-Caveat Lector- RadTimes # 65 - October, 2000 An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities. "We're living in rad times!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents: --------------- --In the Aftermath of Seattle: Backlash Reigns --Philadelphia Protesters Trusted Wrong Volunteer --Withering Democracy --Protest Against the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue --Security Detail Linked stories: *The Right To Radio ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin stories: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the Aftermath of Seattle: Backlash Reigns <http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/progresp/vol4/prog4n37.html> By Tom Barry Although the violence in Seattle was widely condemned by citizen leaders, much of the rhetoric used by these same leaders fosters a violent backlash. Clearly, the militancy of the demonstrations has successfully focused media--and to some degree public--attention on the institutions of global economic governance. There is also growing recognition by global leaders that the negative impacts of globalization need to be addressed. Seeing this success, antiglobalization groups have adopted "shut it down" strategies at international meetings of globalization forums and institutions. The hope was that successive Seattle-modeled protests would delegitimize the institutions of global governance and draw in greater numbers of disaffected citizen groups, coalescing them into a truly international movement that can turn around globalization. The analysts associated with this movement often lend intellectual support to the anarchist backlash on the streets. In his recent book, American University professor Robin Hahnel, a frequent contributor to Z magazine, writes: "We must act like Lilliputian Luddites first and stop corporate-sponsored globalization by any means necessary." For many in the antiglobalization movement, this campaign against globalization is the defining struggle of our era--a life and death struggle that requires all means necessary to stop corporate forces. One possibility is that such a backlash movement could indeed be successful at undermining the credibility and legitimacy of current institutions. In the process of stressing the importance of national sovereignty and local development, such a movement may also help build a global consensus against all forms of global governance--a frightening scenario. Another possibility is that the media and public will grow weary of street demonstrations of disaffected youth, the message of the reformers will be lost in the cacophony of street battles, and the concerns and positive agendas of the antiglobalization coalition will be dismissed. In the aftermath of DC, Melbourne, and Prague, it is time to ask what the agenda of this movement is with respect to multilateral global governance. The movement makes reference to the power of the U.S. Treasury and the Washington-to-Wall Street axis of power in corporate-led globalization. But the protests have focused not on America's central role, but on the institutions of multilateral governance that include most of the world's governments. In the U.S., this anti-global governance strategy has great resonance with those among the left and the right who appeal to the sanctity of national sovereignty. One of the most striking inconsistencies among progressives is their ambivalent embrace of multilateralism. In the political/security arena, multilateralism is supported as the only viable method for advancing international peace and security. Multilateralism in the form of the UN is strongly supported, and unilateralism by the U.S. is consistently condemned. The citizen movements focusing on global economic issues make no such principled declaration in support of multilateral governance, however. The political leaders of other nations, like those of the U.S., are regarded to be the servants of corporate and elite rule. When making the critique that the current governance institutions are incapable of reform, many global economy activists do not at the same time assert that some form of multilateral economic governance is fundamentally important. The succession this year of attempts to shut down the multilateral institutions should raise serious questions about just where the global economy movement is going. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Philadelphia Protesters Trusted Wrong Volunteer He drove them right into custody October 1, 2000, Philadelphia Inquirer by Craig R. McCoy and Linda K. Harris With police helicopters swooping overhead, the protesters dashed in twos and threes to the waiting van. The 1995 Ford Econoline sped off, bound for Center City. Nervous and full of energy, the demonstrators were ready to leap from the van and block traffic during the Republican National Convention for as long as seven hours. Their mission was carefully planned and rehearsed, but there was one thing the protesters hadn't bargained on. Behind the wheel of the van was Harry, a burly man with a trim goatee. Though his passengers didn't realize it, Harry was an undercover state trooper. He drove the 18 activists right into police custody. Their operation didn't last seven hours. Seven minutes, maybe. The police duping of that vanload of demonstrators on Tuesday, Aug. 1, the most tumultuous day of street protest during the convention, was a pivotal episode in a weeklong battle of wills. Protesters were bent on paralyzing Center City intersections on a day when Philadelphia was in the national spotlight. Police were just as determined to keep that from happening. The protesters' planning was extensive but not without flaw. Before getting into the van, the group even donned diapers - so a trip to the bathroom need not force anyone to give up a position during the blockade. However, the usual adult diapers weren't available that day, so the protesters put on ill-fitting baby diapers. And the protesters hadn't counted on the state police penetrating their ranks. This account is based on interviews with demonstrators arrested in the van - including the Texas couple who unwittingly gave the keys to their van to the undercover agent - and with officials, including one familiar with the undercover operation. The protesters' target was 12th and Arch Streets, outside the Convention Center, where many Republican delegates were touring a replica of the Oval Office and Air Force One at the popular PoliticalFest exhibit. That Tuesday morning, the protesters gathered initially in the courtyard of the so-called puppet warehouse at 41st Street and Haverford Avenue, the massive stone building where 75 activists were arrested that afternoon. There, the protesters made several dry runs of the blockade. They clustered in the courtyard as though in a van and then pantomimed leaping forward, as though jumping onto a street. It was "a pretty pathetic rehearsal," one participant said later. Since the convention, the warehouse and its purpose have lingered in controversy. Although many protesters have insisted that the warehouse was used only to create satirical puppets, a massive float and banners, those in the van acknowledged that it was the initial staging area for their operation. In the warehouse, participants sorted out their roles, with some agreeing to ride in the van to face eventual arrest for the illegal street blockade, and others choosing "low-risk" supporting roles. Harry elected a supporting role. Scott Haws, 33, and his wife, Anne Harkness, 42, of Dallas, agreed that Harry could drive their van as they planned to take part in the street lockdown. "He volunteered to do it," Haws added. Harry had won the trust of the protesters by working hard to help build a massive satirical political float dubbed "Corpzilla." That Tuesday, after an hour of rehearsals at the warehouse, members of the group scattered at noon, agreeing to rendezvous at 2 p.m. at the Comet coffee shop and espresso bar, about five blocks from the closely watched warehouse. As they gathered there, the demonstrators learned that the warehouse was under siege, surrounded by police who eventually arrested everyone inside. In affidavits justifying search warrants for the warehouse and the Ford van, state police later revealed that several troopers, working undercover, had infiltrated the warehouse. State police officials have declined to elaborate on the clandestine operation, but a government official familiar with the undercover work has confirmed what the protesters ruefully came to suspect: that Harry, the man behind the wheel of the Econoline, was a state trooper. Protesters say Harry was among four men who had arrived at the warehouse from Wilkes-Barre five days earlier. A protester named James McGuinness, 44, who has lived in Washington for the last 14 months, let them enter the warehouse. "They came in the daytime," said McGuinness, who was in charge of security at the warehouse. "They said they were stagehands and they were carpenters. They said they were there to support the unions. Since Seattle, there's been a lot of union participation. A lot of people in unions don't look like activists." The four men drew suspicion in some quarters. With their short hair, well-kept goatees, ignorance of politics, and taste for Yuengling beer - an exception to the no-alcohol rule was made for them - they seemed a little "off." Still, they quickly proved hard and capable workers, practically building "Corpzilla" by themselves. Adam Eidinger, 27, of Washington, and his girlfriend, Alexis Baden-Mayer, 26, of Alexandria, Va., became friendly with the carpenters. Eidinger had a special interest in the float: he had rented the flatbed truck on which "Corpzilla" was built. The money came from movie director Robert Greenwald, who had just released the Abbie Hoffman biopic Steal This Movie!. As Aug. 1 approached, according to Eidinger, the four carpenters urgently pushed to have some role in the coming street protests. " 'We want to do some direct action,' " Eidinger recalled one saying. " 'And we want to do it with you.' " On Tuesday afternoon, Harry showed up with the other three union carpenters at the Comet coffee shop. His three companions were sent away. When the protesters dashed out in groups to the van, Harry climbed behind the wheel. "Here's the keys," Haws told him. "You're now the captain." With Harry driving, the van took off. Some of the passengers began to assemble "lock boxes" - contraptions rigged with pipes, wire, chain and mountaineering clamps - which the demonstrators planned to wear to link themselves together, starfish-like, to slow the police job of prying them off the street. "There was a lot of excitement and energy in the van," Haws said. One protester cautioned: "Everybody take a deep breath." The excitement soon turned to high anxiety. Almost immediately, the activists noticed what they took to be an unmarked police car behind them. "Within the first 60 seconds, someone yelled out, 'We're being followed,' " said Eidinger, a self-employed publicist. "The jig was up pretty quickly." "Within minutes, there were cops. It was very obviously planned from the beginning," said protester Soliman Lawrence, 20, of Tallahassee, Fla. Soon, a train of police cruisers was visible behind the van, and what the demonstrators believed were unmarked police cars pulled in front of and beside it. As a police escort took shape, the van rolled west on the Schuylkill Expressway, heading toward the Vine Street Expressway interchange and Center City. Inside, more aggressive protesters suggested that they should leap out right there and block the expressway. Haws recalled the hurried debate. Other people suggested driving straight into New Jersey. "What are we going to do? Do we want to just drive away, abort the plan? There was talk of committing the action where we were," he recalled. Said Eidinger: "We were trying to keep everyone calm in the van. Being followed by the police was something we never anticipated." Demonstrator George Ripley, 52, who had been riding in the passenger seat next to Harry, quickly realized that the protest in Center City wasn't going to happen. "We should have driven out of town," said Ripley, who recently moved to Washington from Homer, Alaska. Harry finally stopped at Vine and Eighth Streets. "He rolled the window down and asked why we were being pulled over," Haws said. "They said it was because the tags were expired, which was untrue. They asked him to step out of the car. They took him away." There, by the highway, the test of wills continued. Police ordered everyone else out of the van. About half refused. On a day when even the asphalt sweated, police then reached into the van and hauled limp demonstrators out one by one to face misdemeanor charges. Handcuffed, the protesters were carried into a waiting police bus. Sitting there, the protest thwarted, the 18 activists looked around and came to a startling realization: Harry wasn't among them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Withering Democracy By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman For all but the ideologically committed or deluded few who believe corporations and their executives make contributions out of a sense of civic obligation, there can be little doubt that the U.S. campaign finance system is fundamentally corrupt, and corrupting. But it would be a mistake to make this observation and reach the obvious conclusion that the current system of private contributions must be replaced by a system of public financing, and then fail to dig further. Because the available campaign finance data provides a host of insights into the pattern of corporate investment in politics and politicians in the United States. Superb new data collections from the invaluable Center for Responsive Politics (CRP, data at <www.opensecrets.org>) detail the nature of major industrial sector contribution patterns over the last decade, compiling contributions from individuals affiliated with industries, political action committee (PAC) contributions and soft money donations (made to the political parties). Here is some of what their data shows: 1. Every single major industrial sector except for communications/ electronics now favors the Republican Party. The CRP industry groupings are: agribusiness; communications/electronics; construction; defense; energy/natural resources; finance/insurance/real estate; health; transportation; and a catch-all miscellaneous business category, including liquor, casinos, chemicals, food, advertising, steel production and textiles. The communications/electronics contributions lean slightly toward the Democrats, powered by contributions from Hollywood. The TV/movie/music sector, constituting about a third of overall donations from the communications/electronics sector, gives more than 60 percent of its contributions to Democrats. 2. Despite the overall tilt to the Republicans, every major industrial sector contributes large sums to the Democrats as well. Agribusiness and energy/natural resources, two of the most pro-Republican industries, gave the Democrats $69 million and $64 million, respectively, in the election cycles from 1990 to 2000. 3. The only reliably Democratic supporters are lawyers/lobbyists (reflecting trial lawyer contributions) and labor. Lawyers/lobbyists directed nearly 70 percent of their contributions to the Democrats. Labor sent more than 90 percent of its monies to the Dems. 4. The major shift to the Republicans followed the 1994 elections, in which the Republicans took control of both houses of Congress. Corporate contributions generally flow to the majority party, both because it has more incumbents and the companies seek to win influence with those in office, and because the majority party controls the legislative agenda. 5. Of the major industrial sectors, agribusiness, construction, energy/natural resources and transportation, plus the miscellaneous business category, appear firmly entrenched in the Republican camp. They favored the Republicans even when they were the minority in Congress, and now favor them by large margins. The health industries and finance/insurance/real estate both give about 60 percent of their contributions to the Republicans, while defense gives an even higher share to the GOP, but each of these sectors split their contributions relatively evenly when the Democrats controlled Congress. Communications/electronics companies now divide their contributions evenly, and favored the Democrats in the elections through 1994. 6. The broad sector totals may in some cases obscure differences within industry groupings. For example, in the energy sector, while oil and gas have always been staunchly Republican, now giving more than three-fourths of their contributions to the Party of Lincoln, electric utilities have tilted more Democratic. Although about two-thirds of utility money now goes to the Republicans, utilities favored the Democrats when they controlled Congress. In the finance sector, real estate firms and securities/investment banks have shaded more Democratic than insurance companies and commercial banks. The former now give about 43 percent of their monies to the Democrats, while insurance companies and commercial banks give only one-third to the minority party. In general, however, industrial sectors appear to act in concert. 7. Specific sector contributions spike at certain periods, correlating with Congressional consideration of major legislation of interest to particular industries. Agribusiness contributions rise prior to adoption of the periodic Farm Bill. Communications/electronic contributions nearly doubled from 1994 to 1996, prior to adoption of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Contributions from the finance sector skyrocketed as the financial deregulation bill was wending its way through Congress. 8. Over the past decade, the overarching trend in corporate campaign contributions has been rapidly upward. Corporate contributions in the 2000 elections are already about 50 percent higher than in the 1992 presidential election year -- and there's still plenty of time to go this year. 9. Labor is no counterbalance for the Democrats. Although unions direct more than 90 percent of their contributions to the Democrats, corporate contributors outspend them by more than 11 times. 10. George W. Bush is massively outdistancing Al Gore in corporate contributions. Bush leads in every corporate sector. In the most competitive sector, communications/electronics, Bush's contributions are 25 percent higher than Gore's. In the agribusiness, energy/natural resources and transportation sectors, Bush is pulling in nearly 10 times more money than Gore. This is no way to run a democracy. When both parties' financial lifeline are connected to corporate interests, the democratic credentials of the political system are called into question. The system formally remains one of one person, one vote, but is it the people or the corporations who rule? ---- Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: The Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1999). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protest Against the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue <http://www.n16.org/> DIRECT ACTION PROTEST AGAINST THE T.A.B.D. NOVEMBER 16 - 18 DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI OHIO OMNI NETHERLANDS HOTEL - 5th and Race St. November 16-18, the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) will be having their annual CEO conference in Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio at the Omni Netherlands Hotel. European Union Parliament, U.S. congress, and more than 200 American and European CEOs and business leaders will meet to talk about issues that impact transatlantic trade and develop recommendations on how to best boost global trade and investment. The T.A.B.D. makes recommendations that will set the tone for World Trade Organization policy. Over 50% of T.A.B.D. recommendations have been adopted for the WTO. One such corporation in attendance at the conference, BASF, who's plant in Cincinnati blew up in the early 1990's killing two workers, injuring many more and also caused millions of dollars in damage will help with these negotiations! The TABD claims to "offer an effective framework for enhanced Cooperation between the transatlantic business community and the governments Of the EU and US. An informal process whereby European and American companies and business associations develop joint EU-US trade policy recommendations, working together with the European Commission and U.S. administration." It's plain to see that the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue means more money and control in the pockets of top CEO and government officials so just like the WTO in Seattle and the IMF/World Bank in Washington DC demonstrations it is time to voice our opposition. Join together and publicize the disastrous effects of global capitalism to people both outside and inside the United States. We need to converse to world economic and business leaders that we will not calmly tolerate labor and agricultural annihilation before our eyes. What is left before us, our only hope for a just and equal society, YOU! Start talking to within communities about organizing affinity groups to come and converge in Cincinnati Ohio November 15, 16, 17, 18 to make aware the growing nature of these undemocratic institutions. Join in workshops and educational demonstrations of real democracy where we organize from the bottom up. Our convergence upon Cincinnati will be a symbol that we want to totally eradicate and abolish the injustice of global economic control by a few. No longer shall human life, animals and the environment be substituted for personal gain! Come be apart of mass demonstrations, direct action and civil disobedience to show the TABD that we will not tolerate their current policies of global takeover by institutions that cater profit before people. Without a peoples response to this matter we waive our right to practice the democratic process and put it into the T.A.B.D's hands. --To subscribe to the Cincinnati Direct Action email list -- For current and up to date info please email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> If you would like to get involved please contact : <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more on the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue see <www.tabd.org>. Website for direct action protest with updates, housing, and current information on N16 protests and teach-ins at <www.n16.org>. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Security Detail By Patrick Beach <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> American-Statesman Staff Thursday, October 5, 2000 As many as 150 of the country's richest moguls are coming to Austin for the big Fortune 500 summit this month. With murmurs of protests in addition to the usual security concerns that go with such an event, you're likely to see more edgy-looking guys in suits than when George W. Bush comes to town to pick up his mail. Those would be the bodyguards, the Kevlar-vested, concealed-weapon-carrying, surveillance-mike-talking-into paid protectors of the very rich and very targetable. Here then, a bodyguard FAQ: What's a bodyguard? In Texas, it's a private security officer who, in addition to being licensed to carry a concealed weapon, has had additional training to become a Personal Protection Officer, or PPO. Have any of the Fortune 500 CEOs, in fact, contracted with Austin security firms to watch their backs while they're here? We'd tell you, but then we'd have to kill you. No, really. Many top CEOs contract their own security details that travel with them. However, it's conceivable that if Michael Dell's guy eats some bad tuna fish, Dell could hire an Austin firm for the day. Are you saying Michael Dell has bodyguards? Cool. "I probably shouldn't mention specific company names, but there are large computer companies in Austin that have their own officers, and I have trained some of those," says Sam Langford, owner of Austin Security Concepts Inc. Does bodyguard training include learning the lyrics to "I Will Always Love You"? I have a gun. Are you sure you want to be asking that? What about "Have Gun, Will Travel"? Um . . . yes. Although that was technically called "The Ballad of Paladin." "A soldier of fortune is a man called Paladin," right? "Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?" Right. OK, I need a bodyguard. How much will it run me? In Austin, generally anywhere from $45 to $75 an hour for each PPO. Not cheap, but if somebody is legitimately worried about safety and security, the value is incalculable. And what happens after I hire you to protect me? Jeff White of Austin's Statewide Patrol says it goes like this: There's a background interview to determine why the subject feels she or he needs protection. Then the firm determines whether the principal needs one guard, or four, or 10. "You put one guy or two guys on somebody who needs 10, not only is your client compromised but so are your guys," says Kevin Moore of Emerald P.I. <www.emeraldpi.com>. Itineraries and travel routes are reviewed and, in some instances, locations are reconnoitered in advance. Says White: "I've ridden in limos and I've ridden in bulletproof Suburbans." Langford: "They would provide executive security, plan the visit, coordinate with local law enforcement, coordinate their security efforts along with the itinerary of the client. It varies with the person. There are PPOs that will travel with the person. Traveling outside the state of Texas is a little trickier because gun laws vary from state to state." Every situation is different. "Whoever the individual is, each person has a unique threat assessment," says Moore. "The CEO of Coca-Cola is going to have a different assessment than the president of Colombia or Michael Dell. You want to have as much information about the person and where they're heading. No one likes surprises. If there is a surprise, they'd like to have the ability to respond and have a backup." Let's say I want to be a bodyguard. What kind of cool gear would I have? White has a wireless surveillance microphone ($200), a Glock ($475), concealment holsters ($250) and, of course, the hopefully named bulletproof vest ($400). "I wouldn't guard a taco stand in this town without my vest on," White says. And what's involved in the training? We'd tell you, but— You used that joke already. Right. Well, there's the diamond formation, a fairly self-explanatory method for surrounding the client with four PPOs. There's proper takedown of suspects, use of the force continuum (from verbal warning to deadly force), specialized shooting and the like. Officers also learn to be wary of potential diversions—a scuffle on the other side of the room might, in fact, be aimed at distracting the PPOs. "You always have to be aware," White says. "Not obsessed or paranoid, but aware." Prospective CEO-guarding PPOs also are required to take a personality inventory test and undergo a psychological evaluation to make sure they don't have, you know, significant mommy issues or something. What glamorous bodyguarding assignments has White had? Well, he kept an eye on some really expensive photographs at a private gallery opening. He's wearing a suit, walking around, looking at the photographs, saying, "I find this piece very interesting." "I'm not an art critic, I'm just a bodyguard. I had no idea what I was talking about," he says. What if somebody starts shooting? Not likely at an art gallery, but, according to "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook," the thing to do is get as far away from the shooter as rapidly as possible. The book also recommends running in a zigzag pattern to make yourself more difficult to tag. And gunfights go on for hours and hours, right, like in a John Woo movie? Get real. Most gunbattles, says White, are over in three seconds. And they're never in slow motion. How many PPOs are there in Texas? According to the Texas Commission on Private Security, 396. And people are attracted to this line of work because of . . . "The intrigue," White says. James Bond and all that. At the same time, "It's not so cool. It's very serious. You can't get caught up in the glitz of riding in the limo. You follow your guy to the bathroom." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Linked stories: ******************** The Right To Radio <http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/nab.shtml> A grassroots movement is challenging corporate control of the airwaves. Aliza Dichter reports on the politics inside and outside the broadcasters' convention. ******************** ====================================================== "Anarchy doesn't mean out of control. It means out of 'their' control." -Jim Dodge ====================================================== "Communications without intelligence is noise; intelligence without communications is irrelevant." -Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ====================================================== "It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society." -J. Krishnamurti ______________________________________________________________ To subscribe/unsubscribe or for a sample copy or a list of back issues, send appropriate email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. ______________________________________________________________ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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