>warfare agent for almost a hundred years. A U.S. biological >warfare program in the 1940s developed and manufactured tons >of anthrax spores. Other countries followed suit. Yet, >despite all the talk about anthrax, it has never been used-- >either by terrorists or in warfare. > >A vaccine for anthrax has been used by veterinarians and >animal hide workers for years to protect against contracting >the disease through the skin. However, the weaponized form >of anthrax is transmitted as spores through the air. No >vaccine has ever been shown to be effective in humans for >this variety. > >Also, the side-effects of the vaccine are not known. Some >soldiers have reported getting ill soon after getting the >vaccination, and other soldiers have risked court-martial >for refusing to take it. > >Anthrax vaccine was given to Gulf War troops along with >pyridostigmine bromide, an experimental antidote for a nerve >gas that has never been used in war. It is possible that >these agents, along with depleted uranium, may be among >several possible contributors to Gulf War Syndrome, the >general name for serious illnesses that have affected tens >of thousands of veterans. > >Although the anthrax vaccination program may be stopped soon >due to protests, the Pentagon has announced it is beginning >a similar program with smallpox vaccine. > >ACCIDENTS AT RESEARCH AND STORAGE SITES > >Research and development of biological and chemical weapons >agents leave plenty of room for accidents at research and >storage centers. Anthrax was accidentally released at a >Russian facility during the Cold War, and nerve gas was >accidentally released at a U.S. facility. > >Toxic residues from old facilities in the U.S. have been >found seeping from the land and into water supplies. Just >recently a Canadian facility announced that untreated waste >had been accidentally released. A technician at Fort >Detrick, Md., a U.S. Army biological and chemical warfare >center, came down with a case of glanders--a disease common >in horses, not people, that is considered a potential >biological warfare agent. > >Accidents at nuclear plants like Three Mile Island and >Chernobyl and just recently in Japan also show that >supposedly "fail-safe" precautions can fail big-time. > >A NEW ARMS RACE > >Research on biological and chemical agents in the name of >defense against bioterrorism also sets the stage for a new >arms race in these agents. Like National Missile Defense-- >formerly known as the Strategic Defense Initiative or Star >Wars--a defense program can be part of an offensive >strategy. Other countries may not accept the Pentagon >assurances that such programs are for defense only, and may >start work on their own programs as a deterrent. > >The history of the nuclear arms race has shown that the >development of newer and bigger nuclear weapons didn't make >the world safer-it just made more possible the world-wide >destruction of a nuclear winter. A complete ban on storage, >production and research would make everyone safer. > >One thing that makes the threat of bioterrorism seem so real >is the actual danger of natural outbreaks of infection as >well as accidental food and environmental poisoning. Tens of >thousands of cases of serious food poisoning happen every >year. > >Outbreaks like the West Nile virus in New York can happen >suddenly. There has been speculation, but no evidence, that >the virus may have escaped from the nearby Plum Island Level >3 biological agent defense research center. > >Toxic waste, corporate pollution and unsafe additives to >food and commercial products happen every day. The need for >more effective public health prevention, protection and >response capability is desperately needed. But instead, the >money is being wasted on chasing bioterrorism phantoms. > >HOAXES AND FALSE ALARMS > >Before the bioterrorism scare campaign, there was no such >thing as an anthrax hoax. Since the bioterrorism campaign, >there have been hundreds of anthrax hoaxes, costing many >millions of dollars and creating lots of fear. > >Right-wing, so-called "right-to-life" elements have used >anthrax hoaxes to disrupt family planning and abortion >clinics. A false fire-alarm or phony bomb threat might >disrupt a center for less than an hour. A phony anthrax >threat can cause a disruption for days, since the non- >anthrax is harder to detect than the non-bomb. The hype >about bioterrorism has made such hoaxes credible. > >EXCUSE FOR WITCH HUNTS AND POLITICAL REPRESSION > >Fanatical anti-terrorism can create a climate of witch- >hunting against immigrants and political dissidents. The >anti-communism frenzy of the 1950s led to the McCarthy witch- >hunt which did terrible damage to civil liberties, union >organizing and political expression. > >Already, in the name of anti-terrorism, immigrants have been >locked away in jail for years without charges or evidence. >The case of Wen Ho Lee, like the case of Julius and Ethel >Rosenberg 50 years ago, shows how easily the government can >manipulate the public's poor understanding of scientific >issues. > >The Wen Ho Lee case fell apart only when an FBI agent >admitted lying on the stand. It's not hard to imagine the >FBI using a two-week-old, moldy turkey salad sandwich in the >back of someone's refrigerator as "evidence" to frame up a >political opponent as an alleged bioterrorist. > >While medical treatment--drugs, operations and medical >services--are a huge part of the economy, very little money >is spent on preventive medicine and public health. > >Some public health departments don't even have ordinary >desktop computers for their surveillance and monitoring >systems. The government employs far too few food and water >safety inspectors relative to the need. > >The West Nile virus frenzy in New York is not an example, as >one senator claimed, of lack of preparedness for >bioterrorism. Rather it demonstrated the low level of >preparedness for ordinary natural disease outbreaks and for >emergencies that might be caused by corporate negligence in >the pursuit of profit. > >In a children's fable, Chicken Little got hit on the head >with an acorn and thought "the sky is falling." In a panic, >she gathered her feathered friends to get help. Foxy Loxy >kindly invited the frightened fowl into his den for >protection, and they were never seen again. > >When the Foxy Loxys at the Pentagon tell us of the terrible >dangers of bioterrorism, seeking their kind protection may >be very dangerous indeed. > >- 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: <008201c0408d$6d5c3620$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Revolutionaries use campaign to battle for ideas >Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 23:16:09 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Nov. 2, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >SPREADING FIGHT-BACK MESSAGE: >REVOLUTIONARIES USE CAMPAIGN TO BATTLE FOR IDEAS > >By John Catalinotto >New York > >On Oct. 20, Workers World Party presidential candidate >Monica Moorehead and vice-presidential candidate Gloria La >Riva showed party members and friends at a campaign forum at >the WWP office here how their campaign is reaching out to >the working class in the United States this fall. > >Moorehead has made clear in her many appearances that the >goal of the candidates is to use the capitalist elections to >place themselves in the struggle to fight back against >racism, against imperialist war and for the rights of the >working class. "We are in ideological battle with capitalism >and with the corporate media," she said, "a battle of ideas >that the campaign gives us a chance to take part in." > >Intense party participation in the street struggles in >Philadelphia and Los Angeles last summer, as well as the >ongoing defense of Black political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, >took priority over getting the candidates on as many state >ballots as possible. > >Still, WWP is on the ballot in Rhode Island, Florida, >Wisconsin and Washington state. The candidates have also >brought their struggle-oriented campaign to the site of the >presidential debates in Boston and Winston-Salem, N.C. And >their program, promising immediate social benefits and >raising the ultimate goal of socialism, is available >nationwide on their campaign Web site, www.vote4workers.org. > >Moorehead spoke on the relationship between the capitalist >system, racism and the prison-industrial complex, topics she >is an expert on. La Riva, who had spoken to a million people >on May Day in Havana about the Elian Gonzalez case and the >fight to free Mumia Abu-Jamal, analyzed the new law >regarding Cuba that the U.S. Congress just passed. > >As this audience listened to the presentations, many also >imagined how the talks and the candidates would go over >before a lecture hall of students at a working-class campus >or a meeting of community organizers in Miami or West Palm >Beach. Or at an assembly of anti-globalization activists in >North Carolina. > >BRINGING THE PROGRAM TO THE COUNTRY > >"It's important," Moorehead said, "to get out to the rest of >the country with the party's socialist program." At least in >some representative regions of the country, that's just what >the candidates have been doing. > >In Florida WWP has no party branch. But it's the fourth most >populous state, a place where 50,000 African Americans >recently demonstrated against Gov. Jeb Bush's moves to >eliminate affirmative action. It's the site of many >struggles against police brutality but a center too of >counter-revolutionary Cuban activity. > >During the struggle to free Elian to let him go back to >Cuba, party activists helped organize demonstrations in >Florida on this issue. Friends made at that time helped the >party get on the ballot and invited the candidates to >address local meetings on their campaign trip through >Florida. > >Moorehead was a featured speaker at a "Town Hall Forum" on >criminal justice and the death penalty in West Palm Beach >Oct. 17, along with local leaders on these topics. Cubans >who oppose the counter-revolutionary groups based in Miami >and Haitian groups like Lavalas that oppose U.S. policy in >Haiti also hosted the candidates. > >The candidates were also invited to speak on some of the >campuses. They talked at the forum here especially of >Florida International University. FIU is part of the state >university system, with two major campuses in the Miami >area. With 31,000 mostly working-class students, it is the >largest institute of higher education in southern Florida. > >One professor invited La Riva, who produced an award-winning >video on the sanctions against Iraq, to show her video in >class and discuss it. She was only too glad to. The 60 >students, of whom about three-quarters were African >American, had hardly heard of the impact of sanctions on the >Iraqi people. They were outraged, and many signed on to >continue work against the sanctions. > >Moorehead found that the capitalist educational system had >poorly prepared students to know their own history. "In a >class of 50 students," she said, "only five raised their >hands when I asked if they knew what the period of >Reconstruction was." She referred to the period after the >Civil War when from 1865-1876 the Union Army occupied the >South and former enslaved African Americans were elected to >state legislatures and played a role in running the >government. > >Once they learned a little of the real history of the >country, the students were anxious to learn more. They were >open to hearing a Marxist view of the racism of the prison >system and of everyday life. And of the role of the working >class. > >And to discuss the biggest question: "Can capitalism solve >all the social injustices and inequality that riddle U.S. >society?" > >All this is something the campaign has been able to do where >the candidates have received forums to speak. > >RAISING THE KEY ISSUES > >WWP campaign manager Marsha Goldberg called the two women >candidates of color "warriors in the battle to reach our >class, the working class." She described how Moorehead was >invited to speak in Winston-Salem to an audience of people >who were opponents of globalization and were sympathetic to >the Ralph Nader candidacy. > >"It was right after the U.S. had intervened in the elections >in Yugoslavia," said Goldberg. "It was when the Palestinians >were beginning to rise up and were being mercilessly >repressed by the Israeli army. Yet our candidate was the >only one to raise an independent position of defense of >Yugoslavia from outside intervention--for which she got loud >cheers. Monica was the only one to call for solidarity with >the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. Both >comments led to much discussion, argument and development." > >The campaign was set to go to Maryland for a meeting and >then to tour Wisconsin. > >Along with asking for their vote, Moorehead and La Riva will >be asking people to participate in the struggle for justice >and equality. As Moorehead said, "We invite you all not to >rest after the election but to come to the Workers World >Party national conference on Dec. 2-3 in New York. There we >will discuss how to continue to build an independent mass >movement. If you want to join a revolutionary party, you've >come to the right place." > >- 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: <008301c0408d$8e9575e0$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] WWP candidates denounce right-wing ballot measures >Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 23:17:08 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Nov. 2, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >FOR LESBIAN, GAY, BI AND TRANS RIGHTS: >SOCIALISTS DENOUNCE RIGHT-WING BALLOT MEASURES > >[Workers World Party candidates Monica Moorehead and Gloria >La Riva issued the following statement in response to the >large number of right-wing ballot initiatives of national >significance that are aimed against lesbian, gay, bisexual >and trans people.] > >Right-wing groups such as the Christian Coalition and the >Coalition for the Protection of Marriage are waging a state- >by-state war against lesbian, gay, bi and trans people. > >Forty-four states are either considering or have signed into >law legislation that denies same-sex couples the right to >marriage and all of its economic and social benefits. > >The lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities and their >supporters are fighting Initiative 416 in Nebraska, the >broadest ballot measure ever introduced against same-sex >marriages. It aims not only to enact a total ban on same-sex >marriage but also to nullify any civil unions or domestic > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
