David E. Sanger reports in The New York Times, "White House officials fear that the last pillars of political support among Senate Republicans for President Bush's Iraq strategy are collapsing around them."
The Associated Press reports that President Bush has again invoked executive privilege denying requests by Congress for testimony from two former aides about the firings of federal prosecutors.
"500 Konzerne kontrollieren heute die Hälfte des Weltsozialproduktes. Die Zusammenballung wirtschaftlicher Macht untergräbt die Demokratie", so Linksfraktions-Chef Oskar Lafontaine in einem Gastbeitrag für die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). Macht, die demokratisch nicht legitimiert sei, dürfe aber die gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse nicht bestimmen. "Die Linke will das Primat der Politik. Stark konzentrierte Wirtschaftsbereiche müssen entflochten werden", fordert Lafontaine. "Aus diesem Grund wollen wir die Kartellgesetzgebung verschärfen. Markt und Wettbewerb führen nicht nur zu einer effizienten Wirtschaft, sondern ebenso zu Dezentralisierung wirtschaftlicher Entscheidungen und damit zur Einschränkung wirtschaftlicher Macht."
Im Weser-Kurier einige Tage vorher wurde auf der 1. Seite berichtet,
dass die Jacobs University (wo Prof. Lerchl angestellt ist) eine Spende
von der Metall- und Elektroindustrie in Höhe von 10 Millionen Euro
erhalten hat. Ein Schelm, wer Böses dabei denkt...
Siegfried Zwerenz widerlegt fachlich den extra angereisten Professor Alexander Lerchl (Int. Universität Bremen), der pro Mobilfunk argumentiert und von der Stadt Soltau als "Gegenpart" eingeladen worden war.
Cole Moreton and Geoffrey Lean of the Independent UK report, "Live Earth was watched by two billion people on a day when 20 million tons of carbon were emitted, a square kilometre of the Antarctic ice shelf was lost and a major new study, exclusively revealed by the Independent UK's Sunday Edition, shows the damage we are doing worldwide."
John S. Koppel writes for the Denver Post: "As a longtime attorney at the US Department of Justice, I can honestly say that I have never been as ashamed of the department and government that I serve as I am at this time. The public record now plainly demonstrates that both the DOJ and the government as a whole have been thoroughly politicized in a manner that is inappropriate, unethical and, indeed, unlawful. The unconscionable commutation of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's sentence, the misuse of warrantless investigative powers under the Patriot Act and the deplorable treatment of US attorneys all point to an unmistakable pattern of abuse."
"Iraq fails to meet key US political and security benchmarks in an upcoming report to Congress that seems certain to increase calls from lawmakers and the restive public to withdraw US troops," reports Agence France-Presse.
"The Senate Judiciary Committee may seek testimony from prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald about the obstruction of justice case against vice presidential aide Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, two senators said on Sunday," reports Reuters.
"Congressional Democrats return from a short recess this week plotting to further undermine Bush's waning political sway. Even as Bush's signature immigration reform bill was strangled in the Senate last month, Democratic leaders were mapping out new misery for a president beset by rock-bottom poll ratings, the three bloodiest months for US troops in Iraq since the war began in 2003 and a fraying Republican support base," reports Stephen Collinson of Agence France-Presse.
Im Anhang habe ich einen Brief von Frau Marion Hahn aus Alzey, die bis zum 13. August 2007 um Unterschriften bittet, damit der dortige Bürgermeister tätig wird.
Und wieder einmal hängt alles mit dem Gift von Monsanto zusammen.
Bitte lesen Sie den 3seitigen Brief sowie auf Seite 4 die Forderung von Frau Hahn, dass die Spritzmittel auf ihre gesundheitliche Verträglichkeit hin, geprüft werden sollen.
Vielleicht ist es Ihnen möglich, in Ihrem Bereich einige Unterschriften hierfür bis zum 13. August zu sammeln und an Frau Hahn zu senden, per Brief oder Fax oder auch an mich.
Außerdem wird auf Seite 5 noch auf einen interessanter Film am 12.7. um 7.50 Uhr hingewiesen: "Die Genverschwörung"
A MOBILE phone mast earmarked for Yatton High Street has been refused the go ahead after objections from concerned residents.
Phone giant T-Mobile submitted an application for a 12m mast to be erected in the Market Industrial Estate, opposite the Market Inn on the High Street. But following letters of objection about the position and appearance of the mast from residents, North Somerset Council has turned it down.
In America, we enjoy a measure of freedom. However, we are not nearly as free as we think we are; millions of Americans are willing to relinquish what is left of their liberty...
In the world of ‘1984,’ thorough records were kept on each and every citizen, and paranoia and fear alone ensured that Big Brother’s control was absolute even when his technological eyes might randomly be turned elsewhere. Those few who dared rail against such things were re-educated using tools ranging from mere propaganda to outright torture. Is it any wonder, then, that more and more people are talking about Big Brother these days? (written 12/05; posted 07/07/07)
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
07/04/07
The Fourth of July celebrations will undoubtedly bring forth pronouncements that U.S. troops in Iraq are defending the freedoms expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, most of the ‘freedoms’ that Americans will be celebrating today are antithetical to the genuine principles of freedom enunciated in the Declaration...
U.S. leaders need to face the reality that interventionist U.S. foreign policy has consequences on the nuclear proliferation front. Those who encouraged and supported America’s post-Cold war military interventions — Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals — need to ask themselves whether increasing the incentives for nuclear proliferation was worth the price of intervention when U.S. national security was not at stake. Especially when that price is now the potential threat of nuclear terrorism...
Rather than beginning at the beginning of the discredited ’save the world from WMD’ invasion of Iraq, step back one year ago, when Bush went on the offensive to help Republicans win midterm elections. Back then, Bush claimed the capture of al-Zarqawi (remember him?) was ‘the turning point’ in Iraq and the tide was turning in favor of the U.S. Not the first time for a tidal change since the infamous aircraft carrier ‘victory speech,’ but a starting point for an evaluation. … Despite horrifically bad news pouring in from Iraq, the president and the GOP declared the U.S. would be ‘victorious’ because the troops knew ‘their cause was noble.’ GOP House Speaker Hastert declared, Democrats lacked ‘the will to win,’ suggested they were unpatriotic, and guaranteed that 2006 was ‘a year of significant transition’ in Iraq...
For Democrats, this little episode highlights the promise and peril of a Hillary Clinton presidency. On the one hand, President Clinton spoke for many in the party who are furious about the Libby decision. As Hillary Clinton’s team is quick to point out, she and her husband know how to fight. This is proof of it. On the other hand, Clinton has given the White House and Republicans an opportunity to muddy the issue by dredging up his past. Whatever you may think about the merits of the Rich pardon versus the Libby commutation, the debate is one the Bush team wants. The White House would rather have everyone debating the relative merits of the two than debating the inconsistencies in the Libby decision alone. If Hillary Clinton is elected president, how often will this phenomenon be repeated? With each piece of legislation Hillary Clinton proposes or each assertion she makes, Republicans will offer an analog from the Clinton years...
It was predictable that endangered Republicans in the Senate, fearing punishment by angry Americans for their complicity in the Iraq war, would seek to escape the political vortex created by the sinking Bush administration. They gaze upon the abandoned shipwreck of the once invincible presidential campaign of their colleague John McCain, and suddenly realize that they too can no longer ignore the grim message of the pollsters. Even entrenched figures such as Pete Domenici, R-N.M., with decades of seniority, know they can no longer continue to support President Bush’s escalation and expect to be reelected...
Slowly but surely quite a few early supporters or fellow travelers joined in and by now many conservatives such as Senator Chuck Hegel and William F. Buckley, Jr. have gone on record opposing President George W. Bush in his refusal to relinquish his irrational objective of building a functional constitutional democracy in Iraq. These are, it bears keeping in mind, not a bunch of America hating Leftists. These are men and women who came to realize that there is no rational justification for America to be fighting this completely mad war, a war against an enemy that amounts to, as I recently put it, a deadly heavy fog with no clearly identifiable substance that could be construed as a disposal enemy...
A government that spies upon its citizens, evades the courts and feels no compulsion to explain itself beyond vague warnings of security threats must be brought into check. The damage caused by terrorists on 9/11 begins to pale against the havoc wreaked upon America by America itself.
Ali-Reza Asghari, the Iranian general who went missing in Turkey nearly half a year ago, is currently being held in a secure US intelligence facility, it was reported on Sunday.
Watch Dick Cheney's impeachable crimes, then sign the petition demanding Congress begin impeachment hearings. 14 Representatives currently support H. Res 333, 3 articles of impeachment outlining Vice President Dick Cheney's crimes.
So-called "oil contracts" have been on the table of the Iraqi Parliament for months, and the fluff of lies printed about them in U..S. media is nauseating.
In order to fund further wars for resources, capitalists need the resources of Land and Labor. Imagine a SUPERSTATE a single economic and military government that stretches from Canada to the ends of South America. This nightmare is the "Free Trade Area of the Americas" or (FTAA.)
Der Bericht diskutiert mehrere mögliche Fragen im Zusammenhang mit drahtlosen Technologien, z.B. eine mögliche Verbindung zwischen Hirnschädigungen sowie einigen Krebsarten und Mobiltelefonen, durch Sendeanlagen und WiFi-Technologien verursachte gesundheitliche Risiken, besondere Empfindlichkeit gegenüber elektromagnetischen Feldern und Störungen zwischen drahtlosen Geräten und medizinischer Ausrüstung. Obwohl der Bericht keine abschließende Bestätigung oder Verneinung der Behauptung enthält, es existierten mögliche gesundheitliche Risiken infolge der Nutzung drahtloser Technologien, nimmt er Bezug auf mehrere Studien, die einen Hinweis dafür enthalten.
In einer Pressemitteilung vom 4. Juli 2007 greift Sylvia Kotting-Uhl, umweltpolitische Sprecherin der Partei, die aktuelle Diskussion über die Fortführung des Deutschen Mobilfunk Forschungsprogramms (DMF) auf.
Rechtsstaatswidrige Vorschläge: Harrsche Kritik an Bundesinnenminister Schäuble
Jedes Mal, wenn Bundesinnenminister Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) einen neuen Vorstoß für "mehr Sicherheit" unternimmt, gibt er anderen Politikern die Gelegenheit, sich als gute Demokraten zu profilieren. Es ist fraglich, ob Schäuble insoweit nur eine bestimmte Funktion im verteilten Rollenspiel einer Bundesregierung einnimmt, nicht zuletzt um auch Wählerstimmen am so genannten rechten Rand abzugreifen, oder ob er mit gezielten Tabubrüchen den Wegbereiter in eine andere Republik spielt. Jedenfalls stoßen die "Pläne" von Schäuble für ein weiteres Gesetzespaket im "Kampf gegen den Terrorismus" auf harsche Kritik. Schäuble hatte gewarnt, dass die Bekämpfung des Terrorismus mit den klassischen Mitteln der Polizei nicht zu meistern sei. Es sei zu überlegen, was man etwa mit so genannten Gefährdern mache, die nicht abgeschoben werden könnten. Man könne "beispielsweise einen Straftatbestand der Verschwörung einführen, wie in Amerika". Die "rechtlichen Probleme" reichten bis zu Extremfällen wie der gezielten Tötung von Verdächtigen durch den Staat, so Schäuble.
„Der Innenminister sagt gern, dass Deutschland „zu den sichersten Ländern der Welt gehört“. Trotzdem unterbreitet er ständig neue Vorschläge, ohne die sich der Kampf gegen Terroristen angeblich nicht gewinnen lasse. Alle zusammen ergeben das gespenstische Bild eines Staates, der niemandem mehr vertraut…“ Eine Galerie von Kai Biermann bei die Zeit online (ohne Datum) http://www.zeit.de/online/2007/28/bg-schaeuble?1
Darin wird aus seinem (nicht online verfügbaren) Interview im Spiegel zitiert: „Wo die Grenze sei, wurde er in dem Spiegel-Interview gefragt. Seine Antwort: Es gibt keine. "Die rote Linie ist ganz einfach: Sie ist immer durch die Verfassung definiert, die man allerdings verändern kann.““
"Die Sicherheit ist die Voraussetzung für die Freiheit"
„Der rechtspolitische Sprecher der CDU/CSU-Fraktion Norbert Geis hat die Vorschläge von Schäuble zur gezielten Tötung und Sicherheitsverwahrung ohne Prozess mit üblichen sicherheitspolitischen "Argumenten" unterstützt, die man sich hin und wieder einmal genauer ansehen sollte..“ Artikel von Florian Rötzer in telepolis vom 10.07.2007 http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/25/25673/1.html
Mit neuen Vorschlägen mischt Schäuble die Sicherheitsdebatte auf
„Selbst Fachleute können allmählich den Überblick verlieren. Welche Anti-Terror-Maßnahmen sind noch geplant, welche bereits beschlossen? Es sind lange Listen…“ Artikel von Henning Otte und Norbert Klaschka bei heise news vom 10.07.2007 http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/92437
Der Schäuble von Nottingham … und weit und breit kein Löwenherz
The White House intends to instruct a former aide to Karl Rove and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, both of whom are scheduled to testify before a Senate committee next week about their roles in the firings of US attorneys last year, not to comply with the panel's subpoena, reports Peter Baker in Sunday's Washington Post.
"Why did American evangelicals not pause for a moment in the rush to war to consider the near-unanimous disapproval of the global Christian community?" asks Charles Marsh. "The worldwide Christian opposition seems to me the most neglected story related to the religious debate about Iraq."
The New York Times' Adam Liptak writes: “Jordan M. Steiker, a law professor at the University of Texas who has represented death-row inmates, said that 'The exercise of the commutation power in Libby represents a dramatic shift from his attitude toward clemency in Texas, and it is entirely inconsistent with his longstanding, very limited approach.'”
"Sensing momentum from the new Republican defections, Mr. Reid and other leading Democrats intend to force a series of votes over the next two weeks on proposals to withdraw troops and limit spending. Democrats are increasingly confident they can assemble majority opposition to administration policies," according to Carl Hulse and Jeff Zeleny, The New York Times.
Villagers are urging telecommunications company T-Mobile not to build a 12m mast, even though the structure has received planning permission - by mistake.
Both the parish council and the Vale of White Horse District Council opposed the siting of the mast in Silver Lane, West Challow, but because the Vale council miscalculated the number of days in which it had to respond to the application, the company gained permission by default.
COUNCIL officials have admitted to another flurry of errors in the aftermath of a massive blunder, which saw four phone masts given planning permission by mistake.
At a public meeting last week, angry petitioners demanded answers and called for an independent inquiry into how phone giant T-Mobile was allowed to go ahead with plans - despite being turned down by Wirral's planning department.
More than four years after The New York Times published a series of news stories that arguably helped pave the way toward a US led invasion of Iraq, the country's newspaper of record, in a sobering Sunday editorial, has called for an end to the Iraq war. In stating its position, the Times editorial says, "President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have used demagoguery and fear to quell Americans' demands for an end to this war. They say withdrawing will create bloodshed and chaos and encourage terrorists. Actually, all of that has already happened - the result of this unnecessary invasion and the incompetent management of this war. It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit."
WIRELESS internet technology in schools should be suspended and an "open and honest debate" on the issue should take place, an influential council committee has recommended.
The call was made by councillors after months of debate on the issue, which has focused on Tetherdown School.
Anti-wi-fi campaigners, who made a presentation to overview and scrutiny members, were delighted by the outcome.
Two in three believe radiation from phones damaged their health
By Geoffrey Lean
Published: 08 July 2007
Two-thirds of Britons believe radiation from mobile phones and their masts has affected their health, a startling official survey shows. And huge majorities are dissatisfied with government assurances about the potential threat.
The survey is the result of a giant European Union exercise that polled more than 27,000 people across the continent, 1,375 of them in Britain. It shows that concern about the radiation is far greater than even the most ardent campaigners had dared to believe, and that official attempts to downplay the issue have backfired.
It also goes some way to explain the overwhelming public response received by The Independent on Sunday since we started raising questions about the effect of the radiation on people and wildlife in April.
This month, two councils - Haringey in London and Carmarthenshire in Wales - will be considering whether to allow Wi-Fi in their schools, after concern expressed by Sir William Stewart, the chairman of the Health Protection Agency. Sir William told the BBC's Panorama, "I believe that there is a need for a review of the Wi-Fi and other areas ... I think it's timely for it to be done now."
The survey, by the EU's Eurobarometer programme, which samples opinion across the continent, found 65 per cent of Britons believed mobile phones affected their health, and 71 per cent thought the masts did.
Across Europe, the figures were 73 and 76 per cent respectively, sharply up from 55 and 58 per cent five years ago.
Recent years have seen increasing evidence of risks from the phones. Scandinavian studies have suggested that people who have used them for more than 10 years are much more likely to get brain tumours, and that the radiation kills brain cells, which could lead to today's young people being senile from their forties.
There is much less evidence on effects from the masts, but studies have revealed a worrying incidence of symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, nausea and memory problems. Campaigners also claim they may cause cancers.
The survey shows that more than half of Britons are "very" or "fairly" concerned about such potential health effects, despite efforts at reassurance by ministers, officials and some scientists. Moreover, it reveals great dissatisfaction with the information they are given.
Nearly three-quarters of Britons say they are "not very well" or "not at all" informed about the official "protection framework" against the "potential health risks" from the radiation.
Highlights from the International Tribunal of Indigenous People and Oppressed Nations in the U.S., held in San Francisco in October 1992. Native Americans, African Americans, Puerto Ricans and Chicanos submit evidence to a distinguished jury of international representatives, indicting the U.S. on charges of genocide, imperialism and racism.
The act reeks of cronyism. The perception is that Scooter Libby got preferential treatment, a get-out-of-jail-free card because he was chief of staff to Cheney and assistant to Bush.
In the world today there are over 600 million children under 5 years old. They represent the best hopes for the planet, yet more than 5 million of them die every year as a result of environment-related diseases.
Chris Floyd, author, columnist, blogger and activist, discusses the phony war on terrorism, the politics of fear, racism and imperialism, America's murderous regime change in Somalia and belligerent attitude toward Russia.
Senior US officials will consult allies in Europe next week on ways to intensify pressure on Iran amid suspicions Tehran is trying to evade sanctions by concealing the origin of financial transactions.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described Iran as "increasingly dangerous" and refused to rule out US military action if Tehran refuses to suspend its nuclear program.
Israel's envoy to U.S.: Free world is under attack by Iran
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Sallai Meridor, said Wednesday that Israel and the free world are under attack by Iran, with a combination of fanaticism, terrorism and nuclear capability posing the most serious threat since the 1930s.
The U.S. command in Baghdad this week ballyhooed the killing of a key al Qaeda leader but later admitted that the military had declared him dead a year ago.
According to a new report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, "in the first half of this fiscal year, the Defense Department's "average monthly obligations for contracts and pay is running about $12 billion per month, well above the $8.7 billion in FY2006."
Republicans are not the only ones guilty of misrepresenting the truth regarding Iraq and weapons inspections; President Bill Clinton had the gall to claim that Saddam Hussein had refused to cooperate with weapons inspectors in December 1998, evicting the WMD sleuths from Iraq on the eve of the 72-hour bombing campaign known as Desert Fox.
On this Fourth of July, President Bush compared the Iraq war to the Revolutionary War, and called for "more patience, more courage and more sacrifice." Unfortunately, it seems that nobody asked the obvious question: "What sacrifices have you and your friends made, Mr. President?"
How recent U.S. wars of choice, driven largely by war profiteering, are plundering not only defenseless peoples and their resources abroad, but also the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens and their resources at home.
Shortages; lack of electricity; potable water; tanks rolling through the streets night and day; gunfire and explosions. Iraqi health care in shambles. 200 bodies turn up daily in the Baghdad morgue. For Iraqis, it's 9/11 every day.
Trump and His Allies...
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/06/21/trump-and-his-allies-are-clear-and-present-danger-american-democracy?utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter_op
rudkla - 22. Jun, 05:09
The Republican Party...
https://truthout.org/articles/the-republican-party-is-still-doing-donald-trumps-bidding/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=804d4873-50dd-4c1b-82a5-f465ac3742ce
rudkla - 26. Apr, 05:36
January 6 Committee Says...
https://truthout.org/articles/jan-6-committee-says-trump-engaged-in-criminal-conspiracy-to-undo-election/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=552e5725-9297-4a7c-a214-53c8c51615a3