MIM Notes 35                    Jan 23 1989 

IMPERIALIST COUNTRIES NEWS

ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS IS REPORTING THE FACTS

Former U.S. delegate to the United Nations Jeanne 
Kirkpatrick has said that the U.S. media is guilty of anti-
Israel bias. She cites a study by the Center for Media and 
Public Affairs in Washington as proof.

Of course, anything with a negative spin, anything that 
could be interpreted negatively was deemed anti-Israel bias.  
Thus, by merely quoting the Israeli press itself on the 
beating of Palestinians, the U.S. press was demonstrating bias 
according to these propagandists.

Anthony Lewis correctly points out that it was Spiro 
Agnew who wished that the press only reported good news.  (St. 
Petersburg Times, 6/17/88, p. 22a)

INF TREATY CLEARS WAY FOR NUCLEAR ARTILLERY SHELLS

The INF treaty signed by Reagan and Gorbachev bans land-
based missiles with a range of 600-3,000 miles. This includes 
the dangerous Pershing II missiles and ground-launched Cruise 
missiles--but only 3% of the U.S. nuclear force overall.

Lest anyone draw the wrong conclusions, the United 
States explicitly rejected a Europe free of tactical nuclear 
weapons, so it is updating its 155mm nuclear artillery shells.  
"Defense Secretary Carlucci will ask Congress to remove the 
cap of 925 on the number of these shells."  (The Connection: 
Journal of the Michigan Alliance for Disarmament, June 1988, 
pp. 23-4)

JESSE JACKSON LEARNS HIS OWN DUKAKIS LESSON

Watching Dukakis lose the 1988 elections, Jesse Jackson must 
have concluded that Willie Horton was the reason. Horton was 
the convict who committed rape while out on furlough in 
Massachusetts. The Republicans said the Democrats lacked 
resolve in cracking down on crime and pointed to Horton as 
proof.

Jesse Jackson showed up at a support-the-police rally in 
Chicago. "'The sense that criminals feel they can gain 
sanctuary because of police-community attitudes must end,' he 
said." (Detroit News, 12/5/88, 13a)

"He also asked everyone to get tough on 'vulgar behavior,' 
which he described as 'everything from direct intimidation of 
people to loud music, to guns, rapes in the subway and 
urinating on the 'L' tracks." (Ibid.)

None of the candidates in the Democratic or Republican parties 
have a scientific understanding of crime in the United States.  
Jesse Jackson is typical because he demands a "radical" change 
in attitude instead of addressing the causes of crime.

Uncharacteristically, the New York Times recently admitted the 
futility of the current U.S. discourse on crime. The Times 
called the "passionate support of capital punishment and 
exaggerated outrage over prison furloughs" irrelevant in 
addition to the debate over "the ban on improperly seized 
evidence and limits on interrogation." (New York Times, 
1/3/88, 20)

However, while the Times recognizes that the current popular 
discussion of crime only distracts attention from the real 
issues, it also fails to point to significant causes of crime. 
Instead, it concludes that "there is no easy way to control 
crime." (Ibid.)

Yet, revolutionary communist countries have a different 
experience of crime than the United States. Indeed, even the 
West European countries have a homicide rate one-ninth that of 
the United States. It is therefore possible to do something 
about crime; however, it will require rejecting the current 
racist, vengeful but meaningless discussion currently 
dominating the United States.

BLACK MALE COLLEGE ENROLLMENT IS DOWN

According to the Department of Education, Black men 
constituted 4.3% of college students in 1976 but only 3.5% in 
1986. Black women were 5.1% in 1976 and 5.2% in 1986. The 
total Black enrollment was 9.4% in 1976 and 8.6% of all 
undergraduate and graduate students in 1986. The Black 
population is 14% of the United States.

In 1986 Hispanic enrollment was 5%, but the Hispanic share of 
the population was 7%. (New York Times, 1/17/89, 12)

AMERIKANS APPROVE OF REAGAN

While many leftists, social-democrats and liberals have 
mistakenly held that Reagan does not represent the U.S. 
electorate, which is always viewed by leftists as just about 
to see the liberal light, the fact is that 68% approved of 
Reagan's job performance over the last year. The New York 
Times/CBS poll showed that Reagan's exit from office occurred 
when he was more popular than any president since the 1940s. 
The next closest approval rating in history was 60% by Harry 
Truman.

Lest anyone think that Amerikans are not conscious lovers of 
capitalism, a majority continue to say that Reagan lied about 
the Iran-contra affair. In other words, the Iran-contra affair 
was OK, or not a serious problem in the eyes of many 
Amerikans.

48% of Amerikans said that poverty had increased, but Reagan 
still got 68% approval. In other words, poverty is not 
important to many Amerikans.

Not surprisingly, 72% of whites approve Reagan's performance. 
Yet, it is surprising that fully 40% of Blacks also support 
his performance.  (New York Times, 1/18/89, 1, 8)



BANKS AND GOVERNMENT STILL MOVING CLOSER TOGETHER

As reported in previous issues of MIM Notes, the banks in the 
United States work hand-in-hand with the government, 
especially when they go bankrupt.

According to the New York Times, "one-third of all savings 
institutions are insolvent." (New York Times, 1/2/89, 18) 
Recently, the government bailed out banks with $12 billion in 
liabilities in Texas and $30 billion in California.

The capitalist class knows that if the free market really 
operated and let banks go down the drain there would be a 
depression and revolution. For this reason the government 
subsidizes the failing banks with tax money and resells the 
propped up banks to new investors.

BANKS TRY TO CUT BACK LOANS TO THIRD WORLD

 Recognizing the weakness of Third World economies, U.S. banks 
are apparently trying to cut back their loans to the Third 
World according to the Salomon Brothers investment bank.

Thirteen top banks cut their loans to the Third World from 
$51.6 billion in 1987 to $45.7 billion in 1988. (New York 
Times, 7/27/88, d1) While the Times is convinced there is a 
trend, this remains to be seen.

What the banks are doing: paper-shuffling more

"A record $266 billion in mergers, acquisitions and leveraged 
buyouts were completed in a year of big takeovers." (New York 
Times, 1/3/89, 23)

 What this means is that the banks and leaders of capitalist 
industry are making more money trading their companies than 
doing any work planning or organizing.

GOVERNMENT LIED ABOUT URANIUM EMISSIONS

A processing plant in Ohio--Fernald's Plant 8--released up to 
1,000 pounds of uranium a month. The Department of Energy last 
estimated the release at 461 pounds a year in 1961. (New York 
Times, 1/2/88, 9)

WHITEWASH OF POLICE RIOT PROCEEDS

On Saturday night August 6th, 1988 (12:55 a.m. August 7th) the 
police staged a riot against demonstrators which the New York 
Times described this way: "Officers wore no badges or hid 
their badge numbers, clubbed and kicked bystanders for no 
apparent reason and without arresting them, and streamed 
through the streets of the East Village in uncontrolled rage." 
(New York Times, 8/14/88, 1)

The Police Commissioner issued a report detailing the so-
called errors of his officers. He characterized the situation 
as poor planning, tactical mistakes and lack of command from 
upper level officers. (New York Times, 8/11/88, 1) (MIM would 
say such is standard procedure for the police.)

400 police officers and 40 sergeants have yet to provide any 
information regarding their roles or others' role in a police 
riot in Tompkins Square Park in New York five months ago. A 
police review board is throwing out two-thirds of 115 cases of 
police violence.

Despite five videotapes of the events and "countless 
photographs," the review board has not compelled the officers 
to talk about what happened. (New York Times, 1/2/88, 11) The 
police are not talking because they do not want to be indicted 
or lose their jobs.

In response to the police riot, a week later the older 
sections of the community staged a rally of 500 people. Their 
slogans included "Free the park!" and "'Koch is the puppet of 
landlords and bankers!'" (New York Times, 8/14/88, 39) There 
was also a banner that said "Gentrification is Class War." 
(Ibid.)

In this way, the demonstrations continued the theme that 
caused the police to lose their cool. Originally, on June 28th 
the board in charge of the park ordered the start of 1 a.m. 
curfews. On July 11th, the police started enforcing the new 
policy and evicted everyone except the homeless. The police 
continued to sporadically close the park in response to 
residents who complained about the reveling by sometimes drunk 
rock n' roll fans listening to loud bands.

A rally countered the effort of the police to control the park 
on July 30th. Already in that demonstration the police used 
some violence and arrested four people.

In response, organizers staged another rally on August 6th, 
when the police went wild. The police polarized the situation 
to such an extent  that previously moderate residents became 
involved: "'I mean people who work on Wall Street, and they're 
standing in the street screaming 'Kill the pigs.'" (Ibid., 38)

Part of the excuse the police used for clubbing all passers-by 
and bystanders was that some people had thrown some bottles at 
the police at the beginning of the demonstration (and then 
intermittently later after the clubbing started). They angered 
enough people in the process that a second wave of 
demonstrators came through the park at dawn to retaliate 
against the police by smashing a police barricade. (Ibid.)

STUDY SHOWS THAT DOCTORS TREAT RACES DIFFERENTLY

Black and white patients with the same ailments receive 
different treatments for doctors. In a study for the Journal 
of the American Medical Association that controlled for 
various factors (not mentioned), two Harvard doctors found 
that "whites were 89 percent more likely to have coronary 
bypasses than blacks, 29 percent more likely to have 
angiographies and 70 percent more likely to have 
angioplasties." (New York Times, 1/9/89, 9)

BUSH AND DUKAKIS CAMPAIGNS COST $200 MILLION

The U.S. government gave the two candidates $46.1 million each 
and private sources also gave approximately $50 million each 
to be spent in campaigns. (USA Today, 9/19/88, 4a)

Although federal laws prohibit individuals from giving money 
to the candidates during the campaigning after the primaries, 
they can give it to party and political action committees that 
then spend the money.

The $200 million does not count the money spent in the 
primaries. Nor does it count direct actions by individuals who 
for example may buy ads for their candidates. It only counts 
the money spent by Bush and Dukakis and their two parties.

Of course, the $200 million does not count the financial value 
of the free media coverage given the candidates as part of the 
"news." In truth, the presidential campaign is easily a multi-
billion dollar business when all is said and done. And those 
billions are spent on two parties with a relatively limited 
political range.

RULING POLITBURO REMAINS UNCHANGED

The U.S. House of Representatives is becoming much more 
consistent than the governing body in the Soviet Union that 
the U.S. cold warriors call "totalitarian."

"Ninety-nine percent of the representatives seeking new terms 
were on their way to re-election today, surpassing the 1986 
high-water mark for electoral success of House officeholders 
of 98 percent." (Ann Arbor News, 11/9/88, b1)

BRITISH LABOR ARISTOCRACY IS IN DECLINE

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) in England is in decline, 
largely thanks to the unemployment situation there. Since 
1979, the umbrella group has faced a decline of membership 
from 13 million to 9 million.

In some regions were unemployment is high, anti-union 
sentiment is also found. When non-union jobs are offered in 
such places, the residents snap them up. "'Unions are on the 
way out. . . I think unions should be abolished,'" (Hartford 
Courant, 6/22/88) said Nigel Bilton of Wakefield. Wakefield is 
one of the areas hit by the decline of the smokestack 
industries. (Ibid.)

It is possible that the prospects for labor mobilization are 
substantially different in England than in the United States.

FBI PROBE OF CISPES STARTED WITH FABRICATION

The FBI's justification for starting its investigation of 
CISPES was that CISPES seemed to be composed of people likely 
to take to terrorism. The FBI trusted the evidence it received 
from one of the informants it paid to infiltrate CISPES--that 
CISPES was funnelling arms to El Salvador, planning violent 
demonstrations for 1984 including one at the Republican 
National Convention.

In this case it seems that the FBI paid to hear what it wanted 
to hear.

As a result, the FBI monitored professors, students and radio 
talk show people criticizing U.S. policy in Central America. 
"FBI agents across the country monitored political rallies, 
formally investigated nine activist groups, employed 
undercover agents, rummaged through the trash of a professor, 
questioned and investigated dozens of travelers to central 
America, traced the license plates of cars belonging to 
activists and conducted surveillance on college campuses." 
(Hartford Courant, 10/9/88, aa1)