AOL Protects Kids from Democrats

America Online provides "youth filters" that are supposed to keep kids out of dangerous websites, but they seem designed to eliminate creeping liberalism. For example, if you've set up AOL to restrict your children to "Kids Only" websites: Your children can easily view the site of the Republican National Committee, but the Democratic National Committee is blocked.

Children can call up the conservative Constitution Party and Libertarian Party, both of which are promoting their own U.S. presidential candidates. But if they attempt to view Ralph Nader's Green Party or Ross Perot's Reform Party, they see only a "not appropriate for children" error.

None of the blocked sites contain depictions of nudity or even models in swimwear. "It's not just indecency that AOL is trying to keep away from children," says Susan Wishnetsky, a Chicago librarian. As a board member of a youth rights organization, Wishnetsky feels the dominant Internet service provider is "eliminating the scope of experience kids have access to."

AOL spokesman Rich D'Amato said that he was "unaware of any conservative bias" in the youth filters used by the service.

History of May Day

The following excerpt is by Neale Towart from a New South Wales cybernewsletter.

"May Day as a modern working class celebration and commemoration began from the 1886 events in Chicago where workers were demonstrating for an eight-hour day. But the day already had special significance for working people before then. As a working peoples celebration its origins go back much further, with connections to Ancient Roman rituals. In pagan Europe it was a festive holy day celebrating the first spring planting. The ancient Celts and Saxons celebrated May 1 as Beltane or the day of fire. Bel was the Celtic god of the sun.

"In the 1700s the Churches banned the pagan rituals, just as bosses today want workers to forget any traditions of solidarity and celebration of workers rights, but many peasants continued the tradition. Church and state were the butt of many jokes at May Day celebrations, and this certainly did not endear the craft guilds and others, who organised celebrations, to the authorities. The Goddess of the Hunt, Diana, and the God Herne led parades. Later, with a move to a more agrarian society, Diana became a fertility goddess, and Herne became Robin Goodfellow, a predecessor to Robin Hood. This also indicated a shift in the division of labour and perhaps to a shift in power relations, with Robin remaining a symbol of the hunter from the woods, while Diana changed from being a hunter to a symbol of the fertility of the fields.

"May Day was popular through to the nineteenth century, with the form of the celebration changing. The two most popular feast days for Medieval craft guilds were the Feast of St. John, or the Summer Solstice and May Day.

"The Diana myth was transformed into the Queen of May, who was elected from the eligible young women of the village to rule the crops until harvest. [Along with] the selection of the May Queen was the raising of the phallic Maypole, around which the young single men and women of the village would dance holding on to the ribbons until they became entwined, with their (hoped for) new love.

"May Day was a celebration of the common people. Priests and lords were the butt of many jokes. Mummers would make jokes and poke fun of the local authorities."

Oregon Temps Organize

Temporary government workers in Oregon cast a groundbreaking vote to unionize on May 11. The 600 temporary state employees voted overwhelmingly to join the Oregon Public Employees Union, Local 503 of the Service Employees International Union. The union told the state it plans to start contract talks in the next few weeks.

"Instead of waiting for the state, we wanted to get to the table and bargain and make changes as soon as possible," said Steve Ward, director of organizing for Local 503. The temp workers want a contract that will include benefits they've long been denied like sick leave and vacation time.

The union also sees the Oregon vote as a warning to private and public employers nationwide that temps won't tolerate being used to perform permanent workers' jobs without adequate compensation.

Exploitation of temps has grown as the bosses try to cut back on payrolls and benefits. In Oregon alone, more than 70,000 workers hold temporary or part-time jobs. But many of them are probably a lot like public planner Joyce Felton who got fed up with her perma-temp status and voted for the union to gain guaranteed job security.

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