DAILY NEWS – APRIL 7th, 2010

DAILY NEWS – APRIL 7th, 2010

DATELINE: CARACAS – Color me fucking confused, but could someone explain to me why I have to see endless coverage of Tiger Woods using his fucking cell phone on the golf course (insert gasp of horror here) when in the capital city of Venezuela, those two nice boys, Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin, are bumping heads regarding, what will be in total, $9Billion worth of weapons. In the last five years, Chavez has purchased $4 Billion of Russian arms, including fighter jets, Mi-17 helicopters and 100K Kalashnikov rifles. The next round of spending, however, includes the establishment of nuclear capabilities. Of course, Chavez says, this is done ‘obviously with peaceful aims’ despite his comments that the intent of the purchases is to end US influence in Latin America. In a country where the majority of people have no water, no electricity, are incredibly poor, Chavez manages to reach into a fucking hat and find billions to negotiate with his dear friend Putin. Both these men, along with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have made no secret of their alliances over the years, joined with the shared goal of fighting US imperialism and ‘attempting to liberate themselves from the imperialist yoke’. Ahmadinejad has also publicly thanked Chavez for ‘supporting Tehran in its nuclear standoff with the international community’. The list of countries now receiving arms through deals brokered by Putin include India, Algeria, Malaysia, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, who have all purchased the Russian S-300 air defense system. China has also received delivery of 15 batteries of the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, and one has to assume Putin would not deny his close friend, the leader of Iran, the same toys. It should also be noted that Russia and Venezuela have signed 31 agreements in twelve hours, rushing to beat the newly imposed Arms Control agreement with the US. Yes, people, this is news, not who Tiger may or may not be having phone sex with while on the links in fucking Augusta.

DATELINE: OTTAWA – For some time now, the issue of the treatment of POW’s in Afghanistan has been a hot potato in the Canadian Parliament. At question: did the Canadian government know that prisoners turned over to NDS (Afghan National Directorate of Security) were being tortured, and knowing that, did they turn a blind eye and allow it to continue, while still turning over more prisoners to face the same fate. Documents released yesterday say that yes, the government was made away, and yes, they did continue to turn prisoners over to be tortured, fully aware of the fact that doing so was against the Geneva Convention AND falls within the parameters of a war crime. Comrade Harper and his band of Merry Muppets have argued that when they found out, they created a ‘more robust’ transfer agreement that fixed the problem. If that is the case, why will they not allow other politicians to view full, unedited documents regarding this? Documents show that since the ‘more robust’ agreement, they STILL were advised of the problems that exist. While Harper makes me mad, his arrogance that seems to be so characteristic of other wonderful despots in the world (see list in the above article), this story makes me sad. That we would support torture of ANYONE is totally fucking barbaric. The German Gestapo loved torture… remember them? Is this what we want to participate in? Yes, there is a war, but that does not mean that the people involved in the war are not human, especially since we are presumably fighting for the democratic dream and the cause of human rights. We are abhorred at the thought that our troops would be tortured, and rightly so. So how the hell do we justify doing it to others? It is a sad fucking day when we lower our morals to that level. War is bad enough, although admittedly sometimes necessary. Torture of soldiers? Absolutely unacceptable.

DATELINE: WEST VIRGINIA – While families and spouses continue to wait for some word on the four still-unaccounted-for miners trapped in the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion, stories abound about increased safety violations and fines issued to the mine over the last year. Last year Massey received over $380,000 in fines for repeated violations regarding ventilation alone, and yet the CEO insists that safety was their number one concern. Bullshit. Their profits went up along with their fines. It looks like once again, dancing through the legal loopholes, they managed to put the thickness of corporate wallets far over and above the health and safety of the people who work long hours every day to add every fucking dollar to corporate coffers.

DATELINE: BOSTON – It has been reported that in August, prior to Phoebe Prince’s arrival at South Hadley High School, her aunt had attended the school to discuss her concerns and worries over Phoebe, stating that she was ‘susceptible’ to, and had been subjected to, harassment by classmates, urging that the staff be aware and on alert for a repeat of the problem again. A meeting between a school official and Prince was to take place at the beginning of the year, however, never happened until three months into the school year. It is truly sad that no one seemed to heed the warning, that the school officials preferred to remain in their little bubble of ignorance and deniability. They will be held to account for this tragedy, and it is to be hoped that other schools and students take note. This of course happened the day after three of the people charged in contributing to her death entered not guilty pleas. It was interesting to note that one of the charged, Kayla Narey (17), is ‘having a difficult time’ with the attention, that she has received threats over the internet for her involvement in the bullying. Obviously those making threats have resorted to the same deplorable behavior that caused Phoebe’s death, but I think Narey is barking up the wrong tree if she is looking for some sympathy.

DATELINE: ALASKA – “What if I didn’t come from a famous family?” This is the opening line pondered by Bristol Palin in her new Public Service announcement… ‘Pause before you play’. Through the 30-second blurb, her appearance goes from Glamour cover to trailer-trash, her surrounds change from New Urban Alaskan Taj Mahal to ghetto gutter. Yes, this is what happens when you are a teenager and get pregnant. Only Bristol Palin can manage and maintain her Glamour looks, but the rest of the world doesn’t have a fucking chance. While I totally support a reminder to our youth to consider the consequences of their actions, to do it with such an elitist flavor is counter-productive. And ‘famous’? Give me a fucking break!! I guess more than anything my thoughts though, go to her son Tripp, who will see these and will know that in his mother’s eyes, he was a mistake. Good thing they are ‘famous’ and will be able to afford all the therapy that child will require.