TERVE - - - NAMASTE

FINDIANS BRIEFINGS

HOT NEWS ITEMS OF THE LAST FORTNIGHT

• Finland to Rent a Princess?

  Dateline: 30th August 1996

  Finns were all agaga when the Swedish Royal Family, consisting of the King and Queen accompanied by Princess Victoria, chose Finland to be the first testing and training ground for the Crown Princess. Crowds thronged the streets of the capital Helsinki to see the royal troupe and the five hour visit to Oulu saw them mobbed by the Finns. This made some outsiders wonder whether the Finns longed to get back to being a part of the Swedish Empire.

  President Ahtisaari and wife Eeva were always at the side of the Royalty, and it seemed that the Finnish President, who is none to popular these days, was trying to make out, for his own ego, that it was he that was being cheered and waved at!! He was seen everywhere, frantically waving back.

  It was not surprising that after the Swedish group returned to their homeland that a story flashed in one of their leading newspapers that the Finns probably had intentions to rent the Princess - the rental fee being mentioned being a few hundred thousand dollars!

  When this story spiralled across Europe, courtesy BBC, this was promptly denied by the Finnish nobility, as many here would like to see their own daughters take on that role. After President KoivistoÍs daughter made her play as Princess during his years of office, it was a bit of an anti-climax as President Matti and wife Eeva have only has a son - and no-one in Finland wants a Crown Prince!

  ---

  Return to the Top

  ---

• DuPont de Nemours

  Dateline: 1st September 1996
  1. Thappar/DuPont - Trouble in Tamil Nadu

     Those of you who have been following developments in Tamil Nadu will recall the speed at which the Nylon 6:6 project was cleared by the Jaylalitha Government. There were protests that the project had been sanctioned without any consideration of the environmental problem. The DMK candidate for the area was elected primarily on the platform that he opposed the project because of these environmental concerns.

     The Nylon 6:6 project is a joint venture between American Chemical multinatioal, DuPont de Nemours, and the Calcutta-based Thappar group. There is no doubt that India desperately needs more availability of Nylon 6:6 and DuPont has some of the finest technology for this product. However, the environmental aspects certainly need to be correctly addressed.

     Having opposed the project when in opposition, the DMK Government is now trying to forget its ealrlier stand now that it is in power. This has angered the environmental group who suported DMK in the election because of their opposition to the project. Chief Minister Karunanidhi has a problem on his hands as he has to satisfy both sides of this difficult equation, and that too quickly.

  2. Sports Personality Poll Results - Chauvinistic Survey

     Here is an item taken from the DuPont Summer 1996 Magazine, which is a special edition on Sport. DuPont makes several plastics products for the area of sports, from fibres to fabrics especially suited to produce comfortable sportswear or tennis rackets and strings, to moulded rubber and plastics products which are utilised in the manufacture of many sporting goods.

     The company carried out a Pan-European survey of whom the Europeans thought as being the most leading sporting personalities. Although the results from each country involved in the survey were extremely chauvinistic, the global results make interesting reading:

     1. The most impressive sports person of the 20th century:
        Footballer Pele of Brazil followed by Spanish Cyclist Miguel Indurain.

     2. The most impressive sporting performance of the 20th century in the world of Individual Sports except athletics:
        Heavyweight Boxer Mohammed Ali of USA followed by Spanish Cyclist Miguel Indurain.

     3. The most impressive sporting performance of the 20th century in the world of Athletics:
        Carl Lewis of USA, and this was before he won the long jump in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics for the fourth successive time and equalled the record set by Paavo Nurmi of the largest number of gold medals won at the Olympivs (9), followed by Ukrainien Pole Vaulter Serguei Bubka (who was foiled once again by injury to win the Olympic Gold at Atlanta).

     4. The most impressive sports person of the 20th century in the world of Team Sports:
        Footballer Pele of Brazil followed by another footballer cum coach, German Franz Beckenbauer.

     5. The most impressive sports person of the 20th century in the world of Winter Sports:
        Slalom star Alberta Tomba of Italy followed by Frenchman Jean-Clause Killy.

     6. The most impressive sports person of the 20th century in the world of Motor Racing:
        Aryton Senna of Brazil followed by German Michael Schumacher.

     7. The most impressive sporting record of the 20th century:
        Roald Amundsen of Norway (being the first person to reach the South Pole) followed by New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary.

     There were some top names missing from the list. Especially noted was the absence of two Finns, both of whom should have figured in the top ten of at least two of the many categories:
     1. Paavo Nurmi who holds the largest number of Olympic medals, 9 in all, a feat just equalled by Carl Lewis in the 1996 Olympics over a span of 16 years.
     2. Matti Nyykanen, who won four gold medals in a single Winter Olympics at Calgary.

     It is nice to note that DuPont accept that their results were chauvinistic as was borne out by them publishing the spread of results in some of the categories as they were seen by the countries that were included in the survey (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK).

  ---

  Return to the Top

  ---

• Do You Have a Problem on 1st January 2000?

  Dateline: 7th September 1996

  The System Clock Time Bomb

  At midnight on 31 December 1999, just three years and a bit away, there is going to be one almighty explosion of swear words resounding across the globe, and maybe up to that life at Mars.

  There have been several recent reports evaluating the cost at the turn of the century to corporations as their computer systems will not be able handle the change of date from 1999 to 2000.

  The British Department of Trade and Industry released a report along with the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, the Computing Services and Software Association and PA Consulting, which estimated that it would cost every company at least 5% of the turnover - what a whopping big bill. Someone out there is going to make a lot of money.

  535 companies were surveyed. 70% of the Information Technology managers claimed awareness of the problem. 76% said the problem was critical or serious. Only 8% had assessed the extent to which their business critical systems would be affected.

  The Gartner Group, an Information Technology consultancy, also reported that 50% of firms have computer systems which are currently non-compliant with the onset of the turn of the century. It was estimated that the cost to rectify the problem could range from US$2 to US$14 million for medium size businesses .

  Indian software giants Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro have set up special web pages devoted to what off-shore services they can offer to solve this enormous problem.

  Well, I took out my antique Mac PowerBook 170 (1991 Model) and fired it up using a very old Mac operating system - 7.0.1. This was the last free Mac OS. It is still capable of running, trouble free, almost all the several thousands of Mac software programs.

  I downloaded a shareware Spreadsheet program called BiPlane, a very simple no frills one. When I opened its Date and Time Setting facility, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the dates this company, Night Diamonds of California, has used as its example of the date input is the year 2010. I tested putting in dates from from 2000 to 2034. All calculations involving dates in this range ran without any hitch.

  How did I check the day/date relationships were correct? I have a small freeware utility in my Apple Menu called All Day by Ulrich Hilger of Germany. My Version 4.3 is several years old. This application displays the calendar for any chosen year (it also displays holidays, etc.). When I asked for the year 2000, the program came up with the full calendar for that year, with Day and Date perfectly correct. I had the absolutely correct calendar for any year that I tried.

  Then I went to my trusted Hypercard program, the real old version which came free with my PowerBooK. I opened my Appointments Dairy. It worked correctly for all the years I cared to test. I had no problems with any dates, displays or calculations.

  I opened another ancient but great Appointment reminder application that also has sat in my Apple Menu, called Remember?. This shareware program by Dave Walker is one I have had for almost a decade - I believe several upgrades have been released but I went back to one I had tested way way back. When I opened the dialog box to enter a new occasion I was again happy to note that the list of years ran up to 2018.

  With a great deal of trepidation I borrowed a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program from a friend to test it on my computer. Mine is a Microsoft Free Computer as my previous experiences have been terrible with Microsoft products, all of which I have used having been peppered of bugs. I like to live a bug free life. When I started this and tried the date, it complied strictly with the Mac date system. This proved the fact that we have always known that the Excel program was originally developed for the Mac OS and not for DOS and or Windows.

  Now came the final test which Tony, my son-in-law and a computer specialist, had told me was the crucial one. I set the PowerBook computer clock for 23.57 on the 31st of December 1999. I shut down the computer. I waited for five minutes and restarted the PowerBook. There was the beautiful sound of the Mac startup and without any problem the computer sprang to life. The Menu clock showed 3 minutes past midnight on the 1st of January for the year 2000. I was sure that I would have no problems with anything running on my computer at the turn of the millenium? The Mac system clock, and all Mac programs are fully geared to bring in the new millenium without any cost to anyone.

  How about you? Are you ready to run this test on your computer and let me know what happens?

  What does all this mean? Simply put, it means that if you had chosen the Mac to be your Operating System you wouldl have no problem at the year 2000. Maybe because you trusted some guys who call themselves Information Specialists, you have been landed with an operating system that does not work at the turn of the millenium without a huge bill to effect the changeover. In many systems the chip clock will not handle the change at the turn of the millenium meaning that any program which uses the DD/MM/YY feature will give you a whole lot of rubbish as it puts you back to the start of the chip clock routine. My word, do you have a problem with mission critical documents!!.

  If these guys who decided on your system were on my payroll, heads would have rolled for choosing the wrong platform and wasting shareholders funds on such a useless task of just changing the date at the turn of the century.

  Take for instance AST Research Inc. On the 4th of September 1996 they have issued a press statement that from April 1996, yes April 1996, the computers that they offer would gradually be modified to be able to take you into the next century without a problem. What about the huge number of computers sold before this date - are they to be scrapped?

  To be honest this may not be too much of a problem in the case of AST, as the computers they sold were probably already scrapped within a week of sale!! Also, I do not think that AST will last into the next century (see below: Stock Market Analysis Report).

  The moral - always stay with the best and most advanced OS, the Mac, which is so far ahead of others, that the people behind it have thought of the problems of their users well before any of the other computer manufacturers or operating systems even realised a problem existed, or if they did, have left the problem unattended for the last twenty years in an effort to make some extra bucks out of you.

  Result: You pay up for their lack of foresight!

  ---

  Return to the Top

  ---

• Finnish 1997 Budget - Codswallop

  Dateline: 7th September 1996

  Living in Finland is certainly very good for the lungs. You get some really good laughs.

  Last issue we had the release of the price for the Communicator 9000 by the Finnish multinational, Nokia. This week it was the turn of the Finnish Finance Minister, Sauli Niinisto and his side-kick Arja Alho who released their budget for 1997, prepared, I must say, with the input of many many bureaucratic and Ministerial hours.

  A fortnight ago the Finnish Finance Ministry put out their figures of their estimate of the number of unemployed in Finland. This differed sharply with the figures of the Statistics Centre (420000) and the Labour Ministry (470000). The Finance Ministry had come up with a figure of 700000 or over 25% of the working population.

  This week, when this same Finance Ministry released the 1997 Budget document, they state, therein, that the unemployment is going to drop from 16.4 to 15.4%.

  This shows that the right hand of this Ministry does not know what the left hand does, or rather what the right eyes sees is different to what the left eye sees. Considering both eyes are blind, it is a question of the blind right eye leading the blind left eye, and vice versa.

  To prevent a revolt of the population (no need to fear that as Finnish males are subjected to a very effective brain-washing process in their compulsory army service), they have decided that cutting taxes is the best way to promote growth. The bureaucrats and these politicians think that Finns are fools to just go out and spend their extra income - as that is the mathematical model which the Finance Ministry follows which tells them that is what Finns will do!!

  Poor souls as they continue to live in their foolÍs paradise - because come next autumn they will be wondering which social benefit to cut and which further tax cut should be passed on in an effort to stimulate the growth that did not take place with this yearÍs tax cuts.

  The Finns have learnt their lesson (at least they should have by now). They are unlikely to go out and spend their extra income in promoting growth. They will either take a trip to a foreign country to buy some goods and services that they desperately need at prices cheaper than what they cost in Finland, or they will reduce their crippling loan burdens - neither of which increases employment or promotes growth.

  In the meantime the Government will continue to borrow more (than its projected amout of Fmk 29 billion) to meet its burgeoning expenses to keep this country of absolutely useless bureaecrats in their positions. This government, and the last, have already loaded over 80000 marks (predicted to rise to 86000 marks next year) of debt on the head of every Finn to keep themselves in the gravy.

  A sensible Finance Minister would, as the first step, reduce the number of bureaucrats from 700000 to nil. The country would run better, and save a huge burden to the taxpayer. The country will then have the basis for preparing a realistic and workable budget.

  The rest of the budget being tabled before the Finnish Parliament is just a lot of meaningless innuendos as this consensus government (Prime Minister Paavo Liponen - Social Democrat Party), just as the last one (Prime Minister Aho - Centre Party), and the one before it (Prime Minister Harri Holkeri - Conservative Party), and the one before it (Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa - Social Democrat Party), etc., etc., clings to power with no morality to speak of.

  For those of you who are wondering why we stopped the HUMOUR Section of Findians Briefings - as you can see we get enough laughs from these Finnish clowns and comedians!

  ---

  Return to the Top

  ---

• BBC On Air - Fascinating Interview

  Dateline: 7th September 1996

  The October 1997 Issue of BBC On Air, the progamme guide magazine which has replaced the glossy publication BBC Worldwide, which replaced the almost free programme guide London Calling, reached me a couple of days ago.

  It is a pity that the editor of BBC On Air, Vicky Payne does not have a few really good production and distribution strategists on her team. To charge £15 for 12 issues of these few pages is really criminal.

  Given the task, I would be able to deliver this content to the doorstep of anyone interested around the world at less than half the cost, and if I was allowed to play my cards my way, free, and still make BBC World Servce a lot of money.

  This issue, has a great interview with probably the most well-known DJ in the world, Dave Lee Travis, DLT. He is not famous because of the T-Shirts he has been giving away, but the great wit with which he keeps the listeners tuned in to his allotted 45 minutes. His audience spans the entire age group from the very young to the very old.

  A Jolly Good Show has been on air for a good 20 years, and yet no two programs have ever been the same. The music played by DLT is really not so important as the way he introduces each request is far more interesting than the musical content. The music just keeps the listener away from these humourous epilogues. It is difficult to understand how DLT has kept up this style for this long a period.

  The one line of the interview printed in BBC On Air that touched me was when he said that he once had to go on air when he was feeling upset, as he had just put down two of his old dogs and had been crying. It is this inner honesty of this indvidual which has come through all these years and which has kept him popular, from Finland to India. Unfortunately he is not a Findian, but his wife, Marianne, is a near neighbour, originating from Sweden.

  Question: Has any Findian had a request played by DLT and received a T-Shirt?

  Answer: Yes, in September 1981, 15 years ago to the week, Susanna a Findian, had a request played and received a T-Shirt when she was living in Bangalore, India, just when DLT was celebrating his 5th year at the job!

  A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then.

  ---

  Return to the Top

  ---

• Journalism Analysed

  
  Dateline: 6th September 1996

  With the American Presidential election just around the corner, analysis of the candidates and their policies have been featured in most of the major newspapers and magazines worldwide. The September 1st issue of the Kerala magazine, THE WEEK, has, as its special WORLD REPORT feature, the foreign policy of Bill Clinton discussed by correspondents Steven Erlanger and David E. Sanger.

  What caught our attention was the headline "At Home with Foreign Policy - US: Clinton has discovered that the American president has the biggest bully pulpit in the world" - almost prophetic words considering the actions of Clinton during the last week. (See our editorial this week - Indian CTBT Stand Fully Vindicated.

  It is nice to see Indian magazines so well-informed about world politics and using world quality journalists to feed the local population with coverage of international events. In Finland, the newspapers (and there is only one national newspaper for a population of 5 million) and magazines treat foreign news rather shoddily. It is difficult to get a clear broad-minded coverage about any major story as this is usually interjected by a Finnish Expert who usually knows less than the informed audience he is writing for. A passing visit to a location is usually enough to qualify one as an expert.

  When we first came to Finland we were compelled to write a letter to the Indian Ambassador that the school text book written by a group of noted educationists, in the junior school, and noticed by our 11 year old son, which covered India, were geographically, socially, politically, historically, economically, and almost in every other way, incorrect. For instance, the North East monsoon, whhich provides sufficient winter rainfall to a large part of the South East part of India, was described in the textbook as a dry wind. Obviously coveage of other countries was in the same mould.

  Journalism in Finland has to grow up. With no competition on the national scene, this is very unlikely. Thus the one-sided nature of Finnish coverage of world events, and, therefore, the rather jaundiced view of many Finns about the other countries in the world, will continue for a long time yet.

  ---

  Return to the Top

  ---

• Stockmarket Analysis

  Dateline: 7th September 1996

  (Before you decide on your next computer purchase visit our page David vs Goliath)

  Our Stock market report continues to prove very popular amongst our readers. This week we have three major stories concerning the companies we are covering.

  1. London Times claims Nokia downs Deutsche Morgan Grenfell

     The Investment Management Regulatory Organisation (IMRO) suspended dealing in three growth funds managed by Morgan Grenfell, a subsidary of the German Deutsche Bank. The funds which covered about 90000 investors was of a value of US$2.2 billion. It has been estimated to have resulted in a loss to Morgan Grenfell Asset Management of more than US$250 million.

     The London Times claimed that a reason for the losses was in investment made in Finnish multinational Nokia. Kauppalehti, the major Finnish Business Daily paper, reported that i0 per cent of the investments in May were in Nokia, amounting to about $300 million. However BBC World Service Business Report has just stated that the the fund invested more than 50% in a Canadian company and a Norwegian Software company, whereas fund management rules are specific in that they state that no more than 10% should be invested in any one company.

     The irregularities are believed to concern valuations of some of the shares held in unlisted continental European companies and stock in some high-technology companies which had resulted in the funds being shown to perform strongly.

     The three funds are two unit trusts - the European Growth Fund and the Morgan Grenfell Europa Fund and a investment fund registered in Dublin, the Morgan Grenfell European Capital Growth Fund.

     Deutsche Morgan Grenfell said that it has carried out an internal probe. They said that they had discovered possible irregularities in the handling of the three funds. The company has promised to compensate clients for any losses that they might incur.

  2. Birds of a feather flock together

     When we prepared the stock market report for last week, it was before the South Korean Court had pronounced judgement concerning the two former Presidents. What was shocking was that the Chairman of Korean multinational, Samsung, was found guilty of having paid massive bribes to these Presidents.

     Obviously it was the Samsung company policy to pay out money to political powers to get its work done. Hardly a company worth trusting as to follow such a policy the company obviously has to make massive profits out of its customers. Considering how it has thrown away almost $1000 million of shareholder funds down the drain in the case of its acquisiion of junk coomputer manufacturer AST Research Inc., and considering that Samsung has a Mission Statement which it hardly fulfils, it would be best to stay away from products produced by this company. The share price of Samsung dropped sharply in the South Korean stock exchange reflecting what the South Korean investor thought about the behaviour of their multinational and its tactics of using bribery and corruption to achieve its goals.

  3. Two more heads roll at AST

     Just after we released our last issue we heard that Ian Diery, the CEO of AST Research Inc., a former Apple executive, had left his post and that he had been succeeded by Samsung nominee Young-Soo Kun as Chairman and CEO. Just before we started to put together this issue we heard that Joseph E. Norberg, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at AST Research Inc., had resigned and that his post had been taken over by another South Korean Samsung executive, Won Suk Yong. Details of these changes can be found on the AST Press Release page.

     What all this chopping and changing does is of no consequence till such time as AST Research Inc. and Samsung start to realise that, worldwide, there is customer disgust about these two companies. They have to get rid of executives in their various offices world-wide, such as Mr. Klanger, here in Finland, who have ruined the reputation of these companies. However, these are probably the very people that will be retained as they may represent the true face of the management of these companies as was reflected in the Court in South Korea, that of bribery,corruption and fraud.

     The Stock Analysis shows AST still wriggling at the bottom and the negative effects of the changes at the top management level will be seen in the coming two weeks. There has been a drop in the performance of Motorola, reason unfathomable. Apple holds its position as is shown by the investor sentiment survey on the http://www.stockmaster.com/ page for Apple.

     ---

     
     

     High Tech Stocks Analysis
     Closing Friday 6th September 1996

     Company (Exchange)	High	Low	Present	Variation from High	Variation from Low
     Dell (NASD)	69.87	23.00	69.00	1.25 (1)	200.00 (+)
     Intel (NASD)	83.25	49.81	81.25	2.4 (-)	63.12 (+)
     Compaq (NYSE)	59.12	35.87	57.63	2.53 (-)	60.65 (+)
     Microsoft (NASD)	126.12	79.87	122.50	2.87 (-)	53.37 (+)
     Ericsson (NASD)	26.25	17.37	24.50	6.67 (-)	41.05 (+)
     Gateway 2000 (NASD)	45.87	18.00	42.00	8.44 (-)	133.33 (+)
     IBM (NYSE)	128.87	83.12	115.50	10.37 (-)	38.96 (+)
     Hewlett Packard (NYSE)	57.75	36.87	43.63	24.46 (-)	18.32 (+)
     Motorola (NYSE)	82.50	44.75	51.63	37.42 (-)	15.36 (+)
     Zenith (NYSE)	26.00	5.87	14.00	46.15 (-)	138.50 (+)
     Nokia (NYSE)	78.00	31.12	41.63	46.63 (-)	33.76 (+)
     Apple (NASD)	45.50	16.00	23.00	49.45 (-)	43.75 (+)
     DEC (NYSE)	76.5	30.5	38.25	50.00 (-)	25.41 (+)
     Netscape (NASD)	87.00	23.00	37.13	57.33 (-)	66.41 (+)
     AST (NASD)	13.37	4.37	5.18	61.24 (-)	18.58 (+)
     Acer	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
     Packard Bell	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

     ---

with thanks to "communication briefings"

You will boost your chances of getting what you want in a negotiation if you are:

1. Prepared. Before you seat yourself at a table, make sure you know as much as possible about the needs of both parties and any external factors that may affect your negotiations.
2. Poised. Negotiators who become emotional lose points in the negotiation. Those who remain calm win points.
3. Persuasive. This boils down to two things: You must be able to explain your position and provide support for it.
4. Persistent. This does not mean you should fight for a point until you are "the last one standing". But it does mean that you should not give in at the first sign of resistance to an issue that is important to you.
5. Patient. Pressing too quickly to conclude the negotiations may cause you to compromise more than you should and leave you with a hollow victory.

Return to the Top

Editorial - Indian CTBT Stand Fully Vindicated

• India refused to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) without certain committments by the present nuclear powers.

  The stand has now been fully vindicated.

  The use of cruise missiles on Iraqi army installations by the US was regretable. The action in north Iraq by Saddam Hussein was a definite provocation. Saddam must have thought that with the US presidential election around the corner, Bill Clinton would be reluctant to commit US forces.

  Cruise missiles are not very reliable. That is the reason they have not been deployed commonly in the past. The US presidential candidate, however, could not afford to be a bystander. The rest of the world (barring Great Britain and Germany), however, could not condone the use of these missiles by one sovereign state against another.

  Saddam`s invasion of the Kurdish enclave and the cruise missile attack on Iraqi installations cannot be sanctioned by the international world at large. The primary issues involved here are that of national sovereignty and unilateral action by one country against another.

  It also raises the aspect of the by-passing of the UN. The US sought to justify the action claiming violation by Iraq of an UN resolution. No-one in the UN has given the right to the US to be the sole arbiter of the interpretation of UN resolutions.

  It is true that entry and withdrawal by Iraq into the Kurdish enclave shook the world (although not the US and Great Britain as they were fully aware that one of the parties had called on the Iraqis for help). Saddam acted because of the disputes between the pro-Iraqi Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the pro-Iranian Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

  The British and the Americans claim that negotiations were in progress in London, but these had broken down, so these countries knew that the pro-Iraqi faction had called on Saddam to act within the territorial borders of Iraq.

  Iraq used 30,000 ground troops. It was not able to use air cover as it would have violated the post-Gulf War agreement. The Kurdish safe haven established by three western powers north of the 36th parallel have been legally immunised from Iraqi air attacks.

  This operation did not violate that aspect. Saddam drew attention to the establishment of an enclave in Iraqi territory.He succeeded in propping up the KDP against the PUK annoying Iran when this country is not very popular with the US administration.

  Saddam, however, misjudged the US political climate. Although the US did not claim that the Iraqi action was on par with the invasion of Kuwait, Clinton was not prepared to ignore this provocation by Saddam. This attack by US, with no sanction from the UN, supported only by the "Yes Sir, No Sir" Government of Great Britain, which has no mandate today of the British people (having lost every single election for the last three years), and for some obscure reason, Germany, was opposed totally by France, Russia and China, (the three other nuclear powers of today). The unilateral extension of the no-fly zone in Iraq by the US also has no sanction of the UN. This shows what is the effect ruthless power hunger.

  What will be the world order if such powers as are at the helm of US and British affairs stop the rest of the world expressing themselves in any forum, just because they are armed with nuclear weapons. The present behaviour shows that they are prone to behave in this manner.

  No one in his right senses can support Saddam and his egomanical methods. What he does to his own people in his own territory is his responsibility. US and Great Britain have no right to interfere with the internal affairs of any country, even if it is Saddam. US and Great Britain are not the conscience of the Iraqi people, just as they are not my conscience keepers.

  We live by certain rules in the international community. That means we have to respect the organisations and structures that have been laid in place. This action by the US, primarily to further Bill ClintonÍs own election chances by manipulating the minds of his American public, shows how these world leaders misuse the power that they have. They cannot be trusted - the public statement that was being made a few weeks ago by India at Geneva.

  Why did the US not attack Russia for its dastardly action against the Chechniyans. In that instance Bill Clinton stood up to say that the US stood by the integrity of the Russian state and no separatist movement would get support from the US. He permitted the continuation of the mass massacre of the Chechniyans. The US went so far as to pump their dollars into Russia to prop up an invalid, corrupt and sadistic leader and organise his re-election (in the name of democracy?); the man who has no other reputation or qualification than the power of the gun behind him. Remember that it was the same man who blasted the Russian Presidium to pieces a few years ago in the name of democracy. It was the same man who stood behind the blowing apart of the Checniyan capital a year ago in the name of democracy. What separates this blood-thirsty individual in his actions from the actions of Saddam? What qualifies that one gets US assistance while the other its wrath.

  India has warned the world that giving this ultimate power to the five nuclear powers is not wise. The action taken by Bill Clinton shows how true the Indians were to stand up and be counted.

  As a final note, it is the poor Indian farmer that has had to pay a very high price for Bill ClintonÍs action against Iraq. The bill for oil imports for production of fertiliser by India has sky-rocketed as a result of this action. The Indian Government should present a bill on behalf of the Indian farmers to Bill for this disruption of their economy by his unilateral action. Like the UN dues, he will not pay, but will sermonise about how they are the upholders of the UN and democracy.

  email your comments to your Editor, Jacob Matthan

  ---

Letters to the Editor

• ---

  Date: Sun, 25 Aug 1996 11:37:08 -0400 (EDT)

  From: m w grossmann (select@inch.com)

  Dear Editor,

  I take exception to some points in your rant in the issue of Briefings - Volume 2 Issue 4:

  "an American President, Bill Clinton, who will stoop at nothing to get re-elected - violating and disregarding international law in cases of sanctions against third countries related to the US disputes with Cuba, Iran and Libya."

  There has never been a US president or candidate who would stop at anything to get elected. Same for the British Prime Minister, German Chancellor, and the heads of any other "Democratic" government.

  "International law" is a joke. It only applies to a country if that country chooses to be subject to it. I studied it.

  Clinton has had no part in anything dealing with Iran or Libya. With Cuba, his only action was no action -- that is, no change from present policy. Pathetic? Certainly, but "no new action" is rarely news.

  "a superpower USA which does not pay its membership dues to the UN, has been consistently taking more, financially, out of the UN than any other country, stealing from the poor nations who humbly pay their dues, and yet controls the organisation (HOW?) because of its sheer bullying tactics (hardly a western democratic system)"

  The US does not pay membership? Are you on drugs? The US has paid the largest piece of the cost along with the costs for other members which they do not or cannot pay. The entire infrastructure, real estate, and other non-published costs are picked up by both US and New York taxpayers, not those in Helsinki.

  How has the US *taken* *anything* from the UN? These "poor nations" who are "humbly paying their dues" are paying them with US dollars they received in guaranteed aid, paid for by American taxpayers.

  The US no more controls the UN than do Russia or China. Europe as a group has more power.

  "a superpower USA which bandies unproven statements of terrorism by other states and provokes the UN to place sanctions affecting the lives of millions of innocent people, unremittingly conducts activities of financial and other forms of terrorism in different parts of the world, disregards human rights while claiming to uphold them;"

  Which *unproven statements of terrorism* has the US made? How do they *provoke the UN* into placing sanctions? How does the US *conduct... financial and other forms of terrorism?* And regarding your complaints of disregarding human rights and, by extension, dignity, I note that on this same page, you write about how the Finnish government plans to give tax breaks to the rich in order to employ domestic servants. That would never make it in the US. In fact, five years ago, the IRS came down hard on those who employ domestic workers because taxes weren't being paid.

  In short, this is a long rant with neither substance nor substantiation. News writers cite sources and give examples; you have failed on both counts. You make baseless accusations and offer no supporting evidence. One can complain about an awful lot of things about the US (I often do) without resorting to such ludicrous accusations.

  And before you write me off as an American blinded by his country's actions, consider this: I am a European resident living in the US, paying taxes to support the UN, among other things.

  Sincerely,

  M W Grossmann

  (Ed: Dear Mr. Grossmann, Please take a look at the editorial of this week and then review your letter!! There is no need to restate the obvious. All the contents of the previous editorial were based on documented fact, not on fiction. It is sad that you are not aware of them.)

• ---

  Date: Sun, 25 Aug 1996 22:14:41 +0100

  From: Tuomas Kaikkonen (tkk@kvk.otol.fi)

  Organization: School for Hearing Impaired of Oulu, Finland

  Subject: Slave trade legalised in Finland

  Editor,

  I agree with Findians Briefings article about *Slave trade* in Finland.

  Giving tax breaks to middlemen only is not good.

  Sincerely,

  Civil servant Tuomas Kaikkonen

  School for Hearing Impaired of Oulu

  Lossikuja 6, 90500 Oulu

• ---

  Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 17:09:35 +0300

  From: Martti Moisio (martti.moisio@research.nokia.com)

  Organization: Nokia Research Center

  Subject: Findians Briefing

  Hello,

  The articles in your Findians Briefings are the most stupid I have read in a long time.

  I don't understand the reason for publishing this kind of rubbish. Unless e.g. the article about *Slave Trade..*s was intended to be some kind of bad joke.

  Regards,

  Martti M.

  ---

  Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 08:25:07 +0800 (SST)

  From: asarwal@singnet.com.sg (A Sarwal)

  Subject: Bharat Samachar

  Hi!

  Have sighted an interesting, informative, comprehensive - and well brought out new newsletter on the website providing the latest news on India.

  Its brought out by Atul Dev - Delhi-based journalist, publisher, and can be accessed at:

  Bharat Samachar

  Do spread the word around to other Indians - apparently suggestions are welcome to help make the newsletter provide what the readers want.

  Ciao!

  A. Sarwal

  ---

Tel.:+358-8-5515335; Mobile: +358-40-5004780

email: findians@friendly.netppl.fi

Proceed to the Next Issue

Findians Briefings Web Site
Member of 123Counters

It is GREAT to be a Member of the Internet Link Exchange