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32881 1/4 point -- rank: 1000

[The Fed has been discouraging Wall Street perceptions of a rapid and strong economic recovery.] <http://www.federalreserve.gov/BoardDocs/Press/general/2001/20011211/default.htm> Release Date: December 11, 2001 For immediate release The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 1-3/4 percent. In a related action, the Board of Governors approved a 25 basis point reduction in the discount rate to 1-1/4 percent. Economic a ...

Document Size:	5884
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Dec 11 12:46:31 PST 2001

32882 people get drunk at office Xmaas parties! -- rank: 1000

[CGC is the headhunting firm famous for its monthly layoff counts, which while they're good at catching headlines don't actually correlate with much] DATE December 10, 2001 FOR Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. For Release Upon Receipt What About Company Holiday Party? 9-11 STRESS ESCALATES ALCOHOL USE: SURVEY Heavy after-work drinking reported in New York and elsewhere that is being blamed on high stress levels following September 11 brings a new worry to corporate ...

Document Size:	7324
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Dec 10 13:25:45 PST 2001

32883 Jude, peacenik -- rank: 1000

December 10, 2001 Evidence of Bin Laden's Guilt! Memo To: Wolf Blitzer, CNN Late Edition From: Jude Wanniski Re: Paul Wolfowitz and Osama bin Laden I watched with great interest your interview of Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz yesterday, one Wolf interrogating another. The reason I picked you out for my Monday "Memo on the Margin," Wolf, rests entirely on Dr. Wolfowitz's use of the adjective "friendly." My Monday memo almost always keys off the Sunday talk shows, ...

Document Size:	7265
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Dec 13 08:01:56 PST 2001

32884 food crisis in Afg -- rank: 1000

PRESS RELEASE - December 10, 2001 THOUSANDS OF AFGHAN CIVILIANS STARVING; US AND ALLIES IGNORE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS On Human Rights Day, US Groups Condemn "Widespread Violations of the Right to Food" (New York, NY, December 10, 2001) - Thousands of civilians face starvation due to violations of the right to food by all parties to the Afghanistan conflict, warned a letter released on International Human Rights Day by a coalition of US-based organizations. The letter requests the UN Speci ...

Document Size:	7359
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Dec 10 19:10:05 PST 2001

32885 NC gets personal etc -- rank: 1000

[bounced bec of html] From: "Mina Kumar" <wejazzjune at hotmail.com> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com Subject: Re: NC gets personal Date: Sun, 09 Dec 2001 14:56:26 -0500 speaking of which, I happened to come across this item: The world comes full circle in its irony when it comes to Afghanistan, now being carpet-bombed by the U.S. Bombs and land mines are the only expensive items found in that country today. In a series of articles Janet Wilson in the New York Post (1987), charged ...

Document Size:	5645
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Dec 9 18:54:56 PST 2001

32886 no theory, sez Chomsky -- rank: 1000

Justin Schwartz wrote: >However, Chomsky has a theory in a broad sense--not the quantum >mechanics sense--it is, although he doesn't recognize it as such, >vulgar Marxism. The power of Chomsky's critiques of the media and US >foreign policy show just how string a theory vulgar Marxism is. It >probably explans about 85% of the explicable variance. Bob Fitch puts it higher - "Vulgar Marxism explains about 90% of what goes on in the world."

Document Size:	4898
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Dec 8 14:22:10 PST 2001

32887 no theory, sez Chomsky -- rank: 1000

More Chomsky, from the Frontline interview: "n fact, there is almost nothing in the social sciences that ought to be called a theory. Human affairs are too complicated." How can you think and talk without theories, even ones you don't recognize as such? Doug

Document Size:	4663
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Dec 8 13:42:06 PST 2001

32888 NC gets personal -- rank: 1000

Ian Murray wrote: >< http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/ > Where Chomsky says: >There is another influence on the mass media that should not be >overlooked. The 1960s had a big civilising effect on society; people >who went through that experience are just different. A reporter or >young editor in the 1980s would have been somebody whose view of the >world was shaped by events in the 1960s and what followed. > My own feeling is that, bad as they are, the media are bett ...

Document Size:	5434
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Dec 8 13:36:45 PST 2001

32889 trained killers reading Thucydides -- rank: 1000

[whatever happened to the Paul Kennedy of imperial overstretch?] Financial Times - December 8, 2001 MILITARY PROWESS: A superpower displays its fighting calibre By STEPHEN FIDLER The rapid collapse of the Taliban under withering American air power has emphasised a trend with profound ramifications far beyond Afghanistan: growing US military predominance. On the evidence of the US military campaigns of the past 10 years, in Iraq, the Balkans and Afghanistan, the gap between the military capabilit ...

Document Size:	9872
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Dec 8 13:30:00 PST 2001

32890 Herman re-weighs on Berlet -- rank: 1000

From: "Ed Herman" <hermane at wharton.upenn.edu> To: <cberlet at igc.org>, <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Subject: further response of Herman to Chip Berlet Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2001 13:58:14 -0500 Further reply to Chip Berlet from Ed Herman: Chip Berlet now says (see below) that when he listed points, quoting me, and then followed this with derogating comments, he "did not mean to suggest that he had articulated each statement." This is a remarkable claim, as hi ...

Document Size:	29312
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Dec 8 13:21:17 PST 2001

32891 "Sexually Egalitarian Imperialism" -- rank: 1000

Michael Pollak wrote: >In line with the way you put import/export figures into perspective, can >you estimate what percentage of T-bonds are held by SA & Kuwait? No one really knows. The U.S. balance of payments stats report new purchases and sales for some major countries, but SA & K aren't among them, and no one has any idea where they go after the initial purchase. (The average holding period for a 30-year T-bond is about one month, so these things turn over very quickly.) The B ...

Document Size:	6082
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Dec 8 12:04:43 PST 2001

32892 "Sexually Egalitarian Imperialism" -- rank: 1000

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: >Suppose the entire Middle East had been governed by >populist-secularist-pan-Arabist governments that could get together >& assert What if? They'd have to sell the oil. Too high a price causes recession, promotes exploration, and encourages substitutes. And there are plenty of non-Arab and non-OPEC oil producers who'd be happy to step in and undercut them. The cost of production for Persian Gulf oil is $5 a barrel, or something in that range; unlike other ba ...

Document Size:	5469
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Dec 7 13:23:13 PST 2001

32893 "Voluntary Simplicity" -- rank: 1000

Gordon Fitch wrote: > > NEW TREND IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR POSES CHALLENGES FOR >> MARKETERS >> >> FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- A new trend in consumption may >> be contributing to declining retail sales, according >> to University of Arkansas researchers. ... >> "The trend toward voluntary simplicity has been >> expanding for more than a decade," explained Cherrier. >> ... > >I don't understand this. According to the U.S. Cen ...

Document Size:	5946
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Dec 7 13:15:40 PST 2001

32894 "Sexually Egalitarian Imperialism" -- rank: 1000

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: >Wouldn't oil be far dearer if the USA had not succeeded in >destroying the populist-secularist-pan-Arabist left in the Middle >East? Probably not. As long as we live under capitalism, oil is likely to be traded as a commodity. There will be political attempts to manipulate the price, but I don't think they can be successful for very long. There's too much incentive for sellers to cheat, or operate outside the cartel. Which is why I thought it didn't make any dif ...

Document Size:	5252
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Dec 7 11:06:45 PST 2001

32895 "Sexually Egalitarian Imperialism" -- rank: 1000

Yoshie Furuhashi quoted WSWS: >The value of US-Saudi trade is enormous. In 1999 Saudi exports to >the US were estimated at $7.9 billion and imports from the US at >$7.6 billion. Yes, the Saudi-US relationship is important, but a little perspective on "enormous": in 2000, U.S. imports from SA were $14.3 billion. That's roughly the magnitude of U.S. imports from Brazil and the Philippines, and is only a fraction of trade with other countries. E.g. Mexico: $135b; Japan, $150b; Ch ...

Document Size:	5124
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Dec 7 10:46:44 PST 2001