NYT Needs More Helprin

In this Sunday's City section of the New York Times, the editors are asking readers which books are the new New York classics. We here at OnePeople encourage each and every one of our loyal readers to nominate Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. Once you have read it, the book will inform everything you do as a New Yorker. But don't take our word for it, Benjamin De Mott said as much on the front page of the New York Times Book Review:

"Is it not astonishing that a work so rooted in fantasy, filled with narrative high jinks and comic flights, stands forth centraally as a moral discourse? It is indeed....I find myself nervous, to a degree I don't recall in my past as a reviewer, about failing the work, inadequately displaying its brilliance."
We here at OnePeople can't think of higher praise, or a book more suited to being one of the "new New York Classics." So how can we make sure Winter's Tale gets the attention it deserves? You can start by commenting on this story, or mailing OnePeople directly, and we'll make sure that it ends up on the City editor's desk. Pass this message along to all your bookish friends, too -- we need all the help we can get.

DRAFT – Capita

For now let's assume that our masters heed your hearty recommendation that they grab all the surveillance and data-collection powers they can. What will that future be like? As we all know, it is the children that are our future - and sure enough, the government's latest "Connexions" campaign has been introducing young adults to the chumminess of joined-up, data-hungry government right now. First, there's the Connexions Card. Run by famously competent and discreet Capita, this smartcard lets teenagers gain points for attendance and attainment, as well as store useful health information. It also gives Capita a profile of the young person (via the Card's accompanying Website), which they can resell to advertisers. Capita is paying schools one quid for every child they sign up for the card. Meanwhile, more confidential data is being captured by the card's sister project, the Connexions "Personal Advisors". Answers to questions about the young persons' parents, trouble they're having at school or work - can be shared with social services, youth offending teams, schools, LEAs, health authorities, local authorities, the police and probation offices. Kids as young as thirteen will be asked to give consent to such data-sharing, by Advisors who will drop into their schools once a week for a little chat. All information collated will stay in the system until the child is twenty - and then kept by the government for another three years, for "auditing purposes". After all, you should never throw away stuff that might come in useful... http://www.arch-ed.org/confp.htm - not many civil liberties campaigns in Comic Sans these days http://www.4ni.co.uk/nationalnews.asp?id=16556 - those UKP2.3m TV ads you've been seeing recently

Phoenix Project

In 1965, the the Infrastructure Intelligence Coordination and Exploitation Structure (ICEX) or "Phoenix" Project was created by the CIA as an effort to disrupt the Viet Cong infrastructure through a series of civilian assassinations and systemic torture. They build torture facilities in all 44 provinces of South Vietnam, murdered disruptive citizens, and blackmailed or extorted information from South Vietnamese citizens to root out Viet Cong sympathizers. The CIA's responses to Freedom of Information Act requests suggest that they would prefer to forget the whole thing. They would prefer that everyone else forget it, as well: after Saigon fell, most of the Phoenix documents were destroyed. The only remaining documents are now safely ensconced at Langley. Fortunately, Neil Brickham was responsible for a good part of the program, and saved all of his material. Douglas Valentine (who's writing a book on the subject, and seems dedicated to implicating the Department of Homeland Security in the matter) got his hands on Brickham's library and passed it on to the good people at the Memory Hole, who have posted the documents for all to see.

MCI Gets Iraq Contract

WorldCom was fined $500 million by the SEC for inflating its worth by about $9 billion. That might sounds like a big fine, but it's about a week's revenue. In any case, the company was doing so poorly that it went bankrupt, and left thousands of investors out to dry. They even changed their name back to MCI, since the WorldCom name was so tainted. Strangely, someone forgot to tell the General Services Administration. The GSA continues to spend about $1 billion a year with MCI, and just days after the SEC fine, awarded MCI the Iraq telephony contract. For those keeping score at home, MCI defrauded investors to the tune of $176 billion, resulting in $3 billion in lost pensions. The Bush Administration was so impressed that they fined MCI $500 million, and then promptly handed them a license to print Iraqi dinars. It's enough to make you want to boycott MCI. Too bad you can't boycott the GSA.

DRAFT – BCRA

BCRA SUPPORTERS REQUEST STAY OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE RULING Authors of last year's campaign finance law have asked a three-judge panel to stay its decision regarding the landmark Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act until the Supreme Court can rule.http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/1509-1.html VACANCY COULD DOOM BCRA The possibility that one or more Supreme Court justices could retire prior to the high court's consideration of the new campaign finance law is sparking concern among legal experts that such a development could leave the high-profile case one judge short. http://www.rollcall.com/issues/48_89/news/1507-1.html HOUSE ADMINISTRATION ACCEDES TO THOMAS' COMMITTEE FUNDING REQUEST Giving Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) the additional money he wanted, the House Administration Committee again brought up the biennial committee funding resolution Thursday afternoon 227 a day after Republican leadership pulled the bill because Thomas objected to his panel's allotment. http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/1513-1.html BCRA OPPONENTS URGE CAUTIOUS APPROACH BY SUPREME COURT Speaking at a CATO forum today, supporters and opponents of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act found few areas of agreement other than their hope that the Supreme Court will reach a more concise decision than the mammoth opinion recently released by a U.S. District Court panel. http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/1544-1.html PELOSI SAYS NO TO SOFT MONEY While other party committees have remained mum about their plans, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared that House Democrats will not solicit soft money in the wake of a court ruling that may have left open that opportunity. http://www.rollcall.com/issues/48_90/news/1541-1.html HILL IRATE OVER IRAQ BAN Top House Members from both sides of the aisle are furious at Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for essentially banning lawmakers from taking fact-finding trips to Iraq, and many believe the Pentagon chief is using the cloak of "security concerns" as an excuse to block Congressional oversight. http://www.rollcall.com/issues/48_90/news/1540-1.html

Hensons Wrest Muppets From German Felons

This is somewhat afield of the usual OnePeople fare, but we're living with a former Henson employee so we're delighted to report that the Jim Henson's family has bought Kermit back from the German licensing company / criminal organization EM.TV. EM.TV is the film rights arm of KirchMedia, and was a star of Frankfurt's now-defunct Neuer Markt exchange when it bought the Jim Henson Company from the Henson family. After a time, the Haffa brothers who ran EM.TV were found to have decieved their investors and inflated EM.TV's stock price. There are reports that the brothers can't even walk down the streets in Germany for fear of being assaulted by investors. EM.TV tanked, and a furious bidding war began between a number of companies, including Disney and Sony, for control of the Henson properties. In the end, the family was able to buy the company back for US$89M, a far cry from the US$690M that it sold for in February 2000. Don't think that the family suddenly made half a billion dollars, though -- much of initial deal was in EM.TV stock, which is now less than worthless.

Persian Tongue-twisters

Here are some common turns of phrases translated from Farsi..... Man-uh chap chap negah nakon. literally: Don't look at me left-left means: Don't give me that look Zameen khordam, pedaram dar omad. literally: I ate the ground and my father came out. means: I fell and it hurt like hell. Eingushtam khord, sedam dar omad literally: My finger ate, my voice came out means: I hit my finger and I hollered. Havod roh doram literally: I have your weather/air means: I'm looking out for you Khoded roh beh koochehyeh Ali chap nazan. literally: Don't hit yourself to Ali Left's street means: Don't play dumb. Yeh tockmee doreh megzoreh. literally: He's planting an egg means: He's up to something. Pedar sookhteh literally: Burnt father means: Little rascal Chesmam ob nemeekhoreh literally: My eye doesn't drink water means: I really doubt it Cheshmam roshan literally: My eye is bright means: "I'm happy to see you" or "Lucky me (often used sarcastically)" Cheshmed zadand literally: They hit your eye means: You got done in by the evil eye Obeh rooham reekht literally: The water of my face spilled means: I got embarassed Takhleefam rof rosham kon literally: Light my assignment means: Let me know what's going on. Mooh as gardaneh moh koloftareh literally: Hair is thicker than our necks means: We're pretty easy going Befamee nafamee literally: you understand, you don't understand means: so-so

SARS & KOREA: 2 Worries at once

Looking to consolidate your time worrying about global crises? Why not worry about North Korea getting SARS? So far neither Korea says they have it. North Korea claims to have set up a vague "brisk" defense against the disease. Would they really be able to detect it? Or fight it given that their population is starving and living in basically the dark ages, at least as far as electricity is concerned. So far SARS has been largely among health care workers and international business travellers. Having a negligible economy and scant tourist traffic, North Korea's isolation may serve it well with SARS. And even though its refugees flee to China, its border isn't near the south where most SARS cases are. More worrying is that the SARS chief victims so far -- the nurses and executives -- are the people most likely to get the very best care. What happens if starts slipping into the poor underground populations like illegal immigrants?