Around the Web

Bush’s arms links exposed
Briefing by Michelle Ciarrocca, Arms Trade Resource Center, for Foreign Policy in Focus, exposing the power of the ‘defence’ corporations in the US.
‘Despite a slowing economy and Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut, notions of fiscal conservatism have been brushed aside to fund the fight against terrorism. Boeing Vice Chairman Harry Stonecipher got to the heart of the matter when he told The Wall Street Journal that "the purse is now open," so the Pentagon will no longer have to make "hard choices" among competing weapons projects. Unfortunately, no hard choices were being made in the first place…’
http://www.fpif.org/briefs/vol7/v7n10arms.html

Climate Related Perils Could Bankrupt Insurers
Climate change is causing natural disasters that the financial services industry must address, a group of the world's biggest banks, insurers and re-insurers warned today. They estimated the cost of financial losses from events such as this summer's devastating floods in central Europe at $150 billion over the next 10 years. From Environment News Service.
http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2002/2002-10-07-02.asp

Anger at AGM as Cape fails to pay for asbestos crime
Outside Cape Plc's AGM last week, ACTSA campaigners protested in anger at Cape's failure to pay the compensation promised to 7,500 South African asbestos claimants last December. From Action for Southern Africa.
http://www.actsa.org/News/press_releases/081002_cape.htm

Sir Mark Moody Stuart receives his just desserts
Mark Moody-Stuart, former head of Shell and chair of Business Action for Sustainable Development, was simultaneously pied and greenwashed as he arrived at a meeting in London last week. Pictures and story from Indymedia UK.
http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=43275&group=webcast

Precision Farming: The Marriage Between Agribusiness and Spy Technology
Feature by Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero for CorpWatch US on how biotech corporations are exploiting surveillance technology to increase control over food production, in the process further standardising crops and threatening to de-skill farmers.
http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=4208

Luxury liner or Sweatship?
War on Want has launched a new campaign with the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) exposing the appalling conditions workers from developing countries are subjected to on some luxury cruise ships. Workers from the developing world face long hours and harsh conditions and are often forced to stay on board until they have paid back a massive agent's fee. The report finds that one of the worst cruise companies is owned by the Disney Corporation.
http://www.waronwant.org/?lid=2377