Get Ready for the USSA
Starmail - 4. Aug, 23:53
4
Aug
2005
We die along with these kids
"I hope people forgive me for what I have to say," he began. "I just don't care anymore."
He listed who he blamed for Augie's death.
"I hold the Bush administration responsible, from the president through the secretaries of state and defense and all those who have had a hand in starting this war.
"I also hold every Democrat in Congress who voted to authorize this misadventure as accomplices."
His son, he wrote, "died doing his duty. So have some 1,800 other Americans.
"Augie did his duty at every turn, from being an emergency medical technician while still in high school, a lifeguard, a Boy Scout, an active church member, and, of course, as a Marine. For all this, we consider him a hero.
"To honor him, I no longer can sit still, just keeping quiet and being politically correct."
--Father of Edward August Schroeder II, soldier killed in Iraq
August 4th, 2005 1:07 pm
We die along with these kids
By Connie Schultz / Plain Dealer
As Jeanette Schroeder rounded the corner of her front yard with the lawn mower, she spotted two Marines standing at her brother Paul Schroeder's front door Wednesday.
http://michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3557
Informant: Hopedance
He listed who he blamed for Augie's death.
"I hold the Bush administration responsible, from the president through the secretaries of state and defense and all those who have had a hand in starting this war.
"I also hold every Democrat in Congress who voted to authorize this misadventure as accomplices."
His son, he wrote, "died doing his duty. So have some 1,800 other Americans.
"Augie did his duty at every turn, from being an emergency medical technician while still in high school, a lifeguard, a Boy Scout, an active church member, and, of course, as a Marine. For all this, we consider him a hero.
"To honor him, I no longer can sit still, just keeping quiet and being politically correct."
--Father of Edward August Schroeder II, soldier killed in Iraq
August 4th, 2005 1:07 pm
We die along with these kids
By Connie Schultz / Plain Dealer
As Jeanette Schroeder rounded the corner of her front yard with the lawn mower, she spotted two Marines standing at her brother Paul Schroeder's front door Wednesday.
http://michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3557
Informant: Hopedance
Starmail - 4. Aug, 23:45
HIROSHIMA, AMERICA AND HUMANITY’S FUTURE
By David Krieger
We are again in the season of Hiroshima. Many will gather at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to remember that fateful day 60 years ago when an atomic weapon was first used on a human population and obliterated the city of Hiroshima.
In America, unfortunately, far too few individuals will take note of this anniversary. Many of those who do remember Hiroshima will recall it as an event of triumph, not disaster.
Throughout most of the world, the name Hiroshima has come to represent man’s technological capacity for massive destruction. Hiroshima was the culmination of the high-altitude bombing and long-range killing that came increasingly to characterize World War II.
Hiroshima opened the door upon a new world, a world in which it is possible for humanity to destroy itself by its own inventions of highly destructive weaponry. Hiroshima was the world’s first look at a technology that could destroy countries, end civilization, and foreclose a human future.
Following the bombing on August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was a wasteland. It might have been left this way as a monument and reminder of the new dangers confronting humanity. But that wasn’t to be.
The bombed Hiroshima is the Hiroshima of death. It is a harbinger of what may befall humanity. It is a warning, but a warning that seems far distant in our fast-moving, materialistic world.
The physical evidence of the crime has been largely covered over and a thriving new Hiroshima has been built from the ruins – a Hiroshima that demonstrates humanity’s capacity for healing and rebuilding. Sixty years after the bombing, Hiroshima itself is a place of hope. It is a city resurrected, and filled with life.
What remains of the destroyed Hiroshima can now be found in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and in the hearts of the hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombings. They cling to the message, “Never Again! Nuclear weapons and human beings cannot co-exist.” They also cling to the hope that humanity can rise above its destructive impulses.
The rebirth of Hiroshima reflects the power of the human spirit, but the problem presented to humanity by Hiroshima has not gone away. As the leading scientists who signed the Russell-Einstein Manifesto put it fifty years ago: “There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge and wisdom. Shall we instead choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels?”
Many of the scientists who created nuclear weapons in the Manhattan Project thought that they should not be used on human populations. They warned that if nuclear weapons were used on Japan, the result would be a nuclear arms race. They unsuccessfully tried to convince US political leaders that the atomic bomb should first be demonstrated to Japanese leaders in a remote, uninhabited place, in order to allow them a chance to surrender. But the pleas of the scientists were unsuccessful. They had lost control of their creation, and government leaders chose to use the bomb before the Soviets entered the war in the Pacific.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima occurred at the end of a terrible war, but it marked the beginning of a new collective madness that would result in the US and USSR each threatening the other with tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. Today the numbers of weapons is lower than at the height of the Cold War, but the collective insanity continues.
Fifteen years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the US and Russia have friendly relations. Yet, each side still maintains more than 2,000 long-range nuclear weapons targeted on the other on hair-trigger alert, ready to be fired in moments. Can this be described in any other way than collective madness?
Do the people of the world, particularly Americans and Russians, understand what this means? Opinion polls indicate that 85 to 90 percent of people everywhere would choose to eliminate nuclear weapons, so long as all countries do so. They understand that it would improve their security, as well as be morally and legally correct. But among politicians, there is little movement toward a nuclear weapons-free world.
In the year 2000, the parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) agreed to 13 Practical Steps for Nuclear Disarmament, including an “unequivocal undertaking…to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals….” It seemed to be a significant breakthrough. Yet, five years later, at the 2005 NPT Review Conference, the United States had fulfilled none of its obligations under the 13 Practical Steps, and refused to allow an agenda for the conference that even made reference to them.
The Bush administration wants funding for new nuclear weapons, particularly earth penetrating nuclear weapons or “bunker busters.” They want a world in which there is no place outside the range of their nuclear weapons. It is a frighteningly dangerous world in which the United States would remain reliant upon nuclear weapons and continue to threaten their use for the indefinite future.
At Hiroshima, the bomb dropped by the United States killed 140,000 people, mostly civilians, and it was celebrated in the US as a military victory. In doing so, the US made victims not only of the people of Hiroshima, but of all humanity, including ourselves. In today’s world, any city anywhere is subject to being destroyed at a moment’s notice.
It is painful, yet necessary, to recall details of that fateful day. On the morning of August 6, 1945, people in Hiroshima set off to work or school. Earlier a US plane had flown over the city, and an alarm had sounded. Then came the all-clear signal. Then another plane, this one the US B-29, Enola Gay. It dropped its single bomb, which fell for 43 seconds, and at 8:15 a.m. the city of Hiroshima was destroyed. Individuals close to the epicenter were incinerated. Those further away were killed by blast and fire. Many of the initial survivors developed “radiation sickness,” and died in the coming days, weeks, months and years of cancers and leukemias.
On August 9, 1945, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki was bombed and destroyed with another atomic weapon. On the same day, Harry Truman told the American people about Hiroshima. He struck a religious note in talking about the bomb, “We thank God that it has come to us, instead of to our enemies; and we pray that He may guide us to use it in His ways and for His purposes.”
Herbert Hoover, a former American president, had a far different reaction: “The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul.”
Leading American generals and admirals were equally appalled by the use of atomic weapons. Eisenhower later said, “It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.” Admiral William D. Leahy, Truman’s Chief of Staff, wrote: “…the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender…. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children….”
Nuclear weapons do not discriminate. They kill men, women and children. In this way, among others, they are illegal under International Humanitarian Law, as the International Court of Justice ruled in 1996.
Nuclear weapons are the ultimate weapon of cowards. Those who would possess nuclear weapons need only find men and women willing to make them, service them and press the button to release them.
Nuclear weapons destroy the destroyers. Reflecting on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Gandhi said, “What has happened to the soul of the destroying nation is yet too early to see. Forces of nature act in a mysterious manner.”
As Americans look back at the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we, too, should be reflecting on what has happened to our collective soul. We should be reflecting on who we are, as we cling to our weapons of massive destruction, and lead the world in opposing nuclear disarmament.
It may be a dangerous world, but our future lies in forgiveness and decency, not force of arms. In the US , we spend half of the world’s total military expenditure, more than $500 billion annually, and we still are not secure. We seek inexpensive sources of oil, and we pay the price in blood, our own but mostly that of others.
If we continue on the path we are on, an American Hiroshima will be in our future. It is inevitable. If the disillusioned and disaffected extremists of the world obtain nuclear weapons, they will use them and the US will be a likely target. The irony of this is that none of our thousands of nuclear weapons will make us any safer. In fact, they make us less secure by creating a situation in which others will also keep nuclear weapons and some of these may end up in the hands of extremists.
But when it comes to nuclear weapons, there are no moderates. All nuclear policies are dangerous and extreme, except those that contribute to the elimination of nuclear weapons. All possessors of nuclear weapons are extremists. If terrorism is threatening or killing innocent civilians, then nuclear weapons are the ultimate weapon of terrorism and those who possess them are the ultimate terrorists.
How are we to change? Perhaps Hiroshima provides a place to begin. The horrors of Hiroshima are not only the past, but potentially in the future as well. We can begin with finding our sorrow. We can begin with recognizing the suffering we have caused and are causing still. We can begin with apologies and forgiveness.
Hiroshima has largely recovered from its wounds. The city has been rebuilt. The flowers have returned. The survivors have made it their mission to end the nuclear weapons threat to humanity. They have forgiven the crime.
But America will not heal from the trauma of the devastation we have caused and continue to cause until Americans say No to wanton power, No to nuclear weapons, No to war and No to leaders who lie us into war. Until we summon the power to resist, we will continue to be victims of our own massive and unbridled power. It is within our power to change, but not without ending our addiction to power and our double standards that support this addiction. America must reassert its commitment to decency, not destruction.
The 1955 Russell-Einstein Manifesto – issued ten years after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as thermonuclear weapons were being developed and tested – concluded with these words: “We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise ; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death.”
We have a choice, and where there is choice there is hope. If we do nothing, we will remain on the path of universal death. If we choose to change the world, it is within our power to do so. Hiroshima is our past; it doesn’t need to be our future. We can join with the survivors of Hiroshima in committing ourselves to assuring that atomic weapons will never again be used by taking the sensible and reasonable step of abolishing these instruments of genocide.
Unfortunately what is reasonable is not always possible. To end the threat to humanity and other forms of life created by nuclear weapons, there are two different sets of problems to be solved. The first is to articulate what needs to be done. The second is to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of accomplishing these goals.
Let us look first at what needs to be done. At the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, we have proposed the following eight commitments by the nuclear weapons states.
1. Commitment to good faith negotiations to achieve total nuclear disarmament.
2. Commitment to a timeframe for marking progress and achieving the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.
3. Commitment to No First Use of nuclear weapons against other nuclear weapons states and to No Use against non-nuclear weapons states.
4. Commitment to irreversibility and verifiability of disarmament measures.
5. Commitment to standing down nuclear forces, removing them from high alert status.
6. Commitment to create no new nuclear weapons.
7. Commitment to a verifiable ban on the production of fissile materials, and placing existing materials under strict international control.
8. Commitment to accounting, transparency and reporting to build confidence and allow for verification of the disarmament process.
We view these as a minimal level of commitment to demonstrate the “good faith” effort to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons that is required by international law. Other commitments could be added to these, such as support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and agreement to refrain from weaponizing outer space.
Essentially, the international community knows what needs to be done to achieve the phased elimination of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the larger problem is with not what is needed but what is politically possible. This leaves behind the realm of what is reasonable and sensible, and enters the realm of prerogatives of political decision makers.
Despite the threat to humanity and despite reason, none of the commitments above have been acted on by the United States, the world’s most powerful nuclear weapons state. Without US commitment to these goals, it is unlikely that less powerful nuclear weapons states will commit to them. Thus, progress on nuclear disarmament is stalled by US intransigency. The US is not the leader in nuclear disarmament, but rather its major obstacle. This was apparent at the 2005 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, where the US pointed the finger at others, such as Iran and North Korea, but was unwilling even to discuss its own obligations to achieve nuclear disarmament under the treaty and under international law in general.
Within the US, democracy is the province of the people and their representatives, with the mass media playing a critical role in educating the people so that they may make reasoned political choices and give their informed consent to the actions of leaders. It is the political leaders of the US who have been the obstacle to global nuclear disarmament, and for the most part the people are unaware of this because they do not learn about it from the mass media.
The only way to change the policies of the government is for the people to voice their concerns, but largely the people are not informed of the positions of their government on nuclear issues. Nor are they given reasonable analyses of the pros and cons of US nuclear policies because the media has been lax in doing its job.
Humanity’s best hope for ending the nuclear weapons threat that confronts us all is for the American people to engage this issue as if their lives depended upon its outcome. The truth is that our lives, and those of people throughout the world, do depend upon US nuclear policies. We cannot wait for leaders who will recognize and solve these problems for us. We must speak up and we must educate our neighbors and our elected officials.
The choices are clear. One way is to continue on the disastrous path we are on, a path on which our nuclear arsenal plays a pivotal role in providing a false sense of security. Or we can change the direction of our policies, with the US seeking to strengthen its own security and global security by providing leadership to achieve the phased and total elimination of nuclear weapons. To move to this path, the American people are going to have to wake up and demand that their government, acting in their names, end its reliance on nuclear weapons and fulfill its moral and legal obligations to end the nuclear weapons era.
David Krieger is the President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation http://www.wagingpeace.org . He is the author of "Today Is Not a Good Day for War".
Informant: Hopedance
We are again in the season of Hiroshima. Many will gather at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to remember that fateful day 60 years ago when an atomic weapon was first used on a human population and obliterated the city of Hiroshima.
In America, unfortunately, far too few individuals will take note of this anniversary. Many of those who do remember Hiroshima will recall it as an event of triumph, not disaster.
Throughout most of the world, the name Hiroshima has come to represent man’s technological capacity for massive destruction. Hiroshima was the culmination of the high-altitude bombing and long-range killing that came increasingly to characterize World War II.
Hiroshima opened the door upon a new world, a world in which it is possible for humanity to destroy itself by its own inventions of highly destructive weaponry. Hiroshima was the world’s first look at a technology that could destroy countries, end civilization, and foreclose a human future.
Following the bombing on August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was a wasteland. It might have been left this way as a monument and reminder of the new dangers confronting humanity. But that wasn’t to be.
The bombed Hiroshima is the Hiroshima of death. It is a harbinger of what may befall humanity. It is a warning, but a warning that seems far distant in our fast-moving, materialistic world.
The physical evidence of the crime has been largely covered over and a thriving new Hiroshima has been built from the ruins – a Hiroshima that demonstrates humanity’s capacity for healing and rebuilding. Sixty years after the bombing, Hiroshima itself is a place of hope. It is a city resurrected, and filled with life.
What remains of the destroyed Hiroshima can now be found in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and in the hearts of the hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombings. They cling to the message, “Never Again! Nuclear weapons and human beings cannot co-exist.” They also cling to the hope that humanity can rise above its destructive impulses.
The rebirth of Hiroshima reflects the power of the human spirit, but the problem presented to humanity by Hiroshima has not gone away. As the leading scientists who signed the Russell-Einstein Manifesto put it fifty years ago: “There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge and wisdom. Shall we instead choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels?”
Many of the scientists who created nuclear weapons in the Manhattan Project thought that they should not be used on human populations. They warned that if nuclear weapons were used on Japan, the result would be a nuclear arms race. They unsuccessfully tried to convince US political leaders that the atomic bomb should first be demonstrated to Japanese leaders in a remote, uninhabited place, in order to allow them a chance to surrender. But the pleas of the scientists were unsuccessful. They had lost control of their creation, and government leaders chose to use the bomb before the Soviets entered the war in the Pacific.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima occurred at the end of a terrible war, but it marked the beginning of a new collective madness that would result in the US and USSR each threatening the other with tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. Today the numbers of weapons is lower than at the height of the Cold War, but the collective insanity continues.
Fifteen years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the US and Russia have friendly relations. Yet, each side still maintains more than 2,000 long-range nuclear weapons targeted on the other on hair-trigger alert, ready to be fired in moments. Can this be described in any other way than collective madness?
Do the people of the world, particularly Americans and Russians, understand what this means? Opinion polls indicate that 85 to 90 percent of people everywhere would choose to eliminate nuclear weapons, so long as all countries do so. They understand that it would improve their security, as well as be morally and legally correct. But among politicians, there is little movement toward a nuclear weapons-free world.
In the year 2000, the parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) agreed to 13 Practical Steps for Nuclear Disarmament, including an “unequivocal undertaking…to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals….” It seemed to be a significant breakthrough. Yet, five years later, at the 2005 NPT Review Conference, the United States had fulfilled none of its obligations under the 13 Practical Steps, and refused to allow an agenda for the conference that even made reference to them.
The Bush administration wants funding for new nuclear weapons, particularly earth penetrating nuclear weapons or “bunker busters.” They want a world in which there is no place outside the range of their nuclear weapons. It is a frighteningly dangerous world in which the United States would remain reliant upon nuclear weapons and continue to threaten their use for the indefinite future.
At Hiroshima, the bomb dropped by the United States killed 140,000 people, mostly civilians, and it was celebrated in the US as a military victory. In doing so, the US made victims not only of the people of Hiroshima, but of all humanity, including ourselves. In today’s world, any city anywhere is subject to being destroyed at a moment’s notice.
It is painful, yet necessary, to recall details of that fateful day. On the morning of August 6, 1945, people in Hiroshima set off to work or school. Earlier a US plane had flown over the city, and an alarm had sounded. Then came the all-clear signal. Then another plane, this one the US B-29, Enola Gay. It dropped its single bomb, which fell for 43 seconds, and at 8:15 a.m. the city of Hiroshima was destroyed. Individuals close to the epicenter were incinerated. Those further away were killed by blast and fire. Many of the initial survivors developed “radiation sickness,” and died in the coming days, weeks, months and years of cancers and leukemias.
On August 9, 1945, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki was bombed and destroyed with another atomic weapon. On the same day, Harry Truman told the American people about Hiroshima. He struck a religious note in talking about the bomb, “We thank God that it has come to us, instead of to our enemies; and we pray that He may guide us to use it in His ways and for His purposes.”
Herbert Hoover, a former American president, had a far different reaction: “The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul.”
Leading American generals and admirals were equally appalled by the use of atomic weapons. Eisenhower later said, “It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.” Admiral William D. Leahy, Truman’s Chief of Staff, wrote: “…the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender…. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children….”
Nuclear weapons do not discriminate. They kill men, women and children. In this way, among others, they are illegal under International Humanitarian Law, as the International Court of Justice ruled in 1996.
Nuclear weapons are the ultimate weapon of cowards. Those who would possess nuclear weapons need only find men and women willing to make them, service them and press the button to release them.
Nuclear weapons destroy the destroyers. Reflecting on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Gandhi said, “What has happened to the soul of the destroying nation is yet too early to see. Forces of nature act in a mysterious manner.”
As Americans look back at the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we, too, should be reflecting on what has happened to our collective soul. We should be reflecting on who we are, as we cling to our weapons of massive destruction, and lead the world in opposing nuclear disarmament.
It may be a dangerous world, but our future lies in forgiveness and decency, not force of arms. In the US , we spend half of the world’s total military expenditure, more than $500 billion annually, and we still are not secure. We seek inexpensive sources of oil, and we pay the price in blood, our own but mostly that of others.
If we continue on the path we are on, an American Hiroshima will be in our future. It is inevitable. If the disillusioned and disaffected extremists of the world obtain nuclear weapons, they will use them and the US will be a likely target. The irony of this is that none of our thousands of nuclear weapons will make us any safer. In fact, they make us less secure by creating a situation in which others will also keep nuclear weapons and some of these may end up in the hands of extremists.
But when it comes to nuclear weapons, there are no moderates. All nuclear policies are dangerous and extreme, except those that contribute to the elimination of nuclear weapons. All possessors of nuclear weapons are extremists. If terrorism is threatening or killing innocent civilians, then nuclear weapons are the ultimate weapon of terrorism and those who possess them are the ultimate terrorists.
How are we to change? Perhaps Hiroshima provides a place to begin. The horrors of Hiroshima are not only the past, but potentially in the future as well. We can begin with finding our sorrow. We can begin with recognizing the suffering we have caused and are causing still. We can begin with apologies and forgiveness.
Hiroshima has largely recovered from its wounds. The city has been rebuilt. The flowers have returned. The survivors have made it their mission to end the nuclear weapons threat to humanity. They have forgiven the crime.
But America will not heal from the trauma of the devastation we have caused and continue to cause until Americans say No to wanton power, No to nuclear weapons, No to war and No to leaders who lie us into war. Until we summon the power to resist, we will continue to be victims of our own massive and unbridled power. It is within our power to change, but not without ending our addiction to power and our double standards that support this addiction. America must reassert its commitment to decency, not destruction.
The 1955 Russell-Einstein Manifesto – issued ten years after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as thermonuclear weapons were being developed and tested – concluded with these words: “We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise ; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death.”
We have a choice, and where there is choice there is hope. If we do nothing, we will remain on the path of universal death. If we choose to change the world, it is within our power to do so. Hiroshima is our past; it doesn’t need to be our future. We can join with the survivors of Hiroshima in committing ourselves to assuring that atomic weapons will never again be used by taking the sensible and reasonable step of abolishing these instruments of genocide.
Unfortunately what is reasonable is not always possible. To end the threat to humanity and other forms of life created by nuclear weapons, there are two different sets of problems to be solved. The first is to articulate what needs to be done. The second is to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of accomplishing these goals.
Let us look first at what needs to be done. At the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, we have proposed the following eight commitments by the nuclear weapons states.
1. Commitment to good faith negotiations to achieve total nuclear disarmament.
2. Commitment to a timeframe for marking progress and achieving the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.
3. Commitment to No First Use of nuclear weapons against other nuclear weapons states and to No Use against non-nuclear weapons states.
4. Commitment to irreversibility and verifiability of disarmament measures.
5. Commitment to standing down nuclear forces, removing them from high alert status.
6. Commitment to create no new nuclear weapons.
7. Commitment to a verifiable ban on the production of fissile materials, and placing existing materials under strict international control.
8. Commitment to accounting, transparency and reporting to build confidence and allow for verification of the disarmament process.
We view these as a minimal level of commitment to demonstrate the “good faith” effort to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons that is required by international law. Other commitments could be added to these, such as support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and agreement to refrain from weaponizing outer space.
Essentially, the international community knows what needs to be done to achieve the phased elimination of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the larger problem is with not what is needed but what is politically possible. This leaves behind the realm of what is reasonable and sensible, and enters the realm of prerogatives of political decision makers.
Despite the threat to humanity and despite reason, none of the commitments above have been acted on by the United States, the world’s most powerful nuclear weapons state. Without US commitment to these goals, it is unlikely that less powerful nuclear weapons states will commit to them. Thus, progress on nuclear disarmament is stalled by US intransigency. The US is not the leader in nuclear disarmament, but rather its major obstacle. This was apparent at the 2005 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, where the US pointed the finger at others, such as Iran and North Korea, but was unwilling even to discuss its own obligations to achieve nuclear disarmament under the treaty and under international law in general.
Within the US, democracy is the province of the people and their representatives, with the mass media playing a critical role in educating the people so that they may make reasoned political choices and give their informed consent to the actions of leaders. It is the political leaders of the US who have been the obstacle to global nuclear disarmament, and for the most part the people are unaware of this because they do not learn about it from the mass media.
The only way to change the policies of the government is for the people to voice their concerns, but largely the people are not informed of the positions of their government on nuclear issues. Nor are they given reasonable analyses of the pros and cons of US nuclear policies because the media has been lax in doing its job.
Humanity’s best hope for ending the nuclear weapons threat that confronts us all is for the American people to engage this issue as if their lives depended upon its outcome. The truth is that our lives, and those of people throughout the world, do depend upon US nuclear policies. We cannot wait for leaders who will recognize and solve these problems for us. We must speak up and we must educate our neighbors and our elected officials.
The choices are clear. One way is to continue on the disastrous path we are on, a path on which our nuclear arsenal plays a pivotal role in providing a false sense of security. Or we can change the direction of our policies, with the US seeking to strengthen its own security and global security by providing leadership to achieve the phased and total elimination of nuclear weapons. To move to this path, the American people are going to have to wake up and demand that their government, acting in their names, end its reliance on nuclear weapons and fulfill its moral and legal obligations to end the nuclear weapons era.
David Krieger is the President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation http://www.wagingpeace.org . He is the author of "Today Is Not a Good Day for War".
Informant: Hopedance
Starmail - 4. Aug, 23:27
Close Vote in Ohio Inspires Democrats
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean called the race a "wake-up call" for Republicans. "The culture of corruption they've brought to Washington is on its way out."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080405M.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080405M.shtml
Starmail - 4. Aug, 23:08
Rare View of CIA Secret Detentions
The men said their first jail was underground, surrounded by high walls and that it took more than 4 hours to fly there from Jordan.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080405I.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080405I.shtml
Starmail - 4. Aug, 23:07
PHONE MAST GETS GO AHEAD ON APPEAL
The Cornishman Cornwall
09:30 - 04 August 2005
An appeal against the refusal of planning permission for a 15-metre high telecommunications mast at Carbis Bay has been upheld. Hutchinson 3G UK Ltd went to appeal after Penwith Council refused permission for the structure - incorporating three antennae, four dishes and associated equipment - at Carninney Farm in January.
Planning inspector John Woolcock has agreed that the development can go ahead, subject to a number of conditions.
In explaining how he reached his conclusion, Mr Woolcock said he considered the main issue to be the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area.
"I have also considered the effects of the proposal on the health and amenity of local residents, and whether there are any available alternative sites which could provide similar coverage and have less environmental impact," he commented.
Mr Woolcock conceded that the scheme would have an adverse effect on the character of the area.
But he concluded: "I am satisfied that the proposal would, as far as technically feasible, utilise a location which minimises its impact on the character and amenity of the wider landscape, residential amenity and the setting of the settlement."
He added that there did not appear to be any available alternative sites that would provide similar coverage and have less environmental impact.
"In my judgement, the need for the mast in this case is sufficient to outweigh the conflict with the development plan and the limited harm to the character and appearance of the area."
--------
So, in this Inspector's judgement "the need for the mast in this case is sufficient to outweigh the conflict with the development plan and the limited harm to the character and appearance of the area". A couple of points:
- There is no statutory requirement for the mast; 'the need' is merely a commercial need and a means of "3" making money. The balance between HMG's policy of encouraging mobile phone use and the rights of local communities to have a say in what goes on in their neighbourhood has clearly gone badly astray. Oh that we had the wherewithal to challenge this in court!
- "..and the limited harm to the character and appearance of the area". This is a purely subjective judgement made by a stranger to the area. It is merely one opinion of one (hardly qualified) individual which, again, should be open to challenge.
David B
--------
..........But, David, on the positive side, he did say that he CONSIDERED HEALTH and AMENITY, so neither are quite extinct yet! We just have to keep blowing on the flames till we resurrect the phoenix from the fire!
Sandi
--------
He had to, Sandi. Not to have done so would have been unlawful and invited a High Court challenge.
David
09:30 - 04 August 2005
An appeal against the refusal of planning permission for a 15-metre high telecommunications mast at Carbis Bay has been upheld. Hutchinson 3G UK Ltd went to appeal after Penwith Council refused permission for the structure - incorporating three antennae, four dishes and associated equipment - at Carninney Farm in January.
Planning inspector John Woolcock has agreed that the development can go ahead, subject to a number of conditions.
In explaining how he reached his conclusion, Mr Woolcock said he considered the main issue to be the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area.
"I have also considered the effects of the proposal on the health and amenity of local residents, and whether there are any available alternative sites which could provide similar coverage and have less environmental impact," he commented.
Mr Woolcock conceded that the scheme would have an adverse effect on the character of the area.
But he concluded: "I am satisfied that the proposal would, as far as technically feasible, utilise a location which minimises its impact on the character and amenity of the wider landscape, residential amenity and the setting of the settlement."
He added that there did not appear to be any available alternative sites that would provide similar coverage and have less environmental impact.
"In my judgement, the need for the mast in this case is sufficient to outweigh the conflict with the development plan and the limited harm to the character and appearance of the area."
--------
So, in this Inspector's judgement "the need for the mast in this case is sufficient to outweigh the conflict with the development plan and the limited harm to the character and appearance of the area". A couple of points:
- There is no statutory requirement for the mast; 'the need' is merely a commercial need and a means of "3" making money. The balance between HMG's policy of encouraging mobile phone use and the rights of local communities to have a say in what goes on in their neighbourhood has clearly gone badly astray. Oh that we had the wherewithal to challenge this in court!
- "..and the limited harm to the character and appearance of the area". This is a purely subjective judgement made by a stranger to the area. It is merely one opinion of one (hardly qualified) individual which, again, should be open to challenge.
David B
--------
..........But, David, on the positive side, he did say that he CONSIDERED HEALTH and AMENITY, so neither are quite extinct yet! We just have to keep blowing on the flames till we resurrect the phoenix from the fire!
Sandi
--------
He had to, Sandi. Not to have done so would have been unlawful and invited a High Court challenge.
David
Starmail - 4. Aug, 23:04
Zur Zeit wird bei uns die Basisstation erweitert
Dr. Claus Scheingraber 4-08-05
Sehr geehrter Herr Tittmann,
habe heute von Herrn Kampschulte folgende Nachricht erhalten. Ich bitte um Veröffentlichung.
Vielen Dank und herzliche Grüße
Claus Scheingraber
Sehr geehrter Herr Dr.Scheingraber,
Zur Zeit wird bei uns die Basisstation erweitert. Sie ist noch nicht fertig aufgerüstet es kommt noch etwas. Die Monteure arbeiten bei vollem Betrieb der Anlage ohne Schutzanzüge in leichter Bekleidung schon mehrere Tage daran. Ich vermute das UMTS nach gerüstet wird. Insgesammt 9 Antennen; 9 waren schon vorher montiert es scheint auch eine anderer Anbieter zu sein. Ich schicke Ihnen zwei Bilder von der Anlage. Sie können sie veröffentlichen.
http://www.omega-news.info/050721_kampschulte_1.JPG
Es wurde niemand von der Erweiterung informiert. Wieder ein Beweis das die Vereinbarung nichts zählt. Die Anlage steht mitten in einem Wohngebiet, Kindergarten und Alten Wohnanlage sowie eine Kinderkrebsstation ist in der Nähe auch die Neurologie der Uni Klinik Frankfurt ist nur ca. 200 Meter entfernt. Die Verbrecher haben keine Hemmung mehr es geht nur um das Geschäft. So wie es aussieht werden wir in Frankfurt noch ca. 900 Antennen bekommen.
Mit freundlichen Grüssen
Ute u. Gerhard Kampschulte Im Mainfeld 5, 60528 Frankfurt am Main
Sehr geehrter Herr Tittmann,
habe heute von Herrn Kampschulte folgende Nachricht erhalten. Ich bitte um Veröffentlichung.
Vielen Dank und herzliche Grüße
Claus Scheingraber
Sehr geehrter Herr Dr.Scheingraber,
Zur Zeit wird bei uns die Basisstation erweitert. Sie ist noch nicht fertig aufgerüstet es kommt noch etwas. Die Monteure arbeiten bei vollem Betrieb der Anlage ohne Schutzanzüge in leichter Bekleidung schon mehrere Tage daran. Ich vermute das UMTS nach gerüstet wird. Insgesammt 9 Antennen; 9 waren schon vorher montiert es scheint auch eine anderer Anbieter zu sein. Ich schicke Ihnen zwei Bilder von der Anlage. Sie können sie veröffentlichen.
http://www.omega-news.info/050721_kampschulte_1.JPG
Es wurde niemand von der Erweiterung informiert. Wieder ein Beweis das die Vereinbarung nichts zählt. Die Anlage steht mitten in einem Wohngebiet, Kindergarten und Alten Wohnanlage sowie eine Kinderkrebsstation ist in der Nähe auch die Neurologie der Uni Klinik Frankfurt ist nur ca. 200 Meter entfernt. Die Verbrecher haben keine Hemmung mehr es geht nur um das Geschäft. So wie es aussieht werden wir in Frankfurt noch ca. 900 Antennen bekommen.
Mit freundlichen Grüssen
Ute u. Gerhard Kampschulte Im Mainfeld 5, 60528 Frankfurt am Main
Starmail - 4. Aug, 22:57
RED ALERT: Are YOU Prepared?
Thought I would forward this as it could involve everyone!
Tim
Expected Earthquake, Volcanic or Storm Activity for the next 5 Days:
http://standeyo.com/Reports/041222.EQ.warning/050802.Deyo.EQs.html
Tim
Expected Earthquake, Volcanic or Storm Activity for the next 5 Days:
http://standeyo.com/Reports/041222.EQ.warning/050802.Deyo.EQs.html
Starmail - 4. Aug, 22:31
Radioaktive Verseuchung um Tschernobyl ist heute gefährlicher als 1986
Die radioaktive Zerfallskette von Plutonium und ihre Spätfolgen.
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20647/1.html
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20647/1.html
Starmail - 4. Aug, 22:14
Roundup und das globale Amphibiensterben
Nach Studien von US-Wissenschaftlern könnte das profitabelste Produkt des Monsanto-Konzerns, wichtig auch für den Vertrieb des genveränderten Saatguts, für den mysteriösen Rückgang von Fröschen und Kröten verantwortlich sein.
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20660/1.html
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20660/1.html
Starmail - 4. Aug, 22:11
Wir sind im Krieg
US-Präsident Bush will am "Krieg gegen den Terror" festhalten, nachdem Berater für eine andere, weniger einseitig militärisch ausgerichtete Terminologie wie dem "Kampf gegen gewalttätigen Extremismus" plädiert hatten.
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20667/1.html
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20667/1.html
Starmail - 4. Aug, 22:09
Sinkende Bruttolöhne und steigende Inkompetenz
Die CDU-Kanzlerkandidatin steckt im Formtief - Deutschlands Presse bei ihrer Wahlkampfberichterstattung offensichtlich auch.
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20668/1.html
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20668/1.html
Starmail - 4. Aug, 22:07
Bürgermeister von Hiroshima und Nagasaki fordern Abrüstung von Atomwaffen
"Erinnert Euch Eurer Menschlichkeit": Bürgermeister von Hiroshima und Nagasaki fordern Abrüstung von Atomwaffen (04.08.05)
Mit einem Appell zum 60. Jahrestag der Atombombenabwürfe auf Hiroshima und Nagasaki warnen ihre Bürgermeister und internationale Friedensstreiter vor dem Vergessen des "höllischen Endes" der Atombombenabwürfe. Gefordert wird die Abkehr von einem "überholten System atomarer Abschreckung" und die Entwicklung eines "kooperativen Sicherheitssystems" in Loyalität gegenüber der Menschheit.
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11554
Mit einem Appell zum 60. Jahrestag der Atombombenabwürfe auf Hiroshima und Nagasaki warnen ihre Bürgermeister und internationale Friedensstreiter vor dem Vergessen des "höllischen Endes" der Atombombenabwürfe. Gefordert wird die Abkehr von einem "überholten System atomarer Abschreckung" und die Entwicklung eines "kooperativen Sicherheitssystems" in Loyalität gegenüber der Menschheit.
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11554
Starmail - 4. Aug, 22:05
Spekulationsgeschäfte bei Mercedes-Managern
Kritik an Aktienoptionsplänen: Spekulationsgeschäfte bei Mercedes-Managern (04.08.05)
Nach Eckhard Cordes soll nach Informationen der Kritischen Aktionäre mit Vorstandsmitglied Thomas Sidlik ein weiterer Manager des DaimlerChrysler-Konzerns dank der Aktienoption ein gutes Geschäft gemacht haben. Presseberichten zufolge soll Sidlik am 1. August 50.000 Aktien zum Preis von 1.720.000 Euro erworben und am gleichen Tag wieder für 2.026.000 Euro verkauft haben. Der Gewinn daraus betrage schon 306.000 Euro. Dazu kämen noch einmal 286.000 Euro für die Differenz vom Referenz- zum Ausgabepreis. Für die Kritischen Aktionäre stellt dieses - legale - Vorgehen nichts als "Raffgier" dar.
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11558
Nach Eckhard Cordes soll nach Informationen der Kritischen Aktionäre mit Vorstandsmitglied Thomas Sidlik ein weiterer Manager des DaimlerChrysler-Konzerns dank der Aktienoption ein gutes Geschäft gemacht haben. Presseberichten zufolge soll Sidlik am 1. August 50.000 Aktien zum Preis von 1.720.000 Euro erworben und am gleichen Tag wieder für 2.026.000 Euro verkauft haben. Der Gewinn daraus betrage schon 306.000 Euro. Dazu kämen noch einmal 286.000 Euro für die Differenz vom Referenz- zum Ausgabepreis. Für die Kritischen Aktionäre stellt dieses - legale - Vorgehen nichts als "Raffgier" dar.
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11558
Starmail - 4. Aug, 22:03
Another possible victim of base stations
Starmail - 4. Aug, 21:57
Another possible victim of base stations
Upon the death of our five year old cat, I am now more than ever convinced that the pulsed microwave radiation emitted by my neighbours mobile phone base station is attributable to adverse health effects. In factual demonstration of my belief, I can advise you that our vet has been unable to offer neither any prognosis for Emily’s condition nor any explanation why Emily’ haematology report dated 04/08/05 shows a low <12% White Blood Cell Count.
Whilst at the vets today. I spoke with a vet I have not seen before and I was surprised to learn that she fully accepts the potential for the resulting ill health in animals and referenced an animals stronger sense to all environmental factors, such as in the Tsunami when the animals went to higher ground. She also advised that her friend, a serving policeman has developed a tumour in his chest directly beneath where he attaches his Tetra handset.
I am eager to pursue communication with this vet as all other avenues with the RSPCA, RSPB, English Nature, etc suggests that these organisations pay lip service only to this matter.
Stephen
PS I am conscious that Jackie Ballard, Director General of the RSPCA, per her letter to me dated 11/03/05 (beneath) may be allowing the ODPM to ignore her previous requests and I would be grateful if mast sanity subscribers could urge her to chase this matter up, email; executive@rspca.org.uk
11 March 2005
Dear Mr Kearney,
Telecommunications Masts
Thank you for your email of 4 March enquiring whether I had received a reply from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
As I had not heard from John Prescott's office regarding my letter of 14 July I wrote to him again on the 17 January asking for his comments. I received a reply on 1 February to say that his office could not trace having received the original correspondence and I supplied him with a further copy. We are still waiting for a reply but please rest assured that I will let you have a copy of the response when I have received it.
Jackie Ballard
--------
Stephen
We have had similar problems with one of our dogs, high white and low red cell count, gums and eyes looked jaundiced, after a week in hospital on a drip, steroids and antibiotics the blood work stabalised, the dog has been on a stepped doesage of steriods for almost three months.
I had no problem convincing the vet as to the cause.
Phil Watts
--------
I have been talking to a lady who has a farm where, once a mobile phone mast went up on neighbouring land, the sheep all became very thin, despite eating well. An autopsy on one showed a low white blood cell count, but no other signs of illness. A mare also developed stiffness in the legs and could not rise from sleep, so has slept upright since. The mast was removed and the animals recovered, but the mare still won't lay down. I am seeking more details. Interestingly, this lady was also unwell and her doctor noted the improvement in her, once the mast went down, and agreed that the mast seemed to cause the ill-health with her and her animals. He even wrote a letter to this effect, I believe, but I have not seen it yet. I hope to be able to go and see her at some stage, so will keep you posted.
Sandi
P.S. I intend to write to various societies when I can find time, too, because wildlife and vegitation are also affected.
Whilst at the vets today. I spoke with a vet I have not seen before and I was surprised to learn that she fully accepts the potential for the resulting ill health in animals and referenced an animals stronger sense to all environmental factors, such as in the Tsunami when the animals went to higher ground. She also advised that her friend, a serving policeman has developed a tumour in his chest directly beneath where he attaches his Tetra handset.
I am eager to pursue communication with this vet as all other avenues with the RSPCA, RSPB, English Nature, etc suggests that these organisations pay lip service only to this matter.
Stephen
PS I am conscious that Jackie Ballard, Director General of the RSPCA, per her letter to me dated 11/03/05 (beneath) may be allowing the ODPM to ignore her previous requests and I would be grateful if mast sanity subscribers could urge her to chase this matter up, email; executive@rspca.org.uk
11 March 2005
Dear Mr Kearney,
Telecommunications Masts
Thank you for your email of 4 March enquiring whether I had received a reply from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
As I had not heard from John Prescott's office regarding my letter of 14 July I wrote to him again on the 17 January asking for his comments. I received a reply on 1 February to say that his office could not trace having received the original correspondence and I supplied him with a further copy. We are still waiting for a reply but please rest assured that I will let you have a copy of the response when I have received it.
Jackie Ballard
--------
Stephen
We have had similar problems with one of our dogs, high white and low red cell count, gums and eyes looked jaundiced, after a week in hospital on a drip, steroids and antibiotics the blood work stabalised, the dog has been on a stepped doesage of steriods for almost three months.
I had no problem convincing the vet as to the cause.
Phil Watts
--------
I have been talking to a lady who has a farm where, once a mobile phone mast went up on neighbouring land, the sheep all became very thin, despite eating well. An autopsy on one showed a low white blood cell count, but no other signs of illness. A mare also developed stiffness in the legs and could not rise from sleep, so has slept upright since. The mast was removed and the animals recovered, but the mare still won't lay down. I am seeking more details. Interestingly, this lady was also unwell and her doctor noted the improvement in her, once the mast went down, and agreed that the mast seemed to cause the ill-health with her and her animals. He even wrote a letter to this effect, I believe, but I have not seen it yet. I hope to be able to go and see her at some stage, so will keep you posted.
Sandi
P.S. I intend to write to various societies when I can find time, too, because wildlife and vegitation are also affected.
Starmail - 4. Aug, 21:55
Truth in Journalism
Robert McChesney is considered one of the leading voices on media reform in America today. With scandals eroding public trust in journalism, McChesney is leading a movement to reinvigorate the free press to give citizens access to the truth so they can make informed decisions in their democracy.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305P.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305P.shtml
Starmail - 4. Aug, 18:30
Bush Makes Second Recess Appointment
President Bush again invoked a constitutional provision enabling him to bypass the Senate and install directly a nominee who had been blocked in the Senate. This time, he named Peter Flory to be an assistant secretary of defense.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305D.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305D.shtml
Starmail - 4. Aug, 18:28
Judge Says Bush's Easing of Forest Plan Is Illegal
A federal judge has concluded that the Bush administration broke environmental laws last year when it cleared the way for more commercial logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305B.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305B.shtml
Starmail - 4. Aug, 18:26
New Politicking in Ohio
The Republican Primary was three times better attended than the Democratic one, and hundreds of thousands of dollars flowed in from right wing groups such as the "Club for Growth." They believed that "the primary is the general election," and that it was pure upside. They may be thinking twice tonight.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305A.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305A.shtml
Starmail - 4. Aug, 18:25
Judge Rules Logging Plan Illegal
Bush administration attempts to accelerate logging on Northwest public lands took a sharp blow as a federal judge tossed out a decision to stop surveying for little-known forest species before cutting trees.
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/080305EA.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/080305EA.shtml
Starmail - 4. Aug, 18:23
Newsweek Dismisses Accurate Information on Judge's Record
Starmail - 4. Aug, 18:21
An 800-Pound Gorilla Goes to the U.N.
Starmail - 4. Aug, 18:20
Tyndall Glacier in Rocky Mtn Natl Park
Several days ago - while I was sweltering in Ojai, California, at a wonderful autism-families camp - a major portion of Tyndall Glacier broke loose. The scar is evident in three fotos taken at different telephoto settings. The glacier is in the center of each photo. What remains from where the portion broke away is obvious as "shadow".
Teresa saddened by another symptom of global warming.
If anyone uses one of the photos, please credit the photographer (me).
* * * *
From far away: http://www.pbase.com/aspergerian/image/47162983
Closer: http://www.pbase.com/aspergerian/image/47163005
Closest: http://www.pbase.com/aspergerian/image/47163055
* * * *
Tyndall Glacier fotos from years ago can be viewed:
http://tinyurl.com/ctclo
TyndallGlacier.jpg
320 x 320 pixels - 42k http://www.listsofjohn.com/Accidents/TyndallGlacier.html
Teresa saddened by another symptom of global warming.
If anyone uses one of the photos, please credit the photographer (me).
* * * *
From far away: http://www.pbase.com/aspergerian/image/47162983
Closer: http://www.pbase.com/aspergerian/image/47163005
Closest: http://www.pbase.com/aspergerian/image/47163055
* * * *
Tyndall Glacier fotos from years ago can be viewed:
http://tinyurl.com/ctclo
TyndallGlacier.jpg
320 x 320 pixels - 42k http://www.listsofjohn.com/Accidents/TyndallGlacier.html
Starmail - 4. Aug, 18:14
The Scandal That Could Eat Bush's "Brain"
Starmail - 4. Aug, 18:08
Look at the many USA Earthquakes
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/
Go here and look at just how many events have been in the USA the past week! I was amaized.
Valerie
May GOD Shine His Blessings You and yours! Always, Valerie
Go here and look at just how many events have been in the USA the past week! I was amaized.
Valerie
May GOD Shine His Blessings You and yours! Always, Valerie
Starmail - 4. Aug, 18:05
Severing A Lifeline
by Marcia D. Greenberger and Judy Waxman, TomPaine.com
Proposed cuts and other changes to Medicaid could force low-income Americans to go without essential health care.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050804/severing_a_lifeline.php
Proposed cuts and other changes to Medicaid could force low-income Americans to go without essential health care.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050804/severing_a_lifeline.php
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:57
Perks Of A One-Party Town
by David Corn, TomPaine.com
It's summertime and the living is easy-for Republicans who control Congress and the White House.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050804/perks_of_a_oneparty_town.php
It's summertime and the living is easy-for Republicans who control Congress and the White House.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050804/perks_of_a_oneparty_town.php
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:56
The Trade-And-Aid Myth
by Dani Rodrik, TomPaine.com
Arguments that free trade agreements like CAFTA help developing nations ignore the hard lessons of the last five decades.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050804/the_tradeandaid_myth.php
Arguments that free trade agreements like CAFTA help developing nations ignore the hard lessons of the last five decades.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050804/the_tradeandaid_myth.php
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:54
Cheney: Americans would be "greeted as liberators"
Vice President Dick Cheney, who predicted on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, that Americans would be "greeted as liberators," has in recent weeks been peddling a new line of spin.
If Cheney was not in charge of U.S. foreign policy, he could be dismissed as a ranting lunatic. But, because of his title, and because the former Secretary of Defense is the dominant player in the Bush administration when it comes to military policy, Cheney has to be taken seriously -- as seriously, that is, as his bizarro worldview permits.
Unfortunately, the primary reason to take Cheney seriously is the fact that Americans and Iraqis are dying because of the policies he has promoted. And, of course, because those same policies are emptying the U.S. Treasury into the quagmire that is Iraq.
So it is appropriate to try and hold Cheney accountable.
And it is not difficult to do so.
Here is what Cheney said during a June 20, 2005, interview on CNN's Larry King Live:
Hailing what he described as "major progress" in Iraq, Cheney said, "I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency."
Here is what the Associated Press reported from Iraq on August 3, 2005, less than two months after Cheney asserted that the insurgency was fading away:
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Fourteen U.S. Marines and a civilianinterpreter were killed Wednesday in western Iraq, the U.S. command said.
The Marines, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2,
2ndMarine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), were killed in action early Wednesday when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device, the military said. One Marine was also wounded in the attack.
The Associated Press report goes on to note that:
The latest losses come on the heels of the deaths of seven U.S. Marines in combat two days ago in the volatile Euphrates Valley of western Iraq. The American deaths come as the Bush administration is talking about handing more security responsibility to the Iraqis and drawing down forces next year.
At least 39 American service members have been killed in Iraq since July 24 - all but two in combat. In addition, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said that since the beginning of April, more than 2,700 Iraqis - about half of them civilians - had been killed in insurgency-related incidents.
It looks as if the last throes that Cheney was discussing with Larry King have turned out to be death throes for the young American men and women who are serving in Iraq, as well as for the Iraqi people.
Any attempt to address Cheney's rhetorical excesses brings to mind the words of a young veteran from another misguided and unnecessary war.
"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam?" young John Kerry asked the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971. "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
Cheney has come up with a contemporary answer for that question. How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Iraq? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?
For Cheney, that's simple: Just keep telling the young men and women who are marching to their deaths that they will be greeted as liberators and that the enemy is so weak that it is in its "last throes."
In other words, just keep spinning a slurry of fantasy and lies into U.S. policy.
Doug Haddix
If Cheney was not in charge of U.S. foreign policy, he could be dismissed as a ranting lunatic. But, because of his title, and because the former Secretary of Defense is the dominant player in the Bush administration when it comes to military policy, Cheney has to be taken seriously -- as seriously, that is, as his bizarro worldview permits.
Unfortunately, the primary reason to take Cheney seriously is the fact that Americans and Iraqis are dying because of the policies he has promoted. And, of course, because those same policies are emptying the U.S. Treasury into the quagmire that is Iraq.
So it is appropriate to try and hold Cheney accountable.
And it is not difficult to do so.
Here is what Cheney said during a June 20, 2005, interview on CNN's Larry King Live:
Hailing what he described as "major progress" in Iraq, Cheney said, "I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency."
Here is what the Associated Press reported from Iraq on August 3, 2005, less than two months after Cheney asserted that the insurgency was fading away:
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Fourteen U.S. Marines and a civilianinterpreter were killed Wednesday in western Iraq, the U.S. command said.
The Marines, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2,
2ndMarine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), were killed in action early Wednesday when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device, the military said. One Marine was also wounded in the attack.
The Associated Press report goes on to note that:
The latest losses come on the heels of the deaths of seven U.S. Marines in combat two days ago in the volatile Euphrates Valley of western Iraq. The American deaths come as the Bush administration is talking about handing more security responsibility to the Iraqis and drawing down forces next year.
At least 39 American service members have been killed in Iraq since July 24 - all but two in combat. In addition, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said that since the beginning of April, more than 2,700 Iraqis - about half of them civilians - had been killed in insurgency-related incidents.
It looks as if the last throes that Cheney was discussing with Larry King have turned out to be death throes for the young American men and women who are serving in Iraq, as well as for the Iraqi people.
Any attempt to address Cheney's rhetorical excesses brings to mind the words of a young veteran from another misguided and unnecessary war.
"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam?" young John Kerry asked the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971. "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
Cheney has come up with a contemporary answer for that question. How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Iraq? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?
For Cheney, that's simple: Just keep telling the young men and women who are marching to their deaths that they will be greeted as liberators and that the enemy is so weak that it is in its "last throes."
In other words, just keep spinning a slurry of fantasy and lies into U.S. policy.
Doug Haddix
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:52
Bush: Approval at 44%
Lowest measurement of his presidency
by Jeffrey M. Jones
The Gallup Organization
A new Gallup Poll finds a drop in George W. Bush's job approval rating, which currently stands at 44% after being at 49% in two earlier polls this month. The current rating is the lowest of the Bush presidency. Bush's favorable rating has also hit a new low, as just 48% of Americans rate him favorably, which is the first time that percentage has dropped below 50%. Ratings of national satisfaction and the economy, on the other hand, have remained generally steady. Even before the drop in Bush's ratings, Gallup Polls were showing evidence that the public was becoming more favorable to the Democratic Party. [...] To read more you must be a subscriber. http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/login.aspx?ci=17584
© Virginia Metze
by Jeffrey M. Jones
The Gallup Organization
A new Gallup Poll finds a drop in George W. Bush's job approval rating, which currently stands at 44% after being at 49% in two earlier polls this month. The current rating is the lowest of the Bush presidency. Bush's favorable rating has also hit a new low, as just 48% of Americans rate him favorably, which is the first time that percentage has dropped below 50%. Ratings of national satisfaction and the economy, on the other hand, have remained generally steady. Even before the drop in Bush's ratings, Gallup Polls were showing evidence that the public was becoming more favorable to the Democratic Party. [...] To read more you must be a subscriber. http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/login.aspx?ci=17584
© Virginia Metze
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:46
How the American Right became an enemy of peace and freedom
(1964)
Saturday 30th July 2005 (14h33) :
Bella Ciao
The Transformation of the American Right by Murray N. Rothbard
First published in Continuum, Summer 1964, pp. 220-231.
In the spate of recent books and articles on the burgeoning conservative movement, little has been said of its governing ideas and its intellectual leadership. Instead, attention has been centered on the mass phenomena of the Right-wing: The Billy James Hargises, the Birchers, the various crusaders for God and country. And yet, the neglect of the ruling ideas of the Right-wing has obscured its true nature, and has hidden an enormous and significant change in the very nature of the Right that has taken place since World War II. In fact, due to the total absence of dialogue between various parts of the political spectrum in this country, both Right and Left are largely conducting their argument in what used to be called a severe "cultural lag"; both sides still mistakenly believe that the categories of the debate are the same as they were immediately after the war. In particular, under cover of a certain continuity of rhetoric, the intellectual content and goals of the Right-wing have been radically transformed in the last decade and a half, and this transformation has gone virtually unnoticed on either Right or Left. [...] Read the rest at: http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=7277
© Virginia Metze
Saturday 30th July 2005 (14h33) :
Bella Ciao
The Transformation of the American Right by Murray N. Rothbard
First published in Continuum, Summer 1964, pp. 220-231.
In the spate of recent books and articles on the burgeoning conservative movement, little has been said of its governing ideas and its intellectual leadership. Instead, attention has been centered on the mass phenomena of the Right-wing: The Billy James Hargises, the Birchers, the various crusaders for God and country. And yet, the neglect of the ruling ideas of the Right-wing has obscured its true nature, and has hidden an enormous and significant change in the very nature of the Right that has taken place since World War II. In fact, due to the total absence of dialogue between various parts of the political spectrum in this country, both Right and Left are largely conducting their argument in what used to be called a severe "cultural lag"; both sides still mistakenly believe that the categories of the debate are the same as they were immediately after the war. In particular, under cover of a certain continuity of rhetoric, the intellectual content and goals of the Right-wing have been radically transformed in the last decade and a half, and this transformation has gone virtually unnoticed on either Right or Left. [...] Read the rest at: http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=7277
© Virginia Metze
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:44
Bolton Not Truthful, 36 Senators Charge in Opposing Appointment
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
Published: July 30, 2005
New York Times
WASHINGTON, July 29 - Charging that John R. Bolton was "not truthful" in answering questions about his record, 36 senators urged President Bush on Friday not to make a recess appointment of Mr. Bolton as United Nations ambassador after the Senate's failure to confirm him for that job.
But one Republican official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the president has not announced his decision, said Mr. Bush would probably appoint Mr. Bolton next week. [...] Read the rest at: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/politics/30bolton.html or http://tinyurl.com/amfh2
© Virginia Metze
Published: July 30, 2005
New York Times
WASHINGTON, July 29 - Charging that John R. Bolton was "not truthful" in answering questions about his record, 36 senators urged President Bush on Friday not to make a recess appointment of Mr. Bolton as United Nations ambassador after the Senate's failure to confirm him for that job.
But one Republican official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the president has not announced his decision, said Mr. Bush would probably appoint Mr. Bolton next week. [...] Read the rest at: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/politics/30bolton.html or http://tinyurl.com/amfh2
© Virginia Metze
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:41
TOWER BLOCK MAST PLAN TURNED DOWN
Leicester Mercury
BY MEL ATKINSON
10:30 - 04 August 2005
Plans to put six more mobile phone masts on a tower block have been rejected after a councillor described the building as like "an anchored satellite".
Elizabeth House already has 16 masts on its roof and residents say that is too many.
The city's planning committee has now rejected a new application by phone company O2, fearing the antennae may pose a risk.
Residents welcomed the news today - but appealed for the block's existing masts to be removed.
Over the past 10 years, 14 antennae, two dish antennae and four equipment cabinets have been installed on the roof of the tower block, in Waterloo Way, near Leicester train station. One resident, Phil Hendy, claims he is suffering ill health from the existing mobile phone aerials.
Mr Hendy, 61, has lived on the top floor of Elizabeth House since 1979, but says his health deteriorated after masts were installed in 1999.
He said: "I suffer from dizziness, headaches, loss of balance, loss of power in my limbs and arthritis.
"The symptoms ease when I leave the building. I live right under the main equipment cabinet and there are also electrical cables on the roof.
"Residents are pleased with the decision but really they should be trying to remove what's already there."
Councillor Patrick Kitterick, who represents the city centre, said: "There is nowhere else in Leicester where you have this concentration of antennae in one location and it is growing and growing.
"You would not put these antenna near a row of terraces - it's only flat-dwellers who seem to have to put up with this."
Planning committee member Coun John Thomas said: "This is not so much a block of flats as an anchored telecommunications satellite.
"The people living at the top of the flats must be right in the firing line. We have reached saturation point."
Planning officers - who had advised councillors to approve O2's application - said that radiation readings taken last week by phone regulator Ofcom showed that levels of exposure in and around Elizabeth House were "well within the maximum levels allowed".
The highest dose, at the junction of Campbell Street and Fox Street, is one-thousandth of the national safety figure.
They said councillors could choose to refuse permission if they believed it had not been proved that there was no health risk from an increased number of aerials.
Councillors voted unanimously to refuse the application, on the grounds of the number of existing antennae and possible health risks.
O2 spokeswoman Angela Johnson said: "It is too early to say whether we will appeal but we are very disappointed that we haven't got this site.
"The cumulative effect of the radiation is thousands of times lower than international safety guidelines and is less than a mobile itself."
Omega see under: http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=ICNIRP+Guidelines
melatkinson@leicestermercury.co.uk
BY MEL ATKINSON
10:30 - 04 August 2005
Plans to put six more mobile phone masts on a tower block have been rejected after a councillor described the building as like "an anchored satellite".
Elizabeth House already has 16 masts on its roof and residents say that is too many.
The city's planning committee has now rejected a new application by phone company O2, fearing the antennae may pose a risk.
Residents welcomed the news today - but appealed for the block's existing masts to be removed.
Over the past 10 years, 14 antennae, two dish antennae and four equipment cabinets have been installed on the roof of the tower block, in Waterloo Way, near Leicester train station. One resident, Phil Hendy, claims he is suffering ill health from the existing mobile phone aerials.
Mr Hendy, 61, has lived on the top floor of Elizabeth House since 1979, but says his health deteriorated after masts were installed in 1999.
He said: "I suffer from dizziness, headaches, loss of balance, loss of power in my limbs and arthritis.
"The symptoms ease when I leave the building. I live right under the main equipment cabinet and there are also electrical cables on the roof.
"Residents are pleased with the decision but really they should be trying to remove what's already there."
Councillor Patrick Kitterick, who represents the city centre, said: "There is nowhere else in Leicester where you have this concentration of antennae in one location and it is growing and growing.
"You would not put these antenna near a row of terraces - it's only flat-dwellers who seem to have to put up with this."
Planning committee member Coun John Thomas said: "This is not so much a block of flats as an anchored telecommunications satellite.
"The people living at the top of the flats must be right in the firing line. We have reached saturation point."
Planning officers - who had advised councillors to approve O2's application - said that radiation readings taken last week by phone regulator Ofcom showed that levels of exposure in and around Elizabeth House were "well within the maximum levels allowed".
The highest dose, at the junction of Campbell Street and Fox Street, is one-thousandth of the national safety figure.
They said councillors could choose to refuse permission if they believed it had not been proved that there was no health risk from an increased number of aerials.
Councillors voted unanimously to refuse the application, on the grounds of the number of existing antennae and possible health risks.
O2 spokeswoman Angela Johnson said: "It is too early to say whether we will appeal but we are very disappointed that we haven't got this site.
"The cumulative effect of the radiation is thousands of times lower than international safety guidelines and is less than a mobile itself."
Omega see under: http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=ICNIRP+Guidelines
melatkinson@leicestermercury.co.uk
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:30
Giant mast project fails
Aug 4 2005
Widness Weekly News
ONE of the latest plans to construct a giant mobile phone mast in Widnes has been nipped in the bud by Halton Borough Council.
In recent months the council has been backing hundreds of residents across the town who have co-ordinated protest campaigns in a bid to block the 'eyesore' transmitters.
The latest O2 application to be rejected was for a 15 metre monopole mast with three antennae which was to be built at the junction of the Liverpool Road and Lower-house Lane, Widnes.
Residents are up in arms at O2's determination to get new masts in the area to support the 'Third Generation' telephone network they claim need bigger and more powerful installations.
But the council has acted swiftly to thrown out the latest proposals.
The first was submitted in December 2004, for a 15 metre mobile phone mast - the planning application rejected in January this year.
O2 then appealed against the refusal decision and in the meantime the company submitted a further revised application for a 12.5m mast.
Both have now been rejected.
A council spokeswoman said: 'Halton Borough Council has once again received the support of the Planning Inspectorate in rejecting a mast proposal.
'The council has had full backing from the planning inspectorate to refuse planning permission for a mast to be constructed at the junction of Liverpool Road and Lowerhouse Lane in Widnes.'
Deni Newman, of Halton Friends of the Earth, said: 'The controversy over the risk from mobile phones is heightened by the industry's insistence on subjecting us all to pulsed wave emissions 24-hours-a-day.
'The pulsed waves act in a similar way to invisible strobe lighting and the resulting interference on human brain wave patterns may result in symptoms such as altered sleep and behaviour, audio and visual disturbance and loss of concentration.'
Widness Weekly News
ONE of the latest plans to construct a giant mobile phone mast in Widnes has been nipped in the bud by Halton Borough Council.
In recent months the council has been backing hundreds of residents across the town who have co-ordinated protest campaigns in a bid to block the 'eyesore' transmitters.
The latest O2 application to be rejected was for a 15 metre monopole mast with three antennae which was to be built at the junction of the Liverpool Road and Lower-house Lane, Widnes.
Residents are up in arms at O2's determination to get new masts in the area to support the 'Third Generation' telephone network they claim need bigger and more powerful installations.
But the council has acted swiftly to thrown out the latest proposals.
The first was submitted in December 2004, for a 15 metre mobile phone mast - the planning application rejected in January this year.
O2 then appealed against the refusal decision and in the meantime the company submitted a further revised application for a 12.5m mast.
Both have now been rejected.
A council spokeswoman said: 'Halton Borough Council has once again received the support of the Planning Inspectorate in rejecting a mast proposal.
'The council has had full backing from the planning inspectorate to refuse planning permission for a mast to be constructed at the junction of Liverpool Road and Lowerhouse Lane in Widnes.'
Deni Newman, of Halton Friends of the Earth, said: 'The controversy over the risk from mobile phones is heightened by the industry's insistence on subjecting us all to pulsed wave emissions 24-hours-a-day.
'The pulsed waves act in a similar way to invisible strobe lighting and the resulting interference on human brain wave patterns may result in symptoms such as altered sleep and behaviour, audio and visual disturbance and loss of concentration.'
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:24
Delight as mast plan is refused
Aug 4 2005
By Sarah Gaffney, Ormskirk Advertiser
A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build an O2 phone mast in Burscough, has been refused planning permission by district councillors.
Despite a favourable recommendation, they decided not to approve the 17.5 metre tower at a planning committee meeting.
Arguments made against the mast in Platts Lane were that it would be an eyesore, would ruin a conservation area and, above all, would have health implications for nearby families.
However, as the government has not set any clear guidelines about mobile masts and possible health risks, the application could not be refused on health grounds.
Jason Isherwood, from The Poplars, made a speech appealing for the mast to be rejected because he said it would be too close to a school.
"I ask you to search your hearts and minds. It's about people and I choose people over a mast. As our representatives I hope you do the same."
John Hodgson, of Platts Lane, speaking on behalf of his neighbours, said the mast would spoil the visual amenity.
He said that when the leaves fell off the trees or if the trees were thinned out, the mast would be exposed.
Most of the committee agreed. Cllr Terry Rice said: "The thing is 60-feet high, if you think you won't notice it you are living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
"The government rule is we should not take into account any health worries.
"But if this thing is hazardous to health, it is more hazardous to children than adults and there are children in the vicinity."
Burscough Parish Council chairman, Cllr Cynthia Dereli, was pleased that planning permission was rejected. Because she lives just inside the mast consultation area, Cllr Dereli was forced to declare her interest, although her exclusion was considered "laughable" by Cllr Alan Bullen.
She said: "I am really pleased that the position that residents took was listened to. They were really good and understood their subject well."
By Sarah Gaffney, Ormskirk Advertiser
A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build an O2 phone mast in Burscough, has been refused planning permission by district councillors.
Despite a favourable recommendation, they decided not to approve the 17.5 metre tower at a planning committee meeting.
Arguments made against the mast in Platts Lane were that it would be an eyesore, would ruin a conservation area and, above all, would have health implications for nearby families.
However, as the government has not set any clear guidelines about mobile masts and possible health risks, the application could not be refused on health grounds.
Jason Isherwood, from The Poplars, made a speech appealing for the mast to be rejected because he said it would be too close to a school.
"I ask you to search your hearts and minds. It's about people and I choose people over a mast. As our representatives I hope you do the same."
John Hodgson, of Platts Lane, speaking on behalf of his neighbours, said the mast would spoil the visual amenity.
He said that when the leaves fell off the trees or if the trees were thinned out, the mast would be exposed.
Most of the committee agreed. Cllr Terry Rice said: "The thing is 60-feet high, if you think you won't notice it you are living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
"The government rule is we should not take into account any health worries.
"But if this thing is hazardous to health, it is more hazardous to children than adults and there are children in the vicinity."
Burscough Parish Council chairman, Cllr Cynthia Dereli, was pleased that planning permission was rejected. Because she lives just inside the mast consultation area, Cllr Dereli was forced to declare her interest, although her exclusion was considered "laughable" by Cllr Alan Bullen.
She said: "I am really pleased that the position that residents took was listened to. They were really good and understood their subject well."
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:22
Council looks again at masts policy
Shropshire Star 04.08.05
Mobile phone companies could be stopped from erecting masts in residential areas of Telford after the borough council revealed that it is reviewing its policy on the issue.
The move was announced at last night's Borough of Telford and Wrekin Council plans board meeting by chairman Councillor Hilda Rhodes.
She said the review was being made following concern from council members and the public about the increasing number of masts being erected in largely populated areas.
Mobile phone companies could be stopped from erecting masts in residential areas of Telford after the borough council revealed that it is reviewing its policy on the issue.
The move was announced at last night's Borough of Telford and Wrekin Council plans board meeting by chairman Councillor Hilda Rhodes.
She said the review was being made following concern from council members and the public about the increasing number of masts being erected in largely populated areas.
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:19
DELIGHT AS MAST DECISION IS DELAYED
The Western Gazette Somerset
15:00 - 28 July 2005
Residents fighting a company's plans to make additions to a telecommunications mast near their homes say they are encouraged by a decision to delay the application. West Dorset District Council planning official Andrew Jordan had supported the proposal by NTL Broadcast to add two vertical polls to the present 17.8-metre high mast in Stonebarrow Lane, Charmouth.
The application to the district council, on behalf of O2 Airwave, is for the installation of Tetra, a nationwide communications system for the emergency services.
However, members of the council's development control west committee meeting decided last Thursday to defer the decision because of a lack of technical information regarding the possible effect on TV reception if the permanent Tetra station gets the go-ahead.
Councillor Ian Gardner's proposal that the committee makes a site visit before any decision was made was also supported by the councillors.
Residents were furious at plans to make the additions to the mast, which they have been fighting to have moved.
They formed an action group STAMP - Stonebarrow Against Mast Proximity - to battle for the mast to be shifted away from their homes.
They claim it is a blot on the landscape in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the World Heritage Coast.
The residents confronted the planners at the packed meeting and suggested an alternative site for the entire mast further up the lane, which they claim is technically and visually superior to the present one.
STAMP member Barbara Collins said: "This application has completely failed to look at the alternative site, it is in an incredibly sensitive location, near an area of outstanding natural beauty and on the World Heritage Coast."
Stonebarrow residents' association chairman Phillip Morgan-Smith said: "We also suffer a lot from the noise of the cooling fans located alongside the mast. At a different location these would not be so near the houses."
One resident read a letter from her seven-year-old son. He said: "Dear Mr Jordan I love the countryside and the area where I live, but this mast is very ugly.
"My mum and dad said there is a better place it can be moved to and I hope you will move it there."
But Mr Jordan told councillors Government guidelines meant that mast sharing should be utilised in order to limit the proliferation of additional masts within the countryside, unless other material reasons outweigh such a consideration.
"Such consideration is limited to the visual assessment of the development. As stated, the visual impact is considered to be acceptable and there is no material justification for the mast sharing policy to be overridden."
Mr Jordan also reminded councillors they were not there to look into alternatives, but decide on that application on its merits.
Speaking afterwards, resident Ali Cameron said: "It is a step in the right direction I am pleased the councillors could see our problem and were keen to address the issues and not just sweep it through."
15:00 - 28 July 2005
Residents fighting a company's plans to make additions to a telecommunications mast near their homes say they are encouraged by a decision to delay the application. West Dorset District Council planning official Andrew Jordan had supported the proposal by NTL Broadcast to add two vertical polls to the present 17.8-metre high mast in Stonebarrow Lane, Charmouth.
The application to the district council, on behalf of O2 Airwave, is for the installation of Tetra, a nationwide communications system for the emergency services.
However, members of the council's development control west committee meeting decided last Thursday to defer the decision because of a lack of technical information regarding the possible effect on TV reception if the permanent Tetra station gets the go-ahead.
Councillor Ian Gardner's proposal that the committee makes a site visit before any decision was made was also supported by the councillors.
Residents were furious at plans to make the additions to the mast, which they have been fighting to have moved.
They formed an action group STAMP - Stonebarrow Against Mast Proximity - to battle for the mast to be shifted away from their homes.
They claim it is a blot on the landscape in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the World Heritage Coast.
The residents confronted the planners at the packed meeting and suggested an alternative site for the entire mast further up the lane, which they claim is technically and visually superior to the present one.
STAMP member Barbara Collins said: "This application has completely failed to look at the alternative site, it is in an incredibly sensitive location, near an area of outstanding natural beauty and on the World Heritage Coast."
Stonebarrow residents' association chairman Phillip Morgan-Smith said: "We also suffer a lot from the noise of the cooling fans located alongside the mast. At a different location these would not be so near the houses."
One resident read a letter from her seven-year-old son. He said: "Dear Mr Jordan I love the countryside and the area where I live, but this mast is very ugly.
"My mum and dad said there is a better place it can be moved to and I hope you will move it there."
But Mr Jordan told councillors Government guidelines meant that mast sharing should be utilised in order to limit the proliferation of additional masts within the countryside, unless other material reasons outweigh such a consideration.
"Such consideration is limited to the visual assessment of the development. As stated, the visual impact is considered to be acceptable and there is no material justification for the mast sharing policy to be overridden."
Mr Jordan also reminded councillors they were not there to look into alternatives, but decide on that application on its merits.
Speaking afterwards, resident Ali Cameron said: "It is a step in the right direction I am pleased the councillors could see our problem and were keen to address the issues and not just sweep it through."
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:16
Mast opposition: Angry residents unite to take on mobile phone giant
Falkirk
Today 04 08.05 Angry residents unite to take on mobile phone giant
UNHAPPY residents want to block a proposed mobile phone mast on their doorstep. People living in Lithgow Place, Denny, were horrified to receive a letter from Vodaphone's agents at the weekend alerting them to the plans. Now they have launched a petition telling the mobile phone company they don't want it erected near their homes – or next to Nethermains Primary School.
Jane McGuigan, of 8 Lithgow Place, said she was concerned the consultation was taking place during the school holidays. She said: "I'm sure if they were aware of the proposal, lots of parents with children at the primary school would want to object. ''I've two children of my own and don't want them living next to a phone mast."
Electrician John Connolly (38), whose home at 19 Lithgow Place is right next to the land earmarked for the mast, is concerned over the safety risks, particularly for his seven-year-old son. He said: "The advice from the Government is there are no health concerns from masts, but then you read other reports which conflict with their advice. Vodaphone should not be planning this in a residential area or close to a school. "We've also got to consider this as likely to devalue our homes if allowed to go ahead. In fact, it could make them almost impossible to sell."
Marion Welsh at No.15 said neighbours were agreed they wouldn't have bought their homes if the mast had already been built. She said: "Everyone is really worried, particularly from the safety aspect. ''When the houses were built three and four years ago, they were bought as family homes. ''There are a lot of children living here and although some could claim it has never been proven that masts are a risk, it's not been proven otherwise."
In the letter to residents, Vodaphone gave details of five other nearby sites which had been considered then discounted. They were two on land at East Banknock Farm, Myothill Road, land off Myothill Road, and locations along Nethermains Road. Vodaphone has yet to submit a planning application to Falkirk Council to build the mast and is currently carrying out pre-application consult-ations with neighbouring properties. This is standard procedure and part of a 10-point best practice policy adopted by mobile phone operators. Falkirk Council follows Scottish Executive guidelines when determining any telecom mast application.
A spokeswoman for Vodaphone confirmed all comments would be reviewed before a final decision was taken. She said: "One of our difficulties is finding sites in the first place. ''We are working in very, very small geographic areas because of the low power involved. "We have to find a balance between taking on board everyone's views but, at the same time, responding to customers' demands for service. ''We will look very carefully at what is being said."
Today 04 08.05 Angry residents unite to take on mobile phone giant
UNHAPPY residents want to block a proposed mobile phone mast on their doorstep. People living in Lithgow Place, Denny, were horrified to receive a letter from Vodaphone's agents at the weekend alerting them to the plans. Now they have launched a petition telling the mobile phone company they don't want it erected near their homes – or next to Nethermains Primary School.
Jane McGuigan, of 8 Lithgow Place, said she was concerned the consultation was taking place during the school holidays. She said: "I'm sure if they were aware of the proposal, lots of parents with children at the primary school would want to object. ''I've two children of my own and don't want them living next to a phone mast."
Electrician John Connolly (38), whose home at 19 Lithgow Place is right next to the land earmarked for the mast, is concerned over the safety risks, particularly for his seven-year-old son. He said: "The advice from the Government is there are no health concerns from masts, but then you read other reports which conflict with their advice. Vodaphone should not be planning this in a residential area or close to a school. "We've also got to consider this as likely to devalue our homes if allowed to go ahead. In fact, it could make them almost impossible to sell."
Marion Welsh at No.15 said neighbours were agreed they wouldn't have bought their homes if the mast had already been built. She said: "Everyone is really worried, particularly from the safety aspect. ''When the houses were built three and four years ago, they were bought as family homes. ''There are a lot of children living here and although some could claim it has never been proven that masts are a risk, it's not been proven otherwise."
In the letter to residents, Vodaphone gave details of five other nearby sites which had been considered then discounted. They were two on land at East Banknock Farm, Myothill Road, land off Myothill Road, and locations along Nethermains Road. Vodaphone has yet to submit a planning application to Falkirk Council to build the mast and is currently carrying out pre-application consult-ations with neighbouring properties. This is standard procedure and part of a 10-point best practice policy adopted by mobile phone operators. Falkirk Council follows Scottish Executive guidelines when determining any telecom mast application.
A spokeswoman for Vodaphone confirmed all comments would be reviewed before a final decision was taken. She said: "One of our difficulties is finding sites in the first place. ''We are working in very, very small geographic areas because of the low power involved. "We have to find a balance between taking on board everyone's views but, at the same time, responding to customers' demands for service. ''We will look very carefully at what is being said."
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:11
Village victory in mast battle
LEWIS HANNAM
Norwich Evening News 24
04 August 2005 12:38
Proposals to build a 20m mast in Horsford have been thrown out by the Government's independent Planning Inspectorate.
The decision to reject the appeal by telecommunications giant Hutchison 3G UK is the final nail in the coffin for the planned mast in Pyehurn Lane.
Josie Sutton, who has lived in nearby St Helena Way since 1977, said: "This community fought hard against this siting of this mast. We live in a lovely environment and a mast would have ruined it."
She praised the landowner for withdrawing permission for the mast to be built on the land and urged mobile phone companies to talk more with communities in their search for potential sites.
The plans were rejected by Broadland District Council in January because families were worried by the visual impact.
But Hutchison 3G UK appealed, although the landowner no longer wanted the mast.
Mike Davies, a spokesman for Hutchison 3G UK, said: "We still sought permission for the plans because if we had won the appeal, it would have left the option of negotiating with the landowner available. But this decision means that can't happen and we still require more coverage; we will be examining our options in the area.
"With our licence we have to achieve certain coverage levels as far as the Norwich area is concerned."
The inspectorate rejected the appeal on the basis of its negative visual impact and the availability of alternative sites.
Mother-of-two Sally Burton, 38, of Holt Road, said: "It is a great relief. It gives hope to other people fighting these sorts of plans. Our campaign has really helped bring the community together."
John Starling, chairman of Horsford Parish Council, said: "It goes to show that if people get behind a campaign against a mast, then they can win."
The Evening News is campaigning for no more phone masts to be sited near homes or schools until further information about possible health risks is available.
Are you fighting plans to site a phone mast in your neighbourhood? Call Alasdair McGregor on (01603) 772443 or e-mail al.mcgregor@archant.co.uk
Norwich Evening News 24
04 August 2005 12:38
Proposals to build a 20m mast in Horsford have been thrown out by the Government's independent Planning Inspectorate.
The decision to reject the appeal by telecommunications giant Hutchison 3G UK is the final nail in the coffin for the planned mast in Pyehurn Lane.
Josie Sutton, who has lived in nearby St Helena Way since 1977, said: "This community fought hard against this siting of this mast. We live in a lovely environment and a mast would have ruined it."
She praised the landowner for withdrawing permission for the mast to be built on the land and urged mobile phone companies to talk more with communities in their search for potential sites.
The plans were rejected by Broadland District Council in January because families were worried by the visual impact.
But Hutchison 3G UK appealed, although the landowner no longer wanted the mast.
Mike Davies, a spokesman for Hutchison 3G UK, said: "We still sought permission for the plans because if we had won the appeal, it would have left the option of negotiating with the landowner available. But this decision means that can't happen and we still require more coverage; we will be examining our options in the area.
"With our licence we have to achieve certain coverage levels as far as the Norwich area is concerned."
The inspectorate rejected the appeal on the basis of its negative visual impact and the availability of alternative sites.
Mother-of-two Sally Burton, 38, of Holt Road, said: "It is a great relief. It gives hope to other people fighting these sorts of plans. Our campaign has really helped bring the community together."
John Starling, chairman of Horsford Parish Council, said: "It goes to show that if people get behind a campaign against a mast, then they can win."
The Evening News is campaigning for no more phone masts to be sited near homes or schools until further information about possible health risks is available.
Are you fighting plans to site a phone mast in your neighbourhood? Call Alasdair McGregor on (01603) 772443 or e-mail al.mcgregor@archant.co.uk
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:06
Protesters force mobile firm to think again
The Argus, West Sussex
Protesters campaigning against a mobile phone mast have forced a company to look for another site.
Seventy people opposed to 02's plans to construct a 15m mast outside the Norwich Union building, Worthing, stormed the company's drop-in session, designed to explain the plans to the public.
It withdrew its application to erect the mast just north of the Broadwater roundabout from Worthing Borough Council two weeks ago for further public consultation but has now gone back to the drawing board.
The protest at Broadwater Parish Rooms on Tuesday evening was organised by the Charmandean, Offington and Broadwater Residents' Association, which was set up in response to the plans.
Residents are worried about the mast being built within close proximity of homes, fears over health and environmental issues and the impact on property prices.
02 community relations manager James Stevenson said: "Given the level of protest we have to take it seriously and we are going to look in the area again for an alternative site which we can take to the local planners."
He explained a base station was necessary to provide 02 customers with third generation (3G) services and it was impossible to erect it alongside the Orange mast further in Worthing because there was not enough room.
Campaigner Erwin Sargent, 51, said: "We put a lot of effort into organising the protest and it went very well, showing up the plan's inadequacies and the level of concern in the community."
Protesters campaigning against a mobile phone mast have forced a company to look for another site.
Seventy people opposed to 02's plans to construct a 15m mast outside the Norwich Union building, Worthing, stormed the company's drop-in session, designed to explain the plans to the public.
It withdrew its application to erect the mast just north of the Broadwater roundabout from Worthing Borough Council two weeks ago for further public consultation but has now gone back to the drawing board.
The protest at Broadwater Parish Rooms on Tuesday evening was organised by the Charmandean, Offington and Broadwater Residents' Association, which was set up in response to the plans.
Residents are worried about the mast being built within close proximity of homes, fears over health and environmental issues and the impact on property prices.
02 community relations manager James Stevenson said: "Given the level of protest we have to take it seriously and we are going to look in the area again for an alternative site which we can take to the local planners."
He explained a base station was necessary to provide 02 customers with third generation (3G) services and it was impossible to erect it alongside the Orange mast further in Worthing because there was not enough room.
Campaigner Erwin Sargent, 51, said: "We put a lot of effort into organising the protest and it went very well, showing up the plan's inadequacies and the level of concern in the community."
Starmail - 4. Aug, 17:00
Wake up America!
Dear America,
I am longing to reach you-crossing this river of indifference and consumption and denial. I am trying to find you, reaching out through the desperate limitations of words and descriptions, swimming through the rhetoric of terror and God.
I need you to wake up. The house is on fire and you are still sleeping, lulled by the intoxication of smoke and mirrors. I need you to wake up and I know that shaking you, scaring you will only make you cling to your sleep and sleep more.
How then do I tell you what's going on? How do I tell you about the one hundred thousand dead Iraqi people that you and I are responsible for murdering.[1] Each one of them valued their life, longed for their morning, cherished their first cup of milk or coffee or tea. In what way shall I deliver what I learned? The substance identical to illegal napalm that melted tender five year old skin; the cluster bombs that have left their murderous and disguised offspring, throngs of bomblets set to explode, scattered on the Iraqi earth; the depleted uranium from the Bunker Busters we dropped that now lives in lungs and livers and soil. [2]
How do I tell you about the strategic planning of such atrocities in the boardrooms, the backrooms, the back seats of limos, the organized take over and looting of Iraq right out from under the terrorized, hungry, thirsty Iraqi people. [3] How do I get you to listen to the stories of our soldiers who are trying to kill themselves now, longing to escape the madness of murdering and maiming for no reason? [4]
Please don't go back to sleep. I know how hard it is to hear of the massive black holes, called prisons we have dug to hold thousands without charging them, without trials or the torture, the meanness, the cruelty we are inflicting upon them. [5]
America, those who now control our country have changed and ended law. I do not believe you are so calloused or selfish that you do not care. Your sleep is induced. You are distracted and derailed. The corporations have concocted and perfected these sleeping potions for years, developing ingredients to make you despise every bit of yourself, to feel ugly and fat and stupid and poor and not enough. And so you spend your time and every bit of the money you do not have buying products that will make you better, skinnier, lighter, whiter, tighter. And as you consume and consume, the corporations consume you. They take your money and your time and your voice and your instincts and your outrage and your sorrow and your anger and your grief. They consume your courage and leave fear in its place. They devour your conscience and your memory and your compassion.
And how do I speak when they are sure to tie my tongue? When they will say I do not love my country or support the troops or honor the dead or believe in their God? How do I break through your sealed wrapping, your self-obsession, your TVheadphonedDVDcell pod?
America I am getting desperate and I know this will not get me published or heard. Those who control the information will say I'm extreme, that I've gone mad. But I have heard the cries of children in the exploding houses of Falluja. (6) I have seen the agonized faces of the sleepless Iraqi women who still clutch the outline of their charred dead babies in their arms. I have watched as we as a nation grow more isolated, despised and alone.
America, there is not much time left. The fire is spreading, consuming the world. We are the arsonists. We will need each other to find our way out through the lies and haze. It will take our greatest imagination, courage and skill to subdue these flames.
Eve Ensler
This letter was written immediately after The World Tribunal on Iraq in Istanbul where I served with thirteen others from around the world on a jury chaired by Arundhati Roy. The Tribunal consisted of three days of hearings investigating various issues related to the war on Iraq, such as the legality of the war, the role of the United Nations, war crimes and the role of the media, as well as the destruction of the cultural sites and the environment. The session in Istanbul was the culminating session of commissions of inquiry and hearings held around the world over the past two years.
Footnotes:
[1]. Iraq death toll soared 'post war'-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3962969.stm
100,000 Iraqis dead (Lancet survey)
[2]. US admits to use of napalm -
http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030810-napalm-iraq01.htm
Irregular Weapons Used Against Iraq -
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/consequences/2
003/0407 irregular.htm
WHO studies depleted uranium in Iraq -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1506151.stm
[3]. Rumsfeld, Amnesty trade barbs over prisoner abuse -
http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=64
[4]. Army probes soldier suicides -
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-10-13-army-suicides-usat_x.htm
Military Families Against the war-
http://www.mfso.org
[5]. Rumsfeld, Amnesty trade barbs over prisoner abuse -
http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=64
Systematic Use of Psychological Torture by US Forces-
http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=68
[6]. This Is Our Guernica-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1471011,00.html
Informant: lunalasnan
I am longing to reach you-crossing this river of indifference and consumption and denial. I am trying to find you, reaching out through the desperate limitations of words and descriptions, swimming through the rhetoric of terror and God.
I need you to wake up. The house is on fire and you are still sleeping, lulled by the intoxication of smoke and mirrors. I need you to wake up and I know that shaking you, scaring you will only make you cling to your sleep and sleep more.
How then do I tell you what's going on? How do I tell you about the one hundred thousand dead Iraqi people that you and I are responsible for murdering.[1] Each one of them valued their life, longed for their morning, cherished their first cup of milk or coffee or tea. In what way shall I deliver what I learned? The substance identical to illegal napalm that melted tender five year old skin; the cluster bombs that have left their murderous and disguised offspring, throngs of bomblets set to explode, scattered on the Iraqi earth; the depleted uranium from the Bunker Busters we dropped that now lives in lungs and livers and soil. [2]
How do I tell you about the strategic planning of such atrocities in the boardrooms, the backrooms, the back seats of limos, the organized take over and looting of Iraq right out from under the terrorized, hungry, thirsty Iraqi people. [3] How do I get you to listen to the stories of our soldiers who are trying to kill themselves now, longing to escape the madness of murdering and maiming for no reason? [4]
Please don't go back to sleep. I know how hard it is to hear of the massive black holes, called prisons we have dug to hold thousands without charging them, without trials or the torture, the meanness, the cruelty we are inflicting upon them. [5]
America, those who now control our country have changed and ended law. I do not believe you are so calloused or selfish that you do not care. Your sleep is induced. You are distracted and derailed. The corporations have concocted and perfected these sleeping potions for years, developing ingredients to make you despise every bit of yourself, to feel ugly and fat and stupid and poor and not enough. And so you spend your time and every bit of the money you do not have buying products that will make you better, skinnier, lighter, whiter, tighter. And as you consume and consume, the corporations consume you. They take your money and your time and your voice and your instincts and your outrage and your sorrow and your anger and your grief. They consume your courage and leave fear in its place. They devour your conscience and your memory and your compassion.
And how do I speak when they are sure to tie my tongue? When they will say I do not love my country or support the troops or honor the dead or believe in their God? How do I break through your sealed wrapping, your self-obsession, your TVheadphonedDVDcell pod?
America I am getting desperate and I know this will not get me published or heard. Those who control the information will say I'm extreme, that I've gone mad. But I have heard the cries of children in the exploding houses of Falluja. (6) I have seen the agonized faces of the sleepless Iraqi women who still clutch the outline of their charred dead babies in their arms. I have watched as we as a nation grow more isolated, despised and alone.
America, there is not much time left. The fire is spreading, consuming the world. We are the arsonists. We will need each other to find our way out through the lies and haze. It will take our greatest imagination, courage and skill to subdue these flames.
Eve Ensler
This letter was written immediately after The World Tribunal on Iraq in Istanbul where I served with thirteen others from around the world on a jury chaired by Arundhati Roy. The Tribunal consisted of three days of hearings investigating various issues related to the war on Iraq, such as the legality of the war, the role of the United Nations, war crimes and the role of the media, as well as the destruction of the cultural sites and the environment. The session in Istanbul was the culminating session of commissions of inquiry and hearings held around the world over the past two years.
Footnotes:
[1]. Iraq death toll soared 'post war'-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3962969.stm
100,000 Iraqis dead (Lancet survey)
[2]. US admits to use of napalm -
http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030810-napalm-iraq01.htm
Irregular Weapons Used Against Iraq -
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/consequences/2
003/0407 irregular.htm
WHO studies depleted uranium in Iraq -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1506151.stm
[3]. Rumsfeld, Amnesty trade barbs over prisoner abuse -
http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=64
[4]. Army probes soldier suicides -
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-10-13-army-suicides-usat_x.htm
Military Families Against the war-
http://www.mfso.org
[5]. Rumsfeld, Amnesty trade barbs over prisoner abuse -
http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=64
Systematic Use of Psychological Torture by US Forces-
http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=68
[6]. This Is Our Guernica-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1471011,00.html
Informant: lunalasnan
Starmail - 4. Aug, 15:50
Devoted to God, but Not the Pledge
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/03/AR2005070300895_pf.html
Informant: Lew Rockwell
Informant: Lew Rockwell
Starmail - 4. Aug, 15:45
World Movement for Democracy – Made in the USA
Starmail - 4. Aug, 15:43
Whom do you blame for favors?
SOLO HQ
by Tibor R. Machan
08/04/05
The original idea of the American Founders was that governments are instituted among us to secure our rights. Yet certain provisions of the U.S. Constitution opened the door for government to become distracted from this proper task -- consider how the First Amendment mentions that we may approach government with our grievances, which has come to be interpreted as an invitation to lobby government for favors. The powers of governments, too, have departed from those just powers that a government may gain through the consent of the governed. Instead, governments meddle in all sorts of affairs, especially economic ones, justified by reference to the interstate commerce clause of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. Once a system of law is so corrupted, it is like umpires or referees opening themselves to influence by competitors in sports. If they get the message that it is all right to do so, it is rather curious to blame them for it. Yes, influencing umpires and referees corrupts the game, but responsibility must be assigned to the system that makes this possible, not to those who take advantage of it. At some point, refusing to do so can become suicidal...
http://tinyurl.com/89lvt
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by Tibor R. Machan
08/04/05
The original idea of the American Founders was that governments are instituted among us to secure our rights. Yet certain provisions of the U.S. Constitution opened the door for government to become distracted from this proper task -- consider how the First Amendment mentions that we may approach government with our grievances, which has come to be interpreted as an invitation to lobby government for favors. The powers of governments, too, have departed from those just powers that a government may gain through the consent of the governed. Instead, governments meddle in all sorts of affairs, especially economic ones, justified by reference to the interstate commerce clause of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. Once a system of law is so corrupted, it is like umpires or referees opening themselves to influence by competitors in sports. If they get the message that it is all right to do so, it is rather curious to blame them for it. Yes, influencing umpires and referees corrupts the game, but responsibility must be assigned to the system that makes this possible, not to those who take advantage of it. At some point, refusing to do so can become suicidal...
http://tinyurl.com/89lvt
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 4. Aug, 15:26
Modern war symposium
LewRockwell.Com
by William S. Lind
08/04/05
I spent last week in Pittsfield, Maine, at a symposium on modern war called by Colonel Mike Wyly, USMC retired. Col. Wyly was one of the heroes of the maneuver warfare movement in the Marine Corps in the 1970s and 80s, and when he suggests it's time for a new effort, people listen. My hope was that we might make some progress on Fourth Generation war theory, and while I am not sure we accomplished that, we did gain some ground on one important question: what might a state armed service designed for 4GW look like? To address that question, we first had to answer another one: what would such a force's mission be? Not being neo-Trotskyites, we derived our answer within the framework of a defensive grand strategy. The new service's (and it should be a new armed service) primary mission would be to prevent outbreaks of Fourth Generation war on American soil. The focus must be on prevention, not 'first response,' because if we are forced into a response mode the enemy has already won...
http://www.lewrockwell.com/lind/lind71.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by William S. Lind
08/04/05
I spent last week in Pittsfield, Maine, at a symposium on modern war called by Colonel Mike Wyly, USMC retired. Col. Wyly was one of the heroes of the maneuver warfare movement in the Marine Corps in the 1970s and 80s, and when he suggests it's time for a new effort, people listen. My hope was that we might make some progress on Fourth Generation war theory, and while I am not sure we accomplished that, we did gain some ground on one important question: what might a state armed service designed for 4GW look like? To address that question, we first had to answer another one: what would such a force's mission be? Not being neo-Trotskyites, we derived our answer within the framework of a defensive grand strategy. The new service's (and it should be a new armed service) primary mission would be to prevent outbreaks of Fourth Generation war on American soil. The focus must be on prevention, not 'first response,' because if we are forced into a response mode the enemy has already won...
http://www.lewrockwell.com/lind/lind71.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 4. Aug, 15:20
The daily compromise
Unknown News
by Helen & Harry Highwater
08/03/05
So even as we're forced into these searches and similar daily compromises, there are still things we can do in response. All I would ask is, when a cop rummages through your purse or backpack, don't forget the frustration. Don't forget that your rights have been snatched, your freedom violated. Savor your anger, remember it, and articulate it later. Talk about it. Tell friends, co-workers, and strangers why such a universal-search policy is wrong. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper. Don't shut up. If you value freedom, speak out for it every way you can, because freedom is what's at stake...
http://www.unknownnews.org/050802a-hh.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by Helen & Harry Highwater
08/03/05
So even as we're forced into these searches and similar daily compromises, there are still things we can do in response. All I would ask is, when a cop rummages through your purse or backpack, don't forget the frustration. Don't forget that your rights have been snatched, your freedom violated. Savor your anger, remember it, and articulate it later. Talk about it. Tell friends, co-workers, and strangers why such a universal-search policy is wrong. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper. Don't shut up. If you value freedom, speak out for it every way you can, because freedom is what's at stake...
http://www.unknownnews.org/050802a-hh.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 4. Aug, 15:18
Collapse of Antarctic Ice Shelf Could Have Global Effects
Ice shelf collapse could have global effects
CBC News [Canada]
08/03/05
The unprecedented collapse of an ice-shelf in Antarctic could indirectly lead to a significant rise in global sea levels, researchers say. The Larsen B ice shelf covered more than 3,000 square kilometres and was 200 metres thick until its northern part disintegrated in the 1990s. Three years ago, the central park also broke up. An international team of researchers used data collected from six sediment cores near the former ice shelf to show the shelf had been relatively intact for at least 10,000 years or since the last ice age...
http://tinyurl.com/8khqr
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
Collapse of Antarctic Ice Shelf Could Have Global Effects
The unprecedented collapse of an ice-shelf in Antarctica could indirectly lead to a significant rise in global sea levels, researchers say. The Larsen B ice shelf covered more than 3,000 square kilometres and was 200 metres thick until its northern part disintegrated in the 1990s. Three years ago, the central part also broke up.
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/080405EA.shtml
CBC News [Canada]
08/03/05
The unprecedented collapse of an ice-shelf in Antarctic could indirectly lead to a significant rise in global sea levels, researchers say. The Larsen B ice shelf covered more than 3,000 square kilometres and was 200 metres thick until its northern part disintegrated in the 1990s. Three years ago, the central park also broke up. An international team of researchers used data collected from six sediment cores near the former ice shelf to show the shelf had been relatively intact for at least 10,000 years or since the last ice age...
http://tinyurl.com/8khqr
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
Collapse of Antarctic Ice Shelf Could Have Global Effects
The unprecedented collapse of an ice-shelf in Antarctica could indirectly lead to a significant rise in global sea levels, researchers say. The Larsen B ice shelf covered more than 3,000 square kilometres and was 200 metres thick until its northern part disintegrated in the 1990s. Three years ago, the central part also broke up.
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/080405EA.shtml
Starmail - 4. Aug, 15:14
Terrorismusbekämpfung und Grundrechte
Überwachung: Schaun mer mal. Trotz strengerer Regeln für das heimliche Lauschen: Die deutsche Polizei wird etwas mehr zum Geheimdienst Artikel von Jochen Bittner in DIE ZEIT vom 04.08.2005 http://www.zeit.de/2005/32/Telefon_9fberwachung
Aus: LabourNet, 4. August 2005
Aus: LabourNet, 4. August 2005
Starmail - 4. Aug, 15:04
Ceramide....connection to respiratory function....radiation generates....
Olle: Have you done any studies re "ceramide levels" after EMR exposure? A way to do this in your situation other than "ultraviolet light?" Since evidence exists that low levels of ionizing radiation act on cellular membranes to generate ceramide, a study could be done citing that information and making a comparison to results due to chronic, prolonged low levels of EMR in the same way inflammatory marker studies including white blood count changes as well as hypersegmented neutrophils can be reported. Even the "ultra violoet" is a part of the EMR spectrum, I am concerned that persons may not view results as being connected to many of the other EMR exposures. In other words, "ultra violet" is expected to produce changes because persons relate to sunburn and hear about melanoma, etc. due to too much sun exposure. Even in the case of ultra violet, if comparisons can be made when preparing the journal article between ionizing radiation and a new study
(possibly also citing prior studies) by citing the same results re "ionizing radiation," the issue of whether biological changes that occur re low levels of EMR are harmful, should be more difficult to challenge. Don't worry about responding ..... know you are away, busy or whatever until end of August. I will file this email in a folder with your name on it for later review. Indications from quick search are that Beta-amyloid generates ceramide. Since ceramide is related to "respiratory function," that might help explain why an older adult as in Bud's case, develops asthma late in life. As you know, "asthma" occurs very early in the case of infants and children who sleep close to electric meters, high voltage lines and most likely also cell towers. We know the young are more sensitive and amyloid appears to take a longer time to develop -- especially "Beta-amyloid" that is found in Alzheimers' patients. My letter went off to Wayne Hughes last week. You may recall the Parker Hughes Cancer Center is named after Wayne's son, Parker, who died from Leukemia. I have requested funding help for you. I made very specific requests for help to "inform the public" and also requested funding for you to work on papers and/or a book re grandsons' rare immune and guinea pigs. Take care - Joanne, JCMPelican@aol.com
--------
Dear Joanne,
No ceramide studies so far, but the line of interest is something that ought to be pursued. Definitely.
Best regards Yours Olle
(Olle Johansson, assoc. prof. The Experimental Dermatology Unit Department of Neuroscience Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm Sweden)
(possibly also citing prior studies) by citing the same results re "ionizing radiation," the issue of whether biological changes that occur re low levels of EMR are harmful, should be more difficult to challenge. Don't worry about responding ..... know you are away, busy or whatever until end of August. I will file this email in a folder with your name on it for later review. Indications from quick search are that Beta-amyloid generates ceramide. Since ceramide is related to "respiratory function," that might help explain why an older adult as in Bud's case, develops asthma late in life. As you know, "asthma" occurs very early in the case of infants and children who sleep close to electric meters, high voltage lines and most likely also cell towers. We know the young are more sensitive and amyloid appears to take a longer time to develop -- especially "Beta-amyloid" that is found in Alzheimers' patients. My letter went off to Wayne Hughes last week. You may recall the Parker Hughes Cancer Center is named after Wayne's son, Parker, who died from Leukemia. I have requested funding help for you. I made very specific requests for help to "inform the public" and also requested funding for you to work on papers and/or a book re grandsons' rare immune and guinea pigs. Take care - Joanne, JCMPelican@aol.com
--------
Dear Joanne,
No ceramide studies so far, but the line of interest is something that ought to be pursued. Definitely.
Best regards Yours Olle
(Olle Johansson, assoc. prof. The Experimental Dermatology Unit Department of Neuroscience Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm Sweden)
Starmail - 4. Aug, 15:00
Criminal Probe for DuPont on Teflon
Starmail - 4. Aug, 14:54
Gesetzesentwurf der EU-Kommission: Sämtliche Verbindungsdaten ein Jahr speichern
Oliver Weiss 4|8|2005
Die EU-Kommission möchte Betreiber öffentlicher Netze dazu verpflichten, Daten über sämtliche Kommunikationsverbindungen bis zu zwölf Monate zu speichern (Vorratsdatenspeicherung). Die European Digital Rights Initiative, die aus 17 Bürgerrechtsorganisationen aus elf europäischen Ländern besteht, hat einen Vorentwurf der Kommissionspläne veröffentlicht.
Danach sollen die Betreiber Informationen über Gespräche im Fest- und Mobilfunknetz in standardisierte Form für ein Jahr, Merkmale über die IP-basierende Kommunikation für sechs Monate vorhalten. Werden IP-Telefonate in ein Festnetz oder zu einem herkömmlichen Handy geroutet, gilt die Zwölf-Monats-Frist. Abgelegt werden nur Angaben über die Gespräche beziehungsweise E-Mails, deren Inhalte jedoch nicht.
Die EU-Kommission ignoriert mit diesem Ansinnen einen Kompromissvorschlag des EU-Rats für Inneres und Justiz (Justice and Home Affairs), der eine zweistufige Vorgehenswiese bevorzugt. Zunächst sollen diesem Vorschlag zufolge nur Daten über Telefongespräche, später auch über die IP-basierende Kommunikation erfasst werden.
Die EU-Pläne zielen auf die innere Sicherheit. Die EU-Kommission sagt, die Maßnahmen seien für Ermittlung, Verfolgung, Identifizierung und strafrechtliche Verfolgung von Terroristen und Straftätern wichtig und notwendig. Zudem seien vorbeugende Schutzmaßnahmen besser umzusetzen. Den Eingriff in die Privatsphäre hält die EU-Kommission für minimal. Die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der betroffenen Kommunikations-Dienstleister sei kaum beeinträchtig.
In Österreich hat der Oberste Gerichtshof (OGH) vor kurzem entschieden, dass Internet-Provider bei Gesetzesverstößen ab sofort Auskunft über Namen und Adressen der User zu erteilen haben. Dies gilt sowohl bei statischen als auch bei dynamischen IP-Adressen. Das OGH-Urteil legt damit elegant die Rutsche zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung: Da die Provider nun verpflichtet sind über dynamische IP-Adressen Auskunft zu erteilen, müssen sie die Verbindungsdaten speichern, was letztendlich mit Vorratsdatenspeicherung gleichzusetzen ist. Big Brother lässt grüßen. Und zahlen dürfen die Provider, da sie, wenn sie die Verbindungsdaten nicht speichern, über dynamische IP-Adressen keine Auskunft geben können und damit gegen das Gesetz verstoßen würden. (cowo/oli)
http://www.computerwelt.at/detailArticle.asp?a=95474&n=5
Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim
Die EU-Kommission möchte Betreiber öffentlicher Netze dazu verpflichten, Daten über sämtliche Kommunikationsverbindungen bis zu zwölf Monate zu speichern (Vorratsdatenspeicherung). Die European Digital Rights Initiative, die aus 17 Bürgerrechtsorganisationen aus elf europäischen Ländern besteht, hat einen Vorentwurf der Kommissionspläne veröffentlicht.
Danach sollen die Betreiber Informationen über Gespräche im Fest- und Mobilfunknetz in standardisierte Form für ein Jahr, Merkmale über die IP-basierende Kommunikation für sechs Monate vorhalten. Werden IP-Telefonate in ein Festnetz oder zu einem herkömmlichen Handy geroutet, gilt die Zwölf-Monats-Frist. Abgelegt werden nur Angaben über die Gespräche beziehungsweise E-Mails, deren Inhalte jedoch nicht.
Die EU-Kommission ignoriert mit diesem Ansinnen einen Kompromissvorschlag des EU-Rats für Inneres und Justiz (Justice and Home Affairs), der eine zweistufige Vorgehenswiese bevorzugt. Zunächst sollen diesem Vorschlag zufolge nur Daten über Telefongespräche, später auch über die IP-basierende Kommunikation erfasst werden.
Die EU-Pläne zielen auf die innere Sicherheit. Die EU-Kommission sagt, die Maßnahmen seien für Ermittlung, Verfolgung, Identifizierung und strafrechtliche Verfolgung von Terroristen und Straftätern wichtig und notwendig. Zudem seien vorbeugende Schutzmaßnahmen besser umzusetzen. Den Eingriff in die Privatsphäre hält die EU-Kommission für minimal. Die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der betroffenen Kommunikations-Dienstleister sei kaum beeinträchtig.
In Österreich hat der Oberste Gerichtshof (OGH) vor kurzem entschieden, dass Internet-Provider bei Gesetzesverstößen ab sofort Auskunft über Namen und Adressen der User zu erteilen haben. Dies gilt sowohl bei statischen als auch bei dynamischen IP-Adressen. Das OGH-Urteil legt damit elegant die Rutsche zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung: Da die Provider nun verpflichtet sind über dynamische IP-Adressen Auskunft zu erteilen, müssen sie die Verbindungsdaten speichern, was letztendlich mit Vorratsdatenspeicherung gleichzusetzen ist. Big Brother lässt grüßen. Und zahlen dürfen die Provider, da sie, wenn sie die Verbindungsdaten nicht speichern, über dynamische IP-Adressen keine Auskunft geben können und damit gegen das Gesetz verstoßen würden. (cowo/oli)
http://www.computerwelt.at/detailArticle.asp?a=95474&n=5
Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim
Starmail - 4. Aug, 14:49
Die hochfrequente Strahlung schnurloser Telefone macht krank
04.08.2005
Dr. Cornelia Waldmann Selsam sprach über schnurlose Telefone
Kronach. Viele waren überrascht von der Offenheit und Überzeugtheit, mit der Dr. Cornelia Waldmann Selsam die These vertrat, schnurlose Telefone nach DECT-Standard sowie hochfrequente elektromagnetische Felder von Mobilfunkanlagen machten krank.
Nach ihrem interessanten Vortrag in der Frankenwaldklinik konnten sich auch die Besucher mit einem Test ihrer eigenen Basisstation von der Strahlenbelastung überzeugen. Dr. Waldmann Selsam ist Mitgründerin des Bamberger Appells, einer Ärztevereinigung, die gegen die Ausweitung von Mobilfunknetzen erbittert kämpft.
Erfahrungen
Auf Einladung des Vereins „Gemeinsam gegen Krebs“ sprach sie in der Personalcafeteria und überzeugte durch ihre Erfahrungen aus ihrer Praxis wie auch aus Erfahrungen zahlreicher Ärzte in Oberfranken und darüber hinaus. Obwohl schon ab einem Grenzwert von 100 µW/m² Krankheitssymptome auftreten, liege der offiziell zugelassene Grenzwert bei sage und schreibe 4,5 Millionen µW/m², was sie als völlig absurd bezeichnete. Ihrer Meinung nach bestehe auch schon der Verdacht, dass immer mehr Menschen an Tumoren erkranken.
Es sei unerträglich und gewissenlos, wenn man nichts unternehme. Zur Überzeugungsarbeit trug auch ein, von ihr vor Ort durchgeführter Test an mitgebrachten Basisstationen bei. Fast alle Besucher hatten ihre eigene Basisstation dabei und ließen diese kostenfrei auf Strahlenabgabe untersuchen. Beginnend bei drei bis vier Meter Abstand zeigten die DECT Standard Basen bereits Werte über 1000 µW/m² und bei einem Abstand von 60 bis 70 Zentimeter hatten die Geräte eine Ausstrahlung von teils mehr als 20 000 µW/m².
Meist habe man diese Basisstationen noch in unmittelbarer Arbeitsplatznähe im Büro oder in der Praxis oder zu Hause im unmittelbar stark frequentierten Wohnbereich, was sich stark auf Gemüt und Gesundheit negativ auswirke. Viele Symptome seien bei vielen Menschen identisch, eine Auswirkung mit der niemand gerechnet habe. Einen ganzen Katalog an dokumentierten Gesundheitsschäden unter dem Einfluss hochfrequenter elektromagnetischer Felder konnten die Besucher in Augenschein nehmen. 26 Kasuistiken aus über 500 schriftlichen oder mündlichen Berichten ausgewählt, sind darin enthalten.
Schwer erkrankt
„Diese Berichte zeigen, dass Menschen seit Jahren durch gepulste hochfrequente elektromagnetische Felder oft schwer erkrankt sind, ohne dass behandelnde Ärzte die Ursache erkannten. Auf Grund der gegenwärtig geltenden hohen Grenzwerte machte sich niemand so richtig Gedanken und sah einen Zusammenhang mit der Hochfrequenz.“ Auch sie, wie weit über 100 weitere Ärzte, gehörte bis vor eineinhalb Jahren zu dieser Kategorie. Angesichts neuer Studienergebnisse nähmen die Bedenken innerhalb der Ärzteschaft erheblich zu. Was sie optimistisch im Kampf gegen die Krankheitserreger mache, ist, dass sich immer mehr Ärzte dem Bamberger Ärzte-Appell anschlössen. Regelrecht eine Lawine habe eine kürzlich gezeigte Fernsehsendung, die sich mit den Negationen von Mobilfunk befasste, ausgelöst. Seit zehn Jahren gebe es Ärzte, die Beobachtungen anstellten und Beschwerden von Betroffenen bis an das Umweltministerium weiterreichten. Dort beharre man schlicht und einfach auf der Behauptung, die Gesundheitsstörungen kämen nicht vom Mobilfunk. Es sei sofort zu handeln und daher fordere der Bamberger Ärzte-Appell den sofortigen Stopp des weiteren Ausbaus von Mobilfunk.
Kabeltelefon nehmen
Sie empfahl umzusteigen auf Kabeltelefon und raus mit Mobilfunkmasten aus Wohngebieten. „Ganz scheußlich“ fand es die Referentin, dass niemand von den Behörden aktiv werde. Der Automobilhersteller BMW habe die Grenzwerte der zulässigen Strahlenbelastung weltweit in allen Werken auf höchstens 100µW/m² reduziert. Auch darin sieht die Ärztin einen Beweis, dass an den Empfindlichkeiten von Ärzten und Studien etwas dran sei. Inzwischen haben auch Ärztekollegen bei sich selbst in Praxisräumen mehrere Krankheitssymptome bei sich und bei den Arzthelferinnen festgestellt und daraufhin von DECT Standard auf Kabeltelefon umgestellt.
Die Tests in der Frankenwaldklinik an den mitgebrachten Basisstationen ergaben auch, dass so genannte Top Com Geräte die für 32 Euro im örtlichen Elektrohandel zu erhalten sind, ein Vielfaches weniger an Belastung ausstrahlen als die DECT Standards. eh
http://www.fraenkischer-tag.de/nachrichten/index.php?MappeCID=3sivuk5z81-g-74z*u0yx&Hierarchie=j1j$i7c68csc9blm3brq$&Seite=Lokales&SeiteSub=Kronach
Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim
Dr. Cornelia Waldmann Selsam sprach über schnurlose Telefone
Kronach. Viele waren überrascht von der Offenheit und Überzeugtheit, mit der Dr. Cornelia Waldmann Selsam die These vertrat, schnurlose Telefone nach DECT-Standard sowie hochfrequente elektromagnetische Felder von Mobilfunkanlagen machten krank.
Nach ihrem interessanten Vortrag in der Frankenwaldklinik konnten sich auch die Besucher mit einem Test ihrer eigenen Basisstation von der Strahlenbelastung überzeugen. Dr. Waldmann Selsam ist Mitgründerin des Bamberger Appells, einer Ärztevereinigung, die gegen die Ausweitung von Mobilfunknetzen erbittert kämpft.
Erfahrungen
Auf Einladung des Vereins „Gemeinsam gegen Krebs“ sprach sie in der Personalcafeteria und überzeugte durch ihre Erfahrungen aus ihrer Praxis wie auch aus Erfahrungen zahlreicher Ärzte in Oberfranken und darüber hinaus. Obwohl schon ab einem Grenzwert von 100 µW/m² Krankheitssymptome auftreten, liege der offiziell zugelassene Grenzwert bei sage und schreibe 4,5 Millionen µW/m², was sie als völlig absurd bezeichnete. Ihrer Meinung nach bestehe auch schon der Verdacht, dass immer mehr Menschen an Tumoren erkranken.
Es sei unerträglich und gewissenlos, wenn man nichts unternehme. Zur Überzeugungsarbeit trug auch ein, von ihr vor Ort durchgeführter Test an mitgebrachten Basisstationen bei. Fast alle Besucher hatten ihre eigene Basisstation dabei und ließen diese kostenfrei auf Strahlenabgabe untersuchen. Beginnend bei drei bis vier Meter Abstand zeigten die DECT Standard Basen bereits Werte über 1000 µW/m² und bei einem Abstand von 60 bis 70 Zentimeter hatten die Geräte eine Ausstrahlung von teils mehr als 20 000 µW/m².
Meist habe man diese Basisstationen noch in unmittelbarer Arbeitsplatznähe im Büro oder in der Praxis oder zu Hause im unmittelbar stark frequentierten Wohnbereich, was sich stark auf Gemüt und Gesundheit negativ auswirke. Viele Symptome seien bei vielen Menschen identisch, eine Auswirkung mit der niemand gerechnet habe. Einen ganzen Katalog an dokumentierten Gesundheitsschäden unter dem Einfluss hochfrequenter elektromagnetischer Felder konnten die Besucher in Augenschein nehmen. 26 Kasuistiken aus über 500 schriftlichen oder mündlichen Berichten ausgewählt, sind darin enthalten.
Schwer erkrankt
„Diese Berichte zeigen, dass Menschen seit Jahren durch gepulste hochfrequente elektromagnetische Felder oft schwer erkrankt sind, ohne dass behandelnde Ärzte die Ursache erkannten. Auf Grund der gegenwärtig geltenden hohen Grenzwerte machte sich niemand so richtig Gedanken und sah einen Zusammenhang mit der Hochfrequenz.“ Auch sie, wie weit über 100 weitere Ärzte, gehörte bis vor eineinhalb Jahren zu dieser Kategorie. Angesichts neuer Studienergebnisse nähmen die Bedenken innerhalb der Ärzteschaft erheblich zu. Was sie optimistisch im Kampf gegen die Krankheitserreger mache, ist, dass sich immer mehr Ärzte dem Bamberger Ärzte-Appell anschlössen. Regelrecht eine Lawine habe eine kürzlich gezeigte Fernsehsendung, die sich mit den Negationen von Mobilfunk befasste, ausgelöst. Seit zehn Jahren gebe es Ärzte, die Beobachtungen anstellten und Beschwerden von Betroffenen bis an das Umweltministerium weiterreichten. Dort beharre man schlicht und einfach auf der Behauptung, die Gesundheitsstörungen kämen nicht vom Mobilfunk. Es sei sofort zu handeln und daher fordere der Bamberger Ärzte-Appell den sofortigen Stopp des weiteren Ausbaus von Mobilfunk.
Kabeltelefon nehmen
Sie empfahl umzusteigen auf Kabeltelefon und raus mit Mobilfunkmasten aus Wohngebieten. „Ganz scheußlich“ fand es die Referentin, dass niemand von den Behörden aktiv werde. Der Automobilhersteller BMW habe die Grenzwerte der zulässigen Strahlenbelastung weltweit in allen Werken auf höchstens 100µW/m² reduziert. Auch darin sieht die Ärztin einen Beweis, dass an den Empfindlichkeiten von Ärzten und Studien etwas dran sei. Inzwischen haben auch Ärztekollegen bei sich selbst in Praxisräumen mehrere Krankheitssymptome bei sich und bei den Arzthelferinnen festgestellt und daraufhin von DECT Standard auf Kabeltelefon umgestellt.
Die Tests in der Frankenwaldklinik an den mitgebrachten Basisstationen ergaben auch, dass so genannte Top Com Geräte die für 32 Euro im örtlichen Elektrohandel zu erhalten sind, ein Vielfaches weniger an Belastung ausstrahlen als die DECT Standards. eh
http://www.fraenkischer-tag.de/nachrichten/index.php?MappeCID=3sivuk5z81-g-74z*u0yx&Hierarchie=j1j$i7c68csc9blm3brq$&Seite=Lokales&SeiteSub=Kronach
Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim
Starmail - 4. Aug, 14:40
Do Cell Phones Accelerate the Aging Process?
As if we didn't have enough factors accelerating the aging process, now you can add cell phones to your list.
ECOTERRA Intl.
ECOTERRA Intl.
Starmail - 4. Aug, 14:24
Aspartame Linked to Leukemia
Starmail - 4. Aug, 14:20
"Kampf dem Atomtod" auch heute aktuell - US-Atomwaffen aus Deutschland abziehen
04. August 2005
"Kampf dem Atomtod" auch heute aktuell - US-Atomwaffen aus Deutschland abziehen
Wolfgang Gehrcke, außenpolitischer Sprecher der Linkspartei.PDS und Spitzenkandidat für die Linke Hessen zur Bundestagswahl 2005 zum 60. Jahrestag des Atombombenabwurfs auf Hiroshima:
Mit dem Abwurf der Atombombe auf die japanischen Städte Hiroshima und Nagasaki hatte ein neues Zeitalter von Kriegen mit Massenvernichtungswaffen begonnen. Erstmals war die Menschheit in der Lage, sich selbst zu vernichten. In Hiroshima starben unmittelbar 140.000 Menschen, Zehntausende leiden und sterben bis heute an den Folgen der radioaktiven Verseuchung. Mehrfach, so zum Beispiel während der Berlin- und der Kuba-Krise, während des Korea- und des Vietnam-Krieges, stand seitdem die Welt an der Schwelle eines Atomkrieges. Der Vertrag über die Nichtweiterverbreitung von Atomwaffen ist faktisch gescheitert, Abrüstungsinitiativen im Bereich strategischer Waffen blieben aus. Ohne Abrüstungsschritte der Atommächte wird die Weiterverbreitung atomarer Waffen nur schwer zu stoppen sein. Im Gegenteil: die Schwelle zum Einsatz von Atomwaffen wird heruntergesetzt. In den US-Kriegführungsstrategien spielen "verkleinerte" Atomwaffen, sogenannte "Mini-Nukes", als atomare Gefechtsfeldwaffen eine wichtige Rolle. Die Losung der Friedensbewegung "Kampf dem Atomtod" hat nichts an Aktualität verloren. Die Linkspartei.PDS tritt dafür ein:
* Deutschland muss in der Nato dafür eintreten, dass die Mitgliedsstaaten der Nato nicht als Erste atomare Waffen einsetzen; die Doktrin des atomaren Erstschlags muss vom Tisch. Außenminister Fischer hatte diese Forderung bereits 1998 erhoben, dann aber rasch einen Rückzieher gemacht.
* Der neu gewählte Deutsche Bundestag muss die USA auffordern, ihre Atomwaffen umgehend aus Deutschland abzuziehen.
* Die Bundeswehr darf an keinen strategischen Übungen der Nato teilnehmen, die den Einsatz von Atomwaffen beinhalten.
* Deutschland soll eine Initiative für ein von Atomwaffen freies Europa vom Atlantik bis zum Ural in Gang setzen.
Die Linkspartei.PDS ruft dazu auf, die Veranstaltungen der Friedensbewegung aus Anlass des 60. Jahrestages des ersten Atombombenabwurfs zu unterstützen. Die künftige Fraktion der Linkspartei im Deutschen Bundestag wird rasch parlamentarische Initiativen zur atomaren Abrüstung vorlegen.
http://sozialisten.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/view_html?zid=29255
"Kampf dem Atomtod" auch heute aktuell - US-Atomwaffen aus Deutschland abziehen
Wolfgang Gehrcke, außenpolitischer Sprecher der Linkspartei.PDS und Spitzenkandidat für die Linke Hessen zur Bundestagswahl 2005 zum 60. Jahrestag des Atombombenabwurfs auf Hiroshima:
Mit dem Abwurf der Atombombe auf die japanischen Städte Hiroshima und Nagasaki hatte ein neues Zeitalter von Kriegen mit Massenvernichtungswaffen begonnen. Erstmals war die Menschheit in der Lage, sich selbst zu vernichten. In Hiroshima starben unmittelbar 140.000 Menschen, Zehntausende leiden und sterben bis heute an den Folgen der radioaktiven Verseuchung. Mehrfach, so zum Beispiel während der Berlin- und der Kuba-Krise, während des Korea- und des Vietnam-Krieges, stand seitdem die Welt an der Schwelle eines Atomkrieges. Der Vertrag über die Nichtweiterverbreitung von Atomwaffen ist faktisch gescheitert, Abrüstungsinitiativen im Bereich strategischer Waffen blieben aus. Ohne Abrüstungsschritte der Atommächte wird die Weiterverbreitung atomarer Waffen nur schwer zu stoppen sein. Im Gegenteil: die Schwelle zum Einsatz von Atomwaffen wird heruntergesetzt. In den US-Kriegführungsstrategien spielen "verkleinerte" Atomwaffen, sogenannte "Mini-Nukes", als atomare Gefechtsfeldwaffen eine wichtige Rolle. Die Losung der Friedensbewegung "Kampf dem Atomtod" hat nichts an Aktualität verloren. Die Linkspartei.PDS tritt dafür ein:
* Deutschland muss in der Nato dafür eintreten, dass die Mitgliedsstaaten der Nato nicht als Erste atomare Waffen einsetzen; die Doktrin des atomaren Erstschlags muss vom Tisch. Außenminister Fischer hatte diese Forderung bereits 1998 erhoben, dann aber rasch einen Rückzieher gemacht.
* Der neu gewählte Deutsche Bundestag muss die USA auffordern, ihre Atomwaffen umgehend aus Deutschland abzuziehen.
* Die Bundeswehr darf an keinen strategischen Übungen der Nato teilnehmen, die den Einsatz von Atomwaffen beinhalten.
* Deutschland soll eine Initiative für ein von Atomwaffen freies Europa vom Atlantik bis zum Ural in Gang setzen.
Die Linkspartei.PDS ruft dazu auf, die Veranstaltungen der Friedensbewegung aus Anlass des 60. Jahrestages des ersten Atombombenabwurfs zu unterstützen. Die künftige Fraktion der Linkspartei im Deutschen Bundestag wird rasch parlamentarische Initiativen zur atomaren Abrüstung vorlegen.
http://sozialisten.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/view_html?zid=29255
Starmail - 4. Aug, 14:12
Petition to remove Dr. Mike Repacholi
Repacholi to retire
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/2202788/
This Is Vital to Public Health: Petition to Remove Repacholi - a reminder
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1515185/
Repacholi and industry money
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1230638/
Testimony of Michael Repacholi
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1031477/
Repacholi was asked by Next up about the money he receives
http://www.livelogcity.com/users/omega/17939.html
Conflict of Interest and Bias in Health Advisory Committees: A case study of the WHO’s EMF Task Group
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/2178233/
Dr Mike Repacholi: Industry consultant and ex leader for WHO???
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3381391/
WHO writes off electrosmog victims
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1142664/
The cozy relationship between the WHO and the electric utility industry http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1023935/
WHO and Electric Utilities: A Partnership on EMFs
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1176061/
Please sign the Petition, click on the picture below:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petitionfaqs.html
WHO's Repacholi Has Done It Again
From: Louis Slesin, Microwave News
To: Iris Atzmon
If for a short moment, you actually thought that Mike Repacholi had done the right thing and was promoting a precautionary policy to protect children from mobile phone radiation health risks, you had better read our latest commentary,
http://www.microwavenews.com/fromthefield.html#Repflip
Those of you who know Mike and the way he works will not be surprised. We only wonder what will it take for people to get fed up and send him home to Australia!
Best, Louis Slesin, PhD Editor Microwave News, A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation
155 East 77th Street New York, NY 10021, USA Phone: +1 (212) 517-2800; Fax: +1 (212) 734-0316 E-mail: mwn@pobox.com
Internet: http://www.microwavenews.com
--------
Maybe this time, after reading the latest MWN commentary, people will take this more seriously?
Iris Atzmon
Iris Atzmon in Israel makes an interesting proposal below that should be taken seriously. As an example of the sort of action that could be taken for instance, the Union of Concerned Scientists has been circulating a petition for scientists to sign that calls for restoring scientific integrity in policymaking in the US as a result of the Bush administration's interference in regulatory science. A similar petition to the WHO could be circulated internationally - calling for the removal of Repacholi, who is to good science as Michael Jackson is to childcare.
Don Maisch
From Iris Atzmon
I think "The WHO EMF Charade Continues" can be a good basis for a petition of "show us the money, Mike" by scientists and citizens. It should be the interest of the WHO eventually to remove this guy from his job (if they have some honest people left there) because Repacholi is causing a very big problem of public image to the WHO. The more of this info is circulating widely, the more people can neutralize any statement used by the governments and industry (especially industry) that uses the WHO as legitimation for their acts (or better- lack of acts). This knowledge gives power to the people. When people know how corrupted the WHO is, they can take this info to courts and use it there as well to neutralize the industry. The damage that Repacholi does to the image of the WHO can help breaking the status quo. What science doesn't do (because it is ignored and manipulated), Repacholi's corruption can do. If used right and taken by the media, it can take the fight to a new direction.
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=130
--------
From: Olle Johansson
Re: Petition to remove Repacholi
Dear Don and Iris,
A very interesting idea - when will it get officially launched?
Best regards Yours Olle
(Olle Johansson, assoc. prof. The Experimental Dermatology Unit Department of Neuroscience Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm Sweden)
Please, have a look at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/409444403 "Petition to remove Dr. Mike Repacholi as General Coordinator for the "International Electromagnetic Fields Programme" ]
Best regards Yours Olle
Olle Johansson, assoc. prof. The Experimental Dermatology Unit Department of Neuroscience Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm/Sweden
--------
Microwave News on Repacholi’s precautionary policy
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=165
--------
There are quick results to Repacholi's action, I thank him in the name of the Israeli industry:
Today spreading on two pages is a weekend article in the most distributed newspaper, it is an article about radiation levels from phones, (of course the numbers look very small because they keep push SAR values and not say anything about the uW/cm2 units.)
The companies reaction in a frame near the article, refers the public to Repacholi's clarification. The journalist writes: "in the cellular forum they refered us to a clarification notice that was published by the WHO, after the latest reports in the media about the need for precautionary principle with regard to exposure of kids to the radiation. The clarification is at:
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/meetings/ottawa_june05/en/index4.html
The companies say more: "The american FDA and the european WHO recommended the SAR level that is safe to use with cellular phones. So, every phone whose SAR is in the frame of this recommendation, is safe to use by the public, and it doesn't matter if it's kid adult or old people. The SAR level represents maximum level in laboratory conditions while in reality because of the network, the phones emit tens of procents less from the standard values.
Yediot Ahronot 5/8/05 by Gil Kalian. Mamon Magazine page 6-7.
and
Examples for answers by Repacholi to the pubilc: in the second example the word science and its derivatives are used 8 times. If someone is really scientific, why would he need to use the word science so obsessively? This is a brainwash. The word money is not used even once, although the money was the point of the message that was sent to him originally. All he was asked was to show the source of money- he is in public organization and he owns this info to the public ! An idea is to use the freedom of information act and get the info through the court for showing why he needs to go home, to Telstra.
----- Original Message ----- From: repacholim@who.int To: r_riedlin@telus.net Cc: Art_Thansandote@hc-sc.gc.ca ; imeldaoconnor@hotmail.com Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 12:33 AM Subject: RE: Sensitivity of Neurons to Weak Electric Fields
Robert WHO bases its decision on the science ...if the science does not support your position this is not my problem. It is a cheap shot to say that because the WHO position is the same an an industry position that we are in bed with industry...this is patently untrue and it does you no good to even suggest it..
Our Director General claimed to be hypersensitive...this does not mean that we should base our decisions on anything but the valideated evidence..
Pity is that people such as yourself wont listen to the science ...it is one of our greatest resources...all successful countries reply on it. From: Repacholi, Michael Harry To: Hans Karow Cc: mwn@pobox.com ; Leeka Kheifets Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 2:09 AM Subject: RE: MWN Commentary July 5 2005 your position please
Dear Hans
Thank you for sending on the commentary from Louis Slesin. Unfortunately Louis has always been a critic of what WHO is trying to achieve…. and that is to assess the science in a scientific and unbiased way using criteria that WHO has applied for almost 60 years. As you know WHO has built the highest possible reputation in public health matters among the public and governments world wide and the EMF Project will not be deviating from the sound science course that sustains this high esteem, no matter what the pressures from self interest groups or individuals. Louis appeals to people who do not believe in the scientific method for resolving issues. He, like others who are unable to argue a scientific case always claim WHO decisions are industry biased…a completely untrue position. Our Legal Department has clear rules for funding and inputs to the health risk assessment process. WHO scientists working on the EMF Project are and will continue to be unswayed by any special interest group as long as I have input to the process.
With respect to the WHO message on the use of precaution, our message is clear. As outlined in our Fact Sheet on mobile phones (see: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs193/en/ ) it states: If individuals are concerned, they might choose to limit their own or their children's' RF exposure by limiting the length of calls, or using "hands-free" devices to keep mobile phones away from the head and body. [transfering of respnsibility on the individual] WHO is promoting precaution and particularly the reduction of exposure through its Policy Framework. The Ottawa meeting has been formatted to deliberately challenge all aspects of the Framework. Whatever the outcome of the Ottawa meeting, WHO will continue to promote precaution in public health policy where there is uncertainty in the science. Louis tends to have a short-term memory when criticizing WHO policy.
With respect to your own situation, WHO held a workshop in Prague late last year. For more information see:
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/meetings/hypersensitivity_prague2004/en/index.html I have met many people with your condition and I do sympathise hugely with your plight because I know how much it affects people and that the symptoms suffered are real
[but at the same time:
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/meetings/hypersens_wgrep_oct04.pdf
The term Idiopathic environmental intolerance (Electromagnetic field attributed symptoms), or IEI - EMF, is proposed to replace terms that imply an established causal relationship between symptoms and electromagnetic fields ]
However, the conclusion of the WHO workshop, and a recent solid review of the science, was that there is no evidence to suggest your condition is caused by exposure to EMF. Given the lack of evidence to show a causal relationship between your symptoms and EMF, it is important to communicate this message instead of continuing the myth that low-level EMF is causing various symptoms that may be due to other causes. WHO will be coming out with more information on this very soon.
If I can provide any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
Mike
Dr Mike H Repacholi Coordinator, Radiation & Environmental Health Protection of the Human Environment World Health Organization
20 Avenue Appia CH-1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland
Tel +41 22 791 34 27 Fax +41 22 791 41 23 Email repacholim@who.int
This is science: http://www.emfguru.org/CellPhone/cherry2/ICNIRP-2.htm
"We only wonder what will it take for people to get fed up and send him home to Australia!" (Microwave News 4.8.05)
Another reason to sign the petition.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Louis Slesin, Microwave News" To: "Iris" Sent: Monday, August 08, 2005 8:20 PM Subject: WHO & EMFs: No Commitment to Children Nor to Precaution
Dear Colleagues:
We have written a lot about the WHO EMF project recently and we were in the process of preparing our next posting on a different topic (check in later this week), when we came across a new paper on the sensitivity of children to EMFs by Leeka Kheifets, Mike Repacholi and other members of the EMF project. It appears in the August issue of Pediatrics. We could not let it pass without comment.
This paper reveals the WHO project¹s true commitment health, nor to children, nor to precaution, but to industry the project and its meetings. In this case, it¹s the Electric Power Research Institute. In the same way that Repacholi found a way to accept contributions from the wireless industry, it also gets support from the electric utility industry. And Leeka Kheifets and Mike Repacholi deliver.
The mealymouthed recommendations at the end of the paper are a travesty.
Read out latest post http://www.microwavenews.com/fromthefield.html#LKped
and read the Pediatrics paper (it¹s free)
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/116/2/e303
and then decide for yourself whether these people should be running a public health program.
Best, Louis Slesin
Louis Slesin, PhD Editor, Microwave News A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation Phone: +1 (212) 517-2800; Fax: +1 (212) 734-0316 E-mail: mwn@pobox.com ; Internet: http://www.microwavenews.com Mail: 155 East 77th Street, Suite 3D New York, NY 10021, U.S.A.
Iris Atzmon
--------
Reasons to petition to remove Mike Repacholi
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=168
--------
Louis
We are all doing our best.
Signing the petition to remove Raphcholi, and getting all the family and friends to sign as well.
A lot of people still do not know of the petition, but the word is spreading.
We will succeed (in the end.)
Regards.
Agnes
http://www.mast-victims.org
From Mast Network
--------
Governments and telecom operators worldwide constantly quote the WHO and Repacholi. The damage they have done is incalculable. Given that the initiative of a petition to have him removed would help to destroy the credibility of their arguments. It's a global petition, Please let's ALL sign up to this.
Jenny.
(excerpt)
From Mast Network
--------
What I can’t get over is: Why are the victims of insensitive mast siting so scared of getting into the open?
Is it because we get intimidated and humored by the mobile industry and by anyone who thinks they cant get by without their mobile phone.
And by anyone who has not got a mast near to where they live and “Believe in that the Government knows best because of the research that has been done”. Yeah, by who?
The Government? The NRPB? The INCPR? The WHO?
The thing is we all get the intimidation and humoring, both from the companies, the council, the government and who ever. But, and that is the important thing, they can only do that for a short while, because we get over it real quick and start biting back, because we do not accept being bullied in the long run.
So, if removing Rapacholi is the real start, Pls. all, get on with it.
SIGN!!
Regards.
Agnes
http://www.mast-victims.org
From Mast Network
--------
The petition is signed by people who KNOW Repacholi by (non)-communication. How do you expect the demonstrating people in China and the demonstrating mothers + children in Mexico and the awakening people in many countries to sign a petition against Ravioli (who is Ravioli anyway ?????). A worldwide network of hundreds of people against Repacholi is not small, nowadays. The people who sign the petition are not just people, they have experience and knowledge.
From Mast Network
Click on the picture below:
Petition an die WHO wegen Entlassung von Dr. Mike Repacholi
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/886274/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Repacholi
http://www.iddd.de/umtsno/puzen.htm
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/819270/
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/2202788/
This Is Vital to Public Health: Petition to Remove Repacholi - a reminder
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1515185/
Repacholi and industry money
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1230638/
Testimony of Michael Repacholi
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1031477/
Repacholi was asked by Next up about the money he receives
http://www.livelogcity.com/users/omega/17939.html
Conflict of Interest and Bias in Health Advisory Committees: A case study of the WHO’s EMF Task Group
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/2178233/
Dr Mike Repacholi: Industry consultant and ex leader for WHO???
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3381391/
WHO writes off electrosmog victims
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1142664/
The cozy relationship between the WHO and the electric utility industry http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1023935/
WHO and Electric Utilities: A Partnership on EMFs
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1176061/
Please sign the Petition, click on the picture below:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petitionfaqs.html
WHO's Repacholi Has Done It Again
From: Louis Slesin, Microwave News
To: Iris Atzmon
If for a short moment, you actually thought that Mike Repacholi had done the right thing and was promoting a precautionary policy to protect children from mobile phone radiation health risks, you had better read our latest commentary,
http://www.microwavenews.com/fromthefield.html#Repflip
Those of you who know Mike and the way he works will not be surprised. We only wonder what will it take for people to get fed up and send him home to Australia!
Best, Louis Slesin, PhD Editor Microwave News, A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation
155 East 77th Street New York, NY 10021, USA Phone: +1 (212) 517-2800; Fax: +1 (212) 734-0316 E-mail: mwn@pobox.com
Internet: http://www.microwavenews.com
--------
Maybe this time, after reading the latest MWN commentary, people will take this more seriously?
Iris Atzmon
Iris Atzmon in Israel makes an interesting proposal below that should be taken seriously. As an example of the sort of action that could be taken for instance, the Union of Concerned Scientists has been circulating a petition for scientists to sign that calls for restoring scientific integrity in policymaking in the US as a result of the Bush administration's interference in regulatory science. A similar petition to the WHO could be circulated internationally - calling for the removal of Repacholi, who is to good science as Michael Jackson is to childcare.
Don Maisch
From Iris Atzmon
I think "The WHO EMF Charade Continues" can be a good basis for a petition of "show us the money, Mike" by scientists and citizens. It should be the interest of the WHO eventually to remove this guy from his job (if they have some honest people left there) because Repacholi is causing a very big problem of public image to the WHO. The more of this info is circulating widely, the more people can neutralize any statement used by the governments and industry (especially industry) that uses the WHO as legitimation for their acts (or better- lack of acts). This knowledge gives power to the people. When people know how corrupted the WHO is, they can take this info to courts and use it there as well to neutralize the industry. The damage that Repacholi does to the image of the WHO can help breaking the status quo. What science doesn't do (because it is ignored and manipulated), Repacholi's corruption can do. If used right and taken by the media, it can take the fight to a new direction.
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=130
--------
From: Olle Johansson
Re: Petition to remove Repacholi
Dear Don and Iris,
A very interesting idea - when will it get officially launched?
Best regards Yours Olle
(Olle Johansson, assoc. prof. The Experimental Dermatology Unit Department of Neuroscience Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm Sweden)
Please, have a look at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/409444403 "Petition to remove Dr. Mike Repacholi as General Coordinator for the "International Electromagnetic Fields Programme" ]
Best regards Yours Olle
Olle Johansson, assoc. prof. The Experimental Dermatology Unit Department of Neuroscience Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm/Sweden
--------
Microwave News on Repacholi’s precautionary policy
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=165
--------
There are quick results to Repacholi's action, I thank him in the name of the Israeli industry:
Today spreading on two pages is a weekend article in the most distributed newspaper, it is an article about radiation levels from phones, (of course the numbers look very small because they keep push SAR values and not say anything about the uW/cm2 units.)
The companies reaction in a frame near the article, refers the public to Repacholi's clarification. The journalist writes: "in the cellular forum they refered us to a clarification notice that was published by the WHO, after the latest reports in the media about the need for precautionary principle with regard to exposure of kids to the radiation. The clarification is at:
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/meetings/ottawa_june05/en/index4.html
The companies say more: "The american FDA and the european WHO recommended the SAR level that is safe to use with cellular phones. So, every phone whose SAR is in the frame of this recommendation, is safe to use by the public, and it doesn't matter if it's kid adult or old people. The SAR level represents maximum level in laboratory conditions while in reality because of the network, the phones emit tens of procents less from the standard values.
Yediot Ahronot 5/8/05 by Gil Kalian. Mamon Magazine page 6-7.
and
Examples for answers by Repacholi to the pubilc: in the second example the word science and its derivatives are used 8 times. If someone is really scientific, why would he need to use the word science so obsessively? This is a brainwash. The word money is not used even once, although the money was the point of the message that was sent to him originally. All he was asked was to show the source of money- he is in public organization and he owns this info to the public ! An idea is to use the freedom of information act and get the info through the court for showing why he needs to go home, to Telstra.
----- Original Message ----- From: repacholim@who.int To: r_riedlin@telus.net Cc: Art_Thansandote@hc-sc.gc.ca ; imeldaoconnor@hotmail.com Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 12:33 AM Subject: RE: Sensitivity of Neurons to Weak Electric Fields
Robert WHO bases its decision on the science ...if the science does not support your position this is not my problem. It is a cheap shot to say that because the WHO position is the same an an industry position that we are in bed with industry...this is patently untrue and it does you no good to even suggest it..
Our Director General claimed to be hypersensitive...this does not mean that we should base our decisions on anything but the valideated evidence..
Pity is that people such as yourself wont listen to the science ...it is one of our greatest resources...all successful countries reply on it. From: Repacholi, Michael Harry To: Hans Karow Cc: mwn@pobox.com ; Leeka Kheifets Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 2:09 AM Subject: RE: MWN Commentary July 5 2005 your position please
Dear Hans
Thank you for sending on the commentary from Louis Slesin. Unfortunately Louis has always been a critic of what WHO is trying to achieve…. and that is to assess the science in a scientific and unbiased way using criteria that WHO has applied for almost 60 years. As you know WHO has built the highest possible reputation in public health matters among the public and governments world wide and the EMF Project will not be deviating from the sound science course that sustains this high esteem, no matter what the pressures from self interest groups or individuals. Louis appeals to people who do not believe in the scientific method for resolving issues. He, like others who are unable to argue a scientific case always claim WHO decisions are industry biased…a completely untrue position. Our Legal Department has clear rules for funding and inputs to the health risk assessment process. WHO scientists working on the EMF Project are and will continue to be unswayed by any special interest group as long as I have input to the process.
With respect to the WHO message on the use of precaution, our message is clear. As outlined in our Fact Sheet on mobile phones (see: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs193/en/ ) it states: If individuals are concerned, they might choose to limit their own or their children's' RF exposure by limiting the length of calls, or using "hands-free" devices to keep mobile phones away from the head and body. [transfering of respnsibility on the individual] WHO is promoting precaution and particularly the reduction of exposure through its Policy Framework. The Ottawa meeting has been formatted to deliberately challenge all aspects of the Framework. Whatever the outcome of the Ottawa meeting, WHO will continue to promote precaution in public health policy where there is uncertainty in the science. Louis tends to have a short-term memory when criticizing WHO policy.
With respect to your own situation, WHO held a workshop in Prague late last year. For more information see:
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/meetings/hypersensitivity_prague2004/en/index.html I have met many people with your condition and I do sympathise hugely with your plight because I know how much it affects people and that the symptoms suffered are real
[but at the same time:
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/meetings/hypersens_wgrep_oct04.pdf
The term Idiopathic environmental intolerance (Electromagnetic field attributed symptoms), or IEI - EMF, is proposed to replace terms that imply an established causal relationship between symptoms and electromagnetic fields ]
However, the conclusion of the WHO workshop, and a recent solid review of the science, was that there is no evidence to suggest your condition is caused by exposure to EMF. Given the lack of evidence to show a causal relationship between your symptoms and EMF, it is important to communicate this message instead of continuing the myth that low-level EMF is causing various symptoms that may be due to other causes. WHO will be coming out with more information on this very soon.
If I can provide any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
Mike
Dr Mike H Repacholi Coordinator, Radiation & Environmental Health Protection of the Human Environment World Health Organization
20 Avenue Appia CH-1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland
Tel +41 22 791 34 27 Fax +41 22 791 41 23 Email repacholim@who.int
This is science: http://www.emfguru.org/CellPhone/cherry2/ICNIRP-2.htm
"We only wonder what will it take for people to get fed up and send him home to Australia!" (Microwave News 4.8.05)
Another reason to sign the petition.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Louis Slesin, Microwave News" To: "Iris" Sent: Monday, August 08, 2005 8:20 PM Subject: WHO & EMFs: No Commitment to Children Nor to Precaution
Dear Colleagues:
We have written a lot about the WHO EMF project recently and we were in the process of preparing our next posting on a different topic (check in later this week), when we came across a new paper on the sensitivity of children to EMFs by Leeka Kheifets, Mike Repacholi and other members of the EMF project. It appears in the August issue of Pediatrics. We could not let it pass without comment.
This paper reveals the WHO project¹s true commitment health, nor to children, nor to precaution, but to industry the project and its meetings. In this case, it¹s the Electric Power Research Institute. In the same way that Repacholi found a way to accept contributions from the wireless industry, it also gets support from the electric utility industry. And Leeka Kheifets and Mike Repacholi deliver.
The mealymouthed recommendations at the end of the paper are a travesty.
Read out latest post http://www.microwavenews.com/fromthefield.html#LKped
and read the Pediatrics paper (it¹s free)
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/116/2/e303
and then decide for yourself whether these people should be running a public health program.
Best, Louis Slesin
Louis Slesin, PhD Editor, Microwave News A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation Phone: +1 (212) 517-2800; Fax: +1 (212) 734-0316 E-mail: mwn@pobox.com ; Internet: http://www.microwavenews.com Mail: 155 East 77th Street, Suite 3D New York, NY 10021, U.S.A.
Iris Atzmon
--------
Reasons to petition to remove Mike Repacholi
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=168
--------
Louis
We are all doing our best.
Signing the petition to remove Raphcholi, and getting all the family and friends to sign as well.
A lot of people still do not know of the petition, but the word is spreading.
We will succeed (in the end.)
Regards.
Agnes
http://www.mast-victims.org
From Mast Network
--------
Governments and telecom operators worldwide constantly quote the WHO and Repacholi. The damage they have done is incalculable. Given that the initiative of a petition to have him removed would help to destroy the credibility of their arguments. It's a global petition, Please let's ALL sign up to this.
Jenny.
(excerpt)
From Mast Network
--------
What I can’t get over is: Why are the victims of insensitive mast siting so scared of getting into the open?
Is it because we get intimidated and humored by the mobile industry and by anyone who thinks they cant get by without their mobile phone.
And by anyone who has not got a mast near to where they live and “Believe in that the Government knows best because of the research that has been done”. Yeah, by who?
The Government? The NRPB? The INCPR? The WHO?
The thing is we all get the intimidation and humoring, both from the companies, the council, the government and who ever. But, and that is the important thing, they can only do that for a short while, because we get over it real quick and start biting back, because we do not accept being bullied in the long run.
So, if removing Rapacholi is the real start, Pls. all, get on with it.
SIGN!!
Regards.
Agnes
http://www.mast-victims.org
From Mast Network
--------
The petition is signed by people who KNOW Repacholi by (non)-communication. How do you expect the demonstrating people in China and the demonstrating mothers + children in Mexico and the awakening people in many countries to sign a petition against Ravioli (who is Ravioli anyway ?????). A worldwide network of hundreds of people against Repacholi is not small, nowadays. The people who sign the petition are not just people, they have experience and knowledge.
From Mast Network
Click on the picture below:
Petition an die WHO wegen Entlassung von Dr. Mike Repacholi
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/886274/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Repacholi
http://www.iddd.de/umtsno/puzen.htm
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/819270/
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
Starmail - 4. Aug, 10:42
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) and subjective health complaints associated with electromagnetic fields of mobile phone communication - a literature review published between 2000 and 2004
Starmail - 4. Aug, 10:14
Technischer Fortschritt und die Verletzlichkeit des Lebens
http://www.omega-news.info/technischer_fortschritt_und_die_verletzlichkeit_des_lebens.doc
Tagung in Iserlohn 2.- 4.September 2005
Dr. Peter Markus, Antje Bultmann
Auf der Tagung soll an Beispielen gezeigt werden, wie sensibel die Lebensprozesse sind. Aber immer neue Technologien greifen immer tiefer in diese fein aufeinander abgestimmten Vorgänge ein. Daraus entsteht ein Ungleichgewicht, das die Gesundheit von Mensch und Natur gefährdet. In unserer Kultur erfahren wir leider wenig darüber. Das muss sich ändern. Für einen Paradigmenwechsel in Wissenschaft, Technik und Wirtschaft.
Ausschnitt aus dem Programm:
Prof. Kröplin, Uni Stuttgart. Er erforscht unterschiedliche Einflüsse auf Wasser, beispielsweise wie elektromagnetische Strahlung auf Wasser einwirkt, wie sich menschliches Befinden und etc. Beziehungen darin spiegeln. Kröplin und seine Kollegen haben inzwischen unzählige aufregende, wissenschaftliche Versuche durchgeführt. (Fr. Abend)
Prof. Karl Hecht , Uni Berlin, wird darüber sprechen, welche Rolle Lebensrythmen für den Erhalt der Gesundheit spielen.(Sa früh)
Prof. Franz Adlkofer von der Verum-Stiftung für Verhalten und Umwelt in München, referiert über seine von der EU finanzierte sogenannte Reflex-Studie, die zeigt, dass Mobilfunk das Erbgut schädigt.
Dr. Peter Schott (BBU) wird über die Verletzlichkeit des Lebens am Beispiel Gentechnik sprechen.
Prof. Josef Weizenbaum, Mitentwickler des Computers (früher MIT, USA) und Philosoph, wird gemeinsam mit Prof. Christian Link über ein neues Verständnis von Naturwissenschaft und Theologie unterhalten.
Dr. Claudia Müller Ebeling: „Brauchen wir einen neuen Existenz- und Lebensbegriff?“
Außerdem gibt es die Möglichkeit sich zu informieren über Messtechniken, Gesundheit und Sanierung im Bereich Mobilfunk.
Anmeldung: Tel: 02371/ 145, 02371/352-0, Fax: 02371 / 325 169,
Tagungsort: Ev. Tagungsstätte Haus Ortlohn, Berliner Platz 12,
58638 Iserlohn, Email: u.neuhaus@kircheundgesellschaft.de
Kosten:
Einzelzimmer m. Vollpension:
95,00 € / erm. 57,50 €
Doppelzimmer m. Vollpension:
75,00 € / erm. 37,50 €
ohne Übernachtung / Frühstück:
52,00 € / erm. 26,00 €
zuzüglich Tagungsgebühr:
40,00 € / erm. 20,00 €
Tagung in Iserlohn 2.- 4.September 2005
Dr. Peter Markus, Antje Bultmann
Auf der Tagung soll an Beispielen gezeigt werden, wie sensibel die Lebensprozesse sind. Aber immer neue Technologien greifen immer tiefer in diese fein aufeinander abgestimmten Vorgänge ein. Daraus entsteht ein Ungleichgewicht, das die Gesundheit von Mensch und Natur gefährdet. In unserer Kultur erfahren wir leider wenig darüber. Das muss sich ändern. Für einen Paradigmenwechsel in Wissenschaft, Technik und Wirtschaft.
Ausschnitt aus dem Programm:
Prof. Kröplin, Uni Stuttgart. Er erforscht unterschiedliche Einflüsse auf Wasser, beispielsweise wie elektromagnetische Strahlung auf Wasser einwirkt, wie sich menschliches Befinden und etc. Beziehungen darin spiegeln. Kröplin und seine Kollegen haben inzwischen unzählige aufregende, wissenschaftliche Versuche durchgeführt. (Fr. Abend)
Prof. Karl Hecht , Uni Berlin, wird darüber sprechen, welche Rolle Lebensrythmen für den Erhalt der Gesundheit spielen.(Sa früh)
Prof. Franz Adlkofer von der Verum-Stiftung für Verhalten und Umwelt in München, referiert über seine von der EU finanzierte sogenannte Reflex-Studie, die zeigt, dass Mobilfunk das Erbgut schädigt.
Dr. Peter Schott (BBU) wird über die Verletzlichkeit des Lebens am Beispiel Gentechnik sprechen.
Prof. Josef Weizenbaum, Mitentwickler des Computers (früher MIT, USA) und Philosoph, wird gemeinsam mit Prof. Christian Link über ein neues Verständnis von Naturwissenschaft und Theologie unterhalten.
Dr. Claudia Müller Ebeling: „Brauchen wir einen neuen Existenz- und Lebensbegriff?“
Außerdem gibt es die Möglichkeit sich zu informieren über Messtechniken, Gesundheit und Sanierung im Bereich Mobilfunk.
Anmeldung: Tel: 02371/ 145, 02371/352-0, Fax: 02371 / 325 169,
Tagungsort: Ev. Tagungsstätte Haus Ortlohn, Berliner Platz 12,
58638 Iserlohn, Email: u.neuhaus@kircheundgesellschaft.de
Kosten:
Einzelzimmer m. Vollpension:
95,00 € / erm. 57,50 €
Doppelzimmer m. Vollpension:
75,00 € / erm. 37,50 €
ohne Übernachtung / Frühstück:
52,00 € / erm. 26,00 €
zuzüglich Tagungsgebühr:
40,00 € / erm. 20,00 €
Starmail - 4. Aug, 10:05
Media spin hides UKCCS EMF measurement results
http://www.cogreslab.co.uk/lv2news/dsp_news.asp?s_id=35
02/08/2005
goto news index
http://www.cogreslab.co.uk/lv2news/news_idx.asp
We all know about electrocution, used to execute murderers. No one has ever died from magnetocution, however, and static magnets are now a proven pain relieving agent used by millions across the globe. So to put up the argument that very few homes are likely to have magnetic fields above 0.4 microTesla, (the alleged threshold for elevated childhood cancer incidence), ignores the possibility that it is the electric field from powerlines and appliances more likely to damage life processes. Yet this is exactly what the HPA have just done in their latest spin of the results derived from an analysis of the UKCCS measurements (Maslanyj, MP, Mee TJ and Allen SG, Investigation and Identification of Sources of Residential Magnetic Field Exposures in the United Kingdom Childhood Cancer Study (UKCCS). HPA-RPD-005. ISBN 0-85951-564-8. Available to download from HPA website at
http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/publications/hpa_rpd_reports/2005/hpa_rpd_005.htm
Where are the ELF electric field comparables? And why doesn't the NGT or its distribution companies ever measure these for concerned occupants, despite three epi studies consecutively reporting elevated cancer levels when the electric field exposure is above 20 V/m?
Informant: Avoiding Ridicule
02/08/2005
goto news index
http://www.cogreslab.co.uk/lv2news/news_idx.asp
We all know about electrocution, used to execute murderers. No one has ever died from magnetocution, however, and static magnets are now a proven pain relieving agent used by millions across the globe. So to put up the argument that very few homes are likely to have magnetic fields above 0.4 microTesla, (the alleged threshold for elevated childhood cancer incidence), ignores the possibility that it is the electric field from powerlines and appliances more likely to damage life processes. Yet this is exactly what the HPA have just done in their latest spin of the results derived from an analysis of the UKCCS measurements (Maslanyj, MP, Mee TJ and Allen SG, Investigation and Identification of Sources of Residential Magnetic Field Exposures in the United Kingdom Childhood Cancer Study (UKCCS). HPA-RPD-005. ISBN 0-85951-564-8. Available to download from HPA website at
http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/publications/hpa_rpd_reports/2005/hpa_rpd_005.htm
Where are the ELF electric field comparables? And why doesn't the NGT or its distribution companies ever measure these for concerned occupants, despite three epi studies consecutively reporting elevated cancer levels when the electric field exposure is above 20 V/m?
Informant: Avoiding Ridicule
Starmail - 4. Aug, 09:52
3
Aug
2005
Bevor es den Menschen gab, war die Erde (Natur) in einem perfekten Gleichgewicht
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:41
Bolton The Albatross
by Wayne White, TomPaine.com
The high hurdles facing the United Nations, especially in the Middle East, should make Bush rue this recess appointment.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050803/bolton_the_albatross.php
The high hurdles facing the United Nations, especially in the Middle East, should make Bush rue this recess appointment.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050803/bolton_the_albatross.php
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:38
Republican Wilding
by Robert L. Borosage, TomPaine.com
Last week, the president and his party celebrated a fury of apparent victories, plundering America's treasure in the process.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050803/republican_wilding.php
Last week, the president and his party celebrated a fury of apparent victories, plundering America's treasure in the process.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050803/republican_wilding.php
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:37
High Court Nominee Roberts a Millionaire
John Roberts is a multimillion-dollar man, with a fancy golf club membership and some hefty investments, according to a financial statement filed with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5186076,00.html
From Information Clearing House
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5186076,00.html
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:34
Shaping politics from the pulpits
Ohio race shows how Christian right is changing the GOP.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050803/1a_cover02.art.htm
http://snipurl.com/gp2y
From Information Clearing House
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050803/1a_cover02.art.htm
http://snipurl.com/gp2y
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:33
After 10-Year Hiatus, Pentagon Eyes New Landmine
The George W. Bush administration may soon resume production of antipersonnel land mines in a move that is at odds with both the international community and previous U.S. policy on the weapons, says a leading human rights organization.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9666.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9666.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:31
Old enemies' wargames send a powerful message to the US
Russia and China hope to sign a massive arms deal after staging joint exercises for the first time.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1718819,00.html
''The 'Great Game' Heats Up in Central Asia'':
The "Joint Statement of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation Regarding the International Order of the 21st Century," signed by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 2, addresses U.S. hegemony in several less-than-oblique passages.
http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=339&language_id=1
http://snipurl.com/gp2s
From Information Clearing House
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1718819,00.html
''The 'Great Game' Heats Up in Central Asia'':
The "Joint Statement of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation Regarding the International Order of the 21st Century," signed by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 2, addresses U.S. hegemony in several less-than-oblique passages.
http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=339&language_id=1
http://snipurl.com/gp2s
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:28
Preempting Cheney
Whatever plans Dick Cheney and his neo-conservatives may have had to conjure up a nuclear threat from Iran as "justification" for military action have been sharply undercut by some timely leaks to the Washington Post.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9667.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9667.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:26
Fisking the "War on Terror"
Once upon a time, a dangerous radical gained control of the US Republican Party. The American Right, having created the Mujahideen and having mightily contributed to the creation of al-Qaeda, abruptly announced that there was something deeply wrong with Islam, that it kept producing terrorists.
http://www.juancole.com/2005/08/fisking-war-on-terror-once-upon-time.html
http://snipurl.com/gosb
http://www.juancole.com/2005/08/fisking-war-on-terror-once-upon-time.html
http://snipurl.com/gosb
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:25
Uncurious George
Despite what is unfolding before us, the majority of this country's honest, freedom-loving people seem ever less interested in knowing, and ever more inclined toward believing that what we're being shown and what we're being told and what is being carried out in our name, is truth.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4454.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4454.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:24
Australia: Hysteria, racism behind new terror laws
After a hysterical campaign led by the Murdoch press and radio shock-jocks, Attorney-General Philip Rudduck has floated the possibility of new laws to ban books “promoting” or “justifying” terrorism.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/636/636p10.htm
PM avoids Iraq risk issue: Rudd:
PRIME Minister John Howard was denying Australia's involvement in Iraq had increased the risk of a terror attack at home because it would be politically uncomfortable for him to say otherwise, the Opposition said today.
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=3544266
From Information Clearing House
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/636/636p10.htm
PM avoids Iraq risk issue: Rudd:
PRIME Minister John Howard was denying Australia's involvement in Iraq had increased the risk of a terror attack at home because it would be politically uncomfortable for him to say otherwise, the Opposition said today.
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=3544266
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:21
Even when we leave Iraq, we face years of blowback
Escalating violence and the rise of theocratic rule bode ill in Baghdad.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9658.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9658.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:18
As Americans and Iraqi's Die In Bush's War
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:17
Documents Tell of Brutal Improvisation by GIs
By Josh White
It was inside a sleeping bag that the 56-year-old detainee took his last breath through broken ribs, lying on the floor beneath a U.S. soldier in Interrogation Room 6 in the western Iraqi desert. Two days before, a secret CIA-sponsored group of Iraqi paramilitaries, working with Army interrogators, had beaten Mowhoush nearly senseless, using fists, a club and a rubber hose, according to classified documents.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9661.htm
It was inside a sleeping bag that the 56-year-old detainee took his last breath through broken ribs, lying on the floor beneath a U.S. soldier in Interrogation Room 6 in the western Iraqi desert. Two days before, a secret CIA-sponsored group of Iraqi paramilitaries, working with Army interrogators, had beaten Mowhoush nearly senseless, using fists, a club and a rubber hose, according to classified documents.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9661.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:14
Revisiting Hiroshima
By Noam Chomsky
Robert McNamara, Kennedy’s defence secretary, endorses the judgment of William Perry, President Bill Clinton’s defence secretary, that "there is a greater than 50 per cent probability of a nuclear strike on US targets within a decade."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9655.htm
Robert McNamara, Kennedy’s defence secretary, endorses the judgment of William Perry, President Bill Clinton’s defence secretary, that "there is a greater than 50 per cent probability of a nuclear strike on US targets within a decade."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9655.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:12
Indications of a large number of earthquake pressures building
August 2, 2005
By Stan Deyo Home
http://standeyo.com
This RED ALERT is the first of its kind I've ever made in the 9 years of studying seismic event indicators. It is so huge that I almost can't believe my eyes. The importance and severity of this has impressed me more significantly than when I predicted and warned about the coming December 26, 2004 Indonesian events beginning December 22. For the last 6 days, I've seen indications of a large number of earthquake pressures building across a 2,000-mile long arc in the North Pacific. At first, I thought these indications were a result of large storms in the North Pacific and so, I disregarded them. Until this afternoon when a listener (thanks Dan) heard my radio broadcast and emailed information to me, I wasn't able to explain the cause of this discovery. Below you will see white arrow pointing at this arc of signals that have appeared over the last 6 days. They are heading straight into Mendocino, CA to the area where 3 tectonic plates meet. Notice on today's image and for 5 days before the clear definition of this phenomenon. It is occurring all along what is called the Mendocino Fault Zone or Ridge. This is a place where the sea floor rises up to within 1,203 yards of the sea surface at 168 miles West of Mendocino, CA. It's been the subject of a great many technical papers in the world of geology and seismicity.
Today, news came to us of the collapse of the resurgent dome at Mt. St. Helens. There have been a number of small earthquakes in the range of 3.0 over the last 2 weeks at Mt. St. Helens. Scientists monitoring this claim to be a loss to explain the cause.
Depending on how large and how many seismic event release along the Mendocino Ridge in the near future, where it connects to California could trigger releases not only to the San Andreas Fault, but also the Juan De Fuca Plate. The Juan de Fuca Plate is the only major zone on the great Ring of Fire around the Pacific that hasn't had a major seismic event in the last 50 years. I don't need to fully explain the implications of such an event. When this occurs, it will be one of the greatest catastrophes in America history.
HOWEVER, since I have never seen an event of this size in the making, I don't know if it will back off and come back again several times before releasing. All I am sure of is that, it's a unique event in my 9 years of these seismic indicators. At the very least you should be sure your emergency stock of food, water and medicines are what they should be for such an event. We will continue to monitor this situation and are already beginning to make radio broadcasts about this event. It has the potential to produce enormous tidal waves throughout the Pacific Basic.
Stan's analysis shows areas of possible earthquake or volcanic activity, or extreme storm conditions for the next 1 to 5 days.
---------------------------------------
http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.net/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=90227
Posted By: Geneticus Date: Monday, 1 August 2005, 6:50 p.m.
If you go the Princeton egg index page, you will see the button is fading in through green, right through yellow, past orange, hitting dark red, and even triggering an occasional bright red. That is major coincidence people. Something is up, the random number generators are not producing random numbers. The button color means that the mass consciousness of the people on the Earth is about to be directed into the same general thought pattern. We are all about to be thinking about the same thing. And it is most likely a man-made event, something akin to a Shuttle disaster or terrorist event.
Be sure to use "Firefox" as the browser when you navigate to the Princeton Egg index page (link below).
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/gcindex.html
Unfortunately, you must now use the Firefox browser to see the EGG data and if this was my own computer, I would definitely use it. Looks like a good browser, better than IE because of IE's security holes. Anyway, for those unfamiliar with the EGG Project out of Princeton University, these things went crazy a few days before, during and for days after the 9/11 disaster.
Here is detailed info on the EGG project: http://noosphere.princeton.edu/
Informant: V
By Stan Deyo Home
http://standeyo.com
This RED ALERT is the first of its kind I've ever made in the 9 years of studying seismic event indicators. It is so huge that I almost can't believe my eyes. The importance and severity of this has impressed me more significantly than when I predicted and warned about the coming December 26, 2004 Indonesian events beginning December 22. For the last 6 days, I've seen indications of a large number of earthquake pressures building across a 2,000-mile long arc in the North Pacific. At first, I thought these indications were a result of large storms in the North Pacific and so, I disregarded them. Until this afternoon when a listener (thanks Dan) heard my radio broadcast and emailed information to me, I wasn't able to explain the cause of this discovery. Below you will see white arrow pointing at this arc of signals that have appeared over the last 6 days. They are heading straight into Mendocino, CA to the area where 3 tectonic plates meet. Notice on today's image and for 5 days before the clear definition of this phenomenon. It is occurring all along what is called the Mendocino Fault Zone or Ridge. This is a place where the sea floor rises up to within 1,203 yards of the sea surface at 168 miles West of Mendocino, CA. It's been the subject of a great many technical papers in the world of geology and seismicity.
Today, news came to us of the collapse of the resurgent dome at Mt. St. Helens. There have been a number of small earthquakes in the range of 3.0 over the last 2 weeks at Mt. St. Helens. Scientists monitoring this claim to be a loss to explain the cause.
Depending on how large and how many seismic event release along the Mendocino Ridge in the near future, where it connects to California could trigger releases not only to the San Andreas Fault, but also the Juan De Fuca Plate. The Juan de Fuca Plate is the only major zone on the great Ring of Fire around the Pacific that hasn't had a major seismic event in the last 50 years. I don't need to fully explain the implications of such an event. When this occurs, it will be one of the greatest catastrophes in America history.
HOWEVER, since I have never seen an event of this size in the making, I don't know if it will back off and come back again several times before releasing. All I am sure of is that, it's a unique event in my 9 years of these seismic indicators. At the very least you should be sure your emergency stock of food, water and medicines are what they should be for such an event. We will continue to monitor this situation and are already beginning to make radio broadcasts about this event. It has the potential to produce enormous tidal waves throughout the Pacific Basic.
Stan's analysis shows areas of possible earthquake or volcanic activity, or extreme storm conditions for the next 1 to 5 days.
---------------------------------------
http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.net/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=90227
Posted By: Geneticus Date: Monday, 1 August 2005, 6:50 p.m.
If you go the Princeton egg index page, you will see the button is fading in through green, right through yellow, past orange, hitting dark red, and even triggering an occasional bright red. That is major coincidence people. Something is up, the random number generators are not producing random numbers. The button color means that the mass consciousness of the people on the Earth is about to be directed into the same general thought pattern. We are all about to be thinking about the same thing. And it is most likely a man-made event, something akin to a Shuttle disaster or terrorist event.
Be sure to use "Firefox" as the browser when you navigate to the Princeton Egg index page (link below).
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/gcindex.html
Unfortunately, you must now use the Firefox browser to see the EGG data and if this was my own computer, I would definitely use it. Looks like a good browser, better than IE because of IE's security holes. Anyway, for those unfamiliar with the EGG Project out of Princeton University, these things went crazy a few days before, during and for days after the 9/11 disaster.
Here is detailed info on the EGG project: http://noosphere.princeton.edu/
Informant: V
Starmail - 3. Aug, 23:05
Umweltschützer kämpfen um Urwaldschutz in Indonesien
Urwaldschutzgesetz gefordert: Umweltschützer kämpfen um Urwaldschutz in Indonesien (03.08.05)
Das indonesische Forstministerium überprüft zur Zeit, ob bei der Vergabe von Konzessionen zur Umwandlung von Regenwald in Plantagen auf Sumatra Gesetze zum Schutz des Waldes missachtet worden sind. Die Umweltschutzorganisation "Robin Wood" unterstützt die Forderung indonesischer Umweltorganisationen nach einem Moratorium für den Kahlschlag und fordert den deutschen Handel auf, auf Holzprodukte aus Indonesien zu verzichten, bis dort dem Raubbau am Regenwald Einhalt geboten worden ist. Außerdem hält Robin Wood es für dringend erforderlich, dass nach den Neuwahlen in Deutschland rasch das geplante Urwaldschutzgesetz verabschiedet wird.
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11548
Das indonesische Forstministerium überprüft zur Zeit, ob bei der Vergabe von Konzessionen zur Umwandlung von Regenwald in Plantagen auf Sumatra Gesetze zum Schutz des Waldes missachtet worden sind. Die Umweltschutzorganisation "Robin Wood" unterstützt die Forderung indonesischer Umweltorganisationen nach einem Moratorium für den Kahlschlag und fordert den deutschen Handel auf, auf Holzprodukte aus Indonesien zu verzichten, bis dort dem Raubbau am Regenwald Einhalt geboten worden ist. Außerdem hält Robin Wood es für dringend erforderlich, dass nach den Neuwahlen in Deutschland rasch das geplante Urwaldschutzgesetz verabschiedet wird.
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11548
Starmail - 3. Aug, 22:58
Geheime Haftzentren weltweit: Guantánamo laut amnesty international "nur die Spitze eines Eisbergs"
03.08.05
Guantánamo ist nach Ansicht von amnesty international (ai) "nur die Spitze eines Eisbergs": "US-amerikanische Geheimdienste verschleppen Menschen in geheime Haftzentren auf der ganzen Welt, misshandeln und foltern sie", erklärte die Menschenrechtsorganisation am Mittwoch. Dabei bedienten sich die US-Dienste der Unterstützung anderer Länder, so ai anlässlich der Veröffentlichung eines Berichtes über zwei "Verschwundene". Die Menschenrechtler kritisierten, geheime Haft widerspreche internationalem Recht und erleichtere Folter.
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11549
Guantánamo ist nach Ansicht von amnesty international (ai) "nur die Spitze eines Eisbergs": "US-amerikanische Geheimdienste verschleppen Menschen in geheime Haftzentren auf der ganzen Welt, misshandeln und foltern sie", erklärte die Menschenrechtsorganisation am Mittwoch. Dabei bedienten sich die US-Dienste der Unterstützung anderer Länder, so ai anlässlich der Veröffentlichung eines Berichtes über zwei "Verschwundene". Die Menschenrechtler kritisierten, geheime Haft widerspreche internationalem Recht und erleichtere Folter.
Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11549
Starmail - 3. Aug, 22:55
Reviving 'The Radical Center'
As US President George W. Bush announced the unprecedented recess appointment of ultra-nationalist John Bolton as his next ambassador to the United Nations, a group of diplomatic heavyweights was preparing to launch a bipartisan coalition to promote a return to a more moderate and multilateral foreign policy.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305N.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305N.shtml
Starmail - 3. Aug, 22:53
Torture by Special Forces, CIA and Iraqi Allies Revealed
Pressure to produce intelligence for anti-terrorism efforts and the war in Iraq led US military interrogators to improvise and develop abusive measures, not just at Abu Ghraib but in detention centers elsewhere in Iraq, in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305I.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080305I.shtml
Starmail - 3. Aug, 22:51
Die Wiederentdeckung des Imperiums
Starmail - 3. Aug, 22:42
COLLEGE, NOT COMBAT!
* please forward widely! *
A call for a COLLEGE NOT COMBAT contingent in the Sept 24 protests in Washington D.C. and San Francisco
COUNTER-RECRUITMENT...COMING SOON TO A CITY NEAR YOU! Across the country a new movement has sprung up of students, parents, teachers and community members opposing military recruiters in their schools and neighborhoods. From students kicking recruiters off campus, from Seattle to the Bay Area to New Haven to New York; to parents and teachers' unions opposing the military targeting their children; to the growing unwillingness of young people to kill and die in an an unjust war, our message is simple:
Military recruiters out of our schools, U.S. troops out of Iraq!
On September 24, join us from D.C. to San Francisco to say: COLLEGE, NOT COMBAT!
SPONSORED BY: Brooklyn Parents for Peace, Campus Antiwar Network, College Not Combat, Coney Island Avenue Project, Educators to Stop the War, Left Hook, Louisiana Activist Network, Prospect-Lefferts Voices for Peace, Rochester Against War, Traprock Peace Center, United Federation of Teachers to Stop the War, Voices in the Wilderness and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - Monterey Branch, Youth Leadership Support Network, Washington, D.C.
ENDORSED BY: ORGANIZATIONS: 100 Year March; ANSWER - New Hampshire; Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice; Bay Area United Against War; Bronx Greens; Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors; Chapter 60 Veterans for Peace; Chapter 93 Veterans For Peace (Washtenaw County Michigan), Citizens for Legitimate Government; Coalition Against War & Injustice of Baton Rouge; DC Anti-War Network; International Socialist Organization; March for Justice; Mid-South Peace & Justice Center (Memphis); Middle East Children's Alliance; National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco/Bay Area; Oregon PeaceWorks, Peaceful Vocations; People Against the Draft; Political Action Committee for Peace and Justice at Pace University; Radio Free Eirean; San Juan Peace Net; Santa Cruz Peace Coalition; Suffolk Peace Network's Counter Military Recruiting Committee; Texans for Peace (Austin); Vets Speak Out NYC; INDIVIDUALS*: · Kevin and Monica Benderman - Kevin is a conscientious objector who refused re-deployment to Iraq and was sentenced to 15 months for missing movement; Natylie Baldwin, organizer and writer for Mt. Diablo Peace Center, associate editor for Newtopia Magazine; Amy Hagopian, parent and co-chair of Garfield High School PTSA that voted to ban recruiters from their school; Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness; Dennis Kyne, Gulf War veteran and activist; Michael Letwin, Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; Former President, UAW Local 2325; Rania Masri, writer and researcher; Gloria Mattera, Green Party candidate for Brooklyn Borough President; Camilo Mejia, the first soldier to go public with his refusal to redeploy. He spent seven months in military confinement for his decision, and was released in mid-February, 2005; Sunny Miller and Charles Jenks, Executive Director and President of Advisory Boards, respectively, Traprock Peace Center; David Mitchell, Vietnam draft resister active in Rockland Coalition for Peace and Justice; Wafaa' Al-Natheema, writer, editor & translator; Victor Paredes, brother of war resister Pablo Paredes; Ward Reilly, Louisiana Activist Network and South East Contact for Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace; Justino Rodriguez, Hadas Thier and Nick Bergreen of the City College 4 - who were arrested for opposing the military at their school; avid Rovics, singer/ songwriter; Cindy Sheehan, founding member of Gold Star Families for Peace; Norman Solomon, author of "War Made Easy"; Annie and Buddy Spell, activists; Carl Webb, war resister; Brian Willson, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace; Katrina Yeaw, Michael Hoffman, and Pardis Esmaeili- the SFSU 3, who were targeted by their school administration for opposing recruiters; Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove, co-editors of "Voices of a People's History of the United States."
*Organizational affiliations for identification purposes only.
(ALL sponsors/endorsers welcome; email recruitersout@yahoo.com)
* For information on the MILITARY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS buses from NYC to DC, contact: recruitersout@yahoo.comrecruitersout@yahoo.com
* For information on the PEACE TRAIN to D.C. from across the South, contact the Louisiana Activist Network: http://www.newdemocracyrising.com/
Rally time and location TBA. Contact recruitersout@yahoo.com for more info. Campus Antiwar Network http://www.campusantiwar.net College Not Combat http://www.collegenotcombat.org/
Informant: Ashley Smith
A call for a COLLEGE NOT COMBAT contingent in the Sept 24 protests in Washington D.C. and San Francisco
COUNTER-RECRUITMENT...COMING SOON TO A CITY NEAR YOU! Across the country a new movement has sprung up of students, parents, teachers and community members opposing military recruiters in their schools and neighborhoods. From students kicking recruiters off campus, from Seattle to the Bay Area to New Haven to New York; to parents and teachers' unions opposing the military targeting their children; to the growing unwillingness of young people to kill and die in an an unjust war, our message is simple:
Military recruiters out of our schools, U.S. troops out of Iraq!
On September 24, join us from D.C. to San Francisco to say: COLLEGE, NOT COMBAT!
SPONSORED BY: Brooklyn Parents for Peace, Campus Antiwar Network, College Not Combat, Coney Island Avenue Project, Educators to Stop the War, Left Hook, Louisiana Activist Network, Prospect-Lefferts Voices for Peace, Rochester Against War, Traprock Peace Center, United Federation of Teachers to Stop the War, Voices in the Wilderness and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - Monterey Branch, Youth Leadership Support Network, Washington, D.C.
ENDORSED BY: ORGANIZATIONS: 100 Year March; ANSWER - New Hampshire; Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice; Bay Area United Against War; Bronx Greens; Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors; Chapter 60 Veterans for Peace; Chapter 93 Veterans For Peace (Washtenaw County Michigan), Citizens for Legitimate Government; Coalition Against War & Injustice of Baton Rouge; DC Anti-War Network; International Socialist Organization; March for Justice; Mid-South Peace & Justice Center (Memphis); Middle East Children's Alliance; National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco/Bay Area; Oregon PeaceWorks, Peaceful Vocations; People Against the Draft; Political Action Committee for Peace and Justice at Pace University; Radio Free Eirean; San Juan Peace Net; Santa Cruz Peace Coalition; Suffolk Peace Network's Counter Military Recruiting Committee; Texans for Peace (Austin); Vets Speak Out NYC; INDIVIDUALS*: · Kevin and Monica Benderman - Kevin is a conscientious objector who refused re-deployment to Iraq and was sentenced to 15 months for missing movement; Natylie Baldwin, organizer and writer for Mt. Diablo Peace Center, associate editor for Newtopia Magazine; Amy Hagopian, parent and co-chair of Garfield High School PTSA that voted to ban recruiters from their school; Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness; Dennis Kyne, Gulf War veteran and activist; Michael Letwin, Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; Former President, UAW Local 2325; Rania Masri, writer and researcher; Gloria Mattera, Green Party candidate for Brooklyn Borough President; Camilo Mejia, the first soldier to go public with his refusal to redeploy. He spent seven months in military confinement for his decision, and was released in mid-February, 2005; Sunny Miller and Charles Jenks, Executive Director and President of Advisory Boards, respectively, Traprock Peace Center; David Mitchell, Vietnam draft resister active in Rockland Coalition for Peace and Justice; Wafaa' Al-Natheema, writer, editor & translator; Victor Paredes, brother of war resister Pablo Paredes; Ward Reilly, Louisiana Activist Network and South East Contact for Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace; Justino Rodriguez, Hadas Thier and Nick Bergreen of the City College 4 - who were arrested for opposing the military at their school; avid Rovics, singer/ songwriter; Cindy Sheehan, founding member of Gold Star Families for Peace; Norman Solomon, author of "War Made Easy"; Annie and Buddy Spell, activists; Carl Webb, war resister; Brian Willson, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace; Katrina Yeaw, Michael Hoffman, and Pardis Esmaeili- the SFSU 3, who were targeted by their school administration for opposing recruiters; Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove, co-editors of "Voices of a People's History of the United States."
*Organizational affiliations for identification purposes only.
(ALL sponsors/endorsers welcome; email recruitersout@yahoo.com)
* For information on the MILITARY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS buses from NYC to DC, contact: recruitersout@yahoo.comrecruitersout@yahoo.com
* For information on the PEACE TRAIN to D.C. from across the South, contact the Louisiana Activist Network: http://www.newdemocracyrising.com/
Rally time and location TBA. Contact recruitersout@yahoo.com for more info. Campus Antiwar Network http://www.campusantiwar.net College Not Combat http://www.collegenotcombat.org/
Informant: Ashley Smith
Starmail - 3. Aug, 18:08
The New War Candidate: Major Paul Hackett for Congress
by Jack Random
There is something obscene about the media enchantment with the congressional candidacy of Marine Major Paul Hackett of Ohio, a man who opposed the war yet volunteered to serve in it. That the Democrats seem infatuated with such a candidate is a spectacle that taxes the equilibrium of all reasonable observers. Clearly, the minority party has learned nothing from the failed candidacies of Albert Gore and John Kerry....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Random0803.htm
There is something obscene about the media enchantment with the congressional candidacy of Marine Major Paul Hackett of Ohio, a man who opposed the war yet volunteered to serve in it. That the Democrats seem infatuated with such a candidate is a spectacle that taxes the equilibrium of all reasonable observers. Clearly, the minority party has learned nothing from the failed candidacies of Albert Gore and John Kerry....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Random0803.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 17:21
Fascism Then and Now
by John Pilger
Impeccable gentlemen now invade defenseless countries in our name, destroying hospitals, shooting doctors, rounding up thousands and writing a number on their forehead or forearm, then imprisoning and torturing them. They speak of freedom and democracy, and our way of life and our values, and they deride those who reason why. They do not wear armbands and they do not strut. They are different from fascists. But their goals are not different: conquest, domination, the theft and control of vital resources....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Pilger0803.htm
Germany In 1933: The Easy Slide Into Fascism
If my email is any indication, a goodly number of folks wonder if they're living in America in 2003 or Germany in 1933.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5775.htm
Benito Mussolini: What is Fascism?
War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have courage to meet it.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9948.htm
Fascism Anyone?
"When facism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the American flag." - Huey Long
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4113.htm
Impeccable gentlemen now invade defenseless countries in our name, destroying hospitals, shooting doctors, rounding up thousands and writing a number on their forehead or forearm, then imprisoning and torturing them. They speak of freedom and democracy, and our way of life and our values, and they deride those who reason why. They do not wear armbands and they do not strut. They are different from fascists. But their goals are not different: conquest, domination, the theft and control of vital resources....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Pilger0803.htm
Germany In 1933: The Easy Slide Into Fascism
If my email is any indication, a goodly number of folks wonder if they're living in America in 2003 or Germany in 1933.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5775.htm
Benito Mussolini: What is Fascism?
War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have courage to meet it.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9948.htm
Fascism Anyone?
"When facism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the American flag." - Huey Long
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4113.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 17:20
The New American Security State
by David Sugar
Fresh on the heels of the London Bombings overseas, our government, known otherwise for dismembering state involvement when used to protect citizens from corporate greed, has been quick to exploit these incidents to further usher in the new security state, which claims to protect citizens from a threat it wishes the public to imagine requires governmental solutions. Never mind that none of these new measures actually increase anyone's security, except the security of those in power from those they govern....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Sugar0803.htm
Fresh on the heels of the London Bombings overseas, our government, known otherwise for dismembering state involvement when used to protect citizens from corporate greed, has been quick to exploit these incidents to further usher in the new security state, which claims to protect citizens from a threat it wishes the public to imagine requires governmental solutions. Never mind that none of these new measures actually increase anyone's security, except the security of those in power from those they govern....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Sugar0803.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 17:18
Color Coded Justice: John Roberts' Racial Hang-up
by Joshua Frank
First, Supreme Court nominee John Roberts Jr. lied about his membership with the far right-wing Federalist Society, and now file cabinets full of documents are being released which indicate Roberts' penchant for justice is color coded. He says he won't be an activist judge. But he's lying again. Right-wing activism is all Roberts knows. On Thursday, July 28, Senator Edward Kennedy alleged that Roberts has a “rather cramped view of the Voting Rights Act.” What an understatement....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Frank0803.htm
First, Supreme Court nominee John Roberts Jr. lied about his membership with the far right-wing Federalist Society, and now file cabinets full of documents are being released which indicate Roberts' penchant for justice is color coded. He says he won't be an activist judge. But he's lying again. Right-wing activism is all Roberts knows. On Thursday, July 28, Senator Edward Kennedy alleged that Roberts has a “rather cramped view of the Voting Rights Act.” What an understatement....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Frank0803.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 17:17
“Operation Community Shield”: Chertoff’s Preemptive Crackdown
“Operation Community Shield”: Comrade Chertoff’s Preemptive Crackdown
by Mike Whitney
Homeland Security’s Michael Chertoff is a busy man. In the last month alone he’s arrested more than 600 gang members. There’s only one problem. None of them has been charged with a crime. No matter. In Chertoff’s world that’s only a minor glitch. After all, Chertoff engineered the infamous round up of 1,100 Muslims following 9-11, tossing them all in the federal hoosegow and barring them from legal counsel. It was quite a coup, and probably helped the public feel more secure from the looming threat of domestic terror....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Whitney0803.htm
by Mike Whitney
Homeland Security’s Michael Chertoff is a busy man. In the last month alone he’s arrested more than 600 gang members. There’s only one problem. None of them has been charged with a crime. No matter. In Chertoff’s world that’s only a minor glitch. After all, Chertoff engineered the infamous round up of 1,100 Muslims following 9-11, tossing them all in the federal hoosegow and barring them from legal counsel. It was quite a coup, and probably helped the public feel more secure from the looming threat of domestic terror....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Whitney0803.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 17:14
In Praise of Kevin Benderman
by Norman Solomon
Conscience is Not in the Chain of Command. "Before being sentenced to 15 months for refusing to return to Iraq with his Army unit, Sgt. Kevin Benderman told a military judge that he acted with his conscience, not out of a disregard for duty," the Associated Press reports. Benderman, a 40-year-old Army mechanic, "refused to go on a second combat tour in January, saying the destruction and misery he witnessed during the 2003 Iraq invasion had turned him against war." Three weeks ago, his wife Monica Benderman wrote: "He returned knowing that war is wrong, the most dehumanizing creation of humanity that exists. He saw war destroy civilians, innocent men, women and children. He saw war destroy homes, relationships and a country. He saw this not only in the country that was invaded, but he saw this happening to the invading country as well -- and he knew that the only way to save those soldiers was for people to no longer participate in war."....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Solomon0803.htm
Conscience is Not in the Chain of Command. "Before being sentenced to 15 months for refusing to return to Iraq with his Army unit, Sgt. Kevin Benderman told a military judge that he acted with his conscience, not out of a disregard for duty," the Associated Press reports. Benderman, a 40-year-old Army mechanic, "refused to go on a second combat tour in January, saying the destruction and misery he witnessed during the 2003 Iraq invasion had turned him against war." Three weeks ago, his wife Monica Benderman wrote: "He returned knowing that war is wrong, the most dehumanizing creation of humanity that exists. He saw war destroy civilians, innocent men, women and children. He saw war destroy homes, relationships and a country. He saw this not only in the country that was invaded, but he saw this happening to the invading country as well -- and he knew that the only way to save those soldiers was for people to no longer participate in war."....
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Solomon0803.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 17:11
Judge Roberts' Environmental Record Under Scrutiny
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:34
Save Petty's Island
Please sign, forward and crosspost as you see fit.
Please sign the petition to save Petty's Island.This island Btwn Nj
and PA) is home to many endangered animals/birds and plants. It is in danger of being developed.
"We, the undersigned citizens, hereby petition the NJ Governor, U.S. Senators, and Congresspersons to take action to preserve Petty's Island and its endangered American Bald Eagles and other threatened and endangered species. We urge them to call on the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to accept Citgo Corporation's offer to clean up Petty's Island and to grant a conservation easement as a free gift to the public so that the island will become permanent open space and stay home to the many animals/birds and plants that live there. We say NO to building on the island, as it would upset the natural environment found on Petty's Island by encroaching on the habitat of the wild."
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/364152105
Thanks,
Earth First! Philadelphia
Informant: defendersofatwa
Please sign the petition to save Petty's Island.This island Btwn Nj
and PA) is home to many endangered animals/birds and plants. It is in danger of being developed.
"We, the undersigned citizens, hereby petition the NJ Governor, U.S. Senators, and Congresspersons to take action to preserve Petty's Island and its endangered American Bald Eagles and other threatened and endangered species. We urge them to call on the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to accept Citgo Corporation's offer to clean up Petty's Island and to grant a conservation easement as a free gift to the public so that the island will become permanent open space and stay home to the many animals/birds and plants that live there. We say NO to building on the island, as it would upset the natural environment found on Petty's Island by encroaching on the habitat of the wild."
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/364152105
Thanks,
Earth First! Philadelphia
Informant: defendersofatwa
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:30
Novak Recycles Gannon on 'Plame-Gate'
Right-wing columnist Robert Novak's new attack on former Ambassador Joseph Wilson - that he was "discarded a year ago by the Kerry presidential campaign" - recycled a disputed report from Talon News correspondent Jeff Gannon, who was unmasked earlier this year as a pro-Republican operative working under an assumed name.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205G.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205G.shtml
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:23
None Dare Call It Stolen - the Election
While commentators, prompted by Republicans, claimed Bush won the 2004 election through the votes of a silent majority concerned with "family values," Mark Crispin Miller writes that when voters were asked to state, "in their own words the most important factor in their vote,"only 14 percent named "moral values."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205F.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205F.shtml
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:22
A Non-Debate over India-US Nuclear Deal
Much has been written about the India-US "nuclear deal" struck during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington in July. But according to J. Sri Raman more alarming than the still vague details of the deal, however, is the shape the debate over it is acquiring in India.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205E.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205E.shtml
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:20
Hiroshima Cover-Up Exposed
In the weeks following the atomic attacks on Japan almost 60 years ago, and then for decades afterward, the United States engaged in airtight suppression of all film shot in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings. In addition, for many years, all but a handful of newspaper photographs were seized or prohibited.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205B.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205B.shtml
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:18
Strategy for Homeland Defense and Support
This active, layered defense is global, seamlessly integrating US capabilities in the forward regions of the world, the global commons of space and cyberspace, in the geographic approaches to US territory, and within the United States. It is a defense in depth.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2005/d20050630homeland.pdf
From Information Clearing House
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2005/d20050630homeland.pdf
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:15
Some Europeans Angered by Bush's Summer Surprise
The controversial John Bolton is now US President George Bush's right-hand man at the UN. Europe is stunned.
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,367959,00.html
From Information Clearing House
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,367959,00.html
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:13
John Bolton: Ugly Face on Ugly Policy
It’s macho, in your face, unilateral, we don’t give a damn, we’re doing it our way, and if you don’t like it, tough: That’s the style that got the United States into Iraq and into the torture scandal.
http://progressive.org/?q=mag_wx080105
From Information Clearing House
http://progressive.org/?q=mag_wx080105
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:11
US intelligence says Iran 10 yrs away from nuclear bomb
The report also expresses uncertainty about whether Iran's ruling clerics have made a decision to build a nuclear arsenal.
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2005/08/02/afx2166527.html
From Information Clearing House
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2005/08/02/afx2166527.html
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:10
Religous Hatred Fuels Attacks
Faith hate crimes have soared by 600% in London since the July 7 bombings.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-13399356,00.html?f=rss
From Information Clearing House
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-13399356,00.html?f=rss
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:07
London Bombings Mastermind is MI6 Asset?
Terrorism "Expert" John Loftus revealed that Haroon Rashid Aswat, the suspect wanted by British Police for "masterminding" the July 7th London bombings and July 21st attempted bombings is in fact an asset of MI6, the British Secret Service.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9643.htm
British and American intelligence services are said to be in hot dispute over the importance of Aswat. So let's see what we can figure out...
http://www.simplyappalling.blogspot.com/#112290784137987310
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9643.htm
British and American intelligence services are said to be in hot dispute over the importance of Aswat. So let's see what we can figure out...
http://www.simplyappalling.blogspot.com/#112290784137987310
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:06
US terror hearings rigged, say prosecutors
The military commissions set up by the United States to try terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay are rigged, fraudulent and based on "half-assed" evidence, according to leaked e-mails.
http://snipurl.com/go98
From Information Clearing House
http://snipurl.com/go98
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 16:03
Howard, Beazley sell out on Australian law and courts
The Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley are wrongly giving legitimacy to the US law and courts over the Australian rule of law, Greens Senator Bob Brown said today.
http://www.greens.org.au/mediacentre/mediareleases/senatorbrown/020805b
Defence Force lawyer lashes Hicks court:
Australia's top Defence Force lawyer has lambasted the US military court David Hicks faces as "unobjective" and "wrong" following the release of sensational emails of US prosecutors which describe it as rigged.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9645.htm
Insiders confirm obvious: the Hicks fix is in:
Australia's Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, would do well to carefully read the leaked memos from the US prosecutors on the flawed military commission trial that will judge David Hicks.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9646.htm
From Information Clearing House
http://www.greens.org.au/mediacentre/mediareleases/senatorbrown/020805b
Defence Force lawyer lashes Hicks court:
Australia's top Defence Force lawyer has lambasted the US military court David Hicks faces as "unobjective" and "wrong" following the release of sensational emails of US prosecutors which describe it as rigged.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9645.htm
Insiders confirm obvious: the Hicks fix is in:
Australia's Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, would do well to carefully read the leaked memos from the US prosecutors on the flawed military commission trial that will judge David Hicks.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9646.htm
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:59
'I was in agony'
The Guardian
Benyam Mohammed travelled from London to Afghanistan in July 2001, but after September 11 he fled to Pakistan. He was arrested at Karachi airport on April 10 2002, and describes being flown by a US government plane to a prison in Morocco. These are extracts from his diary.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9654.htm
Benyam Mohammed travelled from London to Afghanistan in July 2001, but after September 11 he fled to Pakistan. He was arrested at Karachi airport on April 10 2002, and describes being flown by a US government plane to a prison in Morocco. These are extracts from his diary.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9654.htm
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:53
Bush, Bolton to Congress: Screw You!
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:44
Questions Linger as Bush Pushes India Nuclear Deal
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:43
British Detainee's Tale of US 'Torture by Proxy'
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:41
World Turning Its Back on Brand America
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:40
Too Much of Nothing
It’s getting harder to hide the climate crisis. Obviously, this situation requires a global response. What seems less obvious, at least among the elites, is that this can’t be a business-as-usual response in which the climate crisis becomes just another excuse for strengthening the winds of neoliberalism.
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/080205EA.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/080205EA.shtml
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:37
CAFTA Battle Casts Doubt on Future Pacts
President Bush signed a free trade agreement with six Latin American countries on Tuesday, celebrating a victory in Congress so narrow and grueling that it cast doubt on the future of other trade-opening pacts the administration is negotiating.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205R.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205R.shtml
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:35
Sunspot Region Rotates Into Dangerous Alignment
August 2nd 2005
EARTH CHANGES TV NEWSLETTER
Sunspot Region Rotates Into Dangerous Alignment
by Mitch Battros – ECTV
Yet another M-Class flare fired off this morning. More expected and with greater intensity. Sunspot region 786 and 788 have been re-named since they have rotated from the far side of the Sun. Now they are know as regions 792 and 794.
Sunspots: http://www.earthchangestv.net/images/sunspot_region8205.jpg
M-Class Flare: http://www.sec.noaa.gov/rt_plots/xray_5mBL.html
EARTH CHANGES TV NEWSLETTER
Sunspot Region Rotates Into Dangerous Alignment
by Mitch Battros – ECTV
Yet another M-Class flare fired off this morning. More expected and with greater intensity. Sunspot region 786 and 788 have been re-named since they have rotated from the far side of the Sun. Now they are know as regions 792 and 794.
Sunspots: http://www.earthchangestv.net/images/sunspot_region8205.jpg
M-Class Flare: http://www.sec.noaa.gov/rt_plots/xray_5mBL.html
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:21
The AFL-CIO and the Iraq war
James Petras
Rebelión
The US labor confederation, the AFL-CIO, is in a deep crisis. Following a recent split, it lost over 3 million members, reducing it to a mere 9% of the labor force and 7% of the private sector.
The crisis of the AFL-CIO is the result of politics, including the politics of collaboration with employers and opposition to militant “grass-root” organizing. Over the past 50 years the AFL-CIO trade union bureaucrats have intervened against militant local unions, surrendered past gains to avoid struggles with employers, passively accepted corporate plant closings and relocations to low-wage areas, and refused to organize the tens of millions of low-wage workers in the retail and other service sectors.
The privileges in salaries and “benefits” of the top and middle level trade union bosses exceed, on average, $300,000, apart from multiple pensions, and corrupt management of billion dollar pension funds. The key to the internal rot in the AFL-CIO is its long-standing structural linkages to US imperialism, including its role in joint ventures with the CIA in overthrowing democratic regimes and training and financing pro-business “trade union officials”. The AFL-CIO has supported every major US imperial war, ( Korea , Vietnam , Afghanistan , Yugoslavia , and Iraq ); and every major US intervention ( Guatemala 1954, Chile 1973, Guyana 1955, Venezuela 2002, Iran 1955, Panama 1980 and Grenada 1983.
The AFL-CIO has undermined legitimate militant unions and paved the way for pro-US business regimes to come to power, thus facilitating the relocation of US multinationals from the US to low-paid, non-union US client countries
True to its tradition as an accomplice to US imperial wars, the AFL-CIO has supported the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and continues to hold billions of dollars in Israel bonds, despite the fact that less than 0.5% of its members are Jewish.
By July 2005, over half of the US population is questioning the US invasion and occupation of Iraq . Most of the major traditional religious organizations are opposed to the war. Over 25,000 US soldiers have been incapacitated by mental or physical injuries and 1800 US soldiers have been killed and over 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the US war. The AFL-CIO in its recent “split” congress (July 25-28, 2005) characteristically refused to condemn the war and call for the immediate withdrawal of troops, despite the fact that many Americans are moving in that direction.
A close reading of the AFL-CIO resolution on the war in Iraq approved by its last convention reveals that it continues to echo the military agenda of Washington , despite claims by many US “leftists” and “progressives” that the resolution represents a victory for the anti-war movement.
The opening paragraph bluntly states its support for the US occupation army in Iraq … in all branches of the armed forces, which must include the “men” and “women” engaged in torturing Iraqis in Abu Ghraib… The statement goes on to call for greater armaments and stronger military leaders for the occupation.
What follows is the single sentence, which is cited by the “progressives” as their “victory”. The sentence reads: “Most importantly they (the US soldiers) deserve a commitment from our country’s leaders to bring them home rapidly.” This is a statement which is no different from what Bush, Blair or Rumsfeld have promised: to return our soldiers as rapidly “as security allows”, “as the Iraqis can defend their democracy”, and “as we train their soldiers to replace our servicemen and women.” In fact, the day the AFL-CIO passed its resolution, the Pentagon announced it hoped to reduce US troops guarding the 16,000 Iraqis held in concentrations camps as soon as next spring when the Iraqis presumable could be trusted as the mercenary jailers of their own compatriots. The AFL-CIO’s time schedule mirrors that of Bush/Rumsfeld; both are indefinite in time and place. The AFL-CIO’s reason for an eventual withdrawal have nothing to do with the ravages and destruction of a colonial war and everything to do with empire building – globally.
The follow-up sentence reads: “An unending military presence will waste lives and resources, undermine our nation’s security and weaken our military.” In other words, the US military faced with a prolonged war in Iraq cannot engage “insurgents” elsewhere!
The following paragraph mentions the 1,700 US dead and vaguely refers to Iraqi civilians “in the thousands” and then, the supreme cant and hypocrisy blames the insurgency (resistance), which “has focused its terror on the Iraqi people”. The massive US bombing of Fallujah, Baghdad, Samara and other cities; the wanton daily killing of hundreds of civilians – over 100,000 dead according to the medical journal, The Lancet, as of last year, is totally absent. The AFL-CIO blames the resistance for the crimes committed by “our leaders”. The AFL-CIO praises the election orchestrated by Washington under its colonial military occupation and run by its exile clients as an example of Iraq ’s democratic aspirations, forgetting to mention that over 80% of the Iraqi people want the US military out…yesterday! Once again the AFLCIO echoes the Bush-Rumsfeld line on the occupation, the elections, the resistance and the constitution.
Following the overwhelming majority of the US public, which recognizes that Bush lied in the lead-up to the war – the AFL-CIO fails to denounce the lies and multi-billion dollar theft of Iraqi assets which has taken place during the occupation. The best that the labor bosses can offer is support for a “call from members of Congress for the establishment of benchmarks (?) in the key areas of security, governance, reconstruction and internationalization.” Call for “benchmarks” (whatever that means) when there are a raft of detailed official reports on the pillage of reconstruction spending, the privatization and handover of billions of dollars of oilfields to US MNCs (“internationalization” according to the euphemisms of the AFL-CIO), and the transfer of prisoners to Guantanamo to be tortured indefinitely (a lovely “security benchmark”).
In paragraph six, the AFL-CIO explicitly defends a continued military occupation of Iraq – purportedly based on a “broad coalition of nations”. At a time when even US clients like Poland , Bulgaria , the Ukraine and most others are pulling out of Iraq , the AFL-CIO mindlessly parrots the John Kerry/Hilary Clinton parody of a multilateral colonial army, when the political basis for it has disappeared.
The military solution remains as the single most important reference point for the AFL-CIO: “Greater security on the ground remains an unmet precondition for such efforts (“building a democratic Iraq ”) to succeed.” “Greater security on the ground” means US soldiers, lots of them for a long time, because of “unmet preconditions”, a euphemism for massive sustained anti-imperialist resistance, which precludes the puppet regime from consolidating its rule.
The AFL-CIO resolution says nothing about socio-economic reform, job programs and channeling oil wealth into social welfare programs and real nation building – programs which would require the ousting of the US-backed elite. Instead they call for police state repressive solutions. “The AFL-CIO calls on the international community (sic) to help the Iraqi people build its capacity to maintain law and order through a concerted international effort to train Iraqi security and police forces”. More secret police, torturers, mercenaries, collaborators – the AFL-CIO is on familiar ground in Iraq as it was in orchestrating the aborted coup in Venezuela, the Chilean coup and other successful ventures in imperial “law and order”.
Perhaps the worst of the worst of the AFL-CIO apologia for the US imperial occupation is found in its discussion of the destruction of Iraq and the efforts at recostruction. The entire blame for the destruction of Iraq is placed on the Saddam Hussein regime, despite the fact that all testimony and date demonstrate that living standards, employment and health were better prior to the US invasion than now. It would, of course, be beyond the capacity of the AFL-CIO to note that it was the US enforced economic sanctions under their Democratic President Clinton that 500,000 Iraqi children died. And that “rehabilitation” has failed because of the wholesale pillage of Iraqi assets, including oil revenues, and US tax dollars by US military contractors, security agencies, military officers and a host of other rapacious officials. The resolution ends by appealing for trade union freedoms, such as payroll deductions for union dues, no doubt the least concern of militants facing trigger-happy US soldiers and their death squad “buddies” in the Iraqi special battalions. But payroll deductions for union dues are important for union bosses who do not fight for their members and have not secured their loyalty on the picket line. I am sure if the AFL-CIO trains Iraqi counterparts, the US occupation will eventually come around to allowing these “unionists” to clip 10% off the starvation salary of an Iraqi oil worker.
Conclusion
The Iraq War resolution approved at the AFL-CIO’s latest convention, apart from an ambiguous phrase thrown in to pacify a few dissidents, remained true to its history of supporting imperial wars and tyranny while continuing to lose members and loyalties in the US for its efforts.
July 27, 2005
UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE | 212-868-5545
Informant: David Silver
From ufpj-news
Rebelión
The US labor confederation, the AFL-CIO, is in a deep crisis. Following a recent split, it lost over 3 million members, reducing it to a mere 9% of the labor force and 7% of the private sector.
The crisis of the AFL-CIO is the result of politics, including the politics of collaboration with employers and opposition to militant “grass-root” organizing. Over the past 50 years the AFL-CIO trade union bureaucrats have intervened against militant local unions, surrendered past gains to avoid struggles with employers, passively accepted corporate plant closings and relocations to low-wage areas, and refused to organize the tens of millions of low-wage workers in the retail and other service sectors.
The privileges in salaries and “benefits” of the top and middle level trade union bosses exceed, on average, $300,000, apart from multiple pensions, and corrupt management of billion dollar pension funds. The key to the internal rot in the AFL-CIO is its long-standing structural linkages to US imperialism, including its role in joint ventures with the CIA in overthrowing democratic regimes and training and financing pro-business “trade union officials”. The AFL-CIO has supported every major US imperial war, ( Korea , Vietnam , Afghanistan , Yugoslavia , and Iraq ); and every major US intervention ( Guatemala 1954, Chile 1973, Guyana 1955, Venezuela 2002, Iran 1955, Panama 1980 and Grenada 1983.
The AFL-CIO has undermined legitimate militant unions and paved the way for pro-US business regimes to come to power, thus facilitating the relocation of US multinationals from the US to low-paid, non-union US client countries
True to its tradition as an accomplice to US imperial wars, the AFL-CIO has supported the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and continues to hold billions of dollars in Israel bonds, despite the fact that less than 0.5% of its members are Jewish.
By July 2005, over half of the US population is questioning the US invasion and occupation of Iraq . Most of the major traditional religious organizations are opposed to the war. Over 25,000 US soldiers have been incapacitated by mental or physical injuries and 1800 US soldiers have been killed and over 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the US war. The AFL-CIO in its recent “split” congress (July 25-28, 2005) characteristically refused to condemn the war and call for the immediate withdrawal of troops, despite the fact that many Americans are moving in that direction.
A close reading of the AFL-CIO resolution on the war in Iraq approved by its last convention reveals that it continues to echo the military agenda of Washington , despite claims by many US “leftists” and “progressives” that the resolution represents a victory for the anti-war movement.
The opening paragraph bluntly states its support for the US occupation army in Iraq … in all branches of the armed forces, which must include the “men” and “women” engaged in torturing Iraqis in Abu Ghraib… The statement goes on to call for greater armaments and stronger military leaders for the occupation.
What follows is the single sentence, which is cited by the “progressives” as their “victory”. The sentence reads: “Most importantly they (the US soldiers) deserve a commitment from our country’s leaders to bring them home rapidly.” This is a statement which is no different from what Bush, Blair or Rumsfeld have promised: to return our soldiers as rapidly “as security allows”, “as the Iraqis can defend their democracy”, and “as we train their soldiers to replace our servicemen and women.” In fact, the day the AFL-CIO passed its resolution, the Pentagon announced it hoped to reduce US troops guarding the 16,000 Iraqis held in concentrations camps as soon as next spring when the Iraqis presumable could be trusted as the mercenary jailers of their own compatriots. The AFL-CIO’s time schedule mirrors that of Bush/Rumsfeld; both are indefinite in time and place. The AFL-CIO’s reason for an eventual withdrawal have nothing to do with the ravages and destruction of a colonial war and everything to do with empire building – globally.
The follow-up sentence reads: “An unending military presence will waste lives and resources, undermine our nation’s security and weaken our military.” In other words, the US military faced with a prolonged war in Iraq cannot engage “insurgents” elsewhere!
The following paragraph mentions the 1,700 US dead and vaguely refers to Iraqi civilians “in the thousands” and then, the supreme cant and hypocrisy blames the insurgency (resistance), which “has focused its terror on the Iraqi people”. The massive US bombing of Fallujah, Baghdad, Samara and other cities; the wanton daily killing of hundreds of civilians – over 100,000 dead according to the medical journal, The Lancet, as of last year, is totally absent. The AFL-CIO blames the resistance for the crimes committed by “our leaders”. The AFL-CIO praises the election orchestrated by Washington under its colonial military occupation and run by its exile clients as an example of Iraq ’s democratic aspirations, forgetting to mention that over 80% of the Iraqi people want the US military out…yesterday! Once again the AFLCIO echoes the Bush-Rumsfeld line on the occupation, the elections, the resistance and the constitution.
Following the overwhelming majority of the US public, which recognizes that Bush lied in the lead-up to the war – the AFL-CIO fails to denounce the lies and multi-billion dollar theft of Iraqi assets which has taken place during the occupation. The best that the labor bosses can offer is support for a “call from members of Congress for the establishment of benchmarks (?) in the key areas of security, governance, reconstruction and internationalization.” Call for “benchmarks” (whatever that means) when there are a raft of detailed official reports on the pillage of reconstruction spending, the privatization and handover of billions of dollars of oilfields to US MNCs (“internationalization” according to the euphemisms of the AFL-CIO), and the transfer of prisoners to Guantanamo to be tortured indefinitely (a lovely “security benchmark”).
In paragraph six, the AFL-CIO explicitly defends a continued military occupation of Iraq – purportedly based on a “broad coalition of nations”. At a time when even US clients like Poland , Bulgaria , the Ukraine and most others are pulling out of Iraq , the AFL-CIO mindlessly parrots the John Kerry/Hilary Clinton parody of a multilateral colonial army, when the political basis for it has disappeared.
The military solution remains as the single most important reference point for the AFL-CIO: “Greater security on the ground remains an unmet precondition for such efforts (“building a democratic Iraq ”) to succeed.” “Greater security on the ground” means US soldiers, lots of them for a long time, because of “unmet preconditions”, a euphemism for massive sustained anti-imperialist resistance, which precludes the puppet regime from consolidating its rule.
The AFL-CIO resolution says nothing about socio-economic reform, job programs and channeling oil wealth into social welfare programs and real nation building – programs which would require the ousting of the US-backed elite. Instead they call for police state repressive solutions. “The AFL-CIO calls on the international community (sic) to help the Iraqi people build its capacity to maintain law and order through a concerted international effort to train Iraqi security and police forces”. More secret police, torturers, mercenaries, collaborators – the AFL-CIO is on familiar ground in Iraq as it was in orchestrating the aborted coup in Venezuela, the Chilean coup and other successful ventures in imperial “law and order”.
Perhaps the worst of the worst of the AFL-CIO apologia for the US imperial occupation is found in its discussion of the destruction of Iraq and the efforts at recostruction. The entire blame for the destruction of Iraq is placed on the Saddam Hussein regime, despite the fact that all testimony and date demonstrate that living standards, employment and health were better prior to the US invasion than now. It would, of course, be beyond the capacity of the AFL-CIO to note that it was the US enforced economic sanctions under their Democratic President Clinton that 500,000 Iraqi children died. And that “rehabilitation” has failed because of the wholesale pillage of Iraqi assets, including oil revenues, and US tax dollars by US military contractors, security agencies, military officers and a host of other rapacious officials. The resolution ends by appealing for trade union freedoms, such as payroll deductions for union dues, no doubt the least concern of militants facing trigger-happy US soldiers and their death squad “buddies” in the Iraqi special battalions. But payroll deductions for union dues are important for union bosses who do not fight for their members and have not secured their loyalty on the picket line. I am sure if the AFL-CIO trains Iraqi counterparts, the US occupation will eventually come around to allowing these “unionists” to clip 10% off the starvation salary of an Iraqi oil worker.
Conclusion
The Iraq War resolution approved at the AFL-CIO’s latest convention, apart from an ambiguous phrase thrown in to pacify a few dissidents, remained true to its history of supporting imperial wars and tyranny while continuing to lose members and loyalties in the US for its efforts.
July 27, 2005
UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE | 212-868-5545
Informant: David Silver
From ufpj-news
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:14
On the infallibility of ICNIRP
http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=159
The ICNIRP Saga
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/566278/
The ICNIRP Saga
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/566278/
Starmail - 3. Aug, 15:08
A Young Man's Death in Iraq
Starmail - 3. Aug, 14:56
Where Do I Live: Is This Really Still America?
Starmail - 3. Aug, 14:55
'Ah! But It's Not Working?'
Starmail - 3. Aug, 14:52
Anger at mast plan on housing estate
Aug 3 2005
By Paul Newham, Crewe Chronicle
ANGRY residents have set up their own protest group to fight plans for a 50ft phone mast in the middle of a housing estate in Crewe.
Orange PCS Ltd has applied for planning permission to put up the mast on land owned by Brookhouse Garage in Lewis Street.
But, with some homes just 40 metres away from the proposed site, residents have sent a clear message that they will not tolerate the eyesore.
Brian Roberts, 55, and his wife Sandra have launched the Lewis Street Action Group to protest against the plans.
Mr Roberts, a father-of-six who works as a construction manager, said: 'If you look at the application it is for a 50ft mast with three antennas and one microwave dish.
'We have to read between the lines and realise that, in an elevated spot like that, more and more equipment is bound to go on to that mast over time.
'You see these kinds of masts in farmers' fields and they seem to grow every time you drive past them.'
Mrs Roberts added residents are unhappy about the notification they received from the borough council.
She said: 'We live just 40 metres away from the mast but neighbours of ours just two or three doors down have received no letter.
'It is quite staggering considering we are talking about a six-storey high mast in the middle of tightly packed rows of terraced housing, that every resident has not received a letter.
'The swimming baths are approximately 200 metres from this mast. Do the children have to swim under an umbrella of microwaves?'
Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council's planning guidelines indicate all properties within 100 metres of such a development should be notified in writing.
Planning officer Alan Millington said: 'More than 85 letters were sent out to residents which covered all addresses within 100 metres.
'I have explained to residents that we are under pressure to process applications which is why we have formal consultation periods.
'But I have said I will receive letters right up to the date of the planning committee meeting.'
Formal consultation on the mast application ends on Friday, August 12, with the next meeting of the development control committee scheduled for Monday, August 22.
By Paul Newham, Crewe Chronicle
ANGRY residents have set up their own protest group to fight plans for a 50ft phone mast in the middle of a housing estate in Crewe.
Orange PCS Ltd has applied for planning permission to put up the mast on land owned by Brookhouse Garage in Lewis Street.
But, with some homes just 40 metres away from the proposed site, residents have sent a clear message that they will not tolerate the eyesore.
Brian Roberts, 55, and his wife Sandra have launched the Lewis Street Action Group to protest against the plans.
Mr Roberts, a father-of-six who works as a construction manager, said: 'If you look at the application it is for a 50ft mast with three antennas and one microwave dish.
'We have to read between the lines and realise that, in an elevated spot like that, more and more equipment is bound to go on to that mast over time.
'You see these kinds of masts in farmers' fields and they seem to grow every time you drive past them.'
Mrs Roberts added residents are unhappy about the notification they received from the borough council.
She said: 'We live just 40 metres away from the mast but neighbours of ours just two or three doors down have received no letter.
'It is quite staggering considering we are talking about a six-storey high mast in the middle of tightly packed rows of terraced housing, that every resident has not received a letter.
'The swimming baths are approximately 200 metres from this mast. Do the children have to swim under an umbrella of microwaves?'
Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council's planning guidelines indicate all properties within 100 metres of such a development should be notified in writing.
Planning officer Alan Millington said: 'More than 85 letters were sent out to residents which covered all addresses within 100 metres.
'I have explained to residents that we are under pressure to process applications which is why we have formal consultation periods.
'But I have said I will receive letters right up to the date of the planning committee meeting.'
Formal consultation on the mast application ends on Friday, August 12, with the next meeting of the development control committee scheduled for Monday, August 22.
Starmail - 3. Aug, 14:25
Orange is expelled
By Linda Piper
London News Shopper Bexley
A LONG-running battle over a phone mast on a primary school has finally been resolved.
Phone company Orange has been told it must decommission the mast next to classrooms at Bedonwell Infant and Junior Schools in Belvedere, within eight weeks of its new 3G mast becoming operational.
Bexley Council's planning control committee imposed the condition after handing the company permission for a new mast on the top of the telephone exchange in Erith Road, Belvedere, granted last week.
The company signed a lease with the school in 1995 to rent a piece of land for the mast, before the continuing controversy about the effects of phone masts first surfaced.
In return the school received £9,000 a year from Orange.
Once parents realised the uncertainty over health risks from phone masts, they launched a campaign to get the mast removed.
Several parents, including Debbie Collins from Belvedere, removed their children from the school, rather than expose them to possible health risks.
Parents and children also staged a protest march through Bexleyheath Broadway to the council offices.
They pressured Bexley Council and the company and in 2001 thought they had won when Orange said it was prepared to move the mast if it could find an alternative site.
The then council leader Councillor Mike Slaughter offered Bexley's help in identifying another site but all the efforts came to nothing.
The council and the company always maintained the strength of emissions from the mast was tiny and would not affect the children.
In recent years the school has refused the company access to the mast which would have enabled engineers to upgrade it preventing Orange from re-using the mast for its 3G services.
Because of the outcry from parents, the school had already told the company it was not prepared to renew the lease on the school site.
Now the company says its new mast on the roof of the exchange will provide its 3G coverage plus 40 per cent of the 2G coverage now coming from the Bedonwell mast.
Mrs Collins' daughter Rhiannon was just six when her mother took her away to teach her at home.
She would have been due to leave the school this summer.
Reacting to the news Mrs Collins said: "Fantastic. I cannot believe it.
"At last children will not have to sit next to emissions from the mast any longer."
She added "At the time we said Orange should have used one of the suggested alternative sites.
"These alternatives included the Erith exchange where it could have shared a mast.
"It obviously did not suit the company's purpose to do so.
"It is a shame Orange did not put the health of children first but it is good councillors finally took the chance to do something."
London News Shopper Bexley
A LONG-running battle over a phone mast on a primary school has finally been resolved.
Phone company Orange has been told it must decommission the mast next to classrooms at Bedonwell Infant and Junior Schools in Belvedere, within eight weeks of its new 3G mast becoming operational.
Bexley Council's planning control committee imposed the condition after handing the company permission for a new mast on the top of the telephone exchange in Erith Road, Belvedere, granted last week.
The company signed a lease with the school in 1995 to rent a piece of land for the mast, before the continuing controversy about the effects of phone masts first surfaced.
In return the school received £9,000 a year from Orange.
Once parents realised the uncertainty over health risks from phone masts, they launched a campaign to get the mast removed.
Several parents, including Debbie Collins from Belvedere, removed their children from the school, rather than expose them to possible health risks.
Parents and children also staged a protest march through Bexleyheath Broadway to the council offices.
They pressured Bexley Council and the company and in 2001 thought they had won when Orange said it was prepared to move the mast if it could find an alternative site.
The then council leader Councillor Mike Slaughter offered Bexley's help in identifying another site but all the efforts came to nothing.
The council and the company always maintained the strength of emissions from the mast was tiny and would not affect the children.
In recent years the school has refused the company access to the mast which would have enabled engineers to upgrade it preventing Orange from re-using the mast for its 3G services.
Because of the outcry from parents, the school had already told the company it was not prepared to renew the lease on the school site.
Now the company says its new mast on the roof of the exchange will provide its 3G coverage plus 40 per cent of the 2G coverage now coming from the Bedonwell mast.
Mrs Collins' daughter Rhiannon was just six when her mother took her away to teach her at home.
She would have been due to leave the school this summer.
Reacting to the news Mrs Collins said: "Fantastic. I cannot believe it.
"At last children will not have to sit next to emissions from the mast any longer."
She added "At the time we said Orange should have used one of the suggested alternative sites.
"These alternatives included the Erith exchange where it could have shared a mast.
"It obviously did not suit the company's purpose to do so.
"It is a shame Orange did not put the health of children first but it is good councillors finally took the chance to do something."
Starmail - 3. Aug, 14:23
Calling for mast action
Reddich Hopper 03.08.05
A MATCHBOROUGH man is rallying support to fight one of an "epidemic" of mobile phone masts across Redditch.
Phil Henshaw, of Frankton Close, said he was lobbying as many neighbours as possible to oppose the proposed mast in Bart Leet Road.
"It's position would be a mere stone's throw away from Matchborough First School - I couldn't think of a worse location," he said.
"I'm sick of so-called experts telling us they're safe - nothing seems to have been proven yet about the health effects."
He added: "But they seem to be springing up everywhere - it's like an epidemic - nothing's being done to stop it."
The latest phase of mobile phone masts - so-called "third generation" masts - are being installed to accommodate improved technology, with the latest phones boasting videos and cameras.
Redditch Council's head of planning, John Staniland, said demand for mobile phones was also on the increase.
He said he sympathised with concerned residents, but added: "This is a national issue - Redditch residents aren't alone in their concerns.
"But phone masts are given the go-ahead if they comply with national standards - and if they do local government is powerless to intervene."
A MATCHBOROUGH man is rallying support to fight one of an "epidemic" of mobile phone masts across Redditch.
Phil Henshaw, of Frankton Close, said he was lobbying as many neighbours as possible to oppose the proposed mast in Bart Leet Road.
"It's position would be a mere stone's throw away from Matchborough First School - I couldn't think of a worse location," he said.
"I'm sick of so-called experts telling us they're safe - nothing seems to have been proven yet about the health effects."
He added: "But they seem to be springing up everywhere - it's like an epidemic - nothing's being done to stop it."
The latest phase of mobile phone masts - so-called "third generation" masts - are being installed to accommodate improved technology, with the latest phones boasting videos and cameras.
Redditch Council's head of planning, John Staniland, said demand for mobile phones was also on the increase.
He said he sympathised with concerned residents, but added: "This is a national issue - Redditch residents aren't alone in their concerns.
"But phone masts are given the go-ahead if they comply with national standards - and if they do local government is powerless to intervene."
Starmail - 3. Aug, 14:20
050803 - R - Mobilfunk - Newsletter
Starmail - 3. Aug, 14:13
Teuflische Enge
Prekäre Arbeits-, Lebens- und Protestwelten im Postfordismus
http://www.jungewelt.de/2005/08-03/004.php
http://www.jungewelt.de/2005/08-03/004.php
Starmail - 3. Aug, 12:15
Kluft zwischen Verfassungsanspruch und Wirklichkeit
HLV INFO 120/AT
3-08-2005
Christine Kind 1.08.2005
http://www.omega-news.info/tina27.07.2005.jpg
Das Heft Nr. 31 der tina vom 27.07.2005 kann nachbestellt werden: Pressevertrieb Nord KG, Brieffach 540807, 22508 Hamburg, Tel.: 040/85369140, Fax.: 040/85369141 oder http://www.einzelheft.pvn.de
Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten vom 30/.31.07.2005
Kluft zwischen Verfassungsanspruch und Wirklichkeit
Zum Thema: Gesundheitliche Schäden in der Nachbarschaft von T-Mobile Antennen
„Jeder hat das Recht auf körperliche Unversehrtheit.“ Grundgesetz, Artikel 2, Absatz 2
„Jeder Mensch hat das Recht auf Leben und körperliche Unversehrtheit.“ Verfassung des Freistaates Sachsen, Artikel 16, Absatz 1
Mancher DNN-Leser, der im letzten Jahr über die sechsköpfige Familie in Naußlitz gelesen hat, die ihre gesundheitlichen Probleme neben einer T-Mobile-Antenne darlegte, fragt sich sicher, was aus ihr geworden ist. Die Familie Kind hat ihr Haus kurz vor Weihnachten 2004 verlassen und mietet – hoffentlich nur vorübergehend – ein anderes. Ihre starken Beschwer- sind seitdem gewichen; die Kinder (das jüngste ist zweieinhalb Jahre alt) entwickeln sich wieder normal. Die Eltern klagen gegen die Installation der Mobilfunk-Basisstation auf dem etwa 40 m von ihrem Grundstück entfernten Dach eines Mietshauses. Das wird dauern... Welche Belastungen dies mit sich bringt, kann ein Außenstehender kaum ermessen. - So „außen stehend“ sind wir jedoch alle nicht, denn solche Antennen befinden sich überall. Die Symptome bei den Menschen sind freilich unterschiedlich. Die gesundheitlichen Schädigungen hat sich niemand ausgedacht, sondern sie haben die Menschen an sich erfahren. Es sind sogar Tiere und Pflanzen im Wohngebiet betroffen.
Wie viele andere Bürger unserer Siedlung haben auch wir (Entfernung unseres Hauses zur Antenne etwa 80 m) Widerspruch eingelegt, wobei die Stadt diesen schließlich an die Landesregierung weitergeleitet hat. In den Antwortschreiben mussten wir zur Kenntnis nehmen, dass das Vorhaben bauplanungs-, denkmalschutz- und immissionsschutzrechtlich zulässig sei, dass es insbesondere die Grenzwerte der zulässigen Strahlenbelastung einhalte und die durchgeführten Feldstärkemessungen der TU Dresden vom März 2004 in der maßgeblichen Umgebung bei 5 bis maximal 10 Prozent der zulässigen Belastung lägen. Allerdings wurden bei Kontrollmessungen im Januar und März d.J. die von der TU Dresden prognostizierten Höchstwerte bei voller Anlagenauslastung bereits erreicht. Trotzdem könne man von keiner Gesundheitsgefährdung ausgehen. Und für unsere Begriffe an Zynismus nicht zu überbieten ist folgender Satz: “Eine Klage hätte folglich auch dann keine Aussicht auf Erfolg, wenn ein Kläger (wie etwa Familie Kind) im Einzelfall beweist bzw. beweisen will, dass er gesundheitliche Beeinträchtigungen durch den Betrieb der Mobilfunkanlage erleidet.“ - Also abgeschmettert - kein Verständnis von staatlicher Seite!
Wer hier versucht zu helfen, sind Ärzte, die den plötzlich aufgetretenen massiven atypischen Symptomen ihrer Patienten, wie Durchschlafstörungen bis Schlaflosigkeit, Konzentrationsmängel am Tage, allgemeine Mattheit, hoher Blutdruck, Herzrhythmusstörungen, Schweißausbrüche, Zittern, Wortfindungsstörungen, Augenreizung, Tinnitus, schlechtes Blutbild u.a., nachgehen. Sie haben Initiativen eingeleitet; dem weiteren Ausbau des Mobilfunknetzes widersetzt sich z.B. der sog. Bamberger Appell vom 05.10.2004 mit weit über 100 Unterschriften dortiger Ärzte. Sie fordern die massive Reduzierung der bestehenden Grenzwerte, weiterhin der Sendeleistungen und Funkbelastungen. Die Menschen allgemein und unsere Jugend im Besonderen sollen umfassend aufgeklärt werden über die Gesundheitsrisiken elektromagnetischer Felder. Die schnurlosen Telefone sollen neu konzipiert werden, so dass ihre Strahlungsintensität reduziert und auf die tatsächliche Nutzungszeit begrenzt wird.
Vor einigen Tagen nahm eine engagierte Ärztin aus Bamberg Messungen in unserem Haus vor. Während bei BMW weltweit in ihren Büros, wo alle Beschäftigten mit schnurlosen Telefonen arbeiten, 100 µW/m² als Obergrenze gelten, wurden bei uns folgende Werte gemessen (Angaben in µW/m²): Wohnzimmer: 700, Schlafzimmer: 600, Flur: 1000, Bad und Dachboden: 5000.
Fazit: Es stehen sich zwei Hauptinteressengruppen diametral gegenüber: die Betroffenen mit ihren gesundheitlichen Problemen und die Betreiber der Mobilfunkanlagen, die für Milliarden UMTS-Lizenzen vom Staat gekauft haben, die nun in klingende Münze umgesetzt werden müssen. - Sollen wir uns mit diesem Status quo abfinden?
Familie Hums, 01159 Dresden[.1] [.1]
3-08-2005
Christine Kind 1.08.2005
http://www.omega-news.info/tina27.07.2005.jpg
Das Heft Nr. 31 der tina vom 27.07.2005 kann nachbestellt werden: Pressevertrieb Nord KG, Brieffach 540807, 22508 Hamburg, Tel.: 040/85369140, Fax.: 040/85369141 oder http://www.einzelheft.pvn.de
Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten vom 30/.31.07.2005
Kluft zwischen Verfassungsanspruch und Wirklichkeit
Zum Thema: Gesundheitliche Schäden in der Nachbarschaft von T-Mobile Antennen
„Jeder hat das Recht auf körperliche Unversehrtheit.“ Grundgesetz, Artikel 2, Absatz 2
„Jeder Mensch hat das Recht auf Leben und körperliche Unversehrtheit.“ Verfassung des Freistaates Sachsen, Artikel 16, Absatz 1
Mancher DNN-Leser, der im letzten Jahr über die sechsköpfige Familie in Naußlitz gelesen hat, die ihre gesundheitlichen Probleme neben einer T-Mobile-Antenne darlegte, fragt sich sicher, was aus ihr geworden ist. Die Familie Kind hat ihr Haus kurz vor Weihnachten 2004 verlassen und mietet – hoffentlich nur vorübergehend – ein anderes. Ihre starken Beschwer- sind seitdem gewichen; die Kinder (das jüngste ist zweieinhalb Jahre alt) entwickeln sich wieder normal. Die Eltern klagen gegen die Installation der Mobilfunk-Basisstation auf dem etwa 40 m von ihrem Grundstück entfernten Dach eines Mietshauses. Das wird dauern... Welche Belastungen dies mit sich bringt, kann ein Außenstehender kaum ermessen. - So „außen stehend“ sind wir jedoch alle nicht, denn solche Antennen befinden sich überall. Die Symptome bei den Menschen sind freilich unterschiedlich. Die gesundheitlichen Schädigungen hat sich niemand ausgedacht, sondern sie haben die Menschen an sich erfahren. Es sind sogar Tiere und Pflanzen im Wohngebiet betroffen.
Wie viele andere Bürger unserer Siedlung haben auch wir (Entfernung unseres Hauses zur Antenne etwa 80 m) Widerspruch eingelegt, wobei die Stadt diesen schließlich an die Landesregierung weitergeleitet hat. In den Antwortschreiben mussten wir zur Kenntnis nehmen, dass das Vorhaben bauplanungs-, denkmalschutz- und immissionsschutzrechtlich zulässig sei, dass es insbesondere die Grenzwerte der zulässigen Strahlenbelastung einhalte und die durchgeführten Feldstärkemessungen der TU Dresden vom März 2004 in der maßgeblichen Umgebung bei 5 bis maximal 10 Prozent der zulässigen Belastung lägen. Allerdings wurden bei Kontrollmessungen im Januar und März d.J. die von der TU Dresden prognostizierten Höchstwerte bei voller Anlagenauslastung bereits erreicht. Trotzdem könne man von keiner Gesundheitsgefährdung ausgehen. Und für unsere Begriffe an Zynismus nicht zu überbieten ist folgender Satz: “Eine Klage hätte folglich auch dann keine Aussicht auf Erfolg, wenn ein Kläger (wie etwa Familie Kind) im Einzelfall beweist bzw. beweisen will, dass er gesundheitliche Beeinträchtigungen durch den Betrieb der Mobilfunkanlage erleidet.“ - Also abgeschmettert - kein Verständnis von staatlicher Seite!
Wer hier versucht zu helfen, sind Ärzte, die den plötzlich aufgetretenen massiven atypischen Symptomen ihrer Patienten, wie Durchschlafstörungen bis Schlaflosigkeit, Konzentrationsmängel am Tage, allgemeine Mattheit, hoher Blutdruck, Herzrhythmusstörungen, Schweißausbrüche, Zittern, Wortfindungsstörungen, Augenreizung, Tinnitus, schlechtes Blutbild u.a., nachgehen. Sie haben Initiativen eingeleitet; dem weiteren Ausbau des Mobilfunknetzes widersetzt sich z.B. der sog. Bamberger Appell vom 05.10.2004 mit weit über 100 Unterschriften dortiger Ärzte. Sie fordern die massive Reduzierung der bestehenden Grenzwerte, weiterhin der Sendeleistungen und Funkbelastungen. Die Menschen allgemein und unsere Jugend im Besonderen sollen umfassend aufgeklärt werden über die Gesundheitsrisiken elektromagnetischer Felder. Die schnurlosen Telefone sollen neu konzipiert werden, so dass ihre Strahlungsintensität reduziert und auf die tatsächliche Nutzungszeit begrenzt wird.
Vor einigen Tagen nahm eine engagierte Ärztin aus Bamberg Messungen in unserem Haus vor. Während bei BMW weltweit in ihren Büros, wo alle Beschäftigten mit schnurlosen Telefonen arbeiten, 100 µW/m² als Obergrenze gelten, wurden bei uns folgende Werte gemessen (Angaben in µW/m²): Wohnzimmer: 700, Schlafzimmer: 600, Flur: 1000, Bad und Dachboden: 5000.
Fazit: Es stehen sich zwei Hauptinteressengruppen diametral gegenüber: die Betroffenen mit ihren gesundheitlichen Problemen und die Betreiber der Mobilfunkanlagen, die für Milliarden UMTS-Lizenzen vom Staat gekauft haben, die nun in klingende Münze umgesetzt werden müssen. - Sollen wir uns mit diesem Status quo abfinden?
Familie Hums, 01159 Dresden[.1] [.1]
Starmail - 3. Aug, 11:39
Warum UMTS biologisch als gefährlicher einzustufen ist
HLV INFO 120/AT
3-08-2005
Dr. Claus Scheingraber 2-08-05
Sehr geehrter Herr Tittmann,
warum UMTS biologisch gefährlicher einzustufen ist, liegt nicht nur an höheren Feldstärken der Sender sondern höchstwahrscheinlich an der Breitbandigkeit der Übertragungstechnik. Während GSM-Netze eine Frequenzbandbreite von 200 kHz benützen, hat das zur Zeit installierte UMTS eine Frequenzbandbreite von 2 x 5 MHz.
Da auch unser Körper extrem breitbandig Informationen austauscht, wird unser Körper mit dieser Technik eben nicht in einem kleinen Frequenzbereich gestört sondern eben großflächig in einem breiten Frequenzbereich! Dies wird sich in einer Zunahme der Elektrosensibilität und in vermehrten gesundheitlichen Störungen äußern!
Besonders muss vor den zukünftigen WiMax-Netzen (WLAN-Netze mit Reichweiten bis 50 km) gewarnt werden, da auf Grund der großen Datenmengen eine Frequenzbandbreite bis zu 100 MHz angewendet werden wird! In München wird so ein Netz gerade aufgebaut.
In der Anlage finden Sie eine Stellungnahme der Französischen Agentur für Gesundheit in der Umwelt. Diese Stellungnahme weist einige gute Ansätze auf, leider werden die Französischen Bürger über die Gefährlichkeit der Mobilfunkstrahlung genauso mit falschen Aussagen abgespeist wie die Bürger in unserem Land.
http://www.omega-news.info/afsse_agence_francaise_de_securite_sanitaire_environnementale.rtf
Mit herzlichen Grüßen
Claus Scheingraber
3-08-2005
Dr. Claus Scheingraber 2-08-05
Sehr geehrter Herr Tittmann,
warum UMTS biologisch gefährlicher einzustufen ist, liegt nicht nur an höheren Feldstärken der Sender sondern höchstwahrscheinlich an der Breitbandigkeit der Übertragungstechnik. Während GSM-Netze eine Frequenzbandbreite von 200 kHz benützen, hat das zur Zeit installierte UMTS eine Frequenzbandbreite von 2 x 5 MHz.
Da auch unser Körper extrem breitbandig Informationen austauscht, wird unser Körper mit dieser Technik eben nicht in einem kleinen Frequenzbereich gestört sondern eben großflächig in einem breiten Frequenzbereich! Dies wird sich in einer Zunahme der Elektrosensibilität und in vermehrten gesundheitlichen Störungen äußern!
Besonders muss vor den zukünftigen WiMax-Netzen (WLAN-Netze mit Reichweiten bis 50 km) gewarnt werden, da auf Grund der großen Datenmengen eine Frequenzbandbreite bis zu 100 MHz angewendet werden wird! In München wird so ein Netz gerade aufgebaut.
In der Anlage finden Sie eine Stellungnahme der Französischen Agentur für Gesundheit in der Umwelt. Diese Stellungnahme weist einige gute Ansätze auf, leider werden die Französischen Bürger über die Gefährlichkeit der Mobilfunkstrahlung genauso mit falschen Aussagen abgespeist wie die Bürger in unserem Land.
http://www.omega-news.info/afsse_agence_francaise_de_securite_sanitaire_environnementale.rtf
Mit herzlichen Grüßen
Claus Scheingraber
Starmail - 3. Aug, 11:34
The human cost of 24-hour news
Media Channel
by Bruce Taylor Seeman
08/02/05
It's opinion. It's conjecture. It's a tidbit from the newest poll or another alarming image -- delivered with rising drumbeats -- from the day's top story. It's today's 24-hour news. But as Americans bathe in constant reports from CNN or Fox, the Internet, satellite radio, newspapers and magazines, is there a price to pay for living in a world where the news never stops? Increasingly, analysts say, we are compelled not so much by legitimate thirst for information as by an addiction to technology and impulses that turn human attention to fear, sex and conflict. The result: Our minds get filled with static, distortion and exaggerated anxiety...
http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/395
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by Bruce Taylor Seeman
08/02/05
It's opinion. It's conjecture. It's a tidbit from the newest poll or another alarming image -- delivered with rising drumbeats -- from the day's top story. It's today's 24-hour news. But as Americans bathe in constant reports from CNN or Fox, the Internet, satellite radio, newspapers and magazines, is there a price to pay for living in a world where the news never stops? Increasingly, analysts say, we are compelled not so much by legitimate thirst for information as by an addiction to technology and impulses that turn human attention to fear, sex and conflict. The result: Our minds get filled with static, distortion and exaggerated anxiety...
http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/395
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 3. Aug, 11:10
From Belfast to Beirut
Tom Paine
by Rami G. Khouri
08/02/05
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced July 28, that it had ordered its forces to stop their violent resistance against Britain. This could have important implications for the quest for peace and stability throughout the Middle East, which in turn would help reduce the global terror problem. I've spent my whole life hearing 'Belfast to Beirut' used as a synonym for the senseless, destructive political violence that plagued both regions, and a symbol of our common inhumanity. So it's nice, for a change, to sit in Beirut and hear good news again from Belfast. It would be equally nice if all concerned in the West and the Middle East would muster the courage, humility and determination to apply some of the same principles of peace-making in Northern Ireland to the confrontations and conflicts in this region...
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050802/from_belfast_to_beirut.php
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by Rami G. Khouri
08/02/05
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced July 28, that it had ordered its forces to stop their violent resistance against Britain. This could have important implications for the quest for peace and stability throughout the Middle East, which in turn would help reduce the global terror problem. I've spent my whole life hearing 'Belfast to Beirut' used as a synonym for the senseless, destructive political violence that plagued both regions, and a symbol of our common inhumanity. So it's nice, for a change, to sit in Beirut and hear good news again from Belfast. It would be equally nice if all concerned in the West and the Middle East would muster the courage, humility and determination to apply some of the same principles of peace-making in Northern Ireland to the confrontations and conflicts in this region...
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050802/from_belfast_to_beirut.php
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 3. Aug, 11:08
America's "terrible thing"
Boston Globe
by James Carroll
08/02/05
In the United States of America, a terrible thing shapes our relationship to the world, but we do not admit it, not even on its unhappy anniversary. Sixty years ago this week, American B-29s named Enola Gay and Bock's Car dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities. The men responsible insisted, in the face of shocking devastation, that the bombs were not so terrible...
http://tinyurl.com/a86fr
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by James Carroll
08/02/05
In the United States of America, a terrible thing shapes our relationship to the world, but we do not admit it, not even on its unhappy anniversary. Sixty years ago this week, American B-29s named Enola Gay and Bock's Car dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities. The men responsible insisted, in the face of shocking devastation, that the bombs were not so terrible...
http://tinyurl.com/a86fr
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 3. Aug, 11:05
Dishonorable discharge
LewRockwell.Com
by Karen Kwiatkowski
08/03/05
Our soldiers and Marines have seen the lowest grade Army Reservists punished handily for torture of uncharged detainees and prisoners, while ranking officers responsible for implementing and designing the administration's torture policy wink and nod. Just last week, they saw the Pentagon public affairs office recycle a very strangely worded 'quotation' from an 'anonymous Iraqi' in two completely unrelated news stories. While this amazes many Americans and defenders of our foreign policy say it must have been an innocent mistake, our soldiers and Marines know better. They are quite familiar with smoke and mirrors. Sgt Benderman is happy to explain why he is a conscientious objector. The reaction of the Army and the administration has been typical of their reaction to other examples of moral consistency. As in Caesar's time, they have been despised and persecuted...
http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski118.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by Karen Kwiatkowski
08/03/05
Our soldiers and Marines have seen the lowest grade Army Reservists punished handily for torture of uncharged detainees and prisoners, while ranking officers responsible for implementing and designing the administration's torture policy wink and nod. Just last week, they saw the Pentagon public affairs office recycle a very strangely worded 'quotation' from an 'anonymous Iraqi' in two completely unrelated news stories. While this amazes many Americans and defenders of our foreign policy say it must have been an innocent mistake, our soldiers and Marines know better. They are quite familiar with smoke and mirrors. Sgt Benderman is happy to explain why he is a conscientious objector. The reaction of the Army and the administration has been typical of their reaction to other examples of moral consistency. As in Caesar's time, they have been despised and persecuted...
http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski118.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 3. Aug, 11:01
The decline and fall of the GOP has begun
Kn@ppster
by Thomas L. Knapp
08/03/05
It's not often that you'll see Democrats celebrating an electoral defeat, but the champagne must be flowing at DNC headquarters tonight as the results in Ohio's 2nd US House District come in. The 2nd has historically been a solidly Republican district. Former US Representative Rob Portman, who left Congress to become the Bush administration's trade representative, polled 72% or more in each of his six races to represent the 2nd. In last year's presidential election, George W. Bush carried the district over John Kerry with 64% of the vote. And last night, in a special election to replace Portman, Democrat Paul Hackett came within 3% of winning -- despite his Republican opponent's 3-to-1 fundraising advantage and despite the Republican National Committee's desperate last-minute media buys. He carried four of the district's seven counties. The only thing that saved his opponent's derriere was overwhelming victory in her home county. So, how did Hackett come within 3% of turning a solidly red district blue?
http://tinyurl.com/ca67v
by Thomas L. Knapp
08/03/05
It's not often that you'll see Democrats celebrating an electoral defeat, but the champagne must be flowing at DNC headquarters tonight as the results in Ohio's 2nd US House District come in. The 2nd has historically been a solidly Republican district. Former US Representative Rob Portman, who left Congress to become the Bush administration's trade representative, polled 72% or more in each of his six races to represent the 2nd. In last year's presidential election, George W. Bush carried the district over John Kerry with 64% of the vote. And last night, in a special election to replace Portman, Democrat Paul Hackett came within 3% of winning -- despite his Republican opponent's 3-to-1 fundraising advantage and despite the Republican National Committee's desperate last-minute media buys. He carried four of the district's seven counties. The only thing that saved his opponent's derriere was overwhelming victory in her home county. So, how did Hackett come within 3% of turning a solidly red district blue?
http://tinyurl.com/ca67v
Starmail - 3. Aug, 10:58
The insurgency: Neighborhood watch
Starmail - 3. Aug, 10:56
Latest abuse excuse
MSNBC
08/02/05
Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush was being stubborn with his American captors, and a series of intense beatings and creative interrogation tactics were not enough to break his will. On the morning of Nov. 26, 2003, a U.S. Army interrogator and a military guard grabbed a green sleeping bag, stuffed Mowhoush inside, wrapped him in an electrical cord, laid him on the floor and began to go to work. Again...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8803972/
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
08/02/05
Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush was being stubborn with his American captors, and a series of intense beatings and creative interrogation tactics were not enough to break his will. On the morning of Nov. 26, 2003, a U.S. Army interrogator and a military guard grabbed a green sleeping bag, stuffed Mowhoush inside, wrapped him in an electrical cord, laid him on the floor and began to go to work. Again...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8803972/
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 3. Aug, 10:53
The Collective Spiritual Force can turn Things around
I read this on a Native American website, a luxury these days!
"The world today is changing in ways no individual can grasp, as new and ancient technologies meet. Our times demand we be citizens of the Earth, healing the Earth/Ourselves. We were born to be here now. It is our souls' purpose to see past delusion and diversion and live truly, honestly, with love and compassion, without pain. The path toward healing, toward making our dreams realities, is within each of us. We must only awaken to the light."
Basically this is a world wide call for people to discover their spiritual consciousness and to work towards healing themselves and the Earth, this wonderful place Our Creator left in our care and which is being destroyed by greed and power.
The spiritually motivated people among the Native Americans firmly believe that a collective spiritual force can turn things around. It is said that the percentage need only be small by comparison to the population of the World because the power of spiritual harmony is so great when linked to that of others.
We all hear about telepathy but not all of us believe it is possible. We are all able to communicate this way, and do, but modern life leaves little time for the conscious realisation of it.
Spirituality is much the same, only on a higher level, and comes about when you try to live as Our Creator wishes, in harmony with every living thing. You tune into a world where you are just part of the whole, integrating with the whole, reacting with the whole, and working for the whole, for the betterment of all. It all starts with prayer and the desire to share rather than just take.
In our own small ways we are all helping towards trying to heal the Earth and to help others. We are part of the whole, probably without even realising that we are.
Leicester was also an example of many people being part of the whole. What I am saying here is that we can be a strong force working with others, if we chose to be.
I know some of you find the expression of my views to be slightly alien to the cultures of western society, but you have to remember that I can only be me, and part of me is Lakota Sioux. It was not the indigenous races that despoiled our world, it was the "civilised" nations.
Sandi
Princeton EGG Index Goes RED! Something Big Coming?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/875315/
"The world today is changing in ways no individual can grasp, as new and ancient technologies meet. Our times demand we be citizens of the Earth, healing the Earth/Ourselves. We were born to be here now. It is our souls' purpose to see past delusion and diversion and live truly, honestly, with love and compassion, without pain. The path toward healing, toward making our dreams realities, is within each of us. We must only awaken to the light."
Basically this is a world wide call for people to discover their spiritual consciousness and to work towards healing themselves and the Earth, this wonderful place Our Creator left in our care and which is being destroyed by greed and power.
The spiritually motivated people among the Native Americans firmly believe that a collective spiritual force can turn things around. It is said that the percentage need only be small by comparison to the population of the World because the power of spiritual harmony is so great when linked to that of others.
We all hear about telepathy but not all of us believe it is possible. We are all able to communicate this way, and do, but modern life leaves little time for the conscious realisation of it.
Spirituality is much the same, only on a higher level, and comes about when you try to live as Our Creator wishes, in harmony with every living thing. You tune into a world where you are just part of the whole, integrating with the whole, reacting with the whole, and working for the whole, for the betterment of all. It all starts with prayer and the desire to share rather than just take.
In our own small ways we are all helping towards trying to heal the Earth and to help others. We are part of the whole, probably without even realising that we are.
Leicester was also an example of many people being part of the whole. What I am saying here is that we can be a strong force working with others, if we chose to be.
I know some of you find the expression of my views to be slightly alien to the cultures of western society, but you have to remember that I can only be me, and part of me is Lakota Sioux. It was not the indigenous races that despoiled our world, it was the "civilised" nations.
Sandi
Princeton EGG Index Goes RED! Something Big Coming?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/875315/
Starmail - 3. Aug, 10:25
Princeton EGG Index Goes RED! Something Big Coming?
http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.net/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=90227
Posted By: Geneticus
Date: Monday, 1 August 2005, 6:50 p.m.
If you go the Princeton egg index page, you will see the button is fading in through green, right through yellow, past orange, hitting dark red, and even triggering an occasional bright red. That is major coincidence people. Something is up, the random number generators are not producing random numbers. The button color means that the mass consciousness of the people on the Earth is about to be directed into the same general thought pattern. We are all about to be thinking about the same thing. And it is most likely a man-made event, something akin to a Shuttle disaster or terrorist event.
Be sure to use "Firefox" as the browser when you navigate to the Princeton Egg index page (link below).
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/gcindex.html
--------
Unfortunately, you must now use the Firefox browser to see the EGG data and if this was my own computer, I would definitely use it. Looks like a good browser, better than IE because of IE's security holes. Anyway, for those unfamiliar with the EGG Project out of Princeton University, these things went crazy a few days before, during and for days after the 9/11 disaster.
Here is detailed info on the EGG project: http://noosphere.princeton.edu/
The current reported results certainly bear watching...heads up, everyone.
Di
Posted By: Geneticus
Date: Monday, 1 August 2005, 6:50 p.m.
If you go the Princeton egg index page, you will see the button is fading in through green, right through yellow, past orange, hitting dark red, and even triggering an occasional bright red. That is major coincidence people. Something is up, the random number generators are not producing random numbers. The button color means that the mass consciousness of the people on the Earth is about to be directed into the same general thought pattern. We are all about to be thinking about the same thing. And it is most likely a man-made event, something akin to a Shuttle disaster or terrorist event.
Be sure to use "Firefox" as the browser when you navigate to the Princeton Egg index page (link below).
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/gcindex.html
--------
Unfortunately, you must now use the Firefox browser to see the EGG data and if this was my own computer, I would definitely use it. Looks like a good browser, better than IE because of IE's security holes. Anyway, for those unfamiliar with the EGG Project out of Princeton University, these things went crazy a few days before, during and for days after the 9/11 disaster.
Here is detailed info on the EGG project: http://noosphere.princeton.edu/
The current reported results certainly bear watching...heads up, everyone.
Di
Starmail - 3. Aug, 10:07
"Sand im Getriebe der Stadt" - BI gegen Mobilfunk bleibt aktiv
Geretsried - Schlafstörungen, Ruhelosigkeit, Erschöpfung, Herz-Rhythmus-Störungen, Hörsturz, Hyperaktivität - und was hat das alles mit Mobilfunk zu tun? Nach Ansicht Elektrosensibler wie der Vorsitzenden der neu gegründeten Geretsrieder Bürgerinitiative, Gisela Breunig, und ihres Wolfratshauser Kollegen Dr. Hans Schmidt eine ganze Menge.
"Aus dem Stand 7,4 Prozent erreicht"
Obwohl das Mobilfunk-Volksbegehren bayernweit gescheitert ist - die Wolfratshauser BI wird sich demnächst damit befassen -, ist Breunig mit dem Geretsrieder Ergebnis zufrieden: "Aus dem Stand haben wir 7,4 Prozent erreicht. Die Stadt war, was Informationen angeht, vorher eigentlich völlig unbeleckt." Die Kooperation mit dem Rathaus war laut Breunig nicht optimal. "Es muss noch viel Aufklärungsarbeit geleistet werden", sagte sie kämpferisch. "Die BI wird Sand im Getriebe der Stadt und der Bürgermeisterin Irmer sein."
Dr. Schmidt, selbst "extrem elektrosensibel", kämpft unermüdlich gegen die Repräsentanten einer Industrie, "die nicht davor zurückschreckt, mobilfunkkritische Professoren immer wieder aus ihren Lehrstühlen und Universitätsinstituten zu mobben". Als promovierter Ingenieur referierte er über neue Ergebnisse der Forschung und motivierte die derzeit noch kleine Schar von Mitstreitern: "Es ist mobilfunktechnisch fünf nach zwölf, und unsere morbide Gesellschaft kann sich Aufschub, Augenwischerei und Schönfärberei nicht mehr leisten". Wenn am 18. August an der Dirrigl-Kreuzung in Wolfratshausen ein neuer UMTS-Sender installiert wird, sollten alle Mobilfunkgegner zur Stelle sein - auch oder gerade in der Ferienzeit. kl
02.08.2005
http://www.marktplatz-oberbayern.de/regionen/isarloisach/art1596,299457.html?fCMS=dde1b9d0dee2d83e515930993e05e71f
Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim
"Aus dem Stand 7,4 Prozent erreicht"
Obwohl das Mobilfunk-Volksbegehren bayernweit gescheitert ist - die Wolfratshauser BI wird sich demnächst damit befassen -, ist Breunig mit dem Geretsrieder Ergebnis zufrieden: "Aus dem Stand haben wir 7,4 Prozent erreicht. Die Stadt war, was Informationen angeht, vorher eigentlich völlig unbeleckt." Die Kooperation mit dem Rathaus war laut Breunig nicht optimal. "Es muss noch viel Aufklärungsarbeit geleistet werden", sagte sie kämpferisch. "Die BI wird Sand im Getriebe der Stadt und der Bürgermeisterin Irmer sein."
Dr. Schmidt, selbst "extrem elektrosensibel", kämpft unermüdlich gegen die Repräsentanten einer Industrie, "die nicht davor zurückschreckt, mobilfunkkritische Professoren immer wieder aus ihren Lehrstühlen und Universitätsinstituten zu mobben". Als promovierter Ingenieur referierte er über neue Ergebnisse der Forschung und motivierte die derzeit noch kleine Schar von Mitstreitern: "Es ist mobilfunktechnisch fünf nach zwölf, und unsere morbide Gesellschaft kann sich Aufschub, Augenwischerei und Schönfärberei nicht mehr leisten". Wenn am 18. August an der Dirrigl-Kreuzung in Wolfratshausen ein neuer UMTS-Sender installiert wird, sollten alle Mobilfunkgegner zur Stelle sein - auch oder gerade in der Ferienzeit. kl
02.08.2005
http://www.marktplatz-oberbayern.de/regionen/isarloisach/art1596,299457.html?fCMS=dde1b9d0dee2d83e515930993e05e71f
Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim
Starmail - 3. Aug, 09:14
Rentner kommen mit Merkel vom Regen in die Traufe
02. August 2005
Zu Überlegungen in der Union, nach den Wahlen die Renten zu kürzen und in der Perspektive nur noch eine Basisrente zu gewährleisten, erklären Gregor Gysi und Oskar Lafontaine:
Nachdem Rot-Grün den Rentnerinnen und Rentnern mehrere Nullrunden, den kompletten Beitrag zur Pflegeversicherung und die alleinige Finanzierung des Krankengeldes, das sie gar nicht bekommen, beschert hat, scheint die Union gewillt zu sein, noch eins draufzusetzen. Der Spielraum, den das verwaschene Merkel-Wahlprogramm in dieser Frage lässt, wird von immer mehr Unionspolitikern ausgefüllt: Die Äußerungen, die Renten zu kürzen oder gar auf eine reine Basisrente zusammenzustreichen, werden lauter. Merkels gegenteilige Beteuerungen auch im Hinblick auf eine Heraufsetzung des Renteneintrittsalters werden vor diesem Hintergrund immer unglaubwürdiger. Die geplante Mehrwertsteuererhöhung trifft die Älteren sowieso ohne irgendeinen Ausgleich. Für die Rentnerinnen und Rentner wird die Union zum größten Unsicherheitsfaktor. Sie drohen vom rot-grünen Regen in die schwarz-gelbe Traufe zu kommen. Weder Union noch SPD fällt zur Rente irgendetwas anderes ein, als sie permanent zu kürzen. Der Ruf nach privater Vorsorge klingt wie Hohn angesichts von Minijobs, Hartz IV, Billiglöhnen. Immer mehr Menschen haben längere Phasen, in denen sie nichts oder nur sehr wenig in die Rentenkassen einzahlen und schon gar nicht privat vorsorgen können. Eine Riester-Pflichtrente ist für die Betroffenen völlig absurd. Jede Rentennullrunde verschärft diese Situation weiter. Die Linkspartei will in einem längeren Prozess alle Erwerbstätigen und alle Einkommen in die Rentenversicherung einbeziehen und eine Mindestrente von 800 Euro einführen. Wer die Renten auch vor dem Hintergrund der demographischen Entwicklung langfristig sichern will, muss sie auf eine breitere Basis stellen und Altersarmut verhindern. Vor allem aber müssen die Rentnerinnen und Rentner endlich wieder den Stellenwert in der Gesellschaft bekommen, den sie verdienen: sie sind keine Kostgänger, sondern diejenigen, die mit ihrer Lebensleistung die Voraussetzungen für den heutigen Lebensstandard geschaffen haben.
http://sozialisten.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/view_html?zid=29186
Zu Überlegungen in der Union, nach den Wahlen die Renten zu kürzen und in der Perspektive nur noch eine Basisrente zu gewährleisten, erklären Gregor Gysi und Oskar Lafontaine:
Nachdem Rot-Grün den Rentnerinnen und Rentnern mehrere Nullrunden, den kompletten Beitrag zur Pflegeversicherung und die alleinige Finanzierung des Krankengeldes, das sie gar nicht bekommen, beschert hat, scheint die Union gewillt zu sein, noch eins draufzusetzen. Der Spielraum, den das verwaschene Merkel-Wahlprogramm in dieser Frage lässt, wird von immer mehr Unionspolitikern ausgefüllt: Die Äußerungen, die Renten zu kürzen oder gar auf eine reine Basisrente zusammenzustreichen, werden lauter. Merkels gegenteilige Beteuerungen auch im Hinblick auf eine Heraufsetzung des Renteneintrittsalters werden vor diesem Hintergrund immer unglaubwürdiger. Die geplante Mehrwertsteuererhöhung trifft die Älteren sowieso ohne irgendeinen Ausgleich. Für die Rentnerinnen und Rentner wird die Union zum größten Unsicherheitsfaktor. Sie drohen vom rot-grünen Regen in die schwarz-gelbe Traufe zu kommen. Weder Union noch SPD fällt zur Rente irgendetwas anderes ein, als sie permanent zu kürzen. Der Ruf nach privater Vorsorge klingt wie Hohn angesichts von Minijobs, Hartz IV, Billiglöhnen. Immer mehr Menschen haben längere Phasen, in denen sie nichts oder nur sehr wenig in die Rentenkassen einzahlen und schon gar nicht privat vorsorgen können. Eine Riester-Pflichtrente ist für die Betroffenen völlig absurd. Jede Rentennullrunde verschärft diese Situation weiter. Die Linkspartei will in einem längeren Prozess alle Erwerbstätigen und alle Einkommen in die Rentenversicherung einbeziehen und eine Mindestrente von 800 Euro einführen. Wer die Renten auch vor dem Hintergrund der demographischen Entwicklung langfristig sichern will, muss sie auf eine breitere Basis stellen und Altersarmut verhindern. Vor allem aber müssen die Rentnerinnen und Rentner endlich wieder den Stellenwert in der Gesellschaft bekommen, den sie verdienen: sie sind keine Kostgänger, sondern diejenigen, die mit ihrer Lebensleistung die Voraussetzungen für den heutigen Lebensstandard geschaffen haben.
http://sozialisten.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/view_html?zid=29186
Starmail - 3. Aug, 09:09
WHO SAYS WE NEED COURAGE?
Starmail - 3. Aug, 00:01
