Search LBO-Talk Archives

1576 Compensation culture, Korea -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 23 February 2002 NO COMPENSATION The tragic death of 17 year-old Krista Ocloo from heart failure in 1996 was too much for any parent to bear. But for her mother Josephine, the tragedy has been compounded by her failed case for compensation brought against the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital Trust, and their demand for damages of £115 000. A lecturer from Kilburn in North London and a single mother, Josephine Ocloo pressed her case that the Royal Brompton was negligent in fo ...

Document Size:	10212
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sat Feb 23 14:10:10 PST 2002

1577 Show Trial at the Hague -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 17 February 2002 SHOW TRIAL AT THE HAGUE With the opening of the trial of Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague, the international community has at last brought to bear its combined legal authority against the so-called 'Butcher of Belgrade'. The result is proceedings with all the majesty and gravitas of a social security appeal tribunal. The trial is taking place in something resembling a school classroom. It is presided over by a British provincial trial judge. Second-rate prosecutor ...

Document Size:	8751
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Feb 17 06:37:07 PST 2002

1578 British not patsies, but imperialists -- rank: 1000

Britain's interests are distinct from those of the US and, though not in the same league, it is an imperialist power in its own right, with troops operating across the globe. Franco-German view is that the US should be tied into multi-lateral agreements to their own relative advantage. Kyoto is an example. The ongoing operation in the Balkans is another. America, though, aims to cast international cooperation in terms favourable to its own interests, understandably enough. Their favoured foreign ...

Document Size:	8013
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Tue Feb 12 07:09:20 PST 2002

1579 Black Hawk Down is a good film -- rank: 1000

In message <NFBBICFMIKGPJNEEGOLOGEILDFAA.sawicky at bellatlantic.net>, Max Sawicky <sawicky at bellatlantic.net> writes >I've read the book and it is very different >from the movie, which I have not seen. >I very much recommend the book. At the risk of being misunderstood... Black Hawk Down was a good movie to watch, but often against the ostensible interpretation offered. I knew it was going to be an exciting evening when the (African) ticket collector told me urgently 'it' ...

Document Size:	7760
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Wed Feb 6 16:56:33 PST 2002

1580 Cold War nostalgia -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 3 February 2002 State of the Union: Cold War Nostalgia President George W. Bush targeted the 'axis of evil' in his state of the Union address: not the three countries that trained, armed and funded the 'Afghan Arab' militias, America, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, but three countries that the president conceded had 'been quiet' recently, Iran, Iraq and Korea. The defining characteristic of all three states is not that they represent a threat to US interests, but that each, having fo ...

Document Size:	8223
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Feb 3 03:50:00 PST 2002

1581 war -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 29 December 2002 TWO MINDS OVER WAR Christmas sermons found churchmen reflecting on the evils of war, with much criticism of the politicians, and a plea for peace from the Pope. The religious objections are, perhaps surprisingly, strongest in the US, where the case against war enjoys support across the major Christian faiths. Moral qualms over the war are hardly surprising, since the world leaders most closely associated with the campaign against Iraq have pointedly failed to mak ...

Document Size:	8615
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Dec 29 08:49:32 PST 2002

1582 Cherie, 'Why do they hate us?' -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 15 December 2002 NO, REALLY, THE EMPRESS IS WEARING CLOTHES As if by some collective act of deliberate self-delusion, Britain - or at least its chattering class - has convinced itself that the Prime Minister's wife and Queen's Counsel Cherie Booth is embroiled in sleaze. But she has not done anything illegal, or even wrong. Her agent in the purchase of two flats in Bristol, Peter Foster, has convictions for fraud in a few countries, but there is no suggestion of fraud in this cas ...

Document Size:	8247
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Mon Dec 16 03:17:35 PST 2002

1583 Africa -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 1 December 2002 DEMOCRATISING AFRICA: THE LEGACY Missile strikes on Jewish people and businesses in Kenya, and violent riots against the Miss World contest in Nigeria have all added to the picture of Africa descending into chaos. British and American officials have underscored the view that Kenya - site of the 1998 US Embassy bombing - is a lawless state. For media commentators the overall picture is of people who are very different from us, and have to be treated with kid gloves ...

Document Size:	8796
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Dec 1 04:34:17 PST 2002

1584 gridlock -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 31 August 2002 LONDON'S GREEN GRIDLOCK Londoners were shocked to find their streets so gridlocked that traffic was moving at walking speed, 2.9mph according to an Evening Standard survey (27 August). But it is rarely understood that this is not an accident but a deliberate policy initiated by central government. Former Metropolitan Police traffic head Kevin Delaney told the Standard that 'within the last two to three years, engineers and politicians have tampered with well-proven ...

Document Size:	8239
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sat Aug 31 13:10:24 PDT 2002

1585 Boys, Iraq, Earth Summit -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 25 August 2002 THE TROUBLE WITH BOYS Once again Britain's secondary school exam results have provoked anxiety about the better results girls get over boys - as they have since 2000. The difference is not that great with girls getting more of the higher grades, but overall passes much higher. Indeed grade inflation calls into question just how true a measure the exams are. Earlier this month the Department for Education and Skills suppressed a poll in which A-level students feared ...

Document Size:	10905
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Aug 25 05:01:19 PDT 2002

1586 Refutation of Engel's "On Authority" -- rank: 1000

Refutation of Engel's "On Authority"? It used to be said that you can mock God, but God is not mocked. I don't think he's God, but there is a difference between refuting Engels and Engels being refuted. -- James Heartfield The 'Death of the Subject' Explained is available at GBP11.00, plus GBP1.00 p&p from Publications, audacity.org, 8 College Close, Hackney, London, E9 6ER. Make cheques payable to 'Audacity Ltd'

Document Size:	4955
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sat Aug 24 07:27:10 PDT 2002

1587 Sacco and Vanzetti -- rank: 1000

Received this notice: "75 years ago today, August 23rd, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed by the state of Massachusetts. In New York City, there will be a rally in Union Square Park today from 4PM-9PM to commemorate them -" The powers-that-be can always commemorate a radical once they are dead. -- James Heartfield

Document Size:	4755
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sat Aug 24 07:23:14 PDT 2002

1588 Abduction, ANL, Iraq -- rank: 1000

INTERNET ABDUCTORS In response to fears that missing school girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman had been lured to their abductors through the internet, the British government announced new measures to outlaw 'grooming' and £25m for monitoring electronic communications. The police spent the early days of the enquiry investigating the internet connection, only to eventually discount it. Since then Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr - caretaker and teaching assistant at the girls' school - have been arr ...

Document Size:	7808
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Aug 18 04:32:53 PDT 2002

1589 Manufacturing, Germany, Freedom -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 11 August 2002 MANUFACTURING POLICY 'Quite inadvertently we let the impression build up that we were interested in something called the "new economy" and we weren't interested in traditional manufacturing', Patricia Hewitt. Industry Minister Hewitt's qualified mea culpa over the government's indifference begs the question, how such an impression arose, and how New Labour's policy can be described as 'inadvertent'. In fact DTI advisor Charles Leadbeater coined the phrase ...

Document Size:	9464
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Aug 11 03:48:09 PDT 2002

1590 Markets, terror, HFEA -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 4 August 2002 ARRESTING THE MARKET FALL US President Bush dedicated himself to cleaning up the stock market, and charges have been laid against David Duncan at Arthur Anderson (obstruction of justice), Scott Sullivan and David Myers at Worldcom (securities fraud and conspiracy) and against executives at Adelphia Communications and Imclone Systems. Currently AOL, Enron, Qwest, Computer Associates and Global Crossing are under criminal investigation. Ultimately, though, Bush's atte ...

Document Size:	10008
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Aug 4 02:22:55 PDT 2002