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January
6, 2003
Almost lost in the shuffle last month was the 18th
anniversary of the 1984 Union Carbide industrial accident in Bhopal,
India. A cloud of toxic methyl isocyanate was released from a poorly
maintained chemical plant, killing 3,800 people in their sleep while 2700
others suffered full or partial permanent injury. U.S. attorneys
representing the victims sued for $50 billion; Union Carbide settled in
1989 for $470 million. Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide in
1986.
To mark the date, a group of 200 women delivered contaminated
soil and water samples from Bhopal to Dow's headquarters, imploring the
company to clean up the Union Carbide site. Even though a finance director
who met with the women promised to consult "higher authorities," Dow later
decided to sue the survivor's group for $10,000, claiming the
2-hour demonstration interfered with Dow employees' work.
In New
York, activist "impostor" group The Yes Men put up a near-identical
version of the Dow Chemical site, prompting Dow to pressure internet
operator NTT/Verio to shut down the whole of The Yes Men's ISP, thing.net.
Thing.net is also the home of the DKS Show List, RTMark, PS1/MOMA,
ArtForum Magazine, the hundreds of others. Although Verio has temporarily
reinstated service, in less than 50 days thing.net will be permanently
evicted from the internet. If you'd like to help, take a look at https://secure.thing.net/backbone/
If
you don't live in Los Angeles, chances are you haven't kept up on the
Donovan Jackson brutality case, in which LA's finest beat up on a
16-year-old, slightly retarded black kid. That's understandable, because
short-attention spanned Big Media has moved on to covering Gulf War II and
Raelian clones. Fortunately for the Newsroom, Jan Geter has been following
Jackson's case and presents this eyewitness
account of the latest court drama.
I don't want to spend too
much time on the Raelian Clones because I agree with Tim Rutten - these
nuts don't deserve the media time they've gotten. If the networks realized
that the Raelians made their swastika-ish logo look more like a Star of
David to woo Israel into giving them their own state (for an alien
space-embassy, no less) perhaps their news people wouldn't have tried to
make the claim seem plausible in the interest of "fairness." I will say
this, also: it seems everyone involved with cloning is a jerk or a freak.
(http://www.damoncampagna.com/newsroom/oped/oped_8_16_02.html)
The Raelians don't deserve this technology -- if these kids are real
they've managed to turn them into a profitable Coney Island freakshow.
Other stuff: WTC fights back, Celebrex users aren't celebrating,
can you (nicotine) patch this lung, who dropped the ball, who broke the
Xbox, fat is beautiful (and healthy) and diamonds are al-Qaeda's best
friend.
DAMON A. CAMPAGNA Editor-in-chief
Dow Chemicals Accepts Brooms, Contaminated Soil and Water From
Bhopal Survivors; Will Recommend Remediation
Measures Bhopal.net A Dow employee promises to personally
consult "higher authorities" on behalf of Bhopal survivors. http://www.bhopal.net/18thanniversaryjhadoos.html
How
low can Dow go? Greenpeace Dow chemical sues protesting
survivors of the 1984 Bhopal disaster after they deliver toxic waste from
Bhopal to Dow's headquarters in Bombay. http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?news_id=95504
Cyberspace
Artists Paint Themselves Into a Corner The New York Times In
response to a spoof Dow Chemical Web site by the YesMen, Internet carrier
Verio shuts down access to the art-founded ISP Thing.net for 16 hours,
cutting off hundreds of users and Web sites. Thing.net is the online home
to magazine ArtForum as well as the infamous RTMark, and faces permanent
disconnection. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/23/arts/design/23ARTS.html?pagewanted=all&position
Dow- A Chemical Company on the Global
playground YesMen A mirror of the original YesMen Dow Chemical
spoof Web site (see above.) http://www.dowethics.com/r/Homepage/index.html
Cult
'clones' a baby! Read (and read) all about it The Los Angeles
Times Tim Rutten criticizes the media for giving the Raelian cult claim
much more attention than it deserves. http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-et-rutten1jan01,0,3075587.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dtechnology
The
Raelian Revolution The international Raelian Web site. http://www.rael.org/int/english/index.html
Networks
Say Former Editor Tried to Sell Clone 'Exclusive' The New York
Times Michael A. Guillen, the "independent" scientist who will
allegedly analyze Clonaid's alleged clone babies, tried to sell the
clone story to major news outlets months ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/05/national/05CLON.html
Driver
claims Martians chased him The Scotsman A speeding driver claims
he was being chased by Martians when be blew through a French
roadblock. http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=1812003
Warship to feature trade center steel AP - Chicago
Sun-Times The Navy plans to use World Trade Center structural steel to
forge the bow of a new amphibious assault warship, the USS New
York. http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-ship29.html
LPD
17 (SAN ANTONIO CLASS) LANDING PLATFORM DOCK,
USA Naval-technology.com Overview of the San Antonio program.
According to this Web site, the USS New York will be complete by
2012. http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/lpd17/
Report
Says Africans Harbored Al Qaeda The Washington Post The
Washington Post discovers that al-Qaeda operatives cornered the Sierra
Leone diamond market to launder terror money. Liberia and Burkina Faso
facilitated the transaction, harbored the operatives and attempted to
procure missile launchers, rocket propelled grenades and assault
weapons. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48929-2002Dec28.html
Why
we have a ball on New Year's Eve Toronto Star The Times Square
ball-drop is based on a 19th century maritime method of synchronizing
onboard chronometers. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid= 1035776066136&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851
MS
Foe Backs Xbox Hack Contest Reuters - Wired Longtime open-source
advocate Michael Robertson offers $200,000 to anyone who can hack
Microsoft's Xbox game system and force it to run Linux. http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,57052,00.html
Celebrex
effectiveness called into question AP - The Globe and Mail Hong
Kong doctors discover that patients using arthritis drug Celebrex have a
higher rate of bleeding ulcers, and don't protect the stomach as
effectively as previously thought. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20021226/wdrug/ Front/homeBN/breakingnews
Cocaine
kills brain's 'pleasure' cells BBC News Researchers determine
that cocaine disrupts the brain's dopamine system, causing permanent
damage to the brain's ability to create pleasurable sensations. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2616869.stm
Nicotine
the culprit in lung cancer USA Today New research indicates
nicotine not only causes tobacco addiction but also is an active cause of
cancer, suggesting nicotine patches, gum and sprays may pose health risks
as well. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-01-01-tobacco-usat_x.htm
The
Evil Behind the Axis? The Los Angeles Times Abdul Qadeer Khan,
the man who gave Pakistan the "Islamic Bomb," also helped North Korea
build their nuclear program and is suspected of aiding Iran as well. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-drnuke5jan05,0,7173658.story?coll=la%2Dhome%2Dheadlines
Three-Ring
Circus The New York Times William Safire suggests the US
hesitation to disarm Iraq has given North Korea confidence to come forward
with their nuclear program, and that Japan, China, Russia and South Korea
to have to be involved in protecting their own region. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/02/opinion/02SAFI.html
M.I.T.
Studies Accusations of Lies and Cover-Up of Flaws in Antimissile
System The New York Times After 20 months of whistle-blowing by
tenured physicist Theodore A. Postol, M.I.T finally decides to
look into accusations that its antimissile research is flawed
fraudulent. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/02/national/02MISS.html
An
Arab Israeli pushes Israel's free-speech limit The Christian
Science Monitor Azmi Bishara, an Arab Israeli and member of the
Knesset, is banned from re-election after criticizing obvious economic and
social discrimination in Israeli society. http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0103/p01s02-wome.html
Israel's
Sharon Blasts 'Inexperienced' Rival Reuters - The New York
Times Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon attacks his dove-ish rival,
Amram Mitzna, for wanting to return to former PM Ehud Barak's
"irresponsible" peace plan after Mitzna pledges to resume peace-talks with
the Palestians immediately if elected. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-israel-election.html
In
a First, U.S. Puts Limits on California's Thirst The New York
Times The Department of the Interior puts the brakes on California's
growing water needs, highlighting the struggle of western states to wrest
monopolies away from agricultural districts to cities. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/05/national/05WATE.html
Weighting
Game The New Republic Paul Campos determines from medical
studies there is no evidence that being fat is bad for your health, and
notes if the body-to-mass-index (BMI) is accurate, then George Clooney,
Brad Pitt and Michael Jordan are "overweight." http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030113&s=campos011303&c=1
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