| Tuesday, August 12, 2003 |  |
| Are American soldiers in Iraq dying due to depleted uranium? | 1 comment |
 12 Aug 2003 @ 14:07Are American soldiers in Iraq dying due to depleted uranium? By James Conachy 4 August 2003 The office of the US Army Surgeon General informed the media July 31 that teams of medical specialists have been dispatched to both Iraq and the Landstuhl military hospital in Germany to investigate why a pneumonia-like condition is striking down American military personnel who took part in the invasion of Iraq. At least 100 soldiers have been hospitalized with severe respiratory problems since March 1. Fifteen have been so ill they have required ventilator support to stay alive. Two have died, while three reportedly remain under close supervision at Landstuhl. Three of the critical cases occurred in March, three in April, two in May, three in June and four in July. Fourteen were Army personnel and one was from the Marines. A localized epidemic has been ruled out. The troops who have fallen ill belong to diverse units and were operating in different areas of Iraq and in at least one case in Kuwait. An Army official told reporters: “It is pneumonia. The question is, what is the cause?” According to the Army, there is no evidence that any of the cases have been caused by exposure to chemical or biological weapons, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or environmental toxins. It is not the number of cases that is concerning the military hierarchy. According to the spokesperson of the US Army Surgeon General, there are normally nine cases of pneumonia per 10,000 US soldiers per year that are serious enough to require hospitalization. Based on that statistic, 100 cases of pneumonia in five months among the several hundred thousand army and marine personnel who were involved in the war on Iraq are only slightly higher than average. The dispatch of the experts therefore raises disturbing questions. There is clearly something about either the nature, or the severity, of the cases the Army Surgeon General feels warrants investigation. On July 16, the News-Leader site operating out of Springfield, Missouri published a detailed report describing the symptoms of one of the soldiers who has died from the alleged pneumonia. Josh Neusche, a 20-year-old, fit and healthy Missouri National Guardsman, collapsed in Baghdad on July 2. He was evacuated to Landstuhl, Germany. His family was informed he was suffering from pneumonia caused by fluid in his lungs. According to his mother, his liver, kidneys and muscles then began to break down. He was placed on dialysis, but fell into a coma and died on July 12. For anyone familiar with the research into the medical effects of exposure to depleted uranium, the details of Josh Neusche’s death would have to ring alarm bells. The 2001 World Health Organization report into the issue notes: “Brief accidental exposure to high concentrations of uranium hexafluoride has caused acute respiratory illness, which may be fatal.” [Full report available at http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/pub_meet/ir_pub/en/] Scenarios that could cause a “brief, accidental exposure to high concentrations of uranium hexafluoride” definitely would include being in the vicinity of a vehicle or building struck by depleted uranium munitions; traveling in or being in the vicinity of a vehicle that is armored with depleted uranium and sustains damage; or being involved in the cleanup of such a vehicle. The organs most affected by exposure are the lungs and kidneys. In a July 30 article on US casualties in Iraq, the World Socialist Web Site reported the unconfirmed allegation in the July 17 Saudi newspaper Al-Watan that three US servicemen had been evacuated from Iraq suffering symptoms of depleted uranium exposure. The WSWS noted that if this proved true, it would not be surprising. Thousands of US troops in Iraq are likely to have been exposed to DU to some degree, absorbing it either by inhaling contaminated dust or ingesting it from contaminated water, food and soil. Initial estimates are that between 100 and 200 tons of DU munitions were used in Iraq and that at least 17 incidents took place during the combat phase that would most likely have resulted in US and British personnel being exposed to high concentrations of DU particles. [See http://www.antenna.nl/~wise/uranium/pdf/duiq03.pdf] On July 28, as part of the research for the July 30 article, “America’s maimed come home from Iraq,” this WSWS correspondent submitted a list of questions to the US Department of Defense, addressed to media@defenselink.mil. One of the specific questions we asked of the Department of Defense was: “Have any US military personnel been medically evacuated from Iraq due to the possible side-affects of exposure to depleted uranium?” To date, the WSWS has received no reply. More > |
| Air Car America | 3 comments |
 12 Aug 2003 @ 13:50Air Car America By Bill Moore Is it really possible to run a four passenger car or a minivan or a pickup on nothing but compressed air? You bet! MDI Air Car in France has done it, but getting the idea off the drawing board and into the showroom is another matter, as its developers and investors have discovered over the last half decade since the car was officially unveiled. But it appears that the "times they are converging" as battery development continues its slow pace of progress and fuel cells remain a distant dream. Maybe the way to power the "electric" cars of today isn't chemically, but mechanically with air compressed to 4,500 psi. That's what Swiss-born engineer and San Francisco Bay-area entrepreneur Jean-Pierre Maeder is counting on as he races to line-up the necessary investment capital to begin manufacturing the MDI Air Car in Northern California. ZEV CAT web site In this 48 minute-long interview, he talks about his plans and the amazing Air Car, which he's driven on MDI's development grounds in the south of France. Here's a car, he says, that can go at freeway speeds for 125-170 miles on its charge of compressed air, held in three under-the-floorboard tanks for less than $3 a charge. To listen to the three-part interview click the Play Audio links at the top right. You will need the RealPlayer plug-in available for free from Real.Com. More > |
| Increase In Teen Prostitution | 2 comments |
 12 Aug 2003 @ 13:39LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS NOTE MARKED NATIONWIDE INCREASE IN TEEN PROSTITUTION; TRENDS SHOW KIDS GETTING YOUNGER, MORE FROM MIDDLE-CLASS HOMES Newsweek August 18, 2003 Issue NEW YORK, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the last year, local and federal law-enforcement officials say they have noted a marked increase in teen prostitution in cities across the country, reports Assistant Editor Suzanne Smalley in the August 18 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, August 11). Law-enforcement agencies and advocacy groups that work with teen prostitutes say they are increasingly alarmed by the trend lines: the kids are getting younger; according to the FBI, the average age of a new recruit is just 13; some are as young as 9. And, while the vast majority of teen prostitutes today are runaways, illegal immigrants and children of poor urban areas, experts say a growing number now come from middle-class homes. "Compared to three years ago, we've seen a 70 percent increase in kids are from middle- to upper-middle-class backgrounds, many of whom have not suffered mental, sexual or physical abuse," says Frank Barnaba of the Paul & Lisa Program, which works with the Justice Department and the FBI in tracking exploited kids. Child advocates are especially concerned that pimps are increasingly targeting girls at the local mall, a place many parents consider a haven for their kids to gather after school and on weekends. "Ten years ago you didn't see this happening," says Bob Flores, who heads the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. "We've got kids in every major city and in suburbia all over the place being prostituted." "Potentially good sex is a small price to pay for the freedom to spend money on what I want," says 17-year-old Stacey [not her real name], who liked to hang out after school at the Mall of America, Minnesota's vast shopping megaplex, Newsweek reports. After being approached last summer by a man who told her how pretty she was, and asked if he could buy her some clothes, Stacey agreed and went home that night with a $250 outfit. Stacey, who lives with her parents in an upscale neighborhood, began stripping for men in hotel rooms -- then went on to more intimate activities. She placed ads on a local telephone personals service, offering "wealthy, generous" men "an evening of fun" for $400. (The Mall of America, whose spokesman declined to comment, has an extensive security operation, and rules requiring juveniles to have chaperones on weekend evenings. Law-enforcement officials, who praise the mall's efforts to combat the problem, nonetheless concede pimps are active there. "The Mall of America is a huge recruiting center," says FBI Special Agent Eileen Jacob.) Child advocates are just as worried about, and puzzled by, girls like Stacey, who aren't forced into prostitution but instead appear to sell themselves for thrills, or money, or both. Richard Estes, a University of Pennsylvania researcher, says so-called designer sex is becoming more common in cities across the country. "Everyone thinks they are runaways with drug problems from the inner city," says Andy Schmidt, a Minneapolis detective who helped bust a major Twin Cities prostitution ring. "It's not true. This could be your kid." In response, local, state and federal officials are starting to clamp down on the crime, which is still treated as a minor offense in many cities. The FBI, working with the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, recently identified 13 cities-including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, Miami, Minneapolis and Dallas-that have juvenile-prostitution problems. More > |