Click. Halliburton Unit (Cheney's former company) Is in Grand Jury Probe.
Click. UNUSUAL DEVELOPMENTS WITH LES COLEMAN & THE LOCKERBIE TRIAL. http://www.rumormillnews.com
Click. THE HI-TECH BOOTS AND A SUICIDE IN THE JONBENET RAMSEY MURDER CASE! BURGLARIZING TO OBTAIN EVIDENCE OR JUST A LONE NUT THING?
Click. PLAN COLUMBIA IS BECOMING PLAN SOUTH AMERICA AS ECUADOR JOINS IN.
Click. ASSET FORFEITURE NETWORK. Obtain the legal brief you need online.
Click. GOVERNMENT SPONSORED INITIATIVES A "NO, NO"!
Click.
Justice in The Dark.
Click. Neocolonialism
And Media's Dark Age
UNUSUAL
DEVELOPMENTS WITH LES COLEMAN & THE LOCKERBIE TRIAL IN THE BOMBING OF PAN AM
103.
Les Coleman's Column - Inside/Out! Posted by Rayelan
Allen at her web site:
http://www.rumormillnews.com
Date: Tue Oct 24, 2000 11:21pm
Today's Column was written by Doretta Wildes © 2000, with comments inserted by RMNews © Date: Wednesday, 25 October 2000, 12:48 a.m.
Hi All:
This is a significant development for Les, which I have no doubt is related to the most recent developments in the Lockerbie trial.
Today, Les was informed that he is being transferred to a minimum security camp in Manchester, Kentucky, about 50 miles away from Lexington. The "camp" is really a campus without fences. As it has been described to Les, he will be afforded the maximum freedom allowed a federal inmate.
Guards gave him the news today with a fresh attitude. Les was told where he was going and with an unusual degree of openness. "They were very pleasant," he said. The usual m.o. is to awaken him in the middle of the night and order him to pack.
A curious exchange: one of the correctional officers told Les that he must be very pleased with recent developments. "I hear you're going to be on TV," he said. When Les questioned him, the man laughed pleasantly and said, "Oh come on, you must know what I'm talking about."
Les has NOT been contacted by attorneys for the defense of the accused Libyans; nor by the prosecutors. He is not aware of any impending media appearances. Actually, sudden interest in his case by the media would be immensely ironic, if not very funny.
Nevertheless, Les is very happy to be leaving MDC, bound for Kentucky. He's still using a walker, so he won't be black-boxed or tightly shackled in transit.
Les will be transferred tomorrow (October 25) to Oklahoma City's holding facility (as usual), then on to Manchester. He was told that he may not be there for the duration of his sentence, as Kentucky apparently now has jurisdiction over that. (This is news. What could it mean?)
The Warden at MDC has received letters from readers of INSIDE/OUT - and today Les signed a release so that he can respond to me and anyone else who requested information.
Les will contact me when he arrives in OK City tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.
If you can visit Les in Manchester, the camp is in Daniel Boone National Forest on Route 8 (Fox Hollow Road). Here is the mailing address:
Les Coleman, I.D. #47321-019 FCI Manchester Camp P.O. Box 3000 Manchester, KY 40962
Fyi, a Reuters article that Raye sent me is copied below. I'm sure the "mysterious" information alluded to in the article has bearing on Les's new status. As someone has said before, if the big boys have to 'fess up, they'll do so in such a way as to make themselves look like heroes.
Reuters | AP | AP U.S. | ABCNews | Photos
Tuesday October 24 5:30 AM ET
New Evidence May Change Lockerbie Trial--Defense
By Karen Iley
CAMP ZEIST, Netherlands (Reuters) - Judges adjourned the Lockerbie bombing trial for a week on Tuesday to allow the defense to review mysterious evidence that could have a major impact on the case.
``It is apparent that the information contained,
if true, will have the greatest conceivable effect on this trial and in
particular on the special defense,'' defense counsel
William Taylor said.
Chief prosecutor Lord Advocate Colin Boyd told
the court two weeks ago that information received from a foreign government was
of considerable relevance to the defense's counter-theory
that Palestinian groups could have been behind the bombing.
(RMNews: Ask yourself what country would have the most to gain by releasing information that is critical of the Palestinians? Who needs to turn the media and the public against the Palestinians? The Israeli Mossad has had the information on Lockerbie in their files since the bombing happened. They did not bring it forward because the United States did not want Iran connected with the bombing on Pan Am 103. Iran paid the Palestinians to bring down an American airliner. Iran blames the United States Navy for shooting down and Iranian Airbus in 1988.
If Iran was connected with the killing of the passengers of Pan Am 103, the United States was afraid it might have to admit that it killed the passengers on the Iranian Airbus.
When Clinton decided he needed some kind of legacy, he decided that he would normalize relations with Iran. Because of this decision he could not allow the truth to come out about Iran's role in the bombing of Pan Am 103. Hence, Les Coleman was set up and allowed to languish in one prison after another, for years.
Les is the first person to come forward and tell the whole story about the bombing of Pan Am 103. He told the story in his book, "The Trail of the Octopus." Immediately after it was published, Les began having legal problems. He had never had any problems before the publication of the book. Now the government tries to make him appear to be a hardened repeat offender!
Maybe the situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians will at least help exonerate and finally free Les Coleman)
Resume Reuters article:
The prosecution, which accuses two Libyans of masterminding the 1988 explosion
on Pan Am flight 103 and killing 270 people, handed over a letter and a file of
documents to the defense on
Monday.
Taylor requested that the court adjourn until next Tuesday, but said he was ``pessimistic'' that the trial could even resume then because of the extent and importance of the new evidence.
``At the moment it is obvious to me that investigations in three separate continents and at least six separate countries will be required,'' Taylor said.
Details of the new evidence remained shrouded in secrecy since lives were potentially in danger, he said.
But having studied the contents of the letter and other documents received on Monday, the defense had sent a lawyer to another continent, and two Scottish solicitors were heading for a European country later on Tuesday.
The prosecution waited two weeks before passing on the information to the defense while Scottish police tracked down six individuals, five who live in a European country and one in the United States.
Tuesday's proceedings lasted little over 20 minutes. Presiding judge Lord Sutherland agreed to the adjournment, but said the court, also in the dark about the new evidence, would need more details if it were to agree to further postponements.
``If any further request is made for an adjournment, the court may need more information if it is to be in a position to monitor progress properly,'' he said.
The prosecution accuses two Libyans, Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima and Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, of blowing up flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.
The accused have denied charges that at Malta's
Luqa airport they planted a suitcase bomb on a plane bound for Frankfurt by
posing as employees of Libyan Arab Airlines. The bomb was
allegedly transferred to the Pan Am flight bound for New York, the indictment
says.
The defense, which need only raise ``reasonable doubt'' in the minds of the three-judge panel to secure acquittal, suggests instead that two Palestinian radical groups were responsible for the explosion.
The judges must eventually choose between three verdicts: guilty, not guilty or the rarely used not proven.
###
Remember, Christmas is coming up and Les's three children are going to spend another Christmas with their father in prison. If you possibly can, please send them a present or a money order.
We will post a list of things they would like
for Christmas, as we did last year. Because of the generosity of
Rumor Mill News Readers, these three children had packages to open on Christmas
morning! Let's make sure we can do the same thing this year. We can't help every
child in the world, but we can help three children who have been deprived of
their father just because he tried to tell the truth.
A Lafayette man charged with burglary and theft of a Boulder County home told sheriff's deputies he was investigating the unsolved 1996 JonBenét Ramsey homicide.
The suspect in the case is John Edward Kenady, 47, the same person who this summer handed over a pair of Hi-Tec boots to private investigators working for John and Patsy Ramsey.
Boulder police are testing the boots at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, but do not think they are related to the case.
The source of a partial Hi-Tec bootprint inside the couple's home is one of many unanswered questions in the investigation into the Dec. 1996 homicide of 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey.
And while the boots Kenady gave investigators belonged to a former resident of the house he allegedly broke into, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said Monday the boots are not among the items Kenady is accused of stealing.
Kenady was arrested in Longmont Oct. 10 in connection with breaking into a home in the 4900 block of Valmont Road in July.
He told sheriff's deputies that Boulder Police Detectives Cmdr. Joe Pelle gave him permission to enter the home in the name of investigating the Ramsey case. Pelle said he never gave Kenady permission to break into the home. Kenady also said he feared evidence would be lost because the house was supposed to be demolished.
Police suspect Kenady of kicking in a rear door to the home and taking with him three "drafting quality drawings," a $54,000 check and legal papers including a deed of trust.
Diamond jewelry, several watches and money in one bedroom were untouched, according to police reports.
The home is owned by the family of a deceased man the Ramseys' investigators have said may have been involved with the beating and strangulation death of their daughter.
The deceased man shot himself in the chest Feb. 14, 1997, the day after Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter held a national press conference in which he said the field of suspects had narrowed and vowed to bring the little girl's killer to justice.
The man also may have owned a stun gun, which the Ramseys' suspect may have been used in their daughter's death, according to public records.
The Ramseys remain under police suspicion in their daughter's death, but have repeatedly said they did not kill their daughter and that police should be looking for an intruder. They have moved from their 755 15th St. home and now reside in Atlanta.
Kenady, who was friends with the deceased man, said he suspected him of having some involvement in the killing, but did not say why, according to police reports.
The documents stolen from the home were found in Kenady's possession. The drawings belonged to the deceased man.
Officers at the Boulder Police Department and the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said Kenady may be mentally impaired from a car accident.
Kenady's attorney, Karin Dostal, said her client is mentally competent.
She said she would not comment on the case other than to say, "There are certain things that will come out later."
Kenady was charged Oct. 13 and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 8, which will likely to be rescheduled.
Ollie Gray, an investigator for the Ramseys, said a family member gave Kenady the boots. Kenady gave Gray the boots through an attorney. Gray turned them over to police in August and answered police questions about them during an interview with the Ramseys in Atlanta at the end of August.
Contact Christopher Anderson at (303) 473-1355 or andersonc@thedailycamera.com.
October 25, 2000
A THREAD FROM THE JAMESON FORUM: http://161.58.21.56/dcf/jams/2779.html
| "The
Bootman story" Posted by jams on Oct-24-00 at 06:06 PM (EST) |
This is going to be straight fact -- if offended by using real names, please scroll by. |
| Table of Contents |
|---|
|
| Messages in this discussion |
|---|
| 1
. "Jams" Posted by Lilac on Oct-24-00 at 06:16 PM (EST) |
Was that his REAL name? What a coincidence (Hell Gothic) Helgoth. |
| 2
. "arrest report" Posted by jams on Oct-24-00 at 06:21 PM (EST) |
On July 24th, Doug and Rita Helgoth reorted a burglary at their house - door kicked in - and Rita said she suspected John Kenady, a friend of her deceased son, might have been involved. |
| 3
. "Warrant - " Posted by jams on Oct-24-00 at 06:23 PM (EST) |
The warrant was signed on October 6th - - Judge Diane McDonald signed it. Bail was set at $5,000 with the condition that he not be in contact with the Helgoths. |
| 4
. "Affidavit for arrest warrant" Posted by jams on Oct-24-00 at 06:42 PM (EST) |
break in took place between 7:30 on July 24th and 11:20 on the 25th. |
| 5
. "more from affidavit" Posted by jams on Oct-24-00 at 07:00 PM (EST) |
Detective set up meeting with Kenady and his attorney on September 20th - - he didn't want to speak to the detectives - wanted immunity agreement. |
| 6
. "then" Posted by jams on Oct-24-00 at 07:01 PM (EST) |
The cops asked for and got an arrest warrant. |
| 7
. "Charges" Posted by jams on Oct-24-00 at 07:07 PM (EST) |
2nd degree burglary, burglary of dwelling, theft |
| 8
. "From Why_Nut" Posted by jams on Oct-24-00 at 07:19 PM (EST) |
Jameson wrote: |
| 9
. "perhaps misguided, not malicious." Posted by DonBradley on Oct-24-00 at 07:21 PM (EST) |
money watches and diamond jewelry on the dresser |
| 10
. "civil disobedience" Posted by jams on Oct-24-00 at 07:58 PM (EST) |
Sorry - - but when the police refuse to investigate and a man sees what he thinks may be evidence about to be bulldozed into the ground - |
| 11
. "a wee bit confused" Posted by TeamRamsey on Oct-24-00 at 08:02 PM (EST) |
|
| 12
. "Was Ollie Gray" Posted by LovelyPigeon on Oct-24-00 at 08:05 PM (EST) |
in contact with Kenady BEFORE Kenady broke into the house? |
| 13
. "Jams" Posted by violet on Oct-24-00 at 08:30 PM (EST) |
Has Kenady been in touch with you? Where is he now? Do you think we can find out more about why he thinks Helgoth would have a connection to JonBenet's death? I don't see why he would bother to keep his suspicions secret. In fact, if I were him, I'd tell everyone I could why I was suspicious, and not confide only in the BPD. |
| 14
. "The check" Posted by Toots on Oct-24-00 at 08:36 PM (EST) |
|
Was it endorsed by Doug? |
PLAN COLUMBIA IS BECOMING PLAN SOUTH AMERICA, AS ECUADOR JOINS IN.
Ecuador: Seeking the Benefits of a Plan
Colombia © 2000 Stratfor, Inc.
For more on Latin America, see:
http://www.stratfor.com/latinamerica/default.htm
Summary
Ecuador is first in line to suffer the likely consequences of the U.S.-financed
military offensive against drug traffickers in southern Colombia. The United
States has offered Ecuador $20
million to manage the spillover, but President Gustavo Noboa wants much more. In
fact, Noboa wants a Plan Colombia for Ecuador. If the U.S. government ignores
demands for a much bigger commitment to Ecuador, the Noboa government may
reconsider its tenuous support for Plan Colombia, including the use of Ecuador's
Pacific Coast by U.S. anti-drug aircraft.
Analysis
The United States allotted Ecuador $20 million of the $1.3 billion U.S. aid
package for Colombia's coming military offensive against drug traffickers,
including $12 million in counter-narcotics aid
and $8 million for development projects along the border with Colombia. However,
President Gustavo Noboa wants much more. For starters, he wants between $250
million and $300 million for military material, including helicopters and
river-patrol boats. Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Heinz Moeller outlined Noboa's
proposal Oct. 19 in Washington, D.C. at meetings with officials of the State
Department, National Security Council and Agency for International Development.
Noboa also wants large-scale U.S. funding for economic development in northern
Ecuador. In effect, he wants Washington to underwrite a Plan Colombia for
Ecuador, including economic development assistance and military aid to keep the
coca trade out of Ecuador. Washington will balk, but Noboa has a compelling
argument: Ecuador's soils are suitable for cultivating coca and opium poppy, and
its impoverished northern region is fertile ground for a drug-fueled insurgency.
Ecuador is an important trans-shipment route for Colombian and Peruvian cocaine,
but was bypassed in the 1990s when coca cultivation shifted to Colombia from
Peru and Bolivia. However, the Noboa government fears the anti-drug military
offensive in southern Colombia will push the drug trade and violence into
northern Ecuador, where the inhabitants are largely members of nationalist
indigenous groups who oppose the government's adoption of the U.S. dollar and
privatization of state enterprises.
Noboa was vice president last January when a military coup that removed
President Jamil Mahuad triggered a mass national protest by Ecuador's Quechua
Indians. The United States and other countries condemned the coup, but a large
majority of Ecuador's citizens supported the armed forces.
Noboa is Ecuador's seventh president in four years. His government's stability
depends on the continued support of the military and indigenous groups united
under the Confederation of
Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE). To keep that support, however,
Noboa has to produce results, starting with economic growth, infrastructure and
better living standards for Ecuador's 12.4 million people, the majority of whom
are poor Indians.
High oil prices and adopting the U.S. dollar as Ecuador's national currency have
stabilized the economy and defused political tensions. Inflation is under
control at last, and oil will account
for about 45 percent of Ecuador's export earnings this year, compared with about
20 percent in 1999. However, the crisis in Ecuador is far from over. Right now
Noboa has some breathing room,
but oil prices will fall eventually, and the risk of renewed political unrest is
high. According to Augusto de la Torre, director of the World Bank's office in
Ecuador, adopting the U.S.
dollar has made Ecuador's economic system more corrupt, more politicized.
The military supports Noboa's endorsement of Plan Colombia and the use of
Ecuador by U.S. anti-drug aircraft, but the country's indigenous leaders do not.
If the drug trade and violence spill
into northern Ecuador from Colombia, the spreading conflict could spark more
mass protests by Ecuador's Indians. In January's protests, junior- and mid-level
officers joined the Quechua
protesters who toppled Mahuad. To reduce the risk of his ouster under similar
circumstances, Noboa has to keep the military and indigenous groups happy.
Meanwhile, the spillover has already started in northern Ecuador. In the past
month, hundreds of Colombians fled into Ecuador to escape fierce clashes in
Putumayo between FARC and AUC paramilitary forces. Last week, 10 foreign oil
workers were kidnapped, and Ecuadorian officials say AUC forces are now
operating in Ecuador's Sucumbios province.
Noboa believes Ecuador is entitled to more aid from the U.S. government. After
all, Noboa allowed the United States to fly anti-drug missions out of the
Pacific coast base of Manta, and Ecuador is the country at greatest risk to
spillover in the region. If Washington rejects Quito's requests for
significantly increased aid, the Noboa government may join Brazil and Venezuela
in opposing the United States in Colombia.
ASSET
FORFEITURE NETWORK. Click.
http://www.afnlaw.com/maf.hTMl
.....Some experts in the field of asset forfeiture believe strongly that under
the Due Process Clause, the government should not be allowed to deprive an
individual of her property, based simply on a showing of probable cause, which
in some instances means nothing more than hearsay evidence.
Rather, under the Due Process Clause the government should be required to prove
its case by clear and convincing evidence, or at a minimum, by a preponderance
of the evidence. Under no circumstances should probable cause be deemed
consistent with the Due Process Clause.
For various reasons, the Supreme Court has never been asked to examine the
constitutionality of the probable cause component of the federal forfeiture
statutes, in light of Congress' expansion of the forfeiture laws in 1978 and
1984. See United States v. One Parcel Of Property, 85 F.3d 985, 991 (2nd Cir.
1996). In fact, via the internet, attorneys now have access to a sophisticated
and standardized, thirty-five page brief, which took weeks to prepare, arguing
that the probable cause component of the federal forfeiture statutes violates
the Due Process Clause. (On December 13, 1996, the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals heard oral argument, for 90 minutes, on this issue.
The brief considered by the Court was based largely on this standardized brief.)
If lawyers in diverse parts of the country were to litigate this due process
issue, consistently focusing on this narrow constitutional defect, there might
be a real likelihood that a change in the law could occur. Obviously, the
potential to have an impact on the direction or state of the law in a
given area of specialty, is not limited to asset forfeiture. This potential
could and should be utilized in countless other areas of specialty.
There are at least two other potential benefits from the development of
sophisticated, standardized legal briefs. First, there is some likelihood that
reliance upon such briefs by attorneys would result in greater consistency in
court decisions throughout the country. Second, access to such briefs would
enable students of the law to develop a better understanding of the legal
process and the brief-writing process.
Under any model it makes little sense for lawyers around the country to be
remaking the proverbial wheel over and over again. Rather, it seems much more
logical, in this time of increasing sophistication in our work processes, that
litigators take advantage of the enormous opportunities that technology and
specifically the internet now makes available.
I invite and encourage you to share your thoughts about the concept of AFN(tm)
and how it could possibly serve you better. For that matter, I invite you to
share any interesting thought you'd like to talk about. For more info about me,
click!
http://www.afnlaw.com/resume.hTMl
MARK A. FELDMAN, ESQ.
P.O. Box 5125, Santa Monica, CA 90409-5125
800.874.7542; 310.578.6960; 310.576.6853 (Fax)...
CADWALADER, WICKERSHAM & TAFT Oct., 1987 - Sept., 1990
LITIGATION ASSOCIATE
Oct., 1987-March, 1989 - NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Halliburton
Unit Is in Grand Jury Probe
By Vivien Lou Chen © 2000 Bloomberg
Halliburton Unit Is in
Grand Jury Probe, Company Says (Correct)
(NewsMakingNews Note: Eliminates
reference to Halliburton being closely held in the 3rd paragraph. Adds nature of
company's military work.)
Dallas, Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) --
Halliburton Co., the No. 1 provider of oil-field services, said it is the target
of a grand jury investigation stemming from a whistleblower's complaint about
its work for the U.S. government.
Dallas-based Halliburton said it
is cooperating with the investigation, which is related to a 1997 lawsuit
against the company's Brown & Root Services unit filed by a former employee.
Halliburton also said it has been served with grand jury subpoenas, requiring
the company to produce documents connected with work done for the U.S. Army at
Ford Ord in California.
Halliburton is a leading U.S.
defense contractor where Republican vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney spent
five years as chief executive. Brown & Root does most of Halliburton's
military work, supplying logistical support to U.S. military operations in the
Balkans.
A company spokesman couldn't
immediately be reached for comment on the announcement.
Shares of Halliburton fell $2.75
to $41.31 in mid-afternoon trading.
I see government's involvement in
initiatives a total conflict of interest, for initiatives are designed to go
directly against the government institutions itself. The initiative's main
purpose is to circumvent the government when government ignores the will of
the People. It is the People's right to alter, amend, or abolish
their form of government as they deem necessary for their future security. It
is the Declaration of Independence in action. It is a pressure release
valve afforded People when they deem their government just is not working.
Unfortunately, governments are taking
free advantage of the initiative process. For instance, here in California,
nearly half of all initiatives on the ballot in any given election is placed
upon the ballot by the state legislature itself. Legislators have available to
them the legislative process. Legislators use the initiative process in
order to circumvent the laws and Constitutionally established legislative
process of committees, debates, revisions, member votes, the Senate's
check and balance, and the Governor's check and balance of veto power. It
can hardly be said that our representatives have no access to representation
or "their" representatives.
Further, it is an abuse of the
People's tax dollars to be spent on opposing what the People propose,
just as tax dollars should not be used for advertising purposes to tell us
what to think about our government services. Would an employee be wisely using
his bosses' money if he spent it on convincing his boss he was a
great employee?
I would propose an initiative to both
bar the legislature from use of the initiative process and to invalidate all
past legislative sponsored initiatives. Let the legislature pass laws through
the checks and balance processes they are supposed to follow.
PS - Once JAIL is passed, I believe we shall have enough
clout to consider bring about cessation of legislative initiatives
if we do not get a finding through the courts that it is unconstitutional.
JAIL's very informative website is found at www.jail4judges.org
From The Media Channel www.mediachannel.org
/ Futuresource 10 / 25/ 2000
Neocolonialism
And Media's Dark Age
By Nawal El Saadawi © 2000
Never before in history has there been such domination of people's minds by the
mass media. Never before in history has there been such a concentration and
centralization of media, capital and military power in the hands of so few
people. The countries that form the "group of seven" (in the North)
control almost all the technological, economic, media, information and military
power in the world.
Five hundred multinational corporations (MNCs) account for 80 percent of world
trade and 75 percent of global investment. Less than five hundred billionaires
own more than half of the wealth of all the inhabitants of the globe. With such
concentration of the economic and technological means of power, the mass media
and electronic telecommunications have served to colonize the minds of men and
women and to plunder the economic and intellectual wealth of the majority of the
world's population, especially in our so-called Third World, or South. The word
"colonize" is no longer used by the post-modern media. More innocent
words are used: Post-Colonial, Free Trade, Aid, Cooperation, Sustainable
Development, Structural Adjustment and other post-modern terms with a double
meaning.
To expand the global market, the media plays its role in developing certain
values, patterns of behavior and perceptions of beauty, femininity, masculinity,
success, love and sex. The media creates a global consumer with an increasing
desire to buy what the transnational capitalists (TNCs) produce, thereby
maximizing their profits.
Neocolonialism, like colonialism, cannot maximize its profits without exploiting
others, and you cannot exploit women and men without deceiving them. Post-modern
deception by the media and the broader information system is subtle. It works on
the conscious and the unconscious levels. It gives you the impression that you
are free to
choose while it robs you of all the means of free choice.
But how can we be free to choose if the media injects us day and night with
false information? The media has developed an ideology of individualism based on
destroying the resistance of the individual. It glorifies the individual hero,
the star. It destroys the idea of collective resistance. It propagates
post-modern ideas such as the end of history, the end of ideology and the end of
representation. It divides people by religion, ethnicity and race, under the
idea of difference, diversity and authentic identity, but it globalizes capital
and profit under the idea of One World and One Humanity.
Post-modern capitalist writers and journalists provide the media with ideas
which deceive the majority of men and women. Most of the writers and thinkers
from our countries in the South adopt the ideas of capitalist thinkers in the
North. Independent and original thought is not encouraged by our governments.
You go to jail if you create new ideas for more justice and freedom. Most of the
governments and dictators in Africa, Asia and Latin America are agents of the
global economic powers and are protected by the U.S. army or police. Women and
men are prevented from resisting locally or internationally. How can we organize
ourselves under such oppressive systems? How can we unite the efforts of women
and men if collective resistance is punished?
Our NGO in Egypt was closed down by the government in 1991 because we opposed
the Gulf War, because we had different views from the government and emphasized
the need to oppose the policies of the multinationals and neocolonial powers and
because we resisted discrimination between people by class, gender and religion.
Religious political groups (so-called fundamentalists), whether Christian,
Moslem, Jewish, Buddhist or other, are the other face of neocolonialism, the
legacy of the late capitalist, patriarchal system. They separate the economy
from culture, but in reality both their money and culture are limited. For
example, the Gulf countries and Islamic
fundamentalist groups have their money and political and information
headquarters in Western financial centers --New York, London, Geneva, Frankfurt
and Luxembourg. They are an integral part of the global economic and information
systems.
Most of the powerful media and TV satellites in our region are owned by the rich
Gulf governments or billionaires in oil-rich states or even the head of the
state himself. These media follow the American media. After the Gulf War in
1991, the Gulf countries were exploited economically even more ferociously and
used as military bases by the United States. Ironically, these nations actually
pay the United States to exploit them
in return for so-called protection.
The media in Egypt are Americanized just like the media in Europe and other
parts of the world. The mass media serve as agents of neocolonialism in the
South. Information is considered to be the missing link in the so-called
development chain. We, the underdeveloped in the Third World, have to be taught
how to consume and how to be modern, or postmodern. The cultural imperialism
thesis explores the harmful
influence of the U.S. media on countries in the South as well as in the North.
Media and cultural imperialism are the logical accompaniments to economic
imperialism. Through control of the mass media you create the conditions for
conformity to the global market and limit the possibility of effective
resistance to it.
The dominant global economic forces are the MNCs, especially those in
communication, advertising and marketing. They dominate local economic and
political activities, including the election campaigns. The international and
national groups which organize and control the MNCs constitute an elite class
called the "Transnationalist Capitalist Class" (TCC). The dominant
individuals in the TCC are the executives, the politicians and the media
marketers. The theory of globalization
suggests that the key to understanding how media and communications function in
the global capitalist system lies in examining the ways in which the
communication of information is being transformed into a global ideology of
consumerism.
In Egypt, as in other parts of the world, many poor women and men obey the
messages of the media and advertisements, even when these messages are against
their health or general interests. In many circumstances this is the only
economically rational option open to them. It is often a trap, but one that is
entered not out of choice (as some may think) but out of a lack of viable
alternatives. It is a trap similar to the one that poor working women enter when
they wear high heels which hinder their movement on unpaved streets. They have
no alternative if women's shoes in shops have high heels, if advertisements in
the media connect high heels with femininity and beauty, if movie stars, TV
stars, the wives of rulers and upper- and middle-class women wear high heels,
and if media messages are subliminal, affecting the subconscious and
exploiting the deep instincts and depravations from which most women and men
suffer. The media need only show the so-called "First Lady" wearing
earrings (as big as footballs) and many women will hurry to wear them.
The struggle over control of the electronic media is reflected in the growing
number of TV satellites, cable TVs and video cassettes in our countries. The
opportunities for domination are obvious and have been seized by hegemonistic
groups, whether official organizations or rich individuals in the government or
private sector. Today in Egypt the mass media are owned by the government, but
with the process of privatization and the hegemony of global capitalism, the
mass media, including TV and
cinema, will be handed over to rich individuals or groups. As the result of the
Nile Satellite launch, we will have several TV satellites owned by a few
billionaires in Egypt. The rent of one TV satellite is about three million
dollars, beyond the means of anyone other than the government or the
billionaires.
While the media was under government control, most dissenting ideas were
censored, but under the new billionaires, the media will be controlled by the
rich business class who are agents of the global, neocolonial powers. Mass media
control can be exercised directly through the capitalist production process and
indirectly through marketing and distribution. Commercial rather than
intellectual goals are dominant and
will continue to be so. The contention that private satellite television in
Egypt will create progress has been disputed. Sometimes governmental control of
telecommunications is, relatively speaking, preferable to private-sector or
individual control, under which only those rich enough to own the technology may
speak to those who are rich enough to use it.
Alternative media which are less capital intensive may challenge the hegemony of
the TNCs in the mass media, but they are still marginal in the North and unknown
in the South. The Transnational Advertising Agencies (TNAAs) are increasingly
active in the South, where they direct local agencies. Most advertisements in
Egypt serve the distribution of American and TNC goods. The TNAAs build up
admiration of American
"heroes" who fight in the Gulf or in Somalia (or other parts of the
world) for humanitarian goals, or who fight in Iraq or Libya or Somalia or other
countries.
The mass media have become the superstructure of dictatorships, globally and
locally. The football or baseball competitions, like the sex and crime films,
are designed as alternative channels of youth protest in repressive societies.
So-called "identity politics," which tend to glorify indigenous
values, such as the veiling of women, is part of the post-modern media
deception. Neo-colonial powers are selective in their
"identity" policies. They preserve local values that serve their
interests and destroy the others that do not work in their favor. The veiling of
women's faces or hair does not prevent the distribution of Western goods. Many
upper class women in Egypt and the Gulf countries wear veils imported from the
United States or bought from the local
market. The veil became a fashion, a commodity like earrings and face lifts.
Indeed, veiled women often wear lipstick, complete make-up, fashionable
earrings, high, pointed heels, mascara, artificial eyelashes and perfumes.
Feminists are seen by the global media as women fighting against sexual
harassment or rape. But in our countries we are fighting against both sexual and
economic rape. This is not shown by the media. Indeed, when the media allow us
to speak, the economic part of our statement is censored out. This has happened
to me several times, especially in American and British media. In Egypt, my name
is included in what they call "the gray list." I am virtually banned
from TV, radio, major newspapers and the cinema.
In spite of all these obstacles, we have to continue the struggle locally and
globally. Globalization from above by the TNCs and their media should be
challenged by globalization from below by women and men who are the majority of
the world. We have to create our own media and communicate with each other
through the Internet, e-mail and other electronic devices. With the continuous
advance in communication
technology we will be able to reach each other with less money and less time.
The decentralization of the media and communication technology is inevitable,
and it can be turned to our favor. The unveiling of the mind is our goal, to be
accomplished by exercising political power through local and global
organizations.
Ñ Nawal El Saadawi is a novelist, psychiatrist and journalist. She founded and
edited the magazines Health and Noon, which was published by the Arab Women's
Solidarity Association. She has been awarded several national and international
literary prizes. Because of her outspoken writings in Egypt, Dr. El Saadawi has
been imprisoned, censored and several times forced into exile.
This essay was excerpted from a chapter published in "War, Lies &
Videotape: how media monopoly stifles truth," Copyright ©2000, Leonora
Foerstel, International Action Center (www.iacenter.org).
To purchase this book, visit www.leftbooks.com.
Used with permission; contact the International Action Center for reprinting
requests.
AS THE MEDIA WATCH THE WORLD, WE WATCH THE MEDIA.
The Media Channel is a not-for-profit project of OneWorld Online and The
Global Center, and is produced by Globalvision New Media.
From: "Jon Roland" <jon.roland@constitution.org
To: <mail2news-20001023-misc.legal@anon.lcs.mit.edu
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2000 7:11 PM
Subject: Unconstitutional unpublished decisions cover injustice
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2000/1030/6612072a.html
Send requests for more article like this to: letters@forbes.net
Justice in
The Dark
Brigid McMenamin, Forbes Magazine,
10.30.00
THREE YEARS AGO A FEDERAL jury acquitted Vicki Lopez-Lukis, a former
commissioner in Lee County, Fla., of bribery for letting her lover, a
Goldman Sachs lobbyist, reimburse her for their personal phone calls. But,
bizarrely, the jury convicted her of one count of using the mails to
deprive her constituents of "honest services" in connection with
the same alleged bribery. This didn't make any sense, so she appealed to
the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. But in a one-word decision --
"affirmed" -- the appeals court rejected her argument.
Blind justice? For Lopez-Lukis, more like justice in the dark. She has no
idea what the appellate judges were thinking when they brushed aside the
obvious inconsistency in the verdict. Forget further appeals. The Supreme
Court rarely accepts cases for review -- only 124 of 8,445 sent to it in the
1999-2000 season -- and almost never accepts one if there is no published
opinion to look at. Lopez-Lukis is serving a 27-month term in Coleman
federal prison near Orlando.
Last year federal appeals judges disposed of 79% of the 26,819 cases they
decided by issuing so-called unpublished decisions, up from 37% in 1977.
Over 7% of the unpublished decisions consisted of a single word. Whether
curt or long-winded, an unpublished decision isn't precedent. That means
the judges can be sloppy. They are not accountable for illogic or
inconsistency in the rulings.
"This is judges disobeying the law," says William Richman, a
University of Toledo law professor who has studied the problem.
At last, one federal appeals court has declared war on the practice. In
August, in a case involving a late-filed tax refund claim, a three-judge panel
in St. Louis, Mo. branded unpublished decisions unconstitutional.
Despite the ruling, the taxpayer lost her refund.
The reasoning behind this momentous decision was that judicial decisions
are intended not just to resolve particular disputes but also to tell
Americans what the law is. So every decision must be a precedent. Though
that decision is itself a precedent only in the 8th Circuit (Arkansas,
Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and the Dakotas), litigants in other
federal courts are starting to cite it. The Supreme Court will likely end
up ruling on the matter.
The shortcut system began in the late 1960s when judges were struggling to
deal with an avalanche of social-justice litigation as well as a parade of
pro se litigants from the jailhouse. True, the appellate backlog does get
scary at times. But does this justify lazy law? "[Unpublished decisions]
are not prepared with the same kind of exactness," admits Procter R.
Hug Jr., chief judge of the 9th Circuit on the West Coast, though he
contends that they are still sound.
Judges insist that they issue unpublished decisions only in simple,
noncontroversial cases, where the answer is clear cut. The statistics say
otherwise. Appeals courts issue unpublished decisions in 24% of the cases
where various judges disagree so much that one writes a dissenting
opinion, and in 37% of the cases where they're reversing the trial court.
The 9th Circuit Appeals Court recently saw proof that unpublished
decisions mask plenty of inconsistency. The court had affirmed the
conviction of Pablo Rivera-Sanchez, an illegal alien who sneaked back into the
U.S. after being deported. His lawyer found, though, that the court had in
the past issued 27 separate unpublished decisions applying three different
rules to the same
immigration issue.
Consider how unpublished decisions have nearly driven out of business
Beehive Telephone, a Wendover, Utah-based rural phone company. Last year
the Federal Communications Commission cut Beehive's rates by 66%. An
appeals court, swayed by the FCC's claim that Beehive had made a procedural
error that barred appellate review, refused to hear the case.
===================================================================
Constitution Society, 1731 Howe Av #370, Sacramento, CA 95825
916/568-1022, 916/450-7941VM Date: 10/23/00 Time: 18:11:13
http://www.constitution.org/
mailto:jon.roland@constitution.org