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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dave Gore who wrote (283729)	8/5/2002 1:56:03 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Respond to of 769667

UK LEADER DEMAND BLAIR COME CLEAN ON WAR RACKET ananova.com Pressure on Blair to recall parliament over possible war The Prime Minister is under pressure to recall Parliament so MPs can discuss the possibility of military action against Iraq. Tam Dalyell, Father of the House of Commons, has written to Tony Blair asking if he did not have a "moral obligation" to recall Parliament. Field Marshal Lord Bramall also says Britain risks being dragged into a "very, very messy and long-lasting Middle East war" if it supports US plans for a war. He has called on the Government to exercise caution, warning that an invasion to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein might not be morally or legally justified. Supporting his comments Mr Dalyell said: "It is always supposedly too early to make a decision to recall Parliament - until it is too late." The US President has dismissed an offer by Baghdad to hold talks on the possible readmission after four years of UN weapons inspectors. "Nothing's changed," said Mr Bush, adding: "I'm a patient man. I'll use all the tools at our disposal." Iraq's foreign minister Naji Sabri wrote to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan last week inviting the head of the inspection team, Hans Blix, to Baghdad for discussions. But Mr Blix said that there would be no point in talks unless Iraq first accepted the return of the inspectors. Britain and America claim Saddam has revived his nuclear, chemical and biological warfare programmes following the 1998 withdrawal of the inspectors.

To: Dave Gore who wrote (283729)	8/5/2002 2:16:57 AM
From: ManyMoose	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

If you and Ray have to go to Sri Lanka to find a suitable garbage dump to get your swill, you must be truly desperate. I would tell you to go away, but that would just incite you to more of the same. You are pathetic. I will content myself with pity for your pathological minds. Why don't you both save yourselves the trouble of surfing in third world countries and just go there. Message #283729 from Dave Gore at Aug 5, 2002 1:46 AM By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN OLOMBO, Sri Lanka

To: Dave Gore who wrote (283729)	8/5/2002 3:01:51 AM
From: CYBERKEN	Respond to of 769667

Between the cross-eyed idiot, Friedman, and the Duchess of Drivel, the New York Times has reached the absolute bottom. Nice to see...

To: Dave Gore who wrote (283729)	8/5/2002 4:03:36 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

Choking on climate change By Paul R. Epstein Editorial /OPINION The Boston Globe 8/4/2002 IT IS HARD to convince the Bush administration to do anything significant about climate change. They're having enough trouble trying to stabilize the stock market and prop up public confidence. But climate instability is becoming hazardous to our health, and bold responses to this global problem would also boost the economy. While some of us lose sleep wondering when birds and bugs will spread diseases like West Nile fever to Alaska and Argentina or whether diseases or drought-driven fires will consume forests first, a health problem close to us all is the epidemic of asthma. From the 1980s to the 1990s, asthma and asthma deaths doubled in the United States and elsewhere. Research has focused on indoor pollutants and genetic, emotional, and socioeconomic factors, including access to care. All are involved. But burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) is also related to asthma via several pathways. First, a Lancet study recently revealed that ground-level ozone or smog causes as well as triggers asthma. Ozone, which burns lung sacs, is derived from automotive emissions - nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Warming speeds up the reaction, thus more heat waves will mean more smog. Second, ragweed grown in elevated carbon dioxide levels produces a lot of pollen. Global warming skeptics reassure us that more CO2 will green the planet by increasing photosynthesis. But opportunistic, weedy plants take advantage by allocating CO2 to reproduction - the male parts - whereby they spread and prosper. Pioneering trees that spread quickly - like maples, pines, birches, and poplars - also appear to be boosting their seeds, cones, and pollen. Warmer winters and earlier arriving springs that accompany climate change are also contributing - as seasonal pollen counts reach into the thousands per cubic meter. (''Severe'' warnings are issued when pollen grain counts are in the 100s.) Today CO2 levels are well over preindustrial levels: 370 parts per million, while ice core records tell us they remained under 280 parts per million for more than 420,000 years! Opportunistic plants - like opportunistic mosquito s and rodents - are the first responders in disturbed environments, and more CO2 will mean even higher pollen counts in the future. The third contributor to breathing problems stems from diesel particles that block airways. Asthma rates are highest along inner-city truck and bus routes. Prolonged idling increases the exposure, and the EPA considers diesel particles probable carcinogens. Diesel also provides an excellent delivery system for pollen and molds, for they attach to the particles. This distasteful image is yet another additive effect of the direct impacts of air pollution and the indirect consequences of fossil fuel combustion on climate and plants. What is being done to address this global problem? A lot - on many levels. In Boston, the Public Health Commission and Department of the Environment called attention to the health impacts of air pollution and climate change, and Mayor Thomas M. Menino has committed to reducing municipal energy use 10 percent by 2005. As president of the US Conference of Mayors, the mayor spearheaded a strong resolution on climate change in June. A City Hall Working Group complements an Energy Advisory Committee (with broad representation), and Boston and many surrounding cities and towns have joined the Cities for Climate Protection to adopt clean energy technologies for streetlights, buildings and transport. The six New England governors and premiers of the seven eastern Canadian provinces have made strong commitments to cut emissions, and California adopted legislation on July 22 to significantly limit automotive CO2 emissions. Massachusetts is finalizing its Climate Action Plan. In July the attorneys general of 11 states urged the president to adopt strong regulations to reduce greenhouse gases. (Will lawsuits against major polluters follow?) In Congress, Vermont Senator James Jeffords is forwarding a ''four pollutant'' bill - to cap nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides, mercury, and CO2. Internationally, most industrial nations have signed the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, and many US businesses are voluntarily cutting emissions through efficiencies and investments in new technologies. A Clean Development Fund - akin to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and malaria - could jump-start an economic recovery and help stabilize the climate. Missing in action, however, is the oil-industry dominated US administration. We underestimated the rate that climate would change, the biological responses to that change, and the costs of increasingly extreme weather. This administration does not yet grasp the magnitude of the problem. We are also going to have more trouble breathing in a warmer and CO2-enriched world. Big problems require bold solutions, and a significant investment in clean energy would be the best insurance policy against the growing risks of climate change to our health and safety. ___________________________________ Dr. Paul R. Epstein is associate director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. boston.com