World-News

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4615/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

Ask Regional Forester Linda Goodman to Stop Timber Sale in Roadless Areas of Oregon’s Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

The Forest Service announced last week that it will begin selling timber in Oregon’s roadless areas -- despite strong public support for the protection of these areas. The Mike’s Gulch Timber Sale would be the first logging project in a national forest roadless area since the Roadless Area Conservation Rule was adopted in January 2001. This marks a significant change of direction in the protection of our most valuable public lands. These last remaining pristine roadless areas provide rich habitats for fish and wildlife, clean drinking water for communities and unparalleled recreational opportunities for our families.

Please send the message below to Regional Forester Goodman now. The timber sale is scheduled for this Friday, June 9th.

http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/mikesgulch

A message from Eleanor

Dear Friends

Please sign and forward!


Original Message:

AGNICO EAGLE FROM CANADA IS GOING TO RUIN THE SENSITIVE LAPPLAND NATURE BY DIGGING GOLD

They use poisons like syanide and arsenic

View this petition and your signature at
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/214519849

Please sign and forward this petition.

Thank you:

Jasmin Sariell

A message from Eleanor

PLEASE SIGN AND FORWARD FOR THESE BEAUTIFUL TREES!

Love,

Eleanor

Just got word that a planning board meeting is going to take place June 14 for the horsefarm I am trying to save! They are proposing 130 houses now.....still way too many!

TOO MANY TREES AND A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF PROPERTY IS GOING TO BE BULLDOZED AND STRIPPED TO MAKE WAY FOR HOUSING IF THIS ISN'T STOPPED!

I AM CLOSING BOTH OF MY PETITIONS OUT SATURDAY, JUNE 10TH......PLEASE, ANYONE WHO CAN, PLEASE SEND THIS PETITION TO ANYONE WHO YOU THINK WOULD WANT TO SIGN! I ONLY HAVE A MATTER OF DAYS, AND THE SIGS AREN'T AS HIGH AS I WOULD LIKE THEM TO BE, BUT THIS IS IT! THE NEW JERSEY PEOPLE ONLY PETITION IS GOING TO HAVE TO BE HEAVILY EDITED BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED IT WHO WERE NOT NEW JERSEYANS.....SO THAT ONE I MAY NOT HAND IN, BUT IF I CAN MANAGE THE TIME, I WILL EDIT IT DOWN TO JUST NEW JERSEYANS ON IT. THE OTHER PETITION IS ONE THAT CAN TRULY BE PASSED AROUND CARE2.....BECAUSE IT IS OPEN TO ANYONE....PLEASE SIGN! DON'T LET ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL TREES LOSE THEIR LIFE FOR HOUSES! DON'T LET THE WILDLIFE DOWN!


Tracy B.

The first petition is for New Jersey residents only!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/174795891

The second petition is for anyone to sign, to show that people all over don't want condos to be built on beautiful areas of land such as Redwood Acres Horsefarm:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/566714037

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4616/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

"The Bush administration invaded Iraq claiming Saddam Hussein had tried to buy yellowcake uranium in Niger. As much of Washington knew, and the world soon learned, the charge was false. Worse, it appears to have been the cornerstone of a highly successful 'black propaganda' campaign with links to the White House," writes Craig Unger.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060706N.shtml

In Vermont, two peace activists were arrested on Monday for disrupting a commencement address given by National Intelligence Director John Negroponte at St Johnsbury Academy. Moments after Negroponte began his address, a protester stood up and yelled: "In the name of democracy I object to this man speaking. He has blood on his hands from his work in Central America and Iraq. He shouldn't be at the podium, he should be in jail. He is a war criminal." As the protester was being escorted away, Negroponte said "Now it's my turn." But before he could continue, another protester stood up and accused Negroponte of overseeing torture, killings and rape in Honduras, where he served as ambassador in the 1980s.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/07/1419243


Informant: John Calvert

"Geheimgefängnisse": Deutschland soll CIA bei illegalen Gefangenentransporten geholfen haben (07.06.06)

Im Zusammenhang mit den geheimen Gefangenentransportflügen des US-Auslandsgeheimdienstes CIA sind neue Vorwürfe laut geworden. Nach dem am Mittwoch in Paris vorgestellten Abschlussbericht des Europarats-Sonderbeauftragten Dick Marty sollen 14 europäische Staaten, darunter Deutschland, mit der CIA kooperiert haben. Nach Angaben des Europarats haben die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika "schrittweise ein heimliches Netz gesponnen, bei dem Personen verschwanden, geheime Inhaftierungen erfolgten und Gefangene illegal zwischen den Staaten transportiert wurden. Die Mitgliedsstaaten des Europarates waren ihnen dabei behilflich oder tolerierten es", so der Rechts-Ausschuss der Parlamentarischen Versammlung des Europarates (PACE). In einem bei seiner Sitzung in Paris verabschiedeten Entschließungsentwurf auf Grundlage des Berichts von Dick Marty (Schweiz, ALDE), erklärt der Ausschuss, hunderte Personen seien in diesem Netz gefangen worden – "in einige Fällen wurden sie lediglich verdächtigt, mit mutmaßlichen terroristischen Organisationen zu sympathisieren". Nach Darstellung der FDP belastet der Bericht insbesondere Außenminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13766

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=824612006


Informant: NHNE

TV SERIES

Are you someone that's fighting for a cause they believe in? Someone who's not afraid to take on the establishment? Someone who manages to create a stir, drum up support and tackle important issues? Someone who's concerned about environmental, eco or community issues anywhere in the UK?

Is a supermarket planning to expand the car park into your child's play area in the park or are your local butcher’s under threat from a coffee chain invasion? Are you running a campaign to stop your neighbours driving their 4 x 4’s to school or are you trying to make people in your area more aware of sustainable energy?

DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SOME WAY?

If you are running a campaign anywhere in the UK then we would like to hear from you.

We are looking for people to take part in a major TV series looking at how individuals can change the world we live in.

Please email Emma Jones at emma.jones@shinelimited.com or ring 0207 985 7078

A message from Eleanor:

Original Message:

Read this email as a web page.

Dear yasar,

U.S. Capitol

Join the National Call-In Day

Email your Representative
http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=eAv6_mTGtwNHguXqPw6oSw..

Call your Representative
(888) 355-3588 (toll-free) or (202) 224-3121

Forward this email to five friends
http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=bm15Q4ipCxTM6FIsZ3IgNw..

The United States’ Iraq policy is clearly broken. The security situation in Iraq -- where kidnappings, bombings and sectarian killings abound and more than 100,000 Iraqis have fled from their homes -- has deteriorated to the point where a report on U.S. troops murdering Iraqi civilians barely makes the news, even within Iraq.

Congress is not debating alternatives to the current mayhem. Instead, they’re negotiating how many billions of dollars more to spend on the Bush Administration’s stay-the-course policy. It is time for Congress to own up to its responsibility.

We need an open debate on Iraq. Please join our National Call-In Day today, Wednesday, June 7.

Three quick steps to get involved:

1. Email your Representative today>
http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=NY65oamxcT_ZoOVd1BgGhw..

2. Call Your US Representative at (888) 355-3588 (toll-free) or (202) 224-3121. (Call-in tips below.)

3. After you’ve emailed and called your Representative, please forward this email to five friends. http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=DysLO9AYMyAHevAPe9TG-A..

Why this action? Who supports withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq?

* 80% of Iraqis
* More than 70% of U.S. troops stationed in Iraq
* A stable majority of people in the U.S.

And still, after more than three years, over $300 billion spent and the death of more than 100,000 Iraqis and nearly 2,500 American troops, Congress still refuses to debate real alternatives to the President's stay-the-course policy. Even the most recent reports of civilian massacres by U.S. soldiers in Haditha and Ishaqi have not moved the House leadership to allow a debate on the occupation.

We have a unique opportunity to demand that Congress take responsibility. So far, 122 members of the House of Representatives have signed a 'discharge petition' calling for immediate debate and votes on alternatives to the policy of open-ended occupation of Iraq.

All we need is 96 more members of Congress to sign the petition for debate to begin. We need your help.

Please call or email your U.S. Representative today.
http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=CX3EuCZYSKDwQxDSp22nuw..

Call-in Tips Ask for your Representative to sign H.Res. 543 OR thank her if she has already signed and ask her to urge a colleague to sign H.Res. 543.

Here are lists of those who have and have not signed: http://www.openiraqdebate.com/inner/roll-call.html

The pressure we are applying is already having an impact. The media has reported that some members of the House leadership, hoping to dodge a real discussion about Iraq, will offer a tightly-controlled debate framed by supporters of the war. This alternative won't allow consideration of real alternatives to bring the occupation to an end and will protect pro-war members from a recorded vote.

Tell your Representative to support a debate with an "open rule," meaning that any proposals to bring the troops home can be introduced, debated and voted on. The surest route to that debate is for them to sign the discharge petition and ask their colleagues to do the same.

Call (888) 355-3588 (toll-free), give the operator your Representative's name or go to power search on Congress Merge to find the local district office. http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=JW5Ajr7OQdMcOIfvHFcpqQ..

Message for NON-signers of H.Res. 543:Message for signers of H.Res. 543: As your constituent, I ask you to sign onto H.Res. 543, a "discharge petition" that calls for open and honest debate on Iraq and consideration of ALL alternatives to the policy of open-ended occupation of Iraq.

I will not be satisfied with a limited debate that prohibits the introduction of real alternatives to the President's failed policy in Iraq. It is time to show strong leadership to bring peace in the region.

As your constituent, I want to thank you for signing H.Res. 543.

A full 17 hours of debate of ALL alternatives to the policy of open-ended occupation of Iraq is so important that I urge you to ask one of your NON-signing colleagues to sign H.Res. 543.

This is one important step in building peace in Iraq and throughout the region.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is working on this call-in day with several partner groups, including 20/20 Vision, AfterDowningStreet.org, Backbone Campaign, Code Pink, DC for Democracy, Democracy Rising, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, Peace Action, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, United for Peace and Justice, Win Without War, and Women's Action for New Directions (WAND).

I’ll be writing to you again soon with more updates from AFSC's Wage Peace Campaign, including a report on the success of the call-in day.

Please call or email your Representative today.
http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=U9PqxQLR_qUqjWPts14-Gg..

Peace,

Peter Lems
for AFSC's Wage Peace Campaign

Psychologists, physicians and psychiatrists, called "consultants," give interrogators information that helps them to increase the discomfort, stress or ill-treatment of detainees, giving tacit approval that allows harsher treatment.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060706E.shtml

Senior Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sharply criticized a Justice Department official yesterday for refusing to say whether the Bush administration has ever considered prosecuting journalists for publishing leaked national security information.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060706D.shtml

The Office of Vice President Dick Cheney has declared itself exempt from a yearly requirement to report how it uses its power to classify secret information.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060706C.shtml

The Alturas region in northeastern California covers about 786 square miles of high desert landscape in Siskiyou, Shasta and Modoc counties. This remote area includes grasslands, sagebrush flats, deep canyons, steep mountains, countless caves, spires of volcanic rock and rolling juniper woodlands. Herds of Rocky Mountain elk, pronghorn antelope, and mule deer graze these rugged wildlands, while golden eagles soar above and sage grouse flit quietly among the shrubs.

Over the years, however, the region's half-million acres have been slowly filled with mining roads, livestock grazing and utility development. Still, tens of thousands of wilderness-quality acres remain, from the 700-foot cliffs of the Pit River Canyon to the cave-pocked Timbered Crater.

The Bureau of Land Management recently released a draft plan for the area that, when finalized, will serve as the agency's blueprint for managing the region over the next decade or more. It is essential that the BLM begin managing California's high desert as one of our nation's most unique natural treasures and not as a region fit only for mines, livestock, power lines and roads.

The BLM is accepting public comments on its draft plan until July 28th.

== What to do == Send a message, before the July 28th comment deadline, urging the BLM to strengthen its draft plan to protect California's desert wildlands.

== Contact information == You can send an official comment directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use the contact information and sample letter below to send your own message.

Alturas RMP Comments Attention: Planning Coordinator Bureau of Land Management Alturas Field Office, 2950 Riverside Drive Susanville, California 96130, Fax: 530-257-4831, Email: necarmp@ca.blm.gov


== Sample letter ==

Subject: Protect California's high desert wildlands

Dear Alturas Field Office staff,

The draft resource management plan for the Alturas region includes many promising provisions. I wholeheartedly agree, for example, with the BLM's proposals to confine motor vehicles to designated routes, designate six areas of critical environmental concern, exclude livestock from aspen groves and protect old-growth juniper forests from logging and mining.

I urge you to further strengthen the draft plan, however, in order to protect this remote area's remaining wilderness-quality lands and the wildlife that depend on them. Specifically, I urge the BLM to:

* manage all wilderness study areas as primitive zones;

* close all primitive and non-motorized management areas to mineral leasing;

* prohibit utility construction in all primitive and non-motorized management areas;

* expand the amount of land where wildland fire use is allowed, including all wilderness study areas and primitive areas;

* eliminate the proposed construction of 60 miles of new roads to facilitate logging (the BLM lands overseen by the Alturas Field Office are already laced with too many roads and motorized trails); and

* add Pit River Canyon, Lava, Beaver Creek and Juniper Creek to the six areas already recommended as areas of critical environmental concern.

California's high desert is one of our nation's most unique natural treasures, and we should do everything possible to keep the most sensitive parts of this area free of mines, livestock, power lines and other development.

Sincerely,

[Your name and address]



Natural Resources Defense Council's

CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK ACTION ALERT

NRDC's California Activist Network was formed to mobilize and provide action tools to Californians and others concerned with protecting the state's extraordinary wealth of natural treasures and the health of its citizens.

Am Wendepunkt
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22837/1.html

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0607-02.htm


Informant: John Calvert



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Haditha

I thought you might be interested in this TrueMajorityACTION e-activism campaign to close the School of the Americas. If you go to the URL below you can check out what is at stake and send your own message directly to the relevant decision makers.

Take action on this action alert from TrueMajorityACTION at
http://action.truemajority.org/campaign/school_americas?rk=Cpwst_d1hXfvW


Informant: Marsha McClelland

Boston Globe
by H.D.S. Greenway

06/06/06

When President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair met recently to discuss what looks increasingly like a losing war in Iraq, there were ghosts at the table -- ghosts of Britain's previous efforts to tame that untamable land. Americans are notorious for ignoring historical precedents because they believe in American exceptionalism to such a degree that what befell other countries in the past can have no relevance to the present or the future. I once asked an American general in Vietnam if he had read anything about the French experience in Indochina, and he said there was no point because the French had lost and, therefore, had nothing to teach us. But the fate of the British in Iraq after the First World War, when they cobbled together three provinces from the old Ottoman Empire, has ironies piled upon ironies for both Britons and Americans. ... As it was with the Americans more than 80 years later, the British never seemed to get their act together...

http://tinyurl.com/osaez


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

CounterPunch
by Diane Christian

06/06/06

Richard Pryor had a comedy routine where he advised husbands caught in flagranto to counter with 'are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?' Sometimes we deny by closing our eyes. But sometimes we deny by rationalizing; by attacking the facts with negation and reasoning. President Bush can say the US doesn't torture because he redefines US and torture. To wit: The US is good and wouldn't do anything bad. A few bad apple rogue torturers working the night shift at Abu Ghraib aren't the US. And, aided by lawyers, he torques senseless the meaning of torture, restricting it by abstraction and redefinition, and by the Secretary of Defense special -- reduction to the absurd. Rumsfeld ruminates that he stands hours a day at his desk so what's torture about forced standing in prison?

http://www.counterpunch.org/christian06062006.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Center For Individual Freedom
by staff

06/01/06

Two current Washington controversies highlight, to the extent that most rational citizens require, the bizarre disconnect between many in Congress and the American people. First is the Senate version of an illegal immigration bill, the amnesty bill that dare not speak its name. From its principal provisions to details which are still being analyzed and unintended consequences that cannot be accurately predicted, it is a new low in legislative garbage, seriously responsive or responsible in almost no aspect, compounded deception in the extreme...

http://tinyurl.com/pfyxl


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Mother Jones
by Tom Engelhardt

06/07/06

Other than revealing just how overstretched the American military is in Iraq, such an 'incident' (as American officials liked to call such horrors back in the Vietnam era and still do today) is also a kind of confession -- of failure. If, as a soldier, you feel you are protecting anyone in an area, you do not simply slaughter random civilians, no matter how you may 'snap.' To commit such acts, these Marines must have concluded in the most visceral way that there simply were no Iraqis to protect in Haditha, perhaps in the Sunni provinces of Iraq altogether, perhaps in the whole country. You only slaughter the helpless face-to-face when even small children have become aliens, the enemy, so tainted by evil, by the killing of your people, that there's no hope for them. Think of it as on-the-ground military democracy, the grimmest sort of popular vote on whether you or the insurgents are winning the war...

http://tinyurl.com/qvksl



Iraqi death by political abstraction

Future of Freedom Foundation
by Sheldon Richman

06/05/06

Try as they might, apologists for the war in Iraq won't be convincing when they insist that, at worst, the Haditha 'incident' (or was it a mishap?) was the unfortunate work of a few bad Marines. It was something much worse. When men trained to kill on a battlefield -- this wasn't the Salvation Army, after all -- are ordered into civilian areas where many residents see the troops as an occupying force rather than as liberators, what would you expect to happen? We hear war defenders complain that 'the enemy' doesn't identify itself. Why should it?

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0606d.asp



This is not another Vietnam

Unknown News
by Kevin Good

06/05/06

Say: This is not another Vietnam. Then repeat. After being caught in the act, the U.S. military in Iraq will receive core values training to correct the inconvenience of the My Lai massacre being exposed. I mean the Haditha massacre. This is not another Vietnam. The core values training course is titled, 'Greeted as liberators, Plan B.' Here's a synops[i]s. Cameras are still everywhere. Don't get filmed or film yourself doing something morbidly perverse, stupid and/or deadly. The news media has been intimidated for your safety. This is not another Vietnam...

http://www.unknownnews.org/060604a-infobabble.html



Rose-colored view of history

Rocky Mountain News
by Paul Campos

06/06/06

After noting that Americans can be as barbaric as anyone, [New Republic editor Peter] Beinart argues that 'what makes us an exceptional nation with the capacity to lead and inspire the world is our very recognition of that fact.' ... What's disturbing about this claim is that illustrates how a person in a position of considerable public influence can simply concoct an imaginary past to suit the propaganda needs of the present war. Consider .... My Lai. Remarkably, Beinart invokes this massacre of between 200 and 500 Vietnamese villagers by American troops as an example of 'bringing killers to justice.' In fact, with one exception, none of the many soldiers and officers responsible for committing and covering up this mass murder were ever convicted of anything. The one exception, Lt. William Calley, was pardoned by President Nixon after spending three years under house arrest...

http://tinyurl.com/ohejk


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



Collateral Damage: The "Incident" at Haditha

"Those 24 dead noncombatants are not, in fact, an 'incident' at all, nor 'isolated,' nor - another of those then-and-now terms - an 'aberration.' Make no mistake, they are the essence of this war," writes Tom Engelhardt. "From the beginning, the continual slaughter of civilians, as well as the destruction of civilian property and livelihoods, has been the modus operandi of the American invasion and occupation of Iraq."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060806O.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Haditha

Cato Institute
by Gene Healy and Timothy Lynch

06/07/06

The recent revelation that the National Security Agency has secretly been collecting phone-call data from millions of Americans comes on the heels of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' suggestion that the president might have 'inherent executive authority' to wiretap Americans' domestic calls without a warrant. That was the latest in a series of extraordinary constitutional claims the Bush administration has made during the war on terror. Among those claims: the authority to lock up American citizens on American soil and hold them without charges or trial for the duration of the war on terror and the power to bypass validly enacted statutes that interfere with any tactics the president wants to pursue in the war on terror. Behind all of these claims lies a common principle: Presidential power must be left unrestrained, checked only by the good faith of the executive and the remote possibility of impeachment. What's surprising is that even as the president has been hemorrhaging conservative support on issues such as immigration and spending, conservatives continue to back the president's dubious constitutional claims...

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6419


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

The American Spectator
by Doug Bandow

06/07/06

The Pentagon has just issued its latest assessment of China's military strength, warning of Beijing's growing power. But China's primary challenge to the U.S. in East Asia today is economic. Thus, the best way to respond is through economic means. South Korea wants a free trade agreement with Washington, over which negotiations began this week. Unfortunately, this year is not a politically propitious time for further opening international markets -- the Doha round of the World Trade Organization talks has been a bust and nearly a dozen proposed bilateral accords are fighting for attention. But if the U.S. fails to move forward on Korea Washington will find itself left further behind the People's Republic of China...

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=9921


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Athens News

06/05/06

The prototype is called the High Altitude Airship, or HAA. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors in Akron won the $40 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency to build HAA in 2003. It is essentially another blimp. A giant one. Seventeen times the size of the Goodyear dirigible. It's designed to float 12 miles above the earth, far above planes and weather systems. It will be powered by solar energy, and will stay in a geocentric orbit for up to a year, undetectable by ground-based radar. You can't see it from the ground. But it can see you. 'The possibilities are endless for homeland security,' says Kate Dunlap, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson. 'It could house cameras, and other surveillance equipment. It would be an eye in the sky'...

http://athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=25082


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Middle East Times

06/06/06

US troops on Tuesday faced fresh accusations of unlawful killings of civilians in Iraq .... The Iraqi Islamic Party, the main Sunni Arab political party, accused US forces of murdering more than two-dozen Iraqis in a series of incidents across the country in May. 'The US forces have violated human rights many times across Iraq,' said Omar Al Juburi, spokesman for the human rights department of the party that is led by Vice-President Tarek Al Hashemi. In the latest in a string of allegations against US forces, Juburi said that 29 Iraqis were killed in May in separate incidents involving US forces in the towns of Latifiyah and Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, and in the capital itself...

http://tinyurl.com/s2xlb


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Haditha

USA Today

06/06/06

Thousands of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan may be risking permanent brain damage by returning to combat with relatively minor but undiagnosed concussions, often caused by bomb blasts, military researchers say. Doctors say they are only now understanding the scope of the problem. Researchers screening returning soldiers and Marines at four military bases found that about 10% suffered at least a minor brain injury during combat. About 20% of troops in front-line infantry units suffered such injuries...

http://tinyurl.com/jevux


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Democrats and representatives of voter-registration groups accused Secretary of State Ken Blackwell on Monday of trying to rig this November's election by publishing draconian new rules governing the activities of people who register voters.

http://tinyurl.com/mbfvf


From Information Clearing House

The administration censors internal probe of lawbreaking by the Oval Office and the NSA.

http://villagevoice.com/news/index.php?issue=0623&page=hentoff&id=73418


From Information Clearing House

CBS News: U.S. Officials Believe Recent Incidents Point To An Imminent Threat.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/05/terror/main1683852.shtml



Intelligence behind raid was wrong, officials say

Senior counter-terrorism officials now believe that the intelligence that led to the raid on a family house last Friday in a search for a chemical device about to be used to attack Britain was wrong, the Guardian has learned.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,1791110,00.html



Police put on a `good spectacle'

Snipers, leg irons, selected evidence, police brass — all calculated to sway the public, lawyers and security experts say.

http://tinyurl.com/rgsgn



Gwynne Dyer: the international terrorist conspiracy

There is no shadowy but powerful network waging a terrorist war against the West: the whole thing is a fantasy.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=26228&cat_id=1


From Information Clearing House

Many analysts suggest that Saddam Hussein’s switch from the dollar to the euro for oil trading was one of the core reasons for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Now Iran, the 2nd largest OPEC producer, is getting ready to open a new oil bourse that will trade in euros. And Venezuela is said to be actively discussing the same move.

http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=142475


From Information Clearing House

http://tinyurl.com/r6gol



US caught in Iran policy squeeze

The US is increasingly left with fewer options. In fact, the options, within Washington's policy framework, have narrowed down to two: one, get used to the possibility that a nuclear Iran might well emerge, or, second, resort to a military strike that might set Iran's nuclear program back for a while.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HF07Ak03.html


From Information Clearing House

The 2006 mid-term elections are just five months away. In the Senate, close to three-dozen seats are up for grabs, while all 435 seats are open in the House. Democrats hope growing public discontent with the Bush administration will help them win control of Congress from the Republicans.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/06/1337214


From Information Clearing House

What You Can Do for Peace on Wednesday

Demand a REAL Debate on Iraq: National Call-In Day June 7 Call your Representative 202-224-3121 or toll free (888) 355-3588 An open debate on Iraq is overdue!

Americans want their sons and daughters home. Children want their mothers and fathers home. The Iraqis want their nation back. Most of the troops think they should leave in the next six months. These are the compelling majority opinions that must be addressed. Facing this is a moral and non-partisan challenge.

But, after more than three years, $300 billion, and the death of over one hundred thousand Iraqis and nearly 2,500 American soldiers, Congress still refuses to debate real alternatives to the President's stay-the-course policy. It is a policy that over 80% of Iraqis, more than 70% of U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq and a majority of Americans say is a failure.

As a people who seek peace and justice, we have a unique opportunity to demand that Congress stop passing the buck. So far, 122 members of the House of Representatives have signed a 'discharge petition' calling for immediate debate and consideration of ALL alternatives to the policy of open-ended occupation of Iraq. All we need is 96 more members to sign the petition for debate to begin. We need your help!

Call your U.S. Representative on June 7th. Ask your Representative to sign H.Res. 543 OR thank them if they have already signed and ask them to ask a colleague to sign H.Res. 543.

Here are lists of those who have and have not signed: http://www.openiraqdebate.com/inner/roll-call.html

The pressure we are applying is already having an impact. There have been news reports that some Republican members of Congress, hoping to dodge a real discussion about Iraq, will offer a tightly-controlled debate framed by supporters of the war. This alternative is clearly an election-year effort to sell the war to the public rather than address the failed policy and the need to bring the troops home. This alternative won't allow members who oppose the war to offer plans to bring the occupation to an end.

Tell your Congress Member that you demand to see a debate with an "open rule," meaning that any amendments can be introduced, debated, and voted on. The surest route to that debate is for them to sign the discharge petition and ask their colleagues to do the same.

Call 202-224-3121 and give the operator your Representative's name, or go to power search on Congress for the local district office: http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/powersearch.htm

MORE INFO: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/discharge


FORWARD THIS INFORMATION

A New York Times editorial points out that if there was ever a sign of a ruling party in trouble, it is a game plan that calls for trying to win by discouraging voting. The latest sign that Republicans have an election-year strategy to shut down voter registration drives comes from Ohio. As the state gears up for a very competitive election season this fall, its secretary of state, J. Kenneth Blackwell, has put in place "emergency" regulations that could hit voter registration workers with criminal penalties for perfectly legitimate registration practices.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060706Z.shtml

Der Krieg und die Medien

Gute Medien - Böser Krieg? Medien am schmalen Grat zwischen Cheerleadern des Militärs und Friedensjournalismus

Das Österreichische Studienzentrum für Frieden und Konfliktlösung (ÖSFK) veranstaltet vom Sonntag, 9. Juli bis Freitag, 14. Juli 2006 die 23. Internationale Sommerakademie auf Burg Schlaining (Burgenland). Zum Thema: „Medienzensur, Repressionen gegenüber kritischen JournalistInnen und der Zusammenhang von Quoten, Auflagen und Kriegen sind keine neuen Phänomene. Der Bereich der Medien - die auch als "vierte Gewalt" bezeichnet werden - durchlebte jedoch in der letzten Dekade vielerorts rasante technische und politische Entwicklungen, die die Berichterstattung um Krieg und Frieden veränderten. Diese Veränderungen sind an den Ausprägungen der Kriege von Vietnam - der erste in die Wohnzimmer getragene Krieg - über den Golfkrieg 1991 ("Krieg als Videospiel"), den Kosovo-Krieg 1999 bis zum "permanenten Krieg gegen den Terror", der in der Folge des 11.9.2001 zum Afghanistan-Krieg 2001 und dem noch andauernden Irak-Krieg geführt hat, zu beobachten…“ Für weitere Informationen siehe die Homepage zur Tagung http://www.aspr.ac.at/sak2006.htm


Reporter im Abseits

Korruption und Manipulation haben eine lange Tradition im Sport. Die meisten Journalisten setzen dem jedoch nichts entgegen. Sie sind allzu oft selber peinlich nah dran, manipuliert zu werden. Artikel von Declan Hill in Message, Internationale Zeitschrift für Journalismus, 2/2005 (pdf) http://www.sportnetzwerk.org/downloads/4/abseits-message-2.2005.pdf


Aus: LabourNet, 7. Juni 2006

Kriege beenden - Kriegsplanungen stoppen!

Bundesweiter Aufruf zum Bush-Besuch (pdf) http://www.labournet.de/krieg/bushbesuch.pdf

"Es war alles da, was in der Friedensbewegung 'Rang und Namen' hat". Interview mit Peter Strutynski über den bevorstehenden Deutschland-Besuch des US-Präsidenten Bush

„Vor wenigen Tagen haben wir bereits über die wichtigsten Ergebnisse eines Treffens der Friedensbewegung berichtet, auf dem über den im Juli 2006 bevorstehenden Besuch der US-Präsidenten in Deutschland beraten wurde. Wera Richter hatte aus diesem Anlass zwei Interviews geführt: eins mit Monty Schädel aus Meckenburg-Vorpommern (DFG VK), der in Stralsund die Fäden des Protests in den Händen hält, und eines mit Peter Strutynski, der im Namen des Bundesausschusses Friedensratschlag zu dem Treffen in Berlin eingeladen hatte. Das Interview mit Monty Schädel (es erschien in der Tageszeitung "junge Welt") haben wir hier dokumentiert: Bush in Deutschland: "Nicht schon wieder!"; das Interview mit Peter Strutynski - es erschien leicht gekürzt in der Wochenzeitung "uz" - dokumentieren wir im Folgenden…“ Doku der AG Friedensforschung http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb5/frieden/bewegung/Bush-Besuch/bush06-stru-int.html


Bush auch in Wien

"BUSH GO HOME" - Großdemonstration gegen den Besuch des US-amerikanischen Präsidenten George Bush am Mittwoch, den 21. Juni um 17.00 in Wien. Treffpunkt ist der Westbahnhof in Wien. Siehe die Aktionshomepage http://www.bushgohome.at/


Aus: LabourNet, 7. Juni 2006

--------

BUSH IN DEUTSCHLAND: "ER IST NICHT UNSER GAST!"

Attac schließt sich den Protesten anläßlich des Bush-Besuches Mitte Juli in Stralsund an. In einem Aufruf, der von Friedensinitiativen und weiteren Gruppen der Sozialen Bewegungen getragen wird, wendet sich Attac gegen die Kriegstreiberei der USA und fordert von Bush und Merkel: Kein Krieg gegen den Iran! Wir verlangen die Abkehr von der Strategie, politische Probleme militärisch zu lösen, und setzen auf Abrüstung und solidarische Zusammenarbeit. Mit einer großen Demonstration vor Ort soll dem US-Präsidenten Bush kurz vor seiner Weiterreise zum G8-Gipfel in St. Petersburg unser Protest für eine friedlichere Weltpolitik mit auf den Weg gegeben werden. Nach neuesten Informationen wurde Bushs Besuchstermin vom 14.7. auf den 13.7. vorverlegt. Entgegen früheren Ankündigungen wird daher auch die Demonstration in Stralsund schon am 13.7. stattfinden. Zusammen mit der Friedensbewegung ruft Attac zu breitem Protest auf. Neben der Demonstration beteiligt sich Attac darum an einer Zeitungsanzeige, die den Text des Aufrufs öffentlich macht. Auch Privatpersonen sind als UnterzeichnerInnen willkommen! Der vollständige Text des Aufrufes kann nachgelesen werden unter http://www.attac.de/aktuell/neuigkeiten/bushbesuch.php

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Hering am Morgen und Spanferkel am Abend

Angela Merkel und George W. Bush demonstrierten aus jeweils eigenen Interessen eitel Sonnenschein, nicht überall waren sie willkommen.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/23/23114/1.html

"Die Bundesregierung wird aufgefordert, sich nicht an einer militärischen Lösung zu beteiligen". DGB-Bundeskongress 2006 verabschiedet Antrag zum drohenden Krieg gegen Iran

Laut Protokoll vom Freitag, 26. Mai 2006 des DGB-Kongresses ist der im Folgenden dokumentierte Initiativantrag 15 einstimmig angenommen worden. Der Initiativantrag 15 wendet sich entschieden gegen eine militärische Intervention im Iran. Doku der AG Friedensforschung http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb5/frieden/regionen/Iran/stimmen/dgb.html


Kein Krieg und keine Urananreicherung - Nirgendwo! Atomwaffen(optionen) abschaffen - auch in Deutschland

„Dem Iran droht wegen der Urananreicherung, der Kritik der IAEO an seinem Verhalten und der möglichen Option auf eine Atomwaffe eine Bombardierung durch die NATO. Die menschenverachtenden Aktivitäten des autoritären iranischen Regimes sind nicht tolerierbar, so verurteilen wir insbesondere die Drohungen gegenüber Israel. Wir verurteilen jegliche antisemitische Äußerungen gleich von welcher Seite. Diese rechtfertigen aber keinen Krieg gegen den Iran, sondern sollten mit zivilen Mitteln geahndet werden, sonst werden vor allem ZivilistInnen getroffen und es birgt die Gefahr einer radioaktiven Verseuchung der ganzen Region…“ Vom 16. - 18.06.2006 wird es eine Direkte Aktion gegen Krieg und Urananreicherung in Gronau geben. Geplant ist unter anderem eine Inspektion der Urananreichrungsanlage. Ein Camp sowie verschiedene weitere Aktionen bilden den Rahmen dafür. Siehe die Aktionshomepage mit dem zitierten Aufruf http://nirgendwo.info/


Aus: LabourNet, 7. Juni 2006

„Organisiertes Schweigen“ zu den Hintergründen der WM-Finanzen – ein Gespräch mit Jens Weinreich, Sportchef der Berliner Zeitung, von Günter Herkel in M – Menschen machen Medien 6/2006 http://mmm.verdi.de/archiv/2006/06/titelthema_medien_und_fussball/hysterie_anstatt_recherche

Aus dem Text: „…M: Gibt es in diesem Zusammenhang auch Themen, die eher unterbelichtet erscheinen? WEINREICH: Ja, etwa die Frage, wie viel diese WM den Steuerzahler eigentlich kostet. Die WM-Macher behaupten, diese WM sei das größte privat organisierte Sportereignis seit Menschengedenken. Das ist eine faustdicke Lüge. Nach unseren Erhebungen wurden sechseinhalb Milliarden Euro aus verschiedenen öffentlichen Töpfen für die Finanzierung dieser WM investiert. Das sagt nur niemand. Es ist ein Skandal, dass die Politik dem Bürger diese Informationen vorenthält…“

Siehe dazu auch:

WM 2006: Wirtschaftliche Auswirkungen auf Deutschland – Dossier bei Wikipedia http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu%C3%9Fball-Weltmeisterschaft_2006#Wirtschaftliche_Auswirkungen_auf_Deutschland


Aus: LabourNet, 7. Juni 2006

Hi David

Your letter was published in todays Argus as below under the large heading Local councils can say no to unwanted phone masts.

The letter was so different to the one you posted to MS I'm wondering did you send a different version or was it heavily edited?

Best

Gary


I note Councillor Lynda Hydes observations about mobile phone base stations (Letters June 2) and empathise with what she says about central Government banning the right to turn down such installations on health grounds.

She is also right to ask whether this blanket ban has anything to do with the sale of 3G licences for in the region of £23 billion.

However, I feel bound to comment on a couple of her other statements. This is not to criticise but merely to set the record straight.

It is true to say that masts 15 metres or more in height require full planning permission and that applications for such development are often refused.

However, it is not correct to say that, in the event of appeal, permission is almost always granted.

Nor is it true that masts which do not exceed 15 metres in height require no consent at all.

Ground based installations not exceeding 15 metres in height do, indeed, constitute permitted development but applications are subject to the prior approval process which, as successive planning ministers have assured us, differs from planning permission in name only.

As with applications for planning permission, applications for prior approval are frequently refused but, in the event of appeal, it does not follow that approval is almost always granted by planning inspectors.

Figures for the past five years show that more than 30% of appeals against local planning authorities' decisions to refuse applications for masts are dismissed.

I concede we cannot say no to masts at present on health grounds alone - albeit in my view it is only a matter of time before a causal link is established between the radiation associated with mobile phone technology and adverse health effects.

Moreover, Government policy and legislation in respect of mast development is heavily weighted in favour of the operators and against the tenets of local democracy.

Nevertheless, despite the difficulties face by communities, there are several material planning considerations which can, and should, be deployed against applications to site mobile phone installations insensitively.

David

http://churches.qs4.com/
http://www.aerials.cofe.anglican.org/


Angie

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Telecoms masts deal for 5,000 churches
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-5-334333,00.html

A highly informative, multi chapter insight into the workings of the 'Interogation'. Formal, official issue material from some of the worlds best - the CIA... [this is a historical document from the 1960's... things just 'improved'...]

http://tjh.elequity.com/mod/book/view.php?id=48

A few weeks ago, Iran made allegations that Americans were in Iran making trouble... as it turns out - America was in Iraq prior to the invasion - making trouble... an excellent article.

http://tjh.elequity.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=501

Well, it only took 5 years, countless carnage, the destruction of the American economy into private hands - and the destruction of the American Image globally - but finally the American Opposition is going to give OPPOSING a go! May we all feel blessed! [Multi Article - and probably more to come, it's an election year!]

http://tjh.elequity.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=503

Officer likely to refuse Iraq call

A Fort Lewis soldier is poised to become the first U.S. military officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq, his supporters said Monday.

http://tinyurl.com/ka4ws


From Information Clearing House

--------

Francis A. Boyle Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave. Champaign, IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (voice)
217-244-1478 (fax) fboyle@law.uiuc.edu
(personal comments only)


-----Original Message-----
From: Boyle, Francis
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 8:25 AM
To: nyt@blythe.org
Subject: FW: seattletimes.com: Officer at Fort Lewis calls Iraq war illegal, refuses order to go

Statement On Behalf Of Lt. Ehren Watada
By Francis A. Boyle
Professor of International Law
7 June 2006

One generation ago the peoples of the world asked themselves: Where were the "good" Germans? Well, there were some good Germans. The Lutheran theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the foremost exemplar of someone who led a life of principled opposition to the Nazi-terror state even unto death. Today the peoples of the world are likewise asking themselves: Where are the "good" Americans? Well, there are some good Americans. They are getting prosecuted for protesting against illegal U.S. military interventions and war crimes around the world. First Lieutenant Ehren Watada is America's equivalent to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Vaclav Havel, Andrei Sakharov, Wei Jingsheng, Aung San Suu Kyi, and others. He is the archetypal American Hero whom we should be bringing into our schools and teaching our children to emulate, not those wholesale purveyors of gratuitous violence and bloodshed adulated by the U.S. government, America's power elite, the mainstream corporate news media, and its interlocked entertainment industry. In international legal terms, the Bush Jr. administration itself should now be viewed as constituting an ongoing criminal conspiracy under international criminal law in violation of the Nuremberg Charter, the Nuremberg Judgment, and the Nuremberg Principles, because of its formulation and undertaking of wars of aggression, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes that are legally akin to those perpetrated by the former Nazi regime in Germany. As a consequence, American citizens and soldiers such as Lieutenant Watada possess the basic right under international law and the United States domestic law, including the U.S. Constitution, to engage in acts of civil resistance in order to prevent, impede, thwart, or terminate ongoing criminal activities perpetrated by U.S. government officials in their conduct of foreign affairs policies and military operations purported to relate to defense and counter-terrorism. If not so restrained, the Bush Jr. administration could very well precipitate a Third World War.


-----Original Message-----
From: fboyle@law.uiuc.edu
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 8:22 AM
Subject: seattletimes.com: Officer at Fort Lewis calls Iraq war illegal, refuses order to go


Officer at Fort Lewis calls Iraq war illegal, refuses order to go Full story: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003044627_nogo7m.html

By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter

In a rare case of officer dissent, a Fort Lewis Army lieutenant has refused orders to head out to Iraq this month to lead troops in what he believes is an illegal war of occupation.

1st Lt. Ehren Watada's Stryker brigade is scheduled to make its first deployment to Iraq this month. His refusal to accompany these troops puts him at risk of court-martial and years of prison time.

"I feel that we have been lied to and betrayed by this administration," Watada said Tuesday in a telephone interview from Fort Lewis. "It is the duty, the obligation of every soldier, and specifically the officers, to evaluate the legality, the truth behind every order -- including the order to go to war."

In making his decision, Watada has reached out to peace groups, including clergy, students, some veterans opposed to Iraq and others. Some war critics are raising money for his legal defense as they seek to galvanize broader opposition to Bush administration policy in Iraq.

"There has been an outpouring of support in the Puget Sound area," said David Solnit, who works with the anti-war group Courage to Resist. The group and others are helping organize a press conference today in Tacoma to launch the support campaign.

Watada met over the weekend with Olympia peace activists, and had hoped to attend the press conference. But after a Tuesday meeting with an Army colonel, he was given written orders not to attend during duty hours between 6:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Instead, he expects to offer a video statement.

Watada's actions also may become a lightning rod for others in the debate about the Iraq war.

"He has an obligation to fulfill, and it is not up to the individual officer to decide when he is going to deploy or not deploy," said Jerry Newberry, a Vietnam veteran and director of communications for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "Some other officer will have to go in his place. He needs to think about that."

Watada, a member of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, is unsure what charges he might face. But he is concerned that his decision to go public will cause the Army to pile on numerous offenses, such as disobeying an order, missing a troop movement and unauthorized absence.

"I think they will do their best to make an example of me," Watada said.

Though some U.S. commissioned officers refused to deploy in the Vietnam War and the first Gulf War, it is unclear how many -- if any -- have balked at deployment in the Iraq war. Pentagon officials said they had no such statistics available.

A Fort Lewis spokesman, Joe Hitt, also had no knowledge of any other commissioned officer refusing to deploy. He declined to comment on Watada.

Among the enlisted ranks at Fort Lewis, Sgt. Kevin Benderman is serving a 15-month sentence at a base correctional facility for refusing a second tour of duty in Iraq. Benderman, an Army mechanic for 10 years, served in Iraq in 2003 but refused to board a plane for a return trip in January 2005.

There is also a much broader category of military personnel who for a wide range of reasons have not fulfilled their service obligations.

Since the beginning of the war, more than 7,900 members of the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force have deserted, a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands who have served. Pentagon statistics indicate that desertions have declined as the war has progressed. They dropped from
3,678 in 2003, the first year of the war, to about 2,000 in 2005. The desertions typically involve enlisted personnel, not officers.

Watada has not deserted, since he remains on post in Fort Lewis.

Watada, 28, is a native of Hawaii, and an Eagle Scout who graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a finance degree.

His father -- Robert Watada, a retired Hawaii state official -- was opposed to the war in Vietnam, and was able to do alternative service in the Peace Corps in Peru.

And Robert Watada said he laid out the "pros and cons" of military service as his son considered joining the service in the spring of 2003 as the invasion of Iraq was launched.

"He knew very well of my decision not to go to Vietnam, and he had to make his own decision to join the Army," Robert Watada said. "It was very noble. He felt like he wanted to do his part for his country."

After the younger Watada enlisted, he was sent to officer-training school in Georgia. Watada said he supported the war at that time because he believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

"I had my doubts," he said. "But I felt like the president is our leader, and he won't betray our trust, and he would know what he was talking about, and let's give him the benefit of the doubt." Over the past year, his feeling changed as he read up on the war and became convinced that there was "intentional manipulation of intelligence" by the Bush administration.

In January, Watada told his commanders that he believed that the war was unlawful, and therefore, so were his deployment orders. He did not, however, consider himself a conscientious objector, since he was willing to fight in wars that were justified, legal and in defense of the nation.

Watada was told that he could submit his resignation, but that the Army would recommend disapproval. That resignation was rejected in May, he said.

In a court-martial proceeding, Watada, who has retained civilian counsel, said he would try to mount a case about the legality of the war under international law and American law. But he is aware that a military court might not allow him to make that case.

Peace activists say they hope more military personnel will refuse to go war.

"We plan a national campaign to try to make sure that he is not punished for what he is doing," Solnit said.

Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581.

Seattle Times reporter Alex Fryer contributed to this story.

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A Call to Support U.S. Military Officer to Refuse Illegal Iraq War

Thank you LT for standing up for international, US and military law by refusing to deploy to Iraq in support of the ongoing illegal war and occupation.

http://www.thankyoult.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1


From Information Clearing House

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U.S. Army officer declares Iraq war resistance
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4618/

Lt. Ehren Watada interviewed on his refusal to deploy to 'illegal war'
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4619/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

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First Officer Publicly Resists War

"Yesterday, US Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly state his refusal to obey an order to deploy to Iraq," writes Marjorie Cohn. "Lt. Watada asked me to speak about the legality of the war at his press conference."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060806J.shtml

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Lt. Ehren Watada's June 7 press conference in Tacoma, WA
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4623/

Michael Honey refutes *News Tribune* editorial on Lt. Watada
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4624/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

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Military Officer Gains National Support for Resisting Deployment

When 27-year-old US Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada announced his refusal to deploy to Iraq yesterday, he did so surrounded by veterans, military family members, and members of the religious and anti-war communities. News of Watada's intent to refuse his orders to deploy to Iraq has galvanized anti-war communities around the country.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060806R.shtml

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Army Lieutenant Becomes First Commissioned Officer to Refuse Deployment to Iraq

Interview: Audio and transcript: On Wednesday U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada announced his intention to disobey what he says are illegal orders to deploy to Iraq. We speak with 1st Lieutenant Watada and his lawyer, Legrand Jones.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13538.htm

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Military attempts to stop Lt. Watada from speaking against illegal war

Lt. Watada confirmed, “I have a legal and ethical obligation to speak out against, and refuse to fight, this patently illegal war in Iraq. This has not changed.”

http://tinyurl.com/ogefp


From Information Clearing House

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Lieutenant Watada's War Against the War

"While ongoing media coverage of the protest debates whether Watada's action is one of cowardice or conscience, so far the seriousness of his legal claims have been largely ignored," write Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith. "Watada's position is different from that of conscientious objectors, who oppose all wars."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061306N.shtml

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Is the US Army Trying to Silence Lt. Watada?

Sarah Olson asks, "What are the speech rights for members of the military? Do they have legal rights to speak publicly about a war they think is illegal or just plain wrong? Currently, the Army is investigating Lieutenant Watada for speaking 'contemptuously' about the president."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061406R.shtml



Lt. Watada's right and obligation to speak out
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4661/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

President Bush has not fired any of the architects of the Iraq war. In fact, a review of the key planners of the conflict reveals that they have been rewarded – not blamed – for their incompetence.

http://thinkprogress.org/the-architects-where-are-they-now/


From Information Clearing House

Loach's film about the Irish independence war is being rubbished because it tells the other side of the occupation story.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1791178,00.html


From Information Clearing House

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction has 78 open investigations into fraud and corruption in the Coalition Provisional Authority.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5453477


From Information Clearing House

Military commanders in the field in Iraq admit in private reports to the Pentagon the war "is lost" and that the U.S. military is unable to stem the mounting violence killing 1,000 Iraqi civilians a month.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/printer_8790.shtml



Iraqi Girl Blog: Baghdad Burning

According to people working and living in the area, around 15 police cars pulled up to the area and uniformed men began pulling civilians off the streets and from cars, throwing bags over their heads and herding them into the cars. Anyone who tried to object was either beaten or pulled into a car.

http://tinyurl.com/z29na


From Information Clearing House

Victim's Brother Speaks

New Evidence Undermines U.S. Iraq Claims: Iraqi Anger Builds Amid New Details of Civilian Deaths and Clearing of U.S. Forces at Ishaqi.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/print?id=2040930


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ishaqi

By Charles Sullivan

Any economic system based upon greed rather than the public good and the ruthless exploitation of nature is not only wrong, it is a prescription for disaster.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13515.htm

Noam Chomsky on Latin America's Move Towards "Independence and Integration"

The U.S. in the past has had two fundamental mechanisms for controlling Latin America: one is violence, the other is economic strangulation. They're both weakening.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13520.htm

THIS tiny creature could be the only thing capable of toppling plans for a massive mobile phone mast in Horley - after the government gave developers the green light. Residents fighting against the building of a 50ft O2 mobile phone mast, on the junction of Limes Avenue and Balcombe Road, have found an unlikely saviour in the form of a Great crested newt. The small amphibians – spotted in the area a number of times – are a protected species meaning that any development close to its nesting site would need a license from the Department of Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The controversial mast is a "permitted development", which means planning permission has already been granted by central government under the Town and Country Planning Order (1995). But the presence of the crested critter could scupper the telecommunication giant's plans unless strict conservation rules are satisfied.

Full story in the Horley Observer

07 June 2006

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.crawleytoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=498&ArticleID=1547052

--------

What a great story! Saving the Great Crested Newt from the nasty 02 mast. I am all for protecting animals and wildlife.

Hey, I have just had a thought............ if ill health around masts in humans is rare enough to be non-existent, according to the powers that be, then can't those of us affected claim protected rights as endangered species? I'm off to DEFRA to see what the score is.............well I do live in a sleepy ruralised parish. If that doesn't work I'll write to the HPA. I am sure M Clark would love another letter.

Sandi


From Mast Sanity/Mast Network

http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=7827


Informant: Carlos Rovira


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Haditha+

Jun 6 2006

A DECISION to refuse permission for an extension to a mobile phone mast at a Burton Hastings farm has been overturned by the planning inspectorate.

Hutchison 3G UK applied to extend the existing mast, which overlooks the M69 on green-belt land owned by Shelford Farm, off Lutterworth Road, by five metres in September last year.

Councillors on Rugby Borough Council's planning committee refused the application at a meeting two months later.

But following an appeal, that decision has been overturned.

* An application to build a 15m mobile phone mast at Brooklyn Skoda Garage, Hillmorton Road, Rugby, has been turned down by borough councillors.

owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2006

http://tinyurl.com/pbg64

Verizon Communications Inc. will pay almost $49 million to 12,326 current and former female employees as part of a landmark class-action lawsuit alleging pregnancy discrimination.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/060606WA.shtml

Weak worker protection laws make union organizing an uphill battle. As corporate funded front groups spread misinformation, unions devise new methods to help workers organize and avoid employer harassment.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/060606LA.shtml

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gave the green light Monday, June 5 - World Environment Day - to pave a controversial road through the Amazon rainforest, benefiting farmers and worrying environmentalists.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/060606EA.shtml

Indonesia warned US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that Washington risked triggering a backlash if it tried to force its approach to fighting terrorism on the rest of the world.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060606T.shtml

Since Congress passed the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act in 1998, documents detailing the CIA's use of ex-Nazis as spies has been revealed. The intelligence gained was often of poor quality - a cautionary tale for intelligence agencies today.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060606R.shtml

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4612/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1149582726265130.xml&coll=2
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060606S.shtml


Informant: Gary the Grouch

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4614/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0606-01.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Haditha

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0606-20.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Haditha

United States Labor Against the War (USLAW)

1718 M Street, NW, PMB 153, Washington, DC 20036

In the face of mounting international isolation, eroding popular support and growing discontent even within the U.S. political and corporate elites, the Bush Administration has put the nation and the world on a collision course with Iran. This new diversionary effort to manufacture a crisis could well lead to another act of military aggression that will needlessly sacrifice thousands more innocent civilian lives in Iran, result in hundreds or thousands of additional deaths among U.S. military forces, and raises the risk of escalating into a war that could spread across the Middle East and beyond to a confrontation with Russia, China and other major powers.

A majority of the labor movement, the American people, and even (according to a recent survey) U.S. troops in Iraq agree, the U.S. must exit Iraq. Yet, despite this overwhelming sentiment for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, most of the members of both parties in Congress remain paralyzed and silent (or worse, complicit).

The invasion of Iraq was predicated on a campaign of misinformation, deception, manipulation of public sentiment, outright lies and propaganda orchestrated by the Bush administration and aided and abetted by the corporate media. We must not allow that to happen again with Iran. We cannot permit the administration to attempt to reverse its rapidly declining political fortunes by manufacturing a rationale for military aggression against yet another country.

The real immediate threat is not Iran. The most serious threat to our security and peace in the world is created by an administration in Washington that sits on the largest arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in the world and has a declared policy and practice of unilateral preemptive military action in pursuit of its goals. Real security can only result from effective use of diplomacy and negotiation, which should be opened with Iran without pre-conditions. If the administration in Washington were serious about reducing the threat of nuclear weapons, it could begin by dismantling its own nuclear arsenal, which is larger than that of all the rest of the world combined, and cease its research on a new generation of tactical, theater and strategic nuclear weapons. It should renounce its threat of a preemptive or preventative attack on Iran, forswear use of nuclear weapons of any sort, and cease its efforts at destabilization and regime change in Iran - the very kinds of action that propel countries to seek nuclear arms as a deterrence.

The American people must insist that Congress stand up to the administration 's apparent determination to escalate the confrontation with Iran. Real security for our country and the world depends on it. If the administration is navigating our country and the world toward another disaster and Congress fails to act, the American people must do so - with our voices, with demonstrations and with our votes. If Congress fails to change the course of this administration, the people must change Congress.

http://uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=10891

Issued June 6, 2006


Informant: Steven L. Robinson

From ufpj-news

http://www.lewrockwell.com/engelhardt/engelhardt194.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Haditha