World-News

09.05.06

Die EU-Kommission hat am Montag entschieden, ein in Polen erlassenes Verbot für die Verwendung von 16 Genmais-Sorten und rund 700 Sorten von nicht genetisch verändertem Mais zu genehmigen. Diese Maissorten sind zwar in einem gemeinsamen EU-Register für Landwirtschaftliche Nutzpflanzensorten enthalten, was zur Folge hat, dass deren Saatgut überall in der EU vermarktet werden darf. Polen berief sich allerdings auf eine Ausnahme in der relevanten EU-Richtlinie 2002/53, der ein solches Verbot erlaubt, wenn eine Sorte für das Staatsgebiet eines Mitgliedstaates nicht geeignet ist.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13557

09.05.06

"Die Förderung der Biokraftstoffe ist ein wichtiges Ziel der Bundesregierung", sagte der parlamentarische Staatssekretär im Bundeslandwirtschaftsministerium, Peter Paziorek, anlässlich des Kraftstoffkongresses im Rahmen der Bioenergiemesse ENBIO 2006. Vor dem Hintergrund von Forderungen der Europäischen Union sollen den Kraftstoffen auch in Deutschland zunehmend mehr Biotreibstoffe beigemischt werden. Wer Kraftstoffe in den Verkehr bringt, wird ab Anfang 2007 verpflichtet, bei Diesel einen Anteil von 4,4 Prozent Biokraftstoffe und bei Ottokraftstoff zunächst 2 Prozent beizumischen. Insgesamt soll bis 2010 ein Biokraftstoffanteil von 6 Prozent erreicht werden. Die Biokraftstoffe zur Erfüllung dieser Quoten sollen künftig der vollen Mineralölsteuer unterliegen. Die Umweltorganisation Rettet den Regenwald (RdR) warnt vor einer Verwendung von Biotreibstoffen aus den Tropen. In Emden werde zur Zeit die erste Palmöl-Raffinerie Deutschlands geplant, die ab 2007 jährlich rund
430.000 Tonnen Palmöl aus Indonesien zu "Bio"diesel verarbeiten solle. Dabei handelt sich nach Einschätzung der Umweltschützer nicht um Erneuerbare Energien, sondern um "Kahlschlag-Diesel".

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13566

Jacqueline Rose, EMR Project Manager, Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel was in this conference: http://www.apdee.org/ehe06/ and prepared the attached summary.

The keynote speaker was Professor Paulo Vecchia, the chairman of ICNIRP. Other Plenary speakers were the vice-chairman of ICNIRP.

Iris Atzmon


Report from EHE ’06 Conference

27-29 April 2006

Attendance:
An estimated 150 people from around the world where meant to attend the conference in Madeira, Portugal. In actuality about 100-120 people attended, mostly from Europe and the UK. Many presenters did not attend and someone that I spoke to said that at least 50% of presentations that he wanted to hear were cancelled to due lack of attendance.

Most participants were either academics, researchers, from technology companies or representatives of governmental bodies/authorities. Apart from myself and one other woman, there was no representation from NGOs or the environmental sector.

Content:
The general focus of the conference was scientific/technological. There were …. Plenary sessions, which were attended by all participants. The keynote speaker was Professor Paulo Vecchia, the chairman of ICNIRP. Other Plenary speakers were the vice-chairman of ICNIRP,

1. Plenary Session Conclusions
Professor Paulo Vecchia presented a general overview of the current international situation. His first point was that there needs to be a harmonisation of EMR standards and guidelines throughout Europe and around the world, based on ICNIRP standards. This is especially true for exposure guidelines for workers (a topic heavily discussed).

The second conclusion, and one repeatedly stressed, was that no causal/biological link has been proved between EMF and morbidity. Numerous research studies were presented by Prof Vecchia and other plenary session presenters, which all stressed the point that no clear scientific proof exists to confirm a theory often presented in epidemiological studies. It is important to note that I felt the scientists in attendance did not seem to place too much value on these epidemiological studies. Numerous problems where mentioned with them which warranted their lack of consideration. In summary Prof Vecchia stated that “RF fields can not be established as carcinogenic causes”.

Furthermore, the vice-chairman of ICNIRP presented an extensive range of short-term lab tests carried out on humans who were exposed to limited radiation levels from mobile phones. From these lab experiments no evidence was found of biological changes in the patients. When questioned regarding the fact that there was a problem with assessing the acute exposure of low level radiation from mobile phones verses the chronic exposure represented in epidemiological studies, no satisfactory answer was provided. It was repeatedly mentioned that until clear biological and scientific evidence exists, no one was willing to say with any conviction that EMR caused ill health effects.

The adoption of a precautionary approach should be carefully considered as according to Prof Vecchia, “setting precautionary limits may create confusion and generate more public concern”. He continued to say that the costs, risks and impacts of EMR must be carefully assessed and balanced with other environmental hazards and what society is willing to accept.

The issue of public confusion, lack of knowledge and information was raised. Prof Vecchia expressed the need to put risks into perspective, whilst another plenary session presenter stated that “concern, fear, anxiety and confusion pose more of a risk then EMR”

2. Other Session Conclusions
Most of the other sessions focused on the presentation of new technology to measure and assess exposure and research. There were a limited number of case study presentations, the most relevant being that of Eva Marsalek. She works at an Austrian environmental organisation which champions the issues of public participation specifically with respect to EMR. They are based at the Vienna University.

Other case study presentations included
· German Telecommunication Research program
· Residential sources of exposure to Power Frequency, UK
· Sao Paulo, Brazil

All these presentations were very interesting and highlighted what was happening in other countries. All these presentations however were made by governmental bodies, and there was no pure environmental representation.

General Conclusions:
After conversations with some of the participants, there was a strong feeling that the conference was a bit of a white wash. No conclusions were reached (other then the need for more research), and there was a definite sense that plenary session speakers were trying to assure participants that no scientific proof existed. In addition, the blame was being directed at other possible causes, such as the thermal effects of radiation rather then EMR itself, nutrition and that public confusion had fuelled the flames of panic. The need to educate the public and adopt a clear precautionary approach was not discussed sufficiently.

Two aspects which were discussed extensively were setting clear exposure guidelines for workers and the issue of hypersensitivity to EMR by specific groups of the population.

Auch die Genprofile von vielen Kindern und Unschuldigen werden trotz zweifelhafter Erfolge in der britischen Gendatenbank unbegrenzt lange gespeichert.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22627/1.html

Steven Roach, der "letzte Mohikaner", wirft das Handtuch. Der einzige kritische Wall Street-Ökonom sieht die Welt nun "auf einem guten Weg" - internationale Finanzblätter befürchten den Anfang vom Ende.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22634/1.html

The money is to be spent on empowering civil society, providing supplemental requests, broadcasting into Iran, promoting democracy, offering scholarships and fellowships, and enhancing communication. But Iranian civil society activists believe this policy will just intensify the Islamic republic's repressive approach toward non-governmental organizations, and will be used as an excuse to crack down on their activities.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050906F.shtml

Republican lawmakers, facing the prospect that their power to cut taxes may soon be curbed, plan to extend breaks that mostly benefit the wealthy and Wall Street at the expense of reductions for middle-income households.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050906E.shtml

As if rallying fading public support for keeping more than 100,000 US troops in a disintegrating Iraq and preparing the ground for a possible military attack on Iran were not enough, some influential hawks are now promoting a more confrontational stance against Russia and China, as well.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050906D.shtml

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Georgia last week released new evidence that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting counterterrorism investigations into School of the Americas Watch. As we've seen time and again when the FBI targets social change organizations, the files demonstrate a clear attempt to stifle political opposition.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050906B.shtml

By Bill Theobald
The Tennessean
May 8, 2006

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060508/NEWS02/605080356

WASHINGTON - Vaccine industry officials helped shape legislation behind the scenes that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist secretly amended into a bill to shield them from lawsuits, according to e-mails obtained by a public advocacy group.

E-mails and documents written by a trade group for the vaccine-makers show the organization met privately with Frist's staff and the White House about measures that would give the industry protection from lawsuits filed by people hurt by the vaccines.

The communications were made public in a report released this week by the group Public Citizen. Its study follows a February story in The Tennessean that Frist, along with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., ordered the vaccine liability language inserted in a defense spending bill in December without debate and in violation of usual Senate practice.

The group, called the Biotechnology Industry Organization, wanted such language in the bill, the e-mails reflect.

"At Senator Frist's staff's request, this morning, BIO (Tom and I) participated in a meeting with three other industry representatives (Sanofi and an outside counsel who works for both Pfizer and Roche, I believe), administration staff (HHS, DoJ and WH Leg Affairs), and Liz Hall to further discuss liability," BIO official Dave Boyer wrote in a November e-mail obtained by Public Citizen.

In a written statement, Frist spokeswoman Amy Call stated that the senator had promised publicly to include the vaccine liability protection in the defense spending bill. She did not address the issue of the influence of industry lobbyists.

The statement points out that the Public Citizen board includes prominent trial lawyers and liberals. "Trial lawyers oppose these provisions because it will strip them of the ability to line their pockets at the expense of the American public," Call said.

Frist and the White House reached out to the industry, according to the communications cited by Public Citizen, and Boyer, chief lobbyist for the industry group, was asked to provide an analysis of draft legislation.

The group asked that the legislation make clear that a vaccine maker could only be successfully sued if "willful misconduct" on its part were proved. The law includes that standard and says a company is protected from claims of negligence or recklessness.

The analysis, which Public Citizen quoted from, included BIO's concerns that the draft bill would have still allowed people hurt by vaccines to get jury trials.

"The lack of any restriction on jury trial is problematic," the analysis said. "Where injured parties have no other avenue for relief, juries are likely to find ways to award damages."

In another e-mail, Boyer described a meeting in which a deputy of Bush strategist Karl Rove said it was "important to the President that a bill move this year," and said "they had invited industry to discuss what they understood to be a few key remaining points" of contention.

"The intimacy of this, we think, is quite unusual," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, about the relationship between the organization's lobbyists, Frist and the Bush administration. "We think it is an interesting case study of how the inside operation works in Washington."

In a January interview with The Tennessean, Frist denied the vaccine liability provisions were added improperly. Later, when others challenged his version of events, Call simply restated Frist's commitment to protecting people from a bioterror emergency.

Frist and other backers say the law is needed to boost the number of vaccine makers. Vaccine shortages during last year's flu season along with fears of a pandemic of bird flu or a bioterror attack have prompted interest in building up the country's lagging vaccine industry. The legal protections kick in only when the secretary of health and human services declares a public health emergency.

Alan Eisenberg, executive vice president for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, said the group's "staff acted with the utmost integrity and professionalism, as they do on all issues."

"BIO staff regularly comment on proposed legislation from, and meet with, Democrat and Republican lawmakers and their staffs alike all the time," Eisenberg said.


Informant: NHNE

ACTION PAGE: http://liberty.horneforcongress.com/petitions/pnum289.php

It's time for Congress to take the keys for starting preemptive wars away from this president, before he turns Iran into an even bigger geopolitical disaster than Iraq.

Peter DeFazio (D-OR) has introduced a house resolution [H.C.R. 391] to express the sense of Congress that the President cannot initiate military action against Iran without congressional authorization, as clearly required by the Constitution in Article One, Section Eight.

Already over 60 members of the house have signed the DeFazio letter.

ACTION PAGE: http://liberty.horneforcongress.com/petitions/pnum289.php

This alert is brought to you by the activism of Andrew Horne, candidate for U.S House from the 3rd Congressional District of Kentucky. Fighting for the rights of all Americans is why Andrew Horne is running for Congress, and he's not waiting until the election to start fighting for Kentucky and the rest of America.

When we talk about taking back Congress, that is what we will have to do, TAKE IT. Nobody is going give us anything we won't give to ourselves. And when we donate to a candidate like Andrew Horne who is showing just the kind of leadership we need, we can make an example of him, and show other candidates that if they show real backbone they will get the support of the people too.

DONATIONS LINK: http://www.horneforcongress.com/contribute2?code=2

We NEED candidates like Andrew Horne to champion the issues that are important to us. Andrew needs your help to get his message out, to get YOUR message out, and has now just two weeks before his primary to do so. Please make a contribution today to send Andrew to Congress and fight for you on the issues you care about.

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 thought you could not do so effectively because you were not one of their own constituents? How much more would you support Andrew if you do live in his district?

Here we have a courageous candidate who will fight for all the issues you care about, if only he is given the chance to make the run. Please donate whatever you can to help Andrew 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 Andrew Horne? Won't you give him your support now to make that a reality?

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.

DONATIONS LINK: http://www.horneforcongress.com/contribute2?code=2

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

http://action.citizen.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3594


From EarthForceUnited

Feingold on the pre-1776 mentality at the White House and the challenges of the 21st century.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/08/feingold_the_forthright.php

by Shadi Hamid, TomPaine.com

At least you can't say we're Johnny-come-latelies in this game of messing with Iranian regimes.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/09/the_path_to_war_with_iran.php

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/MSNBC_reporter_I_am_convinced_that_0508.html


Informant: Annie

William Fisher calls it chutzpah when after years of ignoring the United Nations panel charged with oversight of the Convention Against Torture (CAT) - a centerpiece of international human rights law - the US government turned up at a meeting of the group in Geneva with a delegation of more than two dozen lawyers and other officials to affirm that the US is "absolutely committed to uphold its national and international obligations to eradicate torture" and that "there are no exceptions to this prohibition."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050906Z.shtml

Salon
by Paul McLeary

05/09/06

'Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq,' by the New York Times' Michael Gordon and retired Marine Gen. Bernard Trainor. It has none of the fleshy humanity that Shadid and Goldfarb -- and to a certain extent Packer -- brought to the story of Iraq. Nor should it. Gordon and Trainor, well situated with a bevy of sources inside the decision-making process at the Pentagon, never avert their gaze from the often politically inspired recklessness of the Pentagon brass leading up to the invasion; nor do they neglect to notice how the grunts on the ground carried out their orders with courage and professionalism. A good portion of the book is taken up with relating the smug, detached war plans hatched at the Pentagon by civilian commanders -- led, of course, by Donald Rumsfeld -- convinced the war could be fought cheaply and quickly. While the outcome of the conflict was never in doubt, in Gordon and Trainor's account, Rumsfeld, Gen. Tommy Franks and the ideological yes men they surrounded themselves with at the Pentagon often come off as almost fictional in their self-delusion... [subscription or ad view required]

http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/05/09/trainor/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

CNN

05/08/06

A former top aide to an Ohio congressman pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge in connection with the ongoing investigation of a Capitol Hill lobbying scandal. Neil Volz, a lobbyist and former chief of staff for Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, appeared Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Volz negotiated a plea deal in which he agreed to cooperate with Justice Department prosecutors and the FBI...

http://tinyurl.com/rry3w


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Las Vegas Review-Journal

05/08/06

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed a letter that Iran's president sent to President Bush on Monday, saying the first direct communication from an Iranian leader in 27 years does not help resolve the standoff over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. Iran's top nuclear negotiator called the surprise letter a new 'diplomatic opening' between the two countries, but Rice said it was not. 'This letter is not the place that one would find an opening to engage on the nuclear issue or anything of the sort,' the top U.S. diplomat said in an interview with The Associated Press...

http://tinyurl.com/qfmwr


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00088.htm


Informant: ranger116

The CIA announced today that the agency's third-ranking official, Kyle (Dusty) Foggo, is leaving. The CIA's inspector general has been investigating whether Foggo helped steer agency contracts to companies run by his old friend Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor involved in the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050806R.shtml

MAYDAY MESSAGE FOR THE DEEP SEAS!
http://activism.greenpeace.org/yil_alerts/mayday/html/od_alert_mayday_en_gpi.html

HILFERUF FÜR DIE TIEFSEE!
http://activism.greenpeace.org/yil_alerts/mayday/html/od_alert_mayday_de_de.html

The MY Esperanza - defending our oceans Hello Ocean Defenders,

I'm Richard Page, writing to you from onboard the Esperanza somewhere in the deep blue near the Azores. We are now well into the third leg of the Defending Our Oceans expedition, a collaborative venture with scientists from the University of the Azores and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). I'm writing to ask for your help.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT. HELP US STOP THE CLOCK!
http://ctk.greenpeace.org/od-en/ctk-letters/send-letter?letter_id=2165130

The Azorean government has had the wisdom to ensure that bottom trawlers are not allowed to trawl here, meaning the coral habitats are relatively pristine. The dive we conducted yesterday was fabulous, it was so exciting seeing parts of the planet that nobody else had ever set eyes on before. The coral we found there was other-worldly, strange white whip corals and yellow corals like trees, blue sea cucumbers, orange fish and even a deep water shark.

....Elsewhere things are not so good, bottom trawlers are laying waste to fragile deep sea life.

The MY Esperanza - defending our oceans In exactly one month it will be World Oceans Day - a day when we should all consider the plight of the oceans. One immediate step that Governments could take is supporting a United Nations moratorium on high seas bottom trawling. This would give time for scientists and policy makers decide what measures ought to be put in place to ensure their protection.

After two years of talk, the time is running out for the deep sea and Governments around the world need to pledge their support for a moratorium.

TAKE ACTION NOW and help pressure world governments to 'Stop the Clock' and support a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling.

http://prefs.greenpeace.org/mail-links/clicks/21308.2489579.5409


Thank you for your help.

Richard

--------

Stay tuned for more ways to defend deep sea life
http://www.omega-news.info/bottom_trawling.doc

CONTROVERSIAL plans to install a phone mast close to a primary school has not gone down well with residents.

Mobile phone company Hutchison 3G has submitted planning applications for a 12m radio mast to be erected at the junction between Grange Avenue and Parkstone Road.

The proposed site is in the middle of a residential area and within 90m of St Peter and St Paul's playgroup.

Home owners, parents and staff at the playgroup plans to present a petition to the council.

Will Burkitt, who lives on Parkstone Road, believes the proposals are outrageous and should be vetoed.

He said: "This plan has aroused a lot of bad feeling in the area and I wish to protest in the strongest possible way. Firstly it's a very built up area with many old residents and secondly it's close to an area where small children play everyday.

"Radiation transmitted from these masts can damage the health of people living close to them and they are also an eyesore."

Staff and parents at the playgroup were equally vocal in their condemnation of the mast.

Cynthia Dunmall and Mariam Hutchison have run the playgroup for the last 15 years.

Mrs Dunmall said: "We are concerned about the children's health and welfare. We have a petition going and everyone we have asked has signed it."

Cinnamon Austin, whose three-year-old son Quinn attends the playgroup, was also not happy about the positioning of the mast. She said: "There might be possible health risks associated with phone mast, there might not. But when my child is involved I'm not prepared to take the risk."

When the Observer contacted 3G for comment, we were referred to Erickson employee and mast expert Gareth Combes-Olney.

He said: "All of Hutchison 3G's equipment is carefully safety tested and complies with international safety standards set by the International Commission for Radiation Protection.

Omega read "Base Stations, operating within strict national and international Guidelines, do not present a Health Risk?" under: http://omega.twoday.net/stories/771911/

"We are more than happy to talk to anybody who has concerns on 07792 328255."

The application is at the consultation stage and will come before the planning committee in the next two months.

09 May 2006

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.hastingstoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=479&ArticleID=1490895

Das "Terroristen-Gefängnis" in Guantanamo ist heutezutage weltweit unrühmlich bekannt für Folter und Menschenverachtung. Das gesamte System des US-Strafvollzugs aber ist so unterschiedlich von Guantanamo gar nicht - mit 2 Millionen inhaftierter Menschen ohnehin trauriger Rekordhalter. Und während Experten schätzen, dass etwa 15 Prozent der Drogen-Konsumenten Afroamerikaner seien, sind es 37 Prozent der wegen "Drogenmißbrauchs" (gemeint sind nicht die Produkte der Philip Morris Tobacco oder Miller Beer) weggesperrten. Eine ausführliche Analyse eines unmenschlichen Systems der rassistischen und sozialen Unterdrückung - und seiner Profiteure qua Privatisierung leistet der (englische) Beitrag "The US Gulag Prison System" von Steve Lendman vom 24. April 2006 beim Center for Civil Society der Universität von Kwazulu Natal.

http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,988


Aus: LabourNet, 9. Mai 2006

Bugging the Democrats

Hayden, ran the NSA when Bush authorized domestic warrantless wiretapping of American citizens and residents.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12973.htm



Gen. Michael Hayden refused to answer question about spying on political enemies

At a public appearance, Bush's pointman in the Office of National Intelligence was asked if the NSA was wiretapping Bush's political enemies. When Hayden dodged the question, the questioner repeated, "No, I asked, are you targeting us and people who politically oppose the Bush government, the Bush administration?

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12974.htm



EXCLUSIVE: CIA Nominee Hayden Linked to MZM

While director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Michael V. Hayden contracted the services of a top executive at the company at the center of the Cunningham bribery scandal, according to two former employees of the company.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000581.php



Potential Evidence Surfaces of Bush's Illegal Spying

An Oregon attorney may have the first concrete proof of Bush's domestic spying operation -- which means the illegal program's days might be numbered.

http://www.alternet.org/story/35807/



The Spy Master Cracks the Whip

How John Negroponte won control of the CIA, and what he plans next to consolidate rival agencies and his power.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1191833,00.html?promoid=rss_top



America’s Secret Police?

A threatened turf grab by a controversial Pentagon intelligence unit is causing concern among both privacy experts and some of the Defense Department’s own personnel.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12290187/site/newsweek



Pentagon's Intelligence Authority Widens

The Pentagon's newest counterterrorism agency, charged with protecting military facilities and personnel wherever they are, is carrying out intelligence collection, analysis and operations within the United States and abroad.

http://tinyurl.com/e33kl



Pentagon hired contractor to advise on collecting information on churches, mosques, other U.S. sites

A Pentagon intelligence agency that kept files on American anti-war activists hired one of the contractors who bribed former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., to help it collect data on houses of worship, schools, power plants and other locations in the United States.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/14126125.htm



Suit Claims Defense Dept. Data Use Illegal:

The Defense Department is violating the privacy of millions of high school students nationwide with a detailed database it uses for military recruitment, a federal lawsuit filed Monday claims.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/wireStory?id=1885571


From Information Clearing House

Defense lawyers urged a Kuwaiti judge Sunday to acquit five former inmates of Guantanamo, arguing the trial was politically motivated to appease the emirate's major ally the United States.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=24236


From Information Clearing House

By drawing attention to Iraq and the obvious role oil plays in US policy today, the Bush-Cheney administration has done just that: they have drawn the world’s energy-deficit powers’ attention firmly to the strategic battle over energy and especially oil.

http://tinyurl.com/k2sgo


From Information Clearing House

Iran impasse

The United States is behind attempts by Britain and France to draw up a UN resolution that would declare Iran in violation of international law if it does not suspend uranium enrichment. They want to invoke Chapter 7 of the UN Charter that would authorize economic sanctions or even military action. Russia and China, the other two permanent Security Council members, oppose such action.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12975.htm

It wouldn't be the first time that the Bush administration has played an important role in persuading Tony Blair to sack his foreign secretary.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1769900,00.html


From Information Clearing House

Women in Iraq are living a nightmare that is hidden from the west. Now one has turned film-maker to give us a window on to what they endure. She tells Natasha Walter what she saw.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1769815,00.html


From Information Clearing House

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media

Required Viewing for every citizen in the Free World.

Click here to view. Windows Media
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12972.htm

A Nation of Waitresses and Bartenders

By Paul Craig Roberts

Social Security and Medicare are in financial trouble, as are many company pension plans. Decide for yourself--is this the economic picture of a superpower that can dictate to the world, or is it the picture of a second-rate country dependent on foreigners to finance its consumption and the operation of its government?

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12977.htm

Video:
Paradise Now

Very powerful film that goes beyond the obvious, delivering a strong insight into a difficult subject, while maintaining a tension and drama that makes it impossible not to be stirred by the film. Delivering a film without falling into the pitfalls of political correctness or propaganda is an achievement in itself.

Click here to watch. Windows Media
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12978.htm

mongabay.com

May 8, 2006

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0508-glaciers.html

Researchers at Syracuse University have determined that glaciers once covered a much larger area of Antarctica than originally thought, suggesting that Earth's climate system is capable of rapid shifts.

Looking at sediments from marine deposits and rock sources on Seymour Island, Syracuse University Professors Linda C. Ivany and Scott D. Samson along with colleagues at the University of Leuven in Belgium and Hamilton College found evidence that glaciers once covered extensive parts of the West Antarctica ice sheet. Previously, scientists had assumed that glaciers were confined to the eastern part of Antarctica, where the biggest ice sheet is today. The findings are significant because they suggest that the climatic response to the drop in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere 34 million years ago was greater than initially believed.

³One of the most fundamental climate shifts that this planet has undergone since the events that precipitated the extinction of the dinosaurs is the so-called Œgreenhouse to icehouse transition¹ -- the time when Earth went from having virtually no ice on it at all to one with a more or less permanent ice sheet covering Antarctica,² said Ivany, a professor of earth science at Syracuse and lead investigator of the study. ³This happened about 34 million years ago, and is marked by dramatic changes in the chemistry of the oceans and the appearance of Œice rafted debris¹ in ocean sediments around Antarctica, carried there by icebergs from land that floated out and melted far from the continent, releasing the sand and rock that had been frozen into them.²

According to a release from the research team, scientists believe the "growth of the Antarctic ice sheet was initiated by a drop in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere in combination with a change in ocean circulation caused by South America pulling away from Antarctica" during the Eocene-Oligocene transition. The researchers say that at this time, Earth cooled rapidly enough to allow the growth of ice on the entire Antarctic continent all at once.

The researchers conclude that "because Earth¹s climate system is capable of shifting this rapidly and dramatically to such a new and different state, their discovery may provide an insight into how things could change in the future if we continue to alter our environment."

The research is published in the article ³Evidence for an Earliest Oligocene Ice Sheet on the Antarctic Peninsula,² in the May 2006 issue of the journal, Geology and was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation¹s Office of Polar Programs.


Informant: NHNE

A former congressional aide and business associate of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff has agreed to plead guilty to charges in connection with the investigation of influence-peddling and public corruption.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050806C.shtml

09.05.2006, Allgäuer Zeitung

Initiative hofft, dass Betreiber keinen Senderstandort finden

Leuterschach (id). - „Wenn kein Bürger dieses Ortes einen Vertrag unterschreibt, dann werden Sie auch keinen Sender im Ort erhalten. Denn keiner kann gezwungen werden“, hob Hans Schütz aus Peiting vor interessierten Bürgern aus Leuterschach hervor. Auf Einladung einer Dorfinitiative waren sie ins Gasthaus Vogler gekommen. Dort informierten sie sich über die Risiken einer Mobilfunk-Sendeanlage.

Die Initiative sei entstanden, nachdem einem Bürger aufgefallen war, wie jemand im Dorf den günstigsten Platz für eine Mobilfunk-Sendeanlage suchte, erinnerte Axel Maaß zu Beginn. Danach hätten sich innerhalb von zwei Tagen etwa 40 bis 50 Leuterschacher in Fechsen getroffen, um die Problematik zu diskutieren. Martin Rapp habe sich daraufhin über die Mobilfunkinitiative Ostallgäu um einen Referenten bemüht. Dieser sollte die Leuterschacher Bürgerinnen und Bürger über die Risiken einer Mobilfunkanlage im Ort informieren. Hans Schütz aus Peiting sei neben seinem Beruf als Hauptschullehrer seit über 10 Jahren im Netzwerk der Mobilfunkinitiativen als Referent tätig. Vor den rund 60 Anwesenden, darunter auch viele Jugendliche, wies er nun darauf hin, dass das, was derzeit mit dem Mobilfunk geschehe, mit großen Risiken verbunden sei. Er betonte ausdrücklich, dass weder er noch seine Kollegen gegen moderne Informations- und Kommunikationsmittel seien, sondern lediglich gegen die derzeit dabei verwendete Technik. Die Leuterschacher Bürger seien in der günstigen Situation, dass sie noch keinen Masten im Ort hätten. Doch sei bereits ein Betreiber auf Standortsuche. Aber es bleibe in der Regel nicht bei einer Anlage, vielmehr folgten weitere nach. In Leuterschach hätten die Bürger noch gute Chancen, einen solchen Masten zu vermeiden.

Auch Schnurlose strahlen

Schütz gab zu bedenken, dass oft auch jemand über eine 500 Meter entfernt errichtete Sendeanlage schimpfe, dabei habe er mit seinem schnurlosen Telefon bereits rund um die Uhr eine Sendeanlage im Haus. Auch seien die Menschen, insbesondere die Jugend, mit ihrem Handy-Wahn selbst daran schuld, dass so viele Sendemasten benötigt würden. Wenn jeder seinen Handygebrauch auf Notfälle und Situationen, in denen ein Festnetz-Telefon nicht in der Nähe ist, beschränken würde, wären keine weiteren Sendemasten notwendig, betonte Schütz. Er zeigte auf, dass jeder Mensch anders auf die von den Sendemasten ausgehenden Belastungen reagiere. Doch gab er zu bedenken, dass die Menschen in der modernen Welt bereits jeder Menge Umweltbelastungen ausgesetzt seien. Er führte unter anderem Amalgam und andere Schwermetalle, Pestizide, Insektizide und Fungizide ebenso an wie denaturierte Nahrung, Radioaktivität und elektromagnetische Felder. Auch der gesündeste menschliche Körper könne irgendwann diese Belastungen nicht mehr abfangen, meinte er. Außerdem würden sich einzelne Schadstoffe beim Zusammentreffen mit bestimmten anderen Schadstoffen verstärken oder abschwächen. Deshalb führten die unterschiedlichen Einzelbelastungen zu einer überproportionalen Gesamtbelastung. Je länger ein schädlicher Reiz den Organismus belaste und je nachdem welche verschiedene Reize zusammentreffen, desto niedriger werde die Dosis die einen Schaden verursache. Der Referent ging auch auf die einzelnen, inzwischen von der Wissenschaft fundiert nachgewiesenen Risiken des Mobilfunks ein: So werde unter anderem das Schlaf-Wach-System und das Nervensystem gestört, das Immunsystem geschädigt und die Zellkommunikation beeinträchtigt. Dabei führte er auch aus, dass nicht alle Beeinträchtigungen mobilfunkbedingt seien. Doch diejenigen Beeinträchtigungen, die nachgewiesen werden könnten, würden immer mehr auf den Mobilfunk zurückgeführt. Eine rege Diskussion schloss sich dem Vortrag an.

http://www.all-in.de/redsys/c.php/allin/lokales/index.php?l=de&dom=dom1&id=612445

The new landfill, known as Chef Menteur after the highway that borders it, sits across a canal from Bayou Sauvage, the largest urban wildlife refuge in the country, with 23,000 acres of marshland, canals and lagoons that are home to herons, egrets, alligators and, in the fall, tens of thousands of migratory ducks.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050806P.shtml

As soaring prices prompt huge increases in gas and oil drilling on public land, an ad hoc posse of state governments, Indian tribes and individual "bounty hunters" is charging that big energy companies are shortchanging taxpayers by billions of dollars.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050806O.shtml

Americans on the lower rungs of the economic ladder have always been exposed to sudden ruin. But in recent years, with the soaring costs of housing and medical care and a decline in low-end wages and benefits, tens of millions are living on even shakier ground than before, according to studies of what some scholars call the "near poor."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050806N.shtml

Russia will seek the removal tonight of the core of a UK-sponsored draft United Nations resolution on Iran because it fears that it could pave the way to unilateral military action to curb the Iranian nuclear program.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050806M.shtml

President Bush has chosen Gen. Michael V. Hayden to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.... But in a possible preview of the difficulties that would await General Hayden on Capitol Hill, several Republicans, including some with close ties to the White House, said on Sunday that President Bush should find someone else to run the embattled agency.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050806K.shtml

Civil liberties watchdogs like attorney Richard Gutman want to know how efforts to stop al Qaeda have ended up targeting animal rights advocates, labor leaders, and anti-war protesters. "You've got all this money and all this equipment - you're going to find someone to use it on," he warns. "If there aren't any external checks, there's going to be an inevitable drift toward abuses."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050806J.shtml

"Seuchenbekämpfungsmaßnahmen von vorgestern"

08.05.06

Der Deutsche Tierschutzbund hat die angekündigte Keulung von rund 52.000 Schweinen im nordrhein-westfälischen Landkreis Borken kritisiert. Nachdem vergangene Woche in einem Zuchtbetrieb erneut das Schweinepestvirus nachgewiesen wurde, erwarten die Behörden jetzt eine Anordnung der EU-Kommission zur Massenkeulung. "Massenkeulungen sind Seuchenbekämpfungsmaßnahmen von vorgestern", meint Tierschutzbund-Präsident Wolfgang Apel. Die Nicht-Impf-Politik der EU sei "längst überholt". Gerade im Falle der Schweinepest stehen Markerimpfstoffe zur Verfügung, mit denen die Schweine im Umkreis um einen Seuchenherd wirkungsvoll vor dieser Tierkrankheit geschützt werden könnten.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13546

Ausbildungsplatzabgabe gefordert

08.05.06

Der Bund der Deutschen Katholischen Jugend (BDKJ) forderte am Wochenende die Bundesregierung auf, sich stärker gegen Kinderarmut und mehr für benachteiligte Jugendliche zu engagieren. Zwar begrüßt es der BDKJ, dass der Sockelbetrag beim Elterngeld nicht auf das Arbeitslosengeld II angerechnet werden soll. Dennoch bedeute das Elterngeld nach jetzigem Planungsstand eine Verschlechterung für Familien mit niedrigem Einkommen. Dies gelte vor allem für solche Familien, die nach bestehender Gesetzeslage 24 Monate Bundeserziehungsgeld bezögen. "Es darf nicht dazu kommen, dass Familien mit niedrigen Einkommen schlechter gestellt werden und zugleich das Elterngeld der Bessersituierten mitfinanzieren", meint die BDKJ-Vorsitzende Andrea Hoffmeier. "Will man Kinderarmut verhindern, müssen diese Nachteile aufgehoben werden."

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13556

A message from Cassandra

The UK government detains more than 2,000 children, including babies, in immigration detention centres every year. Ask the Home Security Dept. to stop this insanity.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/546348932

Please Share...Anna

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jeff Elrod
Date: May 8, 2006 5:40:00 AM HST
Subject: TELECOMMUNICATIONS GIANTS MOVE TO CONTROL HOW YOU SURF THE WEB

Hi, I came across this important alert and thought you might be interested:

TELECOMMUNICATIONS GIANTS MOVE TO CONTROL HOW YOU SURF THE WEB A nationwide network of nonprofit organizations, including the Organic Consumers Association, are mobilizing to stop Congress from passing a law that would enable telecommunications giants to control the flow of traffic on the internet. Companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are pressuring Congress to pass the "telecom reform bill" that would allow them to restrict or slow down your access to certain websites on the internet. As an example, last year, Canada's version of AT&T -- Telus -- blocked their internet customers from visiting a web site sympathetic to workers with whom Telus was negotiating.

This controversial bill would create a similar situation in the U.S. whereby telephone and cable companies would have increased power to control how well (or poorly) specific websites, including nonprofit organizations, would function on your computer. The current construction of the internet allows everyone to compete on a level playing field. This is the reason that the internet is a force for economic innovation, civic participation and free speech. If the public doesn't speak up now, Congress will hand over control of the internet to these telecommunications monopolies. Please take action: http://www.organicconsumers.org/rd/telecom.cfm

Take action now at http://www.democracyinaction.org/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3504

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/medienmitteilung_ig_sfk_03_05_2006.pdf


Nachricht von Wolfgang Blüher

STEVEN STAPLES
May 8, 2006

Special to Globe and Mail Update http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060508.wcomment0508/BNStory/Front/home

Today, members of Parliament will vote on a new NORAD agreement. The government is laudably putting the agreement to a vote, but it's "take it or leave it" - MPs aren't allowed to make amendments.

Without improvements, MPs should just leave it. Here's why.

This new NORAD agreement makes two significant changes: Maritime warning for North America is added to NORAD's missions, and the agreement is no longer renewed every five years (but can be amended at any time upon agreement of both governments).

Any change to NORAD should not be taken lightly, especially if it may be difficult to fix later. NORAD has an impact on Canadian sovereignty as well as on continental military arrangements, and it implicates Canada in missile defence and possibly space weapons.

Established in 1958 during the Cold War, the bi-national North American Aerospace Defence Command has a U.S. commander and a Canadian deputy commander. NORAD uses radars and satellites to warn of threats to North America in the form of aircraft or missiles.

For suspicious aircraft, NORAD exercises control over the airspace and can dispatch dedicated Canadian and U.S. military jets to intercept them and potentially shoot them down.

If NORAD thinks someone has launched an intercontinental ballistic missile at the continent, it warns U.S. commanders who can decide to launch a nuclear counterattack - or maybe, some day, launch missile interceptors or use space weapons to try to destroy the incoming enemy missile.

But now the governments want NORAD to warn of possible threats from ships along coastlines, in the Arctic or on internal waters such as the Great Lakes. National commands, such our new Canada Command, retain control of sovereign waters and can then decide to intercept and board the suspicious ships.

It may sound reasonable enough to add maritime warning to NORAD, but what are the implications? Parliamentarians have plenty to be concerned about. Most important, adding maritime responsibilities does nothing to resolve, and could only complicate, sovereignty and territorial disputes between Canada and the United States, especially in the Arctic, where the U.S. considers the thawing Northwest Passage to be international waters, not Canadian.

When the NDP's Dawn Black asked during last weeks debate whether the agreement included the sharing of maritime surveillance in the Northwest Passage, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, alarmingly, didn't know the answer. "If there were vessels going through the Northwest Passage, I am not certain we would report that to the United States. That is up for question," he admitted. Clearly, our sovereignty must be assured before any deal is approved.

Second, this NORAD deal ignores another major security and sovereignty concern for Canada: nuclear submarines. Why should NORAD's maritime role stop at the water's surface? Why not continue underwater?

During the election, Stephen Harper pledged to stop foreign submarines from venturing into Canadian waters without Ottawa's permission. That included U.S. submarines, and he promised to set up a new Arctic national sensor system to track them. This surveillance could be delivered to NORAD if the Americans agreed to disclose their submarine movements.

Third, providing missile warning information to U.S. commands responsible for missile defence, agreed to in the August, 2004, NORAD amendment, leaves a back door open for further Canadian involvement in missile defence, and even space weapons.

For instance, the government could try to argue that the establishment in Canada of a missile defence X-band radar, used for targeting, is consistent with the NORAD agreement. In fact, the Americans have already scouted a location in Goose Bay, Labrador, for a radar site, despite the Canadian government's policy of not participating in ballistic missile defence.

The agreement should explicitly prohibit the use of NORAD for the aiming of missile defence, anti-satellite or space-based weapons, as a condition of Canadian participation in NORAD.

The current NORAD agreement expires on Friday May 12, but the government should not use this looming deadline to try to strong-arm Members of Parliament.

Instead, Stephen Harper should adopt a more reasonable approach and seek Parliament's approval to extend the current NORAD agreement by another two years, so that outstanding concerns can be examined and addressed. If not, Members of Parliament cannot be faulted for rejecting such a flawed deal.


Steven Staples is the director of security programs for the Polaris Institute and author of the forthcoming book, Missile Defence: Round One.


Steven Staples Director of Security Programs
* New address * Polaris Institute
180 Metcalfe Street, Suite 500 Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1P5 CANADA t. 613 237-1717 x107 c. 613 290-2695 f. 613 237-3359 e. sstaples@polarisinstitute.org
http://www.polarisinstitute.org


From Global Network

A message from Eleanor

Original Message:

I've received this from Jenny. Pls ACT! Your help always counts!

Hugs,

Anca


Dear friends,

Animals are currently under vicious attack in China, where there are NO animal welfare regulations whatsoever.

Your voice is desperately needed! Please consider taking the two very easy actions detailed here:

http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/89991

Please feel free to forward to your friends, too!

Many, many thanks!

by Joanne Doroshow, TomPaine.com

This week Bill Frist wants to "fix" America's health care system by taking away patients' rights.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/08/legislative_malpractice.php

by Robert Dreyfuss, TomPaine.com

Thanksgiving is six months away, but some are already proposing we carve up Iraq like a turkey.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/08/destroying_iraq_to_save_it.php

by Russ Baker, TomPaine.com

Hookers, booze and poker make a good story. But the real problem is how business is done every day in Washington.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/08/crashing_watergategate.php

by Ray McGovern, TomPaine.com

One of the Iraq war's key architects is called out on questions few reporters have dared ask.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/08/my_meeting_with_rumsfeld.php

Marjorie Cohn writes: "Now that the mission - whatever it was - has not been accomplished in Iraq, Bush is setting up a potentially bigger disaster in Iran. Last month, Seymour Hersh revealed that the US military is making preparations for an attack on Iran. Recent events confirm Hersh's report."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050806Z.shtml

Mother Jones
by Michael Pollan

May-June 2006 edition

An evangelical Virginia farmer says a revolution against industrial agriculture is just down the road. 'We don’t need a law against McDonald’s or a law against slaughterhouse abuse -- we ask for too much salvation by legislation. All we need to do is empower individuals with the right philosophy and the right information to opt out en masse.' ... Joel, who describes himself as a 'Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-lunatic farmer,' speaks of his farming as his 'ministry,' and certainly his 1,000 or so regular customers hear plenty of preaching. Each spring he sends out a long, feisty, single-spaced letter that could convince even a fast-food junkie that buying a pastured broiler from Polyface Farm qualifies as an act of social, environmental, nutritional, and political redemption...

http://www.mojones.com/news/feature/2006/05/no_bar_code.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Christian Science Monitor
by Daniel Schorr

05/06/06

I haven't had any problems with the FBI lately that I know of, and I was hoping it would stay that way. In 1971, President Nixon had J. Edgar Hoover launch an investigation of me that ended up as an item in the Bill of Impeachment under 'Presidential Abuse of Power.' We in the press hoped that the FBI would learn from that experience and refrain from doing political chores. But now it seems that the FBI is back investigating what it has no business investigating. It has told the family of Jack Anderson, the justly celebrated investigative columnist who died last December, that it wants access to Anderson's 60 years worth of files. Why? The FBI says it wants to remove any secret papers...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0505/p09s02-cods.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Las Vegas Review-Journal
by Vin Suprynowicz

05/07/06

Last time, we were previewing former Hollywood producer and former Nevada gubernatorial candidate Aaron Russo's new documentary, 'America, Freedom to Fascism.' The film argues it's enough to set us free, for citizens and jurors simply to ask of those enforcing the personal income tax, 'Show us the law.' I fear it's not. High-ranking Treasury officials and congressmen won't show the law to -- won't engage in a public, methodical, videotaped examination of the tax code and related court decisions with -- well-educated members of the tax education movement. They've promised to do so on many occasions, but they always back out, instead relying on surrogates to ridicule the questioners (though never under oath and cross-examination), often rebutting an assertion never made (that being that the Supreme Court has outlawed the income tax)...

http://tinyurl.com/zbuwv


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

FreedomWorks
by Stephen Moore

05/04/06

With the House and Senate preparing to vote on extending George W. Bush's investment tax cuts, it's no surprise the cries against 'tax giveaways to the rich' grow increasingly shrill. Just yesterday Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid charged that the Bush tax plan 'offers next to nothing to average Americans while giving away the store to multi-millionaires' and then fumed that it will 'do much more for ExxonMobil board members than it will do for ExxonMobil customers.' Oh really. New IRS data released last month tell a very different story: In the aftermath of the Bush investment tax cuts, the federal income tax burden has substantially shifted onto the backs of the wealthy.

http://tinyurl.com/ej62h


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

San Francisco Chronicle

05/06/06

It was in the spring of 2004 when Darinel Reyes, then a senior at Watsonville High School, got a phone call at his home from a military recruiter. He politely told them he wasn't interested in joining the service, but in the following weeks and months, he kept getting calls and even a letter in the mail from the Army urging him to reconsider. He felt so pressured that he asked his mother if they could move back to their hometown of Morelia in the Mexican state of Michoacan so he wouldn't have to enlist in the U.S. military, said Reyes, now 20. 'I felt like they were going to force me to join,' he said. What also surprised Reyes was that the recruiter had his home address and phone number. Reyes and his mother didn't realize that his school was releasing contact information for all juniors and seniors to military recruiters under a requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act in order to receive federal funding...

http://tinyurl.com/k2qqw


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

WTO, Seattle & ff. - Gipfel und Globalisierungsproteste > 4. Europäisches Sozialforum in Athen

Declaration of the Assembly of the Movements of the 4th European Social Forum

Die englische Abschlusserklärung http://www.athens.fse-esf.org/workgroups/press-office/declaration-of-the-assembly-of-the-movements-of-the-4th-european-social-forum/

Kernverabredungen: Anti-Kriegs-Aktionswoche 23.-30. September 06; europäisch-afrikanischer Aktionstag für freie Migration, gegen Prekarisierung etc. am 7. Oktober 06

Siehe dazu auch eine erste deutsche Übersetzung http://www.sfid.info/news.esf.2006.2006.23/


Zusammenkunft der Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer aus Deutschland während des ESF in Athen

Kurzbericht vom Treffen am 05.05.2006 von Willi van Ooyen http://www.sfid.info/news.esf.2006.2006.20/

Kernverabredungen: Das Frühjahr 2007 soll europaweit im Zeichen der Vorbereitung von Massenprotesten gegen den im Juni 2007 in Heiligendamm stattfinden G8 Gipfel stehen; für Oktober 2007 ist in Cottbus das zweite Sozialforum in Deutschland geplant.


Skizze für ein neues Europa. Bekenntnis gegen Neoliberalismus und Krieg – gestern endete das 4. Europäische Sozialforum / Vielfalt der Teilnehmer machte Stärke des Athener Treffens aus

„Hunderte Veranstaltungen, Tausende Teilnehmer, der Austausch von Ideen und Erfahrungen sowie ein beeindruckender Massenprotest gegen Kriegspolitik und Sozialabbau – das war das 4. Europäische Sozialforum in Athen…“ Artikel von Anke Stefan, Athen, in ND vom 08.05.06 http://www.nd-online.de/funkprint.asp?AID=90055&IDC=2&DB=


Aus: LabourNet, 8. Mai 2006

Fusel oder Premier cru

„Die Trennung zwischen Reich und Arm in der deutschen Gesellschaft verschärft sich. Doch die dauerarbeitslose Schicht der "Überflüssigen" ist orientierungslos und ohne Selbstbewusstsein. Eine Revolte, so sie denn kommt, wird von den Deklassierten der Wissensgesellschaft angeführt werden…“ Artikel von Franz Walter in Spiegel online vom 7. Mai 2006 http://www.spiegel.de/politik/debatte/0,1518,414888,00.html

Aus dem Text: „…Etliche hunderttausend Bundesbürger drängen Tag für Tag in die Suppenküchen der Wohlfahrtsverbände. Über ein Zehntel der Deutschen lebt in ständiger Armut. Die oberen zwei Prozent der bundesrepublikanischen Haushalte verfügen über 30 Prozent des Gesamtvermögens; die unteren 50 Prozent müssen sich mit knapp fünf Prozent begnügen. Und die ökonomischen Eliten haben sich mehr und mehr von ihrer gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung verabschiedet. (…) Die neuen Unterschichten der Überflüssigen haben allerdings nichts davon: Keine kollektive Zusammengehörigkeit, kein Selbstbewusstsein, keine Idee von sich selbst, keine Potentiale für Organisation, für politische Projekte und für disziplinierte, langfristige Aktionen. Sie mögen in Zeiten weiterer sozialer Verschlechterung zum Treibsand und Resonanzboden für strohfeuerartig aufflammende Affekte gegen "die Reichen da oben" taugen, aber sie werden schwerlich zu einem zielbewussten politischen Träger organisierten Protests….“


Aus: LabourNet, 8. Mai 2006

--------

Social Watch Report Deutschland 2006. Kein Geld für die Armen? Ursachen - Analysen – Alternativen

In den letzten fünfzehn Jahren hat sich in nahezu in jedem vierten Land der Erde die soziale Situation in Teilbereichen wie Bildung oder Gesundheit verschlechtert. Dies belegt der sechste Social Watch Deutschland Report, den deutsche Nichtregierungsorganisationen am 16. Oktober 2006 in Bonn der Öffentlichkeit vorstellten.

Aus dem Inhalt:

Soziale Entwicklung weltweit. Mit Beiträgen von Yimaz Akyüz, Celine Tan, Simon Stocker, Alex Wilks, John Foster, Nancy Alexander, Jens Martens, Irene Knoke, Uwe Hoering, Uwe Kerkow und Social Watch
2) Tabellen zur weltweiten Umsetzung internationaler Entwicklungsziele
3) Globale Entwicklungspartnerschaft - Der deutsche Beitrag zur Entwicklungszusammenarbeit. Mit Beiträgen von Richard Brand, Sonja Weinreich, Klaus Schilder, Klaus Seitz und Social Watch
4) Soziale Entwicklung in Deutschland. Mit Beiträgen von Monika Burmester, Birgit Erbe, Rainer Hub und der Arbeitsgruppe Solidarische Einfachsteuer zur Unternehmenssteuerreform

Schutzgebühr: 5 Euro zzgl. Versandkosten (2 Euro innerhalb Deutschland). Der Report kann bestellt werden bei: WEED, Torstraße 154,
10115 Berlin, E-mail: weed @weed-online.org oder online unter: http//www.weed-online.org/publikationen/bestellung/index.html

Social Watch Report Deutschland 2006 zum download (pdf; 1275 kb) http://www2.weed-online.org/uploads/socialwatchdeutschlandreport2006.pdf


Aus: LabourNet, 8. November 2006

SGB II – Optimierungsgesetz

Das "Optimierungsgesetz" heißt jetzt, seit dem Kabinettsbeschluss, "Gesetz zur Fortentwicklung der Grundsicherung für Arbeitssuchende" - am Inhalt ändert es nichts.... Siehe dazu:

Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Fortentwicklung der Grundsicherung für Arbeitssuchende

Formulierungshilfe für einen Gesetzentwurf der Koalitionsfraktionen. Kabinettsache, Datenblatt-Nr.: 16/11039 vom 27.04.2006, vom Kabinett beschlossen am 03.05.2006 (pdf) http://www.bag-shi.de/sozialpolitik/arbeitslosengeld2/sgbII-fortentwicklung_kabinettvorlage01.pdf


Vorgesehende Änderungen im Gesetz zur Fortentwicklung der Grundsicherung für Arbeitssuchende

Zusammenfassende Übersicht des BMAS über den vom Kabinett am 03.05.2006 verabschiedeten Gesetzentwurf (pdf) http://www.bag-shi.de/sozialpolitik/arbeitslosengeld2/sgbII-fortentwicklung_zus.pdf

Der Gesetzesentwurf wird bereits am nächsten Donnerstag (11.5.) in erster Lesung im Bundestag beraten. Am 17.5. kommt es in den Ausschuss und soll am 2.6. in 2./3. Lesung im Bundestag behandelt werden!!!


"Solidarität kann niemals als Einbahnstraße organisiert funktionieren". Clever: Verschärfung bei Arbeitslosengeld II richtig

„Die Verschärfung der Kontrollen beim Arbeitslosengeld II sind nach Ansicht des Verwaltungsratsvorsitzenden der Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Peter Clever, richtig, reichten jedoch noch nicht aus. So müssten außerdem die Zuschläge gestrichen werden, die den Übergang von Arbeitslosengeld I zu Arbeitslosengeld II abfederten. Diese Zahlungen gingen über das angestrebte System einer Grundsicherung hinaus und machten deshalb die Aufnahme von Arbeit unattraktiv….“ Interview im Deutschlandfunk vom
04.05.2006 http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/interview_dlf/496666/


Fehlanreize bei Hartz IV abbauen – Kosten reduzieren – Leistungsrecht überprüfen und an der früheren Sozialhilfe orientieren. Kommunale Spitzenverbände zum Fortentwicklungsgesetz der Bundesregierung

„Die kommunalen Spitzenverbände unterstützen die Bundesregierung und die Koalitionsfraktionen bei der Korrektur von Fehlentwicklungen durch das Hartz-IV-Gesetz. Das heute im Bundeskabinett behandelte Fortentwicklungsgesetz zum Sozialgesetzbuch II (SGB II) enthalte viele richtige Maßnahmen, die im Gesetzgebungsverfahren weiter ergänzt werden müssten, erklärten der Deutsche Städtetag, der Deutsche Landkreistag und der Deutsche Städte- und Gemeindebund heute in einer gemeinsamen Pressekonferenz in Berlin…“ Presseerklärung vom 3. Mai 2006 http://www.staedtetag.de/10/presseecke/pressedienst/artikel/2006/05/03/00357/index.html


Aus: LabourNet, 8. Mai 2006

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Haushälter nehmen Hartz IV ins Visier

„Die Haushaltspolitiker von Union und SPD wollen die Leistungen für Langzeitarbeitslose kürzen. Im Gespräch sei die Abschaffung des befristeten Zuschlags, den Erwerbslose zwei Jahre lang erhalten, wenn sie vom regulären Arbeitslosengeld ins Arbeitslosengeld II (Alg II) wechseln..“ Artikel von Birgit Marschall in FTD vom 11.05.2006 http://www.ftd.de/politik/deutschland/72081.html


Aus: LabourNet, 11. Mai 2006

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Hausmitteilung: Der Blockwart

„Achtung! An alle Mieter! Zum Vollzug des Hartz IV-Optimierungsgesetzes gibt die Hausverwaltung bekannt, daß mit sofortiger Wirkung wieder der deutsche Blockwart eingesetzt wird. Er hat künftig folgende Befugnisse und Aufgaben:…“ Extra-Ausgabe des Deutschen Einhei(t)z-Textdienst zum Thema Hartz IV: Optimierung von Werner Lutz (pdf) http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/hilfe/blockwart.pdf


Die unendliche Lüge. Organisierte Not statt Grundsicherung

Stellungnahme des Vorstandes Erwerbslosenausschuss ver.di Bezirk Berlin vom 18.5.06 (pdf) http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/hilfe/opti_eavb.pdf


Optimiertes Super-Elend. Änderungen bei Hartz IV

„Wenn die Bundesregierung ankündigt, Hartz IV durch eine Gesetzesnovelle »optimieren« zu wollen, dann wird das von den Arbeitslosen zu Recht als Drohung aufgefasst. Denn »Optimieren« bedeutet nichts anderes als Sparen. Kürzungen der Leistungen und verschärfte Kontrollen sollen jährlich 1,2 Milliarden Euro einbringen. Gleichzeitig bleibt die Arbeitsförderung auf der Strecke; allein in Nordrhein-Westfalen wurden im vorigen Jahr 750 Millionen Euro für Qualifizierungsmaßnahmen und Lohnkostenzuschüsse nicht genutzt. Mit dem Fördern sind die zuständigen Behörden anscheinend überfordert…“ Artikel von Thomas Binger in Jungle World vom 17. Mai 2006 http://jungle-world.com/seiten/2006/20/7758.php


Aus: LabourNet, 19. Mai 2006

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Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Fortentwicklung der Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende

Beschlussempfehlung und Bericht des Ausschusses für Arbeit und Soziales vom 31.5.06. Elektronische Vorab-Fassung des Fortführungsgesetzes beim Bundestag (pdf, knapp 1 MB) http://dip.bundestag.de/btd/16/016/1601696.pdf


Alg II-Optimierung: Gesetz gegen Gerichtsentscheidungen

Artikel von Herbert Masslau vom 8. Juni 2006 auf seiner Homepage http://www.herbertmasslau.de/pageID_3180385.html


Schrecken ohne Ende. Hartz IV: Die "Fortentwicklung" des sozialen Terrors durch schwarz-rote Zwangsarbeitspolitik

Artikel von Robert Kurz in Freitag vom 9.6.06 http://www.freitag.de/2006/23/06230101.php

Zitat zum Thema:

„Hartz-Test Im Rahmen des Hartz-Optimierungs-Gesetzes sollen künftig Arbeitslose ein „Sofortangebot“ erhalten, damit ihre Arbeitsbereitschaft getestet wird. Der Überlebenstest für die Betroffenen findet dagegen schon seit längerem statt: durch die monatliche Überweisung des Arbeitslosengeldes.“ Aus: Deutscher Einheit(z)-Textdienst von Werner Lutz 6/2006


ALG II und Kinder/Jugendliche

Schwarzbuch Hartz IV und Alleinerziehende

Studie von Erika Biehn, Marion von zur Gathen und Peggi Liebisch (pdf. 80 Seiten) beim Verband alleinerziehender Mütter und Väter, Bundesverband e.V. http://vamv.de/PDFs/VAMV_SW_Inhalt_RZneu1.pdf


Hartz IV und Flüchtlinge

Soziale Grundsicherung nur noch für Deutsche?

„Zusätzlich zu den bereits beschlossenen Verschärfungen beim Arbeitslosengeld-II planen derzeit offenbar einige CDU-geführte Bundesländer und Teile der Großen Koalition, im Rahmen eines weiteren "SGB-II-Optimierungsgesetzes" den Bezug von "öffentlichen Hilfeleistungen", namentlich Arbeitslosengeld-II ("Hartz-IV"), auf BesitzerInnen der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit, oder allenfalls noch EU-BürgerInnen, zu begrenzen. Ein entsprechendes Papier wurde in den vergangenen Tagen in die laufenden Verhandlungen der Bund-Länder-Arbeitsgruppe eingebracht und erörtert…“ Artikel von Flüchtlingsinitiative Moabit vom 05.06.2006 bei indymedia http://www.de.indymedia.org/2006/06/149090.shtml


Aus: LabourNet, 14. Juni 2006



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

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Optimierungsgesetz

Der Bundesrat fordert eine Verschärfung von Hartz IV

Empfehlungen der Ausschüsse. Drucksache 404/1/06 (pdf) http://www.bundesrat.de/cln_050/SharedDocs/Drucksachen/2006/0401-500/404-1-06,templateId=raw,property=publicationFile.pdf/404-1-06.pdf

Beschluss des Bundesrates. Drucksache 404/06 (Beschluss) vom 7.7.06 (pdf) http://www.bundesrat.de/cln_050/SharedDocs/Drucksachen/2006/0401-500/404-06_28B_29,templateId=raw,property=publicationFile.pdf/404-06(B).pdf

Empfehlungen zum Hartz IV-Fortentwicklungsgesetz im Bundesrat: „Die Politik stiehlt sich aus ihrer Verantwortung“

Pressemitteilung von BAG-SHI vom 6.7.06 http://www.bag-shi.de/presse/archiv/060706pm-fortentwicklung-bundesrat/view

Aus dem Text: „…„1-€-Jobs, Sofortangebote, Sanktionen und Leistungsausschluss sind kein Mittel gegen die zunehmende soziale Not“, so Andreas Geiger, Vorsitzender der BAG-SHI. „Die Forderungen der Ausschüsse des Bundesrates, soziale Leistungen nur noch vorübergehend zu gewähren (Punkt 9) oder den Vorrang lebenslanger Unterhaltsverpflichtungen zwischen Eltern und Kindern auszuweiten (Punkt 10), sind für uns nicht akzeptabel.“…“


Aus: LabourNet, 10. Juli 2006

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Die wichtigsten Änderungen für Arbeitslosengeld II - Empfänger zum 1. August 2006 – Gesetz zur Fortentwicklung der Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende tritt in Kraft

Pressemitteilung der Bundesagentur für Arbeit vom 27. Juli 2006 http://arbeitsagentur.de/vam/vamController/CMSConversation/anzeigeContent?navId=219&category=presse_info&docId=113039&rqc=3&ls=false&ut=0

Gesetz zur Fortentwicklung der Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende – Stand vom 20.07.2006 bei BMAS (pdf) http://www.bmas.bund.de/BMAS/Redaktion/Pdf/Pressemitteilungen-Pressetermine-Anhaenge/2006-05-03-SGB-II-fortentwicklungsgesetzentwurf,property=pdf,bereich=bmas,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf

Wesentliche Inhalte des Gesetzes zur Fortentwicklung der Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende (Inkrafttreten: 1. August 2006, Stand vom 31.7.06) bei BMAS (pdf) http://www.bmas.bund.de/BMAS/Redaktion/Pdf/gesetz-zur-fortentwicklung-der-grundsicherung-fuer-arbeitsuchende-wesentliche-inhalte,property=pdf,bereich=bmas,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf

Referentenentwurf zur Änderung des SGB XII

Der Referentenentwurf, Stand vom 10.7.06, liegt Tacheles vor (pdf) http://www.harald-thome.de/media/files/Gesetzestexte%20SGB%20II%20+%20VO/Gesetzestexte%20SGB%20XII%20+%20VO/SGB_XII_-_Entwurf_10-7-06.pdf

Änderungen für Arbeitslosengeld II-Betroffene zum 01.08.2006. „Notfalls gerichtliche Überprüfung veranlassen“

„Die Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Erwerbslosen- und Sozialhilfeinitiativen e.V. (BAG-SHI) weist darauf hin, dass die am Dienstag, dem 1. August, in Kraft tretenden neuen Regelungen des „Gesetzes zur Fortentwicklung der Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende“ (Fortentwicklungsgesetz) in Teilen nicht der bisherigen Rechtssprechung von Bundesverfassungsgericht und Sozialgerichten entsprechen und mit dem Zivilrecht nicht vereinbar sind…“ Pressemitteilung von Bag-Shi vom
28.07.2006 http://www.bag-shi.de/presse/archiv/060728-fortentwicklung/view


Aus: LabourNet, 1. August 2006

Ron Fullwood writes that the most dangerous period of Bush's reign has begun. "The carefully layered walls of Bush's bubble are closing in as the outer layers of purchased politicos are beginning to peel away, revealing the core ideologues of the cabal."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050706H.shtml

Russia's government, alienated by US Vice President Dick Cheney's tough accusations that the Kremlin uses oil and gas as tools of intimidation or blackmail, has described the Vice President as "completely incomprehensible."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050706E.shtml

The Attorney General of The United Kingdom, Lord Goldsmith, is set to trigger a diplomatic row between Britain and the United States by calling for Guantanamo Bay to close.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050706B.shtml

A message from Thomas

Original Message:

DEAR FRIENDS, PLEASE SIGN. HETCH HETCHY NEEDS YOU!! TO BRING IT BACK TO LIFE!! http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/hetch_hetchy1/f THANKYOU, ALSO IF YOU WANT TO ENJOY A GREAT VIDEO! ON HETCH HETCHY PLEASE VISIT: http://www.environmentaldefense.org/hetchhetchy/
LOOK TO YOUR LEFT!!!! AND CLICK TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Prison inmates in China. Australian doctors have said Australians have gone to China to receive organ transplants from executed prisoners.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-5-4/41062.html


From Information Clearing House

Police files hold the DNA of more than 50,000 children who have committed no offence. And that's only the tip of the iceberg - Britain now has the largest DNA database in the world.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article362543.ece


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=DNA+database

United Airlines has begun showing an in-flight video about military glamor jobs that was produced and funded by the Department of Defense--a fact passengers do not learn from watching it.

http://tinyurl.com/zzzs8


From Information Clearing House

A corruption scandal involving Republicans in Congress, CIA officials, prostitutes on Capitol Hill, and defense contracts has begun to spread.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12963.htm



"Nine Fingers," Poker-Playing CIA Man, I.D.'d

Newsweek magazine is the first to identify Nine Fingers as Brant Bassett, whom they also say is "a former Goss aide."

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000578.php


From Information Clearing House

According to Oxfam International, a confederation of anti-poverty organisations, more than 850 million people suffer from chronic hunger. Is Ethiopia condemned to suffer hunger regularly? Are others?

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12971.htm

BBC Video Report: Tim Whewell reports from Chad where there is evidence the Janjaweed are extending their programme of terror.

http://tinyurl.com/jalau



Congo's tragedy: the war the world forgot

In a country the size of Western Europe, a war rages that has lasted eight years and cost four million lives. Rival militias inflict appalling suffering on the civilian population, and what passes for political leadership is powerless to stop it.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article362215.ece


From Information Clearing House

Two London papers have speculated this weekend that complaints by President George W. Bush forced a British minister from his post because of his opposition to the use of nuclear force against Iran.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/07/politics/main1596108.shtml


From Information Clearing House

In July Iran will ditch the dollar in favour of the euro as the currency in which it will accept payments for its oil and natural gas exports, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Friday.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12957.htm

Spot the rogue

The countdown to a massive aerial bombing of Iran, possibly using bunker busting nuclear weapons, has begun. In strict adherence to a script written jointly by the British and US foreign offices and exposed by The Times of London some two months ago.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1690822,00120001.htm


From Information Clearing House

As the Central Intelligence Agency undergoes its latest round of turmoil, legislators and former intelligence officials say that serious gaps in the United States' knowledge of Iran are among the most critical problems facing a new director of the spy agency.

http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/nws/nytimes48.htm


From Information Clearing House

The draft resolution on Iran's nuclear activities that the United States, Britain and France presented to the United Nations Security Council this week is designed to fail.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12968.htm

The UN Security Council's draft resolution on Iran nuclear issue, legally requiring Tehran to stop sensitive nuclear fuel work, needs to be fundamentally changed, Russian news agencies quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak as saying on Saturday.

http://tinyurl.com/zx3hk


From Information Clearing House

President : Iran would change its policies if asked to do so by the UN nuclear monitor the IAEA, hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Baku, according to the translation of his comments, AFP reported.

http://tinyurl.com/h5orh


From Information Clearing House

Tehran’s vow to hand nuclear technology to its allies gives Bush a powerful reason to act.

http://tinyurl.com/j9ym7


From Information Clearing House

Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush

Cowardly and clueless, the U.S. media abandoned its post as Bush led the country into a disastrous war. A look inside one of the great journalistic collapses of our time.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12970.htm

EVEN by the stupefying standards of Iraq’s unspeakable violence, the murder of Atwar Bahjat, one of the country’s top television journalists, was an act of exceptional cruelty.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12969.htm

A visitor need not go far or search hard to hear and see the anti-American venom that bubbles through this ancient shrine city, which once welcomed U.S. forces as liberators.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12961.htm

By Walter Simpson

Oil is pretty slippery stuff. The press is playing up $3 a gallon gasoline, record oil company profits, and the $400 million retirement package for Exxon’s former CEO. But these stories are trivial compared to the oil story they have ignored all along.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12962.htm

By Rudo de Ruijter

In the background of the political joust about Iran, a few countries are reshaping the world. They are taking possession of the global nuclear fuel market. New IAEA regulations should keep newcomers away. The US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, China and Japan will become world’s nuclear filling stations.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12964.htm

On April 26, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and 32 co-sponsors introduced a resolution (H. Con. Res. 391) in the House of Representatives declaring that the House, with the Senate concurring, “strongly and unequivocally believes that seeking congressional authority prior to taking military action against Iran is not discretionary, but is a legal and constitutional requirement.” DeFazio and 61 members of the House also wrote to President Bush expressing the same view.

For more, see www.DisarmamentActivist.org, at http://disarmamentactivist.org/2006/05/07/defazio-war-on-iran-is-up-to-congress-not-president/

The letter you can send to your senators and representative on the United for Peace and Justice website ( http://www.unitedforpeace.org ) addresses this, saying:

“It is your duty under the Constitution to reserve for Congress the decision on whether to go to war with Iran.”


John Burroughs, Executive Director
Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy
675 Third Avenue, Suite 315
New York, NY 10017-5704 USA
tel 212 818 1861; fax 212 818 1857
johnburroughs@lcnp.org
http://www.lcnp.org


UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE | 212-868-5545

From ufpj-news

WAR Launches Operation: Sinking Ship

****Cross Post Widely****

FOCUS ON: HUNTINGDON LIFE SCIENCES CUSTOMERS & SUPPLIERS

http://war-online.org/Sinking_Ship.htm

With the recent drop of Huntingdon Life Sciences (stock symbol: LSRI) off of the Pink Sheets and onto the 'Grey Market' and the loss of their last significant institutional investor, Columbia Management/Bank of America, the only thing keeping HLS afloat is their key customers and suppliers. While a watchful eye on Wall Street will show whether anyone else gets the bright idea of investing in LSRI or making a market for them, attention should now be focused on the small group of companies that are providing HLS with enough ballast to keep their heads above water.

On Monday, May 8, 2006, Operation: Sinking Ship will be launched. Operation: Sinking Ship is a campaign whose mission is to educate the key customers and suppliers of HLS about the cruelty and killing that they make possible with their contracts and customer orders. The main companies, in the United States, that continue to do business with HLS are: Pfizer, Roche, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Bristol Myers-Squibb (BMS). Key suppliers to HLS are: Phenomenex and PDP Couriers. However, Operation: Sinking Ship will not be limited to those companies.

Many of these companies have operations or sales offices and/or production facilities scattered across the North American continent. Wherever you live, there is likely a company that could be educated about the cruelty revealed in 5 undercover investigations at Huntingdon Life Sciences. Activists everywhere can find opportunities to campaign locally to educate companies about how their contracts and their money fund the killing of 500 animals a day at Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Right now, over 70,000 animals are imprisoned in the cold steel cages and concrete pens at the death camps of Huntingdon Life Sciences. There, they wait for the white gloved hand that inevitably comes to pull them from their cages, to insert the stomach or nose tubes that funnel caustic and noxious chemicals into their bodies. They wait to be poisoned, burned, cut open and brutally victimized for the scientific fraud of animal testing. Alone, they suffer as they wait to die.

Watch for e-mail action alerts. If you are not on the WAR listserv, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to: centcom@war-online.org

Or visit the WAR website, where you can subscribe at the bottom of the homepage: http://war-online.org

Be part of history. Help stop the torture and killing at Huntingdon Life Sciences.

For more info contact Win Animal Rights at: centcom@war-online.org Call: 646.267.9934 or visit the WAR website at: http://war-online.org

--------

****Cross Post Widely****

OPERATION: SINKING SHIP

http://www.war-online.org/Sinking_Ship.htm

FOCUS ON: HUNTINGDON LIFE SCIENCES CUSTOMER - PFIZER

This is the beginning of a series of e-mails that will provide contact points at various customers and suppliers of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS). HLS is a sinking ship and our mission is to educate those who have a business relationship with HLS about their financial instability and moral bankruptcy. HLS is a company that kills 500 animals a day, every single day of the year. They are a company exposed by 5 undercover investigations showing egregious cruelty, shoddy business practices and employees guilty of animal abuse and negligence on the job. HLS employees have even been exposed taking drugs on the job. Certainly, this is information that HLS customers and suppliers need to know about.

Please keep all of your letters, e-mails and phone calls polite and informative. Experience has led us to understand that once a company knows what is really going on at the death camps of Huntingdon Life Sciences, they will be anxious to distance themselves from this notorious animal killing facility. Keep in mind that some companies screen e-mails based on key words in the subject line.

The first focal point of attention is Pfizer. Pfizer is a company that should be sensitive to the issue of product testing. In April of 2005 the US Food and Drug Administration requested that Pfizer recall their arthritis medication Bextra. Bextra is no longer available in the USA. Bextra joins a list of products that have had to be recalled after causing human injuries and tragic deaths. All of these products, including Bextra, were tested on animals. Some were tested at Huntingdon Life Sciences.

The information that follows can be found on the WAR website and will be updated with each new action alert. For Pfizer information visit:

http://www.war-online.org/Alert_Pfizer.htm

Following please find a contact list for Pfizer's Executive Committee:

Henry (“Hank”) A. McKinnell, Jr., Ph.D. Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Hank.Mckinnell@pfizer.com

Karen Katen Vice Chairman, Pfizer Inc and President, Pfizer Human Health Karen.Katen@pfizer.com

Jeffrey B. Kindler Vice Chairman, Pfizer Inc Jeff.Kindler@pfizer.com

David L. Shedlarz Vice Chairman, Pfizer Inc Dave.Shedlarz@pfizer.com

All of the above can be contacted at the following address and telephone number:

Pfizer
235 E. 42nd St. New York, NY 10017
212-733-2323

Be part of history. Help stop the torture and killing at Huntingdon Life Sciences.

For more info contact Win Animal Rights at: centcom@war-online.org Call: 646.267.9934 or visit the WAR website at: http://war-online.org



****Cross Post Widely****

OPERATION: SINKING SHIP FOCUS ON HUNTINGDON LIFE SCIENCES CUSTOMER - GlaxoSmithKline

Recently, the relationship between Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) and one of their major customers GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been prominently featured in the headlines of international media. Here is a video clip from SKYE News reporting on a letter that was posted to GSK shareholders by an unknown group. In this video segment, Win Animal Rights and Operation: Sinking Ship are featured.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,31200-animal_p12303,00.html

GSK's response was to label animal rights activists as extremists and terrorists (so what else is new?) and to issue the following statement:

"GSK will continue to work with HLS as long as they continue to meet their current high standards of animal welfare in line with Home Office requirements."

Apparently GSK is choosing to ignore the 5 undercover investigations, the past censure of both British and American regulatory agencies and common sense, which tells us that HLS has changed nothing over the years in the way they abuse and kill 500 animals a day. Consider educating their key decision makers with polite and informative letters, faxes, e-mails and phone calls. When they hear about the brutality and abuse that has been proven to take place at HLS, they will no doubt make the right business decision by cutting their ties to HLS.

GSK Primary US Office:

Mr. Jean-Pierre Garnier Chief Executive Officer GlaxoSmithKline
1 Franklin Plaza Philadelphia, PA 19101 Phone: 215-751-5000 Fax: 215-751-3233 Toll Free: 888-825-5249

http://www.gsk.com

GSK Corporate Executive Team:

Dr Jean-Pierre Garnier - Chief Executive Officer jean-pierre.garnier@gsk.com

Rupert Bondy - Senior Vice President & General Counsel rupert.bondy@gsk.com

Ford Calhoun – Chief Information Officer ford.calhoun@gsk.com

John Clarke - President, Consumer Healthcare john.clarke@gsk.com

Marc Dunoyer - President, Pharmaceuticals Japan marc.dunoyer@gsk.com

Russell Greig - President, Pharmaceuticals International russell.greig@gsk.com

Julian Heslop - Chief Financial Officer julian.heslop@gsk.com

Bob Ingram - Vice Chairman, Pharmaceuticals bob.ingram@gsk.com

Dan Phelan - Senior Vice President, Human Resources daniel.phelan@gsk.com

David Pulman - President, Global Manufacturing & Supply david.pulman@gsk.com

Moncef Slaoui - Chairman-Elect, Research & Development moncef.slaoui@gsk.com

David Stout - President, Pharmaceutical Operations david.stout@gsk.com

Chris Viehbacher - President, US Pharmaceuticals chris.viehbacher@gsk.com

Andrew Witty - President, Pharmaceuticals Europe andrew.witty@gsk.com

Dr Tadataka Yamada - Executive Director, Chairman, Research & Development tachi.yamada@gsk.com

Jennie Younger – Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications jennie.younger@gsk.com

E-mail Block containing all addresses listed above:

jean-pierre.garnier@gsk.com, rupert.bondy@gsk.com, ford.calhoun@gsk.com, john.clarke@gsk.com, marc.dunoyer@gsk.com, russell.greig@gsk.com, julian.heslop@gsk.com, bob.ingram@gsk.com, daniel.phelan@gsk.com, david.pulman@gsk.com, moncef.slaoui@gsk.com, david.stout@gsk.com, chris.viehbacher@gsk.com, andrew.witty@gsk.com, tachi.yamada@gsk.com, jennie.younger@gsk.com

Be part of history. Help stop the torture and killing at Huntingdon Life Sciences.

For more info contact Win Animal Rights at: centcom@war-online.org Call: 646.267.9934 or visit the WAR website at: http://war-online.org



****Cross Post Widely****

OPERATION: SINKING SHIP FOCUS ON HUNTINGDON LIFE SCIENCES CUSTOMER BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB

"Why aren't they in prison?"

http://www.war-online.org/Sinking_Ship.htm

When you visit the website of Bristol-Myers Squibb or BMS, it is hard to get past the legal issues as the are the very first thing highlighted on their homepage is: "Agreement With The U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey Deferred Prosecution Agreement (pdf)". You can find a copy of this agreement at: http://www.bms.com/pdf/dpa.pdf

On May 2, 2006, according to industry journal "Medpage Today", Bristol-Myers Squibb ".....will no longer manufacture or sell Tequin (gatafloxacin), an antibiotic that has been linked to both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia in diabetics and elderly patients. The company is not, however, pulling Tequin from pharmacy shelves."
http://www.medpagetoday.com/ProductAlert/Prescriptions/tb/3212

It is ironic that an activist can spraypaint graffitti on a pharmaceutical executive's garage door and be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and labeled a "terrorist". At the same time, that very same executive might be guilty of swindling investors or customers out of massive amounts of money or continuing to sell harmful drugs to unsuspecting consumers and they face "deferred prosecution".

Add to that, their complicity in the killing of 500 animals every day by their continued customer relationship with Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS). HLS may be doing the actual killing of those 500 animals a day, but companies like BMS are signing the contracts and cutting the checks that allow the killing to continue. Please contact Bristol-Myers Squibb's executive management team and ask them to cut their ties to HLS today.

Peter R. Dolan Chief Executive Officer Bristol-Myers Squibb
345 Park Avenue New York, NY 10154
212-546-4000

http://www.bms.com

Global Sales: $19.2 Billion

Executive Committee

Peter R. Dolan, Chief Executive Officer peter.dolan@bms.com

Lamberto Andreotti, Executive Vice President & President Worldwide Pharmaceuticals lamberto.andreotti@bms.com

Stephen E. Bear, Senior Vice President - Human Resources stephen.bear@bms.com

Andrew G. Bodnar, Senior Vice President - Strategy and Medical and External Affairs andrew.bodnar@bms.com

Andrew R. J. Bonfield, Chief Financial Officer andrew.bonfield@bms.com

John E. Celentano, President - Health Care Group john.celentano@bms.com

Carlo deNotaristifani, President - Technical Operations carlo.denotaristifani@bms.com

Wendy L. Dixon, President - Global Marketing wendy.dixon@bms.com

Anthony C. Hooper, President - U.S. Pharmaceuticals anthony.hooper@bms.com

Tamar D. Howson, Senior Vice President - Corporate and Business Development tamar.howson@bms.com

John L. McGoldrick, Executive Vice President and General Counsel john.mcgoldrick@bms.com

Susan O'Day, Chief Information Officer susan.oday@bms.com

Elliott Sigal, Chief Scientific Officer elliot.sigal@bms.com

Jonathan K. Sprole, Chief Compliance Officer jonathan.sprole@bms.com

Richard K. Willard, Senior Vice President and General Counsel richard.willard@bms.com

Richard L. Wolgemuth, Senior Vice President - Global Regulatory Sciences richard.wolgemuth@bms.com

David L. Zabor, Vice President, Strategic Business Initiatives david.zabor@bms.com

Robert T. Zito, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer robert.zito@bms.com

All e-mails in this action alert:

peter.dolan@bms.com, lamberto.andreotti@bms.com, stephen.bear@bms.com, andrew.bodnar@bms.com, andrew.bonfield@bms.com, john.celentano@bms.com, carlo.denotaristifani@bms.com, wendy.dixon@bms.com, anthony.hooper@bms.com

tamar.howson@bms.com, john.mcgoldrick@bms.com, susan.oday@bms.com, elliot.sigal@bms.com, jonathan.sprole@bms.com, richard.willard@bms.com, richard.wolgemuth@bms.com, david.zabor@bms.com, robert.zito@bms.com

Be part of history. Help stop the torture and killing at Huntingdon Life Sciences.

For more info contact Win Animal Rights at: centcom@war-online.org Call: 646.267.9934 or visit the WAR website at: http://war-online.org

--------

****Cross Post Widely****

New Report on Huntingdon Life Sciences Animal Cruelty

Although Win Animal Rights is not affiliated with or associated with SHAC, we know good information when we see it. That is why we are forwarding this information far and wide and urge you to do the same.

From the SHAC website:

"Since 1997 we have constantly heard from Huntingdon's customers, suppliers and the Government that the beagle beating scenes shot inside HLS by Channel 4 were isolated incidents. Brian Cass the MD of HLS has said many times in the media that things have changed at HLS and what was filmed in 1997 no longer happens. We can now for the first time prove this to be a lie. We can prove that nothing haschanged inside Huntingdon Life Sciences.

This is now the sixth yes the sixth time Huntingdon have been exposed from 1989 now right up to date to 2006. How many more times do we have to prove that Huntingdon Life Sciences are cruel to animals, break the law and regularlyfalsify test data before the British Government acts?"


To view the report in its entirely or to download 2005 video footage taken inside HLS, please visit:

http://www.shac.net/MISC/Inside_HLS.html

To download the entire report in pdf format:
http://www.shac.net/ACTION/newsletters/Inside_HLS.pdf

To find out how you can help the campaign:
http://www.shac.net/MISC/Inside_HLS_What.html


Special Message from WAR: It is our goal to distribute this report widely to HLS customers, suppliers and investors. No doubt this will be a costly undertaking. We are in process of setting up a PayPal account that can be accessed via our website.

If you would like to find out how you can help, please contact us at:

Win Animal Rights
305 Madison Avenue, Suite 449 New York, NY 10165

Or call: 1-646-267-9934

For more info contact Win Animal Rights at: centcom@war-online.org
Call: 646.267.9934 or visit the WAR website at: http://war-online.org


Informant: Ima Vegan

http://www.reason.com/links/links050506.shtml


Informant: Lew Rockwell

http://www.newswithviews.com/Tenpenny/sherri7.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Vaccination+-+Impfen/

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4448/


Informant: jensenmk
From ufpj-news

Eindrücke von Journalisten bei der Pressekonferenz am 4. in Wien:

http://www.omega-news.info/060504_homepage_des_gesundheitsministeriums.pdf
http://www.omega-news.info/060504_standard_koexistenz_ist_nicht_moeglich.pdf
http://www.omega-news.info/060504_oekonews_keine_koexistenz.pdf


Nachricht von Richard Leopold Tomasch