Friday, 2 November, 2001, 14:25 GMT Berkeley boycotted for anti-war stance
http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/world/americas/newsid_1634000/1634103.stm
The city of Berkeley in northern California has been branded unpatriotic, and businesses there are being boycotted, after the council became the first in the nation to oppose the bombing of Afghanistan.
The city's Mayor, Shirley Dean has been inundated with e-mails and letters ever since the controversial 5-4 vote calling on the government to "bring the bombing of Afghanistan to a conclusion as soon as possible". The mayor, who abstained in the voting, says the message landing on her desk from businesses and individuals has generally been uniform.
"We've had thousands, literally thousands of e-mails that they are not going to come to Berkeley and spend money. And generally they all mention the word boycott. And we have been hearing from specific businesses in Berkeley that they have been hurt," she said.
(...) ------------------------------------------- As an ignorant foreigner, I am puzzled at why the above piece of news has been ignored by the list. Chauvinist vigilantes, singly or in groups, are hounding a dissident municipality and have contributed greatly all over the US to silencing the media. Some of it may be organized by right-wing organizations but it appears to be largely spontaneous (as much as anything can be in the media-blitzed land of the free). Doesn't this worry anyone over there?
I mean, items like this are obviously far less important than the earth-shaking issue of what may or may not have happened to Nancy Oden, which the learned list members continue to thoroughly dissect, may Allah increase their great wisdom. But as a clueless out-of-towner I'm nervous that the steady creep of right-wing bigotry that began with the Reagan restoration - which in my ignorance I call fascism - is now reaching a frenzied climax; the clouds are gathering very rapidly and it looks like it's going to rain hard for a very long time. To the untrained eye, it looks as if you guys haven't noticed the weather; in fact I'd swear that it looks like you're in the middle of a chatty picnic.
Would anyone care to explain this optical illusion? Is the _real_ discussion taking place elsewhere, perhaps? Is this just a front for the FBI's Carnivore?
Hakki