life down the rabbit hole...

Participate in the biggest mobilization of Citizens Against Global Warming!
The 1st of February 2007:

The Alliance for the Planet [a group of environmental associations] is calling on all citizens to create 5 minutes of electrical rest for the planet. http://www.lalliance.fr

People all over the world should turn off their lights and electrical appliances for 5 minutes on the 1st of February 2007,
18:55 for London, and
19:55 for Paris, Bruxelles, and Italy.
1:55pm in Toronto, Montréal and Ottawa
10.55am on the Pacific Coast of North America.

This is not just about saving 5 minutes worth of electricity; this is about getting the attention of the media, politicians, and ourselves.

Five minutes of electrical down time for the planet: this does not take long, and costs nothing, and will show all political leaders that global warming is an issue that needs to come first and foremost in political debate.

Why February 1st? This is the day when the new UN report on global climate change will come out in Paris.

This event affects us all, involves us all, and provides an occasion to show how important an issue global warming is to us. If we all participate, this action can have real media and political weight.

---

Hands Off Venezuela! Presents:
Revolutionary Healthcare: The Case of Barrio Adentro in Venezuela
Sponsored by: The University of Toronto Students' Union, UofT NDP Club, Fightback

Thursday February 1st, 2007, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

McLennan Physical Labs: Room 203 (MP 203)
255 Huron Street (@ Russel St.)
University of Toronto

Before Hugo Chavez's election as President of Venezuela and the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution, millions of Venezuela's working poor went in want of medical treatment and no where was harder hit then the sprawling slums (the barrios) of the major cities. But as the new Bolivarian Republic begins to construct Socialism of the 21st century, medical care is for the first time being extended to the Barrios in a meaningful way.

We invite you to learn more about Venezuela's Medical Revolution and the achievements of Barrio Adentro Mission and Socialized Medicine.

Sponsored by: The University of Toronto Students' Union, UofT NDP Club, Fightback and Hands Off Venezuela!

Speakers:

* Dr. Maria Paez Victor, MA, PhD

Dr. María Páez Victor is a Venezuelan-born sociologist and consultant who has taught Sociology of Health and Medicine at the University of Toronto for a number of years.

She will deliver a presentation on the history of the Barrio Adentro program and its social and political impacts.

* Dr. Carles Muntaner, MD, PhD

Dr. Carles Muntaner is the chair in psychiatry and addictions nursing research in the social policy and prevention research department at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH). He is also a professor at the faculty of
nursing with a cross-appointment in the department of public health sciences, faculty of medicine, University of Toronto.

Dr. Muntaner recently completed the only epidemiological evaluation of the Barrio Adentro program and its accomplishments in terms of health.

The event will be followed by a open discussion by the audience.

Stop the impunity surrounding the deaths and disappearance of indigenous women in Canada!

Rally Against Racist Police Inaction and Impunity

February  14, 2007, 12 noon, Outside Police Headquarters at Bay and College

Speakers and drumming, followed by a social at the Native women's resource centre.

Hundreds of Indigenous women have been murdered or gone missing over the last 30 years. We come together in defense of our lives and to demonstrate the complicity of the colonizer state and its institutions - police, RCMP, coroner's offices and the courts, in the ongoing genocide against First Nations'.  Indigenous communities are over policed and Indigenous girls make up the fastest growing prison population- while their deaths go uninvestigated and their killers unpunished.

We call on all people in this country to take a stand - NO MORE SILENCE!!

Bring your drums!

No More Silence aims to develop a national network of local, Indigenous led coalitions, in solidarity with allies to support the initiatives of independent Indigenous women working to stop the disappearances and end impunity.

---

LAW UNION OF ONTARIO ANNUAL CONFERENCE

February 9-10, 2007

The 2007 conference of the Law Union of Ontario is open to everyone (no one will be turned away for lack of funds) and registration will open on Friday, February 9, at 6:30 p.m. and on Saturday, February 10, at 8:30 a.m. (with sessions running from 9:15 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.).


1) Justice For A Dying Planet

Friday, February 9, 2007, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Bloor Street United Church, 300 Bloor St. W. (at Huron)
$10 ($5 students and unwaged or PWYC)

This is an evening about "climate justice."  What is the problem?  What are the fights that are underway (what fights need to happen!)?  What are the solutions – what can law do; what can the community do?

* Gord Perks, Toronto City Counselor – to speak about the City's direction on climate change;

* Keith Stewart, Manager, Climate Change Campaign, WWF – Canada – to speak about "the problem";

* Don Goldberg, Senior Attorney (Climate Change), Centre for International Environmental Law – to speak about international efforts and climate justice litigation;

* Elizabeth May, Leader, Green Party of Canada – for closing remarks.


2) Hot Environmental Issues & Updates

Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), 252 Bloor Street West,
Toronto (St. George Subway)

$10 per session or $30 for the day (students and unwaged PWYC)

The environment has risen to be the #1 concern of Canadians.  This panel will profile some of the latest break thoroughs, updates and important issues that are happening on the environmental front in Ontario.

* David McRobert, In-House Counsel & Senior Policy Advisor, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario - to speak about current issues of interest to ECO and the status of Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights;

* Dayna Nadine Scott, Faculty at Osgoode Hall Law School – speaking about current legal and political aspects of environmental justice;

* Rick Smith, Executive Director, Environmental Defence Canada – speaking about legislative reforms at the federal level and how environmental issues are affecting the balance of power;

* Shawn-Patrick Stensil, Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace Canada – speaking about the coming of new sources of nuclear generation in Ontario; and,

* Hugh Wilkins, Staff Lawyer, Sierra Legal Defence Fund – to speak about the state of litigation and legislation protecting Ontario air.


3) Plenary: The Duty To Consult Aboriginal People: Step Forward Or Colonialist Trick?

Saturday, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), 252 Bloor Street West

Everyone welcome to join this moderated conversation among lawyers, activists and Aboriginal people.

Moderator: Shin Imai, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

Opening & Closing Remarks: Murray Klippenstein, Barrister & Solicitor


ALSO AT THE CONFERENCE:

The Annual Conference of the Law Union of Ontario will also include:
International Law & Canada's Role in Afghanistan; The Ontario Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform; Chocolate, Other Comforts & Child Labour; Challenging Police Misconduct in Ontario; Precarious Employment: Gaps & Strategies; Solidarity & Rights from the Philippines to Columbia; Organizing Movement &  Movement Lawyers, and more!

The Law Union of Ontario, founded in 1974, is an association of over 200 progressive lawyers, law students and legal workers.

For more information: Sarah Dover
(416) 537-3966 or (416) 276-4020
sdover@magma.ca

About the LUO: http://lawunion.anarres.ca/
or  www.srglwg.blogspot.com

---

VIDEO: Bush's Legacy: The President Who Cried Wolf
By Keith Olbermann, MSNBC "Countdown"
Thursday 11 January 2007

Olbermann: Bush's strategy fails because it depends on his credibility.

Only this president, only in this time, only with this dangerous, even messianic certitude, could answer a country demanding an exit strategy from Iraq, by offering an entrance strategy for Iran.

Mr. Bush, the question is no longer "What are you thinking?" but rather "Are you thinking at all?"

full video and transcript here.

---

Bush Lifts Oil-Drilling Ban in Alaska's Bristol Bay
By Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post
Wednesday 10 January 2007

Royalties to rise for some offshore wells in advance of Democrats' plans to roll back tax breaks.

The Bush administration yesterday moved to boost U.S. oil and gas supplies by lifting a long-standing moratorium on drilling in Alaska's Bristol Bay, as OPEC accelerated plans to reduce supplies in order to prop up sagging crude prices.

---

Nicotine Boost Was Deliberate, Study Says
By Stephen Smith, The Boston Globe
Thursday 18 January 2007

Harvard researchers analyze cigarette data.

Data supplied by tobacco companies strongly suggest that in recent years manufacturers deliberately boosted nicotine levels in cigarettes to more effectively hook smokers, Harvard researchers conclude in a study being released today.

---

State of the State: Bold Move on Global Warming
By Greg Lucas, The San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday 10 January 2007

A world first: Governor to order new standard to reduce carbon content of motor fuels.

Sacramento - California will create the world's first global warming pollution standard for transportation fuels, ratcheting down fuel carbon content 10 percent by 2020 under a plan put forward by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday in his State of the State address.

---

US Embassy in Athens Hit by Rocket Attack
By Anthee Carassava, The New York Times
Friday 12 January 2007

Athens - Shortly before sunrise today, an anti-tank missile ripped through the United States embassy here, rocking the compound but causing no injuries.

---

Exxon Cuts Ties to Global Warming Skeptics
MSNBC News
Friday 12 November 2007

Oil giant also in talks to look at curbing greenhouse gases.

New York - Oil major Exxon Mobil Corp. is engaging in industry talks on possible U.S. greenhouse gas emissions regulations and has stopped funding groups skeptical of global warming claims - moves that some say could indicate a change in stance from the long-time foe of limits on heat-trapping gases.

---

Idaho Governor Calls for Gray Wolf Kill
By Jesse Harlan Alderman, The Associated Press
Friday 12 January 2007

Boise, Idaho - Idaho's governor said Thursday he will support public hunts to kill all but 100 of the state's gray wolves after the federal government strips them of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter told The Associated Press that he wants hunters to kill about 550 gray wolves. That would leave about 100 wolves, or 10 packs, according to a population estimate by state wildlife officials.

The 100 surviving wolves would be the minimum before the animals could again be considered endangered.

---

Israeli, Syrian Representatives Reach Secret Understandings
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz, Israel
Tuesday 16 January 2007

In a series of secret meetings in Europe between September 2004 and July 2006, Syrians and Israelis formulated understandings for a peace agreement between Israel and Syria.

---

Senators Agree on Iraq War Resolution
By Anne Flaherty, The Associated Press
Wednesday 17 January 2007

A group of senators including a Republican war critic announced agreement Wednesday on a resolution opposing President Bush's 21,500 troop buildup in Iraq, setting their marker for a major clash between the White House and Congress over the unpopular war.

full article here.

(headlines digest follows this article) 

Members of ISN,

Greetings and happy new year to everyone. The following information comes from DECOIN. Here's some context. After several months of intense struggle in Intag region, Ascendant Copper finds itself in a very tough position. We have long maintained that the company is run by people who have no idea about local dynamics as well as the people they choose to work with in Ecuador. Ascendant’s leadership has consistently and persistently misunderstood and misrepresented the nature of grassroots resistance in Intag, especially Junin. Their actions during the past few months has now turned Ecuadorian public opinion strongly against the company, and is contributing to strong public opinion against the concept of mining in Ecuador overall. Ascendant has also earned enemies within the Ecuadorian government, so much so that its strongest base of support in Ecuador--the Ministry of Energy and Mines--has been forced to take a position against the company: It ordered the stoppage of all of Ascendant's work in Intag region (something that Gary Davis insists never happened despite factual evidence to the contrary). In addition, the Ministry has rejected the company's environmental impact study, all of which is possibly Ascendant's death sentence in Intag. With the administration of President Correa coming into power January 15, many people in Intag are hopeful that Ascendant's days are limited.

We are enthusiastic that Correa has nominated some key people to his cabinet. These include a leading human rights activist to be minister of government (oversight of policing in Ecuador) as well as an economist who came up with the idea of ecological debt (what the first world owes the third for centuries of resource plunder and ecological destruction) to be Minister of Energy and Mines. We think it will be nearly impossible for Ascendant to get its environmental impact study approved under the new regime. Of course, anything is possible in Ecuador and many times in the past we have seen progressive politicians cave in under intense international pressure, led by the United States. The changing political context adds to the many weaknesses in Ascendant's presence in Ecuador. The following DECOIN document offers many key points of analysis and a useful summary for those of us engaged in campaigns to stop Ascendant.

************************************************************************
Ascendant Copper Corporation and its Troubles in Ecuador

Ascendant Copper Corporation has launched an impressive public relations campaign in an effort to make light of very serious problems it is facing with its Junin mining project. These are the facts:


VALIDITY OF THE CONCESSIONS. No matter how much the company invests in public relations, the truth is that the legality of its mining concession in Ecuador is still very much undecided. True, in 2003 the Constitutional Tribunal rejected- by one vote- the injunction that sought to declare the concessions unconstitutional, but the Tribunal ruled only on a technicality, and left the constitutional question pending. (The Tribunal basically ruled that the government of Cotacachi had taken too long to present the injunction.) The Constitution of Ecuador makes it mandatory for the state to consult with communities before it makes decisions that could impact the communities’ environment. Since this constitutional mandate was not observed prior to the government issuing the mining concessions, the concessions are unquestionably unconstitutional. It is only a matter of time before they are so declared.

STOP WORK ORDER. On December 19th, the company incorrectly told the public that the government had not ordered it to stop its activities within the Junin project concessions. Yet, the document from the Ministry of Energy and Mines dated December 8th 2006 plainly asked the company to stop its activities, until its Environmental Impact Study was approved, a process that could take many months or a year to complete. It’s important to highlight that the Ministry did not limit the stop-work order to just mining activities. This drastic step was taken principally because of the environment of violence and terror generated when Ascendant Cooper’s contractor, Falericorp--financed by Ascendant Copper Corporation--hired armed personnel to force their way, with guns and tear gas, into Ascendant’s concessions. They were unsuccessful. Ascendant has falsely claimed Falericorp is an agricultural company; in reality it sells communication equipment. The use of armed thugs and violence turned the press and public against the company. It also shattered virtually all the support the company had within the government, Intag and the rest of the country.

LOCAL OPPOSITION. One of the most troubling aspects about Ascendant’s distortion of information is how it has kept from Canadian regulators and its investors the facts about the nature of the local opposition it faces. Ascendant has continually claimed that it is just a few radical people—“ecoterrorists” in their parlance--and mainly one local organization, DECOIN, that oppose its project. Yet every single Township government in the Intag region, both Cotacachi County and the Provincial governments, not to mention most communities within and adjacent to the company’s mining concessions, have publicly expressed their opposition to the mining project. This makes local government opposition unanimous, something seldom achieved in Ecuador’s history of resistance to mining. In addition, approximately 90% of the NGOs working in Intag and Cotacachi County (where the Junin project is located) also have expressed their opposition.

VIOLENCE. One of the central themes of the company’s misinformation campaign is to lay blame on anti-mining forces for the violence in Intag. It was the company, however, through its contractor Falericorp, that in November used tear gas against defenseless local people. It was also Ascendant that hired an army helicopter and financed the hiring of the armed military and ex-military personnel who tried unsuccessfully to storm the company’s concessions on December 2nd of this year. And it was pro-mining forces, allegedly led by several Ascendant employees, who, on the 6th of December 2006, threw stones, Molotov cocktails and burning tires and fired shots at a anti-mining group. These were directed at the Mayor of Cotacachi and the Governor of the province of Imbabura, who, together with journalists and a large anti-mining group, were trying to reach the community of Junin. This violence came on top of the October 17th pre-dawn raid to the home of a well-known anti-mining activist by nineteen heavily armed police. The police came bearing arrest and search warrants as a result of completely trumped-up robbery charges made by someone supposedly working for Ascendant. They came in unmarked cars, some of which were identified as belonging to the company.


As a result of actions such as the above, national and international human rights bodies, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International and Global Witness, are looking into the violence and human rights violations affecting individuals and organizations opposed to Ascendant’s project in Intag.


LAND PURCHASES. Many of the properties Ascendant purchased around the Junin site are illegal, either because the company bought land that is supposed to be used exclusively for agricultural purposes, they lie within protected forests (Chontal), or because government entities illegally adjudicated state land within mining concessions. Already several land titles have been declared invalid in this area and the authorities are currently looking further into corruption issues. Although DECOIN has been unable to confirm the persistent reports of kickbacks involving land deals, it is a very well known fact that Ascendant has paid up to 30 times the real worth of properties, and purchased some outside the mining concessions.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY. Ascendant’s publicity news releases have repeatedly stated that the EIS was finished, had been presented to the government, and that approval was expected in a matter of weeks (in the company’s 2005 annual report it stated that it had completed the EIS, and that it would be submitted in April of 2005 [it is interesting, to say the least, that the Terms of Reference for the EIS was approved in June 2006!!]) Yet, in the June 2006 Financial Statement the company stated that the EIS had not yet been submitted. On December 8, 2006, the Ministry of Energy and Mines informed Ascendant’s Ecuador General Manager that their Junin Environmental Impact Study was so flawed that they were unable even to process it. They pointed out, among other things, that the company had not socialized its content with communities most at risk. The company, they stated, will have to comply with (tough newly created) regulations controlling the consultation process with the communities.


If done properly, an EIS can take months and hundreds of thousands of dollars to complete. With the change in government, there will be new officials in the Ministry of Energy and Mines who will be more stringent in seeking complete compliance. No more friends in High Places for the company. It is also certain that the new progressive government will annul many of the country’s mining concessions, granted after Ecuador’s 1998 Constitution came into effect, which requires communities to be previously consulted.


ECOLOGICAL, SOCIAL, ARCHEOLOGICAL AND OTHER FACTORS. The Junin mining project is adjacent to two legally protected areas: the Chontal Bosque Protector, and the Cotacachi-Cayapas Wilderness Area. In spite of what Ascendant has been saying, most of the concessions encompass PRIMARY cloud forests, which are part of the Tropical Andes Biological Hotspot, the hottest of all Hotspots. The threatened forests protect dozens of pristine streams and rivers, are home to dozens of endangered mammal, amphibian, bird and plant species. These include Jaguars, Ocelots, Spectacled Bears, Pumas, the critically endangered Brown-headed Spider Monkey, and Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, to mention only some of the most prominent. The threat to the spider monkey, which requires mature forests, constitutes a major obstacle to the project, as was highlighted in the scientific work at the nearby Los Cedros Biologial Reserve in 2006. After reviewing all the information regarding the project’s environmental impacts, our organization concluded that there is no other mining project in the world that threatens so many endangered species.

ECOLOGICAL ORDINANCE. In April of 2000, Cotacachi County, where the Ascendant’s concessions are located, created a strict environmental ordinance that prohibits activities that threaten the County’s native forests, or to contaminate its water resources with heavy metals, such as Ascendant’s project threaten to do.

SOCIAL IMPACTS. The earlier Japanese Environmental Impact Study carried out for the Junin mining project, and based on four years of drilling, and a small portion of the total of the 2.3 million tons of copper they inferred they discovered, called for the relocation of four communities to make room for the mine (this is nearly 4X less than Ascendant’s estimate) All of these communities oppose the mining project, and they have stated they will not relocate peacefully.

ARCHEOLOGY. Parts of the mining area are rich in pre-Incan archeological sites--including earthen pyramids and thousands of tombs. This was confirmed in Ascendant’s own Environmental Impact Study. What possibly Ascendant has kept from you is that Ecuadorian law prohibits mining in archeological areas.

FUTURE CHANGES TO THE MINING LAW. For mining companies doing business overseas, modifications to mining legislation can be a company’s worse nightmare. The recent violence surrounding Canadian mining companies in Ecuador--including the violence of armed groups in Junin financed by Ascendant--not only shocked the nation, but led government officials to propose major changes to Ecuador’s mining legislation. The press has pointed out the serious flaws in the law that makes mining highly injurious to Ecuador’s national interests. A complete overhaul of the law is expected, which will do away with many of the pro-industry incentives that have made mining so attractive for the industry.

FINANCIAL ISSUES. If you still feel this is a viable project and company, consider the following: Ascendant has raised approximately 20 million dollars since its creation 30 months ago, with little to show by way of positive accomplishment. The company’s March 31st 2006 first quarter report stated that “The Company currently has approximately US $5 million earmarked this year for a 22 hole, 15,000 meter, drilling program for Junin once the EIS process is complete…..” (*see above for EIS irregularities). The report further noted that, “The work program will concentrate on the exploration and development of the Junin property. Maintenance fees will be paid and the Chaucha concession will be maintained in good order”, (p. 10; Outlook Section). The Company’s short-term objective is to gain access to the Junin property for commencement of exploration, through exploration to upgrade the existing inferred resource and demonstrate continuity of grade, to complete a pre-feasibility study to determine if the project is economically viable and, if warranted, prepare further work programs leading to completion of a bankable feasibility study on the project

(this same paragraph was repeated identically in the June 30th 2006, and earlier Financial (and Unaudited) Reports) (Taken from: Management’s Discussion and Analysis For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2006; and for June 2006).


Although 2006 has come and gone, The Environmental Impact Study has not been approved (nor has it any real prospect for approval). Ascendant has not been able to gain access to the Junin property (not even at gunpoint) There has been no exploration at the Junin property No pre-feasibility study has been carried out.

An investor might well question where the 5 million, or the other millions, went. Perhaps it went here. Ascendant Copper has carried out several questionable deals with other directors, either hiring them or their companies directly for management support or the like, or buying mining concessions outright on Ascendant’s home turf from companies owned by common directors. For example, on May 10th of 2006, Ascendant purchased the Magdalena mining property from Ascension Gold, a company partly owned by Paul Grist, for $ 25,000, and ceded a 2% net smelter royalty fee for Ascension. Grist was one of Ascendant’s directors at the time of the transaction. Had Ascendant itself done the concession paperwork, it would have cost a fraction of what was paid, and it would not have had to give up any royalty rights. In most parts of the world, these kind of deals would likely qualify as conflict of interest. Perhaps it helps that Ascendant’s quarterly financial statements are unaudited.

Investors should also take note of the guesswork involved in Junin’s inferred mineral deposit. Under Canadian law, a ‘Qualified Person’ is obliged to undertake a site visit when preparing the technical report to determine a mining property’s inferred mineral deposit. In the case of the Junin property, the visit was to determine the amount of the inferred copper and molybdenum deposit. However, in a letter dated July 12, 2006 Ascendant’s CEO admitted to the Canadian Ambassador that the company had, to date, been unable to access its “legally-owned concessions” in the Intag region (the Junin property) Yet the supposed site visit, an obligatory part of the appraisal of the mineral deposit, allegedly took place more than a year prior to the letter being written.


Earlier this year, based on the above information, the Canadian Environmental Law Association presented a claim to the Ontario Securities Commission. The results of the ongoing investigation could seriously undermine the inferred amount of minerals at the Junin property.

RISKY BUSINESS? In June of 2006, RAB CAPITAL (UK) sold all of its 2.3 million Ascendant shares (amounting to 11.8% of Ascendant’s shares) The question begs itself: which one of the multitude of risk factors finally forced the prestigious investment firm to rid itself of Ascendant’s investments.

The above is only a sampling of the abundant examples of troubling financial information coming out of Ascendant. We hope it’s enough to motivate you to ask Ascendant Copper a few tough questions.

__________________________________
Prepared by DECOIN, Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag, January 1, 2007. For additional information, please see: wwww.decoin.org, miningwatch.ca; ascendantalert.ca, intagsolidarity.org, ascendantcopper.com, and sedar.com

At Anarchist U, it's all about structure
The four-year-old free school has survived partly because it's, um, well organized
BERT ARCHER, Special to The Globe and Mail

     As the kids go back to school and the rest of us try to figure out how to make ourselves better people in the new year, thoughts often turn to taking some kind of course. A quick Google jog tells us we could learn Chinese brush painting through the Toronto District School Board for $127 (plus materials), take a course called Marx, Freud and Nietzsche: Critics of Religion at the University of Toronto's school of continuing studies for $290, or learn about sociology and gender at Ryerson's G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education for $427.

     Or we could study Latin American Politics for free at Anarchist U.

     About 60 people signed up for the three courses offered by Anarchist Free University this term (the other two are Questioning Masculinity and Politics of Addiction). But the mere fact that it's entering its fourth year without an address or a registrar, and with total operating expenses of about $50 a year (most of which is the fee for hosting its website, http://www.anarchistu.org), is something of a milestone.

Revealed: Israel Plans Nuclear Strike on Iran
By Uzi Mahnaimi, New York and Sarah Baxter, The Sunday Times

    Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran's uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.

    Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear "bunker-busters", according to several Israeli military sources.

World faces hottest year ever, as El Niño combines with global warming
By Cahal Milmo, The Independent
January 1, 2007

     A combination of global warming and the El Niño weather system is set to make 2007 the warmest year on record with far-reaching consequences for the planet, one of Britain's leading climate experts has warned.

---

W Pushes Envelope on US Spying
By James Gordon Meek, The New York Daily News
Thursday 04 January 2007

New postal law lets Bush peek through your mail.

    Washington - President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant, the Daily News has learned.

    The President asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill into law on Dec. 20. Bush then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open people's mail under emergency conditions.

Exxon Mobil Cultivates Global Warming Doubt
By Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters
Thursday 04 January 2007

    Washington - Energy giant ExxonMobil borrowed tactics from the tobacco industry to raise doubt about climate change, spending US$16 million on groups that question global warming, a science watchdog group said on Wednesday.

---

US Selecting Hybrid Design for Warheads
By William J. Broad, David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker, The New York Times
Sunday 07 January 2007

    Washington - The Bush administration is expected to announce next week a major step forward in the building of the country's first new nuclear warhead in nearly two decades. It will propose combining elements of competing designs from two weapons laboratories in an approach that some experts argue is untested and risky.

Shut Out of the Forests
The Baltimore Sun | Editorial
Tuesday 02 January 2007

    Citizen activists have been a bane to the Bush administration - particularly on environmental regulations.

    They ask questions. They file lawsuits. They try to thwart nearly every administration attempt to cut the red tape surrounding use of the nation's natural resources and wind up adding greatly to the cost of these gambits.

    So the administration has decided to simply eliminate the bothersome environmental reviews previously applied to management plans for the 193 million acres of national forest. If there's no requirement to consider the impact of activities such as mineral extraction or hazardous waste shipments, those effects can't be used to challenge the plans.

Hurricane Center Chief Issues Final Warning
By Carol J. Williams, The Los Angeles Times
Wednesday 03 January 2007

A departing Max Mayfield is convinced that the Southeast is inviting disaster.

    Miami - Frustrated with people and politicians who refuse to listen or learn, National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield ends his 34-year government career today in search of a new platform for getting out his unwelcome message: Hurricane Katrina was nothing compared with the big one yet to come.

---

Pelosi Becomes First Female Speaker, Preparing to Confront Bush
By Laura Litvan, Bloomberg
Thursday 04 January 2007

    Nancy Pelosi, making history today as the first female speaker of the House, is taking office with two goals: becoming an effective counterweight to President George W. Bush, and proving that a woman can thrive at the summit of U.S. political power.

---

No More Free Lunch for House
By Zachary Coile, The San Francisco Chronicle
Friday 05 January 2007

Ethics rules changed on first day. Pelosi's first success in House - forceful changes in ethics rules.

     Washington - Newly elected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi racked up her first legislative victory of the 110th Congress on Thursday, passing ethics reforms that will ban gifts and meals paid for by lobbyists and strictly limit travel for lawmakers funded by outside groups.

     Pelosi, in an opening day speech, called the measures the "toughest congressional ethics reform in history." Government watchdog groups agreed the new rules amount to the biggest crackdown on the influence of lobbyists since the post-Watergate changes in ethics rules, but added that Democrats still must improve the enforcement of ethics rules.

     The measures were part of Pelosi's pledge to run "the most ethical Congress in history" and were passed on the opening day of the House session - usually strictly a ceremonial day - to signal a break from the GOP-led 109th Congress, which was plagued by numerous corruption and influence-peddling scandals.

---

EU to Urge "New Industrial Revolution" in Energy
By Marcin Grajewski, Reuters
Friday 05 January 2007

    Brussels - The European Commission will call next week for "a new industrial revolution" in the energy sector to boost competition, protect the climate and ensure security of supply, a draft paper from the EU executive showed.

    The draft strategy proposals, obtained by Reuters on Thursday before publication on Jan. 10, call for cutting carbon dioxide emissions further, increasing energy from renewable sources and curtailing the powers of large energy companies.

---

New Roles for Women Leaders Worldwide
Feminist Daily News Wire
Thursday 04 January 2007

    In the past month, women across the world have been moving into new and groundbreaking political leadership positions. Here, we profile four women's recent successes.

---

Pelosi's Ascent Breakthrough for Women
By Stephen Ohlemacher, The Associated Press
Friday 05 January 2007

    Washington - It shouldn't be surprising that it took more than 200 years for Congress to select a female speaker of the House. The United States isn't exactly at the forefront when it comes to women in politics.

    Women make up a larger share of the national legislature in 79 other countries, including China, Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an association of national legislatures. The U.S. even trails a couple of fledgling democracies: Afghanistan and Iraq.

---

Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Makes the Case for Impeachment
By David Swanson, AfterDowningStreet.org
Friday 05 January 2007

    Here is McKinney's case for impeachment and for the history books, a case that says to historians, "Look, I knew what needed to be done, and I failed for years but I admitted it on my last day," but a case that says to us: "Here is your mission: awaken currently serving Congress members to this case or kiss your democracy goodbye."

---

What'd You Do to My Mail Bill, Mr. Prez?
By James Gordon Meek, The New York Daily News
Friday 05 January 2007

    Washington - The Republican sponsor of a postal reform bill called on President Bush yesterday to explain why he used it to claim he can open domestic mail without a search warrant.

---

Pelosi Hints at Denying Bush Iraq Funds
The Associated Press
Sunday 07 January 2007

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said newly empowered Democrats will not give President Bush a blank check to wage war in Iraq, hinting they could deny funding if he seeks additional troops.

---

Feds Pushing for Internet Records
By John Reinan, McClatchy Newspapers
Saturday 06 January 2007

    Minneapolis - The federal government wants your Internet provider to keep track of every Web site you visit.

    For more than a year, the U.S. Justice Department has been in discussions with Internet companies and privacy rights advocates, trying to come up with a plan that would make it easier for investigators to check records of Web traffic.

---

Gore Mobilizes Global Warming Activists
By Anne Paine, The Tennessean
Monday 08 January 2007

Hundreds at Hilton Hotel receive tools for training others.

    Hundreds of volunteers from across the country have flocked to Nashville this fall and winter and more are here today as part of a grass-roots training effort to spread the word on global warming.

    They are taking part in Al Gore's The Climate Project, which mushroomed from his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.

Review of the Year: Global Warming
By Steve Connor, The Independent UK
Friday 29 December 2006

Our worst fears are exceeded by reality.

    It has been a hot year. The average temperature in Britain for 2006 was higher than at any time since records began in 1659. Globally, it looks set to be the sixth hottest year on record. The signs during the past 12 months have been all around us. Little winter snow in the Alpine ski resorts, continuing droughts in Africa, mountain glaciers melting faster than at any time in the past 5,000 years, disappearing Arctic sea ice, Greenland's ice sheet sliding into the sea. Oh, and a hosepipe ban in southern England.

    You could be forgiven for thinking that you've heard it all before. You may think it's time to turn the page and read something else. But you'd be wrong. 2006 will be remembered by climatologists as the year in which the potential scale of global warming came into focus. And the problem can be summarised in one word: feedback.

    During the past year, scientific findings emerged that made even the most doom-laden predictions about climate change seem a little on the optimistic side. And at the heart of the issue is the idea of climate feedbacks - when the effects of global warming begin to feed into the causes of global warming. Feedbacks can either make things better, or they can make things worse. The trouble is, everywhere scientists looked in 2006, they encountered feedbacks that will make things worse - a lot worse.

---

Lies and Obfuscations
By Eleanor Clift, Newsweek
Friday 22 December 2006

A look back at some of the biggest falsehoods of 2006.

    In the spirit of holding our political leaders accountable, this year-end review will tabulate the worst lies told by Bush and company, along with several stories that were underreported in the media. Much of what was generated got lost in the fog of war, but the long arm of history will retrieve these moments. As the president said in his news conference this week, if they're still writing about No. 1 - George Washington - there's plenty of time before the historians can properly evaluate No. 43. Judging by the mess in Iraq, it could be 200 or 300 years - if ever - before Bush is vindicated.

---

In Search of a Criminal: Donald Rumsfeld's Name Tops the List of Accused of War Crimes
By Alexia Garamfalvi, Legal Times
Monday 25 December 2006

    "Rumsfeld is no longer untouchable," says Wolfgang Kaleck, the German lawyer who filed the complaint along with the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights and the International Federation for Human Rights. "He is now deeply connected with claims of abuses and torture. We have taken the first step to begin the legal discussion on his accountability."

    The complaint against Rumsfeld, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet, and other senior civilian and military officials, was filed in mid-November on behalf of 11 Iraqis who had been detained at Abu Ghraib prison and Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi detained at Guantánamo. It alleges that the defendants ordered, aided, and abetted war crimes and failed to prevent the commission of war crimes by their subordinates. In international law, war crimes are defined as grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including torture and inhuman treatment.

---

How Old Is the Grand Canyon? Park Service Won't Say
PEER | Press Release
Thursday 28 December 2006

Orders to cater to creationists makes national park agnostic on geology.

    Washington, DC - Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

    "In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. "It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is 'no comment.'"

---

Poll: More Troops Unhappy With Bush's Course in Iraq
By Robert Hodierne, Military Times
Friday 29 December 2006

    The American military - once a staunch supporter of President Bush and the Iraq war - has grown increasingly pessimistic about chances for victory, according to the 2006 Military Times Poll.

    For the first time, more troops disapprove of the president's handling of the war than approve of it. Barely one-third of service members approve of the way the president is handling the war.

    When the military was feeling most optimistic about the war - in 2004 - 83 percent of poll respondents thought success in Iraq was likely. This year, that number has shrunk to 50 percent.

---

Turning Off the Digital World
By Bill Thompson, BBC News
Friday 15 December 2006

The increasing energy demands of the digital world need to be addressed if we are to avoid severe global warming, argues regular commentator Bill Thompson.

    This Christmas period offices will be empty of staff as the country shuts down for the extended celebration that has become the norm over the last few years.

    Many staff will head home from work on 22 December, not to return until 2 January.

    They'll leave behind the wreckage of the Christmas party, a pile of unopened mail and, if they are at all typical, a lot of glowing lights.

    Unfortunately, the lights won't be on the office Christmas tree but on the monitors, photocopiers, fax machines, phone rechargers and PCs that will be left on standby or, worse, turned on throughout the break.

    According to research carried out by office equipment supplier Canon, based on figures from the National Energy Foundation and Infosource, more than six million PCs will be left on over Christmas, consuming nearly forty million kilowatt hours of electricity.

---

US Death Toll in Iraq Seen Spurring Anti-War Protests
By Carey Gillam, Reuters
Thursday 28 December 2006

    Kansas City, Missouri - In Kansas City, they will light candles and lay out more than 80 pairs of empty combat boots. In Chicago, anti-war activists will hand out black ribbons, each bearing the name of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.

    And in New Haven, Connecticut, opponents of the war plan to read aloud the names of 3,000 dead U.S. soldiers.

    In all, organizers say some 140 demonstrations in 37 states are planned to mark the 3,000th U.S. military death in Iraq, a milestone that is likely only days away. By Thursday, some 2,989 U.S. troops had died in Iraq since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in the unrelenting violence.

---

Military Draft System To Be Tested
CBS News
Friday 22 December 2006

    Washington - The Selective Service System is making plans to test its draft machinery in case Congress and President Bush need it, even though the White House says it doesn't want to bring back the draft.

---

Iraq Civilian Deaths Hit New Record - Ministry
By Alastair Macdonald, Reuters
Monday 01 Janurary 2007

    Baghdad - The number of Iraqi civilians killed in political violence edged to a new record high in December after a big leap the previous month, data from Interior Ministry officials showed on Tuesday.

    The statistics, widely viewed as an indicative but only partial record of violent deaths, showed 12,320 civilians were killed in 2006 in what officials classified as "terrorist" violence - half of them in the last four months.