| slaskrad |
2002/11/28
Inspeactors denied access to USAF Fairford, Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectors 31.10.2002
In support of the "Don't Attack Iraq" national day of action, as called for by Tony Benn and Stop The War coalition, Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectors visited USAF Fairford and requested access to search for weapons of mass destruction. Conn Hallinan; Keep up the nuclear firewall, San Fransisco Examiner 02.12.2002 When 200 people showed up at the gates of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory last month demanding the right to "inspect" the sprawling complex for "weapons of mass destruction," the press either ignored it or dismissed it as clever political theater. But people had better start paying attention to what Livermore, and its sister labs at Los Alamos and Sandia, are up, which includes:
Paul Foot; The fat cat at the Mail, The Guardian 27.11.2002
The Mail on Sunday called Andy Gilchrist, the fire union leader, a "fat cat" for his £82,000 salary. The Mail on Sunday's editor-in-chief, Paul Dacre, receives a basic yearly salary of £690,000. Who's fat? 2002/11/21
 Free José Bové!!
More porridge for Bové, The Guardian 20.11.2002 This time he risks losing rather more than a couple of stone of excess tummy. José Bové, France's unlikely folk hero and anti-globalisation crusader, is going back to jail - for 14 months - for vandalising a field of genetically modified crops. The once-portly pipe-smoking sheep-farmer spent six weeks in prison this summer for wrecking a McDonald's restaurant in 1999, drinking just water and orange juice and losing 24lb in the process. His latest sentence looks like being considerably less productive. Anti-Globalization Activist Jose Bove Is At It Again, Common Dreams News Center 30.01.2001 Jose Bove, the anti-globalisation activist who has been given an ultimatium to leave Brazil, revels in controversy. Already under threat of a prison sentence for his part in ransacking a McDonald's fast food outlet in his native France, Bove is a determined campaigner who refuses to compromise his firmly-held principles. This time he is in hot water for leading an invasion by 1,300 Brazilian farmers of plantations run by US biotechnology firm Monsanto. They uprooted genetically-modified corn and soya bean plants, burned seeds and destroyed documents in the company's offices 2002/11/20
- Global goofs: U.S. youth can't find Iraq, CNN 20.11.2002
- Young Americans may soon have to fight a war in Iraq, but most of them can't even find that country on a map, the National Geographic Society said Wednesday. The society survey found that only about one in seven -- 13 percent -- of Americans between the age of 18 and 24, the prime age for military warriors, could find Iraq. I bet George Bush jr. can't figure it out either....
Felix Kolb; Regime Change Begins at Home - Make it Happen, Sand in the Wheels (n°153), ATTAC Weekly newsletter - Wednesday 20/11/02
On Saturday, October 26th the United States witnessed its largest peace demonstrations since the Vietnam war: more than 150,000 people assembled in Washington, DC, 45,000 in San Francisco and ten of thousands more in other American cities. This is more than remarkable for a whole series of reasons.
Capitalism must put its house in order, The Observer 24.11.2002
The Prestige disaster is yet another example of how unregulated business practices can have a calamitous effect. The Prestige was not just a garbage ship. It has exposed the international framework of maritime regulation and attitudes of many shipping companies as garbage as well. This was a vessel chartered by the Swiss-based subsidiary of a Russian conglomerate registered in the Bahamas, owned by a Greek through Liberia and given a certificate of seaworthiness by the Americans. When it refuelled, it stood off the port of Gibraltar to avoid the chance of inspection. Every aspect of its operations was calcu lated to avoid tax, ownership obligations and regulatory scrutiny. This is the more visible aspect of the business dysfunctionality that globalisation helps foster - and why those who argue the anti-globalisation movement is waning could hardly be more wrong.  Timebomb under the ocean, The Guardian 20.11.2002
The crippled, ageing oil tanker Prestige finally sank 130 miles off the north-west coast of Spain yesterday, taking 70,000 tonnes of highly destructive fuel oil to the ocean floor and threatening Europe's biggest ecological disaster in decades. Spain and Portugal had refused repeated requests for the Prestige to be taken to a harbour where the fuel could be transferred to another vessel. The Dutch salvage company Smit International had said it would tow the vessel to Africa if necessary.  Got a sticky problem? Don't worry, you can always dump it on Africa, The Guardian 19.11.2002
Leaking oil tanker towed south after Europe says 'not in my back yard' . Europe's biggest environmental headache for a decade appeared to have been solved yesterday by the simple, if cynical, ruse of towing the stricken oil tanker Prestige from Spain to Africa. As European countries demanded that the ageing tanker, described by environmentalists as "a chemical time-bomb", be taken away from their coasts before it sank and released its deadly cargo of 70,000 tonnes of fuel oil, the Dutch salvage company in charge of the rescue operation began towing it south.  As the Prestige headed towards Africa, experts recalled that, although spills in Europe and the US got most publicity, many of the worst tanker disasters had occurred off Africa. Those included the world's second biggest spill, when the Summer tanker went down with 260,000 tonnes of oil off Angola in 1991, and the 190,000 tonnes spilt by the Castillo de Belver off South Africa in 1983. 2002/11/15
Ignacio Ramonet; The social wars, Le Monde diplomatique November 2002
Hardly a week seems to pass without bloodshed in the world - Israel, Bali, Karachi, Moscow, Yemen, Palestine. It feels as if a hurricane of conflict of a new kind is sweeping the planet, and as if we face the prospect of a war against terrorism even more cruel than the wars that preceded it - a war in which the American invasion of Iraq will be merely one episode. This impression is false. In fact, political violence has never been at such a low ebb. Politically motivated insurrections, wars and conflicts have rarely been so few. Surprising though it may seem, and contrary to the media impression, the world is actually a calm and largely pacified place. Look at the present geopolitical landscape and compare it with 25 or 30 years ago. Almost all the radical protest groups engaged in armed struggle then have disappeared. And most of the high- and low-intensity conflicts that each year caused tens of thousands of deaths across the world have now passed into history. Almost all the troubled zones fired by the Marxist project for creating a better world have either been, or are on the way to being, extinguished.
Matthew Brubacher; Israel: walled in, but never secure, Le Monde diplomatique November 2002
Israeli government funding for settlements in the occupied territories has long been condemned by the United Nations. Now it has provoked resignations from the government resulting in new elections in Israel. But the real tragedy of what is happening there can be seen in the security barrier that Israel is building around the West Bank and Jerusalem, which is twice as long and three times as high as the Berlin Wall. 2002/11/12
Anita Roddick; Florida Redux ... in Africa, AlterNet November 11, 2002
Ballot problems. Biased party operatives running the elections process. Large swaths of minority voters disenfranchised by the corruption and incompetence of the government. No, this is not Florida; it's Nigeria. 2002/11/07
Philip S. Golub; Westward the course of Empire, Le Monde diplomatique September 2002
The aftermath of the terrorist attacks has revived imperialist ideology in the United States, rather than caused it to query its world role. Writers do not hesitate to draw parallels between their nation and ancient Rome, which they hold to be a model for world domination in the 21st century.
IHT: NATO plans radically new strategy, International Herald Tribune 06.11.2002
 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization appears set to embrace a radically new military posture and strategy that would profoundly alter the shape and mission of the alliance, according to NATO officials here and government officials in a half-dozen European capitals.
Most dramatically, the NATO heads of government could announce creation of a multinational rapid deployment force of about 21,000 troops that would allow NATO to operate quickly against new enemies far from Europe, the area NATO was formed to protect against the Soviet Union 53 years ago. NATO members may also announce commitments to acquire new aircraft and equipment that would make this an effective force and allow it to deploy on a week's notice. ''We're deconstructing the old NATO to build a new one to meet the threat of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction,'' said Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to the alliance. Burns is one of a group of NATO officials pressing for changes they believe will preserve its importance. That means being willing and able to confront threats to the security of NATO members wherever they arise - very likely far from Europe. 2002/11/06
Corrupt, crass and moribund, The Guardian 05.11.2002
Ignore its British cheerleaders, the US political system isn't working. [...] Finally, we are left with the most telling indictment of all: George Bush. Forget for a moment the trickery, ratified by the supreme court, that got him elected. Britain has also had governments that came second in the popular vote (Churchill, 1951; Wilson, 1974). But the parliamentary system forced them to govern consensually. Bush has been able to use executive authority to operate the most rightwing government since the 1920s. To Vote or Not to Vote?, Independent Media Center 05.11.2002 Despite predicted sparse voter turn-out and, until this past week, scant election media coverage, the 2002 midterm elections will be held across the U.S. Tuesday. Among progressive and radical Americans, a debate has been quietly percolating between those who believe voting won't make any difference in the political landscape and those who feel that strategic voting can help push the pendulum away from its magnetic north pole½the Republican and corporate right. Still, control of both the House and the Senate remains at stake. The question remains, however, with the absence of real opposition parties and the suppression of dissident voices, what is at stake for ordinary Americans?  Well, too late, the control is lost the Bush jr....
Clean sweep for Republicans in mid-term polls, The Guardian 06.11.2002 The US president, George Bush scored a remarkable victory last night, as the Republicans took control of Congress, winning the Senate from the Democrats and solidifying their grip on the House of Representatives. With three Senate races yet to be settled, Republicans had 50 seats, enough to guarantee control on the basis of vice president Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote. When the new Congress is sworn in in January, it will be the first time in 50 years that Republicans take outright control of the White House, Senate and House. Leader: Drones of death, The Guardian 06.11.2002 Bush takes the law into his own hands. Zap! Pow! The bad guys are dead. And they never knew what hit them. Living his presidency like Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, George Bush etched another notch in his gun butt this week, blowing away six "terrorists" in Yemen's desert. Their car was incinerated by a Hellfire missile, fired by a CIA unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone. Dealing out death via remote-controlled flying robots could be the spooks' salvation after the September 11 and Afghan intelligence flops. It makes the agency look useful. It is quick and bodybag-free. It is new wave hi-tech, a 21st century equivalent of James Bond's Aston Martin. And the hit had full authority, right from the top, judging by Mr Bush's comments. The president is keen on hunting down America's foes, on the ugly old premise that the only good Injun is a dead Injun. For redskin, read al-Qaida. It is part, he says, of his anti-terrorist war-without-end. All the world's a battlefield for Mr Bush. The United States of America, 001: licensed to kill. 2002/11/05
Andrew Osborn; Norway's dark secret, The Guardian 01.11.2002
It gives more money to the developing world than any other country and its standard of living is officially recognised as the best that money can buy but Norway has a dark secret: it has become home to Europe's most successful far-right movement. The far-right Progress party is not in power yet (although the country's minority government relies on it to pass legislation) but that could change and pressure is growing for it to be given a seat at the top table.  On popular demand...
[...] PS Just so there are no misunderstandings, many of us in the States find this to be a highly encouraging report. We are enthusiastic believers in free speech, open debate, and disagreement, however, thus we censor nothing and hide nothing. If you disagree with our position, we will link to you nevertheless. But we would be most interested in reading some opinion from Norwegians, and if you could find the time to make a few comments, we would be grateful, no matter what your opinion might be. I will be visiting your sites over the next several days and will include a link to your site at our site if you would be kind enough to type a few thoughts. Thanks, MK Friends of Israel re-group in Parliament, Aftenposten 18.04.2002 A group of Norwegian politicians with unwavering support for Israel was set to gather once again on Thursday. So far, 23 Members of Parliament have accepted invitations to participate in the re-constituted Association of Israel's Friends. Christian magazine Magazinet reported it knew of 18 members including the head of the right-wing Progress Party Carl I Hagen. Hagen said his own relationship to Israel "is built upon a very long-term consideration of Israel's right to exist." He added that his view doesn't change with "the various governments that come and go in Israel." The Progress Party: Is there an end to the crisis?, Monitor 02.04.2001 Just when it seemed that Progress Party (FrP) boss Carl I. Hagen had won his war against factional opponents, the party has been rocked by a young woman’s statement to the annual meeting of the party’s Hordaland county branch. 2002/11/01
Democrats see hopes of revenge in Florida dwindle, The Independent 31.10.2002
This is where the Democrats' revenge is supposed to start. Here in the never-never land of Florida's Gold Coast, epicentre of the shambles that was the 2000 presidential election in the state. Two years ago, Palm Beach county, which has a large black community and one of the highest concentrations of normally Democratic Jewish voters in America, gave the ultra- conservative populist Pat Buchanan, the Reform party's candidate, one of his best results anywhere in the country. The same Buchanan called Congress "Israeli-occupied territory" and warns that white America is drowning in a sea of blacks and Hispanics. Albanian and Russian observers sent to monitor American elections, The Independent 31.10.2002 The joke, during the endless presidential election recounts in Florida two years ago, was that Russia and Albania would send poll monitors to help the United States with its unexpected bump on the road to democracy. Now, the joke has become reality. Earlier postings regarding the Banana Republic aka. Florida.
Gore Vidal with frontal attack on the Bush junta:
Gore Vidal claims 'Bush junta' complicit in 9/11, The Observer 27.10.2002 America's most controversial writer Gore Vidal has launched the most scathing attack to date on George W Bush's Presidency, calling for an investigation into the events of 9/11 to discover whether the Bush administration deliberately chose not to act on warnings of Al-Qaeda's plans. Vidal writes: 'We still don't know by whom we were struck that infamous Tuesday, or for what true purpose. But it is fairly plain to many civil libertarians that 9/11 put paid not only to much of our fragile Bill of Rights but also to our once-envied system of government which had taken a mortal blow the previous year when the Supreme Court did a little dance in 5/4 time and replaced a popularly elected President with the oil and gas Bush-Cheney junta.' |
