World-News

Ein Bericht der Bürgerrechtsorganisation Southern Poverty Law Center über Rechtsextremisten in der US-Armee wird vom Pentagon bislang ignoriert und von den Massenmedien nur beiläufig erwähnt.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/23/23135/1.html

Der "Dritte Weltkrieg"

Die Kongresswahlen im Herbst werfen ihren Schatten voraus, der aktuelle Nahostkonflikt dient Newt Gingrich dazu, die Amerikaner wieder für die Republikaner und ein militärisches Vorgehen im Weltkrieg gegen den islamistischen Terrorismus zu gewinnen.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/23/23136/1.html

"Keine Bedenken": Regierung offenbar für Überwachung von Lafontaine durch Verfassungsschutz (19.07.06)

Die Bundesregierung hat angeblich keine Bedenken gegen die umstrittene Überwachung von Abgeordneten durch den Verfassungsschutz. In ihrer Antwort auf eine parlamentarische Anfrage verweise die Regierung auf das Bundesverfassungsschutzgesetz. Dies sehe "keine privilegierende Sonderbehandlung" von Parlamentariern vor, berichtet die "Süddeutsche Zeitung". Deshalb dürfe auch in diesem Fall "ohne Ansehen der Person" überwacht werden. Anlass der Anfrage waren Berichte, wonach mehrere Bundestagsabgeordnete der Linksfraktion überwacht werden. So sollen Fraktionschef Oskar Lafontaine und dessen Stellvertreter Bodo Ramelow im Visier der Geheimdienste sein.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=14049

"Menschenrechtswidrige Ausländer- und Asylpolitik": Kritik an Verbänden wegen Teilnahme am Integrationsgipfel (19.07.06)

Die Vereinigung deutsch-ausländische Solidarität (VDAS) Rüsselsheim wirft Kirchen, Gewerkschaften, Wohlfahrts- und Migrantenverbänden ihre Teinahme am Integrationsgipfel bei Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel vor. Sie hätten sich "vor den Karren derer haben spannen lassen, die seit Jahren eine restriktive, menschenrechtswidrige Ausländer- und Asylpolitik betreiben und gerade jetzt wieder eine weitere Verschärfung des sogenannten Zuwanderungsgesetzes planen", kritisieren Yeter Ayboga, Guido Casu, Otto Jaenisch und José Ramirez-Voltaire vom Solidaritätsverein aus Rüsselsheim. "Brutale Abschiebungen selbst bestens integrierter Menschen, das Auseinanderreißen von Familien, Verhinderung von Familienzusammenführung, Verhängung von Lagerhaft seien der Alltag in Deutschland." Die meisten der Politiker, die sich in Berlin getroffen hätten, seien dieselben, die alles daran setzten, Deutschland und Europa vor Flüchtlingen hermetisch abzuriegeln. Die Vereinigung verweist beispielhaft auf den in Deutschland wegen Folter in der Türkei anerkannten kurdischen Flüchtling Yusuf Karaca, dem nach einem Urteil des Oberlandesgerichts Frankfurt die Auslieferung in die Türkei drohe.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=14042

by Art Levine, TomPaine.com

Threats to fair elections still exist, but there are strategies for fighting back. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/07/19/protecting_the_2006_vote.php

nlnews@archant.co.uk

19 July 2006

MOBILE phone mast misery continues for Muswell Hill residents after they learned operator O2 is planning to put a new mast in Grand Avenue - next to another Vodaphone mast which they waged a bitter campaign against last year.

The company is hoping to bypass Haringey Council's planning process - claiming it does not need to get planning permission as the mast is replacing an existing one, which is no longer in use on top of the old BT exchange building.

But anti-mast campaigners claim that the new mast will look different, will operate differently and is from a different company so must go through the official planning process.

The existing mast was a two-way radio mast for private businesses supplied by Dolphin.

Sarah Purdey, who set up pressure group Muswell Hill Against the Masts, said: "If they have bought Dolphin they would have bought the planning permission and everything else. How can the council give it to somebody else?"

A spokesman for O2 said: "We may not have to get planning permission for that. We are talking to the council and we are talking to the people who do the telephone exchange.

"We are hoping there won't be too much difficulty.

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

http://tinyurl.com/r5qbw

A FARMER at the centre of a row about a mobile phone mast has accused opponents of scaremongering in order to block its siting.

Colin Griffiths has farmed Jeffreys Farm in Horsted Keynes for nearly 50 years and his own house and another one owned by him are among the four houses within 300 metres of the proposed mast site.

He also maintains that he is not benefiting directly from any fee that would be paid by communications company Orange as the land is owned by one of his children.

"And even if I was, I am 78 so I wouldn't have thought I would see much of it myself," he said.

Mr Griffiths accused campaigners against the mast of scaremongering about perceived health risks and the location of the mast.

"Leaflets have been distributed around the village which are both intentionally misleading and inaccurate," he said. "The proposed site is almost perfect to improve local reception and cannot be seen from roads, footpaths or houses."

Orange wants the 20 metre mast on land off Keysford Lane to improve reception for Orange users within Horsted Keynes. Its latest application for planning permission varies from a previous one earlier this year in the access to the mast site.

Jeffreys Farm, and much of the village, is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and structures which could damage the area are severely restricted by planning regulations.

Opponents have until Friday (July 21) to register objections to the mast with MSDC.

Neighbour Mary Elston, who lives with her husband, Stephen, at Tyhurst Farm, 120 metres from the proposed mast site, said concern about it was affecting their health.

"There is no mileage in us objecting on grounds of perceived dangers as they are not planning considerations," she said. "The only reason to object is because of the AONB and that people in Lindfield as well as the surrounding area will be able to see this mast.

"We do not want to fall out with our neighbours and we are not anti-masts per se, but we came to live here for a rural life, not an urban one, and a mast here is totally out of keeping with the area."

middy.news@sussexnewspapers.co.uk

19 July 2006

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=516&ArticleID=1636327

USA Today
by Richard Wolf

07/18/06

The law signed by President Clinton on Aug. 22, 1996, has transformed the way the nation helps its neediest citizens. Gone is the promise of a government check for parents raising children in poverty. In its place are 50 state programs to help those parents get jobs. In the 12 years since caseloads peaked at 5.1 million families in 1994, millions have left the welfare rolls for low-paying jobs. Nearly 1 million more have been kicked off for not following states' rules or have used up all the benefits they're allowed under time limits. Today, 1.9 million families get cash benefits; in one-third of them, only the children qualify for aid. About 38% of those still on welfare are black, 33% white and 24% Hispanic...

http://tinyurl.com/e7stn


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Lew Rockwell.Com
by Butler Shaffer

07/19/06

Throughout the world and human history, men and women have been conditioned in the view that, because their political system is aligned with the forces of 'good,' and opposing groups are the epitome of 'evil,' there must be a 'good' and a 'bad' side in every war. President Bush recites this mantra with nary a break in meter, reminding the boobeoisie that an 'axis of evil' threatens their lives. But Osama bin Laden and the forces of al Qaeda are peddling the same mindset to their followers. While the United States employs sophisticated weaponry to kill and maim innocent civilians, al Qaeda recruits suicide bombers to carry out the same insanity. But what is important to understand is that each side is playing the same deadly game and for the same purposes: to control -- and, in so doing, aggrandize power over -- their own populations. The vigor that one sees poured into the war system reminds me of marathon dancing, a craze that infected the minds of many in the 1930s...

http://www.lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer140.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Atlas Magazine
by Russell Madden

07/06

A basic principle of morality that is honored more in its breach than in its observance is the idea that 'the ends never justify the means.' I would wager that Americans would overwhelmingly say they support this notion, just as a majority of citizens get all misty-eyed when they speak of their love of 'freedom.' The reality of another truism, however -- that 'actions speak louder than words' -- demonstrates that observance of the proper relationship between means and ends is as much hollow lip-service as is our country's supposed devotion to liberty. Carefully scrutinizing what people do reveals the full extent of the (self?) deceit of these clever scam artists...

http://www.russellmadden.com/Ends_and_Means.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Reason
by Jacob Sullum

07/19/06

The 'findings' that precede Arlen Specter's National Security Surveillance Act are full of tough-sounding rhetoric about the limits of executive power, including former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's observation that 'a state of war is not a blank check for the President.' Unfortunately, the National Security Surveillance Act is...

http://www.reason.com/sullum/071906.shtml


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

#Die Linkspartei.PDS: Pressemitteilungen

19. Juli 2006

Heute hat Vizekanzler Müntefering im Kabinett seine Initiative "50 plus" vorgestellt. Dazu erklärt der stellvertretende Parteivorsitzende Wolfgang Methling:

Es gibt bessere Konzepte, beispielsweise für Existenz sichernde Arbeitsplätze in einem öffentlich geförderten Beschäftigungssektor. Voraussetzung ist, die für den Kombilohn geplanten Mittel und die gesellschaftlichen Gesamtkosten der Arbeitslosigkeit Arbeitslosengeld, Kosten der Unterkunft, Mehraufwandsentschädigungen etc. werden dafür eingesetzt. Der Kombilohn ist ein untaugliches Instrument zur Verringerung der Arbeitslosigkeit, weil Unternehmen geradezu animiert werden, regulär bezahlte Arbeitnehmer zu entlassen, um die Förderung zu kassieren. Die Einführung von Kombilöhnen ob für über 50jährige oder für unter 25jährige würde darüber hinaus den Billiglohn-Sektor ausweiten. Deutschland darf sich am Wettlauf um die billigsten Arbeitskräfte in Europa nicht beteiligen. Nicht zuletzt verzerren Kombilöhne den Wettbewerb. Auch bei der Europäischen Kommission werden Beschäftigungszuschüsse deshalb und wegen der Mitnahmeeffekte kritisch gesehen.

http://sozialisten.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/view_html?zid=33398

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science
http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming


Informant: bigraccoon

By Melanie Vass

CONTROVERSIAL plans for a mobile phone mast near two schools have been rejected even though councillors admitted their case was weak.

The heads of Stourfield Infants and Stourfield Junior Schools joined forces to urge Bournemouth's planning committee to refuse the plans for an O2 mast on land at the rear of Warnford Road, Iford.

And they were delighted when councillors obliged, voting against their officer's recommendation in the process.

The plans sparked 165 letters of objections while more than 550 concerned residents and parents signed petitions of protest.

Emma Rawson, head of Stourfield Junior School, told councillors the prospect of a 12.5 metre mast 200 metres from the school boundary went against all their efforts to keep children safe and healthy.

And Catherine Kirkham, head of the infants school, said: "I've been head teacher for some 11 years now and in all honesty I have never experienced a parental voice so strong.

"Together we teach 800 pupils they start school at four years old. No matter how small the measured risk might be, it's still a risk that need not be there."

Ward councillor Adrian Fudge said: "You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. It would be lovely to be able to say no to all these masts but I've not heard any planning reasons to turn it down."

But fellow ward councillor Fran Ketchley proposed refusal, pointing out that much of the surrounding land had been bought for future development and could eventually accommodate dozens of young families.

Cllr Ron Whittaker said: "I appreciate we've got very weak grounds but if we fail to listen to the community I don't think we're fulfilling our job properly as a planning board."

10:50am today

© Copyright 2001-2006 Newsquest Media Group

http://www.thisisdorset.net/display.var.839832.0.schools_joy_as_phone_mast_plan_is_rejected.php

By Robert Fisk

Mast campaigners stop the crane from leaving the site

A CAMPAIGN group has vowed to keep fighting against mobile phone masts on a telephone exchange roof.

Members of Orpington Residents Against Masts (ORAM) are trying to get Bromley Council to make Vodafone take its three masts off the roof of the building in Goodmead Road, Orpington.

The campaigners believe the masts were put up illegally because Bromley Council assured residents it would not let Vodafone install masts until it had got legal advice.

This was voted on at a planning meeting in January but the council is still awaiting a response from the legal team. continued...

Brian George, 41, is angry with the way Vodafone has dealt with the situation.

The mobile phone giant brought a crane to the site at about 7.30am on July 8 to put the masts up.

Campaigners were too late to stop the crane from getting through the gates but lay down outside to stop it from leaving.

They managed to stop it for about 45 minutes before the police moved them on for causing an obstruction.

Father-of-three Mr George said: "It is blatantly disregarding the residents.

"If you know the residents are fighting then just to go on and plough through is disgraceful."

Now Mr George says they have been told T-Mobile wants to put three masts on the roof.

He said: "We will continue to do our demos. We are not giving up.

"If we know what day and what time, we will be on the gates."

Bromley Council is planning to visit the telephone exchange to see how the masts have been installed.

But Mr George, a nurse, does not think the council is doing enough to stop companies from putting up the masts.

Mr George said: "We are furious at the incompetence of the planning department and the inactivity of Bromley's legal department on this issue.

"The council takes decisions on behalf of the community and we feel it has let the residents down."

A Bromley Council spokesman said: "We have received legal advice which we are considering.

"We will then make a decision about when and how to proceed.

"We can empathise with residents on what must seem to them a long procedure but we must make sure we get this right."

A Vodafone spokesman said: "We notified the council of our proposal in November and, as yet, it has not disputed this development accords with legislation.

"As we have a need to provide 3G coverage to the area a decision was taken to proceed with the development."

8:54am today

© Copyright 2001-2006 Newsquest Media Group

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/display.var.839396.0.group_motivated_against_mast_bid.php

Congress is dithering and the American public doesn't even seem particularly concerned as the administration of George W. Bush systematically trashes such fundamental American values as justice, due process, respect for human rights and submission to the rule of law.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14047.htm

Some 84 percent of the analysts disagreed with President George W. Bush's assessment that the United States was winning the war on terror.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14049.htm

The live microphone exchanges captured yesterday between George Bush and Tony Blair offer a snapshot between an articulate but ultimately subordinate Prime Minister and the verbally stumbling President.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14046.htm

The champions of American global empire are using the latest upsurge of violence in the Middle East to give new life to their discredited plan to extend the war in Iraq to Syria and Iran. The neo-con Weekly Standard has taken the lead in its July 24th cover issue, proclaiming that the current violence is "Iran's Proxy War" against the West.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/39048/


From Information Clearing House

2 Minute Video

"I think the last thing we want to do now is to start talking about ceasefires"

Click here to watch Windows Media
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14041.htm

An average of more than 100 civilians per day were killed in Iraq last month, the highest monthly tally of violent deaths since the fall of Baghdad. The death toll, drawn from Iraqi government agencies, was the most precise measurement of civilian deaths provided by any government organization since the invasion and represented a dramatic increase over daily media reports.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071806S.shtml

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday that President Bush personally blocked Justice Department lawyers from pursuing an internal probe of the warrantless eavesdropping program that monitors Americans' international calls and e-mails.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071806R.shtml

by Geoff Metcalf

I have often observed that all our bumbling elected officials take a sacred oath. They still put their hands on a bible and swear to “preserve and protect the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” It still bugs me that those same officials seem incapable of recognizing the irony of their rhetoric, votes and abuse of power, which specifically seek to undermine and abrogate the same document they have promised to “preserve and protect.”.....

http://www.newswithviews.com/metcalf/metcalf189.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0718-31.htm


Informant: binstock

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/07/17/neocons-middle-east-war/


Informant: shane_digital