There are people whose purpose is to turn these peaceful demonstrations violent and who succeed very well in any part of the world. Now with terrorists on the verge of declaring a worldwide jihad I think it is a sensible decision to take peaceful demonstrators, at least, away from such scenes. Now to the heart of the problem. Is government of the people, by the people and for the people possible anymore? The World Trade Organization is being fostered by a process that completely bypasses any possibility of public input, creating it's own "lawful" rules, driven solely by the limitless greed for profits of large multinational corporations who can swallow up the body, soul and conscience of any CEO and spit them peremptorily out, should they declare allegiance to anything but that of the largest of all possible profit lines. Now that we in the U.S. have seen our government taken over by individuals with no concern whatsoever that the people's choice should be selected for office, we have serious questions about whether our own political system can ever be honest again. We already knew politicians could be bought. We were beginning to realize that voters could be bought. Now we must go beyond cynicism. Demonstrations can stir up media attention and disrupt cities. The entities that are forming the policies of the WTO and the World Bank do not answer to any constituency. No one has the power to vote them out of office or sue them or rule against them. How can demonstrations accomplish anything but another move toward the right? We can share our concerns with our fairly elected representatives, we can continue to insist that our government refuse to participate in such organizations unless and until there is a set of checks and balances in place that will mean they must consider the best interests of the peoples of the world, most importantly our now increasingly fragile environment. Beyond that we need a great thinker. We need someone who can create a model o for an economy that can survive without cancer-like growth. We, as a nation, need to find a way of life that does not mean 9% of the world's population has to commandeer 51% of the world's goods in order to survive. It was the core integrity and fairness of our leaders and people that made it possible for us to be a free country. In order to be free we have to be responsible individuals, we must exercise a global compassion equal to our global power. We have to pledge that not one additional innocent person anywhere in the world dies or suffers want because of us and what we need to do to pursue our "way of life". Otherwise, we, like Israel, will become locked into an endless cycle of increasing bitterness, callousness and unending, escalating violence. Peggy Murdock Now is not a time for reaction, but thoughtful attention to the core problems, not acting against At 02:37 AM 9/18/2001 -0400, you wrote: >Subj: Aftermath of the tragedy; Travel and Meeting information >Date: 01-09-13 16:55:08 EDT >From: [log in to unmask] (NARP) >Reply-to: [log in to unmask] >To: [log in to unmask] (NARP) > >To NARP Members--September 13, 2001: > >First, we at NARP hope that you and your loved ones are safe, and >express our sorrow and sympathy if your lives have been touched directly >by the tragedies on Tuesday. > >I. USING AIRLINE TICKETS ON AMTRAK > >If you need to travel, it may be helpful to learn (or be reminded) that >Amtrak has a standard policy of honoring airline tickets between the >same or similar city-pairs Amtrak serves. "Similar" generally means a >city in the same metro area as the city named on the airline ticket. The >honoring of airline tickets is subject to space availability on trains, >and limited to the value of the airline ticket (or ticketless travel >receipt). > >[However, Amtrak does NOT honor Southwest Airlines tickets. Southwest >Airlines does not belong to the Airline Reporting Corporation which >handles inter-company reimbursements.] > >If the Amtrak fare is lower, and you want to recover the difference, it >may be simpler to buy the Amtrak ticket outright and have the airline >fully refund its own ticket. However, you can exchange the airline >ticket (or ticketless travel receipt) for an Amtrak ticket, and then get >a partial refund from the airline by showing the airline receipts from >both tickets (so the airline sees what you paid to Amtrak). > >If the Amtrak fare is higher than the value shown on the airline ticket, >the passenger must pay Amtrak the difference. > >Be forewarned that Amtrak trains are more full than usual, and both >Amtrak's telephone information and website are slower than usual. (See >next item.) > >II. AMTRAK EXPANDS SERVICE AS AIR SYSTEM DISRUPTIONS CONTINUE (Amtrak >release) > >FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 13, 2001 > >Capacity Added to Many Trains Nationwide; Amtrak Partners With Red Cross >to Ship Relief Supplies > >Wilmington As the disruption to the nation’s aviation system enters >its third day, Amtrak is continuing to operate its regular weekday >schedule throughout the country and is adding capacity to handle the >growing volume of passengers. > >U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced earlier that the >nation’s airspace would reopen at 11:00 am Thursday, but many airlines >are reporting delays and limitations in the resumption of service. > >Meanwhile, Amtrak also announced it is partnering with the American Red >Cross to deliver emergency relief supplies to New York City. Amtrak is >donating the use of a train to be dubbed the “Clara Barton Express,” >which departed Washington’s Union Station at 11:00 am today and was >scheduled to arrive at New York’s Penn Station at approximately 1:30 >pm. The train is carrying supplies including Red Cross comfort and >cleanup kits, dust masks and beverages. American Red Cross President >and CEO Dr. Bernadine Healy is among those traveling to New York on this >train. > >Amtrak will arrange for additional trains to carry relief supplies to >New York as needed... > >Capacity Being Added in Northeast and Other Regions > >Meanwhile, while the air service disruption continues, Amtrak will add >more than 200 seats on virtually every unreserved train operating >between Washington, New York and Boston, increasing this capacity by >nearly 30 percent. One additional roundtrip was added today between >Boston and New York, departing Boston at 11:12 am and arriving New York >at 2:40 pm. This train is scheduled to depart from New York at 4:00 pm >and arrive back in Boston at 7:37 pm. > >Additional capacity is also being added to Amtrak services on the West >Coast and on long distance trains serving other parts of the country. >The company has also reached out to the airlines to assist family and >friends of victims of the terrorist attacks. > >Amtrak trains are seeing significant increases in ridership throughout >the national system serving 45 states and over 500 communities. On >Wednesday, almost all of Amtrak’s long-distance trains were sold out. >The railroad will continue to adjust capacity as needed. > >To help serve stranded airline travelers, Amtrak is honoring most >airline tickets for travel to the cities it serves. Those wishing to >make a reservation on Amtrak should call 1-800-USA-RAIL or a travel >agent, or log on to www.amtrak.com. Guests may also book travel at many >Amtrak stations using automated Quik Trak machines. > >III. LESSONS LEARNED? > >The tragedy and its aftermath raise the possibility that more Americans >will see the need for more modern passenger trains. We will be pointing >this out. > >One by-product of the tragedy was a call to NARP from the president of >US-Citizens Aviation Watch, an organization developing "a plan of action >to protect people from aviation industry abuses...The plan is aimed at >protecting the public from adverse environmental impacts that aviation >and airport activities have on public health, air/water/ground/noise >pollution and property issues affecting everyone on our planet." Much >detailed information on this is available at their website ><www.us-caw.org>. Their members are all organizations, and include >several municipalities as well as the Baylor University School of >Aviation Sciences and a number of grass-roots civic groups. > >IV. EVENTS CANCELLED OR POSTPONED > >Rail-Volution, scheduled for San Francisco September 13-16, has been >canceled. Organizers are considering the possibility of rescheduling for >one of these time periods: >* November 29-December 2 >* December 6-December 9 >* December 13-December 16 > >The conference, "Representing Rail Passengers Interests," scheduled for >Philadelphia September 15-16, has been postponed to December 1-2. > >The Amtrak Reform Council meeting in Los Angeles, scheduled for >September 20, has been cancelled. > >V. TWO AMTRAK DERAILMENTS THIS WEEK > >The NARP hotline reports on a "Texas Eagle" accident Tuesday morning >west of Marshall, Texas, with minor injuries to five passengers and a >crewman. This morning, a well-filled westbound "California Zephyr" >(Amtrak says "approximately 263 passengers") struck a Union Pacific >freight train near Wendover, Utah. Amtrak says "sixteen individuals have >been transported to a Salt Lake City hospital with non-life threatening >injuries." > >--Ross B. Capon, >NARP Executive Director > >- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: >[log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask]