March 4, 2010

Don’t You Do It, Kors! Don’t You DARE Do It!

Equality California, one of the most powerful gay rights groups in California, appears ready to cross a union picket line today at 5 p.m.

EQCA, led by executive director Geoff Kors, is holding a party at the El Paseo Inn in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate Mexico City’s legalization of gay marriage.

The only problem, according Richard Zaldivar, founder of The Wall Las Memorias Project, an HIV/AIDS education group based in Los Angeles, is that no social justice groups in L.A.’s Latino community meet there because it is non-union.

Zaldivar tells the Weekly that El Paseo was picketed just last week for that very reason. …

More: “Will Equality California Cross A Union Picket Line?,” Queer Town, March 4, 2010

Don’t you do it, Kors. Don’t you dare be a scab — and don’t you dare do any more damage to the LGBT community than you’ve already done.

If you can’t change venues, you cancel the damned thing — and suck up any charges, because (as QT supposes) you didn’t do your homework.

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July 30, 2009

Nicaragua Killing Its Girls & Women With Total Abortion Ban

Amnesty International:

Nicaragua’s total ban on abortions is endangering the lives of girls and women, denying them life-saving treatment, preventing health professionals from practicing effective medicine and contributing to an increase in maternal deaths across the country, concludes Amnesty International in a new report [issued] on Monday.

According to official figures, 33 girls and women have died in pregnancy this year as compared to 20 in the same period last year. Amnesty International believes these figures are only a minimum as the government itself has acknowledged that the number of maternal deaths is under-recorded.

The report “The total abortion ban in Nicaragua: Women’s lives and health endangered, medical professionals criminalized” is the first Amnesty International study examining the human rights implications of the denial of abortion when the life or health of a woman or girl is at risk, including when she is a victim of rape or incest.

Nicaragua’s revised Penal Code stipulates prison sentences for girls and women who seek an abortion and for health professionals who provide health services associated with abortion. Only 3% of the world’s countries have such absolute bans in place. …

More sobering information — and a call to action — at the link.

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July 12, 2009

South Korean News Reports Kim Jong-Il Has Pancreatic Cancer

Honestly (and all perfunctory “wouldn’t wish it on anybody” statements aside), I don’t know if the presumably imminent departure of Kim Jong-Il (the five-year survival rate of people with pancreatic cancer is a mere 4%) and the rise of his son, Kim Jong Un (whom Kim Jong-Il named as his successor last month — which is no secret to anyone but the North Korean people, who apparently haven’t yet been told) is a good thing, or a bad thing.

What I do remember are the warnings we heard when Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il’s father, was dying, and Kim Jong-Il was poised to assume power — which can be boiled down to: “If you think the father is crazy, wait ’til you get a load of the son.”

What do we know about Kim Jong Un, and what can we expect — or fear?

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June 28, 2009

Ruben Diaz Unhinged, Unglued, Unintelligible

“Juan Manuel Benitez, doesn’t shy away from challenging Diaz on his views simply because he calls himself a preacher and, as Benitez keeps pressing, you see Diaz begin to lose it. At one point, as his own arguments are used to refute his positions, Diaz stops answering, and simply keeps repeating ‘I am a Pastor. I am a preacher. I am a believer in Jesus Christ, our redeemer and savior’…”

I’d say “Un-freaking-believable,” except that nothing this frothing homophobe says or does surprises me.

Blabbeando (if you don’t read Blabbeando already, you should start; it’s the only blog out there tracking LGBT developments in the Spanish-speaking world, and provides tons of news, and translations, for those of us forced to take French [”the international language” — ha!] for eight years instead of something useful, i.e., Spanish) has the video, painstakingly translated and captioned, the full story, and the must-read-to-believe transcript:

Related:

New York Senate Democrats: Backstabbing Cowards, November 30, 2008

What’s Ruben Diaz’ Real Problem? His Gay Brothers?, June 26, 2009

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June 7, 2009

What’s the Hold-Up on Lifting U.S. HIV Travel Ban?

One of the very few good things (and maybe the only good thing) George W. Bush ever did was signing PEPFAR into law last summer, which, among other things, lifted “the HIV travel/immigration ban, which bars foreign travelers with HIV/AIDS from entering the United States unless they obtain a spouse or family waiver.”

So why can’t Canadian Martin Rooney cross the border to go shopping — or do something a wee bit more important, like passing through the U.S. to get to Mexico, where he does awareness- and fundraising for AIDS Tijuana? (”To access Tijuana,” Rooney explains, “you have to go through San Diego, and basically the bottom line to this is very simple — I cannot do my humanitarian work.”)

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May 15, 2009

What Other Country Just Left the U.S. in the Dust on Gay Rights? How About Uruguay?

Hungary just granted gay and lesbian domestic partners a host of federal benefits, and now Uruguay has done what Barack Obama said he’d do as soon as he took office — and has been backpedaling on ever since: The South American country has lifted its ban on gays in the military.

Peru, on the other hand, is regressing:

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January 14, 2009

Equality Rollback in Puerto Rico

Disturbing:

Puerto Rico: Changes in Civil Code language would drop recognition of same-sex couples as family, limit access to partnership rights

Worrisome news from Puerto Rico: While it appears that a long-gestating Civil Code draft might finally become law during the current legislative session, a legislative committee has indicated that it won’t include language that would have allowed couples — straight and gay — to enter into a common-law union with the same rights and responsibilities as marriage (”No opportunities for common-law unions“, El Vocero, Jan. 12, 2009).

“It doesn’t have the votes to be approved,” said Liza Fernandez, Co-Chair of the joint Commission for the Revision of the Civil Code, “I understand that rights should be recognized for partners who live together but are not married, be them homosexuals or heterosexuals, but to bring it as a common-law union will not allow me the possibility of granting those rights. We will seek alternatives and will amend other areas such as inheritance to have, for example, a spouse or cohabiting partner [recognized as] the heir apparent.”

In other words, language that would have given same-sex couples access to all rights available to married heterosexual partners in Puerto Rico will be eliminated and, in exchange, they will only be given a few rights.

There is a progressive angle to the alternative which would be of benefit to others. El Vocero says that inheritance rights, hospital visits and medical coverage would be made available to any two people who can demonstrate they have lived together under the same roof for a number of years through a ‘civil pact of solidarity’. Same-sex partners would have access to the ‘pact’ and so would family members, siblings or non-romantic co-inhabitants living together.

But the limited rights would be granted through a Contracts process and not through Family Law. In other words, same sex partners would still not be considered as a family under the new Civil Code. …

More at the link.

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December 1, 2008

For Anyone Who Still Thinks Hugo Chavez is a Swell Guy

UPDATE, 12/02/08: Did she or didn’t she? Perform in Caracas, that is? This article, undated, and apparently lifted (and awkwardly translated) from something called “Ultimas Noticias,” says she did.

I don’t blame Perez Hilton or cyndilaupernews.com for the confusion; the source of the article cited at cyndilaupernews.com is from Brazil:

O presidente venezuelano Hugo Chávez mostrou mais uma vez seu autoritarismo e cancelou o show que Cyndi Lauper faria em Caracas nesse sábado. Segundo comentários da imprensa local, Chávez tinha receio de protestos políticos da cantora, alem de seu apoio ao novo presidente americano Barack Obama e a luta pelos direitos da comunidade gay.

* Com ingressos à venda, houve protesto de fãs e discussões calorosas na internet. Como a imprensa venezuelana é controlada, o acesso às informações oficiais é quase impossível.

* O show em Caracas seria o último de sua turnê mundial Bring Ya To The Brink que passou por 21 países, incluindo o Brasil. Cyndi Lauper foi informada que não poderia embarcar para a Venezuela ao chegar em Lima, no Peru, no último dia 27. Após realizar este show, teve de seguir direto para Nova York, onde encontrou a família.

* A cantora deve se pronunciar sobre o fato em breve em seu blog, no seu site oficial.

Since my Portuguese is even worse than my Spanish, here’s Google’s translation:

The Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez showed once again his authoritarianism and canceled the show that Cyndi Lauper would in Caracas this Saturday. According to local press comments, Chavez had fear of political protests of the singer, besides its support for the new U.S. president and Barack Obama fight for the rights of the gay community.

* With tickets on sale, there was protest from fans and warm discussions on the Internet. As the Venezuelan press is controlled, access to official information is almost impossible.

* The show in Caracas would be the last of his world tour Bring Ya To The Brink now in 21 countries, including Brazil. Cyndi Lauper was informed that he could not embark for Venezuela to arrive in Lima, Peru, on the last day 27. After performing this show, had to follow Direct to New York, where he found his family.

* The singer must rule on whether the suit soon to your blog on their official website.

Honestly, I keep an eye on Latin America only when there’s a coup, or something really gay happens (like, I know Brazil has come a long way in lifting anti-gay legislation against LGBTs, but I also know it’s still dangerous as hell to be openly gay, even in the big cities) — so, maybe you can tell me: Does Brazil hate Venezuela, particularly Hugo Chavez? Would that explain why a Brazilian gossip column would blast Chavez with a false story? And who would be so stupid to plant such a story, knowing it would be easily proven true or false by checking with Cyndi Lauper? (Not that Cyndi’s people have said anything about it yet, but I’m sure they’re more concerned with Cyndi’s tour at the moment.) It all seems pretty pointless to me.

Anyway, below is the original story:

The enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend.

Hugo Chavez Cancels Last Tour Date

Monday, December 1, 2008

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez canceled the last date on the “Bring Ya To The Brink World Tour” in Caracas Saturday. Chavez had fear of political protests and disagrees with her support for President elect Barack Obama and the fight for the rights of the gay community. As the press in Venezuela controlled, access to official information is almost impossible to get.

Cyndi will be making a blog post about this on her official site soon.

http://cyndilauper.com

Source

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August 6, 2008

Sex Workers Group Wins HIV and Rights Award at HIV/AIDS Conference

MEXICO CITY — August 6 — The Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW) is the recipient of the 2008 international Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Human Rights Watch announced today. The award, which recognizes outstanding individuals and organizations that protect the rights and dignity of people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, was presented in Mexico City on August 6, 2008, at the XVII International AIDS Conference.

“Sex workers routinely face human rights abuses, including the discriminatory denial of health services, arbitrary detention by police, harassment, and sexual and physical violence,” said Richard Elliott, executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. “This award recognizes the extraordinary contribution of the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers in the struggle for sex workers’ rights.”

Since 1994, APNSW has represented sex workers in various policy and educational forums, promoting the participation of sex workers in HIV/AIDS programs and supporting dialogue between nongovernmental organizations, governments, and activists. The group has challenged the increasing criminalization of all forms of sex work and unethical drug trials with sex workers as subjects.

APNSW has shaped policy at the global and regional levels, and built the capacity of local grassroots sex worker organizations, including by creating a network of transgender activists. Throughout Asia, the network has been challenging gender-based violence, promoting access to health care for sex workers, and advocating for the decriminalization of sex work.

“I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers,” said Andrew Hunter, the network’s policy director. “International recognition of sex workers’ human rights is vital to curb the HIV pandemic. Governments and UN agencies need to promote sustainable, comprehensive HIV prevention and care initiatives for sex workers that are community-led and protect their human rights.”

The stigmatization, social exclusion, and legal marginalization of sex workers contribute to human rights violations, and can exacerbate their risk of HIV infection. Increasingly, according to APNSW, anti-trafficking efforts and laws criminalizing transactional sex have resulted in violence and human rights abuses against sex workers at the hands of police. The organization pointed to new anti-trafficking legislation in Cambodia, where sex workers have been sent to “rehabilitation” centers and subjected to sexual violence and beatings, and had little access to health care or food.

“Being a part of APNSW — working in solidarity with tens of thousands of sex workers in the region — has allowed us to challenge the way the authorities have applied this law in Cambodia, and to gain strength to bring this issue to international attention,” said Kao Tha of the Women’s Network for Unity, a sex worker rights organization in Cambodia.

“The International AIDS Conference presents a forum to focus worldwide attention on the epidemic and our global response,” said Joe Amon, director of the HIV/AIDS program at Human Rights Watch. “Unfortunately, too often that response has been tainted by prejudice and misinformation. Only by ensuring the health and human rights of sex workers will governments, UN agencies, donors and nongovernmental groups be effective at reducing the vulnerability of sex workers to HIV infection. The Asia Pacific Network’s work epitomizes this.”

The Awards for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights were established in 2002 by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Human Rights Watch. An award is presented annually to one Canadian and one international recipient. This year’s Canadian recipient was Peter Collins, a prisoner and health activist in Ontario, Canada.

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December 21, 2007

If you thought getting left in the dust by South Africa was bad….

There has been a recent boon for LGBT people abroad. Uruguay became first Latin American country to legally recognize gay couples.

Uruguay’s Congress legalized civil unions for homosexual couples Tuesday in the first nationwide law of its kind in Latin America.

Under the new law, gay and straight couples will be eligible to form civil unions after living together for five years. They will have rights similar to those granted to married couples on such matters as inheritance, pensions and child custody.

Meanwhile Hungary legalized same-sex domestic partnerships.

Hungary’s parliament passed a law late on Monday that allows same-sex couples to register a civil partnership with many of the rights and obligations of marriage.

Registered couples will have the same rights as married heterosexual couples in inheritance, taxation and other financial matters.

But they will not be allowed to adopt children, unlike married couples.

Most recently in Nepal:

Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to scrap laws that discriminate against homosexuals.

The court ordered that sexual minorities should be guaranteed the same rights as other citizens.

…..

In their ruling, two Supreme Court judges said: “The government of Nepal should formulate new laws and amend existing laws in order to safeguard the rights of these people.

So what has the USA done for us lately?

They dropped the Hate-crimes bill (a.k.a. Matthew Shepard Act).

“We don’t have the votes,” said one House Democratic aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because conference negotiations on the defense bill were ongoing. “We’re about 40 votes short, not four or six.”

And what about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)? That passed, sort of. You see, it doesn’t include protection for transgendered people. Apparently the bigots put up so much of a stink over TG individuals having employment protections that they were nixed from the bill. Of course even ENDA-lite still has to get past GWB so it’s not entirely safe yet.

So as other nations march bravely into the 21st century the USA limps along in a continuous struggle against bigots who fight valiantly to return us to the dark ages.

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September 29, 2007

Argentine Court OKs Teen’s Gender Surgery

PlanetOut reports:

A 17-year-old Argentine has won a court battle to undergo surgery to become a female, the first decision of its kind involving a minor in Argentina, news reports said Thursday.

Ending a three-year legal battle, a court in the central province of Cordoba authorized the surgery this week.

In Argentina, the surgery requires court approval because of laws against mutilation.

A judge in 2004 initially ruled the teenager must wait until age 21, but the parents appealed and persuaded a court panel, the reports said.

. . .

In the United States, no court permission is necessary but most doctors are hesitant to operate on minors, said Denise Leclair, executive director of the International Foundation for Gender Education in Waltham, Mass.

An August court decision in Brazil required the public health system to pay for sex reassignment surgeries. At least eight other countries, including Canada, have similar policies.

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September 9, 2007

Not As Many Places Will Kill You for It Now

Good! ‘Cause Baja is a great honeymoon destination!

Newsweek checks the climate of same-sex equality in countries where you’d least expect to find it:

After eight years together, Gilberto Aranda and Mauricio List walked into a wedding chapel in the Mexico City neighborhood of Coyoacán last April and tied the knot in front of 30 friends and relatives. Aranda’s disapproving father was not invited to the springtime nuptials. For the newlyweds, the ceremony marked the fruit of the gay-rights movement’s long struggle to gain recognition in Mexico. The capital city had legalized gay civil unions only the month before. “After all the years of marches and protests,” says Aranda, 50, a state-government official, “a sea change was coming.”

. . .

The sweeping terms of the 2006 Civil Union Act placed South Africa in a select club of nations that have enacted similar laws and that, until last year, included only Canada, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. But there are glimmers of change in other nations. China decriminalized sodomy a decade ago and removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 2001. Police broke up a gay and lesbian festival in Beijing in 2005 but took no action last February against an unauthorized rally in support of legalizing gay marriage. The Chinese Communist Party has established gay task forces in all provincial capitals to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. And in April a Web site launched a weekly hour-long online program called Connecting Homosexuals with an openly gay host. It is the first show in China to focus entirely on gay issues.

Tolerance, however, by no means spans the globe. Homosexuality remains taboo throughout the greater Middle East. In most of the Far East, laws permitting gay and lesbian civil unions are many years if not decades away. In Latin America, universal acceptance of homosexuality is a long way off. Jamaica is a hotbed of homophobia. Even in Mexico, the first couple to take advantage of Coahuila’s new civil-union statute were fired from their jobs as sales clerks after their boss realized they were lesbians. The new Mexico City law grants same-gender civil unions property and inheritance rights, but not the right to adopt children.

. . .

Tolerance is now the majority, at least among the young. A 2005 poll by the Mitofsky market-research firm found that 50 percent of all Mexicans between the ages of 18 and 29 supported proposals to allow gay marriage…

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August 12, 2007

Bernal y Luna: Son guapos y son compasivos.

And that’s the extent of our pathetic grasp of Spanish. More to the point:

‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’ Stars Promote Rights

“Y Tu Mama Tambien” stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna said a gala dinner they are hosting Saturday will raise money to support human rights and shine light on poverty and injustice in Mexico.

The $300-a-plate meal in the capital will benefit Mexico’s Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights as well as Witness, an organization founded by singer Peter Gabriel that promotes the use of video and film to document human rights abuses.

. . .

Luna and Garcia Bernal, who recently launched the Canana production company, also want to use documentaries to raise awareness about failures of the Mexican judicial system, including the unsolved murders of more than 300 women in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas.

. . .

The actors, who starred in the 2001 road movie “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” have vocally backed other social and political causes such as Mexico City’s new law legalizing gay civil unions.

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May 6, 2003

Alien Nation: International Edition

As much as us ‘Murkins would like to think the entire bloody universe revolves around Main Street, U.S.A., it’s time to get outside our own little borders (well, more or less) and see what’s going on in the world…

If you’re in Washington tomorrow, try to take a picture of Jose Maria Aznar — it’ll last longer than he does. The Spanish Prime Minister will be in the capital for more mutual mastu- another tête-a-tête with Junior. It’s probably his last chance to travel on the public peseta (oops, make that the public Euro); he’s looking at national elections next month — and Spaniards were not exactly overjoyed by Aznar’s dragging the country into Shrub’s Coalition of the Unwitting. Oh, well, the PM is still fairly young — if he keeps the moustache, he could get a job as a porn star.

Ya gotta love foreign diplomats — they’re so much smarter than ours are. The trick to saying whatever you want is to apologize for saying something you never actually said in the first place. Got that? Never mind — German foreign ministry spokesman Walter Lindner got it, when he denied that German deputy foreign minister Juergen Chrobog said the U.S. was a “police state.” Which is true — Chrobog never said the U.S. was a “police state.” He only said it was turning into one.

Speaking of nifty verbal tricks, ex-Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev ragged on the U.S. yesterday for “casting away international law” in attacking Iraq. Can’t disagree with him on that point — even though by making it, he’s displaying either a very short memory, or stunning hubris; where was Misha’s indignation when his old bum chum Ronnie Reagan was casting aside international law left and right during his crusade throughout Latin America in the 1980s? Of course, American mucking-about in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, et al, wasn’t a threat to Soviet interests in Middle Eastern oil reserves.

Got SARS yet? Probably not — and you sure won’t get it at UC Berkeley this summer, either: The regents have decided to bar all students from China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong from enrolling in summer programs this year. This is just bizarre; while Cal (the school, that is, not the state) has a ton of Asian students, it hasn’t seen a single case of SARS. Why does this action strike yours truly as something more than simple paranoid overreaction? I can’t decide if it looks more like a kick in the pants to China (which is not a Friend of Junior’s), blatant discrimination, blind xenophobia, or yet another sneaky, underhanded way to absolutely kill the California economy — which, believe you me, is in far more serious trouble than the national economy as a whole. (Do you have any idea how much money Cal is going to lose by refunding all that tuition?)

Now, I might be able to understand this kind of idiocy if 1) the San Francisco Bay Area were overrun by SARS (it’s not; there has been exactly one case in San Francisco proper, and a relative handful scattered throughout the rest of the state), and 2) Cal were not such a longtime bastion of liberalism (and thus a prime target in the war on dissent).

Cal isn’t the only American university considering such a plan, but it is the first to go through with it — which is going to seriously hobble collaborative medical research between the West Coast and Asia. Stanford may get all the attention, but Berkeley deserves a lot more credit than it gets for huge contributions in groundbreaking research to everything from agriculture to genetics.

So what’s the real story behind Cal’s Asian ban? Cal’s too smart to buy into this kind of paranoia.

Anything going on with our old unconditional-love interest, Israel? You bet — and most of the action is taking place in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah (near the Egyptian border). On May 3rd, British cameraman James Miller was shot dead while filming a documentary on Israel’s regular practice of bulldozing Palestinian houses (sometimes with — surprise! — Palestinians still inside).

Miller is just the latest foreigner killed by Israeli troops; perhaps you remember 24-year-old Briton Tom Hurndall, a member of the International Solidarity Movement (as was American Rachel Corrie), who’s still in a coma after being picked off by an Israeli soldier April 11th while coming to the aid of two terrified Palestinian children.

Well, Tom’s back in the news today — or rather, his parents are: Anthony and Jocelyn Hurndall, as well as Tom’s younger brother, came to Rafah with a British diplomatic convoy to see the spot where their son had been hit, when an Israeli checkpoint soldier fired on the convoy.

Said Mrs. Hurndall: “What struck me was the ludicrousness of the situation. Here we were, the parents and brother of someone who has been wounded by Israeli Defence Forces and who then fire a warning shot over our car for no apparent reason.”

Mrs. Hurndall, what makes you think it was a warning shot?

Sure will be interesting to see what happens if any more Brits meet their Maker at the business end of a Galil. Could cause a bit of a rift between the U.K. and the U.S. if British nationals keep getting cut down by Israeli troops.

Sidenote re Israel: Last week, jewels9445 asked if anybody could make sense of the whole Israel-Palestine conflict. Well, I can’t make sense of it, because there is no sense to be made, but I’m just about finished writing a summary of it… So stay tuned, jewels — and everybody else who can’t understand why the U.S. keeps supporting a Middle Eastern country, armed to the teeth with weapons of mass destruction, that continues to… well, do what it does.

Finally… The U.S. says Canada is too concerned about freedom and privacy. Oh, God forbid those Canucks should let something so trivial as civil liberties get in the way of the mighty U.S. interrogation machine! How dare Canada try to protect its own citizens and landed immigrants — like, they might have actual rights or something.

Oh, yes, there’s a lot more happening beyond the confines of Hot Coffee, Mississippi, but we’ll get to it all later. I don’t want to overload your circuits — and besides, my typing finger has a cramp.

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March 28, 2003

Quick Takes

The war against Iraq was going extremely well, Prime Minister John Howard said today…

“I believe in all the circumstances (it is) going extremely well,” he told reporters.

“To those who are suggesting that because it hasn’t in effect resulted in complete victory in the space of a week, I suggest they take a reality check and understand a number of things.”

War is going ‘extremely well’, says Howard
Sydney Morning Herald
March 28, 2003

“Complete victory”? Those boys rationed down to a single bottle of water per day would probably settle for one lousy supply convoy getting to its destination.

Or do you mean it’s going “extremely well” because the only Australian casualty so far has been a news cameraman?

Bush has said he believes, as commander-in-chief, that he should be the last person in the chain of command to express doubts or worries about what his administration is doing, fearing that would quickly demoralize his team.

CEO Bush No Longer Delegates Message
Washington Post
March 27, 2003

So, Georgie, you’re afraid to hurt somebody’s feelings by questioning the massive screw-ups in Iraq? Or were you ever in the driver’s seat at all? Well, at least we know who’s not in charge. Call to tell us who’s really calling the shots? Rove, Cheney, Rummy, Perle? Or all of the above?

Oh, wait a minute! If Georgie isn’t really running the show, that’s what John Howard must have meant by things going “extremely well.”

US-led forces have yet to get their hands on Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein but they may have hit him where it hurts — sinking his luxurious yacht, a British commander said.

Allies sink Saddam’s yacht: report
News.com.au
March 28, 2003

And I was worried that we weren’t making any progress. Now, let’s blow up his SUV — that’ll really hurt!

Despite official statements that everything is fine on America’s southern border, the Bush administration seems to be giving cold treatment to Mexican President Vicente Fox after Mexico’s decision not to back the U.S. stand on Iraq in the U.N. Security Council.

In sharp contrast to their much-publicized friendship two years ago, when they bragged about being on the phone constantly to consult on major issues, President Bush waited four days before returning a call from the Mexican president, senior U.S. officials told me.

“Fox wanted to test the waters, to see how the relationship was,” says one U.S. official familiar with the conversation. “He should realize that the relationship has been affected.”

Bush putting Mexican president on hold
Miami Herald
March 27, 2003

That’s right, Georgie, piss off both our nearest neighbors. At least Fox has the class not to stay mad about Javier Medina.

Felicitaciones, Señor Presidente, para tener los cojones para hacer el primer gesto de amistad. Me disculpo por el “hissy fit” de Señor Bush.

Despite the desert conditions of the Iraqi campaign, many American soldiers are sporting deep-green combat fatigues. Why are some troops donning woodland camouflage?

According to published reports, the Pentagon simply goofed by not anticipating the demand for sand-colored desert fatigues, formally known as battle-dress uniforms. When Army and Marine units were preparing for deployment, several discovered that they lacked enough desert BDUs to outfit each soldier with the requisite three outfits. The UPI reports that the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas, chose to dress all its troops in the more traditional green fatigues — commonly referred to as woodland BDUs — rather than have only some don desert dress. Homogeneity is generally preferred among military commanders…

Oh, heavens, that makes all the sense in the world! Mixing dark-green camouflage and desert-sand would be like wearing white after Labor Day! We simply can’t sacrifice good fashion sense for a little safety, can we?

Military leaders insist that the shortage of desert BDUs will not affect the safety of American soldiers. They point out that Iraq’s terrain is not entirely Sahara-like, and that green camouflage may actually work better near the banks of the Euphrates River, where vegetation and mud are present.

Why Are U.S. Troops Wearing Dark-Green Camouflage?
Slate
March 26, 2003

What a relief. Now we just have to hold our collective breath until they make it to the river. But considering their progress so far…

Ignoring a presidential ban, Afghanistan’s farmers are growing more opium poppies than ever throughout the country, including areas previously free of the crop, officials said Thursday…

The production of opium, from which heroin is refined, was wiped out under the hard-line Taliban regime, but farmers began planting it again when the religious militia was deposed in 2001 during the U.S.-led war on terror. Some farmers ripped up their wheat fields to plant the lucrative drug-producing plant, which brings in hundreds of times the revenue.

Afghanistan’s Farmers Growing More Opium
Newsday
March 27, 2003

Oh, so that’s what we “liberated” Afghanistan for!

Or is there some sort of dirty deal in the works?

April, 1978: Soviet-backed coup in Afghanistan sets stage for explosive growth in Southwest Asian heroin trade. New Marxist regime undertakes vigorous anti-narcotics campaign aimed at suppressing poppy production, triggering a revolt by semi-autonomous tribal groups that traditionally raised opium for export. The CIA-supported rebel Mujahedeen begins expanding production to finance their insurgency. Between 1982 and 1989, during which time the CIA ships billions of dollars in weapons and other aid to guerrilla forces, annual opium production in Afghanistan increases to about 800 tons from 250 tons. By 1986, the State Department admits that Afghanistan is ‘probably the world’s largest producer of opium for export’ and ‘the poppy source for a majority of the Southwest Asian heroin found in the United States.’ U.S. officials, however, fail to take action to curb production. Their silence not only serves to maintain public support for the Mujahedeen, it also smooths relations with Pakistan, whose leaders, deeply implicated in the heroin trade, help channel CIA support to the Afghan rebels.

A Tangled Web: A History of CIA Complicity in Drug International Trafficking
Federation of American Scientists

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Tommy Franks “Reveals” Something We Already Knew

Time magazine reports that the president poked his head into the office of Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser, in March 2002 and told three senators sitting there: “[Expletive deleted] Saddam. We’re taking him out.”

How long has war been in the cards?
MSNBC
March 27, 2003

Now, that’s just wrong. Georgie would never say “expletive deleted.” Heck, he probably couldn’t even pronounce the word “expletive.” What he really said was, “F–k Saddam. We’re taking him out.”

That word, he can pronounce. Just ask Al Hunt. In fact, you’d be surprised at some of the two-syllable words Georgie can pronounce, with very little effort.

What do you mean, I missed the point of the article? As they say in Texas, not hardly. You think the idea of invading Iraq — inspections be damned — just popped into Little Georgie’s head in March of 2002?

Haven’t you been listening? The plans have been in the works for ages; Wolfowitz’s people finally put it on paper in early 1992, and the newly-formed PNAC presented the plan to Bill Clinton in 1998.

Hey, don’t get on Bill’s case — King George I had plenty of opportunity to take out Saddam, and declined. The momentum from the “win” in Kuwait would have been enough to garner support both at home and abroad — and might have even won Poppy another four years in office.

(Come to think of it, if we’d known all along Iraq was such a threat, why didn’t Little George make it a major talking point of Campaign 2000?)

And don’t give me that tired old excuse that congressional Democrats wouldn’t let George I act on his own. The CIA director-cum-Veep and his ex-boss waged unconscionable war, trained, funded, and armed terrorists (hint: initials include OBL and SH), and installed puppet dictators throughout the Mideast and Latin America without so much as a “screw you” to Congress or the American people, for far less legal or ethical reasons (and with far more disastrous results) than Poppy could have armed himself with.

(And they accuse peaceniks of “aiding and comforting the enemy”?)

So don’t try to feed me that old line about Bush I being “prevented” from doing any damned thing he wanted.

What Poppy did do was miss his window of opportunity — and the neo-cons had to wait for Junior to hit the trifecta.

So, the big, whoop-de-doo Franks “revelation” is old news — at least to those of us who have been paying attention.

Still, one wonders if Georgie Boy has fingers enough to plug any more leaks.

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