World-News

http://tinyurl.com/nloke


Informant: John Perna

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1526462573111576587


Informant: Cal

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AMERICA IN PERIL III The Storm upon us Part 1 of 3
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1248046852001141661

AMERICA IN PERIL III The Storm upon us Part 2 of 3
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8617388682907371321

AMERICA IN PERIL III The Storm upon us Part 3 of 3
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4082861617779062541


Informant: Milo

The problems of corruption and the misallocation of public revenues have been endemic," a United Nations study points out. "They undermine the rule of law, impede the pursuit of social objectives, and contribute to conflicts that frequently foster human rights abuse...."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051706I.shtml

Educational debt is the most visible - but not the only - barrier to the well-being of the "millennial generation," roughly defined as Americans born after 1978. Every gate on the way to middle-class life is now tougher to unlock. Mortgages, health insurance expenses, car maintenance, child care and tax loads for two-income families have all ballooned.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051706E.shtml

From serious security flaws that could allow hackers easy access to electronic voting systems to routine computer malfunctions and undelivered software, state and local officials are one by one joining voter-access groups and computer scientists in questioning the reliability of the three major suppliers of electronic voting machines.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051706D.shtml

ABC reported that the government had amassed the call records of tens of millions of Americans. One of the people who helped break that story is Brian Ross, an investigative reporter for ABC News who also helped break the story of the US government's secret prisons in Romania and Poland. Ross recently found out that the government was tracking his phone calls as well. Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! interviews.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051706C.shtml

In an interview conducted by Shelly R. Fredman, Howard Zinn remarks, "People think there must be some magical tactic, beyond the traditional ones - protests, demonstrations, vigils, civil disobedience - but there is no magical panacea, only persistence."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051706B.shtml

"It's painful to watch Bush give a speech, and his immigration address was no exception," Matthew Rothschild writes. "Hell, it was hard not to break out into guffaws when he said, 'We have enough Guard forces to win the war on terror, to respond to natural disasters, and to help secure our borders.'"

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051706A.shtml

SCHOOL governors and neighbours are up in arms about a proposed mobile phone mast near their school and homes in Horncastle. During the past two weeks posters have appeared near Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School informing people of a proposed T-Mobile telephone mast.

The sign informed people the phone company is considering installing a 15m radio base station at Reindeer Close Industrial Estate to provide coverage to the Horncastle area.

School governors have, through headteacher Tim Peacock, asked parents to write to the company with their objections to the mast.

A letter to all parents stated: "It has been bought to out attention that plans exist to locate a telecommunications mast on the Reindeer Close site.

"We feel this is entirely inappropriate. Children should not be exposed to unnecessary risks."

An East Lindsey District Council spokesman explained: "The planning department has been approached to give pre-application advice relating to a proposed mobile phone mast to serve Horncastle.

"One of the sites proposed was on the Reindeer Close Industrial Estate."

# At the time of going to press a representative from T-Mobile was unavailable for comment.

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.horncastletoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=825&ArticleID=1508682

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4482/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/17/opinion/meyer/main1623700.shtml


Informant: sasha

The long-anticipated US announcement was interpreted in some quarters of the Middle East as the US backtracking on the region's democratization, or that the US is putting access to oil fields first in a period of deepening energy insecurity.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051706L.shtml

Just two weeks after the House passed a reform bill requiring lawmakers to attach their names to pet projects, GOP leaders are advancing spending bills containing billions of dollars in such parochial "earmarks," whose sponsors remain anonymous.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051706K.shtml

"The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects the privacy and liberty of Americans. It says the government can't search or seize you without a warrant issued on probable cause to believe you are involved in a crime. This right," writes Jesse Jackson, "is the line between a democracy and a police state, where the state can search or seize at will. That is the line that the NSA program erased."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051706J.shtml

17.05.06

Bei der Anwendung der "grünen Gentechnik" stellt sich die CSU gegen Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU). In der "Berliner Zeitung" lehnte CSU-Generalsekretär Markus Söder Freilandversuche mit gentechnisch manipulierten Pflanzen nachdrücklich ab. "Natürlich müssen wir die Forschung in diesem Bereich weiter vorantreiben", sagte der bayerische Politiker. "Aber Freilandversuche sind ein Problem, solange nicht absehbar ist, wie diese langfristig das Öko-System beeinflussen." Bundesagrarminister Horst Seehofer (CSU) bereitet derzeit eine Neufassung des Gentechnik-Gesetzes vor.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13632

Tomorrow the House of Representatives will vote on your ability to access information about toxic mining pollution (and all other toxic pollution) in and around your community.

Thanks to legally required reporting of toxic releases to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Toxics Release Inventory, we know that the metal mining industry the nation's #1 toxic polluter.

Unfortunately EPA announced plans last fall to roll back reporting requirements for facilities that release toxic chemicals ? including metal mines. Since then, with your help, the public has spoken out resoundingly against EPA's proposals. However, these dangerous plans continue to move forward.

But we can still save the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) -- and our right to know about toxic mining pollution. Congress can stop the EPA in its tracks, but lawmakers need to hear from you and now's the time!

PLEASE ACT NOW (see below for link)

Contact your representative today and tell him or her to support the Pallone-Solis Toxic Right-To-Know Amendment that will save this invaluable program for public health and safety. The amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill (that decides funding levels for the EPA) would prohibit the EPA from spending any money to implement these dangerous changes.

Tell your representative to vote YES to the Pallone-Solis Toxic Right-To-Know Amendment TODAY!!

Thanks,

Alan Septoff
EARTHWORKS


INSTRUCTIONS:

* Go to: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/earthworks/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3840

* Read the sample letter and modify if you can. Personalized subject lines and/or letter text will increase the impact your letter has on decisionmakers.

* Clicking "Send My Message" will send your comment letter to your Representative in the House of Representatives..

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4483/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news



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

The other day I noted 3 white vans driving in convoy, very early in the morning and one turning into a Mr. Williams' smallholding where he has a Vodafone and an Orange mast. The van stopped next to the Vodafone mast and on its side was printed something like _www.rtn.com_ http://www.rtn.com/ . These masts are fairly near our house and I looked up the website when I got back from the school run. As follows some of the stuff pulled up from the web.

Raytheon.com

"Under the leadership of Lt. Gen. Henry Obering 111, the Missile Defense Agency of the Secretary of Defense has been charged by the President to develop a Ballistic Missile Defense System that has four primary objectives.

1. Defend the US deployed forces, allies and friends around the world from ballistic missile attack.

2. Employ multiple layers of defensive capabilities and techologies to intercept missiles in all phases of their flight (ie. boost, midcourse and terminal) against all ranges of threats (short, medium and intermediate and long)

3. Enable the services to field elements of the system as soon as applicable.

4. Develop and test technologies, using prototypes and test assets, to provide early capability and to improve the effectivness of the deployed system by inserting new technolgies. (PLEASE NOTE THIS ONE!!)


There is a System and Engineering Integration Team which Boeing leads.

AND Battle Management, Command, Communication and Control (BMC 31) headed by Lockheed Martin.

Also, did you know that the British Royal Military College of Science gives masters degrees in guided weapons systems.

It is possible that this company has nothing to do with the vans I saw - but hey......what a co-incidence!! Tell your friends to be aware of any van, marked or not, near to mobile phone masts.

What we are really concerned with here is that it appears that new technologies are being applied to the existing ones. We already know that Vodafone are in big poo with bugging. We also know that CIA, etc are involved. I have spoken to several people whose opinion and technological expertise is worth listening to and Barrie Trower has confirmed that surveillance is one of the technologies not only being considered, but actually being tested.

What this means is that we now have to be extra vigilant. Who knows what is going up and where and what will be the outcome? Working together and chiselling away, we will get somewhere.

Kind regards,

Vivienne Baron.



Hi Vivienne,

We have vodaphone bulldozing here, laying the cables for the mast before the application is in etc. Not only that but sensitive people have had a rough (but different kind of rough) week or so here, including me. All saying words wrongly, having trouble thinking straight, pain in the left side of the neck which travels to ears and head at times, the usual sore throat, a sort of "can't be bothered to do anything" and inertia - which you know is way out of character for me! Another sensitive person came to see me yesterday and she said she was shocked at how I looked (Great pick-you-up line, but she cared, so it was okay!) She even phoned today to check how I was. No idea what is going on but th Hutchison 3G at west park sprouted 3 small square boxes a while ago and an extra small cabinet. Bognor was hell last week! (And some minor TV disruption here, too)

sandi



Bit off topic, but:

ARCO sold HAARP to Raytheon. If you believe in weather manipulation / modification, then it is interesting that Raytheon is into hurricane relief: http://www.raytheon.com/feature/katrina_05/k_ext_response/

Don't you bet they would like to be heroes by steering hurricanes out of harm's way? Perhaps they've been working on it already.

http://www.bariumblues.com/storm_fury.htm etc...

Andy

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More scary news about more spectrum uses above 60 GigaHZ.

Andrea

Ofcom today published two reports on potential uses of radio spectrum. The first examines the current state and future bands above 60GHz for devices, systems, applications, sharing and regulation. For further information click here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/technology/overview/ese/reliable/

The second report considers optimising the use of spectrum for license-exempt applications and the use of higher powers in licence exempt applications to provide wireless broadband in rural areas. For further information click here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/technology/overview/ese/exempt/

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Wednesbury Action for the Removal of Telephone masts. http://www.w-a-r-t.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

Has everyone connected to the communications industries gone completely mad in this country, in the world even.

Yet another band of frequencies to bombard us all with (above 60 GigaHZ.), undoubtedly un-researched as to the likely adverse effects on plant and animal life. Possible military communications systems being surreptitiously installed on normal masts.

Like Lord Nelson, these people "see no ships" or the gathering storms of ill health on the horizon in the years ahead.

We feel so saddened that the young in particular are being brainwashed into thinking they NEED these technologies in order to have a full and happy life. They have already become addicts. We see it every day, a compulsive disorder, that drives many to get withdrawal symptoms if they are parted from their beloved phones.

Like Lemmings they will soon be running headlong over the precipice with their phones glued to their ear, to late to stop and turn around, and texting home on the way down "why didn't somebody tell me". So sad !!

Peter & Ann

--------

With reference to Vivienne's contribution of a few days ago, something has occured in my area which could possibly be connected.

My day started early with an elderly neighbour having bad nosebleeds. When I went in to care for her I was almost knocked out by the strength of the emissions in her home. Within a short while the blood circulation in my feet had slowed and they gradually became mottled mauve/red/blue and painful. My knees and neck hurt, I could not think straight, talk straight, or concentrate, and I felt quite unwell. Being sensitve to this technology I knew it was TETRA but I could not figure out why or how. I went back to my protected home to recover and visited her later in the morning when she phoned to say she had another nosebleed and felt unwell. She has rarely ever had nosebleeds before and she is 86.

Later her son told me that he had been helping with a charity run from West Park (less than a mile from here) to Felpham (perhaps2/3 miles away from West Park) He said that a temporary mast had been erected in minutes for the police to use, as they needed a lot more handsets for extra police. Some people complained of feeling unwell during the morning.

The mast was erected and connected to the Hutchison mast's electrical supply in some way, he was told, by a firm called Raynet but he didn't know how it was spelt. That was how it sounded. The mast was switched off once the race was completed and taken away.

I wondered if we could expect temporary masts to appear anywhere/anytime if the police needed to use extra handset! That is quite a scary thought for those of us who are unwell around them.

Sandi

Die Debatte um bezahlte Sendungen der Bundesagentur nützt auch den Neoliberalen.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22680/1.html

Das umfassende NSA-Lauschprogramm dürfte aus den Milliarden Telefonverbindungen mit der sozialen Netzwerkanalyse kaum bislang unbekannte Terrorgruppen entdecken.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22683/1.html

Verteidigungsminister Jung will im Weißbuch den Auftrag der Bundeswehr neu definieren. Wegmarken einer Abkehr von der im Grundgesetz verankerten Friedensstaatlichkeit.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22686/1.html

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Krieg der Rohstoffe: sollen im Kongo deutsche Interessen vertreten werden?
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/2029797/

Den Friedensauftrag aus Artikel 26 Grundgesetz endlich einlösen
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/2026042/

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_798.shtml


Informant: Shanti Renfrew

Strike the Root
by Greg Palast

05/16/06

I know you're shocked -- SHOCKED! -- that George Bush is listening in on all your phone calls. Without a warrant. That's nothing. And it's not news. This is: the snooping into your phone bill is just the snout of the pig of a strange, lucrative link-up between the Administration's Homeland Security spy network and private companies operating beyond the reach of the laws meant to protect us from our government. You can call it the privatization of the FBI -- though it is better described as the creation of a private KGB...

http://www.strike-the-root.com/61/palast/palast1.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Boston Globe
by Derrick Z. Jackson

05/16/06

In November 1989, President Bush's father praised the fall of the Berlin Wall by saying, 'It clearly is a good development in terms of human rights.' He added, 'We're saluting those who can move forward with democracy. We are encouraging the concept of a Europe whole and free. ... I don't think anyone can resist it, in Europe or in the Western Hemisphere.' In that Thanksgiving address, he also said, 'Around the world tonight, new pilgrims are on a voyage to freedom, and for many, it's not a trip to some faraway place but to a world of their own making. On other Thanksgivings, the world was haunted by the images of watchtowers, guard dogs, and machine guns. In fact, many of you had not even been born when the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. But now the world has a new image, reflecting a new reality: that of Germans, East and West, pulling each other to the top of the wall, a human bridge between nations.' In his call last night to send thousands of National Guard troops to the border between the United States and Mexico, the son once again failed to listen to the father. Bush is sending the Iraq-weary Guard to the border to mollify hardline conservatives who are building their careers around -- whether they say this explicitly or not -- a brown invasion from the south...

http://tinyurl.com/jwapg


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Hurricane Halliburton
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/17/hurricane_halliburton.php

Bowing to the police state

Tom Paine
by Ray McGovern

05/16/06

Is Congress aiding and abetting the creation of a police state? Recently, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., helped to give the CIA and NSA unprecedented police powers. By inserting a provision in the FY07 Intelligence Authorization Act, Hoekstra has undermined the existing statutory limits on involvement in domestic law enforcement. This comes after revelations in January of direct NSA involvement with the Baltimore police in order to 'protect' the NSA Headquarters from Quaker protesters. Add to this, the disquieting news that the White House has been barraging the CIA with totally improper questions about the political affiliation of some of its senior intelligence officers, the ever widening use of polygraph examinations, and the FBI's admission that it acquires phone records of broadcast and print media to investigate leaks at the CIA. I, for one, am reminded of my service in the police state of the U.S.S.R., where there were no First or Fourth Amendments...

http://tinyurl.com/ql9yd


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

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One Step Closer to a Police State

"Placing National Guard troops on the border could be a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. And that's just fine with the Bush administration," writes Joshua Holland.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051906A.shtml

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Top 10 Signs of the Impending U.S. Police State
http://tinyurl.com/o3s37

CNN

05/16/06

BellSouth and AT&T were added to a class-action lawsuit against Verizon Communications that alleges the companies illegally participated in a National Security Agency domestic surveillance program. The complaint, filed in Manhattan District Court, is asking that the companies pay $200 billion in fines to their 200 million subscribers. Attorneys Carl Mayer and Bruce Afran said that since the lawsuit was filed Friday they have been overwhelmed with calls from people wanting to join the suit...

http://tinyurl.com/qazlr


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Dahr Jamail points out that if current trends continue, May will be one of the deadliest months of the occupation yet for troops, with an average of over three being killed per day. 54 coalition soldiers have been killed in the first 16 days of May alone. Meanwhile, troops returning from Iraq are finding little comfort in the hollow rhetoric of their chief chicken-hawk. The medical attention necessary to support the troops is becoming scarcer with each passing tax-cut.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051706Z.shtml

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/May/12/local/stories/01local.htm

May 12, 2006

Santa Cruz K-5 closes citing cell tower radiation

By ROGER SIDEMAN
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

SANTA CRUZ — A new Westside elementary school is closing its doors following plans by First Congregational Church to install three cell-phone transmitters next door atop its 80-foot steeple.

Una Familia, the private school at 900 High St. that serves 25 kindergarten through fifth-grade students at 900 High St., has a stated mission of incorporating neuroscience into its curriculum. It's an emphasis that school founder Joan Harrington, who rents the space from the church, says is inherently incompatible with a business deal she says would bathe the neighborhood in electromagnetic radiation.

"This has ruined my business because the families that come to me were coming to be part of this special program," said Harrington, who taught at Bonny Doon School for 20 years before opening Una Familia on the old Pacific Collegiate site in January. "It makes absolutely no sense for me to go forward with my research."

Part of the school's so-called "brain-based" educational model looks at how ambient radiation impairs student performance and intensifies student distractibility.

Cell phone companies have long maintained that there isn't any clear evidence that cellular towers pose any health risks. In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress banned local governments from blocking towers on safety grounds.

First Congregational Church's senior minister Dave Grishaw-Jones said he's heartbroken by the situation with the elementary school.

"We believe Jean's mission at the school fit our values as a progressive church," Grishaw-Jones said. "If our leadership felt the science was clear, we'd back off in a flash. Science is used in different ways, and we thought it's best not to be intimated."

Built in the late 1950s, the church's steeple is now is disrepair and needs to be stabilized, Grishaw-Jones said. A financial deal initiated by cell provider Sprint will allow the church to keep the steeple, he said.

Raising funds to fix the steeple is one thing, local activists contend, but doing it by building a cell transmitter to benefit a private enterprise is another.

Though the new transmitters are intended to smooth out patchy phone service in the area — a frequent complaint of UC Santa Cruz staff and students nearby — Harrington and other opponents view them as nothing less than an affront to human health and the democratic process.

"It's a usurpation of our rights to choose the hazards we want or don't want to be exposed to," said Deborah Salisbury of the Alliance for Wireless Hazard Protection based in Live Oak.

Parent Annemarie Bertschi had two children enrolled in art classes at Una Familia.

"I've looked at some of the data around cell towers and a 1,000 foot buffer would be more reasonable; this is way too close," she said.

But apparently there's already a smaller cell tower much closer to the school, hidden inside a fake chimney on the church roof; it's been there since 1999. Harrington said she learned about it just five weeks ago, adding that the existing tower was also a factor in her decision to close the school.

The federal ban that prevents local governments from using health concerns as a factor in regulating cellular towers hasn't stopped some area governments. Some have called for moratoriums on tower building, and places like Gilroy have passed local laws to restrict the size, shape and location of future cell sites.

No moratorium exists in Santa Cruz, but the proposal by First Congressional Church still requires the City Council's approval, Grishaw-Jones said.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it will review wireless phone safety following a recently published study that raised concerns about a heightened risk of brain cancer. The agency continues to monitor studies for possible health problems stemming from long-term exposure to radio frequency energy.

Earlier this year in Monterey, the city approved plans to install three cell phone towers disguised inside three specially constructed fiberglass crosses to be mounted atop St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church. Elsewhere in the region, companies have begun disguising cell towers inside faux pine trees, water towers and billboards.

Contact Roger Sidemanat rsideman@santacruzsentinel.com.

Copyright © Santa Cruz Sentinel. All rights reserved.


Source: Bonnie Hicman

http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=466

With a flurry of activity in Congress this week and next on environmental issues, the Sierra Club provides some brief summaries on several of the major issues. Look for critical appropriations votes on offshore drilling and clean water, and a vote on a destructive post-fire logging bill.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051606EC.shtml

Representative Waxman released a new report showing what happened to energy prices and dependency on foreign oil since Vice President Cheney's energy task force released its plan five years ago. Five years ago the average American family spent $3,300 on energy, while this year they will spend over $5,100.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051606EA.shtml

http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2006/05/16/mcgrady/index.html


Informant: NHNE

„Die Liste der kleinen und großen Verfehlungen der gegenwärtigen US-Regierung ist inzwischen so lang und bekannt, dass ein weiterer Artikel zu diesem Gegenstand überflüssig scheint. Allein, wie Hegel schon feststellte: Das Bekannte überhaupt ist darum, weil es bekannt ist, nicht erkannt, oder mit Blick auf die USA formuliert: Nur weil wir wissen, dass die gegenwärtige US-Regierung – wie im Übrigen viele ihrer Vorgängerregierungen auch – fast zu jedem Mittel greift, um vermeintliche US-amerikanische Interessen zu vertreten, bedeutet das noch lange nicht, dass wir deshalb erkannt hätten, welche Interessen dies genau sind, warum zu diesen und nicht zu anderen Mitteln gegriffen wird und vielleicht am wichtigsten, ob und was all dies mit den sozialen und politischen Entwicklungen in Deutschland und Europa zu tun hat. Solange diese und ähnliche Fragen unbeantwortet bleiben, scheint es fast, dass es der US-Regierung nicht nur gelungen ist, ihren und den Ruf ihres Landes gründlich zu ruinieren, sondern dass sie damit auch tatsächlich ungenierter lebt, insofern es auf einen Skandal mehr oder weniger inzwischen auch nicht mehr ankommt und öffentlichkeitswirksame Kritik, wenn sie überhaupt noch auftritt, oftmals leider nur im normativen Rahmen formuliert wird. Umso bedeutsamer ist es da, dass seit einiger Zeit im englischsprachigen Raum eine Debatte über die gegenwärtige US-Politik entbrannt ist, in der weniger einzelne Verwerfungen der US-Regierung oder moralische Entrüstung über selbige im Mittelpunkt stehen, sondern vielmehr die Frage, ob und wie diese Politik mit der Entwicklung des globalen Kapitalismus zusammenhängt…“ Artikel von Slave Cubela, Teil I http://www.labournet.de/internationales/usa/cubela1.html


Aus: LabourNet, 17. Mai 2006

Says 50,000 Stock Options Still Constitute a Conflict of Interest
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0516-01.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0516-24.htm



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

#Die Linkspartei.PDS: Pressemitteilungen

17. Mai 2006

Heute wurde im Haushaltsausschuss des Deutschen Bundestages das Haushaltsbegleitgesetz verabschiedet. Dazu erklärt Dietmar Bartsch, Bundesgeschäftsführer der Linkspartei.PDS und Mitglied des Haushaltsausschusses:

Das Haushaltsbegleitgesetz ist eine gigantische Fehlleistung der Großen Koalition und wird leider die gesamte Legislatur prägen. Der Beschluss über die größte Steuererhöhung in der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik entlarvt die Wahlkampfversprechen von SPD, CDU und CSU endgültig als Lüge. Insbesondere die Mehrwertsteuererhöhung ist unsozial, sie belastet vor allem Familien und sozial Benachteiligte und sie ist konjunkturfeindlich. Die öffentlich nahezu kaum beachtete Erhöhung der Pauschalabgabe für geringfügig Beschäftigte von 25 Prozent auf 30 Prozent ist pure Abkassiererei. Ein schwerer Fehler ist, dass der Umbau der sozialen Sicherungssysteme nicht wirklich begonnen wird, sondern beispielsweise Zuschüsse bei der Rentenversicherung durch die Große Koalition gekürzt werden. Das Haushaltsbegleitgesetz schadet den Menschen im Land! Notwendig für dieses Land ist: Vermögende und steuerlich Leistungsfähige deutlich stärker zu belasten, Steuervergehen entschieden zu bekämpfen und die sozialen Sicherungssysteme zu modernisieren und ihre Leistungsfähigkeit zu stärken.

http://sozialisten.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/view_html?zid=32738

From: Congressman John Conyers
john.conyers@johnconyers.com

John Conyers, Jr. - 40 Years Of Jobs, Justice And Peace

Today, I am officially announcing my intent to seek reelection. I have never before sent a general email asking for help, but the stakes are simply too high at this point in our Nation's history.

"It would not be a surprise in the coming months if we hear more from the GOP about Conyers than about Osama bin Laden"
Philadelphia Daily News (5/14)

Donate Now and Help Me Fight Back and Work Toward a New Democratic Majority

Because I have been so outspoken in repeatedly speaking out against the excesses and abuses of the Bush Administration, and because the right wing fears that I will be chosen to chair the House Judiciary Committee if Democrats assume the Majority, the GOP hit man has come after me.

Help Me Fight Back

Karl Rove has identified me as the number one target of the Republican attack machine.

I need your help to help raise the resources to get reelected, to help get our message of accountability and checks and balances, and to fight back against the vicious right wing smear machine, which will only intensify in the coming weeks and months.

Help Me Lead the Charge Against this Administration's Abuse of Power

Thank you as always, for your dedication to democracy and liberty.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.
Contact Information
website: http://www.johnconyers.com/
Conyers for Congress
P.O. Box 17204
Alexandria, Virginia 17204
Phone: 313-438-2004

Paid For And Authorized By Conyers for Congress
Michael J. Remington, Treasurer
P.O. Box 17204
Alexandria, Virginia 22302
Photographs Copyright Kim M. Simpson
All Rights Reserved


Informant: Martin Greenhut

IRA Swaps Could Cost U.S. Billions in Tax Revenue

President Bush is scheduled to sign into law on Wednesday an extraordinary deal for high-income people with retirement savings accounts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/business/16tax.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


From Information Clearing House

US pharmaceutical companies have long known that the potential market for their products is limited by the finite number of sick people; so they have turned to the healthy for further expansion of their markets, using exploitative, fear-inducing advertising techniques.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13064.htm

Darpa, the Pentagon's far-out research arm, may have publicly abandoned its creepiest programs, like Total Information Awareness. But the agency, as shown at its DarpaTech conference, still has a project to make you run full-speed into your bunker.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,62646-0.html?tw=wn_story_mailer


From Information Clearing House

The corporate world lurks in the shadows here. They are the “men behind the curtain.” It is our job as concerned citizens to take crises like the ones now surfacing and raise b. h. before their new technologies take us backwards into the future.

http://www.mediachannel.org/affalert417.shtml


From Information Clearing House

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/16/145201


From Information Clearing House

The Pentagon's defence scientists want to create an army of cyber-insects that can be remotely controlled to check out explosives and send transmissions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4808342.stm


From Information Clearing House

Army Rules Put on Hold
http://tinyurl.com/gycx9


From Information Clearing House

In the last 100 years, the U.S. has ousted the governments of at least 14 countries and forcibly intervened in dozens of others -- to what end?

http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/sf/latimes5_13_06.htm


From Information Clearing House

It would be logical to expect Russia after some time to have strategic interests near U.S. borders. After all, doesn't Ms. Rice talk today about U.S. strategic interests at the Russian borders? The U.S. is certainly right about globalization.

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20060510/47934816.html


From Information Clearing House



Russian Identity and the Prospects for Democracy in Putin's Russia

Ignorance falls easy prey to political deception. Witness the ease with which the Bush administration was able to persuade 51 percent of Americans, in March 2003, that Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Vice President Cheney never tired of falsely linking Saddam and al Qaeda. Yet he remains in office. Where's the accountability?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13073.htm

The reality of the matter is that the U.S. has never abandoned its plans to fight and win a nuclear war, first with the Soviet Union, beginning with the Reagan administration, and with every president up to the present Bush regime.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13061.htm



Putin proposes creation of ruble-denominated oil, gas exchange

President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that a ruble-denominated oil and natural gas stock exchange should be set up in Russia.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13060.htm

Iran has also proposed establishing a euro-based Iranian oil bourse to compete with NYMEX and the IPE. The proposal was first put forward in the beginning of the Third Development Plan (2000-2005), and began to receive serious attention in 2005.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13067.htm



US asks Pakistan to abandon gas project with Iran

The US has asked Pakistan to abandon the seven billion dollar gas pipeline planned to Pakistan and India ahead of next week's visit by a high-level Iranian delegation, a newspaper reported on Monday.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1531447.cms


From Information Clearing House

Russia and China will "definitely not" approve the use of force against Iran over its nuclear programme, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here yesterday after meeting with China's leaders.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13065.htm

U.S. forces in Iraq, locked in a war that cannot be won by military force alone, are facing a weapon that tends to favor insurgents -- time.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060516/us_nm/usa_war_time_dc_2


From Information Clearing House

By Scott Ritter

If the Republican Party won't seek to heal itself by reigning in the abuses of power conducted by the Bush administration, then it clearly demonstrates that it, as an institution, places partisan politics above constitutionally mandated checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches of government. And if the Democrats who are in power aren't willing to step into the void, then perhaps it's time a new generation of Democrats was elected in their stead.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13063.htm

This chilling documentary film "Orwell Rolls in His Grave" examines the relationship between the media, corporate America, and government. In a country where the "top 1% control 90% of the wealth", the film argues that the media system is nothing but a "subsidiary of corporate America."

Click here to view. Real video
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13062.htm

By Bob Herbert

In the dark days of the Depression, Franklin Roosevelt counseled Americans to avoid fear. George W. Bush is his polar opposite. The public's fear is this president's most potent political asset. Perhaps his only asset.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13075.htm

By Paul Craig Roberts

It has become commonplace to hear Americans dismiss the Bush regime's illegal and unconstitutional exercise of power on the grounds that only those implicated in terrorism have anything to fear. These Americans need to ask themselves why, if only evil doers have anything to fear from government, the Founding Fathers bothered to write the Constitution?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13070.htm

By IAN BRUCE,

Defence Correspondent

The main plan calls for a rolling, five-day bombing campaign against 400 key targets in Iran, including 24 nuclear-related sites, 14 military airfields and radar installations, and Revolutionary Guard headquarters.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13066.htm

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4479/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

http://www.citlink.net/~goldschd/savethegeese/

A message from Suzanne:

Do these geese deserve to die because they eat the grasses and lakes that people polluted with the chemicals and pesticides? This petition is for people who care about geese should live unharmed like your own dogs and cats. Then please sign it and spread it out to other people who will also support. Thanks for being compassionate on them.

Suzanne

Please help prevent the killing of Canadian geese in Collins Lake, Scotia, NY!!!

Target: Michael H. McLaughlin, Mayor, Village of Scotia, NY Sponsor: Deb DelSole

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/361343724?ltl=1147559067

Geese accused of contaminating a local lake will face a dark fate as early as this summer.

Wildlife experts say the number of Canada Geese at Collins Lake is now more than twice the number it should be.

So to fix the problem, about 150 birds will be trapped with nets, gassed with carbon dioxide, and then buried by late June.

The cost of this task will be $300,000 and the reason for this, according to the Times Union, is to restore the quality of the lake.

Collins Lake was closed last summer because of the high levels of E-coli Bacteria.

Many critics say they're unhappy with this decision, however village officials say it's the best option for now.

Scotia's mayor says next year the city will consider non-lethal means in addressing the ongoing problem.

There are many alternatives to stop reproduction of geese and to get them out of the area without harming or hurting them.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12591414/


Informant: Lew Rockwell

http://tcrnews2.com/McCarthy3.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell

A message from Eleanor

Forwarded by Ronda! Thanks! *sign*

Original Message:

Dear Friends,

I saw red this morning. Read the following and you'll see why. Rescuer Arrested in TX for Helping to SAVE a Dog Monday, 6:02 PM Help Kilgore Texas alert How many of you have ever picked up an animal on the side of the road? Or fed starving animals? Please read below, this could be you if are in Tyler, Texas or Smith County. Please sign the petition and pass it on!!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/794490983

Please help a fellow rescuer who helped a friend rescue a stray dog and fed some abandoned puppies and burried 2 dead ones. Darcelle Cowles of Kilgore, Texas has been arrested not once, but twice and held on a 30,000 bond. All because she helped rescue a stray dog. Once the dog was in rescue, blood work and a physical exam by a vet found the Great Pyrenees to be over 40 pounds underweight and high heartworm positive. Animal Control Officer Natalie Smith filed charges of theft for the Pyrenees and trespassing for feeding starving puppies after the "owner" came forward demanding the dog back. Darcy did not know where the dog was or which group her friend had him sent to so refused to return the dog, because it was in need of medical treatment, and alerted the media of her situation. Smith then filed third degree felony charges on Cowles for tampering with evidence and had her arrested again. Officer Smith stated the reason for the charges was because the "owner" stepped up and claimed that the dog was in "show quality". Even though the owner did not have the money to pay for heartworm treatment, Smith tracked down the dog in the rescue community and returned it to the owner to continue to run free on Hwy 31. We do not even know if treatment was ever rendered to the animal. Smith remarked that it was the rescue who starved to dog, not the owner. Now Smith has stated that she will shut down every rescue in Smith County and that she will make an example out of Cowles. Officer Smith feels the need to retaliate against Darcy for trying to defend herself, so please help US defend her!

The attorney Darcy hired has been trying to contact Justice of the Peace Lemmert for over two weeks to get a court date set and there has been no response. Lemmert is in the same offices as ACO Smith and her counterparts. Darcy has paid over $10,000 just in bail money, not to mention drug testing three times a week which is also part of being arrested on felony charges. She has been the victim of an unjust search of her property after ACO Smith and the Sheriff's department searched her house , her purse, all her personal items and her property for 3 hours looking for this dog. The D.A. also filed a restraining order against Cowles prohibiting her near the dog, the property, or Animal Control Officers. Please let the courts know that we will not stand for someone to made an "example" of when there has been no crime committed. They are wasting their time and our tax money on a Good Samaritan! There are people all over the state of Texas like DeShawn Brown who are busy stabbing dogs and lighting them on fire with gasoline and bail out at $250.00, but they would rather prosecute someone trying to help like Darcy Cowles. Ask Judge Lemmert to respond attorney Kyle Beale of Scammahorn Beale Law Firm. Demand Justice for Darcy Cowles.

Please go one step further and contact Judge Lemmert at the info below! OFFICE 903-561-1022 FAX: 903-561-3310 comments@smith-county.com http://www.smith-county.com/JPs/JudgeLemmert.htm

Please Help this Rescuer!

Thanks for all you Do to Help!

Ronda

Robert Reich writes, "The rich are now paying a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than at any time in the last seventy-five years. That they pay a lot of taxes nonetheless is a by-product of the mind-boggling increase in their income and wealth relative to most other Americans.... Middle-income workers are now paying a larger share of their incomes than people at or near the top. We have turned the principle of a graduated, progressive tax on its head."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051606M.shtml

E.J. Dionne Jr. writes: "Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute, Rove started talking about 'game changers,' a nice, wonky term to throw around at a leading conservative think tank. The idea is that certain changes in policy can push the political debate in new and - from the point of view of the game changer - more congenial directions. The phrase told us everything about what Bush's No. 1 guy had once hoped to accomplish - and everything about the fix he and the president are now in."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051606K.shtml

What Will It Take?

"What will it take?" asks Marjorie Cohn. "What will it take for Congress to exercise its Constitutional authority to stop the president when he has gone too far?"

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051606J.shtml

As the Bush administration plans long-term obligations in Iraq, and sends troops to the Mexican border, little remains for storm disaster response or catastrophic natural disasters.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051606G.shtml

Prosecutor Kathryn Ruemmler on Monday displayed for jurors what she called a telling quote from Lay: "Rules are important, but they should not ... you should not be a slave to the rules either." Ruemmler said neither were slaves to rules as they committed crimes "through accounting tricks, fiction, hocus-pocus, trickery, misleading statements, half-truths, omissions and outright lies."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051606E.shtml

"The real mission of the 6,000 National Guard troops he has called out is to quell the rebellion on the president’s right flank, the flaring mutiny of his own conservative base," writes Marc Cooper. "Indeed, if the president were being honest, the mobilized troops would be taken off the federal payroll and moved onto the books of the 2006 national Republican campaign."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051606A.shtml

Die Debatte um Journalisten im Geheimdienst offenbart, dass nicht erst der Kampf gegen Terror im Ausland die rechtsstaatlichen Werte im Inneren bedroht.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22674/1.html

War And Piece responds to the news that the feds are tracking ABC News' phone calls.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/15/spying_on_abc_news.php

by Michael T. Klare, TomPaine.com

Why the shift in oil production from the global North to the global South means more instability and high gas prices.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/16/less_oil_more_wars.php

by Aziz Huq, TomPaine.com

By failing to conduct oversight, Congress is allowing itself to be written off the constitutional map.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/16/derelict_on_domestic_spying.php

http://tobiaspflueger.twoday.net/

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Solidarität mit Tobias Pflüger
http://www.thomas-mitsch.de/petition.html

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Die Verfolgung Andersdenkender wird nun auch von den Grünen und der SPD unterstützt, im Fall der Aufhebung der Immunität von Tobias Pflüger, gegen den die bayrische Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelte, nachdem er sich der Verhaftung von Demonstranten entgegenstellte.

Die völlige Verwandlung vom politischen Paulus zum Saulus dokumentieren nun die Grünen und verleugnen damit ihre Herkunft aus der außerparlamentarischen Opposition, um vollständig im vermeintlichen Olymp der staatstragenden Parteien anzukommen. Auch vor politischer Verfolgung schrecken sie nun offensichtlich nicht mehr zurück - wenn es dabei um die politische Konkurrenz geht.


Nachfolgend die Presseerklärung von Thomas Pflüger zum Vorgang

Presseerklärung 2006/34 - Tobias Pflüger (MdEP) - Strasbourg, 16. Mai 2006

Zur Aufhebung seiner Immunität durch das Europäische Parlament, erklärt der Europaabgeordnete der Linksfraktion (GUE/NGL), Tobias Pflüger:

Fortsetzung der politischen Justiz durch Mehrheit des Europaeischen Parlaments: Koalition von Rechten bis Grünen hebt Immunität von Tobias Pflüger auf

Heute hat eine deutliche Mehrheit der Europaabgeordneten dem Bericht des Abgeordneten der Lega Nord, Francesco Speroni, in dem die Aufhebung meiner Immunität gefordert wird, zugestimmt. Eine breite Koalition von Konservativen, Liberalen, Sozialdemokraten, Grünen und Rechtsextremen verschaffte diesem Ansinnen die Mehrheit. Die Linksfraktion GUE/NGL stand geschlossen gegen diese politisch motivierte Aufhebung der Immunität. Lediglich einige wenige Abgeordnete der anderen Fraktionen hatten den Mut gegen die Abstimmungsempfehlungen der Fraktionsführungen zu stimmen.

Die bisherige Praxis des Europäischen Parlaments war es, in der Grundtendenz die Immunität von Mitgliedern des Europäischen Parlaments in politischen Angelegenheiten nicht aufzuheben. Mit der heutigen Entscheidung wurde diese Grundtendenz umgekehrt und die Immunitätsaufhebung zum Spielball gegen missliebige Auffassungen gemacht.

Es ging um einen explizit politischen Fall: Mir wird von der Staatsanwaltschaft München vorgeworfen, während einer Demonstration Straftaten begangen zu haben, als ich Polizeibeamte um Auskunft über die Personalien eines festgenommenen Demonstrationsteilnehmers bat. Ich hatte mich ihnen gegenüber als Europaabgeordneter ausgewiesen. Von zwei Polizeibeamten wurde ich - ein halbes Jahr nach der angeblichen Tat - angezeigt.

Es ist das vierte Ermittlungsverfahren (1999, 2003, 2004, 2005) einer bestimmten Staatsanwaltschaft in Bayern ("Staatsanwaltschaft München I") gegen mich anlässlich meiner Beteiligung an Protesten gegen die Münchener Sicherheitskonferenz. Ein Gericht in München sprach mich wegen der Anzeige 1999 frei. Das Verfahren 2003 wurde eingestellt und für die brutale Festnahme von mir im Jahr 2004 entschuldige sich die Polizei später bei mir.

Mit der heutigen Entscheidung wurde für diese politische Verfolgung durch die Mehrheit des Europäischen Parlaments grünes Licht gegeben. Würde gegen einen Parlamentsabgeordneten in Weißrussland von einer bestimmten Staatsanwaltschaft wegen seiner Beteiligung an Protesten ständig ermittelt, würde das Europäische Parlament sicherlich diese Art der politischen Verfolgung gegeißelt haben. Aber doppelte Standards gehören inzwischen zum ganz gewöhnlichen Handwerkszeug der Mehrheit im Europaeischen Parlament.

Das Verhalten von Sozialdemokraten und Grünen ist ein Armutszeugnis. Bei meiner Fraktion GUE/NGL und allen ihren Abgeordneten will ich mich ausdrücklich für die umfangreiche Unterstützung bedanken. Die Aushöhlung von Meinungs- und Versammlungsfreiheit in Deutschland und in der EU geht immer weiter, da ist dieser Fall nur einer unter vielen.

Selbstverständlich werde ich im Februar 2007 wieder an den Protesten gegen die Münchner NATO-Sicherheitskonferenz teilnehmen. Dem Gerichtsverfahren sehe ich gelassen entgegen, schließlich habe ich mir nichts "vorzuwerfen" als das Einsetzen für einen brutal festgenommenen Demonstranten.

Strasbourg, den 16. Mai 2006

Tobias Pflüger (MdEP) Linksfraktion GUE/NGL Auswärtiger Ausschuss / Unterausschuss Sicherheit und Verteidigung Ko-Präsident der interparlamentarischen Gruppe Friedensinitiativen
1. Stellv. Vorsitzender der Delegation für die Beziehungen zu den Golfstaaten, einschließlich Jemen Mitglied der Delegation für die Beziehungen zur Parlamentarischen Versammlung der NATO

Link zum Beitrag / Hintergrundinfo oder Pressehinweis: http://www.hh-online.com?lid=23993 und http://links.net-hh.de?lid=23993


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

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Stellungnahme der Anwältin von Tobias Pflüger zu den Vorwürfen der "Staatsanwaltschaft München I"

Siehe auch die Stellungnahme der Anwältin von Tobias Pflüger zu den Vorwürfen der "Staatsanwaltschaft München I" mit ausführlicher Darstellung des Sachverhaltes (pdf) http://www.tobias-pflueger.de/Schreiben.pdf

Wir bitten um Proteste an:

Martin Schulz (Vorsitzender der Sozialdemokratischen Fraktion im Europäischen Parlament) maschulz@europarl.eu.int

Monika Frassoni (Fraktionsvorsitzende der Grünen, spricht sehr gut deutsch) mfranssoni@europarl.eu.int

Solidaritätszuschriften bitte an: tobias.pflueger@europarl.europa.eu


Aus: LabourNet, 17. Mai 2006

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Solidarität gefragt! Koalition von Rechten bis Grünen hebt Immunität von Tobias Pflüger auf

DFG-VK verurteilt die Kriminalisierung des Friedensaktivisten Tobias Pflüger. Immunität des Europaabgeordneten Pflüger aufgehoben. Repressionsmaßnahme durch die Justiz ist ein Skandal.

Pressemitteilung der Deutschen Friedensgesellschaft - Vereinigte KriegsdienstgegnerInnen (DFG-VK)vom 18.05.06 http://www.deutsche-friedensgesellschaft.de/php/index.php?id=63&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=75&tx_ttnews[backPid]=66&cHash=b31a2df895

Die Fraktionsvorsitzende der Grünen im EU-Parlament ist unter der von uns bislang angegebenen eMail-Adresse nicht erreichbar. Die richtige Adresse lautet: monica.frassoni@europarl.europa.eu Wir danken einem Leser für den Hinweis!

Demnach dürfte auch die Adresse von Martin Schulz (Vorsitzender der Sozialdemokratischen Fraktion im Europäischen Parlament) lauten: martin.schulz@europarl.europa.eu


Aus: LabourNet, 22. Mai 2006

Robert Parry: "Certainly, no one who truly cares about democracy favors punishing critics and demonizing dissenters. But just such hostility has been the calling card of George W. Bush and his backers over the past five years as they have subjected public critics to vilification, ridicule and retaliation."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051606Z.shtml

Strike the Root
by Douglas Herman

05/15/06

Dissent is common among unhappy soldiers; disgruntlement as common as the chevrons on our sleeves. Always has been and always will be. But whether any actual revolt in the ranks would ever occur within the US military is debatable. However, the Bush administration should be VERY careful. Just because a large scale mutiny among US soldiers has never occurred does not mean one will not...

http://www.strike-the-root.com/61/herman/herman11.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner

05/15/06

Shame on Hillary Rodham Clinton. Rupert Murdoch, the right-wing publishing mogul, is hosting a fund-raiser in July for her Senate reelection campaign. Her explanation is that Murdoch, based in New York, is an important constituent: 'I'm very gratified that he thinks I'm doing a good job.' Murdoch runs Fox television, home of Bill O'Reilly and company. No far-right media enterprise has been more relentlessly dishonest in its efforts to destroy American liberalism in general and the Clintons in particular. Fox was prime cheerleader for the bogus Whitewater investigation and the impeachment campaign against Bill Clinton. Fox exists to oppose every liberal principle that Senator Clinton is accused, perhaps falsely, of standing for...

http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=11501


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

AlterNet
by Danny Schechter

05/16/06

The convergence between the telcos and the internet, the broadcasters and the broadbanders is birthing a new media world. But it's not just the old media that is at risk. Our democracy is imperiled, and not just by the unchecked power of big government. The corporate world lurks in the shadows here. They are the 'men behind the curtain.' It is our our job as concerned citizens to take crises like the ones now surfacing and deepen them and raise b. h. before their new technologies take us backward into the future...

http://www.alternet.org/story/36280/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

The American Conservative
by Michael Vlahos

for publication 05/22/06

Something remarkable happened on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Commentators began to declare, in somewhat exultant tones, that America had at last become a true empire. America was of course also a benevolent empire, they insisted, but that nod to altruistic tradition could not hide their excitement that America had at last joined the greatest empires of the past. Implicit in these giddy declarations was the assumption that empire was an exalted state of power and possibility, not so unlike Rome at its zenith. Ironically, and for a historical instant, they were right. But there is one inescapable aspect of empire that the commentators missed. Empires are weak. It is republics in contrast that are strong. The United States is a republic that has been operating like an empire, and it has suffered for it...

http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_05_22/cover.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

05/15/06

The nomination of Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the National Security Agency’s (NSA's) former director, to replace the disastrously incompetent Porter Goss as Director of the CIA, should be rejected on the grounds that Hayden subverted the U.S. Constitution. In addition, the public debate about the efficacy of the recent intelligence reorganization should lead to the abolishment of his former agency and the inclusion of its more legitimate functions into a slimmed down and more agile intelligence community...

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1724


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

TechCentralStation
by Arnold Kling

05/16/06

The original idea of 'compassionate conservatism' was for government to achieve goals using as partners faith-based organizations and other nongovernmental associations. If that idea ever takes off, I believe it will be a disaster. My line is that 'Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and private-public partnerships absolutely corrupt the private sector.' There is nothing compassionate about government subcontracting out to private entities. The only real compassionate conservatism is conservatism that shrinks the role of government. Compassion should start with families and expand through voluntary associations. Government programs, everywhere and always, undermine families and weaken voluntary associations...

http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=051606A


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Arizona Republic

05/15/06

Oil workers in Nigeria are shot and killed by militants. Venezuelan politicians urge tighter controls of foreign oil companies. Tensions mount over Iran's fledgling nuclear program. Meanwhile, price signs at gas stations in the Valley spin like slot-machine reels, forcing residents to dig deeper in their pockets to fill up vehicles with gasoline that costs more than $3 a gallon. Want somebody else to blame besides major oil companies? Try the likes of investors who fashion themselves after Gordon Gekko, the fictional character in the 1987 Oscar-winning film Wall Street, which portrayed the wheeling, dealing nature of the financial capital and its impact on ordinary Americans. While politicians and pundits point to outsized oil-company profits as a reason for rising prices, these companies have little control over setting oil's daily price, which is established on trading exchanges around the globe...

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0515biz-oil0515.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

ABC News has reported that a senior federal law enforcement official told its reporters that the reporters’ phone calls with sources are being tracked by the US government "to root out confidential sources." The law enforcement official told ABC News: "It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051506R.shtml

If you don't have 15 minutes to look this over, someday when you have the time and not the content, you'll wish you had.

"The greatest menace to freedom is an inert people." Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

If you don't want to read all the evidence, scroll all the way down and follow the 2 links for this imperative information.


PRE-SCRIPT

When the time comes it will be imperative that you stand up for what you believe in. What are you going to do? I understand it is easy to be lazy about these things in the present. When circumstances become apparent you must not be lazy. Our brethren and posterity are going ask more from our young generation than have been demanded from any previous American generations. When the time comes,know your Rights, be prepared to Act, and expect to do your part.

On July 5, 1987 the front page of the Miami Herald Newspaper carried a now famous article describing White House plans to:

A.) DECLARE AN UNDEFINED "NATIONAL EMERGENCY,"
B.) RE-OPEN CONCENTRATION CAMPS FOR PREVENTIVE DETENTION OF LEGAL DISSIDENTS CERTAIN ETHNIC GROUPS, AND
C.) LEGALLY SUSPEND OUR UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

On August 14, 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft was called a "menace to Liberty" by Jonathan Turley, in the Los Angeles Times, for announcing his desire for camps for U.S. citizens he deems "enemy combatants."

Under the Justice Department's new definition of "enemy combatant"— which won the enthusiastic approval of the president and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld—anyone defined as an "enemy combatant," very much including American citizens, can be held indefinitely by the government, without charges, a hearing, or a lawyer. In short, incommunicado.

On August 8, The Wall Street Journal reported that "the Goose Creek, South Carolina, facility now has a special wing that could be used to jail U.S. citizens if the government were to deem them enemy combatants," a senior administration official said.

The Rex-84 Alpha Explan (Readiness Exercise 1984, Exercise Plan) showed that FEMA leads 34 other federal agencies, including CIA, FBI, and U.S. Treasury, in a massive civil readiness exercise. In 1983, at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, FEMA's General Frank S. Salcedo recommended expanding FEMA's power even further. As he saw it at least 100,000 U.S. citizens, from survivalists to tax protesters, were serious threats to civil security.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_84

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Garden_Plot

Operation: Urban Warrior. US Marines Training with Foreign Troops in Mock Martial Law Practices Including Disarming American Citizens Portrayed by Actors and Placing Them in Concentration Camps.During the urban combat phase of Operation Urban Warrior, U.S. Marines take cover and move out in Oakland, Calif., March 16.

It was announced recently that Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root had been awarded a $385 million dollar contract by Homeland Security to construct detention and processing facilities in the event of a national emergency.

In 2002, FEMA sought bids from major real estate and engineering firms to construct giant internment facilities in the case of a chemical, biological or nuclear attack or a natural disaster.

Okanogan County Commissioner Dave Schulz went public three years ago with his contention that his county was home of a modern day internment camp.

When Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) read a story widely circulated in the U.S. press in 2003 entitled "Foundations Are in Place for Martial Law in the United States," he became so alarmed that he gave a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on the topic.

In a revealing admission the Director of Resource Management for the U.S. Army confirmed the validity of a memorandum relating to the establishment of a civilian inmate labor program under development by the Department of the Army.

The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, passed in response to abuses by federal troops in the South after the Civil War, prohibits the use of the military "to execute the laws" of the U.S. That's been widely interpreted as a ban on searching, arresting or spying on U.S. civilians by federal troops.

Northcom's commander, Gen. Ralph "Ed" Eberhart, is the first general since the Civil War with operational authority exclusively over military forces within the U.S.

Northcom is doing more than mere coordinating. "Under the banner of 'homeland security', the military and intelligence communities are implementing far-reaching changes that blur the lines between terrorism and other kinds of crises and will break down long- established barriers to military action and surveillance within the US."

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, testifying in October before the Senate Armed Services Committee, agreed that federal troops have a major role in domestic policing to prevent terrorism.-- ---please go here- http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001385----000-.html

State Emergency Health Powers Act WASHINGTON -- In the event of a bio-terrorist attack using a deadly and contagious disease such as smallpox, public health officials want to be able to close roads and airports and, if necessary, quarantine entire infected cities. To make that possible, 50 governors are to receive copies of a proposed law, drafted at the behest of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which could give states immense power to control their populations.

H.R.3162 AUTHORITY FOR DELAYING NOTICE OF THE EXECUTION OF A WARRANT. SEC. 213.

May 11, 2006 Reacting to today's news that the NSA is "amassing information about ordinary Americans," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have put out a statement questioning the legality of the program. Their statement contains this: "when the Attorney General was forced to testify before the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago, he misled the Committee about the existence of the program." "It's the largest database ever assembled in the world,"

MAY 12 2006 CongressDaily "A former intelligence officer for the National Security Agency said Thursday he plans to tell Senate staffers next week that unlawful activity occurred at the agency under the supervision of Gen. Michael Hayden beyond what has been publicly reported, while hinting that it might have involved the illegal use of space-based satellites and systems to spy on U.S. citizens. ..."


If the President ever declared Martial Law These are the implementation plans for the internment of United States citizens Directed by FEMA. It is legal, this is why.

United States Executive Order
10900-Allows the government to take control over all modes of transportation, highways, and seaports.
10995-Allows the seizure and control the communication media.
10997-Allows the seizure and control of all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels, and minerals.
10998-Allows the seizure and control of all food resources and farms.
11000-Allows the mobilization of citizens into work brigades under government supervision.
11001-Allows the seizure and control of all health, education, and welfare functions.
11002-Designates the Postmaster General to operate national registration of all persons.
11004-Allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations.


I will quote Gen. Tommy Franks..... "What is the worst thing that can happen in our country? Two steps. The first step would be a nexus between weapons of mass destruction . . . and terrorism. The second step would be the western world, the free world, loses what it cherishes most, and that is freedom and liberty we've seen for a couple of hundred years in this grand experiment that we call democracy." Franks suggests that a "massive casualty-producing event" might cause "our population to question our own Constitution and begin to militarize our country." Franks concluded, "We ain't seen nothing yet. If terrorism's sting is felt again, fascism may be its aftermath."


The -------- FM 3- 19.40 plans were created weeks before 9/11/01----- -were signed into order weeks after 9/11/01

By Order of the Secretary of the Army: ERIC K. SHINSEKI General, United States Army Chief of Staff Joel B Hudson Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army 0120505 First, I recommend going to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_84

HERE IS THE ACTUAL (FM 3-19.40)

I find chapter 5 and 6 particularly disturbing.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-19-40/

It is also available on the UNITED STATES ARMY website in PDF format@

http://www.army.mil/usapa/doctrine/Active_FM.html

On the army website it is not easy to find (for obvious reasons) its
1/6th the way down the page entitled MILITARY POLICE INTERNMENT/RESETTLEMENT OPERATIONS DATED 08/01/2001

If you read this and do nothing, then you will know more about the reason that we lost our freedoms, than anyone else in the whole slave labor camp.

If you want to do something about it, visit:

http://www.jbs.org and
http://www.thenewamerican.com and
http://www.trimonline.org and


Message from John Perna

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Kremlin_Voices_Concern_At_US_Conventional_Missile_Plans.html


Informant: Kev Hall

Deutsche Bürgerrechtsorganisationen: Amerikanischer Abhörskandal erfordert Umdenken auch in Europa

„In den letzten Tagen ist bekannt geworden, dass der amerikanische Geheimdienst NSA die Telefon-Verbindungsdaten von 200 Millionen Amerikanern sammelt. Es handelt sich dabei um die "größte Datenbank der Welt". Die gespeicherten Kommunikationsdaten werden automatisch auf Auffälligkeiten geprüft; "soziale Netzwerke" der Gesprächsteilnehmer werden offengelegt. Die EU-Staaten haben im Februar 2006 ebenfalls eine systematische und verdachtslose Vorratsspeicherung der Verbindungsdaten der gesamten Bevölkerung beschlossen…“ Pressemitteilung des Arbeitskreises Vorratsdatenspeicherung vom 15.5.06 http://www.stop1984.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=397&Itemid=145&lang=de


„Dieses Telefon ist angezapft!“

Unter http://web125.nice-host.de/nl/files/spuckis.pdf stehen Spuckis gegen Vorratsdatenspeicherung als PDF zum download bereit.


Aus: LabourNet, 16. Mai 2006

„Wie stark sind die deutschen Gewerkschaften noch? Was können sie für ihre Mitglieder in den Tarifverhandlungen erreichen? Welchen Einfluß haben sie auf die jeweilige Bundesregierung, um im Arbeitsrecht, in Mitbestimmungsfragen und in der Wirtschaftspolitik ArbeitnehmerInnen-Interessen durchzusetzen? Es ist offensichtlich: Sie schwächeln. Aber es wäre falsch, sie allein dafür verantwortlich zu machen…“ Artikel von Heiz-J. Bontrup in Ossietzky vom 22.04.2006 http://www.linksnet.de/artikel.php?id=2370


DGB – Verarmen in Würde

„Unter dem Motto „Deine Würde ist unser Maß“ ruft der DGB die Arbeiter auf, an seinen 1.-Mai-Kundgebunden teilzunehmen. Solange nur die Würde der Arbeiter gewährleistest wird, scheint er daher an der kapitalistischen Produktionsweise wenig auszusetzen zu haben. Dass man als Arbeiter hier die berühmte kleine Nummer und der fürs Kapital stets zu teure Kostenfaktor ist, wird damit anerkannt und gebilligt…“ Replik zum 1. Mai Aufruf des DGB 2006 von social-critique bei trend http://www.trend.infopartisan.net/trd0506/t320506.html


Zielgruppen der Gewerkschaftsarbeit > Erwerbslosenarbeit der Gewerkschaften

Erwerbslose in die Satzung!

„»Die Würde des Menschen ist unser Maßstab«: Dies ist das Motto des 18. Ordentlichen Bundeskongresses des DGB, der vom 22.-26. Mai 2006 in Berlin tagen wird. Was aber folgt aus diesem Motto für die Organisation? Offenbar nicht viel. Anders ist die Arroganz des geschäftsführenden Bundesvorstandes und der Antragskommission nicht zu werten, zwei organisationspolitische Anträge zur Erwerbslosenpolitik den Delegierten zur Nichtbefassung oder Ablehnung zu empfehlen…“ Artikel von Carsten Zinn und Andreas Steiner in ND vom 12.05.06 http://www.nd-online.de/artikel.asp?AID=90289&IDC=42&DB=


Aus: LabourNet, 16. Mai 2006

Familienministerium beziffert Zahl der Familien, die sich mit dem Elterngeld schlechter stehen werden als bisher mit dem Erziehungsgeld:
155.000. Pro Jahr. Vor allem ALG-II-Bezieher und Studierende werden zu den Verlierern gehören. Artikel von Ulrike Winkelmann in der taz vom 12.5.2006 http://www.taz.de/pt/2006/05/12/a0133.1/text

Siehe dazu auch:

249.000 geschädigt. Ministerium rechnet vor: Das Elterngeld benachteiligt 249.000 arme und arbeitslose Familien pro Jahr. Artikel in der taz vom 13.5.2006 http://www.taz.de/pt/2006/05/13/a0019.1/text


Arbeitslosengeld II: Kindergeld und Unterhaltszahlungen für Kinder

„Der Petent fordert eine Änderung von § 11 Absatz 1 Zweites Buch Sozialgesetzbuch dahingehend, dass Kindergeld und Unterhaltszahlungen für Kinder bei der Berechnung des Arbeitslosengeldes II (allgemein bei der Feststellung von Hilfsbedürftigkeit) nicht als Einkommen angerechnet werden. Dieses Geld soll zweckgebunden dazu dienen, dass das Kind Bildung, Erziehung und Zuwendung bekommt…“ Öffentliche Petition von Matthias Schulz, kann bis zum 14. Juni 2006 mitgezeichnet werden unter http://itc.napier.ac.uk/e-Petition/bundestag/view_petition.asp?PetitionID=139


Aus: LabourNet, 16. Mai 2006

http://www.ftd.de/meinung/leitartikel/73651.html

(ftd) Was haben Energiepolitik und Menschenrechte miteinander zu tun? Lucas Zeise wirft mit seinem Kommentar in der Financial Times einen Blick auf die Szenerie zwischen Moskau, Washington und den ausgedehnten eurasischen Erdgasfeldern.

Zeise zitiert Shell-Chef van der Veer, der neuen Nationalismus mit den rapide gestiegenen Ölpreisen aufkeimen sieht - mit Blick auf die Verstaatlichungen in Förderländern wie Bolivien - und widerspricht ihm: die wichtigsten Verstaatlichungen hätten bereits in den 60er und 70er-Jahren stattgefunden. Er spannt den Bogen darüber hinaus nach Moskau, wo Putin die russischen Energieressourcen ebenfalls wieder in die Hand des Staates zurückführte nach der abenteuerlichen Privatisierung durch Jelzin. Und er fragt sich, welches Interesse US-Vizepräsident Cheney bei seinem jüngsten Statement in Litauen an Bürger- und Menschenrechten entwickelt haben mag - bevor er den Präsidenten von Kasachstan, dem Land mit riesigen Erdgasreserven besuchte.

Link zum Beitrag / Hintergrundinfo oder Pressehinweis: http://www.hh-online.com?lid=23990 und http://links.net-hh.de?lid=23990


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

Weather Modification may adversely impact agricultural crops and water supplies. If the weather is changed in one state, region or county it may have severe consequences in another region, state or county. And who is going to decide the type of weather modification experimentation and who it will benefit or adversely impact?

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=PET20060511&articleId=2423


From Information Clearing House

The Christian Aid charity has warned that 184 million people in Africa alone could die as a result of climate change before the end of the century.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4771399.stm


From Information Clearing House

Handwritten notes may link vice president to Valerie Plame leak.
http://tinyurl.com/fbrzv


From Information Clearing House

A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential source.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/federal_source_.html


From Information Clearing House

This site is for those who are lost in the military system of destruction, deceit, and corruption.

http://www.soldiersrights.com/


From Information Clearing House

We members of West Point Graduates Against The War stand appalled at the deceitful behavior of the government of the United States and, in particular, its widely known malefactors.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13056.htm

Is the war in Iraq for oil? Yes, it's about the oil, but not for the oil. In my investigations for Armed Madhouse, I ended up with a story far more fascinating and difficult than I imagined. We didn't go in to grab the oil. Just the opposite. We went in to control the oil and make sure we didn't get it. It goes back to 1920, when the oil companies sat in a room in Brussels in a hotel room, drew a red line.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13055.htm

A year after Bush administration claims about Iraqi ''bioweapons trailers'' were discredited by American experts, U.S. officials were still suppressing the findings, according to a senior member of the CIA-led inspection team.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13054.htm

http://tinyurl.com/kduzl


From Information Clearing House

One More Clue That the American Empire Is Waning

By Karen Kwiatkowski

Empire is never just about the emperor. The enablers of empire – the big purple socialist hegemonic American state – include not just a slavish and well-paid royal military, but also corporate interests, state-funded educational institutions, and an ever-devoted media.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13053.htm

By Mike Whitney

The American dream has ripened into a menacing delirium, teeming with torture, violence, and murder. We have become everything we profess to hate.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13047.htm

By William Blum

With his recent letter to President Bush, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become part of a long tradition of Third-World leaders who, under imminent military or political threat from the United States, communicated with Washington officials in the hope of removing that threat. Let us hope that Ahmadinejad's effort doesn't result in the equally traditional outright US rejection.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13046.htm

This is the second bear to be killed this week in New Jersey.

THESE KILLINGS MUST BE MET WITH OUTRAGE

NJARA spoke with Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith and Irvington Police Director Michael Damiano who said that reports to them from the field say that the bear acted aggressively toward the animal control officer trying to tranquilize him and an officer fatally shot the bear. That is out of sync with the article at the end of this email. NJARA is looking into it and waiting to hear from the town on Thursday once they are all briefed on the incident, but in the meantime, if anyone knows anyone who was on the scene and can confirm or deny this, please call NJARA at 732-446-6808.

NJARA is also doing an OPRA request to see if this bear was a previously tagged and relocated by Fish & Wildlife (They have a history of relocation bears to different parts of the state. We know they relocated a bear in 2005 to Monmouth County, hardly prime bear habitat).

For now, please make the following calls letting those below know the following:

1) Governor Corzine
(do NOT let them put you through to Fish & Wildlife!!! Tell them you want to leave a message for Corzine.) Phone: 609-292-6000 When people called in they were told that the state was taking a tally, but that's not good enough. The state needed to ACT on the input from the public. We have word that even hunters were calling in against this bear being shot! When is Corzine going to take a stand on bear issues in NJ? He sure talked about it a lot BEFORE the election, but has been silent since taking office.

2) Lisa Jackson, DEP Commissioner
(do NOT let them put you through to Fish & Wildlife!!! Tell them you want to leave a message for Jackson or the Deputy Commissioner Watson.) Phone: 609-292-2885 There obviously was a breakdown in communication between the state and local authorities. The state was deluged with calls to save the bear's life, but none of that appeared to have filtered down to the town, who, while appearing to have acted in the interest of public safety, would have greatly benefited by input from the state.

3) Dave Chanda, Director of Division of Fish & Wildlife Phone: 609-292-9410 Why isn't the state working with police departments to train them on bear behavior and the use of tranquilizer guns? If bears have been moved to every county in New Jersey, then every effort to educate the police about them should have been undertaken.

4) Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith
Phone: 973-219-5245
We are outraged that this bear was killed. Bears do not act aggressively and if the police had the proper training, they would have realized this bear was reacting out of fear and not aggression. Bluff charges and blowing is classic bear behavior. The situation could have been remedied effectively with a tranquilizer and relocation.

5) Irvington Police Director Michael Damiano
Phone: 973-399-6507
There should have been an aggressive plan in place to tranquilize the bear. Why was he being followed by police and not by animal control officers all along?

Janine Motta
New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (NJARA)
PO Box 174
Englishtown NJ
07726 732/446-6808
Fax: 732/446-0227 www.nj-ara.org


Newark Bear Hunt Continues
http://www.newsradio88.com/pages/34149.php
Posted: Wednesday, 10 May 2006 1:11PM


Informant: Blue Ridge Mama

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1774815,00.html


Informant: Teresa Binstock

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article485006.ece


Informant: Teresa Binstock

http://www.newstarget.com/z019337.html


Informant: V A

15 May 2006

The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches today issued a strong condemnation of Terminator seeds and called on churches and ecumenical partners to take action to stop the technology. The Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia warned that sterile seed technology would increase economic injustice all over the world.

The WCC's news release is available here:
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/all-news-english/display-single-english-news/article/1634/take-action-to-stop-termi.html

15.05.06

World Council Of Churches Take Action to Stop Terminator Seeds Demands WCC General Secretary

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, called upon churches and ecumenical partners to take action to stop "terminator technology". "Applying technology to design sterile seeds turns life, which is a gift from God, into a commodity. Preventing farmers from re-planting saved seed will increase economic injustice all over the world and add to the burdens of those already living in hardship," stated Kobia.

He underlined: "Terminator technology locates food sovereignty, once the very backbone of community, in the hands of technologists and large corporations. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 1.4 billion people depend on farmer-saved seed as their primary seed source. All Christians pray "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matt 6:11). That this profoundly material request appears in this profoundly spiritual prayer, signals for us the centrality of food in our lives, as well as the indivisibility of the material and spiritual in the eyes of God. It is of great concern to me that life itself is now often thought of and used as a commodity." Governments upheld the international de facto moratorium on "Terminator technology," which refers to plants that are genetically engineered to produce sterile seeds, about a month ago at the Eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP8) to the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in Curitiba, Brazil. They finally gave in to strong pressure by social movements and civil society groups and a number of governmental delegations supporting their claims. The UN conference was held in Brazil only weeks after the WCC's 9th General Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where delegates urged the WCC to respond to the challenges posed by science and technology.

The call for a ban on sterile-seed technology had taken center stage at the two-week meeting in Curitiba. Thousands of peasant farmers, including those from Brazil's Landless Workers Movement (Movimento Sem Terra), protested daily outside the conference center to demand a ban. The women of the international peasant farmers' organization Via Campesina staged a silent protest inside the plenary hall on 23 March, holding hand-painted signs with the words "Terminar Terminator con la Vida" ("Terminate Terminator with Life"). Brazil and India have already passed national laws to ban Terminator - and other campaigns to prevent commercialization of seed sterilization technologies will follow in various countries around the world. Protestant churches in Germany lobby for a national law and European Union legislation to ban terminator seeds. They also argue against the patenting of terminator technologies. "Though the international moratorium on Terminator was upheld at COP8, the battle to block the technology is now moving to the national level. This requires us to alert our member churches and ecumenical partners to be vigilant in their respective countries," explains the WCC general secretary who is confident that this concern unites Christian churches and people of other faiths who care for small scale farmers and God's creation.


From Ban Terminator Campaign

http://www.martinmanley.com/2006/04/all_ballots_secret_all_contrib.html


Informant: V A

Presseinformation vom 15. Mai 2006

** Gentechnikgegner geben den Ort der ersten Freiwilligen Feldbefreiung bei München bekannt**

In den letzten Wochen begann in Deutschland die Maisanbau-Saison. Auf fast 1.400 Hektar wurde gentechnisch manipulierter Mais ausgesät. Und das, obwohl rund 80% der Menschen in der Bundesrepublik Gentechnik weder auf den Feldern noch auf ihren Tellern sehen wollen.

Die Initiative Gendreck-weg - Freiwillige Feldbefreiung kündigt an, durch Feldbefreiungen im Norden und im Süden Deutschlands ihren Widerstand 2006 zu verstärken. "Wie unsere Nachbarländer Polen, Österreich und Schweiz, die Freisetzungen verboten haben, sehen auch wir in den genmanipulierten Organismen eine große Gefahr für die gentechnikfreie Landwirtschaft, die biologische Vielfalt und unsere Gesundheit", sagt Micha Grolm, Diplom-Agraringenieur und Berufsimker aus Tübingen. "Wir wollen nicht zusehen, dass unumkehrbare Fehler gemacht werden und fordern unsere Abgeordneten auf, den Willen der Bevölkerung zu respektieren". Die Initiative wurde 2005 von Bauern, Bäuerinnen und Imkern ins Leben gerufen. Sie sieht sich in der Tradition zivilen Ungehorsams und geht gewaltfrei und entschlossen gegen Agro-Gentechnik vor.

Gendreck-weg bereitet in diesem Jahr zwei große Aktionswochenenden vor. An Camps mit Diskussionsveranstaltungen, Workshops und Kultur schließen sich öffentliche freiwillige Feldbefreiungsaktionen an. Das erste Aktionswochenende findet über Pfingsten (2.-5. Juni) im oberbayrischen Poing bei München statt, wo ein staatlich finanzierter Lehranbau von insektenresistentem BT-Mais durchgeführt wird.

In der Region haben schon etliche Menschen ihre Unterstützung zugesagt. Aus ganz Deutschland und auch aus Frankreich wollen Gentechnik-Gegner/innen anreisen. Täglich erklären Menschen öffentlich ihre Entschlossenheit, sich selbst an Feldbefreiungen zu beteiligen und Gentech-Pflanzen auszureißen. Darüber hinaus erklären weitere GentechnikgegnerInnen ihre Solidarität mit den Aktiven. Beides wird namentlich dokumentiert auf www.gendreck-weg.de

Die erste Aktion findet bewusst in Bayern statt: Wer die Landkarte der Gentech-Felder betrachtet, stellt fest, dass die großen Aussaatflächen samt und sonders in Ostdeutschland zu finden sind. Über 40% der Flächen liegen allein in Brandenburg. In Westdeutschland sind ausschließlich Versuchsflächen angemeldet. "Das ist eine Strategie der Gentech-Industrie", kritisiert Jutta Sundermann von der Initiative, "In den neuen Bundesländern wird weniger Widerstand erwartet, weil da schon sehr viele andere Probleme drücken. In den alten Bundesländern setzen die Verantwortlichen darauf, durch die Hintertür zu kommen. Und die heißt: Versuchsanbau, meist finanziert durch die Steuerzahler." Ein zweites Aktionswochenende der Initiative Gendreck-weg ist für den Juli in Brandenburg geplant.

Der Konflikt um die Agro-Gentechnik ist zugespitzt. In diesem und in den folgenden Jahren wird sich entscheiden, ob Gentech-Pflanzen in Deutschland und Europa Fuß fassen können. Eine solche Entwicklung hätte weltweit fatale Konsequenzen. "Breiter und vielfältiger Widerstand ist deshalb notwendig: von der gentechnikfreien Zone bis zur Feldbefreiung", betont Michael Grolm.

Die Idee der Feldbefreiung nach öffentlicher Ankündigung zieht bereits Kreise: In Gießen bereitet eine weitere Initiative eine Freiwillige Feldbefreiung ebenfalls für Pfingsten vor - dort findet seit April der erste Freilandversuch mit Gerste statt. www.gendreck-giessen.de.vu

Mehr: http://www.gendreck-weg.de

Kontakte: Gendreck-weg:
Michael Grolm, 0170 / 10 87 17 4
Jutta Sundermann: 0176 / 520 962 13
Vor Ort bei Poing: Walter Unkelbach, Hergolding, Bundesverband Deutscher Milchviehhalter eV (BDM) 0176 / 60 88 86 39

Gießener Initiative: 06401 / 903 283

Hintergrund: Die Agro-Gentechnik bringt viele Gefahren. Imker, Bäuerinnen und Bauern sind als erste betroffen und zunehmend bereit, auch mit Mitteln des zivilen Ungehorsams gegen Gentech-Pflanzen vorzugehen. Allerdings geht es nicht nur um die eigene ökonomische Existenz. Denn:

1) Genmanipulierte Organismen gefährden die Gesundheit
Es ist unmöglich, die gesundheitlichen Risiken für Mensch und Tier einzugrenzen.

2) Agro-Gentechnik schafft Abhängigkeit und Hunger in der Welt
Beim großen Agrar-Monopoly bleiben nur einige wenige Konzerne übrig, die Vielfalt bleibt auf der Strecke, die Bauern werden abhängig von teurem, patentiertem Industrie-Saatgut.

3) Agro-Gentechnik ist nicht rückholbar
Dabei hat sie weitreichende Folgen auf Pflanzen, Tiere und Menschen in ihrer Umgebung und auf die Zukunft der Landwirtschaft.

4) Gentechnik gefährdet die Demokratie
Über 80% der Menschen in der Bundesrepublik sind gegen Agro-Gentechnik - dennoch schaffen Industrie und Politik vollendete - und nicht mehr änderbare - Tatsachen.

5) Koexistenz gibt es nicht
Ein Nebeneinander von Gentechnik und gentechnikfreier Landwirtschaft
("Koexistenz") funktioniert nicht, denn Bienen, Wind und Pollen kennen keine Grenzen.



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