INDIA — Villages condemn political killings
On October 1, a meeting of several hundred elected village representatives in Patna, capital of Bihar state, condemned the increasing number of killings of leading members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation. The meeting occurred only three days after the assassination of CPI(ML)-Liberation militant Vjendra Prasad by the Maoist Peoples War Group (PWG). The meeting condemned the state government of Chief Minister Rabri Devi for failing to arrest the killings of CPI(ML)-Liberation activists. A number of state MPs belonging to Devi's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party have also been implicated in organising the assassinations of Bihar communist leaders. On October 11, Jharo Devi, 52, a CPI(ML)-Liberation member and a leader of the All-India Progressive Women's Association, was shot dead in her small grocery store in Patna. She had been receiving threats from PWG goon Uma Singh after accusing him of raping a dalit woman.
UNITED STATES: Fox News host accused of sexual harassment
Bill O'Reilly, top-rating cable news host for Fox News, has been accused of sexually harassing a female associate producer of his show The O'Reilly Factor. Andrea Mackris filed the lawsuit on October 13, claiming that O'Reilly spoke to her extensively about vibrators, oral sex and masturbation, suggested that the two engage in phone sex and described elaborate fantasies to her throughout her time of emplyment. O'Reilly, who has written books offering moral advice to adults and children, alleged that Mackris is attempting "extortion". According to Mackris, when she asked O'Reilly at a dinner in April to cease his inappropriate behaviour, and reminded him that he had bragged about similar actions toward other women, he responded: "If any woman ever breathed a word, I'll make her pay so dearly that she'll wish she'd never been born." The full transcript of Mackris's allegations is available at <http://www.thesmokinggun.com>.
UNITED STATES: Terrorists associated with commies
A recently declassified document from the US Army singles out environmentalists, animal rights activists and the anti-war movement as possible terrorist threats. The 204-page document, Handbook: A Military Guide to Terrorism in the 21st Century published in August 2003 by the US Army Doctrine Command, is now available at <http://www.blackwaterusa.com/btw2004/articles/terror.pdf>. The document is particularly offensive, shifting effortlessly from "Developing theoretical basis for terrorism" to a diagram showing 'Key Thinkers in the Development of Revolutionary Theory', named as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Nikolai Bakunin. Trotsky is quoted at the beginning of the section on "terrorist operations and tactics". The report also says "The emergence of a radicalized, ostensibly 'anti-war' movement is also a distinct possibility. This sort of 'anti-war' movement does not need an actual conflict to be initiated. 'Anti-war' rhetoric and agendas have been incorporated into large protest gatherings such as [1999 anti-globalisation protest] 'The Battle of Seattle' prior to the [9/11] terror attacks on the US and the subsequent military retaliation."
BRITAIN: Race crimes increase by 11 times
On October 11, the charity Victim Support disclosed that it helped 33,347 people who believed they had been targeted because of their skin colour in the last year. In 1994, it handled just 3072 such complaints. Race-crimes have risen from accounting for 1% of its counselling services to 10%. A spokesperson told the October 12 British Independent, "Race crime has rocketed through the roof. No other crime has gone up so fast." While some of the increase is attributed to victims feeling more confident to seek help, the charity does not believe that accounts for most of it. Victim Support deals with people who have been referred from the police, as well as those who approach it privately, not wanting to involve a police force, that, according to a September survey, a majority of police officers believe is racist.
VENEZUELA: Workers occupy paper mill
Workers at the Venepal paper mill in Moron, an industrial city of 80,000 residents in the Venezuelan state of Carabobo have partially occupied the mill after its owners announced on September 7 that they had decided to close it and not pay the 400 workers their wages. At an October 6 solidarity meeting in Valencia called by the left-wing UNT union federation and attended by 50 union leaders, including leaders of the Venepal workers' struggle, a manifesto was adopted calling the nationalisation of the mill under workers' control, and for a national solidarity rally at Venepal on October 16. Workers at numerous other companies are making weekly donations to the Venepal workers' fund.
Child poverty high in ex-Stalinist states
According to an October 13 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report, child poverty has spiralled out of control in nine ex-Stalinist countries during the last decade. Of the 44 million children living in the nine countries with available data, 14 million were living in poverty. The study noted that the poverty, which has increased significantly in the last decade, was resulting in malnutrition, poor education and exclusion from society. For example, in Uzbekistan, 70% of children do not attend school. "What is economic growth if it does not benefit children/", asked UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy at the report's launch in Brussels. For more information, visit <http://www.unicef.org>.
From Green Left Weekly, October 20, 2004.
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