Freitag, 29. September 2006

Torture Bill States Non-Allegiance To Bush Is Terrorism

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/september2006/290906torturebill.htm

Republicans Using the Illegal Immigration Issue to Score Votes

PBS broadcast of NOW looks at how Republican candidates, eager to rally conservative voters, are talking tough on illegal immigration - even if that means bucking the president. Even more surprising, they're doing so in states that have few illegal immigrants. NOW examines the politics of immigration to find out what people's fears are, and if xenophobia plays a part in political tactics.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906Q.shtml

Treating Criminality as Daring Boldness

David Swanson writes: "Bush has launched an illegal war, lied to Congress to do so, and misused funds by beginning the war before asking for approval. Bush has targeted civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, and used illegal weapons, including white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and the Napalm-like weapon found in Mark-77 fire bombs. Bush has arbitrarily detained Americans, legal residents and non-Americans without due process, without charge, and without access to counsel. To call this criminal is merely to agree with the US Supreme Court."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906P.shtml

An Alternative Way Forward for the US

A Princeton report on National Security suggests that the policies pursued by President George W. Bush since September 11, 2001, have been simplistic and counter-productive for dealing with the challenges facing the United States in the 21st century. The US needs to rely less on military power and more on other tools of diplomacy; be more on cooperation with other democratic states; and focus on building "popular, accountable, rights-regarding [PAR] governments."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906N.shtml

HUD Secretary Admitted "Bias" Against Bush Critics

An investigation by the HUD Inspector General reportedly revealed that HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson instructed staff to award HUD contracts to President Bush's political allies and withhold them from his political opponents. ThinkProgress has obtained access to the entire report which shows that the agency set aside the rules.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906M.shtml

Many Civil Rights Taken Away With New Law

The military trials bill approved by Congress redefines the rules for the detention, interrogation, prosecution and trials of terrorism suspects. This bill gives the government extraordinary power to bar terrorism suspects from challenging their detention or treatment through traditional habeas corpus petitions. It allows prosecutors, under certain conditions, to use evidence collected through hearsay or coercion to seek criminal convictions.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906K.shtml

William Rivers Pitt: In Case I Disappear

William Rivers Pitt writes: "I have been told a thousand times at least, in the years I have spent reporting on the astonishing and repugnant abuses, lies, and failures of the Bush administration, to watch my back. 'Be careful,' people always tell me. 'These people are capable of anything. Stay off small planes, make sure you aren't being followed.'" He continues: "I thought. I am a citizen, and the First Amendment hasn't yet been red-lined, I thought. Matters are different now."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906J.shtml

TFAs, The Food Industry's "Trojan Horse" on Your Table

"If you're thinking about a useful holiday gift for a teenager,"writes Sherwood Ross, "for $6.99 you can give the invaluable 'Trans Fats: The Hidden Killer in Our Food' (Pocket Books), by Judith Shaw, whose no-holds-barred introduction begins, 'This is the story of a killer ingredient tucked into most of the food that you, your family, and most other Americans eat ...'"

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906I.shtml

Frightening Balance Sheet

Pierre Haski looks at what the US has accomplished in Iraq since its 2003 invasion, while Marc Semo points out that the only bright spot - Iraqi Kurdistan - is also negotiating parlous waters.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906H.shtml

"How to Steal an Election": Former Pollster Describes 2000 Election Theft

Former UNH professor and pollster David Moore contends that his new book about the 2000 presidential election - titled "How to Steal an Election" - is not partisan. Moore said he knows it's a "hard sell," but he argues the book simply explains how George W. Bush took the presidency that was rightfully won by Al Gore.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906G.shtml

Deficit Comes in Below Projections, Thanks to "Off-Budget" Borrowing

The US government closes the books on fiscal 2006 Saturday, and politicians are likely to trumpet that the federal deficit came in almost $60 billion below projections. Problem is, they won't be using the same math you use.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906F.shtml

This Time, Congress Has No Excuse

Andrew Cohen writes, "Of all the stupid, lazy, short-sighted, hasty, ill-conceived, partisan-inspired, damage-inflicting, dangerous and offensive things this Congress has done (or not done) in its past few recent miserable terms, the looming passage of the terror detainee bill takes the cake."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906E.shtml

Hundreds Arrested in Week of Anti-War Actions

Demonstrations, marches, rallies, vigils and prayer meetings continue to take place in dozens of cities across the United States this week as part of a nationwide campaign aiming to force the administration of President George W. Bush and Congress to end the US occupation of Iraq.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906C.shtml

Rice Ignored bin Laden Warnings Prior to 9/11

Jason Leopold writes, "National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, in an attempt to rewrite history, told the New York Post in a wide-ranging interview this week that the Clinton administration had failed to leave a comprehensive plan in place for the incoming Bush administration on how to deal with bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist organization - a patently false accusation that smacks of election-season politics at play."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906A.shtml

Üben für den Jüngsten Tag: in den USA und anderswo

Christliche Fanatiker auf dem Vormarsch http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/23/23640/1.html

Der Irak-Krieg kostet in der Woche zwei Milliarden Dollar

Nach aktuellen Umfragen billigt die Mehrheit der Iraker Angriffe auf US-Truppen und wünscht deren Abzug, al-Qaida und Bin Laden werden von der überwältigenden Mehrheit der Iraker abgelehnt.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/23/23649/1.html

Kongress legitimiert das von Bush eingeführte Unrechtssystem

Verschleppung, unbegrenzte Inhaftierung, Folter und Willkürlichkeit, eine Person als "feindlichen Kämpfer" zu behandeln, werden nun zur offiziellen US-Politik.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/23/23653/1.html

Words, Not War with Iran: oppose H.R. 6198, the "Iran Freedom Support Act"

From: "Faithful Security"

Dear Martin Greenhut,

Earlier this week, Faithful Security and Sojourners released the "Words, Not War" statement from religious leaders urging direct talks with Iran http://www.wordsnotwar.org . Legislation is in the Senate today which would scuttle the diplomatic process. Two quick phone calls will ensure that your Senators get the message that in the nuclear standoff with Iran, diplomacy is the only answer.

Your senator is one of a small number of legislators who could block legislation that would undermine international negotiations with Iran. This week European negotiators are meeting with Iranian diplomats to negotiate an agreement that would bring Iran into compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The European Union is cautiously optimistic that a deal can be reached. But Thursday afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives passed new sanctions on Iran. The legislation was introduced Wednesday, September 27, rushed to the House floor, and adopted by a voice vote. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR) lead the opposition to the bill, calling it "a cruise missile aimed at a difficult diplomatic effort just as they are reaching their most sensitive point. The timing for this legislation could not be worse."

The Senate is expected to consider the "Iran Freedom Support Act," H.R. 6198, either Friday or Saturday. Given the backlog of legislation at the end of the current Congressional session, these new Iranian sanctions could be blocked, if enough constituents call their senators--now.

The smart and moral approach to this situation is to sit down and talk with the Iranian government. Many U.S. senators are working to maintain open channels for this dialogue with Iran. If the U.S. continues to insist that no dialogue is possible with Iran, then war is the likely alternative.

Take Action:

Call your two senators through the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to oppose H.R. 6198, the "Iran Freedom Support Act." If you don't know your senator's names, you can look them up on the Friends Committee for National Legislation website http://www.fcnl.org .

(Action alert courtesy of David Culp, the Friends Committee for National Legislation.)

To join hundreds of religious leaders by signing the "Words, Not War" statement, go to http://www.wordsnotwar.org .

Big Oil doesn't care about polar bears: Revoke ExxonMobile's Permission to Kill Polar Bears

Petition Target: Mr. John Bridges, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

On September 20, the Fish and Wildlife service gave ExxonMobile the right to kill polar bears as part of their drilling/oil exploration in Alaska! Not only will drilling disturb polar bear habitat and scare polar bear mothers into abandoning their cubs, but now, the oil giant has been given permission to KILL them OUTRIGHT.

We the undersigned DEMAND that Congress and the Fish and Wildlife Service revoke ExxonMobile's right to "take polar bears incidental to oil and gas industry exploration activities in the Beaufort Sea and adjacent northern coast of Alaska." We must be thoughtful in this dangerous time to protect our future.

The United States is PROUD of its rich and glorious wildlife population and our abundant wilderness. Let us stay proud and defend our land -- leave it intact. Once our wild heritage is destroyed, we will have nothing left to protect.

For the official transcript of the Fish and Wildife Service's death sentence to polar bears, click here: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2001_register&docid=01-23407-filed.pdf

Petition here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/990644527

I guess a lot of Exxon-Mobile executives want to have nice white fluffy polar bear rugs in their vacation homes, before polar bears go entirely extinct!

PLEASE SIGN AND PASS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS AND GROUPS.

BMutiny T

--------

Big Oil doesn't care about polar bears. Do you?
http://tinyurl.com/tn633



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

Death penalty opponents speak out

I wanted to share this story from The Buffalo News with you. http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060929/1034616.asp

Also note that Bill Babbitt, featured in this story, is a participant in the CEDP-initiated "Witness to an Execution" tour. For more information, visit http://www.nodeathpenalty.org.

julien

Take action! Tell Congress to protect the Amazon

http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/mt_archives/000319.php

What falling oil prices tell us about war with Iran, the elections and peak-oil theory

http://ga3.org/ct/w720pgF1Qz73/

Never has a Congress done so little and yet done so much damage

http://ga3.org/ct/x720pgF1Qz7f/

BENQ-INSOLVENZ: Börse jubelt, Belegschaft demonstriert

http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,439955,00.html

--------

Einschüchterung: 900 BenQ-Beschäftigte erhalten Post von Siemens

de.internet.com - Germany

... Werner Neugebauer, Bezirksleiter der IG Metall Bayern, heute in
München: "Siemens hat die Beschäftigten seiner ehemaligen Handy-Sparte
verraten und verkauft ...

http://de.internet.com/index.php?id=2045649&section=Marketing-News



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

Next-up News n°105

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/next_up_news_n105.htm

Church tower could be mast

Mobile phone equipment could be installed within a Shropshire church under groundbreaking plans. T-Mobile wants to install four antennae in the bell tower of All Saints Church in Broseley.

The plan has won the backing of church chiefs.

Bosses say the scheme makes controversial applications for ugly mobile phone masts redundant by hiding the antennae within beautiful buildings, while at the same time generating funds for cash-strapped churches.

Read the full story in the Shropshire Star

© 2006 - all rights reserved

http://www.shropshirestar.co.uk/2006/09/church-tower-could-be-mast/

The fashion for being on call anytime, anyplace, anywhere, seems to have taken over the general populace

The fashion for being on call anytime, anyplace, anywhere, seems to have taken over the general populace of Kenilworth, writes Gemma Lynn.
Now most anybody's answerphone sports the message "or you can contact me on my mobile on?"

Amidst shoppers in the supermarket someone idling down the aisles is likely to be talking live to an absent partner, considering what to buy for supper. Even on the pavement: it seems as if every tenth person passing by has a phone clamped to their ear while engaging in cheerful banter with some distant friend.

However the image of the slick and essential, of the family-friendly Christmas gift for the kids, was hard to reconcile with the lurid health horrors that were graphically depicted by the tabloids. Associated with the radiation the phones and base stations emit, are apparently brain tumours and blood cancers, and even genetic damage to your DNA.

The cause of mobile phone users' complacency may be that they heard reassurances, encouraged by the cellphone industry, bandied about again and again that there is "no conclusive evidence" against them. The same thing was said about cigarettes.

However the siting of masts is a hot topic and in the last few years neighbourhoods in Kenilworth have welcomed phone masts with all the warmth they usually reserve for traffic wardens.

Now a planning application has been submitted for a phone mast on the pavement slap bang in the middle of one of the main shopping areas in Kenilworth.

Some mobile phone operators go to extraordinary lengths to conceal the masts that form their networks. They are being disguised as chimneys, clocks, windows, drainpipes, even as weathervanes all in an effort to meet the demands of planning departments. Before now some firms have used fake trees as masts, which resembled Scot pines. It is a tactic that might work on a hilltop when it is concealed among other trees but a fake tree on a street would be like putting lipstick on a gorilla.

So O2 have not bothered, content that the mast will blend in by looking like a streetlight.

But there is a reason for concealment. If such trouble was not taken our town would be dotted with even more architectural acne (we already have the De Montfort Hotel and Talisman Square) and that is a growing pain nobody wants to see.

People have until October 12 to send their comments on this application to Warwick District Council's planning department.

29 September 2006

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.kenilworthtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=698&ArticleID=1796991

People power

Sep 29 2006

A HUGE sigh of relief swept through Widney Manor residents in the council chambers on Wednesday night as a 15 metre mobile phone mast was given the boot.

Nearly 100 letters objecting to the proposal were sent to Solihull Council and close to 300 signitures were also gathered by angry residents against the mast along Widney Lane close to Widney Manor station.

St Alphege councillor Theresa Tedd, who helped in the mast fight, said residents gave a spontaneous round of applause to the councillors of the planning sub-committee.

She added: "I'm delighted with the result.

"I call upon Mobile Phone Giant O2 to accept the resounding wishes of residents in this most pleasant part of Solihull."

© owned by or licensed to Midland Newspapers Limited 2006

http://tinyurl.com/hju3a

MOBILFUNKSTRAHLUNG UNGEFÄHRLICH?

Informations- und Diskussionsabend am Freitag, den 27. Oktober 2006

Ort: 86971 PEITING (Landkreis Weilheim-Schongau), Schlossberghalle, Münchnerstraße Zeit: 20 Uhr

Referenten: - Dr. med. Hans Christoph Scheiner Umweltmediziner, Gutachter und Buchautor

- Ulrich Weiner, Funktechniker, Unternehmensberater und Betroffener

Moderation: - Hans Schütz Umweltinitiative Pfaffenwinkel e. V. / Netzwerk Risiko Mobilfunk

Veranstalter: Interessensgemeinschaft Risiko Mobilfunk, Peiting

Vor dem Hintergrund des ständigen Ausbaus von GSM- und UMTS-Netzen und den immer wiederkehrenden verharmlosenden bzw. entwarnenden Medienmeldungen bezüglich der gesundheitlichen Gefahren der derzeit verwendeten Mobilfunktechnik, ergibt sich für Bürgerinnen und Bürger, aber auch für die politisch Verantwortlichen vor Ort in den Kommunen die dringende Notwendigkeit sich neutral und unabhängig über den tatsächlichen Sachstand zu informieren. Die Interessensgenmeinschaft Risiko Mobilfunk Peiting will diesem Informationsbedürfnis nachkommen und hat dazu für die Veranstaltung am 27. Oktober in der Schlossberghalle zwei hervorragende Referenten gewinnen können. Beide beschäftigen sich - der eine als Mediziner und der andere als Funktechniker und Elektrosmogsensibler - schon seit vielen Jahren mit der Thematik und verfügen über weitreichende und fundierte Kenntnisse. Somit bietet sich für alle Interessierten aus dem südwestlichen Oberbayern und dem Allgäu eine gute Gelegenheit sich umfassend über die tatsächlichen Gefährdungspotentiale des Mobilfunks kundig zu machen. Selbstverständlich ist auch viel Teit für eine intensive Diskussion mit den Referenten vorgesehen. Ergänzt wird die Veranstaltung durch eine Ausstellung der Ostallgäuer Mobilfunkinitiativen und mehrere Infostände.


Nachricht von:
Hans Schütz, (Pressesprecher der Umweltinitiative Pfaffenwinkel e. V.)

US-Gulag-System im Kongress abgesegnet

http://www.meta-info.de/?lid=24367

How Bush's tribunals bill will change our world and why it must be repealed

http://ga3.org/ct/s120pgF1Qz7d/

Report Links Rove and Disgraced Lobbyist Abramoff

A bipartisan Congressional report, completed by the House Government Reform Committee, documents hundreds of contacts between White House officials and the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his partners. The report, based on email messages and other records subpoenaed from Mr. Abramoff's lobbying firm, found 485 contacts between Mr. Abramoff's lobbying team and White House officials from 2001 to 2004, including 82 with Mr. Rove's office.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092906Z.shtml

The Great Warming: US National Call to Action

The Great Warming movie is narrated

by Keanu Reeves & Alanis Morrisette.

http://www.thegreatwarming.com

They just created a new section on their website, excerpts below, a national call to action for effective climate stabilization actions. http://www.thegreatwarming.com/calltoaction/calltoaction.html

The movie is being screened in a special edition for churches nationally in October and its theatrical edition release starts November 3rd via the largest US theater chain in major markets, Regal Theaters.

The theatrical release West Coast Premier is October 21 Saturday in Tehachapi California, "the birthplace of the modern wind power industry," at the Hitching Post Theaters (corner "F" and Green Streets) 1pm, 4pm, and 7pm, with advanced ticket sales online and at the box office starting October 13, all seats $5, with a special private preview showing taking place for local church leaders 3pm October 12 Thursday, by reservation, limited to 40, each with one guest, free including popcorn and soft drink courtesy of the theater with reservations made by contacting David Crockett Williams, coordinator of the concurrent 1st annual Tehachapi Community Energy Expo October 21 behind the theater. gear2000@lightspeed.net - 661-822-2393 - http://www.hitchingposttheaters.com

http://www.thegreatwarming.com/calltoaction/calltoaction.html

The world's scientists are in agreement: Climate change is real, and we are largely responsible. America's religious institutions, corporations, environmental and political leaders are in agreement - we must recognize our moral responsibility to be good stewards of the Earth today and for all future generations.

Out of this sense of responsibility, we call on our country to take immediate action to address climate change. Join us in partnering with the producers of the new film The Great Warming, as we launch our awareness campaign and call to action.

Nothing less is at stake than the future of this planet we all call home.
http://www.thegreatwarming.com/calltoaction/sign.php


Informant: Scott Munson

Say No to the "Big Brother" Bills: Protect Our Civil Liberties

The character of our country will be literally be redefined if the "Big Brother" bills on spying and detainee treatment pass this week. Lawmakers are voting on legislation that would combine two dangerous proposals: one authorizing the government to spy on unknowing citizens, the other stripping basic due process protections from U.S. detainees. Protect civil liberties for everyone. Tell Congress to say No to the "Big Brother" bills before they vote this week! http://go.care2.com/e/M2T/rv/OwVx

If Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has his way, warrantless domestic spying will be written into law, along with new torture and detention tactics.

The first nightmare bill would allow our government to spy on your email and phone calls without your knowledge or consent. And the second bill authorizes new torture and detention tactics that are not in compliance with the Geneva Conventions and that dilute the War Crimes Act.

Together, these bills will give the president legal authority to ignore the limits on his power and will mar our nation's standing as a defender of human rights.

A federal judge already ruled that the president's surveillance program violates the Constitution, yet with the help of Senate Majority Leader Frist, this legislation has come up for a vote despite that ruling. America prides itself on being a country of liberty and due process - we can't sit back while the Bush Administration changes this forever.

In America, no one is above the law, not even the president. Please take action now and let Congress know that you've had enough! Go to: http://go.care2.com/e/M2T/rv/OwVx

Thank you for signing this important petition.

Sincerely,
Robyn E. Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team


Informant: Scott Munson

One degree and we're done for

Fred Pearce

27 September 2006 (From New Scientist)

"Further global warming of 1 °C defines a critical threshold. Beyond that we will likely see changes that make Earth a different planet than the one we know."

So says Jim Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. Hansen and colleagues have analysed global temperature records and found that surface temperatures have been increasing by an average of 0.2 °C every decade for the past 30 years. Warming is greatest in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere, particularly in the sub-Arctic boreal forests of Siberia and North America. Here the melting of ice and snow is exposing darker surfaces that absorb more sunlight and increase warming, creating a positive feedback.

Earth is already as warm as at any time in the last 10,000 years, and is within 1 °C of being its hottest for a million years, says Hansen's team. Another decade of business-as-usual carbon emissions will probably make it too late to prevent the ecosystems of the north from triggering runaway climate change, the study concludes (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol 103, p 14288).

The analysis reinforces a series of recent findings on accelerating environmental disruption in Siberia, northern Canada and Alaska, underlining a growing scientific consensus that these regions are pivotal to climate change. Earlier this month, NASA scientists reported that climate change was speeding up the melting of Arctic sea ice. Permanent sea ice has contracted by 14 per cent in the past two years (Geophysical Research Letters, vol 33, L17501). However, warming and melting have been just as dramatic on land in the far north.

A meeting on Siberian climate change held in Leicester, UK, last week confirmed that Siberia has become a hotspot of global climate change. Geographer Heiko Balzter, of the University of Leicester, said central Siberia has warmed by almost 2 °C since 1970 - that's three times the global average.

Meanwhile, Stuart Chapin of the University of Alaska Fairbanks this week reported that air temperatures in the Alaskan interior have risen by
2 °C since 1950, and permafrost temperatures have risen by 2.5 °C
(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0606955103).

In Siberia the warming is especially pronounced in winter. "It has caused the onset of spring to advance by as much as one day a year since satellite observations began in 1982," says Balzter. Similarly, Alaskan springs now arrive two weeks earlier than in 1950, according to Chapin.

The Leicester meeting heard that the rising temperatures are causing ecological changes in the forests that ratchet up the warming still further. Vladimir Petko from the Russian Academy of Sciences Forest Research Institute in Krasnoyarsk says warm springs are triggering plagues of moths. "They can eat the needles of entire forest regions in one summer," he says. The trees die and then usually succumb to forest fires that in turn destroy soil vegetation and accelerate the melting of permafrost, Petko says.

In 2003 Siberia saw a record number of forest fires, losing 40,000 square kilometres according to Balzter, who has analysed remote sensing images of the region. Similar changes are occurring in Alaska. According to Chapin, warming there has shortened the life cycle of the bark beetle from two years to one, causing huge infestations and subsequent fires, which destroyed huge areas of forest in 2004. "The current boreal forest zone could be so dried out by 2090 that the trees will die off and be replaced by steppe," says Nadezhda Tchebakova, also at the institute in Krasnoyarsk.

Melting permafrost in the boreal forests and further north in the Arctic tundra is also triggering the release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from thick layers of thawing peat. First reports published exclusively in New Scientist last year (13 August 2005, p 12) were recently confirmed by US scientists (Nature, vol 443, p 71).

"Large amounts of greenhouse gases are currently locked in the permafrost and if released could accelerate the greenhouse effect," says Balzter. Hansen's paper concludes that the effects of this positive feedback could be huge. "In past eras, the release of methane from melting permafrost and destabilised sediments on continental shelves has probably been responsible for some of the largest warmings in the Earth's history," he says. "The release of methane from melting permafrost has been responsible for some of the largest warmings in history"

We could be close to unleashing similar events in the 21st century, Hansen argues. Although the feedbacks should remain modest as long as global temperatures remain within the range of recent interglacial periods of the past million years, outside that range - beyond a further warming of about 1 °C - the feedbacks could accelerate. Such changes may become inevitable if the world does not begin to curb greenhouse gas emissions within the next decade, Hansen says.

Meanwhile, another new study underlines that the boreal peat bogs, permafrost and pine forests are not just vital to the planet as a whole, they are major economic assets for the countries that host them. A detailed study of the northern boreal forests by environmental consultant Mark Anielski of Edmonton, Canada, puts the value of their "ecosystem services" at $250 billion a year, or $160 per hectare. "The value of the services this ecosystem performs is more than twice that of the resources taken from the region each year"

These benefits include flood control, water purification and pest control provided by forest birds, plus income from wilderness tourism and meat from wildlife such as caribou. Anielski presented his findings to Canada's National Forest Congress in Gatineau-Ottawa earlier this week.

The value of these ecosystem services is more than twice that of conventional resources taken from the region each year, such as timber, minerals, oil and hydroelectricity, Anielski says. "If they were counted in Canadian inventories of assets, they would amount to roughly 9 per cent of our gross domestic product - similar in value to our health and social services."

You can add to that figure the value of having such a huge volume of carbon locked away. "The boreal region is like a giant carbon bank account," he says. "At current prices in the European carbon emissions trading system, Canada's stored carbon alone would be worth $3.7 trillion."

And if Hansen is right that the carbon and methane stored in the boreal regions has the potential to transform the world into "another planet", then the boreal region may be worth a great deal more than that. From issue 2571 of New Scientist magazine, 27 September 2006, page 8-9

Pat Rasmussen
World Temperate Rainforest Network
PO Box 154
Peshastin, WA 98847
509-669-1549
patr @ crcwnet.com
http://www.wtrc.org


Informant: Scott Munson

Few in Congress want spending to be reduced

Heartland Institute
by Pete Sepp

09/06

Fewer than 1 in 10 members of Congress sponsored legislation last year that would have reduced federal spending, according to a new BillTally report issued by the nonpartisan National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF). 'The federal deficit picture may be rapidly improving due to higher revenues, but Congress's collective habit of writing and proposing costly legislation has only begun to show signs of receding,' said NTUF Senior Policy Analyst and BillTally Director Demian Brady...

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=19649


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Who captures whom? The case of regulation

Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Michael S. Rozeff

09/28/06

Last month, Mises.org republished a first-rate article written by Gary North in 1978 titled 'Walking into a Trap.' To the best of my knowledge, this was the first time anyone had provided a detailed dynamic model explaining how the government traps and captures an industry it regulates. The article provided an accurate blueprint for the multi-year gradual process by which doctors, hospitals, and the medical industries in general have since been and are being captured and turned into drudges of government bureaucrats...

http://www.mises.org/story/2320


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

War on terror increases terror

Liberty For All
by Donna Mancini

09/28/06

Does anyone consider it NEWS that a government intelligence report found that the war in Iraq has increased terrorism? Upon observing history and human behavior from recent times back to the ancients, one can hardly be surprised that a government program ends up creating the very opposite of what it purported to accomplish. Welfare increases poverty, the minimum wage boosts unemployment, prohibition promotes the banned behavior, and, just as we would expect once we understand the logic, the war on terror has created and encouraged the rise of more terrorism and the ideology that backs it...

http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=125


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

America has lost two more wars

CounterPunch
by John Chuckman

09/28/06

For a country which takes excessive pride in flags, uniforms, and marching bands and spends more than the rest of the planet combined on its military, the record of America's forces since World War II is depressing. In dozens of quickie invasions against weak opponents, Americans indeed have prevailed, but when faced with tough and determined enemies, they have remarkably often been defeated or stalemated...

http://www.counterpunch.org/chuckman09282006.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

We can normalize almost anything in the span of a few short years

Photo finish

Slate
by Dahlia Lithwick

09/28/06

At the time, we referred to Abu Ghraib as a 'scandal.' The images were a searing reproach to virtually any American with a soul and a conscience. With a handful of sick exceptions, people who could agree on nothing else could agree that this was an unacceptable way to treat prisoners -- regardless of who they were, what they were accused of, or where they were being held. But in hindsight, Abu Ghraib wasn't a scandal for the Bush administration. It was a coup. Because when the Senate passes the president's detainee bill today, we will, as a country, have yet more evidence that yesterday's disgrace is today's ordinary, and that -- with a little time and a little help from the media -- we can normalize almost anything in the span of a few short years...

http://www.slate.com/id/2150541


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

War protestors: Ardent elders, unaware youth

Philadelphia Inquirer
by Michael Socolow

09/28/06

Iraqi war demonstrators in their 60s don't see why today's young people seem so uninterested. The protesters were furious. Occupying the senator's office, they chanted antiwar slogans and demanded an immediate end to the war. The police moved in, warning protesters they would be arrested if they didn't disperse. Most left, but 11 activists were cuffed, charged with criminal trespass, and taken to jail. This model for antiwar activism was perfected in the Vietnam era. Today it is employed to protest the Iraq war. Yet, in accounts of this recent protest in the office of Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Me.), one telling statistic stood out: the youngest protester arrested was 52, and most were in their 60s. Where were the kids? The answer provides insight into a key dynamic happening in the American public sphere. A new generation gap exists. In a perfect inversion of the 1960s generation gap, today's is marked by angry, activist elders and a more quiescent youth...

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/15624918.htm



The day we took over the US Senate

Common Dreams
by Gordon Clark

09/28/06

Even for these now veteran activist eyes, it was a glorious and inspiring sight to see. On Tuesday, September 26, more than 100 nonviolent activists took over the central lobby and atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building, and staged a protest of the war in Iraq while dozens and dozens of Senate staffers looked on. For one hour, at least, American opposition to the war in Iraq became the central focus for these offices of the U.S. Senate, and 71 individuals were arrested for making this happen. The action was organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (formerly the Iraq Pledge of Resistance), as part of the week of anti-war actions around the country organized by the Declaration of Peace campaign...

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0928-33.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Rushing off a cliff

New York Times
by staff

09/28/06

Here's what happens when this irresponsible Congress railroads a profoundly important bill to serve the mindless politics of a midterm election: The Bush administration uses Republicans' fear of losing their majority to push through ghastly ideas about antiterrorism that will make American troops less safe and do lasting damage to our 217-year-old nation of laws -- while actually doing nothing to protect the nation from terrorists. Democrats betray their principles to avoid last-minute attack ads. Our democracy is the big loser. ... We don't blame the Democrats for being frightened. The Republicans have made it clear that they’ll use any opportunity to brand anyone who votes against this bill as a terrorist enabler. But Americans of the future won't remember the pragmatic arguments for caving in to the administration. They'll know that in 2006, Congress passed a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generation's version of the Alien and Sedition Acts...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/opinion/28thu1.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Troops attacked more than US admits

MSNBC

09/28/06

An explosive new book, now just days away from store shelves, is tonight making news before arriving on the market. 'State of Denial' is the work of journalist Bob Woodward, and according to advance publicity materials released to the media, it alleges that attacks by insurgents in Iraq are worse than Americans have been led to believe. It's no secret that the Bush administration has tried to put the best face on the war in Iraq, but Woodward claims it's a deliberate attempt to deceive the American people about the worsening state of the war...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15051776/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Document seizure hampers Gitmo detainees

Whittier Daily News

09/28/06

His ankles chained to the floor of the hearing room, a Saudi detainee hoped to convince three U.S. military officers that he is not a danger to the United States, has no intelligence value and should be released from the Guantanamo Bay prison. But in his one shot this year at getting out of here, the detainee could not produce letters from his family that he wanted to submit as evidence. They were seized by the military, along with thousands of other documents from detainees, as it investigates whether the suicides of three prisoners in June were assisted or encouraged...

http://tinyurl.com/zv7wn



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


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Administration seeks stay on halt to illegal spying

CBS News

09/28/06

The federal judge who struck down President Bush's warrantless surveillance program allowed the government on Thursday to continue the program another week while it seeks a further postponement from an appeals court. US Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled on Aug. 17 that the program, which targets communications between people in the United States and people overseas when a link to terrorism is suspected, violates the rights to free speech and privacy, as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the US Constitution. ... The Justice Department asked Taylor to allow the program to continue until the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issues a final ruling on the legal issues, which could take months. Taylor denied the administration's request, reports CBS News producer Beverley Lumpkin. However, Taylor gave the government a seven-day reprieve while it seeks a stay from the appeals court pending a decision on the legality of the surveillance, which the government calls the Terrorist Surveillance Program...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/28/politics/main2048963.shtml


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Privacy Rules Violated in CIA Terror Financing Probe

The Belgian-based consortium known as Swift, which handles money transfers among banks, violated European privacy regulations when it turned over confidential transaction information to the Central Intelligence Agency and other American agencies, Belgium's privacy protection commission concluded today.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092806T.shtml

Congress Reject Any Effort to Weaken the War Crimes Act, and Initiate Impeachment Proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Cheney

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0928-08.htm



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

Economy Booming for Billionaires

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0928-31.htm

Ten Super-Wealthy, Anti-Estate Tax Families Listed on Forbes 400
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0928-09.htm

The Day We Took Over the U.S. Senate

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0928-33.htm

Ripping Off A Democracy Is As Old As Ancient Athens

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0928-32.htm

Habeas Corpus, RIP (1215-2006)

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0928-20.htm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=habeas+corpus&spell=1

US General Warns That Iraq is Close to Dissolving into Civil War

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0928-01.htm

Forests Worth Far More Alive Than Dead

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0928-03.htm

House Passes Measure on Religion Suits

The House passed a bill yesterday that would bar judges from awarding legal fees to the American Civil Liberties Union and similar groups that sue municipalities for violating the Constitution's ban on government establishment of religion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/26/AR2006092601486.html


From Information Clearing House

Lawyer: officer at Guantánamo threatened me

A British lawyer who represents detainees at Guantánamo Bay yesterday claimed he was threatened with internment at the notorious camp by a US military officer.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,,1881721,00.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guant%C3%A1namo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guantanamo

The Flaws in the Military Commissions Act

http://www.counterpunch.org/feingold09282006.html


From Information Clearing House

Thunder on the Mountain

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15151.htm

Let's bolster this subterranean shift in US foreign policy while we can

Even in the Pentagon, there are hints of a move away from over-reliance on the military. But Iran will be the test.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1882396,00.html


From Information Clearing House

Americans favor diplomacy on Iran

Reuters poll

A majority of Americans want the United States to increase diplomatic efforts over Iran's nuclear ambitions, while 70 percent oppose the use of U.S. troops to thwart Iran, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Thursday.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2501698



War pimp alert: House approves Iran "Freedom Support" Act

The House voted Thursday to impose mandatory sanctions on entities that provide goods or services for Iran's weapons programs. The vote came as U.S diplomats continued to press the U.N. Security Council to penalize Tehran if it fails to end its uranium enrichment program.

http://tinyurl.com/fdrbd


From Information Clearing House

Fundamentalist Camp Trains God's Little Army

They have billions in media holdings, the ear of the president, and the ability to make or break a Republican candidacy. To Becky Fischer, however, former manager of a custom sign business and current children's minister, evangelicals are in danger of losing the next generation.

http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/42193


From Information Clearing House

Veterans Alliance For Security & Democracy

http://www.vetpac.org/


Informant: Kev Hall

Iran War in October?

by Geov Parrish

Bush positions strike group in Gulf prior to midterm elections.
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=21431


Informant: Kev Hall

How did we sink so low in just 6 years?

By Mike Whitney

In a 253 to 168 “party-line” vote, the congress repealed habeas corpus and approved the torturing of prisoners in American custody. It is breathtaking assault on human rights and personal liberty and puts the United States well-outside the community of civilized nations.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15143.htm

Höhere Messwerte durch Mobilfunk

http://www.frankenpost.de/nachrichten/regional/resyart.phtm?id=1027393

USDA Poised to Deregulate Illegal GM Rice

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/LLRICE601.php

BOB WOODWARD: BUSH MISLEADS ON IRAQ

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/28/60minutes/main2047607.shtml


Informant: NHNE

AMERICAN BLACKOUT

http://www.gregpalast.com/american-blackout-2


Informant: NHNE

War costs near $549 billion

In the current fiscal year, the Pentagon is expected each month to spend $1.5 billion in Afghanistan and $8 billion in Iraq.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15137.htm

Finally Standing Up as the Republic Crashes Down

By Chris Floyd

Bush's "War on Terror" is coming to the Homeland, and its target is the American people. Bush and his handlers want to destroy the ability of anyone to oppose their hard-right – and overwhelmingly unpopular – agenda. It's the only way the Faction can maintain its domination – and avoid prosecution for its many crimes.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15141.htm

Dumb and Dumber

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15139.htm

Wars and Debts and Taxes

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15140.htm

Quarter of a million flee occupied Iraq violence

http://tinyurl.com/mbfdz


From Information Clearing House

Confidence in Iraq Policies Drops to 20% in U.S.

Fewer adults in the United States believe their government’s handling of the coalition effort has been adequate, according to a poll by Harris Interactive. Only 20 per cent of respondents are confident that U.S. policies in Iraq will be successful, down nine points in two years.

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/13306


From Information Clearing House

Iraq war was terrorism 'recruiting sergeant'

The Iraq war has acted as a "recruiting sergeant" for extremists in the Muslim world, according to a paper prepared for a Ministry of Defence thinktank, which also said the British government sent troops into Afghanistan "with its eyes closed".

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15148.htm

Carter: U.S. in more danger of terrorism

"So there's no doubt that our country is in much more danger now from terrorism than it would have been if we would have done what we should have done and stayed in Afghanistan," he said on the campaign trail with his son, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jack Carter.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060928/ap_on_re_us/carter_nevada_1


From Information Clearing House

Mobilfunkmast bleibt im Gespräch

http://www.zeitung.org/zeitung/928308-127,1,0.html

Our Enemy, the State

http://www.mises.org/store/Our-Enemy-the-State-P321C0.aspx?AFID=1


Informant: Lew Rockwell

Initiative gegen den Verkauf des gesamten Landeswaldes in Schleswig-Holstein

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/volksini_waldverkauf_liste.pdf

Unterschriftenliste "Initiative gegen den Waldverkauf". Die Landesregierung in Schleswig-Holstein will den gesamten Landeswald in Schleswig - Holstein verkaufen, z. T. an Shell. Anbei eine Unterschriftenliste. Bitte Unterschriften sammeln und an die angegebene Adresse schicken. Viele Grüße!"

Arfst

In many ways, our republic stands at an historic crossroads

http://www.lewrockwell.com/latulippe/latulippe70.html

The Sanctuary Delusion

http://www.lewrockwell.com/lind/lind108.html

George Bush's Iraq in 21 Questions

http://www.lewrockwell.com/engelhardt/engelhardt226.html

The Orthodoxy of the Washington Thinktanks

http://mondoweiss.observer.com/2006/09/lets-debate-the-orthodoxy-of-the-washington-thinktanks.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell

The Blind Leading the Willing: a compromise between those who don't care and those who don't want to know

http://www.slate.com/id/2150495/nav/tap1/


Informant: Lew Rockwell

US's approval of torture related to 'collective numbness and apathy'

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/5138/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

Fmr. Diebold Consultant Admits Company Altered Software for '02 GA Election

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2006/9/21/15233/0027


Informant: ranger116



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

Die Bundesregierung verliert in der Gentechnikdiskussion weiter an Glaubwürdigkeit: aus gehabtem Schaden nichts gelernt?

http://www.oekosmos.de/article/articleview/689/

Atomkraft nicht schon wieder!

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

Neue Fairness braucht das Land????

http://tinyurl.com/o4sg7

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