new	all
articles	0	1808
headlines	33	15039
videos	0	50
links	0	314
users	17	13796
blogs	31	21942
forum	54	35809
store	*	*

A03497

Articles : Miscellaneous

Mining discarded cell phones creating poisonous e-waste

By mwm

Florida's Hezbollah, Aboveground e-mining, Post-Abortion Syndrome-for men, Revirgination, Feds refuel nuke power, $100 joints, Protesters die in Yemen, Kenya, "Become Hindu or die"

This week’s guest list for This is Hell follows the articles.

Philadelphia Police Say Marijuana Costs $100 Per Joint “Today, police laid out 16 pounds of the stuff they said they confiscated from a high-level dealer who supplied the suburbs… Police put the value of the marijuana at $812,000. On Tuesday, as the probe continued, investigators seized 12 pounds of hallucinogenic mushrooms worth $614,000 and more than $439,000 in cash, police said. [Philadelphia Inquirer] Really?!? Let’s do the math. $812,000 / 16 pounds / 16 ounces / 28.3 grams = $112.08 per gram. That’s a hearty marijuana joint for $112. The same formula finds them valuing the mushrooms at a whopping, and oddly similar, $113 per gram.” High Times (1/15/08)

Pity the Man “Pity the man who conceived four babies with four women and suffered anxiety attacks and nightmares after all four, with his consent, were aborted. Pity the man who saw his soon-to-be-born baby on an ultrasound and instantly came to believe that he “had killed two of my own kids” through abortion. Pity the man who abused alcohol after his girlfriend aborted. Pity the man who suffered a nervous breakdown, depression, psychosis and nearly suicide after his girlfriend had an abortion despite his pleas. And pity these men who, wittingly or not, are allowing their pain to be co-opted for political gain. Whatever the cause of their suffering, it is real and they deserve support. But they are also the new face of the antiabortion movement: Post-Abortion Syndrome—for men. In conferences and counseling, they’re being wrapped in the fuzzy blankets of men’s healing, but behind these men and their stories are the same crackpot research, coercive counseling and policy-by-anecdote that have defined the antiabortion movement’s tactical emphasis on women’s suffering after abortion. It’s a maxim among the antichoice crowd these days that there are “two victims of abortion”; the men’s PAS movement wants to take that to three.” The Nation (1/17/08)

Is Religion a Threat to Democracy? This week’s guest on This is Hell, Ira Chernus writes “It’s a presidential campaign like no other. The candidates have been falling all over each other in their rush to declare the depth and sincerity of their religious faith. The pundits have been just as eager to raise questions that seem obvious and important: Should we let religious beliefs influence the making of law and public policy? If so, in what way and to what extent? Those questions, however, assume that candidates bring the subject of faith into the political arena largely to justify – or turn up the heat under – their policy positions. In fact, faith talk often has little to do with candidates’ stands on the issues. There’s something else going on here. TomDispatch.com (1/13/08)

Designer Vaginas, Anyone? “Once you’ve had your breasts enhanced, your thighs sucked thin, your skin stretched taught over your cheekbones, and your lips pumped full of cow’s tissue, what better way to finish off that perfect Barbie doll look than to have your genitals surgically remodeled and your pubic area waxed smooth? And if you’re worried that your partner might be tempted to stray because you’ve had a couple of kids and things have started to sag a bit, what better way to guarantee his fidelity than to transform yourself into a porn queen lookalike with the fanny of a pre-pubescent girl? Hymenoplasty, vaginal tightening, revirgination, G-spot amplification and labial reduction are the latest craze in cosmetic surgeries for women with more money than sense. Surgeries that were originally designed to help overcome some of the more debilitating side effects of childbirth have now been appropriated by an industry whose sole purpose is to convince women that they’re imperfect and to profit from the plummeting self-esteem they promote.” Comment is Free (1/11/08)

A Breach of Trust in America’s Most Toxic Town “The voice on the phone spoke with the confidence of authority: he had called to say that the people of Libby, Montana, were being screwed over once again. The culprit, however, was not the W.R. Grace & Co., whose asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine had been the source of death and disease for these folks for most of the 20th century. This time, the anonymous caller asserted, the Environmental Protection Agency was to blame.” Counterpunch (1/16/08)

Protests Greet Nuclear Power Resurgence in US South “Residents and environmental activists are in a bitter dispute with large U.S. energy corporations and the federal government over the safety of nuclear power, as more than a dozen corporations plan to, or have filed, paperwork to open new nuclear power plants, primarily in the U.S. South. … ‘There’s a whole suite of incentives being pumped out by the federal government to try and cajole the utilities back into the game.’” Inter Press Service (1/14/08)

U.S. Groups Band Together to Stop Nuclear Transfer to India “A diverse coalition of environmental and peace organizations in the United States is urging Congress to reject the Bush administration’s move to send nuclear technologies to India.”When Congress takes a close look at the Bush Administration’s proposed agreement, it will find a dangerous, unprecedented deal,” said John Isaacs of the Council for a Livable World, an arms control research and lobby group, which is part of the 23-member coalition.” One World (1/17/08)

The Afterlife of Cellphones “Americans threw out just shy of three million tons of household electronics in 2006. This so-called e-waste is the fastest-growing part of the municipal waste stream and, depending on your outlook, either an enormous problem or a bonanza. E-waste generally contains substances that, though safely sequestered during each product’s use, can become hazardous if not handled properly when disposed. Those products also hold bits of precious metals like silver, copper, platinum and gold.” New York Times Magazine (1/13/08)

Australian Court Orders Japan to Stop Whaling “Humane Society International applauded a landmark decision on Jan. 15 from the Australian Federal Court that could save hundreds of whales from Japanese harpoons. The Federal Court ruled that a Japanese whaling company, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, is violating Australian law by killing whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary. Responding to a Federal Court action filed by HSI-Australia, the court ordered an immediate halt to further whaling.” Humane Society International (1/16/08) Anti whaling activists freed, condemned by Australian government. Whaling protesters free on their ship “Australia’s Oceanic Viking has ended a high seas drama by freeing two anti-whaling activists held prisoner on a Japanese whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean.” The Australian (1/18/08)

Bolivia’s ‘Bad Births’ Sit on Political Sidelines “Bolivia’s 255-delegate Constituent Assembly under President Evo Morales-the country’s first indigenous leader and widely considered one of the region’s most leftist heads of state-last month narrowly avoided adding a ban on all abortion to its new constitution, regardless of the dangers to a woman’s life. Surprise? Not in Latin America. While abortion rights may be a rough dividing line between left and right in the United States, progressive party rule here is no ticket to pro-choice advancement in this region. In the past two years, Nicaragua’s government of former revolutionary Sandinistas has banned all abortions. The president of Uruguay-leader of his country’s historic left-wing party-has vowed to veto parliamentary attempts to legalize abortion. And Venezuelans’ push to decriminalize the procedure has come to a virtual halt under socialist President Hugo Chavez.” Women’s eNews (1/15/08)

Riots in Orissa “December 25 2007: Seven churches, Catholic, Protestant, Pentacostal, Independent … burned in Barakhama village, Kandhamal district, central Orissa. December 23, 2007: Hindutva (Hindu supremacist ideology) affiliated Adivasi (tribal) organisations organised a march, rallying, “Stop Christianity. Kill Christians.” A Dalit (formerly “untouchable” groups) Christian leader testified, “We went to the local police and informed them of the situation. They assured us that things would be under control. On December 24, in the daytime, we heard voices of Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Shiv Sena people, chanting, ‘Hindu, Hindu, Bhai, Bhai’; ‘RSS Zindabad’; ‘Lakshmanananda Zindabad.’ They shut down shops. That night they felled trees to block roads, severed power and phone lines. On the 25th, we went to the inspector-in-charge of police again. On the 25th, at 2.30, about 200 of us sat down to Christmas prayer at our church, and around 4 p.m. we heard the mob approach.” The mob, about 4,000 persons, many bearing symbolic tilaks (religious mark on forehead), belonged to various Sangh Parivar (Hindu nationalist, militant) groups, named above, inciting local Hindus into rioting.” Asian Age (1/11/08)

Protesters killed at Yemen rally “The rally in city of Aden, was held during the Forum for Reconciliation and Forgiveness [EPA]. At least three demonstrators and a policeman have been killed in clashes between Yemeni security forces and thousands of demonstrators calling for greater rights and benefits, according to witnesses. About 15 protestors were injured in a rally,” Al Jazeera (1/13/08)

Kenyan police ‘kill 10 protesters’ Video. “Police in Kenya shot 10 people dead today as protests against the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki continued, reports said. Raila Odinga, the leader of the opposition Orange Democratic movement (ODM), said seven of his supporters had been killed in the capital, Nairobi. An eyewitness said a further three people were shot in Kisumu. The reported deaths came on the second of three days of planned demonstrations by the ODM.” The Guardian (1/17/08)

The coddled ‘terrorists’ of South Florida “Over time, as Kornbluh notes, the exiles seemed to change their approach somewhat as they aged and as they prospered economically — and as the CIA backed away. By the 1980s, says Kornbluh, support for militancy “shifted from official funding to private backing from wealthy Cuban-Americans.” Much of the anti-Castro activism among Cuban-Americans was directed by a Miami businessman named Jorge Mas Canosa, head of the Cuban American National Foundation. Cuban intelligence, and even anti-Castro militants, have linked CANF to violent plots targeting Cuba. Still, however, the militants continued to train within the borders of the U.S., and to amass weaponry. Retired Army Col. Larry Wilkerson remembers attending briefings during Caribbean war game exercises from 1992 to 1997 where he learned of the exiles’ capabilities. “We would always be fed this intelligence and I was astounded at how many suspected caches of arms they had access to not just in Florida, but in California, New Jersey and other places; light machine guns, grenades, C4, dynamite, all manner of side arms and long arms,” recalls Wilkerson, who was former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff from 2002 to 2005. ‘It was a veritable terrorist haven. This is Hezbollah in Florida, if you’re looking at it through Havana’s eyes.’” Salon (1/14/08)

Notes
Ever wonder about the person behind the voice on This is Hell? Wonder no more, The Daily Northwestern (1/17/08) did a feature story on host Chuck Mertz, Hellraiser. Chuck Mertz has earned a following stirring up politics on WNUR, but can he move on? To alleviate any confusion, although If you Knew… enthusiastically plugs This is Hell, Chuck Mertz is not the author.

Guests on this week’s This is Hell:

Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, will talk about his latest writing Presidential Hopefuls Need a Reality Check on Iraq. His last book was May’s, Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Anti-War Movement (Nation Books)
Ira Chernus, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder and author of Monsters To Destroy: The Neoconservative War on Terror and Sin (Paradigm). He recently wrote the TomDispatch.com article, Is Religion a Threat to Democracy?: Faith Talk on the Campaign Trail
Thomas Geoghegan, author of See You in Court: How the Right Made America a Lawsuit Nation (New Press). Thomas is a Chicago attorney who has written several books including the National Book Critics Circle award finalist, “Which Side Are You On?”
Chris Hedges, former Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times and he was part of Times team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of global terrorism. He also received the 2002 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. His most recent book is, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America (Free Press). He writes a column, every other Monday, on Truthdig, the most recent being, The End of the Road for George W. Bush. This week, Chris also posted the Nation piece, Christianizing US History

This week’s irregular correspondents will be:
Kevan Harris, ‘The Radical Pessimist’
Jeff Dorchen delivers a Moment of Truth
Elvis DeMorrow will take a break from his Konspiracy Korner to present a little travelogue on his Holiday trip to Beijing

Check out these excellent roundups; for the recent news from all points east, check out Isaac Oommen’s East is East, Nathan Coe’s brand new Labor News Roundup and for the latest in rebel uprisings, read Alfonzo Torrez’s The Rebel Communiqué.

If you knew… is posted as an article on Fridays. There is an archive of over 400 blogs that were posted over the last two years. Any comments, suggestions, critiques or leads to articles, are welcomed. ‘If You Knew…’ will soon be announcing some changes, in coordination with the This is Hell website. It does look like this is actually going to happen. Along with articles, Headlines from Hell now includes commentary from contributers to This is Hell, including yours truly.

Click here to see more articles

Posted by mwm
The goal of If you knew… is to accumulate news items from various sources, that deserve attention and have been mostly ignored by the mainstream media. If you knew... will discontinue and contribute exclusively to This is Hell's Headlines from Hell...

Disclaimer: Statements and opinions expressed in articles published on this site are those of the authors and not of the staff or editors of GNN, unless otherwise stated.

A03497

If you knew...

RELATED ITEMS

RECENT COMMENTS