Beyond the Farm

For the week preceding this Saturday, September 30th, 1995, here's what happened Beyond the Farm: [The Week of the Protest?]

Ross Perot announced on Larry King Live Sep 25th that he will be forming a third political party, to be called the Independence Party. The timing of the announcement was designed to allow adequate time to get on the ballot in several states, including California. Perot claims he does not intend to be the party's presidential nominee, but will provide the funding (about $25 million) for the party to become established. Any nominee of the party would have to support its balanced-budget, term-limit, and fiscal responsibility platform. Colin Powell has not ruled out running as the Independence Party's nominee.

The President signed a bill Sep 30th which will keep the government running for six weeks of the new fiscal year while budget negotiations continue. The House passed the emergency measure Sep 28th, and the Senate followed suit Sep 29th, despite adamant statements from Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) Sep 24th that he would only pass 2-3 week extensions. The Republicans are being highly complimented for their willingness to pass the measure and keep government from shutting down.

In the Balkans:

• The Bosnian government, apparently emboldened by recent military advances, announced Sep 24th that it would not participate in talks on the form of the future Bosnian government.

• US envoy Richard Holbrooke announced Sep 25th that the Bosnian government would be rejoining peace talks after meeting with president Alijah Izetbegovik.

• All sides in the Bosnian conflict agreed Sep 27th to the form the Bosnian government will take after fighting stops. A joint assembly made up of representatives from the Bosnian Serbs, Croats, and Muslims will run a central government.

• Renewed fighting was reported around Serb-held Banja Luka Sep 29th.

• Richard Holbrooke moved to Serbia Sep 30th after failing in cease-fire negotiations with the Bosnian government.

They're Talking About It:

In Shorts:

• 3000 participated Sep 24th in a protest of the power-sharing agreement proposed in Sri Lanka.

• A French teen killed eight people before turning a gun on himself Sep 24th.

• 800 residents of Okinawa, Japan turned out Sep 25th to protest the treatment of three U.S. soldiers who have all but admitted to raping a 12-year old Japanese girl. The US claims it will turn over the three to Japanese custody as soon as they are formally charged.

• Iraqi Kurds attacked and killed 42 Turkish Kurds Sep 25th.

• Mount Ruapehu roared back to life in New Zealand Sep 25th in an active eruption, though most nearby residents were safe.

• Closing arguments opened in the O.J. Simpson case Sep 26th. Marcia Clark and Chris Darden spoke for the prosecution (Sep 26th and 27th), reiterating the scientific evidence, while Johnny Cochran and Barry Scheck spoke for the defense (Sep 27th-29th), primarily painting the case as one of incompetence and racism in the Los Angeles police department. After Marcia Clark closed with a re-iteration of video footage of an abused Nicole Brown-Simpson Sep 29th, the case finally closed. Jury deliberations finally begin next week.

• Rebels in Sierra Leone killed 100 civilians in three towns Sep 26th.

• Gunmen killed 12 people South Africa's KwaZulu province Sep 26th; about 130 have died in two weeks of ANC-Inkatha violence.

• William Guede, a former Intel employee, was charged Sep 26th of selling proprietary information to competitor Advanced Micro Devices.

• After he testified in hearings about possible campaign funding misconduct, Colombian President Ernesto Samper found himself under gunshot fire. Two bodyguards were killed and one lawyer injured when five gunmen fired at his car Sep 27th.

• The Senate passed a $62 billion spending bill slashing environmental, housing, and veteran's funding Sep 27th.

• The treasury department displayed a new $100 bill Sep 27th; all US paper currency will receive a makeover before the turn of the century to prevent counterfeiting.

• Edgar Nicholas Mariscal, arrested recently for shooting a Mexican Cardinal, denied making a confession Sep 27th.

• Time-Warner agreed Sep 27th to divest in the Interscope Label which produces rap albums; the move was hailed by right-wing groups.

• Mercenary Bob Denaro led a coup in the Comoros Islands off Africa Sep 28th. President Mohamed Djohar is being held in prison as Denaro, a veteran of four previous attempts, takes over the country.

• Khaled Kelkal was killed in a shoot-out in France Sep 29th; he was the chief suspect in many of the recent bombings in that country.

• The Senate finance committee passed its Medicare and Medicaid bills Sep 29th.

• 20,000 people turned out across France Sep 30th to protest nuclear tests.

• 200 more Palestinians were kicked out of Libya into the Egyptian desert Sep 30th as Libya continues its program of deporting all Palestinians; 5000 have been forced out so far.

• Physicist Stephen Hawking admitted Sep 30th that time travel may be possible, but never practical.

• Mexican Zapatista rebel leader Subcommander Marcos came out of hiding Sep 30th to make a brief statement to his followers.

• The European community re-iterated that it would achieve a common currency by 1999 in meetings Sep 30th. Corrections:

• Banja Luka has not been taken by Bosnian government forces; the source of the story was a Bosnian spokesperson who obviously was spreading propaganda.

• The "Unabomer" has been consistently spelled incorrectly in this publication in recent weeks.

Finally:

And that's what happened - Beyond the Farm.

Beyond the Farm is designed to provide a reasonably short summary of a week's events for people who would otherwise have no chance to keep up with current events. It may be distributed/forwarded/posted anywhere. Comments, criticisms, and requests for e-mail subscription additions or deletions should be e-mailed to "lance.gleich@leland.stanford.edu." "http://www.stanford.edu/~lglitch/btf/btf.html" on the World Wide Web for back issues. Congratulations on keeping up with the world around you!