There was Rimbaud and Verlaine, now there's me.

Dick Cheney's .28 Gauge Swan (Quail) Song

'Neath the brambles and the waning Texas sun
Lies a corporate lawyer whose blood does run
Red state of affairs, beer, affairs of the heart,
Caged coveys of Truth sing Bunker Boy's depart.

Moral Crossings

[This is part one of a series of posts on Tijuana. I hope to finish it up in a week or so.]

“One can argue that crossing the border is illegal for some, but one cannot say that it is immoral.” When my colleague spoke those words, I felt some of my vague thoughts take a concrete form. I had been in Tijuana for three straight days and two nights, and my perspective on the trip was blurred by emotion, fatigue, and the energy that comes from observing inhumanity and obscene wealth when they back up against each other the way they do in Tijuana.

What else could he say, what could anyone say who had been there? The poverty is as crushing and unavoidable as the flow of people through the city. One young woman we met was waiting to cross the border. It wasn’t her first attempt. The first time she was traveling north from Honduras. She tried to jump a train but no one would help her, she fumbled and fell by the moving train, hurting her leg badly. Some people threw her into the bushes and left her to bleed and die. Luck was on her side, though. Someone came along and found her, after she had crawled some distance. Meanwhile, she had applied a tourniquet to her broken and bleeding leg. Though that didn’t save it and it was amputated at about six inches above her knee in a Mexican hospital, the Mexican health system did pay the bill without much complaint. Now she has a second-rate prosthesis that she hopes will carry her across the border and to her friend in Boston. She is fiesty, determined and even a bit delusional about her chances. I wish her luck and don’t count her out; she has already made it back to Tijuana from Honduras.

It doesn’t surpise me that this crippled woman (who could no longer get a job in her home country because she was “fucked up”) seems delusional. It takes a lot of hope to think you’re going to make it in a place where no one wants you except for a few members of the National Restaurant Association and a handful of meat-packing corporations--and they will only want you for a while. It strikes me, though, that this delusional hope beyond hope that life must somehow be better on the other side is eerily similar to our own delusional myths about our country. You know the ones: that the West was built by tough cowboys and entrepreneurs, even though it mostly flourished from government subsidies (think Hoover Dam) and government-subsidized industry (think aerospace); that our country has good intentions for all its citizens and the world (think about how congress uses unnecessary war to gut healthcare and education in the U.S.); that with hard work everyone should succeed. It strikes me that many poor immigrants thought the same thing before they got here, and they still do, even though they are fifth-generation, hard-working miners whose safety and economic livelihoods are increasingly threatened by U.S. corporations and their government cronies. I mean no disrespect, but that is delusional.

The border would be a funny thing if were not for all the harm it engenders.

The border with the U.S. is a rather selective strainer. Housemaids and some day-workers, as well as middle and upper-middle class Mexicans working in the U.S. pass through with little friction. U.S. citizens, The Rich and their money, and of course goods find no hindrances. Unskilled labor, however, stares at the wall, with anger and envy, and also with some disdain for it, for it is a symbol of the U.S. and its cruel and, yes, ignorant policies. How is it that money and goods move back and forth without impediment while they cannot? Do things have more of a right than people? Those questions were on my mind, and no doubt on other’s as well.
A maquiladora is a factory. The concept is simple: bring unfinished goods from the U.S., finish their production in Mexico at the going rate (about 1.80 an hour average including taxes, social security, etc.), and ship those goods back to the U.S. for sale. The concept of a maquiladora, as two members of the Tijuana Economic Development Council (TEDC) pointed out, is for U.S. companies to save money on labor. (I will also assume, since these men were wearing suits and working out of an office in the Tijuana City Hall, though not technically government officials, that certain Mexicans make a good deal more than the laborers through this arrangement. More on this later.)

The TEDC noted that there were some 180 thousand workers employed in maquiladoras. Many of them, they said, were not actually from Tijuana, but people moving from the poorest regions of Mexico and Central America. They mostly live in, well, “unconventional housing.” These are the hillsides where shantytowns overflow with squatters. Though some in the U.S. wouldn’t believe it (since Tijuana for them only contains the Great Unwashed), there are some other hills, covered in mansions that cost millions. Tijuana is a mine for those that can extract its riches.

The human ore of Tijuana has increased in market value as its human value has declined. I’m not speaking here of workers who lose limbs because safety equipment is removed from machines in order to increase the pace of production; nor am I speaking of workers sickened from toxic fumes in the workplace. I am referring only to the value of the worker as a production unit. As Tito, a sociologist pointed out, Tijuana’s growth is inversely related to growth elsewhere in Mexico. In other words, as other regions of Mexico get poorer, Tijuana grows, making a few rich, bringing a few others to the middle class, and spawning the giant population of displaced workers earning, if they are lucky, the minimum wage. But all this is threatened by China. “China is of great concern,” said one member of the TEDC.

Indeed, labor is much cheaper in China and (fear of) this country is on the lips of the Businesspeople and the pro-business Academics that have codified Tijuana’s status as a legal production site. The race to the lowest wage and therefore most exploitative working conditions is a never-ending one. The question is thus: how will Tijuana continue to benefit from a World economy in which all foreign countries are allowed “maquiladora” status? Why send work to Tijuana, Guadelajara or the Marianas (a U.S. territory) if labor can be had so much more cheaply in China?


A textile maquiladora I visited was suffering precisely from the problem of U.S.-China trade.. The owner, a friendly middle-aged woman with a stopwatch hanging from her neck, said that in just the last year, her workers have gone from producing high-end garments to sewing cheap nurse’s uniforms. When I asked her how her workers could be competitive and make more money, she said: “Sew faster.” At this point I remind myself that she is part of a system.

Luckily for these workers, Tijuana has one things going for it: proximity. It is cheaper to ship a flat screen TV from Tijuana to the U.S. than from China.

End of part I.
Andy W.

Cat Blogging...

Ok. I never cat blog. We have four cats and it would take a full-time business to post the pictures of them doing interesting things. But, it's Friday and I'm just sitting around waiting for another Bush scandal and, well, I feel like cat blogging. So here goes: this is a picture of Mara*** (*** to protect the innocent) taken early one morning. Mara*** spends a lot of time on the roof.

Orange County Fires

I took these photos of the fires as I was flying back to L.A. Though the OC is a Republican stronghold, I feel terrible they have to deal with these fires. Besides, there are a lot good Liberals down there too.

Finally Back

Well, I'm back from several trips, including an amazing visit to Tijuana. The only thing I can say is that NAFTA, the WTO and the Mexican-U.S. elite are without souls. We visited several slums, but also met with labor leaders, as well as the U.S.-Friendly Tijuana Economic Development Council (not sure if that's the exact title. That last meeting was incredible. They were giving us a lecture on how great the average salary of 15 dollars per day was for mexican workers and U.S. industrialists looking for cheap labor. When confronted with the question of abuse in the factories (Maquiladoras), the business group (independent but housed in the city hall) stated: "Unfortunately, Mexican workers have too many rights." It got pretty tense after that.

Anyway, posted above is a picture of two girls living in squatter community on a dump. I'll write more about this later, but the amazing thing here is that, though the living conditions are litterally deadly (toxic smoke from underground fires, risk of electrocution from rigged electrical hookups, etc.), there is a real sense of safety and freedom because there is community. People know each other. Anyway, I'll blog more on this later now that I'm back. Here are a few more pictures.

Back for a little blogging and then off again...

Hi, I'm back to a computer for a while before I leave again. I was checking out one of my usual favorite reads, davidsirota.com, and noticed the just how pertinent his comments were. He was talking about shareholder activism and unions. He quotes a shareholder vote to limit CEO severance pay at Coke and then goes on to say:

This is a big win - and highlights the power of shareholder activism in helping to put a leash on out of control corporate power. Shareholders are, after all, the owners of the company. But don't think for a second greedy corporate executives aren't going to fight back against their companies' owners - as I noted a few weeks ago, executives are actually using company money to begin surveillance operations against shareholders they think might cause them trouble. Stay tuned - the battle between shareholders and executivs is quietly getting underway. (davidsirota.com)

. What's ironic is that the Google ads at the top of the page were simultaneously advertising union busting. This would be hilarious if it were not so tragic.

Here's the screenshot:




Actually, it is pretty funny. The link advertises "Union-Free Consultant 99% Win Rate; Stop Union Organizing NLRB..." Wow. It just goes to show how very important it is to fight for workers' rights, higher-minimum wages and for shareholder rights to block egregious management practices such as exorbitant severance packages.

Ministry and Mammon

[O]ur look into the Robertson empire, including interviews with his former and current business associates, reveals a history of mixing God, gain and Republican campaign...The combination of ministry and Mammon has provided Robertson with a net worth estimated at between $200m and $1 billion. (Greg Palast)

I just woke up today thinking about how Operation Blessing used donations to fly Pat Robertson's mining equipment from Rwanda. Go read Palast's work on this, it's a nice reminder of who our fearless leader associates with.


A C-130.

Neil Bush, cont.

Big thanks to Moonboots over at dailykos for the tips about Neil and the Moonies. Here are a couple of choice quotes from his post:

Moon outspent Scaife moving our nation right and theocratic. He and his operatives make it clear his job as "messiah" is to raise up the Christian "right" and bring them into control of our nation. Christianity had to be revived so they will accept him and his "work."

Let me tell you something, Moon has more to do with our nations current political climate than anyone. Anyone. Yet again, thanks to an ineffective media, our nation is unaware of his efforts.

Two things remain at the top of my wonderlist. One is why, given the historical fact that Moon easily outspent Scaife propping up hard right politics in the USA with BILLIONS of dollars over the last 30 years, given that Moon provided front groups and guidance to the new right, and has funded the "religious" right and literally played a huge role in creating, molding, designing the new conservative movement we see around us today - given all that, why, when blowhard uniformed hypocrites like Oreily squawk about UNITED STATES CITIZEN Soros donating to a liberal causes, why don't liberals stuff Moon down their throats? O'Reily, Coulter, Rush, Hannity, Savage, Hume, all of them should go on FOX and bow to Moon, he brought them to power. No Moon No one like Bush is president, that is for sure.

Biblical sized blindness in its depth and scope.

I couldn't agree more. I suppose one of the reasons we never hear about is that so many of the wingers work at or find their way into the pages of publications like the Washington Times. What interest do they have in showing who and what pays their rent? Their only interest is self-interest, of course. Moonboots also hits the nail on the head here:

Next time someone posts about Soros and his drop in the bucket money compared to Moon's spent on the right, please post this chart.

So, what does the Washington Times have on it's frontpage today, the Sunday where an entire nation is outraged by George Bush's illegal wiretapping? Well, look at the screen shot.

Interesting, huh? Not a word about the wiretaps. That, in fact, says a lot.

For more, check out Gorenfeld at http://www.iapprovethismessiah.com/
and Moonboots at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/2/224046/295

Thanks a lot for the tips, Moonboots.

Listen in on this

This is all unimportant, but my PR person and blog board of directors have all been arrested. This includes my ombudsman, Gary Coleman (no not the one on TV, but his Asian twin brother).

To make a long story short, discontent was brewing on the business side of the blog when my ratings went down causing the investors to actually read my blog. When they realized that I had participated in unholy and subversive activities such as supporting "Buy Nothing Day," Cindy Sheehan, and renting a foreign movie, they got worried. Then they started monitoring my actions on the web and saw that I was reading Digby, Fafblog, Susie Madrak, The Left Coaster, Billmon, Atrios, Common Dreams, Alternet, Mother Jones, The Nation, Harper's, Americablog, David Sirota, Lac-du-chien-enflamme (sorry, no accent), Buzzflash and googling Brittney Spears. If only I had stuck to the WaPo and NYT. Please, I promise not to publish anything that you, my editors, might get in trouble with, especially if it is the truth.

And now it turns out that the McCain Anti-Torture bill does not prevent torture. Now I have to worry about that too. When will it end? I hope you're ok.

Not written under coercion...Sincerely...

New Orleans to France: Buy Us

This was in the Times-Picayune and is reposted here. It speaks for itself.

Dear France, please buy us!

Joan Fox of New Orleans writes:

Dear France,

Greetings from Louisiana! We are shopping for new owners, and we immediately thought of you! Our present rulers haven't been taking very good care of us and we are looking for a better deal. They are spending all our money in a place called Iraq (somewhere in the Middle East). We thought that perhaps you might want to revisit an old land deal you made long ago.
If you've been reading the papers lately, you may have noticed that we have had a few problems with "water". No, we're not offering you a deal on a damaged water park. (Althouugh that's what it looks like from the air) Seriously, we need help, and fast.

Some things you might like here:

1. We named the state after your King Louis
2. We named the city after your city, Orleans
3. We have lots of French names on the streets
4. We still have Napoleonic law (maybe you can explain it to us!)
5. A lot of our citizens speak French (the accent will grow on you)
6. We like French food and wine
What we can offer you:
1. a toehold (rather wet!) on the continent
2. an incredible port
3. Lots of oil and gas
4. Lots of restaurants
5. Jazz
6. Mardi Gras (you won't believe what we do with this!)
7. Some of the most beautifu houses in the world (very, very wet)

What we need from you is simple:

1. Wetland redevelopment
2. New levees
3. Lots of new houses (but we want them to look old like the ones we lost)
4. We need schools and hospitals rebuilt
5. If you insist, we wouldn't mind some more outdoor cafes like you folks are famous for.

Please think this over carefully. Our current owners are so busy in other countries, they might not even notice if you come down here and take a look around. We'll put you up in grand style in a place we call "The French Quarter" (yeah, really!) and you can have lunch at a place we built for your very own Napoleon, which we call (you guessed it!)Napoleons". You'll be right at home.
Oh, just remember, we would like the levees and the wetlands taken care of ASAP, sometime just after lunch if not sooner.

Yours sincerely,
A homeowner in New Olreans
Joan Fox

Death

Tookie Williams will die shortly after midnight tonight. I don't know whether he committed the crime or not, and actually its not important to me. In fact, I think it is a very bad idea to be making a big deal about him or any other individual facing the death penalty except for those who are too mentally incapable of doing so (the handicapped, the very young, etc.). Focusing on Tookie demands knowledge of the case and perhaps it is now impossible to know the truth about the murders he is accused of commiting.

What is not impossible to know or understand, however, is that statistically speaking the death penalty does nothing to deter crime of any sort, and it is much more expensive than having life in prison. Moreover, killing is wrong, and the State should not do it or condone it implicity by execution.

Focusing on Tookie allows the pro-death penalty people to bring personality and fear-mongering back to the table as they exploit the very real racism that lies just beneath the surface of American life. Moving our focus to the larger questions allows a saner debate, one that we can win.

I am dismayed that anyone at all will die tonight at 12:01 am, but let us remember all of those ineloquent and poor people who don't gain the Left's attention. It is the whole group of death row inmates that we should be fighting for, as the death penalty is a waste, and it is wrong.

Neil Bush

I remember back when Billy Carter and "Billy Beer" were a national scandal. I remember when the press couldn't get enough of Roger Clinton. Oh how they love to embarrass us Southern folk for our family ties. (I presume that they believe we're all inbred, racist and stupid.)

No doubt, Bob Somerby is right, the MSM is a bunch priviledged whiners protecting themselves.

Anyway, I just can't figure why they don't catch on to good ol' Niel. I mean, a BILLION dollar bank scandal in the 80s, frequent sex with strangers, lobbying for the Church of Scientology, and traveling with Moon.

Now I know you're intrigued about the Scientology bit, so here it is, from the UPI:

We can't sit still for this -- The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, chaired by Indiana Republican Dan Burton, is taking a look at Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. Neil Bush, the president's brother, will join three people associated with the Church of Scientology's Citizens Commission on Human Rights when they testify before the committee later this week. ADHD is recognized as a medical disorder by the nation's leading medical authorities, including the American Medical Association, American Association of Pediatrics, American Psychiatric Association and the Surgeon General and affects up to 7 percent of school aged children. The condition is so prolific that last month the Center for Disease Control set up a national clearing house of information that will be funded by a $750,000 federal grant.

So why would the Church of Scientology take such a strong stand to say that ADHD is a myth and go so far as to testify before Congress on the matter? Because Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard said so, that's why -- at least according to one source who follows the issue. Mental health professionals have long been critical of the so-called self-help techniques practiced by Scientologists, who have responded by undermining psychiatry at every turn. While it is unclear why Neil Bush would align himself with the Church of Scientology, it is very clear that their agenda has little to do with helping millions who experience an ongoing illness get the help they need.

Unclear why Bush would align himself with Scientology? Does the phrase "follow the money" mean anything to anyone? Of course, my above source, UPI, is owned by Moon, so I suppose the attack on Bush is implicit rather than explicit. Anyway, it hasn't stopped the Moon empire from hiring him...

Though seemingly at odds with his affiliation with the Church of Scientology, Neil is spending a lot of time with the Reverend Moon these days.

Moon's lobbying campaign is "ambitious and diffuse," as the D.C. newspaper The Hill reported last year, and the sheer range of guests revealed just how many Pacific Rim political leaders the Times owner has won over, including Filipino and Taiwanese politicians. And the head of the Arizona GOP attended a recent stop in San Francisco. But perhaps the most surprising VIP to tag along is Neil Bush, George H.W. Bush's youngest and most wayward son, who made both the Philippines and Taiwan legs of the journey, according to reports in newspapers from those countries and statements from Moon's Family Federation.

While Neil Bush and Moon's church couldn't be reached for comment on the tunnel or his speaking fees, a brochure from Moon's Family Federation underscores that the project is "God's fervent desire," dwarfing such past wonders as the Chunnel and heralding a "new era of automobile travel."

Does it have to seem like a conspiracy to say the facism is on the march? Moon is one of the most reactionary figures of our times and his efforts to create the "ideal" family are more than scary. He would like to be a dictator. In lieu of that, he is using his vast fortune to peddle influence all over the globe, and in America he has found many like-minded people, notably the Bush family.

Haiti Update

Narco News has an interesting article up which reveals some interesting details about the Canadian role in Haiti. Not surprisingly, those involved in Aristide's overthrow, have been rewarded:

With little fanfare only three days before the minority Liberal government of Paul Martin fell by way of a non-confidence vote in Ottawa's House of Commons (on November 28th), beleaguered Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew appointed Christian Lapointe as Canada's next Ambassador to Ecuador. Lapointe has been serving as Director of the Caribbean and Central America and Andean Region Division within the Department of Foreign Affairs. This move could spell trouble for Ecuador as Canada is in the midst of profound changes in foreign policy that find new support for destabilization under the cover of support for "democracy promotion."

That certain elements of the Canadian government are in lockstep with their American counterparts in the Bush administration and the IRI, USAID, World Bank, etc., is not in the least bit surprising. Their political moves are working, albeit more slowly than planned, and a post in Ecuador will be a good position to continue having influence in. Timing here says a lot: they wanted to get this person in at the last minute. I'm always interested in this sort of thing since it often means their position is "soft," that is, wouldn't have happened as easily under normal circumstances. In this case, he seems to be going in the back door while a lot of other things are going on. I could be very wrong on that, but, just some--perhaps silly--speculation.

I'm in the process of making a names list and putting their actions together for the Haiti coup so I can get a better picture myself of who all the actors are. I'll share that will one and all as I progress.

Go read the whole article for some interesting tidbits on the Canadian scheming.

Who is (paying for) suing Aristide?

Congressperson Maxine Waters asks an interesting question: who paying for the lawsuit against Aristide?

Good question.

Before going on, here is the press release [highlights mine]:

Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-35) sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asking her to explain how the interim government of Haiti is financing the civil lawsuit it filed in a U.S. District Court against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and several co-defendants for allegedly stealing money from the Haitian treasury.

"I want to know how the interim government of Haiti is financing this lawsuit," said the Congresswoman, "and I want to know whether the interim government's allegations against President Aristide have been investigated sufficiently by the U.S. Government to justify the expenditures for this lawsuit."

President Aristide, the democratically-elected president of Haiti, was forced to leave Haiti in a coup d'etat on February 29, 2004. The interim government of Haiti is in the process of organizing elections, but these elections have been postponed several times. The elections are currently scheduled for January and February of 2006.

"The interim government of Haiti has promised to hold elections," said Congresswoman Waters. "Why can't these allegations be investigated by a government that has been freely elected by the people of Haiti?"

Congresswoman Waters' letter specifically asked Secretary of State Rice whether any U.S. government funds, such as grants from the Department of State, the Department of Justice, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), or the National Endowment for Democracy, are being used to finance the lawsuit against President Aristide.

"Foreign aid is in demand for programs ranging from reconstruction in Afghanistan to AIDS in Africa," said the Congresswoman. "Meanwhile, the United States is facing record deficits, and Congress is considering major budget cuts in both domestic and international programs. We should not allow an un-elected government to use our foreign aid to pursue legal challenges to the elected government it replaced."

Well, I'm sure the folks over at the NED and IRI would just love to answer those questions. It is indeed puzzling to the wool being pulled over everyone's eyes again and again. Clearly, if people knew that the U.S. intentionally aided in the undermining of a democratically elected president (and probably kidnapped him), that we were installing dictators and thugs, and that our tax dollars were funding the whole thing, well, then, people would get angry. But, as usual, the press presents the situation as "confusing," "violent," "dangerous." They never mention that we funded the thugs that created the violence before Aristide's removal and that we are upholding a police state that, without popular support, leads to rebellion and violence as well.

USAID

I have long believed that USAID is too often used as a a mere propaganda and manipulation tool. Like the World Bank now run by Wolfowitz and which, by the way, became the home for Robert McNamara after Vietnam, USAID seems one of the holding tanks for influential policy-types who don't do so well when it comes to implementing their policy. Or, perhaps it is simply that reality usually trumps thier theories.

Anyway, it looks like USAID will remain just as partisan, only less professional. William Fisher over at Tom Dispatch puts it this way:

Washington is a town where the best and the brightest usually coexist with well-connected political hacks. However, the Bush administration has taken promotion of the latter to embarrassing extremes, selecting unqualified people for posts because of their political loyalty and ideological persuasion. The most recent example of this was the appointment of Paul Bonicelli to be deputy director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is in charge of all programs to promote democracy and good governance overseas.

Bonicelli is known for saying, and I'm paraphrasing, that "all non-Christians will burn in hell." It's a sensitive message, no doubt, that will bring even more stunning successes to Bush's already formidable accomplishments in world leadership.

Just kidding.

Really, what are they thinking?

OF course, all of this raises some serious questions about Haiti (not to mention Iraq). Upcoming elections are one of USAID's biggest babies, and things aren't going so well already. USAID needs a true leader, not a hack.

Jack in The Box

Sexist advertising is nothing new to Jack, whom I find (increasingly) creepy. I got this today and thought I'd share it with you. Why give a "Jack Ca$h" card? Well, among the more enlightened reasons are "Because he let you hold the remote" and "Last year you gave her a bowling ball with your name on it." I suppose the more selfish a man is, the more he is lovable and deserving of a gift. Unbelievable.

Haiti Elections Postponed...

I hate to say I told you so but I sort of told you so. Previous Department of State Musings were indeed too optimistic. The AP reports today that:

Port-au-Prince -- Haiti's electoral board yesterday again postponed the country's first elections since president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a rebellion almost two years ago.

The nine-member Provisional Electoral Council set a new date of Jan. 8 for presidential and legislative elections, followed by a Feb. 15 runoff, said Rosemond Pradel, the council's secretary-general.

This is the fourth date Haitian authorities have set for the elections, which were first scheduled for Nov. 13 to replace the interim government installed after Mr. Aristide's ouster in early 2004.

Things are still grim, but this chaos is some evidence that things are not going as planned--and, as you know, I think that U.S. "planning"--more aptly put as "plotting"--was treacherous and bad.

Go Amy

Amy Goodman asks the simple question: Why didn't the U.S. send in troops before to support Aristide, rather than telling him to leave. Why not protect a democratically elected leader? Lawrence Wilkerson is revealed as an apologist for the ouster. No big secret is revealed here. Just the usual: "You have to understand Haiti...blah, blah, blah."

Canada in Haiti

I haven't read this yet, but it's on order. I came across it today on Black Commentator and thought it was worth a mention.

A new book, Canada In Haiti: Waging War On The Poor Majority by Yves Engler and Anthony Fenton opposes Prime Minister Martin on the question of Haiti. Fenton is a Vancouver-based independent investigative journalist, radio correspondent, and activist, who traveled to Haiti one month after the coup that removed former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power. Montreal-based Engler, who is also author of Playing Left-Wing - From Rat to Student Radical, is an activist who traveled to Haiti in December 2004. Canada, France and the United States are all in bed in Haiti.

Engler and Fenton spoke at a public forum and book launch at Osie and discussed the growing support in Canada for the people of Haiti against the Canadian, U.S., French, and Brazilian occupation. The meeting was packed. Canada In Haiti exposes Canadian government and business responsibility for anti-Aristide coup against democracy. The chapter "Responsibility to Protect or A Made in Ottawa Coup?" points out the coup against Aristide was actually planned on Canadian soil.

You can see some of my links below for more information.

This land is my land, this land is...

For sale! The LA Times is reporting that a certain little provision has "slipped" into a Senate bill.

Slipped into a massive budget-cutting bill late last month by the House Resources Committee, headed by Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy), the provision has been eclipsed by higher-profile battles over two other controversial plans that would expand oil drilling offshore and allow it in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Those proposals have been dropped for now, but the land-sale provision remains.

The bill would lift an 11-year-old moratorium on the patenting — or sale — of federal lands to mining companies for a fraction of their mineral worth. While the patent fees would rise from $2.50 or $5 an acre to $1,000, the price would continue to exclude the mineral worth, which can amount to billions of dollars

I am for wise-use policies of public lands, and sometimes selling them is the right thing to do. However, this is clearly a gift to the mining industry, which might make huge profits while paying a pittance for the rights. Mineral rights are the epitome of the public/private debate. Given that, once extracted, Americans may never see these minerals again as they dissapear into value-added products, industrial processes, shouldn't we be charging more for their use? Shouldn't the extractors pay for what is a one-time shot at their use? Shouldn't we demand that extractors be more like caretakers than exploiters? Apparently not.

Since some 60% of large corporations pay no income tax, I'm just wondering where along the line they are supposed to contribute to our society. Really, such land giveaways are poised to become the worst examples of corporate welfare, the kind which has no long-term benefit for Americans but instead huge risks: depletion of resources, pollution from strip mining, and lack of corporate responsibility.