ftp.xmission.com/2014.06.ftp.xmission.com.tar/ftp.xmission.com/pub/lists/abolition-usa/archive/v01.n097

Internet Message Format | 1999-03-25 | 44KB

From: [e-mail] (abolition-usa-digest)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #97
Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest
Sender: [e-mail]
Errors-To: [e-mail]
Precedence: bulk


abolition-usa-digest     Thursday, March 25 1999     Volume 01 : Number 097




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 12:12:00 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) FWD: Nuclear Dump Opening

>Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 11:15:00 -0500
>Subject: FWD: Nuclear Dump Opening
>Priority: non-urgent
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>To: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>=====================================
>   Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project
>=====================================
>===== Original Message from APIERSMA@CITIZEN (Auke Piersma) at 3/25/99
>10:23
>am
>Folks,
>
>The following message is from a close ally of CMEP and we fully support
>their effort to prevent the opening of a nuclear waste dump in New Mexico
>for a special type of defense waste. Please call the Secretary of Energy
>today and voice your opposition to dumping nuclear waste in an unstable
>and unsafe site.
>
>_________________________________________________
>
>From: Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
>
>We are trying to pull out all the stops on this one.  They are actually
>planning on loading TRU (transuranic, - plutonium contaminated waste) in
>the WIPP facility in New Mexico tomorrow.  (For those just tuning in, WIPP
>is a dump facility, first dreamed up by DOE in the 1950's, which would bury
>TRU waste in salt domes.  The area contains significant mineral resources
>which could be mined by future, unsuspecting residents.  Additionally the
>site is not stable and rooms have collapsed and it has been unable to meet
>radiation release standards.)  We have been fighting this facility for
>decades, and if they succeed in loading waste into the facility, it would
>be a huge loss for all of us working on protecting the environment.  It
>also is being opened in advance of a required State permit licensing the
>facility.  So if you are working on States' Rights, this is for you also!
>DOE promised they wouldn't ship waste until they had the State permit, but
>DOE promises are useless.
>
>Please take a moment to place a call or drop in a fax to Energy Secretary
>Richardson and tell him to stop this shipment!  I know you all are busy,
>but I urge you to take 5 and do this now!  It may be your only chance.
>
>alert included, also attached in formatted version.
>Thanks,
>Maureen
>please also forward this email to any who might help.
>
>EMERGENCY ACTION ALERT!
>
>CALL OR FAX SECRETARY RICHARDSON TODAY!
>PH: 202-586-6210          FAX: [phone]
>
>STOP WIPP!  STOP NUCLEAR WASTE!
>
>March 24, 1999 -
>The Department of Energy plans to ship nuclear waste to the Waste Isolation
>Pilot Plant in New Mexico starting as early as this evening!  DOE plans to
>load waste into this facility even though the State has not granted a
>license to operate the facility, and numerous studies have shown that it is
>not safe.
>
>DOE plans to load transuranic (plutonium contaminated) waste from the Los
>Alamos Lab into the WIPP facility tomorrow, even though DOE has promised in
>the past it would not send waste there until the State of New Mexico had
>licensed the facility.  They plan to ship more waste from Idaho in the next
>few weeks.  Opening this waste dump over the objections of the State, the
>people, and common sense spells a dangerous new era in which nuclear waste
>expediency runs roughshod over environmental and social justice concerns.
>
>THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!
>THIS IS A TURNING POINT, WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS CAN AFFECT ALL
>OUR WORK ON NUCLEAR WASTE!
>
>CALL OR FAX SECRETARY RICHARDSON
>PH: 202-586-6210          FAX: [phone]
>
>
>TELL HIM YOU DON'T WANT WASTE TO GO TO WIPP!  TELL HIM NOT TO DESTROY
>STATES' RIGHTS!
>
>
>For further information contact: Alliance for Nuclear Accountability at
>202-833-4668.
>===== Comments by CLIFFORD@CITIZEN (Kieran Clifford) at 3/25/99 11:14 am
>
>
>Kieran Clifford
>Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project
>202-546-4996, ext.324
>Visit our website: http://www.citizen.org/cmep
>
>Questions about the CMEP-list can be directed to [e-mail]
>
Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty
to eliminate nuclear weapons.

- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 12:57:42 -0500
From: Bob Tiller <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) e-mail address

Friends,

I can no longer receive e-mail sent to either of these addresses:
    [e-mail]
    [e-mail]

From now on you will have to use:
    [e-mail]

Shalom,
Bob Tiller, Physicians for Social Responsibility

- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 12:59:55 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Report says Russia asked to deploy nukes in wake of NATO attacks.

>Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 09:17:42 -0500
>Subject: Report says Russia asked to deploy nukes in wake of NATO attacks.
>Priority: non-urgent
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
>X-FC-Forwarded-From: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>
>This report is excerpted from
>http://www.stratfor.com/crisis/kosovo/default.htm
>
>COMMENTARY
>
> 24 March - NATO held true to its word and commenced air strikes against
>Yugoslavia. Russia also held true to its word, severing relations with
>NATO, calling for an emergency session of the UN Security Council, and
>commencing consultations with Belarus. NATO air strikes, of dubious
>value to efforts to coerce Belgrade into accepting a settlement in
>Kosovo, are proving extremely valuable at achieving the unintended goal
>of reviving the Cold War.
>
> Moscow was furious at being ignored prior to the launch of Operation
>Desert Fox in Iraq. The bombardment of Yugoslavia is the last straw.
>Moscow already today declared the SALT II treaty forever dead, and Minsk
>announced its desire for Russia to deploy nuclear weapons on Belarus
>territory. Even the Ukranian parliament called for nuclear rearmament
>and Ukraine's defense minister will meet tomorrow with other CIS defense
>ministers.
>
> Finally, NATO/SFOR forces in Bosnia have been placed on alert in the
>wake of threats presumably from Bosnian Serbs. NATO denies Yugoslav
>claims that they have downed a NATO aircraft, but air assets are not the
>only potential targets for Serbs. The potential for Serbian
>counterattacks on the ground in Bosnia, Albania, and Macedonia is high.
>END
>
>
>This report is available at http://www.drudgereport.com/matt.htm
>
>XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX 03/24/99 01:22:08 UTC XXXXX
>
>@@ DRUDGE REPORT CODE RED @@
>
>TASS: RUSSIA CONSIDERING MOVING NUKES
>
>Overnight on Tuesday, Russia's Defense and Foreign Ministries have been
>working on options to act in connection with possible NATO strikes
>against Yugoslavia.
>
>An ITAR-TASS newswire correspondent said windows of the Foreign and
>Defense Ministries buildings were lit throughout Tuesday night and that
>the ministers were on hand at their offices.
>
>Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev has told reporters that all actions by
>the Defense Ministry will be aimed at increasing the combat readiness of
>Russia's armed forces.
>
>According to the information available to TASS, in case the situation
>takes an unfavorable turn for Russia, the Ministry is "preparing
>proposals on possible deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the
>territory of Byelorussia."
>
>The DRUDGE REPORT issued a bulletin Tuesday evening reporting that
>Moscow is set to provide military help to Belgrade and the Serbs if NATO
>strikes.
>
>Russia is set to order its peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina not to
>take orders from NATO generals and only obey instructions from the
>Russian General Staff.
>
>NATO threats trigger unprecedented patriotism in Yugoslavia, according
>to wire reports.
>
>"If Milosevic has retreated, he would have lost his post", a young
>street vendor told wire services on Wednesday adding that "it is better
>to die proudly than to live in disgrace".
>
>Yugoslavian Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic called on the civilian
>population to be calm and said on the state TV overnight that "the state
>of a direct threat of war", proclaimed by the government, concerns only
>the armed forces, police and the state services.
>
>Most information flowing into the United States concerning Russia's
>threats is only available through the ITAR-TASS newswire. ITAR/TASS News
>Agency is the official state news agency for Russia. ITAR-TASS has 74
>bureaus in Russia and the other CIS countries...
>
>Filed By Matt Drudge...
>
>XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX 03/23/99 23:58:22 UTC XXXXX
>
Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty
to eliminate nuclear weapons.

- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 13:00:53 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Report says Russia asked to deploy nukes in wake of NATO attacks.

>Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 09:17:42 -0500
>Subject: Report says Russia asked to deploy nukes in wake of NATO attacks.
>Priority: non-urgent
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
>X-FC-Forwarded-From: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>
>This report is excerpted from
>http://www.stratfor.com/crisis/kosovo/default.htm
>
>COMMENTARY
>
> 24 March - NATO held true to its word and commenced air strikes against
>Yugoslavia. Russia also held true to its word, severing relations with
>NATO, calling for an emergency session of the UN Security Council, and
>commencing consultations with Belarus. NATO air strikes, of dubious
>value to efforts to coerce Belgrade into accepting a settlement in
>Kosovo, are proving extremely valuable at achieving the unintended goal
>of reviving the Cold War.
>
> Moscow was furious at being ignored prior to the launch of Operation
>Desert Fox in Iraq. The bombardment of Yugoslavia is the last straw.
>Moscow already today declared the SALT II treaty forever dead, and Minsk
>announced its desire for Russia to deploy nuclear weapons on Belarus
>territory. Even the Ukranian parliament called for nuclear rearmament
>and Ukraine's defense minister will meet tomorrow with other CIS defense
>ministers.
>
> Finally, NATO/SFOR forces in Bosnia have been placed on alert in the
>wake of threats presumably from Bosnian Serbs. NATO denies Yugoslav
>claims that they have downed a NATO aircraft, but air assets are not the
>only potential targets for Serbs. The potential for Serbian
>counterattacks on the ground in Bosnia, Albania, and Macedonia is high.
>END
>
>
>This report is available at http://www.drudgereport.com/matt.htm
>
>XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX 03/24/99 01:22:08 UTC XXXXX
>
>@@ DRUDGE REPORT CODE RED @@
>
>TASS: RUSSIA CONSIDERING MOVING NUKES
>
>Overnight on Tuesday, Russia's Defense and Foreign Ministries have been
>working on options to act in connection with possible NATO strikes
>against Yugoslavia.
>
>An ITAR-TASS newswire correspondent said windows of the Foreign and
>Defense Ministries buildings were lit throughout Tuesday night and that
>the ministers were on hand at their offices.
>
>Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev has told reporters that all actions by
>the Defense Ministry will be aimed at increasing the combat readiness of
>Russia's armed forces.
>
>According to the information available to TASS, in case the situation
>takes an unfavorable turn for Russia, the Ministry is "preparing
>proposals on possible deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the
>territory of Byelorussia."
>
>The DRUDGE REPORT issued a bulletin Tuesday evening reporting that
>Moscow is set to provide military help to Belgrade and the Serbs if NATO
>strikes.
>
>Russia is set to order its peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina not to
>take orders from NATO generals and only obey instructions from the
>Russian General Staff.
>
>NATO threats trigger unprecedented patriotism in Yugoslavia, according
>to wire reports.
>
>"If Milosevic has retreated, he would have lost his post", a young
>street vendor told wire services on Wednesday adding that "it is better
>to die proudly than to live in disgrace".
>
>Yugoslavian Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic called on the civilian
>population to be calm and said on the state TV overnight that "the state
>of a direct threat of war", proclaimed by the government, concerns only
>the armed forces, police and the state services.
>
>Most information flowing into the United States concerning Russia's
>threats is only available through the ITAR-TASS newswire. ITAR/TASS News
>Agency is the official state news agency for Russia. ITAR-TASS has 74
>bureaus in Russia and the other CIS countries...
>
>Filed By Matt Drudge...
>
>XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX 03/23/99 23:58:22 UTC XXXXX
>
Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty
to eliminate nuclear weapons.

- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 13:52:05 -0600
From: Sean Donahue <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) KOSOVO: NH Peace Action Joins WRL-SENH in Protest

Following an emergency consultation with the Executive Committee, NHPA
issued the following press release today.  Unfortunately I can only be
at tommorow's vigil:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- 8/25/99
Contact: Sean Donahue 603-228-0559 (work), 978-689-1896 (home)

NH PEACE ACTION CALLS FOR END TO BOMBING OF SERBIA
ENDORSES WAR RESISTERS LEAGUE VIGILS IN PORTSMOUTH, DOVER

CONCORD -=1F The state's largest peace group, NH Peace Action, is calling
for an end to NATO airstrikes in Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro, and is
calling on its members to take part in vigils organized by the Southeast
New Hampshire Chapter of the War Resisters League tonight at 6:30 p.m.
outside the Post Office in Portsmouth and Friday night at 6:00 p.m.
outside City Hall in Dover.

In a statement released this morning, NH Peace Action State Coordinator
Sean Donahue said  "We deeply regret NATO's decision to launch air
strikes against targets in Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro.   Massive air
strikes are inherently indiscriminate, and it is inevitable that
civilians will be killed.  This is unacceptable.

"We deplore the Serbian military's brutal massacre of civilians in
Kosovo.  But bombing will not provide a lasting solution to the conflict
between Serbia and the Kosovar Albanians.   At best the bombing will
somewhat weaken the Serbian military, limiting but not eliminating its
power to repress the Kosovo independence movement.  At worst, it will
push Slobidan Milosevic to take a harder line and escalate the war in
Kosovo, perhaps with soldiers and weapons from Russia.   Already the
bombing has spurred a brutal crackdown on the peace movement in Serbia.=20
Either way, innocent civilians on both sides of the conflict will
suffer.

"At present there is no clear solution to the tragedy in Kosovo.  But
that does not mean that we can reflexively bomb Serbia and expect that
there will not be grave consequences for the people of Serbia and
Kosovo.  There were perhaps steps we could have taken two years ago to
strengthen the nonviolent opposition movements in Kosovo and Serbia.=20
There were perhaps steps we could have taken this fall to establish an
effective civilian peacekeeping force in Kosovo.  Those opportunites are
gone now.  The world is now living with the consequences of our past
inaction.  But rash action now can't make up for inaction in the past.=20
The bombing must end.

"Once the bombing stops it will be important to move quickly to reopen
=A0negotiations to bring about a cease fire in the civil war in Kosovo an=
d
to rush humanitarian aid to victims on all sides.  Russia could be very
helpful in convincing the Serbs to go back to the negotiating table and
to allow international aid agencies access to refugees.    None of these
steps will bring a complete resolution, but all of them would help
reduce the suffering."

- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 10:55:50 -0800
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Resolve for "Global Peace Now!", antidote to WWIII on the horizon otherwise

In President Clinton's last speech that he gave before the bombing started
yesterday, he very carefully used the word "resolve", in a certain specific
way, repeatedly.  The psychological implications of this are very deep.   It
sounds overly simplistic, I am sure, but the main "weapon" for the hearts
and minds of PeaceBuilders of all kinds, it seems to me, is the firm
conviction that global peace can be initiated and will be initiated by only
one mechanism, the general acceptance by the people, and then their leaders,
of a firm and universal human _resolve_ for "Global Peace Now!".  Without
this resolve at a deep level of mind, the goal is not achievable.  Only with
this resolve it will be done.

The worse the situation gets the more obvious it will become that this
RESOLVE for global peace is the only realistic idea by which ALL of humanity
may be united.

If it is a spiritual reawakening needed to foster a global analog to
Gandhi's spiritual/political nonviolent "revolution", it is this spiritual
"resolution" which must lead the way.

My opinion, anyway.

David Williams
[e-mail]
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000
Global Emergency Alert Response

- -----Original Message-----
From: [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
To: David Crockett Williams <[e-mail]>;
[e-mail] <[e-mail]>;
[e-mail] <[e-mail]>;
[e-mail] <[e-mail]>; [e-mail] <[e-mail]>;
[e-mail] <[e-mail]>; [e-mail] <[e-mail]>;
[e-mail] <[e-mail]>; [e-mail]
<[e-mail]>; [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
Cc: [e-mail] <[e-mail]>; [e-mail]
<[e-mail]>; [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
Date: Thursday, March 25, 1999 1:48 AM
Subject: Re: PeaceBuilders WWIII? :A pretext for a "New World Order"?


>Dear Peacebuilder Friends & Kindred Spirits:
>
>Alarming as this news seems to be, what is more alarming is the distinct
>possibility  that all this "war scare" talk is part of a manipulation by
the
>"New World Order" advocates to sow the seeds of major disruptions on the
>planet, setting the stage for
>major economic disruption,martial law and an eventual totalitarian "New
World
>Order.
>
>If one believes people like David Icke and many others ( who blame the
long-
>standing "military-industrial complex" , for fomenting previous World Wars,
>arming both sides, and benefiting enormously from the conflict) , then the
>current Kosovo attacks by the US-led NATO alliance are part of a carefully
>orchestrated plan of world domination, suppression of individual liberties,
>with many world leaders (including President Clinton) fully aware of the
plan,
>and playing their part in implementing it.
>
>It is not clear what can be done.  At the very least, focused meditations
for
>peace, prayer vigils, and work on  spiritual levels is called for.
>More concrete are massive demonstrations for peace,  an end to nuclear,
>biological and chemical weaponry, and an outpouring of public sentiment for
an
>end to armed conflict.
>
>If the peoples of the world want peace, then the governments that claim to
>represent them must bring it about.
>The plan for a UN Peoples'  Assembly , set for sometime in 2000, might
provide
>an opportunity for such a message to be sent, but world events might
overtake
>such plans and so action must be taken as soon as possible
>
>It is all too possible that attempts will be made to eliminate the
free-flow
>of information and ideas that we have enjoyed through the internet.  Our
right
>to have these communications must be defended.
>
>These are only my preliminary thoughts in reaction to the message just
>received from David Williams.  Some coordinated action by the forces of
light,
>peace and justice is needed .  Let's dialogue and see what can be
implemented
>to halt the slide into chaos.
>
>Many thanks,
>Aloha from Maui,
>Ed Jor-El Elkin
>One Day In Peace Project
>
>Ed
>
>
>
>
>


- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 15:57:01 -0800
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Russia On the Brink: The Meltdown of a Nation

http://WWW.cbn.org/news/stories/990325.asp

Russia On the Brink: The Meltdown of a Nation
Before his trip to the U.S. was interrupted by the controversy over
Kosovo, the Russian Prime Minister had intended to plead with the
White House for more money. That's because Russia is broke; it can't
make its loan payments, and the country is running out of options. CBN
News reporter Dale Hurd went to Russia to take a closer look at what
can only be called a meltdown.

Dale Hurd, reporter

In a dead factory town in Pivek, Siberia, six workers like in a room on a
hunger strike. They haven't been paid for three and a half years.
Vera Bossack says she has nothing left to feed her son, and her husband is
wasting away. For them, life is unbearable.
When Russians rejected communism, no one told them their new leaders
would loot the nation; that their living standards would fall to Third World
levels, or that the promises of democracy would be empty words. But the
Russian dream of democracy is dying.
Analyst Paul Goble says American leaders kid themselves if they think
Russia is a functioning state.
"It's a failed state," says Goble. "It's much more like the Congo or
Somalia.
The Russian government doesn't have effective control over its nuclear
weapons. The Russian government doesn't have effective control over its tax
system. The Russian government doesn't have effective control over its
economy. There is no law; there are no forces maintaining order. So what
you have is chaos."
A few things are booming in Russia -- crime, for instance. One of the
highest
crime rate estimates is two crimes per capita per year -- that's 300
million.
But only a fraction are reported.
You can watch an arrest from the video archives of the Russian Bureau to
Fight Organized Crime, where officials admit they've met their match. A
popular new crime in Moscow is the home invasion. On one video, a
Russian gets a knife to his throat becore police, watching through a
surveillance camera, come to the rescue.
The Mafia is ruthless against rival gangs, or against officials who refuse
bribes. Officer Andrei Pashkevick says police corruption is a big problem.
"Some criminal groups are very strong, not because of their weapons, but
because of their connections with state offices and authorities," he says.
"And it's harder to fight this kind of crime."
And crime pays in Russia. Russian mobsters, robber capitalists and corrupt
officials are among the richest people anywhere in the world.
"What the new rich in Russia have done is to take wealth that was created in
Soviet times, put it in their own pockets, value strip it, sell off parts,
ship the money they get offshore," says Goble. "As a result, last year the
capital stock of the Russian Federation fell by six percent."
Russia's gross national product is now close to five percent of the United
States' GNP and going backward.
It is still very much an industrial dinosaur," says analyst Dr. Ariel Cohen.
"Russia is a Jurassic Park of large enterprises that are not manufacturing
anything that is competitive, with the exception of battle tanks. And how
many battle tanks do people need today?"
Most Russians who are not brilliant, fortunate, or corrupt must try to
survive
in a shrinking economy where money buys less and less each day.
Olga Vlasova, a college-educated social worker, must support herself, an
eight-year-old girl, and a teenage boy on less than $20 a month. She doesn't
live as much as she survives.
"I can't afford clothes or shoes for the children, because all the money I
make I spend on food. I try not to show the children how difficult it is to
make the ends meet -- to show them how hard it is," she says. "And I try to
borrow money from others and try not to let the children think about it and
suffer."
Her family lives and sleeps in one room, sharing a kitchen and bathroom
with another family. Olga says her life is worse now than before the
revolution. And living standards are highest in Moscow.
To see how most Russians live, you have to go outside of Moscow, to the
little villages like Pronskoye. There's no heat, no running water, no
telephone ... and there's not very much hope either.
Walking into one of these homes is a step back in time. This is the home of
82-year-old Anna Fomichyova. Except for occasional electricity, she lives in
the 19th century.
"Our life is bad, and I don't expect a better life, because every day, the
prices go up, and my pension doesn't get higher, and it never arrives on
time," she says.
Most villagers have moved out of these homes and into apartment blocks
with central heat. There's almost no money in the countryside. Almost half
of
all transactions in Russia are bartered. Public health is a disaster.
Because
of pollution, disease, and abortion complications, as many as one third of
all
Russian adults may be sterile. Deaths outnumber births so much that Russia's
population has been shrinking by almost a million people per year.
"This is the worst demographic disaster to any major society in modern
times, outside times of war," says Goble. "We're talking about a decline of
life expectancy of Russian men of eight years in the last decade, something
that has never happened to any country ever, as far as we know, in peace
time."

And diseases are exploding.

"Children in Russia are dying of diseases that we have vaccines against,"
says Goble. "Diphtheria, mumps, measles --- but Russian parents do not
choose to get their children vaccinated because were they to, they would
have to go into doctors' offices where the average disposable syringe is
probably used more than a hundred times. And the risk of a child getting a
disease from multiple-use needles is far greater than the risk of getting a
disease if you don't get them vaccinated."
Russia now has so many problems that some are calling the crumbling
nation's situation hopeless.
"Nothing works," says Cohen. "Economic policy is not working. Budget is
not working. Industry is falling apart."
And at the heart of Russia's problems is a crisis of morality, according to
Father Gleb Yakunin, a famous human rights activist.
"It doesn't matter what economic reforms we do, and how hard we try to
stabilize the situation," says Yakunin. "No matter what Prime Minister
Primakov does, or no matter now much help we get from the IMF or
international financial organizations, we'll still have an economic crisis
until people stop stealing."
It's no wonder that when a nationwide survey asked Russians which political
leader they trusted most, "Nobody" was the top pick.
Boris Yeltsin has the support of about one percent of the population, and
it's
not hard to understand why.
"When I get my pension, I have to help my children," says Pomichyova. "I
give 20 rubles to one and 30 rubles to another to buy bread. Then I don't
have any left. I've worked for 45 years."
"This is the first time a state this large and this powerful has failed,"
says
Goble.
"And again, the danger of that," says Cohen, "is that while you're falling
behind and becoming impoverished and frustrated, and you have all these
nuclear weapons, what are you going to do about it?"


- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 20:45:36 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Labour Lord resigns in protest / Yugoslavia

 (From BBC News)
 > LABOUR PEER QUITS OVER NATO AIR STRIKES
 > Veteran Labour peer Lord Jenkins of
 > Putney has resigned the party whip in
 > the Lords over the Serb air strikes.
 >
 > The 90-year-old former World War Two
 > flight lieutenant has accused the
 > Government of "criminal barbarity",
 > "murder" and flouting international law
 >
 > As Hugh Jenkins, he was Putney MP from
 > 1964 to 1979. He will remain in Labour.
 >
 > In a letter to Labour Chief Whip Lord
 > Carter he said "to respond to barbarity
 > with barbarity is not the way".
 > >>

- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 20:59:57 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Press coverage - Yugoslavia

In a message dated 3/25/99 7:21:15 PM Eastern Standard Time, [e-mail]
writes:

<<
 (From the BBC)

 Nato strikes against Yugoslavia came too late for Thursday's world press to
 report the attacks in detail.

  But many papers were able to highlight their historic significance, while
 others drew parallels with action in Iraq.

 In France, Le Figaro's simple headline, War in Europe, has a historic and
 ominous ring.

 La Liberation looks ahead with the headline, What Now? It queries whether
 the West is ready for a ground war if the Serbian president does not give
 in under the bombing.

 And the Paris edition of the International Herald Tribune underlines the
 historical significance of the bombing, saying it is Nato's first attack on
 sovereign land.

 It goes on to make a comparison with previous military operations against
 Iraq - an angle also picked up by the Indian press.

 US slammed

 But the Times of India warns that the Balkans is not Iraq, where an
 undeclared air war can go on without much notice being taken in Europe.

 It says sovereign countries fearing outside intervention will be closely
 watching the outcome of the confrontation.

 The Indian Express criticises the United States for being uncertain about
 its goals and it warns that a bombing campaign against Yugoslavia will not
 be the cakewalk it was in the deserts of Iraq.

 Russian fury


 At least two British papers spare a thought for Russian feelings. The Daily
 Telegraph records President Boris Yeltsin's outrage on its front page.

 The Telegraph's Moscow correspondent comments that years of understanding
 with the West appeared to be in jeopardy as the Russians dismantled their
 carefully-constructed links with Nato.

 The tabloid Daily Mirror, meanwhile, highlights what it sees as a Russian
 threat of military reprisals.

 'World anarchy'

 In Russia itself, the papers praise Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov for
 scrapping his visit to the US on Tuesday after strikes became a virtual
 certainty.

 The military daily Krasnaya Zvezda said that by cancelling his visit the
 Russian premier ''has shown that we are still worth something".

 The Rossiiskaya Gazeta said his decision to turn back in mid-flight was
 ''rigorous and courageous''.

 It says if the trip had gone ahead and Nato had then launched strikes it
 would have been ''an unceremonious slap in the face of our premier'' and
 ''a humiliation for all Russians".

 In an interview conducted before the strikes in The Obshchaya Gazeta, Mr
 Primakov warns unilateral action could lead ''to anarchy in the world".

   >>

- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 22:12:34 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Diana Johnstone on Yugoslavia, Kosovo

Friends and co-workers,

This, in itself, is very short. The article transmitted by Louis Proyect to
RedYouth (the Socialist Party's youth group, politically very solid) is long -
you need 25 sheets in your printer (well, European paper is cut to a more
correct length so maybe just 23).

Louis, in whom I have a good deal of confidence - certainly enough to believe
he didn't fabricate this long article - had sent it out to a marxism list,
which I'm not on. DO NOT DISCOUNT THE SOURCE!

Diana Johnstone was the European editor of In These Times (an American
democratic socialist publication) from 1979 to l9990, the press officer of the
Green Group in the European Parliament from 1990 to 1996, and is personally
known to many of us as an honest and thoughtful journalist of the Left.

Her view of this general situation was delivered on May 25th, last year, at an
international conference held in Athens, Greece.

It is very relevent in view of the state of war that currently exists. It is a
very different view from the one most of us have seen, controversial and
challenging. I will be particularly interested in hearing Howard Clark's and
Michael Randle's reactions - which I hope they can transmit to the addresses
above (or if they get deleted by senders, if Michael or Howard ask for the
original list I'll be happy to supply it).

I must hope that Louis is not going to blow a fuse when he gets this and finds
out I have urged people to write him for the material.

So, if you want this, you need to write Louis Proyect at [e-mail] and ask
if he can send you the post for you to download.

Peace, Fraternally, etc.,
David McReynolds

- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 19:21:46 -0800
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Drudge Reports Russia Ready To Launch Nukes!

- -----Original Message-----
From: Mark Pitt <[e-mail]>
Date: Thursday, March 25, 1999 5:45 PM
Subject: Fw: Drudge Reports Russia Ready To Launch Nukes!

It appears we are now in a full scale world war. I would also suspect that
China will now allie itself with Russia as they did during the Viet Nam
Police Action/War. May what ever God you pray to stop this nonsense ASAP.


> Date: Thursday, March 25, 1999 16:26
> Subject: Drudge Reports Russia Ready To Launch Nukes!
>
>
> >IT'S WAR.....YELTSIN WARNS THAT STRIKES RISK WORLD WAR
> >*****CODE RED******
> >by Matt Drudge
> >
> >XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX 03/24/99 16:41:05 UTC XXXXX
> >
> >YELTSIN WARNS THAT STRIKES RISK WORLD WAR
> >http://www.drudgereport.com/matt.htm
> >     Russian President Boris Yeltsin warned Wednesday that NATO air
> >strikes against the Serbs in Kosovo could lead to a world war and hinted
>> that only his conscience prevented the Russian president from threatening
> >military retaliation.
>>    In a televised address to his nation on Wednesday evening, Yeltsin
> >appealed to the world to persuade U.S. President Bill Clinton "not to
take
> >this tragic and dramatic step"... "I am appealing to the whole world. I
am
> >appealing to the people who have survived the war. I am appealing to
those who have
> >seen bombing raids. I am appealing to their children and to all
politicians.
> >While there are still some minutes left, let's persuade Clinton not to
take
> >this tragic, dramatic step. This is European security, this is a war in
> >Europe, and perhaps even more. This is a serious step and taking it even
without
>> the U.N. Security Council is more than just ununderstandable... Let's
stop
>> Clinton on this path and help him not to take this tragic step."
DEVELOPING...
> >
> >                                                 X X X X X
> >          XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX 03/24/99 01:22:08 UTC XXXXX
> >                          @@ DRUDGE REPORT CODE RED @@
> >
> >TASS: RUSSIA CONSIDERING MOVING NUKES
> >     Overnight on Tuesday, Russia's Defense and Foreign Ministries have
> >been working on options to act in connection with possible NATO strikes
> >against Yugoslavia.
> >     An ITAR-TASS newswire correspondent said windows of the Foreign
> >and Defense Ministries buildings were lit throughout Tuesday night and
that
> >the ministers were on hand at their offices.
> >     Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev has told reporters that all actions
by
>> the Defense Ministry will be aimed at increasing the combat readiness of
>> Russia's armed forces.
> >     According to the information available to TASS, in case the
situation
> >takes an unfavorable turn for Russia, the Ministry is "preparing
proposals
> >on possible deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of
> >Byelorussia."
> >     The DRUDGE REPORT issued a bulletin Tuesday evening reporting that
> >Moscow is set to provide military help to Belgrade and the Serbs if NATO
> >strikes.
>>     Russia is set to order its peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina not
> >to take orders from NATO generals and only obey instructions from the
> >Russian General Staff.
> >     NATO threats trigger unprecedented patriotism in Yugoslavia,
according
> >to wire reports.
> >     "If Milosevic has retreated, he would have lost his post", a young
>> street vendor told wire services on Wednesday adding that "it is better
to die
> >proudly than to live in disgrace".
> >    Yugoslavian Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic called on the civilian
> >population to be calm and said on the state TV overnight that "the state
of a direct
> >threat of war", proclaimed by the government, concerns only the armed
forces,
>> police and the state services.
> >
> >     Most information flowing into the United States concerning Russia's
> >threats is only available through the ITAR-TASS newswire. ITAR/TASS News
Agency
> >is the official state news agency for Russia. ITAR-TASS has 74 bureaus in
> >Russia and the other CIS countries...
> >
> >Filed By Matt Drudge...
> >
> >XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX 03/23/99 23:58:22 UTC XXXXX
> >MOSCOW AND WASHINGTON SQUARE OFF OVER KOSOVO
> >URGENT:
> >MOSCOW TO PROVIDE MILITARY HELP TO SERBS,
> >BELGRADE IF NATO STRIKES
> >
> >     In a development that could turn spring back to winter, Moscow will
> >immediately supply powerful armaments to Belgrade and the Serbs and
provide
> >other military assistance if NATO makes air strikes against Yugoslavia,
> >Speaker of Russia's State Duma lower house of parliament Gennady
Seleznyov told the
> >ITAR-TASS newswire late on Tuesday.
> >     The development comes as Secretary of State Madame Albright
declares:
> >"There will be order in Yugoslavia."
> >     Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said late Tuesday that Moscow
has
> >prepared options if the Kosovo situation takes a turn for the worse.  "If
>> NATO opts for the use of force in Kosovo, it would violate international
law,
>> the UN Charter and will actually become undisguised aggression," he said
> >     "In that case, NATO will naturally show its true colors with which
it
> >intends to enter the 21st century," warned the minister.
> >________________________________________________
> >Reports are moved when circumstances warrant
> >(c)DRUDGE REPORT 1999
> >Not for reproduction without permission of the author
> >==========================================
> >*COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any
> >copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without
> >profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving
> >the included information for non-profit research and educational purposes
> >only.  [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ]
> >Take care!
> >
> >Jack Koenig
> >
> >Impact Voters of America
> >
> >Communications without knowledge is noise. Knowledge without
communications
>> is irrelevant!
> >
> >Visit the Impact Voters website at
> ><http://www.impactnet.org/>www.impactnet.org
> >
> >The Citizens Lobby website has been selected as the highlight website of
>> the month. See them at
<http://www.citizenslobby.org/>www.citizenslobby.org
> >
Mark Allen Pitt :) A.A.S. ;) aka Scroll lock *.* BBS
ICQ number; 4861371
email; [e-mail]
Home Page; http://www.geocities.com/Area51/9357


- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #97
**********************************

-
 To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe $LIST" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.