Latest Study Of 9/11 Workers' Ills Reinforces Need For Fed $ Aid

A new study by Mount Sinai School of Medicine showing high rates of psychological distress among Ground Zero workers underscores the need for a strong federal response to the health impacts of the 9/11 attacks, several New York area lawmakers declared last week.

They said that of the more than 10,000 workers who participated in the study, 11 percent met criteria for probable Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), 8.8 percent had probable depression, 5 percent had probable panic disorder and 62 percent had substantial stress reaction.

Read More Here.

Records show roughly 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with the illness, also known as PTSD, since 2003. Officials believe that many more are likely keeping their illness a secret.

"I don't think right now we ... have good numbers," Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker said Tuesday.

Defense officials had not previously disclosed the number of PTSD cases from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Army statistics showed there were nearly 14,000 newly diagnosed cases across the services in 2007 compared with more than 9,500 new cases the previous year and 1,632 in 2003.

Read More Here.

War protesters interrupt McCain's Denver speech

Protesters Interrupt McCain Speech In Denver

DENVER - A least three groups of protesters interrupted the beginning of Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign speech at the University of Denver campus Tuesday morning.

His speech was billed as a foreign policy address.

Two minutes after he started his prepared speech, a protester with a large sign was escorted from the room. It read, “Iraq Vets Against The War.”

A few minutes later, a second group of hecklers started yelling and were escorted out. A few minutes after that, a third group started chanting, “No more war.” They held up a banner, which could not be read from the back of the room and they were also escorted out.

“I will never surrender in Iraq,” McCain said in response to the protesters. “Our American troops will come home with victory and with honor, and they are winning.”

The crowd gave him a standing ovation.

“We must continue to deploy a safe and reliable nuclear deterrent. I will seek to reduce the size of our nuclear arsenal to the lowest possible number,” he told the crowd.

Regarding the threat of nuclear proliferation, McCain said, “The civilized nations of the world must act as one.”

TheDenverChannel has his entire address online.

McCain concluded his speech about 30 minutes after he started and shook a few hands be exiting the Cable Center.

Later in the day, McCain will attend fundraisers in the metro area. McCain said that Western states like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada will be critical to winning the White House. And he says that as a senator from Arizona he’ll enjoy a political advantage over the Democratic nominee.

On Wednesday, Democratic front runner Barack Obama will visit the metro area. Obama plans to talk about urban high school reform at a town hall meeting in Thornton. Mike Johnston of the Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts in Thornton says Obama will tour the school before the town hall meeting. Both Obama events are by invitation only.

President George W. Bush will also be in Colorado Wednesday. Bush will be delivering the commencement address to 950 graduating cadets at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Bush last spoke to graduates at the Academy in 2004.

Read More Here.

They Rule the World

A shadowy organization is in power, and it's made up of the very, very rich.

SUPERCLASS

The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making

By David Rothkopf
Farrar Straus and Giroux. 376 pp. $26

Go to www.theyrule.net. A white page appears with a deliberately shadowy image of a boardroom table and chairs. Sentences materialize: "They sit on the boards of the largest companies in America." "Many sit on government committees." "They make decisions that affect our lives." Finally, "They rule." The site allows visitors to trace the connections between individuals who serve on the boards of top corporations, universities, think thanks, foundations and other elite institutions. Created by the presumably pseudonymous Josh On, "They Rule" can be dismissed as classic conspiracy theory. Or it can be viewed, along with David Rothkopf's Superclass, as a map of how the world really works.

In Superclass, Rothkopf, a former managing director of Kissinger Associates and an international trade official in the Clinton Administration, has identified roughly 6,000 individuals who have "the ability to regularly influence the lives of millions of people in multiple countries worldwide." They are the "superclass" of the 21st century, spreading across borders in an ever thickening web, with a growing allegiance, Rothkopf argues, to each other rather than to any particular nation.

Rothkopf's archetypal member of the superclass is Blackstone Group executive Stephen Schwarzman, who is not only fabulously wealthy, but also chairman of the Kennedy Center, a board member of the New York Public Library, the New York City Ballet, the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the New York City Partnership. These boards, along with the over 100 businesses Blackstone has invested in, the other business councils and advisory boards he sits on, and his Yale and Harvard education, mean that Schwarzman is only one or two affiliations away from any center of power in the world. Rothkopf actually traces the "daisy chain" of Schwarzman's connections through his board memberships -- linking him to Ratan Tata, one of India's richest men, former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo and many others. It is these links that create access that translates to influence and determines how the levers of power are pulled.

Special Edition, May 24, 2008
The Power to the People Committee
Cynthia McKinney for President Weekly Update.
---------------------------------------------

Hello Powerful People:

This special edition is to alert you that we are a third of the way there, towards meeting the Whitney Challenge to raise at least another $2,300 toward the Primary Season Matching Funds Eligibility this week. So far, eleven contributors from nine states, giving an average of $83 each have participated in this challenge since it was announced Sunday night.

We have two more days to raise the next $1,380 to match the challenge. (And we've fixed the thermometer on the contribution form so you can now monitor our progress in real time).

You don't have to give $83 yourself. $5, $25, $100, $250, whatever you can afford; it all helps reach our goal. And it is important that you be invested in this campaign.

As background we reprint below two articles from last week's Campaign Update. Please link to:
http://supporters.runcynthiarun.org/whitney_challenge/supporters.cgi
and help us triple your contribution. Don't wait, please do so now!

On Wednesday, May 21, 2008, WeAreChangeLA had two huge visibility street actions and outreach using our enormous blue banners on a freeway overpass over one of the busiest parts of the 10 freeway. Tens of thousands of cars passed underneath our banners that day.

The CHP dropped by to put a stop to our outreach, and we had a productive conversation with them. In the comments under our last freeway blogging encounter with the CHP, Robin Hordon had suggested that we ask for a citation the next time that the CHP ask us to leave. Asking for a citation was the central theme of our entire encounter with the CHP this time...

PART 1 of 3:

PART 2 of 3

PART 3 of 3

We had a great time, and we alerted commuters by the thousands!
Bruno, Katy, Stewart, Esther, Anne, Garko, Mike, and Steve!

Hunger strike for 9/11 truth, Memorial Day, 5:00PM,
May 26, 2008 at the office of Senator John McCain,
5353 N. 16th St., Phoenix, AZ

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Phoenix 9/11 Truth Activist to Start Hunger Strike at McCain's Office

Contact: Tim King

e-mail: wasichu10@yahoo.com

Phoenix, AZ, May 21, 2008 - In an effort to bring national attention to the 9/11 truth issue, Phoenix activist, Blair Gadsby, a professor of Religious Studies, plans to start a hunger strike on Memorial Day, at the Phoenix office of Senator John McCain. Gadsby is putting the spotlight on McCain because of McCain's avowed support for the official account of 9/11. McCain is the author of the foreword to the 2006 Popular Mechanics book, Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts.

Action Alert

WeAreCHANGE NYC will be doing an action in solidarity with the AZ truth group, but outside Hilary Clinton's office today May 26th Memorial Day. This action will be followed with an outreach action at Brooklyn's Coney Island boardwalk.

Four members of the group, all of whom had media credentials, were asked to leave the Kentucky Exposition Center after asking Oliver North questions after his presentation.

Cody Deitz, a member of the group, said he was ordered to turn over memory cards from the equipment they were using or risk being arrested.

Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the NRA, said Deitz and three others were asked to leave after they became disruptive during North's book signing.

"It is our policy to remove anyone who becomes disruptive, whether they are media or not," Arulanandam said.

Several off-duty police officers working security for the event escorted the four men, including Deitz, from the property.

Three of the officers are employed by Louisville Metro Corrections, said Tom Campbell, corrections director. They were not on duty at the time and their names were not released. A written report on the incident was not available yesterday, but Campbell said it began when members of We Are Change were asked to stop taping at the North event and refused.

"Our officers were asked to escort them off the property," Campbell said.

At some point during the incident, Campbell said, his officers were asked by either NRA security staff or North's security team to confiscate the video footage for their review. Campbell said his officers complied.

Arulanandam said, however, at no time did anyone with the NRA ask for the video footage.

"No one from the NRA requested that their footage be seized," Arulanandam said. "And when we found out, we asked for the footage to be returned."

Deitz tells a different story.

He said his crew politely asked their questions of North, including one about the Iran-contra affair, a political scandal in the mid-1980s in which the United States secretly sold weapons to Iran and sent some of the proceeds to rebel groups in Nicaragua. As the We Are Change people were leaving, Deitz said they were accosted by a security team.

"They just threatened us with everything," he said.

Deitz said his group, which has chapters throughout the country, is trying to question government corruption. Their Web site indicates they have been calling for further investigation into what happened in the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We're out there trying to show the corruption and the evils our government is involved in," Deitz said.

For the past several days, Deitz said, he has been trying to get the video footage back. He said four memory cards and several batteries were taken.

After the incident, the corrections officers turned over the footage to an Audubon Park Police Department officer who also was working off-duty, said Sgt. Keith Ferriell of the Audubon Park police.

That officer was told that the NRA security wanted to review the footage, but they never did, Ferriell said. He did not name the officer.

The Audubon Park officer logged the footage into the property room at police headquarters, where it has remained, Ferriell said.

Yesterday, Ferriell said he consulted with metro corrections and was told that no criminal charges were going to be filed against Deitz or the other men so the footage could be returned.

Ferriell said a letter will be sent to We Are Change telling them how to can get their property back.

Reporter Jessie Halladay can be reached at(502) 582-4081.

TSA today announced plans to deploy hundreds of next generation, multi-view X-ray machines and whole body imagers. These technologies increase the safety of the traveling public and increase the agency's ability to quickly screen millions of travelers, just in time for the busy summer travel season.

During the next few weeks, the agency will install more than 200 of the faster, clearer X-ray machines to airports including Philadelphia, Washington Dulles and Reagan, Los Angeles, Denver, Las Vegas and others. These new x-ray machines include multiple views of carry-on baggage and a much clearer image, allowing officers to screen carry-on bags with fewer physical searches.

Read More Here

As reported by HealthDay News, The study was based on the analysis of questionnaires completed by more than 10,000 World Trade Center recovery workers between 10 months and 61 months after the events of 9/11.

It found that 11.1 percent of the workers met criteria for probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 8.8 percent had probable depression, 5 percent had probable panic disorder, and 62 percent had substantial stress reaction.

The study, which was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, was authored by Dr. Dennis Charney, dean of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and executive vice president for academic affairs at the Mount Sinai Medical Center, and Dr. Jeanne Mager Stellman, visiting professor at Mount Sinai.

Recently WeAreChange members have been viciously attacked by provocateurs, security staffing, and the NYPD for expressing their 1st amendment rights. These actions have led to multiple legal cases and WeAreChange deems these actions a direct assault on our organization and message. We are currently in the process of obtaining representation with a background in aggressive constitutional law, familiar with the corrupt courts system, able and willing to carry on to the end. We are not ignorant of the hurdles before us and the massive resources of our enemies. Physical assaults and battery merit aggressive legal action if only to set a prescient that WeAreChange is serious about protecting the constitutional rights of our members in face of such heinous allegations.

Our first priority is the criminal defense of Gary Talis, now facing trumped up and completely libel 3rd degree assault charges. Additionally, those individuals and/or organizations who willingly submit falsified testimony must be litigated in civil court for libel, slander, defamation of character, etc. Matt Lepacek is also facing charges for disorderly conduct for expressing his 1st amendment right to publicly question Laura Bush in the last minute of the event as she walked off stage, and Sabrina Rivera has a upcoming court date with a provocateur harasser from ground zero after being clearly caught on video with Sabrina Rivera and Luke Rudkowski. In the past we have missed opportunities to defend our selves due to financial limitations; this is no longer an option when faced with public persecution by slander and the very serious false assault charges pending against Gary Talis.

The legal defense will be substantial. We are establishing a WeAreChange defense fund for costs incurred throughout all current and future legal proceedings. Given these unfortunate circumstances, we also see an opportunity—there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We are determined to ensure these harmful provocateur attacks are properly exposed and will seize this opportunity to expose the media and police state corruption once again. Together we can fight back against this smear campaign, please donate today. Let’s make this case an example of what a small but determined group of people can do with truth on their side. WeAreChange is now a target of the global establishment therefore it is our responsibility to respond in full force. Regardless of the corruption level in the NYC court system there is much to be gained with or without victory at civil trial, but the criminal assault trial of Gary Talis must be defeated. href="mailto:pursuitofliberty@gmail.com">pursuitofliberty@gmail.com

AP Television News footage showed the bodies of three children in blood-drenched clothes — the eldest appearing to be in his early teens — along with the bodies of five men, at the hospital in Beiji, where the dead were taken after Wednesday evening's strike.

Iraqi and U.S. officials each put the number of slain children at two. The reason for the discrepancies between the two accounts and the TV footage was not known.

It was the latest incident threatening to alienate Sunni Arabs, who have played a key role in the steep decline in violence over the past year by joining forces with the Americans against al-Qaida in Iraq. Beiji, an oil hub 155 miles north of Baghdad, lies in a largely Sunni Arab area.

There is an updated calling list at the end of this video, please record all conversations and send any of relevance to Cody@wearechangeohio.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Thanks to everyone for their support...

Veteran Bilderberg sleuth Jim Tucker has confirmed via three separate sources that the Bilderberg Group will meet this year in Chantilly Virginia at the Westfields Marriott hotel from June 5-8. Tucker told The Alex Jones Show that the earlier story claiming Bilderberg had already met in Athens Greece was a possible ruse to misdirect attention from the real scene of the crime.

The Bilderberg Group comprises around 200 top elitists in government, banking, business, media and academia who meet annually in semi-secrecy and shape the destiny of the world yet are subject to little or no mainstream media scrutiny.

As we discovered last week, original reports that Bilderberg had already met in Athens Greece turned out to be incorrect after Dutch newspapers and the Dutch Embassy let slip that Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende was set to attend Bilderberg in Chantilly after a meeting with George W. Bush.

The Bilderberg gathering is now set to take place from June 5-8 and as expected, it will be held at the Westfields Marriott hotel, the same venue of the 2002 meeting. Tucker called the Dutch Embassy and was passed over to the Dutch Embassy in the United States, who confirmed that the meeting would be in Chantilly.

Read more here.

Former Governor Jesse Ventura slammed the media witch hunt that he was subjected to in the wake of questioning the official 9/11 story and admitted that he was shocked by the reaction to his comments about the demolition of WTC 7 and the twin towers, but the ex-wrestling and movie star reiterated and expanded upon his views on 9/11 during an appearance on The Alex Jones Show.

“How come we’re not allowed to ask any questions today?” asked Ventura, referring to the hostile corporate media reaction that was elicited in response to his last appearance on The Alex Jones Show when he questioned the official 9/11 story.

“I can’t believe how I simply asked some questions and the way you’re attacked….has our country really become that - that you’re not even allowed to publicly question the government,” added the former Governor, who labeled the response to his comments “eye opening”.

Read more here.

http://www.wearechange.org.uk/ (new site)

Members of We Are Change UK went to Parliament Square armed with boxes of chalk. Despite being in the SOCPA zone no applications were submitted and no arrests were made.

Oliver North Confronted; Video Footage Confiscated

Members of WeAreChange were physically removed from Louisville Exposition Center on Sunday after confronting Iran Contra figure Oliver North. Members questioned North on his involvement with Continuity of Government, the new 9/11 investigation and concentration camps in America.

Lt. Colonel Oliver North, a FOX News host, was confronted by a combination of activists from WeAreChange Ohio, and Kentuckiana Change. Cody Deeds stood up during a question and answer session and asked North to explain exactly what the Continuity of Government was, at which point North went into his involvement with REX 84 during the Reagan Administration. North explained that at the time it was a plan to continue government in the event of a Soviet attack. As a follow up question, Deeds asked a question “Given the knowledge of secondary devices in [World Trade Center] building 7, would you support a new investigation of 9/11.” North initially scoffed at the notion of government involvement, but Deeds reiterated that he had not mentioned the government and only wanted know if given knowledge of secondary devices, would he support a new investigation. At which point, North replied, “Investigate everything.”

On North’s way out of the forum, Sam Logulo asked; “North about the Iran Contra hearings and the presence of concentration camps in America.” North claimed “The only concentration camps were shut down after World War II.” Logulo replied, “Some of them are being reopened.” North said “show me the proof.” Logulo said, “Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis,” a reference to Beech Grove. North told Logulo to send the evidence to his email address.

On the way out, the members gave a variety of DVDs including TerrorStorm and Blueprint for Truth to North. In addition the members gave a Patriots Question 9/11 flier to North and an article about ex-Congressman Daniel Hamburg about evidence that the U.S. government created Al-Qaeda and were involved with 9/11.

Later, Logulo told North that he would send him the information on the camps, but at this point, police surrounded the WeAreChange members. At which point the officers told the members to shut off their cameras. Adam Covington from Kentuckiana Change asked an officer, “Why can’t I record this when I have a press pass, and this is a second and first amendment venue?” Despite the lack of explanation from the police, the members shut off their devices and proceeded to walk out of the building.

While escorted out, a plainclothes officer yelled “Give me your camera,” and tried to snatch Logulo's camera from behind. Four officers tackled Logulo, and drove him to the ground. One officer put Logulo into a headlock.

“Easy, easy, easy!” Logulo exclaimed. “I’m not resisting.”

As Logulo was being assaulted, Deeds was filming his fellow WeAreChange member in order to record the abuse. He was told stop filming at which point he didnt comply and continued filming anyway.

“Get him!” yelled a plainclothes officer as he ran at Deeds. Three officers took Deeds down to his knees as they ripped the camera out of his hand. Deeds tried to take the memory stick out of his camera, and was accused of “tampering with evidence” a Class D felony according to officer Rehm. Deeds later explained, “The footage was my only defense.”

The police confiscated four memory cards, two battery packs, two sets of batteries, and a disc. Throughout the 30 min ordeal the members of change were interrogated, harassed, and searched. To prevent further harassment at future events we would appreciate any attourneys that would provide their support please contact Cody Deeds at WeAreChangeOhio.com.

If you would like to see the video footage please call the Louisville Metro Police.at (502) 574-7111 or write

Louisville Metro Police Department
633 W Jefferson St
Louisville, KY 40202

More than 360 workers who dealt with the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster are known to have died, New York health officials said in May. Of the more than 600 diagnosed with cancer (other than blood cancer), 80 are included in the death count. Other deaths were traced to blood cancers and heart and circulatory diseases. Five ex-workers committed suicide, said Kitty Gelberg, who is tracking the deaths for the state’s World Trade Center Responder Fatality Investigation Program.

Officials have determined the cause of death of 154 of the responders and volunteers who toiled at Ground Zero, the blocks nearby and at the Fresh Kills landfill, where debris from the site was taken. “It’s the tip of the iceberg,” said David Worby, who is representing 10,000 workers who say they got sick after working on rescue and recovery efforts.

“These statistics bear out how toxic that site was, Worby said. Most of the deadly tumors were in the lungs and digestive system, according to the tally from the state’s program. Ms. Gelberg said she had not yet determined whether the number of cancer deaths was more or less than those typically occurring in men in their 20s to 50s who work as cops, firefighters or laborers—the majority of 9-11 workers.

“We are not saying all of these deaths are World Trade Center-related,” she said, not yet ready to make that determination without the statistics.

He can’t help himself. Because he is a pathological liar. He lied about weapons of mass destruction, so why not lie about golf? Kudos to Keith Olbermann, who dug up the video at the left. On May 13, Politico reported:

For the first time, Bush revealed a personal way in which he has tried to acknowledge the sacrifice of soldiers and their families: He has given up golf.

“I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”

Bush said he made that decision after the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, which killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top U.N. official in Iraq and the organization’s high commissioner for human rights.

I know for at least Dylan, Jason and myself it was a toss up for where we were going for the rally this year. They will be held in every city, town and village across the country, and large parts of the world this year, as the 9/11 movement continues to move forward at an astonishing rate. With 9/11 on the ballot or up to get on ballots in many states, the world wide leaders and foreign governments now actively re-looking, re-investigating the events of that day. Lots going on.

However, when it came down to it, being from New York, as well as the tradition I am getting into, at least I will be going to NYC this year. Dylan will most likely stay out west to help Truther.org and their rally. But he might come to the city for the concert anyway.

Jason, well, if Alex ever lets him leave Texas, will most likely end up in the city with me.

So this is what we have so far, just to let everyone know. If you want to contact me to help, here’s how you can do it.

The events will be held over three days this year. Also, they are being held to the weekend, we know how tough it is to get off from work for even a day, and the financial troubles this whole country is in are felt here as well. Lack of funding should not stop your demonstrations however. Local street action is more important then getting to NYC.

Thursday is September the 11th. This day will follow tradition, street action, material hand out. Respect to the lost ones, family members, victims relatives, and the hundred thousand lives that have been lost since, because of it.

I urge you to hold these actions, this day, in every town worldwide, make this year, a year to remember. The uncountable amount of organizations that have been created in the name of Truth, Justice and The American Way is what gives me hope that we will accomplish our collective goals.

I would like to offer my help in anyway to anyone out there that wants to hold street action in their town. I can’t send DVDs to everyone but I can help in lots of other ways.

As well, please let me know about them.

I want to have, by that time, a massive list of actions and where they are being held. This way anyone lost with no place to go can find one and go show their support for the cause, if only for one hour.

Friday September 12th

Bull horning I hope. Lets get out there and make some noise! Luke will be working on permits, if we can get them. More to follow on this.

Hip Hop night. Venues are being researched, we want max capacity. That is all Luke cares about, max capacity. Anyone out there got a 5,000 - to 10,000 capacity venue we can borrow, haha.

We are going to hide a 9/11 event inside a large hip-hop concert. Big, I mean BIG names have given their informal “we’re down”. Donna will be letting me know as the names continue to pour in. If possible we would like to make this our record release party for the 9/11 mix tape Donna and Dylan have been quietly putting together with tracks being laid as recent as two nights ago, with all proceeds going the the FealGood Foundation, and other organizations alike.

This concert is really shaping up to be something worth seeing. I will be giving info on this as it comes. Stay Tuned.

Saturday September 13th.

Just like the day before but rock, not hip-hop. Again stay tuned. Big names for this as well.

I expect you will see more people, come out at these events, about their support for a new investigation, then ever before. All videos will, of course, be posted for free if possible as soon as it happens. I would also like to get live feeds on a few people as we have in the past for the Republican National Convention, and many other things all you crazy truthers are out there doing.

Much love, all support.

Korey Rowe
Louder Than Words

“Under the terms of the ground lease, we made a lump-sum ground rent payment in June 2007 of $161 million, which was paid into escrow, to be released to the Battery Park City Authority pending performance of specified state and city obligations,” it said.

“The city is on track to provide a comprehensive security plan for lower Manhattan by the end of 2009 as required by the agreement, and we are working with the Port Authority and Lower Manhattan Development Corp. to help them meet the other deadlines,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Lieber.