World-News

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/22/AR2006062201763_pf.html


Informant: NHNE

23.06.06

An Bord der "Rainbow Warrior" brachten Greenpeace-Aktivisten am Freitag Morgen einen illegalen italienischen Treibnetzfischer auf und beschlagnahmten mehrere hundert Meter seines Netzes. Die "Piratenfischer" waren der Umweltorganisation zufolge 65 Kilometer südlich der italienischen Insel Ponza auf der Jagd nach Schwertfischen. Die Aktivisten konnten eine Meeresschildkröte aus dem Netz befreien und ihr so das Leben retten. "Treibnetze sind seit Jahren verboten", sagt Thilo Maack, Greenpeace Meeresbiologe. "Es ist skandalös, dass die italienische Regierung und die europäische Gemeinschaft es nicht schafft, ihre eigenen Gesetze durchzusetzen."

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=13877

23 June 2006

A COMMUNITY is fighting to uproot a six-month-old mobile phone aerial erected on Green Belt land without planning permission.

T Mobile took advantage of a planning loophole which allows phone companies to erect temporary aerials without planning permission in areas with little coverage.

Six months ago it built a 24-metre mast at the Cardrome site in Upper Rainham Road, South Hornchurch.

In May Havering Council told T Mobile to remove the aerial but instead the company has applied to retain the temporary aerial for two years and to add a second, 15-metre, mast at the site.

Cllr Georgina Galpin (Con, Hylands) last week she delivered around 250 leaflets to residents encouraging them to object to T Mobile's application.

She said: "Telecom-munications companies are really devious, they have no concern or thought for the local residents."

Read more in this week's Recorder.

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

http://tinyurl.com/m2omb

Since "George W. Bush (that is, the boss)" says he wants to close Guantanamo, Pierre Marcelle wonders when it's going to happen ...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306E.shtml



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

Polls, Pundits and Pols

"You'd never know it from some of the reporting and bloviating on the debate over an Iraq withdrawal, but all major polls show that the public favors withdrawals, with strong support for a timeline or total pullout within a year," writes Greg Mitchell. "But reading the latest poll results, one might conclude the opposite of what many reporters and pundits now seem to be suggesting: that, actually, the GOP faces an uphill fight on re-selling the Iraq war, now in its fourth year."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306C.shtml



Democrats Criticize Claim on Iraqi Arms

The assertion by two Republican lawmakers that a new intelligence study proves that chemical weapons were found in Iraq has triggered sharp criticism from Democrats that the GOP is distorting intelligence for political purposes. At issue is a classified overview of chemical munitions found in Iraq since 2003 that was completed in April by the Army's National Ground Intelligence Center.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306D.shtml



State of Emergency Declared in Baghdad

The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew Friday after insurgents set up roadblocks in central Baghdad and opened fire on US and Iraqi troops outside the heavily fortified Green Zone.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306A.shtml

While dozens of lawsuits challenging the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance of Americans slowly move through the courts, the Senate Judiciary Committee is poised to consider legislation that would effectively legalize the practice. Civil-rights advocates and Constitutional-law experts say several proposed bills attempt to "whitewash" executive wrongdoing before Congress has the opportunity to conduct hearings and gather the facts surrounding the National Security Agency's involvement in warrantless wiretapping and telecommunications data mining.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306B.shtml

PLEASE FORWARD

Do you believe we should investigate and hold impeachment hearings against President Bush for illegal wiretapping of citizens, torture of prisoners, signing a version of the Deficit Reduction Act not passed by Congress (therefore reducing the amount of time disbled seniors have access to medical equipment), providing false information to Congress leading up to the war in Iraq, and other abuses of power?

If so, here is a great start to reaching that goal. According to Jefferson Manual section 603, States can begin the process of impeachment.

Please sign the online petition in support of California Assemblyman Paul Koretz' Assembly Joint Resolution, AJR39, calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

We hope to reach at least 1,000 signatures by Friday of next week. With your help, I think we can do it.

You must reside in California to sign the petition. Go to:
http://www.gopetition.com/online/8849.html

Petitions will be delivered to Speaker Nunez' office and other appropriate CA state legislators on an ongoing basis.

Also, if you are a resident of the City of Los Angeles, please additionally sign the petition to introduce an impeachment resolution in the Los Angeles City Council:

http://www.gopetition.com/online/8852.html

Thank you for your support.

If you have any questions, please contact me at susieshannon@comcast.net or visit http://www.impeachbush.tv/impeach/bystate.html or impeachca.com

Warm Regards,

Susie Shannon
susieshannon@comcast.net


Informant: Roy Ulrich



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

According to Tom Englehardt, "The real adventure of my site, by the way, is all those e-letters pouring in. This wows me. I check the site e-mail and there's a convoy commander from Iraq telling me about his experiences, or an anti-imperial conservative from some southern state, or residents of small towns all over America."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306O.shtml

The New York Times editors say "bill would put $760 billion in new debt on the backs of Americans in the name of making a handful of extremely rich people even richer. Congressional leaders may know how to count votes, but otherwise their math is pathetic."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306N.shtml

Despite the use of private data brokers by federal and local law enforcement agencies, the FBI said Thursday that practices by such companies to gather Americans' private telephone records without warrants or subpoenas are almost certainly illegal.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306M.shtml

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on Thursday demanding that the US Defense Department publicly release its files on the investigation into the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq. The Freedom of Information Act request also seeks records relating to any killing of civilians by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan since January 1, 2005, the ACLU said.


http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306L.shtml



Long Island Press

06/28/06

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on Thursday demanding that the U.S. Defense Department publicly release its files on the investigation into the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq. The Freedom of Information Act request also seeks records relating to any killing of civilians by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan since January 1, 2005, the ACLU said in a statement. U.S. Marines have been accused of killing 24 unarmed Iraqis in the city of Haditha on November 19 in retaliation for the death of a fellow Marine from a roadside bomb...

http://tinyurl.com/fmr9w


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

Congressman Bob Ney told Senate investigators he made no effort to help a client of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, despite extensive evidence to the contrary, a Congressional report said Thursday.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306K.shtml

Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday he might have to testify in the CIA leak trial of his former chief of staff. Cheney made the comment in a CNN interview, following last month's suggestion by prosecutors that the vice president would be a logical witness in the case of I. Lewis Libby, who is accused of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306J.shtml

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4702/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the September 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062306Z.shtml

Slate
by Dana Stevens

06/22/06

The Road to Guantánamo (Roadside Attractions), Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross' half-feature film, half-documentary about three British youths who spent over two years in military prison for no justifiable reason, is exhausting, depressing, slightly nauseating, and unfortunately necessary. It turns an abstract debate about human rights and the Geneva Conventions into a visceral experience of lived injustice: What if you were rounded up with friends on the eve of your own wedding; shipped to an American airbase to be shackled, beaten, and interrogated; and then sent without trial to languish in a cage in Cuba?

http://www.slate.com/id/2144198/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

Star Tribune
by staff

06/22/06

America is a nation built on four flimsy sheets of parchment. They're not as thrilling to look at as Old Glory, but the brittle pages of the U.S. Constitution have done more to sustain American liberty than any flag ever could. It's too bad, really, that Americans don't pledge allegiance to the Constitution -- and don't revere it as they do the Stars and Stripes. If they did, they'd see the folly in defending a rectangle of cloth at the expense of the parchment's promises. Not that the flag really needs protection. It waves in the wind every day everywhere and is trampled underfoot rarely anywhere. But whenever an election draws near, lawmakers trot out a constitutional amendment to ban 'flag desecration.' Pandering to public fondness for the most colorful symbol of U.S. freedom, Congress is gunning once again for the amendment's passage...

http://www.startribune.com/561/story/507549.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

USA Today
by staff

06/21/06

France, Germany and courts in Japan could teach America a thing or two about one essential aspect of democracy: Their governments are more willing to make sure that journalists have the means to act as watchdogs on the people in power. Several European nations guarantee that reporters cannot be forced to expose sources to whom they've guaranteed confidentiality. Just last week, Tokyo's high court upheld a Japanese reporter's refusal to reveal the sources of a 1997 news story about a U.S. health food company. This is just common sense. Those in power keep secrets -- sometimes to protect their power, sometimes for financial or political gain, and sometimes for more legitimate reasons, such as national security. The nation's Founders knew this. They created a free press in large part as a check on that sort of power. Reporters and commentators would serve as watchdogs...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-06-21-our-view_x.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://tinyurl.com/fgzxw


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Fox News
by Radley Balko

06/22/06

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in its 5-4 decision in the case of Hudson v. Michigan that when police conduct an illegal, no-knock raid, any evidence they seize in the raid can still be used against the suspect at trial, even though the raid was conducted illegally. I’ve spent the last year researching these types of volatile, highly-confrontational, paramilitary raids for a forthcoming report for the Cato Institute. The decision in Hudson is almost certain to lead to more illegal no-knock raids, more mistaken raids on innocent people, and more unnecessary deaths, both of civilians and of police officers. Experts on both sides of the ruling have debated the issue for a week now. I’d like to make another point. The Supreme Court split on this case, right down the middle. The four most liberal justices voted in favor of the defendant, while the five most conservative justices voted in favor of the police...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200495,00.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot

The U.S. government gained sweeping access to international banking records as part of a secret program to choke off financial support for terrorism, officials said Thursday. Treasury Department officials said they used broad subpoenas to collect the financial records from an international system known as Swift. Stuart Levey, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, called the subpoenas 'a legal and proper use of our authorities'...

http://tinyurl.com/h6wz8


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

MSNBC

06/22/06

Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Thursday they have no evidence that Iraq produced chemical weapons after the 1991 Gulf War, despite recent reports from media outlets and Republican lawmakers. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan on Wednesday pointed to a newly declassified report that says coalition forces have found 500 munitions in Iraq that contained degraded sarin or mustard nerve agents. They cited the report in an attempt to counter criticism by Democrats who say the decision to go to war was a mistake...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13480264/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Houston Chronicle

06/22/06

President Bush, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hungary's bloody revolt against communist rule in this Eastern Europe nation, was urged today to make sure the U.S. fight against terrorism doesn't stomp on human rights. 'I am here to celebrate the 1956 revolution ... a revolution that celebrated the notion that all men and women should be free,' Bush said standing with Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom in a gilded room with red brocade walls at the Sandor Palace. Solyom paid tribute to his country's difficult emergence from communist rule and pledged to stand with America in today's battle against terrorism. Yet he said Hungary's commitment to democracy requires a respect for human rights...

http://tinyurl.com/ltfuz


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Las Vegas Review Journal

06/22/06

The Earth is running a slight fever from greenhouse gases, after enjoying relatively stable temperatures for 2,000 years. The National Academy of Sciences, after reconstructing global average surface temperatures for the past two millennia, said Thursday the data are 'additional supporting evidence ... that human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming.' ... The academy had been asked to report to Congress on how researchers drew conclusions about the Earth's climate going back thousands of years, before data was available from modern scientific instruments...

http://tinyurl.com/ml3bo


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Miami Herald

06/23/06

The Bush administration and The New York Times are again at odds over national security, this time with new reports of a broad government effort to track global financial transfers. The newspaper, which in December broke news of an effort by the National Security Agency to monitor Americans' telephone calls and e-mails, declined a White House request not to publish a story about the government's inspection of monies flowing in and out of the country. The Los Angeles Times also reported on the issue Thursday night on its Web site, against the Bush administration's wishes. The Wall Street Journal said it received no request to hold its report of the surveillance. Administration officials were concerned that news reports of the program would diminish its effectiveness and could harm overall national security...

http://tinyurl.com/jl5jh


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.bessereweltlinks.de/book73q.htm


Informant: Milo

http://www.betterworldlinks.org/book73q.htm


Informant: Milo

June 22, 2006, 10:10 AM

For those of you in the mood for an extensive recounting of Jack Abramoff's deeds, head on over to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee website and check out their new report (scroll down to "Recent Hearings"). We'll be reading through it, but if anything new catches your eye, we'd love to hear about it at: http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/9668616.html


Informant: MA PA

Video shows Rove spokesman at Libby fundraiser...at home of top Democratic strategist

June 22, 2006

Democratic strategist James Carville's wife, Mary Matlin, hosted a $500/plate fund-raiser for Scooter Libby's Defense Fund, former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney before being indicted in the CIA leak investigation. Libby has raised over $2 million for his defense fund.

Con't with video at: http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/9670570.html


Informant: MA PA

What if the next burger you ate was created in a warm, nutrient-enriched soup swirling within a bioreactor?

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,71201-0.html?tw=wn_index_1


From Information Clearing House

Former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge, speaking at the opening of a new RAND Corp. office, said the war on terror is likely to last for decades, much like the Cold War.

http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/6/22/122808.shtml?s=ic


From Information Clearing House

Russia's fleet is returning to the Mediterranean as the Kremlin sends military advisors and weapons to Syria.

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,422911,00.html


From Information Clearing House

The amendment indicates that few in Congress have received access to US intelligence on Iran. Democrats' comments also signal that key lawmakers have yet to be briefed with regard to Administration policy.

http://tinyurl.com/qckrs



Iran must respond before August to N-proposals: US

US President George W. Bush warned yesterday that Iran must respond before August to a proposed deal to stop making nuclear fuel amid fears that it wants to build atomic weapons.

http://tinyurl.com/romfp


From Information Clearing House



Iran rejects US 'pressure' on nuclear issue

The US is determined to topple Iran's Islamic government whether or not the crisis over the country's nuclear activities is resolved, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said today.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13729.htm

The Army has again raised its age limit for active-duty and Army Reserve recruits in hopes of expanding its pool of potential soldiers.

http://www.armytimes.com/print.php?f=1-292925-1886067.php


From Information Clearing House

By Mahboob A. Khawaja, Ph.D.

The “War on Terrorism” is flourishing business for the corporate world - a 21st century fantasy on its own, where facts live in denials and predetermined dogmas cover all aspects of Muslims and Islam.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13720.htm

--------

The Myth of Terrorism
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070306A.shtml

Video - Runtime 90 Minutes

The damning 90-minute exposé stops short of laying those bodies at Vice President Dick Cheney's feet. But it does finger Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld — through more than 40 interviews with CIA veterans, journalists, politicians and others — as the ones who ignored, suppressed and manipulated intelligence after the 9/11 attacks to lead us into war with a country that had nothing to do with our attackers.

Click here to watch
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13728.htm

By William Blum

I was moved to compile a list of the many kinds of misfortune which have fallen upon the heads of the Iraqi people as a result of the American liberation of their homeland. It's depressing reading, and you may not want to read it all, but I think it's important to have it summarized in one place.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13719.htm

Kicking Open the Gates of H...

By Mike Whitney

In 3 years of unrelenting bloodshed, the Bush administration has never pursued a political solution. No dialogue, no diplomacy, no negotiations. There’s still the naïve belief that violence alone can achieve their objectives and that America will prevail in any conflict. The administration’s arrogance has set them up for a crushing defeat.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13721.htm

General Motors' historic offer to every employee - take the cash and walk away. The biggest employee buyout in American history. This time on NOW.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206U.shtml

First Lieutenant Ehren Watada became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse orders to deploy to the Iraq war at 2:30 this morning. Hours before his refusal, Lieutenant Watada confirmed his steadfast opposition to the Iraq war.


http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206S.shtml



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

"The question today is whether that war-decision-then-intelligence sequence remains in effect as President Bush's advisers weigh whom to attack next," writes Ray McGovern, former analyst for the CIA.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206R.shtml

From: Sharon J. Lettman,
PFAW Foundation
alerts@pfaw.org

Forward this information

So far, over 13,000 people have signed our petition against Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell’s new regulations that severely restrict voter registration. We’re looking to get at least 25,000 by Monday when the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) will vote to accept or reject the regulations. Please help us reach our goal!

The voter suppression going on in Ohio will have an impact on traditionally disenfranchised communities that could last for several election cycles. And if these kinds of tactics are accepted as “fair game,” they are sure to be employed in other states soon.

If you have not signed the petition, please do so now at http://www.pfaw.org/go/OHSuppression.

If you’ve already signed, please forward this alert to your friends and ask them to sign as well.

Blackwell’s new rules threaten criminal penalties for individuals registering voters if they do not exactly conform to complicated, burdensome procedures. The resulting intimidation of registration workers has the potential to bring to a screeching halt efforts to register poor, young and African American voters. Help us send a message to the Ohio Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review that this is unacceptable.

Shutting people out of the democratic process is not the American Way. Weigh in against this attack on voting rights by signing and forwarding our petition today!

Let’s nip this attempt at voter suppression in the bud before it wreaks havoc on democracy in Ohio and spreads to other states.

http://www.pfaw.org/go/OHSuppression

Together in the struggle,

Sharon J. Lettman
Vice President for External Affairs and Director of Election Protection 365 People For the American Way Foundation


Informant: Martin Greenhut

We recognize that this November may the last chance to save our country from the willful lies and dictatorial abuses of the Bush administration. We recognize that above all else the majority of the country want an END to the misuse of our military in the disastrous occupation of Iraq. And we recognize that if our candidates STAND UP for real accountability, the American people WILL turn out and vote for regime change in our own country.

THEREFORE, we need each and EVERY one of our participants to do the following:

1) If you have not already done so (and 6,000 of you already have), sign the Peace Pledge, that you will ONLY support candidates who commit to ending the occupation of Iraq, and to oppose any like wars of aggression. ALL our peace candidate action pages from now on will include signing on to the Peace Pledge as an additional option, for example, Stacey Tallitsch.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.usalone.com/stacey/pnum320.php

2) Each of our peace candidates will be running direct "call to action" radio spots in their own districts, calling for an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq. If you have the ability to make a contribution to support these efforts, you can be assured that you are making an INVESTMENT in building a consensus on this issue, and letting the American people know that there ARE viable alternative candidates standing up for us now. You can hear the first of these inspiring new radio spots at this page.

CALL TO ACTION DONATIONS: http://www.usalone.com/stacey/donations.php

3) Even if you are not in a position to make a donation, we need to make 10 million phone calls to our fellow constituents between now and November. If you have not already done so, please sign up for the Blades of Grass initiative, and you can then participate to virtual phone bank in support of any of the peace candidates in any district

BLADES OF GRASS SIGNUPS: http://www.usalone.com/bladesofgrass.htm

If each of us were to make just 10 calls a week, we can make all those calls with just 100,000 dedicated virtual phone bank participants. Then we'll alert you to let you know where your help is most needed.

Whatever you want to call it, a war, an occupation, it has to START stopping now. The American people know it, they understand it, and they will support candidates with the COURAGE to say so. Six months ago John Murtha proposed redeploying by the end of the year. It should ALREADY be happening. And if we just get out there and say so NOW, the American people will trust in our leadership come November.

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this message to everyone else you know.

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

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0622-12.htm



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

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is destroying yet another family of Mexican gray wolves – even though the agency has identified the species as the most endangered mammal in North America. The male of the recently released Nantac Pack was just shot and killed, and the female is being hunted down right now. Both members of this pack were survivors of past predator control actions.

In 1996, an environmental analysis of the Mexican wolf reintroduction program projected that the population would reach at least 100 animals by the end of this year. However, it is believed there are presently fewer than 40 grown wolves in the wild plus an unknown number of pups born this year.

The federal predator control program wiped out wolves originally, and since reintroduction efforts began in 1998, the program has significantly contributed to the reduction of the census population of Mexican wolves in the wild, from 55 in 2003, to 44 in 2004, to 35 in 2005 – a 20 percent decrease each year.

Within the last month, federal agents killed 11 wolves, including six pups from one pack. A seventh pup was orphaned and likely died of starvation as a result of losing its parents.

Please help us put a stop to this cruel and senseless program! Contact Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to request an emergency moratorium on predator control directed against Mexican wolves until the population stabilizes and reaches its demographic goal. Send a copy of your letter to governors Bill Richardson (N.M.) and Janet Napolitano (Ariz.), who can both wield influence through their respective wildlife departments.

Read further and take action under:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/wolf_slaughter

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/06/22/D8IDB6500.html


Informant: NHNE

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=10723


Informant: NHNE

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2006/06/the_attack_has_already_happene.html


Informant: Karl von Werther

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


Informant: Kev Hall

Le Monde argues that the US and Europe are firmly united in their determination to eradicate "warrior jihadism," but divided by tactics, specifically US abandonment of international law and the laws of war, and its decision to invade Iraq. Europeans must be "demanding allies," it contends.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206H.shtml

Legislation that would end a quarter-century ban on drilling in most of the Outer Continental Shelf advanced in the House on Wednesday. The measure would allow oil and gas development in restricted offshore waters unless a state prohibited it.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206F.shtml

Senator Rick Santorum's approval rating has skidded to a four-year low, the latest sign of distress for the outspoken conservative and ally of President Bush, according to a poll released Wednesday.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206E.shtml

"This was supposed to be the time that the House and Senate got serious about immigration. But House Republican leaders have decided they don't want to negotiate just yet. The immigration debate has been obscured for too long by a fog of distortion and fear, and the House Republicans are gambling that the public won't see through it. The American people deserve better. They deserve action on a good immigration bill, and if this do-nothing Congress won't give it to them, they should elect a Congress that will," writes the New York Times.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206D.shtml

The Bush administration will have to explain why it thinks it can ignore or overrule laws passed by Congress in a hearing next week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said on Wednesday. Specter said he hoped to force the Bush administration to reduce its use of "signing statements" - memos that reserve the right to ignore laws if the president thinks they impinge on his authority.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206C.shtml

The GOP-controlled Senate on Thursday rejected Democratic calls to start withdrawing US troops from Iraq by year's end. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada portrayed Republican leaders as blindly following President Bush's "failed" stay-the-course strategy. "It is long past time to change course in Iraq and start to end the president's open-ended commitment," he said.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206B.shtml

Media activists say Net access, local TV control are at stake. New legislation that fails to enshrine principles of "network neutrality" also federalizes now-local control of TV providers and lets broadband companies leave underprivileged communities behind.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206M.shtml

AT&T said on Wednesday it was revising its privacy policy, explaining to customers that it owns their phone records and can hand them over to law enforcers if necessary.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062206L.shtml

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4698/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

Grün reden, aber trotzdem dreckig handeln? http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22947/1.html

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4700/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news



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

http://www.zeit-fragen.ch/ausgaben/2006/nr-25-vom-2062006/wto-regeln-verhelfen-gmos-zur-weltweiten-dominanz/

--------

Seehofer will mehr Gen-Freilandversuche
http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,423080,00.html

http://www.milieuziektes.be/mercury-in-the-air.pdf


Informant: Charles Claessens

A message from Dawn

Original Message:

Dear Friends,

I have just read and signed the petition: "Stop the Killing of Deaf Dalamations". Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 3,000 signatures - please sign here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/321727584

Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well.

Thank you!

Lady Marian

Asia Times
by Gareth Porter

06/21/06

In every statement on Iran, officials of the Bush administration routinely repeat the party line that 'the president never takes any option off the table.' Despite the constant invocation of a possible military attack on Iran, however, a little-noticed section of the administration's official national-security strategy indicates that President George W Bush has already decided that he will not use military force to try to prevent Iran from going nuclear. Instead, the administration has shifted its aim to pressing Iran to make internal political changes, based on the dubious theory that it would lead to a change in Iranian nuclear policy...

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HF22Ak03.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

San Jose Mercury News

06/21/06

While Staff Sgt. Randy Myers was dodging roadside bombs in Iraq, his congressman was calling the war a lost cause. Sixteen-term Rep. John Murtha, a decorated Vietnam veteran and military hawk, has become the face of the Democrats' anti-war movement since he called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops last fall. His oft-repeated criticism of the Bush administration's war policies also has earned him the wrath of Republicans. In Murtha's southwest Pennsylvania district, however, many share the war critic's views. At a welcome home ceremony this week for Myers and other troops from the Johnstown, Pa.-based 876th Engineer Battalion, the crowd cheered when a Murtha aide welcomed the troops on the congressman's behalf. Myers said he backs Murtha, an opinion echoed by a number of other troops and their families. Several share his frustration with the conflict...

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/14867281.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Read and pass to all;

http://www.democracyjournal.org/article.php?ID=6456

bugs

For eight years OCA has campaigned steadfastly against genetically engineered foods and crops, educating the media and the public about how gene-spliced foods pose serious hazards to public health and the environment. Over the past year we've been trying to stop the biotech industry and the Farm Bureau from ramming through "Monsanto Preemption" laws in several dozen states that take away the rights of local and county governments to ban genetically engineered crops. Our joint efforts with our allies have at least temporarily stopped these Monsanto laws in a number of states, including California, North Carolina, and Nebraska. Unfortunately these anti-consumer laws have passed in 15 other states. Tired of waging defensive battles, we've decided to focus on lobbying and passing a mandatory labeling law for GE foods in Congress, similar to the law in effect in the European Union, which has basically driven GE foods and foods off the market. A recent USDA poll found that 83% of Americans support mandatory labels for GE food. Although the labeling bill, HR 5269, The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act, introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Democrat-Ohio) on May 2, 2006, will not pass Congress this session, OCA is determined to get over 100 co-sponsors for the bill over the next year.

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/gelink.html

In Feb. 2006 OCA generated thousands of letters and phone calls to the EPA opposing the proposed use of the carcinogenic pesticide methyl iodide. In January, the EPA had indicated it would allow farmers to apply up to 400 lbs. of the carcinogenic chemical to each acre. Methyl iodide is especially hazardous, vaporizing quickly and drifting over large distances. Reacting to widespread media coverage and public pressure EPA backed off on legalizing the pesticide.

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_258.cfm

In January 2006, OCA members and supporters sent over 20,000 letters to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), protesting a federal plan to spray massive amounts of pesticides, including known developmental and reproductive toxins, on 932,000 acres of public lands, including National Monuments and Conservation areas. In the wake of this controversy, the BLM delayed its final decision on spraying pesticides until Fall 2006. OCA will continue pressuring the BLM in the meantime.

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/blm.htm

In late 2005--early 2006, OCA alerted our nationwide network to a proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation allowing industry to carry out experiments on children with toxic pesticides and chemicals. After a barrage of 15,000 letters from OCA, and thousands more from our allies, the EPA's own union of scientists came against the rule. Reacting to the growing backlash, EPA administrators announced they would ban chemical testing on children. Unfortunately after the media reported this change in public policy, and public attention turned elsewhere, EPA bureaucrats reinstated similar language back into the proposed regulation. The battle continues.

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/epa6.cfm

"Most visitors do not realize that park resources have been under threat from deterioration, vandalism, neglect and rot for some time," said Death Valley National Park Superintendent J.T. Reynolds. "We put up a good front and try to keep high visitor-use areas clean and neat. Even this facade is fading due to the lack of appropriate resources."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/062106EC.shtml

Forest Service Is Thinning the Ranks

The Bush administration is dismantling the Forest Service. Bush's marching orders require every federal agency to increase its competitive sourcing efforts, but as the Forest Service confronts defaulting contractors and unsafe fire engines, outsourcing is hurting the agency's ability to respond to critical needs like wildfire.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/062106EB.shtml

A federal judge ordered prosecutors to turn over more evidence to back up allegations that Jose Padilla and two co-defendants conspired to kill, injure or kidnap people overseas as part of a global Islamic terrorist network.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062106T.shtml

Breaking News (excerpt)

June 20, 2006

I’m writing you from St. Kitts, site of the 58th meeting of the International Whaling Commission. Our ship, the Arctic Sunrise, after being refused entry for more than a week, entered the waters of St. Kitts today to stage a peaceful protest. We landed on the beach and began placing more than 866 whale tails in the sand to symbolize the number of whales slaughtered by the Japanese government this year. Ten of our activists have already been arrested.

The International Whaling Commission meetings have just ended, and they dramatically displayed how narrow a margin exists between the pro-whaling and anti-whaling nations. A mere 2 votes (remember that number!) prevented Japan from eliminating conservation efforts for dolphins, porpoises, and small whales; and implementing a secret ballot. The Japanese delegation also narrowly lost their bids to abolish the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, exempt themselves from the commercial whaling ban, and kick Greenpeace out of the IWC meetings.

And you should know that your efforts played a major role in these victories. Due to pressure from concerned people around the world, including thousands of emails and faxes from you, Guatemala and Honduras decided NOT to attend the IWC meetings. Those two votes made all the difference. THANK YOU!

But after losing several votes, Japan pulled out all the stops, and actually won a non-binding resolution pronouncing that whales are guilty of over-fishing – by 1 vote! That’s right, the Japanese succeeded in convincing more than 30 nations that whales eat too much fish! And that wasn’t the only fishy thing that happened during the meetings. One of Japan’s pro-whaling allies arrived late to the meetings with their membership fees in cash, in a brown paper bag.

http://usactions.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=106

> TAKE ACTION We've taken a stand against Japanese Whaling, now it's your turn to send a strong message!


Informant: STRIDER



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

Video

The Active Opposition examines the forces that are influencing our current military and foreign policies, and how the growing military budget is changing priorities for America at home.

QuickTime video
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13711.htm



Exposed: The Carlyle Group

I defy you to watch this 48 minute documentary and not be outraged about the depth of corruption and deceit within the highest ranks of our government.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3995.htm



Cheney mum, but his money talks

Kiplinger's Personal Finance a printed an analysis under the provocative headline, "Cheneys betting on bad news?"

http://smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=26557&mode=nested&order=0


From Information Clearing House

Right now Congress is pushing a law that would abandon the First Amendment of the Internet -- a principle called "network neutrality" that preserves the free and open Internet. Congress needs to hear from you today or they will hand over control of what you do online to companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.

http://action.freepress.net/campaign/savethenet


From Information Clearing House

Two former AT&T employees say the telecom giant has maintained a secret, highly secure room in St. Louis since 2002. Intelligence experts say it bears the earmarks of a National Security Agency operation.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13714.htm

The money is running out at the UN
http://tinyurl.com/pvbew


From Information Clearing House

Najeeb Ghanem, former Minister of Health, declared that Salah Addin’s body was emptied of all that could provide information about his death, including his blood vessels, bowels, brain, heart and liver, which he alleged U.S. specialists intentionally removed.

http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=956&p=front&a=3


From Information Clearing House



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

Bush “was fixated on how to get Zubaydah to tell us the truth,” Suskind writes, and he asked one briefer, “Do some of these harsh methods really work?”

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/06/20/torture-mentally-ill-prisoner


From Information Clearing House

Our very lives and liberty are at unprecedented risk because our press has long since disappeared into "the media"--a mammoth antidemocratic oligopoly that is far more responsive to its owners, big shareholders and good buddies in the government than it is to the rest of us, the people of this country.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060703/crispinmiller


From Information Clearing House

The Department of Veterans Affairs is on a pace to see nearly 20,000 new cases of post-combat stress this year among service members who've served in Iraq or Afghanistan, more than six times the number of cases that officials had expected.

http://tinyurl.com/nwycd


From Information Clearing House

The incident took place in the town of Hamdania and is a separate case from the November 19 killing of 24 civilians in Haditha in which other Marines are suspected.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2102738


From Information Clearing House

Iraqi police have accused the US military of killing 15 farm workers during a raid near Baquba, north of Baghdad.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13712.htm



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

By Mike Whitney

Dismantling America’s media monopoly should be a central part of any progressive political platform. Democracy is impossible where information can be controlled by a few powerful corporations that shape the narrative to suit their own self-serving objectives.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13713.htm

By Greg Sheridan, Foreign Editor

THE level of violence in some areas of Iraq is worsening dramatically and US forces may soon be asked to leave by the Iraqi Government.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13716.htm

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/the_world_cup_ronaldo.htm

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Could it be that the stadium may have loads of phone masts around it so the fans can send pictures home?

Could he be sensitive to the radiation at the stadium?

In the Uk Arsenal are planning 32 masts on their new stadium! What must that do to the health of all the players? Do they usually practise in their home stadium?

Sarah

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This is interesting as it was about 10 years ago that Ronaldo suffered from
sudden convulsions and had to be rushed to hospital at the beginning of an
important football game after a 3 hr call on his mobile.

Don't these people ever learn?

Gary

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I had discounted this story, until I found a recent published study reporting how GSM frequencies caused rats to convulse.

Roger Coghill
MA (Cantab) C Biol MI Biol MA (Environ Mgt)
Coghill Research Laboratories


From Mast Sanity/Mast Network

--------

Radio Wave Sickness
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/2225492/

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0621-23.htm

If Congress Deserves a Raise, Why Don't Workers?
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0621-13.htm

http://www.harpers.org/semper-why-38923929.html


Informant: Lew Rockwell



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

http://www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm


Informant: Lew Rockwell

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/20/Business/No_cash_No_card_Just_.shtml


Informant: ranger116

http://tinyurl.com/ep2jl


Informant: ranger116

Los Angeles at risk of major earthquake

22 June 2006

By Jack Doyle

THE city of Los Angeles is at risk from a major earthquake in the near future, according to research published yesterday.

Scientists examining the southern part of the San Andreas fault, which runs to the east of the city, found evidence of a pressure build up, as two continental plates rub against each other.

The researchers used satellite data to measure the amount of movement between the North American and Pacific plates.

They found evidence of substantial movement of the plates, suggesting that pressure may soon be released in an earthquake.

The greater the amount of movement along a fault line, the greater chance of a giant quake.

Professor Fialko, from the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the University of California, led the study.

He said: “The observed strain rates confirm that the southern section of the San

Andreas fault may be approaching the end of the interseismic phase of the earthquake cycle.”

A great earthquake has not been recorded in the southern section of the fault for at least 250 years.

In 1906, when the northern section of the fault erupted, around 3,000 people died in San Francisco in an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. In 1857, the central part of the fault erupted, creating the Fort Tejon earthquake, which measured 8.0.

The science of predicting earthquakes is notoriously difficult. Seismologists struggle to judge exactly when and where earthquakes will occur.

Fialko’s research was published by science journal Nature.

© Irish Examiner, 2006, Thomas Crosbie Media, TCH

http://tinyurl.com/kxlw8

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Los Angeles set for major earthquake

JEREMY LOVELL

THE southern end of the San Andreas fault near Los Angeles - which has been still for more than two centuries - is under immense stress and could produce a massive earthquake at any moment, a scientist said yesterday.

Professor Yuri Fialko, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at La Jolla, California, said given average annual movement rates in other areas of the fault, there could be enough pent-up energy in the southern end to trigger a cataclysmic jolt of up to ten metres or 32ft, far bigger than the earthquake which destroyed San Francisco in 1906. A sudden lateral movement of between seven and ten metres would be among the largest ever recorded.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the 1906 earthquake, which killed between 3,000 and 6,000 people and left up to 300,000 homeless, was produced by a sudden movement of the northern end of the fault of up to 21ft or 6.4m.

Professor Fialko said there had been no recorded movement at the southern end of the fault - the 800-mile long geological meeting point of the Pacific and the North American tectonic plates - since the dawn of European settlement in the area.

"The observed strain rates confirm that the southern section of the San Andreas fault may be approaching the end of the inter-seismic [between earthquakes] phase of the earthquake cycle," he wrote in the science journal Nature.

He said the lack of movement for 250 years correlated with the predicted gaps between major earthquakes at the southern end of the fault of between 200 and 300 years.

Elsewhere on the fault, there were average slippage rates up to a couple of centimetres a year that prevented the build-up of explosive pressure deep underground.

When these became blocked and then suddenly broke free they produced tremors or earthquakes of varying intensity, depending on the movement that had taken place before and for the duration of the blockage.

Prof Fialko said there were three possible explanations for the lack of observed movement in the southern section: creepage under the surface; that it had no external manifestation; and that it simply might not move as much as the rest of a major blockage.

"Except for the first possibility, the continued quiescence increases the likelihood of a future event," he wrote.

Making calculations based on a wide range of land and satellite observations, Prof Fialko discounted the idea of creepage and warned of an impending disaster.

"Regardless of fault geometry and mechanical properties of the ambient crust, results presented in this study lend support to intermediate-term forecasts of a high probability of major earthquakes on the southern San Andreas fault system."

USGS said that the most recent major earthquakes in the north and central zones of the San Andreas fault were in 1857 and 1906.

Prof Fialko cautioned that understanding earthquakes was a complicated subject.

"Although highly accurate and detailed geodetic data provide useful constraints on the rate of build-up of stress and the probability of large events on a given fault, the relationships between loading rate, absolute stress level and the rate of seismicity are still poorly understood," he said.

Last updated: 22-Jun-06 02:21 BST

©2006 Scotsman.com

http://www.care2.com/news/go/116158

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Southern San Andreas fault waiting to explode
http://tinyurl.com/z8emj


Informant: peter6264

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Los Angeles County Getting Ready for the Big One

Los Angeles Times - CA,USA Local officials are making progress in preparing to respond to a catastrophic earthquake or other disaster, but more work is needed, especially at the...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-quake9jul09,0,1644156.story?coll=la-home-local

Klinik ohne Handy-Verbot

Artikel in der Apotheken Umschau vom 15. Juni 2006

Zitat: ? Klinik ohne Handy-Verbot Weil ihre Signale angeblich die Elektronik medizinischer Geräte beeinflussen können, dürfen Mobiltelefone in Krankenhäusern nicht benutzt werden. Für die Klinik der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover wurde das Verbot jetzt aufgehoben. Begründung: Untersuchungen der amerikanischen Mayo-Klinik und der Universität Gießen kamen unabhängig voneinander zu dem Schluss, dass Handys bereits im Abstand von einem Meter die Funktion solcher Apparaturen nicht stören. Kritiker vermuten schon länger, dass das Verbot einen anderen Zweck erfüllt: Die Betreiber der Krankenhäuser wollen an der Benutzung ihrer Festnetz- Telefone verdienen.? Ende des Zitats

http://www.presseportal.de/story.htx?nr=838309&firmaid=52678

Und was ist mit den Patienten?

Das Verbot der Nutzung hatte bisher seine Berechtigung und sollte auch bestehen bleiben. Nicht jedes Krankenhaus verfügt über modernste, einstrahlungssichere, elektronische Klinikgeräte. Und wer prüft ob die vorhandenen Geräte störstrahlungsfest sind. Diese Prüfungen können nur beim Hersteller erfolgen und ob die, die dafür erforderlichen Gerätschaften und Fähigkeiten verfügen kann man zurzeit stark bezweifeln. Entsprechende Hochfrequenzprüfsender die ein oder mehrere besprochene Handys simulieren, Antennen, Kabel, Analysatoren und reflektionsarme Räume sind in der Regel nur bei ganz wenigen speziellen Firmen vorhanden.

Wer sich etwas mit Physik und Biologie auskennt sollte auch den Patienten im elektromagnetischen Feld sehen. Herzschrittmacher kann man für bestimmte Signale einstrahlungsfest machen aber am anderen Ende der Elektrode hängt ein krankes und störanfälliges Herz, das mit den richtigen Signalen vom Herzschrittmacher versorgt werden muss und nur mit denen und nicht mit zusätzlichen Signalen von Handys.

In vielen Krankenhäusern gibt es DECT- Telefone und Wireless LAN mit Repeatern. Dem medizinischen und verwaltungstechnischen Personal ist oft nicht bewusst welche Gefahren von diesen Einrichtungen ausgehen. Hochfrequente Wirkungen sind vielfältig und können in Verbindung mit Medikamenten zusätzliche, unvorstellbare Vorgänge auslösen.

Außerdem wer als Patient das Gebimmel und sinnlose gequatschte der Mitpatienten ertragen muss ist heute schon zu bedauern. Das Nutzungsverbot für Handys in Kliniken muss bleiben!



Tetra-Funkgeräte im Krankenhaus genauso schädlich wie GSM-Handys MDA: Herzschrittmacher, Infusionspumpen und EKG-Monitore gestört

London (pte/22.11.2002/17:58) - Nach einem Bericht des britischen Wissenschaftsdienstes Newscientist stellen Tetra-Geräte ein größeres Risiko in Spitälern dar als bisher angenommen. Das Magazin beruft sich dabei auf eine Studie der britischen "Medical Devices Agency" (MDA), einer Regierungsbehörde, die die Sicherheit der technischen Einrichtungen in Großbritanniens Krankenhäuser überwacht. Die MDA veröffentlichte das Endergebnis ihrer Studie bereits im Februar 2002 auf ihrer Homepage. Der Bericht wurde damals allerdings weitgehend ignoriert.

http://www.medical-devices.gov.uk/mda/mdawebsitev2.nsf/webvwSearchResults/37CE5B0D2F6E45C900256A99005B8734?OPEN

Omega siehe auch unter: http://tinyurl.com/hedzj

Die Situation wird von den britischen Behörden deswegen als bedenklich eingestuft, weil Mitarbeiter von Rettungsdiensten oft in die Nähe von kritischen medizinischen Geräten kommen. Demnach störten Tetra-Handys, die von Rettung und Polizei verwendet werden, medizinische Geräte wie Herzschrittmacher, Infusionspumpen oder EKG-Monitore auf eine Entfernung von bis zu drei Metern. Diese Störungen übertreffen teilweise erheblich die Auswirkungen von GSM-Handys. So wurde bei den Infusionspumpen der Alarm ausgelöst und der EKG-Monitor musste vollkommen neu gestartet werden.

Das Bündelfunksystem Tetra sendet im 390 MHz bis 400 MHz-Bereich. Aufgrund der Funk-Charakteristik des Systems lässt sich Tetra weniger leicht stören als GSM-Handys. In Österreich wird zurzeit an der Verwirklichung des bundesweiten Tetra-Netzes Adonis für alle Blaulichtorganisationen gearbeitet. Als Lösung empfiehlt die MDA, dass für Tetra-Handys in Krankenhäusern dieselben Richtlinien gelten wie für GSM-Geräte. Fahrzeuge, die mit Tetra-Funksystemen ausgestattet sind, sollten so weit wie möglich von Intensivstationen entfernt abgestellt werden.


Helmut Langenbach, Siegen