UNDERNEWS
Sam Smith
August 3, 1999
The Progressive Review
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NEW WORLD ORDER
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT, LONDON: Behind the imposing entrance of a grand 1920s
building on the shores of Lake Geneva lies what is probably the most
powerful organization on Earth .... It's not NATO, despite its victory in
Kosovo. It's certainly not the weak and underfunded United Nations. It's not
even the IMF, although it directs the economies of scores of countries. No,
the building on the lakeside .... belongs to a much less well-known but
much more powerful body, the World Trade Organization. This organization,
which sets the rules that govern how nations trade with each other, is about
to become the center of a gigantic battle for public opinion. This autumn it
will begin a push, backed by many of the richest nations, to extend its
powers even more. And some 700 organizations from 73 countries have sworn to
stop it. Ranging from big outfits such as Oxfam, Friends of the Earth and
the Japanese Consumers' Union to small grassroots networks in the Third
World, they have signed a joint declaration to "oppose any effort to expand
the powers of the World Trade Organization", saying that it has worked "to
pry open markets for the benefit of transnational corporations at the
expense of national economies, workers, farmers and other people."
THE REVIEW LIST
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE
Some links
CORPORATE EUROPE OBSERVATORY http://www.xs4all.nl/~ceo
CORPORATE WATCH http://www.corpwatch.org
CRITICAL MASS SEATTLE http:// www.oz.net/~nic/cm.html
EARTH FIRST! http:// www.k2net.co.uk/ef
EUROPEAN GREENS' MILLENNIUM ROUND http://www.millennium-round.org
FOOD FIRST http:// www.foodfirst.org
FOOD NOT BOMBS SEATTLE http:// www.scn.org/activism/foodnotbombs
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH EUROPE http://www.foeeurope.org
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH http://www.foe.org/international/trade/wto/wto.html
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL http:// www.foe.org
MAI NIET GEZIEN http://www.stelling.nl/mai
PEOPLE FOR FAIR TRADE http://www.peopleforfairtrade.org
PEOPLES GLOBAL ACTION http://www.agp.org
PUBLIC CITIZENS GLOBAL TRADE WATCH http//www.tradewatch.org
ROAD TO SEATTLE
http://www.newsbulletin.org/bulletins/getcurrentbulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=67&;
sid=
RUCKUS SOCIETY http://www.ruckus.org
SEATTLE CITIZEN COMMITTEE http://www.seattlewto.org
SHUTDOWN SEA-TOWN http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/8771/nowto.html
THIRD WORLD NETWORK http://www.twnside.org.sg/souths/twn/trade.htm
TRANSNATIONAL INSTITUTE http:// www.tni.org
WATCHING MONSANTO http:// www.monsanto.vigil.net
NEWS FROM THE COLONIES
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Kosovo Liberation Army fighters who have taken charge of
towns and cities will be removed from power unless they are committed to a
democratic, multiethnic society, the former top UN administrator in Kosovo
said. UN Undersecretary-General Sergio Vieira de Mello said the fact that
members of the KLA moved in to fill a power vacuum in Kosovo after NATO
troops occupied the province seven weeks ago shouldn't be viewed "as a
purely negative development." His view of the KLA is somewhat at odds with
that of U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. During a visit to Kosovo
on Thursday, she expressed the administration's concern that the KLA is
basically filling the power vacuum in the southern Serb province, according
to U.S. officials.
"What a glorious victory. NATO killed more civilians than soldiers,
accelerated the displacement of hundreds of thousands of refugees, destroyed
the infrastructure and poisoned the environment of southeastern Europe --
and in the name of humanitarianism. -- Left Business Observer
LBO http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/:LBO_home.html
TELEGRAPH, ENGLAND: Albanians in Kosovo are behaving as violently as the
Serbs before them and taking advantage of NATO's presence to settle scores,
Lt. Gen. Sir Mike Jackson, alliance commander, has told The Telegraph. In an
exclusive interview, Gen. Jackson said: "Too many Albanians haven't realized
we're trying to do something new and different here. Some Albanians have
behaved in a very similar way to those who have just left."
ECO NOTES
BBC: A British biologist, Roger Coghill, says he expects the depleted
uranium weapons used by U.S. aircraft over Kosovo will cause more than
10,000 fatal cancer cases .... In mid-June scientists at Kozani in northern
Greece were reporting that radiation levels were 25% above normal whenever
the wind blew from the direction of Kosovo. And Bulgarian researchers
reported finding levels eight times higher than usual within Bulgaria
itself, and up to 30 times higher in Yugoslavia. DU is a by-product of the
enrichment of uranium for making nuclear weapons and reactor fuel. It is 1.7
times heavier than lead, and is used for making armor-piercing rounds.
IN DEFENSE OF TIMOTHY LEARY
>From a statement by R.U. Sirius,
Robert Anton Wilson, Paul Krassner,
Douglas Rushkoff, Michael Horowitz
and Richard Metzger
Recent media coverage about Timothy Leary's "cooperation" with the FBI
brings into focus the Orwellian character of today's tabloid media
environment. Focusing on documents selectively released by the FBI, and
initially published by the "true crime" webzine, The Smoking Gun, a news
story picked up by the Associated Press presented the fact that Leary
testified about the radical left in 1974 in the hopes of speeding up his
prison release as shocking news. Young readers, or those with a short
historical memory, were lead to believe that Leary was a secret FBI
collaborator, hiding behind a mask of counter-cultural anti-authoritarianism.
Journalists who wish to investigate this situation further will be rewarded
with a complex adventure story about a heroic man whose rights were
consistently violated by various government agencies, who served 4-1/2 harsh
years in prison and another 1-1/2 years in exile, and who finally evaded
several lifetimes worth of further prison sentences while doing negligible
damage to friends and acquaintances.
Here are a few salient facts:
* Timothy Leary faced about 100 years in prison. Twenty years were for a
total of less than half an ounce of marijuana; another five for escaping
from prison. That alone would have put him away for the rest of his life.
But in addition, he faced 75 years on some bizarre conspiracy charges around
global distribution of LSD.
* Nobody was seriously injured by Leary's interaction with the FBI, with the
exception of his former attorney, George Chula, who received three months in
prison after being set up on a cocaine bust by Leary's girlfriend.
* While in exile, Leary was illegally kidnapped by US agents in Afghanistan
(which had no extradition treaty with the U.S.) and brought back to America.
On returning to prison, he was thrown into "the hole" in Folsom Prison. His
bail was five million dollars, the largest in history up to that point.
President Richard Nixon had earlier labeled him "the most dangerous man in
America."
* Leary sent information to the Weather Underground through a sympathetic
prisoner that he was considering making a deal with the FBI and waited for
their approval. The return message was "We understand."
* When Leary first agreed to talk to the FBI about those involved in his
escape, the agents were so dissatisfied with his testimony that they put him
out on the "main line" at a Minnesota prison under the name "Charles
Thrush," a songbird. This was a blatant attempt to label him a snitch and
get him murdered by prisoners.
* There are lots of FBI files on Tim Leary. The government has released a
select number of them, which were clearly chosen to hurt his reputation. The
FBI is still doing its best to slow down the release of Leary's full file,
reports political researcher and government critic Kenn Thomas, who has made
a Freedom of Information Act request.
ANTHRAX VACCINE
WASHINGTON POST: An Air Force nurse has been punished by superiors for
writing a letter to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes questioning the
safety and effectiveness of anthrax inoculations being administered to all
U.S. troops.
ATLANTA SHOOTING SPREES
Peter Orvetti
Libertarian Rock
The shooting spree by Mark Barton here yesterday has led to renewed calls
for crackdowns on violence in the media and on absolute freedom of
expression. Barton, who identified himself as a member of the "day trader"
subculture, was known to be a fan of the cult board game "Monopoly," in
which players assume the roles of wealthy speculators and investors, and try
to destroy one another's businesses. He was also a fan of the violent stock
market film "Wall Street," in which traders stop at nothing in pursuit of
their own success. His rampage has also led for calls on Capitol Hill on
censorship of the Internet .... President Clinton has asked the nation's
movie theaters to begin carding anyone under the age of forty, and most plan
to oblige. In addition, Hollywood is being pressured to cut back on films
featuring glorified violence and glorified profiting. The nation's stock
markets are cracking down hard as well. "Power ties," he brightly-hued
neckwear favored by the Blue Chip Mafia, has been banned, and any traders
wearing such ties will be expelled from the trading floor.
LIBERTARIAN ROCK http://www.libertarianrock.com
COLD FUSION
Despite the idea of cold fusion being ridiculed in the US research
continues, witness this somewhat startling link:
http://www.nde.lanl.gov/cf/cf.htm
CITY DESK
The Sacramento city council has voted to make Pepsi the official city soft
drink, displaying both questionable politics and bad taste.
NEW WORLD ORDER
GUARDIAN, ENGLAND: The Chilean government has been secretly negotiating with
the Spanish to halt the extradition of General Augusto Pinochet from Britain
to face trial on charges of terrorism and torture .... The fact that
discussions between ministers have taken place reflects growing unease in
the Popular Party government of Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar that
the country is about to host an embarrassing "show trial" which could prove
economically damaging.
ECO NOTES
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE: Humanity's impact on the earth has increased
extinction rates to levels rivaling the five mass extinctions of past
geologic history, transformed nearly half of Earth's land and created 50
dead zones in the world's oceans, according to research being presented this
week at the 16th International Botanical Congress.
ENS http://www.ens.com
JUST POLITICS
The New York Post says Senator Moynihan is waiting for final funding for
renovation of New York's Penn Station before endorsing Bill Bradley
CLINTON SCANDALS
NEW YORK POST: The Clinton scandals just keep on comin'. The latest oil
slick to bubble to the surface comes directly from Judge Norma Holloway
Johnson, the chief federal judge in Washington, D.C., who oversaw the Ken
Starr investigation. It turns out that Johnson personally selected the
judges who would hear two cases that were potentially harmful to Clinton.
Normally judges for such cases are picked at random. But Holloway would have
none of it, sending Webb Hubbell and Charlie Trie straight to judges who had
connections to both the defendants and the president. Take for instance the
case of Hubbell - which Holloway sent to Judge James Robertson, who was
appointed by Clinton. The judge is an old buddy of Clinton confidant Vernon
Jordan .... Holloway also ditched the rules when she placed Charlie Trie's
case in the gentle hands of Judge Paul Friedman, yet another Clinton
appointee.
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE: An unsolved mystery from 1987 that spawned years
of investigations and conspiracy theories was thrust upon a federal court
jury on Monday as the producer of a film about the subject was accused of
defamation. Patrick Matrisciana of California is on trial for allegations
aired
in his
1996 documentary Obstruction of Justice: The Mena Connection, which focuses
on the Aug. 23, 1987, deaths of two boys whose bodies were found beside
railroad tracks in Saline County. The hour-long video, shown to jurors in
its entirety, contains allegations that the deaths of Kevin Ives, 17, and
Don Henry, 16, were murders that various public officials tried to cover up,
from local law enforcement officers to state and federal prosecutors to the
governor's office -- then occupied by Bill Clinton.
THE UNDERNEWS: Independent of the outcome of this defamation suit,
understanding who murdered the boys and why could unravel some of the
deepest mysteries about Arkansas. Here's how TPR reported it previously:
"1987: Two boys are killed in Saline County and left on a railroad track to
be run over by a train The initial finding of joint suicide will be
punctured by dogged investigators whose efforts are repeatedly blocked by
law enforcement officials. Although no one will ever be charged, the trail
will lead into the penumbra of the Dixie Mafia and the Arkansas political
machine. Some believe the boys died because they accidentally intercepted a
drug drop, but other information suggests the drop may have dispensed not
drugs but cash, gold and platinum -- part of a series of sorties through
which those working with US intelligence were being reimbursed. According to
one version, the boys were blamed in order to cover up the theft of the drop
by persons within the Dixie Mafia and Arkansas political machine."
FIELD NOTES
GREEN CANDIDATES: Michael Moore says no to a Green presidential run.
http://www.prorev.com/greenpages.htm#moore
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