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News &
Letters to the Editor
02-06-02
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Suggestions for Indymedia growth
I want to congratulate Amanda Luker on an excellent article on the Indymedia movement.
Information (in particular, truthful information and commentary) is the sword of knowledge
that we can wield to effectively transform our oppressive reality to a liberating one. I
would like to make two suggestions to the Indymedia movement to address the “digital
divide” issue. First, why not collaborate with community technology centers via a
local nonprofit, the Community Computer Access Network (www.c-can.org), a group devoted to
enhancing computer access to communities not usually served, in order to empower CTC users
to become “newsmakers.” Secondly, why not approach KMOJ or KFAI and get an
hourly Indymedia radio show in which local news and views are featured. We could actually
model ourselves after “Democracy Now” (one of the most important vehicles for
independent news and analysis we have). I feel our local stations would be ready and
willing.
Samantha Smart
Minneapolis |
World forums focus on solutions,
not disruption |
by Amanda Luker |
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“Are you listening?” sang British
balladeer Billy Bragg. “There’s no power without accountability.” His
words, sung at Central Park’s Grand Army Plaza under Sherman’s statue, marked
the beginning and a recurring theme for the protests against last week’s World
Economic Forum in New York City. The WEF, which usually meets in the resort town of Davos,
Switzerland, decided to meet in New York, partly in order to claim solidarity with those
who died on Sept. 11—though many protesters state the WEF was only taking advantage
of the current emotional tenderness of the city.
Claims of protester numbers range wildly from 5,000 in the mainstream press to 15,000 on
the New York Indymedia Web site. However, one thing is clear: the protests, unlike those
in Seattle, or those closely following, while including steelworkers from Toronto, New
York City’s Labor Union against War and San Francisco longshore workers, were
dominated by a younger, largely anarchist group. Noticeably missing were groups like the
Sierra Club, Global Exchange (who say they are still “dusting off” from Sept.
11) and the AFL-CIO, who were denied a permit to march.
Attendees of the forum itself included U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Bill Gates, Jeff
Bezos, Desmond Tutu, heads of Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Merill Lynch and even supermodel
Naomi Campbell. Indeed, it was, as many protesters called it, the “million-dollar
cocktail party.” But their discussions were not devoid of internal criticism, though
perhaps missing the point. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates warned that if the terms of
international trade were too favorable to the rich of the world, resentment of that
disparity would build. “People who feel the world is tilted against them will spawn
the kind of hatred that is very dangerous for all of us,” he said in the Associated
Press. “I think it’s a healthy sign that there are demonstrators in the streets.
They are raising the questions of ‘is the rich world giving back enough?’”
The WEF, described by Barbara Garson, author of “Money Makes the World Go
Round,” is a private group of corporations and some rich folks that began meeting
thirty years ago as the United States and Europe were looking to find new places to
invest. They realized that many third world countries had regulations that made it harder
for some speculative investments, so global capital visionaries dreamed up
“supra-natural” institutions to deregulate money flowing around the world. The
World Trade Organization is one of the first institutions the WEF spawned. Now it includes
representatives of the 1,000 largest multinational corporations.
Protesters were well aware that the city, in no mood for a destructive youthful rebellion,
was enacting a “zero tolerance” policy. The combination of demonstrators and
stern police did result in about 150 arrests far from the actual protest site. However,
many “downshifted” tactics showing a growing maturity, represented in their
theme: “Another World is Possible,” highlighting discussions on the future and
solutions, rather than direct action.
“Another World is Possible” is also the name of a recent book of young activists
reflecting on Sept. 11 and the future of global politics. In it, contributor Eric Laursen
writes, “The WEF is a living symbol of political and business leaders scratching each
others’ backs, proclaiming that they’re meeting to solve the world’s
problems while in reality they’re looking for ways to enrich each other.”
The WEF was not the only global forum convening that week, though. In Porto Alegre,
Brasil, many activists and scholars met at a counter forum called the World Social Forum,
attended by 30,000 activists from over 150 countries (an estimate by local police
commander Pinto de Oliviera.) Among the left-leaning superstars in attendance were Nobel
peace prize winner Rigoberto Menchu, scholar Noam Chomsky, and authors Lori Wallach,
Timothy Brecher and Susan George. The six-day conference featured 700 workshops, 100
seminars and and 28 plenary assemblies.
Brazilian Workers’ Parts leader and presidential hopeful Luiz Inacio da Silva said to
the Agence Frace Presse the importance of the forum was “not simply a matter of how
many people participate, but the enormous number of important topics…discussed
here.” While those at the WEF were discussing ways to make money, those at the WSF
were focusing on how to better distribute it, he said.
The discussions in Brazil did not necessitate any finalized decisions about plans for
anti-capitalist globalization, but there were several areas of general agreement, which
Marc Cooper lists in his letters from Porto Alegre in the Nation. He wrote that they
concluded to think in terms of Instead rather than Against (“‘anti-global’
only plays into the hands of the corporate elite”); to fight to shrink—or
sink—the WTO and the Federal Trade of the Americas Act in the U.S. Congress; and to
envision and articulate an alternative economic structure (if these don’t work, what
will?). The International Forum on Globalization is currently working to compile a
detailed list of the possible solutions (online at www.ifg.org
). pulse |
Stories to tell our children |
by Ed Felien |
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The groundhog saw his shadow, and, now, we'll
have six more weeks of winter.
Did you ever wonder where that story came from?
There are four well-known points on the calendar. Summer and Winter Solstice, and the
Spring and Fall Equinox. But there are four other points as well. Points on the calendar
sacred to our ancestors long before the Christian era. Those are the points midway between
the other four. Mayday is one. Midsommer another. And Halloween and Groundhog's Day. Those
days celebrate a special time during the year that is between the seasons, when weather
and time seem to go in all directions.
Groundhog's Day is probably connected to the myth of Demeter and Persephone, which in turn
probably goes back to the myth of Isis and Osiris, back to the beginning of our cultural
history.
Demeter, the goddess of horticulture and grain, had a beautiful daughter, Persephone.
Persephone was out in the field gathering flowers one day when Pluto, the god of the
underworld, saw her and carried her off to be Queen of Hades. Demeter was crushed by her
loss. She mourned and travelled all over the world seeking her daughter. She was depressed
and a long winter settled over the earth. Nothing grew. The land was barren.
The other gods in Olympus were disturbed. No one on earth was making sacrifices to them.
They could continue to exist only as long as the people on earth believed in them, and
they were beginning to become insubstantial.
Finally, Zeus went to Demeter and told her she must stop her depression and bring summer
back to earth. Demeter insisted on the return of her daughter. Zeus went to Pluto and
demanded Persephone be returned to earth. Pluto said he would allow it, but only if that
was what Persephone wanted. If Persephone ate anything in Hades, then that meant she
really wanted to stay. So, the gods watched as Persephone began the long climb out of the
cave. She got almost to the end, and she stopped and ate a pomegranate seed. Both sides
claimed Persephone, and Zeus was forced to declare a compromise. For six months of the
year Persephone would be with her mother, and there would be summer and harvests. And for
six months she would reign as Queen of Hades with Pluto.
It was probably the Christian Church that expropriated the earlier myth and turned the
beautiful Persephone into a groundhog and reduced a pomegranate seed to a shadow. pulse
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Bishop calls for end to Just War theology |
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In an attempt to rekindle pacifist Christian
notions of laying down sword and shield “down by the riverside,” Catholic Bishop
Thomas Gumbleton is speaking out for peace. On both Wed., Feb.6, and Thurs., Feb 7,
Gumbleton will be addressing audiences in the Twin Cities, speaking on “Peace,
Patriotism and Nonviolence: Another Way to Confront Terrorism.”
Gumbleton’s teachings are only part of recent discussions among Catholic leaders
denouncing the “War on Terrorism.” They have called it morally unjustifiable and
call for new teachings that replace the centuries-old Catholic teaching that justifies
war.
Gumbleton, an auxiliary bishop of Detroit, Mich., is the former president of Bread for the
World and Pax Christi USA. He has won numerous peace awards and honorary degrees. He has
traveled to Colombia, El Salvador and Iraq. Recently, he was one of four bishops to vote
against the U.S. Catholic bishop’s support of the “War on Terrorism,”
urging bishops to replace the Just War theology with a nonviolent assessment.
The statement the four made urges that the Just War doctrine be overturned by a
“witness of justice and peace” rooted in “dialogue that takes seriously the
gospel challenge of Jesus who calls peacemakers blessed, who calls us to love our enemies
and pray for our persecutors, [and] who reminds us that forgiveness is at the heart of
faith.”
While challenging many statements made by the Catholic bishops around Sept. 11 in support
of military action, they are also succeeding in getting those Just War bishops engaged in
a dialogue about the Catholic community’s proper response to the bombing of
Afghanistan.
Bishop Gumbleton recently noted in the National Catholic Reporter, “My own conviction
about Just War theology is that it is just not applicable in a time of high-tech warfare.
It was devised for a time way in the past when armies fought armies under more controlled
circumstances.”
“Active nonviolence,” says Gumbleton, “is a form of defense, just not a
violent form.” pulse
Bishop Gumbleton will speak at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis on Wed., Feb. 6, at
6:30 p.m., and will lead a day-long retreat at St. Mary’s, entitled,
“Nonviolence, The Way of Jesus.” For futher information or to register for the
Feb. 7 retreat, contact the Bishop Gumbleton Committee at 612-317-3578.
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Conference engages
community activists |
by Abdel Shakur |
Several hundred activists, civic leaders and
community members gathered on Saturday to share and discuss strategies toward sustainable
community development. The four-hour conference was divided into a number of workshops
that tackled environmental strategies such as alternative transportation, community
gardening and solid waste reduction.
“It was really exciting,” said Barb Thoman, program director of Transit for
Livable Communities. “It was packed with a lot of people interested in making real
changes.”
Thoman’s workshop was designed to help neighborhood volunteers implement projects
that increase transportation options in their respective communities. All of the workshops
at the conference used previous case studies to develop more effective strategies toward
neighborhood sustainability. Thoman said the importance of coordination and communication
between neighborhood groups, volunteers and elected officials was one of the major themes
of the conference.
“We need to be more organized when it comes to communicating with our elected
officials,” she said. Thoman also said she was encouraged by the participation of the
elected officials who attended the conference.
Mayor R.T. Rybak called the conference an incredibly energizing experience and named it a
highlight of his first month in office.
“The neighborhood sustainability movement is clearly a dominant force in the
city,” he said. “I’m committed to making sure that it isn’t just a
passing fancy. I’m committed to reform of the city’s community development
agency and its planning functions.”
Anna Wasescha, Director of Farm in the City, said that the conference gave her a
“sense of solidarity” with other environmental activists. “It lets you
understand how many of us there are out there,” she said. “There was a lot of
diversity in the programs at the conference, but you could see that everyone was headed in
the same direction.”
Wasescha described the experience as “incredible” and said an important part of
the conference was the opportunity to network and learn about resources available to
community organizations and individuals.
“We had a lot of people concerned about what they could do in their own
neighborhood,” said Event Coordinator Sean Gosiewski. “People wanted to know how
to organize their resources so they could take action.” Gosiewski said the conference
allowed people the opportunity to learn about lifestyle decisions, such as ecologically
safe cleaning products, that could improve the health of their communities and homes.
Gosiewski also said the goals of the conference will be more fully realized when notes
from the workshops and meetings are made available on the Internet.
“We want to make sure that people who didn’t attend can have access to this
information and be inspired to do some of this work themselves,” he said.
Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin spoke and participated in the solid waste
disposal workshop and said the conference has given a lot of momentum to sustainability
advocacy, which he called “the wave of the future.”
“Historically, the county has been considered ‘Big Foot’ in a lot of these
issues,” he said. “But we’ve turned policy around to a more modest
scale.”
McLaughlin said government efforts are more productive and efficient as a support
mechanism for nonprofit organizations and individuals who are willing and able to do the
work. “That approach allows us to harness the energy and expertise that we already
have in the community,” he said.
McLaughlin cited both the county’s involvement in plans for an energy co-op in the
Phillips neighborhood and the county’s sale of compost bins to residents as examples
of positive government support.
Notes from the conference are available at
www.center4neighborhoods.org and www.moea.state.mn.us
. pulse |
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First mass ISAG charges dropped
On Wed., Jan 30, Giovanni Conti had his charges dismissed by the city of Minneapolis.
Conti was one of close to a hundred people arrested in July of 2000 protesting the animal
genetics meeting. Conti’s charges were dismissed when the “victim”
didn’t show up in court, and the judge refused to grant a continuance. The total tab
for this persecution hasn’t been tallied, but is expected to run into the millions.
The next cases are scheduled for Feb. 25, 2002.
Labor Peace Accord Reached Between Holiday Inn RiverCentre and HERE #17
The Holiday Inn RiverCentre in St. Paul has agreed to a Labor Peace Agreement with Hotel
and Restaurant Employees Local #17 after a nine-month campaign involving dozens of letters
of support from Unions, politicians, and community organizations, countless picket lines,
demonstrations, and rallies. “This success was possible because we received
tremendous support from Twin Cities activists and unions,” said Kyle Makarios, an
organizer with HERE Local #17. The Labor Peace Agreement gives the union six months to
talk to current workers of the hotel and restaurant, during which they will decide whether
or not they want union representation. During these six months, management must remain
neutral, provide the union with full lists of employees, and allow the union access to the
premises. When a majority of the workers decide they want union representation, the
company agrees to recognize HERE Local #17 through voluntary card check recognition. Once
the union is certified, the hotel agrees to give priority hiring status to some of the
former workers.
This article is a felony according to the MN State Legislature
In the early hours of Jan. 26, someone set fire to construction equipment and a trailer
being used to build the $20 million dollar Microbial and Plant Genomics Research lab on
the U of M St. Paul Campus. No one was hurt in the fire which destroyed equipment, a
trailer, and an adjacent soils testing lab. On Wed., Jan 30, the underground Earth
Liberation Front (ELF) claimed responsibility. “We are fed up with capitalists like
Cargill and major universities like the U of M who … seek to exploit and control
nature to the fullest extent under the guise of progress,” said part of a communiqué
received by media outlets. Minnetonka-based Cargill put up $10 million to build the
building.
The ELF and it’s kin, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) are an international,
underground direct action group that uses direct action in the form of economic sabotage
to stop the destruction of the natural environment. In North America alone since 1997, the
ELF has caused over $40 million in damages to entities who profit from the destruction of
life.
This is not the first time the University has been targeted by activists. In 1999, the ALF
claimed responsibility for liberating hundreds of lab animals. Afterwards, the Minnesota
legislature passed a law making third parties civilly responsible for triple damages for
actions in which animals are freed or property is destroyed. These “third
parties” include anyone encouraging someone to commit such acts.
In February 2000, the ELF claimed responsibility for sabotaging a genetically engineered
oat experiment and a green house in St. Paul. In April 2000, a group called the
“Genetic Jokers” damaged U.S. Forest Service vehicles on campus to protest
genetic research on trees being done by the USFS. The ELF also claimed responsibility for
several acts of sabotage during the resistance to the Highway 55 project, an action
against Nike in the summer of 2001, and a $1 million act of sabotage against a USFS
sponsored tree research project in Rhinlander, Wisconsin.
The FBI has “no specific suspects,” and the ATF is helping with the
investigation. The University is claiming fiscal hardship due to losses, which could
exceed $1 million, but vow the building will be built. pulse
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I don’t know about you but I am always
searching for that perfect wool hat. You know, the big, knitted hat that falls down over
your ears. The hat you want to wear when you are too drunk in the morning to take a damn
shower so you throw it on knowing it will be functional but also comforting ... that kind
of a hat is exciting. I guess you could say I get excited about wool hats—but not
that excited. It’s not like I roll around on my wool blanket and just get turned on,
but hey, some folks do.
So why not partake in the wool fetish and check out
www.woolfreaks.de . Maybe you want to check out the
large selection of pictures of balaclavas, wool sweaters, mittens and scarves. Yeah,
right. Maybe you’re like me and you want to check out the massive collection of
“Wool Freaks”! Click on “Woolfreak,” “Blanket-Bondage With Amy
& Jim” and “Bondage Scenes.” Who knew wearing a wool jump-suit, being
tied up in a wool blanket or just wearing that cute wool hat could be so exciting? pulse |
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