[PEN-L:7885] Money Banking
Here is an interesting website for some of you who teach Money Banking, http://www.rtd.com/~markh/wells_fargo_sucks.html Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:7842] Re: Law of Value Information
Rob, you might want to take a peek at this story by the Bob Kuttner. http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/157/oped/Housing_prices_are_hitting_the_roofP.shtml Although it's nice to be able to communicate with someone in Australia, cheaply by email, it does not really do much for more basic problems like housing. Or let's say tracking down a roofing contractor---if he doesn't want to be found. Most of this information-communication stuff is hype. What good can it possibly do unless unless there is some utility to it. Now I realize that for the mega corporations like the Big 3 automakers there is utility in communication-information in that world wide production can be co-ordinated, as in modular production schemes for automobiles. With as few as 5 modules being shipped into the USA from the lowest bidder to assemble a car. Of course this creates a whole new set of problems... Got anything you want to sell in the USA cheap, Rob? Your email pal, Tom L. Rob Schaap wrote: G'day Pen-pals, Some deliberately simplified (eg the 'US versus the world' theme) speculations underpin this attempt to get a few ideas clear in my mind about the political economy of information and the world economy. I'm over-reaching a bit, but I'd love to know if any of this has legs. Let's begin by looking at US government agencies over the last few years. After that, we can look at some theoretical concerns (law of value and information as commodity) and see if we can link the former with the latter in satisfactory fashion. I actually discern a self-generated structural crisis in the convergence of telecommunications and computing - and it's all to do with contradictions between the essence of information and its form as commodity. The role of the US government (the FCC, the State Dept, trade representatives, the Legislature and the Executive) has been to coordinate (in almost inevitably uncoordinated manner) and mediate private sector interests and conflicts. Whether we're talking about US international policy in intellectual property (WIPO and bilateral actions, eg against China), trade (WTO OECD NAFTA), science, culture and media (ending the NWICO debate within UNESCO, by simply leaving it in 1985), or general 'liberalisation' stuff (from ATT's divestiture - and concomitant new opportunities - in 1982 to government-subsidised lobby groups within overseas policy communities) we always hear the same exhortations - free markets and, concomitantly, free flows of information (concomitant in US eyes, because information as a commodity is exhaustively covered by the trade category). They're arguing thus, and vociferously thus at that, because the world's largest telecompany (ATT), satellite company (Hughes), patented computer companies (IBM Apple), patented software company (Microsoft), internet companies (eg AOL Yahoo), and entertainment companies (Hollywood, Time-Warner, NewsCorp) are all American. All emerged in the US as commercial institutions, and all promote their own utilisation globally, and all depend entirely on IP protection in concert with unfettered access to global markets - and together they make up more than half of the US economy and more than half of its exports - and can be expected to constitute ever greater significance (that's what 'post-industrial' and 'information economy' mean, no?). The lobbying (within WIPO and the WTO - the MAI is back), threats (bullying tactics and ultimate dummy-spit at UNESCO, threatening Australia with a trade war if we don't take the protection off our culture industry), and bribes (China and MFN status) are all about protecting market power and entrenching initial advantage (the technology behind which did not come courtesy of the market at all, but from taxpayers through the military-industrial complex), have largely been very successful. America, with excess capacity plagueing its industrial sector, poverty stalking its agricultural sector, and a current account that staggers the imagination, NEEDS commoditised information - its current monopoly power over carriage and content is the only economic advantage it has, and they'll use anything, including their only strategic advantage (their military) to protect and promote it. But they have two problems - one immediate and one ultimate. Immediately, there is the problem of controlling information. This they must do as information does not fall easily into the category of commodities. It is not used up in the consumption (indeed, it is not consumed), it is not given up in exchange (the vendor leaves the transaction with both what he has sold and what he got for it), and transaction costs are near zero - in other words, information is not scarce in any traditional sense (ie that there ain't enough of it, for whatever reason, for everyone to have some), and can exact prices *only* through institutional power relations. Such relations affect all prices (as
[PEN-L:7872] Re: so much for human capital theory
Anecdotal stories sell newspapers and work great for talk show host. I've got a federal study of illiteracy and innumeracy done in the mid-90's kicking around somewhere---did you know that a certain percentage of people with graduate degrees are illiterate!(seriously) Then there are the poor folks who are bilingual illiterates... Your email pal, Tom L. michael wrote: Supposedly education and technological competence explains the worsening distribution of income. What can we make of the following story? Document 1 of 2. Copyright 1999 The Atlanta Constitution The Atlanta Journal and Constitution June 9, 1999, Wednesday, CONSTITUTION EDITION SECTION: Business; Pg. 18D LENGTH: 292 words SERIES: Home HEADLINE: Exec getting Initiative Award BYLINE: Sandra Chereb, Staff BODY: For decades, Jay Thiessens hid a painful secret as he built his machine- and-tool company from a mom-and-pop operation into a $ 5 million-a-year enterprise. During the day, he hid behind the role of a harried businessman. At night, his wife, Bonnie, would help him sort through the paperwork at the kitchen table, in the living room, or sometimes sitting up in bed. Other tasks he delegated to a core group of managers at BJ Machine Tool Co. , who had no idea their boss couldn't read. ''I worked for him for seven years and I had no clue,'' said Jack Sala, now the engineering manager for Truckee Precision, a BJ competitor. ''I was his general manager. He would bring legal stuff to me and say, 'You're better at legalese than me.' I never knew I was the only one reading them.'' Few people knew of his shame and most burning desire: to be able to read a simple bedtime story to his grandchildren. But he couldn't keep his illiteracy secret forever. ''It became too hard to continue to hide it,'' said Thiessens, who has begun to read at the age of 56. ''Since I made the decision to let everybody know, it's a big relief.'' Today, Thiessens will be honored in Washington as one of six national winners of the 1999 National Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative Award. Sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MassMutual, the award recognizes small businesses that have triumphed over adversity. Last October, Thiessens found a tutor to instruct him for an hour a day, five days a week. He recently read his first book. It was slow going, but he finished it. He hopes his story will encourage others. ''There is no shame in not knowing how to read,'' said Bonnie Thiessens. ''The shame is not doing anything about it.'' -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:7773] Getting George Going...
Thanks to Mike E. for his insight. The Steelworkers through our Rapid Response program and other efforts have been doing as Mike suggested and trying to involve the rank and file in political action. The Rapid Response effort has been very successful. Back in 1994 I gave a speech for the union at Oberlin College that was picked up by the local media and other interested parties on a strategy very similar to what later became known as Rapid Response. I may have been a little too redundant in the delivery of this speech. Can you be too redundant when trying to get complex issues across to the general public including college graduates? I don't see where it is in Voinovich's interest or Ohio's interest not to defend Ohio steel and manufacturing jobs from globalization and international capital. Possibly, Voinovich has a personal stake in globalization; sort of like the former Mexican President and his fugitive brother. Or was it the other way around? Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:7746] Getting George Going...
One of the problems the Steelworkers and other labor unions in Ohio are having, is getting our United States Senator George Voinovich moving on a response to globalization. Now it is true that George is a Republican and he tends to be a corporate social climber, with the emphasis on social climber. He claims his roots are with the working people of Ohio. Voinovich also claims the Democrat party wouldn't play him, so he became a Republican. The power elite in Cleveland did use Voinovich to knock out Dennis Kucinich when Kucinich was mayor of Cleveland. This was definitely was an up-scale move on Voinovich's part. Now let's say your job is to get George to stand up for steelworkers and other Ohio manufacturing workers---what would you do? This is not a test. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:7695] Re: My New Chair Was Built by Child Labor
Pete, you should have given him hell and asked for an explanation, if you thought the kids weren't just hanging around or engaging in some version of junior high wood shop. I pretty familiar with the Amish and Mennonite ways in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Here in Ohio, starting not far from here there is the largest concentration of Amish and Mennonites in the country. The Mennonites have gone more or less mainstream protestant in my lifetime. I remember that when I was a kid you could tell the Mennonites from the Amish because the Mennonites drove cars(black naturally). The Mennonites dressed the same as the Amish---except that Mennonite women wore brighter whites, than Amish women. Today for the most part, unless wearing a costume for the tourists or their own amusement the Mennonites are indistinguishable from the Methodists or the Dutch Reform/Congregationalists in dress. There are many sects of Amish. Most are trying to cope with the modern or post-modern(?) world in their own way. For some reason whenever I am in "Dutch Country" the Amish and the Mennonites will talk about political/public/economic affairs around me. Which is unusual. The conversations are surprisingly enlightened! On this Amish furniture business in general. There are a lot of people in "Dutch" country who are not Amish or Mennonite and who use the name Amish furniture as a way to advertise. Of course there are by the same token non-Amish or Mennonite furniture makers who produce beautiful furniture in "Dutch" or as some advertisers refer to it, Amish country. My favorite event in Ohio Dutch country is the livestock auction held in Kidron, every Thursday. Your email pal, Tom L. Peter Dorman wrote: I swear I didn't know it at the time. I heard that an Amish guy in central NY State made fantastic rockers for a low price (a little over $100). So I ordered a chair to be picked up in several months, my head filled with thoughts about supporting cultural diversity as well as the happy moments I would have reading in my new chair. When I got there, the chair-maker was behind the cash register, and behind him were a gaggle of kids, mostly pre-teen, operating woodworking equipment. And, yes, the chair was beautiful to look at, comfortable to sit in, and very, very cheap Peter
[PEN-L:7718] Re: a story on Chinese workers
Jim, this is interesting stuff. Henry sent me a couple of things about labor unrest and organizing in China some months ago. When Chinese workers say, they are not going to work for 46 cents an hour in northern China or 23 cents an hour in southern China. Yes, in China people are being thrown out of work because of this sectional wage differential; then you will see some change. Of course I also agree with Henry that when the Chinese workers have had enough you will probably see them out in the streets waving pictures of Chairman Mao in much the same way many American workers, including yours truly, wrap themselves in the flag, mom and apple pie. Jim, I understand that down your way or not all that far from you, General Motors is paying 95 cents an hour in their Mexican plants! Your email pal, Tom L. Jim Devine wrote: of interest, from the L.A. TIMES, at http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/NATION/UPDATES/lat_labor990604.htm Friday, June 4, 1999 Chinese Rulers Fear Angry Workers May Finally Unite Labor: Ten years after Tiananmen Square crackdown, unemployment, not lack of democracy, fuels discontent. By HENRY CHU, Times Staff Writer SHENYANG, China--Liu Lao is on the longest vacation of his life: two years and counting. In 1997, the state-run iron foundry where he worked suddenly stopped production after losing too much money. But rather than lay everyone off, the factory bosses sent employees home "on holiday," a semantic ploy that allowed them to avoid having to pay severance and welfare benefits. Liu now spends his extended, unpaid "holiday" standing on a sidewalk in this ancient imperial city, peddling cheap steering-wheel covers to passing motorists and stewing in a kettle of discontent. "If workers had supported the students in '89," he grumbled, referring to the abortive anti-government protests that year in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, "the outcome would have been a lot different." A decade after Beijing sent tanks in to crush demonstrators on June 4, 1989, killing hundreds--perhaps thousands--of people, the prospect of labor unrest worries China's Communist leaders the most as they seek to hold on to power in the world's most populous country. The former students who pushed for democracy are a spent force these days, in prison, in exile or indifferent, more concerned about their pocketbooks than politics. Their successors at China's universities are more likely to back the government than attack it-- witness the student-led demonstrations that erupted after last month's NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital. But with unemployment spiraling and the economy slowing, disaffection among urban workers, a key segment of Chinese society, is on the rise. And while few Western commentators seem to remember, the Communist regime is acutely aware that economic and labor grievances played an important role in the 1989 protests, a realization that helps explain Beijing's continuing jitters over restiveness among China's 200-million-strong urban work force. Already, reports are rife of labor unrest across the country, from Hunan province in the south to here in the northeast, China's Rust Belt. So far, most of the unrest has taken the form of small, isolated protests by unpaid workers who block traffic or picket local authorities to get their demands heard. But the government fears that laborers--particularly the unemployed, who number between 15 million and 25 million in China--might organize en masse to become the wellspring of new opposition to Communist rule. Or, worse yet, that disgruntled workers might try to link up with other disenfranchised groups, such as political dissidents, to create some sort of united national front. "Until you get Wuhan hooked up with Beijing, which is hooked up with Shenyang, it's not going to be a threat to the government," said a Western diplomat who tracks labor issues. "There's potential for localized protests, but until there's a national organization, it's not a threat." Little evidence has emerged of serious coordination among workers countrywide or between workers and other groups. Many unemployed laborers, often in their 40s and 50s, say they have too much to lose to mount challenges that appear doomed to fail against the implacable machinery of an authoritarian state. "If we get thrown in jail, who will take care of our families?" asked Yu Wenting, 47, a factory worker who has been out of a job for two years. "Under the Communist Party, the Chinese people have become obedient. They don't dare fight the party." But Beijing is taking no chances. 3 Labor Activists Reportedly on Trial Last week, three men who tried to set up an independent labor watchdog group in the central city of Tianshui were put on trial for subversion, a Hong Kong-based human rights group reported. The charges carry stiff prison sentences and are similar to
[PEN-L:7663] My New Chair
Over this past weekend I traded my old 1991 model Lazy-boy Dynamo recliner in on a new 1999 model Lazy-boy Rocker recliner. It was delievered today and I can't wait to get home and try it out and see if it feels as good as it felt in the Lazy-boy showroom! These new Rocker recliner's are cool. You just lean back and the foot rest automatically comes out at the proper tension and height. No more side pull handles or sloppy movement as in earlier models. My wife refers to this chair and my previous chair as my Archie Bunker chair. It's nice to be married to a woman with a sense of humor. Meanwhile, go on down to your Lazy-boy showroom for this sale and have fun. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:7665] Re: Re: My New Chair
Henry, up in Monroe, Michigan as far as I know. Of course there is always the possibility they may have stolen the technology from China. ;o) Your email pal, Tom L. "Henry C.K. Liu" wrote: Sounds good Tom, may I ask where was this chair made? Henry Tom Lehman wrote: Over this past weekend I traded my old 1991 model Lazy-boy Dynamo recliner in on a new 1999 model Lazy-boy Rocker recliner. It was delievered today and I can't wait to get home and try it out and see if it feels as good as it felt in the Lazy-boy showroom! These new Rocker recliner's are cool. You just lean back and the foot rest automatically comes out at the proper tension and height. No more side pull handles or sloppy movement as in earlier models. My wife refers to this chair and my previous chair as my Archie Bunker chair. It's nice to be married to a woman with a sense of humor. Meanwhile, go on down to your Lazy-boy showroom for this sale and have fun. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:7431] Strobe Talbott
I've been trying to find out a little about the early years of "Strobe Talbott" in Dayton, Ohio. From what I can gather so far, he was a rich kid by Dayton standards. He then went, to yes Doug, Yale and the rest is more or less on record. For you Canadians who are reading this, Talbott is the guy who looks like Duke in the Doonsbury cartoons. Strobe Talbott looks to me like a fetal alcohol syndrome case, of course I have to reserve judgment because I've never seen him in person(?). As far as votes in Ohio---he doesn't have any that I know of---and in southern Ohio people will come right out and tell you about his boss and Cohen and Berger and not in a politically correct or polite way. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:7420] Pickle workers put things in perspective
Slave-like conditions Impoverished farmworkers in North Carolina face conditions among the most oppressive in the United States. A statement by a grower near New Bern, quoted at FLOC¹s website, puts the slave-like conditions in perspective: "The North won the War on paper but we confederates actually won because we kept our slaves. First we had sharecroppers, then tenant farmers, and now we have Mexicans." Another grower claimed ownership of the workers, and said they could not talk to FLOC representatives without going through the North Carolina Growers Association, which has a contract with the Department of Labor that allows growers to prohibit visitors from seeing migrant workers living in housing owned by the growers. All this is legal under the federal government¹s "guest worker" program, H2A. In a scenario eerily reminiscent of the days of the Confederacy, about 100 "guest workers" in Pink Hill had to escape their grower under the cover of darkness. Workers at this grower known as El Diablo (The Devil) had been forced to work 14-hour days, with only one break to ride a bus back to the camp and eat lunch all in a half-hour. Their "accommodations" included no mattresses or sheets. And there are rumors that workers there have been beaten and held at gunpoint. FLOC, which did not initiate the walkout in Pink Hill, learned of it after the fact. In a scenario eerily reminiscent of the days of the Confederacy, about 100 "guest workers" in Pink Hill had to escape their grower under the cover of darkness. Workers at this grower known as El Diablo (The Devil) had been forced to work 14-hour days, with only one break to ride a bus back to the camp and eat lunch all in a half-hour. Their "accommodations" included no mattresses or sheets. And there are rumors that workers there have been beaten and held at gunpoint. FLOC, which did not initiate the walkout in Pink Hill, learned of it after the fact. In a scenario eerily reminiscent of the days of the Confederacy, about 100 "guest workers" in Pink Hill had to escape their grower under the cover of darkness. Workers at this grower known as El Diablo (The Devil) had been forced to work 14-hour days, with only one break to ride a bus back to the camp and eat lunch all in a half-hour. Their "accommodations" included no mattresses or sheets. And there are rumors that workers there have been beaten and held at gunpoint. FLOC, which did not initiate the walkout in Pink Hill, learned of it after the fact. In a scenario eerily reminiscent of the days of the Confederacy, about 100 "guest workers" in Pink Hill had to escape their grower under the cover of darkness. Workers at this grower known as El Diablo (The Devil) had been forced to work 14-hour days, with only one break to ride a bus back to the camp and eat lunch all in a half-hour. Their "accommodations" included no mattresses or sheets. And there are rumors that workers there have been beaten and held at gunpoint. FLOC, which did not initiate the walkout in Pink Hill, learned of it after the fact. In a scenario eerily reminiscent of the days of the Confederacy, about 100 "guest workers" in Pink Hill had to escape their grower under the cover of darkness. Workers at this grower known as El Diablo (The Devil) had been forced to work 14-hour days, with only one break to ride a bus back to the camp and eat lunch all in a half-hour. Their "accommodations" included no mattresses or sheets. And there are rumors that workers there have been beaten and held at gunpoint. FLOC, which did not initiate the walkout in Pink Hill, learned of it after the fact. In a scenario eerily reminiscent of the days of the Confederacy, about 100 "guest workers" in Pink Hill had to escape their grower under the cover of darkness. Workers at this grower known as El Diablo (The Devil) had been forced to work 14-hour days, with only one break to ride a bus back to the camp and eat lunch all in a half-hour. Their "accommodations" included no mattresses or sheets. And there are rumors that workers there have been beaten and held at gunpoint. FLOC, which did not initiate the walkout in Pink Hill, learned of it after the fact. In a scenario eerily reminiscent of the days of the Confederacy, about 100 "guest workers" in Pink Hill had to escape their grower under the cover of darkness. Workers at this grower known as El Diablo (The Devil) had been forced to work 14-hour days, with only one break to ride a bus back to the camp and eat lunch all in a half-hour. Their "accommodations" included no mattresses or sheets. And there are rumors that workers there have been beaten and held at gunpoint. FLOC, which did not initiate the walkout in Pink Hill, learned of it after the fact. This was sent to me by Mike Ferner of FLOC from a story written by Scott Cooper. If you would like to help FLOC email Mike at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:7407] Re: Modest proposal to end the war
Wojtek, this is already happening in Ohio. The largest group of registered voters are the Independents. Followed by the Republicans. At this point things don't look good for the Democrats. This in a state that was trending Democrat before Clinton and the neo-democrat policy cabal. One thing that people should do is let their city or county Democrat chairman know how they feel about this Yugoslavian Affair. First of all the chairman or possibly chairwoman will feel flattered to know that someone actually contacted them about a real issue. Not about honest graft, a relative in need of a job or some other non-sense. Maybe one of you scholars can tell me what the problem is with stopping the bombing and introducing a non-NATO member UN peacekeeping force. What is wrong with that? The Yugo/Serbs as far as I know have agreed to accept this humiliation! Your email pal, Tom L. Wojtek Sokolowski wrote: While my respect for electoral politics approaches zero, methinks the process can be useful as a form of anti-war demonstration - a bit more effective than the street variety. The idea is simple - do not wait until 2000, start voting your disapproval with the Fifth-Column, Cruise-Missile Democrats and their impeached war criminal leader now. How? By changing your party affiliation with the voters' registration agency. Voters' registration is an ongoing process - you can send your voter registration card any time, and simply check anything but "Democrat" as your party affiliation. I'm pretty sure if a sufficient number of such cards reaches local voters registration offices - the ratfuckers will take a notice. For those who still think that electoral politics matter - that strategy does not "waste" your vote, you still can vote any way you want in the "real" election, regardless of your party affiliation. wojtek Give me your watch, and I will give you the time of the day.
[PEN-L:7380] Re: Arbourg , unfortuantely
Paul is that her maiden name, her married name or her stage name? Does she have any votes? Where does her money come from? A certain ethnic group? Your email pal, Tom L. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This is getting rediculous. Everytine I try to send a message it seems to go adaft, away, and the more I try to answer someone in a stream, the stream seams to get awash, away... This is in response to the comment about Louise Arbourg and the listing of Milosevic by her of an indighted war criminal. This is a terrible conflict of interest in that Arbourg is a candidate for the Canadian Supreme Court and who is responsible for her appointment is by the cabinet who is also a party to the Yugoslav war. Here is Chretien, also alleged to be a war criminal by the charges laid against him before the international tribunal, facing a judge which he nominated for the international job, and which He is now nominating for a national 'supreme court' job, now demanding that the court he has appointed adjudicate his 'crimes'. What criminal nonsense. But of course acceptable in our immoral times. Alas. Paul Paul Phillips, Economics, University of Manitoba pen-l
[PEN-L:7298] Reserve Requirements
When was the last time the Federal Reserve raised reserve requirements? Could reserve requirements be raised for SL's and not for commercial banks? Would raising reserve requirements cool off an over-heated real estate/development sector without crimping general economic growth. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:7341] Definition of Ethnic Cleansing
Definition of Ethnic Cleansing: _ taking a bath. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:7353] Uncle Sam makes more friends in Eastern Europe
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1.htm titlex x x x /title bodybgcolor="#ff" text="#00" ttb Thu May 27 1999 18:44:41 UTC brbr NATO strikes send dioxins, furans, uranium over Europe brbr MOSCOW, May 27 (Itar-Tass) - NATO's air strikes on Yugoslavia have environmental impacts on Europe, said Major General Boris Alekseyev, the Russian army's environmental safety department chief. brbr He said at a press conference on Thursday that the air strikes have "far-going ecologic concequences". brbr NATO is doing "deliberate destruction of chemically dangerous facilities" in Yugoslavia, in particular of ammonia and polymer productions. brbr Struck, these productions emit clouds of high-toxic substances that travel great distances. The most dangerous components of polymer production are phosgene and hydrocyanic acid. brbr Ignition of polymer materials releases "enormous amounts" of dioxins and furans, Alekseyev said. Registered dioxin concentrations in the air amount to "five by ten in the minus tenth degree of a milligramme per litre of the air", he said. Dioxins accummulate in the human body, Alekseyev said. brbr He said NATO air power's destroying of Yugoslavia's refineries and setting them to fire are associated with the release of large amounts of hydrocarbons, the most dangerous of which is benzopyrene. Benzopyrene-contaminated smoke clouds drift as far borders of Romania, Bulgaria and less often the Czech Republic. Alekseyev said another cause for concern was that "Americans have found in the territory of Yugoslavia their convenient method for disposal of decommissioned munitions". brbr He explained that NATO planes fairly extensively use shells with depleted uranium. brbr "In fact, this is waste of nuclear production. These munitions are manufactured in Great Britain under the American license," Alekseyev said. brbr The anti-armour shells with uranium cores are used against tanks and concrete installations. When hitting metal or concrete, the uranium core generates heat which causes partial evaporation of the core with production of uranium oxides. Part of uranium is converted to an aerosol that can spread over large areas. brbr The US' using the shells with depleted uranium in operation Desert Storm in Iraq has left 20-25 percent of the American and British personnel involved in it with diseases and abnormalities at the genetic level, Alekseyev said. brbr NATO's raids are contaminating Yugoslavia and adjacent European states with dioxins, benzopyrene and uranium, he said. brbr "I think that in a year, a situation will occur in this region where the Americans will start talking that foods grown in southern Europe are not good for use," he said. brbr He said "there is a real danger" of contamination of the Black Sea. NATO's bombing causes leaks of oil products from Yugoslavia's storages. The oil products run off with ground waters to the Danube river which drains into the Black Sea. brbr Alekseyev said "a 14 kilometre-long oil sleek with a high content of oil products is moving at a speed of five kipometres an hour" down the Danube these days and is close to the Black Sea. brbr Getting into ground waters, oil products dissolve and convert to aromatic hydrocarbons that are bound to spread to the Black Sea, whose contamination after NATO's strikes on Yugoslavia "already has been confirmed", the military environmentalist said.
[PEN-L:7357] Louise Arbour
Any of the Canadians on Pen-L want to enlighten us about Louise Arbour. There is an interesting Canadian report from February when impartial Arbour called for ground troops to be sent in. I'll post it if anyone is interested. Just the facts. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:7189] Re: Gore Wants Churches to Get Govt. Money
Yah and PTL, Mike E.! My olde school Rattlesnake U., home of the Golden Rattlers, could use a little financial help for all of its years of bringing good news to the heathens; not to mention millions of hours of good works trying to civilize the inhabitants of the greater Mudsuck area. Hey, welfare to work no problem---Rattlesnake U. probably has the best record in the country on that score---we invented welfare to work. Long before it was popular! A few weeks a go I received a cryptic message from Dr. Ed the President of Rattlesnake. I'm a big fan of Dr. Ed and this is some kind of a math problem... 2 M = ( D C) What do you think is on Dr. Ed's mind? Rattlesnake is truly ecumenical, independent and non-denominational and not in the least parochial. So, I'm sure Rattlesnake would meet the guidelines established by Uncle Al the Citizens Pal. Your email pal, Tom L. Michael Eisenscher wrote: Gore: Church Should Get Gov't Funds By Sandra Sobieraj Associated Press Writer Monday, May 24, 1999; 6:05 p.m. EDT ATLANTA (AP) -- Treading on traditional Republican territory, Vice President Al Gore said Monday that churches and other faith-based organizations -- where ``the client is not a number, but a child of God'' -- should receive government funds to help cure social ills. His proposal for ``a new partnership'' between church and state, outlined in a presidential campaign speech at a downtown Salvation Army, centered around the notion that ``politics and morality are deeply interrelated.'' Lest there be any doubt, the Democratic presidential candidate said three times that he believes in the separation of church and state. And his language suggested a skittishness at opening a war with civil libertarians. Even as he said Americans must ``dare to embrace'' religious programs, he stipulated that closer church-state relations should be ``carefully tailored partnerships.'' On a campaign swing here and in Orlando, Fla, Gore picked up $600,000 in donations. He also met privately with five of the six students injured in last week's school shooting in Conyers, Ga., as well as family members of the shooting victims. Places like The Salvation Army, Christ House, and Christian Women's Job Corps have some of the most effective programs dealing with addiction, mental illness and domestic violence, Gore said. ``To the workers in these organizations, that client is not a number but a child of God,'' he said. ``We should explore carefully tailored partnerships with our faith community, so we can use the approaches that are working best.'' His plan would essentially expand conservative Republican Sen. John Ashcroft's ``charitable choice'' provision of the 1996 welfare overhaul that allowed faith-based groups to operate welfare-to-work programs with government money. Gore was short on specifics -- communications director Laura Quinn called it a ``broad idea'' at this point -- but he insisted no government-funded program would ``promote a religious view or try to force anyone to receive religion'' and secular alternatives would be available. But Terri Schroeder, a First Amendment legal analyst at The American Civil Liberties Union, said Gore's plan raised troubling questions. ``How can a religious institution counsel without proselytizing? How can you provide juvenile services without some level of coercion? How can we have any accountability for how our money is spent given the traditional separation of church and state,'' Schroeder asked. For Gore, the political benefit of religious talk is twofold: It sneaks some ground out from under Republicans who have long dominated the morals debate; and, less overtly, may serve to disassociate him from President Clinton's personal scandals. ``It's taken too long for candidate Gore to join Republicans in recognizing the rightful role of churches and religious organizations in solving society's most challenging and pressing problems,'' Jim Nicholson, chairman of the Republican National Committee said. At the same time, he welcomed Gore's ``change of heart.'' A senior policy adviser to Gore, Elaine Kamarck, told The Boston Globe over the weekend, ``The Democratic Party is going to take back God this time.'' Aboard Air Force Two on Monday, vice presidential spokesman Chris Lehane shook his head at Kamarck's candor. He refused to speak to the politics of Gore's new emphasis on spirituality and rejected the notion that Republicans have cornered the market on religious voters. ``I don't think God is partisan,'' Lehane said. Beyond current-day political expedience, Gore can lay claim to a religious and spiritual grounding. As a young man returning from Vietnam, he studied at Vanderbilt's divinity school. And in
[PEN-L:7076] Right to work for less...
If anyone has a op-ed on the Right to work for less---I can get it considered for publication in a respected medium sized Ohio newspaper. Please, let me know. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:7034] Re: query: CEOs' CPI
Dear Jim, I forwarded your message to Forbes Magazine. I'm sure they feel your pain and will no doubt work somthing up for you. Your email pal, Tom L. Jim Devine wrote: does anyone know which US business magazine regularly publishes a consumer price index for rich people? How well are these folks doing in terms of inflation? Is there a time series of data available somewhere? thanks ahead of time. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html Bombing DESTROYS human rights. US/NATO out of Serbia!
[PEN-L:7042] Sitcom's
I guess there's no market out there for a sitcom called the "Beverly Hillbillies and the Real McCoys Join NATO". http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990519/V000297-051999-idx.html
[PEN-L:6804] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: una preguntita
Yes, they sure do---and I really don't care how it's phrased. Vernacular is vernacular. And I'm sure your an expert on Detroit vernacular. ;o) I read super market tabloids and enjoy urban legends, too. Your email pal, Tom L. Charles Brown wrote: Tom, Don't you think most politicians need a lot of political correction ? Charles Tom Lehman [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/13/99 04:04PM Well, Jim, if it's controls on capital flows. And you can combine that with an effort to educate and legislate controls right into the corporate charters of all corporations foreign, domestic and alien. Then you might have a chance of a "better" globalization. What we do here sets the standard for the rest of the world! On the subject of youth. It's sort of like the Canadian Steelworker told Doug Henwood's reporter, welcome to the wonderful world of minimum wage or something like that. Until people start demanding change and I mean demanding it from the politicians nothing is going to change. People are going to have to button-hole politicians of all parties from the local hack to as high as they can reach if they want real change---up close and very personal and not necessarily politically correct. Your email pal, Tom L. Jim Devine wrote: Tom Lehman wrote: For the big industrial unions like the Steelworkers, which is a pretty diverse if not the most diverse union, the losses in jobs resulting from downsizing, globalization etc. have been particularly cruel to our Black membership. Because they and their children will never see union protected jobs again in the so-called brownfields areas. Good jobs to which they have had easy access. right: downsizing (broadly defined) hits the "last hired" (those with the least seniority) hardest. One of the reasons for increased inequality among wage earners is that there is a shrinking of the sector of the working class that is able to benefit from "good jobs" (the primary labor market jobs) so that more and more workers, including younger white workers, are crowded in the secondary labor markets. The whole question is where do you draw the line on globalization, and how do you combat globalization? I think a better question is how can we create a _better_ globalization rather than trying strategies that dump the costs on other nations' working classes via protectionism and the like? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html Bombing DESTROYS human rights. US/NATO out of Serbia!
[PEN-L:6828] Re: una preguntita
Ok. Bill what's your plan? Your email pal, Tom Bill Burgess wrote: At 04:04 PM 13/05/99 -0400, Tom L. wrote: What we do here sets the standard for the rest of the world! This is partly true, but when linked to various protectionist-like schemes it really means "we" come first, which is not a sound basis for international solidarity. Bill Burgess
[PEN-L:6806] Re: una preguntita
I too like facts, and when they resonate as urban legend or rumor, I like them even better! Speaking of fiction becoming fact, rather than fact becoming popular---take a look at Stuart Ewen's book PR! A Social History of Spin. The novel thing about rumors and legends, is they often turn out to be true! Your email pal, Tom L. Charles Brown wrote: TL My idea is WE are correct, virtuous, highminded, cultured, beautiful, efficient, poets, practical, sporty, pals ,all that. Nothing's too good for the working class. It is THEY (the tophats) who are wrong, bad, lowdown, incorrect, grammatically off, trashy. As we say in the vernacular. I'm into fact over fiction. I never seem to be able to finish novels. CB Tom Lehman [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/14/99 09:41AM Yes, they sure do---and I really don't care how it's phrased. Vernacular is vernacular. And I'm sure your an expert on Detroit vernacular. ;o) I read super market tabloids and enjoy urban legends, too. Your email pal, Tom L. Charles Brown wrote: Tom, Don't you think most politicians need a lot of political correction ? Charles Tom Lehman [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/13/99 04:04PM Well, Jim, if it's controls on capital flows. And you can combine that with an effort to educate and legislate controls right into the corporate charters of all corporations foreign, domestic and alien. Then you might have a chance of a "better" globalization. What we do here sets the standard for the rest of the world! On the subject of youth. It's sort of like the Canadian Steelworker told Doug Henwood's reporter, welcome to the wonderful world of minimum wage or something like that. Until people start demanding change and I mean demanding it from the politicians nothing is going to change. People are going to have to button-hole politicians of all parties from the local hack to as high as they can reach if they want real change---up close and very personal and not necessarily politically correct. Your email pal, Tom L. Jim Devine wrote: Tom Lehman wrote: For the big industrial unions like the Steelworkers, which is a pretty diverse if not the most diverse union, the losses in jobs resulting from downsizing, globalization etc. have been particularly cruel to our Black membership. Because they and their children will never see union protected jobs again in the so-called brownfields areas. Good jobs to which they have had easy access. right: downsizing (broadly defined) hits the "last hired" (those with the least seniority) hardest. One of the reasons for increased inequality among wage earners is that there is a shrinking of the sector of the working class that is able to benefit from "good jobs" (the primary labor market jobs) so that more and more workers, including younger white workers, are crowded in the secondary labor markets. The whole question is where do you draw the line on globalization, and how do you combat globalization? I think a better question is how can we create a _better_ globalization rather than trying strategies that dump the costs on other nations' working classes via protectionism and the like? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html Bombing DESTROYS human rights. US/NATO out of Serbia!
[PEN-L:6778] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: una preguntita
Hey, Jimmy D., your the Ph.D., you tell me. How are you going to have a "better" globalization? A realistically enforceable one with labor and environmental standards that protect people. Controls on the movement of capital? Your email pal, Tom L. Jim Devine wrote: Tom Lehman wrote: For the big industrial unions like the Steelworkers, which is a pretty diverse if not the most diverse union, the losses in jobs resulting from downsizing, globalization etc. have been particularly cruel to our Black membership. Because they and their children will never see union protected jobs again in the so-called brownfields areas. Good jobs to which they have had easy access. right: downsizing (broadly defined) hits the "last hired" (those with the least seniority) hardest. One of the reasons for increased inequality among wage earners is that there is a shrinking of the sector of the working class that is able to benefit from "good jobs" (the primary labor market jobs) so that more and more workers, including younger white workers, are crowded in the secondary labor markets. The whole question is where do you draw the line on globalization, and how do you combat globalization? I think a better question is how can we create a _better_ globalization rather than trying strategies that dump the costs on other nations' working classes via protectionism and the like? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html Bombing DESTROYS human rights. US/NATO out of Serbia!
[PEN-L:6782] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: una preguntita
Well, Jim, if it's controls on capital flows. And you can combine that with an effort to educate and legislate controls right into the corporate charters of all corporations foreign, domestic and alien. Then you might have a chance of a "better" globalization. What we do here sets the standard for the rest of the world! On the subject of youth. It's sort of like the Canadian Steelworker told Doug Henwood's reporter, welcome to the wonderful world of minimum wage or something like that. Until people start demanding change and I mean demanding it from the politicians nothing is going to change. People are going to have to button-hole politicians of all parties from the local hack to as high as they can reach if they want real change---up close and very personal and not necessarily politically correct. Your email pal, Tom L. Jim Devine wrote: Tom Lehman wrote: For the big industrial unions like the Steelworkers, which is a pretty diverse if not the most diverse union, the losses in jobs resulting from downsizing, globalization etc. have been particularly cruel to our Black membership. Because they and their children will never see union protected jobs again in the so-called brownfields areas. Good jobs to which they have had easy access. right: downsizing (broadly defined) hits the "last hired" (those with the least seniority) hardest. One of the reasons for increased inequality among wage earners is that there is a shrinking of the sector of the working class that is able to benefit from "good jobs" (the primary labor market jobs) so that more and more workers, including younger white workers, are crowded in the secondary labor markets. The whole question is where do you draw the line on globalization, and how do you combat globalization? I think a better question is how can we create a _better_ globalization rather than trying strategies that dump the costs on other nations' working classes via protectionism and the like? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html Bombing DESTROYS human rights. US/NATO out of Serbia!
[PEN-L:6770] Re: Re: Re: una preguntita
!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" html For the big industrial unions like the Steelworkers, which is a pretty diverse if not the most diverse union, the losses in jobs resulting from bdownsizing, globalization etc/b. have been particularly cruel to our Black membership.nbsp; Because they and their children will never see union protected jobs again in the so-called brownfields areas. Good jobs to which theynbsp; have had easy access. pBlack men, Black women and women in general have suffered proportionately to their numbers, and in our case those numbers are pretty healthy in ratio to the general population. pThe whole question is where do you draw the line on globalization, and how do you combat globalization? pYour email pal, pTom L. brnbsp; pJim Devine wrote: blockquote TYPE=CITEThomas Kruse wrote: brEmployment may be steady, unemployment low, but these kind of numbers brsuggest a lot of turn over.nbsp; I know that when I have to hustle up work, brliving on year-to-year contracts as I do, it is very stressful.nbsp; Sennett's brrecent book illustrates how such hustling makes life pretty miserable. br brIs turnover/instability something you economists study as part of "standard brof living"? pDoug writes: brMost studies of turnover/instability/tenure I've seen for the U.S. show no brsignificant increase from the 1970s. I know this is counterintuitive, and brit pisses people off when I say it sometimes, but it seems to be true. What brmay have happened is that some instability has crept up the social ladder, brmaking middle managers vulnerable to the instability that blue/pink collar brworkers have long known, which attracts more attention than in the past. brAlso, behind the flattish average tenure figures, men are falling but women brare rising. pThis disaggregation is crucial: I read what's happening as the gradual end br(and sometimes rapid demise) of the primary labor market jobs, which broffered some job security, and the spread of secondary labor market type brjobs, which don't. Because middle-aged white males hogged the primary-type brjobs that existed in the core and unionized sectors of the US economy, they br(or rather, people of their demographic category) are the ones who have brsuffered the most from increased instability of job tenure. Women and br"minorities" traditionally had secondary-type jobs and typically had little brin the way of security. Thus, there's been a convergence of job experience brbetween the old insiders and the old outsiders in the labor-power market. pIf we're talking about the bargaining power of the US working class, the brfact that increased instability has hit the types of workers who had the brmost bargaining power in the 1950s and 1960s seems very relevant. pIt might be useful to calculate measures of job instability holding brdemographics constant, in order to see the effects of changes in the brdemographic mix of the US labor force on aggregate stats. pEven though it's always useful to pay attention to statistics, we should bralways be careful with them. This issue reminds me of an article that Bill brLazonick published in the RRPE 25 years ago, on the issue of enclosures in brEngland in the 17th and 18th centuries. He argued against an author who brpointed to the stability of workers' physical location after enclosures, brwhich suggested that Marx was wrong to rail against enclosures as brdisrupting workers' lives, etc. Lazonick argued that despite the author's brstats, social relations had changed radically, i.e., that workers had been brproletarianized. What's been happening in the US is a smaller version of brthis: even though actual job tenure may not have fallen much (especially brfor aggregates), the ability of bosses to threaten their employees with job brloss has increased. The partial deproletarianization that many white male brworkers enjoyed in the 1950s and 1960s has been largely reversed. pSee lt;a href="http://www.mijcf.org/pub03/pub03_workingpapers6.html"http://www.mijcf.org/pub03/pub03_workingpapers6.html/a for a review of brthe literature. It's not full text, just an abstrat, but you can order the brprint version for free. Yes, it's from the Milken Institute, but it's a lit brreview, and one of the authors, Stefanie Schmidt, is a fairly liberal brfeminist. pJust because something comes from the Milken Institute doesn't mean it's brbad. But recently, they seem to have focused more on puff pieces and brjournalism, pulling back from serious research. p...nbsp; Extreme turbulence is capitalism's norm. pBut during the "golden Age" of US capitalism in the 1950s and 1960s, some brof this turbulence had been moderated. pJim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] amp; bra href="http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/JDevine.html"http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/JDevine.html/a brBombing DESTROYS human rights. US/NATO out of Serbia now!/blockquote /html
[PEN-L:6752] Statement of Basic Steel Industry Conference
http://www.uswa.org/news/steel/statement042799.html html head meta NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0" meta NAME="Template" CONTENT="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\html.dot" titleStatement of Basic Steel Industry Conference/title /head body LINK="#FF" VLINK="#800080" BGCOLOR="#FF" bfont FACE="Arial Narrow" p/fontfont FACE="Arial" SIZE="4"STATEMENT OF THE BASIC STEEL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE/p /fontfont FACE="Arial" SIZE="6" p ALIGN="CENTER"UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA/p /fontfont FACE="Arial" SIZE="4" p ALIGN="CENTER"Adopted at Pittsburgh, PA on April 27, 1999/p /fontfont FACE="Arial Narrow" SIZE="5" pnbsp;/p /fontfont FACE="Arial" SIZE="6" p ALIGN="CENTER"I. INTRODUCTION/p /font/bfont FACE="Arial" SIZE="4" p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"The Basic Steel Industry Conference is vested by the International Convention with the authority to implement the wage policy of the Union and apply it to the Basic Steel Industry. In Canada, bargaining matters have been and will continue to be addressed by the Canadian National Policy Conference. We here address these issues as they affect our members in the United States./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"Fulfillment of our charge has always been an imposing task. Today, this body confronts challenges that are in many ways unrivaled since the early days of our Union./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"We meet today on the eve of bargaining with the nation#146;s major integrated steel companies. And while we did bargain with them in 1996, all of our major contracts were resolved through binding arbitration, as provided for in the 1993-94 settlements. Thus for the first time in six years we will be facing the companies with a traditional strike deadline./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"nbsp;/p b p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"Stand Up For Steel/p /b p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"The last six years have been nothing if not eventful. For most of this period the steel industry enjoyed a sustained period of substantial prosperity. Between 1993 and 1997 total industry shipments rose by 18%, operating profit rose from $10 per ton to $40 per ton and the industry generated total profits of over $10 billion./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"Recently, however, a dark cloud has moved over the horizon. /p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"For 18 months now the Steelworkers Union has been speaking out about the crisis facing America#146;s steel industry. Immediately following the first of the currency collapses in Asia, we pointed to the series of events that, if left unchecked, would follow: these countries would face economic collapse and decline in their domestic demand; and, with the application of the IMF#146;s quot;medicine,quot; a flood of imports into America of key manufactured products -#150; particularly steel. /p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"We pointed out that none of this was inevitable, that prompt and decisive Government action could easily avert this crisis. In fact, as we made clear, the longer action was delayed, the more damage would be done, much of it damage that could never be repaired, and the more difficult the problem would be to solve. /p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"Eventually our voice was joined by America#146;s steel companies in the creation of our extraordinary Stand Up For Steel campaign. That campaign, to put it mildly, has turned the nation#146;s capital on its head./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"When we began this effort, no one believed that we could do anything to stop the flood of imports. By November of last year imports consumed almost 50% of our market, and there seemed no limit to the damage that would be done./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"But this Union mobilized and organized itself and has forced our nation#146;s leaders to address the situation. And our efforts are paying off./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"On March 17, the United States House of Representatives, by an overwhelming 289 #150; 141 margin, passed HR 975 #150; a bill limiting steel imports into this country to their level prior to the crisis. While the bill still awaits action in the Senate, it is clear that our Union has succeeded in forcefully bringing the issue to the nation#146;s attention./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"Through our efforts we have also taken important steps toward changing the basic terms of the debate in this country about international trade. The purpose and effect of trade must be to help working people, not enrich multinational corporations and Wall Street. Stand Up For Steel has opened up this issue and has laid important groundwork in creating a global economy that works for workers./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"The crisis is not over, far from it. While it is true that overall import levels in the first quarter of this year were below the record levels reached in the third and fourth quarters of 1998, imports from a number of key steel producing countries are still dramatically above their pre-crisis level. /p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"nbsp;/p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"Although imports of hot-rolled steel declined in the first quarter of 1999 from their peak in November of 1998,
[PEN-L:6751] Re: una preguntita
Yep, we are losing manufacturing sector jobs. Most of these are reported because the jobs in most cases are union jobs---and the various unions see that these losses are reported to the authorities. Although this is not always the case with small manufacturers, who plead ignorance of the law. The raise in the minumum wage has brightened things up a bit for the low wage service sector. And has caused some employers interested in holding their employees to raise wages a bit i.e a big box retailer who was paying $6.00 dollars an hour might raise his wage to $6.25 to reflect the rise in the minumum wage and let his employees know what a generous fellow they work for. :~) Your email pal, Tom L. Thomas Kruse wrote: We read: BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1999 RELEASED TODAY: In January 1999, there were 2,209 mass layoff actions by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 211,796. Both the number of layoff events and the number of initial claimants for unemployment insurance were lower in January 1999 than in January 1998. ... And I wonder: Employment may be steady, unemployment low, but these kind of numbers suggest a lot of turn over. I know that when I have to hustle up work, living on year-to-year contracts as I do, it is very stressful. Sennett's recent book illustrates how such hustling makes life pretty miserable. Is turnover/instability something you economists study as part of "standard of living"? Tom Tom Kruse Casilla 5812 / Cochabamba, Bolivia Tel/Fax: (591-4) 248242, 500849 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:6709] Globalization
!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" html Last night I attended a dinner meeting of the Association of Iron and Steel Engineers.nbsp; The union picked up the tab for me to go and break bread with this august group.nbsp; My job was to pay special attention to the speech by the after dinner speaker a top ranking steel industry executive in the Cleveland area. pThe meal was excellent and the after dinner speech was honest.nbsp; The topic of the speech was "The Global Challenge and Re-Inventing the Company".nbsp; My take on the talk was that it could be summed up as, bwe re-invented the company and got globalized anyway./b pI may bore you with more details later. pYour email pal, pTom L./html
[PEN-L:6634] Albert the Gorey
Here is a little analysis by famous economist Mr. Bob Kuttner.
"Bob" from what I understand was a pretty good guy while a student at
Oberlin College. I understand he asked a lot of questions; and is
rumored to have had an original idea or two, if you know what I
mean.;o) Also, "Bob" mayhave encountered a Rattlesnake U. graduate or
two. I hope he wasn't bit or at least that he got first aide promptly.
Bob mentions an international union president who is a big hero of mine
in this article.
Your email pal,
Tom L.
http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/129/oped/Gore_s_troubles_with_labor_unionsP.shtml
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wire_HertzTrade politics is adding one more complication to the already precarious
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align=leftrade politics is adding one more complication to the already precarious
political life of Vice President Al Gore. The vice president had anticipated an easy
presidential nomination for 2000, assisted by strong labor backing. This seemed
especially likely with the withdrawal from the Democratic field of two labor
favorites, Minnesota's Senator Paul Wellstone and House minority leader Richard
Gephardt.P
PBut last Monday, at a meeting of the AFL-CIO's political committee, presidents of
key industrial unions refused to recommend a unanimous endorsement of the vice
president. Gore and his staff are trying to repair the damage.P
PThe labor federation's political committee makes a recommendation to its executive
committee, scheduled to meet in August. Executive committee action, in turn, sets up
an endorsement at the AFL-CIO general convention in October.P
PThe immediate divisive issue is administration opposition to a bill to protect the
domestic steel industry from a surge of very low-priced steel imported from Asian
nations, triggered by the Asian financial crisis. The administration prefers
negotiating ''voluntary'' export restraints, which preserves the illusion of free
trade.P
PBut the deeper issue is labor unhappiness with the administration's general stance
on trade - everything from NAFTA to demands for presidential ''fast-track''
negotiating authority to the administration's China trade policy. The coolness to Gore
mixes industry-specific concerns with a broader unease that the administration is
promoting a set of rules for world commerce that emphasizes property rights but
largely ignores labor, environmental, and human rights issues. One possible compromise
would have the administration support a trade bill with labor and environmental
standards more to labor's liking.P
PGiven Republican opposition, such a bill would not likely pass. But since any trade
bill is an uphill battle this year, at least a prolabor one would would produce
harmony between the administration and its sometime union allies.P
PThe administration has been generally good to the unions on several narrow policy
matters that are life-and-death issues for organized labor. These include making
[PEN-L:6582] [Fwd: Interesting Econometrics Topics?]
The simple fact of the matter is that most people don't have enough time to sit down and spend hours following and pondering the math used in most journal articles. It's just wonderful for a small number of specialists. The question is just how long will the general public pay for symbolic analysis. In Ohio it's getting harder and harder to get a school tax levy passed---me I'd rather slash and burn the symbolic hindsteiners---than cheat deserving 6th graders. On an another level. If you do devote the time to trying to follow the mathematical arguments being made by a journal author, even an author whose topic interests you. Often you come to the conclusion that you have just witnessed the re-invention of the wheel. This is really frustrating. Your email pal, Tom L. Doug Henwood wrote: John DiNardo wrote: The Journal of Economic Perspectives (from the American Economic Association) is considering a symposium on recent developments in econometrics. Part of my job is to get input from a subset of *non--econometricians* on topics that they might actively choose to read about if published in the JEP. That is, this is not intended to be interesting to *econometricians* -- it is intended to be interesting and accessible to JEP readers. Yeah, I'd like to see some consideration of the actual achievements of 'metrics. What has it told us that other approaches couldn't? Is there such a thing as definitive proof in the field, or do researchers end up just proving what they "knew" from the outset? Doug
[PEN-L:6508] Roll Call Vote Site
Does anyone know of a quick to load, easy to navigate congressional roll call vote website? Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:6487] Re: Re: Vets Want US Troops Out of Balkans (fwd)
This is the best thing the American Legions' done since inventing baseball. Your email pal, Tom L. Peter Dorman wrote: This is exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of when I sent my earlier post about the risk of left-right coalitions. The national interest discourse is poison for the left and will drive away the kinds of people we ought to be trying to win over -- people with an inkling of solidarity beyond their own narrow circle. Most of us would agree, I think, that if the NATO action really had the capacity to save thousands of lives and safeguard human rights, and if it were part of a larger life-saving effort that included the victims of "free world" atrocities as well, we would support it enthusiastically. National interest, for us, has nothing to do with it. The political cost of ganging up with the nationalist antiwar right is too great. Peter Michael Hoover wrote: anyone know if below has a precedent? Michael Hoover Vets Want US Troops Out of Balkans Thursday, May 6, 1999; 5:00 a.m. EDT INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The nation's largest veterans organization has urged President Clinton to immediately withdraw U.S. troops from the Balkans. ``We believe the best thing we can do to support our troops, to protect our troops, is to bring them home,'' said Harold L. ``Butch'' Miller, national commander of The American Legion. ``We believe we are getting into a bad situation in Kosovo.'' The Legion's national executive committee unanimously adopted a resolution Wednesday calling for all U.S. soldiers, pilots and support staff to be removed from the region. The resolution says the U.S.-led NATO attacks against Serbia ``could only lead to troops being killed, wounded or captured without advancing any clear purpose, mission or objective.'' The Legion would permit U.S. involvement if Congress passes a resolution supporting the NATO action; U.S. troops are led only by U.S. commanders; the president explains why the action is ``in our vital national interests;'' and guidelines for the campaign, including an exit strategy, are established. The Legion, which represents about 2.9 million American veterans, has scheduled a news conference today to discuss the resolution, which is being delivered to the White House and all members of Congress. =A9 Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
[PEN-L:6429] KLA Linked To Enormous Heroin Trade/Police suspect drugs helped financerevolt
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/1999/05/05/MN40517.DTLtype=printable !DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML//EN" HTML HEAD TITLE KLA Linked To Enormous Heroin Trade/Police suspect drugs helped finance revolt /TITLE /HEAD blockquote !--body-- BODY BGCOLOR=#FF font size=-1 a href="http://www.sfgate.com"IMG SRC="/templates/thegate_blk.gif" WIDTH=100 height=25 alt="The Gate" border=0 align=absmiddle/A #160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160; a href="http://www.sfgate.com"www.sfgate.com/a #160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160; a href=" http://www.commondreams.org/kosovo/kosovo.htm "Return to regular view/ap /font font size="4"b KLA Linked To Enormous Heroin TradeBRPolice suspect drugs helped finance revolt br/b/FONTfont face=geneva,arial size=1 A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]"Frank Viviano, Chronicle Staff Writer/Abr /FONT font face=geneva,arial size=-2 Wednesday,nbsp;May 5, 1999 br !--copyright-- A HREF="/chronicle/info/copyright" copy;1999 San Francisco Chronicle/A/font p font size=-1 URL: a href=" http://www.commondreams.org/kosovo/kosovo.htm " http://www.commondreams.org/kosovo/kosovo.htm /a /fontp /PPOfficers of the Kosovo Liberation Army and their backers, according to law enforcement authorities in Western Europe and the United /PPStates, are a major force in international organized crime, moving staggering amounts of narcotics through an underworld network that reaches into the heart of Europe. /PPIn the words of a November 1997 statement issued by Interpol, the international police agency, ``Kosovo Albanians hold the largest share of the heroin market in Switzerland, in Austria, in Belgium, in Germany, in Hungary, in the Czech Republic, in Norway and in Sweden.'' /PP That the Albanians of Kosovo are victims of a conscious, ethnic- cleansing campaign set in motion by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is clear. But the credentials of some who claim to represent them are profoundly disturbing, say highly placed sources on both sides of the Atlantic. /PP On March 25 -- the day after NATO's bombardment of Serb forces began -- drug enforcement experts from the Hague-based European Office of Police (EUROPOL), met in an emergency closed session devoted to ``Kosovar Narcotics Trafficking Networks.'' /PP EUROPOL is preparing an extensive report for European justice and interior ministers on the KLA's role in heroin smuggling. Independent investigations of the charges are also under way in Sweden, Germany and Switzerland. /PP ``We have intelligence leading us to believe that there could be a connection between drug money and the Kosovo Liberation Army,'' Walter Kege, head of the drug enforcement unit in the Swedish police intelligence service, told the London Times in late March. /PP As long as four years ago, U.S. officials were concerned about alleged ties between narcotics syndicates and the People's Movement of Kosovo, a dissident political organization founded in 1982 that is now the KLA's political wing. /PP A 1995 advisory by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration warned of the possibility ``that certain members of the ethnic Albanian community in the Serbian region of Kosovo have turned to drug trafficking in order to finance their separatist activities.'' /PP If the drug-running allegations against the KLA are accurate, the group could join a rogues' gallery of former U.S. allies whose interests outside the battlefield brought deep embarrassment and domestic political turmoil to Washington. /PP In 1944, the invading U.S. Army handed the reins of power in Sicily to local ``anti-fascists'' who were in fact Mafia leaders. During the next half century, American governments also turned a blind eye to, or collaborated with, the narcotics operations of Southeast Asian drug lords and Nicaraguan Contras who were allied with the United States in Indochina and Central America. /PP In each case, the legacy of these partnerships ranged from global expansion of the power wielded by criminal syndicates, to divisive congressional inquiries at home and lasting suspicion of American intentions overseas. /PP The involvement of ethnic Albanians in the drug trade is not exclusively Kosovar. It includes members of Albanian communities in Europe's three poorest countries or regions -- Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania -- where the appeal of narcotics trafficking is self-explanatory, even without a separatist war to fund. /PP The average 1997 monthly salary in all three communities was less than $200. In Albania, it was less than $50. /PP According to the Paris-based Geopolitical Drug Watch, which advises the governments of Britain and France on illegal narcotics operations, one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin costs $8,300 in Albania, which lies at the western terminus of a ``Balkan Route'' that
[PEN-L:6444] Re: humane ethnic cleansing
Ok, there were something like 2.2 million people living in Kosovo prior to the NATO attack. Some where around 1.8 million of these people considered themselves to be Albanians. Between 400 thousand and 600 hundred thousand of these 2.2 million people have become war refugees. The question is, what percentage of the war refugees were given the boot from Kosovo by the Yugoslavian authorities because they were Albanians and not for any other reason? What percentage got out while the getting was good; rather than getting bombed, starved or killed in the cross-fire? Your email pal, Tom L. Michael Perelman wrote: How does the US treatment of Haitian refugees compare with the Serbian style ethnic cleansing? If they had turned back the Albanians at the border, as the US did with the Haitians, might the Albanian population not have reached large enough proportions to make them less threatening in the eyes of the Serbians? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:6232] Another Note---severed heads in the garden
Received this, this am from a little-bit of an Ohio politician that I had no idea was of Yugo Serbian ancestry... Tom, "Thanks for sending along your posts on the crisis in the Balkans. I have seen some of them, but not others...so I appreciate your periodic messages. This tragedy has special significance for me being of Serbian and Montenegran extraction. Both parents were born there and I grew up hearing about Kosovo, the Ustasha, Tito and the Balkan wars. Relatives I have heard from there have said NATO bombings have only solidified Milosevic's strength and have driven the democratic opposition into silence."
[PEN-L:6196] [Fwd: Global Resource Bank]
What the heck is this all about? Dear Mr. Lehman, You are cordially invited to review the Global Resource Bank at: www.grb.net Sincerely, John Pozzi GRB Mgr.
[PEN-L:6200] Pass Through
Can anyone think of where the term "pass through" might be used besides in reference to an S corporation. In regard to pension liabilities? It's a non-standard term as far as I know. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:6087] [Fwd: WSJ: Clinton May Compromise on SS]
OH, NO! MR. BILL. I have an AFL-CIO toll free number for calling your represenatives if anyone is in the mood to make a call about MR.BILL and his latest intrigues---no privatization of social security. Your email pal, Tom L. * Social Security Information Project Institute for America's Future * April 28, 1999 Everyone should see this article from today's Wall Street Journal. Just when we thought the privatizers were fatally divided and Republicans were giving up, the White House is preparing options for the President which involve major compromise. And they are making public statements giving credibility to the Archer-Shaw plan. Now is the time to make your views known to the White House. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= THE WALL STREET JOURNAL April 28, 1999 Clinton May Rewrite Social Security Plan Options Being Considered Include GOP Proposal for Private Accounts By GREG HITT and JACOB M. SCHLESINGER WASHINGTON -- Top advisers to President Clinton, struggling to find ways to jump-start the Social Security debate, are considering rewriting the administration's stalled overhaul plan. The range of options described in memos circulated within the administration include moving toward the GOP priority of creating private accounts within Social Security and endorsing politically touchy benefit cuts or tax increases to extend the life of the program. "We're looking for ways to move the ball forward; we're reviewing different strategies and different scenarios," said Gene Sperling, head of the White House National Economic Council. Mr. Sperling wouldn't confirm any specific proposals but acknowledged that for the past two weeks he has been running meetings with Mr. Clinton's economic team seeking new approaches to get the GOP-led Congress focused on the issue. The group is scheduled to meet with the president this week to weigh a new strategy. The effort comes as the reform debate reaches a crossroads on Capitol Hill. Even as House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer (R., Texas) is poised to announce a major reform plan Wednesday, senior Republican leaders in the House and Senate have cooled toward the initiative, preferring instead to focus on protecting Social Security's annual surpluses from being raided to finance other initiatives. Tuesday, Mr. Archer and Mr. Clinton appeared to seek help from each other to overcome obstacles within their parties. Mr. Archer telephoned Mr. Clinton to alert the president of his pending announcement and to seek a meeting on the topic. Mr. Clinton told Mr. Archer that he preferred the current White House plan but promised to review personally his proposal, Mr. Sperling said. The president's current plan, announced at the beginning of the year, would bolster Social Security's solvency with government-managed investments in the stock market and transfers of general revenue into the system, which is largely funded by payroll taxes. It also creates new private retirement accounts, called Universal Savings Accounts, but keeps those separate from Social Security to make clear that Mr. Clinton is protecting the structure of the existing program. President Clinton also steered clear of endorsing any painful choices -- the benefit cuts or tax increases -- that most experts say are ultimately necessary to keep the system afloat when the baby boomers retire. People familiar with the latest administration discussions said possible plans include linking the USA accounts more directly to the Social Security system, a change that might allow Republicans to say that the program was becoming more "privatized." Another area for possible compromise: Both Mr. Clinton and GOP leaders already endorse using a good chunk of budget surpluses to pay down the national debt in a way that would directly, or indirectly, bolster Social Security, though they disagree on the precise approach. One option for the White House would be to forsake the bigger goal of comprehensive reform and instead focus on a bipartisan plan to pay down the debt. Officials cautioned that, despite the recent flurry of activity, any bold new move by the White House was far from certain. A new strategy could be as subtle as issuing encouraging statements about Mr. Archer's plan. Or, Mr. Clinton could threaten to veto any tax or spending bills -- except for emergency spending for Kosovo that try to dip into the budget surplus before a Social Security overhaul plan is reached. White House economic aides are eager for a deal. But some political advisers say the Democratic Party could gain if there isn't an agreement because congressional Democrats and Vice President Al Gore could use the issue to attack Republicans during the 2000 campaign. Indeed, even with a new White House move, Social Security reform remains a long shot, especially with Republicans distancing themselves from the efforts of Mr. Archer and Rep. Clay Shaw
[PEN-L:6083] Ceremony today to honor W.Va. workers killed on job
Here is the correct link to the story about Workers Memorial Day in WV for Rattlesnakes, friends of Rattlesnakes and other interested parties. Fraternally, Tom L. http://www.wvgazette.com/News/ceremony0428.html Title: Ceremony today to honor W.Va. workers killed on job Back Sports Editorials Columns Beat Home Ceremony today to honor W.Va. workers killed on job April 28, 1999 By Ken Ward Jr. STAFF WRITER At least 33 West Virginians died on the job in 1998. State labor leaders say that's 33 too many. The state AFL-CIO today will hold its annual Workers Memorial Day to pay tribute to West Virginia workers who were killed on the job. No one knows exactly how many West Virginians die every year from work-related accidents and illnesses. Concrete figures keep track only of accidents. Illness data is harder to come by, and all accidents are always reported. Nationally, it is estimated that more than 60,000 American workers lost their lives because of workplace injuries and illnesses in 1998. More than 6 million more were injured. In a nation fully capable of making sure there are no workplace injuries or deaths, thousands die yearly because workplace protections are not provided, the state AFL-CIO said in a news release. AFL-CIO officials plan to dedicate a permanent memorial to all workers who have lost their lives in the workplace during a ceremony this evening. The event starts at 6 p.m. at the AFL-CIO offices on Broad Street. AFL-CIO President Jim Bowen and Secretary-Treasurer Kenny Perdue will appear. The ceremony will also include the reading of the names of the West Virginians killed on the job last year. A bell will be rung for each of the workers. The event is part of the national AFL-CIO's Safe Jobs: Make Our Voices Heard campaign. To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., call 348-1702. Write a letter to the editor. Back Sports Editorials Columns Beat Home
[PEN-L:6082] The Rattlesnake School of High and Low Finance
Here is another link from the Mudsuck GazetteMail concerning a more somber topic. http://www.wvgazette.com/News/lv2-0428.html Somthing to discuss with your pals when you get together to drink your coffee and coca-cola this morning. Jim Bowen the President of the WV state AFL-CIO, mentioned in the story, is a past USWA district director and a marvelous man. Jim's father or so I have been told by many people was an outstanding union man too. Jim had a terrible personal loss some years ago when his daughter a Steelworker was killed in a steel mill accident. Fraternally, Tom L.
[PEN-L:6081] Required Reading
I came across a review of an interesting little tome in the links section of the Mudsuck GazetteMail. http://www.wvgazette.com/News/lv2-0428.html I'm sure this book will become required reading in the Astrology Department down at Rattlesnake U. The Quarrier Press is one of my favorite publishers. I put it right up there with Verso, Basic, and Time Warner(which incidentally has published a Rattlesnake or two). The Quarrier Press is located between the Quarrier Diner Tap Room and the Worthy Hotel cattywompus from the olde Hub pool room. If the link doesn't work or you get some story about one of my old classmates at Rattlesnake suggesting converting a top-less bar into a town hall or somthing like that let me know. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:6037] Re: April 28th: Time to Remember
Yes, I remember attending a memorial service for your pal in the late 80's held at the Pitt school of engineering. Two things that I recall from that memorial meeting. One was slides of the little hydro station your friend had built. The other was a slide of an ancient gentleman from the neighborhood who had in his youth had been with the original Sandinistas. This old gentleman had painted his house in Sandinista colors, as much as to say to the contras, come and get me. Another interesting thing another, one of my pals claimed that he had drinks in a hotel bar in Honduras or was it Guatemala with that Hosenfaus(sp) character. Fraternally, Tom L. pamela calla wrote: Tom L. notes: Tomorrow, April 28th is workers memorial day. Workers Memorial Day is dedicated to the people who get killed and injured everyday on the job. On April 28th 1987, Ben Linder was out doing his job: taking water measurements on wier he had built, to determine the potential for small hydroelectric plant development in norther Nicaragua. Laying in wait was a contra "task force". Shots were fired, grenades thrown, and 3 were killed: Ben and two Nicaraguan co-workers. Some months later his folks got an envelope from the State Department; in it were his watch, wallet and a few other things. When asked who was responsible for his son's death, David Linder, Ben's father, responded "someone, who was paid by someone, who was paid by someone ... and all the way down the president of the United States." Ben and I were close; we shared a room in Mataglapa; his wake was held in the office I shared with three nicaraguan co-workers. I was still doing architecture then; my first bit of design work actually built in Nicaragua was the structure around is tombstone. Tomorrow night at the local factory workers union meeting hall we'll be talking about Nicaragua, Ben, teh future. Take a moment tomorrow for Ben; and for all the others sacrificed on the alter of profit of reasons of state. Thanks- Tom Tom Kruse Casilla 5812 / Cochabamba, Bolivia Tel/Fax: (591-4) 248242 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:6017] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Brad De Long on working hours
On the bulletin board over my computer I've got a picture of a bunch of my pals during the 1986 unpleasantness with USX/US Steel. The guy in the center of the picture sitting on the railroad tracks holding the American flag was a good strong union man and an excellent and experienced craftsman. He also was an outstanding participant in our union education and training program. Last year around this time he got whacked by a 30 ton bar of steel while doing his job and bleed to death on the mill floor. Tomorrow, April 28th is workers memorial day. Workers Memorial Day is dedicated to the people who get killed and injured everyday on the job. I can pull some stats if anyone is really interested. Your email pal, Tom L. Brad De Long wrote: Jim Devine wrote: Others have replied to Brad on this so I'll try not to repeat their points. EP Thompson reminds us that the onset of capitalism led to the _rise_ in hours worked per year. Very true... Also, industrial capitalism has led to a qualitative change in the nature and pace of work, often for the worse. In addition to Thompson, see the work of Herbert Gutman. No more drinking on the job, for instance. I don't know about this. It seems to me that in historical perspective--relative, say, to being a field slave at Monticello--conditions of work here and now under modern industrial capitalism are pretty good... Brad DeLong
[PEN-L:5957] The things never change department-Albert Gallatin
Has anyone ever come across any financial papers of or relating to Albert Gallatin during the period between 1781-1800 describing Gallatin's personal connections with European financial interests either governmental or non-governmental. Yawn, Tom L.
[PEN-L:5876] Re: Re: Jim Devine on the Media and Golf
Golf is an industry and I've seen revenue estimates of between $43 billion and $60 billion a year. Some people think that it's bigger. Of the estimated 23-25 million golfers my intuitive hunch is that at least 1/4 are women and I also have a hunch that women control at least 50% or more of the consumer spending on golf. As I suggested to Mike, I don't think it would be to hard to get the golf industry to spring for a study of enviromental factors and cosumer spending in the golf industry. Although I doubt if you could sell them on a title like, Golf Course Zone of Death. Your email pal, Tom L. B.A. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 99-04-23 12:26:24 EDT, Michael Perelman writes: Golf courses employee an enormous amount of toxic materials, especially pesticides and herbicides. and all those pesticides and herbicides are now being linked to breast cancer -- breast cancer lumps have several hundred times the concentrations of pesticides as other tissue in the body. but, the american cancer society has never funded research into this issue -- all the research has been done by underfunded academics working independently. $64,000 question: why has the american cancer society ignored this independent research? Oh, well, um, maybe it has something to do with the fact that the bulk of funding for breast cancer research comes from several European chemical companies who produce -- aha, pesticides. maggie coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED] p.s someplace in my mess of files I have some printed articles about this stuff if anyone is interested.
[PEN-L:5877] Re:Methodists in Yugoslavia Rattlesnake U. 30 Year Reunion Cancelled
Yesterday, when I got home from work and picked my mail up from the basket on the coffee table, I found an ominous little postcard. The card read the Rattlesnake U. 30th Reunion scheduled for this weekend has been canceled. Sorry for any inconvienece call 1-800-666-7734 the alumni office. Well, I knew this was going to happen. Being computer literate, I read the website of Mudsuck GazetteMail which is WV's largest newspaper almost everyday. This weeks front-page news was that a White Christian Identity Separatist Conference was being held in Mudsuck and that they had taken up all of the hotel and motel rooms with in a 30 mile radius of Mudsuck. So, no room at the inn for the Rattlesnakes. This was as people used to say a bummer. I was looking forward to a weekend of trick shooting, moonshine drinking and being chased by 50 some year old co-eds in the woods. Oh, well! Meanwhile there is academic trouble at Rattlesnake U. The head of the Snake Handling Department and Renowned Professor of Speaking in Tongues has decided to call it quits. This is a blow to us Rattlesnakes who are into the liberal arts and sciences. Just think of all the time the good doctor spent teaching your uncle Opie to speak in tongues. Then to make matters worse the Esteemed Professor of Reading and Writing has announced that he is taking a one year sabbatical to an island of the coast of Alaska. This may have something to do with a lack of Sears Catalogs available to his department. Getting back to Yugoslavia. The head of the Rattlesnake U. Department of Genealogy is a Yugoslavian expert. I think he is smart enough not to start any shit between the Croats and the Serbs, because that would be like starting shit down on the Tug River in WV. You could get killed in the crossfire. Because both groups got more in common with each other than they do with you! America has yet to learn this lesson. This is sort of the Kucinich-Kasich tune and let's not forget Tito was a Croat and so are Kucinich and Kasich. Stopping the bombing, calling a peace conference at a ski resort and letting the Albanians know before hand they are not going to be selling any powdered white lighting in Kosovo would be a good start. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:5821] Re: RE: Re: Re: RE: Re:Golf
I have been noticing more reports of unpleasantness on the golf courses of America the last few years. Whether this is new or was unreported on in the past is an open question. In toady's litigious society it just maybe a sign of the times. So far it hasn't happened on the pro-tour, except for an off the links outburst by a long ball hitter. When I'm on a course I try to be courteous and patient and play by the rules as best I know them. My game is very erratic. I don't get a chance to play or practice enough and the weather here although good for golf courses isn't good for golfers. In Yugoslavia skiing from what I am told is the national sport. I have also been told that the peace talks should have been held at a ski resort rather than a French chateau. Do a little skiing, have a party, things could have been worked out. I don't downhill anymore, but, x-country still has some lure to me. 33's Tom L. Max Sawicky wrote: Try not to give him any idea, Charles. Max is gonna soon retire from the grinding work of churning out unread policy papers, to spend his twilight years at a nursing home with a miniature golf course. He already had a vision of it. Yoshie If I had stayed in lit-crit I could be churning out unread books about unread authors, while declaiming to students who write unreadable papers. I think I'm ahead of the game. As for golf, miniature or otherwise, I'd like to point out that one rarely sees a golf tournament marred by fisticuffs or profanity, unlike football, baseball, basketball, hockey, tennis, soccer, and MLA conferences. mbs
[PEN-L:5839] Re: Jim Devine on the Media and Golf
I'll bet you could sell a study of golf to the golf industry. Something pompous like, The Marginal Efficiency of Capital Investment in the Golf Industry: Based on the Marginal Propensity to Consume as Correlated to Environmental Factors. Your email pal Tom L. B.A. Michael Perelman wrote: Jim Devine wrote: As I drove to work this morning, listing to US Nationalist Public Radio, I was struck by the explanations given by the reporter, Silvia Pojoli (sp?), for the US/NATO bombing of the Serbian television station. Not only did it seem that she had abandoned journalistic standards in order to simply paraphrase NATO press releases, but it sure sounded like exactly the same rationalizations could be used to justify the bombing of NPR's headquarters. After all, NPR was being used to whip up popular support for a war and hatred, etc. I heard the same report as Jim. What struck me was weird similarity between Serbian television, which reporter took to be out of line, and United States reports. Serbian television outrageously compared Bill Clinton to Hitler. How could that be? Slobo. is Hitler. Surely, they must be lying. The problem is that golf courses take up tremendous amounts of real estate, closing off the ersatz natural beauty thus created to the general public. Golf courses employee an enormous amount of toxic materials, especially pesticides and herbicides. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University [EMAIL PROTECTED] Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
[PEN-L:5758] John Sweeny
Oberlin Ohio- John Sweeny president of the AFL-CIO will receive an honorary doctor of laws and deliver the commencement address at this years Oberlin College commencement. Details are available on the Oberlin College website. -33- (from my old school) Porter Hollow WV- Gus Buvona popular NYC labor leader and associate of AFL-CIO president John Sweeny will receive an honorary doctor of business management and give the commencement speech at this years Rattlesnake U. graduation ceremonies. If he shows up. The topic of Dr.Buvona's speech will be, "This ain't like the old days or don't sell your cousin Vinnie up the river." Dr. Gus is also expected to announce that he is endowing the new Rattlesnake U. Department of Practical Labor Management Studies. Details will be available on the Rattlesnake U. website. 33's Tom L.
[PEN-L:5806] Re: Re: High school
High School hmm. My brother who majored in sociology in college used to spend a lot of time talking about the sociology of the high school we attended. It was more like a reform school than a high school. He like me paid for most of his college education by working in a steel mill. My dad helped us all he could---and I had other jobs too. My reform school er ah high school classmates were from very diverse economic backgrounds. I played at sports and got ok grades(I did graduate in the upper half of my class). Yes, and they did let you go home after school, sort of like work release. Although the frequent scenes of physical punishment of the students by the guards er ah teachers and administrators would not be tolerated today. I'm talking serious physical stuff here for the slightest infraction of the rules real or perceived. I attended our 20th reunion in 1985. The high point of the evening was when one of my pals ex-wives a Pittsburgh Police person showed up in uniform looking for one of our classmates whose beer distributorship on the South Side was having some kind of a problem. After the formal reunion we got together at an Irish mob bar in an Italian neighborhood. I guess it was considered neutral turf. The only faculty member who showed up from our era was an ex-marine drill instructor who was also our assistant football coach who was not a violent guy, except he would challenge you to an arm wrestling contest once and awhile. He spent the rest of the evening talking about the faculty and administration during our years in terms that would be guaranteed to offend most of the people on this list. Before, I got out of there, one of my favorite old time Irish mob characters who just happened to be in the neighborhood gave me 15 minutes of his best Irish American political analysis. I really don't want to go into some of my Italian American high school pals because like some of my classmates at Rattlesnake U. their families got a lot of bad press in the not so distant past. Am I a better person for my high school/reform school experience, I dunno. I usually don't think about this type of stuff. Your email pal, Tom L. Doug Henwood wrote: Louis Proyect wrote: The point that must be made is that high school prepares you for class society by imposing a brutal reign based on these distinctions, while not permitting you to move up the social ladder. Somebody whose parents lack money or who is not athletically gifted is condemned to remain in the lower classes until graduation. Resentments can boil high--to the point of murder nowadays. When I was in high school (1968-71), I remember a curious cross-class coalition between alienated intellectual geeks like me and the "hoods," who I realize in retrospect were usually of more socially downscale origin than the jocks. We were joined in our contempt for idiotic teachers and sunny-tempered B students. Of course, the geeks went on to good colleges and the hoods to pump gas, so this cross-class alliance didn't persist. I guess this is one way in which high school isn't like grownup society. Doug
[PEN-L:5792] Buck Rogers and the 25th Century
When I was a kid I remember coming across an old book entitled Buck Rogers and the 25th Century. The story if I remember correctly was that Buck was a mining engineer and pilot who is trapped in a mine by a greedy mine owner to keep Buck from exposing the mine owners evil deeds. Anyway, Buck wakes up to find he has slept for 500 years and lives in a world dominated by the Han Air Lords who control the world by flying around in airships blowing things up... I saw a UPI news bulletin that says Arkansas is now telling kids that you shouldn't commit violence on people who "dis" you...Arkansas is going to have a hard time outside of Arkansas and other throughly stupid states with his personal behavior problems now. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:5688] Re: Re: Greek Soldiers Refusing NATO Orders (was Re:WarCommunism?)
If the Nation or any other liberal-labor-left publication really wanted to increase their circulation they would have sent somebody like Doug Henwood, Mike Davis or Michael Moore to Yugoslavia by now. It would be interesting to see what a John Reed, a Jack London or an H.L. Menken would make out of the Yugoslavian Affair, if they were there today. Do any of you Californians' know anything about this Watson fellow who is in Yugoslavia for the LA Times? His stuff is original. 33's, Tom L. Wojtek Sokolowski wrote: At 08:09 PM 4/20/99 -0500, Yoshie wrote: P.S. I wonder how long we can continue to post this sort of info, in that NATO regards Yugo media (especially TV but not limited to them) as legitimate bombing targets and that the US military is developing what to Yoshie, I also periodically check the Yugoslav web sites, but I do not find the information posted there particularly trustworthy either. Two lies do not make one true statement, so repeating "alternative" lies does not seem to be a very effective means of getting information. The problem is that we are beeing spoon fed pulp fiction by well organized propaganda machines, especially on this side of the Atlantic Ocean - but we do not have any effective means of sorting out truth from fiction. Reliance on the multitude of sources can only work when those sources are independent of each other - in which case we can assemble some 'central tendency" by scanning multiple sources, and thus approximate the truth. But in today's reality - no independent media exist (Michaal Parenti made a quite convincing argument for that) - what we have is a chorus - many voices singing a single tune. The US media essentially parrot the same line spoon-fed to them by the government and corporate PR departaments, adding only their own spin. The same holds for the Yugoslav media (I guess there is a slighgtly greater variety of voices in Western Europe). Surveying the opinions posted on the net does not solve the problem either, because: 1. people often repeat hearsay and fantasies they heard in the media of from other people, and more importantly 2. There would have to be a mechanism in place that samples internet opinions across the entire spectrum, but no such mechanism exists. What we have is self-selection - people tuning to what they want to hear and avoiding what theyr do not. Moreove, internet is a far more effective tool for disinfiormation operations than organizing tool for the oppositions. All that government spooks need to do is to post fabricated "news" to the NGO listservs and discussion groups - it is really easy and the risk of being detected is close to nil. But there is a long way between laptop networking and real life organizing. I think we are quite screwed in this (dis)information age - because the truth can be more effectively drowned in fabricated pulp fiction than ever before. Wojtek
[PEN-L:5610] A personal note from a Philadelphia Democrat
"Another concern is that the Republicans will successfully elect a new national team in this country next year, partly by playing off against the perceived failure of the Democratic administration's Kosovo policy. In this, they will follow the lead of Eisenhower, who successfully argued in 1952 that he would clean up the Democratic mess in Korea." The above was written to me by a prominent Philadelphia area Democrat this morning. 33's Tom L.
[PEN-L:5511] Re: Re: Re: Re: How the Serbs became fascists
Dear Doug, Since we are talking Democrats...One thing that Clinton and Gore are accomplishing by their terrible and tragic actions against Yugoslavia is the driving out of the Democrat party of a good solid, stable group of voters. Namely Serbian Americans and Eastern Rite/Orthodox Christans. We are talking somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-8 million votes. And these are people who do vote and who do make their little contributions. These same people are not locked into the Democrat party; even though they are loyal Democrats. Your email pal, Tom L. Doug Henwood wrote: Seth Sandronsky wrote: Haven't American "liberals" always served served the ruling circles of power in such a fashion? Oh yes, they certainly have. At the risk of upsetting Col. Sawicky, Bob Dole was factually correct when he said that most of the wars of this century have been "Democrat wars." I agree with Lou that it'd be a mistake to pin too much on party personality, but I wouldn't want to dismiss it entirely - is it mere accident that the CIA and the IMF were founded by Democrats? If in this post-Cold War world we're partly going back to some pre-WW II division of ideological labor, the Dems are the internationalists and the Reps the isolationists. For the rest of the world, wouldn't it be better to have the isolationists in charge? Doug
[PEN-L:5558] A note from an American Serbian politician
Late this afternoon I received a personal note from an American Serbian politician. I would describe this gentleman as a liberal democrat both in the American and Serbian sense of the term. He tells me that Yugoslavia is ruined. Even if by some miracle the sanctions were lifted tommorow, the people would be unable to work because their workplaces have been destroyed. He feels that some of our own American "heroes" are war criminals... 33's, Tom L.
[PEN-L:5484] SEC Database Search Engine
Here is a really nice SEC database search engine. http://www.tenkwizard.com/ 33's Tom L.
[PEN-L:5378] Re: Re: Steel Biz
Dear Gene, Yep. That seems to be part of the rap on this Peterson(Petersen). Interestingly enough the really big backing behind some recent Blackstone deals appears to becoming from Henry Hillman and Elsie Hillman. Elsie was and or is a Republican National Committewoman and has in the past exhibited better than average common sense. Elsie is also a cousin of George Bush Sr. From what I can gather the Hillmans go back to the days of Mike Fink and the river pirates. At one time there was and still maybe a Hillman Barge Line. The Hillmans are one of the wealthiest families in America and Henry Hillman is known as a venture capitalist. Although, the only thing I've ever seen written publically on the families ventures was when one of the Hillmans opened a gourmet resturant.:o) Your email pal, Tom L. Eugene Coyle wrote: A founder of the Blackstone Group is Pete Peterson, a rabid attacker of Social Security. Gene Coyle Tom Lehman wrote: If anyone has come across anything interesting on the Blackstone Group a/k/a Blackstone Capital Partners II or a Veritas Capital and their interest in the steel industry, please, send it along to me. For professional reasons or confidentiality you are encouraged to replay off-list if necessary. Sincerely and fraternally your email pal, Tom Lehman United Steelworkers of America Lynn R. Williams Learning Center 3315 W. 21st Street Lorain, Ohio 44053 440-282-6015 phone 440-282-3704 fax
[PEN-L:5418] The Yugoslavian Affair
Thomas Lehman 3315 W. 21st St. Lorain, Ohio 44053 440-282-6015 Dear Editor: I am hoping that your newspaper will continue to take a reasoned approach to our countries highly propagandized hostilities with Yugoslavia. It should be remembered that Yugoslavia was our ally in WWI, WWII and the Cold War. In 1998 Yugoslavia was faced with a rebellion by about 5,000 members of a white separatist terrorist organization called the Kosovo Liberation Army(KLA) operating out of the neighboring country of Albania. For some unknown reason our American politicians have decided to use our air power to act as the air force for the terrorist KLA. We have cast aside a tried and true ally in Yugoslavia, to support a group of fanatic white Albanian separatists. This makes no sense. We should stop our bombing of Yugoslavia at once and seek counsel from the Moslem and Orthodox Christian leadership of Yugoslavia. Neither of whom have been consulted by Clinton, Gore and their cabal. Is this war really about extending the power of American corporations? Sincerely, Thomas Lehman
[PEN-L:5357] Re: Re: contract on america
Dear Mike, A congressman told me that Clinton has support for his actions in the western states. You can't get much further west than northern California. What do you think of the congressman's statement? Somehow I just can't imagine the cowboys and cowgirls out your way being too taken in by Clinton, Gore and their entourage. Your email pal, Tom L. Michael Perelman wrote: We can only speculate about how bad Dole would have been, but I think that Bush represents a close approximation. Bush's supreme court nomination was to the left of Clinton's. Sure, Dole would have thrown some red meat at the Republicans, but at the same time he would have given a few Democrats some backbone. Today, the Democrats are spineless. What Democrats stood up and opposed the present nonsense in Yugoslavia? Just as James Watt energized the environmental movement, the Dole presidency would have energized people on the left. Perhaps Clinton's main crime was to neuter the left, freeing the establishment to the victimize people here and abroad. Dole never struck me as particularly competent. He never could have carried out the Republic agenda as well as Clinton. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University [EMAIL PROTECTED] Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
[PEN-L:5265] Steel Biz
If anyone has come across anything interesting on the Blackstone Group a/k/a Blackstone Capital Partners II or a Veritas Capital and their interest in the steel industry, please, send it along to me. For professional reasons or confidentiality you are encouraged to replay off-list if necessary. Sincerely and fraternally your email pal, Tom Lehman United Steelworkers of America Lynn R. Williams Learning Center 3315 W. 21st Street Lorain, Ohio 44053 440-282-6015 phone 440-282-3704 fax
[PEN-L:5201] [Fwd: The Socialist, the Communist, the Nihilist]boundary=------------3FA298C8FA44958A3604BD74
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --3FA298C8FA44958A3604BD74 --3FA298C8FA44958A3604BD74 Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 18:38:30 -0400 Message-Id: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Originator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Robert Weissman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: The Socialist, the Communist, the Nihilist MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Comment: Please see http://lists.essential.org for help There is a new breed of activist roaming the land. These are activists who believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with the large corporation itself -- that it is not what corporations do wrong that is the problem, it is corporations themselves that are the problem. These activists believe large corporations as they exist today are fundamentally undemocratic and cannot be reformed. These activists question whether corporations should be considered legal persons with the same rights of you and I and other living human beings. They question the very nature of the corporation. Richard Grossman and his colleagues at the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy are travelling the country, encouraging activists of all stripes to begin asking fundamental questions about citizen control of corporations, to research the history of corporations, and to begin to question corporate control over the citizenry. In 1996, Grossman was in Columbus, Ohio, where he met with 25 activists from around the state for two days. One activist who attended was Greg Coleridge. Coleridge was born and raised and spent most of his life in Akron, Ohio. For the past 17 years, he has been an activist with the American Friends Service Committee -- the Quakers. After hearing Grossman speak, Coleridge and fellow activists in Ohio began researching the history of corporations in Ohio. They found a speech given by Williams Jennings Bryan to the 1912 Constitutional Convention in Columbus, Ohio. Ask yourself: Who today would speak in such a manner? This is what William Jennings Bryan had to say in 1912: "The first thing to understand is the difference between the natural person and the fictitious person, called the corporation. They differ in the purpose in which they are created, in the strength which they possess, and in the restraints under which they act. Man is the handiwork of God and was placed upon earth to carry out a Divine purpose. The corporation is the handiwork of man and was created to carry out a money-making policy. There is comparatively little difference in the strength of men. A corporation may be one hundred, one thousand, or even one million times stronger than the average man. Man acts under the restraints of conscience, and is influenced also by a belief in the future life. A corporation has no soul and cares nothing about the hereafter." They found that the Ohio Supreme Court stripped Standard Oil of Ohio of its charter for monopolizing the oil industry. The Standard Oil Trust fled to New Jersey, the Delaware of its day. And Standard Oil wasn't alone. The Ohio state legislature and courts had stripped dozens and dozens of corporations of their charters for wrongdoing. Don't do as we tell you and you're out! They found that the much ballyhooed Sherman Antitrust Act was a bone thrown to activists. The act was named after John Sherman, the Senator from Ohio. This is Senator Sherman urging his fellow members of the Senate to pass his legislation into law: The people "are feeling the power and grasp of these combinations, and are demanding of every [state] legislature and of Congress a remedy for this evil, only grown into huge proportions in recent times. . .You must heed their appeal, or be ready for the socialist, the communist, and the nihilist. . .Society is now disturbed by forces never felt before. The popular mind is agitated with problems that may disturb the social order. Among these, none is more threatening than the inequality of condition, wealth and opportunity" that has emerged from "the concentration of capital in vast combinations to control production and trade and to break down competition." Coleridge and his friends pulled together this information in a nifty little booklet called: Citizens Over Corporations: A Brief History of Democracy in Ohio and Challenges to Organizing in the Future. "Corporations are a different kind of creation," Coleridge told us recently. "There is no surprise that corporations have ended up working against the human interest and against the common good." So Greg, if not corporations, what? "If we can ever get to the point of asking that question, we will have moved forward," Coleridge says. "Just as fish think water is necessary for existence, human beings have come to see corporations as necessary to economic existence. It is so much accepted as a given that we don't tend to believe that there is any other way." Right
[PEN-L:5155] Bogdan
Lou, I'm pretty sure that Bogdan roughly translates into American as "nose hair"; possibly one of the central Asian language group experts will clarify this translation. Somewhere there is a picture of the original Bogdan with long black hairs growing out of each nostril. It was cool at one time in central Asia. I hope I haven't offended any central Asians. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:5029] Re: Timetable?
Two good messages you could send. 1. The Yugo/Serbs were our allies in WWI, WWII and the COLD WAR. 2. Clinton, Gore and company came down hard on armed separatist groups like the Waco Branch Dividians, The Montana Freeman, the incident at Ruby Ridge etc. etc.How many were killed, wounded or are now in prison for these small scale separatist outbreaks? What would Clinton-Gore and Co. do if one of these militia groups went ballastic? Your email pal, Tom L. Lisa Ian Murray wrote: How much more shaping up of our facts and conjectures before we go on the "offensive"? http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html Ian Murray Seattle, WA
[PEN-L:4916] Peace! Skip April 30th for buying gasoline!boundary=------------DBC37376FAF95634FD251B68
--DBC37376FAF95634FD251B68 Peace! Skip April 30th for buying gasoline! A small revolt. Send it on! Sent to me by one of my pals. 33's Tom L. --DBC37376FAF95634FD251B68 !doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" html bPeace! Skip April 30th for buying gasoline! A small revolt. Send it on!/b pSent to me by one of my pals. p33's pTom L./html --DBC37376FAF95634FD251B68--
[PEN-L:4938] Re: RE: Johnny Bull Propagandaboundary=------------C563E89206EB17453817D2BF
--C563E89206EB17453817D2BF Nato and Defense Department Press Conference high-lights on NPR, various mainstream wire service reports etc.etc. CNN even showed demonstration footage of cluster bombs including the new ground fired rocket propelled ones that we are sending or have sent to Albania or Macedonia to finish cleaning out the province of Kosovo. They maybe in use already? Some of our allies may call cluster bombs, cassette bombs. You might want to check with one of your sources in Washington to find out if there really are cruise missiles that carry cluster bombs or some euphemism for them? Very nasty business. Knowledge is good, Tom L. Max Sawicky wrote: It seems our British cousins are working overtime spinning out their usual wartime fare of horror propaganda. Yet at the same time they have no problem dropping really dumb weapons like cluster bombs on the "Albanians", Serbs and others in Yugoslavia. The limey officer's , "oh so sorry", is going to wear thin quickly. You've mentioned NATO use of cluster bombs in Kosovo twice. Please provide your source for this item. Your e-mail pal, Max --C563E89206EB17453817D2BF !doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" html Nato and Defense Department Press Conference high-lights on NPR, various mainstream wire service reports etc.etc. bCNN even showed demonstration footage of cluster bombs /bibncluding the new ground fired rocket propelled ones that we are sending or have sent to Albania or Macedonia to finish cleaning out the province of Kosovo.nbsp;/b bThey maybe in use already?nbsp;/b Some of our allies may call cluster bombs, cassette bombs.nbsp; You might want to check with one of your sources in Washington to find out if there really are cruise missiles that carry cluster bombs or some euphemism for them? Very nasty business. pKnowledge is good, pTom L. pMax Sawicky wrote: blockquote TYPE=CITE It seems our British cousins are working overtime br spinning out their br usual wartime fare of horror propaganda.nbsp; Yet at the br same time they have br no problem dropping really dumb weapons like cluster br bombs on the br "Albanians", Serbs and others in Yugoslavia.nbsp; The br limey officer's , "oh br so sorry", is going to wear thin quickly. pYou've mentioned NATO use of cluster bombs in Kosovo twice. brPlease provide your source for this item. pYour e-mail pal, pMax/blockquote /html --C563E89206EB17453817D2BF--
[PEN-L:4940] The Times: Balkans War:Cluster-bombing ends frustration of Harrierpilotsboundary=------------F548687E5A54E2F23D4B0DF2
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--F548687E5A54E2F23D4B0DF2
If you don't believe my bullshit. Here is a little somthing for every
Englishman's home consumption. Maybe the Johnny Bulls are getting a
little squimish? Who us?
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/99/04/07/timfgnkos03016.html?1996766
--F548687E5A54E2F23D4B0DF2
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TABLE WIDTH="392" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" BORDER="0"TRTD
COLSPAN="2"/TD/TRTRTD ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH=150!--start date--April 7
1999!--end date--
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Aircrews elated at successful mission, writes BJohn Phillips/B in Gioia del
Colle
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standfirst--/FONT
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An RAF Harrier in Italy is prepared for a sortie !--end caption--BR
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Cluster-bombing ends frustration of Harrier pilots !--end main headline--
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RAF HARRIER pilots used cluster-bombs for the first time against Serbia yesterday,
hitting a variety of mobile targets in Kosovo in a daylight blitz hours after scoring
"good hits" on a missile store with laser-guided bombs in a separate night raid near
Pristina.
P
The officer commanding No 1 Fighter Squadron gave a thumbs-up sign from his cockpit to
reporters watching by the runway as he taxied back to the hangars at the Gioia del
Colle base in southern Italy after the operation. The wings of his fighter-bomber were
carrying only two of the four distinctive green and white cluster-bomb canisters that
were slung beneath them when he took off at the head of ten Harriers nearly two hours
earlier.
P
"A few of the pilots that I have spoken to were confident that they hit the targets,"
said Group Captain Ian Travers Smith, an RAF spokesman. "They think they have taken
out mobile or moving targets. The weapons they were using were RBL755 cluster-bomb
units designed for anti-armour and anti-vehicle type targets primarily. There were a
variety of targets hit in Kosovo."
P
Each cluster-bomb canister contains 147 bomblets the size of a beer can that are
released when the bombs are dropped. Typically they form a sausage-like pattern that
the pilots try to make overlap to cover a large rectangular area with what can be a
"devastating" effect on tanks or other armoured vehicles such as those attacking
villages in Kosovo, the spokesman said.
P
The RAF did not immediately say how many bombs were dropped, but reporters counted 20
canisters on five aircraft that took
[PEN-L:4934] Johnny Bull Propaganda
It seems our British cousins are working overtime spinning out their usual wartime fare of horror propaganda. Yet at the same time they have no problem dropping really dumb weapons like cluster bombs on the "Albanians", Serbs and others in Yugoslavia. The limey officer's , "oh so sorry", is going to wear thin quickly. Cluster bombs from what I've been told spew out thousands of pellets or darts over a wide area. It's known as a "cluster f__k!", because if your anywhere around when one goes off "your f__ked!". Also those 2,000 pound bombs will do more damage than anything that our own American separtists set off in Ok City. That brings up the subject of our own American separtists i.e. the Wacoists, the Montana Freeman, the incident at Ruby Ridge etc.etc. Clinton came down on these scattered little kook groups pretty hard. How many of them were killed, wounded or are now in prison. Then Clinton turns around and bombs Yugoslavia for dealing with their separtists the KLA---a much more heavily armed group of wacos'. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:4914] Re: Re: Re: Austin's correct academic affiliation3.0.1.32.19990405101657.00f07a18@popserver.panix.com 3.0.5.32.19990405175916.0080a100@mail.netzero.net
Dear Mark, The book I'm thinking of has a more academic title. Not being an academic myself, I don't keep real close touch on these kind of things. If the book comes my way again I'll let you know the author and title. I sort of have an aversion to this type of stuff, because during my days at Rattlesnake U., I knew numerous members of various families who got a lot of bad press in the old days. So, as I was taught at Rattlesnake, play your cards close to your chest. Sort of like "Omerta" if you know what I mean. Btw, have you seen any of this, "for peace don't buy gasoline on April 30th 1999!" 33's, Tom L. Mark Rickling wrote: Speaking of East Tennessee state, they had a really smart steel analyst who was a an expert on Taylorism. No kidding. Also, someone from down thar wrote a real interesting book on the economic causes of the Appalachian feuds. Turns out a lot of feuds, if not most of them were in response to corporate economic and corporate political take-overs of local economies. A well documented little book. Are you thinking of Altina Waller's Hatfields, McCoys, and Social Change in Appalachia, 1860-1900 (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1988)? At the time of publication, she was at SUNY Plattsburgh though. mark NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet. Shouldn't you? Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download.html
[PEN-L:4801] Re: Austin's correct academic affiliation
Gee, Lou thanks for mentioning my old alma matter Rattlesnake U. One correction though, it's in West Virginia, not Nebraska. Speaking of East Tennessee state, they had a really smart steel analyst who was a an expert on Taylorism. No kidding. Also, someone from down thar wrote a real interesting book on the economic causes of the Appalachian feuds. Turns out a lot of feuds, if not most of them were in response to corporate economic and corporate political take-overs of local economies. A well documented little book. Btw, I had a miner in snake handling. Your email pal, Tom L. "Knowledge is Good" Louis Proyect wrote: I received clarification offlist this morning that Andy Austin teaches at the U of Tennessee - Knoxville and not Eastern Tennessee State. For all I know, the latter institution might not even exist. Although I might use it in one or another of my impudent posts down the road, in the same manner that I use Rattlesnake State College in East Jesus, Nebraska. Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
[PEN-L:4732] John Cameron Swazey(sp)
Dear Pen-L, Some of the anti-Yugo/Serb propaganda is starting to wear thin as Lou and others have pointed out. Does anyone remember John Cameron Swazey who did the olde Timex commericals. Who the heck was John Cameron Swazey anyway? Besides being a voice on the radio and a talking head on TV. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:4709] Yugo Plan
What will NATO do now? http://www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/1999/04/01/rugova990401 Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:4702] You Make The Call
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Dear Pen-L, With a little help from our friends, please! Your email pal, Tom L. http://www.uswa.org/news/YouMakeTheCall2.html name="YouMakeTheCall2.html" filename="YouMakeTheCall2.html" l2.html" l2.html" html head meta NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0" titleYou Make The Call /title /head body bgcolor="#FF" p ALIGN="CENTER"font face="Arial" size="6"strongYou Make The Call !br (Toll Free) !br Tell These Companies br amp; Their CEOs, /strong/fontfont size="6"/p i p ALIGN="CENTER"strongfont face="Arial"quot;We#146;re Fed Up !quot;/font/strong/p /i p ALIGN="CENTER"bfont face="Times New Roman"Continental General Tirebr 1-800-685-7651 /font/p p ALIGN="CENTER"font face="Times New Roman"Oregon Steel Millsbr 1-800-547-9451/font/p p ALIGN="CENTER"font face="Times New Roman"Southwire Companybr 1-800-444-1700/font/p p ALIGN="CENTER"font face="Times New Roman"Titan Internationalbr 1-800-518-4826/font/p p ALIGN="CENTER"font face="Times New Roman"Wells Fargo Bankbr 1-800-869-3557/font/p p ALIGN="CENTER"font face="Times New Roman"Kaiser Aluminumbr 1-800-541-4502/font/p p ALIGN="CENTER"font face="Times New Roman"RMI Titaniumbr 1-330-544-7622 (not toll-free)/font/p hr p ALIGN="CENTER"font face="Arial"Here Are Some Suggested /bMessages br /fontfont face="Arial" size="6"strongFor Your Toll-Free Calls:/strong/font/p /fontfont size="3" p ALIGN="CENTER"/fontfont SIZE="4"font face="Arial"(If you make up your own message, please don#146;t use profanity.)/font/p /fontb ol u lifont face="Arial"Continental General Tire, Inc. (1-800-685-7651)/u/b Workers at German-controlled General Tire in Charlotte, NC have been engaged in an unfair labor practice strike for a first contract since September 20, 1998. /li bpAsk (or leave a message) for General Tire#146;s MSI#146;s president Bernd Frangenberg, and tell him, quot;Your company#146;s illegal attempts to run over American workers in the U.S. would never be tolerated in Germany, and we won#146;t let it continue here or anywhere else in the world!quot;/p u liOregon Steel Mills (1-800-547-9451, ext 5225)./u/b Workers at OSM#146;s CFamp;I Steel, L.P. subsidiary in Pueblo, Co. have been engaged in an ongoing struggle since October 3, 1997. /li bpAsk for OSM#146;s president uJoe Corvin, and tell him/u/b: bquot;As a Steelworker, I want to tell you personally that union busting does not pay. Stop breaking the law. Return our brothers and sisters to their jobs in the mill at CFamp;I now, and start negotiating in good faith for a fair labor agreement! Maybe then you#146;ll start making money again!quot;/p u liSouthwire Company (1-800-444-1700)./u/b 550 Members at Southwire#146;s Hawesville, KY facility have been engaged in a bitter dispute since June 26, 1998 to obtain a first contract./li bpAsk for Southwire#146;s CEO uRoy Richards, and tell him/u/b: bquot;The Steelworkers will win in our fight to get a first contract for the workers in Hawesville, Kentucky! We won#146;t stop fighting you until we do! quot;/p u liWells Fargo Bank (1-800-869-3557)/b /uWells Fargo is bankrolling, to the tune of $125 million, Oregon Steel Mills#146; illegal attempt to break our union at CFamp;I Steel, L.P. subsidiary in Pueblo, Co. where USWA members have been engaged in an ongoing struggle since October 3, 1997. /li bpAsk for Wells Fargo#146;s CEO uPaul Hazen/u/b: bquot;Your bank is the quot;money bagquot; for Oregon Steel Mills#146; illegal assault on workers at CFamp;I Steel. It#146;s not good business for your bank to be lending OSM money, and if you continue to do so, your bank will be left quot;holding the bagquot; and it will be empty! Until your bank changes its evil ways, I won#146;t bank with Wells Fargo!quot;/p u liTitan International, Inc. (1-800-518-4826. Hold for operator. Or at recording press 8, then 8295)/u/b Members of USWA Local 164 have been engaged in an unfair labor practice strike against Titan Tire Corporation in Des Moines, Iowa since May 1, 1998. Members of USWA Local 303L have also been engaged in and unfair labor practice strike since September 15, 1998. Titan has committed more than a dozen unfair labor practices at both locations, including the transfer of 200-300 jobs from Des Moines to the Mexican border./li bpAsk for Titan#146;s CEO uMorry Taylor, and tell him/u: quot;I strongly object to Titans#146; threats and attempts to intimidate our members in Des Moines and Natchez, and your other employees in the U.S., South America and Europe. I oppose all forms of terrorism and Corporate Terrorism is no different. I will do everything that I can to assist my Brothers and Sisters at Titan International. Your Corporate Terrorism will not work!quot; /p u liKaiser Aluminum (1-800-541-4502)/b /u3,100 USWA members at 5 Kaiser plants are
[PEN-L:4530] Racakboundary=------------E9C9076BD1F5F8F5052FED75
--E9C9076BD1F5F8F5052FED75 Dear Lou, From what I've read the Serb's would like to know what American government official the New York Times was talking to the day before the crime against humanity at Racak? Did the NYT know somthing was going to happen the day before it happened? The only place I've seen reports that some of the bodies had been mutilated is in the Serbian press! Not a very pleasant subject, Tom L. --E9C9076BD1F5F8F5052FED75 !doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" html Dear Lou, pFrom what I've read the Serb's would like to know what American government official the New York Times was talking to the day bbefore/b the crime against humanity at Racak? brDid the NYT know somthing was going to happen the day before it happened? pThe only place I've seen reports that some of the bodies had been mutilated is in the Serbian press! pNot a very pleasant subject, pTom L./html --E9C9076BD1F5F8F5052FED75--
[PEN-L:4441] Barbara Ehrenreich
Marc Cooper talks to Barbara Ehrenreich about her experiment in low wage labor and with low wage life styles on this weeks Radio Nation. Don't miss listening to this interview. If your computer has an audio player all you have to do is go to the Nation website and click. This is the real thing in econometrics! Talk about varibles and parameters... Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:4447] Re: Re: Re: Becker Hails House Passage Of Steel RecoveryActAs Victory For Main Street; Urges Rapid Senate Passageboundary=------------B8F3F7BF4DAC9806AEF06BE5
--B8F3F7BF4DAC9806AEF06BE5 Dear Henry, Our position very well stated by you. We will not abandon the social costs of doing business! Your email pal, Tom L. "Henry C.K. Liu" wrote: Below-cost dumping is not good for producers regardless of location. In the emerging economies, dumping is outright destructive, because it reinforces the race to the bottom effect of world trade. The drop in prices will only intensify cost pressures on even lower wages and more environmental abuses. Price-related import quotas worldwide are progressive measures in an economic scenario of regressive commodity deflation. International division of labor and global allocation of environmental burdens must be regulated with international minimum standards. The goals has to be to raise the productivity of all producers to match that of American producers, and not to subject the advances of the American steel industry to bogus "creative destruction" of backward production processes built on the backs of oppressed labor and irresponsible envirnomental practices. Backsliding is not progress. A prosperity built on deflation is a depression in disguise. Henry C.K. Liu Jim Devine wrote: What does the USWA think of the fact that this policy broadcasts depression to the world, i.e., to steel producers outside the US? --B8F3F7BF4DAC9806AEF06BE5 !doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" html bDear Henry,/b pbOur position very well stated by you./b pbWe will not abandon the social costs of doing business!/b pbYour email pal,/b pbTom L./b p"Henry C.K. Liu" wrote: blockquote TYPE=CITEBelow-cost dumping is not good for producers regardless of location. brIn the emerging economies, dumping is outright destructive, because it brreinforces the race to the bottom effect of world trade.nbsp; The drop in brprices will only intensify cost pressures on even lower wages and more brenvironmental abuses.nbsp; Price-related import quotas worldwide are brprogressive measures in an economic scenario of regressive commodity brdeflation.nbsp; International division of labor and global allocation of brenvironmental burdens must be regulated with international minimum brstandards.nbsp; The goals has to be to raise the productivity of all brproducers to match that of American producers, and not to subject the bradvances of the American steel industry to bogus "creative destruction" brof backward production processes built on the backs of oppressed labor brand irresponsible envirnomental practices.nbsp; Backsliding is not brprogress.nbsp; A prosperity built on deflation is a depression in disguise. pHenry C.K. Liu pJim Devine wrote: pnbsp; What does the USWA think of the fact that this policy broadcasts br depression to the world, i.e., to steel producers outside the US? br/blockquote /html --B8F3F7BF4DAC9806AEF06BE5--
[PEN-L:4445] Re: Re: Becker Hails House Passage Of Steel RecoveryAct AsVictory For Main Street; Urges Rapid Senate Passageboundary=------------4332E4C6D64A4A366660443A
--4332E4C6D64A4A30443A Dear Jim, It's real simple, we are not going to be beaten to death by the sado-monetarists, many of whom who operate in neo-liberal guise. Your email pal, Tom L. Jim Devine wrote: What does the USWA think of the fact that this policy broadcasts depression to the world, i.e., to steel producers outside the US? At 07:24 AM 3/19/99 -0500, you wrote: http://www.fairtradewatch.org/housevictoryrelease.html USWA NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Distribution, Wednesday, March 17, 1999 Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/JDevine.html --4332E4C6D64A4A30443A !doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" html bDear Jim,/b pbIt's real simple,nbsp; we are not going to be beaten to death by the sado-monetarists, many of whom who operate in neo-liberal guise./b pbYour email pal,/b pbTom L./b pJim Devine wrote: blockquote TYPE=CITEnbsp;What does the USWA think of the fact that this policy broadcasts depression to the world, i.e., to steel producers outside the US? pAt 07:24 AM 3/19/99 -0500, you wrote: brnbsp; blockquote type=cite citea href="http://www.fairtradewatch.org/housevictoryrelease.html" eudora="autourl"http://www.fairtradewatch.org/housevictoryrelease.html/a pbfont face="Arial, Helvetica"font size=+3USWA NEWS RELEASE/font/font/b pfont face="Arial, Helvetica"font size=+3For Immediate Distribution, Wednesday, March 17, 1999/font/font/blockquote Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] amp; a href="http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/JDevine.html" EUDORA="AUTOURL"http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/JDevine.html/a/blockquote /html --4332E4C6D64A4A30443A--
[PEN-L:4438] Becker Hails House Passage Of Steel Recovery Act As Victory For MainStreet; Urges Rapid Senate Passageboundary=------------211663DBA41FA36365D40751
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --211663DBA41FA36365D40751 http://www.fairtradewatch.org/housevictoryrelease.html --211663DBA41FA36365D40751 name="housevictoryrelease.html" filename="housevictoryrelease.html" toryrelease.html" toryrelease.html" html head meta NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0" meta NAME="Template" CONTENT="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\html.dot" titleBecker Hails House Passage Of Steel Recovery Act As quot;Victory For Main Street;quot; Urges Rapid Senate Passage/title /head body LINK="#FF" VLINK="#800080" BGCOLOR="#FF" bfont SIZE="6"u p/ufont face="Arial"USWA NEWS RELEASE/font/p /font pfont FACE="Arial"For Immediate Distribution, Wednesday, March 17, 1999 /p /fontfont FACE="Arial" SIZE="5" p ALIGN="CENTER"nbsp;/p /fontfont FACE="Arial" SIZE="6" p ALIGN="CENTER"Becker Hails House Passage Of Steel Recovery Act As quot;Victory For Main Street;quot; Urges/fontfont SIZE="6" /fontfont FACE="Arial" SIZE="6"Rapid Senate Passage/p /fontfont SIZE="5" p/font/bWashington, D.C. (Mar. 17) #150; George Becker, President of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), hailed U.S. House passage today of a bill to limit steel imports to the levels that existed before the crisis created by illegal foreign dumping as quot;a bipartisan commitment to put the interests of Main Street above the interests of Wall Street.quot;/p pThe House overwhelmingly passed the #145;Steel Recovery Act#146; (H.R. 975), co-sponsored by Peter Visclosky (D-IN) and Ralph Regula (R-OH). The roll call vote was 289-141. A similar measure is being sponsored in the Senate by John D. Rockefeller (D-WV)./p pBecker said, quot;The victory signals Congress#146; unwillingness to continue pledging allegiance to a failed system of global trade that sacrifices American jobs to bail out international bankers.quot;/p pThe Steelworkers#146; President urged the U.S. Senate to pass steel quota legislation with the same urgency shown by the House./p pquot;With 10,000 steelworkers already out of work, three major steel producers in bankruptcy, another one on the brink, and virtually every steel producer is experiencing huge losses, action isn#146;t an option; it#146;s an absolute necessity,quot; he declared./p pBecker assailed the Clinton-Gore administration for quot;turning its back on American steelworkers and steel producersquot; who have resurrected themselves from the devastating loss of 350,000 steelworker jobs and 65% of the American market during the 1980s./p pBecker credited the House victory to thousands of Steelworkers who have come to Washington to lobby for the quota bill in recent weeks, to thousands more who held #145;Stand Up For Steel#146; rallies around the country, as well as 200,000 handwritten letters that Steelworkers have sent to Washington./p pquot;Steelworkers and steel communities hold dear the notion that America#146;s trade policies should benefit Americans first. That may be a novel idea in some quarters. But it was a winning idea today in Congress.quot;/p pMore than 250 Steelworkers from across the U.S. were assembled in a Capitol Hill hotel ballroom to witness the vote on TV screens following a last minute flurry of visits with their congressional representatives. Chief sponsors of the legislation, including U.S. Rep. Visclosky (D-IN) and U.S. Rep. Jack Quinn (R-NY) joined the Steelworkers after the vote to say the active support of the union members made the difference./p p align="center"# # #/p hr pReturn to a href="Press.html"Stand Up For Steel Press Index/a/p /body /html --211663DBA41FA36365D40751--
[PEN-L:4416] Becker Letter to President Clintonboundary=------------D827AD0FF6D3BDC07E1F03D8
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --D827AD0FF6D3BDC07E1F03D8 http://www.fairtradewatch.org/beckerletter.html --D827AD0FF6D3BDC07E1F03D8 name="beckerletter.html" filename="beckerletter.html" tter.html" tter.html" html head meta NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0" meta NAME="Template" CONTENT="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\html.dot" titleBecker Letter to President Clinton/title /head body LINK="#ff" VLINK="#800080" hr ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="0%" SIZE="0" table border="0" width="600" tr tdimg src="images/5face2.gif" alt="5facesl.gif (6828 bytes)" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="154"/td td/td tdp align="right"font face="Arial"UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICAbr Five Gateway Centerbr Pittsburgh, PA 15222br 412-562-2300/font/p p align="right"strongfont face="Arial"George Becker, International President/font/strong/td /tr /table font face="Arial" p ALIGN="CENTER"March 11, 1999/p p ALIGN="CENTER"nbsp;/p pThe Honorable William Jefferson Clintonbr President of the United Statesbr 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWbr Washington, DC 20500/p pDear Mr. President:/p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"I write regarding Mr. Podesta#146;s letter of March 10 to House Ways and Means Committee Chair Bill Archer in which he indicates that your quot;senior advisorsquot; intend to recommend that you veto H.R. 975, the Bipartisan Steel Recovery Act./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"Let me urge you in the strongest way possible to override this advice, embrace H.R. 975 and its Senate counterpart and Stand Up for Steel./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"I want to comment first on the assertion in Mr. Podesta#146;s letter that, quot;The President#146;s commitment to effective, vigorous and timely enforcement of our trade laws is producing results.quot; While it is true that overall import levels in January of this year were below the record levels reached in the third and fourth quarters of 1998, the following must be noted./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"January#146;s imports were still over 10% higher than they were in the pre-crisis period, with imports from a number of key steel producing countries still dramatically above their pre-crisis level. Imports from Japan in January were still over 96% above their pre-crisis level; Korea#146;s imports were still 155% above, and imports from Indonesia in January were still 705% above their pre-crisis level. None of these nations is showing any indication that they intend to stop their assault on our market./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"While imports of hot-rolled steel declined in January of 1999 from their peak in November of 1998, with Japan, Russia and Brazil backing away, numerous other countries have already moved in to take their place. Imports of hot-rolled steel have surged from their November level as follows: Indonesia (up 1,310%), China (up 552%), Kazakhstan (up 166%), South Africa (up 76%), Australia (up 60%), and the Netherlands (up 42%)./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"And while Japan and Brazil have reduced exports of hot-rolled steel to the United States, they have quickly increased their dumping of other key steel /p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"products. Imports from Japan of rail products, tin mill products and cold-rolled sheet and strip increased 520%, 348% and 54%, respectively in January of 1999 from November of 1998. And imports from Brazil of cut-to-length plate, wire rod, and cold-rolled sheet and strip increased 109%, 102% and 47%, respectively over the same periods./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"Mr. President, these are not the kind of quot;resultsquot; that American steelworkers and their families need. In fact, these quot;resultsquot; demonstrate the absolute need for a comprehensive solution, as only H.R. 975 offers. Incremental steps, taken country by country or product by product, simply invite ever-more inventive circumvention of the trade rules, under which we are being buried./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"The effects of this dumping continue to be felt. Raw steel capacity utilization reached a dangerously low 78% during January of 1999, down dramatically from an average of 90% during the pre-crisis period. And prices continue to fall #150; the price of hot-rolled steel fell an additional 4% in January, now down 28% from the average for the pre-crisis period. Similarly, the price of cold-rolled steel fell an additional 5% in January, now down 27% from its pre-crisis level./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"The impact on the industry has been entirely predictable. Virtually every producer suffered severe losses in the fourth quarter of 1998./p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"And the toll this has taken and continues to take on steelworkers and their communities is equally dramatic. /p p ALIGN="JUSTIFY"Three companies #150; Geneva Steel, Provo, Utah, 2600 employees; Laclede Steel, Alton, Illinois, 1475 employees; and Acme Metals, Riverdale, Illinois, 2471 employees; have all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Gulf States Steel (Gadsden, Alabama, 1106
[PEN-L:4430] Re: Re: Re: Mike Davis's NYT Admissionsv04011706b317478be4d9@[166.84.250.86] 14065.43092.812731.130475@lisa.zopyra.com
Dear Bill, I've read both of Davis' big books and a number of his essays including some of the more obscure stuff. Where ever I go, this side of the Mississippi, I see a little of what Davis is talking about here and there. It's about America, Bill. Your email pal, Tom L. "William S. Lear" wrote: On Thursday, March 18, 1999 at 19:16:31 (-0500) Doug Henwood writes: There's a good page of links about the Mike Davis brouhaha at http://www.thelocus.com/LA/davis.html, including Marc Cooper's fine article in Davis' defense and to Brady Westwater, the Malibu real estate guy who set out to ruin him after reading Davis' "Let Malibu Burn." Following this to the H-Urban list, I find this from Philip Ethington, who seems like someone relatively sympathetic to Davis: Casual, incomplete, or cavalier citations are deeply problematic in scholarly discourse, and especially so when the author is making huge, dramatic claims. And further, we on the Left are betrayed when these gaffes allow the Right to devalue Davis's overall project, which I have been supporting for many years now. Effective radical scholarship must be factually unassailable, or else Malibu realtors with pseudonyms and axes to grind can topple the whole edifice of progressive social science. A great deal is at stake here: representing Los Angeles and all of the urban world in the late capitalist era. We must decide whether we want our urbanist research to be based of thin reeds or solid pilings. We also have to decide whether we will accept at face value the factual claims of our most gifted writers, or whether we are a community of critical thinkers. Quite so. Of course, Ethington does not accuse Davis of fabrications, nor of admitting to such, something about which I'm still keen on finding out. Bill
[PEN-L:4331] Re: Social Security issue on Coalition web site
Dear June, I too was surprised to read Nadler's comments. I had been led to believe that he was going to oppose privatization---matter of fact the Cleveland ADA had invited him to Cleveland for that reason or so I was told. Now from what I understand he wants to invest 30% of the social security trust fund in the stock market! Doug Henwood, who I believe was the first to examine the actuaries numbers and call the so-called crisis phony, is also one of Nadlers constituents. Possibly, Doug will comment? Hey, how about Henwood for Congress! Your email pal, Tom L. June Zaccone wrote: We have just posted a new piece on the Coalition web site: Uncommon Sense 21: Social Security Is Not in "Crisis", by Richard Du Boff Du Boff includes discussion of the aging population and comparisons of projected dependency ratios with those during the youth of baby boomers, Trustees' growth rate and unemployment assumptions, the real sources of our ability to support dependent groups, and the diverse problems of privatization. http://www.njfac.org/us21.htm June Zaccone, National Jobs for All Coalition, 475 Riverside Dr., Ste. 832, NY, NY 10115; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:4252] The Slovak National Bankboundary=------------1944DEF1FF06B77520717213
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --1944DEF1FF06B77520717213 Dear Pen-L, Hmm. The future Switzerland. Your email pal, Tom L. http://www.nbs.sk/ZAKLNBS/INDEXA.HTM --1944DEF1FF06B77520717213 name="INDEXA.HTM" filename="INDEXA.HTM" !DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML//EN" html head meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0" titleBasic information/title /head body bgcolor="#FF" table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="620" tr td align="center" valign="top" width="390"img src="/PICTURES/CERVPAS.GIF" width="384" height="36"br img src="/PICTURES/BASINFO.GIF" vspace="17" width="320" height="26"/td td width="60"/td td align="center" valign="top" width="170"img src="/PICTURES/ZNAK.GIF" width="75" height="73"br img src="/PICTURES/NBSA.GIF" width="169" height="18"/td /tr tr td colspan="3"/td /tr /table table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="620" tr td valign="top" width="300"img src="PICTURES/BANKA.JPG" alt="Building of the Headquarter" width="296" height="278"/td td valign="top" width="320"br strongAddress:/strongpNarodna banka Slovenskabr Sturova 2br 813 25 Bratislavabr Slovak Republic/p table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="320" tr td valign="top" width="100"Telephone No:br Fax No:br SWIFT:br Telex No:/td td width="200"++421/7/5953 br ++421/7/541 31 167br NBS B SK BXbr 93346br 92773/td /tr /table /td /tr /table table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="620" tr tdfont color="#73"br The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) is the central and issuing bank of the Slovak Republic. It was established on January the 1st 1993 by the a href="/LEGA/NBS.HTM"National Bank of Slovakia Act No. 566/1992 Zb./a which declares its legal status, functions and tasks.br The NBS is an independent institution whose primary function is to ensure the stability of the Slovak currency./fontpfont color="#73"The National Bank of Slovakia:br - formulates and implements the country#146;s monetary policy,br - issues banknotes and coins,br - controls the circulation of money,br - co-ordinates interbank payments and settlement,br - supervises activities in the banking sector,br - ensures the prudent operation and purposeful development of the banking system in Slovakia,br - acts as agent for the Slovak Republic in international financial institutions./font/p pfont color="#73"The highest governing body of the NBS is the Bank Board. The executive body of the NBS is the Directorate, which is responsible for the implementation of the Board#146;s decisions./font/td /tr /table table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="620" tr td valign="top" width="460"font color="#73"The representative of the NBS is the Governor - Vladimir Masar, appointed 29 July 1993. There are two Vice-Governors - Marian Jusko, appointed 11 April 1994, and Jozef Mudrik, appointed 23 May 1995.br Members of the Bank Board are: Vladimir Masar, Marian Jusko, Jozef Mudrik, Elena Kohutikova, Jan Mathes and Jozef Magula. br The Governor, the Vice-Governors and the Executive Directors of the National Bank of Slovakia shall be appointed for a term of six years. The term of office of other members of the Bank Board shall be four years.br The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) has three branches and twelve sub-branches. /font/td td align="center" valign="top" width="160"img src="PICTURES/GUVERNER.JPG" alt="Photo of the Governor" width="155" height="199"br font color="#73"Vladimir Masarbr /fontfont color="#73" size="2"Governor/font/td /tr /table table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="620" tr td align="center" width="33%"a href="POBOCKYA.HTM"img src="PICTURES/MRAKODRP.JPG" border="0" vspace="10" width="153" height="100" alt="Link - Branches"/a/td td align="center" width="33%"a href="STRUCTA/INDEXA.HTM"img src="PICTURES/LUDIA.JPG" border="0" vspace="10" width="150" height="102" alt="Link - Organisational structure"/a/td td align="center" width="33%"a href="PUBLIKA.HTM"img src="PICTURES/KNIHA.JPG" border="0" vspace="10" width="152" height="102" alt="Link - Publications issued by the NBS"/a/td /tr tr td align="center" valign="top"a href="POBOCKYA.HTM"Branches/a/td td align="center" valign="top"a href="STRUCTA/INDEXA.HTM"Organisational structure/a/td td align="center" valign="top"a href="PUBLIKA.HTM"Publications issued by the NBS/a/td /tr tr td colspan="3"br /td /tr /table table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="620" tr td width="16%"/td td align="center" width="33%"a href="ARCHIV/INDEXA.HTM"img src="PICTURES/ARCHIV.JPG"
[PEN-L:4251] CONSUMER COOPERATIVES IN SLOVAKIAboundary=------------827B9F3F111EB6539FE0BD18
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --827B9F3F111EB6539FE0BD18 Dear Pen-L, Here is an interesting website in Slovakia. Jednota is the name of a Slovak language newspaper. I'm not sure what the word means in English, maybe fellowship? Your e-mail pal, Tom L. http://www.szsd.sk/gb/titul.htm --827B9F3F111EB6539FE0BD18 name="titul.htm" filename="titul.htm" html head meta http-equiv="Content-Type" meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage Express 2.0" titleCONSUMER COOPERATIVES IN SLOVAKIA/title /head body bgcolor="#FF" p align="center"font color="#FF" size="5"emCONSUMER COOPERATIVES IN SLOVAKIA/em/font/p pimg src="/grafika/listblue.gif" width="756" height="16"/p table border="0" tr td valign="top"table border="0" tr tddl dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="introduct.htm"font size="3"Introduction/font/a/dt dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="activity.htm"The activities of The SUCC/a/dt dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="history.htm"font size="3"History and present situation/font/a/dt dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="board.htm"The Slovak union of consumer cooperatives board/a/dt dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="retactiv.htm"Retail activity/a/dt dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="wholeact.htm"Wholesale activity/a/dt dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="food.htm"Food production/a/dt dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="protect.htm"Protection of the consumer/a/dt dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="educat.htm"Education and training/a/dt dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="member.htm"font size="2"Member organizations list of the Slovak union of consumer cooperatives/font/a/dt dtimg src="/grafika/koso.gif" width="24" height="24"a href="prezengb/index.html"font size="2"Key figures of the consumer cooperatives and Jednota, SD in Slovakia/font/a/dt /dl /td /tr tr tdnbsp;/td /tr tr td width="410"nbsp;/td /tr tr tdpa href="/index.html"font size="2"Index/font/afont size="2" /font/p /td /tr /table /td td valign="top"img src="/grafika/szsd2.jpg" width="423" height="217"dl /dl table border="0" tr tdimg src="/grafika/szsdzna.jpg" width="154" height="153"/td td valign="top"dl dtfont color="#FF" size="4"emContact address:/em/font/dt dtfont color="#FF"strongSLOVAK UNION OF CONSUMER COOPERATIVES/strong/font/dt dtBajkalská str. 25, 827 18 Bratislava/dt dtTel. : +421 7/ 5233 111/dt dtFax: +421 7/ 5215 237, 5214 526/dt dde-mail: a href="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]"font size="4"[EMAIL PROTECTED]/font/a/dd /dl /td /tr /table dl ddnbsp;/dd /dl /td /tr /table pnbsp;/p /body /html --827B9F3F111EB6539FE0BD18--
[PEN-L:4231] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Slovakia and the Czech Republic
Dear Charles, I got no idea. Although, I do know where that famous American Slovak artist Andy Warhol is buried! Your email pal, Tom L. Charles Brown wrote: Tom, Didn't Canada get it in "Oh , Canada" ? Charles Tom Lehman [EMAIL PROTECTED] 03/08/99 02:40PM Dear Barkley and Peter, Here is a question that I pose to my American Slovak friends. Who got the "o" in Czechoslovkia? Is it now Czech'o or o'Slovakia? Your email pal, Tom L. "J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote: Peter, The Gini for Slovakia is for 1993-94 and is the number appearing in both the 1997 World Bank _World Development Report: The State in a Changing World_ and in a study by Juha Honkkila for UNU/WIDER in 1997 entitled, "Privatization, Asset Distribution and Equity in Transition Economies," Working Paper no. 125. The Gini for 1987-89 can also be found in Honkkila's paper. A similar number for the earlier period appears in Richard Pomfret, "Poverty in the Kyrgyz Republic," Working Paper no. 98-5, Dept. of Economics, University of Adelaide, Australia. This number and others for 14 other transition economies, along with estimates of degrees of corruption, can be found in the paper that Marina Rosser and I presented at the New York meetings, "Divergent Distribution Dynamics in Transitional Economies." You are certainly correct that these numbers on income distribution are very iffy, both from the Soviet era and from more recently, some in particular. However, when one sees the measured Gini in Slovakia remaining virtually unchanged while one sees that for Russia soaring from 26.0 to 44.6 between 1987-89 and 1993-94, then I think that we are observing a real difference between what is happening in Slovakia and what is happening in Russia. Russia's inequality is now noticeably greater than that in the US. As for your letter to the NYT, distribution in CR had not yet become drastically unequal as of 1993-94, although there was some increase in inequality. Of course the blankety blank has hit the fan since then there and I would guess that the numbers have gotten much worse. If you write one up, I might sign on depending Barkley Rosser -Original Message- From: Peter Dorman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, March 08, 1999 1:57 PM Subject: [PEN-L:4221] Re: Re: Slovakia and the Czech Republic This is interesting. How accurate are the data? (I remember how misleading much of the CMEA data were.) More generally, is my thumbnail sketch of Slovakia and the CR correct? If so, is a letter to the NYR warrented? Any collaborators? Peter "J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote: Peter, An interesting tidbit is that the Slovak income distribution may be the most equal of any nation on the face of the earth right now. Last Gini coefficient I saw was 20, almost unchanged from the pre-transition period when it along with its former Czech partner had the most equal income distribution in the CMEA. I would argue that maintaining equality of income distribution, as Belarus has also done, is a key element in avoiding emergence of corruption in transition economies. Barkley Rosser
[PEN-L:4227] Re: Re: Re: Re: Slovakia and the Czech Republic
Dear Barkley and Peter, Here is a question that I pose to my American Slovak friends. Who got the "o" in Czechoslovkia? Is it now Czech'o or o'Slovakia? Your email pal, Tom L. "J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote: Peter, The Gini for Slovakia is for 1993-94 and is the number appearing in both the 1997 World Bank _World Development Report: The State in a Changing World_ and in a study by Juha Honkkila for UNU/WIDER in 1997 entitled, "Privatization, Asset Distribution and Equity in Transition Economies," Working Paper no. 125. The Gini for 1987-89 can also be found in Honkkila's paper. A similar number for the earlier period appears in Richard Pomfret, "Poverty in the Kyrgyz Republic," Working Paper no. 98-5, Dept. of Economics, University of Adelaide, Australia. This number and others for 14 other transition economies, along with estimates of degrees of corruption, can be found in the paper that Marina Rosser and I presented at the New York meetings, "Divergent Distribution Dynamics in Transitional Economies." You are certainly correct that these numbers on income distribution are very iffy, both from the Soviet era and from more recently, some in particular. However, when one sees the measured Gini in Slovakia remaining virtually unchanged while one sees that for Russia soaring from 26.0 to 44.6 between 1987-89 and 1993-94, then I think that we are observing a real difference between what is happening in Slovakia and what is happening in Russia. Russia's inequality is now noticeably greater than that in the US. As for your letter to the NYT, distribution in CR had not yet become drastically unequal as of 1993-94, although there was some increase in inequality. Of course the blankety blank has hit the fan since then there and I would guess that the numbers have gotten much worse. If you write one up, I might sign on depending Barkley Rosser -Original Message- From: Peter Dorman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, March 08, 1999 1:57 PM Subject: [PEN-L:4221] Re: Re: Slovakia and the Czech Republic This is interesting. How accurate are the data? (I remember how misleading much of the CMEA data were.) More generally, is my thumbnail sketch of Slovakia and the CR correct? If so, is a letter to the NYR warrented? Any collaborators? Peter "J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote: Peter, An interesting tidbit is that the Slovak income distribution may be the most equal of any nation on the face of the earth right now. Last Gini coefficient I saw was 20, almost unchanged from the pre-transition period when it along with its former Czech partner had the most equal income distribution in the CMEA. I would argue that maintaining equality of income distribution, as Belarus has also done, is a key element in avoiding emergence of corruption in transition economies. Barkley Rosser
[PEN-L:4157] Re: Slipping Postmodernism into pen-l?
Dear Mike, Caught a few minutes of some cat named Henry Aaron from the Brookings Institue on Chicago TV explaning how the Clinton Social Security privatization plan would invest in the stock market via a mechanism similar to the Federal Reserve Board. This didn't go far enough to please a Dr. Feldstein of Harvard. Also, Mr. Larry Summers telling congress that he didn't have anything in writing for them concerning Clinton's Social Security plans. Your email pal, Tom L. Michael Perelman wrote: The daily business report today seems to be adopting the language of postmodernism. I read there about "the crucial subtext of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's remarks in his recent Humphrey-Hawkins testimony before Congress." Perhaps, business week to support. The pompous ambiguity of Greenspan may be more appropriate subject than literature for applying postmodernism. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University [EMAIL PROTECTED] Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
[PEN-L:4163] Trailers
Dear Pen-L, Anyone have any idea of the number of Americans who live in trailers a/k/a manufactured homes? Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:4023] Re: Re: secret societies
Dear Pen-L, I was an active member and an officer of a college fraternity. I really enjoy watching re-runs of the movie Animal House. Your email pal, Tom L. "J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote: Supposedly the Yale (and Skull and Bones) connection with the CIA dates to the CIA's WW II predecessor, the OSS. Was "Wild Bill" Donovan a Yalie, or even a Skull and Boneser? Don't know. In any case, I have also heard that OSS used to be snidely referred to as standing for "Oh So Social." Barkley Rosser (not a Yalie, sob! :-)) -Original Message- From: Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, March 01, 1999 8:34 PM Subject: [PEN-L:3997] secret societies I asked: did you write sexual memoirs? Doug answers: Nope. But the Skull Bones initiation ritual involves lying naked in a coffin and reciting your personal history, not writing anything. Or so they say. for those who don't know, Yale's secret societies are like normal fraternities except that they create networks of business and other connections that for a long time (and to a large extent still do) form a backbone allowing the ultra rich to communicate and cooperate. Included as one "other connections" is the CIA. Allegedly, George Bush (you remember him) and William F. Buckley were both "Bonesmen" and CIA operatives. But who knows? Also allegedly Skull Bones guarantees their members a 6-figure dollar annual income, though it never has to live up to that guarantee becaue (1) its members are rich to begin with and (2) they use the business connections they get from SB. somehow Yale YPSL didn't count as a secret society, nor did DSOC. Scruffy old leftists... Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/JDevine.html
[PEN-L:4033] Socialist Security Texas Style
Dear Pen-L, Here is a story worth reading on Social Security. Your email pal, Tom L. http://www.progressive.org/conniff9903.htm
[PEN-L:3855] Democracy in Ohioboundary=------------7D6F13BEA13CF7F08030BDF1
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --7D6F13BEA13CF7F08030BDF1 --7D6F13BEA13CF7F08030BDF1 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 16:35:22 EST To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: promo APOLOGIES TO THOSE WHO RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE MORE THAN ONCE. "Citizens over Corporations: A Brief History of Democracy in Ohio and Challenges to Organizing in the Future" is a new 56-page booklet produced by the Ohio Committee on Corporations, Law and Democracy, an ad-hoc group of activists and individuals across the state concerned with the growing power of corporations to govern and harms this poses to democracy in our state, nation and world. Single copies are $3 plus $1 postage. Bulk rates available. Order from the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), 513 W. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44302 The booklet looks at the history of the corporate form in Ohio. It details how corporations were closely controlled by citizens and their elected representatives in the early decades of the state's history (including examples of strict controls contained in early corporate charters -- NOTE: most corporations, even today, are chartered at the state level), what legal tools people used in the legislature and courts to control corporations, how corporations began to gain legal "rights" and "privileges" that our ancestors never intended, what resistance came from working and other people, how corporations are, in many ways, equal or superior to human beings today, and what we can do to "rethink" the current relationship between "we the people" and corporations. What follows is the FORWARD from the booklet: In 1996, twenty-five Ohioans came together at the Procter House (former summer estate of William Procter of Procter and Gamble Corporation fame) south of Columbus to participate in a workshop titled Rethinking the Corporation, Rethinking Democracy. These environmental, labor, peace, and justice activists were drawn to the gathering because each was struggling against or concerned about repeated corporate assaults upon their communities in particular, and upon democracy in general. Stirred by presentations about corporate histories and peoples struggles for democracy, we discussed our own organizing experiences. We began to grapple with the idea that our efforts at opposing corporate violations of laws and harms one at a time, over and over again, have been tiring, erratic, and not particularly effective. It struck us that we had a lot to learn about and from corporate history. Among other things, while we were educating on single issues, researching areas of science and technology, and organizing mostly around local, state and federal regulatory agencies, corporations were focusing in constitutional arenas. There, they lobbied for the property and civil rights of human persons. While we were writing drafts of health, environmental, consumer and labor laws that would curb corporate behaviors, corporations were writing state corporation codes and amending state constitutions to define giant business corporation as private essentially beyond the authority of We the People. While we were considering creative ways to boycott corporate sweatshops; stop the next corporate toxic/radioactive factory/dump; persuade corporate executives to sign voluntary codes of conduct and act responsibly; and prevent factory closings or employee layoffs, corporations were getting state and federal courts to deny people basic constitutional rights. And while we were bringing our causes to regulatory agencies (having been taught that state and federal regulators were our allies), corporations were too often using these same regulatory laws and agencies as barriers to justice. Since that gathering, a number of us continued meeting and rethinking. We concluded there was a need for discussions across the state about the proper role of corporations in our society, and for citizen groups to craft new goals and strategies. To encourage such discussions and reorientation, we have produced this brief history of citizens and corporations in Ohio. Readers will quickly see that since revolutionary days people were well aware that property owners could use the corporate form equipped with special privileges to operate as private governments, causing sustained harms to people, places, liberty and democracy. So we Buckeyes, like people in all states, used our constitution, corporate charters and state corporation codes to define corporations as subordinate, and to restrain legislators from favoring property over people. But as land, railroad, banking, insurance and other corporations began to acquire wealth, they crafted a different agenda. Investing some of their huge profits from the Civil War, they lobbied for legal doctrines and laws which privileged private over public interests, and favored property rights over human rights. As they increased their influence over local,
[PEN-L:3816] Re: Re: Re: Re: long waves
Dear Jim, Your pal Paul has a story in the Jan/Feb issue of Foreign Affairs, have you read it? If you have read it. Anything new ,or, is more of the same. I caught part of the super-string guy on npr too. Your email pal, Tom L. Jim Devine wrote: Barkley writes: I might also note that climate is almost certainly chaotic, providing a short-term chaotic driver on GDP. My wife tells me that there was a chaotician being interviewed on NPR the other day and he said that he didn't think that chaos theory (specifically the "butterfly effect") applied well on Earth, though it did apply to planets and the like. I didn't hear the interview, but my impression (at second hand) was that the reason why the butterfly flapping its wings in China doesn't cause a hurricane here is that there are billions of butterflies all flapping their wings simultaneously and they all cancel each other out. (This of course assumes that we don't have one of those rare Chinese butterflies with humongous leather wings that flap very HARD.) any thoughts? did I hear NPR correctly at second hand? is this an accurate criticism of the butterfly effect and/or chaos theory? can such questions be answered using coherent prose? And why not simply talk about climactic changes being "exogenous shocks" to the economy (rather than being a "chaotic driver"), except for those that the economy itself creates (like global warming)? speaking of such things, on the way to the Van Gogh exhibit at the L.A. County Museum of Art, my son Guthrie (age 8 2/3) explained why Vincent Van Gogh attacked his own ear with a knife: he "had a bad ear day." (Avoid this show for a few months: it is definitely too crowded. What were they thinking?) Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html
[PEN-L:3778] Pentagon Estimates Kosovo Costsboundary=------------CE7858C4FEFDBD7F2307DC6A
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --CE7858C4FEFDBD7F2307DC6A Dear Pen-L, Three to Four Billion Dollars for operations in Bosnia and Kosovo...of course that's not counting cost over-runs... Your email pal, Tom L. http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpin1m.htm --CE7858C4FEFDBD7F2307DC6A name="rnmpin1m.htm" filename="rnmpin1m.htm" pTITLEPentagon Estimates Kosovo Costs/title body bgcolor=3D"#f= f" a name=3D"top"/a a href=3D"../homepage.htm"img src=3D"../image/newcomhb.gif" border=3D0= alt=3D"home page"/abr clear=3Dall IMG SRC=3D"../image/topbar.gif"BR clear=3Dall TABLE Border=3D0 Width=3D"100%" Cellpadding=3D10 TR ALIGN=3D"LEFT" VALIGN=3D"TOP"TD COLSTART=3D"1" VALIGN=3D"TOP" WIDTH= =3D"175" !--IMG SRC=3D"your photo here.gif" border=3D1 width=3D175 alt=3D"your ph= oto info"-- a href=3D"topnewsx.htm"Top News/Ap a href=3D"sportsne.htm"Sports/Ap a href=3D"lotteryx.htm"Lotteries/Ap a href=3D"internat.htm"International/Ap a href=3D"national.htm"National/Ap a href=3D"washingt.htm"Washington/Ap a href=3D"financex.htm"Business/Ap a href=3D"wallstre.htm"Wall Street/Ap a href=3D"entertai.htm"Entertainment/Ap a href=3D"healthsc.htm"Health/Science/Ap a href=3D"metrodex.htm"Regional/ap /TD TD COLSTART=3D"2" H3Pentagon Estimates Kosovo Costs/H3p p WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pentagon officials estimate that it would cost $1.5= billion to $2 billion a year to run the U.S. portion of a NATO-led peace= keeping operation in Kosovo, a spokesman said Tuesday.p That is approximately what it is paying for peacekeeping operations i= n Bosnia, where about 6,800 U.S. troops are deployed.p Kenneth Bacon, spokesman for Defense Secretary William Cohen, said th= e cost projection assumes the United States would contribute about 4,000 = troops to an overall NATO-sponsored force of about 28,000 in Kosovo. Cohe= n has said the peacekeepers, if deployed, probably would stay at least th= ree years.p Preparations for possible deployment of peacekeepers is under way eve= n though there is no full peace accord for Kosovo. Bacon said no U.S. tro= ops would be officially committed unless a peace is established first.p= p =03AP-NY-02-23-99 1542ESTp p p pfont size=3D-1Copyright #169 Associated Press. All rights reserve= d. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistri= buted./fontp centerA HREF=3D"../homepage.htm"Home/a | A HREF=3D= "#top"Top of Page/a/center/TD/TR /TABLE pH602/23/H6/body/html = =00=00=00=00 --CE7858C4FEFDBD7F2307DC6A--
[PEN-L:3577] Serbia
Pen-L, Does anyone recall in what month and year the Albanian stock market(ponzi scheme) collapsed? I'm pretty sure it was two or three years ago---anyone remember the exact month and year. Next question does anyone see a connection between the Albanian stock market collapse and the Albanian invasion of Serbia? Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:3375] Taking Stock Of Successboundary=------------1AB6F5BE49F8245477AA044D
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --1AB6F5BE49F8245477AA044D For the more academic types. Your email pal, Tom L. http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19990215profitside4.asp --1AB6F5BE49F8245477AA044D name="19990215profitside4.asp" filename="19990215profitside4.asp" e/19990215profitside4.asp" e/19990215profitside4.asp" HTML HEAD TITLETaking Stock Of Success /TITLE /HEAD body bgcolor="#FF" link="#99" vlink="#339933" div align="center"center table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" tr td colspan="2"img src="/banners/mpgnews.gif" width="366" height="60" alt="PG News"a target=_self href="/cgi-bin/newadredir.asp?category=62url=http://www.post-gazette.com/kidglovecare/script=19990215profitside4.aspdirscript=/regionstateimage=25"img src=/adimages/234x60kidglove.gif border=0 height=60 width=234 alt="Kid Glove Care"/a/td /tr tr td valign="top" width=132a href=/default.aspimg src="/menu/pghome.gif" alt="PG Home" width="125" height="22" border=0 onmouseover="window.status='PG Home: Return to our Home Page. '; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"/abr a href=/news/default.aspimg src="/menu/pgnews2.gif" width="125" height="22" border=0 onmouseover="window.status='PG News: Latest news from the Post-Gazette. '; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"/abr a href=/special/default.aspimg src="/menu/special.gif" alt="Special Reports" width="125" height="22" border=0 onmouseover="window.status='Special Reports: Special features brought to you by PG Online.'; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"/abr a href="/newslinks/default.asp" onmouseover="window.status='News Links: The PG takes a deeper look at news topics and offers links of interest. '; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"img src="/menu/newsextras.gif" alt="News Links" border="0" width="125" height="22"/abr a href="/journal/default.asp" onmouseover="window.status='Photo Journal: Photos from the Post-Gazette.'; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"img src="/menu/newseye.gif" alt="Photo Journal" border="0" width="125" height="22"/abr a href="/APwire/default.asp" onmouseover="window.status='AP Wire: Up-to-the-minute stories from the Associated Press.'; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"img src="/menu/apwire.gif" alt="AP Wire" border="0" width="125" height="22"/abr a href="/sports_headlines/default.asp" onmouseover="window.status='PG Sports: Guide to local Pro, College and Scholastic Sports.'; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"img src="/menu/sports.gif" alt="Sports" border="0" width="125" height="22"/abr a href=http://classified.post-gazette.com/default.aspimg src="/menu/classifieds.gif" alt="Classifieds" width="125" height="22" border=0 onmouseover="window.status='Classifieds: Post-Gazette Classifieds online. '; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"/abr a href="/Weather/default.asp" onmouseover="window.status='Weather: Current weather conditions and forecast from AccuWeather.'; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"img src="/menu/weather.gif" alt="Weather" border="0" width="125" height="22"/abr a href="/Zines/default.asp" onmouseover="window.status='Zines: Special sections including Dining, Finance, PG Columnists, Books Interact, Crow Quill and more!'; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"img src="/menu/zines.gif" alt="Zines" border="0" width="125" height="22"/abr a href="/Guide.asp" onmouseover="window.status='City Guide: Tons of links and information about Pittsburgh.'; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"img src="/menu/cityguide.gif" alt="City Guide" border="0" width="125" height="22"/abr a href="/pgstore/Default.asp" onmouseover="window.status='PG Store: Information on Post-Gazette merchandise.'; return true" onmouseout="window.status='Welcome to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.'; return true"img src="/menu/pgstore.gif" alt="PG Store" border="0" width="125" height="22"/abr
[PEN-L:3189] Kondartieff and other dead Russians
Dear Pen-L, Some years ago I did a very serious search to find everything written by Kondratieff that had been translated into English. I found that there is very, very little primary source material in English ,and, not a lot of good secondary stuff worth quoting. ( I'm not real down on Arthur Burns either.) Unless, some of his stuff survived in Russia---no one will ever really know what the guy was trying to get at. Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:3089] Compounding Manhattan
Dear Pen-L, There is a story in the HallidayResnick physics textbook that says, if you applied compound interest to the 24 dollars or whatever the amount was the American Indians sold Manhattan for to the Dutch---it would now be worth the assessed value of New York City. I'll dig this little gem out if anyone is interested. :o) Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:2924] Corporate Powerboundary=------------3413BFBDE72F86135BBEE951
--3413BFBDE72F86135BBEE951 Dear Pen-L, I received this am a draft copy of People Power Over Corporate Power, A Brief History of Democracy in Ohio and Challenges to Organizing in the Future. This is a very professionally researched work that will be published in pamphlet form this spring. I have been asked to make a quick edit of this important work and I would like to share it with anyone on this list who might be interested in making any comments by this Monday morning. Although, this work applies to Ohio it could be used as a template in other states. Any comments on clarity, grammar or any suggestions, would be helpful. Please, send me a note off-list if you would like to take a peek. Your email pal, Tom L. [EMAIL PROTECTED]home [EMAIL PROTECTED] --3413BFBDE72F86135BBEE951 !doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" html Dear Pen-L, pI received this am a draft copy ofnbsp;b People Power Over Corporate Power/b, bA Brief History ofnbsp; Democracy in Ohio and Challenges to Organizing in the Future/b.nbsp; This is a verynbsp; professionally researched work that will be published in pamphlet form this spring. pI have been asked to make a quick edit of this important work and I would like to share it with anyone on this list who might be interested in making any comments by this Monday morning.nbsp; Although, this work applies to Ohio it could be used as a template in other states.nbsp; Any comments on clarity, grammar or any suggestions, would be helpful. pPlease, send me a note off-list if you would like to take a peek. pYour email pal, pTom L. p[EMAIL PROTECTED]nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; home p[EMAIL PROTECTED]/html --3413BFBDE72F86135BBEE951--
[PEN-L:2840] Re: I was really not in favor of a revolution
Dear Lou, It's common knowledge in the Pittsburgh area and has been reported on numerous occasions in the Pittsburgh newspapers, that Andrew Mellon facing income tax evasion charges from the federal government made a deal with the Roosevelt administration to avoid prosecution. The deal was Mellon would provide for the National Art gallery in exchange for charges against him being forgotten. The public mood at the time would probably have had old Andy sharing a cell with Al Capone. Granted the Mellons are not the worst family in the world. They are a large family and not all of them are related to each other by birth. For example, Richard Mellon Scaife is more of a Mellon than some of the Mellons who are sur-named Mellon. As the old saying goes in Pittsburgh, "the Mellon's bank didn't go under during the depression." Your email pal, Tom L. Louis Proyect wrote: NY Times, February 3, 1999 Paul Mellon, Patrician Champion of Art and National Gallery, Dies By JOHN RUSSELL Paul Mellon, the patrician art collector who tenaciously turned philanthropy into his personal art form, above all through his stewardship of the National Gallery of Art, died on Monday at his home in Upperville, Va. He was 91. A son of enormous wealth, Mellon turned from his family's world of banking and business to become an endlessly inventive benefactor of the nation's cultural life. The Mellons' total contributions to museums and other causes from parks to poetry has been estimated at nearly a billion dollars. The money has gone to save seashores and encourage scholars. It established the Yale Center for British Art and America's top poetry award, the Bollingen Prize. But to many, the greatest monument to the family's fortune, and to Paul Mellon's personal dedication, is the National Gallery of Art in Washington, originally conceived as a gift to the people by his father, Andrew W. Mellon (1855-1937), the financier and longtime secretary of the Treasury. The elder Mellon did not live to see his wish fulfilled. But Paul Mellon, who could never share his father's love for commerce, more than inherited a dedication to giving something back to society. For the son it became a way of life. "Giving away large sums of money nowadays is a soul-searching problem," he once said. "You can cause as much damage with it as you may do good." At a time when many patrons of the arts insist that their names be chiseled on a museum's facade, Paul Mellon was remembered for avoiding self-promotion and refraining from narcissistic exercises of power. "Some of it, I suppose, is just a natural shyness on my part," Mellon once said. But there were other reasons. In "Reflections in a Silver Spoon," his 1992 autobiography, written with John Baskett, he said, "If my father had created 'the Mellon Gallery of Art' in Washington, would other donors have been willing to support it?" Characteristically he insisted that the Yale Center not bear his name either, "in the hope that other future donors of works of art and of funds would be more forthcoming." Paul Mellon was born in Pittsburgh on June 11, 1907, the only son of Andrew W. Mellon and his first wife, the English-born Nora McMullen. The couple had a daughter, Ailsa, six years earlier. Andrew Mellon, a partner in the private bank founded by his father, Judge Thomas Mellon, in Pittsburgh in 1870, became one of the most successful American financiers of all time. Philanthropy in His Genes As Paul once put it, Andrew "had an astonishing flair for recognizing nascent industrial potentialities." Among the Mellon Bank's earliest loans was one to Andrew's friend Henry Clay Frick to develop coke ovens. The bankers approved the loan, noting privately that Frick may have been "a little too enthusiastic about pictures, but not enough to hurt." Those pictures became the Frick Collection in Manhattan. In his 60s, after having established and consolidated an international commercial empire, Andrew Mellon entered public life, serving as treasury secretary from 1921 to 1932, under three presidents, and as the United States ambassador to Britain in 1932 and '33. He might have had a predestined crown prince in his only son, but from the very first Paul found neither happiness at home nor any hope of fulfillment in his father's offices. By the time he was 2, his parents' marriage was effectively at an end. As he put it with characteristic concision, "Within 18 months of my parents' marriage in 1900, my mother fell in love with an Englishman who would have described himself as a gentleman but who was, in fact, nothing more than a devious adventurer." The couple divorced in 1912. Paul Mellon recalled that "it was not much fun to be a divorced person or to be the offspring of divorced parents in Pittsburgh in 1912." He spent portions of his childhood in England, where he began to develop a lifelong love of British culture. When he did see his
[PEN-L:2791] USWA President Says December Import Data Portends Disaster for AmericanSteel Industryboundary=------------2A64C558EDA76C122FF48420
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --2A64C558EDA76C122FF48420 Dear Pen-L, Here is a press release concerning steel dumping. Last week in testimony before congress our international president George Becker said, "10,000 steelworkers have already lost their jobs because of steel dumping and another 100,000 steelworkers are on the edge of losing theirs." This is not idle chit-chat on George's part---it's the facts! Compounding this problem is the world wide weakness in demand. For example, in the oil and gas industry the domestic rig count is the lowest it has been since around 1900 when drilling rig counts were first kept. Your email pal, Tom L. 440-282-6015 phone 440-282-3704 fax http://www.uswa.org/press/press012899.html --2A64C558EDA76C122FF48420 name="press012899.html" filename="press012899.html" html" html" html head meta NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0" meta NAME="Template" CONTENT="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\html.dot" titleUSWA President Says December Import Data Portends Disaster for American Steel Industry/title /head body LINK="#FF" VLINK="#800080" BGCOLOR="#FF" font FACE="Arial Black" SIZE="5"u p align="center"USWA NEWS RELEASE/p /u/fontfont FACE="Arial Black" SIZE="4" pFor Distribution, Thursday, January 28, 1999 /p /fontfont FACE="Arial Black" pContact: Gary Hubbard (USWA/Wasington) 202/778-4384 dir dir pMarco Trbovich (USWA/Pittsburgh) 412/562-2442/p /dir /dir /fontfont FACE="Arial Black" SIZE="5" p align="center"USWA President Says December Import Databr Portends Disaster for American Steel Industry/p /fontfont FACE="Arial" p/fontfont face="Times New Roman"Washington, D.C. (Jan. 28) #150; George Becker, President of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), said today that release of the U.S. Commerce Department#146;s report on steel imports quot;offers clear evidence that jawboning and trade case filings simply will not prevent the collapse of the American steel industry.quot;/font/p pfont face="Times New Roman"While acknowledging a modest decline in the December level of imports, Becker said that if dumping continues at last month#146;s levels, quot;it will wipe out a basic industry that employs 150,000 American workers. Because major exporters like Japan haven#146;t agreed to a thing, there#146;s nothing to stop them from dumping more in the future.quot;/font/p pfont face="Times New Roman"Becker said the December import figures dramatize the need for immediate passage of legislation imposing temporary quotas on steel imports at pre-crisis levels, coupled with a comprehensive policy to prevent U.S. markets from continuing to be used as the dumping ground for the worldwide glut of steel./font/p pfont face="Times New Roman"The politically powerful 750,000-member USWA is pressuring for quota legislation that will be introduced in Congress in the near future by U.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN) and U.S. Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-WV)./font/p pfont face="Times New Roman"Such a bill, if enacted, would curtail dumping by requiring our trading partners to limit steel shipments into the U.S. to pre-crisis levels. The USWA cites the December figures released by the Commerce Department as still astronomically higher than pre-crisis levels./font/p pfont face="Times New Roman"quot;If you only compare December with November,quot; Becker said, quot;it#146;s like missing the forest by looking at a tree.quot; He said December#146;s numbers reveal that historically high steel imports from Japan and Russia are still sky high./font/p pfont face="Times New Roman"quot;By annualizing the December number, you come up with foreign dumping that#146;s eating up almost 30 percent of the market #150; a lot more than before the crisis.quot; He added that while there had been a slight reduction in imports from Russia and Japan, other countries are quot;joining the parade of nations illegally dumping steel.quot;/font/p pfont face="Times New Roman"Becker pointed out that the December numbers reveal Japan is still dumping at a rate 170 percent higher than it was two years ago./font/p pfont face="Times New Roman"quot;Those who celebrate these unprecedented levels of lawlessness,quot; he said, quot;won#146;t be fooling anybody but themselves.quot;/font/p p align="center"font face="Times New Roman"# # #/font/p hr pa href="http://www.fairtradewatch.org/Standup.html"Return to Stand Up for Steel Index/a/p pReturn to a href="index.html"Press Release Directory/a/p p align="center"font size="2"a href="../default2.htm" target="_top"HOME/a | a href="../frameset_organize.html" target="_top"ORGANIZE/a | a href="../frameset_news.html" target="_top"NEWS/a | a href="../frameset_Services.html" target="_top"SERVICES/a | a href="../frameset_map.html" target="_top"MAP/a | a href="../frameset_rapid.html" target="_top"RAPID RESPONSE/a | a href="../frameset_help.html" target="_top"HELP/a | a
