@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 From: "Mike Ewall" <•••@••.•••> To: Multiple recipients of list <•••@••.•••> > This list has been burdened by a plethora of compulsive corporate bashers > who associate the problem they call corporate welfare with only recipients. > They seem to be unable to recognize government corruption leading to your >alerts. Keep up the good work. Government corruption (especially that which benefits corporations, i.e. corporate welfare), exists due to corporate control of the government, primarily via the campiagn finance system. It's not like politicians are giving out massive corporate welfare because they have nothing better to do. Government corruption is a result of corporate power over government. Read more about it at: http://www.envirolink.org/issues/system/index.html#finance Mike Ewall Activists' Center for Training In Organizing and Networking http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/action @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 From: John Gear <•••@••.••• To: Multiple recipients of list <•••@••.••• Subject: Exxon deals with Alaska Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 23:37:23 -0700 (PDT) From: MichaelP <•••@••.••• To: •••@••.•••, •••@••.••• Subject: Exxon deals with Alaska Sender: •••@••.••• From London Times May 22 'Secret' reform set to cut Exxon damages EXXON oil company, yet to pay any of the $5 billion damages awarded to victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, is alleged to be behind a secretive legal reform that could cut its liability by up to 95 per cent (Giles Whittell writes). There is uproar in Alaska over a rider to a larger state Bill that limits any such damages and is designed to be retroactive. It was added be hind closed doors, without debate at a recent legislative session. When the tanker broke up in Prince William Sound it spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil, killing birds and devastating fish stocks. Compensation, awarded two years ago, has been delayed by Exxon appeals. The company has denied any link with the legislation, which awaits only the Governor's signature. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ From: •••@••.••• Date: Sun, 2 Jun 1996 To: •••@••.••• Subject: The Direction of the Alliance I was a bit troubled at the last alliance meeting by Neil's suggestion that the alliance should seek only long term goals for itself as opposed to more attainable short term goals. In our group meeting on International Corporations he further clarified his position as being one where he sought long term goal with no determinate or set ending. He thought that we ought to take more of an educational approach to activism as opposed to setting concrete goals for ourselves. I would hope that many of you see the same problems with this mindset as I do. My own view is that we ought to have both short term and long term concrete goals; otherwise, I feel that we will degenerate into simply a liberal feel good society that accomplishes very little except for providing us with the illusion that we are concerned about the predations of corporate dominated capitalism. I think I understand where Neil's point of view comes from. It seems to me to be a Humanistic mindset where there are no absolute or set answers to the problems that confront us. While I think that it is often good for the left to be suspicious of absolutism in politics, I would like to remind the participants in this mailing list that our Corporate enemies have no problem with setting goals pertaining to how they intend to beat down the aspirations of the working masses. In fact, their whole idealogy depends on individual motivation and goal setting. I think that members of the Alliance should pay more attention to what the right-wing press is saying. Their goals are very clear. They want to see capital have maximum mobility in the world market place, complete with a single world currency and a world government just strong enough to protect their interests with maybe a few relatively worthless programs thrown in to help the world's neediest peoples so as to appease the left. The nation states will continue but with just enouph power to oppress the working classes in these various states and keep them divided. If a disastrous future such as this where corporations control everything in a world wide wage-slave society is not appealing to us then we better start developing some goals soon that will be achievable with our dedication together. As I stated earlier a we ought to have both short range and long range goals to effectively carry out our fight against corporate tyranny. I would suggest as an example of short range goals is to establish a community based radio station or to require that state or city subsidized businesses pay a living minimum wage higher than the state or national minimums. A long range goal would be to build a national movement capable of challenging the tyranny of so-called free trade agreements like GATT or NAFTA and eventually scraping those agreements altogether and institute tariffs cabable of containing corporate capital in this country. Also, this movement ought to aggressively seek to break up corporations into smaller more competitive units so as not to lose the advantages of protectionism to corporate price fixing. Another long term goal could be a constitutional amendment that delegitimizes corporations as persons. I hope to hear from some of you about what our long and short term goals out to be, but I hope that you will agree with me that our group should not merely be into stroking our own egos about how concerned we are as opposed to actually doing something about our world's sorry predicament given the present development of corporate tyranny. EC Morris @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 Sender: Parveez Syed <•••@••.•••> Subject: TWA flight 800 crash Monday 22 July 1996, London-UK TWA Flight 800 crash Let us see if credible investigative journalists on the list can explore the alternative possibilities without demonising and criminalising one billion Muslims after every bombing. French sources reported on Sunday 21-07-1996 that French Defense Ministry experts say it is possible that the TWA Boeing 747 which exploded last week was "accidentally" [deadly friendly fire] hit by a missile fired by a US Army unit in the region. According to sources, the French experts believe that if reports about a surface-to-air missile hitting the plane are confirmed, the infrastructure needed to fire a missile powerful enough to hit a plane at that altitude is only possessed by army units. The possibility that a Stinger missile could hit the plane is being rolled out by the French. The French experts say human or technical error could have led to the TWA crash. The experts say that if the TWA plan was shot down by mistake by a U.S. military unit, it is unlikely that the U.S. army will admit it. Years ago, a US Navy plane shot down an Iranian civilian plane over the Persian Gulf killing more than 180 passengers. Parveez Syed Shanti RTV news agency @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Date: 24 Jul 96 21:16:23 EDT From: Alexa Dvorson <•••@••.•••> To: RK Moore <•••@••.•••> Subject: BBC chairman gives assurances on World Service --------------- Forwarded Story --------------- Headline: BBC chairman gives assurances on World Service Wire Service: RTw (Reuters World Report) Date: Wed, Jul 24, 1996 Copyright 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Reuters Ltd. LONDON, July 24 (Reuter) - The chairman of the BBC, facing an outcry over a proposed restructuring of World Service radio, promised on Wednesday to maintain the distinct agenda of the service and the quality of its programmes. At a meeting with Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, BBC Chairman Sir Christopher Bland agreed to the establishment of a joint working party to address concerns about the impact of the proposed changes, according to a Foreign Office statement. The Foreign Office directly funds the World Service, which broadcasts in more than 40 languages and has 140 million regular listeners. Lynda Chalker, a Foreign Office minister, assured the House of Lords that the reorganisation would not be carried out until the working party, which will have access to independent advice, had reported to Rifkind and Bland. "We have received assurances about quality, because of the very special nature of the World Service, and that this will be unaffacted by the new arrangements," Chalker told the upper chamber of parliament. Bland and Rifkind will meet again in October. The BBC board of governors was due to consider the changes on Thursday. In a letter to the Guardian newspaper, 140 leading public figures called the governors to consult first on the changes, which would include merging the World Service's news-gathering operations with those of the domestic BBC. The signatories, including politicians, broadcasters, academics and the Archbishop of Canterbury, said there was unprecedented concern about the impact of the proposed changes on editorial independence and the distinctive voice of the World Service. REUTER REUTER @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~ Posted by Richard K. Moore - •••@••.••• - Wexford, Ireland Cyberlib: www | ftp --> ftp://ftp.iol.ie/users/rkmoore/cyberlib ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~
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