-Caveat Lector-
RadTimes # 86 October, 2000
An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.
"We're living in rad times!"
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Contents:
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--Ohio Braces for World Bank Protests
--Record Low Turnout Predicted [voting]
--The CIA's Honeymoon With The Academy
--Farm and rural life poll
--Microsoft on the bounty
--Vieques Protesters Stop US Navy/NATO Bombing
--Moms and Militia: A True Story
--U.S. Special Ops Gets First Non-Army Chief
--The FBI's alarming crime spree
Linked stories:
*Crime in the United States, 1999
*Planet America: A Seven-Part Study on the World's Most Powerful
Empire
*International Web Police
*Crime Specialists Doubt Effectiveness of Gun Buybacks
*War on Drugs: Coming to a Bookstore Near You
*Microsoft hit by "espionage" hack
*Inside Europe's cyber sleuth central
*Cops convicted of operating a brothel
*Drawing the line [cops & gun confiscation]
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Begin stories:
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Ohio Braces for World Bank Protests
October 29, 2000
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Police and protesters are getting ready for a visit next
month by more than 100 CEO's from both sides of the Atlantic.
Executives from Europe and the U.S. attending the Trans Atlantic Business
Dialogue are coming to talk about trade and investment and to discuss ways
of eliminating costly regulations.
But their critics will be out in force, saying the group favors total
global economic control by the rich and powerful and disregards human
rights and the environment.
Police say they're ready for any confrontation, but that most protesters
gathering here for the Nov. 16-18 conference will be peaceful.
``They've assured me that they're nonviolent and I have no reason not to
believe that. If not, we're well-trained in these things,'' said Capt.
Vince Demasi.
In Seattle last year, tens of thousands of demonstrators converged on the
city during a World Trade Organization meeting, some of them looting and
vandalizing buildings. Police using tear gas and rubber bullets arrested
more than 500 people. The disruptions cost the city almost $10 million in
extra security.
Cincinatti police say the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies are
helping and local authorities are ready to work 12-hour shifts. Local
airports say they plan extra security and will whisk the business leaders
downtown when they arrive.
``We sure don't want to blow this,'' said Ted Bushelman, spokesman for the
Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport.
``These are big companies. These people can make decisions on whether or
not to put a plant in your area,'' he said.
Planners say more than 500 people, including U.S. Treasury Secretary
Lawrence Summers and officials from the European Union, are expected to attend.
One local group, the Coalition for a Humane Economy, said they expect some
out-of-towners will join their nonviolent protest. The group wants
environmental laws written into trade agreements and would like to see
ordinary citizens have some say in the trade process.
----
On the Net:
Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue: <<3d.htm>http://www.tabd.com>
Coalition for a Humane Economy: <<3d.htm>http://www.CHE-2000.org>
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Record Low Turnout Predicted
Published on Saturday, October 28, 2000 in the Toronto Globe & Mail
Trends In Increasing Voter Apathy Point To A Record Lack Of Interest
In Casting Ballots This Presidential Election
by John Gray
Despite more than a year of campaigning, and countless hours of television
and forests of newspapers devoted to those campaigns, the Nov. 7 election
may mark an ignominious new low for U.S. voters.
Just 49 per cent of the electorate cast ballots in the 1996 presidential
election, the first time in decades the number of people who cast ballots
dipped below 50 per cent of those eligible. Unless there is a sudden surge
of interest in the next 10 days, the signs point to another decline.
There are more young Americans now than there were four years ago. This is
important because in 1996, only 11 per cent of those eligible to vote for
the first time bothered to do so.
Furthermore, fewer people than ever, in percentage terms, watched the
summer's political conventions and the three televised presidential debates
this fall.
When John Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in 1960, a record 62.8 per cent of
adults voted. Since then, there has been a steady, pronounced decline in
the willingness of Americans to go to the polling booth.
Curtis Gans, who has spent the past 40 years tracking the decline, says the
United States now ranks 139th out of 167 of the world's democracies in
voter turnout.
"The nation that prides itself on being the best example of government of,
for and by the people is rapidly becoming a nation whose participation is
limited to the interested or zealous few."
Mr. Gans, director of the non-partisan Committee for the Study of the
American Electorate, says the dwindling interest in voting stems from the
failures of the two main parties and their leaders.
From Lyndon Johnson to Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton,
presidents from both parties have misled and betrayed voters, creating what
Mr. Gans calls "the erosion of political trust by the conduct of leadership."
The Democrats tend to rely on their traditional support -- union members,
blacks and seniors -- while the Republicans depend on backing from the
country's most conservative elements. These patterns continue into the
current race.
"We seem to have had an election in which each party, in the pursuit of
winning, designed its tactics to pull out its core supporters while leaving
the vast majority of the electorate standing on the sidelines," Mr. Gans says.
He is particularly alarmed about the effects of televised attack ads, which
undermine debate and savage the honour and image of candidates.
Mr. Gans pointedly observes that television in the U.S. is unregulated, in
contrast to Canada. He describes attack ads as broadcast pollution.
"What we have now is consultants running amok, destroying more careers than
they help; undermining, distorting and trivializing the political dialogue;
eroding reason and the will to vote."
He sees the decline of politics as a reflection of American society:
communities destroyed by interstate highways and suburban strip malls,
education quality in decline, shared national goals harder and harder to
find and young people growing up in homes with parents who do not vote and
do not even talk about politics.
Canadians may be tempted to look down on the dismal public commitment of
their neighbours to the south. But Mr. Gans observes that Canada has
experienced a substantial voter-turnout decline of its own, sliding from 75
per cent in 1984 and 1988 to 67 per cent in 1997. For the past century,
voter turnout in Canada has varied from 67 to 79 per cent, and has been
above 70 per cent most of the time.
Mr. Gans concedes that all advanced democracies have gone through some
decline in voter participation, but none has seen drops as dramatic as
those in the United States and Canada.
In a survey of 19 advanced democracies in the five decades from the 1940s
to the 1980s, Canada's average voter turnout declined from 13th to 16th place.
In the 1980s, the average was 73 per cent, compared with 90 per cent in New
Zealand, 87 in Germany and 71 per cent in Japan.
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The CIA's Honeymoon With The Academy
Interactions between universities and U.S. intelligence agencies are once
again on the rise, in frequency and diversity. Just today, for example,
there is a program scheduled at the University of Maryland at College Park
that is jointly sponsored with the National Intelligence Council.
Most of these interactions are non-controversial and may be positively
beneficial, insofar as they tend to demystify intelligence.
Controversy arises, however, when substantial amounts of money become
involved and, especially, when a requirement for security clearances is
imposed.
"Professors involved in international affairs should not have security
clearances from any governments, including their own," asserted Prof. Bruce
Cumings of the University of Chicago. (With the growing criminalization of
security policy, we might add, anyone who has a choice should think twice
before accepting a security clearance.)
The state of relations between academia and intelligence is explored at
some length in a fascinating article entitled "For Your Eyes Only" by Chris
Mooney in the November 2000 issue of Lingua Franca magazine. This article
is not available online, but information about Lingua Franca may be found here:
<http://www.linguafranca.com/print/index.html>
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Farm and rural life poll
Iowa farmers overwhelmingly see farm
Economy worsening
An annual Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, conducted by Iowa State
University Extension rural sociologist Paul Lasley reveals that
only 24% of the states farmers said they think their quality of
life will improve in the next five years, while 13% expected their
neighbors' lives to improve as only about one of eight Iowa farmers
thinks the overall farm economy will improve in the next five
years --- the lowest rate of optimism in 18 years.
"I think in general it's a shroud of uncertainty and concern that
farm prices and the farm economy continue to languish behind the
general economy," Lasley told the Associated Press.A number of
issues, most of them beyond the control of farm families, contribute
to the pessimism, including low commodity prices, rising interest
rates and fuel costs, Lasley added.
Just 12% said they think the farm economy will get better while
64% said the economy will get worse, and 24% expect it to stay
about the same.Those numbers are just slightly higher than during
the farm debt crisis in 1986.
Questionnaires were sent to 4,977 Iowa farmers in February, with
61% responding. The figures represent the latest in a downward
trend in optimism, despite peaks in 1988 and 1996, Lasley said.
Some of the respondents wrote comments on the questionnaires to
highlight the grim situation. "Individual owner-operators will
become extinct very shortly without prompt and favorable government
action," a Story County farmer wrote.
John Whitaker, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, said government
subsidies farmers receive in bad times are helpful, but farmers
would prefer not having to use them. "Farmers would a lot rather
have money from the marketplace and not the mailbox," he said.
In addition to low commodity prices, Whitaker said farmers are
dissatisfied with the Freedom to Farm Act, which he calls a failed
federal policy, and the large corporate agribusinesses, which
farmers perceive as controlling certain segments of the market.
Whitaker is raising two sons, ages 17 and 15, on his farm between
Hillsboro and Stockport in southeast Iowa. He said farm life is in
their blood, and they both intend to become farmers. What could
deter them and others, he said, is not the pessimism, but the lack
of profit. "When kids see they can't make a living, they may love
it, but they'll distance themselves from it in their first job,
and they'll never go back,"
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the proportion of
farmers age 55 and over has risen from 37% in 1954 to 61% in 1997.
The average Iowa farmer is now 52.4 years old, Lasley notes.
Michael Kiernan, spokesman for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty
Judge, said the Iowa Poll numbers reflect a nationwide trend that
can be remedied only by a new national farm policy.The drought and
low commodity prices a year ago contribute to that, Kiernan said,
including the lowest corn prices in more than a decade, the lowest
soybean prices in 27 years and the lowest hog prices since the
Great Depression.
"We must move beyond the annual damage control to a policy that
gives farmers the tools they need to thrive, not just basically
survive from disaster to disaster," Kiernan said.
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Microsoft on the bounty
Lobbying firm offers cash payments for grass-roots
comments to lawmakers and policy makers
Bounty payments are being offered for pro-Microsoft letters and
calls, the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire reports.
Republican Ralph Reed's lobbying firm coordinates a network of
public-relations and lobbying partners that generates grass-roots
comments for cash. Payments are for letters, calls and visits to
lawmakers and policy makers. An e-mail offers sample letters opposing
a Microsoft breakup.
A letter to a member of Congress from a mayor or local Republican
Party official is worth $200, the guidelines say. A "premier" letter
or visit by a fund-raiser known to the lawmaker or a family member
can be worth up to $450 apiece. An op-ed piece in local papers
fetches $500.
Microsoft says, "Our competitors are attacking us, and it's no
secret we're working to assure our supporters are heard."
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Vieques Protesters Stop US Navy/NATO Bombing
From: V.S.C. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
October 17, 2000
In response to the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico being used once again for
military rehearsals and naval target practice, in the early morning hours on
Tuesday, October 17, a group of residents decided to enter the restricted
bombing range in order to block the military exercise. Military rehearsals
have halted as a result of the action of protesters.
The U.S. Navy along with the militaries of other N.A.T.O. countries, at the
invitation of the Pentagon, have been preparing in recent days to use the
island for this exercise. It is apparent that these rehearsals are part and
parcel of military plans which the U.S. and N.A.T.O. have in relation to
events now taking place throughout the world.
The action of the protesters is initiated by the Committee For The Rescue &
Development Of Vieques, who have been waging a struggle against the 60 year
long imposed U.S. Navy occupation on the island. The CRDV has stated that
they will hold the Pentagon responsible if the lost of life results from any
decision to proceed with the bombing rehearsals. The protesters made it
known that they will continue their acts of defiance until the U.S. Navy
withdraws from
the territory.
Vieques is an island municipality of Puerto Rico which the Pentagon uses for
the rehearsal of its Atlantic and Southern Command operations. Puerto Rico
is a colony of the United States that was militarily invaded in the 1898
Spanish American War.
Committee for the Rescue & Development of Vieques: (787)741-0716
E-mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
U.S. Navy Out Of Vieques!
U.S. Imperialism Out Of Puerto Rico!
Visit the Vieques Support Campaign web site:
<http://palfrente.tripod.com>
E-mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Moms and Militia: A True Story
<https://www.keepandbeararms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=797>
by John M. Marion,
Jr.
This story is intended to help convert some people who are not quite sure
what they believe about the 2nd Amendment. Feel free to use it with anyone
who might benefit by it.
I've been discussing 2nd Amendment issues over the last two or three years
with different people. I like to bring up the topic sometimes. It's an
interesting and important issue to me.
I've done some study about what the founders of the United States had in
mind when they wrote the word "militia". It's clear that they had in mind
something very different than the National Guard. They clearly spoke of
every able bodied male being a member of the militia. It's also important
that they wrote about the right of "the people" to keep and bear arms. "The
people" is a term used throughout the U.S. Constitution and you know what?
It means the people, not a special class of citizens created by
politicians, nor does it mean "the government".
Last weekend (on October 21, 2000) I attended a rally of the Million Mom
March organization. The occasion for the rally was to demonstrate at a gun
show at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The
moms don't want any more gun shows at the fairgrounds. I spoke with one of
the men among the moms. As the moms shouted, "guns and fairgrounds don't
mix!", he was trying to explain to me that the moms don't want to eliminate
the gun shows at the fairgrounds. (Uh, yes, you read that correctly.)
Their real purpose was to eliminate, or at least register, handguns and
assault rifles, he explained. I asked him what he meant by assault rifles
and he proceeded to explain how a fully automatic rifle (i.e. machine gun)
functions. I explained that machine guns were strictly regulated since the
1930's and that one who wants one has to pay a stiff fee and get
fingerprinted and register the gun and do a few other things to lawfully
own one. He then proceeded to explain that assault rifles are those that
can have large capacity magazines attached to them. He explained how deer
hunters don't need 30 rounds to hunt. We then went full circle when I
brought up the point that the 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with target
shooting or hunting.
He also wasn't too happy about my point relating to unarmed Jews being led
to the slaughter during the reign of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party. He
said that even if the Jews were armed they would not have been able to
fight against the German army effectively so it was better for them to be
unarmed because they were safer without guns. (Uh, yes, once again, you
read that correctly. And he really said that.) He really wasn't too happy
talking about the Jewish holocaust because some of his relatives were
slaughtered at that time. I didn't get a chance to bring up the point that
some survivors of the Jewish holocaust became strong advocates of the right
to keep and bear arms. (See Jews for the Preservation of Firearms
Ownership for verification of that point.)
But I did bring up my experiences in Afghanistan where I witnessed first
hand the destruction of areas of the city where I lived. The neighborhoods
where the men stayed up all night to resist the incoming army were not
looted. No rapes. No slaughter. It was kind of scary as I huddled with my
family day after day in the center room of our home in order to avoid the
shrapnel of incoming rockets, but the opposing army couldn't take the
ground we were on because our neighbors were armed to the teeth and willing
to fight to the death. The neighborhoods that were unarmed were overrun.
Then a few years later, the unarmed women and children of the Hazara ethnic
group were slaughtered. (See Human Rights report for details.) I lost my
Russian Jeep to the Taleban in that attack. Again, the armed neighborhoods
of the same ethnic group resisted and survived. The guy listened to me tell
my story. I think he found it interesting. I believe what I said to him
shattered his theories about firearms ownership, but then again real life
always disproves theories. I hope he is still thinking about what I said.
Anyway, for any one who wants to know, it is fairly easy to learn what the
writers of the U.S. Constitution had in mind when they used the word militia.
Now, I've just learned that there is a clear definition in the U.S. Code.
The U.S. Code is federal law passed by the U.S. Congress.
The U.S. Code is current law.
It's not theory or opinion, it's law.
US Code
Title 10
Sec. 311. Militia: composition and classes
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males
at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title
32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of
intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens
of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are -
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the
Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the
militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
Any Questions?
You can go to <http://FindLaw.com> to get the above quotation.
John M. Marion, Jr.
Fairfax County, Virginia
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U.S. Special Ops Gets First Non-Army Chief
Defense News This Week: 06 November 2000
U.S. Air Force Gen. Charles Holland took charge Oct. 27 of Special
Operations (Ops) Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., replacing U.S.
Army Gen. Peter Schoomaker.
Holland is the first non-Army officer to head the command, which is
responsible for Army special forces, psychological operations and civil
affairs, and Navy sea-air-land commandos. He was previously deputy
commander of U.S. air forces in Europe
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The FBI's alarming crime spree
Libertarian Party News
October 2000, Page 12
A new report says that crimes and misconduct by FBI agents
jumped 18% over the last year, while crime rates in general are
falling. Which makes Libertarians wonder: Could we reduce crime
by abolishing the FBI?
"Ordinary Americans are committing fewer crimes - while FBI
agents appear to be going on a crime spree," said Steve Dasbach.
"Is the FBI the last bastion of organized crime in America?"
According to Federal Bureau of Investigation reports, a record 538
misconduct investigations were launched against FBI agents and
employees last year- an 18% increase over the previous year.
Other FBI employees were investigated for crimes such as credit
card theft, shoplifting, and eluding a police officer.
Meanwhile, the violent crime rate in American dropped another
10.4% last year - falling to a 26 year low.
"This stark contrast raises the question: Does the FBI cause more
crime than it prevents and solves?" said Dasbach. "And would
America be a safer place if we eliminated the FBI?"
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Linked stories:
********************
Crime in the United States, 1999
<http://www.friendsofliberty.com/October/J81700.htm>
(FLI Newswire-Oct. 16, 2000-Washington, D.C.) The Federal Bureau of
Investigation today announced the eighth consecutive annual decrease in
serious crime.
********************
Planet America: A Seven-Part Study on the World's Most Powerful Empire
<http://www.globeandmail.com/series/America/>
The Globe and Mail has examined the scope and impact of the power of the
United States. In a week-long series of articles, its correspondents have
examined why the country is where it is, how it wields its power, what the
American world means today.
********************
International Web Police
<http://www.web-police.org>
Comprised of law enforcement agencies, government officials,
sworn police officers, and civilian volunteers located in 61 countries
throughout the world, all of whom are dedicated to serving and protecting
citizens of the Internet community.
********************
Crime Specialists Doubt Effectiveness of Gun Buybacks
<http://www.jointogether.org/jtodirect.jtml?U=83952&O=264875>
Gun buybacks have been a popular way of addressing gun
violence, but with crime again on the rise in Boston, Mass.
some officials are discouraging buyback programs.
********************
War on Drugs: Coming to a Bookstore Near You
<http://www.drcnet.org/wol/157.html#bookstore>
The Tattered Cover, one of the nation's flagship independent
bookstores, has been ordered to hand over records of customer
book purchases to aid a police drug investigation.
********************
Microsoft hit by "espionage" hack
<http://itn.co.uk/news/20001027/business/04microsoft.shtml>
Software giant Microsoft says hackers have broken into the company's
computers, in what a spokesman called "a deplorable act of industrial
espionage." The break-in has been reported to the FBI.
********************
Inside Europe's cyber sleuth central
<http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeatBIZ.asp?/news/481681.asp>
Hunched over a computer inside a building that once served as Gestapo
headquarters, Paolo Felix hunts down clues that he hopes will lead him
to Europe's most hardened criminals. By Bob Sullivan reports from The
Hague, Netherlands.
********************
Cops convicted of operating a brothel
<http://www.bergen.com/region/fun27200010276.htm>
Two New Brunswick, New Jersey, police officers were found guilty
Thursday of promoting prostitution, conspiracy and official
misconduct by operating a brothel at a warehouse. Typically,
corrupt cops use the law to harass and arrest their competition,
e.g. prostitutes who do not wish to have them as pimps. (10/27/00)
********************
Drawing the line
<http://www.2ampd.net/Articles/pyle/draw_the_line.htm>
A police officer answers the question, "What would you do
if you were ordered to go door-to-door to confiscate firearms?"
********************
======================================================
"Anarchy doesn't mean out of control. It means out of 'their' control."
-Jim Dodge
======================================================
"Communications without intelligence is noise;
intelligence without communications is irrelevant."
-Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
======================================================
"It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society."
-J. Krishnamurti
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