Cannabis and Iraq: Why Prohibition Leads to War

2005-02-10T03:52:00.000-08:00

Dear friends, I hope you may find the following suggestions for relevant topics useful, while excusing the obvious and repetitive... > The general objectives are as follows: > Public Health programme (2003-2008). > > (1) Improving information and knowledge for the > development of public health; Knowledge of the unique & essential nutritional value of Cannabis seed's EFAs and edestin proteins, as they relate to prevention & treatment of 75% of the diseases that are likely to kill us. (See "Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill" by Udo Erasmus) > > (2) Enhancing the capability of responding rapidly > and in a co-ordinated fashion to health threats; Resource efficiency and plain common sense considered in an increasingly limited time-frame, amplify the urgency of implementing effective programs and discontinuing failed prohibition policies. In essence, it has become more urgent to fix the 'old problems' since prolonged implementation of failed policies has exacerbated the conditions they were meant to fix, while creating new problems that synergistically aggravate the old problems. > (3) Promoting health and prevent disease through > addressing health determinants across all policies and > activities. Re-directing resources from wastefully expensive, counter-productive policies which emphasize punishment, to health-based measures would enable drug regulation, disempower black market economics, and stimulate regional, organic agricultural productivity. > And one of the criteria for the activities that the EC > wants to support is that they should contribute to > tackling inequalities in health. The availability of useful organic products, directly from our gardens, inclusive of foods and herbal therapeutics, makes freedom to farm essential for equitable distribution of resources and provides direct access to primary, phytotherapeutic healthcare strategies. The importance of shifting human values back into respect for the Natural Order and the effects on health that doing so would have, includes specifically empowering women, by improving direct access to and production of essential resources (food, fuel, therapeutics, raw materials for manufacturing items to sell and trade, etc.). > > Concerning (3); I have put this first because this is > much closer to our concerns. In 2004 there were two > grants relating to HIV as well as the following: > “Elisad internet gateway: A qualitative resource for > European web sites on drugs, alcohol, tobacco and > other addictions.” Cannabis is either 'highly' regarded or completely neglected in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, cancer, heart disease... > > Concerning (1), in both 2003 and 2004 there was no > topic that directly related to the field of substance > abuse. What about nutrition? There is a giant hole in people's awareness of the importance of Cannabis seed in health and nutrition. This gross underestimation of the resource (i.e. failure to recognise the plant as nutrtionally "unique and essential") is what makes it possible for government to impose controls over it. There is a huge opportunity for ENCOD here, to point out the fact that while the E.U. subsidizes hemp cultivation, the U.N. doesn't even recognize it as food for humans, and actually discourages it. The threat posed by prohibition to global food security is hardly acknowledged. GMOs are being developed partly because organic protein production has been severely limited by Cannabis prohibition. > Concerning (2), the projects awarded grants in 2003 > and 2004 were more specifically targeted to particular > illnesses e.g. heart disease than the projects listed > as in arising out of point (1) or (3). This topic area > i.e. (2) is less community health oriented. > > Health determinants can be divided into general areas: > > a) Lifestyle (e.g. tobacco); > > b) Socioeconomics; > > c) Environment; > > d) Genetics and screening. > > We could for instance set up an activity around the > question: how can we best warn users when there are > dangerous substances on sale in the black market e.g. > street MDMA laced with PMA. Years ago, I asked a Cannabis merchant/friend if the herb he was selling was organic. His reply was, "It's whatever you want it to be." The reality is, there are always dangerous substances on sale in the black market. If some pot grower is using chemicals to boost yields, kill pests, or even, out of greed or ignorance, just fertilizing his crop too late in the growing cycle, there is no way for most people to know. Even if people don't get sick immediately, they still could be getting poisoned. That's one of the variables in Cannabis research that is hardly mentioned. The importance of knowing the source and methods of production for anything we ingest is obvious. It may be worthwhile to mention that in the context of prohibiition, this is extremely rare, unless someone is growing their own, or buying herb from a trusted friend who knows what they're doing. It may be useful to point out the possibility of dangers intentional contamination of the unregulated drug supply, by 1. Unscrupulous dealers who lace herbs (i.e. Cannabis, coca, mushrooms) with chemical drugs, to expand their market, "hooking" people on more physically addictive substances. 2. Terrorist attack. 3. The mentally unbalanced (i.e. remember contaminated Tylenol?). 4. Those who may wish to exaggerate the dangers of drugs, for the purpose of instilling fear and panic in the public to maintain support for the drug war.

2005-01-08T23:35:00.000-08:00

"These forces are part of a movement against inequality and poverty and war that has arisen in the past six years and is more diverse, more enterprising, more internationalist and more tolerant of difference than anything in my lifetime. It is a movement unburdened by a western liberalism that believes it represents a superior form of life; the wisest know this is colonialism by another name. The wisest also know that just as the conquest of Iraq is unravelling, so a whole system of domination and impoverishment can unravel, too." From "The Other Tsunami" By John Pilger The New Statesman 10 January 2005 Issue http://www.newstatesman.com/nscoverstory.htm

2004-08-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

Anger is an appropriate response to being attacked. Certainly the world is being attacked by the Bush Administration. Whether you consider the environment, the economy, or the social structures upon which our civilization has been built, the Bush administration is assaulting every dimension of our existence. I think in this case, anger, while understandable and justified, is not enough. Legal action is called for, beginning with impeachment of both the President and the Vice President, for abuse of power and repeaterdly lying to Congress. Beginning with subversion of democracy which stole the 2000 election, through the dismissal of a million black votes in Florida; continuing to the present underhanded dealings of the incumbent coterie of military-industrial profiteers waging wars for profit, short-changing our troops as they risk their health and lives among depleted uranium and Iraqi "insurgents." For the United States to regain the respect of the world, Bush and Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice and, yes, even Colin Powell, must be tried for the crime of starting a war. Certainly there can be no greater crime, which may be why it is taking so long for people to recognize it as such. The war in Iraq is too big a crime to be immediately, yet that is why the world is reacting to the U.S. with violence, outrage and revulsion. Crimes committed against the people of the Middle East and elsewhere precipitated the attacks of September 11th. It is time for the American people to admit their part of the responsibility for what happened. Aggressive economics and the support of violence, by factions within our government, provoked the attacks. If the American people truly want the threat of terrorism to subside, then the prosecution of people responsible for starting the war in Iraq must be carried out by an objective world court. Otherwise, the people of the United States will forever bear the guilt of the crimes committed by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the rest of their gang of thieves and murderers. "No honor without impeachment,No justice without prosecution." for peace, Paul von Hartmann Project P.E.A.C.E.Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics

2004-06-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

Paul J. von Hartmann Project P.E.A.C.E. Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics FOR RELEASE: June 10, 2004 U.S. Congress Heads Up ARS Project: "World's Most Useful Plant" targeted for Biological Attack Even as medical 'marijuana' patients and the hemp foods industry are racking up Supreme Court victories against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); even as Canadian and European farmers are cranking up Cannabis production to keep pace with public demand for industrial hemp oils, resins, fiber and cellulose; even as Cannabis is being recognized as being "the world's most useful plant," researchers at U.C. Davis are indulging in "Reefer Madness," preparing to infest North America with insect pest species from Eurasia. Since 1999 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Research Service (ARS) has been preparing to attack the 'marijuana' plant, targeted for "classic biological control" in 2005. "Secure facilities" have already been built in California, where scientists will grow 'marijuana' in order to study the eating habits of various Eurasian agricultural pests. According to the ARS annual report for 2003, "The problem is quite serious as marijuana is a controlled substance in the United States and is often grown and sold illegally. It is relevant to local and national law enforcement agencies and was initiated through Congressional mandate." The Department of Agriculture's report continues, "Research was initiated on this project at the request of Congress and the State Department to identify new biologically based methods of controlling marijuana. Cooperating foreign institutions in Italy, Russia, China and Kazakhstan conducted both field and literature surveys for natural enemies of Cannabis sativa and selected two primary candidates, Psylliodes attenuata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and Cardipennis rubripes (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to begin further host-specificity and biology research on." According to the ARS report, "walk-in plant growth chambers" were constructed at Davis last year, that "allow 'marijuana' to be grown under secure conditions and used in quarantine." DEA certification was expected to occur in the fall of 2004. "These plants will be used in the final stages of testing for the effectiveness and environmental safety of selected biological control agents. This should lead to the availability of new biological control agents for this narcotic plant." [sic]* Faced with such monumental conflict of reason, and accelerating deterioration of our environment, at some point people must ask themselves several questions. First, it seems imperative to question the underlying motivations of a drug policy that, after almost seventy years, has had only tragic, counter-productive results for the Earth's environment, human economics and social evolution. Creation of a black market economy is the most obvious and predictable result of any prohibition. "Forbidden fruit" is always more expensive, leading inevitably to violence and corruption of police and politicians. When a critical agricultural resource is prohibited for three generations, the destructive illusion of a "free market economy" is even more dangerous, insidious and persistent. Industries that would otherwise succumb to the laws of fair economic competition, have become institutionalized, dominating the evolution of human values. Our generation is approaching the end of that dead end road, fighting for limited energy resources when we could have been farming biofuels all along. By devaluating the most useful and potentially abundant organic agricultural resource on the planet, and inducing a prolonged condition of essential resource scarcity, mankind has been diverted from a course of sustainable energy development. After three generations of Cannabis prohibition, degenerative, anti-natural imbalances in economics have steered a toxic course for our social and political structures as well. Teetering precariously on the edge of synergistic collapse, the very real possibility of extinction looms in our foreseeable, predictably tragic future. The absence of balancing influence, inherent to a free market, has institutionalized anti-natural values to desperate extremes. Such mad science as is happening at Davis, being directed against humankind's best hope for sustainability, is clearly agricultural espionage carried out by a chemically vested government, subverting the best interests of its own people. Unsustainable values, combined with the unpredictable instability of atmospheric carbon imbalance, are no longer theory, capable of being characterized as "gloom and doom" scenarios. Scientists agree that global warming is a real and present danger, even if political frontmen for toxic industries would have us believe otherwise, in the interest of protecting the short-term bottomline. Corporate influence of political leadership, the economics of punishment at home and abroad, and the market dynamics of chemical industrial food and fuel production, has engendered corruption blurring the lines between industry and government. At U.C. Davis, government science is being employed by hemp's economic competitors to strengthen the advantage that chemical industry already enjoys, over agricultural solutions and common sense. As conditions of imbalance increase it is critical to assess the impact that corporate/politcal hybridization is having in perpetuating a self-serving prohibition. After decades of conclusive studies and clinical reports in many countries, identifying Cannabis as "the safest therapeutically active substance known to man," which holds considerable benefits for mankind, it is inevitable to conclude that government health concerns used to justify prohibition are not to be taken seriously. In fact, considering all available credible science, it is obvious that prohibition only serves to increase profits for multi-national corporations protecting chemical-industrial interests against competition from agriculturally-based industries. It is common knowledge that there are many substances approved by the U.S. government, that are much more dangerous to people's health than 'marijuana.' Alcohol and tobacco are America's primary recreational drugs, far more lethal and addictive to both users and non-users than 'marijuana.' Chemical pharmaceuticals and even some foods that are commonly consumed with deadly result are readily available to people who choose to assume the risks associated with them. Even peanuts can kill. Obviously, realistic concerns for public health and safety have nothing whatever to do with 'marijuana' prohibition. Cannabis prohibition is clearly motivated by industries concerned with the plant's potential to compete in a truly "free market" economy. More than ever it is essential to understanding which industries and corporations currently control the present "un-free market," exercising disproportionate economic influence, usurping control of the American government, leads to more questions. The petroleum industry and the pharmaceutical industry are two of the most obvious competitors. Americans pay the highest drug prices in the world. Annual spending for pharmaceuticals, is up to $250 billion, doubling every five years. More than 120,000 people die every year in the U.S., from "legal drugs" taken in accordance with their doctor's prescription. Virtually everything that is being made from petroleum hydrocarbons, can be made better, cheaper, and with less pollution using Cannabis, a carbohydrate. Less obvious, but equally powerful are the soybean industry with interests tied to biotech and chemicals for agricultural. Monsanto controls more than 80% of the biotech industry, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer pharmaceutical. These are the economic forces driving prohibition, through political influence and lobbying groups such as Partnership for a Drug Free America. It's no secret that America's second generation oil president is the petroleum & pharmaceutical industry's favorite son. The CEO of Pfizer donated $200,000 to Bush's campaign this year. Other blatant examples, of government officials serving billions of dollars worth of prohibitionist interests on behalf of chemically-dependent industries, abound. In America's present administration there are no fewer than six top ranking officials, directly associated with Monsanto, including the Supreme Court Judge who put GW Bush in office (Clarence Thomas), the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (Anne Veneman), the Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld), the U.S. Secretary of Health (Tommy Thompson), Chairman of the House Agricultural Committee (Larry Combest) and Attorney General John Ashcroft. "The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), a coalition of militant peasant groups, has called for a boycott of Monsanto products. KMP is attempting to block the use of the genetically modified YieldGard Bt-corn and is protesting Monsanto's interests in the United States-led war on Iraq. Rafael Mariano, KMP chair, said the program boycott on Monsanto products is part of a civil disobedience campaign to protest against US industry's attacks on the Iraqi people. "The US military campaign to topple the Iraqi leadership was for the benefit of US war industries like the US-based Monsanto, the proponent of the genetically engineered Bt-corn in the country and manufacturer of Agent Orange...Monsanto is no less than a war industry," Mariano said. Mariano further stated that it was a "clear mockery" that US President Bush launched the strike on Iraq under the pretext of disarming it of its weapons of mass destructio, because the US itself is the primary producer of weapons of mass destruction. The forest products industry is another cash cow tied to chemical production. Recent estimates put the potential market for hemp paper at between $15 to $30 billion a year worldwide. About 20 paper mills around the world use hemp fiber, with an estimated annual world production volume of 120,000 tons. This represents about .05 percent of all paper. India and China dominate this potentially vast market. In the U.S., the "green" paper industry (including recycled and natural fibers) accounts for about $20 million in a $230 billion industry. Expanded use of agricultural crops and other tree-free materials for paper would not only spare trees but would also produce paper with minimal environmental impact from the chemicals used to manufacture paper. In the U.S., hemp food products are a small but fast-growing sector of the natural foods industry, with annual sales of about $5 million. Canadian farmers seeded 3,800 acres of hemp in 2002 and harvested about two million pounds of the crop. In 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12919, specifically identifying hemp as a "strategic food resource" subject to "essential civilian demand." Consider that the nutritional value of Cannabis seed makes hemp the most nutritious and healing food on Earth. This is an inarguable fact, since Cannabis is the only common seed with three essential fatty acids (EFAs) in proper proportion for long-term consumption. Cannabis seed is also the best available source of organic protein on the planet. Consider that neither the U.S. government, nor the United Nations, has any research projects, anywhere in the world, where Cannabis is being considered as a source of vegetable protein. Even in countries where it is perfectly legal to grow Cannabis, (even subsidized by the European Union in some places), there are no U.N. Food & Agriculture investigations being carried out. Not one. Instead of growing organic Cannabis, humankind is growing soybeans for protein. This is a relatively poor choice, since there are several good reasons not to eat soybean, unless it is properly fermented. Also, from an agricultural perspective, soybean is much more difficult to grow than Cannabis, requiring substantial chemical application to suppress competition from weeds. Cannabis naturally defends itself against most insect pests, and crowds out competition from most weeds. This and many other beneficial agricultural characteristics make Cannabis an excellent rotational crop, useful as a companion plant to help with cultivation of other crops, re-mineralization of nutrient-depleted soils, for preventing soil erosion, as a seasonal windbreak, and to break up compacted soils. Cannabis is such a valuable plant, capable of producing so many products, that it may not be possible for mankind to achieve sustainable existence on this planet without it. Certainly, without hemp the United States of America as we know it would not exist. As most people know by now, all of the founding fathers of this country were hemp farmers, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. "Make the most of the hemp seed and sow it everywhere." --George Washington (1794) "We shall....want a world of hemp more for our own personal consumption." --John Adams (1783) "Hemp is of first necessity....to the wealth and protection of the country." --Thomas Jefferson (1791)** "Hemp is an article of importance enough to warrant the employment of extraordinary means in its favor."--Alexander Hamilton (1791) Cannabis is capable of producing more food, fuel, medicines, fiber, cellulose, and resins organically, sustainably than any other plant on Earth. Not only is it imperative to stop the waste of money and obviate the destructive impact of the research being done at U.C. Davis, it is as important to ask why this research has been allowed to continue for five years, in light of what is common knowledge about this critically important agricultural resource. Such obvious abominations as the importation of invasive insect species from one continent to another, serve to make the absurdity and economic motivations of prohibition that much more blatant. As nothing else could, this plan to self-inflict a bio-terrorist attack on the world's best hope for sustainable agriculturally-based industry, should finally wake up America to the sinister character of corrupt economic forces that are running our government. Unless people recognize (before the election) the insidious predation of impacted economic forces, perverting the human economic structure, treasonous influences imbedded within our political fabric will continue to impose essential resource scarcity, capitalize on, and exaggerate the imbalances which result from it. Walt Kelly is as right as he everlovin' was, "We have met the enemy and he is us." * Note: While Cannabis can be "psychoactive" it is non-narcotic. ** Thomas Jefferson even smuggled hemp seeds into the U.S. from China. # Paul von Hartmann is an international freelance photjournalist, Cannabis scholar, and Natural rights activist. This essay may also be found posted at the P.E.A.C.E. blog entitled "Cannabis and Iraq: Why Prohibition Leads to War" http://cannabiswars.blogspot.com/ Thursday, June 10, 2004 Paul J. von Hartmann 12931 85th Avenue NE Kirkland, WA 98034 USA (425)814-4980 Project P.E.A.C.E. Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics http://www.webspawner.com/users/projectpeace/ Contact: e-mail: projectpeace@yahoo.com or projectpeace@gmail.com (for files larger than 1Mb) (c) PvH 2004 1. Research Project: Classical Biological Control of Narcotic Plants http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?ACCN_NO=402468&showpars=true&fy=2003 2.Medpot stars give for patients http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2569.html 3.Study Shows Therapeutic Benefits, No Adverse Effects in Long-Term Marijuana Users http://www.infoimagination.org/ps/drug_war/articles/mj_study.html 4. War foes urge boycott of US products http://www.geocities.com/kmp_ph/strug/032403.html 5. Asia Farm & Consumer Groups Denounce UN FAO Support for GMOs http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/asia052404.cfm 6. Big Biotech Silencing Critics of Pesticides & GE Crops http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/bigbiotech060304.cfm 7. Organic Consumers Association Campaigning for Food Safety, Organic Agriculture, Fair Trade & Sustainability Millions Against Monsanto If you're talking about PCBs, Agent Orange, Bovine Growth Hormone, water privatization, biopiracy, untested/unlabeled genetically engineered organisms, or persecuting small family farmers, you're talking about the Monsanto Corporation. Monsanto's Government Ties http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.html 8. Scientists Demand Action on Invasive Species: National Environmental Coalition on Invasive Species (NECIS) issued a "Call To Action on Invasive Species." http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/invasive_species/page.cfm?pageID=1275 9. Executive Order 13112 of February 3, 1999 -- Invasive Species http://www.invasivespecies.gov/laws/execorder.shtml 10. Top selling prescription drug (retail sales 2001): Lipitor (Pfizer) a cholesterol reducer $4.52 billion (increase of 22.3% from 2000). Source: National Institute for Healthcare Management Foundation

2004-06-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

The freedom to farm is one of those "self-evident" rights that has been quietly stolen by our paternalistic, corporately controlled government. If you Google "who owns the seed companies" this is one of the pages that comes up. "Seed Industry Giants: Who Owns Whom?" "A shrinking number of colossal companies -- nicknamed the "Gene Giants" -- dominate global sales of seeds and agrochemicals, according to a new report released by the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI). The top five Gene Giants (AstaZeneca, DuPont, Monsanto, Novartis, Aventis) account for nearly two-thirds of the global pesticide market (60%), almost one-quarter (23%) of the commercial seed market, and virtually 100% of the transgenic (genetically engineered) seed market. "The Gene Giants' portfolio extends far beyond plant breeding," explains Pat Mooney, Executive Director of RAFI. "From plants, to animals, to human genetic material, they are fast becoming monopoly monarchs over all the life kingdoms." This ought to be of enormous concern to people who care about health and the environment. No wonder Cannabis is prohibited. Can you imagine the amount of money these companies would lose if the most useful plant in the world were "legal" to grow? Cannabis plays a critical role in organic agriculture, sinking roots deep into the soil, to re-mineralize the soil, stop erosion from wind and rain, and break up soil compaction. Used in rotation with other crops it discourages pest infestation, makes a great seasonal windbreak, attracts wildlife(providing food and cover), and can be made into sprays a nd treatments for other vegetables to protect them from pests. That Cannabis is prohibited makes sustainable organic agriculture in the U.S. and other countries, much less profitable for small scale farmers, and much more profitable for the industrial giants.

2004-05-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

"[Driving] over the cliff" Salon, Tuesday, May 25, 2004 Observations made in "Marching over the cliff" are accurate and insightful. Particularly astute was Mr. AbuKhalil's comment that "Bush's rhetoric...assumes that Arabs and Muslims can easily be manipulated by empty words about "freedom." Will Iraqis really care that Bush has now decided to demolish the Abu Ghraib prison?" No, ofcourse not, but that won't change 'the bottom line.' The "economics of punishment" dictate what happens in Iraq. It is even more profitable to build prisons in Iraq than it is to build them in the U.S. Think "cost overruns." Just look at how much profit has been made building prisons in the United States. The absurdities of the Bush regime have been so obvious and extreme that people seem to have lost sight of the true motivation behind America's corporate outlaw regime. Empty rhetoric fuels the Bush machine, but it doesn't steer it. The shameless, unapologetic lust for money at the highest levels of human governance is what is taking our country off the cliff. This is a clear-cut case of "You f**ked-up, you trusted me," and Bush is making the most of it as long as the suckers are willing to let him get away with the loot. "No honor without impeachment. No justice without prosecution." Paul von Hartmann Project P.E.A.C.E. Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics

2004-05-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

The letter that follows is in response to ""Abuse"? How about torture" The Bush administration has created a gulag that stretches from Afghanistan to Iraq, from Guantanamo to secret CIA prisons around the world. By Sidney Blumenthal http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2004/05/06/torture/ May 6, 2004 "It was "unacceptable" and "un-American," but was it torture? "My impression is that what has been charged thus far is abuse, which I believe technically is different from torture," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday. "I don't know if it is correct to say what you just said, that torture has taken place, or that there's been a conviction for torture. And therefore I'm not going to address the torture word."" So begins Mr. Blumenthal's fine piece of writing. What follows is my letter to Salon: "All Wars Are Torture" by Paul von Hartmann While you are at it, why not expose the mass torture of peaceful civilians, by the Drug Enforcement Administration? What exactly is the difference between taking a safe and effective herbal therapeutic away from people in pain, and inflicting agony and humiliation on someone who is otherwise well? As a person who has used 'marijuana' therapeutically to control muscle spasms and neuralgia (in my head, neck, shoulders, arms and back), resulting from a hang-glider crash that broke my neck, I can assure you that there is no difference at all. The "war on drugs" is as immoral and unnecessary a war as the war in Iraq, with even more victims and casualties. In the U.S., on average one police officer a month is killed enforcing drug laws that have no effect, except to enrich the black market, and make drugs more attractive to rebellious youth. In Colombia, Peru and other countries (including our own), poisonous chemicals are sprayed to eradicate so-called "drug crops"; displacing entire populations, sickening children, women and men, killing crops, ruining ecosystems, spreading biological weapons of mass destruction, obviating food security, violating national and individual sovereignty, causing justifiable anger and moral outrage. An election year is the only time it is possible to demand accountability for the insane prohibitionist policies of our government. Bush, Ashcroft, Cheney, and the others corporate pirates of treasonous ilk must be impeached and criminally prosecuted for crimes against humanity and subversion of the U.S. Constitution, if America is ever to regain the true honor and dignity that people have died to defend. It is horrific to think that denial in this country is so impacted that the atrocities in Iraq are a surprise to anyone. "War is Hell" and torture has always been a part of that vicious decent into the abyss of human depravity, proudly celebrated by our "War President." for peace, Paul von Hartmann Project P.E.A.C.E. Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics http://formalcomplaint.blogspot.com/

2004-05-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

The following is from the website for D1, a biodiesel development company See http://www.d1plc.com/d1usa/index.asp?id=17&page=Mission%20Statement http://www.d1plc.com/d1usa/ MISSION STATEMENT Biodiesel will lead a transformation of The US diesel market over the next five years; replacing 20% of US petroleum based diesel usage with branded Biodiesel. The introduction of Clean Air Acts in several major US cities has resulted in Government policy to introduce a % blend of Biodiesel to all public services and municipalities. Based on the domestic demand, the US is positioned to take a global lead in the development and supply of sustainable, environmentally friendly fuels. D1 USA is positioned to introduce D1 technology on a regional basis throughout the US for the refining of various feedstocks’s either imported or produced domestically. Biodiesel - USA Marketplace Demand · 76,000,000,000 gallons of diesel fuel used in the USA per year. · 80-20 blend yields a 15,200,000,000 gallon marketplace for Biodiesel creating a demand for over 5,000 modular Biodiesel units in the United States or 1,000 large refineries.

2004-05-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

The following information points to the obvious importance of seed oil as a factor in the world economic equation. That soya beans and other oleaginous seed crops are currently being used in preference to Cannabis is a poor choice, considering the relative sustainability, additional uses and agricultural characteristics of all possible crops. Obviously, if prohibition of Cannabis was not a factor, inducing scarcity and impeding development of research and development of the Cannabis industry, the competitive dynamics of the free agricultural economy would be allowed to operate, favoring the considerable advantages of Cannabis over more expensive, unsustainable, and inferior competitors. As development of alternative fuels increasingly favors biodeisel, pyrolytic charcoal and ethanol made from cellulose, the importance of Cannabis as an organic feedstock for production of non-polluting energy is becoming more pronounced. --PvH "The World Market of the oilseeds" World production of oil seeds more than doubled between 1973 and 2000/2001 Oleaginous seeds estimated at 307 million tons in 2000/2001 Vs. 128 million tons in 1973-74 in the space of 27 years it grew by 240% In 2000/01 soya was first place with 171 million tons (56%) Colza(37,6 million tons), cotton, (33.2 million tons), sunflower (23.4 million tons), groundnut (22.9 million tons) U.S.Production The United States is by far the largest oleaginous seed producer, of which nearly 90 % are soya. With a production of 85 million tons, they ensure nearly 30 % of the world production all confused seeds, and 44 % of production of soya beans. European Union with a production of 14,7 million tons in 2000/01 arrive only in sixth position behind The USA, China, Brazil, Argentina and India.

2004-05-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

The following is taken from "Physic Nut," by Joachim Heller. IPGRI, 1996. Heller, Joachim. 1996. Physic nut. Jatropha curcas L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1. Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Gatersleben/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute/Rome. ISBN 92-9043-278-0 "As early as 1911, Rudolf Diesel, who invented the diesel engine, made the following statement in a letter: “It is generally forgotten, that vegetable and animal oils can be used directly in diesel engines. A small diesel engine ran…with peanut oil during the world exhibition of Paris 1900, and which worked so exceptionally well, that the change of fuel was realized by only a few visitors” (Kiefer 1986). In experiments carried out until 1950, vegetable oils were used without problem in common engines with prechamber injection. Henning and Kone reported activities involving the use of physic nut oil in engines in Segou, Mali during World War II. Since the oil crisis of the 1970s and recognition of the limitations of world oil resources, this technology has received special attention. Most of the research was carried out in temperate regions with the aim of making available to farmers possibilities for diversifying in view of the increasing subsidy-driven surpluses in traditional commodities. Another argument for the cultivation of oil crops for energy purposes is the increasing global warming/greenhouse effect. When these fuels are burned, the atmosphere is not polluted by Carbon dioxide, since this has already been assimilated during the growth of the crops. The CO2 balance, therefore, remains equable.” A wide array of technical options is available for using vegetable oil in diesel engines. The filtered oil can be use directly in many suitable engines (Deutz, Hatz, IFA, Elsbett, DMS, Farymann, and Lister-type(India)). These include, apart from prechamber injection, direct-injection engines which can be used in a stationary way to drive mills and generators or in vehicles. All the engines were tested in long-term experiments with different vegetable oils…” “Transesterfied oil can be used in any diesel engine. This process is normally carried out in centralized plants since the small-scale economy of transesterification has not been determined. During the process, methanol, a highly flammable and toxic chemical has to be used. This requires explosion-proof mixing equipment which might not always be available in certain developing countries. An Austrian-funded project in Nicaragua is constructing a plant that aims to produce 1600 t of methyl esters annually at a cost of US$0.74 per gallon. G.F. van Grieken assessed the energy efficiency of EMAT (Ester Metilico de Ester et de Tempate) process is high, with an energy input:output ratio of 1:5.2.” A recent development is the “Schur Diesel” where vegetable oil (80%), petrol (14%), alcohol (6%) and a certain amount of an unknown component are mixed. This fuel can be used in all Diesel engines (Lutz 1992; Anon. 1993). However, owing to the unavailability of petrol and alcohol in rural areas of developing countries, this process might not yet be applicable for such areas. In general, it would appear that the technological basis presents no problems and has been resolved. Economic analyses have been demonstrated that physic nut fuel can compete with [petroleum] Diesel fuel in villages in Mali (Demant and Gajo 1992; Henning and von Mitzlaff 1995). Limitations of the crop The only real limitation of this crop is that the seeds are toxic and the press cake cannot be used as a fodder. The press cake can only be used, therefore, as organic manure. The low yields revealed in several projects may have been caused by the fact that unadapted provenances had been used. If investigation of its genetic diversity and its yield potential had been covered by adequate scientific research, this problem could have been overcome.

2004-05-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

From Salon Technology Letters from Salon's readers, responding to Katharine Mieszkowski's "Just Say No, to Hydrogen." (The article can be found at: http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/04/29/hydrogen_no/index.html Letters in response to the article can be found at http://www.salon.com/tech/letters/2004/05/04/hydrogen/ May 4, 2004 The following is a letter that I feel deserves particular attention, so I am reproducing it here for people to consider: Dear Editors Joseph Romm makes some excellent points about why hydrogen is not the environmental panacea that its boosters portray. However, his presentation of the alternatives is similarly shortsighted. Hybrid-electric gasoline vehicles are certainly efficient, but efficiency alone is not sufficient to address the myriad problems caused by the petroleum economy. While Mr. Romm mentions ethanol, he completely ignores what is perhaps the most promising biofuel on the market today -- biodiesel. Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oil in a simple process. It can even be made from used fryer oil recovered from restaurant grease dumpsters. Using ethanol in gasoline engines requires modifications, but biodiesel can be used in diesel engines with no modifications, in any blend with petrodiesel. Modern diesel passenger cars, which are currently very popular in Europe, match or surpass the performance of their gasoline equivalents in terms of efficiency, acceleration, noise, and emissions. A diesel Volkswagen Passat can be expected to get 40-50 mpg on the highway. Diesel vehicles available in Europe can get up to 100 mpg. These are not hybrids, and therefore avoid the serious battery disposal problems that hybrids pose at the end of their life. Moreover, biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine -- from a big rig to a garden tractor. Using biodiesel in these vehicles is proven to slash emissions in nearly every category. Because the fuel is made from crops, no carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, and there is no need to secure petroleum supplies in hostile lands. Biodiesel is currently used by the federal government in the national parks, by the city of Berkeley, Calif., in all its vehicles, and by a large number of individuals all around the country. This fuel has grown so popular in the San Francisco Bay Area that the market for used diesel vehicles has become highly competitive. Unlike hydrogen or gasoline-electric cars, biodiesel has the potential to be a truly sustainable, domestically produced transportation fuel solution that requires minimal investment in infrastructure or vehicles. It is available today in most urban and many rural areas. For these reasons, I was very surprised that biodiesel was not even mentioned in this article. -- Carl Lenox

2004-04-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

USDA heads up ARS bio-terrorism vs. Cannabis More schizophrenic "drug war science" is being conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Since 1999, Congress has been funding a study that is preparing to import insect pest species from Eurasia, in 2005, to feed on Cannabis in the United States (and ofcourse, beyond). Intentionally infesting the American continent with insects destructive to an unique and essential "strategic" food resource, particularly during a period of "national emergency"(1) can reasonably be considered ill-advised, if not actually treasonous, biological warfare. The environmental and economic impact of unleashing non-indigenous pest species on North America has the potential to ravage an industry whose true value has been re-discovered in many parts of the world, including the U.S. The following is excerpt from The Annual Report for "Classical Biological Control of Narcotic Plants"(2) "University of California scientists are now working jointly on this project with ARS personnel. They have organized overseas cooperators who will conduct foreign exploration trips to identify new natural enemies of Cannabis sativa in Eurasia and have made preliminary assessments in China and Kazakhstan. Cooperative projects are now being established with scientific institutions in each of these countries and research plans are now being made to identify, collect and test natural enemies of the target plant in each of these countries. UC Davis and ARS scientists have already visited India and Nepal where some natural enemies were located. Project personnel have begun assembling the plant growth and testing facilities in the US for quarantine host-specificity and efficacy evaluations. We expect DEA certification in the fall of 2002 and have been training personnel on surrogate natural enemies so that Cannabis testing can begin as soon as plant and insect materials are available. This work is expected to allow the testing and selection of new effective and safe biological control agents to aid in the management of Cannabis sativa in the United States." "Research was initiated on this project at the request of Congress and the State Department to identify new biologically based methods of controlling marijuana. Cooperating foreign institutions in Italy, Russia, China and Kazakhstan conducted both field and literature surveys for natural enemies of Cannabis sativa and selected two primary candidates (Psylliodes attenuata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and Cardipennis rubripes (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to begin further host-specificity and biology research on. "If eventually found appropriate for use, these agents will be evaluated in US quarantine facilities and might be used to control cannabis in the United States. "Such agents will first be evaluated under quarantine conditions, further considered for effectiveness using newly developed computer simulation models and then finally made available when determined to be appropriate for general field release and approved by regulatory agencies. This should lead to the availability of new biological control agents for this narcotic plant." (End of Document) To begin with, the unprofessional character of this study can be readily appreciated by pointing out that Cannabis is not a "narcotic plant." Cannabis is in fact the best available source of organic vegetable protein on Earth, and a uniquely essential, critically determinate organic rotational crop. Biological warfare against the most useful agricultural resource on Earth is a critical mistake. Clearly this violates common sense, several laws, and international treaties, including the recently ratified THE INTERNATIONAL TREATY ON PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE "Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are crucial in feeding the world's population. They are the raw material that farmers and plant breeders use to improve the quality and productivity of our crops. The future of agriculture depends on international cooperation and on the open exchange of the crops and their genes that farmers all over the world have developed and exchanged over 10,000 years. No country is sufficient in itself. All depend on crops and the genetic diversity within these crops from other countries and regions. "After seven years of negotiations, the FAO Conference (through Resolution 3/2001) adopted the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, in November 2001. This legally-binding Treaty covers all plant genetic resources relevant for food and agriculture. It is in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity. "The Treaty is vital in ensuring the continued availability of the plant genetic resources that countries will need to feed their people. We must conserve for future generations the genetic diversity that is essential for food and agriculture." (End of Document) Global System on Plant Genetic Resources "The development of the Global System on Plant Genetic Resources began in 1983 with the establishment of the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources (now the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture - CGRFA). The objectives of the Global System are to ensure the safe conservation, and promote the availability and sustainable use of plant genetic resources by providing a flexible framework for sharing the benefits and burdens. The CGRFA, with its Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, monitors and coordinates the development of the Global System." (End of Document) Obviously the implications of such irrationality demonstrated in this research go beyond issues of scientific competence and inconsistency of government policy. In the interest of being somewhat brief, anyone interested in further analysis and referenced opinion is welcome to visit the newest of several P.E.A.C.E. blogs, at http://cannabiswars.blogspot.com/ for peace, Paul von Hartmann Project P.E.A.C.E. Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics http://www.webspawner.com/users/projectpeace/ References: 1. EXECUTIVE ORDER 12919. NATIONAL DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES PREPAREDNESS. Signed William J. Clinton, President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (64 Stat. 79 8; 50 U.S.C. App. 2 061, et se q.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States. THE WHITE HOUSE, June 6, 1994. "PART IX - GENERAL PROVISIONS (e) "Food resources" means all commodities and products, simple, mixed, or compound, or complements to such commodities or products, that are capable of being ingested by either human beings or animals, irrespective of other uses to which such commodities or products may be put, at all stages of processing from the raw commodity to the products thereof in vendible form for human or animal consumption. "Food resources" also means all starches, sugars, vegetable and animal or marine fats and oils, cotton, tobacco, wool, mohair, hemp..." See http://formalcomplaint.blogspot.com/ 2."Classical Biological Control of Narcotic Plants" ARS Annual Report http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?ACCN_NO=402468&showpars=true&fy=2003 3. "THE INTERNATIONAL TREATY ON PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE" http://www.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/itpgr.htm 4. "Global System on Plant Genetic Resources" http://www.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/PGR.htm _________________ Project P.E.A.C.E. - Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics, an individual, global communication and Natural Order of the Arts project http://www.formalcomplaint.blogspot.com

2004-04-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Medical 'marijuana' , is "the safest therapeutically active substance known to man." (DEA Judge Francis Young, 1988) This explains much about why an end to prohibition of therapeutic herbs is so vigorously opposed by drug companies. In obvious economic competition with Naturally available Cannabis, the "hard drug" industry cannot afford to allow a truly "free market" economy in agricultural therapeutics. Against all credible science, prohibition has spuriously categorized Cannabis as a "dangerous drug," in an attempt to obscure the true value of Cannabis as the world's safest herbal therapeutic. In addition, because the seed of the Cannabis plant is the most healing source of essential fatty acids (EFAs) on Earth, "white market" drug companies and other industries profiting from illness, would lose billions of dollars if prohibition were to end. Not coincidentally, these industries comprise the corporate cabal in which our corrupt political elite is heavily vested. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the richest, most politically influential entities in the world. Corporate "legal drug dealers" buy considerable political clout in order to defeat the competition from Naturally occuring healing herbs. By maintaining prohibition, the drug companies and the politicians vested in them, assure that there is a steady supply of sick people to profit from, falling ill with cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other serious illnesses. It is estimated that 75% of the diseases that are likely to kill people living in developed countries are the result of fat dgeneration at the cellular level (Erasmus). Millions of people are subjected to poor health as the result of prohibition, as they are kept ignorant and cut-off from the healing nutrition of Cannabis seed, and the healing benefits of 'marijuana.' To a great extent, people limited by prohibition laws are prevented from accessing and developing experience with effective herbal therapeutics. People are effectively forced to consume concentrated chemical medications with serious "side-effects." These "white market" chemical drugs account for more than 120,000 deaths per year in the U.S. alone. "The drug companies want control, rather than just a ban, for they know the medicinal benefits of marijuana. They have attempted to substitute synthetic derivatives for the raw herb, because the raw herb cannot be patented." - Ed Rosenthal and Steve Kubby, "Why Marijuana Should be Legal" "On May 21, 2003, GW Pharmaceuticals announced their marketing partnership with Bayer AG. GW Pharmaceuticals and Bayer AG have entered into an exclusive marketing agreement for GW's cannabis-based medicinal extract product, to be marketed under the brand name Sativex." "According to Reuters, Bayer will pay GW up to 25 million pounds ($41 million US) for exclusive rights to market Sativex in Britain. Dr Guy told Reuters he was comfortable with analyst forecasts of peak annual sales of 250 million pounds in initial markets of Europe and Canada. Shares in GW shot up on news of the deal." --'Pharmaceutical pot alert' by David Malmo-Levine (15 Mar, 2004) http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3263.html (End of Document) The criminal activities of George Bush include comprimizing the office of the President to afford tax breaks to industries in which Bush has "politiconomic" ties and interests. The following article "Tax Breaks For Donors" may be found in its entirety at http://www.campaignmoney.org/spotlight/sis04_15_04.htm By David Donnelly, Director, Campaign Money Watch April 15, 2004 Some of the nation’s wealthiest CEOs have been so energized to support President Bush’s campaign that they have personally raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for him. As Americans file their income tax forms today, this special edition Special Interest Spotlight provides a glimpse into one reason (for some there are many) why some of these titans of finance, insurance, and other industries are so personally supportive of President Bush: His tax cuts saved them an extraordinary large amount of money. Here is a look at just six of Bush’s super-fundraisers: Name of Bush fundraiser 2003 total compensation Est. min. tax savings from Bush : Henry McKinnell CEO, Pfizer Raised $200,000+ for Bush $11.9 million $244,214 Est. min. tax savings from Bush (Note: See http://www.pfizer.com/do/medicines/mn_geodon_managing.html#fourteen for specific reference to the dangers of "pot" at Pfizer's website, grouped with such chemical drugs as alcohol, cocaine, "crack" and "speed." -PvH) E. Stanley O’Neal CEO, Merrill Lynch Raised $500,000+ for Bush $8.8 million $351,900 Est. min. tax savings from Bush Charles Cawley CEO, MBNA America Raised $200,000+ for Bush $29.1 million $276,000 Est. min. tax savings from Bush William McGuire CEO, UnitedHealth Group Raised $100,000+ for Bush $9.5 million $329,866 Est. min. tax savings from Bush Dwight Schar CEO, NVR Raised $200,000+ for Bush $94.3 million $138,000 Est. min. tax savings from Bush Maurice Greenberg CEO, American International Group Raised $200,000+ for Bush $29.4 million $276,000 Est. min. tax savings from Bush The information in this chart comes from Forbes.com, WhiteHouseForSale.org, and National Journal. The minimum tax savings from the Bush tax cut is estimate based upon calculating the portion of 2003 income, as reported by Forbes.com, that each CEO received in direct pay and bonuses multiplied by the new lower tax rate of 35%, as opposed to the 39.6% rate before Bush took office. ABOUT THE SPECIAL INTEREST SPOTLIGHT The Special Interest Spotlight is a regular report on money in politics. It is published by Campaign Money Watch, a nonprofit campaign finance reform group that holds candidates accountable for the special favors they do for their contributors and for opposing comprehensive reform. Please pass this along to other interested people. (End of Document) The following information points out how people working to heal nutritionally deficient children, occupy the same organization that's developing biological strategies to eliminate the most nutritious food on Earth. Because of the exceptional healing properties of Cannabis seed, and Cannabis seed oil, I would suggest that one potent therapy worth trying is inclusion of these foods into the diets of FTT children (and their parents!). Cannabis oil slows digestion, cleans cholesterol from the blood, rebuilds the cells walls of the intestines, all of which allows for more complete digestion and more efficient absorbtion of nutrients. The effects of injesting Cannabis seed, improving the vitality in every system in our bodies, makes Cannabis the first choice for a nutritional therapeutic approach to healing. USDA / Agricultural Research Service http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031230020257.htm Date: 2003-12-30 "Scientists Investigate Childhood Nutrition Mystery's Causes, Effects" Scientists funded by the Agricultural Research Service are investigating how nutrition may affect children who develop normally in most ways but grow slowly in the first three years of life. Pediatricians describe this condition as "failure to thrive" (FTT). Children with FTT fall behind their peers not only physically but also in learning the basic school skills of reading, spelling and arithmetic. Unlike children who simply don't grow as tall as their peers, FTT children apparently fail to make use of adequate nutrition to grow and gain weight as expected. ARS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency, is funding research at the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center (ACNC), which is managed in cooperation with ARS and the Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, Ark. Roscoe A. Dykman and Terry Pivik, psychophysiologists at the center's Brain Functions Laboratory, are interested in how children diagnosed with FTT utilize what they eat, and how this impacts their brains and behavior. It's not known whether FTT is a disorder that blocks or interferes with nutrient absorption or if it is caused by lower-than-normal food intake. Either way, it results in central nervous system dysfunctions. What's Related Five-Year-Old Girls With High Cholesterol Are More Likely To Be Overweight At Age Twelve Elimination Of Household Allergens And Pollutants Could Reduce Asthma Nearly 40 Percent High Rate Of Heart-Related Deaths Found In HIV-Infected Children (End of Document) Speaking from my own experience, the nutritional benefits of Cannabis seed, combined with relaxational benefits of Cannabis essential oils and 'marijuana' vaporizing therapy, is an ideal combination of complimentary, holistic healthcare, which affords me with optimum health, and energy.

2004-04-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

Knowledge, observations and references presented here are intended to delineate the obvious, direct correlation between prohibition of the world's most useful, nutritious, and potentially abundant rotational crop, and our species degenerative slide toward extinction. Inevitably, the lack of a functionally determinate resource results in armed aggression, analogous to the violent behavior observed in rats attacking each other in a resource deficient cage. The direct relationship between Cannabis prohibition and the war in Iraq is quite fundamental and tragically predictable. Cannabis prohibition has induced essential resource scarcity (ERS) for sixty-seven years. Over time, this has resulted in a warped environmental, economic, and social dynamic which has skewed the values, laws and spiritual integrity of our species. These perverse and avoidable dynamics include wars to acquire the world's principle energy resource, petroleum. At the same time, moralistic "drug wars" are being used to play on people's fears, employing false morality to perpetuate an insidious dynamic of intolerance, which legitimizes and empowers the Economics of Punishment. For more further explanation of these relationships by Paul J. von Hartmann, please see the following: http://www.webspawner.com/users/projectpeace/ http://formalcomplaint.blogspot.com/ http://fundamentalcoot.blogspot.com/ http://profotos.com/pros/profiles/index.cfm?member=530 http://consciousevolution.blogspot.com/ http://www.webspawner.com/users/seedoftruth/ All writing by Paul J. von Hartmann is available to anyone, to distribute and republish. The author requests notification of such distributuion. Anyone interested in contacting Project P.E.A.C.E. is invited to do so at projectpeace@yahoo.com

2004-04-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

This was written in response to an article in Salon entitled "Turning into Israel?" by Juan Cole. The full article is located at http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/04/16/israel/ Dr. Cole is professor of Modern Middle Eastern and South Asian History at the University of Michigan and author of "Sacred Space and Holy War" (IB Tauris, 2002). Dear Salon Editors, The unlawful regime occupying the White House ought to be occupying "The Big House." By any measure, Bush & Co are traitors and criminals, operating against the U.S. Constutution and the Rule of Law, in Iraq, within the United States, and in other countries all over the world. For Americans to regain credibility within the global community, the people of the U.S. must reign-in and hold accountable, our lying cowboy President and prosecute him for crimes against humanity. Otherwise, the terrorism will never stop. One example of such unaccountable atrocities is the use of depleted uranium (DU) bombs in Iraq. In addition to inflicting immeasureable harm on people exposed to DU (including U.S. soldiers), the effects of radiation are spreading to those as yet unborn, manifested in birth defects due to the persistent contamination. Another example of criminal neglience and abuse of power is the continued spraying of glyphosate, linked by scientists to the spread of Fusarium oxysporum. Glyphosate is being used to eradicate Cannabis and other therapeutically active crops, in the U.S. and South America. The only measureable effect drug eradication efforts have is to drive up the price of prohibited plants on the illegal black market. In the U.S., the drug war wastes $50 Billion per year in counter-productive policies, exposing people to a variety of dangers resulting from the dynamics being created. It has been pointed out that if someone wanted to disperse biological agents (i.e. anthrax) throughout the U.S. population, then infection of the illegal drug supply would be an effective means of doing so. Because prohibition obviates regulation and control of drugs, while economically empowering the distributors of illegal substances, this is one danger that cannot be minimized or ignored. Until the people of the United States fully acknowledge that our governmnet has perpetrated illegal actions and demands accountability for crimes which have been committed, then the equally violent and illegal reactions from people being wronged will continue. The rogue behavior of the Bush administration is the worst possible threat this nation faces. It is unconscionable to allow blatant violations of the principles upon which this country was founded. To condone the flagrant abuses of power which BushCo and Ariel Sharon are guilty of, invites retalliation. Certainly there is no justification for "terrorism." Two wrongs have never made a right. The fact remains, however, that the U.S. political machine has been used to kill innocent people in Iraq first. When people are attacked, they will strike back in any way they can. As the U.S continues to kill innocent people in Iraq, there is nothing more certain than the inevitability of another terrorist attack in the U.S. Unless the people of the United States honor justice and law, by impeaching George Bush and allowing judgement by an objective, criminal court, then the terrorists will be further empowered by the illegal and immoral activities of the Bush regime, in which the American people are being conscripted. for peace, Paul J. von Hartmann Project P.E.A.C.E. Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics http://www.webspawner.com/users/projectpeace/ http://formalcomplaint.blogspot.com/ http://projectpeace.blogspot.com/