The Crisis at KPFA and Pacifica
the network an additional 160k. This will bring the total election costs in this fiscal to a grand total of 347k. (I had projected 268k by fiscal end but this new figure supercedes that number.) This figure is 347k is 29% of the Networks working capital figure! Governance costs here are actually higher when we include National Board expenses (168k), Board related legal expenses (50k), telephone costs (15k) all in one fiscal year. This totals 580k! (emphasis in the original) http://www.pacifica.org/documents/pdf/Pacifica_CFO_Board_Report_April_and_May_2004.pdf As one of the younger programmers at KPFA, I strongly believe the station needs to change in order to survive and expand. There is an urgent need for quality control, renewal, and long term vision at KPFA and at Pacifica as a whole. Most of all, there is a need to reach beyond our current small audiences. The one thing Pacifica does not need is to become more insular than it already is. I believe the majority of people within the station feel the same. We, however, think that as the workers who create value at the station without whom KPFA would not exist the change must come from us. When, in 1999, KPFA faced a takeover from on high by Pacificas Executive Director and cronies, I marched in the streets with thousands of others, wrote letters, attended long meetings, and worked to get our station back. Now that we have it back I do not want to see KPFA and the other stations be ripped apart from within or fall apart like so many other left institutions. However, I am open to hearing other sides on this issue. = Sasha Lilley Producer, Against the Grain Pacifica Radio's KPFA 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.againstthegrain.org __ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
KPFA Staff Open Letter to the Local Station Board
and harassed by LSB members for not convening meetings to conduct business, when, in fact, the LSB has failed to meet its responsibility to appoint members to the Program Council so a quorum can be achieved. It is not, however, all of the LSB which is taking KPFA down. Some LSB members are fighting to curb these staff assaults and egregious charges; they are in turn being attacked for doing so. But the LSB's Chair, in particular, along with a number of other Board members, has created a fractious climate which risks lawsuits, and is prompting a steady departure of employees due to low morale. There is an unprecedented environment of threats, slurs and character assassinations taking place on her watch. We do not wish to be condemned to repeat our tortured and embattled history. We wish to partake in constructive dialogue and work towards resolution to disagreements that may arise between staff and the LSB. It is incumbent upon the LSB to work with staff and management in a respectful, principled, and professional manner. We hope that the LSB can at last do what they pledged to do during their recent campaigns: to have no micro-management, to have respect for all who work at KPFA, to support the station, to bring joy to our work, to solidify our victory over reactionary forces that try to take over Pacifica, and to foster a spirit of collaboration, collegiality, and humanity among the board, staff and management. We ask the listeners to call to account those who were elected to represent KPFA's listening community. We know that the listeners did not elect representatives with the intention of putting the station in political and legal jeopardy. This December, seats on the LSB will be contested and those who value this station should scrutinize all candidates, incumbents and others, to find out where they stand, who they represent, and what vision they have for the station. Sincerely, Aileen Alfandary, News Co-Director Amelia Gonzalez-Garcia, Director, First Voice Apprenticeship Program Amelia Prather-Nahman, Current Apprentice, Group 25 Raido Andrea DuFlon, Board Op/Producer, Former LAB member, UPSO Council Andrea Lewis, Co-Host/Producer, Morning Show Betty Beasley/ Allison Rolls, Music Programmer, Subscriptions Belinda Ricklefs, Assistant Bookkeeper Ben Adler, Reporter, News Department Bob Baldock, Events Producer Brian Edwards Tiekert, Reporter, Environmental Justice Beat, News Department Brian Garcia, Reporter, News Department C.S. Soong, Host/Producer, Against the Grain Caroline Casey, The Visionary Activist Show Chris Stehlik, Database Manager Christopher Martinez, Graduate Apprentice, Sacramento Reporter, News Department Chuy Varela, La Raza Chronicles Dan Albers, Computer Services Director David Gans, Music Programmer, Dead to the World Eric Klein, Technical Producer, Free Speech Radio News Eric Park, Interim Assistant Producer, Morning Show Gary Niederhoff, Subscriptions Director George Curtis, Johnny Otis Show, Your Own Health and Fitness Glenn Reeder, Weekend Anchor, News Department Greg Bridges, Host/Producer, Transitions On Traditions Gregg McVicar, Host/Producer, Earthsongs, Co-Producer, Bay Native Circle Joy Maulitz, Assistant Producer, Morning Show Kellye Denson, Morning Anchor, News Department Kirsten Thomas, Board Op, Morning Show Kris Welch, Host/Producer, Living Room Kristen Zimmerman, Chief Producer, Full Circle Kutay Derin Kugay, Host, Monday Music of the World, UPSO Council Larry Bensky, Host, Sunday Salon Larry Kelp, Music Programmer, UPSO Council Laura Prives, Reporter, News Department Layna Berman, Host/Producer, Your Own Health and Fitness Lewis O. Sawyer, Receptionist Lisa Ballard, Website Director Luis Medina, Music Director Mark Mericle, News Co-Director Maria Fortez, Subscriptions Assistant Mary Bishop, Administrative Assistant to the General Manager Mary Tilson, Host, America's Back 40 Maya Orozco, Graduate Apprentice, Producer, Board Op Mic Mylin, Technical Producer, Free Speech Radio News Paul Robins, Volunteer, Former KPFA Database Manager Pema Chogkhan, Unpaid Staff Philip Maldari, Co-Host/Producer, Morning Show Phil Osegueda, Substitute Host, Dead to the World Raquel Aguirre, Host, Musical Colors Rainjita Geesler, Segment Editor/ Producer, Hard Knock Radio Richard Lupoff, Producer/Host, Cover to Cover Richard Wolinsky, Producer/Host, Thursday Cover to Cover Russ Jennings, Producer Spirit in Action Sally Phillips, Host, Girl Friday, Board Op, UPSO Council Sandy Miranda, Substitute Host/Producer, Music of the World Sasha Lilley, Producer, Against the Grain Susan Stone, Director, Arts and Humanities Department Vanessa Tait, News Reporter/Producer Victoria Z, Host, Tuesday Music of the World __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Corporate PR at Bechtel
, and possibly better, than other major industry players-thereby reducing the incentive to invest time and resources in following up the Business 2.0 story, he theorized in the memo. While downplaying the charges to outsiders, Bechtel was actually reeling from the journalistic probe. The company, internal e-mails indicate, ran an exhaustive search of its phone and e-mail logs hoping to root out the employees who were feeding information to the reporters. At a November 2003 meeting of company executives, Riley Bechtel directly addressed the looming exposé, and President and Chief Operating Officer Adrian Zaccaria described the upcoming story as disturbing, adding that we are going to suffer real, tangible harm from this story, according to a written copy of his prepared remarks. Zaccaria's chief worry was the company's bankers, and that's where another piece of Bechtel's spin strategy came into play. Zaccaria's comments suggest the company has a habit of showing some of its lenders only a portion of its total financial picture. I am not worried about being able to explain or calm our key banks and customers, but I am concerned that our newer and smaller stakeholders will demand more from us, he said, according to his prepared remarks. Zaccaria added that lenders might start asking for more detailed financial statements or attach more conditions to loans made to the company. In December, Covey came up with a solution, which he emailed to Riley Becthel and other executives: Draft a dummy financial document to assuage the doubts of lending institutions. Bechtel's finance division was ordered to prepare a dummy for contingency use with financial institutions, the memo says. There's no indication that the document was fraudulent in any way, but the discussion in Covey's memo and other emails among top officials raises questions about Bechtel's approach to balance-sheet calculations. Bechtel officials also planned to attack the credibility of King and McCoy, in an effort to win the pr game with its investors. We can take the initiative with key lenders, and perhaps others, to say that Business 2.0 is about to print a story we (and they) know to be highly misleading, Covey wrote in an internal e-mail sent in November. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Operating Officer Jude Laspa was tasked with rehearsing answers to tough questions from the press, correspondence shows. Writing a story on Bechtel's PR machine involves, necessarily, interfacing directly with that apparatus. Interviewed last week, Marshall, the Bechtel spokesperson, said the firm is completely forthright with lenders. They get extremely detailed financial information, he said. Marshall portrayed Bechtel's PR tactics as little more than common sense. Our approach to media relations and public affairs is straightforward: We aim to provide accurate and timely information to journalists and the public about our projects, while respecting our right to keep competitive business information and internal discussions private, he said. Those discussions haven't always been positive . Despite Bechtel's many protestations, the company's own documents make it clear the firm was going through rough times before landing the Iraq gig and other work overseas. A strictly confidential December 2003 report authored by Riley Bechtel explains the company's overall net worth plummeted by $175 million in 2002, mostly due to power plant investments that soured-confirming the thrust of the Business 2.0 story. Bechtel's business has since rebounded: In April, the company reported a major surge in revenue, thanks in part to its work in Iraq. PR Watch's Miller isn't surprised by the company's keen interest in calming its creditors. They don't have a product, she noted. They don't have to worry about their image with consumers. Their concern lies primarily with investors and the financial industry. A.C. Thompson is the writer/researcher for CorpWatch. = Sasha Lilley Producer, Against the Grain Pacifica Radio's KPFA 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.againstthegrain.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover
Eyewitness Report from Falluja
these people back to Baghdad as quickly as we can. If we're kidnapped or killed it will cause even more problems, so it's better that we just get on the bus and leave and come back with him as soon as possible. It hurts to climb onto the bus when the doctor has just asked us to go and evacuate some more people. I hate the fact that a qualified medic can't travel in the ambulance but I can, just because I look like the sniper's sister or one of his mates, but that's the way it is today and the way it was yesterday and I feel like a traitor for leaving, but I can't see where I've got a choice. It's a war now and as alien as it is to me to do what I'm told, for once I've got to. Jassim is scared. He harangues Mohammed constantly, tries to pull him out of the driver's seat wile we're moving. The woman with the gunshot wound is on the back seat, the man with the burns in front of her, being fanned with cardboard from the empty boxes, his intravenous drips swinging from the rail along the ceiling of the bus. It's hot. It must be unbearable for him. Saad comes onto the bus to wish us well for the journey. He shakes Dave's hand and then mine. I hold his in both of mine and tell him Dir balak, take care, as if I could say anything more stupid to a pre-teen Mujahedin with an AK47 in his other hand, and our eyes meet and stay fixed, his full of fire and fear. Can't I take him away? Can't I take him somewhere he can be a child? Can't I make him a balloon giraffe and give him some drawing pens and tell him not to forget to brush his teeth? Can't I find the person who put the rifle in the hands of that little boy? Can't I tell someone about what that does to a child? Do I have to leave him here where there are heavily armed men all around him and lots of them are not on his side, however many sides there are in all of this? And of course I do. I do have to leave him, like child soldiers everywhere. The way back is tense, the bus almost getting stuck in a dip in the sand, people escaping in anything, even piled on the trailer of a tractor, lines of cars and pick ups and buses ferrying people to the dubious sanctuary of Baghdad, lines of men in vehicles queuing to get back into the city having got their families to safety, either to fight or to help evacuate more people. The driver, Jassim, the father, ignores Azzam and takes a different road so that suddenly we're not following the lead car and we're on a road that's controlled by a different armed group than the ones which know us. A crowd of men waves guns to stop the bus. Somehow they apparently believe that there are American soldiers on the bus, as if they wouldn't be in tanks or helicopters, and there are men getting out of their cars with shouts of Sahafa Amreeki, American journalists. The passengers shout out of the windows, Ana min Falluja, I am from Falluja. Gunmen run onto the bus and see that it's true, there are sick and injured and old people, Iraqis, and then relax, wave us on. We stop in Abu Ghraib and swap seats, foreigners in the front, Iraqis less visible, headscarves off so we look more western. The American soldiers are so happy to see westerners they don't mind too much about the Iraqis with us, search the men and the bus, leave the women unsearched because there are no women soldiers to search us. Mohammed keeps asking me if things are going to be OK. Al-melaach wiyana, I tell him. The angels are with us. He laughs. And then we're in Baghdad, delivering them to the hospitals, Nuha in tears as they take the burnt man off groaning and whimpering. She puts her arms around me and asks me to be her friend. I make her feel less isolated, she says, less alone. And the satellite news says the cease-fire is holding and George Bush says to the troops on Easter Sunday that, I know what we're doing in Iraq is right. Shooting unarmed men in the back outside their family home is right. Shooting grandmothers with white flags is right? Shooting at women and children who are fleeing their homes is right? Firing at ambulances is right? Well George, I know too now. I know what it looks like when you brutalise people so much that they've nothing left to lose. I know what it looks like when an operation is being done without anaesthetic because the hospitals are destroyed or under sniper fire and the city's under siege and aid isn't getting in properly. I know what it sounds like too. I know what it looks like when tracer bullets are passing your head, even though you're in an ambulance. I know what it looks like when a man's chest is no longer inside him and what it smells like and I know what it looks like when his wife and children pour out of his house. It's a crime and it's a disgrace to us all. = Sasha Lilley Producer, Against the Grain Pacifica Radio's KPFA 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.againstthegrain.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online by April 15th http://taxes.yahoo.com
Mercenary Boom in Iraq Creates Tension at Home and Abroad
and avert a collapse of the country's entire banking system. Jordanian authorities have complained that much of the funds they claim were siphoned off the Amman bank ended up at Petra International. By May 1989, three months before Jordan seized Petra Bank, the bankrupt Farouki companies owed Petra International more than $12 million, court records show. A separate contract for $327 million with Nour was cancelled for the appearance of conflict of interest. He says he generally finds Kurdish groups comply with instructions from American soldiers. This area is better than Baghdad because it is Kurdish, he says. Kurds are less likely to make trouble. They're less likely to be terrorists. Full: http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=10288 = Sasha Lilley Producer, Against the Grain Pacifica Radio's KPFA 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.againstthegrain.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway http://promotions.yahoo.com/design_giveaway/
Mercenary Boom in Iraq Creates Tension at Home and Abroad (2nd try)
Sorry for the formatting problems with the previous email version of this article, which inserted text from the side bar into the middle of the story. Mercenary Boom in Iraq Creates Tension at Home and Abroad By Aaron Glantz Special to CorpWatch Kirkuk, Iraq -- Mamand Kesnazani reclines in his high-backed leather chair and puts his feet on top of his desk inside the main security gate of Iraq's northern oil field. The former fighter for Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Kesnazani came to Kirkuk the same day as the American Army last April. He's been guarding the oil field ever since. I've had a lot of bosses this year, Kesnazani says as he orders a round of dark Iraqi tea. First it was the PUK, then the US Army came with Kellogg, Brown and Root. That's Dick Cheney's company, he says smiling. Now the company has changed again to a British company called Erinys. Kesnazani is a peshmerga -- which means ready to die -- a name that has become the accepted name for the Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq who battled Saddam Hussein's army for decades. Security jobs like those at Northern Oil are technically open to all Iraqis, but those staffing this checkpoint estimate 95% are peshmerga. Kesnazani has not even bothered to change his uniform. He still wears the checkered black and white headscarf and sharwal (baggy pants) typical of peshmerga fighters, but most of his cohorts are clad in the smart blue and gold uniform of Erinys Iraq. They look every bit the part of private security guards. These men are on the frontline of the burgeoning security business in Iraq, easily the fastest growing business sector in the country because of the growing sophistication and effectiveness of the insurgency. The majority of the jobs go to Kurds because of their unswerving hatred of Saddam over the years, or to mercenaries from other countries like Britain to South Africa, who are neutral players in what some see as a growing civil war. This boom may be heightening ethnic tensions in Iraq while causing a recruitment strain on security forces in other countries. Favoritism Towards Kurds? Four o'clock in the evening in Kirkuk and two dozen American soldiers are doing their part to secure the city. The US military is performing a regular search of the local offices of the Kurdistan Community Party. A dozen American soldiers with machine guns and body armor are searching the building, while another dozen station themselves outside -- some allowing Iraqi children to play with their automatic weapons. The commanding officer Lt. John Frazee says his troops found five Kalashnikovs -- the self-defense limit set by American authorities. http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=10288 = Sasha Lilley Producer, Against the Grain Pacifica Radio's KPFA 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.againstthegrain.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway http://promotions.yahoo.com/design_giveaway/
The Smell of Money: British Columbia's Gas Rush
respected within the industry, according to labor activists. Nevertheless, they still find even this estimate shocking. That is an outrageous figure, says Mae Burrows, Director of the Labour-Environmental Alliance. I don't know any other industry where that level of insult to workers is tolerated so openly. Indeed, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health deems sour gas the most common cause of sudden death in the workplace. Industry Operates with Impunity Despite these immediate public health and labor concerns, the provincial government is blowing full-steam-ahead with plans to exploit natural gas while the investment climate is in its favor. Canadian resource extraction is governed by archaic 19th century mining laws that refuse landowners rights to anything below six-inches of Earth's surface. In short, the provincial government, not local residents, is the primary beneficiary of billions in royalties from deeply buried natural gas deposits. Full article http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=10328 = Sasha Lilley Producer, Against the Grain Pacifica Radio's KPFA 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.againstthegrain.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam http://mail.yahoo.com
Against the Grain
The Monday through Wednesday editions of Living Room on KPFA, which I produce and C.S. Soong hosts, has been renamed. We're now Against the Grain -- a name which better reflects the radical analysis and Left ideas that we bring to Pacifica's airwaves. We're also going national, so if you are interested in getting Against the Grain on a radio station near you, let us know. http://www.againstthegrain.org Recent program highlights include: 3.03.04 Anniversary 90 minute special, including the voices of Ellen Meiksins Wood, the Hybrid Project, Devon Pena, Gioconda Belli, and Slavoj Zizek on ideology and toilets. 3.02.04 Monologist Charlie Varon on antiwar activism, strange genetic experiments, and Sigmund Freud. 2.23.04 John Bellamy Foster on Marxism, the Enlightenment, and ecological thought past and present. 2.16.04 Michael Albert on participatory economics, or parecon, recorded at the World Social Forum. 2.09.04 Women against war and wars against women: speeches by Arundhati Roy, Nawal el-Sadaawi and others at the World Social Forum. 2.04.04 Resource economist Eugene Coyle on the perils of deregulation and why public power makes sense. 1.27.04 Walden Bello, Boris Kagarlitsky, Rania Masri and Ji Giles Ungpakorn on the links between neoliberalism and war, from the WSF. 1.21.04 Terisa Turner, Lincoln Van Sluytman, and Ralph Dumain on the ideas and legacy of C.L.R. James. __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search - Find what youre looking for faster http://search.yahoo.com
Eugene Coyle on KPFA
Wed 2.04.04| The Perils of Deregulation The California energy crisis, which jacked up electricity prices and produced rolling blackouts, was blamed at the time on restrictive environmental standards and other red herrings. Resource economist Eugene Coyle argues that deregulation was the root cause of the debacle. He believes that it's time to lay to rest the notion that the unfettered market benefits the majority of us -- and move towards public power. Listen live on KPFA's Living Room at noon PST/ 3pm EST (94.1 FM or on the web at kpfa.org) or after the fact at www.livingroomradio.org. __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/
WSF: Instruments of Imperialism - War, Trade and Finance
Mon 2.02.04| Instruments of Imperialism Eminent political economists from the global South spoke at a World Social Forum panel titled Instruments of Imperialism: War, Trade and Finance. Among the luminaries were Jomo K.S., Prabhat Patnaik, and Samir Amin, talking about military Keynesianism, deflation, and imperial overreach. Listen to the speeches on KPFA's Living Room at http://www.livingroomradio.org = Sasha Lilley Producer, KPFA's Living Room 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.livingroomradio.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/
Umm Qasr -- From National Pride to War Booty
Umm Qasr -- From National Pride to War Booty By David Bacon CorpWatch December 15, 2003 In 1958, Iraqi nationalists and radicals threw out the king imposed on them by the British after World War One. Over the next five years of relative freedom and democracy, Iraq began putting together a nationalized, planned economy, based on its oil wealth. Hundreds of factories were eventually constructed, making it the most industrialized country in the Middle East. A new deepwater port was built on the Persian Gulf, Umm Qasr, which became a lynchpin in that plan. From its piers Iraq began to ship the goods from those factories to buyers in other countries throughout the region. The port became a symbol of progress and independence, an achievement of the Iraqi revolution. Today Umm Qasr, under the US military occupation of Iraq, has become war booty. It was the first Iraqi enterprise to be turned over, not just to a private owner, but to a foreign one. Even before US troops had reached Baghdad, in Washington DC the Bush administration gave the concession for operating the port to Stevedoring Services of America, a politically-connected firm handling cargo around the world that has a long history of anti-labor policies. To Iraqis, instead of a symbol of national pride, Umm Qasr now represents the new era of foreign domination. And as a foreign corporation has taken over the operation of what once was a crown jewel of the Iraqi economy, the status of the people whose living depends on the jobs the port provides hangs in the balance. Free Enterprise at Gun Point The free trade ideologues of the Bush administration see the occupation of Iraq as a beachhead into the Middle East and south Asia. Their first objective is the transformation of the state-dominated economy of what was once one of the region's wealthiest countries. Tom Foley, a Bush fundraiser put in charge of implementing this vision on the ground, said his goal is a fully thriving capitalist economy. Privatizing Umm Qasr began the transformation of the Iraqi economy -- from one based on nationalization and production for domestic welfare, to one based on ownership by transnational corporations, sending their profits out of the country. Stevedoring Services of America, now SSA Marine, is spearheading this transformation. The company, which has a history of tight political connections with the White House, received a $4.8 million no-bid contract to operate the port of Umm Qasr on March 24. According to the USAID website, the contract, may reach as high as $14.3 million by its completion. It covers the assessment of the port's needs, assistance in making it operational, but then also the ongoing management of dockside operations. San Francisco's Bechtel Corp. began dredging the harbor in May. Then, on July 16, SSA began accepting commercial cargo, including container, break-bulk, and roll-on/roll-off shipments. Despite its dilapidated state, Umm Qasr is still a highly developed facility, with 23 berths for ships, four modern container cranes, and a grain and cement dock. (Oil exports are handled through another, unrelated port.) The possibilities for the profitable employment of these facilities weren't lost on other port operators, who would have liked the plum themselves. The British shipping giant, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation (the famous PO), thought it was entitled to run Umm Qasr, inasmuch as the British were given responsibility for occupying and administering the south of Iraq. The firm complained bitterly that only US companies were getting the profitable concessions created by the occupation. Alan Larson, US undersecretary of State, responded that giving SSA the port was the responsible thing to do. Even other US firms complained that the company seemed to have the inside track, since it didn't have the normally-required security clearance. Instead of rejecting SSA, however, USAID dropped the security requirement. US shippers have since complained of gross profiteering at the high tariffs charged for handling cargo in the port. SSA denies that it profits from the tariffs themselves, and says they're set by USAID. But in a privatized port, the tariffs will eventually flow into the pockets of whatever private operator holds the concession, and SSA advises USAID on the rates required to make the port self-sustaining. When USAID was slow in taking SSA's advice in July, the agency got a call from Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA), telling them to pay more attention to the company's recommendations. SSA, which was originally brought in just to assess damage and get the facility operational, is now positioned to operate the port as a permanent concession. SSA's Friends in High Places The process by which SSA became Iraq's port operator says a lot about the company's relationship with the Bush White House. SSA Marine is a $1 billion-a-year, family-owned business, with over 10,000 employees worldwide. It has profited from its political
Re: Umm Qasr -- From National Pride to War Booty
Thanks for pointing that out. It should read $500 million. Now had it been Halliburton... Sasha --- k hanly [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Is that a misprint? 500 billion seems a lot! Cheers, Ken Hanly When longshore workers and popular organizations protested the $500 billion deal, US Ambassador Mary Ann Peters threatened that US investors would boycott the country if the contract didn't go through. - Original Message - From: Sasha Lilley [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 3:09 AM = Sasha Lilley Producer, KPFA's Living Room 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.livingroomradio.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree
Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement (MST) on Living Room
Tues 11.25.03| Struggles of the Landless Its been called Latin Americas most important social movement. The Brazilian Landless Workers Movement has been occupying and redistributing land in the world's most unequal country for the past twenty-five years, providing a model for agrarian reform struggles in Bolivia, South Africa and Indonesia. Wendy Wolford and Angus Wright have studied the MST for many years and assess its history, successes and challenges. Listen at 12pm PST/ 3pm EST on KPFA 94.1 or on the web at www.kpfa.org Or listen after the fact at www.livingroomradio.orgSasha LilleyProducer, KPFA's Living Room510 848-6767 ext 209 www.livingroomradio.org Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard
Doug Henwood on KPFA's Living Room
Mon 11.23.03| Goodbye to All That The "New Economy" promised stock market riches and fulfilling high tech work for all, as well as an end to the business cycle. That is, until the bubble burst. Doug Henwood has written a post-mortem of the 1990s that looks at inequality, globalization, and -- behind the New Era hype -- the class warfare waged against American workers by Wall Street. You can listen to the interview on Living Room at noon PST/ 3pm EST on Pacifica Radio station KPFA 94.1FM (streaming on the web at www.kpfa.org) Or, listen after the fact at www.livingroomradio.orgSasha LilleyProducer, KPFA's Living Room510 848-6767 ext 209 www.livingroomradio.org Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard
BAE System's Dirty Dealings
Richard Evans as "one of the few businessmen who can see Blair on request". Before its ascendancy to power, the Labour government promised to publish the conclusions of a 1992 investigation into charges of corruption by BAE in the Al-Yamamah deals by the National Audit Office (NAO). However, the audit has never been published. The Blair government has defended its backing of the arms industry by claiming that companies like BAE Systems play a central role in the economy. Arms critic Richard Bingley and former member of CAAT disagrees. "On the face of it, the arms export business is reckoned to be quite lucrative, its worth about £5 billion to the UK Exchequer every year. However, when you take away overheads and then also look at the fact that the arms trade is subsidized by about £1 billion per year by the UK Exchequer, actually you begin to see there's no profit line by exporting arms. So literally, it is at best an industry that pays for itself." Under Fire Despite the British government's ongoing support for BAE, pressure is mounting on the armaments giant. Adding to the embarrassment of the slush fund scandal, activist groups like the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), Oxfam, Amnesty International, and Friends of the Earth UK are putting the spotlight on BAE's role in perpetuating armed conflicts around the world. Earlier this year, Friends of the Earth UK launched a campaign against BAE's production of depleted uranium shells which have been used by British soldiers in Iraq. Hannah Griffiths, corporate campaigner at Friends of the Earth UK, said: "We want the directors of companies like BAE to take their duties to communities and the environment as seriously as they do their duties to the company's bottom line". The Campaign Against Arms Trade has also been targeting BAE with protests at 40 sites all across England, Wales and Scotland that belong to BAE or its subsidiaries, accusing BAE of fanning the flames of war. Meanwhile BAE has also targeted CAAT. The Sunday Times (London) revealed in September that BAE paid a private intelligence firm £120,000 a year to infiltrate and spy on CAAT over a four year period in the 1990s. The head of the firm told BAE that she had a database containing more than 148,000 names and addresses of arms trade and peace activists, environmentalists and union members. CAAT issued a statement denouncing BAE's actions. "The alleged theft of the supporter database, by copying it, is illegal and entirely unacceptable. CAAT is considering how to pursue the allegation," it said. A New Al-Yamamah In spite of the recent bribery revelations, BAE is intent on pressing ahead with a new Al-Yamamah deal with the Saudis, according to a statement by the Swiss investment bank UBS. In the last decade and a half the Saudis have had difficulties holding up their end of the arms-for-oil bargain, as the price of petroleum has fluctuated and the Saudi domestic debt has continued to mushroom, while arms purchases gobble up a third of the national budget. However, recently Saudi Arabia's fortunes have been buoyed by higher oil prices, while their relationship with their other main weapons supplier has gotten chillier. "Now that the US is on the outs with the Saudis and pulling US troops out of Saudi Arabia, the Saudis are looking more to Europe for their defense needs," says analyst Frida Berrigan of the Arms Trade Resource Center in New York. The new agreement would be to upgrade 85 Tornado fighter planes that were purchased in an earlier Al-Yamamah deal. If it goes through it would be a boost to the beleaguered weapons giant, which has been having difficulties arranging a merger with a US defense company. But it would be anything but a boon for British taxpayers, who would continue to subsidize BAE, or the Saudi populace, who would see none of the kickbacks flowing to the House of Saud -- just the further perpetuation of the royal family's corrupt rule. Sasha Lilley is Research Coordinator/ Editor at CorpWatch and a Producer for Pacifica Radio's KPFA. Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard
Re: Iraqis resist ban on unions
Thanks for all the praise. We're attempting to bring programming to KPFA's airwaves that is both analytical and critical of the Left from the Left --with varying degrees of success. Nonetheless, it's nice to know that people find it engaging. I'll do my best to alert PEN-Lers to relevant topics in advance. Sasha And I'll do my best to --- Eugene Coyle [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'll second the compliment -- But, Sasha, please tell us before the shows. I often don't think of trying to catch a show when it would be possible. Gene Coyle Sabri Oncu wrote: Sasha: Not to inundate PEN-Lers with Living Room shows, but we just did a program on this topic that people might find interesting. Since I presume you wouldn't like to advertise your own show, let me do it for you. Sasha and her co-host, whose name I don't recall now, are putting together a great radio show on KPFA every week. Their show is one of my favorites. As Michael once said, these guys really read the books they talk about. Thank you Sasha. Sabri = Sasha Lilley Producer, KPFA's Living Room 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.livingroomradio.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree
Re: Iraqis resist ban on unions
Not to inundate PEN-Lers with Living Room shows, but we just did a program on this topic that people might find interesting. http://www.livingroomradio.org Wed 10.29.03| Trade Unions in Iraq As the US seems intent on privatizing and fleecing the Iraqi economy, what's the situation of Iraqi workers? Clarence Thomas of the ILWU was part of a US Labor Against the War-sponsored delegation to Baghdad to start building links of solidarity between international and Iraqi trade unions. He joins Middle Eastern historian of Iraqi labor Peter Sluglett and USLAW's Michael Eisenscher to talk about the past, present and future of the Iraqi workers movement. --- Grant Lee [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [When UN cops arrested a union activist in East Timor a few weeks ago, I made a comment about how even the occupiers of Iraq hadn't stooped that low --- apparently I was wrong.] IRAQ: Workers resist US ban on unions BY ALAN MAASS * * * * More than half a year after Saddam Hussein's government collapsed and US officials promised that the economy would be rebuilt, unemployment in Iraq is estimated at 70%. Just getting by from day to day is the overwhelming challenge for the majority of people. The 30% wage rise of US$18, plus the loans and land promised by [top US overseer Paul] Bremer three months ago, has yet to materialise, wrote Ewa Jasiewicz in the October 19 Occupation Watch (http://www.occupationwatch.org). Jasiewicz was also with the USLAW delegation. For those who are working, the average wage is $60 a month - the emergency pay decreed by the US occupiers of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). __ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree
Re: Frieda Kahlo
Thanks for the promo for my show, the audio for which is now up on the web. And for clarification's sake I'll just add that the film Frida was based on the biography of Frida Kahlo written by Hayden Herrera. Art critic Margaret Lindauer, interviewed for this edition of Living Room, takes Herrera's Fridolatry to task. --- Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: A while back I posted a review of the awful movie Frieda that relied heavily on the work of art critic Margaret A. Lindauer. You can hear an interview with her at: http://www.livingroomradio.org/ Wed 11.05.03| Fetishizing Frida Frida Kahlo's life and work have become world famous -- yet what has become of the Mexican artist's radical politics? Art historian Margaret A. Lindauer argues that Kahlo's artistic legacy has been done a disservice by those who would read the painter's works off her personal life, instead of looking at the complex intellectual and political processes that created them. = Sasha Lilley Producer, KPFA's Living Room 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.livingroomradio.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree
Ellen Meiksins Wood Radio Interview on Empire
Wed 9.24.03| Empire of Capital The war in Iraq may lead some to think that another age of colonial occupation has begun. Yet eminent Marxist scholar Ellen Meiksins Wood believes that imperialism under capitalism is distinguished by its use of economic, rather than military, coercion. She traces the varied forms of empire throughout history and points to the opportunities that capitalist imperialism presents for the Left. http://www.livingroomradio.org Sasha Lilley Producer, KPFA's Living Room 510/848-6767 ext 209 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.livingroomradio.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
David Kotz on Neoliberalism
Wed 9.03.03 | Unmasking Neoliberalism Many Leftists declare neoliberalism the enemy of democracy and social justice. David Kotz's research suggests that neoliberalism in fact hurts big capitalists over the long term. Does Kotz, an author economist, nevertheless yearn for a return to the welfare state? Far from it. Listen to the radio interview at http://www.livingroomradio.org/audio9.03.03.mp3 __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
Iraq: JP Morgan takes over U.N. role
Hey Pratap, Have you see this yet? S The occupation government in Iraq has announced that the U.N. 'Oil For Food Programme' now been replaced by a bank consortium run by J.P. Morgan. The J.P. Morgan consortium (it will run the Iraq Trade Bank controlling all foreign transactions governmental and private). The initial capital will be $100 million of which $95 m. is Iraqi funds from previous oil sales transferred by the U.N and $5 is from the Provisional Authority (no indication whether the source was Iraqi or U.S. funds). No funds will be advanced by the private banks. It is not clear what role the associated banks will play. No doubt selected on merit and the interests of the Iraqi people, the associated banks include financial powerhouse countries like Poland, Portugal, Spain, Australia, Italy, Turkey and Kuwait. Germany is not included; France has one Bank. Saturday August 30, 6:53 AM UPDATE/Iraq Trade Bank: List Of Consortium Banks By Rebecca Christie Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A consortium of more than a dozen international banks led by J.P. Morgan Chase Co. (JPM) will lead the newly created Trade Bank of Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq announced Friday. The U.S.-led coalition authority in Baghdad created the Trade Bank to allow Iraqi ministries to begin making big-ticket purchases abroad. The program is on track to start up in September. It's expected to handle annual purchases of hundreds of millions of dollars. The J.P. Morgan-led group will be paid about $2 million to run the Trade Bank, once a contract is drawn up. The winning consortium also will benefit from billions of dollars in anticipated business that will eventually flow through the facility, said Peter McPherson, director of economic development for the Coalition Provisional Government in Iraq. The real action here isn't the contract to run the trade bank, to oversee the trade bank, McPherson told reporters in a conference call from Baghdad. It is the trade credit that will go through the trade bank. The winning consortium was picked last week by an Iraqi-led selection committee that gathered in Bahrain. The group includes 13 banks representing 14 countries: the U.S., Canada, France, the U.K., Japan, Turkey, Kuwait, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Australia and New Zealand. Nearly 60 banks initially applied to take part in the Trade Bank, and six consortia made it to the final screening, U.S. Treasury officials said. There was enormous response to this and it became of intense interest to a large, large number of banks, reflecting a view...that Iraq is important to these banks, McPherson said. These banks were making a commercial judgment about the future of Iraq. The Trade Bank will initially work with the government, but is expected to expand to handle private-sector projects as well. McPherson said private-sector purchases would require a different administrative set-up. The Iraqi government will pay for the Trade Bank operations and also provide most of its staff, McPherson said. In the long run, it is hoped that Iraqis would be able to take on more the facility's operations, he said. We are very much looking to Iraqis taking steadily more leadership in this, McPherson said. There are many people in this country we believe can do it, particularly with some exposure and training. A J.P. Morgan spokeswoman reached Friday afternoon said no one at the bank was available for comment. Iraq Trade Bank Replaces U.N. Oil-For-Food Program The Trade Bank will make it possible for Iraq to import major equipment needed for reconstruction by reassuring exporters that they will get paid, Treasury officials said. More than 50 years ago, the U.S. set up similar facilities in Japan and Germany to help those countries rebuild after World War II. Right now, most Iraqi assets are still subject to confiscation in most parts of the world, particularly since the country is in default on most of its obligations. The biggest exception has been the goods involved in the U.N. Oil For Food Program, which is due to phase out in November. The Trade Bank will open with authorized capital of $100 million from the U.N. Iraq development fund. As a result, it will be able to offer payment guarantees on any purchases lined up by the Iraqi government. Treasury officials said that without these payment guarantees, Iraq effectively would be unable to import the food, electrical equipment and oil refining machinery it needs to rebuild. Treasury officials said it wasn't yet clear what role oil revenues would play in the program. The Trade Bank has an initial lifetime of 12 months, with the option to extend its contract for another three years. The U.S. hopes that during that time, Iraqi banks will be able to learn how to provide
Re: Iraq: JP Morgan takes over U.N. role (no joke)
Sorry about that! __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
Michael Yates on Orthodox Economics vs Marxism, and more
Michael Yates was interviewed today on our program Living Room -- the archived audio can be found at www.livingroomradio.org -- on why Marxism has greater explanatory power than neoclassical economics (see below). And although he was on NPR's Talk of the Nation last week, we had booked him long before that! Other currently archived shows that might interest people are programs on the International Longshore and Warehouse Union's organization of agricultural labor in Hawaii; Israeli scholar Baruch Kimmerling on Israel and Ariel Sharon; Bertolt Brecht; Marx and Freud; the Jewish and Palestinian editors of Between the Lines on what's wrong with the Left in Israel and Palestine; Robin DG Kelley on his book Freedom Dreams; myths about the decline of the family; limiting the work week; and much more. Wed 8.13.03| Orthodox Economics vs. Marxism Neoliberal prescriptions applied around the globe have left many progressives skeptical of orthodox economic theory. And yet what alternative theories exist? Labor economist Michael Yates argues that Marxism provides us with a means of understanding our world, with all its poverty and inequality, in a way that isn't abstracted from reality Sasha Lilley Producer, KPFA's Living Room 510/848-6767 x209 www.livingroomradio.org __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
Re: Modest Michael
The interview with Michael on intellectual propery rights is now up on our site livingroomradio.org -- just in time for the Sacramento Agricultural Ministerial, where people will be demonstrating against the patenting of nature. Sasha Lilley Producer, KPFA's Living Room [EMAIL PROTECTED] 510/848-6767 ext 209 --- ravi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Eugene Coyle wrote: I turned the radio on today when I was having lunch. Discovered our modest leader, Michael, being interviewed on Pacifica's KPFA about intellectual property. I missed half the program because Michael didn't tell us ahead of time that he would be on the radio. What I heard was good -- and I heard that it is archived, though I failed to write down how to do it. i presume it will turn up here tomorrow: http://www.livingroomradio.org/ === Wed 6.18.03| Patenting Knowledge What are the consequences for society and ideas when corporations buy up the rights to seeds, human genes, and centuries of accumulated knowledge? Economics professor Michael Perelman lays out the underlying dynamics, and frightening results, of ever-expanding intellectual property rights. === --ravi __ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com
Oil, Weapons and Capitalism
Oil, Weapons and Capitalism This is an invitation to PEN-L members to listen to an interview with Jonathan Nitzan, author with Shimshon Bichler of The Global Political Economy of Israel (Pluto Press, 2002). Nitzan elucidates the political economic interests motivating the war against Iraq, as well as broader cyclical dynamics inherent to capitalism, on KPFA Radios Living Room a program that attempts to provide deeper analyses than that usually found in the alternative media. You can find a archived copy of the show as well as an archive of recent programs including interviews with Robert Brenner, Gioconda Belli, Vijay Prashad, Tariq Ali, John Bellamy Foster, Rahul Mahajan, Peter Gowan, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, and Tamim Ansary at www.livingroomradio.org. Thanks, Sasha Lilley Producer, Living Room Pacifica Radios KPFA
