-Caveat Lector-
RadTimes # 131 December, 2000
An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.
"We're living in rad times!"
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QUOTE:
"The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general
association takes place, and common interest produces common security."
--Thomas Paine, 'The Rights Of Man'
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How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
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Contents:
---------------
--Who Cares?
--Deep Economic Politics - The Best Election Ever
--Digital Angel body chip may allow Net tracking
--Fingerprinting to Go
--New Test Lets Parents Check Johnny for Drug Use—Behind His Back
--Women (Anarchists) Want Their Message Heard
--Foreign Military Sales Show Sustained Growth
Linked stories:
*U.S. recession looming, study says
*Judge: First Amendment Doesn't Apply To Web Addresses
*Nicotine Patch May Cause Cancer
*French Courts Grind to Halt in 'Black Robe' Strike
*Mafia controls 30 pct of Italian rubbish disposal
*Condemn The Beheading Of Iraqi Women Accused Of Prostitution
*US Commission on Civil Rights Report to Urge Crackdown on Police Abuses
*Drats! Gun laws are being foiled, says ATF
*Professor to stay in U.S. jail on secret evidence
*Your vote still doesn't count
*Why Johnny is a speed freak [Ritalin]
*Drinking like a revolutionary
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Begin stories:
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Who Cares?
December,2000
by Frank Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
COASTAL POST <http://www.coastalpost.com>
The permanent campaign has become the eternal vote count, creating
equal amounts of hysteria, hilarity, boredom and disgust. America's
short attention span is being sorely tested by our closest presidential
election, which has become a battle between the ruling parties' hired
shysters.
The nation's richest lawyers have lined up at the financial feeding
trough for a litigation frenzy that may last until the next election.
Media information spinners are offering breathless and often brainless
coverage and analysis, but some good may come of this mess.
We may finally change our antiquated electoral system, which is shamed
by other nations with procedures that work more smoothly and
democratically. Our politics are already corrupted by money, and now
that the dreadful condition of our election process has been revealed,
there may be less tolerance for our imperial rulers telling other people
how to achieve what we don't have: democracy.
The global community is having great fun, with South Africa, Serbia and
Cuba offering to send us election advisors. TV comics hope this farce
goes on forever, and anarchists love having "nobody" for president.
The ironies are numerous, and humorous.
A boring race between a biogenetic pro-government drone and an
intellectually challenged anti-government clone was transformed into an
exciting vote count, for a while. Then, Democrat William Daley
complained about voting irregularities. He is the son of Chicago mayor
Richard Daley, who created affirmative action programs for zombies,
featuring an annual parade of footprints from the cemetery to the
ballot box on election day.
Republican supporters of state's rights went to federal court to stop
the state from recounting, while Democratic supporters of federalism
professed more faith in Florida than in the USA.
For all the squabbling about dimpled and pregnant chads, and machine or
hand counting, history may simply remember the outgoing president as
being impeached for a blow-job in the white house, and the incoming
president for being elected by a hand-job in Florida.
And the American presidency will be decided by a state that has
thousands of voters who care more about foreign countries - Cuba and
Israel - than they do about the USA.
Every national election is filled with errors, lost ballots, confused
voters and bigotry. This one was no different. It is only the closeness
of the vote that has focused attention on imperfections, but not the
right ones.
The hole in our ozone is tiny compared to the gaping wound suffered by
our democracy, but that wound was not inflicted by confusing ballots,
corrupt officials or ignorant voters. Democracy was savaged by the
corporate party, when it denied Americans the right to hear opposing
viewpoints from Nader and Buchanan in the debates.
The recount controversy has temporarily halted the Democratic hate
campaign against Nader. Despite personal slurs and a fear crusade that
had many believing their vote for him would bring Nazis to power, he got
2.7 million votes, while spending only seven million dollars.
Goreberman spent that much on TV ads in Michigan alone, and Bushney may
have spent more than that on lunch for their staff.
While some Democratic "leaders" were trashing Nader because his
campaign was seen as too white, the Democrats may have been defeated by
their own racism .
The "new" Democrats criminal crusade that locked up thousands of Blacks
for non-violent offenses damaged their candidates far more than Nader.
13 percent of Black men can't vote because of past convictions, and
those who served their time and went on to lead productive lives could
have provided the victory margin for Al Gore and the Democrats, had
they had been allowed to vote.
Along with our racism, our social priorities become crystal clear in
this fiasco: in the USA, shopping and driving are far more important
than voting.
We maintain a multi-trillion dollar credit system, accurately
tabulating balances while enabling millions to over-consume, often
without leaving their homes; why can't we create an easy, accurate
voting system?
We provide ATM machines that balance accounts and produce cash when
operated by consumers properly trained in their use; why can't we
educate people to use ballots and voting machines with the same
proficiency?
We transport billions of gallons of gasoline to fuel pumps all over
america, have citizens operate those pumps to fill their polluters,
and bill them to the penny; why can't we enable those same citizens to
go to a polling place, be quickly and easily registered, and have their
votes tabulated without a mistake?
Welcome to the marketplace, where democracy is more expensive than
consumer goods, and more difficult to find than a parking space at
the corporate mall.
Make no mistake, whichever of these weaklings assumes the presidency,
it is the corporadoes who have won. Their foreign policy will assure
that military spending increases, innocent people die in unjust wars,
and the Israeli occupied territories still include the West Bank,
Gaza, Congress and the White House.
They will continue selling drugs that play profit roulette with our
nervous systems; they will continue peddling biogenetic food products
that treat our digestive systems as a merchandise mart; and they will
continue using our democracy as a contested turf among their hired
hands, in this and all elections that pit one gang of the corporate
mafia against another in a battle for territorial control. Until we
claim control of that territory, which is our bodies, our souls and our
nation, these dope dealers, polluters and murderers will go on
contaminating it with their political, economic and moral savagery.
Enjoy your holiday dinners, but don't expect much from the turkey in the
White House. When we finally give "the bird" to the system he serves,
we'll all be able to enjoy a real season of peace. Meanwhile, drive, and
shop, carefully.
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Deep Economic Politics - The Best Election Ever
"Mike Ruppert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
8 Nov 2000
I am absolutely thrilled at this election and I would like to draw
everyone's attention to an issue that needs closer scrutiny. It is truly an
issue of Deep Politics or - better said - Deep Economics.
First, in a nation of largely apathetic, ill informed voters who blindly
believe that little or nothing is wrong, let alone corrupt, a great piece of
work has been accomplished benefiting those of us who, like salmon, battle
upstream against denial to tell truths that most people don't want to hear.
As this election gets messier - and it certainly will - more and more people
will begin asking questions about how this country works. They will have
anxiety. They will doubt and they will ask questions. It will thus become
easier for those of us crying in the wilderness to reach minds that have
been pried open by this debacle. My web site traffic at <www.copvcia.com>
is up 40% today and I have nothing whatsoever posted about the election.
And I do believe this outcome to be a debacle, not planned, but likely the
result of corruption that has grown to such an extent that it can no longer
be hidden. That is what I pray for. That is why you will see both sides
pushing the dog fight to the limit, trying all the time to maintain
confidence in a system that most of us know has been horribly, perhaps
hopelessly, corrupted.
Now, in Florida, home to Votescam, overturned elections, and a long history
of voter fraud it is a certainty that this election will be settled in the
courts, possibly after January of next year, possibly by the U.S. Supreme
Court - The Rehnquist Court.
The bad guys are fighting and there is much at stake. Those of us who
strategize about how to end this corruption have long known that the answer
was to make the bad guys expose themselves by fighting each other. I am
absolutely ecstatic over this outcome. The American people will be more
ready to listen to us now.
Secondly, CNN Financial News correspondent Jim Bolden, reporting from London
just revealed a deep economic issue attached to this election. Last night,
with each new call in the election from Gore to Bush to undecided the Euro
took massive dives as Bush prospered and massive rises as Gore prospered. In
the end the Euro tanked some twenty per cent. Bush's proposed Fed Chairman,
someone named Lindsay with whom I am not familiar, is a dollar Hawk. At FTW
I have been predicting a war between the Dollar and the Euro for some time
and that has to do with many things including oil, drugs, our planned war in
Colombia and interests that have no care for our welfare. A ragingly strong
dollar is not always good news for all Americans, especially those who sell
products overseas or who depend on foreign tourism and investment.
The world is holding its breath and the two factions will have to tread the
fine line between a fight to the death and a fight that reveals how rotten
the system has become on the inside as they struggle to make something
happen in Florida.
My bet is that at least one other state's total will come into question
within the next month. If that happens then, quite appropriately, the
legitimacy of the entire government will come into question.
Better now than later.
Mike Ruppert
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Digital Angel body chip may allow Net tracking
GILC Alert
Volume 4, Issue 9
A new biometric device might allow Internet users to track your every move.
According to the device's would-be manufacturer, Applied Digital Solutions,
Digital Angel (DA) is a special chip that would collect information such as
body temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure and geographical location, then
send this data to special ground stations. Afterwards, these tidbits would
ostensibly be made available through the Information Superhighway. While
spokesperson for the firm said that the device will merely be worn close to
the body, the original Digital Angel patent claims the system is "designed
to be implanted under the skin of an individual."
The company is hoping to sell this device on a global scale for
identification purposes; as one spokesperson said, "You want to access and
go online with your MSN [Microsoft Network] or AOL [America Online] account,
you'll have DA transmitting your profile at request." Indeed, at least one
major company, DoubleClick, is already looking at ways to use Digital Angel
to send better targeted commercials; for example, DA information would allow
DoubleClick to send coffee ads to a given user every that person passes by a
Starbucks coffee shop. It should be noted that DoubleClick, which provides
banner ads to many websites, has faced heavy criticism over its system for
tracking Internet users through the placing of digital identification
numbers in files known as "cookies" on users' hard drives.
Experts have raised serious questions as to whether these plans are
technically feasible. However, the unveiling of Digital Angel has heightened
public concern over potential threats to individual privacy. James Dempsey
of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT-a GILC member) worried that
current laws will not be sufficient to prevent such intrusions: "Clearly our
legislation now is outdated. The ... technology is going to become, I
believe, more and more widely integrated into electronic devices. We have to
catch up with this. ... [W]e need to have some clear-cut privacy rules."
Read Michael Della Bitta, "Digital Angel: The New Eye in the Sky," Fox News,
Oct. 16, 2000 at
<http://www.foxnews.com/vtech/101600/da.sml>
For more on Digital Angel's privacy implications, see Michael Della Bitta,
"Digital Angel: Privacy Problems?" Fox News, Oct. 16, 2000 at
<http://www.foxnews.com/vtech/101600/da_side.sml>
To read the patent for Digital Angel (U.S. Patent No. 5,629,678), visit
<http://www.digitalangel.net/graphics/05629678.pdf>
See Linda Harrison, "Human chip implants not going skin deep," The Register
UK, Oct. 27, 2000 at
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/14292.html>
See also Anick Jesdanun, "Digital Tracking Devices Coming Soon," Associated
Press, Oct. 30, 2000 at
<http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/wirelesstracking001030.html>
The official Digital Angel website is located at
<http://www.digitalangel.net>
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Fingerprinting to Go
Police (11/00) Vol. 24, No. 11, P. 70; Moore, John
The New Jersey State Police Department is considering a new
program that uses a mobile scanner to identify drivers by
their fingerprints. State troopers would use handheld
fingerprint scanners to identify wanted and missing persons
who are stopped on the highway. The scanners connect to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's new National Crime
Information Center 2000 database, which stores fingerprint
templates of individuals convicted of crimes, as well as
missing persons. Officers can call the database and remotely
compare a suspect's fingerprints to those stored in the
computer. After the officer scans the suspect's print, the
print is stored as a digital fingerprint image. A mobile
computer receives the file, which transfers the information to
the FBI computer for comparison. The entire process takes
about four minutes. Cross Match Technologies of West Palm
Beach, Fla., manufacture the scanners, which are expected to
sell for about $1,000. Cross Match expects to test the systems
with several other law enforcement agencies within the next
several months, says Scott Clinton, Cross Match Marketing
Manager. As for the state of New Jersey, several unresolved
issues remain. The implementation of the system requires the
state attorney general office's approval, and the legality of
the new procedure is unclear regarding civil rights issues.
According to officials, New Jersey laws do not specifically
allow persons to be fingerprinted outside of police stations.
Fingerprint scanning technology may also be beneficial to the
private sector, such as for entry authorization, weapons
purchase background screenings, and check fraud screenings.
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New Test Lets Parents Check Johnny for Drug Use—Behind His Back
<http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0045/koerner.shtml>
Mother's Little Helper
by Brendan I. Koerner
The Village Voice
Published November 8 - 14, 2000
We'll never know who pawned that copy of Angela's Ashes at a New
York bookstore, whether the person was male or female, minor or
adult.
But with one swipe of a new drug test across the paperback cover,
we learned something infinitely more private: the previous owner likely
endured the McCourt clan's Limerick woes with the aid of Marijuana.
Drug Detector, which offers America's first over-the-counter tests
for marijuana and cocaine residue, requires nary a strand of hair,
drop of saliva, or jar of pee. Sold by American Bio Medica of
Kinderhook, New York, the product promises to make drug testing a
nonconfrontational pastime. Instead of begging a child to submit to
an invasive sample-based test, parents can now covertly slip into
their son's or daughter's room and instantly discover whether
microscopic specks of herb or blow dot the desk, drawers, or
pillowcases.
"We feel the value of the service that is provided to consumers,
especially parents, outweighs the privacy issue in most cases."
"Teenagers don't tell their parents when they're using drugs,"
says Stan Cipkowski, the company's founder and CEO. "And most
parents don't have the kind of relationship with their kid—or the
balls—to simply go up to the kid and say, 'Here, pee in this cup.
I'm going to test you right now.' "
Since 1996, American Bio Medica's flagship product has been Rapid
Drug Screen, a kind of dipstick urinalysis test popular with
emergency rooms and drug-free workplace programs. But since it
relies on human biological material, Rapid Drug Screen faces a
lengthy FDA review before it can be marketed to retail customers.
Fortunately for the company, a firm called Mistral Security, a
specialist in explosives detection, had created a drug-residue
test for which it had little use. American Bio Medica licensed the
invention, which needed no federal approval, and began packaging
it for drugstores and online shoppers. Kits have been available at
<www.americanbiomedica.com> since June, and Cipkowski predicts
that Drug Detector will begin appearing in major-chain pharmacies
by the beginning of next year.
A Drug Detector pack contains 10 matchbook-sized papers and a
small, chemical-filled aerosol canister. Simply wipe the suspect
surface with a collection paper, spray it, and wait for a color
change. A positive result for marijuana is indicated by the rapid
appearance of reddish brown dots; for the cocaine version, blue
spots suggest that minute traces of nose candy are in evidence.
At $34.95, or about $3.50 per test, Drug Detector is far cheaper
than such laboratory staples as urinalysis ($10 to $12) or hair
analysis ($60). The company also plans to sell an "industrial"
version of the kit, containing papers and sprays for
methamphetamines and opiates.
Despite the low price, American Bio Medica claims that Drug
Detector is as reliable as any law-enforcement diagnostic device -
somewhere in the neighborhood of 98 percent accurate. False
positives can occur when uncontrolled substances such as nutmeg
or henna are present, but the company claims such instances are
rare.
In nonscientific field tests conducted by the Voice, the product
was, indeed, able to detect the presence of Mary Jane residue on
the freshly polished desk of one habitual blunt smoker, while
giving an appropriately clean bill of health to the elevator doors
at 10 Rockefeller Plaza. A copy of the Allman Brothers' eponymous
1973 album, recently purchased at a street fair, surprisingly tested
negative for marijuana residue. At least one naughty patron of
Chelsea hot spot Serena apparently used the men's room sink to
powder his nose; the loo at nearby cop hangout Peter McManus
was pristine.
American Bio Medica is quick to point out that should a child's
backpack, jacket, or computer keyboard test positive, the result
should not be considered absolute proof of narcotics use. "You can
determine at least if there have been illegal drugs in his immediate
area," says Brittany Johnson, the company's national sales manager.
"That doesn't mean this person has used drugs, just that they have
been exposed. A voluntary follow-up with a Rapid Drug Screen
allows you to determine if he's using."
Civil libertarians, predictably, bristle at the concept of behind-the-
back checkups. Louise Roback, director of the New York Civil
Liberties Union's Capital Region chapter, vehemently objects to the
test's inability to differentiate between contact and use. "If you're
going to use that for a basis to terminate someone," she told
the Albany Times Union in June, "it's a basis for concern."
Though its Web site pitches Drug Detector for use in the workplace,
the company emphasizes that the primary market is not businesses
but parents. "We feel the value of the service that is provided
to consumers, especially parents, outweighs the privacy issue in
most cases," says Johnson. "Keep in mind that the parents who
are going to use this product aren't trying to hurt their child or
take away their rights. They are trying to gather the right information
so they can open a dialogue with that child and get them the help
they need so they can live to see adulthood." To that end, each
Drug Detector kit includes a questions-and-answers brochure that
provides contact information for Phoenix House and the National
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, as well as the
aphorism "Remember, you are not a bad parent."
Rave habitués have also expressed reservations, bombarding the
company's Web site with negative feedback. "Their opinion
is that we're bleep bleeps, bleep bleeps," says Melissa Decker,
investor relations manager. "They say, Why are we bothering
a society that we don't even know about just so we can feel
comfortable at night and we can go home to our nice houses and
our nice dogs? Why don't we bother the crackheads on the corner
that are shooting kids?"The company's response: "We thank them
for their comments."
Cipkowski acknowledges that misuse is possible, perhaps by "some
supervisor who has a vendetta against an employee, or some parent
who is overly paranoid." But he maintains that Drug Detector's
lifesaving potential far outweighs any ethical sticking points. More
importantly, with an estimated 15,000 teens trying drugs for the
first time each day, a financial bonanza awaits. "We're here
to make money for our shareholders, number one," says Cipkowski.
"The fact that we're selling a product that we think is going to
help in a parent-child relationship, that's number two."
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Women (Anarchists) Want Their Message Heard
Women want their message heard
They stay out of the limelight, but female anarchists play
an intrinsic role in holding the entire movement together
By Sarah Thompson
Oregon Daily Emerald
September 18, 2000
When anarchists are portrayed, the images are usually of
white males jumping on cars, smashing windows or yelling
into a bullhorn in front of a crowd. That leads to the
obvious question: Are there female participants in this
movement, and if so, what role do they play within Eugene's
anarchist community?
Just as there have been anarchists in the United States for
a long time, there have also been females throughout history
in the anarchy movement. Emma Goldman, one of the most
famous anarchists in history, advocated issues such as free
speech, women's equality, union organization and
independence.
With her friend and fellow anarchist Alexander Berkman,
Goldman published a paper called Mother Earth.
Between 1893 and 1917, Goldman was imprisoned several times
on charges such as inciting riot, publicly advocating birth
control and obstructing the draft, and she was even arrested
once in Portland.
While the times and the issues may have changed, there are
still many local female anarchists standing up for what they
believe in, saying they have been inspired by Goldman's
work.
However, they rarely stand in front of a camera or get
quoted in the newspaper. There seems to be a reluctance,
even refusal, on the part of female anarchists to interact
with the media.
"I'll have a conversation with somebody [in the media] and
spend at least three quarters of my time talking about what
I envision to replace the structures that don't work,"
Shelley Cater said. "And the one quote that they'll use is
how I feel about property destruction."
Cater is a 35-year-old anarchist, forest activist and mother
of two, and when she recognized that the female perspective
was missing from media coverage, she began speaking on
behalf of female anarchists.
Eventually she stopped speaking with the mainstream media,
feeling unable to control the negative spin that seemed to
distort everything she said. However, Cater doesn't want the
voice of the anarchy movement to be completely dominated by
men.
"The reason I was talking to the media often was because
there were so few women that were willing to do it, and I
felt like I didn't want this movement to be represented by
only men," she said. "I think that a lot of the images in
the media of anarchists as being about individualism and
personal beliefs and personal desires defines something that
I would relate to a sort of machismo. That alienates me and
many of the women that I know."
While it is difficult to define the "female perspective"
within the anarchy movement when there seems to be no
unified perspective, that seems to be the case with male
anarchists as well. The beliefs of both the male and female
anarchists are as diverse and varied as its members.
"A little secret about the [anarchist] community here is
that there's an infrastructure that's been going on for
years," Lucy Humus said. "There's houses that are being
maintained and things like Food Not Bombs and free school
and Jawbreaker Gallery and places where people can stay when
they come into town. That infrastructure is almost entirely
maintained by women and has been for years."
Humus is a member of the local anarchist community but said
she chooses not to participate in the protests and rioting,
typically more male-dominated activities. Instead, Humus is
involved in planting and maintaining the community garden at
Scobert Park. She knows the name of practically every plant
growing there and spends a lot of time reading horticulture
books.
Humus said her dream is to start a library where people
could come learn about self-sustainable gardening, drink
teas from herbs that grow in the garden, check out
horticulture books and get seeds from the garden's seed
bank.
"As far as subversion goes, get them in the garden," Humus
said. "To me, that's a really cool way to unite the
community, because people who eat together get to know each
other."
Cater focuses more of her time on communicating the
anarchist message than gardening. She helps to produce
Cascadia Alive!, the anarchist public access show, which
airs live Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on cable channel 97.
She said that she would really like more women to get
involved with the show and she is committed to communicating
the anarchist message in other ways, as well.
"I take it on as my personal revolution to boldly go and
engage people in conversations and answer their questions,"
she said. "I've gone so far as to give steelworkers my home
phone number, if they want to ask me questions about
anarchism and they have. That's the real work that we need
to do is with individuals."
Male anarchists recognize the contributions that women such
as Cater make to the cause.
"Women play a strong part in the anarchist movement in what
is considered behind the scenes type work," Steve Heslin
said. "We do have a problem right now with men doing a lot
of the public relations work, which portrays the movement as
more male-oriented."
Cater said that from talking to women she senses a
frustration that gender issues often get pushed aside and
are not seen as important.
"It's very frustrating to most women that I know that the
connection between domination of the planet and domination
of women, the domination of indigenous people and the
domination of everything that's free and wild and alive
isn't connected."
There's a sense that until more women are willing to speak
out publicly, the feminist perspective within the anarchy
movement will remain unheard. Cater said she thinks this
contributes to the perception that there are more men than
women in the anarchy movement.
"I see the women playing really strong roles, but it tends
to not be in the sun," she said. "Women are the great
organizers in this community. When the media shows up, the
men are the ones that stand in front of the cameras and
speak.
"The women tend to be slower to jump on to the rhetoric
wagon, more willing to question the viability of strategies
and tactics, more able to see the long run."
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Foreign Military Sales Show Sustained Growth
By Tony Capaccio
Defense Week
November 6, 2000
For the second year in a row, in fiscal 2000 the Pentagon sold more than $12
billion of defense equipment and services to foreign governments, a top
military official said. That repeat performance marks a turnaround in the
market after years of decline, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Tome Walters,
director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
So-called "foreign military sales" (FMS) organized and brokered by the
Pentagon could hit $15 billion in fiscal 2001, Walters said. Significantly,
the boost is occurring without major sales to Saudi Arabia, traditionally a
huge buyer.
"Starting three to four years ago, there was significant concern that
foreign military sales were declining," Walters said. "But over the past
couple of years, the sales lines have gone up (and) are actually quite
healthy."
This year's increase was driven largely by sales of Lockheed Martin Corp.
F-16 fighters to Greece, plus Boeing Co. sales of Apache helicopter upgrades
to Egypt and Israel. The sales also reflect a market for parts, upgrades,
training and support, Walters said.
"Things that we sold people before have to be maintained and they have to
buy spare parts from us and training," Walters said.
Other growth areas included sales of secure communications and command and
control equipment.
Sales swings
U.S. defense sales reached their zenith in 1993 when Saudi Arabia and other
Middle East countries purchased $31.1 billion to rearm after the Persian
Gulf War. Sales dropped to $13.3 billion the next year and $8.5 billion in
1995. They jumped to $10.3 billion in 1996 before falling to $8.8 billion
and $8.6 billion in fiscal years 1997 and 1998 respectively. Sales in 1999
were
$12.2 billion. The $12.1 billion figure for fiscal 2000, which ended Sept.
30, is good news for major defense companies such as Boeing and Raytheon
Co., which sell a large percentage of their defense equipment through the
FMS process.
The Pentagon this year notified Congress of a record 77 pending arms and
weapons systems sales totaling $25 billion that could become signed
contracts over the next year or two. Investors in defense stocks should take
note of the FMS increases, said an analyst.
"Aside from steady increases in U.S. defense spending, investors in the
defense sector have been encouraged by the return of the international
marketplace," said Pierre Chao, a defense analyst for Credit Suisse First
Boston.
Alive and well
"This sentiment has been supported by the positive FMS data coming out of
the Pentagon. It certainly helps support the view that defense stocks have
more to go," Chao said.
"I'm not surprised at the resurgence," said Luke Warren, military sales
analyst with the left-leaning Council for a Livable World, which favors
limiting arms sales.
"If the numbers are close to accurate, it just shows that not only is the
U.S. defense industry alive and well and crushing all other competitors but
that the U.S. is interested in selling its deadly wares to whomever has
money," Warren said.
The new figures suggest the era of mega-billion dollar arms sales may be
over and future sales will depend on numerous smaller purchases of missiles,
smart bombs, electronics and long-range support services, Walters said.
Still, U.S. companies such as Boeing and Bell Helicopter Textron are strong
contenders to sell jet fighters to South Korean and attack helicopters to
Turkey,
he said.
Last year's $12.1 billion includes a $2.7 billion sale of Lockheed Martin
F-16s, radar and engines to Greece, said DSCA spokeswoman Vanessa Murray.
The next-largest sales were a combined $679 million worth of Boeing upgrades
to Egyptian and Israeli AH-64 Apache helicopters. Next was $279 million from
Saudi Arabia for communications technical support provided by a Raytheon
unit. The total figure doesn't include Lockheed's $6.3 billion sale of 80
F-16s to the United Arab Emirates because that was a direct commercial
contract with little U.S. government involvement in the nuts and bolts of
crafting the deal.
Saudi purchases
Saudi Arabia typified the trend away from buying multibillion dollar weapons
systems, concentrating instead on upgrades, training and support, Walters
said.
"While the price of oil has gone up, Saudi defense procurement would best be
characterized as 'the era of big procurements is over,'" Walters said. "They
are now into the modifications of systems to keep them current and
interoperable with us and they are into sustainment," he said.
Saudi FMS spending has gone down over the last three years from the mid-$3
billion range down to $1.6 billion and is forecast to stay in that range,
Walters said. Instead of large procurements, expect the Saudis to buy items
such as new computer tapes that allow them to integrate secure
communications equipment into their Boeing Co. AWACs airborne surveillance
aircraft, Walters said.
"They are much more focused in on sustaining and maintaining their force
than making any large new procurements," he said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linked stories:
********************
U.S. recession looming, study says
<http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeatBIZ.asp?/news/501925.asp>
Anderson Business Forecast predicts 60 percent chance of recession next
year. California's high tech economy also will be dragged down, with
state's unemployment rate hitting 6 percent by end of 2002, study says.
********************
Judge: First Amendment Doesn't Apply To Web Addresses
<http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/domainnames001211.html>
Free speech may prevail elsewhere on the Internet, but not when it comes
to typing www.(pickanyobscenity).com. At least that's one federal
judge's opinion, ruling in an adult Web site case.
********************
Nicotine Patch May Cause Cancer
<http://www.jointogether.org/jtodirect.jtml?U=83952&O=265344>
Researchers have found that nicotine-replacement therapies,
such as gums and patches, may cause lung cancer.
********************
French Courts Grind to Halt in 'Black Robe' Strike
<http://news.findlaw.com/international/s/20001212/francelawyersdc.html>
********************
Mafia controls 30 pct of Italian rubbish disposal - ITALY
<http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8848>
********************
Condemn The Beheading Of Iraqi Women Accused Of Prostitution
<http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/wnalerts/973285420/index_html>
In recent weeks the Iraqi regime has beheaded at least 60 women accused
of prostitution. Ali Hassan Al-Majeed, a military commander,began the
campaign by killing 10 women suspected of prostitution in the city of Mousil.
********************
US Commission on Civil Rights Report to Urge Crackdown on Police Abuses
<http://www.drcnet.org/wol/159.html#civilrights>
********************
Drats! Gun laws are being foiled, says ATF
<http://www.dallasnews.com/metro/233511_atfstudy_08met.html>
A new analysis of gun crime in Dallas concludes that criminals --
that class of people who break laws as a matter of general
practice -- aren't terribly inconvenienced by federal laws that
were designed to keep firearms out of their hands. Surprise!
********************
Professor to stay in U.S. jail on secret evidence
<http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/12/08/mideast.immigration.reut/index.html>
A Palestinian university professor in Florida, who has been jailed
without charge on secret evidence for three years, will remain
in prison. An immigration judge ordered the man released, but a
stay on that order was extended by the Board of Immigration
Appeals. (12/8/00)
********************
Your vote still doesn't count
<http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=562&FS=It+Still+Doesn%27t+Count>
The authors argue that the protracted process of determining the
winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes demonstrates that now,
more than ever, individual votes don't matter. (12/5/00)
********************
Why Johnny is a speed freak
<http://www.worldandi.com/public/2000/november/sax.html>
"This year some six million children in the U.S. -- one in eight --
will take Ritalin. With five percent of the world's population,
the U.S. consumes 85 percent of this drug. Have we considered
the consequences?" (11/00)
********************
Drinking like a revolutionary
<http://www.spectator.org/opinion/robinson/robinson.htm>
Modern revisionists like to point out the human foibles of the
founding fathers, but the rebels' unquenchable taste for alcohol
helped define them and the revolution they wrought.
********************
======================================================
"Anarchy doesn't mean out of control. It means out of 'their' control."
-Jim Dodge
======================================================
"Communications without intelligence is noise;
intelligence without communications is irrelevant."
-Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
======================================================
"It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society."
-J. Krishnamurti
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