December 16. 2005

The Writing on the Wall Series #46: Torturous Genocidal America


Hello everyone!

This is a 81 page compilation loaded with all kinds of incredible and sometime distressing information, along with two inspiring messages from Matthew.

Please note that the next Meditation Focus - to be issued late Saturday evening will be about Peace.

Jean Hudon
Earth Rainbow Network Coordinator


You are welcomed to network anything from this compilation, but please also include the following:

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This compilation is archived at http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com/Archives2005/WritingWall46.htm

STATS for this compilation: Over 29,400 words and 125 links provided.

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Some essential quotes...

"Awakening is a flowering of your innermost being. It is a revelation of your essence, hidden by long eons of self-delusion, ignorance, unbounded desires. Enlightenment is an ending as well as a beginning: the ending of the old, veiled, dark ego, its longings, illusions, frustrations; the beginning of a vast expanse, an infinite field of the Unknown, an adventure in consciousness. It is a revolution: it represents danger to the old way of life, to old ways of thinking and living. It is freedom from the known and the unknown; from the real and the unreal; from any appearance of division between you and Truth. It is the abandoning of beliefs, dis-beliefs, presumptions and stances,self, ego, call it what you will, or call it nothing, what it is. It is the Path of the golden Dawn, the Path out of the Night of Time into the Bursting daylight of Eternal Now..."

— Petros (Sent by Stacey Robyn <42@GoGratitude.com>)


"You wanted to be a part of this glorious ascendance by participating on the planet, and it is a testament to your evolutionary status that your desire was granted. Most of you have no conscious memories of having been victorious in making benevolent changes in other important eras, not only on Earth but in other places too. In time you will know, but in this moment, we urge you to allow your spirit that "enrolled" you in this lifetime to shine with the intensity it IS, and you will successfully meet the challenges of change. Words are weighty in thought forms, so think not of "problems" or "hardships," but of circumstances that you have encountered before and emerged triumphant. And please do not think that your part is less important than any other—EVERY part has a meaningful purpose! You are where you are because at soul level, you know you can do this again. And you know that you aren't alone—light beings throughout this universe are with you."

— Matthew - Taken from his latest message archived at http://www.matthewbooks.com/mm/anmviewer.asp?a=46&z=2 (it is also included below) and which covers the following topics: Brilliant light of hope and gratitude; reforms momentum continues; participation in Earth’s ascendance a tribute to our soul evolution; “String Theory”; technological devices; “Little Greys”; easing into the continuum; sex, sexuality, relationships; animals’ evolution, emotional range.


"Here, in a world quite literally on the brink of a host of unknowns, not only problems arising from what we ourselves are doing, but even more significantly from influences beyond our control, for example, the changing and dynamic nature of our closest star, the Sun... here on Earth in 2005, we are participating in unparalleled ecological devastation, genocide and a "war on the mind". Every day entire species of life are going extinct; every day thousands of children die of malnutrition and many more are born deformed from the effects of radiation poisoning. The entire continent of Africa is ablaze with thousands of deliberately set fires. And who many believe to be the most highly evolved beings on the Earth, the whales and dolphins, are under attack from humanity in many ways... through undersea noise pollution, seismic testing for oil exploration, from whaling (mainly by Japan), trawling, and a new form of sonar used by the US Navy which explodes their inner ears! They are the "people of the sea" and what we are doing to them is beyond belief. We can all pay for a movie ticket and sit there and cry for a giant fictitious ape and a blonde actress... but how many of us can shed a tear, and more importantly, actually DO something tangible and concrete to wake ourselves up to what is REALLY happening in the world, to the plight of the whales and dolphins, of the giant trees, of our brothers and sisters here and in other countries who are being ruthlessly slaughtered and attacked by our "economic" imperatives and our advanced technologies?"

— Jeff Wefferson

"The terrible lesson the neoCons learned from Vietnam – the way they are seeking to fight a symmetrical war – is to fight terror with terror. Thus the new calculus: the insurgents become suicide bombers; we level cities the insurgents have already abandoned. The insurgents behead; we waterboard and crucify. The insurgents plant roadside bombs; we incinerate civilians with white phosphorus. For every indiscriminate, random horror they perpetrate, we offer our own in response. This hypothesis is horrifying in its implications, and it is only a hypothesis. But it is a hypothesis that solves a lot of mysteries about our leaders. It explains why they are undaunted by the consensus that torture will not yield useful information – they don’t expect to get any. It explains why they are so insistent on holding tens of thousands of prisoners whether or not there is a reasonable basis for their incarceration – they are not making any attempt to separate combatants from the bystanders. It explains the horror of white phosphorus unleashed on civilians, and aerial bombardment of our supposedly democratic client – tactical military concerns are secondary at best. The randomness of the violence, abuse and destruction is not an unavoidable byproduct of an otherwise sane policy; the randomness is itself the very object of the policy. And of course, our descent into such unspeakable tactics explains another, shameful mystery: why the evil we fight has become so difficult to distinguish from the evil we have become."

— John Steinberg - Taken from "Fighting terror with terror" below


"Clearly there's all sorts of anecdotal reason to believe that the bombing has gone up exponentially, certainly in the last four or five months in the Sunni Triangle, the four provinces around Baghdad." But he also pointed that, when it comes to the American air campaign, "There's no statistics ... We don't know what's going on with the air war."

— Seymour Hersh - Taken from "An Increasingly Aerial Occupation" below


"The real story is that by March 2006 Iran is threatening to have in place an entity called the Iranian Oil Bourse. Trading of Oil on this exchange will be denominated in – yes you guessed it – Euros. A well choreographed play from Saddam’s little black book of game day strategies. The Iranian Oil Bourse will go toe to toe and compete for global prominence with NYMEX in New York and the International Petroleum Exchange in London. Oil trading on these exchanges is done in US Dollar terms. That is why when we hear a quote given for Oil it is always basis the US Dollar. Oil is the lifeblood of the global economy, the US Dollar is the global reserve currency and Oil is quoted in US Dollar terms. A simple 1-2-3 argument. But this simple 1-2-3 argument may be about to come under attack. A successful start-up of trading operations on this Bourse could lead to an erosion of the US Dollar. Hence this Bourse is a de facto weapon. A weapon so ferocious, that has the ability to undermine the entire US economy, and topple the US Dollar from its lofty perch. After all, why would Oil importing nations need to keep as many US Dollars in reserve if they can purchase Oil in Euros? The ramifications of a weakened US Dollar are serious."

— Taken from A Global Perspective on Energy below


"Israel's armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed. The order came after Israeli intelligence warned the government that Iran was operating enrichment facilities, believed to be small and concealed in civilian locations."

— Taken from Israel Readies Forces for Strike on Nuclear Iran below


"I just glanced at the latest Earth Rainbow Network. Thank you for all the information you posted on John Lennon and also for posting the song "Imagine." That song still brings tears to my eyes and along with Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" are two songs about how humans if they wanted to could wake up and live more sustainably and more kindly on the planet. These are both songs I grew up with and I am grateful for having grown up with such instructive songs about treating the world and humanity. I mean there was a lot of chaos during my early childhood around the world, but at least there were musicians out to change the world."

— Patty-Lynne Herlevi

"In other words, though invisible to the human eye, we seem to be immersed in a sort of universal ocean of interconnectivity. Just as all creatures in a sea are connected by the cohesive body of water, so the entire world/universe is interconnected in a kind of cohesive psychic sea. There is nothing to which you are not attached in some way. Evidently, even our thoughts are not just isolated ideas waiting to be acted upon, but are actually linked in some fashion to the object(s) of the thought. Sheldrake goes on to say, (1) "Our intentions stretch out into the world around us, and also extend into the future. We are linked to our environment and to each other." If, as Sheldrake says, we are linked to the future, then our thoughts effect what is coming. This means that our mental intentions, or stretching our thoughts outward, actually link to objects and draw them toward us.

— Barry Carter - Taken from www.subtleenergies.com/ormus/index.htm - Recommended by Stacey Robyn

Worthy of Your Attention

The White House is pressuring Congress to reauthorize a new version of the Patriot Act that is worse than the original law and doesn't include needed reforms. This could come before the Senate as soon as Thursday. A bipartisan group of senators have agreed to fight the Patriot Act –by filibuster if necessary. This is a huge moment. Senators from both parties are standing together to protect freedom and liberty -- and they’re ready to fight. Can you sign this petition to show them and the rest of the Senate that you support filibustering this bad bill? The Patriot Act has to be stopped until it includes reforms. http://political.moveon.org/patriotact/ - Recommended by "Stephanie Sutton"
Martial Law No Longer On The Horizon: It's Already Here - Part One and Two
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/december2005/151205martial_law.htm
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/december2005/151205martial_law2.htm

NGOs Call for Trade Justice at WTO Meeting as Officials Lower the Bar (Dec 9)
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/media/trade-justice-wto.html
Trade justice is essential if we are to end poverty. But the rules of international trade are not working for the almost 3 billion people living on less than $2 /day. Trade rules must contribute to creating decent work, promoting human rights and ending poverty worldwide. As representatives from Make Poverty History head off to Hong Kong for the World Trade Organization Ministerial next week, they are calling on the government to look beyond short-term commercial benefits, and promote measures in trade negotiations that ensure greater global equity—even as the objectives for the Ministerial have been scaled back. CLIP
Take action through http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/home.php

Iraq Carnage in pictures
http://iraq-kill-maim.org

Joytopia Story - and - Flyer Natural Economy
http://www.joytopia.net/languages.html

Warning: New credit card Scam http://lists.elistx.com/archives/interesting-people/200510/msg00454.html

Imagine This! (Imagine George Bush singing Imagine... Amazing, yet cringing)
http://www.diymedia.net/audio/mp3/waxaudio-imaginethis.mp3
Recommended by "Sandra and Richard"
Journey in spirit website (Beautiful and inspiring!)
http://www.journeyinspirit.com
Recommended by ERN subscriber "Adele Sands"

CONTENTS

1. Recent FDA decision puts drug profits before safety
2. Avian Flu Fright
3. The Soul
4. Climate campaigners claim greatest ever success at Montreal
5. Bush on the Constitution: 'It's just a goddamned piece of paper'
6. Fighting terror with terror
7. Does 30,000 Mean Anything to Bush?
8. An Increasingly Aerial Occupation
9. The Great Perversion
10. Plutonium Launch Accident Could Have Global Implications
11. Processed Chocolate Contains Dangerous Lead Concentrations, Study Says
12. Invitation to Create a New Civilization
13. GET OFF THE GLOBALIZATION GRID
14. Israel Readies Forces for Strike on Nuclear Iran
15. Europeans Outraged at Schwarzennegger
16. Internet Censorship
17. Latest Message from Matthew
18. "Steps" as a Theme for Crop Circles for 2005
19. A Global Perspective on Energy
20. "KING KONG": FANTASY LOVE AND ACTUAL HORROR


See also:

32% Favor Bush Impeachment (December 15, 2005)
http://rasmussenreports.com/2005/Impeachment.htm
Thirty-two percent (32%) of Americans believe that President George W. Bush should be impeached and removed from office. Fifty-eight percent (58%) take the opposite view.However, just 30% of Americans would be more likely to vote for a Congressional candidate who promised to work for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. Fifty-two percent (52%) would be less likely to vote for such a candidate.Results by gender, age, party, income, and other demographic subsets are available for Premium Members.The Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,000 adults was commissioned by After Downing Street, a coalition working "to pressure both Congress and the media to investigate whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war."The number who support impeachment is very similar to the 33% who believe it is impossible for the United States mission in Iraq to succeed.Thirty-five percent (35%) of Americans believe Vice President Cheney should be impeached and removed from office. The impeachment of President Bush is favored by a plurality (49%) of Democrats. However, it is opposed by 84% of Republicans and 55% of those not affiliated with either major political party.Democrats, by a 47% to 28% margin, say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports impeachment. Eighty percent (80%) of Republicans are less likely to do so. CLIP -- Take action on this through http://www.impeachbush.org

Fitzgerald forced to cancel grand jury for Conrad Black indictments (Dec 15)
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Fitzgerald_forced_to_cancel_grand_jury_1215.html
The special prosecutor investigating the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson canceled a scheduled meeting with his grand jury because he was called back to Chicago to deal with last-minute elements of a case involving erstwhile media tycoon Conrad Black, RAW STORY has learned. As of Tuesday evening, Fitzgerald had intended to meet with the grand jury Wednesday, but on early Wednesday morning, Fitzgerald received word from his staff at his Chicago office that he was needed to deal with the Conrad Black case, attorneys familiar with the case said. In addition to serving as a Special Prosecutor in Washington, he remains the U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois. Fitzgerald flew back to Chicago Wednesday. Black, a former newspaper mogul, was indicted by US federal prosecutors Thursday on racketeering and obstruction of justice charges. Fitzgerald announced the indictments after they were returned by a federal grand jury Thursday afternoon. CLIP

Anti-WTO Activists Take the Plunge
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121305LB.shtml
People from all around the world have gathered in Hong Kong to protest against policies of the World Trade Organisation. CNN asks what drives these people to make such a big commitment and interviews some of the activists on the streets.

WTO Threatening Last Ancient Forests
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121205EC.shtml
Greenpeace warned the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that further opening of forestry trade threatens the remaining ancient forests, particularly in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Brazil. The "World Trade Organisation is pushing for less regulation rather than more ... which would take us exactly into the wrong direction."

2005 warmest ever year in north (Dec 15)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4532344.stm
This year has been the warmest on record in the northern hemisphere, say scientists in Britain. It is the second warmest globally since the 1860s, when reliable records began, they say. Ocean temperatures recorded in the northern hemisphere Atlantic Ocean have also been the hottest on record. The researchers, from the UK Met Office and the University of East Anglia, say this is more evidence for the reality of human-induced global warming. Their data show that the average temperature during 2005 in the northern hemisphere is 0.65 Celsius above the average for 1961-1990, a conventional baseline against which scientists compare temperatures. Click here to see northern hemisphere temperature record The global increase is 0.48 Celsius, making 2005 the second warmest year on record behind 1998, though the 1998 figure was inflated by strong El Nino conditions. The northern hemisphere is warming faster than the south, scientists believe, because a greater proportion of it is land, which responds faster to atmospheric conditions than ocean. Northern hemisphere temperatures are now about 0.4 Celsius higher than a decade ago. "The data also show that the sea surface temperature in the northern hemisphere Atlantic is the highest since 1880," said Dr David Viner from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (UEA). CLIP

Pentagon rolls out stealth PR (12/14/2005)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-12-14-pentagon-pr_x.htm
WASHINGTON — A $300 million Pentagon psychological warfare operation includes plans for placing pro-American messages in foreign media outlets without disclosing the U.S. government as the source, one of the military officials in charge of the program says. Run by psychological warfare experts at the U.S. Special Operations Command, the media campaign is being designed to counter terrorist ideology and sway foreign audiences to support American policies. The military wants to fight the information war against al-Qaeda through newspapers, websites, radio, television and "novelty items" such as T-shirts and bumper stickers.The program will operate throughout the world, including in allied nations and in countries where the United States is not involved in armed conflict. CLIP

Leuren Moret - Updates on Depleted Uranium/Electromagnetic Harassment
http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/116499/index.php
The horror of Depleted Uranium is not limited to Iraq - it may well be at our doorsteps. EMF- Various sources of electromagnetic frequencies are being used on those who oppose the US govt and the New World Order and issues that stand in the way of the goals that the govt/NWO wish to achieve. CLIP

Hon. Paul Hellyer - The Situation with Tucker Carlson' for Dec. 9, 2005
http://exopolitics.blogs.com/exopolitics/2005/12/msnbc_former_ca.html
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT OF MSNBC TELEVISION INTERVIEW:
CARLSON: Still to come, aliens of a different sort. Are extraterrestrials among us now? And is the White House trying to start a war with them? Why a former government official says, “Oh, yes. It's all true.” When the situation returns.CARLSON: Welcome back. According to my next guest, the truth is out there. Actually up there, with our neighbor to the north, Canada.A former Canadian government official is warning we may be on the verge of intergalactic war, saying, quote, “The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the comings and goings of visitors from space and to shoot at them if they so decide,” end quote.Paul Hellyer is a former minister of defense and deputy prime minister of the country of Canada. He joins us now from Toronto. Mr. Hellyer, thanks a lot for coming on. CLIP

Cheney in Last Throes
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/120905Z.shtml
Ray McGovern writes that Vice President Dick Cheney, whose unbridled chutzpah has led him to take public as well as private credit for being the intellectual author of US policy on torture, has become such a glaring liability that his tenure may be short-lived. There is a growing possibility that the vice president will resign at the turn of the year "for reasons of health," and that his partner-in-crime - in what Colin Powell's former chief of staff at the State Department, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, has labeled the "Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal" - will choose to retire to his home in Taos early next year.

War Crimes: The Posse Gathers
http://fpif.org/fpiftxt/2970
Diverse forces are assembling to bring Bush administration officials to account for war crimes. Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star Mother for Peace, insists: „"We cannot have these people pardoned. They need to be tried on war crimes and go to jail." Paul Craig Roberts, Hoover Institution senior fellow and assistant secretary of the treasury under Ronald Reagan, charges Bush with "lies and an illegal war of aggression, with outing CIA agents, with war crimes against Iraqi civilians, with the horrors of the Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo torture centers" and calls for the president's impeachment. Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton and former president of the American Society of International Law, declares: "These policies make a mockery of our claim to stand for the rule of law. [Americans] should be marching on Washington to reject inhumane techniques carried out in our name." Can such disparate forces as the peace movement, conservative advocates of the rule of law, and human rights advocates join to halt high government officials demonstrably engaged in criminal enterprise? Can they reach out and appeal to the deep but vacillating commitment of the American people to the national and international rule of law? Or will the Bush administration divide the posse and retain for itself the mantle of defender of international law and the U.S. Constitution?

The anthrax vaccine: New questions, weak data (Dec. 09, 2005)
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/nation/13368280.htm
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Pentagon never told Congress about more than 20,000 hospitalizations involving troops who'd taken the anthrax vaccine, despite repeated promises that such cases would be publicly disclosed. CLIP

Bob Barr says military dictatorship close (11 Dec 2005)
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2005/111205totalitariandanger.htm
"Former Republican Congressman and CIA official Bob Barr says that there is a danger recent developments describe a trend of America slipping into a totalitarian society and that the Bush administration are doing everything in their power to see that this happens. During a radio interview with host Alex Jones, Barr outlined where the country is heading. 'Basically, as long as you smile when you demand to see somebody's ID at gunpoint sitting on a bus I guess it's OK for the government, that's sort of the way they operate. It can be a totalitarian type regime.'" "I think it's a real danger where we have the military becoming involved in all sorts of domestic matters and we have the government being able to seize very private personal records on people without any suspicion that they've done anything wrong. This is a dramatic turn of events that has accelerated greatly since 9/11."Barr made comments very similar to those of current Republican Congressman Ron Paul in stating that natural disasters could be used by the government as a pretext to abolish posse comitatus. CLIP

Cindy Sheehan Takes Fight to the UK
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/120905Y.shtml
After Cindy Sheehan's son died in Iraq, her protest outside Bush's Texas ranch became a symbol of opposition to the war. Duncan Campbell joins her as she brings her campaign to Britain.

Hunt Continues for 1,300 Children Lost during Katrina
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121205K.shtml
Three months after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast, the fate of more than 1,300 children remains unknown.

House Defies Bush and Backs McCain on Detainee Torture
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121505Z.shtml
In an unusual bipartisan rebuke to the Bush administration, the House on Wednesday overwhelmingly endorsed Senator John McCain's measure to bar cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners in American custody anywhere in the world. Although the vote was nonbinding, it put the Republican-controlled House on record in support of Mr. McCain's provision for the first time, at the very moment when the senator, a Republican, is at a crucial stage of tense negotiations with the White House, which strongly opposes his measure.

Torture Inc. Americas Brutal Prisons
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8451.htm
Savaged by dogs, Electrocuted With Cattle Prods, Burned By Toxic Chemicals, Does such barbaric abuse inside U.S. jails explain the horrors that were committed in Iraq? They are just some of the victims of wholesale torture taking place inside the U.S. prison system that we uncovered during a four-month investigation for BBC Channel 4. It’s terrible to watch some of the videos and realise that you’re not only seeing torture in action but, in the most extreme cases, you are witnessing young men dying.

As Torture Amendment Nears, Pentagon Rewrites Army Rules
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121405J.shtml
With Congress on the verge of passing the sweeping McCain amendment, the Bush administration has taken its drive to permit torture to new depths.

Prisoners Subjected to 'Severe Torture' at 2nd Iraqi Prison
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121205I.shtml
An Iraqi government search of a detention center in Baghdad operated by Interior Ministry special commandos found 13 prisoners who had suffered abuse.

US Envoy: 'Detainee Abuse Worse Than Described'
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121305R.shtml
The American ambassador in Iraq said today that more than 100 detainees had been abused in two Iraqi detention facilities, more than had been previously disclosed.

Row over CIA "Torture" Flights Engulfs Blair
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121405N.shtml
Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw were under pressure last night to refute claims that Britain has been complicit in the alleged use of CIA planes taking suspected terrorists to secret camps for torture.

The Torture Administration
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/120905M.shtml
When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933 and proceeded to carry out their savagery, many in the outside world asked how this could have happened in the land of Goethe and Beethoven. Anthony Lewis asks: Would the people of other societies as readily accept tyranny? Sinclair Lewis, in 1935, imagined Americans turning to dictatorship under the pressures of economic distress in the Depression. He called his novel, ironically, It Can't Happen Here.

Torture Degrades Us All
http://fpif.org/fpiftxt/2974
For those who think we live in an age of terror, it is intuitively appealing to believe that torturing one person to save many is the right thing to do. Discussion of torture should not be taboo, but arguments for it must withstand moral scrutiny. The legal meaning of "torture" was drafted by human hands; it is therefore fallible and cannot merely be accepted as divine truth—particularly if the definition of torture is too weak. Terrorism does not demand that we torture to defend ourselves. To the contrary, the threat of terrorism reminds us of the importance of protecting human dignity, even of terrorists. Law necessarily draws moral lines in the sand which cannot be crossed; the inevitability of torturing the innocent is a price too high to pay to save the lives of others. Arguments against torture are not based on alarmism, moral absolutism, or rhetoric. The consequences of forcibly violating the body and the mind are profound and signal an unnecessary return to the blunt techniques of medieval justice. Torture irreparably damages human dignity, devalues human life, and corrupts the institutions of our democracy.

US Denies Red Cross Access to Detainees
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121005Y.shtml
The United States said Friday that it would continue to deny the International Committee of the Red Cross access to "a very small, limited number" of prisoners who are held in secret around the world, saying they are terrorists being kept incommunicado for reasons of national security and are not guaranteed any rights under the Geneva Conventions.

US Says 120 Torture Cases Found in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121405E.shtml
At least 120 abused prisoners have been found in two detention facilities run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry, the US ambassador said Tuesday.

The Silence of the Doctors
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121405C.shtml
Jonathan H. Marks: An "assessment" report of detainee medical activities made public by the Army Surgeon General in July raised more questions than it answered. What did the seventy-four medical personnel - in Iraq alone - who admitted witnessing interrogations actually see?

EU Disquiet over 'Renditions' Grows
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121505B.shtml
The German government warned Washington on Wednesday to heed European concerns over allegations of CIA prisons and extra-judicial abductions, or "renditions," on the continent.

Voice Of God Revealed To Be Cheney On Intercom (Hoax or real? You decide)
http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a2019.htm
WASHINGTON, DC—Telephone logs recorded by the National Security Agency and obtained by Congress as part of an ongoing investigation suggest that the vice president may have used the Oval Office intercom system to address President Bush at crucial moments, giving categorical directives in a voice the president believed to be that of God. While journalists and presidential historians had long noted Bush's deep faith and Cheney's powerful influence in the White House, few had drawn a direct correlation between the two until Tuesday, when transcripts of meetings that took place in March and April of 2002 became available. In a transcript of an intercom exchange recorded in March 2002, a voice positively identified as the vice president's identifies himself as "the Lord thy God" and promotes the invasion of Iraq, as well as the use of torture in prisoner interrogations. A close examination of Bush's public statements and Secret Service time logs tracking the vice president reveals a consistent pattern, one which links Bush's belief that he had received word from God with Cheney's use of the White House's telephone-based intercom system. Officials privately acknowledged that there is reason to believe that the vice president, as God, urged Bush to sign legislation benefiting oil companies in 2005. CLIP

Congress Expects up to $100 Billion Wartime Request
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121405M.shtml
The Pentagon is in the early stages of drafting a wartime request for up to $100 billion more for Iraq and Afghanistan, lawmakers say, a figure that would push spending related to the wars toward a staggering half-trillion dollars.

Pentagon Spying on Anti-War Activists
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121405Z.shtml
A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn't know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the US military. A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a "threat," and one of more than 1,500 "suspicious incidents" across the country over a recent 10-month period.

Tehran being 'poisoned' by smog (Dec 12, 2005)
http://www.terradaily.com/2005/051212103509.grvjgd6t.html
TEHRAN (AFP) A thick blanket of hideous smog covering Tehran has turned residents of the Iranian capital into cranky citizens wracked by permanent headaches, breathing problems and nausea.In short, health experts warn, the sprawling metropolis of 10 million people is being slowly poisoned by the cloud of exhaust emissions -- including deadly carbon monoxide -- churned out by millions of decrepit, gas guzzling cars."Tehran has been trapped in a spiral of sickness. Its people are dying a slow death as a consequence of negligence in sustainable city development," Dr Hassan Laghai, an environmental expert and advisor to Tehran's mayor, told AFP.The consequences of the suffocating smog are alarming: intelligence and brain functions, particularly among children, are being impaired, while cancer is seen as an inevitable hazard of living in one of the world's most polluted cities."Based on psychological studies, the pollution raises tension and violence too," said Laghai, referring to phenomena such as increased "road rage" and the general bad mood sweeping the city."The quality of life in Tehran is less than zero," was Laghai's assessment of one of the Middle East's largest cities. CLIP

Calif. regulators unveil $2.9 billion plan to expand solar power (December 13, 2005)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/12/13/state/n180417S81.DTL- San Francisco (AP) -- State energy regulators on Tuesday unveiled one of the nation's most ambitious programs to expand the market for solar power, proposing to offer nearly $3 billion in consumer rebates over the next decade. The California Solar Initiative, proposed by the state Public Utilities Commission, aims to install 3,000 megawatts of solar energy on 1 million homes, businesses and public buildings over 11 years. The five-member commission was expected to vote on the program next month after a 30-day public comment period. Environmentalists hailed the proposal, which they said would help drive down the cost of solar energy, create jobs and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. "With rising energy prices and continued air pollution, this is exactly the kind of landmark initiative California needs," said Bernadette Del Chiaro, clean energy advocate for Environment California. "From this, we're going to see cleaner air, affordable solar energy and California regaining its world leadership in solar power." CLIP

US Ranks Sixth among Countries Jailing Journalists
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121405K.shtml
The United States has tied with Myanmar, the former Burma, for sixth place among countries that are holding the largest number of journalists behind bars, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Bees can recognize human faces, study finds (Dec. 9, 2005)
http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/051209_beesfrm.htm
Honeybees may look pretty much all alike to us. But it seems we may not look all alike to them. A study has found that they can learn to recognize human faces in photos, and remember them for at least two days. CLIP

Single Mother Poised to Be Chilean President
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121205WB.shtml
Michelle Bachelet, a single mother with three children who was once tortured by the secret police of General Augusto Pinochet, is poised to become president of Chile. Ms. Bachelet has pledged to split her cabinet evenly between men and women, a breakthrough in a country where sexual harassment at work was made illegal only this year.

Castro: Rich Nations Endangering Planet (December 9, 2005)
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/33941/story.htm
BRIDGETOWN - Cuban President Fidel Castro accused rich countries on Thursday of squandering the world's natural resources, burning too much energy and endangering the planet. "The unbridled race to waste the planet's natural resources will bring life to an end on Earth. The first to die will be our small island states," Castro warned at a meeting of Caribbean leaders. Castro said the "colossal waste" of capitalist consumer society was not just putting the world economy at risk, but also seriously threatening the global environment with gas emissions. "How will we face the danger of disappearing as a result of global warming and the rise of sea levels?" he said in a speech to leaders of the 15-nation CARICOM bloc in Barbados. The summit was called to increase cooperation with communist Cuba.Castro blamed industrialized societies for the global climate change that scientists have linked to the increasing intensity and frequency of tropical storms and hurricanes. "How will our countries face the damages of the next Atlantic hurricane season and the next years. Who will help us pay the cost?" he asked. Castro spoke days after the close of the busiest Atlantic hurricane season in living memory with a record 14 hurricanes, including Katrina, the costliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States, causing at least $80 billion in damage. Forecasters had warned the season would be hyperactive because hurricanes feed on warm seas and ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic region have warmed by 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 2 degrees C). Meteorologists expect another active season in 2006.

DuPont Pays Heavy Price For Teflon Cover-Up
http://www.mercola.com/2005/dec/13/dupont_pays_heavy_price_for_teflon_cover-up.htm
DuPont Co. has reached a settlement with federal officials over the charges that DuPont had concealed the harmful health effects of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used to produce Teflon. Neither DuPont nor the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have disclosed the terms of the deal. The agency could have fined the company as much as $313 million. The EPA has alleged that DuPont covered up important information about health effects and water supply pollution for 20 years. Environmental groups have asked federal officials to impose substantial fines on DuPont for failing to tell the government that PFOA can pass from a mother's blood to her fetus. The chemical has been linked to both cancer and birth defects in animal studies. DuPont has maintained that PFOA has no negative health effects. Earlier this year, DuPont settled a class-action lawsuit over the issue for $107.6 million.In addition to the civil suit DuPont has just settled, there is an ongoing criminal investigation of its actions regarding PFOA pollution.