World-News

Lifelong Republican, Marine veteran and former Congressman Pete McCloskey has left the GOP and registered with the Democratic Party. McCloskey says he is disgusted with the "succession of ethical scandals, Congressmen taking bribes, and abuse of power by both the Republican House leadership and the highest appointees of the White House."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041707H.shtml



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

Climate change threatens to prolong the war on terrorism and foster political instability that some governments will be unable to cope with, an influential panel of eleven retired US generals has warned. "On the simplest level, it has the potential to create sustained natural and humanitarian disasters on a scale far beyond those we see today," said the panel, which includes retired General Anthony Zinni, former commander of US forces in the Middle East.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041707E.shtml

George Bush and Dick Cheney are determined to secure another $100 billion blank check for the Iraq war despite a growing consensus among intelligence and military analysts that the war strategy is in chaos and on course to gravely damage US interests in the Middle East. Having solidified support among Congressional Republicans and still backed by a powerful right-wing news media, Bush and Cheney appear to have concluded that they can force Congressional Democrats to back down over legislative language seeking a phased withdrawal from Iraq.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041707D.shtml



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

Dean Baker writes: "The public is outraged over the enormous paychecks that are now standard for people who run large corporations. Compensation packages routinely run into the tens of millions of dollars, and it is no longer unusual for a top executive to walk away with hundreds of millions of dollars for their service. In fact, Robert Nardelli, the CEO of Home Depot, got paid $210 million to go away when the company dumped him for his failed turnaround effort. When it comes to CEO pay, it seems pretty clear that corporate America simply has no control."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041707C.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Dean+Baker

New details emerging from Justice Department interviews and emails suggest that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and perhaps President Bush were more active than they've acknowledged in the firings last year of eight US attorneys, lawmakers said Monday.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041707B.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=firing+attorneys
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gonzales

A House task force will take the first steps Tuesday in an investigation of a Florida Congressional election decided by 369 votes amid complaints that voting machines failed to count thousands of electronic ballots. The House, which has final authority over its membership, typically waits until legal challenges are completed before taking action. But Florida Democrats last month asked the House Administration Committee to begin reviewing the election after reports of an anomaly in the touch-screen voting machines that recorded about 18,000 skipped votes in Sarasota County.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041707A.shtml



With GOP On Board, FL-13 Task Force Moves Forward in Election Dispute

House Republicans yielded their protest yesterday and sent two members to the first meeting of a task force assigned to look into the contested House race in Florida's 13th district, setting in motion a legitimized process for the House to review the contest.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041807O.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Florida+Election
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=voting+machines
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sarasota
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=GOP

Das Backwood-Slasher-Revival und das nationale Unbehagen.
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/25/25039/1.html

Waisen, Witwen, Lügen
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/25/25093/1.html

The World Bank president and Bush administration agent has a series of ethical pratfalls.

http://ga3.org/ct/Hp20pgF1VzQA/



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

Ernteeinsatz wird zum Pflichtprogramm

Arbeitsagentur gibt nach. Strenge Vorgabe für Anteil Deutscher an Erntehelfern gelockert

„Die Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA) will nur noch motivierte Arbeitslose zu Ernteeinsätzen vermitteln, gegen Arbeitsverweigerer aber mit Abstrichen beim Arbeitslosengeld vorgehen: Das sehe eine neue Dienstanweisung zur Vermittlung von Erntehelfern vor, berichtete eine BA-Sprecherin. Falls in Einzelfällen nicht genug deutsche Arbeitslose für die Feldarbeit gefunden würden, könnten Betriebe bis zu 90 Prozent der Stellen mit ausländischen Saisonkräften besetzen. Zuvor war der Anteil ausländischer Erntehelfer auf 80 Prozent begrenzt….“ Meldung in der Frankfurter Rundschau vom 16.04.2007 http://www.fr-online.de/in_und_ausland/politik/thema_des_tages/?em_cnt=1115534


Mit dem Spargel-Video fit für den Acker

„Bei Mainz werden nur noch motivierte Arbeitslose in die Ernte geschickt. Das Ausbuddeln des Spargels wird vorher geübt. Polnische Erntehelfer gehen inzwischen lieber nach Spanien oder Südfrankreich - dort gibt es mehr Geld zu verdienen…“ Artikel von Klaus-Peter Klingelschmitt in der taz vom 17.4.2007 http://www.taz.de/dx/2007/04/17/a0064.1/text


Betrifft: Geplante Zwangsarbeit in der Landwirtschaft

„Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, anbetracht der jüngsten Pläne der Bundesagentur für Arbeit durch Androhung von Leistungskürzungen Zwangsarbeit für ALG II-Bezieher in der Landwirtschaft (Erntehelfer) durchzusetzen, fordere ich Sie auf, diesen Verfassungsverstoß durch gesetzliche Regelungen zu unterbinden…“ Petition und öffentlicher Kommentar von Armin Kammrad, Augsburg, vom 14.04.2007 http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/arbeit/realpolitik/zwang/spargel07.html


Aus: LabourNet, 17. April 2007

--------

Erntehelfer aufgepasst: Erfahrungsberichte gesucht

4,78 Euro die Stunde der gesetzliche Mindestlohn und Arbeitszeiten von 12 Stunden ( ab 6 oder 7 Uhr auf dem Feld, Feierabend gegen 18 Uhr, zwischendurch zwei Stunden Mittagspause) bei einer 5 - 6 Tage Woche - Arbeitsbedingungen die ans Mittelalter erinnern. Wer möchte da bei sommerlichen Temperaturen von mehr als 30° nicht gerne ca. 1000 Euro brutto im Monat verdienen?

Vielfach wird aber berichtet, das diese Verdienste nur dann erreicht werden, wenn die Erntehelfer, die vom Landwirt gesetzten Mindestmengen in guter Qualität einbringen. Bei Minderleistungen oder schlechtem Erzeugnis wird der Mindestlohn sogar unterschritten, in dem Überstunden nicht bezahlt werden bzw. eine Entlohnung überhaupt nicht auf Stundenlohnbasis erfolgt, sondern auf der Basis der geleisteten Erntemenge.

Nun sucht der Sozialticker Erntehelfer, die bereit sind über Ihre Erfahrungen aus vergangenen oder aber auch aktuellen Ernteeinsätzen zu schildern und ob die versprochenen Vergütungen auch eingehalten wurden.

Senden Sie Ihre Erfahrungsberichte an : info@sozialticker.com oder nutzen Sie das Kontaktformular auf: http://www.sozialticker.com

Helfen Sie durch Ihre Erfahrungsberichte mit, Missstände aufzudecken und den Ernteeinsatz objektiv für andere zu schildern.

Der Sozialticker e.V.i.G.
Alte Dorfstr. 4
15926 Luckau,
Deutschland
info (at) sozialticker.com
http://www.sozialticker.com



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Zwangsarbeit
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Erntehelfer

„Vom 05.-06. Juni 2007 findet das 5. Potsdamer Forum für Führungskräfte im öffentlichen Dienst statt. Das Potsdamer Forum wird gemeinsam von ver.di, der Bertelsmann Stiftung und der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung durchgeführt. Die Veranstaltung richtet sich an Führungskräfte mit Personalverantwortung.“ So die Homepage zur Veranstaltung http://potsdamer-forum.verdi.de/

Siehe dazu auch:

Man traut manchmal seinen Ohren und Augen nicht und dennoch...

„die Realität, sie ist meist grausam und hart. So muss ich als ver.di-Mitglied zur Kenntnis nehmen, dass meine Gewerkschaft eine Veranstaltung für Führungs- und Leitungskräfte in Bund, Land und Kommune anbietet - das „Potsdamer Forum“-, in der den Abgesandten des größten deutschen Privatisierungs-Think-Tank, der Bertelsmann Stiftung eine wundervolle Bühne geboten wird!...“ Offener Brief an ver.di von Jürgen Bauch, Sprecher der ver.di-Betriebsgruppe an der Fachhochschule Hannover. http://www.labournet.de/branchen/dienstleistung/oed/bauch.html


Krake Bertelsmann: Auch bei ver.di und der Hans Böckler Stiftung hat er seine Fangarme

„Vom 05.-06. Juni 2007 findet das 5. Potsdamer Forum für Führungskräfte im öffentlichen Dienst unter dem Motto „Der öffentliche Dienst - besser als sein Ruf! - Leistungsfähigkeit für Menschen und Demokratie“ statt. Veranstalter ist ver.di und die Hans-Böckler-Stiftung gemeinsam mit der Bertelsmann Stiftung. Wohl passend zu Reinhards Mohns Mission hält Dr. Johannes Meier, Vorstand der Bertelsmann Stiftung sein Referat „Der öffentliche Dienst und die Zivilgesellschaft“. Den Workshop “Erfahrungen mit der Einführung von Leistungsbezahlung” moderiert Oliver Haubner, ebenfalls Bertelsmann Stiftung. Last, but not least: Hinsichtlich der Übernahme der Verwaltungen durch Bertelsmann-Tochter “arvato” in der britischen Kommune East Riding dürfte wohl kaum überraschen, dass der „Bertelsmann“ Dr. Andreas Osner, den Workshop “Privatisierung öffentlicher Dienste – nützlich oder schädlich?” moderiert und lenkt …“ Meldung vom 3. April 2007 bei den Nachdenkseiten

http://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=2228


Nochmals Krake Bertelsmann: Auch bei ver.di und der Hans Böckler Stiftung hat er seine

„In einem Beitrag vom 3. April haben wir unser Erstaunen ausgedrückt, dass ver.di und die Hans-Böckler-Stiftung gemeinsam mit der Bertelsmann Stiftung das 5. Potsdamer Forum für Führungskräfte im öffentlichen Dienst unter dem Motto „Der öffentliche Dienst - besser als sein Ruf! - Leistungsfähigkeit für Menschen und Demokratie“ veranstaltet. Ein Insider hat uns dafür Hintergründe dargestellt…“ Meldung vom 10. April 2007 bei den Nachdenkseiten http://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=2241


Siehe Informationen zu Bertelsmann-Aktivitäten hinsichtlich „Verwaltungsreform“ sowie „Kommunalpolitik und sog. Bürgergesellschaft“ bei der Bertelsmann-Kritik http://wiki.bildung-schadet-nicht.de/index.php/Bertelsmann-kritische_Informationen_und_Materialien#Verwaltungsreform

Siehe dazu auch im LabourNet:

Branchen > Medien u. IT > Bertelsmann http://www.labournet.de/branchen/medien-it/bertelsmann/index.html

und

Diskussion > Wipo > GATS, Privatisierung und Widerstand allgemein http://www.labournet.de/diskussion/wipo/gats/index.html

Weitere Informationen und eine Protestvorlage folgen in Kürze! Wir bitten gut informierte LeserInnen aus dem ver.di-Umkreis um hilfreiche Hinweise und Hintergründe an die Redaktion!


Aus: LabourNet, 17. April 2007

--------

Das Potsdamer Forum – kungelt ver.di mit der Bertelsmann Stiftung?

Die Beiträge über ver.dis Mitwirkung im sogenannten "Potsdamer Forum" haben Wirkung gezeigt: Eine Briefoffensive, mit der sowohl die "Nachdenkseiten" und auch LabourNet Germany, als auch der Hannoveraner Kollege Jürgen Bauch "beglückt" wurden. Es gibt aber auch ganz andere Haltungen in ver.di als die der Menschen auf (finanzieller) "Augenhöhe" mit Bertelsmännern - die Bundesfachbereichskonferenz des Fachbereichs 7 (Gemeinden) hat am 19. April 2007, auf Initiative der hessischen Delegation einen Initiativantrag mit großer Mehrheit angenommen, der die Zusammenarbeit der ver.di mit der Bertelsmannstiftung, auch auf dem Potsdamer Forum, kritisiert und die Einstellung dieser Zusammenarbeit fordert.

Der angenommene Initiativantrag auf der Bundeskonferenz des Fachbereichs 7 - Gemeinden: http://www.labournet.de/branchen/dienstleistung/oed/gemeindeanti.html

Briefwechsel des ver.di Bundesvorstandes, Ressort 12 mit Jürgen Bauch: http://www.labournet.de/branchen/dienstleistung/oed/potsdambrief1.html


Aus: LabourNet, 26. April 2007



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

The mast array on top of Bucklemaker Court multi in Dundee’s Hilltown.

Dundee City Council is taking rent on land it leases for mobile-phone mast sites, at the same time as councillors are voting against the erection of masts in the city (writes Brian Smith).

A spokesperson for the council has confirmed the council charges rent, but declined to reveal how much income the sites generate, on the grounds of commercial confidentiality.

The information emerged in the wake of questions posed by the Evening Telegraph, following the most recent reversal of a decision to refuse planning permission for a mobile phone mast in Gillies Park in Barnhill.

After a large-scale public campaign opposing the Gillies Park mast, councillors on the development quality committee voted unanimously to refuse planning permission.

That decision was subsequently overturned by an official from the Executive planning inquiry unit following an appeal by the telecoms operator Vodaphone.

The Tele asked if, as owners of the park, the council could say it simply would not allow the mast to be built on its land? Had they done this at any other site they own? Do they own sites where masts are located and, if so, do they charge rents?

Leisure and arts services convener Charles Farquhar was asked if the city council had ever said no to a mast in one of their parks. He said, “To my knowledge, we have never got to that stage yet.”

The council has several options if it chooses to continue to resist an application for a mast after losing the first appeal. All are likely to be lengthy, complex and expensive. And in the case of a further appeal under planning legislation, the advice from officials has been not to go ahead because of the expense and there being little prospect of success.

Refusal to allow construction on the basis that it is the landowner is possible if the leisure and arts services committee voted to do so, but that decision could take the council to court in an even greyer legal area.

The main mobile phone operators do have powers under the Tele- communications Act 1984, as amended, to, amongst other things, install equipment in the street and to apply to the courts for an order to place equipment on another’s property where they have been unable to obtain agreement to so do.

There are various caveats, procedures and conditions associated with these, and the other powers, in the Act. These powers do not override the need to obtain planning permission.

Perth and Kinross Council said they have only one phone mast from which money is accrued. A spokesman said, “This is located at the Canal Street car park in Perth. The council receives a rent of £7000 per annum from Orange for the mast.”

Ken Duncan, management services team leader with Fife Council, said, “The Council does not have any telecoms masts on council buildings or within schools or on residential properties.

“We lease sites for operators to build masts on and we have operators on some council-owned masts. At present, there are five leases for sites and two mast-sharing agree- ments. This produces an annual rental income to the council of £55,000.”

© All copyright D C Thomson & Co Ltd., 2007

http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/output/2007/04/17/story9574008t0.shtm

The Bush administration's allies in Congress on Monday blocked a bill that would require the White House to disclose the locations of secret prisons run by the Central Intelligence Agency, and to reveal the amount spent annually by American intelligence agencies.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041707M.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=secret+prisons

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's assertion that he was not involved in identifying the eight US attorneys who were asked to resign last year is at odds with a recently released internal Department of Justice email. That email said that Gonzales supported firing one federal prosecutor six months before she was asked to leave.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041707K.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=firing+attorneys
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gonzales

Boston Globe
by James Carroll

04/16/07

This week, spring fever takes the form of the fever pitch to which concern over global warming is rising. Last Saturday was the National Day of Climate Action, a campaign organized by writer Bill McKibben, aimed at getting Congress to ’step it up’ and cut US carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. Next Sunday is Earth Day — part festival and part political demonstration, always a call to action for the environment. The urgency of such events comes from recent scientific reports that make impending ecological catastrophes more vivid than ever. Nations and municipalities must begin now to plan for effects on drinking water, sea levels, toxins, and various social dislocations that already seem inevitable. Not even the Bush administration any longer argues that climate change is a minor issue, unrelated to human activity...

http://tinyurl.com/27566z


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bill+McKibben
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=James+Carroll

Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

04/16/07

America’s problems in Afghanistan and Iraq may have one positive effect: They will cause the U.S. public to withhold support for future military interventions that are not absolutely necessary for U.S. security. That’s exactly what has happened in the past and there’s no reason to believe the current failed adventures will be different. In the Korean War, for example, after back and forth offensives, the front stabilized at the 38th parallel, where the conflict had begun. With casualties mounting and no clear-cut victory in sight, the war lost much of its support. President Harry Truman was so unpopular by this time he decided not to seek re-election. During the subsequent eight years of the Eisenhower administration, the war-weary United States directly intervened militarily just once, in Lebanon in 1958...

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1956


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ivan+Eland

The Free Liberal
by Paul Jacob

04/16/07

On April Fool’s day, it did command The Washington Post front page. Maybe the story was just a funny joke. But I didn’t get it. The article, ‘Corruption Stains Timber Trade,’ details total disregard for both the law and the environment in a number of repressive regimes — Burma, China, Russia and Indonesia. Logging companies pay off government officials to ransack land supposedly protected. There’s scant regard for private property and lots of looking the other way. No surprise, just another argument against tyranny and repression. But no, the lead quote in this article features an unnamed ‘American environmentalist’ explaining that, ‘Western consumers are leaving a violent ecological footprint in Burma and other countries’...

http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/002714.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

--------

Plant trees, lots of them, you can never plant enough!
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/3515163/




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

New Jersey Star-Ledger

04/16/07

Jean-Claude Tassot felt the sunshine spilling over his shoulders. It was unseasonably warm for January — a good day, he decided, to check his honeybees. So Tassot jumped in his truck and rumbled over the back roads of Morris County to the first of the eight farms where he stores his boxes of hives. ‘When you first take the cover off, usually you can see the bees,’ said Tassot. ‘But when I looked, there was nothing. I kept looking (but) the hives were all dead.’ Tassot drove to the next farm, then the next and the next. At every stop it was the same thing. Out of 171 hives, 140 were wiped out. Even the few dozen that remained were weak at best. ‘It was a catastrophe,’ he said...

http://tinyurl.com/2s3ojx


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

Aberdeen American News

04/16/07

As the world warms, water — either too little or too much of it — is going to be the major problem for the United States, scientists and military experts said Monday. It will be a domestic problem, with states clashing over controls of rivers, and a national security problem as water shortages and floods worsen conflicts and terrorism elsewhere in the world, they said. At home, especially in the Southwest, regions will need to find new sources of drinking water, the Great Lakes will shrink, fish and other species will be left high and dry, and coastal areas will on occasion be inundated because of sea-level rises and souped-up storms, U.S. scientists said...

http://tinyurl.com/2tfvcj


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Baton Rouge Advocate

04/17/07

President Bush surrounded himself with military families on Monday to push anew for a war-funding bill that isn’t tied to pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq. The Senate’s Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, responded that Bush must choose between holding to ‘discredited policies’ in Iraq or working with lawmakers on a new course...

http://tinyurl.com/2uyson


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Harry+Reid

Thousands of Iraqis are going without food and basic supplies as the country's food distribution infrastructure crumbles, according to a new report. The country's Public Distribution System (PDS), set up in 1995 as part of the UN's Oil-for-Food program, has been hit by insecurity, poor management, corruption and a lack of political will.

http://electroniciraq.net/news/3012.shtml



UN Refugee Agency Turns Spotlight on Iraqis

Nearly four million Iraqis have been displaced in and outside their country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, making it the largest exodus of people in the Middle East since the creation of Israel in 1948. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, on Tuesday will convene a two-day conference in Geneva to address Iraq's deepening humanitarian crisis.

http://electroniciraq.net/news/3010.shtml



US and UK Bear Special Duty to Aid Refugees

Iraq's neighbors are closing off escape routes to Iraqi asylum seekers, just as the international community has begun to respond to the 2 million refugees from the war, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. As high-level officials, including ministerial-level representatives for Iraq and all countries in the region, meet in Geneva on April 17, 2007 for a conference to coordinate the international response to Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people, Iraq's neighbors are refusing entry, imposing onerous new passport and visa requirements, and building barriers to keep refugees out. In cases, they are also expelling Iraqis back to Iraq, Human Rights Watch said.

http://electroniciraq.net/news/3011.shtml

Stories of downward mobility in America's suburbs have not exactly cluttered the headlines over the past decade. Gated communities of dream homes, mansions ringed by man-made lakes and glass-cube office parks: These are the images typically evoked by the posh, supersized subdivisions built during the 1990s technology boom. Low-wage jobs, houses under foreclosure, families unable to afford food and medical care are not. But venture beyond the city limits of any major metropolitan area today, and you will encounter these things, in forms less concentrated - and therefore less visible - than in the more-blighted pockets of our cities perhaps, but with growing frequency all the same.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041607LA.shtml



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

With Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the ropes over the firings of eight US attorneys, his deputy, Paul J. McNulty, is quietly testing the waters for a new job. He may need one, if critics have their way.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041607S.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gonzales
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=firing+attorneys

"The rhetoric over recent days and this morning makes it clear that Vice President Dick Cheney is still in charge of Iraq policy," says Ray McGovern. "He seems supremely confident that the Democrats can be intimidated into giving the White House the only thing it really wants - enough money to stave off defeat until President George W. Bush and Cheney are safely out of office. That, of course, is also what lies behind the 'temporary surge' in troop strength."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041607R.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+funding
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=troop+surge
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ray+McGovern

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,2058785,00.html


Informant: binstock

TELL CONGRESS: IT'S TIME FOR BIG CHANGES FOR ELEPHANTS IN ZOOS!

Hobbled by arthritis, Toni at National Zoo
At the St. Louis Zoo, Clara's feet were so debilitated leans to relieve painful pressure on her legs that she had to wear sandals. She died there last year.

On Wednesday, April 18, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) will take to Capitol Hill for its "Congressional Leadership Day."

This is a great opportunity for us to speak up and bring attention to the plight of elephants in zoos!

While AZA seeks increased federal support, let's remind Congress that elephants are suffering in zoos and it's just not right!

ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18TH, WE ARE ASKING EVERYONE TO CALL, FAX, OR EMAIL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS AND DEMAND THAT THE ZOO INDUSTRY MAKE BIG CHANGES FOR EARTH'S LARGEST LAND MAMMAL.

The U.S. Animal Welfare Act requires zoos to provide adequate space and conditions to maintain elephant health and well-being. Zoos are violating this federal law by holding elephants in cramped and inadequate conditions that cause them to sicken and die prematurely.

IDA has submitted a Citizen Petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) calling for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act at zoos holding elephants.

Ask your Senators and Representative to support the IDA petition by calling the Secretary of Agriculture and the House and Senate Agriculture Committees.

It's time for zoos to stop violating the Animal Welfare Act. If zoos cannot provide the vast space and naturalistic conditions that elephants need to thrive, they should not hold elephants.

The Capitol Hill Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. For email and fax information for your representatives, see www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

Please use the talking points below:

In the wild, elephants: - Walk for miles every day on soft ground and grasses. - Live in large, tightly-knit extended families in which females live together for life. - Possess a sophisticated ability to communicate, intricate social structure, and mourn their dead.

In zoos, elephants: - Spend their entire lives in tiny yards of only a few acres or less. - Live in small groups of unrelated elephants. - Cannot exercise adequately and are forced to stand on damaging hard surfaces, such as hard-packed dirt and concrete, for years on end. - Are confined to concrete-floored barn stalls for extended periods of time, especially during the winter. - Develop painful problems with their joints and feet, as well as other disorders, due to zoo conditions.

Recent surveys document that a majority of elephants in zoos suffer from painful and often fatal arthritis and foot disease -- a direct result of spending their lives in cramped, unnatural and inadequate zoo exhibits.

Elephants need large, naturalistic habitats to thrive. The two U.S. elephant sanctuaries provide the model for zoos to follow.

"As a scientist who has studied elephant behavior and communication among free-living individuals for 30 years, I am stunned that the AZA is not able to perceive the empirical evidence that elephants need much more space than what is currently allotted to them." - Joyce Poole, Ph.D.

"Small enclosures with a subsequent lack of exercise causing poor muscle tone, therefore poor joint support, lead to osteoarthritis and eventually degenerative joint disease. Enclosures made with concrete, or other unyielding substrates where elephants cannot avoid standing in their own urine and feces, predispose elephants' feet to toenail cracks, sole abscesses, and eventual osteomyelitis which leads to death." - Mel Richardson, DVM

For more information, visit http://www.helpelephants.com or call (919) 732-8983.



National Call In To Congress Day for Elephants: Clarification

Today you received an alert asking you to call your Congressperson and Senators asking them to support IDA's citizens petition to the USDA calling for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act at zoos holding elephants.

A number of people have called to request contact information for the Secretary of Agriculture and the Chairs of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, who we suggested your federal representatives call in support of the petition.

If you would like to contact these individuals and ask them to make sure that the USDA moves swiftly on the IDA petition to force zoos to comply with the Animal Welfare Act by providing adequate space and conditions to elephants, here is the contact information:

Mike Johanns
Secretary of Agriculture
Tel: (202) 720-3631
Email: Mike.Johanns@usda.gov

Collin Peterson
Chair - House Agriculture Committee
Tel: (202) 225-8510
Email: agriculture@mail.house.gov

Tom Harkin
Chair, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
Tel: (202) 224-3254
Fax: (202) 224-9369
TDD: (202) 224-4633
Email: http://harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm


From: In Defense of Animals

What are your thoughts on 'wi-fi-hi-jacking?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/vine/yoursay_tue2.shtml

Does anyone feel like phoning in now to this show?

WiFi hijacking on radio 2 until 2pm phone in (or e-mail in)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/vine/

What about paedophiles tapping into schools computers?!

Wi-Fi: a phone mast in the classroom?

thanks
sarah



My contribution to the prog, Sarah

Sylvia


From SylviaWright
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 08:35:05 EDT
To: vine@bbc.co.uk

We are failing our children from the aspect of both health and safety - in the name of progress. WiFi is just another example of this - following hard on the heels of junk food, junk TV and junk fashion. The safety of young people using the internet either at home or at school is being taken out of the hands of their guardians - creating yet another "loophole" which will need to be addressed. The wireless industry are pushing numerous "beneficial applications" of the technology to maximise profits - little thinking of the consequences. That our Government and Health Protection Agency do nothing to curb their enthusiasm is lamentable - if not bordering on neglect!

I have had occasion to research this subject for several years and am constantly amazed at the ignorance of the scientific findings in other parts of the world - could it be that the facts are too unpalatable? One prime example is the rapid disappearance of recent "T Mobile buried report" article..... [ http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3586360/ ]

Cllr Sylvia Wright
S Staffordshire



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wi-Fi
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Wi-Fi

http://www.stopcorporateabusenow.org/campaign/nestle_call_in



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Nestl%C3%A9

The ACLU Congressional Scorecard provides you with a quick summary of important civil liberties measures and how your elected officials have voted. By looking at their actual voting record, you can go beyond the soundbites that characterize much of today's campaigns to better understand your elected officials' positions.

http://snipurl.com/1grl0


From Information Clearing House



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

The burgeoning congressional focus on the supposedly "missing" emails of White House political czar Karl Rove and almost two dozen other presidential aides who were doing political work on the taxpayers' dime is not limited to questions about the eight U.S. Attorneys who were fired.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20070414/cm_thenation/1185976


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Conyers
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Karl+Rove
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=missing+emails
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=firing+attorneys

There will be a time when future generations will look at us and wonder why President Bush and Vice President Cheney were not removed from office. They will look at us and question why, when confronted by the most corrupt and incompetent administration ever witnessed in the United States, nothing was done to stop Bush and Cheney.

http://www.reformer.com/search/ci_5657073


From Information Clearing House



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

Zubaydah, captured in 2002, also told the hearing at Guantanamo Bay that he had been tortured in U.S. custody and confessed to things he did not do just to stop the abuse, according to a Pentagon transcript released Monday.

http://snipurl.com/1grko


From Information Clearing House



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

In a Democracy Now! special from Boston, two of the city's leading dissidents, Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, sit down for a rare joint interview.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/16/1338223



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Noam+Chomsky
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Howard+Zinn

The US military has come under fire again from a coroner hearing inquests into the deaths of servicemen in Iraq.

http://snipurl.com/1grk9


From Information Clearing House

Photographs showing the severe beating suffered by an Iraqi civilian who died in British custody were released today as the House of Lords begins a hearing into whether human rights law should apply to British forces abroad.

http://snipurl.com/1grk5


From Information Clearing House

By Mike Whitney

Two years ago, anyone who wrote about the housing bubble was dismissed as a conspiracy nut. Now hardly a day goes by that the headlines aren't splattered with the grim details of the massive meltdown in the real estate market.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17543.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=housing+bubble
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mike+Whitney

By Scott Horton

We have a duty to posterity, and that is to bear witness to these events. We must document them carefully. We must act to avoid the destruction of valuable evidence-and recognize, as we have already seen, that it is in the character of those who commit crimes to destroy the evidence of their misdeeds. In this way we lay the path for the justice which will in good time be meted out to those who betrayed a nation's trust.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17540.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Scott+Horton

Matt Taibbi Interviews Seymour Hersh

"We know from the Pentagon Papers -- and to me they were the most important documents ever written -- that from 1963 on, Kennedy and Johnson and Nixon lied to us systematically about the war. I remember how shocked I was when I read them. So . . . duh! Nothing's changed. They've just gotten better at dealing with the press. Nothing's changed at all."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17542.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Seymour+Hersh
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Matt+Taibbi

http://www.oe24.at/zeitung/wissen/article126144.ece



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

328 pages of secret French documents related to 9/11 leaked to 'Le Monde'
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/6094/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

--------

September 11, 2001: The French Knew Much About It

Le Monde has obtained 328 pages of the French secret services' Osama bin Laden file. The huge leak confirms some information about what was known before September 11 and raises a few questions about intelligence service operations.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041707J.shtml

--------

France Warned CIA of Hijack Plot in 2001

By Angela Donald
Associated Press Writer

Nine months before al-Qaida slammed airliners into the World Trade Center, French intelligence suspected the terror network was plotting a hijacking - possibly involving a U.S. airline - and warned the CIA, former French intelligence officials said Monday.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17548.htm



September 11, 2001: The French Knew Much About It

By Guillaume Dasquié
Le Monde -Monday 16 April 2007

It's an impressive mass of documents. From a distance, one would imagine a doctoral thesis. On closer inspection: nothing of the kind. Red stamps "Confidential-Defense" and "Strictly National Usage" on every page. At the top on the left, a royal blue logo: that of the DGSE, Direction générale des services extérieurs [General Directorate for Foreign Services], the French secret services. In total, 328 classified pages.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17551.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=9%2F11

http://www.allgemeine-zeitung.de/region/objekt.php3?artikel_id=2790363

Handys können Krebs auslösen
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3261806/

Zunahme der Hirntumore bei Handy-Vieltefonierern: Risiko steigt um 39 Prozent
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3261838/

Lösen Handys Krebs aus, Krebs durch Handy-Strahlung?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3265429/

Handy am Ohr: Hirntumor?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3270151/

Langzeitstudie aus Dänemark: kein Krebsrisiko durch Handy-Strahlung?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3040849/

Kein Beweis für ein erhöhtes Risiko durch Handys?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3271250/

Elektrosmog als Krebsrisiko: Kein Krebsrisiko durch Handy-Strahlung?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3271439/

Flucht aus Oberammergau: Pfarrer flüchtet vor Handy-Strahlung
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3258411/

Mobilfunk und Gesundheit
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3300771/

Wissenschaft zu Mobilfunk
http://tinyurl.com/93epp

Ärzte und Mobilfunk
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/408385/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=%C3%84rzte+und+Mobilfunk



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

2007 Pulitzer Prize: Charlie Savage, National Reporting
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/savage_signing_statements/


Informant: Jack Topel



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Charlie+Savage

http://bermudasun.bm/Main.asp?SectionID=24&ArticleID=33198


Informant: Mark G.

by Nancy Levant

In brief, the implementation of universal mental health screening in schools, which is currently operating in our school system, is a public-private partnership deal between the federal government and the pharmaceutical industry. It is a money scam. If you read Dr. Cuddy’s series, you will clearly follow the money trail from pharma to Fed and back. How do American parents stop this insidious, unconscionable attack upon our children? You break the money trail. Pull you children out of the public school system immediately......

http://www.newswithviews.com/Levant/nancy84.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=dictatorship
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=mental+health+screening
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Big+Pharma
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=cuddy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/Levant

CITY planners say they are getting weary of schemes for mobile phone masts on the edge of Rothwell Park.

A Defra inspector has dismissed an appeal for permission to put up a fake telegraph pole with associated equipment on the south-west side of Leeds Road at Oulton.

Coun Don Wilson (Lib Dem, Rothwell) told Leeds East plans panel: "This is about the fifth or sixth refusal on this particular site.

"I think telephone companies are working on the principle that if they put in plans often enough they will wear us down.

Procedure

"Is there a way of refusing this so we don't have to go through the whole procedure again?"

Planning officer John Redding said that under new legislation the plans panel could refuse to consider a scheme at the third time of asking – if it was basically the same scheme.

"In this case the applicants made it slightly different by making the pole look a little less fake. But the inspector wouldn't wear it."

In his report the inspector concedes this is the best location for the mast. But it would damage the green belt and so he turned it down.

All rights reserved ©2007 Johnston Press Digital Publishing

http://www.leedstoday.net/news?ArticleID=2704221

"Paul Wolfowitz's credibility at the head of the World Bank is now too damaged for him to remain. He must resign, and if he refuses, the board of directors must replace him."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041607G.shtml



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

The Justice Department's Public Integrity Section is investigating connections between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House, a probe that may be affected by missing White House emails.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041607E.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=missing+emails
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Abramoff

Paul Krugman writes: "The public hates this war, no longer has any trust in Mr. Bush's leadership and doesn't believe anything the administration says. Iraq was a big factor in the Democrats' midterm victory. And far from being a risky political move, the confrontation over funding has overwhelming popular support: According to a new CBS News poll, only 29 percent of voters believe Congress should allow war funding without a time limit, while 67 percent either want to cut off funding or impose a time limit."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041607C.shtml



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

Ballermann, Betonburgen, Billigtourismus. Dieses Image will die spanische Urlaubsinsel Mallorca abstreifen. Seit Jahren setzt man auf Qualitätstourismus, dessen Auswirkungen auf die Umwelt aber noch gravierender als die des Massentourismus sind.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/25/25079/1.html

In this installment of the Hometown Baghdad project, Adel, Ausama and Saif let us listen and look out their windows. Gunfire is constant. Days are spent laying low inside the house. Classes are missed. The young men also display their own guns, kept to defend their families from the constant and unpredictable violence outside. Watch for an unexpected moment of levity at the end.

http://electroniciraq.net/news/2985.shtml

Weekend Watchdog: Unanswered Questions
http://ga3.org/ct/bd20pgF1KRpW/



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

Green Activists Stepped It Up

by Bill McKibben, Grist
http://ga3.org/ct/gp20pgF1KRp6/



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

Are We Politicians Or Are We Citizens?

by Howard Zinn, The Progressive
http://ga3.org/ct/gd20pgF1KRpg/



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

The Hidden Truths Of Progressive Taxes

by George Lakoff and Bruce Budner, TomPaine.com
http://ga3.org/ct/b120pgF1KRpO/



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

Christian Science Monitor
by Daniel Schorr

04/13/07

An amazing race — I said amazing race: the campaign, not the hymn. The budding election contest has come to look as though it will be settled not by who makes the most appealing arguments, but by who raises the most money. So, until last week, Sen. Hillary Clinton was regarded as the almost inevitable choice for Democratic nominee. But then came reports of money raised during the first quarter of this year. And, lo and behold, Sen. Barack Obama had raised about $25 million, nearly matching Senator Clinton’s $26 million. All of a sudden, The Wall Street Journal was talking of a hot primary race. On the Republican side, Mitt Romney pulled ahead with $23 million, and it begins to look now as though the contest for president will be dominated almost completely by money as America heads into its first billion-dollar campaign. That being so, it strikes me that a lot of time and effort are being expended on money raising that could well be saved for the general election...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0413/p09s02-cods.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Hillary
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Daniel+Schorr

CounterPunch
by Ron Jacobs

04/14/07

A group of antiwar vets who did time in Iraq and Afghanistan have been making their presence known for the past couple of years in the US and, like their predecessors that organized Vietnam Veterans Against the War, these men and women have formed an antiwar group known as Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). According to an article in a publication titled North Carolina at War published by the Institute for Southern Studies, IVAW has members in at least 41 states and on some military bases overseas. I recently got in touch with some of its members. What follows is a transcript of a hopeful and occasionally heartrending exchange I had with these three folks...

http://www.counterpunch.org/jacobs04142007.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ron+Jacobs

The right to freedom of speech is allowed as long as it fits the prescribes of political correctness and hate crime law... (written 11/02; posted 04/13/07)

http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=609


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Liberty For All
by R. Lee Wrights and Sean Haugh

Pat Tillman did not make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of a game called football. Pat Tillman made the ultimate sacrifice so that someone else would not have to. What better way could we honor his memory than making sure other brave sons and daughters of American citizens never have to make that ultimate sacrifice? What better way is there for us to show our support for all of the brave men and women who have served their country gallantly than to bring them home? (written 05/04; posted 04/14/07)

http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=610


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

Condemnation of the United States' war in Iraq was rife at the 14th Congress of the Women's International Democratic Federation which concludes this Friday in Caracas. Over 1,000 delegates representing 165 organizations from 80 countries participated.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041607P.shtml

Karl Rove and other White House employees were cautioned in employee manuals, memos and briefings to carefully save any emails that might discuss official matters, even if those messages came from private email accounts, the White House disclosed Friday. Despite these cautions, emails from Rove and others discussing official business may have been deleted and are now missing.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041607M.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=emails+deleted
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Karl+Rove

The furor over Wolfowitz appeared to overshadow the agenda of the World Bank's annual spring meeting of finance and development ministers this weekend as Wolfowitz said yesterday that he intends to continue in his job despite the controversy over his role in arranging pay raises and promotions for his girlfriend.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041607L.shtml



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

The number of Iraqi refugees continues to grow exponentially. More than two million Iraqi refugees have fled from persecution and sectarian violence, mostly traveling to Jordan and Syria. In addition, at least 1.8 million are displaced within Iraq. According to Human Rights First, tens of thousands of these refugees have been targeted because of their work for the US government, non-governmental organizations or the media. Since April 2003, the Bush administration has admitted exactly 692 Iraqi refugees into the US, and the number of those in need is growing by an estimated 50,000 a month.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041607J.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+refugee
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=William+Fisher

http://tinyurl.com/26jrka



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

Kucinich for President 2008

http://www.kucinich.us

CONTACT: Sharon Jimenez, 310-478-0114; David Swanson 202-329-7847

Kucinich Says Clinton and Obama Continue to Vote for War Funding, they and Edwards Refuse to Oppose a Bush-Cheney Attack on Iran.

NEW YORK CITY (April 16, 2007) MONDAY – Congressman and Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is challenging his fellow candidates' votes to authorize and fund the war in Iraq, and their positions on Iran.

"Clinton, Edwards, and Obama share responsibility for wasting hundreds of billions of dollars in an unnecessary war. And the American tax payers on this day need to remember that," Kucinich charged. Hillary Clinton and John Edwards voted to authorize the war. Clinton and Barack Obama continue to vote to fund it.

At a New Hampshire town meeting yesterday, someone asked Clinton about her vote to authorize the war, and asked if she had read the intelligence reports prior to her vote. Senator Clinton is reported to have said that if she had known then what she knows now, she never would have voted to give the President the authority to go to war.

"If Senator Clinton and the others had done their job they would have known, and they would have voted correctly as I did," declared Kucinich, who campaigned yesterday in New Hampshire and Connecticut and appeared live on CNN's night show from New York City.

"I didn't just vote against the war, I shared an in depth analysis with Members of Congress that I wrote in October 2002, after reviewing intelligence reports," Kucinich said.

Kucinich's 2002 Analysis:
http://kucinich.us/files/pdfs/Oct2002Analysis.pdf

"The information that Senator Clinton said she was lacking was available to anyone who wanted to see it," said Kucinich who ran 7 points ahead of Clinton in the Moveon poll released last week. http://tinyurl.com/24x6w8 "Now that she and all the others who voted incorrectly know what they didn't know then, they are still voting the wrong way," Kucinich stated, referring to votes on war funding.

Kucinich also talked about Senator Obama's presidential campaign, where Senator Obama claims to have opposed the war from the start and implies that if he had been in the Senate at the time he would have voted against it. "Senator Obama has a 100 percent record of voting for funding the war in Iraq, as does Senator Clinton," Kucinich said.

Last month, in under a week, the Democrats appropriated $97 billion in supplemental funds for the war and approved the 2008 Bush budget, which not only budgeted $145 billion for the war in 2008, but allocated an additional $50 billion for 2009.

"So much for Democratic timelines," Kucinich observed. "This war needs to end now and Democrats should stop funding it now. The money's in the pipeline now to bring the troops home, and I've written legislation, HR 1234, to begin a process to stabilize Iraq as the U.S. troops leave."

HR 1234: http://kucinich.us/iraqplan

Kucinich challenged his fellow candidates on Iran as well, saying: "All of them, Clinton, Edwards, and Obama, who now say that President Bush was wrong to attack Iraq, are parroting the Bush-Cheney doctrine on preemptive and 'preventive' war on Iran, as they openly state that for Iran 'All options are on the table.'"

Kucinich, the only candidate who has consistently voted against the invasion of Iraq and the funding of the occupation, noted: "Their lack of good judgment raises questions not only about their ability to win in November of 2008, but also raises questions as to whether they have the good judgment, foresight and independence necessary to be President of the United States".


Informant: David Swanson

From ufpj-news

--------

The Democratic illusion

AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

04/16/07

Anyone who had illusions about the Democratic Party as the electoral vehicle of choice for the antiwar movement has got to be dispirited by the ‘big three’ presidential wannabes: John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. None have come out clearly and unequivocally for withdrawal from Iraq, and all refuse to rule out military action against Iran. The situation appears even worse when we look at who’s advising them when it comes to foreign policy. A recent cover piece in the New York Observer throws the spotlight on these otherwise obscure (yet important) figures — hat tip: Matt Yglesias — and the result isn’t pretty...

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10821


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Hillary
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kucinich
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=John+Edwards
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/justin

http://tvnewslies.org/blog/?p=600


Informant: reggie501

From ufpj-news

http://www.rense.com/general76/ENTIRE.HTM


Informant: ranger116

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18121482/


Informant: ranger116

--------

Ex-DOJ Official's Statements Contradict Gonzales

The former Justice Department official who carried out the firings of eight US attorneys last year told Congress that several of the prosecutors had no performance problems and that a memo on the firings was distributed at a November 27 meeting attended by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Gonzales has said that he never saw any documents about the firings and that he had "lost confidence" in the prosecutors because of performance problems.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041607K.shtml

--------

Gonzales calls role in firings indirect

Richmond Palladium-Item

04/16/07

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, fighting to save his job, said in prepared Senate testimony Sunday he has ‘nothing to hide’ in the firings of eight federal prosecutors but claimed a hazy memory about his involvement in them. Two Republican senators said Gonzales has yet to shore up his credibility amid shifting explanations of his role in the dismissals...

http://tinyurl.com/2bfk3p


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gonzales
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=firing+attorneys

08:00 - 16 April 2007

Concerns have been raised about plans to install a mobile phone mast next to a children's play park in Oldfield Park.

Phone company T Mobile has applied to Bath and North East Somerset Council for permission to put up a 15m tall mast with three antennas, along with an equipment cabinet, at Monksdale Road next to The Sandpits children's play area.

But neighbours have raised formal objections to the proposal and other local people have raised concerns.

Oliver Lindburg, of Monksdale Road, said: "I am anxious about the possible effect of this on a child. The health risks may not have been proven - there is less money put into investigating this than into developing the business of mobile phones."

Oldfield Park businessman and chairman of Moorland Road Traders' Association Barry Cruse said: "My immediate reaction is that this is right next to a children's playground and in a very populated residential area.

"It's not on. I'm sure it will be fought tooth and nail. The trouble with these sorts of applications is not enough people know about it before it happens.

"Hopefully we can make a stand and get everybody involved.

"It will affect everybody as everybody sends their kids to play in Sandpits and I'm sure they would think twice about letting their children play there if there was a phone mast right next to it."

T Mobile wants to install the mast to fill a hole in its network coverage of The Oval and Moorfields areas. The company investigated and rejected as unsuitable, for a variety of reasons, 13 other potential sites.

In a statement to the council it acknowledged that people were likely to raise concerns about the issue and said it had discussed the issue with planning officers and local councils. It said it had concluded that the plot was the best site available and that the visual impact of the mast could be shielded. It added there were no proven health risks.

The site is next to an allotments site and Bath Allotments Association has told the council it believes the land should be used for more allotments.

The proposed installation meets government health and safety guidelines.

Under current rules, the council could only refuse planning permission for the mast on grounds of siting and appearance.

b.murch @bathchron.co.uk

http://tinyurl.com/2ewag2

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/15/531/



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

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/14/516/



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

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/14/521/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ann+McFeatters

Lenders Sought Edge Against U.S. in Student Loans
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/15/544/

-------

Lenders Misusing Student Database

Some lending companies with access to a national database containing confidential information on tens of millions of student borrowers have repeatedly searched it in ways that violate federal rules, raising alarms about data mining and abuse of privacy, government and university officials said.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041707F.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=student+loans
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=data+mining

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/14/15/519/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=firing+attorneys

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/14/517/

--------

Top Wolfowitz Postings Went to Iraq War Backers

Of the top five outside international appointments made by embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz during his nearly two-year tenure, three were senior political appointees of right-wing governments that provided strong backing for U.S. policy in Iraq. Wolfowitz, who became the Bank's president in June 2005, has long insisted that his own role as deputy defense secretary under U.S. President George W. Bush, in which he was a key architect of the Iraq war, would never influence his decisions at the Bank.

http://electroniciraq.net/news/3004.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wolfowitz
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jim+Lobe

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/palladio


Informant: David Swanson

From ufpj-news



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

Mit der Bitte um Veröffentlichung senden wir Ihnen folgende Pressemitteilung der ödp München.

Der 1. Infostand der Münchner ödp in 2007 steht an „Sind Flugverkehr und Klimaschutz vereinbar?“

Wie jedes Jahr informiert die Münchner ödp alle Bürgerinnen und Bürger über wichtige Themen. Bürgernah und kompetent stehen Gesprächspartner an den kommenden Info- ständen zur Verfügung.

Den Anfang macht dabei ein Infostand mit dem ödp-Klimaexperten Tim Woll zu dem kontroversen Thema „Flugverkehr und Klimaschutz“. „Derzeit widmet die Öffentlichkeit dieser Thematik wenig bis keine Aufmerksamkeit. Künftig sind Konflikte aber unaus- weichlich.“, so Tim Woll. Einerseits nimmt bei Wirtschaft und Verbrauchern das Bedürfnis nach nationaler und in- ternationaler Mobilität und Flexibilität zu. Dieses Bedürfnis wird zunehmend durch den Flugverkehr erfüllt, denn durch die verfehlte Subventionspolitik der Bundesregierung und der EU bleiben Flugreisen extrem billig, während Bahnreisen immer teurer werden. Andererseits trägt die Luftfahrtbranche mit ihrem rasanten Wachstum immer stärker zur Erwärmung des Weltklimas bei. Obwohl die Branche nur ! 3 % des weltweiten CO2 – Ausstoßes verursacht, schädigt sie das Klima nachhaltig, da sie ihre Abgase direkt in der Atmosphäre abgibt. Die Emissionen wirken dort viermal stärker als eine vergleichbare Abgasmenge, die in Bodennähe abgegeben wird.

Diesen Konflikt vor Augen laden die Münchner Ökodemokraten ein: „Kommen Sie am Samstag, 21. April zur Münchner Freiheit. Diskutieren Sie mit uns Auswege aus dem Verkehrsproblem. Informieren Sie sich über den Klimakiller Flugverkehr“. Wir sind ab 9:00 Uhr vor dem Postamt gegenüber Karstadt für Sie da

Weitere Bürgerinformationsstände:

Samstag, 21.04.2007 Ort: Leopoldstr. 57 (West) vor Postamt gegenüber Karstadt, Münchner Freiheit

Samstag, 28.4.2007 Ort: Schleißheimer Str. 158 (Ost) vor Basic Bio-Supermarkt

Samstag, 05.05.2007 Ort: Hanauer Str. (West) vor Haupteingang Olympia-Einkaufs-Zentrum (OEZ)

Samstag, 12.5.2007 Ort: Fritz-Hommel-Weg Ecke Theodor-Dombart-Str. (Schwabinger Bauernmarkt)

Samstag, 19.5.2007 Ort: Leopoldstr. (West) vor Postamt gegenüber Karstadt, Münchner Freiheit


Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Herbert Brunner
Pressebeauftragter
Ökologisch-Demokratische Partei (ödp)
Stadtverband München
Brienner Str. 46
D-80333 München
Fon 089/45 24 74 15 × Fax 089/55 06 99 86
E-Mail presse @oedp-muenchen.de
http://www.oedp-muenchen.de

Veranstaltungshinweise: Wir laden Sie herzlich ein zu unseren kostenfreien Vorträgen. Immer in den Räumen der Gregor-Louisoder-Umweltstiftung: Brienner Str. 46, U2/U8 Königsplatz und U1/U7 Stiglmaierplatz.

Do., 10. Mai 2007, 19.30 Uhr "Impfen, Pro und Contra - die individuelle Impfentscheidung" Referentin: Brigitte Maurer, Heilpraktikerin und Homöopathin

Do., 14. Juni 2007, 19.30 Uhr „Aktiver Nichtraucherschutz – was ist in München und Deutschland möglich?“ Referent: Axel Napolitano, Pro Rauchfrei

Do., 12. Juli 2007, 19.30 Uhr "Meereskraftwerke – eine Energiequelle der Zukunft. Technische Möglichkeiten und aktuelle Projekte" Referent: Dr.-Ing. Wilfried Knapp, TU München

Do., 9. Aug. 2006, 19.30 Uhr "Wer bezahlt eigentlich mal Ihre Rente und unsere Staatsschulden?“ Referent: Martin Schmidt-Bredow, Zeitbank für München

Do., 13. Sept. 2006, 19.30 Uhr "Krieg um's Öl oder Frieden durch Erneuerbare Energien" Referent: Ulrich Haushofer, Stb., Gehrlicher Solar

Do., 11. Okt. 2007, 19.30 Uhr "Gentechnik, Functional Food und Politik – die Globalisierung des Brotzeittellers" Referent: Thomas Semonsky, ganzheitlicher Ernährungsberater

Do., 25. Okt. 2007, 19.30 Uhr "In Würde altern – für eine gute ambulante Pflege und streng kontrollierte Altenheime!" Referentin: Johanna Schildbach-Halser, Nachbarschaftshilfe Rosenheim, ödp-Bezirksrätin

Do., 08. Nov. 2007, 19.30 Uhr "Vorwärts in die Steinzeit? Wie die Industriegesellschaft sich selbst zerstört“ Referent: Martin Kraus, M.A., Philosoph

Do., 22. Nov. 2007, 19.30 Uhr Film:"Lacoma und der Konzern(ein energiepolitisches Gesellschaftsspiel) – Auswirkungen des Braunkohletagebaus für Mensch und Umwelt" Do., 13. Dez. 2007, 19.30 Uhr "Der Global Marshall Plan – Initiative für eine weltweite Ökosoziale Marktwirtschaft" Referent: Frithjof Finkbeiner, Global Marshall Plan Initiative

ödp – Profil In der ödp arbeiten Menschen zusammen, die dem Streben von Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft nach "Immer mehr" das Prinzip Verantwortung entgegensetzen: "So leben, dass Zukunft bleibt!". Angestrebt wird eine Wende im Lebens- und Wirtschaftsstil - weg von der Überfluss- und Verschwendungswirtschaft, hin zu Nachhaltigkeit und "echter" Lebensqualität.

Wirtschaftsweiser will Stundenlöhne unter drei Euro
http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,477314,00.html

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Kapitalismus: Die Hungerlohn-Gesellschaft - Immer mehr Berliner arbeiten Vollzeit und brauchen trotzdem Finanz-Hilfe vom Staat

„Versprochen: Dieser Text langweilt nicht mit Statistiken oder Politikergequatsche. Dafür haben wir keine Zeit: In Berlin leben immer mehr Menschen, die von früh bis spät arbeiten aber trotzdem Geld vom Staat brauchen - Hartz IV trotz Vollzeit-Maloche! Der KURIER sagt, wie es ist, wie es so weit kommen konnte. Und was man tun kann. (…) Was können wir tun? Am besten Hungerlohn-Chefs noch heute anzeigen! Unternehmer dürfen sich nicht mehr auf Partys dafür feiern lassen, dass sie Löhne drücken. Das heißt: Nerven Sie Politiker, melden Sie solche Firmen den Gewerkschaften! Und sagen Sie es uns, der Presse. Denn Hungerlohn-Bosse fürchten nichts mehr, als böse Schlagzeilen.“ Artikel von Kevin P. Hoffmann im Berliner Kurier vom 16.04.2007

http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-kurier/print/berlin/167541.html
http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-kurier/print/berlin/167670.html


Aus: LabourNet, 16. April 2007

European countries on Saturday piled pressure on World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz over a scandal involving a promotion for his girlfriend, with Britain saying it had damaged the bank and Germany questioning whether he still had the credibility to lead the institution.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041507E.shtml



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

The New York Times writes: "The more we learn about the White House's purge of United States attorneys, the more a single thread runs through it: the Bush administration's campaign to transform the minor problem of voter fraud into a supposed national scourge."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041507C.shtml



On Tuesday, All Eyes Will Be on Gonzales

For Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, his testimony Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee is all about him, and whether he can restore enough credibility to keep his job. But many of the Democrats who control Congress and the committee have already written off Gonzales.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041507D.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=firing+attorneys
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gonzales

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/15/545/


Informant: binstock

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Plant trees, lots of them, you can never plant enough!
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/3515163/