Frontin’ for all y’all

* On the Presidential Election front: Gallup has Obama with a sparse lead in the polls (45% to McCain’s 44%), Rasmussen has a 47% Obama lead vs. McCain’s 46%, the Washington Post is showing a 49% Barack lead against John’s 46%, and the Associated Press is giving Obama 47% and McCain a mere 41% of the voting populace. In other words, however you slice it Barack Obama is ahead, but not by much. Hillary finally started speaking out in support of Obama at a Nevada campaign stop yesterday, where she reminded folks that her supporters have much more in common with Barack Obama than they ever will with John McCain. Thank you for stating the fucking obvious, Mrs. Clinton. Aside from the polls & Hillary, I’ve done my best to avoid the intense day-to-day news coverage of the election, because the mainstream media seems hell bent on telling me how I feel about things, how I intend to vote in November, and pretty much avoiding any relevant news on the subject. So, Fuck ‘um.

* On the Wars We Didn’t Start front: I’ve been a bit confused about the Russia-Georgia conflict, so I assume some of you are too. After looking into the matter, I came up with this: Georgia is a former Soviet republic that flew the coop after the fall of communism in the region (1991). The small nation is a bit of a thorn in Russia’s side, since it has expressed desire to join NATO and is allied with the Western nations that are often in opposition to Moscow. A Georgian provence that boarders Russia, South Ossetia, has had a level of semi-independence for the past 16 years, but according to Georgian officials, separatists have increased their attacks recently and prompted a response from Georgia, which sent in tanks. Russian officials claimed Russian peacekeepers were killed by their forces & that the Georgian military was ethnically cleansing the region of native Russians, so they too sent in tanks. As of this morning, Russia claims to have halted all military action in the Georgian provence, but reports of Russian bombing are still coming out of the region. In summary, Georgia used to be under Russia’s control, until they said Fuck That in ‘91. Then, a piece of Georgian territory attempted to do the same thing & assert their independence, only to be given a military bitch slap from the former freedom fighters of Georgia. Russia tried to intervene & hoped to regain some control over the area, but punked out when the world started paying too much attention. I hope that clears things up for y'all.

* On the Olympic Games front: Swimmer Michael Phelps nabbed the gold in two events so far, swimmer Aaron Piersol got us another, swimmer Natalie Coughlin got us a gold for the ladies, and the entire U.S. men’s relay team (which included Phelps) won yet another. Mariel Zagunis won a gold in women’s fencing and Walton Eller won one in men’s shooting. Only China & it’s home team advantage have earned more golds than we have at this point. Upcoming events of interest include today’s first U.S. women’s football/soccer match vs. New Zealand, today’s men’s preliminary basketball game vs. Angola, Friday’s women’s preliminary basketball game against Spain, and Wednesday’s men’s football/soccer match against Nigeria. Go Team Go.

Nelson Mandela is a bonafide Bad Ass

The man that brought down South Africa's apartheid turned 90 years old yesterday. In commemoration, I figured I might as well give y’all a primer on Mandela’s OG status, just in case you weren’t up on game.

Way back in the day (say…1948), the Afrikaner National Party gained control of South Africa & implemented a strict segregation policy known as apartheid. The black residents of the country were stripped of their citizenship & classified as citizens of their tribal homelands instead (similar to American Indian tribal governments). They were regulated to economically fucked regions & denied the benefits of South Africa’s thriving economy. They also were denied suffrage outside of their “homelands” & that made the apartheid system nearly set in stone. The only people screwed over by apartheid couldn’t even use the political process to do anything about it! Of course, this shit wasn’t accepted by the black majority of South Africa & immediately after apartheid’s creation, an opposition movement was born. Mandela was at the forefront of the opposition from it’s inception, playing a major part in the creation of the African National Congress (the Afrikaner National Party’s nemesis). Along with his partner Oliver Tambo, Mandela ran a law firm that catered to poor blacks that ordinarily had no access to legal representation. He initially touted the non-violent methods of Gandhi as a means of dismantling apartheid and was arrested in a mass demonstration in 1956 on treason charges with 150 other protesters. The ensuing trial, known as the Treason Trial, lasted for nearly five years & ended in the acquittal of all those involved. The fiasco of the Treason Trials left the ANC in bad shape. Non-violence had proved to be too slow & ineffective, so Mandela co-founded the militant wing of the ANC to force apartheid’s demise. In 1961, he became the leader of this ANC branch, Umkhonto we Sizwe (loosely translated as Spear of the Nation & abbreviated as MK), and he coordinated a sabotage campaign against military and government targets. He trained freedom fighters, established diplomatic ties to other African nations, and prepared for full-on guerilla warfare.

As is usually the case in these stories, the CIA fouled up big. In 1962, they notified S. African officials of Mandela’s whereabouts & the rebel leader was apprehended. He was charged with inciting worker’s to strike & leaving the country illegally, then sentenced to five years in prison. While he was imprisoned, the government arrested ANC members willy-nilly & started to prepare the case intended to dismantle the resistance. What came to be known as the Rivonia Trial was a judicial attack on the ANC that charged Mandela with sabotage & lesser treason. In 1964, all but one ANC leader was found guilty & sentenced to life in prison. Mandela then spent 27 years locked up. He was offered his freedom in exchange for renouncing the struggle against apartheid, but refused. When he finally was released after South Africa’s hard-line president P.W. Botha was replaced in 1989-90 & Mandela immediately returned to work at the ANC. He spearheaded the efforts to have S Africa’s first inter-racial elections between 1990-94 and, unsurprisingly, was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994.

As if surviving 27 years of prison, a lifetime of apartheid, and countless assassination attempts weren’t enough to prove Mandela’s place in history, the man was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, the Order of Merit & the Order of St. John from Queen Elizabeth, the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush, was made an honorary Canadian citizen, received the Bharat Ratna award in India, and the Ataturk Peace Award in Turkey. Musicians have immortalized Mandela in songs such as “Mandela Day” by Simple Minds, “Mandela” by Santana, “Freedom Now” by Tracy Chapman, and “If Everyone Cared” by Nickelback. Stevie Wonder even dedicated “I Just Called to Say I Love You” to Mandela. Fuck, even I have a Nelson Mandela T-shirt (Wiley always said it looked like Sly & The Family Stone, but fuck him)!

In 1999, Mandela retired from political life & took up the duties of being an internationally recognized freedom fighter. He’s supported & advocated for the Make Poverty History campaign, is a big sponsor of the SOS Children’s Villages (an organization for orphaned children), and established the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund that funds various charities dealing with youngsters. He’s served as a spokesperson at the UN & other international organizations for disenfranchised African nations suffering from poverty and the AIDS epidemic. He even used the event of his 90th birthday to call on the world’s wealthy to spread the economic love to po’ folks.

Here’s to a genuine bad ass, Mr Nelson Mandela, for being a die-hard rebel & showing all of us that one person can & does change shit for the better. Get down with your bad self, NM, get down.  

Commentary for Lazy Fucks

* I am a sucker for open rebellion & nearly anyone raging against the machine easily earns themselves a soft spot in my heart. I do so admire a little chaos, a little dissension, a little anti-authoritarian action. In particular, Peruvians that took to the streets in protest against what they see as unfair wealth distribution during the country’s recent economic boom have put a smile on my face. The protesters were especially pissed at  President Alan Garcia for abandoning the socialist principles that he supposedly stood for. They accuse the Prez of catering to the whims of transnational corporations, rather than those of the people (does that sound familiar to you, too?). Applause for calling a duck a fucking duck & demanding that it quack like one. Power to the People!

* If I have to see that disturbing pageant footage of Jon Benet Ramsey one more time, I promise that will go insane…at least momentarily. Seriously though, haven’t we all cringed over those videos enough since 1996? Every time a minute development in JonBenet’s case unfolds, we are bombarded by the image of a kindergartner in whore’s lipstick and high heels performing for an audience of grown-ass people, that obviously saw no shame in the exploitation of the over-sexualized little girl before them. I don’t care who killed the girl, they've already gotten away with it & it's doubtful that prosecutors could even make charges stick after so long. What bothers the shit out of me is how JonBenet isn't a six year old girl that was brutally raped and murdered in her own home. She is, instead, the pretty little blond veteran of the child pageant circuit. She is somehow "adult-ish" in her pageant videos & it really creeps me the fuck out.

* I know it's been said plenty of times before, but once couldn't hurt: Thank the Powers for the State of California! Specifically, thank Jesus for San Francisco! A citizen's group, going by the name Presidential Memorial Committee of San Francisco, wants to "honor" outgoing President Bush by naming a sewage treatment plant after the lamebrain. If at least 7,168 of the 12,000 signatures the group collected are valid, the re-naming of the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant will be on the ballot in November. I love a little rebellion, a little dissension...

Another Free Trade Agreement that will fuck over the domestic economy, our companies, our workers, our consumers, AND help support the domestic terrorism of Columbia! McCain says “Hells Yeah!”

Another McCain fuck up I couldn’t help but comment on is his recent endorsement of a free trade agreement with Columbia. First and foremost, “free trade” is a bullshit market model & it’s detrimental to the general populations of both nations. What a free trade agreement does is remove all taxes & tariffs on products and allows any regulatory legislation to be ignored by the nations involved. It is essentially trade exempted from all the rules that everyone else must abide by. So, Columbian products can enter this country & be sold just as cheaply as products manufactured here, which makes it harder for American companies to turn a profit domestically. Tariffs are intended to protect American companies claim to American markets, so that they can employ American workers & keep our internal economy afloat. On the opposite end of the deal, Columbian markets would be flooded with the products & services offered by huge American corporations (that manufacture shit overseas for cheap) & then Columbia is in danger of ending up like modern Mexico (an economic disaster). My second concern with McCain’s support for such a deal is the heinous human rights record of Columbia. Amnesty International has scores of complaints about human rights abuses in Columbia (documented HERE). Wasn’t McCain among the war mongers that cited human rights abuses as a reason to “liberate” the Iraqis? Wasn’t he all anti-torture because of his experience as a POW (torture is one of the big abuses that AI talks about)? Shouldn’t our Commander-In-Chief think about the ramifications of economic policy that undercuts the safety of other human beings? If he’s blatantly on the side of elite Capitalist interests, rather than that of The People, before he’s even won the presidency, he will be so much worse in office!

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood

Or not. Current events aren’t really worth discussing anymore unless they pose a negative threat to our planet’s peaceful existence, right? On that note…

• Zimbabwe is no model of Democratic values. Since 1988, shortly after Zimbabwe gained it’s independence from the UK, Robert Mugabe has served as the country’s president and has benefited from nearly non-existent political opposition. Economic mismanagement, a hard-currency shortage, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a nationwide drought, and prohibitions on foreign aid have left the country in dire straits. This year’s presidential election was expected to be full of drama and challenge Mugabe’s long-held position. So far, Zimbabwe’s election story rivals our own recent presidential elections in it’s treatment of democratic principles. The first round of elections was held on March 29th and it’s candidates were Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (or ZANU-PF), Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (or MDC), and Simba Makoni running as an independent. For nearly a month after the election, it’s results were withheld from the public. This indicated that the MDC had won the popular election, since the ZANU-PF was already in power and had no reason to withhold the results otherwise. A re-do election, or run-off election, was declared when Mugabe & his supporters alleged that MDC-affiliated officials had tampered with the votes. The period between the first and the second round of elections has been marked by political violence on both sides. The second election was held on June 27th, but Tsvangirai formally withdrew from the race, calling it a “violent sham” and claiming that his supporters risked being killed if they voted for him. He cited 86 instances of his political supporters being murdered and the displacement of another 200,000 in the state-sponsored campaign of violence, which has included politically-motivated rapes of MDC supporters. Tsvangirai’s name remained on the ballots, none the less. As expected, the June 27th results were prompted released & they proclaimed Mugabe the winner in a landslide. Now, the African Union is considering what, if any, they should do about the obviously falsified election results. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has even expressed his support for using UN troops to restore peace in Zimbabwe by force. You know it’s serious when a Nobel Peace Prize winner like Tutu calls for a unilateral ass kicking! Zimbabwe reminds me that my home country is not the only politically retarded nation on the planet. Keep your eyes on the Southern region of Africa, Zimbabwe in particular, if you watch current events like other folks watch soap operas (as I do). This season should be interesting.
• South Korea recently repealed it’s ban on American beef imports & it’s an understatement to describe the South Korean population as “pissed”. So far, two separate protests have postponed the lifting of the ban. Critics point out how the ban was intended to protect the people of South Korea and since the U.S. beef industry has yet to make any real changes related to the initial concerns that prompted the ban, lifting it ignores the threat posed to the population’s health. Many people are annoyed with their government’s apparent willingness to cave to the demands of Washington. Today, a reported 13,000 people demonstrated in Seoul during Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to the country. It seems to me that the people of South Korea aren’t about to be punked by the American government or it’s over-bearing industries without a fight and I find that commendable. That used to be the American Way. Maybe I outta’ start calling rebellious acts against oppression “the South Korean Way”. Lacks the same ring to it…
• Everybody my age remembers the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. The blackened animals, miles of oil slick along Alaska’s coast, and the environmental damage that can be seen even today. Many of us will be surprised to hear that the Supreme Court has overturned the $2.5 billion in fines that Exxon still owes for the accident, calling them “excessive”. In my opinion, Exxon Mobil’s $40.6 billion in profits during the past year (while I paid out my ass for gas) is excessive. I hate corporate immunity to justice.

The state is never wrong, but…

* Remember the Yearning for Zion Mormon sect that was raided in Texas a couple months ago? The 400 children that were seized by the state based on unfounded child abuse accusations have been returned to their parents because the Texas Supreme Court ruled that officials failed to prove they were facing any immediate danger. This is a classic case of persecution, in my opinion. 400 children were ripped from their families because Texas law enforcement made a judgement call without evidence to support their actions & now these kids surely have an understandable distrust of the outside world. Super job, Texas! If any abuse was occurring (which I'm pretty sure is the case), the abused aren't likely to seek help outside the Ranch in the future. All the gun-jumping Texas officials can say now is "My bad". Oops. What I can't understand is how the state is able to impose regulations on the parents since they haven't been convicted of any wrong doing, The parents are required to take parenting classes, aren't permitted to leave the state, the children must submit to medical evaluations, welfare workers are allowed to conduct unannounced visits, and any trip over 100 miles within the state must be OKed by state officials. How is that legal? Unless every family is the state of Texas is regulated by the same conditions, I can't possibly see how the court expects their ruling to stand up under close scrutiny.

*The Bolivian government has seized control of it's natural gas pipeline that was previously operated by Royal Dutch Shell & Ashmore Energy International in a move that will inevitably piss off our corporate controllers. No doubt Bush & Co, will decry the actions of Bolivia as being influenced by Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, but Bolivian President Evo Morales made their reasons pretty clear when he said "They [the above mentioned companies] wanted to be bosses, and have us be the employees. We're a small country - sometimes they call us underdeveloped - but we have lots of dignity. Partners are welcome, but we will not accept bosses." Remember that when our government says that Bolivia is governed by extremists or that the motivations behind the seizure were somehow evil. According to Washington, "evil" is code for being against corporate domination.

* Another example of America's underhanded economic policy was called out by the World Trade Organization & will probably lead to trade sanctions on U.S. cotton. Our government has illegally paid U.S. growers subsidies that allow our exported cotton to be sold at prices that undercut the ability of other nations to sell their own cotton (even in their own countries). Brazil brought the charges before the WTO & is now looking at the possibility of collecting on $1 billion a year in sanctions on U.S. imports. That is a major economic bitch-slap, if I've ever seen one! Look for Bush's response which will probably diss the WTO as biased or evil (see definition above).

Governments are gross! And I’ve heard they have cooties too!

- Disgusting world events shrouded by a veil of Good Will and Progress make me want to scream. A perfect example of this type of information distortion is an article from BBC News titled "Cluster bomb ban treaty approved". According to the BBC, ten days of debate in Dublin resulted in an international ban on cluster bombs supported by 100+ countries. Of course, the treaty was not OKed by the United States, Russia, Pakistan, India, Israel, or China. At first glance, this article seems to suggest progress is being made toward promoting peace worldwide. Yeah! No Cluster Bombs! That's a good thing! Further thought on the matter suggests otherwise. Now, I'm all for getting rid of cluster bombs but if the U.S. isn't agreeing with an anti- weapons treaty, the treaty means squat. America is one of the largest stock-pilers of this kind of weaponry, not to mention the greatest producer of the bombs! If the U.S. isn't going to comply with international suggestion treaties (which is essentially what this is), you can bet your ass that Russia & China ain't fucking with it either! Israel is the United State's lapdog nation, so they'll never get on board with something opposed by the American government. Pakistan and India like to keep tight relations with Washington, especially where weapons & armorments are concerned, so they shouldn't be expected to flip-flop on the issue either. So, basically the point of the story is that the international community isn't yet ready to demand American compliance to international law or to call us out on our bully role in diplomacy. Everyone else thinks we're dicks, but they're still trying to convince us to change our ways (even if it has become clear that we have no intention of doing so). *sigh*

- I tipped off the ladies at feministing again (such a watchdog, I am). See post on the most ridiculous MySpace application HERE 

- Mother Jones' interactive Iraqi War timeline has been updated HERE. Stay informed & pissed; That's my motto!

Poor Little Rich Girl & Korea’s beef with Beef

- Un-fucking-believable. Hillary actually suggested that sexism is the "single biggest problem we have politically and socially in the world". She was implying that the sexism faced by her candidacy was a greater problem than the racism faced by Obama's campaign. Honestly, Hill? I am all for acknowledging the issue of sexism & I believe it's repercussions are greatly underestimated, BUT to assume that sexism is a greater problem than racism is ridiculous, not to mention arrogant coming from a relatively privileged woman! The issue of Class is much broader than that of gender discrimination and the Holy Trinity of Oppression (class, gender, and race) is so interwoven that accurate analysis of one is not possible without the others. It is clear to me that Hillary is trying to get some guilt-trip female votes in the last days of her campaign. That is why so many of us won't vote for her - She obviously is banking on her popularity with "She's Got A Vagina Too!" voters.

- 3000+ South Korean protesters in Seoul demonstrated against the recent relaxation of beef import regulations earlier today. Fear of U.S. beef being tainted with Mad Cow Disease (or BSE) prompted the protest. Since 2003, American beef has been banned in S. Korea (after a rash of Mad Cow cases), but during negotiations between the U.S. and S. Korea regarding a free trade agreement, American lawmakers made it clear that the agreement was No Go until concessions were made on beef exports. I sure am glad that American politicians have the time & energy to negotiate trade deals on behalf of the beef industry! Too bad they can't use that time to regulate the industry to protect U.S. consumers! Doing so might improve Korean attitudes towards U.S. beef imports as well, but common sense ain't so common & apparently politicians give a fuck less about the common good.

CNN: Clearly Not News

* By the way, CNN U.S. did not have a piece on the Iraq War fund debacle listed on it's homepage. What was important to include on the first page of the CNN site? The following retarded shit:

-"Why Israel is Talking to those Bush will not": A 'No Shit' article about why Israeli leaders talk to those nations that pose terrorist risks (like Lebanon, Iran, Egypt) instead of proceeding with unilateral warfare against the dissenters (a la Bush).

- Obama criticized over Auschwitz claim Another stupid attempt to discredit the Democratic forerunner by 'blasting' him for saying that his uncle helped to liberate the captives at the Nazi concentration camp. Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet soldiers and Obama meant to refer to the Buchenwald camp, but the Republican National Committee jumped at the chance to sully Barack's record on matters of defense. Not only did he incorrectly name the wrong camp, the RNC wants you to know that Obama's uncle didn't serve in WWII. It was his great uncle! Fucking Liar!

- Bush 'troubled' by activist's detainment But not by the 300+ detainees at Gitmo, huh? The article is referring to the 5-year detention of Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Dubya called on Myanmar to release all it's political prisoners and to open dialogue with Suu Kyi (*stifled laugh*). He actually called on "Burma" to do this, but the nation of Myanmar hasn't been known as "Burma" since the military coup of 1988. Excuse me for my presumptuousness, but shouldn't the leader of our nation be knowledgeable about the NAMES of countries he intends on giving advice? And shouldn't someone be responsible for making sure Dubya's hypocrisy is a little less obvious?

Remember what I said about not ignoring main stream media? Disregard that statement.