World-News

Ray McGovern writes "Gen. Mike Hayden had bowed to administration pressure to skirt the law and violate what until then was NSA's "First Commandment" - Thou Shalt Not Eavesdrop on US Citizens."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052006J.shtml



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

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002441----000-.html


Informant: David Diggins

On March 8, 2004, after a private, chartered flight from Washington, Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham checked into a luxury oceanfront suite at the Delano Hotel, a restored Art Deco jewel on Miami Beach. Prosecutors say the San Diego lawmaker, in town to shop for a yacht, racked up more than $15,000 in bills during the trip, including $848 in meals.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052006Z.shtml

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,,1779393,00.html

From Chris

Thought you might "like" the article below from yesterdays Guardian newspaper. Check out number six on the list. The article was published yesterday and is written by a thirty something twit of a journo who has no experience of esmog, and appears to be just regurgitate the party line of scientists.

Should you wish to complain to the guardian after read inf section 6, here is the information on how to do so from their website: How to contact the Guardian's readers' editor. It is the policy of the Guardian to correct significant errors as soon as possible and the paper has appointed a Readers' Editor to deal with questions and complaints from readers. The Guardian also has an Ombudsman to represent the interests of readers where the Readers Editor is unable to resolve a problem to the satisfaction of all parties.

Please quote the date of the article you have read. Readers may contact the office of the readers' editor by telephoning +44 (0) 20 7713 4736 between 11am and 5pm Monday to Friday excluding UK public holidays.

Email: reader@guardian.co.uk
Fax: 020-7239 9997.
Ian Mayes
The Guardian
119 Farringdon Road
London EC1R 3ER


Chris


Read the report in today’s Guardian news paper, I’ve enclosed my reply.

Guardian Unlimited | Science | Why you should have a phone mast as close to your house as possible
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,,1779393,00.html


Best wishes

Eileen


-----Original Message-----
From: Eileen O'Connor
eileen@smokestackltd.co.uk
Sent: 20 May 2006 14:06
To: bad.science@guardian.co.uk
Subject: Message for Ben Goldacre


Why you should have a phone mast as close to your house as possible

Guardian Unlimited | Science | Why you should have a phone mast as close to your house as possible
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,,1779393,00.html

Ben Goldacre
Saturday May 20, 2006
The Guardian


Dear Mr Goldacre

I was disappointed to read your article in the paper today; it saddens me as I along with many people have genuinely suffered as a result of living 100 metres from a phone mast for over seven years. If only I had the opportunity to know what I know now, I might not have gone on to develop breast cancer at the age of 38 and would have realised the years of sleep problems had been connected to exposure to microwave radiation.

Thankfully Powerwatch offer a much needed and honest service, the main advice given by Alasdair Philips is to use mobile phones for emergency use only. If people followed this advice, we wouldn’t have a need for as many masts and the industry might adopt safer technology with more urgency. I’m sure you wouldn’t choose to have a mast outside the bedroom of your child.

Please find enclosed the latest information I have put together and make time to listen to the Dr George Carlo interview.

Dr George Carlo’s interview on EMF-Omega-News 13. May 2006 http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1957891/

If his predictions are right by 2015 we will be seeing the biggest health disaster the world has ever seen with 1 in 4 people experiencing health problems as a result of using mobile phones, especially children.

Your Cell Phone is Dangerous. A Special Radio Interview with Dr. George Carlo Dr. George Carlo, Ph.D, M.S., J.D, respected epidemiologist and public health scientist, headed the $28.5 million research program funded by the cell phone industry. Dr. Carlo has appeared on 20/20, 60 Minutes, World News Tonight, CBS News with Dan Rather and The Today's Show, as well as on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. In July 2006, a documentary film of his work will be released in major theatres.

Association Vallisoletana de Afectad@s por las Antennas de Telecommunications - AVAATE

Best wishes

Eileen O’Connor
Trustee – EM Radiation Research Trust

--------

Please find enclosed a letter from Jean Philips to Ben Goldacre following today’s report.

Why you should have a phone mast as close to your house as possible

Guardian Unlimited | Science | Why you should have a phone mast as close to your house as possible

Ben Goldacre Saturday May 20, 2006

Best wishes

Eileen O’Connor


Dear Ben Goldacre,

I have been copied into some of the electronic communication that has been happening recently on the subject of electrical sensitivity.

My name is Jean Philips. I have been working with my husband Alasdair Philips for some 15 years, investigating the health effects attributed to the action of electromagnetic fields. We have a website http://www.powerwatch.org.uk and are affiliated to no government or industry. We are completely independent. I am also a trustee of Electrosensitivity-UK.

During this time I have become increasingly aware of the small, but significant number of people (about 3% of the population at a conservative estimate) who describe symptoms, which have been mentioned in other communications, which become worse in the presence of some EMF frequencies. They have been in contact with me through email, telephone or by letter.

There are a number of these who have other problems including psychiatric ones, probably a little greater than the percentage you would find in the population as a whole. I have about 10 years experience of working with people with psychiatric problems, and can usually recognise the overlap. I believe that the higher percentage is due to the fact that problems of recognition of, what to the sufferer is a very real problem, can lead to depression and anxiety, rather than these being the cause of the problem. I guess it is why they tend to turn to complementary practitioners who do not pass judgements as readily as many GPs.

The fact that some of these people are otherwise ill, does not rule out the fact that they may be electrically sensitive. By far the majority of people do not have any degree of psychiatric disorder, and are reacting to elecyromagnetic field exposure with physiological, neurological and cognitive changes that can make life incredibly difficult. There is a scale of sensitivity, and fortunately most people who have the symptoms are not at the extreme end.

This variation in severity can be a problem when studying the condition. EHS is not a clear-cut, yes you have it, no you don't sort of condition. Some people, like Gro Harlem Brundtland only react to mobile phone radiation, even if quite severely. She may be able to spend hours in front of a computer, remain unaffected by mobile phone mast radiation and be able to work under fluorescent lights all day without developing a headache.

EHS sufferers appear to react to different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, some to low frequency emissions (computers, fluorescent lights,etc.), some to high frequency (mobile phones, digital cordless phones, mobile phone masts, etc.) and some to both. Some will be slightly affected and others are unable to tolerate the sort of field levels that maybe you and I would tolerate happily for weeks on end. Sensitivity can develop suddenly, out of the blue, and can be initiated by non-EMFs, a common trigger being an unusual chemical reaction that results in chemical as well as electrical sensitivity.

I will be briefer, as you don't want a lecture, and this feels like it is becoming one.

Exposure levels in studies are difficult to standardise and will describe the people not sensitive to those frequencies or strengths that are being used, as not sensitive at all. People who are very sensitive cannot take part as they are too badly affected. I have spoken to many people who have had to drop out of the Rubin study and the ongoing Essex University study, because they were so ill after the first exposure they could not continue. There are other technical problems with many of the studies. Alasdair has advised on some and the protocols have been changed to correct the errors.

The study commissioned by the HPA which reported in 2005 (Definition, Epidemiology and Management of Electrical Sensitivity), included in section 4.5.5 that people with EHS when asked what helped reduce their symptoms on a rating scale of 1-6, where 6 was most effective, reported

4.5 - disconnecting electricity
4.3 - removing indoor source
4.2 - avoiding exposure.

This seems to be worth investigating further. Why does this work so well, if there is no involvement of EMFs? It is a question that needs looking into, as the other factors listed were not as effective at reducing symptoms.

It is difficult to curb personal passion at times, when you hear as I do, and others who represent people with EHS, many of whom are too ill to represent themselves, do, about the dreadful suffering that many people endure, made worse by disbelief and sometimes ridicule. It did not help the sufferers of ME and Gulf War Syndrome to be told it was all in the mind.

I am happy to speak to you further should you wish to do so.

Yours sincerely

Jean Philips

--------

Hello Ben,

With regard to your one-sided article http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,,1779393,00.html
you suggest people to ask to be radiated by masts all night - very interesting. You ignore the difference between masts and phones: people don't talk on the phone all night, but masts radiate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and one cannot control it. In contrast, one can turn off the mobile phone- How is that for a "sober analysis of the data"? If you think mobile phones power is a negative thing - then why don't you just suggest people to limit their exopsure time to the phone instead of inviting a private antenna near their house? The answer may be in your sentence "critiques of character and finance are a poor substitute for a sober analysis of the data." The evidence based fact is that you did not disclose to the readers whether you are you paid by the companies. I suspect you used this argument as a red herring for not dealing with the real data (see below - the actual studies on masts) BECAUSE you have something to hide. Otherwise why don't you just simply and honestly reveal to the readers: are you paid by the industry or not?

I will invite a private antenna after you do that in reality, not by spreading irresponsible words on the paper.

BTW did you check with Alasdair Philips' COM device, how much your phone emits? I am sure you will change your tone after you do that.

And finally, here is a sober analysis of the data: http://www.starweave.com/masts/


Regards

Iris Atzmon.

--------

REPLY TO THE GUARDIAN

It is really shocking how Mr Goldacre is so happy to denigrate what Powerwatch are saying by implying that they are trying to persuade people to buy their products by scaring people!

Why is it acceptable to believe what the phone industry and government are saying when they stand to benefit in billions of pounds of profit from the industry?

Why belittle an individual who has to earn his money for his research somehow and can't get any from the industry or government as they don't like what he is saying?

I am very pleased that Powerwatch are providing us with some true information as to the science of the dangers of microwave radiation on living beings. It is the government and industry who are not to be trusted.

What would happen if there were a problem? Can you really see the government or industry admitting it? What about the law suits? What about the profits? What about the billions the government have got from the phone industry, how would they give it back?

Open your eyes and look at the research, there is plenty of it but don't ask the government to give it to you, look for the real researchers , ask them. You are supposed to be a journalist after all.

What did the tobacco industry say 30 years ago?

I have a physics degree and the independent research makes perfect sense.

I have bought Powerwatch's products and managed to shield the radiation out of my Mothers flat.

She has suffered ever since she moved in 1999 from a host of illnesses and been on deaths door 3 times in the last 6 years.

Last year when I became aware of the effects of microwave radiation after doing some research on the subject I bought a radiation monitor and took it to her house and found it full of radiation (below the guidelines as it always is).

All my mother's symptoms fitted with what doctors in Germany are describing.

She has had a blood test in Germany and a hair analysis and radiation damage is confirmed.

You can't say it is psychological since we did not know of these effects until one year ago after she was already very ill. We also didn't know there was a phone mast near her flat as it is on a rooftop and 500m away from her flat so we didn't notice it.

Since we have shielded her flat my mother is improving. She is 79 so conventional wisdom would not expect her to regain her energy!

Last year she was so fatigued that she could only get up 1 day in 7. Now she is out late at night with her friends. Her auto-immune lung disease has stabilised, her immune system is strengthened, her appetite has come back, the pains in her head gone and her sleep returned to normal.

If you stubbenly refuse to repeat in your paper anything but the industry/government view then you can't be surprised if people assume you are an industry spokesman. There are may people out there who know a lot more about the subject than you do. You won't even publish any letters like mine in the paper. I wonder why?

Yours

Sarah



Concerning: Phone mast on every street?
From: SylviaWright
Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 14:17:51 EDT
To: bad.science@guardian.co.uk

OK - maybe you are just trying to wind up everyone who is concerned about mobile phone masts into a frenzy - I want to tell you IT'S WORKED!!

I won't waste time and effort answering all of your extravagent statements, but suffice to say that one can choose whether to use the phone (low signal or high) - but one cannot choose to lose the mast (or turn it off) - it will be pulsing away 24/7 - just in case anyone wants to make the usual inane mindless calls we hear wherever we go.

I really wish you "science correspondents" would consult people (Powerwatch being one - HPA another) who know the facts and not just play to the gallery.


Regards

Sylvia Wright


From Mast Sanity/Mast Network

--------

----- Original Message -----
From: Martin Weatherall
To: bad.science@guardian.co.uk
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 7:42 PM
Subject: Cell phone masts do severely harm people.


Ben Goldacre

It would be useful for you to speak to people who are harmed by cell phone masts before you write any more articles on the subject.

In Canada I know of several people who have been severely harmed by the effects of electro magnetic radiation. Their lives have been devastated by what they have been through and how they are still being harmed every day.

I have attached a few documents that may help you to understand the situation better.

If you are going to write stories when you are ignorant of the facts, it is better not to write at all, you are misinforming people who need to know.


Yours sincerely

Martin Weatherall
Ontario,
Canada.



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

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=9752

American military used microwave/laser directed energy weapon
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/2043518/

By Peter Phillips

The Bush administration is paltering to the American public with exaggerated misconceptions of worldwide terrorism to frighten us into supporting a global police state. With seven hundred military bases and a budget bigger than the rest of the world combined, the US military has become the new supreme-power force repressing "terrorism" everywhere. Vice President Dick Cheney's keynote address at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference March 7, 2006 is a telling example of neo-conservative global dominance thought in the current administration. Here are his exact words, "Israel, and the United States, and all civilized nations will win the war on terror. To prevail in this fight, we must understand the nature of the enemy. Šas America experienced on September 11th, 2001, the terrorist enemy is brutal and heartless. This enemy wears no uniform, has no regard for the rules of warfare, and is unconstrained by any standard of decency or morality. The terrorists want to end all American and Western influence in the Middle East. Their goal in that region is to seize control of a country, so they have a base from which to launch attacks and wage war against governments that do not meet their demandsŠ ultimately to establish a totalitarian empire that encompasses a region from Spain, across North Africa, through the Middle East and South Asia, all the way around to Indonesia."

Cheney claims that evil terrorists everywhere are plotting for the ruin of "civilized" nations. In order to stop them we must militarily control all the regions they are threatening in a permanent global war. Cheney's military empire, set to prevail over the totalitarian terrorists, will inevitably expand global resistance to US domination. Large coalitions of freedom fighters, fundamentalists, patriots, religious zealots, nationalists, and ideologues of various beliefs will emerge from within the regions the US occupies. Widespread resistance is exactly what is happening in Iraq.

Le Monde Diplomatique on May 2, 2006 described the Iraq insurgents - terrorists to Cheney - as "armed opposition often divided into a set of wholly independent categories which apparently do not have much in common. The categories include the patriotic former army officers, the foreign terrorists, the Sunni Arabs determined to regain power, the Muslims opposed to any kind of foreign occupation, the tribal factions pursuing their own specific vendettas, the die-hard Ba'athists - and the "pissed-off" Iraqis (in coalition soldier jargon, POIs) who are simply sick of the foreign forces occupying their country."

For Cheney and other global dominance neo-conservatives, the terrorist label is so broad that it can be applied to any individual, group, or nation that resists US military occupations, US threats, or US corporate interests anywhere in the world. In reality, the US military is the world's foremost totalitarian force.

Three years ago I met a Dutch journalist, Willem Oltman, at the International Campaign Against US Aggression on Iraq in Cairo, Egypt. Oltman described his teen years during World War II in the Dutch resistance movement. "The Nazi's called us terrorists," he exclaimed. "Now as the US invades and occupies other countries you do the same thing," he added.

Maintaining an US military global police force enriches defense contractors and enflames resistance. There is no worldwide terrorism threat other than the one we create when we make war on other peoples.

Addressing world poverty, sickness, and environmental issues will go much further in preventing single acts of terrorism inside the United States than any military actions we can muster. It is time to challenge the neo-conservative global dominance agenda and stand up for human rights and the traditional American values of grass-roots democracy, due process, governmental transparency, and individual freedoms for ourselves and the rest of the world.


Peter Phillips is a professor of Sociology at Sonoma State University and director of Project Censored a media research group. http://www.projectcensored.org. He is co-editor with Dennis Loo of the forthcoming book, Impeach the President: The Case Against Bush and Cheney, from Seven Stories Press, summer 2006.

Peter Phillips Ph.D.
Professor Sociology/Director Project Censored Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Ave. Rohnert Park,
CA 94928
Office: 707-664-2588
http://www.projectcensored.org

Legal and legislative moves to standardize federal food warnings, or lack thereof, chip away at states' prerogative to warn consumers about hazards posed by certain foods.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051906HB.shtml

The EPA has tentatively agreed to new restrictions that will allow a Southern California pesticide maker to keep a controversial insecticide on the market, the agency announced Tuesday. DDVP is listed by California as a known carcinogen and is part of a class of chemicals that has been linked to developmental damage in children.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051906HA.shtml

"A new way of framing the climate change issue that makes sense in people's daily lives is needed in order to translate passive awareness into active concern," says Simon Retallack.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051906EA.shtml

Mexico and four Central American nations condemned the US plan to build hundreds of miles of triple-layered fencing on its southern border, saying it would not stop illegal immigration.

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

America may be the world's superpower, but its survival rate for newborn babies ranks near the bottom among modern nations, better only than Latvia.

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/ap_060509_infant_mortality.html


From Information Clearing House

The Bush Administration has been talking of using the Espionage Act of 1917 to prosecute the New York Times and the Washington Post. Yet these veteran newspapers' "crimes" consist merely of publishing Pulitzer-Prize-winning articles on the CIA's secret prisons, and the NSA's secret surveillance programs.

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20060519.html


From Information Clearing House

The world is now eating more food than farmers grow, pushing global grain stocks to their lowest level in 30 years.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33268


From Information Clearing House

Video: Despite all the warnings that we are headed for an ecological and environmental perfect storm, many Americans are oblivious to the flashing red light on the earth's fuel gauge. Many feel the "American way of life" is an entitlement that operates outside the laws of nature.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13105.htm



Real Oil Crisis

What would happen if the world were to start running out of oil?
ABC Australia Video Report: Windows Media and Real Video
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13112.htm

The announcement by President Putin of a Russian bourse trading oil and gas in Roubles threatens the stability of the US Dollar far more than Iran's bourse alone would do, and continues the slide in relations between the old Cold War foes.

http://home.austarnet.com.au/davekimble/peakoil/petrodollars.htm



Russian bourse to start trading oil, oil products, gold on June 8

Exporting nation, should establish its own oil exchange to trade crude and petroleum products for rubles.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060522/48434383.html


From Information Clearing House

Three more US warships with 2,000 troops aboard left for the Caribbean Wednesday, to join the combat fleet there since April, at which regional governments and social groups look with a jaundiced eye.

http://tinyurl.com/kwvjw


From Information Clearing House

HAS the US stepped back on to the scene of one of its most memorable military disasters — and chosen to back the kind of warlords who humiliated it?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2187524,00.html


From Information Clearing House

The Bush administration, shunning pressure from allies for direct dialogue with Iran, is shifting toward a more confrontational stance and intensifying efforts to undercut the country's ruling clerics.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13111.htm



Democrats ask Bush for intelligence update on Iran

Senate Democrats asked President George W. Bush on Friday to order a new U.S. intelligence report on Iran to avoid the errors that plagued prewar assessments on Iraq.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060519/pl_nm/security_iran_dc


From Information Clearing House

The United Nations top anti-torture body told the United States on Friday that any secret jails it ran for foreign terrorism suspects, along with the Guantanamo Bay facility, were illegal and should be closed.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13107.htm



Four prisoners attempt suicide at Guantanamo camp

Four Guantanamo prisoners tried to commit suicide on Thursday and several others attacked guards who rushed in to halt one of the attempts, a camp spokesman said.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13106.htm



Full list of Guantanamo detainees

Names, ages and country of origin of those held in Guantanamo
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13108.htm

On any given night the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) helps 200 to 250 of them, and more go uncounted. They are among nearly 200,000 homeless veterans in America, largely from the Vietnam War.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060519/us_nm/iraq_homeless_veterans_dc


From Information Clearing House

By Drew Brown

A Pentagon report on an incident in Haditha, Iraq, where U.S. Marines shot and killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians last November will show that those killings were deliberate and worse than initially reported, a Pennsylvania congressman said Wednesday.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13114.htm



In Haditha, Memories of a Massacre

By Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service

Witnesses to the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines in the western town of Haditha say the Americans shot men, women and children at close range in retaliation for the death of a Marine lance corporal in a roadside bombing.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13402.htm



You got your damn war

It looks like "a mother and young child bent over as if in prayer, shot dead". http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13113.htm



Marines accused of cover-up after Haditha killings

A military investigation has reportedly concluded that US Marines embarked on the "methodical" killing of two dozen Iraqi civilians - including women and children - in what may be the worst incident of its kind since the 2003 invasion.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13403.htm



Photos Indicate Civilians Slain Execution-Style

Photographs taken by a Marine intelligence team have convinced investigators that a Marine unit killed as many as 24 unarmed Iraqis, some of them "execution-style," in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha after a roadside bomb killed an American in November, officials close to the investigation said Friday.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052706A.shtml



Photos are said to show Iraqi victims

The pictures are said to show wounds to the upper bodies of the victims, who included several women and six children. Some were shot in the head and some in the back, according to congressional and defense officials.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13407.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pentagon
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Haditha
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ellen+Knickmeyer

http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/eg/cs-lewis.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell

http://tcrnews2.com/McCarthy1a.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell

That they stop being a force for instability, death, and destruction.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance79.html

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,70910-0.html


Informant: V A

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70914-0.html?tw=rss.technology


Informant: V A

http://truth4you.no-ip.org/special/nsa.html

The Rise of Parano-Politics
http://youralternativenews.zapto.org/news/para.html


Informant: Luke Nichols

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/news8.pdf


Quelle: iddd.de-umtsno

Internationale Abkommen gegen Überfischung sollen versagen (19.05.06)

Eine Studie der Artenschutzorganisation WWF und des Artenhandels-Netzwerks TRAFFIC kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass die internationalen Fischereiabkommen, mit der die Überfischung auf hoher See gestoppt werden soll, "bislang weitgehend versagt haben". In der Untersuchung wurde die Praxis der insgesamt 16 regionalen Fischereiabkommen untersucht. Diese Abkommen regeln die Fischerei auf den Weltmeeren außerhalb der nationalen 200 Seemeilen-Zonen. "Die Hochsee bedeckt nahezu die Hälfte der Erdoberfläche. Trotz aller Abkommen handelt es sich jedoch nach wie vor um ein weitgehend rechtsfreies Gebiet. Im Wilden Westen der Meere bedienen sich kriminelle und von den Regierungen beauftrage oder geduldete Plünderer nahezu nach Belieben", meint Heike Vesper vom WWF. 90 Prozent aller großen Fische wie Tunfisch, Marlin, Schwertfisch, Haie, Kabeljau oder Heilbutt seien bereits "verschwunden".

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13661

A US court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a German citizen who says he was kidnapped and beaten by the CIA.

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

John Psaropoulos of Athens News interviews Norman Solomon, who "finds disturbing trends in the US media landscape over the past four decades that conspire to deprive Americans of harder-hitting journalism when it comes to wars overseas."

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

A message from Eleanor:

Dear Friends

Even if you have signed and I know many of you have - please take some time to forward this petition. If you haven't, please read it through! It is a petition that deserves support!

Thanks!!

Eleanor


CRIMINAL JUSTICE PETITION - PLEASE READ AND SIGN http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/898826404

Criminal Justice The USA has a higher percentage of its citizens behind bars than any other nation. Our crime rate is higher than that of any other advanced nation. The majority of persons released from prison in the US - estimates run as high as 70% - are convicted of new crimes within five years.

We make "convicted felons" an untouchable class, locking them out of normal society and worthwhile employment, making continued crime all the more attractive. Instead of facilitating prisoner re-entry, we strain to make it difficult, and impossible for some.

The Criminal Justice System needs to make the following changes:

1. Our public safety planning is too shortsighted. It would be better to spend more on intensive probation and scientifically based rehabilitation programs now, and less on more and bigger prisons tomorrow. Too many people including decision-makers believe "rehabilitation doesn't work" although research proves otherwise!

2. Our sentencing policies are inconsistent, often too lenient for violent crimes and too harsh for non-violent crimes.

3. Pay police officers a decent wage, and compensate them for continued education. Improve their benefit packages, and make police work a worthwhile career. At the same time, make them models of lawful, civilized behavior.

4. Prisons need to increase their rehabilitative and re-entry programs.

5. The Federal Prison System needs to bring back the Parole Board for federal prisoners.

6. Parole needs to be configured for program completions and accomplishments. The Parole Board needs to meet with the offender within one year of her/his commitment, at which time a program contract is agreed on, based on pre-sentence recommendations and institutional screening recommendations.

For example:

1. GED
2. Vocational Trade
3. 500 Hours of Counseling or a. 500 Hour Drug Program
4. Save $2,500 Inmate Wages
5. Pre-Release Program
6. Clean Conduct

7. When the offender completes the program contract, they are taken back before the Parole Board. And released on parole with whatever guidelines imposed by the sentencing court, Parole Board and supervising Parole Officer.

8. Get those rehabilitated former offenders involved in teaching others. Bring them into colleges, gang counselors, jails, law enforcement advisors, prisons, schools and youth groups to speak and tell their own success stories. Use them in a kind of “big brother” program; people can call on for advice, encouragement, help.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0517-10.htm


Informant: ranger116

http://www.rense.com/general71/nbcaud.htm


Informant: ranger116

Am Übergang zu Mexiko sollen nach Plänen der US-Regierung 6000 Soldaten stationiert werden. Washington reagiert damit auch auf die Konsequenzen des Freihandels.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22697/1.html

Mobile phone giant O2 has applied to put up a 41ft phone mast near two primary schools in Shrewsbury, just weeks after a bid for a similar mast was thrown out.

The company has submitted a planning application to Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council to erect a mast next to the junction of Copthorne Park and Copthorne Road.

It is described as a slimline street works style monopole telecommunications mast with three antenna and ancillary equipment cabin. It would be built close to Woodfield County Infant School and St George’s Junior School.

O2 claims it would help meet increasing demands on its network. But the proposal looks set to attract criticism, coming weeks after O2’s bid to build a riverside mast in Shrewsbury was thrown out by councillors.

Copthorne Park residents Tom and Elizabeth Ferris have already sent a letter of objection to the borough council, calling the proposal “lunacy” and grossly irresponsible given its proximity to the schools.

However Jim Stevenson, community relations manager for O2 said: “The masts are completely safe. As far as we are concerned people need have no fear at all.”

Omega this is not true. See under:
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Cancer+Cluster
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

The full version of this article appears in the Shrewsbury edition of tonight’s Shropshire Star.

© 2003-06 Shropshire Newspapers Ltd

http://www.shropshirestar.com/show_article.php?aID=45639

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4494/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

>From across the nation a determined alliance of anti-war activists is working overtime online and on doorsteps to defeat Senator Joseph Lieberman, whose political moderation helped him earn the Democratic nomination for vice president six years ago. Their goal is not only to punish Mr. Lieberman for staunchly supporting the war in Iraq but also to protest what the activists consider the Democratic Party's willingness to accommodate President Bush.

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

In an attempt to revoke billions of dollars worth of government incentives to oil and gas producers, the House on Thursday approved a measure that would pressure companies to renegotiate more than 1,000 leases for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Dean Baker attributes Congressional action to outrage caused by media coverage of the oil windfall. "The press can do good," he writes.

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

"The Baltimore Sun reported [Wednesday] that Bush rejected President Clinton's effective, legal surveillance program that did not invade privacy to adopt the current NSA spying program, which is ineffective, illegal and invasive of citizens' privacy rights," writes the Patriot Daily. "So, the question jumping off the page may be: Why would Bush use a program that does not actually assist the finding of terrorists, yet also has the disadvantage of invading Americans' privacy rights?"

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

"Being an instrument of peace is immensely more important than working for peace," writes Cindy Sheehan. "Non-violence should always be the means we use to solve problems, from our nuclear family life all the way up to the office of the most powerful person in the world. Peace is not an absence of conflict, but resolving conflict non-violently."

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

by Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck,
TomPaine.com

Coming soon to a theater near you -- a story of evil masterminds, plans for global domination, money, power and crime.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/19/delay_on_the_big_screen.php

by Holly Sklar and Rev. Paul Sherry, TomPaine.com

It's not just good economic sense. It's also our moral obligation.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/19/the_moral_minimum.php

by John Prados, TomPaine.com

General Hayden's idea of rebuilding public trust in the CIA is to make it more secretive.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/19/hayden_the_good_soldier.php



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

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4993038.stm


Health risks of Wi-Fi and WLAN on our health
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1122031/

During mental-health awareness month, Paula J. Caplan argues that women are over-diagnosed with psychiatric syndromes and symptoms. "Many problems," she writes, "are not inside women's heads. They are in external conditions crying out for remedy."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051806WB.shtml

The problem of food insecurity in America is gradually worsening, yet the government's main "solution" is sluggish, inadequate and sometimes inaccessible, and some critics note such programs do nothing to address the root causes of hunger.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051806HA.shtml

A battle is looming in the nation's Capitol over how best to manage the nation's ocean fisheries. Portraying himself as an ocean champion, Richard Pombo, R-Calif., chair of the House Resources Committee, has introduced a bill, HR 5018, that will severely weaken current fisheries law and exacerbate a decaying management system.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051806EA.shtml



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

The American Prospect
by Harold Meyerson

05/18/06

Think of Monday's speech as the manifesto of the Bush presidency that wasn't. George W. Bush took to the airwaves Monday night to occupy terrain he had previously shunned: the center. The President claimed what he termed 'a rational middle ground' between two supercharged social movements, between the nativist and business wings of his own party, between House Republicans from safe right-wing districts and Senate Republicans understandably nervous about the growing number of Latino voters in their states. The result, rhetorically, was a speech in which assertion was followed by counter-assertion, or at least by a counter-perspective. 'Illegal immigration,' Bush began, 'strains state and local budgets and brings crime to our communities ... yet we must remember that the vast majority of illegal immigrants are decent people who work hard ... and lead responsible lives'...

http://tinyurl.com/k2w97


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

AlterNet
by Sidney Blumenthal

05/19/06

The moment that the destruction of the Central Intelligence Agency began can be pinpointed to a time, a place and even a memo. On Aug. 6, 2001, CIA director George Tenet presented to President Bush his presidential daily briefing, a startling document titled 'Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.' Bush did nothing, asked for no further briefings on the issue, and returned to cutting brush at his Crawford, Texas, compound. In Bush's denial of responsibility after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the search for scapegoats inevitably focused on the lapse in intelligence and therefore on the CIA, though it was the FBI whose egregious incompetence permitted the plotters to escape apprehension. Bush's intent to invade Iraq set up the battle royal that followed...

http://www.alternet.org/story/36343/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Cincinnati Enquirer

05/18/06

CIA director nominee Michael Hayden acknowledged concerns about civil liberties even as he vigorously defended the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program as a legal spy tool needed to ensnare terrorists. Peppered with tough questions at a daylong confirmation hearing Thursday, the four-star Air Force general portrayed himself as an independent thinker, capable of taking over the CIA as it struggles with issues ranging from nuclear threats to its place among 15 other spy agencies...

http://tinyurl.com/jxkf4



New tack on Hayden confirmation

Boston Globe

05/18/06

The Bush administration moved yesterday to separate General Michael Hayden's nomination to be the next CIA director from discussion of the secret domestic spying programs that he designed as head of the National Security Agency, in a seeming reversal of the White House's political strategy for today's confirmation hearing. In a prepared statement submitted yesterday to the Senate intelligence committee for release today, Hayden makes no mention of the NSA's domestic surveillance programs, according to a former official who has seen the five-page unclassified document. Instead, Hayden focuses only on rebuilding the embattled Central Intelligence Agency. And for the first time yesterday, the administration briefed every Senate and House intelligence committee member about the NSA's warrantless wiretapping efforts. The White House previously insisted that the program was too sensitive to disclose its details to the full committees, leading several senators to vow that they would use Hayden's confirmation hearing to press for more information...

http://tinyurl.com/ljsp9


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

#Die Linkspartei.PDS: Pressemitteilungen

19. Mai 2006

Heute hat der Bundestag in namentlicher Abstimmung mit den Stimmen der Regierungskoalition und gegen die Stimmen der Fraktion Die Linke. die größte Steuererhöhung in der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik beschlossen. Dazu erklärt Dietmar Bartsch, Bundesgeschäftsführer der Linkspartei.PDS und Mitglied des Haushaltsausschusses:

Selten spüren die Bürgerinnen und Bürger die Beschlüsse des Bundestages so direkt wie bei dem heute beschlossenen Haushaltsbegleitgesetz. Der heutige Beschluss belastet die Steuerzahlen ab 1. Januar 2007 massiv. Die Erhöhung der Mehrwertsteuer auf 19 Prozent führt zu deutlichen finanziellen Einbußen und zu sinkender Kaufkraft. Sozialschwache, Gering- und Normalverdiener und Rentner werden künftig erheblich weniger Geld in der Tasche haben. Zu verdanken haben sie dies den Abgeordneten von Union und SPD, die selbst aufgrund ihrer eigenen Einkommens- und Vermögenssituation von den Änderungen nur eher geringfügig betroffen sind. Die strukturelle Probleme werden damit nicht gelöst. Der Anteil der Menschen, die in diesem Land von der gesellschaftlichen Teilhabe abgekoppelt werden, wird weiter wachsen. Die von SPD und Union vielbeschworene Konjunktur bleibt durch die sinkende Binnenkaufkraft auf der Strecke. Hinzu kommt die öffentlich kaum beachtete Erhöhung der Pauschalabgabe für geringfügig Beschäftigte von 25 auf 30 Prozent. Das ist pure Abkassiererei. Das heute in erster Lesung auf der Tagesordnung stehende Steueränderungsgesetz folgt der Logik der Großen Koalition und setzt die Politik der sozialen Grausamkeiten und Ungerechtigkeiten fort. Mit diesem sollen die Absenkungen der Pendlerpauschale und des Sparerfreibetrages sowie der Verlust von zwei Jahren Kindergeldanspruch für 25- bis 27jährige, die sich noch in der Ausbildung befinden, festgeschrieben werden. Die Linkspatei.PDS lehnt diese einseitigen Belastungen von sozial Schwachen ab. 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=32793

Our ocean resources are dwindling. Fish populations and popular seafood are only a fraction of what they were just 50 years ago. The US House will soon vote on oceans legislation that would cause important fish species to decline even further.

Send an email to oppose this harmful oceans bill:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/magnuson_house

The fall in the dollar over the last few days and the knock-on consequences for the stock markets around the world make everybody feel queasy because those in the know are aware that we can't go on like this.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/will_hutton/2006/05/post_94.html


From Information Clearing House

The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct said it would investigate Ohio Republican Rep. Bob Ney and Louisiana Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who are enmeshed in separate bribery scandals.

http://tinyurl.com/jzugj


From Information Clearing House

The reawakening of a virulent nationalism is tearing apart Bush's conservative coalition.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1777429,00.html


From Information Clearing House

The Justice Department asks a judge to approve Patriot Act e-mail monitoring without any evidence of criminal behavior.

http://tinyurl.com/kapfx



Bush shuns Patriot Act requirement

When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this month, he included an addendum saying that he did not feel obliged to obey requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act's expanded police powers.

http://tinyurl.com/fycoz


From Information Clearing House

For the past few days, we have endured non-stop attacks on our credibility, and we have fought hard to defend our reputation. In addition, we have worked around the clock to provide additional information to our readership. People want to know more about this, and our job is to keep them informed. We take that responsibility seriously.

http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2006/5/17/125248/099


From Information Clearing House

The world's oil, gas and mining industries account for nearly two-thirds of all violations of human rights, environmental laws and international labor standards, according to a soon-to-be-released United Nations study.

http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/139


From Information Clearing House

A welcome at the White House
http://tinyurl.com/gzp74


From Information Clearing House

The West is currently using the pretext of security concerns in an attempt to control the nuclear activities of the countries of the global South.

http://tinyurl.com/g9lae


From Information Clearing House

Two new films which expose unpleasant truths about Guantanamo and the battle for Iraq are coming under pressure from censors in the United States.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13095.htm



Pentagon launches Guantanamo PR campaign

Officials from the Joint Chiefs of Staff Detainee Affairs Section have worked up a new briefing and made presentations in recent months to some 3,000 people, including media representatives and members of Congress, stressing the strategic value of detainees at the prison camp.

http://tinyurl.com/lyfq7


From Information Clearing House

Nearly two years ago, a top general urged a probe into illegal "ghost detainees" held at Abu Ghraib prison. But according to the Pentagon, it never happened -- and never will.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13096.htm

CIA war crimes in Europe are now under official investigation there, but not here.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0620,hentoff,73206,6.html


From Information Clearing House

Food Not Bombs protests against war by feeding the homeless and the hungry, and while the FBI may have managed to silence some anti-war campaigners, the co-founder of Food Not Bombs just won't shut up, even when he's accused of being part of a "domestic terror group". Dateline's Elizabeth Tadic caught up with him, almost predictably in poverty-stricken Nigeria.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13098.htm

With war bills to pay, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is calling on Congress to pass President Bush's request for an extra $65 billion to cover costs in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5827250,00.html


From Information Clearing House

In Iraq, a soldier is killed; in Baltimore, his father is angry.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13097.htm

The Age newspaper,
Melbourne Australia
By Adam Morton
May 19, 2006

ELECTRICAL workers will refuse to work on or near operational mobile phone towers in Victoria until safety standards are introduced, fearing exposure to electromagnetic radiation causes cancer.

The Electrical Trades Union ban came as preliminary testing at RMIT University’s business school found no evidence that rooftop phone towers caused brain tumours in seven staff since 1999.

While medical experts said there was no proven link between phone towers and cancer, fears rose after it was revealed that tumours were found in staff working on the top floor.

Electrical union state secretary Dean Mighell said there was overseas evidence linking tumours to long-term electromagnetic radiation exposure, whether from high-voltage power lines or phone towers.

“Saying it is inconclusive is not good enough,” he said. “It needs to be conclusive that it’s safe, and when there is so much evidence saying it’s not, we think it is time the telecommunications industry adopts the same standards as the power industry and protects workers and residents.”

Mr Mighell urged communications companies to adopt regulations forcing electrical workers to wear protective equipment, carry radiation meters and work on towers for limited periods.

City authorities have sought council control over medium-sized phone towers through planning permits. There are 169 mobile phone network masts in the Melbourne CBD.

RMIT vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner said the university would pay for past and present staff who worked in the building to see an occupational phys-ician.

She said the number of illnesses linked to the building remained at seven, despite more than 150 calls to its medical help line and claims the academics’ union knew of a possible death.

“There have been no further cases identified at present but there are undoubtedly people who have come forward and investigations will be under way,” she said.

Business staff were told a decision on whether they would be asked to return to work on the top floor of the 17-storey building would not be made until final test results were available earlynext week.

At least one senior, long-term employee yesterday told a staff meeting he would not work on the top floor again, regardless of the test results.

The university offered to move staff from the top two floors eight days ago after five tumours were discovered in a month, following earlier cases in 1999 and 2001.

Testing includes radiation, air and water quality and surface contamination.

The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association said that while public safety was paramount to the mobile telecommunications industry, there was no credible scientific evidence of health effects from living or working near a mobile phone tower.

Chief executive Chris Althaus said the ETU’s move was unjustified and unwarranted.

He said the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency had recently confirmed the safety of mobile phone towers, having researched 60 mobile base stations across Australia last year. The agency found that on average, the exposure level was many thousands of times less than the national safety limit in places where the levels were expected to be at their highest.

Mr Althaus said agency studies had noted AM radio contributed about 91 per cent of radio frequency emissions while mobile phone towers contributed only 1.4 per cent.

Source: http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=470

--------

Wednesbury Action for the Removal of Telephone masts.

http://www.w-a-r-t.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

Check this out.
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200605/r85677_251510.mp3


Peter


Informant: Eileen O'Connor

As a start, sign a petition that demands Congress to pass enforceable net neutrality provisions. Visit http://www.SavetheInternet.com and make your voice heard.

Teresa Binstock


Information Highway Robbers
By Joel Bleifuss
In These Times,
May 16, 2006 http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2653/ http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_495.cfm

http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/?uc_full_date=20060516


Informant: Lew Rockwell

http://www.newswithviews.com/McIntyre/Liz5.htm

VeriChip Injects RFID Into Immigration Debate
http://techsearch.cmp.com/blog/archives/2006/05/verichip_inject.html?loc=software

Keine Hartz-Explosion. Bundesarbeitsministerium hat ausgerechnet: Hartz IV ist kaum teurer, als Arbeitslosen- und Sozialhilfe wären

„Der Staat gibt für die Empfänger von Arbeitslosengeld II gar nicht so viel mehr aus, als sie an Arbeitslosen- und Sozialhilfe gekostet hätten. Dies hat auf Bitten der Linksfraktion im Bundestag das Arbeitsministerium unter Franz Müntefering (SPD) ausgerechnet. Die gern beschworene "Kostenexplosion" durch die 2005 in Kraft getretene Arbeitsmarktreform "Hartz IV" findet demnach nicht statt…“ Artikel in der taz vom 17.5.2006 http://www.taz.de/pt/2006/05/17/a0055.1/text


"Kostenexplosionsbericht" Arbeitslosengeld BIAJ-Stellungnahme vom 16.5.06 (pdf) http://www.arbeitnehmerkammer.de/sozialpolitik/doku/01_aktuell/ticker/2006/2006_05_16_biaj.pdf


Neubemessung der Regelsätze nach SGB XII

Nach Auswertung der Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstrichprobe (EVS) 2003 wird erstmals eine einheitliche gesamtdeutsche Regelsatzbemessung in der Sozialhilfe in Höhe von 345 Euro vorgenommen. Siehe dazu:

BMAS - Ergebnisse der Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe (EVS) 2003 Konsequenzen für Weiterentwicklung der Regelsatzbemessung in der Sozialhilfe (SGB XII) (pdf) http://www.arbeitnehmerkammer.de/sozialpolitik/doku/01_aktuell/ticker/2006/2006_05_17_bmas_evs.pdf

BMAS - Auswertung der Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe (EVS) 2003 Grundlage zur Neubemessung der Regelsätze nach SGB XII (pdf) http://www.arbeitnehmerkammer.de/sozialpolitik/doku/01_aktuell/ticker/2006/2006_05_17_bmas_evs_folien.pdf


Hartz IV. Am Bedarf vorbei gerechnet

345 Euro plus Miete - mehr braucht der Mensch nicht zum Leben, meint die Bundesregierung. Doch gilt das auch, wenn ständig alles teurer wird? Armutsforscher sind anderer Meinung. Artikel von Nicola Holzapfel in Süddeutsche Zeitung vom 18.05.2006 http://www.sueddeutsche.de/,tt1m1/jobkarriere/erfolggeld/schwerpunkt/495/37458/index.html/jobkarriere/berufstudium/artikel/126/76050/article.html

Aus dem Text: „…Für die Betroffenen ist das Ergebnis ernüchternd: Trotz deutlicher Preissteigerungen in den vergangenen Jahren wird der Regelsatz bei 345 Euro bleiben.

Denn einen Inflationsausgleich im klassischen Sinne gibt es nicht. Vielmehr wird als Bezugsgröße die ärmste Bevölkerungsschicht herangezogen – und die musste in den vergangenen Jahren den Gürtel enger schnallen….“


Aus: LabourNet, 19. Mai 2006

Französischer Atomkraftgegner von Geheimdienst verhaftet.

http://x1000hamburg.de
http://www.sortirdunucleaire.fr

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0518-09.htm



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

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0518-08.htm

Senate Votes to Erect a 350-mile Fence along the Mexican Border
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0518-02.htm

BY BOB BANNER
http://www.newtimesslo.com/index.php?p=showarticle&id=1777

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4492/

[On May 18, 2006, at its regular meeting, United for Peace of Pierce County adopted the following 1000-word statement on Iran, arguing that "[t]here are no valid moral or legal justifications for bombing Iran on the pretext that it is developing the capacity to build nuclear weapons, and aggression against Iran would run counter to American interests and strengthen the regime in Iran that the Bush administration says it opposes."[1] -- Responding to the slowly but steadily intensifying drumbeat for war being orchestrated by the Bush administration, United for Peace of Pierce County has declared May and June Iran Education Months. -- Its book discussion group, "Digging Deeper," http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4418/ is currently studying seven recent books about Iranian history, culture, and politics, and a number of educational events will be held by UFPPC in the month of June, beginning with a fundraiser at the Antique Sandwich Company in Tacoma (5102 N. Pearl St., Tacoma; tickets $10 in advance, $12 at the door, may be reserved by calling 253-752-4069) on June 3 at 7:30 p.m. -- The event will feature a concert by singer/songwriter duo Steve and Kristi Nebel and remarks by Mark Jensen on "Demystifying the West's Confrontation with Iran." --Mark]

United for Peace of Pierce County
http://www.ufppc.org


From ufpj-news

Mit der Bitte um Veröffentlichung senden wir Ihnen folgenden Veranstaltungshinweis der ödp München:

ödp sieht keinen Sinn im Milliardengrab Transrapid Einwendungen noch bis 9. Juni möglich

München, 15.05.2006. Die ödp München spricht sich klar gegen den geplanten Bau des Transrapid aus. Martin Kraus, Vorsitzender der ödp München, fordert alle Bürgerinnen und Bürger auf, noch bis 9. Juni Einwendungen zu erheben. „Es geht nicht darum, neue Technologien zu verteufeln, sondern deren Nutzen und Risikien abzuwägen. Beim Transrapid ist das Ergebnis eindeutig: er ist sinnlos für München!“ Dabei betont Kraus vor allem die Finanzierungsprobleme: „Angesichts einer nicht mehr beherrschbaren Staatsverschuldung ist es geradezu dreist, Milliarden unserer Steuergelder in so ein nutzloses und unrentables Projekt zu stecken. Noch dazu ist die Finanzierung bisher völlig offen. Hubers industrie- und finanzpolitische Rechnungen sind leider nur Wunschträume.“

Kraus beklagt ferner, dass der Wille der Betroffenen missachtet werde: München habe sich gegen das Projekt entschieden. Mit der Express-S-Bahn gebe es zudem eine wesentlich günstigere und umweltfreundlichere Alternative für München. Der Transrapid würde Millionen Euro abziehen, die für den dringenden Ausbau des S-Bahn-Gesamtnetzes mit 700.000 Fahrgästen täglich nötig seien – bei nur maximal 17.000 Transrapidfahrgästen täglich. „Die Entlastung der Straßen und eine Förderung des Nahverkehrs sind viel effektiver möglich – ohne teuren Transrapid, der wohl ein Denkmal für bestimmte Herren werden soll“, so der ödp-Politiker.

Die Gefährdung ökologisch wichtiger Gebiete wie die Isarauen sei ebenso ein Problem wie die unangenehmen Knallgeräusche, die der Transrapid den Anwohnern Tag und Nacht bescheren werde. Der die Stadt zerschneidende Transrapid würde die Wohnqualität in der Umgebung deutlich senken – mit unseren Steuergeldern. Auch aus Sicht der Industrie selbst sei das Projekt sinnlos: in Asien gebe es längt eine Referenzstrecke und neue Projekte, sagte Kraus.

Selbst technologisch sei die alte Transrapidtechnologie ungeeignet: Sie sei nicht für Kurzstrecken wie in München, sondern für weite Entfernungen gedacht. „Bei Fahrtwiderstand und Energieverbrauch hat sogar der ICE3 die Nase vorn – und ist weitaus billiger“, informiert der ödp-Politiker weiter.

Weitere Informationen unter: http://www.contratransrapid.de

Veranstaltungshinweis: „Wie formuliere ich rechtswirksame Einwendungen gegen den Transrapid“ am 18. Mai um 19 Uhr im Gasthof Croatia Grill, Feldmochingerstr. 386


Mit freundlichen Grüßen

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

ödp-Veranstaltungshinweise:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4493/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

http://www.nylawyer.com/display.php/file=/news/06/05/051706e

New York Lawyer May 17, 2006

By Shaun Schafer
The Associated Press

DUNCAN, Okla. -- Sixteen people protesting Halliburton Co.'s environmental record and its role as a military contractor were arrested on trespassing charges Wednesday when they surged toward a building where company shareholders were meeting.

Another man was arrested on a charge of destroying public property for tearing up a plastic fence holding back protesters.

A masked man beat on a large empty jug and protesters chanted, "The whole world is watching," and "Shame on you," while police made the arrests. A designated area had been set up for the protest, and police had told protesters not to leave that area.

Those arrested were frisked, handcuffed and taken to the Stephens County Jail.

The Houston-based company said it decided to meet in the southern Oklahoma city where it was founded to highlight company operations that remain here.

Critics accused it of seeking a friendly and remote location in an attempt to duck protests. The company is the leading employer in Duncan, which is about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City.

One of those arrested was wearing a Dick Cheney mask. The vice president formerly headed Halliburton, which has drawn criticism for its big government contracts, some awarded without competitive bidding. Its KBR unit provides support services for troops stationed in the Middle East.

Protesters carried signs such as "Bush Lied," and "Record Corrupt Blood Soaked Profits." Oklahoma Veterans for Peace lined up 37 pairs of combat boots to represent Oklahoma soldiers killed in Iraq.

Jan Gaddis of Duncan held up an "I Support Halliburton" sign.

"It is not some monolitihich organization that is devoid of humanity," she said. "They are a very responsible corporate citizen and their employees are involved in the local community and churches."

Halliburton spokeswoman Cathy Mann has said potential protests played no role in deciding where to hold this year's meeting. She said the company has done a good job of supporting American troops overseas.

"Halliburton supports the rights of demonstrators, even when they have the facts wrong," she said.

Meanwhile, shareholders of the world's largest provider of products and services to the petroleum and energy industries looked back on a year of record earnings. Halliburton, founded in 1919, earned $2.4 billion in 2005.

Associated Press writer Sean Murphy in Duncan contributed to this report


Informant: Milo

http://www.newstarget.com/019389.html


Informant: Milo