AmericanVoicesSpain
Here's an interesting article on how the Bush regime "supports troops".
Legacy of TreasonDepleted Uranium and the Poisoning of Humanity
By Alok O'Brien
In recent years I have become aware of the issue of depleted uranium (DU) and its use by the US Military in Iraq in 1991 and again in the current Iraq war. The photos of birth deformities and stories of suffering resulting from DU shocked me, reminding me of the Agent Orange victims of America's Vietnam war. Then I watched David Bradbury and Peter Scott's new film, Blowin' in the Wind . Its content shocked and appalled me, and spurred me into researching and writing this article. It is undoubtedly by far the most significant issue on the planet today, and yet the mainstream media stays quiet.
Published March 06 issue byronchild magazine
Republished Living Now magazine, May 06
treason n 1 betrayal of one's sovereign or country. 2 any treachery or betrayal. treasonable adj treasonous adj
Depleted uranium (DU) is what is left after raw uranium has been enriched to the highly radioactive isotope U-235 used for weapons and power generation. For every ton of U-235 produced, there are seven tons of DU. Estimates vary, but it seems that currently the US alone has in excess of five million tons of stockpiles of DU. This has no commercial use beyond its use as a radiation shield in medical devices, and for adding to concrete to form radiation containing bunkers. However, this requires an insignificant quantity of the DU produced each year.
Read the whole thing! http://www.byronchild.com/arts48.htm
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Berkley to vote on impeachment
http://tinyurl.com/eot42
BERKELEY - The People's Republic of Berkeley has done it again.
The liberal, left-leaning city has become the first city in the nation to put a referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan and Daniel Ellsberg, a Vietnam whistle-blower who in 1971 released the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, both spoke in favor of the resolution at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
``Berkeley is a place where things begin,'' said Mayor Tom Bates. ``It was the first place in the nation that called for divestment from South Africa, it was the first city in the nation to have curb cuts for disabled people, we were the first city in the nation to have dog parks and the first city in the nation to really protest the Vietnam War,'' Bates said.
Let's not forget banning Styrofoam take-out containers in restaurants.
``What happens in Berkeley people need to pay attention to because it travels, it has legs... what happens in Berkeley today is conventional wisdom in the rest of the country tomorrow,'' Bates said.
Although the referendum is largely symbolic because only the United States Congress can impeach a president, city leaders don't see it that way.
``I don't see it as just symbolic, I see it as educational,'' said Councilmember Kriss Worthington.
Dozens of cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have already approved resolutions calling for impeachment, but Berkeley is the first American city that will ask voters to decide.
It will cost the city roughly $10,000 to add the item to the November general election ballot.
Tuesday's resolution also had widespread support from a group called Constitution Summer, which originated on several university campuses, including UC Berkeley. Constitution Summer represents a coalition of students and young people dedicated to defending the constitution by launching a campaign to impeach the president.
It also had the support of the city's Peace and Justice Commission, which drafted language for a referendum. Specifically, supporters say the effort is being made based on Bush's handling of the Iraq war, federal wiretapping and other issues.
``We hope this is going to raise a national debate on the issues of the Bush administration shredding the U.S. Constitution, trampling on it,'' Bates said. ``We hope that this will be a debate about what the Bush Administration has done to our civil liberties and rights.''
__._,_.___
BERKELEY - The People's Republic of Berkeley has done it again.
The liberal, left-leaning city has become the first city in the nation to put a referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan and Daniel Ellsberg, a Vietnam whistle-blower who in 1971 released the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, both spoke in favor of the resolution at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
``Berkeley is a place where things begin,'' said Mayor Tom Bates. ``It was the first place in the nation that called for divestment from South Africa, it was the first city in the nation to have curb cuts for disabled people, we were the first city in the nation to have dog parks and the first city in the nation to really protest the Vietnam War,'' Bates said.
Let's not forget banning Styrofoam take-out containers in restaurants.
``What happens in Berkeley people need to pay attention to because it travels, it has legs... what happens in Berkeley today is conventional wisdom in the rest of the country tomorrow,'' Bates said.
Although the referendum is largely symbolic because only the United States Congress can impeach a president, city leaders don't see it that way.
``I don't see it as just symbolic, I see it as educational,'' said Councilmember Kriss Worthington.
Dozens of cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have already approved resolutions calling for impeachment, but Berkeley is the first American city that will ask voters to decide.
It will cost the city roughly $10,000 to add the item to the November general election ballot.
Tuesday's resolution also had widespread support from a group called Constitution Summer, which originated on several university campuses, including UC Berkeley. Constitution Summer represents a coalition of students and young people dedicated to defending the constitution by launching a campaign to impeach the president.
It also had the support of the city's Peace and Justice Commission, which drafted language for a referendum. Specifically, supporters say the effort is being made based on Bush's handling of the Iraq war, federal wiretapping and other issues.
``We hope this is going to raise a national debate on the issues of the Bush administration shredding the U.S. Constitution, trampling on it,'' Bates said. ``We hope that this will be a debate about what the Bush Administration has done to our civil liberties and rights.''
__._,_.___
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
legal situation of Guantanamo prisoners
This interesting letter was sent to the NY TIMES by a law school professor:
To the Editor:
Re "A Threat That Belongs Behind Bars," by Eric Posner (Op-Ed, June 25):
International law requires that prisoners of war be accorded the same procedural protections that American soldiers receive under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and that there be a competent tribunal to determine whether an individual is a prisoner of war.
This has not been provided to any of the Guantánamo detainees.
The United States Constitution requires that any person being deprived of liberty by incarceration have significant procedural protections, including notice of the charges, representation by a lawyer, and a hearing by a judge who is not a part of the executive branch.
More important, elemental human rights and human decency require these basic protections, which have not been provided to those at Guantánamo, hundreds of whom have been there for several years now.
Mr. Posner assumes that all in Guantánamo are dangerous when we now know that many have been held there based on mistakes or the flimsiest evidence.
Mr. Posner does not discuss the long-term consequences of the Bush administration's ill-conceived Guantánamo policy: How can the United States insist on fair and humane treatment of its soldiers who are captured when we have failed to provide it to those held at Guantánamo and other detention facilities?
Erwin ChemerinskyDurham, N.C., June 25, 2006The writer is a professor of law and political science at Duke University.
To the Editor:
Re "A Threat That Belongs Behind Bars," by Eric Posner (Op-Ed, June 25):
International law requires that prisoners of war be accorded the same procedural protections that American soldiers receive under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and that there be a competent tribunal to determine whether an individual is a prisoner of war.
This has not been provided to any of the Guantánamo detainees.
The United States Constitution requires that any person being deprived of liberty by incarceration have significant procedural protections, including notice of the charges, representation by a lawyer, and a hearing by a judge who is not a part of the executive branch.
More important, elemental human rights and human decency require these basic protections, which have not been provided to those at Guantánamo, hundreds of whom have been there for several years now.
Mr. Posner assumes that all in Guantánamo are dangerous when we now know that many have been held there based on mistakes or the flimsiest evidence.
Mr. Posner does not discuss the long-term consequences of the Bush administration's ill-conceived Guantánamo policy: How can the United States insist on fair and humane treatment of its soldiers who are captured when we have failed to provide it to those held at Guantánamo and other detention facilities?
Erwin ChemerinskyDurham, N.C., June 25, 2006The writer is a professor of law and political science at Duke University.
Many U.S. Iraq vets homeless
Many U.S. Iraq vets homeless Some are poor, traumatized by war experiencesJun. 24, 2006. 04:48 PMASSOCIATED PRESSNEW YORK — As a member of the U.S. army National Guard, NadineBeckford patrolled New York City train stations after Sept. 11, 2001with a 9 mm pistol, then served a treacherous year in Iraq.Now, six months after returning, Beckford lives in a homeless shelter."I'm just an ordinary person who served. I'm not embarrassed about myhomelessness because the circumstances that created it were not myfault," said Beckford, 30, who was a military-supply specialist at abase in Iraq that was a sitting duck for around-the-clock attacks.Thousands of U.S. veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan arefacing a new nightmare — the risk of homelessness. The U.S. governmentestimates several hundred vets who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan arehomeless on any given night across the country, although the exactnumber is unknown.---Read the rest of the article here (highlight the link if it gets broken)- http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename+thestar/Layout/Article_Type&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=11511480119468co
Sunday, June 25, 2006
AmericanVoicesSpain
This is the blog for AmericanVoices Spain, meant for dialogue on issues of peace and justice.
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