date:20021217

I agree with the recent examples of the intensification of work (thread 
title "Gotta Have Faith")

The headline in the London evening newspaper last night was "Work till you 
drop!"

The government have warned that it is unwise to expect to stop working at 
65. This is because New Labour dare not impose substantial financial 
contributions on employers and workers to bring the fund up to a level able 
to sustain a living pension for everyone in the state scheme, without 
risking substantial electoral damage.

See the link to the Guardian article this morning, which refers to middle 
income earners. If they are affected how much more affected are lower 
income earners?

This while we see an abundance of commodities at relatively lower prices,

I am interested in Melvin's formulation that what we are seeing is a 
sinking in the value of labour power, (only partly disguised by increased 
productivity). He emphasised the lengethening of the working day through 
commuting to work.

It is also about the erosion of the resources of social capital, time 
together with family, time in older age. Ironical how the removal of a 
compulsion to retire at 65 while yes, giving greater choice, subjects the 
worker to be even more a wage slave, but one able to choose which golden 
chains to wear.

And this for the majority of working people in the privileged heartlands of 
capitalism. When will people see the link with the position of working 
people in the struggling rest of the world?

Chris Burford

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/economics/story/0,11268,861962,00.html

Re: Re: "Gotta Have Faith"

2002-12-17 Thread Waistline2

In a message dated 12/17/02 6:36:23 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

I was reminded of the South African coal miners who were forced by
apartheid to live long distances from their job. In the USA you are
beginning to see a kind of economic apartheid.

Go to http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/middleclass.html in order to see
some of the statistics discussed by Moyers and Krugman. For example, the
monthly rent for a modest 2 bedroom apartment in San Francisco is
$1,362. While the income necessary to afford such an apartment is
$54,480, a schoolteacher's median income is $38,293.

Things are much worse in our country than many of us behave Lou.

We have not yet developed a general forum and doctrine to explain what many people in our country might consider the Third Edition of the American Revolution. Talk about taxation and no representation!

Other segment of the population with consider the issues of survival differently.

Hey $1362 a month for rent would put me in the poor house and amongst the homeless. Commuting 3 hours one way to work everyday - as stated in your article, doe not give me time to have sex with my wife. Six hours of travel to work a job 8-10 hours a day means the kids have to go, because one has to sleep at least 4 hours.

Nine hours work plus 6 hours travel plus 4 hours sleep is 19 hours in a 24 hour day.

Lou, it takes me 45 minutes to an hour to "shit, shower and shave." That's 20 hours in our 24 hour day. What this means is that I become a stranger in the house because the wife and kids don't know me as a real person.

What if my 4 hours of free time do not coincide with when the kids or wife is at home? Then I am a weekend dad or rather human and we all know that everyone works overtime on Saturday and Sunday - to one degree or another, which means I am headed in the direction of social revolution or counterrevolution.

Here is the real story of the current value of labor power which is rapidly falling.

Heck, the ancient battle for 8 hours work, 8 hours rest and 8 hours recreation appear as a pipe dream to the modern proletariat.

Melvin P.

Rally for Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution (12/18, NYC)

From: "us_navy_out [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 19:20:40 -
Subject: [VSCampaign] Critical Situation in Venezuela!
(Message courtesy of the VSC)

Critical Situation in Venezuela!

Rally in Support Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution
Coordinated with Actions Nation-wide Press Conference/Rally in 
support of the democratically elected government of the Bolivarian 
Republic of Venezuela!

Where: Consulate of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 7 East 51st 
Street Between Madison and 5th Avenues in New York.
When: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 at 12PM noon.
Bring: Pots and Pans to Bang for Justice!

Opposition forces in Venezuela and their confrontations will only 
lead to more violence and possibly result in the overthrow of the 
progressive, democratically elected government of President Hugo 
Chavez Frías. Please join us as we, the Venezuela Solidarity 
Committee in NY (VSCNY), send off our second delegation to Venezuela 
in support and solidarity with the people and their Bolivarian 
Process.

We are asking all allies and supporters of peace, justice, and 
democracy to come out and show your support at this very critical 
time. This Press Conference/Rally will be in conjunction with other 
rallies of solidarity throughout the US and the world, including San 
Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 
and Paris, France.

Venezuela Solidarity Committee in NY (VSCNY) is calling on allies and 
advocates of democracy and justice to do the following:

1. Press Conference/Rally in support of the democratically elected 
government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela!

Where: Consulate of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 7 East 51st Street
Between Madison and 5th Avenues in New York.
When: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 at 12PM

2. Oppose United States intervention in Venezuela.

3. Oppose the opposition's efforts to destabilize the government, 
including the corporate media's distorted coverage of events.

4. Support the governmental and international efforts to dialogue 
with the opposition within the framework of the Constitution.

ACTIONS TO TAKE NOW:

*** Call on US State Department to strengthen its position against 
the opposition's tactics of non-cooperation and destabilization.

Secretary of State Colin Powell -
202-647-5291, [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere
Otto J. Reich - 202-647-5780

Assistant Secretary of State J. Curtis Struble -
202-647-8386

*** Call the Carter Center for Human Rights to support their efforts 
to promote democracy in Venezuela.

Jimmy Carter, The Carter Center -404-420-5108, [EMAIL PROTECTED]

To sign up to the Venezuela Solidarity Group list serve to keep up to 
date with news and information regarding Venezuela and solidarity 
work in support of the Bolivarian Revolution, please send a email to 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

BACKGROUND ON THE CURRENT SITUATION

Venezuela is currently experiencing the longest sustained general 
strike in its history. This strike has been coordinatedby the richest 
sectors of Venezuelan society, some of whichbriefly overthrew the 
democratically elected government of President Hugo Chávez in a 
violent coup on April 11th of thisyear, and some of which have 
publicly called for similar unconstitutional measures in the current 
conflict.

On April 11, the head of the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce was 
installed as head of the coup government, which was immediately 
recognized by the US government. In fact, US diplomats met several 
times with opposition leaders in the months leading up to the coup, 
suggesting knowledge of subsequent events.

Furthermore, US government monies were sent to opposition groups in 
the year preceding the coup. The State Department's Office of the 
Inspector General, in its evaluation of US involvement in the April 
coup, wrote that these actions may have "been seen [by the coup 
plotters] as lending support to their efforts, notwithstanding our 
ritualistic denunciations of undemocratic and unconstitutional means."

The Bush Administration and the Organization of American States (OAS) 
must declare that there would be no normal commercial and diplomatic 
relations with a coup-installed government, and that they will not 
use intervention in the affairs of the democratically elected 
government of Venezuela.

For more information on Venezuela, go to
http://www.zmag.org/venezuela_watch.htm

For more information on how you can get involved, please contact the 
Venezuela Solidarity Committee in NY at 212-6967287 or at 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] and [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 

* Anti-War Activist Resources: 
* Student International Forum: 
* Committee for Justice in Palestine:

Venezuela Solidarity Group

*  The Venezuela Solidarity Group
What We Stand For:
The Venezuela Solidarity Group is a network of North American 
activists who support democracy and equitable development in 
Venezuela through education and people to people solidarity. The VSG 
works to oppose US intervention. We support Venezuela's Bolivarian 
Revolution. To find out more information, please contact us at 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] REMEMBER, this is a moderated group 
list. Anyone may subscribe, but only approved, Venezuela-Solidarity 
related material will be allowed to post. Also, for virus protection, 
attachments are NOT allowed.

Group Info
Members: 70
Founded: Oct 10, 2002
Language: English

Group Settings
Listed in directory
Open membership
All messages require approval
All members may post
Public archives
Email attachments are not permitted

Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

   *

"What's Up in Venezuela? -- Some Basic Facts" (a two-page pamphlet 
produced by the Venezuela Solidarity Group): 

--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 

* Anti-War Activist Resources: 
* Student International Forum: 
* Committee for Justice in Palestine:

La Fuerza Bolivariana de Trabajadores de Venezuela se dirige a laSolidaridad

Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 23:03:18 +0100
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

La Fuerza Bolivariana de Trabajadores de Venezuela se dirige a la Solidaridad

El guión del golpe de estado continúa

Alerta para salvar las conquistas bolivarianas

1.- El mismo guión antes, durante y después del 11 de abril de 2002, 
el Sr.Carlos Ortega y Carlos Fernández, muchos de ustedes talvez los 
vieron por televisión, de acuerdo al canal de televisión y la cadena 
televisiva que trasmitió lo sucedido en la Plaza Altamira a nivel 
nacional e internacional; analicen sus expresiones, analicen sus 
acusaciones, no pierdan detalle, es la misma actitud antes, durante y 
después del golpe de Estado dado por la misma "Coordinadora 
Democrática", la patronal FEDECAMARAS, quien su Presidente de 
entonces, se auto juramento "Presidente" de la República el 12 de 
abril, y desafortunadamente la filial más prospera para el fascismo 
empresarial: como lo es la cúpula tan cuestionada e ilegitima con su 
autodenominado Comité Ejecutivo de la Confederación de Trabajadores 
de Venezuela CTV, cuyo principal vocero es el Sr. Carlos Ortega, 
quién antes durante y después del 11 de abril de 2002, mantiene el 
discurso de la guerra civil en Venezuela.

2.- La irresponsabilidad de este señor Ortega y la oposición en decir 
que fue el Presidente de la República el que asesino, mando a 
asesinar, hasta este momento a 3 personas y herir a por lo menos 28 
personas más que estaban en la Plaza Altamira, lugar donde desde hace 
casi dos meses se mantienen los militares que ejecutaron el golpe de 
estado del 11 de abril y contribuyeron a que el empresario prófugo de 
la Justicia Pedro Carmona Estanga se auto juramentara como presidente 
de facto; que casualidad que la autodenominada "Coordinadora 
Democrática" y sus voceros fundamentales Carlos Fernández PRESIDENTE 
DE LA PATRONAL FEDECAMARAS y Carlos Ortega en el momento que 
trasmitían en vivo con todos los medios de comunicación, principales 
cómplices del fascismo, que el paro continuaba activo... 
inmediatamente interrumpe una periodista y le dice que habían 
disparos en la Plaza Altamira y al parecer varios heridos, 
inmediatamente este señor grita que eso es obra del gobierno y el Pr! 
esidente Chávez y lo llamó asesino, analicen ustedes mismos ¿por qué 
decir asesino al gobierno y su Presidente, si sólo la periodista le 
dijo que habían disparos y heridos? ¿Por qué no esperaron que se 
comenzaran las pesquisas y se investiga que pasó en la Plaza, por qué 
comenzaron a dar opiniones irresponsables y acusando sin ningún tipo 
de prueba?

3.- Inmediatamente el guión continúo, todos los medios casi en cadena 
y con imágenes aterradoras tenían a los voceros de la "coordinadora 
democrática" en la Plaza Altamira y los militares golpistas en una 
sola voz: "el gobierno mandó asesinar, el presidente Chávez es el 
asesino"; seguidamente los generadores de caracteres colocaron en las 
televisoras MASACRE EN LA PLAZA ALTAMIRA... esto es solo parte, lo 
demás es lo mismo que dicen los mismos políticos de la oposición, los 
mismos dirigentes sindicales que nunca hicieron elecciones, lo mismos 
sectores que no creen que el pueblo de manera pacifica y democrática 
los desalojó en sucesivas elecciones y perdiendo todos sus 
privilegios de corrupción, desnacionalización, neoliberalismo, sí, 
esto y mucho más lo vienen diciendo desde hace 6 años.

4.- El llamado a paro desde el lunes 2 de diciembre está dentro del 
guión, un paro que día a día lo van declarando que continúa, un paro 
que sólo paró un 20% de la población económicamente activa, del 
sector fundamentalmente comercial, un paro que para el 3 de diciembre 
sólo paró un 16% de la población económicamente activa, un paro que 
sólo paró el 4 de diciembre un 12% de la población económicamente 
activa, un paro que el 5 de diciembre paró menos del 10% de la 
población económicamente activa, un paro que no se sintió ni en 
porcentajes el día 6 de diciembre ¿y entonces cuál paro? Ahora lo que 
tienen son actos de sabotaje muy puntuales y poderosos, como por 
ejemplo fondear (parar), tanqueros que transportan combustible y 
otros derivados del petróleo a nivel nacional e internacional, muchas 
entidades bancarias no abren sus puertas o solo las abren 
parcialmente y miles de trabajadores y trabajadoras no pueden cobrar 
sus salarios, están bloqueando la salida de alimentos pa! ra 
abastecer a la población, esto es sabotaje y un problema de seguridad 
nacional, alertamos profundamente sobre esta actitud que raya en lo 
criminal de las cúpulas de la CTV y FEDECAMARAS, esto es el mismo 
guión de antes, durante y después del 11 de abril cuando dieron el 
golpe de estado.

5. Sin embargo seamos sinceros, lo que verdaderamente tienen como 
objetivo es el golpe de Estado ¿por qué? Porque el guión continua, 
por qué, porque desplazaron todo de nuevo hacia Petróleos de 
Venezuela PDVSA, intentando parar las refinerías, el suministro de 
gas para las plantas procesadoras, tratando de

Protest Against Intervention in Venezuela (12/18, SF)

Protest In San Francisco Against Intervention in Venezuela
by solidarity * Tuesday December 17, 2002 at 04:04 PM
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

S.F. PRESS CONFERENCE / RALLY IN SUPPORT OF VENEZUELA'S DEMOCRATIC 
PROCESS COORDINATED WITH ACTIONS NATIONWIDE
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18th, NOON at VENEZUELAN CONSULATE 311 CALIFORNIA @ BATTERY

Local News Desk

For Immediate Release: Contact: Amie Fishman (415) 317-2509
December 16, 2002 or Eric Quezada (415) 699-0270


S.F. PRESS CONFERENCE / RALLY IN SUPPORT OF VENEZUELA'S DEMOCRATIC 
PROCESS COORDINATED WITH ACTIONS NATIONWIDE
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18th, NOON at VENEZUELAN CONSULATE

Bay Area community leaders embark on second trip to gain knowledge of 
turbulent political situation and support democracy in Venezuela

San Francisco, CA - A second fact-finding delegation to Venezuela 
this year will launch with a press conference and rally on Wednesday 
December 18th at noon, at the Venezuelan Consulate, 311 California 
St., in San Francisco in conjunction with other rallies of solidarity 
with Venezuela's democratic process throughout the U.S. and the 
world, including Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and Paris, France.

Delegation members will gain first-hand knowledge of Venezuela's 
complex political situation through dialogues with civic leaders, 
community members, labor leaders, independent media makers, and 
neighborhood groups dedicated to community-driven development (known 
as Bolivarian Circles).

Venezuela is currently experiencing the longest sustained general 
strike in its history. This strike has been coordinated by the 
richest sectors of Venezuelan society, some of whom briefly overthrew 
the democratically elected government of President Hugo Chávez in a 
violent coup on April 11th of this year, and some of whom have 
publicly called for similar unconstitutional measures in the current 
conflict.

Though Chavez has been elected twice in the last four years and his 
policy reforms have been ratified by a majority in national 
referendums, the government has been continually under siege by 
well-funded groups in Venezuela and abroad who have sought to 
destabilize the oil-rich nation.

Strongly biased, anti-Chavez reporting by media outlets in Venezuela 
and the U.S. has made it difficult to ascertain the situation on the 
ground (as documented by media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy 
in Reporting, at http://www.fair.org).

The delegation is a project of the Venezuela Solidarity Group (VSG), 
a network of Bay Area community leaders who support democracy and 
equitable development in Venezuela. In keeping with international 
law, the VSG also works to oppose illegal intervention by other 
nations in Venezuela's affairs.

Wednesday's press conference will be a send-off for the delegation, 
which will last ten days in early January. Please contact Amie 
Fishman at 415-317-2509 or Eric Quezada at 415-699-0270 for further 
information and to coordinate interviews for the press conference and 
during the delegation's visit.


--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 

* Anti-War Activist Resources: 
* Student International Forum: 
* Committee for Justice in Palestine:

Re: Re: Re: FW: housing bubble?

2002-12-17 Thread Michael Perelman


I don't think that construction costs have a great deal to do with
inflation in housing prices.  As Schiller says, "location, location,
location:" land prices have been soaring in the booming areas.  For that
reason, a good deal of increase in our population has come from people who
sell their property in Southern California and move up here to take
advantage of cheaper property values.

-- 
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]

SPD slumps in Germany

After Schroeder won the German elections on 22 September, neck and neck 
with the CDU at 38.5% of the electorate aided by the better improvement of 
their allies the greens compared to the  FDP, thei vote has spiralled down, 
as a result of government spending cuts and a perception that the 
government is incapable fo handling the financial danger.

The SPD at 28% is now 21% behind the CDU at 49%. The Greens have increased 
to 10% and the FDP, rent by its poor electoral perfomance and an 
embarrasing expulsion of a leading figure, have slumped to 5%, the same as 
the PDS.

http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/emnid.htm

Chris Burford

London

Re: Re: FW: housing bubble?

2002-12-17 Thread Doug Henwood

Eugene Coyle wrote:


The most persuasive is that the cost of constructing a new house -- 
if lower than the price of a house -- would prevent a bubble as 
profitable new construction flooded in to keep the prices from 
bubbling.

But the market is mainly about existing houses, which are about 80% 
of the turnover in unit terms. You'd have to build a lot of houses.

Doug

Re: FW: housing bubble?

2002-12-17 Thread Eugene Coyle

Robert Shiller has an interesting essay in today's WSJ, "Safe as 
Houses?" in which he argues against a housing bubble in several ways. 
The most persuasive is that the cost of constructing a new house -- if 
lower than the price of a house -- would prevent a bubble as profitable 
new construction flooded in to keep the prices from bubbling.  It is 
something I hadn't thought of before. Shiller points out a weakness in 
the reasoning, which is that home prices are prices of both house and 
land.  He says "The value of land in a particular location is inherently 
much more speculative, depending on assessments that most people find 
difficult to make:  What is the future of the economy in this city?"

The pull-quote is:  "Location, location, location -- that's the housing 
bubble in a nutshell."

Gene Coyle

Devine, James wrote:
Dean Baker responded to my comment:>Both the home price index that I 
cite in the paper and the CPI's rental index are quality adjusted (more 
or less) so there would not be an issue of composition effects driving 
the price changes. It could be the case that more income at the upper 
end leads to more increase in the price of upper end housing, but this 
really couldn't explain the bubble for two reasons. First, home 
ownership strecthes well down the incoem ladder, with 68 percent of 
households as homeowners. Second, the bubble years 1995-2002, where 
exactly the years in which income inequality fell back somehwat. The 
rise in inequality could have explained limited bubbles earlier in the 
Reagan-Bush years, but not at the end of the period (which just happens 
to coincide with the stock bubble). <

I think that Dean's comments on my speculation are right. However, it's 
still true as I suggested, that the Bush tax plan might have the effect 
of counteracting the deflation of the housing bubble (while making the 
distributional situation even worse).

Jim

---
I had written:
While reading Dean Baker's excellent article on the housing bubble in 
the current issue of CHALLENGE, I thought of a factor that he didn't 
discuss, i.e., the distribution of income and wealth. This might suggest 
that the "bubble" isn't that much of a bubble (it should be clear from 
the outset that I am not a specialist on the economics of housing).

Dean's main evidence concerns the way in which the price of buying a 
house (the asset price) has soared in recent years compared to the 
rental price of housing. This is like the price/earnings ratio for 
stocks (equities). When the stock price/earnings ratio gets too high 
relative to the historical average (as in 2000), it is quite likely to 
fall (as in 2001-2). The price/earnings ratio for housing has been 
rising and quite high in recent years, with little moderation recently, 
suggesting that the asset price of housing will fall in the future (as 
the housing bubble deflates or pops). It's seen as a "bubble" because a 
lot of the high price/earnings ratio is due to optimistic expectations 
(that housing prices will continue to rise) rather than on "fundamentals."

Okay, my thought, about one "fundamental" which could be behind the 
bubblish data: one of the things that also happened is the widening gaps 
in the income and wealth distributions that has been sustained over the 
last 25 to 30 years (with a temporary narrowing of the income gap during 
the late 1990s). The people on the low end of the income and wealth 
distributions are more likely to be renters, while those on the top are 
more likely to be buyers, of housing. Because the supply of housing does 
not shift between rental units and to-be-purchased units very quickly, 
the resulting shift in the distribution of demand would lead to 
increasing gap between the rental and purchase price of housing.

In this view, it's also quite possible that there's a bubble going on. 
But it does suggest that the situation is not as dire (in terms of 
bubble economics) as sometimes thought. It also suggests that the Bush 
program of cutting taxes for the rich (and, now, raising them for the 
poor) would have the effect of keeping the bubble from deflating, or at 
least from not popping. That it would also intensify injustice is also 
clear.

any thoughts?
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine

Tories sink further


Extraordinary opinion poll in today's Guardian shows the UK Tories sinking 
even further after more than a week of squirming headlines in which Mrs 
Blair, a judge in her own right, has been pilloried by the Tory press for 
being "economical with the truth" about the use of a convicted fraudster 
introduced to him by a dodgy friend, to buy two flats (apartments) in 
Bristol, where their son is starting university.

Uncoached by Alistair Campbell, she issued superficial denials that became 
exposed as half truth and lies, by the standards of absolute transparency 
now demanded of government, and of those close to government.

Yet there was something strange about the frenzy of the attack by the 
Conservative Press, at a time when the UK is preparing to join the US in 
the biggest war since Vietnam, the UK economy is hovering on the edge of a 
downturn, and the New Labour government looks increasingly out of ideas 
about how to improve the quality of the state sector in response to the 
extra injection of funds.

What I think the remarkable opinion poll data shows, is the complete 
mastery of the New Labour technique over the political agenda. It is what I 
call total social management. It not only includes systematic opportunism 
about the management of the capitalist economy, it uses focus groups and 
every device of marketing to tailor government policies to what is 
acceptable to swing voters.

In the theory of the ice cream vendors on the beach, New Labour not only 
occupies the middle position on the beach, most accessible to all 
customers, but it will scientifically move its stall a little to the west, 
or to the east, to fit in with changing configurations of the beach, and 
the distribution of holiday makers.

What we are also seeing is that despite all logic, the Liberal Democrats 
have been able to play alongside this consensus strategy more successfully 
than the Tories, instead of getting squeezed in a two party system, when 
the government becomes questionable. They have been able to appeal to 
people wanting more spending on the welfare state, than for a long time, 
Labour was willing to give, but they also provide a hint of individualistic 
self interest, attractive to more successful middle strata people, who 
still want to appear to have a social conscience.

What is striking is that in the minds of active voters, the Conservative 
Party is still regarded as "the nasty party" as its new chairperson 
disarmingly confessed at its conference this summer. It is not fashionable 
to say you are a conservative supporter in lots of middle territory 
circles. It is acceptable to murmur some cynicism about the government, or 
some vague interest in the Liberal Democrats. Except in some rural 
constituencies, some 5 - 10% of the educated electorate will systematically 
choose to vote for whichever party is more likely to defeat the 
conservatives. It is the conservatives who have been squeezed rather than 
the Liberal Democrats. Party loyalty has reduced. Swing voting is the new 
loyalty, and it is more socially acceptable in a consensus political 
environment.

All this could change except that in this powerfully consensus-driven 
gravitational field, the Conservative party has not got its fundamental 
economic and social position clear. It is riven more than the other parties 
about the division among British capitalists about whether to move closer 
to Europe than not. Even though the majority of the population is 
euro-sceptic, they sense that the Conservative party is no longer the 
authoritative party of business. There is something marginal and unstable 
about them. So although 2/5 of the British working class has always voted 
Conservative, presumably out of social aspirations, the undermining of the 
old class solidities, and patterns of deference and social climbing, 
undermines Conservative voting. There is no point in attempting social 
climbing if you are going to appear silly.

The Labour vote is no longer the result of idealistic enthusiasm. It is 
vulnerable to sudden emotional revolts, like the fuel tax rebellion. But it 
is a mark of the dominance of the marketing policies that New Labour uses 
to manage the total society and total economy, to promote capitalism within 
a coordinated social context.


Tories fall to lowest point for four years

Alan Travis, home affairs editor Tuesday December 17, 2002 The Guardian

The Conservatives have plunged to their lowest poll rating for four years 
despite the damage inflicted on the personal reputations of the prime 
minister and his wife by the row involving conman Peter Foster, according 
to this month's Guardian/ICM opinion poll.

The survey shows that the Tories have failed to capitalise on the affair, 
with Labour amazingly emerging unscathed on 41%. However, Tony Blair's 
personal rating has fallen into negative territory for the first time 
since the petrol crisis two years ago.

The ICM poll shows that Tory support has fallen a fur

Mbeki consolidates hold on ANC

Resolute Mbeki sees off his leftwing critics

President's attack takes fight out of 'disloyal' dissidents in battle for 
the soul of the ANC

Rory Carroll in Stellenbosch Tuesday December 17, 2002 The Guardian

President Thabo Mbeki laid bare a resolve to rule South Africa for the next 
seven years yesterday after rallying the African National Congress around 
his leadership and cowing party critics who wanted to loosen his control.

Addressing the first day of the party conference, he made it evident that 
he will crush potential challengers, and promised to accelerate the 
transfer of economic resources to black people.

He was upstaged by the rapturous welcome given to his predecessor, Nelson 
Mandela, but ANC officials said he had shown that he was dominating the 
approach to the 2004 general election, when the ANC is expected to win 
another five years in office.

An expectation that allies in the trade unions and Communist party will use 
the five-day conference to "battle for the party's soul" by confronting the 
leadership on its policies on unemployment, poverty and Aids faded 
yesterday when they gave a guarded welcome to Mr Mbeki's speech, apparently 
accepting that they are too marginal to resist.

Held every five years, the conference of 3,000 delegates has the task of 
electing new leaders and debating government policy, but no significant 
change to strategy or challenge to the leadership is expected this year, 
despite the tension between the president and what he calls the "ultra-left".

A national strike and street rallies were called before the conference in 
protest at economic policies which have balanced the budget and kept 
inflation low but failed to check the deepening poverty and unemployment.

For its 51st conference the ANC chose Stellenbosch, an Afrikaner university 
town in the Western Cape considered the intellectual cradle of the 
apartheid policy which was swept away by the ANC victory in 1994 and its 
return to office with nearly two-thirds of the vote five years later.

Mr Mbeki called his critics in the party disloyal, and accused them of 
accepting foreign funds and "other forms of persuasion" to act as an 
opposition. "We must continue to rely on our membership and the masses of 
our people to defeat these careerists who naturally are the heroes and 
heroines of those who are opposed to our movement," he said.

"A manifestation of this has been the persistent practice among some of our 
people to bad-mouth our country as loudly and as often as they can."

Referring apparently to the Eastern Cape, where the ANC left has been 
accused of mismanagement, he said people had used money to buy votes and 
had corrupted party procedures to capture power.

He blamed civil servants and their unions for not implementing government 
policies. "Our national conference will have to improve the internal 
accountability of our leadership as a whole."

Mr Mbeki, 60, is not a dynamic speaker and was greeted with polite 
applause, and towards the end of his two-hour speech the delegates sang and 
danced when Mr Mandela, 84, entered the hall and moved slowly to join those 
seated on the podium.

Visibly vexed, Mr Mbeki did not smile when he attempted what aides said was 
a joke: "Hurry up and sit down Tata," he said. Tata, which can be loosely 
translated as "uncle", expresses affection or derision depending on tone 
and context.

Relations between the two men have grown sour in the past year since Mr 
Mandela supported those prodding the government into distributing free and 
cheap drugs to poor people with HIV. Mr Mbeki, who has questioned the link 
between the virus and Aids, made two glancing references to the pandemic in 
a list of diseases he linked to poverty.

He emphasised continuity with his popular predecessor by quoting repeatedly 
from Mr Mandela's presidential address at the 1997 conference. But that 
text is believed to have been written by Mr Mbeki, then deputy president.

Promising to continue the privatisation of state assets and other 
market-friendly economic policies, he expressed hope for Africa's 
"renaissance" and said an over-arching empowerment charter was needed to 
give a bigger stake to black people.

"The bulk of our economy, including the land, remains predominantly 
white-owned. Wealth, income, opportunity and skills continue to be 
distributed according to racial patterns," he said.

He voiced hope of solving the "controversial issues" relating to President 
Robert Mugabe, whose farm seizures have devastated the Zimbabwean economy.

"Like the leadership of the people of Zimbabwe," he said, "we are 
interested that everything is done to address the challenge of ensuring a 
better life for all the people of this sister country, both black and white."

FW: Gini

Title: FW: Gini





forwarded from Dean Baker, in response to Doug:


>From 1994 to 2001 the gini rises by 0.1 percent, I'm not impressed. Most other measures (e.g. wages) show less inequality.<

Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine

Re: Re: FW: housing bubble?

2002-12-17 Thread Peter Dorman

Doug is raising an important issue that goes beyond housing.  Because of 
their addiction to the human capital framework, mainstream economists 
have looked at inequality almost entirely through the lense of years of 
education.  If the gap between HS and college grads narrows, they 
interpret this as "falling inequality".  If, on the other hand, you 
think that inequality is lodged in the reward systems generated by 
markets and business hierarchies, a gini measure (or the alternative 
measure developed by Jamie Galbraith) is more appropriate.  The term I 
like to use is "fractal inequality": it's a generalized inequality that 
shows up as you slice the distribution across different dimensions or 
look at its different components.  Another way to put it is that, no 
matter what categories you set up, within-group inequality dominates 
between-group.  

Peter

Doug Henwood wrote:

Jim Devine quoted Dean Baker:


Second, the bubble years 1995-2002, where exactly the years in which 
income inequality fell back somehwat.


Eh? Household ginis, acc to the Census Bureau:

1990 0.428
1991 0.428
1992 0.434
1993 0.454
1994 0.456
1995 0.450
1996 0.455
1997 0.459
1998 0.456
1999 0.457
2000 0.462
2001 0.466

testing

Title: testing





testing


Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine

Venezuela Crisis May Hit U.S. Iraq War Plans

The following news items concern a factor that can go either way, 
hardening or softening the US stance toward Venezuela.  So far, it 
appears to have softened it (as it has been combined with Latin 
American nations' rejection of the US initiative on Venezuela, the 
Venezuelan armed forces' -- including the commander's -- loyalty to 
Chavez, etc.), though, at the same time as increasing national and 
international skepticism about the US war on Iraq.  A win-win 
situation for us?

*   16 Dec 2002 21:16
Venezuela crisis may hit U.S. Iraq war plans
By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil strike, which 
has cut off over 13 percent of U.S. petroleum imports, may force 
Washington to hold back from launching a war against Iraq until the 
crisis in the South American oil producer is resolved, a Venezuelan 
energy expert said Monday.

Humberto Calderon Berti, a former Energy Minister, said he believed 
it would be too risky for the United States to move against Baghdad 
at a time when the turmoil in the world's No. 5 oil exporter was 
choking off key shipments to the U.S. market.

Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez, who survived a brief coup 
in April and is resisting intense pressure to resign, is fighting to 
beat the two-week-old opposition strike that has cut oil output to 
less than a third and brought exports to a virtual standstill.

"I believe the United States won't make any war decision against Iraq 
until the situation in Venezuela is resolved," Calderon, who has also 
served as president of the giant Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA, 
told Reuters in an interview.

"It looks to me very difficult to be able to press ahead with a 
military initiative in Iraq when you have Venezuela going through a 
situation of immense instability," he added.

Talks between the government and opposition representatives, brokered 
by the Organization of American States, have so far failed to reach 
an accord on an electoral solution to the Venezuela crisis.

Calderon said a full-scale U.S. war against Iraq, if it was launched 
while the crisis in Caracas was still halting Venezuelan shipments, 
could mean at least five-and-a-half million barrels of oil per day 
being cut off from the market.

Venezuela has a total output capacity of more than three million 
barrels per day (bpd) and Iraq, the world's eighth largest exporter, 
sells about 1.2 million bpd to international markets.

Between them, the two OPEC members cover roughly 7 percent of the 
world's more than 76 million bpd of crude oil demand.

This could also push oil prices skywards to as high as $40 a barrel, 
pressuring the U.S. and world economy. "We'll be heading for a 
tremendous crisis,' Calderon said.

Pushed to two-month highs by the Venezuelan oil drought, U.S. crude 
oil futures settled Monday at $30.10 a barrel, up $1.66 or 5.8 
percent.

The conflict in Iraq also risked dragging in other big producers in 
the Middle East, disrupting supplies from a region that produces a 
third of the world's oil.

'CHANGE IN U.S. ATTITUDE'

Calderon said there had been a "change in attitude" by U.S. President 
George W. Bush's administration towards Venezuela's crisis, from a 
more neutral U.S. position a few weeks ago to a public call on Friday 
for early elections to solve the conflict.  [Yoshie: Washington has 
since been forced to backtrack from that position, however.]

"It is very important for them to understand that the presence of 
Chavez in Venezuela is destabilizing," he added.

Opponents of Chavez, who was elected in 1998 promising to carry out a 
"revolution" to help the poor, accuse him of ruining the economy and 
dragging Venezuela towards Cuba-style communism. They also say he has 
weakened the country's traditional alliance with the United States by 
forging closer ties with anti-U.S. states like Libya, Iran and Iraq.

"There has never been an oil industry strike in Venezuela like the 
one we have now ... and while Chavez remains in power, this will be a 
recurring event," Calderon said.

A U.S. diplomatic envoy, Thomas Shannon, visited Caracas at the end 
of last week and urged both Chavez's government and the opposition to 
reach a negotiated political deal on elections.

Shannon said Washington was very worried about a possible escalation 
of the political confrontation in Venezuela but denied that his visit 
was directly linked to U.S. plans to launch a possible strike against 
Iraq.

Former paratrooper Chavez, who says the strike is an attempt by his 
foes to overthrow him again, has deployed troops to try to move 
strike-bound tankers and restart idled refineries and oil loading 
terminals. He has also said he will bring in foreign oil experts if 
necessary to beat the strike.

The Venezuelan oil strikers, who include PDVSA executives, tanker 
captains, navigation pilots and refinery and port terminal operators, 
have said they will stay out until the Venezuelan leader agrees to 
quit and hold early

Re: Re: FW: housing bubble?

2002-12-17 Thread joanna bujes

It's hard to know what data to look at in figuring out whether there's a 
bubble. But falling margin requirements always make me suspicious; and, 
nowadays, at least in the Bay area, you can get a mortgage with little or 
no money down.

There is also the extraordinary obligation of the mortgage combined with 
the declining expectation that real estate will continue to climb at its 
former geometric rate. I mean, buying a 300K house and expecting its value 
to double in the next five years is very different from buying a 600K house 
and knowing that  its value is likely to stay flat or even decline.

Joanna

Re: FW: housing bubble?

2002-12-17 Thread Doug Henwood

Jim Devine quoted Dean Baker:


Second, the bubble years 1995-2002, where exactly the years in which 
income inequality fell back somehwat.

Eh? Household ginis, acc to the Census Bureau:

1990 0.428
1991 0.428
1992 0.434
1993 0.454
1994 0.456
1995 0.450
1996 0.455
1997 0.459
1998 0.456
1999 0.457
2000 0.462
2001 0.466

Venezuelan Army Chief Backs Chavez Amid Strike

More good news.

*   Venezuela army chief condemns strike

General's criticism is major boost for Chavez

Tuesday, December 17, 2002 Posted: 10:07 AM EST (1507 GMT)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Opposition hopes for military disobedience 
to Hugo Chavez dimmed after Venezuela's army chief criticized a 
15-day-old strike aimed at forcing the president to quit or call 
early elections.

Gen. Julio Garcia Montoya urged citizens to distrust opposition 
leaders mounting "an aggression against the survival of the country 
that oversteps democratic boundaries," offering the armed forces' 
clearest position yet on a general strike that has disrupted oil 
exports in a major U.S. supplier.

Garcia Montoya criticized protests that blocked Caracas highways and 
roads Monday. He said in a televised speech that "society is 
strengthened through its reconciliation and not through its 
conflicts."

His message Monday was a slap in the face to opposition leaders who 
have pleaded with the armed forces to disobey Chavez's orders to 
prevent strikers from breaking the law. Chavez has relied heavily on 
the military to break the strike, deploying troops to guard gasoline 
stations, commandeer delivery trucks and seize striking oil 
tankers

   *

"Venezuelan Army Chief Backs Chavez Amid Strike," _VOA News_ 17 Dec 
2002, 10:35 UTC, 
.

"Venezuela's Army Commander Supports President," 
.
--
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 

* Anti-War Activist Resources: 
* Student International Forum: 
* Committee for Justice in Palestine:

FW: housing bubble?

Title: FW: housing bubble?





Dean Baker responded to my comment:>Both the home price index that I cite in the paper and the CPI's rental index are quality adjusted (more or less) so there would not be an issue of composition effects driving the price changes. It could be the case that more income at the upper end leads to more increase in the price of upper end housing, but this really couldn't explain the bubble for two reasons. First, home ownership strecthes well down the incoem ladder, with 68 percent of households as homeowners. Second, the bubble years 1995-2002, where exactly the years in which income inequality fell back somehwat. The rise in inequality could have explained limited bubbles earlier in the Reagan-Bush years, but not at the end of the period (which just happens to coincide with the stock bubble). < 

I think that Dean's comments on my speculation are right. However, it's still true as I suggested, that the Bush tax plan might have the effect of counteracting the deflation of the housing bubble (while making the distributional situation even worse).

Jim


---
I had written: 
While reading Dean Baker's excellent article on the housing bubble in the current issue of CHALLENGE, I thought of a factor that he didn't discuss, i.e., the distribution of income and wealth. This might suggest that the "bubble" isn't that much of a bubble (it should be clear from the outset that I am not a specialist on the economics of housing).

Dean's main evidence concerns the way in which the price of buying a house (the asset price) has soared in recent years compared to the rental price of housing. This is like the price/earnings ratio for stocks (equities). When the stock price/earnings ratio gets too high relative to the historical average (as in 2000), it is quite likely to fall (as in 2001-2). The price/earnings ratio for housing has been rising and quite high in recent years, with little moderation recently, suggesting that the asset price of housing will fall in the future (as the housing bubble deflates or pops). It's seen as a "bubble" because a lot of the high price/earnings ratio is due to optimistic expectations (that housing prices will continue to rise) rather than on "fundamentals." 

Okay, my thought, about one "fundamental" which could be behind the bubblish data: one of the things that also happened is the widening gaps in the income and wealth distributions that has been sustained over the last 25 to 30 years (with a temporary narrowing of the income gap during the late 1990s). The people on the low end of the income and wealth distributions are more likely to be renters, while those on the top are more likely to be buyers, of housing. Because the supply of housing does not shift between rental units and to-be-purchased units very quickly, the resulting shift in the distribution of demand would lead to increasing gap between the rental and purchase price of housing. 

In this view, it's also quite possible that there's a bubble going on. But it does suggest that the situation is not as dire (in terms of bubble economics) as sometimes thought. It also suggests that the Bush program of cutting taxes for the rich (and, now, raising them for the poor) would have the effect of keeping the bubble from deflating, or at least from not popping. That it would also intensify injustice is also clear. 

any thoughts? 
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine

RE: Military Keynesianism to the rescue

Title: RE: [PEN-L:33152] Military Keynesianism to the rescue





it's also easy for people to listen in on WiFi.



Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine




> -Original Message-
> From: Michael Perelman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 9:47 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [PEN-L:33152] Military Keynesianism to the rescue
> 
> 
> I have been ringing recently about the new WiFi technology that
> threatens the wireless industry, which is already burdened with
> overcapacity.  Just today, the New York Times reports that the defense
> industry has discovered that this technology interferes with 
> vital radar
> capacity.
> 
> --
> 
> Michael Perelman
> Economics Department
> California State University
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Chico, CA 95929
> 530-898-5321
> fax 530-898-5901
> 
>

Who is the thief?

2002-12-17 Thread e. ahmet tonak





NYT’s objectivity: Argentina = Citicorp

First, NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF’s observation:

“….I was struck by the angry scrawls on American banks in Buenos Aires. A Citibank branch was defaced by this line written in English (with Spanish grammar): "Thieves, returns ours dollars!"

and then, his “objectivity” mixed with his view on the above line –“misguided:”

“It seems to me that Citicorp's chairman, Sanford Weill, could pull out a can of paint and scrawl those words on the Argentine Consulate in New York. Still, however misguided, that fury needs to be addressed.” 






If Saddam Were Only Brazilian

December 17, 2002
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF 




At this pivotal time, we in the U.S. are losing the battle
of ideas in Latin America. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/17/opinion/17KRIS.html?ex=1041149690&ei=1&en=ff945413dd09cd8e

-- 
card
  

   Frequently the only possible answer is a critique of the
 question and the only solution is to negate the question.
  
 Karl Marx, 1857, Grundrisse, "The Chapter on Money,"  p.127.
  
  
  
  E. Ahmet Tonak
   Professor of Economics
   
   Simon's Rock College of Bard
   84 Alford Road
   Great Barrington, MA 01230
   
   Tel:  413 528 7488
   Fax: 413 528 7365
   www.simons-rock.edu/~eatonak

Military Keynesianism to the rescue

2002-12-17 Thread Michael Perelman

I have been ringing recently about the new WiFi technology that
threatens the wireless industry, which is already burdened with
overcapacity.  Just today, the New York Times reports that the defense
industry has discovered that this technology interferes with vital radar
capacity.

--

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901

Re: housing bubble?

2002-12-17 Thread Bill Lear

On Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 08:27:59 (-0800) Devine, James writes:
>...
>Okay, my thought, about one "fundamental" which could be behind the bubblish
>data: one of the things that also happened is the widening gaps in the
>income and wealth distributions that has been sustained over the last 25 to
>30 years (with a temporary narrowing of the income gap during the late
>1990s). The people on the low end of the income and wealth distributions are
>more likely to be renters, while those on the top are more likely to be
>buyers, of housing. Because the supply of housing does not shift between
>rental units and to-be-purchased units very quickly, the resulting shift in
>the distribution of demand would lead to increasing gap between the rental
>and purchase price of housing. 
>
>In this view, it's also quite possible that there's a bubble going on. But
>it does suggest that the situation is not as dire (in terms of bubble
>economics) as sometimes thought. It also suggests that the Bush program of
>cutting taxes for the rich (and, now, raising them for the poor) would have
>the effect of keeping the bubble from deflating, or at least from not
>popping. That it would also intensify injustice is also clear. 
>
>any thoughts?

It appears to be a sound analysis.  Of course many elites will be glad
that inequality, a fundamental of the economy, is "improving".


Bill

housing bubble?

Title: housing bubble?

While reading Dean Baker's excellent article on the housing bubble in the current issue of CHALLENGE, I thought of a factor that he didn't discuss, i.e., the distribution of income and wealth. This might suggest that the "bubble" isn't that much of a bubble (it should be clear from the outset that I am not a specialist on the economics of housing).

Dean's main evidence concerns the way in which the price of buying a house (the asset price) has soared in recent years compared to the rental price of housing. This is like the price/earnings ratio for stocks (equities). When the stock price/earnings ratio gets too high relative to the historical average (as in 2000), it is quite likely to fall (as in 2001-2). The price/earnings ratio for housing has been rising and quite high in recent years, with little moderation recently, suggesting that the asset price of housing will fall in the future (as the housing bubble deflates or pops). It's seen as a "bubble" because a lot of the high price/earnings ratio is due to optimistic expectations (that housing prices will continue to rise) rather than on "fundamentals."

Okay, my thought, about one "fundamental" which could be behind the bubblish data: one of the things that also happened is the widening gaps in the income and wealth distributions that has been sustained over the last 25 to 30 years (with a temporary narrowing of the income gap during the late 1990s). The people on the low end of the income and wealth distributions are more likely to be renters, while those on the top are more likely to be buyers, of housing. Because the supply of housing does not shift between rental units and to-be-purchased units very quickly, the resulting shift in the distribution of demand would lead to increasing gap between the rental and purchase price of housing.

In this view, it's also quite possible that there's a bubble going on. But it does suggest that the situation is not as dire (in terms of bubble economics) as sometimes thought. It also suggests that the Bush program of cutting taxes for the rich (and, now, raising them for the poor) would have the effect of keeping the bubble from deflating, or at least from not popping. That it would also intensify injustice is also clear.

any thoughts?

Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine

Venezuela Lockout Fails, 32 American States Reject US Initiative,& US Backpedals

Good news from Narco News.

*   Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 16:31:41 -0600
From: "Alberto M. Giordano" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [narconews] White House Venezuela Error Backfires
Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

December 16, 2002
Please Distribute Widely

Dear Colleagues,

Friday's desperate maneuver by U.S. President George W. Bush -- his 
cynical  call for "early elections" in Venezuela, a country that has 
had six national elections in the past four years -- has backfired 
after it was revealed as unconstitutional.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, earlier today, withdrew 
that demand with some not-too-fancy semantic footwork:

"Early elections, in the sense that of course, there is a referenda 
(sic) that can be held earlier that is a reflection of the 
manifestation of the will of the people and this is the process that 
is anticipated in the Venezuelan constitution," Fleischer told 
reporters earlier today.

The White House backpedaling comes on the heels of major developments 
in Venezuela and our América...

- Stores are open for business now even in the wealthy areas of 
Eastern Caracas, the last bastion of "The Strike that Wasn't"

- 90 percent of all contract employees of the oil industry are back 
at work, now that the executives who locked them out have been 
removed.

- This morning's highway "blockades" (meant to distract from the 
"strike" collapse this morning) were disbanded by 2 p.m. (See our 
report today for more details):

http://www.narconews.com/

Read also, in our report today, about the machinations within the 
Organization of American States, as we name the names of which 
countries' leaders have lined up with the coup plotters, which have 
been strongest for democracy, and which have broken from the United 
States position in recent hours.

Read also from the transcript of White House correspondents grilling 
Ari Fleischer on his false claims made last Friday regarding the 
Venezuela Constitution.

Also, WELCOME BACK to Charlie Hardy and his columns on Vheadline (we 
quote his analysis of the "Grinch-osition" in Venezuela and link to 
today's column).

These stories and more are now posted at Narco News.

from somewhere in a country called América,

Al Giordano
Publisher
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Subscribe for free alerts of new reports:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/narconews

Suscríbete gratis para alertas de reportajes nuevos en Español:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/narconewsandes   *

*   Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 23:40:25 -0600
From: "Alberto M. Giordano" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

December 17, 2002
Please Distribute Widely

Dear Colleagues,

A paragraph in Spanish followed by its translation into English...

"RESUELVE: Respaldar plenamente la institucionalidad democrática y 
constitucional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, cuyo 
gobierno preside Hugo Chávez Frías, y rechazar categóricamente 
cualquier intento de golpe de estado o alteración del orden 
constitucional venezolano que afecte gravemente el orden democrático."

- la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA)

"RESOLVED: To fully back the democratic and constitutional legitimacy 
of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, whose government is led by 
Hugo Chávez Frías, and to reject, categorically, any coup attempt or 
alteration of constitutional order that seriously affects democratic 
rule."

- the Organization of American States (OAS)

12:21 p.m. ET, December 17, 2002:

One hour and some minutes ago, the Organization of American States 
(OAS), for the first time in the organization's history, rejected a 
major United States initiative.

The OAS backed, by a vote of 32-0 -- with two countries not counted 
-- a resolution to support the continuance of the democratically 
elected government of Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

This unprecedented result of a fierce, tense, and extended, debate 
marks an historic turning point for our América.

The nations of the Western Hemisphere rejected, once and for all, any 
attempt at coup d'etat, in Venezuela or elsewhere. Washington's 
spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down was language backing 
OAS secretary general Cesar Gaviria to "find a way to channel 
positive energies" in Venezuela.

In a veiled message of "no confidence" for its own secretary 
general's pro-coup efforts in Caracas over the past 15 days, the 
Organization of American States equally called upon the Carter Center 
and the United Nations to promote dialogue in Venezuela, but not to 
permit any coup attempt nor pretension of interrupting democracy; not 
even by the OAS's own representative.

We repeat: 32 American nations tonight, after an unprecedented 
Authentic Debate among the members of the Organization of American 
states, rejected destabilizing proposals by Washington to impose its 
policies on another Ameri

Enron/Bush video