Casas de carton proudly brought to you by United Fruit Company.
Leftist candidate Mauricio Funes has claimed victory in El Salvador’s presidential election, in a historic vote that ends the 20-year rule of right-wing party ARENA.
- Leftist declares victory in El Salvador
- EL SALVADOR (casas de carton)
- United Fruit Historical Society – Chronology
- Operation PBSUCCESS
Holy Toledo, Batman! How is Uncle Sammy and his CIA gonna get all those Central and South American snakes back into the box and deal with the rest of the planet simultaneously!? The U.S. economy is singularly inclement with bailouts galore and China holding the purse strings. The Middle Eastern countries are hair-trigger toey and appear unreceptive to “God’s gift of Democracy”. The Ugly American empire is turning to caga before the eyes of the world and it’s not a good look.
Rome on the skids was never like this; hegemonic hiccoughs never so dyspeptic.
Remember, remember the eleventh of September
The CIA’s murderous plot
For families and friends of The Disappeared,
It will never be forgot.
Footage of the US fighter/bombers destroying the presidential palace in Santiago, September 11, 1973.
Democratically elected Salvador Allende and hundreds of his supporters were murdered on that day, thousands who resisted were later tortured and “disappeared”. Pinochet’s fascist regime could not have maintained power after the coup without the the full co-operation of Holy Mother Church and her Secret Police, Opus Dei.
Michelle_Bachelet supported Allende in his rise to the Presidency. She is a medical doctor, and a divorced mother of three.
The Kangaroo Connection …
On January 10, 1975, Michelle Bachelet and her mother were detained at their apartment by two DINA agents, who blindfolded them and drove them to Villa Grimaldi, a notorious secret detention center in Santiago, where they were separated and submitted to interrogation and torture. Some days later they were transferred to Cuatro Álamos (“Four Poplars”) detention centre, where they were held until the end of January. Later in 1975, due to sympathetic connections in the military, both were exiled to Australia, where Bachelet’s older brother Alberto had moved in 1969.
Meanwhile, Latin America swerves towards the left …
Latin America is swerving to the left, (former conquistadors Portugal and Spain have already done so) and a distinct backlash is already under way against the predominant trends of the last fifteen years: free market reforms, agreement with the U.S. on a number of issues and the consolidation of representative democracy. (movement of jah people).
- Venezuela (Chavez)
- Bolivia (Morales)
- Cuba (Castro)
- Brazil (Lula)
- Argentina (Kirchner)
- Uruguay (Vasquez)
- Chile (Bachelet)
Abstract
The multinational United Fruit Company has been considered the quintessential representative of American imperialism in Central America. Not only did the company enjoy enormous privileges in that region, but also counted on authoritarian governments in dealing with labor unrest. The literature assumes that United Fruit and the dictators were natural allies due to their opposition to organized unionism. This paper shows that this alliance could only survive as long as the multinational provided the dictators with economic stability for the country. However, when the multinational proved to be incapable of doing that, the dictators allied with the working class to confront the multinational and extract higher rents (or as in El Savador’s case, democratically elect a president, not necessarily a dictator who can tell the corporate exploiters to pay their fair share or vamoose).
http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/eclillbus/06-0115.htm
(thanks for your fire dog lake link at 925, ChrisB, after reading it, this thread self-collated)
765 replies on “Viva El Salvador! A century of solitude no more”
Kirri- and I quote
“As to the ‘nationalise’ proposition: it may be necessary financially, but near impossible politically, and that is their problem. Even with all his ‘political capital’, Obama just doesn’t seem even willing to go there.”
My problem is that on one hand you say it is impossible politically, and then you criticise Obama for not going there – politically.
Surely this is just like the climaet change debate/debacle where the truth is that to have even the remotest chance of changing anything we should all ride bicycles, have solar panels for our power, and be vegans. Not going to happen – no one could sell it politically.
Ironically enough – it is where we will probably end up as there will be bugger all left to do anything else, but politically…. no one expects any politician to sell it.
Same thing isn’t it??
Jen, it’s tragic that we all KNOW what should happen, but collectively fail to make it happen.
exactly Mon Ami –
I wish Obi could fix it, but we all know he can’t. Seems a tad harsh to condemn him for that.
and btw- wasn’t it you that was hangng it on Our Bob for implying we should all live in caves???
In truth he is bloody well right (not that he ever said that), but you get my point….?
Well someone has to say it.
Fuck Lord Downer on lateline.
And Fuck the ABfrigginC for playing such a pathetic game. 🙁
read more in the EU Observer
read the whole story in the EU Observer
Rachel Maddow interview with جيهان صفوت رؤوف (Jehan Al Sadat), widow of the assassinated Egyptian President محمد أنور السادات (Anwar El Sadat) talking to the subject of Middle East Peace.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/29905028#29905028
While on the subject of US foreign policy, Barack Obama released details of his Afghanistan/Pakistan/USA plan targeting the battle against al-Qaida. But perhaps more interesting is the engineering aspect in all of this – while there is a military factor – the channel is constructed on social engineering principals, regional diplomacy, and recognition of the international community.
Meanwhile then GOP take the bait and publishes an alternative budget.
ROTFLOL
“SUCH AS WIND AND SOLAR”, eh?
Yeah, Cat, it gives observers such a special thrill when the GOPper brainstrust goes big picture. Mysteriously, the signatures of Yup-Yup Palin, El Rushbo and Joe the Plumber are conspicuously absent from le document monumentale. What a tragedy it is for all Americans going forward that a party of such geniuses should find themselves haplessly bereft of the power to set agendas.
—————————————————
Comment at 571:
“And is Rudd going to crawl up Obi’s bum the same way The Rodent did with The Imbecile in Iraq by sending more Australian military to be inevitably killed and maimed for fuck all a la Vietnam?”
Lost In America by Bill Leak:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/opinion/cartoons/
ALL THE WAY WITH OBI, HEY!!
Now where have we heard something like this before??………
“…..Holt’s friendship with LBJ(Dem pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson) was reflected in the strong relationship between Australia and the USA, former Australian diplomat and foreign affairs expert Alan Renouf was more cynical in his assessment of the situation. In the chapter on Vietnam in The Frightened Country, his 1979 book on Australian foreign policy, Renouf bluntly suggests that Holt was in effect “seduced” by Johnson, and he notes that the Holt government was criticized for not doing enough and was repeatedly pressured by the Johnson administration to increase its troop commitment in Vietnam.”
Cf. section Holt and Vietnam.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Holt
Can anyone explain how the price of hundreds of dead and thousands of physically maimed and mentally scrambled ADF personel from the “Vietnam campaign” was worth paying? Please reflect on the price the families of these warriors paid and are still paying before replying.
Lest we forget, it’s vitally important to have military advisors and observers to train and bolster the Afghanistan army to eventually take control. And then, of course, there are all those Afghani hearts and minds to win as well. The last few thousand years of history have shown just how successfully invading and occupying foreign armies who seek to control this rugged land have fared.
So just like Kevvy has done done with Obi, it’s carry on up the Khyber all over again……for the good of all Australians.
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=church&book=english3&story=pass
It’s just occurred to me that “exotic” securities (CDO, CDS and the like) so easily became “toxic”, because it’s a virtual anagram! LOL
As for Mr Leaks cartoon, well, what can say except that larrikan Aussie humour lives on?
As for the Afghan war, it’s not Vietnam by a long way in terms of its ferocity, nor its rationale. Vietnam was a colossal misunderstanding which confused a war of independence with a communist wave that threatened the rest of SE Asia.
Afghanistan is another kettle of fish entirely, and given that it’s a happy breeding ground for jihadis to train and equip for some very nasty stuff (from London to Bali and beyond) it cannot be ignored. Of course Bush’s half-arsed efforts only made things worse and leaving it to fester while he invaded Iraq was monumental stupidity…something he did at every opportunity.
I’m more confident that Obama’s push to stabilise the place will suceed over time, with far better results, and considering the instability in Pakistan it is imperative that it does. If Afghanistan was to revert to the control of the Taliban then Pakistan would almost surely follow.
Think about what that means.
Some fights really are ‘self-defence’, have moral dimensions like liberating women from medieval slavery, allowing minorities to live without vicious subjugation and helping the majority of Afghans to live in a country not corrupted completely by opium and guns.
If the West walks out on Afghanistan, then the entire region will go to hell in a handbasket and we’ll be back to deal with a MUCH bigger problem than it is now.
David Brooks has just returned from Afghanistan, and has a lot to say that makes sense.
He’s realistic that it was made worse by Bush (although he doesn’t need to mention him by name), but hears a lot of sense from the top brass and the Administration’s new commitment is more hopeful than it’s been.
And most of all he thinks the Afghans are on the right side: they want their country free of fundamentalist rule and corrupt politicians.
There’s the starting point for success and we shouldn’t turn our backs on it because that would be a far bigger tragedy.
Eric Holder has the audacity to challenge the President.
http://www.politico.com/largevideobox.html?id=17808867001
#611 KR A very good article. I particularly like this quote:
“we’re already well through the screwing-up phase of our operation.”
It’s so presidents in history good to see a President who doesn’t take him self too seriously and has a great sense of humour. The pressures on Obama are immense at the moment. Especially in some areas of Australia. I have the utmost confidence that Obama will come through this with flying colours and go down in history as one of the greatest presidents.
More than a million Ohio voters purged in run up to 2008 election Republican Party wanted 800,000 more purged.
NEW FREE PRESS STUDY REVEALS: More than a million Ohio voters purged in run up to 2008 election – Republican Party wanted 800,000 more purged
March 25, 2009
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2009/1734
Ohio election officials purged more than a million voters between the 2004 and 2008 elections. The number is three times that of voters purged between the 2000 and 2004 elections in that key swing state.
The Free Press Election Protection Project requested data from Boards of Elections in all of Ohio’s 88 counties. A detailed analysis of the records reveals shocking and unprecedented purges. The total number of people whose names were removed from the voting rolls is a stunning 1.25 million.
more of this article can be read on Op Ed News
continued on EU Business
Video.
Free wi-fi comes online in Rio favela.
As part of a pilot project to improve the quality of life in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, the state government is starting to provide free wi-fi internet access.
Video can be seen on Euro News
Video
Where women lead, productivity improves.
Gender equality in Europe is still a distant goal, but the pay-off is undeniable, in economic terms as well as human. Sweden and Spain are among the countries setting good examples.
see the video on Euro News
Kirri, for a moment let’s leave aside America’s hegemonic interests and focus on why we should follow Obama and the US into Afghanistan and deploy more Australian troops.
Have the Taliban or Al-Kaeda mounted any assaults upon Australians in Australia?
Does the band still play Waltzing Matilda when our dead and maimed soldiers are shipped home from ANOTHER overseas war?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG48Ftsr3OI
Sure there are differences between Australia sending troops to occupy Vietnam compared with Afghanistan. But there are also sycophantic similarities that Bill Leak expressed so well in his cartoon.
Vietnam didn’t have vast reserves of oil and gas, nor was it a land criss-crossed with strategically significant oil and gas pipelines….. BUT, there was plenty of opium being grown in the hills adjacent that found its way to western markets via Air America according to Al McCoy in “The Politics of Heroin in South East Asia”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_America_(airline)
Quite a bit of the white stuff found its way to Oz during the “conflict” too.
Somehow despite all the hype and hoopla the crop in Afghanistan is harvested and marketed…. as it has been for thousands of years. Perhaps the US should initiate a Volkstead Act–Mark 2 to demonstrate to humankind that prohibition is the right way to go, despite it failing miserably in the past.
I lean towards the view that the US administrations have behaved like a Corporate Outfit hellbent on maintaining control of the bulk of the world’s supply of oil, gas and heroin rather than their stated aim of bestowing god’s gift of democracy upon Middle Eastern infidels. The warmongers are certainly making a large profit while America sinks furthur into dire economic straits.
Let Pixie piss in Barry’s pocket on the world stage if we must, for the sake of appearances, but I don’t think it’s wise to spill any more Australian blood overseas to consumate the kow-tow.
Says David Brooks:
“After the trauma in Iraq, it would have been easy for the U.S. to withdraw into exhaustion and realism. Instead, President Obama is doubling down on the very principles that some dismiss as neocon fantasy: the idea that this nation has the capacity to use military and civilian power to promote democracy, nurture civil society and rebuild failed states.”
“Nurture civil society”! Give me a fucken break.
Be fascinating to see how many stocks and shares in the MIC David owns. The little schmuck has been a booster for every skirmish and war upon abstract nouns since he first embraced his vocation as a neocon guru and PNAC spruiker extraordinaire.
And I agree that fundamentalism of all ilks is barbaric especially the way fundies deal with dissenters both real and perceived. Stoning women “adulterers” to death and widespread unsolicited FGM is as repulsive to most people as is executing doctors outside abortion clinics.
Is it merely a coincidence that other countries that practise the letter of Sharia Law and yet somehow fail to incur the military wrath of the US, do not have reserves of oil or gas or opium up for grabs? African muslim nations for example.
The Saudis have lots of black gold and gas reserves but the House of Saud and other gulf state monarchies are America’s bestest buddies. Willing coalitionists. The Princes happily play ball with The Great Satan as long as he keeps buying it by the supertanker load.
As far as helping the Afghani people build essential infrastructure is concerned, sure, let’s help them do it, I’m all for altruism especially health and education and permaculture tucker gardens .….. but let’s help when the fighting’s done. The same way that Australian chippies and sparkies now go to ‘Nam and build schools and hospitals etc. All the Eagle Scouting done now by a few thousand Aussies in the Afghani theatre won’t matter a hill of beans if the nukes start poppin’. Farmers of ideas grow better crops when they sow seeds in seasons propitious. 🙂
Talk to the Taliban, trade with ‘em , threaten sanctions and international opprobrium by all means, but not one more drop of our blood should be spilt upon a land that has soaked up an ocean of red fluid made by blue-eyed white-skinned occupiers who sought to impose their long-term will upon the armed and tribally disparate indigenees of their ancient land.
The people of North Korea are rather under the thumb too but when it comes to America’s hegemonic benevolence, they are somehow, despite Axis of Evil status, not considered suitable candidates for instruction.
Anyway, Kirri, no doubt we’ll have much to discuss on Afghanistan and the role of westerners there as events unfold. My overall thrust and dialectical surge is that our biosphere is under far greater threat from global heating than from the Taliban and Al-Kaeda combined, and that monies wasted on another bullshit war would be far better spent implementing renewable energy infrastructure on a baseload, village and suburban basis, but the MIC & Allied wouldn’t make a zac from that, so there’s going to be a continuing exchange of national perceptions on global priorities on this most vital of concerns for as long as our pale blue dot remains gravitationally leashed to our sun…..as we terrestrials journey into the interstellar blackness beyond.
I disagree with their interpretation. I see it creating resentment with Jim Bunning. It will destablise an already unstable situation. Jim very may well take his ball and stick and storm home. Nothing like creating a bit of dissension in your own camp.
more in the Miami Herald
read more in the Foreign Policy
Obama has an extremely important election coming up in 2010. That is only 20 months away. If Obama shows steady progress in that time, the Democrats may take up to 10 seats in the senate. At a long shot 12 seats. Then the real game is on. Anything that is likely to rock the boat in that time will be put on the back burner. Stablising the economy is very important. If nationising the bank industry gives the Republicans something to help them run a scare campaign in the 2010 senate election. I am dead against it. There is no point in having a brief victory only to let Godzilla loose shortly afterwords. We need to get as many left leaning Democrats up in the senate as soon as possible. Just to remind everyone as to how the senate looks, here is the map. Anything within about 10% is fair game.
http://www.electoral-vote.com
Ecky, I’m not about to start waxing lyrical on Uncle Sam’s foolish hegemonic exploits, but I’ll say this, not all of its military efforts were stupid. I’m rather glad they joined the effort against Mr Hitler and Hirohito, and we did rather appreciate it at the time. North Korea is a medieval backwater, but the South isn’t for the same reason, that is the Yanks went into bat against the communists.
If every act was either black or white it would be so easy, wouldn’t it? But unfortunately, they are not. And let’s remember that the people who got pulverised in Bali were also victims of bin Laden’s enterprise, and many were Australians. The Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta was likewise in a direct lineage from al Qaeda.
The world has plenty of reasons to suspect America, but the alternative to staying and stabilising Afghanistan is pretty dire, and once Pakistan goes pear shape, where do you stop it then? After they escalate a war with India?
Sorry, I just don’t see too many smart alternatives except trying to redevelop local institutions and some trust in a central government which is plural and tolerant to minorities.
I’d say that Brooks is mostly right in that the bulk of Afghanis do want the western forces to succeed, do want the fundamentalists beaten and do want a unified country. It’s easy to be cynical, but just put yourself in their shoes and ask if you’d like your daughters splashed in acid for attending school, or someone lashed in public for playing music, or beheaded because they object to this barbarism.
Or would you rather the outside world helped you defeat this?
It isn’t black and white Ecky, and sometimes we have to live in the grey zone and hope the white emerges. It’s far better than the entire region falling into darkness.
Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina already have Democrats in the senate. Kentucky is in turmoil. Should we get some quality candidates up, it will make things very interesting. Some Republicans might be watching what happens, leaving it to as close as possible. If the writing is on the wall. They might not join the Titanic. 😈
623 Kirribilli Removals Well said. I still wish they would invade Saudia Arabia. 😈
They must have a miserable life in that country. No one can make jokes about women drivers.
That it’s not black and white is supported by this info from Juan Cole which he got from Urdu press reports:
“A recent poll of residents of the tribal belt themselves found majority support for the US Predator strikes, but polls show that Pakistanis in general view the US as a destabilizing factor for their country.”
It is incredibly complex, and obviously the issue of the US sending in the drones to Pakistan is fraught with possible blowback, but notice that there’s plenty of people in the tribal areas who do NOT want to be ruled by a medieval bunch of murderous bastards who not respect their values. They’d rather US assistance thanks, or they face being sent to the dark ages.
Kirribilli- I concur, but with reservations. Fundamentally I do not believe that warfare is the ultimate way to solve the issues that Afghanistan is faced with. However I am also realistic enought to know that they ain’t going to cahnge over a cuppa and a chat.
My hope is that Obama has the nouse to be employing a complex range of approaches, but we also have to deal with the current reality.
If you listen to Juan Cole on Rachel Maddow’s show he certainly does not sound like it’s all a futile effort, but he does at least offer the idea that supporting Pakistan to put in some development in the tribal areas would go a long way to suppressing the insurgents. And again, he points out that many of the tribals are fighting to keep the militants at bay, so obviously weakening them across the border in Afghanistan would help.
There are no simple solutions here, but this is NOT Vietnam or even on a scale like Iraq. It is still low level insurgency and there is still plenty of goodwill with the West to defeat it.
I think we should try and Obama’s the best leader to stand with. Even the Europeans are taking his initiatives favourably, which is a far cry from anything Bush could achieve, eh?
Jen, I think he has, and when dealing with people who will blow up women and children intentionally there’s little room for talk.
Oh, and Jen, sometimes you don’t get the option. Churchill could either fight back or surrender.
Which did he choose?
I think the Taliban’s refusal to hand over bin Laden sort of set their fate, but unfortunately it was the Doofus who did not proceed there in a sensible way.
Maybe it’s not too late, and let’s give Obama some time to make a more complete effort.
Just in case you missed this gem in the msm….
😆
http://www.theage.com.au/world/pope-distorted-evidence-20090327-9e8m.html
megan- ha!
Kirri, nowhere did I state that the situation in Afghanistan was black and white although on re-read can appreciate how you draw the inference 🙂 and sure, Hitler and Hirohito had to be dealt with although the Enola Gay/Nagasaki little boy big boy finales where thousands of innocent Japanese civilians were vapourised was a gutless act in that it could not be retaliated upon in kind at the time.
All that changed when the US’s WW2 Super Allies, the Nazi fighting commies of the USSR, got a Big Banger too and the Cold War of “duck and cover” and Dr. Strangelove kicked in with all the finesse of an Orwell switcheroo.
http://www.ironycentral.com/bin/Sept111984.html
And where were the UN all the Freedom Lovers of the first world when a million Rwandans were being systematically hacked to pieces?
Probably just another coincidence I guess, if you’ll indulge me another spot of cynicism, that no oil or gas or opium was on offer in the central African nation.
What I’m really trying to say is that America is in Afghanistan for reasons of vested self-interest more than altruism. And yes, if I were a tribesman there whose family was being persecuted by extremists of any denomination, I’d appreciate all the immediate assistance we could get and deal with the demands of the “liberators” when the dust had settled.
If Obama said:
“American Forces are in Afghanistan to secure supplies of oil and gas while we get ourselves set up with renewable energy sources that will power our economy while we simultaneously train the tribes to organise and defend themselves agaist extremists”……
then it would be a lot easier to cop Australia’s involvement sweet.
The Juan Cole material is interesting though, would appreciate a link, dear comrade and sparring partner, to have a gander at the stats more closely.
All lights out and candles lit for Earth Hour.
Does that mean I need to switch off this link to other ticksters?
Happily pay 100% green power, have bought bike, use public transport, buy carbon credits when flying, plant trees, have even become vegetarian , but to have to swithc off my pc should equal massive brownie points for lent! 🙂
oops…8.30….
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/68606
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/68446
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhpBD228R7M
635
megan Says:
All lights out and candles lit for Earth Hour.
Egad Megan. Just think of all that CO2 those candles will produce.
I’m running on electrons produced by local wind towers.
(Just not paying the premium for green energy.)
LOL
It starts to get confusing when you have to conceptualize the national grid.
Ecky, just google Juan Cole and there’s plenty of links there to relevant material. But that said, we both share a healthy scepticism of US imperial policies, although I just don’t see that Afghanistan was important for any of the stated reasons.
If Afghanistan was so strategically important, then why did the US virtually dump it after the Russians left? It makes no sense to say that they suddenly realised it was a valuable asset after 911, just coincidentally! No, they had one goal when they backed the mujahadeen, and that was to give the Soviets a bloody nose. Thereafter they had ZERO interest.
911 changed that, and changed it dramatically. Furthermore, if it WAS a strategic conquest, then why did Bush bugger off to Iraq, if not because there weren’t any substantial targets in Afghanistan and it did not offer any rewards to occupy?
Sorry, the actions speak for themselves. Obama is only trying to go back and complete what was not done because there is a big probability that leaving will just open the door to a much wider conflict involving Pakistan and most probably its neighbours.
I could expand this argument with lots of details, but I think you need to refute the basics outlined above before I do! LOL
632
megan
The pope heads an organisation that distorts reality from it’s very inception: a kid was born to a virgin through insemination by the ‘holy spirit’ and this kid grows up to perform miracles except for getting himself out of some very nasty Roman capital punishment. But he ‘arose’ again after he died and ascended to a place called heaven.
And you wonder why the pope thinks he can get away with saying condoms makes the AIDS problem worse?????????
Paddy,am envious !!
Bit tricky here in a cheek-by-jowl city – want to put solar panels on roof but tricky developers next door always want to go higher for views & my roof will lose the sun.
Was much better organised last year by bringing el cheapo solar garden lights from the outside indoors…sans CO2 !
Must say though that it does concentrate the mind and neighbours gathered outside discussing ways they are ‘adapting’ …some are buying thinner towels so they don’t use as much energy to wash&dry, another reverting to brown paper bags &greaseproof paper and yet another is hunting for one of those old soap-shakers to use pure soap instead of detergents for the washing up……
Even a reduction of individual rubbish was noted with so much more composting and recycling.
Lovely to see the city dimmed and the stars visible.
Kirri,
😆
I’m still trying to be officially excommunicated !
Just as gays may not take communion if they are living in sin, I too, living in sin, may not and so I take great delight in lining up with the devout&worthy and partake in places like the Notre Dame in Paris…often glance around looking for fellow rebels…and all the while raising an invisible middle finger….! 🙂
All those years of mea culpas didn’t do me any good ….actually, that is a plus….the smattering of latin learnt…and of course “Life of Brian” is all the more delicious because of the outrage caused.
Megan
I haven’t lived in a city for 20 years. But I can well imagine the joy, in being able to actually see the stars, while still living cheek by jowl with millions of others.
LOL
Last time I experienced anything like that, was in India during a routine power cut in Delhi. 🙂
Alas, the atmospheric pollution meant that visible stars were not on the menu. 🙁
On a sadder note. An interesting (if terrifying) factoid from James Lovelock. Over the space of a calendar year. The CO2 emitted by the human population of the planet merely breathing, exceeds the entire airline industry’s production of same.
The herd of elephants in the room…..is the exploding human population.
As our own dear jen would say. Fuck the pope and stick his head in a condom.
Well observed megan and paddy, can’t wait to get with the renewable strength when we move house next year. We’ve got a low volume shower nozzle and low watt bulbs and walk and ride whenever possible. Looking forward to an E-V car, monster water tanks, solar panels and wind rotors, a Peter Pedals “mix-master/mix-mistress” (depends who’s pedaling) and a properly set up permaculture garden. Recently found a bloke who consults by the hour. Figure if you get things set up properly then maintenance issues will be minimal.
Kirri, I take your point that the US had no strategic interest in Afghanistan after 1989.
“KABUL – In 1989, the Soviet Army withdrew from Afghanistan. Simultaneously, the West disengaged from the Afghan conflict, which left the Afghans at the mercy of regional powers. The collapse of the communist bloc provoked a shift in US policy in
the region. Because the US lacked a strategic interest in Afghanistan, Washington [delegated the formulation] of Afghan
policy to both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, which are two close allies of the US.”
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HJ19Df02.html
The “two close allies” Pakistan and the Saudis certainly didn’t do the US or themselves any favours though between the collapse of the USSR and the events of Sept 11, 2001. The CIA armed and trained “mujahadeen originals” blewback bigtime and Bin Laden and his fanatics cranked up their boot camps (sandal madrassas?) and dug bunker-buster deep into mountains in preparation for the hard rain they conjured upon themselves and the region after pulling 9/11.
In hindsight, outsourcing “surveillance” of Afghanistan to Pakistan’s ISI was perhaps Uncle Sammy’s gravest miscalculation after 1992. Amazingly, The Imbecile and his outfit were quick to turn a deaf ear to Richard Clarke (NSA advisor to B43) when Clarke insisted that Bin Laden’s hornets were stirring prior to The Big Sting of 2001.
yeah Ecky, it was a monumental blunder to disengage from Afghanistan after years of violent war when it was obvious the country would fester. Such incredibly short attention spans, the Yanks.
I watched War,Inc. last night, John Cusack’s spoof of a country (Turaqistan) run by the US MIC. It was obviously meant to be Iraq, and it was very dark comedy. If one assumed that this film represented everything about America and its foreign policy and methods then yes, let the empire fall, but like I said, it’s nowhere near that simple, nor black and white.
Having blown it once after the Soviet withdrawal, it looks like Obama realises they cannot make the same mistake again, but of course now it’s so much harder to set right.
614 Chris B I must have had a brain fade when I wrote that. 😈
read the whole story in the NY Times
There’s plenty more of this article on Politico
BRILLIANT!!!!
Hopefully a lot of this information and legislation will pass on to Australia.
the entire article can be found on OP Ed News
I wonder if they will do research into the reasons Dr. Kellogs invented cornflakes. It’s interesting to not the author of the first article. Dr. Adam Carr.
read the article on digg
And just to show you that it’s not hair brained.
John Harvey Kellogg.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey_Kellogg
I find it ironical that this company sells Fruit Loops.
😳 not = note.
more on Op Ed News
more on Talking Points Memo
I’ve read some hysterical conspiracy theory in my time, but this takes the cake:
“Over the last decade, our radically changing diet has ushered in the explosive growth of food-related ailments, such as allergies, asthma, obesity, diabetes, autism, infertility, gastro-intestinal disorders, and learning disabilities. Of all the changes in our food, the most dangerous transformation was the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops.
When these gene-spliced concoctions, such as GM soy, corn, canola, and cottonseed, came on the scene in 1996, the proportion of Americans suffering from three or more chronic ailments. After just 9 years, that nearly doubled to 13%. GM foods are the prime suspect.”
Where do you find this drivel CB? Is there some store of nonsense on tap to cut and paste or do you subscribe to this utter rubbish?
The Word Health Organisation:
“GM foods currently available on the international market have passed risk assessments and are not likely to present risks for human health. In addition, no effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption of such foods by the general population in the countries where they have been approved.”
Without ANY facts, the hysterically untrue statements of the anti-GM brigade are pure fantasy based on fear and quite a lot of ignorance.
The issue with GM food is not that consumption is dangerous – just because you eat soemthing with fish genes doesn’t mean you become one!
It is more to do with loss of diversifcation in the gene pool of crops etc so unforeseen disease would be devastating as an example. The argument is completely sidetracked when the dietary effects become the debate.
And not only that Jen, my biggest issue with GM food is the refusal to label GM products. Sure, it may save the producers money but the consumers get no say whatsoever.
Our food is being fed to us like information has been fed to us: we get what we are given.
How does one know that the GM aspect of a food is causing one to come out in a rash when one doesn’t know when one is eating GM?
This is true Faneur. And I am of course a bit suss of the major pesticede companies who are so invested in this whole industry… hmmm. Of course it may be that thay only want to see the betterment of food sources for humanity, or it could be that they stand to make a shitload of cash once the world’s food sources are dependant on their particular strain of Roundup.
Hard to know which really!! 🙄
A point against the “betterment of… humanity” is how they sued the pants off that Canadian farmer after, allegedly, seeding his fields with their Intellectual Property protected seed.
Though that may have been youthful high spirits M’Lord. 😉
http://www.irishseedsavers.ie/article.php?artid=324
Anyway, fuck Monsanto too.
On a “cui bono” basis, let’s drill a little deeper here, shall we Ticsters? 🙂
“The Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) is an American multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. Monsanto is by far the leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed, holding 70%–100% market share for various crops.
Monsanto’s development and marketing of genetically engineered seed and bovine growth hormone, as well as its aggressive litigation and political lobbying practices, have made the company controversial around the world and a primary target of the anti-globalization movement and environmental activists……
Monsanto has remained one of the top 10 US chemical companies. Other major products have included the herbicides 2,4,5-T, DDT, and Agent Orange used primarily during the Vietnam War as a deforestation agent (and later proven to be highly carcinogenic to any who come into contact with the solution)……..
The use of DDT in the U.S. was banned by Congress in 1972, due in large efforts to environmentalists, who persisted in the challenge put forth by Rachel Carson and her book Silent Spring in 1962, which sought to inform the public of the side effects associated with the insecticide…….
Former Monsanto employees currently hold positions in US government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Supreme Court………..
Monsanto has been sued, and has settled, multiple times for damaging the health of its employees or residents near its Superfund sites through pollution and poisoning……..
In June 2007, Monsanto acquired Delta & Pine Land Company, a company that had patented a seed technology nicknamed “Terminator”. This technology, which was never used commercially, produces plants that have sterile seeds so they do not flower or grow fruit after the initial planting, requiring customers to purchase seed from Monsanto for every planting in which they use Monsanto seed varieties. In recent years, widespread opposition from environmental organizations and farmer associations has grown, mainly out of the concerns that these seeds increase farmers’ dependency on seed suppliers especially in the third world.
Monsanto had previously pledged in 1999 not to commercialize terminator technology.”
(wowie, they put their hands on their craven corporate hearts and pledge the unenforceable. Isn’t that just so sweet of them?)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto
So guys, re GE tucker and all the befores, durings and afters, I’m not completely comfortable that Monsanto should be taken on trust.
Unless of course, these hapless, aspirational GE profiteers are genetically incapable of conspiring to gouge a megabuck from their enterprises and are indeed closet altruists cruelly trapped in the mendacious double helices of the practical realities of corporate life.
From what I understand ,Monsanto has the monopoly of the seed, so that the old method of harvesting seed from a current crop and using it for next year’s planting, and sharing seed with others, is out of the question.
Taken to extremes, if too many varieties are patented by them, seed will only be available to those with enough lucre to pay and this privatisation of a free public assett, is a worrying trend not only for us gardeners but especially for the third world where only seed for commercial cropping may be supplied at the expense of small subsistence farmers and ordinary citizens who need free seed to survive.
Further, while research may not have found any problems with GM to date, they are also not able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that it will not cause problems years down the line.
DDT, 245T , thalidomide,etc. were all seen to be safe initially.
My concern is that once the genie is out of the bottle, and GM turns out to be the flora version of cane toads, our descendants will be the ones that have to pay the price.
The experiences of Canadian canola farmers,especially that of Percy Schmeiser who’s land was inadvertantly infested by GM, are a warning of what can happen. And litigation by Monsanto vs one farmer is not exactly a fair go.
Ah, Ecky, snap…..you put it so much better!!
Takes me much too long to write and rewrite …:)
And Flaneur….snap aussi!
Actually, my memory was at fault here: the allegation was that they drop a herbicide (Roundup) to determine if the field is growing their patented seed. If the crop dies, all is fine; if it lives, they send the goons (not the nice Peter Sellers’ ones) to settle the matter.
Hi y’all. I’ve been surveying your work, but not really able to make an input myself. Needless to say, I’m very happy to see the blog is live and well.
As you’d expect, I’ve been keeping myself up to date on the financial crisis and – especially – the hue and cry over the Geithner plan and on whether or not to nationalize the banks. I have a few observations about all this.
First, both liberal and conservative voices seem to agree: the Geithner scheme may turn out to be just another way of transferring risk and loss to the public sector, while siphoning taxpayer cash to the private sector. This could well turn out to be the case. It might not turn out that way, but obviously there is risk for the public purse. The plan has been widely scorned for this.
But there is another view. The particular issue here is the lack of a market for impaired mortgage-backed securities. Geithner/Obama are trying to stimulate buyer interest in these impaired assets as a means of helping clean up bank balance sheets, enabling new capital to flow into the banking system and thereby restoring credit creation.
The alternative is to try to force sales of these assets in the absence of ready buyers. Unless such asset sales were accompanied by an unlimited public commitment to re-capitalize the entire industry, forced asset sales would destroy nearly every bank and investment institution in the US. There would be no financial system left to try to repair.
Another alternative is to basically do nothing and wait for disabled banks to gradually wither away. Eventually, the current generation of zombie banks would be replaced by new ones and life might gradually get back to normal. This would not be a bad thing in itself, but the knock-on effects in the real economy would be most unwelcome. We would have to anticipate many years of economic stagnation.
So trying to re-create a market for impaired debt is probably the least bad alternative. As well, the expected worst case cost to the public purse – around USD300 billion – would be a lot less than the alternatives.
And then there is the case for nationalizing banks. If I were designing the system, the last thing I would want is a government-owned finance sector. There are so many issues – from the almost certain temptations to corrupt lending (as in China) to the issue of whether or not commercial liabilities will or will not attract an indemnity from the public forever and a day (think of Freddie and Fanny) – not to mention the sheer scale of capital that would be required to run a government-owned banking system. How would publicly-owned banks manage to maintain operating independence? How would they fit into public sector capital raising (borrowing)? How will public ownership mesh with strong prudential regulation?
For me it follows: stay away from owning banks unless there really is absolutely no possible alternative. Try all kinds of things to re-build private capital markets. Do just about anything until there is no choice. Because once banks become public property, it may take decades – and a whole new lot of scandals and mistakes – before they will be able to be returned to private ownership.
Anyway, great to post again. See you soon!!
Good to see you again, BO.
Now where can I get a tee-shirt with that on it!
You had trumps anyway megan by being accurate in the first instance. !-|
Delighted to see you again, BlindO! Your cogent observations and lucid prose are always a delight.
And while we’re at it, miss you, Katielou and jaundiced view too.
And maybe when Ferny grooves in we can have a nice chat about Mr. Eastwood’s “Gran Torino”. Such a strong supporting cast…… one hardly knows where to begin 🙂
Thanks, megan, some days its turgid, others mellifluous but it always feels good, ma’am, to get a friendly peeral nod.
Thank you megan, thank you EC. It is a pleasure to type again.
In my musings, I have been thinking of sponsoring a new award…
“The Herbert Hoover Sash”, to be awarded annually by the not-for-profit outfit ‘blindoptimists anonymous’, for notable services to official inertia.
Candidates for this award may be nominated by anyone. Successful nominees will be selected by the judges for conspicuous policies, actions, remarks, theories, argument, advocacy or other posturing that in the opinion of the judges are remarkably:
– disingenuous
– self-flattering
– opportunistic
– duplicitous
– pernicious
– odious
– grotesque
– grandiose
– cynical
and which result in making economic policy worse than it otherwise inevitably would be.
I already have several likely suspects. There is the illustrious Alan Greenspan himself (for obvious reasons, to many to mention here.) And there is the Federal Parliamentary Liberal Party (for blocking Ruddbank, among other things.) Angela Merkel is an outside prospect.
This is an equal-opportunity contest. Any rogue can be a winner….
Nicolas Sarkozy is almost certain to gain a special mention.
By the way, I imagine ‘The Sash’ would be fashioned from facsimile dollar bills. I would be tempted to give the finalists bowler hats made from recycled CDO’s. The prize-giving, an annual event – probably in October – could take place outside the nearest abandoned factory, warehouse, wharf or bank branch.
Hi BlindO-
i nomintae Peter Costello. Ticks all the boxes.
Duly noted, Jen! He is in ignoble company, where he certainly belongs…:)
Oh and GWB of course but you have to cross out several of the categories and just put totally fucking stupid.
Geez Blindy – you’ve got me in a complete spin now. There’s the entire front and back bench of the former Liberal government. I was thinking you could narrow it down a bit – say add Butt Ugly. But nah, doesn’t reduce the list at all 😈
GWB…..He will be in the Sash’s Hall of Infamy, I’m sure. He is the original and best example of the category, “tfs”. My kids would abbreviate him to something like yafupid. sounds sickening.
Jen, many will be called to the ranks of the sash, but not all can be chosen. We look for the specially self-serving, the pompous and inept….more than yer average ratbag tory…
Alexander Downer comes first to mind: what a champion buffoon. But even he has not done enough to earn a Sash. He is a mere groveller.
fair enough Blindy – else the list would be (indeed is) endless.
“We look for the specially self-serving, the pompous and inept…”
you see my problem though 😉
Alexander could win the special category award for Most Like An Enid Blyton Famous Five Character though.
A special message from Telstra … a simple demonstration that even a corporate entity has to adjust in lean economic times.
http://www.osm.net/images/09/03/telstra.jpg
Cat!
😆 😆
such generosity of spirit!!
Oh Jen, I do see the dilemma: too many tories. You are spoiled for choice. Enid Blyton – bless her imaginary socks – yes, she would have found a role for Alex, perhaps as the giggler who liked to play dress-ups and experiment with lipstick and rouge.
lol Cat. Could it be a fake? Nah, it’s too good…great pic.
Practical comments on the G20 from my favourite financial speculator, George Soros:
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/soros49
I am a big fan of expanding the use of Special Drawing Rights (SDR’s) as means of supporting sovereign solvency….
Words of wisdom from Jeffrey Sachs…
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sachs151
The Transition to Sustainability
by Jeffrey D. Sachs
NEW YORK – The global economic crisis will be with us for a generation, not just a year or two, because it is really a transition to sustainability. The scarcity of primary commodities and damage from climate change in recent years contributed to the destabilization of the world economy that gave rise to the current crisis. Soaring food and fuel prices and major natural disasters played an important role in undermining financial markets, household purchasing power, and even political stability…….
Eddixinder Diner with the Australian ambassador to Chile who stooped valiantly in an effort to save his posting after the disrespectful career diplomat failed to have a limo hot to trot at Santiago airport to hasten Foreign Minister to elevenses.
http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/tv/children/bunter/bunter1.jpg
And while schmuckens was there………..
“relating
to comments made by the Minister for Foreign
Affairs (Mr Downer).
This is about a man who was born with a
silver spoon in his mouth and who has since
taken it out only to put his foot in there instead.
The reputation of our foreign minister
as a schoolyard giggler making offside jokes
is well known. But the events reported today
have the power to demean the position of
foreign minister and to cause Australia to be
severely criticised for an arrogant attitude
and a demeaning approach to developing
countries in the world.
Let us be clear about what is alleged to
have been said. While attending a forum of
East Asian and Latin American countries in a
cooperation forum in Chile in March, the
Minister for Foreign Affairs is said to have
referred to poor and underdeveloped nations
as ‘BACs’, meaning—and I now quote the
minister—‘busted-arsed countries’.”
From Hansard, possibly edited by “Our Man In Canberra” the redoubtable David Gould 🙂
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http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/68623
http://www.flamesong.com/images/cobb/lbjfellow.jpg
———————————
HarryH, this is what Newsweek, hardly a bunch of fulminating Lefties, have to say about Krug.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/191393/page/1
http://weheartbooks.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/grug0011.jpg
There are two distinct issues which should not, but most often are, conflated: GM food’s safety for human consumption, and Monsanto’s business practices.
The first is clouded by some non factual claims about GM foods which have not been validated by any health organisation around the world. These are repeated frequently, but essentially make uncorroborated claims about various health issues being ’caused’ by GM foods.
Monsanto’s GM crops are grown under contract and the farmers who elect to grow them do so because it’s a better yield with lower input costs. That is, it is a commercial decision.
On the broad issue, eminent biologists claim that without engineering better crops the impact of climate change on arable land and the increase in the human population will be a very tragic combination.
godssake Kirri-
we just like to hate them cos they’re a big corporation, orright?
I’m not trying to defend them Jen, just point out that much of the GM ‘debate’ is highly clouded with anti-corporate attitude and a lot of very unscientific claims that border on the preposterous.
It would be like saying that computers are bad for us because Microsoft is an evil company that restricts trade. Oh, and computers give you Alzheimers too, and genital herpes, and probably diabetes! LOL
653 Kirribilli Removals You’ve completely missed the point which is: Obama’s Food Safety Team. Regardless whether the rest is crap or not.
Too busy carrying on over the other things.
I would have much more trust in Obama’s food safety team than Monsanto.
several pages more in the Washington Post
more on The Huffington Post
Food for Thought:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKtJcoccU-c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa3wyaEe9vE&feature=related
“10 Reasons Why Organic Can Feed the World And 10 reasons GM won’t.”
http://thegreenhorns.wordpress.com/essays/essay-10-reasons-why-organic-can-feed-the-world-and-10-reasons-gm-wont/
The Rudd Supremacy
37% of people support the Liberal Party? Extraordinary. There must be an error. Surely the number cannot be so high. There is something curiously inflatable about Turnbull. One day he might just float away, carried aloft by his sense of self-worth, with not even so much as an honest conviction to bring him back to the earth.
695 GhostWhoVotes I weep for big Mal 😈
Is that socialism, communism or pessimism?
All these ism’s look the same to me.
read more in The Huffington Post
And the Wall Street Journal reports the same:
An administration official confirmed that Mr. Wagoner was asked to step down by the administration as a precondition for ongoing restructuring within the company.
read the rest of the story in The Huffington Post
continued in The Huffington Post
Monsters VS Aliens Trailer One
Great movie. Need a good laugh? Check out the trailers.
Monsters VS Aliens Trailer Two