EVENT # 285: TOUGH PEOPLE DO

NEXT UPDATE SCHEDULED MONDAY, 15 OCTOBER, 2001

So this week we bring you a full cornucopia of provocative insight and opinion. Why? Because we like you.

Here we go again: The Mouthpiece Media reported at noon New Orleans time that the United States and Britain are bombing Afghanistan. They say, as expected, that only military targets are being bombed. The international press reports that we have bombed power plants, which are civilian targets. Stay with us as we gather reports from the ground next week.

Each time I feel it slippin' away
Makes me want to cry.
What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love & Understanding? -- Elvis Costello

Today's Pick . Another page will be displayed tomorrow.

Terror in America: Lessons from Northern Ireland

Those of us whose work concerns the conflict in Northern Ireland, especially in the days before the peace process there, have become somewhat hardened to turning on the television and learning of another terrorist outrage. We do not need to be told that those are real people in the burning building, that is real blood on the pavement, another child has just lost a parent or a parent a child, and that some of the people involved may be people we know. Yet none of that prepared me for the shock and horror of what happened in America on 11th September. Indeed, it may be that daily familiarity with man¹s inhumanity to man makes it harder rather than easier to numb the reality of those cataclysmic events.

Although nothing on so terrible a scale and with such international repercussions has ever happened in relation to the Northern Ireland conflict, working on the protection and promotion of human rights there has brought me face to face with the war against terrorism. I believe there are lessons to be drawn from the Northern Ireland experience which apply to terrorism everywhere... More

G21 AFRICA DOUBLE FEATURE:

WTC Attack Reaction on the Street, Africa

Immediately after the attacks of 11 September, American President Bush gave the world an ultimatum. Either you are with us (the US) or you are with the terrorists, he said. With this statement, he drew a line in the dust with a stick and forced every country to choose a side: either his side or the terrorists' side.

The world is definitely divided into two camps, but they are not those stipulated by Bush. On one side is the US; on the other is the rest of the world. The assumption is that the US is mourning and the rest of the world is rejoicing in America's tragedy. The reality is different.

Yes, there are those who don't care about the tragedy that devastated the US a few weeks ago. They are glad that "the US finally got its butt kicked". Seeing a First World power devastated by a supposedly Third World country is worth celebrating for them. On the other side is the world that mourns for and with the US. They mourn the loss of human life and the pain of human suffering. But everyone needs counselling whether they mourn or not... More


FEATURE TWO -

South African Gays Gain Adoption Rights

Gay and Lesbian Pride Week started on the 23rd September 2001, exhibitions and fund raising were held. This lead to the 12th Annual Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade which kicked off in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the 29th September 2001. This year's theme was "Outthere Everywhere." This year's parade had much more to celebrate as the ruling of the South African court was announced on 28 September that gay couples were allowed to adopt children.

During the parade everything and everybody was represented. The event started with a rendition of the anthem "God Save the Queen," which will never have the same connotation it once had. Drag queens in their fancy dresses and high heels were part of all things that made a brilliant spectacle of celebration. Stage plays were performed which brought laughter to the already excited gay community. The six colour flag fluttered in the air and many even had their dresses designed in the six colours of the gay pride flag... More


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BELIEF

There is a kind of belief without which society as we know it could not function. At its simplest level we call it trust. We order goods and pay in advance and trust that the goods will arrive. If they do not we trust that there will be a fair system of compensation.

When we go to court we trust the judge to be fair and the jury ... well, no, at that point because we can't label them we don't trust the first 12 good people and true that march into court. We vet juries scrupulously in order to get one as close to our point of view as we can.

So what we actually believe in at this level isn't a universal kind of naiveté, it's a kind of brand loyalty. As individuals we have different loyalties so some people irrationally trust the police while others irrationally fear unfair treatment. We tend to generalise from a tiny sliver of the particular but, in spite of that, we are remarkably constant in our trust. .. More


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SUBJECT: Dear American People

Estamos terriblemente impresionados y tristes por los eventos trágicos que han ocurrido en su país y queremos que sepan que compartimos su pena y preocupacion. Estos incidentes terribles son signos de que algo esta terriblemente mal en el mundo. Por favor, comprendan que estaremos con ustedes en la búsqueda de justicia y el final de atrocidades como las ocurridas el 11 de Septiembre del 2001.

We are deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic events that have taken place in your country and want you to know that we share your grief and concern. These terrible incidents are signs that something is gravely wrong in the world. Please understand that we stand beside you in seeking justice and an end to atrocities such as those that occurred on 11 of September of 2001... More


POWERSSOUND: : Kitty Margolis may be the Next Big Thing. Her second album from her own Mad-Kat label shows solid evidence that this young lady has the chops to cause discerning fans of jazz and pop music to take notice. "Left Coast Life" (she comes from California) contains some of the best music these aging ears have heard in many moons... "The Next Best Thing?" BOB POWERS More


RECOMMENDED DAILY REQUIREMENT: : AUSTIN, TEJAS - Down here in the Trailer Park, as we get het up for the "new kind" of (perpetual) war -- remember the war with Oceania in George Orwell's novel 1984? -- I gottah just laugh about this new type of "economic stimulus" plan our pal The Shrub has come up with: Let's Spend Our Way Out of Debt!

Yeah, I get it: give billions to the airline CEOs, make every family of any victim of the World Trade Center terrorist attack a danged millionaire (How ya'll feel about that Oklahoma City bombing bereaved?) and let's do another danged tax-cut to encourage folks back into the mall. Can you say "MASSIVE FEDERAL DEFICITS"? ... "Spending Out of Debt?" THOMAS HART More

RDR 10.01.01: RADIO RAHEEM signs on to the Peace campaign of The World's Magazine and lauds the American Friends Service "Give Peace a Chance"

RDR 09.24.01: Our Publisher, ROD AMIS, has absolutely no sense of humor. We know that. So why does he sound like a stand-up comic this week? "On My Way to the Job Site"

RDR 09.17.01: KEVIN CAREY writes on the failed conference in South Africa. "Racism"



MY GLASS HOUSE: : NEW ORLEANS - 7 October, 2001: New Orleans is infested in the same way that San Francisco was infested in the late 1980's and early 1990's. It has struck me that I don't know enough people who are not on heroin or crack to count on one hand. My block, the Marigny district, and the French Quarter are just nests in the bigger hive for the "rock stars" (as in crack cocaine rocks) and junkies and snorters. It's tragic to watch. I am exhausted from conversations with people who know they need to quit and promise that they will try, while I'm knowing full well that there is no way in Hell that they will.

What does the say about the success of the US "War on Drugs" or the efficiency of the DEA?

Perhaps that is one of the reasons I've gained my reputation for having a work-ethic. I don't nod. I wake up. I show up on time. Anomaly.

And now, with the massive layoffs in the airline industry and all attendant tourism sectors, we know that America is going back into tough times. But, like G21 says on this cover, "Tough times never last, tough people do..." ... "Tough People Do" ROD AMIS More


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