-Caveat Lector-
RadTimes # 90 November, 2000
An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.
"We're living in rad times!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUOTE:
"To be governed is to be kept in sight, inspected, spied upon, directed,
law-driven, numbered, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled,
estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither
the right, nor the wisdom, nor the virtue to do so..."
--Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents:
---------------
--Direct Democracy, Not Corporate Hypocrisy
--Never Mind The Ballots!
--Voting never brought freedom to anyone
--Patching Up Morale at the World Trade Organization
--Ritalin: As Easy to Get as Candy
--New Technology Can Pinpoint Cell-Phone Users' Locations
Linked stories:
*Violence on Decline in U.S. Schools
*Judge's Drug Search Ruling Impacts Privacy Rights
*Stress levels rise as traffic slows
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Begin stories:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct Democracy, Not Corporate Hypocrisy
From The Conventions To The Elections
TAKE ACTION FOR DIRECT DEMOCRACY: ELECTION DAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2000
The Republican and Democratic Party Conventions, the presidential debates
and the national elections are all part of a publicity spectacle designed to
mask a fundamentally undemocratic political and economic system and the
corporate power behind it. We are taking action this Election Day to create
a real public debate about who should make decisions about the issues that
affect our communities -- unaccountable politicians and corporations or
people in the communities who are affected by the decisions? Voting every
two or four years between unaccountable, pre-selected politicians is not
democracy. Even without the influence of wealthy corporations, even with
campaign finance reform, even with third parties or well-meaning political
candidates, the US political system isn't capable of being genuinely
democratic. It will not give us the power to better our communities or our
lives.
We want real, direct democracy that gives everyone power over the decisions
and resources that matter in our neighborhoods, towns, schools, and
workplaces. This is the only way we can the make lasting, positive social
and ecological changes that will rebuild our communities and our
environment. We can and will create direct democracy in our community
organizations, town meetings, neighborhood groups, rank and file unions and
grassroots movements.
Poverty and cuts in welfare, healthcare, education, public transportation
and social services while the rich get richer; police brutality, racism and
corruption; repression of grassroots activism; locking up of more and more
youth; gentrification of our neighborhoods; skyrocketing rents and
harassment of homeless people; political prisoners -- like Mumia Abu
Jamal-- and the death penalty; poisoning of our air and water and killing
of our forests; low wages, lousy, meaningless jobs, sweatshops and union
busting;
the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank
forcing poverty, misery and environmental destruction around the globe for
corporate profits.
These problems are all rooted in the same undemocratic political and
economic system, controlled by big corporations, that hides behind staged
political elections. It's time we came together to stand up to this system
and create directly democratic positive alternatives! A new world is
possible and we are part of a global movement that is rising up to make it
happen. Join us.
NOV 7: ELECTION DAY ACTIONS
Street theater, conduct "exit poll" real questions for voters, leaflet
polling booths, hold a direct democracy town meeting, relate your activity
to local issues and struggles, graphic visibility postering, street party,
public forums, direct democracy skills workshops, funeral for democracy --
procession to political parties or headquarters, highway bannering or human
bill board, teach-ins, micro/pirate radio broadcasts, more.
CLEARINGHOUSE: <www.directdemocracynow.org>
A simple clearinghouse has been set up to provide organizing resources and
to keep us in touch with each other. It will include:
* Sample flyers and poster, info leaflet, and press release that you can
modify and use or get ideas from.
* A list of local contacts, action plans and post action reports of folks
who are doing activism around the elections from a radical non-sectarian
perspective
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Never Mind The Ballots!
The fake democracy that the ruling class uses
to control us will prove once again this fall that
we have no voice in their political game.
Corporate sponsorship of political events,
donations to campaigns and enormous lobbying
efforts have disenfranchised us, and still, the
bureaucrats, politicians, and capitalists
continue to campaign with the fervor of used car
salesmen, badgering us to vote for their
candidate. With the presidential election fast
approaching, the charade continues and the
insanity increases. The democrats yell at us,
warning of impending evil should we vote for
Green Party candidate, Ralph Nader. According to
these hacks, every vote for Nader solidifies
George W's chances of making it into office,
which, they claim, would actually mean different
policies than Gore. More progressive liberals
like the Greens rant about Al Gore and his
wrondgoings, proclaiming that voting for Nader
can actually bring positive change.
We should have no more illusions about our
democracy. The political system of a capitalist
society like ours has one major function; to
enforce property relations between the ruling
class and the rest of us. Consequently, a vote
for any candidate is a vote for not only our
continued exploitation but also for increased
and expanded misery throughout the world. Our
choices in this election, as in the past ones,
are meaningless because our vote (no matter who
it is for) will be a vote for more of the same -
institutionalized racism, sexism, cutbacks,
police, wars, prisons and ecological
destruction.
Certainly, the most important thing to recognize
amidst all this political fury is that, at no
time in history, has positive social change been
achieved by the election of a politician. In
fact, all laws and policies enacted by
politicians that aren't in the ruling class's
interest come into being because we put enough
pressure on them through our struggles in our
neighborhoods, and workplaces. Elections are
simply the ratification of hard fought for
victories through social struggle. When we
organize ourselves along truly democratic lines
- by taking grassroots initiative, refusing
leaders and personality cults, using open and
participatory methods that put us on a face to
face level - to struggle for improvements in our
lives, and even to further radical demands we
possess a power that is frightening to the
ruling class. If we take that organizing further
and create serious economic and political
consequences we can make demands and see to it
that they are achieved! This is our historic
realm - not theirs - and we should not
compromise in these situations. The ability of
the politicians to spin-doctor and speak to our
concerns in a seemingly genuine way should not
be underestimated. Remember, 'they will always
promise us heaven before the elections, and give
us hell after them'!
Appearing before us like a two-headed monster,
George W. and Al Gore have dispensed with nearly
all attempts at upholding the illusion that they
represent different politics. Having both
received significant and similar amounts of
bribes from the same corporations and
organizations, it should come as no surprise
that they stand on the same side of about 90% of
the issues. They are unanimous in their support
for the laws and policies that will continue to
keep us down; use of the death penalty, welfare
reform, tough on crime legislation, militarized
borders and murderous immigration policies, wage
decreases, HMO control of our health, increased
military spending, decreased social spending,
rollbacks on environmental protection, and we
know the list could go on.
While Nader tends to stand out with his rhetoric
of a 'fair' minimum wage and free healthcare
coverage for everyone, there is next to no
chance at all (even if he were elected) that
those kind of laws would ever pass. We might
well face the national guard before congress
would concede such needed and costly benefits.
The main difference between these politicos lies
in their strategy to maintain a stable class
society. The only difference between the
democrats and republicans are that the democrats
have a little more fear of the working class. We
can see this in the more conciliatory approach
that both Clinton and Gore have taken with their
policies. Gore's speech is laced with well-
crafted statements about his allegiance to the
poor of this country but if one looks closely at
the policies that have passed while Gore has sat
as VP, you begin to see a different story.
Nationally, welfare benefits have been rolled
back with devastating results. Their tough on
crime legislation and zero tolerance drug policy
has ended up putting more people behind bars
than even before. Access to abortions has been
reduced to hospitals and clinics in only 14% of
US counties. If any of these repressive measures
had been introduced under Republican leadership
we would have been in the streets every weekend,
but when a democrat signs them into law, we
accept it as the best deal possible.
The Democrats and even more progressive liberals
like the Greens take a social democratic
strategy to maintain both their power and
capitalist stability to keep us content. They
throw us crumbs while more severe measures are
passed right over our heads and behind our
backs. The Republicans use no such pretense.
Their strategy is to push us to our absolute
limits and when we defend ourselves against
their attacks, they are prepared with prisons,
the National Guard and brutal cops. As divergent
as these strategies are, the results are the
same.
Rather than willingly grant any of these
criminals the authority to rule over us we
should force them to concede to our needs and
desires by raising the social cost in the
streets. Class struggle brings change with fewer
compromises and in less time. Whether those
changes are improvements in our struggle to
survive or changes that take aim at the whole
system with the intent of replacing it with a
more equitable libertarian society will depend
on our demands in the street, not the candidate
in the office.
----
Sabate Anarchist Collective (NEFAC)
PO Box 230685, Boston, MA 02123
email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voting never brought freedom to anyone
By Ernest Hancock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
There is concern in the halls of government and the media that the ongoing
decline in voter participation reflects apathy. More likely, I think,
voters are figuring out how the system really works.
All people act in ways they perceive to be in their best interest. Politics
is about trying to convince voters it is in their best interest to vote for
candidates who claim to represent their interests.
Is it working? For the VOTERS best interests?
Libertarian philosophy operates on the belief that most of the American
people know that freedom is good for them -- including freedom from social
and economic engineering imposed on them by swarms of government agents sent
to harass them and to eat out their substance.
Since merely VOTING for more freedom and less government has never produced
anything of the sort, it is small wonder that this method is losing
credibility and being abandoned by a liberty-starved populace.
I remember that it was the promise of less government that sent Ronald
Reagan to the White House with the overwhelming support of the people.
The promise of fundamental reforms sent people into the streets in 1992. In
1994 the promise of a contract with the American people, that a new congress
would reduce government, finally gave both houses to the Republicans.
In every case the American people were lied to, and the voters know it.
What could astute potential voters be told now that would convince them they
can make any real difference at the ballot box?
Even putting aside some major concerns: that vote-counting computers are not
isolated from outside communication and possible control; that even
court-ordered recounts of a computer-tabulated election are NOT
verified with a manual count; that tens of thousands of unvoted ballots are
mailed out and never accounted for; that the justification for automation is
speed -- yet we still wait days and weeks for final results; that
legislation PREVENTS simple verification of the computer program with a
manual comparison AFTER the election; that many potential voter's views are
not represented on a ballot tailored to provide special advantages to
parties that have been institutionalized as part of the government
(crippling competition before it gets established); ... even with all that
aside, we have a populace that instinctively knows they are irrelevant to
the process.
As an advocate of freedom, I have found that the political process allows an
effective method of spreading the freedom message. For the few short months
that people may be paying attention, libertarians have a chance to help them
understand new questions that should be asked.
Rather than, "Would local control of public education be preferable?" Ask,
"Do you support separation of Child and State?"
Rather than, "Which form of income tax is better?" Ask, "Do you believe the
government has a right to your income?"
Instead of, "Should we increase defense funding?" Ask, "Do you believe we
would reduce threats to the United States by no longer trying to socially or
economically control people around the world?"
Rather than, "How do we provide healthcare for children of the poor?" Ask,
"How much less would healthcare cost if the industry were deregulated?"
Instead of, "How do you propose to get handguns out of the hands of
criminals?" Ask, "How do you plan to eliminate victim disarmament laws so
people can protect themselves?"
The issues are influenced by the questions asked -- and by exactly how the
questions are worded -- by the media, the pollsters and the politicians.
This influence is now, however, being steadily displaced as individuals use
the internet to ask their own questions, and seek answers from people who
have first-hand knowledge.
Influence of government and traditional media has been dwindling to the
point where Libertarians will soon be BEGGED to participate in National
Presidential Debates -- so someone will watch them!
But by then, the freedom movement will have already taken to the streets
with growing numbers of individuals demanding to be left alone, regardless
of any vote totals -- whether accurate or not.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patching Up Morale at the World Trade Organization
NY Times, Oct. 31, 2000
By ELIZABETH OLSON
GENEVA, Oct. 30 - Nearly a year after violent demonstrations in
Seattle disrupted the World Trade Organization's meeting of ministers
and shredded its image, the group's leader, Mike Moore, is still
trying to pick up the pieces.
The public dissatisfaction over further trade liberalization without
accompanying attention to openness and environmental, safety and labor
issues frayed an organization already shaken by a divisive fight for
its top job - a post Mr. Moore took up just three months before the
Seattle talks collapsed.
For governments both large and small, Seattle became a shorthand for
failure to move toward more open world markets, the World Trade
Organization's mission.
Rebuilding the image of the five- year-old, fast-growing group has
preoccupied Mr. Moore and, some say, hobbled him during his first year
as director general. Even critics go easy on him over the Seattle
debacle, mostly because he was so new to the job. They say he will
find that his greatest challenge will be getting a new round of global
trade talks under way next year.
By all accounts, Mr. Moore, 51, who is from New Zealand, has labored
mightily to restore confidence within the fractured ranks of the
organization, which now has 138 member nations and seems to be
expanding monthly. He has traveled extensively and has taken steps to
assure the smaller members that their concerns are important and being
addressed. Still, fissures between the large, industrialized nations
and the developing countries that came to light during the leadership
tussle and were widened by the Seattle debacle have been slow to
close.
"He's tried to move away from the Green Room, and thrash out issues in
the General Council," said Ireland's trade negotiator, Anne Anderson,
using the nickname for closed-door sessions for invited diplomats.
"But trying to move more transparently means things move more slowly."
Interviewed recently in his office overlooking Lake Geneva, Mr. Moore
was philosophical, even resigned, seemingly girded for the long haul.
Though looking tired and speaking in a gravelly voice, Mr. Moore
displayed his folksy wit. "I said after Seattle that we'd be like a
swan - we'd hold our head up and pedal like mad underwater," he
chuckled. Confidence was "pretty fragile" after Seattle, but "it's
much stronger now," he said.
While China's impending entry to the W.T.O. has grabbed most of the
limelight recently, Mr. Moore has been active in the traditional
director general mode: smoothing the way behind the scenes.
Much of his attention has been focused on less glamorous matters.
Negotiations on agriculture and on an array of services, including
banking, insurance, tourism and communications, have begun, Mr. Moore
said. Those talks were required by agreements forged in 1994 in the
last global trade negotiations, known as the Uruguay Round.
The basic business of the organization, which also includes talks
about electronic commerce and the arbitration of global trade
disputes, "is bubbling away," he said, although he acknowledged that
"all this sounds like modest stuff."
No one disputes that the W.T.O. had to be lifted out of its doldrums.
But trade diplomats say that Mr. Moore now needs to focus on seeing
that a new trade round is up and running. Their target date is next
autumn's ministerial meeting.
"Due in no small part to his help, we've put the W.T.O. back into
normal business," said Morocco's trade diplomat, Nacer
Benjelloun-Touimi. "Now he needs to jump-start movement toward trade
liberalization."
Part of the deal that secured Mr. Moore his job calls for the term to
be split, cutting the time he has to show his stuff. Thailand's
minister, Supachai Panitchpakdi, is set to take over in September
2002. Despite the bitter leadership race, Mr. Supachai has been
circumspect in his remarks during Mr. Moore's tenure, and there is
little doubt he will have a quieter style than the bluff Mr. Moore
when his turn comes.
With the high-profile battle over globalization still raging, the
organization has benefited from Mr. Moore's accessibility and
communications skills - his snappy one-liners that often help make
trade abstractions concrete and relevant.
But skeptics say little has been done to make the trade forum's
operations more open to the public.
Although Mr. Moore said he would like to do more, many developing
countries fear that a fully accessible W.T.O. would leave them
vulnerable to pressure from home-based interest groups. And Mr.
Moore's ability to open closed-door sessions and give outsiders a
chance to give their views in trade disputes - two demands of
nongovernmental organizations - is controlled by the governments,
which he likes to say are "the real owners" of the body.
There are also questions about Mr. Moore's leadership abilities,
fueled in part by controversy earlier this year over the makeup of the
W.T.O. secretariat. A plan floated by the director general's inner
circle to ease out some of the European personnel, who dominate the
administrative staff, and replace them with people who better reflect
the W.T.O.'s diverse membership was greeted with fury, especially when
European governments learned they would probably be asked to pay for
the reorganization. The plan was quickly shelved.
Inside the organization's imposing headquarters building, morale is
still low. "There's been a sense of treading water here since
Seattle," one staff member said.
Employees complain that their work is increasingly hamstrung by a
static budget. The budget is tightly tied to a complex formula
involving inflation rates, including that of the biggest donor
country, the United States, which contributes nearly 16 percent of the
budget. It has edged up a few percentage points the last two years, to
$74 million in 2000. Mr. Moore's staff is pushing for a large
increase, 20 percent, for next year, citing the increased number of
trade disputes. But the biggest contributors, which also include
Canada, Japan and Germany, are likely to push for something more
modest.
Some critics say Mr. Moore has paid too much attention to developing
countries. He has, for instance, traveled to Africa half a dozen
times. Some of his initiatives for the least- developed countries,
including a program for technical assistance in trade matters, have
not won support from the biggest trading powers.
Developing countries also want more time to carry out Uruguay Round
commitments to protect intellectual property rights, bring investment
policies into line with free- trade rules and align national
regulations on animal and plant health and safety and food safety.
Industrial countries say such a delay is an attempt to rewrite
existing agreements.
Managing this diverse and fractious crowd is a huge challenge, and
cajoling, the trademark of Mr. Moore's predecessor, Renato Ruggiero,
is essential to the job. Some negotiators say Mr. Moore seems less
able than earlier trade chiefs - both Mr. Ruggiero, his only
predecessor at the W.T.O., and leaders of the group's forerunner, the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade - to jump over hurdles at
difficult negotiating junctures. Of course, trading nations used to be
an exclusive, and tiny, group.
Mr. Moore does not expect the way ahead to be easy. "I'm used to
public abuse now," he said.
"I've never believed the W.T.O. itself was the demon," he added, "but
I know things could get even more nasty as we try to move into a new
round" of global trade talks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ritalin: As Easy to Get as Candy
<http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1629/a08.html>
Boston Globe
Author: Patricia Wen
'AS EASY TO GET AS CANDY'
A New Massachusetts Study Finds Wide Teen Abuse Of Ritalin
NEWTON - At 13, the girl knew precisely why so many classmates darted
into the school nurse's office in the late morning: There, they
swallowed their daily doses of Ritalin pills to help them concentrate.
That year, she was on Ritalin, too. But instead of a visit to the
nurse's office, she got her pills through the black market that operates
out of school bathrooms and hallways, often for $1 to $5 a pill. And,
instead of swallowing the pills, she crushed them and snorted them
through her nose to get high.
"It's as easy to get as candy," said the teenager, now 15, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity while attending an adolescent drug treatment
program in Newton.
The candy reference is apt. Outside Watertown High School last week,
some students called the pills, which come in blue, yellow, and white,
"Skittles," a reference to the colorful miniature candy balls.
The easy availability of Ritalin - largely from other students diverting
their medical prescriptions - has public health officials worried that
the drug is becoming a popular adolescent approach to tripping, not
treatment.
The state now has preliminary figures to back up officials' fears. In a
survey of 6,000 public school students in Massachusetts in the last
school year, nearly 13 percent of high school students said they had
used Ritalin without a prescription at some time in their lives.
Among middle school students in the seventh and eighth grade, slightly
more than 4 percent of youngsters admitted to a non-medical use of
Ritalin at some time.
Researchers can't say if the percentages are up or down, because this is
the first state study of illicit use of Ritalin. While the pills clearly
don't have the adult-like allure of marijuana or alcohol - both
considered "gateway" drugs because they can lead to the use of harder
ones - Ritalin is still a threat. Teenagers abuse Ritalin at rates
similar to inhalants and cocaine, both highly popular substances.
"It's a substantial figure," said Thomas Clark, a research associate at
Health and Addictions Research Inc., a nonprofit health research firm
that conducted the state survey. "The number should be a wake-up call to
how much prescription drugs, including Ritalin, are being used
recreationally by teens."
At the same time, the illicit Ritalin market has another danger:
Students who have a prescription for the drug to control concentration
problems aren't getting the treatment they need if they're selling their
pills. Generally, the pills must be taken every four hours during the
school day.
Few reliable national statistics exist on Ritalin use among teens,
though some studies suggest anywhere from 2 to 3 percent of today's high
school students have tried Ritalin at least once in the past year. In
the recent Massachusetts survey, about 4 percent of high school students
said they had used unprescribed Ritalin at least once in the past year.
These numbers come at a time when even the legal use of Ritalin is being
questioned.
Congress has held hearings on the issue, and class-action suits against
the drug have been filed in several states, led by some parents and
psychologists who say the diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit
disorders are so broad that nearly every feisty child qualifies.
Clearly, many children who have trouble focusing in the classroom have
benefited from the drug, but there's been a growing backlash by some
parents and members of the medical establishment who say Ritalin is a
pharmacological quick-fix for schools and families that don't have time
to deal with complex behavioral issues.
With US production of Ritalin at nearly 15,000 kilograms a year, an
eight-fold increase from a decade ago, and about 2 million Americans on
this drug (overwhelmingly children), critics say more of today's youths
need patience - not pills - to see them through their tough times.
Still, some local teens who are aware of Ritalin's illicit market say
they have taken the drug legitimately for attention-deficit disorder and
found it very helpful.
"I could stay focused more," said a 12-year-old Arlington girl while
shopping last week. "My grades improved a lot."
While Ritalin clearly calms many people with attention-deficit disorder
- through a chemical mechanism that remains little understood - it acts
as a stimulant for most people. In fact, methylphenidate, as it is also
called, can produce an emotional high or a caffeine-like jolt, which
many college students take advantage of at exam-cramming time.
Drug-abuse specialists appear to be of two minds on the potential threat
of Ritalin as a new "gateway" drug for the young. On one hand, the
popularity of Ritalin seems limited by the fact that many teenagers
appear to regard it as a kind of substitute drug for their first
choices, such as marijuana or Ecstacy, also known as MDMA.
To achieve an intense high, some teens say they need to snort Ritalin,
also nicknamed Rids, which causes them to worry about physical damage
such as nose bleeds from snorting the drug.
"I'd take pot over Rids any day," said one 17-year-old boy, who also
spoke at the drug treatment center, Sameem Associates, in Newton. "Why
ruin your nose over Rids?"
Nevertheless, Ritalin is easy to get, especially for those who live in a
middle-class suburb where families are more likely to seek treatment for
attention-deficit disorder.
New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts rank first, third, and eighth,
respectively, among the top 10 states for Ritalin prescriptions.
While marijuana, cocaine, Ecstacy, and other substances require
teenagers to have underground connections to drug dealers, Ritalin's
distinction is that any child with a prescription has the potential to
be a dealer. Just slip a pill into their pocket to take to school, and
they have something to peddle.
A Watertown ninth-grader said he noticed a huge difference between
middle and high school. Because many high school students are entrusted
with their own medicine, "they have prescriptions, but they sell the
pills."
Ritalin is under the tightest controls in pharmacies. In fact, federal
law prohibits doctors from including refills in its prescriptions and
orders cannot be phoned in, even by doctors.
Now, law enforcement officials want to restrict what happens when
Ritalin gets into the hands of patients. Norfolk District Attorney
William R. Keating said his drug staff is starting to alert high school
groups to Ritalin abuse.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration is in the process of completing a
brochure for school nurses, asking them to keep all Ritalin in locked
cabinets and calling on school staff members to witness each child with
a prescription actually swallowing the pill before leaving the nurse's
office.
Gretchen Feussner, a DEA pharmacologist, said it's important to limit
the illicit supply of Ritalin, particularly in the early teen years.
"Kids often start experimenting with drugs around seventh grade, or at
12 years old," she said. "And they will experiment with drugs that are
available to them."
Edward M. Hallowell, a Concord psychiatrist who has written extensively
about Ritalin's potential benefits, said users need to know that, if
abused, the drug can cause serious side effects, including high blood
pressure, heart racing, and insomnia.
The medical dangers of Ritalin are well documented. Each year, from 1995
to 1998, federal figures show about 2,000 emergency-room admissions for
drug abuse that involved patients who mentioned taking Ritalin, either
alone or with other drugs. In these years, about half the cases involved
people under 17.
In an attempt to keep Ritalin out of the hands of school children, some
health officials have applauded this fall's debut of a drug called
Concerta, a form of Ritalin that lasts for 12 hours, three times as long
the traditional pill. This form allows a student to avoid a visit to the
school nurse, with all pills taken at home.
DEA pharmacologist Feussner pointed out, however, that Concerta also has
risk precisely because it is more potent. She fears that this new,
powerful pill may become more glamorous to teens.
"This drug could be crushed and snorted and be viewed as even more
attractive," she said. "It may just pose other problems for us."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Technology Can Pinpoint Cell-Phone Users' Locations
San Francisco Chronicle (10/23/00) P. C8; Kirby, Carrie
Technology, which allows wireless companies to pinpoint the
location of cellphone users in order to help them locate the
nearest cash machine, gas station, or police station, is being
tested by the California Highway Patrol in an attempt to help
911 callers. By October 2001, all wireless service providers
must have the capability to find out their users' locations,
according to a requirement from the Federal Communications
Commission. This mandate could mean police departments will
have access to the technology to pinpoint distressed callers
that cannot give their locations. However, the technology has
the potential to invade users' privacy and safety by giving
wireless companies the ability to report their exact locations
not only to the police, but to retailers as well. Under
current laws, law enforcement officers are allowed to listen
in on calls of potential criminals and obtain location details
relevant to any case. Alan Davidson, staff counsel at the
Center for Democracy and Technology and an opponent of such
technology, believes it is invasive and like an "Orwellian
nightmare," depending on how the technology is used.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linked stories:
********************
Violence on Decline in U.S. Schools
<http://www.jointogether.org/jtodirect.jtml?U=83952&O=264915>
According to a new report from the U.S. Justice and
Education Departments, crime in schools has dropped steadily
since 1992.
********************
Judge's Drug Search Ruling Impacts Privacy Rights
<http://www.jointogether.org/jtodirect.jtml?U=83952&O=264913>
A ruling by a Denver, Colo., judge to allow police to search
the customer records of a bookstore has civil-rights
activists angered.
********************
Stress levels rise as traffic slows
<http://itn.co.uk/news/20001101/britain/11stress.shtml>
Rush hour travel causes people the most stress, according to a survey
published to coincide with National Stress Awareness Day.
********************
=====================================================
"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! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
