Senator Craig and The Village People

A toe tapping delight...

Friday Night Disco Series

Blondie- Atomic

Enjoy...

Costa Rica and CAFTA

The Central American Free Trade Agreement, also known as CAFTA, was pushed through Congress back in 2005. The 'free trade' pact involved the United States and five Central American nations (Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica) and was amended to include the Dominican Republic. Today it goes by the acronym DR-CAFTA.

Quickly after the pact was 'passed' in the United States Congress, four of the countries in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras) were also quick to ram these agreements through their own legislatures despite large opposition in these countries. Shortly afterwards, the Dominican Republic also approved their entry into the agreement. The only country that has not ratified this agreement is Costa Rica.

Costa Rica, one of Latin America's oldest democracies, has decided to put the issue of approval to the voters. A nationwide referendum takes place this Sunday and large numbers of Costa Ricans are expected to turn out and vote. This, in itself, is truly amazing. In true democratic fashion, the citizens get to decide what course to take in regards to economic policies, not lobbyist and corrupt politicians.

The effort by corporations and their minions have not been to stand idly by, however. A well financed 'scare campaign' has been in full effect. The major media in Costa Rica have run story after story about the horrors of not passing CAFTA (TLC in Spanish). The president, Oscar Arias, a rabid free trader, has taken to the national airwaves many times warning Costa Ricans that rejecting the treaty would be economic suicide. Even A.M. Costa Rica, the English language website from Costa Rica, regularly runs articles calling opponents of the treaty "socialists, Communists and anarchists".

Despite this vicious campaign, the resolution supporters are running behind in the polls. This past Sunday, a large demonstration was held in San Jose, the capitol city, by opponents of the treaty. The protesters, unlike the frequent characterizations of them, were professionals, farmers, families, students, public workers. A true cross section of society.

It will be interesting to see the outcome of this vote on Sunday. The election tribunal has already declared that the results could take 15 days to determine.

Here's a video of the demonstration this past Sunday. Enjoy...

Bush: US Does Not Torture

Bush held a press conference today in which he stated that his administration's interrogation tactics and techniques were both "successful" and "lawful". In his speech he stated, "When we find somebody who may have information regarding a potential attack on America, you bet we're going to detain them, and you bet we're going to question them. The American people expect us to find out information, actionable intelligence so we can help protect them. That's our job."

He was defending the policies of his administration following the publication in the New York Times which detailed the decision by the Justice Department to endorse some of the most harsh treatment methods that were employed by the CIA.

'We don't torture', the standard line that always comes from the White House is almost laughable where it not so sad.

100 Dollar Oil by End of 2008?

Jeffrey Rubin, chief economist of Canadian investment bank CIBC World Markets, said today that oil prices could top $100 a barrel by the end of next year and remain above that point for years to come. That's right- $100 a barrel!

Watching oil prices skyrocket over the last few years got me to thinking about a nifty little exchange that took place in the Bush-Gore debate at Wake Foerst back in 2000. Bush talked about the high energy prices at the time (around $27.00 a barrel) and his plans to turn this around. He stated, and I quote:

“I would work with our friends in OPEC to convince them to open up the spigot, to increase the supply. Use the capital that my administration will earn, with the Kuwaitis or the Saudis, and convince them to open up the spigot.”

Fine job, George!

The Forgotten War of Afghanistan

While everyone focuses their attention on Iraq and increasingly Iran, the levels of violence in Afghanistan has spiked to its highest level since 2001. Attacks alone have risen 20 percent. The AP reports on a particularly gruesome suicide attack on a police bus that killed 13 people.

"The bombing, which ripped the roof off the bus, was the second to target a bus in Kabul in four days. It came as insurgents turned up attacks against Afghanistan's security forces during a year of record violence.Four children were among the 13 people killed in Tuesday's suicide attack by a man wearing a pakul — an Afghan hat commonly seen in the country's north — and a shawl around the upper half of his body called a chador, said Amin Gul, who owns a metalworking shop next to the blast site.

'When the bus came, an old man got on, then a woman with two children, then the guy wearing the chador entered, and then a big boom,' said Gul, who witnessed the attack.

The seats in the front of the bus were covered in blood and small body parts, and workers washed blood from nearby trees after the attack. Ten people were wounded in the bombing, Health Minister Mohammad Amin Fatemi said."

Many years, lives and taxpayer dollars later, Afghanistan today shows no true sign of progress. The US has shown support for Karzai's offers to talk with the Taliban, poppy production has skyrocketed and many farmers have taken to growing marijuana, and the United States is once again back to the tired 'Most Wanted Poster' gig. The current policy, unfortunately, offers little to no real chance in succeeding and has actually brought the conflict around full circle. Go figure.

Jack Kingston- Leave Rush Alone!

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) has introduced a resolution in the House praising Rush Limbaugh for his "relentless efforts to build and maintain troop morale". WTF?

The right wing in this country are among the most hypocritical beings on this planet. While quick to jump on any bandwagon of controversy that arises from the left and conjure up the manufactured outrage each and every time, nothing done or said by any loyal right winger is up for any scrutiny. In this case, it's just the opposite.

Soon after this controversy started, Rush was quick with the usual schtick of 'I am a victim of a smear campaign by the drive-by media'. He claims in his defense that he was referring to only one soldier, Jesse MacBeth. His sycophants in the right blog-o-sphere were quick to his defense, as well.

As Media Matters reported, "During the September 28 broadcast, Limbaugh asserted that "Media Matters had the transcript, but they selectively choose what they want to make their point." To support this claim, Limbaugh purported to air the "entire" segment in question from the September 26 broadcast of his show. In fact, the clip he then aired had been edited. Excised from the clip was a full 1 minute and 35 seconds of the 1:50 discussion that occurred between Limbaugh's original "phony soldiers" comment and his reference to MacBeth, the full audio of which can be heard here."

For any Republican House members planning to support this travesty (and I am sure there are several!), please check your hypocrisy at the door the next time you try and politicize your next big 'controversy'.

Chertoff says Illegals Degrade Environment

I had to read this article twice to make sure that I read the headline correctly. This coming from our oh-so-green-government. Unbelievable!