|
|
home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events
|
"THE USE OF CHEMICAL WARFARE IS AUTHORIZED" America's secret war plans: "The military purpose is to overthrow the present existing Federal Government of Mexico." Floyd Rudmin uncovers the sick dreams of America's generals. Alito says, Constitution okays Bush to set up prison camps here and torture US citizens. Dems praise his "even demeanor" and shirk the filibuster. Cockburn and St Clair on the Alito hearings and the Democrats' collapse. ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! |
|
February 4 / 5, 2006 Alexander Cockburn Mike Ferner James Petras Fred Gardner Ralph Nader James Brooks John Holt Sarah Ferguson Seth Sandronsky Ron Jacobs Elisa Salasin
February 3, 2006 Toufic Haddad Heather Gray Tim Wise Conn Hallinan Eva Golinger Daniel Ellsberg Dave Zirin Robert Bryce Website of
the Day
February 2, 2006 Winslow T.
Wheeler Stan Cox Rachard Itani Mike Whitney Amira Hass Norman Solomon Michael Simmons Christopher
Reed Website of the Day
February 1, 2006 Sharon Smith Jason Leopold Cindy Sheehan Joseph Grosso Earl Ofari Hutchinson Steven Higgs Robert Robideau R. Siddharth Jim Retherford Rep. Cynthia
McKinney Paul Craig
Roberts Website of
the Day
January 31, 2006 Jeffrey St.
Clair Clancy Chassay Dave Lindorff Niranjan Ramakrishnan Oren Ben-Dor Winslow Wheeler John Ryan Mike Marqusee Ron Jacobs Andrew Cockburn Website of
the Day
January 30, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Winslow Wheeler Niranjan Ramakrishnan Marcus Dam John Bomar Ben Beachy Gideon Levy Michael Carmichael Missy Comley
Beattie Norman Solomon Brian Concannon,
Jr. Michael Ratner Website of
the Day
January 28 / 29, 2006 Alexander Cockburn
Ralph Nader Col. Dan Smith Paul Craig Roberts Tammara Rosenleaf Ron Jacobs Harry Browne Fred Gardner Christopher
Reed Bernard Chazelle Daniel Wolff Tom Kerr Asad Abu Khalil Chris Murphy Dr. Susan Block Kathy Deacon St. Clair /
Walker / Palmer / Shields Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
Suren Pillay Lawrence R.
Velvel J.L. Chestnut,
Jr Uri Avnery Gary Leupp Samar Assad Jeffrey St.
Clair Website of the Day
January 26, 2006 Robert Robideau Paul Craig
Roberts Gilad Atzmon Jason Leopold Joshua Frank Dave Lindorff Susan Lee Missy Comley Beattie Michael Carmichael Michael Neumann Website of
the Day
January 25, 2006 Saul Landau James Petras Lawrence R.
Velvel Vijay Prashad Kevin Zeese Alison Weir Bruce K. Gagnon Joan Roelofs Website of
the Day
January 24, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Kathy Kelly Jorge Mariscal Winslow T.
Wheeler John Walsh Youmans / Muaddi Roger Burbach Fr. Gerard
Jean-Juste Noam Chomsky Website of
the Day
Uri Avnery Susan Pynchon William Loren
Katz Christopher Brauchli Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Norman Solomon Jackie Corr Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
January 21/22, 2006 Tim Shorrock Ralph Nader Peter Feng Brian Cloughley Michael Donnelly Tom Kerr Dave Lindorff Daniel Wolff Fred Gardner Jason Leopold Matthew Koehler John Bomar Ron Jacobs Becky Akers Joanne Mariner St. Clair / Walker / Pollack Poets' Basement Website of the Day
Brian J. Foley Richard Gott Joshua Frank Pierre Tristam Bernstein /
Allegretto Elizabeth Schulte Website of
the Day
January 19, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Bill Simpich Kevin Alexander
Gray Sam Husseini Sam Smith Monica Benderman Winslow T.
Wheeler Website of the Day
January 18, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Norman Solomon Jonathan M.
Feldman Michael Carmichael Paul D'Amato Cynthia McKinney Norman Finkelstein Website of the Day
January 17, 2006 M. Shahid Alam John Ross Tariq Ali Michael Donnelly Amira Hass Doug Giebel Bill Quigley Ron Jacobs Mike Stark Werther
John Walsh Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Roger Burbach Norman Solomon Robert Jensen Sam Husseini Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
January 14 / 15, 2006 Alexander Cockburn JoAnn Wypijewski James Petras Ron Jacobs Brian Cloughley Marianne McDonald Bruce Tyler Wick Fred Gardner Flavia Alaya Gary Leupp Dr. Susan Block Nicole Colson Jeffrey Kolakowski Missy Comley
Beattie Charles Thomson St. Clair /
Walker / Vest Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
January 13, 2006 Ralph Nader Leonard Weinglass Amira Hass Chris Kutalik
/ Jennifer Biddle Lawrence R. Velvel Dave Lindorff Mike Whitney David Price
January 12, 2006 Jennifer Van
Bergen Jeremy Brecher / Brendan Smith Lawrence R.
Velvel Ralph Nader / Robert Weissman Jackie Corr Jared Bernstein Russell D.
Hoffman Aubrey Streit Clancy Sigal Website of the Day
January 11, 2006 Kevin Zeese Ray McGovern Allan Maass
/ Joe Allen Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Annie Murphy Allan Lichtman Ramzy Baroud Joshua Frank Kathleen and
Bill Christison Website of
the Day
January 10, 2006 Uri Avnery Saul Landau Noam Chomsky Brian J. Foley Lenni Brenner Ronan Sheehan Paul Craig
Roberts
January 9, 2006 Behzad Yaghmaian George Bisharat Dave Lindorff Norman Solomon Christopher Brauchli Aharon Shabtai Andrew Cockburn
January 7 / 8, 2006 Lawrence Velvel James Petras J.L. Chestnut Mike Ely Andrew Wilson Lila Rajiva William Cook Ramor Ryan Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff Peter Montague Ron Jacobs Neve Gordon Fred Gardner Josh Mahon Dr. Susan Block Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
January 6, 2006 José
Pertierra Joe Allen Winslow T. Wheeler John Bomar Jason Leopold Norman Solomon Robert Pollin
January 5, 2006 Scott Boehm Zoltan Grossman Heather Gray Haninah Levine Pierre Tristam Remi Kanazi Gilad Atzmon Kathleen and
Bill Christison
January 4, 2006 Ron Jacobs Lila Rajiva Huibin Amee
Chew Pat Williams Linda Milazzo Nick Dearden James Petras Website of
the Day
January 3, 2006 James Ridgeway Laith al-Saud Dick J. Reavis Joshua Frank Rochelle Gause Missy Comley
Beattie Paul de Rooij
January 2, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Clancy Sigal Cindy Sheehan Alexander Cockburn
Subscribe Online
|
Weekend
Edition World Social Forum: Diary of a LowbaggerHippies and Revolutionaries in CaracasBy MIKE ROSELLE Poolside, Caracas Hilton. I had never been to the World Social Forum, the anti-globalization movement's answer to the White Guy meeting of the corporate elite in Davos, Switzerland. So when offered a ticket by Randy Hayes, I jumped at the chance. I wanted to check out an event that brought the grass roots leaders of the world together for a week of meetings, workshops, speeches and fun. We took the flight from San Francisco to Houston where we met Floyd and K-Baum in time to board the redeye flight to Caracas. We arrived in the early morning and caught a bus to the city by way of a detour because the main bridge from the airport had collapsed. This turned what would have normally been a 45-minute ride into a three hour excursion through forested canyons, over foggy mountain passes and across congested suburbs where precariously perched houses of cement and bricks seemed to completely cover the steep hills, making the mountains resemble gigantic dilapidated pyramids. Finally we arrive in the city, a collection of tall concrete skyscrapers and streets teeming with noise, smoke and life. We disembark in the university district, where the World Social Forum (WSF) was in full swing. The smell of revolution was in the air. So was the inescapable smell of petroleum, which has helped to fuel this country's revolt against the established order of international oligargs and cleptocrats. Everywhere there are booths and tents and pavilions buzzing with activity. Vendors are peddling everything imaginable, most of it festooned with the blazing images of the great revolutionary Che, and Hugo Chavez the President of Venezuela and major Bush antagonist. I buy a pair of Che socks and some Hugo Chavez boxer shorts from a guy in a red beret. Aside from scene at the university, much of the action is at the Hilton Hotel. It's a strange sight to see so many leftists, hippies, Rastafarians, and every sort of social activist commandeering a major outpost and symbol of capitalism. At the hotel we learn that a very good five-dollar breakfast can be had for about eighteen bucks. And, if you stare hard enough at the wait staff, you can even get a refill on your coffee, which is not as good as the coffee you can get on the street for a fraction of the price. The rooms are actually pretty inexpensive at the Hilton, which is owned by the Venezuelan government, who has supported the forum. Most importantly, the rooms at the Hilton have Internet access, crucial for today's anti-global activists, which our hotel, the fabulously misnamed Waldorf, does not. At the Waldorf, our rooms are spacious and totally devoid of any furniture or decorations save for a small bare light bulb, a bunk bed and a badly functioning toilet. It has a large window with a single pane of glass. If you slide it to the right the window is half open. When you slide it to the left, the window is half closed. The real attraction of the Waldorf is not only that it is twenty dollars a night (for a 3-person room). It is situated next door to a very nice bar where the locals gather to watch their baseball team, the Lyones, which were in the process of sweeping the national grand finals. Every time the Lyones scored a run, the bar erupted in the team fight song; LEEEE OHHH-NEY, LEEOHHNEY! The score was 12-0, but they cheered every play as if it was a go ahead run in the ninth inning. These fans love their baseball and drink their Scotch out of twelve-ounce tumblers like it was ice-tea. At one point, two inebriated pugilists staged a separate contest to settle the question of the relief pitcher's manhood. The bar empties as the contest moves to the sidewalk, and later the two battered contestants return to their drinks, one of them sporting a very nice shiner. There are reportedly a few hundred Americans among the 70,000 or so registered participants, but they are harder to spot then you might think. And certainly not by their dress or skin pigmentation, as most everyone here is in traditional western dress, mostly jeans, slacks, and athletic wear. One can see all the logos, from Adidas to Tommy Hilfiger, ironically just about everything but Patagonia. Many of the representatives from the Indigenous organizations are in traditional dress, as were many of the hippies. Most of the gringos here seem to be fluent in Spanish. I'm not. So I spend much of my time walking around smiling at people and graciously accepting leaflets that I cannot read. The most surprising thing of all about this event is the number of hippies. And I do mean hippies; dreadlocked, nose-pierced, tattooed, bare mid-rifted, drum-banging, bong-toting hippies. And they are not Americans. They seem to hail from every corner of the globe. At the youth camp, the Bob Marley t-shirts are moving faster then the Hugo Chavez shirts, which few of the students are sporting. The sound of samba drums and the smell of ganja floats in the breeze and I follow it to a group of students who are displaying a legalize marijuana placard. In broken Spanish I tell them I am a hippie. They go wild. They explain that normally they couldn't smoke in the park, but today was different, the park was liberated. I yell VIVA WOODSTOCK, and they understand and enthusiastically agree. From reading some of the discussion
papers presented, there is some tension around the "hippie
question". The WSF has always been decentralized and without
any dictatorial structure, There are now some voices calling for the Forum to get more serious and more involved with the struggle for political power. Others believe the event should be maintained within a non governmental and non-party space. In order to preserve the character of the organizations and movements that started it, which were mostly grassroots political pressure groups, not political entities. By far the most visible American
organizations were Global Exchange, Public Citizen, and the
International Forum on Globalization. Their combined U.S. delegation
was made up of many battle-hardened veterans in the anti globalization
struggle; Media Benjamin, Lori Wallach, Deborah James, Juliet
Beck, Victor Menotti, Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and dozens
of others. This was an impressive group of Americans representing
us in a country that basically hates our government. Of course
some of these gringos were in the business of hating the U.S.
government when Hugo The great Philippine organizer,
Walden Bello, was also here updating info-seeking crowds on the
outcome of the recent WTO meeting in Hong Kong. It's wasn't
good news, but not totally bad either. Last time I saw Walden
was 1987. Hayes and I shared a jail cell with him in Washington,
D.C. I guess I have attended a few international conferences before. I have even visited a few countries on the brink of or just after an important social revolution. But this gathering was certainly different, a strange combination of Fidel Castro, Gandhi and Bob Marley. I believe something like this just might catch on someday, and evidently so did the 70,000 other people who registered. This should forever bury any claims that this movement lacks diversity and sophistication. The attendees literally represented millions of people from oppressed and oppressorcountries. And the spirit is that of a smart, united global front. I was in the rooftop bar, poolside, at the Hilton having a beer with famous freedom fighter Tom Hayden. Actually he was having a coffee and reading a thick stack of laser printing. I am having a beer. I go over to his table and ask him if I can interview him for Lowbagger. He asks me if I had a tape recorder and I said no, I would just scribble a few notes on some bar napkins and if I couldn't decipher them later I would just make shit up. He said, "That was fine, but just don't quote me." My first question was what he thought about the differences between the New Left that he helped define in the 1960's and today's anti-globalization movement. Here is what he said. "First, in 1960, the environmental movement didn't exist. Independent media didn't exist. Today we have far more leadership from women and a much more diverse cultural make-up. Today the movement is more global, not as ideologically rigid, more flexible on goals and platforms, more movement than political party." Then I asked him if he had any criticism of the U.S. anti globalization movement either because of their counter-cultural image and their perceived association with street violence. He said, "No." Tom went on to explain that when the government develops new tactics to deprive political movements of their voice, the movements usually responds with new tactics to overcome the disadvantage. He believes that there is an "inner intelligence that movements display when they face such a crisis, and you need to learn that given enough time, this intelligence will manifest itself." I asked him what he thought of the recent arrests of eleven environmental activists on grounds of domestic terrorism. Did he disapprove of such tactics? Hayden responded by placing the blame squarely on the authorities. He said that historically, it was inevitable that when people are deprived of a voice, and refused the ability to make an impact, when the government uses all of its power to isolate and humiliate them, people will adopt more militant tactics. I silently drink a toast to Avalon, who's December jailbreak in an Arizona prison was both heart-breaking and inspirational. A spirit like his can never die. I thanked Tom and let him get back to his coffee and laser printing. I repeated my promise not to quote him. He replied, "Good!" Later, El Presidente Hugo Chavez addressed the Forum at a large sports stadium where 40,000 people listened to a three and-a-half hour speech. The only part I could translate was the he repeatedly referred to America's El Presidente as "Mr. Danger" and made a point of saying hello to Fidel Castro. Tomorrow Floyd, Hurricane, K-Baum, Brian Stasinsky and I are going to see Angel Falls or something. There is a faction that wants to go to the beach so I still don't know. Wherever we go, I hope there are some hippies there. Mike Roselle hopes there will be hippies in heaven.
In the meantime, he memorializes his time on this earth at Lowbagger.org |
from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair          Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.                  |
