From: owner-navy-soup-digest@smoe.org (navy-soup-digest) To: navy-soup-digest@smoe.org Subject: navy-soup-digest V1 #34 Reply-To: navy-soup@smoe.org Sender: owner-navy-soup-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-navy-soup-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk navy-soup-digest Wednesday, December 2 1998 Volume 01 : Number 034 In This Digest: ----------------- Shell/Ognoni Star [Paul Schreiber ] oh, dear (that last message) [Paul Schreiber ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 10:48:19 -0500 (EST) From: Paul Schreiber Subject: Shell/Ognoni Star I just heard Ogoni Star for the first time on recently. In a sheer coincidence, I ran across this in the Civlilized Politics conference on Magic today. (I'm pretty sure) this is the story behind the song. Paul shad 96c / 3A CS / mac activist / eda / fumbler fan of / jewel / sophie b. hawkins / sarah slean / steve poltz / / x-files / buffy / dawson's creek / habs / bills / 49ers / t h i n k d i f f e r e n t. NEW TORONTO CAMPAIGN: COMING SOON... A renewed and re-designed campaign against Shell Canada is about to hit the streets, classrooms and boardrooms of Toronto! Before he was murdered, Ken Saro-Wiwa declared Shell "persona non grata" (unwelcome) in Ogoniland. We at MOSOP-Canada are taking his cue and are declaring Shell Canada persona non grata in Toronto and we need your help. We are seeking the support of all manner of organizations -- from community groups to student associations to church committees to unions and businesses -- to strengthen the boycott against Shell at the local level. In the works are campaign materials to facilitate broad-based education and action in support of the Ogoni and their struggle against the environmental destruction of the repressive corporate-military alliance that has plagued them for over 40 years now. The Toronto Pledge (For A Shell-Free Toronto By The Year 2000) is a document about to be circulated at the grassroots level -- we want organizations to sign on and back us. The Pledge simply states that you support the Ogonis' demands for ecology and peace, as well as the boycott. We will be using this Pledge to build a broad base of support, as well as to educate people about our campaign and the issues facing the Ogoni and other minority communities in Nigeria. The message to Shell is the same message to any transnational corporation exploiting resources on indigenous lands: your environmental and human rights record is barbaric, and we will enlighten your customers, especially your major purchasers, about that record. And we will ask them to cancel contracts with Shell Canada until the boycott is lifted by the Ogoni people. Naturally, MOSOP is looking forward to contributing to the building of a vibrant anti-corporate movement in Toronto. We want to work with other groups whose focus includes curtailing corporate power, promoting human and environmental rights and building a peaceful and ecological future for all. Let's get in touch! Also coming soon: the Toronto Action Kit -- everything you and your organization will need to support the Ogoni and to spread the word about Shell. Want to know more? Contact David Robbins at MOSOP-Canada Tel 416 966 0910 Email info@mosopcanada.org Mail 300 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M5S 1W3 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 10:56:43 -0500 (EST) From: Paul Schreiber Subject: oh, dear (that last message) I will learn to spell, I promise. Paul shad 96c / 3A CS / mac activist / eda / fumbler fan of / jewel / sophie b. hawkins / sarah slean / steve poltz / / x-files / buffy / dawson's creek / habs / bills / 49ers / t h i n k d i f f e r e n t. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 11:12:05 -0500 (EST) From: James McGarry Subject: Re: Shell/Ognoni Star On Tue, 1 Dec 1998, Paul Schreiber wrote: > I just heard Ogoni Star for the first time on recently. > > In a sheer coincidence, I ran across this in the Civlilized Politics > conference on Magic today. > > (I'm pretty sure) this is the story behind the song. I'll confirm this. The very brutal murder and torture of Ken Saro-Wiwa was the sad inspiration for Sarah's song "Ogoni Star". Since the first time I heard it over a year ago. I haven't stopped at Shell or bought a Shell product. For me this is a lot different than Sarah's other works, since, well, there's normally a ray of hope in them, but in this case its tough to see a bright side anywhere. I personally would rank it up there with Gabriel's Biko in terms of sheer power and content. When Sarah intros the song by explaining how she wept in class when she saw the videos of this, you know that the song's writing was motivated by a need to share that pain and to right a wrong. James. ========================================================================== James McGarry | jmcgarry@UoGuelph.CA - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- An artist should be fit for the best society and keep out of it. - - John Ruskin ========================================================================== ------------------------------ End of navy-soup-digest V1 #34 ******************************