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TAKE oVER! (\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/) the UP! //:-) la - la - la - lap-toppling da system! (\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/)(\o/) ALTERNATIVE FUTURE (RE)BUILDING PARADISE p. 5 UNHOLY WAR! SPEAK OUT! p 16. U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U UP P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P The UPGRADEmag (or just the "UP") is a global edutainment round-up, ‘broadcast’ weekly to =[10,429]= Alternative// Activist// Zippy// Trance// New Age folks who’ve been recommended to the Parallel YOUniversity//Megatripolis Dance Dept as "showing signs of life". Since many recipients choose to forward it to their own lists, we estimate 28,000+ recipients. Further, because of its less 'specialist' content, it's increasingly being posted on a variety of sites worldwide, making a total weekly ‘readership’ of 275,000+ U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U UP P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P to subscribe, write “I wanna get UP!” to people@parallel-youniversity.com
PERPETUAL WAR?
1.YEAR ONE, END OF 6TH MONTH lissen i’m as sick of this war shit as u! - but i’m not making it up! honest! ________________________ IT’S TIME TO PAUSE AND SEE WHERE WE’VE BEEN GOING AND TRY TO ANSWER 2 QUESTIONS: 1. WHAT’S BEEN THE GAIN OF THE ‘WAR’ APPROACH? 2. OF HIGHLIGHTING, CONNECTING AND ACCELERATING THE ALTERNATIVE FUTURE WITHIN WESTERN WAR CULTURE?! that truly terrible pause after the Twin Terrors was six months ago, on the opposite side of our planet’s revolution of the sun. what were we thinking then? to remind ourselves, i’ve extracted a typical statement from an article in september 25’s UP called ‘COME ON OVER, TERRORISTS! FRASER TAKES ON THE REDNECK CHAMP!!’ >>If their cause is just and honorable, why do they have to resort to cowardly attacks on innocent people who have never opposed their way of life or harmed them in any way? >your government has been looting the planet for the last 30 years to maintain your lifestyle, bob. the poor countries of the world send i think it's $35 million EVERY DAY to the banks in your (and my) country. and if, EVEN AFTER THIS TERRIBLE WAKE-UP CALL, you still refuse to look for a REASON, and u support your government in its planned attack that will kill hundreds (thousands?) of innocent people for some "religious belief ' (i.e. that america rules the world and americans are worth more than anybody else except maybe the brits or something) then YOU, as an american citizen, will be GUILTY. period. unless you've spent a large part of every day of the rest of your life OPPOSING your governing elite's policies. well, we all know wha’appen. thousands of innocents were killed, 6,666 as it happens, near enuff HALF wot were killed in the twin terrors. wonder why i underestimated like that! (who said “not like you, frase!”?) american propaganda about them “wunnerful new smart bomms’ i imagine. anyway, if you remember, the argument during that terrible echoing lull was between “PUNISH! XTERMINATE! BOMM! THE WORLD JUST CHANGED!” and “THE WORLD’S BEEN LIKE THIS A LONG TIME, BRO, THAT’S WHAT CAUSED IT, AND MORE PUNISHMENT ON ITS OWN WILL CREATE MORE TERRORISM.” the UP’s very first headline on the evening of the twin terrors was “GETTING TUFF ON TERRORISM AND TUFF ON THE CAUSES OF TERRORISM” so which side has proved right? unfortunately we didn’t get to try OUR way so we can only watch the result of the other. has it nipped terrorism in the bud? calmed the fear and distrust? do you feel the world’s a safer place now than before the bomming? not in the short term while they “re-organise” but for the Future? well, “night letters” being reportedly handed out in afghanistan promise $20,000 for ANY dead American, peace worker, journalist or anything. david pearl had his throat cut live/dead on video and it sells like hot cakes across arabia. sharon, ‘brain-fevered” by the ‘war’ approach, is going nuts. pakistan’s looking shaky. iraq is just a moment awa-a-ay. but here’s the infinite logic loop we find our leaders stuck in: they DON’T see that things are going from bad to worse because how can you see that all your PUNISHMENT has only DEEPENED an already existing fear’nloathing situation if you didn’t see or admit that situation in the first place? so what happens now that your early easy victories keep meeting stronger resistance than you reckoned on? you up the ante! you PUNISH harder! (after, of course, ensuring that the afghan turkey shoot becomes “the least reported war in history”) call it sharon rage, or bush tantrum, everything confirms a paranoid in his paranoia. we who represent WESTERN WAR CULTURE‘s ALTERNATIVE FUTURE must work at changing the other people who grant these sociopaths their legitimacy (as hitler, mussolini etc). and this is inevitably starting to happen, though difficult to measure as it’s questions that are starting to form at the back of peoples’ minds rather than answers (as yet :) 2. LOSS OF THE ALTERNATIVE FUTURE? all we are is an ”alternative future” within the WESTERN WAR CULTURE. a seed, a megatripolis culture capable of growing within an Imperialist Terrorist Globalopolis, and theoretically capable of becoming dominant. and it’s happening. it’s been growing since rave culture sparked itself up to subscribe to the last decade’s Millennial Fever Party. but this new perpetual war (spot the subconc contradiction?), like the Vietnam War (each the sudden ‘surfacing’ of an already on-going brutal struggle) is the exact equivalent of that previous Alternative Future wave, the hippy movement. war, as i’ve said many times, is the factor that can coalesce the different sub-cultural strands into a single Movement. but when i say that our culture must come to dominate the present dinosaur culture, it cannot be by force of arms but by force of argument and lifestyle. it achieves dominance by persuading and inspiring more and more of the population, the leaders last, that the war way will never work, can’t work, and never actually worked in the past except by reptilian savagery abroad while fooling the home audience that we’re whiter than white. can’t possibly persuade them that the rest of the world sees us as the good guys now, can we?! so what is the situation in terms of how the western masses support the present war way? the fact is that, during the vietnam war when i first became a Hippy, a majority of all european and ‘western’ populations bought their governments’ line that we the good guys were reluctantly killing thousands for the best possible reasons. but today? today i doubt that there’s a majority in any country outside america for an attack on iraq or for a continuation of the present perrpetual war way. THAT’S A GIGANTIC CHANGE! it means that the dinosaur faction have placed themselves far out on the very end of the longest possible (evolutionary?) branch, their support now reduced to 75% of an american public whose information flow they still control (with ideas eating it away unseen and unseeable). and, to be perfectly honest, i seriously doubt the accuracy and purity of even opinion polls these days! would you put anything past these people?! SO WE ARE THE ALTERNATIVE FUTURE, THE WAR CULTURE’S AND THE WHOLE PLANET’S ONLY HOPE. LET’S START BEING MORE PRO-FUTURE, INSTEAD OF ANTI-PAST :) UP - In many traditions and cultures, stars are thought to be the souls of either unborn souls, or those who have passed away "The next revolution - World War 3 - will be waged inside your head. It will be, as Marshal McLuhan predicted, a guerrilla information war fought not in the sky or on the streets, not in the forests or around international fishing boundaries on the high seas, but in newspapers and magazines, on the radio, on TV and in cyberspace. It will be a dirty, no-holds-barred propaganda war of competing worldviews and alternative visions of the future." - Nicola Newshound. .UP - In some cultures a shooting star foretells a birth, and is said to be the soul racing to animate the newborn baby.
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APRIL 19-21
It’s about people who make a difference in their world. It’s about everyday revolutionary - no deed too small, no activity too dull. CHANGEMAKERS does not judge the morality or legal issues. CHANGEMAKERS gives people the opportunity to explain their stand without prejudice. If YOU are making a difference or challenging the status quo in UK, Europe, rest of world then this is for you (or anyone you know). Please contact gala on 07958 694122 or gala@ideallondon.com A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A ADVERTISINGG G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G The UK's biggest unicycle event, with loads of events including racing, hockey, workshops and loads of unicycle games. Get on yer bike to: Harry Cheshire School, Kidderminster. Contact Steve, Mark or Alan at: http://www.unicycle.org.uk/buc9/ UP - In some places the shooting star foretells a death, or a soul released from purgatory. (Re)Building Paradise Lawrence Hagerty, April 4, 2002 I sensed his presence for over a week. It wasn’t as if he was actually stalking me, it was more like he just wanted to be nearby in case I needed to talk. Although it had been a while since we’d last spoken, I wasn’t surprised that he followed me on my first journey to the deep woods of British Columbia. After a week, however, I gave up on him making an appearance. On our way home we stopped by Butchart Gardens. Perhaps you have been there yourself. If so, you already know of their mystical quality and the fascinating story of how they came to be. Early in the 20th century a businessman began mining operations in a limestone quarry just outside the town of Victoria. Eventually there was not enough limestone left to make operations economically feasible. So this wealthy industrialist closed the mine and laid off all his workers. His wife Jenny, however, could not bear to see her husband simply cast aside those souls who had once helped them build their wealth and she hired them back to build a garden. Thus began the long process of bringing in topsoil and plants. Today, that former quarry is the sunken garden section of what has grown into one of the world’s largest and most beautiful flower gardens. As I was standing on a ridge looking down on the huge sunken garden, he finally began to speak to me. “So, what d’ya think kid?” was the first thing he said. Only now, as I write this, do I realize how often my father said those words to me . . . and how important they have been in my life. It has been over 25 years since he died, but I still vividly recall the expectant tone of voice he always used when asking me what I thought. What did I think? The answer to that question could not be put into words. The stunning array of color, rolling across the beds of flowers, reminded me of waves breaking at the sea shore, ever-changing and each one perfect. I stood there taking in that pulsating, living, breathing, breathtaking splendor and was unable to say anything more than, “It is so beautiful.” “That’s pretty obvious,” I sensed my father answering, “but what I was talking about is the story of how this old limestone quarry was transformed into a corner of paradise.” Then he told me the story of the men who labored in this quarry a hundred years ago. And what struck him most forcibly was how much they were like so many people today. Although the quarrymen had their moments of joy, most of their waking thoughts were focused on survival. Granted, living conditions back then made survival more of a life and death matter, but the stress of living with a sense of controlled panic was not so different from that felt by people living today’s more affluent lifestyles. The only difference between then and now is that our lives of quiet desperation today are being lived more comfortably. As I listened to my father’s thoughts, I realized that things haven’t actually changed all that much in the century just passed. The quarrymen, and the women who held them together in body and spirit, were in the same spot that many people are in today. For example loggers, who earn their living by cutting down trees, have families that need to be fed, children to be educated, and doctor’s bills to pay. Just as the earlier quarrymen hadn’t set out in life to carve gigantic holes in the Earth, today’s logger doesn’t see his or her mission as that of stripping the mountains of their protective trees. Their primary goal is simple, to take care of their families. Most, I suspect, would much rather spend the day hiking with friends in the forest than cutting down 200 year old trees. Their primary mission, caring for their families, is pure. It’s the system they’re caught up in that’s out of balance. My mind tried to reconcile the human struggle for a livelihood with the stunning natural beauty before me, and I noticed my thoughts begin to center on the undeniable potential we humans have to actually create paradise on Earth. I began to see how seemingly small steps can be taken that will eventually return this planet into the paradise before our species began to create so many problems for itself. If, as many of us believe, it’s possible to return this planet to its former paradise, why haven’t we simply gone about doing it? Suddenly, the answer seemed so clear and simple: We transform our world by first transforming our own consciousness. A century ago some hard-working quarrymen had the good fortune to be working for a man who was graced with an enlightened wife, under whose re-employment and guidance these men performed a labor of love, and plant by plant they returned life to the land. Today, the loving spirit of all their labors can be clearly felt. It is possible, I realized, gazing upon this undeniable evidence, it truly is possible to reverse the damage we have inflicted on the land, on each other, and on ourselves. “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” my father’s voice startled me. Sitting at our kitchen table later, putting these thoughts on paper, the roar of a neighbor’s leaf-blower comes in through an open window. The noise irritates me at first, then I remember the tranquility of Butchart Gardens, and think back to the days when there were no gardens there, only a noisy quarry. Out of nowhere, I hear his voice once again, “So, what d’ya think kid?” I’m thinking it‘s time to start turning this quarry into a Garden. [larry abridged his original essay especially for the UP. for the full text: www.matrixmasters.com/hagerty/essays/paradise.html UP -In some Native American traditions the Milky Way was a soul-road which souls traversed on their journey after death; the brightest stars were campfires where they rested. melbourne FRI APRIL 12 SUN 14 3 day dance music and lifestyle festival With only 2 days to go, preparations are going well. Construction of the city is near completion. Two extra areas have also been added. The Ohms not Bombs activist village and the Smile Police / Weird Music Society cocktail breaks lounge. 250 kmsfrom Melbourne and approximately 24 acres in size, Eldorado is private property situated in the middle of a state park and totally surrounded by forest and a stream. The festival itself is divided into two areas, the market/workshop precinct and the monster main floor. There will be plenty of shaded areas on site and mindless activities to keep you occupied throughout the duration of the event. Camping. Tickets $66, available everywhere. UP -It is unlucky to point at a star, or to try to count them. However, making a wish on the first star of evening will ensure its fulfillment. Dear Fraser. I know about politics and getting involved and in fact I'm sickened with my government and the current administation in power. Makes me wonder if we would be at war at all if we didn't have Bush in there. Believe me , I have called both my senators this week as well as my congressman and voiced my opinion about the Israeli ocupation . I just need a little oasis from it all . and as an old hippie who still likes to dance my ass off , I need a diverision from it all once in a while and I found that in your articles. I will come back for sure and if there is more I can do to help the cause I will. I believe ignorance is the cause of it all, and we all need to be informed. I am NOT one of the flag wavers or part of the 80% that back Bush. Some of my best friends are in the U.K. and it will always be my favorite place to come party . I WILL keep in touch. Thanks Fraser. Peace to you , jay / jerryonjay UP -A wish on a star is absolutely sure to be fulfilled if the wisher repeats the old rhyme: 'Star light, star bright / First star I see tonight / Wish I may, wish I might / Have the wish I wish tonight'. hey Fraser, how's things? I followed a link to your page from Q-Burns site and let me tell you!!! Beautiful... absolutely. Your words need to be seen and heard. THAT IS NEWS!!!! I included a story from your site in my : Daily Dose : which is a daily inspirational, informative e-mail that I send out. Here is the beginning of the e-mail fyi.... After perusing http://www.qburns.com and then following the links to the information & obsessions category, I came across this website: http://www.parallel-youniversity.com/ and this article blew me away. Now this is realization actualized, however we need to show our support for these movements. AND for good fun, check out the sites mentioned above. ;) Have a wonderful day!!! Much love to each and everyone!!!! A global call to action by U.S. Rep Dennis Kucinich Keep on keepin' on and thanks again for the site!! Have a great day. John M. Stuart UP - [written by fraser just before the last iraq attack] NEW WORLD CHAOS OR blessed are the peacemakers - if the warriors don't fuck things up first, the children of the evolution shall inherit the earth! Cold War's finally over! Old Warriors being put out to clover. a new generation - whisper its name - has arrived. the future's living among us (tho it may not survive!) as children, women and gentle strong men hold their breath a final Age of Peace dawns - but only if we realise its worth. for only if every Old Age hangup is resolved (have faith!) will the Child of the Evolution blossom after birth. softly but firmly does it, then, uncool steps means death. only with the Peacemakers shall we re-inherit the earth. our adventure’s to unravel each planetary knot without War. time's too short, guns too big, planet's too small. Ireland, Israel, Iraq... we must, together, sort them all. are you human enough to talk things through, and not fight? (although you could) are you New Man enough to be patient and brave, and not hide from the contradictions on your own side? (though sometimes you might, and even should) macho, have enough men died? are you fit to survive this transition to a new world where cooperation’s your only guide and peace the bravest thing you’ll have ever tried? why will nobody talk to Saddam? (Gaddafi, China, fill the blank) have our leaders invested every cent of karma from the bank to prevent troubled waters coming to the boil? and is our own slate so clean? never Saddam wants a UN Conference on all the problems of the Middle East, Palestinians, corrupt sheikhdoms, pollution, the arms race daily increased. surely he's right, it must all be discussed - at the very least?! they're both warriors, freedom fighter and terrorist beast. rules reducing them to ‘diplomats of final resort’ will increase as the conundra fail to cease: was the oil Kuwait's? are the Baltics part of Russia? is Love Hate's? are Ireland and America the UK's? is Iraq a suburb of the United States? and on and on... oh softly, go softly into that golden chaos of dawn UP -A wish made while a shooting star is seen in the sky will be granted if it is made very quickly. You've read this Nixon quote before, but the symmetrical originality of his words, in light of our current times, forces me to send it to you once again. Picture Nixon's ghost and Bob Haldeman watching CNN's coverage of the siege of Arafat. As the station cuts to a commercial, Nixon turns to Haldeman and says, "What the Christ is wrong with the Jews, Bob?" The full quote, which is funnier yet, may be found at http://www.matrixmasters.com/world/america/warondrugs/drugwar%20home.html#nixon04 Pax, Lorenzo / los angeles UP - Dear UPpers, Perhaps a slightly less anti-israeli slant might be more fair. I detest Ariel Sharon as much as the next person but I have a lot of family in Israel and they are spending their days dodging bullets. Now Sharon is the same guy who protested by sitting on a temple years ago, which many people may not remember, so as a man with no respect for other religions he should not be leading Israel. Jerusalem has strong links to Islam which should not be ignored. What Sharon forgets is that 800 years ago, when the city was taken by the Moslems, the Moslem leaders ordered that no Christian church be harmed. This came from a direct edict by Mohammed himself. At least they have some respect for other religions. In fact the gatekeeper to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is muslim and the job has been in his family for generations. HOWEVER. It takes two to tango and Arafat isn't doing much to dissuade the army of suicide bombers who foolishly give up their lives while all that needs to be done is just to TALK!! Rant over. Be more fair and balanced. Love Tracy x - uno, tracy, i get TONS of stuff agonising about what’s happening in Israel. but i publish VERY VERY LITTLE of it. yet whenever i do feel obliged to say SOMETHING about it (and i can hardly IGNORE it or do you think i could?), i always wonder if some israeli or whatever is going to complain. and you’ve just done it. the very firt time i ever touched on the subject i gotta letter telling me they wanted to put me on some list. no other issue i cover elicits such a (paranoid? touchy? defensive? aggressive?) response. u suggest i'm being 'unfair' and yet the truth is that i feel i've been RIDICULOUSLY 'unfair' to the palestinians. you should ask yourself why. i mean i criticise america MUCH MUCH more strongly than the israelis! certainly from everything you just said in your letter, you are in full agreement. where did this verboten tabu arise, then, that jews or whatever have some kinda special dispensation that nobody can criticise their actions except themselves? UP -An old French cure for pimples was to pass a cloth over them while a shooting star was falling. “If Ariel Sharon succeeds in murdering Yasser Arafat, as he wants to, the Palestinian leader will remain in the collective memory of his people, and the whole Arab world, like Moses in Jewish memory. ”Moses rebelled against Egyptian oppression, led his people forth from "the house of bondage", led them for 40 years in the desert, made a new people out of them and brought them to the threshold of the Promised Land. He did not enter the land itself - God only showed it to him from afar. That will be told about Arafat, too, if he becomes a martyr now.” Uri Avnery
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london*TriBaL FuSioN* Performance Artists Wanted (dancers, sax players, percussionists & festival performers) for International Entertainment Booking Company.. Visit http://www.tribal-fusion.biz/entertainment-jobs.html And fill out the contact form with your details.. --- Attention Promoters --- Professional DJs and Performance artists available for booking.. http://www.tribal-fusion.biz/ Entertainment Bookings Music Promotion Production A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A ADVERTISINGG G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G SAT MAY 4 One of 180 cities worldwide holding an event on the same day. Over 30,000 people have attended in previous years, to show their support for the relaxation of the law on Cannabis. The day begins with a carnival style march from Kennington Park (assemble 12pm) with floats, banners, costumes and samba beats leading to an all day free festival in Brockwell Park, Brixton, featuring music, the Hemp Expo, Medical Cannabis Marquee, Speakers Area, Hemp Food, and much more besides. Johnny Void, spokeperson for the Cannabis Coalition, had this to say: "In the four years we’ve been putting on this event, Cannabis has moved to the very top of the agenda in this country. This isn't just a protest, it’s a celebration of Cannabis and everything associated with it." Brockwell Park, Brixton.. Contact: Johnny Void, Brixton Cannabis Festival, 020 7737 3044. ganjadaysounds@yahoo.co.uk http://www.cannabiscoalition.org U U U U U UP P P P P P BAR WORK @ CANNABIS FESTIVAL FOR THE PURPLE TURTLE Purple Turtle are looking for 30 staff, not to eat them because they’re not Purple People Eaters, but to operate a bar at this years Cannabis Festi in Brixton. If you know anybody who’d like a day's work for £75 cash in hand, contact ting@poleshift.net UP -If the stars look larger and brighter than usual, and very flicker, rain or a storm may be on the way. A TALE OF TWO BOLIVIAS
In the morning, in one of the most luxurious hotels in the Amazon city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, DEA boss “Little” Asa Hutchinson found himself amidst a mountain of bureaucrats from different countries for the 20th International Drug Control Conference. But by nightfall, in the Andean corner of La Paz, more than 5,000 peasants from all regions of the country proclaimed Evo Morales, the coca growers' leader, as their presidenntial candidate for June 30th. From one extreme to the other. Let's visit both locations, compare their words and worlds, and hopefully deduce what’s goiong on. 1.] Look over there - the man with chopped military almost white hair and the face of a good little boy who’s offering hugs and smiles and a few words in Spanish. His black suit glistens as he stands onstage thanking Bolivia for its hospitality, declaring that the Washington government continues to support President Jorge Quiroga in the fight against drug trafficking and the eradication of the sacred coca leaf. It's Little Asa Hutchinson, the chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), one of the most lethal instruments of gringo penetration in Latin America… 2,] The people, festive and carrying banners, shouted slogans (I heard "Evo Yes! Yankees No!" in four original languages of our América). They came from the South, the Center, from all the provinces, Quechuas, Aymaras, Garaníes and Chipayas, farmers and workers. This is about, as Evo affirmed some hours later, "the marginalised and the victims of dinosaur capitalism, principally imposed by the United States." 1.] The Assistant Secretary of Social Development, Oswaldo Antezana, the Bolivian bureaucrat in charge of eradicating the coca plant, was now talking of repressing the coca growers the point of massacring them, if necessary. Bolivia had complied with its eradication quotas, he said, and the task continued in the Chapare region. But it’s become more difficult - the farmers have found new methods of planting in small plots of three square feet, shadowed by large trees and far from the traditional cultivation zones. Hence, he concluded, seriously and decisively, the U.S. satellite images are already "not as trustworthy as before." Although his speech was, by any standard, a challenge to US authority, Little Asa Hutchinson hugged and congratulated him as he left the stage. Then Little Asa Hutchinson spoke, diplomatically avoiding referring to the delicate issues in Latin America, like the US awarded “report cards” (the celebrated "certification" of nations in the anti-drug plan). Instead he dedicated almost his entire speech to the subject of "ecstasy," that popular little pill from the First World that’s recently begun to appear on the Latino street. What has happened? It's simple: a few days ago the U.S. State Department released its reports on Combatting Narco-Trafficking (the famous "certifications") and on human rights around the world. Bolivia, it seems, is no longer the model student in its coca-erasing homework. As for Human Rights, President Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga’s role is well dodgy: 57 State assassinations against citizens in his first 180 days. Which, for the very conservative but juvenile President of Bolivia, was perceived as an affront. He absented himself from the 20th International Drug Control Conference for that reason, taking the wind out of poor Asa. THE HIDDEN NATION RETURNS 2.] Every Leftist movement in Bolivia is here. Peasant farmers, miners and manual workers, the intellectuals and the artists. Get this: even some officers from the nationalist wing of the Armed Forces are here. Leonida Zurita, the most important leader of the coca growers (and the most visible spokeswoman.) told the assembled that they were not here merely to nominate Evo Morales for presidential candidate, but to manifest their unfolding struggle in the formal terrain of politics. Peasant leaders from the different regions spoke, emotionally repeating that their consciences had led them here. The people waved their Whiphalas (flags of the seven colors of the Aymara nation), blew whistles and banged drums. "Compañeros," said Evo when he was formally nominated to great cheers from all assembled, "we are setting out on a mission to fight for what is ours. As farmers and miners we are owners of our own natural resources, which, disgracefully, our so-called leaders have sold to the foreigners." In accordance with the law, the speech was broadcast live on national television. He spoke of the wealthy who claim to be combating poverty. "But how can they combat poverty when they have never lived it?" He harshly criticized the traditional parties who ascribe to the neo-liberal economic model and their "dinosaur capitalism," proposing to end the corruption, calling for a Popular Assembly, and the creation of an Agricultural Bank to invest in the work of the small farmers, the artisans and cooperatives and all forms of traditional communitarian production. "They call us narco-traffickers. Who calls us that? The narcos in Congress! The narcos in the Quemado (Bolivia’s White House)… The Zapatistas say 'Ya Basta! Enough Already!' Well, now it's our turn to say 'Enough Already!' Enough of the misery and oppression, enough of the impositions of the United States government! It’s time for the government to serve the people!" "If we want to transform the system, we need to begin by transforming ourselves. Let us walk together to create a new country!" He asked each of the popular sectors to embark upon a brotherhood that allows the understanding of the particular problems of each sector as well as the common ones. "We must be very clear about all of this, compañeros. If everyone remains clear, we shall be free of this government, and of this empire. And we are not alone in this fight against neo-liberalism. Our allies will not abandon us, compañeros, and we will walk together with them… Power has never been able to cut our roots… This election will be held on June 30th, but our struggles will continue. Today, this confrontation is between conscience and silver. Be very clear about this: Human capital is more important than financial capital!” Tonight the Hidden Nation took its destiny back in its own hands. The die is cast. And Little Asa, for now, can sleep peacefully remembering his speeches about ecstasy and global money laundering. One of these days, if he's still at his job, the men and women of Bolivia are going to steal his dream. [narconews remix] UP - UNHOLY WAR! SPEAK OUT! 34 YEARS OF ISRAELI POLICY HAVE LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR ITS UNHOLY WAR IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA [Ellen Cantarow is a Jewish writer who reported from Israel for THE VILLAGE VOICE, MOTHER JONES and INQUIRY from 1979 to 1989] the context All through the 1980s I witnessed on the ground the rapid growth of Israel’s settlements and the seizure of Palestinian land and water for them: today over half the West Bank¹s resources are in Israel¹s hands, while about a third of Gaza¹s resources have suffered the same fate. The cry of all the ultra-right-wing settlers and settler-leaders whom I interviewed in-depth was: “Let them bow their heads, or let Israel expel them.” I interviewed Palestinian villagers who’d suffered settler vigilante actions, and read accounts of these HA ARETZ and other Israeli papers. Such vigilante actions ran the whole gamut- wanton destruction of property and crops, rampages through villages with cries of “Death to the Arabs” and smashing of car windows, casual in-the-street humiliation of Palestinian civilians, beatings, murder. I witnessed the Occupation gradually polarise Israeli society; the growing, virulent racism of new generations. Take, for instance, the Moroccan Jews in Kiryat Shemona, members of Menachem Begin¹s voting base about whom I wrote for THE VILLAGE VOICE in 1982, and who most commonly told me, “The only good Arab is a dead Arab.” In 1979, when I first arrived in Israel, a “MASTER PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SETTLEMENTS IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA, 1979-1983” had just been drafted. Matityahu Drobles, head of the World Zionist Organization¹s Department for Rural Settlement wrote: “The disposition of the Israeli settlements must be carried out not only around the settlements of the minorities” - by settlements he meant towns and villages centuries old like Bethlehem and Hebron, and by ’minorities’ he meant Palestinians “but also in between them.” His rationale for this? “Over the course of time, with or without peace, we will have to learn to live with the minorities and among them while fostering good-neighborly relations.” Right from the start of occupation, then, Israeli policy-makers projected the permanent colonization of the West Bank and, later, Gaza. To single Ariel Sharon out “if only he were gone and polite, decent folks like Shimon Peres could guide the nation!” - is to ignore history. The Drobles Plan was drafted, and Kiryat Arba was established under Labor. Permanent settlement, retention and expansion of the settlements has driven Israeli policy under EVERY government since 1967. To rule the land into which it has made its incursions Israel has enforced a special military legal code quite different from the laws governing Israel. The army and military courts enforce military rule. Under it, for 34 years now, collective punishment for alleged individual acts has been the policy - 23-hour curfews lasting for weeks; bulldozing of homes etc. During my years, stone-throwing and street demonstrations were what most commonly brought collective punishment. Suicide bombing is a post-Oslo phenomenon triggered by the doubling of settlement population after the accords were signed, and by the dawning realization that Oslo consolidated a South African-style plan for permanent BANTUSTANIZATION of the West Bank. I often witnessed the daily humiliation of Palestinians at checkpoints; the casual landscape and social scenery of apartheid (the most obvious being the checkpoints with differing treatment of Palestinians and Israeli Jews and internationals, and the different color of license plates - blue for Palestinians, yellow for Israelis). I interviewed villagers whose homes had been blown up and/or bulldozed, heard accounts by men and women jailed, abused, and tortured in Israel¹s prisons - an established fact acknowledged by Israeli and foreign human rights organizations and ongoing. The Hebrew press was quite open about all this but, interestingly, the US press was almost invariably silent. the current nightmare As I write, collective punishment is ratcheted up a thousand fold in full-blown war atrocities committed throughout the West Bank and Gaza. For the past week my computer has delivered to me daily - hourly - desperate e-mails begging for help from international human rights organizations. They plead with me and others in my list to DO SOMETHING! One writer, a university researcher, describes looting by Israeli soldiers invading his home: “I had a little money in the upper drawer of my desk which I got from the bank on Thursday when an invasion was expected... I found the drawer broken and the money gone.” Another letter reads: “Their ‘visitS’ to our houses are no different from gangsters’. They went tomy very close neighbor’s houses, they start by asking all of them to stay in one room with their faces against the wall, then they enter all rooms... go to the kitchen, collect all the food... and start eating it.... the rest of the food they take with them, they also take jewels, money and electronic equipment... Two of my neighbors have heart problems, the first thing they did when they knew it was to go and get their medicine and destroy it in front of their eyes.” Robert Fisk confirms this in London¹s THE INDEPENDENT: “It is impossible to dismiss the widespread reports of looting from homes in Ramallah (not least because that is exactly what Israeli soldiers used to do in southern Lebanon in 1983); and that brave Israeli academic, Avi Schlaim, has himself charged Israel with extra-judicial killings in Ramallah.” Other e-mails describe: - ambulances shot at and turned back - hospitals invaded, medical personnel prevented at gunpoint from carrying out their responsibilities - people dying while soldiers block their passage to medical relief - corpses rotting in hospital corridors (numerous e-mails warn of the threat of imminent epidemics) - relatives forbidden to carry out decent burials (one group had to be buried in a Ramallah parking lot) - civilians shot if they venture out their doors - massive looting and vandalizing of homes - cultural institutions invaded and files destroyed - electrical systems for water pumps destroyed so that whole urban areas have their water supplies cut off - internationals and Palestinian press members wounded by Israeli gun-fire - In Jenin 50 houses are reported seriously damaged by Apache helicopter fire, 20 people injured and bleeding in the street. There is much, much more. My most urgent e-mail f today is titled, “DELIBERATELY CREATED HUMANITARIAN CRISIS REACHES INTOLERABLE POINT / April 6, 2001” Like Nero, President Bush has fiddled while Rome burns and has issued too little too late. What’s needed is an immediate order for withdrawal and a threat of economic sanction (President Eisenhower did it in the Suez Crisis of 1956, and resolved it immediately.) What’s needed is for Colin Powell to be on the ground now, not a week from now or this coming Sunday. Sharon, the Milosevic clone ordering these atrocities, is the self-same war criminal who - commanded the infamous Unit 101 which killed 99 defenseless civilians at Kibyeh in 1953 - ordered the destruction of 2000 Gaza homes and expulsion from them of 16,000 civilians during an Israeli ³pacification² onslaught in 1977 - oversaw the IDF which enabled the Phalangist massacre of 1000 civilians Sabra and Shatila in 1982 - triggered the second intifada by ‘visiting’ Al Aksa mosque in September, 2000 - with an escort of 1000 soldiers - a visit followed next day by the IDF’s shooting of Palestinian demonstrators at the mosque. I am filled with a mix of grief, helplessness, despair and anger as Israel, pretending to act in my name, while using the Nazi holocaust to exonerate its crimes, proceeds in its clear effort to obliterate the economy, the social, political and cultural institutions, and the entire infrastructure of the Palestinian people. Those who do not speak out against these abominations and horrors are complicit by their silence. Those who exonerate or apologize for Israel as it commits them are guilty by association. [Ellen Cantarow, Medford, MA 02155] UP -If faint stars have disappeared and cannot be seen at all, the wind is about to rise. london FRI APRIL 12 Southern African Teachers Do, featuring a wicked line up of musicians from South Africa. Playing Kwela/Marabi/Township Jazz + DJs playing the latest sounds from down South in Africa featuring DJ Lady M @ Africa Centre, 38 King Street, Covent Garden, WC2. £8. 020 7836 1973 http://www.guilfin.net/database/showevent.php3?ev_id=evINET1355 UP - "The old political battles that have consumed humankind during most of the 20th century - black vs white, left vs right, male vs female - will fade into the background. The only battle still worth fighting and winning, the only one that can set us free, is The People vs The Corporate Cool Machine!" Kate Lasn, Adbusters 23, 1998 http://www.adbusters.org UP - 1,400,000 people dmonnstrated about palestine in morocco last week THE 10 WORST CORPORATIONS OF 2001 <a penny gray remix of original text from Multinational Monitor, Dec 2001> PHILIP MORRIS: We’ve changed. That’s the line from Philip Morris. And evidence abounds. It’s changing the name of its parent operation from Philip Morris to Altria! Wow! But that’s not all! The tobacco giant says it’s spending $100 million in the United States to reduce youth smoking. The company’s web site says this: “We agree with the overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and other serious diseases in smokers. Smokers are far more likely to develop serious diseases, like lung cancer, than non-smokers. There is no ‘safe’ cigarette. … We agree with the overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking is addictive.” And more! Ask company representatives about the efforts to negotiate an international treaty on tobacco control, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and David Greenberg, senior vice president for corporate affairs, told us: “Around the world the company is ready to embrace regulation whether by international institutions and/or at the national level. We’d like to see a convention have as broad a reach as possible, so we know what the rules are.” BUT IT’S ALL A SHAM! Public health experts agree the company’s youth smoking prevention advertisements and programs are either worthless or harmful, because they portray smoking as an adult activity - thus making it more desirable to kids! And, despite the company’s new acknowledgement that the product it hawks is deadly and addictive, it continues to pioneer new ways of marketing cigarettes. • Early this year, the company continued its longstanding seduction of women to the smoking habit with a Virginia Slims “See Yourself as a King” campaign. “Philip Morris, the world’s largest tobacco company, insults and degrades women with its new magazine ad for Virginia Slims cigarettes,” says a statement issued by more than a dozen organizations including the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, the American Medical Women’s Association, the American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “By once again suggesting that women are empowered by smoking, Philip Morris shows contempt for women’s health issues.” “The Virginia Slims ads,” the statement rightfully concludes, “are the most recent evidence that Philip Morris’ attempts to portray itself as a socially responsible company are a sham.” • Philip Morris and the rest of the industry continue to bombard kids in the United States with cigarette ads. A New England Journal of Medicine study found that, in 2000, magazine advertisements for youth brands of cigarettes (defined as cigarettes smoked by more than 5% of eighth, tenth and twelfth graders) reached more than 80% of young people in the United States an average of 17 times each. • Philip Morris is now selling a new cigarette, called M, with the slogan, “A Special Blend for a Special Season.” Comments Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, “Perhaps Philip Morris should change its slogan to ‘M is for murder.’ After all, they’re selling the usual blend of addiction, disease and death.” At the negotiations of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, Philip Morris is working hand-in-glove with the Bush administration to obstruct a strong, enforceable treaty. In a November letter to the White House, Representative Henry Waxman, D-California, wrote that “my staff has identified 11 specific instances where Philip Morris recommended deleting provisions of the draft text. In 10 of the 11 instances, your negotiators proposed or prepared amendments advocating exactly what Philip Morris urged.” These amendments included proposals to: - lessen tobacco taxes - permit tobacco companies to use terms like “light” and “low-tar” which public health experts say are misleading - preserve duty-free sales of cigarettes - impede the World Health Organization from developing standards for testing, measuring, designing, manufacturing and processing tobacco products. More revealing than Philip Morris’s “we’ve changed” public relations line was a company-commissioned study from the Arthur D. Little consulting firm. Prepared in November 2000 and made public in the Wall Street Journal in July, the study argued that smoking saved the Czech Republic government money by contributing to the “early mortality of smokers.” When smokers die, society saves costs on healthcare, housing and pensions for the elderly, the report ghoulishly argued. Clive Bates of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) UK points out, however, that even this conclusion was deceptive - the acknowledged costs of smoking in the study (including health care costs and lost income to society from early mortality) are about 13 times higher than the purported savings! The real difference between the new and old Philip Morris? Where the company would once have belligerently defended the study, the new company - once caught - is sophisticated enough to be contrite: “The funding and public release of this study which, among other things, detailed purported cost savings to the Czech Republic due to premature deaths of smokers, exhibited terrible judgment as well as a complete and unacceptable disregard of basic human values,” the company said in an apologetic statement. “We will continue our efforts to do the right thing in all our businesses, acknowledging mistakes when we make them and learning from them as we go forward.” Empty words from the global leader in an industry whose products are killing 4.2 million people this year alone. UP - "The de facto role of the US armed forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault. To those ends we will do a fair amount of killing." - Pentagon official Major Ralph Peters, responsible for "future warfare", writing in 1997.
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