"On the eve of a report that repudiates his son’s leadership, former president George H.W. Bush broke down crying when he recalled how his other son, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, lost an election a dozen years ago and then came back to serve two successful terms," writes Eleanor Clift. "The elder Bush has always been a softie, but this display of emotion was so over the top that it had to be about something other than Jeb’s long-ago loss."
Frustrated with the federal response to global warming, hundreds of cities, suburbs and rural communities across the nation have taken bold steps to slash their energy consumption and reduce emissions of the pollutants that cause climate change.
Tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high crime rates have contributed to the United States having the largest prison population and the highest rate of incarceration in the world, according to criminal justice experts. A US Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people - or one in every 32 American adults - were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year.
British intelligence officers and military commanders have accused the US of undermining British policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, after the sacking of a key British ally in the Afghan province of Helmand.
Angry residents have stepped up their campaign against plans to erect a second mobile phone mast in their road as a formal application is submitted to the city’s planning office.
Whitehouse Common Road resident, John De Mascio, is spearheading the drive.
"We have seen a good reaction from local people but still not as much as I would like," he said.
He now plans to drum up more support by knocking on doors and asking people to sign a petition against the mast which is planned for the junction with Rectory Road.
Retired local physicist, Dr John Walker, says there is now enough evidence to be sure of the risks.
"People who don't sign this petition are signing their own death warrants," he said.
"The Government will not fund any research into the health risks so it all has to be done voluntarily.
"But research carried out all over the world shows the effects of radiation from the masts lead to a depleted immune system, which can cause behavioural problems, depression, anxiety, cognitive and memory troubles and eventually cancer and leukaemia."
He added: "Just because it is a slow effect doesn't mean there is no effect and we are doing our future generations no favours especially when masts are put so close to schools."
Mr De Mascio called the proposals 'a disgrace'.
"There is already one mast there on the other side of the road and we have been told this one will be a 3G mast which is very strong."
He added: "It will be used to provide the emergency services with information but also for the ordinary man in the street."
Sutton Trinity Ward Councillor, David Pears is backing the residents in their campaign.
"I have written to the Council to show my opposition," he said.
"It is a horrible thing which will make the junction with Rectory Road more dangerous.
"It will also be out of character with the area - it is another hideous thing we don't want in that location.
He added: "Whilst the government won't admit it, the health implications are important, there is even a notice there warning people of the emissions.
"It is not just by chance these cancer clusters have occurred.
"The mast has got to be in the right place and this is not the right place for it."
Residents have until December 15 to express their views to the Council's planning department.
Please forward to any who you know might be close enough to help.
Original Message
URGENT-ANIMALS OUTSIDE IN THE COLD IN WEST VIRGINIA.
Please crosspost far and wide for foster homes, adoptive homes or rescues for these dogs.
Thanks,
Karen
Dogs in Clay County, WV, need homes, fosters, or rescues BEFORE WINTER..
This was posted on Best Friends Network.....
11 Dogs Need Homes Before Winter - Clay County, WV
Many of you have already heard about the Clay County West Virginia dogs, which due to lack of funds and other resources, live outside all year round.
Fortunately, some of them have been adopted. Unfortunately, there are still 11 of them left. Some of these dogs have lived at the shelter, outdoors, for several years.
If rescues would consider just taking one of these dogs, they could at least come inside before it starts snowing.
If you are unable to rescue, please consider sponsoring one of them. A sponsorship would get these dogs neutered or spayed and all their shots. This would make them more appealing to rescues since there would be no cost to them.
Rescue contact: Sherri at cchumaneassoc@yahoo.com (yahoo.com)
Transport to the northeast available. If rescues can take them, we will find a way to transport to them!
PLEASE HELP US GET INDOORS BEFORE IT STARTS SNOWING!!
1. Rodney ~ here since 2004! ~ SPONSORED ~ SWEET!
2. Faddle ~ needs a sponsor! ~ here since 2005! ~ SPONSORED
3. Bongo ~ needs a sponsor! ~ here since 2005! ~ SPONSORED
4. Fawkes ~ Sponsored ~ here since 2005! ~ SPONSORED
5. Arizona ~ needs a sponsor! ~ here since 2005!
6. Ruger ~ needs a sponsor! ~ here since 2005!
7. Chong ~ needs a sponsor! ~ here since 2005! PARTIALLY SPONSORED
8. Remy ~ here since 2005! ~ SPONSORED
9. Kix ~ needs a sponsor! ~ here since 2005!
10. Gomer ~ needs a sponsor! ~ here since 2005!
11. Sarge ~ needs a sponsor! ~ here since 2005!
This Australian petition has been created by a NSW councillor, and Whale Call Cafe, to be presented to the Japanese Embassy, so of course, the more signatures the better!
The residents of a building on Barlev 4 street in Beer Sheva, took in the weekend a very unusual step in order to protest against the cellular antennas on the roof of the penthouse in the building where they live. The broke into the penthouse, destroyed the antennas and caused to the equipment damage of tens of thousands of dollars. Several months ago, the residents of the building were amazed to find out that the roof on the 8th floor was rented for $1200 a month to Cellcom, that erected there 3 cellular antennas inside the flower-pots. The people asked Cellcom to remove the antennas immediately, because they are a real danger for them and their children. Several weeks ago, dozens of the building's residents, among them many children, started suffering from strong headaches. "I took my little boy, who suffered of strong headaches, to an expert physician, and he was interested to know whether we had cellular antennas on the roof", told one of the residents, "I said that yes, and he said that this was probably the reason for the headaches".
Another resident told "Maariv" that the neighbours asked Cellcom and the municipality to remove the antennas, but were rejected with excuses, "When we saw that it didn't help, we decided to take steps in order to remove the antennas from the building" he told.
After all their efforts to remove the antennas had failed, dozens of the building residents decided to take the law into their hands. In the night between Thursday and Friday, they broke into the penthouse. They destroyed the place, broke the antennas and caused damage to the expensive technological equipment that was there, also the equipment that was inside the penthouse.
When Cellcom learnt about this, a security officer was called into the place, 2 security guards and an amstaf dog. When the residents threatened to cause them damage if they didn't leave the place, Beer Shevas' police was called to the place too, the policemen calmed them down after a long time. The policemen from Beer Sheva police station negotiated between the residents and Cellcom, and they reached a temporary solution- the equipment will not be operated until they reach to an agreement.
"We had no other choice, it is not possible that for greed the residents will get cancer because of the dangerous radiation that the antennas emit. If Cellcom does not remove the antennas, we will destroy the penthouse and the rest of the infrastructure that is left in the place. This is probably the only language they understand. Antennas on roofs are mortal danger" clarified one of the residents.
The Cellular Companies Forum said in response: "The installations were erected with approval and permission. We see very seriosly the damage to the antennas and infrastructure".
Two of the residents who destroyed the antennas were interviewed to two channels on TV today's morning, each one to different programme. They told:
* They went to the environmental ministry and were ignored, the same with the municipality.
* the antennas are there for two years
* after a 1+ years many men in the area became impotent, and got fertility problems.
* the child with the doctor story - the doctor heard many complaints on headaches from people in the area
* the child got also testicles problem, and the doctor said these problems will also hurt the next generation of the people who developed them.
* all these problems started 3/4 year ago, after 1+ year since the antennas were erected there.
* during the last half a year, the children have had headaches and nausea, also the adults have them, but especially the children.
A CLERGYMAN wants to let a mobile phone company erect a cross- shaped mast on the roof of his church.
The existing cross would be taken down to make way for the speciallybuilt transmitter.
In return, communications company Hutchison, which runs the Three network, will make a donation to the Peter Lee Memorial Methodist Church in Peterlee, County Durham.
The scheme has been greeted with horror by some local people, but minister Todd Gile called it 'a winwin situation'.
He said: 'The church is in the business of worshipping God and making disciples and this is a legitimate fundraiser to support the ministry.
'I believe everything we do is designed to facilitate the gospel and this is just a use of our facilities, like renting out our rooms for the community.
'As long as it does not detract from the rest of the church and is not immoral, then it is kind of a win-win situation.' But local councillor Ted Hall said the plan would turn the church into a commercial enterprise.
'It is totally repugnant to me and creates a precedent for the rest of the churches in the area,' he said.
'The symbol of the cross should remind people to speak to the Lord rather than to phone their mother.' Mr Gile, an American who moved to Peterlee from Indiana with his wife a year ago, confirmed that church authorities had given the plan the go-ahead.
He said the money would be used for the upkeep of the building and added: 'It won't be an eyesore and will look just like the existing cross.
'John Wesley, the father of the Methodist church, always said, "Make all you can, save all you can and spend all you can for the cause of the gospel".'
Hutchison corporate affairs manager Mike Alexander said the comareaspany is looking to apply for planning permission by the end of the month and wants to hear the views of local people.
He said lots of operators have used church buildings to house their equipment because third-generation, or 3G, phone technology needs to be quite near to residential 'We recognise there is a balance-between that and the environmental impact, so churches are a good solution.' The church is around 50 years old and was one of the first to be built in the new town, which was named after Peter Lee, a local miners' leader and prominent Methodist who died in 1935.
Advances in technology have seen phone masts shrink from around 90ft to 25ft greatly increasing the places where they can be hidden.
There is one on a floodlight at Griffin Park, the West London home of Brentford football club.
The spire of St Mary Redcliffe Church in Bristol contains four Vodafone masts and a mast disguised as a tree overlooks an estate in Baxenden, Lancashire. Other masts have been hidden in chimneys, lampposts and flagpoles.
(c) 2006 Daily Mail; London (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Central banks worldwide began discarding the dollar in favor of the euro in an attempt to minimize their losses following the decline in the value of the US currency.
"We are looking to be able to prosecute 30 to 40 members of Task Force 626 for war crimes, including rape, murder, et cetera," Sommer said in a telephone interview this week.
Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive footage that confirms children were among the victims of a US air raid northwest of Baghdad. Local officials said that the bodies of 17 civilians, including six children and eight women, had been pulled from the debris of two houses in al-Ishaqi.
The United States, which is the world’s biggest exporter of arms and accounts for more than 50 per cent of all arms exports, on Wednesday became the only country in the United Nations to vote against letting work begin on a new treaty to bolster arms embargoes and prevent human rights abuses by setting uniform worldwide standards for arms deals. The vote in the 192-nation UN General Assembly was 153-1, with the United States casting the sole “no” vote.
The Bush administration, as usual, has it exactly backwards. The danger is not that the “terrorists” we are fighting in Iraq will come here if we pull out there.
Are the American people, Congress, and the American Establishment going to let the death toll continue to mount day by day for the two more years it takes for Bush to become history?
Here in the middle of the Pacific, plastic marine debris is a harsh reality that marine creatures large and small have to live with. But for those of us onboard the Esperanza, the real impact of plastic on our oceans is still unfolding.
Der Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung diskutierte mit dem renommierten britischen Volkswirt Sir Nicholas Stern über wirtschaftliche Folgen des Klimawandels.
Der spanische Innenminister hat jüngst erklärt, das, was wir jetzt und noch stärker in den nächsten Jahren als Völkerwanderung erleben, ist der „friedliche Aufstand der Habenichtse gegen die Armut“. Darauf müssen wir mit einer humanitären Offensive vor Ort reagieren.
27 Dollar, dafür gibt es in New York gerade mal ein Abendessen. Für die Ärmsten der Armen hingegen ein Leben in Würde und Selbständigkeit: Geliehene 27 Dollar reichen für den Sprung zum Kleinstunternehmer.
Mit der Gründung der „Grameen“-Bank, die vor 23 Jahren erstmals damit begann, armen Frauen mit Kleinkrediten zu einem selbst erwirtschafteten Einkommen zu verhelfen, ist Yunus etwas gelungen, wovon die meisten Politiker und Konzernlenker der Welt nicht mal zu träumen wagen: Er verschaffte Millionen von Rechtlosen und Unterdrückten die Chance auf ein Leben in Würde und mit Stolz auf das selbst Erreichte. Interview mit dem Friedensnobelpreisträger 2006: Prof. Muhammad Yunus.
Menschenrechte brauchen verbindliche Regeln für transnationale Unternehmen
Zum Tag der Menschenrechte am 10. Dezember fordern das Forum Menschenrechte und das CorA-Netzwerk für Unternehmensverantwortung die Bundesregierung auf, im Jahr 2007 konkrete Maßnahmen zur Einführung verbindlicher internationaler Regeln für Unternehmen zu ergreifen.
Die Bundeswehr wird in immer neue Einsätze geschickt: Bosnien, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Kongo, Libanon etc. Immer neue Bundeswehreinsätze schaffen aber keine Sicherheit, im Gegenteil, die Unsicherheit wird erhöht. Alle Versuche, politische Probleme militärisch zu lösen, sind zum Scheitern verurteilt. Unschuldige Menschen sterben, Länder werden verwüstet, Hass und Verzweiflung wachsen an.
Page 1, Chapter 1 of the Iraq Study Group report lays out Iraq's importance to its region, the US and the world with this reminder: "It has the world's second-largest known oil reserves."
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, who voted in favor of the Iraq war and has supported it ever since, now says the current U.S. war effort is "absurd" and "may even be criminal."
In an emotional speech on the Senate floor Thursday night, Senator Gordon Smith, a moderate Republican from Oregon who has been a supporter of the war in Iraq, said the US military's "tactics have failed" and he "cannot support that anymore."
Public housing officials decided Thursday to proceed with the demolition of more than 4,500 government apartments here, brushing aside an outcry from residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina who said the move was intended to reduce the ability of poor black people to repopulate the city. Residents and their advocates made emotional, legal and what they called common-sense arguments against demolition at the housing authority meeting. "The day you decide to destroy our homes, you will break a lot of hearts," said Sharon Pierce Jackson, who lived in one of the now-closed projects slated to be razed. "We are people. We are not animals."
Nearing the end of an era of Republican rule, Congress early today sent to President Bush energy, tax and trade legislation as it prepared to hand over the reins of power to Democrats. In a final burst of activity, lawmakers approved $38 billion in tax breaks and a Vietnam trade measure and voted to open a large section of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling.
"As we look toward January 3, 2007, the day that the Democrats take control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, one of the issues that must be addressed is whether or not the impeachment of President George W. Bush and others in the Bush administration should take place. Regarding the invasion of Iraq and the manner in which information was presented to the American people, did the president and/or members of his administration commit treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors? Many see this as a partisan issue. Most if not all Republicans are against the idea. Some Democrats support impeachment. All Americans who believe in democracy should support it. Impeachment, in this instance, is not a partisan issue; it's a democracy issue," says Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III.
Halliburton Corp., the oil field services company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, breached the terms of its multibillion dollar contract to provide US soldiers logistical support in Iraq when one of its subcontractors outsourced security work to Blackwater USA, according to new documents released Friday by Congressman Henry Waxman.
Please take the action below and forward this to protect our internet. If you are one of our friends living outside the USA please forward this to all your American friends so they can help. Thank you so much.
Bless You All
Catman P.
The FCC is at it again, ignoring the public interest to give handouts to massive corporations. This move could undermine basic freedoms for all Internet users.
Sign On To the Letter Below to urge your members of Congress to step in and save Internet freedom.
IT'S NOT their fault - that's the verdict of a top lawyer, who has defended Ryedale District Council's handling of a controversial mobile phone mast.
Residents at Sheriff Hutton have threatened legal action after the council said there was nothing it could do to move the Orange mast.
Nigel Giffin QC was called in to look at the council's options.
He concluded the council was not to blame - even though it was its error that prompted the furore.
As revealed in The Press at the time, council bosses failed to submit their written objections to the company within the formal deadline.
Mr Giffin's advice said: "This error has in fact made no difference whatever to the outcome, because there was ultimately no proper basis for refusing prior approval consent in any event.
"Accordingly, whilst it may well be that there are people in Sheriff Hutton who think that the erection of the mast is the result of the council's error, that is not in truth an objectively tenable view of what has happened.
"Rather, the erection of the mast results from the current state of the scientific evidence coupled with the nature of current planning powers and guidance."
Mr Giffin also ruled out spending public money to move the mast.
He said: "It is hard to see that it can be right to expend a substantial sum of public money in order to restore public confidence in the council, when the council is not in fact the author of the problem."
He added: "If the mast remains where it is, the council is entitled to say that it is because it had no power to bring about a different result, and not because it did not use some power which it did have."
John Botting, a prominent anti-mast campaigner at Sheriff Hutton, said: "I can understand where Mr Giffin is coming from, but this means we are totally disenfranchised. If we accept this advice, whenever a phone company wants to put a mast up, there is nothing anyone can do to stop them.
"Are we going to have Sheriff Hutton repeated across North Yorkshire?"
Senior councillor Robert Wainwright said: "The council has left no stone unturned to try to resolve this long-running issue.
"The views of local people have been listened to and we will continue to work with Ryedale residents to ensure that such a situation does not happen again by amended internal procedures and systems."
The US Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday streamlined the way it updates regulations for the nation's worst air pollutants, a move that drew immediate charges that officials are trying to quash scientific review to benefit industry at the expense of public health.
Facing a mandate to slash toxic mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, 23 states are thumbing their noses at a federal cleanup plan and are instead developing their own far tougher plans to deal with mercury.
"George W. Bush had a point when he disparaged the Baker-Hamilton commission's plan for gradual troop withdrawals from Iraq by saying 'this business about graceful exit just simply has no realism to it whatsoever.' It's now obvious that there can be no exit from Iraq - graceful or otherwise - as long as Bush remains president," writes Robert Parry.
Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 8 December 2006
HUNDREDS of residents are being urged to oppose plans for a 50-foot mobile phone mast in Archway on the grounds that it is “unsightly” and a potential health hazard.
Hutchison 3G is planning to site the mast on Network Rail land at the corner of Station Road and Junction Road, less than 50 feet from the nearest homes and 120 feet from a proposed new Circle Anglia housing development.
The residents, backed by Labour councillor Janet Burgess, are calling on Islington Council to reject plans for the mast.
IT manager Roger O’Kelly, who lives near the mast site, said: “It will look out of place between two trees in an area that has already lost greenery and it’s too close to homes where there are families with children.
“We want to know if the firm has looked at more suitable areas or was this site the only one available?”
Cllr Burgess said: “There’s an awful lot of concern about this planned mast. There’s a new block of social housing going up very near to the site.
“What these residents want is for this scheme to go to planning committee so they can have a fair hearing.”
A spokesman for the firm said: “A planning application has been submitted for the 15-metre mast with a base station. We’ve been looking for a site in this area for 18 months.
“We examined seven options and this was the most suitable in terms of minimising environmental and visual impact. As regards concerns about emissions, we apply government-instigated World Health Organisation guidelines.”
Omega read "Base Stations, operating within strict national and international Guidelines, do not present a Health Risk?" under: http://omega.twoday.net/stories/771911/
• Experts have warned that plans to site 32 mobile phone masts at Arsenal’s new Emirates Stadium would make it a high-density area for the devices.
Powerwatch, an independent group which monitors masts, claims there are already almost 100 masts within a two-square-mile radius of the Asburton Grove stadium.
U.S. Justice Department prosecutors subpoenaed more than a dozen banks and insurers three weeks ago, seizing documents from three brokers in a search for evidence of bid rigging. Lawyers say it's the biggest criminal investigation of the almost 200- year-old market, where municipalities have more than $2 trillion of debt outstanding.
The failure of a small Californian mortgage lender on Thursrday increased nervousness in the credit derivatives market about the large number of US "subprime" mortgages extended this year.
Human Rights Watch has renewed its calls for the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to be shut down as inmates were being moved to a new maximum-security jail there.
The US military transferred the first group of detainees on Thursday to a new maximum-security prison at Guantanamo Bay. About 430 men are currently held at Guantanamo on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban, including about 100 who have been cleared for release and are awaiting transfer to another country. Fewer than a dozen inmates have been charged with crimes.
A video of the accused "terrorist" shows he was subjected to unduly harsh treatment, his lawyers claim, leaving him psychologically damaged and unfit to stand trial.
U.S. asks judge to bar testimony about Padilla military custody:
Federal prosecutors asked a judge Thursday to prevent terror suspect Jose Padilla's defense lawyers from questioning Defense Department officials or obtaining documents about Padilla's treatment during 3 1/2 years in military custody as an "enemy combatant."
In a bipartisan Congressional briefing hosted by Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) the authors of the Lancet Study, which found that as many as 650,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed during the war, will present their full findings to Congress.
Congressional briefing on the Lancet Iraqi casualty study: Speaking were Gilbert Burnham, Les Roberts, and Juan Cole. The briefing was organized by Rep. Kucinich, with the support of Rep. Ron Paul.
Francesco Checchi, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, looks at the lambasting a new report on Iraq deaths has got from hostile governments. He has worked on mortality surveys in Angola, Darfur, Thailand and Uganda, and written a publication "Interpreting and using mortality data in humanitarian emergencies" for the Humanitarian Practice Network.
"The prospects of all-out civil war and even a regional conflict have become much more real" since the secretary-general's last report, issued three months ago, Annan said. "Therefore, the challenge is not only to contain and defuse the current violence but also to prevent escalation."
A Turning Point for a Panel: 4 Harrowing Days in Iraq
For some members of the Iraq Study Group, the turning point came during four days in Baghdad in September. They found the trip so harrowing, they said, that they wondered if they could afford to wait to speak out about the disaster in Iraq.
At least 32 U.S. troops have died in Iraq this month, according to the Defense Department. Eleven died Wednesdayt. Another soldier wounded Wednesday died Thursday, the military said.
How often do we hear the voices of Iraqis in American journalism? How many of us know their stories? We've killed 650,000 of them, measured as excess deaths above the level of deaths our sanctions were causing each year before the war. Since the Spring of 2004 most Iraqis have viewed America as their primary enemy. But what do we know about their lives?
SOMERTON, Ariz. - As the sun rose over the mountains of Yuma, the clouds broke and light peered through the pale blue sky.
''Us Native Americans take everything, such as the land, the air and the waters, as sacred,'' said Edmund Domingues, a councilman of the Cocopah Indian Tribe.
''But maybe one of these days we won't be able to see the sunrise,'' he said as he welcomed tribal leaders and climate scientists from across the country to the first-ever Tribal Lands Climate Conference.
The conference, which was co-sponsored by the tribe and the National Wildlife Federation, was held on Dec. 5 and 6 at the Cocopah Casino. Over two days, tribal leaders from 55 nations and representatives from various environmental organizations met to discuss the effects of global warming on tribal lands.
''Our goal here is to begin a dialogue and establish lines of communication within and among tribes on the issue of climate change,'' said Steve Torbit, tribal lands conservation program director for the NWF. ''What we hope to do here is learn from each other.''
Torbit said the conference was for tribes and about tribes.
''The goal of the National Wildlife Federation Tribal Lands Conservation Program is to ensure the well-being of wildlife and habitat on and near tribal lands by working in partnership with tribal and nontribal governments and tribal organizations, environmental staff and members, while respecting tribal culture and sovereignty,'' Torbit said.
At the conference, Robert Corell, chair of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, gave an overview of the effects of global warming.
''Climate change and global warming are no longer simply an environmental issue, it's an economic and human well-being issue,'' Corell said.
He said science is now showing evidence of the effects of global warming that indigenous villages around the world have noticed for decades.
''As salmon people we see what's changing in the landscape; we see what's changing with the resources that are important to us like the salmon,'' said Terry Williams, Tulalip. ''Looking at that, we've drawn upon our traditional knowledge and we've also drawn upon science.''
Williams said his tribe has seen the loss of animals and fish, which can no longer survive in the changing environment.
''The federal government has put limits on us with reservations and boundaries,'' he said. ''And as the species migrate off our land we don't have the legal rights to follow them. And that's going to affect our culture and it's going to affect our health.''
The NWF has relationships with more than 100 tribes, including the Cocopah Tribe. In 2002, the foundation partnered with the tribe to preserve the 22 miles of the limitrophe section of the Lower Colorado River. The area, which is culturally significant to the tribe, is home to several species of wetland birds and plants. The Colorado River holds great cultural significance to many other Indian nations and has faced many climate threats to its river system.
The NWF's programs promote environmental and economic justice for American Indians and seek empowerment for tribes at the local, state and national levels. Programs geared towards education help empower tribal educators and students.
Wahleah Johns, Navajo, said programs that educate the youth are important because it gives them the ability to take the information back to their elders in their community.
''I can't leave here with the knowledge that I have gained and not tell anyone,'' said Johns, who works with the Black Mesa Water Coalition. ''I need to go to the elders in my community and explain to them what is going on.''
The conference gave tribes the ability to share the problems that they were facing. Many of the tribes realized the impact that global warming was having in their community was also affecting communities thousands of miles away.
''Mother Earth nourishes all of our relatives; whatever happens to the bears, whatever happens to the fish, will eventually happen to us,'' said Caleen Sisk-Franco, leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
Sisk-Franco called for traditional Natives to remember what they were taught about the Earth and to remember the lessons they were taught about sacred places.
''As a Hopi woman, my environment is very important to me,'' said Cynthia Naha. ''And as a people, we need to come together and bring forth a powerful statement of change.''
A VICAR has sparked fury with a plan to ditch the cross on top of his church - for one holding a mobile phone mast.
Rev Todd Gile said the deal with phone giant 3 would bring in vital cash.
He said: "The church is in the business of worshipping God. This is a legitimate fundraiser to support the ministry.
"It won't be an eyesore and will look just like the existing cross."
But some locals in Peterlee, Co Durham, are outraged. Cllr Ted Hall said: "It's totally repugnant. The cross should remind people to speak to the Lord rather than phone their mother."
This week US President George Bush became almost the last man on earth to support a failed Middle East strategy. The conservative-leaning “Iraq Study Group” - including top figures from Bush's own Republican Party - has just released its long awaited recommendations and condemned virtually every aspect of America’s current approach to the Middle East.
The report is not perfect, but it echoes almost every call to action the Ceasefire Campaign has made since we began in August: it calls for Bush and other leaders to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, to talk to Iran, and switch to a diplomatic strategy for stabilizing Iraq that includes the withdrawal of US troops.
The global pressure on Bush to change course is now intense, but he is still holding out. Click below to add your voice to the chorus calling for Bush to adopt the report's key recommendations for change:
Our last petition on Iraq, signed by almost 80,000 Ceasefire Campaigners, was covered by US media in key outlets, and our ad was published in papers in London and Washington. A major response from people around the world at this critical moment is likely to get press attention in the US, and up the pressure on President Bush.
With the release of Iraq Study Group report, every sensible voice from across the political spectrum is now pleading with Bush to change course.
There are enormous dangers and challenges in Middle East, but there is also great opportunity. A strong diplomatic effort can reverse the cycle of conflict, and Bush is the last man on earth left to convince.
With hope,
Ricken, Galit, Rachel, Tom, Amparo and the rest of the Ceasefire Campaign Team.
Thanks for adding your voice to the global wave of pressure on President Bush to finally change course in the Middle East. You can make a greater impact by making sure that your friends, family, co-workers, fellow activists, and anyone else who might like to hear from you know about your effort. The only way we will reach the kind of numbers that can increase the pressure on President Bush is through spreading the word. Just forward the email below with a short personal message from you above it.
Best to you,
The Ceasefire Campaign Team
This week US President George Bush became almost the last man on earth to support a failed Middle East strategy. The conservative-leaning Iraq Study Grou - including top figures from Bush's own Republican Party - has just released its long awaited recommendations and condemned virtually every aspect of America's current approach to the Middle East. The report is not perfect, but it echoes almost every call to action the Ceasefire Campaign has made since we began in August: it calls for Bush and other leaders to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, to talk to Iran, and switch to a diplomatic strategy for stabilizing Iraq that includes the withdrawal of US troops. The global pressure on Bush to change course is now intense, but he is still holding out. Click below to add your voice to the chorus calling for Bush to adopt the report's key recommendations for change: www.CeasefireCampaign.org Our last petition on Iraq, signed by almost 80,000 Ceasefire Campaigners, was covered by US media in key outlets, and our ad was published in papers in London and Washington. A major response from people around the world at this critical moment is likely to get press attention in the US, and up the pressure on President Bush. With the release of Iraq Study Group report, every sensible voice from across the political spectrum is now pleading with Bush to change course.
There are enormous dangers and challenges in Middle East, but there is also great opportunity. A strong diplomatic effort can reverse the cycle of conflict, and Bush is the last man on earth left to convince.
In what was likely her final legislative act in Congress, outgoing Georgia representative Cynthia McKinney announced a bill Friday to impeach President Bush.
"President George W. Bush has failed to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States; he has failed to ensure that senior members of his administration do the same; and he has betrayed the trust of the American people," Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney explained in remarks prepared to accompany her submission on Friday of articles of impeachment against Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. McKinney, in her last legislative act before leaving the House at the end of her current term, represented not merely a final thrust by the Georgia Democrat against the Bush administration that she has so consistently opposed but a challenge to the new House Democratic leadership to pay more than lip service to its Constitutionally-mandated duty to check and balance the executive branch. Read the full text of McKinney's remarks.
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has introduced articles of impeachment [ http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/mckinneyarticles.pdf ]against George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice. In doing so, she alone has spoken for the 51 percent of Americans who Newsweek says want Bush impeached. A considerably higher percentage of Americans would, if asked, almost certainly acknowledge that the abuses with which McKinney charges Bush et al. have, in fact, been committed by them and are impeachable offenses. That is to say, there are those who recognize the grounds for impeachment but don't want to see them pursued. There are even those who want impeachment pursued but wish it were not being pursued by McKinney
McKinney charges that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld manipulated intelligence and lied to justify war, and that Bush has engaged in illegal domestic spying. The former charge has been extremely well documented, [ http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/keydocuments ] and the latter proudly confessed to. The former charge was central to the concern of those who included impeachment in the U.S. Constitution. The latter charge is one of openly violating a law that was established in response to President Richard Nixon's impeachable offenses.
So, why aren't all impeachment advocates thrilled? Because McKinney's courage and leadership are overpowered, in their minds, by their own fears. They're afraid that impeachment will be painted as radical and that other people less insightful than themselves will, as a result, oppose it. They fail to recognize that silence is more damaging to the cause of justice than are attacks by its opponents, and that other Americans are just as smart (although just as scared) as they are. McKinney has put impeachment where Speaker-Designate Nancy Pelosi said it could not go: on the table. This can only benefit the cause of impeachment.
The media attacks on McKinney have begun, and rather than joining in them by condemning her for bravely doing what we know needed to be done, we should be defending her with a barrage of letters to editors and phone calls to radio shows. [ http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=9196431&type=ME ] And we should be urging every member of Congress to join her. [ http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/petition ] Associated Press reporter Ben Evans has published a vicious attack on McKinney in which he alleges that
"The legislation has no chance of passing and serves as a symbolic parting shot."
But in which Evans does not comment on public support for the action or the merits of the case. Instead, he suggests that McKinney has launched an attack directed as much at Pelosi as at Bush. But McKinney said nothing about Pelosi and accused Bush of the highest possible crime.
Where are Evans' priorities?
Evans does not even say what the charges against Bush are. Rather he launches into an attack on McKinney:
"McKinney, a Democrat who drew national headlines in March when she struck a Capitol police officer, has long insisted that Bush was never legitimately elected. In introducing her legislation in the final hours of the current Congress, she said Bush had violated his oath of office to defend the Constitution and the nation's laws."
And she said nothing of the legitimacy of his election. McKinney was tried and convicted in the press, and was never indicted.
Evans later writes:
"McKinney … has increasingly embraced her image as a controversial figure."
How has she done that? By acting on behalf of a majority of Americans using a tool that appears centrally and in six places in our Constitution, a tool that has been vital to U.S. and British democracy for 700 years?
Evans isn't done yet:
"She has hosted numerous panels on Sept. 11 conspiracy theories…"
McKinney hosted a day-long briefing that included academics, authors, and former government and intelligence professionals, some of whom questioned the work of the 9-11 Commission, but none of whom presented theories.
"…and suggested that Bush had prior knowledge of the terrorist attacks but kept quiet about it to allow friends to profit from the aftermath."
McKinney asked about the reports that over a dozen foreign intelligence agencies had provided early warnings. She did not say that Bush kept it quiet to allow friends to profit. She asked whether his associates were making a profit, as of course many of them are through the "war on terror." Greg Palast has produced a film called "American Blackout," which addresses the media's misquoting and misrepresenting of Congresswoman McKinney on this issue.
Evans keeps going:
"She introduced legislation to establish a permanent collection of rapper Tupac Shakur's recordings at the National Archives and calling for a federal investigation into his killing."
The Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Act did not establish a permanent collection of his music at the Archives or create an investigation, but required the release of all government records relating to his life and death at federal, state, and local levels.
Evans persists:
"But it was her scuffle with a Capitol police officer that drew the most attention. McKinney struck the officer when he tried to stop her from entering a congressional office building. The officer did not recognize McKinney, who was not wearing her member lapel pin."
A Grand Jury heard these charges and dismissed them.
Evans says as much, but twists this fact with the words that follow:
"A grand jury in Washington declined to indict McKinney over the clash, but she eventually apologized before the House."
Now, what does any of that have to do with whether our President used fraud to take us into the current war? Nothing, of course. But in the U.S. corporate media it is only those who supported the war who have the right to speak against it. If you opposed the war from the start, if you saw through the lies while it still mattered, you are disqualified now from commenting further.
Matthew Daly, another Associated Press reporter, wrote an article on Friday that contrasted with the one by Evans. The headline was "Smith says Iraq war may be 'criminal'". And the article began:
"Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, who voted in favor of the Iraq war and has supported it ever since, now says the current U.S. war effort is 'absurd' and 'may even be 'criminal.'"
Of course, it is. But Smith called it such in the vaguest of terms. McKinney laid out the evidence in an Article of Impeachment. Look at the treatment the AP gave Smith:
"In a major speech on the Senate floor, the Oregon senator called for rapid pullouts of U.S. troops from Iraq and said he would have never voted for the conflict if he had known the intelligence that President Bush gave the American people was inaccurate."
Why was his speech "major"? Because he supported a criminal war on the basis of evidence that millions of us and half the Democrats in Congress saw through at the time.
The article went on to quote Smith on his reasons for charging that the war is criminal, but added nothing about his embracing controversy, splitting with the Republican party, or having done anything unpopular in the past:
"Citing the hundreds of billions of dollars spent and the nearly 3,000 American deaths, Smith said, 'I for one am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal. So either we clear and hold and build or let's go home.'"
This treatment continued for seven more paragraphs.
Congresswoman McKinney is not only a more intelligent and responsible public servant than Senator Smith, but she is also someone who foresaw the current attacks on her record and forged ahead anyway. She understands her role as public servant to involve serving the public. And, in the long run, she is serving the interests of the Democratic Party, whether everyone in that party grasps the point or not. She's stuck her neck out for us, for our democracy, for the rule of law under our Constitution. Now, we need to support her.
Sunday, December 10th, is Human Rights Day, the 58th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that lays out, in 30 short articles, rights that every human should have protected. Eleven out of the 30 have clearly been violated in the United States by President Bush and his administration, rights including:
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6: Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 12: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence….
This Human Rights Day, many of us have worked to organize rallies for impeachment all over the country. They will now also be rallies to honor and thank Cynthia McKinney. Find an event near you:
And call your favorite talk shows and urge everyone to help us impeach Bush and Cheney at: http://impeachforchange.org
Contact the Media About Impeachment Coverage
The Bush Administration has ignored the Constitution. Impeachable offenses need to be investigated. These are two statements that are true, yet are rarely heard via the mainstream American media. We have all seen what complacency in the media can bring. The Iraq War could not have been executed without it. Impeachment is being framed as a distraction or as revenge. It is time for the media to discuss the real evidence that supports Impeachment and leave the opining to the citizens of this country. http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=9196431&type=ME
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Makes the Case for Impeachment
Here is McKinney's case for impeachment and for the history books, a case that says to historians, "Look, I knew what needed to be done, and I failed for years but I admitted it on my last day." A case that says to us: "Here is your mission: awaken currently serving Congress members to this case or kiss your democracy goodbye."
Trump and His Allies...
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/06/21/trump-and-his-allies-are-clear-and-present-danger-american-democracy?utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter_op
rudkla - 22. Jun, 05:09
The Republican Party...
https://truthout.org/articles/the-republican-party-is-still-doing-donald-trumps-bidding/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=804d4873-50dd-4c1b-82a5-f465ac3742ce
rudkla - 26. Apr, 05:36
January 6 Committee Says...
https://truthout.org/articles/jan-6-committee-says-trump-engaged-in-criminal-conspiracy-to-undo-election/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=552e5725-9297-4a7c-a214-53c8c51615a3
