246 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
246 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 9 Num. 30
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======================================
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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GLORIA IN EXCELSIS
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==================
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[CN transcript of remarks by west coast researcher Dave Emory.]
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[...continued...]
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"I was never asked to report on other Americans or assess
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foreign nationals I had met." -- Gloria Steinem
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-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
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The Red Stockings charge that this statement is an alarming
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lie. In a "Report on the Vienna Youth Festival" printed
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with Steinem's name on it as director of the Independent
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Research Service, there are 13 pages devoted exclusively to
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biographies, political affiliations, and even some
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superficial analyses of persons from all countries
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participating in the festival. Youths were monitored in
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much the same way at the 1962 World Youth Festival in
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Helsinki. In addition to the news and cultural events put
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on by the Independent Research Service, the Helsinki
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festival was marked by four nights of "spontaneous" rioting
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against the festival during which 40 people were arrested.
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It was reported by Newsweek in August 1962 that "Pravda, of
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course, blamed the disturbances on well-financed CIA and
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FBI agents."
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(Interrupting briefly. Of course remember that Newsweek is
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published by Katherine Graham. We're going to be coming to *her*
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role in setting up Ms. [magazine] in just a minute.)
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This is Gloria Steinem's background from the late 1950s and
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early 1960s. She functioned as a secret representative of
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the American government abroad. At least, she was
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representing certain American interests, and her activities
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in the Independent Research Service involved her
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inextricably with the U.S. domestic political intelligence
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network.
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Another fact exhumed by the Red Stockings is the group's
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[Independent Research Service's] publication of a pamphlet
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in 1959 called, "A Review of Negro Segregation in the
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United States." Steinem's name is listed on the inside
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cover, this time as co-director of the Independent Research
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Service. The pamphlet focusses on the supposed advances
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made by black people in the U.S. For example: "Beyond the
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noisy clamor of those who would obstruct justice and fair
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play, no alert observer can be unaware of the concerted
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effort to rule out segregation from every aspect of
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American life." The reason some discrimination does still
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occur, according to the research group, is because "it is
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also self-perpetuating, in that the rejected group, through
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continued deprivation, is hardened in the very
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shortcomings, real or imaginary, that are given as the
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reasons for the discrimination in the first place."
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In other words, the oppression of blacks continues not
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because of white, ruling-class interests, but because black
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people actually have become inferior. [CN: Here Red
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Stocking is paraphrasing how they see the Independent
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Research Service pamphlet's argument.]
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(I'd interrupt to say that that phrase ["...the rejected group,
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through continued deprivation, is hardened in the very
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shortcomings, real or imaginary, that are given as the reasons
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for the discrimination in the first place."] could be interpreted
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in different ways, but that could be one inference of that
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phrase. I don't necessarily think that that phrase would have to
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be interpreted in this way. That's one area where I disagree a
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little bit with the Red Stocking's analysis. However the
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reportage here on the Helsinki Youth Festival and so forth is
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bedrock, and I think it's worth noting again Steinem's role as
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co-founder and co-director of the Independent Research Service.)
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The Red Stocking's analysis equates this denial of black
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oppression with Ms. magazine's rationalization to explain
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the prolonged subjugation of women: both blacks and women
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have supposedly become apathetic and deficient.
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By 1967, the Independent Research Service was declared
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"largely inactive" by the New York Times. Steinem,
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however, was still a director in 1968 when Ramparts
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[magazine] broke another story. This time they disclosed
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that the CIA had plans of their own for another World Youth
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Festival to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria. A scandal
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involving some confidential letters implicating the CIA,
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which found their way into print before the festival, had
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the effect of curtailing the CIA's plans for youths in
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Sofia.
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It was during the following year, 1969-70, that Gloria
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Steinem first began publicly identifying herself with the
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Women's Movement. Around this same time, Red Stocking
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researchers noted there was a change in the biographical
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information listed about Steinem in *Who's Who*.
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Reportedly, *Who's Who* sends data sheets to their subjects
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requesting them to furnish the details. The 1968 and '69
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edition was the first issue ever mentioning Steinem, and at
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the time she was listed as "Director, educational
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foundation, Independent Research Service, Cambridge,
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Massachusetts/New York City, 1959-62. Now member Board of
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Directors, Washington." By the 1970 edition of *Who's
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Who*, this entry was shortened to "Director, educational
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foundation, 1959-60." No mention of her position in
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Washington on the Board of Directors appears, and she
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abbreviated her term of employment with the Independent
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Research Service to one year. The censored version appears
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in each successive edition of *Who's Who*.
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There does seem to be an attempt on Steinem's part to
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mislead Ms. readers and conceal parts of her past. For
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instance, her bio-blurb in June 1973 Ms. is even vaguer:
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"Gloria Steinem has been a free-lance writer all her
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professional life. Ms. magazine is her first full-time,
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salaried job."
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(Obviously, that is not the case.)
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Then there is Gloria Steinem's mysteriously swift rise to
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national prominence so soon after the 1967 exposures. It
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is a common complaint among ex-CIA agents that past
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involvement with the Agency often impedes their ability to
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find other forms of employment. This was not the case for
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Steinem. According to Red Stocking, "her career
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skyrocketed after the 1967 exposures. Much of the credit
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for this must go to Clay Felker, publisher of New York
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Magazine. Recently in the news for his acquisition of the
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Village Voice, Felker immediately fired its two remaining
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founders from their jobs as publisher and editor. Felker
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was Steinem's editor at Esquire [magazine] where her first
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free-lance pieces were published. He hired her as
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contributing editor to New York Magazine in 1968 and booked
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publicity spots for her on radio and tv talk shows. Felker
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put up the money for the preview issue of Ms. in January of
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1972, a large part of which appeared as a supplement in the
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1971 year-end issue of New York Magazine. In effect, it
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was Felker who made Steinem famous by giving her a platform
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from which to establish her Women's Liberation credentials.
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These facts are all part of the public record. What has
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not been widely known up to this time are the earlier
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political roots of the Steinem/Felker collaboration.
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Felker was with Steinem at the Helsinki Youth Festival
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editing the English language newspaper put out by the
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CIA-financed delegation.
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In addition to Steinem's initial boost from Clay Felker,
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the Red Stockings were able to determine two other major
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sources of funds for the then fledgling Ms. magazine. One
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resource was Katherine Graham, owner and publisher of the
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Washington Post and Newsweek. She bought $20,000 worth of
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stock before the first issue of Ms. was ever published.
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According to "perfect Ms. ideology," Graham was recently
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featured on the magazine's cover, depicted by the headline
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as "The Most Powerful Woman in America."
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(That, by the way, from the Ms. issue of October 1974.)
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It should be noted in conjunction to this fact that
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Newsweek became the most enthusiastic, mass-circulation
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magazine promoting the Independent Research Service and
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later, Gloria Steinem as an individual. (See early
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articles of 5/10/65 and cover story of 8/16/71.)
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The second major money source for Ms. was Warner
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Communications, Inc. They purchased $1 million worth of Ms.
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stock after the preview issue appeared. Warners allegedly
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put up nearly all the money and only took 25 percent of the
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actual stock holdings. Even the Ms. editors admitted that
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this was a trifle odd: "We are especially impressed that
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they took the unusual position of becoming a major investor
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but minority stockholder, thus providing all the money
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without demanding the decision vote in return."
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(That from the *Ms. Reader*, page 226.)
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(Skipping down in the article.....)
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The ad policies of Ms. are an equally important indicator
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of the magazine's financial and political backing,
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especially in view of the frequently stated Ms. claims of
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extreme selectivity regarding which ads they will accept.
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This stance makes any ad they choose tantamount to an
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endorsement. Blatantly sexist ads are most often rejected,
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along with ads for cosmetic and fashion products. However
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Ms. seems to have no moral problem accepting public
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relations and job recruitment ads for large corporations.
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IT&T is one of the most regular advertisers in Ms., along
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with non-product ads from Ortho Pharmaceuticals, Exxon Oil,
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Chemical Bank, Bell Telephone, Singer Aerospace,
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Shearson-Hammel stockbrokers, Gulf & Western, and
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Merrill-Lynch stockbrokers.
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In their special "Human Developments" section each month,
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Ms. runs a series of advertisements for careers in
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companies like these.
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A letter in September of 1973 from Amy Sverdlow(sp?) of
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Women's Strike for Peace questioned what the recruiting of
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women for IT&T had in common with human development:
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"Let's have a Ms. story on all IT&T activities around the
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world. Then, let the reader decide what talented women
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will find at IT&T headquarters," she submitted. Ms.
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editors replied that in light of all the unemployed women
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and women on welfare that they could not be too selective
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about their job ads. As if welfare mothers are all headed
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toward IT&T careers! There is much controversy over
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whether Ms. magazine is a commercial or a political
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enterprise. Elements of both seem to exist as ingredients
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of the Ms. ideological package.
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[...to be continued...]
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Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those
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of Conspiracy Nation, nor of its Editor in Chief.
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See also: http://www.europa.com/~johnlf/cn.html
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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