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Domestice News (December 1999)
Domestic (November 15 - 30, 1999) 
Domestic (November 1 - 14, 1999)
Domestic News 2 (October 1999)
Domestic News 1 (October 1999)
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***********

Sunday October 31 8:24 AM ET
Lost EgyptAir Plane Gave Distress Call-EgyptAir

EgyptAir Flight 990 Crashes Off Nantucket, 214 Feared Dead

CAIRO (Reuters) - EgyptAir officials said the airliner which went missing off the U.S. coast Sunday gave a distress call before contact was lost.
Contact with the Boeing 767 was lost after it took off from New York's John F. Kennedy airport with 197 passengers on board.
EgyptAir Chairman Mohammed Fahim Rayan told reporters debris had been found 60 miles (100 km) off the coast of Nantucket Island.
EgyptAir flight 990, which disappeared from radar screens off the American state of Massachusetts early Sunday, was carrying 214 people including crew, officials said.
EgyptAir officials were due to give a news conference shortly and relatives of passengers on the missing plane had started to gather at Cairo airport. U.S. weather authorities said there was fog in the area at the time the plane disappeared.

**********

SFLR News--Food Not Bombs and the City of San Francisco

  SFLR News
  Sun. Oct. 31, 1999
  Special Edition

  San Francisco Liberation Radio, 93.7 FM  broadcasting 4 p.m. - 11 p.m. in Western San Francisco

  The Permit Game:
  The City of San Francisco's Dealings with Food Not  Bombs:
  A Long and Deceitful History
  by Richard Edmondson
  co-founder, SF Liberation Radio

  Last week Captain Mannheim, badge number 611, of the  San Francisco
  Police Department's Tenderloin Task Force, told  members of Food Not
  Bombs that all they needed to do to be able to serve  food legally was
  get a Health Department permit.

  However, the City of San Francisco has had a long  deceitful history in
  its dealings with Food Not Bombs, particularly in  regards to the
  permit  application process.

  The historical record shows that for more than a  year and a half Food
  Not Bombs members negotiated with city officials  only to be repeatedly
  denied the long-sought permit which would have  allowed them to give
  out  food unmolested by the police.

  In late 1988, all of 1989, and into 1990 Food Not  Bombs members sought
  a  permit to give food away to homeless people in city  parks only to have
  city officials repeatedly raise the food safety  standards the group
  was  required to meet.

  The actions of the city are vividly described in a civil suit brought  by
  Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry and his wife, Andrea McHenry.
  The action was filed in San Francisco Superior Court  in 1991 by
  attorneys Dennis Cunningham, Sarge Holtzman, and  Randy Baker.
  Encompassed within the suit is a time-line of events.  The incidents
  are presented in chronological order, with each seperate incident given a
  seperate paragraph and number.  The net effect is a sort of daily diary
  of the period.  The time period covered begins at December 1987.
  Skipping ahead to Sept. of 1988, the record relates the following:

  "47. On September 14, 1988 plaintiff Keith McHenry met with Jack
  Breslin of the Health Department to review the California Public Health Code
  to negotiate Food Not Bombs' compliance with these  ules.
  48. On September 19, 1988 defendant Al Chin of the San Francisco
  Health Department inspected Food Not Bombs and issued a new list of
  requirements to meet.  Food Not Bombs acquired the designated items.
  49. On September 26, 1988 Defendant Al Chin inspected Food Not Bombs
  again and issued a different list of requirements for Food Not Bombs.
  Food Not Bombs again acquired the designated items
  50. On October 3, 1988 defendant Al Chin inspected Food Not Bombs again
  and issued still a different list of requirements for Food Not Bombs.
  Food Not Bombs once again raised money for the new items and requested
  a final list of required items from Chin
  51. On October 10, 1988 the defendant City and County of San Francisco's
  Recreation and Parks Department issued Food Not Bombs a new permit for
  Haight and Stanyan streets.  On that day  defendant Al Chin inspected
  Food Not Bombs again."

  At this point the officious Al Chin dropped from sight for a few days.
  Intervening events included a protest at the Presidio at which
  Mchenry, without warning, was attacked from behind by a group
  of police.  By the 17th, however, Chin was once more dogging Food Not
  Bombs' trail.

  "54. On October 17, 1988, defendant Al Chin inspected Food Not Bombs
  again and provided a list of still more demands to change their food distribution."

  It must be kept in mind that Chin was employed by the city and thus
  getting paid for his time.  The FNB members who were jumping through
  Chin's hoops were volunteers, putting their time in for free.  With the
  ushering in of the new year, Chin was once more back on the job:

  "59. On January 15, 1989, defendant Al Chin adduced still new reasons
  to deny Food Not Bombs a health permit.  Plaintiff Keith McHenry and Food
  Not Bombs requested and were  granted another meeting with Health
  Department officials to establish definitive standards for the operation
  of Food Not Bombs.
  60. In Feb. 1989 a final meeting between plaintiff Keith McHenry and
  Food Not Bombs and the Health Department occurred at which Food Not
  Bombs was told that no further meetings would be needed. Food Not Bombs
  implemented the agreed-to changes.  However, defendant Al Chin
  subsequently inspected and stated that there were further problems
  with Food Not Bombs' food distribution."

  On July 14, the city petitioned the Superior Court for an injunction
  forbidding FNB from further food serving.  The court granted the
  request, however, on September 11, the city, in a surprising reversal
  of its previous policy, issued Food Not Bombs a limited--good only for
  Mondays at Haight and Stanyan in Golden Gate Park (although multiple
  locations had been requested).  The permit, however, was short lived.
  According to the suit,

  "66. On October 10, 1989, the San Francisco Park and Recreation
  Department revoked Food Not Bombs' permit, purportedly because its
  $1,000,000 liability insurance was inadequate."

  The food liability insurance referred to above covered the city should,
  say, someone get sick from eating at FNB and, as a result, sue the City
  of San Francisco.  The insurance cost the city nothing; the one million
  dollar policy was maintained by FNB. The squabble over permits was far
  from over at this point.  In fact, the whole process of Health granting
  a permit only to have it annulled by Rec and Park was destined,
  incredibly, to repeat itself. As the year 1989 drew to a close, more
  hoop jumping ensued:

  "67. In November 1989 Food Not Bombs applied for more permits to
  conduct food distribution at Civic Center and United Nations Plaza.  Food Not
  Bombs and plaintiff Keith McHenry were told they would also need a
  permit from the defendant City and County of  San Francisco's Fire
  Department.
68. The defendant City and County of San Francisco's Fire Department
  broke all appointments which plaintiff Keith McHenry and other Food
  Not Bombs volunteers made with them until February 27, 1990.  Otherwise
  plaintiff Keith McHenry and other Food Not Bombs volunteers received
  no answer regarding their new permit requests."

  In December, the suit alleged, city officials issued new edicts,
  demanding FNB obtain a "land use permit" as well as a "push cart
  peddler's permit."  Was the city, in an off-the-cuff manner, simply
  inventing permit requirements that didn't exist? Certainly at least
  one "John Doe" (name unknown) police officer seemed to be up to something
  of the sort one day when Food Not Bombs attempted to serve food at a
  protest:

  "76. During Monday on the second week of March, 1990, plaintiff Keith
  McHenry was giving away food and literature at a political rally at
  San Francisco's City Hall at about noon, when the food plaintiff and other
  members were distributing was confiscated by defendant Doe San Francisco
  police officers, who informed  plaintiff that he needed a permit, which
  would cost $650 per demonstration, from the San Francisco Recreation
  and Parks Department to give away food at demonstrations."

  Meanwhile the arrests continued to pile up.  While many of these were
  documented in the suit, it is highly unlikely, in the confusion of
  events, that all were so recorded.  One which was, however, was an
  incident taking place five days before Christmas 1989.  Distinguishing
  this arrest from the many others was the presence of high ranking city
  officials, and the suggestion of an inter-departmental collaboration
  in the repression--in this case between the Police Department and the
  City Attorney's Office.

  "70. On December 20, 1989, plaintiff Keith McHenry was arrested while
  talking to journalists in United Nations Plaza by defendant San
  Francisco Police Department Captain Dennis Martel and other defendant
  Doe uniformed officers in the presence of, and on information and
  belief, under the supervision of defendant Commander Michael Lennon
  and Executive Deputy City Attorney George Riley.  Doe defendant police
  officers also arrested other Food Not Bombs volunteers at this time and
  location.  The defendant Doe officers took into custody the food and
  other equipment which had been in the possession of the Food Not Bombs
  volunteers.  Plaintiff  Keith McHenry and the arrested volunteers were
  held in jail over night."

  Throughout this time (and for years into the future) city officials
  repeatedly painted a false picture for the media regarding the whole
  permit controversy.  Time and again officials spoke of how the city
  had attempted to assist FNB in obtaining the necessary permits.  The
  problem, they would say, lay simply in FNB's intransigence--its refusal
  to get permits or to obey even minimal food safety standards. "They
  refuse to comply with health care regulations," disputed former Mayor
  Frank Jordan in an interview with talk-show host Peter B. Collins and
  which aired on KSFO in January 1994.  Health officials, Jordan added,
  had offered to "help" FNB achieve this longed-for compliance, to no avail.

  Such patently false statements were even made before judges.  On July
  21, 1989, Deputy City Attorney George Riley declared before Superior
  Court Judge Ralph Flageollet, "The city stands ready today, as it has
  since September, to waive fees, to assist Food Not Bombs in meeting
  these minimal requirements so that a permit can issue."  Riley added,
  "All we ask is that minimal compliance with law." Riley's words are
  recorded in the court reporter's transcript of proceedings.  (People  of
  the State of California ex rel...v. Food Not Bombs, 908-581, San
  Francisco Superior Court, hearing for July 21, 1989).

  Another deputy city attorney, Paula Jesson, stated in a December 18,
  1989 letter to Federal Judge William Schwarzer, "...the city has
  engaged in numerous attempts to assist plaintiffs to obtain
  the health and park permits that they need..."

  Riley's comments before Judge Flageollet were made at a hearing on
  July 21, 1989.  The results of that hearing?  Flageollet issued the very
  court injunction under which the police today are arresting Food Not
  Bombs.
 
************************************************************************

  San Francisco Liberation Radio, 93.7 FM, 750 LaPlaya  box 852, San
  Francisco, CA, 94121, 415-386-3135, sflr@slip.net

  Attend the San Francisco Liberation Radio benefit at  the CoCo
  Club--Monday, Nov. 8, 1999, with DJs Tychos and  Bruder of the Tuff
  Tone  Broadcasting Co.  The CoCo Club is at 139 8th St. at  Minna Alley.

  Visit the San Francisco Liberation Radio website at:
  http://www.slip.net/~dove

***************

Jetliner missing off Nantucket
Sunday, 31 October 1999 10:25 (GMT)

(NOTE: FAA spokesman; clarifying time)
(UPI Focus)
Jetliner missing off Nantucket
    BOSTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) - The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a
Boeing 767 operated by Egypt Air after the FAA reported the plane lost
radar contact with flight controllers soon after taking off from JFK
airport in New York.
    FAA spokesman Eliot Brenner said Flight 990 departed for Cairo at
1:19 a.m. EST and lost radar contact at 2 a.m., some 60 miles south of
Nantucket.
    Senior Chief Richard Ross told UPI a Coast Guard jet and four cutters
were searching for Flight 990.
    Officials had no information on what might have happened to the plane
or how many passengers were on board. The aircraft's capacity is about
240 passengers.

*************

US Senate Passes 18-Month Extension of Research Tax Credit

Washington, Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate passed a temporary extension of the corporate research and development tax credit in a move that paves the way for enactment this year of a larger package of tax credit extensions.

The Senate and House still must work out final tax legislation that Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said he hopes will include a permanent extension of R&D credits.

``I hope that we will make it either permanent or as long as possible,'' Lott said.

The R&D credit is worth more than $1 billion to U.S. companies annually. Companies that rely on it include Microsoft Corp., EDS Corp., Merck & Co., and Johnson & Johnson Inc. The credit applies to expenses for the development of new drugs, high- technology products and medical devices.

The bill passed today would also extend the $500 per child tax credit under the alternative minimum tax for working families in 1999 and 2000.

The Senate bill, passed quickly by voice vote, includes a $473 million tax credit sought by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bill Roth to benefit poultry producers in Roth's home state of Delaware. Roth's provision extends tax credits for 10 years for biomass electricity produced from chicken waste. The credit is aimed at commercial poultry producers such as Tyson Foods Inc., Purdue Farms and others. The provision also provides tax credits for electricity produced from wind farms.

Other Credits Included

Other extensions in the bill involve the welfare-to-work and work opportunity tax credits, which help offset the cost of training low-income workers. Fast-food chains and hotels favor this tax break. U.S. banks and insurance companies with major overseas operations, such as CitiGroup and American International Group Inc., want extension of a credit that helps offset the expense of conducting some financial activities abroad.

The bill, hammered out in a bipartisan compromise within the Finance Committee last week, uses technical tax code shifts to pay for the credits under federal budget law.

Representative Bill Archer, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, said last week he would advance a tax package through the House once the Senate acted.

Under federal budget rules any tax credit is considered an expenditure of revenue and must be paid for with cuts elsewhere. A permanent extension could cost more than $17 billion, while the temporary extension only costs $3.5 billion.

BBG/US-Senate-Passes-18-Month-Extension-of-Resea/
Any redistribution of Bloomberg content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Bloomberg L.P. Any reference to the material must be properly attributed to Bloomberg News.

The information herein was obtained from sources which Bloomberg L.P. and its suppliers believe reliable, but they do not guarantee its accuracy. Neither the information, nor any opinion expressed, constitutes a solicitation of the purchase or sale of any securities or commodities. © Copyright 1999 Bloomberg L.P. BLOOMBERG, Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Financial Markets, Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg News Radio are trademarks, tradenames and service marks of Bloomberg L.P.

*************

October 31, 1999
Libertarians Angered Over Sheriff's Letter

This is absurd.  This sheriff should not only have his "opinions" removed from the site, he should be removed from office.  To think that someone who holds these kind of opinions which are blatantly un-constitutional and holds an office that directly is charged with enforcing the constitution is quite specifically a conflict of interest and certianly a threat to anyone who's opinioins run counter to his.  The man is armed and directs the actions and activities of a large group of armed men.

His actions in disregarding the LAW for his own bizarre sense of right and wrong constitutes a direct physical threat to the community where he controls. 

This is yet another example of the far right's agenda which has been surfacing world wide lately in promoting actions and activities that are a threat to local and international stablity. 

We need to inform this community that this kind of activity will not be tolerated nor allowed and I'm calling on our task force to track down every media and govt.contact number, email and fax for this county and demand they remove this maniac from office.  We'll be generating a note to this effect for everyone here that is not a member of the task force to participate and spread around.

Ellis
____________________

Libertarians Angered Over Sheriff's Letter
Attack Postings on Department's Web Site

Attacked gays, atheists, abortions

Call for removal of opinions

Khan said she did not agree with the most of the comments that McDougall made, but the organization, which was founded in 1947, just focuses on church-state issues. The group says it has 50,000 members and chapters in all 50 states.

David Noack is an APBnews.com staff writer (david.noack@apbnews.com).

*********

Save Our Children, Communities, Civil, & 1st Amendment Rights


"Claudia White" msdarkstar@excite.com
Oct. 29, 1999

  Happy Halloween from Salt Lake City,
     This is the most extensive computer outreach public information
  effortundertaken in the history of Mankind, and lovingly
  calledAntidisestablishmentarism. For the debut of our theme song "Justice"
  and further information visit my  web page:
    https://www.angelfire.com/ut/foosballworld1/index.html
      Many years  of hard work and strategic planning   have been put toward
  this effort of information gathering, and presentation by thousands
  ofvolunteers.  Myself and a cherished friend, that shall remain
  anonymous,have deadicated 21 years of our lives to this production.
      We are a coalition of non-affliated individuals, and non profit
  organizations, each with a specific job to do in order to improve the way
of life for children, communities, ending the drug war, call for nuclear
  disarmerment, immediate reversal on the US Senate Vote on the CTBT, the
  signing of that document by the US and to confront the politicians who
  havecaused this disaster, in other words get our civil rights back from
  Uncle Sam and his buddies, and making the world a better place for all of us.
      All efforts are being done a volunteer basis.
     Feel Free to contact each organization on how you might assist in doing
  your part in standing up for individual rights and world peace.
    The Drug Reform Coordination Network can be contacted by visiting:
  http://www.drcnet.org

  Truly Grateful,
    Claudia White BS,CT
    1999 Utah Woman Table Soccer Player of The Year
    ___________________
    Olympic Scandal & The Cover Up Of Police Brutality
  http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/6256/Soclissues/Olyscan.html

    My Name is Claudia White.  I am a 35 year old single, caucasian
    (Czech, Native American, Irish decent), well educated (University
    Of Utah Graduate), Woman.  I am also an athlete, a foosball player.
    I volunteer my time to the American Foosball Association for Save
    Our Children and Communities, as well as many other organizations.
     I have been an active volunteer in my community for several years.
     In 1994-95 I recieved the Voulonteer of The Year Award from the
    Utah Department Of Corrections for the drug rehabilitation classes
    I facilitated for Cocaine and other types of drugs at the Utah State
    Prison, Decker Lake and several other lock down facilities.
      I now have a  civil rights suit against Salt Lake City Corporation.
     I am being censored and ignored in Salt Lake City due to the Olympic
    Scandal and other priorities of Governor Micheal Leavitts, which
    is fund raising, moon lighting for Boyer& Co. and doing Y2K commercial
    for the local banks, while ignoring the fact that SLC is #1 in the
    Nation for Rape, Burglary, and Meth Labs since he has been in office.
      It is a sad day when my rights and freedom of speech are censored
    by the majority of press, radio, and media in America. And yet I
    can recieve correspondence from Sons Of Afrika about the  rights
    of the KKK being protected and held high by the federal government
    of the US:"Friend of those in power in New York City have won court
    approval for the Ku Klux Klan to hold a white power, white supremist
    rally this Saturday October 23, 1999 in NYC.Not only that, but the
    court has upheld the KKK's right to wear traditional white hoods,
    to conceal their identities while they shout out calls for the extermination
    of Sons and Daughters of Afrika,since they, the sons/daughters of
    Europe can no longer own us,as they did our progenitors. So before
    NYC celebrates the last (fake) [racist]christian millenium,in the
    last (fake) [racist]christian empore - SOA hopes that our 2 million
    descendants will confront the enemies of our fathersand mothers,
    those with sheet and those without  and send them a message yo !" SOA
    Defense

       So hear is the message:  This is the proper use of The Klu Klux
    Klan Act of 1964, Section 42 U.S.C. 1983...."Under the color of
    the Law a Political Official cannot deprive a citizen of their civil
    rights.....The following is information on the Organizations I volunteer
    for and also the story behind my Civil Rights Law suit in Salt Lake City.

       The American Foosball Association is helping to fend off drug
    sales and street crime that is threatening to overrun our neighborhoods
    of modest, middle class families. As part of this effort the AFA
    members have formed S.O.C.C, Save Our Community and Children. We
    want to offer youngsters a structured alternative to hanging out
    on the streets. Realizing a dream to support athletic, public service,
    and recreational programs. We envision drawing hundreds of children
    and teenagers from the streets to an area that has lacked sufficient
    after school alternatives for the youth.   With AFA members help,
    we can turn neighborhoods back over to the homeowner's, and give
    their children a chance to get out of the house and play in a safe environment.
      The A.F.A. is a non-profit association. As part of our mission
    we believe that something must be done about the growing juvenile
    crime in the U.S.A.; therefore we will donate a new or used table
    to any youth center in America. If you need a table or would like
    to donate a table to be given away in your name, you may do so.
    The cost for a new table is $300.00 plus shipping. A plaque will
    be put on the table stating your name or association (if you would
    like - optional). If you have an old table the A.F.A. will pay all
    shipping & handling to reclaim, recondition and place in a youth
    center of our choice or yours - please contact us @ 1-888-FOOSING.
      It is very important to the A.F.A. to intervene and set a proper
    example for today's youth - if we don't lead our youth then who
    will? All donations are tax deductible.
      The life or lives you save today will be an investment in the
    future of tomorrow. AGAIN ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

      For more information about how you can make a difference for the
    young adults in your community, E-mail us today!
    foosball@gnv.fdt.net

       As you know I have a notice of claims(inadmissible as evidence
    under Fed. R. Evid. 408 as an offer to compromise) filed with SLC
    Corp. for the Mayor and City Council of Salt Lake City Corporation,
    451 South State Street, Suite 415, Salt Lake City 84111. Which reads:
      1. Brief Statement of FactsPursuant to Utah Code Ann. 63-30-11(3)(a)(i),

     Ms. White, by and through counsel, states the facts giving rise
    to her claim, based on currently available information and belief as
    follows:*

    On April 19, 1999, Ms. White was subjected to the use of excessive
    force by an Officer of the SLCPD. On that day, Ms. White, was sitting
    in [Liberty] Park next to the World War I commemorative statue and,
    ironically, reading the US Constitution [and case summaries].   While
    reading, Ms. White saw police officers sweeping through the Park
    and requiring others to leave. Ms. White then approached a female
    Officer of SLCPD.  The Officer spoke to Ms. White and told her to
    leave the Park. Ms. White asked "why?" and the Officer responded,
    "because."In an effort to comply with the Ofiicer's request, Ms.
    White then went to pick up her [library] book, which she had left sitting
    next to the statue.  When she stooped down to pick up the book, Ms. White
    was shoved [5 times] by a male Officer from the SLCPD, the book
    was ripped from her hands by the Officer, she was hit in her leg
    twice by the Officer with his baton.  As she was being hit, Ms.
    White said, "What are you doing hitting me, I'm a woman? Don't hit
    me!"  After Ms. White was beaten by the Officer, she asked if she
    was under arrest and recieved no response.  Ms. White was not charged
    with a crime and posed a threat to no one.  There was no offer of
    Medical assistance.  Ms. White left the Park and eventually collapsed
    in the parking lot outside the Church of Christ on 13th South and
    7 East.  She was unable to walk.
         My friends and I left the park and stood, with permission, on
    the corner of 1300 South and 600 East by the Park Cafe'.  Cheif
    Ruben Ortega showed up at about 7:20 pm, at which time he sent
     approximately25 officers in full riot gear across the street in a military march.
     The officers marched behind bullet proof sheilds with automatic
    rifles pointed at the back of our heads, and made us walk to the
    park across the street at which time they left.  None of us were
    arrested, nor read our rights.  The police did not call in any medical
    back up to help the injured nor did they re-open Liberty Park so
    that we could get our vehicles.  This was a show of force in an
    attempt to change the community in which I grew up in and have been a
    vital part of for 35 years.
         During my research on civil rights I found a book entitled:  Getting
    Uncle Sam to Enforce Your Civil Rights, United States Commission
    on Civil Rights, Clearinghouse Publication 59.  Which states under Law
    Enforcement...
        Federal criminal civil rights prohibits law enforcement agents
    from conspiring to interfere with federally protected rights under
    color of law, or using or conspiring to use force, or threat of
    force, to interfere with the free exercise of your civil rights.
         To report criminal activities that constitute violation of civil
    rights [by police or politician] contact: US Department of Justice,
    Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section, 10th St. & Constitution
    Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 20530,  (202)514-1412 Fax: (202)514-303.
         If you are victim of gender-motivated violence in which the level
    of violence under State and Federal law constitutes a felony, the
    is a Federal, civil remedy under the Violence Against Women Act
    1994.  To make use of this remedy it is not required that charges
    be filed or there be a conviction.  Unlike other civil actions,
    this action is not brought by the government, but by private individual
    through an attorney.
          For further information about Violence Against Women Act, contact:
    US Department of Justice,  Violence Against Women Office, 10 St
    & Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20530, (202)616-8894,
    Fax:(202)307-3911.

      Please join me in my protest against  Violence, the Drug War,
    and Poverty globally by Boycotting the 2002 Olympic Games.  And
    supporting the following organizations.

    Children of Chernobyl
    http://www.adiccp.org/contents.html

    Save Our Children and Communities
    http://www.foosball.org/

    DRCNet: Cops Against the Drug War
    http://www.drcnet.org/cops/cops.html

    Families Against Mandatory Minimums
    http://www.famm.org

    If we join hands as a world community and stand up for our rights
    we can stop the Hate, therefore the war on Human Rights and individuals
    rights of equal opportunity as well as protection.  We can through
    unity follow in the image of the great Martin Luther King, Jr. who
    had a dream that all men were created equal.  He had the audacity
    to believe that as a human being we had the right to 3 square meals
    a day.  Now days eating is a privilege for the sick and suffering
    children of the world, a world in which it is a crime to be impoverished,

    yet the powers that be, force the average person into below average
    financial conditions.  We must unite, before its just much to late.
    My Father taught me about Martin Luther King Jr, and taught me to
    live by these words, "I'd rather die in abject poverty than with
    a lack of self esteem", and I will die for those words.
      A Boycott of the 2002 Olympic Games could be a simple easy platform
    on which to obtain World Peace, liberty and justice for all.  Its
    time for the 13 year long Drug War in America to be over.  This
    tragedy in American history declared by Ronald Reagan has turned
    out to be a war on culture.  A rich culture that has its roots in
    the early 60's, with Timothy Leary, the Merry Prankster, and Drugs
    like LSD.  Today am person would be sent to prison on a mandatory
    minimum sentence of ten years for being using "spiritual" drugs
    to have a 60's experience, however on the other hand, anyone can
    buy Al Capones poison, alcohol, 24 hours a day with the blessing
    of the federal, and state government in America.  Its time that
    we as American and World Citizens take back the right to our heritage,
    our history. Such sacred treasures as our ancestory cannot be outlawed
    by any  government, or taken away by any police force or military.
    These are  not made by Man, but a blessings from God, and must be protected
    as such.
      The only way for true peace is through Unity; unity has never
    meant uniformity.  True unity comes through the ethics of diversty
    and consensus.  This ideally is what the Olympics stand for, world
    unity through diversity and truce. Obviously none of these aspects
    of the Olympics are represented in Utah by the Politicians, or the
    Corporations they represent.  Maybe then we can invest $269 Billion
    US dollars in victims of National Defense like those in Columbia,
    and disasters such as Chernobyl, instead of the criminals that have
    caused them or choose to look away from the faces of the dying children.

    Sincerely,
    Claudia K. White BS, CT(ASCP)
    1999 Utah Foosball Player Woman Of The Year
    http://angelfire.com/ut/foosballworld1/index.html

Find this article with others on our Petitions' Page - Click Here

***********

Higher Premiums,Fewer Insurers Mar 2000 Federal Health Plan

They should be so lucky.  Most people who are fortunate enough to have
insurance at all pay a heck of a lot more for a heck of lot less.  Gee, wanna
bet all of a sudden we'll start hearing about "medical reform" now that the
fat republicans suddenly have to pay a few dollars more?  Gouge and
gouge until they finally squeeze the the hands that feed them. Then maybe
the rest of us will some relief from the massive health costs we've been
enduring for the past few decades.

ellis

October 29, 1999
Higher Premiums, Fewer Insurers Mar 2000 Federal Health Plan
  By Douglas J. Gillert
  American Forces Press Service

  WASHINGTON -- The Office of Personnel Management hasn't been
  able to keep the lid on cost increases to the Federal Employees
  Health Benefits Program, which will rise an average of 9.3
  percent this year.

  As OPM frets over how to control the rising cost of health
  insurance for the nations' millions of federal employees, it
  also has seen 43 insurers from last year's plan drop out.
  Officials said the dropouts will affect more than 40,000
  civilian employees who will have to find a new carrier for 2000.

  These changes were announced as the FEHBP open season, which
  runs Nov. 8-Dec. 13, drew near.

  "It is clear that competition in the marketplace has not
  effectively slowed the growth in FEHBP premiums," said OPM
  Director Janice R. Lachance. OPM administers the health plan for
  federal employees and retirees. "We must consider new and bold
  approaches so we can continue providing affordable, high-quality
  health care to our employees, retirees and their families."

  Lachance said the increases this year and the past two years are
  unacceptable. This year's rate increase follows a 9.5 percent
  increased in 1999 and a 7.2 percent increase in 1998. To control
  future increases and improve the program overall, Lachance said
  OPM will submit legislative proposals early next year to improve
  the quality and cost effectiveness of health plans by raising
  the standards for participating health insurers. She also hopes
  to make the plan more efficient.

  Lachance was scheduled to discuss improvements during a panel
  discussion at the American Association of Health Plans quality
  and information conference in Palm Springs, Calif., Oct. 29. She
  was expected to address customer service, quality care and
  value-based purchasing with association members. Based in
  Washington, the association represents more than 1,000 health
  maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations and
  other network-based plans.

  No reason was given for the 43 insurers that dropped out of the
  plan for 2000. However, OPM said the insurers were required to
  notify their members that they need to select a new plan during
  the open season.

  "Military Report," an on-line newsletter posted a list of the
  dropouts on the Internet its Sept. 23 edition at
  www.militaryreport.com/healthins.htm.

  In 2000, biweekly premiums will average $30.10 for individuals
  and $64.67 for families. All participating insurers and premiums
  are listed on the OPM Web site at
  www.opm.gov/insure/00rates/index.htm.

*********

Thursday, October 28, 1999
Mumia update: stay issued, protests continue

Friends,

On Tuesday, October 26, 1999, Mumia was finally granted a stay of execution
by federal Judge Yohn. While this is most definitely wonderful news, we
should not take it as a chance to rest in our organizing.

On October 13th, Governor Thomas Ridge of Pennsylvania signed a new
warrant for execution setting Dec. 2, 1999 as the execution date. The stay
of execution will allow Mumia a bit more time to utilize the final legal recourses at
his disposal, and it will also allow our movement more desperately-needed time
to broaden and expand. We must use this time to reach out to sectors of the
population that still don't know who Mumia is and why he is so important.

We urge everyone to become knowledgeable about Mumia's case, and to
become active organizers in broadening the Mumia movement. Contact the
International Action Center and Millions for Mumia at (212) 633-6646. We have
informational resources for house meetings and teach-ins.

Below are two important articles:

I.  On Oct. 26, protesters in LA confronted Gov. Ridge. Three protesters,
including John Parker of the South Central Coalition, National People's
Campaign, and International Action Center, disrupted Ridge. A picture of John
holding a sign demanding a new trial for Mumia appeared in the Philadelphia
Inquirer.

II. Gloria Steinem's statement demanding a new trial for Mumia.

CONFRONTED IN LOS ANGELES BY MUMIA SUPPORTERS:
PENNSYLVANIA GOV. RIDGE ON THE ROPES

By Richard Becker, Los Angeles

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge launched his bid for national political office here
on Oct. 26, but it quickly hit the rocks. Demonstrators chanting "Governor
Ridge--serial killer," and "Free Mumia," outnumbered Ridge supporters by
better than two-to-one.

Ridge hardly had spoken his first words to an invitation-only audience of
Hollywood right-wingers, when he was interrupted by three supporters of
Pennsylvania death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Lillian Adelman, National Lawyers Guild Director Jim Lafferty, and John Parker
of the National People's Campaign and the South Central Coalition, had
infiltrated the "Wednesday Morning Club's" event despite a massive security
presence.

A major story about the disruption appeared in the Oct. 27 Philadelphia
Inquirer, along with a photo of Parker inside the event holding up a sign
reading "New Trial to Free Mumia -- Stop the Execution."

Ridge, who met later in the day with Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, came to
California apparently to boost his prospects as George W. Bush's possible
vice- presidential running mate. Fewer than 75 people--among them actor Charlton
Heston and Wednesday Morning Club director David Horowitz--showed up for
the luncheon.

Meanwhile, outside the posh Beverly Wilshire in the center of Beverly Hills,
more than 150 multi-national demonstrators militantly protested Ridge's
presence. The infamous governor has twice signed death warrants against
Mumia--in 1995 and again earlier this month. The latest death warrant was
stayed on Oct. 26.

Ridge has issued death warrants for more than 175 people, 100 of them African
Americans.

The demonstration was called by the National People's Campaign and the
South Central Coalition, and endorsed by many other organizations. Among
the most visible was the Black Riders Liberation Party, a community-based
African American youth organization from South Central, who provided
security for the protest.

Hundreds of Beverly Hills police and Los Angeles county sheriffs were
stationed inside and outside the hotel, many of them equipped with flak
jackets, riot helmets and large bags filled with tear gas canisters.

The demonstrators were not intimidated.

Following a short rally at the hotel's front entrance, chaired by Dele Ojoje
Ailemen and Deacon Alexander, word came down that Parker and Adelman had
successfully disrupted Ridge's speech and been arrested for trespassing.

The picket line turned into a march, which wound its way for over a mile
through Beverly Hills to the municipal center and police station. There,
protesters set up a new picket line.

The cops reacted by shutting down surrounding streets and re-deploying large
forces around their headquarters, resulting in big traffic jams around the area.

After about an hour, Parker and Adelman were released to a cheering crowd.
John Parker told the demonstration, "we are going to continue this struggle
until Mumia is free."

News of disruption along with a picture of John holding a NPC placard of
Mumia made the Philadelphia Inquirer. To read the coverage of the disruption,
please click on link below:
http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/99/Oct/27/national/RIDGE27.htm


GLORIA STEINEM'S STATEMENT CALLING FOR A NEW TRIAL FOR MUMIA

Something is very rotten in the state of Pennsylvania.

Governor Ridge has signed 176 death warrants in the last five years. That's
five times more than his predecessors signed in twenty-five years.

He has done this in defiance of the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Bar
Associations, both of which have urged a moratorium until the death penalty
can be shown to be racially unbiased and otherwise justified.

Right now, the percentage of African American men on death row is nearly
700% higher than in the population at large, a larger racial disparity than
in any other state. This means that an African American man growing up in
Philadelphia is eleven and a half times more likely to end up on death row than
one in Georgia or Alabama.

Mumia Abu-Jamal is the most famous such man. A radio journalist and political
activist, he was accused and convicted of shooting a Philadelphia police
officer. However, there are allegations of 29 Constitutional violations in his trial,
as well as prosecutorial misconduct, racial bias in jury selection, and fabrication
of evidence. There may also be new evidence of his innocence.

There must be a new trial. If not, this case will join those that undermine public
faith in the justice system, and live on in history as a divisive force.

Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, for example, 82 prisoners have
been exonerated. If there is no new trial, it may appear that the Governor
supports this execution in order to render a case moot and conceal errors in
the system. It is in his own interest--both in the short term politically and
the long term historically--to re-think his signing of the death warrant.

Mumia Abu-Jamal is a human being who deserves the same defense and
respect that each of us would want. That would be reason enough. But he also
stands for many other people, past, present, and future.

His case could encourage a crucial examination of the death penalty. It could
lead us to investigate the prison industrial complex, and the reasons why more
and more prisons are being built even as the crime rate declines. It could help
reveal who is in prison -- and why.

Most important right now is the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal. But his case is also
crucial to our safety and democracy. We all have a stake in the nature of justice
in Pennsylvania.

Signed -- Gloria Steinem 10/24/99

International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@iacenter.org
http://www.iacenter.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax:   212 633-2889

*********

Sacred Lands Under Seige ::: Support Sovereign Dineh Nation
23 Oct 1999
 
  ************************************************
  From: Lendra Ceinwyn
  *****************
  To weave for the Dine'h is a prayer of thanksgiving , "the
  People" whom some call Navajo. Without their sheep  they cannot pray.
 
  As of Feb1., 2000 this proud independent matriachal culture will be
  forced once again to move to a "New Land", to be relocated,
  which they have no word for in their language.
 
  In 1998, President Clinton signed the Relocation Act during a golf game,
  condemning the Dine'h to be moved again against their will, to "New Land"
  which is filled with radioactive uranium tailings at 100 times the maximum safety level.
 
    7 grandmothers have refused to sign over their land, and will refuse
  because Big Mountain is sacred to them, the Earth their Mother,
  this is their  lives they refuse to hand over to the BIA, and Peabody
  Coal. These 7 grandmothers are the elders of the Dine'h and represent 14,000 people.
 
  The Dine'h people are afraid that there will be another Ruby Ridge or
  Waco or Wounded Knee on or before Feb. 1
 
  Please sign the Petition to end the genocide of the Dine'h People, and
  let them continue to weave and breathe.
  This is surely one of the darkest episodes in our history.
 
  Sign Online Petition in Support of Navajo Elders
  http://www.freespeech.org/senaa/VPJava.html
  http://www.freespeech.org/senaa/VPnoJava.html
 
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  Ya'a' te & Aloha All...
 
      The Altar-Land at Black Mesa is one of the sacred power-centers
  of our planet, and the balance of all life is being jeopardized by the
  ruthless and brutal rape of this mineral-rich area adjacent to the Grand
  Canyon.
 
     My Aunty, Roberta Blackgoat, is one of the "resistors", or traditional
  elders, who is holding out till the last, faced with guns, bulldozers,
  barbed wire, helicopters, and constant harrassment... in order to protect
  the medicine ways and family ties to this sacred place, now referred to
  simply as "Big Mountain."
 
     The extent of the conflict, the war of attrition carried out by U.S. &
  multinational corporate terrorists, and the total ecocide of the North
  section of Black Mesa (literally turned into a "hell on Earth"!) by
  United Energy & Peabody Coal through stripmining, is difficult to
  convey in words, or even pictures.
 
     Please take a short time out of your lives and visit the links below,
  watch  ::: "Vanishing Prayer" (RealPlayer)
  http://www.freespeech.org/senaa/VanPrayr2.ram
 
  Sign the online petition at SENAA, and after you've reviewed the
  situation, please send your letters of protest to the people below.
 
     Having lived out there with the elders, and walked in the footsteps
  of the ancients, having listened to the Hopi Prophecies, and the
  wisdom of the medicine carriers, I can testify to the importance
  of this struggle for sovereignty and self-determination, both
  culturally and ecologically. Walk the Altar-Land yourself, and
  feel the Spirit move in and around you...
 
    In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Emilio Zapata, and Lili'uokalani
               BZ Bonoboy           Hilo, Kingdom of Hawai'i
                       sheeva@shaka.com
 
  Protests & Support for Elders to:::
  Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt
  bruce_babbitt@ios.doi.gov
 
  BIA Office of Congressional & Legislative Affairs
  http://www.doi.gov/bia/clahome.html
 
  U.S. Department of the Interior ::: BIA West
  OAIT@ios.doi.gov
  jackie_dean_cheek@ios.doi.gov
  danae_wilson@ios.doi.gov
 
  National Academy of Public Administration
  http://www.napawash.org/napa/index.html
  Comments to cbrouwer@napawash.org
  (Panel Urges Major Reforms at the Bureau of Indian Affairs)
 
  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
  FIGHTING THE BIA's "FINAL SOLUTION"
  by Al Swilling
 
  Kosovo is not the only place in the world conducting human rights abuses and
  ethnic cleansing. What the U.S. government doesn't want the Americanpublic
  to know is that the same crimes that NATO forces were so determined tostop
  in Kosovo are happening right now within United States borders. The
  following video outlines the story of the Dine'h (Navajo) who live at Big
  Mountain, on the Black Mesa, in northeastern Arizona.
 
    For the past 25 years, the Dine'h have been the victims of greed and
  government oppression in the extreme. Abandoned by their own tribal
  council by orders of the federal government, the Dine'h have been stripped of
  virtually every human, civil, and constitutional right because they refuse
  to leave their ancestral homeland and relocate into the only alternative
  provided by the U.S. government, which is known as the "New Land," land
  that is contaminated with uranium tailings that have rendered the land
useless, with radiation levels 100 times maximum safe levels.
 
  Now the Dine'h face a deadline of February 1, 2000, to relocate. The Bureau
  of Indian Affairs (BIA) has sworn that it will execute its "Final Solution"
  before the deadline. The Dine'h at Big Mountain fear that the BIA's "Final
  Solution" will be similar to the solutions executed at Waco, Ruby Ridge,   and
  Wounded Knee; with only the BIA remaining to tell the American public
  whatever it wants the public to believe and no one surviving to say otherwise.
 
  This video presentation conveys as no words can the story of the Dine'h of
  Black Mesa and the reasons for their suffering.
 
  If you would like a copy of the videotape, VANISHING PRAYER Genocide of
  the  Dineh, it is available by contacting Steve Sugarman at:
  steve@saveourplanet.org ,or from Sol Communications at
  meyesol@eudoramail.com
 
  VIEW "Vanishing Prayer" (RealPlayer)
  http://www.freespeech.org/senaa/VanPrayr2.ram
 
  We hope that you will join our battle to help the Dine'h remain on their
  ancestral homeland and to stop the ethnic cleansing and human rights
  violations being perpetrated by the federal government.
 
    The Dine'h now survive almost totally on charitable contributions. We   hope
  that you will join SENAA and others across the nation in helping to fight
  for these proud and peaceful people. For more photos and in-depth articles,
  etc., about the plight of the Dine'h people, visit SENAA's web site
  NEWSLETTER at: <http://members.xoom.com/senaa/index2.html .
 
  If you want to get involved and make a difference for the Dine'h and for
  your children and grandchildren's future, contact Al Swilling at:
  senaa1@netscape.net
 
  Contributions to help the Dine'h, can be mailed to: SEE 20110 Rockport Way
  Malibu, CA 90265
 
  Audio File (RealAudio)
  "Resource Extraction and the Genocide of the Navajo People"
  by Jackie A. Giuliano Ph.D
 
  http://www.freespeech.org/senaa/navajo.ram
 
  &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
 
  The View from the Hogan 7
  107 Days till the final solution
  Notes from Big Mountain
 
  Ya'a'tee
 
  First off, a point of terminology. I have been instructed to avoid using  the
  word"HPL" in my writing. The words HPL, JUA, Navajo Reservation, etc etc,
  are deeply painful and offensive. These words refer to lines drawn on maps
  and in the minds of those in Washington ( and their followers). They are not
  real, they divide that which is whole.
 
  I will refer to the land where these  words are being written as The Altar.
  The reasoning is this: Within the four sacred mountains that encompass
  Navajo land, is the hogan for the Dineh people. When a hogan is built to
  live in, it is a model of this Macrocosmic Hogan. This is why Ceremonies
  must take place inside a Hogan. This is also why bulldozing of Hogans is
  such an abominable and sacreligious crime.
 
  Within the Ceremonial Hogans is a space used for an altar. Within the
  Macrocosmic Hogan this space correlates to the Big Mountain area.
 
     We hear of many events and prayer vigils taking place in the first week
  of  October at U.S. Embassies abroad in support of the people here and against
  the continued genocide. To all of you who have worked hard at setting up
  these events, we send our prayers and thanks, as well as to all those who
  give of their precious time to attend these events. Let us hope that the
  hearts of those in Washington will be touched.
 
  As Sitting Bull said "As individual fingers we can easily be broken, but   all
  together we make a mighty fist."
 
  There is a good letter circulating on the Net from "the people of the land
  known as America" to the clowns in Washington. contact Beth at isco@efn.org
  and ask her to send you a copy. If you like what it says, then you just  send
  Beth your name and address and it will get appended.
 
  The Men In Black continue to visit Paulines land on a daily basis. They
  recently stopped at the site of this past summers Education/Witness camp,
  and -horror of horrors- they discovered a piece of soggy cardboard
  approximatley one foot square, and a small brown bottle that at one point
  contained ginger beer. Barely able to contain their outrage, many
  photographs were taken of the offending material, and they rushed back to
  HQ  as fast as possible. Imagine the scene, the BIA War room,... a group of
  Very  Important People cluster around the photos trying to decide what action
  to take against this latest outrage. Smart young men and women stride across
  the room with the latest satelite images.
 
    In the end they settle on an armed convoy composed of Hopi Rangers, BIA
  police, US marshalls, County Sherrifs, FBI and ATF, with a couple of
  National Guard Helicopter Gunships for back-up. Maybe I'm exaggerating
  SLIGHTLY, but what continues to take place here is a farce on a hugely
  criminal level, and sometimes I find humor to be my only defense against
  absurdity.
 
    Meanwhile, the real criminals, the BIA impoundment squads, continue to
  snatch the peoples animals even though there is more grass than could be
  consumed by flocks ten times as large. Of course we knew they were coming
  because the roads were graded. Normally the roads we travel are so bad they
  couldn't be classified as jeep trails, only last week I had to rush a woman
  to hospital in the middle of the night. A 75 mile journey took 2 and a half
  hours, each bump, rut and pot hole slowing us down and causing pain to my
  passenger.
 
  But when the BIA need to come in on a lightning raid to take the peoples
  animals, out come the dozers and graders to give them a nice smooth, fast
  ride. Your tax dollars hard at work.
  What may not be at all clear to  y'all out there is that this is all
  executed as military operations, these are para-military, multi-agency
  "squads" whose only aim is to cause fear and hardship. Loaded down with
  weapons and all the hi-tech toys money can by, elders who are alone are
  targetted.
 
  The following is a quote from Big Mountain Newsletter.
 
  The people of Big Mountain and the Joint Use Area say they are being
  terrorized. They cite jet airplanes flying so low that the pilot is  visible,
  BIA trucks cruising the Survival Camp and the peoples hogans, helicopters,
  and the apparent sabotage of wells and windmills, and so on. The government
  has answers for most of the charges, saying for instance that the jet
  flights are "routine" training patterns, the helicopters are "surveying"  and
  the trucks are "conducting a census". The government says the people are
  being "over dramatic" in their reactions.
  In the 1960's these same people said that they were attacked with poisonous
  gases from airplanes,  killing their livestock. It wasn't until years   later,
  when the white citizenry of Globe, Arizona, received a similar attack, that
  the U.S. admitted it had been using 2,4,5-T, an incredibly toxic pesticide,
  for "brush control" without proper safeguards.
 
  Even if the latest actions are in fact "routine", the question remains why
  all of these activities should suddenly escalate in the few months just
  prior to the July deadline for Navajo removal.
  The governments position on the jet flights is typical: the Air Force
  insists it is just running a normal training pattern which happens to pass
  directly over Big Mountain. Challenged at a recent hearing as to why the
  flights were necessary, and whether similar flights were scheduled over
  non-indian communities, the Air Force declined to explain.
 
  Spokespersons noted that it would not change the flights just to please the
  indians, regardless of ceremonies or other problems with the flights.
  Parents claimed the flights terrified their young children at school and
  literally knocked the elderly out of bed. Religious ceremonies are also
  disrupted and the livestock are scattered by the flights. The Air Force
  admits that it flies as low as 400 feet.
 
  Bottom line is that these Indian people are being subjected to procedures
  which the government wouldn't think of directing towards white communities.
  In this case the people under attack are the traditional Navajo and Hopi
  people of the Joint Use Area, already under incredible pressure due to 12
  years of implementation of the Relocation Act. The result is terror.
 
  That was written 14 years ago, and nothings changed..... its been going on
  the whole time since, and the view from the Hogan is inescapable that this
  is war, low-intensity maybe, but war nonetheless. One thing I am sure of,  is
  that both the people who plan this campaign of  harassment and those that
  carry it out, watch waaay too much TV.
 
    How is it that a war against Indians has been and is still being fought   on
  this continent for the past 30 years, and most people are only just finding
  out about it now?
 
  So, we are hurtling towards two big dates. January 1st, 2000 and February
  1st, 2000. I find it hard to get excited about the Millenium, some Roman
  dude, way back when, decides to change his peoples calendar and start time
  from a new date, how is that real? ......And anyway, don't most people know
  that the year begins on November 1st?
 
  When I think of Y2K, my first reaction is, how utterly terrifying it must
  be, to live in a world that is so unstable that a couple of digits on a
  silicon chip has the potential to bring it all tumbling down.
 
  My second thought is how absurd it is, that here on the Altar, are people
  who have the  knowledge, skills, and most importantly, the wisdom, to live
  without an infantile dependence on the Technostructure, and yet the  dominant
  society is hell-bent on rubbing out these people rather than listening to
  them and learning from them. If, in a worst case scenario (barring Nuclear
  Winter), the technostructure does collapse, then we here on the Altar will
  have to  make a few minor adjustments to our lifestyle ( though as I am now
  a cyber-slut, I'd surely miss conversing with all you good folks out  there),
  but overall the benefits would be enormous.
 
  The mine will close down. The sky will be free of huge, noisy, chunks of
  metal hurtling towards La La Land with Very Important People on board, and
  the Men in Black will cease harassing us  as the coal will be worthless. It
  would be my guess that many of you who have not been here cannot truly
  imagine what it is like to live outside of the Technostructure, without
  electricity, without plumbing, with the closest small store 20 miles away,
  asphalt road 30 miles away, telephone 36miles away, post office 40+ miles
  away, supermarket 74 miles away.
 
  The people here have never had these "amenities",... in what I consider a
  dumb move, the U.S. made it illegal for the people to "develop", hoping to
  encourage the people to leave, but what its caused is that the people
  continued with a way of life that has changed little for generations, and
  life is lived in a good way, depending on those most basic resources,  brains
  and bodies, something most of us have, life is generous.
 
  There is an often voiced belief "out there" that everybody in the world is
  so desperate to achieve the "American way of life", but I must tell you, it
  just ain't so.
 
  A little story may show this.Some years ago, when I was living with my
  Grandma and Grandpa, I figured that the price of a simple solar power  system
  was low enough for me to be able to raise the funds, so I asked my Grandma
  what she would use electricity for if I could supply it. I needed to figure
  what size system to work on. Her eyes immediately lit up, "an electric
  light,".... for the hogan in winter, so she could weave. Like many elderly
  people, her eyesight was not as sharp as it used to be, and with a keresone
  lamp the colors of the yarns were hard to see, so on the long winter nights
  she wasn't able to weave. " What else would you like" I asked. She thought
  for a while, and then said " an iron, to iron the rugs after they are
  finished". "Anything else" I asked. She thought, and thought....." how  about
  a microwave oven? refrigerator? TV?. She laughed. That was all she could
  think of to do with electricity, make it so she could spend even more hours
  sittin at the loom.
 
  Around this time I sat down and figured out how much these elderly women
  were getting paid to weave these beautiful rugs. Figuring in the time it
  takes to raise the sheep, shear, wash, clean, card, spin, dye the wool, set
  up the loom, and then do the weaving, I reckoned they were lucky if they
  were getting 2 bucks an hour.
 
  So any of you in the market for a genuine navajo rug, please bear in mind
  what a deal you're getting.  On the subject of rugs, for those of you in   the
  neighbourhood of  Missoula, Montana, there is an exhibition of   approximately
  50 rugs from the resisters here at the Art Gallery, in the University.  These
  are the real things, and the show runs till Oct 31st. I saw some of the  rugs
  on their way up there, and there is some beautiful work.
 
  I would be out of line to have a favorite, but Fanny Goys rugs are
  particularly fine. Roberta Blackgoat will be in town for a reception on
  Saturday the 30th, so that would certainly be worth attending.  On the
  subject of Robertas travels, she will be in Washington DC during the second
  week of November. I don't have any locations or dates for her appearances
  there, but for sure she will be at the concert where Blackfire are playing.
 
  Presuming of course we survive Y2K, we then come to February 1st, 2000. Who
  knows what is going to happen? The Feds and the HTC know, but they ain't
  saying. There have been deadlines before, and a pattern has emerged.  Threats
  of forced evictions are broadcast, support is mobilized, the media takes an
  interest, the deadline arrives, nothing happens, the media lose interest,
  support wanes, and back to the daily grind of low-intensity warfare and siege tactics.
 
  Maybe that will happen again, but maybe not. Warmaker is not known for
  making rational decisions, so it's best to plan for all eventualities.
 
    Back in the real world, the weather has changed. It hasn't rained for   some
  weeks now. Back to the usual intense blue dome above. The sun is much lower
  in the sky, the shadows are larger, the colors richer, and the days shorter.
 
  The Dineh name for this moon is "back to back", where the two seasons touch.
  The corn's all harvested, primary chore now is to bring in, cut, and chop
  firewood for the coming winter. There is already a nip in the night air, a
  killing frost took out my squash and tomato plant a few weeks ago.
 
  Like most life-sustaining activities round here, cutting firewood is illegal
  according to the Feds and the HTC. I know for a fact that sons of two of
  the Grandmas went into Hopi Tribal Offices to get a woodcutting permit and
  left without one, so even though no-ones been arrested in a while for cutting
  wood, it is one more stress and worry on the people.
 
    I've been too busy with the flock and the firewood to take advantage of   the
  other bumper harvest this year, Pinyon nuts, a much favored delicacy.
  Travelling across the Altar one sees people out, under the trees,  collecting
  as much as possible before the 4 legged and winged get their share.
 
  The sight of people collecting free food always feels festive to me. I
  stopped by Robertas place late one afternoon after she had been out picking
  all day. We sat in front of her house and watched her sheepherder bring  home
  the flock. Behind us, on her door, was a simple sign that reads:
 
  Entering Sovereign Dineh Nation Thin Rock Mesa All are welcome who repect
  the land, life, and law of the Dineh Warning! Federal, state, and tribal
  personnel, your jurisdiction does not apply here Your actions will be counter-acted.
 
  Similar signs are re-appearing around the Altar. As we sat, a huge strange
  looking object flew slowly over us. grabbing noculars I saw that it was the
  Space Shuttle, piggy-backed on a big jet transport. I explained to Roberta
  what the space shuttle was, and how it put all the satellites up in the  sky,
  and how some of those satellites can take pictures of us here on the ground.
 
  Her eyes immediately lit up, "we should write SUE THE CREATOR out there"
  she said, pointing to the land out in front of the house, Sooo there is now a
  message being laid out on the ground in front of her place, so if you happen
  to be an owner or operator of a spy satellite, point it to:
 
  36 degrees 14 minutes 79 seconds N 110 degrees 38 minutes 62 seconds W
  Also  if you are a pilot or photographer who wants to take some pictures of this
  message, you're welcome.
  One final thought on Y2K, we hear of big bucks being made by supplying Y2K
  survival information, so, I make the following offer; for a mere fifty  bucks
  a day, you are invited to the BOPEEP Y2K SURVIVAL SCHOOL, topics covered
  will include:
 
  How to avaoid freezing by using an axe. How to avoid thirst by walking to a
  spring with a bucket. How to avoid starvation by grubbing around in dirt  and
  blood and guts. How to repair just about anything with baling wire. 1001
  things to do when your television doesn't work. etc  etc.
 
     We human beings are an incredible species. Our brains and bodies are
  perfectly capable of doing all thats necesesary to keep life going in a  good
  way, but more than that, we are capable of profoundly beautiful acts of
  love, kindness, and generosity. Yet we are taught to feel powerless and to
  fear each other and to fear life itself. Why? (I am reliably informed that
  that is a rhetorical question)  But then, what the hell do I know,........
  I'm just a sheepherder.
  "We need to be kinder to each other"  Your prayers, support, and
  correspondence are invited.  I thank you for your time that you have given
  me by reading this.  For all my relations  Bo Peep  reachable via
  unclejake74@hotmail.com
 
  P.S. To all those who have written to me, please be aware that owing to the
  pressing needs of the flock, the firewood, and the Grandmas, the office is
  sometimes left unattended for days at a time. It may take as long as a half
  moon between when you write, and when you hear back from me. Around here  the
  information superhighway is a muddy jeep trail. Please be patient, you will
  hear from me.  If you have received this update as a forward, but want to
  sure of getting them in the future, please let me know and I will add you  to
  the list. Also if there are any "back issues" you don't have, again, let me
  know.  Please feel free to distribute (unedited) this email
 
  http://members.xoom.com/senaa/View.html

***********

October 26, 1999 4:30 PM
US MILITARY Discovers power in purchasing to taxpayer benefit -
New DoD Initiative Proves There's Power in Numbers
  By Paul Stone
  American Force Press Service

  WASHINGTON -- If you use a personal computer at work, and
  chances are you do, then chances are you are or will be
  participating in a DoD-wide program that's avoiding millions in
  costs for software.

  Under a relatively new and little known program called the
  Enterprise Software Initiative, commonly referred to as ESI, DoD
  is leveraging its power as the largest federal user of computers
  to negotiate below-market prices for commercial software.

  With more than 2 million software users throughout the services
  and various defense agencies, DoD realized it was in a good
  position to get high quality products cheap if it could convince
  the services to work together, according to Navy Cmdr. Jim
  Clausen, who works with the initiative in the Office of the
  Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control,
  Communications and Intelligence.

  Clausen said that prior to the initiative services bought
  software individually through standard purchasing procedures.
  Under the ESI, however, DoD negotiates agreements with vendors
  in specific software categories to get the lowest prices on
  software, maintenance and support for all the services.

  A committee of representatives from all services and selected
  defense agencies meets once a week to discuss potential software
  buys. The key, Clausen said, is that 80 percent of the committee
  agrees on a purchase.

  "Once we have that level of interest in a particular piece of
  software, then we ask one of the services to be the lead agency
  for negotiations," he said. For example, the Army has taken the
  lead for negotiating agreements for database software. The Navy
  negotiates for automation software and the Air Force handles
  records management areas.

  The lead agent then makes the purchase using money from the
  Defense Working Capital Funds. Once the software is acquired,
  the lead agency sells it to DoD customers and repays the DWCF.

  Since July 1999 software agreements have been completed with the
  companies that make Visio graphics software; Corel desktop;
  Oracle, Informix and Sybase database software; and Provenance
  and PS Software electronic records management software. The
  negotiations saved about $75 million, Clausen said.

  Additionally, the Navy, serving as the lead agency, is
  negotiating a new DoD-wide agreement with Microsoft to cover all
  server products. Agreements are also under discussion with
  Adobe, JetForms, Lotus Development Corp. and Sun Microsystems.

  Because of the size of its purchases, DoD has found it sometimes
  pays less than half the price offered to the General Services
  Administration. GSA usually pays the lowest prices among
  government agencies and offices.

  "Our motto is nobody's going to beat our prices," Clausen said.
  "And what we've found is that software companies like this way
  of doing business. Although we benefit financially, the
  companies get a large market share and their products are
  getting wide exposure."

  He said the new business practices are part of the acquisition
  reform process. They're part and parcel of the Defense Reform
  Initiative -- DoD's overall effort to cut costs and make more
  efficient use of resources.

  In addition to greatly reduced software prices, Clausen said,
  DoD negotiated flexible licensing agreements that allow programs
  to be transferred from one computer to another. This, he said,
  will help DoD customers avoid additional software costs down the road.

  "Typically, when agencies replace computers they routinely throw
  out the old and replace it with one containing all new software,
  even though much of the software may be the same as on the old
  system," Clausen explained. "They won't have to do that with the
  software we purchase through the ESI. We'll be able to transfer
  those licenses clear across the world if needed, shifting assets
  back and forth throughout DoD rather than writing a new check
  for more software."

  Although the initiative is still in its infancy, Clausen said
  plans are under way for software purchased through the ESI to be
  available through the Defense Logistics Agency's Electronic
  Commerce Mall. Customers eventually will be able not to only
  purchase the software online, but download it and the licensing
  agreement directly from DLA.

  For now, however, the ESI is concentrating on getting the best
  products at the best price.

  "That's our challenge -- to keep up with the various deals
  either in place or being worked so we can negotiate even lower
  prices," Clausen said.

  DoD's efforts were rewarded in September when the ESI working
  group received the 1999 Interagency Resources Management
  Conference award for team achievement. The IRMCO is the federal
  government's premier conference on information technology and
  agency business solutions. More information on ESI can be obtained
  through the Internet at
http://www.nawcad.navy.mil/its/EnterpriseSoftware


  ##end##

************

Hearings on Missles Sites N.DAKOTA
DoD News Briefing - Kenneth H. Bacon, ASD PA
October 26, 1999
DoD News Briefing - Kenneth H. Bacon, ASD PA


  = N  E  W  S      B  R  I  E   F  I  N  G
  =
  = OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
  = (PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
  = WASHINGTON, D.C. 20301
  ====================================================


  DoD News Briefing
  Kenneth H. Bacon, ASD PA
  Tuesday, October 26, 1999 - 1:39 p.m. EDT
          Mr. Bacon:  Good afternoon.   Welcome.  Let me start with a couple
of announcements.
          This week the joint program office for national missile defense is
sending a team to North Dakota to start public hearings that will lead to an
environmental impact statement on the possible construction of a national
missile defense site in North Dakota.  Next week a similar team will go to
Alaska to start hearings there.  As you know, both these sites have to be
reviewed in the course of assembling the information that the president
needs to make a decision about whether or not to proceed with the
construction of a national missile defense program.  And no final decision
will be made until these environmental impact statements are completed as
well as a whole series of other tests and studies that are ongoing.
  Second, the Army will announce later today that it's dispatching a group
to the Republic of Korea to meet with their counterparts in the Nokuen-Ri
investigation.  The Army team will be led by the Army Inspector General,
Lieutenant General Michael Ackerman.  And they'll leave tomorrow, go to
Korea for a one-day meeting on Friday, and then come back.  And this will be
the beginning of the information sharing that Secretary Cohen has promised
in a letter to President Kim Dae Jung in South Korea.
          Finally, I assume some of you watched the hearings today, the
chairman and the chiefs before the Senate Armed Services Committee.  During
the hearings Chairman Shelton was asked about the impact of a 1.4 percent
across the board cut on the Defense budget.  This is being discussed by some
members of Congress.  He said the impact would be devastating, that it would
roll back some of the good work that has been done by the $112 billion
six-year defense increase that President Clinton sent to Congress earlier this year.
          Let me just give you a couple of details about the impact this
would have.  These are preliminary calculations on our part.  But starting
from the definition of an across-the-board cut, that it would be a haircut,
basically, of all accounts:  personnel, R&D, procurement, operations and
maintenance.  Because the cut really couldn't be implemented on the
personnel side until about six months, you essentially would have to effect
a 2.8 percent increase.  That is, instead of 1.4 percent for 12 months, it
would be 2.8 percent for six months.  Since we can't and don't want to cut
pay -- after all, we've just gotten a pay increase, and there's no
indication that pay will be cut -- we would have to cut numbers.  And a 2.8
percent cut for the final six months of the year would amount to a cut of
between 39,000 and 70,000 people from the total force; that is, from the
active duty force, which is now between 1.3 and 1.4 million.
          Now, the disparity between 39,000 and 70,000 is explained by
whether they were high-ranking or lower-ranking people.  If they're
higher-ranking people, obviously you save more money by getting rid of
higher-ranking people who have been in the service longer, but it's probably
unlikely that the services would take people out who had been in 18 - 22
years.  It's much more likely that they would either take out lower-ranking
people or slow recruiting by not acquiring new people into the force, which,
of course, would run counter to exactly what all the services but the Marine
Corps now are trying to do, and that is to fill recruiting shortfalls.
          Second, in terms of operations and maintenance, it would take out
approximately $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion from the O&M accounts, and that
would hurt the very increases in readiness that we're trying to achieve with
the defense budget increases.  As you know, they're designed mainly to go to
personnel accounts -- that is, pay and the benefits, the pension plans, et
cetera -- to operations and maintenance, to support higher readiness, and to
procurement, to get the procurement numbers up into the -- to $60 billion a
year, eventually.
          And then, finally, in procurement, as General Shelton said, of
course, it would be a haircut of 1.4 percent.  There are certain contracts,
you know, that we've signed on a multi-year basis or other contracts that
are designed to lock in both us and the contractor, frequently at some
savings.  And we wouldn't want to disrupt those contracts, though probably
it would have a disproportionate impact on other contracts that weren't
so-called special or long-term contracts.  So it would slow down
modernization in -- probably in disproportionate ways, hitting some programs
more than it would hit other programs.
          That's a quick thumbnail explanation of what General Shelton meant
by "devastating" when he described the impact.
          Yes?
          Q:  Ken, you said that they're conducting an environmental impact
study on a North Dakota -- possible North Dakota site for national missile
defense.  For months people have been saying that Alaska is the optimum site
in terms of coverage for protection of the United States and given possible
threats.  Does the fact that we're doing a study on North Dakota indicate
that North Dakota indeed might be chosen if the Russians will not back down
on revising the ABM?
          Mr. Bacon:  No, and I think that it's an open question at this
stage.   There are advantages and disadvantages to each site.  The biggest
advantage to Alaska is that it does provide 50-state coverage.  That is a
huge advantage, obviously.  When you're building a national missile defense
system, you need to protect the entire nation.
          However, moving -- building a site in Alaska would require -- is
one of the things that would require an adjustment to the ABM Treaty.  If we
were to build in North Dakota, where we had a site some years ago, in that
respect, it would not require an adjustment to the treaty.
          So these will have to be weighed by the president and by Secretary
Cohen in reaching the decision.  I would say that Alaska has a powerful
advantage, but until we complete the process of doing the environmental
impact statements, studying the geometry of the system, of continuing our
discussions with the Russians over changes to the ABM Treaty, I think it's
impossible to say exactly which site it will be.
          Q:  What's the Pentagon reaction to comments by -- I believe it's
the deputy defense minister for Russia, threatening to increase deployment
of missiles to counter any system that we might put up?
          Mr. Bacon:  Well, I think it completely misses the point of what
our system is.  Our system is not designed and could not in fact counter any
attack by the Russians.  We assume the Russians will not attack us.  They
should assume we won't attack them.
          This is a system that's designed against a totally different
threat.  It could easily be saturated by an arsenal the size of the Soviet
arsenal -- the former Soviet arsenal, the Russian arsenal.  It is designed
against a very limited attack from a so-called rogue nation such as an Iraq
or a North Korea that has a small number of missiles -- maybe one, or
five -- with a small number of warheads.  So that's what we're building it
against.  We've been very clear in describing that to the Russians.
          We believe the Russians face a similar threat.  After all, they
are closer to North Korea than we are.  They are closer to Iraq than we are.
They are closer to Iran than we are.  So they face, in theory, exactly the
same type of threat we do.  And we have proposed a number of ways to
cooperate with them in helping them meet that threat, so we can do it
jointly.  But I think that anybody in Russia who thinks about this system
would realize that it's not designed to counter the Russians in any way.
          Yes.
          Q:  Ken, about the Lear jet incident of yesterday, when will you
be releasing a videotape or any material from the F-16 that was tracking the plane?
          Mr. Bacon:  The answer is we will not.  We have turned over audio
tapes and videotapes.  There's -- only one F-16 took a videotape.  We have
turned that all over to the National Transportation Safety Board.  We called
them today -- I believe Captain Taylor called them -- asked them if we could
get permission to release them, and they said please don't because they
haven't had a chance to review it yet, and they would like to study this as
part of their overall investigation.  If it's to be released, they'll make
the decision to release it.  But we have given it to them at this stage.
          Q:  What do the tapes show?
          Mr. Bacon:  I haven't seen the tapes.
          Q:  You haven't been told in general terms what they --
          Mr. Bacon:  I have not.   I have not.
          Q:  -- they show the plane flying.  Can you see that the cockpit
is frosted or anything like that?
          Mr. Bacon:  I haven't been told what the tapes say -- show.  But I
believe that the observation of frosted windows came later.  The videotape
that was taken came from an F-16 launched from Eglin Air Force Base.  That
was relatively early in the day.  And it was a plane, I believe from Tulsa
or Fargo that an hour or so later noticed the frosted windows in the plane.
          Q:  Can I just revisit the question again about whether or not
there was ever at any point any consideration of shooting the plane down in
order to prevent it from hitting a populated area before -- perhaps you'd
calculated where it was going to?
          Mr. Bacon:  Right.  You may revisit that, and I'll give you the
same answer I gave yesterday.  The answer is no.
          But I think, in a situation like this, you have to consider all
the possibilities.  And at one point, Admiral Fry -- and this was late; this
was probably about 12:30 our time, and the plane crashed shortly after
1:00 -- Admiral Fry or someone working with him, said, "You know, if this
thing suddenly veers off course and heads to Chicago, we'll have some really
tough decisions to make."  It was that type of thinking.  It was not saying,
"Okay, let's get ready."  It never got to that point.
          The plane had been flying on the course of 320 degrees, or in the
very narrow range between 318 and 322, for several hours.  I had a long talk
this morning with the officer who actually ran the show at NORAD, and that
was Vice Admiral Browne, who is the deputy commander in chief for the Space
Command.  General Myers was here in an Air Force budget meeting, so he
turned this over to his so-called DCINC.
  And as Admiral Browne described it, obviously in the initial -- first of
all, it's not unusual -- and I can't tell you how often it happens, but it
does happen from time to time -- that the FAA may call the military and say:
"We have lost radio contact with a plane.  Can you go up and take a look?"
And sometimes the radio contact just comes back.  Maybe it's a gap, or there
is a problem with the radio that's fixed.
          So initially, when they lose radio contact, they try to ping the
plane and see if they can raise somebody on the radio.  If they can't, they
might send some planes up to take a look, and that's what they did in this case.
          Then they see how it's flying; if there seems to be some problem,
if it's flying erratically, if they can raise anybody in the plane.  They
weren't able to.  You know, you fly up and wave to the guy and see if you
can catch his attention.  Obviously, they couldn't catch anybody's attention
in this plane.
          So for the first couple of hours, it was a period of checking,
finding out exactly what was going on; checking the manifest.  It was during
this time, for instance, that they learned that the plane actually had taken
off, I think in Sanford, Florida; flown to Orlando, landed, picked up
another passenger, not taken on any more fuel, and set off again.  So they
had to calculate how much fuel, if it left its initial airport with a full
load, how much did it expend going to Orlando and taking off a second time,
and how long would it be able to fly at a pre-set course at various
altitudes.  Since its altitude was oscillating, that had to be factored in as well.
          So they were in the course of making all these calculations.
Meanwhile, the plane was flying steadily along a course and they were
monitoring it.  As they reached the point where they figured the plane was
running out of fuel in the next half an hour to an hour, obviously the
question of what do we do if it veers off course became more urgent than it
was early on in the operation.  One of the things Admiral Browne did was
check the Joint Staff regulations that deal with destruction of derelict
airborne objects to find out what was required.  But the conversations about
action to take never really went beyond the sort of "what if" that I gave
you.  You know, what if it suddenly veers of course; then we'll have really
tough decisions to make.
          Q:  Well, one --
          Mr. Bacon:  Those decisions were not made.
          Q:  One of the questions my editors keep asking me is, What if it
had veered off course?  What factors would come into play in terms of how
will the decision be made whether or not to take some sort of action?  Can
only the president make that decision?  And then how would they decide?
Would it be a --
          Mr. Bacon:  I don't think it's -- I think that every situation is
different.  Fortunately, we didn't have to face those decisions this time
around.  The regulations make it very clear the secretary of Defense has to
be involved and that this has to be reported to the National Military
Command Authority.  The top person in the National Military Command
Authority is the commander in chief.  So you can figure it out.
          But I think that every situation is different.  It depends a lot
on how much time is involved.  Obviously, it would depend -- you have to --
I don't think there's any right answer to this because you're always
weighing a series of factors.  How big is the place it's headed towards?
You can't tell with complete specificity where a plane's going to land.  If
it's headed toward a major metropolitan area, you can say it's probably
going to land somewhere in that major metropolitan area.  If it's headed
toward a much smaller area, you might not be able to say with any
specificity whether it's going to land near a population center in that
small town or not.  So all of these things would have to come into play and
the decisions would have to be made quite quickly.
          Q:  Are there any ways, feasible ways to divert a plane, say, away
from a populated area, short of shooting down a plane?  Are there any ways
to alter the course of a plane?
          Mr. Bacon:  I think you could alter the course by nudging its
wings, by creating drafts on its wings or pressure in some way, even perhaps
with physical or kinetic contact.  I'm not a pilot, though.  And maybe
somebody here is.  But it would be risky to our pilots to do something like that.
          Once again, you have to weigh the risks and you have to weigh your
options.  And we would take almost any reasonable action before reaching the
point of having to make a decision about destroying an American plane over
American airspace with civilians on board.
          Q:  People who watch, I don't know, popular movie culture have
perhaps an overly optimistic idea of what it is the military can accomplish
in terms of some sort of air to air rescue or something like that?
          Mr. Bacon:  Well, I don't think many people would believe that to
be possible.  I think what people should take away from this is that the FAA
as the supervising agency, working with military support, performed
competently, calmly, quickly and brilliantly in the face of a very
potentially risky and unknown, scary situation.  And I think from the very
beginning when they discovered that they couldn't make radio contact with
this plane, what you saw was a very rational and competent approach to
dealing with the problem.  And part of a rational, competent approach is not
overreacting.  And I don't think there was overreaction here.  I think that
they were able to calculate where the plane was going.  They made reasonable
judgments, and those judgments turned out to be correct.
          Q:  And just one point of clarification.  The commander, the
military commander, the four-star whose jurisdiction this fell under was
General Myers.
          Mr. Bacon:  Yeah.
          Q:  And that's at the U.S. --
          Mr. Bacon:  He's the commander in chief of the Space Command.
          Q:  U.S. Space -- so this --
          Mr. Bacon:  Right.
          Q:  Because that would -- because NORAD falls --
          Mr. Bacon:  But remember, this is not primarily a military
operation.  This was the FAA.  It's civilian airspace, and it was a civil
plane.  And the --
          Q:  Can you just clarify who -- where the chain went?
          Mr. Bacon:  -- the military operates in support of the FAA in this
situation as it does in dealing with other domestic disasters such as
floods, for instance.  And so the North American Air Defense Command
followed this plane very closely.  They were able out there at Cheyenne
Mountain to watch the progress of the plane through their radar screens and
to watch all the fighters following the plane.  As you know, they followed
it in waves.  We were actually watching it here as well in the Military
Command Center, the National Military Command Center.  So it was being
closely followed in Colorado at NORAD and here in the Joint Staff.
          Q:  Through the radar -- by radar, you mean?
          Mr. Bacon:  By radar, yeah.
          Q:  Yeah.  I have a question on the -- you have referred to the
guidance on destruction of derelict airborne objects, I think it's called.
It doesn't actually mention aircraft, manned aircraft.  Is there --
          Mr. Bacon:  Well, actually, it's interesting that the regulation,
this one, applies -- all the examples they give are unmanned.  It says,
"This instruction provides guidance for the destruction of derelict objects.
For example, unmanned free balloons, moored balloons, kites, or unmanned
nuclear rockets or missiles over U.S. or international airspace."  And then
it gives the procedures that have to be followed.  But in this enclosure D,
"instructions for destruction of derelict airborne objects," they refer only
to unmanned objects.
          Q:  My question is, is there written guidance beyond that that
does get more specific about manned aircraft?
          Mr. Bacon:  No.
          Q:  No?
          Mr. Bacon:  I mean, then NORAD took this and changed it into
basically a punch list for their watch officer -- If this happens, here are
the steps you have to go through.  But this is the joint staff regulation,
and it only gives examples, but all the examples happen to be unmanned.
          Q:  Admiral Browne told you that he'd referred to that at some
point during the episode?
          Mr. Bacon:  He did.  He did refer to it, and he said that this is
the first time he's had a situation like this to deal with, and like most
people, he probably doesn't sit down and memorize thousands of pages of
regulations just for the sheer joy of it, and instead he looks them up when
he needs to, and that's what he did.
          Q:  Is his first name "Joe"?
          Mr. Bacon:  His name is Herb.   So I assume it's Herbert, Herbert
Browne, vice admiral for --
          Q:  This was, you know, this was a highly obvious -- obviously, it
was a highly unusual event.  How likely do you think it is that you would
ever face this prospect of having to make the tough decision of whether to
take action against a civilian plane?  Is this a very remote possibility?
          Mr. Bacon:  Well, I think you defined it yourself.  It's "highly
unusual."  And by definition, that makes it "a very remote possibility."
          There have been several other cases, I think at least two were
cited in the New York Times this morning, of aircraft where the pilots or
the crew had died or became incapacitated and flew into the -- one flew into
a remote area in northern New Hampshire; another flew into the Atlantic
Ocean.  Those were two that were cited this morning.
          I think the FAA would be able to give you an accounting of that
because it, of course, was the lead agency working with NORAD and the Air
Force in dealing with this.
          Q:  A new subject?
          Mr. Bacon:  Sure.
          Chris, you were -- I think you had --
          Q:  Yeah, just one question about the authority that CINCNORAD or
CINCSPACE would have in dealing with an airborne threat to the United
States, because there would be a difference in that if it were a military
threat, an unidentified something doing something.  This was an identified
thing, and it was not a military operation.  But is there different
authority?  In other words, are there cases in which CINCNORAD or CINCSPACE
would have the authority to act?
          Mr. Bacon:  It would be a different set of authorities entirely if
our territorial sovereignty or integrity were threatened.  But it does raise
an interesting point that has come up in some of the questions about the
Learjet incident, and that is, "Were the planes armed or unarmed?"
          There are planes kept on several coastal bases, that are kept on
strip alert and are armed with missiles and with guns, that are designated
to protect our territorial integrity should it be threatened.  They are the
planes that would be vectored up to look at unknown threats.  Now, you know,
frequently when they go up, what they learn is that they identify the plane,
and it's a plane that for some reason is on the wrong course or whatever, or
they convince the plane to turn around.  But planes that are training in the
United States, unless they're on ranges, fly without weapons, without
armaments.  We do have, both the U.S. and the Canadians obviously have
planes along our northern border, their southern border.  Those planes, some
of them are on strip alert, and they generally are armed with guns only, not
with missiles.
          Now, typically when a plane takes off on a training mission, even
if it's armed, all the arms have safety locks on them so there can't be any
mistakes.  If they were launched in a mission against a so-called
"intruder," they would remove the safeties before they took off.  But if
they were just to take off on a training mission or a normal patrol, they
would do so with the safety locks on their weapons.
          Q:  Were any safety locks removed on any of the --
          Mr. Bacon:  Not that I'm aware of, no.
          Q:  -- Fargo planes?
          Mr. Bacon:  No.
          Q:  Those were the only ones that were armed, is that right?
          Mr. Bacon:  The two Fargo planes took off briefly.  They were
armed.  But they came back before they got close to the Learjet because it
had crashed by then, as I understand it.
          Q:  But just to be clear, their safety locks were on?
          Mr. Bacon:  I don't believe -- well, wait a minute.  I do not
believe they were on, but I'll check that.
          Q:  So they could have, hypothetically --
          Mr. Bacon:  I don't believe the safeties were removed.  Sorry.  I
don't believe they were removed, but I'll double-check.
          Yes?
          Q:  New subject?  Last night, Secretary Hamre hosted a major
dinner of NATO -- international defense executives from the U.S. and NATO
countries, France, Germany.  Can you give us a readout on what was discussed
by way of Hamre's view of globalization over the next year?
          Mr. Bacon:  Sure.  First let me give you the background of the
dinner.  Undersecretary Jack Gansler meets from time to time -- I think it
may be quarterly -- with the arms directors of other countries, his
counterparts.  They call themselves the Four Powers.  They are Britain,
France, Germany and the United States.  He had asked Deputy Secretary Hamre
if he would be interested in throwing a dinner for the armaments directors
when they were passing through Washington.  I think their meeting is
actually in Williamsburg, Virginia.  And Secretary Hamre said he would, and
it might actually be a good opportunity to invite some American officials
from defense companies to come and meet with the armaments directors and
discuss globalization and some of the opportunities as well as the
challenges.  When that happened, the Europeans, our European partners and
friends, decided that they would also invite some industrialists from
Europe.  So we had, I would guess, around 50 peopleor so.
    I think I can make a list available to you of the people who were
invited and who came here last night.  They held a meeting, a discussion,
for about an hour and a half, maybe an hour and 40 minutes, took a break,
came back and spent about an hour and 15 minutes eating delectable Native
American food, such as coleslaw and catfish for dinner.
          And Secretary Hamre was very clear in saying that this is a
dialogue.  It was not a meeting of instructions or decisions; it was a
dialogue.  It was an effort to get everybody together and to talk -- not
even an effort that we had planned, really, because it had become more of a
meeting after the Europeans decided to invite their own industrialists.  He
pointed out that globalization was here and it was going to be a force that
all of us had to learn to live with and respond to.  He said that there is
plenty of room for more transatlantic cooperation now through partnerships
and joint ventures and financing agreements.
          He also said that he felt it was probably premature right now to
assume that it was the time for mega-transatlantic mergers, and he gave two
reasons.  One, he felt that the European defense industry is beginning to go
through the same digestive process that the American defense industry has
been going through for the last several years.  And as we know from studying
companies in all businesses over here, the process of merging two giant
companies with different cultures and somewhat different product lines and
different executive styles can take time and is challenging.  So for that
reason, he felt it was premature.  He felt that Europe had to gain more
practice, become more comfortable with the merger process in Europe, just as
we've spent time learning about it here.
          And the second reason is he doesn't think that, frankly, there is
a proper regulatory or security infrastructure to allow such mega mergers
right now.  In other words, we in the United States in particular, but in
all countries, all NATO countries, have to do a better job of working on the
security issues that arise when you have companies making sensitive defense
items.  Even though they're allied countries, we need to work on this.  And
he was very clear in saying that the U.S. has to -- has a ways to go here.
There was a State Department representative there who talked about some of
the efforts we're taking to accelerate export licensing decisions and
technology transfer decisions that are necessary for this.  But Secretary
Hamre believes that we need some time.  Now, he's not saying we're talking
about years, but -- and in fact, no one knows what we're talking about.  But
for both the reasons he listed, he thinks we need a little more time before
we get to the mega-merger category.
          Now, having said that, I want to stress again that there was
strong support from our government, from the foreign arms directors, the
allied arms directors, and from industrialists in the United States and in
Britain, France and Germany for increased cooperation between companies --
among companies.  So that, I think, is where the energy will be put:
increased cooperation, and also, at our end, dealing with some of the
security roadblocks that allied companies have complained about, and allied
governments, in the past.
          Q:  Did he express some frustration that a fortress Europe was de
facto forming over there with the merger of DASA and Aerospatiale combined
with British Aerospace buying one of its own electronics giants?
          Mr. Bacon:  He did not.   There was strong feeling on the part of
everybody there that we can't afford a fortress Europe and a fortress
America.  As he said, we have to keep the drawbridges down; we have to keep
people moving back and forth between the two defense establishments, and we
have to look for ways to increase cooperation while we work on developments
that will facilitate or allow some mega mergers in the future.
          Q:  One final question.   Did he give examples of the types of
programs he saw going forward instead of mega mergers?
          Mr. Bacon:  Not with any great specificity that I recall.
          Q:  On the same subject --
          Q:  Ken?
          Mr. Bacon:  Yeah?
          Q:  Just to follow up, was the issue addressed at all of --
especially in Europe, you have a lot of government ownership of some of
the -- well, you've got more government ownership of defense contractors,
something you don't have over here, and how that plays into this whole
issue?
          Mr. Bacon:  That issue was not specifically addressed, although
some Americans did express concerns about the difficulties of dealing with
the European regulatory structure.  But then some Europeans expressed
frustration about the difficulties of dealing with the U.S. security
infrastructure.
          So I'd have to say that this was an extremely level-headed,
low-key discussion.  It was really a -- more than anything else, a series of
presentations.  Secretary Hamre moderated it, and he called on a number of
people in seriatim.  I mean, he would call on a couple of industrialists to
come up and talk, and then a couple of arms directors.  And there were other
people there, as I said, a State Department guy and a few other people he
called up to make comments.  So people came, and they made comments.
          One guy said he had nothing to say because everything had already
been said.  He had nothing to add.  And so there was a cumulative effect to
the remarks.
          But it wasn't a debate.  It wasn't, you know, "You should do this,
we're going to do this" type thing.  It was really a series of statements.
And I think the general feeling from the conversations I had with people at
the meeting was that it had been a useful first step, but it was only a
first step, and it accomplished exactly what Secretary Hamre wanted, which
was the beginning of a dialogue.
          Q:  Did anyone make plans -- were any plans discussed about having
this as a fairly regular kind of event?
          Mr. Bacon:  No, there were not discussions -- that could well
happen today in Williamsburg or whenever the next phase is.  But I think
that it was very clear, from what Dr. Hamre said, that he would like to
continue discussions in some form.  Whether this is the right form, I don't
know.  But -- and I'm not sure he knows either.  But I think that there's a
feeling that it's helpful to get everybody together in a room and talk about
general challenges and opportunities.
          Yes.
          Q:  Ken, the Air Force is reportedly ruminating about pulling out
of the Joint Strike Fighter program to protect their future funding for
development of the F-22.  I was just wondering, can they actually do that?
Secondly, have they approached DOD either formally or informally about their
intention to do so?  And what would the ramifications be for the entire
program and the other services if they did pull out?  Is that a program
buster?
          Mr. Bacon:  Well, first, I am aware that some officials in the Air
Force -- generally anonymous officials, I gather -- have apparently raised
this idea.  Let me just make two comments.
          One, the Joint Fighter, Joint Strike Fighter is exactly what its
name implies:  it's joint.  It's a fighter that is being built.  It's really
an attack plane that's being built to -- for use by the Marines, Navy and
Air Force.  I think there's an analogy here going back to the '70s between
the F-15 and the F-16.  The F-15 was a higher performance air to air
superiority plane bought in smaller numbers than the F-16, which was a
cheaper, very capable but less high performance ground attack plane,
primarily.  And we bought many more F-16s than we did F-15s over -- I don't
know the exact numbers, but we can get them.  The analogy is the same
between the F-22.  Now I think the number they're contemplating buying is
less than 350.  I think it's 339 or something like that.  And the idea is
that we would buy several thousand Joint Strike Fighters not only because
they'd be used by three services, but they would be the bomb-droppers and
the missile-shooters -- the attackers, basically!
  .  So it's also supposed to be a considerably cheaper plane.  And most of
all, it's supposed to be stealthy.  Much stealthier than the F-22.  Much
stealthier than the F-18E/F.  So not to go ahead with the Joint Strike
Fighter at this stage would deprive all of the services of the next
generation of stealth technology in an era when everybody agrees that
stealth technology is the way to go.
          This clearly is an important issue.   We don't have a Joint Strike
Fighter yet.  Prototypes are being built by two competing companies.  And
we'll have to see how the program evolves.  But it's meant to be a highly
stealthy, cheaper plane than the F-22 that will supplement the F-22.
          Q:  If I could ask you about that analogy briefly, you have a lot
more than 339 F-15s right now.  And so I am wondering what the plan is to
deal with the fact that you are going to have, if you get the F-22, a lot
fewer F-22s than F-15s.  And you are going to have 50-year F-15s filling out
the fleet, or are you just going to accept a smaller Air Force?  Or are you
going to, at some point, be asking for 300 more F-22s?  I mean, what's the
answer there?
          Mr. Bacon:  Well, it's hard to predict the future.  Typically, we
frequently end up buying more of a plane than we think we are going to
initially.
          But one of the benefits of technology is we could do more with
less.  And in air power generally, and we saw this most acutely during
Kosovo, we moved from World War II and the Korean War and even Vietnam,
where we had to drop hundreds of bombs to hit one target or many bombs to
hit one target, and now we can hit one target with one bomb or one missile,
with precision-guided munitions.
          The same is true in air-to-air combat, where our idea is to be
harder to find and to be able to acquire our enemy at much greater ranges
than he can acquire us so that we are more sure of winning with the first
shot than we were in the past.
          I can't predict how many of these we'll buy.  Obviously, for a
while, maybe for a long while, we'll have a force that includes F-15s and
F-22s.  For one thing, we are still buying F-15s.  The later models are more
capable than the earlier models.
          It is clear, from everything that General Ryan has been saying and
other Air Force officials, that the F-16 in particular is beginning to wear
out.  And the older planes require more maintenance.  They are having more
problems in flight.  And, therefore, he has voiced the desire to move to new
generations of planes so that we don't have to continue to maintain the
older planes at increasingly expensive rates.
          Bill?
          Q:  Thank you.
          Mr. Bacon:  Wait a minute.   I have got Pat and Bill back there.
          Q:  Thank you.  Thank you, Ken.
          Just wanted to know if you could update us on Chechnya?
Specifically, are the Russians continuing to move toward Grozny?  And have
the Russians actually been encountering the terrorist rebels?  Have they
gone into Chechnya to boot out --
          Mr. Bacon:  I think I'll let the Russians speak about their
problems in Chechnya.  I think they are better able to describe what they're
doing there than I am at this stage.
          Q:  Well, let me ask you this.   Are the rebels in Chechnya enemies
of the United States?  Are they the terrorists that have been terrorizing
the Russians and the U.S.?
          Mr. Bacon:  Well, certainly from Russian reports, some of the
terrorism in the -- in Russia was rooted in Chechnya.  I don't know how much
of it, but the Russians believe that some of it was rooted in Chechnya.
Certainly there are signs that terrorists always seem to find each other in
various countries and make common cause, and I have no reason to believe
that terrorists from places like Afghanistan or elsewhere have not been
working hand in hand with terrorists in Chechnya.  Now, to what degree, it's
hard to tell, but I do think they consider themselves a band of brothers,
sometimes a nasty band of brothers.
          Pat?
          Q:  (Off mike.)
          Mr. Bacon:  Okay.   Thanks.
          Q:  Thank you.
  - END -

***********

Fry Named Director of Bureau of Land Management at DOI

Although I can't say definitively at the moment, I think that this is
not only a surprise but a serious problem.  A surprise as the Demo's
have traditionally been supportive of protecting Environment and
a problem in that this guy I've a hunch is a real problem for environmental
concerns.  In this position he could do a lot of damage, from native issues
to environmental and as we've all seen from Big Mountian/Black Mesa,
their intimately bound together.

ellis

Fry Named Director of Bureau of Land Management at DOI


                                WHITE HOUSE
 
                       Office of the Press Secretary
  ________________________________________________________________________
  For Immediate Release                                    October 26, 1999
 
 
                 PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES THOMAS A. FRY III
                 DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
                       AT THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
 
       President Clinton announced today his intent to nominate Thomas A.
  Fry III to serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at
  the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI).
 
       Mr. Thomas A. Fry, of Dallas, Texas, has been Acting BLM Director
  since November 1998 and served as Deputy Director from January 1997 to
  November 1998.  Before coming to the BLM, Mr. Fry was Chief of Staff for
  Interior Deputy Secretary John Garamendi, a position in which he
  provided leadership and policy oversight for special departmental
  initiatives.  In 1996, Mr. Fry was a consultant to the National Park
  Service (NPS) where he advised on ways to solve the serious backlog of
  housing for NPS staff. From July 1993 to August 1994, Mr. Fry was
  Director of the Minerals Management Service.  In that capacity, he was
  responsible for the exploration, development, and production of oil,
  natural gas, and other minerals on the Nation's Outer Continental Shelf.
  Mr. Fry also oversaw the collection of revenues for minerals development
  on Federal and Indian lands.  Prior to 1993, Mr. Fry was Vice President
  of American Natural Resources, Inc., a Dallas natural gas processing and
  transmission company.  He handled analysis and legal review of all
  aspects of the firm's business, including the operation of a natural gas
  processing plant. From 1975 to 1977, Mr. Fry was in private law practice
  with the Dallas firm of Cooper, Hayner, Miller and Long.  From 1972 to
  1974, Mr. Fry was the Assistant Attorney General of Texas, where he was
  Assistant Chief of the State's Anti-Trust Consumer Protection program.
  He also served on active duty in the U.S. Army for over two years,
  attaining the rank of Captain and receiving the Army Commendation Medal.
 
       Mr. Fry received a B.S. from Trinity University and a J.D. from
  Southern Methodist University School of Law.
 
       The BLM at the Department of Interior is the federal agency that
  manages 264 million acres of federally owned lands, as well as mineral
  resources underlying another 300 million acres of federal and privately
  owned lands.  The BLM managed lands are located primarily in the eleven
  western states. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
  consolidated and established policy for retention and management of the
  public lands, and provides primary authority for the BLM's operations.
 
                                  30-30-30

***********

US Debt and COPS -
Memorandum by President to House on CJS Veto

I'm glad he killed this bill but not for the reasons Clinton stated.
We need to pay our UN debt.  As we discovered while attending
the UN conference this summer, the poor slobs can't even afford
toilet paper in the women's restrooms outside the assembly areas.

I'm also very dismayed that Clinton not only wants to spend and
put so many more police nationwide.  His attributing the decline
in the national crime rate due to the  increase in police members
is ridiculous.  The drop in crime directly reflects the increase in
employment, decrease in inflation and overall health of the
economy.  When people can work, make money and afford
the things they require to survive the desire to risk what one
has for a quick buck loses its appeal.  When people are
not desperate and stressed to the max wondering how their
going to feed their families, violence decreases as tolerance
for being ripped off increases, people don't wig out as
easy due to personal traumas.  To credit the drop in crime
due to more armed men on the street and the fear of
the DOJ is absurd as desperation purely motivates
desperate acts and undue increased stress leads to
loss of control.  People do what they have to, to survive
and forgo the risks when presented with limited  options.
Increase the viable options you eliminate the desire to
risk.

ellis

AMERI-ADVOCATE / ONE GLOBAL ONE
Amsterdam - New York - Montreal
Santa Cruz - New Zealand

                    
Memorandum by President to House on CJS Veto


                              THE WHITE HOUSE
 
                       Office of the Press Secretary
  ________________________________________________________________________
  For Immediate Release                                    October 26, 1999
 
 
  TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
 
 
     I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 2670, the
  "Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related
  Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000."
 
     This legislation should embody the continuing commitment of this
  Administration on a broad range of fundamental principles.  First and
  foremost amongst these tenets is the notion that the United States of
  America should be the safest country in the world.  Our families must
  feel secure in their neighborhoods.  Since 1993, the progress realized
  toward that end has been impressive and must not be impeded.
 
     Moreover, America must continue to lead the community of nations
  toward a safer, more prosperous and democratic world.  This guidepost
  has for generations advanced the cause of peace and freedom
  internationally, and an erosion of this policy is untenable and
  unacceptable at this critical moment in history.
 
     This great Nation serves as example to the world of a just and humane
  society.  We must continue to lead by our example and maintain a system
  that vigorously protects and rigorously respects the civil rights of
  individuals, the dignity of every citizen, and the basic justice and
  fairness afforded to every American.
 
     Unfortunately, this bill fails to uphold these principles.
 
     Specifically, and most notably, the bill fails to adequately fund the
  proposed 21st Century Policing Initiative, which builds on the success
  of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program.  I requested
  $1.275 billion in new appropriations, and this bill provides only $325
  million.  To date, the COPS program has funded more than 100,000
  additional police officers for our streets.  The 21st Century Policing
  initiative would place an additional 30,000 to 50,000 police officers on
  the street over the next 5 years and would expand the concept of
  community policing to include community prosecution, law enforcement
  technology assistance, and crime prevention.  Funding the COPS program
  required a bipartisan commitment, and it paid off; recently released
  statistics show that we have the lowest murder rate in 31 years and the
  longest continuous decline in crime on record.  I strongly believe we
  must forge a similar commitment to support the COPS program's logical
  successor.
 
     The bill would also threaten America's ability to lead in the world
  by failing to meet our obligation to pay our dues and our debts to the
  United Nations.  This is a problem I have been working with the Congress
  to resolve for several years, but this bill fails to provide a solution.
 
     Though the bill does include adequate funds to support our annual
  contribution to the United Nations regular budget, it conditions the
  funding on separate authorizing legislation, continuing an unacceptable
  linkage to an unrelated issue.  For this reason, because of additional
  provisions, and because the bill is inconsistent with provisions agreed
  to by the authorizing committees, the bill would still cause the United
  States to lose its vote in the United Nations.  It would undercut
  efforts that matter to America in which the U.N. plays an important
  role, from our fight against terrorism and proliferation, to our efforts
  to promote human rights, the well-being of children, and the health of
  our environment.  It would undermine our ability to shape the U.N.'s
  agenda in all these areas and to press for reforms that will make its
  work more effective.  All this is unacceptable.  Great nations meet
  their responsibilities, and I am determined that we will meet ours.
 
     In addition, the bill includes only $200 million for International
  Peacekeeping Activities, a reduction of almost 60-percent from my
  request.  The requested level of $485 million is necessary to meet
  anticipated peacekeeping requirements in East Timor, Sierra Leone, the
  Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.  In each of
  these places, the United States has worked with allies and friends to
  end conflicts that have claimed countless innocent lives and thrown
  whole regions into turmoil.  In each case, the U.N. either has been or
  may be asked to help implement fragile peace agreements, by performing
  essential tasks such as separating adversaries, maintaining cease-fires,
  enabling refugees to go home, training police forces, and overseeing
  civilian institutions.  In each case, as in all U.N. peacekeeping
  missions, other countries will pay 75 percent of the cost and provide
  virtually all the military personnel.
 
     It is clearly in America's national interest to support an
  institution through which other countries share the burden of making
  peace.  Refusing to do our part would be dangerous and self-defeating.
  It could undermine fragile peace agreements that America helped forge,
  and spark new emergencies to which we could only respond later at far
  greater cost.  It would leave America with an unacceptable choice in
  times of conflict and crisis abroad:  a choice between acting alone and
  doing nothing.
 
     The bill includes a number of provisions regarding the conduct of
  foreign affairs that raise serious constitutional concerns.  Provisions
  concerning Jerusalem are objectionable on constitutional, foreign
  policy, and operational grounds.  The actions called for by these
  provisions would prejudice the outcome of the Israeli-Palestinian
  permanent status negotiations, which have recently begun and which the
  parties are committed to concluding within a year.  The bill also
  includes a provision that could be read to prevent the United States
  from engaging in diplomatic efforts regarding the Kyoto protocol.
  Applying restrictions to the President's authority to engage in
  international negotiations and activities raises serious constitutional
  concerns.  Other provisions that should be deleted from the bill because
  they would unconstitutionally constrain the President's authority
  include provisions on Haiti, Vietnam, and command and control of United
  Nations Peacekeeping efforts.  My Administration's objections to these
  and other language provisions have been made clear in previous
  statements of Administration policy regarding this bill.
 
     This bill does not contain a needed hate crimes provision that was
  included in the Senate version of the bill.  I urge the Congress to pass
  legislation in a timely manner that would strengthen the Federal
  Government's ability to combat hate crimes by relaxing jurisdictional
  obstacles and by giving Federal prosecutors the ability to prosecute
  hate crimes that are based on sexual orientation, gender, or disability,
  along with those based on race, color, religion, and national origin.
 
     The bill freezes the funding level for the Legal Services
  Corporation.  Adequate funding for legal services is essential to
  ensuring that all citizens have access to the Nation's justice system.
  I urge the Congress to fully fund my request, which provides an increase
  of $40 million over the FY 1999 enacted level.  Also, funding for the
  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is frozen at the enacted
  level.  This level would undermine EEOC's progress in reducing the
  backlog of employment discrimination cases.
 
     Similarly, inadequate funding is provided for the United States
  Commission on Civil Rights and the Civil Rights Division of the
  Department of Justice.  The bill does not fund my requested $13 million
  increase for the Civil Rights Division, including increases for law
  enforcement actions related to hate crimes, the Americans with
  Disabilities Act, and fair housing and lending.  I ask the Congress to
  restore requested funds for these law enforcement enhancements.
 
     The bill contains adequate funding for the decennial census, but I
  oppose language that could inhibit the Census Bureau's ability to
  actually conduct the census.  The bill would require the Census Bureau
  to obtain approval from certain committees if it chooses to shift funds
  among eight functions or frameworks.  This approval process would impose
  an unnecessary and potentially time-consuming constraint on the
  management of the decennial census.  It is imperative that we move
  forward on the census; this legislation could impede it.
 
     The United States has recently entered into the U.S.-Canada Pacific
  Salmon Agreement.  The agreement ends years of contention between the
  U.S. and Canada regarding expired fishing harvest restrictions and
  provides for improved fisheries management.  This bill includes
  extraneous legislative riders that would hinder the implementation of
  that important Agreement.  These riders would prohibit the application
  of the Endangered Species Act to Alaskan salmon fisheries and would
  change the voting structure of the Pacific Salmon Commission, the
  decision-making body established by the Agreement.  In essence, the
  voting structure rider would prevent the Federal Government from
  negotiating agreements that balance the interests of all States.  In
  addition to the riders, the bill provides only $10 million of the $60
  million requested to implement the Salmon Agreement.  Similarly, funding
  for the Salmon Recovery Fund falls far short of that needed to work
  cooperatively with the States of Washington, Oregon, California, and
  Alaska and with Treaty Tribes to help them mount effective State-based
  plans to restore Pacific coastal salmon runs.  These shortfalls together
  would severely inhibit our ability to recover this important species.
 
     In addition, the enrolled bill does not provide my request for a
  number of other environmental programs, including my Lands Legacy
  Initiative, Endangered Species Act activities, the Clean Water Action
  Plan, and the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the
  Environment program.  The additional funds required to bring these
  programs to my requested levels are small compared to the benefits they
  provide to our natural resources.
 
     The bill does not include $100 million in new funding for the Drug
  Intervention Program, which would have provided critical assistance to
  State and local governments developing and implementing comprehensive
  systems for drug testing, drug treatment, and graduated sanctions for
  drug offenders.  These resources are critical to reducing drug use in
  America.
 
     The bill does not provide additional requested funding to the Justice
  Department for tobacco litigation.  Smoking-related health expenses cost
  taxpayers billions of dollars each year through Medicare, veterans' and
  military health, and other Federal health programs.  The Department of
  Justice needs the $20 million I requested to represent the interests of
  the taxpayers, who should not have to bear the responsibility for these
  staggering costs.
 
     This bill would also hurt our Nation's small businesses.   The level
  provided for the Small Business Administration's (SBA's) operating
  expenses would inhibit my Administration's ability to provide service to
  the Nation's 24 million small businesses.  The bill also fails to
  provide sufficient funds for the Disaster Loan program within the SBA.
  Without additional funding, the SBA will not be able to respond
  adequately to the needs arising from Hurricane Floyd and other natural
  disasters.  In addition, the bill does not include funds for my New
  Markets Initiative to invest in targeted rural and urban areas.
 
     The bill fails to include a proposed provision to clarify current law
  and protect taxpayer interests in the telecommunications spectrum
  auction process.  Currently, $5.6 billion of bid-for-spectrum is tied up
  in bankruptcy court, with a very real risk that spectrum licensees will
  be able to retain spectrum at a fraction of its real market value.  The
  requested provision would maintain the integrity of the Federal
  Communications Commission (FCC) auction process while also ensuring
  speedy deployment of new telecommunications services.  The bill would
  also deny funds needed by the FCC for investments in technology to
  better serve the communications industry.  Also, the bill does not
  provide sufficient funds for the continued operations of the FCC.  The
  Commission requires additional funds to invest in technology to serve
  the communications industry more effectively.
 
     In conference action, a rider was added that would amend the
  recently-enacted Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act to
  expand the prohibition of discrimination against individuals who refuse
  to "prescribe" contraceptives to individuals who "otherwise provide for"
  contraceptives (all nonphysician providers) in the Federal Employees
  Health Benefits Program.  As an example, this language could allow
  pharmacists to refuse to dispense contraceptive prescriptions.  This
  action violated jurisdictional concerns and is also unacceptable policy.
 
     The bill underfunds a number of high-priority programs within the
  Department of Commerce.  My Administration sought an additional $9
  million to help public broadcasters meet the Federal deadline to
  establish digital broadcasting capability by May 1, 2003.  The bill
  would provide less than half of last year's funding level for the
  Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office.  The bill also fails to fund
  the Department's other programs to protect critical information and
  communica-tions infrastructures.  The Congress must restore these funds
  if the Department is to continue performing its important and emerging
  role in coordinating activities that support our economic and national
  security
 
     The bill does not include any funds to reimburse Guam and other
  territories for the costs of detaining and repatriating smuggled Chinese
  aliens.  These entities deserve our support for assisting in this
  interdiction effort.
 
     I look forward to working with the Congress to craft an
  appropriations bill that I can support, and to passage of one that will
  facilitate our shared objectives.
 
                                     WILLIAM J. CLINTON
                                     THE WHITE HOUSE,
                                     October 25, 1999.

**********

Remarks of the President Upon Departure for New York


                              THE WHITE HOUSE
 
                       Office of the Press Secretary
  ________________________________________________________________________
  For Immediate Release                                    October 25, 1999
 
 
                          REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
                        UPON DEPARTURE FOR NEW YORK
 
                             The South Grounds
 
 
  5:03 P.M. EDT
 
 
            THE PRESIDENT:   Good afternoon.  Last February, I sent to the
  Congress a balanced budget that maintains our fiscal discipline, pays
  down the debt, saves Social Security, strengthens and modernized
  Medicare with a prescription drug coverage, and meets our most pressing
  priorities -- putting 100,000 teachers in the classroom, another 50,000
  community police on our street, protecting the environment and
  strengthening our national security.  And everything in the budget I
  sent is paid for without touching a penny of the Social Security
  surplus.
 
            Unfortunately, the congressional majority has rejected the
  approach I recommended.  And so, in the eight months since I sent them
  the balanced budget, they have failed to produce a budget of their own
  that meets our nation's priorities and values.  Instead, they have tried
  one thing after another, one unsuccessful scheme after another, to meet
  the budget priorities.
 
            Now the majority wants an arbitrary across-the-board cut in
  all federal investment.  The plan would cut military recruiting, and
  according to the Department of Defense, would cut as many as 70,000 men
  and women from our Armed Forces.
 
            Their plan would cut off thousands of children from the
  benefits of Head Start; cut childhood immunizations, and our cleanup of
  toxic waste.  It would do something they have pledged not to do -- with
  all these cuts, it would still spend the Social Security surplus, as
  their own Congressional Budget Office has said it would do.
 
            And yet, in spite of this, Congress has seen fit to fund its
  own pork barrel projects, like a ship the Pentagon says it doesn't need,
  and aircraft it didn't ask for.  They've found a way to fund corporate
  welfare for oil companies and other special interests -- and to fund
  their own pay raise.
 
            Now, the American people sent us here to make tough choices.
  But these are the wrong choices.  I will not allow Congress to raise its
  own pay and fund its own pork barrel projects, and still make
  devastating across-the-board cuts in everything from education to child
  nutrition to the FBI.  I will not sign any budget that puts special
  interests above the national interest.
 
            Now, this week I may be forced to veto several of the
  appropriations bills because they fail to meet our most pressing
  national priorities.  I have decided to sign into law the Department of
  Defense appropriations bill, and I have just done that, because in good
  conscience I cannot allow our national security needs to be held hostage
  to this budget battle.
 
            This legislation provides funding for our most critical
  military needs, including weapons procurement and modernization,
  research and development, and importantly, a much needed pay raise for
  our men and women in uniform.
 
            I had proposed the first sustained increase in defense
  spending in a decade, and this bill will help to maintain that.  Still,
  what Congress sent me is far from perfect.  The legislation is loaded
  with things the Pentagon didn't ask for and doesn't need.  It applies
  accounting gimmicks to important areas.
 
            For example -- listen to this -- Congress designated the $7.2
  billion for base operations and basic training, something our military
  needs and depends upon every year, year in and year out, as an
  "unforeseen emergency" expense.
 
            Despite my reservations, I am signing this bill -- I have
  signed it -- because it's crucial to our national security and our
  military readiness; because the troops that defend our interests abroad
  deserve the strongest support we can provide here at home.
 
            The second action I have just taken is on the appropriations
  bills for the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce.  Today I
  vetoed that bill.  I vetoed it because it fails to fund the additional
  50,000 community police we need to keep crime going down in our
  communities.  We have the lowest crime rate in 30 years, but we can't
  stop until America is the safest big country in the world.
 
            This bill fails to provide the funding to give the American
  people their day in court against the tobacco companies.  It fails to
  take a strong stand -- indeed, it fails, inexplicably, to take any stand
  whatever -- against hate crimes.  And by failing to provide for our
  obligations, including our U.N. dues in arrears, it imperils not only
  our vote in the United Nations, but the ability to meet our obligations
  and, therefore, to maintain our national security.
 
            The appropriations bill for the Interior Department is no
  better.  If Congress sends it to me in its current form, with provisions
  that weaken, rather than strengthen our environmental programs, I will
  have to veto that, too.
 
            On Friday, the temporary resolution that keeps the government
  running again will expire.  That's the second such measure to have come
  and gone; another week, another deadline, and still we don't have a
  budget like the one I proposed that pays down the debt, saves Social
  Security, reforms and modernizes Medicare, and meets our most important
  national priorities.
 
            They have not lived up to their obligations and the commitment
  they made last year to put 100,000 teachers in our classroom.  They have
  not provided for another 50,000 community police to keep crime going
  down in our community.  They have not done what is necessary to protect
  our environment.
 
            Now, even though time is short, we still have a good chance to
  meet these goals.  Today my budget negotiators are continuing to work
  with Congress to finish the job.  I hope that the members of Congress
  will work with us in good faith to make this a season of progress.  And
  I remain committed to that end.
 
            Thank you very much.
 
            Q Mr. President, was there a possibility you might have had to
  order an attack on that plane, the Lear jet, as it was flying north?
 
            THE PRESIDENT:   Well, let me say, first of all, I am
  profoundly sorry for the loss of Payne Stewart, who has had such a
  remarkable career and impact on his sport, and a remarkable resurgence
  in the last couple of years; and the members of his group, including the
  two pilots and two others who were with him.  This is a very sad day.
 
            I am very grateful for the work the FAA did and for the two
  Air Force pilots and the others in the Air Force that monitored this
  plane and made every effort to try to make contact with it.  They did
  everything that could humanly be done, and they were looking out for the
  safety of everyone involved.  And I'm just sorry that it crashed and
  what happened, happened.
 
            Q Mr. President, Pat Buchanan announced today he will run for
  the Reform Party nomination.  Any comments from you, sir?
 
            THE PRESIDENT:   No.
 
            Q Mr. President, on the defense bill, sir, given your strong
  objections to it, why couldn't you have vetoed the bill and gotten the
  provisions which you wanted by negotiating with Congress?  Did you not
  have the Democratic votes to sustain your veto?
 
            THE PRESIDENT:   Well, I think we could have sustained a veto,
  although it would have been a close call.  I'm fairly confident we could
  have sustained it.  But I didn't think it was fair, frankly, to put the
  Democrats in the position of being attacked by the Republicans for being
  against the defense budget that the Democratic Party has basically
  pursued.
 
            The core of this budget is the policy of our party -- not just
  me as President, and not just our administration, the President, the
  Vice President, the Secretary of Defense -- it's the policy of our party
  to give the military a chance, after 10 years of defense reductions, to
  have the pay increase, to have the improvements in quality of life, and
  to have the military modernization.
 
            The pork barrel that is in this defense bill is not unknown to
  Capitol Hill.  But what is unknown, of course, that we've never seen
  anything like before is declaring daily operations to be emergencies so
  that they can appear not to be spending the Social Security surplus when
  they are.
 
            But I felt, on balance, given the urgent need to get the pay
  increase out and to begin the modernization programs, it was the right
  thing to do.  I also thought it would show good faith with the members
  of Congress.
 
            But I think it is -- I will say again -- I also felt, as a
  practical matter, that we should focus on the bills where the
  substantive deficiencies are -- in the teachers, in the police officers,
  in the environmental programs, in the absence of hate crimes
  legislation, in the failure to pay the U.N. dues.  I think we should
  focus on the bills where the real flaws are.
 
            And I think -- and I have made it clear that insofar as I
  proposed increased investments over and above what the Congress has
  recommended, I am prepared to pay for them, and I think they ought to do
  the same with theirs.  And we need to work together and get this worked
  out.
 
            We can do this.   This is terribly important, and we can do it.
  But the idea of just saying, well, we'll have an across-the-board cut,
  and using some percentage term that makes it seem smaller than it is
  without considering the consequences, I think, is terrible.
 
            And let me point out, just on the defense bill, if they put in
  this across-the-board cut, after having mandated that so much money go
  to this plane or this boat or this depot or this reconstruction project,
  the Pentagon will have no choice but to lay off, the DOD says, up to
  70,000 people.
 
            So I don't think that's an acceptable resolution to this, and
  I hope that we can work together and work through this.  But I am
  determined to keep fighting for something that we can all be proud of.
  And we can still do it.
 
            Yes, ma'am.
 
            Q Mr. President, you've made clear you oppose across-the-board
  spending cuts, and the Republicans have made clear they don't support
  your revenue proposals.  Would you be willing to find common ground in
  spending bills that are based on a combination of OMB and CBO scoring?
 
            THE PRESIDENT:   Well, they're already doing -- they've used a
  few OMB scoring devices when it worked to their advantage, but I have no
  objection to that, because we think we're right and, on balance, over
  the last seven years our scoring has been quite accurate.  So I will
  work with them on that.
 
            I also think there are other alternatives here.  There are
  alternatives between turning every ordinary expenditure into an
  emergency and their adopting my proposal for a 55-cent cigarette tax.
  There are lots of other ways that we can bridge these gaps.
 
            What I have recommended in investments, in the Middle East
  peace talks, in reducing the nuclear threat, in paying our U.N. dues, in
  the 100,000 teachers -- what I've recommended in this coming year does
  not amount to a great deal of money.  I can offer them ways to pay for
  that.  And then they need to find ways to pay for some of their extra
  spending.  And if we'll work together, we can do this, we can do it in a
  timely fashion, and we won't have to have a whole series of other
  continuing resolutions.
 
            And I hope we can do it.  I think we can do it in the next
  couple of weeks if we put our minds to it.
 
            Q Mr. President, are you prepared to sign another continuing
  resolution, sir?
 
            THE PRESIDENT:  Of course.  I think -- let me say, I have
  serious problems with a lot of this, as I've said.  But I can also tell
  you, we are making some progress.  I see the progress being made, and
  it's just a question -- they will have to decide if they want to work
  with me to get this resolved.  But I think I owe it to them, because we
  committed to work in good faith, to sign another continuing resolution,
  and I will do that.
 
            Thank you.
 
            Q In weeks?  Days?
 
            THE PRESIDENT:   Well, I don't know how many days it will be.
  But it ought to be an appropriate amount of time for us to finish.  And
  it shouldn't be too long, but there needs to be enough time for us to
  finish.  And I'll keep working with them.  Thank you.
 
            Q Mr. President, on the hate crimes situation and Pat
  Buchanan, may I just try one more on that?  Do you think his campaign at
  this time is going to further incite racial and ethnic hatred?
 
            THE PRESIDENT:   Well, I hope not, but that's more up to him
  than it is to me.  And it's also a matter of how we respond to it.  All
  I'm saying is, after all we've been through in this country in the last
  couple of years, and all the hate crimes we've seen, I just don't see
  how we can possibly walk away from this session of Congress and not pass
  this.
 
            And I guess I ought to say, in reaction to the previous
  question about the continuing resolution, we should remember that in
  addition to the budgets, the fact that there is a continuing resolution
  and the Congress will stay in session gives us the chance to pass the
  bill that would enable more disabled people to go to work.  It gives us
  a chance to pass the patients' bill of rights.  It gives us a chance to
  pass the minimum wage.  We've got a chance to do a lot of other good
  things to end the year on a very high note and a very positive note for
  the American people.  So we have to just keep plugging away.
 
            And I think all of us have an obligation to try to minimize
  racial, ethnic and other kinds of discrimination, and we just have to
  keep working at it.  And I'm going to do that.
 
                  END                        5:18 P.M. EDT

**********

Transmittal by President to the Congress on Social Security


                                THE WHITE HOUSE

                         Office of the Press Secretary
  ________________________________________________________________________
  For Immediate Release                                    October 26, 1999



  TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:


       I transmit herewith for your immediate consideration a legislative
  proposal entitled the "Strengthen Social Security and Medicare Act of
  1999."

       The Social Security system is one of the cornerstones of American
  national policy and together with the additional protections afforded by
  the Medicare system, has helped provide retirement security for millions
  of Americans over the last 60 years.  However, the long-term solvency
  of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds is not guaranteed.  The
  Social Security trust fund is currently expected to become insolvent
  starting in 2034 as the number of retired workers doubles.  The
  Medicare system also faces significant financial shortfalls, with the
  Hospital Insurance Trust Fund projected to become exhausted in 2015.
  We need to take additional steps to strengthen Social Security and
  Medicare for future generations of Americans.

       In addition to preserving Social Security and Medicare, the
  Congress and the President have a responsibility to future generations
  to reduce the debt held by the public.  Paying down the debt will
  produce substantial interest savings, and this legislation proposes to
  devote these entirely to Social Security after 2010.  At the same time,
  by contributing to the growth of the overall economy debt reduction
  will improve the Government's ability to fulfill its responsibilities
  and to face future challenges, including preserving and strengthening
  Social Security and Medicare.

       The enclosed bill would help achieve these goals by devoting the
  entire Social Security surpluses to debt reduction, extending the
  solvency of Social Security to 2050, protecting Social Security and
  Medicare funds in the budget process, reserving one-third of the
  non-Social Security surplus to strengthen and modernize Medicare, and
  paying down the debt by 2015.  It is clear and straightforward
  legislation that would strengthen and preserve Social Security and
  Medicare for our children and grandchildren.  The bill would:

  -    Extend the life of Social Security from 2034 to 2050 by
  reinvesting the interest savings from the debt reduction resulting from
  Social Security surpluses.

  -    Establish a Medicare surplus reserve equal to one-third of any
  on-budget surplus for the total of the period of fiscal years 2000 through
  2009 to strengthen and modernize Medicare.

  -    Add a further protection for Social Security and Medicare by
extending
  the budget enforcement rules that have provided the foundation for our
  fiscal discipline, including the discretionary caps and pay-as-you-go
  budget rules.

       I urge the prompt and favorable consideration of this proposal.


                                     WILLIAM J. CLINTON
                                     THE WHITE HOUSE,
                                     October 26, 1999.

********

"Chief Illiniwek" - call for immediate  action

Mon, 25 Oct 1999 10:33:33 -0500
CALL FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION

  Dear Friends,

      The National Coalition on Racism in Sports and  the Media calls for your
  immediate and sustained action. The University of  Illinois, the state's
  flagship academic institution and one of our most stubborn cases on Indian
  mascots, is being evaluated for accreditation by the North Central
  Association of Colleges and Schools.

      The University administration, conveniently neglected to include the
  "Chief Illiniwek" issue in their required self-study, even though this had
  been requested and the Student-Faculty Senate had voted to eliminate the
  mascot (also 700 out of approx. 2100 UI faculty have expressed their
  opposition to this practice).

      Loss of accreditation would imply putting millions of dollars in federal
  funds at risk. Loss of revenue, is the quickest way to get the attention of
  the Board of Trustees, the Chancellor and the President of the University.
  To that end, we are asking you to write to the chairperson of the
  accreditation committee and to the committee itself, asking for
  accreditation to be withheld until the University stops using Native
  peoples and their cultures for entertainment and profit.

      Below is a sample letter and the addresses.
  Please take the time to send these off and ask your friends to do
  the same.

  In Solidarity,
  Paula Ostrovsky
  Co-coordinator
  NCRSM-IL

  1-The Accreditation Group:
  Public Comment/UIUC
  Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
  North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
  30 N. LaSalle St.
  Suite 2400
  Chicago, IL 60602

  2: The Chairperson of the Accreditation Group:
  Philip Certain
  Dean of Arts & Letters
  University of Wisconsin
  Madison, WI 53706

  3: The Sample Letter:
  Please withhold academic accreditation from the University of Illinois
  until their use of a Native American as their sports mascot ceases.
  Signed,
  Name
  Address

************

Route & shedule, introductory info, quotes from support letters:

[To encourage local Global Peace Walk events around the world]
October 27, 1999

PLEASE RECYCLE, RECOPY AND PASS-IT-ON TO 10 OTHER PEOPLE...

GLOBAL PEACE WALK
c/o Yucca Foundation [501(c)3]
Phone: 415-863-2084
Voicemail & Updates: 415-267-1877
e-Fax: 413-895-8588
e-mail: <GPZONE2000@aol.com
web: <www.globalpeacenow.org
P.O. Box 170245
San Francisco, CA 94117-0245


http://www.globalpeacenow.org/route.html   (check for updates)
Schedule:  United Nations 55th anniversary Global Peace Walk 2000
San Francisco - Washington DC - New York / U.N.
1/15/2000 - 10/9/2000 - 10/24/2000

January 15th, Sat., 9am (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday)
           Depart SF War Memorial Building site of UN charter creation
January 16th, Sun. - San Jose
January 17th, Mon. - Oakland - (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March)
January 21st, 22nd, Fri., Sat. - Santa Cruz
January 23rd, Sun. - Monterey
January 24th, Mon. - Big Sur
January 26th, Wed. - Cambria
January 27th, Thur. - San Luis Obispo, noon at County Govt. Center
                late afternoon at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant gate
January 28th, Fri. - Vandenberg Air Force Base
January 29th, Sat. - UC Santa Barbara, noon, StorkeTower @ PeaceTree
January 30th, Sun. - Santa Barbara City Hall Plaza, noon ceremony
February 1st, Tues. - Ventura City Hall, noon ceremony
                (Big Mountain Support Day - relocation deadline date)
February 3rd, Thur. - Bakersfield
February 4th, Fri. - Keene (Cesar Chavez Memorial Ceremony)
February 4th, 5th, 6th, Fri., Sat., Sun. - Tehachapi
February 5th, Sat. - Los Angeles
February 13th, Sun. - Nevada Nuclear Test Site
February 25th, Fri. - Flagstaff, Arizona  (large walk to Big Mountain)
February 28th, Mon. - Big Mountain, Arizona
April 8th, Sat. - Santa Fe, New Mexico
April 9th - 21st - Global Peace Zone Ceremonies/Gatherings
                                (at various locations in New Mexico)
April 19th, Wed. - 22nd, Sat. - Global Peace Walk - Santa Fe to Taos
April 22nd, Sat. - Taos, New Mexico  (Earth Day 2000 Ceremony)

Dates to be Announced:

Oklahoma: Oklahoma City
Kansas: Leavenworth, Kansas City
Missouri: Kansas City, St. Louis

Note: St. Louis will be the gathering point for all people to walk to
Washington D.C., sometime at the beginning of August. At this time, we have
not decided the route to Washington DC, or to East Coast & New York City.

October 9-12th, - Washington DC (Columbus Day "Rediscovery" events)
October 24, 2000, 55th anniversary of the United Nations in New York City

The Public is encouraged to bring or collect donations for Global Peace Walk
2000:  Food, Survival Supplies, Cash/Checks, Support Vehicles, Cell Phones,
Camping Gear, Clothing & Shoes, Office Equipment, Lap Top Computers,
Volunteers, Fund-raisers & Financial Supporters.
Those who would like to be a part of Global Peace Walk 2000 in any way and
volunteer, can contact us and tell us what you would like to do.
GPZone2000@aol.com

Global Peace Walk 2000 will take its first step on January 15, 2000, Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, from the War Memorial Building in San
Francisco (Herbst Theater site of creation of United Nations Charter on June
26, 1945) bringing out the prayer of "Global Peace Now!" as a universal
human resolve to spread across the United States and The Globe.

Along the way, the Peace Walkers will be carrying petitions, messages &
information to educate & network with people & groups on the following
issues:  Abolition 2000 - A Call to Ban Nuclear Weapons Worldwide;
Protecting our Land & Life, Environmental and Social problem solving;
Native American issues (e.g., Leonard Peltier clemency; Big Mountain Dineh
relocation, AZ; Ward Valley nuclear waste dump, CA; Nevada Nuclear Test Site
and Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Dump - Shoshone treaty violations);
Sustainable Global Economy (e.g., Permaculture, Industrial Hemp
re-legalization); Alternative Healing/Medicine; Cannabis Medicine
re-legalization, Global Conflict Resolution by Creating a Culture of Peace
and a Spiritual United Nations; the World Thirteen Moon Calendar Change
Peace Movement; Peace Pagoda Project; Global Peace Zone Project; Proper
Funding for New-Energy Technology Research and Development; and other
survival issues that people bring to us along the way.

On October 9, 2000 (Columbus Day Monday holiday observing 1000 year
anniversary of Leif Eriksson to America), the Global Peace Walk will arrive
in Washington DC and bring the petitions & a "Message of Peace" to our
governmental leaders.  The walk will arrive in New York City at the United
Nations on October 24th, 2000 (United Nations Day, 55th UN Charter
ratification anniversary) bringing the petitions & a "Message of Peace" to
our world government leaders, and reaffirm the original principles of the
United Nations Charter, to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of
war" and to "reaffirm faith in the dignity of human rights" and to "live
together in peace."

Since the Global Peace Walk project was initiated in 1995 walking from New
York City to San Francisco for the United Nations 50th anniversary, the
Global Peace Walk has received hundreds of  letters and proclamations of
support from religious, political, community and cultural leaders towards
the creation of a worldwide Global Peace Zone.

For more information, see updates at http://www.globalpeacenow.org and also https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/gpw.html   If
you can help with internet and local outreach in your area please offer your
inspiration and messages by joining our coordinators email group list at the
following site where previous posts are archived
http://www.egroups.com/group/global-peace-walk

Living on the Globe with Our Friends,

Global Peace Walkers

Thank you very much on behalf of Global Peace
Walk2000
-----------------------general info release:


Please offer your letter of support for "Global Peace Now!" as a universal
human resolve, including your peace message and survival issue message, so
that we can carry it with other messages for global peace with the Global
Peace Walk2000.

Your embrace of Global Peace Walk 2000 can make a significant contribution
to the genuine cause of global peace, justice, environmental healing, and
prosperity for all.  http://www.globalpeacenow.org

To accomplish these goals we urge you to help us echo the prayer for "Global
Peace Now!" until this sound becomes the universal human resolve that can
actually achieve these goals by developing a comprehensive Global Culture of
Peace that integrates science, art, and spirituality (the highest form of
politics) into a worldwide Global Peace Zone2000.

Since the political United Nations came to this Earth, war, crime, violence,
oppression, and belligerent confrontations have increased around the world.
Following the guidance of indigenous spiritual messengers like the late Hopi
Prophecy interpreter Thomas Banyacya, we must create a Spiritually United
Nations to end war and violence by correcting human thinking into harmony
with the Natural World Order.  To do this we must recognize that above any
perceived differences we are all human beings on this Mother Earth; male and
female, but only one human race.  We must redirect human activity away from
war and violence towards correcting environmental and social imbalances
before it becomes too late so save all life on Earth from increasing
disasters and weapons of mass destruction.

To recognize these facts, and to offer The Message of Peace to the people
and governments of the world, Global Peace Walk 2000 will be conducted from
San Francisco, California, on the January 15, 2000, Martin Luther King Jr.
birthday anniversary to New York City for the 55th United Nations
anniversary October 24, 2000.  On October 12, 2000, Columbus Day, the walk
will be in Washington, DC, to conduct a circle of hands ceremony, with
perhaps over a million people including world leaders, a ceremony to
rededicate the Washington Monument as a Symbol of The Message of Peace.

Vikings and Columbus discovered America, but Future Generations must
rediscover this whole Globe and foster a Global Consciousness for peace.

Our ancestors left the message, "Someday all human beings recognize
that this globe is important. Someday all human beings recognize that this
globe is our house and our altar. Someday all human beings must pray for
Global Peace Now!"

The Global Peace Walk is daily manifestation, living and natural prayer.

A Global Peace Walk representative introduced Hopi traditional elder Thomas
Banyacya to His Holiness Dalai Lama on several occasions, one of which
was followed by the United Nations opening its door after 40 years to
receive the Hopi Prophecy and other indigenous peoples' messages for peace
that brought about the UN declaration of 1995-2004 as the International
Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Global Peace Walkers' vision is to
understand and respect the cultures, traditions and ancient wisdom carried
by the indigenous peoples and by the surviving traditional culture of peace.

Please join us in supporting Global Peace Walk 2000 to unify all ways of
thinking in this unversal human resolve for "Global Peace Now!".  Since the
Global Peace Walk project was initiated in 1995 walking from New York City
to San Francisco for the United Nations 50th anniversary, we have received
numerous letters and proclamations of support from religious, political,
community and cultural leaders towards creation of aworldwide Global Peace
Zone 2000.  Please offer your support as well and help obtain local
municipal Global Peace Zone proclamations to foster a worldwide Global Peace
Zone2000.

We will be posting and circulating your and/or your group's letters of
support for "Global Peace Now!" containing any survival issue messages
and will include these in the compiled messages for delivery to the
United States and United Nations governments and available to all.

We need:  More letters of support; walkers (local, long distance, branch
routes, etc.);  local, national, and cultural coordinators;  emailers,
webmasters, increasing computer and internet capabilities, telephoners,
publicity, writers, food, support vehicles, diesel mechanic, financial
support, and most of all your firm personal resolve for "Global Peace Now!"

Offerings may be made to Global Peace Walk at PO Box 170245, San Francisco,
CA 94117-0245, phone 415-863-2084, phone/fax 415-751-6851,
GPZone2000@aol.com  (hardcopy flyers available, t-shirts, etc.)
Global Peace Walk Project http://www.globalpeacenow.org

Tax deductible contributions may be made at above address to Yucca
Foundation  [a 501(c)3 California Association, for the Spiritual Arts] and a
receipt with tax ID number will be sent by return mail upon request.

Please join our coordinators email group list at
http://www.egroups.com/list/global-peace-walk

For more information see also interim Global Peace Walk site
https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/gpw.html

Thank you very much.   Global Peace Now!
Some quotes from Global Peace Walk letters and proclamations of support:
[we welcome ALL people's commitments and ask that they help fulfill them]
Partial index to texts https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/lisproc.html

"Global Peace Now is critical to the survival of the human race.
Collectively, we have been apathetic to the state of our neighbors and the
deteriorating condition of our Earth Mother for too long. Global Peace Now
is not just an invitation, it is a great cry for us to open our eyes and
ears, to use our heads and hands and create the kinds of change that will
save the planet and all who live and breathe upon Her",
----Leonard Peltier, American Indian Movement spiritual leader,
      U.S. political prisoner

"The U.N. enters its second half-century of service facing new opportunities
and challenges. If the nations of the world are to fully embrace these
opportunities and overcome challenges, we must work more closely together to
fully realize the principles of the original United Nations Charter and must
commit to improving the organization's efficiency and effectiveness. During
this momentous anniversary celebration, let us reaffirm the ideals,
principles, and goals contained in the Charter and rededicate ourselves to
working for the good of all humankind", ---President Bill Clinton

"...best wishes for a successful event", ---Vice President Al Gore

"...I send you my best wishes for a successful event in promoting  harmony
and peace for all people", ---Bill Richardson, US Representative to the
United Nations

"It is gratifying that the United Nations 50th Anniversary Global Peace Walk
'95 is committed to working for the realization of my husband's dream for a
beloved world community.  The great work that you are doing is an
inspiration to all of the King Center family", ---Coretta Scott King, CEO,
Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Atlanta, GA

"We must all make a commitment to work for peace and for justice in our
world.  Your efforts demonstrate to the world, and remind us all here at La
Paz, that there is much work to be done...  You and the participants of the
Global Peace Now march are leading us all by standing up and taking the
right steps -- the steps toward peace and justice for everyone", ---Helen
Chavez (widow of Cesar Chavez), United Farm Workers Community
La Paz, Keene, California (near Tehachapi)

"Dr. King believed that hate destroys a person's sense of value and
objectivity.  His message was to stick to love, because hate is too great a
burden to bear.  Never lose sight of Dr. King's genius as you go forth to
educate, and as you gather and congregate.  Hope for us all continues to
thrive and to remain vitally alive because of the insight and selfless
efforts of dedicated persons like you", ---Rev. Jesse Jackson


In his municipal Global Peace Zone proclamation, Rome, NY,
Mayor Joseph Griffo proclaimed, in part:

WHEREAS: The anniversary message by the United Nations Secretary General
called for the "Development of a Culture of Peace" and 1995 began the United
Nations International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples; and

WHEREAS: The Woodstock Concert's 30th anniversary celebration will be taking
place in Rome, New York, July 23-25, 1999, to foster the development of a
Culture of Peace and Love through popular music. The initiator of the Global
Peace Walk project will participate at the opening ceremony with local
spiritual practitioners; and

WHEREAS: The Global Peace Project has honored Rome by inviting this city to
be New York's first GLOBAL PEACE ZONE. We hope to deliver a message of peace
all over the world, by uniting people regardless of race, religions,
ideologies, and countries."   --- Rome NY Mayor Griffo


"...today's local social issues are interconnected with many global issues
such as racism, sexism, religious intolerance, natural disasters, war,
health, environment, crime, violence, poverty, drugs; and...all over the
world people are fighting for land and life and looking for the Pathway to
Peace...the Global Peace Walk...[is]...offering the prayer of 'Global Peace
Now!' to demonstrate this universal human resolve as the pathway to Global
Peace Zone 2000", ---Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown

"...senseless loss of life, liberty and property can be eliminated once we
establish a vision of world peace in concurrence with nonviolent solutions
to world differences...we must rededicate ourselves to promote knowledge and
love, and to spread the message of 'Global Peace Now!'...the Global Peace
Walk seeks to unite the world in peace in the spirit of great inspirational
leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.", ---San Francisco Mayor Willie
Brown

"On behalf of all New Yorkers, I ask you to convey throughout the world our
wish for peace.  May your physical and spiritual journey in pursuit of
global peace inspire the world's leaders", ---New York Mayor Giuliani

"As Governor of a diverse Commonwealth where people of various race, culture
and religion strive to cast aside differences and stand together as
Pennsylvanians, we join in helping you convey your message of peace,
prosperity and human value", ---Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge

"...as children of an interdependent world, we must always strive to settle
our differences without resorting to violence..." ---Mel Carnahan, Governor of Missouri

"Throughout our world, today, there is a plethora of tension and strife.
Far too many nations are preoccupied with civil unrest and military warfare.
However, senseless loss of life, liberty and property can be diminished once
mankind regains a vision of world peace.  I pray that your spiritual journey
touches the hearts and minds of our national leaders"
---Freeman R. Bosley Jr., Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri

"May the Great Spirit make us all conscious participants in this spiritual
journey to World Peace" ---Albert Hale, President, Navajo Nation

"Because of our belief in a true peace among all people of the world, in
spirit, we are participants to achieve this goal. Welcome to the Hopi land,
may the great spirit be your guide as you continue through your
journey" ---Ferrell Secakuku, Chairman, Hopi Tribe

"As an artist I have always believed in world peace...keep peace in your
hearts for now and for all the future generations to come, for a peaceful
existence is the only way to ensure prosperity for the entire planet.  With
all of my love and blessings to all of humanity for their efforts toward
world peace." ---Peter Max

[About the Global Peace Walk initiator:]

Rev. Yusen Yamato, born 15OCT46, is the initiator of Global Peace Walk,
Zen-Buddhist monk, Zen-Shiatzu meditation practitioner (traditional massage
practitioner). He was raised in traditional community after WWII in Japan,
then was graduated from traditional buddhist school.
He has two masters, the first master was Ouchi-daiosho in Enmanji-temple.
The second master was Seisetsu-Koudou-daiosho in Choshoji-temple. Both
masters were practicing Ekayana-teaching (One-vehicle-teaching) which was
revealed by late Shakamuni-Buddha 2500 years ago, and the prince
Shotoku-Taishi 1400 years ago in Japan. Living on the globe with all my
friends. Global Peace Now!
Global Peace Now! Global Peace Now! Living in the
Global Peace Zone.
Protect our land and life.

Plus see Rev. Yamato's auto-bio at
<www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/yamato.html

****************************************************************************

David Crockett Williams  <gear2000@lightspeed.net
Global Emergency Alert Response
https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000
Global Peace Walk 2000
Local Coordinator, Tehachapi, California

See main site for ongoing updates
http://www.globalpeacenow.org

**********

Call for Electronic Civil Disobedience -
Wednesday 27th October 1999

Great find Fred!  Everyone, if there was an event worthy of our participation this one is it. I urge everyone to head  on over to this link and participate in this.  As long as the weapon trade is as big a business as it is, there will never be peace anywhere, only never ending conflicts with profits being made on both sides.  Make the effort to further world peace by joining in on this effort.

Ellis

http://www.caat.demon.co.uk/

Call for Electronic Civil Disobedience - Wednesday 27th October 1999

Resident in Belgium for around 15 years (until being kicked out by the Belgium Parliament in 1997 for being "politically and ethically undesirable"), Technet 99 (also known as AFCEA) is the high tech arms fair. If you're looking for tanks and guns you will be disappointed - what you will find instead is a showcase for 21st century warfare - computer and intelligence systems, electronics and satellite communications etc. etc. These will be available to the highest bidder, and used against those whose aims run contrary to those of the buyer, be they of the same or other nations. Technet 99 has moved to London in the hope of an easy ride, and for a venue where it can continue to deal in death without hindrance. There is however, an alternative…

Technet 99 has got to go!

With this in mind, you are invited to a virtual sit-in of a web site closely linked to Technet 99 on Wednesday 27th October. To join the sit-in and prevent the target web-site from functioning, please make your way to htttp://www.caat.demon.co.uk and follow the simple instructions. You can use your web-browser to easily join or leave the virtual sit-in at any time. The virtual sit-in uses Electronic Disturbance Theatre's Floodnet software to flood the target web-site with requests for information. As more people join the action, the target server becomes unable to deal with the volume of requests. This results in any genuine requests for information (to do with running the arms fair or related business) going unanswered. You can also use the floodnet software to tell the AFCEA website controllers why you are taking part in the virtual sit-in. You can use your web-browser to easily join or leave the virtual sit-in at any time. Please consider leaving your browser in the virtual sit-in area while you get on with other work - the longer you take part in the virtual sit-in the more effective it will be. Other actions you can take against Technet 99

In order to function effectively, people inside the arms fair must be able to communicate with the outside world. With this in mind, a communication blockade (phone, fax, and e-mail) of the hotel which is hosting Technet 99 is taking place all day on Wednesday 27th October - people throughout the UK and hopefully the rest of the world will be getting touch with the hotel to ask them to close Technet 99. The relevant details are shown below:

Virtual sit-in (all day, Wed. 27th October): http://www.caat.demon.co.uk
Phone and fax blockade (all day Wed. 27th October): Tel: 0181 8976363 Fax: 0181 8971113

Hacktivism:

See http://www.afcea.org for sites crying out for creative alterations. Please report any successes (including altered pages as attachments) to pages@caat.demon.co.uk

************

October 25, 1999 12:16 PM
Fact Sheet on Medicare and Prescription Drugs


                              THE WHITE HOUSE
 
                       Office of the Press Secretary
  ________________________________________________________________________
  For Immediate Release                                    October 25, 1999
 
 
  PRESIDENT CLINTON REBUFFS DRUG INDUSTRY ADS, ORDERS STUDY ON DRUG COSTS,
               AND ANNOUNCES NEW SURPLUS RESERVE FOR MEDICARE
                              October 25, 1999
 
  Today, the President will make a series of announcements to refocus the
  nation and the Congress on the need to strengthen and modernize
  Medicare, including the provision of a long-overdue prescription drug
  option.  Criticizing the pharmaceutical industry's multi-million dollar
  campaign against a Medicare drug benefit he will:  (1) direct HHS to
  produce its first study on drug costs and trends, documenting problems
  faced by Medicare beneficiaries; and (2) announce that his Social
  Security legislation will reserve one-third of the non-Social Security
  surplus for Medicare and challenge Congress to pass it.  Last Friday,
  Vice President Gore also expressed his concern about the inability of
  older and disabled Americans to access affordable prescription drugs.
  Today, the President will:
 
  Direct HHS to produce its first study on prescription drug costs and
  trends.  The President will direct the Secretary Donna Shalala to
  produce the first-ever Health and Human Services (HHS) study of
  prescription drug costs and trends for Medicare beneficiaries with and
  without coverage.  The study, which will be released within 90 days,
  will investigate:
 
  -    Price differences for the most commonly used drugs for people with
  and without coverage;
 
  -    Drug spending by people of different ages, as a percentage of
  income and as a percentage of total health spending; and
 
  -    Trends in drug expenditures by people of different ages, as a
  percentage of income and total health spending.
 
  This study will build on two Administration studies released in 1999
  that examined coverage patterns and trends for Medicare beneficiaries
  and decreases in Medicare managed care plan coverage of prescription
  drugs.  The President will also announce that he has directed his staff
  to produce a state-by-state analysis of the need for Medicare reform.
  These reports will lay the foundation for an informed public debate
  about prescription drug coverage.
 
  Announce that he will send Congress legislation to reserve one-third of
  the non-Social Security surplus for Medicare and challenge the Congress
  to pass it.   In his radio address on October 23, the President
  announced that he would send to Congress legislation that protects the
  Social Security surplus, extends the solvency of Social Security through
  2050, and pays off the debt.  Today, he will announce that this
  legislation will also reserve one-third of the non-Social Security
  surplus for Medicare.  This reserve can be used to extend Medicare's
  solvency and help fund a prescription drug benefit.  The precise
  allocation of these reserved funds will be left open to provide
  flexibility to develop a broad-based Medicare reform proposal that can
  generate bipartisan support.  The President will challenge Congress to
  pass the legislation he is submitting this week, emphasizing that it
  lays the foundation for necessary Medicare and Social Security reforms
  next year.
 
  Criticize the multi-million dollar, industry-sponsored campaign against
  a Medicare prescription drug benefit.  Despite widespread support among
  Republicans and Democrats for some type of prescription drug benefit for
  Medicare beneficiaries, no action has been taken in this Congress - in
  part because of the deceptive, multi-million dollar advertising campaign
  launched by opponents.  Citizens for Better Medicare, a group organized
  and primarily funded by the pharmaceutical industry, is sponsoring TV,
  radio and print advertisements that include several myths about the
  President's plan for a prescription drug benefit.  These myths include:
 
  "Big government in my medicine cabinet."  This is false.  The
  President's proposal ensures that all classes of drugs are covered - and
  that any doctor can prescribe a drug that is medically necessary without
  constraints.  No government restrictions would be imposed, nor does the
  President's plan include price controls.  It relies on private benefit
  managers, chosen through a competitive process, to structure the
  coverage policies.  This is exactly the way that the best-managed
  private employers pay for drugs.  In fact, the President's plan would
  actually increase, not decrease, choice of medicines since it would give
  the tens of millions of Medicare beneficiaries who currently lack
  dependable on coverage a new option to buy basic coverage at an
  affordable price.
 
  "All seniors will be forced into a government-run plan."  This is a
  false claim designed to scare seniors.  The President's drug benefit is
  purely optional - if beneficiaries want to keep their current coverage,
  they can.  Unfortunately, very few seniors have decent, dependable
  options today.  In just the past four years, the number of firms
  offering retiree coverage dropped by 25 percent.  The President's plan
  actually provides employers over $10 billion in incentives to offer and
  continue prescription drug coverage.  And the plan is not
  "government-run" since beneficiaries choose coverage through either
  private drug benefit managers or Medicare managed care plans.
 
  The President will urge the drug industry to be constructive as he works
  to forge a consensus on critical Medicare reform legislation.  America's
  elderly deserve more than the industry's evasive scare tactics.
 
                                    ###

***********

Special ops wing helps open urban training site

http://www.af.mil/news/Oct1999/n19991025_991969.html
Special ops wing helps open urban training site
Released: 25 Oct 1999

by 2nd Lt. Julie Eilerman
16th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) -- The sun set over the small Kentucky urban town hours ago. The chill from the late September morning penetrates its residents.

The quiet area awakens to the sound of a blast cutting the power lines, engulfing the city in darkness. The shadow of a helicopter looms over the embassy dispensing dark figures to the ground. Rounds from a gunship frighten and confuse local civilians, and the only light comes from a firing machine gun.

This scene appeared realistic. But instead of disrupting a town while evacuating five hostages from an enemy area, members from the 16th Special Operations Wing recently joined Army Rangers and Army forces to train on the Army's newest and most refined military operation urban terrain training site.

The newly constructed $13.2 million site at Fort Knox, Ky., is considered to be "heads and shoulders above anything the Army (already) has," according to Andy Andrews, range manager at Fort Knox.

The 26-acre facility began in the minds of Army trainers more than 10 years ago, and after two years of construction the site is now more than 97 percent complete.

The makeshift town has 22 buildings, including an embassy, chapel, an underground tunnel system, soccer field, stop signs, bridge and fire hydrants. The object was to make this site as realistic as possible.

Universal Studios, MGM and Disney assisted the Army with special effects. Cars exploding on street corners, bridges collapsing and elevators wedging between two floors represent a few of the challenges facing the trainees.

The sound system used in this MOUT site was modeled after the one used in the movie "Jurassic Park." It's a computerized operational sequential sound system and allows participants to hear desired effects as if they were real. Voices can be produced and heard throughout a given building. Machine gun fire resounds with real volume and sound dispersion.

"All the special effects bring realism and stress to the environment. Bringing in all the elements of the fight is critical," said Andrews.

Instead of walking into an empty room, having a figure pop out and making a decision to shoot or hold fire, the room in every building contains complete furnishings.

And additional distractions were also thrown into the picture. Rangers on the ground react to stressful situations such as a sniper in the church bell tower, media requesting information, doctors demanding help for injured people, the blackout of certain neighborhood blocks and mysterious gases pouring out of rooms.

"When soldiers are deployed they should be equally trained in urban areas as well as the wooded and open areas. That way we know how to measure their readiness," Andrews explained. "This is a very intense environment, and we turn up the stress levels so commanders will know how their troops react in an urban combat area."

The possibility of injury exists in such a realistic combat situation, but measures to avoid a preventable accident have been taken. The Armored Branch Safety Office has been part of the team since the beginning. Impact mats and sawdust pits are in place where there's a high possibility of falling.

All the players and participants are briefed beforehand of the current situation and necessary safety precautions. The players are reminded before the situation begins that in the end, the players are all on the same team.

The same philosophy holds true for the different military branches. Bringing in all aspects of the fight also makes the scene more realistic.

"Having (Air Force Special Operations Command) come in and do what they do makes it realistic. We're bringing all the elements of the fight together so we can train as we would fight," Andrews said.

Col. David Scott, 16th SOW commander, visited the site during the two-week training period.

"The MOUT site at Ft. Knox allows our troops on the ground and in the air to practice as they'd perform. It offers realistic training in an urban environment, enabling our people to train without disturbing civilians. It illustrates special operations' commitment to jointness," he said.

Once the lights are cut and the helicopters bring in the players, it's up to the people on the ground to accomplish their objective, including dodging enemies who are firing simulated bullets. Role players are positioned in key places and the scene is recreated as if it could happen for real.

After the objective is completed, the military forces must evacuate. In some scenarios, the helicopter is simulated to crash and search and rescue crews are called in. The purpose is to keep trainees on their toes and ensure they're ready for the unexpected.

Richard Davis, consultant for opposing forces, develops the enemy forces' reactions to the trainees.

"I try to put together a realistic opposing force to help units prepare for operations other than war," said Davis.

He's in charge of researching the country or area of conflict and getting the necessary role players. He educates the players of their simulated life style and how they should react to the scene. He's also responsible for helping determine the objective of the mission and altering it for each group.

"We take intelligence and put the profile of the group to it so it's realistic," Davis added.

********

US Government Drug Running Capers
Oct. 25, 1999

There is an ongoing Congressional investigation into the allegations raised in Gary Webb’s August 1996 series of articles in the San Jose Mercury News, entitled “Dark Alliance,” that detailed the relationship between one crack kingpin in South Central Los Angeles and his CIA/Contra connected supplier. All across the country there were reports in many of the major mainstream newspapers that Webb was fanning the flames of black paranoia, that there was nothing to the story. But that was not the truth, far from it, which these so-called reporters, the nay-sayers and denigrators, should have realized had they known their history, or had they not been spouting an official Drug War propaganda line. A source inside the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has confirmed the continuing investigation. According to a letter that the committee sent to Mike Ruppert, founder of Crack the CIA Coalition, back in May 1999, the committee is in the final stages of evaluating the evidence that they have already received.

Ruppert, a former detective in the Los Angeles Police Department, postulates in his newsletter From the Wilderness, (June 28, 1999), that the GOP controlled Congress would really like to wrap up the investigation before the 2000 Presidential race, as George W. Bush, current Governor of Texas, is the favorite candidate of the GOP. It may be that rumors and allegations of his father’s involvement with the Contra effort could taint his already cocaine-rumor-laden candidacy.

There have been a number of reports, articles, and books, as well as numerous government investigations, hinting at, and sometimes explicitly detailing, CIA complicity in the global drug trade since at least 1972, when Alfred McCoy published his seminal work, “The Politics of Heroin in South East Asia.” The trail leads all around the world, from WW II right up to the present day in Kosovo, and Colombia, with the CIA and other US agencies working hand in hand with various drug financed armies and drug producing countries to steadily increase the profit margin for the military-industrial-law enforcement complex.

As long as the government keeps drugs illegal, the price of drugs remains artificially inflated, thereby insuring the greatest amount of profits for the traffickers, for the cartels and criminals,and for the arms procurers and manufacturers who sell all the military, anti-narcotic equipment to the third world drug producing nations, such as Colombia, Turkey, Haiti, Burma, to name a few. In the US, law enforcement agencies are increasingly militarized, constitutional rights are eroded, and more citizens are locked up than in any other country in the Western world, while the CIA continues to work with, and protect those producing and shipping the drugs in the first place.

There are now 8 separate class-action suits that have been filed in the US, against the CIA and the Department of Justice, on the grounds that the victims of the massive influx of cocaine, particularly of crack, during the Contra war effort, and beyond, did not receive “due protection under the law.” When Bill Casey, then CIA director, and W. F. Smith, then Attorney General, signed a “memorandum of understanding” in 1982 that relieved the CIA of responsibility to report drug trafficking allegations concerning non-employees, and Casey then went ahead and reclassified 5,000 or so agents and employees to non-employee status, there was then a conspiracy to deceive and fool the American people, and to destroy the lives of US citizens to make a buck for a certain few individuals, and prop up a dictator or two, all in the name of National Security, and the Drug War.

By Preston Peet (ptpeet@cs.com)

Case File: CIA & Drugs
Mike Ruppert’s official site detailing many cases of CIA and US government drug dealing, and working with drug dealers and traffickers. There’s a video of Terry Reed speaking in Los Angeles about a drug sting that involved some of the Bush kids. It is well worth checking out this very dramatic, and sensational site. Plenty of conspiracy theorizing going on here.
Go

The CIA & Drugs
This site is a very precise layout of various CIA involvements with numerous drug traffickers. The emphasis is heavy on the CIA’s, and the US government’s own admissions, and also on the investigations of a number of former government agents from the DEA, the CIA, and others. The evidence is overwhelming. One of the very best of this type of site. No theory here. Lots of links.
Go

Drugging America
Rodney Stich has written a book by this same title (1999), as well has having written the landmark book on government corruption and dirty dealings entitled Defrauding America. Stich spent years of government duty as an FAA investigator, which is where he first came across government slime and crime when he tried to report unsafe airline inspection practices and got himself in trouble for whistle blowing. An incredible array of different shady incidents and government crimes are detailed. Be prepared to spend some time here.
Go

The Real Drug Lords
This is a great little article by William Blum called the Real Drug Lords. A quick overview of the primary spots where the CIA has engaged in working with traffickers for one reason or another. Simple and to the point.
Go

Cocaine pipeline financed rebels
This site has all of the original Webb articles as they appeared in August 1996. Webb had so many facts there to see it is hard to imagine how the CIA, in the person John Deutch, then Director of Central Intelligence, could expect the citizens of South Central LA, and the rest of the country as well, to believe his denials. In retrospect, it is not hard to see at all, what with the propaganda machine
Go

The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations
This site has an incredible number of official documents outlining the government's knowledge that it was working with drug traffickers. Another large site, with lots and lots of material. Spend some more time here.
Go

Drugwar.com
I have reviewed Dan Russell’s “Drug War-Covert Money, Power, and Politics” for another publication, and have to say that this book was one of the most entertaining of the anti-prohibition works I have read, with reams of great old photos, and obscure facts about the history of the Drug War, and the deceit of the law enforcers, and prohibitionists. At this site one can find both excerpts of this book, as well as a few others that Russell has written, though not on the subject of CIA drug running.
Go

CIA's Drug Confession
An in depth look into the CIA/Contra/Cocaine connections, and the resultant report by the CIA Inspector General, by Robert Parry. Parry was one of the very first to try and report the allegations that were flying around in the eighties about the Contras supporting the war in Nicaragua with the proceeds of drugs, buying arms and supplies, often using drugs themselves as currency, to pay for the arms that Oliver North and friends were shipping South.
Go

The Expert Witness Show
It is hard for those who want the common Dick and Jane to believe the Drug War lies once one has heard Mike Levine speak, or read one of his articles on his adventures as a 25 year veteran of the DEA. Access his radio program, Expert Witness, or just read, either way, this site will educate one on what goes on behind the headlines in the real Drug War.
Go

DE-CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Coming out of Tempe Arizona, there is a distinct patriot flavor here. Lots to choose from, but a bit of a rant at times. Enjoyable overall, other than for all the infuriating information about government drug trafficking.
Go

Anti-Drug Unit of C.I.A. Sent a Ton of Cocaine to U.S. in 1990
New York Times article about a cooperative effort between a Venezuelan anti-drug unit and the CIA that shipped a ton of cocaine into the USA., after the CIA had requested permission of the DEA to let a ton of cocaine walk after hitting the streets in the USA. Hippie dippy site, but great article.
Go

The Duplicity of the War on Drugs
Another history of the current Drug War fiasco, with a focus on the government’s involvement at the root of the problem. On the scholarly side, lots of words, lots of information.
Go

TOP SECRET CIA DRUG SMUGGLING OPERATIONS
Useful, short and sweet, a listing of some fairly recent CIA drug operations, with accompanying affidavits and documents.
Go

ALLEGATIONS OF CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CIA
This is the official site of the CIA, so enter at your own risk. Here you can get the entire Volume II on the Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States, the Contra story. Loads of double speak and misdirection here, but it is fascinating to see how they try to turn a phrase, and twist the truth.
Go

CIA Report on Contra-Cocaine Connection Contains Curiosities, Contra-dictions and Omissions
Here one can get two articles on CIA/Contra/Cocaine connections, one on the CIA’s report, Volume 1, and the other testimony by Rep. Maxine Waters on what she has discovered while looking into the reports of CIA drug trafficking.
Go

CIA, Justice Dept. Face Drug War's Victims
A look at the lawsuits that have been filed against the CIA and the DoJ, in 6 States so far,in 1999, on behalf of anyone hurt by the cocaine ‘epidemic’. The more the merrier, so take a look.
Go

THE CIA, DRUGS, THE GHETTO—AND THE MEDIA WHITEWASH
Peter Dale Scott authors this article, brilliantly illuminating some of the lies and deceits told by the mainstream mouthpiece media when trying to deny there was anything to Webb’s expose.
Go

*********

Statement by the President on Financial System Laws


                              THE WHITE HOUSE
 
                       Office of the Press Secretary
  _________________________________________________________________________
  For Immediate Release                                     October 22, 1999
 
 
                         STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
 
       Early this morning, my administration reached a tentative agreement
  with Congress that will modernize the Depression-era laws that govern
  our financial system.  While we are still reviewing the language, this
  tentative agreement will bring lower costs, more choices, and better
  protections for consumers.  At the same time, it will promote continued
  investment in America's communities and new opportunities for our
  financial institutions to compete in the global marketplace.  When this
  potentially historic agreement is finalized, it will strengthen the
  economy and help consumers, communities, and businesses across America.
 
       As important as it is to modernize our nation's banking laws, I
  cannot accept any bill that would weaken the Community Reinvestment Act
  and undermine our commitment to promoting more investments in
  underserved communities.  That is why I insisted that no bank that fails
  to meet the needs of our communities should be able to profit from the
  new insurance and securities powers that this legislation provides.
  This tentative agreement includes provisions that meet this test and
  provide for a strong and relevant Community Reinvestment Act.
 
                                    ###

*********

North Carolina Disaster relief: Where to give
An Observer-Times staff report

    The following is a list of some sites collecting items to aid hurricane
and flood victims. Most are accepting donations of nonperishable food;
bottled water; new blankets; batteries; baby food and formula; diapers;
personal hygiene products such as soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste;
cleaning supplies and disinfectants; and paper products such as toilet
tissue and paper towels. Other donation requests are noted at the site.
The American Red Cross asks for cash donations that would be used to
give vouchers to families. The vouchers pay for food, clothing, shelter,
medications, eyeglasses and work tools.
    Winn-Dixie stores are sponsoring a "Blue Ribbon Relief" effort.
Customers can buy blue ribbons for $1 each. Winn-Dixie will match the
contributions and send the money to the state Donation Receiving Center
for Hurricane Floyd in Raleigh. Winn-Dixie also is donating 50
truckloads of bottled water.

Bladen County |
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is operating a center from noon
until 5 p.m. in the old Sears building at 311 S. Poplar Street. The
center will be open indefinitely.
Workers at the disaster recovery center will answer questions about FEMA
aid. Residents should call the FEMA registration hotline, (800)
462-9029, before coming to the recovery center. Representatives from the
Red Cross and the Small Business Administration will be at the center.

Columbus County |
Drop donations at the Emergency Management office at 608 N. Thompson St.
in Whiteville.

Cumberland County |
The American Red Cross Highlands Chapter is accepting checks marked
"Disaster Relief Fund" at P.O. Box 35045, Fayetteville, N.C. 28303.
Donations also may be made to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243,
Washington, D.C., 20013, or online at www.redcross.org.
To volunteer time, call 867-8151 and ask for disaster services.
The SPCA and Humane Society will be at the Wal Mart Shopping Center
today from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. They need pet supplies such as pet
carriers, cat and dog food, blankets, towels, collars, leashes and first
aid supplies.
Three South River Electric Membership Corporation offices at 701 E.
Broad St., Dunn; N.C. 210, Spring Lake and Wade-Stedman Road in Stedman
are accepting donations.
Second Harvest Community Food Bank at 406 Deep Creek Road is accepting
donations at least through 11 a.m. on Saturday. Donations to the Food
Bank also can be dropped off at the Kroger on McPherson Church Road,
said Director Walter Hair. Call 485-8809 for more information.
Drop donations at The Salvation Army, 220 E. Russell St. through today.
First Presbyterian Church at Bow and Ann streets is accepting donations
from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on
Sunday. Need sheets, pillowcases and blankets. For information call
483-0121 or 484-5151.
The James B. Dennis VFW Post 6018 located at 116 Chance St. will accept
donations after 10 a.m. daily.
Any Cumberland County fire station will accept donations.
The Hope Mills Fire Department will take donations. Call Chief Lee Sudia
at 424-0948.

Harnett County |
Drop donations at the Food Lion on U.S. 401 South in Lillington through
today.
John Boy's Restaurant on U.S. 421 in Lillington accepts donations from
5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Saturday.
Dunn Fire Department at 102 N. Powell Ave. accepts donations from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
Spout Springs Fire Department at 4400 Buffalo Lake Road will take
donations from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Wednesday.

Hoke County |
The Emergency Management Department will accept donations at the Old
National Guard Armory at 423 E. Central Ave. through October 1. They
will turn food over to the Second Harvest Food Bank in Fayetteville.

Lee County |
WWGP-AM 1050 radio station on U.S. 1 will accept donations through
Wednesday.
Sandhills Camping on U.S. 15-501 is accepting items such as pillows,
blankets, washcloths, sheets, small utensils and pots and pans.
The American Red Cross will take donations at its office at 507 N.
Steele St. through Sunday. Monetary donations will continue to be
accepted indefinitely.
The Lee County Sheriff's Department will take donations at the office on
Horner Boulevard.
The First Presbyterian Church at 203 Hawkins Ave. will take donations.

Moore County |
Drop donations at the Carter-Musgrave Tobacco Warehouse at the
intersection of U.S. 15-501 and N.C. 22 in Carthage through Thursday.
The Sandhills Food Bank on N.C. 5 in Aberdeen will take donations
through Thursday.
The Robbins, Westmoore, and Circle V Fire Departments and the Southern
Pines Fire Department will take donations 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays
and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Donations
accepted through Thursday. For information or if you are interested in
volunteering please contact Connie at 947-2881.
Drop donations at the Aberdeen Municipal Building through Thursday.
Moore County Emergency Services Director Barry Britt said donations from
the above sites will be taken to the state Emergency Management
Warehouse in Rocky Mount for distribution. Local trucking companies will
provide transportation, he said.
The Business Guild will fill a tractor-trailer with donations at the
Seven Lakes Commons in Seven Lakes through Thursday.
St. James Lutheran Church Lutheran Women's Missionary League will be
accepting donations of food, cleaning supplies, baby care items, clothes
and personal hygiene products 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Drop off the
items at Pine City Beauty and Barber Shop, 1020 W. Pennsylvania Ave. in
Southern Pines.
The donations will be distributed to flooded communities by the
Sandhills Food Bank.

Robeson County |
Take donations to the Church and Community Center on 15th Street in
Lumberton. The center is distributing food and cleaning supplies to
flood victims in the county.
The Hyde Park Baptist Church on Roberts Avenue is serving hot meals
twice a day to those who do not have power. Lunch is being served 11
a.m. to 1 p.m. and supper 5 to 7 p.m.
The American Red Cross is accepting financial donations to help with
hurricane victims' most pressing needs. Donations can be dropped off at
707-C Union Chapel Road in Pembroke.

Sampson County |
Drop donations at the county emergency management office on U.S. 701
Business in Clinton.
Other drop-off points are Piggly Wiggly stores in Jordan Plaza on North
East Boulevard, Shamrock Plaza on Sunset Avenue and College Street in
Clinton; Lakewood Plaza in Roseboro, and on U.S. 701 in Newton Grove, as
well as in neighboring counties at Angier and Smithfield. All locations
will accept donations until October 8.
Donations also are being accepted at Kmart on South East Boulevard, CVS
Pharmacy at 507 College St. in Clinton through today and Sampson Auto
and Body Paint Shop in Bonnettsville.
A number of churches also are involved, but a list was not available on
Wednesday. Persons wishing to make donations should check with their
churches.

Scotland County |
The American Red Cross has stationed a truck at the Post Office on Gill
Street in Laurinburg. The Red Cross will accept donations of food and
other supplies to take to the Greenville Red Cross for distribution
through October 1.
Contributions, payable to the Disaster Relief Fund, also may be mailed
to the American Red Cross at P.O. Box 927, Laurinburg, N.C. 28353.
Cash donations also are being collected at all Laurinburg banks.

*************

  Date sent: 21 Oct 1999
FBI prefers to take Pot smokers rather than Rapists IUFO: Release: marijuana arrests =======================================
  NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
  2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
  Washington DC 20037
  World Wide Web: http://www.lp.org/
  =======================================
  For release: October 20, 1999
  =======================================
  For additional information:
  George Getz, Press Secretary
  Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
  E-Mail: 76214.3676@Compuserve.com
  =======================================

  Why are police arresting more dope smokers
  than murderers, robbers, thugs, and rapists?

          WASHINGTON, DC -- Police are more eager to arrest people for
  smoking marijuana than for murder, robbery, or rape, according to new
  figures from the FBI -- and that's a criminal misuse of law enforcement
  resources that puts innocent Americans at risk, the Libertarian Party
  charged today.

          "This is astonishing: Police apparently would rather arrest a
  person with marijuana in his possession than a sadistic killer with
  blood on his hands," said Steve Dasbach, the party's national director.
  "We have to ask: What are these police smoking?"

          According to the new FBI Uniform Crime Report, police arrested
  more people for non-violent marijuana offenses in 1998 than for murder,
  rape, robbery, and aggravated assault -- combined.

          In all, 682,885 Americans were arrested last year on
  marijuana-related charges, while only 676,020 people were arrested for
  the crimes of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.

          Of those arrested for marijuana offenses, 88% were charged with
  mere possession.

          "These figures are great news for murderers, rapists, and
  robbers, since police appear to be more interested in arresting someone
  for smoking marijuana than for committing a cold-blooded killing, a
  sadistic rape, or a brazen burglary spree," said Dasbach. "This is a
  clear case of public endangerment -- and a tragic waste of criminal
  justice resources.

          "The fact is, every marijuana arrest means there is less police
  time, less law enforcement money, less court time, and fewer jail cells
  available to arrest, convict, and imprison violent criminals," he said.
  "Does that make any sense?"

          According to another new study from the Marijuana Policy
  Project, there are 59,300 people in U.S. prisons and jails for
  marijuana offenses at any given time, and there have been nearly 3.5
  million marijuana arrests since President Bill Clinton took office.

          "The next time you hear about a vicious murder on the news, ask
  yourself: Could the police have prevented this crime if they hadn't
  devoted uncounted millions of dollars and man-hours to arresting those
  3.5 million people on marijuana charges over the past six years?" said
  Dasbach.

          "How many people are dead, or raped, or had their possessions
  stolen, or were savagely beaten because a local cop was booking a
  marijuana suspect instead of protecting innocent Americans from evil
  criminals? That's the real, human cost of these new FBI figures -- and
  the sad price we pay for the government's War on Marijuana."

          The good news in the new FBI Uniform Crime Report is that
  violent crime is down, acknowledged Dasbach -- falling by 5% last year.

          "The question is: How much faster would crime be dropping if
  police made murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault their top
  priority, instead of marijuana?" he asked. "In other words, how much
  safer would we be if police targeted dangerous criminals like Jeffrey
  Dahmer and the Son of Sam -- instead of harmless victims like Cheech
  and Chong?"

The Libertarian Party
http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100   
voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037                                         
fax:  202-333-0072

************

*REVISED*URGENT*from*ICFFMAJ*

  KEEP THOSE LETTERS COMING!
October 24, 1999

  **************************
  Urgent.  The following is the latest information, with important corrections
  on our course of action, from International Concerned Family and Friendsof
  Mumia Abu-Jamal.
  **************************

  Use this information to EDUCATE.  Continue to DEMONSTRATE.

  STAY OF EXECUTION HAS YET TO BE GRANTED -- WE NEED TO ACT NOW!!!

  Judge Yohn's law clerk Bill has stated that we should write letters toJudge
  Yohn and send them to Mumia?s lawyer who will submit them to the judge..
  (We found out that this was said as early as yes-terday -- Oct. 19).  Mumia's
  attorney Leonard Weinglass has agreed to accept letters to submit to the
  judge.  The clerk also said that you can send letters directly to thejudge.
  However, if you do this, please send a copy to Weinglass as well.  We know
  that the FOP has been doing this, so it is critical that Mumia's supporters
  act soon.  The stay of execution has yet to be granted.

  Send the letters to Judge William Yohn, Jr. c/o Leonard Weinglass, 6 West
  20th St., Suite 10A, New York, NY 10011

  Honorable William H. Yohn, Jr., United States District Court, 2609 US Court
  House, 601 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19106   Phone: 215-579-4361    Fax:
  215-597-6390

  URGENT!  Mumia wants ALL letters to Judge Yohn on his behalf sent directly
  to Leonard Weinglass so that ALL the letters can be handed over to the Judge
  when Mumia goes to court.  Mumia and Leo-nard Weinglass have asked that we
  do NOT demonstrate on Judge Yohn.  Wait for further instruc-tions from
  Mumia!  But we MUST continue to eductate and demonstrate in our communities
  while gearing up for a MASSIVE demonstration on Philadelphia!

  Pam Africa 215-476-8812

  We can be sure that the FOP is sending letters to put pressure on Yohn NOT
  to lift the death warrant.  He has yet to make this ruling, even though
  Weinglass filed the appeals on October 15.  It is impor-tant that Yohn hears
  from Mumia supporters now.

  While legal experts say that if the stay is granted, the appeal could take
  several years, the process could also move much faster.  Much depends on
  Yohn's rulings in these crucial early days of the ap-peal.  Yohn can deny a
  hearing and decide the case on the trial records, appellate briefs and
  lawyers' arguments.  Denying a stay of execution could mean that the judge
  believes the appeal can be dis-posed of before Dec. 2.

  Suggested points to include:
  1)  We want the judge to grant a stay of execution on the death warrant set
  for Dec. 2, 1999 signed by Governor Ridge on October 13, 1999.

  2)  We want Yohn to grant an evidentiary hearing to examine the substantial
  evidence of Mumia Abu-Jamal's innocence, i.e. witnesses who have testified
  in PCRA hearings that they were coerced by po-lice to change their
  testimony; that his trial lawyer failed to aggressively defend the case, did
  not in-vestigate, or obtain crucial experts in pathology or ballistics;  that
  police planted evidence and intimi-dated witnesses; and that Common :leas
  Judge Albert Sabo displayed bias and hostility toward Abu-Jamal and should
  have recused himself.

  3)  Misconduct on the part of the city prosecutor who impermissibly
  challenged the seating of 11 of 15 prospective African American jurors
  because they were African American.

  4)  That there have been 29 purported violations of Abu-Jamal's
  constitutional rights.

  5)  That Abu-Jamal has maintained his innocence and has been denied the
  right to a fair trial.

  STAY IN THE STREETS!

  Use this information to EDUCATE.  Continue to DEMONSTRATE.  Wait for Mumia
  to administrate our next action!

  THE DEATH WARRANT
  On Wednesday. October 13, Governor Thomas Ridge signed a new death warrant
  for Mumia, setting December 2 for his execution.  Ridge did this knowing
  full well that Mumia was about to file his major appeal in the federal
  courts in a matter of days.  This is the same stunt that Ridge pulled in
  1995, when he rushed to sign a death warrant on the last business day before
  Mumia was to file his motion for a new trial in the state court.  So we will
  not be intimidated by this publicity stunt.

  Ridge has now signed 176 death warrants, and he is the first U.S. governor
  to sign death warrants for 100 African -Americans.  The new state motto
  ought to read:  "You have an Executioner in Pennsylvania."  The record in
  Philadelphia is even worse: 49 of the last 51 death sentences in Philly have
  been given to people of color.

  THE STAY?
  Although Mumia has filed his new appeal in federal court, he has yet to
  receive a stay of execution.  Another prisoner, who just got his death
  warrant, filed his federal appeal and got a stay the same day.  A stay is
  supposed to be standard procedure, but nothing in Mumia's case has been
  standard proce-dure.  When Mumia filed his appeal in the state courts, he
  was not given a stay like other prisoners with similar appeals.  Instead,
  Judge Sabo let his death order stand until 10 days before his execution
  date, and then relented only because of a world wide outcry.  So people have
  to remain vigilant, and stay in the streets until there is a stay.

  Until Mumia is granted a stay, he is kept in 'Phase Ii' where his cell is
  stripped, lights are kept on 24 hours a day, and regular visitors and phone
  calls are denied.

  THE NEW APPEAL
  On Friday morning, October 15, Mumia?s legal team filed a petition for a
  'writ of habeas corpus.'  This is the standard way to begin an appeal in the
  federal court system.  This document is dynamite!  It is over 160 pages, 675
  paragraphs, documenting 29 violations of Mumia's constitutional rights (the
  full text will be available on the Internet for all to read).  These
  violations include the suppression of evi-dence by the police and
  prosecutors, the coercing of witnesses, the fabricated confession story,
  the suppression of documents about police surveillance of Mumia, the
  ineffective defense lawyer in Mumia's first trial, how Mumia was not
  allowed to represent himself, how Mumia was barred from the courtroom in
his own trial, the state using 11 peremptory challenges to knock
  African-Americans off the jury, no real money for defense experts, how Sabo
  would not allow embarrassing questions to prosecution witnesses, how the
  court was told that a key witness was unavailable on vacation when in fact
  he was sitting at home, and how the prosecutor used Mumia's revolutionary
  political writings as an argument to the jury that he should be executed.

  No system of real justice could tolerate taking a man's life with procedures
  like this!

  THE DEMAND FOR A HEARING
  Mumia's new petition to the federal court asks for a hearing in the federal
  court to bring in the wit-nesses and evidence that were denied to Mumia in
  the Pennsylvania courts.  Getting this hearing is critical, because it will
  be both the first time that Mumia can bring out this evidence, AND it will
  be the last chance to do so.  If Mumia is denied a hearing in federal
  district court, that would mean that all future appeals will be based on the
  'evidence' as allowed and interpreted by Judge Sabo!  Only a new hearing
can get the real facts on the record.  But the 1996 Effective Death Penalty Act
  was de-signed precisely to make it hard for federal judges to grant new
  hearings.  This is a virtual repeal of the right of habeas corpus and a
  throw back to the days of white-supremacist states rights.

  THE F.O.P.
  From Day One, the Fraternal Order of Police has tried to interfere in the
  judicial process.  This began with the F.O.P. writing to a judge in 1982 to
  oppose bail for Mumia, through the Pennsylvania Su-preme Court on which
five of the seven justices are endorsed by the FOP and brag on their web site
  about how many FOP awards they have received.  The FOP has tried to coerce
  supporters of Mumia such as the Rage Against the Machine concert, the
  graduation ceremony at Evergreen State College, and the Black United Fund.
  Today, Mumia is the only death row prisoner in the U.S. who is the target of
  a nationwide campaign to demand his execution, and the FOP has now announced
  that they are organizing a boycott of eve4ry performer and business that
  supports justice for Mumia.

  BUILD THE MOVEMENT
  The movement is continuing to grow!  In response to Ridge's outrageous death
  warrant, statements have poured in from all over the country, including
  already protest statements from Amnesty Interna-tional, Rev. Jesse Jackson,
  and the Congressional Black Caucus.

  We have know reached a new stage in the movement.  Hopefully, in a few weeks
  Mumia will be pre-sent in court in Philadelphia for a hearing on this new
  appeal.  This should be the occasion for a mass demonstration in
  Philadelphia, bringing people from all over the country.  Then, on December
  11, re-gional demonstrations in Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco.


  All financial contributions should now be made out to:  'National Black
  United Fund/Mumia' and mailed to the National Black United Fund, 40
Clinton Street, 5th Floor, Newark, NJ 07102  (Indicate whether contribution is for
  'legal' or for  'organizing.')

  --International Concerned  Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal,  phone:
  215-724-1618, fax: 215-476-7551

See our Petitions INDEX Page - Click Here

****************

Gov't develops Comp. Program to Screen Students *BATF leads effort*
   Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 1
 
   What does a tax collection agency have to do with Juvenile Crime? 
   http://www.drudgereport.com/matt.htm  
   www.drudgereport.com
 
 
   GOVERNMENT DEVELOPING COMPUTER PROGRAM TO SPOT POTENTIALLY VIOLENT STUDENTS
 
   The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is developing a computer
   program to help school administrators spot troubled students who might be
   near the brink of violence, the NEW YORK TIMES is reporting in Sunday editions.
 
   The computer program, known as Mosaic-2000, begins testing at more than 20
   schools in December -- and the new system will vet and rate potentially
   violent students on a scale of 1 to 10!
 
   Francis X. Clines reports in the TIMES:
 
   "The Mosaic school program promises to provide questions carefully crafted
   from case histories by 200 experts in law enforcement, psychiatry and other
   areas. A variety of concerns beyond alarming talk or behavior will be
   included, from the availability of guns to a youngster's abuse of dogs and
   cats."
 
   The program, still being formulated, will be tested in grades one through 12.
 
   The software will not be connected to any central data program, the B.A.T.F.
   promises.
 
   "I think it's a wonderful tool that has a great deal of potential...,"
   Andrew Vita, associate director for field operations of the Bureau of
   Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, tells the TIMES.
 
   "It's easy to pick out the gang members with tattoos," adds Vita. "It's
   these other people that kind of surprise administrators, and these are the
   ones they really need to identify."
 
   [As long as the kids can database their teachers too.]

*********

ACTION ALERT: CHICAGO,   IL/WASHINGTON,DC/OAKLAND,CA
10/23/99
 
  The first public meeting will be held on November 18 in Chicago, Ill.,
  followed by a second on November 30, in Washington, D.C., and a third on
  December 13, in Oakland, Calif.
 
  FDA ANNOUNCES PUBLIC MEETINGS ON BIOENGINEERED FOODS!
 
  When we get the specifics on these meetings we will  send
  out a follow up alert. We need to pack these meetings!!
 
  HHS NEWS
  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
 

  Consumer Inquiries:  888-SAFEFOOD
  FDA ANNOUNCES PUBLIC MEETINGS ON BIOENGINEERED FOODS
  The Food and Drug Administration today announced a new initiative to engage
  the public about foods made using bioengineering. This initiative will
  begin with a series of public meetings to be held in Chicago, Ill.,
  Washington, D.C., and Oakland, Calif., this November and December.
  At the public meetings, the public will be informed about
  current FDA  policy for assuring the safety of bioengineered foods.
  The public will be asked whether this policy should be modified and also
  to comment on appropriate means of providing information to the public
  about  bioengineered products in the food supply.
  Under FDA policy developers of bioengineered foods are expected to consult
  with the agency before marketing such foods, to ensure that
  all safety and  regulatory questions have been fully addressed. FDA's
  policy also requires special labeling for a bioengineered food in certain
  circumstances. For example, a bioengineered food would need to be called
  by a different or  modified name if its composition were significantly
  different from its  conventionally grown counterpart, or if its nutritive
  value has been significantly altered. Special labeling would be required
  if consumers need  to be informed about a safety issue, such as the
  possible presence of an allergen that would not normally be found in the
  conventionally-grown product.
  "FDA makes sure that our food supply is among the safest in the world,"
  said Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.
  "Although people have enthusiastically accepted new drugs made from
  biotechnology, some consumers have concerns about the use of this
  technology in foods, and we need to ask why those concerns exist and how we can
  address them."
  Modern bioengineering was first used to produce consumer products in the
  early 1980's when FDA approved important new drugs to treat a range of
  diseases. In the 1990's foods such as tomatoes, corn, and soybeans produced
  through bioengineering began to appear. To date, biotechnology firms have
  completed consultation with FDA on more than 40 food products, and a
  substantial portion of American cropland is planted with seeds produced
  using this technology.
  "FDA's food regulatory system relies on the best science available to
  protect the public," said FDA Commissioner Jane E. Henney, M.D. "Our
  scientists are not aware of any reason to question the safety of currently
  marketed foods produced through bioengineering.
  Nevertheless, as a science-  based agency, FDA will consider any valid scientific
  information that  suggests the agency should reevaluate its process for
  overseeing the safety  of these foods."
  The first public meeting will be held on November 18 in Chicago, Ill.,
  followed by a second on November 30, in Washington, D.C.,
  and a third on  December 13, in Oakland, Calif.

****************
To Continue -
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Domestice News (December 1999)
Domestic (November 15 - 30, 1999) 
Domestic (November 1 - 14, 1999)
Domestic News 2 (October 1999)
Domestic News 1 (October 1999)
Domestic Historicals (All Previous dates)

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