The Daily Dystopian

Saturday, September 06, 2003

Today in Dystopian History: September 6

1620: The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England.

1775: George Washington's address, To the Inhabitants of Canada, called for their support in the war for independence.

1776: The Turtle, the first American submarine, attacked the British warship Eagle in NY Harbor.

1839: The Cherokee Constitution was adopted by the Cherokees in Indian Territory.

1861: The US consul in London reported the Confederates' purchase of the steamers Bermuda, Adelaide and Victoria.

1866: Frederick Douglass, calling for black suffrage, was the first black delegate to a national political convention.

1869: In the Avondale Mine Disaster, 108 men and boys were suffocated by fire.

1870: In Laramie, WY, the first woman legally cast a vote in the US since 1807, when New Jersey abolished women's suffrage.

1901: President William McKinley was shot while visiting the Pan American Exposition.

1909: Robert Peary announced that he had reached the North Pole.

1937: During the Spanish Civil War, Belchite fell to the Lincoln Battalion.

1945: President Truman laid out an economic recovery plan to address post-War housing and employment.

1949: A sharpshooter during the war, pharmacy student Howard Unruh killed 13 neighbors in Camden, NJ.

1966: Atlanta erupted in racial violence; Stokely Carmichael was among those arrested.

1976: Soviet pilot Lt Viktor Belenko landed in Japan, asking for asylum in the US.

1979: President Carter pardoned 4 Puerto Rican nationalists imprisoned since 1954.

1983: 2 US Marines were killed by rockets in Beirut.

1984: Prominent Texas minister WA Criswell opined that separation of church and state was "a figment of some infidel's imagination."

1988: 7 protesters were arrested at the uranium processing plant in Fernald, OH, one of the worst nuclear polluters in the US.

1990: The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld CIPA rulings on Joseph Fernandez in the Iran-Contra affair.

1991: CIA officer Clair George was indicted on 10 counts in the Iran-Contra affair.

1991: At the Tailhook Convention in Las Vegas, Navy pilots forced women to pass through a "gauntlet."

1995: Sen Bob Packwood was expelled by the Senate Ethics Committee.

1996: The US government reported the lowest unemployment figures in 7 years.

2001: Mexican President Vicente Fox challenged the US to reach an agreement on immigration by year's end.

2001: The DOJ announced it would seek a lesser antitrust penalty and would not break up Microsoft.

2001: Over the next 2 days, 4,744 put options were purchased on United Airlines stock, many through Deutschebank/AB Brown.

2002: Court documents revealed retiring CEO Jack Welch's enormous package of perks from GE.

dystopia 2:56 PM - [Link]
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Friday, September 05, 2003

Bristol-Myers to Staff: Donate or Else

The Sydney Morning Herald says employees of a major drug company claim to have been strong-armed into contributing to the 2000 Bush campaign:

The four, who asked not to be named, said they were told to donate the maximum--$US1000 ($1500) in their own name and $US1000 in their spouse's--and if they failed to do so, their names would be forwarded to the company's then chief executive, Charles Heimbold...

Elsewhere in the drug industry, the election message was much the same. Some companies circulated a videotape of Vice President Al Gore railing against the high price of prescription drugs, resulting in a flood of contributions for Bush and other Republicans.

Those donations may soon pay off for the pharmaceutical business. Four years ago, a Democrat was in the White House and the industry was fighting a prescription drug proposal that it said would have led to price controls. When Mr Bush won the election, the drug makers celebrated.

dystopia 5:09 PM - [Link]
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Philanthropic Pittances

A Daily Camera opinion piece on the privatization of charity:

Since a new Colorado charitable-solicitation law took effect, 45 charities have filed reports on their paid solicitors' campaigns. In 29 cases, telemarketers kept more than 65 percent of donations. And of $17.8 million raised in all these charitable campaigns, paid telemarketers kept $10.4 million.

The fact that 58 percent of donations went to for-profit corporations is doubly distressing. The Better Business Bureau recommends that charities' fund-raising costs be no more than 35 percent of related contributions. And there is the small matter of ethics:

With the expectation that their gifts would go primarily to charity, Coloradans donated $91,283 to the National Parks Conservation Association. The fact that telemarketers kept 99.2 percent of funds is appalling. It is not, however, illegal.

dystopia 3:53 PM - [Link]
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Disgusting Travesty on the Mall

A taxpayer-subsidized NFL commercial rated a righteous rant from Doug Thompson:

The NFL contributed a measly $10 million towards staging the three days of events that led up to Thursday night's kickoff of the new football season but what it paid did not begin to cover the cost of staging or security from 1,000 police officers from 35 local, state and federal agencies.

Police began closing streets around Washington early Thursday and many businesses and offices sent their employees home early so they could avoid the choked traffic on the few streets that remained open.

Tourists trying to visit attractions along the Mall found themselves shuttled out of the area so the area could be sealed "for security purposes."

And for what? An opening display of bad punk music from a Maryland band named, inaccurately, Good Charlotte, followed by Pepsi commercials on the giant TV screens scattered around the Mall (the NFL collected huge fees from sponsors but none of that money went to help pay back the government for its taxpayer-funded costs). Huge commerical banners also littered the Mall. Normally, the Park Service prohibits commercial marketing on the Mall, but those rules were ignored for the NFL.

Commercialization of the commons, huh? Gee, who could've seen that coming?

dystopia 3:19 PM - [Link]
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Today in Dystopian History: September 5

1774: The first Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia.

1781: In the Battle of Virginia Capes, the French fleet trapped Cornwallis at Yorktown.

1812: Sauk and Fox Indians attacked Fort Madison.

1831: The trial of Rev Samuel Worcester began, for working without a license on Cherokee lands.

1836: Sam Houston was elected president of Texas.

1849: The Oregon territorial legislature created a free public school system.

1863: A bread riot broke out in Mobile over food shortages and high prices.

1863: The US warned the British that war might follow if Britain released ironclad ships built for the Confederacy.

1877: Crazy Horse was killed in custody at Fort Robinson.

1881: The American Red Cross first provided disaster relief, after the Great Fire of 1881 in Michigan.

1882: In NYC, over 20,000 workers marched in the first Labor Day parade.

1917: In raids across the US, the FBI seized records and arrested 165 IWW activists for labor organizing and "obstructing" the war.

1918: After Harvard reported the first cases of influenza among its students, the Massachusetts Department of Health declared an epidemic underway.

1934: William Pelley, leader of the Silver Shirts, issued his "New Emancipation Proclamation," imposing racial quotas "on the political and economical structure."

1945: The State Department claimed Japan had ignored protests about atrocities committed against US troops.

1945: Iva Toguri, a Japanese-American suspected of being Tokyo Rose, was arrested in Yokohama.

1953: The first privately-operated atomic reactor began operating at NC State in Raleigh.

1961: Hijacking a plane became a federal offense subject to the death penalty.

1961: President Kennedy ordered the resumption of nuclear testing "underground, with no fallout."

1963: Air America flight B-150 went down after reporting heavy ground fire in Laos.

1969: Attorney General John Mitchell decided not to prosecute the candidates or organizations who, in 1968, failed to comply with federal campaign finance law.

1969: Lt William Calley was formally charged in the My Lai Massacre.

1975: Annie Mae Aquash was arrested by the FBI in connection with the shootout at Oglala.

1989: During a televised speech, President Bush held up a bag of crack cocaine that took the administration 3 bungling tries to score.

1990: Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, LAPD chief Daryl Gates said, "Casual drug users should be taken out and shot."

1993: Birmingham News disclosed research by the Southern Baptist Convention, estimating that 46.1% of Alabamans were going to hell.

1996: Islamic fundamentalist Ramzi Yousef was convicted in NYC of conspiring to bomb US airliners.

2001: CEO Ken Lay announced Enron would divest itself of $4-$5 billion in assets, putting more emphasis on its trading operations.

dystopia 1:53 PM - [Link]
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Wednesday, September 03, 2003

Light Blogging

You might have noticed that my current-news blogging has dropped off somewhat this week. That's because my office has been doubling as crying post and job hunt central for various loved ones lately.

Not that I don't care, but they're taking up all my blog time, and I'm a bit annoyed.

Oh, well, judging by my e-mail, current news isn't what you come here for anyway.

dystopia 6:29 PM - [Link]
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Today in Dystopian History: September 3

1697: King William's War ended with the Treaty of Ryswick, in which England and France got back all lands lost to each other.

1783: The Treaty of Paris was signed by Britain and the US, officially ending the Revolutionary War.

1812: In the Pigeon Roost Massacre, a dozen Shawnee warriors attacked an Indiana settlement, killing 24.

1826: The USS Vincennes left NYC to become first US Navy ship to circle the globe.

1838: Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery with false papers, disguised as a sailor.

1855: Col William Harney and 700 US troops attacked a Brul� village in Utah, killing 85.

1859: In Oregon, 690 Indians were marched over the mountains to a coastal reservation.

1863: Gen Alfred Sully's forces attacked a peaceful Sioux hunting camp at Whitestone Hill, ND.

1909: The mayor of Burlington, VT, barred Emma Goldman from speaking in the city.

1910: Boll weevils were first discovered in Alabama.

1916: President Wilson signed the Adamson Act into law to avert a national railroad strike.

1919: The Communist Labor Party split off from the Socialist Party of America.

1925: The US Navy dirigible Shenandoah ran into a storm over Ohio and broke up in mid-air, killing 14.

1939: After Britain and France declared war on Germany, President Roosevelt announced American neutrality.

1941: The Japanese were informed that a meeting between Prince Konoye and President Roosevelt could not take place.

1945: Gen Tomoyuki Yamashita surrendered in the Philippines.

1965: The national origins quota system for immigration was abolished.

1971: Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office was burglarized by President Nixon's "plumbers" unit.

1974: 500 to 1,000 gallons of radioactive water were accidentally released at Los Alamos, contaminating the lab's parking lot and a main street.

1976: Ralph Nader spoke to the APA, criticizing the influence of the Educational Testing Service.

1980: Saudi Arabia was reportedly buying out its partners, Exxon, Mobil, Standard Oil and Texaco, in the Arabian American Oil Company.

1982: The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act was enacted, called "the largest single tax increase in history" by Dick Darman, a Reagan legislative strategist.

1989: The US began shipping $65 million worth of military aircraft and weapons to Colombia.

1991: A fire killed 25 at the Imperial Food plant in Hamlet, NC, where fire exits were kept locked.

1996: Attorneys for Richard Jewell demanded that the Feds produce the information that made him a suspect.

1996: In Operation Desert Strike, at least 27 cruise missiles were launched into Iraq.

2001: The US pulled out of the World Conference Against Racism after Zionism was labeled racist.

2002: Citizens packed the Denver police HQ to review spy files the police had kept on them.

dystopia 4:51 PM - [Link]
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Tuesday, September 02, 2003

Bush's Cult Appeal

A sobering must-read essay by Reachout, posted on Democratic Underground:

I'll be honest, I don't think these people are stupid. Even with all the garbage they get fed by Fox and Rush, I don't think they are that uniformed.

The more frightening truth is, I think Bush is the outward expression of what is in the hearts and minds of millions of Americans. We will see next year whether that is really a majority of Americans.

I've lived all over this nation, and I can tell you there are a lot of cruel, vengeful, selfish people out there to whom George W Bush would seem like a perfectly acceptable president.

I don't buy that he's fooling the American people about anything. His lies are laughably transparent. Rather, I'm willing to contend that a lot of people out there are giving the administration a wink and a nod, and that they understood perfectly well that Iraq was never a threat to this nation but were willing to allow the cover story of WMDs, al Quaeda or whatever continue to be floated as justification.

I talk to right-wingers and most of them admit they never thought there were WMDs. What they won't say, but what seems to underlie their reasoning, is that 3,000 people were killed on American soil on 9-11 by Muslim Arabs, and they want to see much more Muslim and/or Arab blood spilled as a result. We know for certain, that at least three times as many innocent people have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq than died on Sept. 11, and I think that sets perfectly well with people.

It's like the South during the Nadir years. African-Americans were regularly lynched, and we like to pretend it was a few extremist Klansman. The fact is, lynchings were done with the knowledge and private consent of whole towns of white people.

Read the polls. Just as in the South, the killing and chaos in Iraq still has the consent of the majority of the American people. As well, not many other than a few shrill commentators or rightist comedians will say it aloud, but a lot of Americans think it is perfectly fine to take Iraq's oil if it benefits American interests. I had a conversation with a medical doctor the other day who said his view is that the world is ruled by the strong and the greedy and if we don't take the oil someone else will.

As to other issues such as civil liberties, I don't think as many Americans are really that concerned with their rights as we'd like to think. A recent poll, found that over forty percent of respondents thought the First Amendment "goes too far." If the people of this country really wanted to protect their rights, they would stand up and do it. However, as long as they believe these violations will be leveled against people who don't look or act or worship like they do, it isn't really a big issue.

Many of these same people thoroughly believe in a Darwinian model of economics, even when it is they who are being eaten. Cut taxes and let the Market sort it out. If they are smart and hard-working they'll be rich someday too, and they don't want a bunch of bleeding hearts giving away their money to welfare moms in the ghetto. It's not pretty to hear, but go to a bar where working people hang out and ask around to see how much of this you hear from them. Or for that matter, just take a look at how many unions are blatantly anti-immigrant. Never mind that those unions were mainly formed by poor immigrants fighting for their rights. They are now the haves and don't intend to share with the have-nots.

With the election looming, I think it is more important than ever to stare some cold, hard truths in the face. There is a darkness, a certain cruelness out there in this country. I want to believe that the American people are just being fooled by Bush, but more and more it seems that they know exactly what he is and are making their choice for him and his brand of politics with their eyes wide open.

Bush is charismatic to them because he speaks to a very primal place in them. He spiels out jingoism and vengeance. He may not be able to wrap his mouth (or his mind) around some of the more complex words, but he performs like an old-time tent preacher. He speaks with anger and passion and they love him for it.

I'm sorry to ramble on here, but I don't think closing our eyes to this possibility serves us very well. Perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe living in the heart of red America has skewed my perceptions. I just haven't seen much to convince me that Bush isn't exactly what a big swath of America desires.

Me neither. Can't hardly bear the despair.

dystopia 4:47 PM - [Link]
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Today in Dystopian History: September 2

1620: The Pilgrims sailed from Southampton, England, after repairs to the Speedwell.

1752: The Gregorian calendar went into effect, making the next day September 14; September 3 through 13 never happened.

1825: In New York, Mordechai Noah declared Grand Island a Jewish city of refuge.

1862: In the Battle of Birch Coulee, the Dakota kept US troops under siege for 36 hours.

1864: Gen William Sherman's forces took Atlanta.

1885: In the Rock Springs Massacre, white miners in Wyoming attacked Chinese coworkers, killing 28.

1910: Blanche Stuart Scott was the first American woman to fly solo.

1921: In the Battle of Blair Mountain, mine owners bombed striking West Virginia miners by plane.

1936: An explosion at the Macbeth Mine killed 10 in Logan County, WV; 6 months later, another explosion at Macbeth killed 18 more.

1940: An agreement was ratified between the US and the UK in which Britain received 50 old US destroyers in return for allowing US bases in the West Indies.

1941: Capt Benjamin O Davis, Jr, was the first black US Army Air Corps pilot to complete a solo flight.

1942: Isaac Sternbuch's cable arrived at the Polish embassy in Washington, DC, reporting the deportation of 100,000 Jews from Warsaw to Nazi death camps.

1943: The 100th Infantry Battalion, a Nisei unit from Hawaii, arrived in North Africa.

1945: The Instrument of Surrender was signed by the Japanese aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

1956: The National Guard was dispatched after white mobs tried to block the desegregation of a Clinton, TN, high school.

1958: President Eisenhower signed the National Defense Education Act in response to Sputnik and the fear the US was falling behind in math and science.

1963: Alabama Gov George Wallace blocked the integration of Tuskegee High School in Huntsville, AL.

1969: Racial violence broke out in Hartford, CT.

1969: AFL-CIO leader George Meany called on the Nixon administration to implement wage and price controls.

1974: President Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, regulating private pension plan administration and investment practices.

1979: The USS Truxtun officially spilled 13 gallons of radioactive water into San Diego Bay; early reports said the spill was 80 to 100 gallons.

1980: Court-ordered busing began in Pittsburgh, St Louis and Los Angeles to integrate public schools.

1984: The Mashantucket Pequot of Connecticut took possession of 650 acres of former lands.

1992: The US and Russia agreed to a joint venture to build a space station.

1992: Trying to win re-election, President Bush unveiled an economic plan that included $2 billion in aid for farmers and a lucrative fighter-jet sale for Texas.

1998: The FDA approved the morning-after pill; Wal-Mart and some pharmacies refused to dispense it.

1999: Calls for a new investigation of the Feds' handling of the Waco siege arose when a videotape of the decision to fire tear gas grenades into the compound was discovered.

dystopia 3:49 PM - [Link]
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