uh, huh, meanwhile, I take a look at today's Financial Times, and see:
"Millions of Italians join protest against labor reform", James Blitz: Financial Times, Apr 17, 2002 ...involving 11 million organized workers and 2.3 million supporters, and
COMMENT & ANALYSIS: Berlusconi's battle: Today's nationwide general strike threatens to derail proposed labour market reforms that are crucial to maintaining the credibility of Italy's ruling coalition, writes James Blitz: Financial Times, Apr 16, 2002 By JAMES BLITZ But today the 65-year-old media magnate and politician confronts his most serious challenge yet as Italy's three main trade unions stage a...
2. EUROPE: Italian union leader keeps an open mind: Savino Pezzotta may hold the key to industrial peace after next week's general strike is over, writes James Blitz Financial Times, Apr 12, 2002 By JAMES BLITZ As Italy braced itself fora one-day general strike next week, Savino Pezzotta, the leader of the country's CISL trade union, is a man to watch...
Or "10m Indians go on strike" against, guess what, privatization, in the wake of the sharply declining electoral fortunes of the Bharatiya Janata coalition gov't.
Financial Times; Apr 17, 2002 at http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020417000862&query=indians+privatisation
Or the failed coup in Venezuela, or especially all that Venezuelan Crow Pie the UK-US gov't/media had to eat.
The recent events in Argentina;
And, not least, the heroic resistence of the Palestinian people, at a terrible cost, which could put the kabosh on the insane Iraq war drive (though we shall see), if Corn is right (and I hope he is);
and things are looking on the up and up for A20.
OTOH, there is this, listed under "Politics - AP":
U.S. Gets New Military Command Post Wed Apr 17, 5:04 PM ET By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The creation of a military command whose sole mission is to defend American territory will not erode legal limits on using federal troops inside U.S. borders, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Wednesday.
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AP Photo Audio/Video
Military Command Structure to Change (AP)
Rumsfeld announced a series of changes to the military's command structure, the most important of which is the establishment in October of a Northern Command, probably with headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., to centralize the military's role in defense of the United States.
The main impetus was the Sept. 11 attacks, which demonstrated that the military was not set up to deal with unconventional attacks from inside the country. Since the attacks, the military has flown daily air patrols and has placed more fighters on ground alert.
The creation of Northern Command will not conflict with a 19th century law, called the Posse Comitatus Act, that was meant to prohibit the military from acting as a domestic police force, Rumsfeld said in announcing the changes.
"Some in the past have worried that creation of a command that covered the United States of America could be inward-looking; nothing could be further from the truth," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon (news - web sites) news conference.
"The creation of NorthCom means that we now have the command assigned to defend the American people where they live and work and it will be functioning in a supporting role to civil authorities as occasions arise," he said.
If, for example, a federal, state or local law enforcement agency needed help in responding to a terrorist threat or attack in an American city, its request would go to the commander of Northern Command through the Defense Department. The forces provided by Northern Command for that mission would be subordinate to civil authorities, Rumsfeld said.
Gen. Richard Myers, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was a key architect of the command changes, said at the news conference with Rumsfeld that decisions have yet to be made on which U.S.-based forces will be placed under the control of Northern Command.
Also undecided is whether a U.S. missile defense system, possibly based in Alaska, would be under Northern Command's control.
Rumsfeld said no officer has been nominated as commander of the Northern Command. Other officials said privately that President Bush (news - web sites) is expected to nominate Air Force Gen. Ralph Eberhart.
Eberhart is commander of both the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD — in charge of defending U.S. and Canadian airspace — and Space Command, which is responsible for defending U.S. interests in space. If he became commander of Northern Command, he would retain his role with NORAD but would no longer be commander of Space Command, officials said.
Among other changes, Pacific Command, based in Hawaii, will add Antarctica to its area of responsibility, although Army Lt. Gen. George Casey, the director of strategy and plans on the Joint Staff, told reporters that the Pentagon had "no intention to militarize Antarctica."
In fact, that is prohibited by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, to which the United States is a party. Casey said Pacific Command would assign forces to any U.S. search and rescue mission there.
European Command's area of responsibility will be expanded to include Russia and most of the North Atlantic.
Rumsfeld said the command structure changes are meant to help the military operate in an "era of the unexpected."
"We must be ready to win today's global war on terror, but, at the same time, prepare for other surprises and uncertainties that we must will most certainly face in the 21st century," he said.
-Brad Mayer
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