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Tuesday, May 27, 2003 |
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"There is a power which can serve as a check against abuses by a government or by government officials and that power is the power of the informed citizen -- one who has read enough, who understands enough, who has developed a base of knowledge against which to judge truth or falsehood. Participation in the great debates of our time must not be relegated to the power elites in Washington. An informed citizenry has to participate, ask questions, and demand answers and accountability to make a country like ours work."
- - U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV)
MAY 27th IN HISTORY:
1907 - - Birth of Rachel Carson, whose books in the 1950's & 60's inspired the environmental movement.
1923 - - Birth of Henry Kissinger in Germany, whose war crimes are legendary yet never atoned for.
2002 - - Rhino's Blog goes online on the World Wide Web.
RHINO HERE:
As stated above, today is the 1 year anniversary of Rhino's Blog going online on the Web at:
http://www.rhinosblog.info
In this time I've managed, with the partnership of my webmaster, Jim Woolum, to write and post the blog 6 nights a week, without missing a single one, save a few 3 day weekends in which I took a night off. I've done it while traveling, while deadlining on my day job projects, & on nights when I really just wanted to go to sleep. Among my sources of inspiration has been a desire to contribute to what Senator Byrd referred to in today's Quote Of The Day as "a base of knowledge against which to judge truth or falsehood" and suggestions on actions that we citizenry can take to, again, as the Senator states, "participate, ask questions, and demand answers and accountability." I hope you feel I have been accomplishing those aims.
Many people believe that Americans who spoke out against attacking Iraq were proved wrong by the "success" of the military operation. Those who rely on the tri letter corporate owned media can easily come to that conclusion. If one is to be a truly informed citizen, they must go deeper than FOX or CNN to understand the real situation. As most of us who have been digging deeper for the truth the last year know, the MoveOn PAC has done some amazing work informing us and providing opportunities to make our voices heard. Most recently, MoveOn has been publishing email periodicals called the"MoveOn Bulletin", past issues of which can be found at:
http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin
The latest issue is entitled THE RECONSTRUCTION OF IRAQ and includes a host of links to informative articles on the current state of life and political affairs in post war Iraq. It also has an inspiring interview with Senator Byrd, from which today's Quote Of The Day comes. You can access this issue at:
http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin/bulletin15.html
Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE consists of 2 articles that look at the nuclear legacy the shrub gang's wars on Iraq & Afghanistan has created, not only for the people of those countries, but for the young men & women who make up the U.S. Troops who we Americans support, or will be supporting for years to come.
7:54:46 AM 
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Death By Slow Burn - How America Nukes Its Own Troops
What 'Support Our Troops' Really Means
By Amy Worthington The Idaho Observer 4/16/3
On March 30, an AP photo featured an American pro-war activist holding a sign: "Nuke the evil scum, it worked in 1945!" That's exactly what George Bush has done. America's mega-billion dollar war in Iraq has been indeed a NUCLEAR WAR. Bush-Cheney have delivered upon 17 million Iraqis tons of depleted uranium (DU) weapons, a "liberation" gift that will keep on giving. Depleted uranium is a component of toxic nuclear waste, usually stored at secure sites. Handlers need radiation protection gear.
Over a decade ago, war-makers decided to incorporate this lethal waste into much of the Pentagon's weaponry. Navy ships carrying Phalanx rapid fire guns are capable of firing thousands of DU rounds per minute.1 Tomahawk missiles launched from U.S. ships and subs are DU-tipped.2 The M1 Abrams tanks are armored with DU.3 These and British Challenger II tanks are tightly packed with DU shells, which continually irradiate troops in or near them.4 The A-10 "tank buster" aircraft fires DU shells at machines and people on the battlefield.5
DU munitions are classified by a United Nations resolution as illegal weapons of mass destruction. Their use breaches all international laws, treaties and conventions forbidding poisoned weapons calculated to cause unnecessary suffering. Ironically, support for our troops will extend well beyond the war in Iraq. Americans will be supporting Gulf War II veterans for years as they slowly and painfully succumb to radiation poisoning...
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT:
http://questionsquestions.net/docs04/0417_slowburn.html
Afghans' uranium levels spark alert
By Alex Kirby, BBC News Online environment correspondent , 5/22/03
A small sample of Afghan civilians have shown "astonishing" levels of uranium in their urine, an independent scientist says. He said they had the same symptoms as some veterans of the 1991 Gulf war. But he found no trace of the depleted uranium (DU) some scientists believe is implicated in Gulf War syndrome. Other researchers suggest new types of radioactive weapons may have been used in Afghanistan.
The scientist is Dr Asaf Durakovic, of the Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC), based in Canada. Dr Durakovic, a former US army adviser who is now a professor of medicine, said in 2000 he had found "significant" DU levels in two-thirds of the 17 Gulf veterans he had tested. In May 2002, he sent a team to Afghanistan to interview and examine civilians there.
The UMRC says: "Independent monitoring of the weapon types and delivery systems indicate that radioactive, toxic uranium alloys and hard-target uranium warheads were being used by the coalition forces." There is no official support for its claims, or backing from other scientists...
IT'S ALL AT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3050317.stm
"RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com)
Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged.
SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT:
http://www.rhinosblog.info
RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES:
http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG)
http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES)
Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
All copyrights belong to original publisher.
6:15:43 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Gary Rhine.
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