Merry Xma$

If corporate America doesn't have a merry, profitable Xma$, then the terrorists have won.

For even more fun, read the comments people have left.

Happy Holidays

If you who are reading this are, like me, fortunate enough to be experiencing happy, healthy holidays, please spare a thought for those who are not. Dec 25 is Christmas day but for so many it is just another day. Today in Uganda children will be walking countless miles to prevent being kidnapped, in Afghanistan warlords and insurgents will be killing and terrifying people, in Iraq unemployed and war ravaged people will be at risk of being killed by insurgents or Americans, in Pakistan those who lost everything to the recent earthquake will be working to rebuild, in Botswana men, women and children will be dying of AIDS, in North America and countless other places poverty, homelessness, and domestic violence is marring what should be a beautiful loving holiday. To all of these and to everyone else undergoing painful and traumatic experiences, I wish a day of peace would be possible, however unlikely.

Satire of the Day: The Average Iraqi is ecstatic

Satire of the day:
The Average Iraqi in Vietraq "is content – jubilant, even – in the knowledge that his smoldering, foreign-occupied police state is a gleaming symbol of Republican-invented FREEDOM®. "
Read how the average Iraqi has been weeping "FREEDOM® Tears", is thrilled to see new "Glorious McChurches throughout Iraq", but unfortunately has tired feet from dancing in the streets. Boy was I wrong about this.
More Iraq, Humour

So Iraq is better off... How?

No one questions that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator, but invading a country and killing innocent people (who didn't ask for your "help"!!) isn't exactly the best way to improve the living conditions of Iraqis.

The recent election is being touted as a resounding success by BushInc. & Co. The propaganda is being laid on so thick it makes me feel ill just thinking about it. The reality is so far off of the official story. Just read some independent media, like this stirring article by Sabah Ali, posted on Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches (Both are independent journalists covering the Iraq war).

“You are filming our miserable condition so that Bush would pity us?! You want to soften his heart?” asked a tiny, skinny young villager disapprovingly, with obvious resignation. She was holding a very heavy cooking gas tube, trying to climb the river bank. After the only bridge which connects Rummana to Al-Qa’im was severely bombed, citizens had to cross by boat.

Not only have there been somewhere around 150,000 dead (and it is a crime that we don't even know the true numbers! More discussion here), but there is rampant unemployment, poverty, hunger, a destroyed infrastructure, lack of gasoline, electricity and water. There is constant threat of random violence. Schools, hospitals, shops, services are tenuously holding on, at best. The relative freedom that Iraqi women enjoyed under Hussein is being destroyed with the formalization of Sharia law in the new constitution.

Of course, to many who share my views, this is hardly news. However, there are a suprising number of people, who were once against the invasion, but now can be heard saying "Well, it is better for the Iraqi people this way". For example, Jon Stewart, after the first election this year, disappointingly considered "What if Bush... has been right about this all along?". It is for these people that I wonder:

Is it enough to show
How the nightmare works
so everyone will wake up? (Stereolab)

More on Iraq.

Violence and Repression in Ethiopia

“Patrick Leahy of Burlington was elected to the United States Senate in 1974 and remains the only Democrat elected to this office from Vermont. He was also the youngest Senator (34) elected from the Green Mountain State and is now serving his sixth term. “

Senator Leahy has recently written an article which conveyed his concerns about the deteriorating political situation in Ethiopia.

“Violence and Repression in Ethiopia” by Senator Patrick Leahy

Contact Senator Leahy at 202-224-4242, and show your support!

Harvard Panel Discussions on the Ethiopian Crisis

"As those in attendance dispersed, they signed letters asking the Ethiopian government to release the prisoners. After this panel, and a concurrent letter writing drive, more than 300 letters were signed from the Harvard community. Thus ended an exciting day, with the voices of the Ethiopian people heard loud and clear from the hallowed halls of Harvard. "

-Ethioforum.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE..

The Ethiopia Consolidation Act of 2005

Click here to read the entire bill.
EthioMedia has informed us that there are individuals calling offices of members of the U.S. Congress, and urging them to vote "No" to kill Congressman Chris Smith's Bill on Ethiopia. Obviously, these are the cadres of Meles Zenawi, who are working 24-7 to reverse the cause of the Ethiopian people. Therefore, clarifying this confusion during our telephone calls is important.

Listed below are members of the House Subcommittee on Africa Global Human Rights and International Operations
The subcommittee will vote on The Ethiopia Consolidation Act of 2005 before December 15, the last day of session for the year.

There is no time to loose, call right now!!! Now!!

Congressman Thomas Tancredo: (202) 225-7882
Congressman Donald Paine: (202) 225-3436
Congressman Jeff Flake: (202) 225-2635
Congresswoman Barbara Lee: (202) 225-2661
Congressman Mark Green: (202) 225-5665
Congresswoman Betty McCollum: (202) 225-6631
Congressman Christopher Smith: (202) 225-3765
Congressman Edward Royce: (202) 225-4111
Congressman John Boozman: (202) 225-4301
Congressman Brad Sherman: (202) 225-5911
Congressman Jeff Fortenberry: (202) 225-4806
Congressman Gregory Meeks: (202) 225-3461
Congresswoman Diane Watson: (202) 225-7084

And May all Your Christmases be White.....( by Mark Faulk)

(Excerpt)................As with every protest that I had seen over the past few days, this one was mostly falling on deaf ears. Tourists glanced nervously in their direction, some even going so far as to cross the street to avoid hearing their pleas, stopping to take pictures of the White House, always careful not to make eye contact with the few who would give of their time to help a fallen brother. And the locals? They didn’t even seem to see…or hear…the protestors at all. Too many years of practice ignoring the poverty of their city, of ignoring the protests against a government that just doesn’t seem to care, had seemingly rendered them callous and uncaring .......

(Read entire article )

What the U.S. can do to restore a genuine government in Ethiopia

(By Meron Agonafer)

"Mr. Blair should publicly evict Mr. Meles from his Commission for Africa. The rest of the international crowd should exile him." Mr. Good Governance Goes Bad, The New York Times Opinion Sunday, November 27, 2005.

On Sunday the New York Times' Opinion page bluntly called on Tony Blair to "publicly evict Meles from his Commission for Africa". It was refreshing to read such a timely opinion from the most respected newspaper in the world.

Indeed, it is an open secret that Tony Blair has been promoting Meles Zenawi, the notorious autocrat, as the "new leader" of Africa. Of course, if the word "new" is meant to indicate an introduction of ethnic division, abject poverty, intense repression, mass killing, yes, Tony Blair is right on the mark. His poster boy has a master plan to keep Ethiopia in perpetual conflict and misery which will eventually destabilize the Horn of Africa. And the last thing the world needs is lawlessness in that region.

To rectify this situation, the first step is for the Western nations, including the United States, to "exile" Meles Zenawi, as the New York Times declared. He has demonstrated time and again his utter disdain for peace. He is trying to maintain his power grip by sheer force. The entire country is under a state of emergency and it is not sustainable. The population cannot be controlled by force. As all signs indicate, Meles Zenawi is losing control of the country sooner than he expected. It is imprudent for the West to wait for a civil war to erupt and further complicate regional conflicts.

Second, the West should embrace the call that has been made by various political factions and Ethiopian civic groups, for a national reconciliation. For the first time in Ethiopia's modern history, there is a growing desire for a round table discussion to iron out political differences and to map out the political future of the country. The West, particularly the United States, can facilitate a national reconciliation in Ethiopia. The prerequisite for this is to immediately release all political prisoners and to allow the independent media to operate freely. To avert repeating past mistakes, the United States must insist on the inclusion of all civic and political groups. Only then will the outcome be legitimate.

Ethiopia can be a strong strategic ally for the United States as a politically stabilized country. In "Mr. Good Governance Goes Bad," The New York Times analyzes is on the mark, this is the best time for the West to abandon the tyrant and turn its attention on bringing about a lasting political change in that war ravaged region. Peace and good governance can be achieved in Ethiopia if the West is willing to start afresh.

Aids & Racism are Intimately Connected

Today, as you may know, is World Aids Day. I have also recently discovered it is Blog Against Racism Day.

I believe the two are intimately related, and so they are sharing a post today.

How are they related? For one thing, according to AIDS Statistics, AIDS and HIV disproportionately affect non-white communities in the US. Now, I think very few people are hoping for some kind of Darwinian "culling" of non-white populations, but there is a tangible element of racism that is perpetuating the real suffering of people around the world.

A quick mental exercise
Imagine there was an AIDS epidemic among the white population of Texas, comparable to the one in Botswana. That means 37.3% of all adults, and a significant percentage of the children were infected with HIV/AIDS. In other words, based on current population data, out of 15,967,916 non-Hispanic white Texans, 5,908,128 would be living with HIV/AIDS. Can you imagine the difference in response to the crisis?

Even if we think we aren't affected, we are. They both harm us all, whether our skin is pink or brown, whether we are ill or healthy, we all live in the same world, and I'm sure we can agree that our world would be a better place without AIDS or Racism.

Let's fight both AIDS and Racism!

More on AIDS in Africa, The vulnerable not being protected

Water Privatization in South Africa

In the grand global corporatist goal of private profiteering from all of the Earth's resources, the privatization of water is only slightly less appalling than the privatization of air would be. In this new article about water privatization in South Africa, the effects are clear and they are terrible.

In black townships outside Johannesburg, many residents are forced to choose between buying enough food to eat and buying water for basic hygiene and sanitation. Now that they are forced to pre-pay for any water beyond a basic minimal level, many families worry about how to care for sick relatives or what they would do in the event of a fire.

The unequal access to water had previously caused a cholera outbreak as those who could not afford clean water got it from polluted sources (meanwhile the wealthier elite have swimming pools and lawn sprinklers).

For more information, listen to CBC's series on the global water business, or read anything by Vandana Shiva. She's well-documented the results of this money grab. It is happening all over the place in Iraq, Argentina, Detroit, among others. And let's not forget all that happened in Bolivia

More blog entries related to: Africa | Poverty & Class Issues | Health

Carfree Cities (Book Review)

Carfree Cities by Joel Crawford is an excellent book imagining the city without the automobile.

He starts out by expounding on the problem: why cars in cities are bad. He covers environmental, social, and aesthetic problems, as well as an analysis of the danger of cars. He contrasts automobile-dependent cities such as Los Angeles with pedestrian cities such as Venice. The sprawling automotive cities offer a lack of safety (large number of traffic deaths & injury), incredible levels of environmental pollution, a weak social community, and an ugly landscape.

Then he offers a theoretical solution with a reference design for a carfree city. His suggested topology incorporates a large amount of public space and green space with moderately dense development.

The city is based around small, pedestrian districts connected to each other by a rail-based metro (subway) or tram (streetcar) system. His public transportation system is cheaper and faster than car transportation, and at least as convenient and comfortable (even suggesting first class luxury train cars). He also offers a detailed solution to freight transportation, using standardized shipping containers.

The last portion of the book offers some more practical suggestions for transforming existing cities, creating new ones, and variations, such as a bicycle-based city.

You can order the book, join the discussion on Yahoo Groups, and get more information at Carfree.com.

Topic: Environment - Urban Issues, Book Reviews

Cindy Sheehan's Open Letter to Barbara Bush

You said this in 2003, a little over a year before my dear, sweet Casey was killed by your son's policies:

'Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?' (Good Morning America, March 18, 2003)

Now I have something to tell you, Barbara. I didn't want to hear about deaths or body bags either. On April 04, 2004, three Army officers came to my house to tell me that Casey was killed in Iraq. I fell on the floor screaming and begging the cruel Angel of Death to take me too. But the Angel of Death that took my son is your son.

Read the rest
Thanks to The Rational Radical for this.

More on the Iraq Invasion.

feel the need …….

(By Sintayehu Tefera, Ethiopian Politics Contributor)

Kinijit, as its Amharic name implies is the coming together of a variety of functions for a common good and a better political strength.

This is not an easy task in todays Ethiopia. The ethnocentric MENFES (DABILOS) tplf introduced is racking major havoc. There is the olf , the onlf, onkfkd, grfedsfsdsdf, ETC........ all vying for their chance at self determination.

As the saying goes "Careful What You Wish For". Learn from our new neighbor, or as MENGE refers to it OUR KIFLEHAGER, Eritrea. Their dream of a utopian society, with streets overflowing with milk and honey has been replaced with the horrible nightmares of SAWA and the real ISAYAS AFEWERKI whom everyone now agrees is a certified schizophrenic.

And they (Eritreans) have had over 30 years of planning with a substantial flow of income from their Diaspora. Now what is Ogaden to do if ONLFs wish is granted??......

Anyways back to the point, Kinijit and UEDF have shown us that unity can be achieved even in todays Ethiopia.
The notion of Ethiopian brotherhood is still there in most of us, dormant though it may be.
What they (CUDP, UEDF) have started in Addis Ababa (or finfine for Political reasons) we should be able to continue here ( in the U.S, Europe, ...)

AhA, but here is the catch. Do we have the strong leaders with strong Diplomatic and persuasive skills who can in the words of William Wallace (or Le BoLe lijoch Mel Gibson), unite us! Unite the clans!

CUDP and UEDF were possible because of the gigantic personalities,amenable disposition and commanding presence of its leaders. But here in the Diaspora there is a serious lack of leadership.

We need a leader .... Now that the CUDP and UEDF leaders in Addis are shipped to concentration camps by ADOLF ZENAWI.. the need to continue the struggle from here is immense.

And we need someone to lead us and unite us. UNITE the tigres, oromos, amharas, gurages ..., with a clear agenda and a focused, step by step plan of resistance.

WE NEED a MOSES ..

Latest Funnies

Matt Bors, Idiot Box: I like Shows that Didn't Make the Cut. One is "Extreme Makeover, 9th ward Edition", featuring Haliburton.

How about a little Republican Paradise, by Andy Singer.


But of course, Repubs have nothing to do with any suffering, it is all the fault of those durn gays, according to Hank's Faith-Based Forecast, by Big Fat Whale

On a related topic, Faith Based Health Care
Thanks for this one to Angry Girl.

More Comics

Even if you eat organic your blood is probably a toxic soup

In last week's Globe, there was an article about the results of a test done on several Canadians for hormone disrupting and carcinogenic chemicals. On average, the volunteers had a cocktail of 44 in their bodies, and their lifestyle choices did not significantly affect the results.

"The message to Canadians is -- it doesn't matter where you live, how old you are, it doesn't matter how clean living you are or if you eat organic food, or if you get a lot of exercise. We all carry inside of us hundreds of different pollutants and these things are accumulating inside our bodies every day."

Even the clean living Robert Bateman (yes, the artist) had remarkable levels of things like heavy metals; PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls used in electrical transformers and now banned); PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers used as fire retardants); PFOs (perfluorinated chemicals used in stain repellants, non-stick cookware and food packaging), pesticides and insecticides.

There is more background about how chemicals get into our bodies, and why there is so little regulation in this piece by Marco Visscher. Unfortunately the one thing largely missed in his article is pointed out clearly in the Globe article; we have little to no control over our exposure: "We don't have the choice to avoid things coming of smokestacks and getting into our food and water and things in consumer products we don't know about."

The environmental movement has been largely coopted by a very elitist consumerism in which our personal purchasing decisions are our only possible form of protest. This leaves out those without the means to buy those $3/lb organic imported apples. Not only is the rush to organics unfortunately ineffective in a world in which the very air is poisoned, but it is also unfair. Why should only individuals with a large discretionary income be able to vote (with their dollars)? And, with a lack of information, how can a consumer make wise choices anyways. Without total transparency and regulation of all companies, the power is not in the hands of consumers. That organic spaghetti I enjoyed tonight may have been created from ingredients grown on an earth-friendly farm, but it was processed in a factory and transported thousands of kilometers to get to my table. I have no idea if it was farmed by low-wage migrant workers, or if the cardboard glue contains harmful chemicals. The cooking pot might be leaking more poison into my food. Did I make a positive consumer decision or a negative one?

Whatever solutions we come up with, we need to act fast. The youngest and most helpless among us are being affected. They are finding high degrees of pollution in newborn babies.

More on Environmental Issues and Health.

Biofuels?

I hear a lot of people talk about alternative energy as the great saviour of our way of life. Of course, some are speaking about coal and nuclear power. But more environmentally-minded folk include wind and solar power, and biofuels like biodiesel and ethanol.

I think conservation is the #1 priority. I don't think that we can continue to use the amount of energy. Even if we could produce an equal amount of alternative fuels and electricity, that would really only be enough for the current developed world, and it still leaves most people SOL.

I don't think we can produce the same amounts of energy alternatively to match our current usage. Take biofuels. I vaguely remember reading that, because of the petroleum-dependent food production system on which we currently rely, biofuels actually result in a net energy loss. For each calorie of food we consume it requires at least 10 calories of petroleum energy to farm, transport, and process. So why turn fuel-sucking food into fuel?

I decided to investigate a bit more.

This study finds that producing ethanol and biodiesel is not worth the energy, "you use more energy to produce these fuels than you get out from the combustion of these products."

Not only inefficient, but "a humanitarian and environmental disaster", says George Monbiot, presenting a chilling vision, in which "most of the arable surface of the planet will be deployed to produce food for cars, not people." He reminds us that markets respond to profit, not hunger. Those who need food the most are exactly the ones with the least amount of money to buy it, and so the monied person's car will always win out. He reminds us that even today, those who buy meat products have more purchasing power, so grain is fed to animals instead of to starving kids.

Instead of burning soy oil in our SUV's then, what is needed is to drive less and create sustainable production and consumption practices. For example, local organic farming, moderately dense city infrastructure, and significant green belts would not only be much more ecologically sound, but would also result in a higher quality of life than sitting for 2 hours a day in a freeway traffic jam eating a flavour-injected McDonald's burger, even if your car smelled like french fries.

So I say yes to re-envisioning our economy and no to biofuels (except for the few that are using up all that nasty leftover french fry grease: more power to 'em).

Topic: Environment, Food Politics

Why fuel prices must keep going up

Why fuel prices must keep going up until we hit $2+/litre

Mother nature was ever so kind to leave the products of millions of years of processing biomass sequestered in vast oil reserves all over the world. Pity that we realize too late that this gift is a limited resource that should have been sparingly allocated to be enjoyed over several generations rather than squandered in one. We have now reached that point in the supply and demand curve when, for the first time, oil supply is falling short of demand.. ..and we need to face the fact that we've been wasting a valuable resource that will never ever be cheap again.. ..and never should have been priced so low to begin with.

Oil is and has been the cheapest and most convenient source of fuel for decades. ..concentrated energy just sitting there.. ..add a pump.. ..and a bit of refining capacity and you have low cost fuel able to keep hundreds of millions of us awash in cheap energy.. ..ridiculously cheap energy in fact.. ..and we've had it for so long that we have taken it for granted. Now we are in trouble. The extraordinarily low cost of fuel has spawned all kinds of addictions and habits that will be hard to give up.. ..big cars and SUVs, thousands of Kg each that we drive nonchalantly to the grocery store to pick up milk.. ..or fire up to take us tens of thousands of miles annually back and forth in pursuit of a mobile lifestyle. Aircraft that whisk us off from one place to another. Goods and services from food to VCRs that are cheaply transported from one place in the world to another.. ..all enabled by mother nature's gift of cheap fuel ready to be pumped.

But who ever gave us permission to use all this fuel at our whim? Does it really all belong to us?.. ..a single generation of humans? ..Oh sorry.. ..more precisely, the privileged top 10% of the wealthiest humans of a single generation.. Who ever said that all this oil was ours? ..and who decided to let the price be driven by market forces at a time when supply far outstripped demand? ..and the price reflected the cost of pumping, refining and distributing with virtually no consideration for its intrinsic value.

Did you know that the two jets that plowed into the world trade centre each carried more than 1 ton of fuel/passenger for their aborted transcontinental journeys? Who said that it was okay for a handful of passengers to consume over 1 ton of high grade aviation fuel each for a single trip in less than 1 day? ..more fuel than our ancestors consumed each in a whole year..!

Did you know that the average Canadian consumes over 250 times more fuel per annum than the average 3rd world peasant? Who gave us permission to do that? Incidentally we also consume several hundred times more water and other resources than a third world peasant.. ..and generate several hundred times more waste as well. We may have the dubious distinction of being the biggest pigs in history.

And now what? With our heads deep up our asses, all we can come up with is indignant outrage that the orgy is coming to an end.. ..we will wage war on those that threaten to withhold our next energy fix.. ..and demand of our politicians to keep the party going.. ..at any cost as long as it is not our own.

Alas, not even the cumulative outrage of all of humanity spawned by self righteous indignation and entitlement, and armed with deadly weapons of mass destruction can change the indifferent reality that we are consuming energy beyond the earth's capability to deliver it cheaply. The supply has finally peaked and now the sobering increases in prices will force us to do what we should have been doing all along.. ..treating it with reverence as a precious resource to be used sparingly.

The price of fuel will top $2/litre and stay there. Why? ..because that's what it costs to produce energy in alternative ways.. ..wind, solar, nuclear, biofuels, geothermal.. ..and we need those prices to make it cost effective to generate these alternative forms of energy in large quantities. Had we had greater foresight and wisdom, we may have demanded higher prices sooner so that the adjustment would have been more gradual and more easily accepted.. ..rather than wait for the supply/demand curve to reverse on us suddenly as it has. With even a modicum of common sense, we'll realize that we've been living far beyond our energy means and paying far less than its cost of replacement. The free ride is over and it is time to start taking the necessary measures to reduce our consumption.

John Saringer
Reprinted by Permission

Reminds me of some lines from a song that truly resonates with me (Bright White Light by Adrian Borland)

The sun doesn't shine here
It just signifies the day
We take this life for granted
And we throw this world away
Using up the good things
Until we wonder where they went

Topic: Environment

Mightier than the sword

(By Dr.Yonnas Gondemo, Ethiopian Politics Contributor)

In this country, the pen is truly mightier than the sword. The Meles Zenawi Regime has started an information war directed at influencing the American government and its public. The information we have received indicates that there has been a highly organized government backed effort to flood internet sites with petitions, posts and e-mails targeting elected U.S public officials.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the information war has officially began .

We call upon all able and willing Ethiopians (those with a computer or a pen) to join us in this struggle. We extend our deep appreciation to those of you who are already engaged in this information war and urge all Ethiopians in the Diaspora not to be weary. Petitions, letter writing and e-mails are important. Melse Zenawi knows it and so do we.

We urge you not to miss any opportunity to show your solidarity and to stand behind the fallen heroes of Addis Ababa.

In Support of VOA’s Amharic Program (a voice to the voiceless)

We the undersigned Ethiopians, Ethio-Americans and friends of Ethiopia who are concerned and disturbed by the Ethiopian government’s deliberate attempt to shut down all free press and journalistic activities, here by, alert the US Broadcasting Board of Governors of the government’s recent attempts to discredit and disrupt free media not only in Ethiopia but also here in the United States of America.

The Voice of America (VOA) is an international multimedia broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. It is paid by American tax dollars to render service strictly to foreign audience. VOA is an extension of US foreign policy and a means to extend democratic influence and American values to the rest of the world.

The Amharic service of the VOA has been on air since 1982 and has been serving the people of Ethiopia in various educational, entertainment and current affairs programs. In the past two decades, the VOA Amharic program has been the only source of unbiased, relevant news for Ethiopians around the globe. It is exemplary in its professional exercise of journalism and its inclusion of diverse voices.

At this very moment, in Ethiopia, there is not a single newspaper, television or radio station that is not owned by the government. In a move that rivals the Marxist government of Mengistu Hailemariam (former military leader of Ethiopia), the current leader Meles Zenawi has jailed almost all members of the free press. Those who were not arrested are in hiding or are currently seeking asylum in a foreign country.

According to the CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists), the Ethiopian government is involved in a heavy-handed attempt to intimidate the independent press and to suppress news of the protests and deaths in Addis Ababa. It further states that the Security forces are detaining not only the family members of the journalists that are in hiding but also the medical workers that gave information about the casualties of the recent protests.

We believe that VOA Amharic, at its core, shares one of the founding principles of the United States of America, freedom of expression. It is for this reason VOA Amharic has come to be a threat and an enemy of the Meles Zenawi Regime.

We urge the US Broadcasting Board of Governors to encourage the spread of democracy in Africa by supporting VOA (Amharic) and by standing firm against all Ethiopian government backed demands to disrupt or discontinue the single remaining, democratic media outlet for Ethiopians.


We thank you for your time, and look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,
Dr. Yonnas Gondemo

Why is France Burning?

I'm so tired of hearing simplistic ignorant comments like: "the North Africans are just rejecting the culture of the country they chose to live in", "the French are giving too many social programs to the ungrateful", "obviously high taxation is bad, just look at what is happening in France".

Here's an excellent analysis of the French riots, including some history.

Another Good Article examining the frustration these "second class citizens" experience.

Interview with Dahr Jamail

The argument that the US has to stay in Iraq in order to prevent civil war is racist and imperialist and is made by people who don’t understand what is going on on the ground in Iraq. The US is using tactics that heighten the probability of civil war by rushing through this Washington DC- imposed timeline for the political process.

From an interview with Dahr Jamail, a most amazing unembedded reporter in Iraq.

petition the U.S Congress

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/democraticethiopia

A Letter to the International Community

Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa has been in turmoil since yesterday November1, 2005. Security Forces loyal to the Meles Zenawi Regime have massacred unarmed civilians and are continuing to do so at this very moment. Elected public officials and scholars are being jailed and tortured. Among the many who have been detained and whose whereabouts are unknown are:

1. Engineer Hailu Shawel (president of the CUD)
2. Dr. Berhanu Nega (elected mayor of Addis Ababa)
3. Dr Befekadu Degeffe (member of CUD's executive committee)
4. Dr. Hailu Araya (member of CUD's executive committee)
5. Prof. Mesfin Wolde Mariam (founder of Ethiopia's Human Rights Council, EHRCO)

On the day the Security Council has voted to sanction Syria for the killing of one person, they have failed to speak out against the killings of numerous Ethiopians.We emphatically urge the international community to take an immediate action to stop these atrocities. Help us in our endeavor to build a free and democratic Ethiopia.

Dr. Yonnas Gondemo

Science Shmience - If you don't agree with our politics, your science is wrong

The most lovely Union of Concerned Scientists has documented the Bush administration favouring candidates for advisory committees based on their political views. This is apparently because "public policy decisions must, in most cases, incorporate considerations other than science". In other words, oil companies need to continue posting record profits, so we need some "science" showing that global warming is nothing to worry about. Whew! There really is a Republican War On Science.

This is approximately as fun as reading Pat Robertson Quotes.

Traditional Roles

Besides men were far better at domestic roles than women, they had a knack of keeping the domestics operative, whereas women rarely had the will nor the interest
...
Dorothy went off occupied for the rest of the evening. She was glad to have Jack as a husband. He was a very handsome man and the envy of her friends. Good looks were important in a man these days..

A cool story: by John Saringer of Mysthaven.

Neolithic Noodles Unearthed in China

Apparently solving the argument of who invented the noodle, stone age noodles were recently uncovered by archaeologists in China.

And here I thought the food in my fridge was old!

More Science Fun

Help Oneself...

I guess this answers my question. Sometimes I guess it is one's responsibility to help oneself...

Today's Rant on Poverty and Class

It is slightly disturbing to reflect upon the fact that our world isn't naturally and magically overcoming the vast inequalities that exist; we aren't racing towards a golden future.

One of the related questions that keeps popping up lately is: How much personal responsibility should someone take for a poverty-stricken life?

One thing is true: taking reponsibility is empowering. Not taking responsibility leads to being and feeling trapped. However, there is only so much room to maneuver in any given life situation. I would argue that, it is absolutely an individual's responsibility to maximise opportunities, but at the same time, it is not up to anyone else to judge that individual for "failure", because no one else knows the circumstances of this individual life. No one knows the starting point, or the obstacles faced by this individual.

A little analogy related to my favourite sport: Imagine a 10k running race. The start line is not at the 0k position for everyone. One runner (Joe), starts 2 kilometers before the start line, meaning he has to run 2K to even reach the start. Bill starts at the start line (0k). Sally starts at the first kilometer (1k head start). Is it certain that Sally would win the race? Of course not.

If Joe runs a 3:30 Minute kilometer, he will complete the race in 42 minutes. Sally might run a 7 minute kilometer (like Leigh and I did at the Niagara marathon this past weekend), which would give her a finish time of 63 minutes, so she would not beat Joe even though she had a head start. Bill might trip and twist his ankle, allowing Joe to pass him. In other words, there are many variables other than starting position to determine how someone will place in a race. That doesn't change the fact that starting 1k behind someone else is a disadvantage. No one would dispute, that all other things being equal, a staggered start is very unfair. If all runners were to run a 6 minute kilometer, the finish times would be 54 minutes (Sally), 60 minutes (Bill), and 66 minutes (Joe).

In the gut, this feels very obvious, doesn't it? As though it isn't even a question. So why does a comparable discussion of class and poverty elicit such inflammatory comments so often? "She is poor because she is lazy", "I worked for everything I have, why should someone else deserve a hand out", "There will always be poor people so why do anything about it", "rich people are better and more important than poor people".

At the finish line of the 10k race, no one in their right mind would say that Joe lost because he is slow, or lazy. No one would dispute that Sally ran her best race: she ran as fast as she can. Bill, too, ran as fast as he can, but he neither the right to feel superior to Joe because he beat him, nor should he feel as though he didn't earn his 60 minute finish. The point is, they all ran exactly the same speed and should be considered equal winners.

A person has a responsibility to run the best race possible, but should not be judged on the basis of the final finishing time.

I am (rather unsubtly) talking about the lack of class mobility here, which tends to contradict the much-spouted idea that capitalism is a meritocracy.

It is a fact that, at least in the US, there is a Growing Gulf Between Rich And Rest Of Us. There is a huge tendency to blame the poor as a group for this, without considering the individual challenges any given poor person might have had to face. Yes a poor person might be lazy, but so might a rich person. For example, by the standards of the majority of the world's income levels, I am rather well to do. Even by the standards of my own society, I am certainly comfortable. I am sometimes lazy. I have been homeless, and probably worked harder back then than I do now.

The world is infinitely complex; questions of poverty, disadvantage, and other social ills are equally so. Rather than be so quick to judge, perhaps we should exhibit some understanding and work towards collective solutions that benefit everyone.

More on Poverty & Class Issues

Contagious frenzy

(By Sintayehu Tefera, Ethiopian Politics Contributor)

In the movie “men in black” Tommy Lee Jones’s character states that a “person is smart; but People are dumb, panicky and stupid”.


How true! remember a time (in Addis) when people were convinced the almighty has deemed it necessary to leave a single strand of eyelash hair in all the Amharic Bibles? It was to be found between the books of St. Mathew and St. Mark, THIS it was rumored was a test of devotion. It would only appear to devout christians .Others who were not holy enough to find it were advised to start the “tsom ina tselot” right away, or prepare for eternal fire by moving to Aseb where it is a 110 degrees year round. (Aseb was part of Ethiopia then). YA, LAUGH NOW ……….BUT YOU KNOW YOU TRIED YOUR DAMNDEST TO FIND IT!

How about the time when some “FOGGARI” started a rumor about a house belonging to the German consulate (on bole road). This “FOGGARI”, alleged that the house was a popular hangout place for Lucifer and his cohorts. Their hobbies included sacrificing children, burning the bible and chanting in their (evil) language (SIEG HEIL!...sooo sorry). Anyways, within days this rumor spread through out Addis like wild fire. Mr. Funfoughtflouter (we took some liberty with the name) who was the unfortunate owner of the house and his terrified wife, were chase away by an indignant and infuriated mob. Priests armed with holy water and crosses were present in the crowd, ready to attack in the event the devil dared reveal his nasty self.

(Sen.Joseph McCarthy a name synonymous with mass hysteria)

Why bring up all this you ask?

The pressure for CUD executives to take an IMMEDIATE ACTION regarding PM Meles’s refusal to accept most of their demands seems to be gathering MOMENTUM….YUP the same kind of panicky mass momentum we talked about earlier……… Rumors are starting to circulate…..YEEHEY SEWYE SHETON LITTEFA NEEW HASABU!…….YA SEWIYEKO DIROM YENESU CADRE NEBER!…..AYIREBAM! ALALKUSHIM, DIRRO NEW YALKUT AYREBAM YIHE SEWIYE….. …etc…

It is obvious this has started to affect the organization. Seems like NOW every day some CUD official, worried about loosing public support, is defending CUD’s silence on any media outlet available. This has become such a nuisance to them that yesterday the main dude himself… EL presidente!… (Engineer Hailu).. had to come to the rescue.

So, …Our humble advice
To the…..

PUBLIC- - know that you are dumb…. (We mean that in a good way)

PERSON – these are hard times with very hard questions……to come up with a good solution, time is needed.


CUD - Chill baby……..take your time……………we got your back!

Bush TV conference With Soldiers Staged

"It was billed as a conversation with U.S. troops, but the questions
President Bush asked on a teleconference call Thursday were choreographed to match his goals for the war in Iraq and Saturday's vote on a new Iraqi constitution."

Not that this is new. (check PR Watch for countless other examples of reality bending) What is new is how red-handed the catching was, due largely to the newsmedia jumping all over this.

Save rich people first?

Right-wing yahoo Neal Boortz believes it is a priority to save rich people rather than poor people if faced with another disaster. He says:

who do I want to save first? The rich. Save the poor first. Then, when everything's over, where are you gonna go for a job?

He goes on...

Well, hell, yes, we should save the rich people first. You know, they're the ones that are responsible for this prosperity.

I guess the people who work at jobs aren't important, it's the guys who play golf and pay other people to do work for them who produce the things we need and enjoy in our economy. Where would a boss be without workers? How many cars are built by the shareholders or CEO of Ford? How can someone actually see production this way? It's like saying that if you have a choice between saving the food factory or the food farms, you should choose the factory because it makes all the food.

If the poor could eat pomposity, they'd never go hungry in the good ol' US of A.

At least people can see what the true beliefs of these greedy b*stards really are.

Anyone else notice class is becoming a topic for discussion again?

Thanks to Court Fool for this.

Blame the Victims

I'm back from hiatus, with a BIG topic today. It is so big, it will probably spill over to other entries on other days.

As oft pointed out on The Rational Radical website, blaming the poor for their own poverty is a popular right wing technique. This survey shows how prevalent these views are. I believe this goes even farther - blame the victims. Many ultra-conservatives blame minorities for racism, blame women for sexism, blame the third world for colonialism, blame murder victims for being killed... it goes on and on. What's next, blaming children for child abuse? It's only a small logical step away.

This is a pretty big topic, so I'll only discuss a few highlights today.

Firstly, let's examine the blame the poor argument as it applies to women.

There is a rather strange prevailing thought which assumes that poverty is the direct cause of specific negative personality traits, such as laziness. Often a moral correlation is also assumed, so that wealth can be seen as an indication of moral worthiness. The "blame the poor" argument often stems from this. It is assumed that money is EARNED by those who deserve it. Therefore if is poor, one does not deserve money. Poor people are lazy and morally corrupt.

The poverty rate among women in the USA is higher than the poverty rate among men. In 2001, 11.6% of adult women compared to 8.5% of adult men (ages 18-65) live in poverty, and, significantly the disparity increases among senior citizens: 12.4% of women compared to 7.0% of men (65 and over) live in poverty. Is this because women are lazy? They don't work as hard as men? Women are morally corrupt? They do not deserve to have money? Any woman reading this is likely laughing right now. On average, women work at least as hard (some will say harder and longer hours) than men. The idea that women are morally corrupt hardly is worth commenting on. To those who believe that, there isn't much to say.

So let's look at some real causes of poverty among women.

Unequitable pay. Women employed full time still make less than their male counterparts, approximately 75% of the wages men make. (excellent article on this).

In 2003, the median income for men was $40,668 and for women was $30,724. Why? One reason is that often women are unlikely to be promoted, and stay at low wage jobs much longer than men. Middle management positions are much more likely to go to men rather than women. Most employers treat women who are mothers very differently from men who are fathers. Women may need maternity leave, which highly reduces the likelihood of promotion.

Also, the jobs in which women are overrepresented are traditionally low paid. Cashiers, housekeepers, receptionists, waitresses, child care, etc. are still overwhelmingly female. Many of these jobs pay minimum wage, which in most parts of the USA, is well below what is needed to keep a family out of poverty. Can you truly say that a male office worker in middle management works any harder than a female cashier at walmart? That a female housekeeper is lazy compared to a male janitor? Could the pay disparity be reflected in the value of their work? Is a nanny's work, caring for our future generation of kids, less important than, say, a welder's work? Is the nanny lazy or morally corrupt while the welder is a hardworking upright citizen?

The working status of women. Families headed by a single woman have a 26.4% poverty rate. That means more than 1 in 4 of all single mother headed families are poor. Being the single female head of household means often choosing between caring for the family and gainful employment. Without adequate and affordable child care, the choice actually becomes moot. Even if they want to and are able to work full time, single mothers are often stigmatized, and have hard time getting well paid employment, even with high levels of education and experience.

Does any of this mean that women are more lazy or morally corrupt than men? If anything it means women work harder for less! It is an unjust and meaningless argument.

I've hard arguments with people who say that being a single mother is a choice. They point to the high divorce rate, and teen pregnancy as a cause of women's poverty. While statistically this is absolutely true, does it not mean that these unfortunate individuals should be helped? Are they less deserving of a decent existence than a woman married to a wealthy husband?

The effects of poverty among women are serious, and as so often happens, children are disproportionately affected. The crime rate is far higher among children from poor households. Health is far worse. Education levels are lower. All of these things only perpetuate the cycle, as it is statistically very difficult, nearly impossible, for children to rise far beyond the economic level of their parents.

When ultra-conservatives say they are pro-family, I wonder why they are against policies to help the majority of families (who are low and middle class). Policies to help poverty among women, such as inexpensive child care, more progressive taxation, stronger wage laws, national health care, and housing subsidies, are frequently blocked. The "blame the victim" strategy simply provides a smokescreen for the greed that truly lies behind the blockage of these policies.

(All stats from US Census, 2003 and 2004)

To be continued (next to study "blame the minorities")
More on Poverty and Class Issues and Family & Women's Issues.

lieutenant Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam Interview

A 2001 Interview with Former President, Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam, from his exile in Zimbabwe.

Emerging through violence as preeminent military ruler by 1977, he sought Soviet aid, established a socialist People's Republic and fought off Somali incursions and Eritrean rebels. During much of this period, the country was led by the Mengistu-allied Workers' Party of Ethiopia.

Mengistu’s seventeen years in power were witness to numerous human rights violations: the murder of around sixty leading figures in the Emperor’s inner circle in 1974, the execution of hundreds of young people just before the first of May festivities in 1975 and 1976, the “Red Terror” campaign of the years 1977-1979 during which thousands of opponents to the regime were murdered and the forced displacement of thousands of farmers in the eighties.

Here he defends his 17-year rule in a rare interview. Speaking from Zimbabwe where he is in exile, syas that his regime had come to power by popular revolution.

Col. Mengistu's interview Part 1

Col. Mengistu's interview Part 2

Col. Mengistu's interview Part 3

Col. Mengistu's interview Part 4

Final Part of Col. Mengistu's interview


-[Home]-

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Exclusive pictures from our sources in N.C

This is a rare glance into the private life of Prime Minister Meles.
Of course most Ethiopians have never seen MRS. Zenawi. well, Here she is!

Political Strategy

(By Sintayehu Tefera, Ethiopian Politics Contributor)

At the moment, the CUD is at a crucial point in its existence. As is the case with every decision, there is a potential for a great failure or a resounding success. Uniting the country and rallying its supporters should be the number one priority. The following suggestions outlined, may have a positive effect in regards to the ongoing struggle.

1) CUD should call for the immediate release of all political prisoners, WITH a very special emphasis on MR. Siye Abrha and other EX- EPRDF members who are currently imprisoned.

2) In the event that a mass strike is needed, CUD should start the grounds work to enable people in the rural areas to participate in this strike and, in addition, implement a support system where by people that make their living paycheck to paycheck could be provided for and maintained by willing and able supporters.

3) International media has a very short attention span, by strategically utilizing supporters outside the country, CUD has to try and keep the struggle for democracy in the forefront by captivating the world’s interest.

Eyesore of the Month by James Howard Kunstler

Kunstler's Eyesore of the Month, June 2005 "Is it really necessary to have twelve foot chain-link fence around this [school]yard, turning the space effectively into a cage? What is the message we are sending to ourselves about our society? Do the children ever apprehend that they are being treated like caged animals?"

The Take: Film Review

Finally saw this last night. I thought it was quite well done.

Elements that struck me:

1. It was made apparent how political decisions from "on-high" affect regular people. This is something to which I feel we apathetic Canadians and Americans, in particular, need to pay attention. How often have you heard people say: "I'm not political. Politics doesn't affect me. I just want the government to leave me alone."? Unfortunately this apolitical attitude eventually causes problems, sometimes huge, because if we don't fight for our own interest, no one is going to do it for us. The people who were at demonstrations in The Take were from all demographics: young, old, poor, middle class, women, men, mothers, teenagers.

2. The brief mentions of IMF policies. If you have read Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (Perkins), or pretty much any critiques of globalization, you will likely be familiar with the terrible policies the IMF and the World Bank force upon countries (mass privatization, deregulation, corporate handouts to encourage foreign investment, etc.). In many ways, these policies were responsible for the economic crisis in Argentina. I would have liked a bit more analysis of a) why countries are pressured to adopt these policies, and b) specific effects of these policies. However, this was not the purpose of the documentary.

3. The real alternative not only presented, but acted upon by the workers. This is direct action, folks; to use a cliche - they took things into their own hands. It is wonderful to see democratic cooperative workplaces, decentralized yet linked by a common bond of fraternity. The individual workplaces are democratically run, with all decisions being made by vote. All workers are equitably paid (equal pay in most of the co-ops). The various workplaces seek advice from others, and come forth in solidarity to support each other in the case of police or government interference. They support, and are supported by the community. It is a small, and probably temporary, experiment of almost my EXACT political ideals. It almost brought tears to my eyes.

So, if you haven't yet seen it, Buy or Rent it now. It is well worth an hour and a half of your time.

The Walmart workers diet

From a series of Walmart parody commercials: WM*TV: Betty's Diet Plan

Landfill Mining

I wonder if, in the not too distant future, we'll be in such short supply of petroleum products that we won't start mining our own landfills. I could see big companies buying up landfills because of the vast resources they contain. All those plastic bags, pop bottles, and other plastic products we throw away today will be a potential source of wealth for our sick future society that has run out of petroleum resources.

Unless we get our act together, it is certainly a possibility.

Purging the Poor

Wealthy white folk who could afford to live on higher land in New Orleans have been cleared to go back home. Poor black folk who lived in the low-lying areas still cannot return. Will they ever? Not if policy makers have their way. There is a push to rebuild New Orleans into a sort of new New England, says Naomi Klein. Her article in The Nation shows how the reconstruction is becoming another example of disaster profiteering, as well as a sort of ethnic cleansing.

Instead of providing housing in New Orleans itself (Klein estimates there are 23,270 vacant apartments in the dry areas, which could easily house 70,000 evacuees) the 200,000 homeless are scattered and separated, and many have no means to return. This means they will be unable to affect decisions, leaving policy totally up to the white elite minority, whose main advantage was being able to afford altitude.

When the poor majority is excluded from decisions, you get horribly unjust ideas like getting rid of wage laws (somehow giving poor workers less money is supposed to be helpful), repealing environmental regulations, introducing flat taxes and corporate tax breaks, etc. These policies have either already been adopted or will be soon.

What are the results? Probably a radically different New Orleans. Certainly a huge cash cow in the form of no-bid contracts:

"Reconstruction," whether in Baghdad or New Orleans, has become shorthand for a massive uninterrupted transfer of wealth from public to private hands, whether in the form of direct "cost plus" government contracts or by auctioning off new sectors of the state to corporations.

There is an insatiable greed on brazen display here. Gated communities protected by militias amount to wealth and power hoarding. Getting rid of the poor (who are a visible indicator of the failures of this wealthiest nation in history) by carting them away or ghettoizing them rather than helping them to get out of the state of poverty just makes no sense! It is unfathomable to me that the powers that be can justify handouts to oil companies for things like subsidized oil exploration, (or tax break for the wealthy), but they can't justify a mandatory living wage?

After all, class matters, and it's certainly not getting any better. If you are unfortunate to be in the wrong class I guess you are SOL.

Shouts out to the Common Ground Collective, anarchist activists providing free medical treatment to residents in the Algiers neighbourhood. They will not only provide temporary emergency care; they are working to create an ongoing community controlled clinic. Listen here.

More on Hurricane Katrina.
More on Poverty & Class Issues.

Because everyone seems to be forgetting...

There is no connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11. Hear it from Bush himself. Thanks to The Rational Radical for the clip.

Education: state or private funding?

In this past issue of The Economist there was a huge feature on European universities. Something that really hit me was the central thesis of this feature was that European universities need to adopt the American model of privately funded two-tier higher education.

The premise on which this conclusion is based is the debatable assertion that US colleges are generally better than counterparts in European nations. The support for this is pretty flimsy. The magazine states that "America boasts 17 of the world's top 20 universities" based on the Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings, which use strange criteria such as numbers of Nobel Prizes and Field Medals awarded to alumni and staff and research output, while ignoring things like quality of education for students, average class size, accessibility, diversity, and social responsibility. These other criteria are arguably as important, if not more so. (see Vilas Rao's article)

To fix the supposedly substandard European universities, they say, universities should be "set free from the state", meaning start charging fees so that universities can pay more for better talent. While this sounds fine in theory, it of course means less social mobility for a society. When university is beyond the means of the disadvantaged, they won't go. It is that simple.

The article dismisses this concern:

Higher education is hardly a monopoly of the righ in America: a third of undergraduates come from racial minorities, and about a quarter come from families with incomes below the poverty line.

Unfortunately the data does not support this statement:

Source: Anthony B. Carnevale and Stephen J. Rose, Race/ethnicity and Selective College Admissions, in Richard D. Kahlenberg, ed., AmericaÂ’s Untapped Resource: Low-Income Students in Higher Education (Century Foundation, 2004). From Inequality Matters Conference Briefing Booklet

I'm all in favour of improving education, and I think, though only from anecdotal evidence, that many European nations do need to seriously look at the status of their higher education, there are many many alternatives to free market education! Increase state spending, for example. When universities are turned over to the market, they soon realize that liberal arts are not as profitable as technology and the nature of the offerings changes. Access by disadvantaged populations decreases. Contrary to the business press's favourite line, privatization and free-marketization are't always the answer!

Profiting off of other's misfortunes, part deux

It's only a matter of time 'til Haliburton et al get even fatter off of the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.

Second verse, same as the first.

Notes on bad weather and good government

This excellent Harper's essay discusses some of the sociology of disasters. It contrasts the Hobbesian image of mob and riot with the actual tendency of disasters to bring out the best in people:

Many of the stories we hear about sudden natural disasters are about the brutally selfish human nature of the survivors, predicated on the notion that survival is, like the marketplace, a matter of competition, not cooperation. Cooperation flourishes anyway.

This timely piece was written before Hurricane Katrina, but there is a postscript added about the disaster. A great read.

When White House Officials and their Cronies do care

They do care when there is an election and a potential disaster is going to hit an important swing state. This article shows how FEMA gave $21 Million in Miami-Dade county in the 2004 hurricane season, even though the severity of the storms were like "bad thunderstorms" causing minimal damage. People bought furniture, televisions and computers with the money they received from FEMA. Of course, this year, there isn't anything to gain, so now , I guess, no help is on the horizon for residents of these counties more severely affected by Katrina than even by Francis, the worst storm last year.

They do not care when there's no personal gain to be had from a situation. To do not care despite the fact that they KNEW what would happen.
This is a transcript of the National Weather Service message from 10:11 in the morning on Sunday before Katrina hit. Remember the National Weather Service is the government weather service, and the president was personally briefed on this.

10:11 Central Time- Devastating damage expected. Hurricane Katrina. A most powerful hurricane with unprecedented strength rivaling the intensity of hurricane Camille of 1969. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer. At least one-half of well-constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. All gabled roofs will fall, leaving those homes severely damaged or destroyed. The majority of industrial buildings will become non-functional, partial to complete wall and roof failures expected, all wood-frame low-rising apartment buildings will be destroyed, concrete block low-rise apartments will sustain major damage including some wall and roof failure. High-rise office and apartment buildings will sway dangerously, a few to the point of total collapse. All windows will blow out.

Military disaster reponse crews knew what was happening, but needed to wait for the president's authorization. They were told "not to respond to affected counties and states without being requested and lawfully dispatched by state and local authorities." (courtesy of Sydney Morning Herald, Democracy Now and Times Online)

Seeing as how there's no immediate POLITICAL benefit to keeping residents of NO healthy and safe, why send aid? If they had started prepping response in advance of the situation, WHEN THEY WERE WARNED OF IT, imagine the difference!!

But, see, warnings like the one above, does not an emergency make. "Devastating damage expected" is not cause for a response. How do we know this? Well, Department of Homeland Security head, Michael Chertoff, explained at a press conference, nearly a week after Katrina, why it took so long to get National Guard troops to New Orleans:

You know, these are citizen soldiers, we have to get them mobilized and deployed. When we send the National Guard overseas, we don't tell them to pack up and leave in 24 hours unless it's some huge emergency [emphasis added].

I'm not very good at math, but I think I can get this one. It's very simple really. Potential of Losing Lives = Not-Emergency. Potential of Losing an Election = Emergency.

Makale - Kingztanbul Review

What a find this was. Amazing Turkish hip hop. To begin with, Makale have great musical talent. The rhythms are interesting, there's some great scratching, and they are strong rappers. I can't understand anything they say, which is too bad, but there's something about listening to another language that makes one appreciate even more the quality of the music itself.



Highly Recommended. Do a search for "Makale" on your local CD shopping site, like that amasomething and you'll be sure to find it. Pick it up!

Why it is important to be political PART II

(Part I)

Economic Policies
When profit and the market is more important than human life, we start to see human suffering. The right wing agenda includes reducing public services. They seem to think the free market is a better ruler than a democratic government would be. Well, guess what, guys... Hurricane Katrina's devastation is a perfect example of just how market forces DON'T work fairly or effectively for the majority of people, in particular the poor and dispossessed. (Excellent article: How the Free Market Killed New Orleans)

The moral of the story - Government policies are important and have direct effect on your life. So be political; it is your right and your duty and your life IS at stake.

Why it is important to be political

There are real consequences to government policies. Although we are discouraged from being a part of decisions, these decisions shape our way of life in many ways.

Hurricane Katrina is an excellent point of reference, as many political decisions are at the root of this disaster. Yes, it was natural, but the results could have been mitigated by proper policies. Some specific policies that could have helped include a focus on reducing land loss in deltas, training local disaster-relief personnel, building better sea walls, improving emergency preparedness planninng, etc. Read this article for more information.

Environmental policies
There are so many environmental problems that together contribute to the incredible devastation of natural disasters. Though hugely problematic, global warming isn't necessarily the most pressing issue. For example, land loss and ruined coastal wetlands, which act as natural storm barriers, means deluges of water are not absorbed but instead cause increased flooding. Water pollution, such as the Mississippi spells out increased danger during and after floods as well. This is just a few examples.

To be continued (Part II).... In the meantime, please read an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush

Get your war on

Satirical and nastily funny.

Example:

"Do you swell with pride when politicians say 'never again'?"
"Darfurnitely not."

Darfur as a Resource War

David Morse eloquently demonstrates the connections between the Sudan's oil resources and the genocide in Darfur.

He juxtaposes our "giddy assumption" that the narcissistic automobile/celebrity obsessed culture can continue indefinitely when we know it can't" with the horror that is occurring in places like Darfur in order to keep us flush with oil. Why doesn't the media show this? Perhaps we aren't willing to make "the connections that would threaten our petroleum-dependent lifestyle."

Is it Food?

Or is it a "food product"?

Faced with a bewildering array of substances that may or may not be good for our bodies, we find ourselves scratching our heads. Increasingly, the answer to the question 'Is it food?' is 'I’m not sure.'

According to this article, there are many clues to determine if it is food or not.

1. Economic clues: "Food may be expensive, but it rarely brings outrageous profits to those who produce it. Food products, on the other hand, bring enormous, occasionally obscene profit to manufacturers."

2. Visually: Food has little/no packaging like this:
,
while food products are wrapped in cardboard, plastic, foil, graphics, like this:


3. Historically: Was it available before 1903, the year hydrogenation was patented?

Their simplest solution the the dilemma, however, is this: "Simply avoid anything that's advertised."

Weird and interesting plan to curb carbon-dioxide emissions

Concerned about global warming? So are the British. Unless they want to take a lot of naps, they realize we better do something.

But do what? Well, for starters, measure personal carbon-dioxide emissions.

Is God playing Sim City? If so, is He losing or winning?

This article: Weird Science on the Religious Right examines several anti-facts promoted by religious groups among the political right. For example, the myths about holes in condoms, abortion causing breast cancer, the effectiveness of remote prayer, the dangers of emergency contraception, and of course, about human origins.

Read the comments. Very funny. Just Some Dude says in relation to the problem of evil (why is there evil if an omnipotent, all-good higher power exists?): "Is this higher power just up in heaven playing Sim City or something?". Then smidget2k4 discusses the simcity disasters (giant alien robots). OldRedleg2 responds: "Hey, you guys have just hit on how the Rapture can be incorporated into (choke) Intelligent Design."

For even more of this sort of surreal religious weirdness, check out Rapture Letters.

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to see a water balloon pop in space?

Now you can find out. (MPEG or Quicktime)

Nuclear power = 7 times more expensive than conservation

Opponents to nuclear power cite more than potential danger. They say Nuclear energy can't solve global warming, both because of the high cost and low efficiency, not to mention that nuclear energy is only electric (i.e. it doesn't solve 2/3 of America's energy needs such as home heating, and automobiles).

Of, course, it's still better than coal, which the new U.S. Energy bill promotes, by granting $14.5 billion in tax breaks and subsidies, most of which will go to producers and users of oil, coal and natural gas.