29.10.10
Consitututional amendment proposed to control corporate election spending in the US
Here's an idea: why not just let the multinationals run for office?!
21.10.10
BIrds in Quito
When Chevron came to Ecuador
Chevron in Ecuador
Chevron entered Ecuador by purchasing Texaco. Texaco had been operating in Ecuador since 1960. In 1993 they were hit with a lawsuit for dumping toxic waste in the rainforest. The 18 Billion gallons of toxic sludge they dumped dwarfs the Exxon-Valdez spill, and was done intentionally.Chevron aquired Texaco, along with their liabilities, in a US$36 Billion deal that was struck almost exactly 10 years ago, and consumated in 2001. The court-appointed expert witness in the suit estimates the damages at US$28 Billion, the plaintiffs have recently increased their estimate to over US$100 Billion.
In 2001, Ecuador was among the most impoverished countries of Latin America, frequently paralyzed by riots and strikes as the indigenous people asserted their rights. Here's a brief excerpt of the Ecuador Timeline from BBC News:1998 - Jamil Mahuad Witt elected president.2000 - Vice-President Gustavo Noboa becomes president after Mahuad is forced to leave office by the army and indigenous protesters; Ecuador adopts the US dollar as its national currency in an effort to beat inflation and stabilise the economy.
2001 January - Ecuador declares state of emergency in Galapagos Islands after an oil spill from a stricken tanker threatens the islands' fragile ecological balance. The potential danger is, in the end, largely averted.
2001 September - Indigenous community leader Luis Maldonado sworn in as minister for social welfare, the first Indian to hold a cabinet post which does not deal exclusively with indigenous affairs.
2002 February - Protests by indigenous peoples bring oil production to a near standstill. The protesters demand that more of the oil revenues should be invested in their communities.
story continues in
DOGSPOT9.10.10
Peru: Vargas Llosa wins Nobel prize for literature
Ecuador: Rafael Correa will continue to lead
The immediate cause of last week's outburst was ostensibly a protest by police, whose recently improved benefits will be reduced, along with a general reduction in state benefits - benefits that remain greatly improved since his government took hold 4 years ago. For the long term, he has instituted what he calls a 21st century version of socialism, and aligns himself with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, much to the distaste of right wing pundits.
Correa compares his work to Roosevelt's New Deal:
“If they were in our place, the large majority of North Americans would do the same thing, because they would never put up with the levels of injustice, inequality and inefficiency that this country has had,”is what Correa told the New York Times, where he's the focus of today's story: Ecuador’s Leader Confounds Backers and Detractors Alike
17.9.10
Peru lifts statute of limitations on crimes against humanity
According to the LAHT: "The sole “no” vote on Tuesday came from Vice President Luis Giampietri, a retired vice admiral accused of involvement in the massacre of 100 prison inmates in 1986, during Garcia’s first stint as president."
Having lifted Decree 1097, Peru has restored its compliance with the international treaties mentioned in the recent HRW press releasePeruvian Novelist Protests Amnesty Decree
The decree issued earlier this month will only serve to discredit President Alan Garcia, according to a famed Peruvian novelist who is protesting the decision:"LIMA – Acclaimed novelist Mario Vargas Llosa tendered his “irrevocable” resignation from presiding over the commission charged with the construction of a memorial to victims of 20 years of politically motivated violence in Peru, a move he said he made to reject a controversial decree he called a “barely disguised amnesty” for rights abusers. Vargas Llosa sent a letter from Paris to Peruvian President Alan Garcia informing him of his decision to put an end to his participation on the commission. The writer and former presidential candidate said in his letter, to which Efe gained access on Monday, that Decree 1097 “is only going to bring discredit” on Garcia’s administration."
story continues in
Latin American Herald Tribune16.9.10
Alan Garcia will follow the path of Fujimori and Montesinos
The path won't be shining, and like the path of Alberto Fujimori and his US trained sidekick it will lead directly to jail. How long he lasts will depend upon the grace of his final moves. When Fujimori and Montesinos had disgraced themselves thoroughly enough, they became a liability, and as the century turned, the blackmail video appeared. It had been recorded by Montesinos himself, and was shelved by a trusted friend. We don't know the name of the "friend" who sold him out, but the story ended like "Three Days of the Condor". "..it could be your closest friend". So it was.A full bench of economists and torturers were ready to continue the game. An old reliable player was given a second chance.
Unlike Fujimori, Garcia has always been sure to don the velvet glove when handling his enemies. This is because the ghosts of his not so distant past remain visible.
At least 118 of these ghosts are part of a continuing investigation that has repeatedly fizzled.
You can read the convoluted details (up to 2008) at IPS. The following excerpt is just a taste:
El Frontón Massacre Case Heads Back to Inter-American Court
LIMA, Dec 23 , 2008 (IPS) - A ruling by Peru’s Constitutional Court that makes it impossible to bring the case of a 1986 massacre of 118 prisoners to trial will be taken to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights....Fujimori has since been found guilty, in several trials see wikipedia
In August 2000, the Inter-American Court ruled that no statute of limitations applied to the crimes committed in El Frontón, and declared that the state had violated the American Convention on Human Rights"
"Former Constitutional Court magistrate Magdiel González said the Dec. 11 (2008)decision is a step backwards and contradicts earlier resolutions handed down by the Court...
...Former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) is in fact facing trial at the moment because the Court ruled that no statute of limitations applied to the Barrios Altos (1991) and La Cantuta (1992) massacres,"
After several more complex turnabouts, the grizzly past of Alan Garcia is once again nipping at his heels, thus the attempt to obtain amnesty for himself and his deadly circle by presidential decree.
additional background at
DOGSPOT
14.9.10
Peru heads toward military dictatorship again
Peru's current president, Alan Garcia, is a throwback to the days of the Reagan Era, when policy was shaped by the "Santa Fe Declaraction" (published as A New Inter-American Policy for the Eighties). This was the heyday for torturers trained by The School of The Americas, and torture was OK if it ensured a continent free from the threat of Communism - which was interpreted as anything that would allow the rise of a middle class, like the much studied prototype in Guatemala, the original Banana Republic of the CIA. Several days ago, Human Rights Watch published an alert about the old war horse Garcia. Here it is:20.1.08
Unresolved Legacy of US Torture
...the lack of cuts on Olson’s body would appear to rule out the official CIA story of his suicide...'I never heard of anybody jumping through a closed window with the blind down.'
story continues in
DOGSPOT
The Economics of Mega-Hosting
Competition between web hosting companies has gotten so fierce they have to offer ever more gigabytes of space, and it's not necessary. Most people don't know the difference between a gigabyte and a gigahertz except that more seems to be better.What distinguishes a good host for your website is not the amount of space - but rather the quality of support and diligence of their server maintenance. You probably talked to one of those offshore support people when you tried to cancel your AOL account. Will I be forced to compete with really terrible hosting companies by offering even more space than what you'll ever need? No. I don't aim to have more customers than a typical host would put on a single server, and make sure my servers are not overbooked like a budget airline. Take advantage of the free trial and see
Labels: Gigabyte, hosting, support, web, web hosting, website
11.5.07
DOGSPOT CONTINUES TO BITE
"all told, more than a million DOGSPOT stories have been served, each of them a blow to the Empire, and the 0.3% of the US population that continues to prey upon the rest of us continues to feel the painful bite of the free press."Print them out, and distribute them to your friends - and enemies.
(update: in spite of the interruptions in publication, DOGSPOT has stayed on line and with more than 2 million visits as of August 2 2010.) DOGSPOT
Labels: free press, independent media, information, news, repression
9.5.07
What do you mean by "neo-liberal policy of extraction"?
Eyes glaze over when I utter the phrase, as if I'd said "dictatorship of the proletariat", but when people ask about The Neo-Liberal Model of Resource Extraction, I point them to an essay by Walden Bello where he uses Chile as an example..."Chile was the guinea pig of a free market paradigm that was foisted on other third world countries beginning in the early 1980s through the agency of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank."
"..radical trade liberalization resulted in
...an export-oriented economy that favored agricultural production and resource extraction."
story continues in
DOGSPOT
4.2.07
War Against the Poor Enters New Phase
"...two officers got out of the car and approached Common Ground volunteers. One of them, officer Lusk (badge number 1811) was involved in a previous incident where, he ... and another off duty officer in uniform broke into the office without a warrant and took computers and files belonging to Common Ground."
story continues in
DOGSPOT
10.1.07
Why is the UN Complicit in the Rape of Haiti?
Since 1981, when the "Santa Fe Statement" was drafted, powers within the Republican party have been trying to install Marc Bazin as the ruler of Haiti, with the help of a crew of pirates trained by the School of Americas. The recent outrages of MINUSTAH are merely an extension of the same tired old policy, executed by graduates of the School of the Americas. RAPE OF HAITI7.1.07
"We need to plan our protests now, for the greatest nationwide turnout since VJ day, and with a difference. We should insure that our protests are protected by the state, local, and federal officials we elected in November who have openly stated their opposition to the war. In fact, even if they are not opposed to the war, protesters deserve protection from the errant batons of the World Police and local fascists who have sucessfully united to suppress our civil rights for the past 6 years." PLAN TO PROTESTPLAN TO PROTEST January 27-29 at the Capitol
Case Continues Against Rumsfeld in Chicago
On Friday, I contacted the law firm representing Donald Vance in his lawsuit against Rumsfeld in the Northern District of Illinois, the jurisdiction where they both live. They are still "trying to accomplish service" on Rumsfeld.
Lucky for him that his old boss, Gerald Ford passed away in a timely manner:
Rumsfeld was in Ann Arbor while the Sheriff was looking for him back home in Skokie. Conduct yourself accordingly, Mr. Rumfeld: Loevy and Loevy does not let the big fish slip away, and you are looking like one fine catch. There will be updates to the DOGSPOT story and in print after my interview with Vance's lawyer early next week, and more documents online.
DOGSPOT
4.1.07
End Torture and Detainment: Protest on January 11
Thursday January 11, 2007 is the 5th anniversary of illegal detention at Guantanamo Naval Base. Build your own Gitmo cage, and join the nationwide protests! Events are being coordinated by Witness Against Torture. They also have provided complete instructions for the "Gitmo cage" shown in the protest at right. STORY AND PLANS6.11.05
New Lies Attempt to Smooth a Bad Week for Bush
story continues in
PBR Weekend Edition when Realo is done rebuilding his Blog Empire. Meanwhile, visit his new pages at Silence Is Defeat!if I rememember correctly, this had to do with the slanted CNN reporting at Mar Del Plata, since the original is currently off line, I'll try to find a similar report soon - dr
Se viene la Cumbre, se viene la represión
Se viene Bush y se viene la Cumbre de presidentes. Todo repudiable. No solo el genocida, sino muchos de los ad lateres que en distintos puntos del continente americano le hacen la corte al imperialismo.story continues in
La Fogata
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
>HOME