|
Today's
Stories
October
15, 2007
Gary
Leupp
Response to an Angry Marine
Andy
Worthington
A Gitmo Detainee Finally Gets a Break
October 13 / 14, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
Al Gore's Peace Prize
Wajahat
Ali
Privatizing Terror, Outsourcing Diplomacy: an Interview with
P. W. Singer
Jeffrey
St. Clair
A Half Mile of Hell
Ralph
Nader
Impeachment, Cowardice and the Democrats
David Heleniak
Gitmo at Home
Laura Carlsen
Plan Mexico and the Billion Dollar Drug Deal
Brian Cloughley
The Flat Drug World
Richard Rhames
Here Come the "Bankrupted Social Security" Scamsters,
Again
Ron Jacobs
For the Sake of a Future
Fred Gardner
The Overrated Importance of Being "On Message"
John Ross
The Betray Us Flap
Russell Hoffman
Another Pro Nuker Wins the Peace Prize
Missy Beattie
Will Someone Please Give Lou Dobbs a Lobotomy?
Poets' Basement
Gibbons, Buknatski and Ford
Website of the Day
"Psychokiller", the Blackwater Version
October 12, 2007
Cindy
Sheehan
Leadership Void
Brendan
Cooney
Washington's Holocaust Deniers
Alan
Farago
Gore Still Lost Florida
Jan
Oberg
Gore's Peace Prize, a Grand Misjudgment
M.
Shahid Alam
The Mercenary State: Pakistan's Killer Elites
David
Macaray
Lies About Teachers and Unions
Julia
Kendlbacher
Urban Legend, We Love Our Forest People
Peter
Rost, MD
Drug Money and the Clinton Campaign
Website
of the Day
Nader Live: "Things are a Lot Worse Than We Thought"
October 11, 2007
Al
Giordano
Bill Clinton as Ambassador to the
World?
Saul
Landau
Killing for Profit: Blackwater in Iraq
Jacob
G. Hornberger
The Failed Legacy of Interventionism
William
S. Lind
The Iraq Mirage
Joshua
Frank
Big Sky Rebels
Josh
Mahan
Colorado River Blues
Pat
Williams
Where Are You, Paul Wellstone?
October
10, 2007
Michael
Yates
Travels Across Greenspan's America
Gary
Leupp
Spreading Awareness or Smearing a Religion?
David
Macaray
How Wal-Mart Can be Beaten
Alan
Farago
Corruption and the Law of Intended Consequences
Tom
Clifford
Homeless in Their Own Land: Iraq's Deepening Refugee Crisis
Col.
Douglas MacGregor
Washington's War
Sunsara
Taylor
Nooses at Columbia
George
Wuerthner
Behind the Bovine Curtain
Roxanne
Dunbar-Ortiz
Indigenous Peoples' Day
Michael
Dickinson
Forgetting Lennon's Birthday
Website
of the Day
Paying for War
October
9, 2007
Paul
Craig Roberts
Blinded by Ideology: Cato, Trade
and Outsourcing
Andy
Worthington
Fourth Whistleblower Rocks Guantánamo
Alan
Farago
The Fall of Florida's Largest Land Developer
Brian
Eno
Exporting Democracy with Missiles
David
Rovics
The RIAA vs. the World
Farzana
Versey
Two Lovers and the Funeral of Secularism
Andrew
Buncombe
and Omar Waraich
Musharraf's Landslide
Website
of the Day
Romney and the Wheelchair Bound Medical Marijuana Patient
October
8, 2007
David
Macaray
Lesbians for Hillary? or Teamsters
for Hillary?
Jeff
Ballinger
Nike, Steroids and Marion Jones
Brian
Eno
This Ban Won't Stop Us
Christopher
Brauchli
Translating Bush
Louay
Safi
End the Disgrace of Guantánamo
Matt
Reichel
Homocide by Cops at the Phoenix Airport
Dave
Lindorff
Finally, A Good Day for the Constitution
Thomas
P. Healy
The Politics of Mercury Pollution
Martha
Rosenberg
E. Coli Spreading Slaughter Allowed to Stay Open
Richard
Rhames
A Democrat's Lament
Website
of the Day
Not All Italians Love Columbus
October
6 / 7, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
A Rainbow Over a Graveyard
Norman
Finkelstein
Jeffrey Goldberg's Prison
James
Bovard
Are Presidents Entitled to Kill Foreigners?
Patrick
Cockburn
The Invasion of Afghanistan, Six Years Later
Jeffrey
St. Clair
At Disaster Falls
Ralph
Nader
Where Are the Lawyers of America?
Ray
McGovern
So Who's Afraid of the Israel Lobby?
Saul
Landau
A River Runs Through It
Ben
Tripp
Bring on the Next War!
Terry
Lodge
The Grateful Dead Body Parts Delivered to Your Door Reform Act
Seth
Sandronsky
Market Mystification and the Liberal Virus
Kevin
Funk / Steve Fake
Divestment and Darfur
Missy
Beattie
In the Custody of Bush and Cheney
Website
of the Weekend
Snoop Dogg vs. Bill O'Reilly
October
5, 2007
Andy
Worthington
The Anonymous Victims of Guantánamo
David
Macaray
De-Skilling America's Labor Force
Lee
Sustar
The Democrats and Iran: Can They Sink Any Lower?
Dan
La Botz
Cincinnati Six Years After the Killings and the Riots
Aaron
Hess
Hate Week Comes to Campus
William
A. Cook
Unmasking AIPAC
Website
of the Day
Range of Memory
October
4, 2007
Uri
Avnery
The Power of the Israel Lobby
Dave
Marsh
Dick Cheney, a Eulogy
Valerio
Volpi
How Italy Became a Launching Pad for the US Military
Cecilie
Surasky
Dissenting at Your Own Risk
Dave
Lindorff
Remaking Iraq, as Vietnam
Norman
Solomon
Sputnik, 50 Years Later
Laura
Carlsen
Costa Rica and CAFTA: Memo Reveals Manipulation Scheme
Walter
Brasch
When Compassion Fails: Bush and the Children's Health Act
Ben
Terrall
Haitian Human Rights Advocate Kidnapped
William
S. Lind
Beyond the OODA Loop
Website
of the Day
Musicians in Handcuffs
October
3, 2007
Vijay
Prashad
Gang of Four
Anita
Sinha
Black Ties and Bulldozers in New Orleans
Winslow
T. Wheeler
Posturing at the Petraeus Hearings: Where was the Oversight?
Sharon
Smith
The Kucinich Quandary
Jeff
Leys
Our Bonhoeffer Moment
Sen.
Russ Feingold
We Must End This Tragedy
Mohamad
Bazzi
Playing Into the Hands of Ahmadinejad
Brenda
Norrell
A Cry from the Top of the World
Robert
Weissman
No Sex, Still a Scandal at the IMF
Website
of the Day
Jena by Mellencamp
October
2, 2007
Ibrahim
Warde
Logical Lies About Bin Laden's Wealth
Gary
Leupp
"I Hate All Iranians": Frank Talk from a Defense Dept.
Official
David
Macaray
The Hunt for a Blue November: In Pursuit of the Labor Vote
Conn
Hallinan
Religion and Foreign Policy
John
Ross
The Great American Chess Match
Alan
Farago
Ripping Off Miami's Poor
Sonja
Karkar
The Right to Exist: States or People?
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
The Meteor and the Mahatma
Website
of the Day
Grandin on Che's Legacy
October
1, 2007
Al
Giordano
The Clinton Campaign's Reckless
Race for Big Money Donors
Paul
Craig Roberts
From Burma to Iraq: Hypocrisy Rules the West
Moshe Adler
The Crimes of Microsoft
Ingmar Lee
My Kayak Journey Down the Wild Pacific Coast
John V. Walsh
Ahmadinejad is Not My Enemy
Norman Solomon
Political Science and Truth of Consequences
Roger Burbach
Historic Victory in Ecuador for the Left
Ramzy Baroud
The Politics of Assassination
Stephen Lendman
The Maestro of Misery: Greenspan's Dark Legacy
Susie Day
Honey, I Shrank the Military!
Website of the Day
Letters from Fort Lewis Brig
September
29 / 30, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
Clinton Time: Do We Set Our Clocks
Forward or Back?
Uri
Avnery
So What About Iran?
Andrew
Cockburn
Iraq's WMD Myth: Why Clinton is Culpable
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Through the Gates of Lodore
Wajahat
Ali
The Good, the Bad and the Iraqi
Andy
Worthington
The Curse of the Military Commissions
Don
Santina
Ethnic Cleansing in San Francisco
Ralph
Nader
Free Lunches, for Corporations!
Fred
Gardner
The Man Behind the MoveOn Ad
Seth
Sandronsky
The US Economy Since 1980
Gideon
Levy
The Children of 5767
William
S. Lind
A Ticking Bomb
Reza
Fiyouzat
An Anti-Imperialist Case Against a Nuclear Iran
Richard
Rhames
Wag the Tail, Frag the Dog
David
Michael Green
Buyer's Remorse: Their Purchase, Our Regret
Zach
Mason
Hate and Hope in Herndon
Poets'
Basement
Gibbons, Ali, Davies and Suss
Website
of the Weekend
Domestic Crusaders
September
28, 2007
Kathleen
and Bill Christison
The Teflon Alliance with Israel
Roberto
J. González /
David H. Price
When Anthropologists Become Counter-Insurgents
Saul
Landau
September, the Cruelest Month in Chile
Tom
Clifford
Burma by the Numbers
Christopher
Brauchli
Of Toxic Almonds and Bad Beef
Martha
Rosenberg
Spinning Suicide Statistics
Dave
Zirin
Soldier in Winter: John Carlos Speaks Out on the Jena 6
Laray
Polk
Bush Library or Lockbox?
Binoy
Kampmark
When Reagan Turned Brown
James
McEnteer
Hell, Columbia: an Academic Hotshot Introduces a Petty Tyrant
Website
of the Day
Concerned Anthropologists
September
27, 2007
Alan
Farago
Housing Market Crashes and Burns
Andy
Worthington
A Bad Week at Guantánamo
Jonathan
Cook
Why Did Israel Attack Syria?
William
Hughes
Billy Graham, a Prince of War Exposed
Ray
McGovern
Bush, Oil and Moral Bankruptcy
Ron
Jacobs
Joe Biden's Plan to Chop Up Iraq
Dave
Lindorff
Quit the Party! Join the Mass Resignation Movement!
Joshua
Frank
Pruning the Green Party
Anne
Dachel
The CDC, Vaccines and Autism
Website
of the Day
The God-O-Meter
September 26, 2007
Bill
Quigley
HUD's Home Wreckers
Paul
Craig Roberts
A Pandemic of Police Brutality
Jeff
Kisseloff
Still Smearing Alger Hiss
China
Hand
Is China the True Target of Financial Sanctions Against Iran?
Behzad
Yaghmaian
At the Gates of Paradise
Sonja
Karkar
The Quality of Mercy in Gaza
Mike
Ferner
Interrupting the Empire, 30 Seconds at a Time
Col.
Dan Smith
Freedom to Speak, Freedom to Learn
Clifton
Ross
Bollinger's Barbarous and Ignorant Speech
Brenda
Norrell
A Meeting of Indigenous Peoples in Caracas
Website
of the Day
The Smearing of Jean Maria Arrigo, a Psychologist Opposed to
Torture
September
25, 2007
Nicole
Colson
On the March Against Racism
Uri
Avnery
Foam on the Water
Brendan
Cooney
Ahmadinejad on Broadway: Free Speech? Arrest Him!
Harry
Browne
Bruce Springsteen Comes Home ... to Hell
Marjorie
Cohn
The Drift Toward War with Iran
David
Macaray
The UAW-GM Strike: the Long Knives are Already Out
Ralph
Nader
Hypocrisy and Inverted Priorities in Congress
Dan
Bacher
Schwarzenegger, the Climate Change Hypocrite
Anthony
Papa
Perverted Justice & America's Drug Laws
Christopher
Ketcham
All Politicos Now Classed as Sexual Deviants
Website
of the Day
John Waters on Free Speech
September
24, 2007
George
Ciccariello-Maher
Racist Violence from Jena to Oakland
Saree Makdisi
The
War on Gaza's Children
David
Keen
Action-as-Propaganda: Learning About the Iraq War from Hannah
Arendt
Sherwood
Ross
Just How Powerful is the Israel Lobby? Only Cheney Knows for
Sure
Ron
Jacobs
Greenspan's Open Secret
Donna
Saggia
The Cult of the Military and the Decline of Democratic Values
Mike
Ferner
Free Speech Takes a Capitol Beating
Malini
Johar Schueller
Norman Hsu is a Model Minority
Monique
Dols
and Dylan Stillwood
Ahmadinejad and Columbia
Website
of the Day
The Promotion
September 22 / 23, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
On Naomi Klein's "The Shock
Doctrine"
Jennifer
Loewenstein
Beneath the Hideous Veneer of
Security
Linn
Washington, Jr.
The Injustice in Jena: Prosecutorial Misconduct More Dangerous
Than Racism
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Going Down in Dinosaur: Oil, Dams and Whitewater (Part One)
Alan
Farago
Genuflecting to China
Brian
Cloughley
Of Hate, Hubris and Atrocities
Robert
Fantina
The Deadly Pattern of US Imperialism
Roxanne
Dunbar-Ortiz
Land Tenure and Resistance in New
Mexico
Jason
Hribal
Fear of an Animal Planet
David
Rosen
Slugger Sex: Athletes, Violence and Male Sexuality
Mike
Whitney
The Era of Global Financial Instability
John
V. Walsh
Who Will Lead a Filibuster of the Iraq War Spending Bill?
Dave
Lindorff
Why Aren't We Banning Blackwater Here?
David
Michael Green
Hiding Behind a Camouflage Skirt
Fred
Gardner
Claudia Jensen (Look Back in Anger)
Cassandra
Jones
Support Our Mercenaries
Roger
van Zwanenberg
Pluto Press Under Attack by Israel Lobby
Poets'
Basement
Buknatski, Davies and Ford
Website
of the Weekend
"For the Bible Tells Me So"
September
21, 2007
Karim
Makdisi
Letter from Lebanon
M.
Shahid Alam
A History of Violence
Alan
Farago
Who Will Buy My House?
Joshua
Frank
The Demise of the Congressional Black Caucus
Dave
Zirin
Notre Dame and the Economy of Sports
Kenneth
Couesbouc
A Short History of Lending and Borrowing
Dr.
Steffie Woolhandler and Dr. David Himmelstein
Mass Health Care Failure
Ben
Terrall
The Streets of San Francisco: Where Impeachment is Taken Seriously--By
Everyone But Pelosi
Steve
Fournier
Ex-Dems, Sign Up Here
Frederico
Fuentes, et al
Voices in Defense of Bolivia
Website
of the Day
Sabra and Shatila, Remembered
September
20, 2007
Kathleen
Christison
Whatever Happened to Palestine?
Zoltan
Grossman
An Endless Occupation?
Paul
Craig Roberts
As the Empire Slips: Greenspan and the Economy of Greed
Stan
Cox
and Wes Jackson
Carbon-Free and Still Wrecking the Planet
Russell
Mokhiber
AARP to Kucinich: Drop Dead
Charles
Modiano
Jim Crow's Children: the Jena 6, Shaquanda Cotton and Blog Power
Raymond
J. Lawrence
Bush's Worrisome Use of Religion
Brendan
Cooney
Body-Snatched Nation
Website
of the Day
Mind Control for Breakfast
September
19, 2007
Paul
Craig Roberts
Why Did Senator John Kerry Stand
Idly By?
Paul
Krassner
The Power of Laughter
Sgt.
Martin Smith
The New Private Warriors: Blackwater in Iraq
Seth
Sandronsky
Living in a Dilapidated Market: To Rent or Own?
Claud
Cockburn
Looking back at the Great Crash
Victoria
Buch
Israel's Agenda for Ethnic Cleansing
and Transfer
Robert
Weissman
Oil Warriors: From Greenspan to Kissinger
Mike
Ferner
Can We Talk?
Dan
Bacher
Schwarzenegger's $9 Billion Boondoggle for Big Water
Website
of the Day
Housing Cost Calculator
September
18, 2007
Mike
Whitney
U.S. Banks Brace for Storm Surge
as Dollar and Credit System Reel
Alan
Farago
Interviewing Alan Greenspan: How 60
Minutes Blew It
John
Ross
America's Great Wall:
Where Will the Workers Go
When They Finish It?
Ron
Jacobs
Nooses Hung From Jena, La. to College
Park, Md.
Alex
Doherty
Britain's 9/11 "Truth Movement":
Who's Responsible?
September
17, 2007
Marjorie
Cohn
Erwin Chemerinsky and the Post-9/11
Attack on Academic Freedom
Paul
Craig Roberts
Conservatism Isn't What It Used to
Be
Ricardo
Alarcón
The Return of C. Wright Mills Amid
the Dawn of a New Era
Marc
Levy
Fake Vets Chasing Fame
Eva
Liddell
In 1969 We Already Knew What 2007
Would Look Like
Website
of the Day
Propaganda:
Your Job in Germany. Directed by Frank Capra, and written by
Theodor Geisel
Sept.
15-16, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
The General Came to Washington
Vicente
Navarro
How the U.S. Schemed Against Spain's
Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy
Mike
Whitney
Plummeting Dollar, Credit Crunch
Herman
Mindshaftgap
Has There Ever Been a Surge?
If so, Has it a Future?
Ellen
Cantarow
Girls! Music! Palestine!
Jordan
Flaherty
K-Ville: Fox's New Paean to the
N.O.P.D.
Zachary
Hurwitz
Julio Cusurichi on Amazonian Development
September
14, 2007
Debbie
Nathan
New York Times reporter was a member
of an illegal underage porn site, claims he was only "posing
as online predator"
Franklin
Lamb
Sabra-Shatilla, 25 Years Later
Patrick
Cockburn
Greet Bush and Die: The Killing of
Abu Risha
Farzana
Versey
The World's Richest Muslim Tycoon
Alan
Farago
This is Florida, Epicenter of the
Housing Bust and of Public Corruption
Hank
Edson
Bill's New Book is Giving Me a Headache
September
13, 2007
Patrick
Cockburn
Petraeus Confided Presidential Ambitions
to Iraqi Official
Scott
Vest, former Air Force Captain at Minot
The Barksdale Nukes
Andy
Worthington
Guantánamo: "Ghost"
Prisoners Speak At Last
Michael
Baney
Mr. Fixit of Quake-Stricken Peru Has
Death Squad Past
Dr.
Susan Block
Is U.S. Run by Secret Homintern?
September
12, 2007
Paul
Craig Roberts
American Economy: RIP
Stan
Goff
The Petraeus Report
William
Blum
When Soldiers Mutiny...Only Those Fighting
the War Can End It.
Manuel
Garcia
Forgetting 9/11
Debbie
Nathan
Why One Sex Survey Didn't Make the
Big Time
|
October
15, 2007
Seek the Facts,
Agitate, Raise Hell
Al
Krebs, a Fighter for Family Farmers
By HEATHER GRAY
I was first aware of Al Krebs in the
1990s at a Farm Aid event. Merle Hansen of the North American
Farm Alliance was walking everywhere at the meeting holding fast
to The
Corporate Reapers: The Book of Agribusiness. I asked him
about this. He said the book was his bible-- the magnum opus
on the history of exploitive corporate agribusiness by Al Krebs.
Krebs, I soon learned, was the guru, the intellectual and activist
genius of the family farmer advocacy movement and like everyone
else I craved to know him - to sit next to him and attempt to
absorb his vast knowledge. In subsequent years that's precisely
what I have tried to do at every opportunity.
On October 9, 2007 this renowned pro-family farmer/anti-corporate
agribusiness journalist and historian Al Krebs died from liver
cancer. He was 75 years oldand what a fighter he was!
Talking with Al was always a unique experience --you would share a thought on something
agricultural, he would respond and then suddenly launch into
a discourse of facts and figures and personal experiences about
the issue you had barely touched upon and barely knew about.
I talked with him frequently from my Atlanta home, sometimes
into the wee hours of the night and was usually astonished by
his depth of knowledge. You were suddenly being taught the history
of it all --probably more
than you wanted to hear. As John Hansen, President of the Nebraska
Farmers Union, said this week, "once Al learned something
it was in his head forever."
Al was born in Santa Monica in 1932 and grew up in California.
His former wife Margaret tells us that "Al was Jr. to his
father Albert Valentine Krebs Sr. Krebs Sr. was the chief electrician
for a movie studio and was responsible for making the birds fly
off the phone lines in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"
and he made a special bit for the talking "Mr. Ed".
His mother, Ione, owned a handmade (she made them) braided
rug shop that was frequented by celebrities." He was married
to Margaret from September 1958 to October 1971. She has since
re-married. Al also has two sons, Jonathon and David, daughter-in-law
Leigh Arevalo married to David and two grandsons Alexander and
Ryan.
There was a lot that obviously propelled this young genius and
honed his skills. He was quite involved in the Catholic church
which, he told me, offered a vast array of speakers on civil
rights and other justice issues in the 1940's and 1950's that
left its mark. In 1957 he received a bachelors degree in English
from Seattle University, but prior to that he was already writing
and involved in journalism. Early on his love of sports became
apparent. It was in high school that Al began his career as a
journalist with the LA Examiner in the Sports Department. While
citing statistics of various sorts, Al covered the vast school
sports program in Los Angeles.
John Hansen noted that "anyone unfortunate enough to attend
baseball games with Al got the entire lineup history and current
statistics, the ownership and management history, and the batting
averages with men on base with either right or left handed pitching."
Al's good friend Mike Galvin commented that though, "A
kind and gentle person, Al said he never hated anything but the
New York Yankees."
His Seattle University experience offered for Al the mixture
of journalism and activism that continued for the rest of his
life. Galvin notes "Al worked on the Seattle University
Spectator as an editor and writer. He was very active in school
activities including Catholic social activism, politics and the
intellectual discussions and debate during a time leading up
to Vatican 2. He also was an assistant drama critic to Lou Guzzo
at the Seattle Times before moving to San Francisco where he
pursued a career in teaching and writing. His concern for the
poor went so far as to help establish soup kitchens for the homeless
in connection with the Catholic Worker movement."
The next phase of Al's life and work is a line up of the most
profound activists and organizations in contemporary American
family farmer and farm worker activism. In the early 1960's he
was a free-lance journalist and contributor to the National Catholic
Reporter. This was when Al encountered Caesar Chavez of the United
Farm Workers. I have tried to imagine the spirited conversations
these two must have had --I
would love to have been the infamous fly on the wall!! It was
during this period in 1964 that Chavez had Al break the news
about the Mexican and Filipino Grape Workers Strike in California's
Central Valley.
Here's the listing of his work in the 1960's to the present:
National Sharecroppers Fund (1969-70) --New York; Jim Hightower's Agribusiness Accountability
Project (1971-75); Consumer Action-San Francisco (1975-76); San
Francisco Study Center (1977-1989); California Food Policy Project
(1978-1980); Rural America (1979-1983); Ralph Nader's Center
for the Study of Responsive Law (1989-1992); PrairieFire Rural
Action (1993-95); Director of the Corporate Agribusiness Research
Project (1995-2007) which was devoted to monitoring the activities
of corporate agribusiness from a public interest perspective
which included weekly email updates "The Agribusiness Examiner"
to over 1,000 subscribers. He also distributed weekly the "Calamity
Howler" which was filled with articles and information he
wanted all of us to know about such as the non-agricultural corporate
and government abuses from Karl Rove to the Iraq War fiasco to
the concern for the safety of miners, etc.
He served on the Board of Directors or volunteered for the: North
American Farm Alliance; National Family Farm Coalition; Organic
Consumers Association Policy Advisory; Family Farm Defenders.
He was featured significantly at Farm Aid events. He was asked
to speak on the shenanigans of corporate agriculture at events
in India and Europe.
In the midst of his agriculture research, he got to know the
likes of anthropologist Walter Goldschmidt (author of "As
You Sow") who, during the 1930's and 40's New Deal period,
engaged in research on the harmful effects of corporate agribusiness
and large acreage ownership in rural America and the disastrous
consequences of industrial agriculture on the workers and communities
alike. He occasionally talked with noted economist John Kenneth
Galbriath who, he told me, stressed the importance of federal
assistance to farmers based, of course, on empirical research.
In a 1954 controversial speech to USDA graduates Galbraith said
that the Eisenhower administration's contrary opinion on farmer
assistance was "sonorous boondoggling" and an "evil
viewpoint."
The views and research of Goldschmidt and Galbraith resonated
throughout Al's agricultural philosophy, research and commentary.
What was it like to work with Al? Here's what John Hansen had
to say: "Al was a close friend of mine. We met
in 1972 when we both worked for the Agribusiness Accountability
Project in Washington, D.C. Al taught me how to do agribusiness
research. His journalistic background and the research
standards he brought to every issue were impeccable. His
research and writing on agribusiness and family farm issues changed
the course of more than one public policy battle over the many
years.
"You had to be glad that Al was on our side. Anyone
unfortunate enough to go grocery shopping with Al got the "rest
of the story" on who owns what brands and the "illusion
of choice" in the supermarket aisle. The passion of
his life was family farm agriculture. He had more institutional
memory on who the agribusiness conglomerates were than any other
person I have ever met or known.
"He was a walking family
farm agriculture historian who chose to defend our traditional
system of family farmer and rancher owned and operated agriculture.
His research skills, and standards were remarkable. When
you got the facts from Al, you knew they were solid, or he would
not have used them."
All of his work prepared him
for what most consider his major achievement --The Corporate Reapers: The Book on Agribusiness
published in 1992 by Essential Books. Al described to me
the process of writing this mammoth history and how thankful
he was to have had friends with whom he could discuss the book
as well as the supportive community that offered him financial
assistance and space to concentrate. It is said to have taken
10 years to write The Corporate Reapers in various phases.
Ralph Nader was one of those who helped fund the project.
The Corporate Reapers is a remarkably detailed 600 page
history of American agriculture from the 1700's to the 1990's.
Al describes the struggles and movements of family farmers and
rural communities to hold on to their livelihood, their land,
their economic independence and integrity while constantly being
challenged by corporate agribusiness and corrupt politicians.
Al explained at length that the corporate agribusiness control
is at the expense of consumers, the environment, our health and
our democracy. Ralph Nader writes "A veritable almanac
of information, The Corporate Reapers details how multinational
agribusiness has worked to destroy the family farm. Krebs explains
that the decline of the family farm is not a result of the interplay
of market forces, but rather of the price-fixing and anti-competitive
policies of Cargill, Continental and ConAgra and the allies."
In the introduction Al provides an overview of the philosophy
behind the takeover by corporate agribusiness the past century
and it's anti-competitive thrust described by Nader above. The
rest of the book is the history of it all and what folly it is
to destroy our family farm tradition and that all of us --farmers and non-farmers alike - are
threatened by this. First he defines agribusiness, which goes
beyond the production of food to the ownership of seeds, wholesaling
and distribution of machinery, fertilizer, packaging, processing
and marketing food --in
other words everything. Then the philosophy of takeover --going in for the kill: imposing free
enterprise - this is anything but free as it's based on no competition
and government policies that serve the corporate agribusiness
conglomerates; the disposal of excess human resources --in other words the farmers --get rid of the farmers and millions
of others off productive land in the interest of the powerful
elite; the bigger is better efficiency philosophy - which is
absolute nonsense in agriculture --the
family farmer is by far the most efficient and best steward of
the land; the implementation by agribusiness of SOCO (single
overriding corporate philosophy): (1) substituting capital
for efficiency and technology for labor (2) the standardization
of our food supply, and (3) the creation of manufactured, synthetic
food --in other words destroy
our family farmer system and healthy foods for the bottom line.
Al says, "what is the meaning of economic and political
democracy when corporate power so often is able to impose its
own will and narrow interests on a government originally designed
of, by and for the people, and thus thwarts the will of those
very same people?"
Al appropriately dedicated his book to the "stewards of
the land: those men, women and children who plant, nurture and
harvest nature's bounty of food." On December 13, 1992,
He wrote the following in Ralph Paige's (Executive Director of
the Federation of Southern Cooperatives) copy of The Corporate
Reapers "Ralph: Seek the facts, Agitate, Raise
hell, Reap the harvest, and share the bounty. In Solidarity,
Al Krebs."
Lessons from Al Krebs? There are so many for me! Here are a few.
(1) If you want to challenge corporate America, he told me,
one effective way is to purchase shares, attend shareholder meetings
and raise hell.
He did that years ago in a concerted effort on behalf farm worker
rights in the US and American corporate agribusiness abusive
treatment of workers in other countries.
(2) Don't let anyone get away with not speaking out about
injustices --even
and especially if they are your friends.
When Bush's buddies were first occupying Iraq and Bush appointed
former Cargill executive Daniel Amstutz as the head of "Agriculture
Reconstruction," Al was furious. Why were American agriculture
organizations and activists not speaking out on behalf of Iraqi
farmers? Al knew that with Cargill having the reputation of being
one the worst violators of the rights and independence of family
farmers throughout the world, the Iraqi farmers were doomed.
Al, George Naylor (President of the National Family Farm Coalition)
and I discussed what could be done about this. My contribution
was an article, that Al helped me write, with reference to Amstutz,
entitled "Home Grown Axis of Evil: Corporate Agribusiness,
the Occupation of Iraq and the Dred Scott Decision."
(3) You can't be effective
in your organizing work unless you can it back up with facts
and history --so know them!!!
Probably more than any contemporary writer I know, Al would incorporate
his dialogue and writing with historical quotes and treatises.
His book The Corporate Reapers is a feast of these.
He was an inspiration and always there in 2006 when we at the
Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, where
I work, were researching farm subsidies and the impact on Black
cotton farmers should the Congress end the program. I spent hours
talking with him about farm subsidies to understand the program
itself and its history. Al agreed with one of the Alabama Black
cotton farmers we interviewed who warned that "if the government
gets out of agriculture, both farmers and consumers are doomed.
All of us will have to serve at the behest and control of corporate
America." The farmer inferred that all of us might starve
if that's what corporate America wanted.
(4) Everyone must stand prepared to move forward for justice
no matter your circumstances --money or otherwise --just
do it!! Be vigilant!
Toward the end of his life Al was prepared to fight the battle
for the 2007 Farm Bill. He was never able to get the financial
support he needed for his newsletter but nevertheless he made
sure his newsletter was published regardless. In one of his last
newsletters on June 11 of this year, Al said: With the 2007 Farm
Bill on the horizon and most likely a new Democratic Party administration
in charge THE AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER has no intention in relenting
its demand for full accountability from not only government policy
makers and officials but also from farm organizations."
When USDA Secretary Mike Johans retired in September 2007 to
run for the Nebraska Senate seat being vacated by Chuck Hagel,
from his bed Al called Kathy Ozer, Director of the National Family
Farm Coalition, to discuss what this meant. In recent conversations
with Al, Kathy also asked him if he would like the recent biography
of Senator Russ Feingold and, of course, he did. "He was
political to the end," Kathy said.
I have just touched on the history of Al Krebs. Importantly,
however, his legacy will be profound as he taught and mentored
so many in the agriculture movement. Mark Ritchie, now Minnesota's
Secretary of State with whom Al had been associated for years,
told me that Al managed to bridge and bring together the west,
mid-west and eastern agriculture family farm and farm worker
movements because he knew them all. Ritchie also said that he
was instrumental in bridging the generations of farm movement
advocacy work, which was a major and important achievement and
contribution.
I will finish this with words directly from Al. He was so prolific
that it's difficult to choose something appropriate from his
vast work. But I decided it best to choose a passage from
the last chapter of The Corporate Reapers which is a challenge
to us all. The chapter is appropriately entitled "Bringing
the Corporate State under Democratic Control." Written in
the early 1990's his challenge is, unfortunately, as relevant
today as in the 1990's.
"As the United States
confronts the economic and political morass of the 1990's and
keeping in mind that the early 1990's also marks the centennial
of the agrarian populist movement, the time has come to disengage
ourselves from the endless fratricide debates that have existed
in the past among farmers, farm workers, labor, consumers and
environmentalists. Rather, this period should be viewed as that
one propitious 'democratic moment' in our lifetimes that we begin
to seriously put together a progressive populist movement.
"It is time to be bold in our vision if we are going to
be about the business of reviving the agrarian populist spirit
of the 1880's and 1890's, we need to both think and act "globally,"
but act locally.
"Yes, Joe Hill. We need to quit mourning and start organizing!
"Rural Americans and family farmers in particular have traditionally
associated themselves with the ideals of American democracy as
enunciated by Thomas Jefferson and embodied in the rich historical
tradition of agrarian populism. They should not be ignored for
the leadership they can and should provide in our nation's continuing
struggle for economic and political democracy."
Heather Gray produces "Just Peace" on
WRFG-Atlanta 89.3 FM covering local, regional, national and international
news. She can be reached at hmcgray@earthlink.net
|
Now Available!
How the Press Led
the US into War
Buy End Times Now!
New From
CounterPunch Books
The Secret
Language
of the Crossroads:
HOW THE IRISH
INVENTED SLANG
By Daniel Cassidy
WINNER
OF THE
AMERICAN BOOK AWARD!
Click Here to Buy!
Cassidy
on Tour
Click Here for Dates & Venues
"The Case Against
Israel"
Michael
Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz
Click Here to Buy!
Saul Landau's
Bush and Botox World
with a Foreword by Gore Vidal
Click Here to Order!
Grand Theft Pentagon
How They Made a Killing on the War on Terrorism
The Occupation
by Patrick Cockburn
Humanitarian Imperialism
By Jean Bricmont
CITY BEAUTIFUL
By Tennessee Reed
Bruce Springsteen On Tour
By Dave Marsh
The Book on 9/11 the White House Denounced
as "ABSOLUTE GARBAGE"
|
