World-News

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4973/


Informant: ranger116

Informant: jensenmk



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

I want you to be the first to hear the best news for civil liberties that we’ve had in a long time. A federal court in Michigan has ruled that the Bush administration’s NSA program to monitor the phone calls and e-mails of millions of Americans without warrants is unconstitutional and must be stopped. It’s news of a stunning courtroom victory that your continuing support made possible.

I couldn’t be more proud of lead counsel Ann Beeson and the rest of our legal team, including attorneys Jameel Jaffer and Melissa Goodman. As you know, the day that we learned about this massive and systematic spying, ACLU lawyers started working on this lawsuit. The hours and the blood, sweat and tears they have put into it have now paid off. Just as your support of this important work is paying off.

This ruling, in the first federal challenge ever argued against the president’s program, is a landmark victory against the massive abuses of power that have become the hallmark of the Bush administration, and is a victory for all freedom-loving people in our country.

U.S. District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor declared that the NSA program violates Americans’ rights to free speech and privacy under the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution, but also the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) passed by Congress.

Judge Taylor summed it up perfectly when she wrote in her decision:

We must first note that the Office of the Chief Executive has itself been created, with its powers, by the Constitution. There are no hereditary Kings in America and no power not created by the Constitution.

You and the ACLU have been working so hard on this because you understand that this case is about more than putting an immediate end to the Bush administration's warrantless spying program; it is an important step in the battle to curb the government's abuses of power. Believe me, we could not have come this far without the effort and passion of all the ACLU members and activists. Your support on these issues has been invaluable. You are making a difference.

Now we need you to stand with us in our crucial efforts to hold the president accountable in the weeks and months to come as we gear up for the next battle to protect our rights, with two congressional committees poised for September votes to try to legalize this spying under Vice President Dick Cheney’s supervision.

Instead of demanding that the President answer for breaking the law, Cheney and his allies want Congress to rewrite our laws to condone his behavior and give him and all future presidents a blank check to conduct domestic spying programs without individual warrants. Your efforts today are crucial to ensure that Congress doesn't undo this historic victory.

Today, we are celebrating and analyzing this decision. Tomorrow there will be much work to do. Your involvement, belief in and support of our work have never been more important than right now.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=KazsKIwHLi75Az4kWr_gyQ..

From all of us at the ACLU, thank you for your partnership in all of our efforts.

Sincerely,

Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director ACLU

By Brian Gomm

CONCERNED parents are making a stand against plans to replace a village club flag pole with a mobile phone mast.

The Astley Against Mobile Mast (AAMM) group want to ensure people are aware of Vodaphone's intention to site a 12 metres high mast at Astley Labour Club at the centre of Blackmoor village.

Co-ordinator Debbie Jones, has an infant son who suffer from Down Syndrome and is understandably worried about any possible health risk.

Debbie explained: "Our main concern is the possible relationship between the emissions and the adverse physical, and pyschological effects upon health that some research has claimed.

"We don't want people exposed to any possible risks that have been associated with mobile telephone masts, especially those who healthwise are already vulnerable, although it has been argued that there is no substantiated evidence to prove that the emissions are a risk to health. Yet who knows what will happen a good few years ahead?

"Children diagnosed with Down Syndrome under the age of 10 years are 18 times more likely of getting leukaemia. I'm not suggesting living near to this mast will cause our sons to get leukaemia, but nor do I want to live in fear that this could possibly make them even more susceptible; as yet I have not found any evidence to support my fears, but none the less it is still a fear.

"The notice was placed outside of the club two days prior to school holidays and many parents won't have seen it."

AAMM are urging people who share their worries to write, e-mail or telephone their objections to Vodaphone's agents (quoting Ref No c5 45141), David Wareing Turner and partners, Templar House, 1 Sandbeck Court, Sandbeck Way, Wetherby, LS22 7BA; e-mail: david.wareing@turnerandpartners.co.uk or phone 01937 543910.

© Copyright 2001-2006 Newsquest Media Group

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.881441.0.worried_parents_attack_mast_plan.php

A federal judge in Detroit has ruled that the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program violates the Constitution.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706Y.shtml

--------

NSA eavesdropping program ruled unconstitutional
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/17/domesticspying.lawsuit/index.html


Informant: NHNE

Take Action On This Issue
http://tinyurl.com/lyoe7

In June, the Supreme Court found that Common Article 3 of all for Geneva Conventions, outlining minimum standards for the treatment of detainees, applied to those in US custody. Now the Bush Administration is trying to amend the War Crimes Act, a federal law that makes violations of Common Article 3 a crime in US law, to immunize people from prosecution. Ask your Representative to urge the President not to seek immunity for people who violate the law.

Verbrauchertipps: Gentechnik-Ratgeber von Greenpeace in neuer Auflage erschienen (17.08.06)

In Supermärkten tauchten laut Greenpeace-Recherchen kaum Lebensmittel mit Zutaten aus gentechnisch manipulierten Organismen auf. Doch die Hersteller von Milchprodukten, von Fleisch und Eiern aus konventioneller Landwirtschaft hintergingen weiterhin die Verbraucher: Die meisten Tiere würden mit Gen-Pflanzen gefüttert, die Produkte müssten aber nicht gekennzeichnet werden. Die neue und völlig überarbeitete Auflage des Greenpeace-Ratgebers "Essen ohne Gentechnik" biete beim Einkauf die notwendigen Informationen: Verbraucher könnten mit der "grünen Liste" im Ratgeber Produkte wählen, die ohne Gen-Pflanzen im Tierfutter erzeugt wurden.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=14244

Problems with elections in Ohio's most populous county are so severe that it's unlikely they can be completely fixed by November, or even by the 2008 presidential election, a report commissioned by Cuyahoga County and released Tuesday says.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706M.shtml

"At this point there is little doubt that the housing market is headed downward," Dean Baker writes. "The question is how low will it go and what will be the impact on the economy. If housing construction and sales prices revert to long-term trends, the decline will be severe, as will be the impact on the economy.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706L.shtml

A message from Eleanor

Original Message

Dead line is end of August - please let us all sign to help the animals! tks.

hugs,

agnesC


Original Message

There is an important petition with a deadline, the end of August. The petition will be taken to the United Nations regarding better treatment of animals. Please take 5 minutes to sign this petition, and send it to more of your friends or family.

Speak up for the innocent ones without a voice, do it for them!
http://www.animalsmatter.org

THANK YOU!

Time is running out.

Modified crops - Pollen has spread and bred with wild plants, sparking fear of a superweed

Related Documents (PDF): http://www.oregonlive.com/cgi-bin/prxy/accessor/nph-repository-cache.cgi/base/pdf_captions/1155794122282830.pdf

Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Alex Pulaski,
503-221-8516;
alexpulaski@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1155792418210970.xml

Discovery of genetically modified bentgrass in the wild in Central Oregon -- the first known transgenic crop escape in the United States -- has fulfilled critics' warnings and raised the threat of contaminating the state's nation-leading grass seed crop.

Environmentalists and some conventional seed growers had predicted that humans couldn't hope to rein in movement of the plant's pollen and seeds, so tiny they number 6 million a pound. Although backers of the modified grass seed hope to revolutionize golf course maintenance, opponents say the revolution comes at the risk of creating a superweed resistant to a relatively benign herbicide.

Corvallis scientists discovered two years ago that the experimental Madras crop had sent pollen more than a dozen miles away. Their latest finding that the modified plants had crossed with wild grasses outside a buffer area is due out in the October issue of Molecular Ecology.

Although discounted by the company hoping to win federal approval of the grass strain, the discovery is prompting "I told you so" responses from conventional grass seed growers and environmentalists who oppose its commercialization.

"Exactly the things we were most worried about seem to be true," said Jim Diamond, former chairman of the Sierra Club's Genetic Engineering Committee.

In Oregon, which has $373.5 million in annual grass seed sales, conventional growers fear transgenic seeds will contaminate their crops. That could curtail export markets -- roughly 30 percent of sales -- because some countries refuse to accept genetically modified strains.

The creeping bentgrass strain, developed in partnership between Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. and Monsanto Co., is designed to resist the herbicide Roundup, the world's most widely used plant-killer. Golf courses could plant the seed and keep other grass varieties in check by spraying Roundup.

Jim King, a Scotts spokesman, said the study's conclusions weren't surprising.

"The fact that nature kind of took its course was exactly what you would have expected to happen," King said.

Scotts has waited more than two years for an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to decide whether to deregulate the crop, opening the door to seed sales. A seed crop was harvested in Madras and bagged, but the fields were cleared and Scotts attempted to eradicate plants that escaped by applying herbicides other than Roundup.

King said he was unsure how the new study would affect federal review of the grass strain.

He noted points that the company has made before: Trimmed grass on golf courses is highly unlikely to reach heights to produce seed or pollen, and even if it were to spread, bentgrass should not be considered an invasive species.

But for grass seed growers such as Donald Wirth of Tangent, an invasion of hard-to-kill bentgrass in his ryegrass or fescue fields could spell catastrophe.

Wirth worries that bentgrass, unlike Roundup-resistant strains of corn or soybeans, can remain dormant in soil for more than a decade and spring up.

"These cultivated crops will quit growing after a year or two, but bentgrass would be there forever," he said.

The study, led by Jay Reichman, an Environmental Protection Agency toxicologist, found that nine genetically modified plants were discovered among 20,400 samples taken. The samples were found as far as three miles outside the control area established for the crop's cultivation -- in other words, well outside a buffer designed to prevent the escape of seeds and pollen.

Of the nine plants, two were found in the Crooked River National Grassland area. A study abstract did not detail how many of the nine plants were the result of seeds drifting or from cross-breeding with wild grass.

©2006 The Oregonian


Informant: binstock

Mike Tidwell and Ted Glick explain, "Only a fiery grassroots rebellion in the USA will end global warming and the runaway wildfires and heat waves now afflicting our nation."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706I.shtml

Kitty Kelley writes, "I did not know what to expect when a friend of Nancy Cunningham's lawyer contacted me. He said she had not talked to anyone in the press, but she would talk to me for the New Republic because she wanted a national platform for her side of the story. There would be no ground rules to the interview, and she would speak freely about her husband, from whom she is estranged."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706F.shtml

Geoffrey Millard writes, "After Cloy and I laid a wreath at the country's newest veterans' memorial, taps played and the crowd dispersed with a clear remembrance of why we all come to Camp Casey in the first place: an answer ... For what noble cause, George? For what noble cause?"

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706E.shtml

The US military establishment has quietly undertaken a wholesale reassessment of its war strategy with a goal of identifying the mistakes made in Iraq and Afghanistan - and remedying them before the next conflict.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706D.shtml

Lamont's campaign identifies Lieberman with the Republicans, noting that Lieberman's criticism of Mr. Lamont shows his alignment with the Bush administration's policy in Iraq. Senator John Kerry stated, "Ned Lamont will go head to head with Don Rumsfeld, and our troops will benefit from Lamont's leadership. He knows that patriotism isn't reserved for those who defend a president's position; patriotism is doing what's right for our troops and our country."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706C.shtml



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

In an interview conducted by William Rivers Pitt, Congressman John Conyers reports, "We have found that there is substantial evidence the President, the Vice-President and other high ranking members of the Bush administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for such war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in Iraq; permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of their administration; and approved domestic surveillance that is both illegal and unconstitutional. We also have found there has been no independent review of the circumstances surrounding the Bush administration's domestic spying scandals."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706A.shtml

Environmentalists, organic farmers in duel with growers over bill.

By E.J. Schultz / Bee Capitol Bureau

(Updated Thursday, August 17, 2006, 9:23 AM)

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/12598244p-13305729c.html

SACRAMENTO — Negotiations are heating up over legislation that would prevent local governments from banning genetically modified seeds. One of the most closely watched agriculture bills of the year, the legislation pits large-scale growers against environmentalists and organic farmers.

Senate Bill 1056, by Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, was introduced last year in response to moves by several counties to prohibit biotech farming. The counties with bans — Marin, Mendocino, Santa Cruz and Trinity — would be exempt from the legislation.

The bill passed the Assembly Agricultural Committee in June and will likely be taken up by the Senate and Assembly before the session ends Aug.
31.

California growers use genetically modified seeds to grow crops that are resistent to weed-killing sprays. In the Central Valley, the technique is mostly used to grow cotton.

Opponents say biotech farming is a potential environmental and health hazard. Organic growers, meanwhile, fear that traits from genetically modified crops can spread to their crops, rendering them unmarketable as organic crops.

Until lawmakers enact statewide protections, such as labeling laws, "we think it's the right and responsibility of local governments to protect their citizens and environments," said Renata Brillinger of Californians for GE-Free Agriculture, a coalition of environmental groups and family and organic farms.

Florez said parties on both sides of the debate are trying to broker a last-minute deal more palatable to bill opponents. But he is prepared to move the bill forward if no changes are made, he said.

"We have the votes to get it off [the Assembly floor]," he said.

The bill's aim is to create a level playing field for California growers. Supporters include the California Farm Bureau Federation as well as several cities and counties in the agricultural-rich San Joaquin Valley.

County-by-county ordinances pose "serious financial and practical problems concerning the orderly marketing and sale of agricultural commodities within the state," supporters say in the Assembly bill analysis.

There is a mixed view among counties on biotech crops. Voters in some counties have rejected proposed bans. Some Valley governments have gone a step further, passing resolutions in support of biotechnology.

Fresno County passed its resolution in 2004 in response to a request by the Fresno County Farm Bureau.

"We are the biggest ag county in the United States, and there's been a tremendous advantage to the ag industry" from growing genetically modified crops, said Fresno County Supervisor Judy Case, who grew up on a family farm in Sanger.

About half of all cotton grown in California is genetically modified, said Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner Jerry Prieto Jr. Because the cotton is resistent to herbicides, growers don't have to use hoods or shields to protect the crop when spraying.

"It's a huge cost savings from them," Prieto said. "Farmers here in California and in the United States should have the same tools the rest of the world is using, and the rest of the world is using biotechnology."

But Brillinger, of the GE-Free coalition, said there is not enough research on biotech farming and because of that "we can't even know if there are health risks."

The California State Association of Counties and the League of California Cities fear the legislation is written too broadly.

The bill prohibits local governments from regulating "any matter relating to the registration, labeling, sale, storage, transportation, distribution, notification of use, or use of seeds or nursery stock," according to the latest bill analysis.

That would prevent cities and counties from doing things such as prohibiting seed trucks from parking in residential areas, according to a letter the two government groups sent to Assembly members last week.

The provisions are "so sweeping that they would restrict the ability of cities and counties to engage in basic local government regulation," the groups said.

The reporter can be reached at eschultz@fresnobee.com
or (916) 326-5541.


Informant: binstock

Strike the Root
by Retta Fontana

08/16/06

Freedom doesn't come from the point of government guns or from legislation of governing bodies. It doesn't come from the Constitution .... True freedom doesn't require a majority vote or the agreement of another human being. It is not dependent upon the presence or even the absence of another person. Freedom is a choice we make to be true to ourselves in any given moment...

http://www.strike-the-root.com/62/fontana/fontana5.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

OpEd News
by Kate Mucci

Don't. Don't fall for their terror tactics and DON'T FLY! Call your travel agents or the airlines, and demand your money back for flights you've booked, and even if you haven't made reservations, call them and tell them you're not going to as long as this nonsense is in place. Put these co-conspirators in the war against freedom on notice that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more and we're not going to fly as long as these ludicrous 'security measures' are in place. When the airplanes are flying at 20 per cent capacity or less, and they have to cut back on the number of flights and therefore the amount of fuel being consumed, the airlines and oil companies will make such a fuss that this nonsense about dumping your liquids will be stopped. And while you're at it, tell them you're NOT going to take your shoes off anymore. And you're not going to bare your baby's bottom because there might be something hidden in his diaper. All of those precautions are not about making you safer. They're all about power and making people feel vulnerable and helpless. Don't let them take away your power...

http://tinyurl.com/m82le


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

An interview with Senator Tom Coburn

Intellectual Conservative
by Peter and Helen Evans

08/16/06

Coburn: "The problem is that there is this feeling, 'it's the federal government and it's just going to waste money and nothing can be done about it.' However, shame still works. Shame in combination with outrage from the American taxpayers works even better. The reason we put our website up is so the American people can begin to see how significant the problem is. It's not a problem that can't be solved, it's only a problem that can't be solved if we continue with politics as usual. Politics as usual means using the Federal government to help me get re-elected rather than, 'I'm going to fulfill the oath of my office and do what is necessary to spend the money (that we have all combined together) on the things that are most important'...

http://tinyurl.com/g43nl


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Future of Freedom Foundation
by Sheldon Richman

08/16/06

When Sen. Joseph Lieberman lost his Connecticut Democratic primary to an anti-war candidate, he used his concession speech to decry the politics of polarization. This was hypocritical because the war hawks, Lieberman included, have gone far in suggesting that criticism of the war policy is tantamount to assisting terrorists. But even if no hypocrisy were involved, the abhorrence of polarization would be absurd...

http://tinyurl.com/mtxpn


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

AlterNet
by Becky Akers

08/17/06

The TSA has been a farce from its inception. It exists not to prevent terrorists from bringing down a plane but to prevent passengers from realizing the government can do little to thwart such a catastrophe. Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., was chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in May 2005 when he explained why the TSA squandered $4.5 billion on malfunctioning equipment; he also inadvertently admitted that the agency is merely window-dressing for the Feds: 'After 9/11, we had to show how committed we were by spending hugely greater amounts of money than ever before, as rapidly as possible.' It worked. Forcing folks to remove their shoes and submit to pat-downs convinced many Americans that the TSA is an effective bureaucracy, unlike all others in their experience...

http://www.alternet.org/story/40437/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

HLV INFO 89/AT

17-08-2006

http://www.spd-koenigstein.de/pressespiegel.html

HLV INFO 89/AT

17-08-2006

Kinzig-Nachrichten

17-08-06 online

Bürgerinitiative reagiert auf Mobilfunk-Messung

SCHLÜCHTERN (KN) „Die Messergebnisse über die Mobilfunk-Immissionen, die vom Dach der Kreissparkasse ausgehen, werden von uns nicht in Zweifel gezogen. Uns helfen aber nicht abstrakte Messwerte weiter, sondern nur die Beseitigung der krankmachenden Immissionsquelle, der 17 Mobilfunksendemasten auf dem Sparkassengebäude.“ Mit dieser Erklärung reagierte die Vorsitzende der neu gegründeten „Bürgerinitiative mobilfunksenderfreie Wohngebiete Schlüchtern“ (BI), Christiane Euler, auf die Veröffentlichung der von der Kreissparkasse in Auftrag gegebenen Messung elektromagnetischer Strahlungen in Wohnungen und auf Plätzen in der Bergwinkelstadt.

Wie Christiane Euler mitteilte, gebe es derzeit 15 000 Bürgerinitiativen in Deutschland, die sich mit immer mehr Erfolg gegen Sendemasten mit ihrer elektromagnetischen Strahlung in Wohngebieten zur Wehr setzen.

Die Bürgerinitiative in Schlüchtern werde von einer Reihe unmittelbarer Strahlungsopfer wie auch von kommunalpolitisch engagierten Bürgern getragen, unter ihnen Stadtverordnetenvorsteher Wolf Dieter Rothmaler.

Inzwischen haben 300 Schlüchterner durch ihre Unterschrift bekundet, dass sie die Ziele der Bürgerinitiative mit Nachdruck unterstützen. Die BI strebt Euler zufolge zwei Hauptziele an: Die Beseitigung der Mobilfunksendemasten auf der Sparkasse und die Senkung der Grenzziele auf europäischer Ebene.

Was die Beseitigung der 17 Masten auf der Sparkasse angeht, sei Sparkassendirektor Thomas Maus der verantwortliche Verhandlungspartner der Schlüchterner. Die drastische Senkung der Grenzwerte strebe man über die Abgeordneten im Europa-Parlament Dr. Udo Bullmann (SPD) und Thomas Mann (CDU) an.

Zu den aktuellen Messergebnissen, die Professor Ulrich Bochtler in der Kreissparkasse präsentierte, sagte Christiane Euler im Namen der Bürgerinitiative, dass die Messwerte „besorgniserregend“ seien, obwohl sie rein statistisch unter dem in Deutschland geltenden Strahlungslimit lägen. So weise eine Wohnung den in Schlüchtern gemessenen Höchstwert von 125 217 Mikrowatt pro Quadratmeter auf. Andere lägen bei einer Belastung von 5000 bis 3000 Mikrowatt pro Quadratmeter. Überraschend hoch und „für uns unverantwortlich“ sind für die Initiative die Messergebnisse auf der Laufbahn der Bergwinkelschule (3563) im Eingangsbereich der Stadtschule (1813) und in den Sauren Wiesen in Kindergartennähe (4054). „Hier ist ein Punkt erreicht, der uns auffordert, schnellstmögliche Lösungen zu finden“, unterstreicht die Bürgerinitiative.

Wissenschaftlich unterstützt werden die Forderungen der BI von medizinischer Seite. So konstatiere Professor Dr. Eckel, Vorsitzender des Ausschusses für Gesundheit und Umwelt in der Bundesärztekammer, das „es sorglos ist, wenn man an den bestehenden Grenzwerten festhält“. Deshalb „muss endlich Schluss sein mit der Auseinandersetzung über Prozentzahlen, und wir müssen gemeinsam Wege finden, wie wir hohe technische Standards und Gesundheitsschutz miteinander vereinbaren können“, sagte Christiane Euler.



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Schlüchtern
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Schlüchtern

www.NewsWithViews.com

August 17, 2006

Listen to Carl Wilson interview Dennis Cuddy, Ph.D. on KAJO Radio, Grants Pass, OR.

Subject: Mental Health Screening For Your Children

Excellent and informative interview. Highly recommended.
http://www.kajo.com/talk/060815.mp3

17 August 2006

RESIDENTS have vowed to fight a mobile phone company that plans to install a mast just yards from a primary school.

Hutchinson 3G have submitted a planning application to install a five-metre high telecommunications mast in Park Crescent, Erith.

The mast, which will have three antennas and two dishes attached, will be positioned on the former Riversfield Manor, an 1860 building.

Residents first heard news of the proposal at a public meeting at Christ Church Primary School, Lesney Park Road, last Thursday.

It is feared the mast may be harmful to children who attend nearby schools such as Christ Church, St Fidelis Catholic Primary School, Bexley Lane, and Erith Secondary School, Avenue Road.

Ken Lawrence, who is spearheading the campaign against the proposals, said: "Almost all residents are against the phone mast and people with children are worried."

Residents have found support in their ward councillors and MP who have vowed to support their campaign.

John Austin, MP for Erith and Thamesmead, urged residents to write to Hutchinson 3G to lodge their objection.

Erith ward councillor Bernard Clewes said: "I feel sorry for the neighbours and residents who are being subjecting to worry and concern.

"We support residents in their opposition to the phone mast. Residents are in a situation of which they potentially have little control and we will assist them.

"We will fight with them against the phone mast."

A spokesman for Bexley council said the planning application had been submitted and added that a date for a committee meeting was yet to be confirmed.

A spokesman for Hutchinson 3G was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

Lisa.Jarvis@archant.co.uk

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

http://tinyurl.com/jaweo

17 August 2006

EDITORIAL - editorial@thecomet.net

Residents Richard Barr with five-year-old Emily (left) and Tony Brazier with Rachel, 6, and Thomas 9, at the proposed mast site

MORE than 700 signatures have been gathered to try to stop a 10m high phone mast being erected in the heart of a picturesque residential area.

Residents sprang into action when they found out that T-Mobile was looking to put a mast outside the post office on Norton Road, Letchworth GC.

The phone company has not yet applied for planning permission, but has consulted local schools over the proposal, prompting residents to set up the Norton Road Area Conservation Group (NRACG).

The group has already written to TCI, the agents for T-Mobile.

T-Mobile wants to put up the mast to provide coverage for Norton but the group believes that three existing sites nearby - including one in Blackhorse Road owned by T-Mobile - could be upgraded to do the job.

Richard Barr from NRACG said: "I think they've not been thorough in looking at existing sites.

"One of the things that the mobile phone operators pride themselves on is doubling up on masts that are already in existence.

"There are three existing installations, two of which don't appear to have be considered at all."

The group is also objecting to the mast on health grounds.

In its letter to TCI, it says that "uncertainty still remains amongst scientists and medical experts" about the long term impact of exposure to radiation.

The letter adds that residents in the area "are not willing to run this risk, particularly with our children".

The group also feels the location of the mast is inappropriate and will have a "negative impact through visual intrusion".

The site is between two English Heritage listed buildings and is one of the main entry points to Letchworth GC.

Mr Barr said: "We recognise the need but think the need could be met with alternatives.

"I think there could be a solution that all parties could be happy with."

A spokesman for T-Mobile said that because of the group's letter, the company was going to investigate sharing an existing site owned by Orange and also whether or not the T-Mobile mast in Blackhorse Road could be upgraded.

However, the spokesman stressed that T-Mobile "can't make any promises without going through the processes".

He added: "We need that base station to provide 3G services to that part of Letchworth. The problem with these is because of the frequencies we've been allocated we need more base stations."

He said the masts will meet health and safety guidelines and that a planning application is likely to be made within the next week or two.

Omega read "Base Stations, operating within strict national and international Guidelines, do not present a Health Risk?" under: http://omega.twoday.net/stories/771911/

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

http://tinyurl.com/foeom

http://tinyurl.com/q4zyz



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=impeach

Think of it as a vast experiment in human biology. Put millions of people in a limited space, then crank a few levers: increase the hours they work, and increase the distance they have to travel; tempt them with material goods but undermine their sense of security about the future; allow them almost unlimited access to food, but subtly direct their choice by making grease and sugar most accessible. See what happens.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081606HB.shtml

Terror charges tied to phones are crumbling

Terror charges against two groups of Arab Americans arrested with hundreds of prepaid cell phones teetered in Michigan and collapsed in Ohio on Monday as authorities said they lacked evidence that the men intended to use the phones for evil.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006608150394



Terror Charge Dropped in Cell Phone Case

The families of two men originally charged with supporting terrorism after buying large numbers of cell phones say they've lost a sense of belonging to the country they've long called home.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6019039,00.html


From Information Clearing House

The Geneva Conventions protect Americans. If the United States changes the rules, it's changing the rules for Americans taken prisoner abroad. That is far too high a price to pay so this administration can hang on to its misbegotten policies.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/14/opinion/edgeneva.php#


From Information Clearing House

Top Pakistani intelligence agents said today the alleged terror suspects arrested last week over an alleged plot to blow up a number of planes crossing the Atlantic did not have had the experience to carry out the attack.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14587.htm

The ruling that stopped the Florida recount and handed the presidency to George W. Bush is disappearing down the legal world’s version of the memory hole, the slot where, in George Orwell’s “1984,” government workers disposed of politically inconvenient records.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14581.htm

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/stop_china_cruelty

Ask Your Friends to Do Their Part for Animals in China
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/stop_china_cruelty/forward/wksw7nkrz5bmw8x?

Photo courtesy
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14139027/
Chinese county clubs to death 50,000 dogs

Demand Change From the Chinese Government!

In a hideously cruel response to an outbreak of rabies in late July, authorities in Mouding County in Southwest China ordered the killing of more than 50,000 dogs, including 4,000 who were immunized against the disease. Officials clubbed many animals to death in the street right before their guardians' eyes. Animals who were not beaten mercilessly died equally violent, gruesome deaths by poisoning or electrocution. Last week, the Chinese government issued orders to kill an additional 500,000 dogs. None of these beloved companions will have the benefit of a humane death, because there isn’t a single law in China that prevents cruelty to animals.

China has a long history of cruelty and violence toward animals. In live-animal markets, animals—including dogs and cats—are skinned alive for their fur; merchants hack flesh from animals, piece by piece, until they finally bleed to death; and animals routinely suffer from broken limbs because they are thrown from the tops of transport trucks onto concrete floors.

Please demand that the Chinese government halt the planned slaughter of dogs and enact strict anti-cruelty laws immediately. PETA will collect these letters, and our president will personally present them to the Chinese government. Also, be sure to forward this alert to your friends and family members and ask them to speak up today.
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/stop_china_cruelty/forward

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0816-23.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Coca-Cola

http://www.rense.com/general73/unsink.htm


Informant: Jon Carlson

by Deanna Spingola

“When certain obstructionists become too irritating, label them, after suitable build-ups, as Fascist or Nazi or anti-Semitic; and use the prestige of anti-Fascist and tolerance organizations to discredit them. In the public mind constantly associate those who oppose us with those names which already have a bad smell.” Communist Party to its U.S. members, 1943.....

http://www.newswithviews.com/Spingola/deanna48.htm

by Devvy Kidd

However, because of the Internet and all the dedicated folks out there from all parties and walks of life, the picture has finally come together so even hardened skeptics can see we have no idea who is truly being elected. Vote fraud via stuffing ballot boxes has been around a long time, but beginning in the early 1960s with the advancement of technology, today it's a cake walk with machines.....

http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd207.htm

http://elequity.com/?p=123

The United States has maintained an active biological and chemical warfare program since World War 1. Part of this program involved the large-scale testing, manufacture and stockpiling of chemical warfare agents and munitions. By the early 1990s, the US chemical weapon stockpile included an estimated 25,000 tons of chemical warfare agents, including organophosphorus (OP) nerve agents such as sarin and VX, and vesicant (blister) agents including mustard and Lewisite. Today, virtually everyone agrees that this stockpile is obsolete, and federal law and international agreements require that it be destroyed. Click HERE to view the 32 page PDF report on the Human experiments on soldiers since WW1.
http://www.elequity.com/MuseFiles/Fact_Sheet_Edgewood-Aberdeen_Chemical_Agent_Experiments_Information_Paper.pdf

Still think they won't do it to you?

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/bollynbeaten.htm
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?noframes;read=91920


Informant: Elaine, ranger116