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Bechtel Pulls Out
November 3, 2006
Bechtel calls it quits after more than 3 years in Iraq - Los Angeles Times
but, of course, it's not WHAT you know, but WHO you know:
Bechtel's government influence has also worked in the other direction, where company officers have served or consulted in government capacities. CEO Riley Bechtel was appointed in February 2003 to the President's Export Council, which advises the president on programs to improve trade. Former Bechtel Energy Resources President Ross Connelly left the company in 1995 and in 2001 was appointed executive vice president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which provides financing and insurance for U.S. companies operating in other countries. Daniel Chao, Vice President of Bechtel Enterprises Holdings Inc., was appointed a member of the Advisory Committee for the Export-Import Bank in August 2002. The Export-Import Bank provides loans, loan guarantees and other financial support for U.S. companies abroad, and has enjoyed a good relationship with Bechtel. In addition to awarding the company several loans, it was headed from 1977 to 1982 by former Bechtel vice president John L. Moore, and former Bechtel CEO Stephen D. Bechtel sat on its advisory committee from 1969 to 1972. In addition, the Clinton administration appointed Bob Baxter, former president of Bechtel's Civil Global Industry Unit, to the Advisory Committee to the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection in 1998, and former Bechtel Technology & Consulting manager Larry Papay to the Panel on Energy R&D of the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology in 1997.[source]
"We were told it would be a permissive environment. But to the horror of everyone, it never stabilized. It just went down, down, down, and to this day it continues to go down," said Cliff Mumm, who ran Bechtel's Iraq operation. "I'm proud of what we did, but had law and order prevailed, it would be a different situation."At one Bechtel project, in the southern city of Basra, the company recorded this toll: The site security manager was murdered; the site manager resigned after receiving death threats; a senior engineer resigned after his daughter was kidnapped; 12 employees of the electrical-plumbing subcontractor were assassinated in their offices; and 11 employees of the concrete supplier were murdered.
All told, 52 workers associated with Bechtel projects were killed, most of them Iraqi. Forty-nine others were wounded.
In case you were wondering, we all knew they would fuck it up:
Activists say that the incestuous relationship between Bechtel and the US government bodes ill for the Iraqi people."Bechtel and privatization go hand in hand. As people learned the hard way in Bolivia and around the world, when Bechtel comes to town, you can expect costs to soar and accountability and local control to evaporate," says Juliette Beck, senior organizer at Public Citizen's Oakland office.
[source]
and, ummmmm....
The Center for Responsive Politics, a government watchdog organization, reports that all six companies that were originally allowed to bid for the contract are heavy donors to American politicians, particularly to the Republican Party. Combined, they gave $3.6 million between 1999 and 2002, 66 percent to Republicans. Bechtel itself contributed $1.3 million of this.But Bechtel’s connections extend far beyond campaign contributions. The company has operated for decades as a halfway house for Republican politicians and military officials heading both into and out of government service.
One of Bechtel’s senior vice presidents is Jack Sheehan, who is also a member of the Defense Policy Board, which advises Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Right-wing forces closely aligned with Rumsfeld dominate the defense board. Its former head was Richard Perle, a vociferous advocate of war in Iraq who was forced to resign as chairman when conflicts of interest relating to his connection with telecommunications giant Global Crossing were revealed last month.
[source]
convenient timing? Funny how none of the news reports I heard or read mentioned this:
Bechtel's Iraq contracts are set to expire in October and, as David Snider of the U.S. Agency for International Development told me, Bechtel "is currently closing out and demobilizing from Iraq as scheduled." Bechtel should leave Iraq, but its misspent funds should stay.[source]
I'd wager they're taking their money with them, and leaving the unfinished projects behind.
Coca-Cola, Decades of Evil
August 12, 2006
Arrogance and Impunity - Coca-Cola in India
The pesticides in soft drinks in India is a classic case of double standards, one for Americans and Europeans, and another for Indians. Coca-Cola products made in India could never be sold in the European Union markets or the United States. On at least 10 occasions since January 2005, the US Food and Drug Administration has rejected the shipment of Coca-Cola products made in India coming into the US, on the grounds that they do not conform to US laws and that they are unsafe for the US public.
It is discouraging that punk rock lyrics from the early '80's are still totally relevant today. Especially when they pertain to freaking SUGAR WATER.
I mean, seriously, if we can let SUGAR WATER manufacturers get away with oppressing people for decades, is it any wonder we still support war and famine and destruction and ignorance of the potential for environmental catastrophe?
There couldn't be a better metaphor for the fucked-uppedness of capitalism than the consistent presence of Coca-Cola in these kinds of situations.
(excerpts from Chumbawamba's _Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records_ LP)
Coca-Colanisation
So I think, I mean, it's a nice sound
It's a happy sound, and it's not doing anybody any harm
...And In A Nutshell
And the company director spins the globe
Looks into on atlas of the world
A supermarket lifestyle for as all
A thousand nations under company control
Coca-Cola got machines in every land
No-one got the teeth to bite the hand
Stole their labor, their culture, and their lives
To create a Coca-Cola paradise
Swallowing their soft drinks and their lies
Let's take the blindfold from our eyes
Invasion
The first world's got greedy, we're consuming it all
The third world's got hunger, and military control
This unequal balance is a master plan
One gets rich from the other's land
They've got it all worked out, and we give our consent
They've got it all worked out, and we give our consent
They've got it all worked out for Central America
And they've got it all worked out for Africa
And in our naivete we believe myths and over consume
And give them our consent
Dying in the shadow of the USA
Let them eat bullshit, make the land pay
Make a fast deal with the local elite
Then substitute cash crops where once grew wheat
Build a cycle of dependence on a starvation diet
With food as a weapon, workers stay quiet
And multinational names have blood on their brands
From taking an interest in misused lands
Del Monte, Tate and Lyle, Ralston, Purina
Coca-Cola, RTZ, and Unilever
All packaging lifestyles for the glamorous West
Expand the company, exploit the rest
We are not isolated by distance
But by greed and our racist history
Just a wall's width away
Still impossible to reach across
This space in front of me
It's we who write this history
We who guard the money-tree
We support the companies
We stole the colonies
And when the system starts to crack
We'll have to be ready to give it all back
And when the system starts to crack
We'll have to be ready to give it all back
See the space which lies between the rich and the poor
How the space increases as we keep on taking more
Keeping that space between as all
Is how the west can keep control
With a mission and a checkbook promising aid
Posing for the camera the United Nations man came
Ha talked of control and the terrible drought
And the way that the west would bail them out
Then he stopped smiling and talked conditions
Of mutual aid, and American wishes
Sending in aid with sewn-on strings
If they won't buy arms then it's pulled back in
Feeding the world American style
Colonel Sanders has an empire behind his smile
Back up the investments with a military regime
Then cleverly says it's to keep the world free
But the multinational myths are beginning to fall
The poor don't want aid, they want control
And if we really want to see the third world eat
We've got to see through the wrapping on the high street
Past the barriers of culture that dictate our lives
We're busy consuming as the other half dies
And the answer's not a question of charity
Not whilst profit's still the top priority
So let the glossy shop-fronts know what to expect
And you bosses of Companies...
And the cycle of hungry children
Will keep on going 'round
Will keep on going 'round
Until we burn the multinationals to the ground
This is freaking GENIUS.
December 1, 2005
Who says a pharmacy isn’t a kid-friendly place? Some of these pharmacists like children so much, they want you to have the ones you didn’t even mean to have! And when you think about it, pharmacies are awesome places for young children to run and play, especially behind that door marked PRIVATE (Go on in! These folks don’t care about privacy!) which leads to a wonderful land of bottles and jars to shake shake shake. Plus plenty of childproof caps to challenge them, hundreds of colorful little beadies to count, lots of new words to learn (Say it: “Meth-o-trex-ate.”) and no shortage of arthritic elderly friends to trip up. Really, it’s like a Montessori school with Muzak.
Best. Protest Idea. Ever.
[link via Redneck Mother]
Speaking of Wal-Mart
November 4, 2005
I almost don't want to say this because I'm probably the last person to have heard about it, but I dunno if anyone realizes that Netflix is in bed with Wal-Mart. Damnit.
Does anyone know if there's a service equivalent to Netflix that I can switch to? I have a really nice video store that is actually moving closer to me, but I'm addicted to no late fees, and endless inventory of kid flix and documentaries.
I hear Amazon is trying to do DVD rental...I guess that's slightly better. There are all sorts of price wars going on. But Blockbuster's just not an option for me...and I would actually pay MORE for the service if it was managed by a politically responsible company (wait...is that a total fucking oxymoron? Maybe I just need to start hardcore file sharing.) (I didn't say that out loud.)
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
November 4, 2005
Zeebah pointed me to the website for WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price. There are screenings happening all over the place around austin. None of them are during times that I can make it due to work and/or children, but maybe you would like to attend one.
UK's work and Families Bill: Paid Paternity Leave
October 19, 2005
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Paid leave plans for new fathers
The Work and Families Bill extends paid maternity leave from six months to nine months, but fathers rather than mothers could take the last three months.
Well, at least our friends in the UK are beginning to get the right idea. I'm curious if single mamas get the full 9 months to themselves, though? Shouldn't families have the right to choose how that time is divided?
No FUCKING way.
September 1, 2005
FEMA Directing Donations To Rev. Pat Robertson : Sploid
FEMA has released to the media and on its Web site a list of suggested charities to help the storm’s hundreds of thousands of victims. The Red Cross is first on the list.The Rev. Pat Robertson’s “Operation Blessing” is next on the list.
[link via atrios]
Monsanto wants to Hog the Pigs.
August 11, 2005
Crop King Monsanto Seeks Pig-Breeding Patent Clout
Some fear that Monsanto one day could be filing patent infringement lawsuits against pig farmers. Monsanto already has a track record of suing farmers whose crops contain some of the company's patented genetic plant technology."The claims are very unique. It's another incident of Monsanto trying to really push the boundaries," said agricultural patent attorney Heidi Nebel.
Critics also say it is not apparent that Monsanto has actually invented anything new in swine reproduction. They say the company is simply trying to lay claim to a combination of practices already used along with genetic selection that occurs in nature.
I was sort of wondering what kind of evil scheme Monsanto might be cooking up, as I hadn't heard about them for awhile.
WTF?
August 10, 2005
Austin Independent School District : Recent News
As acting Principal, Dr. Nolley will be meeting with the Reagan community to receive its input on the type of educator who can best lead the Reagan campus for the remainder of the 2005-2006 school year. Dr. Nolley said he will conduct “principal profile” meetings in the coming weeks with Reagan teachers, students, parents, the faith-based community, and others.
Is there a reason why "faith-based" needs to be specified in this memo about an administrative transition at a local PUBLIC school?
Vaccines, neurotoxins, and sleep apnea
August 8, 2005
Last Saturday on Meet the Press, Tim Russert addressed the issue of the safety of vaccines. I have a lot to say on the subject...more than I have time for right now, but I just read this BBC article about sleep apnea:
They also suspect the condition strikes people suffering the late stages of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease.These people often have breathing difficulties during sleep, and the researchers believe their bodies eventually reach a point where they are unable to rouse themselves from sleep when they stop breathing.
and even though it focuses on the elderly, I can't help but wonder if this is the long-awaited researched admission that neurotoxins such as Thimerosal and Aluminum might have some bearing on SIDS.
Also Scary.
July 17, 2005
REALLY fucking scary.
July 17, 2005
The Gleasons would not be allowed to see or even speak to their daughter for the next five months, and Aliah would spend a total of nine months in a state psychiatric hospital and residential treatment facilities. While in the hospital, she was placed in restraints more than 26 times and medicated—against her will and without her parents' consent—with at least 12 different psychiatric drugs, many of them simultaneously.
She just doesn't ever stop, Does she?
June 27, 2005
I was watching the PBS science program "Nova" the other night and spotted the liberal bias right away. I knew it would be there because Ken Tomlinson, the Bush-appointed chairman of the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), says the network is riddled with leftist leanings. Sure enough, in a program on tsunamis and what causes them, the show blamed it on shifting tectonic plates in the earth's surface. Then the graphic shows these two tectonic plates grinding against each other -- suddenly, the one on the left sort of falls down, and the big, aggressive plate on the right jumps on top of it, causing a killer tsunami. See? Wouldn't have happened on Fox.
(and I, for one, am glad of that)
pharmaceuticals and the health care "industry"
November 29, 2004
Eric from Total Information Awareness has an awesome post about The Conflict On Drugs:
I do not mean to demonize the pharmaceutical industry. They are merely seeking to maximize their influence, profits and power. In the process, they have spearheaded many important scientific breakthroughs that have saved lives, and greatly benefited society as a whole. But at times, the industry will be seduced by the same siren's song that big business inevitably falls prey to: profits over public welfare. Since this is an inextricable conflict of interest, it is necessary to rein in such unchecked power. Greater regulation of the industry is needed in order to insure that its beneficial qualities are maximized, and any conflicts of interest are minimized and taken out of the decision making process - whether it be legislation mandating that all test results of drugs are released to doctors and consumers, or reinvigorating the FDA with a sense of purpose for performing its oversight duties.
I remember walking around downtown Austin with George during SXSW 2 years ago, and I said something about "healthcare consumers" and the thought of that, and the fact that it so easily rolled out of my mouth as if it was a concept that had no inherent conflict, made me laugh out loud, even though it wasn't actually funny.
In fact, if one wanted to argue that capitalism is based on flawed and cruel logic, one only needs to consider the idea that healthcare is a commodity...
But that's not really what Eric talks about in the article - so go read it.
Gimme some (fair labor practice) sugar
July 14, 2004
"Child labor is rampant on El Salvador's sugarcane plantations," said Bochenek, lead author of the HRW report, which was based on interviews conducted early last year with 32 children and youths between the ages of 12 and 22, as well as with parents, teachers, activists, academics, lawyers, government officials, and representatives of the Salvadoran Sugar Association. "Companies that buy or use Salvadoran sugar should realize that fact and take responsibility for doing something about it."Cutting sugar cane is back-breaking and hazardous work for a variety of reasons. The most common tools are machetes and knives. Both the monotony of the work and the fact that it is usually performed under direct sunlight make for frequent accidents, even among experienced workers.
Virtually all of the children interviewed by HRW bore multiple scars from cuts they received during their work. ''I cut myself on the leg,” one 13-year-old boy told an HRW interviewer as he displayed a scar on his left shin. “There was a lot of blood. I got stitches at the clinic.” His mother added that the incident occurred when he was 12.
Because cane is often burned before it is cut to clear away the leaves, workers may suffer smoke inhalation and burns on their feet. As one former labor inspector told HRW, "Sugarcane has the most risks. It's indisputable - sugarcane is the most dangerous (agricultural work)."
You can send e-mail to Coca-Cola and the Salvadoran Sugar Association through Human Rights Watch.
Does anyone know if Sucanat is cool with fair trade & labor practices? I've been snooping around the internet, looking for information, and i haven't found anything. Oh, never mind, here's something.
Blood on Their Hands.
June 28, 2004
I'm looking for some information about diamond mining so I can rant about a PBS show I saw yesterday, and I found this: George Draffan - Directory of Transnational Corporations
Really interesting and useful information.
Required Reading.
March 17, 2004
randomWalks: Everything you ever wanted to know about offshoring
It'll take me about a million trillion years to read it all, but...DAMN. That's a lot of useful info.
Nobody but Kerry?
February 25, 2004
Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair: Winning with Ralph Nader
From the point of view of democracy, the American political system is a shambles of corruption, gerrymandered to ensure that it is almost impossible to evict any sitting member of the House of Representatives. The presidential debates are fixed to exclude unwelcome intruders. Nader says that in the whole of his 2000 challenge he got about 3 minutes face-time on the major networks.You can understand why the two major parties don't want any outsider spoiling the fun. They arranged things that way, as Nader understands, and explains better than anyone.
"I think the mistake the Democrats are making" said Nader at the National Press Club on Monday " when they use the mantra 'anybody but Bush' is, first of all, it closes their mind to any alternative strategies or any creative thinking, which is not good for a political party. And second, it gives their ultimate nominee no mandate, no constituency, no policies, if the ultimate nominee goes into the White House."
Counterpunch has a lot of stuff about Nader, including this article by Nader himself.
(also, just saw this article by David Grenier, our favorite anarchist photographer guy...)
Haliburton under investigation
February 24, 2004
HoustonChronicle.com - Pentagon opens criminal probe of Halliburton gasoline pricing
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said today it opened a criminal investigation of fraud allegations against a unit of Vice President Dick Cheney's old company Halliburton Co. involving potential overpricing of fuel delivered to Iraq. The investigation was focused on Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.
For those of you in Austin, there is a protest march from Highland Mall to Halliburton's offices tomorrow:
Tuesday, February 24, 11:30 AM PROTEST: STOP THE CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF IRAQ ! Protest Halliburton and demand an end to the corporate invasion of Iraq!This is a nonviolent, legal protest in solidarity with coordinated actions in over 25 cities in the US and UK. From bribing Nigerian dictators to ripping off American troops and Iraqi workers, corporations like Halliburton/KBR have no qualms about putting their bottom-line before human needs. To make matters worse, taxpayers are subsidizing this outrageous behavior with millions of dollars in no-bid contracts. Join a protest to demand a refund!
Meet at 11:30 AM at the Highland Mall (JC Penney parking lot). At 12:00 noon, march to Halliburton's KBR office at 505 E. Huntland Dr. Bring signs, visuals, drums, puppets, and banners!
Called by Austin Justice Action Movement, Code Pink Austin, and Women In Black
Ironically, all of the austin anti-war sites seem to not be working tonight, so I don't have a link...wait...here's one.
Media Conspiracy?
January 22, 2004
Does anyone else find the actual video of Dean's (in)famous "I have a Scream" speech anti-climactic after hearing all of the fucking hoopla? I'm not even a Dean supporter, and I'm suspicious of the attention being paid to this. For weeks, there's been this build-up as Dean as this Angry Man. I have seen this man speak, and...yeah, he's angry. He's angry and he's passionate and he's emotive and he's articulate...and there ain't a fucking thing wrong with that. It really does seem like the media set him up for a total character assassination and then moved in for the kill at the earliest opportunity.
But the speech he gave after the Iowa Caucuses wasn't particularely "creepy" or "scary" or anything, that's just really what the media wants us to believe. It sounded like, yeah, his voice cracked at the end when he was saying "yeah." Like he was really into what he was saying and his vocal chords reacted to the very real physical manifestations of stress and excitement. Whoop-de-shit. You know?
Anyway, I wasn't really thinking about this or worrying about it until I heard about the moveon.org ad and the superbowl. CBS is refusing to run the moveon.org ad during the superbowl, even though moveon.org is more than willing to pony up the ridiculous fee for them to do so. This, in such close proximity, time-wise, to the Dean smear campaign, just kinda makes me go...."hmmmm."
You know? You really gotta wonder.
And you also really gotta take a peek at this, because it's really quite hilarious, and I think is more in the spirit of Dean's actual speech.
Further Evidence that We Are All So Fucked
July 14, 2003
Dozens of the Government's most influential advisers on critical health and environmental issues have close links to biotech and drug corporations, according to a dossier of Whitehall documents obtained by The Observer. Internal papers from the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) reveal for the first time the extent of the close connections between big business and scientists hired to give independent advice to Ministers. Many work as consultants for the firms, own shares in the companies or enjoy lucrative research grants from them.Confidential documents disclose that former Environment Minister Michael Meacher and Food and Farming Minister Lord Whitty, were deeply concerned that scientists with industry links were dominating committees on everything from food safety and air quality to the imminent arrival of GM crops. Both Meacher and Whitty were alarmed that the scientists' commercial links jeopardised the independence of the advice they gave.
The list goes on and on.
Oh, and the U.S. government's not really interested in democracy, or human rights either
June 2, 2003
Joan d'Arc posted this about recent developments in Burma.
There have been some scary developments in Burma. I mentioned yesterday that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner and the country's leading pro-democracy advocate, was arrested, along with at least 17 supporters. Since then, the Burmese government has shut down the offices of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, cut their telephone lines (making it impossible for the press to reach them and find out what is happening) and closed the universities. American and European diplomats are being prevented from talking to NLD party officials.
Bush says one thing:
"There are moments in history when great people emerge to shine a bright light on a dark path. Aung San Suu Kyi is such a person," President Bush said last month.
And John Ashcroft advocates something else:
In a brief recently filed in the Unocal case, the administration - in the person of Attorney General John Ashcroft - sets out to defend an oil company, reaffirm the president's untrammeled power over foreign policy, and eviscerate a law that has provided a modicum of justice to victims of rights abuses from around the world.[...]The plaintiffs in the Unocal case are Burmese villagers who claim that they were subjected to forced labor, murder, rape, and torture during the construction of a gas pipeline through their country. Soldiers allegedly committed these abuses while providing security and other services for the pipeline project.
Jane Doe I, one of the plaintiffs in the case, testified that when her husband tried to escape the forced labor program, he was shot at by soldiers, and that, in retaliation for his attempted escape, she and her baby were thrown into a fire. Her child died and she was badly injured.
Other villagers described the summary execution of people who refused to work, or who became too weak to work effectively.
There is little doubt that such crimes occurred. They have been exhaustively documented by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and a host of other groups. In 1995, when pipeline construction was beginning, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution urging Burma (also known as Myanmar) to put a stop to its practices of torture, forced labor and summary executions. Even the Justice Department, whose "friend of the court" brief was filed this past May 8, was willing to acknowledge the "blatant human rights abuses" committed by Burma's military government.
The only serious factual issue in the case is the extent of Unocal's responsibility for the crimes. The plaintiffs claim that Unocal aided and abetted the Burmese military in its campaign of abuse, an assertion that Unocal vigorously denies.
Does no one in this country understand that our government will do whatever it can to preserve corporate interests? In fact, capitalism can't even fucking exist in a world where all people are equally represented.
Greedy fuckers.
Why I give a shit about what happens to the Dixie Chicks...
May 19, 2003
It's not because I give a shit about the Dixie Chicks themselves. I think they are masters of self-promotion and marketing, but I don't consider their music or their message to be particularly inspiring.
However, this kind of shit makes me honestly very frightened about our future.
According to a story from americannewsreel.com sent to RRC by former Reprise president Howie Klein, "Phone calls originating from Republican Party headquarters in Washington went out to country stations, urging them to remove the Chicks from their playlists.The 'alternative concert' [to the Dixie Chicks' tour opener] is actually the work of the South Carolina Republican Party and party officials are helping promote the concert.We received a call from 'Gallagher's Army,' urging us to support the alternative concert. Caller ID backtraced the call to South Carolina GOP headquarters."Chain radio stations were quick to dump the Chicks because their parent companies (Clear Channel, Viacom, et al) have pressing business in the nation's capitol and they want help from the Republican Party.
And it should probably frighten you, as well...no matter what you think of the Dixie Chicks.
"God's" gift?
May 10, 2003
It's funny I should read this article tonight, as I felt so weird seeing Bill Gates talk about how very generous he is (and how difficult it is for a rich person to give away his money) on Moyers tonight that I had to turn it off:
Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold's Ghost, an account of Congo's colonial-era occupation by King Leopold II of Belgium, explained the situation in a recent New York Times essay. "The [Congo's] Balkanization and war suit the amazing variety of corporations — large and small, American, African and European — that profit from the river of mineral wealth without having to worry about high taxes, and that prefer a cash-in-suitcases economy to a highly regulated one," Hochschild wrote.One of the most valuable of the Congo minerals is coltan, an essential component for the manufacture of electronic devices like cell phones and computer chips. Western corporations like American Mineral Fields and Bechtel, Inc. have strongholds in Congo. Less directly but no less harmfully, technology companies purchase minerals that find their way to our PCs from shady origins in war-torn regions of Congo.
Blood-stained cell phones
As Gondola points out, we in the U.S. often enjoy our luxuries at the expense of suffering people in developing countries. He calls out the most visible and wealthy figure in high tech as an example of how international-business-as-usual is destroying his homeland. "It is such a paradox that the same time that Bill Gates is giving money to vaccinate children, he is helping fuel the war in Congo, contributing to the deaths of millions of people," Gondola says. "People need to know that the laptop you use or the cell phone you carry is tainted with blood from the Congo."
Gondola points out that Congo is one of several African countries, including oil-rich Nigeria and Angola, whose residents suffer while abundant natural resources are extracted for profit by foreign interests. "We see a pattern developing in Africa: In resource-rich countries, people starve because of corruption and theft of the resources. In poorer African countries, people are actually doing better," he says.
Corporate Rights vs. Human Rights
April 29, 2003
Lisa has an excellent essay up about the rights of corporations:
You know, we've got a lot of dumb people in this country, and by and large, they vote Republican. Think about it. Who gets the KKK vote? Who gets the fascist patriot movement vote? The anti-gay vote? The anti-woman vote? The uber-intolerant-Christian vote? The anti-poor vote? The anti-peace vote? The anti-worker vote? The anti-teacher vote? The anti-environment vote? The anti-democracy vote? The anti-Social Security vote? The anti-civil liberties vote?This underbelly of American democracy doesn't appreciate that political free speech shouldn't get you fired, and in the case of The Chicks, corporations shouldn't be permitted to rally up vitriolic protests against them.
[link courtesy of Seeing the Forest]