------------------------------------------------------------------- Lawmen find 60 mairjuana plants on property of man killed in shootout (The Associated Press says prohibition agents found the plants on the remote Oregon property of Lewis Stanley McClendon, 63, who was killed Friday when officers allegedly returned fire outside his house 17 miles north of Tiller.) From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net) To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net) Subject: Lawmen find 60 mairjuana plants on property of man killed in shootout Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 17:45:02 -0800 Sender: owner-when@hemp.net Lawmen find 60 mairjuana plants on property of man killed in shootout The Associated Press 11/02/98 2:14 PM Eastern ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) -- Drug agents found about 60 marijuana plants six to eight feet tall on the property of a man killed in a gunfight with Douglas County sheriff's deputies, detectives said today. Two deputies were wounded in the shooting. One has been released from the hospital and the other was listed in good condition with wounds to the legs. Lewis Stanley McClendon, 63, was killed Friday when officers returned fire outside a house in the remote Ash Valley area 17 miles north of Tiller, according to Douglas County officials. Authorities would not release any other information about McClendon, who also made music boxes. Deputy Jeffrey S. Admire, 33, was released Saturday from Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg. Admire suffered a severely bruised chest from the impact of bullets on his bulletproof vest. The other deputy, Coy V. Kratz, 33, was shot three times in the leg. Members of the Douglas County Interagency Narcotics Team had gone to McClendon's house early Friday afternoon to serve a search warrant as part of an investigation into a suspected indoor marijuana-growing operation.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Police detain two 11 years after marijuana intercepted (The Associated Press says Walter McDowell Martin and John Joseph Mullen, the last of 36 suspects sought in connection with the discovery of about 17,000 pounds of marijuana on an Oregon beach 11 years ago, have been returned to Oregon. They were captured in different cities of the Philippines by members of the Philippine Presidential Anti-Crime Task Force and turned over to US Drug Enforcement Administration officials.) From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net) To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net) Subject: Police detain two 11 years after marijuana intercepted Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 17:45:20 -0800 Sender: owner-when@hemp.net Police detain two 11 years after marijuana intercepted The Associated Press 11/02/98 1:00 PM Eastern PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The last two suspects sought in connection with the discovery of some 17,000 pounds of marijuana on an Oregon beach 11 years ago are back in Oregon, state police said. Walter McDowell Martin and John Joseph Mullen, both 44, were arrested in the Philippines two weeks ago and arrived in Portland Saturday. Their arraignment was set for this afternoon. They were the 35th and 36th suspects arrested for alleged participation in the scheme. An Oregon State Police report said the California Sun fishing boat attempted to offload the marijuana at Frankfort Beach in northern Curry County in southwest Oregon. Their investigation led to the discovery of more than 40 other smuggling ventures between 1975 and 1991. Martin was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1991 and Mullen in 1990. Both were captured in different cities of the Philippines by members of the Philippine Presidential Anti-Crime Task Force and turned over to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Woman inmate found hanging in cell (The Associated Press says the suicide of Loretta Hill, 26, was the fourth by an Oregon state prisoner in the past two months.) Associated Press found at: http://www.oregonlive.com/ feedback (letters to the editor): feedback@thewire.ap.org Woman inmate found hanging in cell The Associated Press 11/2/98 3:29 AM SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- A woman inmate has become the fourth suicide in Oregon prisons in the past two months. Loretta Hill, 26, was found hanging in her cell at the Oregon Women's Correctional Center at 9:40 p.m. Saturday, and was pronounced dead at 10:17 p.m. after efforts to revive her failed, officials said. Six days before her death, Hill was classified a mental health risk by prison staff, said Perrin Damon, state Corrections Department spokeswoman. As a result, Hill was issued heavy, quilt-like clothing that can't be torn or tied and was checked every half-hour. Her bedsheets and blankets were confiscated, Damon said. "From the surface, it looked like everything was done by the book," Damon said, "so it took us by surprise." Hill's death was the fourth suicide in state prisons since Aug. 30, when Stanley Reger, 50, hanged himself with a bedsheet in his general population cell at the Oregon State Penitentiary. On Sept. 27, John Norris, 31, hanged himself with a bedsheet in a disciplinary cell at the Salem prison. The next day, Solomon Abernathy, 21, was found hanging in a disciplinary cell at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution near Pendleton. Hill was serving sentences for assault convictions in Multnomah and Marion counties, and had previous convictions on robbery and weapons charges. Damon said the prison system and mental health workers have been on the alert for potential suicides since the series of three suicides among male inmates. (c)1998 Oregon Live LLC Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Poll shows Washington marijuana measure slipping (An item from the web site of KATU, Portland's ABC affiliate, says a poll of 801 voters around Washington state earlier this week shows 47 percent supported Initiative 692, the medical marijuana ballot measure, while 38 percent opposed the initiative.) Date: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 14:09:31 -0800 From: Paul Freedom (nepal@teleport.com) Organization: Oregon Libertarian Patriots To: Cannabis Patriots (Cannabis-Patriots-L@teleport.com) Subject: CanPat - Poll shows Washington marijuana measure slipping Sender: owner-cannabis-patriots-l@smtp.teleport.com November 2, 199 KATU WEB PAGE: Poll shows Washington marijuana measure slipping (Seattle, October 30, 1998) A poll sponsored by KATU sister station KOMO in Seatttle shows support for a Washington measure to allow marijuana use among the seriously ill is slipping. The statewide poll of 801 voters taken earlier this week shows 47 percent support Initiative 692. Meanwhile, 38 percent oppose the measure, with the remainder undecided. In October, the same poll showed support for the initiative at 62 percent. Then it dropped to 59 percent in early October. Pollsters analyzing the results say this could mean the initiative vote will be very close. A look at how other initiatives fared in the poll: support for Initiative 694, which is intended to ban some late-term abortions, has fallen to 35 percent. Forty-eight percent of those polled oppose the initiative, with 17 percent undecided. By contrast, a measure aimed at raising the minimum wage over two years and tying future boosts to the cost of living looks headed for victory. The poll showed 64 percent of the voters in support.
------------------------------------------------------------------- KATU Online Poll (A list subscriber alerts others to a poll on medical marijuana at the web site of Portland's ABC affiliate.) Date: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 14:13:50 -0800 From: Paul Freedom (nepal@teleport.com) Organization: Oregon Libertarian Patriots To: Cannabis Patriots (Cannabis-Patriots-L@teleport.com) Subject: CanPat - KATU Online Poll Sender: owner-cannabis-patriots-l@smtp.teleport.com Go here to vote on MedMj http://local.citysearch.com/katu/ You can also express your opinion on this issue by posting a message to the Town Hall Discussion forum on Oregon Marijuana Ballot Measures Oregon's Marijuana Ballot Measures are also the topic of the live Sunday Nov. 1st Town Hall program at 6 pm on KATU. Totals so far: yes - 51.72% no - 47.07% - 0.00%
------------------------------------------------------------------- Prop. 215 Maneuvering (The Orange County Register says the trial of Marvin Chavez, founder of the Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group, took an unusual turn Monday. Defense attorneys filed a motion to have Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust disqualified from prosecuting the case because there is a reasonable possibility that he "will not exercise his discretionary function in an even handed manner and has abandoned his duty to seek justice," based on his statements to reporters and letters in The Register.) Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 19:26:54 -0800 From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) To: mapnews@mapinc.org Subject: MN: US CA: Prop. 215 Maneuvering Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: John W. Black Pubdate: Nov 3, 1998 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Contact: letters@link.freedom.com Website: http://www.ocregister.com/ Copyright: 1998 The Orange County Register PROP. 215 MANEUVERING The Orange County trial of Marvin Chavez, accused of selling marijuana by the prosecution - and guilty only of trying to implement Prop. 215 responsibly, according to the defense - took an unusual turn Monday. Defense attorneys James Silva and David Nick filed a motion to have Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust disqualified from prosecuting the case because "there is reasonable possibility that [he] will not exercise his discretionary function in an even handed manner and has abandoned his duty to seek justice." The burden of the defense complaint is that by his statements to reporters and letters in the Register, Mr. Armbrust has gone far enough beyond simple vigorous prosecution as to raise questions about his ability to be fair. Prosecutors have been removed from cases before for similar reasons. Whether Mr. Armbrust's removal is warranted depends on the evidence and arguments to be presented today. Another important step for the status of medical marijuana in general, and perhaps in some ways for the Chavez case, happens on Election Day, when voters in Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and the District of Columbia will all have medical marijuana initiatives on the ballot. The outcome will indicate what voters in other states are thinking, two years after California's Prop. 215 passed. It would be refreshing if California could begin to demonstrate that we've had enough of inconclusive court battles and are ready to implement responsibly the will of the people as expressed in Prop. 215. Which county or city council will step up to meet the challenge?
------------------------------------------------------------------- Differing Perceptions Of Contenders For Governor (A letter to the editor of The San Francisco Examiner urges California voters to consign Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren to the trash bin of history for undermining the will of voters who endorsed Proposition 215.) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 17:18:38 -0800 From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) To: mapnews@mapinc.org Subject: MN: US CA: SFX: PUB LTE: Differing Perceptions Of Contenders For Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World) Pubdate: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA) Contact: letters@examiner.com Website: http://www.examiner.com/ Copyright: 1998 San Francisco Examiner Author: Chris Conrad DIFFERING PERCEPTIONS OF CONTENDERS FOR GOVERNOR So gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren thinks his opponent, Gray Davis, might have taken the medical marijuana initiative "too seriously" ("Lungren yells at Davis across gap in the polls," Oct. 25). Lungren might be surprised to know that 56 percent of California voters also took Proposition 215 seriously enough to make it the law of the land. Over 5 million voters approved medical marijuana in 1996, and drug use among adolescents has gone down since its passage. We expect elected officials -- even Attorney General Lungren -- to obey our laws and to do their jobs. The attorney general is charged with enforcing and defending state laws from all attacks, including from the federal government. Since 1996 Lungren has instead used his office to undermine the will of the voters, to collude with the drug czar's staff to thwart the availability of this medicine. I wish Gray Davis had the courage to adopt the medical marijuana constituency and campaign on this issue. Nonetheless, I hope voters take this election as an opportunity to turn out in record numbers to toss Lungren into the trash bin of history. Chris Conrad, Family Council on Drug Awareness, El Cerrito
------------------------------------------------------------------- Medical Pot Users File Class Action Suit (The Bay Area Reporter version of recent news about the lawsuit filed by Lawrence Elliott Hirsch in Philadelphia against the federal prohibition on medical marijuana.) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 17:13:27 -0800 From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) To: mapnews@mapinc.org Subject: MN: US: Medical Pot Users File Class Action Suit Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: FilmMakerZ Source: Bay Area Reporter (CA) Contact: bar@logx.com Website: http://www.ebar.com/ Copyright: 1998 The Bay Area Reporter Pubdate: Thurs, 29 Oct 1998 Author: Liz Highleyman Note: The website for this lawsuit is at: http://www.fairlaw.org/actionclassintro.html MEDICAL POT USERS FILE CLASS ACTION SUIT A U.S. District Court in Philadelphia last Wednesday, October 21 heard the first arguments in a class action suit challenging the federal government's prohibition on the use of medical cannabis. The lawsuit - Kuromiya vs. the U.S. - involves 166 plaintiffs from 49 states (the Action Class for Freedom of Therapeutic Cannabis). They claim to represent an estimated 97 million Americans who use medicinal marijuana to help stimulate their appetite to prevent wasting, relieve the effects of nausea due to chemotherapy, reduce high eye pressure related to glaucoma, or for other medical purposes. The plaintiffs assert that the government's medical marijuana ban is unconstitutional, and violates the first, fourth, sixth, eighth, ninth, and 10th amendments. In particular, plaintiffs claim that the prohibition violates their rights to due process and equal protection under the law. According to plaintiffs' attorney Lawrence Elliott Hirsch, "There can be no more cruel and unusual punishment than to deprive a seriously ill or disabled person of the only remedy that has been found to work." The lead plaintiff in the suit, Kiyoshi Kuromiya, is a longtime AIDS activist who uses medical cannabis to help control HIV-related wasting. Kuromiya and several other plaintiffs detailed their personal experiences using medicinal marijuana and how it has helped them deal with various maladies. He stated that the Marinol pill, which contains a synthesized analogue of an active ingredient of marijuana, did not work for him because pill-taking triggered his nausea and it takes up to an hour for Marinol's effects to kick in. 'Quite Supportive' Judge According to a report from Hirsch, District Court Judge Marvin Katz denied the federal government's motion to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the government is within its rights to regulate drugs as interstate commerce. In response to a question from the judge, federal attorneys acknowledged that the government does provide medical cannabis to eight patients, the few that remain from an earlier compassionate use program. According to Kuromiya, the presence of the compassionate use program "collapses in one fell swoop the government's argument that marijuana is not therapeutically effective," and "flies in the face of [drug czar General Barry] McCaffrey's statement that there is scientific proof of the unworthiness of cannabis as a therapeutic treatment for any condition." Likening the situation to the unfairness of providing morphine for pain relief to only eight people, the judge proposed a settlement in which the federal government would enroll the plaintiffs in the cannabis compassionate use program. The attorney for the federal government said the proposal was costly and unacceptable. The plaintiffs' attorney will poll the Action Class to determine whether members will accept the settlement. Kuromiya characterized Katz as "quite supportive," and said that the Action Class has "cleared its first hurdle." The plaintiffs will file an amendment to their lawsuit, and the government will have 60 days to respond. Both sides were asked by the judge to provide additional information, including scientific data related to the medicinal use of cannabis.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Authorities consider medical use of marijuana (The USA Today version.) Date: Tue, 03 Nov 1998 11:16:19 -0600 From: "Frank S. World" (compassion23@geocities.com) Reply-To: compassion23@geocities.com Organization: Rx Cannabis Now! http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7417/ To: DRCNet Medical Marijuana Forum (medmj@drcnet.org) Subject: USAT: Authorities consider medical use of marijuana Sender: owner-medmj@drcnet.org Source: USA TODAY Contact: http://survey.usatoday.com/cgi-bin/feedback.cgi Website: http://www.usatoday.com/ Pubdate: 11/02/98 AUTHORITIES CONSIDER MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA WASHINGTON -- Responding to a request from a federal judge, the Justice Department is considering whether to permit government-supervised use of marijuana as a treatment for certain sick people. If Justice agrees to settle a lawsuit as proposed by a district judge in Philadelphia, government-approved marijuana could be available to thousands of AIDS and cancer sufferers and other patients. In return, the 160 plaintiffs in the case would drop their lawsuit. Now, only about eight patients nationwide receive government-approved marijuana under a program administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. Agreeing to the proposed settlement would mark a major reversal of Justice Department policy. Since January, the department has filed suit seeking to close at least six California "marijuana clubs" which supply members, including disease sufferers, with the drug. "This is definitely new," said Dave Fratello, spokesman for Americans for Medical Rights, a Los Angeles-based group that favors making marijuana available with a doctor's approval. "This could change the entire trend of federal policy." The proposal was made late last month by Judge Marvin Katz to settle a class-action suit that contends laws prohibiting marijuana use are unconstitutional. Justice Department lawyers filed papers Thursday asking for "at least 60 days" to consider the judge's proposal. "There are provisions in the law that allow for scientific research ... under scientific conditions," said Gregory King, a department spokesman. "(But) we have taken the position that marijuana must go through the same process all medications go through prior to their approval ... to be cleared by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration)." That has never happened. Marijuana can produce a "high" leading to addiction. It also is credited by disease sufferers with a host of benefits, such as relieving nausea associated with chemotherapy. Tuesday voters in five states and the District of Columbia will decide proposals to make medical marijuana available under a doctor's direction. A government-sponsored medical marijuana study is being phased out by the Clinton administration, which doubts the drug's benefits. Eight holdovers from the project receive government-sanctioned marijuana grown at a federal facility in Oxford, Miss. Katz is a 68-year-old Ronald Reagan appointee on senior or semiretired status. Through an assistant, the judge declined to answer questions about the case.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Home Rule and Initiative 59 (A letter to the editor of The Washington Post says the District of Columbia Election Board is mistaken in thinking that the congressional rider in the fiscal 1999 DC budget, which bans funding for the medical marijuana ballot measure, prevents counting votes.) Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 18:17:50 -0800 From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) To: mapnews@mapinc.org Subject: MN: US DC: PUB LTE: Home Rule and Initiative 59 Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: Robert Ryan and Colorado Hemp Initiative Project Pubdate: 2 Nov 1998 Source: Washington Post (DC) Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Copyright: 1998 The Washington Post Company HOME RULE AND INITIATIVE 59 The Election Board is mistaken that the congressional rider in the fiscal 1999 D.C. budget banning funding for the medical marijuana initiative prevents counting ballot results. The appearance of Initiative 59 on the ballot is purely an election matter having nothing to do with implementing the law. It is strictly a matter of voter rights at this point. If applied this way, the rider is unconstitutional because it denies voters' rights. If Congress legally can thwart Initiative 59 at the ballot box, it effectively can deny all democratic processes to the District by forbidding funds to be used for any elections at all. The votes for Initiative 59 should be counted, and this witch hunt against those who use marijuana medicinally must end immediately. STEVEN KENNEDY Alameda, Calif.
------------------------------------------------------------------- 235 Voter Referendums Test Mood Of America (The Chicago Tribune surveys the myriad voter initiatives on state ballots around the country, mentioning only one state's medical marijuana initiative.) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 20:05:55 -0800 From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) To: mapnews@mapinc.org Subject: MN: US: 235 Voter Referendums Test Mood Of America Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: Steve Young Pubdate: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Section: Sec. 1 Copyright: 1998 Chicago Tribune Company Contact: tribletter@aol.com Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Author: Vincent J. Schodolski 235 VOTER REFERENDUMS TEST MOOD OF AMERICA PORTLAND, Ore. -- In Oregon, the issue is the privacy rights of adoptees. In Washington it is affirmative action. In Alaska and Hawaii it is same sex-marriage. In South Carolina it is a question of finally saying that marriage between a black person and a white person is legal. And in Ohio it is the fate of a bird with a mournful song. On Tuesday, voters in 44 states will decide 61 initiatives that could become laws or in some cases amend state constitutions. In addition, 174 referendums have been placed on ballots by state legislatures. The initiative process itself is being considered in six states, primarily as a result of questions placed before voters by state legislators who see the use of ballot measures to make laws as a threat to their domain. Oregon and Arizona have the greatest number of initiatives this year, each state presenting voters with 14. In Oregon, in addition to a medical marijuana measure and a separate issue on campaign finance reform, three other initiatives have drawn wide attention. One would guarantee the right of an adopted person to have access to an original birth certificate once he or she reaches the age of 21. Current law dictates that a new birth certificate be issued upon adoption; the original certificate is sealed and can be obtained only through court order. In a state where measures to protect the environment usually are wildly popular, a proposal that would further limit the number of trees per acre that can be harvested appears headed for defeat, primarily because it could lead to the loss of nearly half the jobs in Oregon's timber industry. Mainstream environmentalists failed to support the proposition because they see it as too radical. Further, should they approve Measure 60 Tuesday, Oregonians would never go to the polls again for biennial primary and general elections. The measure would require voting to be done by mail. In neighboring Washington, voters will decide whether to eliminate the use of racial and gender preferences for state jobs, contracts and admission to state universities and colleges. As California did two years ago, Washington appears poised to abolish affirmative action programs. Opinion polls indicate that the measure, supported by money from Ward Connerly, the Sacramento businessman who spearheaded the campaign in California, is ahead by about 12 percentage points. Experts say it could give a major boost to national efforts to end affirmative action. "People are watching this one very closely," said Dane Waters, president of the Initiative and Referendum Institute, a non-profit Washington group that monitors trends in the ballot measure process. "They think that if this works in a state like Washington then it could be an indication of a national mood." Term-limit measures, the darlings of the initiative process for many conservatives throughout the 1990s, are on ballots in four states. This year, however, proponents are taking a slightly different approach. In three of the four states--Arizona, Colorado and Idaho--the proposals call for voters to demand that candidates be asked to sign a voluntary pledge to limit themselves to three terms in the U.S. House and two terms in the Senate. The measures also would require that a notation about whether the candidate signed the pledge be made next to the candidate's name on the ballot. Paul Jacobs, executive director of U.S. Term Limits, a Washington-based organization that champions the issue, said this trend is designed to hold individual candidates responsible for their views on term limits by taking the pledge before they run. Jacobs and others noted that term-limit initiatives have become a lightning rod for many elected officials who see voters making laws as a threat to their power. In Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota and Montana, there are measures designed to make it more difficult to legislate via initiative by limiting corporate contributions to such campaigns, requiring two-thirds majorities for passage and barring non-residents from introducing initiative proposals. There are two measures in Arizona that would make it harder for the governor and the state legislature to reverse voters' decisions at the ballot box. "Who is really in charge?" asked initiative supporter Jacobs. "Is this a nation where people rule or is this a nation where people are ruled?" Echoing a societal and moral question that voters addressed in Oregon two years ago, Michigan residents will consider a ballot measure that would permit doctor-assisted suicide. A complicated, 12-page proposition, the Michigan measure would place far more controls on the process by which terminally ill people could obtain the drugs necessary to end their lives than the Oregon law does. According to Robert Moreillon, campaign manager for Merian's Friends Inc., the group sponsoring the initiative, the measure had been favored by about 60 percent of Michigan voters until a coalition lead by the Roman Catholic Church launched a media blitz aimed at defeating the proposal. "It has flip-flopped," said Moreillion, who heads the group named after Merian Frederick, a woman from Ann Arbor who took her own life with the help of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Moreillon said that 60 percent of those polled now said they would vote against the measure. In the year since the Oregon law finally cleared its last court challenge, eight people have taken their lives using the new system. The average age of those ending their lives with the help of a physician was 71. The issue of late-term abortion goes before the voters in Colorado and Washington. The measures are worded differently. Amendment 11 in Colorado defines the procedure as: ". . . an abortion during which the person performing the abortion deliberately and intentionally causes to be delivered into the vagina a living human fetus for the purpose of performing any procedure the person knows will kill the fetus." Washington's Initiative 694 talks about killing a fetus in the "process of birth" and goes on to define that term as: ". . . the point in time when the mother's cervix has become dilated, the membrane of the amniotic sac has ruptured, and any part of the fetus has passed from the uterus, or womb into the birth canal." Some experts suggested that the wording of both measures could be interpreted to prohibit other forms of late-term abortion besides that procedure referred to as partial birth abortion. In California, usually the nation's bellwether in the initiative process, 1998 has turned out to be a tame year. There is an initiative to increase taxes on cigarettes to pay for early child-development and smoking-prevention programs, a class-size reduction proposition and proposal that would expand Indian gaming. There also is a measure that would do away with the open-primary election process that voters approved by initiative last year. Under that system voters can vote for a candidate no matter what the voter's party affiliation. The measure was placed on the ballot by the legislature with the support of Gov. Pete Wilson to clear the way for an increased role for California in the presidential primary elections starting in 2000. Wilson recently signed a bill into law that moves the California primary up to the beginning of March to give the country's most populous state an early, powerful voice in deciding who the presidential nominees would be. Because the rules of both the Republican and Democratic parties require those voting in presidential primaries to be only party members, the new California law must be changed. Thirty-one years after the Supreme Court declared miscegenation laws unconstitutional, voters in South Carolina will be asked to formally amend the state constitution by deleting the provision that prohibits marriage between blacks and whites. "It is a bit of housekeeping," said Jennie Drage, a research analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "They have not enforced the law in 30 years." And in Ohio, voters hold the fate of the mourning dove in their hands. In an effort to save the pigeon-size bird, animal rights groups have placed the measure on the state ballot, called Issue 1. If approved it would prohibit the popular sport of hunting the dove.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Killing Narcotics With Fungus (KTVU-TV Channel 2, Oakland/San Francisco, recounts the US government's new $23 million biological warfare campaign against cannabis, coca, and poppies, noting the target plants are likely will evolve even stronger chemicals to fight to the fungus. Mutated plants could also pass their genes on to other plants or weeds. The so-called "transgene escape" has been shown to create herbicide-resistant super-weeds.)Date: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 19:54:58 -0500 To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org) From: ltneidow@voyager.net (Lee T. Neidow) Subject: Killing Narcotics With Fungus Reply-To: drctalk@drcnet.org Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org The only bias I have is that 98% of the world's intelligence, wisdom, awareness and initiative is compressed in to the Bay Area. Following is an illustration. Lee *** From KTVU-TV Channel 2, Oakland/San Francisco: FOWLER'S FOCUS 11/2/98 By John Fowler, KTVU Health and Science Editor Killer Fungus Targets Narcotics Plants-But At What Cost? U.S. government researchers announced they are developing a fungus, or "mycoherbicide," which they have bio-engineered to kill narcotics plants. Congress has approved $23 million for research into this biological weapon in the war on drugs. U.S. officials hope various nations will allow the fungus to be introduced into their soils. Targets are plants that provide the sources of cocaine, marijuana, and heroin. Some researchers, however, are worried that mycoherbicides could create a disastrous natural backlash. Paul Arriola, an expert in plant genetics at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois, says interactions between fungi in the soil and the roots of plants they infect are not completely understood. It is possible, he says, that we will lose control of the fungus, which then might adversely affect other plants. For example, cocaine is of a class of chemicals called alkaloids. Other common alkaloids that have value to us include nicotine, caffeine, quinine, morphine, and ephedrine. What happens if the fungus affects these crops as well? Also, the target plants, the coca plant, the hemp plant and the poppy, likely will evolve even stronger chemicals to fight to the fungus. Mutated plants could possibly pass those genes on to other plants or weeds. This so-called "transgene escape" has been shown to create herbicide- resistant super-weeds. Arriola says, "It's frightening to think that in the search for a quick fix, we might cause ourselves more long-term ecological and social problems."
------------------------------------------------------------------- Kids Who Watch TV More Likely To Start Drinking (The Associated Press says a Stanford University study of 1,533 ninth-graders shows that students who watched lots of television and music videos were more likely to start drinking than other youngsters. Published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics, the study also showed that teens who rented movies were less likely to start drinking, while playing video and computer games had no effect. The researchers blamed television content rather than, for example, behavioral or genetic variables.) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 20:09:55 -0800 From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) To: mapnews@mapinc.org Subject: MN: US: Kids Who Watch Tv More Likely To Start Drinking Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: Patrick Henry (resist_tyranny@mapinc.org) Pubdate: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1998 Associated Press. Author: Eric Fidler, Associated Press KIDS WHO WATCH TV MORE LIKELY TO START DRINKING CHICAGO (AP) - High school students who watch lots of television and music videos are more likely to start drinking than other youngsters, researchers say. The Stanford University study of 1,533 ninth-graders also showed that youngsters who rented movies were less likely to start drinking, while playing video and computer games had no effect. Watching TV and videos made no difference in the drinking habits of those who already drank. The findings are not surprising given research that shows alcohol is the most common beverage shown on television, the study's lead author, Dr. Thomas Robinson, said Monday. "The great majority of drinking on television is by the most attractive and most influential people, and it is often associated with sexually suggestive content,'' said Robinson, who works at the school's Center for Research and Disease Prevention. The study found that each increase of one hour per day of watching music videos brought a 31 percent greater risk of starting to drink over the next 18 months. Each hour increase of watching other kinds of television corresponded to a 9 percent greater risk. Each hour spent watching movies in a VCR corresponded to an 11 percent decreased risk of starting to drink alcohol. Computer and video games had no effect either way. The study, reported in this month's edition of the journal Pediatrics, looked at 2,609 ninth-graders in San Jose, Calif., and followed 1,533 of them throughout the 18 months. They reported their activities - how many hours playing video games, for example - and were asked how many drinks of alcohol they had ever had, and how many they had in the previous month. Over the next 18 months, 36.2 percent of 898 nondrinkers began to drink. Television habits had no effect on the 635 students who already drank, the authors said. But of the students who did not drink at the start of the study, what they watched on television played a major role in what they did over the next 18 months, the study found. Robinson said there needs to be "balance in the way alcohol is portrayed so that people who did drink did suffer some consequences from it.'' Alyse Booth, spokeswoman for the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York, said the results of the study did not surprise her. "There is a tremendous glamorization of the use of alcohol,'' she said. "Alcohol use is portrayed as normal and glamorous, never with the consequences.''
------------------------------------------------------------------- $63 Million Federal Lawsuit Filed Against George Bush And Others (From The Wilderness, published by Michael C. Ruppert, says Bill Tyree, a former US Army Green Beret who participated in CIA-directed missions to smuggle cocaine into Panama in 1975 and 1976, and who has been serving a life sentence in Massachusetts for the 1979 murder of his wife, Elaine, has filed a lawsuit in US District Court alleging that the CIA, George Bush, the Massachusetts governor and attorney general, and a long-time CIA operative have been part of a decades-long conspiracy to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States. The suit also alleges that the defendants, including George Bush, participated in a conspiracy to obstruct justice.) Date: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 13:45:59 -0800 From: Paul Freedom (nepal@teleport.com) Organization: Oregon Libertarian Patriots To: Cannabis Patriots (Cannabis-Patriots-L@teleport.com) Subject: CanPat - Fwd: $63 Million Federal Lawsuit Filed Against George Bush, and others.... Sender: owner-cannabis-patriots-l@smtp.teleport.com -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Fwd: $63 Million Federal Lawsuit Filed Against George Bush, and others....] Date: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 10:48:51 -0800 From: wolfeyes (wolfeyes@cdsnet.net) Organization: CWA To: Al Olson (alolson@reborn.com) Return-Path: (DotHB@aol.com) Delivered-To: Wolfeyes@cdsnet.net From: DotHB@aol.com Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 11:59:51 EST To: DotHB@aol.com Subject: $63 Million Federal Lawsuit Filed Against George Bush, and others.... $63 MILLION FEDERAL LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST GEORGE BUSH, AND OTHERS [COMMENT: Speaking of head shots...$63 Million federal lawsuit filed against George Bush, CIA, Chip Tatum and Mass. officials by former Green Beret Bill Tyree - suit links Albert Carone to missing diaries and cover-up by State officials, U.S. government. ....Andy Colesanti (acolesanti@flinet.com) ----who forwarded this message....] *** United States District Court District of Massachusetts 98-C.V.-11829-JLT William M. Tyree, Plaintiff v. Central Intelligence Agency L. Scott Harshbarger A. Paul Celluci George Bush Dois Gene Tatum Defendants *** Bill Tyree, the former U.S. Army Green Beret, who participated in CIA directed missions to smuggle cocaine into Panama in 1975 and 76, and who has been serving a life sentence in Massachusetts for the 1979 murder of his wife Elaine, has filed a $63 million lawsuit in U.S. District Court charging that the CIA, George Bush, the Massachusetts Governor and Attorney General, and long time CIA operative Dois G "Chip" Tatum have been part of a decades long conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the United States. The suit also alleges that the defendants, including George Bush, have directly participated in a conspiracy to obstruct justice, conceal evidence and engaged in theft to keep a set of diaries maintained by Elaine Tyree, which would prove both Tyree's innocence and the CIA conspiracy, from falling into Tyree's possession. This is in spite of previous court findings that initial searches of Tyree's residence by Massachusetts authorities, after the murder, were illegal and that removal of the diaries constituted theft of personal property. The suit further alleges that the defendants have used the monies generated from those activities to fund a host of illegal operations which have violated the Constitution. The initial filing in the case, more than one hundred pages long and supported by "five inches" of supporting documents, touches issues ranging from Iran Contra drug trafficking, to Mena, Arkansas, to political fundraising, to FEMA, to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Tyree, who served first with the 7th and later the 10th Special Forces at Fort Devens, MA, participated in CIA missions using Special Forces troops to infiltrate Colombia to plant navigational aids for cocaine flights into Panama in 1975 and 1976. Tyree, and others who have submitted affidavits, watched the planes being unloaded by the likes of Manuel Noriega, CIA officer Ed Wilson and Israeli Mossad Agent Mike Harrari. In 1977 and 1978 Tyree engaged in illegal domestic surveillance and blackmail operations from Fort Devens, which were designed to conceal the earlier missions. He became disenchanted with the work and asked for a transfer. At the same time, his wife Elaine, also in the Army, became an informant for the Army's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and began recording details of illegal operations in a set of diaries. She was murdered with a hunting knife in their apartment a short time later and her diaries disappeared. Tyree has steadfastly maintained his innocence and, over the years, an increasing body of evidence has surfaced to support his claims. At first blush such a broad sweep for a civil action seems unjustified and even ill conceived. However a close reading of the complaint reveals a distinct connection between the disparate elements in the form of Albert Vincent Carone and documents and witness statements, which have recently surfaced, showing that Carone, a CIA operative for more than thirty years prior to his 1990 death, has participated in all of the above events. The complaint also specifically states that Carone was the man who illegally took possession of Elaine Tyree's diaries shortly after her murder. The suit further alleges that Carone retrieved the diaries at the "express direction" of George Bush who served as CIA Director in 1976 when the CIA drug flights, known as the "Watchtower" missions took place. The initial filing for the suit indicates a direct evidentiary connection leading to Bush as part of the conspiracy. Far from being general in nature, the suit includes copious supporting material, names more than twenty-five banks and lists more than ten bank account numbers connected to the CIA's movement of monies generated from drug trafficking. The suit also indicates that, via witness testimony, some already included in the form of affidavits, there are witnesses capable of tying Bush to Carone and Carone to the diaries. In addition, the suit seeks 722 specific sets of records. According to Tyree's attorney, Ray Kohlman of Attleboro, Massachusetts, "The first round of subpoenas for records have already landed in Washington and elsewhere with a resounding thud." Subpoenas for records and statements already made by defendant Tatum have been sent through the U.S. Marshall's service to Tatum, who is considered a "friendly defendant" in the case. Tatum's whereabouts are currently unknown but he has, for several years, published materials and documents denouncing the CIA and George Bush for their direct roles in smuggling drugs into the country and for engaging in other illegal activities. According to Kohlman, Tatum's inclusion as a defendant is intended to, "compel testimony which we believe Tatum wants to give but which requires that Tatum have the protection afforded by a civil subpoena to do so." The Massachusetts Connections: In civil and criminal trails in 1985 and 1987 against a former Ayer police officer and a Massachusetts State Trooper, the courts found that warrantless searches of the Tyree residence, conducted immediately after the murder, were illegal and that property taken in those searches, including the diaries and photographs showing Tyree in uniform, was illegally seized. The photographs showed Tyree with decorations and ratings the Army subsequently denied he had ever been awarded. The courts issued orders to police officials in the town of Ayer and Middlesex County to return the property and one of the officers involved admitted liability and paid a judgement. The second officer paid a judgement on appeal. Continuing attempts were made by Tyree to recover the property, which the District Attorney's office admitted had been removed, without success. (See story in the May issue) Inclusion of the Massachusetts Governor, Paul Celluci and the Attorney General, Scott Harshbarger as defendants in the suit is based upon more than a pro forma issue of their roles as law enforcement officers in the state. Celluci, the Republican appointed to serve out the balance of former Governor William Weld's term, has specifically ignored written appeals from Tyree for commutation of sentence and enforcement of his civil rights. His law partner in 1980, William Kittridge, defended Special Forces trooper Erik Aarhus, who was also convicted in the murder, and allegedly wielded the knife, in a conspiracy with Tyree to collect insurance money. A sizeable body of material, including affidavits, forensic evidence, and witness testimony exists to show that neither Tyree nor Aarhus were present when the murder was committed and that another former Green Beret, William Peters, was the actual killer (See story in the May issue). The initial case against Tyree was initially dismissed by Judge James Killiam and subsequently re-filed, as a result of government pressure, with the Massachusetts State Judicial Supreme Court. In a June, 1998 documentary on A&E entitled, Murder at Fort Devens, Judge Killiam again repeated his beliefs, both that Tyree was innocent and that Peters was the real killer. Harshbarger, the current Attorney General served as Middlesex County DA, in which jurisdiction Tyree was originally prosecuted, from 1984 to 1990. In addition, while District Attorney in 1987 he defended Peters, in a clear conflict of interest, when Tyree's mother placed charges against him. As the District Attorney and later as Attorney General, Harshbarger had direct responsibility to comply with the court orders directing the return of the diaries and other personal property in the 1985 and 1987 civil cases. As far back as 1980, while the Tyree case was being prosecuted by then Middlesex DA John Droney, Harshbarger had been hired as a special counsel by the Selectmen of Ayer, to investigate widespread corruption in the Ayer Police Department on charges which included theft. As a result of Harshbarger's investigations, several Ayer police were fired and faced criminal proceedings. It was these same Ayer police who searched Tyree's residence with the assistance of State Troopers. Carone - Putting The Pieces Together: It was not until late 1996, in a series of events which involved this writer, that Bill Tyree learned that it had been Albert Carone who had received the diaries from Massachusetts and who had held them in his personal possession until November, 1989, shortly before his own death. Albert Vincent Carone, a retired NYPD Detective First Grade, had served his entire life also as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves assigned to Military Intelligence and the Counter Intelligence Corps. He retired from NYPD in 1980 and moved to New Mexico where he began work on Contra support operations. The Army served as the cover for his work directed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Carone's connections both to organized crime and the CIA are extremely well documented and are a significant part of a large affidavit submitted by this writer in the suit. Among the records available are a personal phone book in which are listed the home addresses and phone numbers of both William Casey and Gambino family crime boss Pauly Castellano. There are also a host of other records tying Carone to a multitude of CIA operations including laundering of Contra-era cocaine profits and such entities as the Nugan Hand Bank. Carone family members have produced a series of affidavits and records specifically referencing George Bush, Oliver North, Richard Secord, Elliot Abrams, Bill Casey and many other CIA figures. Bill Casey attended the christening of Carone's grandson in the 1970s and Santos Trafficante and other Mafia figures have been known to the family for decades as "uncle". (A complete report of my investigation of Albert Carone is available through From The Wilderness ) In 1990, after he had expressed reservations at having participated in CIA operations resulting in the 1985 death of DEA agent "Kiki" Camarena, Carone died as a result of "chemical toxicity of unknown etiology." Every conceivable record concerning Carone, including active bank accounts, life insurance policies, military records, NYPD files and even his driver's license disappeared. His daughter, Dee Carone Ferdinand, and her family were left destitute. Although she did not know it, Dee had known of Bill Tyree for a long time, only by a different name - Sandy. For many years Al Carone had repeatedly referred to a great wrong done to Sandy in conversations with both Dee and her husband, Tommy. "Sandy was, " said Dee, "almost an obsession with Dad." Carone had participated not only in the Watchtower missions but also in several other covert operations in which Tyree had also served under CIA direction. They knew each other well. Carone's role was that of "paymaster" and bagman". The connections came slowly. In 1991, Tyree made contact with retired Army CID investigator William McCoy, who began investigating events connected with Tyree's case. McCoy was a well-respected Washington area private investigator who had assisted in investigations with the Cristic Institute in the 1980s. Though Tyree knew Carone from the Watchtower missions and other operations, his name was not initially given to McCoy. It was not until approximately 1994 that the Ferdinands and Tyree learned of each other's existence and it was not until September of 1996 that Tyree and Dee Ferdinand first made personal contact. It was a short time after that that Dee Ferdinand realized that Tyree was the "Sandy" referred to by her father and it was not until 1997 that it became clear that Albert Carone had held Elaine Tyree's diaries in his possession for many years. In affidavits filed in the lawsuit, the Ferdinands reveal that not only had they seen the diaries but that both had actually held them and could describe contents thereof which had never been published or otherwise described. Sometime in late 1989, knowing he was dying, Carone delivered the diaries to unnamed CIA officials. [NOTE: The practice of law enforcement and military investigators knowingly holding key items of evidence in their personal possession is well known to this writer as a means of "personal insurance" Such practice was well documented in a police spy scandal in Los Angeles in the 1980s.] Carone's relations with George Bush are well documented in various investigations, including my own, and, as well, through statements made by Carone to both Tyree and his own family. It is those statements, and other records which will be produced at trial, which provide the foundation showing that George Bush, as Director of CIA during the Watchtower missions, and as an active CIA executive in the years after, directly ordered Carone to Massachusetts in the wake of Elaine Tyree's murder, to retrieve the diaries. This writer was first put in touch with Dee Ferdinand in late 1993 by former CIA case officer David MacMichael. After initial phone conversations I traveled to New Mexico and produced an extensive report on Albert Carone, which I published and copyrighted in March. I sent a copy to retired CID investigator McCoy, who had spoken briefly to Dee previously, as well as to several other former Army and CIA employees. McCoy had been working with Tyree at that time for several years but had not delved deeply into Carone's case. It was not until late 1994 that McCoy, after reading my investigation, began talking regularly to Ferdinand and it was not until late 1996 that McCoy mentioned Ferdinand's maiden name, Carone, to Tyree. Tyree went through the roof. Bill McCoy passed away suddenly in 1997 and Tyree and Ferdinand began communicating directly. It was through those communications that Dee Ferdinand realized that Bill Tyree was the "Sandy" so often referred to her by her father and that her father had actually held the diaries instead of destroying them. Preliminary work on the suit was commenced shortly thereafter. Dee Ferdinand had previously heard of Tyree through both Bill McCoy and me. None of us voiced any connection between the two cases although it is possible that McCoy suspected one. I had received a document describing Tyree's case, known as the Cutolo affidavit, in 1992 and this remained the sole piece of material I had on Tyree until I began receiving additional materials from McCoy in 1994. In none of those documents was the name "Sandy" ever mentioned. My first direct contact with Tyree came in 1996. Additional revelations, in affidavits filed by Dee Ferdinand and her husband, as well as by other Carone family members, indicate that Albert Carone had also told his family that he had delivered cash payoffs to Jack Ruby in Dallas on Nov. 21, 1963 and that he had been on a rooftop at Dallas' Love Field with a rifle as part of a CIA attempt to kill John Kennedy before the fateful motorcade got underway. A source close to the case has indicated that additional corroborative evidence as to the relationship between Carone and Ruby may be forthcoming. The suit is seeking $21 million in extrinsic damages - $1 million for each year of incarceration, $42 million in exemplary damages, $21 for the value of the diaries and the photographs, an injunction against the CIA from engaging in further illegal. activities and such legal remedies as are appropriate under the Constitution. That last part would, of course, include a new trial and thus, Tyree's freedom. Initial hearings in the case are scheduled to begin on October 30. *** CORRECTIONS: In the May issue, From The Wilderness reported that Paul Celluci, Governor of Massachusetts was a Democrat. Celluci is, in fact, a lifelong Republican. In that issue I also gave a spelling of Bill Tyree's attorney Ray Kohlman as Coleman. I had spoken with Ray several times and even mailed him letters after being given an incorrect spelling and he never corrected me. It was not until I received corres- pondence on his letterhead that I realized the mistake. There's only one thing I can say - Oops. Sorry. *** (c) COPYRIGHT 1998, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MICHAEL C. RUPPERT FROM THE WILDERNESS - WWW.COPVCIA.COM (Permission to reprint only if the above appears) *** COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] *** CONNECT THE DOTS Dot Bibee (DotHB@aol.com) Knoxville, TN Ph/FAX (423) 577-7011 JOIN THE CONSTITUTION COALITION http://www.angelfire.com/tn/constcoal Click on "Dump Em" State by State List "To Deny the Constitution is to Provoke Revolution"
------------------------------------------------------------------- On the border, journalists put lives on the line (An Associated Press article in The Seattle Times about Jesus Blancornelas, the Tijuana, Mexico, publisher of the newspaper, Zeta, says the survivor of a bloody assassination attempt continues to expose alleged traffickers in illegal drugs.) From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net) To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net) Subject: On the border, journalists put lives on the line Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 17:44:47 -0800 Sender: owner-when@hemp.net Copyright (c) 1998 The Seattle Times Company Posted at 06:51 a.m. PST; Monday, November 2, 1998 On the border, journalists put lives on the line by Anita Snow The Associated Press TIJUANA, Mexico - The second life of newspaper publisher Jesus Blancornelas began after he glanced out the window of his red Ford Explorer to see a man in a passing vehicle aiming a gun at him. Dozens of bullets tore into the Explorer. Blancornelas nearly bled to death from four wounds. His bodyguard-driver, Luis Lauro Valero, died. "I am now living extra hours that were given to me," said Blancornelas, an intense 62-year-old with closely cropped salt-and-pepper hair and beard. "I arrived at the hospital almost dead. If I had arrived five minutes later, I would not be here." But Blancornelas' second life is similar to the first. Every week he writes the same type of hard-hitting column for the investigative weekly Zeta that nearly got him killed. Border journalists like Blancornelas run real risks exposing gangs that move tons of cocaine and other drugs into the United States. Last year, another newspaper publisher in the neighboring border state of Sonora was shot to death outside his office. The attack on Blancornelas last Nov. 27 has not made him any less public. When gunmen massacred eight children and 10 adults in nearby Ensenada in a drug-related shooting in September, Blancornelas was interviewed extensively by Mexican news media. Several weeks in a row, he made the massacre the lead story in Zeta, which he helped found 18 years ago. "We are working as we always did, and we are moving ahead," he said. "If I sat at home all day and did nothing, I would die." Even before he was shot, Blancornelas was widely recognized for investigative reporting that targeted the violent Arellano Felix brothers, who run Mexico's most powerful drug gang out of Tijuana. A year before the attack, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists gave him its International Press Freedom Award, and he was named World Press Review's editor of the year early this year. Blancornelas was honored Oct. 22 with a Maria Moors Cabot Prize, an award from Columbia University recognizing reporting that contributes to inter-American understanding and press freedom. Although praised by international journalists, Blancornelas has plenty of enemies in Tijuana. "When I first started in journalism, we said that it was much more dangerous to work in Mexico City," he said. "That changed." Joel Simon of the Committee to Protect Journalists agreed. "The border now is a much riskier place for journalists. It's a place where scores are settled and the journalism is bare-knuckles." In the Zeta issue just before Blancornelas was shot, he had blamed David Barron Corona, a reputed lieutenant in the Arellano Felix gang, for a machine-gun slaying of two federal agents outside a Tijuana courthouse. Barron was among the men who attacked Blancornelas, dying in the crossfire. It's just as dangerous farther east. Publisher Benjamin Flores Gonzalez was murdered in July 1997 outside the daily newspaper La Prensa in the border city of San Luis Colorado, south of Yuma, Ariz. A person firing an assault rifle from a car shot Flores at least 17 times in the back, then got out and shot him three times in the head with a pistol. Flores, a member of the opposition National Action Party, had used his column, "Not Confirmed," to expose alleged drug traffickers and to criticize the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Charges Vowed Against US Agents (According to The Chicago Tribune, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States said in an interview published Sunday that Venezuela plans to prosecute US undercover agents who took part in Operation Casablanca, a drug money laundering sting operation that led to the indictment of five Venezuelans.) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 20:01:14 -0800 From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) To: mapnews@mapinc.org Subject: MN: Venezuela: Charges Vowed Against U.S. Agents Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: Steve Young Pubdate: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Section: Sec. 1 Copyright: 1998 Chicago Tribune Company Contact: tribletter@aol.com Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/ CHARGES VOWED AGAINST U.S. AGENTS CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Venezuela plans to prosecute U.S. undercover agents who took part in a drug money laundering sting operation that led to the indictment of five Venezuelans, the country's ambassador to the U.S. said in an interview published Sunday. Operation Casablanca, which resulted in the arrest of more than 100 suspects from several Latin American countries in May, violated Venezuelan sovereignty, Ambassador Pedro Luis Echeverria told the newspaper El Nacional. Echeverria did not say how many U.S. agents would be charged. He said a note of protest would be sent to Washington soon. Mexico has said it might seek the extradition of the U.S. agents who operated in its territory during the investigation.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Two Million Drink At 'Harmful' Levels (According to The Scotsman, "The State of the Nation," a report publisehd today by an unspecified group, says one out of every 20 Britishers is addicted to alcohol, twice as many as are hooked on all other drugs. In addition to the two million harmful drinkers, seven million British residents imbibe more than the recommended government limit. The report also says there are up to 33,000 alcohol-related deaths each year in Britain and about 28,000 hospital admissions due to alcohol dependence or poisoning.) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 20:08:45 -0800 From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) To: mapnews@mapinc.org Subject: MN: UK: Two Million Drink At 'Harmful' Levels Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: shug@shug.co.uk Pubdate: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 Source: Scotsman (UK) Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd Contact: Letters_ts@scotsman.com Website: http://www.scotsman.com/ TWO MILLION DRINK AT 'HARMFUL' LEVELS ALMOST two million people in Britain are drinking alcohol at "harmful" levels, according to a report published today. A further seven million are drinking above the recommended Government limit, which is three to four units a day for men and two to tree units a day for women. The report, 'The State of the Nation', claims one in 20 people are addicted to alcohol, twice as many as hooked on all other drugs. Northern and Scottish men are singled out as "hard drinkers" with almost one in ten drinking at "harmful" levels. compared with one in 17 men in London and the South East. The report also says there are up to 33,000 alcohol related deaths each year and about 28,000 hospital admissions due to alcohol dependence or poisoning. The document's findings will be discussed at Alcohol Concern's annual conference in London today where a national strategy on alcohol will be debated. The strategy, outlined in a recent Government green paper. 'Our Healthier Nation', aims to reduce alcohol misuse and boost treatments for problem drinkers. Eric Appleby, Alcohol Concern's director, said: "The figures in our report are the rocky landscape on which the national alcohol strategy must be built. Currently, the attack on alcohol misuse is being mounted in a scatter-gun manner with, for example, different Government departments responsible for various aspects of alcohol policy." Jean Coussins, the director of the drinks industry's Portman Group. said. "We actively support the Government in the promotion of the sensible drinking message."
------------------------------------------------------------------- Tecs in Drug Quiz (The Sun, in Britain, says a Scotland Yard sergeant and constable were arrested in dawn swoops at their homes in South and South East London and questioned last night over allegations that they conspired to supply opium, cocaine and cannabis, stole 12,700, committed robbery and attempted to pervert justice.) Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 15:23:08 -0800 From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) To: mapnews@mapinc.org Subject: MN: UK: Tecs in Drug Quiz Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: shug@shug.co.uk Pubdate: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 Source: Sun, The (UK) Contact: news@the-sun.co.uk TECS IN DRUG QUIZ TWO Scotland Yard detectives were being questioned last night over allegations including drug dealing and robbery. The sergeant and constable were arrested in dawn swoops at their homes in South and South East London. Officers have spent four months probing claims that they conspired to supply opium, cocaine and cannabis, stole 12,700, committed robbery and attempted to pervert justice. -------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
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