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436 Slobbo, Rwanda and the Surreal -- rank: 1000

At 12:37 07/10/00 -0400, Leo wrote: >There is something incredibly, bizarrely surreal about these discussions, and >I am beginning to think that by engaging in them, as if there was a serious, >thoughtful position (in defense of Slobbo, in excuse of Rwandan genocide, and >so on) we are debating, we give them a credence we should not. I recognise Leo as coming from a broadly coherent Gramscian perspective which I myself regard as flexible and relevant to the political challenges that ...

Document Size:	9651
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sun Oct 8 05:50:49 PDT 2000

437 Socialists win Tirana, fraud alleged -- rank: 1000

Tonight it looks as if the former communist, now social democratic President, Kwasniewski, has won re-election in Poland by an outright majority. The socialists appear to have made further progress in Albania, despite protests of fraud. Chris Burford London TIRANA, Oct 6, 2000 Albanian opposition leader Sali Berisha called on Friday for the second round of voting in municipal elections to be delayed due to alleged fraud during the first round. Berisha, a former president and head of the Democra ...

Document Size:	6991
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sun Oct 8 16:09:36 PDT 2000

438 Labour not sinking so fast -- rank: 1000

From today's Telegraph: "But a Gallup poll for The Daily Telegraph shows that the Tories are struggling to regain public confidence despite Labour's problems. Labour is on 39 per cent, the Tories on 36 and the Liberal Democrats' on 20. Labour's three-point lead compares with 13 points before the petrol crisis, although the Tories went ahead briefly in four polls immediately after the dispute."

Document Size:	4807
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sun Oct 1 22:05:35 PDT 2000

439 Schabowsky and Kleiber released -- rank: 1000

Tanks to Johannes and Anita for detailed comment about German policies on fuel tax, and the travel subsidy. Any comments on the latest steps in reconciliation 10 years after German unification? I note tonight that after only 9 months of a 3 year sentence for deaths of people escaping over the wall, 2 former SED Politburo members, Kleiber and Schabowsky, have been released by the CDU mayor of Berlin, Diepgen. Schabowsky is particularly interesting as the man who gave the fateful televised news co ...

Document Size:	5784
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sun Oct 1 15:26:35 PDT 2000

440 MILOSEVIC ASYLUM RUMOURS /JUL PLOTTED POLL COUP -- rank: 1000

At 10:38 31/12/00 -0800, Michael Pugliese quoted: >The JUL officials urged Milosevic to ignore the will of the people and >declare electoral victory "at all cost" . This implied introducing emergency >measures, provoking unrest and using force to restore order. Mira Markovic, wife of Milosevic, and head of the tiny JUL, is reported to burst into tears over political questions, which may explain the suggestion in the report that she had had a nervous breakdown this week. But th ...

Document Size:	5819
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sun Oct 1 11:14:27 PDT 2000

441 The quantum theory of the election -- rank: 1000

At 16:18 28/11/00 +0000, m malak wrote: >>Both these are human systems in which the random nature of chance may have >>a disproportionate effect. Hence their exciting nature. >> >>The fact though that the Democratic and Republican parties have subjected >>themselves to such a close- fought risk-filled contest, should not be used >>as an excuse to glorify the two party system which keeps the overall >>dynamics of political life, firmly under the influence ...

Document Size:	6884
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Tue Nov 28 16:27:30 PST 2000

442 The quantum theory of the election -- rank: 1000

At 12:21 26/11/00 -0800, you wrote: >In essence, an election begins as a virtual campaign fought over virtual >votes. Any individual elector (voter) exists in a mindwave of political >uncertainties and possibilities, often holding multiple contradictory >positions at the same time due to a never-ending bombardment of political >ads and campaign literature. > >At the point of election, these multiple possible states in an elector >collapse into a single physical form known ...

Document Size:	7701
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Mon Nov 27 23:10:33 PST 2000

443 Capitalism & Freedom (was Re: Yes, the white man's moral burden!) -- rank: 1000

At 00:55 24/11/00 -0500, you wrote: >It is not "Europeans" but _capitalism_ that created the idea of bourgeois >freedom (= double-edged freedom of wage labor). >When production based on chattel slavery & mercantilism ceased to be more >profitable than production based upon free labor & Laissez Faire for >British capitalism, as Eric Williams argues: > >"The capitalists had first encouraged West Indian slavery and then helped >to destroy it. This anal ...

Document Size:	5974
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Fri Nov 24 16:05:24 PST 2000

444 White males -- rank: 1000

Is it true that white males voted the large margin of 60% to 36% for Bush? What does this say about their concept of themselves. Is it something about their idea of Americanness? And if so why would Bush be considering bringing a black into his cabinet at the highest level? Chris Burford London

Document Size:	4623
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Tue Nov 14 15:50:14 PST 2000

445 Why Gore will Win the Hand Recount -- rank: 1000

At 09:42 14/11/00 -0500, Gregory Geboski wrote: >Chris Burford wrote: > ><<I am not sure is which legal actions really help "the class struggle", >and which get lost in debates about narrow bourgeois right...>> > >Which is less a danger, if it even is a danger, IMO, than ceding the >question to the ruling class. Valid, fraud- and coercion-free elections >are a progressive issue. I don't see any contradiction here, or any reason >why the Left shoul ...

Document Size:	6569
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Tue Nov 14 15:47:09 PST 2000

446 Why Gore will Win the Hand Recount -- rank: 1000

At 14:17 13/11/00 -0500, Michael Pollak wrote: >I think both the Gore and Bush camps think the same thing. The Gore camp >bases their certainty that they are going to win the hand count on of the >size of the disparity between the exit polls and the result. The exit >polls showed Gore leading all day by 4%. That's why the networks called >it early for him. Those same exit polls were accurate in every other >state. But here, the voted result came out different. When we ar ...

Document Size:	6940
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Mon Nov 13 22:15:32 PST 2000

447 Why Gore will Win the Hand Recount -- rank: 1000

At 13:21 10/11/00 -0500, Nathan wrote: > >From the rightwing FREE REPUBLIC, so take it for what's it's worth: > > >Gore Will Win Florida on Manual Recount >Politics/Elections Breaking News Announcement Keywords: GORE WIN >Source: CNN >Posted on 11/10/2000 09:09:54 PST by Bot-a-Bing Well this report could not have been more dramatically confirmed !! For the Bush side after their repeated rumblings against people going to law, to be the first party to take out an injunction ...

Document Size:	6183
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sat Nov 11 11:41:09 PST 2000

448 America mocked -- rank: 1000

At 18:19 10/11/00 -0500, you wrote: >Telegraph (London) - November 10, 2000 > >The world mocks as America squirms >By Anton La Guardia Sure. And yesterday the Mail (UK) had a front page banner headline "What a Mickey Mouse Way to Run a Country". It's more than just schadenfreude. Underneath the resentment of the USA's hegemonic position in the world is an awareness that the institutional corruption of US politics corrupts the politics of the world. As the Primary Process ha ...

Document Size:	7077
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Fri Nov 10 21:53:33 PST 2000

449 a view of Kosovo -- rank: 1000

At 17:52 03/11/00 -0500, you wrote: >The eXile's Mark Ames reports from Kosovo ><http://www.exile.ru/ames/ames102.html>: > >>The province is filthy, ugly, completely polluted by NATO ordinance, run >>by half-wits and thugs, soaked in blood and doomed to be the permanent >>asshole of Europe, a stain on the Balkans. >> >>I can't wait to get the fuck out. >> >>It's incredible to me that so much blood and so much bile could be >>spilled ...

Document Size:	6113
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Fri Nov 3 15:05:11 PST 2000

450 Note on Belarus -- rank: 1000

The lengthy article on Putin, in Trotskyist literary style, by Alan Woods (co author on other subjects of Ted Grant) ends with a note on Belarus. It is worth quoting in full. Can anyone confirm or refute what is said here? >Alan Woods >London May 25th, 2000 > >Footnote on Belarus > >In Belarus there has been hardly any change in the past ten years. Very >little has been privatised. >Belarus has therefore avoided the economic catastrophe that Russia has >experienced. Ra ...

Document Size:	6311
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sat May 27 23:51:49 PDT 2000