Cue the Handshakes and Backslapping

...but make sure you keep an eye on the shifty-jawed guy living in that casa blanca.

Mexican President Vicente Fox has announced the discovery of a new deep-water oil field, which is believed to contain 10bn barrels of crude.

The field is in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico says it could be bigger than its largest oil field, Cantarell.

[snip]

The oil industry provides one third of the Mexican state income. More than half the crude extracted is exported, mainly to the United States.

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How much do you want to make a bet that this new revelation causes an immediate change in the diplomacy between the U.S. and our southern neighbors?

Open Thread

More comfort food...

Az Sec of State: Defy the Law

I love it when Republicans have a public hissy-fit and ask other government officials to break the law. It makes me proud to be an American.

Secretary of State Jan Brewer will tell county election officials to ignore a ruling that Arizonans do not need to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote with a federal registration form.

In an angry letter to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Brewer dismissed the ruling as "completely inconsistent, unlawful and without merit."

The commission informed Brewer last week that "Arizona may not refuse to register individuals to vote in a federal election for failing to provide supplemental proof of citizenship," as required under Proposition 200.

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If you're not familiar with Prop 200, you should know that it's Arizona's version of the infamous California 187. I'm sure it makes the ghost of William Simmons shriek in glee.

My Tinfoil Hat is Sexy

And why not? I have to wear it so much nowadays that I might as well look good wearing it.

Maj. Pete Tufaro scanned the fenced lot packed with hundreds of stark white trailers soon to be inhabited by Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Shaking his head, he predicted the cramped quarters would ignite fights, hide criminals and become an incubator for crime, posing another test for his cash-strapped sheriff's department, which furloughed 206 of its 390 officers after the storm.

Tufaro thinks the parish has the solution: DynCorp International LLC, the Texas company that provided personal security to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and is one of the largest security contractors in Iraq. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency approves the sheriff's department's proposal, which would cost $70 million over three years, up to 100 DynCorp employees would be deputized to be make arrests, carry weapons, and dress in the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Department khaki and black uniforms.

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You read that correctly. These private contractors will be wearing the same uniforms as the local sheriff deputies. The biggest difference between them is the rate of pay, which is causing a bit of a stir, according to the full article.

This, however, sent my antenna into spark-shooting mode

For DynCorp and other private security companies, the post-Katrina Gulf Coast, like Iraq, is a land of opportunity.

Opportunity. Nice. Tell that to these victims of that lucrative "opportunity".

"Well...I'm back"

It has been a rough week. I have a bit of an emotional hangover from the past several days. My tia's funeral was an amazing celebration of family with close to 300 people gathering to honor her memory as well as the long legacy of the grandparents that started it all in the late 1800s.

To give you an idea of how woven our family is: my tia is survived by 12 children/stepchildren, 40 grandchildren, and 43 great-grandchildren...and she's just one of four siblings. Her grandmother was my great-grandmother and the matriarch of a HUGE Mexican-American family that spans the country. Most of us are in Arizona, but a sizeable group have colonized the Indio area near Palm Springs, CA. We're all fairly close to one another, it's a great feeling to know that you are part of something greater than yourself.

I did alot of listening yesterday and today during the services. The stories, the memories of times past but not forgotten, it caused that flame in my sangre to burn alittle brighter to learn more of my roots.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the snow, it has been many years since we got so much in our sleepy little corner of the Superstition Mountains

How's everybody doing? I hear Russ is trying to throw down the gauntlet in the Senate. I hope it jolts some of his colleagues into doing their job and holding these warmongers accountable.

All the news and then none

Well, I went looking for news to post and talk about, but after reading two or three sites, I just got depressed and decided to forget about that ;).

I don't know how much news and entertainment (music, video games, etc.) affects culture, but surely there must be a good alternative to this "if it bleeds, it leads" stuff. Not that only "good news" type stories would be any better... it's just that it seems as if things are presented as way worse than they are in some areas, while the places or situations they are really bad are all but ignored.

So, maybe this post is about a critical eye on news and events - what do we really know and how do we know we know it?

Update: Well I did find a news item... in addition to ductape and plastic, the Bush administration is now advising that we put tuna and powdered milk under the bed, I guess to feed the Commies. If you are unable to locate your under-the-bed Commie (I never have) I imagine it would be okay to put emergency food stuffs in a cupboard or box?

Sunday Open Thread

Ahem! (OPEN thread means that y'all can speak, ya know), but first...

Lurkers of the (Eegee) world...unhide! Jump right on in, I hear there are rumors of cheesecake in the Welcome Wagon - liver flavored, even, for those so inclined. How can you resist?

And let's see...what's happening around the neighborhood - hmmm.

Well, I do have one piece of news - I'm afraid it's my duty to let everyone know that Olivia - yes, our sweet Olivia - is OUTTA CONTROL! It's true. Not only is she promoting Decadence on Pink Sheets, but she shows just where long legs will get you. And she invites us all to watch! Talk about voyeurism.

After you're done fanning your face, you'll want to see what supersoling is up to. First, he has a Defining Moment that contains lessons for us all. And then he introduces the Foot Family! Hilarity ensues. Michael seems just a tad skeptical, but me... I believe!

Deano has a Monkey With Two Goddesses, but it seems to me that one of the "goddesses" has just a little something extra...

catnip has the goods... Gitmo may be closing? With this crew in office though, even with what seems like good news, you always have to look for the even worse than before news behind it. Not for Rummy, though... fears of a pandemic have him rolling in dough!

UPDATE! Katiebird is telling the story of being run over by the car in spiked heels! In pieces. First you have to go read the thread called, interestingly enough, the My Big Toe thread. Then go to the Spiked Heels thread and get... well, not exactly the rest of the story... but more! (Who knew Eat4Today would turn out to be cliffhanger central?)(And, just to be clear, it's katiebird in the spiked heels... not the car).

Duke has some amazing photos of the march in Chicago that the media and politicians would like to pretend didn't happen. One is quite heartbreaking. Also, XicanoPwr shows us the story behind the story of the intersecting lines of US foreign policy and immigration policy, and why it matters.

Over at dove's perch (I always want to type "wilddove.blogspot" etc to get there, instead of wingeddove... I wonder why that is?) she wonders about some proposed sentencing guidelines. It seems that some don't quite see the difference between robbery and rape.

More to come!

Friday Bud Blogging

With special guests: left foot, right foot and dirt

Fasting in Solidarity

As I was tossing and turning last night in bed, I got to thinking about all the innocent people the United States has in its custody in secret and not-so-secret prisons across the globe. Men and some women who are enduring torture and mocking at the hands of their captors. It brought me close to throwing up just thinking about it; the feeling of powerlessness and anger at a system that I live under. It is a mere drop, though, to the bucketloads of emotion some of these victims of kidnapping (as DuctapeFatwa likes to remind me) must be feeling as they await their fate.

Many of them have chosen to fast as the penultimate symbol of their desperation. Unfortunately, not even that powerful act of solidarity and non-violence is being respected by the U.S. military.

More than 250 doctors from seven countries urged the U.S. government on Friday to abandon force-feeding and the use of restraints on hunger strikers at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

The doctors from Britain, the United States, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Italy and the Netherlands said prisoners at the camp in eastern Cuba have the right to refuse treatment and that physicians must respect their decision.

"“We urge the U.S. government to ensure that detainees are assessed by independent physicians and that techniques such as force-feeding and restraint chairs are abandoned," the doctors said in an open letter published in The Lancet medical journal.

They added that the World Medical Association, a global body representing physicians, specifically prohibits force-feeding in two declarations dating back to 1975. The American Medical Association is a co-signatory of the declarations.

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Every day, when I read the headlines outlining the latest atrocities, I feel less and less like an American. (what does that mean, anyway?) The monsters in power have defiled and perverted my country enough that I no longer recognize it as my own. I feel more solidarity with the world community than I do with the United States. There is such a division that the false choice of citizenship has been laid at my feet. Am I citizen of America or the World?

I wonder if the dissenting Germans felt the same way when Hitler was rising to power? Will the U.S. fascism have to be knocked out from the outside rather than from within?

All of these questions simmer below the surface of my thoughts as I drive to work, or sit at home with a book, or look out from my porch at the setting sun. What is it going to take to turn the tide?

I am honored to offer my fasting during Lent in solidarity with my sister- and brother-peace activists of the Tucson Chapter of CODEPINK and the human rights advocates of No More Deaths. It's clear that something has to give, but in the meantime, I am preparing myself in the best way I know how: by abstaining from food and offering my hunger in solidarity with those that suffer from injustice. I am proud to follow in the tradition of Cesar Chavez, Mahatma Gandhi and other peace activists of the past.

Namaste

BlogArt Conspiring - Take Two!

I decided to slip in here and post the list of topic categories again. What we want to do is choose 3 from the list (we don't have a poll thingy yet) and just list them in order of preference. And to make it all fair, it can be a secret vote! Yes, yes... people will see your name, but they won't look. :)

(If anyone doesn't know what this is about, please read the comments in this thread)

Preliminary votes are in... but there is still time to vote for your favorites! Here is how things stand now:

Longevity
Garden Theology - 1 vote
Curiosity - 2 votes
Celebrations
Oneness - 3 votes
Roads - 6 votes
Patience
Chronicles - 2 votes
Light
Dreaming Dreams - 2 votes
Compassion - 2 votes
Conspiracy - 1 vote
Forbidden - 2 votes
Rock & Roll - 1 vote
Escape 1 vote
Friends & Strangers
Paradise
Storms 2 votes
Hearts & Flowers
Broken - 1 vote
Guilt & Innocence