January 2002 - cypherpunks-legacy

10 worst Corps. of 2001,I cant believe Monsanto missed out.
by mattd 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

The Ten Worst Corporations of 2001 by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman In a year marked not only by the now-standard forms of corporate marauding but also by brazen wartime profiteering, it was no easy chore to identify Multinational Monitor's 10 corporations of 2001. The competition was even tougher than usual. But choices had to be made. And now decisions have been reached. Multinational Monitor has named Abbott Laboratories, Argenbright, Bayer, Coke, Enron, Exxon Mobil, Philip Morris, Sara Lee, Southern Co. and Wal-Mart as the 10 worst corporations of 2001 Appearing in alphabetical order, the 10 worst are: Abbott Laboratories, for its TAP Pharmaceuticals, a joint venture with Japanese Takeda Pharmaceuticals. TAP was forced to pay $875 million to resolve criminal charges and civil liability in connection with allegations of major Medicare reimbursement fraud. Among other alleged fraudulent activities, as a way of hooking doctors on prescribing Lupron, its prostate cancer drug, TAP gave doctors free samples and then encouraged doctors to bill Medicare for the free samples. Argenbright, the security company, for repeat violations of regulations for airport security. Argenbright's appalling record -- including violations of security rules it had been caught breaking just a year earlier -- helped convince Congress to federalize U.S. airport security operations. Bayer, for its overcharge of the government and public for the anti-anthrax drug Cipro, based on a patent monopoly that may well be improperly maintained by virtue of a collusive arrangement with a generic manufacturer. Bayer also secured a place on the 10 worst list for its dangerous peddling of antibiotics for poultry (contributing to antibiotic resistance among humans) and its harassment of a German watchdog group, Coalition Against Bayer Dangers, for maintaining a BayerWatch.com website. Coca Cola, for its sponsorship of the first Harry Potter movie and possible sequels, using a children's favorite to hawks its unhealthy product, and for alleged complicity with death squads in Colombia targeting union leaders there. Enron, for costing many of its employees their life savings by refusing to let them dump company stock from their pension plans, as Enron plunged toward bankruptcy. ExxonMobil, for leading the global warming denial campaign (even O'Dwyer's a leading rag of the public relations industry, has chastised the company for its "stubborn refusal to acknowledge the fact that burning fossil fuels has a role in global warming") and blocking efforts at appropriate remedial action, plus a host of other reckless activities. Philip Morris, for its "we've changed" marketing campaign -- revealed to be a hoax by a Czech study it commissioned alleging cost savings from smoking-related premature deaths, as well as the company's ongoing efforts to addict millions of new smokers. Sara Lee, for a scandal involving its Ball Park Franks hot dogs. Listeria-contaminated Ball Park Franks killed 21 and seriously injured 100 in 1998. In 2001, with civil and criminal litigation around the case heating up, the Detroit Free Press reported that Sara Lee stopped performing tests for bacteria after it started recording too many positives. The U.S. attorney, which handled prosecution of the criminal case, insists Sara Lee did not know about the presence of listeria in its hot dogs. In an extraordinary move, the U.S. attorney issued a joint press release with Sara Lee announcing settlement of the case. The final tally: 21 dead. A misdemeanor plea. A $200,000 fine. Southern Co., the largest electric utility in the United States, for its efforts to defeat sensible air pollution regulations. Southern is a heavy user of coal, and leads the fight to maintain a ridiculous "grandfather" clause in the U.S. Clean Air Act, which exempts power plants built before 1970 from Clean Air Act standards. Wal-Mart, for continuing to source products from overseas sweatshops, for viciously battling efforts to unionize any fraction of its workforce (the largest in the United States, among private employers), and for contributing to the sprawl that blights the U.S. landscape. For a complete version of Multinational Monitor's article naming the 10 worst corporations of 2001, see www.essential.org/monitor. Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: The Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1999; http://www.corporatepredators.org)

1 0

Yearly underreported news round up.
by mattd 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

* Antitrust law is history. Meanwhile, the local press quoted Microsoft's lawyers ad nauseam and reported on how badly rich peoples' stock options are suffering. * Energy privatization is dead. Several states put on hold or canceled their plans to privatize utilities after California's mess showed what privatization really means: Taxpayers take it in the shorts. * Massive protests greeted George Bush's January inauguration. Protesters overwhelmed key points on the Pennsylvania Avenue inaugural parade route, and TV cameras carefully avoided those areas, the fences surrounding the parade route, or any acknowledgement of public anger over last December's coup d'itat. * Bush and the Republicans have shamelessly used the Sept. 11 tragedy to try to push through reactionary legislation. The list is long, as is the list of assaults on the Bill of Rights for those "suspected" of being terrorists, and anyone else in the general vicinity. How bad is it? Spain is refusing to extradite terrorist suspects because of Bush's military courts. When the land of Franco and the Spanish inquisition is lecturing the U.S. on due process, you'd think there's a story afoot. * Bush's $300 tax rebates weren't rebates at all. That $300 will simply go on your new tax bill instead. The government is getting every penny from you it originally expected to; the "rebate" was a cheap accounting trick to divert attention from huge, permanent cuts for the wealthy. Most news reports obediently parroted the fraud. Meanwhile, Dubya's tax cut was a "stimulus" flop long before Sept. 11, but as Congress now considers yet another such plan, that story, too, is conspicuously absent. * For weeks, only The Wall Street Journal has reliably and repeatedly reported that the anthrax spores found in three letters to congressmen are a U.S. weapons-grade variety. Once anthrax attacks didn't fit the Osama bin Laden narrative, the investigation vanished from news programs. * Gore won Florida. The exhaustive media recount finally released last month concluded that if all legally cast votes in all of Florida's counties had been counted in 2000, Al Gore would be president. Inexplicably, media accounts almost uniformly spun the study as vindicating Bush's victory. * Finally, so many aspects of our Afghan invasion were reported extensively worldwide, except here, that it's impossible to pick among them. American media distinguished themselves by avoiding actual field reporting in favor of a bizarre alternate universe of White House and Pentagon briefings and spin. Among our Pravda- esque domestic media's almost verboten topics: new post-Sept. 11 support for dictators, Afghan civilian deaths, CIA training of bin Laden, long-term military strategy, oil politics, the Carlyle Group, Saudi connections to terrorism, nuclear proliferation and the ABM treaty, or why it is much of the world views the U.S. as a rogue--even terrorist--state.

1 0

Turkish today,Crypto tomorrow?
by mattd 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

(Longish)YEARLY REPORT ON ANARCHISM IN TURKEY - 2001* In Turkey, year 2001 passed with the deep impacts of economic crisis that was declared to be the greatest since World War II. In the anarchist arena, unfortunately on the same days with the emerging of crisis in Turkish economy (on February) an attack to an anarchist comrade by a group of "so-called" anarchists caused a kind of "division" in the movement. But in general anarchism went on spreading all over the country and for the first time in their seventeen years of "official" history, a group of Turkish anarchists are arrested for the claim of "being members of an illegal organization". GROUPS & ACTIONS In 2001, Turkish anarchists organized in lots of different autonomous groups and around some campaigns. Except the "isolated group" Anarchist Platform which organized few own demonstrations in Istanbul, anarchists from Istanbul formed a new group named TSK-I "Initiative Against Domination and War-Istanbul". This group includes members from both IAMI (Istanbul Anti-Militarist Initiative) and kara MecmuA involvers with also individual participants from Istanbul. Mayday, Genova events etc. were among those demos that Istanbul anarchists participated. TSK-I also succeeded to organize a self-performance demo and few seminars against the war. Anti-MERNIS campaign (a campaign against national identity card number system-MERNIS) was one of those initiatives started by the same group. Ankara anarchists have their own place named Kara Kalem Sanat Atvlyesi "Black Pencil Art Workshop" in downtown since August 2001. More than dealing only with so-called "art", it is also an active meeting place for organizing every kind of activity. Last year they would manage to organize an anti-militarist festival and a press meeting for objectors. A number of fanzines published by various members of Ankara anarchist circle (including AN kara fanzin). They've appeared in lots of demos, in some carrying their own flags and placards. During Genova events, after the murdering of Carlo was heard, bank ATMs and walls of buildings in downtown met with anarchists. In Izmir, which is the third biggest city of Turkey, there are two main groups. One of them is IAF (Izmir Anarchist Federation); in fact they are just an autonomous group of young anarchists-not a "federation" in the real meaning of the word. They have published their own fanzine and attended some local demos. This group has some relations with "isolated" Anarchist Platform. There are some other anarchists who had worked with Genova initiative and appeared on Mayday; they used the name of Kara G|ndem "Black Agenda". ISKD (Izmir War Resisters Association) must also be mentioned here as an important anti-militarist organization. This group organized an international meeting named "Anti-Militarism and Feminism in Turkey" on September. It does also include a women group named "Anti-Militarist Feminists". This year various autonomous groups from different cities emerged. Anarchist Collective from Istanbul dissolved itself after succeeding in a few actions and publishing some materials. Some groups dared to declare themselves as "anarchist autonomous groups" (Ushak and Samsun) and some as local anarchists initiatives (in Antalya, Mersin etc.). This year on Mayday, Antalya met with anarchists carrying black fags. In other cities anarchists act either as "friend" groups or smaller initiatives. "ANARCHIST" PLATFORM AND ISOLATION POLICY On 10 of February, a group of 5-6 people attacked a well-known anarchist and conscientious objector grotesquely during a meeting about non-violent methods of struggle in Istanbul. The attack against him was probably because of his critics about the attackers but as it would be expected the attackers claimed him in other "personal" means. The incident was immediately condemned by most of the anarchist, anti-militarist and libertarian groups all around the country including MecmuA, IAMI, ISKD, Kaos GL, and Ankara Anarchists etc. The related group Anarchist Platform including AGF (Anarchist Youth Federation), SED (Social Ecological Transformation) and their periodical Efendizler (Masterless) did not make any statement about the subject, instead they preferred to claim the "other" groups and individuals for their isolation policy. As it was not the first not the last violent incident against anarchists organized by this group, "isolation" policy seems to continue until they have gave up their treatments and violent acts against anarchists. ANTI-MILITARISM Anti-militarist activities were mostly located in three big cities Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. For the day of Conscientious Objection on 15th May various activities were organized; mainly in Ankara and also two other cities. In Ankara, three day long anti-militarist festival included a seminar, an inner discussion, film exhibitions, and a concert (although it did not last long because of the rain). This was organized by mostly anarchists from Ankara and few anti-militarists. On 27th of October, two people from Ankara declared their conscientious objection against the military service. For some people their declarations were more than conscientious, "total" objection as they rejected any possible corporation with the state and the army. One of the objectors was a gay from Kaos GL group. For the first time as a gay "objector" he and his group stated the oppression of the state and army on gays. On the same day Ankara Anarchists organized an illegal demo against the ongoing war and in order to support the objectors. Similar demonstrations and actions were organized by anarchists in various cities and universities in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir mostly against the war in Afghanistan. On 27-30 September in Izmir-S}gacik, with the initiative of ISKD group an international meeting on anti-militarism, feminism and libertarian activities was organized. About 80 people attended; 30 of whom came from abroad. The issues were based on anti-militarism, pacifist methods of struggle, feminism, ecologism and anarchism. Although some disagreements among anarchists and some anti-militarists appeared, it must be regarded as a successful meeting. PRISONS AND ANARCHISTS On 1st of December, two anarchists were taken by the police in Ushak (a city in Mid-West Anatolia) with the claim of distributing "illegal" leaflets in a meeting organized by trade-unions. Later on, 3 other were taken, and all (5) of them were arrested with the claim of "being members of an illegal organization" namely Ushak Anarchist Autonom. In fact they had nothing to do except distributing their own materials/leaflets. But for this terrorist state, it may be enough to judge them with the claim of organizing in such a way "to destroy or to divide" it, although they did not even find any (in their own "words") "violent" or "terrorist" clues related with the group. Their trail will be held in Izmir DGM (SSC-State Security Court) and probably they'll be sent to Nazilli Prison. At the moment they are in Ushak Prison; each of them was put into different cells, which is not "usual". As it was heard they were badly beaten and tortured by Ushak police and refused the lawyer offered by the state. This is the first time that Turkish anarchists will be judged by Turkish State as an "illegal organization" and this trail will show the attitude of the state against anarchists and anarchist organizations. The last months of 2000 and the most of 2001 passed with the hunger strikes' of revolutionary leftist prisoners against F type prisons and the terror of Turkish state against them. Some anarchist groups and individuals supported the riots of political prisoners without being a tool for the leftist groups' policies. Yet, among the prisoners there are only five people who were arrested because of anarchist activities; most of the others naming themselves "anarchists" are former members of leftist organizations. Among these people there are some who are suffering from not only the oppression of the state and prison authorities but also the oppression of the leftists. This may even sometimes end up with death just like it happened three years ago in Bursa jail in suspicious murder of an anti- authoritarian/anti-militarist prisoner Mehmet Cakar by his former group TIKKO (Turkish Liberation Army of Peasants and Workers). "Anarchist" prisoners in jail did not "fully" support the hunger strikes as it was initiated by leftists -mostly led by DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front)- but some of them partially went a few days symbolic hunger strike. Only one among all "anarchists" in jail, Dervish Orhan personally -although his former organization PKK (Kurdistan Labor Party) did not support hunger strikes- went on a hunger strike for over 150 days including a few weeks of break. His "requests" were mostly personal; against the prison administration that had taken his personal notes, books, clothes and furniture. But this was not a hunger strike just for "requests", in fact more than that it was to protest the administration and on their behalf the State itself. In a few months time anarchists all around Turkey organized a campaign for the release of him, afterwards the needed money was collected to transfer him to hospital for medical control from Mersin (where he was imprisoned) to Istanbul. At last, after following some legal procedures with the initiative of his new lawyer, he was released on 31st of October for 6 months because of health problems. ANTI-SEXISM Kaos GL, which is the unique libertarian anti-heterosexual gay & lesbian group in Turkey managed to open the first homosexual culture center of Turkey (Kaos K|lt|r Merkezi-Chaos Culture Center) in Ankara on September 2000. Kaos GL is released periodically on every three months but fifteen days newspaper project Parmak (Finger) had failed after a number of issues. Unwillingly they have become very "popular" in the mainstream media with their participation in Mayday demonstration. Some women groups mostly from Istanbul and Izmir were active during this year; Sigacik meeting was a good organization in this means. ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM Yet Turkish anarcho-syndicalists and other anarchists that are members of trade unions did not manage to organize. This is more or less because of the fact that anarcho-syndicalism does not have any tradition or historical background in Turkish syndicalism history. In addition, Turkish legal infrastructure is quite problematic about establishing syndicates. That's why, anarchists usually choose to work in recent syndicates as just members or even sometimes they are taking some responsibilities. Although they are very few in number for now, increasing day by day -most of them are former Marxists- in some syndicates like KESK (Confederation of Public Workers' Syndicates-office workers syndicate for government sector). In the riots against the new trade-union law -which gave "legality" to syndicates such as KESK- anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists were among those people who has fought against the security forces. PRESS & PERIODICALS First issue of kara MecmuA (black Periodical) came on February and five issues were printed until January 2002. "MecmuA involvers" include different writers from -nearly- all of the previous anarchist periodicals; Kara (Black-first appeared on 1984), Efendisiz, Amargi, Atesh Hirsizi, Apolitika, Efendisizler etc. Each issue -but not the whole magazine- has a different subject to discuss and has a two months period to be released again. Published in Istanbul, it is distributed in most of the country and as an average more than 1000 are sold. Kaos Yayinlari (Chaos Publications) uses the same address with MecmuA and still the unique anarchist bookstore in Turkey. In addition some leftist bookstores publish -mostly translated- books on anarchist theory and history but yet "anarchism in Turkish" is not so rich. This year so called "Anarchist" Platform circle's periodicals like Efendisizler, Anarsi, and Kara Toprak (Black Land) did not appear so much (only a few issues). On the other hand zines are still active and lots of new anarchist and anarcho-punk zines born. Among them "AN kara fanzin" is different, as it looks like a "formal" periodical more than a zine-with both by number of the participants and with its page-format. The staff contains some anarchists from Ankara and the zine is distributed to many cities. Starting from May, three issues were published. Except this one, lots of zines Oldsletter, KatrAn, Veganarshi, Kontra Atak, Twillight Zine, Ictepi, Afanzin etc. were published in 2001 and as a counter culture they have signed the development of anarchist theory and practice in Turkey. As a historical and effective a well-known Turkish periodical on culture and literature, Varlik appeared to be an arena for spreading anarchist ideas. S|reyyya Evren, Rahmi Vgd|l, Yasar Cubuklu and Isik Erg|den are among the writers whose articles on anarchist and libertarian thought are good sources for intellectual ground. * Written by B. V. from AN kara fanzin - January 2002

1 0

Tim "RaHoWa' May.
by mattd 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

CALL TO ANTI-RACISTS TO CONVERGE ON YORK, PA, JANUARY 12TH: SHUT DOWN THE WHITE SUPREMACISTS' RECRUITING DRIVE! This coming January 12, at 12 noon in York, PA, three white supremacist groups with ties to racist terrorism -- the World Church of the Creator, the National Alliance, and the Eastern Hammer Skins -- are planning a public meeting to capitalize off racial tensions which have been brought out recently by the prosecution of York's mayor for his role in the 1969 race riots in that town. Mayor Robertson, then an officer on the York City police force, is accused of encouraging white kids to "kill as many n----rs as you can" during the riots, and giving them ammunition which was used to kill a black woman driving through a white neighborhood. We are calling all concerned anti-racists to come out and help shut down these nazis. NEVER GIVE THE NAZIS SPACE TO ORGANIZE! No matter how radical they claim to be, white supremacists always show their true colors by siding with the police when things get heavy. The National Alliance targeted York earlier this year for a stickering campaign supporting Mayor Robertson's actions during the riots. And now three well-known fascist organizations are planning to hold a public meeting with the same message. The World Church of the Creator has been on the rise since the shooting spree undertaken by one of its members, Ben Smith, in July of 1999 (Smith targeted Asian, Black and Jewish people, killing 2 and wounding 9). After exploiting the media attention in the wake of the shooting for all it was worth, WCOTC leader Matt Hale began a campaign of holding public meetings in libraries around Central Illinois to spread his fascist ideology. These meetings are a bid to appear respectable and to bring white supremacy into the mainstream. Hale's usual language of racist slurs and calls for RaHoWa (Racial Holy War) are toned down and buried behind smooth-talking claims that the WCOTC is only interested in helping white communities. The WCOTC's shock troops of violence-prone thugs are encouraged to dress sharply to present a good public image and to refrain from violence ... for the time being. The National Alliance tends to organize more 'respectably' -- in Maryland, one of their most prominent members is a correctional officer at Hagerstown -- and are somewhat slicker about using popular white racism to build a mass movement along the lines of the original Nazi Party. They claim to have more than doubled their numbers in the past year, and were quick to turn the September 11th tragedy to their advantage, both blaming Jews and the U.S.'s support for Israel for the attack, and exploiting anti-immigrant sentiment to their own ends. In Florida, the NA recently commissioned a billboard saying, "Stop Immigration Now", and in DC, they've held two rallies at the Israeli embassy, trying to turn anti-imperialist sentiment against Israel into white-supremacist organizing here. And the fact that these two groups are now coming together with Hammerskins is especially cause for alarm. A loose organization of white supremacist "skinheads" (we put the word in quotes out of respect for anti-racist skinheads, who have often been in the front lines confronting them), Hammerskins are well-known for tracking down anti-racist organizers and beating them up (thankfully plenty of times they've more than met their match!) but generally shy away from any political organizing. While Hammerskins have often served as "security detachments" at the World Church of the Creator's events, historically the Hammerskins didn't have a lot of respect for the NA, seeing them as being too uptight, disciplined, and not active. But this has changed as the Hammers have seen the massive growth that the NA has claimed, and the energy that anti-racist activists have devoted to countering the NA's recent efforts. At a recent nazi rally in Washington, DC, a leader of the Eastern Hammer Skins yelled to the anti-racist counter-demonstrators, "Any of you gotten your asses kicked in Baltimore lately? If so, that was us!" Indeed. Whatever their game plan, none of these groups have anything whatsoever to offer, and we refuse to allow them space to spread their racist fantasies. Previous WCOTC meetings -- in Wallingford, CT and Peoria, IL, to name two -- have met with massive, determined, and forceful community opposition. The National Alliance has been consistently outnumbered, beaten with crowbars, and pelted with balloons filled with urine at their recent rallies in Washington, DC. We hope that anti-racists will similarly rise to the occasion in York and show up to stand in the way of these nazis. We insist that public humiliation is the best medicine for these fools suffering from delusions of supremacy! THE PROBLEM IS THE POLICE AND INSTITUTIONAL RACISM. The race riots began as a confrontation between a few neighborhood crews, who, following the "laws of gravity" came to pick sides along racial lines. Nothing new, gangs fight all the time. But as long as cities are divided by race and racism, conflicts based on race and racism are gonna happen. The issue at stake is that the police used the white gangs, as they had for some time, as shock troops against blacks who were turning the everyday fighting into an opportunity to make a stand against decades of abuse and oppression that showed no sign of relenting. By rallying white opposition to black insurrection, the police deflected attention and anger directed at them and kept the conflict largely in the realm of a "race war". Class war was, and is, the order of the day. At that time, few whites were ready to recognize that, but things change. WE DEMAND THAT ALL CHARGES BE DROPPED against the eight men accused of shooting Lillie Belle Allen and the two men accused of shooting officer Henry Schaad. While the outcome of the 1969 riots is still felt by many in York, especially the families of the victims, the healing process won't be helped by dragging these people through trials at this point. They were, all of them, really just kids caught up in fighting a war they had no part in making. Why is it that the only "justice" the state offers is the chance to ruin more lives? But Mayor Robertson's role is something completely different. He (and how many of his fellow police officers?), armed and provoked a group of white teenagers to kill blacks. Lillie Belle Allen, an unarmed black woman in the wrong place at the wrong time, became their victim. By all acounts, the city's police force was (and largely still is) up to its neck in white-supremacist attitudes. THE ONLY WAY FOR YORK TO DEAL WITH THE PAST IS TO FULLY INVESTIGATE POLICE AND CITY GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE RIOTS, AND TO EXPOSE ONGOING RACIST PRACTICES AND POLICIES BY THE CITY AND THE POLICE. Until this is done, we have no guarantee that this situation will not happen again. The social barriers that separate whites, blacks, and Puerto Ricans can be and are being broken down, but only if the people are allowed to deal with their own conflicts without being played against each other by a racist police force which maintains its own power by "dividing and conquering." If there was one lesson to be had from the riots it was "Don't trust the po-lice." NEVER MIND THE BUREAUCRATS! The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the same state agency which has called Anti-Racist Action a "hate group" in the past, seems to feel that the best way to deal with groups like the World Church of the Creator is ignore them at the same time that they provide them space to meet, organize and recruit, even when that means closing the town library to residents and spending tax money on a massive police presence to protect a small and irrelevant group of neo-nazis from the consequences of their hate. The Pennsylvania state government is the last place we'd look for advice on fighting racism. The state has no real interest in stopping nazis from organizing. They're happy just as long as everything stays in the bounds of "law and order". But government officials don't have to deal with nazi attacks or the effects of racist organizing in their communities. WE BELIEVE THE EVERYDAY PEOPLE OF ALL RACES AND NATIONALITIES face similar problems, and can work through those problems together when the racist government and their fascist supporters don't interfere. White power groups are free to preach their cross-eyed idiocy and we're free to stand in their way. WE WILL SHUT DOWN THE NAZIS!

1 0

Small is Beautiful.
by mattd 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

Classic Appropriate Technology Vision, May 25, 2000 This is one book that adds the perspective of the wider World (not just the technologically elite), when making decisions on engineering/business solutions (as well as other resource allocation decisions). When striving towards best solutions, some engineers & consultants may favour technology complexity and quality, when simplicity and fit-for-purpose are optimal. This book provides some inspiration and building blocks, to be coupled with the usual simulation toolkit including systems analysis, enabling development and implementation of appropriate solutions. Similarly, the book appeals to a much wider audience that can embrace such values in day to day life. The inspirational well-written contents cover: *Part I- The modern world- problem of production, peace and permanence, role of economics, Buddhist economics, and a question of size. *Part II- resources- education, proper use of land, resources for industry, nuclear energy, and technology with a human face. *Part III_ the third world- development, social and economic problems requiring intermediate technology, two million villages, and the problem of unemployment in India. *Part IV- organisation and ownership- a machine to foretell the future, towards a theory of large-scale organisation, socialism, ownership and new patterns of ownership. Improvements could include up-to-date case studies (perhaps including material from VSO) showing the benefits of the approach; and an update on where intermediate technology is today. Note- the book 'Flexible Specialisation' by Pedersen et al (ISBN 1853392170 publ.1994) provides some such case studies for Africa, Asia and Mexico. Personally, this reviewer was inspired by the book to lead an undergraduate team project with Intermediate Technology (the company) and Sri Lankan men designing and implementing a self-build fretsaw for educational toys in 1991. Overall a stimulating, worthwhile addition to any library. Another review... Economists are people who spend half of their time foretelling what will happen, and the other half explaining why what they foresaw didn't happen, right? Well, not Fritz Shumacher. Today, in 2001, "Small Is Beautiful" is 25 years old, and almost every single prediction in the book, from the power, deshumanization, and cross-borders character of corporation, to the threat to the environment, to the ineffectiveness of liberalism in addressing the problems of the developing world, have become true. Of special interest are the chapters that deal with adoption of technology, and the role of technology in development. In Schumacher's insights may lie the key to making development an inherent process of each society, instead of an external, massive, and rarely effective effort. The last few chapters, about "socializing" large corporations, may be somewhat utopian in today's world, but still merit reflection. Shumacher died soon after having published his book, so he didn't have the opportunity of spreading or developing his work. Still, this is a must read for anyone interested in sound, alternative views to the prevailing ones of "larger is better", or "if what we're doing doesn't work, we must do more of it".

1 0

Holler for a Marshall
by mattd 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

The Wisdom of Saint Marshall, the Holy Fool In the tumult of the digital revolution, McLuhan is relevant anew. But if you think you know Marshall McLuhan, or what he stood for - think again. By Gary Wolf Where in the waste is the wisdom?" - James Joyce In 1971, Marshall McLuhan announced a new product. With chemist Ross Hall, his nephew, McLuhan patented a formula for the removal of urine odor from underpants. The unique advantage of McLuhan's formula, for which he registered the trademark Prohtex, was that it removed the urine odor without masking other, more interesting smells - that of perspiration, for instance. In the aural and tactile environment of preliterate man, McLuhan explained, BO had been a valuable means of communication. When electronic technology turned the world into a global village, tribal odors would make a comeback, too. This prediction has yet to come true, but if body odor has not yet made a comeback, its prophet surely has. Marshall McLuhan was born in 1911 and died in 1980. By the time of his death, he had been dismissed by respectable academicians, and he was known in the popular press as an eccentric intellectual whose day in the media spotlight had come and gone. By 1980, the transformation of human life catalyzed by television was taken for granted, and it no longer seemed interesting to ask where the electronic media were taking us. But in recent years, the explosion of new media - particularly the Web - has caused new anxieties. Or to put a more McLuhanesque spin on it, the advent of new digital media has brought the conditions of the old technologies into sharper relief, and made us suddenly conscious of our media environment. In the confusion of the digital revolution, McLuhan is relevant again. Conservative Christian anarchist McLuhan's slogans "The medium is the message" and "The global village" are recited like mantras in every digital atelier in the world, despite the fact that hardly anyone who quotes McLuhan reads his books. Some of them McLuhan hardly wrote in the first place, trusting assistants and collaborators to cobble them together out of recordings and notes. As his biographer Philip Marchand explains, with wry sympathy, "writing books was not McLuhan's forte." Neither was McLuhan very influential as a scholar or teacher. From the beginning of his career, the Canadian professor with a doctorate from Cambridge stood outside the academic mainstream for which he had little patience. The natural incompatibility of originality and academia was probably especially difficult to overcome for McLuhan, who had received his early education in North American public schools, which, then as now, offered few advantages to their most talented students. By the time he arrived at Cambridge, McLuhan had acquired what is perhaps the defining trait of autodidacts - a kernel of personal crankiness and a resistance to established authority. In his role as social, political, and economic analyst, McLuhan was a clown. His speeches and public pronouncements helped give rise to a generation of affluent futurists and business consultants skilled at telling executives what they liked to hear, but McLuhan's own predictions and business ideas were often hilariously ill-conceived. If his urine-odor remover failed to stimulate the instincts of business executives, perhaps McLuhan could talk Tom Wolfe into collaborating on a Broadway production of a play in which the media appeared on stage as characters. This aborted script followed two other McLuhan attempts at musicals, including one in which Russian Elvis fans were given a shot at governing America. Even in areas where McLuhan was expected to be more dependable - say, pop culture - his pronouncements were often incredible. In 1968, for instance, McLuhan attempted to explain to readers of Playboy why the miniskirt was not sexy. With McLuhan, the accuracy of his commentary was beside the point. "What is truth?" asked McLuhan in 1974, and he answered with a quote he attributed to Agatha Christie's iconoclastic investigator Hercule Poirot: "Eet ees whatever upsets zee applecart." "You have not studied Joyce or Baudelaire yet, or you would have no problems in understanding my procedure," McLuhan wrote to one detractor with whom he was especially irritated. "I have no theories whatever about anything. I make observations by way of discovering contours, lines of force, and pressures. I satirize at all times, and my hyperboles are as nothing compared to the events to which they refer." Gary Wolf (Wired.com"gary(a)Wired.com) is the executive editor of HotWired. He and Michael Stein are the authors of Aether Madness: An Off-Beat Guide to the Online World.

1 0

NYC 3000
by mattd 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

Sci-fi Novelist Samuel R. Delany Imagines New York City Circa 3000 Future Shock by Samuel R. Delanyhe first scene of "The Graveyard Heart," by the late science-fiction writer Roger Zelazny, takes place at a party on New Year's Eve of the year 2000. It's a tale of fabulous wealth, beautiful women, and tiny ceramic dogs; of people who behave like vampires, and love that spans the centuries. It's a story I plan to reread on the big evening, as I wait to see if the lights stay on past midnight or if my word processor still works the next morning. It's hard to believe that story was written almost 40 years ago. But it's a tale to send the mind ahead to contemplate what science fiction suggests the future might actually hold, once it gets hereas, with or without us, it inevitably does. My best hope for New York City is that having persisted for a few hundred years into the third millennium, it will be remembered as the greatest city of the last century of the second millennium. In 3000 it may be recalled as rich, romantic, horrifying in many of its aspects, with a rep-utation much like the Athens of classical Greece has today, or possibly Rome; or maybe the medieval Paris of the murderer, thief, and poet Francois Villon. If we're lucky, New York City might survive as an exotic name, like Nineveh or Syberisis; but if the culture continues to change at its present rate, New York's legacy might be more like that of Cambodia's Angkor Wata deserted space, forgotten and overgrown, somewhere in the world that foreigners rarely visit. But what might happen along the way? More at http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/9952/delany.php

1 0

Putz the Id back in Yid.
by mattd 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

In Sabbath's Theater, Philip Roth finally showed us he could write a book in which neither Philip Roth nor his thinly-veiled stand-in, Nathan Zuckerman, made an appearance. The theme of Sabbath's Theater has been done before: a lecherous, unconventional man railing at the ravages of time and the dwindling of the sexual potency by which he has defined his very existence. Most of the time, however, this theme is poorly written, the characters trite and cliched. Roth, not surprisingly, invests this novel with more lyrical energy, more sexual frankness, sharper comedy and deeper seriousness than has any writer before. Although Roth does make use of both flashback and association, the plot of Sabbath's Theater is brisk. Mickey Sabbath, who went off to sea at the age of eighteen just so he could visit the world's brothels, is a loathsome character. His abiding philosophy of life is simply to do whatever he pleases and never to worry about pleasing anyone else. Nothing phases him, in fact, he seems to take pleasure in his uncanny ability to antagonize others. Their outrage seems to be only a reflection of his own self-worth. Mickey Sabbath manages to hurt, deceive, betray, offend, insult and abuse just about everyone with whom he comes into contact. A true degenerate, Mickey Sabbath may seem to lack any sense of moral conscience. Although anyone meeting such a character would deny it, Sabbath actually spent an idyllic childhood on the Jersey shore; a childhood that was shattered by a traumatic dual loss. In an effort to deal with his loss and the resultant pain, to stamp out the brutality of life, and, to affirm his own sense of aliveness, Sabbath turns to carnal pleasures with a vengeance, indulging each and every sexual impulse. Even as Sabbath indulges his crasser nature, however, and casts a satirical eye on those who deny their sensual impulses, he still endeavors to understand himself and the workings of the universe. In fact, much of the novel's comic pathos is derived from the tension that exists between Sabbath's base nature and his lechery and his seemingly incomprehensible yearning for cosmic illumination. There is a lot of graphic sex in Sabbath's Theater and most readers will probably find it simply too perverse. I did not enjoy reading this book, and, although I think I understand Mickey Sabbath, I have to admit that I hated him. He suffers, that cannot be denied, but he is simply so perverse, and his behavior so amoral, that I really didn't care. To be fair, I do have to admit that the perversity in this book did enhance and advance my understanding of Mickey Sabbath and the conflicts in which he is embroiled. And Philip Roth is certainly better at creating degenerate, or at least morally ambivalent characters, than he is at creating the lofty or the solemn. His "good" characters are simply too good to be true, while Sabbath, much as we may despise him, is completely credible. He may be despicable and perverted, but at least he knows it. The writing in Sabbath's Theater is absolutely first-rate; it is pure Philip Roth and it crackles with more energy and exuberance than Portnoys' Complaint. The characters are more complex, the narrative more sophisticated and the tonal range wider than many of Roth's other works. The ending of the book virtually drips with irony. This is a multi-layered novel and one that is brilliantly original. It also contains some of the funniest writing to be found anywhere in American fiction today. Sabbath's Theater is, at its heart, a darkly comic masterpiece of complexity from one of America's finest authors.(by the same author;Operation shylock)

1 0

Re: Cpunks Lauded ;Tim May loaded.
by mattd 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

>>"Let me understand this...you have come to my house to tell me that I am a criminal facing 20-to-life if I continue to write in my journal in a language you have no key to decipher?" << Recent case in Ohio,guy's diary entries prosecutable.(they'll set up a grand jury at the drop of a hat,as well.) >>Much is being made of the "new bluntness" in Washington: "Wanted, dead or alive." "We want Osama dead." The same applies to statists: fuck with constitutional rights ... The slave owners constitution supposedly recognizes Intrinsic human and civil rights,In a world where national borders are not even speed humps,etc.Is is to much to ask you to refer to universal human and civil rights instead? You may sound slightly less foolish. >>fuck with constitutional rights and you face killing. Singly or en masse. Execution of entire buildings is sometimes justified. Washington, D.C. is long overdue for "termination with extreme prejudice." << Coming from a non Apster this is just more bubbles in tims hot tub,stand well clear! Also,Tim,like Osama in east africa,doesnt care how many innocents die in his hot air jihad.Collateral damage. >>(Those who are not criminals have had many years to realize this and to get the hell out of Dodge.) << Those who are not hypocrites like tim and david fried man,d.Klein,etc have had plenty of time to find states with fewer laws and lower taxes than Cali. >>The new bluntness. << On this list!...I dont like it..you have to back up what your crapping on about!? What! >>Their "predecessors" were only predecessors in time, not in intellectual influence or in any causal sense. And their "predecessors" did not contribute the rich set of contributions that Diffie, Hellman, Merkle, Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman have contributed. In fact, we don't even fully know if these "predecessors" fully realized what they had (allegedly) discovered. Further, given that they were not participating in the larger world in the way that Diffie et. al. were, we don't even know where they got their ideas...perhaps from "predecessors of the predecessors." Those who toiled in secrecy have earned the fame that they will never have. << I cant be bothered deciphering this obscurantist gibberish but try this for something straightforward www.simonsingh.com "The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant." --John Stuart Mill Theres talk of tracking known arsonists and detaining them during fire emergencies down here in NSW.Tomorrows tipped to be 40 deg cel.Wonder what the CATO kid thinks of global warming?

1 0

ID fraud, King George's dumbshit cameljockey bodyguards
by Anonymous 05 Jan '02

05 Jan '02

So an arab with a loaded gun on his person wants on your plane. He claims to have some documents and claims to have phone numbers where others (also strangers to the pilot) will "vouch" for him. He claims to work for King George. Wisely, the pilot, who is actually responsible, lets him stew on the ground. Why do the proles who end up whining about ethnic discrimination *worship* shiny badges, paper and phones so much? Why is King George, who couldn't do squat to protect his NYC subjects, pissed that one of his bodyguards-for-life was a little late? ---- How do you spell relief? C-A-R-C-A-N-O

1 0