>
>not yet emerged as an issue in this year's presidential
>campaign. Governor Bush has increasingly had to defend his
>stewardship of [Texas'] death row, the nation's busiest.
>
>"But Vice President Al Gore, a supporter of capital
>punishment, has not dared to press the politically risky
>issue," the article concludes.
>
>As if to show that the Clinton/Gore administration is
>still firmly behind Abu-Jamal's execution, 11 activists
>were fined and sentenced by a federal magistrate to one
>year of supervised probation as a result of civil
>disobedience at Philadelphia's Liberty Bell last July 3.
>
>They include two prominent figures in the movement: Abu-
>Jamal's literary agent Frances Goldin and Refuse & Resist's
>Clark Kissinger. For the next year the two are forbidden to
>leave New York without authorization or to visit Abu-Jamal.
>They must submit to parole officers coming to their homes
>and workplaces, and have their personal finances
>scrutinized.
>
>A protest statement circulating on the Internet calls it
>"a giant fishing expedition by federal agents that further
>exposes the role of the federal government attempting to
>execute Mumia and silence the movement."
>
>Millions for Mumia/International Action Center and others
>have called for demonstrations at the two parties' national
>conventions this summer, including a "New Trial for
>Mumia/Shut Down the Prison-Industrial Complex" contingent
>in the July 30 "Unity 2000" march at the Republican
>Convention in Philadelphia. Visit the Web site
>www.mumia2000.org for details or call (212) 633-6646.
>
> - 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: <00a101bfc99f$fd3ed640$0a00a8c0@home>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Emergency actions for Shaka Sankofa
>Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 14:49:28 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the June 1, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>EMERGENCY ACTIONS JUNE 16-19:
>"STOP THE EXECUTION OF SHAKA SANKOFA"
>
>By Greg Butterfield
>
>In response to the State of Texas's plan to execute Black
>death-row activist Shaka Sankofa (Gary Graham) on June 22,
>five groups have issued an urgent call to the movement to
>build Emergency Days of Resistance to End the Death Penalty
>and Stop the Execution of Shaka Sankofa June 16-19.
>
>The groups are the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement,
>Shaka Sankofa Defense Committee, Inter national Concerned
>Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, New York Free Mumia
>Coalition, and Millions for Mumia/International Action
>Center.
>
>Since the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Sankofa's
>final appeal May 1, the prisoner has been repeatedly gassed
>and beaten. He told supporters that he would not cooperate
>in any way with the Texas death machine.
>
>The emergency actions were announced May 16 at a New York
>meeting of 80 volunteers and organizers who worked on the
>6,000-strong rally for Mumia Abu-Jamal at Madison Square
>Garden. Larry Holmes of Millions for Mumia and Ashanti
>Chimurenga of the Sankofa Defense Committee presented the
>proposal to the enthusiastic crowd.
>
>The call to action states: "Many people believe, and with
>good reason, that Shaka Sankofa was wrongfully convicted
>and sentenced to death. Shaka, only 17 years old at the
>time of his arrest, was convicted and sentenced to death on
>the basis of police-coaxed testimony of a single witness
>during a quick trial in 1981.
>
>"Shaka's trial was tainted by racism, police and
>prosecutorial misconduct, suppression of evidence, and an
>incompetent, unenthusiastic defense by his court-appointed
>lawyer. Like Mumia, Shaka's fight for a new trial has
>attracted the interest and support of people all over the
>world."
>
>Holmes said the demonstrations would focus attention on
>the record of presidential candidate and Texas Governor
>George W. Bush, who has presided over 127 executions since
>taking office in 1995. Twenty more executions are scheduled
>there before November's election.
>
> "June 19--also known as `Juneteenth'--is the anniversary
>of the day slaves in Texas learned of the Emancipation
>Proclamation," Holmes explained. "It's fitting that we turn
>the days leading up to this historic anniversary associated
>with the abolition of slavery into an occasion to demand
>the abolition of the death penalty."
>
>Groups and individuals are asked to endorse the Emergency
>Days of Resistance; organize protests locally or mobilize
>for demonstrations planned in Houston and New York; and get
>the word out to the media and on the Internet.
>
>The New York demonstration is scheduled for June 19 at 5
>p.m. outside "Bush for President" headquarters at Madison
>Ave. and 45th St. in Manhattan.
>
>Many resources are available at www.mumia2000.org,
>including a flyer for the days of resistance and a fact
>sheet on Sankofa's case. For more information, call (212)
>633-6646.
>
> - 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: <00a201bfc9a0$08367440$0a00a8c0@home>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] French strike: No money, no sales
>Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 14:53:03 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the June 1, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>FRENCH STRIKE: NO MONEY, NO SALES
>
>By G. Dunkel
>
>The drivers in France who transport money to and from
>banks, stores and ATM machines have been on strike. They
>want a solid raise and danger pay.
>
>So far this year five drivers have been killed by robbers
>using .50-caliber machine guns or rocket launchers.
>
>Drivers have set up a few picket lines outside of banks
>that were trying to use scabs or soldiers to move the cash.
>When a local newspaper made a lot of fuss about motorists
>not being able to pay their tolls because of the job
>action, strikers seized the tollbooths and waved motorists
>through.
>
>The strikers have solid popular support.
>
>A capitalist economy needs money to function. The drivers
>only control part of the money supply. Checks, credit
>cards, pre-paid debit cards--alternative forms of money
>besides cash--have let the French economy get by despite
>the strike, but the squeeze on the amount of money
>available has restricted sales. Some stores report as much
>as a 25 percent drop in sales. Others claim no perceptible
>drop.
>
>The government appointed a special mediator, who is trying
>to get the workers and the bosses together.
>
>The bosses have made it clear that they won't settle
>unless the government picks up a significant part of the
>cost.
>
> - 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: <00a301bfc9a0$0eec9800$0a00a8c0@home>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Washington schemes to keep Vieques base
>Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 14:55:49 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the June 1, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>REPRESSION INCREASES AS WASHINGTON
>SCHEMES TO KEEP VIEQUES BASE
>
>By Berta Joubert-Ceci
>
>On May 18, four riot police brutally beat Robert Rabin, a
>leader of the Committee for the Rescue and Devel op ment of
>Vieques. A convoy of U.S. Navy vehicles rammed Rabin's jeep
>outside the gates of Camp Garcia, the U.S. military
>training ground in Vieques, Puerto Rico. Immediately the
>riot cops ran to Rabin's vehicle, pulled him out of the
>jeep, clubbed him to the ground with nightsticks, and
>kicked him.
>
>While people gathered round, police buses brought more
>riot cops. They formed a line in front of Rabin, preventing
>anybody from stopping the assault. The activist had to be
>taken to the emergency room in a hospital on the Big
>Island, since there are no adequate medical facilities on
>Vieques.
>
>This violent act of repression is the Machiavellian
>articulation of the "good neighbor policy" the U.S. Navy
>vowed to implement to convince the people of Vieques that
>the Pentagon should stay there.
>
>Using their lackey, the P.R. government and police, the
>Navy and U.S. government have transformed Vieques into a
>hostage island under siege. Riot police stop residents in
>the streets and search their houses without warrants. The
>U.S. military has deployed Marines in Camp Garcia, ready to
>back up the cops.
>
>With few exceptions, Democrats and Republicans in the U.S.
>Congress rejoic ed at the May 4 eviction of people's
>encamp ments from the naval base. For more than a year
>after the death of David Sanes, protesters had prevented
>the Pentagon from dropping bombs there.
>
>President Bill Clinton's Jan. 31 directive--for a
>referendum on the terms and conditions of the Navy's
>continued occupation of Vieques--is being discussed in
>Washington. The House and Senate differ on some issues, but
>in the end, they want exactly the same thing: a permanent
>military presence in Vieques and practice with live
>ammunition.
>
>Why is Vieques so important? The Navy says there is no
>place like it. It's true there's not much commercial
>traffic in the area--but that holds true for many other
>places. Washington does not like to substitute one military
>base for another. In its imperialist greed, the military
>prefers only to add more.
>
>Vieques is part of the whole U.S. militarization of Puerto
>Rico. Thirteen percent of the arable land in P.R. is
>occupied by various branches of the U.S. military. This
>huge apparatus is part of a complex network of military
>facilities that spans the Caribbean and Atlantic.
>
>It is, in short, an essential part of the U.S. aims for
>domination of the Caribbean, Central America, and South
>America. The Pentagon presence is a constant threat to Cuba
>and progressive and revolutionary movements in the region.
>Right now the potent ROTHR military surveillance radar in
>the western part of Vieques is aimed at Colombia.
>
>Both Democrats and Republicans act as if they speak for
>the Puerto Rican masses. Clinton--in order to gain support
>from Gov. Pedro Rossell� for his directive on Vieques--has
>stated that P.R. needs to define its status.
>
>The compliant Gov. Rossell� stated: "The U.S. Congress is
>the only one who can determine which are the valid options
>that will be considered in a future consultation on the
>status of the island of Puerto Rico." So much for self-
>determination.
>
>But the Puerto Rican masses will not decide their future
>when and how Washington wants them to. They will decide
>their status when and how they see fit.
>
>An enormous jump in political consciousness has been
>developing in P.R. over the last few years. The high cost
>of living, unemployment, the impact of privatization, and
>neoliberal measures and political repression have impacted
>the people in many ways. So many contradictions exist in so
>many areas that they have become an unstoppable motor in
>the process of generating new political consciousness. A
>greater sense of nationhood has flourished.
>
>This upsurge of nationalism was the subject of a recent
>poll taken by the well-known U.S. firm Standard and Poors.
>It reported that "there is an emerging nationalism within
>the Puerto Rican population that could turn into a source
>of instability and political risk in the future."
>
>This sense of nationhood translates into suffering in one
>area being felt by the majority all over P.R. When
>telephone workers were confronted with privatization of the
>national phone company, this insult was felt as a personal
>injury by the masses. The cruel incarceration of the pro-
>independence political prisoners was an affront to all
>Puerto Ricans.
>
>The struggle of Vieques is no different. It has further
>united all sectors of society.
>
>As Ismael Guadalupe of the Committee for the Rescue and
>Development of Vieques remarked on a recent visit to New
>York: "Just as Albizu Campos said in the 1940s when the
>U.S. was appropriating Vieques's lands, Vieques is a
>national demand and its struggle is one of self-
>determination. Vieques is part of our Puerto Rican land."
>
> - 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: <00a401bfc9a0$13ff1de0$0a00a8c0@home>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Editorial: Shoot the moon
>Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 14:56:42 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the June 1, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>EDITORIAL: SHOOT THE MOON
>
>A raise in the interest rates the Federal Reserve charges
>commercial banks has sent the stock markets yo-yoing even
>more wildly than Wall Street investors have become
>accustomed to. Hardest hit is the Nasdaq, the market for
>high-technology stocks.
>
>The Fed's move makes it more expensive for businesses to
>get loans and therefore is supposed to curb expansion and
>"cool" the economy. Fed Chair Alan Greenspan says this is
>good because a hot economy with a low level of unemployment
>brings on inflation. By this he really means higher wages,
>which the bosses have been very successful in preventing
>for 35 years now, even as profits have rocketed into the
>stratosphere.
>
>It is true that in a tight labor market, workers generally
>have more success in pressing for better wages and
>benefits. That is why the capitalist class has always
>preferred to keep what Karl Marx called a "reserve army of
>the unemployed," whose desperate need for work can be taken
>advantage of by the bosses to lower wages all around.
>
>Here's the nub of the capitalist problem. The capitalist
>market relentlessly revolutionizes the means of production
>in its insatiable drive for profits. Technology develops by
>leaps and bounds, enormously increasing the productivity of
>labor. The bourgeoisie loves to tell us that all this
>efficiency will eventually redound to the benefit of all--
>even if the bosses do take the lion's share.
>
>But in fact, there is nothing about capitalist development
>that guarantees improvement in the condition of the working
>class. Quite the opposite. As this move by the powerful
>bankers' bank shows, they'll move heaven and earth to make
>sure that wages are kept low, because they're always trying
>to undercut their competitors.
>
>This paradox of capitalism is summed up popularly in the
>phrase "the rich get richer while the poor get poorer." It
>not only leads to a monstrous gap in incomes but also to
>the phenomenon of workers spending longer and longer hours
>on the job even when all their wants and needs could be
>satisfied with just a few hours of labor. Instead of being
>wage slaves, we could all be enjoying a rich and satisfying
>life with plenty of time for education, recreation, and
>just plain fun--IF.
>
>If we can get rid of capitalism. That may seem a long way
>away, but the contradictions within the capitalist economy
>are piling up. And when the capitalist government steps in
>to cool the economy by forcing layoffs and wage cuts, it
>could end up raising the temperature of the working-class
>struggle. That's a yo-yo effect that could give the
>dispossessed a chance to shoot the moon--around the world.
>
> - 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: <00a501bfc9a0$199049a0$0a00a8c0@home>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Letters to WW
>Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 14:57:26 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the June 1, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
>
>MUMIA AND CENSORSHIP
>
>Fred Goldstein's article in WW (May 11, 2000) entitled
>"Why They Censor the `Voice of the Voiceless'" was great.
>You're correct: Most of the major networks censored Mumia's
>address at the Antioch graduation, including many of those
>that had shown (often hostile) interest in it in the four
>weeks preceding the event. Strange .
>
>I know because I did over 50 interviews in three weeks
>with all the major networks as the chief student
>coordinator and spokesperson for that event. The coverage,
>although often reactionary, was nevertheless all over the
>country. So what happened when the big day came? A
>whiteout.
>
>It's as if there was a collective decision in the
>capitalist media that this was getting too big, too
>organized, and that it should be ignored, suppressed,
>censored. So you hit it on the money. I too take it as one
>of the signs that the movement is growing again.
>
>Teishan Latner
>Antioch class of 2000
>Antioch, Ohio
>
>WW FOR PRISONERS
>
>I have just finished reading the latest issue of Workers
>World and as always I will pass it on to other prisoners
>and engage them in conversation as to the content of your
>paper, as opposed to that of the corporate owned and
>controlled media.
>
>I would like to thank you all for keeping me on your
>mailing list, and extend a warm and strong May Day abrazo
>to each and every one of you.
>
>Tom Manning
>For the December 16th Committee
>Springfield, Mo.
>
>LOS ALAMOS FIRE
>
>Our federal officials--Pete Domenici, Heather Wilson, Bill
>Richardson, Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall--who have for years
>thrown billions of our tax dollars into the nuclear war
>labs like Los Alamos, are now desperately trying to
>scapegoat low-level park service officials and powerless
>environmentalists for the fire in Los Alamos which has done
>so much human and political damage.
>
>These politicians are desperate to reopen Los Alamos in a
>weakened condition because the fire which was unleashed by
>rambunctious climatic changes has exposed the fact that
>there is no intellectual rationale for the continued
>existence of the nuclear labs nor the risks associated with
>them any longer.
>
>The world is getting hotter and the weather as a result is
>unpredictable--new lakes in the Australian desert, long dry
>hot nights in our desert when it should be cool, winds of
>extreme strength. We have had global conferences and most
>agree on this.
>
>New Mexico's nuclear club of politicians want us to think
>more cows and logging in the forests would have prevented
>this. They even repeated Ronald Reagan's ridiculous claim
>that trees are the greatest polluters of radiation. They
>treat the public as if we were ignorant and only they know
>the facts. In reality, it is political leadership at the
>top who is to blame for this crisis, not the rangers out in
>the forests working with reduced budgets and manpower.
>
>Like at Chernobyl the federal officials have tried to
>downplay the seriousness of the radiation releases
>generated by the fire. The governor and the lab officials
>rushed to tell us everything was normal even as the fire
>raged out of control and as tests showed levels of
>radiation at 10 times the norm. Significantly, they did no
>real-time isotopic analysis of the cloud plume, even though
>they do this routinely over China and Russia all the time
>with sniffer planes. They gave no warnings to pregnant
>women to evacuate, like at Chernobyl, which should have
>been a minimum human care action.
>
>The billions that will be wasted on rebuilding the lab
>could have gone a long way to providing quality education
>and health care to all New Mexicans. What a loss.
>
>Our federal officials have sacrificed untold numbers of
>people to future health risks just so they could avoid a
>possible evacuation of northern New Mexico's cities and
>rural areas, which would reveal how serious was the
>situation. It was Los Alamos which injected plutonium into
>live humans to see how people would die. None of our
>Congressional delegation has taken action against the Nazis
>who ran these experiments, and now they endanger the public
>at large by keeping the nuclear labs open.
>
>Robert Anderson
>New Mexico
>
>ACCURATE INFO ON CUBA
>
>Just want to say...
>
>Thanks for the great website with updated and accurate
>information about Cuba. As you already know, one must be
>very diligent in the search for information regarding Cuba.
>Even if one has an opposing view about life and politics on
>the island, it's a rarity to hear intellectually
>comparative discussion about Cuba or it's history. I find
>this unfortunate since the information is out there for all
>to see. However, pockets of the society (although
>decreasing) are much too comfortable adopting that which is
>too frequently reported from Little Havana.
>
>Keep up the good work!!!
>
>Andrea Steward
>Via the Internet
>
> - 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)
>
>
>
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