Bcc: contributors & colleagues
============================================================================
Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2002 11:25:12 -0800
From: Ben Hitchner <•••@••.•••>
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: 'tooth fairy'
Dear rkm:
I have been receiving your postings for well over a year,
and because of a usual full daily agenda still have some
unread printings. Your 'believe in the tooth fairy' is
particularly succinct and cogent. I taught economics at the
college level for thirty-five years. It is only in the past
few years, by putting a focus on globalization, that I began
to see through my belief that economic policy makers were
trying their best to formulate remedies to problems, which
were caused by innocent ignorance. A more convincing view
sees deceptive covers in government, economic institutions,
economic crises, and in conditioning through media and
education. No wonder, a professor can't get students to
think (teacher can't think either) about political economy -
the conditioning not to ask simple questions is too deep.
The movement to a 'new world order' of monumental human
misery recently accelerated. This indeed presents a
staggering challenge, a culmination to transcend 2500 years
of the connection of power and wealth, which has
consistently maintained the matrix of misery and slavery of
most people - Buckminster Fuller was right, it doesn't have
to be this way.
Ben Hitchner
==========
Dear Ben,
Thanks for your comments.
You provide a good example of 'learning the truth about Santa':
> I began to see through my belief that economic policy
makers were trying their best to formulate remedies to
problems, which were caused by innocent ignorance. A more
convincing view sees deceptive covers in government,
economic institutions, economic crises...
Until one makes such a paradigm shift in ones viewpoint, it
is not possible to make good use of the daily information we
receive. If you believe the text, you don't take the time
to read between the lines.
I'm curious about your '2500 years' timeline. I see the
connection going back about 10,000 years, to the beginning
of systematic agriculture. Have you read Quinn's "The Story
of B"? An important perspective and very readable.
No, it doesn't have to be that way. More about this as we
go along...
yours,
rkm
============================================================================
From: •••@••.•••
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 16:21:14 EST
Subject: Re: Do you still believe in the tooth fairy?
To: •••@••.•••
Richard,
Happy New Year. As usual, your essay is very thought
provoking, but I do have an important question. In
discussing what was known by the CIA, etc. beforehand of the
9-11 attacks, one must be very specific I think. Do you
mean to say that the authorities knew SPECIFICALLY that the
intention of the hijackers was to hijack planes and crash
them into important buildings (or any buildings)?
I'm unable to accept that the Pentagon would knowingly allow
their building and employees to be savaged like that,
particularly during a weekday morning when the building is
full of workers. Even the Nazis had the Reichstag burned
down in the evening. (I just checked that.) And there was
a CIA office at the WTC that was completely destroyed.
There's very little I'd put past our imperial leaders, but
this is one of them. I think they knew something was up,
perhaps something big, but wanted to observe it for as long
as they could to glean as much intelligence as possible.
This is FBI SOP in terrorism cases. Sometimes it gets away.
BTW, have you read any of the book Empire? I tried to but
couldn't get past the heavy academic gobbledygook. A review
of it in Monthly Review sees it as an apology for US
imperialism, which would explain its welcome by the
establishment.
Best,
Bill
[note: Bill Blum is author of two excellent books about U.S.
Interventionism: "Killing Hope", and "Rogue State". - rkm]
=============
Dear Bill,
From all the evidence I've seen, I'm convinced that there
was high-level CIA knowledge of the hijacking project all
along, from planning to execution. That's why FBI
investigations were squashed, tips from foreign intelligence
services were ignored, Bin Laden was not arrested when the
opportunity was presented, standard air-defense procedures
were not followed, and a pre-packaged War on Terrorism was
all ready for announcement within hours of the attack.
You say: "There's very little I'd put past our imperial
leaders, but this is one of them." Perhaps, but you're
making a statement of faith, not of evidence or logic. Why
would you put it past them? Certainly not because of the
scale of suffering. A few thousand civilian lives is
nothing to those who plan wars and genocides on a routine
basis... people who say the 'cost is worth it', when
thousands die each month from the genocidal sanctions
imposed on Iraq. And sacrificing American lives is nothing
new either, with FDR's complicity in the Pearl Harbor
attack, and all the U.S. soldiers killed in imperialist
wars. Certainly the death of a few CIA employees would not
hold up an operation on the scale of the World Trade Center.
> I think they knew something was up, perhaps something big,
but wanted to observe it for as long as they could to glean
as much intelligence as possible. This is FBI SOP in
terrorism cases. Sometimes it gets away.
I'd say this is digging deep for a rationalization needed to
justify a faith. Are we to believe that during the 35
minutes plane number three was heading to Pentagon, the FBI
was saying, "No, don't intercept it, we might learn
something before it hits its target."? And why are you so
sure of what the FBI's 'standard operating procedure' is?
I say they keep offering that excuse, with regard to drugs
and terrorism, because they don't want us to know they are
sponsoring those activities.
I read quite a bit of "Empire". What I found most
interesting is that they attempt to grapple with the deep
structural changes in the world order that emerged from
World War II and culminated in globalization. I haven't
seen much written about this, which is surprising.
Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" doesn't really count
in this category, as its analysis is hogwash. I didn't find
Empire very useful, as the analysis was clouded by an
attempt to stretch everything into a narrow Marxist framework.
ciao,
rkm
============================================================================
Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2002 10:29:32 -0800
Subject: Re: Do you still believe in the tooth fairy?
From: Bruce Elkin <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
richard,
I enjoyed this piece but I wonder about this assertion:
> The second reason is that we don't live in a democracy.
If 90% of the population wanted peace and forgiveness, that
wouldn't change government policy one iota - although it
might lead to a different slant in media propaganda.
What evidence do you have to back this up?
The Vietnam debacle began to wind down in part at least
because the percentage of Americans opposed to the war
increased. I doubt, however, that it ever reached 90%.
Right now, the polls are showing that 90% of Americans back
Bush's phony war. Should that ration of 9-1 in favor
reverse to 9-1 opposed, do you really think it would lead
only to a "different slant in media propaganda"?
Statements like the one above that are just asserted without
evidence take away, in my opinion, from your overall point.
cheers!
Bruce
========
Dear Bruce,
I'd say that the Vietnam experience illustrates my point
rather strongly. Year after year the war was pursued and
escalated, while all the time the nation was rocked with
massive protest demonstrations and widespread public
disapproval. In a democracy, public opinion would be the
wellspring of policy; in our corporate oligarchy / fascist
state, public opinion is something to be managed and
contained.
If popular opposition did finally affect the decision to
pull out of Vietnam, I don't think it was because of the
percentages. I think instead it would be because of the
growing New Left movement, which was becoming better
organized and more politically effective. The impeachment
of Nixon, the Freedom of Information Act - that whole era of
strong liberal and antiwar sentiment was something that
threatened elite power. Nixon called it the "Vietnam
Syndrome", and it wasn't overcome until the CIA arranged for
the Iranian embassy to be captured, and that was skillfully
used to usher in the Reagan years.
I don't believe 90% of Americans back Bush's phony war.
The questions they use in those polls are designed to get
the answers desired. The answer to "Do you support your
President in this time of crisis?" does not necessarily line
up with the answer you would get to "Do you have
reservations about the thousands of innocent women and
children who have been killed by our bombing in
Afghanistan?".
I believe that if 90% of the American people opposed the War
on Terrorism, we would not learn that fact from the media.
And no, I don't think it would change the policies.
regards,
rkm
============================================================================
Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2002 16:20:29 -0600
Subject: Do you still believe in the tooth fairy? No!
From: Maureen Van den Bosch <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Hello Richard,
Thanks for the last posting! It has been too long since you
last wrote. I find the tone of your last posting a bit
despairing and downcast and I can understand your
frustration. The world has changed since 9-11, sort of. The
change is that we now are living the through the beginnings
of the end. What had been merely intellectual musings over
the lashing tail of the dying dinosaur have become reality.
What was a discussion of getting from here (a mess) to there
(a sustainable society) has become more of pressing concern
for surviving (as a species) of the coming apocalypses.
Take your pick, end of oil; mass species extermination;
global warming; chemical pollution or nuclear holocaust. Of
course, the domination of a fascist state rises high on the
level of concern because they will never address the
concerns listed above.
I have suffered frustration with my so called liberal
friends of late. They too believe in Santa and the tooth
fairy. The 9-11 crime and my perspective about it has pushed
me out of their circle of respectable discourse. I have
become their strawman "conspiracy theorist" and (in their
minds) easily knocked asunder. Before 9-11, I could hold my
own on anti-capitalist issues, on neoliberal economics and
the tragedy of IMF policies on the third world, on the third
worldization of the US and so forth, but since then, any
time I try to tie it all together I get booed out of the
hall. I noticed the polite booing you got from Tom Atlee
and that is the same that I receive.
Anyway, thanks for continuing despite the boos. I for one,
am in accord with your analysis. I hope your personal
financial troubles are behind you and you will be able to
start writing again.
Thanks,
Frank Van den Bosch
================
Dear Frank,
Many thanks for your comments.
If I was downcast in that posting, it was not because of the
regime but because of the lack of appropriate focus in our
response to that regime. The regime will not change; it is
we who need to change our vision, our understanding, and our
strategy.
I don't think it makes sense to talk about a survival
strategy in the face of apocalypse. There is no survival
strategy. If we permit the current regime to continue,
there will be accelerated widespread suffering and there is
little we can do to change how that will unfold. Overcoming
the regime is not just one item on our fix-it list, it is
the only thing that can allow us to make changes of any
kind.
Thank you for sharing about your frustration with liberal
friends. Liberals are the majority, and it is for them that
the media propaganda is designed. That's why right-wingers
talk about a 'liberal media conspiracy'. They think that's
because liberals control the media; they don't see that it's
the media that controls the liberals.
Finances are no better, but I don't really have an excuse
for not writing. 'Worry interferes with motivation' is the
best I can muster.
yours,
rkm
============================================================================
Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2002 22:43:54 +0100
To: •••@••.•••
From: T
Subject: Re: Do you still believe in the tooth fairy?
rkm wrote:
> The reality of the WTC attack is that it was a replay of
the Reichstag fire - a self-inflicted outrage designed to
usher in a fascist regime. If you're reading from another
map, you'll never get anywhere. Not that the true map makes
the job easy, not at all. Overcoming global fascism will be
a monumental task. But until we recognize what the task is,
we cannot begin it.
Richard,
I've given this a great deal of thought since September,
and I've come to the same conclusion. What in the name
of Yggdrasil are we supposed to do to stop a superpower
with weapons of mass destruction and deception galore,
that has quite openly gone fascist?
The war is waged by each ruling group against its own
subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or
prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of
society intact.
1984 / George Orwell
==========
Dear T,
Whether or not it can be stopped is yet to be seen. But one
thing is for sure, it cannot be stopped by any external
force. The Allies stopped Hitler, and in this case there is
no comparable external savior to turn to. Babylon must be
transformed from within. The anti-globalization movement
was the primitive beginning of an appropriate organizing
paradigm, and that seems to have been seriously sidetracked
first by Genoa, and then more conclusively by the WTC
incident.
Indeed, the War on Terrorism is really a war against all who
oppose neoliberal capitalist hegemony. Any nation which
does not fall into line is called a 'rogue state' or
'terrorist-sponsoring state' and is subject to bombing or
destabilization. Any group which struggles against one of
the client dictators is labelled 'terrorist', and is subject
to bombing and suppression. Those in the West who would
oppose globalization and neoliberal capitalism will become
the targets of the new police-state legislation. It is for
them that the laws were created; they have little relevance
to fighting real terrorism.
Transforming Babylon from within will be formidable. We
must note that there was very little likelihood of Hitler
ever being overthrown from within. The Nazi regime might
have changed character after Hitler's eventual death, but in
our case the regime is more institutional, not dependent on
any one personality.
yours,
rkm
============================================================================
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 10:22:19 -0800
From: •••@••.•••
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: Re: Do you still believe in the tooth fairy?
---<snip from original posting>---
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. A lot of
uncorroborated "news" is broadcast during catastrophes. The
mideast is blamed for Oklahoma City, TWA 800 was shot down.
Skepticism is required to fight propaganda no matter what
the source.
While I agree that the Reichstag aftermath is similar to the
the Bush/Ashcroft powergrab and attack on civil liberties it
does not logically follow that both were staged.
"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately
explained by stupidity."
=========
Dear Len,
You express well the standard liberal faith that all
conspiracy theories should be ignored. Speaking logically
however, that which is due to malice should be attributed to
malice, and that which is due to stupidity should be
attributed to stupidity. Certainly the aftermath does not
logically imply the cause, and no one has suggested that.
But the aftermath does establish a motive, and the episode
does match the centuries-long modus operandi of the accused.
After that one looks for opportunity and for direct
evidence.
The opportunity is clear. Despite what they say publicly,
the CIA has informers in nearly every terrorist organization
in the world; indeed the CIA has has been involved in
funding and guiding most of them. In the case of Bin
Laden and Al-Qeada, we have ample reliable evidence that
the CIA on more than one occasion stifled FBI
investigations. Why do you suppose they did that? Do you
rule out the possibility that they were protecting the
operation so that it could proceed unmolested? If so, on
what basis other than faith that they "wouldn't do such a
thing"? If you read that Saddam or Khadafi knew of a
terrorist plot and did nothing about it, you would
immediately attribute it to malice; why do you treat our
leaders differently? Certainly not on the basis of their
record. No nation on Earth has ever fomented as much
terrorism and warfare as the USA. No agency in history has
sponsored as many covert operations as has the CIA.
For direct evidence, there is the whole scenario of the four
planes and the lack of normal air-defense response. How can
you dismiss that so readily? Further down in this posting
I've included a list of URLs where you can review some of
the evidence which has been offered on these various points.
Some of it seems questionable, and some of it seems highly
reliable. Picking the wheat from the chaff calls for reason,
not faith.
regards,
rkm
============================================================================
To: •••@••.•••
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 19:02:43 -0500
Subject: Great Article
From: Virginia M Brooks <•••@••.•••>
Richard:
I just read your article about the terrorist theory, and
they are my sentiments exactly, have been saying it is all a
fixed deal from the very start, and that Bush knew about it,
they were just too quick to say who did it, and all the
details just did not match up. What I really wanted to ask
you is: What do you think we can do about the absolute mess
we find ourselves in here in the U.S???? I am working on 2
national committees setting up ways to deal with state and
local level gov., schools, elect candidates, etc. for the
Reform Party, and please don't brush me off as a kook,
because we are everyone patriots that love our country, and
we work endlessly trying to make a difference to what is
happening in our country, and we do know what is going on
and for what reason it is happening! Last year I worked on
4 committees before our national convention, and it just
about did me in, just hours of work, and there just has to
be more people interested in our Country and what happens to
her, that would be willing to help.
I would be interested in hearing your comments, and also to
ask if you mind if I send your article on to all of my lists
for them to read?
Yours in Liberty, Justice, Freedom, & Reform
Virginia Brooks, Vice Chair, Reform Party of Ohio
============
Dear Virginia,
You are certainly welcome to forward anything from the list
or the website, on a non-profit basis, to whomever you like.
That's what it's there for. You might also invite your
correspondents to join our lists.
Organizing for the long term is essential, and I
congratulate you for that. Protests and demonstrations are
valuable, in that they build solidarity and encourage those
who feel isolated in their opposition. But protests are
pointless on their own, in this era of non-responsive elite
rule.
Third parties are useful, but primarily because they build a
constituency for systematic change. In fact, reform of the
current system is not possible. You cannot ask capitalism
to be nice, because capitalism must pursue its own dynamics.
Capitalism must always have more growth in order to
survive, and the relentless pursuit of growth is the root
cause of all of our problems.
Growth, by the way, is only secondarily about expanding the
economy as a whole. What capitalist growth is really about
is the increase of elite wealth, not wealth in general.
Before 1973 or thereabouts, there was enough growth that a
reasonable amount could be shared with the middle classes -
the whole pie was growing. Since that time the growth of
the pie has slowed down, but the elite share has not slowed
down. Corporate profits are at an all time high. That
piece of the pie keeps growing by stealing from other
pieces.
But even with a sufficiently radical agenda, a third party
cannot ultimately be a solution. Why? Because competitive
party politics is designed to absorb and neutralize popular
energy. Look at the fate of the Green Party worldwide. It
has achieved representation in European governments, and in
the EU. But it is making no real difference and it never
will. What is needed is a broad-based popular movement
aimed at transforming the world, without a focus on
electoral politics. If such a movement grows strong,
election victories will eventually follow without even
trying. But a focus on elections is a seduction into horse
trading and co-option.
imho,
rkm
============================================================================
From: SteveH <•••@••.•••>
To: "'•••@••.•••'" <•••@••.•••>
Subject: RE: Do you still believe in the tooth fairy?
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:11:33 -0800
Well written, Richard;
How would you define the task of "lifting the veils"?
---<snip>---
All of this information [about Vietnam] is now clearly in
the public domain but vast numbers of US Citizens suck up
sitcom pabulum; deny their own vacuous reality, while
living vicariously through constructed "reality TV"; and
desire to maintain their status quo, where many of them
share the illusion that they're the "status".
Who are they? They are the middle class. In this country the
middle class is the dominant class by virtue of their
numerical existence. As meant here, middle class isn't used
to define an income bracket. Instead, the term "middle
class" connotes average, "middle of the road", normal,
essentially - the majority.
---<snip>---
Now, if progressives think about the dynamics involved and
the subsequent attitude adjustments that will have to take
place among those in the middle class in order for them to
begin questioning what is really going on, then those
progressives will realize how enormous this struggle is.
---<snip>---
The real question is how to get the majority, i.e., the
middle class, who support aggressive action against
terrorists to see that terrorism doesn't occur in a vacuum
and that it is a desperate response employed by desperate
people?
Regards,
Steve Hamm
==========
Dear Steve,
Understanding the motivation for terrorism, I think, would
not deter people from wanting to defend themselves against
it. In our current case, I think it is more relevant to
understand that the 'terrorism' we experienced was actually
an inside job. Also more relevant is the fact that the War
on Terrorism is not aimed at ending terrorism, but at
controlling territory, oil, and our domestic populations.
Nonetheless, your point about needing to 'lift the veils'
for the middle classes is right on target. And the veils we
need to lift are not just about terrorism, but about the
nature of capitalism and elite rule in general. We need not
an electoral majority, but a majority mass movement.
cheers,
rkm
============================================================================
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 15:19:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Jessica Markland <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: Do you still believe in the tooth fairy?
To: •••@••.•••
Dear Richard:
I'm certainly glad you are still coming down ~my~ chimney.
Your Tooth Fairy piece is a great call to arms, but leaves
me still wondering what is the best way to go about it. At
the moment I am an active member of the Council of
Canadians, the Green Party, also another group that is
trying to halt the construction of a destructive and
unnecessary superhighway. As well as this, I work with some
people who attend local government meetings and often oppose
development of environmentally sensitive areas. We also do
our best to influence upcoming legislation, Official Plans
etc. We know that just being there can sometimes curb the
wilder excesses that developers would otherwise be allowed
to build.
I also have an e-mailing list of about 30 names to whom I
send mostly environmental information that I find around the
Web, and I also send information and/or questions and
suggestions to MPs, Cabinet Ministers etc. with requests for
explanations or actions.
But on the whole, I mostly feel I am spinning my wheels and
talking mostly to those already converted.
I adopted ISPO (http://www.simpol.org) which
I feel has a lot of potential but at present not much
momentum, and still keep in touch somewhat with the ISPO
discussion lists.
But what should I focus on that will produce measurable
change?
I would like to post your Tooth Fairy, with your response to
this, on the ISPO lists.
Keep doing what you are doing. Best wishes, Jessica Markland
===========
Dear Jessica,
In response to you, I could say much the same thing I said
above to Virginia. Reform and resistance efforts are
essential, but they will not amount to much until they turn
into a mass movement with a very radical and informed
agenda. Reforming or resisting capitalism is like trying to
hold back a river. You can have very temporary successes,
but the river ultimately breaks through and overcomes your
efforts. This is very clear from the long history of reform
in the West. The river must be moved to a different
channel, not opposed where it currently flows. You know
this in your heart, as revealed by your comment about
'spinning wheels'.
ISPO is interesting because it focuses on the global nature
of the transformation that is required. Babylon and its
dominions must be transformed all at once. But ISPO focuses
too much on governments and not enough on popular movements.
An ISPO-style initiative would make sense in the endgame of
transformation, but not in the early stages.
Please understand that I am not trying to discourage you and
others who are out there doing real things to influence the
system. All of those efforts are desperately needed. But
all the efforts must coalesce into something qualitatively
different before we can overcome elite rule. We need a
radical vision of a livable world, and we must realize that
it will NEVER be given to us by the current regime. We must
achieve it in spite of that regime.
best regards,
rkm
============================================================================
[Note: I'm including this message from Brit because it talks
about models of resistance that make sense in our current
situation. We need to overcome a regime, not influence one.
-rkm]
From: "Brit Eckhart" <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re Correspondence
Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2002 08:55:20 -0500
---<snip>---
REGISTER NOW
for Study Seminar based on the acclaimed PBS-TV/video series
A FORCE MORE POWERFUL
Meets twice monthly, AFSC offices, 2161 Massachusetts Ave.,
Cambridge, MA. -- near Porter Square in Cambridge, (Porter
Sq. T stop) 6:30-8:30pm, Thursdays on a monthly basis
through June Alternating video presentation and reading
assignments from companion book
Registration, reading and discussion required
For further information, or to register, contact:
Brit Eckhart, 617-722-2637x2 or by E-mail: •••@••.•••
Sponsored by the
Boston-Cambridge Alliance for Democracy and the
American Friends Service Committee
Peace & Economic Security Program
---<snip>---
India: Defying the Crown
In 1930, Indian nationalists were impatient with British
foot-dragging on promises to move India toward self-rule,
and appointed Mohandas Gandhi to lead "the final struggle
for freedom." Relying on the non-violent methods he
developed in South Africa, Gandhi led a 240mile march to the
sea coast, where he picked up a handful of sea salt and
invited his countrymen to do the same-in open violation of
the British monopoly on salt production. Millions followed
his example. His campaign of civil disobedience-intentional
lawbreaking and imprisonment-swept the country, forcing the
British Viceroy to admit that his regime was losing control.
Gandhi's actions shattered Indian consent to foreign rule
and set his country on the road to independence, which came
in 1947. To future generations,Gandhi gave the weapon of
non-violent resistance, which is being continuously refined
and developed.
South Africa: "Freedom in Our Lifetime"
A black "uprising" against the injustice of apartheid-South
Africa's system of racial discrimination-began in 1984. Many
young black knew they could not win by violent force.
Instead they organized at the grass-roots taking control of
their own townships and making their grievances known to the
white population. In the southern city of Port Elizabeth,
27year old Mkhuseli Jack led a boycott of white-owned
businesses in June, 1985. By withholding their buying power,
the black population drove a wedge between the white
business community and the apartheid regime. A second
boycott began in 1986, when the regime failed to act on
boy-cotters' political demands. A nation-wide state of
emergency was imposed, and continued for three years: and
admission that repression was the main business of the
state-and that apartheid was dying In 1989, a new president,
F. W. DeKlerk, released Nelson Mandela and negotiated a new
constitution, which guaranteed equal rights for all South
Africans. In 1994, Mandela became president in South Africa's
first democratic elections. (34 minutes, color)
Denmark: Living with the Enemy
When Adolf Hitler's forces invaded Denmark on April 9, 1940,
the Danish government knew that a military re-sponse would
by suicidal for Denmark's small armed forces. Besides, the
Germans said they had come as friends, not conquerors-Danish
laws and government would remain, as long as Denmark met
German demands for food and war materiel. Danish leaders
decided to accept Germany's promises at face value-and
adopted a strategy of resistance disguised as
collaboration. By delaying and obstructing German
operations, Danes systematically undermined the invaders'
objectives. In the meantime, an underground resistance
developed which carried out sabotage, organizing strikes
and rescuing all but a few hundred of Denmark's seven
thousand Jews. In the end, Denmark did not defeat Germany,
but it survived-with its people, infrastructure, and
institutions intact and it contributed more to the war
effort through nonviolent resistance than Danish arms ever
could have. (31 mn, color)
Poland: "We've Caught God by the Arm"
In August, 1980, workers at the Gdansk shipyard went on
strike. Their main demand, free trade unions, was
unprecedented in a country where communist party supremacy
did not allow the existence of any independent
organizations. Lech Walesa, a wily 37yearold electrician,
was the chief negotiator for the workers, who avoided the
mistakes of earlier strikes by maintaining strict nonviolent
discipline-and by occupying their shipyard, to deter a
violent crackdown by authorities. The strike quickly spread
to factories and workers throughout the country, magnifying
their leverage. Their persistence paid off as government
granted most of their demands. A new union was born, named
"Solidarity." A year and a half later, the government
imposed martial law and banned the union. It continued its
work underground until 1989, when the communist government
asked Lech Walesa's help to settle a new wave of strikes and
unrest. Solidarity reemerged as a revitalized political
force, and won decisively in Poland's first free
parliamentary elections in 60 years, taking power as the
ruling party. (31 minutes, color)
Chile: Defeat of a Dictator
General Augusto Pinochet seized power in a 1973 military
coup. He banned political parties, closed newspapers, and
spread fear throughout the country; political
assassinations, disappearances, torture, and imprisonment
became common. In 1983, an economic crisis pushed many
Chileans to dare oppose the dictatorship for the first time.
Copper miners called for a nonviolent national protest day
against Pinochet, unleashing pent-up opposition in a wave of
monthly protests. Mainstream opposition parties re-emerged
after ten years underground, and supported by the Church,
staged frequent nonviolent demonstrations. By 1987, the
democratic opposition realized that the constitution
Pinochet wrote in 1980 called for a plebiscite-a chance for
people to vote yes or no on another eight years of military
rule. Isolated and overconfident, Pinochet had always
assumed he would win if people were given a choice. But
after years of organizing, the opposition was prepared, and
ran a bold, future oriented "NO" campaign. On October 5,
1988, Pinochet was voted out. (34 minutes, color)
---<snip>---
www.aforcemorepowerful.org To order the companion book, A FORCE MORE
POWERFUL, call Roxanne Hunte at St. Martin's Press 800-221-7945, ext.270 To
obtain the study guide for this series, call toll-free 877-444-9382
============================================================================
[Note: I've extracted this from a previous rn posting,
because it gives lots of URLs which provide information
about the current crisis, CIA foreknowledge, etc.
Another useful URL is: http://www.infowars.com/resources.html
- rkm]
Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2002 07:48:19 -0800
To: •••@••.•••
From: Carol Brouillet <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: Do you still believe in the tooth fairy?
---<snip>---
The aftermath of 9/11 fits too clearly the agenda of
transnational corporations (whose ruthless pursuit of profit
includes terrorizing populations, waging war, pillaging the
Earth's resources, oblivious to the suffering and damage to
humanity and the biosphere upon which all Life depends.) A
major power shift has occurred, democracy is threatened,
civil and human rights everywhere are threatened; the power
of police, militaries and corporations are being
strengthened. China has joined the WTO; deals for pipelines
to funnel the Caspian Sea oil to the growing markets of Asia
are being struck. An informed US public was, and still is,
the greatest threat to blatant corporate rule via the WTO,
IMF, World Bank, UN, NATO dominated by the US and backed by
US military power.
Our challenge is to penetrate the veils, expose the truth,
separate the propaganda from reality, cast light upon the
darkness.
Here are some of the questions that need to be asked (and
answered) with links to key articles and websites-
Who is Osama Bin Laden?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO110A.html
Who created and funded the Al Qaeda Network?
http://www.communitycurrency.org/vital.html
What is the relationship between Bin Laden, his family and
the Bush family?
http://www.copvcia.com/stories/sept_2001/bushbin.html
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/LAZ112A.html
Why were no fighter planes dispatched to intercept the four
hijacked planes on September 11th?
http://www.nypress.com/14/50/taki/bunker.cfm
http://emperors-clothes.com/indict/indict-1.htm
http://emperors-clothes.com/indict/indict-2.htm
What role did Pakistani Intelligence play on September 11th?
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO111A.html#c
Did the CIA have foreknowledge of the attack, who tried to
profit with put options on American, United, Merrill
Lynch... stock just before the attack??
http://www.copvcia.com/stories/oct_2001/krongard.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=99402
Why were the FBI told to not investigate the Bin Laden
family links in the US?
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/BBC111A.html
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/HIN111A.html
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MAR111A.html
If the CIA met with Bin Laden last July, why didn't they try
to arrest him?
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/RIC111B.html
If the US is serious about ridding the world of terrorism,
why do we continue to fund and train terrorists?
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/PAS111A.html
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MAR111A.html
IF CIA AND THE GOVERNMENT WERENíT INVOLVED IN THE SEPTEMBER
11 ATTACKS, WHAT WERE THEY DOING?
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/RUP112A.html
Why are we bombing Afghanistan, when none of the alleged
bombers actually came from there, could there be another
reason for our presence in that region?
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/RUP111B.html
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/PIL111B.html
Is this war illegal? When will the FBI, the CIA and the
National Security Agency start to turn their new powers
(that they have under the Ashcroft police state bill)
against American citizens?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BOY111C.html
What are Bush, Cheney and Rice's connections to the oil
industry? http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CAV111A.html
Has the US government ever thought to mislead the public to
justify a war against another country?
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/jointchiefs_010501.html
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430/
Who was responsible for the Anthrax attacks, and why were
Democrats and the media the targets?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO111D.html
http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,582222,00.html
Why seal Presidential records? Why intimidate professors
from speaking out against this war?
http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/11/30/3.html
http://globalresearch.ca/articles//GON112A.html
http://globalresearch.ca/articles//MCM112A.html
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/VIN111A.html
Please e-mail or phone me to help with this, we need more delegates and
supporters.
Carol Brouillet tel- 650-857-0927, fax 650-857-0419,
email- •••@••.•••,
website- http://www.communitycurrency.org
---<snip>---
--
============================================================================
Richard K Moore
Wexford, Ireland
Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance
email: •••@••.•••
website & list archives: http://cyberjournal.org
content-searchable archive: http://members.xoom.com/centrexnews/
"A Guidebook: How the world works and how we can change it"
http://cyberjournal.org/cj/guide/
A community will evolve only when
the people control their means of communication.
-- Frantz Fanon
Capitalism is the relentless accumulation of capital for the
acquisition of profit. Capitalism is a carnivore. It
cannot be made over into a herbivore without gutting it,
i.e., abolishing it.
- Warren Wagar, Professor of History, State University
of New York at Binghamton
Permission for non-commercial republishing hereby granted - BUT
include and observe all restrictions, copyrights, credits,
and notices - including this one.
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