From: MSPRINKER-AT-ccmail.sunysb.edu Date: Sat, 23 May 1998 10:33:40 -0400 (EDT) Subject: BHA: FWD: AGITPROP NEWS 5.20.98 State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 11794-3355 Michael Sprinker Professor of English & Comp Lit Comparative Studies 516 632-9634 23-May-1998 10:31am EDT FROM: MSPRINKER TO: Remote Addressee ( _bhaskar-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ) Subject: FWD: AGITPROP NEWS 5.20.98 I apologize to everyone for the length of the attached document, but it would have been very time-consuming to edit down on my antiquated e-mail system. You can read as much or as little as you like, but my reason for sending it on is item number 9, which bears upon the fate of pi in Alabama (about to be re-named Bizarro World, for those of you who are afficionados of the Seinfeld show on American tv). Fraternally, Michael Sprinker Mike Alewitz 20-May-1998 06:38pm EDT TO: MSPRINKER Subject: AGITPROP NEWS 5.20.98 Received: from ccmail.sunysb.edu by ccmail.sunysb.edu (PMDF V5.1-9 #24514) id <01IX9LP5FDWIEJ6OWC-AT-ccmail.sunysb.edu> for MSPRINKER-AT-allin1.cc.sunysb.edu; Wed, 20 May 1998 18:38:05 EDT Received: from smithers.rutgers.edu by ccmail.sunysb.edu (PMDF V5.1-9 #24514) with SMTP id <01IX9LP3DEE0EJ6PAD-AT-ccmail.sunysb.edu> for MSPRINKER-AT-ccmail.sunysb.edu; Wed, 20 May 1998 18:38:02 -0400 (EDT) Received: (qmail 2323 invoked from network); Wed, 20 May 1998 22:35:57 +0000 Received: from smithers.rutgers.edu (165.230.4.69) by smithers.rutgers.edu with SMTP; Wed, 20 May 1998 22:35:57 +0000 Received: from SMITHERS.RUTGERS.EDU by SMITHERS.RUTGERS.EDU (LISTSERV-TCP/IP release 1.8c) with spool id 208361 for AGITPROP_NEWS-AT-SMITHERS.RUTGERS.EDU; Wed, 20 May 1998 18:35:55 -0400 Received: (qmail 2310 invoked from network); Wed, 20 May 1998 22:35:53 +0000 Received: from smithers.rutgers.edu (165.230.4.69) by smithers.rutgers.edu with SMTP; Wed, 20 May 1998 22:35:53 +0000 Received: (qmail 2254 invoked from network); Wed, 20 May 1998 22:30:02 +0000 Received: from gehenna2.rutgers.edu (165.230.116.135) by smithers.rutgers.edu with SMTP; Wed, 20 May 1998 22:30:02 +0000 Received: (qmail 2163 invoked by alias); Wed, 20 May 1998 22:31:15 +0000 Received: (qmail 2138 invoked from network); Wed, 20 May 1998 22:30:59 +0000 Received: from calloway-a-asy-7.rutgers.edu (HELO 165.230.80.75) (165.230.80.75) by gehenna2.rutgers.edu with SMTP; Wed, 20 May 1998 22:30:59 +0000 Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 18:41:08 +0000 From: Mike Alewitz <alewitz-AT-RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> Subject: AGITPROP NEWS 5.20.98 Sender: "AGITPROP_NEWS, A digest of political news for artists and activists" <AGITPROP_NEWS-AT-SMITHERS.RUTGERS.EDU> Resent-to: MSPRINKER-AT-allin1.cc.sunysb.edu To: AGITPROP_NEWS-AT-SMITHERS.RUTGERS.EDU Reply-to: alewitz-AT-RCI.Rutgers.EDU Organization: LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT X-VMS-To: IN%"AGITPROP_NEWS-AT-SMITHERS.RUTGERS.EDU" X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.02 (Macintosh; I; PPC) Delivered-to: AGITPROP_NEWS-AT-SMITHERS.RUTGERS.EDU Delivered-to: agitprop_news-AT-email.rutgers.edu Approved-By: alewitz-AT-RCI.RUTGERS.EDU Comments: To: agitprop_news-AT-email.rutgers.edu Please post & distribute: LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT AGITPROP NEWS 5.20.98 In this issue: 1. Baq from Iraq 2. Mass rally supports MUA 3. Scab Ship Update 4. Deep Hole 5. Israel Celebrates 50 Years 6. 100 Years of Servitude 7. History 8. Mugabe Protest 9. American as Apple Pi 10. Mayor Giuliani: Sensitive Artist 11. Fire Department 12. Swill and Squeal 13. Books 14. Bob Dole the Pusher Man 15. Health Care Problems 16. Black Death and HIV 17. Cuban Vaccines 18. New Marxism List __________________________________________________ The LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT is proud to announce that we were able to complete a small mural project at the Acadamy of Fine Arts, University of Baghdad, Iraq. The mural was part of the Challenge the Sanctions effort led by Ramsey Clark, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and others. A delegation from the US and Canada delivered several million dollars worth of much needed medical supplies to Iraqi hospitals, in defience of the US imposed sanctions. The mural was painted over the course of two days with the assistance of students at the Academy. Mike Alewitz was also able to give a slide show on art and politics. A large crowd of students constantly surrounded the artists as they worked on the 10' x 15' wall at the entranceway to the University. The central imagery of the mural consists of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers transformed into two figures: A North American worker clasping hands with Layla Al-Atal, a prominent Iraqi artist murdered in a 1993 US bombing raid. American bombers fly overhead, but as the bombs reach the clasped hands, they turn into loaves of bread and also roses. An arabic inscription across the top reads: "Artists and Workers Form One World without Borders!" The mural will be reproduced as a poster. More later... ____________________________________________________ 2. Mass rally supports MUA Melbourne: More than 100,000 people have taken part in a victory rally march in support of the Maritime Union of Australia as dogs and guards still remain remain at the Patrick docks despite the departure of scab labour. The rally, which attracted tens of thousands of people blocked several city streets outside Flinders Street railway station. At the head of the rally, which brought traffic to a standstill in central Melbourne, Australia's second city, were the newly reinstated dockers. Police estimated the crowd at more than 75,000 people but Union estimates say there were close to 120,000 people. Martin Kingham, president of the Victorian Trades Hall Council addressed the rally saying Melbourne's most famous had not seen such numbers since the anti Vietnam war protest of the 1970's. He thanked the community support against the conservative forces in Australia attempt to destroy the union movement. ``Well, we have demonstrated just how determined we are today to protect the rights of working people in this country,'' Mr Kingham said. A minute silence in the middle of Melbourne's busiest intersection was held for Fred Broch, a retired member of the MUA, who died on April 17 at the end of his speech to Japanese unions rallying international solidarity in Tokyo. Leftlink ______________________________________________ 3. Scab Ship Update Well, I still haven't heard any news about the Scab Ship Columbus Canada. We'll keep everyone informed. There is a rumor that the next Scab Ship may be headed for Honolulu, Hawaii. I do not know the name of this ship, and I'm not sure when it will arrive. Friday, May 15th is the date I was given. I'm sorry I do not have more specific information. Do keep checking the message tape (510) 845-0540. Don't let up yet. We're getting support from all areas of the labor movement and beyond. Let's hope we can keep up this momentum and channel it into other areas of the struggle. As of 5/14/98 at 3 AM The reports below should tell you every thing you need to know, but the summary is (1) Scab Ship Columbus Canada is still anchored in the harbor outside of Long Beach, no cargo has been unloaded (2) At least four other scab ships are on their way to the West Coast (wake up everybody!) I do not know names or destinations. (3) Community Solidarity remains very strong at the moment. (4) In the Bay Area, call (510) 845-0540 for updates (5) The situation in Australia is nowhere near being resolved. Steve O <intexile-AT-bari.iww.org> ________________________________________________ 4. Deep Hole Two guys are walking through the woods and come across this big deep hole. "Wow...that looks deep." "Sure does... toss a few pebbles in there and see how deep it is." They pick up a few pebbles and throw them in and wait... no noise. "Jeeez. That is REALLY deep... here.. throw one of these great big rocks down there. Those should make a noise." They pick up a couple football-sized rocks and toss them into the hole and wait... and wait. Nothing. They look at each other in amazement. One gets a determined look on his face and says, "Hey...over here in the weeds, there's a railroad tie. Help me carry it over here. When we toss THAT sucker in, it's GOTTA make some noise." The two drag the heavy tie over to the hole and heave it in. Not a sound comes from the hole. Suddenly, out of the nearby woods, a goat appears, running like the wind. It rushes toward the two men, then right past them, running as fast as it's legs will carry it. Suddenly it leaps in the air and into the hole. The two men are astonished with what they've just seen... Then, out of the woods comes a farmer who spots the men and ambles over. "Hey... you two guys seen my goat out here?" "You bet we did! Craziest thing I ever seen! It came running like crazy and just jumped into this hole!" "Nah", says the farmer, "That couldn't have been MY goat. My goat was chained to a railroad tie." _______________________________________________ 5. Israel Celebrates 50 Years (London) INDEPENDENT : May 15, 1998 Israeli soldiers killed eight Palestinians, including an eight-year-old boy, in riots in Gaza yesterday as Palestinians commemorated the anniversary of their forced flight 50 years ago from what is now Israel. It is the worst violence for 18 months and may indicate that, given the stalemate in the peace talks, the confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians is taking a bloodier turn. The Palestinians died in clashes at the northern and southern ends of the Gaza Strip, the congested enclave which is home to 1 million Palestinians and 5,000 Jewish settlers. At the Erez checkpoint Akron Abu Askar, one of the wounded, was quoted as saying: "I saw somebody shot in the neck and went to evacuate him. They shot me in the right arm. When I continued pulling him, they shot me in the other arm." MichaelP <papadop-AT-PEAK.ORG> ______________________________________________ 6. 100 Years of Servitude STOP 100 YEARS OF SERVITUDE (1898-1998) A Conference Marking the Centennial of US Colonization of the Philippines 12-14 June (Friday-Sunday) 1998 Hunter College, West Building, 6th floor (southwest corner of Lexington Ave. &68th St.) New York City, New York, USA learn more and discuss... ...US Colonization of the Philippines and its impact on the lives of Filipinos and Filipino Americans ...US Colonization and its continuing impact worldwide, specifically in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines ...globalization and the traffick of women ...organizing, publicity, and networking strategies registration: sliding scale, if you register before 3 June 1998 -- $25, $20, $15 late registration -- $35 space limited. register now via e-mail, phone, fax, or mail. e-mail: gabnet-AT-gabnet.org; phone: 212.592.3507; fax: 718.740.4750 GABRIELA Network, PO Box 403, Times Square Sta., NY, NY 10036 for more info, contact us or visit our website: www.gabnet.org GABRIELA NETWORK A Philippine-US Women's Solidarity Organization e-mail: gabnet-AT-gabnet.org web: www.gabnet.org ____________________________________________ 7. History "People who make history know nothing about history. You can see that in the sort of history they make." (G. K. Chesterton) The Philosophy Service ____________________________________________ 8. Mugabe Protest California State Polytechnic University at Pomona (Pomona, California) is giving an honorary degree to President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe who has publicly made anti-semitic and anti-gay remarks. Send your comments to the President by email or phone and suppor the Faculty Senate resolution opposing the granting of the degree. bhsuzuki-AT-csupomona.edu 909-869-2290 cklaver-AT-POMONA.EDU _________________________________________________ 9. American as Apple Pi HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- NASA engineers and mathematicians in this high- tech city are stunned and infuriated after the Alabama state legisla- ture narrowly passed a law yesterday redefining pi, a mathematical constant used in the aerospace industry. The bill to change the value of pi to exactly three was introduced without fanfare by Leonard Lee Lawson (R, Crossville), and rapidly gained support after a letter- writing campaign by members of the Solomon Society, a traditional values group. Governor Fob James says he will sign it into law on Wednesday. The law took the state's engineering community by surprise. "It would have been nice if they had consulted with someone who actually uses pi," said Marshall Bergman, a manager at the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. According to Bergman, pi is a Greek letter that signifies the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. It is often used by engineers to calculate missile trajectories. Prof. Kim Johanson, a mathematician from University of Alabama, said that pi is a universal constant, and cannot arbitrarily be changed by lawmakers. Johanson explained that pi is an irrational number, which means that it has an infinite number of digits after the decimal point and can never be known exactly. Nevertheless, she said, pi is precisly defined by mathematics to be "3.14159, plus as many more digits as you have time to calculate". "I think that it is the mathematicians that are being irrational, and it is time for them to admit it," said Lawson. "The Bible very clearly says in I Kings 7:23 that the alter font of Solomon's Temple was ten cubits across and thirty cubits in diameter, and that it was round in compass." Lawson called into question the usefulness of any number that cannot be calculated exactly, and suggested that never knowing the exact answer could harm students' self-esteem. "We need to return to some absolutes in our society," he said, "the Bible does not say that the font was thirty-something cubits. Plain reading says thirty cubits. Period." From: Flora Tristan <tristan-AT-iww.org> ________________________________________________ 10. Mayor Giuliani: Sensitive Artist Mayor Giulianiıs disregard for artistsı First Amendment rights reached a new low yesterday outside the official opening of his photo show at the Leica Gallery, #670 Broadway. More than 100 police officers, including numerous commanders, inspectors, captains, N.Y.P.D. Intelligence Division officers and a special riot unit were deployed in order to keep a handful of artist protesters from being seen by media or by the Mayor as he entered his show. Artists arrived for the scheduled protest at 11 A.M. and displayed protest signs and large unflattering portraits of the Mayor inside police barricades that were set up by the police for the demonstration in front of the gallery and near its side entrance on Bond Street. Apparently the proximity of actual artists to the gallery where Giuliani was unveiling his first art show was unacceptable to the Mayor. A few minutes before Giuliani arrived at 12:30, Inspector Lawrence, the Commanding Officer of the 9th Precinct told the protesters, led by Robert Lederman President of A.R.T.I.S.T., that the barricades would have to be removed and that they would be set up a block away from the gallery. When Lederman pointed out that this violated their basic right to engage in a peaceful protest and that the artists would not accept being removed from the area, the Inspector conferred with Intelligence Division officers from Giulianiıs office on the scene. The police then closed off the entire block and told the artists theyıd be arrested. Lederman and four other protesters, Wei Zhang, Jack Nesbitt, Thomas Dukleth and Mega Flash a street performer, were handcuffed minutes before the Mayor arrived. The artists were arrested as they peaceably walked in a circle outside the side entrance to the gallery carrying the portraits of Mayor Giuliani. The portraits were confiscated by Intelligence Division police and taken along with the artists to the 9th Precinct. Five hours later the artists, all of whom were charged with Disorderly Conduct, were released with desk appearance tickets and returned to the protest. During the five hours Lederman and the other artists were in custody the remaining protesters and the barricades were moved by the police five different times, including at one point to Lafayette and West 3rd Street, which is almost two blocks from the gallery. When Lederman returned to the protest he was informed by Inspector Lawrence that heıd be arrested if he displayed a single sign, gave a speech or walked in front of the Leica Gallery. The police then closed off the entire eastern side of Broadway where the gallery was located, forcing pedestrians to walk to the western side. When other demonstrators arrived at 6 P.M. from the Lower East Side Collective and Times Up to protest the Mayorıs destruction of Community Gardens, police swarmed around them arresting another artist, Peggy Hung, and a bicycle activist who asked the police why he couldnıt ride on the eastern side of Broadway. Police then physically forced all of the protesters into a pen more than a block away from the gallery at the northwest corner of 3rd Street and Broadway. A riot unit of approximately 40 officers that had remained hidden on Mercer Street was then stationed around the pen and each officer was issued three sets of plastic handcuffs. At approximately 7 P.M. Giuliani arrived for his second appearance, surrounded by Intelligence Division officers and his security detail. All pedestrian and vehicular traffic was stopped for his arrival. He was rushed into the gallery as protesters, horse from more than eight hours of demonstrating shouted, ³Stop Arresting Artists² and ³Giuliani Equals Police State². Reporters, protesters and the general public were all prevented from getting anywhere near the gallery by the police. This was Ledermanıs thirty second arrest for protesting against the Mayorıs artist arrest policy. Wei Zhang, who left China after police destroyed his painting in Tianimen Square, told the 9th Precinct police that heıd never been arrested in China, and that artists there were allowed to sell their paintings on the street without a license. A.R.T.I.S.T. members plan to join students at Cooper Union on May 27th to protest Giuliani giving a commencement speech there. Students at the art school have been circulating a petition asking that the Mayor not be allowed to address them, citing his terrible record of abusing artistsı rights. Robert Lederman ARTISTpres-AT-aol.com __________________________________________________ 11. Fire Department A fire started on some grasslands near a farm. The county fire department was called to put out the fire. The fire was more than the county fire department could handle. Someone suggested that a nearby volunteer bunch be called. Despite some doubt that the volunteer outfit would be of any assistance, the call was made. The volunteers arrived in a dilapidated old fire truck. They rumbled straight towards the fire, drove right into the middle of the flames and stopped! The firemen jumped off the truck and frantically started spraying water in all directions. Soon they had snuffed out the center of the fire, breaking the blaze into two easily-controlled parts. Watching all this, the farmer was so impressed with the volunteer fire department's work and was so grateful that his farm had been spared, that right there on the spot he presented the volunteers with a check for $1,000. A local news reporter asked the volunteer fire captain what the department planned to do with the funds. "That ought to be obvious," he responded, wiping ashes off his coat. "The first thing we're gonna do is get the brakes fixed on our fire truck!" ______________________________________________ 12. Swill and Squeal Coca-Cola was originally green. It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs. Smartest dogs: 1) Scottish border collie; 2) Poodle; 3) Golden retriever. Dumbest: Afghan hound. Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better. Amount American Airlines saved in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served first class: $40,000 City with the most Rolls Royce's per capita: Hong Kong State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38% Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33 Percentage of American men who say they would marry the same woman if they had it to do all over again: 80% Percentage of American women who say they'd marry the same man: 50% Cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400 Average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000. Percentage of Americans who have visited Disneyland/Disney World: 70% Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. The youngest pope was 11 years old. Iceland consumes more Coca-Cola per capita than any other nation. First novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer. A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable. Hang On Snoopy is the official rock song of Ohio. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases. The airplane Buddy Holly died in was the "American Pie." (Thus the name of the Don McLean song.) When opossums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. Spades - King David, Clubs - Alexander the Great, Hearts - Charlemagne, and Diamonds - Julius Caesar. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them would burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired." Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later. "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. The term "the whole 9 yards" came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards." Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from and old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.It was validated by the US Supreme Court in the early 19th century. An ostrich's eye is bigger that it's brain. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds. The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies. David Prowse was the guy in the Darth Vader suit in Star Wars. He spoke all of Vader's lines, and didn't know that he was going to be dubbed over by James Earl Jones until he saw the screening of the movie. In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere. The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P. The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns. Cat's urine glows under a blacklight. The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado. Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously. No NFL team which plays its home games in a domed stadium has ever won a Superbowl. The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To Beaver". Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older. Flora Tristan <tristan-AT-iww.org> __________________________________ 13. Books Some of you may be aware that for many years now I have done a business in antiquarian books. Others of you, who read to the ends of my posts, may have noticed something different about my signature line: it now lists a web page. Those things are connected. I have gone high tech antiquarian, and am now listed on Advanced Book Exchange (ABE) and my home page is www.abebooks.com/home/ALEXCHIS/ If you go there, you will have the opportunity to either 'search' or 'browse' my catalogs. I suggest clicking on 'browse' which will bring you to a menu of about twenty different categories, among which is one called 'labor, socialist, ..." Select it and click on 'show me a list' and you can run through the whole current catalog. From: Alex Chis _____________________________________________ 14. Bob Dole the Pusher Man WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former presidential candidate Bob Dole said Thursday he participated in tests of the wonder drug, 3,4-Methylenedioxy-n-methylamphetamine, otherwise known as MDMA and commonly referred to on the street as Ecstasy, after winning his battle against prostate cancer. "I wasn't sure where I'd end up after the fight with cancer. Being exposed to it (MDMA) as part of the tests gave me new hope, new direction and a really renewed outlook on life. It's a great drug. I wish I'd ... bought stock earlier," Dole quipped on CNN's "Larry King Live", referring to sharp gains in the stock price of the drug's manufacturer, Shulgin Pharmaceuticals after the FDA approval. Sporting a non-traditional pastel shirt, sports jacket and AIDS awareness ribbon, Dole chuckled through questions about his new-found interest in the Chinese human rights issue as well as peaceful negotiations in the Middle-East. "Don't get me wrong, I still think Leary was a kook, but this drug holds promise for America as we lead the world into the next millennium of peace." David Brock (RevDrDB2)" <dgb2a-AT-frank.mtsu.edu> ________________________________________________ 15. Health Care Problems LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - Doctors warned on Friday that the world is facing a health crisis that could endanger the achievements of the past three decades. In a letter to the British Medical Journal, a group of international physicians called for new approaches to tackle poverty -- the world's number one health problem. ``We have to accept that we can no longer deal with health while ignoring poverty,'' said Professor Rodrigo Guerrero of the School of Public Health at the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia. ``We are convinced that a new approach -- not the traditional, purely medical one -- can go a long way, rapidly, towards improving the health of hundreds of millions of fellow humans.'' Guerrero and colleagues in Switzerland, Britain, Kenya and the United States cited poverty as the reason why babies are not vaccinated, why clean water and adequate sanitation are not available to hundreds of millions of people, why life-saving drugs are not accessible and why 600,000 women die, unnecessarily, in childbirth each year. ``The number of people living in absolute poverty -- earning less than $370 a year -- has more than doubled since 1975 and now stands at 1.3 billion. Seven out of 10 of these are women,'' they said. _______________________________________________ 16. Black Death and HIV The Guardian Saturday May 9, 1998 Survivors of the 14th century Black Death apparently bequeathed to their descendants the ability to resist infection by the AIDS virus. That is the conclusion of a team of scientists studying a rare genetic mutation that confers on its carriers protection against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. Although the origin of the mutation is obscure, it appears to have suddenly become relatively common among white Europeans about 700 years ago - when the epidemic of bubonic plague swept out of Asia and into Europe in 1346. "The chance of this gene randomly drifting up [to its current frequency among white Europeans] is unlikely," said Stephen J. O'Brien, a molecular biologist at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), who headed the research team. The Black Death killed between one-quarter and one-third of Europe's population between 1347 and 1350. All genetic mutations arise by chance. Some are neither immediately harmful nor beneficial. However, if a neutral mutation carries a hidden benefit, such as ability to resist a fatal infection, things can change dramatically. Mr O'Brien, his NCI colleagues, J. Claiborne Stephens and Michael Dean, and their collaborators, believe this explains the relative commonness of a mutation called "CCR5-delta 32." The mutation occurs in the gene for CCR5, a receptor on the surface of immune system cells called macrophages. People devoid of the receptor (which occurs when someone inherits the mutant gene from both parents) are essentially immune to HIV infection. People with one mutant and one normal version can be infected, but tend then to survive longer than infected people with two normal CCR5 genes. Like the AIDS virus, the bacterium responsible for bubonic plague also attacks macrophages. Yersinia pestis binds to their membranes and injects toxins into their interiors, disabling the cells' crucial role in marshalling the body's immune response. What is unknown is whether the bacterium uses the CCR5 receptor in doing this. "We're going to try to put this to the test," said Stanley Falkow, a microbiologist and plague researcher at Stanford University. The paper outlining their hypothesis appears in this month's American Journal of Human Genetics. From: MichaelP <papadop-AT-PEAK.ORG> ____________________________________________________ 17. Cuban Vaccines Havana, May 8(RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Ministry spokesman Alejandro Gonzalez affirmed that Cuba will not oppose selling its anti-meningitis type B vaccine to the United States. Referring to a U.S. pharmaceutical company's request to the White House to study the possibility of purchasing the Cuban vaccine, Gonzalez said that Americans would also benefit from normal exchange and commercial relations between the two countries. The Cuban foreign minister spokesperson added that Washington's nearly 40 year blockade against Cuba has limited exchanges between the peoples of both nations. Gonzalez pointed out that the U.S. punishes those who do business with Cuba, "never stopping to think that some products can save lives." ________________________________________ 18. New Marxism List THE PURPOSE: The primary purpose of the list is to gather together Marxists internationally who are dedicated to a non-dogmatic approach to issues of the class struggle today. Marxism has always been confronted with the problem of avoiding stale formulas handed down from previous generations. This new list is consciously designed to cut across that tendency. We will challenge ourselves on a daily basis to understand social reality without preconceptions. As Marx himself once said, he was no "Marxist." This remains our challenge. Despite the name of the mailing list, we must resist the temptation to turn the powerful method of Marx into some sort of revealed truth. Fortunately, we have examples of creative Marxism to draw upon: Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks, Jose Carlos Mariategui's journal "Amauta" and the essays of C.L.R. James. The wide range of interests of these Marxist thinkers, and their fresh approach to social reality, must inspire us. Everything came within their purview, from economics to popular culture to psychology to religion. Underpinning their investigations was an intense desire to change society, which is after all the primary purpose of the Marxist movement. HOW TO JOIN Send email to majordomo-AT-lists.panix.com with the message "sub*scribe marxism." (Eliminate the asterisk in your message.) Please circulate this announcement far and wide to progressive mailing-lists and newsgroups. Comradely, Louis Proyect lnp3-AT-panix.com __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ARTISTS AND WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE... YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT BAD TASTE! LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT Labor Education Center Rutgers University Ryders Lane & Clifton Avenue New Brunswick, NJ 08903 Phone: 732-220-1472 - Fax: 732-296-1325 Email: alewitz-AT-rci.rutgers.edu - Website: http://www.igc.apc.org/laborart Subscribe to AGITPROP NEWS at LISTSERV-AT-email.rutgers.edu Spanning the Globe to: ORGANIZE - AGITATE - EDUCATE - INSPIRE Mike Alewitz, Artistic Director --- from list bhaskar-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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