First paragraph (Teaser):

As my friend, the former President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo, said, the protesters seem strangely determined to save the developing world from development.

Rest of the text:

U.S. Dept. of Peace Forming ::: Bush from World Bank

Bush to American People ; "Who cares what you think?"

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From RobynJean Wolf

When the President was here on July 4, I had the opportunity to shake his
hand. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not but I did it anyway, and
said to him, "Mr. President, I hope you only serve four years. I'm very
disappointed in your work so far."

He kept smiling and shaking my hand but answered, "Who cares what you
think?"

His face stayed photo-op perfect, but his eyes gave me a look that said, if
we'd been drinking in some frathouse in Texas, he would have happily
answered, "Let's take it outside." A nasty little gleam. But he was (fortunately)
constrained by Presidential propriety.

But that was the end of it until I turned away and started scribbling the
quote down in my notepad, so as to remember the "Gift" forever. When he saw
me do that, he got excited and craned his neck over the rubberneckers to
shout at me, "Who are you with? Who are you with?" People started looking,
so he made a joke: "Make sure you get it right." But he kept at it: "Who do you
write for?"

I told him I wasn't "with" anybody and pointed to one of his staff people
who knows me a little, and said, "Ask him, he'll tell you." Then I split.

Half an hour later, my boss (who had helped organize the event we were at)
came up to me and said, "Did you really tell the President that he was doing
a 'lousy fucking job'?"

"No way," I said, "I was very polite, I just told him what I thought."
Fortunately, he believed me. He wasn't happy with me, but he believed me.
But anyway, if you ever wondered if the Prez really was kind of a jerk, I'm here
to tell you, he is, and I got The Gift to prove it. I'm thinking of making
up t-shirts so we can share The Gift with everyone:

"Who cares what you think?" - President George W. Bush, July 4, 2001

I care what you think about this if you'd like to respond.

RobynJean Wolf

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Earth to Bush

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By U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer

Remember this?

Think back. It's October 2000. The evening news is on and candidate George W. Bush says, "I will delay any efforts to take more arsenic out of drinking water. And I promise to slash funding for the federal enforcement of our nation's environmental laws."

The announcer comes on to say, "Candidate Bush also said he favors oil drilling in our National Monuments, road construction in our virgin forests, and in response to a question about reducing harmful greenhouse gases, Bush said, and I quote, 'Kyoto is a place I haven't been and I dare not go.'"

Of course, you don't remember this because it never happened. Candidate Bush never told us his real plan. Instead, when asked about his position on the environment, he responded with statements like: "Prosperity will mean little if we leave future generations a world of polluted air, toxic lakes and rivers and vanished forests."

But in less than one hundred days, President Bush's real plan has become increasingly clear. He has declared war on our environment -- rolling back environmental protections at each and every turn.

Over the past week, we have seen President Bush tout his "environmental accomplishments" like he's back on the campaign trail. Take for instance, the press conference the Bush Administration staged at the White House announcing that he will stop delaying a rule that requires industries to inform communities when they release harmful levels of lead. While this is a decision the American people should be happy with, it's a happiness that comes from Bush doing nothing ñ leaving a regulation in place that never should have been changed. So President Bush and EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman are trumpeting a Clinton rule -- one which they threatened unnecessarily to repeal. It's hardly an Earth Day blockbuster. It's hardly a move that even justifies bragging rights.

Last month the Bush Administration eliminated a new standard for arsenic in drinking water, replacing it with a standard set nearly sixty years ago in 1942. But with Earth Day on the horizon, the Bush Team changed their tune and announced the President's plans to set a new standard by next year. They neglected to point out that his delay will probably result in a standard far less stringent than the Clinton standard. They failed to mention that it ignores years of scientific studies that show exposure to high levels of arsenic in water can cause cancer of the lung, skin and bladder. President Bush has chosen to ignore the risks, opting instead to pay back big polluters with this unnecessary delay.

When examining the Bush Administration's war on the environment, we can add to the list of casualties a new rule that would protect from roads and logging 60 million acres of our last remaining untouched areas of national forests. And then there is the delay of a rule that would require hard rock mining companies to clean up their messes, including cyanide runoff. Again, the President chose to pay back industry, rather than protecting our environment and our health.

President Bush's budget proposal also contains some unpleasant surprises. The President proposes to eliminate the ability of citizens to challenge the Department of Interior for failing to protect endangered species. He also proposes cutting funds for federal enforcement of our existing environmental laws, including those that protect our air and water.

And we cannot forget that the President supports oil drilling in one of our most pristine wildlife areas, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling will bring roads, pipelines and oil spills to this national treasure. But President Bush has chosen to threaten thousands of years of unspoiled evolution for a meager six-month supply of crude oil.

Last but not least, no examination of the President's onslaught on the environment would be complete without a mention of his campaign pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. President Bush reneged on his promise to curb this harmful pollutant and walked away from the Kyoto Treaty, an international agreement designed to combat global warming. When given the choice of protecting our environment and living up to his word or doing the bidding of special interests, the President reveals his true colors when he chooses time and time again to reward industry.

Whitman has defended the actions of the Bush Administration stating: "This is not an anti-environmental administration." That is not exactly an inspiring comment, but as weak as it is, it is false. President Bush's record paints a strikingly different picture.

The record also raises important questions about election 2000. If voters knew then what they know now about President Bush's plans for the environment, would he have gotten as many votes as he did? I believe the answer is a resounding no and I haven't even gotten into the issue of a woman's right to choose!

http://www.truthout.com/forum.htm

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Nice Guys Finish Last

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By Barbra Streisand

This is a key moment in our history. We cannot let the right wing roll back thirty years of social progress. We must mount a strong, strategic and targeted offense against the Republican revolution that is now sweeping all branches of government.

Democrats should have one goal, and that's to win back the House, Senate and Presidency so they can fight for and represent the needs of ordinary Americans. Unless we win, we'll be consistently on the defensive with our fingers holding the dyke against the resurgence of the far right. We should draw attention to the differences in our parties, hold accountable those currently in power and make them pay for their actions on Election Day. This is not a time to be weak.

The public responds to strength. Democrats don't have to be ruthless like the Republicans, they just have to be strong. Remember the example set by Reagan, with whom the public consistently disagreed on policy issues while they strongly approved of him. They respected the fact that he held strong beliefs, even if they disagreed with the beliefs themselves. I think they feel the same way about George W. Bush. Look at his ratings - how could such a destructive man be so popular with the American people?

George W. Bush has turned out to be exactly the man we knew he was. Why is anyone surprised? Those who knew his abominable record in Texas aren't surprised. Actions always speak louder than words. The promises with which he wooed centrist voters are the promises that have been broken. Not only is he poisoning our air and water by withdrawing his promise to enforce carbon dioxide emissions standards and arsenic regulations, but he's poisoning our political system as well. Bipartisanship only works if you can trust the other side. As we have learned in the past weeks, we cannot trust George W. Bush.

We have a President who was selected rather than elected. He stole the presidency through family ties, arrogance and intimidation, employing Republican operatives to exercise the tactics of voter fraud by disenfranchising thousands of blacks, elderly Jews and other minorities. Don't forget the five "wise men and women" of the Supreme Court installed the President they wanted in the White House, ignoring the will of the people. In my view, that was the "Supreme Coup".

Sometime this year, Justices Rehnquist and O'Connor will probably resign. Democrats have the numbers and they must have the will to filibuster against a right wing assault. Democrats should not be afraid to speak out and remind the public of what happened last November. Perhaps some of them are up for reelection and, therefore, might be afraid to rock the boat. Well, I disagree. Rocking the boat is what wins elections!

Ralph Nader had the audacity during the election to say there is no difference between the two parties. How preposterous and tragic that campaign ploy now proves to be. Even his own environmental concerns are victims of the Bush Presidency he helped to create. We have a Congress passing laws that benefit the privileged few at the expense of the working men and women of this country. We have a Supreme Court favoring the rights of multi-national corporations over most Americans. We must speak out against this injustice.

Our nightmare has become a reality. We knew this would happen but prayed we were wrong. It is unbelievable to me how quickly Bush and the Republicans have moved in the past several months. They have re-instituted the Reagan global gag rule banning critical funding to international organizations that perform pro-choice services, which will lead to further over-population and a rapid increase in the spread of AIDS. They have overruled Congressional laws protecting the rights of the more than 40 million disabled Americans. They have overturned safety regulations that were ten years in the making and protect American workers from some of the most common work-related injuries. They have revoked rules requiring government contractors to hire union employees. They have removed the American Bar Association from the review of potential court appointees, making it easier for radical right judges to be appointed. The man who stole the slogan "Leave No Child Behind" has proposed $200 million in cuts for childcare programs, leaving these same children behind. Where is the compassion in this kind of conservatism?

Who benefits from this Republican strategy? Those who bought and paid for the election of George W. Bush - corporate America, that's who...banking and financial corporations like MBNA, chemical companies, energy companies and the oil industry.

George W. Bush's first months in office have been filled with shameless quid pro quos and paybacks. There are some quid pro quos that don't hurt anyone. Others, that put private interests over the needs of the American people, are quite destructive. More than $3 billion was spent on federal campaigns last election cycle. Even if we can't directly link this money to votes taken in Congress, it is obvious that money buys influence and access under the current system.

And how long will we continue to let the Republicans use the pardon issue as a tool of distraction? Why focus such attention on contributions to a Presidential Library Foundation? Democrats should talk about Republican pardons. George Bush protected himself by pardoning those linked to him in the Iran-Contra scandal. He pardoned a heroin drug trafficker and a terrorist who was responsible for 73 deaths. Clinton's pardons have no impact on the health and welfare of the American people. What the Republicans are doing to our country does! As Rose Kennedy said about John Kennedy: "Great men have great flaws." But they still can achieve great things.

Democrats need to speak on TV, on radio, on the Internet and in the newspapers about the election and keep hammering home the legislative favors Bush is granting his corporate supporters in exchange for their campaign contributions. Journalists need to spend the same amount of energy and resources investigating Bush and Cheney as they spent over the past decade investigating the Democrats. Democrats need to organize, to motivate, to inspire the disillusioned citizens and the disenfranchised voters of this country who think their votes don't matter. Democrats must reach out to voters who want sane gun control, voters who want to protect choice, voters dedicated to saving the environment.

Unfortunately, some people are still being fooled by Bush. Many voters are not sufficiently informed to protect their own self-interests. Some of the public seem to believe the Republican rhetoric that big government is bad. They need to realize that government spending means money spent on people; on the social services they all benefit from like after-school programs, safe highways and food inspections. I find it ironic that the Republican mantra against big government wants that same government to invade our bodies and our bedrooms...the most private of issues.

Despite the problems we face, Democrats are the party of, by and for the people while Republicans are the party of, by and for the corporation. Democrats must keep reminding people of that! Democratic leaders and policymakers have to fight for the concepts and ideals that have shaped the Democratic party for generations. Our country cannot afford to wait. Just being nice doesn't work. Democrats should fight before it's too late! There's not a moment to lose.

http://www.barbrastreisand.com/news_niceguys.html

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Bay Area Group Promoting US Department of Peace

****************************************

For Immediate release
July 11, 2001

In the midst of recent news accounts concerning the fear that President
George W. Bush's proposal for a missile defense system will cause a new arms
race, plans for a cabinet-level US Department of Peace will be a breath of
fresh air and hope for peace loving people everywhere.

According to Alan Moore, the group's Bay area director, "Congressman Dennis
J. Kucinich has endorsed our plans to produce concerts and events in support
of this effort. The Department of Peace Act, was introduced in the House of
Representatives on July 11, 2001. Musicians and Fine Artists for World Peace
has the potential to be an extremely vibrant advocate for World Change."
The group plans to place full-page ads in Bay area newspapers and is looking
for corporate, business and organizational support and sponsors for the ads,
workshops and concerts that are being planned.

Volunteer opportunities include lobbying area legislators to cosponsor the
bill, publicity, marketing, brochure design, flyering, telephoning,
printing, business management, grant writing, event organizing, canvassing and
fundraising. The group also needs volunteers and educators to get our
nonviolence education programs within Bay area schools. Moore has been
named the Western States Program Director for the International Association of
Educators for World Peace-IAEWP. Last week at the their World Peace
Conference in Greenwich England, a proclamation was endorsed asking the
world's leaders to set up similar Departments of Peace in their perspective
countries.

In the San Francisco Bay area a campaign to support a Department of Peace is
under way. Activists, producers, dancers, musicians, and artists have been
coming together to promote not only peace, but a cultural and musical
renaissance reminiscent of what happened here in the sixties with the Be-Ins
and Summer of Love. Bay area venues that have joined in this effort include
Palookaville in Santa Cruz, Ashkenaz in Berkeley, Maritime Hall, Paradise
Lounge, Anon Salon, Ambient Groove Temple and Earthdance International in
San Francisco, New George's in San Rafael, the Groove Garden in Fairfax, the
Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, and Club Fab in Guerneville.

In addition to the group's interest in world peace and the environment, they
also plan to work on campaign and election reform, the abolition or reform
of the Electoral College, supporting a cabinet-level Department of Peace,
reforming the criminal justice system and the three strikes law, making the
office of public defender an elected position, corporate responsibility,
supporting and developing sustainable communities, helping indigenous
causes, increasing funding for art and music, and making life easier for artists and
musicians who are an important ingredient to transforming and improving our
lives. We will also be working in collaboration with Project Chrysalis.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) believes that a new, broad-based
approach to peaceful, nonviolent conflict resolution at both domestic and
international levels is needed.

“The time has come to review age-old challenges with new thinking,” Kucinich
said. “I am introducing this conceptual framework with the hopes that a
Department of Peace can eventually emerge holding peace as an organizing
principle in government while coordinating service to every level of American society.”

The Department of Peace would be responsible for a wide range of activities
which involve promoting and facilitating peaceful, nonviolent conflict
resolution. Domestically, the Department of Peace would be charged with
developing policies which address issues such as domestic violence, spousal
abuse, child abuse and mistreatment of the elderly. The Department would
also have an international mandate by analyzing foreign policy and making
recommendations to the President on matters pertaining to national security,
including the protection of human rights and the prevention and
de-escalation of unarmed and armed international conflict.

For more info on the Department of Peace and comment:::

http://www.house.gov/kucinich/action/peace.htm

Alan D. Moore
Musicians and Fine Artists for World Peace/Director
Butterfly Gardeners Association & Project Chrysalis/Director
1563 Solano Ave. #477, Berkeley, CA 94707
510-528-7730

Email: bfly...@aol.com
http://www.woodstocknation.org/Performing.htm

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President Bush's Remarks at the World Bank on G-8 Summit

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July 17, 2001

My last trip to Europe focused mainly on opening the doors of freedom throughout Europe by enlarging NATO and the European Union. Tomorrow I will travel to Europe to meet with leaders of the world's most industrialized nations, as well as Russia, to discuss the developing world and its needs, and the developed world and our duties.

Free trade applies the power of markets to the needs of the poor. We know that nations that open their economies to the benefits of trade are more successful in climbing out of poverty. We know that giving developing countries greater access to world markets can quickly and dramatically raise investment levels and incomes. We also know that free trade encourages the habits of liberty that sustain freedom over the long haul.

We have, today, the opportunity to include all the world's poor in an expanding circle of development, throughout all the Americas, all of Asia, and all of Africa. This is a great moral challenge, what Pope John Paul II called, placing the freedom of the market in the service of human freedom in its totality. Our willingness to recognize that with freedom comes great responsibility, especially for the least among us, may take the measure of the 21st century.

This cause is a priority of the United States foreign policy, because we do recognize our responsibilities, and because having strong and stable nations as neighbors in the world is in our own best interests.

In centuries past, strong nations often wanted weak neighbors to dominate. In our age, strong nations must recognize the benefits of successful partners around the world. Strong partners export their products, not their problems. Conquering poverty creates new customers. And a world that is more free and more prosperous is also a world much more likely to remain at peace.

This requires a new strategic framework that moves beyond Cold War doctrines and addresses the threats of a new century such as cyberterrorism, weapons of mass destruction, missiles in the hands of those for whom terror and blackmail are a very way of life. These threats have the potential to destabilize freedom and progress, and we will not permit it.

Our second goal is to ignite a new era of global economic growth through a world trading system that is dramatically more open and more free. One of the most important objectives of my meetings with other G-7 leaders in Italy will be to secure their strong endorsement for a launch of a new round of global trade negotiations later this year.

That is why I applaud the World Bank's leadership in helping countries build the institutions and expertise they need to benefit from trade.

Despite trade's proven track record for lifting the lives of the poor, organizers of the summit expect many people to take to the streets later this week in Italy to try to stop our progress. They seek to shut down meetings because they want to shut down free trade. I respect the right to peaceful expression, but make no mistake -- those who protest free trade are no friends of the poor. Those who protest free trade seek to deny them their best hope for escaping poverty.

As my friend, the former President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo, said, the protesters seem strangely determined to save the developing world from development.

In 1950, at the height of the Cold War, John Foster Dulles issued a promise to the people of South Korea. "You're not alone," he said. "You'll never be alone so long as you continue to play worthily your part in the great design of human freedom." Fifty years since our circumstances have changed beyond recognition. The world is no longer divided into armed camps. Democracy has become a seed on the wind, taking root in many nations. So much has changed, yet America's commitment is still the same.

http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/econ/group8/homepage.htm

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HEALING OUR WORLD: WEEKLY COMMENT

By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

Killing Tomorrow for a Few Megawatts Today

We have a beautiful mother
Her green lap immense
Her brown embrace eternal
Her blue body everything we know.
-- Alice Walker

The modern American system of governance has an attribute that the founding
fathers of our country may not have anticipated. Today, the primary
qualifications for assuming public office seem to be personal wealth and a
vested interest in major industries. So, the people making life or death
decisions for the American people, their children, and the children of
tomorrow, are increasingly becoming the least qualified to be making those
judgments.

For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2001/2001L-03-30g.html

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BOYCOTT BUSH UK!!!

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VOTE WITH YOUR $ $ $:

Here is a list of the Top Twenty Republican donors with global consumer
brands:

New website targets Bush Bankrollers

http://www.boycottbush.net has been set up to allow individuals to influence
the global politics of climate change. In March, President George Bush abandoned
the USA's commitment to the Kyoto climate agreement, attracting worldwide
condemnation.

Now a new website, set up by UK-based campaign organisation
ECRA, seeks to show that by targeting the companies that bankrolled Bush to
victory in November, individuals can force his hand at climate talks in Bonn
this July.

http:// www.boycottbush.net lists the top twenty corporate donors to the
Republican Party with consumer brands, while at the same time noting more
ethical alternatives.

"These companies have bought access at the highest
level," says Rob Harrison of ECRA. "Now let them use it to tell Bush he is
wrong on this one."

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Contacts for ecological direct action @ Eco-Action
**************************************

It can be difficult, depending on where you are, to find like minded people, but they are out there, so persevere. Below are a few things you can do using the internet. (warning, though: remember your original aim, to find people in the real world you can get together with. This is a very seductive ghetto! The pixel dance is for watching only, you can't join in. But you can use it to find others if you don't let it suck you in.)

http://www.eco-action.org/action/contacts.html

Places to go is a work in progress, intended to give an idea of what things are going on around the world that are long-term enough to be worth a long journey. If you are stupid and would rather sit in front of a screen like us, maybe you could be a researcher for this project.

http://www.eco-action.org/go/index.html

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"Show me your garden and I shall
tell you what you are."
-- Alfred Austin (1835-1913)

=>~~=>~~=>

After you have exhausted what
there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on --
have found that none of these finally satisfy,
or permanently wear -- what remains?

Nature Remains.

Walt Whitman

Gaia Core @ Pele's Cauldron
http://gaia.gen-next.com

WHEN SPIDERS UNITE, THEY CAN TIE DOWN A LION
--Ethiopian Proverb

It is the destruction of the world
in our own lives that drives us
half insane, and more than half.
To destroy that which we were given
in trust: how shall we bear it?

-- Wendell Berry

RedDragon CrossRoads
http://witchy.wildspices.com

TeleKinetic Challenge 2000
http://wildfire.gen-next.com

HumanKind Survival Earth

MUTANEX BeamShip
http://bzb.gen-next.com/

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