>
> WW News Service Digest #43
>
> 1) Gov't admits radiating nuke workers
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 2) Los Angeles rally against anti-gay Proposition 22
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 3) R.I. city boils over cop shooting
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 4) Lebanese resistance fights on against Israeli occupation
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 5) Is CIA behind Yugoslavia assassinations?
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
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>Message-ID: <005301bf7a7a$b75baaa0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Gov't admits radiating nuke workers
>Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 20:43:26 -0500
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 24, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>COLD WAR VICTIMS:
>
>GOV'T ADMITS RADIATION, NUKE WORKERS
>DEMAND TREATMENT AND COMPENSATION
>
>By Elijah Crane
>
>For nearly three decades nuclear weapons workers across
>the U.S. have accused the government of exposing them to
>sickening and cancer-causing radiation. And for more than
>three decades, the government has lied, covered up and tried
>to discredit any connections made between these workers and
>increased rates of cancer and disease.
>
>Now, after many deaths and much suffering, at least some
>of the truth is out. But the workers are still fighting for
>compensation and health care.
>
>In February, the Department of Energy (DOE) finally
>admitted in a 77-page report that it had knowingly exposed
>workers to dangerous levels of chemicals and radiation that
>lead to increased risk of up to 22 categories of cancers. In
>some cases the workers were actually used for human
>experiments.
>
>While this admission by the government constitutes a
>victory for hundreds of families of cancer victims from 14
>weapons facilities, the fight continues for recognition of
>radiation illnesses like beryllium disease, an untreatable
>lung condition. That would bring the number of workers
>afflicted well into the thousands.
>
>Some of those suffering from radiation illnesses are also
>suffering from cancer, but are choosing to stay out of class
>action lawsuits that focus on radiation-induced cancer
>because that would negate any chance for them to win
>compensation for the other illnesses at a later date.
>
>WORKERS LOSE IN FEDERAL COURT
>
>Hopeful workers from the DOE's Mound plant, just south of
>Dayton, Ohio, were in federal court in early February. But
>U.S. District Court Judge Walter Rice rejected a proposal
>that would have made the DOE provide medical care for
>thousands of nuclear weapons workers exposed to dangerous
>radiation without their knowledge.
>
>More than 6,000 workers stood to win health coverage from
>this case. The DOE had agreed to pay almost a million
>dollars to 800 workers currently at the plant, in addition
>to the 12 who filed the case. The DOE had conceded to these
>terms, but the judge blocked the proposal, claiming that the
>settlement favored current workers and that the DOE had not
>secured the funding for the settlement from Congress.
>
>How's that for a system of justice?
>
>Even when the criminal profiteers confess and yield to
>workers' demands, the system still coddles them and excuses
>their offenses that leave thousands of workers dead and
>dying--all for the sake of profit.
>
>RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND HIDDEN EXPERIMENTS
>
>In January, word was leaked to a civilian senior safety
>official at U.S. Enrichment Corp. (USEC), a government-
>chartered private company at the Peducah Gaseous Diffusion
>Plant, that over 1,600 tons of hazardous nuclear weapons
>parts were buried throughout the 3,000-acre facility in the
>1970s and 1980s.
>
>Included in the waste is believed to be plutonium, highly
>enriched uranium, tritium and other dangerous radioactive
>materials.
>
>This gigantic plant has produced enriched uranium for
>nuclear bombs and power plants since 1952. The buried waste
>exposes workers past and present, along with area residents,
>to an increased risk of cancer and poisoning from
>radioactive particles in the air and throughout the plant.
>
>Not so coincidentally, the same site has also been named
>this month for conducting human experiments from 1952 to
>1990 using radioactive uranium. It is reported that some
>workers "volunteered" to breathe a radioactive gas. Other
>workers at Peducah were used to test respirators against
>radioactive dust, gas and smoke.
>
>At least one senior staff member is known to have drunk a
>solution containing uranium.
>
>Employees have described secret releases of uranium-
>contaminated smoke and gas into the air, and even into some
>buildings. But the USEC has issued a statement claiming that
>"based on information available we are aware of nothing that
>adversely impacts our employees."
>
>Apparently they did not read the report put out by the DOE
>itself.
>
>A 1961 report said that in the 1950s workers at the Feed
>Mill plant on the complex were exposed to the same amount of
>radiation in a single day as was considered safe for an
>entire year. Moreover, the standards used then allowed
>significantly higher exposure than levels considered
>acceptable today.
>
>During the Cold War years, workers at Peducah were
>subjected to high levels of radiation and toxic chemicals,
>including plutonium mixed with uranium.
>
>Another compensation package for the families has been
>suggested by the Clinton administration, supposedly in
>conjunction with a clean-up plan.
>
>Three former workers are responsible for instigating the
>DOE's report on Peducah. They have filed a lawsuit against
>Lockheed Martin Corp. and Martin Marietta Corp.--former
>operators of the plant that have made enormous profits off
>war and nuclear weapons. The workers are charging the
>corporations with lying to the government about
>environmental pollution and worker exposure to radiation for
>the purpose of increasing their profits.
>
>The DOE, of course, is more than happy to present reports
>that indicate the offenses perpetrated at the Department of
>Defense complex were committed "without government
>knowledge."
>
>YUCCA MOUNTAIN
>
>These recent admissions are a day late and a dollar short.
>
>Most of the nuclear weaponry facilities have been closed
>down or turned into "environmental technology sites." As
>recent war crimes tribunals held all over the world--from
>Greece to San Francisco to Ukraine--have shown, the U.S.
>government is well aware of the deadly effects of its wars
>and weaponry on the workers of the world. These people's
>tribunals have been organized by opponents of the U.S./NATO
>aggression against Yugoslavia.
>
>In a society that has destroyed the profit system, these
>hazards would be addressed and corrected. Greedy U.S.
>capitalists, however, find it cheaper to address the mess of
>radioactive waste and dying workers than to invest in safer
>methods for use and storage of these hazardous materials.
>
>They are interested only in the profits of the day,
>without regard for the lasting effects on the workers and
>the residents around the weaponry plants--usually the poorer
>sections of the working class.
>
>And, as per usual, the U.S. government is now hoping to
>throw out small compensation packages and brush the whole
>situation under the rug, or more accurately, under a
>mountain in Nevada.
>
>The nuclear waste problem is enormous--a reflection of the
>tremendous priority the U.S. ruling class put on reversing
>the gains made by the working class revolution in the Soviet
>Union. The Cold War was the fundamental objective of U.S.
>foreign policy for decades, and the full weight of this
>burden on the workers of this country has yet to be fully
>understood.
>
>At the same time that the DOE was admitting an increased
>risk of cancer in those exposed to radiation, the Senate was
>passing with overwhelming support a bill to build a
>permanent nuclear waste dump in Nevada.
>
>This operation would bury over 40,000 metric tons of used
>fuel from at least 80 nuclear reactors under Yucca Mountain,
>just 90 miles outside of Las Vegas.
>
>Critics say the mountain lies on a fault line where there
>is also ground water seepage. This could eventually mean
>radiation leakage into area residents' water and air supply.
>The DOE would also use this site to dump radioactive waste
>from the Defense Department.
>
>Those who voted against the bill are counting on a
>presidential veto, but this issue is expected to linger long
>into the coming years.
>
>Ultimately, the government would like to pass a few
>dollars around and hope that mollifies those affected by
>radioactive waste. But it is not that simple. The bill
>passed by the Senate is not a permanent solution to the
>problem. It means that the same nuclear radiation shown to
>have caused illnesses and cancers in factory workers will
>continue to poison new generations for the next 10,000
>years.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <005901bf7a7a$d0a164a0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Los Angeles rally against anti-gay Proposition 22
>Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 20:44:09 -0500
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 24, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>LOS ANGELES:
>RALLY CALLS FOR DEFEAT OF ANTI-GAY PROPOSITION 22
>
>By Preston Wood
>Los Angeles
>
>In a moving and militant display of unity, demonstrators
>rallied at the Matthew Sheppard Memorial Park in West
>Hollywood Feb. 14 to call for the defeat of the right-wing
>so-called "Defense of Marriage Act," which is to go before
>California voters on March 7.
>
>This divisive initiative, Proposition 22, seeks to deny
>lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people the very
>simple right to be married and enjoy the same rights given
>to heterosexual couples. It is part of a train of racist and
>reactionary initiatives funded by right-wing big money in
>California that has included Proposition 187 against
>immigrants and Proposition 209 against affirmative action
>programs.
>
>Members of the Black community, gay and straight youth,
>transgendered activists, and lesbian mothers whose children
>had been taken from them all came together to say that this
>direct attack on the lives of sexually and gender oppressed
>people is also an attack on the rights of everyone. If
>Proposition 22 passes, was the message, then others will be
>next.
>
>Gay and straight youth talked about the current struggle
>in Orange County, where right-wing zealots are harassing
>lesbian and gay youth and denying them the right to form a
>Gay/Straight Alliance. These alliances, which have been
>growing in numbers around the country, provide a safe place
>for youth to come together to overcome the isolation that so
>many young gay, lesbian and transgendered people feel.
>
>Rather than bow down to a small group of highly vocal
>bigots from the Christian right wing, the students are
>fighting back and building bridges to other students. In
>spite of a recent court ruling upholding the right to have
>such clubs, the bigots are continuing to harass and vilify
>the students. But instead of becoming isolated, the youth
>are gaining support as more and more straight students
>grapple with the issue and throw their support to the clubs.
>
>Speakers at the rally included Los Angeles City Council
>member Jackie Goldberg, John Parker of the National Peoples
>Campaign, Lisa Washington of Black Radical Congress, Gail
>Rolf of Project 10, author, activist and Workers World
>Managing Editor Leslie Feinberg, poet and anti-racist
>activist Minnie Bruce Pratt, James Lafferty of the National
>Lawyers Guild, Shirley of Transgendered Menace, and many
>other students and youth activists.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <005f01bf7a7a$e5533ea0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] R.I. city boils over cop shooting
>Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 20:44:43 -0500
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 24, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>R.I. CITY BOILS OVER COP SHOOTING OF BLACK OFFICER
>
>By Frank Neisser
>
>"What do we want? Justice," hundreds shouted. "When do we
>want it? Now!"
>
>The protesters gathered in front of City Hall in
>Providence, R.I., on Feb. 3. They were expressing the
>roiling anger felt, particularly in the African American
>community, after white cops gunned down an off-duty Black
>police officer on Jan. 28.
>
>Cornel Young Jr. was shot to death by fellow officers who
>had responded to a call about a fight outside Fidas
>Restaurant. Young reportedly identified himself as an
>officer to the white cops. Yet moments later he lay dead.
>
>The African American community of Providence has been
>mobilizing ever since to protest racist profiling and police
>brutality in the African American community, to demand a
>truly independent inquiry into this racist murder, and to
>demand that charges be dropped immediately against Aldren
>Diaz.
>
>Diaz is being charged with "felony murder" under an
>outrageous racist law that could send him to prison for life
>simply because he was present with a gun when the cops
>murdered Cornell Young Jr. The fact that he had dropped his
>gun as ordered before the cops killed Young has had no
>effect on the charge.
>
>In the days since the killing it has come out that the
>cops who killed Cornell Young Jr. had attended the same
>class in Police Academy with him, calling into question that
>they could have failed to recognize him.
>
>One of the killers five months ago shot a Latino man,
>Raphael Nunez, twice in the legs. His unnecessary brutality
>was left unpunished and he was allowed back on the police
>force.
>
>In addition to the Feb. 3 City Hall rally, the community
>staged a demonstration at the courthouse in Providence on
>Feb. 11 when Aldren Diaz appeared demanding the charges be
>dropped.
>
>On Feb. 12, under the leadership of the Martin Luther King
>Coalition Against Racism, a community speakout against
>racism and police brutality was held at Rhode Island
>Community College in Providence. It got wide coverage in the
>media.
>
>Speaker after speaker testified to their experiences with
>the racism and brutality of the Providence police. Community
>members expressed skepticism that the FBI, the U.S.
>Attorney's office, or the state attorney general's office,
>all of whom have begun investigations, would do anything but
>cover up for their buddies on the police force.
>
>Minister Don Muhammad of Muhammad's Mosque of Islam in
>Boston saluted the community for standing up against racism.
>The coalition has called for a rally and march at noon on
>Feb. 19 at the Federal Building in Kennedy Plaza in
>Providence to press its demands. It is calling for a
>credible vehicle for community review and control of the
>police.
>
>MAYOR FORCED TO MEET CROWD
>
>Mayor "Buddy" Cianci was the target of the Feb. 3 protest.
>Cianci has drawn the rage of anti-racists in the city when
>he said that "race" was not involved in this shooting.
>
>"Cianci come out! Cianci come out," the crowd thundered on
>the steps of City Hall. A blue wall of police officers kept
>the crowd from visiting the mayor in his own office. Cianci
>sent out word that he would meet with two or three leaders.
>But protesters refused, demanding instead that he come out
>and meet with all the demonstrators.
>
>Cianci finally came out and told demonstrators, "Welcome
>to City Hall."
>
>Mary Kaye Harris, one of the leaders of Direct Action for
>Rights and Equality (DARE), the community group that called
>
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