In the next 72 hours, 109 countries are negotiating to ban cluster munitions -- weapons that, like land mines, kill children long after wars have ended. Immediate pressure is needed -- click to send your message:

BAN CLUSTER BOMBS

 

Final negotiations are underway right now in Dublin, Ireland on a treaty to ban cluster bombs. Arms manufacturers are pushing governments to riddle the treaty with loopholes and delays -- and the final text will be decided in the next 72 hours.

Cluster munitions don't just kill during war. They scatter small, shiny, unexploded "bomblets" on the ground that hold their deadly charge for years. When children pick them up, they are often maimed or killed. Most governments agree that these weapons should be outlawed, but back-room pressure is rising to undercut a strong ban.

If enough of us act before the treaty is signed on Friday, we can drown out the weapons merchants and convince our governments to ban cluster bombs once and for all. Click below to send a message, and then forward this email to friends and family:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/ban_cluster_munitions/13.php?cl=92106048

The treaty to ban cluster munitions is the result of an inspiring, years-long campaign by citizens from around the world -- with victims and survivors of cluster bombs leading the way. One spokesman for the effort, Branislav Kapetanovic, lost his hands, legs, and some of his hearing and eyesight in a cluster-bomb explosion in his native Serbia. He is now in Dublin, pushing for the treaty -- but he took a moment to sent this message to the Avaaz community (you can see a video on the the Avaaz site):

Cluster bombs are one of the most dangerous weapons of today. The majority of their victims are civilians, affecting millions worldwide. They have absolutely no place in a conflict situation.

This week governments have gathered together in Dublin to outlaw this dangerous weapon. This is a historic meeting of the international community. Some governments are trying to undermine and weaken the treaty with loopholes and exceptions. They are trying to position the arms trade over the importance of lives of people like me.

Rich governments don't always listen to victims, but they will listen to you -- their citizens. Please send a strong message to your government now that calls for a treaty with no exception, no loopholes, and no delays.

Advocates like Kapetanovic have faced down enormous odds to reach this point, the brink of victory. Now, as citizens around the world, we can do our part, and raise a massive cry as the negotiators spar over the final text of the treaty. Watch the video, check out a map of countries that produce or use cluster bombs and send a message to your leaders, all from this link:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/ban_cluster_munitions/14.php?cl=92106048

In 1997, the people-powered International Campaign to Ban Land Mines won a victory for humanity, earning a Nobel Peace Prize by ending the barbaric practice of laying mines in conflict zones. It would not have been possible without the efforts of thousands of ordinary people. This week, we can take the next step towards a more just, more peaceful world -- a world safer for children, and for generations to come.

With hope,

Ben, Pascal, Ricken, Galit, Graziela, Paul, Iain, and Veronique -- the Avaaz.org team

PS: You can learn more about this issue at the Stop Cluster Munitions coalition website here:

http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/

And here are some news articles about the state of the negotiations:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL2629379720080526

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/26/news/Ireland-Cluster-Bombs.php

_______________


ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

MUST SEE FILM!! =ZEITGEIST=

Comcast, which has a history of censoring political content is STILL
abusing their monopoly power to suppress political speech. Last week
in San Francisco they REFUSED to accept the new Shirley Golub TV ad,
in her congressional primary challenge against Nancy Pelosi.

Stop Comcast Censorship Action Page:
http://www.shirley08.com/petitions/pnum835.php

Apparently they did not take kindly to Golub's comparison of the
political behavior of the current Speaker of the House to a rubber
chicken, for her cowardice in not standing up to the Bush
administration. But that's not their call, and in the meantime the 3
major non-cable broadcast outlets ARE running the ad and they all
think it's a delightful hoot.

The real problem is that Shirley wanted to place these ads
specifically to support Keith Olbermann on MSNBC cable, and Comcast
by their action is making it immensely harder for her to mobilize
those who are Olbermann's viewers, her natural base. It is simply
outrageous for Comcast to refuse to air perfectly acceptable
political speech because THEY don't like the content. We must flood
them with complaints, or Olbermann himself, with his own
uncompromising commentary, may not be far behind.

The action page above will send your message of complaint to Comcast
CEO Brian Roberts, and let Keith Olbermann and MSNBC know what's
going on.

 

 

(NaturalNews) There's a feeling of bugs crawling under your skin, day and night; continuously haunting you. Sharp stings from what feels like bees constantly torment you, keeping you awake for days on end. Intense burning and itching from these unseen forces invade your life, robbing you of your everyday activities, causing fear and agony as the time wears on, with no end in sight. To top it all off, to your horror you discover that strange red, blue, black, white, and translucent fibers are literally coming out of your pores, accompanied by strange black specks. Then the fatigue and joint pain begin.

Sound like something out of a science fiction movie? It's not. Everyday thousands of people across the country are experiencing these horrible symptoms. Many times, their family and friends do not believe, and leave them to endure their suffering alone. They are called crazy. They are told they have delusions of parasites, or DOP for short. They are labeled, ridiculed, humiliated, and most of all, scared. They have a condition known as Morgellons Disease.

History

A distraught mother, Mary Leitao, named Morgellons Disease, also called Morgellons Syndrome or the fiber disease, back in 2002. Her then 2 year old son, Drew, had a rash on his chin that would not go away, and he kept complaining, "Mommy, bugs", and pointing to it. She found dandelion-like tufts in it and, being a biologist, studied them under her microscope. They were nothing like she had ever seen before.

After having been dismissed by multiple pediatricians, allergists, and dermatologists, even labeled as having Munchausen's by proxy, she started her own research. This lead her to discover a 17th century French medical article describing an infliction named morgellons, in which black hairs emerge from the skin of the children inflicted. Although there is nothing to link the two, at least now she had a name for it.

She put up a website, morgellons.org, hoping to get professional help. Instead, she began receiving numerous letters, emails, and phone calls from people with the same symptoms. Realizing the scope of the problem, she started The Morgellon's Research Foundation, a non-profit she runs from the basement of her home. People with symptoms can now go to her site and register as sufferers of the illness. As of this writing, April 4, 2008, there were 12,106 registered affected families.

The Medical Community

In medical circles, the people suffering from this affliction are many times labeled as delusional. The fibers brought in are thought to be just another part of the delusion, called 'matchbox' or 'Ziploc' symptoms, coined for the containers patients use to bring in specimens as 'proof'. Dr. Noah Scheinfeld, an assistant professor of dermatology at Columbia University, stated in a CNN interview that the disease is all in their heads, people are picking at themselves, and they are doing it for various reasons. He further explains that when they have the open sores, they shove the fibers in themselves.(1)

Even searches for Morgellons on the American Academy of Dermatology website as well as the Infectious Diseases Society of America produce no results. Some people believe this collective dismissal is Semmelweis Reflex, a term named for a 19th century physician who was ostracized by his colleagues for believing doctors should wash their hands between patients, thereby reducing the instance of puerperal fever. It is characterized by the dismissing or rejecting out of hand any information, automatically, without thought, inspection, or experiment. Other professionals, however, are not so quick to dismiss.

Randy Wymore is an associate professor of pharmacology and physiology at Oklahoma State University, and is now the Director of the OSU-CHS Center for the Investigation of Morgellons Disease. He put out a formal position statement(2) in June of 2007, stating, among other things, that the condition known as Morgellons is not delusions of parasites, neurotic excoriations, or the DOP-like symptoms that can be found in crystal-meth users or other addicts, nor is it those symptomatic with severe skin problems.

He also states that at this time, they do not know the cause of Morgellons, what the fibers, specks, or other 'shed' material is composed of, nor any effective treatment. He has studied the fibers, and with the help of the Tulsa Police Department's forensic lab, concluded that they do not match any of the 900 or so commercially available textiles in their database. They even tested if it matched any of 85,000 known organic materials by heating it to 700 degrees F, which should have vaporized it, but had no effect.(3) He has a team in place and is hopeful that with thorough research, they will begin to find answers to shed some light on this mystery.

Ahmed Kilani is an infectious diseases microbiologist who runs Clongen Laboratories. He has ran tests on the fibers from victims for such things as leishmaniasis, a disease transmitted by sand flies, as well as protozoal infections and fungal disease, only to come up empty handed. He is now serving on the MRF scientific advisory board.(4)

 

MORE HERE:    http://www.naturalnews.com/023181.html