World-News

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff told prosecutors that Mr. Cheney had informed him "in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion" in mid-June 2003 about the identity of the CIA officer at the heart of the leak case.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020406X.shtml

Dear President Bush,

On Saturday, February 4th, 2006, thousands will gather outside of the White House, coming to tell you that the world cannot wait, that we do not accept either your assessment of the state of the union, or your plans for controlling our destiny through your conception of illegitimate "leadership." I am writing to let you know that I will regretfully be unable to attend this White House event.

I send my regrets as a mother of two young children, children who, while materially comfortable, must grow up in a world infinitely more dangerous, more fractured, more on the edge due to your actions. I send my regrets on behalf of all mothers who stand against the lies and corruption that fuel our countries so-called spreadng of democracy, our opening of hearts and minds -- the mothers of the more than 2,000 Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis that have died for your quest, the mothers who, when confronted by an American convoy in Iraq, hold their baby up to prevent attacks from the scared and stressed US soldiers waving weapons. That is the safety you have brought -- a deep-seated fear that lives on, that kills, if not directly then in spirit. I send my regrets also on behalf of mothers of the 16,000 Iraqis imprisoned, many without charges, of those imprisoned in Guantanamo, and at each of the secret US-run and sponsored facilities around the world, those held without recourse to justice, those tortured in both body and mind. I send my regrets as a citizen of your country, but more importantly as a member of the global community that is rising up to speak against your administration's policies, to stand against empire. As I read recently, "Every bomb released over Iraq explodes from Mobile to New Orleans," and as members of the world community we cannot fail to acknowledge these connections. My daughter asked me today when it will be that all the people in world will start to love each other. Perhaps this is the naive vision of a young child, or perhaps it is a question that we all need to take seriously as we do everything in our collective power to drive out your regime that does nothing but breed and perpetrate hatred, bigotry, and intolerance. So, please understand that my absence on February 4th in no way speaks to an endorsement of you or your policies. My body will be working and caring for my children in California, tending to the day to day obligations that I cannot at this moment put aside. However, my spirit will be beating down your doors, infiltrating the White House grounds, flowing through the bodies and mouths of all who are able to come to Washington to let you know that we, the world, will not wait any longer.

Sincerely,

Elisa Salasin

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elisa-salasin/rsvp-to-george-w-bush_b_15077.html


Informant: Mofmars3

Der Super Bowl in Detroit ist auch wieder Anlass zur Demonstration von Sicherheitstechnologien, beispielsweise werden aus Bildern von Überwachungskameras Hologramme erzeugt.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/21/21938/1.html

Der Rüstungsetat für das Pentagon soll weiter auf 440 Milliarden USD steigen, zusätzlich fordert das Weiße Haus 70 zusätzliche Milliarden für den Krieg; für Rumsfeld findet der wirkliche Krieg in den Hauptstädten der westlichen Länder statt

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/21/21936/1.html

For Bush, "when the Commander in Chief does it, it is not illegal." This assertion of uncheckable executive power is just one of five myths the Administration has propagated in a PR blitz designed to convince the public of a transparently unconvincing argument. David Cole takes a close look at the five myths surrounding the spying debate.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020306F.shtml



NASA's Inspector General Probed

An FBI-led watchdog agency has opened an investigation into multiple complaints accusing NASA Inspector General Robert W. Cobb of failing to investigate safety violations and retaliating against whistle-blowers. Most of the complaints were filed by current and former employees of his own office.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020306G.shtml

The United States is engaged in what could be a generational conflict akin to the Cold War, the kind of struggle that might last decades as allies work to root out terrorists across the globe and battle extremists who want to rule the world, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11774.htm



Pentagon Lays Out 'Long War' Strategy

The Pentagon, readying for what it calls a "long war," yesterday laid out a new 20-year defense strategy that envisions US troops deployed, often clandestinely, in dozens of countries at once to fight terrorism and other nontraditional threats.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020406Z.shtml



Iraq war is costing $100,000 per minute

The cost of military operations in 2006 is $35 billion higher than what Congress had estimated a few months ago that the Defense Department would need this year

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002780385_spending03.html


From Information Clearing House



U.S. officials warn of greater threats from terrorists

Top U.S. intelligence and military officials said Thursday that the threat of terror attacks against American interests might be greater than ever, despite progress against al-Qaida and the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11775.htm



Bush to Request $439.3B Defense Budget

The figures did not include about $50 billion that Bush administration officials said Thursday they would request as a down payment for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007. The administration said war costs for 2006 would total $120 billion.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11773.htm



Whatever happened to what’s-his-name?

‘Scourge of Western civilisation’, ‘leader of the insurgency’, ‘al-Queda in Iraq’, ‘Usama’s right-hand man’, the Scarlet Pimpernel of ‘Islamic fundamentalism’, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. For the past couple of years we were bombarded by the mythical man’s dastardly deeds, then all of a sudden-he disappeared from the headlines.

http://williambowles.info/ini/2006/0206/ini-0391.html



Ugly phrase conceals an uglier truth

Behind the US Government's corruption of language lies a far greater perversion, writes Salman Rushdie.

http://snipurl.com/m7hi


From Information Clearing House

From: mindfreedom-news@intenex.net
Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 21:05:45 -0800
To: Human Rights in Mental Health

FORWARDED NEWS: Human Rights & Mental Health
http://www.MindFreedom.org - 3 February 2006

Filmmaker Michael Moore invites you to e-mail your "health care horror story" to him at michael@michaelmoore.com .

BELOW he promises, "I will read every read every single one of them," and says he may film you for his new documentary _Sicko_ about the health care industry.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=193


Friday, February 3rd, 2006

Send Me Your Health Care Horror Stories... An Appeal from Michael Moore

Friends,

How would you like to be in my next movie? I know you've probably heard I'm making a documentary about the health care industry (but the HMOs don't know this, so don't tell them -- they think I'm making a romantic comedy).

If you've followed my work over the years, you know that I keep a pretty low profile while I'm making my movies. I don't give interviews, I don't go on TV and I don't defrost my refrigerator. I do keep my website updated on a daily basis (there's been something like 4,000,000 visitors just this week alone) and the rest of the time I'm... well, I can't tell you what I'm doing, but you can pretty much guess. It gets harder and harder sneaking into corporate headquarters, but I've found that just dying my hair black and wearing a skort really helps.

Back to my invitation to be in my movie. Have you ever found yourself getting ready to file for bankruptcy because you can't pay your kid's hospital bill, and then you say to yourself, "Boy, I sure would like to be in Michael Moore's health care movie!"?

Or, after being turned down for the third time by your HMO for an operation they should be paying for, do you ever think to yourself, "Now THIS travesty should be in that 'Sicko' movie!"?

Or maybe you've just been told that your father is going to have to just, well, die because he can't afford the drugs he needs to get better - and it's then that you say, "Damn, what did I do with Michael Moore's home number?!"

Ok, here's your chance. As you can imagine, we've got the goods on these bastards. All we need now is to put a few of you in the movie and let the world see what the greatest country ever in the history of the universe does to its own people, simply because they have the misfortune of getting sick. Because getting sick, unless you are rich, is a crime - a crime for which you must pay, sometimes with your own life.

About four hundred years from now, historians will look back at us like we were some sort of barbarians, but for now we're just the laughing stock of the Western world.

So, if you'd like me to know what you've been through with your insurance company, or what it's been like to have no insurance at all, or how the hospitals and doctors wouldn't treat you (or if they did, how they sent you into poverty trying to pay their crazy bills) ...if you have been abused in any way by this sick, greedy, grubby system and it has caused you or your loved ones great sorrow and pain, let me know.

Send me a short, factual account of what has happened to you - and what IS happening to you right now if you have been unable to get the health care you need. Send it to michael@michaelmoore.com . I will read every single one of them (even if I can't respond to or help everyone, I will be able to bring to light a few of your stories).

Thank you in advance for sharing them with me and trusting me to try and do something about a very corrupt system that simply has to go.

Oh, and if you happen to work for an HMO or a pharmaceutical company or a profit-making hospital and you have simply seen too much abuse of your fellow human beings and can't take it any longer - and you would like the truth to be told - please write me at michael@michaelmoore.com . I will protect your privacy and I will tell the world what you are unable to tell. I am looking for a few heroes with a conscience. I know you are out there.

Thank you, all of you, for your help and your continued support through the years. I promise you that with "Sicko" we will do our best to give you not only a great movie, but a chance to bring down this evil empire, once and for all.

In the meantime, stay well. I hear fruits and vegetables help.

Yours,

Michael Moore
michael@michaelmoore.com
http://www.michaelmoore.com

- end of letter -


ACTIONS:

* Please e-mail to Michael Moore at michael@michaelmoore.com about psychiatric human rights abuse!

* Please forward to others.


Forwarded by:

MindFreedom International
http://www.MindFreedom.org

Unite to Win Human Rights in Mental Health!


Informant: Gotemf


Omega : this appeal concerns also the victims of mobile phone and mast radiation, EHS and Mind Control. Please e-mail to Michael Moore also at michael@michaelmoore.com

http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Victims/

04/02/2006 - 09:26:32

About 32 new mobile phone masts are granted planning permission here every month, despite objections from communities.

The latest controversy centres on an O2 transmitter at Dublin's Connolly station.

An Bórd Pleanala has granted the company permission to retain a 24-metre mast there, despite local residents' protests.

The objections are on the grounds of health and safety concerns, and the residents claim the mast is too close to houses, schools and a playground.

There are 36 such masts in total on our national rail network.

© Thomas Crosbie Media, 2006.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=171636366&p=y7y637x7z

Blair-Bush deal before Iraq war revealed in secret memo

PM promised to be 'solidly behind' US invasion with or without UN backing
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11771.htm



Bush, Blair made war 'deal'

US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were ready to go to war against Iraq with or without a second United Nations resolution, it was reported today.

http://snipurl.com/m7ha



Military Releases Partial Iraqi Civilian Casualty Numbers

The report shows that, in the past 14 months, more than 5,800 people have been killed or wounded in Iraq, including U.S. military personnel and Iraqi security forces. More than half were Iraqi civilians.

http://snipurl.com/m7hb


From Information Clearing House

By Murray Waas, special to National Journal

Vice President Cheney and his then-Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were personally informed in June 2003 that the CIA no longer considered credible the allegations that Saddam Hussein had attempted to procure uranium from the African nation of Niger, according to government records and interviews with current and former officials.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11778.htm

Recounting last December's New York City Transit Strike and the media images of disgruntled travelers, Christopher Hayes looks beyond the national "opinion makers" and says that most New Yorkers were in solidarity with the strikers.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020306LA.shtml

Guided by the deep social and economic insights that brought us the earlier triumphs of improving Medicare and strengthening Social Security, George W. Bush is addressing America's health insurance crisis by promoting the same panacea he applies to almost every domestic problem: tax cuts favoring the wealthy, Joe Conason explains.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020306HB.shtml



New GAO Report Raises Concerns about President's Health Proposal

During his State of the Union Address earlier this week, President Bush signaled that expanding HSAs and HDHPs would be a centerpiece of his domestic agenda. Health policy experts are concerned these will raise costs and risk coverage for individuals and families who remain in traditional plans. The GAO report appears to validate these concerns.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020306HA.shtml

From: Steering Committee info@meetup.com
Subject: Brutalized & Arrested in Cleveland for Posting "Bush Step Down" Posters Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 14:27:27 -0500 (EST)

Your Organizer, Steering Committee, sent the following message to the members of The Broward County Impeach Bush Meetup Group:

The following is a first-hand account of police harrassment and brutality against a World Can't Wait organizer in Cleveland. If anything like this happens to you, let us know asap! Contact info@worldcantwait.org.

My name is Carol Fisher, and I am on the staff of Revolution Books in Cleveland OH. At the bookstore we have been immersed in building and supporting the initiatives of World Cant Wait. Yesterday, 1.28.06 I had set out from my house to post materials about our upcoming Cleveland event to Drown Out the State of the Union address, and the call to march around the White House on Feb. 4th.

I drove down a street in Cleveland Heights, another area known for its diversity and progressive history. Before long a cop called from across the street: "Ma'am! Hundred dollar fine unless you take those posters down." He is pursuing me across the street. OK fine, I say, I will take them down (not wanting to get into a confrontation, because I have lots to do today!) But this too is not enough for the cop. He wants my ID. I say I dont have my ID. He grabs my arm. I say let go of me, I am not doing anything wrong, I will take the posters down. People are watching to see what happens, are outraged but very afraid. The cop wont let go, he clearly wants more grief from me, and he is in the spotlight. He wants people to be scared. He pushes me against a store window and next thing I know I am face down on the sidewalk with two cops on top of me, one with his knee in my back. I am trying to call out to people, to tell them what the posters are about. They keep pushing my face into the sidewalk. I cant breathe.

I am 53 years old, not exactly a spring chicken. A hand comes down again to push my chin against the concrete. By this time there are four cops on the scene. My hands are tightly cuffed behind my back. They lift me up and shove me onto a parkbench and shackle my legs. I am still calling out, telling people what this is about. One of the cops says to me, "Shut up or I will kill you!", "I am sick of this anti-Bush shit!" "You are definitely going to the psyche ward." Then somebody calls the EMS, and a fire squad shows up.

I am lifted into the EMS truck, hands still cuffed behind my back. At the hospital, I am treated as an arch-criminal. Escorted by four policemen, I shuffle into the emergency room, legs still shackled, covered with leaves and mud. I think to myself, if I was Black, I would not have made it this far. I would probably be dead by now. People in the emergency room are shocked by the scene and by what I am saying happened. I probably do look pretty crazy by now.

They put me on a gurney and pull the curtains around. One female nurse and four male cops. I am cuffed to the bed.

After many hours a psychiatrist appears to determine my sanity. I dont want to talk to him, but have no choice.

I dont know it at the time, but outside in the waiting room all hell had broken loose. In a very short period of time, over a dozen WCW people showed up at the emergency room to demand that someone be allowed to see me.

At one point, there was a big confrontation between the WCW people and the police, right in the ER. My supporters said that we weren't going to leave until someone saw me. Some of them were sitting in the waiting room holding the big green WCW posters.

The police threatened WCW folks with arrest! They argued, stood their ground, called this shameful (both to the police but also to the nurses who did nothing to stand against this s...). The cops kept saying that there was no legal right to see me, but people responded that, in Bush's America, the law is whatever the police say it is and that there is a moral and ethical right to to check on someone who is in the hospital.

I was released on my own recognizance. The battle is far from over. This is but one example of the attempts that the state, their authorities and spokespeople will make to try to keep us from opposing the crimes of this regime, and especially now, 2 days before the State of the Union address. Our cause is as righteous as it gets, and no attempts to intimidate or suppress, with threats or laws or physical abuse, should stop us but instead strengthen the resolve, build our organization and further demonstrate to the world that this regime is doomed, they are vicious, and they must be stopped.

As it says in the Call, "If we speak the truth, they will try to silence us. If we act, they will try to stop us. But we speak for the majority, here and around the world, and as we get this going we are going to reach out to the people who have been so badly fooled by Sush and we are NOT going to stop...The future is unwritten. Which one we get is up to us."

Call the Cleveland Heights Police at 216-291-3883

Call Cleveland Heights City Hall at 216-291-4444

Please contact us at cleveland@worldcantwait.org or 216-633-6200

To visit The Broward County Impeach Bush Meetup Group, go here: http://impeachbush.meetup.com/83/


Informant: Be Kind Whenever Possible



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo

HAVA DEADLINES MUST BE EXTENDED TO ALLOW STATES TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS

ACTION PAGE: http://www.coalitionforvotingintegrity.com

A number of states are under a lot of pressure to buy insecure and expensive electronic voting systems because of deadlines in the HAVA (Help America Vote Act).

A bill has been introduced in the House (HR 4666) to give the states more time to make wise decisions on systems which have not even been adequately tested and qualified yet. Otherwise they will lose federal funding due them under HAVA.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.coalitionforvotingintegrity.com

No board of elections should be forced to make decisions before certification of all available voting systems is completed. Manufacturers should not risk quality defects by rushing machines out the door. We the people should not be rushed into bad decisions. Our vote and its integrity are more important than an arbitrary deadline. To stop the impending HAVA train wreck, we urge you to support HR 4666, introduced by Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08) on January 31 to extend the deadline for HAVA compliance past the 2006 primary season without penalty. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. This bill and its eventual companion in the Senate must be fast-tracked so that as many counties as possible can benefit from the extended deadline. The only way that will happen is if members of Congress hear from their constituents that passage of HR 4666 must be a priority.

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


Informant: JHW369

Friday, February 3, 2006; A18

"AMERICA IS addicted to oil." It was a catchy line in President Bush's State of the Union speech. But in truth, few administrations have done more to feed America's oil addiction than this one -- and the same can be said for this Republican Congress.

For most of Mr. Bush's first term, Congress struggled to pass an energy bill. Last year, Mr. Bush signed one into law. Although not as riddled with pork as some previous versions, the law did not change much, either. It provided subsidies for research on some of the alternative technologies the president referred to in his speech, such as clean coal, ethanol, wind, solar and nuclear power. But it also provided billions of dollars in new subsidies for gas and oil, including inducements to drill for more.

Moreover, as the bill wound its way through Congress, the White House rejected a number of measures that might have eased America's addiction. It quashed, for example, the creation of a national "renewable portfolio standard" that would have required utilities to get a certain percentage of their energy from renewable sources, something several states have adopted. It rejected an "oil savings amendment," which would have required successive administrations to find ways to reduce oil use. It spurned any suggestion of automobile fuel efficiency requirements.

Nor did the White House or Congress ever consider imposing a carbon tax, the most straightforward solution possible: Indeed, if one had been imposed five years ago and consumers had been paying higher oil and gas prices as a result, some of the technologies now under discussion might already be on the market thanks to entrepreneurs, not government funding. But this president has never been interested in changing consumer behavior. On the contrary, when asked at a 2001 news conference whether Americans needed to do anything about their high energy consumption, his then-spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said, "The president believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policymakers to protect the American way of life."

We are glad if Mr. Bush has changed his mind: This nation's increasing reliance on oil and gas poses economic, geopolitical and environmental dangers to the country. But we find it odd, given his environmental advisers' repeated insistence that he cares so much about it, that the president dwelled only on the two former dangers Tuesday night and ignored the link between America's oil addiction and the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. And we find it odder that it has taken five years for this president to notice that oil money funds anti-American regimes, that a dramatic price rise could quickly put this nation into recession and that the status quo energy policy long promoted by his administration and his party will not suffice.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/02/AR2006020202129.html


Informant: John Calvert

This week, we all saw when George W. Bush acknowledged his failed Social Security privatization scheme he got something no one expected - thunderous applause from Democrats.

We were right to cheer the defeat of President Bush's Social Security plans - we fought and won to ensure the American people and one of the most successful programs in history were put first. Democrats will continue to fight to put American families first.

The generous support of DCCC members allowed us to air our ad on FOX News during the coverage of the State of the Union. Afterward, the DCCC's State of the Union Media Swat Team fought the Republican spin, sent feedback to newspapers, called-in to radio shows, and appeared on cable news shows to expose the GOP's latest mistruths and distortions. And, most of all, we fought back and started discussions with Americans nationwide about alternatives to Bush's special interest agenda.

Now, I want to hear from you.

Please fill out George W. Bush's State of the Union Report Card; let us know your thoughts about his failure to answer real questions and what instead is important to you. http://redir.plusthree.com/rdr/002Db02l680004T

We've got the momentum. Through your support and activism, I know that in just over nine months we will restore a Democratic Majority to the House. Already, the American people are hearing our call for change. That's why this week's ABC News/Washington Post poll revealed that Democrats lead Republicans - 54% to 38% - in 2006 Congressional election preferences.

The Democrats have a plan to get America on the right track. Democrats will support real security for the threats of tomorrow, and will always speak honestly to our service members and the American people. Democrats will keep good jobs from leaving the U.S., provide affordable healthcare for all Americans, reduce our reliance on foreign oil, develop a clear strategy for success from Iraq and protect Social Security and pensions so every American retires with dignity. Our only hope is to elect a Democratic House this year.

http://www.dccc.org/rubberstamp/report_card

The DCCC is the only political committee whose principal mission is to support Democratic House candidates every step of the way. By working closely with grassroots supporters like you, we will ensure our Democratic candidates don't stand alone against the GOP's "win by any means necessary" tactics.

You are the key to our success. That's why I'm asking you to take a moment right now and share your thoughts by filling out this State of the Union Report Card on the Bush address and the Democratic response.

http://www.dccc.org/rubberstamp/report_card

It all starts with you. Take a moment right now to fill out our State of the Union Report Card on the agenda put forth for this country by President Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress.

Thanks for all that you do. Together, America can do better and together, we'll fight the good fight and we'll win in November.

Sincerely,

Rahm Emanuel
Chairman, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

PS: Getting out the truth to put America back on track will be a difficult task. We all must start now. Grade the president's speech now.
http://redir.plusthree.com/rdr/002Db02l680004W

Senate Democrats on Thursday angrily accused the Bush administration of mounting a public relations campaign to defend the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program while withholding details of the secret eavesdropping from Congressional oversight committees.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020306K.shtml

Demos in Straßburg und Berlin: Gewerkschaften und Globalisierungskritiker warnen vor Dienstleistungsrichtlinie (03.02.06)

Gewerkschaften und Globalisierungskritiker haben am Freitag vor den "weitreichenden, negativen Folgen" der geplanten EU-Dienstleistungsrichtlinie gewarnt. Die Dienstleistungsrichtlinie sei im Kern antieuropäisch, kritisierten Attac, die Industriegewerkschaft Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt (IG BAU) und die Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW): Sozial- und Lohndumping seien ihre Folgen. Sie forderten einen Verzicht auf das sogenannte Herkunftslandsprinzip. Demonstrationen am 11. und 14. Februar sollen sie Druck auf die Bundesregierung und das EU-Parlament ausüben.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=12849

Schröder straffrei: Führen eines Angriffskrieges laut Generalbundesanwalt nicht strafbar (03.02.06)

Nur die Vorbereitung eines Angriffskrieges ist nach deutschem Recht strafbar, nicht allerdings das Führen des Angriffskrieges selber. Diese Rechtsauffassung vertritt der Generalbundesanwalt in seiner Antwort auf eine Strafanzeige von Friedensorganisationen gegen den früheren Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schröder (SPD) und andere Politiker. Weil der Angriffskrieg selbst nicht strafbar sei, sei auch "die Beteiligung an einem von anderen vorbereiteten Angriffskrieg nicht strafbar", heißt es in dem ngo-online vorliegenden Schreiben. Die Friedensorganisationen bezeichneten die Entscheidung als "hanebüchene Rechtsauffassung". Die Bundesanwaltschaft begebe sich in offenen Gegensatz zum Urteil des Bundesverwaltungsgerichts zur

Gehorsamsverweigerung eines Bundeswehr-Majors im Juni 2005. Das Gericht hatte damals festgestellt, dass schwere völkerrechtswidrige Bedenken gegen den Irak-Krieg und die Unterstützung desselben durch die Bundesregierung bestehen.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=12853

Neueste Studien zeichnen dramatisches Bild über die immer deutlicheren Klimaveränderungen.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/21/21921/1.html

Hellasgate: Abhörskandal in Griechenland

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/21/21935/1.html

http://www.strike-the-root.com/61/johnson/johnson1.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Human Events
by Robert Novak

02/02/06

While jumping up on cue to cheer during the speech and delivering rave reviews afterward in the Capitol's Statuary Hall, conservative members of Congress were deeply disappointed by George W. Bush Tuesday night. It was not merely that the president abandoned past domestic goals. He appeared to be moving toward bigger government... [editor's note: Since when has Bush ever NOT moved toward bigger government? - TLK]

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=12163


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Wall Street Journal
by Ronald Bailey

02/02/06

'America is addicted to oil,' President Bush warned during his State of the Union address, vowing 'to replace more than 75% of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.' And since our 230 million cars and trucks burn two-thirds of the 20 million barrels of oil we consume daily, Mr. Bush solemnly declared, 'We must also change how we power our automobiles.' The cure for our addiction? Why, a government program, of course: the Advanced Energy Initiative. This new scheme would throw more tax dollars at research aimed at creating clean power plants and also cars powered by hydrogen, electricity and ethanol. Unfortunately, the past 35 years of failed presidential energy initiatives doesn't bode well for these proposals...

http://tinyurl.com/bnkop


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

CNet

02/02/06

Electronic passports have driven technological improvements in biometrics and will pave the way for greater commercial use of it in 2006, IT services company Unisys predicted. 'Traveler security is driving the adoption of biometrics much faster than commercial pressures would have,' Terry Hartmann, director of secure identification and biometrics at Unisys, said in a statement. 'Now that the concept has been proven in a public context, this will pave the way for the adoption of biometrics by the commercial sector,' Hartmann added. 'Other government departments that need to verify identity, such as drivers' licenses and welfare, will also consider the technology initially, after which the private sector will be prompted to investigate how it can solve existing problems, such as building access control, via the use of biometrics.' According to Unisys, Australia last October was one of the first nations in the world to introduce biometric e-passports, which are in accordance to standards laid out by the International Civil Aviation.

http://tinyurl.com/7z6og


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Detroit Free Press

02/02/06

President Bush next week will request a $439.3 billion Defense Department budget for 2007, a nearly 5 percent increase over this year, according to senior Pentagon officials and documents obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The spending plan would include $84.2 billion for weapons programs, a nearly 8 percent increase, including billions of dollars for fighter jets, Navy ships, helicopters and unmanned aircraft. The total includes a substantial increase in weapons spending for the Army, which will get $16.8 billion in the 2007 budget, compared with $11 billion this year...

http://tinyurl.com/caltv


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Independent [UK]

02/02/06

George Bush considered provoking a war with Saddam Hussein's regime by flying a United States spyplane over Iraq bearing UN colours, enticing the Iraqis to take a shot at it, according to a leaked memo of a meeting between the US President and Tony Blair. The two leaders were worried by the lack of hard evidence that Saddam Hussein had broken UN resolutions, though privately they were convinced that he had. According to the memorandum, Mr Bush said: 'The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach.' He added: 'It was also possible that a defector could be brought out who would give a public presentation about Saddam's WMD, and there was also a small possibility that Saddam would be assassinated.' The memo damningly suggests the decision to invade Iraq had already been made when Mr Blair and the US President met in Washington on 31 January 2003 ­ when the British Government was still working on obtaining a second UN resolution to legitimise the conflict...

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article342859.ece


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp




http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo

This from NHNE News:
Another Secret Memo Outlines Bush Plan For War
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1700881,00.html

And this from:
Phil Geiger, geiger-counter@sbcglobal.net
[UBRON]
http://www.davidcorn.com/archives/2006/02/the_mother_of_a.php#comments


Informant: Martin Greenhut



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo

Senate Democrats called on the Justice Department today to appoint a special prosecutor to take over the criminal investigation centered on the Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to corrupt members of Congress and other public officials.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020306Z.shtml

ACLU v. NSA Clients Respond to White House Claims

Clients in the ACLU's lawsuit against the NSA share their thoughts about the White House spin on its illegal spying program. Play the audio or download the podcast.

Stop Illegal Spying! Send an eCard and tell friends about this issue today! President Bush failed to adequately address serious questions about the warrantless domestic spying program conducted by the National Security Agency in his State of the Union address this Tuesday. Over the past two weeks, the White House spin machine has continued to mislead the public about the legality and necessity of this program.

Bush claimed last week that the NSA spying program is actually "designed to protect civil liberties." But the truth is that this warrantless spying is part of a wide-ranging pattern of abuses of power that include the monitoring of peaceful political protestors and government labeling of groups like Greenpeace and PETA as terrorist organizations.

In the wake of evidence revealing Pentagon surveillance of peace groups and protest activities, the ACLU and its affiliates across the country Wednesday filed multiple Freedom of Information Act requests seeking to uncover who is being spied on by the Pentagon and why.

"The Pentagon's monitoring of anti-war protesters is yet another example of a government agency using its powers to spy on law-abiding Americans who criticize U.S. policies," said ACLU staff attorney Ben Wizner. "How can we believe that the National Security Agency is intercepting only al Qaeda phone calls when we have evidence that the Pentagon is keeping tabs on Quakers in Fort Lauderdale?"

The ACLU filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on behalf of the American Friends Service Committee, Veterans for Peace, United for Peace and Justice and Greenpeace, as well as dozens of local groups in Florida, Georgia, Rhode Island, Maine, Pennsylvania and California. The ACLU is seeking the disclosure of all documents maintained by the Department of Defense on the individual groups. Many of the groups involved in today's action have already learned that they are listed in the Pentagon's Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) database.

The TALON program was initiated by former Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz in 2003 to track groups and individuals with possible links to terrorism. But according to portions of the database that were leaked to the media in December, the Pentagon has been collecting information on peaceful activists and monitoring anti-war and anti-military recruiting protests throughout the United States.

This latest series of FOIA requests is another step in the ACLU's multi-pronged effort to put an end to unwarranted domestic spying and curb the Bush Administration's abuse of power.

For more information, go to http://www.aclu.org/spyfiles

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, who has sought to cast himself as a champion of transparency, is facing accusations that his office is suppressing a report on a bank-backed mining project in Africa that allegedly contributed to the deaths of dozens of people.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020206LB.shtml

(SPON) Der Spiegel verhält sich aktuell, als hätte die Redaktion den umfangreichen Auftrag erhalten, einen Krieg gegen den Iran zu promoten. Jüngstes Beispiel: ein Artikel, in dem erklärt wird, dass der Iran nach einem Bericht der IAEA über Baupläne für eine Atombombe verfüge.

Diese Pläne soll sich der Iran auf dem Schwarzmarkt beschafft haben. Aus anderen Quellen, wie etwa der Financial Times, Der Welt oder der Süddeutschen Zeitung erfahren wir etwas vollkommen anderes: danach sind der Atomenergiekontrollbehörde IAEA von der iranischen Regierung Baupläne übergeben worden, die diese nach ihrer Auskunft aus pakistanischer Quelle in den 80er Jahren erhalten hat, ohne hierum gebeten zu haben. Zu dieser Zeit arbeitete der pakistanische Geheimdienst eng mit seinen amerikanischen Kollegen zusammen während das Land im Begriff war, eigene Atomwaffen zu entwickeln.. Die Süddeutsche berichtet und beruft sich dabei auf den Sicherheitsexperten der New York Times, Risen, dass auch der amerikanische Geheimdienst versucht habe, den Iranern Atombombenbaupläne durch einen russischen Mittelsmann zu übermitteln. Nach Kenntnis der Redaktion wird unter den verfügbaren Medienberichten zum IAEA-Bericht über die Bombenbaupläne der Iraner nur vom Spiegel erklärt, dass sich die Iraner auf dem Schwarzmarkt darum bemüht hätten. Bei den kürzlich von den Iranern übergebenen Dokumenten soll es sich um 1 1/2 handschriftlich beschriebene Seiten handeln, in denen der Bau eines Sprengkopfs beschrieben wird. Die Diplomaten, die dies berichteten, wollten namentlich nicht genannt werden..


Link zum Beitrag / Hintergrundinfo oder Pressehinweis: http://www.hh-online.com?lid=23474 und http://links.net-hh.de?lid=23474


Infopool / metainfo hamburg http://www.hh-online.com

Excerpted from a "People's History of the United States"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11752.htm



Howard Zinn: Empire and the People:

Excerpted from a "People's History of the United States". Theodore Roosevelt wrote to a friend in the year 1897: "In strict confidence . . . I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11751.htm



The Northern Slave Trade:

The hidden history of slavery in New York calls myths of American morality into question.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2457/


From Information Clearing House

Despite coming from opposite ends of the political spectrum, they agree on one other major issue: that the Bush administration's program of domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency without obtaining court warrants has less to do with the war on terror than with threats to the nation's civil liberties.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/26/MNG24GTB8O1.DTL


From Information Clearing House

The more the White House tries to force-feed democracy to tempestuous parts of the world, the more it discovers that you may be able to spin and scare voters in the U.S., but the Middle East is not so easy to manipulate.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11770.htm

George W. Bush entered the White House in 2001 with an expansive view of the presidential power that Johnson had lost. The most important manifestation of this has now come with his assertion of the power to order warrantless intercepts of the communications of people in the United States suspected of connections with terrorist groups.

http://csmweb2.emcweb.com/2006/0202/p09s01-coop.html


From Information Clearing House

17 Total Call for Bush to Resign or Be Impeached
http://tinyurl.com/8rx5v


From Information Clearing House



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo

A direct appeal by President George W. Bush to the Iranian people to “win your own freedom” was a barely disguised call for regime change in Iran, raising the question of whether the US will turn to covert action to support internal opposition, analysts said on Wednesday.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/d3a86bf0-9358-11da-a978-0000779e2340.html



Iran’s real crime?

If Iran starts its own euro-denominated oil bourse and it takes off, the US dollar — already an ailing currency due to huge deficits in the US economy — will be marginalised as the global currency.

http://tinyurl.com/afnj4


From Information Clearing House

National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress on Thursday that Iran probably does not yet have nuclear weapons, nor has it obtained the material central to producing them.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11759.htm

Our economic system is unsustainable by its very nature. The only response to climate chaos and peak oil is major social change.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11763.htm

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell today announced record profits for a British company of $22.9bn ( £12.9bn) on the back of soaring oil prices.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,1700408,00.html


From Information Clearing House

February 03, 2006]

(Belfast Telegraph Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)

Planners have given the go-ahead for over 1,000 Ulster mobile phone masts in the last six years, despite concerns about their alleged long-term health effects.

Opinion is divided on the impact of telecommunications equipment on people's health but the Planning Service has approved 1,507 applications for development sites since 2000.

The news comes despite Northern Ireland having one of the tightest planning regimes in the UK.

South Down Assemblyman Jim Wells said the construction rate, which is due to increase with the advent of 3G technology allowing the playing of videos through the telephone, could be cut through mast-sharing.

"We are likely to see a proliferation of these masts and residents' groups around the country are becoming more and more concerned," he said.

"We don't know what the long-term health effects of these masts are but there is a simple solution to this.

"If the five mobile operators in Northern Ireland would share masts this would dramatically cut down on the number of applications. At the minute they all have their own masts and this is causing the country to be covered with them."

Legislation passed in 2002 means that all mobile masts, regardless of height, need planning permission. Not all successful applications end up being built because of objections from local residents.

Most planning refusals come because of their visual impact rather than the alleged health effects.

Phone companies argue the masts are essential for reliable coverage for users of what has become an essential tool of everyday life.

A spokeswoman for the Mobile Operators' Association industry body said: "During the past five years there have been no less than 27 international scientific committees have looked at research into health effects and mobile phones and base stations and all of them are saying the same thing, that there's no evidence that the very low signals which come from these masts cause damage to anyone's 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

Technology Marketing Corp. 1997-2006

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-planners-allow-1500-phone-masts-/2006/02/03/1339919.htm

editorial@hamhigh.co.uk

03 February 2006

Marc Mullen

Residents are going into battle with a mobile phone giant to stop their village green turning orange.

Plans for an eight-metre mast near the junction of West End Lane and Fortune Green Road, in West Hampstead, have been submitted to Camden Council by mobile phone company Orange.

But there are fears it will affect the health of local people, particularly as the site is surrounded by cafes and flats and is less than 50 metres from Emmanuel CE primary school in Mill Lane.

Candice Temple, who lives on the corner of Iverson Road and West End Lane, has already collected a 320-name petition against a similar third generation (3G) mast next to her home.

She said: "It is a shame that this proposed 3G mast is in a popular play area for children, who will be most vulnerable to radio frequency radiation.

"Perhaps it is up to all of us to be proactive and decide whether we really need mobile phones that transmit pictures and can access the internet.

"These 3G phones require the siting of more and more mobile masts as their range is much shorter."

The proposed mast would be next to the public toilets which were closed last year by the council last year and the site would cost Orange nothing as it is on highways land.

Just before Christmas, Orange posted notices on the toilets and sent letters to Emmanuel school, Emmanuel church and local councillors.

In its submission to the council, Orange claimed it received no responses to the posters.

But West Hampstead Lib Dem councillor Flick Rea said: "I wrote to Orange, with profound objections and undertook to convey the school's and the church's objections.

"I would expect the council to look very closely at this application. It is a very busy area and an extremely poorly chosen site.

"From a technical point of view it does not seem to be a good site as there are great big mansion blocks around the green.

"If the council receives no money for the mast there is no advantage to anybody of it being there. Lots of people would prefer toilets to a mobile phone mast."

Rennison Consultants, which acts as Orange's agents in Camden, has just received consent for the firm's 3G mast in Abbey Road.

Roderick Rennison explained that if they used eight-metre 'micro cell' masts instead of 15-metre high 'macro cell' masts more are needed.

He said: "The existing masts must be upgraded at some point but this mast is to provide extra coverage.

"Permission is not easily given - it usually takes several attempts. We do often have to relocate sites before they are passed."

Residents have until February 17 to lodge objections with Camden Council.

marc.mullen@hamhigh.co.uk

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

http://tinyurl.com/al6x2

From: Eileen O'Connor
eileen@smokestackltd.co.uk
Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 10:44:57 -0000
Subject: fantastic presentation enclosed

Please find enclosed an excellent presentation from Ray; it contains some valuable information on legal issues, planning issues for phone masts and health, which everyone should find useful. See message enclosed from Ray.


Best wishes

Eileen



Hi Eileen,

If anyone wants to use the presentation that I made to Waverley BC as a basis for their input they are very welcome. No need to reinvent all the wheels!!

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

Please fully acknowledge that I made extensive use of information from several mast action groups' websites and contact lines, including yours! It was (still is!) a steep learning curve and these were all a great help.


Kind regards

Ray

Bilanz der Hartz-Reformen fällt durchwachsen aus.
Wissenschaftler bescheinigen Personal-Service-Agenturen, Arbeitslosigkeit verlängert zu haben / Lob für Existenzgründer-Hilfe

„Die Arbeitsmarktreformen Hartz I bis III haben bisher nicht die erwarteten Erfolge gebracht. Eine erste wissenschaftliche Bewertung kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass positive Effekte auf den Arbeitsmarkt bisher kaum nachzuweisen sind…“ Artikel von Thomas Maron in Frankfurter Rundschau vom 02.02.2006 http://www.fr-aktuell.de/fr_home/startseite/?sid=c319695e5336bd82775927b9870ce170&cnt=798163

Siehe dazu auch:

Die Wirksamkeit moderner Dienstleistungen am Arbeitsmarkt. Bericht 2005 der Bundesregierung zur Wirkung der Umsetzung der Vorschläge der Kommission Moderne Dienstleistungen am Arbeitsmarkt (Ohne Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende)

Bundesregierung: Bericht zu Hartz I – III. Umsetzung der Entschließung des Deutschen Bundestages vom 14. November 2002 (BT-Drs. 15/98) vom Januar 2006, dokumentiert bei der Arbeitnehmerkammer Bremen (pdf) (279 Seiten) http://www.arbeitnehmerkammer.de/sozialpolitik/doku/02_politik/hartz_kommission/umsetzung/2006_02_01_hartz1_3_langfassung.pdf


Aus: LabourNet, 3. Februar 2006

Artikel von Johannes Steffen in Freitag vom 03.02.2006 http://www.freitag.de/2006/05/06050602.php


Aus: LabourNet, 3. Februar 2006

Below is THE IRISH TIMES report on the meeting that took place yesterday (Thu, Feb 02) between IERVN (Irish Electromagnetic Radiation Victims' Network) representatives and members of the Irish Government's Committee on Health.

See also http://www.ideaireland.org/emririshresearch.htm for postings on EHS research in Ireland

Best, Imelda, Cork, Ireland


THE IRISH TIMES, FRI, FEB 03, 06


"GROUP CALLS FOR SCREENING FROM MASTS

[by] Martin Wall

A group which represents people who maintain that their health has been affected by mobile phone masts yesterday called for measures to screen their homes from electromagnetic radiation.

The Irish Electromagnetic Radiation Victims Network told the Oireachtas Committee on Health that this was not just an Irish phenomenon, and there were people affected all over the world.

Con Colbert said some members of the group suffered daily as a result of exposure to energy emitted from mobile phone antennae.

The committee heard that one woman and her family had on occasion to sleep in a car because their home was affected by radiation from nearby masts.

"These people experience physical pain, great discomfort, loss of personal health, damaged relationships and family disruption."

Mr Colbert said some people have had to move out of their homes, were unable to work and their social life had been affected as it was difficult to find a place where radiation levels were not hazardous when out shopping, at worship or eating out

Enda Dalton said it was like being surrounded by "an invisible cloak of energy". He said victims were often told by doctors that they were physically fine. However, they were being affected by an outside source.

Helen McRory said she and her family had been forced to leave their apartment in Dublin due to the presence of a nearby antenna. They moved to another location which proved satisfactory until more masts were erected nearby.

She said she experienced a buzzing in her head, with her brain continually pulsing. On occasion she and her family had had to sleep in her car.

Ms McRory called for radiation screening measures to be installed in the homes of victims. In Sweden hospitals and schools were screened.

Mr Colbert said rooms in the homes of some victims were being screened as part of a pilot project. The bill for such screening was around €4,000 per room.


© The Irish Times

Feb 3 2006

Chester Chronicle


A LUXURY hotel in Chester's countryside appeared 'unusually unreceptive' to having a mobile phone mast on its land.

The 10m telegraph pole type mast with one antenna and an equipment cabinet was proposed by mobile phone company Orange.

Carden Park Hotel's views emerge in a report on an approach by the company to Chester City Council seeking its comments on a site in a grass verge near the hotel golf course on Carden Lane, Tilston.

Planning officers raised an objection under delegated powers.

The report discloses that objectors argued Carden Park Hotel would be the main beneficiary of the coverage and the installation should be on its land. Planning officers commented, however: 'They appear unusually un-receptive.

'The agent was requested to provide correspondence to demonstrate the hotel's unwillingness.

'Their letter is incoherent in that it fails to make reference as to why they do not wish to accommodate this facility on their land.

'It is considered this site should not be discounted so easily especially as there would be plenty of opportunity to cluster the mast with other built development.'

Recommending an objection should be raised, planning officers suggested siting the mast on Carden Lane would be visually intrusive development within the rural landscape.

© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2006

http://tinyurl.com/7jrms