World-News

ACTION PAGE: http://www.usalone.com/stacey/pnum344.php

Joe Lieberman has been given the privilege of sitting as a US Senator for 18 years. He's even been given the extraordinary privilege of being nominated for The Democratic Party's choice for Vice President. He was almost one heartbeat away from the Presidency . . . and all this as a Democrat because of you, the Democrats across this nation.

Yesterday he announces, "I have higher loyalties than my Party." He admits for the first time, on CNN, he is pulling signature petitions to run as an Independent if he loses the primary on August 8th in Connecticut. It seems Lieberman believes he will lose, or he would not be taking this extraordinary step to betray the very Party that put him in office and nearly into the Vice Presidency. It is an outrage!

Until now the leadership of the Party, perhaps out of respect for his 18 years, has either backed his candidacy or refused to pledge their support to the Democratic Party Winner of that primary.

Today, and every day until it is done, we must demand that our leadership stand as one and repudiate this man who would so dishonor our Party and our system of candidate choice that has worked for the many decades. Joe Lieberman is being challenged at a primary by a previously unknown opponent. If he loses he should be a man and support the winner on to victory in the General Election. And then quietly walk off stage. He does not deserve our respect, in any form, if he does not.

And who must we hammer home this message to: Chuck Schumer, Chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, Barack Obama and every other Democratic Senator [if you have Democratic senators in your state] whose heart must be torn tonight to see this outright betrayal of our Party and its ideals.

We, the voters of the Democratic Party and our Party itself, must oppose this man, if he runs as an Independent. Even the consideration of such an act is an insult to every real Democrat.

This is a terrible day for the Democratic Party and this betrayal must not be allowed to stand.

Send your message to the Democratic Caucus . . . make it emotional and searing with heat. This must not be allowed to stand.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.usalone.com/stacey/pnum344.php

This alert is brought to you through the activism of Stacey Tallitsh, running for the U.S. House in the 1st Congressional district, and one of the leading progressive voices in the state of Louisiana. Many of you have already submitted his action page calling for the troops in Iraq to start coming home now, a policy that is more surely correct with every passing state of emergency in Baghdad.

Stacey has already produced his first call to action radio spot, calling for an end of the obstinate occupation of Iraq, a military escapade which has brought nothing but death and destruction to both their country and our own. Thanks to your generosity, Stacey needs just a couple more donations to start running these radio spots on his local stations, to build the consensus to actually start bringing our brave troops home. You can hear the new spot on this page.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.usalone.com/stacey/donations.php

Nobody can predict how a particular race will turn out. But we know that the spots we ran on impeachment had tremendous secondary impact, as TWO other groups were inspired to run their own call to action ads on this issue as a result of the investment we made in this action. If you are able to do so, please make whatever donation you can to continue the stand we are taking on issue after issue.

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this message to everyone else you know.

Powered by The People's Email Network Copyright 2006, Patent pending, All rights reserved



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

"Most Americans, even those who follow politics closely, have probably never heard of [David S.] Addington, [Vice-President Cheney’s chief of staff and his longtime principal legal adviser]. But current and former administration officials say that he has played a central role in shaping the administration’s legal strategy for the war on terror. Known as the New Paradigm, this strategy rests on a reading of the Constitution that few legal scholars share - namely, that the president, as commander in chief, has the authority to disregard virtually all previously known legal boundaries, if national security demands it," writes Jane Mayer.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070506P.shtml

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The Hidden Power

The legal mind behind the White House’s war on terror.
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060703fa_fact1


From Information Clearing House

"In 'The New American Cold War,' the cover story of the most recent issue of the Nation, Russia specialist Stephen F. Cohen finally catches the essence of that ever-degrading relationship [between the US and Russia]," writes Tom Engelhardt. "What Cohen points out is that, after the USSR unraveled, the Cold War never actually ended, not on the American side anyway, and today it not only continues at nearly full blast, but the Russians have finally re-entered the game."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070506O.shtml

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The Destabilization Game

This is the new, American-driven cold war -- a striking feature of our landscape, almost utterly ignored by the mainstream media -

By Tom Engelhardt

In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet empire, the United States was the sole military power of significance left standing. It had, as they saw it, enough excess power to ensure a Pax Americana into the distant future, in part by ensuring that no future or resurgent superpower or bloc of powers would, in any foreseeable future, arise to challenge the United States. As the President put it in an address at West Point in 2002, "America has, and intends to keep, military strengths beyond challenge."

This is a must read
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13877.htm

Prosecutors said Wednesday they had arrested two Italian intelligence officers and were seeking four more Americans as part of an investigation into the alleged CIA kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Milan in 2003.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070506N.shtml

The central morgue said Tuesday that it received 1,595 bodies last month, 16 percent more than in May, in a tally that showed the pace of killing here has increased since the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070506M.shtml



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

"Why is it so difficult for the Democrats to grasp that waffling doesn’t work as a form of leadership? The public takes it as a sign of moral disarray," writes Robert Scheer. "It is high time the folks who make up the base of the Democratic Party took a page from the playbook of the Republican Right and backed candidates willing to stand up for their values, rather than wasting their money, time and votes on those who won’t."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070506K.shtml

Der stumme Frühling droht
http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/23/23022/1.html

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Vögel und Mobilfunk
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/331774/

Fischerei: "Die Piraten sitzen im Herzen Europas" (05.07.06)

Illegale Fischerei bedroht nach Auffassung der Artenschutzorganisation WWF die Tunfisch-Bestände im Mittelmeer und im Ostatlantik. Laut WWF fangen die Flotten der Europäischen Union, insbesondere Frankreichs, weit größere Mengen, als die offiziellen Quoten erlauben. Auch Libyen und die Türkei ignorierten die Höchstgrenzen. Der begehrte Rote Tunfisch (Thunnus thynnus) werde vor allem für die Trendspeise Sushi verarbeitet. Die Preise lägen bei über 150 Euro pro Kilo. "Tunfisch ist damit ähnlich lukrativ wie Kaviar." Der wichtigste Markt sei Japan, aber auch Deutschland zähle zu den Abnehmern. "Piraterie kommt leider nicht nur in Geschichtsbüchern vor. Die Kriminellen sitzen im Herzen Europas. Sie plündern mit dem Tunfisch einen der wertvollsten Schätze der Ozeane", meint Heike Vesper vom WWF. Die Organisation fordert einen sofortigen Fangstopp, "bis ein Plan zur Wiederherstellung der Bestände ausgearbeitet ist".

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13952

The Bush administration has been pushing the legal envelope, testing and frequently exceeding the law's limits with its claims of executive power.

But last week, as the Supreme Court ended its 2005 term, it sent an unequivocal message to the Executive Branch on the issue of detainee trials at Guantánamo: In a 5-3 decision, the Court ruled that the military commissions created by the president violate both United States law and the Geneva Conventions.

As we celebrate the founding of the nation, we can take heart in the Court's affirmation of our bedrock system of checks and balances. The current administration prefers to act outside the law and without judicial scrutiny. The Court properly rejected that anti-democratic view with its Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision, in which the ACLU filed an amicus brief.

The government's misuse of the military tribunals is just one in a series of abuses of power, abuses that include illegal NSA spying on Americans, secret CIA kidnappings and secret FBI demands for personal records from libraries and other institutions. As the summer progresses, the ACLU and its members and supporters will continue to work in the courts, on Capitol Hill and in local communities across the nation to uphold the rule of law in the face of these latest attacks.

It's a transitional time for the Supreme Court, after the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. While it's too early to say what influence Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito will ultimately have on the Court, the most important vote may be Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Kennedy now holds the balance of power on a closely divided Court. Kennedy's influence is apparent in recent rulings on partisan redistricting in Texas, the death penalty and federalism, among other issues. And his role is likely to be even more pivotal next term, given upcoming arguments on affirmative action and reproductive freedom.

I hope you'll take a moment to read our analysis of the first year of the Roberts Court and learn more about our involvement in the major civil liberties cases from the 2005 term. As Legal Director, I am extraordinarily proud of the work of our talented legal staff. That work is bolstered every day by your involvement, your efforts, and your contributions.

For the latest ACLU news from the Supreme Court, go to:

http://www.aclu.org/supremecourt

With regards and thanks for your support for our work,

Steven Shapiro, ACLU

Steven R. Shapiro
Legal Director American Civil Liberties Union



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

A message from Eleanor

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT! THIS COULD HELP STOP ANIMAL TESTING THROUGHOUT THE EUROPEAN UNION. PLEASE CROSSPOST AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE! PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND ASK THEM TO FORWARD. WHAT A DIFFERENCE WE COULD MAKE!


Dear Friend

Take action: tell the European Commission what you think about animal experiments

The European Commission are about to review the key law – Directive 86/609 – that governs animal experiments across the whole of Europe. In a rare and exciting opportunity, they’re asking for the public’s views on what the revised legislation should look like by asking them to complete a short online questionnaire.

We need as many supporters as possible to complete this questionnaire to show the strength of feeling that exists against animal experiments. So please try to find time before the deadline of 18 August to fill it out. Your comments could, literally, help save millions of animals from the misery of experimentation.

Click here for the BUAV’s guide to how to complete the questionnaire, and for a link to the questionnaire itself: http://www.buav.org/getactive/86609_BUAV_guide.htm

If you have any queries, please do get back to me on this email address. Also, once you complete the questionnaire it would be great if you could drop me a quick email to let me know, just so I can have an idea of how many BUAV supporters have taken action.

Finally, do please circulate this email far and wide and get it posted on your animal rights message boards.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Kind regards

Dave Powell
Campaigns & Parliamentary Officer BUAV

by Robert Dreyfuss, TomPaine.com

The details of the so-called "amnesty" deal show that the U.S. is not serious about peace in Iraq.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/07/05/sabotaging_peace_in_iraq.php

The Timid Times

by David Corn, TomPaine.com

If the newspaper was serious about undercutting Bush's war, it could be doing a lot more.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/07/05/the_timid_times.php

by 'Hedgehog'
Private Eye
7 July 2006

Stacking the odds against rail freight in favour of lorries is a tradition going back at least half a century and despite all the fine official talk about cutting greenhouse gases and improving road safety, little has changed.

Some lorry drivers are concerned about temporary electromagnetic interference in their vehicles control systems. In other industries including rail, problems of this nature would trigger official investigations, suspension of affected equipment or practices and new safety rules or standards..

The official response to this disturbing fault on lorries is that new standards will be applied ...... but not until 2014. Possibly.

Long distance lorry driver Peter Orr told the Eye how his modern truck, equipped with a high-tech engine control unit (ECU) suffered brief loss of control as it passed through areas of interference: "Interference from powerful radio signals is knocking out the brakes and gearbox in my truck and others. In the last two years there's been a massive boost in radio aerial power. We've had serious issues with our trucks. It affects the gearbox and braking of 44 ton trucks, but it doesn't leave a memory in the computer system. It just says - There's a fault on your ECU"

He said the problem was acute in France but also occurred in Britain. including at a motorway service station, where there were communication masts either side of the road. He had reported the issue to the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, the government body overseeing vehicle safety, in February 2005, but feels he was brushed off.

VOSA refused to tell the Eye how many drivers or businesses had reported the problem to it.

On its testing programme for interference, VOSA said:

"VOSA does not currently do any tests on electromagnetic interference for vehicle systems such as gearbox controllers. There are EC Type Approval Directives on the subject but they are not currently part of the mandatory EC Type Approval requirements for the registration of any class of motor vehicle other than private cars and motorcycles.

However part of the type approval requirement for anti-lock braking systems usually fitted to heavy goods vehicles requires that these systems only are not adversely affected by magnetic or electrical fields, although it does not reference directive standards. Many of the goods vehicles sold in the UK now are type approved elsewhere in the EC".

Which in english means that nobody bothered to define minimum standards which trucks have to meet to ensure the systems controlling brakes and gearboxes are immune from electromagnetic interference.

VOSA added: "For the future, EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) testing for all vehicle systems as well as the existing anti-lock braking system is likely to become a mandatory requirement for type approval for heavy gooods vehicles, potentially from 2014."

(article gives contrasting detail of the very stringent standards being applied to railway stock ....... keeping it out of service until all performance uncertainties are resolved)

Such are the safety standards in an industry with segregated rights of way (rail).

Road vehicles run through residential streets , pass schools and share routes with pedestrians and cyclists, but applying but applying stringent safety standards there is just too difficult, apparently.

'Hegehog' @ Private Eye

from artjar

Seymour M. Hersh reports on the military’s problem with Bush’s Iran policy. Inside the Pentagon, senior commanders have increasingly challenged the President’s plans, according to active-duty and retired officers and officials. The generals and admirals have told the administration that the bombing campaign will probably not succeed in destroying Iran’s nuclear program. They have also warned that an attack could lead to serious economic, political, and military consequences for the United States.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070506Z.shtml

http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2006/06/06/570156.html

Bush wiedergewählt durch Manipulation
http://www.meta-info.de/?lid=24145

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Black Box Voting geht in die Offensive
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/result.xhtml?url=/newsticker/meldung/75061&words=Black%20Box

Backwoods Home Magazine
by Claire Wolfe

07/01/06

Freedom comes from free individuals, not the other way around. Seek Libertopia without first seeking within and the horse stumbles over the cart in her path and breaks her leg. Every time. So without further ado I propose: 12 qualities of a free man ... There it is. A free man is, in his own realm, an astonishingly civilized and moral being. To those who live by controlling others, however, he is a wild beast who can't be tamed and who is too tough to make good prey. A free man is also the cause of freedom. The sole cause of it. When we have sufficient free individuals, political, social, and institutional freedoms will follow. They will arise not through revolution or politically driven reform, but from who we are and the choices we make every day...

http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/wolfe060701.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Mother Jones
by Steven Hill

06/30/06

President George W. Bush has yet to exercise a single veto, the only president in modern history never to do so, because he doesn't need to -- he simply ignores any congressional laws he doesn't like. It leaves Congress as mostly an advisory body to the president. It leaves the courts as a peripheral institution without its historical oversight role. And it leaves civil liberties -- and Americans who are used to enjoying them -- in a very precarious position. America used to call this by another name -- autocracy...

http://tinyurl.com/pqmo8


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

07/03/06

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives, on a party line vote, passed an innocuous-sounding resolution that 'expects the cooperation of all news media organizations in protecting the lives of Americans and the capability of the government to identify, disrupt, and capture terrorists by not disclosing classified intelligence programs such as the Terrorist Financing Tracking Program.' The program in question involves government monitoring of international electronic banking transfers for suspected terrorist activity. In reality, the resolution, passed just before the celebration of U.S. independence from autocratic oppression, was aimed at intimidating a free press -- a major component of American freedom...

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1760


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

AlterNet
by Rev. Jim Rigby

07/04/06

As we get closer to the presidential elections, a conversation will be heard all across America. 'Who can liberals choose that will save this country? Is he the one, or is it her?' Lists are being compiled and a debate held over which of the names is America's savior. For liberals, the correct answer is 'none of the above.' I say this without knowing who will be the nominee. I say this not because the individuals in question are inadequate. I say this because progressive values cannot be saved by heroes. Progressive values can only be saved by ordinary citizens living up to their principles...

http://www.alternet.org/story/38266/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

The Price of Liberty
by L. Reichard White

07/06

Indulge me here, folks, I'm just celebrating the Fourth of July, you know, 'America's Holiday,' the official day the Declaration of Independence was signed by the founders, declaring their independence from repressive government. And now, moving right along - - - Polls have consistently shown that, being the macho folks we apparently are, we Americans don't care if the U.S. Government listens in on our phone conversations, spies on our e-mails, and/or secretely black-bags our domiciles, frames some of us, and now, peeks over our shoulders at our bank accounts. Even if 'the government' breaks its own laws doing it -- and doesn't really have to."

http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/06/07/03/white.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

The Power of Narrative
by Arthur Silber

07/04/06

Many people may find it sickeningly immoral of me to highlight the following column on the Fourth of July. At the very least, I'm certain that some of my critics will find me guilty of the great crime of 'anti-Americanism.' After all, shouldn't we be celebrating the undeniably admirable and philosophically radical principles upon which our nation was founded? In response to such charges, I offer two thoughts. First, we have strayed so far from our founding principles that the American revolutionists would not even recognize this country today in terms of the issues of liberty and individual rights for which they fought. ... Second, if there is any chance at all to reclaim our birthright and change our current disastrous course -- one which is headed straight into full authoritarian dictatorship -- we need the courage to identify exactly and with intellectual precision where we are now. What better time to do that than on the day we celebrate our nation's birth?

http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2006/07/land-of-evil.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Tennessean
by John Egerton

07/04/06

The recent disclosure that Bush administration spy agencies have been secretly compiling data on the private phone calls of American citizens has sparked a heated national debate about the state of our civil liberties. There are laws that provide for such surveillance with court approval, but President Bush chose to ignore them. By what authority did he do this? His supporters say the president has 'war powers' that allow him to suspend certain rights and privileges at his own discretion, secretly and independently of any judicial restraint. His opponents reply that such actions are a deliberate violation of the U. S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment prohibition against 'unreasonable search and seizure.' Some have called these and other presidential decisions 'imperial' -- more suited to a king than an elected leader...

http://tinyurl.com/m8cvx


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

The Nation
by Katrina vanden Heuvel

07/03/06

It is clear that the American Constitution is in grave danger. It is time to make the defense of the Constitution a national theme for all candidates in this year's electoral contests. The threat to the Constitution from President Bush, his administration, and an accomplice Republican Congress is all too obvious. In clear violation of established law and centuries-old political precedent, they have wiretapped American citizens; imprisoned citizens without warrants, charges, or means of redress; sanctioned and abetted the torture of foreign nationals; ignored clear Congressional legislative intent with the likes of 750 signing statements; disabled Congressional oversight of their actions; undertaken an assault on the press' right to publish the truth; and suppressed dissent and public-minded information disclosure within the Executive branch itself. This abuse and overreach of Presidential power directly challenges the 'checks and balances' at the core of our constitutional design. It proposes a government fundamentally different from that declared by the Founding Fathers...

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?pid=98519


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

07/05/06

[T]here are signs the War Party's stranglehold over the leadership of at least one major party is beginning to fray. This unraveling is a response to the grassroots antiwar sentiment that is energizing a burgeoning number of Democratic Party activists -- both old and new -- forcing the moribund leadership to either come out against the occupation of Iraq or else join Sen. Joe Lieberman, the president's most stalwart supporter when it comes to the war. Indeed, Lieberman is more royalist than the king, attacking any idea of a drawdown in troops as impermissible, and even demanding an end to all discussion of withdrawal. This last is what the Lieberman wing of Democrats has always been about: limiting debate, shutting down discussion, and policing the party's candidates and organizational structure at the precinct level to ensure that no challenge to interventionism and militarism arises from the grassroots...

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=9249


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

Cincinnati Enquirer

07/04/06

When the Defense Department letter came to Jim Dillinger's Mount Orab home in May 2004 telling him that he was one of 5,600 members of the Individual Ready Reserve being called back for duty in Iraq, there was never any question that he would answer the call. He would go, despite being 43 years old and eight years removed from his service in the Ohio National Guard, despite the fact that he would have to leave his wife, Tammy, behind to care for their three children and that he would have to walk away from a good job for at least a year. He would go and serve for a year with a combat engineer battalion in one of the most dangerous jobs in a dangerous place, searching out and destroying the roadside bombs that had taken the lives of so many fellow soldiers and Marines. And, when he returned, he discovered a truth that shook him to the core and made him question his faith in the military he had served most of his adult life: The Army sent him to Iraq by mistake. Because of a clerical error, Dillinger was taken from his family for 14 months to serve in a war zone when his legal obligation to serve had ended five years earlier...

http://tinyurl.com/hwq6o


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel

07/04/06

Herold Noel had nowhere to call home after returning from military service in Iraq. He slept in his Jeep, taking care to find a parking space where he wouldn't get a ticket. 'Then the nightmares would start,' says the 26-year-old former Army private first class, who drove a fuel truck in Iraq. 'I saw a baby decapitated when it was run over by a truck -- I relived that every night.' Across America on any given evening, hundreds of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan like Noel are homeless, according to government estimates...

http://tinyurl.com/ebfyx


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Jul 5 2006

By Richard Freeman-Wallace, The Journal

The Telecommunications Masts (Planning Control) Bill had its second reading in March this year, and has since been adjourned until October.

Phone masts, in the same way as other buildings and developments, are subject to planning controls. It is a controversial area and many applications face objections, the numbers of which rise significantly if it is planned to locate them in or near a residential area, school or hospital.

Health and safety concerns come to the fore if a mast is likely to be near a home or community services.

Legislation going through Parliament proposes changes to address health and safety issues.

It introduces the concept of a "precautionary principle statement", which means every application must contain a statement on the possible effects on health and the environment of installing the equipment.

In the same way, each application would need to be accompanied by a "Beam of Greatest Intensity Certificate", providing information about exposure to radio frequency radiation. The legislation would amend the Electronic Communications Code so operators would not be able to obtain a court order to use land to install equipment if that land was used for educational or medical facilities.

Operators require a "wayleave" to place equipment on land. However, this can be granted by the occupiers and owners of interests in land, which include tenants.

An occupying tenant can therefore enter into a wayleave agreement with an operator that will bind the landlord. Landowners need to ensure a tenant's lease contains a provision requiring the landlord's consent before entering into such an agreement.

If you, the landlord, originally gave permission for a wayleave, but want to get rid of it at the end of the term of the lease, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise.

Once again, if the operator does not agree to leave, the landlord's only recourse for removal of the apparatus is to make a court application and explain why monetary compensation is not adequate.

Bear in mind that when granting a wayleave, they can stick for an indefinite period on your land. The new legislation's inclusion of easier removal of masts from schools, hospitals and related services is the first sign of a softening in this area.

As a landlord you should be aware of the value of your land to the mobile phone mast operators. It is much harder for operators to find urban sites, and they are more than likely to pay premiums for them.

You should also take care to limit liability for damage caused by operation of the equipment.

We wait to see what the potential impact of the new legislation will be when it is heard again this autumn.

Richard Freeman-Wallace is head of property at law firm Watson Burton in Newcastle.

© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2006

http://tinyurl.com/rpdhn

http://www.sealalert.org/Updates/Update-2006-06b_en.htm

Namibian Sealing - "Cruellest in the World"

According to the previous director of IFAW-SA, David Barritt - "Namibian Sealing is the Cruellest in the World".

At a time when one third to one half of the seal population was experiencing their second mass die-off from starving to death because of Namibia's overfishing policies, in 6 years. Namibian fisheries Marine Resource Director, Dr Burger Oelofsen had this to say, "Like the stock farmer, who in dry times has to slaughter some thin and worthless animals to save them from dying and to make it better for those which survive. People get upset just because it is seals involved". "We know they are going to die, so why not harvest them?", "We cannot afford to let them go to waste".

Seal Alert-SA comment : Dr Oelofsen, you completely miss the point, seals are not farm animals bought and paid for by the farmer and being fed fish-meal on a private farm, these are protected marine wildlife, who should be surviving in the wild due to your "sustainable fishing practices". If you really wanted to "save worthless seals" from the agonising and cruel death of prolonged starvation, there are many better ways, than rounding them up, separating them from their nursing cows and clubbing them over the head or sticking a knife in their helpless chest or hunting them with bows and arrows as trophy's..

Protected Cape fur seals are slaughter at two colonies in Namibia. In the north, the Cape Cross Seal colony is in a nature reserve, and Dr Burger Oelofsen the Namibian fisheries sealing official is also a partner in the N$2000 a night, Cape Cross Lodge. Which is the only privately owned land on this northern coastline with a beachfront, its main attraction, is the biggest mainland-seal breeding colony in the world, only 4km away. When Seal Alert-SA phoned on +264 64 694 012 or info@capecross.org, and asked about the sealing activity, the manager informed me of the following. "I think it started yesterday, but at the moment there are just trophy hunters hunting seals with bow and arrows".

Is it still open to the public? "Yes, the sealers go into the seal colony from 5am to 10am, and then its open to the public from 10am to 5pm. Its N$40 per person and N$10 per car". When does the sealing stop? "Oh, it goes on every day until November".

At the other sealing colony in the south. This colony is situated in the sperrgebiet restricted diamond area No.1. According to Namdeb's website, "Namdeb views the preservation of the environment as a high priority and has developed stringent environmental standards to enforce this view"

Although acknowledging that the sperrgebiet is an ecologically sensitive area and in 1994 signed the historic Minerals Agreement Act, in which Clause 14 of this agreement specifies Namdeb's environmental responsibilities, such as, "Namdeb shall have due regard for the protection of the environment and the conservation of natural resources". When De Beers was asked why they allow 29 000 nursing baby seals to be clubbed and stabbed to death by migrant part-time sealers, their reply was, "Your enquiry on the matter of seal culling activities in the Mining Licence Area 45 has reference. Neither Namdeb nor any of its associated companies are involved in any seal culling activities anywhere. No support, logistic or otherwise, is provided to the sealers".

In fact, Namdeb security in terms of the Minister for Security and Security in 2003, are exempt from the private security industry regulations act of 2001, on condition De Beers Consolidated Mines does not deploy security officers outside of the De Beers Group (Namdeb in Namibia). Where cell-phones and camera's are banned from the diamond restricted area of the sperrgebiet, but sealers can daily bring in guns, silencers, clubs and knife's and are daily ushered through the security check-point with their slaughter, dripping blood harvest of their protected nursing baby seals.

Perhaps you would like to write to them and tell them what you think, Minister of Fisheries, Dr Abraham Iyambo aiyambo@mfmr.gov.za or Namdeb Country Manager, Daniel Kali Daniel.Kali@debeersgroup.com or De Beers Public Relations, Suzette Plantema suzette.Plantema@mhs7.tns.co.za .

For the Seals

Francois Hugo
Seal Alert-SA
http://www.sealalert.org/


Informant: Sugar Magnolia



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

http://tinyurl.com/mzooh


From Information Clearing House



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

How much is an Iraqi life worth? Answer: A lot less than an American or British life, according to the amount of compensation paid to the relatives of victims.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0703/p09s01-coop.html


From Information Clearing House

This is not the road on which the Founding Fathers set out, but it is a familiar road, one taken before by every empire in history.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13853.htm

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002554.html


From Information Clearing House

Nearly five years after George Bush vowed to bring Osama bin Laden to justice "dead or alive", it's the end of the line for the CIA's Alec Station, the unit dedicated to the hunt for the al-Qaida leader.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,,1812598,00.html


From Information Clearing House

Bush told federal prosecutors during his June 24, 2004, interview in the Oval Office that he had directed Cheney, as part of that broader effort, to disclose highly classified intelligence information that would not only defend his administration but also discredit Wilson, the sources said.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13847.htm

10 Minute Video Report: Pentagon records detail various detainee abuses by military doctors according to a new book by Medical Ethicist Dr. Stephen Miles.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13842.htm

Iraq seeks oversight of rape-slaying case

Iraq's justice minister demanded Tuesday that the U.N. Security Council ensure a group U.S. troops are punished for allegedly raping and murdering a young Iraqi and executing her family, calling the attack "monstrous and inhuman."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060704/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_060704095528


From Information Clearing House



The Reality Beneath the Flag-waving

Americans who get their propaganda from Fox "News" or are told what to think by right-wing talk radio hosts are outraged at news reports that US troops planned and carried out the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman. They are not outraged that the troops committed the deed; they are outraged that the media reported it.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13852.htm

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

In Congress, July 4, 1776

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13846.htm



A New Declaration of Independence

By Emma Goldman

When, in the course of human development, existing institutions prove inadequate to the needs of man, when they serve merely to enslave, rob, and oppress mankind, the people have the eternal right to rebel against, and overthrow, these institutions.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13849.htm



Born on the Fourth of July

It is appropriate that we, - declare our independence from more modern forms of repression over our God-given freedoms and redouble our commitment to a vision for "life, liberty and happiness" for all people of the United States and the world.

http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/2006/07/give-get-nation-born-on-fourth-of-july.html


From Information Clearing House

--------

A new declaration

Free Market News Network
by US Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

07/04/06

It is easy to simply blame faceless bureaucrats and politicians for our current state of affairs, and they do bear much of the blame. But blame also rests with those who expect Washington DC to solve every problem under the sun. If the public demanded that Congress abide by the Constitution and pass only constitutional spending bills, politicians would have no choice but to respond. Everybody seems to agree that government waste is rampant and spending should but cut -- but not when it comes to their communities or pet projects. So members of Congress have every incentive to support spending bills and adopt a go-along, get-along attitude. This leads to the famous compromises, but the bill eventually comes due on April 15th...

http://www.fmnn.com/Analysis/110/5563/declaration.asp?nid=5563&wid=110


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

By Howard Zinn

In celebration of the 4th of July there will be many speeches about the young people who “died for their country.” Let's be honest about war. Those who gave their lives did not die for their country, as they were led to believe but for their government. The distinction between country and government is at the heart of the Declaration of Independence, which will be referred to again and again on July 4, but without attention to its meaning.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13850.htm

by Jon Christian Ryter

The price of the typical 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 3,000-plus square foot American home is skyrocketing beyond the ability of the atypical American consumer to purchase one­or keep up with the spiraling payments. The mortgage payment dilemma is based in large part on the creative financing plans that are.....

http://www.newswithviews.com/Ryter/jon141.htm

by Mary Collins

TeenScreen's aim is to locate more children that can be identified as mentally ill and routed into “mental health” treatment. Many of these would be "treated" with psychiatric drugs, ignoring the fact that many of these very same drugs carry FDA-mandated Black Box warning labels because they are known to cause violence and suicide.....

http://www.newswithviews.com/public_comm/public_commentary39.htm

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060710fa_fact


Informant: Lew Rockwell

http://www.thenewamerican.com/birchblog/index.php?entry=entry060630-162047


Informant: Lew Rockwell

"Ruinöse Steuerkonkurrenz": Gewerkschaften und Attac kritisieren Pläne zur Unternehmensteuerreform (04.07.06)

Als Schritt in die falsche Richtung kritisieren Wissenschaftler und Vertreter von Gewerkschaften und globalisierungskritischem Netzwerk Attac den Beschluss des Koalitionsausschusses, die Unternehmen um 4 bis 8 Milliarden Euro zu entlasten. In einem Papier fordern sie eine grundlegende Änderung der Unternehmensbesteuerung. "Es ist nicht nachvollziehbar, dass die Bundesregierung immer noch glaubt, die Unternehmen würden sich für die weiteren Entlastungen mit Investitionen und Mehrarbeitsplätzen bedanken", kritisiert Michael Schlecht, Verdi-Chefökonom. "Seit 1998 sind die Unternehmen steuerlich um rund 11 Milliarden Euro pro Jahr entlastet worden. Die positiven Effekte für Beschäftigung und Investitionen sind aber nicht eingetreten. Der öffentlichen Hand fehlen die Mittel für vernünftige und zukunftsweisende Infrastrukturpolitik", so Schlecht.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13937