Square Are Pied

Belgium - Fifty-two-year-old Belgian author, film historian, actor and writer Noel Godin is the leader of the gang that tossed a cream pie into the face of Microsoft's Bill Gates in Brussels. Godin, a self-styled "entarteur" (roughly translated: "en-caker"), was interviewed by the Netly News website shortly after the attack. The interview was translated by Hughes Henry.

"I'm part of a gang of bad hellions that have declared pie war on all the unpleasant celebrities in every kind of domain." Godin said. "Our slogan: 'Let's pie! Let's pie! Nincompoop guys!'

"[We chose Bill Gates] because he's offering his intelligence, his sharpened imagination and his power to the governments. He could have been a utopist, but he prefers being the lackey of the establishment. Our war cry was explicit: "Let's pie the polluting lolly!

"A member of the staff of Microsoft Belgium [revealed Gates' itinerary]. This man told us he had really loved Bill Gates in the past, saying that he was very cool and passionate. But little by little he considered that [Gates'] power had tainted him.

"We learned that he was always escorted by five armed bodyguards. In Belgium, he had four motorcycle policemen. As he was climbing the steps, several of our fighting units created a kind of pie whirl that fell on him. The bodyguards were completely distraught. None of them even took out his gun. They were as dazed as Bill was.

"There were 25 pies in all. Four touched Bill Gates in the face. You don't have to throw the pies. You must put the pies point-blank in the face of the victim..

"We are comical terrorists, and the pie is symbolic. The victim is only injured in his self-esteem. We are like Laurel & Hardy, Bugs Bunny, the Marx Brothers."

Baby Boomers and Bubble Economies

US - Harvard University economists David Bloom and Jeffrey Williams warn that Asia's economic boom is doomed to go bust. Economic good times were the result of baby boomers entering the workforce from 1965 to 1990, they reason. With more young workers raising fewer children and a small population of elderly to care for, investment soared. Unfortunately, by 2010, Bloom and Williams predict, the ratio between people-in-production and people-in-need will reverse itself.

The 1,000 Companies that "Run the World"

Switzerland - On February 3, the World Economic Forum [WEF, http://www.weforum.org], made up of the planet's 1,000 most powerful multinationals, concluded a week-long meeting in Davos designed to set "Priorities for the 21st century." The WEF describes itself as "the world's global business summit," the place where "1,000 top business leaders, 250 political leaders, 250 foremost academic experts… and some 250 media leaders come together to shape the global agenda." The WEF boasts of its leadership in pushing "the economic globalization process." The Economist put it more simply: It described the WEF as "the people who run the world."

Protesters from Peoples Global Action Against "Free" Trade [Play Fair Europe, Turmstr. 3, 52072 Aachen, Germany, playfair@asta.rwth-aachen.de, http://www.pga.org/en/home.html] gathered outside the Davos conference to complain that globalization's concentration of economic power into "unaccountable and undemocratic institutions" like the World Trade Organization (WTO) "only benefits multinational business elítes, while increasing numbers of people are going hungry, unable to afford basic health care and education, and forced to cope with environmental destruction."

The PGA, a grassroots alternative to the WEF, includes 600 representatives of peoples' movements from around the world, ranging from Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, India, Nicaragua and North America to the Philippines and Ukraine. PGA is planning "a wave of decentralized protests" to coincide with the WTO's ministerial conference in mid-May.

US Blocks Warning Labels in Japan

Japan - The Japan Times reports that US multinationals have pressured Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry to block the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Japan has endorsed the sale of 20 genetically engineered foods including imported US soybeans that are resistant to chemical herbicides and a mutant maize that can kill caterpillars that try to eat it.

Hoescht Hushed

UK - On February 10, Friends of the Earth/UK claimed a victory when the Ministry of Agriculture informed Belgian-owned Plant Genetics Systems (PGS) that it would not be permitted to grow its genetically engineered oilseed rape in Britain. This would have been the first genetically engineered crop to be grown in the UK. The PGS seeds were created to resist an herbicide manufactured by the agrochemical giant Hoescht. (Hoescht also owns PGS.) Adrian Bebb of FOE-UK, noting that "these new food crops may have irreversible environmental consequences," congratulated the government for banning the crop "before the damage is done."

ARCO Stinks; Sun Shines

US - The nonprofit Council on Economic Priorities' [CEP, 30 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003, (212) 420-1133] sixth annual Campaign for Cleaner Corporations has surveyed 15 major US refineries and tagged ARCO (Atlantic Richfield) as "the worst performer" - a company with the greatest emissions of toxic chemicals, "a mediocre environmental management system and poor corporate reporting." Coastal and Tosco refused to cooperate with the survey. The best performer was Sun Company, which ranked "highest in environmental reporting, third in environmental impact, and sixth in environmental management systems." CEP noted that Sun was the first Fortune 500 firm to endorse the CERES (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economics) principles and remains the only CERES member in the oil refining industry. Exxon won CEP's second place honors, ranking "highest in environmental impact performance," while Chevron came in third.

Mitsubishi Goes Green?

US - An eight-year-long boycott of Mitsubishi cars and appliances concluded in February with an agreement by Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America and Mitsubishi Electric America to: restore forests, reduce the use of packaging and wood products in all operations, halt the use of primary or threatened forest products, accelerate the use of paper made from alternative fibers such as kenaf and create a "Forest Community Support Program" to aid indigenous cultures inhabiting the world's ancient forests. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader called the settlement "an unprecedented success in consumer activism" that is "a testament to the efficacy of consumer boycotts." The boycott campaign was headed by the Rainforest Action Network [RAN, 221 Pine St., No. 500, San Francisco, CA 94104, (415) 398-4404, fax: (415) 398-2732, rainforest@ran.org, www.ran.org]. RAN's boycott against all other Mitsubishi-owned operations, including the Union Bank of California, will continue.

Blair Turns Tail on Whales

UK - In the run-up to the British elections, the Labour Party bellowed proudly that "on welfare and conservation grounds, we are completely against commercial whaling." Now, Britain's new ruling party advocates allowing whaling within the country's Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). Unfortunately, as The Ecologist notes, EEZs "comprise 25 percent of the world's oceans, an area equivalent in size to the Atlantic Ocean."

Field Labor: US Children

US - The US outlawed child labor almost 60 years ago but an investigation by Associated Press reporters David Foster and Farrell Kramer has disclosed that "underage children still toil in fields and factories scattered across America." Many of the children begin working before they are old enough to attend kindergarten and many earn wages "below the legal minimum - often in exhausting, hazardous jobs." Rutgers University labor economist Douglas Kruse estimates that at least 290,200 children were employed illegally in 1997 - 20 percent of them under age 14. Kruse also estimates that employers saved $155 million a year by hiring underage and underpaid child laborers. The list of companies benefiting from the labor of children included Campbell Soup, ConAgra, Costco, H. J. Heinz, J. C. Penney, Pillsbury, Sears, Wal-Mart and Newman's Own, the progressive food label owned by actor-activist Paul Newman. US Labor Secretary Alexis Herman called the AP investigation more comprehensive than anything the Labor Department had ever produced.

Multinational Charity

US - In January, pharmaceutical giant SmithKline Beecham announced that it would give away free yearly doses of albendazole to 120 million residents of the tropics afflicted with lymphatic filariasis - a disfiguring disease also known as elephantiasis. One-fifth of the world's population is at risk of contracting the disease. Company officials estimate the disease can be eliminated within 20 years at a cost of $500 million, and say they will continue donating albendazole until the disease is eradicated.

Giving Kids the Business

US - The Phillips Business Information (PBI) newsletter (subscriptions: $495 a year) offers some tips on "Selling to Kids." Noting that "Gen Y Girls" (12 and older) spend $34 billion on clothes each year, BPI suggests that its clients start designing back-to-school "style assistant" catalogs in July so that young girls could "start forming opinions and planning purchases." Another article explains how In-School Marketing Programs can use booklets with advertising coupons to get product information into "homerooms and lunchrooms across the country." PBI explains how "Tooned-in" menus carrying ad copy can reach 4 million K-6 children in 8,000 schools in 41 states. "With TV viewing declining, advertisers have to look for other ways to reach children," a Chuck E. Cheese official stated, adding that the menus are "more targeted, and we expect to pay a premium for those features."

Corporations Seizing Schools

US - Across the nation, cut-backs in school budgets are forcing educators into the arms of corporations. Pepsico is nailing down multimillion dollar contracts with school districts offering equipment, scoreboards and uniforms in exchange for advertising space and exclusive rights to push its caffeinated soft drinks on campus. "It's ethically wrong to sell students to the highest bidder and it's not going to help public education," says Marianne Manilov of the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education [449 15th St., No. 306, Oakland, CA 94612, (510) 268-1100, fax: -1277].

US Genuflects to Turkey

Turkey - Last December, Vice President Al Gore flew to Istanbul to preside over the sale of 49 Boeing airliners to Turkish Airlines while Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz applauded the $2 billion deal. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Commerce Secretary William Daley and Energy Secretary Federico Peña quickly declared their intention to visit Turkey in the near future. The Washington/Boeing coalition beat out the European/Airbus consortium after Turkey was denied admission into the European Community. The EC's action was prompted by Turkey's deplorable record on human rights. Human rights abuses apparently proved no impediment to US officials and US business interests.

Crony Capitalism Roils Russia

Russia - Merger-mania continues to consume Russian resources. In January, Mikhail Khodorkovsky (a former communist turned banker) and Boris Berezovsky (a former national security aid turned oil-mogul) combined their respective oil companies to create Yuksi, the world's 11th-largest oil producer. It is expected that Yuksi may soon bid to purchase Rosneft, Russia's state oil company - once Yuksi finds a suitable Western partner.

Another Deregulation Disaster

US - When President Clinton signed the 1996 telecommunications bill, he promised "lower prices, better quality and greater choices" in telephone and cable service. Last year, however, cable TV rates rose 6.9 percent, local phone calls rose 1 percent, in-state toll-calls rose 2.8 percent and the price of a payphone call nearly doubled. Gene Kimmelman, co-director of Consumers Union, sums up the legacy of telecom deregulation: "Virtually none of the… price reductions and competition have materialized. On the contrary, these industries are becoming more entrenched monopolies with rates spiraling upward."

US Oil Firms "Vietnamizing" Colombia

Colombia - On December 14, 1997, National Liberation Army rebels blew up the Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) Corporation's Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline. In the last decade, the pipeline (which carries 250,000 barrels per day over 540 miles from the oil fields to the sea) has been attacked more than 500 times. Human Rights Watch reports that Oxy and Royal Dutch/Shell are paying Colombian paramilitary groups $2 million a year to protect the pipelines. The Colombian Army has inaugurated a US-designed Vietnam-style counterinsurgency war to quitar agua al pez (i.e., "to drain the fish tank"). Instead of fighting the guerrillas, the army and paramilitary death squads terrorize suspected civilian "sympathizers." British Petroleum has hired British mercenaries from Defense Systems Limited to train Colombian soldiers in intelligence-gathering aimed against oil protesters. Bearing the brunt of these assaults: Colombia's indigenous Uíwa people.

Economy Grows But So Does Poverty

US - Despite Washington's cheery pronouncements, poverty is growing in the US. Despite seven years of nearly unbroken economic growth, the poverty rate in 1996 was 13.7 percent, higher than in 1989. "Approximately 50 million Americans - 19 percent of the population - live below the national poverty line," The Nation reports. "In constant dollars, average weekly earnings for workers went from a high of $315 in 1973 down to $256 in 1996, a decline of 19 percent." In 1997, the poorest 20 percent of US families saw their earnings shrink by $210, while the richest five percent of families pocketed an average surplus of $6,440 (and that doesn't include capital gains).

Reform the Global Economy

US - Spooked by the Asian currency crisis, international financier George Soros and former US Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin are calling for radical changes in the global finance system. Rubin, claiming that the Asian crisis shows that the "free market" cannot correct its excesses, called for government intervention to "modernize the architecture" of global finance. Soros and Rubin criticized the International Monetary Fund's billion-dollar bail-outs of troubled economies for, in the words of the Washington Post, "protecting foreign bankers from the full consequences of their imprudent loans." Soros proposed that, in the future, banks themselves should pay for the bail-outs through self-administered insurance schemes.