MoJo Must Reads

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Ambassador of the United States, Inc.

Jan. 21, 2000

Gunboat diplomacy may have gone out of fashion, but US corporations battling for foreign contracts in the Third World can still count on ground support from the local embassy. According to the ASSOCIATED PRESS, a survey released this week shows that US diplomats are especially prone to throwing their weight around to help strong-arm a deal for their countrymen. The survey was commissioned by Transparency International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting corruption worldwide. Most of the over 700 business executives from developing nations who were interviewed thought the US was the most likely of 19 nations to use unfair diplomatic pressure to win deals for its home corporations. France came in a distant second with 34 percent of the vote. A US Chamber of Commerce official said the foreign execs were just bitter about losing business to US firms.

http://biz.yahoo.com/apf/000120/us_foreign_1.html

JB

Fidel fever gives Miami the blues

Jan. 20, 2000

The new Miami-Dade County ordinance boycotting businesses that transact with Cuba has hit South Florida in its pocket and its musical pride, reports the MIAMI HERALD.

Recording industry officials announced they would move the first Latin Grammy Awards celebration to Los Angeles. The reason? Because the mere possibility that a Cuban artist would be nominated for a Grammy prompted the county to pull all of its support for the awards show.

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences President Michael Greene said, “It was a surprise to us that the arts are not viewed as a cultural bridge down there. That it’s much more important to keep the politics of hatred and division flourishing because it’s big business.”

http://www.herald.com/content/today/docs/059810.htm

KS

The media made me do it

Jan. 19, 2000

No wonder people hate journalists so much; when they’re not obsessing over elected officials extra-marital affairs or shoving microphones into trauma victims’ faces, they’re inciting husbands to kill their ex-wives.

Such, at least, is the defense being offered by a Fort Lauderdale, Fla. man accused of shooting his ex-wife to death while a TV camera recorded the event for posterity, the NANDO TIMES reports. Seems a reporter for the Spanish language network Telemundo was interviewing one Emilio Nunez at the gravesite of his 15-year-old daughter, who had recently committed suicide.

As the tape rolled, the girl’s mother showed up unexpectedly, sparking a bitter argument between the couple. As the Telemundo reporter peppered them with questions, Nunez pulled a gun and shot his ex-wife a dozen times. His lawyer is now trying to get the charges reduced to manslaughter, saying Nunez was driven into a rage by the reporter’s impertinent inquiries.

http://www.nandotimes.com…

VB

_
Who killed Hoosier fish?

Jan. 18, 2000

If you’re traveling to Indiana’s White River, it shouldn’t be difficult to find — just follow the stench of rotting fish.

Environmental officials are investigating the cause of contamination that killed 80 tons of fish in Anderson, Ind. in mid-December, THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports. The toxic spill ultimately affected three counties, and though it has not posed a widespread threat to drinking water, it has left a 50-mile trail of destruction in the river, making it one of the state’s worst environmental catastrophes.

The Guide Corp. automotive plant in Anderson, Ind has emerged as a prime suspect. Guide bought the plant from General Motors in 1998. GM still maintains the wastewater treatment facility at the site. GM’s record of hazardous waste violations at the plant’s facilities was long and storied even before the recent incident.

On the plus side, the river’s fish will never again complain about sodium-dimethyldithiocarbamate or cyanide shortages.

http://www.starnews.com…

JG

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate