[alternet-l] THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE 24

Fri Jul 15 17:17:24 BST 2005

THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE 124
15th July 2005

This issue:

THE SOUND OF SILENCE/
AFTERMATH/
NO CHANGE THERE, THEN/
TERRORISTS? THE CLUE'S IN THE NAME./
GUN CRIME/
NUCLEAR LOSES ITS GRIP/
BAG IT UP/
ROYALTY KILLED THE RADIO STAR/
FANTASTIC PLASTIC/
SIGN ON-LINE PETITION/

QUOTE/UNQUOTE/
JOBS/
DIARY/

FACT OF THE FORTNIGHT:

Small engines have a big impact - when a standard gas-powered lawn mower is 
operated for just one hour, pollution levels equivalent to 50 cars driving 20 
miles each are emitted.
(Ed. Why not mow your lawn less frequently this summer . you may even enjoy the 
wildflowers, 'weeds' and wildlife that longer grass attracts.)

HOT SITES:

The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) is pleased to announce 
the relaunch of its website - www.ieep.org.uk.
The site has a whole new look, is easier to navigate around, and has many 
exciting new features.

'Energy Beyond Oil', by GreenNet user Paul Mobbs, published by Matador.
In order that you can share the argument, this book explores the issues in 
detail. The data. The trends. The projections. The possible outcomes. Hopefully 
at the end of this process you will be able to understand what it is we are 
facing, and perhaps find your own resolution to the potential difficulties we 
will all face over the next ten to twenty years.  Buy this book at; 
http://www.troubador.co.uk/book.info,asp?bookid=219

Paul's Free Range Activism website is http://www.fraw.org.uk/.

The Development Gateway Award recognises the most exemplary contributions in 
the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) for development 
during the last 10 years. Through this award, we are seeking to help advance 
the understanding of ICT's role in development and recognise leaders in the 
field. The site features this year.s finalists, whose efforts range from using 
radio and satellite for tsunami recovery to rural banking.
http://www.developmentgateway.org/award

THE SOUND OF SILENCE

At 13:45pm on Thursday 7 July, a 'climate alarm. at the gates of Gleneagles to 
remind G8 leaders of the urgency of tackling
climate was silenced out of respect for the victims of the explosions in London 
and their families.
Instead of sounding foghorns, bells and whistles to highlight Friends of the 
Earth International's demands for climate justice, a delegation, including MSPs 
and campaigners, stood in silence for a minute at the gates of the hotel where 
the G8 summit was taking place.

The alarm in Gleneagles was to be reinforced by solidarity alarms across 
Scotland and in countries across the world (listed at
www.climatealarm.org). Alarms were sounded in several G8 capital cities, from 
Tokyo to Berlin.  Many other alarms were also silenced,
including a planned ringing of the bells of St Paul's Cathedral and an alarm in 
Edinburgh's Parliament Square.

The time of 13:45 was symbolic of climate injustice because the G8 nations 
represent just 13% of the world's people, but account for 45% of the world's 
emissions of climate-changing pollutants.

AFTERMATH

As Londoners gradually return to work and numbers using the tubes increase, 
Iraq's parliament speaker condemns the deadly blasts in London, saying his 
people too .are suffering from such brutal acts..
'I take this opportunity to express to you the rejection and condemnation of 
members of the Iraqi National Assembly and the people of my country to these 
evil acts,' Hajim al-Hassani said in a letter to British Prime Minister Tony 
Blair.

The Muslim community is now bracing itself for the fallout of the terrorist 
action last week; increased government controls, pushing through of legislation 
that will further curtail civil
liberties (already the historic right to demonstrate outside Parliament has 
been lost and legislation introduced that can be used to curtail any form of 
political protest and opposition). It is thought that resistance to the 
introduction of ID cards will now be weakened.

http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-260886

NO CHANGE THERE, THEN

George Bush's continuing negligent attitude to climate change following the G8 
summit demonstrates an unacceptable level of intransigence on the issue, say 
Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) and Architects and Engineers for 
Social Responsibility (AESR). President Bush's comments - which included 
rejection of any agreement that would set national targets for greenhouse gas 
emissions and a preference for long-term technologies such as hydrogen fuel 
cells over near-term action - should be met with a tough response, say the two 
groups.
Dr Stuart Parkinson, Director of SGR, said "The continued hostility of the US 
Administration to taking strong action on climate change is simply unacceptable 
given the strength of scientific evidence of the dangers. While long-term 
innovation is important, it should not be prioritised over near term 
technologies like renewable energy - neither should critical political and 
economic action to encourage changes in consumer behaviour be neglected."

Friends of the Earth describes the outcome of the G8 summit as .a very 
disappointing finale. The G8 have delivered nothing new
here and the text conveys no sense of the scale or urgency of the
challenge. Bush appears to have effectively stalled all progress. The
action plan, without any targets or timetables, will deliver very little to 
reduce emissions, or to roll out renewables to the scale required..

http://www.sgr.org.uk/

TERRORISTS? THE CLUE'S IN THE NAME.

The environmentalist group Greenpeace has gone on trial in a Copenhagen court 
as the first organisation charged under new Danish anti-terror laws introduced 
after the attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. Greenpeace 
was charged under the new legislation last month following a protest by a group 
of activists in October 2003 at the Copenhagen headquarters of the Danish 
Agriculture association against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) used in 
the Scandinavian country's booming pork industry.
The individual protestors, who entered the Danish Agriculture building and 
reportedly hung a banner reading "No to GMO swine" from a window, have been 
accused of .violating domestic peace.. The new terror legislation allows the 
courts to hold organisations responsible for the actions of their individual 
members, which according to prosecutors clears the way for the charges brought 
against Greenpeace. The group has meanwhile claimed that the charges constitute 
a violation of the new laws, which it insists are meant to lay responsibility 
for terrorist acts on the organisations that support them, and not punish 
"peaceful" groups for activist protests.
politics.abovetopsecret.com/thread146200/pg1

GUN CRIME

A new study shows that criminal gun violence poses the greatest security threat 
to humanitarian and development workers. Armed 'civilians' pose a greater risk 
than insurgents or other combatants, according to the findings of the largest 
global survey ever of its kind. .No Relief: Surveying the Effects of Gun 
Violence on Humanitarian and Development Personnel., drew on a sample of more 
than 2,000 relief and development workers from more than 17 international 
agencies in 96 countries and territories.
The study indicates that armed civilians - including criminals and
petty thieves - routinely cause security incidents and operation
suspensions, preventing access to people in need of aid. These
findings have serious implications for how aid agencies should
prioritise and respond to security threats.

For more information contact: Cate Buchanan, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, 
+41 22 908 1130, +41 > 79 376 0042, cateb at hdcentre.org

NUCLEAR LOSES ITS GRIP

An American research institute has recently rocked the world of .nuclear 
revival. by documenting that worldwide, the decentralized, low- or no-carbon 
sources of electricity.cogeneration and renewables, (all claimed by nuclear 
advocates to be too small and too slow to help much with climate change) are 
already bigger than nuclear power and are quickly leaving it in the dust.
"Nuclear advocates are desperately trying to create an illusion that their 
failed option is being revived," said Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) CEO and 
cofounder Amory Lovins, the lead author of the analysis, .so all its remaining 
costs and risks, which private investors have rejected, can be loaded onto 
taxpayers. This bailout, now being debated in Washington, is claimed to be 
vital because nuclear power is the only power source big and fast enough to 
combat climate change. But industry and official data reveal that claim to be 
false. While nuclear power dies of an incurable attack of market forces, its 
derided smaller-scale competitors are already a bigger global power source and 
are growing very rapidly, while nuclear power continues to fade away..
The analysis appears as the cover story in RMI.s summer 2005 newsletter, 
available online at; http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid1154.php

BAG IT UP

Scotland has followed the shining example Ireland has set by introducing a 
plastic bag levy with the aim of tackling plastic waste. Commenting on the 
launch of the levy at the end of June by Mike Pringle MSP, Friends of the Earth 
Scotland's Head of Research Dr Dan Barlow said:

"Scotland is struggling to deal with rising waste volumes and this Bill could 
help change our wasteful attitude to resource use. The plastic bag levy in 
Ireland has been a great environmental success and gained widespread public 
acceptance. Scotland's environment stands to benefit from a similar proposal.

"Avoiding paying the levy while helping Scotland's environment at the same time 
could not be easier. You simply have to re-use that stash of plastic bags that 
everyone of us seems to have or purchase a sturdy cotton or canvas one that can 
be used again and again."

The full Bill is online;

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/index.htm

ROYALTY KILLED THE RADIO STAR

Banned from broadcasting news since February's royal coup, Nepali radio 
reporters have found a new way to get their bulletins out: loudspeaker.
Every evening, 300 people gather on a roadside in Biratnagar,
300 miles east of Katmandu to listen to Keshav Bhattarai read out the news from 
an open-air studio on the roof of a narrow, three-story building. As well as 
spreading the news, the service stands for a free media, Bhattarai tells his 
audience, a motley collection of politicians, teachers, students, traders and 
anyone who just happens to be passing.

Nepal's dozens of independent FM stations - wildly popular as the
only alternative on the air to state radio's staid and vetted
bulletins - were banned from broadcasting news when King Gyanendra
fired the government and imposed strict censorship on February 1 2005.
"We will continue this until full press freedom is restored. We'll not give up. 
said Shiva Bahadur Karki of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists which 
organises the street side broadcasts.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/06/21/nepal.radio.reut

FANTASTIC PLASTIC

Agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. has set out to lead a new industrial revolution 
. one fed by the green fields of the Midwest rather than the oil fields of the 
Middle East. Spread across a square mile of prairie, a series of automated 
assembly lines turns raw corn kernels first into sugary syrup and then into 
white pellets that can be spun into silky fabric or moulded into clear, tough 
plastic.
The end products . which include T-shirts, forks and coffins . look, feel and 
perform like traditional polyester and plastic made from a petroleum base. But 
the manufacturing process consumes 50% less fossil fuel, even after accounting 
for the fuel needed to plant and harvest the corn.
With oil prices near $60 a barrel in the US, goods made from grain also compare 
favourably on price. So chemists and engineers are racing to figure out how to 
substitute Iowa's bounty for Iraq's. The goal: to use crops, weeds and even 
animal waste in place of the petroleum that fuels much of American 
manufacturing.
The Energy Department is so enthusiastic that it is aiming to convert 25% of 
chemical manufacturing to an agricultural base by 2030. Cargill is the first to 
commercialise the technology, producing 300,000 pounds of pellets a day, but 
its rivals are not far behind.
DuPont Co., which invented polyester and nylon, also has its own corn-based 
fabric in the works.
http://surrealist.org/prayforpeace/plant_based.html

SIGN ONLINE PETITION

Sign for the rights of conscientious objectors to military taxation, at 
http://www.petitiononline.com/PT7UK/petition.html.
The PEACE TAX SEVEN have an appeal hearing in the high court on Monday 25th 
July. They will be pressing for permission for a full hearing of their case.
Their chances of success are greatly enhanced if they can show that there is a 
groundswell of public support for the campaign.
In order to show your support, you can sign the petition and attend the hearing 
in July, joining a march in procession from Friends House on Euston Road, 
arriving at the High Court for about 10.30am.
The petition text is as follows;
To:  UK Government
We the undersigned:
1. Object to being compelled to pay the proportion of taxes destined for 
military purposes
2. Uphold conscientious objector's right to pay taxes in full without
contributing to war preparations
3. Believe that this is fair, just and practically possible
4. Call on the UK government to make provision accordingly
www.peacetaxseven.com

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

"You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to 
frighten you."
- Eric Hoffer

JOBS

AT GREENNET

Part-time (2-3 days/week) User Support Position
Salary: £24,000 per annum pro rata
Based in Central London/Old Street
Closing Date 05.08.2005
http://www.gn.apc.org/jobs.shtml

NON-GREENNET

Technical and Management Adviser
Organisation Health Unlimited
Salary £12,000 - £16,000
Based in Kampot. Phnom Penh and Stoeng Treng, Cambodia
Closing date 22.07.2005

Hospital Management Adviser
Organisation Health Unlimited
Salary negotiable
Based in Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia
Closing date 22.07.2005

Campaigner (UK, Italy, & other EU) ECA/05/18
Organisation Amnesty International - International Secretariat
Salary £24 029
Based in London, United Kingdom
Closing date 17.07.2005

Security Manager
Organisation CAFOD
Salary Between £25,000 - £27,000 per annum
Based in Nyala, Darfur, Sudan
Closing date 15.07.2005

Head of Corporate Partnerships
Organisation Voluntary Service Overseas
Salary
Based in Putney, London, United Kingdom
Closing date 22.07.2005

Asia Tsunami Response Jobs
Organisation World Vision UK
Salary . not specified
Based in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Indonesia as listed on WV website,
Asia and the Pacific
Posted date 04.07.2005

Volunteer in India
Organisation AidCamps International
Benefits Accommodation, ground transport, most meals
Based in Tamil Nadu, India
Posted date 06.07.2005

See further details for all above jobs at http://www.oneworld.net

EVENTS

To mark the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness
Programme, Greenpeace, Medact, the Atomic Mirror Project and
Scientists for Global Responsibility are bringing to the UK two
leading US historians to discuss the validity of the decision to
drop the atomic bomb in 1945, and the dangers of new nuclear policies in the 
21st century.
PUBLIC LECTURE AND DEBATE
6.00 to 9.30 pm, 21 July 2005,
Royal Institution, 21 Albermarle Street, Piccadilly, W1.

Global Progressive Forum
ANNUAL GPF EVENT ON 9-10 SEPTEMBER!

Join us in Milan for two days of challenging and intense talks on global 
issues! Key politicians and leading personalities from international 
institutions, trade unions and non-governmental organisations from different 
parts of the world will come together to discuss and to develop a global 
progressive agenda on key development-related issues.

www.GlobalProgressiveForum.org

See SchNEWS events at http://www.schnews.org.uk/pap/yourarea.htm

Add diary dates at http://www.gn.apc.org/calendar/calindex.shtml and
http://www.networkforpeace.org.uk/events.htm (diary dates collected by NfP
are passed on to Peace News for their diary page. In order to get a diary
listing in PN, groups can email nfp at gn.apc.org with details).

This edition of AlterNet is edited by Lucie Evans for GreenNet.

Send your news and hot sites to actnow at gn.apc.org

Please note that opinions expressed in Alternet News do not
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