|
The 'I' Word: Impeachment |
The impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, should be part of mainstream political discourse. Minutes from a summer '02 meeting involving British Prime Minister Tony Blair reveal that the Bush administration was ''fixing" the intelligence to justify invading Iraq. US intelligence used to justify the war demonstrates repeatedly the truth of the meeting minutes -evidence was thin and needed fixing. full story |
|
US Blamed for UN Nuclear Arms
Conference Ending in Failure |
A UN review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is ending in failure today, according to a Japanese delegate who said there is no agreement on new steps toward disarmament or measures to block nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea. "We lost an opportunity to send out important messages on issues such as North Korea, Iran and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty." full story |
|
|
Study Finds Genital Abnormalities in Boys |
Scientists studying the effects of hormone-mimicking chemicals on humans have reported that phthalates, used in plastics and beauty products and widely found in people, seem to alter the reproductive organs of baby boys. The findings were based on tests of 85 mothers and sons. Mothers with the highest levels in their urine late in their pregnancies had babies with a cluster of effects. full story |
|
Government Shirked Its Duty to Wild Fish,
a Judge Rules |
A federal judge in Oregon ruled Thursday that the Bush administration had arbitrarily limited and skewed its analysis of the harm that 14 federal dams cause to endangered Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead. As a result, Judge James A. Redden of Federal District Court ruled, the administration had shirked its duty to ensure that government actions were not likely to jeopardize the survival of the species. full story |
|
|
Japan Rejects Anti-whaling Pressure |
A Japanese fishery official said on Tuesday that Tokyo will not yield to foreign pressure seeking to stop it from whaling, arguing that it is done for scientific research. In Japan, whale meat is part of the traditional cuisine, but in 1986 it accepted a moratorium on commercial whaling by the Int. Whaling Commission. It resumed 'research whaling' in 1987, selling the whale meat on the market. full story |
|
Bush's Anti-Environmental Judicial Nominees
Not Off the Hook |
After days of intense negotiations, a bipartisan coalition of 14 senators agreed Tuesday not to change Senate rules to eliminate the minority's right to filibuster controversial judicial nominees. The agreement is viewed as a partial victory for the environment as several of the nominees have adopted anti-environmental positions in the past. Several nominees will get a vote on the Senate floor. Others will not. full story |
|
|
A New Record for PBDEs in People |
The newest data on PBDE flame retardants in U.S. residents include the highest concentrations yet reported in humans. The data reveal some disturbing trends, experts agree. The group of 52 people whose tissue Kannan collected and analyzed harbors the highest individual PBDE concentrations yet reported. The levels are 4 to 9.5 times higher than any reported previously. full story |
|
Biologists Ordered to Ignore Genetics
of Endangered Species |
 |
A new Fish & Wildlife Service policy forbidding its biologists from using wildlife genetics to protect and aid recovery of endangered and threatened species has set off a firestorm of criticism both inside and outside the agency. The policy issued by Regional Director, Dale Hall, prohibits agency biologists from considering unique genetic lineages in protecting or recovering endangered wildlife. full story |
|
|
U.S. Faces Questions over 'Kidnappings' in Europe | |
|
Pressure is growing on the US to respond to allegations that its agents were involved in spiriting terrorist suspects out of three European countries and sending them to nations where they may have been tortured. In Italy, a judge said this week that foreign intelligence officials "kidnapped" an Egyptian suspect in Milan two years ago and took him to a U.S. base from where he was flown home. full story |
|
|
As Climate Shifts, Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Growing |
 |
As glaciers from Greenland to Kilimanjaro recede at record rates, the central icecap of Antarctica has been steadily growing for 11 years, partially offsetting the rise in seas from the melt waters of global warming, researchers said Thursday. Overall, sea level is estimated to be rising by 1.8 millimeters a year worldwide because of the expansion of warming water and the added outwash from melting glaciers | |
in Greenland, Alaska, tropical highlands and areas of Antarctica. full story |
|
|
Soya Farmers to Blame for Amazon Forest Loss |
 |
An area of the Amazon rainforest bigger than Wales has been destroyed in the past year, with soya bean farmers largely to blame, according to new figures from the Brazilian govt.. Satellite images and data show that an area of 10,088 sq. mi. of forest was burned or cut down in the year ending in 8/04. Last year exports of soya, mostly to China and Europe, propelled Brazil to a record trade surplus, |
campaigners to say that exports are being put ahead of the environment.
full story |
|
|
Patience Wearing Thin in Tallevast |
 |
Tallevast residents can't use their irrigation wells to water their yards because of a underground plume of groundwater contamination. Yet they look down the road and see sprinklers at a golf course spraying the greens. Tallevast residents worry the mist that sprays continually from that fountain could be making them sick. They want to know if anyone has tested this water. full story | |
|
|
Brazil's Poor are Cut Down
After a 150-mile Protest March |
 |
A 17-day protest march by 12,000 landless Brazilian peasants ended in violence as activists fought police and demanded faster govt. land resettlement to cut rural poverty. More than 50 people were injured when mounted riot police charged demonstrators at the end of a grueling 150-mile march Tuesday to pressure Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to meet land reform promises. full story | |
|
|
States, Green Groups File Suit
to Block Bush Mercury Rule |
 |
Eleven states and 12 environmental organizations filed a flurry of lawsuits today to block the Bush plan to cut mercury emissions from power plants. The plaintiffs say the Bush mercury regulations violate federal environmental law and fail to protect public health and the environment. “These rules are deeply flawed and contrary both to science and the law,” said NJ Attorney Gen. Harvey. full story | |
|
|
Landless Workers Movement
Marches to Brasilia in Protest |
 |
12,000 members of MST protested in front of the US Embassy in Brasilia. The group gathered garbage and burnt with it an American flag. According to Rosana Fernandes, an MST representative, they were protesting against American culture, politics and corporations. They demanded President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meet land reform promises, and protested against the US govt. and GW Bush. full story | |
|
|
Senate Panel to Start Work
on Renewing Patriot Act |
 |
A Senate committee said on Tuesday it would start the process of renewing the USA Patriot Act, which expanded security powers after the Sept. 11 attacks, but ran into criticism for holding the meetings in secret. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said it would hold a closed markup session on Thursday, the first legislative step toward a reauthorization vote long sought by Bush et al. full story | |
|
|
Migratory Birds Welcomed Back North
With Conservation Grants |
 |
Plovers, terns, hawks, cranes, warblers and sparrows - more than 340 species of birds breed in the United States and Canada, and winter in Latin America. International Migratory Bird Day, which falls on the second Saturday in May, is being observed all this week by U.S. and Canadian schools, birding groups and zoos celebrating the return of the birds full story | |
|
|
|
Speech at Conference Assails Right Wing |
 |
Bill Moyers denounced on Sunday the right wing and top officials at the White House, saying they are trying to silence their critics by controlling the news media. "An unconscious people, an indoctrinated people, a people fed only partisan information and opinion that confirm their own bias, a people made morbidly obese in mind and spirit by the junk food of propaganda is less inclined to put up a fight - ask questions | |
and be skeptical." full story |
|
|
Birth Defects Puzzle Officials |
 |
The babies started coming the week before Christmas. First Carlitos, with the expressive face and limbless body. Next came Jesus, with an underdeveloped lower jaw and a swallowing problem. Then there was the infant with a missing ear, no nose and no visible sexual organs. All 6 parents worked in the same tomato field on a farm owned by Ag-Mart Inc. The families lived within 100 yards of one another in the | |
farm's migrant camp when the women became pregnant last year. full story |
|
|
Uzbeks Fleeing Across Border to Seek Refuge |
 |
Thousands of Uzbeks are fleeing across Uzbekistan's borders in to seek refuge in Kyrgyzstan. Thousands have taken to the streets of the city to protest the unfair trial of Muslim activists and draw attention to human rights abuses. A trial of 23 local businessmen on charges of religious extremism triggered the protests. Soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators, killing many unarmed civilians. full story | |
|
|
|
New Diesel Fuel Could Cut Smog |
 |
The rat’s nest of pipes and columns snaking across the desert harbors a secret process that will use cobalt to turn natural gas into a powerful, clean-burning diesel fuel. By next year, rulers of this tiny desert sheikdom hope, these gas-to-liquids reactors under construction will bring in billions of dollars while clearing big city smog belched by trucks & buses. full story | |
|
|
|
Increase in 'Dead Zones' Starving the World's Seas |
 |
It has arrived early; it's bigger than ever and it promises a summer of death and destruction. The annual "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, starved of oxygen, and thus killing fish and underwater vegetation, has appeared earlier than usual this year. This is just one sign of a rapidly growing crisis. The number of similar dead zones in the world's seas has doubled every decade since '60, as a result of increasing | |
pollution. There are now 146 of them worldwide, mainly around the coasts of rich countries. full story |
|
|
Endangered Birds at Risk After Pipeline Leak |
 |
Hundreds of birds, some of them on the Red Data (endangered) list, could be affected by a massive pump failure on the Richards Bay pipeline, which pumps effluent into the sea. The Thulasihleka Pan Bird Sanctuary in Richards Bay, home to a large variety of water birds, has had its access road cut off and its birding hides covered in a metre of "steaming and foul-smelling" water. full story | |
|
|
Seaweed to Breathe New Life into
Fight Against Global Warming |
 |
The fate of humanity may rest on colossal floating islands of seaweed. A team of Japanese scientists envisages 100 vast nets full of quick-growing seaweed, each measuring 6 X 6 mi., floating off the northeast coast of Japan. Growing to 270,000 tons a year, each net will absorb prodigious quantities of CO2 and convert it to oxygen before being harvested 12 months later as a rich source of biomass | |
energy. full story |
|
|
Study: Climate Change to Swell, Dry up Rivers |
 |
Like oil in the 20th century, water could be the resource that triggers armed conflicts at the end of this century, according to experts forecasting changes in the world's major rivers caused by global warming. Big increases and decreases in the flow volume of the rivers will leave some areas parched while putting others under the constant threat of flooding, according to the research group. full story | |
|
|
|
Whales 'Led Astray by Magnetism' |
 |
Writing in the Journal of Sea Research, scientists propose that whales use the Earth's magnetic field to assist navigation like homing pigeons do. Dr Vanselow said "Sperm whales migrate long distances with very little visual clues as to where they are going. It would be unsurprising if they too had a magnetic sense. full story | |
|
|
Half of North American Birds
Rely on Vanishing Boreal Forest |
 |
The 1.5 billion acre North American Boreal Forest Region, stretching from Alaska to Newfoundland, holds one-quarter of the Earth's remaining intact forests. It is one of the largest forested wilderness areas left, larger than even the Brazilian Amazon. But the boreal forest is disappearing - logged and fragmented to supply U.S. markets for junk mail catalogs, disposable tissue paper, and energy. full story | |
|
|
Chemical Exposures and Incidence of
Learning and Other Developmental Disabilities |
 |
Learning and developmental disabilities are estimated to affect one in 6 children in the U.S. under 18, and the rates appear to be increasing. Scientists estimate that 25% of developmental and neurological deficits in children are due to the interplay between environmental and genetic factors, and research indicates that the developing fetus and children are particularly vulnerable to chemical exposures. full story | |
|
|
|
Demand for Organic Foods Soaring |
 |
Nationwide, the market for organic foods has soared from $3.57 billion in '97 to $10.38 billion in '03, according to Organic Trade Association. The group predicts sales will reach $14.5 billion by the end of '05 as Americans buy everything from radishes to beef grown without chemical pesticides, fertilizers, biotechnology, antibiotics or growth hormones. full story | |
|
|
As Pace of Logging Picks up,
Some in North Woods are Alarmed |
 |
Logging trucks often outnumber cars on the roads between the Canadian border and this city built around paper, pulp and lumber mills. But some North Country residents worry the trucks will be gone in a generation, along with the working forest and the mills, because of indiscriminate logging and creeping development. full story
|
|
Pentagon Seeks Greater Immunity
from Freedom of Information Act |
 |
The Dept. of Defense is pushing for a new rule that would make it easier for the Pentagon to withhold information on US military operations from the public. The provision would render so-called "operational files" fully immune from requests under the Freedom of Information Act, the main mechanism by which watchdog groups, journalists and individuals can can access federal documents. full story | |
|
|
Deadly Threat Mounts:
Allergies Rising at Epidemic Pace |
 |
Published earlier this year by the British Medical Journal, a study found that the number of men susceptible to allergies has grown by at least 10% in the past 30 years. Blood samples of more than 500 men, taken between '75 and '98, were tested for sensitivities to 11 allergens, including grass pollen, pet skin flakes and house mite dust. The study showed "highly significant increases" in the numbers who | |
tested positive, equivalent to a rise of 4.5 per cent each decade. full story |
|
Corporations Honored for
Climate, Ozone Protection |
 |
American Electric Power, 3M, Cinergy, the California Energy Commission, and the cities of Boulder, CO., and Syracuse, NY, are among the 25 organizations, companies, individuals, and teams recognized by the US EPA for "ingenuity, leadership and public purpose by achieving reductions of ozone depleting; heat-trapping gas emissions." full story | |
|
|
Cancer Risk Guidelines Factor In
Children's Vulnerabilities |
 |
The EPA’s new cancer risk guidance addresses for the 1st time the likelihood that children are more susceptible than adults to mutagenic carcinogens, clarifies recommendations for assessing carcinogens that do not cause cancer below a threshold dose. Scientists from EPA, states & industry will use the guidance when they perform risk assessments on chemicals. full story | |
|
|
Afghanistan's Melting Snows
Kill 14, Displace Thousands |
 |
Spring’s floods caused by the heaviest snowmelt in six years are being blamed for causing at least 14 deaths, leaving thousands homeless and swamping Afghanistan’s modest flood prevention program. At least 19 of the country's 34 provinces sustained serious flooding, according to an emergency commission created by President Hamed Karzai | |
before the current crisis. full story |
|
Lawsuit Seeks to Save Millions of Songbirds
from Tower Collisions |
 |
Millions of birds die each year in the United States because the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has failed to comply with environmental laws in its licensing of television, radio, cell, and other communications towers, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by two conservation organizations. full story | |
|
|
Florida Environmental Promotion
Tied to Campaign Contributions |
 |
The Florida EPA screened a key enforcement supervisor for promotion on the basis of his campaign contributions. The agency also directed the supervisor to interview with a prominent Republican political contributor as part of his selection process. Shortly after the supervisor was promoted, pollution enforcement actions against a landfill | |
managed by that contributor abruptly stopped full story |
|
Growing Evidence U.S. Sending Prisoners
to Torture Capital |
 |
There is increasing evidence that the US has sent terror suspects to Uzbekistan for detention and interrogation. After the Sept. 11 attacks Bush turned to Uzbekistan as a partner in the global fight against terrorism. Separately, international human rights groups had reported that torture in Uzbek jails included boiling of body parts, using electroshock on | |
genitals and plucking off fingernails and toenails with pliers. Two prisoners were boiled to death. full story |
|
|
The Legacy of Agent Orange |
 |
The US sprayed 80m litres of poisonous chemicals during Operation Ranchhand. There were many Agents used, including Pink, Green and White, but Agent Orange was used the most, 45m litres sprayed over a 10th of Vietnam. Last month an American Federal District Judge dismissed the case on the grounds that use of the defoliant did not | |
violate international law at the time. An appeal has been lodged against this decision. full story |
|
|
Mercury-Laden Clouds Threaten Utah |
 |
Mercury-laden clouds from gold mine smokestacks near Elko, Nev., are floating east and could pose a health threat and damage the ecology of the Great Salt Lake. The mines account for as much as 11 % of total Mercury emissions in the US. Mercury is a heavy metal that occurs naturally. Exposure to the element has been linked to neurological | |
and kidney diseases, autism, loss of motor control and death. Young children and pregnant women are most at risk. full story |
|
|
Sea Scientists Awash with Fury over Whale Deaths |
 |
The death of the 6th right whale since November has state scientists demanding that the federal government force emergency restrictions on shipper's routes and speeds. The latest whale to die was young 48-foot female, which was found dead Thursday, washed up on a remote island south of Chatham. The whale had suffered broken bones & bruising, | |
they believe she may have been struck by a commercial ship. full story |
|
