Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 9. februar 2006 / Time Line February 9, 2006
Version 3.58. Februar 2006, 10. Februar 2006
02/09/2006
US Plans Massive Data Sweep
By Mark Clayton
© 2006 The Christian Science Monitor
http://search.csmonitor.com/search_content/0209/p01s02-uspo.html
The US government is developing a massive computer system that can
collect huge amounts of data and, by linking far-flung information
from blogs and e-mail to government records and intelligence
reports, search for patterns of terrorist activity...
02/09/2006
Østre Landsret skærper dom
Terrorpakke i brug for første gang .. mod fredelige
Greenpeace
- Dom vil stække foreninger, der anvender ansvarlig civil
ulydighed
København, 9. februar 2006 - Som den første
organisation nogensinde er foreningen Greenpeace Norden blevet
dømt for at overtræde paragraffer indført med
terrorpakken fra 2002. Det skete da Østre Landsret i dag
skærpede en byretsdom fra juni 2005. Retten idømte
miljøorganisationen en bøde på i alt 50.000 kr.
(25 dagbøder af 2.000 kr.) i forbindelse med en fredelig
happening i oktober 2003, hvor frivillige aktivister hængte
et banner ned fra Axelborg i København i protest mod
gensplejset svinefoder.
"Vi må konstatere, at Folketinget uden særlig
forudgående offentlig debat har vedtaget en lov, som i
praksis knægter ytringsfriheden for organisationer, der
lejlighedsvis benytter sig af fredelig civil ulydighed," siger
generalsekretær i Greenpeace Norden, Lennart Daléus.
"Et levende og åbent demokrati næres af ansvarlig og
fredelig civil ulydighed, som historisk har æren for mange
fremskridt. Derfor vil Greenpeace søge om lov til at
appellere dommen til Højesteret."
Inspireret af Mahatma Ghandi og Martin Luther King, så
bekender Greenpeace sig til den klassiske tradition for civil
ulydighed, der hviler på et stærkt fundament af
ikke-vold og ikke-hærværk, og hvor man tager ansvar for
sine individuelle handlinger. De 15 aktivister fra Greenpeace, som
deltog i klatreaktionen på DLG-bygningen ved Axelborg,
accepterede således også individuelle bøder
på 1.500 kr. for husfredskrænkelse. Blot mente de, at
den pris var værd at betale for at få bragt et vigtigt
budskab frem.
"Meget tyder på, at lovgiverne slet ikke var klar over, at
den skærpede §306 i terrorpakken ville kunne bruges til
at straffe organisationer som Greenpeace," siger kampagnechef i
Greenpeace Norden, Mads Christensen. "Den uvidenhed var helt
forståelig, da justitsministeren under behandlingen i
Folketinget jo bedyrede, at alle lovforslagene i terrorpakken
handlede om at bekæmpe international terrorisme."
Da Greenpeace i sommer blev dømt i byretten, var
repræsentanter for en række fagforbund og
organisationer til stede i retssalen for at støtte
Greenpeace, og Amnesty International udtrykte bekymring over, at
dommen risikerede at stække det generelle
organisationsarbejde i Danmark. Greenpeace vil nu tage initiativ
til at samle organisationer, fagforbund og parlamentarikere bag en
appel til Folketinget om, at den uheldige udformning af §306
ændres, så den ikke rammer civilsamfundet.
Det politiske krav fremført i 2003 under Axelborg-aktionen
var, at kød og mejeriprodukter baseret på gensplejset
dyrefoder skal mærkes, så forbrugeren får
mulighed for at afvise brugen af gensplejsede afgrøder i
fødevareproduktionen. En sådan mærkning gik
også den danske regering og et flertal i Folketinget ind for,
men Danmark var blevet nedstemt i EU. Meningsmålinger viste
desuden, at ni ud af ti forbrugere støttede kravet om
mærkning, og et flertal af danskerne mener stadig, at
landbruget helt burde undgå gensplejset dyrefoder.
Danmark importerede i 2005 omkring 1,5 millioner tons gensplejset
soja fra Argentina, som især bruges i svinefoder. I
følge anklageren i Landsretten, så var det Dansk
Landbrugs Grovvareselskab (DLG) som havde bedt politi og
anklagemyndighed om også at retsforfølge foreningen
Greenpeace Norden for den fredelige happening. DLG er den
største GMO-importør i Danmark.
02/09/2006
The Devil in the Details - A Closer Look at the President's FY
2007 budget proposal
NCH Washington Update (Vol. 12, #7; 9 February 2006) by Bruce Craig
(editor) NATIONAL COALITION FOR HISTORY (NCH) Website at
http://www.h-net.org/~nch/
On 6 February 2006 the White House officially submitted to Congress
its $2.7-trillion budget proposal that would enable the federal
government to operate throughout FY 2007. While defense and
homeland security related agencies see modest increases, those
increases are at the expense of domestic agencies, many of which
face draconian cuts. Collectively, domestic agencies stand to take
billions in reductions. A total of 141 federal programs are slotted
to be sharply curtailed or eliminated entirely and a third of them
are in the Department of Education.
Unlike previous years, the Bush administration has not spared
history and archives related programs. For the second year in a row
the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)
is zeroed out from the president's budget; there are no funds
whatsoever for grants and only $510,000 is requested for staffing
and administration for the remaining ongoing grants. Once they are
completed the program would be terminated.
Also zeroed out is all funding for Senator Lamar Alexander's (R.TN)
Congressional and Presidential Academies which this last year the
Department of Education (ED) launched with awards of just under $2
million to several organizations. If the president's proposal is
embraced by Congress, the ED's popular "Teaching American History"
(TAH) grant initiative would be cut in excess of 50 percent as the
president has requested only $50 million for this program in FY
2007.
The administration advanced a curious rationale for the cut in
funding for the TAH grant program. In the budget proposal the
president asserts that, "the number of quality applications for
assistance under this program [TAH] in recent years does not
justify the current level of funding ($121 million)." Hence, the
reduced request reflects "the anticipated number of high-scoring
applicants" and would generate "about 52 new awards." According to
departmental and Hill insiders and education advocates who monitor
ED programs, the collective view is that the president's assertion
that the number of "quality" applications has declined is of
"questionable veracity."
Another big loser is the National Park Service. According to
National Parks Conservation Association, a citizen watchdog group,
the president proposes a cut of $100.4 million in the NPS budget.
Last year's appropriation was $2.25 billion and this year the
budget request is scaled back to $2.15 billion. Most of the cuts
come in construction and land acquisition of which there is only
one project recommended for funding - for the Flight 93 National
Historic Site in Pennsylvania that commemorates the terrorist
attack of 9/11. To the relief of many, the Historic Preservation
Fund survived a potential hit and is level-funded at $72
million.
For the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) the request is
for $140.95 million - level funding (actually a meager $6,000
increase) for the agency as a whole. But according to the National
Humanities Alliance, "the president's budget would cut funding for
competitive program funds by $1.32 million to help pay for
administrative salary and overhead cost increases." Level funding -
$15.2 million - is proposed for the NEH signature "We the People"
initiative, the NEH program that focuses funds on the teaching and
learning of American history and culture. "We the People" funds cut
across the breadth of the NEH's programmatic areas. Part of the
funds would support the "Interpreting America's Historic Places"
and "Family and Youth Programs in American History" initiatives;
the purpose of the former is self evident while the latter supports
inter-generational learning about significant topics in US history
and culture. There is also a major new matching fund initiative
that seeks to transcribe, digitize, and post to the Internet the
papers of the first four presidents (Washington, Adams, Jefferson,
Madison). There are funds earmarked to help preserve and increase
access to collections of papers of former members of Congress and
finally, the budget includes $31.08 million for Federal/State
partnership programs.
Also level funded is the Woodrow Wilson Center - $9 million - and
the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation - $6 million.
For the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) the
request is for $338 million, an increase of $12.5 million over
FY2006. Of this, $45 million will go toward development of "basic
preservation and access capabilities of the Electronic Records
Archives." For the first time there is a funding request to support
the operations of the Public Interest Declassification Board, a
body authorized by Congress in 2001 that serves in an advisory
capacity to the president and executive branch on federal record
declassification. To the disappointment of many the hoped for
initial funding for a new stateside archives formula grant program
did not materialize. There is, however, $3.7 million set aside for
the initial move of the records and for staffing, operation, and
maintenance of the Nixon presidential library and an additional
request of $6.9 million toward construction of an archival storage
addition to the Nixon facility. In total, over $10 million is
sought for the Nixon Library.
By contrast, the NHPRC - once again, zero funds for grants. The
budget document states: " The Budget proposes no new grants
funding...so that NARA can focus its resources on its essential
Federal records management mission." The fact is, as reported in
the official NARA press release that subtly takes issue with the
president's recommendation by publicly stating that "over the past
four decades, NHPRC has awarded more than $153 million to more than
4,000 state and local government archives, colleges and
universities and individuals to preserve and publish important
historical records that document American history." Last year, due
to the collective efforts of the history and archives communities,
Congress restored $7.5 million for the NHPRC and efforts are
already underway to once again restore funding for the
commission.
For the 18 museums that comprise the Smithsonian Institution (SI) -
$644.4 million -- a surprise increase up from the FY 2006
appropriation of $615 million. Funds are present for renovations
for several of the SI deteriorating museums, including $14.5
million for the National Museum of American History.
The one area that the president has demonstrated continued support
for is the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Hill
insiders attribute this to Laura Bush's continued advocacy on
behalf of the nation's libraries. The president's request is for a
total of $262.2 million (an increase of just over $15 million or
6%) of which $39.89 million (an increase of $2.5 million) is for
assistance to museums and $220 million for assistance to libraries.
There is set aside $25 million for the "Laura Bush 21st Century
Librarian Program" as well as some $17.9 million for Museums for
America and $3 million for Museum Professionals for the 21st
Century programs.
Now that the president has submitted his budget proposal it is up
to Congress to revise and approve funding for the government's
operations. The president's plan faces an uphill battle for
adoption. It is not likely to be greeted with enthusiasm from
fiscal conservatives or lawmakers squeamish about cutting programs
in election years. Of particular concern is the president's
proposal for a significant cut in Medicare ? $30 million over five
years, and the equally offensive proposal to raise monthly premiums
once again ? a plan sure to draw fire from some of the 43 million
seniors who traditionally vote in large numbers. The budget also
reflects another massive deficit ? $355-billion, which does not
include the cost of off-line items such as the wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq or Katrina hurricane relief.
02/09/2006
CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $21,414,090
firm-fixed-price modification under a previously awarded contract
(N00024-05-C-5482) to exercise options for additional missiles and
shipping containersto satisfy FY 06 requirements. The modification
will provide 31 (ea) Evolved SEASPARROW Missiles and 22 shipping
containers to satisfy FY 06 requirements for The United States.
Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. (38 percent), Andover,
Mass. (10 percent); Camden, Ariz. (5 percent), Minneapolis, Minn.
(1 percent), Australia (13 percent), Canada (7 percent), Germany (7
percent), Norway (7 percent), The Netherlands (6 percent), Spain (3
percent), Denmark (1 percent), Greece (1 percent), Turkey (1
percent), and is expected to be completed by October 2008. Contract
funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The
Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting
activity.
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $14,073,580
modification to the previously awarded firm-fixed-price Tactical
Tomahawk all up round full rate production multiyear contract
(N00019-04-C-0569) to provide additional funds for the delta
material and labor associated with the production of 65 Block IV
Tactical Tomahawk Torpedo Tube Launched (TT TTL) all up round
missiles for the United Kingdom (U.K.). The U.K. has a requirement
for 65 TT TTL missiles instead of the 65 submarine vertical launch
missiles previously ordered. This modification provides for the
delta costs between the currently-priced Submarine Vertical Launch
missiles and the TT TTL missiles. Work will be performed in
Huntsville, Ala. (50 percent); Bethel, Conn. (12 percent); Ontario,
Calif. (11 percent); Tucson, Ariz. (8.4 percent); Santa Ana, Calif.
(5 percent); Los Alamitos, Calif. (3 percent), and miscellaneous
locations across the United States (10.6 percent), and is expected
to be completed in February 2009. Contract funds will not expire at
the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command,
Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity.
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