World-News

Le Figaro's star foreign reporter writes: "Unfortunately for the West - and for world peace in general - America, by getting itself bogged down in Iraq, has wrecked its deterrent power, and, in the same blow, its political credit. Its advice, its demands, its threats are far less attended to than they were only three years ago."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506H.shtml

Long lines and long counts threaten to mar next month's US Congressional elections. "In close elections, it may be days and weeks before a winner is known in a particular race," said Paul DeGregorio, chairperson of the US Election Assistance Commission, created to oversee a 2002 election-law overhaul.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506F.shtml

The dollar is still the world's reserve currency, even though it hasn't deserved this status for a long time. The devaluation of the dollar can't be stopped - it can only be deferred. The result could be a world economic crisis.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506E.shtml

"The aspect of the Military Commissions Act most troubling to legal scholars is its denial of habeas corpus - the right of a prisoner to challenge his or her detention as unlawful - to non-citizens designated 'enemy combatants.' Habeas corpus is a cornerstone of our Constitution (its suspension is allowed only in cases of invasion or insurrection - of which we have neither) and is an important recourse for those who have been wrongly imprisoned," write Phillis D. Engelbert and Lily Jarman-Reisch.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506D.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Military+Commissions+Act
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Habeas+corpus

Christopher Dickey writes: "Kevin Tillman is asking the same question, with the same well-sharpened edge of indignation. He is making this statement now in hopes that voters will listen. No, he does not offer solutions. No he does not have all the answers. But he does have one: the people who got us into this war should pay for it with their careers, their fortunes and what little pretense they can have to honor."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506C.shtml



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

More than 100 US service members have signed a rare appeal urging Congress to support the "prompt withdrawal" of all American troops and bases from Iraq.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506B.shtml

9/11 widows have started an online petition in hopes of gathering the public's support to force the White House to declassify documents related to a July 10, 2001, meeting between Condoleezza Rice and former CIA director George Tenet, in which the two discussed a pending attack on US soil by al-Qaeda.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506A.shtml

Jeff Cohen writes: "Martin Luther King Jr. often referred to 11 a.m. on Sunday as "the most segregated hour in America" - his way of highlighting hypocrisy and racial exclusion in Christian churches. Today on television, that hour remains a time of exclusion and discrimination. It's the time that the high priests of Washington's Beltway gather on TV to pontificate about politics."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506P.shtml

http://ga3.org/ct/5120pgF1wXhg/

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Like the bear says, VOTE ENVIRONMENT November 7!
http://www.saveourenvironment.org/abearvotes/

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SIGN THE PLEDGE: This November, I'm Voting My Values
https://secure.aclu.org/site/SPageServer?&pagename=votingvalues&JServSessionIdr007=s0v3s5sh52.app27a

Worse Than Union Busting
http://ga3.org/ct/5d20pgF1wXhb/

Immer neue Bündniseinsätze drohen die Bundeswehr in Konflikt mit dem Grundgesetz zu bringen.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/23/23827/1.html

Our local community in Stone, Staffordshire is currently fighting to stop a mobile phone mast from being approved near our housing estate. Local residents have raised local community awareness by contacting the local press.

We have a local cricket club who have agreed to allow O2 to use their land for a new 3G lampost style mast. The mast will be a few tens of yards from some houses, and within a one mile radius there are literally hundreds of houses. The proposed plan was originally thrown out by our local Borough Council, but O2 have lodged an appeal and the case is going to the planning inspectorate in November.

I have put up a web site to act as a bit of a focus point for our campaign efforts. It has attracted quite a volume of traffic due to the local media attention and a local poster campaign. There has been some lively discussion on there amongst residents on both sides of the argument, but the general debate has started to subside.

If anyone out there has some spare time and would like to contribute anything on the forum area of the site, to perhaps educate or warn our community of the potential impact of the mast (based on their own experience & research), it might help to keep things moving along and encourage some to act if they can see some informed opinions.

The web site can be found at : http://www.stopthemast.com . The forum area is at : http://stopthemast.proboards107.com/

Thanks for any help that anyone can provide.

Chris

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/eu_draft_on_emf_on_humanhealth.htm
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/zinelis_response_to_eu_report_about_emf.doc

For information: in Greece the Minister of Education on 10th of August 2006 signed a Bill which prohibits the mobile telephone masts, radar and high voltage lines to be within 500 meters of any school.

Best regards

Greek Cancer Society, Cefallonia.
24-10-2006

--------

EXPOSURE OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND WORKERS TO ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS

THE SITUATION IN GREECE: LEGISLATION, AUTHORITIES, ACTIVITIES
http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/jrc/jrc_eis_emf/library?l=/preliminary_country/greecedoc/_EN_1.0_&a=d

Pete
w-a-r-t

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a Florida law that prohibits exit polling within 100 feet of a voting place, finding there was no evidence that such surveys were disruptive or threatened access to voting.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506M.shtml

Overhead costs have consumed more than half the budget of some reconstruction projects in Iraq, leaving far less money than expected to provide the oil, water and electricity needed to improve the lives of Iraqis. More money was being spent on housing and feeding employees, completing paperwork, and providing security than on actual construction.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506N.shtml

US Senate candidate James Webb's last name has been cut off on part of the electronic ballot used by voters. Although the problem creates some voter confusion, election officials claim this will not cause votes to be cast incorrectly.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506O.shtml

Oct 25 2006

By Andrew Heath

PROTESTERS claim they are "under siege" from mobile phone companies desperate to build a mast near their Warwickshire homes.

More than 30 men, women and children joined a demonstration against O2's plans to build a 15 metre pole next to Old Milverton Road, between Leamington and Warwick.

They are angry the company has submitted an application to build a mast in the area just seven months after councillors on Warwick District Council's planning committee turned a previous application down for an O2 mast 50 yards away.

So far, the group has fended off three applications from O2 and other applications from Orange and Vodafone.

And despite hundreds of signatures on a petition against the latest application, they are worried councillors may finally give O2 the green light.

Mum-of-two Laura Fitzpatrick, aged 33, of Old Milverton, Leamington attended the protest with her two-year-old son Oscar and 14-month-old daughter Eva.

She said: "It is like being under siege.

"Nobody wants it and there is a better site nearby. If they put in an application for a pole at a site by electricity pylons nearby, no-one would mind.

"We are getting worried that if they just keep going eventually people will give up."

In March, councillors turned down the application on the grounds of road safety and Terry Molloy, of St Albans Close, Milverton, believes the same concerns affect the latest proposal.

He said: "It would be an accident waiting to happen. It would be standing on a concrete base on the side of a busy country road.

"It is basically the same proposal as last time just 50 yards away."

A spokeswoman for O2 said the company wanted to build a mast in the area because the existing network was reaching capacity.

She said: "We only build when it is absolutely necessary.

"We also have a commitment to the government to provide nationwide 3G coverage for the whole of the country.

"At the moment people may get a good signal, but there will be peak times when people won't be able to get a signal at all."

© owned by or licensed to Midland Newspapers Limited 2006

Source: http://tinyurl.com/yagm87

George Packer writes: "The President's Iraq war is lost. Plan A - a unified and democratic Iraq that will be a model in the region - is no longer achievable. The civil war for which the administration will not consider new responses is already at hand."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506J.shtml

The Pentagon wants a democratic Iraq - a model to the region - but until Iraq has a genuine unity government that its own forces respect and are willing to fight for, it seems likely that the American military will continue to shoulder most of the burden.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506K.shtml

Tom Engelhardt writes, "But as long as the Bush administration has no intention of setting a serious date for, or timetable for, departure from Iraq, the shadow war of images will only continue from fallback position to fallback position with no enemy in sight."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506L.shtml

25 October 2006

A WARD councillor has vowed to fight plans to install a phone mast before an application reaches the council.

Belvedere councillor David Leaf was informed by Orange earlier this month that the company was intending to put up a 15-ft phone mast in Woolwich Road, Belvedere, to "maintain the levels of coverage provided by the existing site at Bedonwell School".

But the Conservative councillor said putting the mast close to the Splash Park and the children's playground in Woolwich Road would be a wrong move.

He said: "I'm not waiting for a formal application to be submitted to the council. I want to make residents aware of the plans now and will be gathering their views.

"Phone masts could be a danger to children's health. It's better to take precautions and place them in areas away from residential areas."

Mr Leaf is angry that Orange has only sent details to ward councillors and not informed those living near the proposed site of its plans.

He said: "I'm shocked that the company is keeping it from residents. It's going to be outside their homes and businesses so they have a right to know about plans as soon as possible."

Orange says it is looking for a new site for a base station in the area because the lease on a mast at Bedonwell School in Bedonwell Road will not be renewed when it expires later this year.

In September Orange shelved plans to erect a mast just 100 yards from the school and have since been looking for a new site.

The company says World Health Organisation studies show that there is no adverse link between mobile phone technology and public health.

Omega this is not true. See under:
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Cancer+Cluster
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/yhvszy

http://www.euractiv.com/en/science/us-claims-right-control-space/article-159057


Informant: Regina Hagen

See and act on all current Execution Alerts at http://www.ncadp.org/execution_alerts.html

November 1: Donell Jackson, TX http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=5673

November 8: Willie Shannon, TX http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=5680

November 9: John Schmitt, VA http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=5681

November 16: Charles Nealy TX http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=5683

devon.editorial@archant.co.uk

25 October 2006

SIR - Your article on October 11 concerning mobile phone masts was a timely wake-up call to all communities in the South West as it appears there are now mobile phone company representatives working with a female co-ordinator, appointed by the Church of England to promote the use of church towers as vantage points for mobile phone masts.

It would appear that mobile phone companies, having paid £22.8 billion in licence fees to the present Government are anxious to erect the new mobile phone masts because they are under pressure to claw back their investments.

However, this does not entitle them to ride roughshod over the public and use church towers as a cheap and convenient way of erecting their masts in the middle of communities.

The present Government authorised an investigation into the safety of mobile phone masts called the Stewart Report in May, 2000 to answer the question: "Are the masts a danger to health?"

The committee's answer was : "'probably not." This was taken by the Government and the mobile phone companies as a No.

Yet the small print of the report acknowledged that it is impossible to assess the long-term health consequences of mobile phone technology after just a few years of experience. Now, instances of health problems and cancer clusters near mobile phone masts are multiplying daily.

My concern is that this Government has now taken away the right of district councils to reject mobile phone masts on the grounds of health, fearing perhaps for the financial health no doubt of their benefactors, the mobile phone companies.

May I also quote from the Church of England's own article concerning mobile phone masts: "The ethos behind Christian Ecology Link's approach is that of care for one's neighbour and the precautionary principle."

Perhaps with this in mind, St Mary's in Bideford should follow the example of the Roman Catholic Church which has now banned and removed phone masts from all its churches in Italy on the grounds of health with regard to electromagnetic pollution and because they are alien to the sanctity of the church.

I should think that just about covers St Mary's decision to place the more powerful G3 mast 50 metres from and on a level with all the house windows in Buttgarden Street.

Readers wishing to find details of illnesses or effects caused by masts should ring (01237) 423971 or even better contact http://www.mastsanity.org

Tim Langdon, Bideford.

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

http://tinyurl.com/y7nxr6

PLANS to build a 100 foot high mobile phone mast on picturesque Brandon Hill, Graignanamangh has stunned the local community.

Local councillor Ann Phelan said the decision by 02 to submit a planning application for the structure was a disgrace and has called on the telecommunications company to withdraw the application immediately as a gesture of goodwill to the people of the area.

"We are talking about something which is dear to the hearts of all the people of 'Graig," she said.

"This is an area of high amenity and is part of the South Leinster Way used by hikers all year round," she added.

"Brandon Hill has religious, social and archaeological value and O2's plans will impinge on it. No one can understand why they would try something like this when there are other sites available and other masts already constructed," she claimed.

Referring to the fact that the planning application refers to the townland of Ballinakill and not Brandon Hill, Cllr Phelan said: "They can call it what they like it's still Brandon Hill to us."

She said the mast and base station were equidistant from three homes on Brandon Hill and that this also raised health issues.

Meeting

A meeting in Mick Doyle's pub in the town last week heard criticism of 02 and Coillte who own the land on which the company plan to build the structure.

"This is a sensitive area and Brandon Hill has protected views. If they allow this monstrosity to go up it will dominate as you look back through the valley," Cllr Phelan said.

Coillte admitted that it had given written permission to 02 to make the planning application. A lease is generally agreed between Coillte and the company.

O2 Ireland said the mast is necessary to improve the quality of mobile phone coverage in the area.

Statement

In a statement to the Kilkenny People it said: "We recognise that there is some public concern about the erection of the infrastructure and are committed to addressing this concern in an open and transparent way."

The company claimed to have had conversations with some local residents, including the parish priest, about the application and remained open to meeting with any local group to discuss this matter further.

It added that at all times O2 endeavours to minimise the environmental impact and visibility of its mobile infrastructures.

25 October 2006

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=2594&ArticleID=1840802

America's Future Foundation
by Timothy P. Carney

10/23/06

The Mark Foley scandal is a symptom of the Republican Party's standard operating procedure. The same pattern of behavior that lead to the current unpleasantness reared its head in the sorry episodes of Arlen Specter and Lincoln Chafee. The lesson of the Specter, Chafee, Foley stories is a conservative one: Abandoning principle for pragmatism often backfires...

http://tinyurl.com/uqqxe


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Specter
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Chafee
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Foley

Liberty For All
by Donna Mancini

10/24/06

Strictly limited government with fewer laws and government programs would be good for America. Three Legislative Priorities: End the current war on terror, bring home all the troops worldwide, and adopt a foreign policy of non-intervention in the political affairs of other countries. Use the military to defend American soil. Limit the power of government officials and restore the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Treat all people fairly and humanely...

http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=283


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

CounterPunch
by Trudy Bond

10/24/06

On September 7 of this year, my son Jacob, a second-year student at Macalester, made an 'informed judgment and interpretation of the broader world' when he refused to take off his football helmet as the national anthem was played on an adjoining soccer field, after being militarily ordered to do so by a 24-year-old assistant coach. My son refused to honor the bombs-bursting-in-air bravado of U.S. military policy over the past 3 years, and was 'held accountable' for his action by being dropped from the football team the next morning...

http://www.counterpunch.org/bond10242006.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Boston Globe
by H.D.S. Greenway

10/24/06

The long shadow of Vietnam has a way of falling across the path America has chosen for itself in Iraq, blotting out the sunshine forecasts, and painting over optimistic progress reports in dark hues of deja vu. Nothing incenses the Bush administration more than the comparison. 'Quagmire' was never going to apply to Donald Rumsfeld's 'shock-and-awe' warfare. Thus it was amusing to watch the reaction of the White House apparatchiks last week when President Bush himself said it 'may be true' that the events in Iraq this month were similar to the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam. The president was responding to a column by Tom Friedman of the New York Times...

http://tinyurl.com/yncrxy


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

The Free Liberal
by Carl S. Milsted, Jr.

10/25/06

A couple of weeks ago I received an email inviting people to a reception with Congressman Charles Taylor. To attend, an individual must first contribute at least $500 to Taylor's campaign -- $1000 for a couple. Buying access to your congressman ... this doesn't sit too well with many. For this reason we have Byzantine campaign finance regulations which trample upon our freedom of speech and press, and some are calling for even stricter regulations which are in obvious defiance of the First Amendment -- all to fight against this kind of borderline corruption. Unfortunately, most campaign finance reformers overlook the bigger source of corrupt campaign finances: pork barrel spending...

http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/002379.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Boston Globe

10/24/06

As Senator John McCain travels the nation on behalf of Republican candidates, his proposal to send tens of thousands of additional US troops to Iraq is making things awkward for some of the congressional candidates he's campaigning for. His stance is also shaping the early stages of the 2008 presidential campaign. As public support for the war dwindles, it is hard to find any Republican candidates who publicly agree with McCain, an Arizona Republican who is among the party's brightest hopes for the presidency in 2008. While staunch military supporters such as Virginia's Republican senators, John W. Warner and George Allen, have begun to suggest a change of course in Iraq with fewer US troops, McCain's proposal to add troops has distanced him from the mainstream of his party...

http://tinyurl.com/ygowda


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

Robert Redford writes: "Prop 90 is nothing but a stalking horse for a group of out-of-state, anti-government extremists who would impoverish Californians both environmentally and financially. Don't wake up the morning after Election Day and wish you'd read the fine print. Read it now."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102406I.shtml

Between President Bush's contradictory statements, the rumbling discontent of American as well as British generals, the lesson taught by former Secretary of State James Baker about high level administration, and a month of October not yet over that promises to be one of the deadliest yet, the presidency projects the image of a dog trying to bite its own tail.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102406H.shtml

Speaking publicly for the first time, senior US law enforcement investigators say they waged a long but futile battle inside the Pentagon to stop coercive and degrading treatment of detainees by intelligence interrogators first at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and then again at Abu Ghraib.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102406F.shtml

On the official web site of Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, there is a section devoted to a subsidiary named Jeppesen International Trip Planning. The write-up mentions that the division "offers everything needed for efficient, hassle-free, international flight operations." Boeing does not mention that Jeppesen's clients include the CIA, and that among the international trips that the company plans for the agency are secret "extraordinary rendition" flights for terrorism suspects.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102406D.shtml

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House Members Call for Investigation of ‘Torture Taxi’ Company
http://www.triadblogs.com/StopNCTortureTaxis/3018/

OUTSOURCING: THE C.I.A.’S TRAVEL AGENT
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/061030ta_talk_mayer


Informant: Jennifer Van Bergen

From ufpj-news

James Zogby writes, "I, like many others, am deeply troubled by the 12 Democrats who supported the shameful administration-endorsed legislation on detainees, but it is inconceivable that such a bill ever would have seen the light of day had the Senate or House Judiciary Committees been under the leadership of the likes of Patrick Leahy, Ted Kennedy, or John Conyers."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102406C.shtml

Congressman John Conyers writes: "It is unforgivable that Congress has been unwilling to examine these matters or take actions to prevent these circumstances from occurring again. Since the majority party is unwilling to fulfill their oversight responsibilities, it is incumbent on individual members of Congress, as well as the American public, to act to protect our constitutional form of government."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102406B.shtml
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=105779;show_archive=1



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Conyers
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=constitution

„… "Lobbyisten versuchen, die Politik zu beeinflussen, um ihrem
Arbeitgeber Vorteile zu verschaffen. Dazu sprechen sie auch in Ministerien
vor. Manche Lobbyisten haben das gar nicht mehr nötig - sie sind nämlich
schon da. Ja, richtig, das ist neu: Lobbyisten haben in unseren
Ministerien mittlerweile eigene Büros - Tür an Tür mit Regierungsbeamten
und ... mit eigener Durchwahl, und schreiben an Gesetzen mit. Bezahlt
werden sie von ihren Unternehmen. Leihbeamte - gut für die Wirtschaft,
schlecht für Bürger…“ Bericht von Ralph Hötte, Kim Otto, Markus Schmidt,
Matthias Veit als Text der MONITOR-Sendung vom 19. Oktober 2006 beim WDR http://www.wdr.de/tv/monitor/beitrag.phtml?bid=836&sid=153


Aus: LabourNet, 25. Oktober 2006

Analyse von Gerlinde Schermer als Broschüre des Donnerstagskreises, Grundsätzliches - Nr. 12 bei WasserInBürgerhand! http://www.wasser-in-buergerhand.de/vor_ort_aktiv/berlin_bwb_lehrstueck_neolib.htm

Siehe dazu auch die neuesten Zahlen über die skandalösen Folgen der neoliberalen Privatisierungspolitik von 1999 – 2006, zusammengestellt von Gerlinde Schermer, Stand 1.8.2006 (pdf) http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/wipo/gats/berlinwasser06.pdf


Die Berliner Wasserbetriebe - Von Kommerzialisierung und Teilprivatisierung zu einem öffentlich-demokratischen Wasserunternehmen

Studie von Alexis Passadakis (pdf) http://www.sahrawagenknecht.de/de/pdf/Die_Berliner_Wasserbetriebe_Passadakis.pdf


"Berliner-Wassertisch"

Als Teil der sozialen Protestbewegung wurde im Mai 2006 der "Berliner-Wassertisch" gegründet von Initiativen, NGOs und Einzelpersonen, welche die Aufhebung der Teilprivatisierung der Berliner Wasserbetriebe durchsetzen wollen (Motto: "Wasser gehört uns allen"). Siehe die Homepage der Initiative http://www.berliner-wassertisch.net/index.php?id=1


Aus: LabourNet, 25. Oktober 2006

http://infowars.net/articles/October2006/241006Olbermann_Murrow.htm



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

http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=58


Informant: Jennifer Van Bergen

From ufpj-news



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Olbermann
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Military+Commissions+Act

ALERT: Severe Australian Drought Caused by Climate Change, Leave Your Coal in the Ground!

TAKE ACTION http://www.climateark.org/alerts/send.asp?id=australia_climate

Australia is currently experiencing extreme drought as a result of abrupt climate change, and the nation is undergoing unprecedented discussion of global heating reminiscent of America's own post-Katrina reckoning. Australia's per capita greenhouse gas emissions are among the highest in the world, and Australia's economy is based heavily upon the deadly coal fossil fuel industry which exerts undue political influence. Temperatures in Australia are now expected to rise by as much as
8°C (15°F) in the next century with cataclysmic results. Over the coming decades these soaring temperatures will result in water supplies for millions failing, agriculture becoming unviable over huge areas, rising sea levels destroying substantial coastal areas, powerful extreme weather events including super cyclones and bushfires, and countless environmental refugees overwhelming Australia's ability to cope. To address their current climate caused drought emergency, Australia simply must ratify the Kyoto Protocol immediately and engage seriously in negotiations to further establish global mandatory emissions cuts for all nations that are equitable and adequate to achieve what climate science indicates is necessary to conserve the global climatic system. The best estimate is that emissions must be cut as soon as possible by 60-75%, a level which requires Australia forgoing the burning of their coal resources. Australia must stop its obstruction of international climate policies.

Tell them by taking action now: http://www.climateark.org/alerts/send.asp?id=australia_climate

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More Than Half Australia's Farmland Drought-Stricken
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/2850031/

#Die Linkspartei.PDS: Pressemitteilungen

25. Oktober 2006

Einsicht ist der erste Schritt zur Besserung

Zu den von Jürgen Rüttgers geforderten Änderungen an Hartz IV erklärt der Bundesgeschäftsführer der Linkspartei.PDS, Dietmar Bartsch:

Man sollte jede Einsicht loben, auch die späte. Mit seiner Kritik greift Jürgen Rüttgers einen zentralen Punkt der Kritik der Linkspartei.PDS an den unsozialen Hartz-IV-Gesetzen auf. Rüttgers allein wegen dieser Kritik einen sozialen Heiligenschein zu verpassen, ist sicherlich verfrüht. Wenn aber jemand wie der CDU-Mann den Hartz-Gesetzen grobe soziale Ungerechtigkeit attestiert, die Menschen in die Armut drängt, die ein Leben lang gearbeitet und Beiträge in die Arbeitslosenversicherung eingezahlt haben, dann findet das unsere Zustimmung und Unterstützung. Dem Volksmund nach ist Einsicht der erste Schritt zur Besserung. Bleibt zu hoffen, dass Rüttgers in seiner Kritik nicht stehen bleibt und Schritt für Schritt den Weg geht, den Sozialverbände, Gewerkschaften und Linkspartei schon gegangen sind. Den Weg der Erkenntnis: Hartz IV ist Armut per Gesetz und gehört abgeschafft. Wir erwarten mit Spannung seine parlamentarischen Aktivitäten.

http://sozialisten.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/view_html?zid=34372



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=R%C3%BCttgers

Paul Sheehan says: "I wonder what history will say about us when we are gone ... That we fiddled while Rome burned? That we were the wealthiest society in our history, worth more than $350,000 for every man, woman and child, with the biggest homes, the most cars, the highest debt, the lowest savings, the highest rates of obesity and excess weight, and the greatest amount of consumerism, gambling and drug consumption, while the landscape, the lifeblood of the nation, died around us, a disaster drowned out by the clamor of consumerism."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/102406ED.shtml

Government Says

More than half of Australia's farm and ranch land is now drought-stricken and an additional 10,000 farmers are eligible for special federal relief. "We are in uncharted waters, if you like, as far as this drought is concerned," said acting Prime Minister Mark Vaile.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/102406EC.shtml

--------

Dramatic Efforts Required to Ensure Australia's Well-Being and Planetary Survival
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/2850070/

Rory Cox asks why California is being committed to costly, polluting liquefied natural gas (LNG) that undermines California's clean energy laws: "Clean energy laws are meaningless without the political will to see them through. And while Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signs sweeping bills to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he is also quietly supporting LNG."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/102406EB.shtml



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

Ohio's new guidelines on conducting exit polls on Election Day, written after a judge threw out the old rules, are vague and confusing and should be rejected, a coalition of national news organizations argues in a lawsuit.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102406T.shtml



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

House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Tuesday sat down with ethics investigators trying to pin down when he and his staff learned about ex-Representative Mark Foley's come-ons to former male pages and what they did to stop it. The timeline that Hastert and his staff have given conflicts with the accounts of others.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102406R.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Hastert
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Foley

He was hurtling into history as one of this nation's most infamous traitors until three years ago -- when a federal judge concluded he'd been buried with the help of government lies.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/289584_fallenspy23.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/22/Columns/We_sentenced_Japanese.shtml


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Military+Commissions+Act

Whatever else James Baker may recommend in his much-anticipated report on future US strategy in Iraq, it seems certain he will urge George Bush to open direct, high-level talks with Iran and Syria.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldbriefing/story/0,,1930453,00.html


From Information Clearing House

“In my experience, everything that comes out of Baghdad is very carefully prepared for American domestic consumption,” he said.

http://tinyurl.com/yfok9r


From Information Clearing House

Demands for an urgent Commons debate on pulling British troops out of Iraq were stepped up last night at Westminster after an opinion poll found that 62 per cent of voters support a withdrawal before the country has been made stable.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15390.htm

Video

Watch his haunting observational film that explodes the myth around the claims that the Iraqis are preparing to take control of their own country.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15389.htm

IRAQ could break up into different parts eventually, Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said yesterday as she acknowledged the limitations to what could be achieved by coalition forces.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2417832,00.html


From Information Clearing House

Iraqi army officers are reportedly planning to stage a military coup with U.S. help to oust the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15388.htm



So much for an independent and democratic Iraq!": Bush tells Maliki government to tackle militias or face penalties

The White House confirmed yesterday that it had set "benchmarks and milestones" for the Iraqi government to disarm militias and take other concrete steps to stabilise the country.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15392.htm



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

By Howard Zinn

I suggest there is something important to be learned from the recent experience of the United States and Israel in the Middle East: that massive military attacks are not only morally reprehensible but useless in achieving the stated aims of those who carry them out.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15395.htm

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/5227/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Olbermann
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Military+Commissions+Act

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/1024-01.htm

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Tell Wal-Mart: Zero Tolerance on Child Labor
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/167618744?z00m=8629642


Informant: NANCY

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Children Again Sewing Clothing for Wal-Mart, Hanes, and Other US Companies

An estimated 200 children, some 11 years old or even younger, are sewing clothing for Hanes, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney and Puma at the Harvest Rich factory in Bangladesh.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/102706LB.shtml

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Chocolate's Horror Show

"Hershey's Kisses. Nestle's Crunch bars. M&Ms. It's not that I don't like their taste," writes Andrea Buffa. "No, the problem is that it is no exaggeration to say that forced child labor went into the making of much of these chocolates. Illegal child labor is a major problem on the West African cocoa farms from which companies like Hershey, Nestle and M&M Mars buy their cocoa beans."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/103106LB.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wal-Mart

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1024-01.htm



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

http://tinyurl.com/ybbwer



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

http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=2179277


Informant: ranger116

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15401435/


Informant: ranger116

http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/10/bush_to_go_afte.html


Informant: ranger116

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/5228/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news



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

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6077798.stm


Informant: Andy

From Mast Sanity/Mast Network