World-News

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/research_funding_for_electromagnetic_radiation.htm

UK MEPs e-mail addresses
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/uk_meps_email_addresses.htm

Gary Hart and CodePink talk about how leading Democrats are abdicating responsibility on ending the war in Iraq.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/06/13/iraq_everyones_problem.php

by Ken Miller, The Nation

While some may profit from war, the instability it brings harms everyone.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/06/12/the_credit_cabal.php

The "C" Word

"Once upon a time there were real 'Conservatives.' They believed in fiscal and political responsibility. They expounded on the virtues of getting government out of people's lives. They talked about caution with regard to the use of military force and foreign intervention. They even promoted a policy of governmental accountability. Many of these people existed in the Republican Party. They might have been off track, behind the curve possibly, or at times deluded, but most tended to be civil, honorable and sincere," writes Bill Zide. "Now, it seems that this new brand of 'Neo-' or 'Theo-Conservative' that populates the rank and file of the current GOP leadership has put the 'con' back into 'conservative.'"

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

A federal appeals court panel in Manhattan questioned a lawyer for the federal government yesterday as to whether the Central Intelligence Agency had a legitimate national security interest in refusing to confirm or deny the existence of documents authorizing it to detain and interrogate terrorism suspects overseas.

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

Twenty-seven religious leaders, including megachurch pastor Rick Warren, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, have signed a statement urging the United States to "abolish torture now - without exceptions."

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

LET THERE BE LIGHT - AT LAST

Monday, June 12:

Hemelhempstead Today

Residents and councillors in Hemel Hempstead are fuming after a major telecoms company replaced street lamps with telephone masts and faulty new lighting. According to residents in Gadebridge and Warners End, perfectly good lamp posts were removed by a contractor in November last year on the orders of mobile phone giant T-Mobile.

The street lamps, in Galley Hill and Long Chaulden, were replaced with lamp posts carrying telephone masts and new lighting that did not work.

Residents and local councillors tried for months to find out why they had been left in the dark but could not get any answers from the contractor hired by T-Mobile.

A spokesman for T-Mobile confirmed that the phone masts were working and said the company was aware that there was a problem with the street lighting.

Jun 12 2006

By Gareth Deighan,
The Evening Chronicle

Jo Moore outside her Whickham home

A council is threaten-ing action after a mobile phone mast was put up without planning permission.

Jo Moore, 63, was made aware of an application by phone company O2 to put up the mast last year but was under the impression it had been denied planning permission.

Then the mast appeared outside her home in Holme Avenue, Whickham, Gateshead, and she says it now dominates the view from her front windows

Mrs Moore, who has lived in her two-bedroom semi-detached house for the last 20 years, said: "This is ridiculous. I went to all the meetings and heard everything that was said and it just wasn't allowed.

"So you can imagine my surprise when I saw it has been put up anyway.

"I went to the council and they told me that the phone company didn't have permission and something was going to be done.

"It has spoiled what you can see from my house. I woke up one morning, looked out of my window and there it was. There was no warning."

Gateshead Council confirmed the mast had been put up by the company without the proper permission and said when O2 approached them they were given preliminary planning permission.

A spokesman for Gateshead council said: "Getting planning permission for something like this is a fairly long process and O2 were in the midst of that process.

"But they did not get their final plans approved by us and put up the mast anyway which is not acceptable and we will be taking action.

"In the area of Holme Avenue there are already some masts and it is therefore difficult to refuse planning permission for more. But in this case the phone company have put this up without proper permission."

But a spokesman for O2 said the situation was a matter of paperwork. "We are in talks with Gateshead Council about the mast and as far as we're concerned, they are going well and we will be able to come to some sort of arrangement with them," he said.

"It is a matter of paperwork and we are confident the mast will be allowed to stay."

Mrs Moore said: "My neighbours and I think the mast is horrendous and we want to see it gone."

owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2006

http://tinyurl.com/z4ozy

Ahnungslose Behörden?: NABU wirft Länderbehörden Vernachlässigung der Gentechnik-Kontrollen vor (13.06.06)

Der Naturschutzbund NABU hat die deutschen Bundesländer für eine "mangelnde Kontrolle bei der Aussaat von genmanipulierten Pflanzen" heftig kritisiert. Die Länder seien nach nationalem und europäischem Recht verpflichtet, eine Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung für den Gen-Pflanzen-Anbau in Schutzgebieten durchzuführen, wenn dadurch eine Beeinträchtigung dieser Gebiete drohe. "Bis heute hat keines der Länder die entsprechende Regelung des Paragraphen 34 a des Bundesnaturschutzgesetzes in Landesgesetz umgesetzt", teilte der Naturschutzbund, gestützt auf eigene Untersuchungen, mit. "Darüber hinaus wissen die zuständigen Landesbehörden in der Regel nicht, ob ihre Schutzgebiete überhaupt vom Gen-Pflanzen-Anbau betroffen sind. Sie schauen schlicht nicht in das Standortregister."

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13801

http://tinyurl.com/kkbjr


Informant: binstock

http://tinyurl.com/zv9u9

Japan is poised -- yet again -- to increase whaling operations and wants to overturn the international whaling ban altogether.

Take Action Now!
http://tinyurl.com/zv9u9

Write to the White House urging opposition to Japan's permanent membership on the UN Security Council until Japan complies with international laws for the protection of whales.

--------

Pro-whaling Nations Plot Diplomatic Coup
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0616-01.htm

--------

ACTION: Help save whales

As you know the worlds whale populations are in danger. The future of these beautiful creatures was dealt a huge blow today with when pro- whaling nations, led by Japan, succeeded in winning their first vote at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 20 years.

The non-binding decision stated that the 20-year moratorium on commercial whaling was "no longer necessary". It also blamed whales for depleting fish stocks and said non-governmental organisations were a threat.

The short-sighted action occurred because four small pacific island nations (Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Nauru and Kiribati) changed their votes and voting alongside the pro-whaling nations such as Japan and Norway. It has been suggested that Japan, in particular, has put a lot of aid money into the pacific in the hope of gaining the votes of these smaller countries.

You can view more information on this at:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3705494a10,00.html
http://www.greenpeace.org.nz/news/news_main.asp?PRID=929

I would like to encourage you to write to the governments of these countries (Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Nauru and Kiribati) to express your concern at their sudden support for commercial whaling. I am very hopeful a demonstration of public opinion will sway the governments of these countries the next time the issue is voted on.

I have listed some relevant e-mail addresses that you can contact below. If you do send an email, can you please BCC the message to whale_save@yahoo.co.nz (so that I can count an approximate number of e-mails sent). Also please be polite in you message, these a very small and poor nations, and rude or offensive messages to them will be remembered by them and will not help the whales!

NAURU:

Republic of Nauru
Permanent Mission to the United Nations
800 Second Avenue, Suite 400A
New York, NY 10017
nauru@onecommonwealth.org
nauru@un.int

Helen Bogdan
Public Affairs Consultant for Nauru
h.bogdan@bigpond.com

Consulate General of Nauru to Australia
Level 51, Nauru House
80 Collins Street
Melbourne, Vic 3000
Australia
Consul-General
Mr. Vollmer Appi (Acting)
Phone: +61-3-9653-5709
Fax: +61-3-9654-4738
consulate@nauru.com.au


TUVALU:

Tuvalu at United Nations
Permanent Mission of Tuvalu
800 Second Avenue, Suite 400 B
New York, NY 10017
Telephone: (+1 212) 490-0534
Facsimile: (+1 212) 808-4975
enele@onecommonwealth.org

Parliament (Palamene) of Tuvalu
Private Mail Bag
Vaiaku
Funafuti
Telephone: (+688) 20250
Facsimile: (+688) 20253
Email: palamene@tuvalu.tv


SOLOMON ISLANDS (This country is very poor and has been through
significant civil strife, please be very careful and polite with messages):

Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources
Permanent Secretary: Tione Bugotu psfisheries@pmc.gov.sb

Department of Forest, Environment and Conservation
Permanent Secretary: Steve Likaveke psforestry@pmc.gov.sb

Department of Foreign Affairs
Permanent Secretary: Jerry Manele psfa@pmc.gov.sb

Prime Minister's and Cabinet
Permanent Secretary: Fred Ganete pspm@pmc.gov.sb

Director of Foreign Investment: Derick Ahaira
investment@commerce.gov.sb

Department of Infrastructure and Development
Permanent Secretary: John Ta'aru psinfrastructure@pmc.gov.sb

Department of Culture and Tourism
Permanent Secretary: Francis Lomo pstourism@pmc.gov.sb

Soloman Islands Visitors Board: info@sivb.com.sb

Ministry of Provincial Government and Constituency Development
Permanent Secretary: John. M.Tuhaika tuhaika@pipolfastaem.gov.sb

JAPAN

For a list of Japanese embassies or consultates visit:
http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/mofaserv.html

Ministry of the Environment
http://www.env.go.jp/en/
Address: No. 5 Godochosha, 1-2-2 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo 100-8975
Phone: +81-3-3581-3351
MOE@env.go.jp

Prime Minister of Japan
http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html

Office of the Cabinet Public Relations, Cabinet Secretariat
Address: 1-6-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8968
e-mail: kanteihp-info@cas.go.jp

--------

Stop The Slaughter

action at the International Whaling Commission meetings I’m writing you from St. Kitts, site of the 58th meeting of the International Whaling Commission. Our ship, the Arctic Sunrise, after being refused entry for more than a week, entered the waters of St. Kitts today to stage a peaceful protest. We landed on the beach and began placing more than 866 whale tails in the sand to symbolize the number of whales slaughtered by the Japanese government this year. Ten of our activists have already been arrested.

The International Whaling Commission meetings have just ended, and they dramatically displayed how narrow a margin exists between the pro-whaling and anti-whaling nations. A mere 2 votes (remember that number!) prevented Japan from eliminating conservation efforts for dolphins, porpoises, and small whales; and implementing a secret ballot. The Japanese delegation also narrowly lost their bids to abolish the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, exempt themselves from the commercial whaling ban, and kick Greenpeace out of the IWC meetings.

And you should know that your efforts played a major role in these victories. Due to pressure from concerned people around the world, including thousands of emails and faxes from you, Guatemala and Honduras decided NOT to attend the IWC meetings. Those two votes made all the difference. THANK YOU!

But after losing several votes, Japan pulled out all the stops, and actually won a non-binding resolution pronouncing that whales are guilty of over-fishing – by 1 vote! That’s right, the Japanese succeeded in convincing more than 30 nations that whales eat too much fish! And that wasn’t the only fishy thing that happened during the meetings. One of Japan’s pro-whaling allies arrived late to the meetings with their membership fees in cash, in a brown paper bag.

TAKE ACTION
http://usactions.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=106

We've taken a stand against Japanese Whaling, now it's your turn to send a strong message!

The stage is clearly set for next year’s meeting in Alaska, and it will take everything we have to turn the tide. Now more than ever, the fight to protect whales is at a critical phase. That’s why we’ve announced that we’ll be returning to the Southern Ocean this winter to confront the Japanese whalers again.

Please, support our efforts, follow this story, and share the news with your friends and family.

Sincerely,

Buffy Baumann
Ocean Campaigner

--------

Japanese Whaling A Barbaric Spectacle
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/2210437/

Former Le Monde editor Andre Fontaine meditates on how democracies can revive from their current malaise.

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

"As has been repeatedly stated by the most informed observers of the Iraqi scene, the real source of insurgent strength was never the foreign fighters, mainly under Zarqawi's control, but rather the indigenous militias along with elements from the old regime - Baathists and allies of Saddam Hussein. It will benefit the region, as well as Iraq, if Zarqawi's death is not allowed to become another occasion of wishful thinking by those who remain committed to Washington's policies of invasion and occupation," writes Richard Falk.

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



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

A message from Eleanor

Original Message:

THANKS YOUNI AND PENNY LYNN!

Eleanor


HELLO, this is from JOUNI, from the topic of MAKE PEACE NOT WAR at the GLOBAL ACTION CENTRAL GROUP, which I RECOMMEND JOINING FOR A VARIETY OF COVERED ISSUES, please sign this important petition. The Nuclear Industry has been attempting to UNDO over 25 years of our hard work on educating citizenry about Nuclear weapons, and the insanity of even thinking that they are acceptable..We must not allow the UNITED STATES MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, CONTROLLED BY THE PENTAGONIANS (my new word for them) TO START THE SPACE WAR CONCEPT AGAIN! SOME OF US ARE OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THE FEAR THAT WE GREW UP WITH EVERY SINGLE DAY, DUE TO THE INSANITY OF ALL THINGS NUCLEAR and this Space issue is not just for the US to decide on!!! PLEASE HELP WITH ThIS IMPORTANT ISSUE, and THANKS VERY MUCH, PENNY LYNN DUNN...
(for more information on nuclear issues, one of the best sites is http://www.napf.org and http://www.wagingpeace.org )


Friday, 3:09 PM

Please, keep on signing this petition and spreading word about it, it is topic right now in UN as governments of UK and US have expressed their opposition to talks about preventing an arms race in space... ...CAMPAIGN FOR COOPERATION IN SPACE

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/832338563

China, Russia Object to Weapons in Space

China and Russia yesterday told a U.N. body that the threat from space-based weapons would be equal to that posed by weapons of mass destruction, Reuters reported (see GSN, May 11).

The U.N. Conference on Disarmament is looking to begin negotiations on preventing an arms race in outer space. The United Kingdom and United States have expressed their opposition to such talks (see GSN, May 18).

Russian Ambassador to the conference Valery Loshchinin likened the weaponization of outer space to the “emergence of a new type of weapon of mass destruction.”

“If there are no weapons in outer space, no room for the use of force, then there will be no arms race there. We must nip it in the bud,” he said.

“A world free of outer space weapons is no less important than a world free of the weapons of mass destruction,” said China’s ambassador to the conference, Cheng Jingye.

“The development of outer space weapons keeps progressing quietly and relevant military doctrine is taking shape,” he said.

The White House is expected issue a new space policy for the first time in a decade this month, according to Reuters (Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters/Yahoo!News, June 8)

Privatsphäre und die Auswirkungen von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22860/1.html



Virales Eigenlob

Internetkommunikation und wirtschaftliche Interessen. Ein Überblick - Teil2
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22830/1.html



Aspekte der Zerstörung von Privatheit und Intimität

Reality-TV, Doku-Soaps und Daytime-Talk-Shows
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22849/1.html

Ich glaub, mein Handy pfeift!

Jamba-Sommerhit 2006: der lehrersichere Klingelton?
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22866/1.html

--------

Handy-Verbot an Schulen
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/1677088/

http://prefs.greenpeace.org/mail-links/clicks/23792.2561633.5409

This week, the Marshall Islands government will meet to decide how they vote at the International Whaling Commission.

Under pressure from the Japanese government, the Marshall Islands are widely expected to side with pro-whaling nations, This means that pro-whaling nations could resume control of the IWC. Japan expects the vote of the Marshall Islands to tip the balance.

This island country could hold the fate of the whales in their hands!

Don't let the Marshall Islands go down in history as one of the countries which brought about an end to whale protection.

Urge the Marshall Islands to vote with their consciences and save whales. Your message will go to President Kessia Note, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gerald M Zakios, and Chief Secretary Robert Muller.

Please provide the following information necessary to send the letter 'The world is watching: vote to save whales!'.

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_3929151


Informant: Teresa Binstock

Long-time resident says she will probably sell up due to health fears

By Debbie Leigh

RESIDENTS are furious after the Government overturned a decision by Leeds City Council to refuse planning permission for a mobile phone mast.

A government inspector dismissed the health fears of residents in Roundhay living near the BP Gledhow Service Station on Roundhay Road, where the 12-metre mast will be installed. They are bitterly disappointed at the decision.

Nazreen Ahmed who has lived near the site for more than 20 years said she was so horrified by the potential health risks she would probably move house.

Mrs Ahmed, who lives at Well House Drive with her husband, mother-in-law and two young children said: "I'm worried about all the radiation you hear about and it will affect us directly as we are not too far away from it.

Overrule

"If it does go up we will be strongly considering moving house. Why have a local planning department and procedures if the Government is just going to overrule the decision? If it's not right for the local authority the Government shouldn't interfere."

The application by T-Mobile was refused in September last year after local councillors raised concerns about the health threat and the impact of the mast on the appearance and character of the area.

But an inspector allowed an appeal by T-Mobile and has now approved the plan.

Coun Valerie Kendall (Con, Roundhay) said: "With the effect on public health unclear, residents are understandably concerned. However when it comes to phone masts this case shows that the Govermnent can simply push those local concerns to one side in favour of big business with the stroke of a pen."

Other residents living near the site said they were worried by the decision.
Mohammed Rashid moved to Well House Gardens three weeks ago and said he would have objected to the plan if he had known about it. He said: "My son suffered from eczema and I have heard phone masts are not very good for eczema sufferers."

Under planning rules, a mobile phone operator is entitled to appeal a decision to an Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.


Talkback

What are your specific health fears with regard to phone masts?
Call 0113 238 8152. (Lines open 24 hours.)
Or write to: Talkback,
Yorkshire Evening Post,
Wellington Street,
Leeds LS1 1RF.
E-Mail: eped@ypn.co.uk
Text: NEWSDESK then message up to 160 characters to 83070

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.leedstoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=39&ArticleID=1561279

Das kleine Dorf Leingarten in Baden-Württemberg bietet Monsanto die Stirn – und hat damit ein Testfeld für Genmais verhindert: Aus Protest gegen ein geplantes Monsanto-Feld hat ein Bauer in der Nähe konventionellen Mais angesät. Damit drohte der Antrag auf Einrichtung eines Testfeldes zu scheitern, weil Monsanto mit seinem Testfeld die Abstände zum konventionellen Anbau nicht einhalten konnte, die das Gentechnik-Gesetz vorschreibt. Als die Genehmigung aus dem Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Landwirtschaft ausblieb, zog Monsanto seinen Antrag zurück und verzichtet nun auf den Test-Anbau des neuartigen Gen-Mais. Dieser Sieg eines kleinen Dorfes gegen den Gentechnik- Riesen Monsanto zeigt: Gentechnik stößt auf breite Ablehnung in der Bevölkerung. Und wenn es gelingt, diese Ablehnung in Protest umzusetzen, ist Monsanto verwundbar.

Ausführlicher Hintergrundbericht: http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/stz/page/detail.php/1153943?_suchtag=2006-05-08


Aus: Monsanto Newsletter Nr. 2

Monsanto sorgt erneut für einen Skandal: Nach Informationen von Greenpeace weigert sich der Konzern, die Forschungsergebnisse von Laborversuchen für seinen gentechnisch veränderten Mais MON810 offen zu legen – und das, obwohl ab April 1700 Hektar Ackerfläche in Deutschland mit dieser Sorte bepflanzt werden. Zum wiederholten Male stellt sich Monsanto damit gegen eine Offenlegung von Forschungsergebnissen. Warum hält Monsanto die Versuchsergebnisse unter Verschluss? Die Weigerung ist ein weiteres Indiz dafür, dass der Gentechnik-Konzern etwas zu verbergen hat. Es scheint, dass Gentechnik auf dem Acker doch mehr Risiken für Mensch und Umwelt nach sich zieht, als der Konzern zugeben mag. Bereits im Jahr 2004 hatten geheim gehaltene Forschungen für einen Skandal gesorgt: Ratten, die mit dem Monsanto-Mais MON863 gefüttert wurden, hatten beunruhigende Veränderungen im Blutbild und an den Nieren gezeigt. Trotzdem wurde der umstrittene Mais nicht vom Markt genommen. Monsanto stritt jegliche Gesundheitsgefahren ab. Der aktuelle Fall zeigt: Die Auswirkungen der Gentechnik auf Mensch und Natur sind weitgehend unerforscht. Monsanto ignoriert alle Risiken und will unbeirrt weitere Sorten in Europa etablieren. Für die VerbraucherInnen hingegen ergibt sich kein zusätzlicher Nutzen – daher lehnen auch 2/3 der europäischen VerbraucherInnen die Gentechnik auf dem Teller ab. Wir fordern von Monsanto: Ausstieg aus dem Risiko-Geschäft Gentechnik!


Aus: Monsanto Newsletter Nr. 2

Mother Jones
by Tom Engelhardt

06/12/06

Let me, on this, be neither conservative, nor cautious. Every now and then, you have to rely on history as your guide. And hasn't this happened to us enough? Don't we know that, in every turning-of-the-tide moment in Iraq, it soon turns out that, despite the hoopla, our tide was ebbing and someone else's invariably rising? A number of experts are already suggesting that Zarqawi's death will have 'minimal impact' on the Iraqi resistance and may, in fact, serve to strengthen it by removing the most divisive and detested oppositional figure in the country; or perhaps, as the superb independent journalist Nir Rosen suggests in a thoughtful obit at the Truthdig website, Zarqawi's death 'was the greatest advertisement for his cause' and the path he blazed into sectarian warfare is now unstaunchable...

http://tinyurl.com/s36h8


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

06/12/06

[T]he U.S. government's propaganda machine has made al Qaeda the most overrated organization in the world and its leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the controlling force behind worldwide violent Islamic jihad -- even though they act mainly as inspiration for the movement. Similarly, in Iraq, the U.S. government needed a villain to personify the rather faceless Iraqi insurgency. The vicious and brutal Zarqawi fit the bill perfectly. The Bush administration demonized Zarqawi's foreign jihadists as the instigators and dominant force of the much larger Sunni insurgency to demonstrate that foreigners were causing most of the problems in Iraq rather than Iraqis who wanted to oust the occupying superpower. After building up Zarqawi and the jihadists, the administration could now shore up sagging public support for the war at home by nailing the bad guy in classic Hollywood fashion. Yet the administration's public relations coup is likely to be temporary and do a favor for the Iraqi insurgency and maybe even bin Laden and Zawahiri...

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1748


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

AlterNet
by Ray McGovern

06/12/06

Several months ago, U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada decided that U.S. involvement in Iraq is illegal and immoral. Like so many of us, Watada concluded that intelligence was manipulated to 'justify' the invasion. Unlike so many of us, he has had the courage to stick his neck out and pay the price for resistance. We should, I suppose, give the neck its due. It is a pleasant thing -- a convenient connection between head and torso. We do not risk it out of caprice. But if there is nothing for which we will risk that neck, then it has become our idol. And necks are not worthy of this status. Finally, an active duty U.S. Army officer has refused to engage in that kind of idol worship...

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/37381/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

National Review
by John Derbyshire

06/12/06

Since the Iraq war was obviously a gross blunder, is it time for those of us who cheered on the war to offer some kind of apology? Here we are -- we, the United States -- in our fourth year of occupying that sinkhole, and it looks pretty much like the third year, or the second. Will the eighth year of our occupation, or our twelfth, look any better? I know people who will say yes, but I no longer know any who will say it with real conviction. It's a tough thing, to admit you were wrong. It's way tough if you're a big-name pundit with a reputation to preserve. For those of us down at the bottom of the pundit pecking order, the stakes aren't so high. I, at any rate, am willing to eat some crow and say: I wish I had never given any support to this fool war...

http://tinyurl.com/gfx9m


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Fox News
by Susan Estrich

06/12/06

'I did a good job,' Tom DeLay said Thursday in his farewell speech to the House of Representatives. 'I helped build the largest political coalition in the last 50 years. The K Street project and the K Street strategy I am very proud of.' At least Republicans will have to finally stop denying its existence. The K Street Project was the business of forcing the big corporate lobbyists to hire Republicans and donate to Republicans if they wanted to do business on Capitol Hill. For years, the boys used to claim that it really didn't exist. Just a figment of overactive Democrat imaginations, they used to say. Guess again. K Street is the stretch of Washington populated by expensive restaurants frequented by fat cat lobbyists and the members and staffers who feed at their trough. But it is not simply a place, but a way of doing business...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199038,00.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Fox News

06/12/06

Students are using a new ring tone to receive messages in class -- and many teachers can't even hear the ring. Some students are downloading a ring tone off the Internet that is too high-pitched to be heard by most adults. With it, high schoolers can receive text message alerts on their cell phones without the teacher knowing. As people age, many develop what's known as aging ear -- a loss of the ability to hear higher-frequency sounds. The ring tone is a spin-off of technology that was originally meant to repel teenagers -- not help them. A Welsh security company developed the tone to help shopkeepers disperse young people loitering in front of their stores while leaving adults unaffected. The company called their product the 'Mosquito'...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199119,00.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Washington Post

06/12/06

U.S. troops sent to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea to prepare for joint war games left Ukraine after two weeks of protests organized by pro-Russian parties prevented them from carrying out their mission. Some 200 Marine reservists arrived in Ukraine on May 27 to help refurbish a training facility for the exercises in mid-July. But the protesters, who accused NATO and the United States of seeking a foothold in the ex-Soviet republic, prevented the reservists from getting on to the base. ... U.S. and Ukrainian officials said the 200 reservists began leaving the region on Sunday because their contract had ended. Russian television broadcast footage of several dozen flag-bearing protesters shouting 'Yankee Go Home!' at buses apparently carrying the Americans...

http://tinyurl.com/o92fc


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

CNN

06/12/06

Private military contractors are earning billions of dollars in Iraq -- much of it from U.S. taxpayers. Business is booming for those willing to tackle one of the most dangerous jobs on Earth. Lucrative U.S. government contracts go to firms called on to provide security for projects and personnel -- jobs that in previous conflicts have been done by the military. A single contract awarded to Britain's AEGIS Specialist Risk Management company by the Pentagon was worth $293 million, and while the government says it cannot provide a total amount for the contracts -- many of which are secret -- industry experts estimate Iraq's security business costs tens of billions of dollars...

http://tinyurl.com/nhzqa


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Just to put perspective on the size of this science/truth issue, Exxon/Mobil has ploughed millions of dollars into setting up some 40 "scientific" organisations to refute or confuse the human contribution to climate change issue, and be ready "independent" commentators to the media. During the tenure of the latest Chairman, ExxonMobil has contributed some 60bn tonnes of CO2 to our atmosphere.

You might also reflect on the current moves by the Royal Society to squash science that might create awkwardness and worry people. Let's hope their attempt to have Andrew Wakefield struck off over MMR backfires.

It seems globalised humankind would rather self-destruct than moderate its money-making.

Andy

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1796266,00.html#article_continue


Informant: Davey Garland

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4648/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

http://www.lewrockwell.com/gaddy/gaddy22.html



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

http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis33.html

Zarqawi and the Drug War
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger90.html

Without reservation
http://militaryweek.com/columns/withoutreservation.php?id=19


From Information Clearing House



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

http://www.lewrockwell.com/reed/reed98.html

Sovietizing the Economy: The Final Phase
http://www.lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w63.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=/reed
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=/grigg

A new documentary chronicles a summer camp where children, as young as six, are trained to become devout Christian soldiers.

http://www.alternet.org/movies/37373/


From Information Clearing House

--------

God’s Army
http://tjh.elequity.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=576

http://tinyurl.com/n8z2b


From Information Clearing House

Russia has angrily accused the U.S. government of injecting political questions about democracy and human rights into the trade negotiations, but Schwab this was not the case.

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/06/10/wtopolitics.shtml


From Information Clearing House

The administration has suffered a decisive defeat of its effort to get international sanctions for possible military action against Iran.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33571


From Information Clearing House

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13584.htm



I Stand In Solidarity With The Prisoners Of Guantanamo

Because the unjust and inhumane treatment of any man or woman, diminishes me.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13589.htm



US prison at Guantanamo condemned

Human rights groups and politicians have called for the controversial US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to be closed after the suicides of three inmates on Saturday.

http://tinyurl.com/hlbgt


From Information Clearing House

--------

A profound disassociation from humanity
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4647/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

--------

Lies, Damn Lies and Spades
http://tjh.elequity.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=574

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Close Guantanamo now

The Progressive
by Matthew Rothschild

06/12/06

What's it going to take to close down Guantanamo Bay? It should have been closed long ago, if Bush and Rumsfeld and Cheney and Gonzales had any respect for international law and human rights. And it definitely should be closed now, after the suicides of three detainees on Saturday morning. At the very least, there appears to have been gross negligence on the part of the guards there, who are supposed to 'observe prisoners at least every two minutes,' according to The New York Times. One of the detainees was 17 when he was captured in Afghanistan back in 2001, the Times said. ... Another one of the detainees who committed suicide was supposed to be released, but 'was not told because U.S. officials had not decided which country he would be sent to,' BBC reports, citing Mark Denbeaux, a lawyer for some Guantanamo prisoners...

http://progressive.org/mag_wx061206


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

THE intercepted top-secret fax contained information that America never wanted the world to know – that the US was holding war-on-terror captives at clandestine “black site” prisons in eastern Europe.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13577.htm

The U.S. denies accounts saying that the terrorist was beaten by American troops before he died, but confirms that a child was among the dead.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13581.htm

--------

So 'Zarqawi' is finally dead
http://tjh.elequity.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=570



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

Over the weekend, 83 bodies were delivered to the Baghdad morgue. The figure is high even by the grim standards of a venue that has seen thousands of corpses this year.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5478162


From Information Clearing House

U.S. forces killed seven "militants". Two children were also been killed.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBA228362.htm


From Information Clearing House



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

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13588.htm



Nuking Iran: Jorge Hirsch interviewed by Foaad Khosmood

You had written back in October of 2005 that "The strategic decision by the United States to nuke Iran was probably made long ago." What led you to that conclusion at that time? What do you think of the Hersh piece?

http://www.payvand.com/news/06/apr/1094.html


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Paul+Craig+Roberts
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jorge+Hirsch

By Mark H. Gaffney

Our problem in 2006 is that the world can no longer afford even a single miscalculation, lest we become irradiated flakes of ash on the wasted winds.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13590.htm

By Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed
Inter Press Service

In the wake of the Haditha massacre, reports of another atrocity have surfaced in which U.S. troops killed two women in Samarra, and then attempted to hide evidence of their responsibility.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13591.htm



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

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0612-21.htm



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

U.S. Criticized over Guantanamo Suicides
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0612-03.htm

Former Guantanamo Detainees Recall Despair
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0612-01.htm

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When Suicide becomes Resistance

By Mike Whitney

Guantanamo is the face of America under Bush. It has changed how we are perceived in the world and it has eroded our moral authority.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13587.htm



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