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From our Mailbag 08/31/01 - 09/23/01

Bridget, is that ALL the letters. My hand is getting tired...!!!

From Adriaan B., Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS:

SUBJECT: Message for Dr. Paul Kail, from Amsterdam, Holland

Dear Sir,

Could please send this message to Dr. Paul Kail, one of the contributors to your online magazine? Or could you give me his (e)mail address, please? Ý Thank you very much,

Adriaan B.
Ý --------------------------------------------------------
Dear Dr. Paul Kail,

I represent the Dutch organization "Help our Hogs" (http://www.varkensinnood.nl). We are a foundation, aimed at giving farm pigs a better life. As you may know, nearly all hogs in Holland (more than 14 million, as many as there are people) are kept in intensive farming units, leading totally deprived lives. Our organisation is supported by the award-winning writer J.M. Coetzee, along withÝDutch intellectuals, writers and performing artists.
I am presently investigating the role and attitude of the Dutch multinational food retailer Royal Ahold (http://www.ahold.com) with respect to animal welfare, especially the welfare of pigs. The Ahold corporation owns many international food chains, including AHOLD CZECH REPUBLIC in your country, and is one of the largest food companies in the world (turnover appr. $ 40 billion ).

Ahold tries to have an image as a social entrepreneur, aware of its responsibility towards the environment and animal welfare. We sincerely doubt this self proclaimed image.

AHOLD CZECH REPUBLIC with organizations like yours (Animal Consciousness Foundation / Czech Writers Foundation for Animal Rights).

I would be very pleased if you could help and give an answer to the following questions.

Could you give me information about AHOLD CZECH REPUBLIC with respect to animal welfare and especially pigs?

Do you know of any reports or investigations regarding this company?

Could you tell me a bit about the Czech situation in general with respect to pigs and the support of (small) organic pork or free-range pork suppliers?

Do you know any Czech web site where I can find specific information about these subjects?

I would be much obliged if you could give us some information. If you need additional information about dd"Help our Hogs", please mail me at fondsen@varkensinnood.nl. Thank you very much.

Yours sincerely,
Adriaan B.,
campaigner
foundation Varkens in Nood ("Help our Hogs")
Amsterdam
-----------------------------
Stichting Varkens in Nood
Ingelandenweg 1
1069 WE AMSTERDAM
The Netherlands
tel:Ý +31 (020) 6177757
fax: +31 (020) 6109716
email: algemeen@varkensinnood.nl
þwebsite: www.varkensinnood.nl


From Darryl C., Hershey, PA, USA:

Bob Scheer was one of my teachers when I was an undergraduate. We once polished off two six packs of beer while sitting in my living room discussing US foreign policy and decent Chinese restaurants in the Bay Area. He now writes for the Los Angeles Times.

Bush's Faustian Deal With The Taliban By Robert Scheer, Los Angeles Times - MAY 22, 2001

Enslave your girls and women, harbor anti-U.S. terrorists, destroy every vestige of civilization in your homeland, and the Bush administration will embrace you. All that matters is that you line up as an ally in the drug war, the only international cause that this nation still takes seriously.

That's the message sent with the recent gift of $43 million to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, the most virulent anti-American violators of human rights in the world today. The gift, announced last Thursday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, in addition to other recent aid, makes the U.S. the main sponsor of the Taliban and rewards that "rogue regime" for declaring that opium growing is against the will of God. So, too, by the Taliban's estimation, are most human activities, but it's the ban on drugs that catches this administration's attention.

Never mind that Osama bin Laden still operates the leading anti-American terror operation from his base in Afghanistan, from which, among other crimes, he launched two bloody attacks on American embassies in Africa in 1998. Sadly, the Bush administration is cozying up to the Taliban regime at a time when the United Nations, at U.S. insistence, imposes sanctions on Afghanistan because the Kabul government will not turn over Bin Laden.

The war on drugs has become our own fanatics' obsession and easily trumps all other concerns. How else could we come to reward the Taliban, who has subjected the female half of the Afghan population to a continual reign of terror in a country once considered enlightened in its treatment of women. At no point in modern history have women and girls been more systematically abused than in Afghanistan where, in the name of madness masquerading as Islam, the government in Kabul obliterates their fundamental human rights.

Women may not appear in public without being covered from head to toe with the oppressive shroud called the burkha , and they may not leave the house without being accompanied by a male family member. They've not been permitted to attend school or be treated by male doctors, yet women have been banned from practicing medicine or any profession for that matter.

The lot of males is better if they blindly accept the laws of an extreme religious theocracy that prescribes strict rules governing all behavior, from a ban on shaving to what crops may be grown. It is this last power that has captured the enthusiasm of the Bush White House.

The Taliban fanatics, economically and diplomatically isolated, are at the breaking point, and so, in return for a pittance of legitimacy and cash from the Bush administration, they have been willing to appear to reverse themselves on the growing of opium. That a totalitarian country can effectively crack down on its farmers is not surprising. But it is grotesque for a U.S. official, James P. Callahan, director of the State Department's Asian anti-drug program, to describe the Taliban's special methods in the language of representative democracy: "The Taliban used a system of consensus-building," Callahan said after a visit with the Taliban, adding that the Taliban justified the ban on drugs "in very religious terms."

Of course, Callahan also reported, those who didn't obey the theocratic edict would be sent to prison. In a country where those who break minor rules are simply beaten on the spot by religious police and others are stoned to death, it's understandable that the government's "religious" argument might be compelling. Even if it means, as Callahan concedes, that most of the farmers who grew the poppies will now confront starvation. That's because the Afghan economy has been ruined by the religious extremism of the Taliban, making the attraction of opium as a previously tolerated quick cash crop overwhelming.

For that reason, the opium ban will not last unless the U.S. is willing to pour far larger amounts of money into underwriting the Afghan economy.

As the Drug Enforcement Administration's Steven Casteel admitted, "The bad side of the ban is that it's bringing their country--or certain regions of their country--to economic ruin." Nor did he hold out much hope for Afghan farmers growing other crops such as wheat, which require a vast infrastructure to supply water and fertilizer that no longer exists in that devastated country.

There's little doubt that the Taliban will turn once again to the easily taxed cash crop of opium in order to stay in power. The Taliban may suddenly be the dream regime of our own war drug war zealots, but in the end this alliance will prove a costly failure. Our long sad history of signing up dictators in the war on drugs demonstrates the futility of building a foreign policy on a domestic obsession.


From Scott M., Providence, RI, USA:

SUBJECT: Travel Story from 09/15/01

(from a friend)

I just wanted to drop you all a note and let you know that I arrived safe and sound into Dulles Airport tonight [9/15] at about 6:00. It was an interesting flight.

The airport in Denver was almost spooky, it was so empty and quiet. No one was in line for the security check point when I got there so that went fairly quickly, just x-ray of my bags and then a chemical test to be sure nothing explosive was on them.

Then I waited 2 1/2 hours to board the plane. What happened after we boarded was interesting and thought I would share it with you.

The pilot/captain came on the loudspeaker after the doors were closed.

His speech went like this: "First I want to thank you for being brave enough to fly today. The doors are now closed and we have no help from the outside for any problems that might occur inside this plane. As you could tell when you checked in, the government has made some changes to increase security in the airports.

"They have not, however, made any rules about what happens after those doors close. Until they do that, we have made our own rules and I want to share them with you. Once those doors close, we only have each other.

"The security has taken care of a threat like guns with all of the increased scanning, etc. Then we have the supposed bomb. If you have a bomb, there is no need to tell me about it, or anyone else on this plane; you are already in control. So, for this flight, there are no bombs that exist on this plane.

"Now, the threats that are left are things like plastics, wood, knives, and other weapons that can be made or things like that which can be used as weapons.

"Here is our plan and our rules. If someone or several people stand up and say they are hijacking this plane, I want you all to stand up together.

Then take whatever you have available to you and throw it at them. Throw it at their faces and heads so they will have to raise their hands to protect themselves.

"The very best protection you have against knives are the pillows and blankets. Whoever is close to these people should then try to get a blanket over their head-then they won't be able to see. Once that is done, get them down and keep them there. Do not let them up. I will then land the plane at the closest place and we WILL take care of them.

"After all, there are usually only a few of them and we are 200+ strong! We will not allow them to take over this plane.

"I find it interesting that the US Constitution begins with the words 'We, the people'-that's who we are, THE people and we will not be defeated."

With that, the passengers on the plane all began to applaud, people had tears in their eyes, and we began the trip toward the runway.

The flight attendant then began the safety speech. One of the things she said is that we are all so busy and live our lives at such a fast pace. She asked that everyone turn to their neighbors on either side and introduce themselves, tell each other something about your families and children, show pictures, whatever. She said "for today, we consider you family. We will treat you as such and ask that you do the same with us."

Throughout the flight we learned that for the crew, this was their first flight since Tuesday's tragedies. It was a day that everyone leaned on each other and together everyone was stronger than any one person alone. It was quite an experience.

You can imagine the feeling when that plane touched down at Dulles and we heard, "Welcome to Washington Dulles Airport, where the local time is 5:40 pm."

Again, the cabin was filled with applause.
--
I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.


From Anne G., (No City Provided,) USA:

SUBJECT: Fundamentalists

Congratulations on a well thought out article. For many years I have tried to fight prejudice and I am pleased to say that my children are amazingly open minded. After the bombing last week I remembered a little song which I probably don't quote right but the meaning is still there. I believe it came from South Pacific.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught.

It is the purveyors of hate that make the world a bad place to live, if only we could reach the children first.
Anne

THINGS FOLKS WANT YOU TO KNOW [a.k.a. "Spam"]

From Douglas McDaniel, Telluride, CO, USA:

Hello Rod,

Well, there is now product by yours truly on the market: "The Road to Mythville: Poetry 1990-2001." It's at the URL code below.

http://www.iuniverse.com/marketplace/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0%2D595%2D19947%2DX

If you can make a listing of this, or some kind of announcement, I'd really appreciate it. And if anybody buys it, I'll split the proceeds with you. Should be right up there with the pennies I've supposedly made at themestream.com.


From Wolf DeVoon, (No City Provided,) COSTA RICA:

Antiwar News Service
////////// LATEST DISPATCHES //////////

September 21, 2001
U.S. special forces move near Afghani borders
by Jack Kelley, USA TODAY

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan U.S. Special Operations Forces have begun moving into countries bordering Afghanistan to begin a covert mission to capture or kill indicted terrorist Osama bin Laden, senior U.S. and Pakistani officials tell USA TODAY. A Special Operations Command Center has already been set up in the region to coordinate their activities, the officials add. Teams of three to five camouflaged soldiers are expected to soon deploy into Afghanistan's vast mountainous regions in an attempt to locate the elusive bin Laden, Pakistani officials say. Bin Laden, the prime suspect in last week's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, is believed to be hiding in caves or underground bunkers in southwest Afghanistan but officials say they do not know exactly where.


September 21, 2001
U.S. plans to overthrow Taliban regime, put Afghanistan under U.N. control Drudge Report/The Guardian

The US government is pressing its European allies to agree to a military campaign to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and replace it with an interim administration under United Nations auspices.

Diplomatic cables from the Washington embassy of a key Nato ally, seen by the Guardian, report that the US is keen to hear allied views on "post-Taliban Afghanistan after the liberation of the country". The embassy cable reveals that the US administration is bent on force to evict the Taliban from power because of the shelter it has offered Osama bin Laden, named by the White House as prime suspect for the New York and Washington atrocities on September 11.


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