April 2, 2004

Hybrid Series #20: Wobbling Global Situation


Hello everyone

Here is what got my attention this week.

Jean Hudon
Earth Rainbow Network Coordinator

IMPORTANT NOTE: The meditation times for the Meditation Focus will change this Sunday as most countries around the world change (or have already changed) either to or from Daylight saving time. In the Northern hemisphere this means the globally synchronized meditation will take place an hour later (at noon instead of 11 am on the East Coast, for instance) and an hour earlier in the Southern hemisphere wherever local times shift from winter time to summer time or vice versa.


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This compilation is archived at http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com/Archives2004/Hybrid20.htm


"Some people change when they see the light, others when they feel the heat."

- Caroline Schoeder


"There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread."

- Mother Teresa


"Each of our lives is a chapter in the middle of a neverending story."

- Anonymous


Worthy of Your Attention

S-11 Redux: Surfing the Apocalypse
http://gnn.tv/redux/index.html
Culled from over 20 hours of television footage recorded over a one month period and across 13 networks, S-11 Redux is a sound-bite blitzkrieg that challenges the messages we have been fed from our mainstream media and the government it serves. Be warned - this video moves quickly and will require at least two viewings to digest its full impact. You may never be able to look at S-11 and its post-impact coverage the same way, ever again.
More such videos on the right hand section of http://www.guerrillanews.com/

Aftermath: Unanswered Questions from 9/11
http://gnn.tv/after_math/after_transcript.PDF

National Committee Attempting to Make Criticism of Bush Illegal (March 30)
http://www.fec.gov/press/press2004/20040312rulemaking.html
The Republican National Committee is pressing the Federal Election Commission ("FEC") to issue new rules that would shut down groups that dare to communicate with the public in any way critical of President Bush or members of Congress.

Sign the Petition for a Global Ban on Genetically Modified Trees
http://elonmerkki.net/dyn/appeal/
(...) We state that the decision made in the context of the UN-lead Kyoto process to allow the use of genetically modified trees to tackle climate change is in contravention of the principles of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Trying to fight climate change by growing GM-trees would lead to the creation of vast plantations of cloned GM-trees on our planet. It would mean enormous losses in terms of diversity, while exposing these GM monocultures to disease, pests - and the effects of the ongoing climate change itself. We believe that the risks for biosafety involved in the introduction of genetically modified trees are such that they extend over state borders as well as generations, and should therefore not be taken at the present state of knowledge. Studies in population genetics show that genetic exchanges between trees can extend over whole continents. There is a real risk that by introducing GM-trees we would trigger a series of GM-contaminations spreading all over the forest cover on our planet. Other dangerous ecological scenarios include the potential metabolic incompatibility of GM-trees with their ecological surroundings, as well as genetically modified material being transferred to viruses and bacteria. On the grounds of what has been stated above, we demand that the world reject the introduction of genetically modified trees. In our view, we should be heading in the opposite direction. Instead of establishing plantations of genetically modified trees, we should strive to restore the forest cover of our planet towards its former riches and abundance. CLIP
Recommended by Jaiia Earthschild jaiia_earthschild@yahoo.com>

Musicians for World Harmony
http://www.musiciansforworldharmony.org
OUR MISSION: to ENABLE musicians throughout the world, to SHARE their music to promote PEACE, UNDERSTANDING, and HARMONY among peoples with a special EMPHASIS on the DISPLACED or DISTRESSED who could benefit most from the HEALING POWER OF MUSIC.
Recommended by Patty-Lynne Herlevi pherlevi@yahoo.com> who wrote: "Please share it with your readers because it shows the compassionate side of the human race."

Report on the March 20 Global Day of Action
http://www.internationalanswer.org/news/update/032204m20.html


CONTENTS

1. Global Love Day - April Update
2. April 2 Haiti update & Haiti Coup Exposed, Facts Presented
3. Sea 'dead zones' threaten fish
4. 9/11 Commission Must Address These Easily Verifiable Facts from Major Media Sources
5. Three amazing books you will greatly appreciate
6. Tons of Depleted Uranium Polluting Iraq
7. US Extremists Threaten The World


See also:

Whistleblower the White House wants to silence speaks to The Independent (April 2)
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=506777
The White House succumbed to intense pressure yesterday and said it would allow Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Adviser, to testify in public before the commission investigating the September 2001 attacks. President George Bush and his deputy, Dick Cheney, will also jointly appear in a closed-door session. Just a day after the Bush administration had staunchly defended its decision not to allow Ms Rice to appear, it said that she would testify as long as it would not seen to set a precedent. (...) One consultant to the White House said Karl Rove, a senior political adviser with his eye on November's presidential election, had decided the controversy was becoming politically damaging. Rather than having to deal with questions such as "Was there an intelligence failure?", he wanted to move the focus of the election campaign to "Which candidate is better on security?". The consultant told The New York Times: "If we're going to have a discussion about WMD and intelligence failures and Osama bin Laden, that's not an election George Bush wins. If it's about who keeps you safer, that's the ground we want to be on." (...) On Monday, both officials said they would ask Ms Rice to testify under oath in any future questioning because of discrepancies between her statements and those made in sworn testimony by President Bush's former counter-terrorism chief. "I would like to have her testimony under the penalty of perjury," said the commission's chairman, Thomas Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey. When Ms Rice appeared privately with several members of the commission in February she was not required to be under oath and officials said that no transcript of the four-hour conversation was kept.

Planet Ark : Cattle Farming Biggest Threat to Amazon (April 2, 2004)
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/24573/story.htm
BRASILIA, Brazil - Booming Brazilian beef exports could be the main culprit behind a sharp rise in deforestation of the Amazon jungle as cattle farmers cut deeper into the forests, a leading research institute said today. The report, "Hamburger connection Fuels Amazon Destruction," by the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research was released as environmentalists feared the latest Amazon destruction rates could be the highest ever. The deforestation rate in the world's largest jungle jumped 40 percent in the 12 months to the middle of 2002 and the authors of the report along with other environmentalists are bracing for figures for the subsequent year which could be yet higher. The latest data should be released in coming weeks. At around 9,840 square miles, the deforestation figure for 2001/2002 was the second highest on record and represented an area slightly smaller than Haiti. David Kaimowitz, director-general of the center, said the report showed this surge was being fueled by a steep rise in cattle farming in the Amazon, helped by Brazilian beef exports and the eradication of foot-and-mouth disease in the Amazon. While environmentalists have feared that the spread of soybeans in the Amazon posed the greatest threat, the report showed that the amount of deforested land dedicated to cattle pasture is six times as large as land with cultivated crops. Brazil has the world's largest commercial cattle herd. CLIP

The Earth Charter Initiative - Values and Principles for a Sustainable Future
http://www.earthcharter.org/
The Earth Charter is an authoritative synthesis of values, principles, and aspirations that are widely shared by growing numbers of men and women in all regions of the world. The principles of the Earth Charter reflect extensive international consultations conducted over a period of many years. These principles are also based upon contemporary science, international law, and the insights of philosophy and religion. Successive drafts of the Earth Charter were circulated around the world for comments and debate by nongovernmental organizations, community groups, professional societies, and international experts in many fields. -- It is available for download in 31 languages at http://www.earthcharter.org/innerpg.cfm?id_menu=19

Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act: Civil Rights vs. Fear of Terrorism
http://environment.about.com/cs/activism/a/terrorism.htm
Animal rights and environmental activists are the targets of a new bill introduced into the Texas Legislature in February 2003 by Representative Ray Allen (R-Grapevine). H.B. 433, the so-called "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act" is loosely modeled after federal laws designed to combat the "war on terrorism;" however, this bill uses fear as the tool to implement legislation seeking to criminalize any activity pertaining to animal rights or environmental activism. Did I mention that the model bill was drafted by the national lobbyists group, The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance (USSA)? The USSA, along with the America Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are promoting this bill nationwide. CLIP Similar bills to make terrorists of environmental and animal rights groups have been introduced in many other states. More details at
http://www.google.ca/search?q=Animal+and+Ecological+Terrorism+Act&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en&meta=

A THOUSAND POINTS OF GREEN (25 Mar 2004)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0325/p14s01-sten.html
Enviro Movement Becoming Decentralized and Diversified - Environmentalism is going grassroots. While two-thirds of Americans identify themselves as environmentalists, membership in big, mainstream enviro organizations stayed flat throughout the 1990s. IRS data explains why, at least in part: The number of environmental groups with an annual income of $1 million or more fell by nearly half from 1995 to 2003; during the same period, 4,247 groups with budgets of less than $1 million were created. Many of these smaller groups involve people who have not been traditionally associated with environmentalism but who want to act on local concerns. In the West, ranchers and hunters fight to protect the natural resources they depend on. Other citizens band together around environmental justice, environmental health, and the intersection between religion and conservation. And some activists don't associate themselves with any organizations, like Montanan Karl Rappold, who says, "I work with environmental groups, but I don't belong to them. I can do more as an independent rancher."

Disturbing Signals (March 30)
http://www.guerrillanews.com/human_rights/doc4197.html
Sen. Kerry voted for the Patriot Act. He voted for the resolution that allowed Bush to invade Iraq. In this brief, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs notes another disturbing fact: Sen Kerry's stated policies on Latin America look like his opponent's:
• Sen. Kerry woos hard-line Cuban right; risks marring his reputation as an advocate of a more principled foreign policy.
• The Democratic candidate could witness a substantial bloc of voters defect to a possible resurgent Nader campaign, which could cost him dearly in swing states, and even sway the election.
• Outflanking Bush on the right regarding Cuba and Venezuela could dangerously ignite these issues, as occurred in the first Bush presidency when the U.S. invaded Panama in 1989.
• Kerry’s Latin American script could have been written by Roger Noriega and Otto Reich.
• The Democratic candidate: sterile on Cuba and Venezuela, good on Haiti.

Russia says its new weapon will make U.S. missile defence useless (March 30, 2004)
http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.html?id=c486c971-1b1f-4fbf-affb-1cc41cb8f7c3
MOSCOW - Russia has designed a "revolutionary" weapon that would make the prospective American missile defence useless, Russian news agencies reported Monday, quoting a senior Defence Ministry official. The official, who was not identified by name, said tests conducted during last month's military manoeuvres would dramatically change the philosophy behind development of Russia's nuclear forces, the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies reported. If deployed, the new weapon would take the value of any U.S. missile shield to "zero," the news agencies quoted the official as saying. The official said the new weapon would be inexpensive, providing an "asymmetric answer" to U.S. missile defences, which are proving extremely costly to develope. Russia, meanwhile, also has continued research in prospective missile defences and has an edge in some areas compared to other countries, the official said. The statement reported Monday was in line with claims by President Vladimir Putin's that experiments performed during last month's manoeuvres proved that Russia could soon build strategic weapons that could puncture any missile-defence system. At the time, Col-Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, explained that the military tested a "hypersonic flying vehicle" that was able to manoeuvre between space and the earth's atmosphere. Military analysts said that the mysterious new weapons could be a manoeuvrable ballistic missile warhead or a hypersonic cruise missile. While Putin said the development of such new weapons wasn't aimed against the United States, most observers viewed the move as Moscow's retaliation to the U.S. missile defence plans. After years of vociferous protests, Russia reacted calmly when Washington withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 in order to develop of a countrywide missile shield. But U.S.-Russian relations have soured again lately, and Moscow has complained about Washington's plans to build new low-yield nuclear weapons.

Ex-official says U.S. government covered up spill cause (April 02)
http://www.enn.com/news/2004-04-02/s_22430.asp
NEW YORK - A whistle-blower has accused the Bush administration of trying to protect the company responsible for a 2000 coal slurry spill for political reasons, according to CBS Television's 60 Minutes. On the show to be aired on Sunday, Jack Spadaro, former head of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy, said the Department of Labor whitewashed a report that held mining company Massey Energy Co., a contributor to the Republican Party, responsible for the spill. The Oct. 11, 2000, spill from the mining company's containment pond poured 300 million gallons of coal sludge into water supplies in Kentucky and West Virginia. "The Bush administration came in and the scope of our investigation was considerably shortened," said Spadaro, who helped investigate the spill for the Mine Safety and Health Administration. He called it "interference with a federal investigation of the most serious environmental disaster in the history of the eastern United States." CBS said the Richmond, Virginia, company was a "generous" contributor to the Republican Party. CLIP

According to "Boudewijn Wegerif" wegerif@telia.com>, "April Fool's Day relates to the change of calendar by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. The Gregorian Calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated on January 1 in place of April 1. Those who resisted the change were called April Fools. They were sent on fool's errands or tricked into believing something false. Some European countries held out against the New Year change for many years - Scotland until 1660; Germany, Denmark, and Norway until 1700; and England until 1752. For more, see http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html?link=tmplnav

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