An interesting effort to spread ideas, stimulate debat, circumvent the mass
media.... Sally
Sorry for the poor format.
>Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 00:03:15 -0400
>>Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 12:03:01 +0100
>From: Anna Weekes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Fw: Chomsky in Canada/Harbury/Bonpane/Gray
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain
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>
>----------
>> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> To:
>> Subject: DU9: Chomsky in Canada/Harbury/Bonpane/Gray
>> Date: Friday, October 09, 1998 10:18 PM
>>
>> The Democracy University Video Series, Volume 9:
>> Noam Chomsky in Calgary, Canada ("Whose World Order: Conflicting
>Visions"),
>> Jennifer Harbury ("The Search for Justice for Guatemala"),
>> Blase Bonpane ("The U.S. Army's 'School of the Assassins'"), and
>> Mike Gray ("Drug Crazy: The U.S. War on Drugs")
>>
>> Dear Friends of JusticeVision:
>>
>> Volume 9 of the Democracy University Video Series is now ready. It
>includes
>> Noam Chomsky's talk on September 22 at the University of Calgary, and his
>> press conference the next day. It also includes exceptionally interesting
>and
>> informative events with Jennifer Harbury (on her effort to obtain justice
>for
>> the people of Guatemala, also with Dennis Bernstein and Edgar Ayala),
>Blase
>> Bonpane (on the effort to close the U.S. Army's School of the Americas,
>often
>> referred to as School of the Assassins because of its record of support
>of
>> anti-democratic governments; also with Mariah Darlington on Chiapas), and
>Mike
>> Gray (on the origin and motivations for the US Drug War). Mike Gray made
>the
>> documentary film "The Murder of Fred Hampton", a murder mentioned by Noam
>at
>> his press conference while discussing the absence in the media of
>coverage of
>> the FBI's cointelpro as an example of the distorted priorities of the
>press.
>>
>> If you would like a copy of the 6-hour Democracy University Volume 9 and
>are
>> not a subscriber, I will be happy to send it if you will send a donation
>of
>> $10 or more (US) after you receive it. If you are a subscriber to the
>series,
>> your tape is probably already on its way. For subscribers, the minimum
>> donation is $7 (US), also to be sent in after you receive the tape.
>Please
>> consider subscribing! If you would like to subscribe to the series or
>just
>> order the new videotape, just email me your address and I will be happy
>to
>> send it out. And nothing's to stop you from subscribing this month and
>> cancelling next. (Riddle: What is the difference between Democracy
>University
>> videotapes and tapes that cost up to 5 times as much? Answer: Advertising
>> costs. Please help keep our tapes accessible!)
>>
>> I've also acquired audiotape duplication equipment and am making the 2
>Chomsky
>> events available as a 2 audiotape set (2 1/2 hours total), also for $10.
>The
>> full 6 hours of DU9 is available on audiotapes for $20. Please indicate
>if you
>> would like audiotapes so I don't send you the videotape by mistake.
>>
>> Other new videos:
>>
>> I've made a number of trips to the (San Francisco) Bay Area in the last
>few
>> weeks, taping Angela Davis's conference "Critical Resistance: Beyond the
>> Prison Industrial Complex" (18 hours on 3 tapes, $25, or a one tape
>collection
>> of the 3 major plenaries, $10), plus talks by Jim Hightower and Michael
>> Parenti and a major event to save the Headwaters Redwood Grove with David
>> Brower and Congressman George Miller, which includes remarkable slide
>> presentations by Doug Thron and Pat Higgins. Some of these will be
>included in
>> future volumes of Democracy University, but I thought I would mention
>them in
>> case you would like them sooner.
>>
>> We could sure use a few orders right now before we start getting orders
>from
>> the radio station fund drives, and also because it takes up to two months
>to
>> get paid by the radio stations. Due to expenses related to car and
>equipment
>> problems, as well as the 9 days on the road for our 4300 mile driving
>trip to
>> Calgary, Headwaters Grove in Arcata, and Berkeley (I decided to drive
>instead
>> of fly so I could get to the Critical Resistance conference on time,
>since
>> there was no affordable early flight out of Calgary) and the nearly
>weekly
>> drives I've been making from L.A. to the San Francisco area to videotape,
>> resources here are once again severely depleted, and a good response to
>the
>> new Chomsky et.al. offering (DU9) would be both encouraging and helpful,
>as
>> would new subscriptions, of which we now have about 55. Subscriptions are
>very
>> helpful because it enables me to sustain my family without having to
>spend all
>> my time at home soliciting and processing orders, and reduces the number
>of
>> orders lost because people didn't read or get their email, or because I
>wasn't
>> able to write and send an announcement right away. A good-sized
>subscription
>> base would enable me to spend the time necessary on the road, and less
>time on
>> the computer when I get home, and I can start mailing out DU videotapes
>as
>> soon as a new one is ready. If for no other reason, please subscribe so
>my
>> kids can get a little more of daddy's time each month.
>>
>> A good-sized subscriber base would also enable me to get equipment worthy
>of
>> the contributions that people like Noam Chomsky, David Brower, Helen
>> Caldicott, and Michael Parenti are making for us and future generations.
>To
>> record Chomsky in Calgary, I rented a full sized digital broadcast
>quality
>> camera; it uses 3 hour tapes so as not to miss anything, and the original
>it
>> made looks fantastic. It would be great to be able to use something like
>it
>> all the time. Digital equipment would enable us to raise the quality of
>not
>> only the originals but also the copies, and as a consequence, would help
>these
>> talks reach a wider audience. I believe our speakers and future audiences
>> deserve the best we can provide them with. Your subscription will help us
>> improve what we can give them. Please subscribe if you haven't already!
>>
>> A number of radio stations (Pacifica stations primarily) are finding our
>> videos effective as fundraising premiums. Please let us know of radio
>stations
>> in your area that might be interested in having us put together a premium
>tape
>> for them.
>>
>> To those of you whose support has gotten us this far, we cannot begin to
>> express the gratitude we feel for making it possible to pursue this
>effort.
>> Please forgive me for not conveying this to each of you individually.
>> Hopefully, we will be able to express our appreciation less impersonally
>in
>> the future. Thanks again!
>>
>> Warmest Regards,
>>
>> Ralph Cole, organizer of Justicevision, Los Angeles, Ca.
>> (213) 747-6345; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>>
>> PS: A note about the listserves. In late August I started the Democracy
>> University List (for mutual education and the sharing of information
>> experiences regarding social justice related issues) and the Deusberg
>List
>> (for exchange of information related to virologist Peter Duesberg's
>theory
>> that AIDS medications are iatrogenic, i.e., that they are the cause of
>the
>> symptoms they are prescribed to prevent, and that AIDS deaths are
>declining
>> because of the substitution of less lethal medications for earlier ones,
>and
>> not because the medications are doing any good).
>>
>> The Democracy University List is an opportunity for grassroots activists
>to
>> share information and experiences related to social justice with their
>> counterparts around the world. To sign on, send an empty letter to the
>> following address (not to me!):
>>
>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>> To get off the Democracy University List, send an empty letter to the
>> following address (not to me and especially not to the list!):
>>
>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>> This list has been very active and informative on voting systems, MAI,
>and a
>> variety of subjects. Please let me know if you would be willing to take
>on a
>> share of that responsibility. Although I am moderator, I have been gone a
>lot;
>> the list would benefit from someone that could moderate while I am away.
>Let
>> me know if you are willing to.
>>
>> The Deusberg List is much less active, but the postings have been highly
>> informative and interesting. It has benefitted from the active
>participation
>> of Paul Philpott of Scientists for the Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS
>Hypothesis,
>> who has brought to the list a combination of social concern and expertise
>> beyond my dreams. Regardless of your views on AIDS and HIV, this list
>will be
>> a real intellectual treat, in my opinion, could give you the information
>you
>> need to save someone's life someday.
>>
>> To subscribe, send a blank letter to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>> To unsubscribe, send a blank letter to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>> PPS: I look forward to hearing from you!
>
>------------------------------
>Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 15:31:15 -0400
>From: Tom Patterson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: ITF on deportation
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain
>
>The International Transport Workers* Federation (ITF) * a global union
>organisation representing
>400,000 aviation workers * has called upon its members to refuse c0-operation
>with inhuman methods
>of forcible deportation.
>
>The ITF plea follows the death of a Nigerian national Sémira Adamu at the
>hands
>of the Belgian
>authorities on board a Sabena aircraft during the process of her deportation
>>from Belgium on Tuesday 22
>September.
>
>In response to increasing concern among civil aviation trade unions about
>unacceptable or degrading
>forms of treatment used against refugees and deportees on board aircraft,
>airline staff have also been
>asked by the ITF to report any incidents concerning refugees or deportees
>to the
>Federation.
>
>"In recent years a number of governments have passed carrier liability laws
>which fine airlines for
>carrying refugees, and involve airline staff as an auxiliary police force
>aimed
>at preventing refugees from
>being able to exercise their right to lodge a claim for political asylum,"
>explained Stuart Howard, ITF Civil
>Aviation Section Secretary
>
>"Crew have witnessed deportees shackled in chains, bound with tape, and
>drugged.
>They have been
>asked to assist police to administer sedatives to deportees without their
>knowledge or permission. We
>have now witnessed the death of a deportee on board an aircraft."
>
>Writing to Louis Tobback, Belgian Minister of the Interior, the ITF called
>for a
>review of Belgian laws and
>police practices to ensure they conform to international rights of refugees as
>set out in UN Convention
>51 on the Status of Refugees.
>
>The Federation insisted that the international rights of asylum seekers
>must be
>fully respected, and that
>degrading treatment or excessive force should never be used.
>
>"Civil air transport should not be used for such police operations and civil
>aviation staff should not be
>required to take part in any auxiliary immigration policing duties," said
>Howard.
>
>Notes for editors:
>
>20 year-old Sémira Adamu died on board a Sabena flight, waiting to fly to
>Lagos,
>at the hands of her
>Belgian police escort. Crew and passengers were on board the aircraft at the
>time. Sémira Adamu had
>sought asylum in Belgium after fleeing from Nigeria to escape an arranged
>marriage to a 68 year old
>man. The authorities rejected her asylum claim and enforced her
>deportation. On
>22 September she
>was placed on board a Sabena flight with a police escort. When other
>passengers
>began to board the
>aircraft she began to scream. Her police escort held a cushion over her
>face for
>15 minutes resulting in
>her death. In using the cushion the police were following the specific
>instructions provided to them by
>the Belgian authorities for dealing with this kind of situation.
>
>Belgian civil aviation unions protested against the death of Sémira Adamu
>with a
>one minute silence,
>observed throughout the Zaventem international airport by employees and public
>on 1st October. They
>are continuing to coordinate protest actions with Belgian refugee
>organisations.
>
>------------------------------
>Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 13:45:43 -0700
>From: Franklin Wayne Poley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Slave labourer seeks back wages after 50 years (fwd)
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
>
>Hmmm...kind of makes you wonder if Workfarers might some day launch the
>same kind of law suit.
>FWP.
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 22:48:56 +1100 (EST)
>From: Bill Bartlett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Slave labourer seeks back wages after 50 years
>
>Slave labourer seeks back wages after 50 years
>
>I just saw this story on Stateline, a local TV current affairs show here,
>about a Tasmanian of Dutch origin (name of Van Der Hoog) who has been
>seeking back wages from BMW for the time he spent as a slave labourer in
>Germany during WW2.
>
>He originally wrote to the Dutch Government back in the 1970's sometime,
>but in typical bureaucratic fashion they requested he support his case with
>pay slips or some such. Then he found out that the factory he worked in was
>owned by BMW, and wrote to them. They referred him back to the Durch
>government again.
>
>Now he is publicising his case.
>
>The inspiring thing of course is that this old bloke is still seeking
>justice from these bastards after all this time. He says he doesn't want
>compensation, but says it would be "nice" if they would just pay him the
>wages for the work he did.
>
>Bill Bartlett
>Bracknell Tas.
>
>
>-> Workfare-Discuss, the list for fighting workfare internationally
>-> To subscribe, send subscribe workfare-discuss to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>-> List web site, http://www.icomm.ca/workfare/
>
>--------------------------------
>
