theDUCT: NEWS

Damn good place to go when you're board and feeling out of the loop. F.A.I.R. has many side projects that enlighten and invigorate. Whenever i feel beaten and alone in the World i tap into the wide wonderful world of fair and balanced reporting by...FAIR! Don't forget to check out their about page.

By Greg Palast
Reporting for Newsnight

The Cofan's leader, Emergildo Criollo, claims that when Texaco Oil, now part of Chevron, came to the village in 1972, they told the natives rubbing crude on their arms would relieve aches and pains.

He blames the death of his three-year-old son on oil contamination. "He went swimming, then began vomiting blood," he said.

Chevron deny all these claims.

Get the full story and videohere

Check out this ingenious way to commute in DC. They call it Slugging. Way to maximize gas usage DC! If only the rest of the world was as adaptable.

ByChaz Bufe.
This is a cool website too! lot's of great online pamphlets and witty bumper stickers.

This is an interesting site full of explanations and history of a successful movement

Anarcho-Syndicalism
and specifically, 1936 in Spain

Check out their great article and video here

And also, see the performance caught by bnet.tv

Check out John Perkins a.k.a. the Economic Hitman's latest report. The Secret History of the American Empire is a sure bet of an interesting read. Let me know what you think if you've read it already.

Before reading this keep in mind the history of Germany in the 1920s (thanks Wikipedia)

Adopted December 1922 by the Berlin Congress of the International Workers' Association (Extracts)

i. Revolutionary Syndicalism, basing itself on the class struggle, seeks to establish the unity and solidarity of all manual and intellectual workers into economic organisations fighting for the abolition of both the wage system and the State. Neither the State nor political parties can achieve the economic organisation and emancipation of labour.

ii. Revolutionary Syndicalism maintains that economic and social monopolies must be replaced by free, self-managing federations of agricultural and industrial workers united in a system of councils.

iii. The twofold task of Revolutionary Syndicalism is to carry on the struggle for economic, social and intellectual improvement in the existing society, and to achieve independent self-managed production and distribution by taking possession of the earth and the means of production. Instead of the State and political parties, the economic organisation of labour. Instead of government over people, the administration of things.

iv. Revolutionary Syndicalism is based on the principles of federalism, free agreement and grassroots organisation from the base upwards into local, district, regional and international federations united by shared aspirations and common interests. Under federalism, each unit enjoys full autonomy and independence in its own sphere, while enjoying all the advantages of association.

v. Revolutionary Syndicalism rejects nationalism, the religion of the State and all arbitrary frontiers, recognising only the self-rule of natural communities freely enjoying their own way of life, constantly enriched by the benefits of free association with other federated communities.

vi. Revolutionary Syndicalism, basing itself on economic direct action, supports all struggles not in contradiction with its principles - the abolition of economic monopoly and the domination of the State. The means of direct action are the strike, the boycott, the sit-in, and other forms of direct action developed by workers in the course of their struggles leading to labour's most effective weapon, the General Strike, prelude to Social Revolution.

reproduced from ASR

“Vulture fund” companies buy up the debt of poor countries at cheap prices, and then demand payments much higher than the original amount of the debt, often taking poor countries to court when they cannot afford to repay. Investigative journalist Greg Palast reports on one company trying to collect $40 million from the government of Zambia after buying its debt for $4 million.

Get the full report here

Here are some other articles concerning the gas price "manipulation" concerns. Judge for yourself.

a Right-wing "media watchdog"Newsbusters take
AOL money & Finance

by Rolf Drake

It's nearly been a year since i've left a note here and i feel that i should have a lot to say. i do.

Firstly, i'd like to apologize for my previous post. i do care and i realize now that i had become overwhelmed, obviously. i thought about removing that last entry but i think it speaks volumes. We all love tuning out and turning off the hard thinking or critical observation modes. As Americans, we inherently believe that we are the best of the best, no matter what. What's the big deal if a couple little countries get trampled on our road to surmounting the "evil" of the world? Let's not forget how evil is created. An eye for an eye has a harsh reality behind it. Where have we come from? Look into it.

And, one other thing that's been bothering me since the elections. Did anyone else notice that gas prices went up again the day after the elections, here in Portland, Oregon. A ten cent jump! My father had believed (previous to the election) that gas prices were going to continue dropping into the new year. Guess which news channel is on in his household. You get one guess and it starts with an F and makes you want to say, "Eff!" after watching for 5 minutes. But hell, i wouldn't narrow it down to just that one news channel, they're all in on the game. Not exactly a game of mind control, oh no. It's a game of who can spout the most news in 7 seconds. It's about Tom and Katie, Wall streets closing numbers, sports heroes, and "insurgents". So is there a connection between the Presidency and the oil industry? What do you think?

Right here in Portland Oregon, a wonderful woman and a small crew tackled the daunting task of taking on the corporate media with their film Independent Intervention. Check out the preview:

Director's Statement:


Images are powerful.

During Vietnam, pictures of human suffering helped end the war. Today these images from Iraq are absent in the US mass media, and the American people watch a very different war than the rest of the world. Operation Iraqi Freedom is portrayed as a success for the spread of democracy and freedom, while many truths of this war remain silenced. This censorship endangers free speech and democracy. It is vital in today’s world that we have access to information so we can participate in society as responsible and informed citizens.

INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION investigates important issues during tense times, where our access to information and free speech are diminishing. The film investigates how independent media can be an important force in this information war. Independent journalists challenge the corporate media’s presentation of war, with reports from the brutal realities in Iraq. We need to see the full spectrum of images from Iraq. As Amy Goodman says in the film, “If people saw for one week on television what war really looks like, people would say that war is not an answer to conflict in the 21st century.”

Our documentary, INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION, works to break the silence of the corporate media. This film brings the war home.

Read it here

It's been a couple months since my last entry and it's time to say hello.

Hello.

Happy New Year. i have no internet connection at home.

We all know that history has its way of being rewritten on many occasions but why? Who's in charge and what's the deal here? Isn't history called history for a reason? A good example of how history can be shaped to say what you would like it to say is Columbus day. Personally i call it Genocide day...check outTransform Columbus day and get the details.
Believe what you like, the facts don't lie. I feel that the best way to get a good understanding of the situation you should pick up The People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. Also,Noam Chomsky rules...did i ever mention that?

Yo, chiggity check it. Eating meat is pretty much useless. Of course there's some nutrients in meat that you don't get elswhere (unless you know where to look for it and yes it's out there). Howard Lyman, the guy that inspired Oprah to take on the Dirty cattle ranchers has changed my mind forever. Last eveneing i went and video taped him talk about his workand his experiences as a cattle ranchers (a factory feed lot farm). I suggest you check out his websiteand investigate this yourself. In the next few days i'm going to be writing about this subject and doing my own research. But for now i am done with meat...i may continue to eat some fish but everything else is just not worth it. Really, trust me and do your own researching. I'll keep you posted on my findings.Rolf Drake

When i heard about this yesterday i was super psyched to find out more. Dick "Go fuck yourself" Cheney got a dose of his own medicine finally. This awesome physician who is now selling the footage his firend shot of the incident is available on Ebay for the next week. Finally, someone with enough smarts and composure had the cojones to let the Bastard Dick know what we all think of him. Kudos Dr. Ben Marble. Keep up the good work and let 'em have it!!!

So i've been working on some OTHER things recently and now i have record of it all. i have threee 1 minute videos being displayed at the 1 Minute Film Festival in Portland, Oregon. cOme check it out at Holocene on Morrison. I promise it will be a blowout Extravaganza of diverse artistic talent. Come rub elbows with the "Elite" and make like Salamanders. The 1 Minute Film Festival at Holocene starts at 8pm and will revolutionize your state of miNd. check out the fiLm fEst link for the address of Holocene. This shin dig should be a good way to make some cool connections...or at least become an enlightnening experience.

I won't waste your time. Here's some real work being done by theYes Men. Be sure to check out all the links if you have time. It's all very entertaining.

You should checkout theDocumentary they made too if it suits your self.