New reports out of Burma have placed deaths caused by the cyclone that recently hit the country at upwards of 10,000 people, far greater than figures initially released. Some 24 million people live in the five regions of the country that were hit. There have also been reports that that 80% of Laputta has been completely destroyed.
If this doesn’t make you throw up in your mouth, nothing will. It is utterly fucking sick.
A piece by Chomsky from February of this year entitled The Most Wanted List that’s definitely worth a look.
Bill Fletcher Jr. weighs in on the recent demonizing of former President Jimmy Carter in a piece entitled Get Carter!: The Attack on Jimmy Carter’s Middle East Peace Efforts by Bush & Olmert.
Intrigue is afoot in Bolivia where the resource rich region of Santa Cruz has recently voted in an unofficial referendum for more autonomous rights. Those that opposed the vote boycotted it, leaving supporters of the region’s elite in the majority. Bolivian President Evo Moralez has claimed the vote illegal. Of course, all of this comes down to wealth, as is always the case when it comes to Latin American societies. Those that have it want to ensure that they retain their control over those industries that afford it, those that don’t want a greater distribution of national wealth. Being that Bolivia is the poorest nation in Latin America, the latter might have a point.
The quote of the day comes from Chomsky’s “The Most Wanted List”, which is linked above…
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“Future Behavior Modification Instructor”? Can that possibly be real?
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“If this doesn’t make you throw up in your mouth, nothing will. It is utterly fucking sick.”
From the article. “”US authorities are promoting the world’s most notorious prison camp as a cheap hideaway for American sun seekers”
Absolutely disgusting, once again I am greatly ashamed of my country because of the useless bastards who are in charge, who not only allow this prison of torture to continue, but promote it as a “Sunseekers Destination”.
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“Taliban Towers”…oh boy. Trivialising at its worst…
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Because until its legitimately elected leader is recognized, and she holds a free vote to change the name, then Burma it will remain.
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Sadly the Burmese disaster barely earns a column inch in the European press. With the FO advising against travel to Myanmar due to its appalling human rights record I can go some way to understanding that but the real catastrophe is that most Britons will go back to work tomorrow none the wiser; the premiership title goes to the wire and we have enjoyed a scorching holiday weekend…we’re all happy…
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My eyes just fell out of my head. I am incapable of understanding item number two.
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Thank you for the Guantanamo post.
It IS sick and let’s hope the supreme court stands up and defends these people against the military.
VERY sick!
I am thankful the US is so isolated geographically… I’d hate to see what they would be like if they were in Asia or Europe, on that continent.
I personally believe they are just trying to one-up the British, as we know the British was the dominant force controlling all over the globe in the 1800’s and 1900’s and now the US has decided to take that up a few notches.
Matt, as a historian, was the British government as bad in the past? As in, did the ignore their own people’s cries, do as they please to whomever despite the total detriment it is causing their own country?
The next government will have a HUGE mess to clean up, not just foreign-affairs wise, but domestically!
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Quoting Matthew Good:
Ah…I didn’t know that. Good point.
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Quoting satchboogieca:
The British just thought they were out to tame and educate the illiterate, savage masses…
Some would argue that colonialism was the best thing to happen to India…
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I love the God Bless America coozy.
Real Classy.
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Quoting Matthew Good:
Interesting that BBC and CBC use Burma, while Reuters and AP use Myanmar.
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That Guantanamo Bay article does make me sick, especially because Americans are still not allowed to travel to the other parts of communist Cuba.
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The big money in Bolivia certainly is a factor. But what also must be taken into account (as explained to me by my Bolivian nephew) is the huge corrupt and inept bureaucracy that is the Bolivian government. A big part of this autonomy movement is aimed at allowing local provincial governments to give the go ahead on projects such as roads.
Canada has a situation that can give you a feel of what this is. The majority of your government is elected in the east. The industry in the east is crumbling while the west is booming. Then there’s Quebec.
Bolivians are not unlike Canadians in that there are large regional differences in how people think.
Now I agree that the riches of the Eastern Bolivian lowlands need to be spread to the benefit of the Andean west but many times when the government takes a dollar from the rich, less than a dime makes it to the poor.
What else is of note in this situation is that Venezuela is aiding Evo in building two major military bases on the border with Brazil and planeloads of what are thought to be weapons are flying from Venezuela into the Bolivian lowlands.
This alarms Bolivians in the east who, for many years PRIOR to Evo, have never trusted the government in the west.
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It’s so sad. It always hits the politically instable countries hardest. One might suspect that the military junta in Burma won’t show much interest in coordinating aid programs in an effctive and fair way. As always in situations when there’s nothing to lose for people there’s little room for moral aspects.
Take Katrina or maybe the huge flood catastrophe of 2002 in Germany and let that happen in a country like Indonesia or Burma - it would not have taken 30 or 250 lives but thousends and thousends. It’s all owed to how modern countries are organized and situated. So many lives could be saved if ” the world” would finally manage to take over responsibility for their least.
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That number’s climbed to more than 22,000 now. Jesus.
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GTMO - thanks for that eye-opener. Wonder how they would feel about a souvenir shop in Auschwitz.
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The idiocy of my country is amazing, never mind living in Texas on top of it. I went to the Roger Waters concert Sunday and was amazed at the number of Bush handjobs there complaing about him espousing his “left wing bullshit.” I mean, WTF are you doing here? Don’t you know Pink Floyd’s history? This isn’t a fucking Jimmy Buffet show. It was nice to see these asses showered with Obama tickertape and the infamous pig scrawled with “IMPEACH BUSH NOW.”
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a resort?!?! souvenirs?!?! i can’t believe that’s what it has come to. i’m curious to know how many sickos actually go.
great piece by Chomsky.
you quoted the most right-on, hit-you-on-the-head part:
“The terminology is accurate enough, according to the rules of Anglo-American discourse, which defines “the world” as the political class in Washington and London (and whoever happens to agree with them on specific matters).”
hope that puts things into perspective for people (though unfortunately, the ones that need that perspective are busy watching FOX News)
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theres acutally no significant difference in these visually different words. The Burma or Birma version refers to the people of Bamar which is the biggest ethnic group in Myanmar. Myanmar is the word the Bamar have for their people in their own language. In the Bamar language both expressions have the same meaning, they’re actually just differently written (”Bama” - “Myanma”) - it depends on how you close your lips while pronouncing the “B” and “M”.
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Quoting destined4failure:
Hmm, what about this:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400E4DB1130F936A2575AC0A9629C8B63&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=all
excerpt:
“Last summer a Polish artist, Agata Siwek, caused a sensation with an exhibition in the Netherlands of Auschwitz ’souvenirs’, including key chains and refrigerator magnets that visitors to the show could buy”
Seems it is all happening already.