Thursday, March 02, 2006

The US builds prisons, don't they?

Good evening. Wally's had problems all afternoon and evening with Blogger so let's see how things go for me. Let's get started with Democracy Now!

Indian Protests Against Bush Visit Include Rally in Bhopal
In India, tens of thousands of people continued their massive protests against the visit of President Bush. In one of several rallies, victims of the 1984 gas leak from the US-owned Union Carbide pesticide factory demonstrated in Bhopal. Over 20,000 died in the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy, while another 100,000 people suffered lasting health problems.

Wherever he goes, he attracts a crowd. Not quite the one he might have wanted but, hey, when the whole world's against you, it's against you. I know what Wally wants to write if he can ever get something posted (none of the e-mails would work and he can't get into his account when he tries that way) so I'll just move on to the next topic to make sure I don't swipe any of his jokes.

New Iraq Reconstruction Funds Devoted Solely to Prisons
In other news, the State Department quietly announced this week it has requested $100 million dollars for Iraqi reconstruction -- all of it for prisons. The Bush administration initially promised $20 billion dollars to reconstruct Iraqi infrastructure. But much of the money has been diverted to security. State Department Iraq coordinator James Jeffrey said the $100 million dollar prison project was the lone new reconstruction effort the US government will undertake over the next year.

Now if that surprises you, think about the prison population in this country and think about what big business prisons are. He never did put up all those promised hospitals but he can get behind prisons. He can "relate" to them. Which is probably a good thing because, if there's justice in this world, he'll be spending some time in one for a few years.


I got an e-mail from Rudy who says I stopped answering questions. I just run out of time sometimes. But Rudy's got a question. Whenever he eats pasta, it disagees with him. "Disagrees"? What's that mean, Rudy? Your stomach hurts? You get gas and start farting?
If I eat Taco Bell, my stomach really burns and I'm burping like crazy. If I eat real Mexican cooking, I don't have that problem. So I'm wondering if it's everytime you have pasta or just at certain places?

I had Taco Bell today and I'm burping now. Not kidding. I know that will happen so I try to avoid it but sometimes when I'm rushing from work to class and I don't have a lot of time, if everything else is backed up, I'll grab Taco Bell. So there's no point in complaining because I know what happens the rest of the day. If it's all pasta, you should probably avoid it. If it's just pasta from some places, something in their food is disagreeing with you.

You could try popping things like Rolaids. But it would probably be better to just avoid what you know is going to make you sick. Now if it's like your mother's cooking, you got a real problem. So let me know if that's where you're getting the pasta and we'll toss out some more ideas.

Rudy also wondered how Nina was doing? She's doing good. She's studying right now in here.

Or trying to. She keeps going, "Excuse me" meaning I should say that. Maybe on that last one which was like an belch explosion. :D

Nina said to tell everyone to read "Kat's Korner: Nina Simone -- Golden" which we looked for after we left campus but couldn't find it. I may end up asking Kat if she could grab one for Nina. I just got that my Nina and Nina Simone have the same name. :D I didn't claim to be the fastest wit in the west. :D

I'll toss out two things you should read. "Industry Shocker: America's Funniest Videos? Not that American" by Ava and C.I. (like C.I. said on the phone today, "Good God, they're outsourcing videos!" :D) and second thing you should read is by Elaine. Did you check out
"No quote tonight -- it's already too long"? It's like a mamoth entry.

If you missed it, our cowardly Senate voted to approve the Patriot Act today. The vote was 89 to 10 so I guess someone was absent or too cowardly to vote one way or the other. That guy was Daniel Inouye. The article just says he didn't vote, not if he was present or not. From the article:

The "no" votes came from Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., and Feingold, Byrd and seven other Senate Democrats: Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Carl Levin of Michigan, Patty Murray of Washington and Ron Wyden of Oregon.

That's crap. And Harry Reid's talking about how he'll keep working on them. Keep working? The article says that they voted today to make 14 of the 16 temporary provisions permanent.
Here's something from a story on Arundhati Roy where she's talking about Bully Boy visiting India:

Often laughing, she highlights the ludicrous to underline her despair at the welcome Bush has been given. The organizational details of a presidential trip offer much amusement -- particularly the decision to hold the president's landmark speech about the emerging Indo-U.S. strategic partnership in a spot by the Delhi zoo.
"First they tried to see whether he would address Parliament, but most of the MPs said they would heckle and boycott so that was canceled," she said in an interview this week.
The Red Fort was out because the Muslim population surrounding the building made it a security nightmare. "So now he will be speaking in the zoo -- to some eminent people and some caged animals. I don't know if the lions can disagree, the cockatoos might say they are against globalization. It's really kind of funny," she said.


C.I. said Arundhati Roy's going to be on Democracy Now! tomorrow so make sure to check that out.

Maybe it's the burping, maybe it's being discussed with the Senate for their vote today, but I'll probably stop here and call Wally to see if I can help him. I don't know a lot about Blogger because I haven't had too many problems.









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