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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No.16/2001 |
Dateline: April 20, 2001 |
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This is the weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail:
INES homepage: http://inesglobal.org
INES International Office
INES Chair: Prof. Armin Tenner [Please note that the first "1" in q18 is the number one, while the last "l" is a "L"]
CONTENTS of WNII No. 16/2001
INESPE call for solidarity
The International Network of Engineers and Scientists to Protect and Encourage Ethical Engagement (INESPE) is calling for solidarity with its member Prof. Guillermo Miguel Eguaizu, Rosario (Argentine), who is currently under increasing pressure because of his activities concerning an ecologically sustainable and socio-economically digestible way for agricultural products. Together with his colleague Alberto Motta, Prof. Eguaizu is demanding for years, that public measures for consumer protection as well as with regard to farmers' health damaging technologies be introduced. In this regard, Eguaizu and Motta have developed certain measurement techniques and have worked out methods of prevention. They urge for legal regulation concerning, for example, protection against Aflatoxin (a kind of mixotin) in groceries.
In the course of these activities, they both experienced more and more resistance presumably influenced by economic interests, and corresponding pressure. In particular, they experienced -- demolition of their laboratory inventory; -- missing financial support from the government; -- blocking installation of gas and adequate electricity supply for their lab, although this would had been sponsored by private donators.
Prof. Eguaizu was even threatened that his institute would be closed down if he was not stopping his critical research. (He is founder of the Instituto de Calidad Biologica y Ecotoxicologia INCABIE: Institute for Biological Quality and Ecotoxiology.)
In response, INESPE now asks to send the following letter to the Argentinean Minister of Education:
Ministerio de Educacion MINISTRO Pizurno 935 1° Piso Of. 114 (1020) Capital Federal Buenos Aires Rep. Argentina
Honourable Mr. Minister, I am writing on behalf of Dr. G.M. Eguaizu and Mr. A Motta and their research activities at the Institute for Biological Quality and Ecotoxiology (INCABIE) at the University of Rosario.
We have been informed that the financial support for the absolutely basic needs of materials and work equipment for this laboratory is stopped, along with reduction of gas and electricity power supply. This compromises the development of their research and evaluation concerning the prevention of unforeseen negative influence in the procedures of food products.
It has to be avoided that the salaries of the staff be substantially reduced or even completely eliminated as already happened to the yearly benefits and financial incentives.
INCABIE and its scientists must be protected and supported and should enjoy the necessary academic and scientific freedom to carry out its objectives in cooperation and dialogue with the corresponding international scientific community.
With this letter we expect to contribute to the continuity of INCABIE's valuable research and Prof. Eguaizu's dedicated engagement in the interest of the public.
Yours, sincerely &..
For more, please contact INESPE Convenor Dr Günter Emde: < >
USA: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), "Waging Peace Worldwide" http://www.wagingpeace.org
The Spring 2001 issue (Vol. 11, No. 1) of NAPF's print magazine "Waging Peace Worldwide" carries the following:
plus a number of smaller information briefs.
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org
Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
The biggest action on a nuclear weapons base in history of peace movement
On Easter Monday 16 April, a non-violent WAR CRIMES INSPECTION was organised by Forum for Peace Action (Flemish branch of War Resisters International) and For Mother Earth. 850 activists non-violently entered the nuclear weapons base of Kleine Brogel, Belgium, and tried to inspect the nuclear weapons deployed by the USA. This without permission from the Belgian or US authorities. About 1500 people were present.
You can find the article in full at:
http://belgium.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=3689
For more, you can also visit:
http://www.motherearth.org
CTBTO News (from: Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Danger "N-Testing Update", April 16, 2001)
The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO PrepCom) has launched a new version of its public web site. The http://www.ctbto.org aims to provide accurate, appropriate and timely information about the Preparatory Commission's mandate and activities to the general public and special interest groups, within a user-friendly and easily accessible structure.
For those of you who are counting, as of this week, 160 states have signed the CTBT, 76 have ratified, including 31 of the 44 states necessary for the Treaty's entry into force. A second conference on accelerating the entry into force of the Treaty will take place in New York this September.
NOTE: Further information on the CTBT is available on the web site of the Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Danger: http://www.crnd.org
For previous editions of the Coalition's "Nuclear Testing Update," see: http://www.clw.org/coalition/n-testing.htm
US nuclear weapons deployment now more safe? (Source: "Federal Computer Week", 17 April 2001)
The [US] Air Force will field a new system soon that will allow for speedier transmission of emergency action messages to commanders controlling the deployment of nuclear forces. The system, called DIRECT, will replace the Improved Emergency Message Automated Transmission System (IEMATS). DIRECT stands for Defense IEMATS Replacement Command and Control Terminal.
By the end of the month [i.e. April 01; the ed.], DIRECT will be fielded with a set of initial capabilities to be built upon later. The contract was awarded in 1996, and total system costs are about $60 million. (&)
According to a statement by Steve Briggs, the DIRECT program manager, the system previously relied on manual procedures for emergency-action message transmission, but DIRECT gives emergency-action operators the ability to process information automatically.
That makes it easier for operators to generate messages and correct errors, Briggs said. Messages also can be automatically compared for similarity: Two different operators independently compose an emergency-action message as a system of checks and balances. Then the two messages are elaborately encoded and must be compared to ensure that they say exactly the same thing before the order is sent.
That process previously had to be conducted manually, but DIRECT enables the messages to be compared automatically, which speeds the process while also making it more accurate and dependable. Because the messages relay nuclear commands, there is no room for error, so the increased accuracy is invaluable, Briggs said.
In addition, the system allows emergency-action messages to be inserted into several strategic communications systems, enabling messages to be sent simultaneously to submarines, bombers, fixed nuclear sites and others in the nuclear weapon control chain.
Low-Yield Earth-Penetrating Nuclear Weapons
This is the title on an article by Robert W. Nelson, published in *)FAS Public Interest Report, January/February 2001, Volume 54, Number 1. You can find it at: http://www.fas.org/faspir/2001/v54n1/weapons.htm
*) FAS is the Federation of American Scientists, USA
In addition, I can make available as an rtf-formatted email attachment the article "U.S. Studies Developing New Nuclear Bomb" (by Walter Pincus; Washington Post, April 15, 2001) The Editor
"Developing Mutually Supportive Trade and Environment Policies"
This is the title of a High Level Meeting on Environment, Sustainable Development and Trade of UNEP and the German Ministry for Environment, held at Berlin, 20-22 March this year. As an rtf-formatted email attachment (size: ~ 41 Kb), I can make available the Chairmens Summary of this event.
Further information on this meeting, including background papers and country reports, can be found on the UNEP Economics and Trade Unit's website: http://www.unep.ch/etu/etp/events/recent/berlin.htm
CSD: NGO Statements on Multi-stakeholder Dialogues
The final draft of the NGO Statements presented at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, Ninth Session, 16-17 April 2001, has now been disseminated. After the initial presentations of this meeting, and during the actual dialogues, NGOs managed to speak ten times, covering a wide range of topics. The Chair of CSD9, Prof. Moldan, noted from the chair during the Dialogues, that NGOs were, as compared to some of the other Major stakeholders, "quite active". Statements and comments by local authorities and trade unions were often very close and supportive of NGO positions.
As an rtf-formatted email attachment (size: ~ 41 Kb), you can obtain the NGO Statements from the WNII editor. The file includes:
Background papers on "Star Wars"
Bob Aldridge from the US-based Pacific Life Research Center (PLRC) has written the following two background papers which I can make available as PDF-formatted email attachments:
The Editor
Bibliography on China and U.S.-Chinese Relations
Joseph Gerson from the American Friends Service Committee, USA, has compiled this very useful and timely bibliography which you can find at:
http://www.afsc.org/nero/pesp/chinabib.htm
"Disarmament Diplomacy" No. 55, March 2001 http://www.acronym.org.uk/dd55.htm
In the latest issue of "Disarmament Diplomacy", you can find the following:
plus the sections "Documents and Sources" and "News Review"
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS
Information, Security and Ethics for the New Century http://www.privacy2000.org/
For more details, contact Conference Coordinator Sol Bermann: < >
No new or changed addresses.
All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
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