Global
Our oceans are in crisis. Though the ocean seems limitless and bountiful, our oceans no longer sustain as much life as they used to. Overfishing, habitat destruction, and poor management have all led to this alarming decline in the health of our oceans.
Incredibly, special interests are working to convince the Bush administration to weaken existing ocean protections. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is currently asking the public to comment on how to revise the guidelines that protect essential fish habitat.
Please take a moment to tell the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect our oceans. Then ask your family and friends to help by forwarding this e-mail to them.
To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser: pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=313&id4=OHFreep
Background
Incredibly, special interests are working to convince the Bush administration to weaken existing ocean protections. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is currently asking the public to comment on how to revise the guidelines that protect essential fish habitat.
Please take a moment to tell the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect our oceans. Then ask your family and friends to help by forwarding this e-mail to them.
To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser: pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=313&id4=OHFreep
Background
The new revelations in Bob Woodward’s book, Plan of Attack, provide further evidence to convict President George W. Bush of war crimes.
As one of the 49 original signers of the UN Charter, the United States committed itself to the ideals and practices of the norms of international law. Only two U.S. senators voted against the treaty, which includes Article 2(4) that specifically prohibits “…the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state….” In a September 23, 2003 speech to the United Nations, President Bush noted that both the UN Charter and American founding documents “recognize a moral law that stands above men and nations, which must be defended and enforced by men and nations.” Following World War II, just such action was taken at the Nuremberg trials and American, British, French and Soviet jurists established Article VI of the Nuremberg Charter, which legally defines “Crimes Against Peace.”
As one of the 49 original signers of the UN Charter, the United States committed itself to the ideals and practices of the norms of international law. Only two U.S. senators voted against the treaty, which includes Article 2(4) that specifically prohibits “…the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state….” In a September 23, 2003 speech to the United Nations, President Bush noted that both the UN Charter and American founding documents “recognize a moral law that stands above men and nations, which must be defended and enforced by men and nations.” Following World War II, just such action was taken at the Nuremberg trials and American, British, French and Soviet jurists established Article VI of the Nuremberg Charter, which legally defines “Crimes Against Peace.”
AUSTIN -- Women of America. This Sunday, April 25. Washington, D.C. The March for Women's Lives. Be there.
This is it. It's all on the line now. Everyone who thinks she's too old, too tired and has done this too many times before, be there. Everyone who has never been to a women's march, who thought all the rights had been long since secured, who thinks feminism is old hat and has nothing to do with your life, be there. Bring your daughters, mothers, nieces, friends, husbands, sons and significant others. If you can't be there, get in touch with a local women's organization and help raise money for a "scholarship" to send someone else to represent you.
Minority women, be there. The NAACP, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Black Women's Health Imperative and many other minority groups are co-sponsoring the march. You know better than anyone how the lives of working mothers are being stressed and deformed by the lack of institutional response to the need for child care and health care.
This is it. It's all on the line now. Everyone who thinks she's too old, too tired and has done this too many times before, be there. Everyone who has never been to a women's march, who thought all the rights had been long since secured, who thinks feminism is old hat and has nothing to do with your life, be there. Bring your daughters, mothers, nieces, friends, husbands, sons and significant others. If you can't be there, get in touch with a local women's organization and help raise money for a "scholarship" to send someone else to represent you.
Minority women, be there. The NAACP, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Black Women's Health Imperative and many other minority groups are co-sponsoring the march. You know better than anyone how the lives of working mothers are being stressed and deformed by the lack of institutional response to the need for child care and health care.
As one who regards Gerry Ford as our greatest president (least time served, least damage done, husband of Betty, plus John Paul Stevens as his contribution to the Supreme Court), I'd always imagined the man from Grand Rapids, Mich., would never be surpassed in sheer slowness of thought.
But I think Bush has Ford beat. Had he ever made a mistake, the reporter asked at that White House press conference. The president's face remained composed, masking the turmoil and terror raging within, as electronic networks went into gridlock. It should have been easy for him. Broad avenues of homely humility beckoned him on. "John, no man can stand before his Creator as I do each day and say he is without error . " Reagan would have hit the ball out of the park. But the president froze. He said he'd have to think it over.
But I think Bush has Ford beat. Had he ever made a mistake, the reporter asked at that White House press conference. The president's face remained composed, masking the turmoil and terror raging within, as electronic networks went into gridlock. It should have been easy for him. Broad avenues of homely humility beckoned him on. "John, no man can stand before his Creator as I do each day and say he is without error . " Reagan would have hit the ball out of the park. But the president froze. He said he'd have to think it over.
April 17, Washington, DC - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
strongly condemned today's assassination of Abdel Aziz Rantisi, leader of the
Hamas movement, by the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Rantisi, his 27 year old son Mohammed, and a number of others were killed by an
Israeli missile strike on their car as it was traveling through Gaza City
Saturday evening. ADC has a long-standing policy of opposing any attacks
directed against civilians, no matter who the victims or the perpetrators might be.
ADC has been strongly critical of the policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders by the Sharon government, most recently the March 22 murder of Hamas' founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. ADC notes that today's murders constitute yet another escalation in the conflict by Sharon and a provocation that is almost certain to intensify the cycle of violence and complicate efforts to resume peace negotiations. ADC reiterated its conviction that the only way to stop the conflict is to bring about a complete end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
ADC has been strongly critical of the policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders by the Sharon government, most recently the March 22 murder of Hamas' founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. ADC notes that today's murders constitute yet another escalation in the conflict by Sharon and a provocation that is almost certain to intensify the cycle of violence and complicate efforts to resume peace negotiations. ADC reiterated its conviction that the only way to stop the conflict is to bring about a complete end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Dick Cheney's recent appearance at the NRA conference in Pittsburgh confirms this administration's commitment to violence and the abrogation of a humane approach to world peace. The U.S. laissez faire approach to Israel's retaliation to Hamas has further inflamed the Islamic world as well as the military's inept actions in Iraq. As represented by our current selected (p)resident, our government pauses at the action of creating any dialog of peace and increasingly trounces on the notion of peace as solution.
Why has the world view of the U.S. remained consistently negative? Why the NRA is a priority, as violence sweeps the world, is a sure sign of what our illustrious leaders have in mind for the future. Israel continues its dominance of the Palestinian nation with no stop to their inflicted violence.
Even if the rule is followed "an eye for an eye", then the Palestinian, Afghani and the Iraqi's surely have lost much more.
Why has the world view of the U.S. remained consistently negative? Why the NRA is a priority, as violence sweeps the world, is a sure sign of what our illustrious leaders have in mind for the future. Israel continues its dominance of the Palestinian nation with no stop to their inflicted violence.
Even if the rule is followed "an eye for an eye", then the Palestinian, Afghani and the Iraqi's surely have lost much more.
As the election comes nearer, we must look at look at who has done the most
to benefit hard working, middle-class families as well as the working poor.
We must see through the fog of overly negative spin and distortion that the
Bush campaign has been working overtime to produce and look at the facts
about who helps middle-class American’s and who doesn’t.
While the Bush campaign attempts to distort John Kerry’s record, the facts show that John Kerry has proposed nearly three times as much new tax relief for middle-class families as George Bush. John Kerry has innovative proposals to help families pay for tuition so their children can get the education they deserve and to create a health care plan to provide coverage to the hard-working families that deserve and to lower the tax rate for companies, large and small, that create good, quality jobs in America.
While the Bush campaign attempts to distort John Kerry’s record, the facts show that John Kerry has proposed nearly three times as much new tax relief for middle-class families as George Bush. John Kerry has innovative proposals to help families pay for tuition so their children can get the education they deserve and to create a health care plan to provide coverage to the hard-working families that deserve and to lower the tax rate for companies, large and small, that create good, quality jobs in America.
The City of Burlington, Vermont will be the host of an innovative international conference on sustainable communities, to be held from July 14-18, 2004. The Sustainable Communities 2004 conference will bring together academics, professionals, citizens, businesses, and educators from all over the world to discuss and address real-life problems so that participants can go home with new tools, practices, and skills to use in their own communities. Registration is now open - and the early registration deadline has been extended to May 1, 2004.
The conference will feature site visits, case studies, simulations, and dialogue sessions to focus on issues ranging from the role of the arts in community development, the restoration economy, citizen empowerment and public participation, to more technical sessions on financing mechanisms for innovative development strategies, environmentally certified construction practices, performance contracts for energy efficiency, local currency, new opportunities in the business sector, and green purchasing.
The conference will feature site visits, case studies, simulations, and dialogue sessions to focus on issues ranging from the role of the arts in community development, the restoration economy, citizen empowerment and public participation, to more technical sessions on financing mechanisms for innovative development strategies, environmentally certified construction practices, performance contracts for energy efficiency, local currency, new opportunities in the business sector, and green purchasing.
Dear Mr. Shipway, Bath Iron Works:
We are gathering at Bath Iron Works on this day, April 23, in order to sound the alarm about the dangerous and destabilizing role of the Aegis destroyer in U.S. foreign and military policy.
Last year the Bush administration walked away from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic (ABM) Treaty with Russia that outlawed testing and deployment of so-called "Theatre Missile Defense" systems, a part of the new Star Wars program. The Aegis destroyer is now testing, and will soon deploy, these new interceptor systems just off the coast of China. The U.S. intends to deploy Aegis interceptors in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan (just 90 miles off the coast of mainland China), and in Australia. This will be a provocative move that will essentially negate China's 20 nuclear missiles thus forcing them to build more. Today the U.S. has 7,500 nuclear weapons of our own.