Ivo Skoric on Sun, 22 Aug 2004 06:33:48 +0200 (CEST) |
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[ digested @ nettime ] Bechtelgate Summer in Croatia heating up Re: heating up Is Milosevic next? Artists and Immigrants! Bechtel in Croatia FYI: Conscripts booted out of army for 'internet addiction' (Reuters &c.) Fun Read US Nuclear (Un)safety Re: (Fwd) Ex-Chess Champ Fischer Renouncing U.S. Citizenship Sick, Poor and Undocumented Justice is sluggish and cumbersome.... We NEED peace. Insidious Changes Interpellation Needed Croatia: home of the deepest hole in the world ACLU: Special Update Abu what? The New Axis - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 14:29:40 -0400 Subject: Bechtelgate Summer in Croatia While Vesna Skare-Ozbolt, the Justice Minister, may be on the right path urging the legislature to drop the atavistic defamation law from the Croatia's books this Fall, awarding the highway building contract to Bechtel, with no bidding, may still haunt Miomir Zuzul, the Foreign Minister, who used to be Bechtel's lobbyist in Croatia. It is now all over Croatia's press, becoming the top summer scandal in the country that loves political piquantries. The news now is that Croatia announced it will drop the Bechtel contract, if the European Commission finds that the awarding process was at fault. So, Zuzul can save his face before his (former?) U.S. corporate bosses. Because, European Commission will hardly judge in favor of the U.S. corporate interests (especially keeping in mind how high in the US military-industrial complex that particular US corporation is). Therefore, we may expect Bechtel will lose the contract. But it will be European Commission's fault - not Croatian government's, which, in best faith, wanted to present their country as a tribute to those who pay them the most. It is striking however, from a position of an observer abroad, how subservient and un-sovereign is the decision to let European Commission decide on the validity of a Croatia's government contract with a US corporation. Does not Croatia have courts? Rules of trade? Contract laws? Judges? Why would government rather subject itself to the judgement of the European Commission in that matter, than to the judgement of Croatia's courts? Why would EC have any interest in ruling in this case, given that Croatia is not a EU member? Another sad reality is that, if you do an on-line search looking for similar stories, you will find a Dick Cheney in every country of the world. The 'Dick of Croatia' may be Miomir Zuzul. But there is also a 'Dick of Phillipines' and of Indonesia, and there is also one of Bulgaria and Kazakhstan: there are corrupt government officials everywhere, in every small country, and they are all different nationalities - the only thing they have in common is that they are paid by the U.S. corporations. Emerging markets and transitional states seem to be created to present the opportunity for profit of the wealthy US-based multi-national corporations. The ambassadors from those countries to the U.S., are agressively lobbied by the US multinationals into working for them, once they go back to their countries. That's what we get. ivo --------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 11:31:08 -0400 Subject: heating up Just a few observations from the election year America: 1) it is interesting to watch. people from democratic campaign stealing classified documents from the national archives to protect their former boss. that's really a highlight of how is the ethics perceived on both sides of the fence of the upcoming choice between a man that can't make up his mind, and a man that have his mind made up by the Carlyle group. 2) shelves in the bookstores are bending under the weight of hefty tomes written in a last couple of years about the Bush regime. fortunately for him, his subjects, kind of like him, do not read books. otherwise, he would not only lose elections, but probably go to prison, and maybe, just maybe, walk the last mile. the open-ness with which he is bashed in this books has a quality still lacking in many eastern european societies. there, the social will is still controled by reducing the input of information. here, it is quite the opposite: anything goes, and it is impossible to say what is real, gasping for truth while carried in the vicious torrent of released information. 3) recent changes in campaign law, opened a possibility for the very partisan non-partisan groups to operate. this evokes memories of Serbia in 2002 when the Otpor! youth movement got people to unseat Milosevic. the copy-cat movement sponsored by rich pro-Democrat leaning individuals (like Soros) in the US hopes to do the same here: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/24/politics/campaign/24ground.html?th 4) on the streets of New York I was already stopped four times by young lads with writing pads asking me the same question: "Will you help defeat George Bush?" Of course, like everybody else who stops you on the street in NYC, they were looking for money. as an immigrant I do have a dilemma: as I cannot vote, why would I support either candidate? true, Ashcroftian State made this country less appealing to immigrants, but the abject 1996 anti-immigrant laws were signed in by the Democratic president. 5) The problem with the US is that the "white wine and cheese" urban professionals - that those of us, who came of age during the 80s, call Yuppies - here are called 'liberal left', while in fact they are all conservative Thatcherites by the European standards. So the ketchup president may be no more friendly to immigrants than the blood for oil president. The real leftists and the real liberals are quickly dismissed as anarchists and troublemakers. And the ruling party has no option but to be on the right of the Thatcher mark. In Europe that space is reserved for specialized fringe parties with names like National Front, and with ideology bordering dangerously on Nazism. In the US, that's mainstream politics of a ruling political party... ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 13:17:07 -0400 Subject: Re: heating up Yeah. We have two imperial dinasties: Bushes and Kennedys. And they are clashing this year in the fight for the coveted post of Emperor. Kerry doesn't only have initials like JFK, he is Ted Kennedy's protege from the beginning. Kerry promises return to the Clinton- Augustus Pax Americana peace and prosperity. Bush promises the continuation of the conquest of new provinces and more loot for his pro-consuls. The ordinary American plebs is as far removed from the possibility of playing a role in the US politics, as it was in the Roman imperial democracy. Yes, they vote. But they vote as they are drilled to. Nobody has the time and/or resources to make an informed choice. And there is no much of a choice to make. Because the most important player in the elections is the dollar, or rather millions of dollars. So, it is essentially a patrician game, an aristocratic pursuit. Is there a difference between the candidates? Yes, it is. This year they all put emphasis on it - because in year 2000, the two houses walked and talked the same, so nobody bothered to make a choice. But will it really matter in the end? No. I bet the US will not get either national health care, or better education, either more equittable wealth distribution, or less military spending in the next four years, even if Kerry gets elected. Ok, he will try to repair relations with Europe. Something Bush doesn't give two dimes about. And there will be difference whether homosexuals can call their living together a marriage or not. Or whether women can under special circumstances abort in the 2nd trimester. All popular TV issues that affect about 0.1% of population. But neither one will be able to get the US troops out of Iraq easily. The loudest message I am getting from the Kerry camp is that by voting for Kerry we shall restore the US place in the world: as loved and trusted country. Bush all but destroyed that by his cowboyism. People now hate and mistrust Americans. But wait a minute: US military bombed somebody under each and every administration, Republican or Democrat. Yes, Clinton left the US in relative peace and prosperity. But the prosperity had nothing to do with him, but rather with the dot.com boom. And under his smooth and gregarious administration the phrase pre-emptive strikes was first ever used when he ordered cruise missiles hitting Karthoum and Afghanistan. Under his administration, Yugoslavia was bombed. And other his administration the most restrictive anti-immigrant laws were passed in 1996 - the effects of which today many mistakenly ascribe to the Patriot Act. Now there are rumors that under Kerry-Edwards Holbroke may become the Secretary of State: the man that created Dayton Bosnia - a decade ago, and the poor country is still under the rule of the international community and the high representative, divided in two un-cooperating entities, sovereign just in the fantasies of Holbroke's memoir writer. Scary. Is it then that Democrats are just more successfully mendacious? But not really less mendacious than Republicans. Well, I have an interesting proposal to the US Supreme Court: temporarily strike down Constitutional requirement for US President to be born citizen and appoint Arnold as the President. He is efficient - he got California's budget passed quicker than any of his predecessors. He is presidential. There is nobody who looks tougher than him. He spiks softly, but there is no question about him carrying a big stick with his 50-inches biceps. He can raise more money by one movie, than both imperial families can raise together in two years of campaigning. He is a Republican, thus belonging to the House of Bush. But he is also married into the House of Kennedy. Thus being the only person in the world to bridge the gap between the two houses so prominently. None of the US born Republican patrician wankers could come even close to doing that. And as a native European, he would make the present day hatred of America in Europe all but gone. Hell, the Austrians already printed a postal stamp with his face. And he could also deliver a speech at Deutsches Bundestag in German, even better than Vlad Putin does. The world would finally be united under one ruler, Conan the Destroyer. ivo On 29 Jul 2004 at 15:30, melentie wrote: Sounds like ancient Rome already... Melentie - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 11:25:56 -0400 Subject: Is Milosevic next? http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/30/international/europe/30trib.html?th In a controversial decision, the appeals court of the war crimes tribunal in The Hague yesterday threw out the conviction on major charges of a Bosnian Croat general and reduced his sentence to 9 years from 45 years. Gen. Tihomir Blaskic, 44, who has already spent eight years and four months in a tribunal cell, will be immediately freed. He will travel to Zagreb on Monday, court officials said. I was a great supporter of ICTY when it was created - but like anyone else I am quite disappointed with its inability to get the job done. The Rwanda tribunal seem to have done better (although it is also wanting). My primary, discerning, question is: is the justice served well in the target region (of former Yugoslavia) by the ICTY? And the answer is no. Nobody really wholeheartedly co-operates with DelPonte. Everybody is trying to protect their own. When she comes to Serbia, the indictees are tipped by the police to flee and hide. Those already indicted are really foot soldiers scapegoated by their bosses. And the bosses seem to be getting away as the years pass and memories fade. The near- criminal governments in the region changed skin many times, but their soul still remained the same: i.e. the ICTY failed to precipitate the radical change to more law-respecting society in any of the emerging countries - the fact that more cooperative Croatia appears to be more law-respecting does not owe anything to ICTY, because Croatia was ostensibly more law-respecting than Serbia before ICTY inception. The victims on all sides remained truely shortchanged party. In chosing retributive over restorative justice the ICTY in the end did nothing in that one most important aspect of Justice: awarding victims with something. It is all about punishing the perpetrators. but that does not put the bread on the table of the victims. Consequently, it appears that ICTY serves a symbolic purpose for international community to show the other wanna-be small-country strongmen what awaits them if they dare to raise up and against the established world order - while doing close to nothing to address the grievances of the real plaintiffs. That'd be like a rich civil rights lawyer exploiting suffering of a black man from NYPD to promote his name, while his client is languishing in prison. Bosnian community is still supportive of ICTY, because they see no other choice, but they are extremely bitter about both Mladic and Karadzic still being at large - should I repeat - nearly a decade after the end of 'major hostilities'? With letting people go - and they just let go their second biggest "fish", and the carrier of the longest sentence so far, Bosnian- Croatian general Tihomir Blaskic, originally convicted for the massacre in Ahmici - the only remaining purpose of the ICTY seems to be, in my eyes, to house Slobodan Milosevic. An acquitting verdict of an appelate court would put an end to that last ICTY's symbolic purpose. Can you imagine if they let Nazis walk from the Nuerenberg trials? Nobody would take Nuerenberg - or allies - seriously after that. So, in the Milosevic's case the ICTY is faced with a no-win choices: either they will sentence the guy based on the evidence they have, and wind their operation down somewhat honorably, or they will have to let him go, and resign their posts. And they should do either of it QUICKLY now. Why would they have the right to hold a detainee indefinitely, while the entire Europe is loudly protesting the US Patriot Act at the same time? ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2004 00:02:38 -0400 Subject: Tiho, Tiho.... http://www.vecernji-list.hr/newsroom/news/croatia/59549/index.do Croatia got its general back. After serving nearly nine years at Scheveningen, Tihomir Blaskic is back in Zagreb. He has a convenient name to shout - sounds kind of like Tito, Tito, and people there are quite accustomed to that sound. But to compare him with Beckman? Did he flirt with the journalist during the flight, so she became so, err, swept of her feet not to see his ugly snout correctly? http://www.vecernji-list.hr/newsroom/news/croatia/56652/index.do The other general is still in (Croatian) prison: Mirko Norac. The third, Janko Bobetko, is dead. And the fourth, Ante Gotovina, is on the lam. -/- There is chatter coming from Serbian lists rich with rumors how Karadzic was actually already captured by SFOR. But held in secret. (And on undisclosed location, I bet). ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2004 00:02:42 -0400 Subject: Bechtel in Croatia http://www.vecernji-list.hr/newsroom/news/croatia/59881/index.do Croatian government today abandoned the idea to award Bechtel with the road building contract without considering other bidders. Media pressure and public demands for more transparency seem to have worked. ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2004 09:43:39 -0400 Subject: FYI: Conscripts booted out of army for 'internet addiction' (Reuters &c.) Maybe the Finnish Army needs to be upgraded to the US-style Nintendo war machine?! That would give the 'internet addicts' something to do there. They'd love going to the Army, then. Just connect their PC consoles to the actual remote controlled unmanned killing vehicles, so they don't have to socially interact with others. They can stay in their rooms alone for days and shoot the monsters, as they usually do. No shock. And Finland saves face of its tough men image. I guess advanced software may be designed to make enemy combatants look like monsters. For our Finnish friends: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/team_america/ ivo On 4 Aug 2004 at 9:06, Shebar Windstone wrote: Hee hee hee!!!!!!! http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39122872,00.htm Conscripts booted out of army for 'internet addiction' August 04 2004 by Jo Best Crossing a Finnish line… The Finnish army is in a right old state if one official is to be believed. A bunch of young men are being excused from military service due to a debilitating modern illness - internet addiction. According to reports, Commander Captain Jyrki Kivela of Finland's military conscription unit revealed that some of the young men drafted can't cope with being apart from their beloved PCs and have been booted off their full term of military service. The commander said that the internet addicts come of age without having any friends or hobbies - apart from their computer and online gaming, of course - and can't cope with the shock of being thrown in the rough and tumble social whirl that is army life. When they go to the army doctor to share their woes, a proportion of them are diagnosed with the terrible affliction of internet addiction. Finland lost nine per cent of its conscripts last year to illness but it's not known how many of them suffered from the internet addiction. http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=5 858764§ion=news Web addicts escape army conscription Tue 3 August, 2004 14:23 HELSINKI (Reuters) - A number of Finnish conscripts have been excused their full term of military service because they are addicted to the Internet, the Finnish Defence Forces says. Doctors have found the young men miss their computers too much to cope with their compulsory six months in the forces. "For people who play (Internet) games all night and don't have any friends, don't have any hobbies, to come into the army is a very big shock," said Commander-Captain Jyrki Kivela at the military conscription unit on Tuesday. "Some of (the conscripts) go to the doctor and say they can't stay. Sometimes, the doctors have said they have an Internet addiction," Kivela said. There are no official figures for the Internet addict dropout rate. "They get sent home for three years and after that they have to come back and we ask if they are OK ... they will have had time to grow up," Kivela said. Finland called up 26,500 men in 2003, nine percent of whom were relieved of duty for medical reasons. However, the Internet drop-outs have not dented national pride in "sisu", a Finnish quality of being tough and resilient. "We are very proud of our Finnish men. Eight-two percent of all Finnish men manage their whole military service," Kivela said. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/03/internet_addicts_finland/ Internet addicts sent home from Finnish military By Ashlee Vance in Chicago (ashlee.vance at theregister.co.uk) Published Tuesday 3rd August 2004 20:15 GMT It used to take a bum leg or a penchant for same sex love to get out of the army. These days, however, young Fins are using Internet addiction as a means of avoiding required military service. Finnish "packet poppers" sent off for service have exhibited painful longing for their PCs - a longing so profound that military doctors have become concerned for the youngsters' condition. The Finnish Defense Forces, showing their kind hearts, have decided to excuse IP addicts from their six months duty all together, according to a report from Reuters. "For people who play (Internet) games all night and don't have any friends, don't have any hobbies, to come into the army is a very big shock," Commander-Captain Jyrki Kivela at the military conscription unit told the news service. "Some of (the conscripts) go to the doctor and say they can't stay. Sometimes, the doctors have said they have an Internet addiction." There are no numbers of just how many net-addled men have run back home where they can up their frag count in comfort. But 9 percent of the 26,500 men called up in 2003 were dismissed for medical reasons, Reuters said. If the youngsters can kick "the horse," they're allowed back in the military. "They get sent home for three years and after that they have to come back and we ask if they are OK ... they will have had time to grow up," Kivela told Reuters. By that time, however, they're probably making a good wage at Nokia and more interested in N-Gage bluetooth wars than real battle training. ® =============================================== Shebar Windstone <shebar@inch.com> CHMOD http://www.inch.com/~shebar/ At-Home with Joan Nestle http://www.JoanNestle.com/ Vision of Tibet http://www.VisionofTibet.com/ Chushi Gangdruk http://www.ChushiGangdruk.org/ GLOW Tibet Archives http://www.tibet.org/glow/ TibetanIssues.org http://www.TibetanIssues.org/ (Un)Covering Tibet: Journalists & activists discuss news/media http://www.mediachannel.org/views/roundtables/tibet_intro.shtml - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2004 10:01:56 -0400 Subject: Fun Read http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/05/politics/05terror.html?th - have fun reading "Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday that the White House's only consideration had been the safety of the American people." What? Did he introduce the national health care initiative? Announced the mandatory 1-yr maternity leave? Distributed free prescription medicine to the elderly? Collected assault rifles from non-military personnel that owns them? No. He merely attacked the former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean for criticizing of this glorious Administration.... "Pakistani intelligence officials have said Mr. Khan, a fluent English speaker, spent time in Britain beginning in November 2002, taking a course in human resource management from City University, London, but dropping out after losing interest." It must have dawned on him that his employees are mostly suicide bombers. And they don't need pension plans. Maybe he should have gone to a more cut-throat business school. Harvard or Yale? "Mr. Khan has told interrogators, the officials said, that two of his cousins lived in Britain and had been arrested there in 2000 on suspicion of involvement in terrorism after traveling to Bosnia and Chechnya to join in militant activities." What? Weren't Muslims in Chechnya and Bosnia fighting for freedom before September 11, 2001? Was there a single article in The New York Times that would label them terrorists before that day? Maybe if they just stuck to Chechnya and Bosnia, they would still be praised in the US media as freedom fighters. "The reports found on Mr. Khan's computer hard drive about the buildings in the United States were written in what one White House official has described as "perfect English," suggesting that the surveillance may have been carried out by or with the help of an American or someone who had spent considerable time in the United States or Britain." Good education is a key to success. Maybe CIA should send their operatives to spend some time studying at religious schools (madrassas) in Pakistan. Chanting Koran in Arabic every day for a couple of years might help them 'get into the mind-set'..... ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2004 10:01:56 -0400 Subject: US Nuclear (Un)safety U.S. to Keep Reactor Lapses Secret WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (AP) - The government will no longer disclose security gaps discovered at nuclear power plants, hoping to prevent terrorists from using the information, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Wednesday. The commission announced the change in policy during its first public meeting on power plant security since the Sept. 11 attacks. The change drew condemnation from critics who said it would erode public confidence in the agency. >>And what about transparency? What about people living near the nuclear power plants? Don't they have the right to know about possible problems there? What about their lives and lives of their children? Does this also mean that when the reactor melts - like Three Miles Island did - the official reports would say that terrorrists blew it up, and after FBI arrests a couple of Mohammads, the nuclear lobby will be allowed to continue its business as usual? ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Sat, 07 Aug 2004 10:11:45 -0400 Subject: Re: (Fwd) Ex-Chess Champ Fischer Renouncing U.S. Citizenship i just got this from miroslav - scg offered bobby a citizenship!!!! so the world's best chess player will spend his old years in a villa on montenegros coast. he still has money. not bad. much better than a cell in u.s. federal prison, i bet, too. ivo On 7 Aug 2004 at 0:16, Maglich, Marko wrote: Poor guy's pretty messed up. Maybe he has an argument that he has already lost his citizenship and doesn't need to renounce. Maybe he could get Yugo citizenship. Marko C. Maglich White & Case LLP -----Original Message----- from: Ivo Skoric <ivo@reporters.net> to: ed Agro <edagro@verizon.net> sent: Fri Aug 06 23:04:26 2004 subject: (Fwd) Ex-Chess Champ Fischer Renouncing U.S. Citizenship ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Reuters 6 August 2004 Ex-Chess Champ Fischer Renouncing U.S. Citizenship By Masayuki Kitano TOKYO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer, wanted by Washington for defying sanctions on Yugoslavia, plans to renounce his U.S. citizenship, a lawyer working on his appeal against deportation from Japan said on Friday. Fischer, one of the chess world's great eccentrics, was detained at Tokyo's Narita airport last month when he tried to leave for Manila on a passport U.S. officials say was invalid. Japanese immigration officials rejected Fischer's initial appeal against deportation and his lawyer, Masako Suzuki, has filed a second plea to Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa. In a handwritten note made available to the media, Fischer, 61, said the U.S. government and "U.S.-controlled Japanese government, working in collusion and in a criminal conspiracy, have illegally confiscated and illegally physically destroyed my perfectly valid in every way U.S. passport." The letter, copies of which were made available to the media, added: "As a result of the above-stated criminal act, as well as innumerable other vicious crimes against me by the U.S. government, I no longer wish to be an American citizen." Fischer's lawyer Suzuki told a news conference he would likely become a stateless person for some time and that his supporters would try to have the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) register him as a refugee. Suzuki said Fischer phoned the U.S. embassy in Japan on Thursday and conveyed his intention to renounce his citizenship. But renunciation of his citizenship cannot take effect until he has met a U.S. consular official and conveyed his intent in person, she said. A U.S. embassy spokesman declined to comment on the matter of Fischer's citizenship, but said that in general "renunciation of citizenship is a process, it takes some time, it's not done instantly." Besides filing with the UNHCR, Fischer would also look for countries willing to let him stay, Suzuki said. "We want to look far and wide for countries that are willing to accept him," Suzuki said. NO RETURN TO U.S. She declined to say if Fischer had expressed any preferences but John Bosnitch, a Tokyo-based Canadian journalist and communications consultant who is advising Fischer, said Fischer was continuing to look at the option of seeking German citizenship, since his father was German. Documents to prove his German citizenship were still being collected, Bosnitch told the same news conference. Suzuki said she had asked the Tokyo District Court on Friday to halt deportation procedures against Fischer. One thing that is clear is that Fischer has no desire to return to the United States. "He doesn't have any expectation of a fair trial in the United States," Bosnitch said, adding that Fischer himself had said he would be a victim of "a kangaroo court and a show trial" if he returned to the United States. Bosnitch said Fischer had written a second letter renouncing his citizenship that his supporters would hand to the U.S. embassy in Tokyo as early as Friday. Fischer became world chess champion in 1972 when he beat Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union in a victory seen as a Cold War propaganda coup for the United States. The title was taken from him three years later after his conditions for a match against Anatoly Karpov, also of the Soviet Union, were rejected by chess officials. Karpov became champion by default. Fischer, who arrived in Japan in April, has been wanted in the United States since 1992 when he violated U.S. economic sanctions by going to Yugoslavia for a chess match in which he won $3 million for beating old rival Spassky. The elusive chessmaster then vanished, only to resurface after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States to give an interview to a Philippine radio station in which he praised the strikes and said he wanted to see America "wiped out." Fischer has filed for refugee status in Japan, which accepts only political refugees. His supporters in Japan say he is being persecuted by the United States. Fischer's supporters say he renewed his passport in 1997 and never received a letter issued in December 2003 revoking it. State Department officials in Washington have said it took years for the legal process to catch up with Fischer. Fischer, whose mother was Jewish, has also stirred controversy with anti-Semitic remarks. ___________________________________________________________________ The Associated Press August 6, 2004 Fischer Wants to Renounce Citizenship By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer TOKYO, Aug 6 (AP) - Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer, detained in Japan for allegedly traveling with a revoked U.S. passport, wants to renounce his American citizenship, his lawyer said Friday. Fischer called the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo from detention at Narita airport outside the capital to tell U.S. officials his demands, his lawyer Masako Suzuki told reporters at a news conference. Suzuki said she would submit a letter to the embassy on Fischer's behalf, and an embassy official will meet him to confirm his intentions. "I no longer wish to be an American citizen. Enough is enough," he said in a handwritten statement issued through his lawyer. Fischer's distaste for the United States is well-known. In a radio interview, he once praised the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out." Fischer's renouncement of his U.S. citizenship could possibly leave him without a country to call his own, Suzuki said. Fischer would apply for refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as early as Friday, she added. Fischer's supporters and lawyer are looking for other countries that might accept him as a refugee. Fischer has already applied for asylum in Japan, arguing that the political nature of his "U.S. persecution" makes him eligible for refugee status in Japan. A decision on that could take months because the government would probably have to hold a hearing. Fischer so far has not sought citizenship or refugee status in any other country, his lawyers and supporters said. But his father is German and he was considering seeking citizenship there. In Berlin, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said on condition of anonymity that the ministry and the embassy in Tokyo were aware of the case, but have had no contact with Fischer. The American chess legend is wanted by U.S. authorities for playing a 1992 match for $3 million in the former Yugoslavia in violation of international sanctions. He was detained on July 13 while trying to board a flight to the Philippines. Fischer is fighting possible deportation to the United States, saying his passport was revoked without due process. Suzuki said Fischer has filed a lawsuit in Tokyo District court against two Japanese immigration officials, saying he had a valid legal status for entry to Japan. Fischer's request to the Justice Ministry to suspend the deportation process should prevent him from being handed over immediately, Suzuki said, because Japan may not transfer custody of Fischer while his court case is being considered. "We hope the Japanese government treats him fairly," Suzuki said. Fischer's supporters have acknowledged, however, that past anti-Semitic statements could hamper his case. He has said "an international Jewish conspiracy" and a "Jew- controlled U.S." are behind plots to both rule the world and ruin his life. He has also denied the Holocaust. ######################### - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 10:12:45 -0400 Subject: Sick, Poor and Undocumented The US is a really nice country to those who are young, healthy and rich. It is less suited for those ailing and poor. And it sucks for those who are here illegal, on top of being poor and sick. Here is another controversial policy. Each year it costs hospitals around the States millions of dollars to treat undocumented aliens who do not have insurance and are too poor to pay for service. Yet, the sickness does not ask for ID when it descends on you. Now Federal Government offers aid - $1B - to hospitals to treat illegals who fell sick. The catch 22 is that hospitals have to certify that the aid is really used for that purpose. Therefore they have to check the immigration status of the patients they treat. But under current anti-immigrant anxiety no illegal immigrant would volunteer the information on their immigration status lightly. Bizzarely, the new legislation, with all its good intentions to help, may actually prevent sick undocumented aliens from seeking help, thus contributing to a possible spread of communicable diseases. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/10/politics/10health.html?th ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2004 10:52:31 -0400 Subject: Justice is sluggish and cumbersome.... ....and it will not prevail. Deportation without a Trial http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/11/politics/11immig.html?th Message from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement: we shall wait for no stinking judge any more in our efforts to rid the homeland of the undocumented! Go ask for asylum in Russia. Now every border guard has the right to deport at whim. Not that it was much better earlier: illegals were excluded at the border, i.e. put in detention (jail) until the hearing. At the hearing they were mostly deported. Now, the sarcasm of the 'fair hearing' is done away with. So, that detention center coveted floor space may be freed up for the upcoming raids against illegal immigrants already in the U.S. It is actually better for the undocumented caught at the border: now they are deported immediately, so they can try to enter the U.S. in the trunk of a car again within a week. Previously, they had to wait maybe a year to do so. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4408426,00.html Message from the air travel companies: do not fly. Take a train, or go by boat. You will save time - maybe years of detention - particularly if your name sounds Arabic enough to be mistakenly confused with a name of some alleged terrorist. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/11/politics/11terror.html?th Message from the Department of Homeland Security: leave your camera at home while traveling to and through the U.S., or risk being arrested, or worse - particularly if you are Arab, Muslim, or both. ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 10:58:51 -0400 Subject: We NEED peace. When will the U.S. be ready to vote for a president who is not a war- monger? Why does Kerry need to display his military credentials so prominently to be considered a worthy contender? Why do his campaign people rush to portray him as a pro-war, when more than a half of the nation - not to count on those who avoid to be polled at all costs, because they are already so sickened of the "system" - is anti-war? Why did he give precisely the wrong answer to the Bush's question about whether he would vote "yes" for the war even if he knew that there was no WMD-s to be found? Why is he giving the blessing to Bush's war if he is running against Bush? It is a conundrum. But an important one for the world peace - because that's exactly what is at stake in this elections, considering how much money this country spends on military. What does Kerry thinks military buys with that money? Milk? ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2004 11:59:24 -0400 Subject: Insidious Changes While you are busy watching on TV how the federal government spends your dollars on blowing up dirt houses in dessert, the ever larger administration regulates ever more things in your every day life. Their push for enormous extra-legislative regulation they call small government. The effect of the paperwork-reduction act, that actually increased the amount of paperwork needed to be filed, is observable everywhere - if you have the time and inclination to look. It is just that the "reduction" does reduce worries for the big, for the rich, for the corporate. You - you are reduced to a subject of government's whims. Communists or feudal kings were no better at that. And if it is not so tragic, it would actually be a good comedy. Consider this: for years the trucking accidents were related to the long hours of driving. So, the consumer advocates asked for the reduction of the hours truckers are continuously driving. Logically, that should reduce number of accidents. But that would also hurt the bottom line of the big trucking companies that rely on the cargo being delivered as fast as possible - the more hours on the road, the costlier it gets. Those costs they can either pass on consumers and loose business, Or they can cut their profits, perish the thought. They found that the most cost-effective is to elect THEIR president and lobby him to regulate their business clandestinely, behind the loud news about Najaf. Now they got a regulation that will allow truckers to drive even LONGER continuous hours. And the best part is that the Department of Transportation finally issuing a new rule, said in a prepared statement that it would "save hundreds of lives". Talk about doublespeak.... ivo "Under regulations unchanged since 1939, truckers could drive 10 hours at a stretch and then had to rest for eight hours. The rules, Congress said, were to be changed to "reduce fatigue-related incidents and increase driver alertness." At that time, both the Senate and the House were under Republican control, and lawmakers began debating what to do. The truck-related accident death toll hit a new high in 1997; 5,398 people died. Congress went further in 1999 and created a new federal agency, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Clinton administration set a goal of reducing truck-related accident fatalities by half over the following 10 years. Consumer and driver-safety groups, including Public Citizen and Parents Against Tired Truckers, started lobbying the new agency to shorten the number of hours drivers could stay behind the wheel. But trucking industry officials argued that shorter shifts would disrupt delivery schedules, which in turn would raise prices on thousands of products delivered by truck. Last year, the Department of Transportation finally issued a new rule, saying in a prepared statement that it would "save hundreds of lives" and "protect billions in commerce." The change would increase allowable driving time from 10 hours without a break to 11 hours. But after 11 hours, drivers would have to take 10 hours off instead of eight. Trucking companies said they were satisfied with the rule while truck drivers deplored it, saying the added hours of driving time would increase driver fatigue. Public Citizen and the other safety groups filed suit, saying the new rule, in all its detail, actually increased driving hours per week by 30 percent. The suit is pending. Joan Claybrook, the president of Public Citizen, said the new rule "does nothing positive, it does a lot of negative, and it's a big waste of four years' effort." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/14/politics/14bush.html?pagewanted=1&th - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2004 11:39:49 -0400 Subject: Interpellation Needed Here is an idea for the Democrats - coming from a tiny European country of Slovenia - where the opposition decided to grill the entire government just before the elections accusing them of lying and reneging on their promises, which is pretty much what Bush could easily be blamed for. This process is called interpellation. Maybe Supreme Court can undo what it has done for years ago? Slovenia: No Rest for the Weary by Ales Gaube, 2 August 2004 The Slovenian opposition files a motion accusing the government of gross mismanagement, setting the stage for an inflammatory debate right before parliamentary elections. LJUBLJANA, Slovenia--Despite the summer holidays, politicians in Slovenia aren't taking much of a break. Two months before parliamentary elections, the election campaign started with a bang as two opposition parties filed a rare interpellation motion against the entire government on 29 July. “The government likes to cloud things with its promises about the future, but now the time has come for the government to account for its work at the end of its term,” said Andrej Bajuk, president of the opposition New Slovenia (NSi), on 30 July, as he explained the motives for filing the interpellation. A parliamentary interpellation instigates a debate about the performance of a minister or government, with the accused answering questions and responding to the opposition’s allegations. The opposition can use this instrument to try to oust a minister or even an entire cabinet, with the possibility of calling a vote of no confidence at the end of the debate. Though Bajuk and his partners have said they won’t call for the dissolution of the government, the debate itself could play a key role in swaying the huge number of currently undecided voters. In the interpellation, 11 parliamentary deputies from the Slovenian Democrats (SDS) and Nsi accuse the governing coalition of reneging on promises made at the beginning of its mandate, of poor governance, of cronyism, and of mounting corruption. The 44-page indictment claims that the government has performed especially poorly since Anton Rop succeeded Janez Drnovsek, the current president, as prime minister. The coalition is composed of the Liberal Democrats (LSD), the Unified List of Social Democrats (ZLSD), and the Pensioners Party (DeSUS). The People’s Party (SLS) left the coalition this past April. SPARING ALMOST NO ONE The opposition took aim most frequently at the government’s economic record and its inability to fulfill various pledges made at the beginning of its term. While coalition leaders had promised 5 percent economic growth, the figure has actually been falling for the last four years, with GDP at just 2.3 percent for 2003--the lowest since Slovenia’s independence. Efforts to cut unemployment have fared even worse: Despite Rop’s promises to halve unemployment, the number of those out of a job has dropped by only 3 percent, from 7 percent of the work force to 6.8 percent. And, the opposition claimed, nothing happened even though the government showed a willingness to prime the pump, accumulating 1 billion euros in public debt over the last two years and a total of 2 billion euros over the course of its term in office. The interpellation also found fault with an alleged flourishing of corruption and cronyism among government officials, unpunished white-collar crime, long court backlogs that deprive citizens of their ability to seek justice, and the government’s supposed failure to adopt an efficient health care reform program. (Copyright © 2004 Transitions Online) -----snip----- Gosh, doesn't the opposition everywhere in the world complain about the same things... While it is obvious that the U.S. is not the only country in the world with bad government at the moment, it certainly is the most powerful one at it. This country's spending on military is in the range of South Korea's or India's GDP. And the opinion of many of its citizens is that they indeed have some God given right to repair the wrongs in other countries (see the article in NYT about Wisconsin, and that guy who says that US should have removed Saddam even if he did not develop WMDs - echoing Kerry's answer to Bush on the war). http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/15/politics/campaign/15WISCONSIN.html?t h That makes the bad government in this country a great danger not only to this country but also to the world as a whole. Therefore the American domestic policy should be of interest to every man and woman around the globe. THIS, for example, is one of the wrongs brought to the world by Bush - possibility of being arrested for taking a picture in the land of the free: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/181978_robert14.html ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 10:47:30 -0400 Subject: Croatia: home of the deepest hole in the world Well, not exactly the most popular world record... but it may come handy. Fortunately, the hole is freshly discovered and not that easy to access, so it did not become a mass graveyard during recent wars (like many of similar, albeit of lesser depth, holes in near-by Bosnia did). The use of them always reminds me of I.G.Kovacic's poem "Jama" ("Hole"). http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/08/09/croatia.deep.cavern.ap/inde x.html ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 10:47:29 -0400 Subject: ACLU: Special Update A comment to that: I used to be on similar lists in former Yugoslavia. Eventually, however, Yugoslavia disappeared from the maps, and I got asylum in the U.S. I hope, whoever is in charge up there, reads this and gets the point. It is atrocious to just list names and say do not employ those people. Because it is true that many people have the same name. And it is also true that terrorists are likely to use false names, anyway. I would like to know whether my name is on the lists again?! If employers are supposed to check names of new hires against the lists, then lists must have been made public somewhere? I haven't seen the advertisement yet, though. Checking the names and birth-dates may prove more accurate, but only if a) employer, indeed, harms civil rights of new hires asking them for their birthdate (as pointed by ACLU's Antonio Romero) and b) if the birth dates on record are correct. Let's assume that I am on the list. What birthdate would they have for me? The one that the INS (or BICE, today) has for me, or the one that the SSA has for me? And they are different. Not by my fault. But by the fault of the sloppy, lazy, slow, disinterested, and uncivil administration that burdens this country (the one of those two agencies read one number in my birth date wrong, and did not change their mistake, even after my repeated warnings in writing and copies of the birth certificate I sent them...). And there are no lists that will solve that, or help fight terrorism, as long as there is incompetent bureaucracy around to screw things up. Please, remember, that I am talking from experience. ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 10:47:25 -0400 Subject: Abu what? http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/19/politics/19abuse.html?th I bet that by November most Americans would not know the difference between Abu Dhabi and Abu Ghraib. I am also sure that if the task to investigate Srebrenica massacres was given to the Serbian military special investigator, they would conclude that the mistreatment was limited to the actions of a few soldiers and the failure of a few leaders to supervise them. Milosevic would never be found at blame, would he? And what is this with keeping people naked in the cells? In the country so prudish a governor has to resign because he is gay, do all perverts become prison guards? http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/19/politics/19witness.html?pagewanted=1 &th ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 11:57:49 -0400 Subject: The New Axis http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/news/article/1086904800.php http://www.nirs.org/mononline/nm611.pdf Forget about Iran and North Korea. How about the German nuclear bomb? Germany was the first to think about the weapon, and if it had the opportunity (not being bombed by allies daily in 1944 and 1945), it would probably be the first country to have the bomb. After the war, Germany put in its constitution that it will never have any WMD-s. But it also put in its constitution not to send Bundeswher soldiers in other countries - a pledge already broken with the blessing of international community. And being still at the cutting edge scientifically, Germany was instrumental in developing Pakistani nuclear program. Today Germany is looking forward to the EU army, instead of NATO. It looks not to follow the ruinous lead of the US any more, but rather to create a parity to the US, with help of France, UK, and Russia. One of the ideas is to create a European nuclear program, and improve on the systems already in production in France and UK. On top of that, Germany has its own research reactor FRM-II in Garching near Munich. Like Israel's Dimona and Iran's Buchehr, that reactor has only one purpose: to produce weapons. With the purchase of highly-enriched uranium from Russia (after the sole NATO enriched uranium producer, the US, refused to sell), Garching center is far closer to producing the bomb than Buchehr, and out of range of Israeli air force, too. How do those news combine with the US military presence in Germany (ok, Pentagon announced reduction of troop numbers there, but still, the main US military hospital for Europe/Middle East is in Germany)? Is the US going to include Germany in the "axis of evil" now? Are B-2 bombers going to be send on the mission of destroying the reactor? What does the IAEA say to Garching? Also, how does the development of nuclear weapons sit with the Greens who are now in German government? Considering that they became a political party out of the protests against (U.S.) nuclear missile bases and against use of nuclear energy? How can Jossca Fischer be a German foreign minister while Garching is in operation? Given his history, he should either resign or publicly oppose the reactor. Locals opposed the reactor for 15 years and filed more than 15,000 objections. The reactor, operating with enriched uranium, is much more dangerous than regular nuclear reactors. Being in the residential area - Germany is so densely populated, that for the purposes of nuclear fall-out, the entire country should be considered a residential area - a decision to operate such a facility near Munich is insane, even if Germany might not be a terrorist target because of its help to Pakistan to develop their nuclear bombs. What is something go wrong by accident? Wasn't that what Greens were asking in 1980's? Munich is a nice town. I think people should see it while it is still there. ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net