-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Today's Lesson From Intellectuals by Paul Johnson After [George] Orwell [author of 1984] left Eton he joined the Indian police, serving five years, 1922-27. As such, he saw the seamier side of imperialism, the hangings and floggings, and found he could not stomach it. In fact his two brilliant essays, 'A Hanging' and 'Shooting an Elephant', perhaps did more to undermine the empire spirit in Britain than any other writings. He returned to England on home leave, resigned from the service, and determined to be a writer. He chose the name 'George Orwell' after considering various alternatives, including P.S. Burton, Kenneth Miles and H. Lewis Allways. Orwell was an intellectual in the sense that he believed, at any rate when young, that the world could be reshaped by the power of intellect. He thus thought in terms of ideas and concepts. But his nature, and perhaps his police training, gave him a passionate interest in people. His policemen's instinct certainly told him that things were not what they seemed, and that only investigation and close scrutiny would yield the truth. ===== The Middle East Syria Said to Issue Peace Call to Radicals Peace, not disarmament JERUSALEM - Syria has asked several Palestinian radical groups based in Damascus to halt their armed struggle against Israel because it intends to make peace with the Israelis, members of the groups said Monday. They said the Syrian vice president, Abdel Halim Khaddam, had made the call at meetings with members of four Palestinian groups opposed to Yasser Arafat's peace deals with Israel. ''He told them they now had to drop armed struggle and form political parties and work on social issues,'' said an official, who declined to be identified. The official said Syria also intended the call to go out to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Speaking at a news conference in Washington, the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, said Monday that ''if that is true, it is good news for all of us.'' President Bill Clinton, speaking at the same news conference, said the United States was seeking ''more normal'' ties with Syria and believed Damascus could again play a key role in the Middle East peace process. The new Israeli prime minister was in Washington making plans to meet with President Clinton every four months in a drive for Middle East peace accords by the time Mr. Clinton leaves office 18 months from now. Mr. Barak pledged to ''move forward decisively'' in a drive for Mideast peace accords. ''We do not intend to drag our feet for another three years,'' he said. If confirmed, the Syrian move would be the most serious indication so far of the determination of President Hafez Assad to reach a peace settlement with his historic enemy after almost a decade of on-again off-again negotiations. In Damascus, however, a spokesman for a Palestinian alliance in Damascus of opposition groups denied the report, and Hezbollah dismissed it as ''talk that does not merit a response.'' ''This report is totally incorrect,'' said Fadhl Sharouro, a member of the central leadership of the Palestinian alliance based in Damascus. ''Syria did not ask us to drop our weapons.'' The State Department immediately welcomed the reported Syrian moves. The department spokesman, James Rubin, said that he did not have any information on contacts between Syrian and Palestinian groups. ''If this is true, it would be welcome to have those types of organizations that have been the enemies of peace become supporters of peace,'' Mr. Rubin said. The Damascus-based radical groups oppose peace deals with Israel signed by Mr. Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization since 1993. Syria, traditionally an arch-foe of Israel, has embraced the groups. The official said that Mr. Khaddam held a meeting with members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, the Sa'qa group and the Fatah Uprising, led by Colonel Abu Musa. He held separate talks with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Other leading ''rejectionist'' groups, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, were not involved in the meetings. The meeting with Palestinian groups took place in Damascus in early July, the official said. ''He was frank with the groups,'' the official said. ''He told them armed struggle from Syria and Lebanon is over, and they have to get used to confining their role to a political one.'' Another official said the Syrian vice president told the Palestinian groups that Damascus ''was keen on renewing talks with Israel'' since Mr. Barak ousted Benjamin Netanyahu, a rightist, in an election in May. ''Khaddam told the groups that Syria will not waste the chance of making peace with Israel,'' he said. Damascus has sent positive signals to Mr. Barak since his election victory, saying it is willing to match Israeli steps on the path to peace. Mr. Barak came to power promising to make peace with Syria based on the principle - opposed by Mr. Netanyahu - of swapping land for peace. Mr. Barak also pledged to pull Israeli troops out of South Lebanon within a year. In Damascus, Mr. Sharouro admitted that Vice President Khaddam had met representatives of Palestinian opposition groups in the Syrian capital recently, but said that it was a routine meeting during which the latest developments in the Palestinian question were discussed. ''The meeting did not allude to the military struggle at all,'' Mr. Sharouro said. ''It seems the Israelis who leaked this report are expressing their wishes and not the facts.'' The Palestinian alliance, grouping eight factions, was established to thwart the 1993 Palestinian-Israeli peace deal that gave Palestinians limited self-rule in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The alliance groups, among others, Islamic Jihad and the Hamas resistance movement. Those two groups have claimed several attacks in which scores of Israelis were killed or wounded since the signing of the Palestinian-Israeli peace deal. Naeem Qassem, a deputy leader of Hezbollah, refused to say whether the Iranian-backed group would stop fighting Israel if it withdrew from the 15-kilometer (9-mile) zone it occupies in South Lebanon. A top Hezbollah official said last week that the group would not recognize the right of Israel to exist even if the Israelis signed peace treaties with all their Arab neighbors. In Damascus, the prospects for resuming Middle East peace talks featured prominently in talks Monday between Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of Spain and President Assad, a presidential spokesman said. Just before landing in Syria on Sunday, Mr. Aznar spoke to Mr. Barak, who called from the United States to brief him on his talks with Mr. Clinton. Mr. Aznar declined to say if the Israeli leader had asked him to convey any message to Mr. Assad, who has expressed willingness to sign a peace treaty with Israel. International Herald Tribune, July 20, 1999 Sugar Market The Sour Taste of Brazilian Sugar So much for government-subsidized gasohol A decade ago, the vast sugar cane plantations that stretch across the interior of S�o Paulo state created great wealth for their owners as the government bankrolled an ambitious alternative fuel programme. Brazil remains the only country to have adopted alternative fuel, in this case alcohol-distilled from sugar cane, on a mass scale. Today, however, the plantation owners are deep in debt. Many have gone bankrupt. Even the largest producers are facing hard times. S�rgio Sim�es Ometto, president of the sprawling Usina da Barra, 270km west of the city of S�o Paulo, says: "We have had to restructure and modify operations, reduce costs and investments." He has cut over 2,000 jobs. Usina da Barra's installations look run down. Its cooling tanks are chipped and steel reinforcing bars poke through the concrete. The machinery dates back to the early 1980s and beyond. Rust is beginning to corrode the gantries. The company can only afford to carry out essential maintenance. The distillery is producing about 1.5m-1.6m litres of alcohol per day now, or about 70 per cent of capacity. Yet it is also turning out record quantities of sugar. Last year it produced 462,000 metric tonnes of sugar. Mr Ometto says he is surviving because he can make money - just - by producing sugar instead of alcohol. In May, distilleries were selling alcohol at R$0.15 (8 US cents) a litre, about half the production cost. Prices have recovered since then as the government has tried to revive the alcohol programme by encouraging consumption and buying up unused stocks of about 2bn litres that have accumulated at distilleries since 1997. Bras�lia has decided to continue tax breaks for the country's 200,000 taxi drivers only if they buy alcohol-powered cars. Officials are negotiating with car manufacturers to increase output of alcohol-powered cars, currently at about 1,000 units a year, down from a record 700,000 in 1986. The government is adding more alcohol to gasoline, which already contained a 24 per cent alcohol admixture. Officials also want to add alcohol to diesel which fuels the country's buses and trucks. The government is forming regulatory stocks to iron out fluctuations in supply and demand. The distilleries themselves have set up a consortium to export alcohol and form their own buffer stock. As well as saving the alcohol programme and rescuing the distilleries, these measures should also help world sugar prices, which have been languishing at historic lows. Brazil, the world's main cane producer and sugar exporter, drove prices down further in January after the Real crashed by over 30 per cent against the dollar. However, Bolivar Moura Rocha, of CIMA, a government alcohol task force, told a group of angry producers in July that saving the alcohol programme will require more financial sacrifices. One producer told him that government auction prices are so low "not even a beggar would accept this money. He would throw it in your face". Julio Maria Martins Borges, an energy economist at the University of S�o Paulo and director of a local commodity brokerage, says: "The alcohol programme is worth saving. It makes a lot of sense for Brazil. It employs 1.1m people, saves foreign exchange and has environmental benefits." He is encouraged that the government is not repeating the same mistakes that first plunged the industry into crisis a decade ago. By the late 1980s, the government responded to rising alcohol subsidies by raising prices. Motorists started to shun alcohol cars. A temporary fuel shortage in 1989 further increased dissatisfaction with the alcohol programme. Luckily, international sugar prices recovered and so producers simply distilled less alcohol and produced more sugar. However, by 1998 demand for alcohol had diminished and Brazilian exports had glutted sugar markets. This year's post-devaluation surge in sugar exports simply made a bad situation worse. In theory, these problems should not recur. The alcohol subsidy is now paid out of a gasoline surcharge rather than from the central government's budget. A combination of rising oil prices, devaluation and efficiency gains has almost eliminated the need for a fuel subsidy. The government's new regulatory stocks should avert future alcohol shortages or gluts. This, together with retrenchment and government-engineered recovery in demand for alcohol should ensure a steady demand for the fuel of about 12bn litres a year. However, nobody is celebrating. Prices could take time to recover because of high international sugar stocks, equivalent to nearly 40 per cent of consumption. The Financial Times, July 20, 1999 Korean Chaebol Daewoo Narrowly Avoids Bankruptcy Pledges more assets Daewoo, South Korea's second largest conglomerate, yesterday narrowly averted bankruptcy after it pledged Won10,130bn ($8.6bn) of assets as collateral to persuade creditors to roll over short-term loans. Daewoo's problems underscore the fragility of Korea's recent economic recovery. Many banks and companies are still struggling with the large debts run up in the early 1990s to finance ambitious industrial expansion, and which helped trigger a national financial crisis in late 1997. The Financial Supervisory Commission, the nation's financial watchdog agency, warned: "Daewoo will inevitably go bankrupt due to severe cashflow problems if creditors don't have confidence in Daewoo's restructuring even after Daewoo's new move." The company confirmed it faced serious financial troubles. "The Daewoo group has suffered cashflow problems because of Korea's economic slump, and the financial markets' confidence in the Daewoo group has been shaken," it said. Following emergency meetings with the government at the weekend, Daewoo promised new restructuring measures, including a pledge by Kim Woo-choong, Daewoo's founder and chairman, to resign after he completes reforms at its car division, Daewoo Motor. Mr Kim, who is also head of the Federation of Korean Industries, the lobbying group for big business, pledged Won1,250bn of his personal assets as collateral to gain the reprieve on credit. Daewoo said it had agreed to allow creditors, led by Korea First Bank, to dispose of the assets if the group fails to implement restructuring plans in time. The rescheduling of Daewoo's short-term debt of Won7,000bn over six months will buy the group time as it attempts to sell assets to raise capital to pay medium and long-term debt. Creditor banks last week said Daewoo was the only big conglomerate, or chaebol, to miss deadlines on reducing its large debt of $50bn, or more than five times equity, during the first half of this year as it failed to sell many assets or raise funds through stock offerings. Daewoo plans to focus on its car, financial and trading businesses after restructuring. The Financial Times July 20, 1999 War Crimes Bill Clinton, William Cohen Charged with War Crimes THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA INTERNATIONAL ETHICAL ALLIANCE vs WILLIAM CLINTON AND WILLIAM COHEN INDICTMENT: WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY GENERAL ALLEGATIONS 1. The herein indictment supplements, supports, and incorporates by reference the facts and legal principles asserted in the May 23, 1999 indictment of Milosevic et al. 2. The jurisdiction of the Tribunal is invoked pursuant to Statute (Article 18.1) which imposes a duty on its prosecutor, Justice Louise Arbour to hear and investigate "information obtained from any source, particularly...organizations." 3. INTERNATIONAL ETHICAL ALLIANCE, Inc. is a United States nonprofit organization, incorporated under the nonstock laws of the State of Connecticut to promote ethics in public forums, including this Tribunal and the Internet. 4. Defendant CLINTON is President of the United States and pursuant to its Constitution and War Powers Resolution of 1973 (50 US Code 1541) has limited powers to act as Commander-in-Chief of its armed forces. Defendant COHEN is Secretary of Defense of the United States. 5. On March 24, 1999 defendant CLINTON ordered the military forces of the United States to participate in an aggressive military attack on former Yugoslavia and with the aid and abetment of defendant COHEN continued the attacks for more than 60 day, in violation of: (i) Article 2 of the United States Constitution, giving Congress the sole power to declare war (ii) 50 USC 1542, mandating initial and regular consultations with Congress; 50 USC 1543, mandating written reports of necessitating circumstances; and 50 USC 1544 mandating the termination of the war use of United States Armed Force after 60 days in the absence of the official enactment by Congress of specific statutory authority. 6. At all times relevant to this indictment, the Armed Forces of the United States have participated in non-defensive aggressive military attacks on former Yugoslavia, which have not been necessary to defend the national security of the United States and have also been violations inter alia of (i) Article 18 of the Geneva Convention On The Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which provides, "Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick, the infirm and materinity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict;" and (ii) Protocol II (8 June 1977) to the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, Article 14, which provides "It is therefore prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless...objects indispensable to the survival for the civilian population, such as foodstuffs...drinking water installations...[and] works or installations containing dangerous forces...even where these objects are military objectives..." 7. Non-defensive aggressive wars as defined and proscribed in the Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, Aug. 8, 1945, are: "War crimes: namely, violations of the laws or customs of war. Such violations include, but not be limited to, murder, ill-treatment ... of civilian population, ... wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity. "Crimes against Humanity: namely, murder ... and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war. ..." 8. The definitions and proscriptions in the preceding paragraphs have been formally adopted by the United Nations as set forth in its Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, G.A. res. 2391 (XXIII), annex, 23 U.N. GAOR Supp. (no. 18) at 40, U.N. Doc. A/7218 (1968). http://www.iethical.org/. The Pandering Press How Stupid Can Dan Blather Get? Thinks Chappaquiddick happened to Robert Kennedy; calls it a Kennedy "family tragedy" -- Chappaquiddick listed among Kennedy family tragedies by ABC News and CBS News. At about 3:10pm ET on Saturday ABC showed a list on screen headed "Kennedy Family Tragedies," starting with "1944: Joseph Kennedy Jr. killed in WWII plane crash" followed by "1948: Kathleen Kennedy (28) killed in plane crash." After "1968: Robert F. Kennedy assassinated in LA" and before "1984: David Kennedy (35) dies of drug overdose," ABC listed this item: "1969: Ted Kennedy in car crash in Chappaquiddick in which Mary Jo Kopechne died." I think that was a tragedy for the Kopechne family. Earlier in the day CBS anchor Dan Rather justified CBS's non- stop coverage by citing the Kennedy "curse" and the family's tragedies, though he made an error as he recalled Chappaquiddick: "I think it's this coming Sunday that would be 30 years since a car driven by John F. Kennedy's uncle, Senator Robert Kennedy of Massachusetts, plunged off a bridge and into the waters of Chappaquiddick, killing 28-year-old companion Mary Jo Kopechne and all that flowed out of that. It's just been one tragedy after another for the Kennedy family. Well you say every family has its tragedies. True enough. But this family, which is as close as America comes to having royalty...this family has had so much public tragedy." Of course, that was Uncle Ted, not Uncle Robert. Media Research Center Cyberalert, Monday, July 19, 1999 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
