ATTENTION: More to the story of Dr. Huda Ammash

This communication, “On the detention of Dr. Huda S. Ammash,” needs to be seen. All that's been in the media points to Dr. Huda Ammash being involved in biological atrocities, when, according to this email I got, her crime was be critical of the U.S. for using biologically hazardous materials in the Gulf War. The ring of truth to this is enhanced by South End Press, which is signatory to it, being a supra admirable source of publications by progressive authors.

One saving grace of the perpetration of such lies by our government is that they aren't subtle. Everybody can see what's going o­n. It continues to be amazing to me how much people are swallowing without rebelling. But, tides turn fast when some peak is reached. All of a sudden it is too much. Here's an except of a favorite piece of mine, o­n how photosynthesis works (in my files — can't give you the reference), with a parallel to how accumulated knowledge works to create sudden shifts:

The controlling process in photosynthesis begins at the atomic level, with the nucleus of the atom and its electron ring. Each orbit around the nucleus of an atom has a variety of potential energy levels at which electrons can move and still remain in orbit. If the electrons exceed the energy limits of their orbits, they are forced to leave — to move into an orbit further from the nucleus and therefore an orbit which requires more energy to complete. This movement is the famous quantum leap which we have been using for years to describe an exponential increase in energy required to move from o­ne plane to another. Knowledge, among other things, seems to operate according to this principle — you can acquire vast amounts of knowledge and still remain o­n the same plane, but there comes a point where the cumulative knowledge in your head — the cumulative creative energy you're trying to deal with — requires a leap into another plane. o­nce you've made that first leap, you realize that, while knowledge is a cumulative process, it is not a progressive phenomenon. You do not move from plane to plane in a smooth, harmonious progression merely by storing up knowledge. You move from level to level, but always within the same orbit or plane, until you reach a point where you can no longer contain the creative energy you have been accumulating and remain within the same plane. So you make the quantum leap. And find yourself starting all over again, gathering energy o­n another level, always with successive levels above you, levels which are accessible o­nly through the accumulation of vast amounts of knowledge, until o­nce again the leap is within your ability.

—–Original Message—–
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, May 7th, 2003
CONTACT: Alexander Dwinell [alexander@southendpress.org]

On the detention of Dr. Huda S. Ammash

The U.S. publishers of Dr. Huda S. Ammash assert that there may be political motivations for her detention o­n Monday, May 5 in Baghdad by the U.S. military o­n allegations that she oversaw Iraq's purported development of biological weapons. Dr. Ammash, Dean of Baghdad University, is the author of “Toxic Pollution, the Gulf War, and Sanctions,” a peer reviewed research paper published in _Iraq Under Siege_ (South End Press, 2002) an anthology that examined the effects of the Gulf War and sanctions o­n Iraq.

United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) spokesperson Hiro Ueki has confirmed to South End Press that based o­n earlier research “UNMOVIC did not single Dr. Ammash out for interviews because UNMOVIC did not have clear evidence to link Dr. Ammash to BW [biological weapons] programs” when visiting Baghdad University o­n January 13th, 2003.

“We are outraged at the U.S.'s extra-legal detention of Dr. Ammash and its plans to interrogate her. We demand that Dr. Ammash be released immediately,” said co-publisher Alexander Dwinell. “The U.S. government is trying to silence Dr. Ammash's outspoken criticism of the U.S. role in causing cancers and other illnesses in Iraq through its own use of biologically hazardous weapons such as radioactive deleted uranium.”

Dr. Ammash, an environmental biologist and professor at Baghdad University, received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri. She has earned international respect for her publications, particularly her documentation of the rise in cancers among Iraqi children and war veterans since the Gulf War. In _Iraq Under Siege_ she writes: “Iraqi death rates have increased significantly, with cancer representing a significant cause of mortality, especially in the south and among children.”

When visited in Baghdad by a group of NGO representatives and former UN officials in January 2003, Dr. Ammash stated: “People here bear every respect for Western people and Western civilization. We respect your technological accomplishments and your values..Yet hatred is being manufactured by some to engineer a clash of civilizations.”

Dr. Ammash's other publications include: “Impact of Gulf War Pollution in the Spread of Infectious Diseases in Iraq,” (Soli Al-Mondo, Rome, 1999), and “Electromagnetic, Chemical, and Microbial Pollution Resulting from War and Embargo, and Its Impact o­n the Environment and Health,” (Journal of the[Iraqi] Academy of Science, 1997).

South End Press
7 Brookline Street #1, Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 547-4002 Fax: (617) 547-1333
www.southendpress.org

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The Second Superpower — plus special treats

There's conversation in the blog interior, where you find ideas being batted around by smart people, o­n a topic of interest to me. It concerns a force that the Net could give rise to. James Moore, from Harvard, wrote about this emergent force in a paper, The Second Superpower Rears its Beautiful Head . (I posted something about using Kucinich as a rallying point, in a conversation o­n Moore's site about the Second Superpower electing a president.)

Quotes from The Second Superpower Rears its Beautiful Head

“There is an emerging second superpower, but it is not a nation. Instead, it is a new form of international player, constituted by the 'will of the people' in a global social movement. The beautiful but deeply agitated face of this second superpower is the worldwide peace campaign, but the body of the movement is made up of millions of people concerned with a broad agenda that includes social development, environmentalism, health, and human rights…What makes these numbers important is the new cyberspace-enabled interconnection among the members. This body has a beautiful mind. Web connections enable a kind of near-instantaneous, mass improvisation of activist initiatives.”

“Thus the new superpower demonstrates a new form of 'emergent democracy' that differs from the participative democracy of the US government…the emergent democracy of the second superpower is alive with touching and being touched by each other, as the community works to create wisdom and to take action.”

James Moore says, “The point of the paper is that 'the movement' is now approaching the status of 'the second superpower,' after the United States. This is due to (1) critical mass of people who identify with the world rather than the nation, with each other rather than just themselves, (2) the web and interactive media 'neurology' of the movement—including texting, email lists, and blogging—which is giving it a kind of collective mind and ability to act, and (3) the advance of international institutions and international law, which provides a venue or a forum in which the second superpower can work with sympathetic nations to press its cause. The Bush administration is attacking the fabric of the international system, but it is unlikely to prevail. Now, I know that the suggestion that the movement is powerful enough to be called a second superpower will be met with skepticism, given that the bombs of the first superpower are falling o­n Baghdad. This is either the worst or the best time to be pressing this idea! But even in regard to the war o­n Iraq, web and media-enabled public opinion is clearly the major actor to which the US government is attuned—before any given nation. And this other actor is uncontrollable by the US, despite its huge current effort to dominate the news.”

While you are cogitating about this, as Moore is o­ngoingly, wondering how the power of this new force can be harnessed, here are two TREATS that I picked up from James Moore's blog. He called the first, “The best video I've seen for awhile,” and the second, “My new favorite weblog.” As Moore says, and I echo, “Check this out, I think you will enjoy it!”

http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/%7Egboychuk/psci110/blair.mpg

http://www.southknoxbubba.net/skblog/godblog.php


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