Siobhan Gorman, reporting for The Wall Street Journal, writes: "The central role the NSA has come to occupy in domestic intelligence gathering has never been publicly disclosed. But an inquiry reveals that its efforts have evolved to reach more broadly into data about people's communications, travel and finances in the US than the domestic surveillance programs brought to light since the 2001 terrorist attacks."
Truthout's Matt Renner reports: "In our interview, Jim Dean, chair of Democracy for America (DFA), shared his thoughts about the Democratic primary election, the strategies of past Democratic campaigns and the rise of a new locally based progressive movement."
Amerikanische Studie: Keine Verbindungen zwischen Saddam Hussein und al-Qaida; neue Schätzungen: Der militärische Einsatz im Irak kostet derzeit 12 Milliarden Dollar im Monat.
Deutschland und die USA wollen Polizeidaten zu DNA und Fingerabdrücken austauschen. Bundesinnenminister Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) und Bundesjustizministerin Brigitte Zypries (SPD) kündigten am 11. März in Berlin ein entsprechendes Abkommen mit den USA an. Auch ohne offizielles Ersuchen wollen Deutschland und die USA künftig Daten von Personen - von so genannten "Terrorismusverdächtigen", wie es heißt - übermitteln. Neben Namen, Geburtsdatem oder auch der Staatsangehörigkeit sollen die Behörden in beiden Ländern die Möglichkeit bekommen, in einem automatisierten Verfahren innerhalb weniger Minuten DNA- und Fingerabdruckdaten aus dem Partnerstaat abzugleichen. Bei DNA und Fingerabdrücken werde in einem ersten Schritt lediglich geprüft, ob es eine Übereinstimmung gebe, so Zypries. Wenn es einen Treffer gebe, könnten die Partnerstaaten mehr Informationen über die jeweilige Person anfordern. Gemeinsam mit US-Innenminister Michael Chertoff und seinem Justizkollegen Michael Bernard Mukasey paraphierten Zypries und Schäuble in Berlin ein entsprechendes Abkommen. Das Abkommen muss in Deutschland noch vom Parlament bestätigt werden. http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?H=N&Nr=17465
Die in Hessen unter Ministerpräsident Roland Koch (CDU) und in Schleswig-Holstein praktizierte automatische Erfassung von Autokennzeichen durch die Polizei verstößt gegen das Recht auf informationelle Selbstbestimmung. Das entschied das Bundesverfassungsgericht am 11. März in Karlsruhe. Datenschützer und Bürgerrechtler warnen seit Jahren vor einem Überwachungsstaat in Deutschland. Bei Sicherheitspolitikern ernteten sie meist Unverständnis. Nun wurden die Kritiker höchstrichterlich bestätigt. Die Karlsruher Richter folgten weitgehend der Argumentation des Rechtsanwalts dere drei klagenden Autofahrer, Udo Kauß. Er hatte in der Verhandlung betont, dass die Polizei durch die Kennzeichenerfassung "zu einer massenhaften heimlichen Beobachtung von Unverdächtigen ermächtigt" werde. Das sei eine "neue Qualität der Kontrolle" und ein Vorgehen, das sonst nur in einem "Polizeistaat" üblich sei.
Hessische und schleswig-holsteinische Vorschriften zur automatisierten Erfassung von Kfz-Kennzeichen nichtig
„Die Verfassungsbeschwerden mehrerer Kraftfahrzeughalter gegen polizeirechtliche Vorschriften in Hessen und Schleswig-Holstein, die zur automatisierten Erfassung der amtlichen Kfz-Kennzeichen ermächtigen (vgl. Pressemitteilung Nr. 94 vom 27. September 2007), waren erfolgreich. Der Erste Senat des Bundesverfassungsgerichts hat mit Urteil vom 11. März 2008 die angegriffenen Vorschriften für nichtig erklärt, da sie das allgemeine Persönlichkeitsrecht der Beschwerdeführer in seiner Ausprägung als Grundrecht auf informationelle Selbstbestimmung verletzen…“ Pressemitteilung des Bundesverfassungsgerichtes vom 11. März 2008 mit Link zum Urteil vom 11. März 2008 – 1 BvR 2074/05; 1 BvR 1254/07 http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/pressemitteilungen/bvg08-027
Urteil zum Kfz-Massenabgleich muss Folgen haben
„Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hat am heutigen Dienstag den heimlichen und verdachtslosen Abgleich von Kfz-Kennzeichen mit polizeilichen Fahndungsdateien für verfassungswidrig erklärt. Die Beschwerdeführer begrüßen das Urteil und fordern auch von den nicht unmittelbar betroffenen Bundesländern (Bayern, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheinland-Pfalz) die Abschaffung ihrer entsprechenden, zu weit gehenden Ermächtigungen. Darüber hinaus bedeutet das Urteil nach unserer Überzeugung das endgültige Aus für Pläne, an Flughäfen oder Bahnhöfen beliebige Menschen unter Verwendung biometrischer oder anderer Verfahren mit Fahndungsdateien abzugleichen oder zu orten…“ Pressemitteilung der Beschwerdeführer vom 11.03.2008: http://www.daten-speicherung.de/index.php/urteil-zum-kfz-massenabgleich-muss-folgen-haben/
Verfassungsgericht präzisiert Grundrecht auf informationelle Selbstbestimmung
„Das Urteil des Bundesverfassungsgerichts zum automatischen Erfassen von KFZ-Kennzeichen kann weit reichende Folgen für andere Gesetze wie die Vorratsdatenspeicherung und damit für die EU-Gesetzgebung haben…“ Artikel von Burkhard Schröder in telepolis vom 12.03.2008 http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/27/27480/1.html
Datenautobahn zur CIA
„Die US-Regierung soll künftig gewaltige Datenmengen über deutsche Bürger erhalten. Innenminister Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) und Justizministerin Brigitte Zypries (SPD) unterzeichneten am Dienstag trotz Warnungen des Bundesdatenschutzbeauftragten Peter Schaar ein Abkommen mit US-Regierungsvertretern, das darauf hinauslaufen soll, den Datenschutz für Millionen Bundesbürger faktisch auszuhebeln…“ Artikel von Ulla Jelpke in junge Welt vom 12.03.2008 http://www.jungewelt.de/2008/03-12/059.php
Siehe dazu auch die Sicht der Täter: „Terroristen schneller auf der Spur“
„Internationale Terroristen nutzen bewusst die Hürden aus, die Ländergrenzen für Strafverfolger darstellen. Zur effektiveren Kriminalitätsbekämpfung wollen Deutschland und die USA deshalb ihren Informationsaustausch ausbauen: Damit die Partner eingreifen können, bevor Menschen zu Schaden kommen…“ Meldung mit weiterführenden Links vom 11.03.2008 beim Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung http://www.bundesregierung.de/nn_1264/Content/DE/Artikel/2008/03/2008-03-11-dt-usa-datenaustausch.html
Für ein Morgen in Freiheit. Aufruf zur Demo in Köln am Samstag, den
15. März 2008 ab 14.00 Uhr
Parteien, Bürgerinitiativen und Berufsverbände rufen bundesweit zur Teilnahme an einer Demonstration gegen die immer weiter fortschreitende Überwachung durch Staat und Wirtschaft auf. Am Samstag, dem 15.03.2008, werden die Bürger in Köln unter dem Motto "Für ein Morgen in Freiheit!" auf die Straße gehen. Treffpunkt für die Teilnehmer wird um 14.00 Uhr der Roncalli-Platz ("Domplatte") in Köln sein. Siehe die Aktionsseite http://www.fuer-ein-morgen-in-freiheit.de/
According to Steve Vogel of The Washington Post, "Grim-faced and sorrowful, former soldiers and Marines sat before an audience of several hundred yesterday in Silver Spring and shared their recollections of their service in Iraq."
Winter Soldier: America Must Hear These Vets' Stories
Penny Coleman writes for AlterNet: "I missed the Winter Soldier Investigation in 1971. At the time I was married to a vet who desperately wanted to put his war behind him - and he wanted me to help him do it. We were supposed to pretend it had never happened. It didn't work."
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the day President Bush announced from the Oval Office the "opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign" to invade Iraq. Five years later, more than 200 of those men and women joined last week in Silver Spring, Maryland, to speak out against that mission and to invest their government with the responsibility to end it. The event was called "Winter Soldier." In the coming weeks, Truthout will bring you in-depth video and written coverage of the issues raised in testimony at Winter Soldier. Matt Renner interviews Winter Soldier coordinator Perry O'Brien, while Maya Schenwar writes on the event's significance.
Tomorrow, watch for Part II of Truthout's multimedia series on the Winter Soldier 2008 veterans' testimonials. This Wednesday's video and story will investigate the rules of engagement in Iraq: What instructions are given to soldiers to help them decide when and how to attack, and what happens when those rules are not enforced?
When it comes to modern-day war, the very term "rules of engagement" can be a contradiction in terms. During the Winter Soldier testimonies, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans recounted the everyday violations of those unenforced rules, resulting in civilian casualties and needless damage and destruction. In the second installment of Truthout's Winter Soldier series, Matt Renner interviews Iraq veteran Jason Hurd, and Maya Schenwar writes on the disconnect between the rules and the realities on the ground. Seven testimonies from "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan" are also presented in their entirety.
Truthout's "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan" coverage continues with Part III: Profile of a Conscientious Objector. Matt Renner interviews Logan Laituri about his experience in Iraq, his Christian faith and ...
Five years ago the United States attacked and occupied Iraq. It has lost militarily, politically and morally. The end of the war may be in sight. But the consequences will endure, as will the deep-seated impulse among America’s leaders for global intervention without constraint. The war has exposed the limits of American military power. The promise of a high-tech war of “shock and awe” quickly crumbled and has been all but forgotten. The abiding images of the war, even in America, will not be cruise missiles over Baghdad but torture at Abu Ghraib and the massacre at Fallujah. People will remember a brutal counter-insurgency. The recent Winter Soldier hearings in Washington, DC, organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War, have started to reveal some of the daily horrors of the occupation forces...
The editors of The New York Times write: "Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia read the funnies over the radio to cheer up New Yorkers during a newspaper strike. President Franklin Roosevelt gave 'fireside chats' to bolster Americans during the depression. President Bush used his radio address on Saturday to try to scare Americans into believing they have to sacrifice their rights and their values to combat terrorism."
Andy Sullivan reports for Reuters: "John McCain's reputation for 'straight talk' has helped him clinch the US Republican presidential nomination but budget experts say his numbers do not add up. McCain's promises to reduce wasteful spending if elected president in November would not begin to cover the costs of his proposed tax cuts, analysts say."
Eric Lichtblau, of The New York Times, reports, "In continued defiance of the White House, House Democratic leaders are readying a proposal that would reject giving legal protection to the phone companies that helped in the National Security Agency's program of wiretapping without warrants after the Sept. 11 attacks, Congressional officials said Monday."
The Associated Press reports: "Locked in a standoff with the White House, House Democrats on Tuesday maintained their refusal to shield from civil lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on their customers without a secret court's permission. But they offered the companies an olive branch: the chance to use classified government documents to defend themselves in court."
Warren P. Strobel reports for McClatchy Newspapers, "An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 US invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network."
Christopher Kuttruff reports for Truthout, "On Monday, House Democrats filed a lawsuit against former White House counsel Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten, after Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused last week to enforce Congressional subpoenas."
No surprise here, but a good comprehensive overview. When the author says that NSA can look at the header and address of packet-based information, a key issue will be the rules for conducting what is called "Deep Packet Inspection." If NSA claims rights to do full DPI, which it can do using the equipment of several companies already in the field, it can go beyond the packet header and look at the content of messages. You can be sure that the U.S. Congress is not keeping up with all these changes in the current FISA debate.
In the St. Petersburg Times, Robyn E. Blumner says, "Sen. John McCain wants people to know that he is a true conservative. The right flank of his party, particularly blowhards like Rush Limbaugh, want to paint McCain as a closet pinko because he only has an 82 percent rating with the American Conservative Union. But McCain insists that his conservative credentials speak for themselves. Believe him. They do."
Shankar Vedantam of The Washington Post reports: "Our gas-guzzling ways have long been associated with a variety of problems, but disturbing evidence now points to a new dimension of our love affair with petroleum: Oil consumption and high oil prices hurt the political, social and economic development of millions of women in oil-producing nations."
The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin reports: "The task of cutting greenhouse gas emissions enough to avert a dangerous rise in global temperatures may be far more difficult than previous research suggested, say scientists who have just published studies indicating that it would require the world to cease carbon emissions altogether within a matter of decades."
From Philip Pullella, Reuters: "Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of 'new' sins such as causing environmental blight."
Tarjei Kidd Olsen of Inter Press Service writes: "African indigenous peoples are important custodians of their natural environments with valuable local knowledge and skills, but are struggling to survive, according to a report."
Charles Babington of The Associated Press reports: "Democrat Barack Obama ridiculed the idea of being Hillary Rodham Clinton's running mate Monday, saying voters must choose between the two for the top spot on the fall ticket."
Most conservatives--even Christian conservatives--have embraced philosophies and ideals that are antithetical to genuine conservatism. In fact, my experience with these people leads me to the conclusion that today's conservatives do not even know what true conservatism is--or was. For example, I could not tell you how many times I have listened as speaker after speaker praised and promoted the candidacy of the "conservative" John McCain. These are the same people, mind you, that in 2004 properly identified McCain as the conservative phony that he was--and still is.......
While Americans are being bombarded with large doses of presidential primary news coverage, the US entered into an agreement with its northern neighbor that may have an impact on future internal military action. In a political move that received little if any attention by the American news media, the United States and Canada entered into a military agreement on February 14, 2008, allowing the armed forces from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a domestic civil emergency, even one that does not involve a cross-border crisis.......
"According to current and former intelligence officials, the spy agency now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic emails and Internet searches as well as bank transfers, credit-card transactions, travel and telephone records,"
Kosovo, a small territory where primarily ethnic Albanians reside, announced its independence from Serbia last month. While Western leaders have celebrated this unilateral secession as a great moment for democracy, the actual details of the secession paint a different picture.
In Russia even more than in America, ‘Kosovo’ rhymes with ‘I told you so.’ Many Americans don’t realize that the former Serbian province of Kosovo, which broke away in 1999 after US-led NATO forces bombed Serbia for 78 days, helped set the stage for the recent conflict between Russia and neighboring Georgia. But Russian leaders, who like most leaders care intensely about what happens at their borders (Georgia) and to their longtime allies (Serbia), warned earlier this year that support for Kosovo’s independence would set a precedent that could trigger separatist conflicts in places like Georgia. It was a warning that Washington and several of its European allies foolishly, even recklessly, failed to heed...
The editors of The New York Times write: "Nationwide, the prison population hovers at almost 1.6 million, which surpasses all other countries for which there are reliable figures. The 50 states last year spent about $44 billion in tax dollars on corrections, up from nearly $11 billion in 1987. Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan and Oregon devote as much money or more to corrections as they do to higher education."
Sarah Baxter, reporting in The Australian, writes, "Clinton thinks she can win a majority of the popular vote in primaries and caucuses, even if she cannot overtake Barack Obama, her rival, in the number of 'pledged' delegates who will vote to choose the candidate at the Democratic national convention in August."
Dean Baker, writing for Truthout, says: "Naturally, people are looking for an explanation for the cause of the recession, and many have turned to the Iraq War. This view is wrong. The war is a drain on the economy, but it is not the cause of the recession. The recession is due to the collapse of the $8 trillion ($110,000 per homeowner) housing bubble."
Robert Costanza, writing for The Los Angeles Times, says: "The news media and the government are fixated on the fact that the US economy may be headed into a recession - defined as two or more successive quarters of declining gross domestic product. The situation is actually much worse. By some measures of economic performance, the United States has been in a recession since 1975 - a recession in quality of life, or well-being."
The Associated Press reports, "Dozens of US troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using 'unmonitored and potentially unsafe' water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, the Pentagon's internal watchdog says."
Wilmer J. Leon III, writing for Truthout, says: "If the Democrats fail to elect their presidential candidate and allow the 'Super delegates' to select him/her in the smoke-filled back rooms at the convention in Denver, the Democrats could create a long-term problem with their base. This, along with the decision to disenfranchise the Democratic voters in Florida and Michigan, could prove to be the Democrats' problem with democracy. In order to understand why the super delegate issue could be a problem, it is important to understand why the rules were created in the first place. For that, you have to go back to the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois."
Laut Grundgesetz dient die Bundeswehr der Landesverteidigung. Außer zur Verteidigung dürfen die Streitkräfte nur eingesetzt werden, soweit das Grundgesetz es "ausdrücklich" zulässt. Eine Armee im ständigen Auslandseinsatz ist vom Grundgesetz aber nicht zugelassen. Das scheint den Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, nicht zu interessieren. Nach seinen Worten hat die Bundeswehr nicht länger die Landesverteidigung als Hauptauftrag. Die Streitkräfte seien vielmehr zu einer "Armee im Einsatz" geworden, sagte der Generalinspekteur am 10. März zur Eröffnung der 41. Kommandeurtagung in Berlin. Auslandseinsätze seien nicht nur "sichtbares Zeichen" der gewachsen außenpolitischen Verantwortung Deutschlands, sondern bestimmten heute vielmehr den "Grundbetrieb". Auch von einer "außenpolitischen Verantwortung" als Legitimation für Kriegseinsätze in aller Welt ist im Grundgesetz nicht die Rede.
Jung will erleichterten Bundeswehreinsatz im Inneren erreichen
Vereidigungsminister Franz Josef Jung (CDU) beharrt angesichts neuer terroristischer Bedrohungen auf einen erleichterten Einsatz der Bundeswehr im Inneren. Dafür sollte es eine "Anpassung verfassungsrechtlicher Vorgaben" geben, sagte Jung am Montag auf der Kommandeurtagung der Bundeswehr in Berlin. Der Schutz der Bevölkerung und der kritischen Infrastruktur werde zunehmend wichtiger.
Paul Krugman writes for The New York Times: "Friday's employment report - which was so weak that it had many economists declaring that we're already in a recession - was bad news. But it was actually less disturbing than what's going on in the financial markets."
Greg Miller reports for The Los Angeles Times, "After an acrimonious investigation that spanned four years, the Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing to release a detailed critique of the Bush administration's claims in the buildup to war with Iraq, congressional officials said."
Handyhersteller und Mobilfunkanbieter richten ihre Angebote verstärkt auf Kinder aus: Handys, die besonders kinderfreundlich sein sollen, werden zunehmend im Handel angeboten. Mancherorts werden bereits fünfjährige Kinder beworben. Verbraucherorganisationen und Regierungen in Europa sind besorgt über negative Langzeitauswirkungen der Strahlung von Mobilfunkgeräten.
No responses or "action" on the part of two presidents!!!! McDonalds and "Disney phones" were huge worries in 1999.
As I often mention, if studies are done that focus only on "hours of cell phone usage" and do not address whether or not the cell phones are also being taken to bed -- kept on vibrate mode for easy texting, etc. - kept on nightstands and/or headboards at night, carried in clothing, the studies will be "flawed" and countless numbers of children and persons of all ages will continue to suffer all sorts of problems with their central nervous systems and more.
I just heard a bit of an Obama campaign speech. He used the word "solutions" but does anyone really have what it takes to start turning things around? The Clintons didn't care - I also wrote to Hillary Clinton re the Long Island breast cancer problems. No response from her either. I will try seeking help from a local Obama campaign office soon.
"Insanity prevails!!!" If we don't seriously address the issues of "all aspects of close exposures," we are unlikely to get very far with limitations re the more distant exposures. "Spinning and spinning and spinning" while countless numbers of persons cotinue to report autism-like symptoms, Alzheimers at younger and younger ages.......... We are doing what we can considering the barriers the media has in place but is it "too little, too late?" For countless persons, the answer is "YES.....!!!!"
Thanks for your help and that of others working hard to make the world a better place......... Take care - Joanne
Joanne C. Mueller
Guinea Pigs "R" Us
731 - 123rd Avenue N.W.
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55448-2127 USA
Phone: 763-755-6114
Email: jcmpelican@aol.com (3-10-08)
The minister responsible for consumer protection, Paul Magnette, will not authorise the marketing in Belgium of mobile phones intended for children. "With this type of phone children can actually be exposed to mechanical dangers or the risks of radiation. In fact scientists all recognise that it is necessary to limit children's exposure to cumulative amounts of radiation, even if not much is yet known about how sensitive they are to radio waves."
.
M. Magnette will not authorise their sale, in respect for the principle of precaution.
Belgian minister says no to cell phones for children
The minister responsible for consumer protection, Paul Magnette, will not authorise the marketing in Belgium of mobile phones intended for children. "With this type of phone children can actually be exposed to mechanical dangers or the risks of radiation. In fact scientists all recognise that it is necessary to limit children’s exposure to cumulative amounts of radiation, even if not much is yet known about how sensitive they are to radio waves."
What do ethanol and the subprime mortgage meltdown have in common? Each is a good reminder of that most powerful of unwritten decrees, the Law of Unintended Consequences — and of the all-too-frequent tendency of solutions imposed by the state to exacerbate the harms they were meant to solve. Take ethanol, the much-hyped biofuel made (primarily) from corn. Ethanol has been touted as a weapon in the fashionable crusade against climate change, because when mixed with gasoline, it modestly reduces emissions of carbon dioxide. … But now comes word that expanding ethanol use is likely to mean not less CO2 in the atmosphere, but more. Instead of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline by 20 percent … ethanol use will cause such emissions to nearly double over the next 30 years...
“Nearly 16 years ago in these very pages, I wrote that ”one-size-fits all’ rules for business ignore the reality of the market place.’ Today I’m watching some broad rules evolve on individual decisions that are even worse. Under the guise of protecting us from ourselves, the right and the left are becoming ever more aggressive in regulating behavior. Much paternalist scrutiny has recently centered on personal economics, including calls to regulate subprime mortgages. … Since leaving office I’ve written about public policy from a new perspective: outside looking in. I’ve come to realize that protecting freedom of choice in our everyday lives is essential to maintaining a healthy civil society...
Zeitung gegen den Krieg Nr. 26 zum Ostermarsch 2008 ist erschienen
Zum Ostermarsch 2008 gibt es wieder eine neue Ausgabe der Zeitung gegen den Krieg – ZgK. Sie geht bereits am kommenden Freitag, dem 14. März in den Vertrieb, sodass sie allen, die rechtzeitig bestellen, für den Ostermarsch 2008 zur Verfügung steht.
Schwerpunkte:
Kriegsdienst und soziale Frage: die Bundeswehr rekrutiert Erwerbslose; 50 Jahre Ostermarsch – 50 Jahre Drohung mit dem atomaren Erstschlag; Reservistenarmee - „Gegen Demonstranten und Demokraten, da helfen nur Soldaten“; EU-Rüstungsprogramme (Die EADS wird zu einem deutsch-französisch-Militärisch-Industriellen Komplex mit direkter Staatskontrolle ausgebaut, EU-Verfassungsvertrag mit verpflichtender Rüstungskomponente); Afghanistan (Ausweitung des deutschen Einsatzes, Interview mit Malalai Joya, einer afghanischen Parlamentarierin, Aktionen und Mobilisierungen gegen den deutschen Kriegseinsatz); Irak (Bilanz fünf Jahre Besatzung, Nordirak: Einmarsch und Rückzug der türkischen Truppen, Der deutsche Beitrag zum US-geführten Krieg); Israel/Palästina (Gaza als größtes Gefängnis der Welt); Energieknappheit, Hunger und Kriege; USA: Neue Hochrüstung und Wahlen
Hieraus exklusiv im LabourNet Germany:
Argumente zur europäischen und deutschen Rüstungsindustrie
„Wenn die Worte „Rüstungsindustrie“ oder „militärisch-industrieller Komplex“ fallen, dann denkt man unwillkürlich an große US-Konzerne wie Boeing, Northrop Grumman oder Lockheed Martin. Als Anfang März 2008 der deutsch-französische Rüstungskonzern EADS einen gigantischen Auftrag für militärische US-Tankflugzeuge erhielt, rieben sich der eine und die andere erstaunt die Augen: Wer ist denn bloss EADS? Was, Airbus hat mit Rüstung zu tun? Warum sind denn EADS/Airbus so dick im US-Rüstungsgeschäft engagiert? Doch der Vorgang hat Methode. In Europa wächst – mit massiver Unterstützung durch die Regierung in Berlin - eine gewaltige Rüstungsbranche heran, deren Eigendynamik die Militarisierung vorantreibt und in immer neue Kriege hineinführt. Die Zeitung gegen den Krieg – ZgK liefert Antworten auf gängige Argumente, mit denen der EU-Rüstungsboom bagatellisiert wird…“ Artikel von Winfried Wolf http://www.labournet.de/krieg/zgk_euruest.html
Autorinnen und Autoren:
Uri Avnery, Joachim Guilliard, Heike Hänsel, Brigitte Kiechle, Arno Neuber, Gerald Oberansmayr, Wolfgang Pomrehn, Tobias Pflüger, Ulrich Sander, Monty Schädel, Laura von Wimmersperg, Winfried Wolf
Die Bezugspreise der ZgK sind so günstig wie folgt:
- von 1 bis 50 Ex. zu 25 Cent je Ex.
- von 51-499 Ex. zu 20 Cent je Ex.
- ab 500 Ex. zu 15 Cent je Ex.
Zuzüglich Porto und Verpackung. Bestellungen bitte an
Zeitung-gegen-den-Krieg@gmx.de oder per Fax 030-227 76 179 oder per
Telefon 033205 – 44 613.
America now spends nearly $50 billion dollars per year targeting, prosecuting, and incarcerating illicit-drug users. As a result, the population of illicit-drug offenders now behind bars is greater than the entire U.S. prison population in 1980. Since the mid-1990s, drug offenders have accounted for nearly 50 percent of the total federal prison population growth and some 40 percent of all state prison population growth. For marijuana alone, law enforcement currently spends between $7 billion and $10 billion dollars annually targeting users — primarily low-level offenders — and taxpayers spend more than $1 billion annually to incarcerate them. Despite these unprecedented punitive efforts, illicit drugs remain cheaper and more plentiful than ever...
Our foreign policy has put us in mortal danger, and not only because it empowers the worldwide Islamist insurgency that aims to attack the American homeland, but also because the ‘Iraq recession’ is fast threatening to become the Iraq depression. The U.S. is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, and the $3 trillion war is going to sink us if it isn’t stopped. Libertarians who believe their program of less government, more freedom, and a return to the principles embodied in the Constitution can survive another four years of constant warfare are deluding themselves. Unless the post-9/11 War Party juggernaut is stopped, our old Republic is doomed. Not only that, but libertarianism as a credible alternative to the statist ideologies of Left and Right will be swept away in a tide of economic and political tumult, rendered ineffective and irrelevant by much larger forces. In short, we are facing a crisis, and this is where the ethics of emergencies kick in...
Two senators are asking congressional investigators to look at Iraq’s oil revenues and see if the war-ravaged nation can pay for its own reconstruction, an effort that has been bankrolled to this point mostly by U.S. taxpayers. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, and John Warner, R-Virginia, said in their Friday letter to the Government Accountability Office that Iraq has ‘tremendous resources’ in banks worldwide but is doing little to improve security and reconstruction efforts...
The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the ‘burn’ rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book. Beyond 2008, working with ‘best-case’ and ‘realistic-moderate’ scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion — or more — by 2017...
The war ended with the toppling of Saddam's statue, the Iraqis want them out, and now the occupiers, having destroyed much of Iraq, have the arrogance to ask Iraqis to pay for the occupation and reconstruction.
Dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using ‘unmonitored and potentially unsafe’ water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company, the Pentagon’s internal watchdog says. A report obtained by The Associated Press said soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq...
Dr. Nouriel Roubini of the New York University's Stern School of Business, who, in 12 steps, outlines how the losses of the American financial system will grow to more than $1 trillion - that's one million times $1 million. That amount is equal to all the assets of all American banks.
The workers, hired from India in 2006 to tide over a labour shortage in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that killed over 1,800 on the Gulf coast in August 2005, said they were made to live "like pigs in a cage" in a "work camp" run by their employer, marine fabrication company Signal International, in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest private equity funds, may soon acquire the $2 billion government contracting business of consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the biggest suppliers of technology and personnel to the U.S. government's spy agencies.
Shocking documentary uncovers the subversion of Americas democracy. I defy you to watch this 48 minute documentary and not be outraged about the depth of corruption and deceit within the highest ranks of our government.
PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can develop in a person who witnesses, or is confronted with, a traumatic event. PTSD is said to be the most prevalent mental disorder arising from combat.
In the first insider account of Pentagon decision-making on Iraq, one of the key architects of the war blasts former secretary of state Colin Powell, the CIA, retired Gen. Tommy R. Franks and former Iraq occupation chief L. Paul Bremer for mishandling the run-up to the invasion and the subsequent occupation of the country.
A new book by Aram Roston reveals that Chalabi supported John McCain (R-AZ) for president in 2000, believing that the senator would be the most receptive to his agenda.
Not one of the remaining political candidates -- not Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, much less John McCain -- talks about significantly downsizing the military-industrial complex and decreasing our military footprint around the world. Superpowers are darned expensive, and the United States simply doesn't have the money for all that anymore.
Frustration and the craving for revenge have become main drivers of US policies. The events of September 11 focused their common dysfunctionality, but they are not its root cause.
An open source video compilation, Propaganda offers a critical look at the "mainstream" media, featuring interviews and lectures by Noam Chomsky, John Pilger, Amy Goodman and much more.
Video lecture: John Pilger speaks about the US Empire, "War On Democracy", 9/11 Truth Movement. and The effects of US foreign policy on Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa.
This weekend, the darkness continues to descend in Washington, the powers of the state continue to grow and the mechanisms of accountability rot away unused. Americans are focused on the selection of a new president. Many of them share the naïve assumption that on January 20, 2009, when a new leader takes the oath of office from the south steps of the Capitol Building, the Founders' constitutional order will once more be set aright and the extra-constitutional excesses of the Bush years will be but a bad memory.
Iran, a nation of proud people in a neighborhood of proud peoples, sees only absurdity in the discrimination against it when the nearby nations of India, Pakistan, and Israel have all developed their own nuclear weapons without the U.S. stopping them.
The US has proved in more than one way that the concerns it has expressed regarding Iran's nuclear programme do not have much to do with realities on the ground. For the past few years Iran's nuclear file has been a platform from which the US has coordinated an agenda which goes far beyond Iran itself.
Most people see George Orwell’s 1984 (published 1949) as fiction, but Orwell had been a Fabian Socialist and was actually warning people about a planned future dictatorship under Big Brother. When Big Brother’s agent O’Brien is torturing Winston, who eventually reluctantly submits, O’Brien tortures him again and Winston is bewildered because he has already submitted. However, O’Brien explains that the goal is to have people submit not out of fear, but because they have actually come to love Big Brother and his rule over them......
When are these so-called leaders in Washington, DC, from both parties going to stand up and do what is right for this nation and the rule of law? The Republicans finally got up the nerve to go after Richard Nixon over something as foolish as an office break in. However, both parties are sitting on their hands while Bush, Cheney & the Federal Department of Justice run amok....
Eine Managerin der Bank of America verblüfft die Branche mit ihrem Bericht über Energiesparfenster, die Mobilfunksignale behindern. In einigen Bankgebäuden mussten Signalverstärker installiert werden, um den Empfang zu sichern. ...
[HLV-Kommentar: Die für die amerikanischen Mobilfunker verblüffende Weisheit ist allgemein bekannt: Fensterscheiben als Wärmeschutzglas haben sehr gute Dämpfungswerte, die bis zu 99,9% erreichen können. Das Rahmenmaterial Aluminium hat ebenfalls eine sehr gute Dämpfung, weshalb in der Bank of Amerika die genannten Probleme auftreten.]
SANTA CRUZ -- Cell phone companies will have a tougher time putting up towers in the rolling hills and residential neighborhoods of Santa Cruz County under a proposal put forth this week by county planners.
But not a tough enough time, say watchdog groups who claim the telecommunications giants are poisoning the public with their radio frequencies.
"This is a medical and environmental issue," said longtime opponent of cell towers Marilyn Garrett, who can rattle off a number of health risks, most widely contested, that may be posed by wireless facilities.
The proposed changes to the county's cell tower ordinance, which include requiring setbacks between wireless towers and schools and limiting their concentration in unincorporated areas, come in response to ongoing complaints.
"There is no evidence, no evidence by any peer reviewed study anywhere in the world ... there is no evidence that these towers cause health and safety situations."
1) Is this statement True or False?
2) Can he lose his Legal License over this?
3) Would that be a good idea?
Inspired by the courageous leadership of Shirley Golub in San Francisco, challenging the majority leader herself for the Democratic congressional primary nomination there, we have been told that there are now primary challenges is most of the districts in the state of Oregon, running on an impeachment now platform.
And we could not have asked for a more valiant candidate than Joe Walsh, who has been leading his fellow constituents in their own weekly rally in front of Earl Blumenauer's district office in OR-03, demanding action on impeachment, and on ending the indefensible and ruinous occupation of Iraq.
Joe needs your help this weekend, to put together the filing fee of $1,000 to pay for the publication of his full platform in the official Oregon voter pamphlet. This is critical in the state of Oregon to get our message out, as it is a completely vote by mail state. This should be so easy for us to do. Please make whatever contribution you can make now, small or large, and we will certainly reach this very modest goal.
Joe Walsh is a long time dedicated peace activist, who gave up a Navy career he already had, by filing as a conscientious objector in 1970 during the Vietnam War, and received an honorable discharge. He has put his own body on the line many times as a political activist also, for demonstrations in front of Oregon senator Smith's office last year, for another example.
But more than that, Joe is well known to his local community for his generous volunteer work, also donating many hours on a weekly basis working for Portland's "Fish", who distribute emergency food to people in serious trouble.
The primary in Oregon is coming up fast on May 20. So your contribution can have an immediate impact on Congress right now, by demonstrating that any incumbent who does not get it can, and will, face a serious primary challenge.
Won't you make a contribution to Joe now if you can, so that he can carry the banner of impeachment, and all the other issues we are fighting for, in the official Oregon voter pamphlet. We need his voice. Without him there would be no challenger in his district, and people like Blumenauer would just blithely think that they forever disregard the will of the people.
And even if you can't make a contribution, please spread the word about the growing "On The Table" impeachment movement, and take heart that in just the next couple months we can apply enough pressure through these primary challenges to make impeachment an actual reality.
Paid for by Joe Walsh for Congress
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
usalone193b:202489
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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
