TURN ON YOUR COMPUTER // TUNE IN TO THE FREE SPIRIT OF THE INTERNET //  TAKE OVER!

 

(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)

the UP! //:-)  145     feb  2003

la - la - la - lap-toppling da system!

(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)

 

“informative, loving, sussed, brave, timely, spiritual multi-headed communications”

 

TEXT JOCKEY //  TJ PHRASER (Fraser Clark) & THE MEDIA EVOLUTION  MIXING THE TRACTS LIVE ON THE KEYBOARD @ A MEDIA-MEME RATE OF 160 IPP * 

* Ideas Per Paragraph

 

(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)

IF YOU CANNOT VIEW THIS PROPERLY,  TELL US AND WE’LL PUT YOU ON A SPECIAL UNFORMATTED LIST.        

TO REPLY TO FRASER OR THE UP!, OR TO UNSUBSCRIBE, EMAIL REMOVES@parallel-youniversity.com

TO SUBSCRIBE, WRITE “I wanna get UP!” TO people@parallel-youniversity.com

(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)

 

CONTENTS

 

BUSH’s “EVIDENCE” WEAKENS, NOT STRENGTHENS, THE CASE FOR WAR   p.

 

THE MINISTRY OF TRUTH HAS NO CLOTHES ON! 

An Annotated Overview of George Bush’s State of the Union Address  p.

 

NOBEL LAUREATES AGAINST WAR  p.

 

US INTERROGATORS TURN TO 'TORTURE LITE'

 

 

(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)

The UP! (or UP!grademag) is a global edutainment round-up, ‘broadcast’ weekly to =[10,959]= Alternative// Activist// Zippy// Trance// New Age folks who have been recommended to the Parallel YOUniversity//Megatripolis Dance Dept as "showing signs of life".  Since many recipients choose to forward it to their own lists, we estimate 31,000+ direct recipients.  Further, because of its less 'specialist' content, it's increasingly being posted on a variety of sites worldwide, making a conservatively estimated total weekly ‘readership’ of  275,000+

(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)

 

* * * * * * * * ASTRO ENERGY ANALYSIS FOR FEB-FEB * * * * * *

UP! ONE NATION UNDER SURVEILLANCE      WHO WOULD JESUS BOMB?

 

 

the gods have spoken, have faxed their comment from the sky.  the flaming karma spirals down over texas (were the terrorists who diddit trying to 'get him' or izzit simply the hand of god as the muslims believe or was the female astronaut of indian decent yo blame?) and dust shards of atomised israeli war heroes (Col Ramon flew the mission into Iraq to bomb its nuke plant) scatter across Palestine, Texas. 

i don't know, but if shakespeare had it right, such 'world heroes' as the bush gang are MORE superstitious than common folk.  so they must be quaking in their trubbled dreams.  as they reach out to grab "the world" a far greater world writes its message on the Big Blue Wall :)

one large group of people, tens of thousands perhaps, will be sleeping less soundly in their beds tonight if it was nothing but mechanical failure - the iraqi population who, we’re being assured, will be safe because the “smart bomms” will only hit the palaces etc.

 

what does it say about american teck?  smart bommms that won['t hit civilians?

Your average café denizen, not to mention the odd newspaper columnist, looked

 

 

 

http://www.votetoimpeach.org

Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark has drawn up articles of impeachment to be delivered to Congress.

Everyone must mobilise to do what they can at this time.

Please sign it.

UP! OH SAY CAN YOU CEASE?     STAR SPANGLED BUMMER

 

 

boston

MON FEB 13:            DELIGHTS FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN Book Launch On Mesopotamian Cuisine.  Join Nawal Nasralla as she presents “A Cookbook and History of Iraqi Cuisine", featuring recipes of Mesopotamia, thoroughly researched from the Sumerian and Babylonian times through the present.  PLUS LIVE numerous folkloric stories, anecdotes, songs and narratives by foreign visitors to the region.

* Sample some refreshments

* Purchase the book which contains over 400 recipes

* Chat with the author and have her sign your copy!

Boston Public Library, Mezzanine Conference Room.   6:30-8:00 pm

 (617) 86-INEAS (864-6327)

INEAS@aol.com

http://www.INEAS.org

UP! POWER TO THE PEACEFUL     READ BETWEEN THE PIPELINES

 

 

GREENHEADS v GREEDHEADS

Dear Fraser and co.

A HUGE HUGE 'Thank You' for your informative, loving, sussed, brave, timely, spiritual multi-headed communications which have the blistering instincts to zone in on exactly 'where its at' and articulate what increasing numbers of people are feeling.

 

 A transformation of consciousness is happening - an explosion even - the  only kind of explosion we need at this moment in our eternal journey of

 evolution [maaan].

 

Keep it comin, and I'll keep passin it on [like some kinda 'info spliff' maaan] [cough].  Let's all keep active and do everything we can to spread love and stop this corporate/military/greedhead/deadhead madness manifesting itself in the dying throes of the Piscean age.

 

Phew! - Nurse!  The Screens!

Love

Ian H./ Tokyo

UP! RESISTANCE IS FERTILE    SMART WEAPONS, DUMB PRESIDENT

 

 

THIS FEB 15 BABY IS GONNA BE BIG!!!!!!

Keep up the pressure on Tory Boy Warmonger Blair, they’re trying to ban the rally due to sheer numbers of people coming.  Even people at work who I thought would never come are going.

 

PEOPLE POWER all the way, this baby is gonna be BIG!!!!!!

Maz / Bournewouth, UK

UP! NEGOTIATION NOT ANNIHILATION     IT'S THE OIL, STUPID    

 

 

Richard Dawkins, Oxford biologist - First, I believe a declaration of war, even when provoked by an attack on one's own soil, is a grave decision that should be taken only after a full debate in Parliament. Neither of these two conditions is met at present. Second, it is humiliating to find ourselves alone in the world poodling behind any American Presi dent, but especially an illiterate, uncouth, unelected one. Third, I believe an unprovoked attack on Iraq, coupled with America's conspicuous lack of interest in obtaining justice for the Palestinians, will unite the entire Arab world against the West, just when we need their support most. Al-Qaeda will be laughing with glee.

UP! THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS BUSH HIMSELF

 

FEB 15          MEGA MARCH FOR PEACE

It would appear that the Football Association are in with Blair on his forthcoming war with Iraq. The bastards have put Arsenal v Man Utd on BBC1 at midday on the day of the

march – CAN U FOOKIN BELIEVE IT?!!!  THEY MUST BE ABSOLUTELY DESPERATE!!

UP! ANYTHING WAR CAN DO, PEACE CAN DO BETTER     OH SAY CAN YOU CEASE?

 

 

U.N. 11–4 TO GIVE INSPECTORS MORE TIME

MORE TIME          BOMM NOW

France                    Bulgaria

Russia                    Spain

China               Britain

Germany               United States

Mexico                  

Chile

Guinea

Syria

Cameroon

Pakistan

Angola

UP! THE LAST TIME WE LISTENED TO A BUSH, WE WANDERED IN THE DESERT FOR 40 YEARS    

 

 

much thanks to whoever it was who passed last week’s UP! on to the iraqis :o...

THE BIG LIES: PLANTING FALSE ‘EVIDENCE’

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri has claimed that Washington might try to use its “technological superiority in the techniques of espionage, fabrication, deception and misleading'' to plant false evidence against Iraq.

He also demanded that the United States present and hand over proof to the inspectors immediately that Baghdad was hiding banned weapons.

And he described Secretary of State Colin Powell's pledge to take evidence about Iraq's programs to the U.N. Security Council on Feb. 5 as an act in a “theatrical production.''

“The American administration has in the past presented more than one report that is filled with claims and accusations that lack any evidence.''

UP! ANOTHER PATRIOT FOR PEACE     DON'T ARM A SON OF A BUSH

 

 

THE EVIDENCE BUSH IS WITHHOLDING WEAKENS, NOT STRENGTHENS, THE CASE FOR WAR
(Duh! Why else would he withhold it?)

By Dennis Hans

 

A detailed report in the January 24 Washington Post, headlined “U.S. CLAIM ON IRAQI NUCLEAR PROGRAM IS CALLED INTO QUESTION”, adds to a growing body of evidence that the intelligence information the Bush administration is hoarding disproves or weakens the case against Saddam Hussein with respect to banned WMD* activities and collaboration with al Qaeda.  YOU HEARD RIGHT: IT DISPROVES OR WEAKENS, NOT STRENGTHENS. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35360-2003Jan23.html 
* weapons of mass destruction

 

Warrick shows that there were mega disagreements amongst the experts in the national-security bureaucracies last summer over the purpose of Iraqi attempts to purchase thousands of aluminum tubes.  Was it part of an effort to regenerate its nuclear-weapons program, or did it have some non-WMD purpose - perhaps in support of the two-decades old “well-documented 81mm conventional rocket program” for which, Warrick reports, the tubes were “a perfect fit”? 

Now it’s an absolute necessity for those charged with protecting our national security to assume and prepare for the worst.  But it’s quite another thing for the president - who presents himself as Mr. Integrity - to present the most dire interpretation as an Incontrovertible Truth when he’s pretending to give an honest, here-are-the-facts-as-we-know-them speech. 

When President Bush traveled to the United Nations in September to make his case against Iraq, Warrick reports, he brought along a rare piece of evidence for what he called Iraq’s ‘continued appetite’ for nuclear bombs.  The thousands of high-strength aluminum tubes Iraw had tried to buy, said Bush, were ‘used to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon.’  Vice President Cheney and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice both repeated the claim, with Rice describing the tubes as ‘only really suited for nuclear weapons programs.’” 

For a host of reasons (tube dimensions, the unsuitability of aluminum for uranium enrichment, the fact that Iraq apparently had made no effort to purchase a number of other items necessary for uranium enrichment), some of which were obvious prior to Bush’s U.N. address, the International Atomic Energy Agency is growing ever more certain that the tubes were destined for use in a technical process to reverse-engineer conventional 81mm artillery rockets to replace Iraq’s corroding stockpile.  Today, the IAEA finds the alibi of the lying, cheat-and-retreat Iraqis far more convincing than the accusation of the plain-spoken, straight-shooting Texan. 

PARTY-LINE POWELL - A HAWK IN DOVE’S CLOTHING 
This tall tubular tale is a classic illustration of the fundamental dishonesty of this president and his top advisers.  But what about the administration’s knight in shining armor, Secretary of State Colin Powell, hero to such generally astute liberal columnists as Eric Alterman and Robert Scheer?  Powell’s State Department had taken the view in the internal debate prior to Bush’s U.N. address that the available evidence did not support a nuclear conclusion.  Did he warn the president that the tube part of the speech, as written, was dishonest?  Did he thunder, “You’ve got no right to denounce Saddam for lying if you’re going to go to the U.N. and lie to the world”? 

He didn’t.  And on January 26, in a major address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Party-Line Powell repeated the hoary, unproven chestnut of a Saddam-al Qaeda connection.  On National Public Radio later that day Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan) dismissed it with contempt, pointing out just how pathetically flimsy was the case the White House had made to 40 senators a few days before.  Powell’s dovish admirers need to face this fact: in an administration dominated by dishonest, unilateral hawks, Powell does indeed stand apart: he’s a dishonest multilateral hawk. 

A FEW GOOD JOURNALISTS, 100 NEWS-MEDIA WEENIES 
In contrast to the dilligent digging of the Post’s Warrick, many in the news media are filing lame stories on the president’s alleged dilemma - should he risk exposing intelligence “sources and methods” to make the smoking-gun case, or should he protect sources and methods even if it weakens his case?  They’re operating from the preposterous premise of an honest president in an honest dilemma when it’s a liar who, at least as regards Iraqi policy, has never hesitated to misrepresent, exaggerate and lie. 

THE NEWS MEDIA SHOULD BE DEMANDING THE RELEASE OF ALL RELEVANT MATERIAL (protecting sources and methods) WHETHER IT WEAKENS BUSH’S CASE OR SUPPORTS IT. 


WHERE IS THIS INFORMATION? 

It’s in the offices of dozens of experienced, conscientious professionals, toiling anonymously at the State Department, Pentagon, FBI, CIA, NSA, Energy Department and perhaps other bureaucracies.  AND GET THIS - some of them have already spoken with reporters such as the Post’s Joby Warrick, Knight-Ridder’s Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel, and the Los Angeles Times’ Greg Miller and Bob Drogin.  They shared information with these reporters because they were profoundly troubled that our leaders were routinely making assertions that were not supported by evidence:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/nation/1607676

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/la-na-cia11oct11.story 


These dedicated public servants, according to Landay and Strobel, “charge that the administration squelches dissenting views and that intelligence analysts are under intense pressure to produce reports supporting the White House’s argument that Saddam poses such an immediate threat to the United States that pre-emptive military action is necessary.”

“’Analysts at the working level in the intelligence community are feeling very strong pressure from the Pentagon to cook the intelligence books,’ said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity.  A dozen other officials echoed his views in interviews.  No one who was interviewed disagreed.” 

Obviously I can’t tell you their names.  As Landay and Strobel explained: “None of the dissenting officials, who work in a number of different agencies, would agree to speak publicly, out of fear of retribution.” 

CONGRESS’S ROLE IN EXPOSING ADMINISTRATION LYING
Someone wrote a book about Saddam’s Iraq called “Republic of Fear.”  Though intimidated U.S. officials don’t fear jail, torture or death - like, reportedly, those Iraqi scientists reluctant to speak to weapons inspectors without the presence of Iraqi government “minders” - they certainly fear for their careers.  It’s not easy to step out of the shadows when you’ve got three kids to put through college and you know the administration would love to make an example of you. 

Now, if we had a Congress which was truly interested in getting to the bottom of the administration’s campaign of deceit - directed not at Saddam Hussein but at its members and their constituents – it could easily bring our well-informed but frightened bureaucrats out of the closet. 

Congress could guarantee them protection from retribution. 

Congress could use their testimony to force higher-ups to testify.

Congress could, step by step, establish the process by which the Bush team “enriches” clean information and turns it into dirty disinformation. 

THE DOWDY-BUSH CONNECTION 
The administration prefers to keep its collected intelligence under wraps for two reasons: 
(1)  Its release would provide the American people with all the facts relevant to the monumental decision of whether or not to go to war, and the last thing the Bush team wants is a fully and honestly informed citizenry. 

(2) Its release would demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Bush team, for many months, has consciously deceived the American people. 

That second point might get citizens thinking about “regime change” closer to home - or even about criminal prosecution.  Most Americans are glad that providing false information to police is a punishable crime, as Matthew Dowdy was charged with doing in the Washington D.C. sniper case.  He could spend six months in jail if convicted.

What’s an appropriate penalty for lying to those very same police officers - not to mention the their fellow Americans and indeed the world - to trick them into GOING TO WAR!!!?

www.liberalslant.com

UP! DON'T BLAME ME, I VOTED WITH THE MAJORITY     BUCK FUSH!

 

=======

LATE NEWS FLASH

=======

Early this morning a devastating fire burned down the personal library of President George W. Bush.  Tragically, both books were lost in the conflagration.  More poignantly, the President, due to his hectic schedule, had not found time to color in the second one.

UP!

 

 

SUN FEB 14            BOMBING OF AL-AMIRIYYA SHELTER ANNIVERSARY

In memory of the 500+ people (mostly women and children) who were killed by the American bombing of the Al-Amiriyya Shelter in Baghdad in 1991 (Iraqis and non-Iraqis) and all the others who have lost their lives during the Gulf War, the embargo and the continuous bombing of Iraq since 1998. 

UP!

 

 

THE SICKNESS OF CONSPIRACY MADNESS?

"Whoever wants to understand the CIA's methods, has to deal with its main tasks, [covert operations]: below the level of war, and outside international law, foreign states are to be influenced, by organising insurrections, terrorist attacks, usually combined with drugs and weapons trade, and money laundering.

This is essentially very simple: One arms violent people with weapons.  Since, however, it must not under any circumstances come out that there is an intelligence agency behind it, all traces are erased, with tremendous deployment of resources.  

I have the impression that this kind of intelligence agency spends 90% of its time this way: creating false leads.  So that, if anyone suspects the collaboration of the agencies, he is accused of the sickness of conspiracy madness.  The truth often comes out only years later.

CIA chief Allen Dulles once said: In case of doubt, I would even lie to the Congress!"

Andreas Von Buelow, former German Defense Minister, Jan, 2002

UP!

 

 

Max Clifford, Spin Doctor & PR expert - If it's proven beyond doubt, then obviously it has to be stopped. But right now I would say I don't feel they've done enough to justify an attack. If I had to make a choice today, I'd say err on the side of caution.

UP!

 

 

A SLAP IN THE FACE

I just received an edition of your UP! newsletter... I read through it and it was like a slap to the face... it’s nice to know there are many other people out there with the same views of the world as I have. 

I also took a look at your web site... though it’s a little dated, I found it very interesting... it’s nice to find even some of our elders enjoying raves, and electronic music... and not just for the drugs, which it seems all the little punks go for these days...   ;]

Jay Rivett / Brisbane, Australia

UP!

 

 

dear fraser,
i've tried..  i cant read this zine.  its WAY too busy, too many fonts and colors, too purposely psychedelic, so it makes it look like you have little to say.  i know that's not true, but since i cant read the damn thing how would i know?
give me content over form any day. in this case, the form overwhelms the content.
sorry
arthur / california

>>> no probs, arthur!  all u need is to go on the Unformatted List (which we keep for OLD people :)  heh heh.

c wot u think (and i spose u think the funny spelling undermines the content too, right?)

UP!

 

 

Dr Beverley Malone, General secretary of the Royal College of Nursing - The consequences of war can have many devastating results and the Royal College of Nursing believes such conflicts should be avoided at all costs. It hopes that solutions can be sought peacefully through organisations such as the United Nations.

UP!

 

 

NANOTECHNOLOGY POTENTIAL FOR NEW WMD

Nanotechnology could make possible the production of new types of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).  These include

-         4th-generation nuclear weapons

-         conventional weapons in large quantities using self- replication

-         biological weapons

http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=1605&m=5435

UP!

 

 

BUSH IS AN EMPTY WARHEAD

i'm so glad u do the UP! every week'.  it's really great.

still too US-focused i think, but getting better all round all the time...

 

u're ahead of this morning's news on the hyde park rally - hey, my brother 's signed up -  i can hardly believe it - so am well inclined to agree on the nos. predicted :))) or shoud that be :D

& the iraqi tapes.  and gm crops, & the nuclear nightmare are fantastic.

& the will hutton piece on the US budget deficit is tremendous.  (how can it be? i am wondering...)

 

love the quotes from celebrities against the war

& the slogan 'BUSH IS AN EMPTY WARHEAD'

 

luvya man

tokyomoll / hiroshima.xx

UP!

 

 

"But it became clear as time went on that in Mr. Bush's mind the New World Order was founded on a convergence of goals and interests between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, so strong and permanent that they would work as a team through the U.N. Security Council."   A. M. Rosenthal, 1991

UP!

 

 

US INTERROGATORS TURN TO 'TORTURE LITE'
Duncan Campbell in The Guardian
According to lawyers, ex US intelligence officers and human rights groups, the United States is defying iinternational law and its own constitution by condoning the torture and illegal interrogation of prisoners held in the wake of September 11,.

They claim prisoners inside American penal institutions and detention camps have been beaten, hooded, had painkillers withheld, and have been subjected to interrogation techniques which do not leave injuries.  Others have been sent to countries where more conventional forms of torture have been used.

Wayne Madsen, an ex US navy intelligence officer, points to two forms of torture being practised by America or its partners in the wake of September 11.  The first consists of sleep deprivation and shining harsh lights at detainees which, Mr Madsen labels "torture lite".  He says this is being practised on hundreds of inmates held by the US at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for suspected Taliban and al-Qaida connections.

The second, less subtle, kind of torture is being inflicted on prisoners taken by the US military to third-party countries with bad human-rights records.  Mr Madsen, now a commentator on intelligence-gathering, said he understood that prisoners who were believed to have information had been taken to countries including Egypt, Morocco and Syria where such full-blown torture techniques were used.

UP!

 

 

John Nichol, RAF officer captured by Iraq during the Gulf war of 1990-91 - I've real concerns with any war. Since 9/11 there seems to be a link between Iraq and terrorism that politicians have allowed to grow despite there being no evidence. This is a real double standard. When Iran has weapons of mass destruction no one seems to be concerned. Libya has weapons of mass destruction too and we send Ministers there to talk about trade . For me, whatever the moral arguments, you have to ask if any conflict is going to make the region safer? I just don't think so.

UP!

 

 

JOIN THE DOLLAR BOYCOTT!!

use the euro not the dollar

Arab Boycott of American Consumer Goods Spreads
by David Pallister
An informal slowly growing Arab boycott of American consumer goods has suddenly accelerated around the Middle East as a protest against US support for Israel and now the Iraq attack.

At Friday prayers clerics have named and denounced some of America's most famous brands, leaflets are handed out on the streets, and the
internet has been inundated with protest calls.

A month ago, some US companies were already reporting a drop in sales of between 25 and 40%.  Targets include McDonald's and Burger King, Tide
and Ariel detergents, Pampers nappies, Coca-Cola and Pepsi,
Marlboro cigarettes, Hasbro toys, L'Oréal, Johnson & Johnson,
Timberland, Starbucks and Heinz.

Factories in Iran making Zam Zam Cola are struggling to keep up
with demand for their sweeter version of Pepsi and Coca-Cola.  In
the United Arab Emirates, sales of the local Star Cola have soared.  The greatest hit, though, seems to be Mecca Cola.

Two of the six McDonald's franchises in Jordan have closed for lack of business and KFC and McDonald's branches in the Omani capital Muscat said sales had fallen by up to 65%.

Basically an extension of the 1951 Arab boycott against Israel, the boycott’s been given added impetus by declarations from Muslim scholars like Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi of Qatar and Lebanon's Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah who have called on Arabs to replace US products with European and Asian goods in appreciation of the political support of those countries.

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, preacher Sheikh Omar bin Saeed al-Badna has preached that the boycott would be good for the kingdom's local economy.

In Beirut, students have protested outside the city's four Starbucks shops, with leaflets spelling out the pro-Israeli sentiments of its chief executive, Howard Shultz, and claiming he is "an active Zionist".

In Morocco, the newspapers L'Economiste and Assabah have launched a campaign against the US dollar, urging Moroccans to avoid using the currency in their business dealings and opt for the euro wherever possible.

The Egyptian Doctors' Syndicate, in what it accepts is a symbolic protest, has sent doctors and pharmacies a list of US-made medical products with alternative local or European products.

Some of the protests have turned violent.  A Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet has been torched by student protesters at Cairo University and another in Tripoli, Tunisia, has been bombed.

So far the boycott has been largely endorsed by individuals and the few civic and student groups that are allowed to exist in the region.  But in Syria, which has one of the more active coordinated campaigns, the government has formally endorsed it.

UP!

 

 

THE POWERFUL ARE EXPLOITING THE POOR FOR BIGGER AND BIGGER PROFITS

 

 

 

 

 

UNLESS WE CHALLENGE THEM, WE ARE ALLOWING THIS INJUSTICE TO CONTINUE, AND ARE BENEFITTING FROM IT!!!.

 http://www.wdm.org.uk

 UP!

 

 

James Moore, Gulf Veterans' Association - In 1990-91 everyone who served felt we were in the right. A country had been invaded, bullied by another state. This time around we would be the bullies. UN inspectors have been given free access and have yet to find anything. Blair seems happy for us to become the 51st state of America with himself as governor. It beggars belief that the Government is willing to send soldiers into an area that has been responsible for so many deaths. Since troops returned home in 1991, 558 have died as a result of Gulf war syndrome. For the past 10 years, British and American planes have been using uranium-coated bombs on the Iraqis and now we want to send troops there?

UP!

 

 

NOBEL LAUREATES SIGN AGAINST A

WAR WITHOUT INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/28/national/28NOBE.html

Forty-one American Nobel laureates in science and economics have issued a declaration opposing a preventive war against Iraq without wide international support and arguing that an American attack would ultimately hurt the security and standing of the United States, even if it succeeds.

 

"The undersigned oppose a preventive war against Iraq without broad international support. Military operations against Iraq may indeed lead to a relatively swift victory in the short term. But war is characterized by surprise, human loss and unintended consequences. Even with a victory, we believe that the medical, economic, environmental, moral, spiritual, political and legal consequences of an American preventive attack on Iraq would undermine, not protect, U.S. security and standing in the world." 

 

In addition to winning Nobel prizes, 18 of the signers have received the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest science honor.

 

Dr. Kohn, a Nobel chemist at the University of California at Santa Barbara,
organised the declaration: "No voice was speaking against the war," he said. "So I asked, `Can I somehow make myself useful?' and had the idea of contacting my Nobel laureate friends and trying to rally them around a reasonable position."

 

An aide to Dr. Kohn said that more signatures were expected in the next few days as laureates returned from foreign travels or caught up with their mail.

 

THE SIGNERS ( E, economics; P, physics; C, chemistry; and M, medicine or physiology)

George A. Akerlof E                Philip W. Anderson P                Paul Berg C   Hans A. Bethe P  Nicolaas Bloembergen P                Paul D. Boyer C                 Owen Chamberlain P                Leon N. Cooper P                James W. Cronin P                Robert F. Curl Jr. C                Val L. Fitch P   Robert F. Furchgott M                Sheldon L. Glashow P                Roger Guillemin M                Herbert A.                 Hauptman C          Alan J. Heeger C                Louis J. Ignarro M                Eric R. Kandel M                Har Gobind Khorana M                Lawrence R. Klein E                Walter Kohn C  Leon M. Lederman P                Yuan T. Lee C     William N. Lipscomb C                Daniel L. McFadden E                Franco Modigliani E                Ferid Murad M                George E. Palade M                Arno A. Penzias P                Martin L. Perl P                William D. Phillips P                Norman F. Ramsey P                Robert Schrieffer P                William F. Sharpe E                Jack Steinberger P                Joseph H. Taylor Jr. P                Charles H. Townes P                Daniel C. Tsui P                Harold E. Varmus M                Robert W. Wilson P                Ahmed H. Zewail C

UP!

 

 

Air Chief Marshal Sir Timothy Garden, Air Former assistant chief of UK defence staff - Inspection is a better way of disarming than bombing. It has not been shown that there is any near term threat from Iraq to Europe or beyond. War is always an uncertain venture, and may lead to a situation worse than the one we have now.

UP!

 

 

"Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international money lenders. The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited.  It operates outside the control of Congress and manipulates the credit of the United States"   Sen. Barry Goldwater

UP!

 

 

australia

SHOULD AUSTRALIA TAKE PART IN A WAR AGAINST IRAQ? Vote in ABC-Australia's Current Online Poll!

The ABC poll asked people to vote as to whether they believed Australia should take part in the war in IRAQ.  It had 1,500 votes on JAN 23, 9800 votes a couple of days ago, and today it has 18,304 votes!

86% SAY NO, WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS WAR. 

Vote at:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/poll1/vote/

UP!

 

 

Rev Wendy Saunders, Vicar of St Saviour's, Eltham, south-east London - I'm very conscious of the history of the Thirties and the fact that not enough was done then to stop Hitler. But there the parallels end. The sort of things Saddam is doing do not correlate. He's not obviously building up to launch an attack against anyone. And there's so much confusion about what weapons of mass destruction he holds. It doesn't seem there is any clear immediate intent to use them. The massive number of British and US personnel being shipped out could be perceived by the Iraqi people as a clear act of intended aggression.

UP!

 

 

 

washington

THE MINISTRY OF TRUTH

HAS NO CLOTHES ON!

An Annotated Overview of George Bush’s State of the Union Address

HALF TRUTHS, QUARTER FIBS AND JUST PLAIN LIES!

[a Stephen Zunes re-mix]

 

"This threat is new; America's duty is familiar. Throughout the 20th century, small groups of men seized control of great nations, built armies and arsenals, and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate the world. In each case, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit. In each case, the ambitions of Hitlerism, militarism, and communism were defeated by the will of free peoples, by the strength of great alliances, and by the might of the United States of America…. Once again, we are called to defend the safety of our people, and the hopes of all mankind. And we accept this responsibility."

Equating Baathist Iraq with Nazi Germany, the most powerful industrialised nation in the world at that time, and Soviet Russia, which had the world’s largest armed forces and enough nuclear weapons to destroy humankind, is absurd. Iraq is a poor Third World country which, for 12 years, has been under the strictest military and economic embargo in world history after having much of its civilian and military infrastructure destroyed in the heaviest bombing in world history. Virtually all its remaining offensive military capability was subsequently dismantled under the strictest unilateral disarmament initiative in world history, an inspection and verification process that’s now been resumed under an even more rigorous mandate.

Back in the 1980s, when Iraq was a major regional power with advanced programs in weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. did not consider Iraq a threat at all.

"America is making a broad and determined effort to confront these dangers. We have called on the United Nations to fulfill its charter and stand by its demand that Iraq disarm."

There’s nothing in the UN Charter about the unilateral disarmament of a member state. By contrast, articles 41 and 42– reiterated in the final article of UN Security Council 1441 – make clear that the UN Security Council alone has the authority to authorise the use of force to enforce its resolutions.

And there are over 90 UN Security Council resolutions currently being violated by governments other than Iraq, most of them by such U.S. like Morocco, Israel and Turkey. The U.S. has blocked the United Nations from enforcing these resolutions.

"We're strongly supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency in its mission to track and control nuclear materials around the world."

The IAEA has received almost no support from the Bush Administration. For example, the U.S. has blocked the U.N. from enforcing resolution 487 which calls on Israel to place its nuclear facilities under the safeguard of the IAEA. Administration spokespeople have also repeatedly belittled the organization and its effectiveness.

" We're working with other governments to secure nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union, and to strengthen global treaties banning the production and shipment of missile technologies and weapons of mass destruction."

Actually the Bush Administration has blocked efforts to strengthen international treaties preventing the spread of biological and chemical weapons.  Further, it successfully removed the highly-effective director of an international program overseeing the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles. And it has cut funding for programs to remove nuclear materials from the former Soviet Union and rejected a proposed treaty by Russia that would have destroyed thousands of nuclear weapons.  Too, it has rejected calls for a nuclear-free zone for all the Middle East.

"We also see Iranian citizens risking intimidation and death as they speak out for liberty and human rights and democracy. Iranians, like all people, have a right to choose their own government and determine their own destiny -- and the United States supports their aspirations to live in freedom."

The CIA overthrew Iran’s last democraticaly elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, in 1953, replacing him with the tyrannical Shah’s 26-year reign of terror. The U.S. armed and trained SAVAK, his brutal secret police, which jailed, tortured and murdered tens of thousands of Iranian resisters before being finally replaced by the Islamic revolution - a direct consequence of U.S.-backed repression which destroyed much of Iran’s democratic opposition. And even these new repressive theocratic rulers were clandestinely given military support by the U.S. government during the 1980s.

"Throughout the 1990s, the United States relied on a negotiated framework to keep North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons. We now know that that regime was deceiving the world, and developing those weapons all along. And today it’s using its nuclear program to incite fear and seek concessions. America and the world will not be blackmailed."

North Korea seems to have kept its commitment through the 1990s until Bush described it as part of an "axis of evil" in last year’s State of the Union address. With the U.S. preparing to invade Iraq and increase its bellicose rhetoric against Iran and themselves, the North Koreans obviously needed a credible deterrent. They’ve offered to end their nuclear program if the U.S guarantees not to invade them.

"America is working with the countries of the region - South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia - to find a peaceful solution, and to show the North Korean government that nuclear weapons will bring only isolation, economic stagnation, and continued hardship. The North Korean regime will find respect in the world and revival for its people only when it turns away from its nuclear ambitions."

The U.S, has actually been taking a far more hard-line with the communist regime than its neighbours. So, given that the U.S. has good relations with other countries who’ve recently developed nuclear weapons like India, Pakistan and Israel, and has shown hostility to North Korea before its nuclear program, the North Koreans probably doubt that curbing their nuclear ambitions will make much of a difference. Like with Iraq right now.

"Our nation and the world must learn the lessons of the Korean Peninsula and not allow an even greater threat to rise up in Iraq. A brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression, with ties to terrorism, with great potential wealth, will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States."

In the 1980s was when Iraq threatened to dominate the region, as it invaded Iran and its internal repression and support of terrorism was at its height – precisely when the U.S. provided Saddam Hussein’s regime with military, economic and technological assistance. Now with only a fraction of its once formidable military prowess and little direct access to its own oil wealth, how could it realistically dominate the region again, much less threaten the United States.

"Almost three months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He has shown instead utter contempt for the United Nations, and for the opinion of the world. The 108 U.N. inspectors were not sent to conduct a scavenger hunt for hidden materials across a country the size of California. The job of the inspectors is to verify that Iraq's regime is disarming. It is up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its banned weapons, lay those weapons out for the world to see, and destroy them as directed."

While noting areas where there had been a high level of cooperation, Hans Blix and IAEA director Mohamed El-Baradei have expressed concerns that Iraq was not sufficiently forthcoming in other potentially key areas - far short of "utter contempt." Nor is their mission any kind of “scavenger hunt”, given the extensive records from 8 years of UN inspections – during the last 4 of which, it’s worth noting, UNSCOM inspectors found no further hidden materials, despite expanding the scope of their searches. Satellite surveillance and other intelligence gathering since have given this new round of inspections – with an even tougher mandate regarding the timing and extent of their searches – a good idea of where to look and for what. And with new equipment that can detect signs of WMD development at a great distance. Besides, after citing Iraq’s four-year refusal to allow UN weapons inspectors as grounds for an invasion, the Bush Administration is suddenly challenging their effectiveness?!. Nor has the U.S.yet produced any proof that Iraq currently has any banned weapons.

"The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax - enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it. The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin - enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure."

A man has enough sperm to impregnate several million women, but without sufficient delivery systems it’s meaningless.

"Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands. He's not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them."

This figure is far higher than most independent estimates. The former chief weapons inspector stated that at least 95% of Iraq’s chemical weapons had been accounted for and destroyed by 1998. With the embargo preventing the import of new materials, satellites eyeing possible sites for new production, and the return of UN inspectors, how could Iraq develop an offensive chemical weapons arsenal, particularly since virtually all of its ballistic missiles capable of carrying such weapons have also been accounted for and destroyed.

"The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb."

True. But in 1998 the International Atomic Energy Agency also reported that Iraq’s nuclear capability had been completely dismantled. In the IAEA director’s January 27 report to the UN Security Council, he reported no evidence to suggest Iraq had resumed its nuclear program.

"Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production."

Several independent investigations have revealed, these tubes also have commercial applications. The IAEA which investigated the matter reported that there is no evidence to suggest they were intended for a nuclear program.

"Year after year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, spent enormous sums, taken great risks to build and keep weapons of mass destruction. But why? The only possible explanation, the only possible use he could have for those weapons, is to dominate, intimidate, or attack"

The "only possible explanation"?! Far, far more likely for a country in a heavily-armed region within missile range of two nuclear powers is deterrence!  Even the CIA has reported little chance of Iraq using WMDs for offensive purposes in the foreseeable future. According to this analysis, Saddam Hussein would use whatever WMDs he may have against a U.S. invasion, when deterrence has clearly failed and he’s got nothing to lose.

"And this Congress and the America people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own."

State Department, CIA and other intelligence agencies report finding no credible proof of any links between the Islamist al Qaeda movement and the secular Iraqi government. Rather they’ve been at odds with each other for many years. Saddam’s support for terrorism peaked in the 1980s, when the U.S. dropped Iraq from its list of states sponsoring terrorism in order to make the regime eligible to receive U.S. military and technological assistance. Furthermore, most biological weapons – the only WMDs that Iraq realistically might possess – do leave fingerprints easily traceable to Iraq.

"Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans - this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes."

Osama bin Laden has called the Iraqi dictator "an apostate, an infidel, and a traitor to Islam."  Iraq has never threatened nor been implicated in any attack on U.S. territory, and the CIA has reported no Iraqi-sponsored attacks against American interests since 1991. Worst case scenarios do not give a country the right to invade another.  You might have bought a gun today with the intent of shooting me!

"The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages - leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured. Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are obtained - by torturing children while their parents are made to watch. International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape. If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning."

Iraqi armed forces used chemical weapons against Kurdish villages in the 1980s when the U.S. was backing Saddam Hussein’s government. The U.S.might have covered up for the Halabja massacres and similar atrocities by falsely claiming it was the Iranians – others have reported it was the Iranians!  Human rights organizations reported torture and other human rights abuses back in the 1980s when the U.S. was supporting Iraq. Coming from an administration which is currently sending military and police aid (not to mention prisoners!) to Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Colombia, Egypt and others guilty of similar human rights abuses, this professed concern for “Evil” is, to say the least, insincere,.

"We will consult. But let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for the safety of our people and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him".

To invade Iraq without UN authorisation would make the United States an international outlaw. The repercussions of such a unilateral act of aggression would threaten the safety of Americans and the peace of the world far more than maintaining the current UN strategy.

"Tonight I have a message for the men and women who will keep the peace, members of the American Armed Forces: Many of you are assembling in or near the Middle East, and some crucial hours may lay ahead. In those hours, the success of our cause will depend on you. Your training has prepared you. Your honor will guide you. You believe in America, and America believes in you."

Hopefully, America will believe in the thousands of armed personnel currently assembling in that region enough to not abandon them as they did the previous veterans now suffering the debilitating effects of Gulf War Syndrome. It’s darkly ironic to hear such high praise of the men and women readying for combat from a man who – despite supporting the Vietnam War – used family connections to get into a National Guard unit from which he was AWOL for much of his time of service. And it’s Ministry of Truth to describe an army poised to bomb and invade a sovereign nation as being there to "keep the peace."

"We seek peace. We strive for peace... If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause and by just means -- sparing, in every way we can, the innocent. And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military -- and we will prevail."

“War is forced on us” by an Iraq which has neither attacked nor threatened the U.S?!. Virtually all America’s allies oppose this war. Catholic bishops and every mainline Protestant denomination in the U.S. and religious leaders around the world (now add Mandela) have gone on record declaring a U.S. invasion an unjust war. America’s record of sparing the innocent has been rather poor, with 5000+ civilians killed in the first Gulf War, 500 civilians in Yugoslavia, and several thousand civilians in Afghanistan – and that’s not counting radiation sickness!. Most scenarios predict a far higher level of civilian casualties this time, particularly if American troops have to take Baghdad – a city of five million.

"And as we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food and medicines and supplies - and freedom".

America has spent a miserly amount on humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan compared to the billions of dollars spent to bomb it. Despite greater political pluralism in Afghanistan under the post-Taliban regime, most of the country is subjected to the abuse of war lords, opium magnates and ethnic militias.

"Americans are a resolute people who have risen to every test of our time. Adversity has revealed the character of our country, to the world and to ourselves. America is a strong nation, and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers."

The U.S. government has frequently used its military & economic power to suppress liberty, supporting the overthrow of democratically-elected governments in Guatemala, Chile etc while backing scores of dictatorial regimes throughout the world. It has also used powerful international financial institutions to force poor countries to weaken environmental and labor laws to enhance the profits of U.S-based multinational corporations.

"Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity."

What does God think of a government that supplies more weapons, training and logistical support to more dictatorships and other human rights abusers than any other? The foreign policy of the Bush Administration is nothing short of blasphemy.

www.commoncouragepress.com.

 

U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U UP P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P

·          YOUR PLANET NEEDS //YOU! this HipList grows by recommendation. RECOMMEND SOMEONE 2DAY!!!!!!!!!!

·          TO DEBATE ANYTHING in the UP!, visit the GroupMind Debating Board on www.parallel-youniversity.com

·          YES, YES, SEND US EDUTAINING NEWS’N VIEWS no need to ask! :-)

·          FOR MORE ON RAVE CULTURE & THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT VISIT http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/fraserclark/

·         TO BE REMOVED, contact removes@parallel-youniversity.com

U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U UP P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P

Permission is ENTHUSIASTICALLY granted to reproduce articles for personal and edutainment use only.  Commercial copying, hiring and lending is prohibited without permission.

 

 

G W Bush isn't President of the United States, he’s a Supreme Court Precedent - Hsing Lee    

 

Is it called the White House because of the paint job, or because of who always lives there? - Hsing Lee    

 

Is it just a coincidence that Karl Rove's name sounds so much like Call Rover?   Arf! Arf!  - Hsing Lee    

 

 

UP!

 

 

DINOSAUR PAINTED INTO A CORNER?

One morning last week I heard a New York Times correspondent being asked on the radio if he believed war could be averted with Saddam Hussein in power.  The substance of the journalist's position was that George Bush would not go into the next election with Saddam shouting abuse from Baghdad.  One can just visualise the Democrats' TV ads.  They flash up a picture of Osama bin Laden and the commentary says: "George Bush promised to bring him in dead or alive."  And then a picture of Saddam: "He promised to bring him in."  And then a picture of George W: "Where are they George?"

It’s a prospect to chill the heart of the toughest campaigner.  Mr Bush knows he will have little good news on the economic front to woo the electorate.  There is muttering aplenty in the heartland about how he is the rich son of a rich father who cares too much for rich folks.  If the President can't tell Americans that he's made their world (as distinct from "the world") a safer place, he has nothing at all to offer.

Fergal Keane

http://argument.independent.co.uk/regular_columnists/fergal_keane/story.jsp?story=374440

UP!

 

 

"Bombing missions were a turkey shoot. It's almost like you flipped on the light in the kitchen at night and the cockroaches start scurrying, and we're killing them."  US Pilot Colonel Richard White, quoted in The Independent, 6th February 1991

UP!