Please send as far and wide as possible. Thanks, Robert Sterling Editor, The Konformist http://www.konformist.com If you are interested in a free subscription to The Konformist Newswire, please visit http://www.eGroups.com/list/konformist/ and sign up. Or, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject: "I NEED 2 KONFORM!!!" (Okay, you can use something else, but it's a kool catch phrase.) Visit the Klub Konformist at Yahoo!: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/klubkonformist The Konformist 27 June 1999 Index Keithfest at Steamshovel Kenn Thomas ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) FeedBack: Tim Beckley on Jim Keith Robert Parry's Lost History Robert Parry ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Free Trade At Work Five Marines Need Your Help BIG-NAME CANDIDATES BOW TO MEDIA POWER Norman Solomon ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) A Call for Action from Luna Keithfest at Steamshovel Date: Saturday, June 26, 1999 12:40:35 AM From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Steamshovel web site has some more thoughts by Mr. Keith in its "Offline Illumination" column. The "Latest Word" column for this week also contains a response to Jim's "Casebook on Alternative 3" by Leslie Watkins, the author of the original Alternative Three book. Previous "Latest Word" columns, still clickable include a back-and-forth on "Revising Reality" by Jim Keith and Excluded Middle editor Greg Bishop. http://www.umsl.edu/~skthoma/offline.htm http://www.umsl.edu/~skthoma/lword.htm kt ********** This is a response to my latest article from prominent UFO/conspiracy publisher Tim Beckley in which he suggests that I deliberately put errors in my email list so that people can't reply to what I say. There is only one error in that thinking: if I had, then I wouldn't have been able to mail to the list, either. Anyway, I offered to mail Tim's comments to my list, and they follow. Jim Keith From: Tim Beckley ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) While Keith may have some basic truth here in the "believability factor" of UFOs and Conspiracies he should be the last to cast the first stone. I recall in his Black Helicopters One book that he printed photo after photo of sign posts with flourescent markings on the back indicating that they were roadmaps for UN troops to follow when they take away our civil rights. First off how could UN troops take control of anything...we see how totally ineffective they are in dealing with situations around the world. Any farmer with a pitchfork in Kansas could take on an entire battalion of UN forces and beat their ass. Furthermore if he had done any research he would realize by talking to any road crew that the markings and codes on the back of these signs are codes as to where the signs get posted on highways, etc. Are UN troops supposed to stop at every crossroad and get out of their tanks and read the signs...we can just point them in the wrong direction so that they end up outside Jim Keith's front door and David Icke's problems will be solved. Yes lets put our skull caps on and do some rational thinking but less of calling the kettle black . . . has Keith nothing better to do than write e mail after e mail being critical of others; why doesnt he at least do what Peter G. from CAUS does and send out poetry once a week? Besides we should all join forces because they want to make a law banning all unsolicited e mails like the ones Jim has been sending lately (only kidding I tell people there is always the discard button). Also Jim how can we forward this to your list as there seems to be a few deliberately misspelled e mails so the entire mailing is returned? Hasn't your list the right to hear responses or is this a one way street?. ********** Subj: Robert Parry's Lost History Date: Saturday, June 26, 1999 05:59:41 PM From: Ifmagazine How did the vaunted Watergate press corps of the 1970s become the Monica Lewinsky press corps of the 1990s? What's true and what's not about cocaine trafficking by Ronald Reagan's Nicaraguan contras? What happened to honest reporters when they tried to tell the American people what was really going on? Did the CIA oversee a secret plan in the 1980s to manipulate U.S. public opinion, so-called 'Project Truth'? The answers are part of Robert Parry's just-published 300-page book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth.' Parry is the former AP-Newsweek reporter who broke many of the stories now known as the Iran-contra affair. He currently edits iF Magazine and the online publication, Consortiumnews.com Packed with formerly secret documents, the book explains how the Reagan administration engaged in a domestic-propaganda scheme called "perception management." Not only was disinformation systematically fed to the American people on a variety of foreign policy topics, but retaliation was exacted against journalists, political leaders and citizen activists who wouldn't go along. The book reveals how White House aide Oliver North sicced the FBI on his political enemies, including Parry who North saw as a threat to his secret operations. Though North is now a media personality co-hosting an MSNBC talk show, in the 1980s, North tried to destroy the reputations and careers of reporters who got in his way. Lost History compiles, too, the first full account of what the U.S. government admitted during the official contra-cocaine investigations in the late 1990s. It pulls together the damaging admissions from the internal reports by the Justice Department and the CIA -- confessions that the major media effectively ignored. The book's last chapter looks at the unsavory connections of President George Bush both to intelligence abuses and to prominent drug-connected figures, including some who have vowed to destroy the United States. The family connections are relevant now because Bush's son is the front-runner to win the White House in 2000. Lost History is available for $19.95 with Visa/Mastercard by calling 1-800-738-1812 or 703-920-1802 or by check to The Media Consortium, Suite 102-231, 2200 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201. If you order now, shipping and handling are FREE. ********** Free Trade At Work U.S. court overturns Massachusetts Burma law Tuesday June 22, 6:15 pm Eastern Time BOSTON, June 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday struck down a Massachusetts law that penalized firms doing business with Myanmar. In a 3-0 ruling, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston upheld a lower court ruling that struck down the law last November, and went further declaring the 1996 state measure infringed on the federal government's right to make foreign policy and regulate foreign commerce. The ruling puts at risk scores of trade laws passed by other states such those involving the MacBride principles that govern business with Northern Ireland, as well as "Buy American" statutes, said Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General Thomas Barnico, who argued for the state law. Cities from Los Angeles to New York and states from North Dakota to Texas supported Massachusetts in defending the so-called ``Burma law'' that was challenged by the Washington, D.C.-based National Foreign Trade Council. Myanmar was formerly known as Burma. The Massachusetts law has been the subject of intense talks between Washington, Japan and the European Union. The EU has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization, which was awaiting the decision by the U.S. Appeals Court. "If these judges had been on the bench in the 70s and 80s, Nelson Mandela would still be in prison," said Rep. Byron Rushing, who authored the Massachusetts law that was modeled on earlier anti-apartheid measures. ********** From: spiker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Five Marines Need Your Help To all American Patriots, Now is the time for you to come to the aid of five young Marines who are being persecuted because thety refused to be injected with the experimental Anthrax vaccine. Read about them in thse two CNN articles. Marine gets 30 days in jail, bad conduct discharge for refusing anthrax vaccine http://cnn.com/US/9906/17/marine.anthrax/ Five Marines who refused anthrax vaccine plead innocent http://www.cnn.com/US/9906/11/anthrax.vaccine.ap/ Read these articles from Captain Joyce Riley vonKleist's web site. Anthrax Vaccine is it Safe and Effective? http://www.gulfwarvets.com/anthrax.htm Anthrax Vaccine Facts http://www.gulfwarvets.com/anthrax2.html Read about vaccines on this web site Chris Gerner's Amerikan Exposé http://www.amerikanexpose.com/ The young Marines are Jason Austin, 22, of Fritch, Texas; Michael McIntyre, 22, of Mount Vernon, Washington; Jared Johnston, 19, of Henryetta, Oklahoma; Michael Metzig, 20, of San Diego; and Jared Schwartz, 20, Henderson, Kentucky. Please use the two toll-free numbers for the Congressional switchboard in Washington, D.C. to call the offices for US Representatives of the five men and tell them in no uncertain terms that you expect them to intercede on their behalf. 1-888-449-3511 1-800-449-3511 Regular switchboard number: 202-244-3121 Here are the five men and their Congressional Representatives. Jared Schwartz, 20, of Henderson, Kentucky Call Rep. Ed Whitfield Jared Johnston, 19, of Henryetta, Oklahoma Call Rep. Tom Coburn Michael Metzig, 20, of San Diego, California Call Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham Jason Austin, 22, of Fritch, Texas Call Rep. Mac Thornberry Michael McIntyre, 22, of Mount Vernon Washington Call Rep. Jack Metcalf Write postcards (only) of support to all five men at the following address. Camp Pendleton Building 24100 (Base Brig) Box 555226 Camp Pendleton, CA 92055-5226 Phone the base brig at: 760-725-8144 and ask about the welfare of the five men. Phone the brig commander Chief Warrant Officer Jesse Spradley at: 760-725-8144 and ask about the welfare of the five men. Phone the NCO-in-charge Sgt. Wright at: 760-725-8555 and ask about the welfare of the five men. Phone Jared Schwartz's counselor, Sgt Dare at: 760-725-8560 and ask about the welfare of Jared Schwartz. Phone the main switchboard for Camp Pendleton at: 760-725-4111 and lodge a complaint about the kangaroo court treatment of the five men. If thousands of Patriots will call these numbers, there is a good chance that justice will be served, plus it will tie up their phone lines so they can't do their regular business. ********** Subj: Candidates Bow to Media Power Date: Thursday, June 24, 1999 05:34:57 PM From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] BIG-NAME CANDIDATES BOW TO MEDIA POWER By Norman Solomon / Creators Syndicate Every modern presidential contest generates a lot of discussion about how the nation's most prominent journalists cover major candidates. But there's not much analysis of how candidates get along with the media conglomerates that employ those journalists. Politicians have long feared media power. And they've usually watched their steps to avoid tangling with it. Franklin Roosevelt was hardly a media favorite during the 1930s. Many newspapers bitterly denounced him. But President Roosevelt was careful not to be too intrusive when the profit margins of media companies were at stake. By the time he moved into the White House, the owners of numerous daily papers had gained large holdings in profitable radio stations. Like other politicians of the day, FDR depended on radio networks to carry his speeches -- which helps to explain why he went along with passage of the fateful Communications Act of 1934, a monumental giveaway of the public airwaves to private firms. Sixty-two years later, the Telecommunications "Reform" Act of 1996 set off a huge new wave of mergers and buy-outs in the broadcasting industry. The measure had enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Washington and avid endorsements across the big-media board. Likewise, two pivotal economic treaties in this decade -- the North American Free Trade Agreement and the GATT global pact that established the World Trade Organization -- received overwhelming support from the nation's editorial pages. In this context, any politician with an eye on the presidency faces a stark choice: Go along to get along with basic corporate agendas, or face widespread disparagement in news media. Mainstream journalists tend to accept the idea that would-be presidents should already be tight with corporate interests. Blending in with the prevalent media scenery, such biases are apt to seem natural -- indeed, "professional." In the terrain of America's mass media, the campaign trail to the White House may be long, but it is exceedingly narrow. Although journalists often decry the dominant role of money in politics, they still portray success on the fund-raising circuit as proof that a candidacy is serious. No wonder Democratic and Republican party leaders don't see any severe media downsides to cozying up to fat cats with big checks. Illusions of choice are integral to the media game. So, this year, former Sen. Bill Bradley is being touted as an alternative to Al Gore. Evidently, in a world where every Coke must contend with a Pepsi, every Gore must contend with a Bradley. The current effort to market Bradley as some kind of anti-establishment figure is truly remarkable. By late spring, Bradley had raised more money from Wall Street than either of the major parties' frontrunners -- and that's saying something. Bradley, like Vice President Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, poses no threat to the power of America's corporate elites. The candidates have close ties with leading media moguls and other deep-pocket donors. The first quarter of this year brought in quite a haul: Gore raised $8.9 million, Bush pulled in $7.6 million, and Bradley came up with "only" $4.3 million. A key event for Bradley during his recent 10-day tour of California was a $1,000-a-plate dinner in Beverly Hills that collected more than $800,000 for his campaign. The gracious host was media magnate Barry Diller, who has become extremely wealthy from such TV ventures as home shopping channels and the "Jerry Springer Show." The June 17 fund-raiser wasn't the first time that Diller, head of USA Networks, has helped out. Four months ago, Diller opened his home to a reception for Bradley. The co-host was the top executive at Disney, Michael Eisner. Chances are that Bradley will continue to get plenty of favorable media coverage. And why not? The former New Jersey senator certainly passes muster in boardrooms. "Not only is he duller than a cud-chewing cow," populist Jim Hightower observes, "but he's more corporate than Al." You got a problem with that? If so, you might wonder why no progressive Democrat has stepped forward to give Al and Bill a run for their corporate money in the 2000 race. More than ever, high-profile Democratic politicians are behaving like sheep. And the big corporate media seem to be doing a good job of tending the flock. ________________________________________________ Norman Solomon's latest book is "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media." ********** A Call for Action from Luna Date: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Circle of Life Foundation) Dear LUNA & Headwaters Supporter's, Please take a moment to read the following call for action. Then, if you feel so inclined, please send in a letter of support and pass this notice on to people you know who will want to help a full time progressive television network get off the ground. FSTV has aired "Luna the Stafford Giant Tree-sit" (about Julia Butterfly) and "Fire in the Eyes" (the Pepperspray issue) all over the US in 98 and 99, and have made a commitment to air more Headwaters Action Video Collective programs/videos in the future. As you are aware, television is the most powerful communication tool of our day, and is the sole monopoly of a handful of corporations. A recent FCC ruling to make satellite channels available to non-commercial programmers presents a rare opportunity for independent media activists and supporters. For five years, Free Speech TV has delivered -- on a part time basis -- hard hitting, independent and informative programming to seven million homes every week. Thanks to this recent FCC ruling, we may soon be able to do this seven days a week, 24 hours a day. But we need your help. We feel it is important to demonstrate public support and an overwhelming demand in order to secure our chances of winning a full-time independant channel. We are gearing up for a massive lobbying campaign to get Free Speech TV a full time channel,and need your assistance. ***** A quick message from the Headwaters Action Video Collective: Thank you for taking the time to read this important call to action! Free Speech TV, as you now know, has a chance to get a 24 hour satellite show. This non-commercial TV programming has aired the issues that we feel strongly about and it's our chance for a voice of freedom on the TV air waves. Let's get this important step to freedom communication on the road! We need your support to keep issues like Julia Butterfly, Headwaters, David Gypsy Chain, pepperspray and the struggle to save the last of the redwood ecosystem on the air waves and in the public eye! You can help by writing a letter of support or by making a supportive call. If you don't get cable or haven't yet seen FSTV that's OK because if you could get it on satellite then you too would have a chance to view programs about these important issues. FSTV has supported Headwaters and environmental and social struggle for years, lets get Free-Speech TV on the Air waves now!!! Thanks again for your support, Penelope Andrews Headwaters Action Video Collective **************************************************************** ************ =========================== a c t i o n r e q u e s t =========================== Please join the "I Want My FSTV" campaign, and help Free Speech TV get a full time channel. It's easy, it's free, and it only takes a minute of your time to make a big difference. There are two ways to make your voice heard. Write a letter, or, call us toll free to send a message to the powers that be: 1-888-550-FSTV (in the U.S.) To send a letter, see details below, or if it's easier for you, go to: http://www.freespeech.org/fstv/iwantmyfstv.htm Letters are a proven campaign tool, even more effective than phone calls. It takes time to write a clear and effective letter. So when government and business leaders receive them in large numbers, they take notice. Your letter can be very brief. If you don't have time to write one yourself, simply respond to this message, and add your name (and where you're writing from) to the sample letter below. Address your letter "To Whom It May Concern" and send it to FSTV at P.O. Box 6060, Boulder, CO 80306; by fax to 303-442-6472; or by e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ========================= s a m p l e l e t t e r ========================= (date and year) To Whom It May Concern: I want access to a television network that offers truly independent, socially conscious and culturally diverse programming. For five years, Free Speech TV has delivered this kind of programming to seven million homes every week. FSTV would be an ideal addition to your DBS services as a part of the FCC mandated 4% set aside of channel capacity for non-commercial, educational and informational programming. FSTV gives voice to people traditionally absent from commercial television: working people; women; people of color; gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities; the poor and homeless; people with disabilities; indigenous populations; citizens from the "third world", youth and the important Environmental issues that we are faceing in the world today.. I urge you to include FSTV in your services. Audiences will salute you for your efforts to bring more diversity to the public's airwaves. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, (your name) (your address) (your city and state) =========================== t a l k i n g p o i n t s =========================== If you have time to write your own letter, feel free to use these talking points. We need to convince Direct Broadcast Satellite operators of four things: Need: television lacks a network dedicated to intelligent, socially conscious and culturally diverse programming Value: such programming serves an important educational end, and also helps to increase civic participation and reinvigorate our democracy Audience: there are indeed many people who desire such programming and who would watch it regularly FSTV's credibility: with the support of the independent media and progressive communities, FSTV has delivered such programming for the past five years and is well prepared to do so now on a full-time basis. Thank you for your efforts and for your time. For more information about Free Speech TV and its efforts to get a full time channel: http://www.freespeech.org/fstv/iwantmyfstv.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FreeShop is the #1 place for free and trial offers and great deals! 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