Car 54 Where Are You?

It seems that they're taking it to the streets all over the place.

There have been a week of protests and camping out in gallant l'il Israel for the past 10 days, over 'social inequalities'. It is a 'welfare state' for the Hebrews, but some of the wealthier ones don't need welfare and, like their American cousins, don't see why they should have to pay for somebody else's. The 'somebody elses' are out on the street.

The Brits are 'going nuts'. This is being laid to a number of reasons, from the need to 'refit with some valuable new 'kit' for going back to school',  to the 'protest of the marginalized at a harsher and more restrictive social welfare policy in a diminishing economy'. Some rather civilized areas of London have been affected and the unrest seems to be spreading to trendy shopping areas of northern cities. A real 'run on the stores' is underway.

The Greeks have been protesting all summer about the Euro-imposed draconian measures required to have the government qualify to borrow the money needed to keep on paying the interest on the national debt.

There have been protests about the same thing in Portugal and Spain.

The Arab spring has morphed into the Arab summer. Tunisia seems to be settling down as somebody announced that bikinis would be welcomed  again - preferably wrapped around Swedish tourists and that booze would be available for the ferenghi - heads up Brits! Egypt seems on the point of another melt-down but this time the 'enemy' is less distinct, although it could be the Army. The Syrians are embroiled in on-going anti-government 'protests' and government protest suppression. And the Libyans are still 'discussing' the pros and cons of Muammar Ghaddafi with heavy artillery, anti-tank weapons and rigorous NATO humanitarian bombing. Let's hope things cool off in the Fall.

What is marvellous in all this is that the people who should be out on the streets, demanding that their government stop the jacking-around, are all at home running garage sales and kajiji -ing the 'toys' to raise cash. When you're trying to figure out how you're going to make your next credit card payment with another maxed-out credit card, there's not much time, or use, to be smashing the windows in upscale stores and stealing the kids some new Keds. The closest America has come to 'disorder' was this Spring's Wisconsin protest by public servants. That soon stopped when the 'Governator' 'bought off' the police 'protestors' with a new contract. Americans are just too 'American' to complain that going to the Mall and not being able to buy much isn't any fun.

Achmedinejad, the 'rogue' leader of Iran,  popped-off again to-day about the topic. He was wondering, out loud, where the UN Security Council was in the face of the British riots? For we all know where the UN was in the face of the Arab disorders - fixing it so that some world powers could be executing their 'obligation to protect' the rioters. The UN so far isn't siding with the Tottenham rioters, or perhaps that's only because it hasn't been asked.

I think we're going to see more rioting in future as food prices, and prices in general, continue to rise. There are parts of the world where starvation because of the inability to afford to buy food is becoming a growing reality. It's only a matter of time before the folks who can't afford a $25 baseball cap or $80 jeans will be hitting the streets, too. They might even do that sooner if they can't afford the school lunch program.

Holy Moly Things are Changing

Leave for a while to visit the 'socialist paradise' in the Caribbean and what happens? 'The more things change, the more they say the same', as some French wit once remarked. It seems like it's been THE month for popular uprisings - Tunisia and Egypt, now Libya with ongoing rumbles on Morocco, Algeria, Yemen, the Gulf States and the counterpoint that's been part of the background noise in Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan for years. All this, supposedly about 'democracy'. What's really amazing is the lack of such 'popular' uprisings in those pariah states where, we're told, the tyrants are on the bones of their ass - namely Iran, North Korea and Cuba.

Let's take a look at Cuba for a minute. I was in Trinidad recently (on the south coast half-way down the island). The town is a world heritage site as, apparently,  it's location, (inland a bit), stopped  whatever  predators have been known to burn down parts of Cuba in order to assist regular urban renewal, from torching the place much. The city buildings are of some antiquity and hence are archtecturally interesting.

Things haven't changed much in terms of infrastructure, if you don't count a new airport building and two markedly upgraded 'cafe' businesses just outside the terminal at Cienfuegos. Trinidad is a very old city sprouting some of the appurtenances of modernity. The city itself is remarkable for a recent outburst of housing additions - building an extra story on the roof. Some of these look like a 'dodge' of  city planning ordinances and don't look like they could be trusted in an earthquake. There is also some new 'foreign investment building underway - a couple of Novotel projects in the works. The 'casa particular' (bed and breakfast/lunch/dinner) operations seem to be expanding along with a number of private restaurants. It could be a sop to the 'new economic reality', but it is a sign that the Cubans are doing something.

In like manner a host of newly-built (in the last 8 years) communal housing developments in rural areas are noteworthy. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to having them located as they are, except for one in the middle of a cane plantation of some size and another, under construction, nearby what I was told is a Cuban holiday spot  at the mouth of a river. The schools look more dilapidated than before, but the kids seem just as clean and well-turned-out as ever.

The resort we stayed at was in turmoil of sorts while we were there. The government austerity plan announced last summer - which was to see the civil service and military reduced by 30 percent, had worked it's way down to the tourist spots where the wait staff and cameraras were being told which of them was soon to be out of work. As a friend noted,  'connections' seemed to take precedence of actual ability,  for those bartenders and waiters with the laziest streak seemed to be the ones who were 'OK'.

For the first time,  we met Americans who had 'sneaked' into Cuba - taking a flight over from Cancun. They seemed nice, but were the sort who were either 'sorry' for what America was doing or self-described as the "last socialists in America". Nice to see them, they certainly made a less gaudy show than the returned 'Miami Cubans' with their rented 'bling' and 'boss' attitudes. The Cubans seem to really enjoy 'banging' them an extra 15 percent for exchanging their US dollars. Maybe, if they were staying with family, instead of at a tourist resort, they'd be better received. It was also surprising to note the lack of full-time resident tourists this time round. The place was virtually empty most afternoons. The Europeans all seemed to be on bus tours that pulled-in in time for supper and left right after breakfast. The entertainment staff must have appreciated the evening crowd. I'd say, however, that tourism seemed to be way down, so that has to hurt the economy.

One would think the Cubans had every reason to be 'out on the street' - unemployment way up, an educated population of underutilized young people, etc. It isn't for the lack of cell phones - as every second Cuban I saw had one. So it must be 'fear of repression', or just not feeling they have to.

In like fashion the Iranian young people have hesitated to throw themselves under the bus of  freedom and the North Koreans still seem to be content to goose step around Red Square and make moues at the fightin' forces of liberty around Panmunjom. But maybe they're just the well-fed ones,  keeping the others down.

In Baghdad it's different - they're protesting about economic conditions and a government's failure to 'get going'. In Afghanistan they're still protesting about the regular killing of civilians by ISAF, and ISAF's failure to be able to protect the others, killed by the insurgents. Even in places like Madison, Wisconsin you have Americans out on the street protesting. OK, the latter are middle-class types like teachers, cops and firemen coming face-to-face with a reality that the local governments they work for have failed to meet their obligations to fund retirements and other employment benefits. Now the 'debt crunch', caused by too many tax cuts, has come home to roost. Rather than raising taxes on business or the 'haves', the only 'solution' the latter-day neocons can see is to level the playing field between the US and the Third World by making those who don't have, take less. The poor have already had their 'screwing', and it's not as if all that 'negative' social spending on hand-outs was really the problem. Those 'savings' weren't enough to change anything. The solution now is to take more from the middle class, particularly public employees. But those savings won't be enough to change anything either so, who's next? Ordinary Americans - like ordinary Egyptians Iraqis, Tunisians, Moroccans and most of the ordinary people on earth are about to undergo a serious change of lifestyle because of the economic shenanigans of the 'elite'.

Prices are  rising just like those who have to raise prices said they would. Amazing that the same guys who couldn't see an economic hurricane bearing down on Wall St. have such clairvoyance about rising prices. Actually there's no rocket science there, either. Raising prices is the one thing these guys can, and do. Just like fleecing suckers. Right now they're making noises about how world events - that changing weather we don't have to worry about, and increasing numbers of people starving, or dying from imported lead poisoning, are the 'natural forces' making us all  pay more. But just maybe, one of these years, when they report another surge in profit, dividends or compensation levels, the sheeple will just 'go nuts'.

And the Leaks Go On

Wikileaks continues to get take the blame for the world’s problems.  This week the people of Tunisia decided to do something about the president, who has been continuously in office for the past 27 years  and his family who, apparently, have been looting the country. Wikileaks is apparently a major cause of the problem because it published American diplomatic mail that discussed their corruption. What a laugh!

Now mind you initial responses laid the ‘blame’ on social networking sites such as tweeter and facebook which, it is charged, allowed the protestors to ‘coordinate their action’.

It seems to me that the real problem was the President and his family, whose activities were very well-known to the Tunisians even if the Americans were not aware of it. You can’t be President of a country for a quarter of a century and just ‘go sour’. Not after you won an election that was billed as a ‘wonderful demonstration of democracy’ and that gave you an 87 percent majority only 7 months ago.

Did anybody hear any protests about a ‘stolen’ election in Tunisia? No? That’s because there weren’t any, until now. Now, all of a sudden, because they’re “concerned”, the west, led by America, is taking steps to ‘shape’ the outcome -  to see that the people get the kind of government they need. And that won’t be any  ' muslim theocracy', even if that’s what they want. Seems although Al Numnnuts the president-unelect may have been a thief, but he was a real ‘pal to freedom’. And the US doesn’t have enough of those in the middle east.

News that the Army is taking steps to ‘restore order’ and that the Prime Minister is preparing a slate of candidates will come as no surprise, as the Army will be affected by its main arms supplier and the prime minister, and the powers that be, will respond well to a few dollars wisely-invested.

Meanwhile there are protests in Egypt and Yemen. But you won’t hear any stated support for the people there, as the two respective presidents are long-time old  hands at ‘keeping the .lid’ on dissent and of course on ‘fighting terrorism’. Once again,  if Wikileaks hadn’t printed American commentary on some of their double-dealing, the people would have been content to have them choose their next leader. Someone wise and just,  not like the doofus Kim Dong Il is choosing to run North Korean. No Wikileaks embarrassing him,  and that’s why the people aren’t out in droves to protest. Right!

In all three of these, massive increases in the price of basic food stuffs may have played absolutely no part, although, in all three, the first thing done to head-off trouble was to announce continued government subsidies for food. Basic food prices around the world are spiking upward in as much as 100 percent hikes. Prices like that force an awful lot of people in the world to reduce their eating. Maybe some Americans, too.

Another little stew is boiling  in what may, one day, be Palestine, and again ‘leaks’ are at the root of the problem. This time Al Jezeera, the Arab media giant,  has leaked purportedly confidential documents relating to the peace negotiations with Israel. First reading of these indicates that the Palestinian delegation has discussed, and were prepared to move on, every ‘trigger’ issue for Palestinians - the right of return for refugees, Jerusalem, the Al Aqsa Mosque, the territory of the West Bank, Israeli Arabs, the independence of the Palestinian state, etc. Only problem was the Israelis said it ‘wasn’t enough’ to make a deal. Maybe, if Jazeera could have gotten the Israeli documents, the world could have gotten a look at their ‘concessions’ - but, given the rejection of the ‘greatest Jerusalem of all time’ in return for one small arab subdivision there, ‘concessions’ might not be the best descriptor to use. Needless to say, the news hasn’t been warm and fuzzy for the Palestinian authority ( FATAH)  who are ‘holding’ office until (they hope) Hamas gets un-elected, or wiped out.- preferably the latter. Al Jezeera is now 'seen' as the Arab equivalent of Wikileaks

It has to be very inconvenient that somebody would ‘blow the whistle’ on the world’s superpower while it’s doing its darnedest to save the rest of us from the horrors of fundamental religion and bridled capitalism. It has to be embarrassing to set yourself up as the epitome of everything good, right and holy and find yourself pilloried for back-stabbing and crooked-dealing. Lying and cheating, killing and plotting like the bad guys who hate our freedoms and who do that stuff so, apparently, openly,  while America prefers to do it, for good people everywhere, behind closed doors. It’s just downright shitty when the bad guys can ‘make you’ be worse than them. And what’s worst of all is that the ‘hero’,  Assange, is such a dishonest, pipsqueak, wannabe, low-life, sex pervert with a BO problem ... or at least that’s what the good guys are saying.

All the while there are some real repercussions coming from Wikileaks. Just after Christmas the US government mounted a campaign to isolate Wikileaks and Assange by closing its servers and pressuring American-based companies to disrupt its finances. This resulted on a number of hacker attacks on various American  and European organizations. The first outbreaks were highly published.  But, as in other wars, there has been a 'blackout' on the effects of these attacks, which have continued. To-day, for instance, there was a mass-action that saw what's left of Egypt's electronic infrastructure bombarded with a storm of  Wikilieaks 'cables' mass-faxed to that country's servers. And, to-day, 5 hackers jailed in England for such activities were released on bail.

If Wikileaks serves any useful purpose, in my opinion, it's to add to the number of ‘balls’ America gets to juggle at one time. The more problems it has, the less the likelihood that Americans can be conned into another attempt to start that Great American Century that Wolfowitz, Cheney, Perle and company still so earnestly desire. If there’s an Allah he’ll keep on letting them drop bits of junk into their own works.