February 24, 2005

Miscellaneous Subjects #210: An Eclectic Round up of the Latest news


Hello everyone

You have quite a diverse range of news and information to review in this one. !

And remember, whatever happens, just stay centered and in synch with whatever it is you feel prompted to do by simply BEING who you are BEcoming ;-)

Jean Hudon
Earth Rainbow Network Coordinator

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STATS for this compilation: Over 24,800 words and more than 115 links provided.

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"One basic truth can be used as a foundation for a mountain of lies, and if we dig down deep enough in the mountain of lies, and bring out that truth, to set it on top of the mountain of lies; the entire mountain of lies will crumble under the weight of that one truth. And there is nothing more devastating to a structure of lies than the revelation of the truth upon which the structure of lies was built, because the shock waves of the revelation of the truth reverberate, and continue to reverberate throughout the Earth for generations to follow, awakening even those people who had no desire to be awakened to the truth."

- Delamar Duvaris as written in the preface of "Behold the Pale Horse" by William Cooper


REMINDER

UFO Phenomenon with Peter Jennings -- Seeing Is Believing -- A Two-Hour Primetime Special airs tonight, Thursday, February 24, 2004, at 8 PM. Eastern Time on ABC- "As a journalist," says Jennings, "I began this project with a healthy dose of skepticism and as open a mind as possible. After almost 150 interviews with scientists, investigators, and with many of those who claim to have witnessed unidentified flying objects, there are important questions that have not been completely answered - and a great deal not fully explained." Also related (as recommended by Meria) The Phoenix Lights www.thephoenixlights.net - Dr. Lynne and I and thousands of Arizonans were witnesses to the March 13, 1997 mass sighting which is included in this special tonight.


Worthy of Your Attention

Flash Animation on US v. Iran (VERY COMPELLING!)
http://www.bushflash.com/signals.html
Recommended by "Kathleen Roberts" weerkhr@pacbell.net

If Walls Could Speak (Excellent political cartoon)
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=354337
Check also the archives for all their cartoons at http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=9150

9/11, Fear, and the Selling of American Empire (Real Video movie recommended by Meria)
http://207.44.245.159/article6895.htm
Hijacking Catastrophe is powerful, understated, straightforward and educational. In a single meticulously organized hour of evidence and analysis, viewers are treated to a thoughtful explanation of modern American empire, neo-conservatism as a driving force for the current Bush administration.

Lyons: The termination and removal of Ward Churchill
http://indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410377
A follow up to the Ward Churchill story (in The Empire of Darkness Series #22) recommended by Raphael Egger raphael@OneInLove.org"> who also suggested to include a new online petition in support of Ward Churchill and academic freedom available at http://www.coloradoaim.org/wardpetition.htm


CONTENTS

1. Scott Ritter Says US Attack on Iran Planned for June
2. The second wave
3. Regaining My Humanity
4. Me, My Mother, and the New World Order
5. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" election charade
6. Global Eye/Sword Play
7. National ID - Gateway To Bio-Chip Implant
8. ‘REAL ID Act’ is a real threat
9. Action Alert: Call for Special Prosecutor on Torture
10. A Hireling, A Fraud And A Prostitute
11. UFOs hidden under electromagnetic flux
12. Childhood under threat - UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children Report 2005
13. Chemtrails And Vaccines -- What You Didn't Know About Vaccines And Human Animal Husbandry
14. flashpoints.net


See also:

German Protesters Call Bush 'No. 1 Terrorist' (Feb 23, 2005)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7716331
MAINZ, Germany (Reuters) - About 12,000 protesters, many carrying banners reading "Bush go home," "No. 1 Terrorist" and "Warmonger," marched through the German city of Mainz on Wednesday, but were mostly kept away from the visiting U.S. president. The official rally, which was twice as big as expected, never got within earshot of President Bush, but a small group of protestors rushed toward his car as he left to visit a U.S. base in nearby Wiesbaden. Police wrestled several demonstrators to the ground and led them away in handcuffs, a Reuters witness said. Bush was visiting Germany for the first time since the 2003 Iraq war, which Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and most Germans opposed. "I'm disgusted by the war in Iraq Bush started that has cost thousands of civilian lives," said Thomas Odenweller, 49, a computer technician. "Now he's trying to normalize relations with Europe. It must be stopped." Ignoring snow and freezing temperatures, the demonstrators held banners chastising Bush in English with slogans such as: "You can bomb the world to pieces but not into peace." Many had pre-printed posters reading: "Bush, No. 1 Terrorist." Before the march, which Mainz police said was one of the largest ever in the city of about 300,000, one speaker told the crowd: "Mr. Bush, please leave our country. You started an illegal war against Iraq." German police confiscated one poster that read: "We had our Hitler, now you have yours." CLIP

Martin's move irritates U.S. PM to announce rejection of controversial plan (Feb. 24, 2005)
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1109199011395&call_pageid=970599119419
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Paul Martin will formally announce today what Ottawa has already told the White House - Canada won't be a partner in the U.S. missile defence scheme.Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew told U.S. Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice of Canada's decision during a meeting in Brussels earlier this week. And senior staff in the Prime Minister's Office relayed the decision to Andrew Card, chief of staff to U.S. President George W. Bush. This morning, Martin will say that Canada has decided not to participate in the operation of the controversial program, ending almost two years of debate by the Liberal government. The Bush administration has made a public show of understanding Martin's decision - masking signs of irritation behind the scenes. The irritation stems not so much from the decision itself, Washington insiders say, but from the time it took Martin to make up his mind.Canadians with business interests in the U.S. were predicting any momentum toward a new relationship between Martin and Bush would stall because of the symbolism of Ottawa's decision, coming after the 2003 decision to stay out of Bush's invasion of Iraq.(...) Martin's decision is sure to be popular among the missile program's detractors in Canada, whose numbers are growing according to a recent Star poll. The survey, conducted by Ekos Research Associates, showed 54 per cent of Canadians want nothing to do with the plan. CLIP

Canada, U.S. 'never more different' (Feb 22)
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/02/22/939067-cp.html
OTTAWA (CP) - Canadians shouldn't worry about their sovereignty because in many ways this country and the United States have never been further apart, says the next ambassador to Washington. Frank McKenna was grilled for 90 minutes by the Commons foreign affairs committee on Tuesday. And while the session was largely overshadowed by controversial comments on continental missile defence, the former New Brunswick premier had some interesting and candid insights on his new job. McKenna thinks the U.S. should back off on criticisms of Canadian marijuana decriminalization. He worries about the gulf between Canadian and American understanding of one another. And he believes the two countries can't do enough to harmonize their shared border. "I don't think I've ever seen the countries, in many ways, more different," McKenna told the committee. "We're going in a very different direction from the United States of America." By example, he cited legislative measures such as same-sex marriage, gun control and pot decriminalization. CLIP

Border talks called 'disturbing' (Feb 14, 2005)
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1108336208455&call_pageid=970599119419
Blue-ribbon panel looks at North American integration - Canadian vice-chair insists group has no hidden agenda. - OTTAWA—An influential tri-national panel has considered a raft of bold proposals for an integrated North America, including a continental customs union, single passport and contiguous security perimeter.According to a confidential internal summary from the first of three meetings of the Task Force on the Future of North America, discussions also broached the possibility of lifting trade exemptions on cultural goods and Canadian water exports.Those last two suggestions were dismissed in subsequent deliberations, say members of the task force, an advisory group of academics, trade experts, former politicians and diplomats from Canada, the United States and Mexico sponsored by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. Members said the task force's final report this spring will focus on "achievable" rather than simply academic questions like that of a single North American currency.Nevertheless, the initial debates prompted a sharp reaction from trade skeptics and nationalist groups like the Council of Canadians, who fear business leaders and the politically connected are concocting plans to cede important areas of sovereignty at the behest of American business interests.Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow said the summary, a copy of which was obtained by the Toronto Star, was "disturbing" and "shocking." "What they envisage is a new North American reality with one passport, one immigration and refugee policy, one security regime, one foreign policy, one common set of environmental, health and safety standards ... a brand name that will be sold to school kids, all based on the interests and the needs of the U.S.," she said. CLIP

Stirring the White House honey pot (Feb 10, 2005)
http://rigorousintuition.blogspot.com/2005/02/stirring-white-house-honey-pot.html
Why, when I read the name - actually, pseudonymn - "Jeff Gannon," do I see the name Craig Spence? It's unlikely you've missed this 24-hour flap, but in a nutshell, so to speak, here's the story. At least as it appears for mainstream America's tabloid consumption, which is the only way most Americans will see it. CLIP - Recommended by Meria who wrote "Well worth the read and reminder."

Bush administration blurs media boundary (February 17, 2005)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0217/p01s01-uspo.html
Controversy over a 'journalist' adds to the buzz about message control in capital. - WASHINGTON – First came video "news releases" produced by the Bush administration using a TV news format. Then came three conservative columnists who got big paychecks from federal agencies. Now, there's Jeff Gannon (not his real name), a journalist (maybe) who gained surprisingly easy access to the president, only to lob a sympathetically slanted question. No evidence has surfaced that Mr. Gannon was directed by the White House, but the circumstances ignited a debate over the inner workings of the White House press room. CLIP

Gannongate threatens to expose a huge GOP pedophile and male prostitution ring (Feb 18)
http://onlinejournal.com/Media/021805Madsen/021805madsen.html
Now that is has been discovered that "Jeff Gannon" (real name James D. Guckert), a "reporter" for Talon News Service, afront operation run by the conservative Republican-oriented GOPUSA.com, was using an alias as a cleared White House reporter, details are emerging that threaten to immerse the Bush administration in a major scandal. "Gannongate," which is only now being mentioned by the mainstream news media, threatens to expose a potentially damaging GOP pedophile and male prostitution ring dating back to the 1980s and the administration of George H. W. Bush. James D. Guckert, using the name Jeff Gannon and possibly other aliases, was also running gay porn sites, one with a U.S. Marine Corps theme that solicited males for prostitution. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said he did not realize Gannon was using an alias until recently. However, rumors in the gay community are circulating about McClellan frequenting gay bars in Austin, Texas. (...) After the Gannon story broke, militaryescorts.com and hotmilitarystud.com were redirected to a secure log-in site at Cupertino, California-based www.dividezero.net/, which was registered to GKG.Net, which had a contact email in College Station, Texas, the home of Texas A&M University and the George H.W. Bush presidential library. Dividezero.net had a secure log-in window but no subscription information. Experts who track illegal content on the web, including child pornography, report that such sites are common where log-in information is provided separately by regular mail so that the identities of subscribers cannot be easily tracked by online enrollment and entry of credit card information. Gannongate is reminiscent of a huge political scandal that surfaced in Nebraska in 1989 when it was learned that Lawrence King, the head of Franklin Community Credit Union in Omaha and a rising African American star in the GOP (he sang the national anthem at George H. W. Bush's 1988 nominating convention in New Orleans), was a kingpin-along with top Republicans in Nebraska and Washington, DC, including George H. W. Bush-in a child prostitution and pedophilia scandal. King was later convicted and jailed for fraud but pedophile and prostitution charges were never brought against him and other Nebraska Republican businessmen and politicians. The scandal, investigated by Nebraska State Senator Loran Schmit, his assistant John DeCamp (a former GOP state senator), State Senate Committee investigator Gary Caradori, and former CIA Director William Colby, reached the very top echelons of the George H. W. Bush administration and GOP. (...) Last year, a senior source on the Washington Times editorial staff (the same paper that broke the GOP pedophile scandal in 1989) linked White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove to gay activities involving top Republican political strategists in Washington, DC.Gannon (Guckert) has been a major player in GOP and fundamentalist Christian politics in Washington and around the country. CLIP MORE ON THIS BELOW IN "A Hireling, A Fraud And A Prostitute"

Great Daily Show Video on the Media/Gannongate
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/02/17.html#a1618

Bush Gets Stoned by the World Media (24 February 2005)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/022405Z.shtml
U.S. press less interested in drug remarks. President Bush all but admits to illicit drug use for the first time. Overseas it's the stuff of headlines. At home, the U.S. press has generally downplayed the story. The divergent coverage of Bush's apparent drug use is a textbook study in the difference between the international online media and their American counterparts. On the issue of youthful illicit drug use, most U.S. news editors -- liberal, conservative or other -- defer to Bush in a way that their foreign counterparts do not. The New York Times broke the Bush marijuana story Friday in a front-page report on Doug Wead, a Christian activist who has published a book based in part on conversations with Bush that Wead secretly recorded in 1998 and 1999. On Wead's tapes, whose authenticity the White House does not dispute, Bush came close to admitting he had smoked marijuana and avoided answering a question about whether he had used cocaine. "I wouldn't answer the marijuana questions. You know why? Because I don't want some little kid doing what I tried," Bush said. CLIP

Iraq, Afghan War Costs May Exceed $300 Billions (15 February 2005)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/021605E.shtml
Washington - With military costs since Sept. 11, 2001, now expected to exceed $300 billion, the Pentagon is spending more per soldier to fight in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere than it did during earlier conflicts. High technology, the costs of paying and protecting a modern soldier, and the worldwide nature of the war on terrorism are all possible reasons, experts say. "Every facet of military expenditure has skyrocketed since the Gulf War," said Loren B. Thompson, a military expert with the Lexington Institute. "The biggest reason why is because the military is more and more a microcosm of the broader economy." CLIP

Imperial Entropy: Collapse of the American Empire
http://www.counterpunch.org/sale02222005.html
It is quite ironic: only a decade or so after the idea of the United Statesas an imperial power came to be accepted by both right and left, and people were actually able to talk openly about an American empire, it is showing multiple signs of its inability to continue. And indeed it is now possible to contemplate, and openly speculate about, its collapse. The neocons in power in Washington these days, those who were delighted to talk about America as the sole empire in the world following the Soviet disintegration, will of course refuse to believe in any such collapse, just as they ignore the realities of the imperial war in Iraq. But I think it behooves us to examine seriously the ways in which the U.S. system is so drastically imperiling itself that it will cause not only the collapse of its worldwide empire but drastically alter the nation itself on the domestic front. (...) Add to that an economy resting on a nearly $500 billion Federal budget deficit, making up part of a total national debt of $7.4 trillion as of last fall, and the continual drain on the economy by the military of at least $530 billion a year (not counting military intelligence, whose figure we never know). Nobody thinks that is sustainable either, which is why the dollar has lost value everywhere -down by 30 per cent against the euro since 2000- and the world begins to lose faith in investment here. I foresee that in just a few years the dollar will be so battered that the oil states will no longer want to operate in that currency and will turn to the euro instead, and China will let the yuan float against the dollar, effectively making this nation bankrupt and powerless, unable to control economic life within its borders much less abroad. CLIP

UFO Secrecy and the Death of the American Republic (Feb 21) http://keyholepublishing.com/UFO%20Secrecy%20and%20the%20Death%20of%20the%20American%20Republic%20-%20Part%20One.htm
(...) The so-called War on Terror is simply the latest manifestation of the new order of things, of what we may call the Permanent Warfare State. In such a situation, the old republican virtues of freedom and self-government cannot survive. (...) Lest you doubt that America is indeed a bona fide empire that garrisons the world, consider that according to the Pentagon itself, the U.S. military has 860 bases in 41 foreign countries. That's twenty percent of all the nations on earth. But this figure is certainly too low. It leaves out bases in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, and Uzbekistan. Chalmers Johnson, in The Sorrows of Empire, argues that the true number is probably closer to 1,000 bases in perhaps more than 50 nations. (...) Military bases are a big part of it, but not the whole story. American troops, once again according to the Pentagon, are currently being stationed in 135 nations of the world. This is seventy percent of the world's nations. (...) Since World War Two, America has pursued a grand imperial strategy to stake out the globe. Today this strategy wears the scantiest of veils, and America's leaders now talk openly of "full spectrum dominance." That's bureaucratese for "we're taking over the world." Meanwhile, a profound but silent national security revolution has transformed the country. It is silent because there is still no formal acknowledgment of any real change. As long as the external appearances are the same (e.g. President, Congress, Supreme Court, etc.) most people continue to live under the delusion that things are the same, when in fact they are entirely different. CLIP

Experts See Military Draft as Inevitable (Feb 18, 2005)
http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/2/18/9166/09308
Anti-war activists fear revival of selective service - There may come a day when Uncle Sam wants Wayne Flenniken for the U.S. Army. In many ways, he's an ideal candidate for military service. At 15, he already has finished high school and is enrolled at Delaware Technical & Community College studying Spanish and English. There is a problem, however. Wayne doesn't want any part of Uncle Sam's Army - or anyone else's, for that matter. "I don't believe in war and I don't like the military in any way, shape or form," he said. "I don't think anyone should be forced to die prematurely." That's why he went to a draft resistance training session Friday in his hometown of Newark. It's why Wayne has begun building his case as a conscientious objector. CLIP

Groups Preparing New Push Against Iraq War (18 February 2005)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/021905Y.shtml
Invasion anniversary next month is date of campaign kickoff. (...) Peace groups have been relatively quiet in recent months, especially after President Bush's reelection. But antiwar leaders say they are on the verge of reemerging. Leaders of dozens of peace groups plan to meet in St. Louis this weekend to plot strategies for a new push against the war, from ad campaigns to long-term, grass-roots organizing. They plan to use March 19 and 20, the anniversary weekend of the war's start, as the beginning of an all-out effort to convince the public that the best course for Americans and Iraqis is for the war to end and the troops to come home. CLIP

Plutonium Missing From British Site (18 February 2005)
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=59174&d=18&m=2&y=2005
LONDON - A civilian nuclear fuels reprocessing plant in northwest England cannot account for some 30 kilograms of plutonium, enough for seven or eight nuclear bombs, a newspaper said yesterday. The annual audit of nuclear material at all of Britain's civil nuclear plants is expected to reveal that the quantity of plutonium at Sellafield was classified as "material unaccounted for" last year, The Times said. Figures published by the British Nuclear Group (BNG) each year reveal an audit of nuclear material which is admitted and processed by the various plants around Britain. A spokeswoman at Sellafield said: "This is material that is unaccounted for, and there is always a discrepancy between the physical inventory and the book inventory. There is no suggestion that any material has left the site." The Sellafield spokeswoman said the most likely reason for any shortfall was due to the complex measuring processes that are carried out. Asked if the 30 kilogram figure raised concern, she replied: "I wouldn't say we would be alarmed by it, because we are only talking about a book figure here." But independent experts were worried about the disclosure, according to The Times. "They make this claim of an auditing problem but I would expect them to be overzealous in the current climate of fears about terrorism," John Large, an independent nuclear consultant, was quoted as saying. Frank Barnaby, a specialist in nuclear weapons, told The Times: "There will always be some material unaccounted for but this is a dramatic development."

America Would Back Israel Attack on Iran' (18 February 2005)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/021805I.shtml
President George W Bush added a new twist to the international tension over Iran's nuclear programme last night by pledging to support Israel if it tries to destroy the Islamic regime's capacity to make an atomic bomb. Asked whether he would back Israel if it raided Teheran's nuclear facilities, Mr Bush first expressed cautious solidarity with European efforts, led by Britain, France and Germany, to negotiate with Iran. But he quickly qualified himself, adding that all nations should be concerned about whether Iran could make nuclear weapons. "Clearly, if I was the leader of Israel and I'd listened to some of the statements by the Iranian ayatollahs that regarded the security of my country, I'd be concerned about Iran having a nuclear weapon as well. And in that Israel is our ally, and in that we've made a very strong commitment to support Israel, we will support Israel if her security is threatened." His comments appeared to be a departure from the administration's line that there are no plans to attack at present and that Washington backs European diplomatic efforts. The remarks may have reflected Mr Bush's personal thinking on an issue causing deep concern in Washington. CLIP

Getting the Purple Finger (Feb 28 issue)
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050228&s=klein
The election results are in: Iraqis voted overwhelmingly to throw out the US-installed government of Iyad Allawi, who refused to ask the United States to leave. A decisive majority voted for the United Iraqi Alliance; the second plank in the UIA platform calls for "a timetable for the withdrawal of the multinational forces from Iraq." There are more single-digit messages embedded in the winning coalition's platform. Some highlights: "Adopting a social security system under which the state guarantees a job for every fit Iraqi...and offers facilities to citizens to build homes." The UIA also pledges "to write off Iraq's debts, cancel reparations and use the oil wealth for economic development projects." In short, Iraqis voted to repudiate the radical free-market policies imposed by former chief US envoy Paul Bremer and locked in by a recent agreement with the International Monetary Fund. So will the people who got all choked up watching Iraqis flock to the polls support these democratically chosen demands? Please. "You don't set timetables," George W. Bush said four days after Iraqis voted for exactly that. Likewise, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the elections "magnificent" but dismissed a firm timetable out of hand. The UIA's pledges to expand the public sector, keep the oil and drop the debt will likely suffer similar fates. At least if Adel Abd al-Mahdi gets his way--he's Iraq's finance minister and the man suddenly being touted as leader of Iraq's next government. Al-Mahdi is the Bush Administration's Trojan horse in the UIA. (You didn't think they were going to put all their money on Allawi, did you?) In October he told a gathering of the American Enterprise Institute that he planned to "restructure and privatize [Iraq's] state- owned enterprises," and in December he made another trip to Washington to unveil plans for a new oil law "very promising to the American investors." It was al- Mahdi himself who oversaw the signing of a flurry of deals with Shell, BP and ChevronTexaco in the weeks before the elections, and it is he who negotiated the recent austerity deal with the IMF. CLIP

‘Only a mass movement can end lraq occupation’ (Feb 17) http://host9.cpusa.org/article/articleview/6492/1/254
While an Islamic Shiite coalition won a slim majority in the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq, the results indicate that no single group can control the country’s political process. One prominent Islamic “moderate,” Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, appears likely to become prime minister in the new transitional government. The head of one of the two large Kurdish parties, Jalal Talabani, may be named president. Several Sunni groups who boycotted the vote now say they will participate in the new government in some form, and in drafting a new constitution. Key struggles in the coming period will be over ending the U.S. occupation, the role of Islam in the nation’s governance, control of the oil and other public sector industries, and establishing a democratic process for new elections to be held at the end of this year. Jaafari has said he opposes a specific timetable for a U.S. military pullout. Current finance minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, another Islamic contender for a top position, recently called for opening up the oil industry to private investment. Iraqi Communist Party spokesperson Salam Ali says these and other Islamic moderates “will not in any substantial way challenge U.S. influence unless a political mass movement challenges the occupation and calls for withdrawal.” Meanwhile, President Bush asked the U.S. Congress for an additional $82 billion primarily for the Iraq occupation. That is on top of some $150 billion already spent on the war. And this will not be the end of it. Brookings Institution analyst Michael E. O’Hanlon predicted “a likelihood of hitting $300 billion, a near-certainty it will reach $250 [billion] and a distinct possibility we’ll reach $400 [billion].” Many Americans are saying, “Enough is enough.” Peace Action is urging voters to tell their congressional representatives, “Not one more dime” for war in Iraq. “Instead, the U.S. must end the occupation, bring our troops home, and support Iraqi sovereignty.” The group said it is time to “stop perpetuating the cycle of violence in Iraq, stop sending so many soldiers and civilians to their graves, and stop diverting precious resources that could be used to rebuild Iraq and fund critical domestic needs.” CLIP

The plunder of Iraq's treasures (Feb 17, 2005)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GB17Ak01.html
CARACAS - One million books, 10 million documents and 14,000 archaeological artifacts have been lost in the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq - the biggest cultural disaster since the descendants of Genghis Khan destroyed Baghdad in 1258, Venezuelan writer Fernando Baez told Inter Press Service (IPS). "US and Polish soldiers are still stealing treasures today and selling them across the borders with Jordan and Kuwait, where art merchants pay up to $57,000 for a Sumerian tablet," said Baez, who was interviewed during a brief visit to Caracas. The expert on the destruction of libraries has helped document the devastation of cultural and religious objects in Iraq, where the ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms of Sumer, Akkad and Babylon emerged, giving it a reputation as the birthplace of civilization. His inventory of the destruction and his denunciations that the coalition forces are violating the Hague Convention of 1954 on the protection of cultural heritage in times of war have earned him the enmity of Washington. Baez said he was refused a visa to enter the US to take part in conferences. In addition, he has been barred from returning to Iraq "to carry out further investigations", he added. "But it's too late, because we already have documents, footage and photos that in time will serve as evidence of the atrocities committed," said Baez, the author of The Cultural Destruction of Iraq and A Universal History of the Destruction of Books, which were published in Spanish. CLIP

Halliburton Contracts Illegal -- Bush & Cheney Say So What (February 17, 2005)
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Feb05/Pringle0217.htm
After millions of tax dollars were spent investigating how Halliburton ended up being awarded billions of dollar worth of no-bid contracts in Iraq, the Government Accounting Office determined that the company should never have been awarded the contracts in the first place. In response to those findings, Cheney and Bush both, as much as thumbed their noses at taxpayers as if to say "so what, what are you going to do about it?" Well, it's beginning to look like they were right, there is nothing we can do about it. CLIP

Cornering the Dragon (February 22, 2005)
http://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/globalnetnews-summary/2005-02/msg00060.html
When newly appointed CIA Director Porter Goss recently warned that China's modernization of its military posed a direct threat to the U.S., was it standard budget time scare tactics? Or did it signal the growing influence of hard-liners in the Bush Administration who want to "contain" China and re-institute the Cold War in Asia? A day later, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld delivered a similar message to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Rumsfeld claimed that within a decade the Chinese navy could surpass the U.S. Navy, and that China was "increasingly moving their navy further from shore." The 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review will reportedly take a similar alarmist view of China's military. The CIA and Pentagon assessments offer nothing particularly new in their military analysis of China. However, both specifically excluded any mention of U.S.-China cooperation around North Korea or last year's CIA analysis that growing economic ties between China and the U.S. made military conflict less likely. "It is a little surprising," James Steinberg, former national security advisor in the Clinton administration told the Financial Times, "that it (the CIA assessment) didn't say anything about the enormous emphasis China places on a stable international environment and constructive relations with the U.S." But not so surprising if the long battle between those in the Republican Party who favor engagement with China has begun to tip in favor of those who advocate confrontation and encirclement. (...) The "containment' policies of the hawks have not damaged the growing Chinese economy---now the world's third largest---or shaken the grip of the Chinese Communist Party. But they have accelerated an arms race in the region, fueled growing nationalist movements in both China and Japan, and raised the stakes of any potential clash over Taiwan. The last time the 'China Lobby' tried to contain China, it was a country devastated by World War II and its own civil war. Today it is a nuclear-armed giant, whose economic growth has lifted economies from Tokyo to Rio de Janeiro. Americans need to ask themselves: Is it really a good idea to push that dragon into a corner?

Bush Tort Reform: Executive Clemency For Executive Killers (February 18, 2005)
By Greg Palast
http://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/globalnetnews-summary/2005-02/msg00051.html
It's a great day for the Eichmanns of corporate America. President Bush minutes ago signed the ill-named 'tort reform' bill into law, limiting class action suits. Doubtless, Ken Lay, former Enron CEO, is grinning as are the corporate suite killers at drug maker Merck who are now safer from the widows and orphans of Vioxx victims. Closing the doors of justice to the ruined and wrecked families of boardroom bad guys is nothing less than executive clemency for executive executioners. You think my accusation is over the top? Well, please talk with Elaine Levenson. CLIP

Nations step up pressure on Togo (February 19, 2005) http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/02/19/togo.sanctions/
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended Togo from the regional group and placed sanctions on the small western African nation over a controversial transfer of power. Many African leaders have condemned Togo for replacing its deceased president with his son. Gnassingbe Eyadema died earlier this month, and Togo's army appointed his son, Faure Gnassingbe. Some world leaders have said the move will continue an oppressive rule. Thousands took to the streets Saturday in protest, while supporters of Faure Gnassingbe gathered outside the presidential palace. West African leaders have said Togo's move placing Gnassingbe in power amounts to a coup and violates the nation's own laws. ECOWAS imposed a travel ban, imposed an arms embargo, and will recall ambassadors from the country. CLIP

Chavez Says US Plotting to Kill Him (February 21, 2005)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0221-26.htm
(...) "I know I am condemned... I'm sure in Washington they are planning my death," Chavez said in a regular Sunday broadcast. "If anything happens to me, you can forget about Venezuela's oil Mr Bush." Chavez was reacting to recent criticism of his left-wing government by U.S. officials. He often accuses Washington of backing opposition attempts to oust or even kill him, a charge Washington denies. CLIP

Opec warns of tightening in oil market (February 16, 2005)
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/6fedbc96-8053-11d9-bd50-00000e2511c8.html
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries signalled a significant tightening of oil markets towards the end of this year, warning on Wednesday it would have to pump close to its maximum capacity next winter to meet rising demand from China against the backdrop of slowing Russian production. CLIP

Sixty Days, Next Year
http://www.newcolonist.com/dim_ages.html
You'll have to excuse me, but I don't usually keep a diary. These events began before I understood what was happening, and where it was all headed. It was only later, after it was all going on, that I thought that maybe I should be keeping some sort of record--as if no one else was. We live in The Information Age, or did. Now it's just The Dim Ages. Welcome to my world. (...) June 22 - Oh, fun, fun, fun. Saudi Arabia is mostly on fire, I think. Something about their "port facilities and oil storage areas" being sabotaged yesterday. The oil tankers that were in port all left, some with oil, but most without. The US embassy in Riyadh was shut down yesterday as well, with the last one out bringing the flag, as they say. It was a little annoying to see the news footage of the locals dancing in the streets over that. (And let me tell you: They can't dance.) By the way, where do all those bullets go when they fire those guns in the air? Isn't that kind of dangerous? June 23 - I had to laugh over the evening news tonight: They were actually tracking "the last oil tankers to leave Saudi Arabia". Where they were, how much oil they had, and when they'd get where they were going. Not all of them were headed for us, but ours had the longest trip to make. Forty-five days? Something like that. There wasn't much news about the Saudis, and I guess that's a good thing. I've heard too much already. And the price of gas keeps going up, of course. I've still got over half a tank, so I'm doing ok. I'd say I feel bad for people with big cars and SUV's, but hey: they bought 'em! Ha! (...) June 26 - Gas rationing? What's that? Now there's only special days I can go to the gas station? Good grief. Even numbered tags on even days, odd numbered tags on odd days? How silly is that? One more annoyance. Do they really expect this to be a problem? Well, any more of a problem than it already is? I am so over this. Still, if I do this right, I can go another week or so before I have to play that stupid reindeer game at the gas station. CLIP

Beyond the Peak
http://www.museletter.com/archive/152.html
Closing Address, by Richard Heinberg, to the First US Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions, Yellow Springs Ohio, November 14, 2004 (...) Surely a civilization whose entire basis rests upon the extraction and use - and thus the depletion - of a few non-renewable resources is the most vulnerable sort of civilization that has ever existed.Most scientists I know who study these things have come to the conclusion that we are living near the end of the current empire, the first truly global empire in the history of our species. By "end" I don't mean that the whole thing will come crashing down tomorrow or next year. Historically,collapses have usually occurred over a period of decades or centuries. In our case the signs of diminishing returns, and of overextension, are already unmistakable. And, perverse as the comment may seem, I don't think collapse, in this instance, would necessarily be such a bad thing. As Tainter points out, collapse really just means a return to the normal pattern of human life - life, that is, in tribes or villages: small communities, if you will. Collapse is an economizing process in which a society reverts to a level of complexity that is capable of being sustained. (...) I probably can't tell you anything you should be doing that you are not already doing about as well as you can under the circumstances. We all know the drill - grow more of your own food, conserve energy, become active in your local community, learn useful arts and skills, stock up on hand tools. In essence: we must plant the seeds for what can and will survive, for a way of life as different from industrialism as the latter is from the medieval period, a way of life whose full flowering we ourselves may never see in our brief lifetimes. Many of you have been teaching this stuff for decades; you don't need a "how-to" lecture from me. (...) We have only a dwindling amount of time to build lifeboats - that is, the needed alternative infrastructure. It has been clear for at least 30 years what characteristics this should have - organic, small-scale, local, convivial, cooperative, slower paced, human-oriented rather than machine-oriented, agrarian, diverse, democratic, culturally rich, and ecologically sustainable. We have known for a long time that the status quo - a society that is machine-oriented, competitive, inequitable, fast-paced, globalized, monocultural, and corporate-dominated - is deadening to the human spirit and ecologically unsustainable. CLIP [ For more information about the conference, and to find out about Community Service, go to http://www.communitysolution.org ]

Panelists Decry Bush Science Policies (21 February 2005)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/E022105Y.shtml
Washington - The voice of science is being stifled in the Bush administration, with fewer scientists heard in policy discussions and money for research and advanced training being cut, according to panelists at a national science meeting. (...) Issues on global warming, for instance, that achieved a firm scientific consensus in earlier years are now being questioned by Bush policy makers. Proven, widely accepted research is being ignored or disputed, she said. Government policy papers issued prior to the Bush years moved beyond questioning the validity of global warming science and addressed ways of confronting or dealing with climate change. Under Bush, said Bierbaum, the questioning of the proven science has become more important than finding ways to cope with climate change. One result of such actions, said Neal Lane of Rice University, a former director of the National Science Foundation, is that "we don't really have a policy right now to deal with what everybody agrees is a serious problem." Among scientists, said Lane, "there is quite a consensus in place that the Earth is warming and that humans are responsible for a considerable part of that" through the burning of fossil fuels. And the science is clear, he said, that without action to control fossil fuel use, the warming will get worse and there will be climate events that "our species has not experienced before." Asked for comment, White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said, "The president makes policy decisions based on what the best policies for the country are, not politics. People who suggest otherwise are ill-informed." Kurt Gottfried of Cornell University and the Union of Concerned Scientists said a survey of scientists in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that about 42 percent said they felt pressured to not report publicly any findings that do not agree with Bush policies on endangered species. He said almost a third of the Fish and Wildlife researchers said they were even pressured not to express within the agency any views in conflict with the Bush policies. "This administration has distanced itself from scientific information," said Gottfried. He said this is part of a larger effort to let politics dominate pure science. CLIP

What happened to the test tube paradigm? http://www.sfbayview.com/020905/whathappened020905.shtml
These members of the 369th transportation battalion from New York City fought in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. They walked into the "test tube"- they were the "experiment" - that tested the effects, including the genetic effects, of the 300 tons of uranium used by the U.S. military on that battlefield. Now half a million of them are sick, and many of their babies have birth defects. Far more uranium is being used in Iraq.When I was in eighth grade science class, Mr. Wadley, who reminded us more of an ice cream truck driver than a teacher, taught the pupils one thing with an incredible amount of emphasis: If the test tube paradigm does not reflect the real world paradigm, then there is absolutely no reason to ever do scientific experiments. Wadley further explained that if you monitor the results of a laboratory experiment and allow this information to be a basis for your intelligence in real world applications, you should see results that are nearly identical. CLIP

Omega-News Collection 19. February 2005
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/530787/

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CODEX UPDATE

Understanding "Codex" (February 20th, 2005)
http://www.quackpotwatch.org/opinionpieces/Codex.htm
Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen

YOUR FREEDOM TO CHOOSE NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS IS SERIOUSLY THREATENED - UNLESS YOU ACT NOW
http://www.alliance-natural-health.org/
Proposed EU legislation is set to ban - in August 2005 - many of the leading-edge nutritional supplements we currently take for granted. (...) These critical events in Europe are increasingly likely to lead to restrictions in the US and elsewhere in the world. There is so much still at stake.

Codex Overview
http://www.thenhf.com/codex_overview.htm
(...) The purpose of Codex is to provide a forum to facilitate global trade in foods and promote consumer food safety by developing science based standards and guidelines for use by member countries. Codex guidelines and standards are automatically implemented by the General Agreement on Trade & Tariffs (GATT) of the WHO and become binding for all international trade among GATT signatory countries. (...) The current direction of Codex is off course and is unfortunately driven by a statist and elitist mentality that thinks it knows what is best for consumer health and protection. Unfortunately, such a mindset comes from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s kind of "brave new world" thinking that elevated central planners into a form of "God on Earth." That kind of out-dated thinking has caused more misery, death and disease than can possibly be imagined. CLIP

MayDay - for public health
http://www.mayday-info.dk/50.0.html
RIGHT NOW! Danish citizens are now deprived the right to be informed about the beneficial effects of dietary supplements and to choose for themselves Restrictive and consumer hostile supplement legislation is planned by the Danish Food Administration: To eradicate the concept of dietary supplements by changing them into medicines. MayDay requests that EVERYBODY protests NOW! Read more about the serious situation for supplements globally.
CLIP - Recommended by Danish ERN subscriber Jette Møller Ibsen jette@ibsen-co.dk"> who wrote: "Denmark - together with Germany and Norway (non EC member) - is having one of the most restrictive legislations in relation to dietary supplements and herbs in Europe. The Danish Food Administration basically believes in setting vitamin and mineral dosages at the lowest levels of Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA), which only ensure basic survival, not taking into consideration that many people in a stressful and polluted society need much higher intake to prevent disease. The attitude of the restrictive food authorities has long created a great problem for people wanting to keep their good health by taking vitamins, minerals, herbs and nutrients like e.g. chelated minerals and amino acids. Many herbals and substances like e.g. melatonin and lipoic acid are not available on the Danish market, glucosamine and amino acids are considered 'medicines'. Now the biggest threat of all is the Danish Food Administrations's new law on supplements in relation to the European Food Supplement Directive (FSD) which has already been passed in EC, planned to take over present legislation from August 2005. Also a restrictive directive concerning Homeopathic Products and two other EC directives; the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD) and the Pharmaceutical Directive are now on their way. The EC is expected to come up with directives on other nutrients like amino and fatty acids, so we can expect a totally regulated future, if we do not oppose these attempts to suppress alternative medicine."

Other sources on this issue:

http://www.ahha.org/
http://www.iahf.com/
Sign a petition at: http://www.iahf.com/index3.html which opposes bills S.722 and H.R.3377. These support the CODEX restrictions with US laws.