Thursday, September 25, 2003

Events At UN & WTO QUOTE OF THE DAY "Reform is affirmative, conservatism negative; conservatism goes for comfort, reform for truth." - - Ralph Waldo Emerson       KNOW YOUR HISTORY - SEPTEMBER 25th 1957 -- With Arkansas State troopers preventing the integration of high schools, President Ike Eisenhower orders the National Guard to escort 9 black children into Little Rock Central High School. White segregationists & the state militia are kept at bay by over 1000 paratroopers. The army remains for the entire school term. RHINO HERE: The shrub gang occupation of Iraq has left American soldiers unprepared & vulnerable, the country degenerating into chaos, & the Iraqi people embittered & hostile. Now, shrub's asking Congress for BILLIONS more taxpayer dollars to fund more of the same. The internet activist PAC MoveOn has collected 190,000 web generated letters urging Congress to not give him one cent more unless he fires the team responsible for this mess, starting with Defense Secretary Donald Rummie Rumsfeld, & until he transfers authority to the U.N. I urge you to take 3 minutes to go to the MoveOn page where they will facilitate sending a letter to your representative. http://www.moveon.org/firerumsfeld/ On Wednesday, CNN's "Moneyline With Lou Dobbs" had for their daily poll, " Do you think Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should resign?" Out of 5,564 votes, 91% said YES he should be fired. http://www.cnn.com/lou Here's a couple articles with reactions to shrubs UN speech on Tuesday: AT U.N., BUSH IS CRITICIZED OVER IRAQ Washington Post, 9/24/03 Bush's remarks, which barely mentioned the U.S. need for additional funds and troops in Iraq, were an indication that the administration has reduced its hopes that a new U.N. Security Council resolution would bring it substantial relief. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51543-2003Sep23.html Annan Trounces Bush at UN By Ian Williams, AlterNet , September 23, 2003 While the U.S. media will most likely play up George Bush's boring speech to the UN, the day clearly belonged to Kofi Annan. In his distinctively quiet-spoken manner, Annan trounced the Bush administration's foreign policy doctrine of unilateral preemptive strikes http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16827 An Annotated Refutation of shrub's 9/23 Address Before the U.N. by Stephen Zunes, CommonDreams.org , 9/24/03 http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0924-02.htm Before too much time passes after the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings in Cancun, Mexico, I wanted to offer several articles written by attendees who witnessed the historical collapse of the newly proposed trade "agreements". As described, it was a success for under-developed countries. The Collapse In Cancun And The Transformation Of The Global System By Andreas Hernandez, 16 September, 2003 The World Trade Organization (WTO) Negotiations in Cancun, Mexico collapsed on Sunday and the relationships between rich and poor countries will likely never be the same - nor will the global system. The group of 22 developing nations (G22) that emerged as a negotiating bloc directly challenged the continuation of a one-sided neoliberal system that protects investors and corporations of wealthy countries while opening developing nations to the vulnerability of the global market. Brazil has emerged as a catalyst and organizer for bringing together developing and progressive countries to transform the weapons of neoliberalism into tools for the social agenda, opening possibilities for a more just global order... http://www.countercurrents.org/glo-hernandez60903.htm Cancun: Why it's good that the trade talks broke down By Anuradha Mittal, Globe and Mail    September 16, 2003 'It's over. Talks have collapsed and there is no agreement," said George Ong'wen, Kenyan delegate at the World Trade Organization talks in Cancun, Mexico. His decision to stand up and walk away from the table on Sunday afternoon forced the chair of the talks, Mexico's Luis Ernesto Derbez, to declare that negotiations had broken down. Thus ended hopes that the 33 countries attending would be able to inject new momentum into negotiations on a global trade pact. But this was not necessarily bad news: As protesters in Cancun's streets learned the news, festivities started on the barricades. They rightly saw the breakdown as proof of a new resolve and tough-mindedness among developing countries... http://www.foodfirst.org/media/opeds/2003/cancuntalks.html 8:40:34 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - WTO Opens to Tragedy and Protest Cancun Files: WTO Opens to Tragedy and Protest By Tom Hayden, AlterNet, September 11, 2003 CANCUN, Sept. 10. - A South Korean farmer, Kun Hai Lee, committed ritual suicide during the WTO's opening day to protest the organization's agricultural policies. Witnesses said Lee stood in front of police lines, declared that "the WTO kills farmers," and then slashed himself to death with a blade. His suicide came on South Korea's Day of the Dead. Few at the demonstration realized what had occurred until later in the day. As word slowly spread of the suicide, supporters of Kun Hai Lee vowed to protest his martyrdom throughout the coming week, possibly starting with a tent city at the barricades where the death occurred.  The WTO Secretariat issued a one-paragraph statement of "regret" at the death that they described as resulting from a "self-inflicted" wound. Lee's supporters condemned the WTO for the callous description of his death as self-inflicted, which absolved the organization of any responsibility in his death or the fate of thousands of farmers suffering from its policies. Lee was known for a previous hunger strike outside the WTO Secretariat in Geneva. A decade ago, three South Korean farmers attempted to immolate themselves, and one died, in anti-WTO protests. READ THE REST AT: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16755 "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 7:31:10 AM    comment

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