World-News

Informationen & Bilder: "Zwischen Inszenierung und Information" - Medien, Demokratie, Bildung (24.02.06)

Die Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung widmet sich im Rahmen ihres 10. Bundeskongresses für Politische Bildung Anfang März der Medienberichterstattung. "In einer Welt, die immer enger zusammenwächst, spielen die Medien eine wichtige Rolle: Sie transportieren Informationen und Bilder und machen sie theoretisch für jeden zugänglich", schreibt die Bundeszentrale. Die Massenmedien und insbesondere die Bildmedien trügen eine große Verantwortung. Doch immer häufiger würden Ereignisse "medial inszeniert" und der Bürger könne nicht mehr "zwischen Information und Inszenierung" unterscheiden.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13026

http://www.cornwall24.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=423&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Kerrier District Council’s Planning Committee has decided to withdraw its enforcement notice against the Tetra Mast at Treworval Farm, near Mawnan Smith, in the light of new evidence presented since the beginning of the appeal, and the likely cost to the Council of pursuing it further.

"We beat you in Wales, we'll beat you here; give up now or it will cost you".

Andy

As Representative Pombo's Endangered Species Act bill heads into a House-Senate conference committee next month, he will attempt to dress it up to make it seem more moderate. For environmentalist Bob Irvin it brings to mind the old saying: "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022306EA.shtml



Mining Lobbyist's Ties to Lawmaker Examined

Lobbyist Duane Gibson, who worked for mining firms, raised money for Representative Richard Pombo, who supported a bill to open millions of acres of federal land to mining and other development.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022306EB.shtml

John W. Dean writes: To those who don't worry about giving up their rights, programs like the NSA's may seem fine. But others of us appreciate the blood and treasury this nation expended, both indirectly and directly, in securing those rights. And I am convinced my generation will fight to the end to prevent the zeal of good intention in fighting terror, from letting the terrorists win by permitting the government to take those rights.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022406P.shtml

CIA planes have landed in Canada 74 times since the 9/11 terror attacks, underscoring fears that the United States is ferrying suspected terrorists through its neighboring country en route to foreign prisons for torture, according to newly declassified government documents.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022406K.shtml

Two top Bush administration officials who played an active role in the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson nearly three years ago have been removed from their jobs. They were career State Department weapons experts, who disagreed with the White House's pre-war Iraq intelligence and have spoken to investigators during the past two years about the officials' role in the leak, according to a half-dozen State Department officials.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022406J.shtml

by William Greider, The Nation

President Bush sowed the hysteria he is now reaping in the form of the UAE ports controversy.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/24/fearmonger_in_chief.php



Port Agency to Break Lease in Bid to Block Dubai Sale

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will break the lease of a big container terminal at Port Newark to stop a company based in Dubai from taking over part of the operation there, the agency's chairman said yesterday.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022406M.shtml

by Bob Dreyfuss, TomPaine.com

The die has been cast. Bush must take the blame for destroying Iraq.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/24/on_the_brink_in_iraq.php

Politische Weichenstellungen: Verfassungsgerichts-Präsident warnt vor Gefahren des Lobbyismus (24.02.06)

Der Präsident des Bundesverfassungsgerichtes, Hans-Jürgen Papier, warnt vor den Gefahren des Lobbyismus. Bestimmte Gruppen dürften nicht zu viel "Einfluss auf Entscheidungen und politische Weichenstellungen gesamtgesellschaftlicher Bedeutung" haben, sagte Papier am Freitag in Berlin. Es drohe die "Aushöhlung der parlamentarischen Demokratie", wenn die vom Volk nicht legitimierten Lobbyisten "bestimmenden Einfluss" auf die Sachentscheidung des Parlaments gewännen.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13024

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Lobby und Demokratie
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/1623173/

HLV INFO 26/AT

24-02-2006

Volker Hartenstein, MdL a.D. 23-02-06

Antennenmoratorium bleibt

Dem Stadtpräsidenten genügt das vom Bundesamt für Umwelt empfohlene Kontrollsystem für Mobilfunkantennen nicht

Berns Stadtpräsident Alexander Tschäppät setzt sich über Empfehlungen des Bundesamts für Umwelt hinweg und bewilligt weiterhin keine Baugesuche für Mobilfunkantennen.

Biel hingegen erteilt wieder solche, Thun wohl bald.

Sendeleistung von Mobilfunkantennen genau prüfen. / frz

Swisscom, Orange und Sunrise haben sich verpflichtet, Ende 2006 ein System einzuführen, das mit Computertechnik vollautomatisch die Sendeleistung und den Neigungswinkel aller Mobilfunkantennen im Land überprüft. So soll garantiert werden, dass keine Anlage die von den Behörden in den Baubewilligungen vermerkten Maximalwerte überschreitet. Dieser Entscheid geht auf ein Urteil des Bundesgerichts vom letzten März zu einer Antenne in Bolligen zurück.

«Sistierte Bewilligungsverfahren werden damit deblockiert», hiess es noch am 17. Januar in den Zeitungen. Sie bezogen sich auf die Empfehlung des Bundesamts für Umwelt, welches das so genannte Qualitätssicherungssystem als zweckmässig erachtet, und auf Empfehlungen der kantonalen Fachleute. Auch das kantonale Amt für Wirtschaft (Beco) schrieb Mitte Januar den Regierungsstatthaltern und den Gemeinden mit Baubewilligungskompetenzen, dass sie wieder Antennen genehmigen könnten, und hob sein eigenes Bewilligungsmoratorium vom November auf.

Einmal pro Tag genügt nicht

Gestern hat aber die Stadt Bern mitgeteilt, dass die Präsidialdirektion auch weiterhin keine Mobilfunkanlagen bewilligen wird. Sie sei der Meinung, «dass dieses vorgeschlagene Verfahren zur Kontrolle der Einhaltung der Grenzwerte den Anforderungen des Bundesgerichts nicht genügt und somit der Anspruch der Anwohnerinnen und Anwohner nicht erfüllt ist». Stadtpräsident Alexander Tschäppät erläutert auf Anfrage, dass ihm die im Qualitätssicherungssystem vorgesehene Überprüfung der Antennen-Daten alle 24 Stunden nicht genüge. Er erinnerte daran, dass jedes Baugesuch eine riesige Opposition hervorrufe. Die Angst der Bevölkerung vor Strahlung dürften die Behörden nicht ignorieren. «Wir wollen einfach sagen können, dass wir alles unternommen haben, um den bestmöglichen Schutz anzubieten.» Ob die geplante Softwarelösung genüge, sei sicherlich Ansichtssache, so Tschäppät. Offensichtlich will die Stadt diese Ansichtssache richterlich klären lassen und inzwischen Zeit gewinnen: In der städtischen Pressemitteilung steht, das Moratorium dauere, «bis diese zentrale Frage rechtskräftig entschieden ist».

Mehr als Lausanne verlangte

Es dürfte nur eine Frage der Zeit sein, bis die Mobilfunkbetreiber ein Anrecht auf Bewilligungen geltend machen: Das Thuner Bauinspektorat hat laut dem Sachbearbeiter Hansueli Maurer bereits einen Brief von Sunrise bekommen, in dem die Firma fordert, nun seien die hängigen Gesuche zu bewilligen. Bei den Experten stösst Tschäppäts Entscheid auf wenig Verständnis. Peter Matti, Experte für nichtionisierende Strahlung (NIS) im Beco: «Ich sehe keinen ersichtlichen Grund, wieso das Qualitätssicherungssystem den Anforderungen des Bundesgerichts nicht genügen sollte.» Bundesamt für Umwelt, Bundesamt für Kommunikation und die kantonalen Experten hätten es sich nicht leicht gemacht. Das gewählte System gehe in zwei Punkten sogar wesentlich weiter, als es die Lausanner Richter verlangt hätten: Es beziehe auch die Kontrolle der bestehenden Anlagen ein und berücksichtige die Neigungswinkel. «Das ist ein ganz wichtiger Punkt.» Jürg Baumann von der Abteilung Luftreinhaltung und NIS des Bundesamts für Umwelt (Bafu) will die Aussagen Tschäppäts nicht kommentieren. «Das Bafu hat keine Weisungskompetenz und kann nur Empfehlungen abgeben.» Wenn gemäss dem vorgesehenen Qualitätssicherungssystem die Mobilfunkantennen nicht mehr wie bisher bloss sporadisch, sondern einmal pro Tag kontrolliert würden, sei dies «ein wesentlicher Schritt hin zu einer besseren Kontrolle» und entspreche dem Grundanliegen des Bundesgerichts. Das Bafu gehe davon aus, dass auch diese neuste Entwicklung in Sachen Mobilfunk vor dem Bundesgericht landen werde.

Moratorium auch in Burgdorf

Die Stadt Bern ist nicht die erste Gemeinde im Kanton, welche sich über die Empfehlungen des Beco hinwegsetzt. Burgdorf meldete kürzlich, dass man das Moratorium fortsetze, bis eine Studie der ETH Zürich zur Auswirkung der Strahlung vorliege.

Das Bundesgericht hat allerdings kürzlich festgehalten, dass derzeit Antennen nicht mit Hinweis auf solche Studien verhindert werden können. Matti sagt, diese Studie zum Zusammenhang von Feldstärke und Wohlbefinden werde keine Rückschlüsse auf die Gesundheit der Testpersonen zulassen. «Sie wird hochstilisiert.» Erst ganz am Beginn steht das Nationalfondsprojekt, das die Wirkung der nichtionisierenden Strahlung fundiert aufzeigen soll.

Und so handhaben weitere bernische Städte derzeit die Mobilfunkbewilligungen:

. Biel hat seit Mitte Januar laut Marianne Schmid von der Abteilung Baubewilligung/Kontrolle hängige Gesuche bewilligt, weitere kommen demnächst dazu.

. Thun bespricht die Situation am 16. März mit dem Beco. Auch die Geschäftsführerin des von den drei Mobilfunkbetreibern finanzierten «Forums Mobil» nimmt am Workshop teil. Sieben Baugesuche bleiben bis dann pendent.

. «Wir bearbeiten die hängigen Baugesuche», sagt die Könizer Planungsvorsteherin Katrin Sedlmayer. Nach Auskunft des kommunalen Bauinspektorats sei ein anderes Vorgehen auch gar nicht möglich.

Auch das «Forum Mobil» bezeichnet Bewilligungsmoratorien als unzulässig. Ausserdem findet es, mit Studien lasse sich die Unschädlichkeit einer Technologie aus methodischen Gründen gar nicht beweisen.


EXTRA

25 Gesuche betroffen

In der Stadt Bern gibt es ungefähr 400 Mobilfunkanlagen unterschiedlicher Sendeleistung. Für etwa 25 weitere sind Gesuche hängig. Zwei davon kämen auf einem städtischen Gebäude zu stehen. Ein Moratorium für Antennen auf stadteigenen Gebäuden besteht seit Herbst.

Das Qualitätssicherungssystem, das Ende 2006 eingeführt werden soll, sieht eine automatisierte Überprüfung der effektiv eingestellten Sendeleistung und -richtung vor. Erkennt das System Überschreitungen des bewilligten Werts, müssen die Mobilfunkfirmen innert 24 Stunden Änderungen vornehmen, wo dies per Fernsteuerung möglich ist, sonst innert einer Woche. Eine unabhängige Prüfstelle kontrolliert.

Das Bundesgericht hiess im März 2005 die Beschwerde von Privaten gegen ein Antennenprojekt von Orange in Bolligen gut. Anwohner hätten ein schützenswürdiges Interesse daran, dass die Einhaltung der NIS-Grenzwerte durch objektive und überprüfbare bauliche Vorkehrungen gewährleistet sei. (ry)

Der Bund, Rainer Schneuwly 15.02.06

http://www.espace.ch/artikel_179449.html

The USDA has passed a new regulation that will use U.S. taxpayer money to pay for the slaughter of tens of thousands of horses annually in the U.S. for export overseas. The USDA rule contradicts a previous Congressional mandate that banned the use of federal funding for the horse slaughter industry. In a letter to the USDA, 40 members of Congress wrote, "The agency (USDA) has absolutely no authority to circumvent a Congressional mandate and effectively rewrite an unambiguous law at the request of the horse slaughter industry." The USDA has not responded. Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/horse021006.cfm

A United Arab Emirates government-owned company is poised to take over port terminal operations in 21 American ports, far more than the six widely reported.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022406C.shtml

Fatima Shaik: On Mardi Gras Day, the nation will be looking to New Orleans to see if we are wearing masks. We'll be wearing them in New Orleans, but they're being worn in Washington, DC, too. That's because the face of our tragedy is being covered up with a big smile - we are having a party and pretending that the poor people can just go away.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022406B.shtml

Bill Moyers speaks on the issue of money and politics: Watching these people work is a study of the inner circle at the top of American politics. It is a Dick Cheney world out there - a world where politicians and lobbyists hunt together, dine together, drink together, play together, pray together and prey together, all the while carving up the world according to their own interests. It is time to fight again. It's not their government, it's your government.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022406A.shtml

Frightening Stuff: The National Animal Identification System http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1801367.php

People have already developed ways to disable it... http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/2098/1/1

The National Animal Identification System

Did you know about this?:
http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/spotlights/Oregon_spotlight_0205.pdf

The owner of every single animal that can be eaten, can produce food, or can be taken off the premises (as in riding a horse in a parade) must:

1) register their "premises" --i.e. home at their own expense, and permit GPS monitoring of their home

2) register each chicken, goat, pet lamb, horse, etc. at their own expense, and permit a GPS chip to be embedded in the animal -- at their own expense

3) file federal paperwork every time they take any animal off the registered premises for any reason

4) file annual paperwork on every animal -- on their own time and at their own expense

Failure to comply will result in fine and/or imprisonment. Large agribusiness firms do not have to comply.

The chips are made by a privately owned company, which will profit from all this. The computer monitoring of every person's home and animals is to be done by a private firm, which will profit from playing Big Brother. All of this is to prevent the spread of disease and prevent terrorism. Really. Yet, disease in the food industry is primarily spread by large agribusiness corporations, who are exempt.

The sponsors of this legislation include huge multinational corporations responsible for pesticides, genetic modifications, low nutritional content in your food and for monocropping, mandatory use of sterile seeds, suppression of seed saving, etc., etc., etc.

This is the gateway to controlling the dwindling food supply. Chips for people cannot be far off. Please check out these farmers' efforts to fight it:

http://www.stopanimalid.org/index.php http://www.countrysidemag.com/current.htm#article4 http://www.freetennessee.org/NAIS_fact_sheet.html http://reliableanswers.com/politics/nais.asp

Oregon is already complying: http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/AHID/animal_health/national_id.shtml

What possible good are Relocalization efforts in the face of this?

Where is the Rural Organizing Project?? !!

Who else can fight this??

Caren & Christopher Titanic Lifeboat Academy 91868 Youngs River Rd.Astoria, OR 97103 Tel: 503-325-6886 Fax: 503-325-8801 Email: tlifeboatacademy charter net http://lifeboat.postcarbon.org


Informant: Scott Munson

Important Issue - The selling of our National Forests.

Have you heard about the Bush administration's plans to put our public lands on "blue-light special?" The President's proposed 2007 budget includes provisions to sell off as much as 800,000 acres of our national forests and other public lands to the highest bidder!

Will you join me in speaking out against this absurd proposal? Click below to send a message to your representatives in Congress now! http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/selloff?source=200602_adv_selltaf2

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NATIONAL FORESTS:

Honey, I'm cold. Let's burn the couch.;

St Louis Post Dispatch Editorial 2/15

NATIONAL FORESTS: Honey, I'm cold. Let's burn the couch.

02/15/2006

President George W. Bush wants to sell off parts of our national forests -- including up to 22,000 acres of the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri -- to fund rural schools. It's the equivalent of a family burning the furniture to keep warm.

The Bush Administration wants to sell between 175,000 and 300,000 acres of national forests in 34 states, including up to 191 acres in Illinois.

It's a mistake economically and environmentally and philosophically. Schools are a continuing expense; land sales are a one-time source of revenue. What will Mr. Bush do when the proceeds from this sale are spent and rural schoolchildren still need an education? Will he sell off another chunk of our forests? A piece of Mt. Rushmore? Naming rights to Old Faithful?

It's also a betrayal of our duty to pass on our natural heritage -- intact, not by the board foot -- to the next generation.

In Missouri, the targeted land is part of the Mark Twain National Forest. The forest is the glory of the Ozarks: 1.5 million acres of woodland, streams and rocky glades rolling across the hills. It contains 78,000 acres of wilderness and national scenic rivers.

It is a paddler's and hiker's paradise and a place that restores the soul.

By and large, the National Forest Service has been a decent steward of the land, allowing logging here and there, chasing out destructive ATV-ers, supporting recreation and preserving its wild nature.

The Mark Twain parcels would be scattered around the forest. Presumably, the buyers would use them for logging or development.

In some Western states, the government is the owner by default of vast tracts of desert, scrub and sagebrush. It may make sense to sell some small, marginal parcels of that for uses that may fuel the local economy. But the Mark Twain National Forest isn't a marginal wasteland. It's an ecological and recreational treasure.

The president hopes to raise $800 million from land sales to support the rural schools program. Rural schools get a share of the revenue from logging on federal land, and that revenue has been declining.

Our public schools require a continuing source of revenue. In other words, taxes.

The T-word, of course, is anathema to the Bush Administration. Rather than raise taxes, Mr. Bush proposes running a deficit of more than $420 billion (not counting the full cost of the Iraq war) in the next fiscal year. We will pass that debt on our children.

Now he wants to submit beautiful pieces of Missouri to the chainsaw and bulldozer. Our children deserve their natural heritage -- not their parents' debt.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/editorialcommentary/story/A09F756A901E3937862571160045EDE1?OpenDocument


Informant: Scott Munson

http://www.BuffaloFieldCampaign.org

In the past two months, Yellowstone National Park rangers have captured and slaughtered nearly 900 wild buffalo. Others have been harassed, chased onto thin ice and drowned or shot by the Montana Dept. of Livestock. As if this wasn't enough, still more wild buffalo were shot by "hunters" just outside Park boundaries in Montana's first public buffalo hunt in 15 years. Another 100 wild buffalo calves and yearlings are being held captive behind double electric fencing as part of a mad hatter?s science project called the ?bison quarantine feasibility study?. And this is only just the beginning. Many hundreds more buffalo will be chased, captured, slaughtered or shot in the coming months...unless...

We put a stop to this madness!

The Buffalo Field Campaign has been working tirelessly for the past nine years to stop the slaughter of the Yellowstone buffalo herd. Volunteers stand in defense of the buffalo as they follow their ancient migratory instincts in search of winter forage and spring calving grounds. Unfortunately, this journey leads the buffalo to the killing fields of Montana, where the buffalo are shown no mercy, given no reprieve.

Less the 150 years ago, some 30 million wild buffalo roamed the continent of North America. The great herds stretched from west of the Rockies to the shores of the Atlantic. from Canada to Mexico across the Great Plains. Today, only about 3,500 genetically pure buffalo with a continuous history of being wild and unfenced in their native habitat are left in the United States. If we don't act soon to stop the slaughter, this great treasure may be lost forever.

If you have ever considered taking a stand for the wild, now is the time to act. More volunteers are urgently needed to defend the buffalo. The remainder of winter and the coming spring are a crucial time for the buffalo.

For more information on volunteering with BFC or other actions you can take for the benefit of wild buffalo, please visit http://www.BuffaloFieldCampaign.org or call us in Montana at 406-646-0070.


Urgent call for volunteers to help defend the Last Wild Buffalo in The U.S.

Most Americans are unaware that only 23 bison escaped the mass extermination of the 1870s, finding refuge from extinction in the world's first national park. Yellowstone's bison are the genetically-pure descendants of those 23 survivors, our nation's last continuously-wild herd. Today, under assault again, they need help from people of conscience. In the park, they are beloved wildlife. But their migratory instinct leads them to lower elevation land in Montana to escape the park's harsh winter. Here they are greeted with capture, quarantine, experimentation, bullets, and slaughter. Family groups are torn apart. Mothers and babies are separated. They suffer terror and injury as they are hazed and harassed relentlessly with snowmobiles, ATVs, helicopters...

Where does this happen? In Yellowstone National Park and on surrounding public land...land belonging to ALL Americans, whether we live near or far. Who is perpetrating this? The State of Montana. The National Forest Service. Even the National Park Service itself!

Why is this happening? The politically-powerful Montana livestock industry sees bison as competition for grazing resources. They claim that bison will infect their cattle with brucellosis (a bacterial cattle disease), but this has never occurred in the wild, never once since cattle first infected bison in the early 1900s.

Who pays for this? YOU do "the American taxpayer" at over $3 million per year.

What can YOU do? If you do nothing else, pass this message on to your e-mail contacts across the country and around the world. But if you want to learn more, visit www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/action.html

Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers are in the field every day documenting the activities that pass for bison management in Montana
(view video footage at the website), and working for the day when these beautiful native creatures are welcomed home onto designated habitat where they are truly free to roam America's public land. Sign up for weekly BFC up-dates at: bfc-media (at) wildrockies.org Subject line: "Subscribe.

"Want to do more? Consider writing to one or both of the following: Gov. Brian Schweitzer: (406) 444-3111, governor.mt.gov/contact/comments.asp (Montana is responsible for hazing, hunting, capture & quarantine, & slaughter.) In your own words, ask the governor to designate bison habitat and manage bison as America's treasured wildlife using science, not politics.

Suzanne Lewis, Superintendent, Yellowstone (307) 344-2002, suzanne_lewis (at) nps.gov (Yellowstone is responsible for capture within the park & shipment to slaughter.) In your own words, ask Ms. Lewis to stop killing bison to prevent them from leaving the park, contrary to everything the national park stands for.

Edward Abbey said, "A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government." In defending America's last wild bison, we stand up to greed and dishonesty. We stand up for justice and the enduring qualities embodied in our great nation's symbol of freedom, the magnificent American bison.

KEEP IT GOING! PASS THIS MESSAGE ON

SPREAD THE WORD TO SAVE THE HERD!

Learn More at: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/action.html

-- Buffalo Field Campaign P.O. Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 406-646-0070 bfc-media (at) wildrockies.org http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org


Informant: Scott Munson

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/260453_cleanwater23.html

Thursday, February 23, 2006

ELI GALLA
GUEST COLUMNIST

The Bush administration eliminated protections for small streams and wetlands in 2003, weakening the 30-year old Clean Water Act. For the past three years, the buildup of toxins in streams has fed into the major waterways such as Puget Sound and Hood Canal. In the past three years, the levels of arsenic and mercury have risen in our water. Mercury has risen in humans and wildlife, as well as in drinking water. Washington is the No. 1 state and Seattle is the No. 1 U.S. city for having the highest incidence of breast cancer.

Let's make the connection here. The orca whale recently was listed as an endangered species. Salmon and 38 other native species are at risk, as well as marine birds, which have declined by nearly half in Puget Sound since the 1970s. Some of these species have declined by as much as 90 percent. Hood Canal and Puget Sound have growing dead zones because of pollution that robs the water of oxygen, killing marine life. Approximately 30,000 acres, or nearly 20 percent, of commercial shellfish beds have been closed to harvest since 1980. More than 5,700 acres of aquatic lands exceed safe levels of toxic contamination.

On Jan. 22, the P-I published, "Sound: Action Requires Consensus," concerning the 2005-2007 Puget Sound Conservation and Recovery Plan. Gov. Christine Gregoire's bill contains extensive measures to attack water pollution problems on many different fronts.

I agree that we don't need new laws. The laws that we have on the books need to be enforced. It comes down to having the money to enforce them. It seems that if we took back the protections we had from the Clean Water Act before it was changed in 2003, federal funding would be available to the 150-odd jurisdictions.

We need to make up for lost time. Right now, Washington is being developed at an advanced rate. Stormwater needs to be able to get back down into the water table. The stormwater runoff from construction and businesses cause siltation. Siltation is the leading cause of degraded wetland integrity. Silt robs water bodies of sunlight, killing grasses and burying the benthic community, which are groups of shellfish and worms on the bottom of the ocean floor. They work in harmony with algae and ocean grasses to purify the water to protect salmon and other species. Stormwater runoff is the biggest source of pollution we have.

President Bush put language to the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which exempts any construction for the oil and gas industry from the Clean Water Act, no matter how large or small it is. This is another insidious attempt by the administration to sneak breaks into legislation for Bush's buddies and his family. This would affect gas and oil exploration off our coasts. U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, has co-sponsored a bill, HR 4541, which would restore the protections of the Clean Water Act.

It stands to reason that we can't monitor all the runoff into streams, lakes, Hood Canal and the Sound. Improved land use will ensure that we order our priorities over what kinds of development we will allow and how we develop these lands.

Gregoire's bill mentions using new technologies, such as green roofs to capture rainfall and sidewalks made of porous materials to enable runoff water to filter back into the soil, replenishing the water table.

Yes, it takes money and commitment. The governor is to be lauded highly for addressing our water pollution problem and taking the first steps to get the ball rolling.

The P-I says that we have no obvious goal. I believe that the goal is to make immediate impact into cleaning up our dead zones. Restoring all the protections of the Clean Water Act prior to when it was altered in
2003 would have a large impact on the quality of our water right now. The goal is always the same: to get our waterways as clean as possible, but the ways we do this need to be ever changing.

Eli Galla has been a resident of Seattle since 1992. He was a field representative in the United Farm Workers Union from 1983 to 1984.

© 1998-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer


Tim Hermach
Founder & President Native Forest Council
PO Box 2190 Eugene, OR 97402
541.688.2600 Fax 541.461.2156
web page: http://www.forestcouncil.org
http://www.forestcouncil.org/join
Fighting for Life, Land & Liberty NO MORE COMPROMISES, ZERO CUT, ZERO EXTRACTION, Lets Keep Our Public Lands & Watersheds FOREVER WILD & FREE.


Informant: Scott Munson

In line with our mission to promote measures that would ensure accurate vote counts, US Count Votes endorses this April lobbying effort to convince the U.S. Congress to require mandatory audits of vote count accuracy and recommends that you consider signing up for this Washington DC lobbying event on April 6 and 7. U.S. Rep Rush Holt has consistently proposed the best legislation for ensuring U.S. election integrity since 2004.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: URGENT! Help Ensure Voter Verified Paper Records in the 2006 Federal Elections! Date:
Thu, 23 Feb 2006 22:30:15 +0100
From: VoteTrustUSA contact@votetrustusa.org
To: kathy@uscountvotes.org


( http://votetrustusa.org/ )

February 23, 2006

Dear Election Integrity Advocate,

We need your help in our nation's Capitol on Thursday and Friday, April 6 and 7, when VoteTrustUSA will join forces with a coalition of citizens and grassroots organizations in Washington D.C. to urge Members of Congress to join more than 160 of their fellow Representatives, including 10 Republicans, who have already signed up to cosponsor H.R.550, Rep. Rush Holt's Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act. HR 550 would require a voter verified paper record of every vote, establish mandatory random hand counted audits to verify the accuracy of electronic tallies, and prohibit the use of secret software and wireless communication devices in voting machines. The recent change in leadership of the Committee on House Administration has created a new opportunity for passage of this vital election integrity measure. Previous Lobby Day events in June and August of 2005 were a huge success,generating 24 new cosponsors on the bill from both parties. Please join us in Washington DC April 6 and 7, to build even greater bipartisan support for this critical bill.

SIGN UP TO TAKE PART IN THE LOBBY DAYS AT WWW.ICOUNTCOALITION.ORG ( http://www.icountcoalition.org )!

If you have never lobbied before, don't worry. The HR 550 "I Count" Coalition (VoteTrustUSA, Common Cause, Verified Voting, Voters Unite and Electronic Frontier Foundation) will hold a training session on the morning of April 6, where you'll get plenty of tips and all the information you'll need. With your help, we'll bring enough co-signers onboard to pass the legislation in time to make a difference in this year's elections!

We'll meet Thursday morning, April 6 from 9 am til Noon for the training session. Then we'll fan out across the Hill for meetings with members of Congress and staff from Noon til 5 p.m. at Capitol Hill office buildings Aferward, we'll get together for a gala reception with Rep. Holt and other special guests on Capitol Hill. On Friday morning there will be a press conference and live blogging at the Capitol and then we'll split up for more lobbying appointments, On both days, you'll be lobbying in a group with other concerned citizens from your state. SIGN UP TO TAKE PART IN THE LOBBY DAYS AT WWW.ICOUNTCOALITION.ORG ( http://www.icountcoalition.org )! MORE WAYS YOU CAN HELP Find out how you can help in your state! If you can't make it to Washington, DC, you may still be able to help out in your home state during the Congressional Recess, which begins the week after HR 550 Lobby Days events. Click Here ( http://www.icountcoalition.org/indistlandingpage.html ) to find out what you can do to help at home!

Send a message to your U.S. Representative urging them to vote for passage of HR 550. Click Here ( http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA&hotissue=1 ) to send an email to your Representative in support of HR 550.

Sign the Petition! While we're at the Capitol, we'll be delivering a petition signed by thousands of citizens to the Committee on House Administration, urging them to bring HR 550 to the floor as written, for an immediate vote. Click Here ( http://www.icountcoalition.org/petition.html ) to sign the petition and send an email urging the committee members to support immediate passage of this critical legislation. HELP CITIZEN LOBBYISTS FIGHT FOR VOTER VERIFIED PAPER RECORDS! ( HTTP://WWW.VOTETRUSTUSA.ORG/INDEX.PHP?OPTION=COM_CONTENT&TASK=VIEW&ID=109&ITEMID=97
) VoteTrustUSA is taking the lead role in organizing the HR 550 "I Count" Lobby Days. Whether or not you can attend the Lobby Days, please help us play our part in protecting democracy. We need to raise $10,000 to help fund these activities for your fellow citizen advocates who are going to lobby our legislators April 7 and 8. Please help us defray the expenses of some of the dedicated citizens who are volunteering to go to Washington DC on their own dime to fight for the accuracy and integrity of our elections! PLEASE CLICK HERE ( http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=109&Itemid=97
) TO DONATE NOW!

Thank you for all you doing to ensure accurate and transparent elections!

VoteTrustUSA
Joan Krawitz, Executive Director
Warren Stewart, Director of Legislative Issues and Policy
John Gideon, Information Manager http://www.VoteTrustUSA.org

In the post-9/11 world, some unlikely figures have attracted the attention of local police and federal agents: the Raging Grannies, known for musical satire, and Quaker peace activists, known for non-violence.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12042.htm

Through the looking glass of the American "left" lies a desert of sorts, a deafening silence, a cosmic ideological void that, for a reader of Whitman or Thoreau, is thoroughly enigmatic.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12039.htm

US marines probe tensions among Iran’s ethnic minorities.

The intelligence wing of the US marines has launched a probe into Iran’s ethnic minorities at a time of heightened tensions along the border with Iraq and friction between capitals.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ed436938-a49d-11da-897c-0000779e2340.html


From Information Clearing House

The United States is worried about its image abroad. Particularly in the Muslim world. But a massive propaganda offensive worth billions of dollars seeks to address the problem.

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,402130,00.html


From Information Clearing House

The confusion within the Government over Britain's attitude to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp deepened yesterday when Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, compared it to a Soviet-style "gulag".

http://tinyurl.com/pha93


From Information Clearing House

anlässlich der öffentlichen Anhörung der Fraktion DIE LINKE. im Bundestag am 24.02.2006 in Berlin gibt Erika Biehn, Vorsitzende der Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Erwerbslosen- und Sozialhilfeinitiativen (BAG-SHI e.V.) die nachfolgende sozialpolitische Stellungnahme ab.

Frank Jäger



+++ Presseinformation +++

24.02.2006

Für Selbstbestimmung und soziale Sicherheit Strategien zur Überwindung von Hartz IV

Anlässlich der öffentlichen Anhörung der Fraktion DIE LINKE. im Bundestag am 24.02.2006 in Berlin gibt Erika Biehn, Vorsitzende der Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Erwerbslosen- und Sozialhilfeinitiativen (BAG-SHI e.V.) eine sozialpolitische Stellungnahme ab: Eine zunehmend restriktive Gewährungspraxis und die geschwächte Rechtsposition von Menschen, die auf Sozialleistungen angewiesen sind, führe zur Verunsicherung der Betroffenen, Existenzängsten und sie fördere soziale Ausgrenzung. Weil hier dringend gegengesteuert werden müsse, trägt sie konkrete Forderungen der Betroffenenorganisation vor.

• Die BAG-SHI e.V. fordert bereits seit vielen Jahren ein Existenzgeld. Das Existenzgeld soll die Teilhabe am gesellschaftlichen Reichtum sichern, es steht allen Personen, die sich dauerhaft in der Deutschland aufhalten, in gleicher Höhe zu. Dabei soll es ohne Unterhaltspflicht, ohne Bedürftigkeitsprüfung, ohne Arbeitszwang gewährt werden.

• Die BAG-SHI e.V. fordert eine sofortige Erhöhung jetzigen Regelleistung auf 690 Euro. Dies ist für die Betroffenenorganisation der Richtwert für ein soziokulturelles Existenzminimum, das gesellschaftliche Teilhabe gewährleistet.

• Die Pauschalierung der Beihilfen für Elektrogeräte, Möbel (die so genannten langlebigen Gebrauchsgüter) ist einzustellen. Die Pauschale für bisherige einmalige Leistungen für den regelmäßig wiederkehrenden Bedarf muss so ausgestaltet sein, dass ein ausreichender Puffer für das Ansparen der benötigten Beträge gegeben ist.

• Die Regelleistung wird durch die schleichende Hereinnahme von Kosten für die Unterkunft immer stärker entwertet, da viele Menschen die vom kommunalen Träger vorenthaltenen Mietanteile aus ihrer Regelleistung finanzieren müssen. Die BAG-SHI e.V. fordert die Übernahme der tatsächlichen Wohnkosten.

• Die Abwehr- und Schutzrechte werden immer weiter ausgehöhlt, mit zum Teil fragwürdigen Methoden. So wird der Druck erhöht über Telefonabfragen, rechtswidrige Hausbesuche, überzogene Nachweisforderungen usw. Diese Praktiken sind einzustellen.

• Das Vermögen von Arbeitslosengeld II-Beziehenden zur privaten Alterssicherung muss besser geschützt werden als bisher. Die private Alterssicherung gewinnt zunehmend an Bedeutung. Daher ist es notwendig, die Vermögensfreibeträge so zu gestalten, dass Erwerbslose ihr zur Alterssicherung erworbenes Vermögen nicht restlos aufbrauchen müssen, bevor überhaupt erst ein Anspruch auf Leistungen besteht.

• Niemand darf durch Entzug der Lebensgrundlage durch Leistungskürzungen zur Arbeit gezwungen werden. Die BAG-SHI e.V. fordert die Abschaffung der „Arbeitsgelegenheiten mit Mehraufwandsentschädigung“ sowie des Sanktionsparagraphen § 31 SGB II und hier insbesondere die Sonderregelungen für Menschen unter 25 Jahren.

• Die BAG-SHI e.V. fordert darüber hinaus existenzsichernde versicherungspflichtige Arbeitsplätze.

• Es erscheint uns dringend geboten, die Rechtsposition der Betroffenen durch eine freie und unabhängige Beratung von Verbänden auf dem Gebiet des Sozialrechts, insbesondere auch durch Organisationen der Betroffenen (Sozialleistungsbeziehenden) zu stärken. Zum Recht auf unabhängige Beratung gehört selbstverständlich auch deren gesicherte Finanzierung.


Erika Biehn


Für Informationen:
0160-2 81 16 99

BAG-SHI Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Erwerbslosen- und Sozialhilfeinitiativen e.V. Geschäftsstelle Moselstraße 25 --- 60329 Frankfurt am Main, Fon: 069-27 22 08 98 - Fax: 069-27 22 08 97, email: info@bag-shi.de - Internet: http://www.bag-shi.de

The attached appeared in today's WDDTY broadcast..

Has anyone summarised the complete financial story on mobile phones? Namely the sums paid for what and over how long? Also who gets paid what by the mobile phone companies? If we know the story for other counties that will also help.

We possibly need to analyse the Mobile Phone Companies annual reports to unravel their public statements - does it all add up?

Please send anything useful.

Thanks


EXPERT OPINION: He who pays the piper. . .

We live in the age of the expert, and it is him to whom we turn when we need to understand complex issues. The wise observer, however, treats the explanations of the expert with caution, and rightly so. This is because there is rarely such a thing as an independent expert, whether he is from the world of science, politics or medicine. Too often these hard-up academics are prepared to put their name to anything, provided there's a decent cash inducement involved. This peculiarly 'scientific' practice of the double-blind backhander has been exercised to the full by the tobacco industry, according to recent reports. In 1991 the budget for experts' backhanders totalled $3.3m (£1.9m), and for that the scientists were to argue that there was no health risk from secondary smoke. Tobacco industry lawyers were set the task of finding 'experts' prepared to publish research that 'proved' secondhand smoke was not dangerous, and any problems associated with it could be remedied by good ventilation. Needless to say, plenty of 'experts' came out of the woodwork, who were more than happy to make the claim, even though it is clearly nonsense. Once the papers had been published, the tobacco industry was free to point out these 'independent' findings to government and health officials, who would be suitably impressed not to introduce regulations on secondhand smoke. Operation Backhander began in 1987 and was in full swing two years later, by which time it had recruited consultants from the UK, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Finland and Sweden. It also reached Asia, where every member of an organizing committee of a conference on indoor air quality was a tobacco industry 'consultant'. Researchers can find no evidence to suggest that the operation has been ended, so the next time you hear an 'expert' spouting forth, treat his comments with the greatest caution. You don't know where he's been paid. (Source: European Journal of Public Health, 2006; 16: 69-77).

* GUESS WHAT? The tobacco industry isn't alone in paying for 'independent' experts. The drugs industry has been doing it for years, and oftentimes the expert can't even be bothered to read the paper that he has supposedly written. All the dirty deeds of the drugs industry are uncovered in the WDDTY book, Secrets of the Drugs Industry. To order your copy, click here:

http://www.wddty.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?id=4393&did=537

Tell Congress to Help the People of Darfur, Sudan

For more than three years, ongoing violence in Darfur, a remote western region of Sudan, has forced nearly two million people to flee their homes in search of a more secure environment. And while the international community helped the African Union (AU) to establish a peacekeeping force, these troops are in desperate need of financial assistance to sufficiently protect civilians.

Tell Congress to support, at a minimum, the Bush Administration’s request of $514 million to help the people of Darfur.

http://ga0.org/campaign/sudan

Last week, the Bush Administration submitted a supplemental budget request to Congress that includes $514 million for peacekeeping, food aid, and other vital assistance for the displaced people of Darfur. This money will help protect civilians caught in the crossfire of the conflict while also ensuring they have access to critical basic services, such as clean water and blankets.

The people of Darfur need our help more than ever. Civilians continue to suffer harassment, beatings, rape, and murder on a daily basis. Families are stranded in the camps, often far from their villages, fields, and pastureland. For them, life has become one long wait—for food rations, for limited amounts of water, and for peace. Congress must support the Administration’s request to help protect and sustain life in Darfur.

Please click here to contact your representatives and ask that they fully fund this request.

http://ga0.org/campaign/sudan

For more information and to support Oxfam’s work in the region, click here.

http://ga0.org/ct/EdAwXnF1vmPe/

Thank you for supporting the people of Darfur and the Oxfam America Advocacy Fund.


Tim Fullerton
Oxfam America Advocacy Fund

--------

Every minute lost in sending the Blue Helmets in to protect civilians in Darfur is consequently time gained by the Sudanese government to maintain what Kofi Annan called "hell on earth" there. Khartoum is deliberately hindering international humanitarian action.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042406H.shtml

Die Münchner ödp ruft alle Bürgerinnen und Bürger auf, am 11. März um 13 Uhr an der überparteilichen Demonstration gegen Gentechnik in Lebensmitteln am Geschwister-Scholl-Platz teilzunehmen. „Das Jahr 2006 wird maßgeblich entscheiden, ob es den Gensaatgut-Konzernen gelingt, die bayerische Landwirtschaft mit genmanipulierten Organismen zu verunreinigen“, begründet der stellvertretende ödp-Stadtvorsitzende Martin Heigl den ödp-Aufruf. Die Großveranstaltung ist überparteilich und wird von der Initiative nahrungskette und BN München organisiert. Schirmherrin von nahrungskette ist Frau Edith von Welser-Ude. Heigl: „Jeder kann durch seine Teilnahme einen Beitrag dafür leisten, dass er auch in Zukunft gentechnikfreies Essen auf den Teller bekommt. Die landwirtschaftliche Gentechnik hat unvorhersehbare und nicht rückholbare Folgen!“

Markus Hollemann
Regionalbeauftragter
Ökologisch-Demokratische Partei (ödp)
Stadtverband München
Fon 089/45 24 74 15 × Fax 089/244 365 397
E-Mail m.hollemann@oedp-muenchen.de
http://www.oedp-muenchen.de


Veranstaltungshinweise:

Alle Vorträge finden jeweils am zweiten Donnerstag im Monat in den Räumen der Gregor-Louisoder-Umweltstiftung statt: Brienner Str. 46, zwischen U2/U8 Königsplatz und U1/U7 Stiglmaierplatz.

Do., 09. März 2006, 19.30 Uhr "Die gar nicht so schlechte rot-grüne ökologische Steuerreform - Rückblick und Ausblick" Referent: Dr. Anselm Görres, Förderverein Ökologische Steuerreform

Do., 13. April 2006, 19.30 Uhr "Biokraftstoffe in der Praxis - vom Pflanzenöl zum solaren Wasserstoff" Referent: Marcus Reichenberg, mobil ohne fossil

Do., 11. Mai 2006, 19.30 Uhr "Die 12 Salze des Lebens - Mit Schüßlersalzen gesund durch das Jahr" Referentin: Angelika Gräfin Wolffskeel von Reichenberg, Heilpraktikerin und Buchautorin

Do., 08. Juni 2006, 19.30 Uhr "EU-Feinstaubrichtlinie - zahnloser Papiertiger?" Referent: Dr. Stefan Taschner, Mobilitätsexperte, Green City

Do., 13. Juli 2006, 19.30 Uhr "Die Welt vor einer neuen Energiekrise? - Solare Zukunft ohne Erdöl und Atomenergie?" Referent: Dr. Herbert Kuhn, Ingenieur, Energieberater

Do., 10. Aug. 2006, 19.30 Uhr "Limbische Wahrheiten – Gehirnforschung, Marketing und Ökologie" Referent: Günther Hartmann, Berater im Stadt- und Regionalmarketing

Do., 14. Sep. 2006, 19.30 Uhr "Pflegenotstand - Keine Perspektive im Alter?" Referentin: Christiane Lüst, Dipl.-Soz. Päd., Initiatorin des Münchner Pflegestammtischs

Do., 12. Okt. 2006, 19.30 Uhr "Ein Jahr nach der Bundestagswahl - Wo steht Deutschland heute?" Referent: Prof. Dr. Klaus Buchner, ödp-Bundesvorsitzender

Do., 09. Nov. 2006, 19.30 Uhr "Das 1,5-Liter-Auto ist machbar - Entwickler berichten" Referent: Uli Sommer, Chefentwickler Loremo-Projekt

Der Bombenanschlag auf die Goldene Moschee von Samara hat unmittelbar zu jenen Ergebnissen geführt, die bezweckt waren: die gesellschaftlichen Spannungen wurden weiter gesteigert und Glaubensbekentnisse werden immer mehr zu Gräben. Die Hauptverantwortung für diese Entwicklungen tragen die Besatzer, die dem Land eine Verfassung aufgezwungen haben, die das Land nach ethnischen und religiösen Gesichtspunkten strukturiert - und damit auch entsprechend orientierten Gruppierungen den Spielraum schafft - so besagt es die von der "Federation of Worker Councils and Unions of Iraq" verbreitete (englische, hiermit kurz argumentativ zusammengefasste) Erklärung "No to deepening the sectarian hatred policy - lets stand against the sectarian war" des "Iraq Freedom Congress" (dem die Föderation angehört) vom 22. Februar 2006: http://www.labournet.de/internationales/iq/bombenstatement.html


Aus: LabourNet, 24. Februar 2006

Congress member Barbara Lee gave the House of Representatives in early February reports of 30 types of human rights violations by the US Government since 9/11. And she noted the failure of the Government to report these violations on time and accurately as required by a human rights treaty ratified in 1992 by the Senate at the request of President George Bush: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Ann Fagan Ginger suggests this treaty could provide a new path for action to stop human rights violations in the US.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022306G.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ann+Fagan+Ginger

Nuclear Weapons: Oppose a Bad Nuclear Deal with India – FCNL

When President Bush visits India next week (March 1-3), he won’t be threatening to bomb that country, like he is Iran.

Instead, he will be offering to provide India nuclear technology which he is criticizing Iran for possessing. At the top of the president’s agenda will be negotiating an agreement to provide nuclear technology to India even though the leaders of that South Asian nation refuse to endorse the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

That nuclear technology and fuel transfer agreement may be difficult to negotiate. Indian leaders have refused to establish a clear separation between their civilian and military nuclear programs. In addition, India is not a member of the NPT, the international agreement endorsed by 188 nations that bans the export of nuclear technology to states that don’t agree to international inspections of their nuclear programs. No means exists to ensure that India is in compliance with international safeguards designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

Nonetheless, President Bush has said publicly that he hopes to devise a plan with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that enables the U.S. to provide nuclear technology to India. The U.S. government is pressuring Iran (an NPT member) to halt its nuclear program, while negotiating an agreement to supply India, a country that refuses to sign the NPT, with nuclear technology. This double standard defeats, rather than advances, work to free the world of nuclear danger.

Reps Ed Markey (D-MA) and Fred Upton (R-MI) oppose this double standard, and they have introduced a bipartisan resolution expressing concern about the proposed U.S.-India nuclear deal. While conveying strong U.S. humanitarian and scientific support for India, H.Con.Res. 318 cautions against providing a non-NPT country with nuclear technology and fuel. The Upton-Markey provision should be supported. Take Action Now

Please contact your representative and ask her or him to cosponsor H.Con.Res. 318, which expresses concern about the proposed U.S.-India nuclear deal.

To see talking points and write a letter to your representative visit http://www.fcnl.org/redir/0206hconres318.htm.

See a list of current cosponsors at http://www.fcnl.org/redir/0306cosp318.htm .

Background

India last tested a nuclear weapon in 1998, and, while relations between India and Pakistan are relatively stable now, this proposed agreement could renew tensions if a perception is created that India is attempting to bolster its nuclear weapons arsenal with U.S.-supplied technology. One Indian analyst, when commenting about the proposed nuclear deal, quipped: “Given India’s uranium ore crunch and the need to build up our minimum credible nuclear deterrent arsenal as fast as possible, it is to India’s advantage to categorize as many power reactors as possible as civilian ones to be re-fueled by imported uranium and conserve our native uranium fuel for weapon-grade plutonium production.” India apparently wants to use U.S.-supplied nuclear technology and fuel for its civilian energy needs so it can use its own nuclear resources to produce bomb-grade material.

While India is an emerging partner of the U.S., the administration should be cautious not to proliferate nuclear technology, even to democracies. In the past, democratic states have been a source of nuclear proliferation. The A.Q. Khan network, a Pakistan-based group which acquired nuclear technology and sold it to “rogue” states in the 1990s, obtained its technology from South Africa and Switzerland, both of which are democracies. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is already a significant world problem; U.S. policies should not contribute to this situation.

If the U.S. is trying to assist India’s energy needs, the U.S. should provide technology to improve India’s coal-burning power plants, some of the dirtiest in the world. Congress ought not to be lowering the threshold on non-proliferation by weakening the U.S. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978 and the Atomic Energy Act, laws which must be amended for the U.S.-India nuclear deal to occur. To this end, please ask your representative to cosponsor H.Con.Res. 318.

Thank you!


The U.S. Can't Abandon Iraq, But the Troops Must Leave: Join FCNL's Iraq Campaign, http://www.fcnl.org/iraq/

Contact Congress and the Administration: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/

23.02.06

Mehrere deutsche Verbraucher- und Naturschutzverbände haben die geplante Ausrichtung der Agrar- und Ernährungsforschung im 7. EU-Forschungsrahmenprogramm scharf kritisiert. In dem für die Jahre 2007 bis 2013 geplanten Programm liege das Schwergewicht einseitig auf der Förderung von Gentechnikforschung, heißt es in einem Schreiben vom Donnerstag an Europa- und Bundestagsabgeordnete sowie an deutsche Ministerien. Diese Ausrichtung werde zudem ausschließlich von der Chemie- und Lebensmittelindustrie sowie der Forschung bestimmt, kritisieren die Verfasser. Den Brief haben unter anderem Greenpeace, der Naturschutzbund (NABU) und der Bund Umwelt und Naturschutz in Deutschland (BUND) unterschrieben.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13003

nlnews@archant.co.uk

23 February 2006

Young protesters outside Rhodes Avenue School Young protesters outside Rhodes Avenue School KIDS, parents and celebrities braved the elements on Monday afternoon to protest against mobile phone giant Orange's plans to erect two masts in Muswell Hill.

The protesters paraded outside Rhodes Avenue School carrying balloons and placards saying "Orange: You're Making Me Blue" - furious at the prospect of one of the masts being constructed near the school.

Actor and parent Crispin Bonham-Carter and TV presenter Rianna Scipio both joined the protester - which took place on the same day Rhodes Avenue's new after-school club opened.

Alison Levy, who has two young children at the school, said: "It was a cold windy day. It was a real struggle to get there and I was absolutely delighted that so many people made the effort to make a point.

"I felt that it did prove that there was a really strong feeling about it. That gave me a sense that there were very strong feelings about opposition to the mast.

Mrs Levy added: "I have two small children at the school who are going to spend six years in the classrooms that, if a mast is to be put up, would be metres from it."

Muswell Hill ward councillor, Wayne Hoban (Liberal Democrat), who attended the protest, said: "I was very pleased with the turnout. This is an appeal by the same company that was originally turned down by the council quite rightly.

"Basically I could not think of a worse place for a mobile phone mast and base station - immediately adjacent to a school and playground.

"Our view is that the precautionary principle should apply."

Orange is appealing against Haringey Council's decision last September to reject the application for two masts - one in Albert Road, near the school, and the other next to Sunshine Green Garden Centre in Dunsford Road.

Jacque Sibanda, Orange community liaison officer, said: "The precautionary principle has been applied. We have consulted with residents."

Ms Sibanda highlighted that before the Stewart Report in 2001, guidelines on emissions from mobile masts allowed 100 watts per metre squared and that had since been reduced to nine watts.

She added: "It is quite a difficult one. I think people's impression of this is quite subjective - like not put any base stations in at all.

"That is not realistic. There is a great consumer demand. People are happy to use their mobile phones but do not understand the infrastructure involved.

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

http://tinyurl.com/g8ufr

Feb 23 2006

WELLINGTON College is likely to give the go-ahead for a mobile phone mast in its grounds - despite protests from the owner of a neighbouring business.

Planning approval for the mast was given last year, but the public school decided not to let the phone company built it next to playing fields after objections from a neighbouring business park.

But now Lancewich company director Nicholas Martin, whose premises on Wellington Business Park are next to the school, has received a letter saying the governors are likely to let the installation of a 30ft-high phone mast go ahead after all.

Mr Martin is fuming over the change in mood by the school.

He has written to Bracknell MP Andrew MacKay and called on business park neighbours to fight the decision.

In the letter to Mr Martin, bursar Martin Sherwin said: "T Mobile have, in recent months, made a number of representations to the college and have gained the support of the Crowthorne Village Action Group - CVAG."

But CVAG founder member Carole Doran said: "What we said was we cannot give any blessing.

"We are not an elected body. CVAG's view is that we condone mast sharing away from schools and dwellings".

Mr Sherwin told The News: "A governors meeting this spring will be considering the matter. Planning approval was given some time ago."

He said the college was mindful of concerns that had been raised before and as a matter of courtesy they had let Mr Martin know governors were likely to allow the mast to go ahead.

Wellington College's 400-acre estate backs on to the business park which is near the railway line. There is one mast already alongside the railway line.

© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2006

http://tinyurl.com/o2e2m

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/21/rumsfeld-not-consulted/

Dass der Herr des gigantischsten Waffen-Arsenals, dass die Welt je kannte, heute nicht mehr weiß, welchen Diktator er gestern mit Massenvernichtungswaffen versorgte, überrascht die Weltöffentlichkeit schon länger nicht mehr bzw. wird als angemessene staatsmännische Nonchalance goutiert. Nun spielt ihm anscheinend auch sein Kurzzeitgedächtnis merkwürdige Streiche.

Bekannt geworden waren vom Chef des Pentagon die mehrfachen Versuche, Propagandaabteilungen zu etablieren, die unter anderem auch durch gezielte Desinformationen die Weltöffentlichkeit im Sinn der amerikanischen Politik zu beeinflussen. Kürzlich nannte erklärte er die Fähigkeit, 24-Stunden täglich in allen Teilen der Welt amerikanische Propaganda zu platzieren zur entscheidenden militärischen Kompetenz, um den Krieg gegen den Terror zu gewinnen. Gleichzeitig wurde von ihm erklärt, dass das Programm der Beeinflussung irakischer Medien gestoppt sei.

Nur wenige Tage später korrigierte ihn sein Pressesprecher und erklärte, dass die gezielte Streuung von US-Propaganda in irakischen Medien nicht eingestellt worden sei, sondern einer Auswertung unterzogen würde.

Auch in einem andern Fall fällt es dem US-Verteidigungsminister schwer, den Überblick zu behalten und seine Statements in Einklang mit den realen Gegebenheiten zu bringen: zur Auseinandersetzung um die an einen arabischen Konzern verkauften US-Häfen - darunter New York, Miami, New Orleans und Baltimore - erklärte er, nicht informiert zu sein. Nun stellte sich jedoch heraus, dass er zu den Mitgliedern des Regierungs-Gremiums gehörte, dass den Verkauf ohne Widerspruch abgesegnet hatte.

Bereits in vergangenen Zeiten machten ihm Probleme mit dem Erinnerungsvermögen zu schaffen: dass er etwa in den 80er-Jahren in einem seiner wichtigsten Aufträge für die umfangreiche Versorgung Saddam Husseins mit amerikanischen Waffen gesorgt und damit die Fortführung eines jahrelangen Kriegs mit mehr als 1 Million Toten, etliche darunter durch Giftgas, ermöglicht hatte - auch Anthrax war in dieser Zeit aus den USA mit Genehmigung der Regierung geliefert worden - war ihm später entfallen, als es um bedrohliche irakische Massenvernichtungswaffen ging.

Möglicherweise ist es aber auch als Bestandteil seiner Führungskompetenz zu werten, wenn seine linke Gehirnhälfte nicht weiß, was die rechte tut.


Link zum Beitrag / Hintergrundinfo oder Pressehinweis: http://www.hh-online.com?lid=23622 und http://links.net-hh.de?lid=23622


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

Nobel Laureates and Religious Leaders Call on World to Resist Iraq Occupation

As the third anniversary of the United States-led invasion of Iraq approaches, Nobel Peace and Literature Laureates are joined by religious leaders, writers, human rights activists, former government officials, peace activists and others in calling for ongoing campaigns of nonviolent civil resistance to end the U.S. led occupation of Iraq. On March 20, 2006, the first of five days of action throughout 2006, there will be nonviolent civil resistance actions at US and British diplomatic missions, military bases, recruitment offices and war profiteers in at least three continents.

"The USA and UK, out of fear, or worse, used the politics of revenge and the old ways of militarism, war, invasion and occupation of Iraq," says Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire. "Such actions bring forth counter violence, and have for the foreseeable future made the world a more dangerous place for us all. The occupation of Iraq should end, and an enquiry into those responsible in the UK and USA administrations, who illegally took the world to war, should begin."

The global call to action includes signers from over 30 countries and calls for resistance at U.S. and British embassies, military bases and corporations: "'business as usual' is the business of violence, death, and exploitation. It must be blocked and stopped by responsible citizens." The entire call can be read at

http://www.globalcalliraq.org .

Also disturbing to those calling for civil resistance is the deception used to bring the world to war. "The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of international law," accuses Nobel Literature Laureate Harold Pinter. "The invasion was an arbitrary military action inspired by a series of lies upon lies and gross manipulation of the media and therefore of the public. To define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all."

Those calling for resistance to the occupation span a broad range of backgrounds and geographies: from U.S. Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton to Colonel Juan Jaime Cesio in Argentina; from Ernesto Cardenal, a poet in Nicaragua, to Mairead Corrigan Maguire, an Irish Nobel laureate; from Cindy Sheehan to Herbert Docena, an anti-militarization campaigner in the Philippines. All are united in their rejection of the unprovoked and unjustified invasion and occupation of Iraq and in their call that people throughout the world respond.

"As the U.S. population has turned against this war, we look to the support of our allies, the majority of the world's population, as we transform our private discontent into public clamor," says Global Call Iraq spokesperson Joe Mulligan, S.J. "We invite people to organize wherever they are to help bring an end to this unjust occupation of a sovereign nation."

Additional days of global action are May 1 (International Day of the Worker), August 9 (anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki), September 11 (anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the U.S.) and December 10 (International Human Rights Day).

Kontakt: press@globalcalliraq.org

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Harold Pinter: "Blatant state terrorism"

As every single person here knows, the justification for the invasion of Iraq was that Saddam Hussein possessed a highly dangerous body of weapons of mass destruction, some of which could be fired in 45 minutes, bringing about appalling devastation. We were assured that was true. It was not true.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11239.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Harold+Pinter

22.02.06

Rund 70 Aktivisten haben am Mittwoch innerhalb der Bannmeile des Landtags in Stuttgart gegen eine Aufweichung des Gentechnikgesetzes demonstriert. Wie das "Aktionsbündnis Gentechnik-freie Landwirtschaft" mitteilte, pflanzten sie vor dem Gebäude ein traditionelles Maisfeld an. Das Landtagsgelände sei damit symbolisch zur gentechnikfreien Anbauzone erklärt worden. Mit der Aktion wurden die Landtagsabgeordneten aufgefordert, sich im Bundesrat gegen die von der Bundesregierung geplante Lockerung des Gentechnikgesetzes einzusetzen.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=12997

22.02.06

Die Verbraucherschutzorganisation Foodwatch hat den Entwurf von Bundesverbraucherschutzminister Horst Seehofer zum Verbraucherinformationsgesetz scharf kritisiert. Der Gesetzentwurf sei wertlos, meint Foodwatch-Geschäftsführer Thilo Bode. Es gebe für die Verbraucher keine tagesaktuelle Veröffentlichungspflicht der Behörden über Missstände und Kontrollergebnisse sowie kein Auskunftsrecht gegenüber Unternehmen. Selbst bei Gefahren und Risiken für Verbraucher bestehe kein Vorrang des öffentlichen Interesses vor der Geheimhaltung, erklärte er. Zudem werde der Informationszugang durch zu viele verfahrentechnische Hürden erschwert. Bode sagte, Deutschland sei ein "verbraucherpolitisches Entwicklungsland". Er verwies auf skandinavische Länder und die USA, Großbritannien und Irland, wo die zuständigen Verbraucherschutzbehörden die Bürger über mangelhafte Produkte und laufende Verfahren gegen Lebensmittelunternehmen im Internet informierten.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=12998

Mehr ist mehr

Die Produktivität und die Profite der großen deutschen Unternehmen wachsen – aus denselben Gründen, aus denen hierzulande Arbeitslosigkeit und Verelendung zunehmen. Artikel von Felix Baum in Jungle World vom 22. Februar 2006 http://jungle-world.com/seiten/2006/08/7211.php

Aus dem Text: „…Dass die Gewerkschaften von der Wirklichkeit des Weltmarkts nichts wissen wollen, verdankt sich der schlichten Tatsache, dass sie wie jeder BWL-Student treudoof an die Ewigkeit des Kapitals glauben: »Wir wollen die Gesetze der Ökonomie nicht aushebeln, das geht auch gar nicht«, sagt beispielsweise Heinz Putzhammer vom Vorstand des DGB. So bleibt nur, die Interessen der eigenen Klientel mit denen der Unternehmen auszusöhnen. Jedes Anliegen muss von vornherein mit Blick auf die Verträglichkeit für die Akkumulation vorgetragen werden. Geht die IG Metall mit der Forderung nach fünf Prozent mehr Lohn in die aktuelle Tarifrunde, dann nur unter der penetrant wiederholten Beteuerung, damit die Kaufkraft und folglich den Binnenmarkt stärken zu wollen. »Arbeiterverräter«, wie unter Linksradikalen vermehrt zu hören ist, sind die Gewerkschaften deshalb keineswegs. Solange die Lohnabhängigen selbst nicht über den Horizont der Warenproduktion hinausdenken, bleiben sie Gefangene von deren unerbittlicher Logik und haben in der Tat allen Grund, sich der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit des Einzelkapitals unterzuordnen, von dessen Weltmarkterfolg ihr eigenes Überleben abhängt. Es ist Scheinradikalismus, die Gewerkschaften als institutionalisierte Vermittlung dieses widersprüchlichen Verhältnisses anzugreifen, die diesem zugrunde liegende Misere aber von der Kritik auszunehmen…“


Wir übernehmen

Die Übernahme deutscher Firmen durch ausländische wird meist lautstark beklagt. Dabei wird verschwiegen, wie aktiv deutsche Unternehmen selbst bei Übernahmen sind. Artikel von Stefan Frank in Jungle World vom 22. Februar 2006 http://jungle-world.com/seiten/2006/08/7212.php

Aus dem Text: „Sind deutsche Unternehmen Opfer angelsächsischer Heuschrecken?« fragte das Manager-Magazin kürzlich und antwortete: »Unsinn. Deutsche Unternehmen schwärmen mit prall gefüllten Kriegskassen aus und machen in England und den USA reiche Beute.« Das sollte man mal der Gewerkschaft Verdi sagen. Deren Biologen haben Ende vorigen Jahres ein Papier veröffentlicht unter dem Titel »Hedge- und Private Equity-Fonds. Die Turbos im Kapitalismus«, in dem von der Bundesregierung allen Ernstes verlangt wird, deutsche Firmen vor ausländischem Zugriff zu schützen, insbesondere vor Hedgefonds, die angeblich auch Daimler-Chrysler bedrohen. Deutsche Konzerne können auf ihre Gewerkschaften zählen…“


Aus: LabourNet, 23. Februar 2006

Aus den Eingeweiden der Arbeitsverwaltung

„…Eine Sachbearbeiterin einer ARGE hat sich an den Arbeitslosenhilfe Online e.V. gewandt, um aus ihrer täglichen Praxis zu berichten. Annett S. *(Name geändert) ist auf den bundesweit agierenden Verein zur Unterstützung von Arbeitslosen aufmerksam geworden und hofft, dass so die Öffentlichkeit aufmerksam wird….“ Arbeitslosenhilfe Online e.V. informiert bei Kunst, Kultur, Politik aus Hamburg http://www.kkp-hamburg.blog.de/index.php/kkp-hamburg/2006/02/23/aus_den_eingeweiden_der_arbeitsverwaltun~585651


Aus: LabourNet, 23. Februar 2006

SAVE Our School campaigners took their fight to Holyrood today.

A bus-load of parents from Pollok and Carnwadric travelled to Parliament to hand over a 2000-signature petition.

They also staged a demonstration in a bid to persuade the First Minister to hold an inquiry into Glasgow City Council's pre-12 education consultation.

Protesters are angry at the closures of St Edmund's Primary in Pollok and Carnwadric Primary.

Susan Green, 41, whose daughter Erin is in P6 at St Edmund's, said: "We still feel strongly that feelings in the community have been ignored."

The protest coincides with today's stage one debate on the Scottish Schools (Par-ental Involvement) Bill.

Last month, St Edmund's parents removed their kids from the school one afternoon in protest. That same week, Carnwadric parents staged an all-night sit-in.

Last week world famous psychic Uri Geller backed parents in their fight.

Uri, who shot to fame in the 1970s by using mindpower to bend spoons, is supporting the bid to stop the new school being built near a mobile phone mast.

Carnwadric and Arden primaries are to be merged at a new 360-pupil school in Arden just a few hundred yards from a mast.

Uri told the Evening Times: "It is outrageous. I certainly wouldn't build a school near a mast."

Meanwhile, parents at St Edmund's in Pollok hope to enlist a multi-millionaire entrepreneur. Tycoon Paul Green, whose firm Retail Property Holdings is behind the massive new Silverburn shopping complex, has been urged to back their fight.

22/02/06

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/5049212.shtml

22/02/2006 - 19:29:27

Up to 600 local residents are protesting in south Co Dublin tonight over a controversial mobile phone mast.

The telecoms structure on Shankill Garda Station will accommodate up to 12 mobile phone antennae but locals claim there has been no consultation with them and are protesting against its construction.

Three schools and two residential developments are within 500m of the mast, which is being built by telecoms firm Vilicom.

The issue was raised at the Oireachtas Environment Committee in Leinster House earlier today with OPW officials.

Local TD Ciaran Cuffe complained that current regulations allow for a mast to be replaced, and for up to 12 additional antennae to be placed on it, without public consultation.

However OPW commissioner David Byers insisted that the mast complied with relevant health and safety regulations.

He said the project was similar to others at other Garda stations throughout the state under the Transforming State Assets Programme.

He told the Committee that the closer mobile phone users are to a mast, the safer radiation levels will be.

“The further away your handset is from your antennae when you’re making a call, the more powerful your handset has to be to get to the antennae,” he said.

“If you had a concern, I would have thought that you would be more worried about a transmitter too close to your ear than an antennae several hundred yards away.

“The more extra masts there are out there, the less powerful the handset has to be to reach them.”

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council had previously asked the OPW to stop work on the project over residents’ concerns that it didn’t have planning permission.

However the Council confirmed earlier this month that the development was legal as it was a replacement of an original structure that had secured planning.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=173663292&p=y73663998

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http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Cancer+Cluster
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

Mobilfunkexperte Hans Schütz über Kritik an Messkriterien

VON ALFRED SCHUBERT

Peißenberg - Die Marktgemeinde Peißenberg hat die Strahlenbelastung auf ihrem Gebiet messen lassen (wir berichteten). Das Ergebnis: Alle ermittelten Werte liegen weit unter dem gesetzlichen Grenzwert. Hans Schütz, Kreisrat der Grünen und Mobilfunkexperte, sieht darin noch "keine Entwarnung für Peißenberg". Er übt Kritik an den Grenzwerten, die nach seiner Einschätzung zu hoch angesetzt sind.

Laut Bernhard Schregle von der Marktverwaltung hat sich die Gemeinde an die 26. Verordnung zum Bundesimmissionsschutzgesetz gehalten. Da es sich um ein Bundesgesetz handle, bestehe kein Zweifel an der Rechtmäßigkeit des Vorgehens. Von Seiten der Verwaltung könne man jedoch nicht beurteilen, ob die Grenzwerte zu hoch oder angemessen seien. Dafür habe man nicht die Fachleute im Haus.

Ein Mitarbeiter des Unternehmens, das die Messung durchgeführt hat, hält die Grenzwertdiskussion für wenig sinnvoll. Der Grenzwert, der sich nur auf die Erwärmung des menschlichen Körpers im Strahlungsbereich bezieht, sei so hoch, dass er von Mobilfunksendern nicht erreicht werde. Er sei so sinnvoll wie ein Tempolimit von 500 Stundenkilometern auf der Straße.

Das Unternehmen habe aber keine Wahl gehabt. Ihm sei im Auftrag klar vorgegeben worden, dass die gemessenen Werte in Bezug zum gesetzlichen Grenzwert gesetzt werden müsse. Daran hätte man sich gehalten. Diese Vorgabe habe nicht die Gemeinde Peißenberg zu vertreten, sie sei Bestandteil der durch den bayerischen Staat festgelegten Förderrichtlinien, aufgrund derer die Gemeinde laut Schregle für die 2250 Euro teure Messung einen Zuschuss von 2025 Euro bekommen hat.

Nicht mehr das Handy benutzen

Der Sinn der Messungen liegt nach Aussage des Messtechnikers darin, den Gemeinden verlässliche Unterlagen über die Strahlenbelastung zu geben, die sie für ihre Planung - etwa die Ausweisung von Senderstandorten - brauchen. Die von der Strahlung Betroffenen hätten jedoch die Möglichkeit, selbst ihre Strahlenbelastung zu senken. Wenn nicht mit dem Handy telefoniert werde, sinke die Leistung der Sendeantennen um bis zu 90 Prozent. Außerdem würden die Mobilfunkbetreiber bei fehlender Nachfrage keine weiteren Antennen installieren.

Schütz sieht im forcierten Ausbau der Mobilfunknetze eine weitere Gefahr. Die Telekommunikationsanbieter könnten eines Tages das Festnetz aufgeben, um sich die Kosten für die Wartung zu sparen. Dann hätten auch die, die dem grenzenlosen Mobilfunk kritisch gegenüberstehen, keine Alternative zum Handy mehr. Gegen Mobilfunk ist Schütz allerdings nicht. Er hält ihn dort für sinnvoll, wo kein Festnetzanschluss erreichbar ist. Allerdings fordert er wesentlich niedrigere Sendeleistungen.

mm

Datum: 23.02.2006 00:00 Uhr

http://www.merkur-online.de/regionen/weilheim/art2843,589322.html

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Strahlung unterm Grenzwert
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/749085/

Why searching out some information for my thesis I happened to come across an interesting paper titled: “Why States Believe Foolish Ideas: Non-Self-Evaluation By States And Societies” by Stephen Van Evera, January 10, 2002

For the topic of this list, those readers interested in why the Myth of ICNIRP and why Repacholian pseudo-science continues to wield such power with national governments and their agencies, this paper is well worth a read.

Don Maisch

Download it at:

http://web.mit.edu/polisci/research/vanevera/why_states_believe_foolish_ideas.pdf

Some exerpts from the beginning:

I. SOCIALIZATION AND SELF-EVALUATION

Kenneth Waltz argues that states are socialized to the international system because they will be injured or even destroyed if they fail to adapt to it. I believe this claim is correct but should be qualified. Most states are indeed socialized to the international system, but their socialization is often slow and sometimes minimal because states widely fail to evaluate their own ideas and policies.

Organization theorists note that organizations are poor self-evaluators; I argue here that states suffer the same syndrome. This failure to self-evaluate impedes national learning and allows misperceptions to flourish.

Myths, false propaganda, and anachronistic beliefs persist in the absence of strong evaluative institutions to test ideas against logic and evidence, weeding out those that fail. As a result national learning is slow and forgetting is quick. The external environment is perceived only dimly, through a fog of myths and misperceptions.

States that misperceive their environment in this way are bound to fail to adapt to it, even when the penalties of such failure are high. Blind to the incentives they face they will respond inappropriately, even if they accept in principle the need to adapt.

The following two sections frame reasons why self-evaluation is hard for organizations and outline ways that parallel problems inhibit evaluation in governments and whole societies. The next two sections detail tactics used by opponents to inhibit or prevent evaluation and frame conditions that are more and less conducive to self-evaluation. The last two sections look at cases that shed light on this theory and offer concluding thoughts.

Aaron Wildavsky contends that organizations poorly evaluate their own policies and beliefs because they often turn against their own evaluative units, attacking or destroying them.

Evaluation promotes innovation and change. This threatens the jobs and status of incumbent members of the organization. Hence incumbents often seek to hamper or prevent evaluation and to punish evaluators. These incumbents tend to dominate the organization’s decision making, so evaluation finds itself with stronger enemies than friends within the organization. Hence self- evaluation is often timid and ineffective.

Targets of evaluation can create competing units to produce pseudo-evaluation and disinformation that drowns out the voice of evaluation. Or they can refuse to cooperate with evaluators. Specifically, they can withhold or doctor data that evaluators need for their evaluation, or they can bargain for leniency in exchange for data. Or they can threaten evaluators with social ostracism or coopt them with personal friendship.

Source: http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=393

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Prof Goldsmith about Dr. Repacholi
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1599006/

When Richard Nixon abused power, Congress held a serious, bi-partisan investigation that resulted in articles of impeachment. Strong evidence suggests that George Bush and Dick Cheney launched an illegal war and lied to Congress, spied on Americans without court approval, leaked classified information, produced phony news reports, imprisoned without charge and tortured, targeted civilians and used illegal weapons. Urge your Representative to join the 27 sponsors of House Resolution 635 for a Watergate-style investigation.

Email Congress: http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=8329176

Learn more: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/5768


We Can Make a Difference At Home We're gearing up for demonstrations at Congress Members' homes and neighborhoods.

If you have a website, please use this image

to link to this page http://www.democrats.com/cd

Register here: http://www.democrats.com/user/register

Read the whole plan: http://www.democrats.com/cd

Join with Progressive Democrats of America to organize your congressional district: http://pdamerica.org/orgs/cdpp-form.php


Stop Bush's Plan to Let the United Arab Emirates Operate U.S. Ports
George Bush says he didn't know about the deal to put the United Arab Emirates in charge of the ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia, plus military equipment going through Beaumont and Corpus Christi. But he still supports it 1000% and promises to veto any bill to stop the deal. Tell your Representatives to stop Bush's plan. http://democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/78


Video of Rally on Feb. 15 in Santa Cruz This was a great event! Watch this video of the highlights. First to speak is Sherry Conable, leading activist in Santa Cruz, followed by Karen Meredith who lost her son in the war, then Louis LaFortune of Santa Cruz, David Swanson who co-founded After Downing Street, and Medea Benjamin who co-founded CODE PINK. http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1803524.php


One Page of Links to Info on Impeaching Bush and Cheney http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/8106


UPCOMING EVENTS TO END THE WAR AND HOLD WARMAKERS ACCOUNTABLE

Sign up for these, find others, and create your own at http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/event

See Also: UFPJ's 3rd Anniversary of the War Calendar of Events http://unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?caltype=39&lcountry=&state=&search=Search

See Also: PDA Events http://pdamerica.org/events/main-list.php

Cindy Sheehan and Martin Sheen in Pasadena SAT, FEB. 25th 7:00 PM All Saints Episcopal Church, 132 N. Euclid Ave, Pasadena Emcee, MIMI KENNEDY... Activist & Actor; REV. ED BACON... Rector, All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena; FERNANDO SUAREZ, JANE BRIGHT, BILL MITCHELL..., Gold Star Families for Peace; PABLO PEREDES... War Resister; TIM GOODRICH... Iraq Veterans Against the War; STEVE SHERRILL, ED ELLIS... Veterans For Peace; ARLENE INOUYE... CAMS, Teachers & Students; SONALI KOLHATKAR, DON WHITE... KPFK; SALLY MARR & PETER DUDAR... "Arlington West" Filmmakers. http://www.arlingtonwestfilm.com

Scott Ritter Speaking in Texas February 25, 8-9:30 p.m. St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church 14311 Wells Port Drive, Austin Doors open 6:00 PM. Come early for pre-event live music. Moderated by "Deadline Live" host JACK BLOOD

Sunday, February 26, 5 - 6:30 p.m. Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church 2025 W. 11th Street, Houston Doors open 4:00 PM. Seating is first-come, first-served. http://www.ustourofduty.org and http://www.neoconned.info

National Call-In Day to Oppose More Money for War February 28 Call your Congress Member and Senators and tell them to vote against supplemental spending on the Iraq War. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/7931

Stop the Katrina Evictions February 28 Demand a stop to evictions, demand trailers for survivors, and demand passage of H.R. 4197. Press Conference: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Rayburn House Office Building – Room #2237 Mardi Gras Style March for Justice: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. from Capitol South Metro Stop at 12:00 p.m. to the White House Rally & Protest at the White House: 12:00 p.m. – 11:59 p.m. Lafayette Park FLYER: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/stopkatrina.pdf

Panel Discussion Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, author of “Sham Dunk: Cooking Intelligence for the President” Chapter 18 of Neo-CONNED! Again Stephen J. Sneigoski, PhD, author of “Neoconservatives, Israel, and 9/11: The Origins of the U.S. War on Iraq” Chapter 6 of Neo-CONNED! Again J. Forrest Sharpe, editor of Neo-CONNED! and Neo-CONNED! Again March 2, 2006, 6-8 p.m. Barnes and Noble, 555 – 12th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001 (Metro Center) http://www.neoconned.info

Is There a Case for Impeachment? March 2, 8 p.m. A public forum featuring Lewis H. Lapham, Rep. John Conyers, Michael Ratner, Elizabeth Holtzman, and John Dean, moderated by Sam Seder. Town Hall, 123 W 43rd St, New York, NY http://www.ticketmaster.com

A Day of Events in San Diego Friday, March 3 Lunch at Catfish Club, featuring: David Swanson, Ann Wright; UCSD Anti-War Rally, http://www.truthout.org ; 6:30 p.m. panel discussion, featuring: Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wright, David Swanson, John Amato. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6744

4th Annual Party for Progressives! Activist San Diego presents: We say NO to War! We Support Peace & Justice for All! Special Guest: CINDY SHEEHAN Sat March 4, 8 -11pm Balboa Park Club Ballroom, San Diego, CA Dancing to award winning dance band LIQUID BLUE To purchase tickets: 619-528-8383 or www.ActivistSanDiego.org


FORWARD THIS INFORMATION

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

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/21/opinion/main1334435.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories


Informant: Lew Rockwell