[APR-news] APR -- October 21-24, 2005

Tue Oct 25 02:42:21 GMT 2005

Alternative Press Review - Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream
www.altpr.org
October 21-24, 2005

The results from the Iraqi election are coming in and the Sunnis are
claiming that the election was rigged. So looks like they got an
American-style democracy after all. --David Letterman

Give me a wildness whose glance no civilization can endure. -- Henry David
Thoreau

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Articles of interest

http://www.culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=2
System failure requires visionary opposition movement
Jan Lundberg, Culture Change

We appear to be a tremendously weak generation, but exceptional individuals
and groups persist.  However, we are surrounded by idiots who think success
means being able to consume a fancy coffee drink in a "nice car," polluting
on their way to the corporate job. Granted, it's hard to live apart from the
dominant system, but why participate to the hilt?  Turn off the lights and
pull the plugs already! If survival in an anti-nature society is doubtful --
it is increasingly obvious -- doesn't it make sense to move toward a natural
way of living and to defend nature?

http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=180
Ripping up Asphalt and Planting Gardens
Derrick Jensen, Raise the Hammer

I don't see declining oil extraction as a problem. I see it as a wonderful
and necessary thing I wish would have happened a long time ago. This culture
is killing the planet. It must be stopped. We evidently do not have the
courage to stop it ourselves. The natural world will stop it for us. I think
suburbs have no future. Nor do cities. They are inherently unsustainable.

http://www.primalwar.org/agents.html
Agents of Change: Primal War and the Collapse of Global Civilization
Kevin Tucker, Species Traitor

This is what we need to understand: our global civilization is spreading
itself out thinly across the planet. Because of its ultra-exploitative
nature, it is vulnerable in nearly every conceivable aspect. We can't see
that now. We look out to a world ordered and driven by civilized and
technological manipulation. We see a world where politicians can see and
hear everything we say, do, and, possibly, think. While power has never been
so strong and so consolidated, it has also never been so weak in so many
places and so completely susceptible to disabling if only we were to exploit
those weaknesses. In reality, civilization has bred the conditions for its
own demise.

http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=181
The Psychology of Previous Investment
James Howard Kunstler, Raise the Hammer

There is an understandable wish to rescue the suburban habitat that we have
poured our collective wealth into constructing for nearly a century. I have
consistently described the suburbs as "the greatest misallocation of
resources in the history of the world," and I stick by that. Having made
these tragic choices, we (in North America) are now additionally burdened by
the psychology of previous investment. That is, we cannot even imagine
letting go of this investment, or even changing the way it works -
especially where cars are concerned.

http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2519
New Orleans Activists Fill Aid Gaps Left by FEMA, Red Cross
Jessica Azulay, New Standard News

Rather than wait for help from giant institutions preoccupied elsewhere, and
instead of building a legacy of dependence, local groups have sprung up to
recover poor and working-class neighborhoods through collective organizing.

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0510g.asp
The Troops Don't Defend Our Freedoms
Jacob G. Hornberger, FFF

How often do we hear the claim that American troops "defend our freedoms"?
The claim is made often by U.S. officials and is echoed far and wide across
the land by television commentators, newspaper columnists, public-school
teachers, and many others. It's even a common assertion that emanates on
Sundays from many church pulpits. Unfortunately, it just isn't so. In fact,
the situation is the exact opposite - the troops serve as the primary
instrument by which both our freedoms and well-being are threatened.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/snider1.html
Don't Support the Troops
Brandon J. Snider, LewRockwell.com

We hold brutal killers like John Wesley Hardin or Charles Manson in the
lowest regard, but the difference between these killers and military troops
is semantic and symbolic. It's time to address the issue of the troops with
the brutality it richly deserves. It's time to deconstruct the myth of the
glorious military adventure. It's long past time we shame people who think
about military service.

http://slingshot.tao.ca/displaybi.php?0086006
Military Recruiting - Putting a Wrench in the Gears
Molly Coddle, Slingshot

Military recruiters have felt the pressure from citizen attacks in the past
year, and they are responding with fear. The resistance is coming from all
segments of society and from all over the political spectrum. On
inauguration day students in Seattle surrounded and forced recruiters off
their campus, and similar events have occurred all over the map, resulting
in increased security by recruiters. Traveling in pairs, caller ID and dark
blinds at offices are among the measures implemented this winter. However,
it's not only roving mobs and molotovs that threaten recruiters; high
schools and colleges are finding ways to expel recruiters, military families
are speaking out, and enlistment is down.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=30695
Outing CIA Agents
Steve Weissman, TomDispatch

Back in 1975, former CIA officer Philip Agee published Inside the Company:
CIA Diary, an international best seller in which he revealed what the CIA
was doing, especially in Latin America where he had worked. He also named
every CIA officer he knew -- an indication of just how complete a break he
had made with the Agency. The contrast with Michael Scheuer or Valerie Plame
is obvious.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10691.htm
Saddam Trial -Another Western Kangaroo Court
K Gajendra Singh, ICH

"The trial of Saddam might provide wonderful material for a US television
series with a lawyer and a prosecutor crossing swords. But this has got
nothing to do with a fair trial." The Special tribunals set up were
completely against international law. According to the Geneva and the Hague
Conventions [on international law for humanitarian concern and the
protection of cultural property in armed conflicts] this court is clearly
illegal. Occupying powers have no right to change the legal system of a
country. This is precisely what the US has done.

http://www.swans.com/library/art11/pgreen74.html
Depravity Of The Leaders, Obedience Of The Citizens
Philip Greenspan, Swans

How the Germans, a civilized, educated, and talented people, could indulge
the sadistic and barbarous Nazis has been a mind-boggling question.
Certainly no other civilized society was expected to descend to anything
approaching that aberration. Or so we thought. As more and more atrocities
of the Bush administration are exposed it becomes apparent that it will
employ any and every tactic to achieve its objectives. Like the Nazis, it
has tried to conceal its evil deeds but when enough were revealed why, why,
why did many Americans continue supporting this government? The sarcastic
epithet "Good German" should be modified and condignly bestowed upon the
"Good American."

http://www.clamormagazine.org/passions/
Something's Happenin' Here: An On-The-Ground Analysis of the North Toledo
Riots
Michael Brooks, Clamor Magazine

Even the looting and burning of a local bar has a context that cannot be
understood from the images beamed from a circling helicopter. Residents and
police officials agree that the business was long known as a hangout of the
white politicians and policeman, and was viewed by some in the black
community as a beacon of exclusivity. "That bar was always a white cop bar,"
said one Toledo officer. "Everyone knows it, but no one wants to talk about
it because the owner is an 86-year old man, and people feel sorry for what
happened to him." My suspicion is that the violent members of the mob, while
engaging in activity that went into the realm of the illegal, knew exactly
what they were doing.  To deny that rioters possessed a political
consciousness is not only shortsighted, but is also an activity that is
itself a form of subtle racism.

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NewsWire

http://www.newsreview.com/issues/chico/2005-10-20/news.asp
Bottled water service stops delivery to Chico customer for flying the wrong
flags

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2005/10/20/nbcs-today-show-hosts-bi_n_9201.html
The No Spine Zone

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,69277,00.html
Furor Grows Over Internet Bugging

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct--tooliberalforyale1023oct23,0,7672460.story?coll=ny-region-apconnecticut
Fired from Yale, anarchist professor points to politics

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05296/593532.stm
Wobblies mark 100 years with songs, stories, unvarying beliefs

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/408/alltimehigh.shtml
Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High Again

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051024/us_nm/crime_prisons_dc
Gulag America: US prison population continues to grow

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/24/1414214
New Orleans Community Organizer Malik Rahim Demands Inquiry into Hurricane
Katrina Deaths and Amnesty for "Looters"

http://newamerica.net/index.cfm?pg=article&DocID=2632
The Fragility that Threatens the World's Industrial Systems

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/10/22/cluttered.lives.ap/index.html
'An orgy of consumption': Americans overwhelmed with clutter

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article321119.ece
Is this proof of global warming?

http://www.txfb.org/TexasAgriculture/2005/102105/102105opinions.htm
Agriculture facing a Katrina-like catastrophe

http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=42992
Drastic changes in the future of food production: We still need to eat after
era of cheap oil and natural gas has ended

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9753233/
Oil guru says crude could hit $190 this winter

http://www.fcnp.com/533/peakoil.htm
The Peak Oil Crisis: The North Atlantic Oscillation - what it means for the
coming winter season

http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,7843,1594927,00.html
The pressure mounts: North Sea oil production has 'peaked' and is now
declining

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article321425.ece
UK: Headed for a winter of discontent

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article321427.ece
Livingstone warns of coldest winter since '63

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article321426.ece
Lights could be going out all over Britain when fuel shortage hits

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/1019_051019_hurricane_wilma.html
Hurricane Wilma Is Most Powerful Storm in Atlantic History

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/23/wirq23.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/10/23/ixportaltop.html
Poll: Iraqis support attacking British occupation thugs

http://www.uruknet.com/?p=m17067
82% of Iraqis Want U.S. Terrorists Gone; 45% Want Them Dead

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2099-1824220,00.html
Making a killing: US hiring private security firms to terrorize Iraq - and
paying them a fortune to do it

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10740.htm
Hate Groups Committing Heinous Hate Crimes: CIA, Navy Seals and Military
Intelligence Personnel Engaged in Mass Torture and Murder

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1130153766125I623
Iraqi oil exports halted as attacks continue

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=509241
Good News: Leading Historian Says U.S. 'Empire' To Fail

http://english.people.com.cn/200510/23/eng20051023_216159.html
Targeting the real criminals: Police station in Greece destroyed by
fire-bombs

http://www.thedailyjournalonline.com/article.asp?ArticleId=201245&CategoryId=13003
Chinese anarchist and literary giant Ba Jin dead at 100

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=9060
Amazon Indians protest oil contamination

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1021/p04s01-sten.html?s=planetizen
Brazil's Amazon rain forest disappearing twice as fast as previously
estimated

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_France_Gilding_History.html
France orders positive spin on colonialism

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