February 14, 2002
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE...
Greg Palast has written yet another brilliant
article for London's Observer, getting a juicy interview with the World
Bank's former Chief Economist and one of Bill Clinton's economic advisors.
Joseph Stiglitz, who was fired in 1999 for expressing dissent from
globalist economic policies, has seen the worst from inside the World
Bank, the IMF, the WTO, and the U.S. Treasury, and spoke frankly about the
many ways those entities create havoc in developing nations, and, in his
words, have "condemned people to death." Check out the full report at
www.gregpalast.com, where Stiglitz explains how the IMF bribes national
leaders in order to have them sell off state industries such as electric
and water companies, how the US Treasury fixed the Russian elections in
1995 to ensure a Yeltsin victory, how IMF policies fuel speculation in
developing countries which can destabilize currencies overnight, causing
huge, suden price rises on essentials such as food, water, and cooking
gas, which then lead to what Stiglitz calls "The IMF Riots," which leave
nations in such political disarray that they are unable to resist the
economic takeover by IMF member-states. All in all, a pretty bleak,
sickening picture.
EVERYBODY'S GOT SOMETHING TO HIDE EXCEPT FOR ME AND MY VICE PRESIDENT
With the ever-increasing body of evidence pointing to the U.S.
government's complicity in 9/11, and a growing number of Americans calling
for a full congressional inquiry, George Bush and Vice Presidnt Dick
Cheney have both gone out of their way to personally ask Senate Majority
Leader Tom Daschle to drastically limit the scope of the upcoming
investigation. The move has sparked questions about Bush and Cheney's
motives from even those who have supported the President's actions, and
have further spurred those who have been been calling for the
investigation to include evidence of foreknowledge by the CIA and other
key players within the U.S. government. The Vice President justified his
request by claiming that "a review of what happened on September 11 would
take resources and personnel away from the effort in the war on
terrorism." This, despite Bush's recent speech in which he promised that
money would be no object the fight on terrorism. (CNN)
.
THE DARK AGES CONTINUE
The New York-based organizaton Human Rights Watch
is trying to convince Sudanese president Omar Hassan Bashir to overturn
the sentence of a young woman who will be stoned to death for committing
adultery, despite evidence that she had actually been raped. The group has
been trying to have stoning banned as a criminal punishment, calling it
"cruel and inhumane," and also pointing out that a double standard exists
which makes women far more likely to be stoned to death, usually for
"crimes" such as adultery and lesbianism. Apparently, stoning has gained
in popularity in recent years, particularly in fundamentalist-led Muslim
countries such as Iran, Somalia, and Nigeria. The law in Sudan states that
"the stones thrown during the execution should not be so large that the
offender dies after a few strikes. Neither should they be as small as
pebbles and fail to cause serious injury." (UPI)
FOR THE TRULY SUBVERSIVE JUNKIE
New York City police have discoverd
heroin packets sold under the brand name "Bin Laden". Following a traffic
stop of 24-year-old Simone Duzant, officers found packets of theheroin in
uniquely designed packages, which feature a crudely drawn cartoon of a
plane flying toward the World Trade Centers on one side, and the imprint
"Bin Laden" on the other. (thesmokinggun.com)
MONKEY MIND OVER MATTER
Researchers at the California Institute of
Technology have implanted electrodes into the posterior parietal cortex of
a rhesus monkey and trained the monkey to move a cursor on a computer
screen with his mind. The monkey can now play a simple video games just by
thinking about the moves he wishes to make. The researchers hope that
future applications of this technology will allow paralyzed people to be
able to use a computer or control a robotic arm. (Reuters Health)
EURO-SLUGS
European shopkeepers are being warned that coins from Thailand
are being used in vending machines to buy products at vastly reduced
prices. A bar manager in Spain was the first to notice that the 10-baht
coin, worth about 26 Euro cents, was the exact shape and weight as the
two-Euro piece, and had been used repeatedly in his cigarette machine.
(El Periodico)
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Copyright 2002 by Andreas Ohrt
Email:aohrt@hotmail.com
Website:www.curioustimes.com
