We need to celebrate our victories, small as some are. I learned from my SciBling, Grrl, over at Living the Scientific Life that Elsevier is abandoning their ill gotten gains as enablers of international arms merchants, a role we and many others posted on. Her summary is excellent. Here's some more detail:
As first reported by The Scientist, the Anglo-Dutch publishing behemoth, which puts out more than 2,000 journals and 2,200 books annually, has bowed to pressure from leading scientists and will no longer organize trade shows for weapons merchants.Despite the profitability of the company's five shows -- including the Defense Systems & Equipment International Exhibition, which bills itself as "the world's most prestigious defense exhibition" -- Reed Elsevier's chief executive, Sir Crispin Davis, said in a written statement that "it has become increasingly clear that growing numbers of important customers and authors have very real concerns about our involvement in the defense exhibitions business." (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Then there was the Chiquita banana business. By email from our friends at Labour Start:
On 18 May we wrote to tell you about Chiquita sacking union members in Costa Rica who had complained about being sprayed by pesticides while harvesting bananas. You responded with 3,437 messages to the company. And as a result, many of you received an email in the last few days from Chiquita's Senior Vice President, Manuel Rodriguez, replying to the issues we raised. As Rodriguez pointed out in his email, the company has been discussing this with the IUF (the global union federation responsible for agricultural workers) and has agreed to work toward re-hiring the workers and resolving the issues raised by the union. Pressure from the IUF, other food workers unions around the world, and thousands of individuals like you have had an effect, and workers' lives are being saved as a result.
Finally, a comment about the Tripoli 6, which most of you know has been a special campaign here. My SciBling Orac over at Respectful Insolence posted recently that things are looking up. The fatuous charge of slander against the police for complaining they were tortured (or as we say in the US, subject to enhanced interrogation) has been dropped. As I said, "small victories." I have been keeping in touch with events there and what I hear is that events are definitely moving but the situation is very fluid. Past experience has shown that the Libyan authorities can be unpredictable and there is nothing firm as yet. We share Orac's cautious optimism, but our emphasis remains on the "cautious" rather than the "optimism." We'll keep you posted as soon as we know something definite.
Small victories are still victories. And they are a lot better than defeats.
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thanks for noticing! to be fair, a reader alerted me to this because i also, was unaware that we had actually won this victory (small as it is).
It is as I said would be Revere, the market has spoken. Dont be surprised if they find someone to conveniently organize it for them. They are HUGELY profitable as you said.
Can you spill any extra beans on the Tripoli Six. I will tell you that a certain couple of someguys set up their computers to email the Embassies in the UK, South Africa, Indonesia every 3 minutes for the last two months with varying degrees of suggestions where MO G. could stick a T72 barrel and other inappropriate things. Their commanders chastisted them severely but it aint illegal to do so from Baghdad, so no Article 15's.
Randy: What I know (in substance) is what I wrote. I'll keep everyone posted as soon as I know more. I'd love to have a scoop. But I don't have one.
OT to MRK:
I'm fairly sure we misunderstood each other before, on the previous post where we were typing at each other (I won't go so far as to say "communicated"). I still think that you have not thought things through and that in some cases you are working from wrong information re: the state of health care in various countries, but I understand that you were saying the insults in your post were not characterisations of me -- but how you saw me characterising you, is that correct?
Anyway, the reason I have not posted back and continued any discussion is simply this: I have a full-time+ day job, on top of which I am trying to do a MSc, and this just doesn't leave me a lot of time to post.
I would like to pick this up at some future date, and I do still read here, but I wanted to at least let you know that I'm not a post-and-run.
It's great to see any victories even small ones. If you win enough battles you'll eventually win the war.
And a quick note: Lets not forget who the five largest arms dealers are: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. Isn't it ironic that they're all permanent members of the UN Security Council.