Passports, please

Starting today, passports are required of US citizens to enter or re-enter the country via Canada and Mexico. There is a short "cooling off" period before absolute enforcement, and passports are still not required for travel between the US proper and its possessions such as Guam and American Samoa. All part of the plan to combat turrorism.

Hola, Daniel (y Rosario)

Hasta La Vista, Baby to Donald. I find it a delicious irony that ex-Commandante Daniel Ortega, with wife Rosario Murillo as the power behind the throne, wins the presidential election in Nicaragua and the next day his old nemesis Donald Rumsfeld is forced to resign in disgrace. Nicaragua is desperately poor, with most of the population in extreme poverty. And this is all down to Rummy and his Cold Warrior chums crushing the life out of the country with years of low-level warfare and economic blockade after the Sandinistas first came to power.
There are a lot of little ironies in Nicaragua's political scene. Like Ortega's running mate, who is an ex-Contra and whose house was commandeered by Ortega years ago. (As a gesture of reconciliation, however, Ortega has since paid him compensation, but he kept the house.) Other excellent news from the US elections. Democrats now control the House. Other details to follow . . .

Coretta Scott King

The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. passed away in Mexico yesterday. She was a giant in the world of civil rights, human rights and the peace movement. Her body arrived in Atlanta today. NPR has a musical tribute, which is appropriate, since before becoming Mrs. Martin Luther King, she was set for a career as a concert artist.
Here is the official schedule for memorial events in Atlanta. A bit of controversy arose over funeral arrangements. Mrs. King's body will lie in state in the Georgia Capitol Rotunda, then a public viewing at Ebenezer Baptist, followed by a musical tribute / memorial service across the street. But the official funeral will be at suburban megachurch in Lithonia GA, some miles outside Atlanta, an establishment where Mrs. King's daughter Bernice is an elder. Eventually, CSK will be interred beside her husband at the King Center for Non-violence but she will be temporarily buried at a large cemetery until a new crypt can be prepared.

The sharp end of globalisation

"Behind the Brand Names" is a fact-rich report on conditions in the "export processing zones" in such countries as Haiti, El Salvador and China. The report is sponsored by the ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions), an organisation which is responding to globalisation by trying to revive the old idea of truly international unions. (You need Acrobat Reader to access the PDF file.)

US court to probe death of Archbishop Romero

Catholic World News has the story of the US (Fresno California) based law suit against the accused assassin of Archbishop Oscar Romero. The Archbishop was gunned down in the Cathedral in San Salvador as he celebrated a mass on March 24th, 1980. An amnesty in El Salvador means that his suspected assassin will never be tried there. Alvaro Rafael Saravia, now a resident of Modesto California, is said to have committed the assassination, but right-wing politician Roberto D'Aubuisson is widely believed to have instigated the killing. Romero, a dearly beloved Archbishop, was assassinated because he had preached a number of fiery sermons denouncing the activities of military and para-military "death squads" which terrorised the peasant and working class population at that time. His words and the few recordings of his homilies and radio broadcasts were iconic in the movement to free El Salvador from its oppressive oligarchy.

Learn from history! part II

Found at Dick Jones' Patteran Pages:

Quick Political Scholastic Aptitude Test

It consists of one (1) multiple-choice question.
Here's an alphabet-length list of the countries that the U.S. has bombed since the end of World War II, compiled by historian William Blum:
a. China 1945-46
b. Korea and China 1950-53 (Korean War)
c. Guatemala 1954
d. Indonesia 1958
e. Cuba 1959-1961
f. Guatemala 1960
g. Congo 1964
h. Peru 1965
i. Laos 1964-73
j. Vietnam 1961-73
k. Cambodia 1969-70
l. Guatemala 1967-69
m. Grenada 1983
n. Lebanon 1983, 1984 (both Lebanese and Syrian targets)
o. Libya 1986
p. El Salvador 1980s
q. Nicaragua 1980s
r. Iran 1987
s. Panama 1989
t. Iraq 1991-2003
u. Kuwait 1991
v. Somalia 1993
w. Bosnia 1994, 1995
x. Sudan 1998
y. Afghanistan 1998, 2001-2
z. Yugoslavia 1999

Q: In how many of these instances did a democratic government, respectful of human rights, occur as a direct result?
Choose one of the following:
(a) 0
(b) zero
(c) none
(d) not a one
(e) a whole number between -1 and +1
(f) zip
(g) squat
(h) nada

Remember Archbishop Oscar Romero

Who was Oscar Romero? is a website detailing the life and death of Monsenor Oscar Romero of El Salvador. There is also this page sponsored by St. Peter's RC church in Nottingham (where I am off to in just a few minutes, for work.) Today is the 24th anniversary of his death by assassination.