Left I on the News

"The runner-up, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, the non-stop coffee drinker who supposedly could go through his eight-hour TV talk show without a bathroom break. Please erase that image now. At the OPEC summit in Saudi Arabia, ending a TV interview there by saying, quote—this is translated—"Look, I have to go. For a while now I've needed to go to the bathroom. And I‘m going to pee. Do you want me to pee on you," unquote.

"Gosh, President Chavez, maybe you should have asked that before you started doing that to your own country‘s laws and citizens."

Tonight it got even more bizarre. Mitt Romney, who, like all the Republican candidates, has made clear his vehement opposition to illegal immigration, apparently said yesterday to the Tampa Tribune that of course this didn't apply to Cubans, where "the more the merrier." Analyzing this, Olbermann stammered out this (transcript mine; it won't be online until tomorrow):

"We sort of lump Venezuela and Cuba together in terms of dictatorships, and yet I guess Venezuelans...would apply [to immigrate, I guess?]...I don't know...it's...um...either I'm too complicated for it or it's too complicated for me."

No, Keith, it's not complicated. What is complicated, or hard to understand, is how someone with as much insight into the hypocrisy and lies of the establishment as yourself could fall right in step with their characterization of events in Venezuela.

Under socialism, the only relevant discussion would be that of the scientists, public health personnel, and so on. There could be a financial component to the discussion, but it would be about the financial impact on the entire society, taking all considerations into account - the production and sale of food and the health and health care costs of the food's consumers. And a rational decision can be made, as opposed to a decision made by those with the most money buying off politicians or running ads to scare the public.

Socialism is the only system where real democracy is possible.

He said the emergency could be lifted because of successes against Islamic militants -- "the terrorists' back has been broken" -- and with a democratic transition to elections underway.

"The overall situation has improved considerably, the democratic system is functioning according to the programme, and terrorism has been controlled to a great extent," he added, speaking solemnly against a blue backdrop.

Incidentally, does anyone else wonder why, considering this remarkable success, the state of emergency can't be lifted today, instead of 18 days in the future?

The United Nations has denounced Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace, calling on the regime to respect Lebanon's sovereignty.

"We have noticed intensive Israeli over flights over the last few days and we have urged that they be stopped immediately,” said Yasmina Bouziane, spokesperson for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Thursday.

She added that the Israeli over flights 'not only constitute a violation of Lebanese sovereignty, but also of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.'

The U.S. now "insists" (and Canada is happy to cooperate) that it receive passenger lists for all flights crossing its territory, i.e., for flights from Canada to Cuba.

Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon has asked U.S. Homeland Security to exempt all Canadian airlines flying over U.S. territory from onerous new security rules.

The proposed U.S. Secure Flight Program would require airlines flying over U.S. territory to provide American authorities with passenger lists.

In an official submission to U.S. regulators, Cannon urges the Americans to weigh the threat posed by Canadian overflights that do not land at U.S. airports against the privacy and individual rights of passengers.

But of all the things that struck me, and there were plenty (and I refer you to WIIIAI for the quick summary), the biggest was the two (plus) trillion-dollar question - the (conservatively) projected cost of the war in Iraq. There were multiple questions about the federal deficit, government spending, taxes, and such. In all the questions, and all the answers, only Ron Paul (with a claim that "our foreign policy is costing us a trillion dollars", which I'm not sure was his reasonably accurate citing of the entire defense [sic] budget for just one year, or an understatement of the total projected cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) noted the largest part of the problem. John McCain was on, as he often is, about spending "$3 million to study the DNA of bears" and later on about "$1 million for a Woodstock museum" but that fact that the so-called "war on terror" is costing not a thousand times (that would be 3 billion) but a million times more ($3 trillion by my estimate) didn't enter his brain. Asked (by random YouTuber Grover Norquist) if they would sign a pledge not to raise taxes, most would, but Duncan Hunter of all people said he wouldn't actually pledge to do so because "you could have an emergency, a time of war, and I think it would be wrong [to pledge not to raise taxes]." Um, Duncan, have you noticed that this is a time of war, a war costing trillions of dollars and running up the federal deficit like it's nobody's business? If not now, when exactly?

When asked where we're going to get the trillions of dollars needed to repair crumbling infrastructure in the U.S., the answers were bizarre. Giuliani talked about "long-term investment" but then immediately asserted that "Most of the time when we're spending money, as Senator Thompson said, we're spending the next generation's money and we shouldn't be doing that. Fiscal conservatism is about preventing that." Which may sound fine, but it's hardly going to get infrastructure rebuilt. Ron Paul, who did mention the war ("We as Americans are taxed to blow up the bridges overseas. We're taxed to go over and rebuild the bridges overseas while our bridges are falling down in this country.") then got just as bizarre as Giuliani - "We just need to take care of ourselves and get the government out of our lives and off our back and out of our wallets." So...what, exactly? Each of us should build our own bridges? Should the government be building bridges and other infrastructure or not, Congressman?

I've just scratched the surface on this one issue. But, with the exception of the otherwise deplorable Ron Paul, the complete and utter disconnect between deficit, taxes, failing infrastructure, and the spending on war, was simply astonishing. And, with the "YouTubers ask the questions, no reporter actually asks a follow-up or tries to pin down such logical inconsistencies" format (not that the real reporters do such a great job), no way to actually force someone to answer such a question. Of course, it's quite likely that someone did ask such a question ("How can you oppose raising taxes when we're spending trillions on the war and running up the deficit, and how can you claim that cutting a few million dollars here or there has anything to do with reducing the deficit in the face of the war spending"), but with CNN and not YouTubers in control, that question ended up on the cutting room floor, no doubt discarded (as I read they were) as a "Democratic 'gotcha' question."

Well, that’s another joke or a misleading statement, because Israel is going to release 432 prisoners. Half of them have finished already half of their term. One-third have already finished two-thirds of their terms. But the most important thing is that during the same period of time, Israel has arrested 1,650 new prisoners. Since January, up ’til now, Israel released 900 prisoners, with -- including the 432 they will release this week. But during the same period of time, Israel has arrested 3,750 new Palestinian prisoners. So the total number of prisoners is increasing. And we are having now 11,500 prisoners in Israeli jails. Most of them are political prisoners, including ninety women, including 350 children that are kept in jail, including many leaders, including forty-six members of our Palestinian parliament.

And nobody is protesting against that. I mean, I feel very -- it’s really interesting when people speak about democracy, but at the same time not a single word is said about Israel arresting one-third of the members of the Palestinian parliament.

Israel maintains 562 military checkpoints. They didn’t remove a single one of them. There are also 610 flying checkpoints that make the people's life miserable. It doesn’t allow freedom of movement. It prevents freedom of economy. It prevents people’s accessibility to health and education.

On average, a Palestinian is allowed to use no more than fifty cubic meters of water per year, while an Israeli illegal colonialist can use up to 2,400. We have to pay double the price for water and electricity. And we pay for our own water, which Israel controls. Out of 936 million cubic meters of water in the West Bank, Israel takes away 800 million.

Israel, Palestinians vow to seek peace deal by late 2008

At the [Monday night] dinner, with its menu of red and yellow beet salad and sea bass carefully selected to meet kosher and Muslim dietary guidelines, host Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, sat between Olmert and Abbas. Bush stopped by briefly to share a toast with the participants.

That was the humor part. The fundraiser itself wasn't so funny. Here's the group who was raising funds for her - the National Defense Industrial [note: not "Industry"] Association. "Strength through industry and technology" is their motto. Their magazine features such heart-warming articles as "Gun-Toting Ground Robots See Action in Iraqi Streets" and "Border Protection Agency Outlines New Plans for Unmanned Aircraft" and similar examples of "defense." Lest you have the slightest illusion about Hillary Clinton (I'm sure you didn't).

Of course the legal action has run into the usual Catch-22:

However, the US government is asking a federal court to dismiss the lawsuit because "to proceed would risk the disclosure of highly classified information" about the agency's methods.

According to Washington's arguments, that information would include "whether any private entities or other countries assisted the CIA", as well as the locations of any secret prisons and "the methods of interrogation employed".

Here's one thing I learned, which isn't specifically on the question of the right of return, but on the point of the U.N. partition itself. It's a point whose significance won't be lost on those who have observed more recent attempts by the U.S. to bully and bribe the U.N. to do its bidding, be it on the subject of the invasion of Iraq (where they actually failed to bully and bribe sufficient votes) or sanctions against Iran (where they succeeded):

The two-thirds majority required to pass Resolution 181 [the partition resolution] was only achieved through intense U.S. pressure. The vote ended up 33 to 13 with 10 abstentions. The Truman administration leaned heavily on its neocolonies and client states, particularly the Philippines, Liberia, Haiti and Thailand, all of which initially opposed the resolution.

Without those four votes, the resolution would have failed. For narrow and short-term interests, the Soviet Union voted for the resolution. This represented a betrayal of the Arab anti-colonial struggle and one that did great harm to the socialist cause in the region. Later, the Soviet Union would become a major ally of the Arab national liberation movement.

OK, just one word on substance. The actual news from the region right now is that Israel is preparing to escalate its genocidal assault on the Palestinian people of Gaza by cutting off electricity. And in all the coverage of tomorrow's meeting I've read and heard, I haven't read or heard a single word about that reality. Will it come up tomorrow? We'll see, but I seriously doubt it.

This YouTube video describes the suit and the Jeppensen situation very nicely:

And this video, featuring the director of the Peninsula Peace & Justice Center Paul George (from whom the title of this post is stolen), describes just the latest action against Jeppesen, a "Moratorium" (3rd Friday of the month) activity, which drew a hundred people (including me) to downtown San Jose at lunchtime on Friday, Nov. 16.

Also remarkable in its own way is an article from the New York Times which sheds light on that number. First, we learn that "the count covered all Iraqis crossing the border, not just returnees." We also learn that, after an "initial rush," the numbers have declined substantially, so that the amount of time it would take for two million people to return, which was already going to be 40 months (more than three years) if the 50,000/month rate held up, will be a lot longer.

But the most important thing we learn is why people are returning - "46 percent were leaving because they could not afford to stay; 25 percent said they fell victim to a stricter Syrian visa policy; and only 14 percent said they were returning because they had heard about improved security." Furthermore, the Iraqi government is paying people to return. And last but not least, people are still leaving at the same time that others are returning: "28,017 were internally displaced in October, according to the latest United Nations figures. In all, the United Nations estimates that 2.4 million Iraqis are still internally displaced." No figures on the number actually leaving the country, but with 28,017 (how on earth do they get such exact figures?) internally displaced in that one month, it's rather hard to believe that either some of those, or some others, didn't leave the country entirely.

Actually the real "progress" in Iraq - progress for the American ruling class - is getting closer, as this article reveals:

Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday.

The Americans appeared generally favorable subject to negotiations on the details, which include preferential treatment for American investments, according to the Iraqi officials involved in the discussions.

Preferential treatment for U.S. investors could provide a huge windfall if Iraq can achieve enough stability to exploit its vast oil resources.

The Iraqi officials said that under the proposed formula, Iraq would get full responsibility for internal security and U.S. troops would relocate to bases outside the cities. Iraqi officials foresee a long-term presence of about 50,000 U.S. troops, down from the current figure of more than 160,000.

However...it is important not to draw the wrong conclusion. Sufficient imprisonment of enemies, application of brute force, building of walls, checkpoints, and so on, can certainly reduce or even eliminate the ability of the oppressed to act in response - just ask the Palestinians if you don't believe this. This doesn't mean the oppressed, or the occupied, will ever stop resisting their occupation, or become resigned to it, but it certainly is possible, as I said, to reduce their ability to respond in a concrete fashion to a minimal level.

But...and here's the point of this post...even if all violence were to stop in Iraq tomorrow, it is absolutely impossible to ever achieve "success" in Iraq. One million people (or, if you don't like that number, take the number 80,000 - it really makes no difference to the argument) are dead thanks to the invasion, millions more have suffered the pain and humiliation of exile. The lives of those dead people, and the life stolen from the living, can never be retrieved.

Depending on what happens in the future in Iraq, Iraq may be a gigantic tragedy or only an immense one. But it can never be a "success." Never.

The central point of this movie isn't the excellence of other health care systems, it's the complete and utter immorality (and lunacy) of the American health care system. An estimated 18,000 people (some of them with insurance) die every year in the United States because they couldn't afford health care. That's a "9-11" every two months! We actually meet some of these people while they're alive, and now they're dead, murdered by capitalism and the greed and irrationality (from the point of view of the population) of the American health "care" system in particular. We watch people being dumped on Skid Row in Los Angeles when hospitals decide they can no longer care for them. Not because they're beyond treatment, but because no one's paying for it. This is what the film is all about, a sharp blow to the conscience of Americans to wake up and find a better way. And all some of the critics have to say is to "oh, but the lines are long in England and Canada, and Moore doesn't tell us that." Well, as Michael Moore has to say in one of those CNN interviews, sure the lines get a lot shorter when you take 50 million people out of line. Unfortunately, some of those people die as a result.

For an antidote, I've extracted the short interview with Dr. Aleida Guevara, Che Guevara's daughter who is a pediatrician in Cuba, from the film, and also the much longer interview with her found in the "extras" (so long I had to make it two parts to fit the YouTube 10-minute limit). In addition to health care, Guevara talks about concepts of "freedom," Americans (their ignorance and their lack of awareness of their real power), the veil, and (in Part 2), what it means to have a father who died when she was young, and what it means to live (and die) for something beyond yourself. Hopefully Moore and his company won't object to my sharing it here (including the last couple seconds of part 2, which are my addition, not Moore's).

[Apologies for the crappy quality of the videos, which is the fault of YouTube. The uploaded video was much better. Not sure what happened; usually this doesn't happen like this.] Update: - I updated Part 2 to a higher quality.

Update: It occurs to me that people, especially cynical Americans accustomed to hypocritical platitude-mouthing politicians and other public figures, may be skeptical listening to Guevara talk about how "every human life is precious." Should you be even slightly tempted in that direction, take a moment to remember that Guevara is part of the Cuban medical system which last year restored the eyesight of a destitute Bolivian peasant...who just happened to be the person who murdered Aleida's father, Che.

Well, now I have seen the movie, and I can say: if you haven't seen it yet, do it! An enjoyable and enlightening film. It's quite obvious why right-wingers were so anxious to trash it, since any normal person could only join in the bewilderment of the people from Canada, England, and France laughing at the notion that a health care system should involve profit, rather than people's health, and any normal person could only be shocked and disgusted at the stories of Americans dying because they were denied care by their insurance companies.

How bad is it? Here's one thing I learned from the film: Canadians who are coming to the U.S., even for a single day, purchase medical insurance just in case something happens to them while they're in the U.S. because, unlike tourists in many (most?) other countries of the world, but just like Americans, if anything happens they'll be expected to pay for it themselves.

Incidentally, you probably won't be surprised to learn that "until the past decade, the mauve stinger has rarely been spotted so far north in British or Irish waters, and scientists cite this as evidence of global warming." Further illustration of the power of the masses to influence events, unfortunately in a rather undesirable direction.

Israel is trying to block the illegal flow of Iranian pistachio to its markets as a desperate move against Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

Washington has warned that the import of pistachio from Iran to Israel will hurt efforts to put pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program, Reuters reported.

George Bush says Pervez Musharraf "truly is somebody who believes in democracy."

Skip reading the full article and just read the WIIIAI Cliff's Notes version for more.

For a second reading recommendation, which has not one iota of humor in it, read Iraq veteran Michael Prysner's tale of "The all-too-common story of a checkpoint in Iraq" which turned into "The night I learned which side I was on." Then try to remember the last time you read about one of these almost universally unreported incidents in the corporate media (or anywhere, for that matter).

Fortunately the antidote was at hand, since this morning I listened to the "Reverend Billy" and Morgan Spurlock on Democracy Now!, talking about their new anti-shopping movie, "What Would Jesus Buy?"

The amusing timing of all this is that it all occurred two days after I saw this year's edition of something I've mentioned before - the Lamplighters annual Gala, where Gilbert & Sullivan songs are rewritten with a topical theme. This year's title was "Harry Patter and the Willing Suspension of Disbelief," and the plot revolved around the expiration of the 1500-year lease on the Hogwash School grounds (owned by the "Donn Auld," naturally), and the attempt by the evil Wal•de•Mart to buy the lease and turn the school into a superstore. One of the more relevant (to this topic) songs was sung not by Wal•de•Mart, but by the employees of another potential lessee, Gnome Depot:

To the tune of "Merrily ring the luncheon bell" from Princess Ida

House-Gnome's work is never done!
House-Gnome's work is never done!
Stocking shelves is not much fun
Cleaning up after everyone
Often wish I had a gun -
House-Gnome's work is never done, no, never done!

No place for bravery;
Work here is slavery,
Oh, how I hate this awful store.
And now it's a clean-up on aisle 4!

Yes, yes! We hate to clean up on aisle 4!

Life's but a misery
In retail bizzery
Scrub til the floors are spic and span.
But I must do it, I must do it, I must do it...
With no health plan!

Yes, yes! For minimum wage and no health plan!

I've created a music video out of one of those songs, which I present here for your viewing and listening pleasure. Enjoy.

An Israeli ministerial committee met to scrutinize a list of 441 Palestinian inmates who have been held in Israeli prisons and approved the release of 432 of their number.

Eight of the nine prisoners whose release was rejected were found to have switched their allegiance from Abbas's Fatah faction to rival Islamist group Hamas.

The U.S. military plans to seek a criminal case in an Iraqi court against an award-winning Associated Press photographer but is refusing to disclose what evidence or accusations would be presented.

The AP says various accusations were floated unofficially against Hussein and then apparently withdrawn with little explanation.

"At the moment, it looks like we can do little more than show up ... and try to put together a defense during the proceedings," [according to the lead defense lawyer]

The first part of the show was interesting, if somewhat irritating not so much for what it said, but for what it didn't say. The inability of Americans to visit Cuba was discussed by Marx and the moderator, but unless you were already knowledgeable about the subject, you could have easily not realized that the prohibition was entirely the doing of the American government, not of the Cuban government. Conversely, the need for Cubans to obtain travel visas to leave Cuba was discussed, but the almost complete prohibition on Cubans of any stripe - scientists, musicians, and so on, not to mention the wives of political prisoners held in the United States - from obtaining visas from the United States to visit the U.S. was never mentioned.

But the show really got annoying when the Congressmen came on. Diaz-Balart must have explained at least five times in almost identical language his "reason" for supporting the blockade - because it deprives Cuba of billions of dollars, and when Cuba had those billions of dollars (from the Soviet Union), look what they did - they killed Americans in Grenada and invaded Africa! Yes, he really said those things. And McGovern, the liberal? Not one word of rebuttal! All he had to say was, the blockade (they called it an "embargo" of course) is a "failed policy" ("failed" because it hasn't overthrown the government), and if we really want to "change things" in Cuba, the best way to do that is to drop the blockade and let American college students on spring break "invade" Cuba.

For the record, since neither McGovern nor the show's moderator were any help: the United States invaded Grenada (and not to "liberate Grenada" as Diaz-Balart claims but, at least nominally, to "protect" American medical students), where Cubans (a few soldiers, but mostly construction workers) were helping to build an international airport to bolster Grenada's tourism industry, an airport which was actually "designed by the Canadians, underwritten by the British government, and partly built by a London firm." And yes, some Americans were killed in that invasion (19 to be precise).

As far as Africa, it's even more maddening that McGovern had nothing to say on that subject. Even the corporate media acknowledges that Cuba's troops in Africa "kept Angola free, won independence for Namibia and hastened the end of apartheid rule in South Africa," and of course the venerated Nelson Mandela has said as much.

Does McGovern not know these things? Of course he does. But liberals like McGovern are so frightened about being "tarred" by association with Cuba that the thought of saying one word in Cuba's defense is simply too much for them to deal with, even on a subject like the end of apartheid. Instead, he retreats to the "safer" area of "Americans' Constitutional right to travel" and the "best way to change things in Cuba."

Feh.

But the most interesting thing of all in the reports is the part you haven't really heard about at all: "The data released Sunday cover attacks using car bombs, roadside bombs, mines, mortars, rockets, surface-to-air missiles and small arms." Although in principle we're told that "the attacks were directed against American and Iraqi forces, as well as civilians," looking at the list of types of attacks, it seems highly likely, as we've known all along, that the majority of attacks are against American and Iraqi forces, not against civilians. You might attack civilians with car bombs, but you don't attack them with roadside bombs, mines, mortars, rockets, surface-to-air missiles, or even in general small arms. No, it is the presence of "foreign forces" - American forces - that are the principal source of violence in Iraq, just as they have been since the day they invaded. But you won't be hearing that analysis from any of the "pundits," who will all be too busy trumpeting the success of the "surge" to notice.

Nor do we read about virtually any of these attacks in the media, either, which cover almost exclusively attacks on Iraqi civilians. But astute observers (such as your humble blogger) have known all along of these other attacks. How? Because daily we read in the paper, in the one-sentence summary of the day's carnage, of "a soldier killed in a firefight in such-and-such a town." Yet there rarely is a report of that firefight itself, and never a report of the firefights which only resulted in injured Americans (or even dead Iraqi soldiers). It used to be commonplace for war supporters to complain about how the "good news" from Iraq wasn't being reported. The truth of the matter is, it's the bad news which is largely unreported. Only the "worst" of the bad news, the deaths of American soldiers or the car-bombings which kill a dozen Iraqis or more, make the news. The rest? Make room for Britney!

Your help is still needed for the political part of the fight. Petitions, letters, emails, and so on are all needed, as are speaking engagements to help spread the word (the day before she left, Bodine was able to address the BC convention of the NDP, again, testimony to the importance of this case).

The antiwar struggle should know no borders!

Israel vowed on Monday to freeze the construction of new settlements in the occupied West Bank and said it plans to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners ahead of a key US peace meeting.

On the subject of prisoners, Israel is proposing (they haven't actually done it yet, mind you, and there are a lot of things they have said they were going to do - like the item we're coming to - which never actually got done) to release a grand total of 450 prisoners. They are holding...11,000 "detainees" (not actually "prisoners" since the vast majority have been convicted of precisely nothing, just like the vast majority of detainees being held by the Americans in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and elsewhere). Like the absurd "no-fly" list which consists of 750,000 people, the idea that there are 11,000 Palestinians who have committed a crime as "serious" as even throwing a stone is absurd. The majority are in prison because they dared to oppose the Israeli occupation of their land.

On settlements, Israel was committed not to build "new" settlements since the "roadmap" in 2003 (and of course they're committed not to build any settlements at all under international law). Now, four years later, Olmert says "We have committed ourselves under the roadmap not to build new settlements in the West Bank and we will not build any." I guess he forgot the word "more" as in "any more." But what is a "new" settlement exactly? Not anything that can be remotely construed as part of an existing one: "Under no condition will we strangle the existing settlements." New houses, yes. New settlers, yes. But "new settlements"? Not if they're allowed the same definitional flexibility that George Bush uses to define "torture."

The AP story on this news items includes a bit of humor:

[Israel] stopped short of American demands to halt construction in existing settlements before a crucial U.S.-hosted Mideast conference.

Over the past ten months, presidential candidates have made 16 appearances on Meet the Press. In the nearly three hundred questions [host Tim Russert] has asked the candidates, not once has he uttered the words "global warming." Not once.

At the two debates Mr. Russert has moderated, he has found time to discuss a national smoking ban, the drinking age, Bible verses, baseball, and even UFOs but not once did he ask how candidates would address the climate crisis.

Update: Some in the comments seem to think that writers aren't workers, subject to the power of the corporations (the studios) like any other worker. For them, this link.

Tonight's news reports that here in Santa Clara County, one of the richest counties in the country (home to Apple, Google, Cisco, eBay, and many more), deaths of homeless people rose sharply from 48 last year to 71 this year (which isn't over yet, of course). There are 900 homeless children in this county. Meanwhile, more than 900 Google employees have become multimillionaires (the two founders are, as you probably know, multibillionaires).

And we also got an update on hunger in the U.S. on tonight's news. Those figures in the post below this one, precise to two decimal places? They might be precise, but they're not accurate. Why? Because they're based on census data and don't include homeless people! So they very much form a lower-bound on the real number of people going hungry in America.

Overall, 35.52 million people [in the United States], including 12.63 million children, went hungry [in 2006] compared with 35.13 million in 2005.

But Canada, and this didn't just start under its current right-wing leadership, shouldn't be confused with some kind of anti-imperialist country. Although it certainly wouldn't have invaded Afghanistan or Iraq all by itself, it was (and is, bearing in mind I'm speaking about the government and not the people) delighted to send troops to Afghanistan to help project "Western" power around the world. It has a long record of oppressing its own indigenous people (see this brochure for numerous articles on the subject, or, more generally, articles from Fire This Time). And, as I learned at a meeting I attended, even that policy on Cuba has a "gotcha" for Americans. The U.S. now "insists" (and Canada is happy to cooperate) that it receive passenger lists for all flights crossing its territory, i.e., for flights from Canada to Cuba. The idea that that has anything to do with U.S. "security" is laughable - if something ever got past Canadian security, and someone hijacked a plane and crashed it into a building in the U.S., surely the passenger list would be available for inspection. Not to be paranoid (and not that I've flown from Canada to Cuba, I haven't), but it seems highly likely this is one more way to prevent Americans from going to Cuba, and nothing more.

Canadian independence? Like Gandhi's "Western civilization," it would be a nice idea.

Your help is needed urgently to demand that the charges against Alison be dropped. Some things you can do:

• Visit her website to learn more about the case
• Email Canadian Immigration Minister Diane Finley and demand Alison be allowed to stay in Canada
• Download a petition and sign it and send it back
• Watch a video about the case

Stop the removal of Alison Bodine! Add your voice to her defenders today!

But here's the thing to remember - all of that oil was due to be burned up and sent into the atmosphere anyway! That's not to say that the contribution that much consumed oil would have made to other environmental problems (air quality, global warming) would have been worse than those generated by the spill. But it is to say that fundamentally, the problem isn't oil spills, it's oil use. And, in the case of the San Francisco Bay spill, at least, it's a direct consequence of the fact of non-local production (or non-local consumption, depending on your point of view) of goods. This has nothing to do with xenophobia, or thinking that American workers are more deserving of jobs than Chinese workers. But when Chinese workers (just as an example) produce goods for American consumers, it's not just a question of outsourcing, it's also a question of depleting a nonrenewable resource, with consequences whether there are accidents in the process (like oil spills) or not.

To the capitalists who own the companies, none of this matters. They're insured against oil spills (to an extent, anyway, although it's doubtful the crab fisherman who have now had their livelihood severely impacted, or others who will suffer financially will be appropriately recompensed), and the excess profits they make off the backs of poorly-paid Chinese workers more than make up for what they spend on transportation costs. But to the rest of us, the inhabitants of the planet, it matters very much. Local production/consumption isn't possible for all food or all other products. But to the extent that it is, it is an essential part of where the economic system of this planet has to go. And it's a direction which will never be possible under capitalism.

"In the rise of an aggressive Iranian regime, we see that violent extremism is evolving in new and dangerous ways -- ways that make it a threat not only to the people of one nation or one race or one religion but to everyone in the Middle East. Increasingly the government of Iran is putting itself at the head of this violent extremism rising."

"Consider my country, Iran, which has not invaded any country in the past 250 years. After decades of struggle against dictatorship and foreign domination, we secured our freedom and independence in 1979 by establishing a political system of our own choosing.

"Iran does not need nuclear weapons to protect its regional interests, and such weapons have no place in Iran's security strategy. It seeks to win the confidence of its neighbors and has remained within the confines of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"With regard to international terrorism, Iran, as a victim of terrorism, condemns it in all its forms. But the same double standards are apparent here. The United States has used and is still using extremist organizations to promote its foreign policy goals.

"Iran has always considered regional stability to be in the vital interest of its own security and development."

"The world deserves better. A just global order must be defined in terms of peace and security, alleviation of poverty, a fairer distribution of wealth, better protection of the environment and respect for local cultural particularities. We can build a global order based on justice, one that negates the current unipolar order by developing tolerance for diversity instead of seeking imposition and assimilation. Such an order will be culturally inclusive and less hegemonic, encompassing states, nonstate actors and social groups to minimize violence and maximize economic well-being."

Anyway, all this is leading to a point: at one point in the movie, Tracy Turnblad says she'd like to be President some day, and when asked the first thing she'd do, she says, "I'd make every day 'Negro Day' [the once-a-month day when blacks are allowed to dance on the 'Corny Collins' show]." And the response - the station manager calls her a "Communist." Make no mistake, it's a label (especially with a small "c") that should be worn with pride, as "insults" like that one make clear over and over again. "Whenever there's a cop beatin' up a guy..."

I arrive in Toronto and jump on the "Rocket Bus" to the subway into town. I strike up a conversation with the driver, who asks where I'm going. A conference on Cuba, I reply. Really, he says, I was just there last month. OK, here's the point of this little story: he spent a week on Varadaro Beach, had a great time, all for... $540 ... including airfare!

It sucks to be an American. A fact also driven home to me when I handed over $60 at the currency exchange booth and got $48 or so back.

The revolution is so overdue!

So they "opened fire on students," eh? And what happened? "Antonio Rivero, director of Venezuela's Civil Defense agency, told Union Radio that at least eight people were injured, including one by gunfire, and that no one had been killed."

I'm sorry, if you "open fire" on a crowd of 80,000 people, even a blind person could hit more than a single person with one of their bullets. Who these gunmen were, or what they were up to, is anyone's guess, but it's 100% obvious that, if this story of gunmen has any truth to it at all, that they were firing guns in the air, not "opening fire" on the crowd.

Indicative of the protesters belief in democracy, by the way, is this: "The protesters demand the referendum be suspended." Which provides a rather clear indication that the opposition expects to lose the democratic vote, knowing that their position is a distinct minority, and that their only hope to "win" is to disrupt the country (or provoke another coup attempt) prior to the vote.

And, it turns out, tonight is also the Environmental Media Awards. For most people, "environmentalism" these days involves trying to preserve the planet for human habitation. "God Bless the Grass," another 1975 song from Malvina Reynolds, serves to remind us that the planet (and some other living components) is more resilient than we are, and that something as strong as concrete can be overcome by something as weak and fragile as grass. The planet may well have a longer existence than "civilization":

Labels: Music

I just spoke with President Musharraf [ed. note: for the first time since the coup] and told him we want him to have elections as scheduled, and to take off his uniform.

Asked about differences between France and the U.S. on the invasion of of Iraq, Bush reminded the audience that both France and the U.S. supported U.N. resolution 1441, demanding that Iraq "disclose and disarm," and claimed that it was in support of that resolution that the invasion took place. No follow-up noting that both disclosure and disarmament had occurred took place (nor that 1441 did not authorize an invasion of Iraq).

Updated with exact quotes:

On Pakistan:

"I spoke to President Musharraf right before I came over here to visit with President Sarkozy. And my message was that we believe strongly in elections, and that you ought to have elections soon, and you need to take off your uniform. You can't be the President and the head of the military at the same time."

"I just want to remind you that 1441 was supported by France and the United States, which clearly said to the dictator, you will disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences."

"If you lived in Iraq and had lived under a tyranny, you'd be saying, god, I love freedom -- because that's what's happened."

Further update: Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "The Situation Room" claims Bush said he told Musharraf that "emergency rule has to end." Go read the quote for yourself. He said no such thing.

Last September, these red-hot CIA cables were declassified and published by the Senate Intelligence Committee, but in, a welter of other news, one of the most important documents in the history of rendition had passed almost without notice by the media. As far as I can tell, not a single newspaper reported details of the cable.

Note that the CIA cables in question appear to have been sent in February, 2004, after the invasion of Iraq. However, it seems highly unlikely that they had any greater reason to believe the alleged "intelligence" in February, 2003, given the source of the "intelligence."

Never to be forgotten:

"My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence."

- Colin Powell at the U.N.

On a media note, I just heard CNN International's Zain Verjee employ the term "political prisoners" to describe the detainees, which certainly seems accurate. Neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post (nor, I'm guessing, pretty much anyone else in the corporate media) uses the term.

Q: Is it ever reasonable to restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism?

MS. PERINO: In our opinion, no.

- Dana Perino, White House spokesperson, falling for what I'm pretty sure was intended as a trick question when she was answering questions about the coup in Pakistan.

The number of internally displaced people, or IDPs, in Iraq grew by 16 percent in September — to 2,299,425, the Red Crescent said. That figure has skyrocketed since the beginning of 2007, when less than half a million people were listed as displaced.

"In addition to their plight as being displaced, the majority suffer from disease, poverty and malnutrition," the Red Crescent reported.

And the other aspect of that "not covering the whole truth" are the things that get left out entirely. The other day we had an example locally, when the San Jose Mercury News failed to print a word about the 30,000 people who demonstrated against the war in nearby San Francisco (even while printing an article about similar numbers of people demonstrating in Venezuela). Today we return to Venezuela to note a demonstration of hundreds of thousands of people in support of the proposed Constitutional changes there. There is an AFP story on the event, although I can't find a word of coverage in any American newspaper, and there was certainly no coverage on the nightly news last night.

"All the news that's fit to print"? Not this story, because it doesn't "fit" with the imperialist line that Chavez is a dictator, squelching democracy in his country, a "threat" for whom a two minutes hate must be regularly orchestrated. Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating in support of such a man? Wouldn't want to let people know about that!

Needless to say, this is not a new phenomenon. Back in June exactly the same thing happened - anti-government demonstrations covered in the American corporate media, much larger pro-government demonstrations ignored (except, curiously enough in that case, by FOX News!).

For more than five months the United States has been trying to orchestrate a political transition in Pakistan that would manage to somehow keep Gen. Pervez Musharraf in power without making a mockery of President Bush’s promotion of democracy in the Muslim world.

Bin Laden determined to strike in US

"Some in Washington should spend more time responding to the warnings of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the requests of our commanders on the ground, and less time responding to the demands of MoveOn.org bloggers and Code Pink protesters."

Update: Interestingly enough, the complete AP story, published in the Miami Herald, includes the following sentence (albeit four paragraphs from the end):

To take effect, the reforms must be approved by voters in a Dec. 2 referendum.

Muddy rain-swollen waters overflowed a dam in Cuba, washing into hundreds of homes, over highways and knocking out electricity and telephone service. Dozens of small communities were cut off.

Cuban soldiers went door to door in low-lying areas and evacuated about 14,000 people.

"It's fair to say that no one has caught anyone red-handed bringing in lethal aid across the border," said Major Anthony Lamb, who oversees training of Iraqi border enforcement units.

"Hundreds of searches are carried out every day, but as yet, there hasn't been a direct seizure of lethal aid."

Since the invasion in 2003, the United States has built hundreds of "forts" along Iraq's borders, including more than 60 along a 500-km stretch along the edge with Iran in the south.

Each fort is manned by 12 to 40 guards who carry out frequent patrols, although the frontier, heavily mined since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, is not fenced. The Iranians have guards all along their side too, visible in the near distance.

As well as the forts, there are two battalions of Iraqi border commandos trained to hunt down smugglers and staunch the flow of illegal goods into the country.

At the two official border crossings in the south, where as many as 300 trucks a day arrive from Iran, customs and border police have managed to crack down on the movement of drugs, illegal cars, banned perishable foods and other illicit goods.

But so far, nothing approximating a rocket has been found.