[alternet-l] ALTERNET NEWS # 61

[Adrian Harris]

THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE # 61

This issue:

HOT SITES/
GENOA UNCUT/
BUSHMEN PETITION/
SAY YES FOR CHILDREN/
ESSO’S DIRTY TRICKS/
ONLINE CENSORSHIP/
NEW REPORT /
SUSTAINABLE LIVING /
'DESTROY ENVIRONMENTALISTS'/
GEORGE BUSH SPEAKS/
AFRICA HAFKIN PRIZE WINNER/
JOBS/
QUOTE/UNQUOTE/
DIARY/

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AlterNet News was been off-line during July due to technical work, so this
issue is a little longer than usual. Think of it as a Summer Special!

Send items for inclusion, including a web link if possible, to
actnow at gn.apc.org. Items may need to be edited. Plain text e-mail is
preferred.

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HOT SITES

The Mines and Communities website aim to make information on mining impacts,
projects, and the corporate sector more widely available. Above all, they hope
to empower mining-affected communities, so that they can better fight against
damaging proposals and practices. 
---> http://www.minesandcommunities.org/

The Africa Action site incorporates the American Committee on Africa (ACOA),
The Africa Fund, Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). The site carries
information on a variety of campaign issues including Africa's Right to
Health, African women's rights, Landmines, Southern Africa Floods, and
democracy in
Nigeria.
---> http://www.africapolicy.org

They have recently added a position paper on Africa's debt:
---> http://www.africapolicy.org/action/debtpos.htm

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GENOA UNCUT

Video footage shot by independent film-makers allegedly reveals how the
Italian police stage-managed the Genoa violence.

Norman Thomas, one of the organisers of the screening, claims the footage will
"shed revealing new light on the protests and the tactics of the Italian
police".

Thomas claims that the footage only narrowly escaped being destroyed by the
police and activists believe that the notorious attack on the 'indymedia'
centre was an attempt to destroy potentially incriminating footage.

The first screening will take place in the School of Oriental and African
Studies in the University of London at 6.30pm on Tuesday August 7 th.

Tickets are £3 are available in advance from Bookmarks, 1 Bloomsbury St.

London
WC1. Tel: 0207 6371848.

UK Indymedia site:
---> http://www.uk.indymedia.org/

Provocateurs in Genoa: Eyewitness Account:
---> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/media-squatters/message/2459

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BUSHMEN PETITION

AlterNet News previously reported that 'Bushmen' from the Kalahari Desert in
Botswana have been beaten and tortured.

Survival have now set up an online petition to stop this oppression: 
--> http://www.survival.org.uk/bushmanuab0105.htm


AlterNet report:
--> http://www.gn.apc.org/news/alternet/059%2001-06-01.html

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SAY YES FOR CHILDREN

The 'Say Yes for Children' campaign is asking people throughout the world to
pledge support for the 'Rallying Call for the Global Movement for Children'.

Messages from the 'Say Yes for Children' campaign will be presented during the
UN Special Session on Children in September 2001.

More:
--> http://www.gmfc.org/
--> http://www.unicef.org/gmc/index.html

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ESSO’S DIRTY TRICKS

ExxonMobil, known as Esso in the UK, doesn't believe in Global Warming and
donated more dollars to get Bush into the White House than any other oil
company. The payback has been swift - within weeks of becoming President, Bush
ditched US support for the Kyoto Protocol.

According to The Economist "Exxon Mobil, the biggest oil company, is also the
worlds most powerful climate change sceptic".

Now a new report from GreenPeace reveals the extent of ExxonMobil’s
attempts to stop the world tackling climate change.

ExxonMobil’s opposition to Kyoto is no secret, but the GreenPeace briefing
reveals how it has made a concerted effort to steer US Govt. policy through
covert funding and support for industry lobbying organisations and
climate-sceptic scientists.

Join the international boycott of ExxonMobil:
--> http://www.stopesso.com/index.html

GreenPeace report:
--> http://www.stopesso.com/pdf/Dirty%20Tricks.pdf

GreenPeace:
--> http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/

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ONLINE CENSORSHIP

Most online demonstrations are now illegal in Korea. The ban includes writing
protest messages on Internet bulletin boards, sending large numbers of protest
messages to one server and Virtual sit-ins.

The Korean Ministry of Information and Communication also plan to force
cybercafes and other public Internet facilities to install web site blocking
software. 

A special 'Information Communication Ethics Committee' has drawn up a list of
'anti social' sites that they deem objectionable. The list will be passed to
developers to incorporate in the new blocking software. Internet service
providers will also be required to prevent access to any banned web pages. 

Nearly 120,000 so-called 'indecent' sites round the world have been have been
banned including many gay-lesbian sites like news magazine 'The Advocate'
(http://advocate.com/) and a travel agency (http://gaytravel.com)

More:
--> http://patcha.jinbo.net/ 

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NEW REPORT 

A new report from the Bretton Woods Project shows that opening up a country's
economy to direct investment and increased financial flows could be hurting
the poor even in good times.

"Go with the flows? Capital account liberalisation and poverty", is available
on-line.


Download the full report:
---> http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/topic/financial

Email: info at brettonwoodsproject.org

*********************************************************************
SUSTAINABLE LIVING

The Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, founded by Dr.
Vandana Shiva, has launched 'Bija Vidyapeeth', an 'International College for
Sustainable Living'.

Bija Vidyapeeth is an attempt to restore the art of sustainable living by
bringing together people of all cultures to live and learn the value of
diversity and organic living.

The project is based on the 'Navdanya Biodiversity Conservation and
Agroecology Farm' in India.

---> http://www.vshiva.net/

*********************************************************************
'DESTROY ENVIRONMENTALISTS'

"We want to destroy environmentalists by taking away their money and their
members". Ron Arnold.

Two rightwing activist groups, backed by tobacco and oil companies (including
Exxon Mobil), have mounted a concerted attack on the Rainforest Action Network
(RAN).

The 'Frontiers of Freedom Institute', which calls itself the "antithesis" of
the environmental movement, has asked the US Internal Revenue Service to
revoke the tax-exempt status currently enjoyed by RAN. They will challenge
other
environmental groups if the attack on RAN is successful.

Educational non-profits that don't engage in activity related to partisan
political campaigns can qualify for tax-deductible contributions, and the IRS
examines the methods the organizations use to determine whether they qualify.

But even if the IRS disagrees with Frontiers, "reporting political enemies to
the IRS is an attractive tactic because it forces the enemy to spend resources
and sleepless nights," says Jeffery Yablon, a tax lawyer in Washington.
"Adverse publicity is an added bonus, particularly if it scares away donors."

The campaign may be part of a smear campaign against RAN by 'Boise Cascade', a
logging giant responsible for clear-cutting national forests in the U.S. 

Joining the attack on RAN is the 'Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise,'
headed by anti-environmental activist Ron Arnold. His website carries the same
information cited by Boise Cascade in threatening letters sent to RAN's
funders.

Ron Arnold, named by People magazine as the 'Number One Enemy of the Earth,'
said: " We are sick to death of environmentalism and so we will destroy it."
(Boston Globe, Jan 13, 1992)

RAN remain firm. Chris Hatch, RAN's Executive Director, believes that  "Boise
Cascade is attacking RAN because we have exposed its destruction of the
world's
last remaining old growth rainforests
. Let there be no doubt: the work to
protect our forests will not only continue, but escalate."

Ron Arnold's website:
--> http://ranamuck.org/

Rainforest Action Network:
--> http://www.ran.org/


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GEORGE BUSH SPEAKS

This poem is made up entirely of actual quotes from George W. Bush. The quotes
have been arranged for aesthetic purposes by Washington Post writer Richard

Thompson. Too good not to share, especially during the US National Poetry
Month...

MAKE THE PIE HIGHER 
by George W. Bush

I think we all agree, the past is over. 
This is still a dangerous world. 
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked 
Is our children learning? 
Will the highways of the internet become more few?

How many hands have I shaked? 
They misunderestimate me. 
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.
I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.

Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream. 
Put food on your family! 
Knock down the tollbooth! 
Vulcanize Society!
Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!

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AFRICA HAFKIN PRIZE WINNER

The APC Africa Hafkin Prize is awarded to outstanding initiatives that
successfully use information and communications technology (ICTs) for
development.

This year's winner is the Bayanloco Community Learning Centre in Kaduna State,
Nigeria, which trains women to use to use information technology to promote
peace and alliviate poverty. The project is an initiative of the Fantsuam
Foundation led by Kazanka Comfort.

Comfort's work on a women-led peace initiative in the villages made her
realise that fast communication among the rural women could mean the
difference
between life and death in an emergency situation. She had seen email in
action while
abroad studying and felt it could be a solution.

"Kazanka Comfort demonstrated that information technology is not an
unnecessary luxury for rural women in poor countries, but rather a tool to
help them meet
their needs. The project was not technology driven; it was woman-driven!" said
Hafkin in her award statement. 

APC Hafkin Prize : 
--> http://www.apc.org/english/hafkin
--> http://www.kabissa.org/fantsuam

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JOBS
LONDON DIRECTOR 

Human Rights Watch, the international monitoring and advocacy organization,
seeks a London Director to co-ordinate its efforts to shape British human
rights policy and to serve as the organization's principal spokesperson in the
United Kingdom.

The London Director will be a key public face for Human Rights Watch in the UK
and act as a central link to the British media and government. Working with
the advocacy and communications teams at Human Rights Watch, including the
organization's Brussels office on matters relating to the European Union, the
Director will design and implement strategies to reach the British press
and to influence British policy toward some 70 countries worldwide where HRW
regularly works. The Director will be expected to stay in regular contact
with key
members of the press and policy-makers, to testify in parliamentary
hearings, to seek out opportunities to write opinion articles for the press
and to
speak on television and radio as well as at public events and seminars, and
to work
closely with volunteers associated with HRW to enlist them in advocacy

campaigns. The Director will also play a general representational and
administrative role as the senior staff member in HRW's London office.

The London Director should be a self-motivated, collegial, activist-oriented
person who is familiar with human rights issues and has significant
senior-level press, advocacy or policy experience. He or she should have a
personal commitment to human rights, strong initiative and follow-through, the
capacity to think creatively and strategically, dynamic public speaking
ability, excellent English writing and editing skills, good working knowledge
of the British press and the British government's decision-making processes,
and the ability to work quickly and well under pressure with a broad range of
people and as part of a large and dynamic team.

Competitive salary will be commensurate with experience. Human Rights Watch
offers generous employer-paid benefits.

PLEASE APPLY BY SEPTEMBER 10 by sending a letter of interest, resume, list of
references, and two original writing samples (unedited by others) to the
attention of the London Director Search Committee at:

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, 33 Islington High Street, London, UK N19LH
E-mail: humanresources at hrw.org

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QUOTE/UNQUOTE

Andrew Hudson, who works for the Mayor of Denver, met President Bush in
Philadelphia last month. He took the opportunity to express his opinion of the
Presidents term.

"Mr. President, I hope you only serve four years. I'm very disappointed in
your work so far."

Bush kept smiling and shaking his hand as he answered, "Who cares what you
think?" 

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DIARY DATES: 

AUGUST
8 th:
Green Drinks at The Ram Page pub (Basement Room) 32 Great Queen Street London
WC2
---> http://www.greendrinks.org

More Diary Dates on GreenNet:

---> http://webboard.gn.apc.org:8086/default
******************************************************************

The AlterNet News is edited by Adrian Harris for GreenNet:
---> http://www.gn.apc.org/

Please note that opinions expressed in AlterNet are those of the 
contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the GreenNet 
Collective.

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