Algerian Election,Chilean Toast,US Foreign Policy,Feminist Urban Design, IBubble

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Sawatdi! 23 massacred as Algerians vote in boycotted election Chile - "Let's toast the businessmen" US Foreign Policy: THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND US GETS FAILING GRADE ON AMNESTY REPORT CARD Britain: right-wing union leaders maintain control by any means necessary AFRICA NEEDS AID THAT WORKS Singing to Power Bush's Decision on Oil Angers Californians The Fairtrade Mark (Branding!) WE'RE LOSING OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES FOR NOTHING Urban Design and Women's Safety Wed in Montreal Bike Commuting Gains New Recruits In 1990s New York Times: Same Problem, Different Answers Inside Republican America PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE Some questions and answers on life under socialism Cuts mean universities risk loss of 1,400 jobs Hot Air On Wall Street : Inflating The Internet Bubble *** 23 massacred as Algerians vote in boycotted election Independent http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=300717 By James Palmer 31 May 2002 Algerians voted in parliamentary elections yesterday following a massacre of 25 civilians and amid a boycott by opposition parties and claims of vote-rigging. The pretence by the President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, that the balloting would herald a new era of democracy and calm was shattered, with his coalition partners and their military backers predicting a return to power. The legislative election is the first since 1997 and the second since the military cancelled a certain victory by Islamists in a 1992 poll, provo- king a decade-long civil war that has claimed more than 120,000 lives. Twenty-five civilians, including 14 children, were added to the toll yesterday in an overnight raid by suspected Islamic guerrillas on Sendjas village, 120 miles west of Algiers. Three of the victims, all nomads, were said to have been set on fire. The ethnic Berber minority, who comprise five million of the 31 million population, and whose cultural isolation has fuelled a bloody uprising over the past year, named yesterday "a day of shame" and boycotted the vote. Berber men besieged polling stations with burning tyres and blocked roads across their Kabylie heartland.... * Chile - "Let's toast the businessmen" ATTAC http://www.attac.org By Jacobo Schatan Weitzman) The broad Association Agreement between the European Union and the Chilean government has just been approved, and will be signed definitively at the end of May once it has been approved by the relevant Parliaments. We sincerely hope that the Association Agreement with the European Union will also mean that workers can toast it. If this were the case, we who have been - and continue to be - critical about the excessive opening up of our country's economy could join the toast.... The broad Association Agreement between the European Union and the Chilean government has just been approved, and will be signed definitively at the end of May once it has been approved by the relevant Parliaments. Given the little information available, one might suppose that the Agreement will benefit both sides. It will give Chile unrestricted access to a vast and greatly varied consumer market, with a range of agricultural, agro-industry, fisheries and industrial products, in addition to services and other sectors, mostly with a greater added value than traditional commodities. It would most probably result in a considerable increase in both the volume and the value of exports towards the EU. For the European Union, given the small size of the Chilean market, the benefit would appear to come from the possibility of marking a return to Latin America, starting with Chile, and of creating a counterweight to the USA's previously uncontested commercial and political domination. The words of Chris Patten, the EU's Commissioner for Foreign Policy, speak for themselves: "... I am convinced that this Association Agreement represents a determining landmark which will enable our relations with Chile and with all Latin America to flourish. (...) The agreement with Chile clears the way for another, more ambitious objective, the agreement with Mercosur that is currently in negotiation. (...) For a number of reasons, Europe has been absent from Latin America too long and vice versa. For a long time, both regions have felt the need to come together again. (...) The treaty with Chile is part of this strategy...". I might dare to add that two main factors kept Europe away from Latin America for almost half a century. The first originated in European investors' unwillingness to continue to lend money to Latin America after many of the region's countries stopped honouring payments as a consequence of the Great Depression in the 30s, a situation that lasted around 50 years. The second factor involved retreating from what they considered the USA's "backyard". This latter notion, conceived in North America and tolerated by the rest of the world, remained unchanged throughout most of the 20th Century. But around the middle of the century, after the Second World War, at a time when the USA was the only Western superpower in both the military and the economic and financial realms and when Europe was heavily affected by the war, the idea of a backyard was further strengthened and with it came an increase in North American interventionism.... * THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND www.9-11peace.org/bulletin.php3 INTRODUCTION: THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND ------------------------------------------------- The US has become adept at creating monsters. Osama bin Laden is only the latest in a long line of US-backed despots, dictators, and criminals against humanity. Too many times to count, the US has supplied the training and support to bring into power a leader who abuses human rights, traffics drugs, demolishes democracy, or commits massacres and genocide. The official story is that the US -- usually through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) -- has made a series of mistakes. Backing Saddam Hussein was a mistake. Backing Manuel Noriega was a mistake. Backing the Taliban was a mistake. The CIA took a chance on these guys, and the project backfired. There's even a word for it -- "blowback." But the leaders in question hardly started out "good" and then "turned evil." Most of these leaders were corrupt, ruthless, anti-democratic, and murderous long before they bit the US hand that fed them. Often, it was this very behavior which made them suitable candidates for support. US backing only stopped when the leader was no longer useful in achieving US aims or became "disobedient." The stories of these infamous leaders are often surprising and always disturbing, and they offer valuable insights into the strategy behind US foreign affairs. This week, we offer accounts of five top offenders, although the list is so long that there should be many "Dishonorable Mentions." By studying the affairs of leaders of other nations, we can learn some important lessons about the leaders of the United States -- and the kind of world they have been creating. 2. One Link: Friendly Dictators 3. Osama bin Laden 4. Mullah Omar and the Taliban 5. Saddam Hussein 6. Augusto Pinochet 7. Manuel Noriega 8. East Timor: A Story of Hope 9. Hitler and Stalin: Blurring the Distinction in WWII 10. Strange Bedfellows in the War on Terrorism: Saudi Arabia and Musharraf 11. Special Announcement: Spanish Bulletin 12. Corrections 13. Get Involved 14. About the Bulletin * US GETS FAILING GRADE ON AMNESTY REPORT CARD Gabrielle Banks, AlterNet http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13248 Amnesty International's annual report alleges that the US government overlooked international human rights violations for the sake of increased national security. Whether willingly or unwittingly, Americans have begun to sacrifice many of the rights they took for granted prior to Sept. 11. Privacy. Due process. Dissent. Yet the annual Amnesty International Report released this week suggests the greatest casualty of Sept. 11 and the Bush Administration's subsequent war on terrorism may be credibility. As a moral authority, the US can no longer rightfully wag a finger at human rights abusers around the world. "The year 2001 witnessed a direct challenge to long-accepted human rights standards by the very governments that campaigned for their establishment," the report notes. The most glaring "challenge" in the report involves the US military breaching the rules of war in Afghanistan. On December 29, a UN spokesperson said that relatives identified 52 bodies, including 25 children, killed in the US bombing of a village near the eastern town of Gardez. The 300-page report, covering events of 2001, enumerates the executions, disappearances, torture, unlawful arrests and abuses, and lesser offenses committed by governments around the world. It also offers a brief summary of good news from 2001 including pardons, commutations, and the release of prisoners of conscience. The report alleges that the US government overlooked international human rights violations for the sake of increased national security. In order to form a coalition against terror, the US refrained from criticizing repressive regimes, and silently consented to the abuses of its allies, including Singapore, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, India, and Malaysia. * Britain: right-wing union leaders maintain control by any means necessary WSWS http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/may2002/cps-m31.shtml Allies of Prime Minister Tony Blair are engaged in constitutional shenanigans to maintain right-wing control over two of Britain’s largest unions. In an extraordinary display of bureaucratic skulduggery, Barry Reamsbottom, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), has refused to recognise his elected successor, Mark Serwotka, just days before he was due to stand aside. Serwotka, a supporter of the Socialist Alliance—an umbrella organisation comprising left groups such as the Socialist Workers Party—was made general secretary-elect in a postal ballot of the union’s 280,000-strong membership in 2000, winning 40,740 votes in a 30 percent turnout. Reamsbottom had agreed to retire on May 31, 2002, leaving Serwotka in sole charge from June 1. The union’s annual conference in Brighton reaffirmed the result earlier this month. But at a National Executive Committee meeting on May 23, Reamsbottom produced legal advice that merger terms agreed between the Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union (PSTCU) and the Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) to form the PCS in 1998 meant the postal ballot which led to Serwotka’s election was invalid, and that he would continue in his position until 2004. Under transitional provisions for the 1998 merger, each union appointed joint general secretaries, John Sheldon and Reamsbottom respectively, to serve in the PCS. In the event that one of the joint general secretaries retired, the remaining functionary was to be appointed sole general secretary until 2004 or his retirement, whichever came first. Following conference demands for new elections to be held, however, the PCS NEC was forced to agree to a ballot for general secretary in October 2000. Reamsbottom refused to stand and took legal action in the High Court to prevent the ballot, arguing that it breached the transitional agreement under which he was not to face re-election for five years. In the event, the union bureaucracy stitched-up a deal to smooth their differences, in which Reamsbottom could remain as general secretary until May 2002, after which he would continue to draw his full salary until his retirement in May 2004. In the meantime, the elections would take place and Reamsbottom would work with the victor, “with a view to implementing a smooth transfer of duties and responsibilities”. The deal was meant to be “in full and final settlement” of Reamsbottom’s claims against the union. As it later transpired, Reamsbottom would not have been able to contest the 2000 election as he failed to gather the requisite number of nominations. In the subsequent ballot for general secretary elect, Serwotka beat Blairite “moderniser” and PCS assistant general secretary, Hugh Lanning, to the post.... * AFRICA NEEDS AID THAT WORKS Sean Gonsalves, AlterNet http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13234 Rockstar Bono and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill are teaming up to help sub-Saharan nations. Is their tour going to produce concrete results or just great PR? It's "We Are the World" meets "For the Love of Money." But it's not Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson and the Isley Brothers coming together to help lift the birthplace of humanity out of its "darkness" with compassionate capitalism. It's singer/antipoverty activist Bono of the Irish rock band U2 teaming up with Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on a sub-Saharan Africa tour in an effort to do what peace and anti-globalization activists have been calling for since way before Sept. 11 -- re-think how we deal with Third World nations, realizing that homeland security is inextricably linked to humanitarianism. "Sept. 11 has made people realize that you cannot change the minds of those who have evil intentions, but you can deny them recruitment by promoting an environment where people feel they have a stake in the future," Uganda's ambassador to the United States, Edith Ssempala, told The Wall Street Journal. Following that line of thinking, as the Journal reported, "the do-it-yourself Bush administration plans far larger increases in (foreign) aid than the feel-your-pain Clinton administration ever did." The Bush administration is proposing the "Millennium Challenge Account" -- a $10 billion increase in U.S. aid over fiscal years 2004-2006. "Poverty doesn't cause terrorism," President Bush said a few weeks ago. "Yet persistent poverty and oppression can lead to hopelessness and despair. And when governments fail to meet the most basic needs of their people, these failed states can become havens for terror." And suddenly, the Dalai Lama's advice -- "Be selfish. Be kind to others" --sounds less esoteric than it had before. With MTV following Bono and O'Neill around Africa with their cameras, the tour will undoubtedly score the Bush administration some big PR points, hoping to make believers out of those who question the compassion in No. 43's conservatism. Some antipoverty activists see it as a cynical ploy to make the Bush administration appear sincere about alleviating poverty, while following policies that further exacerbate the problem, such as the farm bill Bush just signed. That gave American farmers nearly $20 billion a year in subsidies -- an insurmountable economic barrier for poor African nations looking to get access to American markets, which is what free-trade is supposed to be all about.... * Singing to Power The Nation http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=frey2002029 Billy Bragg has to be the only popular musician who could score airtime with a song about the global justice movement. British folk-rocker Billy Bragg has to be the only popular musician who could score some airtime with a song about the global justice movement. The first single from Bragg's England, Half English (Elektra), "NPWA" (No Power Without Accountability), is destined to become an enduring anthem for anticorporate organizers everywhere. Just before leaving England to tour the United States in April, Bragg took a few minutes to talk with Nation assistant literary editor Hillary Frey about globalization, Woody Guthrie, the duty of a political songwriter and, perhaps most important, why the AFL-CIO should be sponsoring free rock concerts.... * Bush's Decision on Oil Angers Californians NYT By JAMES STERNGOLD http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/31/politics/31OIL.html?todaysheadlines=&pagewante\ d=print&position=top LOS ANGELES, May 30 — California officials, who have been locked in a legal battle with the Bush administration to halt offshore oil drilling, responded angrily today to what they described as President Bush's highly political announcement that the federal government was seeking to buy out oil drilling leases in Florida but not California. In Washington on Wednesday, President Bush sat next to his brother Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida, and vowed to spend $235 million to buy a number of highly unpopular oil leases in a state where his brother is running for re-election and that handed him the presidency in 2000 by the slimmest of margins. Jeb Bush acknowledged that he would probably gain politically from the plan. But he and the president insisted that it was also sound policy because the move would protect beaches and wetlands. All of this has prompted officials in California, a heavily Democratic state that President Bush lost by a lopsided margin, to ask why saving their beaches and sensitive environment was not as high a priority, particularly since many here have been fighting offshore oil leases in the Santa Barbara area for decades. "We've been asking the federal government for a long time, not just this administration, for buybacks, and we think we should have equal time and equal rights," said Representative Lois Capps, a Democrat who represents the Santa Barbara area. "People here see right through this decision. It's an important step in the right direction, but we should get equal treatment." The Florida plan, which still must be approved by Congress, contrasts sharply with the Bush administration's actions in California. Ever since a disastrous oil spill off the Santa Barbara coast in 1969, Californians have been bitterly opposed to new offshore drilling, and state officials have urged the federal government to halt the sale of any new leases and to stop new drilling under 36 leases held by oil companies. But when many of the old leases were set to expire, the Bush administration decided to extend them. That prompted the state and environmental groups to file a lawsuit, arguing that the extensions should not have taken place before state authorities could review the leases to see if they complied with existing laws. When the state won the case in federal court, the Bush administration appealed. Oral arguments are set to be heard in the case in San Francisco on June 10.... * The Fairtrade Mark http://www.fairtrade.org.uk The Fairtrade Mark As one of the key people who have made Fairtrade the success it is today, we want you to be the first to know some exciting news. The FAIRTRADE Mark is about to evolve into a more dynamic and eye catching symbol meaning that at last we will have a common international label across the 17 countries involved in FAIRTRADE. The new Mark is a powerful symbol of the global development of FAIRTRADE. As you know there are now 12 core labelled products (coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, snack bars, honey, sugar, orange juice, grapefruit juice, mangoes, bananas and rice) sold by 360 producers in 36 countries through 226 traders to 430 licensees in 17 countries. In the UK many products with the new Mark will start appearing in September this year. It won't be possible for all products to change over to the new FAIRTRADE Mark straight away as some companies will have reserves of packaging to use up. To accommodate this we have a transition period until the end of 2003 by which time all FAIRTRADE products will carry the new FAIRTRADE Mark. It is essential that we don't loose the level of public awareness of the Fairtrade Mark that you have worked so hard with us to build. We will be contacting you shortly by post with more information and ideas for actions you can take to start sharing this exciting news. In the meantime, if you would like any information about the new mark, please email abi.murray@fairtrade.org.uk * WE'RE LOSING OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES FOR NOTHING David Morris, AlterNet http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13255 Director Robert Mueller has acknowledged the FBI's flaws. But the Bush Administration's post-9/11 strategy is to expand the invasive powers of government, not remedy the weakness.... * GAGGED BY GOOGLE Laura Flanders, WorkingForChange.com http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13254 The activist founder of the Body Shop has been censored by the Web's most popular search engine. So much for the equal-access glories of the Internet. Media activists have a lot to put up with these days. Not only is there more to complain about than ever when it comes to the timidity and lap-doggishness of most journalists -- not to mention the shrinking spectrum of views that get aired -- but, in addition, there are the clichés one has to contend with. The one that peeves me most right now is the one about the glories of the Internet. According to the oft-repeated mantra, those who have a problem with the networks, the cable channels, the newspapers and Clear Channel radio, have their own outlet now -- it's the World Wide Web. I heard this argument most recently in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia from a co-panelist at a public forum, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA),Co-Chairman of the Congressional Internet Caucus. "You've got the Internet, you've got the Internet." The Representative said it so often that finally I proposed a trade: let Disney, Viacom, GE and AOL/TIME Warner take the Internet, I suggested. We'll give it to them -- in exchange for the broadcast television networks, cable, publishing and Hollywood. The Congressman said it was an idea he hadn't heard before. Indeed. The World Wide Web is a fabulous phenomenon. It's fantastic for getting news out that can be spread no other way, but is it the answer to the media-related prayers of social change activists? Hardly, as Anita Roddick found out this month. Roddick is the founder of the Body Shop, the notable socially-responsible health-and-beauty store chain. She resigned as co-chair of the company this February to dedicate herself to activism full-time. Roddick has lots to say (she recently edited a book called Take it Personally, it's out now from Harper Collins) and she keeps a politically oriented "blog" (or Web log). Driving major traffic to one's site is almost impossible without advertising or good search engine placement, as bloggers know. Roddick advertised on the popular Google engine -- or did until they took exception to what she had to say. * Urban Design and Women's Safety Wed in Montreal Womensenews http://www.womensenews.org/index.cfm MONTREAL (WOMENSENEWS)--Buses here let women off in between stops at night, new Metro stations are surrounded by glass so that women can see and be seen and emergency telephones are within easy reach in parks and other public areas. In a pilot project in two neighborhoods, workers at nearly 200 small businesses have been trained to be able to respond to a woman in danger. Signs in the windows announce, "Here You're in Good Hands; Your Safety is Important to Us." The goal of these measures and others around the world is to increase urban safety and the mobility of women and to reduce acts of aggression against women in public places. Some 150 specialists on women's safety from 20 countries and the United Nations experienced the Montreal program first-hand when they attended this month's First International Seminar on Women's Safety. The seminar brought together women's groups, community organizations, city governments and international agencies to work on increasing women's safety in cities and communities and on integrating woman-focused perspectives into local and national crime-prevention policies. "Women experience city life differently than men," said Anne Michaud, of Programme Femmes et Villes (Women in Cities International Network), a sponsor of the seminar. "The aim of the conference is to put women at the center of thinking about safety in cities and to develop more coherent strategies to affect safety in an urban environment."... * Bike Commuting Gains New Recruits In 1990s ? MAY 30, 2002 -- WASHINGTON D.C. (BRAIN)--More Americans are commuting by bicycle than ever, according to U.S. Census figures. With a nearly 9 percent growth rate between 1990 and 2000, bicycling was the country's fastest growing commute mode during the 1990s. The states with the greatest growth in bike commuting between 1990 and 2000 were Oklahoma (151 percent), Indiana (144 percent), Michigan (120 percent), New Jersey (94 percent), and West Virginia (91 percent). Bicycle commuting is most popular in Washington, D.C.--a city that has some of the nation's worst traffic according to the Urban Mobility Report--with over 1.4 percent of commuters traveling by bike. Among the states that lead the nation in bike commuting are Oregon, Arizona and California, with 1.18, 1.15 and .81 percent bike commuters, respectively. To see how widespread bike commuting is in your state, visit http://www.bikeleague.org/educenter/index.html. * New York Times: Same Problem, Different Answers Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting http://www.fair.org ACTIVISM UPDATE: New York Times: Same Problem, Different Answers May 30, 2002 On May 7, the New York Times published an editor's note about the paper's coverage of a large pro-Israel demonstration on May 6. The Times had accompanied the story with a front-page photo with a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the foreground, despite the fact that they were a small minority of those present. As the Times put it, "the effect was disproportionate. In fairness the total picture presentation should have better reflected The Times's reporting on the scope of the event, including the disparity in the turnouts." This is a commendable principle-- or rather it would be, if the Times used it in every case. In a similar incident a few months ago, the Times severely underestimated the crowd size of anti-war demonstrations in Washington, D.C.-- "a few hundred" was the count in their September 29 article, versus the police estimate of 7,000. The following day, the only photograph of the second day of protests was of a lone counter-demonstrator holding a sign that read "Osama thanks fellow cowards for your support." At the time, FAIR and hundreds of media activists wrote to the Times protesting the photo choice and poor reporting of the march's size. The paper's response was less than positive. Senior editor Bill Borders sent out emails accusing FAIR of spreading misinformation, saying, "I don't know why they did this; you might want to ask them." The Times did upgrade their crowd estimate in the Final Edition of the September 29 paper, but they never ran a correction informing the readers of the earlier editions that it had misinformed them about the crowd size. And the paper never acknowledged in an editor's note that it was misleading to represent a march of thousands with a photograph of a single counter-demonstrator. After seeing how the Times handled the problem with the May 6 story on the pro-Israel march, FAIR wrote to the paper inquiring about the different treatment these two very similar errors received-- one was prominently corrected, while in the earlier case the paper responded by attacking FAIR for pointing it out. The Times' only response to the letter was an angry phone call from Borders to FAIR. Complaining that FAIR chose to dig up such an "old" story, he repeatedly asserted that FAIR's claim that the Times had miscounted the protesters was a "lie," since the final edition of the paper was changed to more accurately reflect the actual crowd size. Of course, the Times often prints corrections to stories that were amended in later editions, so that readers will be aware of an error in an edition of the paper they may have read. Borders added that FAIR's work "over the years" has been based on lies, but he declined to elaborate on the charge. Interestingly, Borders actually agreed that the photo choice at the anti-war demonstration had been an error: "We covered it wrong," said Borders. Nonetheless, Borders was so hostile to FAIR's inquiries that he at one point suggested that the staffer he was speaking with "get a job at Macy's."... * Inside Republican America: A blacklist burning for Bush Sunday December 10, 2000 Gregory Palast Observer http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4103063,00.html --> Sunday December 10, 2000 <-- Hey, Al, take a look at this. Every time I cut open another alligator, I find the bones of more Gore voters. This week, I was hacking my way through the Florida swampland known as the Office of Secretary of State Katherine Harris and found a couple thousand more names of voters electronically 'disappeared' from the vote rolls. About half of those named are African-Americans. They had the right to vote, but they never made it to the balloting booths. When we left off our Florida story two weeks ago, The Observer discovered that Harris's office had ordered the elimination of 8,000 Florida voters on the grounds that they had committed felonies in other states. None had. Harris bought the bum list from a company called ChoicePoint, a firm whose Atlanta executive suite and boardroom are filled with Republican funders. ChoicePoint, we have learned, picked up the list of faux felons from state officials in - ahem - Texas. In fact, it was a roster of people who, like their Governor, George W, had committed nothing more than misdemeanours. For Harris, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his brother, the Texas blacklist was a mistake made in Heaven. Most of those targeted to have their names 'scrubbed' from the voter roles were African-Americans, Hispanics and poor white folk, likely voters for Vice-President Gore. We don't know how many voters lost their citizenship rights before the error was discovered by a few sceptical county officials, before ChoicePoint, which has gamely 'fessed-up to the Texas-sized error, produced a new list of 58,000 felons. In May, Harris sent on the new, improved scrub sheets to the county election boards. Maybe it's my bad attitude, but I thought it worthwhile to check out the new list. Sleuthing around county offices with a team of researchers from internet newspaper Salon.com, we discovered that the 'correct' list wasn't so correct. One elections supervisor, Linda Howell of Madison County, was so upset by the errors that she refused to use the Harris/ChoicePoint list. How could she be so sure the new list identified innocent people as felons? Because her own name was on it, 'and I assure you, I am not a felon'. Our 10-county review suggests a minimum 15 per cent misidentification rate. That makes another 7,000 innocent people accused of crimes and stripped of their citizenship rights in the run-up to the presidential race. And not just any 7,000 people. Hillsborough (Tampa) county statisticians found that 54 per cent of the names on the scrub list belonged to African-Americans, who voted 93 per cent for Gore.... * PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE http://www.ijuth.demon.co.uk/jnv/pledge/pledgetext.htm I oppose US/UK military retaliation for September 11th. I pledge to take part in nonviolent civil disobedience in the event of a major US/UK attack on Iraq or any other country in the course of the "war on terrorism." Nonviolent direct action rejects (NVDA) any actions that would harm or dehumanize another person. NVDA means risking arrest, conviction, a fine and/or prison in actions such as sit-ins, blockades, war tax refusal, fence-cutting and so on. This is an incomplete list, part of a spectrum of nonviolent action which individual pledgers can choose from. * Some questions and answers on life under socialism WSWS http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/may2002/corr-m30.shtml I enjoy reading the WSWS as an alternative source of news. While your website speaks of the need for a socialist reorganisation of society, there unfortunately appears to be little information or comment on life in socialist society. A practical vision of life in socialist society could excite the imagination of the reader and would greatly increase support for your cause. Practical issues that could be addressed are... [list of 12 good questions]... [answers:] ...The development of a socialist society will not take place according to a series of prescriptions and rules laid down by an individual, a political party or a governmental authority. Rather, it will develop on the basis of the activity of the members of society who, for the first time in history, consciously regulate and control their own social organisation as part of their daily lives, free from the domination and prescriptions of either the “free market” or a bureaucratic authority standing over and above them.... * Cuts mean universities risk loss of 1,400 jobs http://www.transnationale.org/anglais/forums/finance__emploi/showmessage.asp?mes\ sageID=441 UK: Universities are axing at least 1,400 jobs after a raft of poor budget settlements and falls in student numbers on some courses. Compulsory and voluntary redundancies and retirements in more than 20 institutions could ultimately reach well over 2,000 as institutions ranging from Strathclyde to Sussex review staffing levels. Engineering, social sciences, medicine, and modern languages are the subject areas most often hit hard. Twenty-six institutions had their funding cut in real terms this year. Some are waiting to see whether the chancellor, Gordon Brown's, promise of significant extra funding for in July's spending review will be enough to save them. * Hot Air On Wall Street : Inflating The Internet Bubble http://www.transnationale.org/anglais/forums/finance__speculation/showmessage.as\ p?messageID=11 Last summer, the Security and Exchange Commission revealed that some Wall Street stock analysts actually bought and sold shares in companies they were hyping to the investing public. That was the tip of the iceberg, and now the SEC is launching a deeper look at these and other apparent conflicts of interest. In e-mail communications unearthed by Spitzer's investigation, Merrill Lynch analysts were brutally frank. One analyst described one company as "such a piece of crap," while at the same time, the analyst had a "buy" recommendation on the stock. Other internal messages also hinted at the real reasons for such positive ratings. Nothing interesting about this company, another e-mail read, "except the banking fees." The driving force behind all this double-dealing was profit pressure. Many analysts were paid, in part, based on how much investment banking business they could attract; and of course, positive coverage by a highly visible stock analyst was a great reason for a company to chose one investment bank over another. Toward the end of what's been called the "Internet bubble," some analysts were so closely aligned with the companies they were covering that any objective analysis was impossible, according to some of Spitzer's findings. Indeed, investigators found numerous instances of analysts pole-vaulting over ethical hurdles: acting as consultants to companies they covered; pre-arranging positive coverage as favors to client companies (those using the analyst's firm for investment banking business); and even agreeing to downgrade a competitor's stock so its rating would be in line with a client company's rating. The media -- especially CNBC, MSNBC, and CNN -- became a megaphone for the hucksters. It's important to remember the image Wall Street was portraying to Main Street investors at the time. Americans were deluged with media sound bites and commercials portraying stock market trading as a virtual free ride on the gravy train. High priests in the Church of Adam Smith were offering their free-market mantra as a solution to every social and economic ill. The ever-rising market indices seemed to prove their contention. The media -- and especially the cable networks like CNBC, MSNBC, and CNN -- were so enamored of Wall Street that they closed any critical eye. They became a mere megaphone for the hucksters. There was a burgeoning celebrity for new entrepreneurial heroes -- Internet CEOs, day-traders and, of course, stock analysts. The stock markets, we were told, were going to be great wealth-creating equalizers where the average rube could easily make as much money as a professional stock picker. When analysts from Merrill Lynch or Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs (or even Joe's Garage) talked, everybody listened. The result was predictable: Americans loaded their retirement accounts with risky high-tech stock funds or rabidly grabbed any Internet IPOs they could through their online broker, all the while keeping one eye on CNBC or MSNBC for the latest stock tip. More often than not, the tip amounted to "buy, buy, buy" -- what a surprise. When Global Crossing hit $60 a share, we felt rich. Now that it's in bankruptcy and hovering around six cents a share, we feel like fools. Return to CounterHeg Home