World-News

In an act of at least partial contrition, an officer in charge of the US military occupation of Babylon in 2003 and 2004 has offered to make a formal apology for the destruction his troops wrought on the ancient site.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041506G.shtml

A batch of 278 e-mails between lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a Bush administration official show a highly inappropriate relationship where gifts and business interests mixed freely and frequently, federal prosecutors said Friday.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041506A.shtml

Der vollständige Bericht des NDR ist hier zu finden: http://www3.ndr.de/ndrtv_pages_std/0,3147,OID2452324,00.html

Der Besitz einer alten Dame wird gegen ihren Willen verkauft. Kein Einzelfall. Neu ist hingegen, dass eine Zeitung nicht darüber berichten darf. Dem "Hamburger Abendblatt" ist es so ergangen, als es die Geschichte einer 67-Jährigen im Kreis Pinneberg veröffentlichte. Ein Gericht hatte der Frau zwei Betreuer zur Seite gestellt. Die Gemeinde kaufte ihr Grundstück, aber weder der Bürgermeister noch die Betreuer wollen dazu Stellung nehmen. Stattdessen wurde das "Hamburger Abendblatt" per Gerichtsbeschluss genötigt, sämtliche Namen in seinem Artikel vom 24. März zu schwärzen. Bemerkenswert ist, dass die Betreuer sich einen bekannten Medienanwalt in Berlin genommen haben - ausgerechnet jenen, der in der "taz" für Pressefreiheit kämpft. Zapp über die medialen Hintergründe einer menschlich bewegenden Geschichte. [.....]

Der vollständige Bericht des Hamburger Abendblatts ist hier zu finden:
http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2006/04/15/553528.html

Der Fall der alten Dame: Gericht hebt Maulkorb auf Betreuungsaffäre: Erfolg für Thea Schädlich (68). Neuer Etappensieg für betreute Rentnerin, deren Haus gegen ihren Willen verkauft wurde. Entscheidung hat Mustercharakter für Pressefreiheit. [....]

In dem Verfahren vor dem Landgericht Berlin, das für die Pressefreiheit und den Umgang mit betreuten Menschen Züge eines Musterprozesses hat, hatten die Richter es als eine Frage von allgemeinem öffentlichen Interesse bezeichnet, ob einem Menschen verwehrt werden könne, sich hilfesuchend an die Presse zu wenden - auch wenn er unter Betreuung stehe.

Absurde Folge der neuen Landgerichts-Entscheidung: Weil das Abendblatt den Prozeß gegen Thea Schädlich gewonnen hat, muß die alte Dame jetzt für die Prozeßkosten aufkommen. Denn ihr Betreuer, handelnd in ihrem Namen, hatte die Redaktion verklagt. Auf eine Erstattung der eigenen Anwaltskosten verzichtet das Abendblatt selbstverständlich. Dagegen muß Thea Schädlich jetzt die Gerichtskosten von 2232 Euro zahlen und zusätzlich den Anwalt, den ihr der Betreuer aufgezwungen hatte. Seine Anwaltskosten belaufen sich derzeit auf etwa 6500 Euro.

Den Namen des Betreuers, der den Grundstücksverkauf getätigt hatte, darf das Abendblatt weiter nicht nennen.



Ein Fall für den Landtag

Im Hamburger Abendblatt der Bericht von den Ermittlungen in einem anderen Betreuer-Verbrechen: http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2006/04/21/555037.html

Der Fall der alten Dame - jetzt ist er ein Thema im Landtag: Die FDP-Fraktion im schleswig-holsteinischen Landtag in Kiel will den Fall der betreuten Thea Schädlich (68) aus Kummerfeld, deren Grundstück von ihren Betreuern gegen ihren Willen an die Gemeinde verkauft wurde, parlamentarisch aufarbeiten... Die Ausschußvorsitzenden wurden aufgefordert, dafür zu sorgen, daß zu den Debatten Vertreter des Ministeriums für Justiz, Arbeit und Europa entsandt werden. Diese sollen auch Auskunft geben über den Stand des staatsanwaltlichen Ermittlungsverfahrens gegen die Betreuer der alten Dame.


Nachrichten vom Werner-Fuß-Zentrum
Scharnweberstr. 29
10247 Berlin
http://www.psychiatrie-erfahrene.de

--------

Heute im Hamburger Abendblatt: http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2006/05/10/561153.html

Zwar scheint nur die bürgerliche Angst vor der Enteignung dies bewirkt zu haben, und nicht die von den Opfern als Folter empfundene psychiatrische Zwangsbehandlung, aber trotzdem ist es gut, dass die ins Vielfache gesteigerte Entmüdigung (irreführend "Betreuung" genannt) in die mediale Aufmerksamkeit gekommen ist. Schutz kann allerdings nur die Vorsorgevollmacht bieten: http://www.vo-vo.de/index2.htm


Der Fall der alten Dame - er hat bundesweit für Schlagzeilen gesorgt

Der Fall der alten Dame: Thea Schädlich - im vergangenen Februar stand sie eines Tages in der Redaktion der "Pinneberger Zeitung" und erzählte ihre Geschichte. Erst griff die Regionalausgabe das Thema auf, dann das Hamburger Abendblatt selbst. Und nach und nach berichteten auch andere Medien wie der NDR, der "Spiegel" und die "Süddeutsche Zeitung" über die Betreuungsaffäre und den zeitweise verhängten Maulkorb gegen die Redaktion. Eine Chronik:

# 25. März: "Die schrullige Frau und das Haus": "Spiegel Online" berichtet über den Fall und wirft die Frage auf: "Wer schützt hilfsbedürftige Menschen vor derartiger Betreuung?"

# 29. März: "Zapp", das Medienmagazin des NDR, sendet eine knapp acht Minuten lange Reportage über die "Hintergründe einer menschlich bewegenden Geschichte" - und die juristischen Auseinandersetzungen um die Abendblatt-Berichterstattung: "Gerüchte oder Fakten - genau darüber wollen auch die Reporter vom Hamburger Abendblatt berichten, doch sie dürfen nicht." Vor und nach der TV-Ausstrahlung versucht der Betreuer gegen den Willen von Thea Schädlich, auch diesen Bericht zu verhindern.

# 4. April: "Wie eine alte Frau ihr Haus verlor" - auch die "Kieler Nachrichten" berichten über Thea Schädlich. Der Fall werfe "Fragen auf, die schlaglichtartig auch die gesamte Betreuungsproblematik beleuchten", so das Blatt.

# 10. April: Auf zwei Seiten nimmt sich das Nachrichtenmagazin "Der Spiegel" des Falls an. Überschrift: "Da kommt keiner zwischen" - eine Anspielung auf die für Betroffene undurchdringbare Allianz von Betreuern und Vormundschaftsrichtern, die es möglicherweise auch im Fall Thea Schädlich gibt.

# 24. April: Mit der Überschrift "Betreutes Schreiben" berichtet die "Süddeutsche Zeitung" auf ihrer Medienseite groß über die "bizarre Medienaffäre", in der das Abendblatt zeitweise keinen Ort und keine Namen nennen durfte. Der Grundstücksverkauf "rieche nach Mauschelei", so die Zeitung.


Werner-Fuss-Zentrum
Scharnweberstr. 29
10247 Berlin
http://www.psychiatrie-erfahrene.de

British officers took part in a US war game aimed at preparing for a possible invasion of Iran, despite repeated claims by the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, that a military strike against Iran is inconceivable.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041506X.shtml

April 14th, 2006

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3238

United for Peace and Justice opposes any military action against Iran, as well as covert action and sanctions. We reject the doctrine of "preventive war." All diplomatic solutions must be pursued.

Send a clear message to the Bush Administration: Don't Attack Iran! As a first and immediate step, we urge you to add your signature and comments to AfterDowningStreet's petition to President Bush and Vice-President Cheney opposing an attack on Iran.

Many UFPJ member groups, including AfterDowningStreet, Gold Star Families for Peace, CodePINK: Women for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America, Democracy Rising, and others, are all promoting this petition. UFPJ encourages you to circulate this message and help expand the growing list of signers.

Efforts to resolve any dispute with Iran should include promoting negotiations –- including Israel –- on a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the Middle East. We call for the global elimination of nuclear weapons. The United States should stop blocking negotiations on abolition and demonstrate leadership by taking steps to fulfill its own nuclear disarmament obligation. We call for the development and promotion of sustainable energy alternatives. We need to stop going to war for oil. And we need to address climate change. But nuclear power is not the answer: Every nuclear power plant is a potential bomb factory and a source of radioactive waste that will remain deadly forever.

Additional Iran resources and action items will be available shortly on the UFPJ website.

And, be sure to join us in New York on April 29 in the national March for Peace, Justice and Democracy.

BACKGROUND

Seymour Hersh's stunning article in the April 17 New Yorker, "The Iran Plans," revealed that the Bush administration has intensified planning for bombing Iran, and that U.S. combat troops are already in Iran preparing for military operations and recruiting local supporters from minority groups. Of gravest concern, Hersh reported that the Bush administration is giving serious attention to the option of using nuclear weapons to attack buried targets.

From Hersh's article and other sources, it has become clear that the administration is prepared to launch an attack should Iran not accede to U.S. demands that it abandon its uranium enrichment activities. Regardless of whether the nuclear issues can be resolved, the administration seems committed to regime change in Iran.

An attack on Iran would be an act of aggression, barred by the UN Charter and prosecuted at Nuremberg. If executed, U.S. military action would apply the Bush doctrine of “preventive” war in an unprecedented way that would set the template for years or decades of regional and global violence, unrestrained by law. U.S. use of nuclear weapons against Iran would be an atrocious act violating the existing near taboo that has held since the U.S. devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That would in turn make it far more likely that the weapons will be used elsewhere as well -- including against cities in the U.S.

While Washington accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear power program, in violation of its obligations as a non-nuclear nation under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
(NPT), the U.S. is itself in blatant violation of its own NPT obligation to eliminate its vast and sophisticated nuclear arsenal. There is no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. The U.S., however, retains a nuclear arsenal of more than 10,000 weapons, some 2,000 on hair-trigger alert. With nearly 500 tactical nuclear weapons deployed in 6 NATO countries, the U.S. is the only country with nuclear weapons deployed on foreign soil. And the U.S. is modernizing its existing nuclear weapons and publicly making plans to develop and produce new ones.


Informant: Walter Lippmann



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/

By Roger Harrabin
BBC Environment Correspondent

M-way jam (BBC)

The UK's own carbon emissions have gone up recently The world is likely to suffer a temperature rise of more than 3C, says the UK government's chief scientist.

That would cause drought and famine and threaten billions of lives, said Professor David King in a report based on computer predictions.

Tony Blair wants a global consensus on stabilising greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for climate change. The government shares the EU's 2C limit.

The US refuses to cut emissions, and those of India and China are rising. The government report says a 3C rise would cause:

# A drop worldwide of between 20 and 400 million tonnes in cereal crops
# About 400 million more people at risk of hunger
# Between 1.2bn and 3bn more people at risk of water stress

At such a temperature, it said, few ecosystems could adapt
(natural forests could not); half of nature reserves would cease to be worthwhile [perish] and at least a fifth of the remaining coastal wetlands would be lost.

Agreement 'unlikely'

Prime Minister Tony Blair said recently in New Zealand he wanted the world to agree a level for stabilising greenhouse gas emissions.

He wants to stabilise the climate at an increase of no more than 2C, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Downing Street.

Threat

The forecast effects of a 3C temperature rise are made in Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change, a report based on early computer modelling by the UK's Hadley Centre, a world leader in climate projection!

It said the world absolutely must hold temperature rise to below 2C despite the opposition of the United States, and the need for China and India to increase their economies to tackle poverty.

The scale of the mis-match between climate science and climate politics highlight the discrepancy between the UK government's stated goals and the figures on which its policies are based. How the changes in UK government attitude can bring about the immediate turnaround of global practices is uncertain, and thus defines the very modest measure of the chances of environmental survival.


Informant: Millennium Twain

--------

Stark warning over climate change

By Richard Black

Environment Correspondent,
BBC News website

Rising concentrations of greenhouse gases may have more serious impacts than previously believed, a major scientific report has said.

The report, published by the UK government, says there is only a small chance of greenhouse gas emissions being kept below "dangerous" levels.

It fears the Greenland ice sheet is likely to melt, leading sea levels to rise by 7m (23ft) over 1,000 years.

The poorest countries will be most vulnerable to these effects, it adds.

The report, Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change, collates evidence presented by scientists at a conference hosted by the UK Meteorological Office in February 2005.

The conference set two principal objectives: to ask what level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is too much, and what the options are for avoiding such a level.

It's the irreversibility that I think brings it home to people
Margaret Beckett

In the report's foreword, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair writes that "it is now plain that the emission of greenhouse gases... is causing global warming at a rate that is unsustainable."

Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said the report's conclusions would be a shock to many people.

"The thing that is perhaps not so familiar to members of the public... is this notion that we could come to a tipping point where change could be irreversible," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We're not talking about it happening over five minutes, of course, maybe over a thousand years, but it's the irreversibility that I think brings it home to people."

Vulnerable ecosystems

The report sets out the effects of various levels of temperature increase.

The European Union (EU) has adopted a target of preventing a rise in global average temperature of more than two degrees Celsius.

But that, according to the report, might be too high, with two degrees perhaps enough to trigger melting of the Greenland ice sheet.

This would have a major impact on sea levels globally, though it would take up to 1,000 years to see the full predicted rise of 7m.

Above two degrees, says the report, the risks increase "very substantially", with "potentially large numbers of extinctions" and "major increases in hunger and water shortage risks... particularly in developing countries".

'Without delight'

The report asked scientists to calculate which greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere would be enough to cause these "dangerous" temperature increases.

No country is going to turn off a power station which is providing much-desired energy for its population to tackle this problem
Sir David King

Currently, the atmosphere contains about 380 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas of concern, compared to levels before the industrial revolution of about 275ppm.

To have a good chance of achieving the EU's two-degree target, levels should be stabilised at 450ppm or below, the report concludes.

But, speaking on Today, the UK government's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, said that was unlikely to happen.

"We're going to be at 400 ppm in 10 years' time, I predict that without any delight in saying it," he said.

"But no country is going to turn off a power station which is providing much-desired energy for its population to tackle this problem - we have to accept that.

"To aim for 450 (ppm) would, I am afraid, seem unfeasible."

But Myles Allen, a lecturer on atmospheric physics at Oxford University, said assessing a "safe level" of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was "a bit like asking a doctor what's a safe number of cigarettes to smoke per day".

"There isn't one, but at the same time people do smoke and live until they're 90," he told Today.

On the other question asked at the 2005 conference - what are the options for avoiding dangerous concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? - the report says that technological options to reduce emissions do exist.

It concludes that the biggest obstacles to the take up of technologies such as renewable sources of energy and "clean coal" lie in vested interests, cultural barriers to change and simple lack of awareness.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/4660938.stm

Published: 2006/01/30 11:00:31 GMT

© BBC MMVI

A message from Cassandra

What is Happening on May 1st?

May 1st is our day! It is being called "The Great American Boycott 2006" or "El Gran Paro Americano 2006" The marches and rallies of the past month have been a great success for a call to action and now, that action is amost here! It is our day to show this country once and for all that immigrants are far more important than many Americans are willing to admit. We believe that every person who has a love for this country and is willing to become a contributing and benefiting member to socitety should be afforded the oppurtunity to become a citizen!

Immigrants contribute over 7 billion dollars a year in social security. They earn 240 billion, report 90 billion, and only are reimbursed 5 billion. "Where are the 85 billion?" They also contribute to the U.S. economy 25 billion more than they receive in healthcare, etc., etc., etc. According to the anti-immigrant politicians and hate-mongers, "immigrants are a drain on society." If this is true, then during the day on May 1st the stock market will surge and the economy will boom. If not, we prove them wrong once and for all. We know what will happen!

The main points of unity for May 1st will be:

NO WORK! NO SELLING! NO BUYING! NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER!

(There has been much support of kids not going to school, we exactly agree. The greatest protest for an immigrant, ESPECIALLY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, IS TO GO TO SCHOOL. GO TO SCHOOL NO MATTER WHAT! May 1st, go to school, don't buy anything, sell anything, and join the rallies in your area after school is over!)

This will be followed by marches and rallies in cities and areas of commerce all over the United States!

For more info:
http://www.myspace.com/weareamerica

Biotech Activists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 13, 2006

TREBES, France - April 13 - Massive police presence as Greenpeace, Jose Bove from Faucheurs Volontaires and Confederation Paysanne occupied Monsanto's seed facility in Trebes, France. Over 75 activists have occupied the facility and are currently holding a citizens inspection in the search for genetically engineered (GE) maize seeds. They have demanded that Monsanto and the French authorities stop import and distribution of GE maize seed into France.

"We are here to demand that the French authorities ban GE seed and in the interim corporate conglomerate Monsanto must stop hiding where these environmentally destructive maize seeds are to be grown. Farmers and consumers have the right to know where GE seeds are entering agriculture and the food-chain, so they can protect themselves against genetic contamination." Said Jose Bove from Faucheurs Volontaires.

The 'GE free citizens inspection unit' consisting of over 100 conventional and organic farmers, members of the public and activists from across Europe were welcomed by over 50 policemen, including some with police dogs. But over 75 activists managed to occupy the facility affectively shutting it down. The protesters aim to stop distribution of GE maize seeds, and to influence the new GE law currently being discussed in the French parliament. The new law, if passed, would allow massive genetic contamination of both organic and conventional maize. (1)

"We are putting Monsanto on notice, along with each and every Biotech firm that is contaminating our fields and our food supply now - or has future plans to introduce GE seeds - this is the beginning, we will not stop until France is declared a GE free zone." Said Olivier Keller, national secretary of the Confederation Paysanne.

"GE is harming the environment and is causing genetic contamination of the food-chain and agriculture, thus threatening the right of farmers and consumers to grow and eat GE free food. Recently thousands have taken in to the streets in Vienna, France and other countries around the world to protest against these unjust practices. Governments must now listen to their people and 'cease and desist' on the importation and growing of GE seed." Said Geert Ritsema, Greenpeace International GE campaigner.

Yesterday the Slovakian inspectorate of environment published a decision that states Monsanto will not distribute there GE maize for the 2006 growing season, effectively shutting out, sales of GE maize for the next year. The halt was put in place, due in part, to pressure from Greenpeace on the Slovakian inspectorate to answer growing concerns about environmental damage and contamination caused by GE maize. (2)

"Resistance against GE in our fields and food has been growing globally since its release onto the market nearly 10 years ago. In Europe alone
172 regions have declared themselves GE free, and around the world many other governments, farmers and citizens are uniting to keep their countries GE free." Concluded, Geert Ritsema Greenpeace International GE campaigner.

Relevant Document Greenpeace International GE Maize briefing http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/BTMaizeBriefing2006

Notes to Editors

(1) It is expected that a draft of the genetically modified organism law will have its final reading in the French Parliament soon. The draft law would allow the presence of 0.9 percent of GE maize in all maize fields in France. According to Greenpeace and independent lawyers this will not only lead to massive genetic contamination of the French countryside, but it will also undermine freedom of choice for consumers and farmers and violate current EU legislation.

(2) On April 12th the inspectorate of environment in Slovakia published a decision halting - for the 2006 growing season - any commercial sales of genetically engineered (GE) maize seeds of the type MON810 produced by US based biotech giant Monsanto. GE maize variety MON 810 is the only genetically engineered crop that is allowed for cultivation throughout the EU.


Informant: Ethan X

President Bush is piously opposed to leaks, unless he's the person doing the leaking.

http://www.fcnp.com/606/thomas.htm


From Information Clearing House

Government spending hit an all-time high for a single month in March, pushing the budget deficit up significantly from the red-ink level of a year ago.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060412/ap_on_go_ot/monthly_budget_3


From Information Clearing House

Various human rights groups -- such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Laogai Research Foundation -- say donated organs in China often come from executed prisoners, and there are concerns that prisoners' wishes are not always respected.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14332620.htm


From Information Clearing House

Thirst for profit

The corporate hijack of water is on and if the current trend continues, India's water sources will be in private hands.

http://www.flonnet.com/fl2307/stories/20060421005000400.htm


From Information Clearing House

Col. Larry Wilkerson (Ret.) Former Chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, talks about ideology and Middle East foreign policy.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12730.htm



Retired general's call puzzles Rumsfeld aides

Of the smattering of retired generals who have called on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign, none has surprised the Pentagon's inner circle more than retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060413-113036-4341r.htm


From Information Clearing House

The United States and Iran seem to have firmly set on a path that leads to the hell of war.

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27264942.shtml



Silent Nuclear Submarines Add to Iran Tensions

The silent submarine forces of the United States, Israel and Iran are all ramping up for a hot war, adding yet more tension to an already volatile Middle East - made all the more uneasy by Iran's relentless march to become a nuclear power.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/4/12/222400.shtml



'I feel like I did in the Vietnam days - I hate to pay taxes just so they can go and bomb more people'.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1753799,00.html


From Information Clearing House

--------

NEO-CRAZY PLANS FOR IRAN
http://www.antiwar.com/prather/?articleid=8853


Informant: Kev Hall



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/

In a message dated 4/14/2006 10:22:55 PM, tracyjones23 writes:

<< New Move by the FDA May Affect Your Health

Sometimes, once in a blue moon, the FDA does a positive thing regarding health. The agency just announced plans to review mercury poisoning from dental amalgam. It is especially interested in the neurotoxic effects of dental fillings.

But even more incredibly, the agency is requesting the attendance of anyone who can comment on their experience with mercury. In fact, the FDA wants you to attend even if you have a disability. And it will make special accommodations if you need them.

This is a rare opportunity for you to make a huge difference with this draconian agency. Your input may do millions of Americans more good than scores of ignorant dentists and “scientists.” If you have a story about mercury to tell, please forward your information to the FDA.

It’s way past time to stop the poisoning of innocent victims with mercury. Additionally, it will have a very positive secondary effect. There will be far less mercury contamination of the environment once dentists stop using it. Please let the FDA know your story.

If you or someone you know had problems with mercury, tell the agency. Tell the agency you want the poison eliminated from people’s mouths. It causes innumerable health problems. And the mercury becomes an environmental hazard when dentists replace it and throw the mercury away – or when the deceased are cremated.

It’s astounding that the FDA will fine a dentist for improperly disposing of waste amalgam, but not for using it in your mouth. Please take advantage of this great opportunity to be heard.

If you want to give your comments to the agency, please send an e-mail to Michael.Adjodha@fda.hhs.gov.

You may also call him at 301-827-5283, or “snail mail” him at Center for Devices and Radiological Health (HFZ-480), Food and Drug Administration, 9200 Corporate Blvd., Rockville, MD 20850).

You know how I feel about the FDA. I know many of you feel the same. But let's not waste this opportunity by bashing the FDA to this one man. Please only write to him if you have experience with mercury fillings. And please focus on sharing your experience.

If you would like to attend the meetings, they are scheduled for September 6th and 7th at the Holiday Inn in Gaithersburg, MD. Before attending, please call the Information Line for up-to-date information on the meeting: 1-800-741-8138 301-443-0572 in the Washington, DC area), code 3014512518.

And if you require special accommodations, please contact Ann Marie Williams, Conference Management Staff, 240-276-0450 ext. 113, at least 7 days in advance of the meeting.

Yours for better health and medical freedom,

Robert Jay Rowen, MD

Second Opinion Health Alerts are a complimentary
e-mail service from the Second Opinion health
newsletter written by Robert J. Rowen, MD.
Copyright © 2005 Soundview Communications, Inc.

To contact us:

Second Opinion
P.O. Box 467939
Atlanta, GA 31146
800-791-3213
770-399-5617
feedback@secondopinionnewsletter.com


Informant: JHW369

--------

EPA Is Ordered to Release Documents on Mercury Rule

A federal magistrate ordered the US Environmental Protection Agency to release internal documents to Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly about how the federal agency arrived at a controversial rule to regulate mercury emissions from power plants.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041406HA.shtml

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0414-31.htm

No Military Solution
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0414-20.htm

Congressman Dennis Kucinich Demands Answers From Administration About US Troops In Iran
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0414-06.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0414-05.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/

I can think of no better, easier way to have a significant impact on a horribly dysfunctional political system than the clean money campaign. The idea makes so much sense that it will be hard for the corporations to discredit it.

Please sign and forward:
http://tinyurl.com/q5d97

Thanks,

Mark Phillips

By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Apr 10, 2006, 01:48

Upcoming elections around the world are pinning neocons against the wall and are heralding a return to democratic socialism and progressive populism, much to the anger and angst of international bankers, militarists, and reactionary Abrahamic tradition religious sects and movements.

The election in Italy is a case in point. With neo-fascist Silvio Berlusconi trailing in the polls, he has resorted to accusing China's Mao of boiling babies to make fertilizer and called his Communist-Socialist opponents "coglioni," a vulgar term defined variably as prick, asshole, moron, and idiot.

U.S. ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield is spinning a Venezuelan vegetable, egg, and fruit protest pelting of his motorcade as some sort of terrorist attack. The U.S. State Department complained to Venezuela's ambassador in Washington that Venezuela was in violation of the international treaty on the protection if diplomats.

Spinning an unfounded conspiracy theory (they are only conspiracy theories when the left-wing cites them), State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the incident in a poor Caracas neighborhood was condoned by the city's mayor, police, and local government. McCormack vowed that the United States will not be intimidated by such attacks of vegetables, fruit, and eggs on U.S. diplomatic vehicles.

U.S. embassy spokesman Brian Penn bemoaned, ''Our car is stained all over . . . the motorcyclists were throwing things at us for at least 10 minutes, and the police did nothing." Penn did not indicate whether there were any funds left in the embassy's CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency slush funds used to foment insurrections, secessionist movement, coups, street protests, and election chicanery to afford a car wash for the ambassador's car.

Meanwhile, as Ollanta Humala, an ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales, looks set to capture Peru's presidency, the neocon and corporate media are ringing "alarm bells" about the leftist surge in Latin America. And Washington's pro-corporate and militarist elite has turned up the heat on Humala, a populist former military officer who champions the rights of Peru's poor and native Americans, including coca farmers.

Dennis Jett, Bill Clinton's ambassador to Lima from 1996 to 1999, said Humala is "just as wacky" as Chavez and Morales. Such rhetoric points to Jett, who was Clinton's ambassador to Mozambique, representing the "dark side" of the Democratic Party, the Democratic Leadership Council-aligned wing that is beholden to corporate special interests while at the same time appearing to oppose the Bush administration.

In Mozambique, Clinton's ambassador was opposed to the socialist policies of the government and once banned embassy and USAID officials from speaking to a pro-Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) journalist. Jett was also found to be in collusion with right-wing rebel forces of RENAMO, the former apartheid South Africa-supported Mozambican guerrilla movement. All this subterfuge occurred under the so-called enlightened worldview leadership of Bill Clinton.

The fact that the Democratic elite is resorting to the same name-calling as Berlusconi is an indication that recent mass pro-labor populist protests, strikes, and riots in France and the leftward sweep in Latin America will soon severely rip into the corporate interests of both the GOP and the elitist Democrats, along with their corporate financiers and entrenched neocon policymakers.

In October, socialist Leon Roldos looks set to win Ecuador's presidency. If that occurs, Washington already has placed an activist ambassador in Quito to turn up the heat on a socialist government in an oil-rich nation. Ecuador could end up as Latin America's second Venezuela, an oil-rich country opposed to Bush/neocon hegemony.

The most recent U.S. ambassador in Quito was Kristie Kenney, now posted to the coup-wracked Philippines where President Glorida Macapagal-Arroyo has been plagued by pro-Bush rebels within the Philippine military, and who is, conveniently, the wife of America's anti-Chavez provocateur ambassador to Venezuela, William Brownfield.

As the populist wave sweeps through Mexico and Nicaragua, where prospects look increasingly progressive and socialist, the real "coglioni" -- the neocons, free traders and international bankers, elitists of both U.S. duopolistic political parties, and religious fanatics will ultimately get their just rewards.

© 2005 WayneMadsenReport.com. All Rights Reserved.

Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is author of the forthcoming book, "Jaded Tasks: Big Oil, Black Ops & Brass Plates." He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_676.shtml


Only as of late, with all the Enron scandals and related crimes, people are waking up to the fact that the most dangerous psychopath of all is the educated, socially adept psychopath, in fact, Dr. Hare recently said that he would probably be able to find many psychopaths involved in the stockmarket. It is time for American to "wake up" says Dr. Wolman, because we are being threatened by a serious epidemic of psychopathy.

--Author unknown


Informant: Friends

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/printer_699.shtml


Informant: Friends

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4355/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

By Gary Simon
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Apr 14, 2006, 01:00

If some of us aren't expressing it, we're at least privately questioning the breakdown in federal and state law and the failure of leading officials to restore accountability to a system designed to represent, at least on the surface, a majority of its people.

We're flabbergasted that politicians of Faustian proportion could disrupt our checks and balances as effectively as they do and are just as astounded at the range of criminal activity within our federal, state and local governments. We're even more dismayed at the public's limp reaction to this usurpation of power.

Personally, I don't know which devil to admonish the most: Washington or my own neighbor, for both are guilty for what has happened to our lives, laws and Constitution.

We've allowed our leaders unlimited dips into the national well and have done little to pay closer heed to history's lessons.

As a result, the rich have gone on to enjoy unthinkable profits while the rest of us have been left behind with fewer benefits, protections and freedoms.

All of this intrusion into our private lives could possibly been avoided had we been on the lookout for two particular elements: first, the laying down of a national consciousness and second, the intrusion of that most troubling emotion: fear.

Thoreau, and not Roosevelt, first wrote about the poisonous state of fear without adequately explaining its daunting effect on our lives.

I can suggest however, that the less educated and informed a public is the more easily manipulated it becomes.

Conversely, while many of us are aware of the psychological unraveling that takes place when education is put on hold and fear raised to its highest level, we should likewise be prepared to take up the battle against fear and its accompaniment: propaganda.

It's baffling how certain Machiavellian maneuvers, such as the illegal invasion of another country, the illegal use of presidential powers, the illegal tampering with voting machines and the violation of human rights, to mention a few, can silence a democracy and derail its checks and balances.

Whenever I'm in the presence of those still in denial about this country's attacks upon itself, I often lose my audience before I can finish my first words.

I'm often conscious of my tone and usually go out of my way to lighten my message.

It still doesn't make much difference since my "audience" generally refuses to hear, probably because their government doesn't want them to hear.

That being the case, my running declaration of indictments won't do much to change their minds anytime soon, regardless of my approach.

Frankly, I don't believe certain groups of people want their minds changed.

I, on the other hand, find it incredulous that I'm even writing about these blemished and intrusive times.

I also find it incredulous that our country has lost its moral center.

I find it incredulous that we've lost our free press, an independent judiciary and an inspired leadership -- all in one Halliburton swoop.

I find it incredulous that after 230 years we're still a country devoid of enlightenment and lacking in reason and moral judgment.

If ever we had an American Renaissance or a commitment to a true national education, then the likes of a Cheney, Rumsfeld or Bush could not have made it to the front stage.

Fortunately, the real weapon against abusive power is not the military or any overt form of aggression but rather the power of the mind to see clearly the infractions that cancel and eradicate our freedoms.

This power calls upon us to put aside our own shortcomings and exert a universal willingness to defend that morality which already exists in the human psyche as well as in nature.

Men and women consumed with power have no knowledge of the labor that goes into the building of a national conscience.

Those who control the comings and goings of today's power lack, through their own improper conduct, a trusting conscience.

To their credit and that of their predecessors, whatever grit and compassion that were once a part of the national work force have now been removed.

Our salvation, therefore, must be to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and turn history on its side.

Only through unified and conscientious actions can a new door open and allow us to rebuild from a position of knowledge. In the end only enlightenment and reason can ensure a truer and more lasting democracy.

Whatever support system we had to preserve our views and freedoms has been craftily dissembled . . . but not while America slept.

No, America was definitely not asleep. This time around its mind was shut while its eyes were open with instructions from the top levels of government blurring most clear vision.

It was also during this time that Washington's money-changers -- its congressional representatives -- benefited heftily through favors and tradeoffs while the majority of its constituents moped quietly behind . . . but awake. And they're still awake. The difference now is they're being asked to see through a different pair of eyes.

In defense of the American citizenry, however, (and one can make an arguable defense) it has some most formidable opponents in Congress and Corporate America.

As much as this administration lacks in polish and sophistication, when it comes to exploiting fear and propaganda, certain key players have learned their history very well.

What we, the average citizen, essentially did was to allow oil and power to remain in the hands of crafty manipulators while our common sense was placed on hold.

Although those at the helm may tell a different story, the truth is that what began with the Rockefeller crowd over 100 years ago has escalated into an irreversible contest for oil and world domination today.

Because I consider myself one who still views the world with his own pair of eyes, I can't stop voicing the questions I raised five years ago: How did they get elected and why are they still here? How is it that the majority of us are still behaving as though there's no recourse to what could be considered impeachable offenses?

I think the answers may not be that elusive and that what makes us feel so stressed is that we're in too much denial. I have a hunch that the majority of us don't think about what we should be thinking about most of the time.

Instead it's all about what and how our leaders and, of course, the press instruct us.

It's about political persuasion and how the public, when caught between tragedy and patriotism, will stand behind the flag first as it did four years ago and will do 300 years hence.

Karl Rove knows this. Richard B. Cheney certainly knew this. Anyone connected with the Carlyle Group and G.W. have always known this.

Then why is it the rest of us don't?

It's safe to say this government isn't much different from the one we had at the turn of the century. This group is simply better at pooling its resources and molding a public to perform unconditionally at the first command of its leader. A public should be aware of how power and greed direct the workings of its government. However, the plain truth is that most people aren't that circumspect.

My mother once had an expression that she used on her children when events would turn against her. "You can't fight City Hall," she would utter at least once a month. It was the other 29 days that I used for querying: "Why -- why can't you fight City Hall?"

And I'm still asking, although I'm keenly aware that the deception which began with the first Rockefeller is very much alive and well in the current House of Oil.

I'm also aware that if I had spent an hour a day watching what most folks view on television, then I would probably have gone from stressed to jittery by now. The same would hold true had I eagerly followed politics, especially this administration's politics.

I'm further convinced that had I forced myself to study every mispronunciation, to listen to every disjointed comment of a national leader whose character has led to the lowering of educational, professional and business standards, then I would certainly have gone from jittery to thoroughly strained by now.

But the truth is I'm not following CNN, CBS and G-d help us all, Fox Entertainment.

The hours saved have gone to other beneficial uses, such as studying the dioxins in the air and reading up on the global warming that G.W denies. It's also afforded me the opportunity to seek out other individuals who are willing to speak openly and frankly about issues that concern them, subjects over which we might liberally agree. With them, with this circle of friends, I can think aloud and ponder true conservative subjects like health, job security, pentagon waste, White House waste, balanced budgets and government interference. In the presence of their camaraderie I can also hope that the FBI won't be overly zealous any time soon about breaking down my door.

I've always thought myself a liberal, and because of the mockery Reagan made of that now infamous word, it isn't inconceivable for me to imagine the FBI forcing its way through my front door.

Yet a party that falsifies an economy, ignores an unforgivable deficit, reinvents the Constitution, turns evolution on its backside and a country's open spaces into a wasteland, should have more problems than I do.

That's the party that should be looking over its shoulder. They're the ones who should be feeling the stress. Not me.

But they're not. Instead they're making people I care about more anxious by not giving them the news to which they're entitled -- news that reflects accurate investigative reporting. Most of what we hear is either about the "democratization" of Iraq, the "upholding" of our Constitution, the constant legislating of give-a-way programs to the Far Right, Gas & Oil and Timber & Forestry Industries and the "vision" our infamous leader has for "protecting" our Freedoms.

Yet, if a fraction of the "real" news actually leaked out and reached the ears of some of the public, would conditions be different? Possibly, but probably not, at least not until we start opening our minds.

As for me, I need to hear a truth which appears to have hit rock bottom. I need to see Justice out in the open and not just occasionally squeezed between the thousand heartbreaks and defeats. I need to see it enacted in the courtroom in my hometown, New Orleans, and I want to see the full scoop reported in the Times-Picayune and every Picayune from here to Washington.

I want to see an immediate halt to protecting millionaire politicians. I want to see the buck stop somewhere safe and go toward feeding hungry mouths. I want to see it judiciously directed away from the Michael Chertoffs and all future Michael Chertoffs yet to come.

What's more, I don't need ABC, NBC or NPR or anyone else to remind me of the silliness of our newscasting when it reports how the economy appears to be "running" on course or how "stabilization" is spreading throughout the Far East.

I thought that's what those sexy magazine tabloids at the checkout lines were all about. Besides, isn't Tom Cruise more important than finding bin Laden?

Isn't LSU or Florida State football more important than finding bin Laden? One would think so since no one wants to mention bin Laden.

But our media has no problem talking or writing about football and Tom Cruise 24/7.

Now why is that?

Furthermore, I don't wish to hear only what my government wants me to hear about war or be the butt of their jocularity as they sit around the Oval Office playing with sophomoric words like Homeland Security and Weapons of Mass Destruction and expect me not to gasp at the simplicity of it all.

Incredibly, every comical word and term this administration has dreamt up has found its way in to print.

They knew that the rest of us would be waiting for any forthcoming "news" since we usually accept all news as gospel. They also knew that unless we swallowed every syllable and paragraph then we'd run the risk of the unThinkable; we'd all be called unAmerican and unPatriotic. G-d, forbid!

A government built on fear is one that is to be feared and eventually to be removed.

If not, a government that feeds off the confusion of its own people will only result in the gradual eroding of everyone else's civil liberties and an increase in the anxiety felt in docile, democratic circles.

I don't think there's any question that the fear factor has been raised.

The question is why and for how long.

For the moment, though, just pause and look into everyone's eyes. Listen to their words. These are not the happy faces I saw during the Clinton years. At least then we were talking about halting the proliferation of guns and nuclear weapons. Now it's assumed that everyone who doesn't pack a weapon may need therapy or counseling or some serious schooling regarding our misread second amendment.

Years ago there were no bumbling speeches from important leaders who would deliberately involve us in preemptive war.

Only a decade ago we were setting aside public lands for our children and actually planning to preserve a heritage. Today it's not heritage we live with, but fear; fear of our government, fear of our employer and even fear of the people next door.

It's also fear that has since separated me from those with whom I occasionally meet casually. It's fear that has separated me from those who believe America's role should be that of the aggressor . . . and I don't.

It's fear that has separated me from those who believe it's America's role to dismantle social programs . . . and I don't. It's fear that has taught others to disrespect their own states' rights and civil liberties . . . and I don't.

I've also observed invisible and not so invisible walls going up that will take some time to lower.

Frankly, I can't see mine coming down anytime soon. Nor do I believe I would want them to; that is not until some very simple words like Health, Liberty, Democracy and Constitution are taken back into our lives and those precious walls of Justice and Freedom are protected, preserved and put in place once again.

But until that day arrives, I intend to stay a bit closer to home and a bit closer to others I choose to trust.

Whatever goes awry outside of my circle, I still might have some control.

If it goes too far, if the talk gets too loud or unfriendly, I'll still try to listen although I'll probably not agree.

And if it makes any difference, I won't shut the doors until I'm forced to.

However, there's one point I can guarantee and that is I won't change or reverse my thinking just to make others or a few grumbling neighbors happy.

If I did that I really wouldn't be American, now would I?

Copyright © 1998-2006 Online Journal

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_697.shtml


Informant: Friends

--------

Fear as a weapon

Mother Jones
by Glenn Greenwald

07/07/06

In one sense, it is difficult to understand how the Bush administration has been able to embrace such radical theories of executive power, and to engage in such recognizably un-American conduct -- first in the shadows and now quite openly -- without prompting a far more intense backlash from the country than we have seen. It is true that the president's approval ratings have sunk to new lows in 2004 and 2005. The broad and bipartisan support he commanded for the two years after the 9/11 attacks has vanished almost completely. And yet, despite all of the public opinion trends and the president's steadily declining popularity, there has been no resounding public rejection of the administration's claim to virtually limitless executive power and its systematic violations of the nation's laws...

http://tinyurl.com/nb6vz


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

By Sam Knight Times Online
April 14, 2006

The Government's chief scientist today gave his starkest warning yet about the world's increasing carbon emissions saying that even the best-case scenario put millions of lives at risk by the end of the century.

Professor Sir David King said that a 3C rise in global temperatures is likely within 100 years, a process that will lead to a rise in sea levels and increase in desertification that will place 400 million people at the risk of hunger. Parts of Britain will be flooded as the UK comes under coastal attack.

Developing countries will be the hardest hit, with ecosystems failing to adapt and between 20 million to 400 million tonnes of cereal production being lost, according to Sir David.

He said the temperature rise would be the consequence of carbon dioxide levels of 500 parts per million, roughly double those of the Industrial Revolution. The current carbon dioxide concentration stands at 380 parts per million, already the highest levels likely to have been experienced on Earth for 740,000 years.

Sir David said that his grim prediction was based on an optimistic reading of the world's ability to control its carbon emissions. Many scientists believe emissions could rise to 550 million parts per million and even larger temperature rises.

"The temperature rise could well be in excess of 3C and yet we are saying
500 parts per million in the atmosphere is probably the best we can achieve through global agreement," Sir David said.

He said that further increases in CO2 concentrations could put the situation beyond the planet's control.

"If we go beyond 500 parts per million we reach levels of temperature increase and sea level rise in terms of the coming century which would be extremely difficult for world populations to manage," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Until recently, the Government has been committed to restraining global carbon emissions to around 475 parts per million, believing that such a concentration could keep temperatures rising more than 2C. The Kyoto Protocols, signed in 1997 and set to expire in 2012, aimed at a concentration of 450 parts per million.

Last month Margaret Beckett, the Environment Secretary, admitted that the Government was set to miss its target of reducing Britain's emissions by 20 per cent by 2010, saying it was more likely to achieve cuts of between 15 and 18 per cent.

Sir David said it was crucial to confront the gloomy outlook with information and investment.

"We don¹t have to succumb to a state of despondency where we say that there is nothing we can do so let¹s just carry on living as per usual. It is very important to understand that we can manage the risks to our population," he said.

"What we are talking about here is something that will play through over decades - we are talking 100 years or so. We need to begin that process of investment. It is going to be a major challenge for the developing countries."

But Sir David, who has been criticised in the past for restraining his warnings on the advice of Government ministers, had stern words for politicians who say that carbon emissions can be controlled by the use of new, environmentally-friendly technologies.

"There is a difference between optimism and head in the sand," he said. "Quite clearly what we have to do as we move forward with these discussions is see that this consensus position of the scientific community is brought right into the table where the discussions are taking place."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2134760,00.html


Informant: NHNE

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4356/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

Apr 11, 2006 7:00 AM

WASHINGTON - A just-released study by researchers at the Swedish National Institute for Working Life found that long-term exposure to the radiation emitted by cell phones raises the odds of developing cancer. The largest such study to date compared 2,200 cancer patients with an equal number of healthy individuals and found that heavy users, defined as logging more than 2,000 hours, and those who started using the devices before age 20 had a higher risk of developing a malignant brain tumor, particularly on one side of their head.

“What the Swedish meta-analysis shows is that after a minimum latency period of about 10 years, you start to see tumor risks,” Dr. Louis Slesin, editor of the New York-based Microwave News, who has been covering the subject for 26 years, told The Examiner. In the early ’90s, only 10 to 12 million people used cellular phones, he added. But in the last five years alone, that number has swelled to 200 million worldwide. “Is this a warning sign or a statistical fluke?”

Despite increasing evidence linking such radiation to increased rates of childhood leukemia worldwide, “there’s not a single study being done on it in the U.S. today,” Slesin lamented. “Nothing. The industry is calling the shots, the government is terrified of this issue and nobody wants to hear about it.”

Anders Ahlbom, deputy director of Stockholm’s Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska, who has been studying the biological effects of such radiation for 20 years, found that the epidemiological evidence linking it to a 1 percent annual increase in childhood cancer was “rather strong and consistent” in the nine different European countries that studied it, and that the link became even stronger when the data was aggregated. Japanese and German teams reported similar results earlier this year. Scientists are still not sure how microwave radiation damages cells, but speculate that it may disrupt some electrical or chemical signals cells use to communicate.

Ignoring accumulating international evidence that cell phone radiation may be a health hazard, particularly to children, one company has even begun advertising cell phones for preschoolers. And Fairfax County has expanded its practice of installing cell phone monopoles on schools, telephone poles and park light towers without bothering to get permission from parents or local homeowners associations. The county is currently attempting to install another one on Mount Vernon High School over the objections of the PTA president and local residents — and bypassing the Planning Commission’s approval process.

Some cell towers are hidden in church steeples or disguised in fake trees, so people have no idea how much microwave radiation they or their children are absorbing. The levels are highest about 100 feet from the base of a tower. We agree with Slesin that “they should not be anywhere near a school building.”

However, the risk from cell phone towers pales in comparison with the phones themselves, which emit a thousand times more radiation. The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it would review wireless phone safety in light of the Swedish study. Until its completed, experts say the safest thing is to use a hands-free set and not have the phone attached anywhere on your body.

Adults who know the risks should be free to yak all they want. But shouldn’t we shield children as a precaution until we know more?

http://www.examiner.com/Opinion-a74346~Editorial__Keep_cell_phone_towers_away_from_schools.html


Informant: James River Martin

http://www.omega-news.info/over_230000_more_seals_will_die.htm



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

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/don-t-nuke-iran


Informant: Kev Hall



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/

Unknown News
by Helen & Harry Highwater

04/14/06

Are you awake yet, America? I'm wide awake, and worried. Are you worried with me, wondering what's next? Are you terrified? If you're not scared silly, that frightens me even more. Some people are seriously suggesting that the Constitution should be ignored, because it puts people's rights above Presidential power. Can Americans truly be this stupid? ...

The United States of America is not magically immune to totalitarianism, and we're flirting with it. It can happen here, and we're approaching the brink. It's amazing to me, how quickly so-called 'patriots' are willing to surrender Amerca's freedom. Patriots don't meekly and obediently surrender the nation's liberty on demand...

http://www.unknownnews.org/060414a-hh.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

My country, 'tis of thee, bittersweet land of diminishing liberty, of thee I weep.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12720.htm

Mit der Bitte um Veröffentlichung senden wir Ihnen folgende Pressemitteilung der ödp München:

20. Tschernobyl-Jahrestag - ödp erinnert an Atomgefahren:

Infostände in München – Anti-Atom-Postkarten an Stoiber

Am 26. April jährt sich die Atomreaktorkatatsrophe von Tschernobyl zum 20. Mal. Aus diesem Anlaß verteilt die ödp bei Infoständen am 6. Mai in München-Milbertshofen, Keferloherstraße Ecke Knorrstraße von 9 bis 13 Uhr und am 13. Mai in München-Schwabing, Leopoldstr. 75, vor Postamt 44, nähe Ecke Herzogstraße, Postkarten an Edmund Stoiber „für einen schnelleren Atomausstieg“. Mit der Aktion soll der CSU-Vorsitzende Edmund Stoiber aufgefordert werden, "nicht mehr für eine längere Reaktorlaufzeit einzutreten“. Mit einer zweiten Postkarte wird der österreichische Kanzler Schüssel aufgefordert, während der österreichischen EU-Ratspräsidentschaft für eine Aufhebung der EU-Atomkraftförderung einzutreten. „Die Atomenergie ist nach unserer Überzeugung ein zu großes Risiko – vom Uranabbau, unter dem viele Menschen in den Abbaugebieten leiden, bis hin zur völlig ungeklärten Endlagerung“, kritisiert ödp-Regionalbeauftragter Markus Hollemann.

Auch in deutschen Reaktoren gab es bereits schwere Störfälle, so Hollemann. "Niemand kann uns garantieren, dass bei uns eine Katastrophe und Verstrahlung weiter Teile Deutschlands ausgeschlossen ist“.

Nach Ansicht der ödp ist der „Atomausstieg“ der früheren rot-grünen Bundesregierung „ein Schwindel“. Es sei nämlich gar keine feste AKW-Laufzeit vereinbart, sondern eine bestimmte Stromproduktionsmenge garantiert worden: „Der rot-grüne Ausstiegsbeschluss bedeutet, dass fast noch einmal soviel Atomstrom und Atommüll erzeugt werden darf wie bisher. Deshalb hat die atomkraftkritische internationale Ärzteorganisation IPPNW recht, wenn sie den ‚Ausstieg’ als größtes Täuschungsmanöver der früheren Regierung bezeichnet“, so Hollemann.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

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., 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



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

In Coastal States, a Revival of Offshore Drilling Debate

The battle over offshore oil and gas drilling in the US is heating up. In Congress, a raft of bills dealing with offshore oil and gas has been introduced.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041306EC.shtml

http://tinyurl.com/md6yz



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/

*Excerpt

"Seeds of Change is now owned by M&M-Mars Candy: "Women are from Venus, Seeds are from Mars

"Earlier this year, Seeds of Change, an idealistic company formed in the 1980s to "preserve and spread a diversity of organic seeds through the gritty, caring hands of backyard gardeners," was bought out by M&M-Mars, Inc, the candy company. As Seeds of Change Vice President Steve French explained to the incredulous editors at Food & Water magazine, "I don't think there are any real differences between Seeds of Change and Mars.... whether it's a Mars product or it's a Seeds of Change product, the product benefits are very, very similar if we're talking about nutrition here."

--Earth Island Journal, Fall 98

---------------------------------------

http://www.corporganics.org/

What We Need to Know About the Corporate Takeover of the "Organic" Food Market

by Paul Glover

Most goods sold at GreenStar Co-op are chosen with a high degree of concern for the environmental and labor impacts of manufacture, and the health effects on shoppers.

GreenStar's Mission Statement emphasizes "exercising ecological responsibility and leadership in our choice of product line..." and "being sensitive to the working and living conditions of those whose labor produces the goods we sell..."

But exploring GreenStar's aisles, one finds that several of our favorite products are now owned by global corporations which damage the environment, oppress labor, and endanger world peace.

The good news is that there are alternatives to these products, and we should stock them. In fact, GreenStar can use its capital to help start new businesses which rely on local culinary talent to create new products of greater variety and quality.

HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

Bearitos, Bread Shop Granola, Celestial Seasonings, Garden of Eatin', Health Valley, Imagine Foods (Rice Dream), Terra Chips, and Westbrae (canned vegetables, soy drinks, pastas, Little Bear Corn Chips), are all owned by the Hain Food Group whose prime investments are managed by companies like "Wellington Management." Their principal stockholders are PHILIP MORRIS (cigarettes), MONSANTO (genetically modified food), CITIGROUP (rainforest destruction), (genetically modified foods), EXXONMOBIL (global warming), WAL-MART, ENTERGY NUCLEAR, LOCKHEED MARTIN (weapons), WASTE MANAGEMENT INC (giant landfills), PFIZER (drugs), MERCK (drugs), BANK OF AMERICA (racial discrimination) & (animal cruelty), etc.

All of the above are themselves significantly owned by Citigroup, "the World's Most Destructive Bank" --Rainforest Action Network.

Citigroup backs corporate prisons, Third World debt, genetic engineering, predatory lending, and rainforest destruction.

H.J. Heinz Co. owns nearly 20% of Hain:

Editorial in Natural Progressions, by Bob Swientek 11/99: "Back in April, I wrote in this column that the corporate suits (mainstream food manufacturers) were overrunning the tofu eaters (natural foods processors) at the Natural Products Expo-West.

Well, the "run" is now a full-fledged sprint. In September, Heinz bought a 19.5% stake in Hain Food Group for nearly $100 million. Hain, the leading producer of natural foods in the country with annual sales of $206 million in '99, acquired the Earth's Best baby food brand in the deal.

By gaining entry into the natural and organic foods arena, Heinz may be in the initial stages of reinventing itself.

It better...most of its businesses, including its profitable ketchup franchise, are slow growth." Heinz itself is owned by same mutual funds that own Hain, and its prime stockholders include the same multinationals. Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen are owned by Small Planet Foods which is owned by GENERAL MILLS, whose principal investors are PHILIP MORRIS, EXXONMOBIL, GENERAL ELECTRIC, CHEVRON, NIKE, McDONALD'S, TARGET STORES, STARBUCK'S, MONSANTO, DUPONT (weapons & pesticides), DOW CHEMICAL (Agent Orange, breast implants, napalm), PEPSICO, ALCOA ALUMINUM, DISNEY (exploit Third World labor), TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (weapons: one of GW Bush's top contributors), PFIZER. General Mills is also being boycotted for animal rights abuse.

Stoned Wheat Thins is made with GMOs and is owned by NABISCO, which has been bought by PHILIP MORRIS (12/00), which also owns KRAFT General Foods Philip Morris Boycott & In Fact & Nabisco/Labor & Nabisco News & pension funds & other

Odwalla Juice is owned by Coca-Cola, part of the Minute Maid unit. Coca-Cola prohibits unionizing:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire --

Edgar Paez, of the Colombian trade union Sinaltrainal, was joined on Monday by Teamster representatives, the AFL- CIO, members of the clergy, civil rights activists and political leaders as he described the brutal torture, kidnapping and murders of union workers in his country -- particularly those working at Coca-Cola bottling facilities.

The group assembled for a peace vigil in front of the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, GA. "My brothers and sisters in Colombia have suffered unspeakable horrors because they belong to a trade union," Paez said. "We stand united with American workers to demand that Coca-Cola stop the violence."

Coca-Cola paid $192.5 million to settle a U.S. racial discrimination lawsuit in 2000. Fresh Samantha, a Maine juice brand that merged with Odwalla in May 2000, "has already begun reducing its fresh-fruit content by boosting the water content-- a way to make juices cheaper and longer-lasting," according to Bill Sipper, marketing vice-president of the Ultimate Juice Company.

Boca Burgers is owned by Kraft Foods, which is owned by Philip Morris. Hearty & Natural veggie burgers is owned by Sunrich Food Group, which is owned by Stake Technologies, which is owned principally by Gruber & McBain Capital Management, whose principal investors are Boeing, Lockheed Martin and by Polymedica, whose principal investor is Safeco, whose principal investors are ExxonMobil, General Electric, and Citigroup.

Morningstar Farms (Kellogg's) has been contaminated by Starlink GM corn.

Silk Soy Drink is owned by White Wave, which is owned by Dean Foods (5/9/02), whose main shareholders are Microsoft, GE, Philip Morris, Citigroup, Pfizer, ExxonMobil, Coca Cola, Wal-Mart, PepsiCo, Home Depot.

Stonyfield Farm (yogurt) is not yet dominated by multinationals, but has "partnered" with GAIAM, whose major stockholders include IBM, EXXON, CITIGROUP, JOHNSON & JOHNSON, WAL-MART, and will be owned by Danone by 2004, which has been (like Nestlé) 'breaking code on baby milk for Third World' (1/17/03 http://www.independent.co.uk).

Danone is publicly traded: (DA) and has trace ownership by Citigroup, GE, Wal-Mart, Exxon, etc. Gardenburger is getting on the corporate gravy train, with 20% of its stock owned (8/02) by such companies as PFIZER, WAL-MART, MICROSOFT, CITIGROUP, AMERICAN EXPRESS, GILETTE, EXXON. Among their brokers is Patman Foods, a major factory farm meatpacker.

Arrowhead Water and Poland Spring Water are owned by NESTLE, which is being boycotted because its "breast milk substitute" causes the deaths of millions of babies. Nestle Boycott & breastfeeding.com & Baby Milk Action: "These babies are twins.(see photo) Their Pakistani mother was wrongly advised that she would not have enough breastmilk to feed both and so bottlefed her daughter while breastfeeding her son. The girl died the day after this photo was taken in Islamabad Children's Hospital. 'Use my picture,' said the mother, 'if it will help others not to make the same mistake.'"

Seeds of Change is now owned by M&M-Mars Candy: "Women are from Venus, Seeds are from Mars "Earlier this year, Seeds of Change, an idealistic company formed in the 1980s to "preserve and spread a diversity of organic seeds through the gritty, caring hands of backyard gardeners," was bought out by M&M-Mars, Inc, the candy company.

As Seeds of Change Vice President Steve French explained to the incredulous editors at Food & Water magazine, "I don't think there are any real differences between Seeds of Change and Mars.... whether it's a Mars product or it's a Seeds of Change product, the product benefits are very, very similar if we're talking about nutrition here."

--Earth Island Journal, Fall 98

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HERE'S A LIST of these multinational brands to print out.

Impact on Organic Standards & Supply

Some have said they welcome major corporate investment in the natural food market, as vindication of the value of natural foods.

We should be concerned, however, that control of the natural foods industry by fewer companies will result in multinational corporate control of organic acreage and marketing, forcing out smaller regional/family suppliers, reducing competition, leading to weakened organic standards (sewage sludge, irradiation, GMOs).

We have already seen the political effects of media integration-- once there were thousands of independent radio stations and daily papers, now there are a handful of TV networks and newspaper chains owned by these same corporations.

As well, payments by GreenStar shoppers to these companies reinforce corporate control of other markets and of lobbying, where they do great damage.

"If we don't pay attention to the politics of health food industry then we will shortly not have organics." --Milo MacTavish, manager, Whole Foods Co-op, Norfolk, VA

For additional corporate link updates, see also VeganBuyout

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HEALTH IMPACTS GreenStar's Mission Statement:

"Emphasizing the sale of nutritious food in as natural a state as possible." BOTTLED WATER BOYCOTT:

"Evian is Naive spelled backwards" "most bottled water is nothing more than tap water in a bottle" --New York State Department of Consumer Affairs

"Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?" FDA Rules for Bottled Water are Generally Less Strict than Tap Water Rules --Natural Resources Defense Council

"Every year 1.5 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water and toxic chemicals can be released during the manufacture and disposal of the bottles." --Worldwide Fund for Nature

"Bottled water may be no safer, or healthier, than tap water in many countries, while selling for up to 1,000 times the price." --World Wildlife Fund

"If you are concerned about the quality of your drinking water and regularly buy bottled water, you should invest in a water filter. The production, packaging, and transportation of bottled water uses an enormous amount of resources. Water filters are economical when compared to bottled water and much kinder to the earth." --Co-op America

Categories of Bottled Water

Breast cancer and plastic bottles

Increasing drinking water protection in New York State REJECTED: A.3205-C: "This legislation requires the water resources institute to prepare and disseminate information regarding cryptosporidium to those individuals who are more susceptible to illness caused by exposure to cryptosporidium. Cryptosporidium is a waterborne pathogen which may cause death to individuals with compromised immune systems and may cause illness to healthy individuals. It may be transmitted through bottled water as well as by way of regular tap water.

Consumers of bottled water will be better informed about the dangers of a variety of waterborne pathogens through the enhanced labeling program set forth in this legislation." This bill passed the Assembly but died in the Senate."

"NATURAL FLAVORS". may include aspartame, a potent carcinogen.

"Since it was granted blanket [FDA] approval it's mixed with sugar and other sweeteners, unlabeled and mixed in artificial and natural flavors." citation more and more and see also FLAVORS

"Natural flavorings" in Celestial Seasonings contain "free glutamic acid," the bad part of MSG. See also www.truthinlabeling.org

Tom's of Maine toothpaste contains Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), a known mutagen. See also Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate "Harmful if Swallowed"

GreenStar is prohibited from selling products containing refined sugar. "Brown sugar" consists primarily of refined white sugar coated with a fine molasses film.

Milk hazards to health & environment & "Not Milk!"

Petguard contains "Ocean Fish" which may include unregulated non-dolphin-safe tuna catch. Animal Protection Institute & Pet Food Ingredients & more yuck

Food Additives is book describing harmful ingredients in health foods.

"While not all vegetable-protein products are 100% organic, most of them sport the label 'made with organic soy.' According to the new FDA rule, this means no genetically modified foods. The Wall Street Journal decided to challenge GMO-free labeling by testing 20 products labeling that claim. One product tested showed 40% of the soybean DNA in a veggie bacon came from genetically modified plants." --Soyinfo.com Ten Reasons Why GMOs Will Not Ensure Food Security

To say that the cosmetics industry is very poorly regulated is an understatement. The FDA can make suggestions or recommendations to manufacturers about cosmetic products or their ingredients, but the manufacturers do not have to comply.

"Most products are labeled to 'sell' rather than to provide accurate information about the product. Terms like natural and hypoallergenic do not have official definitions, so the manufacturers can use them to mean anything they want.

This often leads to misleading information about the product on the label." --From Dying to Look Good: The Disturbing Truth About What¹s Really in Your Cosmetics, Toiletries and Personal Care Products By Christine Hoza Farlow, D.C.

HARMFUL INGREDIENTS IN SHAMPOOS AND COSMETICS --EcoMall

Harmful Ingredients in Personal Care Products

"When it comes to soaps and shampoos, "almost every product out therelabeled organic isn't," said Ronnie Cummins, executive director of the Organic Consumers Association. The United States Department of Agriculture, which regulates organic food labeling, has neither standards nor the authority to regulate labels on personal care products." --

--NYTimes 5/18/03: "Is Organic Shampoo Chemistry or Botany?"

"Restoring Health to Health Foods"

EXCESS FOOD PACKAGING is one of GreenStar's founding concerns. "Recycled" soymilk containers are taken to the Tompkins County Recycling Facility, then trucked to Philadelphia where they are "hydropulped" (paper part removed). The plastic and aluminum parts are trucked to New Jersey, where they are burned in a "waste-to-energy" plant. Burning the plastic creates dioxin, which causes birth defects and cancer downwind. Here are overpackaging details. As well, Food packaging may contain carcinogens.

MISCELLANY:

No dolphin safe tuna due to weakened purse seine standards: "At least six to 10 percent of eastern spinner dolphin mortality, and 10 to 15 percent of northeastern offshore spotted dolphin mortality, is caused by the separation of baby dolphins from their mothers during the chasing and netting process." --National Marine Fisheries Service

The current supply of GreenStar t-shirts ("Ithaca Is Gorges") were assembled in Honduras and El Salvador. Chances are above 90% that these shirts are made by teenage girls working long hours in brutal conditions for less than livable wages:

"Right now, no college code contains a provision that companies must pay a living wage. But without this provision, we will not be able to call our university clothing "sweatshop free."

"When I look at a college sweatshirt made in Honduras, I feel pretty confident it was made in a sweatshop," said Ginny Coughlin, the sweatshop campaign coordinator for United Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees. T-Shirts & Sweatshop Watch & Sweatgear & CISPES e-mail.

Here's an alternative: Union-made t-shirts CHOCOLATE: Chocolate Slavery & Cadbury attacks chocolate slavery & Thornton's against Chocolate Slavery. GreenStar has slavery-free brands.

Corporate Agriculture Research Project & California's Central Valley

THIS PAGE IS BEING CONTINUALLY UPDATED AS MORE INFORMATION IS GATHERED.

THE GOOD NEWS:

There are healthy and tasty alternatives in all of these food categories, owned by companies which are locally/regionally- and/or family-owned.

GreenStar's GreenFuture explains how GreenStar can help create more locally-owned businesses to supply our health food needs.

Shopping is Voting (cartoon) dramatizes the difference between corporate and co-op food supply. Co-op members here and elsewhere have a lot of power: "Did you know there are more than 48,000 cooperatives in the United States serving 120 million Americans and generating in excess of $500 billion in economic activity? From childcare to healthcare, agriculture to housing, electricity to telephone service, hardware stores to grocery stores, credit unions to media outlets, cooperatives provide Americans with the basic services they use everyday.

Revenue generated by cooperatives tends to stay in the community as it is distributed to local members rather than removed shareholders. Cooperatives exist not to generate a profit for themselves or outside investors, as do other businesses, but rather to provide goods and services at the lowest possible cost. With cooperatives serving almost 40 percent of all Americans, cooperative members comprise a significant percentage of the electorate." --Alison M. Christie Marketing, Merchandising, & Member Services Manager, GreenStar Cooperative Market, Inc.

Building a Green Store from the Ground Up

This web page therefore is created not only for GreenStar members who care about environmental and labor issues, but for members of all co-ops and all other grocery shoppers. Together we can create a loyal national market for independent non-corporate organic brands, and restrain small labels from selling to multinationals.

GreenStar's Mission Statement: "emphasizing and promoting locally produced goods, and items made or distributed by other cooperatives."

Co-op America's Green Pages is an inspirational portrait of the variety of alternatives available. Organic Agriculture and the Small Farm Crisis GreenPeople and Organic Consumer's list thousands of alternative brands. Organic Certification Community Food Security Coalition

The Food Alliance Organic Means Local PCC Natural Markets: A Partner in the Community Harvest Co-ops Links to Vegetarian Products -- The Vegetarian Resource Group CROPP: largest organic farmers cooperative in North America (owns Organic Valley) Loyalty to the farming members is the guiding principle for CROPP's operations. "We plan to stay a cooperative," says Siemon. "We are not planning for growth so that we can sell to a corporation or for a favorable business valuation; we have no exit strategy." Quill's Apothecary in Buffalo, N.Y. sells natural soaps. "When any of our suppliers is bought by a chain traded on the stock market, we cease purchasing that brand." homemade skin care

Natural Organic CHIPS: Here's a look at tortilla chip machines & Organic Production Index Pecans for our pecan pies could be bought from this Georgia co-op of black growers. Consumer Reports water filter survey. water filter recycling

GreenStar Education Committee GreenStar's Mission Statement:

"Educating ourselves about the co-op, the goods we sell, and the principles to which we subscribe." To revive the founding purposes of GreenStar (favoring regional/local producers, least packaging, boycotting companies which damage nature and labor, educating members about these issues), the following reforms are presented to GreenStar's board and members:

1) Formation of an independent GreenStar Education Committee (not appointed by the board) dedicated to bringing this information to GreenStar's members.

2) Display space in the front of the store about these products, and alternatives.

3) Placement on lower shelves for products which are owned by publicly traded corporations.

4) Promotion and shelf prominence for regional products in these product categories.

5) Color coding on shelves (red, yellow, green) to grade products according to corporate ownership, packaging, environmental impacts, labor impacts, local/regional ownership.

6) Creation of two superworker shifts for research into the above.

If GreenStar's board takes the initiative to enact these reforms, then our co-op will get credit for upholding these values, and will further distinguish GreenStar from Wegmans and Tops. The change of product line will be orderly and will least affect our budget.

GreenStar's Mission Statement: "...to build an alternative social and economic structure..."

To join the GreenStar Members' Education Committee and/or provide more information, contact Paul Glover (member since 1972) (607) 272-4330, or Marlo Cappocia

The GreenStar Members' Education Committee has endorsed the following candidates for GreenStar's Council (elections throughout April 2002): DISSIN, HARBER, RADIN, YOUNG, ZWACK. See statements by all candidates at GreenStar's website and at ithacanews.org/greenstar.candidates.html"

Shopping is Voting!


Informant: Friends

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University of Michigan Falls Prey to Another Coca-Cola PR Scam
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0417-06.htm

ISBN: 82-7701-038-9
Date of Publication: March 2006
Publisher: UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Order on-line at: http://www.Earthprint.com

For further information, contact: grid@grida.no

http://www.grida.no/products.cfm?pageID=11

[Link above includes wonderful, highly-detailed graphics and maps. -DS]

Planet in Peril: An Atlas of Current Threats to People and the Environment offers a holistic and well-researched analysis of today¹s global issues and their impact on human population and the environment.

Written by an international team of specialists, this Atlas illustrates through text and beautifully rendered maps, graphics and diagrams the interplay between population and the world¹s ecosystems and natural resources both in the short and long terms. It brings together a wealth of information from the most up-to-date sources on such key issues as climate change, access to water, exploitation of ocean resources, nuclear energy and waste, renewable energy, weapons of mass destruction, causes of industrial accidents, waste, export, hunger, genetically modified organisms, urban development, access to health care and ecological change in China.

Planet in Peril, which features the English translation of the environment pages of the recently published L¹Atlas 2006 by Le Monde diplomatique, is the result of a long-standing cooperation between Le Monde diplomatique and GRID-Arendal.

With its expansive scope, richly detailed information, and inviting design, this Atlas is an indispensable resource for understanding the planet we live in.

............

CONTENTS:

POLAR ICE CAPS MELTING FASTER

Global warming is not affecting the planet evenly and most of the existing models forecast that it will be greater in the northern hemisphere. With an overall increase of 2°C, temperatures in the Arctic could increase by a factor of two or three. The southern hemisphere, would also be affected, though less severely.

...

POINT OF NO RETURN FOR GLOBAL WARMING

The Kyoto protocol came into force on 16 February 2005, heralding the advent of a more mature attitude. Mankind, we were told, had finally woken up to the increasing pressure that it is exerting on the environment. Unfortunately a closer look shows that such claims have more to do with wishful thinking than actual fact.

...

WATER BECOMING A RARITY

Despite the international community¹s commitments many people still do not enjoy the right of access to clean water and half the world¹s population is in danger of running short of this vital commodity in 30 years.

...

OCEAN RESOURCES UNDER THREAT

The planet¹s one ocean -- for the various oceans form a single ecosystem -- covers 361m square kilometres, or 71% of the Earth¹s surface. Exploitation of renewable and non-renewable resources has steadily increased. Some renewable resources are the focus of keen rivalry. No sooner do we realise their potential than they threatened by over-exploitation.

...

NUCLEAR POWER FOR CIVILIAN AND MILITARY USE

Nuclear power only makes a minor contribution to world energy consumption. Given the average age (about 22 years) of the nuclear reactors still in service and nuclear power stations¹ limited share (barely 2%) of the market for new electricity production facilities, the situation is unlikely to change in the immediate future. In the meantime there is still no solution to the problem of nuclear waste and the risk of proliferation.

...

RENEWABLE ENERGY, FACT AND FICTION

Renewable energy technologies have made considerable progress. Windmills and solar panels, modern wood-burning boilers, biofuels, bioclimatic buildings are all widely available, often at competitive prices.

...

WEAPONS FOR RICH ... AND POOR

Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) have only one thing in common, their potential for killing large numbers of people. The term covers nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as ballistic missiles, their main vector. On the sidelines dirty bombs belong to the arsenal of terrorism.

...

WHO CAUSES INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS?

The Johannesburg summit in 2002 emphasised the part that business would have to play in achieving sustainable development. But in many cases we are still waiting for tangible results, with large firms taking advantage of the laxity of national governments.

...

WASTE, RECYCLERS AND RECYCLED

Promoting growth based on intensive productivity and consumption has major disadvantages, one of the most serious being the huge volume of waste produced and the problem of its disposal. Statistics fail to convey the full measure of the problem, particularly for industrial waste, now a commodity for international trade transported long distances around the world.

...

THE SOUTH DEPENDS ON ITS EXPORTS

Since the 1970s the price of raw materials has followed a downward trend, subject to great instability. But developing countries, heavily in debt and dependent on their exports, are increasingly reluctant to bow to the demands of rich countries, as the failure of the Cancun negotiations demonstrated.

...

LOSING THE BATTLE AGAINST HUNGER

In 2000 there were 852 million undernourished people on Earth. Over the last five years their number has increased every year by about 4 million. Without a radical change of course we will not achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (of reducing by half the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015). The reasons for this failure are all too familiar.

...

GM ORGANISMS, TOO MUCH, TOO SOON

The issue of genetically modified organisms draws together strands from the debate on the global market and the concept of progress. It is a perfect illustration of how market forces come into play much more quickly than the precautions that seem appropriate given the current state of research. We are consequently already eating genetically engineered foodstuffs without it being possible to guarantee they are entirely safe.

...

URBAN DEVELOPMENT TRENDS

Urban culture, with its values, fads and fashions, now governs the entire planet. But from one continent to the next the form and pace of urban development vary, even if motor vehicles and their attendant infrastructure are omnipresent.

...

WIDENING HEALTH CARE GAP

Unequal access to health care is the cruellest, most widespread attack on human integrity. Coming on top of longstanding differences in standards of living, the balance of power that lets North dominate South inflicts chronic bad health on whole countries, sapping any attempt at development.

...

CHINA A KEY FACTOR IN TOMORROW¹S CLIMATE

China is fast becoming the workshop of the 21st century world. But a shortage of raw materials abroad and increasingly serious environmental problems at home are already threatening continued growth.


Informant: NHNE

PRE-EMPT an attack on Iran by speaking out NOW

OUR CONGRESS MUST ASSERT THAT AN ATTACK ON IRAN IS OFF THE TABLE

In the wake of the irresponsible invasion of Iraq, which has killed and wounded thousands, the Bush administration is again using outright lies about "weapons of mass destruction" to justify an attack on Iran. To the dismay of their own Joint Chiefs of Staff they are seriously considering using tactical nuclear weapons to do so, a plan characterized as "completely nuts" by even our British allies.

It is time for Congress to reassert their authority under the Constitution as the controlling voice on the declaration of war, and tell this administration that an attack on Iran is NOT on the table, and especially not a nuclear one. We cannot stand idly by while the Bush administration plunges us deeper into a quagmire we never should have entered in the first place.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.clearwaterforcongress.com/petitions/pnum248.php

JOIN GRETCHEN CLEARWATER IN STANDING UP FOR YOU ON THIS AND ALL OTHER ISSUES

This alert is brought to you through the activism of Gretchen Clearwater, Democratic candidate for the U.S House from the 9th district of Indiana. Gretchen needs your help in the next 3 weeks to win her primary election. How many times have you felt helpless and wished you could influence the votes of representatives in other districts to prevail on a critical vote in Congress, but knew you could not do so effectively because you were not one of their own constituents? How much more would you support Gretchen if you do live in her district?

Here we have a courageous candidate who will fight for all the issues you care about, if only she is given the chance to make the run. Please donate whatever you can to help Gretchen get on the radio to recruit and mobilize even more people to speak out so we can have a real impact on these policy decisions now and for the future. What would you give to have a whole legislature of people like Gretchen Clearwater? Won't you give her your support now to make that a reality?

ACTBLUE DONATIONS: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/8688?refcode=cwt1

We have been valiantly speaking out with action alerts based on one fundamental premise --- either our representatives in Congress would listen to and heed the voices of their people --- or else we would work to replace them in the next election.

The time for the replacement action is NOW.

If each of us will just contribute what we can, to the most worthy candidates we can find, it will make a real difference in the kind of Congress we will all have to deal with in 2007. Most importantly, strong showings NOW by candidates who DO have a backbone, and WILL stand up and fight, can send a powerful message to the rest that they better start shaping up or we will ship them out too. Make your donation today and it will have cascading positive effects in many other races for months to come.

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.

Powered by The People's Email Network Copyright 2006, Patent pending, All rights reserved

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Stop Nuclear War with Iran!! ACT NOW!

From: CODEPINK
codepink@mail.democracyinaction.org

Join us on Mother's Day Weekend in Washington D.C.

April 13, 2006

Here we are in the midst of a disastrous war in Iraq, and the Bush administration is now talking about attacking Iran! Any such "preventive military strike" is illegal under international law, but to hear Bush threatening a nuclear strike is not only illegal but threatens to destroy 30 years of efforts toward non-proliferation and disarmament, and could even trigger a global war. It's time to declare a hot pink alert! We weren't able to stop the last war, but we must stop the next one…NOW!

The United Nations, which is the mandated to uphold international law, must speak out against the Bush Administration's plans. Let's send a collective letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan imploring him to denounce this threat and call for a diplomatic solution. Click here to sign on and or send your own, and to pass it to friends and family around the world. Let's let the Bush administration and Kofi Annan know that the world is demanding an end to this madness!

Here in the US, we must be even more visible in our opposition to the threat of war in Iran and the ongoing war in Iraq. It will soon be Mother's Day, a day that dates back to the 1870 Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe for women to rise up and say "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."

Join us for Mother's Day weekend, May 13-14, in Washington DC as we gather for a 24 hour vigil outside the White House. We'll be joined by special guests Cindy Sheehan, Susan Sarandon, Patch Adams and many more. Bring your mother, your children, your grandmother, your friends, your loved ones. Click here to sign up and let us know you'll be at the vigil. For more information about the Mother's Day event click here.

If you can't make it to DC, you can still be a part of this important action by participating in a local activity and writing a letter to First Lady Laura Bush to ask her how she, as a mother, can continue to support a war that is leaving thousands of American and Iraqi mothers bereft. We will read the letters aloud in DC during the Mother's Day vigil and later publish a selection for the world to see. Please send your letter soon to Laurabush@codepinkalert.org and encourage your friends and family to do the same!

Let's make this Mother's Day, May 14, one where we heed Julia Ward Howe's original call to action. Let's come together to build the world we want for our children -- and our mothers.

Together towards peace,
Allison, Dana, Farida, Gael, Jodie, Medea, Nancy, Rae and Tiffany


Informant: Martin Greenhut



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/