And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Recipients of 'mining-exchange' Mailinglist) EarthWINS Daily #4.13 2/25/99 Contents 1. TENNESSEE: Write a letter to Stop a Strip Mine 2. WISCONSIN: Northwoods Alliance Democracy Dinner 3. IEN 1999 Conference (posted previously) 4. WEST VIRGINIA: Mining Resolution, Appalachian American Indians of WV 5. ANNOUNCEMENT: Listserve - Focus on the Corporation 6. BOOK REVIEW: Corporation Nation Stop the Siege! Help the citizens of Nashville, Wisconsin Tax-deductible contributions may be made to Town of Nashville Legal Defense Fund c/o Chuck Sleeter / Joanne Tacopina P.O. Box 106 Pickerel, WI 54465 FAX: 715-478-2527 http://www.nashvillewiundersiege.com/index.html [EMAIL PROTECTED] +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. TENNESSEE: Write a letter to Stop a Strip Mine From: Alice McCombs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: February 25, 1999 PLEASE write a letter! Even if you've never heard of this park but you're against strip mining, please write a letter to that effect! The more negative comments sent, the less likely the state will allow strip mining on this watershed >The US Office of Surface Mining has opened a third public comment period >on the issue of whether to allow strip mining around Fall Creek Falls SP >here in Tennessee. They're considering allowing Skyline Coal Co. to >strip mine inside the park's watershed. Two citizens' enviromental >groups have sent petitions to designate 66,000+ acres of the watershed >off-limits to strip miners. OSM says if they get enough negative >responses they will re-examine the potential impact of mining in the >area. > >So, if any of ya'll have ever been to Fall Creek Falls SP (the most >popular state park in TN) or you're just against strip mining in >general, send your comments to: > >Beverly Brock >Supervisor, Technical Group >Office of Surface Mining >530 Gay Street, SW >Suite 100 >Knoxville, Tn. 37902 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. WISCONSIN: Northwoods Alliance Democracy Dinner Saturday, March 20, 6:00 pm Holiday Acres, Rhinelander, WI Northwoods Alliance P.O. Box 603 Rhinelander, WI 54501 Democracy isn't inherited, it's created through constant struggle! Join the Northwoods Alliance to honor and support the Nashville Town Board's steadfast commitment to our environment and political heritage. The tiny town of Nashville is standing its ground against Nicolet Minerals Company, a subsidiary of the Canadian multinational, Rio Algom mining company. Rio Algom wants to build a sulfide mine in the headwaters of the Wolf River. Located partially within Nashville, it wants to extract approximately 55 million tons of ore and leave 44 million tons of toxic tailings over the next 28 years. Nashville is leading the fight in trying to prevent that from happening. The current members of the Nashville Town Board were elected in 1997 in an unprecedented election where 99% of its eligible voters participated. The previous Town Board had entered into a Local Agreement with the mining company following a series of meetings that were illegally closed to the public. The previous Town Board approved the agreement despite the fact that at the public hearing for formal approval, the number of citizens opposing the agreement outnumbered those in favor by a four-to-one margin. Chuck Sleeter, Town Chairman, Duane Marshall and Robert Van Zile won their positions on the Town Board in 1997 by pledging to open Town government to the citizens, to undo the illegal Local Agreement and to fight to prevent the mine from being built. The Town is presently involved in major litigation relating to violations of open meetings laws closed by the former Town Board. The current Town Board stood up for the rights of its citizens by rescinding a Local Agreement that resulted from all those closed meetings. The current Town Board also rescinded a lease that gave the mining company rights to any minerals under a Town road because the lease was created illegally. As a result of those actions, the Town also faces a real threat of more litigation because of a "Notice of Claim" files by Nicolet Minerals Company alleging that the Town's recisions of those agreements were illegal. In direct correspondence to Nashville citizens, Nicolet Minerals is implicitly threatening to bankrupt the Town through litigation. In reality, the Town simply refused to honor illegal contracts that would have given Nicolet Minerals a green light to construct the mine. The Nashville Town Board and a majority of its citizens are committed to protecting the Town's environment. Put simply if the Town of Nashville in Forest County is to continue its courageous struggle, they'll need our support. You are cordially invited to a fundraising banquet hosted by the Northwoods Alliance on March 20th at Holiday Acres in Rhinelander to honor and support the courageous efforts of Nashville. Dinner is $25 per plate and all net proceeds will be donated to the Town of Nashville Legal Defense Fund. The banquet will be highlighted by guest speaker Laura Sutherland. The last independent Public Intervenor for the State of Wisconsin. She will talk about Wisconsin's notorious Local Agreement Law and its impacts upon the sovereignty of local governments like the Town of Nashville in Forest County. In addition to Ms. Sutherland's talk, you won't want to miss the fascinating and inspiring accounts of Chuck Sleeter, Town Chairman of Nashville. John Schwarzmann -- Board Member of ECCOLA and the Northwoods Alliance will give the opening remarks and a brief context-setting speech. If you plan to attend the banquet, please send your reservation request with a check payable to "Northwoods Alliance" to Northwoods Aliance by March 13th at this address: Northwoods Alliance P.O. Box 603 Rhinelander, WI 54501 If you can't attend, but would like to support the Town of Nashville in their efforts to uphold democracy in the face of Rio Algom's bully tactics, please send your tax-deductible contribution to; Town of Nashville Legal Defense Fund c/o Chuck Sleeter / Joanne Tacopina P.O. Box 106 Pickerel, WI 54465 The Town of Nashville has established a legal defense fund to help cover the legal expenses necessary to defend itself. The fund belongs to the Town, as a public entity, and it will be used only for the public purpose of defending the Town against this litigation. Any contribution to it is considered a charitable contribution and is therefore tax-deductible. The Town encourages those concerned about the environmental effects of such a huge mine at the headwaters of the Wolf River, and those concerned about the destructive behavior of multinational companies like Rio Algom, to give what they can afford to this fund to help protect our state. Northwoods Alliance Protecting the Waters of the Northwoods Member Organizations ECCOLA Forest County Potowatomi Tribe Lac Du Flambeau Chippewa Tribe Menominee Tribe Musky Clubs Alliance of WI, Inc. Northwoods Conservation Alliance Protect Our Wisconsin River (POW'R) Petenwell-Castle Rock Property Owners Association, Inc. Walleyes for Tomorrow Wisconsin Resources Protection Council Board of Directors Ken Fish Don Lintereur Frank Luedtke June Schmaal John Schwarzmann Joan Slack-DeBrock Tom Soles Lola Strong Tom Ward Jim Wise +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3. IEN 1999 Conference (posted previously) IEN web site and conference information: http://www.alphacdc.com/ien The Indigenous Environmental Network is an affiliation of the Seventh Generation Fund //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// #################################################### Indigenous Environmental Network - National Office P.O. Box 485 Bemidji, Minnesota 56619-0485 USA Phone: (218) 751-4967 Fax: (218) 751-0561 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web Site: http://www.alphacdc.com/ien +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 4. WEST VIRGINIA: Mining Resolution, Appalachian American Indians of WV Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 10:43:18 -0600 From: Karen Tuerk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Organization: GREEN Adopted by the Appalachian American Indians of West Virginia February 20, 1999 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Resolution on Mountaintop Removal/Valley Fill Strip Mining WHEREAS, we, The First People, the original stewards of the land, have always believed that we have a responsibility to care for the Earth. Stewardship entails serving not mastering. We respect and honor the Earth as our mother. WHEREAS, while we are many nations and many religions, we recognize there is but one Divine Power we refer to by many names: Creator, God, The Great Sprit, Wakan Tonka. WHEREAS, Creator loves and cares for all things -- the two-legged, the four-legged, the winged, the finned, the crawlers, and those planted in the soil. All are related in creation. Our motto is Mitakuye Oyasin (we are all related). WHEREAS, mountaintop removal mining is destroying not only our mountains, but the trees and plants that provide food and homes for our brothers,the animals. The air that we breathe is destroyed with the trees. We will see Chief Seattle's words come true, as he said in 1837 to the president, "Take this land and treat it as we have, for, if you do not, one day you will suffocate in your own beds." WHEREAS entire tops of mountains have been removed in the Appalachian areas of the state of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Ohio. WHEREAS, mountaintop removal mining destroys homes, ancestral burial grounds, and sacred grounds where generations have prayed. WHEREAS, the Appalachian region has a long history of outside corporations profiting from the extraction of the region's resources in a way that the prosperity is not equitably shared with the people of the region. The sanctity and sacredness of all life and the natural environment created by Creator should not be destroyed in the name of corporate profits. The environment has been damaged by such outside resource extraction, and this harms the region's current economy and future economic potential, such as tourism. WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency has stated that the long-termeffect of mountaintop removal mining is unstudied and unknown, and thatincreasing the acreage of these valley fills prior to studying the long- term effects on the environment is ill-advised. WHEREAS, our leaders have always had the duty to make decisions based on what effect they will have through the 7th generation. What effect will this destruction of our mountain lands have on our grand-children's, grand-children's, grand-children's, children. THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Tribal Council of the Appalachian American Indians of West Virginia, a state-recognized Intertribal Tribe, affirms this resolution to stop mountaintop removal and valley fill strip mining. We urge our 2,500 members and all Native American people to support this resolution. To implore the governors, legislatures, and the appropriate agencies, in the Appalachian coal-producing states to require that mountaintop removal/valley fill mining be stopped and not be resumed. "I have seen in any great under taking it is not enough for a man to depend simple upon himself." Lone man, Teton Sioux. We need everyone's help to accomplish this. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5. ANNOUNCEMENT: Listserve - Focus on the Corporation >From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Feb 24 22:04:19 1999 Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 05:36:54 -0800 (PST) From: Sanford Lewis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Corp-Focus is a moderated listserve which distributes the weekly column "Focus on the Corporation," co-authored by Russell Mokhiber, editor of Corporate Crime Reporter, and Robert Weissman, editor of Multinational Monitor magazine. To subscribe to Corp-Focus, send an e-mail message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following all in one line: subscribe corp-focus <your name> Focus on the Corporation scrutinizes the multinational corporation -- the most powerful institution of our time. Once a week, it reports and comments critically on corporate actions, plans, abuses and trends. Written with a sharp edge and occasional irreverence, Focus on the Corporation covers: * The double standards which excuse corporations for behavior (e.g., causing injury, accepting welfare) widely considered criminal or shameful when done by individuals; * Globalization and corporate power; * Trends in corporate economic blackmail, political influence and workplace organization; * Industry-wide efforts to escape regulation, silence critics, employ new technologies or consolidate business among a few companies; * Specific, extreme examples of corporate abuses: destruction of communities, trampling of democracy, poisoning of air and water; * Issues, such as tort reform, of across-the-board interest to business; and * The corporatization of our culture. Back columns are posted on the Multinational Monitor site <http://www.essential.org/monitor> and <http://lists.essential.org/corp-focus/> Please post this notice on relevant lists, and accept our apologies for cross-posting. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Sanford Lewis Strategic Counsel on Corporate Accountability PO Box 79225 Waverly, MA 02479 USA 617 489-3686 Holding corporations accountable to community, labor and shareholders +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 6. BOOK REVIEW: Corporation Nation Topic 290 Corporation nation [EMAIL PROTECTED] twn.features 11:03 AM Jan 22, 1999 (From News system) January 1999 CORPORATION NATION A US professor of sociology in his new book says that it is undemocratic corporations, not governments, that are dominating and controlling society. By Russell Mokhiber & Robert Weissman Exxon merges with Mobil. Citicorp marries Travelers. Daimler Benz gobbles up Chrysler. BankAmerica takes over NationsBank. WorldCom eats MCI. Corporations are getting bigger and bigger, and their influence over our lives continues to grow. America is in an era of corporate ascendancy, the likes of which we haven't seen since the Gilded Age. Charles Derber, a professor of sociology at Boston College, believes that, contrary to the lessons our civics teacher taught us, it is undemocratic corporations, not governments, that are dominating and controlling society. In his most recent book, Corporation Nation (St. Martin's Press, 1998), Derber argues that the consequence of the growing power of giant corporate multinationals is increased disparity in wealth, rampant downsizing and million-dollar CEOs making billion- dollar decisions with little regard for the average American. A couple of years ago, Derber wrote The Wilding of America (St. Martin's Press, 1996) in which he argued that the American Dream had transmuted into a semi-criminal, semi-violent virus that is afflicting large parts of the elites of the country. That book tried to call attention to the extent to which violent behaviour could be understood as a product of oversocialisation. 'The problem was not that they had been underexposed to American values, but that they could not buffer themselves from those values,' Derber told us. 'They had lost the ability to constrain any kind of anti-social behaviour -- because of obsessions with success -- the American Dream.' By anti-social behaviour, Derber means the epitome of Reaganism -- 'a kind of warping of the more healthy forms of individualism in our culture into a hyperindividualism in which people asserted their own interests without regard to its impact on others'. At the time, Derber was interviewed on a Geraldo show about paid assassins -- people who killed for money. 'It was scary to be around young people who confessed to killing for relatively small amounts of money -- a few thousand dollars,' Derber said. 'They said things like -- "you have to understand, this is just a business, everybody has to make money." I pointed out on the show that this was the language that business usually uses.' At the same time, Newsweek ran a cover story titled 'Corporate Killers'. On the cover, Newsweek ran the mug shots of four CEOs who had downsized in profitable periods and upped their own salaries. 'These corporate executives tended to use the same language as the paid assassins on the Geraldo show, "I feel fine about this because I'm just doing what the market requires,"' Derber explains. 'I develop an analogy between paid assassins on the street and those in the suites. In the most general sense, these corporate executives are paid hitmen who use very much the same language and rationalisation. I argue that corporations are exemplifying a form of anti-social behaviour which is undermining a great deal of the social fabric and civilised values that we would hope to sustain.' With the hitmen parallel fresh in his mind, Derber began writing Corporation Nation. In it, Derber points to the parallels between today and the age of the robber barons 100 years ago -- the wave of corporate mergers, the widening gulf between rich and poor (Bill Gates' net worth - well over $50 billion - is more than that of the bottom 100 million Americans), the enormous influence of corporations over democratic institutions, both major parties bought off by big business, and a Democratic President closely aligned with big business (Grover Cleveland then, Bill Clinton today). One big difference between then and now: back then, a real grassroots populist movement rose up to challenge corporate power, though it did not succeed in attaining its core goals. Today, while there are many isolated movements challenging individual corporate crimes, there is no mass movement attacking the corporation as the cause of the wealth disparity, destruction of the environment, and all the many other corporate-driven ills afflicting society. Derber says that when he asks his students, 'Have you ever thought about the question of whether corporations in general have too much power,' they uniformly say they have never had that question raised. Derber says that one good way to again build a populist movement to attack corporate power is to study the language and tactics of the populists of 100 years ago. He has, and he makes clear in his book that the original conception of the corporation was one of a public -- not private -- entity. We the people created the corporation to build roads, and bridges, and deliver the goods. If the corporation didn't do as we said, we yanked their charter. The corporate lawyers quickly got their hands around that idea, smashed it, and replaced it with the current conception of the corporation, a private person under the law, with the rights and privileges of any other living and breathing citizen. Thus, a quick transformation from 'we decide' to 'they decide'. Derber is a bit too modest to say it, so we will: perhaps the best way to rebuild a strong, vibrant and populist movement is to get this book into the hands of people who care about democracy. The corporations have us on the run, but we should pause for a moment or two, find a quiet place, and read this book. - Third World Network Features -ends- About the writers: Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, DC-based Corporate Crime Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, DC-based Multinational Monitor. The above article is taken from their weekly column Focus on the Corporation, posted on the Multinational Monitor web site <www.essential.org/monitor>. (c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman When reproducing this feature, please credit Third World Network Features and (if applicable) the cooperating magazine or agency involved in the article, and give the byline. Please send us cuttings. Third World Network is also accessible on the World Wide Web. Please visit our web site at http://www.twnside.org.sg For more information, please contact: Third World Network 228, Macalister Road, 10400 Penang, Malaysia. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (+604)2293511,2293612 & 2293713; Fax: (+604)2298106 & 2264505 1846/99 **************************************************************************** EarthWINS Daily is a publication of Mining-exchange. Alice I. McCombs P.O. Box 573 Shawano, WI 54166 Ph: 715-524-5998 FAX: 715-524-9958 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.earthwins.com When EarthWINS, Everybody Wins! &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
