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| Dr. David Marlett, Editor | June 4, 2003 | Vol. IV - No. 4 | ||
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| Dr. David Marlett, Editor | June 4, 2003 | Vol. IV - No. 4 | ||
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[ WND.com ]
Only a handful of the people who gathered at the Birmingham Hilton on April 8, 2003, knew that the objective of the meeting was to implement U.N. policy in Alabama. Most people in attendance thought the meeting was to solicit comments about a "forest management plan" being developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The comment period is open until July, at which time the plan will go into effect to standardize "ecosystem management" in all national forests in Alabama.
"Yes," answered Rick Morgan, spokesman for the government, when asked if the plan provided for core wilderness areas, surrounded by buffer zones. The plan fulfills the criteria of Article 4 of UNESCO's "Statutory Framework for U.N. Biosphere Reserves." Most of Alabama has already been gobbled up by the Southern Appalachian Biosphere Reserve, one of 47 U.N. Biosphere Reserves designated in the U.S., with no debate, discussion or vote by any state legislature or the U.S. Congress.
A major function of all U.N. Biosphere Reserves is to continually expand the core wilderness areas and connecting corridors of wilderness, pushing ever-outward the buffer zones, and surrounding the entire area with an ever-expanding "zone of cooperation." The Southern Appalachian Reserve began with the designation of the 517,000-acre Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a U.N. Biosphere Reserve. State Department maps now show the reserve to include an area that stretches from Birmingham to Roanoke, and from Nashville to Asheville.
Who wants all this land managed according to policies decided by UNESCO?
Morgan was asked: If all the comments received from the people were negative, opposing the management plan, would the plan be abandoned? His answer: "No, the comments will be taken and duly noted."
This management plan is required by the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity. Why is this plan being implemented in Alabama, and throughout the United States, when the U.S. Senate did not ratify the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity?
The Clinton-Gore administration expected the treaty to be ratified, with little or no opposition. They were shocked when it failed, and decided to implement its provisions anyway, through its administrative policy of "Ecosystem Management." The people who insist the U.N. has no control over our land-use policies, including those in Congress, either don't know - or don't want others to know - how the system works.
The Convention on Biological Diversity was first proposed in 1981 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The IUCN is an NGO (non-government organization) in Switzerland whose membership includes more than 60 major U.S. environmental organizations, and seven departments of the federal government.
The bureaucrats from these seven federal agencies, and the leaders of the environmental organizations, worked together through the IUCN to develop the draft treaty, which was then presented to the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, where it was adopted in 1992. Once adopted by the U.N., these same environmental organizations and federal agencies lobby for ratification. The federal agencies then implement the treaties which they helped draft. And, these same agencies award federal grants to the NGOs to help implement the treaties. Almost all U.S. environmental policy since the early 1970s has followed this same route.
The Nature Conservancy has been an initiator of at least the last four U.N. Biosphere Reserves nominated in the U.S., and a primary promoter of Biosphere expansion everywhere. At the Birmingham meeting, Rick Morgan was asked if his agency was in partnership with the Nature Conservancy. His reply: "We are mutually supportive, we attend their meetings and they attend ours."
The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are members of the IUCN. Both organizations worked on the development of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and both organizations are working together to implement the management provisions required by the treaty, even though the treaty was not ratified.
The long-term aim of the Convention on Biological Diversity is to convert at least half of the land area to "core wilderness" areas, connected by corridors of wilderness, all of which is off limits to human activity. Wilderness areas are to be surrounded by buffer zones, in which human activity is strictly limited by government, and managed for "conservation objectives." People are gradually being moved into "sustainable communities," which are designed to achieve economic and environmental equity.
The meeting in Birmingham was to satisfy the requirement to provide for public input to a plan, the outcome of which was decided years ago. The people were told that the plan affected only the National Forests in Alabama. Truth is, that the plan affects all land in and near the National Forests. The federal government uses the Endangered Species Act, the Invasive Species Initiative, wetland policies, viewsheds, smart growth and a host of other policies, to restrict land use on private property to the point that the land will ultimately fall into the hands of the government, or an environmental organization such as the Nature Conservancy.
Alabama is not alone. Virtually every state and every community has been targeted to undergo a similar transformation into what Science magazine described in 1993 as "the transformation of America to an archipelago of human-inhabited islands surrounded by natural areas (p.1868)."
The transformation of America was designed by the IUCN in Switzerland, adopted by the United Nations, and is being systematically implemented in Alabama, and in every state, by bureaucrats and environmentalists who have no accountability at the ballot box. Elected officials, who are accountable at the ballot box, are allowing the transformation to go forward. They should be held accountable.
"Public schools in Montclair, N.J., can't distribute gun control literature to students, then refuse to distribute materials explaining the other side of the story, a court has ruled," reports CNSNews.com.
"This settlement will put school districts around the country on notice that they can no longer prevent both sides of the Second Amendment debate from being heard," said Alan Gottlieb, the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. Let's hope he's right.
A young teenage girl was about to finish her first year of college. She considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat but her father was a rather staunch Republican.
One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to taxes & welfare programs. He stopped her and asked her how she was doing in school. She answered that she had a 4.0 GPA but it was really tough. She had to study all the time, never had time to go out and party. She didn't have time for a boyfriend and didn't really have many college friends because of spending all her time studying.
He asked, "How is your friend Mary." She replied that Mary was barely getting by. She had a 2.0 GPA, never studied, but was very popular on campus, went to all the parties all the time. Why she often didn't show up for classes because she was hung over.
Dad then asked his daughter why she didn't go to the Dean's office and ask why she couldn't take 1.0 off her 4.0 and give it to her friend who only had a 2.0. That way they would both have a 3.0 GPA. The daughter angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair, I worked really hard for mine and Mary has done nothing".
The father slowly smiled and said, "Welcome to the Republican Party". --
[ London Times ]
THE pool of potential candidates will not be vast when the new-look European Union comes to choose a president.
The rules, as proposed by the drafters of the new constitution, stipulate that the president or chairman of the EU Council will be picked by the sitting national leaders in a majority vote. The candidate, must belong to their own club of past or present Prime Ministers or Presidents.
Tony Blair is high among the few names that always crop up when EU insiders get around to speculating on the first Euro-president. The Prime Minister seems tailor-made for much of the profile, but he suffers from one big handicap - Britain's selfexclusion from the euro.
The other name often cited is that of José María Aznar, the conservative Spanish Prime Minister. Aged 50, like Mr Blair, and after seven years in power, Señor Aznar has indicated that he sees himself as a candidate for the European presidency. As a leader of a nation regarded as almost one of the "bigs", Señor Aznar fits the bill, however, his proAtlantic credentials could count against him.
After Mr Blair defied public opinion and led Britain into a successful war with Iraq, Paris Match called the Prime Minister the "real President of Europe". This was an indirect swipe at Jacques Chirac, who already likes to see himself as the de facto boss of the Union but, at 71, is not widely tipped as a future EU boss.
When it comes to federal credentials and profile, Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister, is also often cited. A favourite among the smaller states is Wim Kok, 65, the Labour politician who led the Netherlands for a decade.
Others suggested include Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the dynamic Danish Prime Minister, Jean-Luc Dehaene, the former Belgian Prime Minister, and Antonio Guterres, former Prime Minister of Portugal.
*** TCN comment: The London Times would naturally see Blair at the top of the short list of contenders for the EU's top job, but I doubt that the feeling is widespread in mainland Europe. The main objective of the EU is to counter the influence of the US, and the alliance of Blair and Bush against Iraq was not a welcome relationship in most of Europe. I doubt that it gains many votes for Blair's EU presidency. The same situation will not favor Aznar in Spain who was also active in the anti-Saddam alliance. It will be much more likely that the top job will go to one of the lesser known figures at the bottom of the London Times list.
Also of interest is the fact that the ultra-liberal EU has no women in contention for the top spot…. Hmmm.
[ submitted ]
"I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan: ...
1) The U.S. will apologize to the world for our 'interference' in their affairs, past and present. We will promise never to 'interfere' again. ...
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No more sneaking through holes in the fence. ...
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. France would welcome them. ...
4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 day visits unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself, don't hide here. Asylum would not ever be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers. ...
5) No 'students' over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes or they get a 'D' and it's back home for you baby. ...
6) The U.S. will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy-wise. This will include developing non-polluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for awhile. ...
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go someplace else. ...
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not 'interfere.' They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides, most of what we give them gets 'lost' or is taken by their army. The people who need it most get very little, anyway. ...
9a) Ship the UN Headquarters to an island someplace. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, it would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens. ...
9b) Use the UN buildings as replacement for the Twin Towers. ...
10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us 'ugly Americans' any longer. ...
Now, isn't that a winner of a plan?
The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'You want a piece of me?'"
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