[CTRL] [radtimes] # 138

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

[radtimes] # 138

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:

--The Kidnap and Ransom Industry
--BioApocalypse
--Report on the Jan 27 Davos Protest
--IMAGES FROM DAVOS
--An Anarchist View of the Presidency of Bush, Jr.
--Greenpeace uses riot police van in nuclear protest
--Links to Davos, Switzerland articles
--Bones Found During FBI O'Hair Probe

===

The Kidnap and Ransom Industry



The Predators, The Prey and the Protectors Equal Millions in Business
By Andrew Chang

NEW YORK, Jan. 22  It's a multimillion dollar industry that unites men in
three-piece-suits with kids carrying Kalashnikovs  often with the kids
giving orders to the suits.

It has no industry leader, though some countries host more deals than others.
Some of the world's wealthiest companies, like AIG, Chubb, and Lloyds of
London, take part but news of this business rarely shows up in the Wall
Street Journal.
And Hollywood has only taken a look at it a handful of times  most
recently, in the movie Proof of
Life.
Insiders call it K&R, which stands for "kidnap and ransom."
Dealing in the Shadows
Specific information on K&R is rare  and with good reason.
Corporations or families who have had a loved one or employee kidnapped
often won't go to police because they are "incompetent, corrupt, or in some
countries, confederates of kidnappers," says Brian Jenkins, a Green Beret
veteran of the Vietnam War and past chairman of Political Science at the
Rand Corporation.
In other countries, going to police may mean kidnappers will never get
their money  and the
hostage will never be released alive. Italy, for example, passed a law in
1991 intended to reduce
the number of ransom kidnappings  by freezing the assets of a kidnap
victim's family to prevent
payment of a ransom.
Even after the ransom is paid, the impulse to stay quiet remains. "You
don't want to give kidnappers a number to aim for," says Jenkins.
Yet, executives doing business overseas feel they face an increased risk of
kidnapping nowadays, and many of them are purchasing insurance against it.
"One of the few statistics that we see is about 60 percent of corporate
America  large companies, that is  have purchased this type of coverage,"
says Terry D'Italia, a press officer for Chubb Executive Risk in Simsbury,
Conn.
Such executive risk insurance not only pays for ransom, but it also
provides advice on how to stop kidnappers before they even get a hostage.
More important, it pays for advisers when a ransom needs to be paid.
   New Overhead for Overseas Business
The advisers are usually employees of organizations with innocuous names
like Control Risks Group.
But they are the best people in the world for what they do, drawn from the
ranks of the world's elite law enforcement and military agencies.
And they are very expensive. One can cost several thousands of dollars a
day, and sometimes one is not enough.
These advisers typically have had experience in kidnappings, have served in
the country at issue, know the language, and have good contacts with
government officials.
In many cases, they will also know the local kidnapping gangs, and can form
a list of suspects, and have a sense of their negotiating tactics and
techniques. They'll also know the going rates for ransoms  and whether a
deal is reasonable or not.
But they are not Rambo-types. "The gun-toting, cigar-chomping, scar-faced
individual is an image
built over the years from Hollywood," says Michael Grunberg, commercial
adviser to Sandline, a
private military company with headquarters in London that has been retained
for K&R situations.
In fact, he describes one his operatives, a former member of the Special
Air Service  the British
special forces: "He's very diminutive, small, very small, quiet
mannered  this is what you need,
someone's who cool and will think things through before taking action,
someone who is prepared for acting as a member of a team."
In worst-case scenarios, these advisers can also resort to a rescue
operation  but that is very rare.
There are innumerable risks to a rescue operation, and they have to be
planned out meticulously, Grunberg says. "There are more lives at risk than
just individual captives."
Sometimes kidnappers live among local villagers, "so when you mount one of
these operations you put at risk innocent lives," he says.
Grunberg says that in one of the few rescue operations he's aware
of  Operation Barras, where British forces earlier last year freed fellow
troops in Sierra Leone  the liberators had the area under surveillance fo

[CTRL] [radtimes] # 139

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

[radtimes] # 139

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:

--Rehnquist --Political Puppeteer
--Water cannon fired on Davos protestors
--Fun Facts About Global Inequality
--Puppetista Manifesto
--Israeli Army Deserted by Soldiers with a Conscience
--The Army Is Watching Your Kid
--Police fire water cannons at Davos protesters
--The CIA Academics and Spies

===

January 29,  2001

Rehnquist --Political Puppeteer



By Robert Parry

When William Rehnquist swore in George W. Bush as president on Jan. 20, the
U.S. Supreme Court chief justice completed a near-decade-long struggle by
conservative jurists to put their political allies in control of the U.S.
government  a victory that marks a radical shift in American democracy.
Never before in American history have a chief justice and other federal
judges exploited their extraordinary powers as brazenly to advance clearly
partisan interests as have Rehnquist and his fellow Republican appointees
jurists sworn to enforce the laws impartially and to protect the Constitution.
Yet there is a history to this development that the news media has
missed.  This unprecedented politicization of the federal courts dates back
at least to the early 1990s when federal judges  including
Rehnquist  adopted legal strategies to protect the Reagan-Bush
administrations from the legal fallout of the Iran-contra scandal.
This partisanship arced higher through the Clinton administration and
reached its apex with the installation of George W. Bush as president.
On a personal level, Rehnquist's history of behind-the-scenes political
machinations dates back even further to the 1960s when he opposed
desegregation in Phoenix and worked on Republican "ballot security" in
Arizona, a program criticized as intimidation of African-American and other
minority voters.
According to a Senate summary of the opposition to Rehnquist's 1986
nomination to be chief justice, Rehnquist "publicly opposed a Phoenix
public accommodations ordinance, and he publicly challenged a plan to end
school segregation in Phoenix, stating that 'we are no more dedicated to an
integrated society than a segregated society.'
"Moreover," the summary said, "in the early 1960s, he led a Republican
Party ballot security program designed to disenfranchise minority voters.
The [Senate Judiciary] Committee has received sworn testimony from numerous
credible witnesses that, as part of his involvement in the ballot security
program, Mr. Rehnquist personally challenged the eligibility of minority
voters.  Justice Rehnquist has categorically denied this. But, none of
these witnesses had anything to gain by misrepresenting the truth."
Though Rehnquist's denial of the "ballot security" charges prevailed as he
won Senate confirmation, he seemed equally callous to minority voting
rights in 2000 when he ensured that the votes of African-Americans and
other minorities were undercounted, this time in Florida.
In the weeks after the ruling to stop the Florida vote count, the Rehnquist
court's intervention has come into clearer focus.
   Shifting Reasons
New information indicates that the five conservative justices flipped their
legal rationale nearly 180 degrees between Dec. 11, when they were first
prepared to rule in Bush's favor, and the night of Dec. 12 when the
decision to make Bush president finally was announced.
The judicial gymnastics demonstrated how Rehnquist and the four other
conservatives settled on a political outcome  Bush's victory  and then
dressed up the choice in legal verbiage.
USA Today disclosed this inside story in an article about the strains that
the Bush v. Gore ruling created within the court. [USA Today, writer Joan
Biskupic, Jan. 22, 2001]
Though the article was sympathetic to the five conservative justices, it
disclosed an important fact: that the five justices were planning on ruling
for Bush after oral arguments on Dec. 11. The court even sent out for
Chinese food for the clerks, so the work could be completed that night.
On Dec. 11, the legal rationale for stopping the recount was to have been
that the Florida Supreme Court had made "new law" when it referenced the
state constitution in an initial recount decision  rather than simply
interpreting state statutes.
Even though this argument was highly technical, the rationale at least
conformed with the conservative principles of the five-member majority,
supposedly hostile to judicial "activism."
However, the Florida Supreme Court threw a wrench into the plan. On the
evening of Dec. 11, the state court submitted a revised 

[CTRL] Student accused in bomb plot had Columbine fascination

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Police: Student accused in bomb plot had Columbine fascination



By MAY WONG Associated Press Writer

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ A college student who allegedly assembled an
arsenal of guns and explosives in his bedroom and plotted a mass killing at
his school was fascinated with the 1999 rampage at Columbine High School
and "hated everyone," police said Wednesday.
Amid the 30 pipe bombs and 20 Molotov cocktails stashed under clothes and
in duffel bags in Al DeGuzman's messy bedroom, investigators found magazine
articles about the Columbine killers, writings worshipping them and
pictures of them on the wall, Sgt. Steve Dixon said.
DeGuzman, 19, allegedly planned for two years to kill fellow students at De
Anza College and follow the example of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who
killed 13 people and wounded 23 others in Littleton, Colo., before
committing suicide.
"He was going to kill as many people as possible before he died," Dixon
said. "He seemed to think the more people he killed, the better it'd be, the
more media attention."
Deputy Police Chief Mike Miceli said DeGuzman talked a lot about Columbine,
according to his friends. "He was fixed on Columbine," Miceli said.
"Eric Harris is God," DeGuzman allegedly proclaimed on one Web site.
"He's my savior." The site has been taken down by its administrator.
While a specific motive remained unclear, investigators found angry
writings on DeGuzman's computer. DeGuzman, who is of Filipino descent,
lashed out against politicians, social classes and people of all ethnic
groups _ including his own, police said.
"He hated everyone," Miceli said.
DeGuzman's attorney, Craig Wormley, said he had yet to see the police
reports and would not comment on the case or his client's alleged
fascination with Columbine. Wormley disputed authorities' assessment of
DeGuzman's hatred of others.
"That's an absolute falsehood. There are many people he cared about and
loved," Wormley said. "Both his parents are in an extreme state of shock."
DeGuzman's family refused to comment Wednesday.
DeGuzman was in jail without bail, undergoing a routine psychological
examination and awaiting a court appearance Thursday on a variety of
weapons and explosives charges. His previous bail of $100,000 was removed
Wednesday at the request of prosecutors, Assistant District Attorney Karyn
Sinunu said.
The plot to blow up the school unraveled Monday night when a photo lab
clerk called police after developing pictures of DeGuzman allegedly posing
with the arsenal.
Nothing suspicious turned up during a daylong search on De Anza's campus
Tuesday and the school reopened Wednesday. Police said they had determined
no one else was involved in the plot.

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[CTRL] Court Battle for Presidency Rages On in Legal Circles

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

February 1, 2001

Court Battle for Presidency Rages On in Legal Circles




By WILLIAM GLABERSON

After the seemingly interminable election battle, most people have gone on
with their lives.
But not in the legal world. Among lawyers, judges, law students and law
professors, it is almost as if the frenzy of rulings and appeals has not ended.
On the Internet, in legal conferences, scholarly journals, trade
newspapers, law school classes and pretty much anywhere lawyers get
together, the election battle is still Topic A.
"There's a beehive of activity in the legal world" related to the election,
said Howard A. Gillman, an associate professor of political science at the
University of Southern California who is writing a book about the election
and its aftermath. "I haven't seen anything quite like it," Mr. Gillman said.
Immediately after the colossal legal fight, lawyers and scholars seemed as
worn out as everyone else. But they are getting a hurricane- force second
wind of second-guessing, re-examinations and attacks.
Liberal and conservative legal experts are beginning a vituperative
exchange of manifestos and articles. Bar associations and law schools are
holding forums to sort through the issues.
In record time, three law professors  from Columbia, Stanford and New York
Universities  produced a textbook on the legal war over the election, "When
Elections Go Bad: The Law of Democracy and the Presidential Election of
2000." It was ready even before President Bush was inaugurated, and its
publisher, Foundation Press, said the book was already in use at law
schools at Harvard, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Georgetown and other universities.
And for true fans of the 2000 election, lawyers around the country recently
received an offer from a Washington legal printing company to "own a piece
of history!" For $385, they could buy their very own copy ("in an
attractive foil-stamped display case") of the legal briefs in the cases
that decided the election.
At the country's law schools, some professors say, the ferment has the
flavor of the teach-ins of the Vietnam War era, when professors spurred
their students to political action.
More than 660 law professors signed a statement comparing the majority of
the Supreme Court justices to propagandists who suppressed the facts and
acted as "political proponents for candidate Bush, not as judges."
The law professors' statement was published as an advertisement in The New
York Times on Jan. 13. Margaret Jane Radin, a Stanford law professor who
helped organize the group, said the professors hoped to keep reminding the
public of what they saw as flaws in President Bush's path to the White House.
"I know the administration can behave as if it is legitimate," Professor
Radin said, "but that doesn't make it so."
Interviews with conservative law professors showed that such sentiments
were not unanimous.
Charles Fried, a Harvard law professor who was solicitor general in the
Reagan administration, said the law professors' statement was a
"preposterous" declaration by people "in the grip of partisan excitement."
"The only thing that is beyond the pale," Professor Fried said, "is this
kind of ridiculous rhetoric about the court disgracing itself."
Scholarly journals are getting into the fray, too. This spring's issue of
the Supreme Court Review, a journal about the court's rulings, will include
an article that has already been circulated at some law schools by a
conservative federal appeals judge, Richard A. Posner.
His article said the justices in the Supreme
Court minority who dissented from the ruling that led to Mr. Bush's
becoming president were guilty of "what is called fouling one's own nest."
By accusing the majority of undermining confidence in the courts, Judge
Posner wrote, the minority undermined confidence themselves. The dissenting
justices engaged in "self-fulfilling prophecy," he wrote.
Liberal legal scholars are not shy about expressing tart sentiments
either.  This month, The American Prospect is publishing an article by a
liberal Yale law professor, Bruce Ackerman.
Professor Ackerman said the Supreme Court majority "betrayed the nation's
trust," and he argued that the Senate should refuse to approve any Supreme
Court nominees by President Bush even if that meant leaving seats vacant
throughout the Bush presidency.
The Internet has been similarly alive. This week the buzz centered on a
proposal for a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College.
The draft, by Bryan H. Wildenthal, an associate professor at Thomas
Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, and posted in an electronic
discussion group for constitutional law professors, attracted special
attention because it included unusual suggestions, including moving
Election Day to the summer.
"The weather would be better," Professor Wildenthal explained.
One of Mr. Wildenthal's electronic corresponden

[CTRL] [radtimes] # 140

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

[radtimes] # 140

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:

--Poverty and inequality fuel globalization backlash
--Anti-Davos group, Brazil farmers storm biotech plant
--Man accused of spiking trees for radical environmental group
--Anti-nuclear protester sets himself on fire
--Discovery of Bones May Close O'Hair Case
--Ogoni Wars: Arms Were Sponsored By Shell
--Statement by Leonard Peltier
--Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs

===

Poverty and inequality fuel globalization backlash

By JOHN ZAROCOSTAS

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The globalization backlash could
swell and trigger violent confrontations unless its economic benefits are
distributed more fairly and solutions are found to stem growing poverty and
inequality, civil society and political leaders warned Sunday.

"The ultimate test is whether globalization increases freedom, promotes
democracy, and helps to lift the poor from poverty; whether it is empowering
the many and, not just the few whether its blessings a re widely shared;
whether it works for working people," John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO
told political and business leaders at a session of the World Economic Forum
(WEF).

The global market, said Sweeney, that has been forged in the last decades,
"fails that test," and went on to caution that if we do not do better and
the system continues to generate growing inequality, environmental
destruction and a race to the bottom:

"Then it will trigger an increasingly volatile reaction from workers,
farmers, human rights activists and environmentalists. "

The AFL-CIO chief said: " we can no longer allow multi-national
corporations to scavenge the world for cheaper and cheaper sources of labor,
pitting workers against workers in a cruel, contest to increase profits. "

South African President Thabo Mbeki said there is a " structural fault of
poverty  with on the one side the powerful and the wealthy and on the other
the powerless and the poor, " and said this needs to be corrected.

The President of the World Bank James Wolfensohn, noted that 80 percent of
the world's population, or 4.8 billion people, enjoy only 20 percent of the
world's income, and the remaining 20 percent enjoy 80 percent of the income.

Looking ahead, Wolfensohn pointed out that in 25 years time the world's
population will reach 8 billion and all but 3 percent of this increase would
go to developing countries, which will have a population of 6.8 billion.

Poverty and inequality, he said, "are not just an issue for the poor " but
for the entire world and is an issue of peace.

"Many have benefited from globalization but there is a need to address
poverty, and there was a need to improve equity and justice, but he also
said it would not be realistic to stop flows of investment, technology,
communications and trade," Wolfensohn said.

The forces of globalization, he said, are there and its a question of how
we deal with them through democracy, rights, and equity and suggested ways
to deal with some of the problems would be country by country, through
proper laws, human rights, and dealing with the issues of corruption and
devise policies for education, health, and rural and urban policies.

Vandana Shiva, director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology
and Ecology, lambasted rich countries spending $343 billion a year in farm
subsidies and then dumping their agricultural products on poor countries in
Africa, Latin America, and Asia, destroying millions of poor farmers , while
at the same time limiting access to their markets.

A decrease in farm subsidies by rich countries and lowering barriers to
agricultural counties from poor nations could add about $55 billion for
developing countries.

Charles Holloway, chairman and chief executive officer of Dupont said
globalization is the free flow of goods, technology, and ideas, which like a
river brings positive benefits but also has hazards which must be minimized.

Holloway said that over 150 corporations are trying to enhance their
corporate responsibility and are interacting with civil society leaders to
try and approach problems from different perspective.

===

Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001
From: Neil Tangri <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Anti-Davos group, Brazil farmers storm biotech plant

By Marco Sibaja

NAO ME TOQUE, Brazil, Jan 26 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 poor Brazilian
farmers, bolstered by foreign activists from the international "Anti-Davos"
summit, stormed a U.S.-based Monsanto biotech plant and threa

[CTRL] President Jackass: Stupid George loses more votes

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

President Jackass



Stupid George loses more votes

by John Seeley
February 2 - 8, 2001

It's becoming clear just how solidly George W. Bush lost the  election in
Florida. The media's ongoing examination of Florida ballots last week
increased Al Gore's edge in the popular vote.
Among the findings:
The Chicago Tribune and its Florida newspapers studied more than 15,000
ballots that elections officials in 15 small counties had said lacked a
presidential pick. The paper easily determined the voters' choice on 1,700
of the ballots. The ballots would have given Gore a net gain of 366
votes  wiping out the 154-vote Bush margin established by the Florida
Supreme Court, and canceling two-thirds of the statewide 537-vote Bush
margin certified by Katherine Harris and finally sustained by the 5-4
Supreme Court decision.
The Palm Beach Post examined thousands of dimpled ballots from Palm Beach
County. The ballots had been set aside by the canvassing board for court
review. By the newspaper's count, Gore would have picked up 682
votes.  This Democratic dividend would have eliminated Bush's cushion under
the standard of either court's calculation.
The Palm Beach Post also found that Bush would have received six more votes
if 10,600 rejected punch-card ballots had been tallied in Miami-Dade
County. The Democrats in December had expected to uncover hundreds of Gore
ballots, but found fewer than 500 discernible votes.
The Miami Herald reported the findings of a U.C. Irvine professor who
concluded that about 1,700 Miami-Dade ballots had been invalidated because
of misalignment between card and ballot holder. If properly aligned, these
cards would have given Gore 316 more votes than Bush, Irvine political
scientist Anthony Salvanto said.
As data comes in from an array of jurisdictions using different voting
machinery and varying ballot formats, some tentative conclusions can be
drawn about the causes of bad ballots. To hardly anyone's surprise,
spreading presidential candidates' names across two pages tended to confuse
voters, leading some to cancel out their actual preference with a vote for
a minor-party candidate on the second page. In Duval County, where voters
were wrongly advised in sample ballots to "vote on every page," more than
20,000 "overvotes" were recorded.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the punch-card system  hanging chads and
all  was not the worst offender in disenfranchising Floridians. The
proportion of void ballots was even higher in counties using optical
scanners without reading machines at the precinct, research by the Orlando
Sentinel shows. Tabulating machines were generally unable to discern votes
cast by pen or marker (instead of the prescribed pencils) and often counted
a mark the voter had made every effort to erase.
And some literal-minded voters mistakenly thought the phrase "write-in
candidate" was an order to spell out their candidate's name. The scanners
rejected such ballots as overvotes.
The bottom line on the state's count is still to be revealed.  Under the
sponsorship of a broad consortium of media  including CNN, the Washington
Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles
Times/Tribune Publishing and the Associated Press  the National Opinion
Research Center continues to inspect all 180,000 rejected Florida ballots.
The Miami Herald expects to complete its separate examination of the
state's "undervotes" later this month.
Results to date tend to sustain the claim of Democratic National Committee
chair Joe Andrew that "If all the votes [are] counted, Al Gore wins the
presidency."
Though the state Republican Party has had observers on hand for the
media-sponsored counts, GOP officials have taken issue with the results.
"To somehow suggest that a ballot that is dimpled provides us some sort of
[look] into a voter's mind is ridiculous," GOP spokesman Ken Lisaius told
the Palm Beach Post. The Rehnquist-Scalia-Thomas opinion, he added, points
out that voters must follow directions.
Another critic of the process is a Democrat who has been in the eye of the
electoral storm since the first Tuesday in November  Palm Beach Supervisor
of Elections Theresa Le Pore. "You got different people looking at
different criteria there," Le Pore told the Post. "Some are not even
looking at the cards. They're yawning, talking on cell phones. I think it's
unfair to put out any numbers that are inaccurate."
But Le Pore herself has now come under attack from an unexpected quarter,
her predecessor in the office, Jackie Winchester. "Just about every
decision she made favored Bush," said Winchester, a fervent Gore supporter.
If Le Pore had followed the office's previously established recount
guidelines, she suggested, Republican count observers would have had fewer
chances to make the frivolous challenges that overwhelmed the canvassing
board and stopped it from meeting the court-imposed November 26 deadline to
complete the count. Instead of focu

[CTRL] [radtimes] # 141

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

[radtimes] # 141

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:

--Divide and conquer (Hells Angels)
--GM Criticism Growing Worldwide
--[freeradical] MILITANTS & MODERATES
--Israeli commandos training with US Marines
--Mad Cow Disease Called International Threat
--Invisible eco-warrior `elves' of ELF wage stealth campaign
--Caught in the Cold (Davos)
--When Do Demonstrators Become--Terrorists?

===

Saturday, January 27, 2001

Divide and conquer



TORONTO, QUEBEC

'The Hells Angels? What are they fearing? They hide in plain sight.' -
Ontario cop

By ROB LAMBERTI and JACK BOLAND, Toronto Sun

Like an army, the Hells Angels made a pincer move through Ontario to try to
surround its rival the Bandidos.
In a bloodless manouevre, the Hells swallowed up four biker gangs in late
December to contain the former members of the Rock Machine, who had become
probationary members of the Bandidos.
Police say the military-like moves are all about the Hells Angels securing
its underworld market share in the province.
At the same time, bike gang leaders really hope the "business move" doesn't
become an act of war.
Biker warfarelike that in Quebec which to date has killed 156 people since
1994 -- is bad for business. Too much public outcry and police attention
interferes with biker interests in drugs, extortion, strippers, prostitutes
and other operations.
"We don't want to start a war in Ontario like we did in Quebec," said a
former Rock Machine member turned Bandido. "We are still working for peace.
We don't want the shto happen again. It's not fun for anybody."
Sgt. Guy Ouellette, the Surete du Quebec's expert on bike gangs, agrees
that gang leaders are trying to avoid largescale bloodshed in Ontario. He
noted the Hells spearheading the move into Ontario weren't involved in the
Quebec war.
"The guys who are making the expansion want the peace. They want to make
big bucks," he said.
However, Ouelette said it's unreasonable to expect just friendly rivalry
with the Bandidos "because it's major league.
"They are pissed because they lost the monopoly of the country and having
another international organization ... trying to choke them," he said.
"If the Bandidos can keep their heads out of the water, they will survive
and they will become stronger after that, because those who will not be
happy with the way the Hells Angels do business will go on the Bandidos side."
The Hells have a history of killing, he said. "If they want to take over
your territory, they won't hesitate to kill you.
"The Hells Angels don't care. They are self-sufficient. The worst thing in
Ontario is that they opened 168 different franchises the same day."
---
Ontario's biker brotherhood underwent an abrupt change last month, with
former enemies becoming friends, and friends becoming adversaries.
The process had started last summer with the rapid expansion of the
Quebec-based Rock Machine into Ontario. Then, the Bandidos and Hells Angels
roared into the province.
For decades, Ontario's bikers had operated in relative peace.
The Hells Angels peddled in Franco-Ontario communities, particularly in the
north. The Vagabonds, Para-Dice Riders, Outlaws, Red Devils, Last Chance,
Lobos, Satan's Choice and Loners were based primarily in southern Ontario.
Then, last year, the Rock Machine opened three Ontario chapters within
three months, Eastern, Toronto and Western, bolstering its numbers with
defecting Outlaws.
Younger Outlaws embraced the upstart Quebec-based gang, which was then
warring with the Hells Angels. But Outlaws national president Mario Parente
was incensed at the Rock Machine for raiding his membership.
Last month, the brotherhood of bikers changed again when the Bandidos
swallowed the Rock Machine. The new Bandidos were hit Dec. 7 as Quebec
City's Integrated Regional Task Force nabbed 15, including chapter boss
Fred Faucher, Marcel Demers, and Simon Bedard, a Quebec chapter founder and
thought to be its drug supplier.
The Hells Angels, in turn, assimilated four Ontario gangs.
The changes ushered in new relationships. Everywhere in the world, the
Bandidos and Outlaws are allied, but in Ontario that alliance would become
strained, while the global animosity between the Hells and Outlaws would be
tempered here.
The Hells' Ontario network will get even larger, police believe, with more
than 40 Red Devils in Hamilton, Canada's first outlaw biker gang, expected
to don the Death's Head.
Toronto's Vagabonds are also viewed as future members, despite internal
strife, which saw the removal

[CTRL] When Will America Grow Up, Globally?

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Published on Wednesday, January 31, 2001 in the Palo Alto Weekly

When Will America Grow Up, Globally?

  http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0201-02.htm

by Sally Schuman

Last time I wrote about global warming in this paper, it was in a letter to
the editor.
I was congratulating three Stanford scientists who'd asked the university to
cut its ties with companies in the Global Climate Coalition, whose agenda is
to deny global warming and climate change and to obstruct efforts to combat
them.

My letter inspired a local reader to respond. He wrote, with all due
snideness, that I should not "worry my pretty little head" about the whole
issue, because those Stanford pinkos (led no doubt by Comrade Gore) would
deliver us soon enough into a terrifying new world of--let's see, what might
it be?--solar panels, high-mileage cars, public transit, wind power, and
long-lasting lightbulbs. Sounds pretty nightmarish, I admit.

Global warming is a Communist plot! How did I miss that? Every schoolchild
knows how the Soviet Union tyrannized its citizens with pristine cities,
clean factories and sparkling rivers. Enough sarcasm. It's fun but not my
strong suit.

I would like to reflect on the "pretty little head" comment, however. First
I laughed. I am SO not the type. When you're six feet tall at age 14,
certain feminine stereotypes just don't fit, no matter how much a girl might
wish to wear them.

But in a twisted way, the expression called to mind a tender thing my father
used to say when I was little. I can't recall what childish tragedies drove
me to seek comfort in his arms--maybe the matched pair of skinned knees I'd
gotten rollerskating. Rejection by the three sisters who lived over the
fence--yesterday they liked me! Or a bad dream.

But I recall his words: "Everything's gonna be a-l-l-l right." He smiled as
he said them, maybe had to suppress a laugh at the depth of my misery, but
he offered solace and I took it.

It's a fiction to tell a child that everything will be all right. Who can
say? There's so very much that's not all right.

But it's part of the parent's job, to let their children know that bigger
shoulders than theirs will carry the burden, that they don't face their
problems alone, that this too shall pass.

For my father, everything really didn't turn out all right. One day at work,
an alien growth in his brain knocked him down. A few weeks later, not long
after JFK's assassination, he died, at age 47.

He deserved more time, but he had completed a good deal of essential
parenting, bringing my brother and me safe and prepared almost to the border
of adulthood. I took his simple reassurance with me, to comfort myself and
later my kids during hard times--"Everything's gonna be all right."

It helps. But I can get pretty nostalgic for the days of childhood when I
really didn't have to worry my pretty little head. When I had a loving dad
to stand between me and the world's troubles. When I could say I don't have
to worry about this bad thing, or that--someone strong and good is in
charge.

Or even now, to say, I'm just one woman, "just" a mom--I don't have to worry
about the future, the planet, the well-being of our kids and coming
generations. Denial and child-like ignorance are so very comfortable.

But I'm nobody's child now. I've got these soon-to-be-adults I'm rearing,
and it's not enough to tell them, or myself, what my father told his little
girl. As children grow, the parent's job description expands--to include
taking responsibility for the way things are and for making them right.

(Sure, it's a hell of a job, but that's why they pay us the big bucks.)

About the Global Climate Coalition, Ford and British Petroleum and some
other companies have dropped out. A number of corporations are positioning
themselves to take part in the clean-energy revolution; they'll proceed
exactly as fast as their self-interest and stockholders allow.

Our government remains mired in gridlock and denial about global warming and
climate change. After America's performance at the international climate
negotiations in The Hague last fall, resentment is growing against the
United States for its greedy, "me-first" attitude toward this whole-earth
problem.

George "What, me worry?" Bush and his crowd, for all their crowing about
responsibility and moral behavior, are passive deniers at best, aggressive
obstructionists at worst, about something that could very well hit our
children and grandchildren very, very hard.

So when does America grow up? How much irreversible damage will climate
change wreak before we face our responsibilities? Are we really content
leaving this legacy to the rest of the world and future generations?

Like it or not, I'm stuck--cursed might be a better word--worrying my pretty
little head about these questions. My dad would be proud, though.

Sally Schuman is a freelance editor and writer who lives in College Terrace.
Sally can be contacted at: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

http://www.

[CTRL] Fwd: How Bush Family Plotted Fraud

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000
>From: virtual agent <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Conspiracy Digest: How Bush Family Plotted Fraud
>
>CONSPIRACY DIGEST EXCLUSIVE:
>HOW BUSH FAMILY PLOTTED FRAUD
>
>In a bombshell story the Bush Family is trying to
>suppress, Lt. Cmdr. Al Martin, US Navy (Ret) reveals
>how the Bush Family plotted fraud after fraud after
>fraud during the Iran-Contra era.
>
>This exclusive investigative report,
>"Double-Crossed: Black Ops, Beltway Bandits and the US
>Shadow Government," by Uri Dowbenko is at Conspiracy
>Digest (http://www.conspiracydigest.com).
>
>"What would you do if Ollie North and his covert
>Iran-Contra network owed you $200,000?" the article
>begins. "All things considered, you might have better
>luck collecting from the Gambino or Colombo Family,
>the New York based mob syndicates. At least they claim
>to be men of honor."
>
>"And that's Al Martin's dilemma. He's been placed
>in what he calls the 'jack box,' the untenable
>position of being owed money by an illegal black ops
>network of Iran-Contra players. This outfit includes
>military and intel officers, governmentbureaucrats,
>and "beltway bandits," fraudsters and so-called
>"consultants" who feed at the trough of corrupt
>Washington politics and dirty deals. In short, Al
>Martin has been double-crossed."
>
>Because of his failing health, Al Martin has
>decided to go public and tell the whole story of the
>Iran Contra Conspiracy.
>
>This provocative and highly controversial article
>details some of the various frauds committed by Bush
>Family members, including real estate fraud,
>securities fraud and banking fraud.
>
>Al Martin tells the whole story of explosive
>allegations and insider crimes in his new memoir,
>"The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran Contra
>Insider," available at the Al Martin Raw website.
>(http://www.almartinraw.com)

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please!  These are
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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
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Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.

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Om

[CTRL] RadTimes # 117

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 117 November, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
How to assist RadTimes:
An account is available at  which enables direct donations.
If you are a current PayPal user, use this email address:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, to contribute. If you are not a current user, use this
link:  to sign up
and contribute. The only information passed on to me via this process is
your email address and the amount you transfer.
Thanks!
---
QUOTE:
"Either it is true that humanity by intelligence and by the practice of
mutual aid and direct action can reverse processes which appear socially
inevitable, or humanity will become extinct by simple maladaptation...the
rejection of power is the first step in any such intelligent reversal."
--Alex Comfort, preface to 'Barbarism and Sexual Freedom'
---
Contents:
---
--Reclaim the Cities: from Protest to Popular Power
--Bush & the Law
--Seminole County: 15,000 Absentee Ballots at Stake as Lawsuit Gains
--Anti-election activities in Montreal and Quebec City
Linked stories:
*Report Shows U.S. Arms Monitoring Improperly Implemented
*'Are You Listening, Dear?' Gender May Matter
*Brothel on the stock exchange?
*A look at the election through cartoons
---
Begin stories:
---
Reclaim the Cities: from Protest to Popular Power

by Cindy Milstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Perspectives on Anarchist Theory - Vol. 4, No. 2 - Fall 2000

"Direct action gets the goods," proclaimed the Industrial
Workers of the World nearly a century ago. And in the short
time since Seattle, this has certainly proven to be the
case. Indeed, "the goods" reaped by the new direct action
movement here in North America have included creating doubt
as to the scope and nature of globalization, shedding light
on the nearly unknown workings of international trade and
finance bodies, and making anarchism and anticapitalism
almost household words. As if that weren't enough, we find
ourselves on the streets of twenty-first-century
metropolises demonstrating our power to resist in a way that
models the good society we envision: a truly democratic one.

But is this really what democracy looks like?

The impulse to "reclaim the streets" is an understandable
one. When industrial capitalism first started to emerge in
the early nineteenth century, its machinations were
relatively visible. Take, for instance, the enclosures.
Pasture lands that had been used in common for centuries to
provide villages with their very sustenance were
systematically fenced off - enclosed - in order to graze
sheep, whose wool was needed for the burgeoning textile
industry. Communal life was briskly thrust aside in favor of
privatization, forcing people into harsh factories and
crowded cities.

Advanced capitalism, as it pushes past the fetters of even
nation-states in its insatiable quest for growth, encloses
life in a much more expansive yet generally invisible way:
fences are replaced by consumer culture. We are raised in an
almost totally commodified world where nothing comes for
free, even futile attempts to remove oneself from the market
economy. This commodification seeps into not only what we
eat, wear, or do for fun but also into our language,
relationships, and even our very biology and minds. We have
lost not only our communities and public spaces but control
over our own lives; we have lost the ability to define
ourselves outside capitalism's grip, and thus genuine
meaning itself begins to dissolve.

"Whose Streets? Our Streets!" then, is a legitimate
emotional response to the feeling that even the most minimal
of public, noncommodified spheres has been taken from us.
Yet in the end, it is simply a frantic cry from our cage. We
have become so confined, so thoroughly damaged, by
capitalism as well as state control that crumbs appear to
make a nourishing meal.

Temporarily closing off the streets during direct actions
does provide momentary spaces in which to practice
democratic process, and even offers a sense of empowerment,
but such events leave power for power's sake, like the very
pavement beneath our feet, unchanged. Only when the serial
protest mode is escalated into a struggle for popular or
horizontal power can we create cracks in the figurative
concrete, thereby opening up ways to challenge capitalism,
nation-states, and other systems of domination.

This

[CTRL] RadTimes # 118

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 118 November, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"In the larger life of society, the people are made to submit to the orders
of those who were originally meant to serve them--the government and its
agents. Once you do that, the power you have delegated will be used against
you and your interests every time. And then you complain that your leaders
"misuse their power." No, my friend, they don't misuse it; they only use
it, for it is the *use* of power which is itself the worst misuse."
--Alexander Berkman, 'What Is Communist Anarchism?'
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Free Speech In America -- If You Dare?
--The Republican right prepares for violence
--Vote of No Confidence [how to steal elections]
Linked stories:
*The US election crisis: why is Ralph Nader silent?
---
Begin stories:
---
Free Speech In America -- If You Dare?

From: Ross <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

In Military Style--Police NOW SWEEP America's streets and buildings for
law--abiding protestors: Increasingly, police interrogate and arrest
citizens who police believe are planning to attend demonstrations. Is it
now, Free Speech In America--If You Dare?

How Far Can Law Enforcement Go--TO CRUSH POLITICAL DISSENT? During the
2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia, Police Squads arrested on
streets and private property, law--abiding protestors, bystanders and
tourists--to prevent them from attending demonstrations. LAPD on
10--22--00 used clubs and rubber bullets, to attack and run off
lawful--demonstrators supporting the (October 22nd Coalition) PROTEST
against--police brutality. The coalition had secured a city permit for the
demonstration. In American, police now--arrest, jail, and execute, a
citizen's (Right To Free Speech and Assembly).

When Do Demonstrators Become--Terrorists? The Anti--Terrorist Act of 1996
appears aimed at public dissent: The Act contains language which can
charge law--abiding citizens of being agents or affording support to
terrorist organizations: Broadly written--intent to commit terrorist acts
is defined: (Appeared To Be Intended Toward Violence or Activities Which
Could Intimidate or Coerce a Civilian Population; or To Influence the
Policy of a Government). (18USC Sec. 2331): Any picket line or
demonstration, alleged by police to have blocked or obstructed public
access, could qualify as Terrorist Activities to intimidate or coerce a
civilian population: Terrorist charges make it possible for police to
forfeit attending demonstrators' homes used for meetings and the vehicles
they used for transportation to the event. Concern: Police agencies may
selectively charge a person or organization with either a low level
offense, or Terrorist Offense, for the same illegal act: Example: A fist
fight between union demonstrators and persons crossing a picket line, can
be upgraded by police to charge union members with (Terrorist
Activity).The 1996 Anti-Terrorist Act, broadly--redefined (Terrorist Acts)
as (involving any violent act or acts dangerous to human life that are a
violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state). The
violent or physical act need not cause bodily harm: The Act can be used by
police to target any group of persons--that would dare demonstrate for or
against any issue.

Secret Hearings--Secret Witnesses: U.S. Police routinely purchase court
testimony to convict defendants: Under the 1996 Anti-Terrorist and Death
Penalty Act, prosecutors may use secret/paid informants, secret testimony,
secret witnesses, and other hidden evidence to convict citizens for
terrorist acts: Defense against government terrorist charges, even against
the Death Penalty, may be difficult where citizens have no access to know
the alleged evidence against them or the right to cross examine government
secret witnesses: Secret--Hearings, Witnesses, Jurors: can be invoked by
Government to allegedly protect national security, government
investigations, jurors and witnesses. Conviction for terrorist activities
can result in huge fines, property forfeiture, prison sentences and
execution. Should citizens be allowed to have access to the evidence the
U.S. Government is using to convict them? Are secret--witnesses, hearings,
and jurors, in the best interests of a free society?

-

[CTRL] RadTimes # 119

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 119 November, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
" We understand that true liberty is not a matter of changing kings or
rulers. We know that the whole system of master and slave must go, that the
entire social scheme is wrong, that government and compulsion must be
abolished, that the very foundations of authority and monopoly must be
uprooted."
--Alexander Berkman, 'What Is Communist Anarchism'
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Call For a United Revolutionary Presence at the Presidential Inauguration
--Mob Rule Wins for W
--When the government caves in to mob rule
--Election problem for big business
--Lessons from the Miami-Dade Rebellion
Linked stories:
*Democrats, liberals retreat in the face of Republican provocations
*The Napster Master Plan
*There's an antidote to this family feud: secession
*Carnivore review called 'whitewash'
*Dems' tactics create cynicism in the heartland
*Bitter fruit from seeds of hate [US war crimes]
*Legitimacy
*Bush supporters rally schedule
---
Begin stories:
---
Call For a United Revolutionary Presence at the Presidential Inauguration

WE ALREADY KNOW WHO WON… CAPITALISM AND THE RULING CLASS

Take to the Streets of Washington Against Capitalism, Against the State, and
Against the Death Machine of Globalization

FOR CLASS WAR AND A CLASSLESS, STATELESS SOCIETY

On Saturday, January 20th, 2001 thousands of people
from all over the United States will converge on the
streets of Washington, D.C to protest against the
dictatorship of the corporate class, the circus of US
representative "democracy", and the international
death machine that is the US government.

 The demonstration in Washington the day of the
presidential inauguration is a great opportunity to
demonstrate our opposition, not only to whomever it is
that may eventually win the presidency, but to the
entire state system, from the dictatorship of capital,
to the sham of representative democracy, by making
Washington ours during inauguration day and disrupting
the ceremony of the ruling class. In the spirit of
the mobilizations of the past year, from Seattle, to
Washington, to Cincinnati, and everywhere in between,
we are calling for revolutionaries to stand together
as a bloc and refuse to serve as mere numbers for
reformist and authoritarian organizations that don't
represent our desires, aims, or aspirations.  Instead,
we propose a demonstration that not only highlights
our opposition to the present order, but also puts
forth revolutionary anti-authoritarian alternatives.

 Therefore, we are calling for anti-authoritarian
revolutionaries to bring their banners and flags, be
they black, red, red and black, black and green, or
whatever else and gather in Washington at 10 am on
Saturday, January 20th, 2001* under the slogan "Class
War Now...For a Classless, Stateless Society." We are
not calling for any particular tactics, simply for
revolutionary anti-authoritarians to come prepared to
march on the Presidential Inauguration and for a
festival of resistance, struggle, and revolutionary
alternatives to the capitalist system.

 It will take a lot of work to make this mobilization
a success and a show of force for the North American
revolutionary movement.  If you wish to help make the
January 20th initiative succeed, spread the word,
organize caravans to Washington, copy and distribute
this call,  make banners and flags, keep in touch as
details of the mobilization become available, contact
us to endorse the call, and come to Washington on
January 20th ready for a festival of resistance.

The Barricada Collective <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sabate Anarchist Collective (NEFAC)

*Location to be announced

---
Mob Rule Wins for W



November 24, 2000

Texas Gov. George W. Bush appears to have sealed his claim to the White
House through a premeditated mob action that influenced the Dade County
decision to halt a crucial recount.
Egged on by Republican phone banks and heated rhetoric over Cuban-American
radio, a pro-Bush mob of about 150 people descended on the Dade County
canvassing board Wednesday as it was preparing to evaluate 10,750 disputed
bal

[CTRL] RadTimes # 120

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 120 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"Ah, order! So whine in these moments the partisans of so-called order.
Order for these poor souls can only exist when humanity submits to the
clubs of the policeman, the soldier, the judge, the jailer, the hangman,
and the governor. But this is not order. By order I understand harmony; and
harmony cannot exist while there exist on this planet some who gorge
themselves and others who don't even have a crust of bread to lift to their
mouths."
--Ricardo Flores Magon, 'Regeneracion' May 13, 1911
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Winning by intimidation
--Anatomy of a right-wing riot
--Mobile Protesters
--Globalising resistance to corporate power {Noam Chomsky]
Linked stories:
 *Dealers Use Silenced Pit Bulls to Guard Drugs
---
Begin stories:
---
Winning by intimidation



A Republican riot squad in Miami shows GOP will try to win at all cost

By Eric Alterman

Nov. 24 — It's getting harder and harder to believe one's eyes
and ears as George Bush, James Baker and the Republicans grow
ever more brazen in their effort to seize the presidency with or
without a lawful mandate. As amazing as this sounds, it is
distinctly possible that the 2000 election will be decided by a
bunch of riotous thugs, operating under the direct control of the
Republican Party.

  What was an uninspired campaign for the presidency has become an
absolutely critical fight for democracy. Gore and Lieberman must
ignore pundits and party hack who say they must surrender.

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OUTRAGE occurred Wednesday, when
ABC News correspondent Bill Redeker discovered that Republican
operatives, working out of a Florida-based mobile home, had sent
in busloads of hooligans to shut down by force the court-ordered
Miami-Dade recount at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center.
Republican operatives also set up telephone banks to urge their
footsoldiers to join in the riot. Miami's most important
Spanish-language radio station, Radio Mambi, issued a summons to
all pro-Republican Cuban-Americans to come stir the pot further,
with charges of anti-Latino racism against the canvassing board.

INTIMIDATION AND FORCE

The mob chased down Joe Geller, chairman of the local
Democratic Party, because they falsely believed he had tried to
steal a ballot. He required a police escort to escape. Louis
Rosero, a Democratic aide, says he was punched and kicked by the
Republican goons. Others were trampled to the floor as the mob
tried to break down the doors of the room outside the office of
the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections where the votes were being
counted.

MOBILE TERROR

  When it was over, the rule of the mob was triumphant.
The three canvassers voted to walk away from the recount whose
tally would likely have led to Al Gore's victory over George Bush
in Florida and in the presidential election. One of its members,
David Leahy, acknowledged the protests were a factor in his
decision. The other two, perhaps fearful of their safety,
declined all interviews. As the mob celebrated its victory, its
Republican Party masterminds transferred their mobile home/base
of operations to Broward County, where they employed the same
tactics against that county's canvassers on Friday.

Some conservative pundits have gone so far as to celebrate
the triumph of mob rule over democracy and rule of law. Paul
Gigot, a commentator for PBS's "NewsHour" and the Wall Street
Journal editorial page, praised what he termed the "bourgeois
riot." Gigot reporting from the scene, witnessed John Sweeney, a
visiting GOP monitor, telling an aide, "Shut it down," and
thereby inspiring what he called the "semi-spontaneous
combustion" that forced the counters to "cave in."

A loyal conservative, Gigot was either unwilling to
mention or unaware of the fact that the riot had been
pre-arranged by Republican operatives nearby. Nevertheless, he
got the sequence he observed right. "The Republicans marched on
the counting room en masse, chanting 'Three Blind Mice,' and
'Fraud, Fraud, Fraud' … let it be known that 1,000 local
Cuban-American Republicans — [a group to whom violence as an
instrument of political intimidation is not exactly unknown]—
were on the way."

WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE?

Sen. Joe Lieberman ca

[CTRL] The Politics1 Report - Special Edition - November 30, 2000

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

--- Forwarded Message Follows ---
Date sent:  1 Dec 2000
From:   "The Politics1 Report" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:The Politics1 Report - Special Edition - November 30, 2000

The Politics1 Report - http://www.politics1.com/

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
 (OR HOW THE FLORIDA RECOUNT BECAME A FAMILY HAPPENING)

Ah, the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  Because my Mother didn't
have time this year to cook for the holiday, we instead we're dining
out in a nice, intimate restaurant for the dinner.  Squash soup with
chestnuts, roast turkey, stuffing, fresh green beans.  Everyone was
there: family, loved ones ... and the two armed sheriff's deputies on
my Mother's protective security detail standing guard out front.
Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.  Maybe I need to start the story
a few days earlier.

My mother, you see, is Broward County Commissioner Suzanne Gunzburger
(D-FL).  As Chair of the County Commission, it was her turn to serve
as a member of the county's Election Canvassing Board.  So, in a
period of two weeks, she went from being an obscure, local politician
and former school teacher (Vanity Fair columnist Christopher Hitchens
described her as "every Republican's nightmare of a
politically-correct schoolmarm") to being one of the most recognizable
local politicians in America -- revered by Democrats and despised by
Republicans.

In addition to my blood connection to the recount, I have also
maintained friendships for several years with many of the other
participants.  These friends and acquaintances include Broward GOP
Chairman Eddie Pozzuoli, Broward GOP Vice Chairman George LeMieux,
Republican attorneys Bill Scherer and Shari McCartney, County Judge
Robert Lee, Circuit Judge Bob Rosenberg, Larry Davis (Mom's attorney),
Broward Democratic Chairman Mitch Ceasar and a host of the other local
politicos from both sides of the aisle who paraded through the
proceedings at various times.

I'm not going to be making any excuses, explanations or apologies for
what transpired.  Instead -- in a series of almost
"stream-of-consciousness" snapshots -- I'm going to try to simply
report on the colorful, raucous, surreal political circus I observed
and heard over the course of the final days of the important Broward
County manual recount.

* * *

OBSERVER TRAINING SCHOOL.  One young lawyer from Broward who
volunteered to work as an observer at the recount told me the story of
how he came to be working for the Democrats at Broward's Emergency
Operations Center (EOC -- normally the county's hurricane management
headquarters).  He contacted the local Democratic Party, which
instructed him to attend a "certification" class the next day at an
office in Hollywood before they would permit him to start working.  In
the early morning class, he said he and eight others were instructed
on what to look for in the recount and how to act.  "They teach you
the challenges and give you ballot situations where you inspect the
ballots as they are quickly held up for you to see," he explained.
"Most were easy, some were tricky, and you have to yell 'challenge' if
you see anything that could favor Gore, quickly record a note of it
for the lawyers -- all while keeping your attention on the next
ballot."  He said that most of his classmates "were dumb: some people
kept challenging ballots that would favor Bush, while another took so
long to record her challenges that she missed several of the following
ballots.  I was the only person in my group of idiots to pass the
'test.'"   Some of the otherwise elderly group had insufficient
eyesight to adequately review the ballots.  When a group of ladies
didn't pass, they complained that it was their "right to protect our
votes."  The trainer explained to them that their challenges were only
protecting Bush votes -- as they missed all of the Gore challenges --
and he would not allow them to be re-tested.  Another lady asked --
after ten minutes of training if it was a problem that she was a
Republican.  She was quickly informed that she should contact the
Republican Party office if she wished to help -- but that this session
was just for pro-Gore Democrats.  Once approved, the lawyer proceeded
to the EOC at a designated time and was quickly selected to observe
precinct counts.  He described the whole experience as somewhat
"interesting and boring at the same time ... [but] with lots of
political geeks."

* * *

ALL DRESSED UP AND NO PLACE TO GO.  After being vetted by the
respective parties, the volunteer observers were sent to the EOC --
where they waited outside in lines to be selected by the Gore and Bush
staffers to be allowed to proceed inside.  The campaign staffers
showed a clear preference for younger volunteers and for ones dressed
in a professional demeanor (i.e., concerns for how they would look on
TV), often leaving angry seniors and rabid partisans waiting outside
for lengthy periods before being selected (or 

[CTRL] Fwd: Both Parties are a Scam

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>Resent-From: TheGolem  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> BOTH PARTIES ARE A SCAM
>
>  Both parties are a scam. And with either party we can expect to see
>  declining living standards for the working class, which has
>  continued to decline under democrats and republicans.
>
>  The ones who will profit will continue to be the corporate bosses.
>  While there have been some gains for a few, the vast majority of
>  working people have suffered and will continue to do so under our
>  present system.
>
>  There is the usual posturing by those who have lined up behind one
>  party or the other. But, even Nader and the Greens, while more
>  "progressive" do not hold out much hope when it also relies on a
>  "kinder and gentler" capitalism. The system cannot be reformed.
>
>And, there is also NO democracy here. This republic was never intended
>to be a democracy.
>__
>
>  DENIED RIGHT TO VOTE
>
>  The information presented at the Florida NAACP hearings included
>  first-hand accounts from victims and eyewitnesses of the following:
> 1. that citizens who were properly registered were denied the right
>to vote because election officials could not find their names on
>the precinct rolls and that some of these voters went to their
>polling place with registration identification cards but still
>were denied the right to vote;
> 2. that registered voters were denied the right to vote because of
>minor discrepancies between the name appearing on the registration
>lists and the name on their identification;
> 3. that first-time voters who sent in voter registration forms prior
>to the state's deadline for registration were denied the right to
>vote because their registration forms were not processed and their
>names did not appear on the precinct rolls;
> 4. that African-American voters were singled out for criminal
>background checks at some precincts and that one voter who had
>never been arrested was denied the right to vote after being told
>that he had a prior felony conviction;
> 5. that African-American voters were required to show photo
>identification while white voters at the same precincts were not
>subjected to the same requirement;
> 6. that voters who requested absentee ballots did not receive them
>but were denied the right to vote when they went to the precinct
>in person on election day;
> 7. that hundreds of absentee ballots of registered voters in
>Hillsborough County (a county covered by Section 5 of the Voting
>Rights Act) were improperly rejected by the Supervisor of
>Elections and were not counted;
> 8. that African-American voters who requested assistance at the polls
>were denied assistance;
> 9. that Haitian-American voters who requested the assistance of a
>volunteer Creole/English speaker who was willing to translate the
>ballot for limited English proficient voters were denied such
>assistance;
>10. that police stopped African-American voters as they entered and
>exited a polling place in Progress Village Center; and
>11. that election officials failed to notify voters in a predominantly
>African-American precinct that their polling place, a school, was
>closed and failed to direct them by signs or other means to the
>proper polling location.
>
>  In addition to the accounts presented at the NAACP hearing, we are
>  aware of other allegations of possible Voting Rights Act violations
>  in Florida. For example, there are reports that 200 Puerto Rican
>  voters in Orange County were unable to vote because they could not
>  produce more than one piece of identification or were unable to
>  understand the ballots because of the County's failure to provide
>  ballots in Spanish or Spanish interpreters at the polls. Orange
>  County is a covered county under Section 203c of the Voting Rights
>  Act, 42 U.S.C. 1973aa-1a.
>
>  We are also aware of unprecedented numbers of complaints of similar
>  problems in other parts of the United States. Calls flooded our
>  offices, the NAACP and other agencies seeking to lodge complaints
>  about registered voters who were turned away from the polls because
>  their names mysteriously did not appear in the precinct books. In
>  North Carolina, numerous voters who registered at the Department of
>  Motor Vehicles under the provisions of the NVRA or otherwise
>  properly registered this year were told that they could not vote
>  because their names did not appear on the precinct books and were
>  denied the right to cast "provisional" ballots as 

[CTRL] Can You Pass This Election Test?

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

http://www.nf-ra.org/

11-23-00

Can You Pass This Election Test?
 From NFRA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

In each of the past two years, and on the first day of class, Law Professor
Butler Shaffer, Southwestern University School of Law, presented his
students with the following voting exercise. Bear in mind that these
students knew nothing about the Professor nor had he said anything
to them prior to opening up the class with this exercise.

Cast your vote to understand why it is vital to teach factual not
revisionist history in our private and public institutions of education.
Your comments and suggestions would be appreciated.

VOTING EXERCISE

"It is time to elect the leader of a great nation, and you have been
presented with the following candidates:

CANDIDATE 'A'

A well-known critic of government, this man has been involved in tax protest
movements, and has openly advocated secession, armed rebellion against the
existing national government, and even the overthrow of that government. He
is a known member of a militia group that was involved in a shootout with
law enforcement authorities. He opposes gun control efforts of the present
national government, as well as restrictions on open immigration into this
country. He is a businessman who as earned his fortune from such businesses
as alcohol, tobacco, retailing, and smuggling."

CANDIDATE 'B'

A decorated army war veteran, this man is an avowed nonsmoker and dedicated
public health advocate. His public health interests include the fostering of
medical research and his dedication to eliminating cancer. He opposes the
use of animals in conducting such research. He has supported restrictions on
the use of asbestos, pesticides, and radiation, and favors government
determined occupational health and safety standards, as well as the
promotion of such foods as whole-grain bread and soybeans. He is an advocate
of government gun-control measures. An ardent opponent of tobacco, he has
supported increased restrictions on both the use of and advertising for
tobacco products. Such advertising restrictions include: [1] not allowing
tobacco use to be portrayed as harmless or a sign of masculinity; [2] not
allowing such advertising to be directed to women; [3] not drawing attention
to the low nicotine content of tobacco products; and, [4] limitations as to
where such advertisements may be made. This man is a champion of
environmental and conservationist programs, and believes in the importance
of sending troops into foreign countries in order to maintain order therein.

PLEASE SELECT THE CANDIDATE FOR WHICH YOU WOULD VOTE:

CANDIDATE 'A' _

CANDIDATE 'B' _

The combined vote total for these two years (4 classes) is as follows:

Candidate "A" 47 votes 25%

Candidate"B" 141 votes. 75%

After collecting all the ballots, the professor inform the students that
Candidate 'A' is a composite of the "founding fathers" (e.g., Sam Adams,
John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry, etc.,
etc.) while Candidate 'B' is Adolph Hitler (see Robert Proctor's book, THE
NAZI WAR ON CANCER).

An interesting follow-up occurred in one of these classes last year. In the
"commerce clause" segment of constitutional law, the students were
discussing the Schechter case - in which the Supreme Court struck down the
New Deal's National Industrial Recovery Act. After describing this Act in
some detail, the professor went on to inform his students just how popular
state collectivism was throughout the world: Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and
Franco and Roosevelt being the better known examples; and of how Hitler and
Mussolini had been revered by many renowned people throughout the world,
including Gandhi, Churchill, etc., etc. At this point, one student
interrupted: "I don't see how you can say that. How could a man like Adolph
Hitler have been popular with so many people?" The professor leaned over the
podium and responded: "you tell me...just two weeks ago, 78% of you in this
class voted for him."

In about twenty seconds, the room became unbelievably silent.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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
 http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

htt

[CTRL] RadTimes # 121

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 121 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"All political government must necessarily become despotic, because all
government tends to become centralized in the hands of the few, who breed
corruption among themselves and in a very short time disconnect themselves
from the body of the people. The American republic is a good illustration."
--Lucy Parsons, interview with the New York World, 1886
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Disparate activists remain united in WTO opposition
--GOP Protest in Miami-Dade Is a Well-Organized Effort
--Protest Influenced Miami-Dade's Decision to Stop Recount
--Republican Overkill
--Rage Sharpens Conservative Rhetoric
Linked stories:
*Washing Dirty Dollars
*People Camp Outside Supreme Court
*US Supreme Court hearing highlights state conspiracy against democratic
rights
*Climate Change Could Bankrupt Us By 2065
*Bush claims victory, Gore to fight
*Gore to lay out case for legal fight
---
Begin stories:
---
Disparate activists remain united in WTO opposition

By James Cox
USA TODAY

They call themselves the Seattle Coalition, a tribute to
their greatest triumph.

The loose band of activists behind demonstrations that
paralyzed last year's World Trade Organization summit hasn't
gone away. Since Seattle, members have masterminded
disruptions at world finance meetings in Washington; Prague,
the Czech Republic; and Melbourne, Australia; a United
Nations summit in New York and political conventions in
Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Less clear is whether mainstream America is ready to sign
up.

The shock troops of the movement are labor organizers,
consumer advocates, environmentalists, academics, religious
activists and others. They are united by a profound mistrust
of corporations and globalization -- and seemingly little
else.

Some sound like utopians, even Marxists.

''We are now in the cancer stage of capitalism,'' Kevin
Danaher, an activist with worker-rights group Global
Exchange, told a coalition powwow recently.

Seattle, he said, was the start of a ''historic paradigm
shift'' in global politics and power, one that would give
rise to organic food, microlending, solar energy and
alternative economic systems.

Lori Wallach, a top lieutenant at Ralph Nader's Public
Citizen, speaks of a ''huge, growing human backlash'' that
grew out of Seattle. It could ultimately force multinational
corporations to accept ''a floor of conduct,'' she says.

Seattle ''was all about the anxieties and fears of modern
life. You had vegetarians and European beef farmers marching
together in protest. Every issue from East Timor to dental
hygiene to cycling was out there,'' says WTO chief Michael
Moore.

Globalization, he says, is ''an awful phrase. I wish it had
never been invented. But the stupidity of thinking
globalization will stop if the WTO doesn't meet or the World
Bank doesn't meet . . . I mean, give me a break.''

Since Seattle, the stakes have grown, activists say.

They complain that police and other law enforcement groups
have effectively criminalized their protests by spying on
them, restricting their movements and limiting their right
to demonstrate. At the same time, they say, corporations are
aggressively co-opting critics such as the United Nations by
signing up for corporate partnerships that require little
other than statements of good intentions.

The ''unholy trinity'' of the WTO, World Bank and
International Monetary Fund is still pushing the world
toward ''the moment of global corporate tyranny,'' warns
Tony Clarke of the left-leaning think tank Polaris
Institute.

The WTO and its sister institutions ''have been a force for
good,'' counters Moore. The three have created prosperity,
helped alleviate poverty and improved living conditions.
''The Great Lakes don't catch fire any more. You can fish in
the Thames. Look at barometers in my region (New Zealand) --
fresh water, literacy, life expectancy -- they've all
exploded. You could argue there've been more advances in the
last 50 years than the previous 400.''

Indeed, many Seattle Coalition founders say it's too early
for self-congratulations.

''Hold the champagne and flowers for a while,'' says Jerry
Mander, a prominent campaigner. ''The WTO is still alive and
kicking.''

---

[CTRL] RadTimes # 103

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 103 November, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
Contents:
---
--Revote or Revolt?
--Florida AIM calls on UN, OAS to monitor recounts, revote
--Many of state's voting machines old, unreliable
--This election is an epiphany for many voters
--Electoral fraud in Florida? Socialist campaign responds
Linked stories:
 *IRS raids cypherpunk's house
 *Political stalemate delights Wall Street
 *America's election mess undercuts international nagging
 *The heartland shrugged
 *Cybercrime Treaty Draft: Take 23
---
Begin stories:
---
Revote or Revolt?

FREE RADICAL: chronicle of the new unrest - Issue #12
by L.A. KAUFFMAN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 

Wait a minute: Weren't *we* the people who were supposed
to push the American system into a crisis of legitimacy?

By "we" I mean those small but feisty pockets of U.S.
society dedicated to rabble-rousing, trouble-making, and
fundamental change. For a shut-it-down radical like me,
the election mess in the United States has been altogether
too surreal,  coming at the end of a raucous year of
politics in the street.

I'm one of those who believe that our political process is
thoroughly corrupted by moneyed interests and that the two
major parties often differ only in which corporate masters
they serve. The heated battle underway between Democrats
and Republicans strikes me as wildly out of proportion to
their actual political disagreements - a classic example
of what Freud famously called the narcissism of small
differences.

Yet still I find myself drawn into the vote-counting
drama, as if an accurate tally would constitute a
democratic outcome, in an election between two plutocrats
hand-picked by ruling elites. I cheer the African-American
students from Florida A&M University who took over the
state capitol building for nearly 24 hours to protest the
voting irregularities. I'm moved by the stories of
Holocaust survivors weeping at the realization that they
voted for Holocaust-denier Pat Buchanan. I'm stirred by
accounts of protest rallies in Florida whose fervor echoes
the black voting rights struggle of the 1950s and early
1960s. And I realize that - despite having voted for Ralph
Nader, with zero regrets - I really do dislike Bush more
than I dislike Gore.

Over the weekend, I walked over to a hastily organized
protest in Times Square, one of many taking place around
the country. Promoted almost entirely on the Internet, it
had a very homespun and spontaneous flavor. Nobody had yet
created buttons or t-shirts. The signs were nearly all
hand-lettered. The crowd had clearly not been mobilized
either by the Democratic Party machine or any of the usual
protest organizers (labor unions, advocacy groups, college
organizations, whatever).

The protesters, who numbered perhaps 700 at their peak,
came up with chants full of faith in the basic political
process:

 "No fuzzy ballots"
 "Will of the people"
 "Every vote counts"
 "This is about democracy"

The signs were in a similar vein:

 "Let Grandma's Vote Count"
 "No Jim Crow Voting"
 "Isn't this a Democracy?"

But that ultimate question - is the United States in fact
a democracy? - was something that no one was really
asking. And that virtually no one is discussing during the
topsy-turvy process of battling over the vote.

That evening, I went to a screening of "This Is What
Democracy Looks Like," a remarkable new documentary on
last year's Seattle WTO protests, which takes its name
from the most famous of the chants coined there on the
streets.

It was on the third day of the protests that I first heard
that chant. Having successfully disrupted the WTO's
meetings through a nonviolent blockade, we had variously
been tear gassed, pepper sprayed, shot at with rubber
bullets, deafened with concussion grenades, beaten,
arrested, and chased. Martial law had been declared, and
all of downtown Seattle had been decreed a "no protest
zone," where it was illegal even to carry a sign opposing
the WTO.

Thousands of people - including many Seattle residents who
had not originally joined the protests, but who were
outraged by the complete decimation of civil liberties -
decided to defy the ban on public assembly and began to
march through the city. Our numbers swelled as we crossed
downtown and then headed uphill toward the jail where
those arrested for protesting on the previous day were
being held. As the enormous and defiant crowd neared a
spot where I had seen the police viciously gas seated,
nonviolent protesters two days before, the chan

[CTRL] Fwd: Seven Joint Chiefs Chairmen Convene at Pentagon

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000
>From: Press Service <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject:  Seven Joint Chiefs Chairmen Convene at Pentagon
>
>Special to the American Forces Press Service
>
>WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2000 -- Six former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs
>of Staff flank Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton (center), their host and
>current chairman, during a special conference in the Pentagon. From
>the left are retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, retired Army Gen.
>John W. Vessey, retired Navy Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Shelton, retired
>Air Force Gen. David C. Jones, retired Navy Adm. William J. Crowe Jr.
>and retired Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili. Shelton held the Dec. 1
>meeting to update his predecessors and to seek their perspective on a
>number of issues. The group represents more than 200 years of
>military experience. DoD photo by Mamie Burke.
>
>##END##
>
>200012043a.jpg Former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff flank
>Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton (center) during a special conference in
>the Pentagon. From the left are retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell,
>retired Army Gen. John W. Vessey, retired Navy Adm. Thomas H. Moorer,
>Shelton, retired Air Force Gen. David C. Jones, retired Navy Adm.
>William J. Crowe Jr. and retired Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili.
>
>NOTE: This is a plain text version of a web page.
>If your mail program did not properly format this
>information, current News Articles are online at
>http://www.defenselink.mil/news/#News Articles
>
>
>Virtual tour of the Pentagon
>  http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pentagon/
>
>Unsubscribe from or Subscribe to this mailing list:
>  http://www.defenselink.mil/news/subscribe.html
>

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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
 http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
 http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl

To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Om

[CTRL] America in the grip of Bushs Iron Triangle

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

America in the grip of Bush's 'Iron Triangle'




Ed Vulliamy in Washington reveals the network of big business interests
that is now waiting to reap its rewards from an administration that may
stand for little but revenge and greed

Sunday December 3, 2000

The ominous joke in Washington is that George W. Bush is learning how to
pronounce the word 'inaugural'.
The city that has for eight years filled its cappuccino bars with the staff
of a reforming presidency is bracing itself for change: an influx of Texan
Stetsons and Cuban heels - and a politics stamped with a familiar brand
name, the Bush family. 'It will be,' says one senior White House aide, 'the
restoration of the aristocracy, motivated by revenge and greed.'
The Bush Transition Office has just opened across the River Potomac from
the leafy, liberal streets of Georgetown in McClean, Virginia, where
heavy-hitting lobbies of the conservative Right fill the phone directory.
 From here, where workers are rewiring to make way for more phone lines,
Bush's presidency-in-waiting will take shape, even though the election
result remains contested.
The question the capital is asking is the one posed by White House
communications director Sidney Blumenthal on Friday: 'If Bush wins, who is
the President?'
That is a question more and more Americans are raising as Bush's grip on
the White House strengthens by the day.  Just what does 'Dubya' stand for?
The answer seems to be: not much. The more you look at Bush the less you
see. For every clue as to what kind of President he would make, there is a
question; for every pattern, a glitch.
The clues are among the entourage, either packing for Washington or else
already here, planning the next four years while Bush bides his time -
relaxing, apparently - at his ranch. If there was ever a President defined
by his donors and patrons, it is Bush. Like a player in a baroque
allegorical drama, he is not really a person, more a personification of
interests.
They come from three overlapping spheres of influence: his father's ancien
régime , the clique of political operatives with which 'Dubya' has governed
the nation's second biggest state, and - most formidably - business
interests behind the Republican Party that have waited eight long Clinton
years for this moment. For all of them, another Bush administration is
payback time.
A network controlled by George Bush Snr first opened the floodgates for the
funds that bought 'W' the election. 'The old man's network,' says Bush's
cousin, John Ellis, 'is probably 50,000 people, and I think they were
looking for some kind of vindication. I don't think you can possibly
overrate the hatred of Bill Clinton in the Republican Party'.
The old guard falls into two categories.  The privy council of the last
Bush administration is led by Dick Cheney, getting down to the unfinished
business of 1992 while 'Dubya' is out of town. It includes General Colin
Powell, former Secretary of State James Baker, Pentagon official Paul
Wolfowitz and National Security aide Condoleeza Rice.  From his father's
domestic team, Bush has former Federal Reserve appointee Lawrence Summers,
and faithful soldier Andrew Card to be his Chief of Staff - of whom one
aide said: 'At least he's not a Texan.'
Then there is the overlapping circle of investors and corporate barons made
rich by Bush's father, collected into the Carlyle Group, a cabalistic,
Washington-based merchant bank chaired by Ronald Reagan's former Pentagon
chief, Frank Carlucci. Carlyle is a financial club for Bush Snr's intimate
circle and can expect to enjoy political clout in the White House.
Bush Snr is one of the bank's paid emissaries. Among the partners are his
economic adviser Richard Darman and Dubya's front man in Florida, James
Baker (Bush Jnr has his own connections with Carlyle).
 From this ancien régime comes talk of bipartisanship, conciliatory
gestures to a riven nation and Congress, and even recruitment of pro-Bush
Democrats into the Cabinet. But behind the figureheads are other faces -
the hardline Texan managers of the most disciplined and lavishly funded
political campaign in recent history.
And behind them are the real power brokers, hands to guide the White House
from within the world of business and industry with whom Bush has worked
for years, who wield awesome power in American society and owe no debt to
compromise.
In the capital, the point man works both on stage and behind the scenes.
When the Supreme Court convened on Friday, Bush was represented by Theodore
Olson, a high-profile attorney and former partner of Kenneth Starr.
But, backstage, Olson is the Washingtonian who has kept the right-wing
candle burning on the capital's dining circuit during the Clinton years,
along with his socialite wife, Barbara. It is intriguing that Bush should
have appointed the man who accepted some $2.4 million from the
ultra-conservative do

[CTRL] RadTimes # 122

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 122 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"Every exploitation of public economy by small minorities leads inevitably
to political oppression, just as, on the other hand, every sort of
political predominance must lead to the creation of new economic monopolies
and hence to increased exploitation of the weakest sections of society. The
two phenomena always go hand in hand."
--Rudolf Rocker, 'Nationalism And Culture'
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Organizing in the Face of Increased Repression
--Bush campaign spokesman Governor Marc Racicot tied to extreme-right forces
--IPS Releases Study on Corporate Power
--Bush and Gore are neck-and-neck in hypocrisy
--FBI steps up efforts to fight crimes related to computers
--Attack on Luna
Linked stories:
 *Cheney Urges Gore to Concede Defeat
 *Global: Corruption - A necessary evil?
 *If Bush Wins, Watch Out for the Long Knives
 *Gun Rights: Power to the People
 *The Next Seattle
 *The Watchers
 *Supreme Court Rules for Bush
---
Begin stories:
---
Organizing in the Face of Increased Repression

by Starhawk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

 Since the very first morning of the Seattle blockade a year ago, the
police forces of the world have greeted the antiglobalization movement with
a high level of violence and repression.  As the international movement has
continued on, the repression has fallen into a pattern discernible from DC
to Prague and beyond.  This pattern involves:

1. A concerted media campaign by the police and government forces that
begins long before the demonstration, painting the activists as violent
terrorists.  All previous demos are equally characterized as violent,
regardless of the actual facts.
2. Surveillance of meetings, email lists, phones, listservs, etc.
3. Attempts at pre-emptive control, which range from mass illegal arrests in
DC the night before the action, shut downs of convergence centers and
IndyMedia centers, and border closures, to declaring a 5-kilometer
no-protest zone five months before the planned action in Quebec.
4. Less obvious violence on the street.  Seattle taught them that tear
gassing whole sections of the city was a bad idea.  However, tear gas,
pepper spray, beatings, projectile weapons, water cannon and concussion
grenades, etc. are routinely used now from Prague to Cincinnati.
5. Random arrests and targeting of peaceful protestors, while those throwing
rocks are often let go.  Maybe nonviolent protestors are easier to catch?
Or maybe this is a concerted effort to discourage wider participation in
these actions?
6. Use of provocateurs.  I am not saying that all who throw rocks are
provocateurs.  However, there is a growing body of eyewitnesses and stories
of 'protestors' seen one moment throwing a rock at a window and the next,
being sheltered behind a police line to indicate that provocateurs are being
used.  Along with them, we can suspect the whole range of fun Cointelpro
tactics.
7. Intimidation and brutality in jail, which reached levels of outright
torture in Prague.
8. Some sporadic attempts to identify and neutralize 'leaders' i.e. holding
John Sellers of Ruckus on a million dollars bail for charges that were all
later dropped.

What fun!  It¹s enough to make you think we¹re being effective, especially
when, as in Prague, the protestors still managed to disrupt the meeting and
send the banksters home a day early.

What can we do about it?  Are we doomed to have these actions become more
and more dangerous, and smaller and smaller?  Or can we succeed in building
a mass movement in spite of repression?

1. The greatest restraint to police violence during an action is the
organizing and alliance building we¹ve done before the action ever happens.
We need to counter their disinformation campaigns with our own community
outreach, to leaflet, to talk to people, to go door to door, to explain to
the community what we¹re doing and why long before we do it.
2. We need to build alliances with labor, churches, NGOs, all the groups who
are fighting the same vested interests.  We don¹t have to do the same work
they do, we don¹t have to change our hairstyles or analysis to accommodate
them, but we do need to build bridges so that we can call on them to defend
our‹and their‹civil rights, at the border, on the streets

[CTRL] RadTimes # 123

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 123 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"America is a melting pot. Those on the bottom get burned and the scum
rises to the top."
--Edward Abbey
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Police brutality against third world debt protestors
--The Elites & the "Structures of Political Authority"
--New NRO mandate raises secrecy flag
--Ebola death toll rises to 145 after 15 new deaths in Uganda
Linked stories:
*The worst of the injustice system
*Stocks rally on election news
*Aids epidemic 'worse than ever'
*US Court Allows Political Corporate Donations Ban
*Famous Giant Redwood 'Luna' Slashed by Vandals
---
Begin stories:
---
Police brutality against third world debt protestors

EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT by PAUL LAVERTY

POLICE ATTACK PEACEFUL MARCH AGAINST THIRD WORLD DEBT

MADRID - SUNDAY 26TH NOVEMBER 2000

It was a beautiful sunny morning. My friend Marco, a law lecturer at a
Barcelona University, popped around for a cup of coffee. He wanted to
bring around a little present for my son Lucas who was born two and half
months ago. He told me he was heading for a demonstration that was about
to take place in the centre of Madrid against third world debt. The march
was due to start in Plaza Cibeles, head down past the Prado Art gallery
and finish at Atocha train station some 10 minutes walk from where I live.

I decided to join him and asked my partner if I should bring Lucas out
with me for some fresh air. Marco thought there wouldn't be too many on
the demonstration and it was likely to be mild and good humoured. As Lucas
is still being breast fed we made a quick calculation of when he would
need his next maternal fix and decided that he would be screaming for his
lunch before I could get back. I decided not to bring Lucas and headed off
with Marco.

On the way over to Plaza Cibeles he told me about the Citizens Network for
Cancellation of Third World Debt.  It sounded a very main
stream broad coalition and similar to Jubilee 2000 back in Britain. They
organised their own very imaginative public consultation to coincide with
the general elections last march. They set up ad hoc voting urns and asked
those voting in the elections to cast their vote for or against abolition
of third world debt. Over a million voted, with Catalunya being the best
organised with 500,000 votes. Predictably, 95% plus voted in favour of
cancelling the debt and organisers seemed delighted with grass root
organisers ability to highlight the fact that debt repayments dwarf
budgets of health and education combined in many developing countries
where infant mortality is a major killer.

On arriving in the plaza by pure coincidence I stood next to an older
group of religious activists and one nun, cross round her neck, from
Extremadura in the south West of Spain. To the other side were a bunch of
mostly young people in their early twenties from Barcelona who were
singing and dancing as they waited for the march to start. I saw a woman
who was about 7 months pregnant and it made me think of Lucas.

A mere half hour late and the march shuffled off. It was a very modest
number, perhaps around two thousand. It was very good natured, with the
usual chants, songs, and array of posters against third world debt.

Along each side of the march were the "policia antidisturbios" which
literally means "anti-disturbance police." These were all big burly
officers who were obviously in good shape. I was fascinated by their dark
blue uniforms which appeared like a tight version of workers overalls
except they have reinforced padding around legs and body for extra
protection. Among their various gadgets they all carried handguns in a
holster and heafty batons some three foot long. Several carried riffles
which appeared to have a strange fat muzzle at one end. I found out later
these were for firing hard rubber balls about the same size as a snooker
ball. They also had helmets with plastic visors.

The distance from Cibiles to Atocha is some one and half kilometres.
Halfway down this beautiful tree lined street which also boasts the world
famous Thyssen museum and Prado Art gallery is a stunning round-about with
a statue of Neptune in the middle. Some 100 yards west of Neptune is the
Parliament building. (Congress of Deputies.)

As the march slowly reached the roundabout

[CTRL] RadTimes # 124

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 124 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"Every ill we deplore in society...is rooted in the institution of power,
that is, in the state and the institution of private ownership...Man is at
the mercy of these two social afflictions which escape his control: they
make him petty, stingy, and lacking solidarity when he is rich, and cruelly
insensitive to human suffering when he wields power. Poverty degrades, but
wealth perverts."
--Isaac Puente, 'Libertarian Communism'
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--When The FBI Knocks, A First-Person Account
--Wireless tracking devices raise privacy concerns
--International Arms Shows -The year in review
--Engaged in an endless pursuit of dissenters
Linked stories:
*Anti-Hacking Law to take Effect
---
Begin stories:
---
When The FBI Knocks, A First-Person Account



Preamble:

I'm writing this for three reasons:
1) I'm getting tired of explaining it over and over to friends.
2) I wanted to try out mozilla composer.  ;)
3) To make people aware that they're not being paranoid enough.  This
story should scare you.

Those of you who know me know that I am in no way a script kiddie,
l33t h4x0r, or any other variation.  I'm simply an RPI student, admin,
and programmer (C/perl/whatever) who likes to dabble in cryptography,
kernel hacking, data compression, and whatever else the topic of the
week happens to be.  I also have a short attention span, skipping from
project to project, subject to subject.  I do not claim to be an
expert in any field, but I know my way around.

Story:

Last saturday afternoon (Oct. 28, ~4 PM), the FBI let themselves into
my dorm (good ol' RPI gave them the keys), waking me up.  They showed
me a badge, handed me a warrant, and took me into another room to ask
me questions. They had every intention of seizing all my computer
hardware before even questioning me, which should worry you greatly.
They initially began asking me if I was a baseball fan, which confused
me. After answering with a "no", they explained that I was under
investigation for the break in that had occurred the previous day to
the Yankees website.  I breathed a sigh of relief (my initial reaction
was "oh shit, someone's pissed about my 30 gig mp3 collection"), as I
figured I could simply explain to them what happened, and they'd leave
my stuff alone.  I was wrong.

The previous day, I was doing my usual routine for a friday with no
class; up at 7 AM, catch up on slashdot/k5/lwn/sinfest/etc, do some
coding on the project of the week (mdidentd/avifile/pharmacy/etc), and
do some homework.  Of course, the whole time, I'd be on IRC (EFNet,
OPN), talking with people.  During a conversation about Microsoft's
break in, and how the stolen source code would affect things like
wine, a friend mentioned that Yankees.com had also just been hacked (I
found out later that he got that information from The Register,
specifically here, which in turn found out from here).

Being the curious individual that I am, I went to the webpage, and
discovered that it had, indeed, been cracked (and replaced with a
rather amusing picture, and a "yankees suck!" banner).  I then began a
post-mortem inspection; I always find this to be very interesting, as
several friends have basically handed me linux boxes (not physically
handed, of course), and asked me to rid them of a pesky cracker.  The
last time I did this, I discovered the intruder had gotten in through
a (well-known) wu-ftpd exploit that affected redhat 6.2, and was using
the box as a "zombie" (a daemon was listening for UDP packets, and was
then running a DoS against the IP supplied by the client).

I first checked port 21 of www.yankees.com, noticing that it was
running wu-ftpd-2.6.0; the same version that had been exploited in the
aforementioned cleanup.  That didn't sound right to me; it was
www.yankees.com, they had to have better security than that.  So, I
did a zone transfer of yankees.com (host -l -t any yankees.com), and
noticed an old.yankees.com.  Upon going there, I saw what I thought to
be the original site, so I figured this whole "crack" was simply a dns
redirect.  I checked the bind version that yankees.com's primary
nameserver was running (dig @ns1.icsnet.net version.bind chaos txt),
and saw that it was running the latest version (well... pa

[CTRL] RadTimes # 125

[radman]

e
Communist Manifesto'. Young people who are angry instinctively look for a
leader. Hitler knew this as much as a number of modern day professional
politicians.

Perhaps we are lucky, then, that most of the young, disillusioned coeds
have not taken up putting in yard signs and canvassing their neighborhoods.
If they were, those who like voluntary business practices and shooting guns
on private property might be reading the opening paragraph of the
Declaration of Independence with a lot more seriousness. It's not at all
hard to imagine a Green Party teeming with at least 15% of the population,
if not more, when one figures how many younger people are angry at the
system but choose to do nothing. Indeed, the way the current debate is
going, if the angry young voters actually decide to vote and get active,
just like moths seeking the lights at a baseball game, they're gonna go
where the action is.

Right now the action is over yonder where people are talking about
outlawing cars and maybe even people. To his credit, Nader is doing a
better job than Timothy Leary in getting the younger generations to tune in
and turn on to his crusade.

It seems that Nader has done a much better job of using civil disobedience
than libertarians or any other group that isn't at all content with the
direction things are heading. During the first presidential debate, Nader
tried to get into a University of Massachusetts auditorium. He had a
legitimate ticket and was turned away, but he returned with a news team and
got booted again. Pissed-off twenty-somethings love someone who tries to
stick it to the man. For all his philosophical flaws, this guy and his crew
sure are persistent. That's exactly why he gets noticed by the hordes of
just-hatched activists and voters who trust their gut that something isn't
right with the system. And that's exactly why he draws crowds of over a
thousand people on college campuses.

Because of the Greens' willingness to throw themselves into the fray, they
are building their numbers and shifting the debate. Now, the majority of
America thinks the major issue is not what the government should and
shouldn't do, but what and how far the government should go in doing it.
The central debates of political theory for the past few thousand years are
dying before our eyes. There have always been populists like Nader, but
they were always confronted by bigger masses of people who knew the real
deal. Most people don't know the real deal about government anymore, and
the Greens are steering the caravan even further from any real foundation.

The people we elect are crucial to the direction this country moves. As
always, there will be plenty of FDRs, Kennedys, and Clintons elected to
office. More important, however, than who is elected, is the current of
debate in which they were elected. We place our leaders against a
background context in which they are judged. When ideas of government
purpose stick out, people notice and attempt to place the black-sheep ideas
back in context with the mainstream of thought. Nader and the Greens have
capitalized on a changed background so that to many young people, and
plenty of middle-agers, the black sheep doesn't stick out anymore. Hence,
the draconian plans of Nader are not deemed radical anymore because they're
not far off from the plans of the powers that be.

The presidential debates stand as a fine example of the already changed
tide. We see universal health-care, universal equality, and universal
financial aid all put forward as aims of government. When the debated
topics are accepted as the foremost concerns of a people, anyone
challenging those concerns becomes the not-to-be-trusted stranger. Reason
and history be damned.

How ironic it is that the ideas which are crucial to the open exchange of
political discourse are now on the fringe. The overall debate has shifted
in this election cycle and much credit is due Ralph Nader's hard work and
keen eye. Getting that pendulum to reverse its momentum is going to be
another challenge altogether.

Maybe those few but committed individuals who have a love affair with
freedom will learn a thing or two from Nader's antics. Maybe not. And just
maybe, the Internet will make everything all better.

---
Reader commentary
 re: "When The FBI Knocks, A First-Person Account"

From: Scott B.

Interesting story on FBI, but I'm worried that the "lesson" is that you
have to back up data, rather than to
tell the FBI to piss off.  It's fine for this guy to fall back on being
"innocent", but most of the time you
have no idea of what they are after and any info you give can get others in
deep shit.  Many of us learned
this lesson the hard way during the 70's and 80's.

There is info from the Nat. Lawyers Guild on Vis

[CTRL] RadTimes # 126

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 126 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"Every State, even the most republican and the most democratic State--even
the would-be people's State conceived by Marx--is in essence only a machine
governing the masses from above, through an intelligent and therefore
privileged minority, allegedly knowing the genuine interests of the people
better than the people themselves."
--Michael Bakunin, 'Statism And Anarchy'
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Force of law
--Corporations Get Bigger and Bigger
--Sweeping powers for spy agencies
--Denmark's hippies hit their golden years
--Police arrest more people for marijuana than murder, rape, and robbery
combined
--Human-pig embryos: what next?
Linked stories:
*Is the Fetus a Person?
*FBI to Create $100 Million Cyber Crime Report Center
*Global warming may devastate Pacific nations
*More wild weather to come, warn meteorologists
*Infiltrating A Spy Conference
---
Begin stories:
---
Force of law



by MARK FORBES
2000-10-27

'Move! Move! Move!" shout police, stomping forward on each
word, sharply prodding large black batons towards
demonstrators with every step.

Events accelerate into confused scuffles, demonstrators
cling together, screaming "police violence" towards watching
media, as baton blows rain down. Young or old, demonstrators
are grabbed and dragged, fodder for newspapers and TV
stations around the world. Debate over ratbag protesters and
police tactics begins instantaneously.

It seems only yesterday that the S11 protests disrupted the
World Economic Forum at Crown Casino, prompting a tough
response from police. But the events just described occurred
years earlier, under a different government, when the
Richmond Secondary College was blockaded to protest against
its closure by Jeff Kennett.

This week, the last chapter in the Richmond saga was closed,
with police agreeing to a settlement of almost $300,000 for
30 protesters who had lodged writs alleging excessive police
force.

Now the WEF protest is to be played out in court, with the
same lawyers who represented the Richmond 30 drawing up
writs for at least 50 people injured outside Crown Casino.

The parallels between the incidents raise issues of how
democracy is policed in Victoria. And the WEF action is set
to reignite debate over unresolved questions about the
Richmond action, questions police had hoped the
confidential settlement would bury.

Just what legal right do police have to use force against
demonstrators, and how far can demonstrators go to disrupt
the lawful behavior of others? Should police be legally
responsible for the force they use, and who can be trusted
to investigate allegations against the police?

The curly questions are not just for police to answer. At
Richmond, the Kennett government was determined to crash
through the protest, raising the issue of separation of
power from its law-enforcement arm. The Bracks
Government, with closer ties to community groups but
desperate to appear "business-friendly" and tough on crime,
is certain to find its dealings with police over the WEF
under the legal microscope.

Police minutes released under freedom of information reveal
that those organising the Richmond baton charge knew that
"at a high political level there was a desire to have the
matter resolved quickly".

The day of the charge, Monday December13, 1993, had been
nominated by ministers as the last day renovations could
begin if they were to reopen a new school in January, as
they wished to do.

Inside the besieged WEF meeting on Monday, September11, this
year, Premier Bracks was himself surrounded by angry
businessmen, demanding action against protesters who had
blockaded many delegates wanting to enter the building.
Privately, government insiders concede that the pressured
atmosphere may have clouded the Premier's political
judgment, leading to his description of demonstrators'
behavior as fascist. The government was desperate for the
forum to proceed on the Tuesday, with organisers threatening
to cancel.

Neil O'Loughlin, deputy commissioner in charge of operations
at the forum, has denied that pressure from the government
or WEF organisers influenced the tougher police tactics.

"I had meetings (on Monday night) with peo

[CTRL] Fwd: Haiti and Cocaine

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>
>TIME MAGAZINE
>DECEMBER 2000
>
>WORLD
>COKE FLOATS
>Located Midway Between The U.S. And Colombia, Haiti Has Become A Post Office
>For Coke Dealers
>
>By Tim Padgett
>Cap-Haitien
>
>Marnet would rather be a fork-lift driver than a cocaine trafficker. But
>Haiti has a lot more demand for the latter - especially in the northern port
>of Cap-Haitien, where Marnet, 29, watched this fall as his one honest meal
>ticket, the U.S. Army, shipped home the last of its intervention forces. "I
>may have to join my friends and be a welder," he said - not just any welder
>but a narco welder, who refits ships to hide drugs. Marnet walked to a cargo
>vessel, where two large generators powered the torches he said his pals were
>using to solder double hulls and other secret  compartments.  On a matchbox,
>he drew the designs they were following. He then pointed to their nearby
>bosses, who were opening Samsonite suitcases stuffed with cash in full view
>of police on the dock. "The sun is very bright in Haiti,:" Marnet said
>sarcastically. "It makes it hard for the police to see these things."
>
>U.S. politicians can see them from Washington. They just can't do much about
>the situation. When the Americans ousted Haiti's brutal military regime in
>1994, they aimed to bring order and normality to the impoverished Caribbean
>state. U.S. peacekeeping forces restored Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the
>presidency to which he had been freely elected in 1990. They sank almost $100
>million into Haiti's police and judiciary. But today Haiti is as lawless as
>it is destitute. A breakdown in America's alliance with Aristide, who left
>office in 1996, helped create the kind of power vacuum drug lords love to
>fill. Now, after easily winning the presidency again last week, can Aristide
>do much about the problem?
>
>It may be too late. Haiti, perfectly situated between Colombia and Miami, has
>become the Yankee-proof drug-trafficking nexus the Colombian cartels have
>long dreamed of, a place whose police corruption and judicial void make U.S.
>interdiction efforts all but futile. "There is no institutional [structure]
>there for us to work with," says U.S. Customs Service commissioner Raymond
>Kelly. "Everything is broken."
>
>Drug trafficking is hardly new to Haiti. But in the past few years, say U.S.
>officials, the cocaine cruising through the country has leaped from less than
>5% of the total bound for the U.S. to more than 15% - amounting to almost six
>tons a month. When U.S. forces entered Haiti six years ago, they helped
>create a new civilian police force and coast guard. But the fledgling,
>threadbare agencies are a laugh to the cartels. U.S. officials, citing
>Haitian inspector general reports on officer misconduct, estimate that 85% of
>police supervisors - including four in Cap-Haitien who were recently caught
>with their own bulging satchels of dope cash - are in the pockets of
>traffickers. The Haitian coast guard has made a few impressive busts in
>recent years, but it has fewer than 100 men and about 10 ships - some of the
>best of which are fast Colombian cigarette boats that agents have seized from
>dealers.
>
>The crisis casts doubt on whether U.S. efforts to build democratic
>institutions in Haiti were serious - or just the latest of Washington's
>half-hearted repair jobs in its own hemisphere. "This sort of reform carries
>a time span of 20 years minimum, not six," says Haitian national police
>director Pierre Denize, who has fewer than 50 drug agents, no radar to detect
>smuggling boats or planes and often stingy intelligence from U.S. agents
>still wary of him and his force. "If the U.S. spent as much on Haitian police
>as it does stopping Haitian boat people, we could build some trust." Says
>prominent business consultant Lionel Delatour: "It looks very unlikely that
>the U.S. will invest enough here to avert disaster."
>
>Washington complains in turn that it is seeing too little return and too much
>dirt on its investment. "No amount of U.S. assistance will restore
>credibility" to Haiti's cops, says Representative Benjamin Gillman, chairman
>of the House International Relations Committee. His views are echoed by the
>nonpartisan U.S. General Accounting Office, which recently concluded that
>"the key factor" in the failure of U.S. antidrug efforts in Haiti has been
>the government's "lack of commitment."
>
>Both the Clinton Administration and U.S. congressional leaders blame
>Aristide. His relations with Washington soured in 1996 when the U.S. insisted
>his first term had expired, even though he had spent most of it in exile.
>(Haitian law prohibits consecutive presidential terms.) Many Western
>diplomats in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, say that was a mistake, since
>Aristide, despite his volatility, could have lent his immense popularity
>among Haitians to the police-building effort. His critics charge that
>Aristide's powerful Fanmi Lavalas Party is gripped by narco pols, which
>Aristide de

[CTRL] RadTimes # 127

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 127 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"Crime is a logical extension of the sort of behavior that is
often considered perfectly respectable in legitimate business."
--Robert Rice
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Anarchists ask for accuracy
--Note to protesters: It's too soon to give up
--DOD database to fight cybercrime
--Arms Trade Ups and Downs
--Campaign Against Bioterrorism: Dangerous To Your Health
--Sad Revelation About Modern American Medicine
Linked stories:
*Drug Checkpoints Continue, Despite Court Ruling
*IRS considers regulating Web speech
*Serious concerns remain over FBI's Carnivore system
*FBI surveillance tactics questioned
*Presidential gridlock cheers U.S. secessionists
*Hobbled president may be less imperial
*Masculinity as a Foreign Policy Issue
*Ritalin Becomes Drug of Choice for Schoolchildren
---
Begin stories:
---
Anarchists ask for accuracy

Not all anarchists fit the stereotype, and many have an
alternative approach to the controversial philosophy

By Sarah Thompson
Oregon Daily Emerald
September 18, 2000

Angry young protesters clad in black. Yelling in the
streets. Breaking windows. Chaos.

Recent mainstream media coverage of events, such as the June
18 protests in Eugene and the World Trade Organization
protest in Seattle, has added to the stereotype of
anarchists as violent trouble-makers. However, the reality
of the anarchist movement in Eugene is quite different than
what the stereotype would lead a person to believe.

"Primarily, I think the media looks for the stereotypical
anarchist to interview," said Audrey Vanderford, a
self-proclaimed anarchist living in Eugene and a University
graduate student in the folklore department. Her focus is on
political pranks, with a specific interest in street
performances at large protests, such as action at the World
Trade Organization situation in Seattle. "Black-clad, young,
white, male, angry, ungrammatical, spewing violent talk. It
fits into the larger message that the mainstream media will
always give, which is anarchist equals terrorist."

While some anarchists do fit the stereotype and do believe
in violent tactics, they definitely do not represent the
majority of the Eugene anarchist community.

Some are young, and some are old. Some dress in black and
have body piercings; some don't. Some have attended the
protests and riots and have interacted with the police, but
many haven't.

The truth is that anarchists are a very diverse group of
people with different beliefs.

Shelley Cater is a 35-year-old anarchist and forest
activist. She is also mother to two children and works on
the crew of Cascadia Alive!, a public-access television show
in Eugene/Springfield produced by anarchists.

"The textbook definition of anarchism, without rule, without
rulers, is something I guess anybody who calls themselves
anarchists would have to hold as a basic tenet," Cater said.
"As far as the finer points about how to bring it about, how
to produce a paradigm that doesn't exist inside the paradigm
of destruction and greed, that's a tougher one. Everybody
has different views about tactics."

Cascadia Alive! is the anarchist media outlet. Cater helps
produce the public access show, which is aired live on cable
channel 97 at 9 p.m. on Wednesday nights.

"Every week we allow other people to have their voices
heard, and we do a very minimal amount of controlling what
goes on the show," Cater said. "Sometimes that results in a
really boring show or a really controversial show or a
really informative show. It just always comes out the way it
comes out."

Vanderford defines anarchism as "the rejection of domination
in all its forms -- sexism, racism, capitalism, homophobia,
nationalism and environmental destruction." She said that
anarchists believe that humans are inherently good and that
they don't need institutions, such as the government, police
and religion to protect them from each other.

"Anarchists believe in 'mutual aid'," she said. "The idea of
building an alternative community that provides and assists
each member in a non-hierarchical, non-exploitative manner."

Mutual aid is, in fact, a large part of what the Eugene
anarchist community is about. However, nobody is sure of
exactly how large that group is.

The number o

[CTRL] Fwd: Names of Participants in Miami "Riot

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Names of Participants in Miami "Riot"

From: Rich Cowan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Here is some information that solves another mystery...

Several of you asked which congressional aides had been
positively ID'ed as having participated in the anti-recount
protest.  Here is a compilation from one of our readers.

 >From: "Matthew Goldsmith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
 >Subject: RNC hooligans barnstorm their way -- "DeLay's 'Texas-style'
 >combat":  elegant "democracy" from a former exterminator . . . .
 >Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 19:43:59 -0800
 >
 >1. Tom Pyle, policy analyst, office of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay
 >(R-Tex.).
 >2. Garry Malphrus, majority chief counsel and staff director, House
 >Judiciary subcommittee on criminal justice.
 >3. Rory Cooper, political division staff member at the National Republican
 >Congressional Committee.
 >4. Kevin Smith, former House Republican conference analyst and more recently
 >of Voter.com.
 >5. Steven Brophy, former aide to Sen. Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.), now
 >working at the consulting firm KPMG.
 >6. Matt Schlapp, former chief of staff for Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), now on
 >the Bush campaign staff in Austin.
 >7. Roger Morse, aide to Rep. Van Hilleary (R-Tenn.).
 >8. Duane Gibson, aide to Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) of the House
 >Resources Committee.
 >9. Chuck Royal, legislative assistant to Rep. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).
 >10. Layna McConkey, former legislative assistant to former Rep. Jim Ross
 >Lightfoot (R-Iowa), now at Steelman Health Strategies.
 >
 >http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20070-2000Dec3.html
 >
 >http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30170-2000Dec5.html
 >
 >http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35088-2000Dec6.html
 >
 >http://www.time.com/time/magazine/articles/0,3266,89544,00.html

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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.

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http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
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[CTRL] RadTimes # 128

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 128 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"The only limit to the oppression of government is the power
with which people show themselves capable of opposing it."
--Errico Malatesta, 'Il Programma Anarchico'
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--The Body As a Weapon for Civil Disobedience
--Will of the People? Consent of the Governed?  Rule of Law?
--Charges against 46 RNC protesters are upheld
--Gates loses faith in computers
--Graphic Witness: visual arts and social commentary
--Doctor's Group Opposes Vaccine Mandates
Linked stories:
*Teargas greets EU summit leaders
*U.S. Leads World in Weapons Exports
*International Drugs Raid Called Successful
*Cases against GOP convention protesters falling apart
*Military personnel warned on politics
*Lie Test: Bush 57, Gore 23
*Domestic Violence - No End In Sight
---
Begin stories:
---
The Body As a Weapon for Civil Disobedience

Originally published in Spanish by La Jornada
Sunday, October 15, 2000.

by *Jesús Ramírez Cuevas*

. ..The Tutte Bianche (white monkeys) went to Prague in order to
participate in the protests against the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the World Bank.  Hundreds of young Italian activists from the Social
Centers and from the Ya Basta Association, parliamentarians and even
religious persons, carried out ingenious civil disobedience tactics in the
face of the Czech police, who threw gas at them and beat them with their
billy clubs.

The political imagination and clothing - or lack thereof - of these
globalphobes caught the attention of journalists and surprised demonstrators
from other countries who were accompanying them...

Two forces found themselves body to body on the Nusle bridge in Prague,
each of them defending an idea of a different world.  On one side, a
contingent of men and women dressed in white suits, protected with foam
rubber, helmets, gas masks, shields made from garbage cans and an entire
repertoire of the most incredible instruments, from nets of colored
balloons to barriers of tires.  On the other side, a fence of police in
Robocop uniforms, protected by tanks, tear gas launchers, shields and
truncheons.  An impassable wall blocking their way.

The police were there in order to protect representatives of the
planet's financial and economic powers.  The demonstrators were questioning
globalization in the name of millions of persons who are suffering its
consequences:  hunger, poverty and death.  In the middle of the two forces,
a nude young men passed by, his body tattooed with denuncias against savage
capitalism, in between each confrontation.

In the midst of the battle, Don Vitaliano, a parish priest from
Avellino, was helping the demonstrators in their attempts to break the
circle which was protecting the thousands of IMF and World Bank delegates.
"With our bodies, with what we are, we came to defend the rights of
millions, dignity and justice.  Even with our lives.  In the face of the
total control of the world which the owners of money are exercising, we have
only our bodies for protesting and rebelling against injustice," he said.

Luca, spokesperson for the Tutte Bianche, said to the journalists who
had come to Prague:  "We are not armed, we are acting as citizens, putting
our persons at risk, in order to demonstrate that the democracy of the IMF
and the World Bank is tanks and armed police.  We are not criminals, they
are suppressing citizens exercising their rights.  We want to show that it
is possible to rebel against the order using our bodies as weapons."

If, as Foucault wrote, the body is the object of the power's micro- physics,
if all social and political control exercises its mastery of the body, if
the market economy has converted the body into merchandise, the 'white
monkeys' have called for a "rebellion of bodies" against world power,
reflects Sergio Zulián, one of the organizers.

In the midst of the transformations produced by globalization and
technological changes, in the face of the crisis of alternatives to the
reigning model, in response to the weakening of the State, traditional
parties and the ways of doing classic politicsthe 'white monkeys' have
appeared, who call themselves Italian zapatistas.  This movement is made
up of old autonomous activists (tied to Toni Negri), members

[CTRL] The Election That Refused to Die

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

The Election That Refused to Die
BY MICHAEL VENTURA

December 8, 2000

Since Election Day developments here and abroad have both raised the stakes
and highlighted what the stakes really are:

*On November 28, the Supreme Court declared that the city of
Indianapolis violated the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against
unreasonable searches -- that is, searches not based on reasonable suspicion
of "individual wrongdoing." Indianapolis had set up "drug-interdiction
checkpoints," randomly stopping cars so that police dogs could sniff for
drugs; the ACLU challenged their right to do this. The case was being
watched avidly by police departments around the nation in the hopes that
they, too, could set up such generalized warrantless searches. Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor, by no stretch a liberal alarmist, wrote the majority
opinion that struck down the Indianapolis practice: "Without drawing the
line [at such searches] ... the Fourth Amendment would do little to prevent
such intrusions from becoming a routine part of American life." The decision
was 6-3. The dissenting judges were Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and
Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas -- often cited by George W. Bush
as his favorites. If two more such appointees had been on the Court (as they
are likely to be in a W. administration), this kind of police intrusion
would have become, in O'Connor's words, "routine" in America. This ain't kid
stuff. This is your right to due process. (Knowing this, would you still
vote for Nader?)

*Venezuela has become one of our major oil suppliers. Its president,
Hugo Chavez, has assumed nearly total power and has forged and/or
strengthened ties with Cuba, Libya, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. As he's
done this, by some strange coincidence the Clinton Administration has
decided to send massive "drug-fighting" military aid to neighboring
Colombia, giving us a military presence on Venezuela's border. In the last
week, Colombia recalled its Venezuelan envoy because a spokeswoman for a
left-wing guerrilla group was invited to speak to the Venezuelan Congress.
Venezuela then recalled its envoy from Colombia, as President Chavez called
the Colombian government "a rancid oligarchy that does not understand
peace." Recently, Venezuela protested an American warship's intrusion into
its waters, allegedly chasing drug smugglers. All the ingredients of
conflict are in place. And W. is naming all the Gulf War's architects to his
cabinet; one of that war's chief strategists, Dick Cheney, would be W.'s
vice-president. Good morning, Vietnam.

*India's (dubious?) peace overtures regarding the disputed province of
Kashmir on the India-Pakistan border were rejected on the day of the
Venezuelan-Colombian flap. Pakistan sides with Kashmir. China sides with
Pakistan. India and Pakistan are now, through the inattention of both the
Bush Sr. and Clinton administrations, nuclear powers, albeit without the
technology for efficient safeguards. This is the black hole of American
foreign policy. Can a severely weakened presidency deal with it?

*Also in India: On November 20, tens of thousands of workers rioted in
New Delhi, protesting a court order to close down roughly 90,000 small
factories that employ a million people. New Delhi is one of the most nastily
polluted cities in the world, and the courts were acting against the worst
polluters. This situation highlights the most important environmental
question outside our borders, an issue the affluent Nader/Green purists all
but ignore: How do we stop pollution and planet rape in the Third World,
when many millions of subsistence-level workers side with the polluters --
especially when Third World governments are unable to enforce environmental
regulations in the face of workers willing to riot for their jobs? It is
unlikely that the industrialized West would donate or even loan the hundreds
of billions of dollars necessary to create alternatives for both the
industries and the workers; and, even if they did, in oligarchical countries
without much effective law, it is unlikely that such money would be used as
we'd wish. Can such a massive dilemma be dealt with at all, even if the West
had the will and the resources? Not with a stale-mated U.S. Congress and a
beleaguered presidency, and not with a president like George W., who is
still skeptical about the seriousness of global warming.

*Also on November 20: The European Union, with the support of both
American-leaning England and America-wary France, agreed to establish a
military force of 60,000 that would act independently of NATO -- i.e.,
independently of any American influence or chain of command, since the U.S.
dominates NATO. "One of the most sensitive issues," The New York Times
reported, "is the relationship with the incoming administration in
Washington." The Clinton-Gore administration has been cautiously sympathetic
to this move for European independence, proceeding gingerly and relying o

[CTRL] Drinking Like A Revolutionary

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

http://www.spectator.org/opinion/robinson/robinson.htm

Posted 11/28/00

Drinking Like A Revolutionary
by Matthew Robinson

The History Channel has launched a special on the Founding Fathers. Their
advertisements aren't exactly promising. Ben Franklin is presented as a
"skirt-chaser." James Madison a "nerd" like Bill Gates. John Adams is billed
as a candidate for "Prozac."

True, the Founding Fathers weren't demigods devoid of human foibles. But
most American liberals attack the founders out of a sense of superiority,
searching for ways to vanquish heroes. In this way, they believe they can
hew down the men and ignore the Whig ideas that naturally war with their own
New Deal trust in government and distrust of freedom.

But in one area the founding generation was undeniably tougher, bigger, and
superior: in their ability to drink.

Historian Joyce Appleby estimates that the average American of the Founders
generation drank eight ounces of alcohol a day. Everything from small beers
and ciders with breakfast; rum and wine with dinner; clarets and Madeiras
after dinner; and punches with dances.

And the beverages of this period were not the chic, sissy,
I-don't-like-the-taste-of-alcohol-type drinks that are popular today. No,
the punches of the period were staggering (click here for some examples
http://www.spectator.org/opinion/robinson/drinks.htm ). The kind of
concoction that would hit the spot, rub it out, and then take the paint off
the walls.

It's no wonder their Whig political ideals were so resolute and
far-reaching -- a one-night bender with these 18th century heroes would
likely kill the effete, Volvo driving, wine-spritzer drinking New Englander
of today. In the company of men who loved to read and hear speeches,
drinking and ideas were explored in deep and varied ways.

"Demon rum" was the most enjoyed (and the most lamented) drink of the time.
It was the largest manufactured product north of the Pennsylvania. In fact,
British controls on money made rum a currency used to pay for goods. Rum
became the smuggler's contraband of choice and the instigator of America's
hatred for taxes and love for freedom.

High-seas daring and creative bribes reduced British trade regulation to
nothing. British efforts to get a piece of this action with unlawful
sea-courts, fines, and the elimination of trial by jury helped ignite the
Molotov cocktail of revolution.

Though the early Americans loved to drink, they didn't just lay around the
house boozing it up.

Taverns became the hothouse incubator of Whig ideas and plans for American
resistance. After the Stamp Act, the defiant Virginians, Richard Henry Lee,
George Mason, George Washington, Edmund Pendleton, Peyton Randolph and
Thomas Jefferson would meet repeatedly at the Raleigh Tavern in the capitol
of Williamsburg. There they hatched up such plans as for the Committees of
Correspondence and the non-importation of British goods.

A backroom of the Green Dragon Tavern became the headquarters of the Sons of
Liberty in Boston. There, the revolutionaries, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere,
and John Hancock, James Otis and others orchestrated Massachusetts'
resistance against Parliament's infringements.

Taverns helped foment the revolutionary spirit.

Simply put, alcohol and unjust, plodding, intrusive government didn't mix.
With just enough of life's hard edge removed, the American Whigs, as they
called themselves, counted the blessings of America and soon realized what
their hard work had earned.

Britain's help was mostly incidental in their eyes. So with a little drink,
their conversations were raucous and gritty, but also simple and incisive
about what the superpower of England was up to and what it would cost them.

John Adams wrote of a stop in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts a town 40 miles from
Boston. As he sat in glowing candle light, enjoying a drink after a muddy
and wet ride, he recorded what men talked about when they sat down to drink.

There presently came in, one after another, half a dozen, or half a score of
substantial yeomen, who, sitting down to the fire after lighting their pipes
began a lively conversations on politics. As I believed I was unknown to all
of them, I sat in total silence to hear them. One said, "The people of
Boston are distracted." Another answered, "No wonder the people of Boston
are distracted. Oppression will make wise men mad." The third said, "What
would you say if a fellow should come to your house and tell you he was come
to take a list of your cattle, that Parliament might tax you for them at so
much a head? And how should you feel if he was to go and break open your
barn or take down your oxen, cows, horses, and sheep?" "What should I say?"
replied the first, "I would knock him in the head." "Well," said a fourth,
"If Parliament can take away Mr. Hancock's wharf and Mr. Rowe's wharf, they
can take away your barn and any house." After much more reasoning in this
style, a fifth, who had as yet been silent, broke o

[CTRL] Stolen Elections

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

 >Stolen Elections
 >The Florida Legislature Wants to Name the Next President. Here's Why
 >It's Illegal.
 >
 >By John K. Wilson
 >
 >If Tom Feeney has his way, he'll get to decide the next President of
 >the United States. As the Speaker of the Florida House of
 >Representatives, Feeney is making a unique claim: that the Florida
 >legislature has the power to overrule the courts and the popular vote,
 >and appoint its own slate of electors. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who
 >knows that the Republican-controlled legislature would elect his
 >brother, has endorsed the idea as "the right thing to do."
 >
 >There's only one problem with Feeney's plan: it's blatantly illegal.
 >Both Federal law and Florida law explicitly prohibit the legislature
 >from declaring the next president.
 >
 >On Dec. 8, the Florida House and Senate made history by becoming the
 >first state legislature ever to meet for the purpose of overturning
 >the people's vote in a presidential election. The Florida legislature
 >plans to declare George W. Bush the winner on Dec. 13, and even if
 >court rulings make this unnecessary, the precedent of legislators
 >illegally overruling a popular vote is a serious threat to democracy.
 >
 >Feeney hired conservative Harvard law professors Charles Fried and
 >Einer Elhauge, along with attorney Roger Magnuson, to argue this
 >notion before a Republican-controlled joint legislative committee that
 >issued a report Nov. 28 endorsing the idea. The lawyers also filed an
 >amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court
 >cases, asking the Court to endorse their dubious belief in legislative
 >supremacy.
 >
 >Feeney's lawyers argue that the Florida legislature has "an
 >affirmative constitutional duty to appoint Presidential Electors
 >before December 18 to assure Florida is represented in the Electoral
 >College." Feeney's lawyers relied upon shaky justifications for their
 >proposal to allow legislative nullification of a presidential
 >election. The lawyers' brief cited McPherson v. Blacker, an 1892
 >Supreme Court case which declared that appointing electors is "placed
 >absolutely and wholly with the legislatures of the several states."
 >Unfortunately for Feeney, though, the Florida legislature used its
 >absolute authority to give Florida courts the final power to determine
 >the winner of a contested election.
 >
 >Florida's state law directly contradicts the idea that the
 >legislature rather than the judiciary can determine the final outcome.
 >Section 102.168 (8) of Florida law declares about a contested
 >election, "The circuit judge to whom the contest is presented may
 >fashion such orders as he or she deems necessary to ensure that each
 >allegation in the complaint is investigated, examined, or checked, to
 >prevent or correct any alleged wrong, and to provide any relief
 >appropriate under such circumstances."
 >
 >Nothing could be clearer: the courts, not the legislators, have the
 >power under Florida law to make a final determination. Because the
 >Florida Supreme Court has the authority to overrule a circuit court in
 >accordance with Florida law, the judiciary is the ultimate arbiter.
 >
 >Just to be perfectly clear, Florida statutes explicitly declare that
 >there is only one exception to this rule, under 102.171, "to hear any
 >contest of the election of a member to either house of the
 >Legislature." For the presidential electors, the legislature is
 >utterly powerless to intervene under its own laws.
 >
 >Of course, the Florida legislature does have the power to change the
 >rules. In fact, under the U.S. Constitution, the Florida legislature
 >can eliminate elections and simply appoint the presidential electors
 >directly. However, Federal law 3 U.S.C. 1, under Section 5, explicitly
 >outlaws changing the election system after the vote in order to affect
 >the outcome. If the Florida legislature tried to appoint electors in
 >place of election procedures, there would an immediate legal basis for
 >having these electors thrown out because of the violation of Federal
 >law.
 >
 >Feeney's lawyers argue, "If a State's election 'has failed to make a
 >choice' that is timely and conforms with pre-existing law, then 3
 >U.S.C. Sect. 2 recognizes that appointment of Electors by the State
 >Legislature is proper." A superficial reading by someone unfamiliar
 >with legal language might lead to this misreading of Section 2, which
 >states: "Whenever any State has held an election for the purpose of
 >choosing electors, and has failed to make a choice on the day
 >prescribed by law, the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day
 >in such a manner as the legislature of such State may direct."
 >
 >However, this provision exists not to allow state legislators to
 >overturn a contested election, but to provide an option in case of a
 >tie. Because federal law normally bans any election held after the
 >designated election day, this provision is necessary to al

[CTRL] Fwd: Election: Parody News Release

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Forwarded message:

>Election: Parody News Releasee
>
>Saturday at 1 pm, the local Republican Party gathered at the State
>Capitol to condemn the messy and uncertain process of counting
>votes. The keynote speaker was Chad Worthlessness, PhD, of the
>Institute for Fuzzy Math.
>
>"How do we really know anything?" he asked. "Certainly, two was larger
>than one the last time we checked, but how can we be sure that will be
>the case the next time?
>
>"Heisenbergs Uncertainty Principle demonstrates that the more we know
>about one thing, the less we know about another, and therefore
>counting votes introduces an unnecessary element of uncertainty into
>the outcome of an election. Don't get me wrong, I am not against
>voting, I simply realize that it is an unforgivable mistake to
>actually count more than a few of those votes.
>
>" Since it has been scietifically demonstrated in our laboratories,
>using very expensive equipment with names you could never pronounce,
>that the only thing that can actually be counted with any accusracy is
>money, we at the Institute for Fuzzy Math reccomend that a more
>accurate method of determining the winner of any election would be to
>add up the campaign spending of each candidate, and declare the
>Republican the winner."
>
>He was followed by Adam Dumkopf of the Pomeranian Innumerati, a secret
>society formed in the 19th century for the purpose of steering history
>down as many blind alleys as possible.
>
>To the cheers of the small crowd, Dumkopf said, "What is this counting
>stuff anyway? Why can't people simply follow orders the way they are
>supposed to?"
>
>Hawaii Republican Party Chair Linda Lingle then gave a speech pointing
>out that the governorship of Hawaii had been stolen from her by the
>same barbaric practice of counting votes that was now being proposed
>by Vice President Gore in Florida.
>
>"Without this inconvenient and unfair practice of counting," Lingle
>said, "I would be Maximum Supreme Leader of the Hawaiian Reich
>today. It is unfair that our strength should be restrained by the will
>of the weak and decent. We must destroy them!"
>
>Dale Gardiner of the Voting Integrity Project then spoke, warning, "We
>know who you are and how you voted. Do not expect to escape the wrath
>of God!"
>
>With only a couple of minutes of prompting, the crowd broke into a
>spontaneous chant of "We can't count, why should you?"  and chased a
>couple of hapless democracy advocates from the Capitol grounds.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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
 http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
 http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl

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

[CTRL] RadTimes # 129

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 129 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"If you give me a fish you have fed me for a day. If you teach me to fish
then you have fed me until the river is contaminated and the shoreline is
seized for development. But if you teach me to organize, then whatever the
challenge, I can join together with my peers and we will fashion our own
solution."
--unattributed
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Nobody Wins
--The Election That Refused to Die
--Florida Official Admits Helping GOP
--Santa-suited protesters pepper-spray store
--Riviera runs red as activists gather
--Human Rights Radio Shut Down For Second Time in Two Months
Linked stories:
*Clinton Says Marijuana Users Don't Deserve Jail
*Violent Protests Mar Start of Key EU Summit Talks
*Revenge of the Democratic governors?
*Wasted labor
*Newsmax Knows Its Audience
*European Officials Discover Deadly Cell-Phone Guns
*Music Industry Hails EU Crackdown On Piracy
*How Dissent is Framed as Terrorism
---
Begin stories:
---
Nobody Wins



by Len Bracken <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

When we launched the Campaign for Nobody last year, we knew nobody
would legalize revolution. What's more, nobody hasn't merely canceled
all debt or established the ten-hour workweek or any of our other
particular demands, like destruction of the prison-industrial
complex. It appears that nobody has actually won the general
election. And not just in the sense that abstaining is voting for
nobody, although more people abstained than voted for any candidate.
Nobody wins because the ballot system failed like it does more than
anyone will admit

   We know that the Florida electoral system failed in Miami a few
years ago when a mayoral election was overturned due to what is now
the commonplace euphemism discount store democracies borrow from the
apparel industry, namely, irregularities. Is the tainted mayor still
involved in Republican politics? Does he now specialize in absentee
ballots? Or are these unfounded rumors? In any case, voter
intimidation against Blacks and Hispanics, so-called glitches that
reveal uncounted or miscounted votes and the notorious butterfly
ballot in Palm Beach County make the stitches holding the 2000
election together so irregular that nobody is the only one who can
wear it.

   Some of us read the Collier Brother's 1992 Votescam and want to
know more about News Election Service and its sister Voter Research
and Survey (VRS), which is the official exit pollster known for
calling elections before polls close. Does VRS do the exit polling it
claims it does, and if not, would that be irregular? If it did, we
would have heard about these on-the-spot polls during the primaries,
wouldn't we?

   Among other things, the Collier brothers claimed that CIA-
connected John Lasseville was known for correctly announcing the
exact vote totals on Miami-based Spanish International Network-TV at
dawn on election day. How could he do it - and someone should check
if he did - were the results not rigged?

   The Collier brothers' most serious charges were leveled against
Janet Reno when she was State Attorney General - despite her
admission that crimes had occurred, she refused to clean out election
departments in Florida. According to the brothers, Reno failed to
investigate canvass sheet forgeries and fraud, fake ballots printed
by a mayoral candidate and other irregularities, even video evidence
showing electronic counters not running during the height of the
election.

   The current election fiasco is one of the delayed consequences
that Ted Koppel and Nina Totenberg, to mention two reporters among
many, never considered when they dismissed the Collier brothers'
pleas for journalists to expose the truth and investigate more
irregularities in Florida's voting process. Journalists reserve their
story expectations for big shots, and the times being what they are,
who can blame them?

   We certainly didn't expect nobody to go so far, so fast - not
in spring 1999 when Andrew Smith, Carla Platter and I launched the
Campaign for Nobody in Baltimore's Inner Harbor as part of the
kinetic sculpture race; nor when Conan O'Brien mentioned us in his
monologue in reference to our campaign activity last s

[CTRL] TurbulentTimes # 1

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

TurbulentTimes # 1 December, 2000

A weekly compendium of direct action news.

--A RadTimes production--
---
"The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it."
--Abbie Hoffman
---
How to assist TurbulentTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
Linked stories:
*Santa-suited protesters pepper-spray store
*Left-wing protesters clash with neo-Nazi marchers
*Protesters who scaled L.A. hotel sentenced
*Many charges dismissed from GOP convention
*Protest ends with activists' arrests
*Nice lays on police to greet protesters
*U. Toledo students protest sweatshops during demonstration
*Three WTO demonstrators charged with felonies
*Violent clashes at EU summit
*Protesters disrupt hearing
*Student groups protest Philip Morris recruiting at Rutgers
*Chernobyl victims demand justice
*Protesters enter site of Bhopal disaster
*Carbondale activists protest labor conditions
*Mock Christmas pageant held at Harvard to criticize labor practices
---
Begin stories:
---

Santa-suited protesters pepper-spray store

Four people in Santa costumes released pepper spray and
spray-painted racks of clothing at a department store Saturday during
a protest of working conditions for Nicaraguan garment workers.


Left-wing protesters clash with neo-Nazi marchers


Left-wing activists protesting hate and racism clashed with
police yesterday during a demonstration of 25,000 people against
a much smaller neo-Nazi march nearby.


Protesters who scaled L.A. hotel sentenced


Three activists who scaled a 15-story hotel to hang a 1,500-square-foot
protest banner during this summer's Democratic National Convention
pleaded no contest Friday to misdemeanor trespassing.


Many charges dismissed from GOP convention


One after another, the city of Philadelphia's criminal cases have
been collapsing against many of the 391 people arrested last August
as they gathered for protests and civil disobedience outside the
Republican National Convention.


Protest ends with activists' arrests

A two-day City Hall standoff between protesters and city officials ended
last night with authorities arresting nine homeless activists while dozens
of homeless people sang, chanted and cried.


Nice lays on police to greet protesters

The Mayor of Nice, Jacques Peyrat, was not taking any chances
yesterday: between the gendarmes, the riot police, anti-terrorist units and
undercover intelligence, he had 6000 officers on hand.


U. Toledo students protest sweatshops during demonstration

University of Toledo students are taking a stand against area
companies carrying clothing manufactured by sweatshop workers.


Three WTO demonstrators charged with felonies

Three men have been charged with felony assault on police
for their part in demonstrations marking the one-year anniversary of the
melee that surrounded the 1999 World Trade Organization conference.


Violent clashes at EU summit

More than 20 people have been injured in clashes between police and
protesters outside the venue of a crucial European Union summit in Nice.


Protesters disrupt hearing


Deputy U.S. marshals and court security officers yesterday removed about 50
demonstrato

[CTRL] Fwd: Prison vs Work

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

- Original Message -
Subject: Prison vs Work

Prison vs. Work

Just in case you ever got the two mixed up,
this should make things a bit more clear...

IN PRISON... you spend the majority of your time in an 8X10 cell;
AT WORK... you spend the majority of your time in a 6X8 cubicle.

  IN PRISON... you get three meals a day;
AT WORK... you only get a break for one meal
and you have to pay for it.

  IN PRISON... you get time off for good behavior;
AT WORK...you get rewarded for good behavior with more work.

  IN PRISON... the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you;
AT WORK... you must carry around a security card
and open all the doors for yourself.

  IN PRISON... you can watch TV and play games;
AT WORK... you get fired for watching TV and playing games.

  IN PRISON... you get your own toilet;
AT WORK... you have to share

  IN PRISON... they allow your family and friends to visit;
AT WORK... you can't even speak to your family.

  IN PRISON... all expenses are paid by the tax-payers with no work required;
AT WORK... you get to pay all the expenses to go to work
and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.


IN PRISON... you spend most of your life looking
through bars from inside wanting to get out.
AT WORK... you spend most of your time wanting
to get out and go inside bars.


IN PRISON... there are wardens.
AT WORK...they are called managers.

But cheer up, because
IN PRISON... you have to stay all the time.
AT WORK...you get to go home sometimes.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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
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[CTRL] Fwd: Rehnquist Got Partisan Start Suppressing Black Vote

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>Just Our Bill
>by Dennis Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
>Saturday, December 02, 2000
>
>Lito Pena is sure of his memory. Thirty-six years ago he, then a
>Democratic Party poll watcher, got into a shoving match with a Republican
>who had spent the opening hours of the 1964 election doing his damnedest to
>keep people from voting in south Phoenix.
>
>"He was holding up minority voters because he knew they were going to
>vote Democratic," said Pena.
>
>The guy called himself Bill. He knew the law and applied it with the
>precision of a swordsman. He sat at the table at the Bethune School, a
>polling place brimming with black citizens, and quizzed voters ad nauseam
>about where they were from, how long they'd lived there -- every question in
>the book. A passage of the Constitution was read and people who spoke broken
>English were ordered to interpret it to prove they had the language skills
>to vote.
>
>By the time Pena arrived at Bethune, he said, the line to vote was four
>abreast and a block long. People were giving up and going home.
>
>Pena told the guy to leave. They got into an argument. Shoving followed.
>Arizona politics can be raw.
>
>Finally, Pena said, the guy raised a fist as if he was fixing to throw a
>punch.
>
>"I said 'If that's what you want, I'll get someone to take you out of
>here'."
>
>Party leaders told him not to get physical, but this was the second straight
>election in which Republicans had sent out people to intellectually rough up
>the voters. The project even had a name: Operation Eagle Eye.
>
>Pena had a group of 20 iron workers holed up in a motel nearby. He
>dispatched one who grabbed Bill and hustled him out of the school.
>
>"He was pushing him across a yard and backed him into the school building,"
>Pena remembered.
>
>Others in Phoenix remember Operation Eagle Eye, too.
>
>Charlie Stevens, then the head of the local Young Republicans, said he got
>a phone call from the same lawyer Pena remembered throwing out of
>Bethune School. The guy wanted to know why Charlie hadn't joined Operation
>Eagle Eye.
>
>"I think they called them flying squads," Stevens said. "It was perfectly
>legal. The law at the time was that you had to be able to read English
>and interpret what you read."
>
>But he didn't like the idea and he told Bill this.
>
>"My parents were immigrants," Stevens said. They'd settled in Cleveland,
>Ohio, a pair of Greeks driven out of Turkey who arrived in the United States
>with broken English and a desire to be American. After their son went to law
>school and settled in Phoenix, he even Americanized the name.  Charlie
>Tsoukalas became Charlie Stevens.
>
>"I didn't think it was proper to challenge my dad or my mother to interpret
>the Constitution," Stevens said. "Even people who are born here have trouble
>interpreting the Constitution. Lawyers have trouble interpreting it."
>
>The guy told Stevens that if he felt that way about it, then he could take a
>pass.
>
>There was nothing illegal going on there, Stevens said.
>
>"It just violated my principles. I had a poor family. I grew up in the
>projects in Cleveland, Ohio."
>
>Operation Eagle Eye had a two-year run. Eventually, Arizona changed the laws
>that had allowed the kind of challenges that had devolved into bullying.
>
>Pena went on to serve 30 years in the Arizona State Legislature. Stevens
>became a prosperous and well-regarded lawyer in Phoenix and helped Sandra
>Day O'Connor get her start in law.
>
>The guy Pena remembers tossing out of Bethune School prospered, too.  Bill
>Rehnquist, now better known as William H. Rehnquist, chief justice of the
>Supreme Court of the United States, presided yesterday over a case that
>centers on whether every vote for president was properly recorded in the
>state of Florida.
>
>In his confirmation hearings for the court in 1971, Rehnquist denied
>personally intimidating voters and gave the explanation that he might
>have been called to polling places on Election Day to arbitrate disputes
>over
>voter qualifications. Fifteen years later, three more witnesses, including
>a deputy U.S. attorney, told of being called to polling places and having
>angry voters point to Rehnquist as their tormentor. His defenders suggested
>it was a case of mistaken identity.
>
>Now, with the presidency in the balance, Rehnquist has been asked to read
>passages of the Constitution and interpret them. Once again, a reading and
>interpretation will determine whose vote gets to count.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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 

[CTRL] The Secrecy Police Will Be Back Soon

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Sunday, December 10, 2000

The Secrecy Police Will Be Back Soon

http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/20001210/t000118099.html

By DAVID WISE

  WASHINGTON--President Bill Clinton will be remembered for many things,
not all of them wonderful, but not the least of his legacy is that in the
waning days of his presidency, he preserved the 1st Amendment by vetoing a
bill that would have created a British-style Official Secrets Act in
America. Yet, supporters of the bill are bound to try again in the new
Congress.
  While the nation was focused on the presidential election in the weeks
before the bitter legal battle in Florida, a CIA-sponsored bill was slipped
through Congress, with no public hearings, that would have handed to the
executive branch the equivalent of the "crown privilege" that restricts
press freedom in Britain. The measure was sponsored by Sen. Richard C.
Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep.
Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.) chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and the
only acknowledged former CIA clandestine officer in Congress. It was
introduced at the behest of CIA director George J. Tenet, who strongly
supported it.
  The bill would have created criminal penalties for government officials
who leak "classified information" to reporters. Violators could be
prosecuted and sent to prison for three years, fined $10,000, or both.
  To the uninitiated, the language might sound reasonable, since the law
would apply only to the release of "properly classified" information. But
the measure would have had a chilling effect on the flow of vital
information to the public. To gather the news, reporters depend on easy
access to government officials; there are dozens of such interviews,
backgrounders and press briefings every day in Washington. But officials in
the State Department, the CIA, the Pentagon and other agencies would surely
hesitate to talk to the news media if a slip of the tongue might mean one to
three years at Lompoc, Calif.--if they were lucky--or the maximum-security
pen at Marion, Ill.--if they were not.
  A secrets law would inevitably lead to search warrants, subpoenas and
wiretaps of the press as government gumshoes tried to ferret out the source
of news leaks. Officials have been frustrated for years by unauthorized
leaks. President Richard M. Nixon resigned in 1974 because the "plumbers"
unit he secretly created to plug news leaks broke into Democratic Party
headquarters in the Watergate.
  The government's civilian classification system did not exist until
Sept. 24, 1951, when President Harry S. Truman issued the first executive
order to create it. Subsequent presidents have issued similar executive
orders; the current order was promulgated by Clinton in 1995.
  The president's executive order is not a law. It does not apply to
anyone other than government employees or contractors. The president can
issue an executive order declaring Smokey the Bear the official symbol of
the Forest Service, but that does not affect citizens outside government.
Ordinary Americans are free to regard Smokey as a fine bear, an important
symbol to remind us to put out campfires, or they are free to think that
Smokey is a rogue bear who ate a forest ranger to get that funny hat.
  The point is, presidents don't make laws. Stamping a document "secret"
or with some other important-sounding designation, which bureaucrats in
Washington do, on average, 22,000 times every day, does not make it a law.
  According to Steven Garfinkel, the government official who keeps track
of such matters as head of the Information Security Oversight Office, there
were 8,038,592 secrets classified last year, a 10% increase over the
previous year. Almost half the secrets were classified by the CIA.
  Imagine a government official having lunch with a reporter and
discussing, for example, the delayed decision on whether to build a national
missile defense system. The failure of the "kill" vehicle to destroy
missiles in previous tests has been widely reported. The official, however,
if the secrecy bill should become law, would have no way of knowing whether
that fact was one of those 8 million classified secrets. He might prefer to
talk about his daughter's soccer team. As it is, far too many documents are
classified by the wielders of secrecy stamps. During World War II, the Army
classified the bow and arrow as a "silent flashless weapon." Some officials
know that unless they take a rubber stamp from their desk drawer and mark a
piece of paper "secret," their boss may not bother to look at it.
  Even government press briefers were appalled at Congress' handiwork.
Kenneth H. Bacon, assistant defense secretary for public affairs, warned
that if the "anti-leak" provision became law, he might have a problem, since
he sometimes answers questions with classified information. Bacon's warning
provided ammunition for Clinton, who said in his vet

[CTRL] CIA warns US faces biggest threat since World War II

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

CIA warns US faces biggest threat since World War II

http://www.dawn.com/2000/12/09/int1.htm

LOS ANGELES, Dec 8: The 'wild card' of technology - from nuclear
proliferation to the information revolution - has left US interests more
susceptible to terrorist attack than at any time since the end of World War
Two, CIA Director George Tenet said on Thursday.

Tenet said America's technical superiority in intelligence gathering was
under threat from such rapid advances, while the "evil mix of fanaticism and
flexibility" behind the October attack on the USS Cole made the next strike
"not a question of if, but of when and where."

Tenet, addressing a Los Angeles luncheon in a rare public speech, declined
to talk in detail about the Oct. 12 apparent suicide bombing of the Cole in
Yemen.

But he said the attack was a grim reminder of the "terrorist foe without
heart or pity" that threatened US interests around the world on a daily
basis.

"We are in an environment where we are literally inundated with threats and
warnings all the time," Tenet said in response to a question about the Cole.

"Making sense of disparate threats is sometimes very difficult to do in the
time available. We have deterred a great number of terrorist events. But you
will not bat 100 (percent) with these people."

US officials have said Saudi Arabian exile Osama bin Laden is considered a
prime suspect in the planning of the Cole attack but they have not
established a definitive link.

Seventeen American sailors were killed when a small boat filled with
explosives blew up alongside the USS Cole in the port of Aden in Yemen.

Tenet said the destabilizing effects of ethnic conflicts, easy access to
information such as satellite imagery, and the proliferation of nuclear
weapon technology made for a world without front lines.

"We in the intelligence community believe the chances for unpleasant - even
deadly - surprise are greater now than at any time since the end of the
Second World War," Tenet said.

The CIA chief called rapid advances in technology the "wild card" in the
volatile equation surrounding the military, commercial and diplomatic
dominance of the United States since the end of the Cold War.

"I will be blunt with you: the pace of technological change threatens to
erode America's technical advantage in intelligence - an advantage that has
long been a pillar of our national security," Tenet said.

He said the CIA was pushing for investments in technology and in people to
ensure that the United States does not fall "totally behind the curve."

Despite issues ranging from drug trafficking and cyber warfare to
humanitarian crises which he said had stretched the capabilities of US
intelligence to their limit, Tenet said the CIA had a long list of
accomplishments.

- More than two dozen terrorists - more than half of them linked to Osama
bin Laden - brought to justice around the world since July 1998.

- Support of US government efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

- Zero US casualties in daily American air patrols of the no-fly zone in
Iraq in the past 10 years.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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
 http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
 http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl

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SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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[CTRL] Fwd: A 'Modern' Democracy That Can't Count Votes (LA Times)

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>---
>http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/decision2000/lat_vote001211.htm
>
>  Monday, December 11, 2000
>
>   A 'Modern' Democracy That Can't Count Votes
>
>   Special Report:  What happened in Florida is
>   the rule and not the exception. A coast-to-coast
>   study by The Times finds a shoddy system that can
>   only be trusted when the election isn't close.
>
>   By Times Staff Writers
>
>   Because ballots can be bought, stolen, miscounted, lost, thrown out
>  or sent to Denmark, nobody knows with any precision how many votes go
>  uncounted in American elections.
>
>   For weeks, Florida has riveted the nation with a mind-numbing array
>  of failures: misleading ballots, contradictory counting standards,
>  discarded votes--19,000 in one county alone. But an examination by The
>  Times in a dozen states from Washington to Texas to New York shows that
>  Florida is not the exception. It is the rule.
>
>   State and local officials give priority to curbing crime, filling
>  potholes and picking up trash. That often leaves elections across the
>  country underfunded, badly managed, ill equipped and poorly staffed.
>  Election workers are temporaries, pay is a pittance, training is brief
>  and voting systems are frequently obsolete.
>
>   "You know why we never paid attention to this until now?" asks Candy
>  Marendt, co-director of the Indiana Elections Division. "I'll tell you:
>  because we don't really want to know. We don't want to know that our
>  democracy isn't really so sacred. . . .
>
>   "It can be very ugly."
>
>   The examination shows:
>
>   * New York City voters use metal lever-action machines so old they
>  are no longer made, each with 27,000 parts. Similar machines in Louisiana
>  are vulnerable to rigging with pliers, a screwdriver, a cigarette lighter
>  and a Q-Tip.
>
>   * In Texas, "vote whores" do favors for people in return for their
>  absentee ballots. Sometimes the canvassers or consultants, as they prefer
>  to be called, simply buy the ballots. Failing all else, they steal them
>  from mailboxes.
>
>   * Alaska has more registered voters than voting-age people. Indiana,
>  which encourages voting with sign-ups by mail and at driver's license
>  bureaus, has jammed its registration lists with hundreds of thousands of
>  people who should not be on them. They include felons, the dead and many
>  who have registered repeatedly.
>
>   * In Oregon, a preliminary survey indicates that more than 36,000 of
>  the state's 1.5 million voters may have mailed in ballots this year that
>  were signed by someone else. Some students in Wisconsin say they voted as
>  many as four times.
>
>   * Louisiana's former election commissioner, Jerry Fowler, pleaded
>  guilty 14 days ago to a kickback scheme with a voting machine dealer.
>  Even when relationships are legal, lines of authority blur. In the state
>  of Washington, dealers program vote counters. In Arizona, they go as far
>  as to help feed in the ballots.
>
>   To many Americans, the right to vote is sacred, a hard-won legacy of
>  the women's suffrage and civil rights movements. Memories of those 20th
>  century struggles remain fresh among voters of the new century. Yet the
>  system that counts their ballots has fallen into disarray and
>  dysfunction.
>
>
>About These Stories
>
>   These stories were reported by Michael Finnegan in New York; Claudia
>  Kolker in Alice, Texas; Judy Pasternak and Alan C. Miller in Washington,
>  D.C.; Stephanie Simon in St. Louis and Baton Rouge, La.; Eric Slater in
>  Indianapolis; Kim Murphy in Seattle; Terril Yue Jones in Milwaukee and
>  Madison, Wis.; Michael Krikorian in Cleveland; Robert J. Lopez in Phoenix
>  and Yuma, Ariz.; Rich Connell in Portland and Salem, Ore.; William C.
>  Rempel in New York and Philadelphia; Mark Arax in Fresno; Julie Cart in
>  Denver; and Steve Berry, Nona Yates and Ray F. Herndon in Los Angeles.
>  They were researched by Jacquelyn Cenacveira, Vicki Gallay, John Jackson,
>  Janet Lundblad and Cary Schneider in Los Angeles, John Beckham in
>  Chicago, Lynn Marshall in Seattle and Sunny Kaplan in Washington. They
>  were written by David Ferrell and Richard E. Meyer in Los Angeles and
>  Judy Pasternak in Washington.
>
>   The voting system is so troubled that the National Bureau of
>  Standards, a federal agency now known as the National Institute of
>  Standards and Technology, said 12 years ago that an election mainstay,
>  prescored punch-card ballots, should be junked--but more than 500
>  counties throughout the nation still use them.
>
>   Federal standards for voting equipment took effect in 1990, but they
>  are not mandatory. A number of states, including Florida, have written
>  some or all of the standards into their own codes. But all existing
>  equipment was excepted,

[CTRL] Surf to a Bush job

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Surf to a Bush job

Want a job with the Bush-Cheney administration, assuming there is a
Bush-Cheney administration, something that remained up in the air as of
this writing?
See  to
fill out an online application and submit it with the click of a mouse. You
just may get lucky. Don't aspire to high-level postings, though, because
those tend to get filled through political-buddy channels.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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
 http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
 http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl

To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
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SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Om

[CTRL] IRS agents trail crooks on mean streets

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

IRS agents trail crooks on mean streets



Tuesday, December 5, 2000

Robert Ruth
Dispatch Staff Reporter

Fourteen Internal Revenue Service investigators in Columbus eschew the
accountant stereotype.
These agents in the Columbus IRS office's criminal investigation division
carry guns and often go
undercover. Like other IRS employees, they have accounting or finance
backgrounds. But unlike
most of their desk- bound colleagues, criminal division agents do much of
their work outside the
office.
Recent investigations have taken them into the mean streets of Columbus
following drug dealers,
into seedy bars looking for crooked tavern owners, into betting parlors
searching for bookmakers and into the halls of government ferreting out
corrupt public officials.
IRS investigators even donned overalls and picked up shovels during the
investigation of a major
central Ohio marijuana smuggler, recalled Ross Brown, spokesman for the
division's Columbus
office.
Shovels were needed in 1994 to dig up the Morrow County yard of Duane Asher
in Mount Gilead. He had buried much of his profits in canisters around his
house.
In July 1994, Asher was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading
guilty to one count each
of money laundering and drug trafficking. He also agreed to forfeit to the
government $386,000
in cash and property he had amassed through his trafficking activities.
After 28 years with the IRS, little surprises Brown, 53. "But it never
entered my mind that one
day I'd be digging for buried treasure," he said. "They don't put that on
the IRS recruiting
posters."
The IRS criminal investigation division offices throughout the country are
in charge of catching not
only tax cheats but also money- launderers. And the money-laundering
assignment means IRS
agents end up looking at crimes involving significant amounts of money,
such as drug trafficking,
embezzlements, arsons and investment frauds.
"We're not much different from other federal law-enforcement agencies,"
said Cromwell Handy,
chief of the division's regional office in Cincinnati. "We make arrests,
fill out search warrants and
conduct surveillances and raids. The only difference is, we're accountants
by nature. We focus
on the money."
IRS investigators often work with other agencies, including the FBI, Drug
Enforcement Administration, Columbus Police Division and the Franklin
County Sheriff's Office.
"We're usually overshadowed by other agencies," Handy acknowledged.
Although the division receives little publicity, the prowess of its
investigators is well known, and
appreciated, within the law- enforcement community.
"They're able to help us find things, like hidden assets, that the average
deputy is not trained to
find," said Franklin County Sheriff Jim Karnes. "Their expertise is needed
on all sorts of
investigations."
U.S. Attorney Sharon J. Zealey, whose office prosecutes IRS cases, is
another fan. "They follow
the money," she said. "They're like bloodhounds."
They also don't mind their low profile, she said.
IRS investigators "don't engage in turf battles. They don't have fragile
egos," Zealey said.
The agents have worked behind the scenes in a number of major cases during
the past five years:
An investigation of corruption in eastern Ohio resulted in guilty pleas
during the past two years
from a Steubenville landfill owner, three environmental regulators, the son
of one of the regulators
and a Statehouse lobbyist. Most of the probe centered on kickbacks paid to
regulators in exchange for landfill dumping permits.
Albert J. DeSantis, a former millionaire developer, was convicted twice in
1996 and 1998 of investment fraud and once in 1999 of bankruptcy fraud.
DeSantis once owned more private property in the Ohio State University area
than anyone else.
Mark Lewis of Gahanna and 10 associates were convicted last year of
operating a multimillion-dollar-a-year bookmaking network that had ties to
Las Vegas and cities in Pennsylvania.
Frank Stavroff, Franz Schwarzbach, Robert Hetzel and Steve Dosky, four
business partners, were convicted in 1997 of skimming cash from Columbus
nightclubs they once owned.
Robert W. Hill, a member of the family that owns Scioto Downs and Hill
Distributors, and 18
associates were convicted in 1995 of operating a ring that smuggled 3 tons
of marijuana, hidden
in vans, to Columbus from Arizona over a five-year period.
The Seawell brothers, Gary, Mark and Duanelined up more than 50 couriers who
smuggled cocaine into Columbus from Mexico in the soles of tennis shoes.
Although most of their
confederates were captured and convicted in 1997 and 1998, the Seawells,
all natives of Belize in Central America, remain fugitives.
Dr. Fred O. Sakamoto of Lewis Center in Delaware County, a periodontist who
operates three gum-disease clinics in Columbus, was convicted this year for
failing to pay taxes on $246,499 in income in 1993.
Robert Long of Ashville in Pickaway Co

[CTRL] RadTimes # 130

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 130 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"We do not wish to be ruled. And by this very fact, do we not
declare that we ourselves wish to rule nobody?"
--Peter Kropotkin, 'Anarchist Morality'
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--About What It Is..
--Cover-ups and withholding ballot information: same old Republican tricks
--US "Outsourcing" Colombian War?
--Police role in terror task force criticized
--On black disenfranchisement
--Ebola Toll Reaches 400
Linked stories:
 *By Revealing Their Discord, Justices Break Unwritten Rule
 *Gore camp hints at election defeat
 *High court may ease market anxiety
 *Privacy a Victim of the Drug War
 *Cop joins call for end to police violence
 *More Than 20,000 Workers Penalized Annually for Union Efforts
 *Audio: Hunter S. Thompson
---
Begin stories:
---
About What It Is..

[edited]

What worries me is that the Republican political machine accuses
opponents of doing what they are planning to do, or already
have done.
While the GOP was stealing the election, they were accusing Gore of doing
it! The Republican Secretary of State of Florida removed people from the
rolls improperly. Black voters were turned away from the polls, even when
they had voter registration cards. The Republicans said Gore would "do
anything to win the election by hook or by crook" while they were clearly
doing that themselves.
Further, they said Gore wanted to count votes only in Democratic
counties, when it was the Bush camp who refused an offer to count the
whole state.
The Republicans complained about court challenges, but they filed more
actions than the Gore people, and tried to prevent votes from being
counted! Then, although fond of law and order, they imported a mob from
out of state to bang on doors and intimidate vote counters in Miami.
The party that claims to favor local solutions used the US Supreme Court
to prevent a ballot count ordered by the Florida Supreme Court. If that
isn't enough, the Republican majority of the Florida Legislature tried to
replace the Florida voters in selecting the State's members of the
Electoral College.
At least, this stops short of calling in the military to impose the
party's rule, as is done in many other countries, but I don't like it.

Richard A. Stimson

---
Cover-ups and withholding ballot information: same old Republican tricks

Online Journal - 
12-12-00
By Carla Binion

Sociologist Max Weber once said that the first line of
defense of any bureaucracy is the withholding of information. George W.
Bush's team includes some of his dad's cronies, such as James Baker,
George Schultz, and Richard Thornberg. None of them are strangers to
withholding information as a means of defending corruption.

It makes sense that the Bush team now argues against counting the ballots.
They have long favored secrecy over disclosure.

George H. W. Bush was CIA Director in the mid-1970s. The CIA, and George
W.'s dad, are no strangers to rigged elections-in Third World countries.

In 1984, when Manuel Noriega chose Nicolas Barletta to be Panama's
president, the Reagan/Bush administration knew the election was rigged,
that ballot boxes were stuffed, and that documents were falsified.
(Imperial Alibis, Stephen R. Shalom, South End Press, 1993.)

Under Reagan/Bush, the U. S. government funneled money to Barletta's
campaign. Following the vote fraud, U. S. aid to Panama grew from $12
million to $75 million. After the "election," Reagan invited Barletta to
the White House to congratulate him on his win. (Imperial Alibis.)

Secretary of State George Schultz, adviser to George W. in Campaign 2000,
attended Barletta's inauguration and lauded Panama's "democratization."
(Unreliable Sources, Norman Solomon and Martin A. Lee, Carol Publishing
Group, 1992.)

Bush team adviser and daddy-Bush crony, James Baker, said recently that
the team is not trying to "run out the clock" regarding ballot counting.
However, Baker was part of the Reagan administration when the Reagan/Bush
crew used delay tactics to evade responsibility for Iran-contra.

Remember how George H. W. Bush got away with his Iran-contra misdeeds?
Reagan's attorney general, Richard

[CTRL] To: Governor Bush and Vice President Gore

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

To: Governor Bush and Vice President Gore

We, the undersigned, respectfully submit the following
request to the consideration of Al Gore, Vice
President of the United States, and George W. Bush,
Governor of Texas:
  As you may know, many Americans regarded our recent
Presidential election as a choice of the lesser evil.
When it came time to decide which of you we hated the
least, we the people were hopelessly deadlocked.
  Frankly, you both give us the creeps.
  At this point, it is clear that if Mr. Bush wins the
recount, the Democrats will file lawsuits for every
idiot voter in Florida, and we will hear endless
griping about butterfly ballots and hanging chads. If
Mr. Gore wins, the Republicans who tried to steal the
last election with a fellatio-centric impeachment will
no doubt engage in a similar abuse of the legal
system.
  Either way, the wrangling will drag on for years.
Whoever wins will be regarded as a cheater; whoever
loses will be seen as a whiner. There is only
one way to end the squabbling. We propose a duel to
the death-on the open areas outside U.S.territorial
limits (or in Texas), in front of an international
team of observers and a worldwide television audience.
  Many great American statesmen, including Andrew
Jackson and Henry Clay, engaged in duels. As one of
you may know, the most famous duel in American
history was between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
After a humiliating defeat for the Presidency
(involving a tied vote in the Electoral College
and 35 successive tied votes in the House), Burr found
revenge on the dueling field.
  Candidates, we implore you: be like those guys.
Settle your differences between yourselves, as men.
Think of the satisfaction of doing by bullet what you
were unable to do by ballot.
  Governor Bush, you were young when you decided not to
risk your life for your country; now you have a rare
second chance. We cannot imagine a more graphic
demonstration of your steadfast support for capital
punishment. Furthermore, there's nothing like a quick
shoot-out to put an end to all this unnecessary "vote
counting" and procedural folderol.
  Vice President Gore, this is your chance to
demonstrate your superior gun control. With a single,
well-aimed shot from a legally registered handgun,
you can teach Governor Bush a lesson about the
environment by making him part of it. Exercise your
freedom of choice by aborting the Governor's
presidential aspirations, not to mention his life.
  Gentlemen, it is time to settle this thing once and
for all. We appreciate that you are willing to lie,
cheat or steal to win this election, but that is not
enough. You must be willing to make the ultimate
sacrifice, for the good of the nation.
  P.S. If it should happen that both of you are
mortally wounded in this contest, we trust that our
great Republic shall find some way to endure the loss.

Sincerely,

The American Public

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[CTRL] Scalia To Donate Brain To Mad Cow Disease Research

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

- Original Message -
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Scalia

SCALIA TO DONATE BRAIN TO MAD COW DISEASE RESEARCH
Researchers Express Extreme Gratitude for Selfless Gesture

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP)  - In a move that Democratic operatives dismiss as
simply more bizarre G.O.P. grandstanding in a desperate effort to sway public
opinion, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on December 10 issued a
tersely worded press release revealing that he has decided to donate his
brain to the University of California San Francisco, for research on Mad Cow
Disease.

The Prion Biosafety Department at UCSF is in the forefront of research on
amyloid and other abnormal protein assembly processes.

Justice Scalia's announcement occurred after Mad Cow Disease researchers
from all over the world had swamped him with telephone calls, e-mails, and
singing telegrams, asking him to do this for the good of humanity.

Following Scalia's December 9 opinion finding not only that the G.O.P. would
suffer "irreparable harm" from having Florida voters' ballots counted in the
presidential election, but also that the G.O.P. would likely succeed in its
effort to stop such ballot-counting, there was widespread agreement among
researchers that Scalia has enough holes in his head to do stand-ins for
Swiss cheese in spaghetti westerns.

Some experts speculate that Scalia - and quite possibly four other U.S.
Supreme Court justices - consumed some tainted baloney at a secret G.O.P.
fundraiser.  Others just as ardently contend that Scalia does not suffer
from Mad Cow Disease at all - that he's simply been socializing too much with
Rush Limbaugh.

Researchers at UCSF expressed sincere appreciation to Justice Scalia for his
selfless gesture. They assured him that, after they finish the appropriate
research on his brain, they will press it into hamburger patties and give it
a decent burial at sea, near the Farallon Islands, a resting place they
assured him would be appropriate for a person of his stature.

The Farallons are a group of seven sparsely vegetated granite outcroppings
located offshore of the Golden Gate channel.  The waters around the
Farallons are well known among marine biologists for their prevalence of
radioactive
mutant giant sponges and great whites.  Scalia, who, thank God, is not from
the West Coast, of course didn't get it.  He never will.

© LibertyIsNotFree 12/10/2000

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[CTRL] Fwd: Letter To The People Of America

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA
>
>[The following is sent forth anonymously to prevent diverting attention from
>its contents.]
>
>Eleven score and four years ago, "our fathers brought forth on this continent
>a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
>men are created equal." But however noble our intentions were in the
>beginning, however much we inspired our sons and daughters and others with
>the idea of Liberty, we buried the seed of decay in our very own
>Constitution, became the spear-bearers of slavery, and created the opposite
>of Equality.
>
>At this dramatic hour ending this bloodiest century the twentieth, we are
>forced by history to submit to merciless self-examination, for even the wild
>beasts of the forest interpret the signs of the times far better than we do,
>compelling us to face up honestly to Nature's god and not to run away from
>the question,  "What are you doing? What have you done, and what are you
>going to do?"
>
>Our American deprivation has reached its basest point and cannot go any
>further. The worst part of it is that we do not even know our true condition,
>most of us not even suspecting that there could be anything inherently wrong
>with us-the glorious U.S. of A.-at all! Our general ignorance is topped only
>by our almost fatal lack of knowing ourselves: We are not only unconscious of
>the fact that we have a problem but have no idea whatsoever how utterly
>miserably we compare to other nations. Our being victorious in a war of
>cessation against our former home country England, than against our own
>South, then in two world wars and finally in the cold war, has become the
>worst teacher we could ever get; we have been spared the rod, and became
>spoiled beyond recognition. "Spoiled" here is meant in the sense of a
>psycho-passive condition of the American people that exposes them to the
>worst kind of mass hypnotism in world history, a hypnotic sleep so deep in
>fact that we did not wake up to the reality of what was going on neither
>after Lincoln was murdered nor when McKinley was murdered nor when Joe Hill
>was murdered and with him the American socialist movement, nor when Kennedy
>was murdered, nor when Martin Luther King was murdered; nor did any one of us
>wake up during WW1 nor WW2, nor during McCarthy's days, nor during the cold
>war, nor during Vietnam and our conquest of South America, nor after the fall
>of the Berlin Wall, nor at our attacking Iraq, destroying Yugoslavia, and
>sowing seeds of war elsewhere worldwide, from East Timor to Israel, still
>counting.
>
>We have permitted an ever increasing demon to take control of our lives, our
>thoughts, our whole outlook on life, and sink into the quagmire of most
>profound misconceptions, of overestimating ourselves to an extreme degree and
>fatally and dishonestly underestimating others, and isolating and separating
>ourselves, our country, from the rest of the human family-be it Europe, the
>Arab world, Asia, or the United Nations-and removing ourselves totally from
>any control or sphere of influence of any higher ideal of the laws of God or
>of social justice. That is what is left from our much-praised "Liberty":
>freedom from our conscience and freedom from all human decency. We ourselves
>permitted this to happen, it has been we who were bartering away our
>birthright for a mess of pottage, for a little sweet hypnotic sleep. Those
>who rule us are masters to blame all or any evil happening to America to
>anti-American devils, Satans who, strangely, came to earth for the sole
>purpose of blaspheming against the holy United States. Most of us, certainly
>subconsciously, believe at least a little from this American-made Potemkin
>village for the mind. We managed to succeed the English, masters of
>xenophobic arrogance against all those "unfortunate humans" who were
>"accursed by God to dare to have a different native language than
>English"-just test yourself how you react when hearing a non-English word out
>in the street or in a supermarket! Do you smile and are friendly in your
>heart, or do you look serious and even offended that "an inferior subhuman
>non-Anglo" "dares to speak a non-English language in our presence"? Then, we
>also have from our Englishness many other medieval forms of brutality, not
>possible or even imaginable elsewhere; a servant-master, "higher versus
>lower" mentality that means brutalizing everybody "below" you, threatening
>people if they do not please you; in short, we as a Nation, even when we are
>just among ourselves, behave as slave keepers. Then we are surprised that
>when visiting Paris, waiters in restaurants à la ville de la lumière may
>simply overlook us as soon as they detect our arrogant faces and
>commandeering voice, our total reluctance to descend "to the same level with
>a waiter" by saying at least a small "merci", let alone an unheard of "s'il
>vous plait". The American (English) idea of a restaurant is t

[CTRL] RadTimes # 131

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 131 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general
association takes place, and common interest produces common security."
--Thomas Paine, 'The Rights Of Man'
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Who Cares?
--Deep Economic Politics - The Best Election Ever
--Digital Angel body chip may allow Net tracking
--Fingerprinting to Go
--New Test Lets Parents Check Johnny for Drug Use—Behind His Back
--Women (Anarchists) Want Their Message Heard
--Foreign Military Sales Show Sustained Growth
Linked stories:
*U.S. recession looming, study says
*Judge: First Amendment Doesn't Apply To Web Addresses
*Nicotine Patch May Cause Cancer
*French Courts Grind to Halt in 'Black Robe' Strike
*Mafia controls 30 pct of Italian rubbish disposal
*Condemn The Beheading Of Iraqi Women Accused Of Prostitution
*US Commission on Civil Rights Report to Urge Crackdown on Police Abuses
*Drats! Gun laws are being foiled, says ATF
*Professor to stay in U.S. jail on secret evidence
*Your vote still doesn't count
*Why Johnny is a speed freak [Ritalin]
*Drinking like a revolutionary
---
Begin stories:
---
Who Cares?

December,2000
by Frank Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
COASTAL POST 

The permanent campaign has become the eternal vote count, creating
equal amounts of hysteria, hilarity, boredom and disgust. America's
short attention span is being sorely tested by our closest presidential
election, which has become a battle between the ruling parties' hired
shysters.

The nation's richest lawyers have lined up at the financial feeding
trough for a litigation frenzy that may last until the next election.
Media information spinners are offering breathless and often brainless
coverage and analysis, but some good may come of this mess.

We may finally change our antiquated electoral system, which is shamed
by other nations with procedures that work more smoothly and
democratically. Our politics are already corrupted by money, and now
that the dreadful condition of our election process has been revealed,
there may be less tolerance for our imperial rulers telling other people
how to achieve what we don't have: democracy.

The global community is having great fun, with South Africa, Serbia and
Cuba offering to send us election advisors. TV comics hope this farce
goes on forever, and anarchists love having "nobody" for president.
The ironies are numerous, and humorous.

A boring race between a biogenetic pro-government drone and an
intellectually challenged anti-government clone was transformed into an
exciting vote count, for a while. Then, Democrat William Daley
complained about voting irregularities. He is the son of Chicago mayor
Richard Daley, who created affirmative action programs for zombies,
featuring an annual parade of footprints from the cemetery to the
ballot box on election day.

Republican supporters of state's rights went to federal court to stop
the state from recounting, while Democratic supporters of federalism
professed more faith in Florida than in the USA.

For all the squabbling about dimpled and pregnant chads, and machine or
hand counting, history  may simply remember the outgoing president as
being  impeached for a blow-job in the white house, and the incoming
president for being elected by a hand-job in Florida.

And the American presidency will be decided by a state that has
thousands of voters who care more about foreign countries - Cuba and
Israel - than they do about the USA.

Every national election is filled with errors, lost ballots, confused
voters and bigotry. This one was no different. It is only the closeness
of the vote that has focused attention on imperfections, but not the
right ones.

The hole in our ozone is tiny compared to the gaping wound suffered by
our democracy, but that wound was not inflicted by confusing ballots,
corrupt officials or ignorant voters. Democracy was savaged by the
corporate party, when it denied Americans the right to hear opposing
viewpoints from Nader and Buchanan in the debates.

The recount controversy has temporarily halted the  Democratic hate
campaign against Nader. Despite personal slurs and a fear crusade that
had many believing their 

[CTRL] SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST FLA. RECOUNT

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Dec. 12, 2000, 10:15 pm EST
SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST FLA. RECOUNT
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/index.html#scotus

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against manual recounts in Florida, in a
decision that may finally hand the contested U.S. presidency to Republican
George W. Bush.

In an extraordinary late-night decision, the justices said the recount
ordered by the Florida Supreme Court violated the Constitutional promise of
equal protection, because not all votes would be recounted under the same
standards. The court also said there is not enough time to conduct a new
recount that would meet constitutional muster.

"The remedy prescribed by the Supreme Court of Florida cannot be deemed an
appropriate one," wrote Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

The justices split 7-2 over the recount and 5-4 over a suggested remedy.
Although the ruling itself was unsigned, six justices submitted individual
opinions in the case.

Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia said in their opinions
that the Florida Supreme Court also violated the Constitution and federal
law in ordering the recount.

In a dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said, "Although we may never know
with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's
presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is
the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the law."

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[CTRL] FLA. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS ABSENTEE BALLOTS

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Dec. 12, 2000, 5:20pm EST
FLA. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS ABSENTEE BALLOTS

The Florida Supreme Court today rejected appeals from private lawsuits
requesting that 25,000 absentee ballots be thrown out in Martin and Seminole
Counties.

Agreeing with two lower court, the state Supreme Court said that there was
no reason to throw out the ballots despite evidence of irregularities. The
state court ruled six to zero. Justice Leander Shaw recused himself.

The lawsuits were brought by Democrats seeking to invalidate votes because
Republican party workers had altered absentee ballot applications.

Throwing out the counties' absentee ballots would likely have eliminated
George W. Bush's lead in Florida.

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[CTRL] FLORIDA HOUSE APPROVES ELECTORS

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Dec. 12, 2000, 4:45pm EST
FLORIDA HOUSE APPROVES ELECTORS

Florida's House approved a resolution this afternoon appointing presidential
electors loyal to Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

The measure passed the Republican-controlled House 79 to 41. Two Democrats
voted with 77 Republicans. The resolution now goes to Florida's Senate,
which is expected to approve it tomorrow. Republicans hold a 25-15 majority
in the Senate.

"I would hope that the United States Supreme Court may render moot what we
did today," said House Speaker Tom Feeney. "I hope the Senate does not
render moot what we did today," he added.

Republicans say the resolution is necessary to ensure Florida's place in the
Electoral College if legal challenges to the state's certified vote results
continue. In debates today, one House Democrat countered that the measure
would "disenfranchise every single voter who went to the polls."

The Electoral College is scheduled to vote for president Dec. 18.

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[CTRL] Fwd: Politicians in Robes - by Prof. Jack D. Forbes

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>--- Forwarded Message Follows ---
>Date sent:  Tue, 12 Dec 2000 13:44:12 -0800 (PST)
>From:   "Jack D. Forbes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject:Politicians in Robes
>
>NATIVE INTELLIGENCE
>A Column By
>Jack D. Forbes
>Native American Studies
>University of California, Davis
>
> This column's focus:
> POLITICIANS IN ROBES
> AND THE THEFT OF THE PRESIDENCY
>
> In a 5-4 partisan decision the "conservative" members of the
>Supreme Court demonstrated that their loyalties to the Republican Party
>and to the plutocracy take precedence over the constitutional principles
>which they have espoused. The supposed "conservative" "strict
>constructionist" and "state's rights" members of the court, including
>chief partisan Antonin Scalia, decided to become "loose constructionists"
>and "big government federalists" in order to block a manual count, under
>careful Florida judicial supervision, of Florida's uncounted ballots.
>
>It would appear that it will be a majority of the US Supreme Court which
>will select the president, and not the voters or electors. But that fits in
>well with the Bush campaign strategy which always saw Florida as a
>"must-win" state. The Bushies apparently pulled out all the stops to block
>as many African-Americans and Democrats from voting, or having their votes
>counted.
>
>Interestingly, Chief Justice William Rehnquist has been alleged
>to have organized similar harassment campaigns in south Phoenix in his
>younger partisian politician days. Of course, the Republicans have long
>played "hard ball" in terms of blocking people of color and immigrants
>from voting (as in Orange County, California) or in terms of Nixon's
>strategy of using the power of the incumbency to overwhelm his opponent
>(and not just with the Watergate burglary of Democratic offices).
>
>Florida's scandal harks also back to the charges that George Bush (Senior)
>and Ronald Reagan knew of a conspiracy with Iranian extremists to prolong
>the embassy hostage crisis in 1980, thus leading to the defeat of
>President Jimmy Carter. Subsequently, the Reagan administration made
>illegal deals with Iran in the Iran-Contra scandal. Bush senior managed to
>escape a trial but, in my opinion, the suspicion remains that he or his
>cohorts were very much involved. The question still remains: why would the
>Iranians have risked postponing a deal until after Reagan came to power?
>
>Regarding Florida, we read reports that the Bush machine (Jeb Bush is
>governor) consistently has sought to block, by hook or crook, a manual
>recounting of votes. They have sought to block and delay a full count
>until it will be too late for the actual numbers to have any impact. The
>US Supreme Court decision to block the counting in progress makes sense
>only when seen as a partisan "coup d'état," a seizure of the presidency.
>In an opposite maneuver, the Bush team has also sought to count absentee
>ballots which resulted from an apparently illegal conspiracy between local
>Republican officials in two counties and GOP party workers. The judicial
>system, at this stage, seems to be willing to wink at this clear violation
>of state law. Similarly, the violation of African-American voting rights
>will likely be tossed off as a normal kind of political misbehavior.
>
>Antonin Scalia and his allies pretend to be strict constructionists and
>conservatives. They are not. Instead they are legislating judges who
>constantly invent judicial theories to advance the interests of wealthy
>men, i.e., plutocrats.
>
>For example, they consistently seek to diminish the
>authority of Indian tribes in spite of the absolutely clear language of
>the constitution's commerce clause. This clause defines the power of the
>federal government over Indian tribes and that power is strictly limited
>to the regulation of commerce "with" the tribes and nothing more. But
>Scalia and Clarence Thomas et al consistently seek to advance the
>authority of "big government" at the expense of Native local
>self-determination, citing not the constitution but judicially-invented
>doctrines.
>
>Similarly, Scalia et al have overturned our constitutional
>right to freedom of speech by allowing "money" to have free speech rather
>than individual human beings. In other words, if we were in a crowded room
>and one rich man had a microphone and sound system which he alone could
>use he would have the right to blast his message to us, silencing all the
>rest of us. That is neither conservative nor strict constructionist, but
>totally invented.
>
>In any case, isn't the bottom line for the Bush campaign
>and for the right-wing on the Supreme Court exactly the same: a fear that
>Al Gore really won the popular vote in Florida? What happens next? Can the
>US Senate censure the Supreme Court? Will some brave members of the House,
>of both parties, refuse to accept any electors from Florida on the grounds
>of possible fraud? Will t

[CTRL] TurbulentTimes # 2

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

TurbulentTimes # 2 -- December 2000

A weekly compendium of direct action news.

--A RadTimes production--
---
"The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it."
--Abbie Hoffman
---
How to assist TurbulentTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--Rioters, police clash at EU meeting
--Protesters riot as EU leaders hold meeting to urge unity
--US Army detains 1700 at School of Americas
--Four Protesters Arrested In March to Free Activist
--Protesters disrupt hearing
--Protest ends with activists' arrests
--Wolfensohn arrives amid Left protests
--The Real Thing: Democracy as a Contact Sport
--Protesters Taunt Troops with Mirrors
Linked stories:
 *Posters for J20
---
Begin stories:
---
Rioters, police clash at EU meeting

Leftists, anarchists blame trade bloc for host of social ills

Los Angeles Times
Friday 8 December 2000

Protesters ran amok in the chic, palm-lined streets of the
Riviera's main resort city and police fought back with tear
gas and stun grenades Thursday as the European Union opened
its most important meeting in a decade.

For the rioters, a motley collection of leftist
revolutionaries, anarchists and separatists, the 15-nation
EU is a cog in the process of globalization that they blame
for many of the world's ills.

As the trade bloc's leaders gathered in the morning at a
squat downtown conference centre aptly nicknamed "The
Bunker" by Nice residents, an estimated 4,000 demonstrators
set upon the site and got within 100 yards.

Young men, many of whom wore cowls or kerchiefs to hide
their faces, hurled rocks, set fire to a bank branch, tossed
fire extinguishers through shop windows and painted slogans
such as "Death to Money" on storefronts.

French officials, hosts for the Nice summit, had vowed that
there would be none of the embarrassing mayhem here that
disturbed last year's World Trade Organization meeting in
Seattle or the International Monetary Fund's gathering in
September in Prague, Czech Republic.

Choking clouds of smoke wafted in the direction of the
convention centre, making French President Jacques Chirac
sneeze as he stood outside to greet foreign leaders. Some
dignitaries, including leaders of other countries that want
to join the EU, coughed and mopped their eyes.

"These acts are radically contrary to the democratic
traditions of all European countries," Chirac later said in
disgust. Authorities said 20 police officers were hurt in
the fracas on Nice's rain-slicked streets, one seriously.
Forty-five protesters were arrested.

The Nice summit is considered the EU's most crucial since
the 1991 Maastricht Treaty, which laid the basis for a
common European currency, the euro, and serious
consideration of common policies in fields including
defence, citizenship and protection of the environment.

The agenda here calls for the EU to reform its inner
mechanisms so it can function after absorbing new members,
chiefly ex-communist countries in Eastern and Central
Europe. Twelve nations are negotiating to join, including
the three former Baltic republics of the Soviet Union.

---
Protesters riot as EU leaders hold meeting to urge unity

Friday, December 08, 2000

By PAUL AMES
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NICE, France - Hundreds of stone-throwing protesters rushed
barricades around a conference center where European leaders
met yesterday for a milestone summit on unity. French riot
police drove them back with tear gas and stun grenades, and
45 were detained.

The clashes, which recalled similar demonstrations that have
marred other high-profile international gatherings in recent
months, created scenes of chaos in this resort Riviera city.

Some banks and businesses were covered in graffiti - with
slogans ranging from "Long live ETA," referring to the
violent Basque separatist group, to "Death to Money."
Streets were littered with stones, pieces of wood, broken
signs and used tear gas canisters.

Tear gas wafted across the entrance to the mammoth, concrete
building during the morning confrontation, causing French
President Jacques Chirac to sneeze and Prime Minister Lionel
Jospin to step away from photographers so he could blow his
nose.

Chirac later harshly criticized the violence. "We solemnly
condemn these acts. They are radically opposed to the
democratic traditions of all our countries," he told a news
conference.

At least 20 p

[CTRL] RadTimes # 132

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 132 December, 2000

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the
winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is
perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an
impartial guardian of the law."
--Justice John Paul Stevens, US Supreme Court [dissenting]
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--W's Coup d'Etat
--WANTED!
--Supreme Court vs. Democracy?
--Violent protests bracket EU economic meeting
--Seattle was only the beginning
--Seven new Ebola cases reported; death toll rises to 161
Linked stories:
*Democrats urge Gore to concede
*Wall Street looks to move on
*Overseas markets react to ruling
*Washington's new world weapon: climate change
*Pro-gun group dares the government to jail them
*High Court Ruling May Taint Court
*A good year for the bad guys
*New Spray Lets You Look Inside A Sealed Envelope
*British government plans to wiretap entire country
*Internet users win court battle to stay secret
*Clinton: pot smoking should not be prison offense
*Republicans to convene Florida legislature to impose Bush electors
*Britain's press warns that US election crisis threatens global stability
*Electoral Collage: How the World Votes
*Bush and Gore -- rotten to the core
*Right to vote at center of US election crisis
*Absentee vote cases provide evidence of Republican vote-rigging in Florida
*The political significance and historical implications of the US election
crisis
*Supreme Court halts Florida vote count: A black day for American democracy
*Democrats prostrate before Supreme Court assault on democratic rights
*US Supreme Court embraces a century-old legacy of racism and reaction
---
Begin stories:
---
W's Coup d'Etat



December 13, 2000
By Robert Parry

Let it be remembered that Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the loser across the
United States by a third of a million votes, "won" the presidency through
two key acts of raw power.
Bush's campaign sponsored a violent demonstration by Republican activists
as ballots were about to be counted on Nov. 22. He then enlisted partisan
Republicans on the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent a statewide recount in
Florida before a Dec. 12 deadline.
On Nov. 22, about 150 rioters  led by Republican congressional staffers
dispatched from Washington  charged the offices of the Miami-Dade County
canvassing board as it was about to commence a partial recount of votes.
With the mob roughing up Democrats and pounding on the walls, the
canvassing board abruptly reversed itself and decided not to count those
votes after all.
Rather than criticize this bizarre attack on what was then a court-ordered
process, Bush reveled in its success.
His campaign sponsored a celebration for the demonstrators the next night
at a swanky hotel in Fort Lauderdale. The "president-elect" even called to
joke with the rioters about their Miami operation, according to the Wall
Street Journal [Nov. 27, 2000]. At the party, singer Wayne Newton crooned
Danke Schoen.
Then, after two more weeks of delays, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a
partial statewide recount to examine ballots that had been kicked out by
machines for supposedly having no choice for president.
On Saturday, Dec. 9, facing a deadline of Dec. 12 for certification of
Florida's electors, vote counters across the state began examining these
so-called "under-votes."
In the first few hours, the counters found scores of ballots with clear
votes for president that had been missed by the machines. Other ballots
were set aside for a judicial determination about whether a vote was
registered or not.
With Bush's lead at less than 200 votes and slipping, the Texas governor
played his trump card. He turned to his five arch-conservative allies on
the U.S. Supreme Court.
By a 5-4 majority, the court  for the first time in U.S. history  stopped
the counting of votes cast by American citizens for president. The majority
consisted of Justices William Rehnquist, Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day
O'Connor, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia.
In a written explanation, Scalia made clear that the purpose of the
extraordinary 

[CTRL] Fwd: The myth of the "liberal" media

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>Online Journal - http://www.onlinejournal.com
>
>12-13-00: The myth of the "liberal" media
>
>By BartCop
>
>December 13, 2000 | What if a show like Dateline did a "hatchet job" on
>George W. Bush? It wouldn't have to really be a hatchet job, but any
>honest appraisal of that idiot's qualifications would prove he's a
>non-thinking rich man's boy-and that's all. But what would happen if
>Dateline did an unflattering portrait of Smirk?
>
>I'll tell you what would happen:
>
>Rush Limbaugh would spend at least three hours saying it wasn't true and
>he'd offer hours of rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Bill O'Reilly would spend at least an hour on his show saying it wasn't
>true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Sean Hannity would walk all over Alan Colmes for an hour that night,
>saying it wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Paula Von Zahn would spend at least an hour that night saying it wasn't
>true and she'd offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>The Beltway Boys would spend at least an hour that night saying it wasn't
>true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Brit Hume and Tony Snow would spend at least an hour on Sunday saying it
>wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Juan Williams and Mara Liason would spend their entire allotted time
>saying it wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>John McLaughlin would spend at least an hour on his syndicated show saying
>it wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Chris the Screamer would spend at least an hour on his show saying it
>wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>G. Gordon Liddy would spend at least three hours on his radio show saying
>it wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Laura the pretend doctor would spend at least an hour on her radio show
>saying it wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Michael Medved would spend at least an hour on his radio show saying it
>wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Sam and Cokie would spend at least an hour on This Week saying it wasn't
>true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>George (Judas) Stephanopolous and George Will would spend their entire
>allotted time swearing that it wasn't true.
>
>Bob Scheiffer would spend at least an hour on Face the Nation saying it
>wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Tim Russert would spend at least an hour on Meet the Press saying it
>wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>John Hockenberry would spend at least an hour on his show saying it wasn't
>true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Ollie North would spend at least an hour on his radio show saying it
>wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Robert Novak would spend at least an hour on his cable TV show saying it
>wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Paul Weyrich would spend at least an hour on his cable TV show saying it
>wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Still with me? We're close to the end . . .
>
>BSNBC's Brian Williams would spend at least an hour on his show saying it
>wasn't true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Wolf Blizter would spend at least an hour on his show saying it wasn't
>true and offer rebuttal as to why Dateline was lying.
>
>Bill Schneider and Candy Crowley would do an hour special on CCN (Clinton
>Cock Network) saying it wasn't true, and offering rebuttal.
>
>John Stossel would have a special on ABC: "Is lying OK for liberals?"
>
>Then Howie Kurtz would spend 30 minutes on Reliable Sources asking if the
>media wasn't being too hard on a developmentally-disabled child.
>
>Barbara Olson would write a book condemning Dateline. Ann Coulter would
>write a book condemning Dateline. Laura Ingraham would write a book
>condemning Dateline. Peggy Noonan would write a book condemning Dateline.
>Andrew Sullivan would write a book condemning Dateline. William Safire
>would write a book condemning Dateline.
>
>OK, we're going to call the above "Exhibit A."
>Now, everyone on that list has done at least a dozen hit pieces on Clinton.
>
>My question is, "Where is "Exhibit B?"
>
>When those 38 people attack Clinton, who does the rebuttal? Nobody on that
>list has EVER defended a fabricated lie against Clinton.
>
>There is no "Exhibit B," because there are no liberal shows on television.
>The closest you can get is Eleanor on McLaughlin, or Carlson/Hunt on
>Capitol Gang, but there are no liberal shows on television, even though
>there are DOZENS of right-wing, Bush-apologist shows whose livelyhood is
>lying about liberals.
>
>I don't think you conservatives have an answer.
>
>Prove me wrong.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==
CTRL is a dis

[CTRL] RadTimes -- Update # 2

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Hi again folks,

Well, it doesn't seem I was able to convince enough of you that I'm doing
monetarily worthwhile projects, (at least not enough to be able to continue
without interruption). I appreciate those that sent contributions (and
those that offered), as well as some very appreciative comments. (see
below). As promised, I will stay with this until the end of the
presidential selection process (although apparently to end soon, perhaps
even today), but then I will be financially forced to take a break.

I do have a serious inquiry on doing a newsletter for an advocacy
organization, and we are currently in negotiations, but that by itself will
not be enough to continue without pause. I want to again encourage those of
you in an organizational capacity, to consider hiring me to produce
newsletters or to funnel you stories of interest in whatever field you're
in. I'm a serious 'infomaniac' who knows how to get around the 'net, and I
will do a sample 'clipping compilation' for any serious inquiries.

I have been sending you a couple new publications, TurbulentTimes and Hard
Green Herald, to give you an idea of what some solid financial underpinning
would allow me to do. These also are now on hold. I also re-list my project
list below, just to reinforce what I'd like to accomplish.

I will restart this whole process in the middle of January, in time for the
coronation of our next emperor, (and the expected protests of same). Of
course, any large donation(s) would change this whole picture.

"We're really *are* living in rad times!"

Best to all,

the radman
=
---
Donations received: $95.00 (from 4 recipients)
Monthly pledges offered (contingent on uninterrupted delivery): 3
---
**How to assist RadTimes:
An account is available at  which enables direct donations.
If you are a current PayPal user, use this email address:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, to contribute. If you are not a current user, use this
link: <https://secure.paypal.com/refer/pal=resist%40best.com> to sign up
and contribute. The only information passed on to me via this process is
your email address and the amount you transfer.
---
Comments received (selected/edited) :

--As someone with a little news hub of my own who is greatly appreciative
of what you send out [I forward a lot of it], I do understand your
problem!  ..our lists are akin in so many ways... and I know first-hand the
work that goes  into keeping the real info running. ..I'd love to see Rad
Times archived on a web site,  as I like to give a URL for everything I
send out. This is just to tell you you have my  full support. With my
appreciation for what you do,...

--As someone who has been at this game for several years (I started during
the UPS strike), I wish you success in raising the resources. I do
periodically send RadTimes to my lists with whatever subscription
information you provide. Let me know how you make out in your appeal. Good
luck. In solidarity,..

--..you're a personal deity. many thanks for what you do...your work is
great... i'm hoping you understand how important and valuable i believe you
and your vision and your hard, hard work are --- but also how the reverse
of the good part of desktop decentralization is eating its young and
destroying several interlocking/interdancing movements. it's time for an
Other strategy, i feel, much loved Radman...less grey pixelpaint, more in
person and offline activism. thanks for your work. thanks for your
integrity and courage,...

--Thanks again for all the great news items. Hope you can figure out how to
keep the RadTimes going. Several people have me on their email lists, but
you have the best eye for real news.

--..am glad you're looking to put your muckraking clipping service on a
stable financial footing. I've saved much of what you've sent lately...
have been impressed by your passion.  And of course, I've enjoyed/taken
inspiration from what I've managed to read. So--this is just to say I'm
rooting for this effort to take off, even if I can't help it fly much.

--Keep up the good work.Have you thought about trying to get grant money to
fund your clipping service?
Just a thought...  Anyway, stay strong and do what you have to do.

--Keep on posting. You're digging up things out over the horizon, or
completely unnoticed by much of
the world. Excellent material.

--Just wanted to say hello and how impressed I am by the good stuff you put
together in your email bursts.

--Gotten much response to your appeal? Got enough support to keep it going
indefinitel

[CTRL] Did Stalin Really Say That Thing About Votes?

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Did Stalin Really Say That Thing About Votes?




By Emily Yoffe
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2000

Perhaps your e-mail box has already received this spam alleging that Stalin
once said, "It's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who
count the votes"? Slate's own Anne Applebaum cited it yesterday. But did
Joe really say it?
Almost certainly, no. Let's just say Joseph Stalin is not known to have
waxed forth on the nature of voting and was singularly unconcerned with
elections. Well, there was that time in 1936 when the central committee of
the Communist Party gave three more votes to a Stalin opponent than to
Stalin. Within three years, two-thirds of the members had been murdered.
For an alternative remark on voting, here's a documented one (from
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations) by Tammany Hall boss William Marcy Tweed:
"As long as I count the votes, what are you going to do about it?"

Explainer thanks Uri Ra'anan of the Institute for the Study of Conflict,
Ideology, and Policy at Boston University.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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
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[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
 http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl

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

[CTRL] Fwd: Election: IMAGINE WE WERE IN CHINA

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>CHICAGO TRIBUNE
>
>HMMM, SAY WE WERE IN CHINA
>
>By Lee Feigon.
>
>(Lee Feigon is a professor of Chinese history at Colby College.)
>December 8, 2000
>
>As a sinologist I can't help but think that if the events of election
>eve had transpired not in the United States but in a place like China,
>voters and TV viewers would not have been surprised by the results. As
>confusing as things might appear to Americans, the explanation would
>have seemed obvious to anyone used to a more authoritarian tradition
>of leaders: The Bush family rigged the results.
>
>Consider the family's background. George W. Bush's father is not just
>the former president of the United States but also the one-time head
>of the CIA. As secretary of defense in Bush's administration, Dick
>Cheney was responsible for the National Security Agency, a spook
>organization more powerful than the Central Intelligence Agency. Jeb
>Bush, the Republican candidate's brother and governor of Florida,
>spent years living and working in South America, where elections
>routinely have been manipulated by  American-trained operatives.
>
>Now remember what happened on the evening of the election. Every
>television network called Florida for Gore about 8 p.m. The Bush camp
>quickly protested, arguing the returns from absentee ballots and rural
>counties might yet be different from what the networks had declared.
>Jeb Bush, we were told, was on the phone with Florida desperately
>trying to find extra votes.
>
>Many of us wondered: "What was Jeb Bush doing? The votes have already
>been cast."
>
>Then the votes the Bush people had predicted suddenly began to appear.
>By 2 a.m., the networks were calling the election for Bush. In a twist
>that many Chinese might be able to appreciate, this result was also
>not to remain in place for long. If clever operatives had fiddled with
>the election returns they would want the predictions to change back
>and forth a few times so it would look like the problem had been
>caused by the experts at the networks not by someone playing with the
>results? The focus on uncounted and difficult to use ballots in Palm
>Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward Counties would be the perfect
>smokescreen to keep the attention off chicanery elsewhere in the
>state. Couldn't this explain why the Bush side didn't want to accept
>Vice President Al Gore's offer of a statewide recount, even when
>it appeared in their interest to do so?
>
>"Nah," I think. "These kind of things don't happen in America."
>
>But the sinologist voice in the back of my head keeps working. If this
>were China I would look for indications that the family had used their
>spook connections to manipulate other events. Didn't someone do a
>pretty good job covering up George W. Bush's absenteeism from his
>National Guard duty? For years the record of his drunk-driving
>conviction remained suppressed. He even got out of the rehab program
>everyone convicted of drunk driving in the state of Maine was supposed
>to attend.
>
>There's also that supposedly determinative first presidential debate.
>Shortly before this debate, videotapes of George W.'s preparation
>sessions suddenly arrived in the office of Gore's debate coach. Rather
>than run the risk of appearing tainted, the coach removed himself from
>Gore's debate preparations. Gore's performance suffered. The story was
>that a disaffected worker in the Bush camp probably sent the tapes,
>but the person still hasn't been found.
>
>All this doesn't add up to a hill of beans. This isn't China. Only
>someone like me would even think about how after the elder George Bush
>lived in China in the 1970s, he restarted a previously dead-end
>political career. Even I won't make anything of the fact that not long
>after that his once good for nothing elder son made a fortune, got
>elected governor and then became a candidate for the presidency. It's
>a good thing we don't live in some country where all this would be
>looked on with suspicion.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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
 http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
 http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl
==

[CTRL] Fwd: Richard Grossman on Nader + election battles

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>From: "Paul Cienfuegos" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: 
>Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 11:36 PM
>Subject: ** Three new articles by Richard Grossman regarding Nader, +
>theongoing election Supreme Court battles
>
>Friends,
>
>The election is "over" supposedly, but there sure is alot of good
>debating and discussing going on across this broken democracy of
>ours. Perhaps all of those millions of democratic conversations
>taking place nationwide will help to energize all of us to stay
>active. I present below three new essays by Richard Grossman,
>Co-director of the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy
>(POCLAD), a 12-member think-tank / affinity group based in
>Massachusetts. Richard continues to be one of the most provocative
>thinkers in the country today on the critical topic of democracy and
>corporate rule. And his organization's analysis continues to be
>instrumental in the work of my local non-profit, Democracy Unlimited
>of Humboldt County (Arcata, CA). I encourage all of you to learn more
>about POCLAD .
>Paul Cienfuegos
>
>PS. Look for one more large email from moi in the next few days re
>the 2000 elections.
>
>PPS. OK...but first.a few election tidbits.
>1.  Did you know that Supreme Court Justice Scalia's son is an
>attorney in one of the law firms representing Bush before the Supreme
>Court today! And that Scalia recently stated that if Bush didn't win
>the presidency, that he intended to resign from the court because he
>would then have no chance of becoming the Chief Justice? Ahhh...thank
>goodness for a non-partisan judiciary!!!
>
>2.  Here are two archives of all the election irregularities reported
>in Florida thus far:
>http://www.knowthecandidates.org/ktc/ElectionIrregularities.htm
>http://www.bushneverwonflorida.com/
>
>---
>
>First, a piece he wrote for a series of Guest Editorials intended for
>informal syndication in papers around the United States.
>This piece addresses the response to the Nader campaign. You are
>welcome to forward this article to local media as a Guest Editorial.
>
>Ralph Nader and the Apoplectics
>Copyright 2000
>By Richard Grossman
>
>Richard Grossman is co-director of the Program on Corporations, Law &
>Democracy (POCLAD). He can be reached at P.O. Box 246, South Yarmouth,
>MA 02664. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (603) 473-8637.
>Fax: (603) 473-8657.
>
>November 17, 2000
>1600 Words
>
>What's with all this apoplexy over Nader? What barbarous,
>villainous, and depraved acts did he commit that labor leaders and heads
>of national liberal groups denounce him as the enemy of minorities, the
>poor, women, and the environment? That Senator Joseph Biden says that
>Nader will not be welcome in Senate corridors? That James Carville vows
>on TV to walk out of the room should Nader enter? That the First Lady
>jokes about killing him? That NY Times Corporation editorial writers
>label him "beyond the reach of reason," "a political narcissist"?
>
>For heaven's sakes, what did this man do?
>
>It appears that he and the Green Party gathered signatures to
>qualify for the ballot in 43 states plus Washington, D.C. He encouraged
>hundreds of Green Party candidates to run for local and state offices.
>He barnstormed the nation, speaking in living rooms, village squares,
>universities, and even huge sports arenas. Despite being kept out of
>televised Bush-Gore dialogues, Nader and the Greens encouraged millions
>to get involved in the gritty work of self-governance. Isn't that what
>high school civics books teach is the life blood of democracy?
>
>But then an inconclusive election launched an extraordinary
>national
>educational experience. Just look what people are talking about now:
>
>*  Machines vs. humans.
>
>*  The electoral college, that left-over contrivance concocted by slave
>state politicians to establish their domination (slave-holding
>Virginians served as president for 32 out of the nation's first 36 years).
>
>*  Local-state-federal jurisdictional struggles over who's in charge;
>legislative, executive, and judicial branches crossing paths and swords:
>It's U.S. Constitutional theory in action!
>
>*  Hitherto obscure constitutional offices of state attorney general and
>secretary of state.
>
>*  The will of the people.
>
>Not a bad list.
>
>What if people were to pursue these topics? Let's explore the
>"will of the people."
>
>As Nader and many others have been pointing out, U.S. law
>regards basic decisions affecting jobs, wealth, communities, commerce,
>life and death as beyond the will of the people. Democratic and
>Republican free marketers do not exactly put it this way, but that's
>what they mean. Over and over again, the courts have so affirmed. Joe
>Lieberman echoed this on the campaign trail when he insisted that it is
>the private sector - corporations - that We the People must depend upon
>for jobs.
>
>So is anything else private? What else is beyond the authority
>of t

[CTRL] Fwd: Bush presidency judged as "not legitimate" by minorities, Dems.

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>  Released: December 15, 2000
>
>New Reuters/NBC/Zogby survey reveals:
>  Bush presidency judged as "not legitimate"
>   by minorities, Democrats
>
>  Democrats and minorities in substantial numbers do not consider the
>  soon-to-be presidency of Republican George W. Bush as legitimate, a new
>  Reuters/NBC/Zogby survey reveals.
>
>  The survey was conducted Wednesday December 13 of 521 likely voters
>  nationwide who voted in the 2000 presidential elections showed that an
>  overall 59% of those surveyed called the Bush presidency legitimate with
>  37% who believe the presidency is not legitimate. Another 5% were
>  undecided.
>
>  The survey has a margin of sampling error of +/- 4.5%. (Percentages may
>  not add up to 100 due to rounding).
>
>  A strong majority of Democrats (65%) said the presidency was "not
>  legitimate" while 27% said "legitimate." Of the Independent likely
>  voters, 61% said "legitimate" and 34% said "not legitimate" compared to
>  92% of Republican respondents who said "legitimate" and 6% who said not
>  legitimate.
>
>  Three-fourths (77%) of the African American respondents deemed the
>  presidency "not legitimate" compared to 17% who said "legitimate." At the
>  same time more than half of the Hispanic respondents (53%) also termed
>  the presidency "not legitimate" compared to 39% who said "legitimate."
>
>  "If you define legitimacy as the will of the people, do you consider a
>  George W. Bush presidency legitimate or not legitimate?"
>
>
>Not
> Legitimate  Legitimate   Not Sure Total
>
>
> Total  59  37   5 100
>
>
> Dem.   27   65  8  100
>
> GOP926  1  100
>
> Ind.   61   34   5 100
>
> White  65   31  4  100
>
> Black  17   77   7 100
>
> Hispanic   39   53   9 100
>
>
>
>---
>Copyright 2000 by Zogby International
>---

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[CTRL] Election poetry

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Christopher Locke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

 AT ZERO KELVIN SINGS MY HEART

I have to say I'm simply shocked
  by all this circumspection.
   you motherfuckers lose your minds
every time there's an election.
 will it be this one over here?
or that one over there?
 but after all is said and done
   who really fucking cares?
they can all take a load
of this here ode
  right up their frigidaires.

oh yeah, it'll make a difference, sure.
  everything'll work out fine.
   what else would you expect to see
from these lying thieving swine?
 but what about the *issues*, you ask.
  surely *they're* important!
 well forgive my ass if I sound a note
   that may strike you as discordant.

we were sold down the river so long ago
  that no one alive remembers.
you'd have to think hard and a lot further back
   than a few lost years of black Novembers.
  you say that's it. no more, no way.
 this goddam government by auto-da-fe.
   you say it'll never happen again.
 then you tune back in to CNN.

   but when the lobbyists come around to call
nothing's ever too much trouble at all.
 could we get you anything? a crackpipe? a cup
 of something stronger to pick you up?
  could you use a little help with that overdue loan?
   just enough so you don't default?
would you like a little pussy, Senator,
  to go with your single-malt?

 black-tie, cut-and-dry
   apple pie in short supply
we been gangbanged. wonder why?
   we been raped by SuperFly!
you never see it coming, do you?
 the great american bar-b-que.
 think it's gonna be different.
  think it's gonna be better.
   think your boy is something else,
  a regular go-getter.

think again, you moron.
  take another look, you dolt.
  is there really any reason, you ask
for out-and-out revolt?
well here they come now, as plain as day
 how come we never saw?
  'cause the effort might precipitate
a brain trust overdraw?
 from purple mountains' majesty
from sea to shining sea
 the born-again shuffle
the insecticidal rustle
 of the brain-dead bourgeoisie.

got the may-lox
got the dee-tox
 gonna shove my vote right up your box.
   got the shoe shine
   got the right wine
   gonna fuck you in the ass cause it feels so fine.

   Bush, Gore... whose *not* a whore?
   for all his sins, the one who wins
is just the one wants to fuck you more.

 black-tie, cut-and-dry
   apple pie in short supply
we been gangbanged. wonder why?
   we been raped by SuperFly!
 seven eight, lay them straight
  at a thousand bucks a plate.
 Tec 9, MAC 10,
where's the crime, baby?
 just say when.

Thank you, good night, and God bless America.

The Management

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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:
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[CTRL] State May Purchase Prisons

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Friday, December 15, 2000

State May Purchase Prisons

By S.U. Mahesh
Journal Capitol Bureau
SANTA FE — The Legislative Finance Committee is appraising the two private
prisons in Hobbs and Santa Rosa with a possibility of turning them into
state agencies.
An official for Florida-based Wackenhut Corrections, which operates the
prisons, said the company is willing to negotiate if New Mexico lawmakers
want to purchase the facilities in Lea and Guadalupe counties.
The committee on Thursday directed General Services Secretary Steven
Beffort to conduct the appraisals and determine a fair market value on each
prison.
The directive comes a day after Corrections Secretary Rob Perry told
lawmakers that his department is negotiating a new contract with Wackenhut
that would allow the state to either buy or lease the two private prisons.
The Legislative Finance Committee hasn't made a decision on whether to
purchase the prisons, but its chairman suggested the time is right.
"Since we have a little bit of more money, it would be a good thing to
consider," Sen. Ben Altamirano, D-Silver City, said referring to a $367
million surplus expected this fiscal year.
Altamirano, who also chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said he didn't
know if his colleagues support buying the prisons.
But he added, "I personally support it if the price is right."
Retiring Sen. Billy McKibben, R-Hobbs, said the Legislature should use the
surplus to buy both prisons as a one-time capital investment.
"I think it would be a prudent thing to buy the darn things," McKibben said.
During the 1998 legislative session, a proposal for the state to buy both
prisons for $68 million, while they were still under construction, passed
the Senate but died in a House committee.
The 1,200-bed Hobbs prison opened in May 1998. The Santa Rosa facility with
600 beds began accepting inmates in January 1999.
Wayne Calabrese, president of Wackenhut, said he couldn't put a fair market
value on the prisons because several improvements have been made to both
since they were opened.
"We have to get an appraisal of our own," Calabrese said Thursday in a
phone interview from Palm Beach Garden, Fla.
Wackenhut and its partners are willing to negotiate any proposals to sell
the prisons, he said.
The proposed corrections department contract with Wackenhut also calls for
a per diem increase from $49.88 a day to $53 a day per inmate. That would
cost New Mexico taxpayers an additional $1.2 million a year to house state
inmates in private prisons.
Copyright 2000 Albuquerque Journal

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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.

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[CTRL] Fwd: How the Republicans Stole the Election

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>How the Republicans Stole the Election
>
>GOP won by planting seeds of deception
>December 14, 2000
>BY ROGER EBERT
>
>Now that the adventure is over, it might be instructive to consider
>some of the ideas that seeped into the general consciousness. How and
>why, for example, did it become established in so many minds that Bush
>was the presumptive winner and Gore the apparent loser?
>
>What the Republicans did, cleverly, was to establish effective "memes"
>in the minds of the public and the pundits. A meme, so named by the
>British evolutionist Richard Dawkins, is like a gene, except that
>instead of advancing through organisms, it moves through minds.  Memes
>are simply ideas that demonstrate a high rate of survival and
>transmission.
>
>Bush became the "winner" of a dead heat, in the midst of an incomplete
>recount, when a premature victory was declared on her own unnecessary
>deadline by his Florida campaign co-chairwoman, who also held the
>crucial post of secretary of state. Once this bogus "certification"
>was final (Ms. Harris signing several copies on TV, including a
>valuable souvenir for herself), the Republicans referred to it
>endlessly as a valid event, even though it was clearly a shameless
>ploy to slam the door before the election escaped. A meme was born.
>
>The other effective GOP meme was the mantra, "we counted, and counted
>again, and then a third time." These words were chanted by Baker and
>the other Bush spokesmen until many Americans accepted them as a form
>of truth, even though it is clear that thousands of ballots were never
>counted at all.
>
>Another successful meme was the assault on the honesty of election
>judges and the courts in general. They were often characterized by the
>GOP as partisan crooks, unless their findings agreed with the Bush
>cause, in which case they were patriots.
>
>This led finally to the spectacle of the "states rights" party
>applauding the Supremes' federal coup halting the recount because, in
>words that will haunt Scalia forever, a recount might cast "a cloud
>upon what [Bush] claims to be the legitimacy of his election." Think
>about that. In other words, if Gore ended up with more votes, a cloud
>would be cast on Bush's claims.
>
>Three days later the Supreme Court majority overruled the Florida
>court's attempt to interpret Florida law. John Paul Stevens' dissent
>lamented this "lack of confidence in the impartiality and capacity of
>the state judges who would make the critical decisions if the vote
>count were to proceed," and added, in words that will long be quoted,
>"...the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's
>confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the law." The
>Republicans were not only more effective creators of memes but were
>also better at raising their voices. The Democrats were on the whole
>more civil in their public statements.
>
>The GOP had no hesitation in making the dangerous charge that
>Democrats were "stealing" the election. This in the face of plausible
>evidence that Gore got more votes in Florida, as he did nationally.
>Right-wing pundits were stirred to a frenzy. Ann Coulter accused the
>Democrats of being "delusional nutcases," called the Florida Supreme
>Court "power-mad lunatics," and found that the Democrats had crossed
>the "fine line" between "typical Democrat lies and demonstrably
>psychotic behavior."
>
>More Americans voted for liars and psychotics than for her candidate?
>Really? Comments like these are an example not of opinion but of
>behavior. Have you ever  seen Ms. Coulter on television? Even her
>conservative stablemates look queasy as her ideological flywheel
>spins.
>
>The Democrats were just plain outshouted. And Lady Luck rolled the
>dice and gave them the butterfly ballot, the Jews for Buchanan, the
>election boards that took days off, the hired mob to stop the Dade
>recount, the disenfranchised black voters, the illegally franchised
>military and absentee voters, the Bush cousin to call the election on
>TV, the Bush co-chairwoman to rush it through certification, and the
>Bush brother to mastermind operation fail-safe by the Florida
>legislature to certify Bush electors no matter who won. Even in Vegas
>they'd be amazed by luck this rotten;  the Miami Herald's
>statisticians estimated that Gore probably outpolled Bush by about
>23,000 votes.
>
>That's why it was so important for the Republicans to stop the count.
>
>It is important, then, to keep in mind that Bush was not obviously the
>winner nor Gore obviously the loser. The GOP has captured the election
>but may have done itself damage in the process, leaving doubts about
>the fairness of its tactics and the  recklessness of its rhetoric.
>
>At the end the Democrats were left with one meme that showed promise:
>That they  were the ones who wanted to count the votes, while the
>Republicans did not. If memes work like genes in the evolution of
>political opinion in America, this one may be 

[CTRL] Fwd: Voter cynicism: Frankly, I don't give a damn

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>18 December 2000
>New Statesman (London)
>
>Cover story - Frankly, I don't give a damn
>
>Voter turnout is at an all-time low, but don't blame it on apathy. The
>electorate has turned cynical, and that is quite a different matter.
>
>By Nick Cohen
>
>The great conflict of the 19th century was between those who could
>vote and those who could not. All adults had won the right to vote by
>the early 20th century, and they used it to fight among themselves.
>Today, a new division is gaping, which the Chartists, suffragettes and
>Labour class warriors - and their opponents - would have found
>impossible to comprehend. The great split of the 21st century is
>between those who can and do vote and those who can but, well, can't
>be bothered.
>
>Getting to grips with the Won't Vote Movement (or non-movement) is
>necessarily a difficult task. It has no manifesto. It employs no
>spin-doctors to brief journalists on its tactics and ambitions. The
>BBC never feels that the duty to provide impartial coverage requires
>that Tory, new Labour and Liberal Democrat suits on Question Time and
>Today should be balanced with a casually dressed Won't Vote leader.
>There is no leader. They have no representatives. Won't Voters are
>disenfranchised in every respect.
>
>And yet the apparently powerless are sucking legitimacy from public
>life with extraordinary speed. The historic 1997 general election,
>when the electorate was presented with the chance to - at last! -
>remove a corrupt and loathed Tory regime, produced the lowest turnout
>in the history of British democracy. When the Scots were able to
>relish an opportunity of equal historic importance and bring what was
>supposed to be the national project of generations to a conclusion, a
>mere 60 per cent of citizens participated in the first Scottish
>Parliament election. The London mayoral contest had much going for it:
>charismatic candidates who offered a genuine choice to the public and
>whose words were reported at exhaustive length by the metrocentric
>national media. Only 34 per cent of citizens voted. Both Charles
>Kennedy and David Blunkett have noted, with understandable shock, that
>more people voted for extroverts to be expelled from the Big Brother
>house than turned out to vote in England in last year's European
>elections.
>
>The swiftness of the rise of political indolence can be measured with
>a glance back at the mid-1990s. The 1997 general election was prefaced
>by two by-elections, in Wirral South and South East Staffordshire. The
>turnouts were 69 and 73 per cent respectively. Last month, during what
>every pundit assured us was the prelude to the May 2001 general
>election, there were by-elections in West Bromwich West and Preston.
>The turnouts were 27 and 29 per cent.
>
>Not voting, in short, is all the rage, and yet few know how to pin
>down the phenomenon. Backing away from politics is usually described
>as "apathy". Voters are bored but contented, soothing voices assure
>us. The hollowing-out of democracy is nothing to fret about. Indeed,
>to those who bought Francis Fukuyama's theory that the fall of the
>Berlin Wall and the success of western markets and democracy marked
>the end of history, no less, nothing could be more welcome or more
>natural than an outbreak of apathy. "The contagion of indifference is
>spreading at a healthy pace," wrote George Walden, an ex-Conservative
>MP, in the London Evening Standard. For 200 years "politics mattered",
>added Barry Cox, a television executive who bankrolled Tony Blair's
>Labour leadership campaign, in the Observer. "Now many people think it
>doesn't matter. And surely they are right."
>
>Both believe that there really is no point in voting. New Labour and
>the Conservatives agree that capitalism is the best and only way.
>Their disputes are noisy but trivial arguments about the detail.
>Healthy and prosperous people have turned away and are now far too
>busy discussing the merits of the latest iMac, gawking at the
>Zeta-Joneses or trying to master Nigella's latest tasty recipe to care
>about anything else. Politics is little more than the leisure option
>of cranks - train-spotting without the travel.
>
>It is easy to mock these gentlemen. The triumph of western democracy
>brings the collapse of democratic participation! Things are so bad
>because they're so damn good! It is easier still to point out that,
>when the gulf in wage inequality between rich and poor has never been
>greater since records began in the 1880s, and the deunionised and
>downsized British work the longest hours in Europe, it is a tad
>tactless to proclaim that all have reached a bourgeois utopia. The
>followers of Fukuyama have not so much slipped into smugness as dived
>in head first.
>
>For all that, millions from the classes that Walden and Cox are most
>likely to meet are enjoying a sweet life, and no conceivable change of
>government will add a dash of bitters. Their apathy is more than
>justified. Why shoul

[CTRL] Jesse Jackson Calls Bush Election a Court-Led Coup

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Jesse Jackson Calls Bush Election a Court-Led Coup



LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As President-elect George W. Bush continued
building his new administration on Monday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, meeting
in Los Angeles with religious and civil rights leaders, questioned the
election's legitimacy.

Blacks, Holocaust victims, college students and other Democratic-minded
Americans were intentionally excluded from the voting process, Jackson
said, by a right-wing conspiracy that engineered delays and fraudulent vote
counts.

``What we have is a coup d'etat led by the U.S. Supreme Court Jackson said
at a press conference. ``The civil rights struggle for votes to count will
continue,'' he added.

Jackson said that certain justices, influenced by ``an extreme right wing
agenda,'' purposely influenced election returns in their ruling that ended
the impasse over the presidential election and handed the White House to Bush.

As a result, Jackson said he planned a series of nonviolent rallies in
January to prove that, among other things, the election may have violated
the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The rallies will commence Jan. 15, the birthday of slain civil rights
leader Martin Luther King Jr., and they will continue at federal buildings
throughout the United States, until Bush's inauguration on Jan. 20, Jackson
said.

Jackson's charges come at a time when dozens of watchdog groups and media
outlets prepare to recount ballots by hand in an effort to quell questions
that still linger over thousands of discounted ballots around Florida that
may have changed the election's outcome had they been included in the totals.

In addition, news reports have surfaced that appear to question the
impartiality of Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices Sandra Day
O'Connor and Clarence Thomas.

Bush, the Republican governor of Texas, won the White House when Gore, who
had sought a hand recount of thousands of contested ballots in Florida,
conceded defeat on Wednesday, one day after a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling that
prevented any new recounts from going forward.

Jackson cited a Newsweek magazine article released on Sunday that reported
Sandra Day O'Connor being upset during an election-night party when she
heard Florida was first called for Vice President Al Gore exclaiming,
``This is terrible.''

O'Connor, 70, had been Republican majority leader of the Arizona State
Senate before being appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Ronald
Reagan in 1981.

Jackson also charged that the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, who was
nominated for the Supreme Court by President Bush, the president-elect's
father, in 1991, works for the conservative Washington D.C. think tank
Heritage Foundation and has been aiding the Bush campaign.

O'Connor and Thomas were part of the 5-4 Supreme Court majority that
stopped the hand count of disputed votes in a number of Florida counties.

Because of their alleged partisanship, Jackson said he believed O'Connor
and Thomas should have recused themselves.

Bush spoke by telephone with Jackson in recent days and said that he would
work to prevent minorities from being disadvantaged at polling places,
according to news reports.
``The loser won and the winner lost. Our Democracy deserves better than
that,'' Jackson said.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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.

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[CTRL] The Burden of Florida

[radman]

The Burden of Florida

The cavalcade of racial injustice that was the Florida recount

By Jack Beatty
The Atlantic Monthly
December 14, 2000

Race and class haunted the Florida recount. Political equality has been
taken away from people whose ancestors died for the right to vote.

According to a Washington Post analysis, the higher the percentage
of black voters in a given precinct, the higher the rate of ballot
rejection. In Jacksonville, a third of the ballots cast in black
precincts were rejected, four times the number in white precincts. The
columnist Arianna Huffington sees a reminder here that "[W]e are
indeed two Americas In the precincts of the other America, there were
longer lines, more unreliable voting machines and less access to
technology that instantly identified mismarked ballots and gave voters a
second chance." Even George W. Bush has said this disenfranchisement
should be looked into, after the election, which the U.S. Supreme Court
has now decided. The right to speak and, as the Florida Supreme Court
wrote in its moving opinion that uncounted legal ballots must be counted,
"the right to be heard" have been denied by the verdict of the
conservative majority in Bush v. Gore.

Let's review the cavalcade of injustice, starting with the chief
injusticer, William Rehnquist. 

Years before President Nixon put him on the Court, he was a Republican
heavy in Arizona, where he personally challenged black voters at the
polls, much as white officials are reported to have done at polling
places throughout Florida.

Antonin, order over liberty, accelerate death for the disproportionately
high number of African-American men convicted in capital cases and never
mind that their buck-an-hour appointed lawyers fell asleep in court,
Scalia is the mind of the far right. He's all brilliance joined to an
infirm heart.

Clarence Thomas, who never speaks during oral arguments, as if afraid of
betraying his mediocrity, continues to give affirmative action an
undeserved bad name. These three justices, one of whom (Rehnquist) has
said he hopes to retire with Bush in the White House and two of whom
(Scalia and Thomas) have relatives connected to the Bush lawyers or the
Bush transition team, formed the political core of the five-vote majority
finding for Bush, and against Gore, the Florida Supreme Court, and the
people of Florida. To do so, they had to forget all the contumely they
have heaped in past decisions on "judicial activism" and to set
aside the fetish they have long made of federalism.

The Supreme Court should not intervene in matters of state law except
when the majority's presidential candidate needs to win a tainted
victory. Such is the principle established in Bush v.
Gore.

In Florida we have Governor Jeb Bush, who abolished affirmative
action in the state, triggering the mass mobilization of African-American
voters against his brother that Florida's secretary of state sought to
contain by hiring a private company to disqualify them. We have the
redoubtable secretary herself, bidding for her ambassadorship. We have
the anti-democrats in the Florida legislature, eager to nullify the will
of the people and substitute their own. We have the bully boys dispatched
to Florida by Tom DeLay to intimidate the Miami-Dade canvassing board,
paladins of the First Amendment rewarded (or is it punished?) for their
foot-stomping with tickets to hear Wayne Newton. We have the Republican
governors auditioning for parts in the Bush Administration by vilifying
the vote counters, canvassing-board members, voters, and the Florida
Supreme Court. We have old Bob Dole being the old Bob Dole, denouncing
the Broward County counters for "stealing the election." We
have James Baker destroying his reputation. Dragged back into the arena
by the ungrateful Bushes, Baker has made us forget that the political
mechanic blackguarding the Florida judiciary was ever U.S. secretary of
state. The Republicans, who have flourished by depicting Democrats as
elitists, are showing a streak of royalism, throwing popular sovereignty
overboard to elevate George II. 

Finally, in history we have the election of 1876 and the Electoral
College. The talking heads have invoked 1876 to make surface parallels to
today. But the significance of 1876 does not lie in the machinations that
brought "Rutherfraud" B. Hayes to the White House. The low deal
cut between the parties ended Reconstruction in the South, leaving newly
enfranchised slaves under the dominion of white-supremacist state
governments that used fraud and terror to keep blacks from voting for the
next ninety years.

Would it be asking too much of the pundits to draw the parallel between
that disenfranchisement and the disenfranchisement in Florida
documented by The Washington Post? Or to remark the sad irony of
the Bush lawyers' using "equal protection of the laws"the pith
of the post-Civil War Fourteenth Amendment granting the rights of
citizenship to freed slaves, to shut down the recount

[CTRL] Fwd: The Kennebunkport Hillbilly

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

The Kennebunkport Hillbilly
(sung to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies Theme Song)

Come and listen to my story 'bout a boy name Bush.
His IQ was zero and his head was up his tush.
He drank like a fish while he drove all about.
But that didn't matter 'cuz his daddy bailed him out.
DUI, that is.  Criminal record.  Cover-up.

Well, the first thing you know little Georgie goes to Yale.
He can't spell his name but they never let him fail.
He spends all his time hangin' out with student folk.
And that's when he learns how to snort a line of coke.
Blow, that is.  White gold.  Nose candy.

The next thing you know there's a war in Vietnam.
Kin folks say, "George, stay at home with Mom."
Let the common people get maimed and scarred.
We'll buy you a spot in the Texas Air Guard.
Cushy, that is.  Country clubs.  Nose candy.

Twenty years later George gets a little bored.
He trades in the booze, says that Jesus is his Lord.
He said, "Now the White House is the place I wanna be."
So he called his daddy's friends and they called the GOP.
Gun owners, that is.  Falwell.  Jesse Helms.

Come November 7, the election ran late.
Kin folks said "Jeb, give the boy your state!"
"Don't let those colored folks get into the polls."
So they put up barricades so they couldn't punch their holes.
Chads, that is.  Duval County.  Miami-Dade.

Before the votes were counted five Supremes stepped in.
Told all the voters "Hey, we want George to win."
"Stop counting votes!" was their solemn invocation.
And that's how George finally got his coronation.
Rigged, that is.  Illegitimate.  No moral authority.
Y'all come vote now.  Ya hear?

Paid for by the Katherine Harris Foundation for Corrective Plastic Surgery.
© 2000 (Year of the Brat) Mike Lambert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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.

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[CTRL] Bedtime for Democracy

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Bedtime for Democracy



The voting booth has become the abattoir of the national will

by Jim Washburn

Was that a little wake-up slap or what? Are you sufficiently outraged? If
this putsch of an election had happened in a Central American nation,
wouldn't we be sending in the Marines right now to restore democracy, at
least if leftists had won?

The election outcome reminds me of the tale about the steel-driving
competition between John Henry and the steam engine. At the end the
contest, John Henry had driven one more spike than the machine, at which
point the man fell dead from his exertions. It's an inspiring story about
human willpower, if you ignore the outcome of the guy being dead and the
machine going on to rule the age.

And we come now to the situation where humans elected Al Gore, but machines
made George W. Bush president.
Still trying to sort out what happened in the past two months? Gore won the
popular vote in the country, which in a democracy would make him
president.  Add the few percent who voted for Ralph Nader, and there is a
distinct majority of Americans who did not want the man who is now their
president.  Fair enough: we only got Clinton rather than Bush's dad because
of Ross Perot.
But the new president-elect is only that because the electoral college (an
outmoded institution with no place in a modern republic) majority was
handed to him by voting machines.
The margin of error of the Florida vote-counting machines (3 percent to 5
percent) was greater than the difference between the candidates' vote
tallies (.016 percent), begging a manual recount. Gore's people moved to
have recounts in Democratic-leaning counties where the voting
irregularities were particularly egregious, and Gore graciously offered not
to contest any similar recounts Bush might request, an offer rejected
because Bush's handlers preferred his being the choice of machine-count
error to the uncertainty of an actual tally of citizens' votes.
Among the anomalies Republicans weren't troubled by: thousands of votes
miscast in one county due to a confusing ballot, with the detestable
outcome that persons who lived through the Holocaust may have mistakenly
voted for a man who has downplayed the Holocaust and thousands of black and
poor voters disenfranchised by old, faulty voting and tabulating machines.
They may not get separate drinking fountains anymore, but they do get
separate, inferior voting equipment.
Attempts to redress these wrongs were derided as trying to change the rules
after "the game" was over by persons who can't see that this isn't a game,
but rather a solemn undertaking thwarted. While they recited the big-lie
mantra that the votes had been counted three times, and each time Bush won,
they knew tens of thousands of votes were never counted and now only will
be counted by historians to help confirm for future generations that the
voting booth has become the abattoir of the national will.
Other election-tossing events: even when votes were recounted, Florida's
secretary of state, co-chairperson of Bush's Florida campaign, cynically
found ways to exclude them. Meanwhile, thousands of absentee ballot
applications had been illegally, the law reads "felony" doctored by
Republican operatives. When this went to court, Bush lawyers tried to have
one "liberal" judge disqualified on the grounds that she might be biased
because Bush's brother Jeb had overlooked her for a promotion. (She wasn't
disqualified and ruled in Bush's favor.)
This gets interesting when the decision between Bush and Gore was made for
us by the Supreme Court, two of whose members Gore had directly voted
against confirming in the Senate. Antonin Scalia, meanwhile, only has two
sons working for law firms that work for Bush; one of his son's partners
was even the lawyer arguing Bush's case before him. Judge Clarence Thomas,
appointed by Bush's dad, has a wife working on the Bush transition team.
Recusal anyone?
It's curious, too, to see a states-rights candidate turn to a states-rights
court to get them to intercede in a state's laws and to see the court
render a sharply divided ruling based on "equal treatment under the law"
that seems very concerned with the niggling technicalities of disparities
in recount procedures from county to county, while ignoring the rather
graver unequal treatment of thousands of votes never being counted at all
and the White House going to an unelected president.
Justice John Paul Stevens dissenting comment will ring for years: "Although
we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of
this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly
clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian
of the rule of law."
So what do we do now? Unless there's a domed city in the Marianas Trench
where we can go sit out the Bush presidency, we deal with it.
After the Supreme Court decision

[CTRL] Punch card problems were ignored for years

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

http://www.herald.com/content/archive/news/elect2000/decision/025171.htm

Published Sunday, December 17, 2000, in the Miami Herald

Punch card problems were ignored for years
BY PETER WHORISKEY AND JOSEPH TANFANI
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Florida elections supervisors continued to use punch-card ballots despite
numerous signs over 20 years that they botched thousands of votes and could
throw into doubt the outcome of any close race.

The 2000 election debacle erupted because these warnings were largely
ignored:

  Thousands of punch-card votes were being rejected every election. In the
1992 and 1996 elections, the earliest for which complete data are available,
the presidential votes on more than 20 of every 1,000 ballots were not
counted because ballots were either double-punched, unpunched or
incompletely punched, a survey of Florida's 12 most populous counties shows.

  Manufacturers of voting machines knew that ``hanging chad'' was a
significant problem throughout the '70s, when the machines became widespread
in Florida, patent documents show. Hanging chads prevent the counting
machines from accurately recording ballots.

  Candidates in close races were complaining about ``overvotes'' and
``undervotes'' as far back as the '70s. Sometimes these candidates sued. But
canvassing boards and judges typically dismissed their complaints.

  Two large counties, Brevard and Volusia, recognized the problems with punch
cards and switched to ``optical scan'' systems in which voters shade in
ovals. The proportion of discarded ballots in these counties dropped from 26
per 1,000 to three or fewer per 1,000. But most of the large counties kept
the punch-card ballots, shrugging off evidence that thousands of voters were
being silenced in every election.

Many of these problems were summarized in a 1988 National Bureau of
Standards report that recommended abandoning pre-scored punch-card ballots.
The report was distributed to elections offices around the country.

The presidential election just months later rendered that federal warning
prophetic: One in 12 Miami-Dade voters cast a ballot on which the machine
did not find a valid presidential vote. Similar problems erupted in that
year's U.S. Senate contest in Palm Beach, Broward and Hillsborough counties.

``The question you have to ask is, `Why did elections supervisors continue
with punch cards?' '' said Roy Saltman, the author of the report. ``All the
evidence said there was a serious problem.''

Elections supervisors in most large counties say they either did not
recognize the ruined ballots as a significant issue or believed that no
other voting method was significantly more accurate.

Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections David Leahy: ``Until we got to this
election, no one ever looked at undervotes or overvotes. I didn't think of
them.'' Later, asked about a number of undervote and overvote complaints
brought by candidates in Miami-Dade, he said: ``I've always been concerned
about hanging chads. It's always been a flaw in the system.''

However, Leahy said he is skeptical of using the optical scan equipment --
because counting ballots at the precinct rather than in a central location
raises the possibility of far-flung mistakes or manipulation. The ballots
are counted at precincts so they can be rejected immediately if voters make
mistakes such as double-punching.

``Optical scan is not utopia,'' he said. ``There's no perfect system.
There's no system that's put on the market that prevents a voter from making
an error.''

SIGNS MISREAD

Elections supervisors have long viewed the rejection of thousands of ballots
as a natural part of elections, not as an ominous warning sign.

Some people accidentally mark too many candidates on a ballot. These
so-called ``overvote'' ballots are not counted.

Some people intentionally do not vote in some races, particularly when they
lack familiarity with the candidates. These are called ``undervote''
ballots, and they aren't counted either.

As a result some elections supervisors and some Republicans argue that the
proportion of uncounted ballots in the 2000 presidential election was not
unacceptable.

``I don't get it,'' Joan Brock, deputy supervisor of elections in Pinellas
County, said of the furor over this year's undervotes. ``Not everyone votes
for president, and it wouldn't surprise me to see that two percent of them
didn't want to vote for president.''

A closer look at voting records, however, suggests that very few people go
to the polls in presidential elections without intending to vote for
president, and that thousands of would-be voters every election are thwarted
by punch-card ballots.

Consider, for example, the experience of Brevard County, the largest Florida
county that has used both punch cards and fill-in-the-oval ballots.

In 1996, the last presidential election tallied on punch cards, 26 of every
1,000 voters failed to cast a valid presidential vote.

In 2000, after the switch to fill-in-the-oval b

[CTRL] Fwd: High Court in Awkward Spot Over Equal Protection Ruling

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>
>http://www.latimes.com/print/20001216/t000119953.html
>
>High Court in Awkward Spot Over Equal Protection Ruling
>
>By DAVID G. SAVAGE, HENRY WEINSTEIN, Times Staff Writers
>Saturday, December 16, 2000
>
>  WASHINGTON--Over the last 15 years, the Supreme Court
>under Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has made it
>nearly impossible to win constitutional claims of unequal treatment.
>  To succeed, the court has ruled, claimants must prove
>that government officials were biased and engaged in blatant
>discrimination. This high threshold is rarely crossed.
>  That is why many legal experts were taken aback this
>week when the high court relied on the equal protection clause
>to stop the manual recount of presidential ballots in Florida.
>  No one had alleged that the judges who would supervise
>the recounts were motivated by discriminatory bias.
>  Nonetheless, the claim proved to be a winner for lawyers
>representing Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
>  "We find a violation of the equal protection clause,"
>the conservative majority said in Bush vs. Gore, because the
>recount process lacked the "procedural safeguards" to assure
>that counties would not treat unread ballots differently.
>  Until this week the court had consistently turned away
>equal protection claims, even when confronted with strong
>allegations of racial bias.
>  When defense lawyers challenged Georgia's death-penalty
>system as racially biased, they cited studies showing that
>murders involving whites were 11 times more likely to result
>in a death sentence than murders of blacks.
>  But on a 5-4 vote, the court in 1987 rejected that claim,
>ruling that the statistics did not prove that the Georgia
>officials were biased.
>
>Rehnquist Rejects Drug Case Study
>  Four years ago, public defenders in Los Angeles alleged
>a pattern of bias in federal drug prosecutions. They said that
>during one year every person charged with a federal crack
>cocaine offense was black. A federal judge then ordered a
>study of drug cases in the U.S. attorney's office and cleared
>the way for the defense lawyers to question prosecutors.
>  But Rehnquist, speaking for the high court, overturned
>that order and quashed the study based on what he called
>"ordinary equal protection standards. . . . The claimant must
>demonstrate that the federal prosecutorial policy had a
>discriminatory effect and was motivated by a discriminatory purpose."
>  Since the public defenders had no proof in advance that
>U.S. attorneys in Los Angeles were biased, they were not
>entitled to the study, he said.
>  The gap between the court's usual approach and this week's
>ruling has caused both debate and some despair among
>legal scholars.
>  University of Chicago law professor Cass Sunstein, who
>considers himself an admirer of the Rehnquist court, said that
>his faith in the justices has been shaken.
>  "The good thing you can say about this case is that it
>settled things in the least messy way. But as a matter of law it is a
>real embarrassment. It's the worst moment for the court, at
>least since Roe," Sunstein said, referring to the 1973 ruling in
>Roe vs. Wade that upheld the right to abortion.
>  "The equal protection holding is a bolt out of the blue.
>There is no precedent for it and there's no support in history for
>this type of ruling," Sunstein said. "And for it to come now in
>a 5-4 decision, it's just very hard to explain."
>  University of Virginia law professor A. E. Dick Howard
>also said that he finds the ruling difficult to explain on legal
>grounds.
>  "This is a remarkable use of the equal protection clause.
>It is not consistent with anything they have done in the past 25
>years," Howard said. "No one even claimed there was intentional
>discrimination here."
>
>Clause Dates Back to the Civil War
>  The guarantee of equal protection of the laws was added
>to the Constitution after the Civil War to protect black
>Americans from discrimination in the South.
>  During the late 19th century, the Supreme Court nearly
>erased this clause from the Constitution with the "separate but
>equal" doctrine that permitted rigidly racist practices.
>  The court revived the equal protection guarantee in 1954
>with the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling that struck
>down official segregation.
>  The closest precedents for Tuesday's ruling came in
>reapportionment cases of the early 1960s. Then, the court
>confronted a situation in which rural counties had far more
>power in many state legislatures than their populations would
>justify. For example, a rural county with 50,000 residents might
>have the same one vote in the state Senate as a city of
>500,000.
>  Citing the right to vote and the equal protection clause,
>the court of Chief Justice Earl Warren said that voters were
>entitled to roughly equal representation. One such ruling,
>Reynolds vs. Sims in 1964, was cited in 

[CTRL] The Five Worst Republican Outrages

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

The Five Worst Republican Outrages
Remembering How a President Who Promised to Unify a Nation Fixed an Election

by Wayne Barrett
Village Voice
December 20-26, 2000

They are ugly people, and they behave in ugly ways.
Mario Cuomo on the GOP, December 17, 2000

1. James Baker, his tongue darting in the air, first raised the prospect of
an end run around the courts by the Florida legislature hours after the
state's supreme court ruled unanimously on November 22 to allow manual
recounts in three counties. His leathery face broke out in a smug smile
when he said it. After the Florida court ruled a second time in favor of a
recount on December 8, Baker invoked the legislature again. Having
prophesied the legislative coup, however, Baker was quick to say the Bush
team had nothing to do with it.

"I haven't talked to anybody in the Florida Legislature that I know is in
the Florida Legislature," he said, adding he'd never even met House Speaker
Tom Feeney. Assuming that's true, Baker was practically announcing that
Brother Jeb had put the legislature in play. With Feeney's majority
approving the Bush slate the very day that the U.S. Supreme Court weighed
its final decision, the First Family of Texas and Florida was making it
clear that it was even prepared to circumvent a 7 to 2 Republican court if
it didn't like the ultimate decision.

2. Almost unnoticed in the 24-hour stream of cable punditry, the GOP
demanded and got a hand recount in New Mexico after opposing one for weeks
in Florida. W. picked up 125 votes on the recount of Roosevelt County,
narrowing Gore's lead to 368.

Incredibly, Mickey Barnett, the GOP national committeeman for New Mexico
and a lawyer for the party, wrote a district court judge that there was "of
course, no other way to determine the accuracy of this apparent
discrepancy, or machine malfunction, other than the board reviewing the
votes by hand."

Barnett got a recount of the undervote, pointing out how unusual it was
that 10 percent of the county's voters did not vote for president. While
Roosevelt went for Bush 2 to 1, the GOP did not seek a recount of much
larger undervotes in three highly Democratic counties. Barnett said
Roosevelt's undervote for president "defies historical precedent and common
sense."

The only conceivable reason why the GOP cared enough about New Mexico's
five electoral votes as late as December 1 was the fear that if it carried
Florida by legislative fiat, in defiance of the courts, it might lose
individual electors in other states. New Mexico would have been a cushion
against such defections.

3.The "bourgeois riot" celebrated by Wall Street Journal columnist Paul
Gigot helped stop the announced manual recount of the 10,750 undervote in
Miami-Dade County. Instigated by an order from New York congressman John
Sweeney to "shut it down," dozens of screaming GOP demonstrators pounded on
doors and a picture window at elections headquarters. The canvassing board,
which had already found a net Al Gore gain of 168 votes, reversed a
decision it had made a couple of hours earlier to begin a tally of the
undervote.

The mob gang-rushed a local Democrat carrying a blank sample ballot. They
threatened that a thousand Cubans were on their way to the headquarters to
stop the count. Several people were "trampled, punched or kicked,"
according to The New York Times. The canvassing board chair at first
conceded that mob pressures played a role in the shutdown, which cost Gore
the 168 votes as well, but later reversed his position.

The high success rate in the partial recount triggered a "mandatory"
obligation under state law to count the rest of the ballots, but it also
triggered a GOP mania to block it. Sweeney, who was coordinating the
assault with a local Cuban congressman, branded Dade "ground zero" in the
ballot battle and called the attempted count "theft," though his own
representatives were in the room where it was scheduled to begin.

Instead of condemning the Dade tactics, W. himself called the victory party
that night to praise them, and Republicans invoked the specter of Jesse
Jackson, who'd merely led peaceful protests outside election offices.
Unlike Sweeney's mob, Jackson was, of course, protesting real voter theft,
the massive Duval County disenfranchising of black voters, a cause all but
ignored by Gore for fear the GOP would turn the Florida fight into a Race
Thing, their favorite consensus-building gimmick.

4. Bush's lawyers, as well as those representing the Florida legislature
and Secretary of State Katherine Harris, argued during the protest phase
that "there would not be any problem" with having a manual recount once the
certification of the election results was complete. They said a challenge
for hand recounts was reserved for the contest phase after certification.

"You would be centralizing the factual inquiry in one court in Leon
County," argued Bush lawyer Michael Carvin in a comparison between the
disparate protest and focused con

[CTRL] Fwd: Holiday Greetings...

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 00:41:01 -0500
>From: Jim Fleckenstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Holiday Greetings...
>
>Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes
>for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress,
>non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice
>holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious
>persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with
>respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of
>others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions
>at all...
>
>... and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically
>uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted
>calendar year 2001, but not without due respect for the calendars of
>choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped
>make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater
>than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the western
>hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age,
>physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or
>sexual preference of the wishee.
>
>(By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This
>greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely
>transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no
>promise by the wisher actually to implement any of the wishes for
>her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is
>revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted
>to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for
>a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday
>greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement
>of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the
>wisher.)
>
>Peace and love,
>
>Jim

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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
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[CTRL] Communists Now Least Threatening Group In U.S.

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

 >From the Onion:

Communists Now Least Threatening Group In U.S.

WASHINGTON, DC-- According to a report released Tuesday by the
Pentagon, Communists rank last on a list of 238 threats to national
security. "Communists may now safely be ignored," Secretary of
Defense William Cohen said. "The Red Menace has been surpassed by
militia groups, religious extremists, ecoterrorists, cybercriminals,
Hollywood producers, and angry drivers." Other groups deemed more
threatening than Communists include rap-metal bands (#96), escaped
zoo animals (#202), and Belgians (#237).

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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.

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[CTRL] Fwd: FBI reportedly hid key evidence

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>
>http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/356/metro/FBI_reportedly_hid_key_evidenceP.shtml
>
>FBI reportedly hid key evidence
>
>Documents show it knew of Deegan slaying plot in '65
>
>By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Correspondent, 12/21/2000
>
>  Secret documents recently discovered in a Justice Department probe
> of FBI corruption appear to show that the bureau knew not only that the
> wrong men were convicted of a 1965 gangland murder, but also that agents
> were told about the plot two days before it happened and apparently did
> nothing to stop it.
>
>The reports, found at FBI headquarters in Washington, were turned over
>yesterday to lawyers for reputed Mafia associate Peter J. Limone, who has
>served 32 years in prison for the slaying of small-time hoodlum Edward
>''Teddy'' Deegan in Chelsea. They strongly suggest that the FBI's chief
>witness at the 1968 trial, legendary Boston hit man Joseph ''The Animal''
>Barboza, framed Limone and several other men.
>
>As Limone languished in prison for three decades, documents that might
>have proved his innocence sat in secret FBI informant files in Washington
>and were never turned over to the defense, attorney John Cavicchi of East
>Boston said yesterday.
>
>''This is a disgrace. If it weren't so tragic it would be laughable,''
>said Cavicchi, who is handling Limone's bid to have his conviction
>overturned in Middlesex Superior Court.
>
>Boston FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz declined comment.
>
>The new documents also reveal for the first time that the brother of
>infamous gangster and FBI informant Stephen Flemmi was also successfully
>recruited as an FBI informant for five months in 1965 - even though other
>informants were telling the bureau that he was responsible for numerous
>killings and that he had vowed to become Boston's ''No. 1 hit man.''
>
>FBI evaluation reports of Vincent J. ''Jimmy the Bear'' Flemmi's potential
>usefulness as an FBI mole show the chilling lengths the FBI was willing to
>go to in its clandestine organized crime informant program.
>
>Special Agent Dennis Condon, for example, wrote one 1964 report that an
>unnamed informant said Jimmy Flemmi had boasted about becoming Boston's
>most prolific full-time assassin.
>
>''Flemmi told him [the informant] that all he wants to do now is kill
>people, and that it is better than hitting banks,'' the report states.
>''Informant said Flemmi said that he feels he can now be the top hit man
>in this area and intends to be.''
>
>Another report said Flemmi was a suspect in the Deegan murder and several
>other killings, but that recruiting him as an informant was ''worth the risk.''
>
>Even supporters of Limone and the other defendants, who contended for
>years that they were the victims of an FBI frame-up, called the contents
>of the documents shocking.
>
>Boston lawyer Victor Garo, who represents Limone's co-defendant, Joseph
>Salvati, went as far as telling WBZ-TV (Channel 4) that the prosecution
>was an FBI ''murder conspiracy'' because the punishment for murder at the
>time was death in the electric chair. Four of the defendants, including
>Limone and Salvati, received death sentences that were later changed to life.
>
>The reports were turned over to Cavicchi, Garo, and Suffolk District
>Attorney Ralph Martin II's office yesterday by Special US Attorney John
>Durham, who for the last several years has been investigating corruption
>in the FBI's informant relationships with gangsters Stephen Flemmi and
>Whitey Bulger.
>
>Durham could not be reached for comment yesterday.
>
>One key report states that on March 10, 1965 - two days before the murder
>- an unidentified FBI informant told Special Agent H. Paul Rico that Jimmy
>Flemmi was planning to kill Deegan and that the murder had the blessing of
>then-New England Mafia boss Raymond L.S. Patriarca.
>
>''Informant advised that he had just heard from Jimmy Flemmi, and Flemmi
>told the informant that Raymond Patriarca has put out the word that Edward
>`Teddy' Deegan is to be `hit,' and that a dry run has already been made
>and that a close associate of Deegan's has agreed to set him up,'' Rico's
>report states.
>
>One day after the murder, another informant told Rico that Flemmi,
>Barboza, and three other men had committed the crime.
>
>Neither Limone, Salvati, nor two other co-defendants, top New England
>Mafia advisor Henry Tameleo and underworld figure Louis Greco, were
>mentioned. The information was forwarded to FBI headquarters in director
>J. Edgar Hoover's name, although there is no indication whether Hoover
>himself actually saw it.
>
>All four men were convicted. Tameleo and Greco died in prison, while
>Salvati's sentence was later commuted.
>
>None of the information, Cavicchi said, was turned over to the defense in
>the case. Barboza, who was recruited as an FBI witness by Rico and Condon,
>was the key witness and the only witness against Limone. Privately, even
>law enforcement officials involved in the case were callin

[CTRL] Hard Green Herald # 1

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Hard Green Herald # 1, December 2000

"Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to get better.
It's not."
--Dr. Seuss, 'The Lorax'

--A RadTimes production--
---
QUOTE:
"The road to the future leads us smack into the wall. We simply ricochet
off the alternatives that destiny offers. Our survival is no more than a
question of 25, 50 or perhaps 100 years."
--Jacques Cousteau
---
Contents:
---
--Climate Talks Collapse
--Uproar Disrupts Climate Conference
--Climate Talks Dominated by America Most Anti-Environment Legislators
--Thousands Of Protesters Rally Outside Climate Conference
--Canadian farm group calls for moratorium on GM foods
--Demonstrations in 50 Cities Target CITIGROUP
--Pollution Adds To Global Warming
--Biotech Corn Raises US Farmers' Fears of Contamination
--New kid on the block
Linked stories:
*Frankenfish or Tomorrow's Dinner?
*Plastics fire, toxic cloud close Calif. schools
*Draft report shows world getting even warmer
*Arctic faces ozone damage by 2020, says scientist
*West pays Russia to close ozone destroying plants
*U.K. Understated 'Mad Cow' Threat
*Turning Up Heat on Global Warming
*West Nile Virus Can Spread Without Mosquitoes' Help
*Selling Evolution in a Way Darwin Never Imagined
*Contaminated French beef fed to humans
*Global warming to blame for Israel's monsoon rains
*Debating the Environmental Impacts of the Internet Economy
*Poisoned Legacy
*Many Americans say stop planting gene-altered crops
---
Begin stories:
---
Climate Talks Collapse



No deal on global warming as climate talks collapse

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- United Nations climate talks have collapsed in
disarray with no deal reached to stop global warming.

"There isn't a deal. That's unfortunate," British Deputy Prime Minister
John Prescott told reporters, saying he was leaving the conference in The
Hague hours before a deadline to reach for a pact.

"I'm gutted," Prescott said.

Delegates said talks had foundered on disagreements between the EU and the
United States over ways to curb emissions of greenhouse gases believed to
be causing climate change.

The talks have been suspended until May 2001, a source in the 15-nation
European Union said.

The conference chairman, Dutch environment minister Jan Pronk, said: "We
have not reached agreement. I am very disappointed." Pronk said he was not
closing the conference but would resume it at a later stage.

"We cannot go home just by stating, by confessing, that we did not reach an
agreement," he said.

"We should be aware that we have been watched by the outside world," he
told the delegates in a closing plenary. "There were extremely high
expectations of us."

A key issue blocking agreement was that of "sinks" -- whether to let
countries count the carbon absorbed by their forests against their
greenhouse gas emissions.

U.S. officials say nations should get credit for existing farmland and
forests because they absorb carbon dioxide and offset some emissions.
Opponents say such programs would reward certain countries for doing nothing.

"Governments have spent two weeks essentially arguing about how they can do
as little as possible to reduce the threat of global climate change," said
Tony Juniper, vice chairman of Friends of the Earth.

Greenpeace said the meeting "will be remembered as the moment when
governments abandoned the promise of global cooperation to protect the
planet Earth."

Delegates had been negotiating throughout the night in an attempt to reach
agreement by a deadline of 1600 GMT on Saturday.

Earlier on Saturday, UK Environment Minister Michael Meacher had said the
"crunch issues" had been resolved, with the basic elements in place.

However, other negotiators warned that the talks were on the brink of
collapse because of widespread opposition to what they see as U.S.
reluctance to limit its own power to pollute.

The U.S. and the 15-nation European Union have argued over ways to clean up
the earth's atmosphere.

Poor nations and green groups warned of environmental catastrophe if the
talks among 180 countries failed to forge the first concrete global steps
against climate change by the deadline.

The talks were to set an agreement on guidelines on how nations may reach
targets they accepted three years ago for reducing emissions of the
greenhouse gases.

The gases are blamed for the abnormal warming of the Ea

[CTRL] Radio Havana on our election

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 13 December 2000

 > *Viewpoint: DEMOCRACY ... US STYLE
 >
 >The magnitude of the political scandal that has hit the world's
 >only super-power has sent reverberations around the world. The nation
 >that lectures the world on how to run a democracy -- including
 >elections -- has been shamed into admitting that its problems are
 >similar if not worse than those of many of the Third World countries
 >whose electoral systems it criticizes. Tuesday's decision by the US
 >Supreme Court took a full month after the nation's presidential
 >elections took place. It has effectively put an end to the political
 >battle, opening the way for the Republican candidate George W Bush to
 >enter the White House in January. But it also helped put an end to
 >any notion that the system was "Democratic."
 >
 >This is not the first time in the history of the United States that
 >a candidate has won the election without gaining a majority of the
 >popular vote. This time, however, the very credibility of US so-
 >called Democracy is on the line.
 >
 >Democracy that involves a national voter absentee rate of 50 percent.
 >
 >Democracy that, consequently (and given the vote that Al Gore
 >received), allows the man who takes over as president in January to
 >do so with the support of less than 25 percent of the electorate.
 >Democracy that refuses to allow a serious alternative contender for
 >the presidency to publicly debate the other two principle candidates
 >on national TV.
 >
 >Democracy that allows a state legislature such as Florida's to ignore
 >the vote of its people and decide for themselves who will or will not
 >be given the electoral votes so essential to win this election. Thus,
 >for the first time in its history, a state legislative body of a
 >little over 100 representatives has effectively elected the US
 >president.
 >
 >Democracy that allows two US Supreme Court justices to vote on such
 >an important issue when they both have clear conflicts of interest in
 >doing so. Justice Thomas's wife being directly involved in the Bush
 >campaign, and Justice Scalia's two sons hired as attorneys for two
 >law firms representing the Bush campaign in its arguments to the
 >Supreme Court (and thus, their father) itself.
 >
 >Hardly the notion of the true democratic representational system
 >Washington pundits and politicians are forever lecturing the rest of
 >the world about.
 >
 >Most of the countries that Washington roundly criticizes for not
 >having "democratic" elections have a second round of voting when the
 >first is contested so closely -- but not the self-proclaimed champion
 >of Democracy. The U.S. Supreme Court is the country's highest
 >judicial body and an appeal against any of its rulings has little
 >chance of success. The electoral votes of the state of Florida have
 >been stolen from the people by their so-called representatives and
 >apportioned along strictly partisan lines in a winner-take-all system
 >that defies every notion of Democracy.
 >
 >A new chapter of U.S. electoral history will begin with Bush's
 >inauguration on January 20th 2001. It is too early to say if the
 >status quo that passes for US Democracy will be maintained in the
 >light of this election scandal, but most experts say that once the
 >dust settles everyone will get back to living the same routine.
 >However, there will be many who will nonetheless recall that the man
 >in charge of what he calls the "Greatest Democracy on Earth" for the
 >next four years, will have to come to terms with the fact that he won
 >the election on the political whim of the legislature of his
 >own brother's state without the support of the vast majority of his
 >people.
 >
 >(c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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.

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[CTRL] The Year of Living Endlessly

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

The Year of Living Endlessly



Finally we were ushered into a victory celebration where gray-haired,
somber, expensively tailored
Republicans murmured comradely remarks

By Larry Bensky

Forty years ago: A chill New York November morning, despite bright sun
bouncing from the tall, red brick walls across the wide upper Manhattan
avenue, through the dirty bay window of the tiny, one-bedroom apartment I
shared with two other guys just out of college. The three of us rotated our
six-month shifts in the coveted narrow bedroom with its attendant sexual
privacy privilege, the other two crashing on the cot and couch in our
shabby living room, scheming our intimate liaisons for times when the
others were supposedly away. It's only safe to get out of bed a half hour
at least after the heat clangs its way to the third of four floors in the
narrow brownstone building. Up too early, you'd measure the seconds by your
breath steaming in the overnight air.
But, today, cold be damned; it's election day! That sunny wall across the
street belongs to an armory; inside it is a polling place. A warm glow
suffuses the cold, dry sinuses, radiating from the fact that I'm finally
old enough to vote for the first time and today's the day I get to vote
against Richard Nixon!
Yes, even on my Election Day One, it was not about voting for that year's
windbag phony, the designated scion of the insular, prejudiced, narrowly
materialist Kennedy clan. It was about voting against Nixon, that
ever-shifting, ever-discomforting, ever-ambitious, ever-grim purveyor of
the deadly, divisive anti-communist
demonology which smothered social discussion, intellectual debate, and
communal development.  Kennedy's minions managed to steal that election for
him, one of the closest in history to that point,
with classic vote count manipulations in boss-rotten Democratic Chicago and
parts of running mate Lyndon Johnson's Democratic Texas fiefdoms as well.
And, of course, Nixon, far from disappearing, lurked around politically, to
reappear and claim his presidency eight years later in plenty
of time to continue the world-wide carnage Kennedy and Johnson had
escalated from Dwight
Eisenhower, who, in turn, had received the tools of cataclysmic,
ideologically inescapable overt and covert conflict from Democrat Harry
Truman.
I knew of this disillusioning bipartisan disgrace, of course; it was hardly
a secret at the time (and has been even better documented now, almost half
a century later). Nevertheless, I continued not only to vote, but to
organize others to vote.
When it was time to cast my next presidential ballot, in 1964, it was as an
absentee, while I was living in near-homeless poverty in Paris. Crashing in
two-dollar-a-night hotels with single fifteen-watt light bulbs and no
visible means of heat in a dark northern European winter, I learned which
cafés were likely to have the best collection of the newspapers I couldn't
afford to buy. Between the lines of those papers one could read that the
man I was organizing and intending to vote for, Lyndon Johnson, was a vulgar,
corrupt power junkie, whose pious rhetoric belied his miserable personal
and professional behavior,
only occasionally leavened by some vestigial concern for human welfare. But
here again, it was time not to vote for LBJ, but against Republican Barry
Goldwater, known, however falsely, as avatar of humankind's direst
potential: nuclear war, environmental degradation, ethnic apartheid.
By 1968, newly arrived in San Francisco with its intense menu of electoral
and non-electoral
leftisms, after the assassination of Bobby Kennedy and the milding out of
Eugene McCarthy, my
choice was between Dick Gregory and Eldridge Cleaver (I chose Cleaver, who,
as the years evolved, arguably turned out to be as despicable an option as
Nixon or Goldwater would have been).
The last Democrat on my electoral resumé, and probably the last one who
will ever be inscribed
thereupon, was George McGovern in 1972. Here, for once, I was not just
voting against someone
(Nixon, redux, now having acquired the power, which he used fully, to turn
his heretofore
rhetorical bellicosity into vast oceans of real blood and horror) but for a
man I had interviewed at
length, and whose comportment I had observed close-up during the campaign.
(Nixon clobbered him, of course, with a vicious campaign that succeeded in
submerging McGovern's sensible, gentle humanism in a fog of
pseudo-patriotic blather and youth-bashing.)
I had by then developed quite an obsession with electoralism, leavened with
a massive skepticism about its practitioners. In fact, that skepticism may
have dated back to an encounter that predated the casting of my first vote,
when I met the father and now grandfather of ex- and elect-Presidents Bush.
It happened when I was a sophomore in college the very same college which
allowed both Bushes to glide through on their pedigrees and privile

[CTRL] Fwd: One nation, divisible, with niches for all

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>Monday December 25
>Bart: One nation, divisible, with niches for all
>
>By Peter Bart, Daily Variety Editor-in-Chief
>
>HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Everyone would like to forget the
>excruciating presidential election.
>Now that we're about to anoint our new president, however -- the
>``accidental president,'' as the
>Economist calls him -- we'd all do well to take a final glimpse
>at the numbers, and here's why:
>
>The returns reveal a nation divided, but the division is more
>cultural than it is political-- a
>phenomenon that holds serious implications for showbiz.
>
>Indeed, given the regionalism, if not tribalism, gripping the
>U.S., some strategic re-thinking about the
>nature of TV and film fare seems overdue.
>
>Here are the facts that the election put on display:
>
>- Three-fifths of city-dwellers voted for Al Gore, while
>three-fifths of the rustics voted for George
>W. Bush.
>
>- Gore won the coasts while Bush won the middle of the country
>plus every Southern state. Gore
>carried 71% of the electoral votes outside the South.
>
>- Men preferred Bush by 11%, while women favored Gore by 12%.
>
>- Singles backed Gore by 23% while married voters were in Bush's
>camp by 8%.
>
>- Bush won fewer than one in 10 black votes.
>
>- Three-fifths of gun-owners backed Bush while the same
>proportion of non gun-owners favored
>Gore.
>
>- Bush won the majority of those who attended church at least
>once a month and 79% of whites
>who attended church once a week or more.
>
>``There is no majority in this country; there are two deeply
>divided blocs,'' Morris Florina, a
>Stanford political science professor, told Ronald Brownstein of
>the Los Angeles Times.
>
>For those charged with the responsibility of coming up with hit
>TV shows or blockbuster movies, the
>conclusions are intriguing. This is not a nation that is
>coalescing in terms of tastes or values, but rather
>one that is pulling further apart, which helps explain why
>network programmers find it increasingly
>difficult to come up with an across-the-board hit shows and why
>the niche-marketers of cable
>continue to gain ground.
>
>Across our pop culture there are clearly enormous opportunities
>for black or Latino entertainment,
>for urban comedy aimed at singles or for other niche programming.
>On the other hand, the hix in the
>sticks will increasingly nix those pics that offend their
>heartland values.
>
>The over-riding question is this: Should the stix have veto power
>over the coasts? Given the fact that
>two nations hover under one flag, both must be tolerant of the
>other's tastes and proclivities.
>
>Clearly this sort of cross-cultural tolerance will not exist if
>Lynne Cheney or her ilk assume moral
>leadership of a new Bush regime. The multinational corporations
>that rule show business will have to
>use their economic heft to resist pressure for censorship.
>
>Thanks to our two-party system, a culturally divided nation
>remains viable politically. This is in
>contrast to a country like Israel, whose political structure
>gives the Orthodox minority a
>disproportionate say in policy formation -- a dilemma that may
>ultimately immobilize that nation
>socially and politically.
>
>There were times in the past when U.S. studios and networks found
>it much easier to command a
>vast ``habit audience'' that encompassed coastal dwellers as well
>as the ``fly-over'' country.
>Hollywood studios in the '30s and '40s could pull in two-thirds
>of the population for a mega-hit like
>``Gone With the Wind.'' The networks in the '60s and '70s
>exercised similar reach.
>
>Political leaders like Roosevelt and Eisenhower also displayed a
>remarkable ability to overcome the
>constraints of regionalism and command broad followings.
>
>All the signals of the new millennium, however, point to a
>growing intensity in terms of cultural
>divides. It isn't just that people in Los Angeles or New York
>think differently from the proverbial
>hayseed in Iowa, it's also that each seems to feel more
>passionately protective about his position.
>
>Given the facts, should most movies cost $100 million to produce
>and market or should more
>attention be turned toward the niche audiences? Is the
>blockbuster mentality an anachronism?
>
>The signals from the election provide a reminder that the new
>millennium may nurture a new era of
>the rich niche.

http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org
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 

[CTRL] Fwd: The Bush-Florida-Cuba connection

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>Date: 27 Dec 2000 07:15:32 -
>From: "Online Journal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: 12-27-00: The Bush-Florida-Cuba connection
>
>Online Journal - http://www.onlinejournal.com
>
>12-27-00: The Bush-Florida-Cuba connection
>
>By Larry Chin
>
>December 27, 2000 | On November 22, a violent Republican-sanctioned mob
>shut down the Miami-Dade canvassing board, stopping a decisive ballot
>recount, and snuffing out Al Gore's chances for victory.
>
>This incident, which was instrumental in seizing the American presidency
>for George W. Bush, was not (as most media accounts suggest) merely the
>work of [Tom] DeLay congressional aides and angry pro-Bush protestors.
>
>In fact, the true intimidation came at the hands of hundreds of militant
>right-wing Cuban operatives. It is important to note that the recount
>shutdown was the latest chapter of an alliance between the Bush family,
>right-wing anti-Castro Cubans, Florida-based covert operatives and extreme
>elements of the Republican party that has persisted for nearly half a
>century.
>
>* 1953. CIA operative George Herbert Walker Bush founds Zapata Petroleum
>in Texas. Its subsidiary, Zapata Offshore is used as a CIA front.
>Initiating his career-long foray into Latin American shadow politics, Bush
>establishes ties with CIA operative and narco-trafficker Manuel Noriega of
>Panama (later its dictator).
>
>* 1960-1961. Bay of Pigs. Bush and fellow CIA operative Felix Rodriguez
>organize and train Cuban exiles in Florida and across the Gulf region for
>an invasion of Cuba, and the assassination of Fidel Castro, with
>assistance from elements of the Mafia (based in Florida). President John
>F. Kennedy pulls the plug on the operation, infuriating the Cubans, the
>CIA, the mob, and Bush.
>
>* 1963. JFK is assassinated in Dallas. The involvement of Cubans, CIA
>operatives in Florida (Felix Rodriguez), and the questionable activities
>of Bush, Richard Nixon, Texas oil moguls and Texas politicians during the
>period, are detailed by numerous assassination researchers. J. Edgar
>Hoover interviews a "George Bush of the CIA" regarding "anti-Castro exile
>reaction" to the murder.
>
>* 1968-1973. With Richard Nixon in the White House, Antonin Scalia in
>charge of the White House communications office, and George H.W. Bush
>heading the Republican National Committee, the Republicans maintain close
>ties to right-wing Florida Cubans. Bebe Rebozo, a prominent Florida Cuban
>with intelligence ties, is a close friend of Nixon. In 1971, journalist
>Ken Collier calls on Nixon to investigate 1970 Florida election fraud by
>Republicans. Scalia persuades Nixon to remain silent, Collier alleges.
>
>* 1973. The Watergate Break-In is conducted by anti-Castro Cubans and CIA
>agents tied to the Bay of Pigs: Rodriguez, Bernard Barker (former Cuban
>secret police), Frank Sturgis, E. Howard Hunt, and Eugenio Rolando
>Martinez. Nixon tapes reveal that the objective is to hide evidence
>regarding "Dallas" and "the Bay of Pigs thing." Bush assists Nixon in the
>coverup, and the stonewalling of the Congress.
>
>* 1976. CIA Director George H.W. Bush stonewalls Congress regarding the
>aerial bombing of a Cubana Airline jet and a car bomb slaying of a Chilean
>diplomat. Anti-Castro Cubans are arrested, including Luis Carriles.
>Carriles' immediate superior is Felix Rodriguez (who boasts to have
>assassinated Che Guevara).
>
>During the Bush CIA years, the loyal Rodriguez is involved with the
>Phoenix program, Air America, and heroin smuggling in Southeast Asia.
>
>* 1982-1986. Iran-Contra. With Vice President Bush "in the loop" with CIA
>Director William Casey and other members of the Reagan "firewall," Felix
>Rodriguez coordinates the contra resupply program in El Salvador under
>Oliver North. In Senate testimony, Rodriguez alleges to have passed ten
>million dollars to the contras from the Colombian Medellin cocaine cartel.
>
>In Florida, Jeb Bush (the head of the Dade County Republican Party)
>operates as the Republican administration's unofficial link with Cubans,
>the contras and Nicaraguan exiles in Miami. During this period, Jeb aligns
>with Leonel Martinez, a Miami-based right-wing Cuban-American drug
>trafficker associated with contra dissident Eden Pastora. Jeb forges
>business ties with contra supporter Miguel Recarey, a right-wing Cuban,
>and major contributor to PACs controlled by then-Vice President Bush.
>
>Florida-based drug-running fronts funnel US government funds as
>humanitarian aid to the contras. Senator John Kerry investigates
>Miami-based Ocean Hunter, one of many Florida-based drug-running fronts,
>and discovers $200,000 channeled south.
>
>* 1986. Reagan appoints Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court. At his
>confirmation hearing, Ken and James Collier accuse Scalia of sandbagging
>their lawsuits against the Republican National Committee for election
>fraud in Florida.
>
>* 1988-1992. With George H.W. Bush as president, the US invades Panama,
>toppling forme

[CTRL] Fwd: The Year of the Protest

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>The Boston Phoenix
>December 28, 2000 - January 4, 2001
>The year of the protest
>2000 brought us tear gas, rubber pellets, black ski masks, and giant
>puppets. Will it continue?
>by Kristen Lombardi
>
>   History will find it fitting that 2000 neared its end in a burst of
>anti-capitalist dissent. The news that Seattle had erupted in mini-riots on
>November 30 called to mind the destruction that occurred there 365 days
>earlier, when anti-free-trade protests paralyzed the city's downtown. To
>commemorate the historic 1999 event, protesters went after a popular
>corporate target -- Starbucks -- smashing windows and spray-painting walls
>at nine of the chain's coffee shops.
>The raucous affair pretty much sums up 2000. Y2K might not have sparked the
>end of civilization, but it brought us street riots all the same. The past
>12 months witnessed one rowdy protest after another in cities across the
>nation, from Seattle to Washington, DC, from Philadelphia to Los Angeles.
>Even places known more as sunny vacation spots than as hotbeds of political
>activity (hello, West Palm Beach) became home to mass marches and
>demonstrations.
>
>To be sure, a certain amount of public dissent could be expected -- it was,
>after all, a presidential-election year in which no incumbent was running.
>Still, people took to the streets with a passion and ferocity that this
>country hadn't seen since the late 1960s. What made the 2000 protests so
>unusual was that they weren't rooted in a single issue like Vietnam -- an
>issue that divided the country and touched the lives of virtually every
>American. Under the loose rubric of curbing "corporate globalization" --
>the year's hottest political buzz-phrase, referring to the unchecked
>expansion of global capitalism -- activists spoke out against everything
>from old-growth forest destruction to Third World debt to racism, sexism,
>and homophobia. In retrospect, it seems, a spirit of protest once again
>became the national Zeitgeist.
>
>Technically speaking, of course, the mother of all recent protests took
>place at the tail end of 1999, during the now-famous World Trade
>Organization (WTO) meetings in Seattle. As many as 50,000
>environmentalists, labor leaders, human-rights advocates, and self-styled
>anarchists shut down the city with demonstrations, giant papier-mâché sea
>turtles, and vandalism. Police responded with tear gas, rubber pellets, and
>mass arrests.
>
>The tumultuous affair began on November 30, 1999: armies of demonstrators
>linked arms to block access to the Seattle convention center, where WTO
>delegates were trying to start a round of global-trade talks. Coverage of
>the event riveted the country. Newscasters broadcast dramatic footage of
>anarchists in black ski masks kicking in windows at the Gap, of cops in
>full riot gear tossing tear gas into the crowds. By the time the protests
>ended, activists everywhere had been inspired. In shutting down the WTO
>talks, the demonstrations proved that ordinary people who mobilized could
>make a difference -- and this intoxicating notion set the tone for 2000. No
>sooner had the World Series of demonstrations ceased than organizers looked
>to re-create the magic.
>
>   And they did. Yet for all the comparisons that were made between
>2000-style outrage and the social unrest that punctuated the 1960s,
>observers often missed one crucial point. Yes, the Greens, unionists,
>black-clad anarchists, and other advocates who spilled into the streets
>this year had much in common with their '60s counterparts -- both
>identified serious societal problems. But '60s protesters could say what
>they were for -- namely, peace. Protesters today couldn't do the same, at
>least not without ticking off a list of causes ranging from the inspired
>(stop the environmental scourge of globalism) to the tired (free Mumia
>Abu-Jamal). Their crusade's lack of coherence -- not to mention their
>penchant for parading around with puppets -- prompted many critics to
>dismiss them out of hand.
>
>That would be a mistake, however. These activists not only highlighted the
>downside of American economic success (which, after all, is due largely to
>free trade), but also thrust prosperity's price into the American media
>spotlight -- which is no small feat in our hyperactive, attention-deficit
>culture. That protesters drew scores of once-apathetic young people into
>the political process -- witness the strength of Ralph Nader's presidential
>run -- has proven their biggest achievement yet. And it's one that could
>pave the way for long-term political action.
>
>Flush with the success of Seattle, activists spent the year crisscrossing
>the country from one major event to another. And like their '60s-era
>counterparts, who used mischievous, attention-grabbing tactics like taking
>over university buildings, the 2000 rabble-rousers tried to shut down city
>neighborhoods that hosted nefarious gatherings -- though they never quite
>succeede

[CTRL] Fwd: The news media and political protests

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>Date: 2 Jan 2001 03:55:28 -
>From: "Online Journal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: 01-01-00: The news media and political protests
>
>Online Journal - http://www.onlinejournal.com
>
>01-01-00: The news media and political protests
>
>By Carla Binion
>
>January 1, 2001 | Protests were effective in the 1960s because the news
>media covered them. Today media organizations often ignore protest
>demonstrations. When TV news networks do not cover a protest, the
>demonstration cannot move public opinion. The various news media
>organizations serve as the public's eyes and ears. When the media fail to
>report any given event, the public remains blind and deaf regarding the
>story.
>
>Most Americans get their news from television. Day after day during the
>1960s, TV news networks showed close-ups of such atrocities as innocent
>black children marching into police fire hoses. Television news people ran
>Martin Luther King's speeches, and discussed and dissected them. The
>American people's eyes were opened, through the media's lens.
>
>By contrast, during recent post-election protests in Florida, TV networks
>kept a distance from Jesse Jackson and other like-minded demonstrators.
>Few networks aired Jackson's speeches in their entirety. Television news
>commentators did not explain and clarify the protesters' grievances or
>give them sympathetic coverage. Fox Network's Bill O'Reilly and many other
>commentators frequently maligned Jackson as a troublemaker.
>
>During last year's Seattle protests of the World Trade Organization, TV
>networks also kept a distance from the demonstrators. Commentators on
>MSNBC and other cable news talk shows said repeatedly that they did not
>understand why people were demonstrating. They often said that the
>protests seemed to be a hodgepodge of vague and cranky quibbles and
>implied it would be impossible to grasp the details of the complaints.
>
>No wonder the commentators did not understand. They simply never asked.
>Few TV networks conducted any in-depth interviews with spokesmen for the
>protesters. The networks did not often show close-ups of peaceful
>protesters being tear gassed or shot with rubber bullets-incidents widely
>reported on the Internet and in alternative news publications.
>
>In the same way, TV networks gave little coverage to Jesse Jackson's
>recent complaint that a mob of hired Republicans used violent tactics to
>try to break up a peaceful post-election demonstration in Florida. If the
>networks had spent adequate time examining that information, the public
>would better understand the reasons for Jackson's protests.
>
>During the 1960s, public opinion shifted when the media showed the people
>the truth about anti-war and civil rights demonstrations-especially when
>the media explained the reasons behind the marches and sit ins. Once
>public opinion changed, the people urged legislators to take action.
>
>Because the following example from history is a useful illustration of (1)
>the media's impact on public opinion, and (2) the importance of having a
>fully informed public, it will help to digress and explore it at some
>length:
>
>Deborah Lipstadt researched the behavior of the American press during the
>coming of the Holocaust in Beyond Belief (The Free Press, Macmillan, Inc.,
>1986.) Lipstadt says, "During the 1930s and 1940s America could have saved
>thousands and maybe even hundreds of thousands of Jews but did not do so."
>
>Lipstadt points out that the U. S. was slow to recognize the Nazi threat
>to the Jewish people and asks what might have been done to initiate rescue
>operations sooner. She quotes Adlai Stevenson: "I believe that in
>ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the American people will make the
>right decision-if and when they are in possession of the essential facts
>about any given issue."
>
>The problem was, during the early Holocaust years, the American news media
>did not present "the essential facts" to the public in a timely way.
>Washington might have acted sooner to assist the Jews, says Lipstadt, if
>the American public had known-via the media-what was going on and then
>urged politicians to act.
>
>The U. S. press treated Hitler's early anti-Semitism and persecution of
>the Jewish people as "sidebar" news stories. Although Hitler's Final
>Solution was known to the media by 1942, the press did not fully convey
>the fact to the American public.
>
>Deborah Lipstadt points out that in The Washington Post, March, 1943,
>William Shirer criticized the public for thinking that reports of Hitler's
>atrocities were only propaganda. Lipstadt also mentions that in January,
>1944, Arthur Koestler cited U. S. public opinion polls showing that nine
>out of ten Americans believed that reports of a Nazi threat were
>propaganda lies. (Arthur Koestler, New York Times Magazine, January 9,
>1944.)
>
>Lipstadt notes that the Christian Century (February 16, 1944) said in
>response to Koestler that there was no use "screaming" about

[CTRL] National Conference on Organized Resistance

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

ATTENTION ACTIVISTS!!

The National Conference on Organized Resistance (formerly the National
Conference on Civil Disobedience) is in its fourth successful year. In
years past, the NCCD has played a significant role in coordinating a
dialogue between activist groups, and sparking in-depth discussion of the
strategy and tactics of our various social justice movements. This year,
NCOR again envisions being a useful forum for cutting edge discussion for
people at all different levels of involvement. Last year, over 600 people
converged in Washington, DC for a weekend of experience, discussion,
planning, and protest. Don't miss this year- we have a fantastic weekend
scheduled!

NCOR will be held the weekend of January 27-28, 2001, and involves over 30
workshops on topics such as counterintelligence, activist gatekeeping, the
prison industrial complex, food politics, nonviolence, and anarchism.

Speakers include Ward Churchill, Cindy Milstein, Rod Coronado, Julie
Davids, Mark Goldstone, and many, many others!  (See workshop listings below.)

The one cost registration fee for all workshops all weekend is $10.

To check out the schedule, register, find out about rides and housing, and
anything else you want to know, visit:



Yours in resistance,
the NCOR Coordinating Committee
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
==
Focus: Workshops & Speakers

STRATEGY WORKSHOPS

"Balancing Fears and Realities - Paranoia and Precaution for our movement
today." Ward Churchill, co-author of the Cointelpro papers, present the
history of government surveillance, infiltration, and provocation. The
second workshop in this two part presentation will consist of a panel of
activists who are dealing with today's version of government infiltration.

  Activst Gatekeeping and Activist Colonialism
Nisha Anand, Asif Ullah, and Mac Scott - These three New York based
activists will facilitate a discussion on how organizations and activist
groups construct gates and how racism, classism, and sexism can help
maintain gates and disenfranchise groups of people. Small groups will
discuss and identify their own gates and imperialist assumptions.

Toward an Inclusive Movement: Racism and the New Left Sandra Barros, Peter
Chung, Meg Starr, Esperanza Martell, and Ashanti Austin - Given that white
supremacy has been embedded in capitalism since its very beginnings, it is
no surprise that racism continues to be an impediment to the very movements
that are committed to struggling for change.  The panel will discuss new
ways of talking about coalition building and racism, confronting white skin
privilege and breaking through old, divisive assumptions and
behaviors.  This is a participatory workshop.

  Art of Nonviolence
The visual aspects of a campaign and demonstration are a critical factor in
getting the message out. Discuss guerilla street theater, puppets, media
images, costumes, and much more.

What are the Tactics For:
Exploring the Targets and Demands of our Movements Julie Davids will host a
panel to explore the importance or irrelevance of formal demands and the
picking of targets as elements of our campaigns and movements.
Globalization, environmental destruction, AIDS drugs prices, criminal
Injustice, global sweatshops, and other movements will be examined.

  Ask the Lawyers
Mark Goldstone will host a panel of lawyers to answer questions from
activists. Hear from the lawyers who defended activists in Seattle,
Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Find out what did and
didn't work in the streets and especially in the courts. Lawyers will
address how we can combat the new, repressive, paramilitary tactics in
response to mass mobilizations. There will be plenty of time for questions
and answers.

Nonviolence as a Philosophy vs. Nonviolence as a Tactic Chris Ney -
Believing that social change requires participation from a wide range of
people, Chris will show how nonviolence can offer common ground without
compromising core values. Large group presentation and small group
discussion will help participants clarify for themselves where they stand
on the issues and better understand and respect those who hold different
viewpoints.

  The Importance of Direct Action
Craig Rosebraugh - The history of direct action as it applies to social and
political movements is often neglected and even sacrificed for teachings
primarily focused on state sanctioned forms of protest. Yet the history of
direct action, both in the U.S. and abroad, is rich, plentiful and has
demonstrated the importance of this strategy in the advancement of many
struggles. This workshop will discuss the importance of direct action both
in a historical context and in current day society.

  Organizing Resistance
Rod Coronado - Nonviolent civil disobedience or violent uncivil
disobedience? What is morally, ethically and ecologically justifiable when
resisting the wholesale wanton destruction of biological diversity and

[CTRL] For Amelia (re: disenfranchised voters)

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

radman says:
(Sorry for the length, folks. I wanted to be sure all the relevant info was
included.)

Amelia says:
 > Well, I have four words on the issue of Jesse and the disenfranchised
 > voters--PUT UP OR SHUT UP!  
 > tell the Attorney General and being a Democrat he will bring charges
 > against all guilty parties.

radman says:
To start with, the Democrats couldn't care less about blacks. Please see:

1) "GORE WON'T SAY IT BUT: U.S. ELECTIONS ARE RACIST", and,

2) "A Racist Elephant in Our Living Room", both below.

Amelia says:
 > Of course one can find voters whose rights were violated if one is
 > fabricating them.  Produce one name and address of a credible registered
 > voter who will swear then were denied the right to vote in an illegal
 > manner.  Come on, let's hear it! 
 > It did not happen.  Repeat, IT DID NOT HAPPEN, folks.  
 > So if any of you have information of people who want to pursue charges
 > that their voting rights were violated, let's hear all about it.

radman says:
Public knowledge:

"The US Department of Justice inquiry, led by the department's civil rights
division,
... is focusing on allegations by black
community leaders that in the run-up to the election minorities were
targeted by
police intimidation and administrative measures which had the effect of
disproportionately disenfranchising black voters."

and,

"...the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) ... announced that it would bring its case to court on the
strength of 300 pages of testimony and 486 plaintiffs."

For the complete list of allegations, see:
<http://www.civilrights.org/policy_and_legislation/pl_issues/affirmative_action/memo1017.html>,

and which also includes:
"PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF VOTING IRREGULARITIES" by Donisse DeSouza.

For more *names*, you can contact:

BARBARA ARNWINE, [c/o Diane Gross], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
http://www.lawyerscommittee.org
Arnwine is executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
Under Law, which has dispatched a team of civil rights lawyers to conduct
an investigation into allegations of disparate treatment of voters, voter
intimidation, and practices leading to the disenfranchisement of
African-Americans and other voters throughout Florida.

-or-

Susan Guberman-Garcia, Attorney at  Law.
Phone 510-792-2639  Fax/Voicemail 510-405-2016
Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: calculated scheme to deny voting rights to people of color

"I spent several hours this morning watching the NAACP public hearing
on the Florida vote on C-SPAN.
Having done so, it is very clear to me  that there was a systematic and
calculated effort to lessen the Gore vote by  denying  the franchise to
as many African Americans as possible. 
"The witnesses
  included voters who were denied the right to vote, NAACP activists
  who worked the get-out-the-vote effort all day, NAACP phone-standby
  volunteers who worked the phones fielding election-day
  complaints, poll workers and news media people.  The witnesses
  were all credible and impressive, their information detailed and often
  accompanied by notes with names, dates, places.  I would
  not hesitate to call any of these people as witnesses
  if I were handling a lawsuit on their behalf." 

And, please read: 3) "Real Vote Victims: Minorities", and

4) "Allegations of voting rights violations need investigation", both below.

(Even more *names* are also cited in numbers 3 & 4.)

Amelia says:
 > And the same goes for the phoney "Republican riot" that stopped the
 > count in Palm Beach County.  That never happened either so please
 > provide names of the committee member who were intimidated by the mostly
 > members of the press refusing to allow the count in secret.

radman says:
Please read: 5) "Winning By Intimidation", and,

6) "Anatomy of a right-wing riot", both below.

Pull quotes from "Winning By Intimidation":
"The mob chased down Joe Geller, chairman of the local
Democratic Party, because they falsely believed he had tried to
steal a ballot. He required a police escort to escape. Louis
Rosero, a Democratic aide, says he was punched and kicked by the
Republican goons. Others were trampled to the floor as the mob
tried to break down the doors of the room outside the office of
the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections where the votes were being
counted." 
"When it was over, the rule of the mob was triumphant.
The three canvassers voted to walk away from the recount whose
tally would likely have led to Al Gore's victory over George Bush
in Florida and in the presidential election. One of its members,
David Leahy, acknowledged the protests were a factor in his
decision. The other two, perhaps fearful of their safety,
declined all interviews. As the mob celebrated

Re: [CTRL] Disenfranchised voters

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

At 03:48 AM 1/3/01 -0600, Amelia wrote:

>your news release is dated November 11.  I posted the results of
>the "investigation" recently as did a couple of others.  Nothing was found
>that was credible.

radman says:
Please repost and cite your more current sources then. I checked all your
postings since the election (in ctrl archives)  and there is nothing
remotely close to what you allege above. As was to be expected, since the
USDOJ investigators are *still in Florida gathering evidence*. HELLO
This hasn't even reached the *investigation* stage yet, it is still in the
*inquiry* stage. For you to claim that there was an *investigation that
found nothing* is either the heighth of stupidity or deliberate
misinformation on your part. Please do not continue to insult our
intelligence any further on matters of public record.

Also, please see, 1) "US inquiry into claims black voters were stripped of
rights", below.

>I am talking about real, factual
>charges brought by the justice department.  Crimes, rights violations.  None
>were found.

radman says:
As you asked for in your original posting, I cited names, charges, rights
violations, possible crimes, ad nauseum, that are *currently being looked
into*. Plenty were alleged. While they may yet be disproven is a fact. Your
statement that *none were found* is a deliberate lie. Whether criminal
charges get filed, or anyone gets prosecuted *remains to be seen*. That you
choose to ignore reality speaks volumes about your intentions.

>NOTHING to do with the riot
>which was mostly reporters and not even Republicans.  If only they would say
>they were intimidated! 
>Repeat:
>The committee says it was not intimidated nor frightened nor anything else
>by the "riot" and it had nothing to do with their decision to stop
>counting.

radman says:
I am not a supporter of Bush, Gore or any other politician, but you are
obviously having a hard time with reality. Public record again: only *one*
member of the canvassing board has made any public statement whatsoever and
that was to confirm that the Republican *riot*, *protest* or whatever you
care to call it, *was* a factor in stopping the recount. Perhaps not the
*main* factor, but *a* factor certainly. [I quote: "One nonpartisan member
of the board, David Leahy, the supervisor of elections, said after the vote
that the protests were one factor that he had weighed in his decision." and
"If what I'd envisioned worked out and there were no objections, we'd be up
there now counting," election supervisor David Leahy said."] The other two
members have said *nothing* publicly, putting to the lie your statement
that "the committee says it was not intimidated". If a statement does in
fact exist, please cite source. As to the *intentions* of the protesters,
it was to *stop the recount*, in the words of one of your (ahem) *reporters*.

From: Protest Influenced Miami-Dade's Decision to Stop Recount
By DEXTER FILKINS and DANA CANEDY, New York Times, MIAMI, Nov. 23

""We were trying to stop the recount; Bush had already won," said Evilio
Cepero, a reporter for Radio Mambi. "We were urging people to come downtown
and support and protest this injustice."
Mr. Cepero played a key role in the protests, roaming around the building
outside and, with a megaphone, addressing a crowd of perhaps 150 people.
"Denounce the recount!" he shouted repeatedly."

""One hour they're telling us they're going to get it done," Luis Rosero, a
Democratic aide, said of the canvassers, and "the next minute there were
two riot situations and a crowd massing out in front. This was deliberate."
Mr. Rosero said he had been punched and kicked by Republican supporters
outside Mr. Leahy's office. Republican supporters scoffed at the accusation
that they had engaged in a scheme of intimidation, saying the protest had
been nothing more than a spontaneous manifestation of people's anger."

Regarding this *spontaneous manifestation* (of reporters, hah!) , please see:

2) "GOP Protest in Miami-Dade Is a Well-Organized Effort:
Bush Campaign Pays Tab For Aides From Capitol Hill Flown in for Rallies", and,

3) "Mobile Protesters: Party Operatives Start 'Spontaneous'
Demonstrations", and,

4) "Names of Participants in Miami "Riot"", all below.

Amelia says:
>Stating that an investigation is going to be held
>does NOT prove evidence was found. Show me the found evidence as a result
>of these investigations and pages of testimony and supposed names, found
>that is by those in authority to do so.  Who or what agency has been charged
>and with what violation?

radman says:
You were the one who asserted that an investigation was done and *nothing
was found*. That statement is a *lie*. Whet

[CTRL] Fwd: A Cup of Crap

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

  A Cup of Crap
By Michael Albert (ZNet Commentary / Dec 24)

Bush lost the popular vote. Bush lost the Electoral College (or would have
by a fair Florida count). But Bush owns the White House. Cheney was our Gulf
War Secretary of Defense. More than merely military-entwined, Cheney is a
war criminal. But Cheney will soon run the White House. Powell is an
ex-General. Powell wouldn't mind wearing a perpetual uniform. And Powell is
another Gulf War criminal. But Powell heads State. And then there is
Schwarzkopf. This Gulf Warrior's warrior also campaigned hard for this
outcome. Who knows what he'll end up with.

How did it happen?

They incarcerated and disenfranchised large swaths of the electorate. They
obstructed Black voters on the way to the polls. They manipulated and denied
diverse constituency's votes. They likely tanked many ballots. But even with
all that and with Gore's pathetic campaign, their cheating fell short of
producing a Bush victory. No problem. The highest court played piper. The
Supremes sounded the final charge. They gaveled to submission even our
feeble democracy.Not just a sullied election, this was a hijacking. The
military straddled the driver's seat. The kiss-ass law crawled across the
floor. The Supremes pumped the breaks and gas. They are headed back to the
last millennium. Whoa -- who's going to the inauguration?

Heretofore, regarding the election I have mainly argued that translating
Nader's momentum into lasting left commitments is our movement's main task.
And so it is. But there is another election topic that is attracting almost
no attention, even on the left. It is not the chads. They were done to
death. It is not the election rip-off. That should get more attention, but
is getting quite a lot. It is not even the racist reversal of intent of the
Black and Latino electorate. Even that has gotten some of the attention it
merits, as has the highest hypocrisy of the Supremest Court.

No, what I see as basically ignored is the mindset of Tom, Dick, Harry, Sue,
Sarah, and Sally. In short, where is the anger in Des Moines, Phoenix,
Portland, Mobile, Toledo, and Buffalo? Where is the irrepressible outrage at
this abominable election?
Do you know the method of argument called reductio ad absurdum? First we
assume some claim. Then we show that the claim's truth implies expectations
confounded by reality. Finally, if we don't see the outcome the claim
implies, we conclude that the claim itself must be false and reject it.

Suppose we assume that the population of the U.S. broadly believes what our
textbooks tell us: that the U.S. is a democracy, that the law is unbiased
and sacrosanct, and that choosing a President is a hallowed responsibility.
Surely people who believe this would be mighty upset at having it taken
away. Wars are ostensibly fought to avoid such freedom-theft.

But in full color 3D, with nary an obstructed view in sight, and so
explicitly that even the most obtuse observer had to comprehend the events,
democracy was beaten into oblivion. So where is the anger?

This election should look to the presumed patriotic public, like a vile,
duplicitous power grab undertaken to attain reactionary control of
government. Even mainstream newspapers report that with a Florida fair count
Gore wins. Is the absence of major reaction because most people like the
outcome? Come on. Less than 25% of the voting age population wanted Bush in
the White House and plenty of those thought only that he was nicer, more
honest, or less pedantic than Gore.

Is it that outrage was blunted by a lack of prior learning that precluded
people seeing the truth? Not at all. In fact, too much prior education
facilitates rationalization and denial. In our society a good general rule
is "the less the education the better the insight." (An even better rule, my
favorite, aptly demonstrated in the election, is "garbage rises.")

If people sincerely believed before this election that we live in the world'
s foremost democracy, then they would be irate, it seems to me. But people
are not irate so we have to conclude that most folks don't really believe
this is the world's foremost democracy, or even a democracy at all, and
therefore didn't see anything usurped during this election that wasn't
already in the outbox.

Most folks knew the score before the election and still know it after the
election. Within the defining institutions of the U.S. -- the government,
the market, the corporations -- the deck was and is horribly stacked.  Power
and wealth 83, freedom nearly nothing.But the public's passivity about the
vile and transparent duplicity in Jeb Bush's police state, about the vapid
campaigns, about the Court's almost comical hypocrisy, and about the media's
moronic manipulations, isn't apathy. Instead, virtually nobody sees a good
reason to militantly react. It isn't that folks don't care about their
future. It is that folks believe (however wrongly, if we account for serious
activism) that t

[CTRL] Fwd: The Dubya Prospects

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-


December 20, 2000

The Dubya Prospects
by Geov Parrish

It's our worst nightmare: Clarence Thomas chose the President. Al
Gore's past enthusiasm for reactionary Supreme Court justices, so
assiduously ignored by liberals, came back to haunt him.

It was remarkable, actually, that Gore got as far as he did in his
effort to have legally cast votes actually counted. George W. Bush,
by happy circumstance, had the Florida game rigged in his favor
nearly every step of the way: with his brother as governor, his state
co-chair (and reported secret lover, according to CounterPunch) as
Secretary of State, and a Republican majority in the state
legislature. And then there was the Supreme Court--where family
members of both Scalia and Thomas were working for the Bush campaign,
and where Chief Justice Rehnquist was accused by several witnesses in
1964 of intimidating and preventing minorities from voting, as a poll-
watcher in a South Phoenix precinct. All three should have recused
themselves; if any one of them had, the Florida Supreme Court would
have been upheld on a 4-4 decision, and Gore would be President. A
Miami Herald analysis shows that Gore won the state by about 20,000
votes--without even counting the Buchanan votes in Palm Beach County,
or the minorities prevented from voting in the first place.

In the end, the five Republican-appointed U.S. Supreme Court justices
decided that the state legislature--not the voters of Florida--had
the sole right to pick the President, and that the Florida Supreme
Court had erred because it didn't change the law when it was legally
prohibited from doing so. They threw out a standard for vote-counting
also used in 33 other states, without questioning the votes in those
states. It's a shocking decision, made a bit more bearable only
because it's such a bizarre case that it's not likely to set a
precedent. But the justices went out of their way, inventing case law
and renouncing 200 years of conservative adherence to the principles
of federalism, to put Bush in office. The odds that five Republican
justices would just happen to find for their guy, and four Democratic
justices would just happen to dissent for their guy, are
astronomical; it had nothing to do with law, and everything to do
with power.

But that, apparently, is history. What was at stake with this semi
sanitized coup d'etat, anyway?

Not much, at the macro policy level. We already knew that we were
going to get neoliberalism, military interventions, Star Wars,
conservative court appointments, environmental degradation, stagnant
wages, more prisons, and so forth, no matter who won; the differences
were a matter of degree. Most of Bush's advisors are the same
mandarins who littered the Reagan/Bush Sr. landscape for 12 years,
and they are genuinely scary people. Of course, so were Madeleine
Albright, Janet Reno, and Ron Brown. But for Bush's entourage,
"sleazeball" isn't just a resume enhancer; it's a job requirement.
The same goes for Bush's Cabinet picks; even the Democrats being
mentioned are, in a word, awful. (Almost the only solace is that
Bush's election probably lessens the chance of Israeli/Palestinian
war.)

Bush's impact will be more cultural than political: the revenge of
the privileged WASP. Bush isn't dangerous because he's a moron (he's
not, incidentally); it's because he's no empath. How could he be,
when he's never had to work an honest day in his life? Bill Clinton's
genius was in doing all the wrong things while making his victims
feel good about it. That's over.

We already had these people for 12 years, but we weren't the world's
sole superpower then. Get ready for our bipartisan ruling classes--
the Democrats, remember, have been busy electing conservative
millionaires like Cantwell for the past four years--to issue one
triumphant, snarling "Fuck you" to the world's poor.

The next four years won't be pretty. The NASDAQ collapse was more
than a blip; it was a presage, one of many, of an inevitable end to
Wall Street's ever-expanding economic party. Workers who wondered why
their wages stalled during good times will find big business--now
accustomed to hefty profits-- responding by slashing the work force,
and by trying to raid Social Security. Social safety nets that didn't
seem important in the '90s will be gone when they're needed. We'll
miss all those infrastructure investments we didn't make when we
could afford them.

The media, which generally rooted for Gore, likes to underestimate
George W. Bush. The hills are alive with the sound of imperial
pundits urging us to "heal" (I wasn't aware I was sick), horrified by
the "lack of a mandate" (read: stolen election), and glumly fearing
that Bush will be weak and Congress won't do much. We should be so
lucky. Class trumps party. The two parties may now hate each other
more than ever, but if the economy falters, Bush's desire to cut
taxes and shovel still more money to the wea

[CTRL] Fwd: Election fraud in 6 Florida counties

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>From: David Scheim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>ELECTION FRAUD IN 6 FLORIDA COUNTIES
>- David E. Scheim
>(details, documentation, more on http://www.campaignwatch.org)
>---
>Breaking news of a forged signature of a dead man and dozens of
>other illegal votes in Miami, a Republican activist illegally
>filling out absentee ballots for voters, and other reports have
>established absentee ballot fraud in six Florida Counties.  It
>appears less than coincidental that the central figure in the
>most notorious case of election fraud in recent U.S. history
>admitted helping the GOP prepare absentee ballot requests in
>Miami.
>---
>In Miami-Dade, the forged signature of a dead man and dozens of
>other illegal votes/1 last November raise striking parallels to
>the notorious Miami election fraud scandal of 1998 in which newly
>elected Mayor Xavier Suarez was ousted from office./2  It was
>perhaps less than coincidental that Suarez, elected to the the
>Executive Committee of the Miami Dade GOP, admitted handling
>absentee ballots this past election./3
>In Hillsborough County, Republican activist Isis Segarra, who had
>a prior vote fraud conviction overturned on appeal, allegedly
>filled out absentee ballots for three non-disabled voters, a
>felony, turned up as a witness on at least 81 absentee ballots,
>and registered and requested absentee ballots for dozens of
>voters./4 In Okaloosa County, the Republican elections supervisor
>sent out absentee ballots unsolicited in response to
>change-of-address notifications, a practice that was bizarre and
>illegal, contributing to an 81%, 8,600 margin in absentee ballots
>for Bush in that County./5
>In Seminole County, GOP actions a court ruled illegal, perjured
>testimony, and unsupervised access to election office files and
>computers were among several suspicious activities that were only
>partially exposed in court./6  In Martin County, ex-CIA agent
>Charles Kane/7 participated in scheme to  remove GOP absentee
>ballot requests and fill in voter identification numbers/8 which
>a Florida court again ruled illegal./9  In Bay County, which has
>more registered Democrats than Republicans, a suitcase full of
>absentee ballots was illegally turned in, contributing to a
>9,000-to-3,000 margin in absentee ballots for Bush./10
>These cases and other similar reports add up to systematic
>absentee ballot fraud Florida that racked up thousands of votes
>for presidential candidate George Bush.  They recall the the
>notorious absentee fraud scandal which led to the ouster of
>newly-elected Mayor Xavier Suarez in 1998./11  Suarez had won the
>mayoral contest with the help of a 2-1 margin in absentee ballots
>that were plagued with fraud/12-the same absentee vote margin
>that Bush won in both Seminole/13 and Martin/14 counties (he won
>56% of the total votes in each of those counties/15).Suarez, who
>was elected last September to the Executive Committee of the
>Miami-Dade Republican Party,/16 admitted handling absentee ballot
>requests this past election./17 Far from surprising, therefore,
>are revelations from the Miami Herald of more than 100 illegal
>votes, including one obtained with the forged signature of a dead
>man, disclosed after examination of votes from just 138 of 641
>precincts in Miami-Dade County./18 The Miami Herald also found
>that in the two Miami precincts with the highest discard rate for
>the presidential vote (13%, more than double their discard rates
>in the 1996 election), 13 of 20 voting machines did not pass a
>polling test conducted minutes before the polls opened, yet were
>not taken out of service as required./19
>When the GOP sent in well-organized mob, including GOP paid
>Congressional staffers,/20 which trampled, punched and kicked
>people in the building where Miami-Dade vote counts were
>proceeding,/21 the stakes were quite high.  For the recount that
>this mob action successfully stopped (rumors suggest that
>intimidation from organized crime was also involved) would not
>only have won the election for Gore, but could also have led to
>earlier indications of rampant election fraud.
>Another angle to the work of Suarez and others in Florida is
>suggested by the experience of Adora Nweze, a Florida NAACP board
>member.  When Nweze went to vote in Miami, she was told she had
>already requested an absentee ballot, and finally persevered in
>voting only after a long and heated argument in which she recited
>the law./22  In Pinellas County, a Democratic voter was turned
>away from the voting booth, falsely told she had already cast an
>absentee ballot./23  Several Tampa Bay voters were likewise
>prevented from voting based upon the false information that they
>had already voted by absentee ballot./24  And in England, at
>least five residents of an Air Force base each received two
>absentee ballots from counties in Florida./25
>In summary, considering t

[CTRL] NEW COUNTERINTELLIGENCE BOARD ESTABLISHED

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
January 5, 2001

NEW COUNTERINTELLIGENCE BOARD ESTABLISHED

The White House today is announcing the establishment of a new interagency
body, created by Presidential Decision Directive, to coordinate
counterintelligence (CI) activities across the government.

"To deal with the new CI threat environment, the CI community must be
restructured and transposed from a largely reactive state to a modern,
innovative program that is much more proactive," said John McGaffin, senior
adviser to the National Counterintelligence Center.  Mr. McGaffin discussed
the new initiative several months ago at a meeting of the Security Policy
Advisory Board.

One of the first things the new entity will do is to ask what information
really needs to be protected.  "The principle activities of [the new
organization] will include the identification of the critical assets that
must be protected by CI," said Mr. McGaffin.

This is a potentially awkward question for many agencies, because as soon
as one asks what information is genuinely sensitive, it immediately becomes
clear that an enormous amount of non-sensitive information is being
protected for no valid national security reason.

On the other hand, government bureaucracies are well-equipped to deflect
such inquiries.  Neither the National Counterintelligence Center nor the
Security Policy Board, which was likewise created by Presidential Decision
Directive in 1994, have had any fundamental impact on security policies.

The new initiative was reported today by the New York Times and the
Washington Post. The remarks of John McGaffin on CI-21 and the new
counterintelligence structure may be found here:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/spb/spab0900.html#CI-21

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==
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screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please!  These are
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That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
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Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.

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[CTRL] Fwd: The Evil Empire Gets a President

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>The Evil Empire Gets a President
>Revolutionary Worker #1084, December 24, 2000
>
>The empire has a president.
>
>On Dec. 12, the U.S. Supreme Court squashed any recount in
>Florida--essentially appointing the Republican candidate to the White House.
>George W. Bush soon emerged from his Prairie Chapel ranch, with a strut that
>goes well with his smirk. Al Gore appeared on TV to legitimize the
>winner--calling on people to support the new president. The official news
>quickly dropped the curtain on the grim struggle over power--and switched,
>abruptly, to fuzzy post-election, bi-partisan talk of "honeymoon" and good
>wishes.
>
>But it will hardly work--as millions and millions of people saw the whole
>deal go down. They saw the system caught up in an inner-ruling class fight
>over power--with much of its usual myth and camouflage pulled away.
>
>When the 2000 election ended in a tie--the airwaves were filled with
>constant talk about "now you know how much your vote counts." But only a few
>weeks later, what a joke that is!
>
>When the spotlight fell on Florida, people saw, day after day, how votes
>were discarded by the tens of thousands. They saw how the state machinery
>worked to suppress the vote in Black and immigrant communities--using the
>"Jeb Crow" tactics of striking people off the voter lists, "losing" ballot
>boxes, using cheap voting machines in poor neighborhoods that disqualified
>one out of four votes in some Black precincts, denying Creole interpreters
>to Haitian voters, and even setting up state police roadblocks to harass
>people. And once again the deep oppression of Black people, as a people,
>that marks U.S. society jumped into the headlines.
>
>The decision for president had nothing to do with the "will of the people."
>All of a sudden, everyone came face-to-face with the Electoral College--an
>institution from the Founding Fathers designed to prevent the people from
>controlling politics. And then, when Florida emerged as the deciding battle
>ground--the decision was not made by votes, but by ruling class institutions
>and backrooms deals.
>
>Each political camp tried to have the final election decision made in the
>institutions favorable to them--George W. relied on his brother's political
>machine in Florida--which controls the Florida legislature and the vote
>certifying bureaucracy. A secret deal was reached with the mayor of Miami to
>stop the vote recount in the crucial Miami-Dade County. To get a recount
>favorable to him, Gore sought approval from the Democrat-appointed Florida
>Supreme Court--while Bush ended up winning thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court.
>It was a game of "dueling institutions" within the ruling class--and, in the
>end, George W. won because his side had the main faces in high places.
>
>Legitimacy, Legitimacy, Who Has the Legitimacy?
>
>"To state it in a single sentence, elections are controlled by the
>bourgeoisie, are not the means through which basic decisions are made in any
>case, and are really for the primary purpose of legitimizing the system and
>the policies and actions of the ruling class, giving them the mantle of a
>'popular mandate' and of channeling, confining, and controlling the
>political activity of the masses of people." --
>Bob Avakian, Chairman of the RCP
>
>"Who let the dogs out?" --
>Chant outside Florida capitol
>opposing Supreme Court ruling
>
>This time, the election mess threatened to deny the new president the
>legitimacy or mandate that the election process is supposed to give. And the
>ruling class is worried--they need to have their actions and their leaders
>draped with the appearance of popular support--exactly because their class
>and actions are so profoundly opposed to the interests of the vast majority
>of people.
>
>This problem hung over the selection process like a cloud. Powerful forces
>didn't want the Florida votes recounted because they feared it would not
>resolve the fighting within the ruling class, and because they feared that
>if the vote count went for Gore key institutions would plow ahead and decide
>for Bush, creating the problem of a new president who had publicly lost both
>the national popular vote and the Florida recount.
>
>When the fight in Florida became a collision between the Florida state
>government and the Florida Supreme Court--the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in
>to settle it. And that too was revealing.
>
>In a crude political move, a slim 5-4 majority of that court stopped any
>recounts in Florida and ended the vote. The court was not just split along
>partisan lines--the dissenting opinion of the Democratic judges was bitter,
>and openly disrespectful.
>
>And it was openly political--since the conservatives who formed that
>majority disregarded all their own most public "principles."
>
>The conservatives who form the U.S. Supreme Court pride themselves on being
>"strict constitutionalists"--and being supporters of the rights of states
>and legislatures over "judicial ac

[CTRL] Fwd: Markets 'R' Us: Business is the new religion

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>New Statesman [www.newstatesman.co.uk]
>8 January 2001
>
>Cover story - The New Statesman Essay - Markets 'R' Us
>
>Business is the new religion; in an extraordinary historical reversal,
>those  who  oppose  it are arrogant elitists, frustrating the people's
>will.
>
>By Thomas Frank
>
>In  1998, a commercial for IBM's Lotus division danced across American
>television  screens  to  the  tune  of REM's Nietzschean anthem, "I Am
>Superman".  As  throngs  of humanity went about their business, a tiny
>caption asked: "Who is everywhere?" In response, IBM identified itself
>both  with  the  people and with the name of God as revealed to Moses:
>the  words  "I  Am"  scrawled roughly on a piece of cardboard and held
>aloft  from  amid  the madding crowd. The questions continued, running
>down  the list from omnipresence to omniscience and omnipotence - "Who
>is  aware?",  "Who  is  powerful?"  -  while scenes of entrepreneurial
>achievement  pulsated  by:  an  American  business district, a Chinese
>garment  factory,  a  microchip  assembly room, and the seat of divine
>judgement itself, the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. "I
>can do anything," sang a winsome computer voice.
>
>If  there  was  something  breathtaking  about  this particular bit of
>corporate  autodeification, there was also something remarkably normal
>about  it. Americans had already made bestsellers of books such as God
>Wants  You  to be Rich and Jesus, CEO. "The Market's Will be Done" was
>the  title  that Tom Peters, guru of gurus, chose for a chapter of his
>bestselling  1992  management  book,  while  the techno-ecstatic Kevin
>Kelly,  in  his  Out  of  Control (1994), referred to his list of "new
>economy" pointers as "The Nine Laws of God".
>
>What  the term new economy really describes is not some novel state of
>human affairs but the final accomplishment of the long-standing agenda
>of the richest class. Once, Americans imagined that economic democracy
>meant  a reasonable standard of living for all - that freedom was only
>meaningful  once  poverty  and powerlessness had been overcome. Today,
>American  opinion  leaders  seem convinced that democracy and the free
>market  are  simply  identical. There is little that is new about this
>idea, either: for nearly a century, equating the market with democracy
>was  the  familiar defence of any corporation in trouble with union or
>government.  What  is  new is this idea's triumph over all its rivals;
>the  determination  of American leaders to extend it to all the world;
>the  belief  among  opinion-makers  that  there  is something natural,
>something divine, something inherently democratic about markets.
>
>Wherever  one  looked  in  the 1990s, entrepreneurs were occupying the
>ideological   space  once  filled  by  the  labour  movement.  It  was
>businessmen  who  were  sounding  off against the arrogance of elites,
>railing against the privilege of old money, waging a relentless war on
>hierarchy.  They were market populists, adherents of the most powerful
>political mythology of the age.
>
>Their  fundamental  faith  was a simple one. The market and the people
>were  essentially one and the same. By its very nature, the market was
>democratic,   perfectly   expressing  the  popular  will  through  the
>machinery  of  supply and demand, poll and focus group, superstore and
>internet.  In  fact,  the  market  was more democratic than any of the
>formal   institutions   of   democracy   -   elections,  legislatures,
>government.  The  market  was  infinitely  diverse, permitting without
>prejudice  the  articulation  of  all  tastes  and  preferences.  Most
>importantly  of  all,  the market was militant about its democracy. It
>had no place for snobs, for hierarchies, for elitism, for pretence.
>
>As  the  Newsweek columnist Robert Samuelson said in 1998, "the market
>'R'  us".  Whatever the appearances, it acted always in our interests,
>on  our  behalf,  against  our enemies. This is how the New York Stock
>Exchange,  long  a nest of privilege, could be understood in the 1990s
>as  a house of the people; how any niche marketing could be passed off
>as  a  revolutionary  expression  -  an  empowerment,  even  -  of the
>demographic at which it was aimed.
>
>Market  populism  was  just  the  thing  for  a social order requiring
>constant  doses  of  legitimacy.  It  builds  all  manner  of populist
>fantasies:  of  businessmen  as  public  servants,  of  industrial and
>cultural  production  as a simple reflection of popular desire, of the
>box  office as a voting booth. By consuming the fruits of industry, we
>the  people  are  endorsing  the industrial system, voting for it in a
>plebiscite far more democratic than a mere election.
>
>As  business  leaders melded themselves theoretically with the people,
>they  found powerful arguments against those who sought to regulate or
>control  private  enterprise.  Since  markets  express the will of the
>peop

[CTRL] RadTimes # 133

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 134 January, 2001

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"With what delight must every well informed friend of mankind look forward,
to the auspicious period, the dissolution of political government, of that
brute engine, which has been the only perennial cause of the vices of
mankind and which... has mischiefs of various sorts incorporated with its
substance, and no otherwise removable than by its utter annihilation."
--William Godwin, 'An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice'
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--D.C. Police Prepare for Protests at Inauguration
--Thousands Will Protest at Bush's Inauguration in D.C.
--Voter March
--Civil rights leader calls for protest
--Liberal, Socialist Protestors to Target Bush Inauguration
--Alexander Cockburn's 12/14 column
Linked stories:
 *Cybercrime pact steps on privacy, groups say
 *Terrorism concerns may unleash CIA
 *Carnivore praised, criticized in 'independent review'
 *Resistance Grows to Holiday Buying Blitz
 *Now what?
 *Supreme Court to democracy: Drop dead
 *Planned Community Aimed at Gun Enthusiasts
 *Corporate Democracy; Civic Disrespect
 *Florida Dispatch: 36 Days in the Life of a Recount Observer
 *Public Support Grows for Drug Decriminalization
 *Internet threatened by regulation
---
Begin stories:
---
D.C. Police Prepare for Protests at Inauguration

by John Drake
Published on Wednesday, December 13, 2000 in the Washington Times

Anti-establishment activists and liberals are planning to flood the District
with massive protests on Inauguration Day, prompting city police to brace
for the deluge with an unprecedented level of security.

Many of the groups that demonstrated against the World Bank here in April
intend to return to the District with their puppets and mantras, regardless
of who takes the presidential oath of office on Jan. 20.

And supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore, led by the Rev.
Jesse Jackson, are planning a "civil rights explosion" if Republican George
W. Bush is officially named the winner.

"We're not planning civil disobedience, but we are planning to fill the
streets of Washington with thousands of people," said Brian Becker, co-

director of the New York-based International Action Center, which is
coordinating the protests.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officials said they are preparing on an even
greater scale than they did in April for the anti-World Bank/ International
Monetary Fund protests.

"What we would hope is that any demonstrations that are planned are
peaceful," said Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey. "We'll be as
gentle or as forceful as we need to be, and play the situation out based on
what they do."

"We have to be prepared for anything that may occur. It will not be [the
police department] that creates the problem, but we will resolve it," he
added.

Chief Ramsey will mobilize the entire Metropolitan Police Department for the
event, and he has invoked "mutual aid" agreements with police in surrounding
counties to increase staffing.

As many as 950 officers from Fairfax, Montgomery, Arlington and Prince
George's counties and Alexandria will be federally deputized so they can
enforce D.C. laws, officials said.

Federal police agencies will be out in force, and other agencies - such as
the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms - will be on
standby for major incidents.

Publicly, law enforcement officials said they do not anticipate anything out
of the ordinary, even if anti-establishment protesters stage large
demonstrations.

But the closest presidential race in history has produced unusually intense
partisan tensions, and the new anti-establishment movement could attract
many more demonstrators.

For those reasons, police forces are "anticipating problems" among
anti-establishment protesters and partisans disappointed at their
candidate's loss, several officials told The Washington Times.

"The uncertainty of the election process, regardless of who wins, makes us
think they will use the inauguration to show their displeasure one way or
the other," a law enforcement official told The Times.

Gore supporters have hinted they will demonstrate if the U.S. Supreme Court,
which is considering the propriety of ballot recounts in Florida, rules in
fav

[CTRL] RadTimes # 134

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 134 January, 2001

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"In all times and all places, whatever be the name that the government
takes, whatever has been its origin or its organization, its essential
function is always that of oppressing and exploiting the masses, and of
defending the oppressors and exploiters. Its principal characteristic and
indispensable instruments are the policeman and the tax collector, the
soldier and the prison. "
--Errico Malatesta, 'Anarchy', 1891
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--AFIC Ready to Serve President-Elect Bush
--Election Anger Fuels Inaugural Protesters
--January 20th Revolutionary Anti-Authoritarian Bloc Update and Call
--Every Protester Counts
--How the Republicans Stole the Election
--The Kennebunkport Hillbilly
Linked stories:
*BUSH v. GORE [Supreme Court ruling]
*Great printable posters for the Inauguration protests
*Bush prepares a government of reaction and militarism
*Drug Companies' Tests in Poor Countries Raise Ethical Questions
*Canada considers mandatory voting
*Judge says illegal phone taps can be used in bomb trial
*Micro-broadcasters dealt a blow
*Big government invades the Internet
*Family ties, political bias linked US Supreme Court justices to Bush camp
*J20 INAUGURATION PROTEST
---
Begin stories:
---
AFIC Ready to Serve President-Elect Bush

By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2000 -- The Armed Forces Inaugural
Committee is standing by, ready to serve President-elect
George W. Bush.

Nearly 5,000 service members will take part in the nation's
54th presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. A core group of
military planners, logisticians and operations officers has
been working for months to make military support happen.

The AFIC paves the way for two groups responsible for the
inauguration. The Joint Inaugural Committee runs the
inaugural ceremony on the Capitol grounds. The Presidential
Inaugural Committee, a nongovernmental organization from
the president-elect's party conducts the inaugural events.

The PIC decides whether or not to have a parade, schedules
inaugural balls and decides who will attend the
inauguration. Once the invitation list is set, the military
facilitates the movement of those people, he said.

The AFIC has been up and running since January. Working in
temporary offices at L'Enfant Plaza in a General Services
Administration building, committee members have been
readying the stage and coordinating DoD support for the 10-
day inaugural period, Jan. 15 to 24.

DoD guidelines outline what support the military can
provide. The AFIC has a $4.1 million operating budget
allocated over two fiscal years. The military identified
post-inaugural homes for its big-ticket purchases such as
computers and cameras.

Tradition is the basis of the military support honoring the
new commander in chief, according to Army Brig. Gen. Nick
Perkins, committee deputy director. The military has taken
part in the inauguration since George Washington took
office as the nation's first president.

Military participation reaffirms civilian control of the
military, lends a sense of patriotism to the inaugural
events and showcases the armed forces, Perkins said. The
AFIC pulls together transportation, communications and
other logistical aspects, he said. Active duty and reserve
members from all five services will have a chance to work
on the high-visibility, joint operation.

The logistics team provides everything from more than 100
drivers for VIPs to command post electrical generators.
While the AFIC's focus is on the ceremonial aspects of the
inauguration, the team also makes contingency plans that
take into account bad weather, civil disturbances,
terrorist acts and more.

AFIC officials also coordinate the color guards, military
bands, ceremonial units and others that will participate in
the parade and inaugural ceremony. In addition to the
parade units, about 1,800 service members will form an
honor cordon from the White House to the Capitol.

Service members will also support galas and balls that
occur after the inauguration ceremony. This generally
consists of a joint-service color guard, as well as
musicians. Generally, the Army's Herald Trumpets play
ruffles and flourishes and "Hail to the Chief" at f

[CTRL] RadTimes # 135

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 135 January, 2001

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth, and I am a
citizen of the world."
--Eugene Debs
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--A Guide to Effective Participation in the 2001 Inauguration
--Medical and Equipment Information
--Affinity Groups for J20
Linked stories:
*E-mail virus attacks multiply
*'One in every 700 mails infected'
---
Begin stories:
---
A Guide to Effective Participation in the 2001 Inauguration

Issued by:
The Partnership for Civil Justice, Inc.
A civil rights, women's rights and economic justice
public interest law firm.
1901 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 607
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 530-5630
[This document is also available on the Internet at
 ]

The Importance of the Inauguration:
Direct Participation in Democracy Without A Fee

The Inauguration is one of the few Presidential events in which
the public may directly participate without being charged an
entrance fee or campaign contribution.

The U.S. Government has asserted that it is illegal for citizens
to participate in the Inauguration if those persons express viewpoints
critical of the President or advocate policies different from
the Administration's. The Government has declared such conduct
violative of National Park Service (NPS) regulations and threatened
to fine and arrest at the Inauguration any individual expressing
such viewpoints.
Before the 1997 Inauguration, the District of Columbia Circuit
Court declared such threats to be unconstitutional, and ordered
that the Government must allow protesters in groups of up to
25. See, Mahoney v. Babbitt, 105 F.3d 1452 (D.C. Cir. 1997).

The authors maintain it is an unconstitutional violation of the
First Amendment Right to Free Speech for the U.S. Government
to arrest any individual or group participants (regardless of
the size of the group) at the Presidential Inauguration just
because they participate in the Inauguration by expressing political
dissent or views critical of the President.

This guide describes the NPS regulations and strategies for conducting
effective political action within the NPS rules that restrict
and sanction political dissent. It is intended to facilitate
public participation in the Inauguration, despite the restrictions
that the Government has placed upon free speech, for those who
do not have the time or resources to mount a constitutional challenge
to the existing NPS regulations that restrict free speech, or
who wish to demonstrate within those rules to minimize government
interference with their action.

Disclaimer
The information contained in this document is not intended, nor
should it be construed as, legal advice or opinion. Should you
require legal advice or opinion you should consult a licensed
attorney. © 2000, Partnership for Civil Justice, Inc. This document
may be freely copied and distributed, provided it is copied and
distributed in its entirety without alteration or omission.

The Rule of 25
Demonstrations in groups of 25 people or less may be held without
a permit on Pennsylvania Avenue or other federal land subject
to the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. See, 36 C.F.R.
Section(s) 7.96(g)(2)(i). Based on this provision, the U.S. Circuit
Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that it is unlawful
for the U.S. Government to fine or arrest Inaugural protesters
in groups of 25 or less on the asserted grounds that such protesters
are demonstrating without a permit.

PROTEST TIP: ORGANIZE IN GROUPS OF 25

Unless you intend to challenge the 25 person limitation imposed
by the National Park Service with the aid of an attorney, consider
the following strategies:

· Organize in separate protest groups of 25 or less (yes, an
affinity group will do).
· Larger groups may subdivide into separate and unrelated protest
groups.
· Separate protest groups may consider differentiating themselves
by protesting on different blocks, by wearing distinctive attire,
or by bearing signs (or other items) addressing distinct issues.
· Separate protest groups, like affinity groups, should be separately
named.
· Appoint no less than two clearly identified coordinators, or
"marshals," for each group to monitor and enforce the 25 person
limitation, politely explaining to those who exceed the limit
of 25 that they may 

[CTRL] RadTimes # 136

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

RadTimes # 136 January, 2001

An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.

"We're living in rad times!"
---
QUOTE:
"Samuel Johnson's saying that patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels
has some truth in it, but not nearly enough. Patriotism, in truth, is the
great nursery of scoundrels, and its annual output is probably greater than
that of even religion. Its chief glories are the demagogue, the military
bully, and the spreaders of libels and false history. Its philosophy rests
firmly on the doctrine that the end justifies the means -- that any blow,
whether above or below the belt, is fair against dissenters from its
wholesale denial of plain facts."
--H.L. Mencken, 'Minority Report'
---
How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
---
Contents:
---
--A Call to Demonstrate on January 20
--Update from International Action Center [2 updates]
--J20 organizers expect thousands
--Eleven Reasons To Protest At Bush's Inauguration On Jan. 20
--Activists Step Up Plans For Inaugural Protest
--Kensington Welfare Rights Union To Protest At Inauguration
--Conservatives make plans for inaugural mobilization
Linked stories:
*Black bloc goes to the Coronation
---
Begin stories:
---
A Call to Demonstrate on January 20

On January 20, the day of George Bush's inauguration, activists from around
the country will be converging on Washington, DC, to let him know that we
won't go back to the politics of the Reagan era and that he does not have a
mandate for his policies attacking poor and working people. We should all be
there.

The organizers of J20, as the protest is being called, state: "We are
protesting the inauguration of a president elected through an
exclusionary political system that is more beholden to corporate interests
than the people This historic election exposes the fundamental problems
of the US electoral process. We call on all people to join the global
movement for political, social, and economic justice."

"If there was ever a time for a million people's march, the time is now,"
the civil rights leader Ron Daniels added. "Black civil rights/human rights,
political, civic, labor and religious organizations and grassroots groups
need to launch a unified effort to mobilize millions for democracy."

In addition to raising concerns about the violation of civil and voting
rights in this election, protestors can let the incoming administration know
that we will not stand for any restrictions on women's access to abortion,
the further expansion of prisons and repressive crime laws, the use of the
death penalty, limits on the rights of workers to organize, attacks on gays
and lesbians, scapegoating of immigrants, or sanctions on Iraq.

Details on the protest can be found at:
.

Howard Zinn
David Barsamian
Michael Albert
Noam Chomsky
Barbara Ehrenreich
Katha Pollitt
Norman Solomon
Edward S. Herman
Robert W. McChesney
Frances Fox Piven
Gwendolyn Mink
Saul Landau
Brian Tokar
Margaret Randall
Laura Flanders
Mark Weisbrot
Doug Dowd
et al

---
Update from International Action Center regarding January 20th
Counter-Inaugural Demonstration [# 1]

31 Dec 2000

NEW NEWS AND MOBILIZATION UPDATE

We have distributed more than 50,000 flyers for the January
demonstration. We have another 50,000 flyers and several thousand
more posters that will be going out in the next week. The combination
of mass organizing (directly outreaching to working class communities
with leaflets, stickers, posters) and a high level of media coverage have
contributed to a surge in this mobilization.

The IAC web site and linked sites (mumia2000.org) has experienced an
unusually high volume of visits. People have been downloading the flyer
(from the mumia2000.org site) and reproducing it with a local address
and phone contact.

Official organizing centers that are arranging transportation for local
people have now been established in nearly 40 cities (see IAC web site
for listings.)

We are also producing a new piece of literature in bulk entitled:
"Eleven Reasons to Protest Bush's Inauguration on January 20." This
will be produced as a brochure for mass distributions and literature
tables (see following email).

UPDATE ON TACTICS

We have applied for permits for January 20th in four areas - along the
route of the Inaugural parade.

The reasons we have a

[CTRL] Fwd: Genetic Crossroads Issue 14

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>-Original Message-
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>-
>Welcome to
>   GENETIC CROSSROADS #14
>
>  January 7, 2001
>
> Supporting responsible uses of human genetic technologies
>   Opposing the new techno-eugenics
>
>  (formerly the Techno-Eugenics Email Newsletter)
>-
>  For subscription and submission information, see end of message.
>-
>
>  CONTENTS
>I.   EDITORS' NOTE
>
>II.  NEWS AND POINTERS
>  1. E Magazine Cover Story: "Designing People"
>  2. French Best-Selling Novel Celebrates a Post-Human Future
>  3. Disabled Peoples International Statement on Human Genetics
>  4. Two New Techniques Developed for Producing "Designer Sperm"
>  5. Bill Prohibiting Human Cloning Introduced in Texas
>  6. Flood of Responses to Watson's Genetic Determinism
>
>III. UPCOMING EVENTS
>  1. "A Decade of ELSI Research," January 16-18, Bethesda, MD
>  2. Eduardo Kac on Transgenic Animals as Art, Jan 29, UC Berkeley
>  3. UC Berkeley Classes on Biotechnology and Bioethics
>  4. Public Event Features Bill Joy, February 14, San Francisco
>  5. American Association for Advancement of Science, February 15-20,
> San Francisco
>
>IV.  ABOUT GENETIC CROSSROADS
>--
>--
>
>I.  EDITORS' NOTE
>
>Those who care about the responsible use of new genetic technologies
>know that efforts to set human society on a path toward a techno-eugenic
>future continue to gather momentum. Challenges to halt this momentum are
>just beginning to develop. The human project is truly at a critical
>crossroads--hence our new name.
>
>We want to encourage readers to share and post GENETIC CROSSROADS widely,
>and to tell us of news and events that are important for others to know.
>Let's help make 2001 the year that human society begins to re-assert
>control over the future of the human species.
>--
>
>II.   NEWS AND POINTERS
>
>1. E Magazine Cover Story: "Designing People"
>
>The cover story of E Magazine's January 2001 issue, "Designing People"
>by Sally Deneen, provides the environmental media's first in-depth
>coverage of the push for human germline manipulation and the emerging
>resistance to it. From the article:
>
>"The idea of redesigning human beings and animals to suit the primarily
>commercial goals of a limited number of individuals is fundamentally at
>odds with the principle of respect for nature." -- Brent Blackwelder,
>president, Friends of the Earth; Robert Musil, executive director,
>Physicians for Social Responsibility.
>
>"If people are concerned that there was such a severe backlash against
>genetically modified foods, I think they haven't seen anything compared
>to the backlash when we are able to alter the human genome." -- Beth
>Burrows, director, Edmonds Institute.
>
>"[W]hat we're talking about is a very deep understanding of what it means
>to be part of an intricate web of life, and why we have boundaries between
>speciesThis is no `marginal' movement or way of thinking. The group
>advocating human re-engineering includes extremely powerful, influential
>and wealthy people. So don't expect them to roll over easily or soon."
>-- Ignacio Chapela, professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy
>and Management, University of California, Berkeley.
>
>The E Magazine website is .
>--
>
>2. French Best-Selling Novel Celebrates a Post-Human Future
>
>The new literary-artistic embrace of the techno-eugenic vision continues
>with publication in English of the 1998 French bestseller The Elementary
>Particles by Michel Houellebecq (Knopf, 2000). Houellebecq offers an
>unrelentingly dreary, dispiriting assessment of the possibility of
>meaningful human relationships at the turn of the millenium, but holds
>out the promise that genetic engineering and cloning will allow creation
>of a new post-human species that transcends humanity's tragic flaws.
>
> >From the book (pp 262-264): "There remain some humans of the old species.
>At present their extinction seems inevitable. Contrary to the doomsayers,
>this extinction is taking place peaceably, despite occasional acts of
>violence, which also continue to decline. It has been surprising to note
>the meekness, resignation, perhaps even secret relief with which humans
>have consented to their own passing."
>
> >From the reviews:
>- "This remarkabl

[CTRL] Fwd: Abolish The Imperial Presidency

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

PEOPLE AGAINST RACIST TERROR (PART)
P.O. Box 1055
Culver City, CA 90232
Tel: 310-288-5003
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: http://people.we.mediaone.net/part2001/index.html
- Thursday, 4 January 2001 -


PART's Perspective:
ABOLISH THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY


This editorial, under the title: PART's Perspective: Abolish the Imperial
Presidency appears in the new issue of "Turning the Tide: Journal of
Anti-Racist Action, Research & Education," Volume 13 number 4, Winter
2000-2001, available from PART (People Against Racist Terror), PO Box 1055,
Culver City CA 90232. Samples are free; a four-issue subscription is $15
payable to Michael Novick, editor/publisher.

George the Second, President-Select, takes office as the first U.S.
president of the Twenty-first Century under an unprecedented cloud. Despite
his media-maintained mantle of "inevitability," "Dubya" came in second to
Al Gore in the balloting across the country, and even in the actual vote in
the pivotal state of Florida.

Bush's coup clings to a fig leaf of legality by virtue of the approval of
five Justices of the US Supreme Court, all appointed or elevated by
Reagan-Bush or Bush-Quayle. In Chile or the Philippines, such a coup would
require bloody repression to enforce and martial law to maintain. Even in
imperial metropoles like France or Germany, it would be greeted by massive
street protests and civil strife. Yet in the U.S., the predominant response
has been "relief" that the electoral uncertainty is over.

Bush's mass base is in the old Confederacy, and he won through large-scale
disenfranchisement of Black voters. Fittingly, he serves due to the
Electoral College mechanism designed to placate the slave owning states,
and by the anointment of 5 reactionaries and racists on the US Supreme
Court. But he also "won" because in the campaign and in the post-electoral
contest, Gore and the Democrats were more afraid of waking up the voters or
rocking the boat, than they were of allowing Bush and the GOP to take
power. Bush relies on the complacency of even most Democratic voters, and
the still larger body of people who don't bother to vote. His reign, like
those of supposedly more "legitimate" presidents, ultimately rests on the
fact that masses of people in this country continue to "buy in" to our own
oppression

What has this "civics lesson from hell" taught us about the true nature of
the government and society of the United States? Americans have learned
that our votes don't count, may not be counted, and that in fact, under the
Constitution, there is no "right to vote."

Not only this time, but every time, the campaign and election are a
necessary spectacle, a grand farce, a ceremonial exercise whose winner is
pre-ordained, a contest with carefully circumscribed parameters so that,
whoever wins, the rulers win.

Well, the sausage-maker who has seen what goes into the casing would never
eat a link. Hopefully, this exposure of the everyday criminality and
subterfuge that passes for democracy will deepen our distaste to the point
that the legitimacy of the entire state apparatus, not just the head of
state, is called into question. We must begin to withdraw our consent to be
governed in this way.

It's a measure of the system's intolerance for even the narrowest dissent
from the economic and political program demanded by the corporate elite,
that they were forced to resort to this level of naked coup to install Bush
in power. Gore and Bush differ only marginally on the best way to maintain
and extend the U.S. empire and corporate economic interests. Even so, the
more naked white supremacist and Christian right Bush camp could not
countenance a Gore victory. They resent any concessions to the people of
color, organized labor, bourgeois feminists and environmentalists in the
Democratic Party's mass base.

Opponents of Bush and defenders of democracy must recognize not only that
Bush won the dollar election of corporate contributions, but also that an
overwhelming majority of white male voters, and even a bare majority of
white women voters, went for Bush, an ill-prepared and dim-witted liar
whose main claim to the office, apart from inheritance, was his alleged
"affability." This is a measure of the continuing grip of white supremacy
and allegiance to empire on masses of Euro-Americans. It is this racist
racial solidarity which must be broken with and challenged directly. More
so than guns or the media monopoly, it is the main strength and resource of
the system of exploitation and oppression.

The problem is not just the illegitimacy of the gangster scion of a
gangster family -- the Kennebunkport Corleones or Texas Prizzis, as the
Bushes have been called -- though their multi-generational involvement in
the secret government that links the intelligence agencies, organized
crime, the fascists and the co

[CTRL] Fwd: Don't Blame Liberals for Gun Control

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

>Don't Blame Liberals for Gun Control
>By Richard Poe
>FrontPageMagazine.com  | January 8, 2001
>URL: http://www.frontpagemag.com/editors_note/en01-08-01.htm
>
>ANTI-GUN CRUSADERS seem worried about the advent of a Republican
>administration. Heaven knows why. Republicans, in recent years, have
>managed to do nearly as much damage to the Second Amendment as Democrats.
>
>In 1969, journalist William Safire asked Richard Nixon what he thought
>about gun control. "Guns are an abomination," Nixon replied. According to
>Safire, Nixon went on to confess that, "Free from fear of gun owners'
>retaliation at the polls, he favored making handguns illegal and requiring
>licenses for hunting rifles."
>
>It was President George Bush, Sr. who banned the import of "assault
>weapons" in 1989, and promoted the view that Americans should only be
>allowed to own weapons suitable for "sporting purposes."
>
>It was Governor Ronald Reagan of California who signed the Mulford Act in
>1967, "prohibiting the carrying of firearms on one's person or in a
>vehicle, in any public place or on any public street." The law was aimed
>at stopping the Black Panthers, but affected all gun owners.
>
>Twenty-four years later, Reagan was still pushing gun control. "I support
>the Brady Bill," he said in a March 28, 1991 speech, "and I urge the
>Congress to enact it without further delay."
>
>One of the most aggressive gun control advocates today is Republican mayor
>Rudolph Giuliani of New York City, whose administration sued 26 gun
>manufacturers in June 2000, and whose police commissioner, Howard Safir,
>proposed a nationwide plan for gun licensing, complete with yearly
>"safety" inspections.
>
>Another Republican, New York State Governor George Pataki, on August 10,
>2000, signed into law what The New York Times called "the nation's
>strictest gun controls," a radical program mandating trigger locks,
>background checks at gun shows and "ballistic fingerprinting" of guns sold
>in the state. It also raised the legal age to buy a handgun to 21 and
>banned "assault weapons," the sale or possession of which would now be
>punishable by seven years in prison.
>
>Gun control crusaders argue that the Republicans are simply yielding to
>grassroots pressure, to gain political advantage. But polls show little
>evidence of such pressure
>
>A Gallup/CNN/USA Today survey taken in June 1999 - only two months after
>the Littleton massacre - showed that the number of Americans who favored
>stricter gun laws had declined by 20 percent since 1990.
>
>Public support for gun control has dwindled even further since then. An
>Associated Press poll released on the one-year anniversary of the
>Littleton shootings shows that Americans favor strict enforcement of
>existing laws over new gun laws - the exact position of the National Rifle
>Association (NRA) - by 42 to 33 percent.
>
>That same month, a survey by the Pew Research Center showed that only 6
>percent of Americans believed that tougher gun laws would prevent future
>school shootings.
>
>Meanwhile, a Tarrance Group poll has shown that only 5 percent of
>Americans want gunmakers and gun dealers held responsible for misuse of
>firearms.
>
>Clearly, the pressure for gun control is not coming from the grassroots.
>It comes from those layers of society that the left calls the "ruling
>classes" - academics, Hollywood stars, Washington insiders and
>multibillion-dollar media conglomerates.
>
>The latter are particularly influential in pushing anti-gun propaganda. A
>study by the Media Research Center released in January 2000 showed that
>television news stories calling for stricter gun laws outnumbered those
>opposing such laws by a ratio of 10 to 1.
>
>The blame for this media bias is traditionally assigned to "liberal
>journalists." And, indeed, most journalists do hold left-of-center views.
>A 1996 survey of working journalists by the Roper Center and the Freedom
>Forum showed that 89 percent had voted for Bill Clinton in 1992. Only 4
>percent identified themselves as Republicans and only 2 percent as
>conservatives.
>
>Yet, their "liberal" views probably have less impact on the media's
>anti-gun bias than most people assume. Rank-and-file reporters have little
>power to influence the political spin even of their own stories.
>
>When I worked at the New York Post in the mid-1980s, I found the newsroom
>filled with liberals. They grumbled constantly about the paper's
>conservative slant. But they went along with it, because it was company
>policy.
>
>Liberal news organizations are no different. Political bias comes from the
>top. Rank-and-file reporters simply do what they are told.
>
>Those of us who cherish our Second Amendment rights are keeping our
>fingers crossed about George W. Bush. But the monolithic commitment
>America's "ruling classes" have shown toward gun control makes one wonder
>whether even a president is free to buck the current.
>---
>Richard Poe is editor of FrontPageMagazine.c

[CTRL] Big Brother knocked in 2000

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Big Brother knocked in 2000



For privacy experts, 2000 looked more like 1984.

By Stefanie Olsen
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
December 28, 2000

Workplace surveillance was the leading privacy concern in 2000, according
to an analysis released Thursday by the Privacy Foundation, a Denver-based
nonprofit that performs research and educates the public on privacy issues.

This year, millions of Americans were watched at work, as employers became
increasingly concerned about employee productivity and their use of the
Internet. Two-thirds of major U.S. companies now perform some type of
in-house electronic surveillance, according to the American Management
Association, and 27 percent of all companies surveyed now monitor email.

The Big Brother tactic has led to some people losing their jobs. Dow
Chemical fired 24 employees and disciplined 235 others in September for
allegedly storing and sending sexual or violent images on the company's
computers. Xerox, The New York Times Co. and the CIA were others that fired
or disciplined employees because of alleged bad behavior.

"Employers may be rightly concerned about security and productivity issues,
or legal liability arising from emailed sexual banter," Stephen Keating,
executive director of the Privacy Foundation, said in a statement.
"But pervasive or spot-check surveillance conducted through keystroke
monitoring software, reviewing voice-mail messages, and using mini-video
cameras will undoubtedly affect morale and labor law, as well as employee
recruitment and retention practices," he added.
In the future, the foundation predicts that employers, especially so-called
New Economy companies, may offer "spy free" workplaces as a fringe benefit.

Information falling into the wrong hands

Keeping medical records private was the second most important privacy
concern in 2000, according
to the report. Fears that personal medical data, disclosed to medical
practitioners, could reach the
wrong hands propelled new federal rules in December. The new policy, which
could be delayed in Congress in the coming year, will require doctors to
get patient consent to use medical records in
routine matters, as well as give patients more access to their own records.

Privacy issues surrounding Carnivore, the online surveillance technology
developed by the FBI for
investigations, fell into the survey's top three. Civil libertarians fear
that the FBI could use Carnivore to watch people through entry points to
the Web or randomly read email communications. Privacy advocates criticized
the FBI for releasing too little information about the surveillance
technology in October.

Online advertising network DoubleClick also received top billing this year
for its widely noted but unrealized plans to merge anonymous online
customer data with personally identifiable offline data from subsidiary
Abacus Direct.
After public outcry and a federal investigation, DoubleClick postponed its
plans. But the issue highlighted the online profiling practices of online
ad networks and marketers, causing a number of legal cases to be filed
against online companies.

Because of such heightened privacy concerns in 2000, companies including
Microsoft, IBM and American Express hired for a new position: chief privacy
officer. In the future, the foundation predicts that universities will
offer degree programs in privacy and business.

These were some other top privacy concerns in 2000:

• Online customer data became a hot commodity, prompting online
retailers to change their privacy policies and inciting privacy advocates
and legislators to tighten their watch over them.

For example, federal regulators blocked Toysmart.com from selling customer
data after the company went out of business. And Amazon.com came under fire
after changing its privacy policy to allow for transferring customer data
in certain instances.

• Privacy fears cropped up regarding new legislation that allows
financial institutions to combine customer information housed under
different divisions and potentially share it with third parties, as long as
they notify customers and provide them the option to opt out.

Advocates are concerned that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act doesn't go far
enough to protect consumers with the transfer of online information. In
2001, many more consumers may complain about the mishandling of their
personal data by financial institutions.

• Wireless tracking technologies raised privacy hackles.
Location-sensing technology for cell phones, under a new federal program
called E911, and new ad-delivery plans fueled questions about privacy and
receiving unsolicited email, or spam, via handheld devices.

The Privacy Foundation predicts that tech companies and federal regulators
will keep spam at bay by setting industry standards on consumer choice to
receive text messages.

• Microsoft issued a software patch for Internet Explorer that lets Web

[CTRL] The Empire Has No Clothes

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

The Empire Has No Clothes

The Globe & Mail, December 15, 2000

America has been the world's democratic role model until this election
stripped our illusions and revealed the naked lust for power that
passes for politics

by Todd Gitlin

Canadians may reasonably wonder whether Americans have gone smash out of
their minds. In recent weeks the same question has been frequently posed by
chad-addled Americans themselves, as they struggled to invoke the sense of
downright weirdness that poured over the land. Some high- (or low-) lights:
The selfsame scion of a blueblood political family who insisted that he
"trusted the people" and not "Washington" delegated as his power-
brokers his father's former secretary of defence, his father's former
secretary of state and campaign manager, and, as his future chief of
staff, Washington's top auto-company lobbyist and servant of the globe-
is-not-warming brigade.
A tribune of "progressivism" declared that a government headed by
two men from big oil companies who are unconvinced the globe is
warming would be no different than a government headed by a
man who had tried, and failed, as Vice-President to impose an energy tax
against the unremitting opposition of oil companies and their hired
representatives in the Republican Congress.
Misled and bewildered, unable to get the on-site help guaranteed
under the law, Palm Beach County Jews cast thousands of ballots for the
most anti-Semitic presidential candidate of the century.
To cap it all, fervent defenders of states' rights appealed not once, but
twice, to the U.S. Supreme Court in far-off Washington, where
steadfast self-proclaimed proponents of judicial restraint shut down
Florida's hand vote-count, a count that had been ordered by
Florida's own Supreme Court, claiming that this legal exercise in
democratic procedure was perpetrating "irreparable harm."
Conservatives lauded the Rehnquist Five for daring to stand up for equal
protection of the law to shut down a partial recount when it was the Bush
camp that had steadfastly resisted a full state-wide version.  "Rarely,"
wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dissenting (and conspicuously not taking
the traditional trouble to do so "respectfully"), "has this Court rejected
outright an interpretation of state law by a state high court."
This rarity was the measure of what was at stake. Power was at stake. It
was, it always was, as simple as that.
The comedy is not that the country took so long to produce a
president-elect, but that the establishment's post facto rituals of
reassurance will, for a time, persuade some Americans, while to others
these rituals are laughably transparent.
What matters is a tragedy: The Supreme Court judged George W.  Bush's risk
of "irreparable harm" more significant than voters' risk of not getting
their ballots counted. Five justices declared that time had run out for
democratic procedure, after the Bush team did everything they could to run
out the clock, appealing to the federal courts, stopping the vote every
time they could, blasting Mr. Gore for availing himself of legal rights to
protest and contest the results, whereupon the justices were shocked,
shocked to discover that there was no time to count all the votes.
"The majority effectively orders the disenfranchisement of an unknown
number of voters . . .," wrote Justice Ginsburg. There is the nub of the
matter: disenfranchisement. This is the real drama: The rest is smoke and
mirrors.
One achievement of the recent passion play is the revelation (not nearly
well enough reported) of evidence of violations of law and democratic
practice on a tremendous scale in Florida and elsewhere before, on, and
after election day. Before election day, many Florida voters' names were
purged"cleansed" is the nice word used by the Republican-run company hired
by the State of Florida, with Katherine Harris, Bush delegate, presiding
over frequently false claims that they were felons and thus ineligible to vote.
On election day, many eligible Florida voters found their names missing
from the registration rolls. African-American precincts were saddled with
obsolete voting and list-checking machines, while white districts had
state-of-the-art laptops to smooth their way. This was segregation by
technology. Some were stopped on the way to the polls on pretexts all too
familiar from the long history of racial oppression in the South. Haitian
Americans, promised Creole translators, did not get them.  Later, in Miami,
a vote count in progress was shut down by a "bourgeois riot" the term of
choice in the Wall Street Journal, including prominently Republican
officials who jetted down from the North. Now the bourgeois rioters take
power behind a screen of bipartisanship.
Repeatedly during the endless campaign we were told that fat and happy
Americans were indifferent to these candidates whom prosperity drove
helplessly toward the centre, so that rival brands Gore and Bush were
forced to differentiate thems

[CTRL] Fwd: A Turning Point In American History

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

 > January 2, 2001
 >
 > A Turning Point In American History
 >
 > By Connie White <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
 >
 > Election 2000 is one of those turning points in American
 > history: it reminded some, and exposed to others, that this
 > is not a country "of the people, by the people, and for the
 > people," and it reminded some and exposed to others that the
 > American judicial system is now, and has always been,
 > partisan and is not impartial.
 >
 > Electoral democracy is based on citizenship, and citizenship
 > means that the individual has certain rights and duties. What
 > has been presumed to be among an American citizens' rights
 > is the right to vote and that each vote counts. Tossing out
 > ballots is a fundamental violation of the rights of voting
 > citizens. During the debates before the U.S. Supreme Court
 > regarding "uncounted" votes in Florida, USA, one of the
 > leading justices of the Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia,
 > stated that there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution
 > that guarantees U.S. citizens the right to vote. So much for
 > members of the "highest court in the land" believing in the
 > "democratic right to vote." When the Supreme Court upheld
 > the decision to stop the vote counting in Florida, America
 > was exposed as not being a "democracy" -- representative
 > or otherwise.
 >
 > The Republican pundits are justifying the Supreme Court
 > decision (intervention) by pointing out that America is not
 > a "democracy," but a "republic." (The two political systems
 > are not mutually exclusive. A "republic" is a political
 > system whereby the "people" elect representatives to govern
 > for them -- inherent in this definition is the understanding
 > that there is no "king" -- and a "democracy" is a political
 > system based in majority decision-making. You could have a
 > democratic republic, which is a political system that has
 > democratic decision-making, and no king.) The American
 > government more closely resembles a "timocracy" -- a
 > government of the propertied class. The point regarding
 > America being a "republic" was also made during the Monica
 > Lewinsky hearings, when the overwhelming majority of the
 > American people denounced the Republican party witch
 > hunts, and the poles indicated that Clinton should remain
 > president. Here is where the "constitutional republic" game
 > comes in -- the Republicans argue that they are doing their
 > "constitutional duty," and indicate that America is a
 > "constitutional republic," and not a "democracy." Although
 > poles -- or popular vote at election time -- may indicate
 > the will of the people, the Republican Party's position
 > during the Lewinsky hearings was "to hell with the will of
 > the people," we have the power and the constitutional right
 > and we intend to use it. Similarly, during Election 2000,
 > the Republican Party said "to hell with the will of the
 > people" (the popular vote), and "constitutionally" relied
 > upon its Supreme Court partisans to render a judicial
 > decision that secured the presidential election for
 > George Bush.
 >
 > So much for American "democracy," and majority decision-
 > making.
 >
 > Election 2000 has exposed that America is not the
 > representative democratic nation of the world. It has been
 > exposed as a fake and a fraud, where power relations are the
 > motivating force in the legislative, executive and judiciary
 > "branches," and class interests are the glue that solidify
 > the Republican and Democratic parties into one. Hence, all
 > the talk about "bi-partisanship" today.
 >
 > But, has the American working class seen enough in Election
 > 2000 to understand that this is not "our" government -- that
 > this is not a "democracy" whereby the "people" elect the
 > representatives who will govern?
 >
 > Let's not be quick to forget all that was exposed in
 > Election 2000.
 >
 > During Election 2000, the American electorate continued to
 > protest the choices offered in "the race for the presidency."
 > Approximately 52% of the American electorate did not vote
 > for president or voted for a third party candidate.
 > Additionally, and most importantly, -- 2.5 million American
 > voters were considered the "under vote," which are those
 > ballots on which the voter did not indicate a presidential
 > choice. These "under vote" ballots represent those voters
 > whom I believe chose "none of the above" for president, but
 > took the time to vote for initiatives they wanted passed,
 > and for local or national legislative candidates. Where in
 > America's Constitution does it state that voters not voting
 > for president would have their ballots "kicked out"? The
 > American electorate should have known about this practice
 > before going to the polls. This protesting American
 > electorate clearly showed that their interests are
 > not being represented in the choices presented at
 > election time.
 >
 > Some have presented the initiative/proposit

[CTRL] Interesting biometrics reference site

[radman]

-Caveat Lector-

Interesting biometrics reference site:


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