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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2012)
9. PRISON SLAVERY IN THE U.S. On its website, the UNICOR manufacturing corpo- ration proudly proclaims that its products are “made in America.” That’s true, but they’re made in places in the U.S. where labor laws don’t apply, with workers often paid just 23 cents an hour to be exposed to toxic materi- als with no legal recourse. These places are U.S. prisons. Slavery conditions in prisons aren’t exactly news. It’s lit- erally written into the Constitution; the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, outlaws “slavery nor involun- tary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” But the article highlighted by Project Censored this year reveals the cur- rent state of prison slavery industries, and its ties to war. The majority of products manufactured by inmates are contracted to the Department of Defense. Inmates make complex parts for missile systems, battleship anti-aircraft guns and landmine sweepers, as well as night-vision gog- gles, body armor and camoufl age uniforms. Of course, this is happening in the context of record high imprison- ment in the U.S., where grossly disproportionate num- bers of African Americans and Latinos are imprisoned, and can’t vote even after they’re freed. As psychologist Elliot D. Cohen puts it in this year’s book: “This system of slavery, like that which existed in this country before the Civil War, is also racist, as more than 60 percent of U.S. prisoners are people of color.” 10. HR 347 CRIMINALIZES PROTEST P H O T O B Y R O B A N D T R A C Y S Y D O R • D I G I TA L L AT T E .CO M the coop business model’s stunning growth. The U.N. found that, in 2012, one billion people worldwide are coop member-owners, or one in fi ve adults over the age of 15. The largest is Spain’s Mondragon Corporation, with more than 80,000 member-owners. The U.N. predicts that by 2025, worker-owned coops will be the world’s fastest growing business model. Worker-owned cooperatives provide for equitable distribution of wealth, genuine connection to the workplace and, just maybe, a brighter future for our planet. 8. NATO WAR CRIMES IN LIBYA In January 2012, the BBC “revealed” how British Special Forces agents joined and “blended in” with rebels in Libya to help topple dictator Muammar Gadaffi , a story that alternative media sources had reported a year earlier. NATO admits to bombing a pipe factory in the Libyan city of Brega that was key to the water supply system that brought tap water to 70 percent of Libyans, saying that Gadaffi was storing weapons in the factory. In Censored 2013, writer James F. Tracy makes the point that historical relations between the U.S. and Libya were left out of mainstream news coverage of the NATO campaign; “background knowledge and historical context confi rming Al-Qaeda and Western involvement in the destabilization of the Gadaffi regime are also essential for making sense of corporate news narratives depicting the Libyan operation as a popular ‘uprising.’” EDGEWOOD Animal Clinic HR 347, sometimes called the “criminalizing protest” or “anti-Occupy” bill, made some headlines. But concerned lawyers and other citizens worry that it could have disastrous effects for the First Amendment right to protest. Offi cially called the Federal Restricted Grounds Improvement Act, the law makes it a felony to “knowingly” enter a zone restricted under the law, or engage in “disorderly or disruptive” conduct in or near the zones. The restricted zones include anywhere the Secret Service may be — places such as the White House, areas hosting events deemed “National Special Security Events” or anywhere visited by the president, vice president and their immediate families; former presidents, vice presidents and certain family members; certain foreign dignitaries; major presidential and vice presidential candidates (within 120 days of an election); and other individuals as designated by a presidential executive order. These people could be anywhere, and NSSEs have notoriously included the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, Super Bowls, and the Academy Awards. So far, it seems the only time HR 347 has kicked in is with George Clooney’s high-profi le arrest outside the Sudanese embassy. Clooney ultimately was not detained without trial — information that would be almost impossible to censor — but what about the rest of U.S. population who exist outside of the mainstream media’s spotlight? ■ Yael Chanoff writes for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. This story, published earlier this month by SFBG, along with its comment stream can be found at http://wkly.ws/1dw OPEN FOR THANKSGIVING SUSHI SEOUL 342-6861 HOLIDAY SPECIAL 50% OFF 4:30 - 11PM 2532 WILLAKENZIE • EUGENE ACROSS FROM SHELDON HS 1 10AM - 12AM DAILY Compassionate Care. Exceptional Medicine. Extraordinary dedication. Dr. Sandra Smalley & Dr. Jason Kimball www.edgewoodanimalclinic.com 4010 Donald Street, Eugene | 541.341.6558 Monday – Friday 8-6pm ENTIRE MEAL SUSHI, TERIYAKI, KOREAN BBQ, VARIOUS SOUPS, BUBBLE TEA, SAKE, BEER $50 minimum | Valid 12pm-10pm 11/21/12 through 11/30/12 ONLY eugeneweekly.com • November 21, 2012 15
