World-News

01.02.07

Die Bundestagsabgeordnete Ulla Jelpke, fordert eine Rücknahme der unter Bundesinnenminister Otto Schily beschlossenen "Anti-Terror-Gesetze". Als Begründung führt sie das Schicksal des ehemaligen Guantanamo-Häftlings Kurnaz sowie die Aussage des früheren Kanzleramtschefs Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), er werde im Fall Kurnaz wieder so handeln, an. Die innenpolitische Sprecherin der Linksfraktion findet diese Äußerung des heutigen Außenministers "skandalös" und weißt darauf hin, dass Steinmeier seine Entscheidung damit begründet habe, dass Kurnaz damals als "Gefährder" gegolten habe. Der "Gefährder"-Begriff sei aber erst mit den "Anti-Terror-Paketen" des damaligen Innenministers unter anderem in das Ausländerrecht eingeführt worden.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=15253



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Schily
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kurnaz
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Steinmeier

While climate change dominates the news, Jean-Marcel Bouguereau suggests that it's not just business leaders at Davos, but also French citizens who are not yet prepared to do anything concrete about it. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, although "Conservative" Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper has begun to make green noises, a recently publicized letter he wrote in 2002 describing Kyoto as a "Socialist plot" undermines his environmental credibility.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107H.shtml

The intimate portrayal of a sergeant's death during Army efforts to clear a Baghdad neighborhood has caused friction between the military and the New York Times, while sparking larger questions about war coverage and media-military relations.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107G.shtml

On the eve of President Bush's 2007 budget proposal, freshman senator and Senate Budget Committee member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) demands a financial plan for America that rolls back tax cuts for the wealthy and stands up for the middle class and working poor.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107F.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bernie+Sanders

The new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, said yesterday that he is launching an aggressive investigation into whether the Bush administration has violated any of the laws it claimed a right to ignore in presidential "signing statements."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107E.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=signing+statements
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Conyers

Paul Rockwell writes: "It is a sad day in American jurisprudence when a soldier of conscience is court-martialed not for lying but for telling the truth, not for breaking a covenant with the military but for upholding the rule of law in wartime.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107D.shtml



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

Former vice president Al Gore has been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world's attention to the dangers of global warming, a Norwegian lawmaker said Thursday. "A prerequisite for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is making a difference, and Al Gore has made a difference," Conservative member of Parliament Boerge Brende, a former minister of environment and then of trade, told the Associated Press.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107A.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Inconvenient+Truth
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gore

Calling On Shell For A Healthy Gulf
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/GRN/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=460

http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=Cm_o0CBuFNG3i9glkDwM5w..



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=surveillance
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=ACLU

If you want our soldiers out of Iraq there is now a bill in Congress that would accomplish this. HR 413 would de-authorize the occupation. DownsizeDC.org is mounting a campaign to pass this legislation. You can use their Congressional Contact System to ask your representatives to co-sponsor HR 413. http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=63

Stand for our soldiers and bring them home

Come to DownsizeDC.org to learn more: http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=63


Informant: Marsha McClelland

PLEASE READ & ACT IMMEDIATELLY-CROSSPOST ALSO-WE MUST PUT PRESSURE TO MR KYPRIANOU SO WE CAN ACHEIVE THE TOTAL BAN OF DOG & CAT FUR TRADE FROM CHINA IN EUROPE :I COUNT ON YOU ALL , DON'T LET ME DOWN!!!!!!!

The European Parliament is finally inclined to ban cat/dog fur imports into Europe. However, if the law is passed as is, the loophole (see below) will simply defeat its purpose. This loophole is similar to the $150 loophole we have in the US where cat/dog fur importation is illegal, but imports under $150 do not have to be labeled as fur--Cat/dog fur is part of the so called "budget" fur so most of them cost less than that! The loophole in Europe will allow for fur from dogs or cats raised for food in China. According to the email below, many European countries have already rejected this loophole--which is a good sign. Nevertheless, we need to keep the pressure ever so politely so this loophole is rejected by 100% of the European countries. Scroll down for more information. Below is a letter sample for you to edit, or send as is, to the head of the European Parliament whom, I was told by reliable source is the key person to write to. The Anti-Fur Society group will be sending a letter representing about 1000 people who signed the petition. If you wish to be on that list, please send your name, country/city and email to: antifurdemo@msn.com If Europe passes this ban without the loophole, chances are we'll be seeing the end of the dog/cat fur farms in China. Remember this: NO EUROPEAN MARKET = NO CAT/DOG FUR FARMS IN CHINA! IN THE NAME OF MILLIONS OF DOGS & CATS IN CHINA PLEASE ACT & SEND THE SAMPLE LETTER: Letter to Commissioner Markos Kyprianou Mr. Kyprianou's FAX 003222981499 email: cab-kyprianou@ec.europa.eu

Commissioner Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, The European Commission, Rue de la Loi, B-1049 Bruxelles, BELGIUM


Dear Mr. Kyprianou,

As you are aware, over two million cats and dogs are raised under deplorable conditions in Asia, particularly China, and then strangled, stabbed to death or skinned alive for their pelts. These skins and furs are used in products sold throughout Europe. As a human being I find this unacceptable. While the US, Australia and five EU nations: Italy, Denmark, France, Greece and Belgium have banned this fur trade, the EU as a whole has rejected requests from virtually every country in the world, to ban the import, export, sale and production of this merchandize. Without a complete ban this horrific trade will continue to taint Europe now and for years to come. The Matrix Chambers, a prominent UK law firm has issued a ruling that an EU ban on cat and dog fur would be justified under the EC treaty and it would not cause a WTO trade issue. Not only is the cruelty intolerable but I feel strongly that these products with fraudulent labels are harmful because of chemicals used in fur production. It is also painfully wrong to submit non-humans to the type of cruelty found in Chinese fur farms.

This letter is to respectfully ask that as a new leader in the EU Commission, you ban cat and dog fur trade immediately, and completely. The loophole in the law currently under discussion if passed as is, will simply defeat the purpose of a law which is being created to ban dog and cat fur trade in Europe. "Article 4 Implementing powers The following may be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 5(2):

1. provisions on the use of analytical methods to identify the species of origin of fur;

2. provisions which derogate from the prohibitions provided for in Article 1 for such fur or products containing such fur

- which is labelled as originating from cats or dogs that have not been bred or killed for fur production or

- which are personal or household effects being introduced into the Community, or exported there from." Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Name Country In the name of millions of dogs and cats in China, I thank you!

Daphne

US CITIZENS PLEASE WRITE LONDON, ENGLAND


From Vida R.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/30/olbermann-special-comment-fact-checking-the-president/

Source: http://ga3.org/ct/k720pgF1XX9_/



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

On Wall Street, Bush attacked wage inequality by urging the poor to make more money.

http://ga3.org/ct/k120pgF1XX9S/

Your Money Or Your Life
http://ga3.org/ct/9d20pgF1XX9N/

by Robert Dreyfuss, TomPaine.com

The administration and its salivating neoconservatives are manufacturing a crisis.

http://ga3.org/ct/kd20pgF1XX9L/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=neoconservative
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Dreyfuss

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2204109.ece


Informant: binstock

--------

Anti-Whaling Ships Say They Have Been Made Pirates

An anti-whaling group searching Antarctic waters for a Japanese whaling fleet with the aim of disrupting its operations said both its vessels will soon be "pirate ships" following a decision by Britain to deregister one of its vessels.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020207EC.shtml



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

The earth's population will approach an unsustainable total of 10.5 billion unless contraception is put back at the top of the agenda for international efforts to alleviate global poverty. A report released today challenges world leaders to put the contraceptive pill and the condom at the center of their efforts to alleviate global poverty, tackle starvation and even help to avert global warming.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013107LA.shtml

The caribou population in Canada's vast Northwest Territories is falling rapidly, and the increasingly warm climate could slow the animals' chances of recovery, a wildlife specialist said Friday. Herds of barren-ground caribou have dropped by between 40 and 86 percent over the last 10 years. The largest single herd fell from 472,000 animals in 1986 to 128,000 in 2006 and is still declining.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013107EC.shtml

Dozens of senators - including leading 2008 presidential contenders from both major parties - met on Tuesday to swap proposals that could spur the country's first-ever mandatory caps on greenhouse gases. "We need to cap and eventually significantly reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions," said Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment Committee.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013107EB.shtml

Scientists gathered from around the world will deliver the verdict on Friday morning in Paris on what the damage is - how we've already permanently altered the planet. The news will be heavy - hard to take. The exact wording of the report won't be final until the 9:30 a.m. press conference, but the basic science is in. The world's scientists have produced these consensus reports every five years since 1991, but the biggest change since the last report in 2001 is clearly not in the science. It's in the audience.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013107EA.shtml

More and more people are waking up to the fact that the world is in a period of great crisis and opportunity around the issue of energy generation and use. The fossil fuels we rely on for power are poisoning the atmosphere and threatening the stability of the earth's climate. We've known about this problem since the 1970s, but vested economic interests have retarded our progress in developing alternatives. Today, peak oil and global warming are beginning to change the economics of power generation and the world is looking to pioneers like Randy Tinkerman for solutions.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107S.shtml

http://www.kleinreport.ch/meld.phtml?id=38929
http://www.computerwoche.de/nachrichten/587266

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has issued new doctrine on the conduct of electronic warfare.

"The recognized need for military forces to have unimpeded access to and use of the [electromagnetic environment] creates vulnerabilities and opportunities for electronic warfare (EW) in support of military operations."

"The purpose of EW is to deny the opponent an advantage in the EM spectrum and ensure friendly unimpeded access to the EM spectrum portion of the information environment."

"EW can be applied from air, sea, land, and space by manned and unmanned systems."

See "Electronic Warfare," Joint Publication JP 3-13.1, 25 January 2007:
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/jp3-13-1.pdf


Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood @fas.org
voice: (202) 454-4691

The constitutional allocation of war powers between Congress and the President and the authority of Congress to restrict ongoing military operations are considered in a new report from the Congressional Research Service.

See "Congressional Authority To Limit U.S. Military Operations in Iraq," January 29, 2007:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33837.pdf

A related study on "Congressional Use of Funding Cutoffs Since
1970 Involving U.S. Military Forces and Overseas Deployments" was updated on January 16, 2007:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS20775.pdf


Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood @fas.org
voice: (202) 454-4691

http://www.votenowarfunding.org/votenowarfunding.shtml
http://troopsoutnow.org/feb17mar1707orgcents.shtml

By Daniel Knowles

Neighbours Karen Kelly, left, and Kath Shoesmith are overjoyed as the phone mast is moved away from their homes.

PHONE mast campaigners are finally claiming victory after mobile company workers turned up to remove the pole blighting their lives.

The O2 phone mast was removed from Akers Way yesterday morning after a two-year battle.

Resident Karen Kelly, who lives in Manor Crescent with her husband, security guard Stephen, 48, son Morgan, 14, and daughter Summer, 10, said she was "ecstatic" to see the pole, which was a stone's throw from her home, come down.

"It's brilliant," housewife Mrs Kelly, 49, said. "I have been waiting nearly two years for this.

"Thanks to the Adver for all their help in the past.

"Also thanks for the tireless efforts of ex-councillor Derique Montaut and MP Michael Wills to get this mast removed.

"It's the best news I've had in two years."

The phone mast went up in Akers Way in March 2005.

Ever since, residents of Manor Crescent have been concerned about possible health dangers from the communications pole.

Morgan suffers from alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss and can weaken the immune system, and Mrs Kelly had feared that the mast could have an effect on him.

"They started the groundwork on the mast even before the planning application was approved," Mrs Kelly said.

"It was placed just 45 metres from my home.

"They should not be placed in residential areas.

"We all thought we were being used in some biological experiment because nobody knows the effects of these masts.

"My biggest concern was my young son with autoimmune disease.

"I'm so happy to have thing gone from outside my house."

In July 2005, the Adver reported O2 had accepted an alternative site for the mast in Akers Way.

The group from Moredon had been left disappointed in May that year when Swindon Council's decision to find a new site for the O2 mast fell on deaf ears with the mobile phone company rejecting the spot.

But in July, a meeting between O2, then local councillor Derique Montaut and the council's principal planning officer proved successful.

The company will move the mast to the other side of Akers Way - 40m further away from the houses in Manor Crescent, which face on to it.

Mrs Kelly had rallied her neighbours to fight the mast, gathering a 300-strong petition.

James Stevenson, community relations officer for O2, said the firm had decided to compromise and put the mast 40 meters back, on the other side of the road.

But Mr Stevenson denied the mast, which went up in March, had been put in the wrong place originally.

© Copyright 2001-2007 Newsquest Media Group

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/display.var.1161446.0.campaigners_delighted_as_phone_mast_vanishes.php

http://www.aak.antifa.de/Aufruf.rtf


Flüchtlinge und Geduldete werden sitzen gelassen! Aufruf zum bundesweiten Aktionstag für Bleiberecht und Kinderrechte am 24.2.2007

„Am 24. Februar 2007 wird der „Bleiberechtsbeschluss“ der Innenministerkonferenz 100 Tage alt. Anlass genug, die dürftige Regelung erneut zu kritisieren und zahlreich in der Bundesrepublik auf die Strasse zu gehen! Mit diesem Aktionstag wollen die Träger der Kampagne "Hier geblieben!" sowie viele Flüchtlingsorganisationen und antirassistische Initiativen auf die weiter bestehende Notwendigkeit einer gesetzlichen Bleiberechtsregelung aufmerksam machen und laden dazu ein, sich zahlreich mit vielfältigen Aktionen zu beteiligen. Wir fordern: Das ganze Bleiberecht - ohne Wenn und Aber! Die unwürdige Praxis der Kettenduldungen muss endlich abgeschafft werden! Ein für alle Mal! Abschiebestopp für alle!! Ab sofort!!!...“ Der Aufruf bei "Hier geblieben!" (pdf) http://www.hier.geblieben.net/aktuellpresse/pdf_2007/100Tage.pdf

Siehe dazu auch: Mail-Aktion 2007 Laute(r) Stimmen für das ganze Bleiberecht und die UNO-Kinderrechte http://www.hier.geblieben.net/aktuellpresse/2007/07_01_22.html


Aus: LabourNet, 1. Februar 2007

Dozens of millions of dollars originally slated for the reconstruction and security of Iraq have been squandered on luxury items like an Olympic-sized swimming pool, VIP trailers, and buildings that were never or rarely used. In eight new audits carried out over the past quarter alone, the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, indicated that "corruption continues to plague Iraq" and that "the security environment has continued to deteriorate."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107P.shtml

While senators welcomed the Bush administration decision to release secret documents detailing the government's domestic spying program, Congresswoman Heather Wilson, a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "The administration still won't release other crucial documents that explain how the FISA Court's orders comply with the 1978 surveillance law that the court oversees." The deal to release the documents still leaves many lawmakers frustrated. "We are playing hide the ball down at the Justice Department," said Wilson.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107M.shtml



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

Bill Quigley writes: "Cathy Webster, a grandmother living in Chico, California, organized A Thousand Grandmothers for Peace to protest in November 2006 against the torture-training School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. This week a federal judge in Columbus, Georgia, sentenced Ms. Webster to two months in federal prison for stepping through a hole in the fence onto the grounds of Fort Benning to carry her protest to the doors of SOA-WHINSEC.... Two other Grandmothers for Peace were also sentenced to federal prison for the nonviolent protest.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107L.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bill+Quigley

Democratic and Republican opponents of Bush's troop-buildup plan joined forces last night behind the nonbinding resolution with the broadest bipartisan backing: a Republican measure from Senator John W. Warner of Virginia.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107K.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=troop+surge

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IA31Ak02.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Leon+Hadar

http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=496


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ed+Lewis

Common Dreams
by Larry Beinhart

01/31/07

What is Habeas Corpus? Is it some obscure Latin legalism? One of the tricky clauses the ACLU uses to get evildoers out of jail? Does it mean the prosecution has to show a body in a murder case? Or is it the basis of your protection from tyranny? It is the right to be brought into court. It is fundamental to — and a sort of shorthand for — the right to be in a legal system, with laws and judges, evidence and a defense. … Without Habeas Corpus you can be swept up off the street and never heard from again. Period. Nobody has to know. Nobody — including yourself — has to know why. Nobody gets to determine if there is a law against what you’re charged with. You have no rights at all. In America, the Constitution forbids taking habeas corpus away from you (except ‘in case of rebellion or invasion the public safety shall require it.’) It was written that way because the right of habeas corpus was a basic right even under the King of England. It was the most basic check on a king’s tyranny. It was assumed. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales now asserts something he thinks is very tricky and clever. What if you never had such a right? Then not giving you the right of Habeas Corpus would not be taking it away...

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0131-22.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Habeas+Corpus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gonzales
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Larry+Beinhart

Guardian [UK]
by Francis Fukuyama

01/31/07

Their zealous advocacy of the invasion of Iraq may have been a disaster, but now they want to do it all over again — in Iran …. What I find remarkable about the neoconservative line of argument on Iran, however, is how little changed it is in its basic assumptions and tonalities from that taken on Iraq in 2002, despite the momentous events of the past five years and the manifest failure of policies that neoconservatives themselves advocated. What may change is the American public’s willingness to listen to them...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2002290,00.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=neocons
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Francis+Fukuyama

Independent Institute
by Charles Pena

01/31/07

Former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who was the Pentagon’s biggest advocate for taking the country to war in Iraq and claimed that Iraqi oil revenues pay for post-invasion reconstruction, is now the president of the World Bank. Former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, who headed up the ill-fated Office of Special Plans responsible for cooking the books about the threat posed by Iraq and was a champion for Iraqi con artist Ahmed Chalabi, is a distinguished practitioner in national security policy at Georgetown University. Bill Kristol, the don of the neoconservative Weekly Standard, has been named a columnist for Time magazine. And Thomas Friedman — who led the liberal hawk charge into Iraq, often alongside Bill Kristol — is still a fixture on the pages of the New York Times. If any of these people were your stockbroker and told you to bet the ranch on Enron in late 2001, would you still be letting them give you financial advice?

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1902


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=troop+surge
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wolfowitz
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Douglas+Feith
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Chalabi
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bill+Kristol
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Thomas+Friedman
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Charles+Pena

Independent [UK]

02/01/07

Iraq is experiencing the biggest exodus in the Middle East since Palestinians were forced to flee in 1948 upon the creation of Israel. ‘We were forced to leave our house six months ago and since then we have moved more than eight times,’ said Abu Mustafa, a 56-year-old man from Baghdad. ‘Sectarian violence has now even reached the displacement camps but we are tired of running away. Sometimes I have asked myself if it is not better to die than to live like a Bedouin all my life.’ Iraqis are on the run inside and outside the country. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees said 50,000 Iraqis a month are abandoning their homes...

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2204094.ece


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://electroniciraq.net/news/2877.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=troop+surge

Pharmaceutical companies and Iraq war contractors, both heavy Republican contributors, are among the companies scrambling to hire lobbyists with Democratic ties as they prepare for congressional investigative hearings next week.

http://snipurl.com/18x9c


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pfizer
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Halliburton

Thousands of people have demonstrated in the Czech capital Prague against a plan to place an American anti-missile radar base in their country.

http://www.cctv.com/english/20070131/102586.shtml


From Information Clearing House



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

The barbaric lynching of Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, was a choreographed event, a carefully staged U.S. sponsored PSYOP, with a view to triggering social divisions and fomenting sectarian violence within Iraq and the broader Middle East.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/230/52/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=lynching
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Saddam+Hussein

By Charles Mercieca, Ph.D.

The American nation is built on a capitalistic system where the big corporations control the entire economy, including the US government. Big corporations finance the political campaigns of every elected public official who in turn tends to protect corporate interests first and foremost.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/222/52/

By Charles Mercieca, Ph.D.

The American nation is built on a capitalistic system where the big corporations control the entire economy, including the US government. Big corporations finance the political campaigns of every elected public official who in turn tends to protect corporate interests first and foremost.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/222/52/

By Kat Schmidt

"The fact of the matter is we have a government that will do what it wants to do for the next two years," he said. "The worst is yet to come. It's sort of like we're essentially powerless [and] just play it out."

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/229/52/



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

Paul Craig Roberts

Everyone can see the US buildup of massive air and naval attack forces on Iran’s borders. Fox “News,” the Bush Regime’s main disinformation agency, is busy preparing its viewers for the US attack by whipping up fear and hysteria over Iran.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/220/52/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Paul+Craig+Roberts

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/5660/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

The government must toughen laws monitoring the levels of electromagnetic radiation produced by mobile phones after studies found that long-term use of cell phones can fragment DNA, scientists said yesterday.

Constantinos Triantafylidis, a genetics professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, said that allowable SAR (Special Absorption Rate) levels in Greece should be 10 times lower than they currently are.

The SAR measures how a mobile phone can cause cell damage and also determines the quantity of radio frequency (RF) energy absorbed by the body.

“In Greece the allowable limit for SAR exposure is 2W/Kgr but it has been proven that even 1.3 W/Kgr can fragment DNA. As a result and based on recent findings, we are obliged to lower the limits,” said Triantafylidis.

Experts recommended that SAR levels be shown clearly on phone labels in a bid to provide users with more thorough information on the radiation’s effects.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100015_31/01/2007_79533


Informant: Martin Weatherall

http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=01-30-07&storyID=26205


Informant: Martin Weatherall

http://www.tedkennedy.com/page/content/raisethewage/


Informant: Quechick Barnyard



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=minimum+wage

By Chris Wickham

An alien' phone mast might not be built after the council revealed they own the land and have not yet given permission for it to be erected.

Government planning inspectors ruled a T-Mobile mast with an 18.65metre tall tower and six antennae could be built at Strawberry Hill Golf Club despite opposition from residents and a rejection of the plan by Richmond upon Thames council.

But the council have said they own the freehold of the land and are still considering whether to give landowner consent to the proposal.
advertisement

The council, as planning authority, refused the T-Mobile application in May last year because its visual impact would be detrimental to the character and appearance of metropolitan open land.

Residents had been upset about the location of the mast, in the south eastern corner of the club next to the railway line between Fulwell and Strawberry Hill stations.

The proposed site is about 450 metres from St James's RC Primary School, on Stanley Road, and 320 metres from Stanley Infant School, on Strathmore Road, as well as Stanley Junior School, which is close by. But planning inspector Jonathan Philip Roberts said because the mast met guidelines for public exposure to radio waves, health issues were not a factor.

Mr Roberts overturned the council's decision to reject permission for the mast, despite admitting the size of the mast would damage openness, create an alien feature and be incongruous in an open, largely undeveloped and lands- caped setting.

But the mast might not now be built if Richmond council, as landowner, decides not to grant permission.

A council spokesperson said: "The council owns the freehold of the land, which is leased to Strawberry Hill Golf Club. We raised concerns about the proposals with the club at an early stage, having heard about them on an informal basis.

"We were also surprised to see a planning application being pursued without our landowning consent to the proposals being obtained first.

"The club, on behalf of T-Mobile, has now formally asked us to consider giving landowning consent, following the planning inspectorate's decision. We are giving the request detailed consideration and will be responding to the club shortly."

© Copyright 2001-2007 Newsquest Media Group

http://tinyurl.com/2pawcv

Center for Constitutional Rights and Other Groups Issue Open Letter Warning of Illegality of Any Offensive Military Action by US against Iran
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0131-02.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0131-01.htm



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

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0131-28.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Parry

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0131-24.htm



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

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/5666/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news



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

http://www.lewrockwell.com/engelhardt/engelhardt259.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Nemesis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=imperial
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/engelhardt

http://www.slate.com/id/2158608/


Informant: Lew Rockwell



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Vietnam
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jack+Shafer

http://www.lewrockwell.com/akers/akers58.html

Can State’s Rights Make a Comeback in Their Opposition to REAL ID?
http://www.lewrockwell.com/olson/olson10.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/akers
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/olson

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/kolko6.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=perpetual+war
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=/kolko

http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo120.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/dilorenzo

#Die Linkspartei.PDS: Pressemitteilungen

31. Januar 2007

Zum heute vorgelegten Jahreswirtschaftsbericht erklärt Harald Werner, Mitglied des Parteivorstandes und gewerkschaftspolitischer Sprecher:

Obwohl der von der Bundesregierung vorgelegte Jahreswirtschaftsbericht Optimismus pur verbreitet, bietet er den Beschäftigten, Arbeitslosen und Rentnern einen überaus enttäuschenden Ausblick. Die Große Koalition darf sich freuen. Erstens sind die Wirtschaftsdaten am Anfang des Jahres besser, als die Kritiker der Mehrwertsteuererhöhung erwartet hatten, und zweitens wird nur eine verschwindende Minderheit lesen, was der Bericht der übergroßen Mehrheit der Bevölkerung zu bieten hat. Die Unternehmens- und Vermögenseinkommen sollen viermal so stark steigen wie die Brutto-Arbeitseinkommen pro Arbeitnehmer. Wobei die Prognose der Arbeitseinkommen so niedrig angesetzt wird, dass unterm Strich wieder einmal ein Verlust herauskommt. Obwohl die verfügbaren Einkommen durch die Mehrwertsteuererhöhung um drei Prozent gesunken sind, wird eine Steigerung der Bruttoeinkommen pro Arbeiter und Angestellten von nur 1,2 Prozent angenommen. Für die Bezieher von Sozialeinkommen sieht es noch schlechter aus, weil nicht nur die Rentnerinnen und Rentner, sondern auch die Arbeitslosen völlig leer ausgehen werden.

http://sozialisten.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/view_html?zid=35063

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/5665/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

--------

Brzezinski warns that Bush is seeking a pretext to attack Iran
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/feb2007/brze-f02_prn.shtml


Informant: ranger116



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Brzezinski
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Fukuyama

More good investigative research from BlackBoxVoting. Which progressive organizations are still today supporting DRE touch-screen
(invisible ballot) voting machines due to their former use of donor funds to push for US implementation of touchscreen DREs?

Kathy Dopp
http://electionarchive.org


---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Black Box Voting
Date: Jan 31, 2007 4:46 AM
Subject: From Black Box Voting: The road to Boondoggle is paved with good intentions To: kathy@truthisbetter.org

(Warning: You might really hate this story.) This story represents months of original research by Black Box Voting. We went into this looking for the defense industry contractors we'd heard had lobbied for the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). That legislation has been blamed for the touch-screens (DREs) that showed up all over America. Well, that's not what we found. The real story on who was behind HAVA may come as a surprise to you. It was to us..

Permission to reprint and distribute granted, with link to http://www.blackboxvoting.org

THE ROAD TO BOONDOGGLE IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS: HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT (HAVA) LOBBYIST LIST

Question: What happens if you lobby a lawmaker for $4 billion in expenditures for touch-screen voting machines and go back to that same lawmaker two years later asking to dump DREs?

Answer: You lose credibility. It might be hard to lobby for other things. It's politically embarrassing. And your members, or funders, might have a few questions to ask about the prudence of your lobbying expenditures.

BUT HOW COULD ANYONE HAVE KNOWN?

The road to voting computers was paved with good intentions. No one knew that some of the programmers for voting computers would turn out to be convicted embezzlers. http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/14318.html

No one realized that the main sponsor of the HAVA bill -- Rep. Bob Ney -- would end up going to jail on corruption charges. http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/8/46466.html

Few realized that the federal testing labs, Ciber and Wyle, weren't doing their jobs and their overseers -- NASED and now the EAC -- failed to check their work. Wyle failures (Bowen Hearing): http://www.blackboxvoting.org/itahearing.pdf Ciber failures: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/8/46428.html

HAVA bought a lemon.

WHO BIT INTO IT?

Progressive public interest groups. Labor unions. Civil rights groups.

While many election reform activists are under the impression that touch-screen (DRE) voting machines were some sort of Republican plot to take over America, the truth is that lobbying for the DRE-seeking "Help America Vote Act" came primarily from the foundation of the Democratic Party itself.

Activists throughout America have expressed surprise at the Democratic Party's unwillingness to pull DREs off the shelf. One reason is simply this: To do so would damage the credibility of those who lobbied for HAVA. And those who lobbied for HAVA just happen to be the biggest funders and activist workhorses for the Democratic Party itself.

WHO INVESTED THEIR CREDIBILITY (AND MEMBERSHIP FUNDS) TO LOBBY FOR HAVA?

1. Public interest groups - mostly progressive
2. Big labor
3. Minority rights groups
4. Disability rights groups
5. Industry

Of these, the first four tend to favor Democrats but the fifth group -- industry, the group charged with writing the computer code that counts America's votes -- is made of vendors that are more often close to the Republican Party.

Democrats lobbied HAVA in but to a large extent, Republican-affiliated vendors executed the mechanics of the plan. Some would call this comical; others, tragic.

PUBLIC INTEREST GROUP HAVA LOBBYISTS

1. People for the American Way
2. Common Cause
3. American Civil Liberties Union
4. League of Women Voters
5. American Jewish Committee
6. Hadassah
7. American Association for Retired Persons
8. Public Citizen
9. American Network of Community Options and Resources
10. Constitution Project (Georgetown University)
11. Open Society Policy Center (Soros)

LABOR UNION HAVA LOBBYISTS

1. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
2. Laborers International Union of North America
3. International Brotherhood of Teamsters
4. United Auto Workers
5. American Federation of Teachers
6. AFL-CIO
7. UNITE (Industrial & Textile employees)

Of the seven HAVA-lobbying groups above, five are among the Top-20 largest donors of all time to any political party. All five donate almost exclusively to the Democratic Party and its candidates. None of the top 20 Republican donors lobbied for HAVA.

According to OpenSecrets.org, the labor unions that lobbied for HAVA have given nearly $150 million to support Democrats since 1989, and six were in the Top-20 Democratic PAC funders for 2006-06.

MINORITY RIGHTS HAVA LOBBYISTS

1. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.
2. National Council of La Raza
3. Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF)

DISABILITY RIGHTS HAVA LOBBYISTS

1. American Foundation for the Blind
2. The ARC of the United States
3. National Disability Rights Network
4. Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
5. United Cerebral Palsy Association

Black Box Voting has been unable to locate the lobbying disclosure forms for the American Association of Persons with Disabilities (AAPD) featuring the vocal Jim Dickson, nor did we find any disclosure forms for the National Federation for the Blind (NFB), the group that took $1 million from Diebold. Misfiled? Misnamed? Overlooked? Omitted?

Link for NFB $1 million from Diebold: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/73/36492.html

COUNTY GOVERNMENT HAVA LOBBYING
1. Riverside County, Calif.
2. San Diego County, Calif.
3. Ventura County, Calif.
4. Miami-Dade County, FL

INDUSTRY & BUSINESS HAVA LOBBYISTS

1. Accenture
2. VoteHere
3. Election Systems & Software
4. AccuPoll
5. Danaher
6. Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs
7. US Business & Industry Council
8. Assocation of Technology Act Projects

Not found on lobbying forms pushing HAVA: The SAIC, the ITAA, and Diebold.

Diebold Election Systems Inc does not show up on the 2001-02 HAVA lobbying forms, but did lobby for elections issues in 2004 and 2005.

Also notably missing are the firms referenced by R. Doug Lewis of "The Election Center" in an August 2003 meeting. In this tape recorded meeting, he said that HAVA was put into place by an election systems task force which included Lockheed, Northrop-Grumman, EDS, and Accenture.

Of these, only Accenture shows up the lobbying forms, and there is no entity called Election anything, except for Election System & Software and another company, election.com, which lobbied for Internet voting.
(See Chapter 8 of Black Box Voting for more on the Saudi-owned election.com, which was later taken over by Accenture - http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf - See Chapter 16 for more information on the tape recorded meeting: http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-16.pdf )

What about Choicepoint? Choicepoint says it didn't lobby for HAVA. Choicepoint says it hasn't had any involvement in elections.

The lobbying forms don't show lobbying for voting machines, but a lobbying firm called Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations filed a registration form in 2002 indicating they planned to lobby for "Election Reform" on behalf of Choicepoint. Muddying things up, no
2002 lobbying form appeared showing that they did. In 2001, however, a lobbying form clearly puts Choicepoint in the middle of HAVA lobbying, showing that Choicepoint was involving itself in lobbying for the voter registration component of HAVA.

Choicepoint has repeatedly stated that they have "no involvement whatsoever" in elections, and in rebuttal to a controversial article that appeared for a short while on OpEd News, Choicepoint came on to deny that they lobbied for HAVA. More on Choicepoint here: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/17778.html

Choicepoint, a controversial database broker, clearly cannot state that it has "no involvement in elections."

Choicepoint stakeholder Donna Curling, wife of Choicepoint chief Doug Curling, has continued to fund election reform lobbying by providing funding for some of the activists working on the Holt Bill.

THEY THOUGHT DRE VOTING MACHINES WOULD HELP THEM BUILD THE DEMOCRATIC BASE

Those who lobbied for HAVA were convinced that the DRE machines would solve problems, helping more people vote.

1. Many of the HAVA reformers believed that with DREs, people with less education would be more likely to fill out the whole ballot. In fact, they reasoned, the DRE machines would be easier to use for educationally disadvantaged populations, minorities, non-English-speaking voters, and the disabled.

Few studies back these conclusions up, and those that do have generally not been replicated, or were not peer reviewed, and sometimes show methodology that is as flawed as the lemons HAVA bought. The occasional studies that have been done -- even those prepared by DRE advocates -- sometimes end up with troubling caveats. A Georgia study purported to show that "most people like voting on the DREs" (but rarely mentions the small print: The same study showed that the African-Americans surveyed distrusted the touch-screens).

2. The citizens' right to oversee local elections -- and especially the citizens' right to even get access to information -- has been all but eliminated through the implementation of HAVA. The original civil rights concept was virtuous.

Federal Government is the entity that enacted civil rights, HAVA reformers reasoned, so therefore let's ask the federal government to fix our elections process.

Be careful what you ask for. It just might get "fixed."

REAL SOLUTIONS

If federal government is going to correct anything, it should start with enacting tougher standards to give citizens Freedom of Access to Elections Information -- mandating that the system actually PRODUCE the information needed for citizens to make sure the right candidate was place in office, in a TIMELY manner, that is COST EFFECTIVE and USABLE, prohibiting removal of the information through proprietary claims.

And above all, local CITIZEN oversight must be protected. In almost every case, discoveries of problems with elections and the computers that count them have been discovered by ordinary citizens, not by government oversight, auditors, consultants, certifiers, or experts.

And if we are going to rid ourselves of the DREs, we need to get past the -- er -- little "problem" of the threat to credibility if former HAVA lobbyists take the courageous step of changing course.

They couldn't have known. Perhaps a set of tough investigative hearings can provide the evidence to brace those backbones for the change in direction. Look to Calif. Secretary of State Debra Bowen's well-prepped, no-nonsense hearings on the certification process for examples, and start by issuing subpoenas to Diebold's master programmer, Talbot Iredale, and Ciber's Shawn Southworth (who refused to show up for Bowen's hearing).

This thing can be done. It doesn't need a bandaid, it needs a disinfectant.

SEE FOR YOURSELF HOW HAVA CAME TO BE:

Photocopies of the lobbying forms are in the process of being uploaded to the Black Box Voting Document Archive. You will find lobbying forms for all of the groups listed above as they are uploaded here: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/46539.html

31.01.07

Einer vom Bundesamt für Naturschutz veröffentlichten Statistik zufolge wurden im Jahr 2005 350 Javaneraffen für die biomedizinische Forschung nach Deutschland importiert. Von den Tieren waren offenbar 50 Wildfänge und 300 direkte Nachkommen von wild gefangenen Elterntieren. Nach Angaben des Deutschen Tierschutzbundes schreibt das deutsche Tierschutzgesetz jedoch vor, dass nur zweckgezüchtete Tiere in Versuchen eingesetzt werden dürften. In Deutschland würden jährlich rund 2000 Primaten zu wissenschaftlichen Zwecken "verbraucht", kritisiert der Tierschutzverband. Deutschland nehme "damit einen traurigen Spitzenplatz innerhalb der EU ein".

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=15230



Forschungspreis für Alternative zu Tierversuchen

Der Bundesverband Menschen für Tierrechte freut sich über die erstmalige Vergabe des mit 20.000 Euro dotierten rheinland- pfälzischen Forschungspreises für Alternativen zu Tierversuchen an den Arzt Dr. Harald Langer vom Universitätsklinikum Tübingen. Der Forscher entwickelte ein so genanntes Flusskammermodell. Mit Hilfe menschlicher Gefäßwandzellen können damit die Auswirkungen des Blutflusses auf die Zellen der Gefäßwände untersucht werden. Das Flusskammermodell könne bereits jetzt schmerzhafte Tierversuche in der Atheroskleroseforschung und bei der Entwicklung von Medikamenten ersetzen, so Kurt Simons von der Organisation. Jetzt müsse das Modell aber noch behördlich anerkannt werden.

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?H=N&Nr=16704



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

31.01.07

Politiker denken manchmal langfristiger und strategischer als die Manager großer Konzerne. Glaubt man den politischen Kommentatoren, so werden nach Wahlen "unpopuläre" Entscheidungen getroffen, während im Vorfeld von Wahlen vielfach Gesetze im Interesse der breiten Bevölkerung verabschiedet werden. Diese Spielregeln der westlichen Demokratien scheinen die Manager des Saatgutkonzerns Monsanto gerade erst zu erlernen. Einem Bericht des "Handelsblattes" zufolge verzichtet der Saatgutkonzern Monsanto "vorerst" auf den Anbau von Genmais in Nordhessen. Das geplante Versuchsfeld werde in diesem Jahr nicht angelegt, habe das Unternehmen am Mittwoch in Düsseldorf mitgeteilt. Im derzeitigen Landtagswahlkampf sei der Druck zu groß geworden, schreibt das Blatt. Allerdings gebe Monsanto den Standort nicht endgültig auf.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=15246



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

Copies of handwritten notes by Vice President Dick Cheney, introduced at trial by defense attorneys for former White House staffer I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, would appear to implicate George W. Bush in the Plame CIA Leak case.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107Z.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Plame+leak+case
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Libby
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jason+Leopold

Residents in Cubbington fear the floodgates have opened for communications companies to use their villages as a "dumping ground for masts".

This week phone company T Mobile expressed an interest in installing a mast in Cubbington Road, opposite the Rugby Tavern.

Their enquiry - directed at ward councillor Norman Pratt before submitting an application - follows the fiercely contested application made by O2 for the same plot of land last year.

Residents turned out in force to protest against O2's plans, which were eventually refused by Warwick District Council's planning committee.
But despite a residents' petition carrying more than 1,000 signatures, the committee's decision was overturned on appeal.

In T Mobile's letter to Coun Pratt it has stated that the site next to the existing O2 mast is a "preferred location" for the company.

And county councillor Pratt hopes "people power" will be more successful is rebuffing the latest application.

He said: "We have already got one on that verge that we objected strongly to but lost out to a decision made by an inspector in Bristol.

"I know the health factors are not taken into account, because there is no firm evidence, but having two of these next to each other could be a lot more dangerous than we think.

"This proposal will not only lend greater weight to the objections made at the time of the O2 application, but will set a precedent which those areas who already have a mast may find difficult to resist.

"This could be the thin end of the wedge as who knows how many more companies could take a similar approach."

He added: "Needless to say this further application will be strenuously resisted. There are a number of recent examples where people power has won the day, and it is hoped as many people as possible will give their support for moves to have this latest application thrown out."

Parish councillor David Saul is also urging people to take note and be prepared with their objections if a formal application is submitted.

He said: "This is totally inappropriate for that site because of the situation. It is like putting it in the middle of a housing estate.

"In fact it's like putting a bomb in the middle of a housing estate, a ticking bomb, because we don't know the affect it will have.

"Because of the size of these companies and the power they yield we are being kept away from the truth about the health effects.

"I urge residents to get out on the streets and use their democratic right. I just hope Cubbington is not going to become a dumping ground for phone masts."

A comment from T Mobile was not available as the Courier went to press.

31 January 2007

All rights reserved © 2007 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.leamingtonspatoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=691&ArticleID=1995017

http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3261838/
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/332302/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Krebs+durchs+Handy

Le Figaro's Delphine Minoui reports from Tehran about rising anxiety there over a possible American attack.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107G.shtml

European governments are resisting Bush administration demands that they curtail support for exports to Iran and that they block transactions and freeze assets of some Iranian companies, officials on both sides say. The resistance threatens to open a new rift between Europe and the United States over Iran.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107E.shtml

William Fisher writes: "Champions of our Constitution's First Amendment should be resting easier now. ABC's hiring of Glenn Beck to appear as a regular on its 'Good Morning America' show surely proves that, despite the Bush administration's efforts, freedom of speech is still alive and well in the United States. Beck's anti-Arab and anti-Muslim rants should be producing apoplexy in Ted Turner, who founded CNN to broadcast news - just the facts, ma'am."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107D.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=William+Fisher
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Glenn+Beck

As President Bush took the podium to deliver his State of the Union address last week, there were five American families receiving news that has become all too common: their loved ones had been killed in Iraq. But in this case, the slain were neither "civilians," as the news reports proclaimed, nor were they US soldiers. They were highly trained mercenaries deployed to Iraq by a secretive private military company based in North Carolina - Blackwater USA.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107C.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=mercenaries
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Blackwater

Bush Shoots for "Jaws," Delivers "Jaws 2"

Keith Olbermann deconstructs Bush's State of the Union claim to have foiled four terrorist attacks. He says: "It would all be political hyperbole, Mr. Bush, if you had not, on this kind of 'intelligence,' taken us to war, now sought to escalate that war, and threatened new war in Iran and maybe even elsewhere. What you gave us a week ago tonight, sir, was not intelligence, but rather a walk-through of how speculation and innuendo, guesswork and paranoia, daydreaming and fearmongering, combine in your mind and the minds of your government into proof of your derring-do and your success against the terrorists."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107A.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=State+of+the+Union
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Olbermann

VoteVets.org has a powerful new TV ad calling for senators to support our troops and get them out of Iraq.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/31/vote_vets.php
http://www.votevets.org/

Bush continues to implement the Heritage Foundation's plans to undermine the independence of our civil servants.

http://ga3.org/ct/U720pgF1cX0H/

One author thinks he knows how Thomas Paine would support the troops.
http://ga3.org/ct/Ud20pgF1cX0T/

Bush To Earth: Drop Dead

Too many Americans still support Bush's tepid response to global warming. It's time to wake them up.

http://ga3.org/ct/U120pgF1cX0Y/

by Paul Waldman, TomPaine.com

Democrats need a simple taxation message if they are to sustain their majority.

http://ga3.org/ct/yd20pgF1cX0-/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Paul+Waldman

by Chalmers Johnson, TomDispatch.com

Can anything stop America's slide from democracy to full-blown empire?
http://ga3.org/ct/Up20pgF1cX0G/

--------

Empire v. Democracy: Why Nemesis Is at Our Door

Chalmers Johnson writes: "Whatever future developments may prove to be, my best guess is that the US will continue to maintain a facade of constitutional government and drift along until financial bankruptcy overtakes it. Of course, bankruptcy will not mean the literal end of the US any more than it did for Germany in 1923, China in 1948, or Argentina in 2001-2002. It might, in fact, open the way for an unexpected restoration of the American system - or for military rule, revolution, or simply some new development we cannot yet imagine.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107H.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=empire
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Chalmers+Johnson

http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=640



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=wi-fi
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=wi-fi

Phone Masts are always a recipe for controversy

A BID to build a towering mobile phone mast has been turned down, to the delight of residents.

The 12-metre-high pole, for the network 3, was to be located on the verge next to Portsmouth Road in Lee-on-the-Solent.

But planning permission was refused by Gosport Borough Council and now government inspectors have kicked out an appeal against the decision, saying the mast would be an eyesore.

Gareth Isaac, planning inspector, said: 'In my view, because of the height and position, the proposed new pole would be an unduly dominant feature in the context of its surroundings.

'This would be all the more apparent because of the open and exposed location.'

He said more coverage for the network is needed in the area, but he did not think this was the correct site.

Councillor Chris Carter said: 'This is excellent news for local residents and does, I believe, send out a wider message. Local residents will be delighted.

'I think they will continue looking, but clearly they will think more carefully about it next time.'

The mast was to be set up by Ericsson, which is getting 3's network off the ground.

William Comery, corporate affairs manager at Ericsson Services Ltd, said: 'It is unfortunate that it hasn't been granted.

This will delay the improvement of 3's services in the area.'

Last Updated: 31 January 2007

All rights reserved ©2007 Johnston Press Digital Publishing

http://www.portsmouthtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2010509&SectionID=458

Jan 31 2007

Report by Eileen O'Brien

PARENTS, governors and teachers at Ursuline College fear plans to build a 15 metre mobile phone mast just yards from school playing fields could put kids' lives at risk.

Head teacher Sister Alice Montgomery is fighting plans by Hutchinson 3G to put a mast outside the school on Canterbury Road, Westgate.

Sister Alice, 55, dubbed it 'madness', adding: "Experts simply do not know enough about the technology. It has the potential to harm young people. We have 1,000 children here and King Ethelbert school next door also has 1,000 walking past the site every day. If the worst happens, trying to prove someone's health is linked to a mast is virtually impossible.

"This is a school that spearheads sports and healthy living across Thanet. The proposal is totally inappropriate."

She has written to all 600 families at the school asking them to join her protest to Thanet council. Ursuline does not ban mobile phones but Sister Alice draws the line at a mast on her doorstep.

A spokesman for Harlequin, planning agents for Hutchinson 3G, said: "There are already four other masts in the immediate vicinity, but people don't notice them. Coverage for 3G is limited to a few hundred meters and placing the mast in a field wouldn't provide coverage where people are."

© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Southern Limited 2007

http://tinyurl.com/yqcsve

AlterNet
by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

01/31/07

In a quarter-page advertorial in Thursday's New York Times, ExxonMobil launched a new greenwashing campaign to salvage its earned reputation as Earth's number one global warming villain. For over a decade the giant oil company has waged a successful multi-million dollar propaganda campaign to deceive the public about global warming. Using phony think tanks like the Competitive Enterprise Institute, scientists-for-hire called biostitutes, slick public relations firms, and their indentured servants in the political process, they have intentionally defrauded the public by promoting the notion that global warming is a hoax or a sketchy theory that requires more study. The company now asserts that its position on global warming has been 'misunderstood,' but its decade of mischief is well documented...

http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/47371/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

--------

Investors Worth Trillions Ask Companies to Disclose Climate Risk
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2007/2007-01-31-01.asp


Informant: NHNE



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Exxon
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Kennedy

Cato Institute
by Ted Galen Carpenter

01/31/07

In his State of the Union Address last Tuesday, President Bush warned that if the U.S. fails in Iraq, al Qaeda will gain a safe haven from which to launch attacks against America. It is an argument that the President, other members of the administration, and neoconservative hawks have been using for years. ... Despite such scare mongering, it is highly improbable that al Qaeda could use Iraq as the kind of safe haven it enjoyed in Afghanistan. There, the organization had the protection of an entrenched, friendly government, which it will not have in Iraq. Al Qaeda also had a much larger force in Afghanistan -- an estimated 18,000 fighters. Even the U.S. government concedes that there are fewer than 2,000 al Qaeda fighters in Iraq, and the Iraq Study Group put the figure at only 1,300. Indeed, foreign fighters make up a relatively small component of the Sunni insurgency against the U.S. and British occupation forces. It strains credulity to imagine 1,300 fighters (and foreigners at that) dominating a country of 26 million people...

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=7353


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Mother Jones
by Daniel Schulman

01/30/07

It's something the public rarely gets to see -- the shadow world of Washington politics, that complex interplay between reporters and the government they cover. Most politicians -- and many journalists, too -- would probably prefer to keep it that way. Unfortunately for them, the trial of the vice president's former chief of staff, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, now in its second week, has pulled back the curtain. The picture is none too flattering, particularly for the Bush administration -- which, as a number of key witnesses have now confirmed, actively endeavored to undercut former ambassador Joseph Wilson...

http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2007/01/libby_two.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Libby
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Joseph+Wilson

The Free Liberal
by Carl S. Milsted, Jr.

01/31/07

[D]oes home power generation make sense? Due to the high duty cycle and large scale of operation, it can pay to build a centralized power plant that maximizes efficiency at the cost of huge capital outlay. It is unrealistic to expect mass produced home generators to achieve the 60% efficiency achieved at the better generating stations. This holds even when you take into account transmission losses (roughly 7% on average). The answer is: home power generation does indeed make sense, even if the efficiency is only 40% (in the diesel range). That's because the other 60% can be used as heat...

http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/002582.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

By ALAN LICZYK

Some Wildfield residents are fighting the proposed installation of a Bell Mobility tower at the local St. Patrick's Church.

One of the residents, Dan O'Reilly, addressed Caledon council last Tuesday and asked if council would request the Association of Municipalities of Ontario develop a policy position paper on cellular relay transmission towers.

With the proliferation of cell towers, O'Reilly explained there's an urgent need for an expanded and more uniform policy or strategy to deal with three other areas of concern: loss of municipal control, esthetics and possible health and safety risks.

He noted the Bell Mobility tower could be 100 feet or higher and will stick out like a sore thumb.

He added they've made some progress in their campaign. In December the City of Brampton approved a recommendation from its heritage board to proceed with designation of the church under the Ontario Heritage Act.

He observed cell towers seem to be everywhere including one at Dixie and Mayfield roads, another at Airport and Mayfield roads, a third one near the Regional Road 50 and Mayfield Road intersection, and "the incredibly ugly structure that now looms over the Albion Bolton Community Centre."

O'Reilly pointed out there's a lot of scientific research that argues cell towers are a health and safety risk because of electromagnetic radiation.

"Long-term exposure to such radiation has been linked to leukemia, DNA damage, short- and longterm memory loss, buzzing in the ears and acceleration of cancer cells," he said.

The Vancouver school board, various American cities and countries such as New Zealand and Greece have limited or banned the placement of cell towers on or near schools, he explained.

"As well, the International Association of Firefighters, a labour union that represents professional firefighters in Canada and the United States oppose the use of fire stations as cell tower locations," he said. "These are the people who risk their lives running into burning buildings, and yet they're concerned about the potential of cell tower radiation."

O'Reilly was shocked when various Brampton officials told him all that would be needed for the project to proceed in Wildfield would be a site plan approval and a building permit.

Even if the city opposed the project, its decision could be overruled by Industry Canada, the federal government department that regulates cell towers, he said.

"It seems absolutely incredible the telecommunications industry and Industry Canada can and does bully municipal councils and override the rights of local citizens," O'Reilly said. "Caledon and every other municipality should have the right, on behalf of its citizens, to direct the placement of these towers."

Council will send its concern with the lack of municipal input into the location of cell towers in Caledon to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Dufferin- Caledon MP David Tilson.

Council also requested its planning and development staff prepare a report, with input from the Caledon environmental advisory committee, concerning the impact of radio waves.

http://www.caledoncitizen.com/news/2007/0131/news/008.html


Informant: Martin Weatherall

CAN WE STOP THE CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD of election integrity activists long enough to achieve election outcome integrity by the 2008 election?

The election integrity movement has been a circular firing squad ever since July 2004 when I first began devoting time to it. At the first conference I attended, before I even spoke, I sat down with Lynn Landes who immediately berated me for using math and exit polls to evaluate election integrity and who later attacked my work on her web site and then subsequently plagiarized it, reposting some of my work with minor changes and without acknowledgement. This behavior on the part of several activists has been repeated over and over again. It seems that they glance at the work, don't understand it at first, attack it, and after reading it later, slightly restate and claim that it is their own.

VoteTrustUSA, when it began, advertised its affiliation with the National Election Data Archive on its home page, using our good name to garner support, while simultaneously refusing to allow me to participate in any of its email discussion groups. VoteTrustUSA has consistently refused to mention any of my work for ensuring that election outcomes are correct that has taken me considerable amount of time, but they often follow my work within days or weeks by lengthy articles by their own favorite statistician describing equivalent work, often with slight changes.

A few days ago I emailed a board member who moderates the Open Voting Consortium (OVC) discussion list to express my concerns about his apparent encouragement of plagiarism and also expressed my fundamental disagreements with some of their positions. By return email, I was summarily removed from their list and told it was because I cc'd Bev Harris, Doug Jones, David Mertz, and David Dill. The disagreements that I expressed were:

1. OVC's President Alan Dechert, in a recent conversation, told me that he has been meeting with US Congressional Members and encouraging them not to pass any federal election integrity legislation. In my opinion, federal legislation mandating routine election outcome verification via manual vote counting with public oversight is vital to the continuation of American democracy in an electronic age.

2. OVC's current position is for each voting booth to have a computer ballot printing or a computer ballot marking voting device. In my opinion, paper ballots which are cast by machines would mean that printing errors on ballots could be overlooked even if voters visually check ballot accuracy before depositing them in a ballot box. Able-bodied voters should be encouraged to caste their votes directly on paper ballots so that there is no possibility that any errors were the fault of improper configuration or programming. A computer is a ridiculous waste of money for an activity that takes an able-bodied person ten minutes once a year.

3. The OVC has not adopted a position in favor of manual counts of voter verifiable paper ballot records (or audits). When OVC's President Dechert recently addressed California's County Election Directors none of his presentation materials mentioned manual audits/counts of VVPR (voter verifiable paper records of ballots). As we all know, having VVPRs (voter verifiable paper ballot records) with every voting system is meaningless showmanship unless there are sufficient routine manual counts, transparency, and citizen oversight.

I appreciate the commendable work of the Open Voting Consortium to design and promote more trustworthy, secure, accountable, accurate, less costly electronic voting systems and devise methods to ensure that any person responsible for vote miscount or vote fraud might be held accountable. While everything that the OVC is doing would make the voting system more efficient and trustworthy, efficiency and accountability do not translate into accurate elections results unless there are routine manual counts of VVPRs (or audits).

On the other side of the circular firing squad are the persons calling themselves HCPBs (Hand Counted Paper Ballot Only Supporters) who want to scrap all electronic voting machines and return to 100% hand counts on the night of the election. Many in this group vociferously attack and mischaracterize any other solution that could ensure the accuracy of election outcomes.

CAN WE STOP THE CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD of election integrity activists long enough to achieve election outcome integrity by the 2008 election?

It is a mathematically provable fact that there are five separate ways of using manual counts of VVPRs along with citizen oversight to verify the accuracy and integrity of election outcomes. They are:

1. 100% Hand counts of 100% of all vote counts

2. 100% hand counts of sufficient numbers of randomly selected vote counts – Exact – Program

3. 100% hand counts of sufficient numbers of randomly selected vote counts - Tiered - Table

4. 100% hand counts of sufficient numbers of randomly selected vote counts – Estimated - Formula

5. Count 10% of randomly sampled ballots of 100% of vote counts

I couldn't give a darn which method is used as long as at least ONE method is used in every election jurisdiction. These five methods all have pros and cons. Some are more politically viable than others. Some may be resisted more by election officials who seem apt to resist any audits of their work, than others. Some can only be used with certain voting systems. Some require different amounts of resources and different procedures. All require auditable voting systems with VVPRs and all have more commonalities than differences. Any one of the five would ensure the integrity and accuracy of our election outcomes if executed with proper procedures and citizen oversight.

This is what I propose: Let us form a new group of activists to work on a project to explain ALL the possible methods (I can count FIVE so far) that could be chosen to verify the integrity of election results using hand counts of VVPRs; give the pros and cons of each method; and ask that our US legislators pass ANY ONE of them – or a general requirement that states use AT LEAST ONE of the available methods of verifying the integrity of election outcomes.

I invite anyone who agrees with the following five ground rules to join a discussion group to work on this project. If you agree that:

1. We need sufficient publicly observable and verifiable manual counts of VVPRs in every election to assure the accuracy and integrity of election outcomes because all voting systems are created and implemented by human beings 100% of whom are not 100% infallible and
100% honest.

2. We will not mischaracterize or wrongly attack any of the five methods for ensuring election outcome integrity just because we have a preference for one particular method.

3. We will point out the flaws or cons of all of the five methods of ensuring election integrity only after studying and understanding them first. (We agree to do due diligence by reading and asking questions before pointing out alleged problems with any of the five methods.)

4. We will help describe and work on a paper explaining all of the five methods to ensure the integrity of election outcomes; assisting in our own areas of expertise.

5. We will act with integrity and be honest and stick with the facts.

You do not have to be an expert on all five methods. If you would like to join a work group of election integrity activists who agree with the above, in order to explain the possible solutions to ensure election outcome integrity, please send an email to

fix-elections-somehow-subscribe @uscountvotes.org

and be sure to reply to the confirmation email. (We can form a Yahoo group instead if people would prefer but for now, please subscribe to this list.)

However, please do not subscribe to the list if your aim is to shoot down any of the five methods rather than to help accurately describe how each of them would work to ensure the integrity of elections.

Any which way we can do it, we need to ensure the integrity of US elections by 2008!


Kathy Dopp
http://electionarchive.org

By Hayley Cover

Michael Haines prepares to hand over his petition to the city council

A petition with more than 1,200 signatures has been handed to Oxford City Council in a bid to fight plans for a mobile phone mast in Marston.

Mobile giant Vodafone wants to put the mast - disguised as a telegraph pole - in Jack Straw's Lane, near St Michael and All Angels Church.

The site in Marston Road is only 100 yards from a previous spot where a mast had been proposed a year ago.

Marston resident Michael Haines, who organised the petition, had collected 1,288 signatures by Monday.

Mr Haines, 66, of Croft Road, said: "I got my final signature on Monday. I was very pleased with the support.

"Everyone was more than willing to sign it. I have been going round each area of Marston for the past two weeks which has taken a lot of time and effort, but it has been worth it.

"There was only a few that didn't want to sign it because of employment at the council."

This is not Mr Haines first petition. He collected 779 signatures when he successfully blocked the earlier mast application from the Newbury-based firm in November 2005.

Vodafone thinks the new location for the 10-metre high phone mast - which will provide high-quality 3G coverage to the Marston area of Oxford - will have less impact on the environment.

The pole is to be placed near a number of trees which will provide some screening for the site. But the residents think it is unsightly and are worried it could lead to health problems.

Mr Haines, who hopes the council will oppose this new application, said: "I think the city council has got to sit up and take notice now.

"There are a lot of signatures on the petition. The residents feel that this mast is being pushed on us.

"Why should we have to put up with something that is going to be unsightly and potentially dangerous to our health, when we don't even want it there?"

Vodafone spokesman Rob Matthews said: "All Vodafone's sites follow exposure guidelines backed by independent bodies such as the World Health Organisation.

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

"There is a need for improved 3G coverage in this area of Oxford and without base stations people would not be able to use their 3G phones.

"Vodafone works closely with the council and local residents to ensure that their design is as visually unobtrusive as possible."

© Copyright 2001-2007 Newsquest Media Group

http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.1158370.0.massive_backing_for_phone_mast_fight.php

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31biofuel.html


Informant: binstock



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Palm+Oil

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/01/11/18345676.php


Informant: Carlos Rovira

From ufpj-news

A Faith-Based Fuel Initiative

The New York Times writes: "Mileage standards are still 27.5 mpg. Except for minor tweaks, Congress has refused to raise fuel efficiency requirements or close a gaping loophole that lets SUVs and pickups be measured by a more lenient standard. Americans who heard President Bush's State of the Union address, including his pledge to reduce America's gasoline consumption, can be forgiven for thinking he was finally ready to change that. But all Mr. Bush really asked for was the authority to set mileage standards in a different way."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107N.shtml

Republican and Democratic senators warned Tuesday against a drift toward war with an emboldened Iran and suggested the Bush administration was missing a chance to engage its longtime adversary in potentially helpful talks over next-door Iraq.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107M.shtml

The Bush administration was yesterday accused of systemic tampering with the work of government climate scientists to eliminate politically inconvenient material about global warming. At Congressional hearing, scientists and advocacy groups described a campaign by the White House to remove references to global warming from scientific reports and limit public mention of the topic to avoid pressure on an administration opposed to mandatory controls on greenhouse gas emissions.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107L.shtml

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee began laying the constitutional groundwork today for an effort to block President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq and place new limits on the conduct of the war there, perhaps forcing a withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. Said Senator Arlen Specter, "I would respectfully suggest to the president that he is not the sole decider," Mr. Specter said. "The decider is a joint and shared responsibility."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107K.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=troop+surge
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Arlen+Specter
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=decider

Jason Leopold reports: "The list of officials linked to this case runs from Vice President Dick Cheney right on down to one of his low-level press officers. Testimony has revealed that a coordinated effort was put into place beginning in June 2003 by Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, Libby, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, White House communications director Dan Bartlett, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, and as many as a dozen other officials to go after Wilson. In doing so, Wilson's wife's undercover CIA status was compromised, and a possible crime was committed."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107J.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Condoleezza+Rice
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Armitage
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Stephen+Hadley
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jason+Leopold

http://www.socialistworker.org/2007-1/617/617_05_Obama.shtml


Informant: Ashley Smith

From ufpj-news



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

http://go.care2.com/e/R4ub/dYfQ/lgBn


From Linda H.



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=pölar+bears

http://www.electroallergie.org/Openingspagina/Engelse%20samenvattingen/english_summaries.htm

(Chris F. via artjar)



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

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who left one of Wall Street's most powerful posts in part to broker a Social Security overhaul, may find his biggest hurdle is his boss, President George W. Bush. For both substantive and political reasons, any fix to Social Security must both increase revenues and reduce benefits, budget experts say. Paulson, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief executive officer, is inviting Democrats and Republicans to talks including all options; at the same time, White House officials appear to rule out raising taxes.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013007LA.shtml

Indonesia could lose about 2,000 islands by 2030 due to climate change, the country's environment minister said on Monday.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013007ED.shtml

Senate Democrats oppose the war in Iraq, they just don't plan on stopping it. Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), has decided, however, to challenge what he calls the "timidity" of Democratic leaders. He said he's going to introduce legislation cutting off funding for the Iraq War, and he may do it as early as this week.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013007T.shtml



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

http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=98794


Informant: Amy Sasser

From ufpj-news

http://www.rense.com/general75/perft.htm


From Supreme Law Firm



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

http://www.libertycoalition.net/cognitive-liberty/psychiatry-gone-wild-teenscreen-documents-exposed


Informant: Amy Sasser

From ufpj-news

"Why are you travelling so often to Canada?" the tough U.S. border guard barked. I was on Amtrak, going from New York to Montreal, as I'd done dozen of times before over several decades. This was my first experience (summer 2006) of the increasingly standard and intrusive "U.S. Exit Interviews" on trains crossing the border.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/202/52/

Lawmakers received survey results of federal scientists that showed 46 percent felt pressure to eliminate the words “climate change,” “global warming” or similar terms from communications about their work.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16886008/


From Information Clearing House

The close relation between war and natural resources is of long standing. What else was colonial conquest about? Vast estates held by the Dutch East India Company came under direct control of the Crown as did the lands conquered by the British East India Company.

http://www.monthlyreview.org/0107tabb.htm#Volume


From Information Clearing House

Billions of people will suffer water shortages and the number of hungry will grow by hundreds of millions by 2080 as global temperatures rise, scientists warn in a new report.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/203/52/

The former chief of the CIA's Europe division, Tyler Drumheller, discusses the covert kidnapping of suspected terrorists and a Bush adminstration that ignored CIA advice and used whatever information it could find to justify an invasion of Iraq.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,462782,00.html


From Information Clearing House

The Australian lawyer for Guantanamo detainee David Hicks says his client is chained to the floor of his cell and has not seen sunlight for months.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1836552.htm



Guantanamo conditions 'like a Nazi camp'

David Hicks' US lawyer has described conditions at Guantanamo Bay, where he has been held for five years, as "like a Nazi concentration camp".

http://tinyurl.com/26fncm


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guantanamo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=David+Hicks

Video

Pilger describes the extraordinary generosity of a liberated people, but asks who are the true beneficiaries of a democracy - the black majority or the white minority?

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/205/1/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=John+Pilger

Top Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd is warning that the Bush administration is preparing to go to war with Iran.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/1/30/110352.shtml?s=ic



Manufacturing consent for war with Iran

In this video, Alan Dershowitz threatens to unleash World War Four under false pretense.

http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=739



Is Dershowitz Qualified to Do Book Reviews?
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan07/Amr29.htm


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Dershowitz
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Byrd

US officials in Baghdad and Washington are expected to unveil a secret intelligence "dossier" this week detailing evidence of Iran's alleged complicity in attacks on American troops in Iraq. The move, uncomfortably echoing Downing Street's dossier debacle in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, is one more sign that the Bush administration is building a case for war.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldbriefing/story/0,,2002232,00.html


From Information Clearing House

A documentary film by John Pilger

'Global economy' is a modern Orwellian term. On the surface, it is instant financial trading, mobile phones, McDonald's, Starbucks, holidays booked on the net. Beneath this gloss, it is the globalisation of poverty, a world where most human beings never make a phone call and live on less than two dollars a day, where 6,000 children die every day from diarrhea because most have no access to clean water.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14517.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=John+Pilger

Video

U.S. occupation troops show complete disregard for either the lives or property of the Iraqi people.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/211/59/

By Howard Zinn

Courage is in short supply in Washington, D.C. The realities of the Iraq War cry out for the overthrow of a government that is criminally responsible for death, mutilation, torture, humiliation, chaos. But all we hear in the nation’s capital, which is the source of those catastrophes, is a whimper from the Democratic Party, muttering and nattering about “unity” and “bipartisanship,” in a situation that calls for bold action to immediately reverse the present course.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/201/52/



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

Audio and Transcript

Barry Lando, a former 60 Minutes producer, examines how the United States has meddled in Iraq dating back to the Eisenhower administration. He also looks at how the Reagan and Bush administration helped arm Saddam Hussein at a time when he was committing his deadliest atrocities.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/200/57/

By Juan Cole

The president's decision to use force against Iranian "agents" inside Iraq could snare innocent pilgrims, and raises the risk of open warfare.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/207/52/



The Big Lie and The Real Threat
http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/206/52/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Juan+Cole

1/30/07 MSNBC COUNTDOWN, KEITH OLBERMANN
SHOCKING BREAKING NEWS....
AUDIO:
http://www.apfn.net/pogo/L001I070130B1.MP3

1/30/07 MSNBC....WHY WE SHOULD LEAVE IRAQ..
AUDIO:
http://www.apfn.net/pogo/L002I070130B2.MP3

AUDIO: TALK RADIO
http://www.apfn.net/pogo/A001I070130L1.MP3

Woolsey takes up President Bush's Challenge on Iraq
January 17, 2007, Washington , DC
Introduces H. R. 508 -- comprehensive alternative to escalation: plan would bring all US troops home within 6-months
http://www.pdamerica.org/articles/news/2007-01-17-22-20-47-news.php

SONGS OF THE TIMES
LIVING WITH WAR TODAY
http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwsongspage.html

Executive Orders Issued by President George W. Bush
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/orders/

YouTube - Carl Klang: Blinded by the Lies
Added January 01, 2007 From apfnorg. Blinded by the lies ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZvSWMWpQHA


Source: http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=108854;show_parent=1



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

http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0130-03.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=minimum+wage

Interviews Show Federal Scientists Being Pressured by Political Appointees
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0130-06.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0130-27.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=George+Monbiot

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0130-26.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=John+Nichols

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0130-22.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pelosi
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ruth+Rosen

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0130-21.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kathy+Kelly

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0130-05.htm

Climate Change Outlook Bleak for Poor, Says Anti-Poverty Agency ActionAid
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0202-08.htm

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_5109409


Informant: Jack Topel



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kucinich
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cindy+Sheehan

http://www.lewrockwell.com/chartier/chartier59.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/chartier

http://www.lewrockwell.com/buchanan/buchanan53.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/buchanan

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/leithner1.html



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

http://www.lewrockwell.com/alston/alston15.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/alston

http://www.lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w9.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/grigg

http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory129.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/gregory

http://www.lewrockwell.com/marina/marina16.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jan27
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=empire
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/marina

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/5652/


Informant: jensenmk



US 'victory' against cult leader was 'massacre'
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2201103.ece


Informant: Steven L. Robinson

From ufpj-news

--------

US "Victory" Against Cult Leader Was "Massacre"

There are growing suspicions in Iraq that the official story of the battle outside Najaf between a messianic Iraqi cult and the Iraqi security forces supported by the US, in which 263 people were killed and 210 wounded, is a fabrication. The heavy casualties may be evidence of an unpremeditated massacre.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107B.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Patrick+Cockburn

NEWS, VIDEO, & FIRSTHAND: ‘The most enormous gathering of people I've ever seen’

[Though the mainstream media used the expression “tens of thousands,” organizers of the march and rally in Washington, D.C. called by United for Peace and Justice estimated the number who gathered on the National Mall to be about 500,000, Inter Press Service reported.[1] -- Truthout accompanied the report with a video. -- Deborah Kory, the managing editor of *Tikkun*, called it “the most enormous gathering of people I’ve ever seen” and said: “It was an inspired day. Beautifully warm and sunny, there were people crowded on the Mall as far as the eye could see. There was joy and a sense of collective humanity and purpose. There was sadness and indignation and cries for help. There were small children and elderly people in wheelchairs, unions and religious congregations, celebrities, and tireless-but-anonymous peace activists. We came out of love, fear, anger. We came to bear witness to the current reality and invoke the possibility of an entirely different reality. And we came in the hundreds of thousands.”[2] --Mark]

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/5654/

1.

ANTIWAR MARCHES DRAW HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS By Aaron Glantz

Inter Press Service January 28, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Peace activists from across the United States gathered in Washington Saturday for what they said was the largest demonstration to date against the Iraq war.

"It's time for a new day," the Reverend Jesse Jackson told what organisers estimated as a crowd of 500,000 demonstrators gathered outside the halls of Congress on the National Mall.

"We do not need more troops in Iraq, we need more money at home," Jackson said. "We need a vision of hope over fear, of preparing smart children not smart bombs. A vision realising that right makes might; might does not make right."

The demonstration, which was pulled together by an umbrella group called United for Peace and Justice, also featured speeches by a half dozen antiwar Congresspeople.

Among them was a founder of Congress' "Out of Iraq Caucus," Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, who pledged not to vote "one dime for this war."

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson also spoke, as did actors Jane Fonda and Sean Penn, members of the National Organization for Women and other feminist groups, members of the United States military and veterans groups opposed to the war, and representatives of organized labour.

"The American people spoke loudly in the November election, removing from office many of those who shared President Bush's wrong-headed thinking," Fred Mason, head of the Maryland chapter of the AFL-CIO, a major umbrella trade union, told the crowd. "The new Congress has a responsibility to the American people to end military involvement in Iraq and bring our troops home now."

Like many speakers at the rally, Mason expressed disappointment that so far the Democratic Congress' opposition to George W. Bush's Iraq policy has shown itself mainly in the drafting of non-binding resolutions against his troop surge. For his part, Bush has rebuffed those efforts.

"I'm the decision maker," Bush said Friday. "I've picked the plan that I think is most likely to succeed . . . I know there is scepticism and pessimism and that some are condemning a plan before it's even had a chance to work."

Like other speakers at Saturday's rally, trade unionist Fred Mason said Bush's intransigence means Congress should immediately cut funding for the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

"The American people don't want a surge in the violence and the deadly risk to their loved ones associated with this president's wrong-headed approach," he said. "Our democracy provides ourselves with the opportunity to express ourselves in these electoral processes. However, when there is reason to doubt whether the people we elected are heeding the people's will, we have a responsibility to speak with an even louder voice."

Still, the mood amongst demonstrators was optimistic.

"I really feel the American people are with us," said Al Johnson, a retired teacher from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

"It's such an important topic," he told IPS. "I haven't been to a demonstration in more than 30 years."

Saturday's demonstration in Washington was just one of more than 50 held around the country this weekend. In San Francisco, a protest against President Bush's plan to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq turned out
5,000 demonstrators. In Los Angeles, thousands took to the streets, with many carrying signs that said "Impeach Bush."

In Seattle, more than 1,000 people turned out to protest. Among the speakers at that rally was first Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to face prosecution for refusing to serve in Iraq.

Long-time social activist Tom Hayden told IPS President Bush's ability to wage war is increasingly tenuous.

"Wars are based on pillars," Hayden said. "You need available soldiers, you need bipartisan support. You need recruitment of more soldiers, you need money, you need your moral reputation to be preserved and you need allies. By any of those measures the pillars are being undermined."

Hayden noted that more than 1,000 active duty U.S. soldiers have signed a petition calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Unhappiness with the war is also growing among veterans, with the group Iraq Veterans Against the War estimating their organisation has quadrupled in size over the last year.

"Supporting the troops that have signed these petitions and supporting efforts to stop military recruitment at our high schools and at community colleges are absolutely vital," Hayden added. "But people every day can do something. You want to convince your undecided neighbor to go against, you want to convince your kid not to go, you want to take a picket sign to the military recruiting office. You want to link up with the poor people's and labour organisations and say this war costs 287 million dollars an hour."

"If you put your energies toward a pillar they will eventually tip," he said, "and they cannot fight a war without these resources."


2.

ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE By Deborah Kory

Huffington Post January 28, 2007

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-kory/one-of-the-best-days-of-m_b_39845.html

"Tens of thousands" protested in Washington, they are saying. The news media got this number from an unofficial, un-named police source, while the organizers of the event themselves were seemingly not consulted. I walked right up to Leslie Kagan (President of United for Peace and Justice and chief organizer of today's protest) after the event was over and asked her how many people she thought attended today.

She said 500,000 was their estimate, but she expected the media would report only half that number. But "tens of thousands"? Come on, news! There were masses of people from forty states, three hundred busloads, over 1000 organizations, not to mention all the people who just showed up because they had to. The media does a grave injustice in under-reporting our collective force. We came from all parts of the country to represent the majority of Americans in our call to end the war in Iraq and withdraw our troops. This was not some fringey little gathering -- we had Congresspeople, grandmothers, Democrats and Republicans, veterans of the Iraq War, men still serving in the army, celebrities, children, people of all faiths, ethnicities, color. It was the most enormous gathering of people I've ever seen, and most certainly the biggest and most diverse protest held in Washington, D.C. since the Vietnam Era.

I suppose I should be grateful that the media didn't do what it has done over the last few years and photograph the lady on stilts, the giant papier-mâché puppet and some potheads playing hacky sack and use these images to represent the peace movement. But I can't help but feel pissed off returning after this incredible, massive, exuberant March on Washington and seeing lengthy coverage of the theft of Crysal Gayle's tour bus and even lengthier coverage of the poor kid who got a ten-year prison sentence for getting a blow job. Look, I'm sorry about that kid, he's a victim of a most bizarre form of sexual oppression, but wouldn't it behoove CNN -- our Cheerleader in Chief for this war -- to analyze the meaning of this day with at least as much fervor as they are dissecting this blow job? It is almost comical that on the very day we were gathering to call for the impeachment of our current President, the press should obsessively dissect the nuances of a blow job gone awry. Smacks of something familiar.

Well, I'm here to bear witness to reality, the facts on the ground. We were not in the "tens of thousands," we were in the "hundreds of thousands." Quote that, damnit. We did not gather to protest the surge
(though it was certainly one object of our protest); we gathered to protest the immorality of the Iraq War. We came to mourn the hundreds of thousands of lives lost to this meaningless war and to express our fears about being thrust against our will to the very brink of global chaos. We did not come to "march against Congress" as some of the media are claiming; we came to hold our elected officials accountable and to use the leverage we have in this so-called Democracy to try to correct for 5 years of political lunacy. We came to let our elected representatives know that if they press forward with their mandate to end the war, we will be here to support them. We came not only to protest, but to engage in dialogue with our elected officials (we will be "lobbying" on Capitol Hill on Monday). And, yes, we came to ask for a Presidential impeachment.

We came in the hundreds of thousands. Counterprotestors: 40 or so. They called us "Commies" as we walked by. They were so last-century and out of touch that people stopped to take pictures of them, curious remnants of a bygone era.

It was an inspired day. Beautifully warm and sunny, there were people crowded on the Mall as far as the eye could see. There was joy and a sense of collective humanity and purpose. There was sadness and indignation and cries for help. There were small children and elderly people in wheelchairs, unions and religious congregations, celebrities, and tireless-but-anonymous peace activists. We came out of love, fear, anger. We came to bear witness to the current reality and invoke the possibility of an entirely different reality. And we came in the hundreds of thousands.

From ufpj-news



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jan27

http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2007/01/013007.html#1


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news



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

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2007-01-30T214344Z_01_N30346494_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-WARMING.xml


Informant: NHNE

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007050028,00.html


Informant: NHNE

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/01/28/1169919213362.html


Informant: NHNE

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/5651/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news



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