OTHER ITEMS
1. FIRST GREEN TABLOID LAUNCHED - Philip Booth
2. WHY IS THE 'SAFEST THERAPEUTIC AGENT KNOWN TO MANKIND' ILLEGAL? -
various
3. M16 USES 'INTELLIGENCE' OBTAINED BY UZBEK TORTURERS - various
4. EWANGARI MAATHAI RECEIVES THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
5. LOW PAY, WORK-LIFE IMBALANCE AND CREDIT INEQUITY IN TODAY'S BRITAIN
- various
6. NATIONAL CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES TO END POVERTY AND PREJUDICE AGAINST
YOUNG MUMS - YWCA
7. THAT ELECTION - various
8. THERE GOES THE ENVIRONMENT? - various
9. IRAQ AND THE 'WAR AGAINST TERROR'
10. RADIOACTIVE DISCHARGES MORE DANGEROUS THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT? -
various
11. NORTH-EAST ASSEMBLY: THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN- Network News
12. HUMANE MEDICAL CHARITIES - Vivien Pomfrey
AND FINALLY: USES FOR COCA COLA
ACTION OF THE MONTH - TELL DHL TO END ITS JOINT VENTURE WITH BURMA'S
DICTATORSHIP
EVENT OF THE MONTH: ROADS AND AIRPORTS ACTION GATHERING
.................................................
INACTION ON CORPORATE CRIME
GREEN EURO-MP Caroline Lucas says that businesses profits will benefit
as much as their reputations if Government introduced binding laws to
enforce Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). She said businesses will
benefit from tougher regulation. The profits of those that choose not
to violate human rights and despoil the environment are currently being
eaten up by those that do.
She said: "Voluntary codes of conduct for business do encourage the
best firms to improve their behaviour - but that's their downfall. The
firms with the worst record meeting their environmental and social
responsibilities benefit financially from their failure to improve, as
their better-behaved competitors' costs increase marginally as a result
of their better corporate behaviour. Only binding regulation in law can
create the level playing field necessary to give businesses themselves
the interest in improving standards."
FAR TOO SOFT ON CRIME
On October 5th in The Guardian, George Monbiot cited the death of
student Michael Mungovan, hit by a train while working for Balfour
Beatty without proper supervision. Currently the only way to obtain a
conviction for manslaughter in such cases is to prosecute company
directors, which is more difficult with larger companies. Consequently
only small firms are vulnerable to such prosecutions, and Balfour
Beatty were merely fined for exposing workers to risk.
Monbiot pointed out that company directors make all the key decisions
on safety at work but "have no legal duty" to ensure that their company
complies with health and safety laws.
Since 1997 the Labour government has repeatedly promised to take
specific action to enable directors to be convicted of manslaughter,
and to introduce a bill on corporate manslaughter, and has repeatedly
failed to deliver. Monbiot asserts that this is due to the government
being 'nobbled' by big business, citing a minute from a Health and
Safety Commission meeting which reveals that it "decided to drop its
demand for a new law 'after a note from the CBI (the Confederation of
British Industry) was circulated.'"
The Tories' record is no better: a 25% cut in health and safety
enforcement in 1996 was followed by a 20% increase in deaths at work -
the first increase in decades, relates Monbiot, adding that two-thirds
of company directors questioned in 2000 agreed that "an increase in the
possibility of inspection and prosecution, especially of individuals,
would provide the best prompt for employers to improve their approach."
Responding to the article, HSE Branch chair of the union Prospect,
Steven Kay, said, "The Health and Safety Executive is now facing cuts
of perhaps £50m over the next three years..." and warned that already
"there are fewer than 120 inspectors out there checking all the
building sites in the whole of Britain."
George Monbiot's article can be accessed at:
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2004/10/05/too-soft-on-crime/
STRAW TO SUPPORT DEATH AT WORK LAW?
The government's latest plan is "for a draft bill to be produced for
wider examination after the November 23 Queen's Speech", according to
The Guardian on 23rd October. Yet Jack Straw wrote to John Prescott on
October 11th: "There is a strong case for maintaining the current
position."
This can give no comfort to the families of the victims of the Hatfield
train crash. Prosecution of rail chiefs over the crash collapsed due
to 'insufficient evidence.' (The Guardian October 22nd).
Meanwhile "the Health and Safety Executive estimates that up to 40% of
workplace deaths have been as a result of serious management failures."
Tony Woodley, General Secretary, TGWU in The Guardian letters October
23rd)
High-handed action by civil servants is stifling the public's right to
hear of corporate misdemeanours. See:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1345326,00.html
Steven Kay's and other responses are at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,1321241,00.html
The 22nd October Guardian article is at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,2763,1333202,00.html
The 23rd October Guardian article is at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1334186,00.html
Tony Woodley's and other comments are at:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/comment/
0,11026,1334409,00.html
..........................................
1. FIRST GREEN TABLOID LAUNCHED
The UK's first independent 'green' tabloid has finally hit the streets.
Conceived by three activists with publishing backgrounds, The Apple was
born out of a collective frustration at the absence of a newspaper
providing up-to-date, balanced information on environmental and social
justice issues. It has a lively tabloid format and a strong emphasis on
people and personalities.
"We want to inform and entertain our readers by giving them reliable
information on people who are actively pursuing a more caring,
humanitarian, green agenda," says the paper's editor, Anna Bragga. "We
are interested in not just the Green Party, but anyone - from A-list
celebrities to the ordinary man or woman in the street - who is doing
extraordinary work to protect and preserve the environment and promote
positive social change," she adds.
The Apple is currently a quarterly publication, with the second edition
due to be published in January 2005, but may soon be a weekly
newspaper. The Apple is on sale in selected health food shops and
newsagents. For details of your nearest stockist call 01823 667569.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: One year: £15, Overseas £17, Concessions £12.50 -
cheques to The Apple, 35 Fore Street, Wellington, Somerset TA21 8AG -
help is wanted to find local sales outlets - call The Apple on 01823
667569 or for Gloucestershire Philip Booth on 01453 755451.
................................................................
2. WHY IS THE 'SAFEST THERAPEUTIC AGENT KNOWN TO MANKIND' ILLEGAL?
(i) HOW TO PREVENT CANNABIS-INDUCED PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS - IN
POLITICIANS - Franjo Grotenhermen, The Lancet, May 14th 2004
"Cannabis can cause anxiety, agitation, and anger among politicians.
The consequences of this cannabis-induced psychological distress
syndrome (CIPDS) include over-reaction with respect to legislation and
politics... "
See: http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDoc1&ID=6372
(ii) PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL SEQUELAE OF CANNABIS - Macleod et al.
This study reported in the same issue "found no strong evidence that
use of cannabis in itself has important consequences for psychological
or social health."
See:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/
query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15145631&dopt=Abstract
(iii) REBUTTAL TO DEA'S "EXPOSING THE MYTH OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA" -
Patients out of Time
The American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Public Health
Association are opposed to cannabis being illegal, and the Chief
Administrative Law Judge for the US Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA), Francis L. Young, concluded that cannabis was "the safest
therapeutic agent known to mankind". Yet the DEA continues to block
efforts to study whole cannabis.
See: http://www.medicalcannabis.com/rebuttal.htm
(iv) THE LIMITED RELEVANCE OF DRUG POLICY: CANNABIS IN AMSTERDAM AND
IN SANFRANCISCO - Reinarman et al.
Also in May 2004, this research reported in the American Journal of
Public Health "found no evidence to support claims that criminalization
reduces use or that decriminalization increases use."
See: http://www.chanvre-info.ch/info/en/article1275.html
(v) BIG PHARMA VS. RIGHT TO SELF-MEDICATE - Vivien Pomfrey/Green Party
There are many studies showing human health benefits from cannabis -
for example for multiple sclerosis, migraine, glaucoma, night vision
problems, pain, sleep problems, urinary problems, amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, depression, convulsions, spasticity, nausea and anorexia.
But while pharmaceutical giants eagerly transform cannabis to a
collection of patentable chemicals, we are denied the right to medicate
ourselves. The Green Party supports the legalisation of cannabis, and
their spokesperson on drugs Shane Collins can be contacted on 0208 671
5936 or 07952 929 710.
.......................................................
3. M16 USES 'INTELLIGENCE' OBTAINED BY UZBEK TORTURERS
(i) EX-UK ENVOY ROUNDS ON HIS CRITICS - BBC News, 15th October
Former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray claims that he lost his
post because he criticised the use of intelligence allegedly obtained
under torture in Uzbekistan, then passed to MI6 by the CIA. So while
condemning torture, the US and UK appear happy to contract it out.
(ii) BASIC INFORMATION...REPUBLIC OF UKBEKISTAN - Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO)
The UN Special Rapporteur for Torture declared that torture was
'systematic' and the Uzbek Government "has used the limited appeal of
Islamic extremism as a pretext for repression."
(iii) REPORT 2004: UKBEKISTAN - Amnesty International
In 2003 at least 6,000 political prisoners were held in "cruel, inhuman
and degrading conditions." Uzbekistan still uses the death penalty and
'disappearances' are also reported.
This article describes the horrific torturing to death of Muzafar
Avazov, followed by the jailing of his 62-year-old mother when she
spoke out. Unlike the extraordinarily-brave Mr Avazov, most will
eventually say anything to save themselves, so 'intelligence' thus
gathered cannot be relied upon. However, "Uzbekistan strongly condemned
the attack of 11 September on the World Trade Center and was the first
Central Asian country to allow US forces to use an airfield on its
territory as a forward base for operations in Afghanistan." (FCO
website)
So - Uzbekistan is 'one of ours'...
(v) UKBEKISTAN FACILITIES - GlobalSecurity.org
"The United States... values Uzbekistan as a stable, moderate force in
a turbulent region; a market for U.S. exports; a producer of important
resources -gold, uranium, natural gas; and a regional hub for
pipelines, transportation, communications, and other infrastructure in
which U.S. firms seek a leading role."
More at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3745280.stm
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/
ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=1019745010121
http://web.amnesty.org/report2004/uzb-summary-eng
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=5407
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/uzbekistan.htm
...............................................
4. EWANGARI MAATHAI RECEIVES THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
October 29, 2004
Wangari Maathai receives the Nobel Peace Prize 2004 - Her work
perfectly illustrates the profound links between human rights and
environmental campaigns. As founder of the Green Belt Movement, she has
mobilized poor women in a popular campaign of planting trees to stave
off the environmental degradation of land erosion and desertification.
She started with seven trees in a small park in Nairobi, and, after
thirty years, her movement enlisted 30,000 women and planted 30 million
trees throughout Kenya. The Green Belt Movement has not only reclaimed
forestlands in Kenya, it has empowered thousands of women and given
them the confidence to help shape the future of their country and their
own lives.
5. LOW PAY, WORK-LIFE IMBALANCE AND CREDIT INEQUITY IN TODAY'S BRITAIN
(i) OUR SUBSIDY TO LOW PAY - Polly Toynbee, The Guardian, October 29th,
plus Guardian Letters
Toynbee praises Labour's progress in reducing inequality, but points
out that even after the 50p hourly minimum wage increase proposed by
the TUC - which the CBI dismiss as 'rash and unrealistic' - it would
still be £1 below "the lowest estimate for a survivable living wage."
Re tax credits, Toynbee laments: "The state is financing a low-pay
culture."
Dr Richard Towers (Guardian Letters November 2nd 2004) recommends that
companies benefiting from tax-credit subsidy should be subject to tax
recovery, and Richard Knights points out: "A Tesco worker (single
parent or with non-working partner and two children) earning £6.06 an
hour for a 35-hour week would be able to claim about £50 a week in
state benefits. No wonder Tesco's profits are so high."
(ii) LONG HOURS CAUSE ILL-HEALTH AND POVERTY - Jean Lambert
'Flexible working' is being used by UK employers to force employees to
give up pension rights and work the longest hours in Europe, warns a
new report by Jean Lambert, Green Party MEP for London and a Member of
the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee. She
contrasts this with the EU model of "quality of life choices, home
working and improved work-life balance" and calls on the UK to end its
opt-out of the Working Time Directive, to recognise the needs of
informal carers, and to introduce a 'citizens' income' to provide a
living wage for all - including pensioners.
Lambert article and downloadable report at:
http://www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk/downloads/pressrel_articles/
0409flexibleworking.htm
Info on Citizens' (aka Basic) Income at:
http://www.etes.ucl.ac.be/BIEN/BI/Definition.htm
(iii) CREDIT FOR THE POOR: COMBATING PREDATORY AND EXCLUSIONARY
PRACTICES - Bob Holman; National Association of Credit Union Workers
The poor are further disadvantaged by lack of access to fair credit,
with banks reluctant to open accounts for those without a regular wage
above a certain level. Also on Guardian Letters November 2nd 2004, Bob
Holman argues that "The real answer is for government to more fully
back credit unions and to persuade banks to accept the poor as
customers."
The website of the National Association of Credit Union Workers offers
advice on running a credit union and provides a database of credit
unions in the UK.
Info on running a credit union at:
http://nacuw.org.uk/index.php?SCREEN=view&pathway=17
Database of credit unions at:
http://nacuw.org.uk/index.php?SCREEN=view_cu&sid=Lo90in0fFZrpXNvH
(iv) EQUALITY? THAT'S A BIT RICH - Heather Stewart, November 7, 2004
How some Brits are more equal than others - About 40% of the total
increase in income between 1979 and 2003 went into the pockets of the
top 10% of Britain's earners. Between them they now take home more than
the whole of the poorest half of society. The poorest 10% pay more than
half their income in tax, while the richest 10% pay just over a third.
The policies of the 1980s and 1990s have reduced social mobility and
inequality looks set to get worse.
See: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1345247,00.html
..........................................................
6. NATIONAL CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES TO END POVERTY AND PREJUDICE AGAINST
YOUNG MUMS - YWCA
On 8 September leading young women's charity YWCA England & Wales
launched a campaign to challenge attitudes to pregnant teenagers and
young mums. It is asking people to sign up to its charter calling for
respect, support services, an adequate income, equality, access to
affordable childcare and greater trust.
The charter can be signed at: http://www.ywca.org.uk
............................................................
7. THAT ELECTION
(i) DID KERRY WIN?
Analysis by SoCalDem on several swing states showed that every state
with Electronic Voting but no paper trails had an unexplained advantage
for Bush of around +5% when comparing exit polls to actual results. In
EVERY STATE that has paper audit trails on their E-Voting, the exit
poll results match the actual results reported within the margin of
error. E-Voting may be to blame in the discrepancies.
Harper's journalist Greg Palast argues that if Ohio's discarded ballots
had been counted, Kerry would have won the state. This key state is
one of the last to still use the vote-spoiling punch-card machines
which caused the 2000 fiasco.
Palast offers evidence that most spoiled votes come from
African-American and minority precincts - natural Democrat territory.
He also cites the process of 'challenging' voters which allows
(Republican) party workers to challenge 'voters of color', resulting in
them being denied a vote or given a 'provisional' ballot which may not
be counted.
Palast article and related reports can be accessed from:
http://stolenelection2004.com/
Also see:http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/todays_show.html
(ii) THE SHAPE OF A SECOND TERM - Goldenberg et al., The Guardian, 4th
November 2004
Iraq getting more bloody, the worrying wider foreign policy, no good
news on Kyoto, poverty in US set to increase further, more cuts to
social programmes, tackling the huge budget deficits, the disturbing
supreme court nominations that will set a Conservative agenda for
years, continuing the diabolical record on environmental protection and
more.
(iii) BACK IN THE REAL WORLD - Edward Helmore, The Observer, 7th
November 2004
George Bush faces economic meltdown. The dollar's in freefall, oil
prices are up, and there are fears foreign investors will stop funding
the trade deficit. Maybe beating Kerry was the easy part.
(i) CLIMATE CHANGE - NO PROBLEM! - BBC Today; Observer; Competitive
Enterprise Institute
Listeners to Radio 4's Today programme on 4th November were astonished
to hear Myron Ebell, a climate advisor to George W. Bush, claim that
the U.S.A. was the only country with independent scientists, that the
world was not going through an unprecedented period of warming and that
concerns over climate change were alarmist and designed to damage the
U.S. economy.
Ebell is Director of Global Warming and International Environmental
Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), described by the
Observer on 21st October 2003 as "an ultra-conservative lobby group
that has received more than $1 million in donations from the oil giant
Exxon...".
(ii) BECKETT UPBEAT ON CLIMATE CHANGE - BBC News online, 4th November
On a more optimistic note, UK environment secretary Margaret Beckett
argued that bringing the Kyoto protocol into force could "totally shift
the ground".
"American companies operating around the world would be affected by the
decisions of other governments," she said.
(iii) EU BACKTRACK ON FLUORINATED GREENHOUSE GASES SPELLS 'CLIMATE
DISASTER' - Green Party
Despite Green opposition, an alliance of Lib-Dem and Conservative MEPs
has bowed to chemical industry lobbying during the first reading of
proposals to prohibit member states from adopting their own measures to
phase out the use of fluorinated greenhouse gases, which can be up to
24,000 times more environmentally damaging than CO2 and are largely
replaceable.
(iv) "EQUITY IS THE PRICE OF SURVIVAL" - Green Party
At the Green Party autumn conference at Weston Super Mare Aubrey Meyer,
Global Commons Institute director, warned: "The people who are making
the money are making the mess." Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth
agreed, saying that "the traditional growth-based economic model is
failing both people and planet" and emphasised the need to "develop our
society based on the twin principles of social justice and ecological
sustainability."
Observer article at:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/
0,6903,1046363,00.html
BBC News article at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3981613.stm
CFC article at:
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/index.php?nav=news&n=1620
Green Party Conference item at:
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/index.php?nav=news&n=1640
...........................................................
9. IRAQ AND THE 'WAR AGAINST TERROR'
Green MEP Caroline Lucas said: "Tony Blair has made the gravest error
possible and he must now take responsibility and resign, immediately
and unconditionally. If he won't do this he must be impeached, or the
consequences will be a precedent for pre-emptive war, even against
countries that pose no credible external threat, and the end of the
international rule of law. Future prime ministers will be able to
mislead parliament and the public with impunity - and this is simply
too high a price to pay." A team of MPs and high profile lawyers are
drawing up the Motion of Impeachment which should go before the Commons
in January. Please write to your MP saying; "Impeach Blair" signed with
your name and address.
More at:
www.ImpeachBlair.org
www.danplesch.net
www.greenparty.org.uk/conference
A selection of articles:
About 100,000 Iraqi civilians - half of them women and children - have
died in Iraq since the invasion, mostly as a result of airstrikes by
coalition forces, according to the first reliable study of the death
toll from Iraqi and US public health experts. Read report at:
http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol364/iss9445/full/
llan.364.9445.early_online_publication.31137.1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1338749,00.html
The making of the terror myth - Since September 11 Britain has been
warned of the 'inevitability' of catastrophic terrorist attack. But has
the danger been exaggerated? A major new TV documentary claims that the
perceived threat is a politically driven fantasy - and al-Qaida a dark
illusion. The Guardian reports:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1327786,00.html
Will Israel attack Iran? Washington is sending mixed signals over
Iran’s planned development of nuclear weapons. Will Israel pre–empt its
decision by launching an attack? Paul Rogers at:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/themes/article-2-2156.jsp
Seeking different ways to peace. Includes the powerful meeting twenty
years after the Brighton bomb of the IRA man responsible and the
daughter of one of the victims. Visit the Media Lens website:
http://www.medialens.org
America’s occupation of Iraq is making real an imagined link to Al
Quaida, says Paul Rogers:
http://www.opendemocracy.org/themes/article-2-2193.jsp
Iraqi child deaths - Media Indifferent as UNICEF Reports Worsening
Catastrophe:
http://www.medialens.org
Green Party vindicated by Iraq Survey Group report. See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3718150.stm
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/index.php?nav=news&n=1579
Pilger - the most important terrorism is "ours":
http://pilger.carlton.com/print/133363
www.newstatesman.co.uk
Adventure Capitalism - The Hidden 2001 Plan to Carve-up Iraq - Greg
Palast uncovers new documents that say more about the Bush
administration’s grand designs on Iraq including the role of corporate
lobbyists. See: TomPaine.com and watch DVD interview:
http://www.gregpalast.com/bff-dvd.htm
Why is war-torn Iraq giving $190,000 to Toys R Us? Read Naomi Klein at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1328888,00.html
US foreign policy is damaging the economy:
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update44.htm
The US are outlawing seed saving in occupied Iraq, effectively handing
over the seed market to multinationals. Iraq is a breadbasket of the
Middle East and the genetic origin of wheat. Is the US putting
legislation in place in Iraq in preparation for commercialising GM
wheat there in order for it to gain a foothold in Asia? See:
http://www.gmwatch.org
US ready to put weapons in space - Defence expert says America is
likely to ignore treaty ban See:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1345380,00.html
Fallujah fallout: The United States’s overwhelming force will allow it
to declare victory after its assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. But
at what long-term cost? The act of subordinating Fallujah will do
virtually nothing to curb the insurgency but is more likely to enhance
it. More generally, in much of the Arab and Islamic world it will be
seen as yet another example of foreign control, further increasing
bitterness and frustration towards the United States. Read Paul Rogers:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/themes/article-2-2219.jsp
............................................................
10. RADIOACTIVE DISCHARGES MORE DANGEROUS THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT?
(i) DANGER OF NUCLEAR PLANT DISHARGES UNDERRATED - Ian Sample and Owen
Bowcott, The Guardian, October 21 2004
Sample and Bowcott cite the recent findings by the Committee Examining
Radiation Risks of Internal Emitters (CERRIE) that the health risk from
radioactive particles taken into the body may be 10 times greater (or
smaller) than previously thought. Former Environment Secretary Michael
Meacher, who set up the committee in 2001, cited flaws in the
risk-assessment model used by CERRIE, and favours the minority report
by two CERRIE members.
(ii) RADIATION RISKS 'NEED UPDATING' - BBC News Online, 20th October
2004
The Cerrie initiative was driven by the concern over the presence in
the environment of increasing quantities of human-produced materials,
such as the plutonium from atomic tests and fuel reprocessing. Two
CERRIE members - Richard Bramhall, from the UK Low Level Radiation
Campaign, and Dr Chris Busby, from Green Audit - "refused to back the
committee's findings and issued their own minority assessment. They
believe the health effects of man-made radioactivity in the environment
have been underestimated by a factor of at least 100 and possibly up to
1,000 times."
Cerrie member Pete Roche, anti-nuclear campaigner and former Greenpeace
representative pointed out that emissions increase as reactors age - an
important factor to address when considering extending the lives of
some AGRs (Advanced gas-cooled reactors). More from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3758824.stm
.............................................................
11. NORTH-EAST ASSEMBLY: THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN - Network News, 5th
November 2004
Network News reports that "78% of voters gave a firm thumbs down" to a
North-East regional assembly for the UK. They suggest that this was
largely due to the proposed assembly having "fewer powers than even the
Greater London Assembly", to consequent compromising of local
government autonomy and to "a barely proportional electoral system that
would almost guarantee one-party rule."
The article ends: "Hopefully, the lesson that half-hearted measures
are only likely to inspire cynicism has now been learnt. We urgently
need a real debate about where power should lie and how to best deal
with the extremely centralised state we're in."
Full story at:
http://www.new-politics.net/publications/network-news/5-november-2004
............................................................
12. HUMANE MEDICAL CHARITIES - Vivien Pomfrey
If you want to support a humane research charity, click on the link
below for lists of which charities do and don't fund animal research:
http://www.buav.org/charities/index.html
The Dr Hadwen Trust's catalogue is full of vegan and recycled products
- great for Solstice/Christmas/festive season presents and
get-togethers. Pass it on, and maybe write to your local paper to urge
readers not to support the pro-vivisection charities, e.g. by using
their Christmas catalogues.
One caveat: in vitro research almost always uses non-human animal
blood, which is obtained by puncturing the hearts of unanaesthetised
animals. The most humane and effective research is carried out on whole
humans: epidemiological and clinical research, including medical
imaging techniques such as MRI and PET.
........................................................
AND FINALLY: USES FOR COCA COLA
Farmers in India have found a novel use for Coca Cola - killing bugs.
Cotton and chilli farmers are spraying their plants with the sugary
drink to kill the bugs. Other locally produced soft drinks all have the
same effect. One theory is that the sugar in the drinks attracts red
ants which feed on insect larvae. News reports coke also loosens rivets
and has many other uses. How long can it be before some idiot suggests
drinking the stuff?
Many other farmers want to kick Coca Cola out of India. Coke have been
depleting water reserves - effectively stealing water from local
communities. A massive march of 250km is planned.
ACTION OF THE MONTH - TELL DHL TO END ITS JOINT VENTURE WITH BURMA'S
DICTATORSHIP
International parcel delivery company DHL, which has operations in the
UK, are in business partnership with Myanmar/Burma's brutal military
dictatorship. DHL's Burma subsidiary is co-owned by Myanmar Posts and
Telecoms, which has cut Aung San Suu Kyi's phone line and intercepts
mail to democracy activists. Set up in 1997, the joint venture is
believed to have earned the regime millions of dollars. In 1998 the
regime expelled all other parcel companies from Burma in order to
maximise revenues from its joint venture with DHL.
DHL are a subsidiary of German postal giant Deutsche Post. As Deutsche
Post have the final say over decisions about DHL, we are asking you to
email the Chairman, Dr Klaus Zumwinkel, and the Director of
Communications Prof. Manfred Harnischfeger.
To join the Burma email campaign network and receive the latest updates
and campaign news from the Burma Campaign UK, send a blank e-mail to
burmacampaign-subscribe@topica.com
......................................................
EVENT OF THE MONTH
ROADS AND AIRPORTS ACTION GATHERING
19th - 21st November 2004; Sumac Centre, 245 Gladstone Street,
Nottingham, NG7
Labour are backsliding on the victories of the 1990s roads protests,
and 200 road schemes dropped in the 1990s are back on the agenda.
Meanwhile the Government is also proposing large-scale airport
expansion. And all in the same breath as talking about tackling climate
change. We need to ORGANISE NOW!
Come to discuss ideas for action and strategy. Booking essential. Crash
space will be available.
Sign the pledge against airport expansion: www.airportpledge.org.uk
.................................................................
The GNN editorial team includes: Philip Booth, Stroud, Gloucestershire,
Lesley Davies, Cirencester, Gloucestershire and Vivien Pomfrey,
Launceston, Cornwall. Although each edition will not necessarily
include input from each editor. To contribute to this news service (or
to subscribe or unsubscribe) - contact Philip Booth, Editor on 01453
755451 E-mail: <philip.booth2@virgin.net>.
Printed by, promoted by and on behalf of the Gloucestershire Green Party
Lark Rise, 2 The Laurels, Bread Street, Ruscombe, Stroud, Glos. GL6 6EL
Telephone 01453 755451
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