergänzen den Euro
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/813353/

Mitschuldig an der Vergiftung von Mensch und Umwelt
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/815070/

Dicke Luft: Eine heiße Zukunft steht uns bevor
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/812736/

Huaorani-Frauen blockieren Ölstraße in Ecuador und bitten um Hilfe
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/802930/

MONDEX: Jeder soll markiert werden
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/793091/

Hochleistungsschwachsinn
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/794654/

"REACH": Neue EU-Chemikalienpolitik genügt Verbraucherschützern nicht
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/792285/

To bring the controversial nature of mast/phone emissions more firmly into the public eye - we could do with a platform that has the potential of involving the masses.

Brian Haw, the anti-war protestor has held a 24 hour vigil outside Parliament for four years. The new laws to restrict protest will NOT apply to him because he has been there for a long time - and most importantly BEFORE tomorrow - lst August when the laws come into force.

Anyone who starts a continuous demonstration TODAY can lawfully hold their non-stop protest in Parliament Square. This means that someone would always have to be present to hold placards, etc. (If this demo. is done in the name of a group, I presume that people would be able to come and go to provide the necessary "cover"- but that the chosen site must never be devoid of somebody.) The Laws that come into force on Monday, lst August, make it an offence to demonstrate in a designated area if "when the demonstration starts", the police have not given authorisation. (Mr. Haw argued in the High Court that the law did not apply to him because it was not in force when his demonstration started.) The Government was refused permission to appeal. (Page 10, Daily Telegraph, July 30th)

Obviously, because of our Charity status, Mast Sanity's name could not be used - but there just might be one or two reasonable people who would hope to gain some publicity and even expose the bullying nature of the Operators and the indifference of the government to the justifiable health concerns of the general public and would be willing to start the whole thing going.

Naturally, there is concern for Londoners since the bombings, and one's own safety has to be taken into account, so it would be understandable if no-one is keen to go!! I would be there myself, but we live on the South Coast and it's just too difficult right now.

Placards could be made interesting, black balloons could be a possibility - and remember poppies for our fallen service men? Well, what about a flower that could have significance for all those who have become ill as a result of radiation..... Bet others have even better ideas!!! Let's hear them - but remember - tomorrow is too late.

Kind regards, Vivienne B.

Soziologe: Handys als Kontrollinstrumente

Professor Burkart beklagt "Verwahrlosung der Kommunikation"

Handys werden nach Ansicht eines Sozialwissenschaftlers häufig als Kontrollinstrument eingesetzt. "Es wird zwar akzeptiert, wenn jemand trotz Mobiltelefons nicht erreichbar ist - das ist dem anderen gegenüber aber begründungspflichtig", sagte der Lüneburger Universitäts-Professor Günter Burkart. Dies gelte vor allem bei Paaren, Eltern und Kindern oder bestimmten beruflichen Beziehungen.

30.07.2005

"Wer weiß, dass er erklären muss, warum er nicht erreichbar ist, der muss sich schon gut überlegen, ob er sein Handy in bestimmten Situationen abschaltet", sagte Burkart. "Das Handy hat inzwischen eine sehr starke Kontrollfunktion, die in Zukunft wahrscheinlich noch zunehmen wird."

Inzwischen könnten es sich im beruflichen Bereich fast nur noch Menschen in leitenden Positionen leisten, nicht immer erreichbar zu sein. "Sie können eine Art Filter vor ihre persönliche Erreichbarkeit setzen, haben zum Beispiel eine Sekretärin", sagte Burkart. Wer jedoch kein Handy besitzt, weil er etwa zu arm ist, der gelte als gesellschaftlicher Außenseiter. "Jugendliche zum Beispiel verabreden sich abends oft nicht mehr im Voraus, sondern spontan über die Mobiltelefone - wer eines hat, ist dabei, und die anderen halt nicht", sagte Burkart.

"Hemmungsloser und zu laut"

Generell sei seit der starken Verbreitung von Handys eine "Verwahrlosung der öffentlichen Kommunikation" zu beobachten, meinte der Sozialwissenschaftler. "Die Leute reden hemmungsloser in der Öffentlichkeit, sie reden zu laut, sie lassen ihre Klingeltöne oder Popsongs lauter und länger abspielen als nötig", kritisierte Burkart. "Am Handy konzentriert man sich auf den Gesprächspartner am anderen Telefonende und schirmt sich quasi ab, indem man die anderen Menschen ausblendet aus der momentanen Realität. Das führt dazu, dass man lauter spricht als nötig."

Mit Material von dpa

http://www.heute.de/ZDFheute/inhalt/9/0,3672,2344137,00.html

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, accused Republican leaders of trading anything they had to get the votes they needed. "Once again, the floor of the House of Representatives resembled the set of 'Let's Make a Deal,' " Ms. Pelosi said Thursday.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/073005X.shtml

After possibly the most extensive testing ever on a voting system, California has rejected Diebold's flagship electronic voting machine because of printer jams and screen freezes, sending local elections officials scrambling for other means of voting.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/073005F.shtml

In Seattle, the public schools are hostile territory for the military, as parents shoo away recruiters and are pushing to bar them entirely. In the suburbs, though, the armed forces are welcomed for more than just visits. They're teaching some of the classes.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/073005A.shtml

Petition: Bitte mitmachen!

http://www.dataretentionisnosolution.com/index.php?lang=de



Telekommunikation: Internationale Petition gegen Vorratsdatenspeicherung (01.08.05)

In dieser Woche startet eine internationale Petition gegen die Pläne einer europäischen Vorratsdatenspeicherung. Initiatoren sind die Bürgerrechtsgruppe European Digital Rights (EDRi) und der Internetserviceprovider "XS4ALL". Die Kritik: Eine Vorratsdatenspeicherung führe zur Überwachung von 450 Millionen Menschen alleine in der EU, ohne dass irgendein Vorwurf gegen sie vorläge. Der Vorschlag von Justizministern und EU-Kommission zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung bedeute demnach eine Verpflichtung von Telefongesellschaften und Internetprovidern, die Verbindungsdaten von Telefonaten, SMS, Internet- und E-Mailverkehr ihrer Kunden langfristig zu speichern.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11530

Like administrations before it, the Bush White House is rewarding campaign fund-raisers with plum diplomatic posts. But is now the right time to risk alienating Europe? Plus, the two faces of John Roberts.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8730875/site/newsweek/


From Information Clearing House

Polls say most Americans believe the President lied to gain approval for the war in Iraq and also believe the majority of members of Congress are corrupt and don’t serve their constituents.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7123.shtml


From Information Clearing House

Ariz. Guard blogger punished:

An Arizona National Guardsmen who had been openly critical of the war in Iraq on his Web log, has been punished for violating operational security and for 11 counts of disobeying orders, according to Multinational Corps — Iraq.

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1003245.php


From Information Clearing House

We removed a cruel dictator and substituted a scene of carnage and anarchy.

http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article302023.ece


From Information Clearing House

Former President Jimmy Carter on Saturday said the detention of terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base was an embarrassment and had given extremists an excuse to attack the United States.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5178313,00.html


From Information Clearing House

A special auditor monitoring billions of dollars spent by the U.S. on Iraq's reconstruction found millions of dollars worth of fraud by American officials and companies.

http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=9319


From Information Clearing House

"Each man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind."

By Liaquat Ali Khan

Civilian fatalities in Muslim cities must be tolerated, we are told, because no war is clean in killing. But terrorists are different. They have no other intention but to terrorize our civilians and cities. Hence we are good and they are evil, the logic goes, because they have no moral claim to violence as we do.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9612.htm

Sunnis Demonstrate in Baghdad:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9611.htm

BBC video
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8582.htm


Informant: Hopedance

Sunday July 31st 2005, 6:38 pm

From Tower Sanity in Sydney Australia:

Concerned parents and citizens

Please find attached today’s online ABC News “Govt urged to ban mobile phone towers near schools” and motion/action item (that was slightly amended at the conference yesterday) that was presented and wonderfully debated for a good 30 minutes and supported almost unanimously.

Well done and thanks to St George Girls’ High school parent, Kim!

Regards

Anne

ABC News:

Govt urged to ban mobile phone towers near schools

The Parents and Citizens Federation of New South Wales (PCF) says mobile phone towers pose a possible threat to the health of school children and should be located at least 300 metres away from schools.

The PCF is holding its annual general meeting this weekend and wants the Federal Government to intervene on the issue.

PCF spokesman David Giblin says no new towers should be built near schools and existing ones should also be removed.

“What we’re trying to do with mobile phone towers is to avoid any potential harm to school students by the siting of those towers close to schools,” he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200507/s1426425.htm

AND:

Motion to NSW Federation of P&C Associations 2005 annual conference

That Federation requests the NSW Department of Education and Training to:

1\ adopt a policy regarding the siting of mobile phone towers/mobile base stations/telecommunications facilities within school grounds and close to schools, and that policy is to:
a\ oppose the siting of such facilities within the school grounds;
b\ oppose the siting of such facilities within 300m of the school to ensure that the peak intensity of electromagnetic radiation does not fall anywhere on the school grounds;
c\ be advised to all schools;
d\ be publicised on the DET website.

2\ advise principals:
a\ to pass on information to the school community (teaching staff, administration staff, parents and carers of pupils, and school education director) when the principal is notified by a carrier of a proposal for a mobile phone tower/mobile base station/telecommunications facility within or close to the school.
b\ to expect that such letters of notification to principals will appear to be junk mail. Eg
i\ The letter will be in a plain envelope
ii\ The envelope may have the words “To the resident” and/or “Important Information: Proposed telecommunications facility in your local area”
iii\ The letter may be addressed “To the Householders”
c\ to not rely on carriers to adequately notify the school community (because they are under no obligation to do so)
d\ to be aware of and support the school community’s opinion when participating in the consultation process.

3\ create and publish an electronic database of schools close to (within 300m of) mobile phone towers/mobile base stations/telecommunications facilities.

Motion submitted by St George Girls High School P&C Association

http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=160

Jul 29 2005

By Rob Devey, Chester Chronicle

CAMPAIGNERS incensed by decisions to allow mobile phone masts near family homes have issued a call to arms.

Residents in Westminster Park and Vicars Cross have joined forces to demand a change in the law amid health fears.

They are calling on campaigners throughout Cheshire to join their new group and participate in a series of large-scale protest marches in Chester.

It is hoped the demonstrations will have a domino-effect, spreading nationwide.

The group, yet to be named, met on Wednesday and will also fight individual masts across the county.

Its call to arms comes after Hutchison 3G was granted permission on appeal to erect a mast on Wrexham Road, just 100m north of Ash Grove Farm Nursery.

Chester City Council had refused the scheme.

With their hands tied by the appeal inspector's decision, planners have now allowed a mast near Bunnies Nursery School on land at Chester Rugby Club on Hare Lane.

Livid locals in both areas say enough is enough and are fighting to overturn the decisions.

Chairman of the Westminster Park residents' group and father-of-three Malcolm Harle said: 'The only way to tackle the issue is to change the law so masts have to be, say, 350m from schools, residential areas and hospitals.

'We are trying to organise a demonstration in Chester for all groups throughout the whole of Cheshire.'

This week's meeting was attended by 26 residents, with others on holiday, and sub-committees were formed to co-ordinate the campaign.

The first protest is planned for early September.

Chester MP Christine Russell said she favoured a change in the law whereby local authorities decided on suitable locations for masts.

She said: 'Local authorities already identify sites for things like houses and open spaces so why not phone masts?

'The phone companies would then say how many masts they needed and ask where they could put them.

'If a mast is on Green Belt land to me that's preferable to a site that is upsetting a lot of people.'

Chester City Council planning officer Richard Gore said full planning applications were required for masts taller than 15m.

He said: 'Our criteria is the impact on the residential amenity which is quite subjective.

'Authorities have refused masts because of their proximity to homes before and sometimes it has been upheld.

'But the Government says we cannot refuse permission on health grounds because there is no hard evidence masts are harmful.'

29/07/2005

WAVERLEY Borough Council took a stand against the “relentless march of technology” on Wednesday by throwing out controversial plans for a mobile phone mast in Westland Farm, Shamley Green.

Faced with considerable local opposition and led by chairman, Cllr Richard Worby, (Ewhurst) members of the authority’s area planning sub-committee overturned officers’ recommendations to approve the Orange proposal and instead unanimously rejected it.

Cllr Worby accepted there was probably a case for infill masts where there was a total failure to receive a signal but he pointed out the Westland Farm mast would be for third generation or 3G mobile phone technology, which allows for video communication, music downloads and the like. “I do wonder whether we need to sacrifice the countryside so people can have some very silly toys – they are not necessary,” he said.

“I am dead against allowing this relentless march of technology, much of it pointless, to destroy all we hold dear.”

Orange had rejected claims that it had failed to adequately explore more suitable alternative sites for the mast, insisting it could not go along with suggestions that it could share a mast already approved at Rooks Hill in Bramley.

The phone company claimed that this mast would not link up with two other masts it had been planning in the area.

However, Wednesday’s meeting was told that permission for both of these masts had been turned down so there are no other masts for it to link up with.

Both Bramley and Wonersh Parish Councils are opposed to the Westland Farm mast and the borough council had received 79 letters of objection from local residents.

Bramley resident, Patrick Molyneux, addressed the meeting on behalf of the objectors with a hard-hitting attack on the plan, covering both the adverse environmental impact he argued the mast would have, and the perceived health fears.

“The mast triangulates three schools, over-towers ancient woodland, the Downs Link, Cranleigh Waters, the old Wey & Arun Canal and the east/west path between Bramley and Shamley,” he said.

Mr Molyneux pointed out that there are children (living in the local area) who would fall within the exclusion zone recommended by experts and mandated in both the USA and parts of Europe.

He explained that the mast could also threaten a roosting and feeding site for bats, which are a protected species.

“This is another piecemeal application with no attempt to create a coherent strategy for these parishes or explanation of how this fits within a strategy for the five 3G operators, let alone just Orange,” he concluded.

The lack of an overall mobile phone mast plan for the area is a regular complaint of councillors and was again raised during the debate.

One of the major causes of concern for people living close to mast is the perceived associated health risks associated with radiation emitted from the mast.

Although the Government has said these are non-existent, it does allow councils to refuse mast plans if people have a genuine fear.

Cllr David Inman (Chiddingfold & Dunsfold) told the meeting.
“The main worry with all these masts is are we going to find later on in life that they have damaged children?”

THE chief of mobile phone giant O2 has admitted his firm failed to consult Harlow residents properly over controversial plans to erect a mast near their homes.

Harlow MP Bill Rammell wrote to O2 chief executive Peter Erskine to ask why more people were not told about an application to site a 12.5m (41ft) mast in the grounds of the Territorial Army centre, in Old Harlow.

Residents in Bury Road, St John's Road and Old Road complained to Mr Rammell that neither they, TA centre users nor nearby Harlowbury Primary were properly informed of the application, which was refused by council officers in May.

Mr Rammell has since received a letter from Mr Erskine acknowledging 02's failure to consult was an "oversight" and not in line with the company's standard practices. He also said he has instructed the company to engage in sufficient consultation in the future.

Mr Erskine's comments came as O2 community liaison officer Jim Stevenson confirmed the company is likely to appeal against the planning refusal.

He said an appeal would only be lodged after a meeting with Mr Rammell and other phone companies in September to discuss how to improve the consultation process locally.

Mr Rammell said that although he was satisfied with Mr Erskine's response, the company should keep to its word if the appeal goes ahead.

"I am pleased that O2 have admitted that the consultation they undertook on this mast application was not in accordance with their own procedures," he said.

Paul Brooker, of Bury Road, told the Star that despite Mr Erskine's reassurances, he and other residents were discussing plans to form a group to oppose another application.

"The way they went about it last time was so discreet," he said. "People are not told about it so can't respond - it's how these things are passed through."

Neighbour Kylie Jones added: "Part of our objections were for health reasons. We want to nip this in the bud as soon as we can."

Unabhängige Forscher an Bord des Greenpeace-Schiffes Arctic Sunrise haben eine dramatische Entdeckung gemacht: Der Kangerdlugssuaq-Gletscher an der ostgrönländischen Küste hat seine Fließgeschwindigkeit innerhalb eines Jahrzehnts fast verdreifacht. Ein Vergleich mit Satellitenaufnahmen ergab für das Jahr 1996 eine Geschwindigkeit von fünf Kilometern im Jahr. Mittlerweile sind es fast 14 Kilometer - ein Anstieg, der deutlicher als erwartet auf eine Klimaerwärmung hinweist.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/fp/archiv/Akt-News/6678.php

--------

Als das Netz nach Grönland kam
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1174798/

Seit der Aufhebung des EU-Moratoriums zur Agro-Gentechnik werden erstmals in Deutschland großflächig gentechnisch manipulierte Pflanzen (GMO) angebaut. Bürgerinitiative mobilisiert gegen die "Normalität" des Anbaus von gentechnisch manipulierten Pflanzen.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/fp/archiv/Akt-News/6650.php



Alternative Nobelpreisträger unterstützen Aktion "Gendreck weg"

Flankiert von internationaler Aufmerksamkeit und Zustimmung, bereitet die "Aktion Gendreck weg!" ihre erste Aktion "zivilen Ungehorsams" vor. Am 30. und 31. Juli will die Bürgerinitiative das gentechnisch veränderte Erntegut eines Maisfeldes in Hohenstein im Naturpark Märkische Schweiz (Brandenburg) zerstören, um der europaweiten Ablehnung der Agro-Gentechnik Ausdruck zu verleihen.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/fp/archiv/Akt-News/6651.php

Der Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) hat in Briefen an die Parteivorsitzenden von CDU/CSU und SPD die Wahlprogramme ihrer Parteien scharf kritisiert. Vor allem das "Regierungsprogramm 2005 - 2009" der Union sei ein Plädoyer für weniger Natur- und Umweltschutz.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/fp/archiv/Akt-News/6698.php

Hintergrund für diese Entwicklungen ist die aktuelle rechtliche Situation: Zur Aussaat 2005 ist es in Deutschland erstmals möglich, gentechnisch veränderten Mais in größerem Maßstab anzubauen. Die Risiken für landwirtschaftliche Betriebe und VerbraucherInnen sind nicht absehbar und die gentechnisch veränderten, lebenden Organismen sind, wenn sie einmal in die Natur eingebracht wurden, nicht mehr rückholbar. Das und die Sicherung einer qualitätsbezogenen konventionellen und ökologischen Landwirtschaft waren die Argumente für die Antragsteller der REGIONEN AKTIV- Projekte in den sieben Modellregionen.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/fp/archiv/Akt-Surftipp/6615.php

Dass Unionspolitiker gern auf die Mehrwertsteuer setzen, überrascht wenig. Hat doch die Kohl-Regierung die Mehrwertsteuer gleich dreimal erhöht: 1983 von 13 auf 14 Prozent, 1993 auf 15 Prozent und noch 1998 auf 16 Prozent.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/fp/archiv/Art-Zukunft/6673.php