Nearly 50,000 march in S.C.
to protest Confederate flag
1 COLUMBIA, S.C. — Decry
ing the Confederate flag as a
symbol of slavery and racism,
nearly 50,000 people marched to
South Carolina’s Statehouse on
Martin Luther King Day to de
mand the banner be taken down.
They also said the slain civil
rights leader should be honored
with a permanent state holiday.
South Carolina state workers
now can take off on. the King hol
iday or another of their choice,
including one of several tied to
Confederate anniversaries.
“The flag is coming down to
day,” marchers sang as they
walked six blocks from a down
town church to the Statehouse.
Some carried signs reading,
“Your heritage is my slavery.”
Across the country, Americans
remembered the slain civil rights
leader Monday with marches
and speeches urging the nation to
commit itself to King’s principles
and fulfill his dream of racial
harmony and equality.
This was the first year that the
King holiday was observed in
some form in all 50 states, and
the 15th year it has been celebrat
ed as a national holiday.
The public favors Democrats,
GOP polling shows
2 WASHINGTON — Private
Republican polling shows
Democrats hold an edge on top
election-year concerns, and 25
percent of George W. Bush’s sup
port “prefers Democrats on the
issues by a significant margin.”
Democrats were favored, 44
percent to 31 percent, when the
survey asked potential voters
which party cares more about
them, according to the poll
shown recently to about 50 GOP
members of the House who are
trying to hold onto their 10-seat
majority.
At the same time, the findings
suggested several ways for House
Republicans to gain an advan
tage, including opening a “new
issue front” on such subjects as
government waste or retiring the
national debt.
The GOP leadership has al
ready announced plans to high
light those issues in the congres
sional session beginning next
week. In particular, Speaker Den
nis Hastert, R-Ill., is expected to
unveil portions of a national debt
retirement plan before the open
ing gavel falls in the House.
The survey material was pre
sented at a two-day communica
tions meeting this month orga
nized near the Capitol by Rep.
J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, who
ranks fourth in the House GOP
leadership. An estimated 55 Re
publicans attended the sessions,
which also included a workshop
conducted by Wade West, a me
dia trainer who specializes in
preparing individuals for media
interviews.
Merger trend acellerating
in pharmaceutical business
3 LONDON — Glaxo Well
come’s planned acquisition
of rival drugmaker SmithKline
Beecham would do more than
create the world’s largest phar
maceutical company.
The deal, announced Monday
and worth about $76 billion in
stock, is a clear sign that the
merger trend now reshaping oth
er industries is accelerating in
the still-fragmented drug busi
ness.
Just last week, Pfizer emerged
as the likely winner in a battle
with American Home Products
for U.S. drugmaker Warner-Lam
bert, while Monsanto is in the
process of merging with Pharma
cia and Upjohn. Industry ana
lysts predict other blue-chip
names, including Eli Lilly, Scher
ing Plough, Novartis, Bristol-My-.
ers Squibb and even merger
averse Merck, won’t be far
behind.
“I think that eventually about
six to 10 companies will own the
pharmaceutical market,” said
Hemant Shah, an independent
industry analyst based in War
ren, N.J.
That’s a far cry from the mosa
ic of firms currently vying for a
few cents of each dollar con
sumers spend on medicines.
Compared to other industries,
the pharmaceutical business still
has many competitors. The com
bined Glaxo and SmithKline
would control just 7.3 percent of
global sales, although individual
companies dominate treatments
for several specific conditions
spch as allergies and high choles
terol.
Analysts say consolidations
are gathering momentum be
cause drugmakers are pinched
between the ballooning costs of
developing new drugs and the
demands of investors and share
holders that they deliver double
digit growth in profits.
Pinochet problem back
in Britain’s court
4 MADRID, Spain — Spain put
the Pinochet ball squarely
back in Britain’s court Monday,
sending London a judge’s request
for a new medical exam to deter
mine whether the former Chilean
dictator is mentally fit to stand tri
al.
The move came a day before
Britain’s deadline for opinions
on the case.
Last week, Britain’s Home Of
fice said doctors believe Gen. Au
gusto Pinochet, 84, is too ill to be
extradited to Spain to face
charges. Home Secretary Jack
Straw said he was considering
canceling the extradition, but he
asked for opinions from Spain,
France, Belgium and Switzer
land.
Soon after, Spanish Foreign
Minister Abel Matutes said the
Spanish government would not
send Britain any more petitions
from Judge Baltasar Garzon, the
magistrate who wants to try
Pinochet in Madrid. Spanish
leaders have always been uneasy
about their involvement in the
case, which has potential impli
cations for their relations with
Chile and Britain.
Matutes’ office later qualified
its statement, saying the petition
would be forwarded but only if it
contained new material. Then on
Monday, Spain decided to for
ward Garzon’s petition after all.
Matutes would only say the deci
sion was in line with Spain’s
stance of not interfering in the le
gal process.
But others believed the admin
istration led by conservative
Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar
had ulterior motives.
“It looks as if Spain realized
there was more to be gained by
passing on Garzon’s argument, in
the hope that it won’t make any
difference to the case anyway,
than by blocking it and risking a
tirade of criticism back home,”
said political analyst and colum
nist Javier Tussell. “At least, if
Straw now decides to release
Pinochet, Aznar won’t look so
bad.”
American Indians take over
Pine Ridge tribal office
5 PINE RIDGE, S.D. — About
100 Oglala Sioux who accuse
the tribe of financial mismanage
ment have taken over tribal
headquarters and demanded that
the governing council step
down.
The protesters said Monday
they will remain there until they
are satisfied authorities will in
vestigate their allegations.
On Monday afternoon, howev
er, members of the tribal council
voted to have the protesters
thrown out of the building. They
voted to have tribal law officers
enforce tribal laws that ban the
spread of false propaganda and
actions that interfere with the
conduct of council business.
Council members said they ex
pect the tribe’s public safety di
rector to evict the protesters Mon
day night or Tuesday.
The group, which is allied with
tribal President Harold Dean Sal
way, took control of the tribal
building at the Pine Ridge Reser
vation on Sunday. About 100
people stayed there Sunday night
and Monday.
Members of the unarmed group
are calling for an audit and have
demanded the immediate resig
nation of tribal Treasurer Wesley
“Chuck” Jacobs and all 17 mem
bers of the tribal council. They
also have asked the FBI to seize
tribal records dealing with law
enforcement, housing and other
programs.
“The bottom line is, we want
accountability and responsibility
by our elected officials,” said
group spokesman Dale Looks
Twice.
The Associated Press
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The Politics of Mining
and Natural Resource Use:
Two Cases of Environmental Racism
“Experience of the Katu People with the
Politics of Conservation in Indonesia”
Arianto Sangaji
Yayasan Tanah Merdeka
(Organization for Sovereign Land)
Sulawesi, Indonesia
“The Plight of the Dine’h Navajo
Against Peabody Coal Co.”
Beth Newberry
Indigenous Support Coalition
Eugene, Oregon
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