Information Related to "World News Review February 2000"
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In Brief... World News Reviewby Peter Eddington, Cecil Maranville and John Ross SchroederAustria and Switzerland Move Right Today, left-of-center governments dominate much of Western and Central Europe. However, there are certain signs of a movement towards the far right in at least two European states. Most alarming is the emergence of Jörg Haider's Freedom Party as the second largest political force in the Austrian legislature. He is known for his alleged pro-Nazi pronouncements and qualified praise of Hitler. Haider has traveled to London to silence alarm bells set off in the West by his controversial statements about the Third Reich. This rightward direction has potentially sinister implications for the whole of Europe. History Today assistant editor Nigel Jones wrote in the respected British weekly magazine, The Spectator: "To dismiss this election…as a mere blip on Europe's smooth progress towards a social democratic paradise, would be unwise…. The forces that have brought Haider within reach of power in Vienna are also astir in Austria's giant neighbor, Germany. The German political establishment is scarcely more popular with its voters than in Austria. "But the German far-right lacks a charismatic leader. Already Haider has begun to make trips to Bavaria to address meetings of like-minded Germans, who have given him an ecstatic reception. Haider would not be the calculating politician he is if the thought 'Today Vienna, tomorrow Berlin' had not entered his handsome head. An Anschluss in reverse? Stranger things have happened" (emphasis added). Three weeks after Austrian voters had boosted the ultra right, neighboring Switzerland followed suit. Christopher Blocher's extreme Swiss People's Party made huge gains in the federal elections, which places him in a strong position to play a significant role in a future coalition government. He is known for his highly controversial views about the Holocaust. This change in the Swiss political landscape will enable Mr. Blocher, a 59-year-old businessman, to more effectively push his ideas on the wider socioeconomic scene. And as The Economist observed, "Like any disgruntled Swiss [citizen], he can set out to veto, change or even launch major legislation through the machinery of direct democracy." Even without a major rightist movement affecting the whole of Europe, the European Continent is predicted to expand its economic power and political role in this decade. Reporting from Paris for The Los Angeles Times, John-Thor Dahlburg observed that "the coming decade should be one of momentous, if plodding and confusing, change in Europe, and of growing power and assertiveness that the United States will be forced to heed. Already the world's largest trading bloc at 15 members, the European Union by 2010 may count 20 to 30 members and ultimately as many as 35." What makes the growing power of Europe so potentially hazardous is the possibility of extreme political forces taking hold. ( The Spectator; The Economist; The Guardian; Sunday Times; Sunday Telegraph; Independent on Sunday; Daily Mail (all London); The Los Angeles Times ) Grabbing for the Ring ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (imported from Britain) has become a golden-egg-laying-goose for the network, consistently pulling top Nielsen ratings and beating the other networks. It even topped the 57th Annual Golden Globes during the hour that it played opposite the awards show on January 23. Diving to cash in on the public's love for money give-away shows, Fox has begun to air Greed. (How's that for a subtle name?) NBC has resurrected Twenty-One, the infamous game show that once fraudulently furnished Charles Van Doren with answers to quiz questions in advance out of-well, greed to build and keep the show's audience. CBS joined the dash for cash-lovers late with Winning Lines. In true, "I'll see that and raise you one" mentality, Fox promises a new show this February, titled Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire? The list of possibilities for thinly disguised clones is nauseatingly endless. The U.S.-Canadian and British markets aren't the only ones that have an appetite for big-money game shows. A similar show, Chance of a Lifetime, recently pulled a Norwegian audience of 1.25 million people-in a market of just 4 million! "Why are these shows making a comeback?" is an easy question to answer from the networks' point of view. They are relatively cheap to make. The sets are inexpensive, and advertisers front the money that is given away to winners. Not that there are that many winners. ABC's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? had a million-dollar winner recently-only the second person ever to win the big prize on any of the show's various versions. Maybe the question "Why are these shows so popular with the viewing public?" is a little more difficult to answer. This Week, ABC's Sunday morning news show, discussed the phenomenal success of their money game, speculating on the reasons for its astounding popularity. The round table of newspersons all thought people simply wanted to see other people win. Only one, a conservative columnist, disagreed, saying he believed that most watched in the hope that they would see the contestant lose! He was roundly booed for his uncharitable attitude! There is a more basic answer, one that would surely raise a chorus of boos from those who are mesmerized by this "cavalcade of cash cows" for network television. That is, they pander to a desire that lies within the makeup of everyone's primary nature, the desire to strike it rich. The audience is able to project itself into the winner's circle, to vicariously win the big money. It plays to the tinsel veneer of cheap values that overlay Western culture like a shabby forgery of the genuine article. What harm does it do? Some might say that quiz shows are "educational" and therefore good for people to watch. Hmm…. I wonder if anyone thinks of reading a book anymore, or going for a walk to look at what God has made. Does anyone really think that it is "good" that millions upon millions of man-hours are being spent weekly in front of the television watching a few people trying to grab for the brass ring? Is it truly good that people bathe their minds in-as one show is plainly titled-greed? Look again at the timeless wisdom of God on the subject: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things" (1 Timothy 6:9-10). ( ABC's This Week; Variety; Associated Press; Northeastern News, Northeastern University; Drudge Report ) Chinese Interests in Bahamas In 1962 the United States and Russia came dangerously close to nuclear war over the issue of nuclear weapons based in Cuba, just a few miles off the coast of Florida. Today there are concerns expressed over the presence of a Chinese company, Hutchison Whampoa Limited, in Panama, where it has contracted to manage the entrances to the former U.S. possession. The same Chinese company is currently completing construction of the largest container port in the world in Freeport, Bahamas-just 60 miles from Florida. While this is a far cry from placing nuclear weapons close to United States soil, it has raised concerns that a company with Communist Chinese connections is operating in two strategic geographic points very close to American interests. Several U.S. military experts say that these activities in both Panama and the Bahamas by Hutchison Whampoa Limited, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, pose a significant risk to U.S. national security. Officials for Hutchison Whampoa have heatedly denied any links with the Red Chinese government, but several established connections suggest that the Chinese government has a keen interest in the company's activities. One port facility that has captured the interest of the Chinese government is Hutchison Whampoa's sprawling port facility in the tourist destination of Freeport on Grand Bahama Island. According to the company's Web site, the port is located at one of the most strategic spots in the world because "Freeport is the closest offshore port to the east coast of the United States, at the cross-roads of routes between Europe and the Americas and through the Panama Canal." Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (Republican-Mississippi) and former U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger have expressed concerns about Hutchison's influence over the Panama Canal. Lott has described the Hong Kong firm as "an arm of the People's Liberation Army." Hutchison Whampoa's chairman, Li Ka-Shing, is also a board member of CITIC-the China International Trust and Investment Corporation. U.S. intelligence sources have described the firm as a front for China's governmental State Council. Congressman Dana Rohrbacher (Republican-California) has stated that CITIC has been used as a front company by China's military to acquire technology for weapons development. A recently declassified report by the United States Southern Command's Joint Intelligence Center, prepared in October 1999, said that "Hutchison Whampoa's owner, Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-Shing, has extensive business ties in Beijing and has compelling financial reasons to maintain a good relationship with China's leadership." The military intelligence report also warns that "Hutchison containerized shipping facilities in the Panama Canal, as well as the Bahamas, could provide a conduit for illegal shipments of technology or prohibited items from the West to the PRC, or facilitate the movement of arms and other prohibited items into the Americas." Retired Admiral Thomas Moorer, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and former commander in chief of the Pacific and Atlantic Fleet said this of the Chinese efforts: "Of course the Chinese military sees the benefit of having a base, a future base, so close to the United States. What China is trying to do is get a kind of maritime position worldwide, and they need a home base, so to speak, in every ocean." (Newsmax.com) |
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Related Information:
Other Articles by Peter Eddington
Other Articles by Cecil Maranville
Other Articles by John Ross Schroeder
Origin of article "World News Review February 2000"
Keywords: Austria Switzerland China Bahamas
Switzerland:
