Activism

Monique Harden and Nathalie Walker, two public interest lawyers, report that they attended "the recent conference of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), called 'Communicating in a Volatile World.' ACC is the trade association for the 180 largest manufacturers of chemicals in the U.S. Until recently, ACC was known as the Chemical Manufacturers Association. The ACC conference was a real eye-opener. It revealed the ACC's genuine fears about the accomplishments of environmental health activists.

The American Enterprise Institute has launched a new web site, NGOWatch.org, as part of its campaign against nongovernmental organizations, which it says "are unregulated, spared any requirement to account for expenditures, to disclose activities or sources of funding or even to declare their officers." Rather ironic isn't it, that a these sorts of complaints would come from a libertarian think tank that is itself a nongovernmental organization and that does not publicly disclose its own i

"What seemed to be a groundswell of protest materialized last week when WorldCom Inc. lawyers arrived at federal court for a hearing on whether the company's agreement to pay a $500 million fine was sufficient punishment for its mammoth fraud. ... Outside the courthouse, a small group of demonstrators rallied" including the Gray Panthers. "The outpouring, though, was hardly spontaneous. Several of the opponents, including protest organizers and petitioners, had ties to Issue Dynamics Inc.

San Francisco Chronicle technology columnist Henry Norr has been fired for taking part in an anti-war rally last month, joining a growing number of journalists who have lost their jobs or columns due to their views on war.