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Meetings have begun to start planned a Food COOP in south austin. The first meeting was attended by over 30 people. It was a general brainstorming session to see what people were interested in. Discussion took place over the benefits and drawbacks over a food buying club or a storefront, types of COOPs, and what it might take to get such a project off the ground. Representatives from Wheatsville COOP and Black Star Pub attended to give advise.
The next meeting will be at Davine Foods, 1412 West Oltorf on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3pm.
Also check http://southaustinfoodcoop.org/ to stay updated on the project.

by David Morris

A coalition of Haitian unions has announced a series of activities to mobilize the people to resist the privatization of government operations in Haiti.

On December 7th, the Austin city council voted 5-2 to consider trading development rights for the former Robert Mueller Airport site in East Austin to Stratus Properties, a remnant of Freeport-McMoran. In exchange, Stratus will theoretically agree to develop less of its holdings in the Barton Creek watershed. The negotiations are the latest phase of a decade-old battle over development over the aquifer.

Who is Freeport-McMoran?

Originally a Louisiana fertilizer company, Freeport McMoran grew in the eighties to incorporate real estate,development, and gold and copper mining into a single conglomerate headed by James Robert "Jim Bob" Moffett.

By Andrea Del Moral

the Javelina vs. the Mediacracy

Three to five shots were fired at a queer women's coffeehouse last week. No-one was hurt. It wasn't in any of the papers, not even this one, nor was it announced on any of the surviving radio stations. But, people know about it. For my own part, I know because I was there. I picked up the shells.

Former Coca-Cola Exec Promises to Open Talks with EZLN

by Nina Clandestina

On December 1st, Vicente Fox Quesada was inaugurated as the new president of Mexico- ending the uninterrupted71-year rule of the PRI. This shift of power from one political party to another was widely touted by the international press as evidence that Mexico has been transformed overnight from a PRIista dictatorship to a meaningful and representative democracy entirely through the electoral process. While many of the ballots cast for Fox were votes against the PRI, the main difference between Fox and his presidential predecessors is that he represents another (even more conservative) political party- the PAN.

A Call for Volunteers

Nicole True

Because food is a right and not a privilege! Because there is enough food for everyone to eat! Because scarcity is a patriarchal lie! Because a woman should not have to use her body to get a meal, or have to have a place to sleep! Because when we are hungry or homeless we have the right to get what we need by panning, bus king, or squatting! Because poverty is a form of violence not necessary or natural! Because capitalism makes food a source of profit not a source of nutrition! Because food grows on trees! Because we need community not control! Because we need home not jails! Because we need FOOD NOT BOMBS!

By Scott Henson

A lot's going on around the state on the police accountability front. What follows are brief updates on some of the most important developments:

Forrest Hill protesters still angry after court ruling

A Tarrant County district judge ruled in December that protests against police misconduct may continue, but placed restrictions on blocking traffic and forbade them from disrupting Forrest Hill City Council meetings.

Since September civil rights activists and concerned citizens staged a half-dozen protests against the Forrest Hill Police Department. Forrest Hill is a suburb southeast of Fort Worth. Groups involved include the Tarrant County Local Organizing Committee and the Coalition for the Advancement of Civil Rights.

December 2, 2000
Se¤or Vicente Fox
Los Pinos, Mexico D.F.

Se¤or Fox,

Six years ago, we wrote a letter to Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Le¢n, your predecessor. Now that you are the new head of the federal Executive, it is my duty to inform you that, as of today, you have inherited a war in the Mexican southeast:the one in which, on January 1, 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation declared war against the federal overnment in demand of democracy, liberty and justice for all Mexicans.

by Andrea Del Moral

Along the coasts of North America, cities drop dots on maps of huge open space. They gather in clusters blurring into megalopolises that house hundreds of millions of people. Land is a high commodity in these cities; ever fewer people have the financial ability to live in these spaces. They make do living in smaller allotments. In the middle of the country, where the dots drop between fields of soy and corn, the story is the same. Between these cities, vast expanses of open space push the horizon. In the prairies and plains, wheat and corn, soybeans and canola, potatoes and sugar beets, fill thousands of acres of space. This is the heartland, feeding people everywhere.