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Monopolization on the Radio by Republicans is Illegal
Today, radio broadcasts are often monopolized by a radical hard right wing promoting the narrow special interests of billionaires who want immense tax cuts for themselves – though it means creating an immense budget deficit and gutting the Social Security Trust Fund – and who want deregulation of almost every form of government.One conservative radio propagandist said, “Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are coming after your pensions and health care!”
What a thing to say when these two have done so much to reform and protect our health insurance markets and safeguard Social Security. But there was no rebuttal at all. (The rich really go after the Democrats.)
Another commentator engaging in election fraud on Christian radio, WDJC, which I heard in Hueytown, Alabama, said, “The Democrats want to increase the taxes on the lower incomes by 50 percent and only raise taxes on the rich by 13 Percent.” No! The truth is that the democrats are cutting the taxes of the lower incomes and only raising taxes on those making more than $200,000.
This poor quality media is not characteristic of a democracy. To me, democracy has been overturned, for many uninformed Christians will be voting against their interests. It means the country is backward in many many ways.
What we have on these broadcasts is not so much free speech as it is propaganda: deceitful, one-sided, slanderous tirades that do not allow “truth to grapple with error.”
This use of our broadcast licenses is just plain illegal.
In 1959 Congress amended section 315(a) of the Communications Act to include this sentence: “Nothing in the foregoing [the equal opportunities provision] shall be construed as relieving broadcasters, in connection with the presentation of newscasts, news interview, news documentaries, and on-the-spot coverage of news events, from the obligation imposed upon them under this act to operate in the public interest and to afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views on issues of public importance.”
There are also Supreme Court decisions that are relevant here. For instance, the Supreme Court said our broadcasting stations are to generate “uninhibted, robust, wide open debate on public issues.” ( See the 1974 New York Times v. Sullivan decision.)
The Supreme Court has also said, “The purpose of the First Amendment is to preserve an uninhibited marketplace of ideas in which truth will ultimately prevail rather than monopolization of the market.” (See the Red Lion Broadcsting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission, 395 U.S. 367, 89, S.Ct. 1794, 23 L.Ed.2d 371, 1 Med.L.Rptr. 2053 (1969).
In response, the Federal Communications Commission adopted what came to be known as the "Fairness Doctrine," which dramatically expanded free speech for 30 years.
This doctrine directed the FCC to grant our limited number of broadcasting licenses ONLY to broadcasters that (1) “provide coverage of vitally important controversial issues of interest” in their communities and (2) “provide a reasonable opportunity for the presentation of contrasting viewpoints on such issues.”
But Ronald Reagan, a conservative, illegally signed an executive order that directed his FCC to abolish the Fairness Doctrine.
He listed four rationales for doing this. First of all, he said the Red Lion Broadcasting v. Federal Communications decision is now defunct since it is based on the scarcity of radio frequencies.
He mentioned, for instance, that we now have cable TV and more radio stations, including FM stations.
However, later, in 1994, the Supreme Court refuted this: “Although courts and commentators have criticized the scarcity rationale since its inception, we have declined to question its continuing validity for our broadcasting jurisprudence.” (Turner Broadcasting v. Federal Communications Commission, 1994.)
Furthermore, Supreme Court said the public's “right” to uninhibited free speech on broadcast stations “may not be constitutionally abridged either by Congress or the FCC.” (Though conservative Congressmen have been trying. Please don't let them appoint justices to the Supreme Court! They bend the law in a dishonest way to protect the narrow special interests of the super rich.)
A second rationale Reagan gave for abolishing the Fairness Doctrine is that it "often worked to dissuade broadcasters from presenting any treatment of controversial issues."
My response to that is the license should be given to Michael Moore if a broadcaster refuses to do what is required.
Broadcasters don't have a right to a license if they can't serve public interest.
In the Red Lion Supreme Court decision, Justice Byron R. White said, "But the people as a whole retain their interest in free speech by radio and their collective right to have the medium function consistently with the ends and purposes of the First Amendment. It is the right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcasters which is paramount."
A third rationale Reagan gave for refusing to abide by Supreme Court decisions and an act of Congress mandating fairness is that the Fairness Doctrine put the government "in the doubtful position of evauating program content, which opened the possibility that the government would "favor one type of opinion over another."
So now we have conservative opinions monopolizing.
And the fourth rationale he gave is that the Fairness Doctrine could be used by the President or members of Congress "for partisan purposes."
The FCC needs to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.
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MORE LEGAL INFORMATION:
Reagan's FCC wrongly stated that The Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, 1974 case casts doubt on the constitutionality of the Fairness Doctrine.
In this case, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that it is a violation of the First Amendment to force newspapers to comply with the right of reply law.
Later, in 1994, in the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC decision, the Supreme Court clearly stated that the Tornillo decision does not apply to broadcasting. Below are some quotes from that decision:
"It is true that our cases have permitted more intrusive regulation of broadcast speakers than of speakers in other media. Compare Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367 (1969) (television), and National Broadcasting Co. v. United States, 319 U.S. 190 (1943) (radio), with Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241 (1974) (print), and Riley v. National Federation of Blind of N.C., Inc., 487 U.S. 781 (1988) (personal solicitation). But the rationale for applying a less rigorous standard of First Amendment scrutiny to broadcast regulation, whatever its validity in the cases elaborating it, does not apply in the context of cable regulation.
"The justification for our distinct approach to broadcast regulation rests upon the unique physical limitations of the broadcast medium. See FCC v. League of Women Voters of Cal., 468 U.S. 364, 377 (1984); Red Lion, supra, at 388-389, 396-399; National Broadcasting Co., 319 U. S., at 226. As a general matter, there are more would be broadcasters than frequencies available in theelectromagnetic spectrum. And if two broadcasters were to attempt to transmit over the same frequency in the same locale, they would interfere with one another's signals, so that neither could be heard at all. Id., at 212. The scarcity of broadcast frequencies thus required the establishment of some regulatory mechanism to divide the electromagnetic spectrum and assign specific frequencies to particular broadcasters. See FCC v. League of Women Voters, supra, at 377. ("The fundamental distinguishing characteristic of the new medium of broadcasting . . . is that [b]roadcast frequencies are a scarce resource [that] must be portioned out among applicants") (internal quotation marks omitted); FCC v. National Citizens Comm. for Broadcasting, 436 U.S. 775, 799 (1978). In addition, the inherent physical limitation on the number of speakers who may use the broadcast medium has been thought to require some adjustment in traditional First Amendment analysis to permit the Government to place limited content restraints, and impose certain affirmative obligations, on broadcast licensees. Red Lion, 395 U. S., at 390. As we said in Red Lion, "[w]here there are substantially more individuals who want to broadcast than there are frequencies to allocate, it is idle to posit an unabridgeable First Amendment right to broadcast comparable to the right of every individual to speak, write, or publish." Id., at 388; see also Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee, 412 U.S. 94, 101 (1973).
"Although courts and commentators have criticized the scarcity rationale since its inception, [n.5] we have declined to question its continuing validity as support for our broadcast jurisprudence, see FCC v. League of Women Voters, supra, at 376, n. 11, and see no reason to do so here. The broadcast cases are inapposite in the present context because cable television does not suffer from the inherent limitations that characterize the broadcast medium. Indeed, given the rapid advances in fiber optics and digital compression technology, soon there may be no practical limitation on the number of speakers who may use the cable medium. Nor is there any danger of physical interference between two cable speakers attempting to share the same channel. In light of these fundamental technological differences between broadcast and cable transmission, application of the more relaxed standard of scrutiny adopted in Red Lion and the other broadcast cases is inapt when determining the First Amendment validity of cable regulation."
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Here is more text of the Red Lion Broadcasting v. Federal Communications Commission decision: "Because of the scarcity of radio frequencies, the Government is permitted to put restrictions on licensees in favor others whose views should be expressed on this unique medium. But the people as a whole retain their interest in free speech by radio and their collective right to have the medium function consistently with the ends and purposes which is paramount. ... It is the purpose of the First Amendment to preserve an uninhibited marketplace of ideas in which truth will ultimately prevail rather than to countenance monopolization of the market, whether it be by the Government itself or a private licensee ... It is the right of the public to receive suitable access to social, political, esthestic, moral and other ideas and experiences which is crucial here. That right may not be constitutionally abridged either by Congress or the FCC."
"Let the nations gather together. Let the people be assembled."
Many do not know it, but there is a powerful solution to the most vexing problem destroying the children -- the corruption of the entertainment industry, which uses the most powerful means of teaching we know of -- example -- the example of the nation's most glamorous people -- and to glorify yelling and slapping and murder and to errode values we don’t like but need in order to protect the family unit.
On one sitcom, a young girl told a boy if he would help her with something she would let him touch her breasts. On one sitcom, a young girls nude photo showed up in the yearbook. Her boyfriend was trying to tell him that he didn't like that. Exasperted, she told him, "You are such a prude."
Another sitcom made marijuana look like the most fun thing in the world.
But parents have a powerful friend -- The United Nations. Through the UN, parents across the globe -- black and white, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and all, have come together to look the beast in the eye.
The United Nations has a treaty for the protection and care of children called the Convention on the Rights of the Child that calls for protection of the child from "information and material injurious to the child's well being,” protection from "illicit drug usage," and protection from "any kind of exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of the child's wellbeing.
If the U.S. Senate ratifies this treaty, they will clearly have to stop advertising alcohol and cigarettes. This means the treaty will have powerful unrelenting foes.\
The treaty even calls for protection of the unborn child. THIS IS HOW TO FIGHT LATE TERM ABORTION. I feel sure it will not prevent abortion in the first 7 weeks.
Bright lawyers affiliated with almost every country in the world came together to draft the treaty. There is NOTHING they have not taken into consideration. It took years and years of hard work to draft it.
Every country had a veto over everything in the treaty. Realize that Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution makes a treaty “Supreme Law of the Land” and says “the judges of every state shall be bound thereby.
Read the full text of the treaty on the website of the High Commissioner on Human Rights:
The Convention on the Rights of the Child
The loveliest music I have ever heard is John Michael Talbot's "Light Eternal."
When the people listen to glorious choir music as this, they can accomplish anything.
Glorious choir music as this will renew a right spirit within the family, setting the tone for a spirit of harmony tranquility, repect and purity.
This music can be a powerful tool to help you stir your children on the right path. They will want to do what is right.
Below, I have embedded a webpage that allows you to listen to this music. Make sure to scroll down to hear it all (The loveliest one, "King of King's" is missing:
Make a book mark of the page: http://new.music.yahoo.com/john-michael-talbot/albums/light-eternal--21317150
I have moved to Alabama so I can care for my mother when she is not well.
I miss being able to get good drinking water from My Organic Market in College Park, Md. They have a big Culligan machine that takes tap water and puts it through reverse osmosis (one of the best filters,) as well as other filters, then sterilizes it with ultra violet light.
You take your own containers and fill them up
The water only costs 39 cents per gallon. I used to take two big five gallon containers and fill them up each week which only costed me $4 per week.
I wish everyone had access to really clean and cheap water as this. This is very important.
Where I was living in Maryland, there were more than 1,000 pipes from businesses that were dumping water into the Potomac River or the tributaries that lead into the Potomac River where the tap water was drawn.
Moreover, the exhausts from fossil fuel washes into the water from the air and off roads into the streams that make their way to the river. Exhaust and motor oil with radioactive particles wash off roads into streams that make their way into the rivers we drink from.
Fossil fuel exhaust is so toxic that it often sterilizes our streams. The United States has many thousands of streams that are dead where nothing can live.
Think of the other chemicals in our water. Go into the grocery store and look at the chemicals we use that make their way into our water bodies: Comet, Ajax, Mr. Clean, laundry soap, shampoo, bowl cleaner etc. I wash my clothes and dishes with cleansers made from plant based materials instead.
The sewage treatment plants are not designed to remove chemicals. They remove fecal matter.
Chemicals also make their way to the rivers we drink from in the urine we discharge to the sewage treatment plants. The urine contains all medicines we take by mouth: heart medications, blood pressure medications etc. If I understand correctly, the chemicals of most concern are the artificial estrogens from birth control pills, which are very very potent.
Male fish are being feminized and I wonder if they will go extinct.
Fish contain hundreds of chemicals in their tissues, so don't eat them too often. The smaller fish have far less chemicals.
Young women who are child bearing age need to be careful about the chemicals they consume from water and from fish. The chemicals store in their body fat and other places. This body fat is tapped when her body makes breast milk.
Chemicals are also passed to the young infant in the maternal cord blood.
The unborn and newly born are very very vulnerable to chemical injury.
Consuming bad chemicals means they can be born with learning disabilities, hearing impairment, inability to concentrate, hyperactivity. Indeed, abusing our streams and rivers we drink from is a form of child abuse.
Let us pray that households and businesses will have the courage and compassion to do what is right.
In my thinking, we can reduce the chemicals in our water by making some things by hand rather than using large equipment that pollutes our water. This will also help with unemployment.
My prayer: Dear God -- my maker, teach us to care for the health of our loved ones by caring for our environment. You are a great biologist who created our streams and rivers and fish. Forgive us for not loving them and caring for them.
I often ask businesses, "How many applications do you have on file from people searching for work?" Many they say. One grocery store serving spanish speaking people had a thousand applications on file -- probably because the housing market has collapsed and many Spanish speaking people are out of work.
In this time of economic distress with many people out of work, we don't need to be giving tax cuts to the rich. We need this money to help protect the many many unemployed who will need food stamps, housing assistance and unemployment compensation. Of course we always need the higher taxes on the billionaries to keep social security and medicare solvent.
Unemployment is very sad. It breaks up families, causes depression, loss of self esteem, mental illness etc. And we now have it very badly. Much of this is because we send many of our jobs over seas. Hats, gloves, scarves made in China. Book bags and purses made in China. Baby clothes made in China.
What is left for us to do?
We must show we care about our neighbors by fixing our economy.
We need to take control of the governments of our local communities and use the power of government to generate employment.
We could require that a certain percentage of goods made by Walmart be made by local people.
We could create community owned co-ops that sell goods made by the local people: furniture, jewelry, greeting cards, curtains, quilts, jars of canned vegetable soup, baby clothes, dresses. People could even pick out the pattern and material of their choice and have it made at a sewing co-op.
Recreating our economy is how we put to action Gods's requirement that we love our neighbors as ourselves.
Perhaps community owned co-ops could be organized by our senior citizens, who often have time and financial resources on hand -- or our young people who are rich in enthusiasm and idealism. Perhaps the lead could be taken by our black communities, who are fearless and lean to the left.
I used to call this story "The Horrible Fury of Washington." I am changing it because It's us that is violent. It is OUR DEMAND FOR RESOURCES -- especially to build the automobile and obtain the oil to run it -- that has caused us to bomb 24 nations since World War II.
Here's what happens when a nation is bombed:
THE HORRIBLE FURY OF THE WORLD'S VIOLENT RESOURCE CONSUMPTION
By Annie Birdsong
After 23 years of unrest, much of it funded by the U.S. government, Afghanistan now has two million widows.(*1)
The entire country has been turned upside down in one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world.
In addition to many households headed by women, there are also now many households headed by unaccompanied minors, households with missing children and households with unaccompanied old people.(*2)
The loss of income from the death, absence or disability of men means many women and children must beg door to door on the streets for food;(*3) many children are sent out to earn money by collecting scrap wood or metal.(*4)
Even when a husband has not been killed or disabled, he may have difficulty providing for his family. Heavy and small-scale industries, communication networks and transportation systems have all been almost completely damaged. (*5)
With the resulting shortage of goods, prices in Kandahar increased by 40 percent.(*6) Some families have survived by eating wheat porridge, wild grasses, seeds and roots found around their village.(*7) In addition to a lack of food, there is also a lack of money for heat, health services or safe water.(*8)
When it was time to plant wheat, bombs were falling. Many fled in a panic without even gathering their laundry hanging on the line.(*9) Many that left had barefooted children with clothes worn thin. They were unprepared for the cold winter they would have to face.
There are now 4 million Afghans living in Iran and Pakistan and 1.2 million displaced within the country.(*10)
At night while fleeing, some of the families slept in cold damp trenches lined with plastic. They huddled close together for heat in the below freezing weather. Some developed coughs or ailments such as tuberculosis, watery diarrhea or pneumonia.(*11)
One young UNICEF worker found a family of five locked together in an embrace, frozen to death. In another camp, 150 people froze to death. Many suffered frostbite or dehydration.(*12)
International aid reached many of the neediest with such items as tents, mats, warm blankets, quilts, buckets, kettles, plates, soap, kerosene stoves, medicine, high energy biscuits, wheat and other food items. But the amount was insufficient for the enormous need.(*13)
Furthermore, some people couldn't be found, and some of the camps were difficult to reach, along mountainous terrain on desert tracks, with no proper roads.(*14) It became especially difficult after snows or when there was fighting. Helicopters have been used to reach some of these. In October, there were hundreds of thousands of children without shelter, clothing, water, food or healthcare.(*15)
While in Afghanistan as a whole, one in four children have been dying of preventable causes,(*16) in the camps, it has been one out of three.(*17) The graveyards near the camps are littered with small mounds of earth, children who died of disease, sickness and malnutrition, said Eric Laroche, UNICEF representative of Afghanistan.
It is not unusual to see a mother walking in the morning with her dead child in her arms, he said.(*18)
Every year, about 300,000 children have died of preventable diseases in Afghanistan(*19)-- about 35,000 have died from measles(*20) and about 85,000 from diarrhea,(*21) which they get from drinking unsafe water.
Repeated bouts of diarrhea has malnourishes children and weakens the immune system. The child is then vulnerable to life-threatening infections and diseases. Diarrhea can easily and cheaply be cured with oral rehydration salts.
About 52 percent of the children have stunted growth.(*22)
Mothers have also suffered immensely. Many of them are malnourished and their bodies unfit for normal delivery, according to Afghanistan Country Representative Eric Larouche. Rarely, has a woman's body regained strength after the birth of her first child, when she conceives again, he said.
According to him, a woman dies in childbirth every 20 minutes in Afghanistan, with 87 per cent of maternal deaths preventable. Those with severe nutritional anemia can die with the loss of just one pint of blood, he said.(*23)
One survey found that 80-90 percent of the women were anemic.(*24) Another crisis is the dire threat of landmines; Afghanistan has an estimated 10 million landmines (*25) and is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.(*26) One of every 10 males in Afghanistan is a landmine victim.(*27)
At least 360 million square meters are known to be littered with landmines--land the people need for grazing, growing food and for building homes, roads and irrigation systems.(*28)
Landmines often look like stones, butterflies or like pineapples, attracting the curiosity of children. While an adult that is damaged by a landmine may only lose a limb, a child is likely to be killed.(*29) Those children that survive and have missing limbs are not likely to get a prostheses.
The United Nations has 3,000 people now working to de-mine Afghanistan and 16 teams teaching the people mine awareness.(*30)
It has all been too much for the people. Afghanistan is facing a staggering mental health crisis: almost half the population is striving to cope with psychological distress caused by living though more than two decades of violence, human rights abuses, and displacement, said Eric Falt with the U.N. Office for Pakistan and Afghanistan.(*31)
Colin Powell said in his book, "Use all the force necessary and do not apologize for going in big if that's what it takes."
I hope we will have the courage and compassion to put solar panels on roofs and bring about plug in hybrid vehicles, bicycles and windmills on cars. Please see my articles on a community--owned power company in Sacramento called SMUD and my story about how Portland, Oregon has brought about less violent transportation systems.
May God give us eyes to see and ears to hear so that we may be responsible by finding a way to transition to renewable energy.
Read more about our violent resource consumption: How Long can Auto Dependency Be Maintained ________________
END NOTES:
1) Ms. Julia Taft, assistant administrator and director of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery UNDP, Afghan Women Today: Realities and Opportunities, International Women Day Panel Discussion, March 8, 2002. Available on the World Wide Web at http://www.un.org/events/women/2002/taft.htm .
2) Ariana Yaftali, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Feb. 11, 2002. Available on the World Wide Web at http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=148&sID=4 .
3) Ibid, Ms. Julia Taft.
4) Edward Carwardine, communication consultant, United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund Afghanistan, 쿌ealism Helps to Bridge the Poverty Trap for Kabuls Street Children. Available on the United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund website at: http://www.unicef.org/noteworthy/afghanistan/childprotection/wahida.html
5) Transition Strategy for Afghanistan and the Immediate Region, available on the United Nations Development Program website at: http://www.undp.org/afghanistan/transitionstrategy.htm .
6) Peter Kessler, Spokesperson for UNHCR, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Sept. 28, 2001. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=69&sID=4 .
7) Jennifer Abrahamson, spokesperson for the World Foo Program, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Feb. 28, 2002. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=14&sID=4 .
8) Ibid, Ms. Julia Taft. 9) Peter Kessler, Spokesperson for UNHCR, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Sept. 28, 2001 Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=69&sID=4 .
10) Stephanie Bunker, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Sept. 26, 2001, Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=71&sID=4 .
11) Edward Carwardine, communication officer, United Nations Internation Childrens Emergency Fund Afghanistan, Help for Those With Nothing. Available on the United Nations Children's Fund website at: http://www.unicef.org/noteworthy/afghanistan/humasst/ajhmal.html .
12) Ariana Yaftali, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Feb. 11, 2002 Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=148&sID=4 .
13) Eric Falt, Director, UN Information Centre, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Oct. 15, 2001. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=55&sID=4 .
14) Onder Yucer, UN resident coordinator for Pakistan, UN Information Centre, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Sept. 21, 2001. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=74&sID=4
15) Eric Laroche, UNICEF representative for Afghanistan, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Oct. 2, 2001. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=66&sID=4 .
16) Eric Laroche, UNICEF representative for Afghanistan, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Oct. 2, 2001. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=66&sID=4 .
17) Eric Laroche, UNICEF representative for Afghanistan, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Oct. 2, 2001. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=66&sID=4 .
18) Eric Laroche, UNICEF representative for Afghanistan, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Oct. 2, 2001. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=66&sID=4 .
19) Eric Falt, Director, UN Information Centre, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Oct. 15, 2002. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=55&sID=4 .
20) Eric Falt, Director, UN Information Centre, Press Briefing by the UN ffices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Feb. 7, 2002. Available on the orld Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=147&sID=4 .
21) Onder Yucer, UN resident coordinator for Pakistan, UN Information entre, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Sept. 21, 2001. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusnews.asp?NewsID=74&sID=4 .
22) Special measures for infants and children. Available on the UNICEF ebsite at: http://www.unicef.org/noteworthy/afghanistan/ecd/index.html .
23) Eric Larouche, Afghanistan Country Representative, "We must invest ow, at the highest possible level, to make the herstory of Afghanistan, a tory of life, a story of hope, a story of success," UNICEF Executive Speeches. Available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.unicef.org/exspeeches/02esplaroucheafghanmm.htm . 24) Reconstruction of the Afghanistan Health Sector: A Preliminary ssessment of Needs and Opportunities: December 2001-January 2002. Available on the World Health Organization Website at: http://www.who.int/disasters/repo/7605.pdf .
25) Land Mines: Hidden Killers. Available on the United Nation's Children's Fund website at http://www.unicef.org/sowc96pk/hidekill.htm .
26) Children in War: The Legacy of Landmines. Available on the United Nations Children's Fund website at: http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/9ldmines.htm .
27) Impact of Small Arms and Landmines on Health. Available on the World Health Organization website at: http://www.who.int/mipfiles/1965/SmallArmsLandminesandHealth.pdf
28) Afghanitan. Available on the website of the International Conference to Ban Landmines website in the Landmine Monitor, http://www.icbl.org/lm/2002/afghanistan.html .
29) Children in War: The Legacy of Landmines. Available on the United Nations Children's Fund website at: http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/9ldmines.htm .
30) Impact of Armed Conflict on Children: Land-Mines: A Deadly Inheritance. Available on the United Nations Children's Fund website at http://www.unicef.org/graca/mines.htm .
31) Lori Hieber-Girardet, spokesperson for to World Health Organization, Press Briefing by the UN Offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Jan. 21, 2002. Available on the World Wide Web at http://www.un.org.pk/latest-dev/briefing020121.htm .