Las Politicas

A proposed fourth branch of the government that lets the citizens make decisions that the law makers make…essentially this is the message for the National Initiative for Democracy. The National Initiative for Democracy is a non profit founded by Mike Gravel. The N.I.D. is proposing an amendment to the constitution that would completely  re-shape the framework of the United States government. Many find the idea preposterous, but some are of the opinion that the United States is ready for such a change. Political scientists are stating that due to Bush’s disastrous tenure as president, the American people will readily accept change. The initiative would tackle issues such as campaign finance reform and the involvement of interest groups in the government. A pipe dream or a much needed change? http://www.ni4d.us/

Above are 2 captured images of a shocking moment during the shark viewing…Cameron was so horrified he needed his girlfriend for comfort…I’m not sure if he was protecting her or looking for comfort…I’ll let everyone decide.

Caroline

The mayor of Mexico City is attempting an overhaul of the city of my birth. The city of 20 million has, over the course of many years fallen victim to serious urban decay in the form of abductions,  poor street conditions and pollution. Due to suburbanization crime and pollution are dispersed evenly through out the city and even the outskirts. Express kidnappings are commonplace now as are large sinkholes in downtown. The Mayor is bringing different elements to the city in the form of no traffic on major roads on Sundays…so people can ride their bikes or go for a walk. Mayor Ebrard also brought sand in to make “Urban Beaches” for people to escape the unflagging nature of city life. The urban beaches have been wildly popular with city residents, so many are in favor of any other ideas Ebrard will implement. The mayor is also trying to curb the crime by cracking down on small crimes that will eventually move to major crimes. With such a vast city complete with endemic crime and poverty…Ebrard has a serious challenge a head. The country of Mexico itself is experiencing ultra violence from the military led offensive against the drug trafficking world. Restoring order to a city and nation that do not follow rules could be rather difficult.

I had to restore order at Shark Week last night when Dr. Studly’s lady carried out a vicious and unprovoked attack on her boyfriend. She blamed the bloody sunsets…. 

Caroline

For those who don’t know…I have been watching Shark Week on the discovery channel since I  was a little kid and for the past 4 years I have been having parties at my house with all my friends. This year marks the 20^th Shark Week anniversary and I had the first party of the week last night. It was a pirate inspired theme that everyone emphatically embraced. The attendees of the party were not averse to be ne’er-du-well’s ( pirate lingo) and my home became Little Lefty Cove.  The selection of food ranged from shark teeth  (pin wheels)..”fin”due courtesy of, Dr. Studly…..bloody sunsets ( tequila sunrises) and host of other shark related foods. As Shark Week continues..I will put pictures up of all the pirate/shark related fun had on Sunday night. 

The only things missing were sea shanties and the other politica, Teri! 

Above is a picture of pirate mustaches… 

Caroline

Today I read a letter that the president of the University of Colorado wrote about Churchill’s firing.  For those that are unaware of the rumblings in Colorado and now through out the nation, Ward Churchill, a professor of ethnic studies at CU and a radical anti-capitalist was fired over a paper that he wrote questioning the innocence of the lives lost on 9-11.

According to Hank Brown, the president of CU the firing did not occur because of his opinion, but rather because of academic misconduct in the form of plagiarism. Churchill’s argument, according to Brown…was supported by manipulated historical information that Churchill used to his advantage. Of course, Churchill is stating that he was fired over his opinion which violates his constitutional rights and therefore is taking the university to court.

The story is relatively new, although the paper was written a few years ago. I had heard of Churchill through a Native American group on campus in my undergraduate years. From what I could ascertain, Churchill made great strides for the Native American cause, but then went on a barrage of insane radical writing that has now landed him in hot water.

The question that I leave to all is…Was Churchill’s firing truly a matter of plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct? Or was it a matter of getting rid of an out of control, liability professor? 

Caroline

Emergency Management is generally the government’s responsibility, but effective emergency management doesn’t seem to happen. I learned a bit about emergency management when I took a course in it last fall. The opinion that I formed from the class was that in order for emergency management to be effective… the role of government should be decentralized. Thank you very much, Dr. Taylor for helping me form that opinion.

However…that doesn’t happen. I think it became painfully clear when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the governor, the mayor and FEMA all blamed each other through a bizarre triangle. While they blamed each other…New Orleans became a humanitarian hell hole. A wrote a paper in the class on emergency management the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. I was stunned to see how quickly the city recovered…mainly because litigation was not a concern and any able bodied person helped in the recovery.

When I was in England a few weeks ago I saw the damage that floods had caused and all the citizens were tremendously critical of the government’s role in the recovery process. They couldn’t get the water out of the town centers and scientist predicted that the flow of the rivers would cause more damage through out the nation. They all knew this, but no provisions were made and now England is the throws of a biblical flooding. It seems that Global North nations don’t deal as well with disaster as Global South nations do. With direction of the climate change disasters….I believe will be commonplace.

 Will emergency management be brought to a suitable level in our life times?  

Above is a picture of me on along the River Severn…that area is flooded now. 

Caroline

The Onion is a parody newspaper published online that keeps me laughing throughout the workday.  A recent discovery, however…has lead many to believe that the satirical newspaper may be wiser than most in the foreign policy community.

A writer for the online periodical, Nathan Eckhart wrote an article on March 26, 2003 predicting in full detail that the war in Iraq would be an unmitigated disaster. 

I find it incredible that it took the brilliance of the Onion to figure this out. Read the countering argument.

The title of the article is …

Caroline 

Ok…I have recently been made fun of by some of my friends for watching Dallas. You know who you are. I received my usual e-mails from Netflix, but was dismayed to find that different movies are being sent to me. Why is this happening, Little Lefty? I’ll tell you …and to all those friends that thought I was a part of some fringe Dallas viewing outfit…it turns out that Dallas on Netflix is in HUGE demand. I’ve been wait listed, which is probably a good thing, because I now have some political documentaries to watch…rather than watch the Ewing’s binge drink. Dr. Studly put it best when he said that the drink cart at South Fork should be in the opening credits. That cart gets more use than JR’s evil mind.

Caroline

Chavez is not the best when it comes to subtle diplomacy…he is quick to anger if anyone makes even the slightest criticism of him. He has made it overwhelming clear how much he hates the Bush administration, as stated in an earlier post…anyone that makes a negative comment in Venezuela about him will be sent out of the country and he singles out Latin American leaders that have a slightly right leaning view of politics ( like Calderon in Mexico) As recent as yesterday Chavez called the cardinal of Honduras an “imperialist clown” because he made some remarks about Chavez and his increasingly authoritarian role as president.

 As it is becoming apparent to most that follow political changes in Latin America there is a significant shift towards the left in most of area. The main leftist contenders in my opinion are Lula de Silva in Brazil and Bachelet in Chile and to a certain extent Correa in Ecuador. The news media is completely consumed by Chavez’s antics which are now mirroring a cult of personality. Morales and the changes in Bolivia are like the blind leading the blind. I have been of the opinion for quite some time that the actions of Morales and Chavez have undermined the actions of Bachelet and Lula.

Many Socialists hailed Chavez’s removal of Venezuela from the World Bank as a step in the right direction from Socialist stand point. Chavez then shortly after unveiled a plan to create the Bank of the South in which all invited Latin American leaders would help make the bank a success. The Bank of the South would be a final insult to Western imperialism. Everyone seemed to be on board….irrespective of the opinions of Chavez’s behavior…. they all agreed that the World Bank worked the detriment of impoverished nations. Well…it looks like Brazil’s Lula seems reticent to begin on the project. The bank was supposed to be officially launched in August. Perhaps he is afraid that embarking on any kind of economic venture of this scale with Chavez would shoot his credibility in the foot. I can say that any hesitation with a big time Socialist like Lula will likely be followed by others. Will Chavez’s antics finally work to the detriment of his whole Socialist campaign?  

 Caroline

Given the less than stellar record that FEMA has in regards to the treatment of Hurricane Katrina refugees…this latest development in the horrific chapter of FEMA comes as no surprise to Las Politicas. The chairman of the House oversight committee has now made accusatory remarks against FEMA and the trailer homes that were provided to Katrina refugees. The trailer homes were marred with extraordinarily high levels of formaldehyde that in turn continually made residents of the trailers sick. FEMA was apparently aware of this, but continue to house the refugees in the effected trailers. 

David Paulison, the Administrator of FEMA has stated in response “We are not formaldehyde experts” He should reiterate the point that “We have no idea what we are doing when it comes to Emergency Management” 

A congressional investigation is being led by Rep. Henry Waxman into these allegations. 

Caroline

No one needs to sing the praises of Chihuahua’s to the ladies of Las Politicas…we love Chihuahua’s as much as we love Smart Water. We were not surprised to read in the headlines about the Chihuahua that so bravely took a bite from a rattle snake in order to save a toddler from getting bitten.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070723/ap_on_fe_st/odd_chihuahua_rattlesnake

I’m pretty sure that Lola would do that for me because she’s gangsta like that…I say Gabby and Lola lead the Chihuahua uprising.  Above are pictures of both Gabby and Lola striking a shockingly similar pose. 

Que Viva Mexico, Que Viva La Revolucion, Que Viva La Chihuahua! 

 Caroline