Re: [L-I] Who Really Brought Down Milosevic?
The US tried the same strategy in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The US will keep trying until it succeeds. The time to be vigilant in China is now. Henry C.K. Liu Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: > * New York Times Magazine 26 November 2000 > > Who Really Brought Down Milosevic? > ___ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
[L-I] Fukuyama on US Election
nd right. Both candidates tried to grab hold of the electorate through tried and true political appeals that had worked in earlier elections. But the real issues in American politics have become cultural ones that can only indirectly be addressed through politics and public policy." Fukuyama then proceed to identified the cultural battle as sexual politics: "... failed to grasp fully the change that has taken place, which is, as political scientist James Kurth has explained, the feminization of American politics. It is not just that women vote in greater numbers than they did, but that they constitute the key vote that has swung toward the Democrats in contemporary elections. Foreign policy, strong national defense and tax cuts were key parts of the traditional Republican formula that brought Ronald Reagan to power. But these issues are also pre-eminently male ones, and have consistently failed to gain much traction among women. Mr. Clinton woke up to the feminization of American politics and the cultural issues this spawned much sooner than the Republicans, and rode it to two election victories. Of the Republican candidates running last spring, Mr. Bush had the most appeal among women because of his knowledge of, and concern for, social policy issues. He managed, in the end, to do better among married women than Mr. Gore. How politicians play this issue is very complex, because women are not a homogeneous voting block and have very different interests on a variety of issues. But on the whole, this shift spells trouble for conservatives more than for liberals. The single most important social change to have taken place in the United States over the past 40 years concerns sex and the social role of women, and it is from this single source that virtually all of the "culture wars" stem. They'd better start thinking fast, since the cultural issues are the only ones still capable of stimulating voter passion." Now sexual politics has been around for a long time and it is bizarre to identify it as the new goal post in the cultural war, while huge numbers of people aroung the world are dying daily from hunger, disease, malnutrition, war, pollution, and what have you, most of which caused by some wanting more than others. In the order of moral concerns, sexual politics does not rank among the top. The fundamental aspect of US foreign policy after the Cold War is that the US, viewing itself with the equivalence of the all-inclusive Roman Empire at the height of its power - an invincible singular global superpower with no effective opposition, no longer feels the need for a foreign policy. This is in keeping with the view of the end of history. Historically, China, at various times during the height of its culture, such as during the Han, Tang and Qing dynasties, also enjoyed such hegemonic advantage in the then konw world, and had no need for a foreign ministry or policy. US foreign policy has become merely a sub-unit of domestic policy. Its neglect by the election has little, if any, to do with it being a male issue. The world is at a critical crossroad, and wise leadership in the world's sole remaining superpower is very important. Large issues of survival are at stake for human civilization, issues of societal vision, of social justice, of a just peace, of environmental symbiosis, of the balance between community and individual freedom... the list goes on. The powerful have a special responsibility because they possess the means to solve these critical problems for the good of all. Complacency about the end of history will only lead us into an abyss of destruction. As to moralism, the goal of stimulating voter passion is a poor moral compass, to say the least. Fukuyama appears to be hosting gentile tea parties for concerned middle class American ladies who would be psychologically fulfilled going home with party favors of perfume bottles filled with empty moralism. It is nothing but snake oil philosohpy. Henry C.K. Liu ___ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
[L-I] Socialist Party support of the Vietnam War
I receive an e-mail from an well known economist (his name withheld because I don't have his permission to forward his meassage) which contained the following: The Vietnam War. I published a balance-of-payments study for Arthur Andersen/NYU which showed that the ENTIRE US balance-of-payments deficit stemmed from overseas military spending. This had nothing to do with interest rates. The rate rise stemmed from the national socialist attempt to have both guns and butter. (I say socialist because the only supporters of the war were the Socialist Party, as an anti-communist effort. Wall St. mainly opposed it.) Interesting. Henry C.K. Liu ___ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
[L-I] Exchanges with A Gentetic Trotskyite
My friend Michael Hudson, a brilliant economist, was born into and raised in Trotsky circles. Below is some e-mail exchanges between us. Dear Henry, My father lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. now. He goes swimming everyday, and works with my stepmother Mary as head of the Hemlock Society, of which Mary is national VP. Dad drafts most of her letters and writing, and keeps busy following economic affairs. My friend Gavin MacFadyen is building a BBC special on American labor history around Dad's reminiscences. (Dad was Gavin's mentor in the 1950s.) When I went to San Francisco to be an assistant theater director and conductor in 1958, one of the few people to whom I had an introduction was Hal Draper. He said they still had a warehouse full of my father's pamphlets (under the party name of Jack Ranger, making me known at the time as "the son of the Lone Ranger"). I always thought he was one of the smartest men around, and had a good view on the corruption of Stalinism. Through him I became friends with Art Lipow and that crowd (but I never liked Bogden Denitch, who was as much a blow-hard then as he is today). The letter on your list runs different time periods together in a "timeless" political posture that doesn't reflect the shifting tactics of the early 20th century. Lenin was referring to World War I. He couldn't forgive Kautsky and the Social Democrats for voting for Germany's war credits. After the war, Trotsky viewed Russia's task to be to hold out until the "real" socialist revolution would occur in Germany. Stalin ordered the Communists NOT to revolt in 1921, and again in 1930-31, when the Communist Party had a million members under arms, Stalin told them not to revolt and fight against Hitler. By this act he duplicated his betrayal of the Chinese in the Shanhai massacre when he told the Chinese Communists to back Chiang kai-Chek. Max Shachtman and other Trotskyists concluded that there could be no socialist revolution until Russia was destroyed, so that the Communist ideal could be pursued afresh, free of Stalinism. Stalin saw that revolution anywhere else, especially in Germany but also in France or for that matter China, would lead the eyes of the world to look to that nation rather than Russia. Thus, Stalin turned socialism into national socialism of a Russian chauvinist variety. On the other hand - to get back to your query re "revolutionary defeatism" - the Trotskyists now appeal mainly to the blacks and racial minorities. They certainly DO want white culture to be defeated. I would hardly call this position "revolutionary," however. It is merely resentful and racist. Today, of course, nationalism is about the only way to protect populations from globalism, so the political situation is far different from that a half-century ago or after World War I. By World War II, the usual socialist position in America was that of Charles Beard (Roosevelt and the Coming of the War), that Roosevelt forced Japan into the war on economic grounds. By the Vietnam War, there were mass protests as you know, and America did seem to be defeated, until Japan and England bailed out its balance of payments turning defeat into the new Super Imperialism of inter-governmental finance capital. I'm afraid that the author of your letter is correct in judging that American Trotskyites were so obsessed with their hatred of Stalinism that they viewed Ho Chi Minh as a "surrogate" for Russia. Michael Harrington followed Max Schachtman in banning any opposition to the Vietnam War from the Socialist Challenge, the YPSL paper. As a result, the youth league lost about 90% of its members, and the ranks of the Socialist Party quickly emptied out too, leaving it as geriatric a group as the georgists, Christian Scientists and relate sects. This is when I (and also my father) broke from Max and his followers, who quickly moved to the right-hand wall of the political spectrum. Pres. Johnson said that all he had to do to detooth anti-war opposition was to start a little war in the Near East. This would get all the Jewish anti-war advocates all in favor of defending Israel, and Johnson could equate Israel with South Vietnam. (He was right, of course, in that both were rotten politically to the core. Golda Maier was not even permitted to speak at the world Social Democratic conference.) The Shachtmanites became the Neo-Conservatives, and that is when Herman Kahn adopted them for his own Zionist-militarist policies as intellectual patron saints of the Hudson Institute. I was brought along as being the "griot," the rememberer of all the stories the world socialist leaders had told me in the '40s and '50s about the history of the world socialist movement. I still give a speech every year at the Socialist Scholars' Conference, mainly just to meet my old friends and let them know I'm still alive. Most of them are more interested in literary criticism and post-modernism now than they are in economics. But I
[L-I] China Exempts Afrian Debts
China to Reduce, Exempt Africa 10 Billion Yuan Debt China will reduce and exempt African countries debt worth 10 billion yuan (about 1.21 billion US dollars) in the coming two years, Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng announced Wednesday morning. People's Daily October 11, 2000 And remember China is still a poor country. Henry C.K. Liu ___ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
[L-I] Impct of Yugoslavia on China
SCMPWednesday, October 11, 2000 WILLY WO LAP LAM Leadership itchy over Yugoslavia's people power The events in Yugoslavia during the past fortnight have had a stunning impact on the Chinese Communist Party leadership. This is despite the fact that the fall of former president Slobodan Milosevic and the rise of Belgrade-style people power took place half a world away, and few world leaders and commentators have drawn parallels between the Serbian and Chinese situations. The Yugoslavian crisis was discussed at length at a Politburo Standing Committee meeting last week. According to a party source in Beijing, the senior cadres agreed that despite the apparent differences between the two countries, the leadership had to take the utmost caution in preventing Yugoslavian-style instability from striking the mainland. "We must raise our guard against unexpected events and shocks," Mr Jiang reportedly said at the meeting. "We must preserve stability above all else. A single spark could set the whole plain ablaze." The President pointed out that fellow cadres must draw the lesson from how, in Yugoslavia, "drastic changes could come suddenly; the tide could turn in a single day". The party source said Mr Jiang's views were seconded by conservative and moderate members of the Politburo. "There was a consensus among the senior cadres that the Milosevic regime had fallen victim to an anti-socialist conspiracy spearheaded by the United States," the source said. He added that while Beijing grudgingly offered its recognition to the new president, Vojislav Kostunica, who was sworn in on Saturday, it had no doubt the new leader could not have succeeded without Western support. Moreover, the party leadership fears that after crushing the last holdout of the ancien regime in Eastern Europe, the emboldened US-Nato juggernaut may cast its gaze elsewhere. A source close to the Jiang camp said the leadership's reaction to Milosevic's disgrace was more intense than that towards comparable events such as the demise of the Suharto dynasty in Indonesia in 1998 or the downfall of the Kuomintang in Taiwan earlier this year. "A senior leadership adviser compared the rise of people power in Yugoslavia to the convulsions at the Berlin Wall and in Romania in the early 1990s, which set off the chain of events that dismantled the entire Soviet bloc," the source said. "The adviser indicated there is a possibility that Milosevic's demise, coupled with a new determination by the Western alliance to topple Communist regimes, may trigger a chain reaction threatening the world's remaining socialist states." It is understood the Beijing leadership fears that the next Communist country to fall might be Cuba. Beijing strategists have indicated the US might exploit the fact that ageing President Fidel Castro has not found a strong successor. It is not known what specific recommendations Mr Jiang gave at last week's Politburo Standing Committee meeting, other than that the media should be ordered to report the events in Yugoslavia in a low-key manner. The leadership pointed out that Web sites should be closely monitored so that no platform would be provided to bourgeois-liberal intellectuals who wanted to use the Yugoslavian experience as a pretext to introduce political reform. Last Friday, for example, one writer left this note on the People's Daily chat site: "China is always so backwards. It will be the last country to realise democracy." Jiang analysts believe the Yugoslavian situation has confirmed the President's resolve to beef up efforts to snuff out dissent and other
[L-I] Sino-Africa Unity And Cooperation
SCMP Wednesday, October 11, 2000 Jiang urges Africans to resist West State visit: President Jiang Zemin greets Tanzanian President Benjamin William Mkapa before the opening ceremony of the China-Africa Co-operation Forum in Beijing. Reuters photo VIVIEN PIK-KWAN CHAN President Jiang Zemin yesterday called on leaders from 44 African countries attending the first Sino-African talks to fight hegemonism and Western domination, and asked for their support to establish a new world order. In a bid to foster unity and co-operation, Beijing has announced the establishment of a special fund to support Chinese enterprises investing in Africa. China also pledged to increase the provision of economic and technical assistance to African countries, including interest-free loans. As the host of the talks, China also announced the setting up of a special human resources development fund to promote the exchange of technicians with African counterparts. President Jiang also vowed to alleviate or exempt the debts of certain poverty-stricken African countries, with detailed figures to be disclosed later in the three-day talks. Mr Jiang expressed hope that China's offers would encourage other creditor countries to write off Africa's US$320 billion (HK$2,496 billion) debt. Speaking to four African presidents and 80 ministers in Beijing's People's Great Hall in talks aimed at boosting Sino-African ties, Mr Jiang said: "Developed countries should effectively reduce or exempt the debts owed by developing countries." He said developed countries had the moral responsibility to help developing countries catch up with scientific and technological developments. There was a "disturbing digital divide" between information technology haves and have-nots, Mr Jiang said. He called on Africa to ally with China in addressing global inequalities and a widening gap between developed and developing nations. "Hegemonism and power politics still exist, and developing countries are still faced with an arduous task of safeguarding their sovereignty, security and interests," Xinhua quoted Mr. Jiang as saying. Developing nations should unite and demand equal rights in an effort to establish "an equitable and just new international political and economic order". Besides having to fight poverty and ethnic strife at home, developing nations also were faced with interference from developed powers, he said. "No country should be allowed to impose its own social system or ideology on others, nor should it be allowed to make irresponsible remarks on other countries' internal affairs," Mr Jiang said. The mainland is often hit by US human rights criticism. "Beijing is becoming more eager and confident in playing a more active international role and is trying to get more countries on its side in its struggle against US hegemonism," Yuan Shibin, of the Foreign Affairs Institute in Beijing, said. In a bid to woo Taiwan allies, Beijing invited eight African countries that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan to attend the forum as observers. The eight are Senegal, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Malawi, Chad, Swaziland, and Sao Tome and Principe. Only Liberia and Malawi accepted the invitations. So far, China has provided preferential loans to 23 African countries. ___ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
[L-I] Giant Cisco Didn't Pay Any Federal Income Tax
Giant Cisco Didn't Pay Any Federal Income Tax Businesses get break on employee stock options Kathleen Pender, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, October 9, 2000 SAN JOSE -- Cisco Systems, the second-most valuable company in America, paid no federal income taxes for its latest fiscal year thanks to a little-known corporate tax break on employee stock options. Microsoft, which ranks No. 4 in market value, did not pay any federal taxes either, it seems. Like many high-tech firms, Cisco and Microsoft are allowed to take a tax deduction for money their employees earn when they ``exercise'' options and buy stock in the company at a preset price. These options have become an increasingly popular way for businesses to reward employees, but they also have huge benefits to the companies themselves. The tax break was established decades ago, when companies doled out stock options to only a handful of top executives and the tax benefit they generated was minimal. But now that many companies -- including Cisco, Microsoft and most other new-economy firms -- give options to everyone, the tax break is becoming enormous. In Cisco's case, this benefit wiped out $1.8 billion in federal taxes, and probably more than twice that for Microsoft. Some people, even those who oppose taxes, think it is unfair that wealthy companies paid none to Uncle Sam. For the fiscal year ended July 31, Cisco had $23 billion in sales last year, $2.7 billion in net income, and its almost $400 billion market value is exceeded only by General Electric's. ``For a company that makes that kind of money not to pay taxes raises serious tax-equity questions,'' said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. He also said he believes it is ``hypocritical'' for Cisco to take this ``massive tax break'' and at the same time support Proposition 39, which would make it easier to raise property taxes on California homeowners. Prop 39 would allow local school bonds to be approved by a vote of 55 percent instead of the current two-thirds. ENTITLED TO DEDUCTION Cisco is entitled to a deduction for stock option income because ``in reality, that's compensation,'' and tax law has always treated employee compensation as a deductible expense, said Dennis Powell, Cisco's corporate controller. When an employee exercises an option to buy stock, the difference between the strike price (what the employee pays) and the market price (which is almost always higher) becomes taxable income for the employee and a tax deduction for the employer. Most Americans do not realize how enormous this tax break has become, because companies do not deduct employee stock options from the earnings they report to shareholders and the public. In fact, American companies fought long and hard to prevent employee stock options from showing up as an expense on their income statements, although they are happy to consider them as an expense for income tax purposes. Cisco's and Microsoft's annual reports make it appear as if they had paid billions of dollars in income taxes. Cisco's income statement for fiscal 2000, which was published about a week ago, shows net income before taxes of $4.34 billion, and a provision for income taxes of $1.67 billion. That number includes federal, state, foreign and deferred taxes. The firm's actual federal tax liability, buried deep in the report, was $1.8 billion. But in reality, the San Jose maker of
[L-I] The Tip of the Iceberg
Pension funds out $56 million Authorities say money firm ran scam to cover losses By John Accola Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Two Denver-based union pension funds are out of as much as $56 million following the collapse of a Portland, Ore., money management firm that authorities say staged one of the largest investment adviser frauds in history. In a letter to union members Thursday, trustees of the Eighth District Electrical Pension Fund aknowledged that nearly $34 million 7.5 percent of the fund's assets were invested in a loan portfolio that is now deemed worthless. "At the risk of alarming you, we thought the better course of action was to bring this matter to your attention," wrote the fund's board of trustees, which is made up of union officials and private contractors. A second retirement fund the Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 9 Pension Fund had $22 million in the high-risk portfolio, the union's attorneys told members at a meeting Wednesday night. Securities regulators say the combined $56 million was part of a $160 million loan portfolio made up of other pension and 401(k) plans that union trustees entrusted to Capital Consultants LLC, a Portland investment advisory firm placed under court-ordered receivership on Sept. 21. Federal authorities seized control of the firm after the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor filed separate lawsuits in federal court alleging senior executives were running a massive Ponzi scheme to cover up the $160 million in client losses. The lawsuits charge Capital Consultants, after realizing the loan portfolio had lost nearly 96 percent of its value by 1998, poured in an additional $71 million of retirement funds to create the appearance that interest payments were still being met. Senior executives Jeffrey L. Grayson and his son, Barclay, have "continued to sell clients participation interests in the loans at full value," said the SEC suit. The Labor Department's suit says the series of loans that Capital Consultants invested in a now-bankrupt company called Wilshire Credit were so risky that from the outset, they violated federal laws governing the investment of pension money. Attorney Terry Kissane, general counsel to the Eighth District Electrical Pension Fund, said the $34 million invested by the Denver fund was collected from union member paycheck deductions. The pension fund represents more than 9,000 union electricians in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and their beneficiaries in five Rocky Mountain states. Kissane said the pension fund is big enough to absorb the loss and still continue to pay benefits to retirees. "It's always a shame to lose money, but fortunately we are diversified enough that this single investment is not going to be a critical loss," Kissane said. "We just didn't make the investment returns we had hoped for." Members of the sheet metal workers' union were told a similar story Wednesday. Their pension fund was valued at $120 million before regulators notified trustees of the missing $22 million invested with Capital Consultants. Robert Castle, who owns a sheet metal business in Englewood, said the statewide Local 9 has anywhere from 1,000 to 1,600 members. Dwayne Stephens, the union's business manager in Denver, declined to comment. "We want to discuss this and we need to address it in the media, but not at this time," he said. As part of a broader investigation, the Labor Department is focusing on a group of union officials treated to lavish hunting and fishing trips in Alaska, Montana and Africa by Capital Consultants, while serving on the board of trustees at both Denver pension funds. The Oregonian newspaper in Portland has reported trustees from several other union pension funds, including the Office & Professional Employees International Union in Portland and the Port of Seattle Warehousemen's Pension Trust, also took part in the excursions. Trustees, who ultimately decide where to invest pension funds, are banned from receiving personal payments from money managers of the funds. The Employment Retirement Income Security Act, known as ERISA, states trustees must act "solely in the best interest" of the members they represent. ERISA rules also forbid a trustee to "receive any consideration for his own personal account from any party" involved with pension funds. The Oregonian, however, has reported that Colorado union officials Robert Legino and Duane L. Tidwell participated in some of the trips. Legino, a former chairman of the Eighth District's investment committee, and Tidwell, business manager at the Local 68 electrical union in Denver, did not return phone calls for comment. Kissane said the trips, organized by Capital Consultants salesman Dean Kirkland, were improper but "not criminal." ___ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change
[L-I] China/Africa
China Gathering African Family In Beijing BEIJING, Oct 8, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) China will assemble 44 African countries for the first China-Africa Cooperation Forum starting Tuesday in Beijing, with the aim of strengthening its image on the international scene as a champion of the developing world. Nearly 80 ministers of foreign and economic affairs are expected for the two-day conference which will be inaugurated by President Jiang Zemin in the colossal Hall of the People, the seat of the Chinese parliament. The forum is "an important step and meaningful initiative taken by the Chinese government to consolidate and strengthen Sino-African friendship and cooperation at the start of the new millennium," Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Tang Jiaxuan said last month. "Africa is waiting for this forum with lots of interest. It will be a chance for each country to discuss its bilateral relations with China, but also tackle some large multilateral questions such as external debt," a West African diplomat told AFP. "Africa is very attached to China which it sees as the leader of developing countries." The meeting is scheduled to adopt a "Beijing declaration" reflecting a Sino-African consensus on larger political questions, including the "new international order," said Liu Guijin, the director of the foreign affairs ministry's Africa department. In Beijing, the term evokes the necessity of wrestling against the influence of the United States and its allies. "Beijing is trying to get more countries on its side in its struggle against U.S. hegemonism," said a Western diplomat. After last year's NATO's offensive against Yugoslavia, which lacked a green light from the United Nations, "China tries to convince everybody that the UN Security Council is the most important thing in the world," he added. Liu has tried to assure that the forum is not "directed at any third party or at Western countries" and has emphasized its economic dimension, which will produce "a cooperation platform between China and Africa on economic and social development." With the forum, Beijing is aiming to create a permanent dialogue to compare various economic reform experiences, without looking to impose its own model, he said. "China does not think its development is a model for Africa," Liu said. Since its founding in 1949, the People's Republic of China has had "a soft spot for Africa," said the Western diplomat, who noted the high cost of the academic grants given every year to African students by Beijing. But trade between the two remains modest, despite a 67 percent rise over the first eight months of this year to USD 6.7 billion. By cultivating African friends, Beijing is looking to score points against Taiwan, whose government is still recognized by eight countries on the continent. For their part, Africans often reproach China for being "all talk and no action," according to the same Western diplomat. "The Africans will be quite happy to agree with Chinese leaders at the forum on theoretical issues, but more will be needed to convince them that China is a genuine friend," he said. In addition to the visiting ministers, four heads of state will be attending: Algeria's Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Tanzania's Benjamin Mkapa, Zambia's Frederick Chiluba, and Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, who is also the current head of the Organization of African Unity. ((c) 2000 Agence France Presse) ___ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
[L-I] All the Saints Come Marching In
Vatican Beatifies Anti-Semitic Pope The beatification of Pope Pius IX has again revealed the deeply ingrained anti-Semitism within the Catholic Church. Pope Pius IX, who reigned from 1846 to 1878, was one of two former pontiffs beatified by Pope John-Paul II on September 3 in a ceremony attended by thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square. Beatification is the last step before bestowing sainthood. It was carried out despite widespread criticism by Jewish organisations and liberal Catholics of Pius IX's anti-Jewish record. On the eve of the ceremony hundreds of Rome's Jews and Catholics protested against the beatification in a candlelight vigil. Pius IX was renowned for his frequent anti-Semitic speeches. In one address, he is said to have called Jews "dogs of which there are too many present in Rome, howling and disturbing us everywhere". In 1848 Pius IX forced the Jews of Rome back into the old ghetto to which they had been confined for centuries, and in the following year, he enacted racial laws against them. Jews were banned from public hospitals, prevented from giving evidence against Christians in papal courts and excluded from all institutes of secondary and higher education. Israeli historians say that these laws were the forerunners of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's race policies. Leading British church scholar Professor Owen Chadwick said that the nineteenth-century pontiff's record "verges on the criminal". In one case, which caused an international outcry at the time, Pius IX personally ordered the forced kidnap and baptism of a six-year-old Jewish boy, Edgardo Levi Mortara in 1858. Pius IX was known for his extreme conservatism. He condemned 80 propositions as "erroneous", including socialism, liberalism, communism, rationalism, progress and modern civilisation in general. Catholic conservatives say that Pius IX, who had the longest reign of any Pope, should be celebrated for his "heroic values" in standing up against the creation of a secular Italy and as "a model of Christian life". The decision to proceed with Pius IX's beatification comes after the Catholic Church was forced to suspend that of Pope Pius XII, known as "Hitler's Pope". According to John Cornwell, a former seminarian and research fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge and author of Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pope Pius XII, the wartime Pope displayed a "secret antipathy towards the Jews". Cornwell spent six years researching information in the Vatican archives on Eugenio Pacelli, as Pius XII was known before his election. He had originally intended his book to defend Pope Pius XII against criticism that he had not done enough to stop the Holocaust. Instead he had uncovered evidence that amounted to a "wider indictment". As the papal envoy in Munich in 1932, prior to his becoming Pope in 1939, Pacelli considered the Jews to be part of a Bolshevik plot to destroy Christendom and agreed to sanction the Vatican-German Concordat of 1933 that aided Hitler's rise to power. In doing so, he cleared the way for Hitler's "Final Solution" to continue. "He was Hitler's pawn. He was Hitler's Pope," said Professor Cornwell. Although the Vatican was forced to quietly suspend plans for Pius XII's sainthood due to widespread opposition from Jewish groups and others, the Catholic Church has defended his record. During a television interview about Pius XII's wartime role, Archbishop Sambi said that the Vatican had taken the view that public condemnation of the Holocaust would only have made matters worse. "I am convinced that a strong condemnation would have increased Hitler's persecution of the Jews. I justify totally what he did to save many Jews." At the end of the war, the Vatican aided the escape of hundreds of Nazis from Europe by issuing them with false Red Cross passports. The so-called "rat line" involved a network of European monasteries used to harbour war criminals. These were spirited out of Germany and the former Nazi occupied territories to Latin America. Mass murderers like Adolf Eichmann, Klaus Barbie and Ante Pavelic were delivered to the port of Buenos Aires disguised as priests. As in the case of Barbie, some went on to become expert advisers to Latin American dictatorships in techniques of repression and torture perfected by the Third Reich. Last year the Pope had designated the new millennium as a "year of purification" for the Church. The Vatican issued a 14-page document, We Remember, A Reflection on the Shoah, meant as an "act of repentance" for its wartime record. During the papal pilgrimage to Israel in March, the Pope had placed a note in the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, asking God's forgiveness for the past sins of his Church, and committing Catholics to future brotherhood with Jews. French bishops issued an apology for the Church's support for the collaborationist Vichy regime and the Spanish Church was said to be asking for "forgiveness" for its support for the fascist Franco before, during and after t
[L-I] All the Saints Come Marching In
China Describes Two Catholic Saints As Criminals BEIJING, Oct 2, 2000 -- (Reuters) China has provided details about two of the more than 100 Catholics made saints by the Pope, saying the men were actually China-hating criminals whose canonizations were perverse and vicious acts. The Chinese government has exploded in anger with the Vatican for canonizing 87 Chinese and 33 missionaries on Sunday, saying the act glorified a century of Western imperialism in China. The canonizations, which fell on the 51st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, also severely hampered chances for normalizing relations between Beijing and the Holy See, which do not have diplomatic ties, it said. Pope John Paul said making saints of the martyrs, who the Vatican says died for their faith between 1648 and 1930, should be seen as honoring Chinese, not defending colonialism. But a spokesman for China's State Administration of Religious Affairs cited examples of "monstrous crimes" committed by the saints against the Chinese people, including one who he said slept with all the brides of his followers. Aldericus Crescitelli, an Italian missionary, "was notorious for taking the 'right to the first night' of each bride under his diocese", Xinhua news agency quoted the spokesman as saying in a report late on Sunday. A second missionary, Auguste Chatdelaine of France, instigated the second Opium War and the burning of the imperial Summer Palace in 1860 after he was punished for felonies, the spokesman said. "Did they represent God's 'true love' to the Chinese people like the Vatican said?" asked the spokesman, who Xinhua did not identify. Chinese Catholics are allowed to practice their faith only under a Communist Party-controlled church, which China says has four million members. The Vatican says there are eight million Chinese Catholics loyal to the Pope who worship in secret. The top bishop of China's state-backed church called the canonizations intolerable and urged the Vatican to repent its past crimes against Chinese people. "Choosing this date to canonize the so-called 'saints' is an open insult and humiliation against the Chinese Catholic adherents," Bishop Michael Fu Tieshan, chairman of the China Catholic Patriotic Association, said on Sunday. Fu was among 120 Catholic bishops, priests, monks and nuns who attended a flag-raising ceremony in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to celebrate National Day. He later conducted a mass to give thanks for 51 years of Communist rule. ___ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
Re: [L-I] Part Three: DHKC Document on Fascism
Stephen E Philion wrote: > Well Mine, cao ni made translated directly of course is, as Hnery wrote > 'fuck your mothetr'. But actually the correct tranlsatoin into English > is "Fuck you', since Enlish speakers don't use the phrase 'fuck your > mother'...So I would say you have received an icorrect translation, > unless of course we are to trust word for word translations as > reliable. Sometimes this phrase can also be translated as 'fuck all' or > 'god-damnit'Chinese do not receive this phrase as 'fuck your mother'', > they receive it as 'fuck you'...or 'fuck all', or 'damnit...' > > direct tranlsation only confuses things. I was not translating. I was providing a word by word description of the expression. Actually, Steven's translation is imprecise. The expression does a macho context in a structurally sexist language. Thus violating a male target's mother's honor is more violent than violating one's person. A rough, but milder equivalent would be: your mother's mustache, or your mother's army boots. In certain cultures, violating one's mother is the ultimate insult. The sexist overtone is undeniable. Although I must admit that I am no expert on obscenity in any language. Henry ___ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
Re: [L-I] Part Three: DHKC Document on Fascism
uch as "fuck your mother" or whatever > the term implies below.Why are *women* targeted here??? Do you think we are bunch > of idiots? I am willing to forget to have read this *sexist spam* on this list, if > the poster owes an apology immediately! > > Thanks for the translation, Henry! Hope I misunderstood it. > > Marxist-feminists won't allow bourgeois male chauvinist expressions divide the > comrades!! > > Mine > > "Henry C.K. Liu" wrote: > > > Steve, > > > > If your spelling is correct, the expression has four words; translated as: > > " your mother's ". > > > > Please give us a update of worker sentiment in Louyang. > > > > Henry > > > > Stephen E Philion wrote: > > > > > I just spoke with 3 workers here in Luoyang...they all expressed > > > unanimous support of this documentand added three words of sdvice, > > > cao ni made...' > > > > > > steve in luouyang China > > > > > > Stephen Philion > > > Lecturer/PhD Candidate > > > Department of Sociology > > > 2424 Maile Way > > > Social Sciences Bldg. # 247 > > > Honolulu, HI 96822 > > > > > > On Sun, 24 Sep 2000, dhkc wrote: > > > > > > > Assessing the parliament as being an ineffective, powerless and puppet > > > > institution is not enough. Parliament is in the service of fascism. It > > > > provides for the implementation of fascist policies. > > > > > > > > THE GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION > > > > > > > > The parliament appoints the administration. This is done through a vote of > > > > confidence, which means that governments carry out their work under the > > > > supervision of parliament. The appointment of the government in our country > > > > is the same. But they don't carry out their work under parliamentary > > > > supervision. An example of this: > > > > Let's remember Bulent Ecevit in the 1970s. When he was in opposition, he was > > > > talking about the existence of the contra-guerrillas and said that when he > > > > came to power, he would deal with the problem. He came to power and not only > > > > did he not deal with them, he even forgot that they existed. He even denied > > > > their existence. The meaning of this is that governments are supervised by > > > > the contra-guerrillas, not by the parliament. > > > > This situation is much clearer today. If the question of "is there any > > > > institution that the government is responsible to?" is posed, the answer > > > > will definitely not be "parliament". It will be either "no" or "the MGK". > > > > Whichever government is in power, during the meetings of the MGK, the > > > > "National Security Document" or as it is also known, "the Secret > > > > Constitution" or "the Red Book", is put in front of the representatives of > > > > the government. The message is: "Your party and election programmes are > > > > over. Learn the basic outlines of your work well." > > > > This secret constitution is the only constitution for the government. The > > > > government rules the country in accordance with this constitution by issuing > > > > "governmental directives" and "regulations". These governmental directives > > > > are the decisions of the government and have the force of a decree. This is > > > > done without the approval of parliament. That is, the government, without > > > > having the authority to issue "decrees", can in practice issue them. The > > > > most famous of these are the "SS directives", which are based on repression > > > > and prohibitions. For example, since 1982 there has not been a single decree > > > > issued on prisons, but more than 10 directives were issued by the government > > > > to intensify the repression in prisons. > > > > Also in our country or countries like ours, authority rests with unelected > > > > bureaucrats rather than with those elected to parliament. The generals, > > > > police chiefs and mayors directly or indirectly control the administration. > > > > For example, the name of General Cevik Bir, who was educated in the USA and > > > > can speak English better than Turkish, was heard more often than the Prime > > > > Minister's at on
Re: [L-I] Part Three: DHKC Document on Fascism
Steve, If your spelling is correct, the expression has four words; translated as: " your mother's ". Please give us a update of worker sentiment in Louyang. Henry Stephen E Philion wrote: > I just spoke with 3 workers here in Luoyang...they all expressed > unanimous support of this documentand added three words of sdvice, > cao ni made...' > > steve in luouyang China > > Stephen Philion > Lecturer/PhD Candidate > Department of Sociology > 2424 Maile Way > Social Sciences Bldg. # 247 > Honolulu, HI 96822 > > On Sun, 24 Sep 2000, dhkc wrote: > > > Assessing the parliament as being an ineffective, powerless and puppet > > institution is not enough. Parliament is in the service of fascism. It > > provides for the implementation of fascist policies. > > > > THE GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION > > > > The parliament appoints the administration. This is done through a vote of > > confidence, which means that governments carry out their work under the > > supervision of parliament. The appointment of the government in our country > > is the same. But they don't carry out their work under parliamentary > > supervision. An example of this: > > Let's remember Bulent Ecevit in the 1970s. When he was in opposition, he was > > talking about the existence of the contra-guerrillas and said that when he > > came to power, he would deal with the problem. He came to power and not only > > did he not deal with them, he even forgot that they existed. He even denied > > their existence. The meaning of this is that governments are supervised by > > the contra-guerrillas, not by the parliament. > > This situation is much clearer today. If the question of "is there any > > institution that the government is responsible to?" is posed, the answer > > will definitely not be "parliament". It will be either "no" or "the MGK". > > Whichever government is in power, during the meetings of the MGK, the > > "National Security Document" or as it is also known, "the Secret > > Constitution" or "the Red Book", is put in front of the representatives of > > the government. The message is: "Your party and election programmes are > > over. Learn the basic outlines of your work well." > > This secret constitution is the only constitution for the government. The > > government rules the country in accordance with this constitution by issuing > > "governmental directives" and "regulations". These governmental directives > > are the decisions of the government and have the force of a decree. This is > > done without the approval of parliament. That is, the government, without > > having the authority to issue "decrees", can in practice issue them. The > > most famous of these are the "SS directives", which are based on repression > > and prohibitions. For example, since 1982 there has not been a single decree > > issued on prisons, but more than 10 directives were issued by the government > > to intensify the repression in prisons. > > Also in our country or countries like ours, authority rests with unelected > > bureaucrats rather than with those elected to parliament. The generals, > > police chiefs and mayors directly or indirectly control the administration. > > For example, the name of General Cevik Bir, who was educated in the USA and > > can speak English better than Turkish, was heard more often than the Prime > > Minister's at one time. Again, another establishment of the military called > > the "Western Working Group" is still functioning and continuing to compile > > files on almost everyone from a butcher to a minister, despite the decision > > of the Prime Minister that "it is no longer needed". > > These people make public their opinions about the state of the nation and > > issue warnings. They even act as spokesmen for the country abroad. Their > > opinions are more valid than, for example, those of the head of parliament. > > The most important slots in the bureaucracy are staffed with fascist cadres. > > No-one can be head of police or mayor without a track record as a torturer > > or murderer. Some examples are: > > Necati Bilican; he was mayor of one of the state emergency districts. He > > proved himself to be the murderer of hundreds of people and then he became > > head of police. This is only one example. Today in our country all the posts > > of police chief, mayor and similar positions are given to such people. > > Mehmet Agar's career from police chief to minister follows a similar > > pattern. Therefore it is no wonder we call the state "the police state", > > "the contra-guerrilla state" or "the Susurluk state". > > What about the judiciary? > > Here, we will ask questions in a way that will guarantee the answer "No". > > Could the gangs be judged? The names of almost all MPs including the head of > > parliament have been mentioned in connection with corruption. Can they be > > brought before a court? > > Could Tansu Ciller (former Prime Minister of Turkey and a US citizen) be > > brought before a co
